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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/34525-8.txt b/34525-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fdb858c --- /dev/null +++ b/34525-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4299 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Shelley at Oxford, by Thomas Jefferson Hogg + +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: Shelley at Oxford + +Author: Thomas Jefferson Hogg + +Release Date: December 1, 2010 [EBook #34525] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHELLEY AT OXFORD *** + + + + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +SHELLEY AT OXFORD + + + + + SHELLEY AT OXFORD + + + BY THOMAS JEFFERSON HOGG + + + WITH AN INTRODUCTION + BY R. A. STREATFEILD + + + METHUEN & CO. + 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. + LONDON + 1904 + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Thomas Jefferson Hogg's account of Shelley's career at Oxford first +appeared in the form of a series of articles contributed to the _New +Monthly Magazine_ in 1832 and 1833. It was afterwards incorporated into +his _Life of Shelley_, which was published in 1858. It is by common +consent the most life-like portrait of the poet left by any of his +contemporaries. "Hogg," said Trelawny, "has painted Shelley exactly as I +knew him," and Mary Shelley, referring to Hogg's articles in her edition +of Shelley's poems, bore witness to the fidelity with which her husband's +character had been delineated. In later times everyone who has written +about Shelley has drawn upon Hogg more or less freely, for he is +practically the only authority upon Shelley's six months at Oxford. Yet, +save in the extracts that appear in various biographies of the poet, this +remarkable work is little known. Hogg's fragmentary _Life of Shelley_ was +discredited by the plainly-expressed disapproval of the Shelley family and +has never been reprinted. But the inaccuracies, to call them by no harsher +term, that disfigure Hogg's later production do not affect the value of +his earlier narrative, the substantial truth of which has never been +impugned. + +In 1832 the _New Monthly Magazine_ was edited by the first Lord Lytton (at +that time Edward Lytton Bulwer), to whom Hogg was introduced by Mrs +Shelley. Hogg complained bitterly of the way in which his manuscript was +treated. "To write articles in a magazine or a review," he observed in the +Preface to his _Life of Shelley_, "is to walk in leading-strings. However, +I submitted to the requirements and restraints of bibliopolar discipline, +being content to speak of my young fellow-collegian, not exactly as I +would, but as I might. I struggled at first, and feebly, for full liberty +of speech, for a larger license of commendation and admiration, for entire +freedom of the press without censorship." Bulwer, however, was inexorable, +and it is owing, no doubt, to his salutary influence that the style of +Hogg's account of Shelley's Oxford days is so far superior to that of his +later compilation. Hogg, in fact, tacitly admitted the value of Bulwer's +emendations by reprinting the articles in question in his biography of +Shelley word for word as they appeared in the _New Monthly Magazine_, not +in the form in which they originally left his pen. + +Hogg himself was unquestionably a man of remarkable powers, though his +present fame depends almost entirely upon his connection with Shelley. He +was born in 1792, being the eldest son of John Hogg, a gentleman of old +family and strong Tory opinions, who lived at Norton in the county of +Durham. He was educated at Durham Grammar School, and entered University +College, Oxford, in January 1810, a short time before Shelley. The account +of his meeting with Shelley and of their intimacy down to the day of their +expulsion is told in these pages. + +On the strength of a remark of Trelawny's it has often been repeated that +Hogg was a hard-headed man of the world who despised literature, "he +thought it all nonsense and barely tolerated Shakespeare." Such is not the +impression that a reader of these pages will retain, nor, I think, will he +be inclined to echo the opinion pronounced by another critic that Hogg +regarded Shelley with a kind of amused disdain. On the contrary, it is +plain that Hogg entertained for Shelley a sincere regard and admiration, +and although himself a man of temperament directly opposed to that usually +described as poetical, he was fully capable of appreciating the +transcendent qualities of his friend's genius. There is little to add to +the tale of Hogg's and Shelley's Oxford life as told in the following +narrative, but further details as to their expulsion and the causes that +led to it may be read in Professor Dowden's biography of the poet. After +leaving Oxford, Hogg established himself at York, where he was articled to +a conveyancer. There he was visited by Shelley and his young wife, Harriet +Westbrook, in the course of their wanderings. For the latter Hogg +conceived a violent passion, and during a brief absence of Shelley's +assailed her with the most unworthy proposals, which she communicated to +her husband on his return. After a painful interview Shelley forgave his +friend, but left York with his wife abruptly for Keswick. Letters passed +between Hogg and Shelley, Hogg at first demanding Harriet's forgiveness +under a threat of suicide and subsequently challenging Shelley to a duel. +One of Shelley's replies, characteristically noble in sentiment, was +printed by Hogg with cynical effrontery in his biography of the poet many +years later as a "Fragment of a Novel." After these incidents there was no +intercourse between the two until, in October 1812, the Shelleys arrived +in London, whither Hogg had moved. From that time until Shelley's final +departure from England in 1818 his connection with Hogg was resumed with +much of its old intimacy. + +In the year 1813 Hogg produced a work of fiction, _The Memoirs of Prince +Alexy Haimatoff_, said to be translated from the original Latin MSS. under +the immediate inspection of the Prince, by John Brown, Esq. The tale, +which is for the most part told in stilted and extravagant language, can +hardly be called amusing, but the discussions upon liberty which are a +feature of it appear to be an echo of Shelley's conversation, and the hero +himself may possibly be intended as a portrait of the poet. Certainly +there are points in the Prince's description of himself which seem to be +borrowed from Shelley's physiognomy. "My complexion was a clear brown, +rather inclining to yellow; my hair a deep and bright black; my eyes dark +and strongly expressive of pride and anger,... my hands very small, and +my head remarkable for its roundness and diminutive size." It would be +interesting to trace in the other characters the portraits of various +members of Hogg's circle. Mr Garnett identifies Gothon as Dr Lind, the +Eton tutor whose sympathy and encouragement did much to alleviate the +misery of Shelley's school-days. The fair Rosalie ought to be Harriet, and +certain features of her character recall that unhappy damsel, but Rosalie +disliked reading and thought Aristotle an "egregious trifler," whereas +Harriet's taste in literature was of an extreme seriousness, and her +partiality for reading works of a moral tendency to her companions in +season and out of season was one of the least engaging features of her +character. + +Shelley reviewed _The Memoirs of Prince Alexy Haimatoff_ in the _Critical +Review_ of December 1814, discussing the talents of the author in terms of +glowing eulogy, though he found fault with his views on the subject of +sexual relations. Soon after his York experiences Hogg had entered at the +Middle Temple and he was called to the Bar in 1817. He was not successful +as a barrister, lacking the quickness and ready eloquence that command +success. In or about the year 1826 Hogg married Jane, the widow of Edward +Ellerker Williams, who had shared Shelley's fate three years previously. +It is said that Mrs Williams insisted upon Hogg's preparing himself for +the union, or perhaps we should rather say, proving his devotion, by a +course of foreign travel. Hogg undertook the ordeal, voluntarily depriving +himself of three things, each of which, to use his own words, "daily habit +had taught me to consider a prime necessary of life--law, Greek, and an +English newspaper." In 1827 he published the record of his tour in two +volumes, entitled _Two Hundred and Nine Days; or, The Journal of a +Traveller on the Continent_, which, so far from illustrating the anguish +of hope deferred, is a storehouse of shrewd and cynical observation. + +In 1833 Hogg was appointed one of the Municipal Corporation Commissioners +for England and Wales, and for many years he acted as Revising Barrister +for Northumberland, Berwick and the Northern Boroughs. About 1855 he was +commissioned by the Shelley family to write the poet's biography and was +furnished with the necessary papers. In 1858 he produced the two extant +volumes, which proved so little satisfactory to Shelley's representatives +that the materials for the continuation of his task were withdrawn and the +work interrupted, never to be resumed. Hogg died in 1862. He was a man of +varied culture; in knowledge of Greek few scholars of his time surpassed +him, and he was well read in German, French, Italian and Spanish. He was a +fair botanist, and rejoiced to think that he was born upon the anniversary +of the birth of Linnęus, for whose concise and simple style he professed a +great admiration. Nevertheless it is chiefly as the friend and biographer +of Shelley that he interests the present generation, and the +re-publication of his account of the poet's Oxford experiences can +scarcely fail to win him new admirers. + +R. A. STREATFEILD + + + + +SHELLEY AT OXFORD + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +What is the greatest disappointment in life? The question has often been +asked. In a perfect life--that is to say, in a long course of various +disappointments, when the collector has completed the entire set and +series, which should he pronounce to be the greatest? What is the greatest +disappointment of all? The question has often been asked, and it has +received very different answers. Some have said matrimony; others, the +accession of an inheritance that had long been anxiously anticipated; +others, the attainment of honours; others, the deliverance from an ancient +and intolerable nuisance, since a new and more grievous one speedily +succeeded to the old. Many solutions have been proposed, and each has +been ingeniously supported. At a very early age I had formed a splendid +picture of the glories of our two Universities. My father took pleasure in +describing his academical career. I listened to him with great delight, +and many circumstances gave additional force to these first impressions. +The clergy--and in the country they make one's principal guests--always +spoke of these establishments with deep reverence, and of their academical +days as the happiest of their lives. + +When I went to school, my prejudices were strengthened; for the master +noticed all deficiencies in learning as being unfit, and every remarkable +proficiency as being fit, for the University. Such expressions marked the +utmost limits of blame and of praise. Whenever any of the elder boys were +translated to college--and several went thither from our school every +year--the transmission was accompanied with a certain awe. I had always +contemplated my own removal with the like feeling, and as the period +approached, I anticipated it with a reverent impatience. The appointed +day at last arrived, and I set out with a schoolfellow, about to enter the +same career, and his father. The latter was a dutiful and a most grateful +son of _alma mater_; and the conversation of this estimable man, during +our long journey, fanned the flame of my young ardour. Such, indeed, had +been the effect of his discourse for many years; and as he possessed a +complete collection of the Oxford Almanacks, and it had been a great and +frequent gratification to contemplate the engravings at the top of the +annual sheets when I visited his quiet vicarage, I was already familiar +with the aspect of the noble buildings that adorn that famous city. After +travelling for several days we reached the last stage, and soon afterwards +approached the point whence, I was told, we might discern the first +glimpse of the metropolis of learning. I strained my eyes to catch a view +of that land of promise, for which I had so eagerly longed. The summits of +towers and spires and domes appeared afar and faintly; then the prospect +was obstructed. By degrees it opened upon us again, and we saw the tall +trees that shaded the colleges. At three o'clock on a fine autumnal +afternoon we entered the streets of Oxford. Although the weather was cold +we had let down all the windows of our post-chaise, and I sat forward, +devouring every object with greedy eyes. Members of the University, of +different ages and ranks, were gliding through the quiet streets of the +venerable city in academic costume. + +We devoted two or three days to the careful examination of the various +objects of interest that Oxford contains. The eye was gratified, for the +external appearance of the University even surpassed the bright picture +which my youthful imagination had painted. The outside was always +admirable; it was far otherwise with the inside. It is essential to the +greatness of a disappointment that the previous expectation should have +been great. Nothing could exceed my young anticipations--nothing could be +more complete than their overthrow. It would be impossible to describe my +feelings without speaking harshly and irreverently of the venerable +University. On this subject, then, I will only confess my disappointment, +and discreetly be silent as to its causes. Whatever those causes, I grew, +at least, and I own it cheerfully, soon pleased with Oxford, on the whole; +pleased with the beauty of the city and its gentle river, and the +pleasantness of the surrounding country. + +Although no great facilities were afforded to the student, there were the +same opportunities of _solitary_ study as in other places. All the irksome +restraints of school were removed, and those of the University are few and +trifling. Our fare was good, although not so good, perhaps, as it ought to +have been, in return for the enormous cost; and I liked the few companions +with whom I most commonly mixed. I continued to lead a life of tranquil +and studious and somewhat melancholy contentment until the long vacation, +which I spent with my family; and, when it expired, I returned to the +University. + +At the commencement of Michaelmas term--that is, at the end of October, in +the year 1810, I happened one day to sit next to a freshman at dinner. It +was his first appearance in hall. His figure was slight, and his aspect +remarkably youthful, even at our table, where all were very young. He +seemed thoughtful and absent. He ate little, and had no acquaintance with +anyone. I know not how it was that we fell into conversation, for such +familiarity was unusual, and, strange to say, much reserve prevailed in a +society where there could not possibly be occasion for any. We have often +endeavoured in vain to recollect in what manner our discourse began, and +especially by what transition it passed to a subject sufficiently remote +from all the associations we were able to trace. The stranger had +expressed an enthusiastic admiration for poetical and imaginative works of +the German school; I dissented from his criticisms. He upheld the +originality of the German writings; I asserted their want of nature. + +"What modern literature," said he, "will you compare to theirs?" + +I named the Italian. This roused all his impetuosity; and few, as I soon +discovered, were more impetuous in argumentative conversation. So eager +was our dispute that, when the servants came in to clear the tables, we +were not aware that we had been left alone. I remarked that it was time to +quit the hall, and I invited the stranger to finish the discussion at my +rooms. He eagerly assented. He lost the thread of his discourse in the +transit, and the whole of his enthusiasm in the cause of Germany; for, as +soon as he arrived at my rooms, and whilst I was lighting the candles, he +said calmly, and to my great surprise, that he was not qualified to +maintain such a discussion, for he was alike ignorant of Italian and +German, and had only read the works of the Germans, in translations, and +but little of Italian poetry, even at second hand. For my part, I +confessed, with an equal ingenuousness, that I knew nothing of German, +and but little of Italian; that I had spoken only through others, and, +like him, had hitherto seen by the glimmering light of translations. + +It is upon such scanty data that young men reason; upon such slender +materials do they build up their opinions. It may be urged, however, that +if they did not discourse freely with each other upon insufficient +information--for such alone can be acquired in the pleasant morning of +life, and until they educate themselves--they would be constrained to +observe a perpetual silence, and to forego the numerous advantages that +flow from frequent and liberal discussion. + +I inquired of the vivacious stranger, as we sat over our wine and dessert, +how long he had been at Oxford, and how he liked it? He answered my +questions with a certain impatience, and, resuming the subject of our +discussion, he remarked that, "Whether the literature of Germany or of +Italy be the more original, or in a purer and more accurate taste, is of +little importance, for polite letters are but vain trifling; the study of +languages, not only of the modern tongues, but of Latin and Greek also, is +merely the study of words and phrases, of the names of things; it matters +not how they are called. It is surely far better to investigate things +themselves." I inquired, a little bewildered, how this was to be effected? +He answered, "Through the physical sciences, and especially through +chemistry;" and, raising his voice, his face flushing as he spoke, he +discoursed with a degree of animation, that far outshone his zeal in +defence of the Germans, of chemistry and chemical analysis. Concerning +that science, then so popular, I had merely a scanty and vulgar knowledge, +gathered from elementary books, and the ordinary experiments of popular +lecturers. I listened, therefore, in silence to his eloquent disquisition, +interposing a few brief questions only, and at long intervals, as to the +extent of his own studies and manipulations. As I felt, in truth, but a +slight interest in the subject of his conversation, I had leisure to +examine, and, I may add, to admire, the appearance of my very +extraordinary guest. It was a sum of many contradictions. His figure was +slight and fragile, and yet his bones and joints were large and strong. He +was tall, but he stooped so much that he seemed of a low stature. His +clothes were expensive, and made according to the most approved mode of +the day, but they were tumbled, rumpled, unbrushed. His gestures were +abrupt, and sometimes violent, occasionally even awkward, yet more +frequently gentle and graceful. His complexion was delicate and almost +feminine, of the purest red and white; yet he was tanned and freckled by +exposure to the sun, having passed the autumn, as he said, in shooting. +His features, his whole face, and particularly his head, were, in fact, +unusually small; yet the last _appeared_ of a remarkable bulk, for his +hair was long and bushy, and in fits of absence, and in the agonies (if I +may use the word) of anxious thought, he often rubbed it fiercely with +his hands, or passed his fingers quickly through his locks unconsciously, +so that it was singularly wild and rough. In times when it was the mode to +imitate stage-coachmen as closely as possible in costume, and when the +hair was invariably cropped, like that of our soldiers, this eccentricity +was very striking. His features were not symmetrical (the mouth, perhaps, +excepted), yet was the effect of the whole extremely powerful. They +breathed an animation, a fire, an enthusiasm, a vivid and preternatural +intelligence, that I never met with in any other countenance. Nor was the +moral expression less beautiful than the intellectual; for there was a +softness, a delicacy, a gentleness, and especially (though this will +surprise many) that air of profound religious veneration that +characterises the best works, and chiefly the frescoes (and into these +they infused their whole souls) of the great masters of Florence and of +Rome. I recognised the very peculiar expression in these wonderful +productions long afterwards, and with a satisfaction mingled with much +sorrow, for it was after the decease of him in whose countenance I had +first observed it. I admired the enthusiasm of my new acquaintance, his +ardour in the cause of science and his thirst for knowledge. I seemed to +have found in him all those intellectual qualities which I had vainly +expected to meet with in a University. But there was one physical blemish +that threatened to neutralise all his excellence. "This is a fine, clever +fellow!" I said to myself, "but I can never bear his society; I shall +never be able to endure his voice; it would kill me. What a pity it is!" I +am very sensible of imperfections, and especially of painful sounds, and +the voice of the stranger was excruciating. It was intolerably shrill, +harsh and discordant; of the most cruel intension. It was perpetual, and +without any remission; it excoriated the ears. He continued to discourse +on chemistry, sometimes sitting, sometimes standing before the fire, and +sometimes pacing about the room; and when one of the innumerable clocks, +that speak in various notes during the day and the night at Oxford, +proclaimed a quarter to seven, he said suddenly that he must go to a +lecture on mineralogy, and declared enthusiastically that he expected to +derive much pleasure and instruction from it. I am ashamed to own that the +cruel voice made me hesitate for a moment; but it was impossible to omit +so indispensable a civility--I invited him to return to tea. He gladly +assented, promised that he would not be absent long, snatched his hat, +hurried out of the room, and I heard his footsteps, as he ran through the +silent quadrangle and afterwards along High Street. + +An hour soon elapsed, whilst the table was cleared and the tea was made, +and I again heard the footsteps of one running quickly. My guest suddenly +burst into the room, threw down his cap, and as he stood shivering and +chafing his hands over the fire, he declared how much he had been +disappointed in the lecture. Few persons attended; it was dull and +languid, and he was resolved never to go to another. + +"I went away, indeed," he added, with an arch look, and in a shrill +whisper, coming close to me as he spoke--"I went away, indeed, before the +lecture was finished. I stole away, for it was so stupid, and I was so +cold that my teeth chattered. The Professor saw me, and appeared to be +displeased. I thought I could have got out without being observed, but I +struck my knee against a bench and made a noise, and he looked at me. I am +determined that he shall never see me again." + +"What did the man talk about?" + +"About stones! about stones!" he answered, with a downcast look and in a +melancholy tone, as if about to say something excessively profound. "About +stones! stones, stones, stones!--nothing but stones!--and so drily. It was +wonderfully tiresome, and stones are not interesting things in +themselves!" + +We took tea, and soon afterwards had supper, as was usual. He discoursed +after supper with as much warmth as before of the wonders of chemistry; of +the encouragement that Napoleon afforded to that most important science; +of the French chemists and their glorious discoveries, and of the +happiness of visiting Paris and sharing in their fame and their +experiments. The voice, however, seemed to me more cruel than ever. He +spoke, likewise, of his own labours and of his apparatus, and starting up +suddenly after supper, he proposed that I should go instantly with him to +see the galvanic trough. I looked at my watch, and observed that it was +too late; that the fire would be out, and the night was cold. He resumed +his seat, saying that I might come on the morrow early, to breakfast, +immediately after chapel. He continued to declaim in his rapturous strain, +asserting that chemistry was, in truth, the only science that deserved to +be studied. I suggested doubts. I ventured to question the pre-eminence of +the science, and even to hesitate in admitting its utility. He described +in glowing language some discoveries that had lately been made; but the +enthusiastic chemist candidly allowed that they were rather brilliant than +useful, asserting, however, that they would soon be applied to purposes of +solid advantage. + +"Is not the time of by far the larger proportion of the human species," he +inquired, with his fervid manner and in his piercing tones, "wholly +consumed in severe labour? And is not this devotion of our race--of the +whole of our race, I may say (for those who, like ourselves, are indulged +with an exemption from the hard lot are so few in comparison with the +rest, that they scarcely deserve to be taken into account)--absolutely +necessary to procure subsistence, so that men have no leisure for +recreation or the high improvement of the mind? Yet this incessant toil is +still inadequate to procure an abundant supply of the common necessaries +of life. Some are doomed actually to want them, and many are compelled to +be content with an insufficient provision. We know little of the peculiar +nature of those substances which are proper for the nourishment of +animals; we are ignorant of the qualities that make them fit for this end. +Analysis has advanced so rapidly of late that we may confidently +anticipate that we shall soon discover wherein their aptitude really +consists; having ascertained the cause, we shall next be able to command +it, and to produce at our pleasure the desired effects. It is easy, even +in our present state of ignorance, to reduce our ordinary food to carbon, +or to lime; a moderate advancement in chemical science will speedily +enable us, we may hope, to create, with equal facility, food from +substances that appear at present to be as ill adapted to sustain us. What +is the cause of the remarkable fertility of some lands, and of the +hopeless sterility of others? A spadeful of the most productive soil does +not to the eye differ much from the same quantity taken from the most +barren. The real difference is probably very slight; by chemical agency +the philosopher may work a total change, and may transmute an unfruitful +region into a land of exuberant plenty. Water, like the atmospheric air, +is compounded of certain gases; in the progress of scientific discovery a +simple and sure method of manufacturing the useful fluid, in every +situation and in any quantity, may be detected. The arid deserts of Africa +may then be refreshed by a copious supply and may be transformed at once +into rich meadows and vast fields of maize and rice. The generation of +heat is a mystery, but enough of the theory of caloric has already been +developed to induce us to acquiesce in the notion that it will hereafter, +and perhaps at no very distant period, be possible to produce heat at +will, and to warm the most ungenial climates as readily as we now raise +the temperature of our apartments to whatever degree we may deem agreeable +or salutary. If, however, it be too much to anticipate that we shall ever +become sufficiently skilful to command such a prodigious supply of heat, +we may expect, without the fear of disappointment, soon to understand its +nature and the causes of combustion, so far at least, as to provide +ourselves cheaply with a fund of heat that will supersede our costly and +inconvenient fuel, and will suffice to warm our habitations, for culinary +purposes and for the various demands of the mechanical arts. We could not +determine without actual experiment whether an unknown substance were +combustible; when we shall have thoroughly investigated the properties of +fire, it may be that we shall be qualified to communicate to clay, to +stones, and to water itself, a chemical recomposition that will render +them as inflammable as wood, coals and oil; for the difference of +structure is minute and invisible, and the power of feeding flame may, +perhaps, be easily added to any substance, or taken away from it. What a +comfort would it be to the poor at all times, and especially at this +season, if we were capable of solving this problem alone, if we could +furnish them with a competent supply of heat! These speculations may +appear wild, and it may seem improbable that they will ever be realised to +persons who have not extended their views of what is practicable by +closely watching science in its course onward; but there are many +mysterious powers, many irresistible agents with the existence and with +some of the phenomena of which all are acquainted. What a mighty +instrument would electricity be in the hands of him who knew how to wield +it, in what manner to direct its omnipotent energies, and we may command +an indefinite quantity of the fluid. By means of electrical kites we may +draw down the lightning from heaven! What a terrible organ would the +supernal shock prove, if we were able to guide it; how many of the secrets +of nature would such a stupendous force unlock. The galvanic battery is a +new engine; it has been used hitherto to an insignificant extent, yet has +it wrought wonders already; what will not an extraordinary combination of +troughs, of colossal magnitude, a well-arranged system of hundreds of +metallic plates, effect? The balloon has not yet received the perfection +of which it is surely capable; the art of navigating the air is in its +first and most helpless infancy; the aėrial mariner still swims on +bladders, and has not mounted even the rude raft; if we weigh this +invention, curious as it is, with some of the subjects I have mentioned, +it will seem trifling, no doubt--a mere toy, a feather in comparison with +the splendid anticipations of the philosophical chemist; yet it ought not +altogether to be contemned. It promises prodigious facilities for +locomotion, and will enable us to traverse vast tracts with ease and +rapidity, and to explore unknown countries without difficulty. Why are we +still so ignorant of the interior of Africa?--why do we not despatch +intrepid aėronauts to cross it in every direction, and to survey the whole +peninsula in a few weeks? The shadow of the first balloon, which a +vertical sun would project precisely underneath it, as it glided silently +over that hitherto unhappy country, would virtually emancipate every +slave, and would annihilate slavery for ever." + +With such fervour did the slender, beardless stranger speculate concerning +the march of physical science; his speculations were as wild as the +experience of twenty-one years has shown them to be; but the zealous +earnestness for the augmentation of knowledge, and the glowing +philanthropy and boundless benevolence that marked them, and beamed forth +in the whole deportment of that extraordinary boy, are not less +astonishing than they would have been if the whole of his glorious +anticipations had been prophetic; for these high qualities at least I have +never found a parallel. When he had ceased to predict the coming honours +of chemistry, and to promise the rich harvest of benefits it was soon to +yield, I suggested that, although its results were splendid, yet for those +who could not hope to make discoveries themselves, it did not afford so +valuable a course of mental discipline as the moral sciences; moreover, +that, if chemists asserted that their science alone deserved to be +cultivated, the mathematicians made the same assertion, and with equal +confidence, respecting their studies; but that I was not sufficiently +advanced myself in mathematics to be able to judge how far it was well +founded. He declared that he knew nothing of mathematics, and treated the +notion of their paramount importance with contempt. + +"What do you say of metaphysics?" I continued; "is that science, too, the +study of words only?" + +"Ay, metaphysics," he said, in a solemn tone, and with a mysterious air, +"that is a noble study indeed! If it were possible to make any discoveries +there, they would be more valuable than anything the chemists have done, +or could do; they would disclose the analysis of mind, and not of mere +matter!" Then, rising from his chair, he paced slowly about the room, with +prodigious strides, and discoursed of souls with still greater animation +and vehemence than he had displayed in treating of gases--of a future +state--and especially of a former state--of pre-existence, obscured for a +time through the suspension of consciousness--of personal identity, and +also of ethical philosophy, in a deep and earnest tone of elevated +morality, until he suddenly remarked that the fire was nearly out, and the +candles were glimmering in their sockets, when he hastily apologised for +remaining so long. I promised to visit the chemist in his laboratory, the +alchemist in his study, the wizard in his cave, not at breakfast on that +day, for it was already one, but in twelve hours--one hour after noon--and +to hear some of the secrets of nature; and for that purpose he told me his +name, and described the situation of his rooms. I lighted him downstairs +as well as I could with the stump of a candle which had dissolved itself +into a lump, and I soon heard him running through the quiet quadrangle in +the still night. That sound became afterwards so familiar to my ear, that +I still seem to hear Shelley's hasty steps. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +I trust, or I should perhaps rather say I hope, that I was as much struck +by the conversation, the aspect, and the deportment of my new +acquaintance, as entirely convinced of the value of the acquisition I had +just made, and as deeply impressed with surprise and admiration as became +a young student not insensible of excellence, to whom a character so +extraordinary, and indeed almost preternatural, had been suddenly +unfolded. During his animated and eloquent discourses I felt a due +reverence for his zeal and talent, but the human mind is capable of a +certain amount of attention only. I had listened and discussed for seven +or eight hours, and my spirits were totally exhausted. I went to bed as +soon as Shelley had quitted my rooms, and fell instantly into a profound +sleep; and I shook off with a painful effort, at the accustomed signal, +the complete oblivion which then appeared to have been but momentary. Many +of the wholesome usages of antiquity had ceased at Oxford; that of early +rising, however, still lingered. + +As soon as I got up, I applied myself sedulously to my academical duties +and my accustomed studies. The power of habitual occupation is great and +engrossing, and it is possible that my mind had not yet fully recovered +from the agreeable fatigue of the preceding evening, for I had entirely +forgotten my engagement, nor did the thought of my young guest once cross +my fancy. It was strange that a person so remarkable and attractive should +have thus disappeared for several hours from my memory; but such in truth +was the fact, although I am unable to account for it in a satisfactory +manner. + +At one o'clock I put away my books and papers, and prepared myself for my +daily walk; the weather was frosty, with fog, and whilst I lingered over +the fire with that reluctance to venture forth into the cold air common to +those who have chilled themselves by protracted sedentary pursuits, the +recollection of the scenes of yesterday flashed suddenly and vividly +across my mind, and I quickly repaired to a spot that I may perhaps +venture to predict many of our posterity will hereafter reverently +visit--to the rooms in the corner next the hall of the principal +quadrangle of University College. They are on the first floor, and on the +right of the entrance, but by reason of the turn in the stairs, when you +reach them they will be upon your left hand. I remember the direction +given at parting, and I soon found the door. It stood ajar. I tapped +gently, and the discordant voice cried shrilly,-- + +"Come in!" + +It was now nearly two. I began to apologise for my delay, but I was +interrupted by a loud exclamation of surprise. + +"What! is it one? I had no notion it was so late. I thought it was about +ten or eleven." + +"It is on the stroke of two, sir," said the scout, who was engaged in the +vain attempt of setting the apartment in order. + +"Of two!" Shelley cried with increased wonder, and presently the clock +struck, and the servant noticed it, retired and shut the door. + +I perceived at once that the young chemist took no note of time. He +measured duration, not by minutes and hours, like watchmakers and their +customers, but by the successive trains of ideas and sensations; +consequently, if there was a virtue of which he was utterly incapable, it +was that homely but pleasing and useful one--punctuality. He could not +tear himself from his incessant abstractions to observe at intervals the +growth and decline of the day; nor was he ever able to set apart even a +small portion of his mental powers for a duty so simple as that of +watching the course of the pointers on the dial. + +I found him cowering over the fire, his chair planted in the middle of the +rug, and his feet resting upon the fender; his whole appearance was +dejected. His astonishment at the unexpected lapse of time roused him. As +soon as the hour of the day was ascertained he welcomed me, and seizing +one of my arms with both his hands, he shook it with some force, and very +cordially expressed his satisfaction at my visit. Then, resuming his seat +and his former posture, he gazed fixedly at the fire, and his limbs +trembled and his teeth chattered with cold. I cleared the fireplace with +the poker and stirred the fire, and when it blazed up, he drew back, and, +looking askance towards the door, he exclaimed with a deep sigh,-- + +"Thank God, that fellow is gone at last!" + +The assiduity of the scout had annoyed him, and he presently added,-- + +"If you had not come, he would have stayed until he had put everything in +my rooms into some place where I should never have found it again!" + +He then complained of his health, and said that he was very unwell; but he +did not appear to be affected by any disorder more serious than a slight +aguish cold. I remarked the same contradiction in his rooms which I had +already observed in his person and dress. They had just been papered and +painted; the carpet, curtains, and furniture were quite new, and had not +passed through several academical generations, after the established +custom of transferring the whole of the movables to the successor on +payments of thirds, that is, of two-thirds of the price last given. The +general air of freshness was greatly obscured, however, by the +indescribable confusion in which the various objects were mixed. +Notwithstanding the unwelcome exertions of the officious scout, scarcely a +single article was in its proper position. + +Books, boots, papers, shoes, philosophical instruments, clothes, pistols, +linen, crockery, ammunition and phials innumerable, with money, stockings, +prints, crucibles, bags and boxes were scattered on the floor and in +every place, as if the young chemist, in order to analyse the mystery of +creation, had endeavoured first to re-construct the primeval chaos. The +tables, and especially the carpet, were already stained with large spots +of various hues, which frequently proclaimed the agency of fire. An +electrical machine, an air-pump, the galvanic trough, a solar microscope +and large glass jars and receivers, were conspicuous amidst the mass of +matter. Upon the table by his side were some books lying open, several +letters, a bundle of new pens and a bottle of japan ink that served as an +inkstand; a piece of deal, lately part of the lid of a box, with many +chips, and a handsome razor that had been used as a knife. There were +bottles of soda water, sugar, pieces of lemon, and the traces of an +effervescent beverage. Two piles of books supported the tongs, and these +upheld a small glass retort above an argand lamp. I had not been seated +many minutes before the liquor in the vessel boiled over, adding fresh +stains to the table, and rising in fumes with a most disagreeable odour. +Shelley snatched the glass quickly, and dashing it in pieces among the +ashes under the grate, increased the unpleasant and penetrating effluvium. + +He then proceeded with much eagerness and enthusiasm to show me the +various instruments, especially the electrical apparatus, turning round +the handle very rapidly, so that the fierce, crackling sparks flew forth; +and presently, standing upon the stool with glass feet, he begged me to +work the machine until he was filled with the fluid, so that his long wild +locks bristled and stood on end. Afterwards he charged a powerful battery +of several large jars; labouring with vast energy, and discoursing with +increasing vehemence of the marvellous powers of electricity, of thunder +and lightning; describing an electrical kite that he had made at home, and +projecting another and an enormous one, or rather a combination of many +kites, that would draw down from the sky an immense volume of +electricity, the whole ammunition of a mighty thunderstorm; and this being +directed to some point would there produce the most stupendous results. + +In these exhibitions and in such conversation the time passed away +rapidly, and the hour of dinner approached. Having pricked _ęger_ that +day, or, in other words, having caused his name to be entered as an +invalid, he was not required or permitted to dine in hall, or to appear in +public within the college or without the walls, until a night's rest +should have restored the sick man to health. + +He requested me to spend the evening at his rooms; I consented, nor did I +fail to attend immediately after dinner. We conversed until a late hour on +miscellaneous topics. I remember that he spoke frequently of poetry, and +that there was the same animation, the same glowing zeal, which had +characterised his former discourses, and was so opposite to the listless +languor, the monstrous indifference, if not the absolute antipathy to +learning, that so strangely darkened the collegiate atmosphere. It would +seem, indeed, to one who rightly considered the final cause of the +institution of a university, that all the rewards, all the honours the +most opulent foundation could accumulate, would be inadequate to +remunerate an individual, whose thirst for knowledge was so intense, and +his activity in the pursuit of it so wonderful and so unwearied. I +participated in his enthusiasm, and soon forgot the shrill and unmusical +voice that had at first seemed intolerable to my ear. + +He was, indeed, a whole university in himself to me, in respect of the +stimulus and incitement which his example afforded to my love of study, +and he amply atoned for the disappointment I had felt on my arrival at +Oxford. In one respect alone could I pretend to resemble him--in an ardent +desire to gain knowledge, and, as our tastes were the same in many +particulars, we immediately became, through sympathy, most intimate and +altogether inseparable companions. We almost invariably passed the +afternoon and evening together; at first, alternately at our respective +rooms, through a certain punctiliousness, but afterwards, when we became +more familiar, most frequently by far at his. Sometimes one or two good +and harmless men of our acquaintance were present, but we were usually +alone. His rooms were preferred to mine, because there his philosophical +apparatus was at hand; and at that period he was not perfectly satisfied +with the condition and circumstances of his existence, unless he was able +to start from his seat at any moment, and seizing the air-pump, some +magnets, the electrical machine, or the bottles containing those noxious +and nauseous fluids wherewith he incessantly besmeared and disfigured +himself and his goods, to ascertain by actual experiment the value of some +new idea that rushed into his brain. He spent much time in working by fits +and starts and in an irregular manner with his instruments, and especially +consumed his hours and his money in the assiduous cultivation of +chemistry. + +We have heard that one of the most distinguished of modern discoverers was +abrupt, hasty, and to appearance disorderly, in the conduct of his +manipulations. The variety of the habits of great men is indeed infinite. +It is impossible, therefore, to decide peremptorily as to the capabilities +of individuals from their course of proceeding, yet it certainly seemed +highly improbable that Shelley was qualified to succeed in a science +wherein a scrupulous minuteness and a mechanical accuracy are +indispensable. His chemical operations seemed to an unskilful observer to +promise nothing but disasters. His hands, his clothes, his books and his +furniture were stained and corroded by mineral acids. More than one hole +in the carpet could elucidate the ultimate phenomenon of combustion; +especially a formidable aperture in the middle of the room, where the +floor also had been burnt by the spontaneous ignition, caused by mixing +ether with some other fluid in a crucible; and the honourable wound was +speedily enlarged by rents, for the philosopher, as he hastily crossed the +room in pursuit of truth, was frequently caught in it by the foot. Many +times a day, but always in vain, would the sedulous scout say, pointing to +the scorched boards with a significant look,-- + +"Would it not be better, sir, for us to get this place mended?" + +It seemed but too probable that in the rash ardour of experiment he would +some day set the college on fire, or that he would blind, maim or kill +himself by the explosion of combustibles. It was still more likely, +indeed, that he would poison himself, for plates and glasses and every +part of his tea equipage were used indiscriminately with crucibles, +retorts, and recipients, to contain the most deleterious ingredients. To +his infinite diversion I used always to examine every drinking vessel +narrowly, and often to rinse it carefully, after that evening when we were +taking tea by firelight, and my attention being attracted by the sound of +something in the cup into which I was about to pour tea, I was induced to +look into it. I found a seven-shilling piece partly dissolved by the _aqua +regia_ in which it was immersed. Although he laughed at my caution, he +used to speak with horror of the consequences of having inadvertently +swallowed, through a similar accident, some mineral poison--I think +arsenic--at Eton, which he declared had not only seriously injured his +health, but that he feared he should never entirely recover from the shock +it had inflicted on his constitution. It seemed improbable, +notwithstanding his positive assertions, that his lively fancy exaggerated +the recollection of the unpleasant and permanent taste, of the sickness +and disorder of the stomach, which might arise from taking a minute +portion of some poisonous substance by the like chance, for there was no +vestige of a more serious and lasting injury in his youthful and healthy, +although somewhat delicate aspect. + +I knew little of the physical sciences, and I felt, therefore, but a +slight degree of interest in them. I looked upon his philosophical +apparatus merely as toys and playthings, like a chess-board or a billiard +table. Through lack of sympathy, his zeal, which was at first so ardent, +gradually cooled; and he applied himself to these pursuits, after a short +time, less frequently and with less earnestness. The true value of them +was often the subject of animated discussion; and I remember one evening +at my own rooms, when we had sought refuge against the intense cold in the +little inner apartment, or study, I referred, in the course of our debate, +to a passage in Xenophon's _Memorabilia_, where Socrates speaks in +disparagement of Physics. He read it several times very attentively, and +more than once aloud, slowly and with emphasis, and it appeared to make a +strong impression on him. + +Notwithstanding our difference of opinion as to the importance of +chemistry and on some other questions, our intimacy rapidly increased, and +we soon formed the habit of passing the greater part of our time +together; nor did this constant intercourse interfere with my usual +studies. I never visited his rooms until one o'clock, by which hour, as I +rose very early, I had not only attended the college lectures, but had +read in private for several hours. I was enabled, moreover, to continue my +studies afterwards in the evening, in consequence of a very remarkable +peculiarity. My young and energetic friend was then overcome by extreme +drowsiness, which speedily and completely vanquished him; he would sleep +from two to four hours, often so soundly that his slumbers resembled a +deep lethargy; he lay occasionally upon the sofa, but more commonly +stretched upon the rug before a large fire, like a cat; and his little +round head was exposed to such a fierce heat, that I used to wonder how he +was able to bear it. Sometimes I have interposed some shelter, but rarely +with any permanent effect; for the sleeper usually contrived to turn +himself and to roll again into the spot where the fire glowed the +brightest. His torpor was generally profound, but he would sometimes +discourse incoherently for a long while in his sleep. At six he would +suddenly compose himself, even in the midst of a most animated narrative +or of earnest discussion; and he would lie buried in entire forgetfulness, +in a sweet and mighty oblivion, until ten, when he would suddenly start +up, and rubbing his eyes with great violence, and passing his fingers +swiftly through his long hair, would enter at once into a vehement +argument, or begin to recite verses, either of his own composition or from +the works of others, with a rapidity and an energy that were often quite +painful. During the period of his occultation I took tea, and read or +wrote without interruption. He would sometimes sleep for a shorter time, +for about two hours, postponing for the like period the commencement of +his retreat to the rug, and rising with tolerable punctuality at ten; and +sometimes, although rarely, he was able entirely to forego the accustomed +refreshment. + +We did not consume the whole of our time, when he was awake, in +conversation; we often read apart, and more frequently together. Our joint +studies were occasionally interrupted by long discussions--nevertheless, I +could enumerate many works, and several of them are extensive and +important, which we perused completely and very carefully in this manner. +At ten, when he awoke, he was always ready for his supper, which he took +with a peculiar relish. After that social meal his mind was clear and +penetrating, and his discourse eminently brilliant. He was unwilling to +separate, but when the college clock struck two, I used to rise and retire +to my room. Our conversations were sometimes considerably prolonged, but +they seldom terminated before that chilly hour of the early morning; nor +did I feel any inconvenience from thus reducing the period of rest to +scarcely five hours. + +A disquisition on some difficult question in the open air was not less +agreeable to him than by the fireside; if the weather was fine, or rather +not altogether intolerable, we used to sally forth, when we met at one. + +I have already pointed out several contradictions in his appearance and +character. His ordinary preparation for a rural walk formed a very +remarkable contrast with his mild aspect and pacific habits. He furnished +himself with a pair of duelling pistols and a good store of powder and +ball, and when he came to a solitary spot, he pinned a card, or fixed some +other mark upon a tree or a bank, and amused himself by firing at it: he +was a pretty good shot, and was much delighted at his success. He often +urged me to try my hand and eye, assuring me that I was not aware of the +pleasure of a good hit. One day, when he was peculiarly pressing, I took +up a pistol and asked him what I should aim at? And observing a slab of +wood, about as big as a hearthrug, standing against a wall, I named it as +being a proper object. He said that it was much too far off; it was +better to wait until we came nearer. But I answered--"I may as well fire +here as anywhere," and instantly discharged my pistol. To my infinite +surprise the ball struck the elm target most accurately in the very +centre. Shelley was delighted. He ran to the board, placed his chin close +to it, gazed at the hole where the bullet was lodged, examined it +attentively on all sides many times, and more than once measured the +distance to the spot where I had stood. + +I never knew anyone so prone to admire as he was, in whom the principle of +veneration was so strong. He extolled my skill, urged me repeatedly to +display it again, and begged that I would give him instructions in an art +in which I so much excelled. I suffered him to enjoy his wonder for a few +days, and then I told him, and with difficulty persuaded him, that my +success was purely accidental; for I had seldom fired a pistol before, and +never with ball, but with shot only, as a schoolboy, in clandestine and +bloodless expeditions against blackbirds and yellowhammers. + +The duelling pistols were a most discordant interruption of the repose of +a quiet country walk; besides, he handled them with such inconceivable +carelessness, that I had perpetually reason to apprehend that, as a +trifling episode in the grand and heroic work of drilling a hole through +the back of a card or the front of one of his father's franks, he would +shoot himself, or me, or both of us. How often have I lamented that +Nature, which so rarely bestows upon the world a creature endowed with +such marvellous talents, ungraciously rendered the gift less precious by +implanting a fatal taste for perilous recreations, and a thoughtlessness +in the pursuit of them, that often caused his existence from one day to +another to seem in itself miraculous. I opposed the practice of walking +armed, and I at last succeeded in inducing him to leave the pistols at +home, and to forbear the use of them. I prevailed, I believe, not so much +by argument or persuasion, as by secretly abstracting, when he equipped +himself for the field, and it was not difficult with him, the +powder-flask, the flints or some other indispensable article. One day, I +remember, he was grievously discomposed and seriously offended to find, on +producing his pistols, after descending rapidly into a quarry, where he +proposed to take a few shots, that not only had the flints been removed, +but the screws and the bits of steel at the top of the cocks which hold +the flints were also wanting. He determined to return to college for +them--I accompanied him. I tempted him, however, by the way, to try to +define anger, and to discuss the nature of that affection of the mind, to +which, as the discussion waxed warm, he grew exceedingly hostile in +theory, and could not be brought to admit that it could possibly be +excusable in any case. In the course of conversation, moreover, he +suffered himself to be insensibly turned away from his original path and +purpose. I have heard that, some years after he left Oxford, he resumed +the practice of pistol-shooting, and attained to a very unusual degree of +skill in an accomplishment so entirely incongruous with his nature. + +Of rural excursions he was at all times fond. He loved to walk in the +woods, to stroll on the banks of the Thames, but especially to wander +about Shotover Hill. There was a pond at the foot of the hill, before +ascending it and on the left of the road; it was formed by the water which +had filled an old quarry. Whenever he was permitted to shape his course as +he would, he proceeded to the edge of this pool, although the scene had no +other attractions than a certain wildness and barrenness. Here he would +linger until dusk, gazing in silence on the water, repeating verses aloud, +or earnestly discussing themes that had no connection with surrounding +objects. Sometimes he would raise a stone as large as he could lift, +deliberately throw it into the water as far as his strength enabled him, +then he would loudly exult at the splash, and would quietly watch the +decreasing agitation, until the last faint ring and almost imperceptible +ripple disappeared on the still surface. "Such are the effects of an +impulse on the air," he would say; and he complained of our ignorance of +the theory of sound--that the subject was obscure and mysterious, and many +of the phenomena were contradictory and inexplicable. He asserted that the +science of acoustics ought to be cultivated, and that by well-devised +experiments valuable discoveries would undoubtedly be made, and he related +many remarkable stories connected with the subject that he had heard or +read. Sometimes he would busy himself in splitting slaty stones, in +selecting thin and flat pieces and in giving them a round form, and when +he had collected a sufficient number, he would gravely make ducks and +drakes with them, counting, with the utmost glee, the number of bounds as +they flew along, skimming the surface of the pond. He was a devoted +worshipper of the water-nymphs, for, whenever he found a pool, or even a +small puddle, he would loiter near it, and it was no easy task to get him +to quit it. He had not yet learned that art from which he afterwards +derived so much pleasure--the construction of paper boats. He twisted a +morsel of paper into a form that a lively fancy might consider a likeness +of a boat, and, committing it to the water, he anxiously watched the +fortunes of the frail bark, which, if it was not soon swamped by the faint +winds and miniature waves, gradually imbibed water through its porous +sides, and sank. Sometimes, however, the fairy vessel performed its little +voyage, and reached the opposite shore of the puny ocean in safety. It is +astonishing with what keen delight he engaged in this singular pursuit. It +was not easy for an uninitiated spectator to bear with tolerable patience +the vast delay on the brink of a wretched pond upon a bleak common and in +the face of a cutting north-east wind, on returning to dinner from a long +walk at sunset on a cold winter's day; nor was it easy to be so harsh as +to interfere with a harmless gratification that was evidently exquisite. +It was not easy, at least, to induce the shipbuilder to desist from +launching his tiny fleets, so long as any timber remained in the +dock-yard. I prevailed once and once only. It was one of those bitter +Sundays that commonly receive the new year; the sun had set, and it had +almost begun to snow. I had exhorted him long in vain, with the eloquence +of a frozen and famished man, to proceed. At last I said in +despair--alluding to his never-ending creations, for a paper navy that was +to be set afloat simultaneously lay at his feet, and he was busily +constructing more, with blue and swollen hands--"Shelley, there is no use +in talking to you; you are the Demiurgus of Plato!" He instantly caught up +the whole flotilla, and, bounding homeward with mighty strides, laughed +aloud--laughed like a giant as he used to say. So long as his paper +lasted, he remained riveted to the spot, fascinated by this peculiar +amusement. All waste paper was rapidly consumed, then the covers of +letters; next, letters of little value; the most precious contributions of +the most esteemed correspondent, although eyed wistfully many times and +often returned to the pocket, were sure to be sent at last in pursuit of +the former squadrons. Of the portable volumes which were the companions of +his rambles, and he seldom went out without a book, the fly-leaves were +commonly wanting--he had applied them as our ancestor Noah applied Gopher +wood. But learning was so sacred in his eyes, that he never trespassed +farther upon the integrity of the copy; the work itself was always +respected. It has been said that he once found himself on the north bank +of the Serpentine river without the materials for indulging those +inclinations which the sight of water invariably inspired, for he had +exhausted his supplies on the round pond in Kensington Gardens. Not a +single scrap of paper could be found, save only a bank-post bill for fifty +pounds. He hesitated long, but yielded at last. He twisted it into a boat +with the extreme refinement of his skill, and committed it with the utmost +dexterity to fortune, watching its progress, if possible, with a still +more intense anxiety than usual. Fortune often favours those who frankly +and fully trust her; the north-east wind gently wafted the costly skiff to +the south bank, where, during the latter part of the voyage, the venturous +owner had waited its arrival with patient solicitude. The story, of +course, is a mythic fable, but it aptly pourtrays the dominion of a +singular and most unaccountable passion over the mind of an enthusiast. + +But to return to Oxford. Shelley disliked exceedingly all college +meetings, and especially one which was the most popular with others--the +public dinner in the hall. He used often to absent himself, and he was +greatly delighted whenever I agreed to partake with him in a slight +luncheon at one, to take a long walk into the country and to return after +dark to tea and supper in his rooms. On one of these expeditions we +wandered farther than usual without regarding the distance or the lapse of +time; but we had no difficulty in finding our way home, for the night was +clear and frosty, and the moon at the full; and most glorious was the +spectacle as we approached the City of Colleges, and passed through the +silent streets. It was near ten when we entered our college; not only was +it too late for tea, but supper was ready, the cloth laid, and the table +spread. A large dish of scalloped oysters had been set within the fender +to be kept hot for the famished wanderers. + +Among the innumerable contradictions in the character and deportment of +the youthful poet was a strange mixture of singular grace, which +manifested itself in his actions and gestures, with an occasional +awkwardness almost as remarkable. As soon as we entered the room, he +placed his chair as usual directly in front of the fire, and eagerly +pressed forward to warm himself, for the frost was severe and he was very +sensible of cold. Whilst cowering over the fire and rubbing his hands, he +abruptly set both his feet at once upon the edge of the fender; it +immediately flew up, threw under the grate the dish, which was broken into +two pieces, and the whole of the delicious mess was mingled with the +cinders and ashes, that had accumulated for several hours. It was +impossible that a hungry and frozen pedestrian should restrain a strong +expression of indignation, or that he should forbear, notwithstanding the +exasperation of cold and hunger, from smiling and forgiving the accident +at seeing the whimsical air and aspect of the offender, as he held up with +the shovel the long-anticipated food, deformed by ashes, coals and +cinders, with a ludicrous expression of exaggerated surprise, +disappointment, and contrition. + +It would be easy to fill many volumes with reminiscences characteristic of +my young friend, and of these the most trifling would perhaps best +illustrate his innumerable peculiarities. With the discerning, trifles, +although they are accounted such, have their value. A familiarity with the +daily habits of Shelley, and the knowledge of his demeanour in private, +will greatly facilitate, and they are perhaps even essential to, the full +comprehension of his views and opinions. Traits that unfold an infantine +simplicity--the genuine simplicity of true genius--will be slighted by +those who are ignorant of the qualities that constitute greatness of soul. +The philosophical observer knows well that, to have shown a mind to be +original and perfectly natural, is no inconsiderable step in demonstrating +that it is also great. + +Our supper had disappeared under the grate, but we were able to silence +the importunity of hunger. As the supply of cheese was scanty, Shelley +pretended, in order to atone for his carelessness, that he never ate it; +but I refused to take more than my share, and, notwithstanding his +reiterated declarations that it was offensive to his palate and hurtful to +his stomach, as I was inexorable, he devoured the remainder, greedily +swallowing, not merely the cheese, but the rind also, after scraping it +cursorily, and with a certain tenderness. A tankard of the stout brown ale +of our college aided us greatly in removing the sense of cold, and in +supplying the deficiency of food, so that we turned our chairs towards the +fire, and began to brew our negus as cheerfully as if the bounty of the +hospitable gods had not been intercepted. + +We reposed ourselves after the fatigue of an unusually long walk, and +silence was broken by short remarks only, and at considerable intervals, +respecting the beauty of moonlight scenes, and especially of that we had +just enjoyed. The serenity and clearness of the night exceeded any we had +before witnessed; the light was so strong it would have been easy to read +or write. "How strange was it that light, proceeding from the sun, which +was at such a prodigious distance, and at that time entirely out of sight, +should be reflected from the moon, and that was no trifling journey, and +sent back to the earth in such abundance, and with so great force!" + +Languid expressions of admiration dropped from our lips as we stretched +our stiff and wearied limbs towards the genial warmth of a blazing fire. +On a sudden Shelley started from his seat, seized one of the candles, and +began to walk about the room on tiptoe in profound silence, often stooping +low, and evidently engaged in some mysterious search. I asked him what he +wanted, but he returned no answer, and continued his whimsical and secret +inquisition, which he prosecuted in the same extraordinary manner in the +bedroom and the little study. It had occurred to him that a dessert had +possibly been sent to his rooms whilst we were absent, and had been put +away. He found the object of his pursuit at last, and produced some small +dishes from the study--apples, oranges, almonds and raisins and a little +cake. These he set close together at my side of the table, without +speaking, but with a triumphant look, yet with the air of a penitent +making restitution and reparation, and then resumed his seat. The +unexpected succour was very seasonable; this light fare, a few glasses of +negus, warmth, and especially rest, restored our lost vigour and our +spirits. We spoke of our happy life, of universities, of what they might +be, of what they were. How powerfully they might stimulate the student, +how much valuable instruction they might impart. We agreed that, although +the least possible benefit was conferred upon us in this respect at +Oxford, we were deeply indebted, nevertheless, to the great and good men +of former days, who founded those glorious institutions, for devising a +scheme of life, which, however deflected from its original direction, +still tended to study, and especially for creating establishments that +called young men together from all parts of the empire, and for endowing +them with a celebrity that was able to induce so many to congregate. +Without such an opportunity of meeting we should never have been +acquainted with each other. In so large a body there must doubtless be +many at that time who were equally thankful for the occasion of the like +intimacy, and in former generations how many friendships, that had endured +through all the various trials of a long and eventful life, had arisen +here from accidental communion, as in our case. + +If there was little positive encouragement, there were various negative +inducements to acquire learning; there were no interruptions, no secular +cares; our wants were well supplied without the slightest exertion on our +part, and the exact regularity of academical existence cut off that +dissipation of the hours and the thoughts which so often prevails where +the daily course is not pre-arranged. The necessity of early rising was +beneficial. Like the Pythagoreans of old, we began with the gods; the +salutary attendance in chapel every morning not only compelled us to quit +our bed betimes, but imposed additional duties conducive to habits of +industry. It was requisite not merely to rise, but to leave our rooms, to +appear in public and to remain long enough to destroy the disposition to +indolence which might still linger if we were permitted to remain by the +fireside. To pass some minutes in society, yet in solemn silence, is like +the Pythagorean initiation, and we auspicate the day happily by commencing +with sacred things. I scarcely ever visited Shelley before one o'clock; +when I met him in the morning at chapel, he used studiously to avoid all +communication, and, as soon as the doors were opened, to effect a +ludicrously precipitate retreat to his rooms. + +"The country near Oxford," he continued, as we reposed after our meagre +supper, "has no pretensions to peculiar beauty, but it is quiet, and +pleasant, and rural, and purely agricultural after the good old fashion. +It is not only unpolluted by manufactures and commerce, but it is exempt +from the desecration of the modern husbandry, of a system which accounts +the farmer a manufacturer of hay and corn. I delight to wander over it." +He enlarged upon the pleasure of our pedestrian excursions, and added, "I +can imagine few things that would annoy me more severely than to be +disturbed in our tranquil course. It would be a cruel calamity to be +interrupted by some untoward accident, to be compelled to quit our calm +and agreeable retreat. Not only would it be a sad mortification, but a +real misfortune, for if I remain here I shall study more closely and with +greater advantage than I could in any other situation that I can conceive. +Are you not of the same opinion?" + +"Entirely." + +"I regret only that the period of our residence is limited to four years. +I wish they would revive, for our sake, the old term of six or seven +years. If we consider how much there is for us to learn," here he paused +and sighed deeply through that despondency which sometimes comes over the +unwearied and zealous student, "we shall allow that the longer period +would still be far too short!" + +I assented, and we discoursed concerning the abridgement of the ancient +term of residence, and the diminution of the academical year by frequent, +protracted, and most inconvenient vacations. + +"To quit Oxford," he said, "would be still more unpleasant to you than to +myself, for you aim at objects that I do not seek to compass, and you +cannot fail, since you are resolved to place your success beyond the reach +of chance." + +He enumerated with extreme rapidity, and in his enthusiastic strain, some +of the benefits and comforts of a college life. + +"Then the _oak_ is such a blessing," he exclaimed, with peculiar fervour, +clasping his hands, and repeating often, "The oak is such a blessing!" +slowly and in a solemn tone. "The oak alone goes far towards making this +place a paradise. In what other spot in the world, surely in none that I +have hitherto visited, can you say confidently, it is perfectly +impossible, physically impossible, that I should be disturbed? Whether a +man desire solitary study, or to enjoy the society of a friend or two, he +is secure against interruption. It is not so in a house, not by any means; +there is not the same protection in a house, even in the best-contrived +house. The servant is bound to answer the door; he must appear and give +some excuse; he may betray by hesitation and confusion that he utters a +falsehood; he must expose himself to be questioned; he must open the door +and violate your privacy in some degree; besides, there are other doors, +there are windows, at least, through which a prying eye can detect some +indication that betrays the mystery. How different is it here! The bore +arrives; the outer door is shut; it is black and solemn, and perfectly +impenetrable, as is your secret; the doors are all alike; he can +distinguish mine from yours by the geographical position only. He may +knock; he may call; he may kick, if he will; he may inquire of a +neighbour, but he can inform him of nothing; he can only say, the door is +shut, and this he knows already. He may leave his card, that you may +rejoice over it, and at your escape; he may write upon it the hour when he +proposes to call again, to put you upon your guard, and that he may be +quite sure of seeing the back of your door once more. When the bore meets +you and says, I called at your house at such a time, you are required to +explain your absence, to prove an _alibi_, in short, and perhaps to +undergo a rigid cross-examination; but if he tells you, 'I called at your +rooms yesterday at three, and the door was shut,' you have only to say, +'Did you? Was it?' and there the matter ends." + +"Were you not charmed with your oak? Did it not instantly captivate you?" + +"My introduction to it was somewhat unpleasant and unpropitious. The +morning after my arrival I was sitting at breakfast; my scout, the +Arimaspian, apprehending that the singleness of his eye may impeach his +character for officiousness, in order to escape the reproach of seeing +half as much only as other men, is always striving to prove that he sees +at least twice as far as the most sharp-sighted. After many demonstrations +of superabundant activity, he inquired if I wanted anything more; I +answered in the negative. He had already opened the door: 'Shall I sport, +sir?' he asked briskly, as he stood upon the threshold. He seemed so +unlike a sporting character that I was curious to learn in what sport he +proposed to indulge. I answered, 'Yes, by all means,' and anxiously +watched him, but, to my surprise and disappointment he instantly vanished. +As soon as I had finished my breakfast, I sallied forth to survey Oxford. +I opened one door quickly and, not suspecting that there was a second, I +struck my head against it with some violence. The blow taught me to +observe that every set of rooms has two doors, and I soon learned that the +outer door, which is thick and solid, is called the oak, and to shut it is +termed, to sport. I derived so much benefit from my oak that I soon +pardoned this slight inconvenience. It is surely the tree of knowledge." + +"Who invented the oak?" + +"The inventors of the science of living in rooms or chambers--the Monks." + +"Ah! they were sly fellows. None but men who were reputed to devote +themselves for many hours to prayers, to religious meditations and holy +abstractions, would ever have been permitted quietly to place at pleasure +such a barrier between themselves and the world. We now reap the advantage +of their reputation for sanctity. I shall revere my oak more than ever, +since its origin is so sacred." + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +The sympathies of Shelley were instantaneous and powerful with those who +evinced in any degree the qualities, for which he was himself so +remarkable--simplicity of character, unaffected manners, genuine modesty +and an honest willingness to acquire knowledge, and he sprang to meet +their advances with an ingenuous eagerness which was peculiar to him; but +he was suddenly and violently repelled, like the needle from the negative +pole of the magnet, by any indication of pedantry, presumption or +affectation. So much was he disposed to take offence at such defects, and +so acutely was he sensible of them, that he was sometimes unjust, through +an excessive sensitiveness, in his estimate of those who had shocked him +by sins, of which he was himself utterly incapable. + +Whatever might be the attainments, and however solid the merits of the +persons filling at that time the important office of instructors in the +University, they were entirely destitute of the attractions of manner; +their address was sometimes repulsive, and the formal, priggish tutor was +too often intent upon the ordinary academical course alone to the entire +exclusion of every other department of knowledge: his thoughts were wholly +engrossed by it, and so narrow were his views, that he overlooked the +claims of all merit, however exalted, except success in the public +examinations. + +"They are very dull people here," Shelley said to me one evening, soon +after his arrival, with a long-drawn sigh, after musing a while. "A little +man sent for me this morning and told me in an almost inaudible whisper +that I must read. 'You must read,' he said many times in his small voice. +I answered that I had no objection. He persisted; so, to satisfy him, for +he did not appear to believe me, I told him I had some books in my +pocket, and I began to take them out. He stared at me and said that was +not exactly what he meant. 'You must read _Prometheus Vinctus_, and +Demosthenes _De Corona_ and Euclid.' 'Must I read Euclid?' I asked +sorrowfully. 'Yes, certainly; and when you have read the Greek I have +mentioned, you must begin Aristotle's _Ethics_, and then you may go on his +other treatises. It is of the utmost importance to be well acquainted with +Aristotle.' This he repeated so often that I was quite tired, and at last +I said, 'Must I care about Aristotle? What if I do not mind Aristotle?' I +then left him, for he seemed to be in great perplexity." + +Notwithstanding the slight he had thus cast upon the great master of the +science that has so long been the staple of Oxford, he was not blind to +the value of the science itself. He took the scholastic logic very kindly, +seized its distinctions with his accustomed quickness, felt a keen +interest in the study and patiently endured the exposition of those minute +discriminations, which the tyro is apt to contemn as vain and trifling. + +It should seem that the ancient method of communicating the art of +syllogising has been preserved, in part at least, by tradition in this +university. I have sometimes met with learned foreigners, who understood +the end and object of the scholastic logic, having received the +traditional instruction in some of the old universities on the Continent; +but I never found even one of my countrymen, except Oxonians, who rightly +comprehended the nature of the science. I may, perhaps, add that, in +proportion as the self-taught logicians had laboured in the pursuit, they +had gone far astray. It is possible, nevertheless, that those who have +drunk at the fountain head and have read the _Organon_ of Aristotle in the +original, may have attained to a just comprehension by their unassisted +energies; but in this age and in this country, I apprehend the number of +such adventurous readers is very considerable. + +Shelley frequently exercised his ingenuity in long discussions respecting +various questions in logic, and more frequently indulged in metaphysical +inquiries. We read several metaphysical works together, in whole or in +part, for the first time, or after a previous perusal by one or by both of +us. + +The examination of a chapter of Locke's _Essay Concerning Human +Understanding_ would induce him, at any moment, to quit every other +pursuit. We read together Hume's _Essays_, and some productions of Scotch +metaphysicians of inferior ability--all with assiduous and friendly +altercations, and the latter writers, at least, with small profit, unless +some sparks of knowledge were struck out in the collision of debate. We +read also certain popular French works that treat of man for the most part +in a mixed method, metaphysically, morally and politically. Hume's +_Essays_ were a favourite book with Shelley, and he was always ready to +put forward in argument the doctrines they uphold. + +It may seem strange that he should ever have accepted the sceptical +philosophy, a system so uncongenial with a fervid and imaginative genius, +which can allure the cool, cautious, abstinent reasoner alone, and would +deter the enthusiastic, the fanciful and the speculative. We must bear in +mind, however, that he was an eager, bold, unwearied disputant; and +although the position, in which the sceptic and the materialist love to +entrench themselves, offers no picturesque attractions to the eye of the +poet, it is well adapted for defensive warfare, and it is not easy for an +ordinary enemy to dislodge him, who occupies a post that derives strength +from the weakness of the assailant. It has been insinuated that, whenever +a man of real talent and generous feelings condescends to fight under +these colours, he is guilty of a dissimulation, which he deems harmless, +perhaps even praiseworthy, for the sake of victory in argument. + +It was not a little curious to observe one, whose sanguine temper led him +to believe implicitly every assertion, so that it was improbable and +incredible, exulting in the success of his philosophical doubts, when, +like the calmest and most suspicious of analysts, he refused to admit, +without strict proof, propositions that many, who are not deficient in +metaphysical prudence, account obvious and self-evident. The sceptical +philosophy had another charm; it partook of the new and the wonderful, +inasmuch as it called into doubt, and seemed to place in jeopardy during +the joyous hours of disputation, many important practical conclusions. To +a soul loving excitement and change, destruction, so that it be on a grand +scale, may sometimes prove hardly less inspiring than creation. The feat +of the magician, who, by the touch of his wand, could cause the Great +Pyramid to dissolve into the air and to vanish from the sight, would be as +surprising as the achievement of him, who, by the same rod, could +instantly raise a similar mass in any chosen spot. If the destruction of +the eternal monument was only apparent, the ocular sophism would be at +once harmless and ingenuous: so was it with the logomachy of the young and +strenuous logician, and his intellectual activity merited praise and +reward. + +There was another reason, moreover, why the sceptical philosophy should be +welcome to Shelley at that time: he was young, and it is generally +acceptable to youth. It is adopted as the abiding rule of reason +throughout life, by those only who are distinguished by a sterility of +soul, a barrenness of invention, a total dearth of fancy and a scanty +stock of learning. Such, in truth, although the warmth of juvenile blood, +the light burthen of few years and the precipitation of inexperience may +sometimes seem to contradict the assertion, is the state of the mind at +the commencement of manhood, when the vessel has as yet received only a +small portion of the cargo of the accumulated wisdom of past ages, when +the amount of mental operations that have actually been performed is +small, and the materials upon which the imagination can work are +insignificant; consequently, the inventions of the young are crude and +frigid. + +Hence the most fertile mind exactly resembles in early youth the hopeless +barrenness of those who have grown old in vain as to its actual condition, +and it differs only in the unseen capacity for future production. The +philosopher who declares that he knows nothing, and that nothing can be +known, will readily find followers among the young, for they are sensible +that they possess the requisite qualifications for entering his school, +and are as far advanced in the science of ignorance as their master. + +A stranger who should have chanced to have been present at some of +Shelley's disputes, or who knew him only from having read some of the +short argumentative essays which he composed as voluntary exercises, would +have said, "Surely the soul of Hume passed by transmigration into the body +of that eloquent young man; or, rather, he represents one of the +enthusiastic and animated materialists of the French schools, whom +revolutionary violence lately intercepted at an early age in his +philosophical career." + +There were times, however, when a visitor, who had listened to glowing +discourses delivered with a more intense ardour, would have hailed a young +Platonist, breathing forth the ideal philosophy, and in his pursuit of the +intellectual world entirely overlooking the material or noticing it only +to contemn it. The tall boy, who is permitted for the first season to +scare the partridges with his new fowling-piece, scorns to handle the top +or the hoop of his younger brother; thus the man, whose years and studies +are mature, slights the first feeble aspirations after the higher +departments of knowledge, that were deemed so important during his +residence at college. It seems laughable, but it is true, that our +knowledge of Plato was derived solely from Dacier's translation of a few +of the dialogues, and from an English version of the French translation: +we had never attempted a single sentence in the Greek. Since that time, +however, I believe, few of our countrymen have read the golden works of +that majestic philosopher in the original language more frequently and +more carefully than ourselves; and few, if any, with more profit than +Shelley. Although the source, whence flowed our earliest taste of the +divine philosophy, was scanty and turbid, the draught was not the less +grateful to our lips: our zeal in some measure atoned for our poverty. + +Shelley was never weary of reading, or of listening to me whilst I read, +passages from the dialogues contained in this collection, and especially +from the _Phędo_; and he was vehemently excited by the striking doctrines +which Socrates unfolds, especially by that which teaches that all our +knowledge consists of reminiscences of what we had learned in a former +existence. He often rose, paced slowly about the room, shook his long, +wild locks and discoursed in a solemn tone and with a mysterious air, +speculating concerning our previous condition, and the nature of our life +and occupations in that world, where, according to Plato, we had attained +to erudition, and had advanced ourselves in knowledge so far that the most +studious and the most inventive, or, in other words, those who have the +best memory, are able to call back a part only, and with much pain and +extreme difficulty, of what was formerly familiar to us. + +It is hazardous, however, to speak of his earliest efforts as a Platonist, +lest they should be confounded with his subsequent advancement; it is not +easy to describe his first introduction to the exalted wisdom of antiquity +without borrowing inadvertently from the knowledge which he afterwards +acquired. The cold, ungenial, foggy atmosphere of northern metaphysics was +less suited to the ardent temperament of his soul than the warm, bright, +vivifying climate of southern and eastern philosophy. His genius expanded +under the benign influence of the latter, and he derived copious +instruction from a luminous system, that is only dark through excess of +brightness, and seems obscure to vulgar vision through its extreme +radiance. Nevertheless, in argument--and to argue on all questions was his +dominant passion--he usually adopted the scheme of the sceptics, partly, +perhaps, because it was more popular and is more generally understood. The +disputant, who would use Plato as his text-book in this age, would reduce +his opponents to a small number indeed. + +The study of that highest department of ethics, which includes all the +inferior branches and is directed towards the noblest and most important +ends of jurisprudence, was always next my heart; at an early age it +attracted my attention. + +When I first endeavoured to turn the regards of Shelley towards this +engaging pursuit, he strongly expressed a very decided aversion to such +inquiries, deeming them worthless and illiberal. The beautiful theory of +the art of right, and the honourable office of administering distributive +justice, have been brought into general discredit, unhappily for the best +interests of humanity, and to the vast detriment of the state, into +unmerited disgrace in the modern world by the errors of practitioners. An +ingenuous mind instinctively shrinks from the contemplation of legal +topics, because the word law is associated with, and inevitably calls up +the idea of the low chicanery of a pettifogging attorney, of the vulgar +oppression and gross insolence of a bailiff, or at best, of the wearisome +and unmeaning tautology that distends an Act of Parliament, and the dull +dropsical compositions of the special pleader, the conveyancer or other +draughtsman. + +In no country is this unhappy debasement of a most illustrious science +more remarkable than in our own; no other nation is so prone to, or so +patient of, abuses; in no other land are posts, in themselves honourable, +so accessible to the meanest. The spirit of trade favours the degradation, +and every commercial town is a well-spring of vulgarity, which sends +forth hosts of practitioners devoid of the solid and elegant attainments +which could sustain the credit of the science, but so strong in the +artifices that insure success, as not only to monopolise the rewards due +to merit, but sometimes even to climb the judgment-seat. + +It is not wonderful, therefore, that generous minds, until they have been +taught to discriminate, and to distinguish a noble science from ignoble +practices, should usually confound them together, hastily condemning the +former with the latter. Shelley listened with much attention to questions +of natural law, and with the warm interest that he felt in all +metaphysical disquisitions, after he had conquered his first prejudice +against practical jurisprudence. + +The science of right, like other profound and extensive sciences, can only +be acquired completely when the foundations have been laid at an early +age. Had the energies of Shelley's vigorous mind taken this direction at +that time, it is impossible to doubt that he would have become a +distinguished jurist. Besides that fondness for such inquiries which is +necessary to success in any liberal pursuit, he displayed the most acute +sensitiveness of injustice, however slight, and a vivid perception of +inconvenience. As soon as a wrong, arising from a proposed enactment or a +supposed decision, was suggested, he instantly rushed into the opposite +extreme; and when a greater evil was shown to result from the contrary +course which he had so hastily adopted, his intellect was roused, and he +endeavoured most earnestly to ascertain the true mean that would secure +the just by avoiding the unjust extremes. + +I have observed in young men that the propensity to plunge headlong into a +net of difficulty, on being startled at an apparent want of equity in any +rule that was propounded, although at first it might seem to imply a lack +of caution and foresight--which are eminently the virtues of legislators +and of judges--was an unerring prognostic of a natural aptitude for +pursuits, wherein eminence is inconsistent with an inertness of the moral +sense, and a recklessness of the violation of rights, however remote and +trifling. Various instances of such aptitude in Shelley might be +furnished, but these studies are interesting to a limited number of +persons only. + +As the mind of Shelley was apt to acquire many of the most valuable +branches of liberal knowledge, so there were other portions comprised +within the circle of science, for the reception of which, however active +and acute, it was entirely unfit. He rejected with marvellous impatience +every mathematical discipline that was offered; no problem could awaken +the slightest curiosity, nor could he be made sensible of the beauty of +any theorem. The method of demonstration had no charm for him. He +complained of the insufferable prolixity and the vast tautology of Euclid +and the other ancient geometricians; and when the discoveries or modern +analysts were presented, he was immediately distracted, and fell into +endless musings. + +With respect to the Oriental tongues, he coldly observed that the +appearance of the characters was curious. Although he perused with more +than ordinary eagerness the relations of travellers in the East and the +translations of the marvellous tales of Oriental fancy, he was not +attracted by the desire to penetrate the languages which veil these +treasures. He would never deign to lend an ear or an eye for a moment to +my Hebrew studies, in which I had made at that time some small progress; +nor could he be tempted to inquire into the value of the singular lore of +the Rabbins. + +He was able, like the many, to distinguish a violet from a sunflower and a +cauliflower from a peony, but his botanical knowledge was more limited +than that of the least skilful of common observers, for he was neglectful +of flowers. He was incapable of apprehending the delicate distinctions of +structure which form the basis of the beautiful classification of modern +botanists. I was never able to impart even a glimpse of the merits of Ray +or Linnęus, or to encourage a hope that he would ever be competent to see +the visible analogies that constitute the marked, yet mutually approaching +_genera_, into which the productions of nature, and especially vegetables, +are divided. + +It may seem invidious to notice imperfections in a mind of the highest +order, but the exercise of a due candour, however unwelcome, is required +to satisfy those who were not acquainted with Shelley, that the admiration +excited by his marvellous talents and manifold virtues in all who were so +fortunate as to enjoy the opportunity of examining his merits by frequent +intercourse, was not the result of the blind partiality that amiable and +innocent dispositions, attractive manners and a noble and generous bearing +sometimes create. + +Shelley was always unwilling to visit the remarkable specimens of +architecture, the objects of art, and the various antiquities that adorn +Oxford; although, if he encountered them by accident, and they were +pointed out to him, he admired them more sincerely and heartily than the +generality of strangers, who, through compliance with fashion, +ostentatiously sought them out. His favourite recreation, as I have +already stated, was a free, unrestrained ramble into the country. + +After quitting the city and its environs by walking briskly along the +highway for several miles, it was his delight to strike boldly into the +fields, to cross the country daringly on foot, as is usual with sportsmen +when shooting; to perform, as it were, a pedestrian steeplechase. He was +strong, light and active, and in all respects well suited for such +exploits, and we used frequently to traverse a considerable tract in this +manner, especially when the frost had dried the land, had given complete +solidity to the most treacherous paths, and had thrown a natural bridge +over spots that in open weather during the winter would have been nearly +impassable. + +By resolutely piercing through a district in this manner we often stumbled +upon objects in our humble travels that created a certain surprise and +interest; some of them are still fresh in my recollection. My susceptible +companion was occasionally much delighted and strongly excited by +incidents that would, perhaps, have seemed unimportant trifles to others. + +One day we had penetrated somewhat farther than usual, for the ground was +in excellent order, and as the day was intensely cold, although bright and +sunny, we had pushed on with uncommon speed. I do not remember the +direction we took; nor can I even determine on which side of the Thames +our course lay. We had crossed roads and lanes, and had traversed open +fields and inclosures; some tall and ancient trees were on our right hand; +we skirted a little wood, and presently came to a small copse. It was +guarded by an old hedge, or thicket; we were deflected, therefore, from +our onward course towards the left, and we were winding round it, when the +quick eye of my companion perceived a gap. He instantly dashed in with as +much alacrity as if he had suddenly caught a glimpse of a pheasant that +he had lately wounded in a district where such game was scarce, and he +disappeared in a moment. + +I followed him, but with less ardour, and, passing through a narrow belt +of wood and thicket, I presently found him standing motionless in one of +his picturesque attitudes, riveted to the earth in speechless +astonishment. He had thrown himself thus precipitately into a trim +flower-garden of small dimensions, encompassed by a narrow, but close +girdle of trees and underwood; it was apparently remote from all +habitations, and it contrasted strongly with the bleak and bare country +through which we had recently passed. + +Had the secluded scene been bright with the gay flowers of spring, with +hyacinths and tulips; had it been powdered with mealy auriculas or +conspicuous for a gaudy show of all anemones and of every ranuculus; had +it been profusely decorated by the innumerable roses of summer, it would +be easy to understand why it was so cheerful. But we were now in the very +heart of winter, and after much frost scarcely a single wretched brumal +flower lingered and languished. There was no foliage save the dark leaves +of evergreens, and of them there were many, especially around and on the +edges of the magic circle, on which account, possibly, but chiefly perhaps +through the symmetry of the numerous small _parterres_, the scrupulous +neatness of the corresponding walks, the just ordonnance and disposition +of certain benches, the integrity and freshness of the green trellises, +and of the skeletons of some arbours, and through every leafless +excellence which the dried anatomy of a flower-garden can exhibit, its +past and its future wealth seemed to shine forth in its present poverty, +and its potential glories adorned its actual disgrace. + +The sudden transition from the rugged fields to this garnished and +decorated retreat was striking, and held my imagination captive a few +moments. The impression, however, would probably have soon faded from my +memory, had it not been fixed there by the recollection of the beings who +gave animation and a permanent interest to the polished nook. + +We admired the trim and retired garden for some minutes in silence, and +afterwards each answered in monosyllables the other's brief expressions of +wonder. Neither of us had advanced a single step beyond the edge of the +thicket which we had entered; but I was about to precede, and to walk +round the magic circle, in order fully to survey the place, when Shelley +startled me by turning with astonishing rapidity, and dashing through the +bushes and the gap in the fence with the mysterious and whimsical agility +of a kangaroo. Had he caught a glimpse of a tiger crouching behind the +laurels, and preparing to spring upon him, he could not have vanished more +promptly or more silently. I was habituated to his abrupt movements, +nevertheless his alacrity surprised me, and I tried in vain to discover +what object had scared him away. I retired, therefore, to the gap, and +when I reached it, I saw him already at some distance, proceeding with +gigantic strides nearly in the same route by which we came. I ran after +him, and when I rejoined him, he had halted upon a turnpike-road and was +hesitating as to the course he ought to pursue. It was our custom to +advance across the country as far as the utmost limits of our time would +permit, and to go back to Oxford by the first public road we found, after +attaining the extreme distance to which we could venture to wander. + +Having ascertained the route homeward, we pursued it quickly, as we were +wont, but less rapidly than Shelley had commenced his hasty retreat. He +had perceived that the garden was attached to a gentleman's house, and he +had consequently quitted it thus precipitately. I had already observed on +the right a winding path that led through a plantation to certain offices, +which showed that a house was about a quarter of a mile from the spot +where I then stood. + +Had I been aware that the garden was connected with a residence, I +certainly should not have trespassed upon it; but, having entered +unconsciously, and since the owner was too far removed to be annoyed by +observing the intrusion, I was tempted to remain a short time to examine a +spot which, during my brief visit, seemed so singular. The superior and +highly sensitive delicacy of my companion instantly took the alarm on +discovering indications of a neighbouring mansion; hence his marvellous +precipitancy in withdrawing himself from the garnished retirement he had +unwittingly penetrated, and we advanced some distance along the road +before he had entirely overcome his modest confusion. + +Shelley had looked on the ornate inclosure with a poet's eye, and as we +hastily pursued our course towards Oxford by the frozen and sounding way, +whilst the day rapidly declined, he discoursed of it fancifully, and with +a more glowing animation than ordinary, like one agitated by a divine +fury, and by the impulse of inspiring deity. He continued, indeed, so +long to enlarge upon the marvels of the enchanted grove, that I hinted the +enchantress might possibly be at hand, and since he was so eloquent +concerning the nest, what would have been his astonishment had he been +permitted to see the bird herself. + +He sometimes described, with a curious fastidiousness, the qualities which +a female must possess to kindle the fire of love in his bosom. The +imaginative youth supposed that he was to be moved by the most absolute +perfection alone. It is equally impossible to doubt the exquisite +refinement of his taste, or the boundless power of the most mighty of +divinities; to refuse to believe that he was a just and skilful critic of +feminine beauty and grace, and of whatever is attractive, or that he was +never practically as blind, at the least, as men of ordinary talent. How +sadly should we disparage the triumphs of Love were we to maintain that he +is able to lead astray the senses of the vulgar alone! + +In the theory of love, however, a poet will rarely err. Shelley's lively +fancy had painted a goodly portraiture of the mistress of the fair garden, +nor were apt words wanting to convey to me a faithful copy of the bright +original. It would be a cruel injustice to an orator should a plain man +attempt, after a silence of more than twenty years, to revive his glowing +harangue from faded recollections. I will not seek, therefore, to pourtray +the likeness of the ideal nymph of the flower-garden. + +"Since your fairy gardener," I said, "has so completely taken possession +of your imagination," and he was wonderfully excited by the unexpected +scene and his own splendid decorations, "it is a pity we did not notice +the situation, for I am quite sure I should not be able to return thither, +to recover your Eden and the Eve, whom you created to till it, and I doubt +whether you could guide me." + +He acknowledged that he was as incapable of finding it again as of leading +me to that paradise to which I had compared it. + +"You may laugh at my enthusiasm," he continued, "but you must allow that +you were not less struck by the singularity of that mysterious corner of +the earth than myself. You are equally entitled, therefore, to dwell +there, at least, in fancy, and to find a partner whose character will +harmonise with the genius of the place." + +He then declared, that thenceforth it should be deemed the possession of +two tutelary nymphs, not of one; and he proceeded with unabated fervour to +delineate the second patroness, and to distinguish her from the first. + +"No!" he exclaimed, pausing in the rapid career of words, and for a while +he was somewhat troubled, "the seclusion is too sweet, too holy, to be the +theatre of ordinary love; the love of the sexes, however pure, still +retains some taint of earthly grossness; we must not admit it within the +sanctuary." + +He was silent for several minutes, and his anxiety visibly increased. + +"The love of a mother for a child is more refined; it is more +disinterested, more spiritual; but," he added, after some reflection, +"the very existence of the child still connects it with the passion which +we have discarded," and he relapsed into his former musings. + +"The love a sister bears towards a sister," he exclaimed abruptly, and +with an air of triumph, "is unexceptionable." + +This idea pleased him, and as he strode along he assigned the trim garden +to two sisters, affirming, with the confidence of an inventor, that it +owed its neatness to the assiduous culture of their neat hands; that it +was their constant haunt; the care of it their favourite pastime, and its +prosperity, next after the welfare of each other, the chief wish of both. +He described their appearance, their habits, their feelings, and drew a +lovely picture of their amiable and innocent attachment; of the meek and +dutiful regard of the younger, which partook, in some degree, of filial +reverence, but was more facile and familiar; and of the protecting, +instructing, hoping fondness of the elder, that resembled maternal +tenderness, but had less of reserve and more of sympathy. In no other +relation could the intimacy be equally perfect; not even between brothers, +for their life is less domestic: there is a separation in their pursuits, +and an independence in the masculine character. The occupations of all +females of the same age and rank are the same, and by night sisters +cherish each other in the same quiet nest. Their union wears not only the +grace of delicacy, but of fragility also; for it is always liable to be +suddenly destroyed by the marriage of either party, or, at least, to be +interrupted and suspended for an indefinite period. + +He depicted so eloquently the excellence of sisterly affection, and he +drew so distinctly and so minutely the image of two sisters, to whom he +chose to ascribe the unusual comeliness of the spot into which we had +unintentionally intruded, that the trifling incident has been impressed +upon my memory, and has been intimately associated in my mind, through his +creations, with his poetic character. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +The prince of Roman eloquence affirms that the good man alone can be a +perfect orator, and truly; for without the weight of a spotless reputation +it is certain that the most artful and elaborate discourse must want +authority--the main ingredient in persuasion. + +The position is, at least, equally true of the poet, whose grand strength +always lies in the ethical force of his compositions, and these are great +in proportion to the efficient greatness of their moral purpose. If, +therefore, we would criticise poetry correctly, and from the foundation, +it behoves us to examine the morality of the bard. + +In no individual, perhaps, was the moral sense ever more completely +developed than in Shelley; in no being was the perception of right and of +wrong more acute. The biographer who takes upon himself the pleasing and +instructive, but difficult and delicate task of composing a faithful +history of his whole life, will frequently be compelled to discuss the +important questions, whether his conduct, at certain periods, was +altogether such as ought to be proposed for imitation; whether he was ever +misled by an ardent imagination, a glowing temperament, something of +hastiness in choice and a certain constitutional impatience; whether, like +less gifted mortals, he ever shared in the common portion of +mortality--repentance, and to what extent? + +Such inquiries, however, do not fall within the compass of a brief +narrative of his career at the University. The unmatured mind of a boy is +capable of good intentions only and of generous and kindly feelings, and +these were pre-eminent in him. It will be proper to unfold the excellence +of his dispositions, not for the sake of vain and empty praise, but simply +to show his aptitude to receive the sweet fury of the Muses. + +His inextinguishable thirst for knowledge, his boundless philanthropy, his +fearless, it may be his almost imprudent pursuit of truth have been +already exhibited. If mercy to beasts be a criterion of a good man, +numerous instances of extreme tenderness would demonstrate his worth. I +will mention one only. + +We were walking one afternoon in Bagley wood; on turning a corner we +suddenly came upon a boy who was driving an ass. It was very young and +very weak, and was staggering beneath a most disproportionate load of +faggots, and he was belabouring its lean ribs angrily and violently with a +short, thick, heavy cudgel. + +At the sight of cruelty Shelley was instantly transported far beyond the +usual measure of excitement. He sprang forward and was about to interpose +with energetic and indignant vehemence. I caught him by the arm and to his +present annoyance held him back, and with much difficulty persuaded him to +allow me to be the advocate of the dumb animal. His cheeks glowed with +displeasure and his lips murmured his impatience during my brief dialogue +with the young tyrant. + +"That is a sorry little ass, boy," I said; "it seems to have scarcely any +strength." + +"None at all; it is good for nothing." + +"It cannot get on; it can hardly stand. If anybody could make it go, you +would; you have taken great pains with it." + +"Yes, I have; but it is to no purpose!" + +"It is of little use striking it, I think." + +"It is not worth beating. The stupid beast has got more wood now than it +can carry; it can hardly stand, you see!" + +"I suppose it put it upon its back itself?" + +The boy was silent; I repeated the question. + +"No; it has not sense enough for that," he replied, with an incredulous +leer. + +By dint of repeated blows he had split his cudgel, and the sound caused by +the divided portion had alarmed Shelley's humanity. I pointed to it and +said, "You have split your stick; it is not good for much now." + +He turned it, and held the divided end in his hand. + +"The other end is whole, I see, but I suppose you could split that too on +the ass's back, if you chose; it is not so thick." + +"It is not so thick, but it is full of knots. It would take a great deal +of trouble to split it, and the beast is not worth that; it would do no +good!" + +"It would do no good, certainly; and if anybody saw you, he might say that +you were a savage young ruffian and that you ought to be served in the +same manner yourself." + +The fellow looked at me in some surprise, and sank into sullen silence. + +He presently threw his cudgel into the wood as far as he was able, and +began to amuse himself by pelting the birds with pebbles, leaving my +long-eared client to proceed at its own pace, having made up his mind, +perhaps, to be beaten himself, when he reached home, by a tyrant still +more unreasonable than himself, on account of the inevitable default of +his ass. + +Shelley was satisfied with the result of our conversation, and I repeated +to him the history of the injudicious and unfortunate interference of Don +Quixote between the peasant, John Haldudo, and his servant, Andrew. +Although he reluctantly admitted that the acrimony of humanity might often +aggravate the sufferings of the oppressed by provoking the oppressor, I +always observed that the impulse of generous indignation, on witnessing +the infliction of pain, was too vivid to allow him to pause and consider +the probable consequences of the abrupt interposition of the +knight-errantry, which would at once redress all grievances. Such +exquisite sensibility and a sympathy with suffering so acute and so +uncontrolled may possibly be inconsistent with the calmness and +forethought of the philosopher, but they accord well with the high +temperature of a poet's blood. + +As his port had the meekness of a maiden, so the heart of the young virgin +who had never crossed her father's threshold to encounter the rude world, +could not be more susceptible of all the sweet domestic charities than +his: in this respect Shelley's disposition would happily illustrate the +innocence and virginity of the Muses. + +In most men, and especially in very young men, an excessive addiction to +study tends to chill the heart and to blunt the feelings, by engrossing +the attention. Notwithstanding his extreme devotion to literature, and +amidst his various and ardent speculations, he retained a most +affectionate regard for his relations, and particularly for the females of +his family; it was not without manifest joy that he received a letter from +his mother or his sisters. + +A child of genius is seldom duly appreciated by the world during his life, +least of all by his own kindred. The parents of a man of talent may claim +the honour of having given him birth, yet they commonly enjoy but little +of his society. Whilst we hang with delight over the immortal pages, we +are apt to suppose that the gifted author was fondly cherished; that a +possession so uncommon and so precious was highly prized; that his +contemporaries anxiously watched his going out and eagerly looked for his +coming in; for we should ourselves have borne him tenderly in our hands, +that he might not dash his foot against a stone. Surely such an one was +given in charge to angels, we cry. On the contrary, Nature appears most +unaccountably to slight a gift that she gave grudgingly, as if it were of +small value, and easily replaced. + +An unusual number of books, Greek or Latin classics, each inscribed with +the name of the donor, which had been presented to him, according to +custom, on quitting Eton, attested that Shelley had been popular among his +schoolfellows. Many of them were then at Oxford, and they frequently +called at his rooms. Although he spoke of them with regard, he generally +avoided their society, for it interfered with his beloved study, and +interrupted the pursuits to which he ardently and entirely devoted +himself. + +In the nine centuries that elapsed from the time of our great founder, +Alfred, to our days, there never was a student who more richly merited the +favour and assistance of a learned body, or whose fruitful mind would have +repaid with a larger harvest the labour of careful and judicious +cultivation. And such cultivation he was well entitled to receive. Nor did +his scholar-like virtues merit neglect, still less to be betrayed, like +the young nobles of Falisci, by a traitorous schoolmaster to an enemy less +generous than Camillus. No student ever read more assiduously. He was to +be found book in hand at all hours, reading in season and out of season, +at table, in bed and especially during a walk; not only in the quiet +country and in retired paths; not only at Oxford in the public walks and +High Street, but in the most crowded thoroughfares of London. Nor was he +less absorbed by the volume that was open before him in Cheapside, in +Cranbourne Alley or in Bond Street, than in a lonely lane, or a secluded +library. + +Sometimes a vulgar fellow would attempt to insult or annoy the eccentric +student in passing. Shelley always avoided the malignant interruption by +stepping aside with his vast and quiet agility. + +Sometimes I have observed, as an agreeable contrast to these wretched men, +that persons of the humblest station have paused and gazed with respectful +wonder as he advanced, almost unconscious of the throng, stooping low, +with bent knees and outstretched neck, poring earnestly over the volume, +which he extended before him; for they knew this, although the simple +people knew but little, that an ardent scholar is worthy of deference, and +that the man of learning is necessarily the friend of humanity, and +especially of the many. I never beheld eyes that devoured the pages more +voraciously than his. I am convinced that two-thirds of the period of the +day and night were often employed in reading. It is no exaggeration to +affirm, that out of the twenty-four hours he frequently read sixteen. At +Oxford his diligence in this respect was exemplary, but it greatly +increased afterwards, and I sometimes thought that he carried it to a +pernicious excess. I am sure, at least, that I was unable to keep pace +with him. + +On the evening of a wet day, when we had read with scarcely any +intermission from an early hour in the morning, I have urged him to lay +aside his book. It required some extravagance to rouse him to join +heartily in conversation; to tempt him to avoid the chimney-piece on which +commonly he had laid the open volume. + +"If I were to read as long as you read, Shelley, my hair and my teeth +would be strewed about on the floor, and my eyes would slip down my cheeks +into my waistcoat pockets, or, at least, I should become so weary and +nervous that I should not know whether it were so or not." + +He began to scrape the carpet with his feet, as if teeth were actually +lying upon it, and he looked fixedly at my face, and his lively fancy +represented the empty sockets. His imagination was excited, and the spell +that bound him to his books was broken, and, creeping close to the fire, +and, as it were, under the fireplace, he commenced a most animated +discourse. + +Few were aware of the extent, and still fewer, I apprehend, of the +profundity of his reading. In his short life and without ostentation he +had in truth read more Greek than many an aged pedant, who with pompous +parade prides himself upon this study alone. Although he had not entered +critically into the minute niceties of the noblest of languages, he was +thoroughly conversant with the valuable matter it contains. A pocket +edition of Plato, of Plutarch, of Euripides, without interpretation or +notes, or of the Septuagint, was his ordinary companion; and he read the +text straightforward for hours, if not as readily as an English author, +at least with as much facility as French, Italian or Spanish. + +"Upon my soul, Shelley, your style of going through a Greek book is +something quite beautiful!" was the wondering exclamation of one who was +himself no mean student. + +As his love of intellectual pursuits was vehement, and the vigour of his +genius almost celestial, so were the purity and sanctity of his life most +conspicuous. + +His food was plain and simple as that of a hermit, with a certain +anticipation, even at this time, of a vegetable diet, respecting which he +afterwards became an enthusiast in theory, and in practice an irregular +votary. + +With his usual fondness for moving the abstruse and difficult questions of +the highest theology, he loved to inquire whether man can justify, on the +ground of reason alone, the practice of taking the life of the inferior +animals, except in the necessary defence of his life and of his means of +life, the fruits of that field which he has tilled, from violence and +spoliation. + +"Not only have considerable sects," he would say, "denied the right +altogether, but those among the tender-hearted and imaginative people of +antiquity, who accounted it lawful to kill and eat, appear to have doubted +whether they might take away life merely for the use of man alone. They +slew their cattle, not simply for human guests, like the less scrupulous +butchers of modern times, but only as a sacrifice, for the honour and in +the name of the Deity; or, rather, of those subordinate divinities, to +whom, as they believed, the Supreme Being had assigned the creation and +conservation of the visible material world. As an incident to these pious +offerings, they partook of the residue of the victims, of which, without +such sanction and sanctification, they would not have presumed to taste. +So reverent was the caution of humane and prudent antiquity!" + +Bread became his chief sustenance when his regimen attained to that +austerity which afterwards distinguished it. He could have lived on bread +alone without repining. When he was walking in London with an +acquaintance, he would suddenly run into a baker's shop, purchase a +supply, and breaking a loaf he would offer half of it to his companion. + +"Do you know," he said to me one day, with much surprise, "that such an +one does not like bread? Did you ever know a person who disliked bread?" +And he told me that a friend had refused such an offer. + +I explained to him that the individual in question probably had no +objection to bread in a moderate quantity at a proper time and with the +usual adjuncts, and was only unwilling to devour two or three pounds of +dry bread in the streets, and at an early hour. + +Shelley had no such scruple; his pockets were generally well-stored with +bread. A circle upon the carpet, clearly defined by an ample verge of +crumbs, often marked the place where he had long sat at his studies, his +face nearly in contact with his book, greedily devouring bread at +intervals amidst his profound abstractions. For the most part he took no +condiments; sometimes, however, he ate with his bread the common raisins +which are used in making puddings, and these he would buy at little mean +shops. + +He was walking one day in London with a respectable solicitor who +occasionally transacted business for him. With his accustomed +precipitation he suddenly vanished and as suddenly reappeared: he had +entered the shop of a little grocer in an obscure quarter, and had +returned with some plums, which he held close under the attorney's nose, +and the man of fact was as much astonished at the offer as his client, the +man of fancy, at the refusal. + +The common fruit of stalls, and oranges and apples were always welcome to +Shelley; he would crunch the latter as heartily as a schoolboy. +Vegetables, and especially salads, and pies and puddings were acceptable. +His beverage consisted of copious and frequent draughts of cold water, but +tea was ever grateful, cup after cup, and coffee. Wine was taken with +singular moderation, commonly diluted largely with water, and for a long +period he would abstain from it altogether. He avoided the use of spirits +almost invariably, and even in the most minute portions. + +Like all persons of simple tastes, he retained his sweet tooth. He would +greedily eat cakes, gingerbread and sugar; honey, preserved or stewed +fruit with bread, were his favourite delicacies. These he thankfully and +joyfully received from others, but he rarely sought for them or provided +them for himself. The restraint and protracted duration of a convivial +meal were intolerable; he was seldom able to keep his seat during the +brief period assigned to an ordinary family dinner. + +These particulars may seem trifling, if indeed anything can be little that +has reference to a character truly great; but they prove how much he was +ashamed that his soul was in body, and illustrate the virgin abstinence of +a mind equally favoured by the Muses, the Graces and Philosophy. It is +true, however, that his application at Oxford, although exemplary, was not +so unremitting as it afterwards became; nor was his diet, although +singularly temperate, so meagre. However, his mode of living already +offered a foretaste of the studious seclusion and absolute renunciation of +every luxurious indulgence which ennobled him a few years later. + +Had a parent desired that his children should be exactly trained to an +ascetic life and should be taught by an eminent example to scorn delights +and to live laborious days, that they should behold a pattern of native +innocence and genuine simplicity of manners, he would have consigned them +to his house as to a temple or to some primitive and still unsophisticated +monastery. + +It is an invidious thing to compose a perpetual panegyric, yet it is +difficult to speak of Shelley, and impossible to speak justly, without +often praising him. It is difficult also to divest myself of later +recollections; to forget for a while what he became in days subsequent, +and to remember only what he then was, when we were fellow-collegians. It +is difficult, moreover, to view him with the mind which I then bore--with +a young mind, to lay aside the seriousness of old age; for twenty years of +assiduous study have induced, if not in the body, at least within, +something of premature old age. + +It now seems an incredible thing, and altogether inconceivable, when I +consider the gravity of Shelley and his invincible repugnance to the +comic, that the monkey tricks of the schoolboy could have still lingered, +but it is certain that some slight vestiges still remained. The +metaphysician of eighteen actually attempted once or twice to electrify +the son of his scout, a boy like a sheep, by name James, who roared aloud +with ludicrous and stupid terror, whenever Shelley affected to bring by +stealth any part of his philosophical apparatus near to him. + +As Shelley's health and strength were visibly augmented, if by accident he +was obliged to accept a more generous diet than ordinary, and as his mind +sometimes appeared to be exhausted by never-ending toil, I often blamed +his abstinence and his perpetual application. It is the office of a +University, of a public institution for education, not only to apply the +spur to the sluggish, but also to rein in the young steed, that, being too +mettlesome, hastens with undue speed towards the goal. + +"It is a very odd thing, but every woman can live with my lord and do just +what she pleases with him, except my lady!" Such was the shrewd remark, +which a long familiarity taught an old and attached servant to utter +respecting his master, a noble poet. + +We may wonder in like manner, and deeply lament, that the most docile, the +most facile, the most pliant, the most confident creature that ever was +led through any of the various paths on earth, that a tractable youth, who +was conducted at pleasure by anybody that approached him--it might be +occasionally by persons delegated by no legitimate authority--was never +guided for a moment by those upon whom, fully and without reservation, +that most solemn and sacred obligation had been imposed, strengthened, +morever, by every public and private, official and personal, moral, +political and religious tie, which the civil polity of a long succession +of ages could accumulate. Had the University been in fact, as in name, a +kind nursing-mother to the most gifted of her sons, to one, who seemed, to +those that knew him best,-- + + Heaven's exile straying from the orb of light; + +had that most awful responsibility, the right institution of those, to +whom are to be consigned the government of the country and the +conservation of whatever good human society has elaborated and +excogitated, duly weighed upon the consciences of his instructors, they +would have gained his entire confidence by frank kindness, they would have +repressed his too eager impatience to master the sum of knowledge, they +would have mitigated the rigorous austerity of his course of living, and +they would have remitted the extreme tension of his soul by reconciling +him to liberal mirth; convincing him that, if life be not wholly a jest, +there are at least many comic scenes occasionally interspersed in the +great drama. Nor is the last benefit of trifling importance, for, as an +unseemly and excessive gravity is usually the sign of a dull fellow, so is +the prevalence of this defect the characteristic of an unlearned and +illiberal age. + +Shelley was actually offended, and indeed more indignant than would appear +to be consistent with the singular mildness of his nature, at a coarse and +awkward jest, especially if it were immodest or uncleanly; in the latter +case his anger was unbounded, and his uneasiness pre-eminent. He was, +however, sometimes vehemently delighted by exquisite and delicate sallies, +particularly with a fanciful, and perhaps somewhat fantastical +facetiousness--possibly the more because he was himself utterly incapable +of pleasantry. + +In every free state, in all countries that enjoy republican institutions, +the view which each citizen takes of politics is an essential ingredient +in the estimate of his ethical character. The wisdom of a very young man +is but foolishness. Nevertheless, if we would rightly comprehend the moral +and intellectual constitution of the youthful poet, it will be expedient +to take into account the manner in which he was affected towards the grand +political questions, at a period when the whole of the civilised world was +agitated by a fierce storm of excitement, that, happily for the peace and +well-being of society, is of rare occurrence. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +"Above all things, Liberty!" The political creed of Shelley may be +comprised in a few words; it was, in truth, that of most men, and in a +peculiar manner of young men, during the freshness and early springs of +revolutions. He held that not only is the greatest possible amount of +civil liberty to be preferred to all other blessings, but that this +advantage is all-sufficient, and comprehends within itself every other +desirable object. The former position is as unquestionably true as the +latter is undoubtedly false. It is no small praise, however, to a very +young man, to say that on a subject so remote from the comprehension of +youth his opinions were at least half right. Twenty years ago the young +men at our Universities were satisfied with upholding the political +doctrines of which they approved by private discussions. They did not +venture to form clubs of brothers and to move resolutions, except a small +number of enthusiasts of doubtful sanity, who alone sought to usurp by +crude and premature efforts the offices of a matured understanding and of +manly experience. + +Although our fellow-collegians were willing to learn before they took upon +themselves the heavy and thankless charge of instructing others, there was +no lack of beardless politicians amongst us. Of these, some were more +strenuous supporters of the popular cause in our little circles than +others; but all were abundantly liberal. A Brutus or a Gracchus would have +found many to surpass him, and few, indeed, to fall short in theoretical +devotion to the interests of equal freedom. I can scarcely recollect a +single exception amongst my numerous acquaintances. All, I think were +worthy of the best ages of Greece or of Rome; all were true, loyal +citizens, brave and free. How, indeed, could it be otherwise? Liberty is +the morning-star of youth; and those who enjoy the inappreciable blessing +of a classical education, are taught betimes to lisp its praises. They are +nurtured in the writings of its votaries, and they even learn their native +tongue, as it were, at secondhand, and reflected in the glorious pages of +the authors, who in the ancient languages and in strains of a noble +eloquence, that will never fail to astonish succeeding generations, +proclaim unceasingly, with every variety of powerful and energetic phrase, +"Above all things, Liberty!" The praises of liberty were the favourite +topic of our earliest verses, whether they flowed with natural ease, or +were elaborated painfully out of the resources of art; and the tyrant was +set up as an object of scorn, to be pelted with the first ink of our +themes. How, then, can an educated youth be other than free? + +Shelley was entirely devoted to the lovely theory of freedom; but he was +also eminently averse at that time from engaging in the far less beautiful +practices, wherein are found the actual and operative energies of +liberty. I was maintaining against him one day at my rooms the superiority +of the ethical sciences over the physical. In the course of the debate he +cried with shrill vehemence--for as his aspect presented to the eye much +of the elegance of the peacock, so, in like manner, he cruelly lacerated +the ear with its discordant tones--"You talk of the pre-eminence of moral +philosophy? Do you comprehend politics under that name? and will you tell +me, as others do, and as Plato, I believe, teaches, that of this +philosophy the political department is the highest and the most +important?" Without expecting an answer, he continued: "A certain +nobleman" (and he named him) "advised me to turn my thoughts towards +politics immediately. 'You cannot direct your attention that way too early +in this country,' said the Duke. 'They are the proper career for a young +man of ability and of your station in life. That course is the most +advantageous, because it is a monopoly. A little success in that line goes +far, since the number of competitors is limited; and of those who are +admitted to the contest, the greater part are altogether devoid of talent +or too indolent to exert themselves. So many are excluded, that, of the +few who are permitted to enter, it is difficult to find any that are not +utterly unfit for the ordinary service of the state. It is not so in the +church, it is not so at the bar; there all may offer themselves. The +number of rivals in those professions is far greater, and they are, +besides, of a more formidable kind. In letters, your chance of success is +still worse. There, none can win gold and all may try to gain reputation; +it is a struggle for glory--the competition is infinite, there are no +bounds--that is a spacious field indeed, a sea without shores!' The Duke +talked thus to me many times and strongly urged me to give myself up to +politics without delay, but he did not persuade me. With how unconquerable +an aversion do I shrink from political articles in newspapers and reviews? +I have heard people talk politics by the hour, and how I hated it and +them! I went with my father several times to the House of Commons, and +what creatures did I see there! What faces! what an expression of +countenance! what wretched beings!" Here he clasped his hands, and raised +his voice to a painful pitch, with fervid dislike. "Good God! what men did +we meet about the House, in the lobbies and passages; and my father was so +civil to all of them, to animals that I regarded with unmitigated disgust! +A friend of mine, an Eton man, told me that his father once invited some +corporation to dine at his house, and that he was present. When dinner was +over, and the gentlemen nearly drunk, they started up, he said, and swore +they would all kiss his sisters. His father laughed and did not forbid +them, and the wretches would have done it; but his sisters heard of the +infamous proposal, and ran upstairs, and locked themselves in their +bedrooms. I asked him if he would not have knocked them down if they had +attempted such an outrage in his presence. It seems to me that a man of +spirit ought to have killed them if they had effected their purpose." The +sceptical philosopher sat for several minutes in silence, his cheeks +glowing with intense indignation. + +"Never did a more finished gentleman than Shelley step across a +drawing-room!" Lord Byron exclaimed; and on reading the remark in Mr +Moore's _Memoirs_ I was struck forcibly by its justice, and wondered for a +moment that, since it was so obvious, it had never been made before. +Perhaps this excellence was blended so intimately with his entire nature, +and it seemed to constitute a part of his identity, and being essential +and necessary was therefore never noticed. I observed his eminence in this +respect before I had sat beside him many minutes at our first meeting in +the hall of University College. Since that day I have had the happiness to +associate with some of the best specimens of gentlemen; but with all due +deference for those admirable persons (may my candour and my preference be +pardoned), I can affirm that Shelley was almost the only example I have +yet found that was never wanting, even in the most minute particular, of +the infinite and various observances of pure, entire and perfect +gentility. Trifling, indeed, and unimportant, were the aberrations of some +whom I could name; but in him, during a long and most unusual familiarity, +I discovered no flaw, no tarnish; the metal was sterling, and the polish +absolute. I have also seen him, although rarely, "stepping across a +drawing-room," and then his deportment, as Lord Byron testifies, was +unexceptionable. Such attendances, however, were pain and grief to him, +and his inward discomfort was not hard to be discerned. + +An acute observer, whose experience of life was infinite, and who had been +long and largely conversant with the best society in each of the principal +capitals of Europe, had met Shelley, of whom he was a sincere admirer, +several times in public. He remarked one evening, at a large party where +Shelley was present, his extreme discomfort, and added, "It is but too +plain that there is something radically wrong in the constitution of our +assemblies, since such a man finds not pleasure, nor even ease, in them." +His speculations concerning the cause were ingenious, and would possibly +be not altogether devoid of interest; but they are wholly unconnected with +the object of these scanty reminiscences. + +Whilst Shelley was still a boy, clubs were few in number, of small +dimensions, and generally confined to some specific class of persons. The +universal and populous clubs of the present day were almost unknown. His +reputation has increased so much of late, that the honour of including his +name in the list of members, were such a distinction happily attainable, +would now perhaps be sought by many of these societies; but it is not less +certain, that, for a period of nearly twenty years, he would have been +black-balled by almost every club in London. Nor would such a fate be +peculiar to him. + +When a great man has attained to a certain eminence, his patronage is +courted by those who were wont carefully to shun him, whilst he was +quietly and steadily pursuing the path that would inevitably lead to +advancement. It would be easy to multiply instances, if proofs were +needed, and this remarkable peculiarity of our social existence is an +additional and irrefragable argument that the constitution of refined +society is radically vicious, since it flatters timid, insipid mediocrity, +and is opposed to the bold, fearless originality, and to that novelty +which invariably characterise true genius. The first dawnings of talent +are instantly hailed and warmly welcomed, as soon as some singularity +unequivocally attests its existence amongst nations where hypocrisy and +intolerance are less absolute. + +If all men were required to name the greatest disappointment they had +respectively experienced, the catalogue would be very various; accordingly +as the expectations of each had been elevated respecting the pleasure that +would attend the gratification of some favourite wish, would the reality +in almost every case have fallen short of the anticipation. The variety +would be infinite as to the nature of the first disappointment; but if the +same irresistible authority could command that another and another should +be added to the list, it is probable that there would be less +dissimilarity in the returns of the disappointments which were deemed +second and the next in the importance to the greatest, and perhaps, in +numerous instances, the third would coincide. Many individuals, having +exhausted their principal private and peculiar grievances in the first and +second examples, would assign the third place to some public and general +matter. + +The youth who has formed his conceptions of the power, effects and aspect +of eloquence from the specimens furnished by the orators of Greece and +Rome, receives as rude a shock on his first visit to the House of Commons +as can possibly be inflicted on his juvenile expectations, where the +subject is entirely unconnected with the interests of the individual. A +prodigious number of persons would, doubtless, inscribe nearly at the top +of the list of disappointments the deplorable and inconceivable +inferiority of the actual to the imaginary debate. It is not wonderful, +therefore, that the sensitive, the susceptible, the fastidious Shelley, +whose lively fancy was easily wound up to a degree of excitement +incomprehensible to calmer and more phlegmatic temperaments, felt keenly a +mortification that can wound even the most obtuse intellects, and +expressed with contemptuous acrimony his dissatisfaction at the cheat +which his warm imagination had put upon him. Had he resolved to enter the +career of politics, it is possible that habit would have reconciled him to +many things which at first seemed to be repugnant to his nature. It is +possible that his unwearied industry, his remarkable talents and vast +energy would have led him to renown in that line as well as in another; +but it is most probable that his parliamentary success would have been but +moderate. Opportunities of advancement were offered to him, and he +rejected them, in the opinion of some of his friends unwisely and +improperly; but, perhaps, he only refused gifts that were unfit for him: +he struck out a path for himself, and, by boldly following his own course, +greatly as it deviated from that prescribed to him, he became +incomparably more illustrious than he would have been had he steadily +pursued the beaten track. His memory will be green when the herd of +everyday politicians are forgotten. Ordinary rules may guide ordinary men, +but the orbit of the child of genius is essentially eccentric. + +Although the mind of Shelley had certainly a strong bias towards +democracy, and he embraced with an ardent and youthful fondness the theory +of political equality, his feelings and behaviour were in many respects +highly aristocratical. The ideal republic, wherein his fancy loved to +expatiate, was adorned by all the graces which Plato, Xenophon and Cicero +have thrown around the memory of ancient liberty; the unbleached web of +transatlantic freedom, and the inconsiderate vehemence of such of our +domestic patriots as would demonstrate their devotion to the good cause, +by treating with irreverence whatever is most venerable, were equally +repugnant to his sensitive and reverential spirit. + +As a politician Shelley was in theory wholly a republican, but in +practice, so far only as it is possible to be one with due regard for the +sacred rights of a scholar and a gentleman; and these being in his eyes +always more inviolable than any scheme of polity or civil institution, +although he was upon paper and in discourse a sturdy commonwealth-man, the +living, moving, acting individual had much of the senatorial and +conservative, and was in the main eminently patrician. + +The rare assiduity of the young poet in the acquisition of general +knowledge has been already described; he had, moreover, diligently studied +the mechanism of his art before he came to Oxford. He composed Latin +verses with singular facility. On visiting him soon after his arrival at +the accustomed hour of one, we were writing the usual exercise, which we +presented, I believe, once a week--a Latin translation of a paper in the +_Spectator_. He soon finished it, and as he held it before the fire to +dry, I offered to take it from him. He said it was not worth looking at; +but as I persisted, through a certain scholastic curiosity to examine the +Latinity of my new acquaintance, he gave it to me. The Latin was +sufficiently correct, but the version was paraphrastic, which I observed. +He assented, and said that it would pass muster, and he felt no interest +in such efforts and no desire to excel in them. I also noticed many +portions of heroic verses, and even several entire verses, and these I +pointed out as defects in a prose composition. He smiled archly, and +asked, in his piercing whisper, "Do you think they will observe them? I +inserted them intentionally to try their ears! I once showed up a theme at +Eton to old Keate, in which there were a great many verses; but he +observed them, scanned them, and asked why I had introduced them? I +answered that I did not know they were there. This was partly true and +partly false; but he believed me, and immediately applied to me the line +in which Ovid says of himself-- + + 'Et quod tentabam dicere, versus erat.'" + +Shelley then spoke of the facility with which he could compose Latin +verses; and, taking the paper out of my hand, he began to put the entire +translation into verse. He would sometimes open at hazard a prose writer, +as Livy or Sallust, and, by changing the position of the words and +occasionally substituting others, he would translate several sentences +from prose to verse--to heroic, or more commonly elegiac, verse, for he +was peculiarly charmed with the graceful and easy flow of the latter--with +surprising rapidity and readiness. He was fond of displaying this +accomplishment during his residence at Oxford, but he forgot to bring it +away with him when he quitted the University; or perhaps he left it behind +him designedly, as being suitable to academic groves only and to the banks +of the Isis. In Ovid the facility of versification in his native tongue +was possibly in some measure innate, although the extensive and various +learning of that poet demonstrate that the power of application was not +wanting in him; but such a command over a dead language can only be +acquired through severe study. + +There is much in the poetry of Shelley that seems to encourage the belief, +that the inspiration of the Muses was seldom duly hailed by the pious +diligence of the recipient. It is true that his compositions were too +often unfinished, but his example cannot encourage indolence in the +youthful writer, for his carelessness is usually apparent only. He had +really applied himself as strenuously to conquer all the other +difficulties of his art, as he patiently laboured to penetrate the +mysteries of metre in the state wherein it exists entire and can alone be +attained--in one of the classical languages. + +The poet takes his name from the highest effort of his art--creation; and, +being himself a maker, he must, of necessity, feel a strong sympathy with +the exercise of the creative energies. Shelley was exceedingly deficient +in mechanical ingenuity; and he was also wanting in spontaneous curiosity +respecting the operations of artificers. The wonderful dexterity of +well-practised hands, the long tradition of innumerable ages, and the +vast accumulation of technical wisdom that are manifested in the various +handicrafts, have always been interesting to me, and I have ever loved to +watch the artist at his work. I have often induced Shelley to take part in +such observations, and although he never threw himself in the way of +professors of the manual erudition of the workshop, his vivid delight in +witnessing the marvels of the plastic hand, whenever they were brought +before his eyes, was very striking; and the rude workman was often +gratified to find that his merit in one narrow field was, at once and +intuitively, so fully appreciated by the young scholar. The instances are +innumerable that would attest an unusual sympathy with the arts of +construction even in their most simple stages. + +I led him one summer's evening into a brickfield. It had never occurred to +him to ask himself how a brick is formed; the secret was revealed in a +moment. He was charmed with the simple contrivance, and astonished at the +rapidity, facility and exactness with which it was put in use by so many +busy hands. An ordinary observer would have smiled and passed on, but the +son of fancy confessed his delight with an energy which roused the +attention even of the ragged throng, that seemed to exist only that they +might pass successive lumps of clay through a wooden frame. + +I was surprised at the contrast between the general indifference of +Shelley for the mechanical arts and his intense admiration of a particular +application of one of them the first time I noticed the latter +peculiarity. During our residence at Oxford I repaired to his rooms one +morning at the accustomed hour, and I found a tailor with him. He had +expected to receive a new coat on the preceding evening; it was not sent +home and he was mortified. I know not why, for he was commonly altogether +indifferent about dress, and scarcely appeared to distinguish one coat +from another. He was now standing erect in the middle of the room in his +new blue coat, with all its glittering buttons, and, to atone for the +delay, the tailor was loudly extolling the beauty of the cloth and the +felicity of the fit; his eloquence had not been thrown away upon his +customer, for never was man more easily persuaded than the master of +persuasion. The man of thimbles applied to me to vouch his eulogies. I +briefly assented to them. He withdrew, after some bows, and Shelley, +snatching his hat, cried with shrill impatience,-- + +"Let us go!" + +"Do you mean to walk in the fields in your new coat?" I asked. + +"Yes, certainly," he answered, and we sallied forth. + +We sauntered for a moderate space through lanes and by-ways, until we +reached a spot near to a farmhouse, where the frequent trampling of much +cattle had rendered the road almost impassable, and deep with black mud; +but by crossing the corner of a stack-yard, from one gate to another, we +could tread upon clean straw, and could wholly avoid the impure and +impracticable slough. + +We had nearly effected the brief and commodious transit--I was stretching +forth my hand to open the gate that led us back into the lane--when a +lean, brindled and most ill-favoured mastiff, that had stolen upon us +softly over the straw unheard and without barking, seized Shelley suddenly +by the skirts. I instantly kicked the animal in the ribs with so much +force that I felt for some days after the influence of his gaunt bones on +my toe. The blow caused him to flinch towards the left, and Shelley, +turning round quickly, planted a kick in his throat, which sent him +sprawling, and made him retire hastily among the stacks, and we then +entered the lane. The fury of the mastiff, and the rapid turn, had torn +the skirts of the new blue coat across the back, just about that part of +the human loins which our tailors, for some wise but inscrutable purpose, +are wont to adorn with two buttons. They were entirely severed from the +body, except a narrow strip of cloth on the left side, and this Shelley +presently rent asunder. + +I never saw him so angry either before or since. He vowed that he would +bring his pistols and shoot the dog, and that he would proceed at law +against the owner. The fidelity of the dog towards his master is very +beautiful in theory, and there is much to admire and to revere in this +ancient and venerable alliance; but, in practice, the most unexceptionable +dog is a nuisance to all mankind, except his master, at all times, and +very often to him also, and a fierce surly dog is the enemy of the whole +human race. The farmyards in many parts of England are happily free from a +pest that is formidable to everybody but thieves by profession; in other +districts savage dogs abound, and in none so much, according to my +experience, as in the vicinity of Oxford. The neighbourhood of a still +more famous city--of Rome--is likewise infested by dogs, more lowering, +more ferocious and incomparably more powerful. + +Shelley was proceeding home with rapid strides, bearing the skirts of his +new coat on his left arm, to procure his pistols that he might wreak his +vengeance upon the offending dog. I disliked the race, but I did not +desire to take an ignoble revenge upon the miserable individual. + +"Let us try to fancy, Shelley," I said to him, as he was posting away in +indignant silence, "that we have been at Oxford, and have come back again, +and that you have just laid the beast low--and what then?" + +He was silent for some time, but I soon perceived, from the relaxation of +his pace, that his anger had relaxed also. + +At last he stopped short, and taking the skirts from his arm, spread them +upon the hedge, stood gazing at them with a mournful aspect, sighed deeply +and, after a few moments, continued his march. + +"Would it not be better to take the skirts with us?" I inquired. + +"No," he answered despondingly; "let them remain as a spectacle for men +and gods!" + +We returned to Oxford, and made our way by back streets to our college. As +we entered the gates the officious scout remarked with astonishment +Shelley's strange spencer, and asked for the skirts, that he might +instantly carry the wreck to the tailor. Shelley answered, with his +peculiarly pensive air, "They are upon the hedge." + +The scout looked up at the clock, at Shelley and through the gate into the +street, as it were at the same moment and with one eager glance, and would +have run blindly in quest of them, but I drew the skirts from my pocket +and unfolded them, and he followed us to Shelley's rooms. + +We were sitting there in the evening at tea, when the tailor, who had +praised the coat so warmly in the morning, brought it back as fresh as +ever, and apparently uninjured. It had been fine-drawn. He showed how +skilfully the wound had been healed, and he commended at some length the +artist who had effected the cure. Shelley was astonished and delighted. +Had the tailor consumed the new blue coat in one of his crucibles, and +suddenly raised it, by magical incantation, a fresh and purple Phoenix +from the ashes, his admiration could hardly have been more vivid. It +might be, in this instance, that his joy at the unexpected restoration of +a coat, for which, although he was utterly indifferent to dress, he had, +through some unaccountable caprice, conceived a fondness, gave force to +his sympathy with art; but I have remarked in innumerable cases, where no +personal motive could exist, that he was animated by all the ardour of a +maker in witnessing the display of the creative energies. + +Nor was the young poet less interested by imitation, especially the +imitation of action, than by the creative arts. Our theatrical +representations have long been degraded by a most pernicious monopoly, by +vast abuses and enormous corruptions, and by the prevalence of bad taste. +Far from feeling a desire to visit the theatres, Shelley would have +esteemed it a cruel infliction to have been compelled to witness +performances that less fastidious critics have deemed intolerable. He +found delight, however, in reading the best of our English dramas, +particularly the masterpieces of Shakespeare, and he was never weary of +studying the more perfect compositions of the Attic tragedians. The +lineaments of individual character may frequently be traced more certainly +and more distinctly in trifles than in more important affairs; for in the +former the deportment, even of the boldest and more ingenuous, is more +entirely emancipated from every restraint. I recollect many minute traits +that display the inborn sympathy of a brother practitioner in the mimetic +arts. One silly tale, because, in truth, it is the most trivial of all, +will best illustrate the conformation of his mind; its childishness, +therefore, will be pardoned. + +A young man of studious habits and of considerable talent occasionally +derived a whimsical amusement, during his residence at Cambridge, from +entering the public-houses in the neighbouring villages, whilst the +fen-farmers and other rustics were smoking and drinking, and from +repeating a short passage of a play, or a portion of an oration, which +described the death of a distinguished person, the fatal result of a +mighty battle, or other important events, in a forcible manner. He +selected a passage of which the language was nearly on a level with vulgar +comprehension, or he adapted one by somewhat mitigating its elevation; +and, although his appearance did not bespeak histrionic gifts, he was able +to utter it impressively and, what was most effective, not theatrically, +but simply and with the air of a man who was in earnest; and if he were +interrupted or questioned, he could slightly modify the discourse, without +materially changing the sense, to give it a further appearance of reality; +and so staid and sober was the gravity of his demeanour as to render it +impossible for the clowns to solve the wonder by supposing that he was +mad. During his declamation the orator feasted inwardly on the stupid +astonishment of his petrified audience, and he further regaled himself +afterwards by imagining the strange conjectures that would commence at his +departure. + +Shelley was much interested by the account I gave him of this curious +fact, from the relation of two persons, who had witnessed the +performance. He asked innumerable questions, which I was in general quite +unable to answer; and he spoke of it as something altogether miraculous, +that anyone should be able to recite extraordinary events in such a manner +as to gain credence. As he insisted much upon the difficulty of the +exploit, I told him that I thought he greatly over-estimated it, I was +disposed to believe that it was in truth easy; that faith and a certain +gravity were alone needed. I had been struck by the story, when I first +heard it; and I had often thought of the practicability of imitating the +deception, and although I had never proceeded so far myself, I had once or +twice found it convenient to attempt something similar. At these words +Shelley drew his chair close to mine, and listened with profound silence +and intense curiosity. + +I was walking one afternoon in the summer on the western side of that +short street leading from Long Acre to Covent Garden, wherein the +passenger is earnestly invited, as a personal favour to the demandant, to +proceed straightway to Highgate or to Kentish Town, and which is called, I +think, James Street. I was about to enter Covent Garden, when an Irish +labourer, whom I met, bearing an empty hod, accosted me somewhat roughly, +and asked why I had run against him. I told him briefly that he was +mistaken. Whether somebody had actually pushed the man, or he sought only +to quarrel--and although he doubtless attended a weekly row regularly, and +the week was already drawing to a close, he was unable to wait until +Sunday for a broken head--I know not; but he discoursed for some time with +the vehemence of a man who considers himself injured or insulted, and he +concluded, being emboldened by my long silence, with a cordial invitation +just to push him again. Several persons, not very unlike in costume, had +gathered round him, and appeared to regard him with sympathy. When he +paused, I addressed to him slowly and quietly, and it should seem with +great gravity, these words, as nearly as I can recollect them:-- + +"I have put my hand into the hamper; I have looked upon the sacred barley; +I have eaten out of the drum! I have drunk and was well pleased! I have +said _Konx ompax_, and it is finished!" + +"Have you, sir?" inquired the astonished Irishman, and his ragged friends +instantly pressed round him with "Where is the hamper, Paddy?" "What +barley?" and the like. And ladies from his own country--that is to say, +the basket-women, suddenly began to interrogate him, "Now, I say, Pat, +where have you been drinking? What have you had?" + +I turned therefore to the right, leaving the astounded neophyte, whom I +had thus planted, to expound the mystic words of initiation as he could to +his inquisitive companions. + +As I walked slowly under the piazzas, and through the streets and courts, +towards the west, I marvelled at the ingenuity of Orpheus--if he were +indeed the inventor of the Eleusinian mysteries--that he was able to +devise words that, imperfectly as I had repeated them, and in the tattered +fragment that has reached us, were able to soothe people so savage and +barbarous as those to whom I had addressed them, and which, as the +apologists for those venerable rites affirm, were manifestly well adapted +to incite persons, who hear them for the first time, however rude they may +be, to ask questions. Words, that can awaken curiosity, even in the +sluggish intellect of a wild man, and can thus open the inlet of +knowledge! + + * * * * * + +"_Konx ompax_, and it is finished!" exclaimed Shelley, crowing with +enthusiastic delight at my whimsical adventure. A thousand times, as he +strode about the house, and in his rambles out of doors, would he stop and +repeat aloud the mystic words of initiation, but always with an energy of +manner, and a vehemence of tone and of gesture that would have prevented +the ready acceptance, which a calm, passionless delivery had once procured +for them. How often would he throw down his book, clasp his hands, and +starting from his seat, cry suddenly, with a thrilling voice, "I have said +_Konx ompax_, and it is finished!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +As our attention is most commonly attracted by those departments of +knowledge which are striking and remarkable, rather than by those which +are really useful, so, in estimating the character of an individual, we +are prone to admire extraordinary intellectual powers and uncommon +energies of thought, and to overlook that excellence which is, in truth, +the most precious--his moral value. Was the subject of biography +distinguished by a vast erudition? Was he conspicuous for an original +genius? for a warm and fruitful fancy? Such are the implied questions +which we seek to resolve by consulting the memoirs of his life. We may +sometimes desire to be informed whether he was a man of nice honour and +conspicuous integrity; but how rarely do we feel any curiosity with +respect to that quality which is, perhaps, the most important to his +fellows--how seldom do we desire to measure his benevolence! It would be +impossible faithfully to describe the course of a single day in the +ordinary life of Shelley without showing incidentally and unintentionally, +that his nature was eminently benevolent--and many minute traits, pregnant +with proof, have been already scattered by the way; but it would be an +injustice to his memory to forbear to illustrate expressly, but briefly, +in leave-taking, the ardent, devoted, and unwearied love he bore his kind. + +A personal intercourse could alone enable the observer to discern in him a +soul ready winged for flight and scarcely detained by the fetters of body: +that happiness was, if possible, still more indispensable to open the view +of the unbounded expanse of cloudless philanthropy--pure, disinterested, +and unvaried--the aspect of which often filled with mute wonder the minds +of simple people, unable to estimate a penetrating genius, a docile +sagacity, a tenacious memory, or, indeed, any of the various ornaments of +the soul. + +Whenever the intimate friends of Shelley speak of him in general terms, +they speedily and unconsciously fall into the language of panegyric--a +style of discourse that is barren of instruction, wholly devoid of +interest, and justly suspected by the prudent stranger. It becomes them, +therefore, on discovering the error they have committed, humbly to entreat +the forgiveness of the charitable for human infirmity, oppressed and +weighed down by the fulness of the subject--carefully to abstain in future +from every vague expression of commendation, and faithfully to relate a +plain, honest tale of unadorned facts. + +A regard for children, singular and touching, is an unerring and most +engaging indication of a benevolent mind. That this characteristic was not +wanting in Shelley might be demonstrated by numerous examples which crowd +upon the recollection, each of them bearing the strongly impressed stamp +of individuality; for genius renders every surrounding circumstance +significant and important. In one of our rambles we were traversing the +bare, squalid, ugly, corn-yielding country, that lies, if I remember +rightly, to the south-west of Oxford. The hollow road ascended a hill, and +near the summit Shelley observed a female child leaning against the bank +on the right; it was of a mean, dull and unattractive aspect, and older +than its stunted growth denoted. The morning, as well as the preceding +night, had been rainy; it had cleared up at noon with a certain ungenial +sunshine, and the afternoon was distinguished by that intense cold which +sometimes, in the winter season, terminates such days. The little girl was +oppressed by cold, by hunger and by a vague feeling of abandonment. It was +not easy to draw from her blue lips an intelligible history of her +condition. Love, however, is at once credulous and apprehensive; and +Shelley immediately decided that she had been deserted, and with his +wonted precipitation (for in the career of humanity his active spirit knew +no pause), he proposed different schemes for the permanent relief of the +poor foundling, and he hastily inquired which of them was the most +expedient. I answered that it was desirable, in the first place, to try to +procure some food, for of this the want was manifestly the most urgent. I +then climbed the hill to reconnoitre, and observed a cottage close at +hand, on the left of the road. With considerable difficulty--with a gentle +violence indeed--Shelley induced the child to accompany him thither. After +much delay, we procured from the people of the place, who resembled the +dull, uncouth and perhaps sullen rustics of that district, some warm milk. + +It was a strange spectacle to watch the young poet, whilst, with the +enthusiastic and intensely earnest manner that characterises the +legitimate brethren of the celestial art--the heaven-born and fiercely +inspired sons of genuine poesy--holding the wooden bowl in one hand and +the wooden spoon in the other, and kneeling on his left knee, that he +might more certainly attain to her mouth. He urged and encouraged the +torpid and timid child to eat. The hot milk was agreeable to the girl, +and its effects were salutary; but she was obviously uneasy at the +detention. Her uneasiness increased, and ultimately prevailed. We returned +with her to the place where we had found her, Shelley bearing the bowl of +milk in his hand. Here we saw some people anxiously looking for the +child--a man and, I think, four women, strangers of the poorest class, of +a mean but not disreputable appearance. As soon as the girl perceived them +she was content, and taking the bowl from Shelley, she finished the milk +without his help. + +Meanwhile, one of the women explained the apparent desertion with a +multitude of rapid words. They had come from a distance, and to spare the +weary child the fatigue of walking farther, the day being at that time +sunny, they left her to await their return. Those unforeseen delays, which +harass all, and especially the poor, in transacting business, had detained +them much longer than they had anticipated. + +Such, in a few words, is the story which was related in many, and which +the little girl, who, it was said, was somewhat deficient in +understanding as well as in stature, was unable to explain. So humble was +the condition of these poor wayfaring folks that they did not presume to +offer thanks in words; but they often turned back, and with mute wonder +gazed at Shelley who, totally unconscious that he had done anything to +excite surprise, returned with huge strides to the cottage to restore the +bowl and to pay for the milk. As the needy travellers pursued their +toilsome and possibly fruitless journey, they had at least the +satisfaction to reflect that all above them were not desolated by a dreary +apathy, but that some hearts were warm with that angelic benevolence +towards inferiors in which still higher natures, as we are taught, largely +participate. + +Shelley would often pause, halting suddenly in his swift course, to admire +the children of the country people; and after gazing on a sweet and +intelligent countenance, he would exhibit, in the language and with an +aspect of acute anguish, his intense feeling of the future sorrows and +sufferings--of all the manifold evils of life which too often distort, by +a mean and most disagreeable expression, the innocent, happy and engaging +lineaments of youth. He sometimes stopped to observe the softness and +simplicity that the face and gestures of a gentle girl displayed, and he +would surpass her gentleness by his own. + +We were strolling once in the neighbourhood of Oxford when Shelley was +attracted by a little girl. He turned aside, and stood and observed her in +silence. She was about six years of age, small and slight, bare-headed, +bare-legged, and her apparel variegated and tattered. She was busily +employed in collecting empty snail-shells, so much occupied, indeed, that +some moments elapsed before she turned her face towards us. When she did +so, we perceived that she was evidently a young gipsy; and Shelley was +forcibly struck by the vivid intelligence of her wild and swarthy +countenance, and especially by the sharp glance of her fierce black eyes. +"How much intellect is here!" he exclaimed; "in how humble a vessel, and +what an unworthy occupation for a person who once knew perfectly the whole +circle of the sciences; who has forgotten them all, it is true, but who +could certainly recollect them, although most probably she will never do +so, will never recall a single principle of all of them!" + +As he spoke he turned aside a bramble with his foot and discovered a large +shell which the alert child instantly caught up and added to her store. At +the same moment a small stone was thrown from the other side of the road; +it fell in the hedge near us. We turned round and saw on the top of a high +bank a boy, some three years older than the girl, and in as rude a guise. +He was looking at us over a low hedge, with a smile, but plainly not +without suspicion. We might be two kidnappers, he seemed to think; he was +in charge of his little sister, and did not choose to have her stolen +before his face. He gave the signal, therefore, and she obeyed it, and had +almost joined him before we missed her from our side. They both +disappeared, and we continued our walk. + +Shelley was charmed with the intelligence of the two children of nature, +and with their marvellous wildness. He talked much about them, and +compared them to birds and to the two wild leverets, which that wild +mother, the hare, produces. We sauntered about, and, half an hour +afterwards, on turning a corner, we suddenly met the two children again +full in the face. The meeting was unlooked for, and the air of the boy +showed that it was unpleasant to him. He had a large bundle of dry sticks +under his arm; these he gently dropped and stood motionless with an +apprehensive smile--a deprecatory smile. We were perhaps the lords of the +soil, and his patience was prepared, for patience was his lot--an +inalienable inheritance long entailed upon his line--to hear a severe +reproof with heavy threats, possibly even to receive blows with a stick +gathered by himself not altogether unwittingly for his own back, or to +find mercy and forbearance. Shelley's demeanour soon convinced him that he +had nothing to fear. He laid a hand on the round, matted, knotted, bare +and black head of each, viewed their moving, mercurial countenances with +renewed pleasure and admiration, and, shaking his long locks, suddenly +strode away. "That little ragged fellow knows as much as the wisest +philosopher," he presently cried, clapping the wings of his soul and +crowing aloud with shrill triumph at the felicitous union of the true with +the ridiculous, "but he will not communicate any portion of his knowledge. +It is not from churlishness, however, for of that his nature is plainly +incapable; but the sophisticated urchin will persist in thinking he has +forgotten all that he knows so well. I was about to ask him myself to +communicate some of the doctrines Plato unfolds in his _Dialogues_; but I +felt that it would do no good; the rogue would have laughed at me, and so +would his little sister. I wonder you did not propose to them some +mathematical questions: just a few interrogations in your geometry; for +that being so plain and certain, if it be once thoroughly understood, can +never be forgotten!" + +A day or two afterwards (or it might be on the morrow), as we were +rambling in the favourite region at the foot of Shotover Hill, a gipsy's +tent by the roadside caught Shelley's eye. Men and women were seated on +the ground in front of it, watching a pot suspended over a smoky fire of +sticks. He cast a passing glance at the ragged group, but immediately +stopped on recognising the children, who remembered us and ran laughing +into the tent. Shelley laughed also and waved his hand, and the little +girl returned the salutation. + +There were many striking contrasts in the character and behaviour of +Shelley, and one of the most remarkable was a mixture or alternation of +awkwardness with agility, of the clumsy with the graceful. He would +stumble in stepping across the floor of a drawing-room; he would trip +himself up on a smooth-shaven grass-plot, and he would tumble in the most +inconceivable manner in ascending the commodious, facile, and +well-carpeted staircase of an elegant mansion, so as to bruise his nose or +his lip on the upper steps, or to tread upon his hands, and even +occasionally to disturb the composure of a well-bred footman; on the +contrary, he would often glide without collision through a crowded +assembly, thread with unerring dexterity a most intricate path, or +securely and rapidly tread the most arduous and uncertain ways. As soon as +he saw the children enter the tent he darted after them with his peculiar +agility, followed them into their low, narrow and fragile tenement, +penetrated to the bottom of the tent without removing his hat or striking +against the woven edifice. He placed a hand on each round, rough head, +spoke a few kind words to the skulking children, and then returned not +less precipitously, and with as much ease and accuracy as if he had been a +dweller in tents from the hour when he first drew air and milk to that +day, as if he had been the descendant, not of a gentle house, but of a +long line of gipsies. His visit roused the jealousy of a stunted, feeble +dog, which followed him, and barked with helpless fury; he did not heed +it nor, perhaps, hear it. The company of gipsies were astonished at the +first visit that had ever been made by a member of either University to +their humble dwelling; but, as its object was evidently benevolent, they +did not stir or interfere, but greeted him on his return with a silent and +unobserved salutation. He seized my arm, and we prosecuted our +speculations as we walked briskly to our college. + +The marvellous gentleness of his demeanour could conciliate the least +sociable natures, and it had secretly touched the wild things which he had +thus briefly noticed. + +We were wandering through the roads and lanes at a short distance from the +tent soon afterwards, and were pursuing our way in silence. I turned round +at a sudden sound--the young gipsy had stolen upon us unperceived, and +with a long bramble had struck Shelley across the skirts of his coat. He +had dropped his rod, and was returning softly to the hedge. + +Certain misguided persons, who, unhappily for themselves, were incapable +of understanding the true character of Shelley, have published many false +and injurious calumnies respecting him--some for hire, others drawing +largely out of the inborn vulgarity of their own minds, or from the +necessary malignity of ignorance--but no one ever ventured to say that he +was not a good judge of an orange. At this time, in his nineteenth year, +although temperate, he was less abstemious in his diet than he afterwards +became, and he was frequently provided with some fine samples. As soon as +he understood the rude but friendly welcome to the heaths and lanes, he +drew an orange from his pocket and rolled it after the retreating gipsy +along the grass by the side of the wide road. The boy started with +surprise as the golden fruit passed him, quickly caught it up and joyfully +bore it away, bending reverently over it and carrying it with both his +hands, as if, together with almost the size, it had also the weight of a +cannon-ball. + +His passionate fondness of the Platonic philosophy seemed to sharpen his +natural affection for children, and his sympathy with their innocence. +Every true Platonist, he used to say, must be a lover of children, for +they are our masters and instructors in philosophy. The mind of a new-born +infant, so far from being, as Locke affirms, a sheet of blank paper, is a +pocket edition containing every dialogue, a complete Elzevir Plato, if we +can fancy such a pleasant volume, and moreover a perfect encyclopedia, +comprehending not only the newest discoveries, but all those still more +valuable and wonderful inventions that will hereafter be made. + +One Sunday we had been reading Plato together so diligently that the usual +hour of exercise passed away unperceived. We sallied forth hastily to take +the air for half an hour before dinner. In the middle of Magdalen Bridge +we met a woman with a child in her arms. Shelley was more attentive at +that instant to our conduct in a life that was past or to come than to a +decorous regulation of the present, according to the established usages +of society in that fleeting moment of eternal duration styled the +nineteenth century. With abrupt dexterity he caught hold of the child. The +mother, who might well fear that it was about to be thrown over the +parapet of the bridge into the sedgy waters below, held it fast by its +long train. + +"Will your baby tell us anything about pre-existence, madam?" he asked, in +a piercing voice and with a wistful look. + +The mother made no answer, but, perceiving that Shelley's object was not +murderous but altogether harmless, she dismissed her apprehension and +relaxed her hold. + +"Will your baby tell us anything about pre-existence, madam?" he repeated, +with unabated earnestness. + +"He cannot speak, sir," said the mother, seriously. + +"Worse and worse," cried Shelley, with an air of deep disappointment, +shaking his long hair most pathetically about his young face; "but surely +the babe can speak if he will, for he is only a few weeks old. He may +fancy, perhaps, that he cannot, but it is only a silly whim. He cannot +have forgotten entirely the use of speech in so short a time. The thing is +absolutely impossible!" + +"It is not for me to dispute with you, gentlemen," the woman meekly +replied, her eye glancing at our academical garb, "but I can safely +declare that I never heard him speak, nor any child, indeed, of his age." + +It was a fine, placid boy: so far from being disturbed by the +interruption, he looked up and smiled. Shelley pressed his fat cheeks with +his fingers; we commended his healthy appearance and his equanimity, and +the mother was permitted to proceed, probably to her satisfaction, for she +would doubtless prefer a less speculative nurse. Shelley sighed deeply as +we walked on. + +"How provokingly close are those new-born babes!" he ejaculated; "but it +is not the less certain, notwithstanding the cunning attempts to conceal +the truth, that all knowledge is reminiscence. The doctrine is far more +ancient than the times of Plato, and as old as the venerable allegory +that the Muses are the daughters of Memory; not one of the nine was ever +said to be the child of Invention!" + +In consequence of this theory, upon which his active imagination loved to +dwell, and which he was delighted to maintain in argument with the few +persons qualified to dispute with him on the higher metaphysics, his +fondness for children--a fondness innate in generous minds--was augmented +and elevated, and the gentle instinct expanded into a profound and +philosophical sentiment. The Platonists have been illustrious in all ages +on account of the strength and permanence of their attachments. In Shelley +the parental affections were developed at an early period to an unusual +extent. It was manifest, therefore, that his heart was formed by nature +and by cultivation to derive the most exquisite gratification from the +society of his own progeny, or the most poignant anguish from a natural or +unnatural bereavement. To strike him here was the cruel admonition which +a cursory glance would at once convey to him who might seek where to wound +him most severely with a single blow, should he ever provoke the vengeance +of an enemy to the active and fearless spirit of liberal investigation and +to all solid learning--of a foe to the human race. With respect to the +theory of the pre-existence of the soul, it is not wonderful that an +ardent votary of the intellectual should love to uphold it in strenuous +and protracted disputation, as it places the immortality of the soul in an +impregnable castle, and not only secures it an existence independent of +the body, as it were, by usage and prescription, but moreover, raising it +out of the dirt on tall stilts, elevates it far above the mud of matter. + +It is not wonderful that a subtle sophist, who esteemed above all riches +and terrene honours victory in well-fought debate, should be willing to +maintain a dogma that is not only of difficult eversion by those who, +struggling as mere metaphysicians, use no other weapon than unassisted +reason, but which one of the most illustrious Fathers of the Church--a +man of amazing powers and stupendous erudition, armed with the prodigious +resources of the Christian theology, the renowned Origen--was unable to +dismiss; retaining it as not dissonant from his informed reason, and as +affording a larger scope for justice in the moral government of the +universe. + +In addition to his extreme fondness for children, another and a not less +unequivocal characteristic of a truly philanthropic mind was eminently and +still more remarkably conspicuous in Shelley--his admiration of men of +learning and genius. In truth the devotion, the reverence, the religion +with which he was kindled towards all the masters of intellect, cannot be +described, and must be utterly inconceivable to minds less deeply +enamoured with the love of wisdom. The irreverent many cannot comprehend +the awe, the careless apathetic worldling cannot imagine the enthusiasm, +nor can the tongue that attempts only to speak of things visible to the +bodily eye, express the mighty motion that inwardly agitated him when he +approached, for the first time, a volume which he believed to be replete +with the recondite and mystic philosophy of antiquity; his cheeks glowed, +his eyes became bright, his whole frame trembled, and his entire attention +was immediately swallowed up in the depths of contemplation. The rapid and +vigorous conversion of his soul to intellect can only be compared with the +instantaneous ignition and combustion which dazzle the sight, when a +bundle of dry reeds or other inflammable substance is thrown upon a fire +already rich with accumulated heat. + +The company of persons of merit was delightful to him, and he often spoke +with a peculiar warmth of the satisfaction he hoped to derive from the +society of the most distinguished literary and scientific characters of +the day in England, and the other countries of Europe, when his own +attainments would justify him in seeking their acquaintance. He was never +weary of recounting the rewards and favours that authors had formerly +received; and he would detail in pathetic language, and with a touching +earnestness, the instances of that poverty and neglect which an iron age +assigned as the fitting portion of solid erudition and undoubted talents. +He would contrast the niggard praise and the paltry payments that the cold +and wealthy moderns reluctantly dole out, with the ample and heartfelt +commendation and the noble remuneration which were freely offered by the +more generous but less opulent ancients. He spoke with an animation of +gesture and an elevation of voice of him who undertook a long journey, +that he might once see the historian Livy; and he recounted the rich +legacies which were bequeathed to Cicero and Pliny the younger by +testators venerating their abilities and attainments--his zeal, +enthusiastic in the cause of letters, giving an interest and a novelty to +the most trite and familiar instances. His disposition being wholly +munificent, gentle and friendly, how generous a patron would he have +proved had he ever been in the actual possession of even moderate wealth! + +Out of a scanty and somewhat precarious income, inadequate to allow the +indulgence of the most ordinary superfluities, and diminished by various +casual but unavoidable incumbrances, he was able, by restricting himself +to a diet more simple than the fare of the most austere anchorite, and by +refusing himself horses and the other gratifications that appear properly +to belong to his station, and of which he was in truth very fond, to +bestow upon men of letters, whose merits were of too high an order to be +rightly estimated by their own generation, donations large indeed, if we +consider from how narrow a source they flowed. + +But to speak of this, his signal and truly admirable bounty, save only in +the most distant manner and the most general terms, would be a flagrant +violation of that unequalled delicacy with which it was extended to +undeserved indigence, accompanied by well-founded and most commendable +pride. To allude to any particular instance, however obscurely and +indistinctly, would be unpardonable; but it would be scarcely less +blameable to dismiss the consideration of the character of the benevolent +young poet without some imperfect testimony of this rare excellence. + +That he gave freely, when the needy scholar asked or in silent, hopeless +poverty seemed to ask his aid, will be demonstrated most clearly by +relating shortly one example of his generosity, where the applicant had no +pretensions to literary renown, and no claim whatever, except perhaps +honest penury. It is delightful to attempt to delineate from various +points of view a creature of infinite moral beauty, but one instance must +suffice; an ample volume might be composed of such tales, but one may be +selected because it contains a large admixture of that ingredient which is +essential to the conversion of almsgiving into the genuine virtue of +charity--self-denial. + +On returning to town after the long vacation at the end of October, I +found Shelley at one of the hotels in Covent Garden. Having some business +in hand he was passing a few days there alone. We had taken some mutton +chops hastily at a dark place in one of the minute courts of the city at +an early hour, and we went forth to walk; for to walk at all times, and +especially in the evening, was his supreme delight. + +The aspect of the fields to the north of Somers Town, between that +beggarly suburb and Kentish Town, has been totally changed of late. +Although this district could never be accounted pretty, nor deserving a +high place even amongst suburban scenes, yet the air, or often the wind, +seemed pure and fresh to captives emerging from the smoke of London. There +were certain old elms, much very green grass, quiet cattle feeding and +groups of noisy children playing with something of the freedom of the +village green. There was, oh blessed thing! an entire absence of carriages +and of blood-horses; of the dust and dress and affectation and fashion of +the parks; there were, moreover, old and quaint edifices and objects which +gave character to the scene. + +Whenever Shelley was imprisoned in London--for to a poet a close and +crowded city must be a dreary gaol--his steps would take that direction, +unless his residence was too remote, or he was accompanied by one who +chose to guide his walk. On this occasion I was led thither, as indeed I +had anticipated. The weather was fine, but the autumn was already +advanced; we had not sauntered long in these fields when the dusky evening +closed in, and the darkness gradually thickened. + +"How black those trees are," said Shelley, stopping short and pointing to +a row of elms. "It is so dark the trees might well be houses and the turf +pavement--the eye would sustain no loss. It is useless, therefore, to +remain here; let us return." He proposed tea at his hotel, I assented; and +hastily buttoning his coat he seized my arm and set off at his great pace, +striding with bent knees over the fields and through the narrow streets. +We were crossing the New Road, when he said shortly, "I must call for a +moment, but it will not be out of the way at all," and then dragged me +suddenly towards the left. I inquired whither we were bound, and, I +believe, I suggested the postponement of the intended call till the +morrow. He answered, it was not at all out of our way. + +I was hurried along rapidly towards the left. We soon fell into an +animated discussion respecting the nature of the virtue of the Romans, +which in some measure beguiled the weary way. Whilst he was talking with +much vehemence and a total disregard of the people who thronged the +streets, he suddenly wheeled about and pushed me through a narrow door; to +my infinite surprise I found myself in a pawnbroker's shop. It was in the +neighbourhood of Newgate Street, for he had no idea whatever, in practice, +either of time or space, nor did he in any degree regard method in the +conduct of business. + +There were several women in the shop in brown and grey cloaks, with +squalling children. Some of them were attempting to persuade the children +to be quiet, or at least to scream with moderation; the others were +enlarging upon and pointing out the beauties of certain coarse and dirty +sheets that lay before them to a man on the other side of the counter. + +I bore this substitute for our proposed tea some minutes with tolerable +patience, but as the call did not promise to terminate speedily, I said to +Shelley, in a whisper, "Is not this almost as bad as the Roman virtue?" +Upon this he approached the pawnbroker; it was long before he could obtain +a hearing, and he did not find civility. The man was unwilling to part +with a valuable pledge so soon, or perhaps he hoped to retain it +eventually; or it might be that the obliquity of his nature disqualified +him for respectful behaviour. + +A pawnbroker is frequently an important witness in criminal proceedings. +It has happened to me, therefore, afterwards to see many specimens of this +kind of banker. They sometimes appeared not less respectable than other +tradesmen, and sometimes I have been forcibly reminded of the first I ever +met with, by an equally ill-conditioned fellow. I was so little pleased +with the introduction that I stood aloof in the shop, and did not hear +what passed between him and Shelley. + +On our way to Covent Garden I expressed my surprise and dissatisfaction at +our strange visit, and I learned that when he came to London before, in +the course of the summer, some old man had related to him a tale of +distress--of a calamity which could only be alleviated by the timely +application of ten pounds; five of them he drew at once from his pocket, +and to raise the other five he had pawned his beautiful solar microscope! +He related this act of beneficence simply and briefly, as if it were a +matter of course, and such indeed it was to him. I was ashamed at my +impatience, and we strode along in silence. + +It was past ten when we reached the hotel. Some excellent tea and a +liberal supply of hot muffins in the coffee-room, now quiet and solitary, +were the more grateful after the wearisome delay and vast deviation. +Shelley often turned his head and cast eager glances towards the door, +and whenever the waiter replenished our tea-pot or approached our box he +was interrogated whether anyone had yet called. + +At last the desired summons was brought. Shelley drew forth some +banknotes, hurried to the bar, and returned as hastily, bearing in triumph +under his arm a mahogany box, followed by the officious waiter, with whose +assistance he placed it upon the bench by his side. He viewed it often +with evident satisfaction, and sometimes patted it affectionately in the +course of calm conversation. The solar microscope was always a favourite +plaything or instrument of scientific inquiry. Whenever he entered a house +his first care was to choose some window of a southern aspect, and, if +permission could be obtained by prayer or by purchase, straightway to cut +a hole through the shutter to receive it. + +His regard for his solar microscope was as lasting as it was strong; for +he retained it several years after this adventure, and long after he had +parted with all the rest of his philosophical apparatus. + +Such is the story of the microscope, and no rightly judging person who +hears it will require the further accumulation of proofs of a benevolent +heart; nor can I, perhaps, better close this sketch than with that +impression of the pure and genial beauty of Shelley's nature which this +simple anecdote will bequeath. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +The theory of civil liberty has ever seemed lovely to the eyes of a young +man enamoured of moral and intellectual beauty. Shelley's devotion to +freedom, therefore, was ardent and sincere. He would have submitted with +cheerful alacrity to the greatest sacrifices, had they been demanded of +him, to advance the sacred cause of liberty; and he would have gallantly +encountered every peril in the fearless resistance to active oppression. +Nevertheless, in ordinary times, although a generous and unhesitating +patriot, he was little inclined to consume the pleasant season of youth +amidst the intrigues and clamours of elections, and in the dull and +selfish cabals of parties. His fancy viewed from a lofty eminence the +grand scheme of an ideal republic; and he could not descend to the +humble task of setting out the boundaries of neighbouring rights, and to +the uninviting duties of actual administration. He was still less disposed +to interest himself in the politics of the day because he observed the +pernicious effects of party zeal in a field where it ought not to enter. + +It is no slight evil, but a heavy price paid for popular institutions, +that society should be divided into hostile clans to serve the selfish +purposes of a few political adventurers; and surely to introduce politics +within the calm precincts of a University ought to be deemed a capital +offence--a felony without benefit of clergy. The undue admission (to +borrow the language of Universities for a moment) is not less fatal to its +existence as an institution designed for the advancement of learning, than +the reception of the wooden horse within the walls of Troy was to the +safety of that renowned city. + +What does it import the interpreters of Pindar and Thucydides, the +expositors of Plato and Aristotle, if a few interested persons, for the +sake of some lucrative posts, affect to believe that it is a matter of +vital importance to the state to concede certain privileges to the Roman +Catholics; whilst others, for the same reason, pretend with tears in their +eyes that the concessions would be dangerous and indeed destructive, and +shudder with feigned horror at the harmless proposal? Such pretexts may be +advantageous and perhaps even honourable to the ingenious persons who use +them for the purposes of immediate advancement; but of what concernment +are they to Apollo and the Muses? How could the Catholic question augment +the calamities of Priam, or diminish the misfortunes of the ill-fated +house of Labdacus? or which of the doubts of the ancient philosophers +would the most satisfactory solution of it remove? Why must the modest +student come forth and dance upon the tightrope, with the mountebanks, +since he is to receive no part of the reward, and would not emulate the +glory of those meritorious artists? Yet did this most inapplicable +question mainly contribute to poison the harmless and studious felicity +which we enjoyed at Oxford. + +During the whole period of our residence there the University was cruelly +disfigured by bitter feuds, arising out of the late election of its +Chancellor; in an especial manner was our own most venerable college +deformed by them, and by angry and senseless disappointment. + +Lord Grenville had just been chosen. There could be no more comparison +between his scholarship and his various qualifications for the honourable +and useless office, and the claims of his unsuccessful opponent, than +between the attainments of the best man of the year and those of the huge +porter, who with a stern and solemn civility kept the gates of University +College--the arts of mulled-wine and egg-hot being, in the latter case, +alone excepted. + +The vanquished competitor, however, most unfortunately for its honour and +character, was a member of our college; and in proportion as the intrinsic +merits of our rulers were small, had the vehemence and violence of +electioneering been great, that, through the abuse of the patronage of the +church, they might attain to those dignities as the rewards of the +activity of partisans, which they could never hope to reach through the +legitimate road of superior learning and talents. + +Their vexation at failing was the more sharp and abiding, because the only +objection that vulgar bigotry could urge against the victor was his +disposition to make concessions to the Roman Catholics; and every dull +lampoon about popes and cardinals and the scarlet lady had accordingly +been worn threadbare in vain. Since the learned and liberal had conquered, +learning and liberality were peculiarly odious with us at that epoch. The +studious scholar, particularly if he were of an inquiring disposition, and +of a bold and free temper, was suspected and disliked; he was one of the +enemy's troops. The inert and the subservient were the loyal soldiers of +the legitimate army of the faith. The despised and scattered nation of +scholars is commonly unfortunate; but a more severe calamity has seldom +befallen the remnant of true Israelites than to be led captive by such a +generation! Youth is happy, because it is blithe and healthful and exempt +from care; but it is doubly and trebly happy, since it is honest and +fearless, honourable and disinterested. + +In the whole body of undergraduates, scarcely one was friendly to the +holder of the loaves and the promiser of the fishes--Lord Eldon. All were +eager--all, one and all--in behalf of the scholar and the Liberal +statesman; and plain and loud was the avowal of their sentiments. A sullen +demeanour towards the young rebels displayed the annoyance arising from +the want of success and from our lack of sympathy, and it would have +demonstrated to the least observant that, where the Muses dwell, the +quarrels and intrigues of political parties ought not to come. + +By his family and his connections, as well as by disposition, Shelley was +attached to the successful side; and although it was manifest that he was +a youth of an admirable temper, of rare talents and unwearied industry, +and likely, therefore, to shed a lustre upon his college and the +University itself, yet, as he was eminently delighted at that wherewith +his superiors were offended, he was regarded from the beginning with a +jealous eye. A young man of spirit will despise the mean spite of sordid +minds; nevertheless the persecution which a generous soul can contemn, +through frequent repetition too often becomes a severe annoyance in the +long course of life, and Shelley frequently and most pathetically lamented +the political divisions which then harassed the University, and were a +more fertile source of manifold ills in the wider field of active life. +For this reason did he appear to cling more closely to our sweet, studious +seclusion; and from this cause, perhaps, principally arose his +disinclination--I may say, indeed, his intense antipathy--for the +political career that had been proposed to him. A lurking suspicion would +sometimes betray itself that he was to be forced into that path, and +impressed into the civil service of the state, to become, as it were, a +conscript legislator. + +A newspaper never found its way to his rooms the whole period of his +residence at Oxford; but when waiting in a bookseller's shop or at an inn +he would sometimes, although rarely, permit his eye to be attracted by a +murder or a storm. Having perused the tale of wonder or of horror, if it +chanced to stray to a political article, after reading a few lines he +invariably threw it aside to a great distance; and he started from his +seat his face flushing, and strode about muttering broken sentences, the +purport of which was always the same: his extreme dissatisfaction at the +want of candour and fairness, and the monstrous disingenuousness which +politicians manifest in speaking of the characters and measures of their +rivals. Strangers, who caught imperfectly the sense of his indistinct +murmurs, were often astonished at the vehemence of his mysterious +displeasure. + +Once I remember a bookseller, the master of a very small shop in a +little country town, but apparently a sufficiently intelligent man, +could not refrain from expressing his surprise that anyone should be +offended with proceedings that seemed to him as much in the ordinary +course of trade, and as necessary to its due exercise, as the red ligature +of the bundle of quills, or the thin and pale brown wrapper which enclosed +the quire of letter paper we had just purchased of him. + +A man of talents and learning, who refused to enlist under the banners of +any party and did not deign to inform himself of the politics of the day, +or to take the least part or interest in them, would be a noble and a +novel spectacle; but so many persons hope to profit by dissensions, that +the merits of such a steady lover of peace would not be duly appreciated, +either by the little provincial bookseller or the other inhabitants of our +turbulent country. + +The ordinary lectures in our college were of much shorter duration, and +decidedly less difficult and less instructive than the lessons we had +received in the higher classes of a public school; nor were our written +exercises more stimulating than the oral. Certain compositions were +required at stated periods; but, however excellent they might be, they +were never commended; however deficient, they were never censured; and, +being altogether unnoticed, there was no reason to suppose that they were +ever read. + +The University at large was not less remiss than each college in +particular; the only incitement proposed was an examination at the end of +four years. The young collegian might study in private, as diligently as +he would, at Oxford as in every other place; and if he chose to submit his +pretensions to the examiners, his name was set down in the first, the +second or the third class--if I mistake not, there were three +divisions--according to his advancement. This list was printed precisely +at the moment when he quitted the University for ever; a new generation of +strangers might read the names of the unknown proficients, if they +would. + +It was notorious, moreover, that, merely to obtain the academical degrees, +every new-comer, who had passed through a tolerable grammar-school, +brought with him a stock of learning, of which the residuum that had not +evaporated during four years of dissipation and idleness, would be more +than sufficient. + +The languid course of chartered laziness was ill suited to the ardent +activity and glowing zeal of Shelley. Since those persons, who were hired +at an enormous charge by his own family and by the State to find due and +beneficial employment for him, thought fit to neglect this, their most +sacred duty, he began forthwith to set himself to work. He read +diligently--I should rather say he devoured greedily, with the voracious +appetite of a famished man--the authors that roused his curiosity; he +discoursed and discussed with energy; he wrote, he began to print and he +designed soon to publish various works. + +He begins betimes who begins to instruct mankind at eighteen. The +judicious will probably be of opinion that in eighteen years man can +scarcely learn how to learn; and that for eighteen more years he ought to +be content to learn; and if, at the end of the second period, he still +thinks that he can impart anything worthy of attention, it is, at least, +early enough to begin to teach. The fault, however, if it were a fault, +was to be imputed to the times, and not to the individual, as the numerous +precocious effusions of the day attest. + +Shelley was quick to conceive, and not less quick to execute. When I +called one morning at one, I found him busily occupied with some proofs, +which he continued to correct and re-correct with anxious care. As he was +wholly absorbed in this occupation, I selected a book from the floor, +where there was always a good store, and read in silence for at least an +hour. + +My thoughts being as completely abstracted as those of my companion, he +startled me by suddenly throwing a paper with some force on the middle of +the table, and saying, in a penetrating whisper, as he sprang eagerly from +his chair, "I am going to publish some poems." + +In answer to my inquiries, he put the proofs into my hands. I read them +twice attentively, for the poems were very short; and I told him there +were some good lines, some bright thoughts, but there were likewise many +irregularities and incongruities. I added that correctness was important +in all compositions, but it constituted the essence of short ones; and +that it surely would be imprudent to bring his little book out so hastily; +and then I pointed out the errors and defects. + +He listened in silence with much attention, and did not dispute what I +said, except that he remarked faintly that it would not be known that he +was the author, and therefore the publication could not do him any harm. + +I answered that, although it might not be disadvantageous to be the +unknown author of an unread work, it certainly could not be beneficial. + +He made no reply; and we immediately went out, and strolled about the +public walks. + +We dined and returned to his rooms, where we conversed on different +subjects. He did not mention his poems, but they occupied his thoughts; +for he did not fall asleep as usual. Whilst we were at tea, he said +abruptly, "I think you disparage my poems. Tell me what you dislike in +them, for I have forgotten." + +I took the proofs from the place where I had left them, and looking over +them, repeated the former objections, and suggested others. He acquiesced; +and, after a pause, asked, might they be altered? I assented. + +"I will alter them." + +"It will be better to re-write them; a short poem should be of the first +impression." + +Some time afterwards he anxiously inquired, "But in their present form you +do not think they ought to be published?" + +I had been looking over the proofs again, and I answered, "Only as +burlesque poetry;" and I read a part, changing it a little here and +there. + +He laughed at the parody, and begged I would repeat it. + +I took a pen and altered it; and he then read it aloud several times in a +ridiculous tone, and was amused by it. His mirth consoled him for the +condemnation of his verses, and the intention of publishing them was +abandoned. + +The proofs lay in his rooms for some days, and we occasionally amused +ourselves during an idle moment by making them more and more ridiculous; +by striking out the more sober passages; by inserting whimsical conceits, +and especially by giving them what we called a dithyrambic character, +which was effected by cutting some lines out, and joining the different +parts together that would agree in construction, but were the most +discordant in sense. + +Although Shelley was of a grave disposition, he had a certain sly relish +for a practical joke, so that it were ingenuous and abstruse and of a +literary nature. He would often exult in the successful forgeries of +Chatterton and Ireland; and he was especially delighted with a trick +that had lately been played at Oxford by a certain noble viceroy, at that +time an undergraduate, respecting the fairness of which the University was +divided in opinion, all the undergraduates accounting it most just, and +all the graduates, and especially the bachelors, extremely iniquitous, and +indeed popish and jesuitical. A reward is offered annually for the best +English essay on a subject proposed: the competitors send their anonymous +essays, each being distinguished by a motto; when the grave arbitrators +have selected the most worthy, they burn the vanquished essays, and open +the sealed paper endorsed with a corresponding motto, and containing the +name of the victor. + +On the late famous contention, all the ceremonies had been duly performed, +but the sealed paper presented the name of an undergraduate, who was not +qualified to be a candidate, and all the less meritorious discourses of +the bachelors had been burnt, together with their sealed papers--so there +was to be no bachelor's prize that year. + +When we had conferred a competent absurdity upon the proofs, we amused +ourselves by proposing, but without the intention of executing our +project, divers ludicrous titles for the work. Sometimes we thought of +publishing it in the name of some one of the chief living poets, or +possibly of one of the graver authorities of the day; and we regaled +ourselves by describing his wrathful renunciations, and his astonishment +at finding himself immortalised, without his knowledge and against his +will: the inability to die could not be more disagreeable even to Tithonus +himself; but how were we to handcuff our ungrateful favourite, that he +might not tear off the unfading laurel which we were to place upon his +brow? I hit upon a title at last, to which the pre-eminence was given, and +we inscribed it upon the cover. A mad washerwoman, named Peg Nicholson, +had attempted to stab the king, George the Third, with a carving-knife; +the story has long been forgotten, but it was then fresh in the +recollection of every one; it was proposed that we should ascribe the +poems to her. The poor woman was still living, and in green vigour +within the walls of Bedlam; but since her existence must be uncomfortable, +there could be no harm in putting her to death, and in creating a nephew +and administrator to be the editor of his aunt's poetical works. + +The idea gave an object and purpose to our burlesque--to ridicule the +strange mixture of sentimentality with the murderous fury of the +revolutionists, that was so prevalent in the compositions of the day; and +the proofs were altered again to adapt them to this new scheme, but still +without any notion of publication. When the bookseller called to ask for +the proof, Shelley told him that he had changed his mind, and showed them +to him. + +The man was so much pleased with the whimsical conceit that he asked to be +permitted to publish the book on his own account; promising inviolable +secrecy, and as many copies _gratis_ as might be required: after some +hesitation, permission was granted, upon the plighted honour of the +trade. + +In a few days, or rather in a few hours, a noble quarto appeared; it +consisted of a small number of pages, it is true, but they were of the +largest size, of the thickest, the whitest and the smoothest drawing +paper; a large, clear and handsome type had impressed a few lines with ink +of a rich, glossy black, amidst ample margins. The poor maniac laundress +was gravely styled "the late Mrs Margaret Nicholson, widow;" and the +sonorous name of Fitzvictor had been culled for her inconsolable nephew +and administrator. To add to his dignity, the waggish printer had picked +up some huge text types of so unusual a form that even an antiquary could +not spell the words at the first glance. The effect was certainly +striking; Shelley had torn open the large square bundle before the +printer's boy quitted the room, and holding out a copy with both his +hands, he ran about in an ecstasy of delight, gazing at the superb +title-page. + +The first poem was a long one, condemning war in the lump--puling trash, +that might have been written by a Quaker, and could only have been +published in sober sadness by a society instituted for the diffusion of +that kind of knowledge which they deemed useful--useful for some end which +they have not been pleased to reveal, and which unassisted reason is +wholly unable to discover. The MS. had been confided to Shelley by some +rhymester of the day, and it was put forth in this shape to astonish a +weak mind; but principally to captivate the admirers of philosophical +poetry by the manifest incongruity of disallowing all war, even the most +just, and then turning sharp round, and recommending the dagger of the +assassin as the best cure for all evils, and the sure passport to a lady's +favour. + +Our book of useful knowledge--the philosopher's own book--contained sundry +odes and other pieces, professing an ardent attachment to freedom, and +proposing to stab all who were less enthusiastic than the supposed +authoress. The work, however, was altered a little, I believe, before the +final impression; but I never read it afterwards, for, when an author +once sees his book in print, his task is ended, and he may fairly leave +the perusal of it to posterity. I have one copy, if not more, somewhere or +other, but not at hand. There were some verses, I remember, with a good +deal about sucking in them; to these I objected, as unsuitable to the +gravity of a University, but Shelley declared they would be the most +impressive of all. There was a poem concerning a young woman, one +Charlotte Somebody, who attempted to assassinate Robespierre, or some such +person; and there was to have been a rapturous monologue to the dagger of +Brutus. The composition of such a piece was no mean effort of the Muse. It +was completed at last, but not in time; as the dagger itself has probably +fallen a prey to rust, so the more pointed and polished monologue, it is +to be feared, has also perished through a more culpable neglect. + +A few copies were sent, as a special favour, to trusty and sagacious +friends at a distance, whose gravity would not permit them to suspect a +hoax. They read and admired, being charmed with the wild notes of +liberty. Some, indeed, presumed to censure mildly certain passages as +having been thrown off in too bold a vein. Nor was a certain success +wanting--the remaining copies were rapidly sold in Oxford at the +aristocratical price of half-a-crown for half-a-dozen pages. We used to +meet gownsmen in High Street reading the goodly volume as they +walked--pensive, with a grave and sage delight--some of them, perhaps, +more pensive because it seemed to portend the instant overthrow of all +royalty from a king to a court card. + +What a strange delusion to admire our stuff--the concentrated essence of +nonsense! It was indeed a kind of fashion to be seen reading it in public, +as a mark of a nice discernment, of a delicate and fastidious taste in +poetry, and the very criterion of a choice spirit. + +Nobody suspected, or could suspect, who was the author. The thing passed +off as the genuine production of the would-be regicide. It is marvellous, +in truth, how little talent of any kind there was in our famous +University in those days; there was no great encouragement, however, to +display intellectual gifts. + +The acceptance, as a serious poem, of a work so evidently designed for a +burlesque upon the prevailing notion of the day, that revolutionary +ruffians were the most fit recipients of the gentlest passions, was a +foretaste of the prodigious success that, a few years later, attended a +still more whimsical paradox. Poets had sung already that human ties put +love at once to flight; that at the sight of civil obligations he spreads +his light wings in a moment and makes default. The position was soon +greatly extended, and we were taught by a noble poet that even the +slightest recognition of the law of nations was fatal to the tender +passion. The very captain of a privateer was pronounced incapable of a +pure and ardent attachment; the feeble control of letters of marque could +effectually check the course of affection; a complete union of souls could +only be accomplished under the black flag. Your true lover must +necessarily be an enemy of the whole human race--a mere and absolute +pirate. It is true that the tales of the love-sick buccaneers were adorned +with no ordinary talent, but the theory is not less extraordinary on that +account. + +The operation of Peg Nicholson was bland and innoxious. The next work that +Shelley printed was highly deleterious, and was destined to shed a baneful +influence over his future progress. In itself it was more harmless than +the former, but it was turned to a deadly poison by the unprovoked malice +of fortune. + +We had read together attentively several of the metaphysical works that +were most in vogue at that time, as Locke _Concerning Human +Understanding_, and Hume's _Essays_, particularly the latter, of which we +had made a very careful analysis, as was customary with those who read the +_Ethics_ and the other treatises of Aristotle for their degree. Shelley +had the custody of these papers, which were chiefly in his handwriting, +although they were the joint production of both in our common daily +studies. From these, and from a small part of them only, he made up a +little book, and had it printed, I believe, in the country, certainly not +at Oxford. His motive was this. He not only read greedily all the +controversial writings on subjects interesting to him which he could +procure, and disputed vehemently in conversation with his friends, but he +had several correspondents with whom he kept up the ball of doubt in +letters; of these he received many, so that the arrival of the postman was +always an anxious moment with him. This practice he had learned of a +physician, from whom he had taken instructions in chemistry, and of whose +character and talents he often spoke with profound veneration. It was, +indeed, the usual course with men of learning formerly, as their +biographies and many volumes of such epistles testify. The physician was +an old man, and a man of the old school. He confined his epistolary +discussions to matters of science, and so did his disciple for some +time; but when metaphysics usurped the place in his affections that +chemistry had before held, the latter gradually fell into discepations, +respecting existences still more subtle than gases and the electric fluid. +The transition, however, from physics to metaphysics was gradual. Is the +electric fluid material? he would ask his correspondent; is light--is the +vital principle in vegetables--in brutes--is the human soul? + +His individual character had proved an obstacle to his inquiries, even +whilst they were strictly physical. A refuted or irritated chemist had +suddenly concluded a long correspondence by telling his youthful opponent +that he would write to his master, and have him well flogged. The +discipline of a public school, however salutary in other respects, was not +favourable to free and fair discussions, and Shelley began to address +inquiries anonymously, or rather, that he might receive an answer, as +Philalethes, and the like; but, even at Eton, the postmen do not +ordinarily speak Greek. To prevent miscarriages, therefore it was +necessary to adopt a more familiar name, as John Short or Thomas Long. + +When he came to Oxford, he retained and extended his former practice +without quitting the convenient disguise of an assumed name. His object in +printing the short abstract of some of the doctrines of Hume was to +facilitate his epistolary disquisitions. It was a small pill, but it +worked powerfully. The mode of operation was this: he enclosed a copy in a +letter and sent it by the post, stating, with modesty and simplicity, that +he had met accidentally with that little tract, which appeared unhappily +to be quite unanswerable. Unless the fish was too sluggish to take the +bait, an answer of refutation was forwarded to an appointed address in +London, and then, in a vigorous reply, he would fall upon the unwary +disputant and break his bones. The strenuous attack sometimes provoked a +rejoinder more carefully prepared, and an animated and protracted debate +ensued. The party cited, having put in his answer, was fairly in court, +and he might get out of it as he could. The chief difficulty seemed to +be to induce the person addressed to acknowledge the jurisdiction, and to +plead; and this, Shelley supposed, would be removed by sending, in the +first instance, a printed syllabus instead of written arguments. An +accident greatly facilitated his object. We had been talking some time +before about geometrical demonstration; he was repeating its praises, +which he had lately read in some mathematical work, and speaking of its +absolute certainty and perfect truth. + +I said that this superiority partly arose from the confidence of +mathematicians, who were naturally a confident race, and were seldom +acquainted with any other science than their own; that they always put a +good face upon the matter, detailing their arguments dogmatically and +doggedly, as if there was no room for doubt, and concluded, when weary of +talking in their positive strain, with Q.E.D.: in which three letters +there was so powerful a charm, that there was no instance of anyone having +ever disputed any argument or proposition to which they were subscribed. +He was diverted by this remark, and often repeated it, saying, if you ask +a friend to dinner, and only put Q.E.D. at the end of the invitation, he +cannot refuse to come; and he sometimes wrote these letters at the end of +a common note, in order, as he said, to attain to a mathematical +certainty. The potent characters were not forgotten when he printed his +little syllabus; and their efficacy in rousing his antagonists was quite +astonishing. + +It is certain that the three obnoxious letters had a fertilising effect, +and raised crops of controversy; but it would be unjust to deny that an +honest zeal stimulated divers worthy men to assert the truth against an +unknown assailant. The praise of good intention must be conceded; but it +is impossible to accord that of powerful execution also to his +antagonists; this curious correspondence fully testified the deplorable +condition of education at that time. A youth of eighteen was able to +confute men who had numbered thrice as many years; to vanquish them on +their own ground, although he gallantly fought at a disadvantage by taking +the wrong side. + +His little pamphlet was never offered for sale; it was not addressed to an +ordinary reader, but to the metaphysician alone, and it was so short, that +it was only designed to point out the line of argument. It was, in truth, +a general issue, a compendious denial of every allegation, in order to put +the whole case in proof; it was a formal mode of saying you affirm so and +so, then prove it, and thus was it understood by his more candid and +intelligent correspondents. As it was shorter, so was it plainer, and, +perhaps in order to provoke discussion, a little bolder, than Hume's +_Essays_--a book which occupies a conspicuous place in the library of +every student. The doctrine, if it deserves the name, was precisely +similar; the necessary and inevitable consequence of Locke's philosophy, +and of the theory that all knowledge is from without. I will not admit +your conclusions, his opponent might answer; then you must deny those of +Hume; I deny them; but you must deny those of Locke also, and we will go +back together to Plato. Such was the usual course of argument. Sometimes, +however, he rested on mere denial, holding his adversary to strict proof, +and deriving strength from his weakness. + +The young Platonist argued thus negatively through the love of argument, +and because he found a noble joy in the fierce shocks of contending minds. +He loved truth, and sought it everywhere and at all hazards frankly and +boldly, like a man who deserved to find it; but he also loved dearly +victory in debate, and warm debate for its own sake. Never was there a +more unexceptionable disputant; he was eager beyond the most ardent, but +never angry and never personal; he was the only arguer I ever knew who +drew every argument from the nature of the thing, and who could never be +provoked to descend to personal contentions. He was fully inspired, +indeed, with the whole spirit of the true logician; the more obvious and +indisputable the proposition which his opponent undertook to maintain, +the more complete was the triumph of his art if he could refute and +prevent him. + +To one who was acquainted with the history of our University, with its +ancient reputation as the most famous school of logic, it seemed that the +genius of the place, after an absence of several generations, had deigned +to return at last; the visit, however, as it soon appeared, was ill-timed. + +The schoolman of old, who occasionally laboured with technical subtleties +to prevent the admission of the first principles of belief, could not have +been justly charged with the intention of promoting scepticism; his was +the age of minute and astute disceptation, it is true, but it was also the +epoch of the most firm, resolute and extensive faith. I have seen a +dexterous fencing-master, after warning his pupil to hold his weapon fast, +by a few turns of his wrist throw it suddenly on the ground and under his +feet; but it cannot be pretended that he neglected to teach the art of +self-defence, because he apparently deprived his scholar of that which +is essential to the end proposed. To be disarmed is a step in the science +of arms, and whoever has undergone it has already put his foot within the +threshold; so it is likewise with refutation. + +In describing briefly the nature of Shelley's epistolary contention, the +recollection of his youth, his zeal, his activity, and particularly of +many individual peculiarities, may have tempted me to speak sometimes with +a certain levity, notwithstanding the solemn importance of the topics +respecting which they were frequently maintained. The impression that they +were conducted on his part, or considered by him, with frivolity or any +unseemly lightness, would, however, be most erroneous; his whole frame of +mind was grave, earnest and anxious, and his deportment was reverential, +with an edification reaching beyond the age--an age wanting in reverence, +an unlearned age, a young age, for the young lack learning. Hume permits +no object of respect to remain; Locke approaches the most awful +speculations with the same indifference as if he were about to handle +the properties of triangles; the small deference rendered to the most holy +things by the able theologian Paley is not the least remarkable of his +characteristics. + +Wiser and better men displayed anciently, together with a more profound +erudition, a superior and touching solemnity; the meek seriousness of +Shelley was redolent of those good old times before mankind had been +despoiled of a main ingredient in the composition of happiness--a +well-directed veneration. + +Whether such disputations were decorous or profitable may be perhaps +doubtful; there can be no doubt, however, since the sweet gentleness of +Shelley was easily and instantly swayed by the mild influences of friendly +admonition, that, had even the least dignified of his elders suggested the +propriety of pursuing his metaphysical inquiries with less ardour, his +obedience would have been prompt and perfect. + +Not only had all salutary studies been long neglected in Oxford at that +time, and all wholesome discipline was decayed, but the splendid +endowments of the University were grossly abused. The resident authorities +of the college were too often men of the lowest origin, of mean and sordid +souls, destitute of every literary attainment, except that brief and +narrow course of reading by which the first degree was attained: the +vulgar sons of vulgar fathers, without liberality, and wanting the manners +and the sympathies of gentlemen. + +A total neglect of all learning, an unseemly turbulence, the most +monstrous irregularities, open and habitual drunkenness, vice and +violence, were tolerated or encouraged with the basest sycophancy, that +the prospect of perpetual licentiousness might fill the colleges with +young men of fortune; whenever the rarely exercised power of coercion was +extorted, it demonstrated the utter incapacity of our unworthy rulers by +coarseness, ignorance and injustice. + +If a few gentlemen were admitted to fellowships, they were always absent; +they were not persons of literary pretensions, or distinguished by +scholarship, and they had no more share in the government of the college +than the overgrown guardsmen, who, in long white gaiters, bravely protect +the precious life of the sovereign against such assailants as the tenth +Muse, our good friend Mrs Nicholson. + +As the term was drawing to a close, and a great part of the books we were +reading together still remained unfinished, we had agreed to increase our +exertions, and to meet at an early hour. + +It was a fine spring morning on Lady Day, in the year 1811, when I went to +Shelley's rooms; he was absent, but before I had collected our books he +rushed in. He was terribly agitated. I anxiously inquired what had +happened. + +"I am expelled," he said, as soon as he had recovered himself a little. "I +am expelled! I was sent for suddenly a few minutes ago; I went to the +common room, where I found our master and two or three of the fellows. The +master produced a copy of the little syllabus, and asked me if I were the +author of it. He spoke in a rude, abrupt and insolent tone. I begged to +be informed for what purpose he put the question. No answer was given; but +the master loudly and angrily repeated, 'Are you the author of this book?' +'If I can judge from your manner,' I said, 'you are resolved to punish me +if I should acknowledge that it is my work. If you can prove that it is, +produce your evidence; it is neither just nor lawful to interrogate me in +such a case and for such a purpose. Such proceedings would become a court +of inquisitors, but not free men in a free country.' 'Do you choose to +deny that this is your composition?' the master reiterated in the same +rude and angry voice." + +Shelley complained much of his violent and ungentlemanlike deportment, +saying, "I have experienced tyranny and injustice before, and I well know +what vulgar violence is; but I never met with such unworthy treatment. I +told him calmly and firmly, that I was determined not to answer any +questions respecting the publication on the table. He immediately repeated +his demand. I persisted in my refusal, and he said furiously, 'Then you +are expelled, and I desire you will quit the college early to-morrow +morning at the latest.' One of the fellows took up two papers and handed +one of them to me; here it is." He produced a regular sentence of +expulsion, drawn up in due form, under the seal of the college. + +Shelley was full of spirit and courage, frank and fearless; but he was +likewise shy, unpresuming and eminently sensitive. I have been with him in +many trying situations of his after-life, but I never saw him so deeply +shocked and so cruelly agitated as on this occasion. A nice sense of +honour shrinks from the most distant touch of disgrace, even from the +insults of those men whose contumely can bring no shame. He sat on the +sofa, repeating with convulsive vehemence the words "Expelled, expelled!" +his head shaking with emotion, and his whole frame quivering. The +atrocious injustice and its cruel consequences roused the indignation and +moved the compassion of a friend who then stood by Shelley. He has given +the following account of his interference:-- + +"So monstrous and so illegal did the outrage seem, that I held it to be +impossible that any man, or any body of men, would dare to adhere to it; +but, whatever the issue might be, it was a duty to endeavour to the utmost +to assist him. I at once stepped forward, therefore, as the advocate of +Shelley: such an advocate, perhaps, with respect to judgment, as might be +expected at the age of eighteen, but certainly not inferior to the most +practised defenders in good will and devotion. I wrote a short note to the +masters and fellows, in which, as far as I can remember a very hasty +composition after a long interval, I briefly expressed my sorrow at the +treatment my friend had experienced, and my hope that they would +reconsider their sentence since, by the same course of proceeding, myself, +or any other person, might be subjected to the same penalty, and to the +imputation of equal guilt. The note was despatched; the conclave was still +sitting, and in an instant the porter came to summon me to attend, +bearing in his countenance a promise of the reception which I was about to +find. The angry and troubled air of men assembled to commit injustice +according to established forms was then new to me, but a native instinct +told me, as soon as I had entered the room, that it was an affair of +party; that whatever could conciliate the favour of patrons was to be done +without scruple, and whatever could tend to impede preferment was to be +brushed away without remorse. The glowing master produced my poor note. I +acknowledged it, and he forthwith put into my hand, not less abruptly, the +little syllabus. 'Did you write this?' he asked, as fiercely as if I alone +stood between him and the rich see of Durham. I attempted, submissively, +to point out to him the extreme unfairness of the question, the injustice +of punishing Shelley for refusing to answer it; that if it were urged upon +me I must offer the like refusal, as I had no doubt every man in college +would, every gentleman, indeed, in the University, which, if such a course +were adopted with all, and there could not be any reason why it should +be used with one and not with the rest, would thus be stripped of every +member. I soon perceived that arguments were thrown away upon a man +possessing no more intellect or erudition, and far less renown, than that +famous ram, since translated to the stars, through grasping whose tail +less firmly than was expedient, the sister of Phryxus formerly found a +watery grave, and gave her name to the broad Hellespont. + +"The other persons present took no part in the conversation; they presumed +not to speak, scarcely to breathe, but looked mute subserviency. The few +resident fellows, indeed, were but so many incarnations of the spirit of +the master, whatever that spirit might be. When I was silent, the master +told me to retire, and to consider whether I was resolved to persist in my +refusal. The proposal was fair enough. The next day or the next week, I +might have given my final answer--a deliberate answer; having in the +meantime consulted with older and more experienced persons, as to what +course was best for myself and for others. I had scarcely passed the door, +however, when I was recalled. The master again showed me the book, and +hastily demanded whether I admitted or denied that I was the author of it. +I answered that I was fully sensible of the many and great inconveniences +of being dismissed with disgrace from the University, and I specified some +of them, and expressed a humble hope that they would not impose such a +mark of discredit upon me without any cause. I lamented that it was +impossible either to admit or to deny the publication--no man of spirit +could submit to do so--and that a sense of duty compelled me respectfully +to refuse to answer the question which had been proposed. 'Then you are +expelled,' said the master, angrily, in a loud, great voice. A formal +sentence, duly signed and sealed, was instantly put into my hand: in what +interval the instrument had been drawn up I cannot imagine. The alleged +offence was contumacious refusal to disavow the imputed publication. My +eye glanced over it, and observing the word _contumaciously_, I said +calmly that I did not think that term was justified by my behaviour. +Before I had concluded the remark, the master, lifting up the little +syllabus, and then dashing it on the table and looking sternly at me, +said, 'Am I to understand, sir, that you adopt the principles contained in +this work?' or some such words; for like one red with the suffusion of +college port and college ale, the intense heat of anger seemed to deprive +him of the power of articulation, by reason of a rude provincial dialect +and thickness of utterance, his speech being at all times indistinct. 'The +last question is still more improper than the former,' I replied, for I +felt that the imputation was an insult; 'and since, by your own act, you +have renounced all authority over me, our communication is at an end.' 'I +command you to quit my college to-morrow at an early hour.' I bowed and +withdrew. I thank God I have never seen that man since; he is gone to his +bed, and there let him sleep. Whilst he lived, he ate freely of the +scholar's bread and drank from his cup, and he was sustained, throughout +the whole term of his existence, wholly and most nobly, by those sacred +funds that were consecrated by our pious forefathers to the advancement of +learning. If the vengeance of the all-patient and long-contemned gods can +ever be roused, it will surely be by some such sacrilege! The favour which +he showed to scholars and his gratitude have been made manifest. If he +were still alive, he would doubtless be as little desirous that his zeal +should now be remembered as those bigots who had been most active in +burning Archbishop Cranmer could have been to publish their officiousness +during the reign of Elizabeth." + +Busy rumour has ascribed, on what foundation I know not, since an active +and searching inquiry has not hitherto been made, the infamy of having +denounced Shelley to the pert, meddling tutor of a college of inferior +note, a man of an insalubrious and inauspicious aspect. Any paltry fellow +can whisper a secret accusation; but a certain courage, as well as +malignity, is required by him who undertakes to give evidence openly +against another; to provoke thereby the displeasure of the accused, of his +family and friends, and to submit his own veracity and his motives to +public scrutiny. Hence the illegal and inquisitorial mode of proceeding by +interrogation, instead of the lawful and recognised course by the +production of witnesses. The disposal of ecclesiastical preferment has +long been so reprehensible, the practice of desecrating institutions that +every good man desires to esteem most holy is so inveterate, that it is +needless to add that the secret accuser was rapidly enriched with the most +splendid benefices, and finally became a dignitary of the Church. The +modest prelate did not seek publicity in the charitable and dignified act +of deserving; it is not probable, therefore, that he is anxious at present +to invite an examination of the precise nature of his deserts. + +The next morning at eight o'clock Shelley and his friend set out together +for London on the top of a coach; and with his final departure from the +University these reminiscences of his life at Oxford terminate. The +narrative of the injurious effects of this cruel, precipitate, unjust and +illegal expulsion upon the entire course of his subsequent life would not +be wanting in interest or instruction, when the scene was changed from the +quiet seclusion of academic groves and gardens, and the calm valley of our +silvery Isis, to the stormy ocean of that vast and shoreless world, to the +utmost violence of which he was, at an early age, suddenly and unnaturally +abandoned. + + +THE END + + + EDINBURGH + COLSTON AND COY, LIMITED + PRINTERS + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_. + +The following misprints have been corrected: + "surrrounding" corrected to "surrounding" (page 5) + "gometricians" corrected to "geometricians" (page 83) + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Shelley at Oxford, by Thomas Jefferson Hogg + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHELLEY AT OXFORD *** + +***** This file should be named 34525-8.txt or 34525-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/5/2/34525/ + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Shelley at Oxford + +Author: Thomas Jefferson Hogg + +Release Date: December 1, 2010 [EBook #34525] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHELLEY AT OXFORD *** + + + + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + + +<h1>SHELLEY AT OXFORD</h1> +<p> </p><p> </p> + +<h1><span class="smcap">Shelley at Oxford</span></h1> +<p> </p> +<h4>BY</h4> +<h3>THOMAS JEFFERSON HOGG</h3> +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">WITH AN INTRODUCTION<br />BY<br /> +R. A. STREATFEILD</p> +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">METHUEN & CO.<br />36 ESSEX STREET W.C.<br />LONDON<br />1904</p> + + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> +<h2>INTRODUCTION</h2> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">Thomas Jefferson Hogg’s</span> account of Shelley’s career at Oxford first +appeared in the form of a series of articles contributed to the <i>New +Monthly Magazine</i> in 1832 and 1833. It was afterwards incorporated into +his <i>Life of Shelley</i>, which was published in 1858. It is by common +consent the most life-like portrait of the poet left by any of his +contemporaries. “Hogg,” said Trelawny, “has painted Shelley exactly as I +knew him,” and Mary Shelley, referring to Hogg’s articles in her edition +of Shelley’s poems, bore witness to the fidelity with which her husband’s +character had been delineated. In later times everyone who has written +about Shelley has drawn upon Hogg more or less freely, for he is +practically the only authority upon Shelley’s six months at Oxford. Yet, +save in the extracts that appear in various biographies of the poet, this +remarkable work is little known. Hogg’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span> fragmentary <i>Life of Shelley</i> was +discredited by the plainly-expressed disapproval of the Shelley family and +has never been reprinted. But the inaccuracies, to call them by no harsher +term, that disfigure Hogg’s later production do not affect the value of +his earlier narrative, the substantial truth of which has never been +impugned.</p> + +<p>In 1832 the <i>New Monthly Magazine</i> was edited by the first Lord Lytton (at +that time Edward Lytton Bulwer), to whom Hogg was introduced by Mrs +Shelley. Hogg complained bitterly of the way in which his manuscript was +treated. “To write articles in a magazine or a review,” he observed in the +Preface to his <i>Life of Shelley</i>, “is to walk in leading-strings. However, +I submitted to the requirements and restraints of bibliopolar discipline, +being content to speak of my young fellow-collegian, not exactly as I +would, but as I might. I struggled at first, and feebly, for full liberty +of speech, for a larger license of commendation and admiration, for entire +freedom of the press without censorship.” Bulwer, however, was inexorable, +and it is owing, no doubt, to his salutary influence that the style of +Hogg’s account of Shelley’s Oxford days is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span> so far superior to that of his +later compilation. Hogg, in fact, tacitly admitted the value of Bulwer’s +emendations by reprinting the articles in question in his biography of +Shelley word for word as they appeared in the <i>New Monthly Magazine</i>, not +in the form in which they originally left his pen.</p> + +<p>Hogg himself was unquestionably a man of remarkable powers, though his +present fame depends almost entirely upon his connection with Shelley. He +was born in 1792, being the eldest son of John Hogg, a gentleman of old +family and strong Tory opinions, who lived at Norton in the county of +Durham. He was educated at Durham Grammar School, and entered University +College, Oxford, in January 1810, a short time before Shelley. The account +of his meeting with Shelley and of their intimacy down to the day of their +expulsion is told in these pages.</p> + +<p>On the strength of a remark of Trelawny’s it has often been repeated that +Hogg was a hard-headed man of the world who despised literature, “he +thought it all nonsense and barely tolerated Shakespeare.” Such is not the +impression that a reader of these pages will retain, nor, I think, will he +be inclined to echo<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a></span> the opinion pronounced by another critic that Hogg +regarded Shelley with a kind of amused disdain. On the contrary, it is +plain that Hogg entertained for Shelley a sincere regard and admiration, +and although himself a man of temperament directly opposed to that usually +described as poetical, he was fully capable of appreciating the +transcendent qualities of his friend’s genius. There is little to add to +the tale of Hogg’s and Shelley’s Oxford life as told in the following +narrative, but further details as to their expulsion and the causes that +led to it may be read in Professor Dowden’s biography of the poet. After +leaving Oxford, Hogg established himself at York, where he was articled to +a conveyancer. There he was visited by Shelley and his young wife, Harriet +Westbrook, in the course of their wanderings. For the latter Hogg +conceived a violent passion, and during a brief absence of Shelley’s +assailed her with the most unworthy proposals, which she communicated to +her husband on his return. After a painful interview Shelley forgave his +friend, but left York with his wife abruptly for Keswick. Letters passed +between Hogg and Shelley, Hogg at first demanding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[Pg ix]</a></span> Harriet’s forgiveness +under a threat of suicide and subsequently challenging Shelley to a duel. +One of Shelley’s replies, characteristically noble in sentiment, was +printed by Hogg with cynical effrontery in his biography of the poet many +years later as a “Fragment of a Novel.” After these incidents there was no +intercourse between the two until, in October 1812, the Shelleys arrived +in London, whither Hogg had moved. From that time until Shelley’s final +departure from England in 1818 his connection with Hogg was resumed with +much of its old intimacy.</p> + +<p>In the year 1813 Hogg produced a work of fiction, <i>The Memoirs of Prince +Alexy Haimatoff</i>, said to be translated from the original Latin MSS. under +the immediate inspection of the Prince, by John Brown, Esq. The tale, +which is for the most part told in stilted and extravagant language, can +hardly be called amusing, but the discussions upon liberty which are a +feature of it appear to be an echo of Shelley’s conversation, and the hero +himself may possibly be intended as a portrait of the poet. Certainly +there are points in the Prince’s description of himself which seem to be +borrowed from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[Pg x]</a></span> Shelley’s physiognomy. “My complexion was a clear brown, +rather inclining to yellow; my hair a deep and bright black; my eyes dark +and strongly expressive of pride and anger,... my hands very small, and +my head remarkable for its roundness and diminutive size.” It would be +interesting to trace in the other characters the portraits of various +members of Hogg’s circle. Mr Garnett identifies Gothon as Dr Lind, the +Eton tutor whose sympathy and encouragement did much to alleviate the +misery of Shelley’s school-days. The fair Rosalie ought to be Harriet, and +certain features of her character recall that unhappy damsel, but Rosalie +disliked reading and thought Aristotle an “egregious trifler,” whereas +Harriet’s taste in literature was of an extreme seriousness, and her +partiality for reading works of a moral tendency to her companions in +season and out of season was one of the least engaging features of her +character.</p> + +<p>Shelley reviewed <i>The Memoirs of Prince Alexy Haimatoff</i> in the <i>Critical +Review</i> of December 1814, discussing the talents of the author in terms of +glowing eulogy, though he found fault with his views on the subject of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[Pg xi]</a></span> +sexual relations. Soon after his York experiences Hogg had entered at the +Middle Temple and he was called to the Bar in 1817. He was not successful +as a barrister, lacking the quickness and ready eloquence that command +success. In or about the year 1826 Hogg married Jane, the widow of Edward +Ellerker Williams, who had shared Shelley’s fate three years previously. +It is said that Mrs Williams insisted upon Hogg’s preparing himself for +the union, or perhaps we should rather say, proving his devotion, by a +course of foreign travel. Hogg undertook the ordeal, voluntarily depriving +himself of three things, each of which, to use his own words, “daily habit +had taught me to consider a prime necessary of life—law, Greek, and an +English newspaper.” In 1827 he published the record of his tour in two +volumes, entitled <i>Two Hundred and Nine Days; or, The Journal of a +Traveller on the Continent</i>, which, so far from illustrating the anguish +of hope deferred, is a storehouse of shrewd and cynical observation.</p> + +<p>In 1833 Hogg was appointed one of the Municipal Corporation Commissioners +for England and Wales, and for many years he acted as Revising Barrister +for Northumberland,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xii" id="Page_xii">[Pg xii]</a></span> Berwick and the Northern Boroughs. About 1855 he was +commissioned by the Shelley family to write the poet’s biography and was +furnished with the necessary papers. In 1858 he produced the two extant +volumes, which proved so little satisfactory to Shelley’s representatives +that the materials for the continuation of his task were withdrawn and the +work interrupted, never to be resumed. Hogg died in 1862. He was a man of +varied culture; in knowledge of Greek few scholars of his time surpassed +him, and he was well read in German, French, Italian and Spanish. He was a +fair botanist, and rejoiced to think that he was born upon the anniversary +of the birth of Linnæus, for whose concise and simple style he professed a +great admiration. Nevertheless it is chiefly as the friend and biographer +of Shelley that he interests the present generation, and the +re-publication of his account of the poet’s Oxford experiences can +scarcely fail to win him new admirers.</p> + +<p class="right">R. A. STREATFEILD</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h2>SHELLEY AT OXFORD</h2> +<p> </p><p> </p> +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">What</span> is the greatest disappointment in life? The question has often been +asked. In a perfect life—that is to say, in a long course of various +disappointments, when the collector has completed the entire set and +series, which should he pronounce to be the greatest? What is the greatest +disappointment of all? The question has often been asked, and it has +received very different answers. Some have said matrimony; others, the +accession of an inheritance that had long been anxiously anticipated; +others, the attainment of honours; others, the deliverance from an ancient +and intolerable nuisance, since a new and more grievous one speedily +succeeded to the old. Many<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> solutions have been proposed, and each has +been ingeniously supported. At a very early age I had formed a splendid +picture of the glories of our two Universities. My father took pleasure in +describing his academical career. I listened to him with great delight, +and many circumstances gave additional force to these first impressions. +The clergy—and in the country they make one’s principal guests—always +spoke of these establishments with deep reverence, and of their academical +days as the happiest of their lives.</p> + +<p>When I went to school, my prejudices were strengthened; for the master +noticed all deficiencies in learning as being unfit, and every remarkable +proficiency as being fit, for the University. Such expressions marked the +utmost limits of blame and of praise. Whenever any of the elder boys were +translated to college—and several went thither from our school every +year—the transmission was accompanied with a certain awe. I had always +contemplated my own removal with the like feeling, and as the period +approached,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> I anticipated it with a reverent impatience. The appointed +day at last arrived, and I set out with a schoolfellow, about to enter the +same career, and his father. The latter was a dutiful and a most grateful +son of <i>alma mater</i>; and the conversation of this estimable man, during +our long journey, fanned the flame of my young ardour. Such, indeed, had +been the effect of his discourse for many years; and as he possessed a +complete collection of the Oxford Almanacks, and it had been a great and +frequent gratification to contemplate the engravings at the top of the +annual sheets when I visited his quiet vicarage, I was already familiar +with the aspect of the noble buildings that adorn that famous city. After +travelling for several days we reached the last stage, and soon afterwards +approached the point whence, I was told, we might discern the first +glimpse of the metropolis of learning. I strained my eyes to catch a view +of that land of promise, for which I had so eagerly longed. The summits of +towers and spires and domes appeared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> afar and faintly; then the prospect +was obstructed. By degrees it opened upon us again, and we saw the tall +trees that shaded the colleges. At three o’clock on a fine autumnal +afternoon we entered the streets of Oxford. Although the weather was cold +we had let down all the windows of our post-chaise, and I sat forward, +devouring every object with greedy eyes. Members of the University, of +different ages and ranks, were gliding through the quiet streets of the +venerable city in academic costume.</p> + +<p>We devoted two or three days to the careful examination of the various +objects of interest that Oxford contains. The eye was gratified, for the +external appearance of the University even surpassed the bright picture +which my youthful imagination had painted. The outside was always +admirable; it was far otherwise with the inside. It is essential to the +greatness of a disappointment that the previous expectation should have +been great. Nothing could exceed my young anticipations—nothing could be +more complete than their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> overthrow. It would be impossible to describe my +feelings without speaking harshly and irreverently of the venerable +University. On this subject, then, I will only confess my disappointment, +and discreetly be silent as to its causes. Whatever those causes, I grew, +at least, and I own it cheerfully, soon pleased with Oxford, on the whole; +pleased with the beauty of the city and its gentle river, and the +pleasantness of the <ins class="correction" title="original: surrrounding">surrounding</ins> country.</p> + +<p>Although no great facilities were afforded to the student, there were the +same opportunities of <i>solitary</i> study as in other places. All the irksome +restraints of school were removed, and those of the University are few and +trifling. Our fare was good, although not so good, perhaps, as it ought to +have been, in return for the enormous cost; and I liked the few companions +with whom I most commonly mixed. I continued to lead a life of tranquil +and studious and somewhat melancholy contentment until the long vacation, +which I spent with my family; and,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> when it expired, I returned to the +University.</p> + +<p>At the commencement of Michaelmas term—that is, at the end of October, in +the year 1810, I happened one day to sit next to a freshman at dinner. It +was his first appearance in hall. His figure was slight, and his aspect +remarkably youthful, even at our table, where all were very young. He +seemed thoughtful and absent. He ate little, and had no acquaintance with +anyone. I know not how it was that we fell into conversation, for such +familiarity was unusual, and, strange to say, much reserve prevailed in a +society where there could not possibly be occasion for any. We have often +endeavoured in vain to recollect in what manner our discourse began, and +especially by what transition it passed to a subject sufficiently remote +from all the associations we were able to trace. The stranger had +expressed an enthusiastic admiration for poetical and imaginative works of +the German school; I dissented from his criticisms. He upheld the +originality<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> of the German writings; I asserted their want of nature.</p> + +<p>“What modern literature,” said he, “will you compare to theirs?”</p> + +<p>I named the Italian. This roused all his impetuosity; and few, as I soon +discovered, were more impetuous in argumentative conversation. So eager +was our dispute that, when the servants came in to clear the tables, we +were not aware that we had been left alone. I remarked that it was time to +quit the hall, and I invited the stranger to finish the discussion at my +rooms. He eagerly assented. He lost the thread of his discourse in the +transit, and the whole of his enthusiasm in the cause of Germany; for, as +soon as he arrived at my rooms, and whilst I was lighting the candles, he +said calmly, and to my great surprise, that he was not qualified to +maintain such a discussion, for he was alike ignorant of Italian and +German, and had only read the works of the Germans, in translations, and +but little of Italian poetry, even at second hand. For my part, I +confessed, with an equal <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>ingenuousness, that I knew nothing of German, +and but little of Italian; that I had spoken only through others, and, +like him, had hitherto seen by the glimmering light of translations.</p> + +<p>It is upon such scanty data that young men reason; upon such slender +materials do they build up their opinions. It may be urged, however, that +if they did not discourse freely with each other upon insufficient +information—for such alone can be acquired in the pleasant morning of +life, and until they educate themselves—they would be constrained to +observe a perpetual silence, and to forego the numerous advantages that +flow from frequent and liberal discussion.</p> + +<p>I inquired of the vivacious stranger, as we sat over our wine and dessert, +how long he had been at Oxford, and how he liked it? He answered my +questions with a certain impatience, and, resuming the subject of our +discussion, he remarked that, “Whether the literature of Germany or of +Italy be the more original, or in a purer and more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> accurate taste, is of +little importance, for polite letters are but vain trifling; the study of +languages, not only of the modern tongues, but of Latin and Greek also, is +merely the study of words and phrases, of the names of things; it matters +not how they are called. It is surely far better to investigate things +themselves.” I inquired, a little bewildered, how this was to be effected? +He answered, “Through the physical sciences, and especially through +chemistry;” and, raising his voice, his face flushing as he spoke, he +discoursed with a degree of animation, that far outshone his zeal in +defence of the Germans, of chemistry and chemical analysis. Concerning +that science, then so popular, I had merely a scanty and vulgar knowledge, +gathered from elementary books, and the ordinary experiments of popular +lecturers. I listened, therefore, in silence to his eloquent disquisition, +interposing a few brief questions only, and at long intervals, as to the +extent of his own studies and manipulations. As I felt,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> in truth, but a +slight interest in the subject of his conversation, I had leisure to +examine, and, I may add, to admire, the appearance of my very +extraordinary guest. It was a sum of many contradictions. His figure was +slight and fragile, and yet his bones and joints were large and strong. He +was tall, but he stooped so much that he seemed of a low stature. His +clothes were expensive, and made according to the most approved mode of +the day, but they were tumbled, rumpled, unbrushed. His gestures were +abrupt, and sometimes violent, occasionally even awkward, yet more +frequently gentle and graceful. His complexion was delicate and almost +feminine, of the purest red and white; yet he was tanned and freckled by +exposure to the sun, having passed the autumn, as he said, in shooting. +His features, his whole face, and particularly his head, were, in fact, +unusually small; yet the last <i>appeared</i> of a remarkable bulk, for his +hair was long and bushy, and in fits of absence, and in the agonies (if I +may use the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> word) of anxious thought, he often rubbed it fiercely with +his hands, or passed his fingers quickly through his locks unconsciously, +so that it was singularly wild and rough. In times when it was the mode to +imitate stage-coachmen as closely as possible in costume, and when the +hair was invariably cropped, like that of our soldiers, this eccentricity +was very striking. His features were not symmetrical (the mouth, perhaps, +excepted), yet was the effect of the whole extremely powerful. They +breathed an animation, a fire, an enthusiasm, a vivid and preternatural +intelligence, that I never met with in any other countenance. Nor was the +moral expression less beautiful than the intellectual; for there was a +softness, a delicacy, a gentleness, and especially (though this will +surprise many) that air of profound religious veneration that +characterises the best works, and chiefly the frescoes (and into these +they infused their whole souls) of the great masters of Florence and of +Rome. I recognised the very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> peculiar expression in these wonderful +productions long afterwards, and with a satisfaction mingled with much +sorrow, for it was after the decease of him in whose countenance I had +first observed it. I admired the enthusiasm of my new acquaintance, his +ardour in the cause of science and his thirst for knowledge. I seemed to +have found in him all those intellectual qualities which I had vainly +expected to meet with in a University. But there was one physical blemish +that threatened to neutralise all his excellence. “This is a fine, clever +fellow!” I said to myself, “but I can never bear his society; I shall +never be able to endure his voice; it would kill me. What a pity it is!” I +am very sensible of imperfections, and especially of painful sounds, and +the voice of the stranger was excruciating. It was intolerably shrill, +harsh and discordant; of the most cruel intension. It was perpetual, and +without any remission; it excoriated the ears. He continued to discourse +on chemistry, sometimes sitting, sometimes standing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> before the fire, and +sometimes pacing about the room; and when one of the innumerable clocks, +that speak in various notes during the day and the night at Oxford, +proclaimed a quarter to seven, he said suddenly that he must go to a +lecture on mineralogy, and declared enthusiastically that he expected to +derive much pleasure and instruction from it. I am ashamed to own that the +cruel voice made me hesitate for a moment; but it was impossible to omit +so indispensable a civility—I invited him to return to tea. He gladly +assented, promised that he would not be absent long, snatched his hat, +hurried out of the room, and I heard his footsteps, as he ran through the +silent quadrangle and afterwards along High Street.</p> + +<p>An hour soon elapsed, whilst the table was cleared and the tea was made, +and I again heard the footsteps of one running quickly. My guest suddenly +burst into the room, threw down his cap, and as he stood shivering and +chafing his hands over the fire, he declared how much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> he had been +disappointed in the lecture. Few persons attended; it was dull and +languid, and he was resolved never to go to another.</p> + +<p>“I went away, indeed,” he added, with an arch look, and in a shrill +whisper, coming close to me as he spoke—“I went away, indeed, before the +lecture was finished. I stole away, for it was so stupid, and I was so +cold that my teeth chattered. The Professor saw me, and appeared to be +displeased. I thought I could have got out without being observed, but I +struck my knee against a bench and made a noise, and he looked at me. I am +determined that he shall never see me again.”</p> + +<p>“What did the man talk about?”</p> + +<p>“About stones! about stones!” he answered, with a downcast look and in a +melancholy tone, as if about to say something excessively profound. “About +stones! stones, stones, stones!—nothing but stones!—and so drily. It was +wonderfully tiresome, and stones are not interesting things in +themselves!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>We took tea, and soon afterwards had supper, as was usual. He discoursed +after supper with as much warmth as before of the wonders of chemistry; of +the encouragement that Napoleon afforded to that most important science; +of the French chemists and their glorious discoveries, and of the +happiness of visiting Paris and sharing in their fame and their +experiments. The voice, however, seemed to me more cruel than ever. He +spoke, likewise, of his own labours and of his apparatus, and starting up +suddenly after supper, he proposed that I should go instantly with him to +see the galvanic trough. I looked at my watch, and observed that it was +too late; that the fire would be out, and the night was cold. He resumed +his seat, saying that I might come on the morrow early, to breakfast, +immediately after chapel. He continued to declaim in his rapturous strain, +asserting that chemistry was, in truth, the only science that deserved to +be studied. I suggested doubts. I ventured to question the pre-eminence of +the science, and even<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> to hesitate in admitting its utility. He described +in glowing language some discoveries that had lately been made; but the +enthusiastic chemist candidly allowed that they were rather brilliant than +useful, asserting, however, that they would soon be applied to purposes of +solid advantage.</p> + +<p>“Is not the time of by far the larger proportion of the human species,” he +inquired, with his fervid manner and in his piercing tones, “wholly +consumed in severe labour? And is not this devotion of our race—of the +whole of our race, I may say (for those who, like ourselves, are indulged +with an exemption from the hard lot are so few in comparison with the +rest, that they scarcely deserve to be taken into account)—absolutely +necessary to procure subsistence, so that men have no leisure for +recreation or the high improvement of the mind? Yet this incessant toil is +still inadequate to procure an abundant supply of the common necessaries +of life. Some are doomed actually to want them, and many are compelled to +be content with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> an insufficient provision. We know little of the peculiar +nature of those substances which are proper for the nourishment of +animals; we are ignorant of the qualities that make them fit for this end. +Analysis has advanced so rapidly of late that we may confidently +anticipate that we shall soon discover wherein their aptitude really +consists; having ascertained the cause, we shall next be able to command +it, and to produce at our pleasure the desired effects. It is easy, even +in our present state of ignorance, to reduce our ordinary food to carbon, +or to lime; a moderate advancement in chemical science will speedily +enable us, we may hope, to create, with equal facility, food from +substances that appear at present to be as ill adapted to sustain us. What +is the cause of the remarkable fertility of some lands, and of the +hopeless sterility of others? A spadeful of the most productive soil does +not to the eye differ much from the same quantity taken from the most +barren. The real difference is probably very slight; by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> chemical agency +the philosopher may work a total change, and may transmute an unfruitful +region into a land of exuberant plenty. Water, like the atmospheric air, +is compounded of certain gases; in the progress of scientific discovery a +simple and sure method of manufacturing the useful fluid, in every +situation and in any quantity, may be detected. The arid deserts of Africa +may then be refreshed by a copious supply and may be transformed at once +into rich meadows and vast fields of maize and rice. The generation of +heat is a mystery, but enough of the theory of caloric has already been +developed to induce us to acquiesce in the notion that it will hereafter, +and perhaps at no very distant period, be possible to produce heat at +will, and to warm the most ungenial climates as readily as we now raise +the temperature of our apartments to whatever degree we may deem agreeable +or salutary. If, however, it be too much to anticipate that we shall ever +become sufficiently skilful to command such a prodigious supply of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> heat, +we may expect, without the fear of disappointment, soon to understand its +nature and the causes of combustion, so far at least, as to provide +ourselves cheaply with a fund of heat that will supersede our costly and +inconvenient fuel, and will suffice to warm our habitations, for culinary +purposes and for the various demands of the mechanical arts. We could not +determine without actual experiment whether an unknown substance were +combustible; when we shall have thoroughly investigated the properties of +fire, it may be that we shall be qualified to communicate to clay, to +stones, and to water itself, a chemical recomposition that will render +them as inflammable as wood, coals and oil; for the difference of +structure is minute and invisible, and the power of feeding flame may, +perhaps, be easily added to any substance, or taken away from it. What a +comfort would it be to the poor at all times, and especially at this +season, if we were capable of solving this problem alone, if we could +furnish them with a competent supply of heat!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> These speculations may +appear wild, and it may seem improbable that they will ever be realised to +persons who have not extended their views of what is practicable by +closely watching science in its course onward; but there are many +mysterious powers, many irresistible agents with the existence and with +some of the phenomena of which all are acquainted. What a mighty +instrument would electricity be in the hands of him who knew how to wield +it, in what manner to direct its omnipotent energies, and we may command +an indefinite quantity of the fluid. By means of electrical kites we may +draw down the lightning from heaven! What a terrible organ would the +supernal shock prove, if we were able to guide it; how many of the secrets +of nature would such a stupendous force unlock. The galvanic battery is a +new engine; it has been used hitherto to an insignificant extent, yet has +it wrought wonders already; what will not an extraordinary combination of +troughs, of colossal magnitude, a well-arranged system of hundreds of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +metallic plates, effect? The balloon has not yet received the perfection +of which it is surely capable; the art of navigating the air is in its +first and most helpless infancy; the aërial mariner still swims on +bladders, and has not mounted even the rude raft; if we weigh this +invention, curious as it is, with some of the subjects I have mentioned, +it will seem trifling, no doubt—a mere toy, a feather in comparison with +the splendid anticipations of the philosophical chemist; yet it ought not +altogether to be contemned. It promises prodigious facilities for +locomotion, and will enable us to traverse vast tracts with ease and +rapidity, and to explore unknown countries without difficulty. Why are we +still so ignorant of the interior of Africa?—why do we not despatch +intrepid aëronauts to cross it in every direction, and to survey the whole +peninsula in a few weeks? The shadow of the first balloon, which a +vertical sun would project precisely underneath it, as it glided silently +over that hitherto unhappy country, would virtually<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> emancipate every +slave, and would annihilate slavery for ever.”</p> + +<p>With such fervour did the slender, beardless stranger speculate concerning +the march of physical science; his speculations were as wild as the +experience of twenty-one years has shown them to be; but the zealous +earnestness for the augmentation of knowledge, and the glowing +philanthropy and boundless benevolence that marked them, and beamed forth +in the whole deportment of that extraordinary boy, are not less +astonishing than they would have been if the whole of his glorious +anticipations had been prophetic; for these high qualities at least I have +never found a parallel. When he had ceased to predict the coming honours +of chemistry, and to promise the rich harvest of benefits it was soon to +yield, I suggested that, although its results were splendid, yet for those +who could not hope to make discoveries themselves, it did not afford so +valuable a course of mental discipline as the moral sciences; moreover, +that, if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> chemists asserted that their science alone deserved to be +cultivated, the mathematicians made the same assertion, and with equal +confidence, respecting their studies; but that I was not sufficiently +advanced myself in mathematics to be able to judge how far it was well +founded. He declared that he knew nothing of mathematics, and treated the +notion of their paramount importance with contempt.</p> + +<p>“What do you say of metaphysics?” I continued; “is that science, too, the +study of words only?”</p> + +<p>“Ay, metaphysics,” he said, in a solemn tone, and with a mysterious air, +“that is a noble study indeed! If it were possible to make any discoveries +there, they would be more valuable than anything the chemists have done, +or could do; they would disclose the analysis of mind, and not of mere +matter!” Then, rising from his chair, he paced slowly about the room, with +prodigious strides, and discoursed of souls with still greater animation +and vehemence than he had displayed in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> treating of gases—of a future +state—and especially of a former state—of pre-existence, obscured for a +time through the suspension of consciousness—of personal identity, and +also of ethical philosophy, in a deep and earnest tone of elevated +morality, until he suddenly remarked that the fire was nearly out, and the +candles were glimmering in their sockets, when he hastily apologised for +remaining so long. I promised to visit the chemist in his laboratory, the +alchemist in his study, the wizard in his cave, not at breakfast on that +day, for it was already one, but in twelve hours—one hour after noon—and +to hear some of the secrets of nature; and for that purpose he told me his +name, and described the situation of his rooms. I lighted him downstairs +as well as I could with the stump of a candle which had dissolved itself +into a lump, and I soon heard him running through the quiet quadrangle in +the still night. That sound became afterwards so familiar to my ear, that +I still seem to hear Shelley’s hasty steps.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">I trust,</span> or I should perhaps rather say I hope, that I was as much struck +by the conversation, the aspect, and the deportment of my new +acquaintance, as entirely convinced of the value of the acquisition I had +just made, and as deeply impressed with surprise and admiration as became +a young student not insensible of excellence, to whom a character so +extraordinary, and indeed almost preternatural, had been suddenly +unfolded. During his animated and eloquent discourses I felt a due +reverence for his zeal and talent, but the human mind is capable of a +certain amount of attention only. I had listened and discussed for seven +or eight hours, and my spirits were totally exhausted. I went to bed as +soon as Shelley had quitted my rooms, and fell<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> instantly into a profound +sleep; and I shook off with a painful effort, at the accustomed signal, +the complete oblivion which then appeared to have been but momentary. Many +of the wholesome usages of antiquity had ceased at Oxford; that of early +rising, however, still lingered.</p> + +<p>As soon as I got up, I applied myself sedulously to my academical duties +and my accustomed studies. The power of habitual occupation is great and +engrossing, and it is possible that my mind had not yet fully recovered +from the agreeable fatigue of the preceding evening, for I had entirely +forgotten my engagement, nor did the thought of my young guest once cross +my fancy. It was strange that a person so remarkable and attractive should +have thus disappeared for several hours from my memory; but such in truth +was the fact, although I am unable to account for it in a satisfactory +manner.</p> + +<p>At one o’clock I put away my books and papers, and prepared myself for my +daily walk; the weather was frosty,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> with fog, and whilst I lingered over +the fire with that reluctance to venture forth into the cold air common to +those who have chilled themselves by protracted sedentary pursuits, the +recollection of the scenes of yesterday flashed suddenly and vividly +across my mind, and I quickly repaired to a spot that I may perhaps +venture to predict many of our posterity will hereafter reverently +visit—to the rooms in the corner next the hall of the principal +quadrangle of University College. They are on the first floor, and on the +right of the entrance, but by reason of the turn in the stairs, when you +reach them they will be upon your left hand. I remember the direction +given at parting, and I soon found the door. It stood ajar. I tapped +gently, and the discordant voice cried shrilly,—</p> + +<p>“Come in!”</p> + +<p>It was now nearly two. I began to apologise for my delay, but I was +interrupted by a loud exclamation of surprise.</p> + +<p>“What! is it one? I had no notion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> it was so late. I thought it was about +ten or eleven.”</p> + +<p>“It is on the stroke of two, sir,” said the scout, who was engaged in the +vain attempt of setting the apartment in order.</p> + +<p>“Of two!” Shelley cried with increased wonder, and presently the clock +struck, and the servant noticed it, retired and shut the door.</p> + +<p>I perceived at once that the young chemist took no note of time. He +measured duration, not by minutes and hours, like watchmakers and their +customers, but by the successive trains of ideas and sensations; +consequently, if there was a virtue of which he was utterly incapable, it +was that homely but pleasing and useful one—punctuality. He could not +tear himself from his incessant abstractions to observe at intervals the +growth and decline of the day; nor was he ever able to set apart even a +small portion of his mental powers for a duty so simple as that of +watching the course of the pointers on the dial.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span>I found him cowering over the fire, his chair planted in the middle of the +rug, and his feet resting upon the fender; his whole appearance was +dejected. His astonishment at the unexpected lapse of time roused him. As +soon as the hour of the day was ascertained he welcomed me, and seizing +one of my arms with both his hands, he shook it with some force, and very +cordially expressed his satisfaction at my visit. Then, resuming his seat +and his former posture, he gazed fixedly at the fire, and his limbs +trembled and his teeth chattered with cold. I cleared the fireplace with +the poker and stirred the fire, and when it blazed up, he drew back, and, +looking askance towards the door, he exclaimed with a deep sigh,—</p> + +<p>“Thank God, that fellow is gone at last!”</p> + +<p>The assiduity of the scout had annoyed him, and he presently added,—</p> + +<p>“If you had not come, he would have stayed until he had put everything in +my rooms into some place where I should never have found it again!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>He then complained of his health, and said that he was very unwell; but he +did not appear to be affected by any disorder more serious than a slight +aguish cold. I remarked the same contradiction in his rooms which I had +already observed in his person and dress. They had just been papered and +painted; the carpet, curtains, and furniture were quite new, and had not +passed through several academical generations, after the established +custom of transferring the whole of the movables to the successor on +payments of thirds, that is, of two-thirds of the price last given. The +general air of freshness was greatly obscured, however, by the +indescribable confusion in which the various objects were mixed. +Notwithstanding the unwelcome exertions of the officious scout, scarcely a +single article was in its proper position.</p> + +<p>Books, boots, papers, shoes, philosophical instruments, clothes, pistols, +linen, crockery, ammunition and phials innumerable, with money, stockings, +prints, crucibles, bags and boxes were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> scattered on the floor and in +every place, as if the young chemist, in order to analyse the mystery of +creation, had endeavoured first to re-construct the primeval chaos. The +tables, and especially the carpet, were already stained with large spots +of various hues, which frequently proclaimed the agency of fire. An +electrical machine, an air-pump, the galvanic trough, a solar microscope +and large glass jars and receivers, were conspicuous amidst the mass of +matter. Upon the table by his side were some books lying open, several +letters, a bundle of new pens and a bottle of japan ink that served as an +inkstand; a piece of deal, lately part of the lid of a box, with many +chips, and a handsome razor that had been used as a knife. There were +bottles of soda water, sugar, pieces of lemon, and the traces of an +effervescent beverage. Two piles of books supported the tongs, and these +upheld a small glass retort above an argand lamp. I had not been seated +many minutes before the liquor in the vessel boiled over, adding fresh<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +stains to the table, and rising in fumes with a most disagreeable odour. +Shelley snatched the glass quickly, and dashing it in pieces among the +ashes under the grate, increased the unpleasant and penetrating effluvium.</p> + +<p>He then proceeded with much eagerness and enthusiasm to show me the +various instruments, especially the electrical apparatus, turning round +the handle very rapidly, so that the fierce, crackling sparks flew forth; +and presently, standing upon the stool with glass feet, he begged me to +work the machine until he was filled with the fluid, so that his long wild +locks bristled and stood on end. Afterwards he charged a powerful battery +of several large jars; labouring with vast energy, and discoursing with +increasing vehemence of the marvellous powers of electricity, of thunder +and lightning; describing an electrical kite that he had made at home, and +projecting another and an enormous one, or rather a combination of many +kites, that would draw down from the sky an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> immense volume of +electricity, the whole ammunition of a mighty thunderstorm; and this being +directed to some point would there produce the most stupendous results.</p> + +<p>In these exhibitions and in such conversation the time passed away +rapidly, and the hour of dinner approached. Having pricked <i>æger</i> that +day, or, in other words, having caused his name to be entered as an +invalid, he was not required or permitted to dine in hall, or to appear in +public within the college or without the walls, until a night’s rest +should have restored the sick man to health.</p> + +<p>He requested me to spend the evening at his rooms; I consented, nor did I +fail to attend immediately after dinner. We conversed until a late hour on +miscellaneous topics. I remember that he spoke frequently of poetry, and +that there was the same animation, the same glowing zeal, which had +characterised his former discourses, and was so opposite to the listless +languor, the monstrous indifference, if<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> not the absolute antipathy to +learning, that so strangely darkened the collegiate atmosphere. It would +seem, indeed, to one who rightly considered the final cause of the +institution of a university, that all the rewards, all the honours the +most opulent foundation could accumulate, would be inadequate to +remunerate an individual, whose thirst for knowledge was so intense, and +his activity in the pursuit of it so wonderful and so unwearied. I +participated in his enthusiasm, and soon forgot the shrill and unmusical +voice that had at first seemed intolerable to my ear.</p> + +<p>He was, indeed, a whole university in himself to me, in respect of the +stimulus and incitement which his example afforded to my love of study, +and he amply atoned for the disappointment I had felt on my arrival at +Oxford. In one respect alone could I pretend to resemble him—in an ardent +desire to gain knowledge, and, as our tastes were the same in many +particulars, we immediately became, through sympathy, most intimate and +altogether inseparable<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> companions. We almost invariably passed the +afternoon and evening together; at first, alternately at our respective +rooms, through a certain punctiliousness, but afterwards, when we became +more familiar, most frequently by far at his. Sometimes one or two good +and harmless men of our acquaintance were present, but we were usually +alone. His rooms were preferred to mine, because there his philosophical +apparatus was at hand; and at that period he was not perfectly satisfied +with the condition and circumstances of his existence, unless he was able +to start from his seat at any moment, and seizing the air-pump, some +magnets, the electrical machine, or the bottles containing those noxious +and nauseous fluids wherewith he incessantly besmeared and disfigured +himself and his goods, to ascertain by actual experiment the value of some +new idea that rushed into his brain. He spent much time in working by fits +and starts and in an irregular manner with his instruments, and especially +consumed his hours and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> his money in the assiduous cultivation of +chemistry.</p> + +<p>We have heard that one of the most distinguished of modern discoverers was +abrupt, hasty, and to appearance disorderly, in the conduct of his +manipulations. The variety of the habits of great men is indeed infinite. +It is impossible, therefore, to decide peremptorily as to the capabilities +of individuals from their course of proceeding, yet it certainly seemed +highly improbable that Shelley was qualified to succeed in a science +wherein a scrupulous minuteness and a mechanical accuracy are +indispensable. His chemical operations seemed to an unskilful observer to +promise nothing but disasters. His hands, his clothes, his books and his +furniture were stained and corroded by mineral acids. More than one hole +in the carpet could elucidate the ultimate phenomenon of combustion; +especially a formidable aperture in the middle of the room, where the +floor also had been burnt by the spontaneous ignition, caused by mixing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +ether with some other fluid in a crucible; and the honourable wound was +speedily enlarged by rents, for the philosopher, as he hastily crossed the +room in pursuit of truth, was frequently caught in it by the foot. Many +times a day, but always in vain, would the sedulous scout say, pointing to +the scorched boards with a significant look,—</p> + +<p>“Would it not be better, sir, for us to get this place mended?”</p> + +<p>It seemed but too probable that in the rash ardour of experiment he would +some day set the college on fire, or that he would blind, maim or kill +himself by the explosion of combustibles. It was still more likely, +indeed, that he would poison himself, for plates and glasses and every +part of his tea equipage were used indiscriminately with crucibles, +retorts, and recipients, to contain the most deleterious ingredients. To +his infinite diversion I used always to examine every drinking vessel +narrowly, and often to rinse it carefully, after that evening when we were +taking tea by firelight, and my attention being attracted by the sound<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> of +something in the cup into which I was about to pour tea, I was induced to +look into it. I found a seven-shilling piece partly dissolved by the <i>aqua +regia</i> in which it was immersed. Although he laughed at my caution, he +used to speak with horror of the consequences of having inadvertently +swallowed, through a similar accident, some mineral poison—I think +arsenic—at Eton, which he declared had not only seriously injured his +health, but that he feared he should never entirely recover from the shock +it had inflicted on his constitution. It seemed improbable, +notwithstanding his positive assertions, that his lively fancy exaggerated +the recollection of the unpleasant and permanent taste, of the sickness +and disorder of the stomach, which might arise from taking a minute +portion of some poisonous substance by the like chance, for there was no +vestige of a more serious and lasting injury in his youthful and healthy, +although somewhat delicate aspect.</p> + +<p>I knew little of the physical sciences, and I felt, therefore, but a +slight degree<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> of interest in them. I looked upon his philosophical +apparatus merely as toys and playthings, like a chess-board or a billiard +table. Through lack of sympathy, his zeal, which was at first so ardent, +gradually cooled; and he applied himself to these pursuits, after a short +time, less frequently and with less earnestness. The true value of them +was often the subject of animated discussion; and I remember one evening +at my own rooms, when we had sought refuge against the intense cold in the +little inner apartment, or study, I referred, in the course of our debate, +to a passage in Xenophon’s <i>Memorabilia</i>, where Socrates speaks in +disparagement of Physics. He read it several times very attentively, and +more than once aloud, slowly and with emphasis, and it appeared to make a +strong impression on him.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding our difference of opinion as to the importance of +chemistry and on some other questions, our intimacy rapidly increased, and +we soon formed the habit of passing the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> greater part of our time +together; nor did this constant intercourse interfere with my usual +studies. I never visited his rooms until one o’clock, by which hour, as I +rose very early, I had not only attended the college lectures, but had +read in private for several hours. I was enabled, moreover, to continue my +studies afterwards in the evening, in consequence of a very remarkable +peculiarity. My young and energetic friend was then overcome by extreme +drowsiness, which speedily and completely vanquished him; he would sleep +from two to four hours, often so soundly that his slumbers resembled a +deep lethargy; he lay occasionally upon the sofa, but more commonly +stretched upon the rug before a large fire, like a cat; and his little +round head was exposed to such a fierce heat, that I used to wonder how he +was able to bear it. Sometimes I have interposed some shelter, but rarely +with any permanent effect; for the sleeper usually contrived to turn +himself and to roll again into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> the spot where the fire glowed the +brightest. His torpor was generally profound, but he would sometimes +discourse incoherently for a long while in his sleep. At six he would +suddenly compose himself, even in the midst of a most animated narrative +or of earnest discussion; and he would lie buried in entire forgetfulness, +in a sweet and mighty oblivion, until ten, when he would suddenly start +up, and rubbing his eyes with great violence, and passing his fingers +swiftly through his long hair, would enter at once into a vehement +argument, or begin to recite verses, either of his own composition or from +the works of others, with a rapidity and an energy that were often quite +painful. During the period of his occultation I took tea, and read or +wrote without interruption. He would sometimes sleep for a shorter time, +for about two hours, postponing for the like period the commencement of +his retreat to the rug, and rising with tolerable punctuality at ten; and +sometimes, although rarely, he was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> able entirely to forego the accustomed +refreshment.</p> + +<p>We did not consume the whole of our time, when he was awake, in +conversation; we often read apart, and more frequently together. Our joint +studies were occasionally interrupted by long discussions—nevertheless, I +could enumerate many works, and several of them are extensive and +important, which we perused completely and very carefully in this manner. +At ten, when he awoke, he was always ready for his supper, which he took +with a peculiar relish. After that social meal his mind was clear and +penetrating, and his discourse eminently brilliant. He was unwilling to +separate, but when the college clock struck two, I used to rise and retire +to my room. Our conversations were sometimes considerably prolonged, but +they seldom terminated before that chilly hour of the early morning; nor +did I feel any inconvenience from thus reducing the period of rest to +scarcely five hours.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>A disquisition on some difficult question in the open air was not less +agreeable to him than by the fireside; if the weather was fine, or rather +not altogether intolerable, we used to sally forth, when we met at one.</p> + +<p>I have already pointed out several contradictions in his appearance and +character. His ordinary preparation for a rural walk formed a very +remarkable contrast with his mild aspect and pacific habits. He furnished +himself with a pair of duelling pistols and a good store of powder and +ball, and when he came to a solitary spot, he pinned a card, or fixed some +other mark upon a tree or a bank, and amused himself by firing at it: he +was a pretty good shot, and was much delighted at his success. He often +urged me to try my hand and eye, assuring me that I was not aware of the +pleasure of a good hit. One day, when he was peculiarly pressing, I took +up a pistol and asked him what I should aim at? And observing a slab of +wood, about as big as a hearthrug, standing against a wall, I named it as +being a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> proper object. He said that it was much too far off; it was +better to wait until we came nearer. But I answered—“I may as well fire +here as anywhere,” and instantly discharged my pistol. To my infinite +surprise the ball struck the elm target most accurately in the very +centre. Shelley was delighted. He ran to the board, placed his chin close +to it, gazed at the hole where the bullet was lodged, examined it +attentively on all sides many times, and more than once measured the +distance to the spot where I had stood.</p> + +<p>I never knew anyone so prone to admire as he was, in whom the principle of +veneration was so strong. He extolled my skill, urged me repeatedly to +display it again, and begged that I would give him instructions in an art +in which I so much excelled. I suffered him to enjoy his wonder for a few +days, and then I told him, and with difficulty persuaded him, that my +success was purely accidental; for I had seldom fired a pistol before, and +never with ball, but with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> shot only, as a schoolboy, in clandestine and +bloodless expeditions against blackbirds and yellowhammers.</p> + +<p>The duelling pistols were a most discordant interruption of the repose of +a quiet country walk; besides, he handled them with such inconceivable +carelessness, that I had perpetually reason to apprehend that, as a +trifling episode in the grand and heroic work of drilling a hole through +the back of a card or the front of one of his father’s franks, he would +shoot himself, or me, or both of us. How often have I lamented that +Nature, which so rarely bestows upon the world a creature endowed with +such marvellous talents, ungraciously rendered the gift less precious by +implanting a fatal taste for perilous recreations, and a thoughtlessness +in the pursuit of them, that often caused his existence from one day to +another to seem in itself miraculous. I opposed the practice of walking +armed, and I at last succeeded in inducing him to leave the pistols at +home, and to forbear the use of them. I prevailed, I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> believe, not so much +by argument or persuasion, as by secretly abstracting, when he equipped +himself for the field, and it was not difficult with him, the +powder-flask, the flints or some other indispensable article. One day, I +remember, he was grievously discomposed and seriously offended to find, on +producing his pistols, after descending rapidly into a quarry, where he +proposed to take a few shots, that not only had the flints been removed, +but the screws and the bits of steel at the top of the cocks which hold +the flints were also wanting. He determined to return to college for +them—I accompanied him. I tempted him, however, by the way, to try to +define anger, and to discuss the nature of that affection of the mind, to +which, as the discussion waxed warm, he grew exceedingly hostile in +theory, and could not be brought to admit that it could possibly be +excusable in any case. In the course of conversation, moreover, he +suffered himself to be insensibly turned away from his original path and +purpose. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> have heard that, some years after he left Oxford, he resumed +the practice of pistol-shooting, and attained to a very unusual degree of +skill in an accomplishment so entirely incongruous with his nature.</p> + +<p>Of rural excursions he was at all times fond. He loved to walk in the +woods, to stroll on the banks of the Thames, but especially to wander +about Shotover Hill. There was a pond at the foot of the hill, before +ascending it and on the left of the road; it was formed by the water which +had filled an old quarry. Whenever he was permitted to shape his course as +he would, he proceeded to the edge of this pool, although the scene had no +other attractions than a certain wildness and barrenness. Here he would +linger until dusk, gazing in silence on the water, repeating verses aloud, +or earnestly discussing themes that had no connection with surrounding +objects. Sometimes he would raise a stone as large as he could lift, +deliberately throw it into the water as far as his strength enabled him, +then<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> he would loudly exult at the splash, and would quietly watch the +decreasing agitation, until the last faint ring and almost imperceptible +ripple disappeared on the still surface. “Such are the effects of an +impulse on the air,” he would say; and he complained of our ignorance of +the theory of sound—that the subject was obscure and mysterious, and many +of the phenomena were contradictory and inexplicable. He asserted that the +science of acoustics ought to be cultivated, and that by well-devised +experiments valuable discoveries would undoubtedly be made, and he related +many remarkable stories connected with the subject that he had heard or +read. Sometimes he would busy himself in splitting slaty stones, in +selecting thin and flat pieces and in giving them a round form, and when +he had collected a sufficient number, he would gravely make ducks and +drakes with them, counting, with the utmost glee, the number of bounds as +they flew along, skimming the surface of the pond. He was a devoted +worshipper of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> water-nymphs, for, whenever he found a pool, or even a +small puddle, he would loiter near it, and it was no easy task to get him +to quit it. He had not yet learned that art from which he afterwards +derived so much pleasure—the construction of paper boats. He twisted a +morsel of paper into a form that a lively fancy might consider a likeness +of a boat, and, committing it to the water, he anxiously watched the +fortunes of the frail bark, which, if it was not soon swamped by the faint +winds and miniature waves, gradually imbibed water through its porous +sides, and sank. Sometimes, however, the fairy vessel performed its little +voyage, and reached the opposite shore of the puny ocean in safety. It is +astonishing with what keen delight he engaged in this singular pursuit. It +was not easy for an uninitiated spectator to bear with tolerable patience +the vast delay on the brink of a wretched pond upon a bleak common and in +the face of a cutting north-east wind, on returning to dinner from a long +walk at sunset on a cold winter’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> day; nor was it easy to be so harsh as +to interfere with a harmless gratification that was evidently exquisite. +It was not easy, at least, to induce the shipbuilder to desist from +launching his tiny fleets, so long as any timber remained in the +dock-yard. I prevailed once and once only. It was one of those bitter +Sundays that commonly receive the new year; the sun had set, and it had +almost begun to snow. I had exhorted him long in vain, with the eloquence +of a frozen and famished man, to proceed. At last I said in +despair—alluding to his never-ending creations, for a paper navy that was +to be set afloat simultaneously lay at his feet, and he was busily +constructing more, with blue and swollen hands—“Shelley, there is no use +in talking to you; you are the Demiurgus of Plato!” He instantly caught up +the whole flotilla, and, bounding homeward with mighty strides, laughed +aloud—laughed like a giant as he used to say. So long as his paper +lasted, he remained riveted to the spot, fascinated by this peculiar +amusement.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> All waste paper was rapidly consumed, then the covers of +letters; next, letters of little value; the most precious contributions of +the most esteemed correspondent, although eyed wistfully many times and +often returned to the pocket, were sure to be sent at last in pursuit of +the former squadrons. Of the portable volumes which were the companions of +his rambles, and he seldom went out without a book, the fly-leaves were +commonly wanting—he had applied them as our ancestor Noah applied Gopher +wood. But learning was so sacred in his eyes, that he never trespassed +farther upon the integrity of the copy; the work itself was always +respected. It has been said that he once found himself on the north bank +of the Serpentine river without the materials for indulging those +inclinations which the sight of water invariably inspired, for he had +exhausted his supplies on the round pond in Kensington Gardens. Not a +single scrap of paper could be found, save only a bank-post bill for fifty +pounds. He hesitated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> long, but yielded at last. He twisted it into a boat +with the extreme refinement of his skill, and committed it with the utmost +dexterity to fortune, watching its progress, if possible, with a still +more intense anxiety than usual. Fortune often favours those who frankly +and fully trust her; the north-east wind gently wafted the costly skiff to +the south bank, where, during the latter part of the voyage, the venturous +owner had waited its arrival with patient solicitude. The story, of +course, is a mythic fable, but it aptly pourtrays the dominion of a +singular and most unaccountable passion over the mind of an enthusiast.</p> + +<p>But to return to Oxford. Shelley disliked exceedingly all college +meetings, and especially one which was the most popular with others—the +public dinner in the hall. He used often to absent himself, and he was +greatly delighted whenever I agreed to partake with him in a slight +luncheon at one, to take a long walk into the country and to return after +dark to tea and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> supper in his rooms. On one of these expeditions we +wandered farther than usual without regarding the distance or the lapse of +time; but we had no difficulty in finding our way home, for the night was +clear and frosty, and the moon at the full; and most glorious was the +spectacle as we approached the City of Colleges, and passed through the +silent streets. It was near ten when we entered our college; not only was +it too late for tea, but supper was ready, the cloth laid, and the table +spread. A large dish of scalloped oysters had been set within the fender +to be kept hot for the famished wanderers.</p> + +<p>Among the innumerable contradictions in the character and deportment of +the youthful poet was a strange mixture of singular grace, which +manifested itself in his actions and gestures, with an occasional +awkwardness almost as remarkable. As soon as we entered the room, he +placed his chair as usual directly in front of the fire, and eagerly +pressed forward to warm himself, for the frost was severe and he was very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +sensible of cold. Whilst cowering over the fire and rubbing his hands, he +abruptly set both his feet at once upon the edge of the fender; it +immediately flew up, threw under the grate the dish, which was broken into +two pieces, and the whole of the delicious mess was mingled with the +cinders and ashes, that had accumulated for several hours. It was +impossible that a hungry and frozen pedestrian should restrain a strong +expression of indignation, or that he should forbear, notwithstanding the +exasperation of cold and hunger, from smiling and forgiving the accident +at seeing the whimsical air and aspect of the offender, as he held up with +the shovel the long-anticipated food, deformed by ashes, coals and +cinders, with a ludicrous expression of exaggerated surprise, +disappointment, and contrition.</p> + +<p>It would be easy to fill many volumes with reminiscences characteristic of +my young friend, and of these the most trifling would perhaps best +illustrate his innumerable peculiarities.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> With the discerning, trifles, +although they are accounted such, have their value. A familiarity with the +daily habits of Shelley, and the knowledge of his demeanour in private, +will greatly facilitate, and they are perhaps even essential to, the full +comprehension of his views and opinions. Traits that unfold an infantine +simplicity—the genuine simplicity of true genius—will be slighted by +those who are ignorant of the qualities that constitute greatness of soul. +The philosophical observer knows well that, to have shown a mind to be +original and perfectly natural, is no inconsiderable step in demonstrating +that it is also great.</p> + +<p>Our supper had disappeared under the grate, but we were able to silence +the importunity of hunger. As the supply of cheese was scanty, Shelley +pretended, in order to atone for his carelessness, that he never ate it; +but I refused to take more than my share, and, notwithstanding his +reiterated declarations that it was offensive to his palate and hurtful to +his stomach, as I was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> inexorable, he devoured the remainder, greedily +swallowing, not merely the cheese, but the rind also, after scraping it +cursorily, and with a certain tenderness. A tankard of the stout brown ale +of our college aided us greatly in removing the sense of cold, and in +supplying the deficiency of food, so that we turned our chairs towards the +fire, and began to brew our negus as cheerfully as if the bounty of the +hospitable gods had not been intercepted.</p> + +<p>We reposed ourselves after the fatigue of an unusually long walk, and +silence was broken by short remarks only, and at considerable intervals, +respecting the beauty of moonlight scenes, and especially of that we had +just enjoyed. The serenity and clearness of the night exceeded any we had +before witnessed; the light was so strong it would have been easy to read +or write. “How strange was it that light, proceeding from the sun, which +was at such a prodigious distance, and at that time entirely out of sight, +should be reflected from the moon, and that was no trifling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> journey, and +sent back to the earth in such abundance, and with so great force!”</p> + +<p>Languid expressions of admiration dropped from our lips as we stretched +our stiff and wearied limbs towards the genial warmth of a blazing fire. +On a sudden Shelley started from his seat, seized one of the candles, and +began to walk about the room on tiptoe in profound silence, often stooping +low, and evidently engaged in some mysterious search. I asked him what he +wanted, but he returned no answer, and continued his whimsical and secret +inquisition, which he prosecuted in the same extraordinary manner in the +bedroom and the little study. It had occurred to him that a dessert had +possibly been sent to his rooms whilst we were absent, and had been put +away. He found the object of his pursuit at last, and produced some small +dishes from the study—apples, oranges, almonds and raisins and a little +cake. These he set close together at my side of the table, without +speaking, but with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> a triumphant look, yet with the air of a penitent +making restitution and reparation, and then resumed his seat. The +unexpected succour was very seasonable; this light fare, a few glasses of +negus, warmth, and especially rest, restored our lost vigour and our +spirits. We spoke of our happy life, of universities, of what they might +be, of what they were. How powerfully they might stimulate the student, +how much valuable instruction they might impart. We agreed that, although +the least possible benefit was conferred upon us in this respect at +Oxford, we were deeply indebted, nevertheless, to the great and good men +of former days, who founded those glorious institutions, for devising a +scheme of life, which, however deflected from its original direction, +still tended to study, and especially for creating establishments that +called young men together from all parts of the empire, and for endowing +them with a celebrity that was able to induce so many to congregate. +Without such an opportunity of meeting we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> should never have been +acquainted with each other. In so large a body there must doubtless be +many at that time who were equally thankful for the occasion of the like +intimacy, and in former generations how many friendships, that had endured +through all the various trials of a long and eventful life, had arisen +here from accidental communion, as in our case.</p> + +<p>If there was little positive encouragement, there were various negative +inducements to acquire learning; there were no interruptions, no secular +cares; our wants were well supplied without the slightest exertion on our +part, and the exact regularity of academical existence cut off that +dissipation of the hours and the thoughts which so often prevails where +the daily course is not pre-arranged. The necessity of early rising was +beneficial. Like the Pythagoreans of old, we began with the gods; the +salutary attendance in chapel every morning not only compelled us to quit +our bed betimes, but imposed additional duties conducive to habits of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +industry. It was requisite not merely to rise, but to leave our rooms, to +appear in public and to remain long enough to destroy the disposition to +indolence which might still linger if we were permitted to remain by the +fireside. To pass some minutes in society, yet in solemn silence, is like +the Pythagorean initiation, and we auspicate the day happily by commencing +with sacred things. I scarcely ever visited Shelley before one o’clock; +when I met him in the morning at chapel, he used studiously to avoid all +communication, and, as soon as the doors were opened, to effect a +ludicrously precipitate retreat to his rooms.</p> + +<p>“The country near Oxford,” he continued, as we reposed after our meagre +supper, “has no pretensions to peculiar beauty, but it is quiet, and +pleasant, and rural, and purely agricultural after the good old fashion. +It is not only unpolluted by manufactures and commerce, but it is exempt +from the desecration of the modern husbandry, of a system which accounts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +the farmer a manufacturer of hay and corn. I delight to wander over it.” +He enlarged upon the pleasure of our pedestrian excursions, and added, “I +can imagine few things that would annoy me more severely than to be +disturbed in our tranquil course. It would be a cruel calamity to be +interrupted by some untoward accident, to be compelled to quit our calm +and agreeable retreat. Not only would it be a sad mortification, but a +real misfortune, for if I remain here I shall study more closely and with +greater advantage than I could in any other situation that I can conceive. +Are you not of the same opinion?”</p> + +<p>“Entirely.”</p> + +<p>“I regret only that the period of our residence is limited to four years. +I wish they would revive, for our sake, the old term of six or seven +years. If we consider how much there is for us to learn,” here he paused +and sighed deeply through that despondency which sometimes comes over the +unwearied and zealous student, “we shall allow<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> that the longer period +would still be far too short!”</p> + +<p>I assented, and we discoursed concerning the abridgement of the ancient +term of residence, and the diminution of the academical year by frequent, +protracted, and most inconvenient vacations.</p> + +<p>“To quit Oxford,” he said, “would be still more unpleasant to you than to +myself, for you aim at objects that I do not seek to compass, and you +cannot fail, since you are resolved to place your success beyond the reach +of chance.”</p> + +<p>He enumerated with extreme rapidity, and in his enthusiastic strain, some +of the benefits and comforts of a college life.</p> + +<p>“Then the <i>oak</i> is such a blessing,” he exclaimed, with peculiar fervour, +clasping his hands, and repeating often, “The oak is such a blessing!” +slowly and in a solemn tone. “The oak alone goes far towards making this +place a paradise. In what other spot in the world, surely in none that I +have hitherto visited, can you say confidently, it is perfectly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +impossible, physically impossible, that I should be disturbed? Whether a +man desire solitary study, or to enjoy the society of a friend or two, he +is secure against interruption. It is not so in a house, not by any means; +there is not the same protection in a house, even in the best-contrived +house. The servant is bound to answer the door; he must appear and give +some excuse; he may betray by hesitation and confusion that he utters a +falsehood; he must expose himself to be questioned; he must open the door +and violate your privacy in some degree; besides, there are other doors, +there are windows, at least, through which a prying eye can detect some +indication that betrays the mystery. How different is it here! The bore +arrives; the outer door is shut; it is black and solemn, and perfectly +impenetrable, as is your secret; the doors are all alike; he can +distinguish mine from yours by the geographical position only. He may +knock; he may call; he may kick, if he will; he may inquire of a +neighbour, but he can inform him of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> nothing; he can only say, the door is +shut, and this he knows already. He may leave his card, that you may +rejoice over it, and at your escape; he may write upon it the hour when he +proposes to call again, to put you upon your guard, and that he may be +quite sure of seeing the back of your door once more. When the bore meets +you and says, I called at your house at such a time, you are required to +explain your absence, to prove an <i>alibi</i>, in short, and perhaps to +undergo a rigid cross-examination; but if he tells you, ‘I called at your +rooms yesterday at three, and the door was shut,’ you have only to say, +‘Did you? Was it?’ and there the matter ends.”</p> + +<p>“Were you not charmed with your oak? Did it not instantly captivate you?”</p> + +<p>“My introduction to it was somewhat unpleasant and unpropitious. The +morning after my arrival I was sitting at breakfast; my scout, the +Arimaspian, apprehending that the singleness of his eye may impeach his +character for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> officiousness, in order to escape the reproach of seeing +half as much only as other men, is always striving to prove that he sees +at least twice as far as the most sharp-sighted. After many demonstrations +of superabundant activity, he inquired if I wanted anything more; I +answered in the negative. He had already opened the door: ‘Shall I sport, +sir?’ he asked briskly, as he stood upon the threshold. He seemed so +unlike a sporting character that I was curious to learn in what sport he +proposed to indulge. I answered, ‘Yes, by all means,’ and anxiously +watched him, but, to my surprise and disappointment he instantly vanished. +As soon as I had finished my breakfast, I sallied forth to survey Oxford. +I opened one door quickly and, not suspecting that there was a second, I +struck my head against it with some violence. The blow taught me to +observe that every set of rooms has two doors, and I soon learned that the +outer door, which is thick and solid, is called the oak, and to shut it is +termed, to sport. I derived so much<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> benefit from my oak that I soon +pardoned this slight inconvenience. It is surely the tree of knowledge.”</p> + +<p>“Who invented the oak?”</p> + +<p>“The inventors of the science of living in rooms or chambers—the Monks.”</p> + +<p>“Ah! they were sly fellows. None but men who were reputed to devote +themselves for many hours to prayers, to religious meditations and holy +abstractions, would ever have been permitted quietly to place at pleasure +such a barrier between themselves and the world. We now reap the advantage +of their reputation for sanctity. I shall revere my oak more than ever, +since its origin is so sacred.”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">The</span> sympathies of Shelley were instantaneous and powerful with those who +evinced in any degree the qualities, for which he was himself so +remarkable—simplicity of character, unaffected manners, genuine modesty +and an honest willingness to acquire knowledge, and he sprang to meet +their advances with an ingenuous eagerness which was peculiar to him; but +he was suddenly and violently repelled, like the needle from the negative +pole of the magnet, by any indication of pedantry, presumption or +affectation. So much was he disposed to take offence at such defects, and +so acutely was he sensible of them, that he was sometimes unjust, through +an excessive sensitiveness, in his estimate of those who had shocked him +by sins, of which he was himself utterly incapable.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span>Whatever might be the attainments, and however solid the merits of the +persons filling at that time the important office of instructors in the +University, they were entirely destitute of the attractions of manner; +their address was sometimes repulsive, and the formal, priggish tutor was +too often intent upon the ordinary academical course alone to the entire +exclusion of every other department of knowledge: his thoughts were wholly +engrossed by it, and so narrow were his views, that he overlooked the +claims of all merit, however exalted, except success in the public +examinations.</p> + +<p>“They are very dull people here,” Shelley said to me one evening, soon +after his arrival, with a long-drawn sigh, after musing a while. “A little +man sent for me this morning and told me in an almost inaudible whisper +that I must read. ‘You must read,’ he said many times in his small voice. +I answered that I had no objection. He persisted; so, to satisfy him, for +he did not appear to believe me, I told him I had some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> books in my +pocket, and I began to take them out. He stared at me and said that was +not exactly what he meant. ‘You must read <i>Prometheus Vinctus</i>, and +Demosthenes <i>De Corona</i> and Euclid.’ ‘Must I read Euclid?’ I asked +sorrowfully. ‘Yes, certainly; and when you have read the Greek I have +mentioned, you must begin Aristotle’s <i>Ethics</i>, and then you may go on his +other treatises. It is of the utmost importance to be well acquainted with +Aristotle.’ This he repeated so often that I was quite tired, and at last +I said, ‘Must I care about Aristotle? What if I do not mind Aristotle?’ I +then left him, for he seemed to be in great perplexity.”</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the slight he had thus cast upon the great master of the +science that has so long been the staple of Oxford, he was not blind to +the value of the science itself. He took the scholastic logic very kindly, +seized its distinctions with his accustomed quickness, felt a keen +interest in the study and patiently endured the exposition of those minute +discriminations, which the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> tyro is apt to contemn as vain and trifling.</p> + +<p>It should seem that the ancient method of communicating the art of +syllogising has been preserved, in part at least, by tradition in this +university. I have sometimes met with learned foreigners, who understood +the end and object of the scholastic logic, having received the +traditional instruction in some of the old universities on the Continent; +but I never found even one of my countrymen, except Oxonians, who rightly +comprehended the nature of the science. I may, perhaps, add that, in +proportion as the self-taught logicians had laboured in the pursuit, they +had gone far astray. It is possible, nevertheless, that those who have +drunk at the fountain head and have read the <i>Organon</i> of Aristotle in the +original, may have attained to a just comprehension by their unassisted +energies; but in this age and in this country, I apprehend the number of +such adventurous readers is very considerable.</p> + +<p>Shelley frequently exercised his ingenuity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> in long discussions respecting +various questions in logic, and more frequently indulged in metaphysical +inquiries. We read several metaphysical works together, in whole or in +part, for the first time, or after a previous perusal by one or by both of +us.</p> + +<p>The examination of a chapter of Locke’s <i>Essay Concerning Human +Understanding</i> would induce him, at any moment, to quit every other +pursuit. We read together Hume’s <i>Essays</i>, and some productions of Scotch +metaphysicians of inferior ability—all with assiduous and friendly +altercations, and the latter writers, at least, with small profit, unless +some sparks of knowledge were struck out in the collision of debate. We +read also certain popular French works that treat of man for the most part +in a mixed method, metaphysically, morally and politically. Hume’s +<i>Essays</i> were a favourite book with Shelley, and he was always ready to +put forward in argument the doctrines they uphold.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span>It may seem strange that he should ever have accepted the sceptical +philosophy, a system so uncongenial with a fervid and imaginative genius, +which can allure the cool, cautious, abstinent reasoner alone, and would +deter the enthusiastic, the fanciful and the speculative. We must bear in +mind, however, that he was an eager, bold, unwearied disputant; and +although the position, in which the sceptic and the materialist love to +entrench themselves, offers no picturesque attractions to the eye of the +poet, it is well adapted for defensive warfare, and it is not easy for an +ordinary enemy to dislodge him, who occupies a post that derives strength +from the weakness of the assailant. It has been insinuated that, whenever +a man of real talent and generous feelings condescends to fight under +these colours, he is guilty of a dissimulation, which he deems harmless, +perhaps even praiseworthy, for the sake of victory in argument.</p> + +<p>It was not a little curious to observe one, whose sanguine temper led him +to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> believe implicitly every assertion, so that it was improbable and +incredible, exulting in the success of his philosophical doubts, when, +like the calmest and most suspicious of analysts, he refused to admit, +without strict proof, propositions that many, who are not deficient in +metaphysical prudence, account obvious and self-evident. The sceptical +philosophy had another charm; it partook of the new and the wonderful, +inasmuch as it called into doubt, and seemed to place in jeopardy during +the joyous hours of disputation, many important practical conclusions. To +a soul loving excitement and change, destruction, so that it be on a grand +scale, may sometimes prove hardly less inspiring than creation. The feat +of the magician, who, by the touch of his wand, could cause the Great +Pyramid to dissolve into the air and to vanish from the sight, would be as +surprising as the achievement of him, who, by the same rod, could +instantly raise a similar mass in any chosen spot. If the destruction of +the eternal monument<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> was only apparent, the ocular sophism would be at +once harmless and ingenuous: so was it with the logomachy of the young and +strenuous logician, and his intellectual activity merited praise and +reward.</p> + +<p>There was another reason, moreover, why the sceptical philosophy should be +welcome to Shelley at that time: he was young, and it is generally +acceptable to youth. It is adopted as the abiding rule of reason +throughout life, by those only who are distinguished by a sterility of +soul, a barrenness of invention, a total dearth of fancy and a scanty +stock of learning. Such, in truth, although the warmth of juvenile blood, +the light burthen of few years and the precipitation of inexperience may +sometimes seem to contradict the assertion, is the state of the mind at +the commencement of manhood, when the vessel has as yet received only a +small portion of the cargo of the accumulated wisdom of past ages, when +the amount of mental operations that have actually been performed is +small, and the materials<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> upon which the imagination can work are +insignificant; consequently, the inventions of the young are crude and +frigid.</p> + +<p>Hence the most fertile mind exactly resembles in early youth the hopeless +barrenness of those who have grown old in vain as to its actual condition, +and it differs only in the unseen capacity for future production. The +philosopher who declares that he knows nothing, and that nothing can be +known, will readily find followers among the young, for they are sensible +that they possess the requisite qualifications for entering his school, +and are as far advanced in the science of ignorance as their master.</p> + +<p>A stranger who should have chanced to have been present at some of +Shelley’s disputes, or who knew him only from having read some of the +short argumentative essays which he composed as voluntary exercises, would +have said, “Surely the soul of Hume passed by transmigration into the body +of that eloquent young man; or, rather, he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> represents one of the +enthusiastic and animated materialists of the French schools, whom +revolutionary violence lately intercepted at an early age in his +philosophical career.”</p> + +<p>There were times, however, when a visitor, who had listened to glowing +discourses delivered with a more intense ardour, would have hailed a young +Platonist, breathing forth the ideal philosophy, and in his pursuit of the +intellectual world entirely overlooking the material or noticing it only +to contemn it. The tall boy, who is permitted for the first season to +scare the partridges with his new fowling-piece, scorns to handle the top +or the hoop of his younger brother; thus the man, whose years and studies +are mature, slights the first feeble aspirations after the higher +departments of knowledge, that were deemed so important during his +residence at college. It seems laughable, but it is true, that our +knowledge of Plato was derived solely from Dacier’s translation of a few +of the dialogues, and from an English<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> version of the French translation: +we had never attempted a single sentence in the Greek. Since that time, +however, I believe, few of our countrymen have read the golden works of +that majestic philosopher in the original language more frequently and +more carefully than ourselves; and few, if any, with more profit than +Shelley. Although the source, whence flowed our earliest taste of the +divine philosophy, was scanty and turbid, the draught was not the less +grateful to our lips: our zeal in some measure atoned for our poverty.</p> + +<p>Shelley was never weary of reading, or of listening to me whilst I read, +passages from the dialogues contained in this collection, and especially +from the <i>Phædo</i>; and he was vehemently excited by the striking doctrines +which Socrates unfolds, especially by that which teaches that all our +knowledge consists of reminiscences of what we had learned in a former +existence. He often rose, paced slowly about the room, shook his long, +wild locks and discoursed in a solemn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> tone and with a mysterious air, +speculating concerning our previous condition, and the nature of our life +and occupations in that world, where, according to Plato, we had attained +to erudition, and had advanced ourselves in knowledge so far that the most +studious and the most inventive, or, in other words, those who have the +best memory, are able to call back a part only, and with much pain and +extreme difficulty, of what was formerly familiar to us.</p> + +<p>It is hazardous, however, to speak of his earliest efforts as a Platonist, +lest they should be confounded with his subsequent advancement; it is not +easy to describe his first introduction to the exalted wisdom of antiquity +without borrowing inadvertently from the knowledge which he afterwards +acquired. The cold, ungenial, foggy atmosphere of northern metaphysics was +less suited to the ardent temperament of his soul than the warm, bright, +vivifying climate of southern and eastern philosophy. His genius expanded +under the benign influence of the latter, and he derived<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> copious +instruction from a luminous system, that is only dark through excess of +brightness, and seems obscure to vulgar vision through its extreme +radiance. Nevertheless, in argument—and to argue on all questions was his +dominant passion—he usually adopted the scheme of the sceptics, partly, +perhaps, because it was more popular and is more generally understood. The +disputant, who would use Plato as his text-book in this age, would reduce +his opponents to a small number indeed.</p> + +<p>The study of that highest department of ethics, which includes all the +inferior branches and is directed towards the noblest and most important +ends of jurisprudence, was always next my heart; at an early age it +attracted my attention.</p> + +<p>When I first endeavoured to turn the regards of Shelley towards this +engaging pursuit, he strongly expressed a very decided aversion to such +inquiries, deeming them worthless and illiberal. The beautiful theory of +the art of right, and the honourable office of administering<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> distributive +justice, have been brought into general discredit, unhappily for the best +interests of humanity, and to the vast detriment of the state, into +unmerited disgrace in the modern world by the errors of practitioners. An +ingenuous mind instinctively shrinks from the contemplation of legal +topics, because the word law is associated with, and inevitably calls up +the idea of the low chicanery of a pettifogging attorney, of the vulgar +oppression and gross insolence of a bailiff, or at best, of the wearisome +and unmeaning tautology that distends an Act of Parliament, and the dull +dropsical compositions of the special pleader, the conveyancer or other +draughtsman.</p> + +<p>In no country is this unhappy debasement of a most illustrious science +more remarkable than in our own; no other nation is so prone to, or so +patient of, abuses; in no other land are posts, in themselves honourable, +so accessible to the meanest. The spirit of trade favours the degradation, +and every commercial town is a well-spring of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> vulgarity, which sends +forth hosts of practitioners devoid of the solid and elegant attainments +which could sustain the credit of the science, but so strong in the +artifices that insure success, as not only to monopolise the rewards due +to merit, but sometimes even to climb the judgment-seat.</p> + +<p>It is not wonderful, therefore, that generous minds, until they have been +taught to discriminate, and to distinguish a noble science from ignoble +practices, should usually confound them together, hastily condemning the +former with the latter. Shelley listened with much attention to questions +of natural law, and with the warm interest that he felt in all +metaphysical disquisitions, after he had conquered his first prejudice +against practical jurisprudence.</p> + +<p>The science of right, like other profound and extensive sciences, can only +be acquired completely when the foundations have been laid at an early +age. Had the energies of Shelley’s vigorous mind taken this direction at +that time, it is impossible to doubt that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> he would have become a +distinguished jurist. Besides that fondness for such inquiries which is +necessary to success in any liberal pursuit, he displayed the most acute +sensitiveness of injustice, however slight, and a vivid perception of +inconvenience. As soon as a wrong, arising from a proposed enactment or a +supposed decision, was suggested, he instantly rushed into the opposite +extreme; and when a greater evil was shown to result from the contrary +course which he had so hastily adopted, his intellect was roused, and he +endeavoured most earnestly to ascertain the true mean that would secure +the just by avoiding the unjust extremes.</p> + +<p>I have observed in young men that the propensity to plunge headlong into a +net of difficulty, on being startled at an apparent want of equity in any +rule that was propounded, although at first it might seem to imply a lack +of caution and foresight—which are eminently the virtues of legislators +and of judges—was an unerring prognostic of a natural aptitude for +pursuits, wherein eminence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> is inconsistent with an inertness of the moral +sense, and a recklessness of the violation of rights, however remote and +trifling. Various instances of such aptitude in Shelley might be +furnished, but these studies are interesting to a limited number of +persons only.</p> + +<p>As the mind of Shelley was apt to acquire many of the most valuable +branches of liberal knowledge, so there were other portions comprised +within the circle of science, for the reception of which, however active +and acute, it was entirely unfit. He rejected with marvellous impatience +every mathematical discipline that was offered; no problem could awaken +the slightest curiosity, nor could he be made sensible of the beauty of +any theorem. The method of demonstration had no charm for him. He +complained of the insufferable prolixity and the vast tautology of Euclid +and the other ancient <ins class="correction" title="original: gometricians">geometricians</ins>; and when the discoveries or modern +analysts were presented, he was immediately distracted, and fell into +endless musings.</p> + +<p>With respect to the Oriental tongues,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> he coldly observed that the +appearance of the characters was curious. Although he perused with more +than ordinary eagerness the relations of travellers in the East and the +translations of the marvellous tales of Oriental fancy, he was not +attracted by the desire to penetrate the languages which veil these +treasures. He would never deign to lend an ear or an eye for a moment to +my Hebrew studies, in which I had made at that time some small progress; +nor could he be tempted to inquire into the value of the singular lore of +the Rabbins.</p> + +<p>He was able, like the many, to distinguish a violet from a sunflower and a +cauliflower from a peony, but his botanical knowledge was more limited +than that of the least skilful of common observers, for he was neglectful +of flowers. He was incapable of apprehending the delicate distinctions of +structure which form the basis of the beautiful classification of modern +botanists. I was never able to impart even a glimpse of the merits of Ray +or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> Linnæus, or to encourage a hope that he would ever be competent to see +the visible analogies that constitute the marked, yet mutually approaching +<i>genera</i>, into which the productions of nature, and especially vegetables, +are divided.</p> + +<p>It may seem invidious to notice imperfections in a mind of the highest +order, but the exercise of a due candour, however unwelcome, is required +to satisfy those who were not acquainted with Shelley, that the admiration +excited by his marvellous talents and manifold virtues in all who were so +fortunate as to enjoy the opportunity of examining his merits by frequent +intercourse, was not the result of the blind partiality that amiable and +innocent dispositions, attractive manners and a noble and generous bearing +sometimes create.</p> + +<p>Shelley was always unwilling to visit the remarkable specimens of +architecture, the objects of art, and the various antiquities that adorn +Oxford; although, if he encountered them by accident, and they were +pointed out to him, he admired them more sincerely and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> heartily than the +generality of strangers, who, through compliance with fashion, +ostentatiously sought them out. His favourite recreation, as I have +already stated, was a free, unrestrained ramble into the country.</p> + +<p>After quitting the city and its environs by walking briskly along the +highway for several miles, it was his delight to strike boldly into the +fields, to cross the country daringly on foot, as is usual with sportsmen +when shooting; to perform, as it were, a pedestrian steeplechase. He was +strong, light and active, and in all respects well suited for such +exploits, and we used frequently to traverse a considerable tract in this +manner, especially when the frost had dried the land, had given complete +solidity to the most treacherous paths, and had thrown a natural bridge +over spots that in open weather during the winter would have been nearly +impassable.</p> + +<p>By resolutely piercing through a district in this manner we often stumbled +upon objects in our humble<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> travels that created a certain surprise and +interest; some of them are still fresh in my recollection. My susceptible +companion was occasionally much delighted and strongly excited by +incidents that would, perhaps, have seemed unimportant trifles to others.</p> + +<p>One day we had penetrated somewhat farther than usual, for the ground was +in excellent order, and as the day was intensely cold, although bright and +sunny, we had pushed on with uncommon speed. I do not remember the +direction we took; nor can I even determine on which side of the Thames +our course lay. We had crossed roads and lanes, and had traversed open +fields and inclosures; some tall and ancient trees were on our right hand; +we skirted a little wood, and presently came to a small copse. It was +guarded by an old hedge, or thicket; we were deflected, therefore, from +our onward course towards the left, and we were winding round it, when the +quick eye of my companion perceived a gap. He instantly dashed in with as +much alacrity as if he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> had suddenly caught a glimpse of a pheasant that +he had lately wounded in a district where such game was scarce, and he +disappeared in a moment.</p> + +<p>I followed him, but with less ardour, and, passing through a narrow belt +of wood and thicket, I presently found him standing motionless in one of +his picturesque attitudes, riveted to the earth in speechless +astonishment. He had thrown himself thus precipitately into a trim +flower-garden of small dimensions, encompassed by a narrow, but close +girdle of trees and underwood; it was apparently remote from all +habitations, and it contrasted strongly with the bleak and bare country +through which we had recently passed.</p> + +<p>Had the secluded scene been bright with the gay flowers of spring, with +hyacinths and tulips; had it been powdered with mealy auriculas or +conspicuous for a gaudy show of all anemones and of every ranuculus; had +it been profusely decorated by the innumerable roses of summer, it would +be easy to understand why it was so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> cheerful. But we were now in the very +heart of winter, and after much frost scarcely a single wretched brumal +flower lingered and languished. There was no foliage save the dark leaves +of evergreens, and of them there were many, especially around and on the +edges of the magic circle, on which account, possibly, but chiefly perhaps +through the symmetry of the numerous small <i>parterres</i>, the scrupulous +neatness of the corresponding walks, the just ordonnance and disposition +of certain benches, the integrity and freshness of the green trellises, +and of the skeletons of some arbours, and through every leafless +excellence which the dried anatomy of a flower-garden can exhibit, its +past and its future wealth seemed to shine forth in its present poverty, +and its potential glories adorned its actual disgrace.</p> + +<p>The sudden transition from the rugged fields to this garnished and +decorated retreat was striking, and held my imagination captive a few +moments. The impression, however, would probably have soon faded from my +memory, had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> it not been fixed there by the recollection of the beings who +gave animation and a permanent interest to the polished nook.</p> + +<p>We admired the trim and retired garden for some minutes in silence, and +afterwards each answered in monosyllables the other’s brief expressions of +wonder. Neither of us had advanced a single step beyond the edge of the +thicket which we had entered; but I was about to precede, and to walk +round the magic circle, in order fully to survey the place, when Shelley +startled me by turning with astonishing rapidity, and dashing through the +bushes and the gap in the fence with the mysterious and whimsical agility +of a kangaroo. Had he caught a glimpse of a tiger crouching behind the +laurels, and preparing to spring upon him, he could not have vanished more +promptly or more silently. I was habituated to his abrupt movements, +nevertheless his alacrity surprised me, and I tried in vain to discover +what object had scared him away. I retired, therefore, to the gap, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +when I reached it, I saw him already at some distance, proceeding with +gigantic strides nearly in the same route by which we came. I ran after +him, and when I rejoined him, he had halted upon a turnpike-road and was +hesitating as to the course he ought to pursue. It was our custom to +advance across the country as far as the utmost limits of our time would +permit, and to go back to Oxford by the first public road we found, after +attaining the extreme distance to which we could venture to wander.</p> + +<p>Having ascertained the route homeward, we pursued it quickly, as we were +wont, but less rapidly than Shelley had commenced his hasty retreat. He +had perceived that the garden was attached to a gentleman’s house, and he +had consequently quitted it thus precipitately. I had already observed on +the right a winding path that led through a plantation to certain offices, +which showed that a house was about a quarter of a mile from the spot +where I then stood.</p> + +<p>Had I been aware that the garden<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> was connected with a residence, I +certainly should not have trespassed upon it; but, having entered +unconsciously, and since the owner was too far removed to be annoyed by +observing the intrusion, I was tempted to remain a short time to examine a +spot which, during my brief visit, seemed so singular. The superior and +highly sensitive delicacy of my companion instantly took the alarm on +discovering indications of a neighbouring mansion; hence his marvellous +precipitancy in withdrawing himself from the garnished retirement he had +unwittingly penetrated, and we advanced some distance along the road +before he had entirely overcome his modest confusion.</p> + +<p>Shelley had looked on the ornate inclosure with a poet’s eye, and as we +hastily pursued our course towards Oxford by the frozen and sounding way, +whilst the day rapidly declined, he discoursed of it fancifully, and with +a more glowing animation than ordinary, like one agitated by a divine +fury, and by the impulse of inspiring deity. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> continued, indeed, so +long to enlarge upon the marvels of the enchanted grove, that I hinted the +enchantress might possibly be at hand, and since he was so eloquent +concerning the nest, what would have been his astonishment had he been +permitted to see the bird herself.</p> + +<p>He sometimes described, with a curious fastidiousness, the qualities which +a female must possess to kindle the fire of love in his bosom. The +imaginative youth supposed that he was to be moved by the most absolute +perfection alone. It is equally impossible to doubt the exquisite +refinement of his taste, or the boundless power of the most mighty of +divinities; to refuse to believe that he was a just and skilful critic of +feminine beauty and grace, and of whatever is attractive, or that he was +never practically as blind, at the least, as men of ordinary talent. How +sadly should we disparage the triumphs of Love were we to maintain that he +is able to lead astray the senses of the vulgar alone!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>In the theory of love, however, a poet will rarely err. Shelley’s lively +fancy had painted a goodly portraiture of the mistress of the fair garden, +nor were apt words wanting to convey to me a faithful copy of the bright +original. It would be a cruel injustice to an orator should a plain man +attempt, after a silence of more than twenty years, to revive his glowing +harangue from faded recollections. I will not seek, therefore, to pourtray +the likeness of the ideal nymph of the flower-garden.</p> + +<p>“Since your fairy gardener,” I said, “has so completely taken possession +of your imagination,” and he was wonderfully excited by the unexpected +scene and his own splendid decorations, “it is a pity we did not notice +the situation, for I am quite sure I should not be able to return thither, +to recover your Eden and the Eve, whom you created to till it, and I doubt +whether you could guide me.”</p> + +<p>He acknowledged that he was as incapable of finding it again as of leading +me to that paradise to which I had compared it.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>“You may laugh at my enthusiasm,” he continued, “but you must allow that +you were not less struck by the singularity of that mysterious corner of +the earth than myself. You are equally entitled, therefore, to dwell +there, at least, in fancy, and to find a partner whose character will +harmonise with the genius of the place.”</p> + +<p>He then declared, that thenceforth it should be deemed the possession of +two tutelary nymphs, not of one; and he proceeded with unabated fervour to +delineate the second patroness, and to distinguish her from the first.</p> + +<p>“No!” he exclaimed, pausing in the rapid career of words, and for a while +he was somewhat troubled, “the seclusion is too sweet, too holy, to be the +theatre of ordinary love; the love of the sexes, however pure, still +retains some taint of earthly grossness; we must not admit it within the +sanctuary.”</p> + +<p>He was silent for several minutes, and his anxiety visibly increased.</p> + +<p>“The love of a mother for a child is more refined; it is more +disinterested,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> more spiritual; but,” he added, after some reflection, +“the very existence of the child still connects it with the passion which +we have discarded,” and he relapsed into his former musings.</p> + +<p>“The love a sister bears towards a sister,” he exclaimed abruptly, and +with an air of triumph, “is unexceptionable.”</p> + +<p>This idea pleased him, and as he strode along he assigned the trim garden +to two sisters, affirming, with the confidence of an inventor, that it +owed its neatness to the assiduous culture of their neat hands; that it +was their constant haunt; the care of it their favourite pastime, and its +prosperity, next after the welfare of each other, the chief wish of both. +He described their appearance, their habits, their feelings, and drew a +lovely picture of their amiable and innocent attachment; of the meek and +dutiful regard of the younger, which partook, in some degree, of filial +reverence, but was more facile and familiar; and of the protecting, +instructing, hoping fondness of the elder, that resembled maternal +tenderness, but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> had less of reserve and more of sympathy. In no other +relation could the intimacy be equally perfect; not even between brothers, +for their life is less domestic: there is a separation in their pursuits, +and an independence in the masculine character. The occupations of all +females of the same age and rank are the same, and by night sisters +cherish each other in the same quiet nest. Their union wears not only the +grace of delicacy, but of fragility also; for it is always liable to be +suddenly destroyed by the marriage of either party, or, at least, to be +interrupted and suspended for an indefinite period.</p> + +<p>He depicted so eloquently the excellence of sisterly affection, and he +drew so distinctly and so minutely the image of two sisters, to whom he +chose to ascribe the unusual comeliness of the spot into which we had +unintentionally intruded, that the trifling incident has been impressed +upon my memory, and has been intimately associated in my mind, through his +creations, with his poetic character.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">The</span> prince of Roman eloquence affirms that the good man alone can be a +perfect orator, and truly; for without the weight of a spotless reputation +it is certain that the most artful and elaborate discourse must want +authority—the main ingredient in persuasion.</p> + +<p>The position is, at least, equally true of the poet, whose grand strength +always lies in the ethical force of his compositions, and these are great +in proportion to the efficient greatness of their moral purpose. If, +therefore, we would criticise poetry correctly, and from the foundation, +it behoves us to examine the morality of the bard.</p> + +<p>In no individual, perhaps, was the moral sense ever more completely +developed than in Shelley; in no being was the perception of right and of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +wrong more acute. The biographer who takes upon himself the pleasing and +instructive, but difficult and delicate task of composing a faithful +history of his whole life, will frequently be compelled to discuss the +important questions, whether his conduct, at certain periods, was +altogether such as ought to be proposed for imitation; whether he was ever +misled by an ardent imagination, a glowing temperament, something of +hastiness in choice and a certain constitutional impatience; whether, like +less gifted mortals, he ever shared in the common portion of +mortality—repentance, and to what extent?</p> + +<p>Such inquiries, however, do not fall within the compass of a brief +narrative of his career at the University. The unmatured mind of a boy is +capable of good intentions only and of generous and kindly feelings, and +these were pre-eminent in him. It will be proper to unfold the excellence +of his dispositions, not for the sake of vain and empty praise, but simply +to show his aptitude to receive the sweet fury of the Muses.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>His inextinguishable thirst for knowledge, his boundless philanthropy, his +fearless, it may be his almost imprudent pursuit of truth have been +already exhibited. If mercy to beasts be a criterion of a good man, +numerous instances of extreme tenderness would demonstrate his worth. I +will mention one only.</p> + +<p>We were walking one afternoon in Bagley wood; on turning a corner we +suddenly came upon a boy who was driving an ass. It was very young and +very weak, and was staggering beneath a most disproportionate load of +faggots, and he was belabouring its lean ribs angrily and violently with a +short, thick, heavy cudgel.</p> + +<p>At the sight of cruelty Shelley was instantly transported far beyond the +usual measure of excitement. He sprang forward and was about to interpose +with energetic and indignant vehemence. I caught him by the arm and to his +present annoyance held him back, and with much difficulty persuaded him to +allow me to be the advocate of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> the dumb animal. His cheeks glowed with +displeasure and his lips murmured his impatience during my brief dialogue +with the young tyrant.</p> + +<p>“That is a sorry little ass, boy,” I said; “it seems to have scarcely any +strength.”</p> + +<p>“None at all; it is good for nothing.”</p> + +<p>“It cannot get on; it can hardly stand. If anybody could make it go, you +would; you have taken great pains with it.”</p> + +<p>“Yes, I have; but it is to no purpose!”</p> + +<p>“It is of little use striking it, I think.”</p> + +<p>“It is not worth beating. The stupid beast has got more wood now than it +can carry; it can hardly stand, you see!”</p> + +<p>“I suppose it put it upon its back itself?”</p> + +<p>The boy was silent; I repeated the question.</p> + +<p>“No; it has not sense enough for that,” he replied, with an incredulous leer.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>By dint of repeated blows he had split his cudgel, and the sound caused by +the divided portion had alarmed Shelley’s humanity. I pointed to it and +said, “You have split your stick; it is not good for much now.”</p> + +<p>He turned it, and held the divided end in his hand.</p> + +<p>“The other end is whole, I see, but I suppose you could split that too on +the ass’s back, if you chose; it is not so thick.”</p> + +<p>“It is not so thick, but it is full of knots. It would take a great deal +of trouble to split it, and the beast is not worth that; it would do no +good!”</p> + +<p>“It would do no good, certainly; and if anybody saw you, he might say that +you were a savage young ruffian and that you ought to be served in the +same manner yourself.”</p> + +<p>The fellow looked at me in some surprise, and sank into sullen silence.</p> + +<p>He presently threw his cudgel into the wood as far as he was able, and +began to amuse himself by pelting the birds with pebbles, leaving my +long-eared<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> client to proceed at its own pace, having made up his mind, +perhaps, to be beaten himself, when he reached home, by a tyrant still +more unreasonable than himself, on account of the inevitable default of +his ass.</p> + +<p>Shelley was satisfied with the result of our conversation, and I repeated +to him the history of the injudicious and unfortunate interference of Don +Quixote between the peasant, John Haldudo, and his servant, Andrew. +Although he reluctantly admitted that the acrimony of humanity might often +aggravate the sufferings of the oppressed by provoking the oppressor, I +always observed that the impulse of generous indignation, on witnessing +the infliction of pain, was too vivid to allow him to pause and consider +the probable consequences of the abrupt interposition of the +knight-errantry, which would at once redress all grievances. Such +exquisite sensibility and a sympathy with suffering so acute and so +uncontrolled may possibly be inconsistent with the calmness and +forethought of the philosopher, but they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> accord well with the high +temperature of a poet’s blood.</p> + +<p>As his port had the meekness of a maiden, so the heart of the young virgin +who had never crossed her father’s threshold to encounter the rude world, +could not be more susceptible of all the sweet domestic charities than +his: in this respect Shelley’s disposition would happily illustrate the +innocence and virginity of the Muses.</p> + +<p>In most men, and especially in very young men, an excessive addiction to +study tends to chill the heart and to blunt the feelings, by engrossing +the attention. Notwithstanding his extreme devotion to literature, and +amidst his various and ardent speculations, he retained a most +affectionate regard for his relations, and particularly for the females of +his family; it was not without manifest joy that he received a letter from +his mother or his sisters.</p> + +<p>A child of genius is seldom duly appreciated by the world during his life, +least of all by his own kindred. The parents of a man of talent may claim<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +the honour of having given him birth, yet they commonly enjoy but little +of his society. Whilst we hang with delight over the immortal pages, we +are apt to suppose that the gifted author was fondly cherished; that a +possession so uncommon and so precious was highly prized; that his +contemporaries anxiously watched his going out and eagerly looked for his +coming in; for we should ourselves have borne him tenderly in our hands, +that he might not dash his foot against a stone. Surely such an one was +given in charge to angels, we cry. On the contrary, Nature appears most +unaccountably to slight a gift that she gave grudgingly, as if it were of +small value, and easily replaced.</p> + +<p>An unusual number of books, Greek or Latin classics, each inscribed with +the name of the donor, which had been presented to him, according to +custom, on quitting Eton, attested that Shelley had been popular among his +schoolfellows. Many of them were then at Oxford, and they frequently +called at his rooms. Although he spoke of them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> with regard, he generally +avoided their society, for it interfered with his beloved study, and +interrupted the pursuits to which he ardently and entirely devoted +himself.</p> + +<p>In the nine centuries that elapsed from the time of our great founder, +Alfred, to our days, there never was a student who more richly merited the +favour and assistance of a learned body, or whose fruitful mind would have +repaid with a larger harvest the labour of careful and judicious +cultivation. And such cultivation he was well entitled to receive. Nor did +his scholar-like virtues merit neglect, still less to be betrayed, like +the young nobles of Falisci, by a traitorous schoolmaster to an enemy less +generous than Camillus. No student ever read more assiduously. He was to +be found book in hand at all hours, reading in season and out of season, +at table, in bed and especially during a walk; not only in the quiet +country and in retired paths; not only at Oxford in the public walks and +High Street, but in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> the most crowded thoroughfares of London. Nor was he +less absorbed by the volume that was open before him in Cheapside, in +Cranbourne Alley or in Bond Street, than in a lonely lane, or a secluded +library.</p> + +<p>Sometimes a vulgar fellow would attempt to insult or annoy the eccentric +student in passing. Shelley always avoided the malignant interruption by +stepping aside with his vast and quiet agility.</p> + +<p>Sometimes I have observed, as an agreeable contrast to these wretched men, +that persons of the humblest station have paused and gazed with respectful +wonder as he advanced, almost unconscious of the throng, stooping low, +with bent knees and outstretched neck, poring earnestly over the volume, +which he extended before him; for they knew this, although the simple +people knew but little, that an ardent scholar is worthy of deference, and +that the man of learning is necessarily the friend of humanity, and +especially of the many. I never beheld eyes that devoured the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> pages more +voraciously than his. I am convinced that two-thirds of the period of the +day and night were often employed in reading. It is no exaggeration to +affirm, that out of the twenty-four hours he frequently read sixteen. At +Oxford his diligence in this respect was exemplary, but it greatly +increased afterwards, and I sometimes thought that he carried it to a +pernicious excess. I am sure, at least, that I was unable to keep pace +with him.</p> + +<p>On the evening of a wet day, when we had read with scarcely any +intermission from an early hour in the morning, I have urged him to lay +aside his book. It required some extravagance to rouse him to join +heartily in conversation; to tempt him to avoid the chimney-piece on which +commonly he had laid the open volume.</p> + +<p>“If I were to read as long as you read, Shelley, my hair and my teeth +would be strewed about on the floor, and my eyes would slip down my cheeks +into my waistcoat pockets, or, at least, I should become so weary and +nervous that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> I should not know whether it were so or not.”</p> + +<p>He began to scrape the carpet with his feet, as if teeth were actually +lying upon it, and he looked fixedly at my face, and his lively fancy +represented the empty sockets. His imagination was excited, and the spell +that bound him to his books was broken, and, creeping close to the fire, +and, as it were, under the fireplace, he commenced a most animated +discourse.</p> + +<p>Few were aware of the extent, and still fewer, I apprehend, of the +profundity of his reading. In his short life and without ostentation he +had in truth read more Greek than many an aged pedant, who with pompous +parade prides himself upon this study alone. Although he had not entered +critically into the minute niceties of the noblest of languages, he was +thoroughly conversant with the valuable matter it contains. A pocket +edition of Plato, of Plutarch, of Euripides, without interpretation or +notes, or of the Septuagint, was his ordinary companion; and he read the +text straightforward for hours, if not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> as readily as an English author, +at least with as much facility as French, Italian or Spanish.</p> + +<p>“Upon my soul, Shelley, your style of going through a Greek book is +something quite beautiful!” was the wondering exclamation of one who was +himself no mean student.</p> + +<p>As his love of intellectual pursuits was vehement, and the vigour of his +genius almost celestial, so were the purity and sanctity of his life most +conspicuous.</p> + +<p>His food was plain and simple as that of a hermit, with a certain +anticipation, even at this time, of a vegetable diet, respecting which he +afterwards became an enthusiast in theory, and in practice an irregular +votary.</p> + +<p>With his usual fondness for moving the abstruse and difficult questions of +the highest theology, he loved to inquire whether man can justify, on the +ground of reason alone, the practice of taking the life of the inferior +animals, except in the necessary defence of his life and of his means of +life, the fruits of that field which he has tilled, from violence and spoliation.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span>“Not only have considerable sects,” he would say, “denied the right +altogether, but those among the tender-hearted and imaginative people of +antiquity, who accounted it lawful to kill and eat, appear to have doubted +whether they might take away life merely for the use of man alone. They +slew their cattle, not simply for human guests, like the less scrupulous +butchers of modern times, but only as a sacrifice, for the honour and in +the name of the Deity; or, rather, of those subordinate divinities, to +whom, as they believed, the Supreme Being had assigned the creation and +conservation of the visible material world. As an incident to these pious +offerings, they partook of the residue of the victims, of which, without +such sanction and sanctification, they would not have presumed to taste. +So reverent was the caution of humane and prudent antiquity!”</p> + +<p>Bread became his chief sustenance when his regimen attained to that +austerity which afterwards distinguished it. He could have lived on bread +alone<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> without repining. When he was walking in London with an +acquaintance, he would suddenly run into a baker’s shop, purchase a +supply, and breaking a loaf he would offer half of it to his companion.</p> + +<p>“Do you know,” he said to me one day, with much surprise, “that such an +one does not like bread? Did you ever know a person who disliked bread?” +And he told me that a friend had refused such an offer.</p> + +<p>I explained to him that the individual in question probably had no +objection to bread in a moderate quantity at a proper time and with the +usual adjuncts, and was only unwilling to devour two or three pounds of +dry bread in the streets, and at an early hour.</p> + +<p>Shelley had no such scruple; his pockets were generally well-stored with +bread. A circle upon the carpet, clearly defined by an ample verge of +crumbs, often marked the place where he had long sat at his studies, his +face nearly in contact with his book, greedily devouring bread at +intervals amidst his profound abstractions. For the most part he took<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> no +condiments; sometimes, however, he ate with his bread the common raisins +which are used in making puddings, and these he would buy at little mean +shops.</p> + +<p>He was walking one day in London with a respectable solicitor who +occasionally transacted business for him. With his accustomed +precipitation he suddenly vanished and as suddenly reappeared: he had +entered the shop of a little grocer in an obscure quarter, and had +returned with some plums, which he held close under the attorney’s nose, +and the man of fact was as much astonished at the offer as his client, the +man of fancy, at the refusal.</p> + +<p>The common fruit of stalls, and oranges and apples were always welcome to +Shelley; he would crunch the latter as heartily as a schoolboy. +Vegetables, and especially salads, and pies and puddings were acceptable. +His beverage consisted of copious and frequent draughts of cold water, but +tea was ever grateful, cup after cup, and coffee. Wine was taken with +singular moderation, commonly diluted largely with water, and for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> long +period he would abstain from it altogether. He avoided the use of spirits +almost invariably, and even in the most minute portions.</p> + +<p>Like all persons of simple tastes, he retained his sweet tooth. He would +greedily eat cakes, gingerbread and sugar; honey, preserved or stewed +fruit with bread, were his favourite delicacies. These he thankfully and +joyfully received from others, but he rarely sought for them or provided +them for himself. The restraint and protracted duration of a convivial +meal were intolerable; he was seldom able to keep his seat during the +brief period assigned to an ordinary family dinner.</p> + +<p>These particulars may seem trifling, if indeed anything can be little that +has reference to a character truly great; but they prove how much he was +ashamed that his soul was in body, and illustrate the virgin abstinence of +a mind equally favoured by the Muses, the Graces and Philosophy. It is +true, however, that his application at Oxford, although exemplary, was not +so unremitting as it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> afterwards became; nor was his diet, although +singularly temperate, so meagre. However, his mode of living already +offered a foretaste of the studious seclusion and absolute renunciation of +every luxurious indulgence which ennobled him a few years later.</p> + +<p>Had a parent desired that his children should be exactly trained to an +ascetic life and should be taught by an eminent example to scorn delights +and to live laborious days, that they should behold a pattern of native +innocence and genuine simplicity of manners, he would have consigned them +to his house as to a temple or to some primitive and still unsophisticated +monastery.</p> + +<p>It is an invidious thing to compose a perpetual panegyric, yet it is +difficult to speak of Shelley, and impossible to speak justly, without +often praising him. It is difficult also to divest myself of later +recollections; to forget for a while what he became in days subsequent, +and to remember only what he then was, when we were fellow-collegians. It +is difficult, moreover,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> to view him with the mind which I then bore—with +a young mind, to lay aside the seriousness of old age; for twenty years of +assiduous study have induced, if not in the body, at least within, +something of premature old age.</p> + +<p>It now seems an incredible thing, and altogether inconceivable, when I +consider the gravity of Shelley and his invincible repugnance to the +comic, that the monkey tricks of the schoolboy could have still lingered, +but it is certain that some slight vestiges still remained. The +metaphysician of eighteen actually attempted once or twice to electrify +the son of his scout, a boy like a sheep, by name James, who roared aloud +with ludicrous and stupid terror, whenever Shelley affected to bring by +stealth any part of his philosophical apparatus near to him.</p> + +<p>As Shelley’s health and strength were visibly augmented, if by accident he +was obliged to accept a more generous diet than ordinary, and as his mind +sometimes appeared to be exhausted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> by never-ending toil, I often blamed +his abstinence and his perpetual application. It is the office of a +University, of a public institution for education, not only to apply the +spur to the sluggish, but also to rein in the young steed, that, being too +mettlesome, hastens with undue speed towards the goal.</p> + +<p>“It is a very odd thing, but every woman can live with my lord and do just +what she pleases with him, except my lady!” Such was the shrewd remark, +which a long familiarity taught an old and attached servant to utter +respecting his master, a noble poet.</p> + +<p>We may wonder in like manner, and deeply lament, that the most docile, the +most facile, the most pliant, the most confident creature that ever was +led through any of the various paths on earth, that a tractable youth, who +was conducted at pleasure by anybody that approached him—it might be +occasionally by persons delegated by no legitimate authority—was never +guided for a moment by those upon whom, fully and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> without reservation, +that most solemn and sacred obligation had been imposed, strengthened, +morever, by every public and private, official and personal, moral, +political and religious tie, which the civil polity of a long succession +of ages could accumulate. Had the University been in fact, as in name, a +kind nursing-mother to the most gifted of her sons, to one, who seemed, to +those that knew him best,—</p> + +<p class="poem">Heaven’s exile straying from the orb of light;</p> + +<p>had that most awful responsibility, the right institution of those, to +whom are to be consigned the government of the country and the +conservation of whatever good human society has elaborated and +excogitated, duly weighed upon the consciences of his instructors, they +would have gained his entire confidence by frank kindness, they would have +repressed his too eager impatience to master the sum of knowledge, they +would have mitigated the rigorous austerity of his course of living, and +they would have remitted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> the extreme tension of his soul by reconciling +him to liberal mirth; convincing him that, if life be not wholly a jest, +there are at least many comic scenes occasionally interspersed in the +great drama. Nor is the last benefit of trifling importance, for, as an +unseemly and excessive gravity is usually the sign of a dull fellow, so is +the prevalence of this defect the characteristic of an unlearned and +illiberal age.</p> + +<p>Shelley was actually offended, and indeed more indignant than would appear +to be consistent with the singular mildness of his nature, at a coarse and +awkward jest, especially if it were immodest or uncleanly; in the latter +case his anger was unbounded, and his uneasiness pre-eminent. He was, +however, sometimes vehemently delighted by exquisite and delicate sallies, +particularly with a fanciful, and perhaps somewhat fantastical +facetiousness—possibly the more because he was himself utterly incapable +of pleasantry.</p> + +<p>In every free state, in all countries that enjoy republican institutions, +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> view which each citizen takes of politics is an essential ingredient +in the estimate of his ethical character. The wisdom of a very young man +is but foolishness. Nevertheless, if we would rightly comprehend the moral +and intellectual constitution of the youthful poet, it will be expedient +to take into account the manner in which he was affected towards the grand +political questions, at a period when the whole of the civilised world was +agitated by a fierce storm of excitement, that, happily for the peace and +well-being of society, is of rare occurrence.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">“Above</span> all things, Liberty!” The political creed of Shelley may be +comprised in a few words; it was, in truth, that of most men, and in a +peculiar manner of young men, during the freshness and early springs of +revolutions. He held that not only is the greatest possible amount of +civil liberty to be preferred to all other blessings, but that this +advantage is all-sufficient, and comprehends within itself every other +desirable object. The former position is as unquestionably true as the +latter is undoubtedly false. It is no small praise, however, to a very +young man, to say that on a subject so remote from the comprehension of +youth his opinions were at least half right. Twenty years ago the young +men at our Universities were satisfied with upholding the political<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +doctrines of which they approved by private discussions. They did not +venture to form clubs of brothers and to move resolutions, except a small +number of enthusiasts of doubtful sanity, who alone sought to usurp by +crude and premature efforts the offices of a matured understanding and of +manly experience.</p> + +<p>Although our fellow-collegians were willing to learn before they took upon +themselves the heavy and thankless charge of instructing others, there was +no lack of beardless politicians amongst us. Of these, some were more +strenuous supporters of the popular cause in our little circles than +others; but all were abundantly liberal. A Brutus or a Gracchus would have +found many to surpass him, and few, indeed, to fall short in theoretical +devotion to the interests of equal freedom. I can scarcely recollect a +single exception amongst my numerous acquaintances. All, I think were +worthy of the best ages of Greece or of Rome; all were true, loyal +citizens, brave and free. How, indeed, could it be otherwise? Liberty is +the morning<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span>-star of youth; and those who enjoy the inappreciable blessing +of a classical education, are taught betimes to lisp its praises. They are +nurtured in the writings of its votaries, and they even learn their native +tongue, as it were, at secondhand, and reflected in the glorious pages of +the authors, who in the ancient languages and in strains of a noble +eloquence, that will never fail to astonish succeeding generations, +proclaim unceasingly, with every variety of powerful and energetic phrase, +“Above all things, Liberty!” The praises of liberty were the favourite +topic of our earliest verses, whether they flowed with natural ease, or +were elaborated painfully out of the resources of art; and the tyrant was +set up as an object of scorn, to be pelted with the first ink of our +themes. How, then, can an educated youth be other than free?</p> + +<p>Shelley was entirely devoted to the lovely theory of freedom; but he was +also eminently averse at that time from engaging in the far less beautiful +practices, wherein are found the actual and operative<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> energies of +liberty. I was maintaining against him one day at my rooms the superiority +of the ethical sciences over the physical. In the course of the debate he +cried with shrill vehemence—for as his aspect presented to the eye much +of the elegance of the peacock, so, in like manner, he cruelly lacerated +the ear with its discordant tones—“You talk of the pre-eminence of moral +philosophy? Do you comprehend politics under that name? and will you tell +me, as others do, and as Plato, I believe, teaches, that of this +philosophy the political department is the highest and the most +important?” Without expecting an answer, he continued: “A certain +nobleman” (and he named him) “advised me to turn my thoughts towards +politics immediately. ‘You cannot direct your attention that way too early +in this country,’ said the Duke. ‘They are the proper career for a young +man of ability and of your station in life. That course is the most +advantageous, because it is a monopoly. A little success in that line goes +far, since the number of competitors is limited; and of those who are +admitted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> to the contest, the greater part are altogether devoid of talent +or too indolent to exert themselves. So many are excluded, that, of the +few who are permitted to enter, it is difficult to find any that are not +utterly unfit for the ordinary service of the state. It is not so in the +church, it is not so at the bar; there all may offer themselves. The +number of rivals in those professions is far greater, and they are, +besides, of a more formidable kind. In letters, your chance of success is +still worse. There, none can win gold and all may try to gain reputation; +it is a struggle for glory—the competition is infinite, there are no +bounds—that is a spacious field indeed, a sea without shores!’ The Duke +talked thus to me many times and strongly urged me to give myself up to +politics without delay, but he did not persuade me. With how unconquerable +an aversion do I shrink from political articles in newspapers and reviews? +I have heard people talk politics by the hour, and how I hated it and +them! I went with my father several times to the House of Commons,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> and +what creatures did I see there! What faces! what an expression of +countenance! what wretched beings!” Here he clasped his hands, and raised +his voice to a painful pitch, with fervid dislike. “Good God! what men did +we meet about the House, in the lobbies and passages; and my father was so +civil to all of them, to animals that I regarded with unmitigated disgust! +A friend of mine, an Eton man, told me that his father once invited some +corporation to dine at his house, and that he was present. When dinner was +over, and the gentlemen nearly drunk, they started up, he said, and swore +they would all kiss his sisters. His father laughed and did not forbid +them, and the wretches would have done it; but his sisters heard of the +infamous proposal, and ran upstairs, and locked themselves in their +bedrooms. I asked him if he would not have knocked them down if they had +attempted such an outrage in his presence. It seems to me that a man of +spirit ought to have killed them if they had effected their purpose.” The +sceptical philosopher sat for several<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> minutes in silence, his cheeks +glowing with intense indignation.</p> + +<p>“Never did a more finished gentleman than Shelley step across a +drawing-room!” Lord Byron exclaimed; and on reading the remark in Mr +Moore’s <i>Memoirs</i> I was struck forcibly by its justice, and wondered for a +moment that, since it was so obvious, it had never been made before. +Perhaps this excellence was blended so intimately with his entire nature, +and it seemed to constitute a part of his identity, and being essential +and necessary was therefore never noticed. I observed his eminence in this +respect before I had sat beside him many minutes at our first meeting in +the hall of University College. Since that day I have had the happiness to +associate with some of the best specimens of gentlemen; but with all due +deference for those admirable persons (may my candour and my preference be +pardoned), I can affirm that Shelley was almost the only example I have +yet found that was never wanting, even in the most minute particular, of +the infinite and various<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> observances of pure, entire and perfect +gentility. Trifling, indeed, and unimportant, were the aberrations of some +whom I could name; but in him, during a long and most unusual familiarity, +I discovered no flaw, no tarnish; the metal was sterling, and the polish +absolute. I have also seen him, although rarely, “stepping across a +drawing-room,” and then his deportment, as Lord Byron testifies, was +unexceptionable. Such attendances, however, were pain and grief to him, +and his inward discomfort was not hard to be discerned.</p> + +<p>An acute observer, whose experience of life was infinite, and who had been +long and largely conversant with the best society in each of the principal +capitals of Europe, had met Shelley, of whom he was a sincere admirer, +several times in public. He remarked one evening, at a large party where +Shelley was present, his extreme discomfort, and added, “It is but too +plain that there is something radically wrong in the constitution of our +assemblies, since such a man finds not pleasure, nor even ease, in them.” +His<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> speculations concerning the cause were ingenious, and would possibly +be not altogether devoid of interest; but they are wholly unconnected with +the object of these scanty reminiscences.</p> + +<p>Whilst Shelley was still a boy, clubs were few in number, of small +dimensions, and generally confined to some specific class of persons. The +universal and populous clubs of the present day were almost unknown. His +reputation has increased so much of late, that the honour of including his +name in the list of members, were such a distinction happily attainable, +would now perhaps be sought by many of these societies; but it is not less +certain, that, for a period of nearly twenty years, he would have been +black-balled by almost every club in London. Nor would such a fate be +peculiar to him.</p> + +<p>When a great man has attained to a certain eminence, his patronage is +courted by those who were wont carefully to shun him, whilst he was +quietly and steadily pursuing the path that would inevitably lead to +advancement. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> would be easy to multiply instances, if proofs were +needed, and this remarkable peculiarity of our social existence is an +additional and irrefragable argument that the constitution of refined +society is radically vicious, since it flatters timid, insipid mediocrity, +and is opposed to the bold, fearless originality, and to that novelty +which invariably characterise true genius. The first dawnings of talent +are instantly hailed and warmly welcomed, as soon as some singularity +unequivocally attests its existence amongst nations where hypocrisy and +intolerance are less absolute.</p> + +<p>If all men were required to name the greatest disappointment they had +respectively experienced, the catalogue would be very various; accordingly +as the expectations of each had been elevated respecting the pleasure that +would attend the gratification of some favourite wish, would the reality +in almost every case have fallen short of the anticipation. The variety +would be infinite as to the nature of the first disappointment; but if the +same irresistible authority could command that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> another and another should +be added to the list, it is probable that there would be less +dissimilarity in the returns of the disappointments which were deemed +second and the next in the importance to the greatest, and perhaps, in +numerous instances, the third would coincide. Many individuals, having +exhausted their principal private and peculiar grievances in the first and +second examples, would assign the third place to some public and general +matter.</p> + +<p>The youth who has formed his conceptions of the power, effects and aspect +of eloquence from the specimens furnished by the orators of Greece and +Rome, receives as rude a shock on his first visit to the House of Commons +as can possibly be inflicted on his juvenile expectations, where the +subject is entirely unconnected with the interests of the individual. A +prodigious number of persons would, doubtless, inscribe nearly at the top +of the list of disappointments the deplorable and inconceivable +inferiority of the actual to the imaginary debate. It is not wonderful, +therefore, that the sensitive,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> the susceptible, the fastidious Shelley, +whose lively fancy was easily wound up to a degree of excitement +incomprehensible to calmer and more phlegmatic temperaments, felt keenly a +mortification that can wound even the most obtuse intellects, and +expressed with contemptuous acrimony his dissatisfaction at the cheat +which his warm imagination had put upon him. Had he resolved to enter the +career of politics, it is possible that habit would have reconciled him to +many things which at first seemed to be repugnant to his nature. It is +possible that his unwearied industry, his remarkable talents and vast +energy would have led him to renown in that line as well as in another; +but it is most probable that his parliamentary success would have been but +moderate. Opportunities of advancement were offered to him, and he +rejected them, in the opinion of some of his friends unwisely and +improperly; but, perhaps, he only refused gifts that were unfit for him: +he struck out a path for himself, and, by boldly following his own course, +greatly as it deviated from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> that prescribed to him, he became +incomparably more illustrious than he would have been had he steadily +pursued the beaten track. His memory will be green when the herd of +everyday politicians are forgotten. Ordinary rules may guide ordinary men, +but the orbit of the child of genius is essentially eccentric.</p> + +<p>Although the mind of Shelley had certainly a strong bias towards +democracy, and he embraced with an ardent and youthful fondness the theory +of political equality, his feelings and behaviour were in many respects +highly aristocratical. The ideal republic, wherein his fancy loved to +expatiate, was adorned by all the graces which Plato, Xenophon and Cicero +have thrown around the memory of ancient liberty; the unbleached web of +transatlantic freedom, and the inconsiderate vehemence of such of our +domestic patriots as would demonstrate their devotion to the good cause, +by treating with irreverence whatever is most venerable, were equally +repugnant to his sensitive and reverential spirit.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span>As a politician Shelley was in theory wholly a republican, but in +practice, so far only as it is possible to be one with due regard for the +sacred rights of a scholar and a gentleman; and these being in his eyes +always more inviolable than any scheme of polity or civil institution, +although he was upon paper and in discourse a sturdy commonwealth-man, the +living, moving, acting individual had much of the senatorial and +conservative, and was in the main eminently patrician.</p> + +<p>The rare assiduity of the young poet in the acquisition of general +knowledge has been already described; he had, moreover, diligently studied +the mechanism of his art before he came to Oxford. He composed Latin +verses with singular facility. On visiting him soon after his arrival at +the accustomed hour of one, we were writing the usual exercise, which we +presented, I believe, once a week—a Latin translation of a paper in the +<i>Spectator</i>. He soon finished it, and as he held it before the fire to +dry, I offered to take it from him. He said it was not worth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> looking at; +but as I persisted, through a certain scholastic curiosity to examine the +Latinity of my new acquaintance, he gave it to me. The Latin was +sufficiently correct, but the version was paraphrastic, which I observed. +He assented, and said that it would pass muster, and he felt no interest +in such efforts and no desire to excel in them. I also noticed many +portions of heroic verses, and even several entire verses, and these I +pointed out as defects in a prose composition. He smiled archly, and +asked, in his piercing whisper, “Do you think they will observe them? I +inserted them intentionally to try their ears! I once showed up a theme at +Eton to old Keate, in which there were a great many verses; but he +observed them, scanned them, and asked why I had introduced them? I +answered that I did not know they were there. This was partly true and +partly false; but he believed me, and immediately applied to me the line +in which Ovid says of himself—</p> + +<p class="poem">‘Et quod tentabam dicere, versus erat.’”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span>Shelley then spoke of the facility with which he could compose Latin +verses; and, taking the paper out of my hand, he began to put the entire +translation into verse. He would sometimes open at hazard a prose writer, +as Livy or Sallust, and, by changing the position of the words and +occasionally substituting others, he would translate several sentences +from prose to verse—to heroic, or more commonly elegiac, verse, for he +was peculiarly charmed with the graceful and easy flow of the latter—with +surprising rapidity and readiness. He was fond of displaying this +accomplishment during his residence at Oxford, but he forgot to bring it +away with him when he quitted the University; or perhaps he left it behind +him designedly, as being suitable to academic groves only and to the banks +of the Isis. In Ovid the facility of versification in his native tongue +was possibly in some measure innate, although the extensive and various +learning of that poet demonstrate that the power of application was not +wanting in him; but such a command over a dead<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> language can only be +acquired through severe study.</p> + +<p>There is much in the poetry of Shelley that seems to encourage the belief, +that the inspiration of the Muses was seldom duly hailed by the pious +diligence of the recipient. It is true that his compositions were too +often unfinished, but his example cannot encourage indolence in the +youthful writer, for his carelessness is usually apparent only. He had +really applied himself as strenuously to conquer all the other +difficulties of his art, as he patiently laboured to penetrate the +mysteries of metre in the state wherein it exists entire and can alone be +attained—in one of the classical languages.</p> + +<p>The poet takes his name from the highest effort of his art—creation; and, +being himself a maker, he must, of necessity, feel a strong sympathy with +the exercise of the creative energies. Shelley was exceedingly deficient +in mechanical ingenuity; and he was also wanting in spontaneous curiosity +respecting the operations of artificers. The wonderful dexterity of +well-practised hands, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> long tradition of innumerable ages, and the +vast accumulation of technical wisdom that are manifested in the various +handicrafts, have always been interesting to me, and I have ever loved to +watch the artist at his work. I have often induced Shelley to take part in +such observations, and although he never threw himself in the way of +professors of the manual erudition of the workshop, his vivid delight in +witnessing the marvels of the plastic hand, whenever they were brought +before his eyes, was very striking; and the rude workman was often +gratified to find that his merit in one narrow field was, at once and +intuitively, so fully appreciated by the young scholar. The instances are +innumerable that would attest an unusual sympathy with the arts of +construction even in their most simple stages.</p> + +<p>I led him one summer’s evening into a brickfield. It had never occurred to +him to ask himself how a brick is formed; the secret was revealed in a +moment. He was charmed with the simple contrivance, and astonished at the +rapidity, facility<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> and exactness with which it was put in use by so many +busy hands. An ordinary observer would have smiled and passed on, but the +son of fancy confessed his delight with an energy which roused the +attention even of the ragged throng, that seemed to exist only that they +might pass successive lumps of clay through a wooden frame.</p> + +<p>I was surprised at the contrast between the general indifference of +Shelley for the mechanical arts and his intense admiration of a particular +application of one of them the first time I noticed the latter +peculiarity. During our residence at Oxford I repaired to his rooms one +morning at the accustomed hour, and I found a tailor with him. He had +expected to receive a new coat on the preceding evening; it was not sent +home and he was mortified. I know not why, for he was commonly altogether +indifferent about dress, and scarcely appeared to distinguish one coat +from another. He was now standing erect in the middle of the room in his +new blue coat, with all its glittering buttons, and,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> to atone for the +delay, the tailor was loudly extolling the beauty of the cloth and the +felicity of the fit; his eloquence had not been thrown away upon his +customer, for never was man more easily persuaded than the master of +persuasion. The man of thimbles applied to me to vouch his eulogies. I +briefly assented to them. He withdrew, after some bows, and Shelley, +snatching his hat, cried with shrill impatience,—</p> + +<p>“Let us go!”</p> + +<p>“Do you mean to walk in the fields in your new coat?” I asked.</p> + +<p>“Yes, certainly,” he answered, and we sallied forth.</p> + +<p>We sauntered for a moderate space through lanes and by-ways, until we +reached a spot near to a farmhouse, where the frequent trampling of much +cattle had rendered the road almost impassable, and deep with black mud; +but by crossing the corner of a stack-yard, from one gate to another, we +could tread upon clean straw, and could wholly avoid the impure and +impracticable slough.</p> + +<p>We had nearly effected the brief and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> commodious transit—I was stretching +forth my hand to open the gate that led us back into the lane—when a +lean, brindled and most ill-favoured mastiff, that had stolen upon us +softly over the straw unheard and without barking, seized Shelley suddenly +by the skirts. I instantly kicked the animal in the ribs with so much +force that I felt for some days after the influence of his gaunt bones on +my toe. The blow caused him to flinch towards the left, and Shelley, +turning round quickly, planted a kick in his throat, which sent him +sprawling, and made him retire hastily among the stacks, and we then +entered the lane. The fury of the mastiff, and the rapid turn, had torn +the skirts of the new blue coat across the back, just about that part of +the human loins which our tailors, for some wise but inscrutable purpose, +are wont to adorn with two buttons. They were entirely severed from the +body, except a narrow strip of cloth on the left side, and this Shelley +presently rent asunder.</p> + +<p>I never saw him so angry either before or since. He vowed that he would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +bring his pistols and shoot the dog, and that he would proceed at law +against the owner. The fidelity of the dog towards his master is very +beautiful in theory, and there is much to admire and to revere in this +ancient and venerable alliance; but, in practice, the most unexceptionable +dog is a nuisance to all mankind, except his master, at all times, and +very often to him also, and a fierce surly dog is the enemy of the whole +human race. The farmyards in many parts of England are happily free from a +pest that is formidable to everybody but thieves by profession; in other +districts savage dogs abound, and in none so much, according to my +experience, as in the vicinity of Oxford. The neighbourhood of a still +more famous city—of Rome—is likewise infested by dogs, more lowering, +more ferocious and incomparably more powerful.</p> + +<p>Shelley was proceeding home with rapid strides, bearing the skirts of his +new coat on his left arm, to procure his pistols that he might wreak his +vengeance upon the offending dog. I disliked the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> race, but I did not +desire to take an ignoble revenge upon the miserable individual.</p> + +<p>“Let us try to fancy, Shelley,” I said to him, as he was posting away in +indignant silence, “that we have been at Oxford, and have come back again, +and that you have just laid the beast low—and what then?”</p> + +<p>He was silent for some time, but I soon perceived, from the relaxation of +his pace, that his anger had relaxed also.</p> + +<p>At last he stopped short, and taking the skirts from his arm, spread them +upon the hedge, stood gazing at them with a mournful aspect, sighed deeply +and, after a few moments, continued his march.</p> + +<p>“Would it not be better to take the skirts with us?” I inquired.</p> + +<p>“No,” he answered despondingly; “let them remain as a spectacle for men +and gods!”</p> + +<p>We returned to Oxford, and made our way by back streets to our college. As +we entered the gates the officious scout remarked with astonishment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +Shelley’s strange spencer, and asked for the skirts, that he might +instantly carry the wreck to the tailor. Shelley answered, with his +peculiarly pensive air, “They are upon the hedge.”</p> + +<p>The scout looked up at the clock, at Shelley and through the gate into the +street, as it were at the same moment and with one eager glance, and would +have run blindly in quest of them, but I drew the skirts from my pocket +and unfolded them, and he followed us to Shelley’s rooms.</p> + +<p>We were sitting there in the evening at tea, when the tailor, who had +praised the coat so warmly in the morning, brought it back as fresh as +ever, and apparently uninjured. It had been fine-drawn. He showed how +skilfully the wound had been healed, and he commended at some length the +artist who had effected the cure. Shelley was astonished and delighted. +Had the tailor consumed the new blue coat in one of his crucibles, and +suddenly raised it, by magical incantation, a fresh and purple Phœnix +from the ashes, his admiration<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> could hardly have been more vivid. It +might be, in this instance, that his joy at the unexpected restoration of +a coat, for which, although he was utterly indifferent to dress, he had, +through some unaccountable caprice, conceived a fondness, gave force to +his sympathy with art; but I have remarked in innumerable cases, where no +personal motive could exist, that he was animated by all the ardour of a +maker in witnessing the display of the creative energies.</p> + +<p>Nor was the young poet less interested by imitation, especially the +imitation of action, than by the creative arts. Our theatrical +representations have long been degraded by a most pernicious monopoly, by +vast abuses and enormous corruptions, and by the prevalence of bad taste. +Far from feeling a desire to visit the theatres, Shelley would have +esteemed it a cruel infliction to have been compelled to witness +performances that less fastidious critics have deemed intolerable. He +found delight, however, in reading the best of our English dramas, +particularly the masterpieces of Shakespeare, and he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> was never weary of +studying the more perfect compositions of the Attic tragedians. The +lineaments of individual character may frequently be traced more certainly +and more distinctly in trifles than in more important affairs; for in the +former the deportment, even of the boldest and more ingenuous, is more +entirely emancipated from every restraint. I recollect many minute traits +that display the inborn sympathy of a brother practitioner in the mimetic +arts. One silly tale, because, in truth, it is the most trivial of all, +will best illustrate the conformation of his mind; its childishness, +therefore, will be pardoned.</p> + +<p>A young man of studious habits and of considerable talent occasionally +derived a whimsical amusement, during his residence at Cambridge, from +entering the public-houses in the neighbouring villages, whilst the +fen-farmers and other rustics were smoking and drinking, and from +repeating a short passage of a play, or a portion of an oration, which +described the death of a distinguished person, the fatal result of a +mighty battle,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> or other important events, in a forcible manner. He +selected a passage of which the language was nearly on a level with vulgar +comprehension, or he adapted one by somewhat mitigating its elevation; +and, although his appearance did not bespeak histrionic gifts, he was able +to utter it impressively and, what was most effective, not theatrically, +but simply and with the air of a man who was in earnest; and if he were +interrupted or questioned, he could slightly modify the discourse, without +materially changing the sense, to give it a further appearance of reality; +and so staid and sober was the gravity of his demeanour as to render it +impossible for the clowns to solve the wonder by supposing that he was +mad. During his declamation the orator feasted inwardly on the stupid +astonishment of his petrified audience, and he further regaled himself +afterwards by imagining the strange conjectures that would commence at his +departure.</p> + +<p>Shelley was much interested by the account I gave him of this curious +fact, from the relation of two persons, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> had witnessed the +performance. He asked innumerable questions, which I was in general quite +unable to answer; and he spoke of it as something altogether miraculous, +that anyone should be able to recite extraordinary events in such a manner +as to gain credence. As he insisted much upon the difficulty of the +exploit, I told him that I thought he greatly over-estimated it, I was +disposed to believe that it was in truth easy; that faith and a certain +gravity were alone needed. I had been struck by the story, when I first +heard it; and I had often thought of the practicability of imitating the +deception, and although I had never proceeded so far myself, I had once or +twice found it convenient to attempt something similar. At these words +Shelley drew his chair close to mine, and listened with profound silence +and intense curiosity.</p> + +<p>I was walking one afternoon in the summer on the western side of that +short street leading from Long Acre to Covent Garden, wherein the +passenger is earnestly invited, as a personal favour<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> to the demandant, to +proceed straightway to Highgate or to Kentish Town, and which is called, I +think, James Street. I was about to enter Covent Garden, when an Irish +labourer, whom I met, bearing an empty hod, accosted me somewhat roughly, +and asked why I had run against him. I told him briefly that he was +mistaken. Whether somebody had actually pushed the man, or he sought only +to quarrel—and although he doubtless attended a weekly row regularly, and +the week was already drawing to a close, he was unable to wait until +Sunday for a broken head—I know not; but he discoursed for some time with +the vehemence of a man who considers himself injured or insulted, and he +concluded, being emboldened by my long silence, with a cordial invitation +just to push him again. Several persons, not very unlike in costume, had +gathered round him, and appeared to regard him with sympathy. When he +paused, I addressed to him slowly and quietly, and it should seem with +great gravity, these words, as nearly as I can recollect them:—</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span>“I have put my hand into the hamper; I have looked upon the sacred barley; +I have eaten out of the drum! I have drunk and was well pleased! I have +said <i>Konx ompax</i>, and it is finished!”</p> + +<p>“Have you, sir?” inquired the astonished Irishman, and his ragged friends +instantly pressed round him with “Where is the hamper, Paddy?” “What +barley?” and the like. And ladies from his own country—that is to say, +the basket-women, suddenly began to interrogate him, “Now, I say, Pat, +where have you been drinking? What have you had?”</p> + +<p>I turned therefore to the right, leaving the astounded neophyte, whom I +had thus planted, to expound the mystic words of initiation as he could to +his inquisitive companions.</p> + +<p>As I walked slowly under the piazzas, and through the streets and courts, +towards the west, I marvelled at the ingenuity of Orpheus—if he were +indeed the inventor of the Eleusinian mysteries—that he was able to +devise words that, imperfectly as I had repeated them, and in the tattered +fragment that has reached us, were able<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> to soothe people so savage and +barbarous as those to whom I had addressed them, and which, as the +apologists for those venerable rites affirm, were manifestly well adapted +to incite persons, who hear them for the first time, however rude they may +be, to ask questions. Words, that can awaken curiosity, even in the +sluggish intellect of a wild man, and can thus open the inlet of +knowledge!</p> + +<hr style="width: 15%;" /> + +<p>“<i>Konx ompax</i>, and it is finished!” exclaimed Shelley, crowing with +enthusiastic delight at my whimsical adventure. A thousand times, as he +strode about the house, and in his rambles out of doors, would he stop and +repeat aloud the mystic words of initiation, but always with an energy of +manner, and a vehemence of tone and of gesture that would have prevented +the ready acceptance, which a calm, passionless delivery had once procured +for them. How often would he throw down his book, clasp his hands, and +starting from his seat, cry suddenly, with a thrilling voice, “I have said +<i>Konx ompax</i>, and it is finished!”</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">As</span> our attention is most commonly attracted by those departments of +knowledge which are striking and remarkable, rather than by those which +are really useful, so, in estimating the character of an individual, we +are prone to admire extraordinary intellectual powers and uncommon +energies of thought, and to overlook that excellence which is, in truth, +the most precious—his moral value. Was the subject of biography +distinguished by a vast erudition? Was he conspicuous for an original +genius? for a warm and fruitful fancy? Such are the implied questions +which we seek to resolve by consulting the memoirs of his life. We may +sometimes desire to be informed whether he was a man of nice honour and +conspicuous integrity; but how rarely do we feel any curiosity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> with +respect to that quality which is, perhaps, the most important to his +fellows—how seldom do we desire to measure his benevolence! It would be +impossible faithfully to describe the course of a single day in the +ordinary life of Shelley without showing incidentally and unintentionally, +that his nature was eminently benevolent—and many minute traits, pregnant +with proof, have been already scattered by the way; but it would be an +injustice to his memory to forbear to illustrate expressly, but briefly, +in leave-taking, the ardent, devoted, and unwearied love he bore his kind.</p> + +<p>A personal intercourse could alone enable the observer to discern in him a +soul ready winged for flight and scarcely detained by the fetters of body: +that happiness was, if possible, still more indispensable to open the view +of the unbounded expanse of cloudless philanthropy—pure, disinterested, +and unvaried—the aspect of which often filled with mute wonder the minds +of simple people, unable to estimate a penetrating genius, a docile +sagacity, a tenacious memory, or,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> indeed, any of the various ornaments of +the soul.</p> + +<p>Whenever the intimate friends of Shelley speak of him in general terms, +they speedily and unconsciously fall into the language of panegyric—a +style of discourse that is barren of instruction, wholly devoid of +interest, and justly suspected by the prudent stranger. It becomes them, +therefore, on discovering the error they have committed, humbly to entreat +the forgiveness of the charitable for human infirmity, oppressed and +weighed down by the fulness of the subject—carefully to abstain in future +from every vague expression of commendation, and faithfully to relate a +plain, honest tale of unadorned facts.</p> + +<p>A regard for children, singular and touching, is an unerring and most +engaging indication of a benevolent mind. That this characteristic was not +wanting in Shelley might be demonstrated by numerous examples which crowd +upon the recollection, each of them bearing the strongly impressed stamp +of individuality; for genius renders every surrounding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> circumstance +significant and important. In one of our rambles we were traversing the +bare, squalid, ugly, corn-yielding country, that lies, if I remember +rightly, to the south-west of Oxford. The hollow road ascended a hill, and +near the summit Shelley observed a female child leaning against the bank +on the right; it was of a mean, dull and unattractive aspect, and older +than its stunted growth denoted. The morning, as well as the preceding +night, had been rainy; it had cleared up at noon with a certain ungenial +sunshine, and the afternoon was distinguished by that intense cold which +sometimes, in the winter season, terminates such days. The little girl was +oppressed by cold, by hunger and by a vague feeling of abandonment. It was +not easy to draw from her blue lips an intelligible history of her +condition. Love, however, is at once credulous and apprehensive; and +Shelley immediately decided that she had been deserted, and with his +wonted precipitation (for in the career of humanity his active spirit knew +no pause), he proposed different schemes for the permanent relief<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> of the +poor foundling, and he hastily inquired which of them was the most +expedient. I answered that it was desirable, in the first place, to try to +procure some food, for of this the want was manifestly the most urgent. I +then climbed the hill to reconnoitre, and observed a cottage close at +hand, on the left of the road. With considerable difficulty—with a gentle +violence indeed—Shelley induced the child to accompany him thither. After +much delay, we procured from the people of the place, who resembled the +dull, uncouth and perhaps sullen rustics of that district, some warm milk.</p> + +<p>It was a strange spectacle to watch the young poet, whilst, with the +enthusiastic and intensely earnest manner that characterises the +legitimate brethren of the celestial art—the heaven-born and fiercely +inspired sons of genuine poesy—holding the wooden bowl in one hand and +the wooden spoon in the other, and kneeling on his left knee, that he +might more certainly attain to her mouth. He urged and encouraged the +torpid and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> timid child to eat. The hot milk was agreeable to the girl, +and its effects were salutary; but she was obviously uneasy at the +detention. Her uneasiness increased, and ultimately prevailed. We returned +with her to the place where we had found her, Shelley bearing the bowl of +milk in his hand. Here we saw some people anxiously looking for the +child—a man and, I think, four women, strangers of the poorest class, of +a mean but not disreputable appearance. As soon as the girl perceived them +she was content, and taking the bowl from Shelley, she finished the milk +without his help.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, one of the women explained the apparent desertion with a +multitude of rapid words. They had come from a distance, and to spare the +weary child the fatigue of walking farther, the day being at that time +sunny, they left her to await their return. Those unforeseen delays, which +harass all, and especially the poor, in transacting business, had detained +them much longer than they had anticipated.</p> + +<p>Such, in a few words, is the story which was related in many, and which +the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> little girl, who, it was said, was somewhat deficient in +understanding as well as in stature, was unable to explain. So humble was +the condition of these poor wayfaring folks that they did not presume to +offer thanks in words; but they often turned back, and with mute wonder +gazed at Shelley who, totally unconscious that he had done anything to +excite surprise, returned with huge strides to the cottage to restore the +bowl and to pay for the milk. As the needy travellers pursued their +toilsome and possibly fruitless journey, they had at least the +satisfaction to reflect that all above them were not desolated by a dreary +apathy, but that some hearts were warm with that angelic benevolence +towards inferiors in which still higher natures, as we are taught, largely +participate.</p> + +<p>Shelley would often pause, halting suddenly in his swift course, to admire +the children of the country people; and after gazing on a sweet and +intelligent countenance, he would exhibit, in the language and with an +aspect of acute anguish, his intense feeling of the future<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> sorrows and +sufferings—of all the manifold evils of life which too often distort, by +a mean and most disagreeable expression, the innocent, happy and engaging +lineaments of youth. He sometimes stopped to observe the softness and +simplicity that the face and gestures of a gentle girl displayed, and he +would surpass her gentleness by his own.</p> + +<p>We were strolling once in the neighbourhood of Oxford when Shelley was +attracted by a little girl. He turned aside, and stood and observed her in +silence. She was about six years of age, small and slight, bare-headed, +bare-legged, and her apparel variegated and tattered. She was busily +employed in collecting empty snail-shells, so much occupied, indeed, that +some moments elapsed before she turned her face towards us. When she did +so, we perceived that she was evidently a young gipsy; and Shelley was +forcibly struck by the vivid intelligence of her wild and swarthy +countenance, and especially by the sharp glance of her fierce black eyes. +“How much intellect is here!” he exclaimed; “in how humble a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> vessel, and +what an unworthy occupation for a person who once knew perfectly the whole +circle of the sciences; who has forgotten them all, it is true, but who +could certainly recollect them, although most probably she will never do +so, will never recall a single principle of all of them!”</p> + +<p>As he spoke he turned aside a bramble with his foot and discovered a large +shell which the alert child instantly caught up and added to her store. At +the same moment a small stone was thrown from the other side of the road; +it fell in the hedge near us. We turned round and saw on the top of a high +bank a boy, some three years older than the girl, and in as rude a guise. +He was looking at us over a low hedge, with a smile, but plainly not +without suspicion. We might be two kidnappers, he seemed to think; he was +in charge of his little sister, and did not choose to have her stolen +before his face. He gave the signal, therefore, and she obeyed it, and had +almost joined him before we missed her from our side. They both +disappeared, and we continued our walk.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span>Shelley was charmed with the intelligence of the two children of nature, +and with their marvellous wildness. He talked much about them, and +compared them to birds and to the two wild leverets, which that wild +mother, the hare, produces. We sauntered about, and, half an hour +afterwards, on turning a corner, we suddenly met the two children again +full in the face. The meeting was unlooked for, and the air of the boy +showed that it was unpleasant to him. He had a large bundle of dry sticks +under his arm; these he gently dropped and stood motionless with an +apprehensive smile—a deprecatory smile. We were perhaps the lords of the +soil, and his patience was prepared, for patience was his lot—an +inalienable inheritance long entailed upon his line—to hear a severe +reproof with heavy threats, possibly even to receive blows with a stick +gathered by himself not altogether unwittingly for his own back, or to +find mercy and forbearance. Shelley’s demeanour soon convinced him that he +had nothing to fear. He laid a hand on the round, matted, knotted, bare<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +and black head of each, viewed their moving, mercurial countenances with +renewed pleasure and admiration, and, shaking his long locks, suddenly +strode away. “That little ragged fellow knows as much as the wisest +philosopher,” he presently cried, clapping the wings of his soul and +crowing aloud with shrill triumph at the felicitous union of the true with +the ridiculous, “but he will not communicate any portion of his knowledge. +It is not from churlishness, however, for of that his nature is plainly +incapable; but the sophisticated urchin will persist in thinking he has +forgotten all that he knows so well. I was about to ask him myself to +communicate some of the doctrines Plato unfolds in his <i>Dialogues</i>; but I +felt that it would do no good; the rogue would have laughed at me, and so +would his little sister. I wonder you did not propose to them some +mathematical questions: just a few interrogations in your geometry; for +that being so plain and certain, if it be once thoroughly understood, can +never be forgotten!”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span>A day or two afterwards (or it might be on the morrow), as we were +rambling in the favourite region at the foot of Shotover Hill, a gipsy’s +tent by the roadside caught Shelley’s eye. Men and women were seated on +the ground in front of it, watching a pot suspended over a smoky fire of +sticks. He cast a passing glance at the ragged group, but immediately +stopped on recognising the children, who remembered us and ran laughing +into the tent. Shelley laughed also and waved his hand, and the little +girl returned the salutation.</p> + +<p>There were many striking contrasts in the character and behaviour of +Shelley, and one of the most remarkable was a mixture or alternation of +awkwardness with agility, of the clumsy with the graceful. He would +stumble in stepping across the floor of a drawing-room; he would trip +himself up on a smooth-shaven grass-plot, and he would tumble in the most +inconceivable manner in ascending the commodious, facile, and +well-carpeted staircase of an elegant mansion, so as to bruise his nose or +his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> lip on the upper steps, or to tread upon his hands, and even +occasionally to disturb the composure of a well-bred footman; on the +contrary, he would often glide without collision through a crowded +assembly, thread with unerring dexterity a most intricate path, or +securely and rapidly tread the most arduous and uncertain ways. As soon as +he saw the children enter the tent he darted after them with his peculiar +agility, followed them into their low, narrow and fragile tenement, +penetrated to the bottom of the tent without removing his hat or striking +against the woven edifice. He placed a hand on each round, rough head, +spoke a few kind words to the skulking children, and then returned not +less precipitously, and with as much ease and accuracy as if he had been a +dweller in tents from the hour when he first drew air and milk to that +day, as if he had been the descendant, not of a gentle house, but of a +long line of gipsies. His visit roused the jealousy of a stunted, feeble +dog, which followed him, and barked with helpless fury; he did not heed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +it nor, perhaps, hear it. The company of gipsies were astonished at the +first visit that had ever been made by a member of either University to +their humble dwelling; but, as its object was evidently benevolent, they +did not stir or interfere, but greeted him on his return with a silent and +unobserved salutation. He seized my arm, and we prosecuted our +speculations as we walked briskly to our college.</p> + +<p>The marvellous gentleness of his demeanour could conciliate the least +sociable natures, and it had secretly touched the wild things which he had +thus briefly noticed.</p> + +<p>We were wandering through the roads and lanes at a short distance from the +tent soon afterwards, and were pursuing our way in silence. I turned round +at a sudden sound—the young gipsy had stolen upon us unperceived, and +with a long bramble had struck Shelley across the skirts of his coat. He +had dropped his rod, and was returning softly to the hedge.</p> + +<p>Certain misguided persons, who, <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span>unhappily for themselves, were incapable +of understanding the true character of Shelley, have published many false +and injurious calumnies respecting him—some for hire, others drawing +largely out of the inborn vulgarity of their own minds, or from the +necessary malignity of ignorance—but no one ever ventured to say that he +was not a good judge of an orange. At this time, in his nineteenth year, +although temperate, he was less abstemious in his diet than he afterwards +became, and he was frequently provided with some fine samples. As soon as +he understood the rude but friendly welcome to the heaths and lanes, he +drew an orange from his pocket and rolled it after the retreating gipsy +along the grass by the side of the wide road. The boy started with +surprise as the golden fruit passed him, quickly caught it up and joyfully +bore it away, bending reverently over it and carrying it with both his +hands, as if, together with almost the size, it had also the weight of a +cannon-ball.</p> + +<p>His passionate fondness of the Platonic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> philosophy seemed to sharpen his +natural affection for children, and his sympathy with their innocence. +Every true Platonist, he used to say, must be a lover of children, for +they are our masters and instructors in philosophy. The mind of a new-born +infant, so far from being, as Locke affirms, a sheet of blank paper, is a +pocket edition containing every dialogue, a complete Elzevir Plato, if we +can fancy such a pleasant volume, and moreover a perfect encyclopedia, +comprehending not only the newest discoveries, but all those still more +valuable and wonderful inventions that will hereafter be made.</p> + +<p>One Sunday we had been reading Plato together so diligently that the usual +hour of exercise passed away unperceived. We sallied forth hastily to take +the air for half an hour before dinner. In the middle of Magdalen Bridge +we met a woman with a child in her arms. Shelley was more attentive at +that instant to our conduct in a life that was past or to come than to a +decorous regulation of the present, according to the established<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> usages +of society in that fleeting moment of eternal duration styled the +nineteenth century. With abrupt dexterity he caught hold of the child. The +mother, who might well fear that it was about to be thrown over the +parapet of the bridge into the sedgy waters below, held it fast by its +long train.</p> + +<p>“Will your baby tell us anything about pre-existence, madam?” he asked, in +a piercing voice and with a wistful look.</p> + +<p>The mother made no answer, but, perceiving that Shelley’s object was not +murderous but altogether harmless, she dismissed her apprehension and +relaxed her hold.</p> + +<p>“Will your baby tell us anything about pre-existence, madam?” he repeated, +with unabated earnestness.</p> + +<p>“He cannot speak, sir,” said the mother, seriously.</p> + +<p>“Worse and worse,” cried Shelley, with an air of deep disappointment, +shaking his long hair most pathetically about his young face; “but surely +the babe can speak if he will, for he is only a few<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> weeks old. He may +fancy, perhaps, that he cannot, but it is only a silly whim. He cannot +have forgotten entirely the use of speech in so short a time. The thing is +absolutely impossible!”</p> + +<p>“It is not for me to dispute with you, gentlemen,” the woman meekly +replied, her eye glancing at our academical garb, “but I can safely +declare that I never heard him speak, nor any child, indeed, of his age.”</p> + +<p>It was a fine, placid boy: so far from being disturbed by the +interruption, he looked up and smiled. Shelley pressed his fat cheeks with +his fingers; we commended his healthy appearance and his equanimity, and +the mother was permitted to proceed, probably to her satisfaction, for she +would doubtless prefer a less speculative nurse. Shelley sighed deeply as +we walked on.</p> + +<p>“How provokingly close are those new-born babes!” he ejaculated; “but it +is not the less certain, notwithstanding the cunning attempts to conceal +the truth, that all knowledge is reminiscence. The doctrine is far more +ancient than the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> times of Plato, and as old as the venerable allegory +that the Muses are the daughters of Memory; not one of the nine was ever +said to be the child of Invention!”</p> + +<p>In consequence of this theory, upon which his active imagination loved to +dwell, and which he was delighted to maintain in argument with the few +persons qualified to dispute with him on the higher metaphysics, his +fondness for children—a fondness innate in generous minds—was augmented +and elevated, and the gentle instinct expanded into a profound and +philosophical sentiment. The Platonists have been illustrious in all ages +on account of the strength and permanence of their attachments. In Shelley +the parental affections were developed at an early period to an unusual +extent. It was manifest, therefore, that his heart was formed by nature +and by cultivation to derive the most exquisite gratification from the +society of his own progeny, or the most poignant anguish from a natural or +unnatural bereavement. To strike him here was the cruel admonition<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> which +a cursory glance would at once convey to him who might seek where to wound +him most severely with a single blow, should he ever provoke the vengeance +of an enemy to the active and fearless spirit of liberal investigation and +to all solid learning—of a foe to the human race. With respect to the +theory of the pre-existence of the soul, it is not wonderful that an +ardent votary of the intellectual should love to uphold it in strenuous +and protracted disputation, as it places the immortality of the soul in an +impregnable castle, and not only secures it an existence independent of +the body, as it were, by usage and prescription, but moreover, raising it +out of the dirt on tall stilts, elevates it far above the mud of matter.</p> + +<p>It is not wonderful that a subtle sophist, who esteemed above all riches +and terrene honours victory in well-fought debate, should be willing to +maintain a dogma that is not only of difficult eversion by those who, +struggling as mere metaphysicians, use no other weapon than unassisted +reason, but which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> one of the most illustrious Fathers of the Church—a +man of amazing powers and stupendous erudition, armed with the prodigious +resources of the Christian theology, the renowned Origen—was unable to +dismiss; retaining it as not dissonant from his informed reason, and as +affording a larger scope for justice in the moral government of the +universe.</p> + +<p>In addition to his extreme fondness for children, another and a not less +unequivocal characteristic of a truly philanthropic mind was eminently and +still more remarkably conspicuous in Shelley—his admiration of men of +learning and genius. In truth the devotion, the reverence, the religion +with which he was kindled towards all the masters of intellect, cannot be +described, and must be utterly inconceivable to minds less deeply +enamoured with the love of wisdom. The irreverent many cannot comprehend +the awe, the careless apathetic worldling cannot imagine the enthusiasm, +nor can the tongue that attempts only to speak of things visible to the +bodily eye, express the mighty motion that inwardly agitated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> him when he +approached, for the first time, a volume which he believed to be replete +with the recondite and mystic philosophy of antiquity; his cheeks glowed, +his eyes became bright, his whole frame trembled, and his entire attention +was immediately swallowed up in the depths of contemplation. The rapid and +vigorous conversion of his soul to intellect can only be compared with the +instantaneous ignition and combustion which dazzle the sight, when a +bundle of dry reeds or other inflammable substance is thrown upon a fire +already rich with accumulated heat.</p> + +<p>The company of persons of merit was delightful to him, and he often spoke +with a peculiar warmth of the satisfaction he hoped to derive from the +society of the most distinguished literary and scientific characters of +the day in England, and the other countries of Europe, when his own +attainments would justify him in seeking their acquaintance. He was never +weary of recounting the rewards and favours that authors had formerly +received; and he would detail<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> in pathetic language, and with a touching +earnestness, the instances of that poverty and neglect which an iron age +assigned as the fitting portion of solid erudition and undoubted talents. +He would contrast the niggard praise and the paltry payments that the cold +and wealthy moderns reluctantly dole out, with the ample and heartfelt +commendation and the noble remuneration which were freely offered by the +more generous but less opulent ancients. He spoke with an animation of +gesture and an elevation of voice of him who undertook a long journey, +that he might once see the historian Livy; and he recounted the rich +legacies which were bequeathed to Cicero and Pliny the younger by +testators venerating their abilities and attainments—his zeal, +enthusiastic in the cause of letters, giving an interest and a novelty to +the most trite and familiar instances. His disposition being wholly +munificent, gentle and friendly, how generous a patron would he have +proved had he ever been in the actual possession of even moderate wealth!</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span>Out of a scanty and somewhat precarious income, inadequate to allow the +indulgence of the most ordinary superfluities, and diminished by various +casual but unavoidable incumbrances, he was able, by restricting himself +to a diet more simple than the fare of the most austere anchorite, and by +refusing himself horses and the other gratifications that appear properly +to belong to his station, and of which he was in truth very fond, to +bestow upon men of letters, whose merits were of too high an order to be +rightly estimated by their own generation, donations large indeed, if we +consider from how narrow a source they flowed.</p> + +<p>But to speak of this, his signal and truly admirable bounty, save only in +the most distant manner and the most general terms, would be a flagrant +violation of that unequalled delicacy with which it was extended to +undeserved indigence, accompanied by well-founded and most commendable +pride. To allude to any particular instance, however obscurely and +indistinctly, would be unpardonable; but it would be scarcely less +blameable to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> dismiss the consideration of the character of the benevolent +young poet without some imperfect testimony of this rare excellence.</p> + +<p>That he gave freely, when the needy scholar asked or in silent, hopeless +poverty seemed to ask his aid, will be demonstrated most clearly by +relating shortly one example of his generosity, where the applicant had no +pretensions to literary renown, and no claim whatever, except perhaps +honest penury. It is delightful to attempt to delineate from various +points of view a creature of infinite moral beauty, but one instance must +suffice; an ample volume might be composed of such tales, but one may be +selected because it contains a large admixture of that ingredient which is +essential to the conversion of almsgiving into the genuine virtue of +charity—self-denial.</p> + +<p>On returning to town after the long vacation at the end of October, I +found Shelley at one of the hotels in Covent Garden. Having some business +in hand he was passing a few days there alone.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> We had taken some mutton +chops hastily at a dark place in one of the minute courts of the city at +an early hour, and we went forth to walk; for to walk at all times, and +especially in the evening, was his supreme delight.</p> + +<p>The aspect of the fields to the north of Somers Town, between that +beggarly suburb and Kentish Town, has been totally changed of late. +Although this district could never be accounted pretty, nor deserving a +high place even amongst suburban scenes, yet the air, or often the wind, +seemed pure and fresh to captives emerging from the smoke of London. There +were certain old elms, much very green grass, quiet cattle feeding and +groups of noisy children playing with something of the freedom of the +village green. There was, oh blessed thing! an entire absence of carriages +and of blood-horses; of the dust and dress and affectation and fashion of +the parks; there were, moreover, old and quaint edifices and objects which +gave character to the scene.</p> + +<p>Whenever Shelley was imprisoned in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> London—for to a poet a close and +crowded city must be a dreary gaol—his steps would take that direction, +unless his residence was too remote, or he was accompanied by one who +chose to guide his walk. On this occasion I was led thither, as indeed I +had anticipated. The weather was fine, but the autumn was already +advanced; we had not sauntered long in these fields when the dusky evening +closed in, and the darkness gradually thickened.</p> + +<p>“How black those trees are,” said Shelley, stopping short and pointing to +a row of elms. “It is so dark the trees might well be houses and the turf +pavement—the eye would sustain no loss. It is useless, therefore, to +remain here; let us return.” He proposed tea at his hotel, I assented; and +hastily buttoning his coat he seized my arm and set off at his great pace, +striding with bent knees over the fields and through the narrow streets. +We were crossing the New Road, when he said shortly, “I must call for a +moment, but it will not be out of the way at all,” and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> then dragged me +suddenly towards the left. I inquired whither we were bound, and, I +believe, I suggested the postponement of the intended call till the +morrow. He answered, it was not at all out of our way.</p> + +<p>I was hurried along rapidly towards the left. We soon fell into an +animated discussion respecting the nature of the virtue of the Romans, +which in some measure beguiled the weary way. Whilst he was talking with +much vehemence and a total disregard of the people who thronged the +streets, he suddenly wheeled about and pushed me through a narrow door; to +my infinite surprise I found myself in a pawnbroker’s shop. It was in the +neighbourhood of Newgate Street, for he had no idea whatever, in practice, +either of time or space, nor did he in any degree regard method in the +conduct of business.</p> + +<p>There were several women in the shop in brown and grey cloaks, with +squalling children. Some of them were attempting to persuade the children +to be quiet, or at least to scream with moderation; the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> others were +enlarging upon and pointing out the beauties of certain coarse and dirty +sheets that lay before them to a man on the other side of the counter.</p> + +<p>I bore this substitute for our proposed tea some minutes with tolerable +patience, but as the call did not promise to terminate speedily, I said to +Shelley, in a whisper, “Is not this almost as bad as the Roman virtue?” +Upon this he approached the pawnbroker; it was long before he could obtain +a hearing, and he did not find civility. The man was unwilling to part +with a valuable pledge so soon, or perhaps he hoped to retain it +eventually; or it might be that the obliquity of his nature disqualified +him for respectful behaviour.</p> + +<p>A pawnbroker is frequently an important witness in criminal proceedings. +It has happened to me, therefore, afterwards to see many specimens of this +kind of banker. They sometimes appeared not less respectable than other +tradesmen, and sometimes I have been forcibly reminded of the first I ever +met with, by an equally ill-conditioned fellow. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> was so little pleased +with the introduction that I stood aloof in the shop, and did not hear +what passed between him and Shelley.</p> + +<p>On our way to Covent Garden I expressed my surprise and dissatisfaction at +our strange visit, and I learned that when he came to London before, in +the course of the summer, some old man had related to him a tale of +distress—of a calamity which could only be alleviated by the timely +application of ten pounds; five of them he drew at once from his pocket, +and to raise the other five he had pawned his beautiful solar microscope! +He related this act of beneficence simply and briefly, as if it were a +matter of course, and such indeed it was to him. I was ashamed at my +impatience, and we strode along in silence.</p> + +<p>It was past ten when we reached the hotel. Some excellent tea and a +liberal supply of hot muffins in the coffee-room, now quiet and solitary, +were the more grateful after the wearisome delay and vast deviation. +Shelley often turned his head and cast eager glances towards the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> door, +and whenever the waiter replenished our tea-pot or approached our box he +was interrogated whether anyone had yet called.</p> + +<p>At last the desired summons was brought. Shelley drew forth some +banknotes, hurried to the bar, and returned as hastily, bearing in triumph +under his arm a mahogany box, followed by the officious waiter, with whose +assistance he placed it upon the bench by his side. He viewed it often +with evident satisfaction, and sometimes patted it affectionately in the +course of calm conversation. The solar microscope was always a favourite +plaything or instrument of scientific inquiry. Whenever he entered a house +his first care was to choose some window of a southern aspect, and, if +permission could be obtained by prayer or by purchase, straightway to cut +a hole through the shutter to receive it.</p> + +<p>His regard for his solar microscope was as lasting as it was strong; for +he retained it several years after this adventure, and long after he had +parted with all the rest of his philosophical apparatus.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>Such is the story of the microscope, and no rightly judging person who +hears it will require the further accumulation of proofs of a benevolent +heart; nor can I, perhaps, better close this sketch than with that +impression of the pure and genial beauty of Shelley’s nature which this +simple anecdote will bequeath.</p> + + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<hr style="width: 50%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<p> </p> +<p class="dropcap"><span class="caps">The</span> theory of civil liberty has ever seemed lovely to the eyes of a young +man enamoured of moral and intellectual beauty. Shelley’s devotion to +freedom, therefore, was ardent and sincere. He would have submitted with +cheerful alacrity to the greatest sacrifices, had they been demanded of +him, to advance the sacred cause of liberty; and he would have gallantly +encountered every peril in the fearless resistance to active oppression. +Nevertheless, in ordinary times, although a generous and unhesitating +patriot, he was little inclined to consume the pleasant season of youth +amidst the intrigues and clamours of elections, and in the dull and +selfish cabals of parties. His fancy viewed from a lofty eminence the +grand scheme of an ideal republic; and he could not descend<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> to the +humble task of setting out the boundaries of neighbouring rights, and to +the uninviting duties of actual administration. He was still less disposed +to interest himself in the politics of the day because he observed the +pernicious effects of party zeal in a field where it ought not to enter.</p> + +<p>It is no slight evil, but a heavy price paid for popular institutions, +that society should be divided into hostile clans to serve the selfish +purposes of a few political adventurers; and surely to introduce politics +within the calm precincts of a University ought to be deemed a capital +offence—a felony without benefit of clergy. The undue admission (to +borrow the language of Universities for a moment) is not less fatal to its +existence as an institution designed for the advancement of learning, than +the reception of the wooden horse within the walls of Troy was to the +safety of that renowned city.</p> + +<p>What does it import the interpreters of Pindar and Thucydides, the +expositors of Plato and Aristotle, if a few<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> interested persons, for the +sake of some lucrative posts, affect to believe that it is a matter of +vital importance to the state to concede certain privileges to the Roman +Catholics; whilst others, for the same reason, pretend with tears in their +eyes that the concessions would be dangerous and indeed destructive, and +shudder with feigned horror at the harmless proposal? Such pretexts may be +advantageous and perhaps even honourable to the ingenious persons who use +them for the purposes of immediate advancement; but of what concernment +are they to Apollo and the Muses? How could the Catholic question augment +the calamities of Priam, or diminish the misfortunes of the ill-fated +house of Labdacus? or which of the doubts of the ancient philosophers +would the most satisfactory solution of it remove? Why must the modest +student come forth and dance upon the tightrope, with the mountebanks, +since he is to receive no part of the reward, and would not emulate the +glory of those meritorious artists? Yet did this most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> inapplicable +question mainly contribute to poison the harmless and studious felicity +which we enjoyed at Oxford.</p> + +<p>During the whole period of our residence there the University was cruelly +disfigured by bitter feuds, arising out of the late election of its +Chancellor; in an especial manner was our own most venerable college +deformed by them, and by angry and senseless disappointment.</p> + +<p>Lord Grenville had just been chosen. There could be no more comparison +between his scholarship and his various qualifications for the honourable +and useless office, and the claims of his unsuccessful opponent, than +between the attainments of the best man of the year and those of the huge +porter, who with a stern and solemn civility kept the gates of University +College—the arts of mulled-wine and egg-hot being, in the latter case, +alone excepted.</p> + +<p>The vanquished competitor, however, most unfortunately for its honour and +character, was a member of our college; and in proportion as the intrinsic +merits of our rulers were small, had the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> vehemence and violence of +electioneering been great, that, through the abuse of the patronage of the +church, they might attain to those dignities as the rewards of the +activity of partisans, which they could never hope to reach through the +legitimate road of superior learning and talents.</p> + +<p>Their vexation at failing was the more sharp and abiding, because the only +objection that vulgar bigotry could urge against the victor was his +disposition to make concessions to the Roman Catholics; and every dull +lampoon about popes and cardinals and the scarlet lady had accordingly +been worn threadbare in vain. Since the learned and liberal had conquered, +learning and liberality were peculiarly odious with us at that epoch. The +studious scholar, particularly if he were of an inquiring disposition, and +of a bold and free temper, was suspected and disliked; he was one of the +enemy’s troops. The inert and the subservient were the loyal soldiers of +the legitimate army of the faith. The despised and scattered nation of +scholars is commonly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> unfortunate; but a more severe calamity has seldom +befallen the remnant of true Israelites than to be led captive by such a +generation! Youth is happy, because it is blithe and healthful and exempt +from care; but it is doubly and trebly happy, since it is honest and +fearless, honourable and disinterested.</p> + +<p>In the whole body of undergraduates, scarcely one was friendly to the +holder of the loaves and the promiser of the fishes—Lord Eldon. All were +eager—all, one and all—in behalf of the scholar and the Liberal +statesman; and plain and loud was the avowal of their sentiments. A sullen +demeanour towards the young rebels displayed the annoyance arising from +the want of success and from our lack of sympathy, and it would have +demonstrated to the least observant that, where the Muses dwell, the +quarrels and intrigues of political parties ought not to come.</p> + +<p>By his family and his connections, as well as by disposition, Shelley was +attached to the successful side; and although it was manifest that he was +a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> youth of an admirable temper, of rare talents and unwearied industry, +and likely, therefore, to shed a lustre upon his college and the +University itself, yet, as he was eminently delighted at that wherewith +his superiors were offended, he was regarded from the beginning with a +jealous eye. A young man of spirit will despise the mean spite of sordid +minds; nevertheless the persecution which a generous soul can contemn, +through frequent repetition too often becomes a severe annoyance in the +long course of life, and Shelley frequently and most pathetically lamented +the political divisions which then harassed the University, and were a +more fertile source of manifold ills in the wider field of active life. +For this reason did he appear to cling more closely to our sweet, studious +seclusion; and from this cause, perhaps, principally arose his +disinclination—I may say, indeed, his intense antipathy—for the +political career that had been proposed to him. A lurking suspicion would +sometimes betray itself that he was to be forced into that path, and +impressed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> into the civil service of the state, to become, as it were, a +conscript legislator.</p> + +<p>A newspaper never found its way to his rooms the whole period of his +residence at Oxford; but when waiting in a bookseller’s shop or at an inn +he would sometimes, although rarely, permit his eye to be attracted by a +murder or a storm. Having perused the tale of wonder or of horror, if it +chanced to stray to a political article, after reading a few lines he +invariably threw it aside to a great distance; and he started from his +seat his face flushing, and strode about muttering broken sentences, the +purport of which was always the same: his extreme dissatisfaction at the +want of candour and fairness, and the monstrous disingenuousness which +politicians manifest in speaking of the characters and measures of their +rivals. Strangers, who caught imperfectly the sense of his indistinct +murmurs, were often astonished at the vehemence of his mysterious +displeasure.</p> + +<p>Once I remember a bookseller, the master of a very small shop in a +little<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> country town, but apparently a sufficiently intelligent man, +could not refrain from expressing his surprise that anyone should be +offended with proceedings that seemed to him as much in the ordinary +course of trade, and as necessary to its due exercise, as the red ligature +of the bundle of quills, or the thin and pale brown wrapper which enclosed +the quire of letter paper we had just purchased of him.</p> + +<p>A man of talents and learning, who refused to enlist under the banners of +any party and did not deign to inform himself of the politics of the day, +or to take the least part or interest in them, would be a noble and a +novel spectacle; but so many persons hope to profit by dissensions, that +the merits of such a steady lover of peace would not be duly appreciated, +either by the little provincial bookseller or the other inhabitants of our +turbulent country.</p> + +<p>The ordinary lectures in our college were of much shorter duration, and +decidedly less difficult and less instructive than the lessons we had +received in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> the higher classes of a public school; nor were our written +exercises more stimulating than the oral. Certain compositions were +required at stated periods; but, however excellent they might be, they +were never commended; however deficient, they were never censured; and, +being altogether unnoticed, there was no reason to suppose that they were +ever read.</p> + +<p>The University at large was not less remiss than each college in +particular; the only incitement proposed was an examination at the end of +four years. The young collegian might study in private, as diligently as +he would, at Oxford as in every other place; and if he chose to submit his +pretensions to the examiners, his name was set down in the first, the +second or the third class—if I mistake not, there were three +divisions—according to his advancement. This list was printed precisely +at the moment when he quitted the University for ever; a new generation of +strangers might read the names of the unknown proficients, if they +would.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>It was notorious, moreover, that, merely to obtain the academical degrees, +every new-comer, who had passed through a tolerable grammar-school, +brought with him a stock of learning, of which the residuum that had not +evaporated during four years of dissipation and idleness, would be more +than sufficient.</p> + +<p>The languid course of chartered laziness was ill suited to the ardent +activity and glowing zeal of Shelley. Since those persons, who were hired +at an enormous charge by his own family and by the State to find due and +beneficial employment for him, thought fit to neglect this, their most +sacred duty, he began forthwith to set himself to work. He read +diligently—I should rather say he devoured greedily, with the voracious +appetite of a famished man—the authors that roused his curiosity; he +discoursed and discussed with energy; he wrote, he began to print and he +designed soon to publish various works.</p> + +<p>He begins betimes who begins to instruct mankind at eighteen. The +judicious will probably be of opinion that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> in eighteen years man can +scarcely learn how to learn; and that for eighteen more years he ought to +be content to learn; and if, at the end of the second period, he still +thinks that he can impart anything worthy of attention, it is, at least, +early enough to begin to teach. The fault, however, if it were a fault, +was to be imputed to the times, and not to the individual, as the numerous +precocious effusions of the day attest.</p> + +<p>Shelley was quick to conceive, and not less quick to execute. When I +called one morning at one, I found him busily occupied with some proofs, +which he continued to correct and re-correct with anxious care. As he was +wholly absorbed in this occupation, I selected a book from the floor, +where there was always a good store, and read in silence for at least an +hour.</p> + +<p>My thoughts being as completely abstracted as those of my companion, he +startled me by suddenly throwing a paper with some force on the middle of +the table, and saying, in a penetrating whisper, as he sprang eagerly from +his chair, “I am going to publish some poems.”</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span>In answer to my inquiries, he put the proofs into my hands. I read them +twice attentively, for the poems were very short; and I told him there +were some good lines, some bright thoughts, but there were likewise many +irregularities and incongruities. I added that correctness was important +in all compositions, but it constituted the essence of short ones; and +that it surely would be imprudent to bring his little book out so hastily; +and then I pointed out the errors and defects.</p> + +<p>He listened in silence with much attention, and did not dispute what I +said, except that he remarked faintly that it would not be known that he +was the author, and therefore the publication could not do him any harm.</p> + +<p>I answered that, although it might not be disadvantageous to be the +unknown author of an unread work, it certainly could not be beneficial.</p> + +<p>He made no reply; and we immediately went out, and strolled about the +public walks.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span>We dined and returned to his rooms, where we conversed on different +subjects. He did not mention his poems, but they occupied his thoughts; +for he did not fall asleep as usual. Whilst we were at tea, he said +abruptly, “I think you disparage my poems. Tell me what you dislike in +them, for I have forgotten.”</p> + +<p>I took the proofs from the place where I had left them, and looking over +them, repeated the former objections, and suggested others. He acquiesced; +and, after a pause, asked, might they be altered? I assented.</p> + +<p>“I will alter them.”</p> + +<p>“It will be better to re-write them; a short poem should be of the first +impression.”</p> + +<p>Some time afterwards he anxiously inquired, “But in their present form you +do not think they ought to be published?”</p> + +<p>I had been looking over the proofs again, and I answered, “Only as +burlesque poetry;” and I read a part, changing it a little here and there.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>He laughed at the parody, and begged I would repeat it.</p> + +<p>I took a pen and altered it; and he then read it aloud several times in a +ridiculous tone, and was amused by it. His mirth consoled him for the +condemnation of his verses, and the intention of publishing them was +abandoned.</p> + +<p>The proofs lay in his rooms for some days, and we occasionally amused +ourselves during an idle moment by making them more and more ridiculous; +by striking out the more sober passages; by inserting whimsical conceits, +and especially by giving them what we called a dithyrambic character, +which was effected by cutting some lines out, and joining the different +parts together that would agree in construction, but were the most +discordant in sense.</p> + +<p>Although Shelley was of a grave disposition, he had a certain sly relish +for a practical joke, so that it were ingenuous and abstruse and of a +literary nature. He would often exult in the successful forgeries of +Chatterton and Ireland; and he was especially delighted with a trick<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> +that had lately been played at Oxford by a certain noble viceroy, at that +time an undergraduate, respecting the fairness of which the University was +divided in opinion, all the undergraduates accounting it most just, and +all the graduates, and especially the bachelors, extremely iniquitous, and +indeed popish and jesuitical. A reward is offered annually for the best +English essay on a subject proposed: the competitors send their anonymous +essays, each being distinguished by a motto; when the grave arbitrators +have selected the most worthy, they burn the vanquished essays, and open +the sealed paper endorsed with a corresponding motto, and containing the +name of the victor.</p> + +<p>On the late famous contention, all the ceremonies had been duly performed, +but the sealed paper presented the name of an undergraduate, who was not +qualified to be a candidate, and all the less meritorious discourses of +the bachelors had been burnt, together with their sealed papers—so there +was to be no bachelor’s prize that year.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>When we had conferred a competent absurdity upon the proofs, we amused +ourselves by proposing, but without the intention of executing our +project, divers ludicrous titles for the work. Sometimes we thought of +publishing it in the name of some one of the chief living poets, or +possibly of one of the graver authorities of the day; and we regaled +ourselves by describing his wrathful renunciations, and his astonishment +at finding himself immortalised, without his knowledge and against his +will: the inability to die could not be more disagreeable even to Tithonus +himself; but how were we to handcuff our ungrateful favourite, that he +might not tear off the unfading laurel which we were to place upon his +brow? I hit upon a title at last, to which the pre-eminence was given, and +we inscribed it upon the cover. A mad washerwoman, named Peg Nicholson, +had attempted to stab the king, George the Third, with a carving-knife; +the story has long been forgotten, but it was then fresh in the +recollection of every one; it was proposed that we should ascribe the +poems to her.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> The poor woman was still living, and in green vigour +within the walls of Bedlam; but since her existence must be uncomfortable, +there could be no harm in putting her to death, and in creating a nephew +and administrator to be the editor of his aunt’s poetical works.</p> + +<p>The idea gave an object and purpose to our burlesque—to ridicule the +strange mixture of sentimentality with the murderous fury of the +revolutionists, that was so prevalent in the compositions of the day; and +the proofs were altered again to adapt them to this new scheme, but still +without any notion of publication. When the bookseller called to ask for +the proof, Shelley told him that he had changed his mind, and showed them +to him.</p> + +<p>The man was so much pleased with the whimsical conceit that he asked to be +permitted to publish the book on his own account; promising inviolable +secrecy, and as many copies <i>gratis</i> as might be required: after some +hesitation, permission was granted, upon the plighted honour of the +trade.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span>In a few days, or rather in a few hours, a noble quarto appeared; it +consisted of a small number of pages, it is true, but they were of the +largest size, of the thickest, the whitest and the smoothest drawing +paper; a large, clear and handsome type had impressed a few lines with ink +of a rich, glossy black, amidst ample margins. The poor maniac laundress +was gravely styled “the late Mrs Margaret Nicholson, widow;” and the +sonorous name of Fitzvictor had been culled for her inconsolable nephew +and administrator. To add to his dignity, the waggish printer had picked +up some huge text types of so unusual a form that even an antiquary could +not spell the words at the first glance. The effect was certainly +striking; Shelley had torn open the large square bundle before the +printer’s boy quitted the room, and holding out a copy with both his +hands, he ran about in an ecstasy of delight, gazing at the superb +title-page.</p> + +<p>The first poem was a long one, condemning war in the lump—puling trash, +that might have been written by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> a Quaker, and could only have been +published in sober sadness by a society instituted for the diffusion of +that kind of knowledge which they deemed useful—useful for some end which +they have not been pleased to reveal, and which unassisted reason is +wholly unable to discover. The MS. had been confided to Shelley by some +rhymester of the day, and it was put forth in this shape to astonish a +weak mind; but principally to captivate the admirers of philosophical +poetry by the manifest incongruity of disallowing all war, even the most +just, and then turning sharp round, and recommending the dagger of the +assassin as the best cure for all evils, and the sure passport to a lady’s +favour.</p> + +<p>Our book of useful knowledge—the philosopher’s own book—contained sundry +odes and other pieces, professing an ardent attachment to freedom, and +proposing to stab all who were less enthusiastic than the supposed +authoress. The work, however, was altered a little, I believe, before the +final impression; but I never read it afterwards, for, when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> an author +once sees his book in print, his task is ended, and he may fairly leave +the perusal of it to posterity. I have one copy, if not more, somewhere or +other, but not at hand. There were some verses, I remember, with a good +deal about sucking in them; to these I objected, as unsuitable to the +gravity of a University, but Shelley declared they would be the most +impressive of all. There was a poem concerning a young woman, one +Charlotte Somebody, who attempted to assassinate Robespierre, or some such +person; and there was to have been a rapturous monologue to the dagger of +Brutus. The composition of such a piece was no mean effort of the Muse. It +was completed at last, but not in time; as the dagger itself has probably +fallen a prey to rust, so the more pointed and polished monologue, it is +to be feared, has also perished through a more culpable neglect.</p> + +<p>A few copies were sent, as a special favour, to trusty and sagacious +friends at a distance, whose gravity would not permit them to suspect a +hoax. They<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> read and admired, being charmed with the wild notes of +liberty. Some, indeed, presumed to censure mildly certain passages as +having been thrown off in too bold a vein. Nor was a certain success +wanting—the remaining copies were rapidly sold in Oxford at the +aristocratical price of half-a-crown for half-a-dozen pages. We used to +meet gownsmen in High Street reading the goodly volume as they +walked—pensive, with a grave and sage delight—some of them, perhaps, +more pensive because it seemed to portend the instant overthrow of all +royalty from a king to a court card.</p> + +<p>What a strange delusion to admire our stuff—the concentrated essence of +nonsense! It was indeed a kind of fashion to be seen reading it in public, +as a mark of a nice discernment, of a delicate and fastidious taste in +poetry, and the very criterion of a choice spirit.</p> + +<p>Nobody suspected, or could suspect, who was the author. The thing passed +off as the genuine production of the would-be regicide. It is marvellous, +in truth, how little talent of any kind there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> was in our famous +University in those days; there was no great encouragement, however, to +display intellectual gifts.</p> + +<p>The acceptance, as a serious poem, of a work so evidently designed for a +burlesque upon the prevailing notion of the day, that revolutionary +ruffians were the most fit recipients of the gentlest passions, was a +foretaste of the prodigious success that, a few years later, attended a +still more whimsical paradox. Poets had sung already that human ties put +love at once to flight; that at the sight of civil obligations he spreads +his light wings in a moment and makes default. The position was soon +greatly extended, and we were taught by a noble poet that even the +slightest recognition of the law of nations was fatal to the tender +passion. The very captain of a privateer was pronounced incapable of a +pure and ardent attachment; the feeble control of letters of marque could +effectually check the course of affection; a complete union of souls could +only be accomplished under the black flag. Your true<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> lover must +necessarily be an enemy of the whole human race—a mere and absolute +pirate. It is true that the tales of the love-sick buccaneers were adorned +with no ordinary talent, but the theory is not less extraordinary on that +account.</p> + +<p>The operation of Peg Nicholson was bland and innoxious. The next work that +Shelley printed was highly deleterious, and was destined to shed a baneful +influence over his future progress. In itself it was more harmless than +the former, but it was turned to a deadly poison by the unprovoked malice +of fortune.</p> + +<p>We had read together attentively several of the metaphysical works that +were most in vogue at that time, as Locke <i>Concerning Human +Understanding</i>, and Hume’s <i>Essays</i>, particularly the latter, of which we +had made a very careful analysis, as was customary with those who read the +<i>Ethics</i> and the other treatises of Aristotle for their degree. Shelley +had the custody of these papers, which were chiefly in his handwriting,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +although they were the joint production of both in our common daily +studies. From these, and from a small part of them only, he made up a +little book, and had it printed, I believe, in the country, certainly not +at Oxford. His motive was this. He not only read greedily all the +controversial writings on subjects interesting to him which he could +procure, and disputed vehemently in conversation with his friends, but he +had several correspondents with whom he kept up the ball of doubt in +letters; of these he received many, so that the arrival of the postman was +always an anxious moment with him. This practice he had learned of a +physician, from whom he had taken instructions in chemistry, and of whose +character and talents he often spoke with profound veneration. It was, +indeed, the usual course with men of learning formerly, as their +biographies and many volumes of such epistles testify. The physician was +an old man, and a man of the old school. He confined his epistolary +discussions to matters of science, and so did his disciple<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> for some +time; but when metaphysics usurped the place in his affections that +chemistry had before held, the latter gradually fell into discepations, +respecting existences still more subtle than gases and the electric fluid. +The transition, however, from physics to metaphysics was gradual. Is the +electric fluid material? he would ask his correspondent; is light—is the +vital principle in vegetables—in brutes—is the human soul?</p> + +<p>His individual character had proved an obstacle to his inquiries, even +whilst they were strictly physical. A refuted or irritated chemist had +suddenly concluded a long correspondence by telling his youthful opponent +that he would write to his master, and have him well flogged. The +discipline of a public school, however salutary in other respects, was not +favourable to free and fair discussions, and Shelley began to address +inquiries anonymously, or rather, that he might receive an answer, as +Philalethes, and the like; but, even at Eton, the postmen do not +ordinarily speak Greek. To prevent miscarriages, therefore it was +necessary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> to adopt a more familiar name, as John Short or Thomas Long.</p> + +<p>When he came to Oxford, he retained and extended his former practice +without quitting the convenient disguise of an assumed name. His object in +printing the short abstract of some of the doctrines of Hume was to +facilitate his epistolary disquisitions. It was a small pill, but it +worked powerfully. The mode of operation was this: he enclosed a copy in a +letter and sent it by the post, stating, with modesty and simplicity, that +he had met accidentally with that little tract, which appeared unhappily +to be quite unanswerable. Unless the fish was too sluggish to take the +bait, an answer of refutation was forwarded to an appointed address in +London, and then, in a vigorous reply, he would fall upon the unwary +disputant and break his bones. The strenuous attack sometimes provoked a +rejoinder more carefully prepared, and an animated and protracted debate +ensued. The party cited, having put in his answer, was fairly in court, +and he might get out of it as he could. The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> chief difficulty seemed to +be to induce the person addressed to acknowledge the jurisdiction, and to +plead; and this, Shelley supposed, would be removed by sending, in the +first instance, a printed syllabus instead of written arguments. An +accident greatly facilitated his object. We had been talking some time +before about geometrical demonstration; he was repeating its praises, +which he had lately read in some mathematical work, and speaking of its +absolute certainty and perfect truth.</p> + +<p>I said that this superiority partly arose from the confidence of +mathematicians, who were naturally a confident race, and were seldom +acquainted with any other science than their own; that they always put a +good face upon the matter, detailing their arguments dogmatically and +doggedly, as if there was no room for doubt, and concluded, when weary of +talking in their positive strain, with Q.E.D.: in which three letters +there was so powerful a charm, that there was no instance of anyone having +ever disputed any argument or proposition to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> which they were subscribed. +He was diverted by this remark, and often repeated it, saying, if you ask +a friend to dinner, and only put Q.E.D. at the end of the invitation, he +cannot refuse to come; and he sometimes wrote these letters at the end of +a common note, in order, as he said, to attain to a mathematical +certainty. The potent characters were not forgotten when he printed his +little syllabus; and their efficacy in rousing his antagonists was quite +astonishing.</p> + +<p>It is certain that the three obnoxious letters had a fertilising effect, +and raised crops of controversy; but it would be unjust to deny that an +honest zeal stimulated divers worthy men to assert the truth against an +unknown assailant. The praise of good intention must be conceded; but it +is impossible to accord that of powerful execution also to his +antagonists; this curious correspondence fully testified the deplorable +condition of education at that time. A youth of eighteen was able to +confute men who had numbered thrice as many years; to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> vanquish them on +their own ground, although he gallantly fought at a disadvantage by taking +the wrong side.</p> + +<p>His little pamphlet was never offered for sale; it was not addressed to an +ordinary reader, but to the metaphysician alone, and it was so short, that +it was only designed to point out the line of argument. It was, in truth, +a general issue, a compendious denial of every allegation, in order to put +the whole case in proof; it was a formal mode of saying you affirm so and +so, then prove it, and thus was it understood by his more candid and +intelligent correspondents. As it was shorter, so was it plainer, and, +perhaps in order to provoke discussion, a little bolder, than Hume’s +<i>Essays</i>—a book which occupies a conspicuous place in the library of +every student. The doctrine, if it deserves the name, was precisely +similar; the necessary and inevitable consequence of Locke’s philosophy, +and of the theory that all knowledge is from without. I will not admit +your conclusions, his opponent might answer; then you must deny those of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +Hume; I deny them; but you must deny those of Locke also, and we will go +back together to Plato. Such was the usual course of argument. Sometimes, +however, he rested on mere denial, holding his adversary to strict proof, +and deriving strength from his weakness.</p> + +<p>The young Platonist argued thus negatively through the love of argument, +and because he found a noble joy in the fierce shocks of contending minds. +He loved truth, and sought it everywhere and at all hazards frankly and +boldly, like a man who deserved to find it; but he also loved dearly +victory in debate, and warm debate for its own sake. Never was there a +more unexceptionable disputant; he was eager beyond the most ardent, but +never angry and never personal; he was the only arguer I ever knew who +drew every argument from the nature of the thing, and who could never be +provoked to descend to personal contentions. He was fully inspired, +indeed, with the whole spirit of the true logician; the more obvious and +indisputable the proposition which his opponent undertook<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> to maintain, +the more complete was the triumph of his art if he could refute and +prevent him.</p> + +<p>To one who was acquainted with the history of our University, with its +ancient reputation as the most famous school of logic, it seemed that the +genius of the place, after an absence of several generations, had deigned +to return at last; the visit, however, as it soon appeared, was ill-timed.</p> + +<p>The schoolman of old, who occasionally laboured with technical subtleties +to prevent the admission of the first principles of belief, could not have +been justly charged with the intention of promoting scepticism; his was +the age of minute and astute disceptation, it is true, but it was also the +epoch of the most firm, resolute and extensive faith. I have seen a +dexterous fencing-master, after warning his pupil to hold his weapon fast, +by a few turns of his wrist throw it suddenly on the ground and under his +feet; but it cannot be pretended that he neglected to teach the art of +self-defence, because he apparently<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> deprived his scholar of that which +is essential to the end proposed. To be disarmed is a step in the science +of arms, and whoever has undergone it has already put his foot within the +threshold; so it is likewise with refutation.</p> + +<p>In describing briefly the nature of Shelley’s epistolary contention, the +recollection of his youth, his zeal, his activity, and particularly of +many individual peculiarities, may have tempted me to speak sometimes with +a certain levity, notwithstanding the solemn importance of the topics +respecting which they were frequently maintained. The impression that they +were conducted on his part, or considered by him, with frivolity or any +unseemly lightness, would, however, be most erroneous; his whole frame of +mind was grave, earnest and anxious, and his deportment was reverential, +with an edification reaching beyond the age—an age wanting in reverence, +an unlearned age, a young age, for the young lack learning. Hume permits +no object of respect to remain; Locke approaches the most awful +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span>speculations with the same indifference as if he were about to handle +the properties of triangles; the small deference rendered to the most holy +things by the able theologian Paley is not the least remarkable of his +characteristics.</p> + +<p>Wiser and better men displayed anciently, together with a more profound +erudition, a superior and touching solemnity; the meek seriousness of +Shelley was redolent of those good old times before mankind had been +despoiled of a main ingredient in the composition of happiness—a +well-directed veneration.</p> + +<p>Whether such disputations were decorous or profitable may be perhaps +doubtful; there can be no doubt, however, since the sweet gentleness of +Shelley was easily and instantly swayed by the mild influences of friendly +admonition, that, had even the least dignified of his elders suggested the +propriety of pursuing his metaphysical inquiries with less ardour, his +obedience would have been prompt and perfect.</p> + +<p>Not only had all salutary studies been long neglected in Oxford at that +time,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> and all wholesome discipline was decayed, but the splendid +endowments of the University were grossly abused. The resident authorities +of the college were too often men of the lowest origin, of mean and sordid +souls, destitute of every literary attainment, except that brief and +narrow course of reading by which the first degree was attained: the +vulgar sons of vulgar fathers, without liberality, and wanting the manners +and the sympathies of gentlemen.</p> + +<p>A total neglect of all learning, an unseemly turbulence, the most +monstrous irregularities, open and habitual drunkenness, vice and +violence, were tolerated or encouraged with the basest sycophancy, that +the prospect of perpetual licentiousness might fill the colleges with +young men of fortune; whenever the rarely exercised power of coercion was +extorted, it demonstrated the utter incapacity of our unworthy rulers by +coarseness, ignorance and injustice.</p> + +<p>If a few gentlemen were admitted to fellowships, they were always absent; +they were not persons of literary pretensions,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> or distinguished by +scholarship, and they had no more share in the government of the college +than the overgrown guardsmen, who, in long white gaiters, bravely protect +the precious life of the sovereign against such assailants as the tenth +Muse, our good friend Mrs Nicholson.</p> + +<p>As the term was drawing to a close, and a great part of the books we were +reading together still remained unfinished, we had agreed to increase our +exertions, and to meet at an early hour.</p> + +<p>It was a fine spring morning on Lady Day, in the year 1811, when I went to +Shelley’s rooms; he was absent, but before I had collected our books he +rushed in. He was terribly agitated. I anxiously inquired what had +happened.</p> + +<p>“I am expelled,” he said, as soon as he had recovered himself a little. “I +am expelled! I was sent for suddenly a few minutes ago; I went to the +common room, where I found our master and two or three of the fellows. The +master produced a copy of the little syllabus, and asked me if I were the +author of it. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> spoke in a rude, abrupt and insolent tone. I begged to +be informed for what purpose he put the question. No answer was given; but +the master loudly and angrily repeated, ‘Are you the author of this book?’ +‘If I can judge from your manner,’ I said, ‘you are resolved to punish me +if I should acknowledge that it is my work. If you can prove that it is, +produce your evidence; it is neither just nor lawful to interrogate me in +such a case and for such a purpose. Such proceedings would become a court +of inquisitors, but not free men in a free country.’ ‘Do you choose to +deny that this is your composition?’ the master reiterated in the same +rude and angry voice.”</p> + +<p>Shelley complained much of his violent and ungentlemanlike deportment, +saying, “I have experienced tyranny and injustice before, and I well know +what vulgar violence is; but I never met with such unworthy treatment. I +told him calmly and firmly, that I was determined not to answer any +questions respecting the publication on the table. He immediately repeated +his demand. I persisted in my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> refusal, and he said furiously, ‘Then you +are expelled, and I desire you will quit the college early to-morrow +morning at the latest.’ One of the fellows took up two papers and handed +one of them to me; here it is.” He produced a regular sentence of +expulsion, drawn up in due form, under the seal of the college.</p> + +<p>Shelley was full of spirit and courage, frank and fearless; but he was +likewise shy, unpresuming and eminently sensitive. I have been with him in +many trying situations of his after-life, but I never saw him so deeply +shocked and so cruelly agitated as on this occasion. A nice sense of +honour shrinks from the most distant touch of disgrace, even from the +insults of those men whose contumely can bring no shame. He sat on the +sofa, repeating with convulsive vehemence the words “Expelled, expelled!” +his head shaking with emotion, and his whole frame quivering. The +atrocious injustice and its cruel consequences roused the indignation and +moved the compassion of a friend who then stood by Shelley. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> has given +the following account of his interference:—</p> + +<p>“So monstrous and so illegal did the outrage seem, that I held it to be +impossible that any man, or any body of men, would dare to adhere to it; +but, whatever the issue might be, it was a duty to endeavour to the utmost +to assist him. I at once stepped forward, therefore, as the advocate of +Shelley: such an advocate, perhaps, with respect to judgment, as might be +expected at the age of eighteen, but certainly not inferior to the most +practised defenders in good will and devotion. I wrote a short note to the +masters and fellows, in which, as far as I can remember a very hasty +composition after a long interval, I briefly expressed my sorrow at the +treatment my friend had experienced, and my hope that they would +reconsider their sentence since, by the same course of proceeding, myself, +or any other person, might be subjected to the same penalty, and to the +imputation of equal guilt. The note was despatched; the conclave was still +sitting, and in an instant the porter came to summon me to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> attend, +bearing in his countenance a promise of the reception which I was about to +find. The angry and troubled air of men assembled to commit injustice +according to established forms was then new to me, but a native instinct +told me, as soon as I had entered the room, that it was an affair of +party; that whatever could conciliate the favour of patrons was to be done +without scruple, and whatever could tend to impede preferment was to be +brushed away without remorse. The glowing master produced my poor note. I +acknowledged it, and he forthwith put into my hand, not less abruptly, the +little syllabus. ‘Did you write this?’ he asked, as fiercely as if I alone +stood between him and the rich see of Durham. I attempted, submissively, +to point out to him the extreme unfairness of the question, the injustice +of punishing Shelley for refusing to answer it; that if it were urged upon +me I must offer the like refusal, as I had no doubt every man in college +would, every gentleman, indeed, in the University, which, if such a course +were adopted with all, and there<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> could not be any reason why it should +be used with one and not with the rest, would thus be stripped of every +member. I soon perceived that arguments were thrown away upon a man +possessing no more intellect or erudition, and far less renown, than that +famous ram, since translated to the stars, through grasping whose tail +less firmly than was expedient, the sister of Phryxus formerly found a +watery grave, and gave her name to the broad Hellespont.</p> + +<p>“The other persons present took no part in the conversation; they presumed +not to speak, scarcely to breathe, but looked mute subserviency. The few +resident fellows, indeed, were but so many incarnations of the spirit of +the master, whatever that spirit might be. When I was silent, the master +told me to retire, and to consider whether I was resolved to persist in my +refusal. The proposal was fair enough. The next day or the next week, I +might have given my final answer—a deliberate answer; having in the +meantime consulted with older and more experienced persons, as to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> what +course was best for myself and for others. I had scarcely passed the door, +however, when I was recalled. The master again showed me the book, and +hastily demanded whether I admitted or denied that I was the author of it. +I answered that I was fully sensible of the many and great inconveniences +of being dismissed with disgrace from the University, and I specified some +of them, and expressed a humble hope that they would not impose such a +mark of discredit upon me without any cause. I lamented that it was +impossible either to admit or to deny the publication—no man of spirit +could submit to do so—and that a sense of duty compelled me respectfully +to refuse to answer the question which had been proposed. ‘Then you are +expelled,’ said the master, angrily, in a loud, great voice. A formal +sentence, duly signed and sealed, was instantly put into my hand: in what +interval the instrument had been drawn up I cannot imagine. The alleged +offence was contumacious refusal to disavow the imputed publication. My +eye glanced over it, and observing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> the word <i>contumaciously</i>, I said +calmly that I did not think that term was justified by my behaviour. +Before I had concluded the remark, the master, lifting up the little +syllabus, and then dashing it on the table and looking sternly at me, +said, ‘Am I to understand, sir, that you adopt the principles contained in +this work?’ or some such words; for like one red with the suffusion of +college port and college ale, the intense heat of anger seemed to deprive +him of the power of articulation, by reason of a rude provincial dialect +and thickness of utterance, his speech being at all times indistinct. ‘The +last question is still more improper than the former,’ I replied, for I +felt that the imputation was an insult; ‘and since, by your own act, you +have renounced all authority over me, our communication is at an end.’ ‘I +command you to quit my college to-morrow at an early hour.’ I bowed and +withdrew. I thank God I have never seen that man since; he is gone to his +bed, and there let him sleep. Whilst he lived, he ate freely of the +scholar’s bread and drank from his cup,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> and he was sustained, throughout +the whole term of his existence, wholly and most nobly, by those sacred +funds that were consecrated by our pious forefathers to the advancement of +learning. If the vengeance of the all-patient and long-contemned gods can +ever be roused, it will surely be by some such sacrilege! The favour which +he showed to scholars and his gratitude have been made manifest. If he +were still alive, he would doubtless be as little desirous that his zeal +should now be remembered as those bigots who had been most active in +burning Archbishop Cranmer could have been to publish their officiousness +during the reign of Elizabeth.”</p> + +<p>Busy rumour has ascribed, on what foundation I know not, since an active +and searching inquiry has not hitherto been made, the infamy of having +denounced Shelley to the pert, meddling tutor of a college of inferior +note, a man of an insalubrious and inauspicious aspect. Any paltry fellow +can whisper a secret accusation; but a certain courage, as well as +malignity, is required by him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> who undertakes to give evidence openly +against another; to provoke thereby the displeasure of the accused, of his +family and friends, and to submit his own veracity and his motives to +public scrutiny. Hence the illegal and inquisitorial mode of proceeding by +interrogation, instead of the lawful and recognised course by the +production of witnesses. The disposal of ecclesiastical preferment has +long been so reprehensible, the practice of desecrating institutions that +every good man desires to esteem most holy is so inveterate, that it is +needless to add that the secret accuser was rapidly enriched with the most +splendid benefices, and finally became a dignitary of the Church. The +modest prelate did not seek publicity in the charitable and dignified act +of deserving; it is not probable, therefore, that he is anxious at present +to invite an examination of the precise nature of his deserts.</p> + +<p>The next morning at eight o’clock Shelley and his friend set out together +for London on the top of a coach; and with his final departure from the +University<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> these reminiscences of his life at Oxford terminate. The +narrative of the injurious effects of this cruel, precipitate, unjust and +illegal expulsion upon the entire course of his subsequent life would not +be wanting in interest or instruction, when the scene was changed from the +quiet seclusion of academic groves and gardens, and the calm valley of our +silvery Isis, to the stormy ocean of that vast and shoreless world, to the +utmost violence of which he was, at an early age, suddenly and unnaturally +abandoned.</p> + +<p> </p> +<p class="center">THE END</p> + +<p> </p><p> </p> +<p class="center">EDINBURGH<br />COLSTON AND COY, LIMITED<br />PRINTERS</p> + + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Shelley at Oxford, by Thomas Jefferson Hogg + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHELLEY AT OXFORD *** + +***** This file should be named 34525-h.htm or 34525-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/5/2/34525/ + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Shelley at Oxford + +Author: Thomas Jefferson Hogg + +Release Date: December 1, 2010 [EBook #34525] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHELLEY AT OXFORD *** + + + + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +SHELLEY AT OXFORD + + + + + SHELLEY AT OXFORD + + + BY THOMAS JEFFERSON HOGG + + + WITH AN INTRODUCTION + BY R. A. STREATFEILD + + + METHUEN & CO. + 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. + LONDON + 1904 + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Thomas Jefferson Hogg's account of Shelley's career at Oxford first +appeared in the form of a series of articles contributed to the _New +Monthly Magazine_ in 1832 and 1833. It was afterwards incorporated into +his _Life of Shelley_, which was published in 1858. It is by common +consent the most life-like portrait of the poet left by any of his +contemporaries. "Hogg," said Trelawny, "has painted Shelley exactly as I +knew him," and Mary Shelley, referring to Hogg's articles in her edition +of Shelley's poems, bore witness to the fidelity with which her husband's +character had been delineated. In later times everyone who has written +about Shelley has drawn upon Hogg more or less freely, for he is +practically the only authority upon Shelley's six months at Oxford. Yet, +save in the extracts that appear in various biographies of the poet, this +remarkable work is little known. Hogg's fragmentary _Life of Shelley_ was +discredited by the plainly-expressed disapproval of the Shelley family and +has never been reprinted. But the inaccuracies, to call them by no harsher +term, that disfigure Hogg's later production do not affect the value of +his earlier narrative, the substantial truth of which has never been +impugned. + +In 1832 the _New Monthly Magazine_ was edited by the first Lord Lytton (at +that time Edward Lytton Bulwer), to whom Hogg was introduced by Mrs +Shelley. Hogg complained bitterly of the way in which his manuscript was +treated. "To write articles in a magazine or a review," he observed in the +Preface to his _Life of Shelley_, "is to walk in leading-strings. However, +I submitted to the requirements and restraints of bibliopolar discipline, +being content to speak of my young fellow-collegian, not exactly as I +would, but as I might. I struggled at first, and feebly, for full liberty +of speech, for a larger license of commendation and admiration, for entire +freedom of the press without censorship." Bulwer, however, was inexorable, +and it is owing, no doubt, to his salutary influence that the style of +Hogg's account of Shelley's Oxford days is so far superior to that of his +later compilation. Hogg, in fact, tacitly admitted the value of Bulwer's +emendations by reprinting the articles in question in his biography of +Shelley word for word as they appeared in the _New Monthly Magazine_, not +in the form in which they originally left his pen. + +Hogg himself was unquestionably a man of remarkable powers, though his +present fame depends almost entirely upon his connection with Shelley. He +was born in 1792, being the eldest son of John Hogg, a gentleman of old +family and strong Tory opinions, who lived at Norton in the county of +Durham. He was educated at Durham Grammar School, and entered University +College, Oxford, in January 1810, a short time before Shelley. The account +of his meeting with Shelley and of their intimacy down to the day of their +expulsion is told in these pages. + +On the strength of a remark of Trelawny's it has often been repeated that +Hogg was a hard-headed man of the world who despised literature, "he +thought it all nonsense and barely tolerated Shakespeare." Such is not the +impression that a reader of these pages will retain, nor, I think, will he +be inclined to echo the opinion pronounced by another critic that Hogg +regarded Shelley with a kind of amused disdain. On the contrary, it is +plain that Hogg entertained for Shelley a sincere regard and admiration, +and although himself a man of temperament directly opposed to that usually +described as poetical, he was fully capable of appreciating the +transcendent qualities of his friend's genius. There is little to add to +the tale of Hogg's and Shelley's Oxford life as told in the following +narrative, but further details as to their expulsion and the causes that +led to it may be read in Professor Dowden's biography of the poet. After +leaving Oxford, Hogg established himself at York, where he was articled to +a conveyancer. There he was visited by Shelley and his young wife, Harriet +Westbrook, in the course of their wanderings. For the latter Hogg +conceived a violent passion, and during a brief absence of Shelley's +assailed her with the most unworthy proposals, which she communicated to +her husband on his return. After a painful interview Shelley forgave his +friend, but left York with his wife abruptly for Keswick. Letters passed +between Hogg and Shelley, Hogg at first demanding Harriet's forgiveness +under a threat of suicide and subsequently challenging Shelley to a duel. +One of Shelley's replies, characteristically noble in sentiment, was +printed by Hogg with cynical effrontery in his biography of the poet many +years later as a "Fragment of a Novel." After these incidents there was no +intercourse between the two until, in October 1812, the Shelleys arrived +in London, whither Hogg had moved. From that time until Shelley's final +departure from England in 1818 his connection with Hogg was resumed with +much of its old intimacy. + +In the year 1813 Hogg produced a work of fiction, _The Memoirs of Prince +Alexy Haimatoff_, said to be translated from the original Latin MSS. under +the immediate inspection of the Prince, by John Brown, Esq. The tale, +which is for the most part told in stilted and extravagant language, can +hardly be called amusing, but the discussions upon liberty which are a +feature of it appear to be an echo of Shelley's conversation, and the hero +himself may possibly be intended as a portrait of the poet. Certainly +there are points in the Prince's description of himself which seem to be +borrowed from Shelley's physiognomy. "My complexion was a clear brown, +rather inclining to yellow; my hair a deep and bright black; my eyes dark +and strongly expressive of pride and anger,... my hands very small, and +my head remarkable for its roundness and diminutive size." It would be +interesting to trace in the other characters the portraits of various +members of Hogg's circle. Mr Garnett identifies Gothon as Dr Lind, the +Eton tutor whose sympathy and encouragement did much to alleviate the +misery of Shelley's school-days. The fair Rosalie ought to be Harriet, and +certain features of her character recall that unhappy damsel, but Rosalie +disliked reading and thought Aristotle an "egregious trifler," whereas +Harriet's taste in literature was of an extreme seriousness, and her +partiality for reading works of a moral tendency to her companions in +season and out of season was one of the least engaging features of her +character. + +Shelley reviewed _The Memoirs of Prince Alexy Haimatoff_ in the _Critical +Review_ of December 1814, discussing the talents of the author in terms of +glowing eulogy, though he found fault with his views on the subject of +sexual relations. Soon after his York experiences Hogg had entered at the +Middle Temple and he was called to the Bar in 1817. He was not successful +as a barrister, lacking the quickness and ready eloquence that command +success. In or about the year 1826 Hogg married Jane, the widow of Edward +Ellerker Williams, who had shared Shelley's fate three years previously. +It is said that Mrs Williams insisted upon Hogg's preparing himself for +the union, or perhaps we should rather say, proving his devotion, by a +course of foreign travel. Hogg undertook the ordeal, voluntarily depriving +himself of three things, each of which, to use his own words, "daily habit +had taught me to consider a prime necessary of life--law, Greek, and an +English newspaper." In 1827 he published the record of his tour in two +volumes, entitled _Two Hundred and Nine Days; or, The Journal of a +Traveller on the Continent_, which, so far from illustrating the anguish +of hope deferred, is a storehouse of shrewd and cynical observation. + +In 1833 Hogg was appointed one of the Municipal Corporation Commissioners +for England and Wales, and for many years he acted as Revising Barrister +for Northumberland, Berwick and the Northern Boroughs. About 1855 he was +commissioned by the Shelley family to write the poet's biography and was +furnished with the necessary papers. In 1858 he produced the two extant +volumes, which proved so little satisfactory to Shelley's representatives +that the materials for the continuation of his task were withdrawn and the +work interrupted, never to be resumed. Hogg died in 1862. He was a man of +varied culture; in knowledge of Greek few scholars of his time surpassed +him, and he was well read in German, French, Italian and Spanish. He was a +fair botanist, and rejoiced to think that he was born upon the anniversary +of the birth of Linnaeus, for whose concise and simple style he professed a +great admiration. Nevertheless it is chiefly as the friend and biographer +of Shelley that he interests the present generation, and the +re-publication of his account of the poet's Oxford experiences can +scarcely fail to win him new admirers. + +R. A. STREATFEILD + + + + +SHELLEY AT OXFORD + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +What is the greatest disappointment in life? The question has often been +asked. In a perfect life--that is to say, in a long course of various +disappointments, when the collector has completed the entire set and +series, which should he pronounce to be the greatest? What is the greatest +disappointment of all? The question has often been asked, and it has +received very different answers. Some have said matrimony; others, the +accession of an inheritance that had long been anxiously anticipated; +others, the attainment of honours; others, the deliverance from an ancient +and intolerable nuisance, since a new and more grievous one speedily +succeeded to the old. Many solutions have been proposed, and each has +been ingeniously supported. At a very early age I had formed a splendid +picture of the glories of our two Universities. My father took pleasure in +describing his academical career. I listened to him with great delight, +and many circumstances gave additional force to these first impressions. +The clergy--and in the country they make one's principal guests--always +spoke of these establishments with deep reverence, and of their academical +days as the happiest of their lives. + +When I went to school, my prejudices were strengthened; for the master +noticed all deficiencies in learning as being unfit, and every remarkable +proficiency as being fit, for the University. Such expressions marked the +utmost limits of blame and of praise. Whenever any of the elder boys were +translated to college--and several went thither from our school every +year--the transmission was accompanied with a certain awe. I had always +contemplated my own removal with the like feeling, and as the period +approached, I anticipated it with a reverent impatience. The appointed +day at last arrived, and I set out with a schoolfellow, about to enter the +same career, and his father. The latter was a dutiful and a most grateful +son of _alma mater_; and the conversation of this estimable man, during +our long journey, fanned the flame of my young ardour. Such, indeed, had +been the effect of his discourse for many years; and as he possessed a +complete collection of the Oxford Almanacks, and it had been a great and +frequent gratification to contemplate the engravings at the top of the +annual sheets when I visited his quiet vicarage, I was already familiar +with the aspect of the noble buildings that adorn that famous city. After +travelling for several days we reached the last stage, and soon afterwards +approached the point whence, I was told, we might discern the first +glimpse of the metropolis of learning. I strained my eyes to catch a view +of that land of promise, for which I had so eagerly longed. The summits of +towers and spires and domes appeared afar and faintly; then the prospect +was obstructed. By degrees it opened upon us again, and we saw the tall +trees that shaded the colleges. At three o'clock on a fine autumnal +afternoon we entered the streets of Oxford. Although the weather was cold +we had let down all the windows of our post-chaise, and I sat forward, +devouring every object with greedy eyes. Members of the University, of +different ages and ranks, were gliding through the quiet streets of the +venerable city in academic costume. + +We devoted two or three days to the careful examination of the various +objects of interest that Oxford contains. The eye was gratified, for the +external appearance of the University even surpassed the bright picture +which my youthful imagination had painted. The outside was always +admirable; it was far otherwise with the inside. It is essential to the +greatness of a disappointment that the previous expectation should have +been great. Nothing could exceed my young anticipations--nothing could be +more complete than their overthrow. It would be impossible to describe my +feelings without speaking harshly and irreverently of the venerable +University. On this subject, then, I will only confess my disappointment, +and discreetly be silent as to its causes. Whatever those causes, I grew, +at least, and I own it cheerfully, soon pleased with Oxford, on the whole; +pleased with the beauty of the city and its gentle river, and the +pleasantness of the surrounding country. + +Although no great facilities were afforded to the student, there were the +same opportunities of _solitary_ study as in other places. All the irksome +restraints of school were removed, and those of the University are few and +trifling. Our fare was good, although not so good, perhaps, as it ought to +have been, in return for the enormous cost; and I liked the few companions +with whom I most commonly mixed. I continued to lead a life of tranquil +and studious and somewhat melancholy contentment until the long vacation, +which I spent with my family; and, when it expired, I returned to the +University. + +At the commencement of Michaelmas term--that is, at the end of October, in +the year 1810, I happened one day to sit next to a freshman at dinner. It +was his first appearance in hall. His figure was slight, and his aspect +remarkably youthful, even at our table, where all were very young. He +seemed thoughtful and absent. He ate little, and had no acquaintance with +anyone. I know not how it was that we fell into conversation, for such +familiarity was unusual, and, strange to say, much reserve prevailed in a +society where there could not possibly be occasion for any. We have often +endeavoured in vain to recollect in what manner our discourse began, and +especially by what transition it passed to a subject sufficiently remote +from all the associations we were able to trace. The stranger had +expressed an enthusiastic admiration for poetical and imaginative works of +the German school; I dissented from his criticisms. He upheld the +originality of the German writings; I asserted their want of nature. + +"What modern literature," said he, "will you compare to theirs?" + +I named the Italian. This roused all his impetuosity; and few, as I soon +discovered, were more impetuous in argumentative conversation. So eager +was our dispute that, when the servants came in to clear the tables, we +were not aware that we had been left alone. I remarked that it was time to +quit the hall, and I invited the stranger to finish the discussion at my +rooms. He eagerly assented. He lost the thread of his discourse in the +transit, and the whole of his enthusiasm in the cause of Germany; for, as +soon as he arrived at my rooms, and whilst I was lighting the candles, he +said calmly, and to my great surprise, that he was not qualified to +maintain such a discussion, for he was alike ignorant of Italian and +German, and had only read the works of the Germans, in translations, and +but little of Italian poetry, even at second hand. For my part, I +confessed, with an equal ingenuousness, that I knew nothing of German, +and but little of Italian; that I had spoken only through others, and, +like him, had hitherto seen by the glimmering light of translations. + +It is upon such scanty data that young men reason; upon such slender +materials do they build up their opinions. It may be urged, however, that +if they did not discourse freely with each other upon insufficient +information--for such alone can be acquired in the pleasant morning of +life, and until they educate themselves--they would be constrained to +observe a perpetual silence, and to forego the numerous advantages that +flow from frequent and liberal discussion. + +I inquired of the vivacious stranger, as we sat over our wine and dessert, +how long he had been at Oxford, and how he liked it? He answered my +questions with a certain impatience, and, resuming the subject of our +discussion, he remarked that, "Whether the literature of Germany or of +Italy be the more original, or in a purer and more accurate taste, is of +little importance, for polite letters are but vain trifling; the study of +languages, not only of the modern tongues, but of Latin and Greek also, is +merely the study of words and phrases, of the names of things; it matters +not how they are called. It is surely far better to investigate things +themselves." I inquired, a little bewildered, how this was to be effected? +He answered, "Through the physical sciences, and especially through +chemistry;" and, raising his voice, his face flushing as he spoke, he +discoursed with a degree of animation, that far outshone his zeal in +defence of the Germans, of chemistry and chemical analysis. Concerning +that science, then so popular, I had merely a scanty and vulgar knowledge, +gathered from elementary books, and the ordinary experiments of popular +lecturers. I listened, therefore, in silence to his eloquent disquisition, +interposing a few brief questions only, and at long intervals, as to the +extent of his own studies and manipulations. As I felt, in truth, but a +slight interest in the subject of his conversation, I had leisure to +examine, and, I may add, to admire, the appearance of my very +extraordinary guest. It was a sum of many contradictions. His figure was +slight and fragile, and yet his bones and joints were large and strong. He +was tall, but he stooped so much that he seemed of a low stature. His +clothes were expensive, and made according to the most approved mode of +the day, but they were tumbled, rumpled, unbrushed. His gestures were +abrupt, and sometimes violent, occasionally even awkward, yet more +frequently gentle and graceful. His complexion was delicate and almost +feminine, of the purest red and white; yet he was tanned and freckled by +exposure to the sun, having passed the autumn, as he said, in shooting. +His features, his whole face, and particularly his head, were, in fact, +unusually small; yet the last _appeared_ of a remarkable bulk, for his +hair was long and bushy, and in fits of absence, and in the agonies (if I +may use the word) of anxious thought, he often rubbed it fiercely with +his hands, or passed his fingers quickly through his locks unconsciously, +so that it was singularly wild and rough. In times when it was the mode to +imitate stage-coachmen as closely as possible in costume, and when the +hair was invariably cropped, like that of our soldiers, this eccentricity +was very striking. His features were not symmetrical (the mouth, perhaps, +excepted), yet was the effect of the whole extremely powerful. They +breathed an animation, a fire, an enthusiasm, a vivid and preternatural +intelligence, that I never met with in any other countenance. Nor was the +moral expression less beautiful than the intellectual; for there was a +softness, a delicacy, a gentleness, and especially (though this will +surprise many) that air of profound religious veneration that +characterises the best works, and chiefly the frescoes (and into these +they infused their whole souls) of the great masters of Florence and of +Rome. I recognised the very peculiar expression in these wonderful +productions long afterwards, and with a satisfaction mingled with much +sorrow, for it was after the decease of him in whose countenance I had +first observed it. I admired the enthusiasm of my new acquaintance, his +ardour in the cause of science and his thirst for knowledge. I seemed to +have found in him all those intellectual qualities which I had vainly +expected to meet with in a University. But there was one physical blemish +that threatened to neutralise all his excellence. "This is a fine, clever +fellow!" I said to myself, "but I can never bear his society; I shall +never be able to endure his voice; it would kill me. What a pity it is!" I +am very sensible of imperfections, and especially of painful sounds, and +the voice of the stranger was excruciating. It was intolerably shrill, +harsh and discordant; of the most cruel intension. It was perpetual, and +without any remission; it excoriated the ears. He continued to discourse +on chemistry, sometimes sitting, sometimes standing before the fire, and +sometimes pacing about the room; and when one of the innumerable clocks, +that speak in various notes during the day and the night at Oxford, +proclaimed a quarter to seven, he said suddenly that he must go to a +lecture on mineralogy, and declared enthusiastically that he expected to +derive much pleasure and instruction from it. I am ashamed to own that the +cruel voice made me hesitate for a moment; but it was impossible to omit +so indispensable a civility--I invited him to return to tea. He gladly +assented, promised that he would not be absent long, snatched his hat, +hurried out of the room, and I heard his footsteps, as he ran through the +silent quadrangle and afterwards along High Street. + +An hour soon elapsed, whilst the table was cleared and the tea was made, +and I again heard the footsteps of one running quickly. My guest suddenly +burst into the room, threw down his cap, and as he stood shivering and +chafing his hands over the fire, he declared how much he had been +disappointed in the lecture. Few persons attended; it was dull and +languid, and he was resolved never to go to another. + +"I went away, indeed," he added, with an arch look, and in a shrill +whisper, coming close to me as he spoke--"I went away, indeed, before the +lecture was finished. I stole away, for it was so stupid, and I was so +cold that my teeth chattered. The Professor saw me, and appeared to be +displeased. I thought I could have got out without being observed, but I +struck my knee against a bench and made a noise, and he looked at me. I am +determined that he shall never see me again." + +"What did the man talk about?" + +"About stones! about stones!" he answered, with a downcast look and in a +melancholy tone, as if about to say something excessively profound. "About +stones! stones, stones, stones!--nothing but stones!--and so drily. It was +wonderfully tiresome, and stones are not interesting things in +themselves!" + +We took tea, and soon afterwards had supper, as was usual. He discoursed +after supper with as much warmth as before of the wonders of chemistry; of +the encouragement that Napoleon afforded to that most important science; +of the French chemists and their glorious discoveries, and of the +happiness of visiting Paris and sharing in their fame and their +experiments. The voice, however, seemed to me more cruel than ever. He +spoke, likewise, of his own labours and of his apparatus, and starting up +suddenly after supper, he proposed that I should go instantly with him to +see the galvanic trough. I looked at my watch, and observed that it was +too late; that the fire would be out, and the night was cold. He resumed +his seat, saying that I might come on the morrow early, to breakfast, +immediately after chapel. He continued to declaim in his rapturous strain, +asserting that chemistry was, in truth, the only science that deserved to +be studied. I suggested doubts. I ventured to question the pre-eminence of +the science, and even to hesitate in admitting its utility. He described +in glowing language some discoveries that had lately been made; but the +enthusiastic chemist candidly allowed that they were rather brilliant than +useful, asserting, however, that they would soon be applied to purposes of +solid advantage. + +"Is not the time of by far the larger proportion of the human species," he +inquired, with his fervid manner and in his piercing tones, "wholly +consumed in severe labour? And is not this devotion of our race--of the +whole of our race, I may say (for those who, like ourselves, are indulged +with an exemption from the hard lot are so few in comparison with the +rest, that they scarcely deserve to be taken into account)--absolutely +necessary to procure subsistence, so that men have no leisure for +recreation or the high improvement of the mind? Yet this incessant toil is +still inadequate to procure an abundant supply of the common necessaries +of life. Some are doomed actually to want them, and many are compelled to +be content with an insufficient provision. We know little of the peculiar +nature of those substances which are proper for the nourishment of +animals; we are ignorant of the qualities that make them fit for this end. +Analysis has advanced so rapidly of late that we may confidently +anticipate that we shall soon discover wherein their aptitude really +consists; having ascertained the cause, we shall next be able to command +it, and to produce at our pleasure the desired effects. It is easy, even +in our present state of ignorance, to reduce our ordinary food to carbon, +or to lime; a moderate advancement in chemical science will speedily +enable us, we may hope, to create, with equal facility, food from +substances that appear at present to be as ill adapted to sustain us. What +is the cause of the remarkable fertility of some lands, and of the +hopeless sterility of others? A spadeful of the most productive soil does +not to the eye differ much from the same quantity taken from the most +barren. The real difference is probably very slight; by chemical agency +the philosopher may work a total change, and may transmute an unfruitful +region into a land of exuberant plenty. Water, like the atmospheric air, +is compounded of certain gases; in the progress of scientific discovery a +simple and sure method of manufacturing the useful fluid, in every +situation and in any quantity, may be detected. The arid deserts of Africa +may then be refreshed by a copious supply and may be transformed at once +into rich meadows and vast fields of maize and rice. The generation of +heat is a mystery, but enough of the theory of caloric has already been +developed to induce us to acquiesce in the notion that it will hereafter, +and perhaps at no very distant period, be possible to produce heat at +will, and to warm the most ungenial climates as readily as we now raise +the temperature of our apartments to whatever degree we may deem agreeable +or salutary. If, however, it be too much to anticipate that we shall ever +become sufficiently skilful to command such a prodigious supply of heat, +we may expect, without the fear of disappointment, soon to understand its +nature and the causes of combustion, so far at least, as to provide +ourselves cheaply with a fund of heat that will supersede our costly and +inconvenient fuel, and will suffice to warm our habitations, for culinary +purposes and for the various demands of the mechanical arts. We could not +determine without actual experiment whether an unknown substance were +combustible; when we shall have thoroughly investigated the properties of +fire, it may be that we shall be qualified to communicate to clay, to +stones, and to water itself, a chemical recomposition that will render +them as inflammable as wood, coals and oil; for the difference of +structure is minute and invisible, and the power of feeding flame may, +perhaps, be easily added to any substance, or taken away from it. What a +comfort would it be to the poor at all times, and especially at this +season, if we were capable of solving this problem alone, if we could +furnish them with a competent supply of heat! These speculations may +appear wild, and it may seem improbable that they will ever be realised to +persons who have not extended their views of what is practicable by +closely watching science in its course onward; but there are many +mysterious powers, many irresistible agents with the existence and with +some of the phenomena of which all are acquainted. What a mighty +instrument would electricity be in the hands of him who knew how to wield +it, in what manner to direct its omnipotent energies, and we may command +an indefinite quantity of the fluid. By means of electrical kites we may +draw down the lightning from heaven! What a terrible organ would the +supernal shock prove, if we were able to guide it; how many of the secrets +of nature would such a stupendous force unlock. The galvanic battery is a +new engine; it has been used hitherto to an insignificant extent, yet has +it wrought wonders already; what will not an extraordinary combination of +troughs, of colossal magnitude, a well-arranged system of hundreds of +metallic plates, effect? The balloon has not yet received the perfection +of which it is surely capable; the art of navigating the air is in its +first and most helpless infancy; the aerial mariner still swims on +bladders, and has not mounted even the rude raft; if we weigh this +invention, curious as it is, with some of the subjects I have mentioned, +it will seem trifling, no doubt--a mere toy, a feather in comparison with +the splendid anticipations of the philosophical chemist; yet it ought not +altogether to be contemned. It promises prodigious facilities for +locomotion, and will enable us to traverse vast tracts with ease and +rapidity, and to explore unknown countries without difficulty. Why are we +still so ignorant of the interior of Africa?--why do we not despatch +intrepid aeronauts to cross it in every direction, and to survey the whole +peninsula in a few weeks? The shadow of the first balloon, which a +vertical sun would project precisely underneath it, as it glided silently +over that hitherto unhappy country, would virtually emancipate every +slave, and would annihilate slavery for ever." + +With such fervour did the slender, beardless stranger speculate concerning +the march of physical science; his speculations were as wild as the +experience of twenty-one years has shown them to be; but the zealous +earnestness for the augmentation of knowledge, and the glowing +philanthropy and boundless benevolence that marked them, and beamed forth +in the whole deportment of that extraordinary boy, are not less +astonishing than they would have been if the whole of his glorious +anticipations had been prophetic; for these high qualities at least I have +never found a parallel. When he had ceased to predict the coming honours +of chemistry, and to promise the rich harvest of benefits it was soon to +yield, I suggested that, although its results were splendid, yet for those +who could not hope to make discoveries themselves, it did not afford so +valuable a course of mental discipline as the moral sciences; moreover, +that, if chemists asserted that their science alone deserved to be +cultivated, the mathematicians made the same assertion, and with equal +confidence, respecting their studies; but that I was not sufficiently +advanced myself in mathematics to be able to judge how far it was well +founded. He declared that he knew nothing of mathematics, and treated the +notion of their paramount importance with contempt. + +"What do you say of metaphysics?" I continued; "is that science, too, the +study of words only?" + +"Ay, metaphysics," he said, in a solemn tone, and with a mysterious air, +"that is a noble study indeed! If it were possible to make any discoveries +there, they would be more valuable than anything the chemists have done, +or could do; they would disclose the analysis of mind, and not of mere +matter!" Then, rising from his chair, he paced slowly about the room, with +prodigious strides, and discoursed of souls with still greater animation +and vehemence than he had displayed in treating of gases--of a future +state--and especially of a former state--of pre-existence, obscured for a +time through the suspension of consciousness--of personal identity, and +also of ethical philosophy, in a deep and earnest tone of elevated +morality, until he suddenly remarked that the fire was nearly out, and the +candles were glimmering in their sockets, when he hastily apologised for +remaining so long. I promised to visit the chemist in his laboratory, the +alchemist in his study, the wizard in his cave, not at breakfast on that +day, for it was already one, but in twelve hours--one hour after noon--and +to hear some of the secrets of nature; and for that purpose he told me his +name, and described the situation of his rooms. I lighted him downstairs +as well as I could with the stump of a candle which had dissolved itself +into a lump, and I soon heard him running through the quiet quadrangle in +the still night. That sound became afterwards so familiar to my ear, that +I still seem to hear Shelley's hasty steps. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +I trust, or I should perhaps rather say I hope, that I was as much struck +by the conversation, the aspect, and the deportment of my new +acquaintance, as entirely convinced of the value of the acquisition I had +just made, and as deeply impressed with surprise and admiration as became +a young student not insensible of excellence, to whom a character so +extraordinary, and indeed almost preternatural, had been suddenly +unfolded. During his animated and eloquent discourses I felt a due +reverence for his zeal and talent, but the human mind is capable of a +certain amount of attention only. I had listened and discussed for seven +or eight hours, and my spirits were totally exhausted. I went to bed as +soon as Shelley had quitted my rooms, and fell instantly into a profound +sleep; and I shook off with a painful effort, at the accustomed signal, +the complete oblivion which then appeared to have been but momentary. Many +of the wholesome usages of antiquity had ceased at Oxford; that of early +rising, however, still lingered. + +As soon as I got up, I applied myself sedulously to my academical duties +and my accustomed studies. The power of habitual occupation is great and +engrossing, and it is possible that my mind had not yet fully recovered +from the agreeable fatigue of the preceding evening, for I had entirely +forgotten my engagement, nor did the thought of my young guest once cross +my fancy. It was strange that a person so remarkable and attractive should +have thus disappeared for several hours from my memory; but such in truth +was the fact, although I am unable to account for it in a satisfactory +manner. + +At one o'clock I put away my books and papers, and prepared myself for my +daily walk; the weather was frosty, with fog, and whilst I lingered over +the fire with that reluctance to venture forth into the cold air common to +those who have chilled themselves by protracted sedentary pursuits, the +recollection of the scenes of yesterday flashed suddenly and vividly +across my mind, and I quickly repaired to a spot that I may perhaps +venture to predict many of our posterity will hereafter reverently +visit--to the rooms in the corner next the hall of the principal +quadrangle of University College. They are on the first floor, and on the +right of the entrance, but by reason of the turn in the stairs, when you +reach them they will be upon your left hand. I remember the direction +given at parting, and I soon found the door. It stood ajar. I tapped +gently, and the discordant voice cried shrilly,-- + +"Come in!" + +It was now nearly two. I began to apologise for my delay, but I was +interrupted by a loud exclamation of surprise. + +"What! is it one? I had no notion it was so late. I thought it was about +ten or eleven." + +"It is on the stroke of two, sir," said the scout, who was engaged in the +vain attempt of setting the apartment in order. + +"Of two!" Shelley cried with increased wonder, and presently the clock +struck, and the servant noticed it, retired and shut the door. + +I perceived at once that the young chemist took no note of time. He +measured duration, not by minutes and hours, like watchmakers and their +customers, but by the successive trains of ideas and sensations; +consequently, if there was a virtue of which he was utterly incapable, it +was that homely but pleasing and useful one--punctuality. He could not +tear himself from his incessant abstractions to observe at intervals the +growth and decline of the day; nor was he ever able to set apart even a +small portion of his mental powers for a duty so simple as that of +watching the course of the pointers on the dial. + +I found him cowering over the fire, his chair planted in the middle of the +rug, and his feet resting upon the fender; his whole appearance was +dejected. His astonishment at the unexpected lapse of time roused him. As +soon as the hour of the day was ascertained he welcomed me, and seizing +one of my arms with both his hands, he shook it with some force, and very +cordially expressed his satisfaction at my visit. Then, resuming his seat +and his former posture, he gazed fixedly at the fire, and his limbs +trembled and his teeth chattered with cold. I cleared the fireplace with +the poker and stirred the fire, and when it blazed up, he drew back, and, +looking askance towards the door, he exclaimed with a deep sigh,-- + +"Thank God, that fellow is gone at last!" + +The assiduity of the scout had annoyed him, and he presently added,-- + +"If you had not come, he would have stayed until he had put everything in +my rooms into some place where I should never have found it again!" + +He then complained of his health, and said that he was very unwell; but he +did not appear to be affected by any disorder more serious than a slight +aguish cold. I remarked the same contradiction in his rooms which I had +already observed in his person and dress. They had just been papered and +painted; the carpet, curtains, and furniture were quite new, and had not +passed through several academical generations, after the established +custom of transferring the whole of the movables to the successor on +payments of thirds, that is, of two-thirds of the price last given. The +general air of freshness was greatly obscured, however, by the +indescribable confusion in which the various objects were mixed. +Notwithstanding the unwelcome exertions of the officious scout, scarcely a +single article was in its proper position. + +Books, boots, papers, shoes, philosophical instruments, clothes, pistols, +linen, crockery, ammunition and phials innumerable, with money, stockings, +prints, crucibles, bags and boxes were scattered on the floor and in +every place, as if the young chemist, in order to analyse the mystery of +creation, had endeavoured first to re-construct the primeval chaos. The +tables, and especially the carpet, were already stained with large spots +of various hues, which frequently proclaimed the agency of fire. An +electrical machine, an air-pump, the galvanic trough, a solar microscope +and large glass jars and receivers, were conspicuous amidst the mass of +matter. Upon the table by his side were some books lying open, several +letters, a bundle of new pens and a bottle of japan ink that served as an +inkstand; a piece of deal, lately part of the lid of a box, with many +chips, and a handsome razor that had been used as a knife. There were +bottles of soda water, sugar, pieces of lemon, and the traces of an +effervescent beverage. Two piles of books supported the tongs, and these +upheld a small glass retort above an argand lamp. I had not been seated +many minutes before the liquor in the vessel boiled over, adding fresh +stains to the table, and rising in fumes with a most disagreeable odour. +Shelley snatched the glass quickly, and dashing it in pieces among the +ashes under the grate, increased the unpleasant and penetrating effluvium. + +He then proceeded with much eagerness and enthusiasm to show me the +various instruments, especially the electrical apparatus, turning round +the handle very rapidly, so that the fierce, crackling sparks flew forth; +and presently, standing upon the stool with glass feet, he begged me to +work the machine until he was filled with the fluid, so that his long wild +locks bristled and stood on end. Afterwards he charged a powerful battery +of several large jars; labouring with vast energy, and discoursing with +increasing vehemence of the marvellous powers of electricity, of thunder +and lightning; describing an electrical kite that he had made at home, and +projecting another and an enormous one, or rather a combination of many +kites, that would draw down from the sky an immense volume of +electricity, the whole ammunition of a mighty thunderstorm; and this being +directed to some point would there produce the most stupendous results. + +In these exhibitions and in such conversation the time passed away +rapidly, and the hour of dinner approached. Having pricked _aeger_ that +day, or, in other words, having caused his name to be entered as an +invalid, he was not required or permitted to dine in hall, or to appear in +public within the college or without the walls, until a night's rest +should have restored the sick man to health. + +He requested me to spend the evening at his rooms; I consented, nor did I +fail to attend immediately after dinner. We conversed until a late hour on +miscellaneous topics. I remember that he spoke frequently of poetry, and +that there was the same animation, the same glowing zeal, which had +characterised his former discourses, and was so opposite to the listless +languor, the monstrous indifference, if not the absolute antipathy to +learning, that so strangely darkened the collegiate atmosphere. It would +seem, indeed, to one who rightly considered the final cause of the +institution of a university, that all the rewards, all the honours the +most opulent foundation could accumulate, would be inadequate to +remunerate an individual, whose thirst for knowledge was so intense, and +his activity in the pursuit of it so wonderful and so unwearied. I +participated in his enthusiasm, and soon forgot the shrill and unmusical +voice that had at first seemed intolerable to my ear. + +He was, indeed, a whole university in himself to me, in respect of the +stimulus and incitement which his example afforded to my love of study, +and he amply atoned for the disappointment I had felt on my arrival at +Oxford. In one respect alone could I pretend to resemble him--in an ardent +desire to gain knowledge, and, as our tastes were the same in many +particulars, we immediately became, through sympathy, most intimate and +altogether inseparable companions. We almost invariably passed the +afternoon and evening together; at first, alternately at our respective +rooms, through a certain punctiliousness, but afterwards, when we became +more familiar, most frequently by far at his. Sometimes one or two good +and harmless men of our acquaintance were present, but we were usually +alone. His rooms were preferred to mine, because there his philosophical +apparatus was at hand; and at that period he was not perfectly satisfied +with the condition and circumstances of his existence, unless he was able +to start from his seat at any moment, and seizing the air-pump, some +magnets, the electrical machine, or the bottles containing those noxious +and nauseous fluids wherewith he incessantly besmeared and disfigured +himself and his goods, to ascertain by actual experiment the value of some +new idea that rushed into his brain. He spent much time in working by fits +and starts and in an irregular manner with his instruments, and especially +consumed his hours and his money in the assiduous cultivation of +chemistry. + +We have heard that one of the most distinguished of modern discoverers was +abrupt, hasty, and to appearance disorderly, in the conduct of his +manipulations. The variety of the habits of great men is indeed infinite. +It is impossible, therefore, to decide peremptorily as to the capabilities +of individuals from their course of proceeding, yet it certainly seemed +highly improbable that Shelley was qualified to succeed in a science +wherein a scrupulous minuteness and a mechanical accuracy are +indispensable. His chemical operations seemed to an unskilful observer to +promise nothing but disasters. His hands, his clothes, his books and his +furniture were stained and corroded by mineral acids. More than one hole +in the carpet could elucidate the ultimate phenomenon of combustion; +especially a formidable aperture in the middle of the room, where the +floor also had been burnt by the spontaneous ignition, caused by mixing +ether with some other fluid in a crucible; and the honourable wound was +speedily enlarged by rents, for the philosopher, as he hastily crossed the +room in pursuit of truth, was frequently caught in it by the foot. Many +times a day, but always in vain, would the sedulous scout say, pointing to +the scorched boards with a significant look,-- + +"Would it not be better, sir, for us to get this place mended?" + +It seemed but too probable that in the rash ardour of experiment he would +some day set the college on fire, or that he would blind, maim or kill +himself by the explosion of combustibles. It was still more likely, +indeed, that he would poison himself, for plates and glasses and every +part of his tea equipage were used indiscriminately with crucibles, +retorts, and recipients, to contain the most deleterious ingredients. To +his infinite diversion I used always to examine every drinking vessel +narrowly, and often to rinse it carefully, after that evening when we were +taking tea by firelight, and my attention being attracted by the sound of +something in the cup into which I was about to pour tea, I was induced to +look into it. I found a seven-shilling piece partly dissolved by the _aqua +regia_ in which it was immersed. Although he laughed at my caution, he +used to speak with horror of the consequences of having inadvertently +swallowed, through a similar accident, some mineral poison--I think +arsenic--at Eton, which he declared had not only seriously injured his +health, but that he feared he should never entirely recover from the shock +it had inflicted on his constitution. It seemed improbable, +notwithstanding his positive assertions, that his lively fancy exaggerated +the recollection of the unpleasant and permanent taste, of the sickness +and disorder of the stomach, which might arise from taking a minute +portion of some poisonous substance by the like chance, for there was no +vestige of a more serious and lasting injury in his youthful and healthy, +although somewhat delicate aspect. + +I knew little of the physical sciences, and I felt, therefore, but a +slight degree of interest in them. I looked upon his philosophical +apparatus merely as toys and playthings, like a chess-board or a billiard +table. Through lack of sympathy, his zeal, which was at first so ardent, +gradually cooled; and he applied himself to these pursuits, after a short +time, less frequently and with less earnestness. The true value of them +was often the subject of animated discussion; and I remember one evening +at my own rooms, when we had sought refuge against the intense cold in the +little inner apartment, or study, I referred, in the course of our debate, +to a passage in Xenophon's _Memorabilia_, where Socrates speaks in +disparagement of Physics. He read it several times very attentively, and +more than once aloud, slowly and with emphasis, and it appeared to make a +strong impression on him. + +Notwithstanding our difference of opinion as to the importance of +chemistry and on some other questions, our intimacy rapidly increased, and +we soon formed the habit of passing the greater part of our time +together; nor did this constant intercourse interfere with my usual +studies. I never visited his rooms until one o'clock, by which hour, as I +rose very early, I had not only attended the college lectures, but had +read in private for several hours. I was enabled, moreover, to continue my +studies afterwards in the evening, in consequence of a very remarkable +peculiarity. My young and energetic friend was then overcome by extreme +drowsiness, which speedily and completely vanquished him; he would sleep +from two to four hours, often so soundly that his slumbers resembled a +deep lethargy; he lay occasionally upon the sofa, but more commonly +stretched upon the rug before a large fire, like a cat; and his little +round head was exposed to such a fierce heat, that I used to wonder how he +was able to bear it. Sometimes I have interposed some shelter, but rarely +with any permanent effect; for the sleeper usually contrived to turn +himself and to roll again into the spot where the fire glowed the +brightest. His torpor was generally profound, but he would sometimes +discourse incoherently for a long while in his sleep. At six he would +suddenly compose himself, even in the midst of a most animated narrative +or of earnest discussion; and he would lie buried in entire forgetfulness, +in a sweet and mighty oblivion, until ten, when he would suddenly start +up, and rubbing his eyes with great violence, and passing his fingers +swiftly through his long hair, would enter at once into a vehement +argument, or begin to recite verses, either of his own composition or from +the works of others, with a rapidity and an energy that were often quite +painful. During the period of his occultation I took tea, and read or +wrote without interruption. He would sometimes sleep for a shorter time, +for about two hours, postponing for the like period the commencement of +his retreat to the rug, and rising with tolerable punctuality at ten; and +sometimes, although rarely, he was able entirely to forego the accustomed +refreshment. + +We did not consume the whole of our time, when he was awake, in +conversation; we often read apart, and more frequently together. Our joint +studies were occasionally interrupted by long discussions--nevertheless, I +could enumerate many works, and several of them are extensive and +important, which we perused completely and very carefully in this manner. +At ten, when he awoke, he was always ready for his supper, which he took +with a peculiar relish. After that social meal his mind was clear and +penetrating, and his discourse eminently brilliant. He was unwilling to +separate, but when the college clock struck two, I used to rise and retire +to my room. Our conversations were sometimes considerably prolonged, but +they seldom terminated before that chilly hour of the early morning; nor +did I feel any inconvenience from thus reducing the period of rest to +scarcely five hours. + +A disquisition on some difficult question in the open air was not less +agreeable to him than by the fireside; if the weather was fine, or rather +not altogether intolerable, we used to sally forth, when we met at one. + +I have already pointed out several contradictions in his appearance and +character. His ordinary preparation for a rural walk formed a very +remarkable contrast with his mild aspect and pacific habits. He furnished +himself with a pair of duelling pistols and a good store of powder and +ball, and when he came to a solitary spot, he pinned a card, or fixed some +other mark upon a tree or a bank, and amused himself by firing at it: he +was a pretty good shot, and was much delighted at his success. He often +urged me to try my hand and eye, assuring me that I was not aware of the +pleasure of a good hit. One day, when he was peculiarly pressing, I took +up a pistol and asked him what I should aim at? And observing a slab of +wood, about as big as a hearthrug, standing against a wall, I named it as +being a proper object. He said that it was much too far off; it was +better to wait until we came nearer. But I answered--"I may as well fire +here as anywhere," and instantly discharged my pistol. To my infinite +surprise the ball struck the elm target most accurately in the very +centre. Shelley was delighted. He ran to the board, placed his chin close +to it, gazed at the hole where the bullet was lodged, examined it +attentively on all sides many times, and more than once measured the +distance to the spot where I had stood. + +I never knew anyone so prone to admire as he was, in whom the principle of +veneration was so strong. He extolled my skill, urged me repeatedly to +display it again, and begged that I would give him instructions in an art +in which I so much excelled. I suffered him to enjoy his wonder for a few +days, and then I told him, and with difficulty persuaded him, that my +success was purely accidental; for I had seldom fired a pistol before, and +never with ball, but with shot only, as a schoolboy, in clandestine and +bloodless expeditions against blackbirds and yellowhammers. + +The duelling pistols were a most discordant interruption of the repose of +a quiet country walk; besides, he handled them with such inconceivable +carelessness, that I had perpetually reason to apprehend that, as a +trifling episode in the grand and heroic work of drilling a hole through +the back of a card or the front of one of his father's franks, he would +shoot himself, or me, or both of us. How often have I lamented that +Nature, which so rarely bestows upon the world a creature endowed with +such marvellous talents, ungraciously rendered the gift less precious by +implanting a fatal taste for perilous recreations, and a thoughtlessness +in the pursuit of them, that often caused his existence from one day to +another to seem in itself miraculous. I opposed the practice of walking +armed, and I at last succeeded in inducing him to leave the pistols at +home, and to forbear the use of them. I prevailed, I believe, not so much +by argument or persuasion, as by secretly abstracting, when he equipped +himself for the field, and it was not difficult with him, the +powder-flask, the flints or some other indispensable article. One day, I +remember, he was grievously discomposed and seriously offended to find, on +producing his pistols, after descending rapidly into a quarry, where he +proposed to take a few shots, that not only had the flints been removed, +but the screws and the bits of steel at the top of the cocks which hold +the flints were also wanting. He determined to return to college for +them--I accompanied him. I tempted him, however, by the way, to try to +define anger, and to discuss the nature of that affection of the mind, to +which, as the discussion waxed warm, he grew exceedingly hostile in +theory, and could not be brought to admit that it could possibly be +excusable in any case. In the course of conversation, moreover, he +suffered himself to be insensibly turned away from his original path and +purpose. I have heard that, some years after he left Oxford, he resumed +the practice of pistol-shooting, and attained to a very unusual degree of +skill in an accomplishment so entirely incongruous with his nature. + +Of rural excursions he was at all times fond. He loved to walk in the +woods, to stroll on the banks of the Thames, but especially to wander +about Shotover Hill. There was a pond at the foot of the hill, before +ascending it and on the left of the road; it was formed by the water which +had filled an old quarry. Whenever he was permitted to shape his course as +he would, he proceeded to the edge of this pool, although the scene had no +other attractions than a certain wildness and barrenness. Here he would +linger until dusk, gazing in silence on the water, repeating verses aloud, +or earnestly discussing themes that had no connection with surrounding +objects. Sometimes he would raise a stone as large as he could lift, +deliberately throw it into the water as far as his strength enabled him, +then he would loudly exult at the splash, and would quietly watch the +decreasing agitation, until the last faint ring and almost imperceptible +ripple disappeared on the still surface. "Such are the effects of an +impulse on the air," he would say; and he complained of our ignorance of +the theory of sound--that the subject was obscure and mysterious, and many +of the phenomena were contradictory and inexplicable. He asserted that the +science of acoustics ought to be cultivated, and that by well-devised +experiments valuable discoveries would undoubtedly be made, and he related +many remarkable stories connected with the subject that he had heard or +read. Sometimes he would busy himself in splitting slaty stones, in +selecting thin and flat pieces and in giving them a round form, and when +he had collected a sufficient number, he would gravely make ducks and +drakes with them, counting, with the utmost glee, the number of bounds as +they flew along, skimming the surface of the pond. He was a devoted +worshipper of the water-nymphs, for, whenever he found a pool, or even a +small puddle, he would loiter near it, and it was no easy task to get him +to quit it. He had not yet learned that art from which he afterwards +derived so much pleasure--the construction of paper boats. He twisted a +morsel of paper into a form that a lively fancy might consider a likeness +of a boat, and, committing it to the water, he anxiously watched the +fortunes of the frail bark, which, if it was not soon swamped by the faint +winds and miniature waves, gradually imbibed water through its porous +sides, and sank. Sometimes, however, the fairy vessel performed its little +voyage, and reached the opposite shore of the puny ocean in safety. It is +astonishing with what keen delight he engaged in this singular pursuit. It +was not easy for an uninitiated spectator to bear with tolerable patience +the vast delay on the brink of a wretched pond upon a bleak common and in +the face of a cutting north-east wind, on returning to dinner from a long +walk at sunset on a cold winter's day; nor was it easy to be so harsh as +to interfere with a harmless gratification that was evidently exquisite. +It was not easy, at least, to induce the shipbuilder to desist from +launching his tiny fleets, so long as any timber remained in the +dock-yard. I prevailed once and once only. It was one of those bitter +Sundays that commonly receive the new year; the sun had set, and it had +almost begun to snow. I had exhorted him long in vain, with the eloquence +of a frozen and famished man, to proceed. At last I said in +despair--alluding to his never-ending creations, for a paper navy that was +to be set afloat simultaneously lay at his feet, and he was busily +constructing more, with blue and swollen hands--"Shelley, there is no use +in talking to you; you are the Demiurgus of Plato!" He instantly caught up +the whole flotilla, and, bounding homeward with mighty strides, laughed +aloud--laughed like a giant as he used to say. So long as his paper +lasted, he remained riveted to the spot, fascinated by this peculiar +amusement. All waste paper was rapidly consumed, then the covers of +letters; next, letters of little value; the most precious contributions of +the most esteemed correspondent, although eyed wistfully many times and +often returned to the pocket, were sure to be sent at last in pursuit of +the former squadrons. Of the portable volumes which were the companions of +his rambles, and he seldom went out without a book, the fly-leaves were +commonly wanting--he had applied them as our ancestor Noah applied Gopher +wood. But learning was so sacred in his eyes, that he never trespassed +farther upon the integrity of the copy; the work itself was always +respected. It has been said that he once found himself on the north bank +of the Serpentine river without the materials for indulging those +inclinations which the sight of water invariably inspired, for he had +exhausted his supplies on the round pond in Kensington Gardens. Not a +single scrap of paper could be found, save only a bank-post bill for fifty +pounds. He hesitated long, but yielded at last. He twisted it into a boat +with the extreme refinement of his skill, and committed it with the utmost +dexterity to fortune, watching its progress, if possible, with a still +more intense anxiety than usual. Fortune often favours those who frankly +and fully trust her; the north-east wind gently wafted the costly skiff to +the south bank, where, during the latter part of the voyage, the venturous +owner had waited its arrival with patient solicitude. The story, of +course, is a mythic fable, but it aptly pourtrays the dominion of a +singular and most unaccountable passion over the mind of an enthusiast. + +But to return to Oxford. Shelley disliked exceedingly all college +meetings, and especially one which was the most popular with others--the +public dinner in the hall. He used often to absent himself, and he was +greatly delighted whenever I agreed to partake with him in a slight +luncheon at one, to take a long walk into the country and to return after +dark to tea and supper in his rooms. On one of these expeditions we +wandered farther than usual without regarding the distance or the lapse of +time; but we had no difficulty in finding our way home, for the night was +clear and frosty, and the moon at the full; and most glorious was the +spectacle as we approached the City of Colleges, and passed through the +silent streets. It was near ten when we entered our college; not only was +it too late for tea, but supper was ready, the cloth laid, and the table +spread. A large dish of scalloped oysters had been set within the fender +to be kept hot for the famished wanderers. + +Among the innumerable contradictions in the character and deportment of +the youthful poet was a strange mixture of singular grace, which +manifested itself in his actions and gestures, with an occasional +awkwardness almost as remarkable. As soon as we entered the room, he +placed his chair as usual directly in front of the fire, and eagerly +pressed forward to warm himself, for the frost was severe and he was very +sensible of cold. Whilst cowering over the fire and rubbing his hands, he +abruptly set both his feet at once upon the edge of the fender; it +immediately flew up, threw under the grate the dish, which was broken into +two pieces, and the whole of the delicious mess was mingled with the +cinders and ashes, that had accumulated for several hours. It was +impossible that a hungry and frozen pedestrian should restrain a strong +expression of indignation, or that he should forbear, notwithstanding the +exasperation of cold and hunger, from smiling and forgiving the accident +at seeing the whimsical air and aspect of the offender, as he held up with +the shovel the long-anticipated food, deformed by ashes, coals and +cinders, with a ludicrous expression of exaggerated surprise, +disappointment, and contrition. + +It would be easy to fill many volumes with reminiscences characteristic of +my young friend, and of these the most trifling would perhaps best +illustrate his innumerable peculiarities. With the discerning, trifles, +although they are accounted such, have their value. A familiarity with the +daily habits of Shelley, and the knowledge of his demeanour in private, +will greatly facilitate, and they are perhaps even essential to, the full +comprehension of his views and opinions. Traits that unfold an infantine +simplicity--the genuine simplicity of true genius--will be slighted by +those who are ignorant of the qualities that constitute greatness of soul. +The philosophical observer knows well that, to have shown a mind to be +original and perfectly natural, is no inconsiderable step in demonstrating +that it is also great. + +Our supper had disappeared under the grate, but we were able to silence +the importunity of hunger. As the supply of cheese was scanty, Shelley +pretended, in order to atone for his carelessness, that he never ate it; +but I refused to take more than my share, and, notwithstanding his +reiterated declarations that it was offensive to his palate and hurtful to +his stomach, as I was inexorable, he devoured the remainder, greedily +swallowing, not merely the cheese, but the rind also, after scraping it +cursorily, and with a certain tenderness. A tankard of the stout brown ale +of our college aided us greatly in removing the sense of cold, and in +supplying the deficiency of food, so that we turned our chairs towards the +fire, and began to brew our negus as cheerfully as if the bounty of the +hospitable gods had not been intercepted. + +We reposed ourselves after the fatigue of an unusually long walk, and +silence was broken by short remarks only, and at considerable intervals, +respecting the beauty of moonlight scenes, and especially of that we had +just enjoyed. The serenity and clearness of the night exceeded any we had +before witnessed; the light was so strong it would have been easy to read +or write. "How strange was it that light, proceeding from the sun, which +was at such a prodigious distance, and at that time entirely out of sight, +should be reflected from the moon, and that was no trifling journey, and +sent back to the earth in such abundance, and with so great force!" + +Languid expressions of admiration dropped from our lips as we stretched +our stiff and wearied limbs towards the genial warmth of a blazing fire. +On a sudden Shelley started from his seat, seized one of the candles, and +began to walk about the room on tiptoe in profound silence, often stooping +low, and evidently engaged in some mysterious search. I asked him what he +wanted, but he returned no answer, and continued his whimsical and secret +inquisition, which he prosecuted in the same extraordinary manner in the +bedroom and the little study. It had occurred to him that a dessert had +possibly been sent to his rooms whilst we were absent, and had been put +away. He found the object of his pursuit at last, and produced some small +dishes from the study--apples, oranges, almonds and raisins and a little +cake. These he set close together at my side of the table, without +speaking, but with a triumphant look, yet with the air of a penitent +making restitution and reparation, and then resumed his seat. The +unexpected succour was very seasonable; this light fare, a few glasses of +negus, warmth, and especially rest, restored our lost vigour and our +spirits. We spoke of our happy life, of universities, of what they might +be, of what they were. How powerfully they might stimulate the student, +how much valuable instruction they might impart. We agreed that, although +the least possible benefit was conferred upon us in this respect at +Oxford, we were deeply indebted, nevertheless, to the great and good men +of former days, who founded those glorious institutions, for devising a +scheme of life, which, however deflected from its original direction, +still tended to study, and especially for creating establishments that +called young men together from all parts of the empire, and for endowing +them with a celebrity that was able to induce so many to congregate. +Without such an opportunity of meeting we should never have been +acquainted with each other. In so large a body there must doubtless be +many at that time who were equally thankful for the occasion of the like +intimacy, and in former generations how many friendships, that had endured +through all the various trials of a long and eventful life, had arisen +here from accidental communion, as in our case. + +If there was little positive encouragement, there were various negative +inducements to acquire learning; there were no interruptions, no secular +cares; our wants were well supplied without the slightest exertion on our +part, and the exact regularity of academical existence cut off that +dissipation of the hours and the thoughts which so often prevails where +the daily course is not pre-arranged. The necessity of early rising was +beneficial. Like the Pythagoreans of old, we began with the gods; the +salutary attendance in chapel every morning not only compelled us to quit +our bed betimes, but imposed additional duties conducive to habits of +industry. It was requisite not merely to rise, but to leave our rooms, to +appear in public and to remain long enough to destroy the disposition to +indolence which might still linger if we were permitted to remain by the +fireside. To pass some minutes in society, yet in solemn silence, is like +the Pythagorean initiation, and we auspicate the day happily by commencing +with sacred things. I scarcely ever visited Shelley before one o'clock; +when I met him in the morning at chapel, he used studiously to avoid all +communication, and, as soon as the doors were opened, to effect a +ludicrously precipitate retreat to his rooms. + +"The country near Oxford," he continued, as we reposed after our meagre +supper, "has no pretensions to peculiar beauty, but it is quiet, and +pleasant, and rural, and purely agricultural after the good old fashion. +It is not only unpolluted by manufactures and commerce, but it is exempt +from the desecration of the modern husbandry, of a system which accounts +the farmer a manufacturer of hay and corn. I delight to wander over it." +He enlarged upon the pleasure of our pedestrian excursions, and added, "I +can imagine few things that would annoy me more severely than to be +disturbed in our tranquil course. It would be a cruel calamity to be +interrupted by some untoward accident, to be compelled to quit our calm +and agreeable retreat. Not only would it be a sad mortification, but a +real misfortune, for if I remain here I shall study more closely and with +greater advantage than I could in any other situation that I can conceive. +Are you not of the same opinion?" + +"Entirely." + +"I regret only that the period of our residence is limited to four years. +I wish they would revive, for our sake, the old term of six or seven +years. If we consider how much there is for us to learn," here he paused +and sighed deeply through that despondency which sometimes comes over the +unwearied and zealous student, "we shall allow that the longer period +would still be far too short!" + +I assented, and we discoursed concerning the abridgement of the ancient +term of residence, and the diminution of the academical year by frequent, +protracted, and most inconvenient vacations. + +"To quit Oxford," he said, "would be still more unpleasant to you than to +myself, for you aim at objects that I do not seek to compass, and you +cannot fail, since you are resolved to place your success beyond the reach +of chance." + +He enumerated with extreme rapidity, and in his enthusiastic strain, some +of the benefits and comforts of a college life. + +"Then the _oak_ is such a blessing," he exclaimed, with peculiar fervour, +clasping his hands, and repeating often, "The oak is such a blessing!" +slowly and in a solemn tone. "The oak alone goes far towards making this +place a paradise. In what other spot in the world, surely in none that I +have hitherto visited, can you say confidently, it is perfectly +impossible, physically impossible, that I should be disturbed? Whether a +man desire solitary study, or to enjoy the society of a friend or two, he +is secure against interruption. It is not so in a house, not by any means; +there is not the same protection in a house, even in the best-contrived +house. The servant is bound to answer the door; he must appear and give +some excuse; he may betray by hesitation and confusion that he utters a +falsehood; he must expose himself to be questioned; he must open the door +and violate your privacy in some degree; besides, there are other doors, +there are windows, at least, through which a prying eye can detect some +indication that betrays the mystery. How different is it here! The bore +arrives; the outer door is shut; it is black and solemn, and perfectly +impenetrable, as is your secret; the doors are all alike; he can +distinguish mine from yours by the geographical position only. He may +knock; he may call; he may kick, if he will; he may inquire of a +neighbour, but he can inform him of nothing; he can only say, the door is +shut, and this he knows already. He may leave his card, that you may +rejoice over it, and at your escape; he may write upon it the hour when he +proposes to call again, to put you upon your guard, and that he may be +quite sure of seeing the back of your door once more. When the bore meets +you and says, I called at your house at such a time, you are required to +explain your absence, to prove an _alibi_, in short, and perhaps to +undergo a rigid cross-examination; but if he tells you, 'I called at your +rooms yesterday at three, and the door was shut,' you have only to say, +'Did you? Was it?' and there the matter ends." + +"Were you not charmed with your oak? Did it not instantly captivate you?" + +"My introduction to it was somewhat unpleasant and unpropitious. The +morning after my arrival I was sitting at breakfast; my scout, the +Arimaspian, apprehending that the singleness of his eye may impeach his +character for officiousness, in order to escape the reproach of seeing +half as much only as other men, is always striving to prove that he sees +at least twice as far as the most sharp-sighted. After many demonstrations +of superabundant activity, he inquired if I wanted anything more; I +answered in the negative. He had already opened the door: 'Shall I sport, +sir?' he asked briskly, as he stood upon the threshold. He seemed so +unlike a sporting character that I was curious to learn in what sport he +proposed to indulge. I answered, 'Yes, by all means,' and anxiously +watched him, but, to my surprise and disappointment he instantly vanished. +As soon as I had finished my breakfast, I sallied forth to survey Oxford. +I opened one door quickly and, not suspecting that there was a second, I +struck my head against it with some violence. The blow taught me to +observe that every set of rooms has two doors, and I soon learned that the +outer door, which is thick and solid, is called the oak, and to shut it is +termed, to sport. I derived so much benefit from my oak that I soon +pardoned this slight inconvenience. It is surely the tree of knowledge." + +"Who invented the oak?" + +"The inventors of the science of living in rooms or chambers--the Monks." + +"Ah! they were sly fellows. None but men who were reputed to devote +themselves for many hours to prayers, to religious meditations and holy +abstractions, would ever have been permitted quietly to place at pleasure +such a barrier between themselves and the world. We now reap the advantage +of their reputation for sanctity. I shall revere my oak more than ever, +since its origin is so sacred." + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +The sympathies of Shelley were instantaneous and powerful with those who +evinced in any degree the qualities, for which he was himself so +remarkable--simplicity of character, unaffected manners, genuine modesty +and an honest willingness to acquire knowledge, and he sprang to meet +their advances with an ingenuous eagerness which was peculiar to him; but +he was suddenly and violently repelled, like the needle from the negative +pole of the magnet, by any indication of pedantry, presumption or +affectation. So much was he disposed to take offence at such defects, and +so acutely was he sensible of them, that he was sometimes unjust, through +an excessive sensitiveness, in his estimate of those who had shocked him +by sins, of which he was himself utterly incapable. + +Whatever might be the attainments, and however solid the merits of the +persons filling at that time the important office of instructors in the +University, they were entirely destitute of the attractions of manner; +their address was sometimes repulsive, and the formal, priggish tutor was +too often intent upon the ordinary academical course alone to the entire +exclusion of every other department of knowledge: his thoughts were wholly +engrossed by it, and so narrow were his views, that he overlooked the +claims of all merit, however exalted, except success in the public +examinations. + +"They are very dull people here," Shelley said to me one evening, soon +after his arrival, with a long-drawn sigh, after musing a while. "A little +man sent for me this morning and told me in an almost inaudible whisper +that I must read. 'You must read,' he said many times in his small voice. +I answered that I had no objection. He persisted; so, to satisfy him, for +he did not appear to believe me, I told him I had some books in my +pocket, and I began to take them out. He stared at me and said that was +not exactly what he meant. 'You must read _Prometheus Vinctus_, and +Demosthenes _De Corona_ and Euclid.' 'Must I read Euclid?' I asked +sorrowfully. 'Yes, certainly; and when you have read the Greek I have +mentioned, you must begin Aristotle's _Ethics_, and then you may go on his +other treatises. It is of the utmost importance to be well acquainted with +Aristotle.' This he repeated so often that I was quite tired, and at last +I said, 'Must I care about Aristotle? What if I do not mind Aristotle?' I +then left him, for he seemed to be in great perplexity." + +Notwithstanding the slight he had thus cast upon the great master of the +science that has so long been the staple of Oxford, he was not blind to +the value of the science itself. He took the scholastic logic very kindly, +seized its distinctions with his accustomed quickness, felt a keen +interest in the study and patiently endured the exposition of those minute +discriminations, which the tyro is apt to contemn as vain and trifling. + +It should seem that the ancient method of communicating the art of +syllogising has been preserved, in part at least, by tradition in this +university. I have sometimes met with learned foreigners, who understood +the end and object of the scholastic logic, having received the +traditional instruction in some of the old universities on the Continent; +but I never found even one of my countrymen, except Oxonians, who rightly +comprehended the nature of the science. I may, perhaps, add that, in +proportion as the self-taught logicians had laboured in the pursuit, they +had gone far astray. It is possible, nevertheless, that those who have +drunk at the fountain head and have read the _Organon_ of Aristotle in the +original, may have attained to a just comprehension by their unassisted +energies; but in this age and in this country, I apprehend the number of +such adventurous readers is very considerable. + +Shelley frequently exercised his ingenuity in long discussions respecting +various questions in logic, and more frequently indulged in metaphysical +inquiries. We read several metaphysical works together, in whole or in +part, for the first time, or after a previous perusal by one or by both of +us. + +The examination of a chapter of Locke's _Essay Concerning Human +Understanding_ would induce him, at any moment, to quit every other +pursuit. We read together Hume's _Essays_, and some productions of Scotch +metaphysicians of inferior ability--all with assiduous and friendly +altercations, and the latter writers, at least, with small profit, unless +some sparks of knowledge were struck out in the collision of debate. We +read also certain popular French works that treat of man for the most part +in a mixed method, metaphysically, morally and politically. Hume's +_Essays_ were a favourite book with Shelley, and he was always ready to +put forward in argument the doctrines they uphold. + +It may seem strange that he should ever have accepted the sceptical +philosophy, a system so uncongenial with a fervid and imaginative genius, +which can allure the cool, cautious, abstinent reasoner alone, and would +deter the enthusiastic, the fanciful and the speculative. We must bear in +mind, however, that he was an eager, bold, unwearied disputant; and +although the position, in which the sceptic and the materialist love to +entrench themselves, offers no picturesque attractions to the eye of the +poet, it is well adapted for defensive warfare, and it is not easy for an +ordinary enemy to dislodge him, who occupies a post that derives strength +from the weakness of the assailant. It has been insinuated that, whenever +a man of real talent and generous feelings condescends to fight under +these colours, he is guilty of a dissimulation, which he deems harmless, +perhaps even praiseworthy, for the sake of victory in argument. + +It was not a little curious to observe one, whose sanguine temper led him +to believe implicitly every assertion, so that it was improbable and +incredible, exulting in the success of his philosophical doubts, when, +like the calmest and most suspicious of analysts, he refused to admit, +without strict proof, propositions that many, who are not deficient in +metaphysical prudence, account obvious and self-evident. The sceptical +philosophy had another charm; it partook of the new and the wonderful, +inasmuch as it called into doubt, and seemed to place in jeopardy during +the joyous hours of disputation, many important practical conclusions. To +a soul loving excitement and change, destruction, so that it be on a grand +scale, may sometimes prove hardly less inspiring than creation. The feat +of the magician, who, by the touch of his wand, could cause the Great +Pyramid to dissolve into the air and to vanish from the sight, would be as +surprising as the achievement of him, who, by the same rod, could +instantly raise a similar mass in any chosen spot. If the destruction of +the eternal monument was only apparent, the ocular sophism would be at +once harmless and ingenuous: so was it with the logomachy of the young and +strenuous logician, and his intellectual activity merited praise and +reward. + +There was another reason, moreover, why the sceptical philosophy should be +welcome to Shelley at that time: he was young, and it is generally +acceptable to youth. It is adopted as the abiding rule of reason +throughout life, by those only who are distinguished by a sterility of +soul, a barrenness of invention, a total dearth of fancy and a scanty +stock of learning. Such, in truth, although the warmth of juvenile blood, +the light burthen of few years and the precipitation of inexperience may +sometimes seem to contradict the assertion, is the state of the mind at +the commencement of manhood, when the vessel has as yet received only a +small portion of the cargo of the accumulated wisdom of past ages, when +the amount of mental operations that have actually been performed is +small, and the materials upon which the imagination can work are +insignificant; consequently, the inventions of the young are crude and +frigid. + +Hence the most fertile mind exactly resembles in early youth the hopeless +barrenness of those who have grown old in vain as to its actual condition, +and it differs only in the unseen capacity for future production. The +philosopher who declares that he knows nothing, and that nothing can be +known, will readily find followers among the young, for they are sensible +that they possess the requisite qualifications for entering his school, +and are as far advanced in the science of ignorance as their master. + +A stranger who should have chanced to have been present at some of +Shelley's disputes, or who knew him only from having read some of the +short argumentative essays which he composed as voluntary exercises, would +have said, "Surely the soul of Hume passed by transmigration into the body +of that eloquent young man; or, rather, he represents one of the +enthusiastic and animated materialists of the French schools, whom +revolutionary violence lately intercepted at an early age in his +philosophical career." + +There were times, however, when a visitor, who had listened to glowing +discourses delivered with a more intense ardour, would have hailed a young +Platonist, breathing forth the ideal philosophy, and in his pursuit of the +intellectual world entirely overlooking the material or noticing it only +to contemn it. The tall boy, who is permitted for the first season to +scare the partridges with his new fowling-piece, scorns to handle the top +or the hoop of his younger brother; thus the man, whose years and studies +are mature, slights the first feeble aspirations after the higher +departments of knowledge, that were deemed so important during his +residence at college. It seems laughable, but it is true, that our +knowledge of Plato was derived solely from Dacier's translation of a few +of the dialogues, and from an English version of the French translation: +we had never attempted a single sentence in the Greek. Since that time, +however, I believe, few of our countrymen have read the golden works of +that majestic philosopher in the original language more frequently and +more carefully than ourselves; and few, if any, with more profit than +Shelley. Although the source, whence flowed our earliest taste of the +divine philosophy, was scanty and turbid, the draught was not the less +grateful to our lips: our zeal in some measure atoned for our poverty. + +Shelley was never weary of reading, or of listening to me whilst I read, +passages from the dialogues contained in this collection, and especially +from the _Phaedo_; and he was vehemently excited by the striking doctrines +which Socrates unfolds, especially by that which teaches that all our +knowledge consists of reminiscences of what we had learned in a former +existence. He often rose, paced slowly about the room, shook his long, +wild locks and discoursed in a solemn tone and with a mysterious air, +speculating concerning our previous condition, and the nature of our life +and occupations in that world, where, according to Plato, we had attained +to erudition, and had advanced ourselves in knowledge so far that the most +studious and the most inventive, or, in other words, those who have the +best memory, are able to call back a part only, and with much pain and +extreme difficulty, of what was formerly familiar to us. + +It is hazardous, however, to speak of his earliest efforts as a Platonist, +lest they should be confounded with his subsequent advancement; it is not +easy to describe his first introduction to the exalted wisdom of antiquity +without borrowing inadvertently from the knowledge which he afterwards +acquired. The cold, ungenial, foggy atmosphere of northern metaphysics was +less suited to the ardent temperament of his soul than the warm, bright, +vivifying climate of southern and eastern philosophy. His genius expanded +under the benign influence of the latter, and he derived copious +instruction from a luminous system, that is only dark through excess of +brightness, and seems obscure to vulgar vision through its extreme +radiance. Nevertheless, in argument--and to argue on all questions was his +dominant passion--he usually adopted the scheme of the sceptics, partly, +perhaps, because it was more popular and is more generally understood. The +disputant, who would use Plato as his text-book in this age, would reduce +his opponents to a small number indeed. + +The study of that highest department of ethics, which includes all the +inferior branches and is directed towards the noblest and most important +ends of jurisprudence, was always next my heart; at an early age it +attracted my attention. + +When I first endeavoured to turn the regards of Shelley towards this +engaging pursuit, he strongly expressed a very decided aversion to such +inquiries, deeming them worthless and illiberal. The beautiful theory of +the art of right, and the honourable office of administering distributive +justice, have been brought into general discredit, unhappily for the best +interests of humanity, and to the vast detriment of the state, into +unmerited disgrace in the modern world by the errors of practitioners. An +ingenuous mind instinctively shrinks from the contemplation of legal +topics, because the word law is associated with, and inevitably calls up +the idea of the low chicanery of a pettifogging attorney, of the vulgar +oppression and gross insolence of a bailiff, or at best, of the wearisome +and unmeaning tautology that distends an Act of Parliament, and the dull +dropsical compositions of the special pleader, the conveyancer or other +draughtsman. + +In no country is this unhappy debasement of a most illustrious science +more remarkable than in our own; no other nation is so prone to, or so +patient of, abuses; in no other land are posts, in themselves honourable, +so accessible to the meanest. The spirit of trade favours the degradation, +and every commercial town is a well-spring of vulgarity, which sends +forth hosts of practitioners devoid of the solid and elegant attainments +which could sustain the credit of the science, but so strong in the +artifices that insure success, as not only to monopolise the rewards due +to merit, but sometimes even to climb the judgment-seat. + +It is not wonderful, therefore, that generous minds, until they have been +taught to discriminate, and to distinguish a noble science from ignoble +practices, should usually confound them together, hastily condemning the +former with the latter. Shelley listened with much attention to questions +of natural law, and with the warm interest that he felt in all +metaphysical disquisitions, after he had conquered his first prejudice +against practical jurisprudence. + +The science of right, like other profound and extensive sciences, can only +be acquired completely when the foundations have been laid at an early +age. Had the energies of Shelley's vigorous mind taken this direction at +that time, it is impossible to doubt that he would have become a +distinguished jurist. Besides that fondness for such inquiries which is +necessary to success in any liberal pursuit, he displayed the most acute +sensitiveness of injustice, however slight, and a vivid perception of +inconvenience. As soon as a wrong, arising from a proposed enactment or a +supposed decision, was suggested, he instantly rushed into the opposite +extreme; and when a greater evil was shown to result from the contrary +course which he had so hastily adopted, his intellect was roused, and he +endeavoured most earnestly to ascertain the true mean that would secure +the just by avoiding the unjust extremes. + +I have observed in young men that the propensity to plunge headlong into a +net of difficulty, on being startled at an apparent want of equity in any +rule that was propounded, although at first it might seem to imply a lack +of caution and foresight--which are eminently the virtues of legislators +and of judges--was an unerring prognostic of a natural aptitude for +pursuits, wherein eminence is inconsistent with an inertness of the moral +sense, and a recklessness of the violation of rights, however remote and +trifling. Various instances of such aptitude in Shelley might be +furnished, but these studies are interesting to a limited number of +persons only. + +As the mind of Shelley was apt to acquire many of the most valuable +branches of liberal knowledge, so there were other portions comprised +within the circle of science, for the reception of which, however active +and acute, it was entirely unfit. He rejected with marvellous impatience +every mathematical discipline that was offered; no problem could awaken +the slightest curiosity, nor could he be made sensible of the beauty of +any theorem. The method of demonstration had no charm for him. He +complained of the insufferable prolixity and the vast tautology of Euclid +and the other ancient geometricians; and when the discoveries or modern +analysts were presented, he was immediately distracted, and fell into +endless musings. + +With respect to the Oriental tongues, he coldly observed that the +appearance of the characters was curious. Although he perused with more +than ordinary eagerness the relations of travellers in the East and the +translations of the marvellous tales of Oriental fancy, he was not +attracted by the desire to penetrate the languages which veil these +treasures. He would never deign to lend an ear or an eye for a moment to +my Hebrew studies, in which I had made at that time some small progress; +nor could he be tempted to inquire into the value of the singular lore of +the Rabbins. + +He was able, like the many, to distinguish a violet from a sunflower and a +cauliflower from a peony, but his botanical knowledge was more limited +than that of the least skilful of common observers, for he was neglectful +of flowers. He was incapable of apprehending the delicate distinctions of +structure which form the basis of the beautiful classification of modern +botanists. I was never able to impart even a glimpse of the merits of Ray +or Linnaeus, or to encourage a hope that he would ever be competent to see +the visible analogies that constitute the marked, yet mutually approaching +_genera_, into which the productions of nature, and especially vegetables, +are divided. + +It may seem invidious to notice imperfections in a mind of the highest +order, but the exercise of a due candour, however unwelcome, is required +to satisfy those who were not acquainted with Shelley, that the admiration +excited by his marvellous talents and manifold virtues in all who were so +fortunate as to enjoy the opportunity of examining his merits by frequent +intercourse, was not the result of the blind partiality that amiable and +innocent dispositions, attractive manners and a noble and generous bearing +sometimes create. + +Shelley was always unwilling to visit the remarkable specimens of +architecture, the objects of art, and the various antiquities that adorn +Oxford; although, if he encountered them by accident, and they were +pointed out to him, he admired them more sincerely and heartily than the +generality of strangers, who, through compliance with fashion, +ostentatiously sought them out. His favourite recreation, as I have +already stated, was a free, unrestrained ramble into the country. + +After quitting the city and its environs by walking briskly along the +highway for several miles, it was his delight to strike boldly into the +fields, to cross the country daringly on foot, as is usual with sportsmen +when shooting; to perform, as it were, a pedestrian steeplechase. He was +strong, light and active, and in all respects well suited for such +exploits, and we used frequently to traverse a considerable tract in this +manner, especially when the frost had dried the land, had given complete +solidity to the most treacherous paths, and had thrown a natural bridge +over spots that in open weather during the winter would have been nearly +impassable. + +By resolutely piercing through a district in this manner we often stumbled +upon objects in our humble travels that created a certain surprise and +interest; some of them are still fresh in my recollection. My susceptible +companion was occasionally much delighted and strongly excited by +incidents that would, perhaps, have seemed unimportant trifles to others. + +One day we had penetrated somewhat farther than usual, for the ground was +in excellent order, and as the day was intensely cold, although bright and +sunny, we had pushed on with uncommon speed. I do not remember the +direction we took; nor can I even determine on which side of the Thames +our course lay. We had crossed roads and lanes, and had traversed open +fields and inclosures; some tall and ancient trees were on our right hand; +we skirted a little wood, and presently came to a small copse. It was +guarded by an old hedge, or thicket; we were deflected, therefore, from +our onward course towards the left, and we were winding round it, when the +quick eye of my companion perceived a gap. He instantly dashed in with as +much alacrity as if he had suddenly caught a glimpse of a pheasant that +he had lately wounded in a district where such game was scarce, and he +disappeared in a moment. + +I followed him, but with less ardour, and, passing through a narrow belt +of wood and thicket, I presently found him standing motionless in one of +his picturesque attitudes, riveted to the earth in speechless +astonishment. He had thrown himself thus precipitately into a trim +flower-garden of small dimensions, encompassed by a narrow, but close +girdle of trees and underwood; it was apparently remote from all +habitations, and it contrasted strongly with the bleak and bare country +through which we had recently passed. + +Had the secluded scene been bright with the gay flowers of spring, with +hyacinths and tulips; had it been powdered with mealy auriculas or +conspicuous for a gaudy show of all anemones and of every ranuculus; had +it been profusely decorated by the innumerable roses of summer, it would +be easy to understand why it was so cheerful. But we were now in the very +heart of winter, and after much frost scarcely a single wretched brumal +flower lingered and languished. There was no foliage save the dark leaves +of evergreens, and of them there were many, especially around and on the +edges of the magic circle, on which account, possibly, but chiefly perhaps +through the symmetry of the numerous small _parterres_, the scrupulous +neatness of the corresponding walks, the just ordonnance and disposition +of certain benches, the integrity and freshness of the green trellises, +and of the skeletons of some arbours, and through every leafless +excellence which the dried anatomy of a flower-garden can exhibit, its +past and its future wealth seemed to shine forth in its present poverty, +and its potential glories adorned its actual disgrace. + +The sudden transition from the rugged fields to this garnished and +decorated retreat was striking, and held my imagination captive a few +moments. The impression, however, would probably have soon faded from my +memory, had it not been fixed there by the recollection of the beings who +gave animation and a permanent interest to the polished nook. + +We admired the trim and retired garden for some minutes in silence, and +afterwards each answered in monosyllables the other's brief expressions of +wonder. Neither of us had advanced a single step beyond the edge of the +thicket which we had entered; but I was about to precede, and to walk +round the magic circle, in order fully to survey the place, when Shelley +startled me by turning with astonishing rapidity, and dashing through the +bushes and the gap in the fence with the mysterious and whimsical agility +of a kangaroo. Had he caught a glimpse of a tiger crouching behind the +laurels, and preparing to spring upon him, he could not have vanished more +promptly or more silently. I was habituated to his abrupt movements, +nevertheless his alacrity surprised me, and I tried in vain to discover +what object had scared him away. I retired, therefore, to the gap, and +when I reached it, I saw him already at some distance, proceeding with +gigantic strides nearly in the same route by which we came. I ran after +him, and when I rejoined him, he had halted upon a turnpike-road and was +hesitating as to the course he ought to pursue. It was our custom to +advance across the country as far as the utmost limits of our time would +permit, and to go back to Oxford by the first public road we found, after +attaining the extreme distance to which we could venture to wander. + +Having ascertained the route homeward, we pursued it quickly, as we were +wont, but less rapidly than Shelley had commenced his hasty retreat. He +had perceived that the garden was attached to a gentleman's house, and he +had consequently quitted it thus precipitately. I had already observed on +the right a winding path that led through a plantation to certain offices, +which showed that a house was about a quarter of a mile from the spot +where I then stood. + +Had I been aware that the garden was connected with a residence, I +certainly should not have trespassed upon it; but, having entered +unconsciously, and since the owner was too far removed to be annoyed by +observing the intrusion, I was tempted to remain a short time to examine a +spot which, during my brief visit, seemed so singular. The superior and +highly sensitive delicacy of my companion instantly took the alarm on +discovering indications of a neighbouring mansion; hence his marvellous +precipitancy in withdrawing himself from the garnished retirement he had +unwittingly penetrated, and we advanced some distance along the road +before he had entirely overcome his modest confusion. + +Shelley had looked on the ornate inclosure with a poet's eye, and as we +hastily pursued our course towards Oxford by the frozen and sounding way, +whilst the day rapidly declined, he discoursed of it fancifully, and with +a more glowing animation than ordinary, like one agitated by a divine +fury, and by the impulse of inspiring deity. He continued, indeed, so +long to enlarge upon the marvels of the enchanted grove, that I hinted the +enchantress might possibly be at hand, and since he was so eloquent +concerning the nest, what would have been his astonishment had he been +permitted to see the bird herself. + +He sometimes described, with a curious fastidiousness, the qualities which +a female must possess to kindle the fire of love in his bosom. The +imaginative youth supposed that he was to be moved by the most absolute +perfection alone. It is equally impossible to doubt the exquisite +refinement of his taste, or the boundless power of the most mighty of +divinities; to refuse to believe that he was a just and skilful critic of +feminine beauty and grace, and of whatever is attractive, or that he was +never practically as blind, at the least, as men of ordinary talent. How +sadly should we disparage the triumphs of Love were we to maintain that he +is able to lead astray the senses of the vulgar alone! + +In the theory of love, however, a poet will rarely err. Shelley's lively +fancy had painted a goodly portraiture of the mistress of the fair garden, +nor were apt words wanting to convey to me a faithful copy of the bright +original. It would be a cruel injustice to an orator should a plain man +attempt, after a silence of more than twenty years, to revive his glowing +harangue from faded recollections. I will not seek, therefore, to pourtray +the likeness of the ideal nymph of the flower-garden. + +"Since your fairy gardener," I said, "has so completely taken possession +of your imagination," and he was wonderfully excited by the unexpected +scene and his own splendid decorations, "it is a pity we did not notice +the situation, for I am quite sure I should not be able to return thither, +to recover your Eden and the Eve, whom you created to till it, and I doubt +whether you could guide me." + +He acknowledged that he was as incapable of finding it again as of leading +me to that paradise to which I had compared it. + +"You may laugh at my enthusiasm," he continued, "but you must allow that +you were not less struck by the singularity of that mysterious corner of +the earth than myself. You are equally entitled, therefore, to dwell +there, at least, in fancy, and to find a partner whose character will +harmonise with the genius of the place." + +He then declared, that thenceforth it should be deemed the possession of +two tutelary nymphs, not of one; and he proceeded with unabated fervour to +delineate the second patroness, and to distinguish her from the first. + +"No!" he exclaimed, pausing in the rapid career of words, and for a while +he was somewhat troubled, "the seclusion is too sweet, too holy, to be the +theatre of ordinary love; the love of the sexes, however pure, still +retains some taint of earthly grossness; we must not admit it within the +sanctuary." + +He was silent for several minutes, and his anxiety visibly increased. + +"The love of a mother for a child is more refined; it is more +disinterested, more spiritual; but," he added, after some reflection, +"the very existence of the child still connects it with the passion which +we have discarded," and he relapsed into his former musings. + +"The love a sister bears towards a sister," he exclaimed abruptly, and +with an air of triumph, "is unexceptionable." + +This idea pleased him, and as he strode along he assigned the trim garden +to two sisters, affirming, with the confidence of an inventor, that it +owed its neatness to the assiduous culture of their neat hands; that it +was their constant haunt; the care of it their favourite pastime, and its +prosperity, next after the welfare of each other, the chief wish of both. +He described their appearance, their habits, their feelings, and drew a +lovely picture of their amiable and innocent attachment; of the meek and +dutiful regard of the younger, which partook, in some degree, of filial +reverence, but was more facile and familiar; and of the protecting, +instructing, hoping fondness of the elder, that resembled maternal +tenderness, but had less of reserve and more of sympathy. In no other +relation could the intimacy be equally perfect; not even between brothers, +for their life is less domestic: there is a separation in their pursuits, +and an independence in the masculine character. The occupations of all +females of the same age and rank are the same, and by night sisters +cherish each other in the same quiet nest. Their union wears not only the +grace of delicacy, but of fragility also; for it is always liable to be +suddenly destroyed by the marriage of either party, or, at least, to be +interrupted and suspended for an indefinite period. + +He depicted so eloquently the excellence of sisterly affection, and he +drew so distinctly and so minutely the image of two sisters, to whom he +chose to ascribe the unusual comeliness of the spot into which we had +unintentionally intruded, that the trifling incident has been impressed +upon my memory, and has been intimately associated in my mind, through his +creations, with his poetic character. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +The prince of Roman eloquence affirms that the good man alone can be a +perfect orator, and truly; for without the weight of a spotless reputation +it is certain that the most artful and elaborate discourse must want +authority--the main ingredient in persuasion. + +The position is, at least, equally true of the poet, whose grand strength +always lies in the ethical force of his compositions, and these are great +in proportion to the efficient greatness of their moral purpose. If, +therefore, we would criticise poetry correctly, and from the foundation, +it behoves us to examine the morality of the bard. + +In no individual, perhaps, was the moral sense ever more completely +developed than in Shelley; in no being was the perception of right and of +wrong more acute. The biographer who takes upon himself the pleasing and +instructive, but difficult and delicate task of composing a faithful +history of his whole life, will frequently be compelled to discuss the +important questions, whether his conduct, at certain periods, was +altogether such as ought to be proposed for imitation; whether he was ever +misled by an ardent imagination, a glowing temperament, something of +hastiness in choice and a certain constitutional impatience; whether, like +less gifted mortals, he ever shared in the common portion of +mortality--repentance, and to what extent? + +Such inquiries, however, do not fall within the compass of a brief +narrative of his career at the University. The unmatured mind of a boy is +capable of good intentions only and of generous and kindly feelings, and +these were pre-eminent in him. It will be proper to unfold the excellence +of his dispositions, not for the sake of vain and empty praise, but simply +to show his aptitude to receive the sweet fury of the Muses. + +His inextinguishable thirst for knowledge, his boundless philanthropy, his +fearless, it may be his almost imprudent pursuit of truth have been +already exhibited. If mercy to beasts be a criterion of a good man, +numerous instances of extreme tenderness would demonstrate his worth. I +will mention one only. + +We were walking one afternoon in Bagley wood; on turning a corner we +suddenly came upon a boy who was driving an ass. It was very young and +very weak, and was staggering beneath a most disproportionate load of +faggots, and he was belabouring its lean ribs angrily and violently with a +short, thick, heavy cudgel. + +At the sight of cruelty Shelley was instantly transported far beyond the +usual measure of excitement. He sprang forward and was about to interpose +with energetic and indignant vehemence. I caught him by the arm and to his +present annoyance held him back, and with much difficulty persuaded him to +allow me to be the advocate of the dumb animal. His cheeks glowed with +displeasure and his lips murmured his impatience during my brief dialogue +with the young tyrant. + +"That is a sorry little ass, boy," I said; "it seems to have scarcely any +strength." + +"None at all; it is good for nothing." + +"It cannot get on; it can hardly stand. If anybody could make it go, you +would; you have taken great pains with it." + +"Yes, I have; but it is to no purpose!" + +"It is of little use striking it, I think." + +"It is not worth beating. The stupid beast has got more wood now than it +can carry; it can hardly stand, you see!" + +"I suppose it put it upon its back itself?" + +The boy was silent; I repeated the question. + +"No; it has not sense enough for that," he replied, with an incredulous +leer. + +By dint of repeated blows he had split his cudgel, and the sound caused by +the divided portion had alarmed Shelley's humanity. I pointed to it and +said, "You have split your stick; it is not good for much now." + +He turned it, and held the divided end in his hand. + +"The other end is whole, I see, but I suppose you could split that too on +the ass's back, if you chose; it is not so thick." + +"It is not so thick, but it is full of knots. It would take a great deal +of trouble to split it, and the beast is not worth that; it would do no +good!" + +"It would do no good, certainly; and if anybody saw you, he might say that +you were a savage young ruffian and that you ought to be served in the +same manner yourself." + +The fellow looked at me in some surprise, and sank into sullen silence. + +He presently threw his cudgel into the wood as far as he was able, and +began to amuse himself by pelting the birds with pebbles, leaving my +long-eared client to proceed at its own pace, having made up his mind, +perhaps, to be beaten himself, when he reached home, by a tyrant still +more unreasonable than himself, on account of the inevitable default of +his ass. + +Shelley was satisfied with the result of our conversation, and I repeated +to him the history of the injudicious and unfortunate interference of Don +Quixote between the peasant, John Haldudo, and his servant, Andrew. +Although he reluctantly admitted that the acrimony of humanity might often +aggravate the sufferings of the oppressed by provoking the oppressor, I +always observed that the impulse of generous indignation, on witnessing +the infliction of pain, was too vivid to allow him to pause and consider +the probable consequences of the abrupt interposition of the +knight-errantry, which would at once redress all grievances. Such +exquisite sensibility and a sympathy with suffering so acute and so +uncontrolled may possibly be inconsistent with the calmness and +forethought of the philosopher, but they accord well with the high +temperature of a poet's blood. + +As his port had the meekness of a maiden, so the heart of the young virgin +who had never crossed her father's threshold to encounter the rude world, +could not be more susceptible of all the sweet domestic charities than +his: in this respect Shelley's disposition would happily illustrate the +innocence and virginity of the Muses. + +In most men, and especially in very young men, an excessive addiction to +study tends to chill the heart and to blunt the feelings, by engrossing +the attention. Notwithstanding his extreme devotion to literature, and +amidst his various and ardent speculations, he retained a most +affectionate regard for his relations, and particularly for the females of +his family; it was not without manifest joy that he received a letter from +his mother or his sisters. + +A child of genius is seldom duly appreciated by the world during his life, +least of all by his own kindred. The parents of a man of talent may claim +the honour of having given him birth, yet they commonly enjoy but little +of his society. Whilst we hang with delight over the immortal pages, we +are apt to suppose that the gifted author was fondly cherished; that a +possession so uncommon and so precious was highly prized; that his +contemporaries anxiously watched his going out and eagerly looked for his +coming in; for we should ourselves have borne him tenderly in our hands, +that he might not dash his foot against a stone. Surely such an one was +given in charge to angels, we cry. On the contrary, Nature appears most +unaccountably to slight a gift that she gave grudgingly, as if it were of +small value, and easily replaced. + +An unusual number of books, Greek or Latin classics, each inscribed with +the name of the donor, which had been presented to him, according to +custom, on quitting Eton, attested that Shelley had been popular among his +schoolfellows. Many of them were then at Oxford, and they frequently +called at his rooms. Although he spoke of them with regard, he generally +avoided their society, for it interfered with his beloved study, and +interrupted the pursuits to which he ardently and entirely devoted +himself. + +In the nine centuries that elapsed from the time of our great founder, +Alfred, to our days, there never was a student who more richly merited the +favour and assistance of a learned body, or whose fruitful mind would have +repaid with a larger harvest the labour of careful and judicious +cultivation. And such cultivation he was well entitled to receive. Nor did +his scholar-like virtues merit neglect, still less to be betrayed, like +the young nobles of Falisci, by a traitorous schoolmaster to an enemy less +generous than Camillus. No student ever read more assiduously. He was to +be found book in hand at all hours, reading in season and out of season, +at table, in bed and especially during a walk; not only in the quiet +country and in retired paths; not only at Oxford in the public walks and +High Street, but in the most crowded thoroughfares of London. Nor was he +less absorbed by the volume that was open before him in Cheapside, in +Cranbourne Alley or in Bond Street, than in a lonely lane, or a secluded +library. + +Sometimes a vulgar fellow would attempt to insult or annoy the eccentric +student in passing. Shelley always avoided the malignant interruption by +stepping aside with his vast and quiet agility. + +Sometimes I have observed, as an agreeable contrast to these wretched men, +that persons of the humblest station have paused and gazed with respectful +wonder as he advanced, almost unconscious of the throng, stooping low, +with bent knees and outstretched neck, poring earnestly over the volume, +which he extended before him; for they knew this, although the simple +people knew but little, that an ardent scholar is worthy of deference, and +that the man of learning is necessarily the friend of humanity, and +especially of the many. I never beheld eyes that devoured the pages more +voraciously than his. I am convinced that two-thirds of the period of the +day and night were often employed in reading. It is no exaggeration to +affirm, that out of the twenty-four hours he frequently read sixteen. At +Oxford his diligence in this respect was exemplary, but it greatly +increased afterwards, and I sometimes thought that he carried it to a +pernicious excess. I am sure, at least, that I was unable to keep pace +with him. + +On the evening of a wet day, when we had read with scarcely any +intermission from an early hour in the morning, I have urged him to lay +aside his book. It required some extravagance to rouse him to join +heartily in conversation; to tempt him to avoid the chimney-piece on which +commonly he had laid the open volume. + +"If I were to read as long as you read, Shelley, my hair and my teeth +would be strewed about on the floor, and my eyes would slip down my cheeks +into my waistcoat pockets, or, at least, I should become so weary and +nervous that I should not know whether it were so or not." + +He began to scrape the carpet with his feet, as if teeth were actually +lying upon it, and he looked fixedly at my face, and his lively fancy +represented the empty sockets. His imagination was excited, and the spell +that bound him to his books was broken, and, creeping close to the fire, +and, as it were, under the fireplace, he commenced a most animated +discourse. + +Few were aware of the extent, and still fewer, I apprehend, of the +profundity of his reading. In his short life and without ostentation he +had in truth read more Greek than many an aged pedant, who with pompous +parade prides himself upon this study alone. Although he had not entered +critically into the minute niceties of the noblest of languages, he was +thoroughly conversant with the valuable matter it contains. A pocket +edition of Plato, of Plutarch, of Euripides, without interpretation or +notes, or of the Septuagint, was his ordinary companion; and he read the +text straightforward for hours, if not as readily as an English author, +at least with as much facility as French, Italian or Spanish. + +"Upon my soul, Shelley, your style of going through a Greek book is +something quite beautiful!" was the wondering exclamation of one who was +himself no mean student. + +As his love of intellectual pursuits was vehement, and the vigour of his +genius almost celestial, so were the purity and sanctity of his life most +conspicuous. + +His food was plain and simple as that of a hermit, with a certain +anticipation, even at this time, of a vegetable diet, respecting which he +afterwards became an enthusiast in theory, and in practice an irregular +votary. + +With his usual fondness for moving the abstruse and difficult questions of +the highest theology, he loved to inquire whether man can justify, on the +ground of reason alone, the practice of taking the life of the inferior +animals, except in the necessary defence of his life and of his means of +life, the fruits of that field which he has tilled, from violence and +spoliation. + +"Not only have considerable sects," he would say, "denied the right +altogether, but those among the tender-hearted and imaginative people of +antiquity, who accounted it lawful to kill and eat, appear to have doubted +whether they might take away life merely for the use of man alone. They +slew their cattle, not simply for human guests, like the less scrupulous +butchers of modern times, but only as a sacrifice, for the honour and in +the name of the Deity; or, rather, of those subordinate divinities, to +whom, as they believed, the Supreme Being had assigned the creation and +conservation of the visible material world. As an incident to these pious +offerings, they partook of the residue of the victims, of which, without +such sanction and sanctification, they would not have presumed to taste. +So reverent was the caution of humane and prudent antiquity!" + +Bread became his chief sustenance when his regimen attained to that +austerity which afterwards distinguished it. He could have lived on bread +alone without repining. When he was walking in London with an +acquaintance, he would suddenly run into a baker's shop, purchase a +supply, and breaking a loaf he would offer half of it to his companion. + +"Do you know," he said to me one day, with much surprise, "that such an +one does not like bread? Did you ever know a person who disliked bread?" +And he told me that a friend had refused such an offer. + +I explained to him that the individual in question probably had no +objection to bread in a moderate quantity at a proper time and with the +usual adjuncts, and was only unwilling to devour two or three pounds of +dry bread in the streets, and at an early hour. + +Shelley had no such scruple; his pockets were generally well-stored with +bread. A circle upon the carpet, clearly defined by an ample verge of +crumbs, often marked the place where he had long sat at his studies, his +face nearly in contact with his book, greedily devouring bread at +intervals amidst his profound abstractions. For the most part he took no +condiments; sometimes, however, he ate with his bread the common raisins +which are used in making puddings, and these he would buy at little mean +shops. + +He was walking one day in London with a respectable solicitor who +occasionally transacted business for him. With his accustomed +precipitation he suddenly vanished and as suddenly reappeared: he had +entered the shop of a little grocer in an obscure quarter, and had +returned with some plums, which he held close under the attorney's nose, +and the man of fact was as much astonished at the offer as his client, the +man of fancy, at the refusal. + +The common fruit of stalls, and oranges and apples were always welcome to +Shelley; he would crunch the latter as heartily as a schoolboy. +Vegetables, and especially salads, and pies and puddings were acceptable. +His beverage consisted of copious and frequent draughts of cold water, but +tea was ever grateful, cup after cup, and coffee. Wine was taken with +singular moderation, commonly diluted largely with water, and for a long +period he would abstain from it altogether. He avoided the use of spirits +almost invariably, and even in the most minute portions. + +Like all persons of simple tastes, he retained his sweet tooth. He would +greedily eat cakes, gingerbread and sugar; honey, preserved or stewed +fruit with bread, were his favourite delicacies. These he thankfully and +joyfully received from others, but he rarely sought for them or provided +them for himself. The restraint and protracted duration of a convivial +meal were intolerable; he was seldom able to keep his seat during the +brief period assigned to an ordinary family dinner. + +These particulars may seem trifling, if indeed anything can be little that +has reference to a character truly great; but they prove how much he was +ashamed that his soul was in body, and illustrate the virgin abstinence of +a mind equally favoured by the Muses, the Graces and Philosophy. It is +true, however, that his application at Oxford, although exemplary, was not +so unremitting as it afterwards became; nor was his diet, although +singularly temperate, so meagre. However, his mode of living already +offered a foretaste of the studious seclusion and absolute renunciation of +every luxurious indulgence which ennobled him a few years later. + +Had a parent desired that his children should be exactly trained to an +ascetic life and should be taught by an eminent example to scorn delights +and to live laborious days, that they should behold a pattern of native +innocence and genuine simplicity of manners, he would have consigned them +to his house as to a temple or to some primitive and still unsophisticated +monastery. + +It is an invidious thing to compose a perpetual panegyric, yet it is +difficult to speak of Shelley, and impossible to speak justly, without +often praising him. It is difficult also to divest myself of later +recollections; to forget for a while what he became in days subsequent, +and to remember only what he then was, when we were fellow-collegians. It +is difficult, moreover, to view him with the mind which I then bore--with +a young mind, to lay aside the seriousness of old age; for twenty years of +assiduous study have induced, if not in the body, at least within, +something of premature old age. + +It now seems an incredible thing, and altogether inconceivable, when I +consider the gravity of Shelley and his invincible repugnance to the +comic, that the monkey tricks of the schoolboy could have still lingered, +but it is certain that some slight vestiges still remained. The +metaphysician of eighteen actually attempted once or twice to electrify +the son of his scout, a boy like a sheep, by name James, who roared aloud +with ludicrous and stupid terror, whenever Shelley affected to bring by +stealth any part of his philosophical apparatus near to him. + +As Shelley's health and strength were visibly augmented, if by accident he +was obliged to accept a more generous diet than ordinary, and as his mind +sometimes appeared to be exhausted by never-ending toil, I often blamed +his abstinence and his perpetual application. It is the office of a +University, of a public institution for education, not only to apply the +spur to the sluggish, but also to rein in the young steed, that, being too +mettlesome, hastens with undue speed towards the goal. + +"It is a very odd thing, but every woman can live with my lord and do just +what she pleases with him, except my lady!" Such was the shrewd remark, +which a long familiarity taught an old and attached servant to utter +respecting his master, a noble poet. + +We may wonder in like manner, and deeply lament, that the most docile, the +most facile, the most pliant, the most confident creature that ever was +led through any of the various paths on earth, that a tractable youth, who +was conducted at pleasure by anybody that approached him--it might be +occasionally by persons delegated by no legitimate authority--was never +guided for a moment by those upon whom, fully and without reservation, +that most solemn and sacred obligation had been imposed, strengthened, +morever, by every public and private, official and personal, moral, +political and religious tie, which the civil polity of a long succession +of ages could accumulate. Had the University been in fact, as in name, a +kind nursing-mother to the most gifted of her sons, to one, who seemed, to +those that knew him best,-- + + Heaven's exile straying from the orb of light; + +had that most awful responsibility, the right institution of those, to +whom are to be consigned the government of the country and the +conservation of whatever good human society has elaborated and +excogitated, duly weighed upon the consciences of his instructors, they +would have gained his entire confidence by frank kindness, they would have +repressed his too eager impatience to master the sum of knowledge, they +would have mitigated the rigorous austerity of his course of living, and +they would have remitted the extreme tension of his soul by reconciling +him to liberal mirth; convincing him that, if life be not wholly a jest, +there are at least many comic scenes occasionally interspersed in the +great drama. Nor is the last benefit of trifling importance, for, as an +unseemly and excessive gravity is usually the sign of a dull fellow, so is +the prevalence of this defect the characteristic of an unlearned and +illiberal age. + +Shelley was actually offended, and indeed more indignant than would appear +to be consistent with the singular mildness of his nature, at a coarse and +awkward jest, especially if it were immodest or uncleanly; in the latter +case his anger was unbounded, and his uneasiness pre-eminent. He was, +however, sometimes vehemently delighted by exquisite and delicate sallies, +particularly with a fanciful, and perhaps somewhat fantastical +facetiousness--possibly the more because he was himself utterly incapable +of pleasantry. + +In every free state, in all countries that enjoy republican institutions, +the view which each citizen takes of politics is an essential ingredient +in the estimate of his ethical character. The wisdom of a very young man +is but foolishness. Nevertheless, if we would rightly comprehend the moral +and intellectual constitution of the youthful poet, it will be expedient +to take into account the manner in which he was affected towards the grand +political questions, at a period when the whole of the civilised world was +agitated by a fierce storm of excitement, that, happily for the peace and +well-being of society, is of rare occurrence. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +"Above all things, Liberty!" The political creed of Shelley may be +comprised in a few words; it was, in truth, that of most men, and in a +peculiar manner of young men, during the freshness and early springs of +revolutions. He held that not only is the greatest possible amount of +civil liberty to be preferred to all other blessings, but that this +advantage is all-sufficient, and comprehends within itself every other +desirable object. The former position is as unquestionably true as the +latter is undoubtedly false. It is no small praise, however, to a very +young man, to say that on a subject so remote from the comprehension of +youth his opinions were at least half right. Twenty years ago the young +men at our Universities were satisfied with upholding the political +doctrines of which they approved by private discussions. They did not +venture to form clubs of brothers and to move resolutions, except a small +number of enthusiasts of doubtful sanity, who alone sought to usurp by +crude and premature efforts the offices of a matured understanding and of +manly experience. + +Although our fellow-collegians were willing to learn before they took upon +themselves the heavy and thankless charge of instructing others, there was +no lack of beardless politicians amongst us. Of these, some were more +strenuous supporters of the popular cause in our little circles than +others; but all were abundantly liberal. A Brutus or a Gracchus would have +found many to surpass him, and few, indeed, to fall short in theoretical +devotion to the interests of equal freedom. I can scarcely recollect a +single exception amongst my numerous acquaintances. All, I think were +worthy of the best ages of Greece or of Rome; all were true, loyal +citizens, brave and free. How, indeed, could it be otherwise? Liberty is +the morning-star of youth; and those who enjoy the inappreciable blessing +of a classical education, are taught betimes to lisp its praises. They are +nurtured in the writings of its votaries, and they even learn their native +tongue, as it were, at secondhand, and reflected in the glorious pages of +the authors, who in the ancient languages and in strains of a noble +eloquence, that will never fail to astonish succeeding generations, +proclaim unceasingly, with every variety of powerful and energetic phrase, +"Above all things, Liberty!" The praises of liberty were the favourite +topic of our earliest verses, whether they flowed with natural ease, or +were elaborated painfully out of the resources of art; and the tyrant was +set up as an object of scorn, to be pelted with the first ink of our +themes. How, then, can an educated youth be other than free? + +Shelley was entirely devoted to the lovely theory of freedom; but he was +also eminently averse at that time from engaging in the far less beautiful +practices, wherein are found the actual and operative energies of +liberty. I was maintaining against him one day at my rooms the superiority +of the ethical sciences over the physical. In the course of the debate he +cried with shrill vehemence--for as his aspect presented to the eye much +of the elegance of the peacock, so, in like manner, he cruelly lacerated +the ear with its discordant tones--"You talk of the pre-eminence of moral +philosophy? Do you comprehend politics under that name? and will you tell +me, as others do, and as Plato, I believe, teaches, that of this +philosophy the political department is the highest and the most +important?" Without expecting an answer, he continued: "A certain +nobleman" (and he named him) "advised me to turn my thoughts towards +politics immediately. 'You cannot direct your attention that way too early +in this country,' said the Duke. 'They are the proper career for a young +man of ability and of your station in life. That course is the most +advantageous, because it is a monopoly. A little success in that line goes +far, since the number of competitors is limited; and of those who are +admitted to the contest, the greater part are altogether devoid of talent +or too indolent to exert themselves. So many are excluded, that, of the +few who are permitted to enter, it is difficult to find any that are not +utterly unfit for the ordinary service of the state. It is not so in the +church, it is not so at the bar; there all may offer themselves. The +number of rivals in those professions is far greater, and they are, +besides, of a more formidable kind. In letters, your chance of success is +still worse. There, none can win gold and all may try to gain reputation; +it is a struggle for glory--the competition is infinite, there are no +bounds--that is a spacious field indeed, a sea without shores!' The Duke +talked thus to me many times and strongly urged me to give myself up to +politics without delay, but he did not persuade me. With how unconquerable +an aversion do I shrink from political articles in newspapers and reviews? +I have heard people talk politics by the hour, and how I hated it and +them! I went with my father several times to the House of Commons, and +what creatures did I see there! What faces! what an expression of +countenance! what wretched beings!" Here he clasped his hands, and raised +his voice to a painful pitch, with fervid dislike. "Good God! what men did +we meet about the House, in the lobbies and passages; and my father was so +civil to all of them, to animals that I regarded with unmitigated disgust! +A friend of mine, an Eton man, told me that his father once invited some +corporation to dine at his house, and that he was present. When dinner was +over, and the gentlemen nearly drunk, they started up, he said, and swore +they would all kiss his sisters. His father laughed and did not forbid +them, and the wretches would have done it; but his sisters heard of the +infamous proposal, and ran upstairs, and locked themselves in their +bedrooms. I asked him if he would not have knocked them down if they had +attempted such an outrage in his presence. It seems to me that a man of +spirit ought to have killed them if they had effected their purpose." The +sceptical philosopher sat for several minutes in silence, his cheeks +glowing with intense indignation. + +"Never did a more finished gentleman than Shelley step across a +drawing-room!" Lord Byron exclaimed; and on reading the remark in Mr +Moore's _Memoirs_ I was struck forcibly by its justice, and wondered for a +moment that, since it was so obvious, it had never been made before. +Perhaps this excellence was blended so intimately with his entire nature, +and it seemed to constitute a part of his identity, and being essential +and necessary was therefore never noticed. I observed his eminence in this +respect before I had sat beside him many minutes at our first meeting in +the hall of University College. Since that day I have had the happiness to +associate with some of the best specimens of gentlemen; but with all due +deference for those admirable persons (may my candour and my preference be +pardoned), I can affirm that Shelley was almost the only example I have +yet found that was never wanting, even in the most minute particular, of +the infinite and various observances of pure, entire and perfect +gentility. Trifling, indeed, and unimportant, were the aberrations of some +whom I could name; but in him, during a long and most unusual familiarity, +I discovered no flaw, no tarnish; the metal was sterling, and the polish +absolute. I have also seen him, although rarely, "stepping across a +drawing-room," and then his deportment, as Lord Byron testifies, was +unexceptionable. Such attendances, however, were pain and grief to him, +and his inward discomfort was not hard to be discerned. + +An acute observer, whose experience of life was infinite, and who had been +long and largely conversant with the best society in each of the principal +capitals of Europe, had met Shelley, of whom he was a sincere admirer, +several times in public. He remarked one evening, at a large party where +Shelley was present, his extreme discomfort, and added, "It is but too +plain that there is something radically wrong in the constitution of our +assemblies, since such a man finds not pleasure, nor even ease, in them." +His speculations concerning the cause were ingenious, and would possibly +be not altogether devoid of interest; but they are wholly unconnected with +the object of these scanty reminiscences. + +Whilst Shelley was still a boy, clubs were few in number, of small +dimensions, and generally confined to some specific class of persons. The +universal and populous clubs of the present day were almost unknown. His +reputation has increased so much of late, that the honour of including his +name in the list of members, were such a distinction happily attainable, +would now perhaps be sought by many of these societies; but it is not less +certain, that, for a period of nearly twenty years, he would have been +black-balled by almost every club in London. Nor would such a fate be +peculiar to him. + +When a great man has attained to a certain eminence, his patronage is +courted by those who were wont carefully to shun him, whilst he was +quietly and steadily pursuing the path that would inevitably lead to +advancement. It would be easy to multiply instances, if proofs were +needed, and this remarkable peculiarity of our social existence is an +additional and irrefragable argument that the constitution of refined +society is radically vicious, since it flatters timid, insipid mediocrity, +and is opposed to the bold, fearless originality, and to that novelty +which invariably characterise true genius. The first dawnings of talent +are instantly hailed and warmly welcomed, as soon as some singularity +unequivocally attests its existence amongst nations where hypocrisy and +intolerance are less absolute. + +If all men were required to name the greatest disappointment they had +respectively experienced, the catalogue would be very various; accordingly +as the expectations of each had been elevated respecting the pleasure that +would attend the gratification of some favourite wish, would the reality +in almost every case have fallen short of the anticipation. The variety +would be infinite as to the nature of the first disappointment; but if the +same irresistible authority could command that another and another should +be added to the list, it is probable that there would be less +dissimilarity in the returns of the disappointments which were deemed +second and the next in the importance to the greatest, and perhaps, in +numerous instances, the third would coincide. Many individuals, having +exhausted their principal private and peculiar grievances in the first and +second examples, would assign the third place to some public and general +matter. + +The youth who has formed his conceptions of the power, effects and aspect +of eloquence from the specimens furnished by the orators of Greece and +Rome, receives as rude a shock on his first visit to the House of Commons +as can possibly be inflicted on his juvenile expectations, where the +subject is entirely unconnected with the interests of the individual. A +prodigious number of persons would, doubtless, inscribe nearly at the top +of the list of disappointments the deplorable and inconceivable +inferiority of the actual to the imaginary debate. It is not wonderful, +therefore, that the sensitive, the susceptible, the fastidious Shelley, +whose lively fancy was easily wound up to a degree of excitement +incomprehensible to calmer and more phlegmatic temperaments, felt keenly a +mortification that can wound even the most obtuse intellects, and +expressed with contemptuous acrimony his dissatisfaction at the cheat +which his warm imagination had put upon him. Had he resolved to enter the +career of politics, it is possible that habit would have reconciled him to +many things which at first seemed to be repugnant to his nature. It is +possible that his unwearied industry, his remarkable talents and vast +energy would have led him to renown in that line as well as in another; +but it is most probable that his parliamentary success would have been but +moderate. Opportunities of advancement were offered to him, and he +rejected them, in the opinion of some of his friends unwisely and +improperly; but, perhaps, he only refused gifts that were unfit for him: +he struck out a path for himself, and, by boldly following his own course, +greatly as it deviated from that prescribed to him, he became +incomparably more illustrious than he would have been had he steadily +pursued the beaten track. His memory will be green when the herd of +everyday politicians are forgotten. Ordinary rules may guide ordinary men, +but the orbit of the child of genius is essentially eccentric. + +Although the mind of Shelley had certainly a strong bias towards +democracy, and he embraced with an ardent and youthful fondness the theory +of political equality, his feelings and behaviour were in many respects +highly aristocratical. The ideal republic, wherein his fancy loved to +expatiate, was adorned by all the graces which Plato, Xenophon and Cicero +have thrown around the memory of ancient liberty; the unbleached web of +transatlantic freedom, and the inconsiderate vehemence of such of our +domestic patriots as would demonstrate their devotion to the good cause, +by treating with irreverence whatever is most venerable, were equally +repugnant to his sensitive and reverential spirit. + +As a politician Shelley was in theory wholly a republican, but in +practice, so far only as it is possible to be one with due regard for the +sacred rights of a scholar and a gentleman; and these being in his eyes +always more inviolable than any scheme of polity or civil institution, +although he was upon paper and in discourse a sturdy commonwealth-man, the +living, moving, acting individual had much of the senatorial and +conservative, and was in the main eminently patrician. + +The rare assiduity of the young poet in the acquisition of general +knowledge has been already described; he had, moreover, diligently studied +the mechanism of his art before he came to Oxford. He composed Latin +verses with singular facility. On visiting him soon after his arrival at +the accustomed hour of one, we were writing the usual exercise, which we +presented, I believe, once a week--a Latin translation of a paper in the +_Spectator_. He soon finished it, and as he held it before the fire to +dry, I offered to take it from him. He said it was not worth looking at; +but as I persisted, through a certain scholastic curiosity to examine the +Latinity of my new acquaintance, he gave it to me. The Latin was +sufficiently correct, but the version was paraphrastic, which I observed. +He assented, and said that it would pass muster, and he felt no interest +in such efforts and no desire to excel in them. I also noticed many +portions of heroic verses, and even several entire verses, and these I +pointed out as defects in a prose composition. He smiled archly, and +asked, in his piercing whisper, "Do you think they will observe them? I +inserted them intentionally to try their ears! I once showed up a theme at +Eton to old Keate, in which there were a great many verses; but he +observed them, scanned them, and asked why I had introduced them? I +answered that I did not know they were there. This was partly true and +partly false; but he believed me, and immediately applied to me the line +in which Ovid says of himself-- + + 'Et quod tentabam dicere, versus erat.'" + +Shelley then spoke of the facility with which he could compose Latin +verses; and, taking the paper out of my hand, he began to put the entire +translation into verse. He would sometimes open at hazard a prose writer, +as Livy or Sallust, and, by changing the position of the words and +occasionally substituting others, he would translate several sentences +from prose to verse--to heroic, or more commonly elegiac, verse, for he +was peculiarly charmed with the graceful and easy flow of the latter--with +surprising rapidity and readiness. He was fond of displaying this +accomplishment during his residence at Oxford, but he forgot to bring it +away with him when he quitted the University; or perhaps he left it behind +him designedly, as being suitable to academic groves only and to the banks +of the Isis. In Ovid the facility of versification in his native tongue +was possibly in some measure innate, although the extensive and various +learning of that poet demonstrate that the power of application was not +wanting in him; but such a command over a dead language can only be +acquired through severe study. + +There is much in the poetry of Shelley that seems to encourage the belief, +that the inspiration of the Muses was seldom duly hailed by the pious +diligence of the recipient. It is true that his compositions were too +often unfinished, but his example cannot encourage indolence in the +youthful writer, for his carelessness is usually apparent only. He had +really applied himself as strenuously to conquer all the other +difficulties of his art, as he patiently laboured to penetrate the +mysteries of metre in the state wherein it exists entire and can alone be +attained--in one of the classical languages. + +The poet takes his name from the highest effort of his art--creation; and, +being himself a maker, he must, of necessity, feel a strong sympathy with +the exercise of the creative energies. Shelley was exceedingly deficient +in mechanical ingenuity; and he was also wanting in spontaneous curiosity +respecting the operations of artificers. The wonderful dexterity of +well-practised hands, the long tradition of innumerable ages, and the +vast accumulation of technical wisdom that are manifested in the various +handicrafts, have always been interesting to me, and I have ever loved to +watch the artist at his work. I have often induced Shelley to take part in +such observations, and although he never threw himself in the way of +professors of the manual erudition of the workshop, his vivid delight in +witnessing the marvels of the plastic hand, whenever they were brought +before his eyes, was very striking; and the rude workman was often +gratified to find that his merit in one narrow field was, at once and +intuitively, so fully appreciated by the young scholar. The instances are +innumerable that would attest an unusual sympathy with the arts of +construction even in their most simple stages. + +I led him one summer's evening into a brickfield. It had never occurred to +him to ask himself how a brick is formed; the secret was revealed in a +moment. He was charmed with the simple contrivance, and astonished at the +rapidity, facility and exactness with which it was put in use by so many +busy hands. An ordinary observer would have smiled and passed on, but the +son of fancy confessed his delight with an energy which roused the +attention even of the ragged throng, that seemed to exist only that they +might pass successive lumps of clay through a wooden frame. + +I was surprised at the contrast between the general indifference of +Shelley for the mechanical arts and his intense admiration of a particular +application of one of them the first time I noticed the latter +peculiarity. During our residence at Oxford I repaired to his rooms one +morning at the accustomed hour, and I found a tailor with him. He had +expected to receive a new coat on the preceding evening; it was not sent +home and he was mortified. I know not why, for he was commonly altogether +indifferent about dress, and scarcely appeared to distinguish one coat +from another. He was now standing erect in the middle of the room in his +new blue coat, with all its glittering buttons, and, to atone for the +delay, the tailor was loudly extolling the beauty of the cloth and the +felicity of the fit; his eloquence had not been thrown away upon his +customer, for never was man more easily persuaded than the master of +persuasion. The man of thimbles applied to me to vouch his eulogies. I +briefly assented to them. He withdrew, after some bows, and Shelley, +snatching his hat, cried with shrill impatience,-- + +"Let us go!" + +"Do you mean to walk in the fields in your new coat?" I asked. + +"Yes, certainly," he answered, and we sallied forth. + +We sauntered for a moderate space through lanes and by-ways, until we +reached a spot near to a farmhouse, where the frequent trampling of much +cattle had rendered the road almost impassable, and deep with black mud; +but by crossing the corner of a stack-yard, from one gate to another, we +could tread upon clean straw, and could wholly avoid the impure and +impracticable slough. + +We had nearly effected the brief and commodious transit--I was stretching +forth my hand to open the gate that led us back into the lane--when a +lean, brindled and most ill-favoured mastiff, that had stolen upon us +softly over the straw unheard and without barking, seized Shelley suddenly +by the skirts. I instantly kicked the animal in the ribs with so much +force that I felt for some days after the influence of his gaunt bones on +my toe. The blow caused him to flinch towards the left, and Shelley, +turning round quickly, planted a kick in his throat, which sent him +sprawling, and made him retire hastily among the stacks, and we then +entered the lane. The fury of the mastiff, and the rapid turn, had torn +the skirts of the new blue coat across the back, just about that part of +the human loins which our tailors, for some wise but inscrutable purpose, +are wont to adorn with two buttons. They were entirely severed from the +body, except a narrow strip of cloth on the left side, and this Shelley +presently rent asunder. + +I never saw him so angry either before or since. He vowed that he would +bring his pistols and shoot the dog, and that he would proceed at law +against the owner. The fidelity of the dog towards his master is very +beautiful in theory, and there is much to admire and to revere in this +ancient and venerable alliance; but, in practice, the most unexceptionable +dog is a nuisance to all mankind, except his master, at all times, and +very often to him also, and a fierce surly dog is the enemy of the whole +human race. The farmyards in many parts of England are happily free from a +pest that is formidable to everybody but thieves by profession; in other +districts savage dogs abound, and in none so much, according to my +experience, as in the vicinity of Oxford. The neighbourhood of a still +more famous city--of Rome--is likewise infested by dogs, more lowering, +more ferocious and incomparably more powerful. + +Shelley was proceeding home with rapid strides, bearing the skirts of his +new coat on his left arm, to procure his pistols that he might wreak his +vengeance upon the offending dog. I disliked the race, but I did not +desire to take an ignoble revenge upon the miserable individual. + +"Let us try to fancy, Shelley," I said to him, as he was posting away in +indignant silence, "that we have been at Oxford, and have come back again, +and that you have just laid the beast low--and what then?" + +He was silent for some time, but I soon perceived, from the relaxation of +his pace, that his anger had relaxed also. + +At last he stopped short, and taking the skirts from his arm, spread them +upon the hedge, stood gazing at them with a mournful aspect, sighed deeply +and, after a few moments, continued his march. + +"Would it not be better to take the skirts with us?" I inquired. + +"No," he answered despondingly; "let them remain as a spectacle for men +and gods!" + +We returned to Oxford, and made our way by back streets to our college. As +we entered the gates the officious scout remarked with astonishment +Shelley's strange spencer, and asked for the skirts, that he might +instantly carry the wreck to the tailor. Shelley answered, with his +peculiarly pensive air, "They are upon the hedge." + +The scout looked up at the clock, at Shelley and through the gate into the +street, as it were at the same moment and with one eager glance, and would +have run blindly in quest of them, but I drew the skirts from my pocket +and unfolded them, and he followed us to Shelley's rooms. + +We were sitting there in the evening at tea, when the tailor, who had +praised the coat so warmly in the morning, brought it back as fresh as +ever, and apparently uninjured. It had been fine-drawn. He showed how +skilfully the wound had been healed, and he commended at some length the +artist who had effected the cure. Shelley was astonished and delighted. +Had the tailor consumed the new blue coat in one of his crucibles, and +suddenly raised it, by magical incantation, a fresh and purple Phoenix +from the ashes, his admiration could hardly have been more vivid. It +might be, in this instance, that his joy at the unexpected restoration of +a coat, for which, although he was utterly indifferent to dress, he had, +through some unaccountable caprice, conceived a fondness, gave force to +his sympathy with art; but I have remarked in innumerable cases, where no +personal motive could exist, that he was animated by all the ardour of a +maker in witnessing the display of the creative energies. + +Nor was the young poet less interested by imitation, especially the +imitation of action, than by the creative arts. Our theatrical +representations have long been degraded by a most pernicious monopoly, by +vast abuses and enormous corruptions, and by the prevalence of bad taste. +Far from feeling a desire to visit the theatres, Shelley would have +esteemed it a cruel infliction to have been compelled to witness +performances that less fastidious critics have deemed intolerable. He +found delight, however, in reading the best of our English dramas, +particularly the masterpieces of Shakespeare, and he was never weary of +studying the more perfect compositions of the Attic tragedians. The +lineaments of individual character may frequently be traced more certainly +and more distinctly in trifles than in more important affairs; for in the +former the deportment, even of the boldest and more ingenuous, is more +entirely emancipated from every restraint. I recollect many minute traits +that display the inborn sympathy of a brother practitioner in the mimetic +arts. One silly tale, because, in truth, it is the most trivial of all, +will best illustrate the conformation of his mind; its childishness, +therefore, will be pardoned. + +A young man of studious habits and of considerable talent occasionally +derived a whimsical amusement, during his residence at Cambridge, from +entering the public-houses in the neighbouring villages, whilst the +fen-farmers and other rustics were smoking and drinking, and from +repeating a short passage of a play, or a portion of an oration, which +described the death of a distinguished person, the fatal result of a +mighty battle, or other important events, in a forcible manner. He +selected a passage of which the language was nearly on a level with vulgar +comprehension, or he adapted one by somewhat mitigating its elevation; +and, although his appearance did not bespeak histrionic gifts, he was able +to utter it impressively and, what was most effective, not theatrically, +but simply and with the air of a man who was in earnest; and if he were +interrupted or questioned, he could slightly modify the discourse, without +materially changing the sense, to give it a further appearance of reality; +and so staid and sober was the gravity of his demeanour as to render it +impossible for the clowns to solve the wonder by supposing that he was +mad. During his declamation the orator feasted inwardly on the stupid +astonishment of his petrified audience, and he further regaled himself +afterwards by imagining the strange conjectures that would commence at his +departure. + +Shelley was much interested by the account I gave him of this curious +fact, from the relation of two persons, who had witnessed the +performance. He asked innumerable questions, which I was in general quite +unable to answer; and he spoke of it as something altogether miraculous, +that anyone should be able to recite extraordinary events in such a manner +as to gain credence. As he insisted much upon the difficulty of the +exploit, I told him that I thought he greatly over-estimated it, I was +disposed to believe that it was in truth easy; that faith and a certain +gravity were alone needed. I had been struck by the story, when I first +heard it; and I had often thought of the practicability of imitating the +deception, and although I had never proceeded so far myself, I had once or +twice found it convenient to attempt something similar. At these words +Shelley drew his chair close to mine, and listened with profound silence +and intense curiosity. + +I was walking one afternoon in the summer on the western side of that +short street leading from Long Acre to Covent Garden, wherein the +passenger is earnestly invited, as a personal favour to the demandant, to +proceed straightway to Highgate or to Kentish Town, and which is called, I +think, James Street. I was about to enter Covent Garden, when an Irish +labourer, whom I met, bearing an empty hod, accosted me somewhat roughly, +and asked why I had run against him. I told him briefly that he was +mistaken. Whether somebody had actually pushed the man, or he sought only +to quarrel--and although he doubtless attended a weekly row regularly, and +the week was already drawing to a close, he was unable to wait until +Sunday for a broken head--I know not; but he discoursed for some time with +the vehemence of a man who considers himself injured or insulted, and he +concluded, being emboldened by my long silence, with a cordial invitation +just to push him again. Several persons, not very unlike in costume, had +gathered round him, and appeared to regard him with sympathy. When he +paused, I addressed to him slowly and quietly, and it should seem with +great gravity, these words, as nearly as I can recollect them:-- + +"I have put my hand into the hamper; I have looked upon the sacred barley; +I have eaten out of the drum! I have drunk and was well pleased! I have +said _Konx ompax_, and it is finished!" + +"Have you, sir?" inquired the astonished Irishman, and his ragged friends +instantly pressed round him with "Where is the hamper, Paddy?" "What +barley?" and the like. And ladies from his own country--that is to say, +the basket-women, suddenly began to interrogate him, "Now, I say, Pat, +where have you been drinking? What have you had?" + +I turned therefore to the right, leaving the astounded neophyte, whom I +had thus planted, to expound the mystic words of initiation as he could to +his inquisitive companions. + +As I walked slowly under the piazzas, and through the streets and courts, +towards the west, I marvelled at the ingenuity of Orpheus--if he were +indeed the inventor of the Eleusinian mysteries--that he was able to +devise words that, imperfectly as I had repeated them, and in the tattered +fragment that has reached us, were able to soothe people so savage and +barbarous as those to whom I had addressed them, and which, as the +apologists for those venerable rites affirm, were manifestly well adapted +to incite persons, who hear them for the first time, however rude they may +be, to ask questions. Words, that can awaken curiosity, even in the +sluggish intellect of a wild man, and can thus open the inlet of +knowledge! + + * * * * * + +"_Konx ompax_, and it is finished!" exclaimed Shelley, crowing with +enthusiastic delight at my whimsical adventure. A thousand times, as he +strode about the house, and in his rambles out of doors, would he stop and +repeat aloud the mystic words of initiation, but always with an energy of +manner, and a vehemence of tone and of gesture that would have prevented +the ready acceptance, which a calm, passionless delivery had once procured +for them. How often would he throw down his book, clasp his hands, and +starting from his seat, cry suddenly, with a thrilling voice, "I have said +_Konx ompax_, and it is finished!" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +As our attention is most commonly attracted by those departments of +knowledge which are striking and remarkable, rather than by those which +are really useful, so, in estimating the character of an individual, we +are prone to admire extraordinary intellectual powers and uncommon +energies of thought, and to overlook that excellence which is, in truth, +the most precious--his moral value. Was the subject of biography +distinguished by a vast erudition? Was he conspicuous for an original +genius? for a warm and fruitful fancy? Such are the implied questions +which we seek to resolve by consulting the memoirs of his life. We may +sometimes desire to be informed whether he was a man of nice honour and +conspicuous integrity; but how rarely do we feel any curiosity with +respect to that quality which is, perhaps, the most important to his +fellows--how seldom do we desire to measure his benevolence! It would be +impossible faithfully to describe the course of a single day in the +ordinary life of Shelley without showing incidentally and unintentionally, +that his nature was eminently benevolent--and many minute traits, pregnant +with proof, have been already scattered by the way; but it would be an +injustice to his memory to forbear to illustrate expressly, but briefly, +in leave-taking, the ardent, devoted, and unwearied love he bore his kind. + +A personal intercourse could alone enable the observer to discern in him a +soul ready winged for flight and scarcely detained by the fetters of body: +that happiness was, if possible, still more indispensable to open the view +of the unbounded expanse of cloudless philanthropy--pure, disinterested, +and unvaried--the aspect of which often filled with mute wonder the minds +of simple people, unable to estimate a penetrating genius, a docile +sagacity, a tenacious memory, or, indeed, any of the various ornaments of +the soul. + +Whenever the intimate friends of Shelley speak of him in general terms, +they speedily and unconsciously fall into the language of panegyric--a +style of discourse that is barren of instruction, wholly devoid of +interest, and justly suspected by the prudent stranger. It becomes them, +therefore, on discovering the error they have committed, humbly to entreat +the forgiveness of the charitable for human infirmity, oppressed and +weighed down by the fulness of the subject--carefully to abstain in future +from every vague expression of commendation, and faithfully to relate a +plain, honest tale of unadorned facts. + +A regard for children, singular and touching, is an unerring and most +engaging indication of a benevolent mind. That this characteristic was not +wanting in Shelley might be demonstrated by numerous examples which crowd +upon the recollection, each of them bearing the strongly impressed stamp +of individuality; for genius renders every surrounding circumstance +significant and important. In one of our rambles we were traversing the +bare, squalid, ugly, corn-yielding country, that lies, if I remember +rightly, to the south-west of Oxford. The hollow road ascended a hill, and +near the summit Shelley observed a female child leaning against the bank +on the right; it was of a mean, dull and unattractive aspect, and older +than its stunted growth denoted. The morning, as well as the preceding +night, had been rainy; it had cleared up at noon with a certain ungenial +sunshine, and the afternoon was distinguished by that intense cold which +sometimes, in the winter season, terminates such days. The little girl was +oppressed by cold, by hunger and by a vague feeling of abandonment. It was +not easy to draw from her blue lips an intelligible history of her +condition. Love, however, is at once credulous and apprehensive; and +Shelley immediately decided that she had been deserted, and with his +wonted precipitation (for in the career of humanity his active spirit knew +no pause), he proposed different schemes for the permanent relief of the +poor foundling, and he hastily inquired which of them was the most +expedient. I answered that it was desirable, in the first place, to try to +procure some food, for of this the want was manifestly the most urgent. I +then climbed the hill to reconnoitre, and observed a cottage close at +hand, on the left of the road. With considerable difficulty--with a gentle +violence indeed--Shelley induced the child to accompany him thither. After +much delay, we procured from the people of the place, who resembled the +dull, uncouth and perhaps sullen rustics of that district, some warm milk. + +It was a strange spectacle to watch the young poet, whilst, with the +enthusiastic and intensely earnest manner that characterises the +legitimate brethren of the celestial art--the heaven-born and fiercely +inspired sons of genuine poesy--holding the wooden bowl in one hand and +the wooden spoon in the other, and kneeling on his left knee, that he +might more certainly attain to her mouth. He urged and encouraged the +torpid and timid child to eat. The hot milk was agreeable to the girl, +and its effects were salutary; but she was obviously uneasy at the +detention. Her uneasiness increased, and ultimately prevailed. We returned +with her to the place where we had found her, Shelley bearing the bowl of +milk in his hand. Here we saw some people anxiously looking for the +child--a man and, I think, four women, strangers of the poorest class, of +a mean but not disreputable appearance. As soon as the girl perceived them +she was content, and taking the bowl from Shelley, she finished the milk +without his help. + +Meanwhile, one of the women explained the apparent desertion with a +multitude of rapid words. They had come from a distance, and to spare the +weary child the fatigue of walking farther, the day being at that time +sunny, they left her to await their return. Those unforeseen delays, which +harass all, and especially the poor, in transacting business, had detained +them much longer than they had anticipated. + +Such, in a few words, is the story which was related in many, and which +the little girl, who, it was said, was somewhat deficient in +understanding as well as in stature, was unable to explain. So humble was +the condition of these poor wayfaring folks that they did not presume to +offer thanks in words; but they often turned back, and with mute wonder +gazed at Shelley who, totally unconscious that he had done anything to +excite surprise, returned with huge strides to the cottage to restore the +bowl and to pay for the milk. As the needy travellers pursued their +toilsome and possibly fruitless journey, they had at least the +satisfaction to reflect that all above them were not desolated by a dreary +apathy, but that some hearts were warm with that angelic benevolence +towards inferiors in which still higher natures, as we are taught, largely +participate. + +Shelley would often pause, halting suddenly in his swift course, to admire +the children of the country people; and after gazing on a sweet and +intelligent countenance, he would exhibit, in the language and with an +aspect of acute anguish, his intense feeling of the future sorrows and +sufferings--of all the manifold evils of life which too often distort, by +a mean and most disagreeable expression, the innocent, happy and engaging +lineaments of youth. He sometimes stopped to observe the softness and +simplicity that the face and gestures of a gentle girl displayed, and he +would surpass her gentleness by his own. + +We were strolling once in the neighbourhood of Oxford when Shelley was +attracted by a little girl. He turned aside, and stood and observed her in +silence. She was about six years of age, small and slight, bare-headed, +bare-legged, and her apparel variegated and tattered. She was busily +employed in collecting empty snail-shells, so much occupied, indeed, that +some moments elapsed before she turned her face towards us. When she did +so, we perceived that she was evidently a young gipsy; and Shelley was +forcibly struck by the vivid intelligence of her wild and swarthy +countenance, and especially by the sharp glance of her fierce black eyes. +"How much intellect is here!" he exclaimed; "in how humble a vessel, and +what an unworthy occupation for a person who once knew perfectly the whole +circle of the sciences; who has forgotten them all, it is true, but who +could certainly recollect them, although most probably she will never do +so, will never recall a single principle of all of them!" + +As he spoke he turned aside a bramble with his foot and discovered a large +shell which the alert child instantly caught up and added to her store. At +the same moment a small stone was thrown from the other side of the road; +it fell in the hedge near us. We turned round and saw on the top of a high +bank a boy, some three years older than the girl, and in as rude a guise. +He was looking at us over a low hedge, with a smile, but plainly not +without suspicion. We might be two kidnappers, he seemed to think; he was +in charge of his little sister, and did not choose to have her stolen +before his face. He gave the signal, therefore, and she obeyed it, and had +almost joined him before we missed her from our side. They both +disappeared, and we continued our walk. + +Shelley was charmed with the intelligence of the two children of nature, +and with their marvellous wildness. He talked much about them, and +compared them to birds and to the two wild leverets, which that wild +mother, the hare, produces. We sauntered about, and, half an hour +afterwards, on turning a corner, we suddenly met the two children again +full in the face. The meeting was unlooked for, and the air of the boy +showed that it was unpleasant to him. He had a large bundle of dry sticks +under his arm; these he gently dropped and stood motionless with an +apprehensive smile--a deprecatory smile. We were perhaps the lords of the +soil, and his patience was prepared, for patience was his lot--an +inalienable inheritance long entailed upon his line--to hear a severe +reproof with heavy threats, possibly even to receive blows with a stick +gathered by himself not altogether unwittingly for his own back, or to +find mercy and forbearance. Shelley's demeanour soon convinced him that he +had nothing to fear. He laid a hand on the round, matted, knotted, bare +and black head of each, viewed their moving, mercurial countenances with +renewed pleasure and admiration, and, shaking his long locks, suddenly +strode away. "That little ragged fellow knows as much as the wisest +philosopher," he presently cried, clapping the wings of his soul and +crowing aloud with shrill triumph at the felicitous union of the true with +the ridiculous, "but he will not communicate any portion of his knowledge. +It is not from churlishness, however, for of that his nature is plainly +incapable; but the sophisticated urchin will persist in thinking he has +forgotten all that he knows so well. I was about to ask him myself to +communicate some of the doctrines Plato unfolds in his _Dialogues_; but I +felt that it would do no good; the rogue would have laughed at me, and so +would his little sister. I wonder you did not propose to them some +mathematical questions: just a few interrogations in your geometry; for +that being so plain and certain, if it be once thoroughly understood, can +never be forgotten!" + +A day or two afterwards (or it might be on the morrow), as we were +rambling in the favourite region at the foot of Shotover Hill, a gipsy's +tent by the roadside caught Shelley's eye. Men and women were seated on +the ground in front of it, watching a pot suspended over a smoky fire of +sticks. He cast a passing glance at the ragged group, but immediately +stopped on recognising the children, who remembered us and ran laughing +into the tent. Shelley laughed also and waved his hand, and the little +girl returned the salutation. + +There were many striking contrasts in the character and behaviour of +Shelley, and one of the most remarkable was a mixture or alternation of +awkwardness with agility, of the clumsy with the graceful. He would +stumble in stepping across the floor of a drawing-room; he would trip +himself up on a smooth-shaven grass-plot, and he would tumble in the most +inconceivable manner in ascending the commodious, facile, and +well-carpeted staircase of an elegant mansion, so as to bruise his nose or +his lip on the upper steps, or to tread upon his hands, and even +occasionally to disturb the composure of a well-bred footman; on the +contrary, he would often glide without collision through a crowded +assembly, thread with unerring dexterity a most intricate path, or +securely and rapidly tread the most arduous and uncertain ways. As soon as +he saw the children enter the tent he darted after them with his peculiar +agility, followed them into their low, narrow and fragile tenement, +penetrated to the bottom of the tent without removing his hat or striking +against the woven edifice. He placed a hand on each round, rough head, +spoke a few kind words to the skulking children, and then returned not +less precipitously, and with as much ease and accuracy as if he had been a +dweller in tents from the hour when he first drew air and milk to that +day, as if he had been the descendant, not of a gentle house, but of a +long line of gipsies. His visit roused the jealousy of a stunted, feeble +dog, which followed him, and barked with helpless fury; he did not heed +it nor, perhaps, hear it. The company of gipsies were astonished at the +first visit that had ever been made by a member of either University to +their humble dwelling; but, as its object was evidently benevolent, they +did not stir or interfere, but greeted him on his return with a silent and +unobserved salutation. He seized my arm, and we prosecuted our +speculations as we walked briskly to our college. + +The marvellous gentleness of his demeanour could conciliate the least +sociable natures, and it had secretly touched the wild things which he had +thus briefly noticed. + +We were wandering through the roads and lanes at a short distance from the +tent soon afterwards, and were pursuing our way in silence. I turned round +at a sudden sound--the young gipsy had stolen upon us unperceived, and +with a long bramble had struck Shelley across the skirts of his coat. He +had dropped his rod, and was returning softly to the hedge. + +Certain misguided persons, who, unhappily for themselves, were incapable +of understanding the true character of Shelley, have published many false +and injurious calumnies respecting him--some for hire, others drawing +largely out of the inborn vulgarity of their own minds, or from the +necessary malignity of ignorance--but no one ever ventured to say that he +was not a good judge of an orange. At this time, in his nineteenth year, +although temperate, he was less abstemious in his diet than he afterwards +became, and he was frequently provided with some fine samples. As soon as +he understood the rude but friendly welcome to the heaths and lanes, he +drew an orange from his pocket and rolled it after the retreating gipsy +along the grass by the side of the wide road. The boy started with +surprise as the golden fruit passed him, quickly caught it up and joyfully +bore it away, bending reverently over it and carrying it with both his +hands, as if, together with almost the size, it had also the weight of a +cannon-ball. + +His passionate fondness of the Platonic philosophy seemed to sharpen his +natural affection for children, and his sympathy with their innocence. +Every true Platonist, he used to say, must be a lover of children, for +they are our masters and instructors in philosophy. The mind of a new-born +infant, so far from being, as Locke affirms, a sheet of blank paper, is a +pocket edition containing every dialogue, a complete Elzevir Plato, if we +can fancy such a pleasant volume, and moreover a perfect encyclopedia, +comprehending not only the newest discoveries, but all those still more +valuable and wonderful inventions that will hereafter be made. + +One Sunday we had been reading Plato together so diligently that the usual +hour of exercise passed away unperceived. We sallied forth hastily to take +the air for half an hour before dinner. In the middle of Magdalen Bridge +we met a woman with a child in her arms. Shelley was more attentive at +that instant to our conduct in a life that was past or to come than to a +decorous regulation of the present, according to the established usages +of society in that fleeting moment of eternal duration styled the +nineteenth century. With abrupt dexterity he caught hold of the child. The +mother, who might well fear that it was about to be thrown over the +parapet of the bridge into the sedgy waters below, held it fast by its +long train. + +"Will your baby tell us anything about pre-existence, madam?" he asked, in +a piercing voice and with a wistful look. + +The mother made no answer, but, perceiving that Shelley's object was not +murderous but altogether harmless, she dismissed her apprehension and +relaxed her hold. + +"Will your baby tell us anything about pre-existence, madam?" he repeated, +with unabated earnestness. + +"He cannot speak, sir," said the mother, seriously. + +"Worse and worse," cried Shelley, with an air of deep disappointment, +shaking his long hair most pathetically about his young face; "but surely +the babe can speak if he will, for he is only a few weeks old. He may +fancy, perhaps, that he cannot, but it is only a silly whim. He cannot +have forgotten entirely the use of speech in so short a time. The thing is +absolutely impossible!" + +"It is not for me to dispute with you, gentlemen," the woman meekly +replied, her eye glancing at our academical garb, "but I can safely +declare that I never heard him speak, nor any child, indeed, of his age." + +It was a fine, placid boy: so far from being disturbed by the +interruption, he looked up and smiled. Shelley pressed his fat cheeks with +his fingers; we commended his healthy appearance and his equanimity, and +the mother was permitted to proceed, probably to her satisfaction, for she +would doubtless prefer a less speculative nurse. Shelley sighed deeply as +we walked on. + +"How provokingly close are those new-born babes!" he ejaculated; "but it +is not the less certain, notwithstanding the cunning attempts to conceal +the truth, that all knowledge is reminiscence. The doctrine is far more +ancient than the times of Plato, and as old as the venerable allegory +that the Muses are the daughters of Memory; not one of the nine was ever +said to be the child of Invention!" + +In consequence of this theory, upon which his active imagination loved to +dwell, and which he was delighted to maintain in argument with the few +persons qualified to dispute with him on the higher metaphysics, his +fondness for children--a fondness innate in generous minds--was augmented +and elevated, and the gentle instinct expanded into a profound and +philosophical sentiment. The Platonists have been illustrious in all ages +on account of the strength and permanence of their attachments. In Shelley +the parental affections were developed at an early period to an unusual +extent. It was manifest, therefore, that his heart was formed by nature +and by cultivation to derive the most exquisite gratification from the +society of his own progeny, or the most poignant anguish from a natural or +unnatural bereavement. To strike him here was the cruel admonition which +a cursory glance would at once convey to him who might seek where to wound +him most severely with a single blow, should he ever provoke the vengeance +of an enemy to the active and fearless spirit of liberal investigation and +to all solid learning--of a foe to the human race. With respect to the +theory of the pre-existence of the soul, it is not wonderful that an +ardent votary of the intellectual should love to uphold it in strenuous +and protracted disputation, as it places the immortality of the soul in an +impregnable castle, and not only secures it an existence independent of +the body, as it were, by usage and prescription, but moreover, raising it +out of the dirt on tall stilts, elevates it far above the mud of matter. + +It is not wonderful that a subtle sophist, who esteemed above all riches +and terrene honours victory in well-fought debate, should be willing to +maintain a dogma that is not only of difficult eversion by those who, +struggling as mere metaphysicians, use no other weapon than unassisted +reason, but which one of the most illustrious Fathers of the Church--a +man of amazing powers and stupendous erudition, armed with the prodigious +resources of the Christian theology, the renowned Origen--was unable to +dismiss; retaining it as not dissonant from his informed reason, and as +affording a larger scope for justice in the moral government of the +universe. + +In addition to his extreme fondness for children, another and a not less +unequivocal characteristic of a truly philanthropic mind was eminently and +still more remarkably conspicuous in Shelley--his admiration of men of +learning and genius. In truth the devotion, the reverence, the religion +with which he was kindled towards all the masters of intellect, cannot be +described, and must be utterly inconceivable to minds less deeply +enamoured with the love of wisdom. The irreverent many cannot comprehend +the awe, the careless apathetic worldling cannot imagine the enthusiasm, +nor can the tongue that attempts only to speak of things visible to the +bodily eye, express the mighty motion that inwardly agitated him when he +approached, for the first time, a volume which he believed to be replete +with the recondite and mystic philosophy of antiquity; his cheeks glowed, +his eyes became bright, his whole frame trembled, and his entire attention +was immediately swallowed up in the depths of contemplation. The rapid and +vigorous conversion of his soul to intellect can only be compared with the +instantaneous ignition and combustion which dazzle the sight, when a +bundle of dry reeds or other inflammable substance is thrown upon a fire +already rich with accumulated heat. + +The company of persons of merit was delightful to him, and he often spoke +with a peculiar warmth of the satisfaction he hoped to derive from the +society of the most distinguished literary and scientific characters of +the day in England, and the other countries of Europe, when his own +attainments would justify him in seeking their acquaintance. He was never +weary of recounting the rewards and favours that authors had formerly +received; and he would detail in pathetic language, and with a touching +earnestness, the instances of that poverty and neglect which an iron age +assigned as the fitting portion of solid erudition and undoubted talents. +He would contrast the niggard praise and the paltry payments that the cold +and wealthy moderns reluctantly dole out, with the ample and heartfelt +commendation and the noble remuneration which were freely offered by the +more generous but less opulent ancients. He spoke with an animation of +gesture and an elevation of voice of him who undertook a long journey, +that he might once see the historian Livy; and he recounted the rich +legacies which were bequeathed to Cicero and Pliny the younger by +testators venerating their abilities and attainments--his zeal, +enthusiastic in the cause of letters, giving an interest and a novelty to +the most trite and familiar instances. His disposition being wholly +munificent, gentle and friendly, how generous a patron would he have +proved had he ever been in the actual possession of even moderate wealth! + +Out of a scanty and somewhat precarious income, inadequate to allow the +indulgence of the most ordinary superfluities, and diminished by various +casual but unavoidable incumbrances, he was able, by restricting himself +to a diet more simple than the fare of the most austere anchorite, and by +refusing himself horses and the other gratifications that appear properly +to belong to his station, and of which he was in truth very fond, to +bestow upon men of letters, whose merits were of too high an order to be +rightly estimated by their own generation, donations large indeed, if we +consider from how narrow a source they flowed. + +But to speak of this, his signal and truly admirable bounty, save only in +the most distant manner and the most general terms, would be a flagrant +violation of that unequalled delicacy with which it was extended to +undeserved indigence, accompanied by well-founded and most commendable +pride. To allude to any particular instance, however obscurely and +indistinctly, would be unpardonable; but it would be scarcely less +blameable to dismiss the consideration of the character of the benevolent +young poet without some imperfect testimony of this rare excellence. + +That he gave freely, when the needy scholar asked or in silent, hopeless +poverty seemed to ask his aid, will be demonstrated most clearly by +relating shortly one example of his generosity, where the applicant had no +pretensions to literary renown, and no claim whatever, except perhaps +honest penury. It is delightful to attempt to delineate from various +points of view a creature of infinite moral beauty, but one instance must +suffice; an ample volume might be composed of such tales, but one may be +selected because it contains a large admixture of that ingredient which is +essential to the conversion of almsgiving into the genuine virtue of +charity--self-denial. + +On returning to town after the long vacation at the end of October, I +found Shelley at one of the hotels in Covent Garden. Having some business +in hand he was passing a few days there alone. We had taken some mutton +chops hastily at a dark place in one of the minute courts of the city at +an early hour, and we went forth to walk; for to walk at all times, and +especially in the evening, was his supreme delight. + +The aspect of the fields to the north of Somers Town, between that +beggarly suburb and Kentish Town, has been totally changed of late. +Although this district could never be accounted pretty, nor deserving a +high place even amongst suburban scenes, yet the air, or often the wind, +seemed pure and fresh to captives emerging from the smoke of London. There +were certain old elms, much very green grass, quiet cattle feeding and +groups of noisy children playing with something of the freedom of the +village green. There was, oh blessed thing! an entire absence of carriages +and of blood-horses; of the dust and dress and affectation and fashion of +the parks; there were, moreover, old and quaint edifices and objects which +gave character to the scene. + +Whenever Shelley was imprisoned in London--for to a poet a close and +crowded city must be a dreary gaol--his steps would take that direction, +unless his residence was too remote, or he was accompanied by one who +chose to guide his walk. On this occasion I was led thither, as indeed I +had anticipated. The weather was fine, but the autumn was already +advanced; we had not sauntered long in these fields when the dusky evening +closed in, and the darkness gradually thickened. + +"How black those trees are," said Shelley, stopping short and pointing to +a row of elms. "It is so dark the trees might well be houses and the turf +pavement--the eye would sustain no loss. It is useless, therefore, to +remain here; let us return." He proposed tea at his hotel, I assented; and +hastily buttoning his coat he seized my arm and set off at his great pace, +striding with bent knees over the fields and through the narrow streets. +We were crossing the New Road, when he said shortly, "I must call for a +moment, but it will not be out of the way at all," and then dragged me +suddenly towards the left. I inquired whither we were bound, and, I +believe, I suggested the postponement of the intended call till the +morrow. He answered, it was not at all out of our way. + +I was hurried along rapidly towards the left. We soon fell into an +animated discussion respecting the nature of the virtue of the Romans, +which in some measure beguiled the weary way. Whilst he was talking with +much vehemence and a total disregard of the people who thronged the +streets, he suddenly wheeled about and pushed me through a narrow door; to +my infinite surprise I found myself in a pawnbroker's shop. It was in the +neighbourhood of Newgate Street, for he had no idea whatever, in practice, +either of time or space, nor did he in any degree regard method in the +conduct of business. + +There were several women in the shop in brown and grey cloaks, with +squalling children. Some of them were attempting to persuade the children +to be quiet, or at least to scream with moderation; the others were +enlarging upon and pointing out the beauties of certain coarse and dirty +sheets that lay before them to a man on the other side of the counter. + +I bore this substitute for our proposed tea some minutes with tolerable +patience, but as the call did not promise to terminate speedily, I said to +Shelley, in a whisper, "Is not this almost as bad as the Roman virtue?" +Upon this he approached the pawnbroker; it was long before he could obtain +a hearing, and he did not find civility. The man was unwilling to part +with a valuable pledge so soon, or perhaps he hoped to retain it +eventually; or it might be that the obliquity of his nature disqualified +him for respectful behaviour. + +A pawnbroker is frequently an important witness in criminal proceedings. +It has happened to me, therefore, afterwards to see many specimens of this +kind of banker. They sometimes appeared not less respectable than other +tradesmen, and sometimes I have been forcibly reminded of the first I ever +met with, by an equally ill-conditioned fellow. I was so little pleased +with the introduction that I stood aloof in the shop, and did not hear +what passed between him and Shelley. + +On our way to Covent Garden I expressed my surprise and dissatisfaction at +our strange visit, and I learned that when he came to London before, in +the course of the summer, some old man had related to him a tale of +distress--of a calamity which could only be alleviated by the timely +application of ten pounds; five of them he drew at once from his pocket, +and to raise the other five he had pawned his beautiful solar microscope! +He related this act of beneficence simply and briefly, as if it were a +matter of course, and such indeed it was to him. I was ashamed at my +impatience, and we strode along in silence. + +It was past ten when we reached the hotel. Some excellent tea and a +liberal supply of hot muffins in the coffee-room, now quiet and solitary, +were the more grateful after the wearisome delay and vast deviation. +Shelley often turned his head and cast eager glances towards the door, +and whenever the waiter replenished our tea-pot or approached our box he +was interrogated whether anyone had yet called. + +At last the desired summons was brought. Shelley drew forth some +banknotes, hurried to the bar, and returned as hastily, bearing in triumph +under his arm a mahogany box, followed by the officious waiter, with whose +assistance he placed it upon the bench by his side. He viewed it often +with evident satisfaction, and sometimes patted it affectionately in the +course of calm conversation. The solar microscope was always a favourite +plaything or instrument of scientific inquiry. Whenever he entered a house +his first care was to choose some window of a southern aspect, and, if +permission could be obtained by prayer or by purchase, straightway to cut +a hole through the shutter to receive it. + +His regard for his solar microscope was as lasting as it was strong; for +he retained it several years after this adventure, and long after he had +parted with all the rest of his philosophical apparatus. + +Such is the story of the microscope, and no rightly judging person who +hears it will require the further accumulation of proofs of a benevolent +heart; nor can I, perhaps, better close this sketch than with that +impression of the pure and genial beauty of Shelley's nature which this +simple anecdote will bequeath. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +The theory of civil liberty has ever seemed lovely to the eyes of a young +man enamoured of moral and intellectual beauty. Shelley's devotion to +freedom, therefore, was ardent and sincere. He would have submitted with +cheerful alacrity to the greatest sacrifices, had they been demanded of +him, to advance the sacred cause of liberty; and he would have gallantly +encountered every peril in the fearless resistance to active oppression. +Nevertheless, in ordinary times, although a generous and unhesitating +patriot, he was little inclined to consume the pleasant season of youth +amidst the intrigues and clamours of elections, and in the dull and +selfish cabals of parties. His fancy viewed from a lofty eminence the +grand scheme of an ideal republic; and he could not descend to the +humble task of setting out the boundaries of neighbouring rights, and to +the uninviting duties of actual administration. He was still less disposed +to interest himself in the politics of the day because he observed the +pernicious effects of party zeal in a field where it ought not to enter. + +It is no slight evil, but a heavy price paid for popular institutions, +that society should be divided into hostile clans to serve the selfish +purposes of a few political adventurers; and surely to introduce politics +within the calm precincts of a University ought to be deemed a capital +offence--a felony without benefit of clergy. The undue admission (to +borrow the language of Universities for a moment) is not less fatal to its +existence as an institution designed for the advancement of learning, than +the reception of the wooden horse within the walls of Troy was to the +safety of that renowned city. + +What does it import the interpreters of Pindar and Thucydides, the +expositors of Plato and Aristotle, if a few interested persons, for the +sake of some lucrative posts, affect to believe that it is a matter of +vital importance to the state to concede certain privileges to the Roman +Catholics; whilst others, for the same reason, pretend with tears in their +eyes that the concessions would be dangerous and indeed destructive, and +shudder with feigned horror at the harmless proposal? Such pretexts may be +advantageous and perhaps even honourable to the ingenious persons who use +them for the purposes of immediate advancement; but of what concernment +are they to Apollo and the Muses? How could the Catholic question augment +the calamities of Priam, or diminish the misfortunes of the ill-fated +house of Labdacus? or which of the doubts of the ancient philosophers +would the most satisfactory solution of it remove? Why must the modest +student come forth and dance upon the tightrope, with the mountebanks, +since he is to receive no part of the reward, and would not emulate the +glory of those meritorious artists? Yet did this most inapplicable +question mainly contribute to poison the harmless and studious felicity +which we enjoyed at Oxford. + +During the whole period of our residence there the University was cruelly +disfigured by bitter feuds, arising out of the late election of its +Chancellor; in an especial manner was our own most venerable college +deformed by them, and by angry and senseless disappointment. + +Lord Grenville had just been chosen. There could be no more comparison +between his scholarship and his various qualifications for the honourable +and useless office, and the claims of his unsuccessful opponent, than +between the attainments of the best man of the year and those of the huge +porter, who with a stern and solemn civility kept the gates of University +College--the arts of mulled-wine and egg-hot being, in the latter case, +alone excepted. + +The vanquished competitor, however, most unfortunately for its honour and +character, was a member of our college; and in proportion as the intrinsic +merits of our rulers were small, had the vehemence and violence of +electioneering been great, that, through the abuse of the patronage of the +church, they might attain to those dignities as the rewards of the +activity of partisans, which they could never hope to reach through the +legitimate road of superior learning and talents. + +Their vexation at failing was the more sharp and abiding, because the only +objection that vulgar bigotry could urge against the victor was his +disposition to make concessions to the Roman Catholics; and every dull +lampoon about popes and cardinals and the scarlet lady had accordingly +been worn threadbare in vain. Since the learned and liberal had conquered, +learning and liberality were peculiarly odious with us at that epoch. The +studious scholar, particularly if he were of an inquiring disposition, and +of a bold and free temper, was suspected and disliked; he was one of the +enemy's troops. The inert and the subservient were the loyal soldiers of +the legitimate army of the faith. The despised and scattered nation of +scholars is commonly unfortunate; but a more severe calamity has seldom +befallen the remnant of true Israelites than to be led captive by such a +generation! Youth is happy, because it is blithe and healthful and exempt +from care; but it is doubly and trebly happy, since it is honest and +fearless, honourable and disinterested. + +In the whole body of undergraduates, scarcely one was friendly to the +holder of the loaves and the promiser of the fishes--Lord Eldon. All were +eager--all, one and all--in behalf of the scholar and the Liberal +statesman; and plain and loud was the avowal of their sentiments. A sullen +demeanour towards the young rebels displayed the annoyance arising from +the want of success and from our lack of sympathy, and it would have +demonstrated to the least observant that, where the Muses dwell, the +quarrels and intrigues of political parties ought not to come. + +By his family and his connections, as well as by disposition, Shelley was +attached to the successful side; and although it was manifest that he was +a youth of an admirable temper, of rare talents and unwearied industry, +and likely, therefore, to shed a lustre upon his college and the +University itself, yet, as he was eminently delighted at that wherewith +his superiors were offended, he was regarded from the beginning with a +jealous eye. A young man of spirit will despise the mean spite of sordid +minds; nevertheless the persecution which a generous soul can contemn, +through frequent repetition too often becomes a severe annoyance in the +long course of life, and Shelley frequently and most pathetically lamented +the political divisions which then harassed the University, and were a +more fertile source of manifold ills in the wider field of active life. +For this reason did he appear to cling more closely to our sweet, studious +seclusion; and from this cause, perhaps, principally arose his +disinclination--I may say, indeed, his intense antipathy--for the +political career that had been proposed to him. A lurking suspicion would +sometimes betray itself that he was to be forced into that path, and +impressed into the civil service of the state, to become, as it were, a +conscript legislator. + +A newspaper never found its way to his rooms the whole period of his +residence at Oxford; but when waiting in a bookseller's shop or at an inn +he would sometimes, although rarely, permit his eye to be attracted by a +murder or a storm. Having perused the tale of wonder or of horror, if it +chanced to stray to a political article, after reading a few lines he +invariably threw it aside to a great distance; and he started from his +seat his face flushing, and strode about muttering broken sentences, the +purport of which was always the same: his extreme dissatisfaction at the +want of candour and fairness, and the monstrous disingenuousness which +politicians manifest in speaking of the characters and measures of their +rivals. Strangers, who caught imperfectly the sense of his indistinct +murmurs, were often astonished at the vehemence of his mysterious +displeasure. + +Once I remember a bookseller, the master of a very small shop in a +little country town, but apparently a sufficiently intelligent man, +could not refrain from expressing his surprise that anyone should be +offended with proceedings that seemed to him as much in the ordinary +course of trade, and as necessary to its due exercise, as the red ligature +of the bundle of quills, or the thin and pale brown wrapper which enclosed +the quire of letter paper we had just purchased of him. + +A man of talents and learning, who refused to enlist under the banners of +any party and did not deign to inform himself of the politics of the day, +or to take the least part or interest in them, would be a noble and a +novel spectacle; but so many persons hope to profit by dissensions, that +the merits of such a steady lover of peace would not be duly appreciated, +either by the little provincial bookseller or the other inhabitants of our +turbulent country. + +The ordinary lectures in our college were of much shorter duration, and +decidedly less difficult and less instructive than the lessons we had +received in the higher classes of a public school; nor were our written +exercises more stimulating than the oral. Certain compositions were +required at stated periods; but, however excellent they might be, they +were never commended; however deficient, they were never censured; and, +being altogether unnoticed, there was no reason to suppose that they were +ever read. + +The University at large was not less remiss than each college in +particular; the only incitement proposed was an examination at the end of +four years. The young collegian might study in private, as diligently as +he would, at Oxford as in every other place; and if he chose to submit his +pretensions to the examiners, his name was set down in the first, the +second or the third class--if I mistake not, there were three +divisions--according to his advancement. This list was printed precisely +at the moment when he quitted the University for ever; a new generation of +strangers might read the names of the unknown proficients, if they +would. + +It was notorious, moreover, that, merely to obtain the academical degrees, +every new-comer, who had passed through a tolerable grammar-school, +brought with him a stock of learning, of which the residuum that had not +evaporated during four years of dissipation and idleness, would be more +than sufficient. + +The languid course of chartered laziness was ill suited to the ardent +activity and glowing zeal of Shelley. Since those persons, who were hired +at an enormous charge by his own family and by the State to find due and +beneficial employment for him, thought fit to neglect this, their most +sacred duty, he began forthwith to set himself to work. He read +diligently--I should rather say he devoured greedily, with the voracious +appetite of a famished man--the authors that roused his curiosity; he +discoursed and discussed with energy; he wrote, he began to print and he +designed soon to publish various works. + +He begins betimes who begins to instruct mankind at eighteen. The +judicious will probably be of opinion that in eighteen years man can +scarcely learn how to learn; and that for eighteen more years he ought to +be content to learn; and if, at the end of the second period, he still +thinks that he can impart anything worthy of attention, it is, at least, +early enough to begin to teach. The fault, however, if it were a fault, +was to be imputed to the times, and not to the individual, as the numerous +precocious effusions of the day attest. + +Shelley was quick to conceive, and not less quick to execute. When I +called one morning at one, I found him busily occupied with some proofs, +which he continued to correct and re-correct with anxious care. As he was +wholly absorbed in this occupation, I selected a book from the floor, +where there was always a good store, and read in silence for at least an +hour. + +My thoughts being as completely abstracted as those of my companion, he +startled me by suddenly throwing a paper with some force on the middle of +the table, and saying, in a penetrating whisper, as he sprang eagerly from +his chair, "I am going to publish some poems." + +In answer to my inquiries, he put the proofs into my hands. I read them +twice attentively, for the poems were very short; and I told him there +were some good lines, some bright thoughts, but there were likewise many +irregularities and incongruities. I added that correctness was important +in all compositions, but it constituted the essence of short ones; and +that it surely would be imprudent to bring his little book out so hastily; +and then I pointed out the errors and defects. + +He listened in silence with much attention, and did not dispute what I +said, except that he remarked faintly that it would not be known that he +was the author, and therefore the publication could not do him any harm. + +I answered that, although it might not be disadvantageous to be the +unknown author of an unread work, it certainly could not be beneficial. + +He made no reply; and we immediately went out, and strolled about the +public walks. + +We dined and returned to his rooms, where we conversed on different +subjects. He did not mention his poems, but they occupied his thoughts; +for he did not fall asleep as usual. Whilst we were at tea, he said +abruptly, "I think you disparage my poems. Tell me what you dislike in +them, for I have forgotten." + +I took the proofs from the place where I had left them, and looking over +them, repeated the former objections, and suggested others. He acquiesced; +and, after a pause, asked, might they be altered? I assented. + +"I will alter them." + +"It will be better to re-write them; a short poem should be of the first +impression." + +Some time afterwards he anxiously inquired, "But in their present form you +do not think they ought to be published?" + +I had been looking over the proofs again, and I answered, "Only as +burlesque poetry;" and I read a part, changing it a little here and +there. + +He laughed at the parody, and begged I would repeat it. + +I took a pen and altered it; and he then read it aloud several times in a +ridiculous tone, and was amused by it. His mirth consoled him for the +condemnation of his verses, and the intention of publishing them was +abandoned. + +The proofs lay in his rooms for some days, and we occasionally amused +ourselves during an idle moment by making them more and more ridiculous; +by striking out the more sober passages; by inserting whimsical conceits, +and especially by giving them what we called a dithyrambic character, +which was effected by cutting some lines out, and joining the different +parts together that would agree in construction, but were the most +discordant in sense. + +Although Shelley was of a grave disposition, he had a certain sly relish +for a practical joke, so that it were ingenuous and abstruse and of a +literary nature. He would often exult in the successful forgeries of +Chatterton and Ireland; and he was especially delighted with a trick +that had lately been played at Oxford by a certain noble viceroy, at that +time an undergraduate, respecting the fairness of which the University was +divided in opinion, all the undergraduates accounting it most just, and +all the graduates, and especially the bachelors, extremely iniquitous, and +indeed popish and jesuitical. A reward is offered annually for the best +English essay on a subject proposed: the competitors send their anonymous +essays, each being distinguished by a motto; when the grave arbitrators +have selected the most worthy, they burn the vanquished essays, and open +the sealed paper endorsed with a corresponding motto, and containing the +name of the victor. + +On the late famous contention, all the ceremonies had been duly performed, +but the sealed paper presented the name of an undergraduate, who was not +qualified to be a candidate, and all the less meritorious discourses of +the bachelors had been burnt, together with their sealed papers--so there +was to be no bachelor's prize that year. + +When we had conferred a competent absurdity upon the proofs, we amused +ourselves by proposing, but without the intention of executing our +project, divers ludicrous titles for the work. Sometimes we thought of +publishing it in the name of some one of the chief living poets, or +possibly of one of the graver authorities of the day; and we regaled +ourselves by describing his wrathful renunciations, and his astonishment +at finding himself immortalised, without his knowledge and against his +will: the inability to die could not be more disagreeable even to Tithonus +himself; but how were we to handcuff our ungrateful favourite, that he +might not tear off the unfading laurel which we were to place upon his +brow? I hit upon a title at last, to which the pre-eminence was given, and +we inscribed it upon the cover. A mad washerwoman, named Peg Nicholson, +had attempted to stab the king, George the Third, with a carving-knife; +the story has long been forgotten, but it was then fresh in the +recollection of every one; it was proposed that we should ascribe the +poems to her. The poor woman was still living, and in green vigour +within the walls of Bedlam; but since her existence must be uncomfortable, +there could be no harm in putting her to death, and in creating a nephew +and administrator to be the editor of his aunt's poetical works. + +The idea gave an object and purpose to our burlesque--to ridicule the +strange mixture of sentimentality with the murderous fury of the +revolutionists, that was so prevalent in the compositions of the day; and +the proofs were altered again to adapt them to this new scheme, but still +without any notion of publication. When the bookseller called to ask for +the proof, Shelley told him that he had changed his mind, and showed them +to him. + +The man was so much pleased with the whimsical conceit that he asked to be +permitted to publish the book on his own account; promising inviolable +secrecy, and as many copies _gratis_ as might be required: after some +hesitation, permission was granted, upon the plighted honour of the +trade. + +In a few days, or rather in a few hours, a noble quarto appeared; it +consisted of a small number of pages, it is true, but they were of the +largest size, of the thickest, the whitest and the smoothest drawing +paper; a large, clear and handsome type had impressed a few lines with ink +of a rich, glossy black, amidst ample margins. The poor maniac laundress +was gravely styled "the late Mrs Margaret Nicholson, widow;" and the +sonorous name of Fitzvictor had been culled for her inconsolable nephew +and administrator. To add to his dignity, the waggish printer had picked +up some huge text types of so unusual a form that even an antiquary could +not spell the words at the first glance. The effect was certainly +striking; Shelley had torn open the large square bundle before the +printer's boy quitted the room, and holding out a copy with both his +hands, he ran about in an ecstasy of delight, gazing at the superb +title-page. + +The first poem was a long one, condemning war in the lump--puling trash, +that might have been written by a Quaker, and could only have been +published in sober sadness by a society instituted for the diffusion of +that kind of knowledge which they deemed useful--useful for some end which +they have not been pleased to reveal, and which unassisted reason is +wholly unable to discover. The MS. had been confided to Shelley by some +rhymester of the day, and it was put forth in this shape to astonish a +weak mind; but principally to captivate the admirers of philosophical +poetry by the manifest incongruity of disallowing all war, even the most +just, and then turning sharp round, and recommending the dagger of the +assassin as the best cure for all evils, and the sure passport to a lady's +favour. + +Our book of useful knowledge--the philosopher's own book--contained sundry +odes and other pieces, professing an ardent attachment to freedom, and +proposing to stab all who were less enthusiastic than the supposed +authoress. The work, however, was altered a little, I believe, before the +final impression; but I never read it afterwards, for, when an author +once sees his book in print, his task is ended, and he may fairly leave +the perusal of it to posterity. I have one copy, if not more, somewhere or +other, but not at hand. There were some verses, I remember, with a good +deal about sucking in them; to these I objected, as unsuitable to the +gravity of a University, but Shelley declared they would be the most +impressive of all. There was a poem concerning a young woman, one +Charlotte Somebody, who attempted to assassinate Robespierre, or some such +person; and there was to have been a rapturous monologue to the dagger of +Brutus. The composition of such a piece was no mean effort of the Muse. It +was completed at last, but not in time; as the dagger itself has probably +fallen a prey to rust, so the more pointed and polished monologue, it is +to be feared, has also perished through a more culpable neglect. + +A few copies were sent, as a special favour, to trusty and sagacious +friends at a distance, whose gravity would not permit them to suspect a +hoax. They read and admired, being charmed with the wild notes of +liberty. Some, indeed, presumed to censure mildly certain passages as +having been thrown off in too bold a vein. Nor was a certain success +wanting--the remaining copies were rapidly sold in Oxford at the +aristocratical price of half-a-crown for half-a-dozen pages. We used to +meet gownsmen in High Street reading the goodly volume as they +walked--pensive, with a grave and sage delight--some of them, perhaps, +more pensive because it seemed to portend the instant overthrow of all +royalty from a king to a court card. + +What a strange delusion to admire our stuff--the concentrated essence of +nonsense! It was indeed a kind of fashion to be seen reading it in public, +as a mark of a nice discernment, of a delicate and fastidious taste in +poetry, and the very criterion of a choice spirit. + +Nobody suspected, or could suspect, who was the author. The thing passed +off as the genuine production of the would-be regicide. It is marvellous, +in truth, how little talent of any kind there was in our famous +University in those days; there was no great encouragement, however, to +display intellectual gifts. + +The acceptance, as a serious poem, of a work so evidently designed for a +burlesque upon the prevailing notion of the day, that revolutionary +ruffians were the most fit recipients of the gentlest passions, was a +foretaste of the prodigious success that, a few years later, attended a +still more whimsical paradox. Poets had sung already that human ties put +love at once to flight; that at the sight of civil obligations he spreads +his light wings in a moment and makes default. The position was soon +greatly extended, and we were taught by a noble poet that even the +slightest recognition of the law of nations was fatal to the tender +passion. The very captain of a privateer was pronounced incapable of a +pure and ardent attachment; the feeble control of letters of marque could +effectually check the course of affection; a complete union of souls could +only be accomplished under the black flag. Your true lover must +necessarily be an enemy of the whole human race--a mere and absolute +pirate. It is true that the tales of the love-sick buccaneers were adorned +with no ordinary talent, but the theory is not less extraordinary on that +account. + +The operation of Peg Nicholson was bland and innoxious. The next work that +Shelley printed was highly deleterious, and was destined to shed a baneful +influence over his future progress. In itself it was more harmless than +the former, but it was turned to a deadly poison by the unprovoked malice +of fortune. + +We had read together attentively several of the metaphysical works that +were most in vogue at that time, as Locke _Concerning Human +Understanding_, and Hume's _Essays_, particularly the latter, of which we +had made a very careful analysis, as was customary with those who read the +_Ethics_ and the other treatises of Aristotle for their degree. Shelley +had the custody of these papers, which were chiefly in his handwriting, +although they were the joint production of both in our common daily +studies. From these, and from a small part of them only, he made up a +little book, and had it printed, I believe, in the country, certainly not +at Oxford. His motive was this. He not only read greedily all the +controversial writings on subjects interesting to him which he could +procure, and disputed vehemently in conversation with his friends, but he +had several correspondents with whom he kept up the ball of doubt in +letters; of these he received many, so that the arrival of the postman was +always an anxious moment with him. This practice he had learned of a +physician, from whom he had taken instructions in chemistry, and of whose +character and talents he often spoke with profound veneration. It was, +indeed, the usual course with men of learning formerly, as their +biographies and many volumes of such epistles testify. The physician was +an old man, and a man of the old school. He confined his epistolary +discussions to matters of science, and so did his disciple for some +time; but when metaphysics usurped the place in his affections that +chemistry had before held, the latter gradually fell into discepations, +respecting existences still more subtle than gases and the electric fluid. +The transition, however, from physics to metaphysics was gradual. Is the +electric fluid material? he would ask his correspondent; is light--is the +vital principle in vegetables--in brutes--is the human soul? + +His individual character had proved an obstacle to his inquiries, even +whilst they were strictly physical. A refuted or irritated chemist had +suddenly concluded a long correspondence by telling his youthful opponent +that he would write to his master, and have him well flogged. The +discipline of a public school, however salutary in other respects, was not +favourable to free and fair discussions, and Shelley began to address +inquiries anonymously, or rather, that he might receive an answer, as +Philalethes, and the like; but, even at Eton, the postmen do not +ordinarily speak Greek. To prevent miscarriages, therefore it was +necessary to adopt a more familiar name, as John Short or Thomas Long. + +When he came to Oxford, he retained and extended his former practice +without quitting the convenient disguise of an assumed name. His object in +printing the short abstract of some of the doctrines of Hume was to +facilitate his epistolary disquisitions. It was a small pill, but it +worked powerfully. The mode of operation was this: he enclosed a copy in a +letter and sent it by the post, stating, with modesty and simplicity, that +he had met accidentally with that little tract, which appeared unhappily +to be quite unanswerable. Unless the fish was too sluggish to take the +bait, an answer of refutation was forwarded to an appointed address in +London, and then, in a vigorous reply, he would fall upon the unwary +disputant and break his bones. The strenuous attack sometimes provoked a +rejoinder more carefully prepared, and an animated and protracted debate +ensued. The party cited, having put in his answer, was fairly in court, +and he might get out of it as he could. The chief difficulty seemed to +be to induce the person addressed to acknowledge the jurisdiction, and to +plead; and this, Shelley supposed, would be removed by sending, in the +first instance, a printed syllabus instead of written arguments. An +accident greatly facilitated his object. We had been talking some time +before about geometrical demonstration; he was repeating its praises, +which he had lately read in some mathematical work, and speaking of its +absolute certainty and perfect truth. + +I said that this superiority partly arose from the confidence of +mathematicians, who were naturally a confident race, and were seldom +acquainted with any other science than their own; that they always put a +good face upon the matter, detailing their arguments dogmatically and +doggedly, as if there was no room for doubt, and concluded, when weary of +talking in their positive strain, with Q.E.D.: in which three letters +there was so powerful a charm, that there was no instance of anyone having +ever disputed any argument or proposition to which they were subscribed. +He was diverted by this remark, and often repeated it, saying, if you ask +a friend to dinner, and only put Q.E.D. at the end of the invitation, he +cannot refuse to come; and he sometimes wrote these letters at the end of +a common note, in order, as he said, to attain to a mathematical +certainty. The potent characters were not forgotten when he printed his +little syllabus; and their efficacy in rousing his antagonists was quite +astonishing. + +It is certain that the three obnoxious letters had a fertilising effect, +and raised crops of controversy; but it would be unjust to deny that an +honest zeal stimulated divers worthy men to assert the truth against an +unknown assailant. The praise of good intention must be conceded; but it +is impossible to accord that of powerful execution also to his +antagonists; this curious correspondence fully testified the deplorable +condition of education at that time. A youth of eighteen was able to +confute men who had numbered thrice as many years; to vanquish them on +their own ground, although he gallantly fought at a disadvantage by taking +the wrong side. + +His little pamphlet was never offered for sale; it was not addressed to an +ordinary reader, but to the metaphysician alone, and it was so short, that +it was only designed to point out the line of argument. It was, in truth, +a general issue, a compendious denial of every allegation, in order to put +the whole case in proof; it was a formal mode of saying you affirm so and +so, then prove it, and thus was it understood by his more candid and +intelligent correspondents. As it was shorter, so was it plainer, and, +perhaps in order to provoke discussion, a little bolder, than Hume's +_Essays_--a book which occupies a conspicuous place in the library of +every student. The doctrine, if it deserves the name, was precisely +similar; the necessary and inevitable consequence of Locke's philosophy, +and of the theory that all knowledge is from without. I will not admit +your conclusions, his opponent might answer; then you must deny those of +Hume; I deny them; but you must deny those of Locke also, and we will go +back together to Plato. Such was the usual course of argument. Sometimes, +however, he rested on mere denial, holding his adversary to strict proof, +and deriving strength from his weakness. + +The young Platonist argued thus negatively through the love of argument, +and because he found a noble joy in the fierce shocks of contending minds. +He loved truth, and sought it everywhere and at all hazards frankly and +boldly, like a man who deserved to find it; but he also loved dearly +victory in debate, and warm debate for its own sake. Never was there a +more unexceptionable disputant; he was eager beyond the most ardent, but +never angry and never personal; he was the only arguer I ever knew who +drew every argument from the nature of the thing, and who could never be +provoked to descend to personal contentions. He was fully inspired, +indeed, with the whole spirit of the true logician; the more obvious and +indisputable the proposition which his opponent undertook to maintain, +the more complete was the triumph of his art if he could refute and +prevent him. + +To one who was acquainted with the history of our University, with its +ancient reputation as the most famous school of logic, it seemed that the +genius of the place, after an absence of several generations, had deigned +to return at last; the visit, however, as it soon appeared, was ill-timed. + +The schoolman of old, who occasionally laboured with technical subtleties +to prevent the admission of the first principles of belief, could not have +been justly charged with the intention of promoting scepticism; his was +the age of minute and astute disceptation, it is true, but it was also the +epoch of the most firm, resolute and extensive faith. I have seen a +dexterous fencing-master, after warning his pupil to hold his weapon fast, +by a few turns of his wrist throw it suddenly on the ground and under his +feet; but it cannot be pretended that he neglected to teach the art of +self-defence, because he apparently deprived his scholar of that which +is essential to the end proposed. To be disarmed is a step in the science +of arms, and whoever has undergone it has already put his foot within the +threshold; so it is likewise with refutation. + +In describing briefly the nature of Shelley's epistolary contention, the +recollection of his youth, his zeal, his activity, and particularly of +many individual peculiarities, may have tempted me to speak sometimes with +a certain levity, notwithstanding the solemn importance of the topics +respecting which they were frequently maintained. The impression that they +were conducted on his part, or considered by him, with frivolity or any +unseemly lightness, would, however, be most erroneous; his whole frame of +mind was grave, earnest and anxious, and his deportment was reverential, +with an edification reaching beyond the age--an age wanting in reverence, +an unlearned age, a young age, for the young lack learning. Hume permits +no object of respect to remain; Locke approaches the most awful +speculations with the same indifference as if he were about to handle +the properties of triangles; the small deference rendered to the most holy +things by the able theologian Paley is not the least remarkable of his +characteristics. + +Wiser and better men displayed anciently, together with a more profound +erudition, a superior and touching solemnity; the meek seriousness of +Shelley was redolent of those good old times before mankind had been +despoiled of a main ingredient in the composition of happiness--a +well-directed veneration. + +Whether such disputations were decorous or profitable may be perhaps +doubtful; there can be no doubt, however, since the sweet gentleness of +Shelley was easily and instantly swayed by the mild influences of friendly +admonition, that, had even the least dignified of his elders suggested the +propriety of pursuing his metaphysical inquiries with less ardour, his +obedience would have been prompt and perfect. + +Not only had all salutary studies been long neglected in Oxford at that +time, and all wholesome discipline was decayed, but the splendid +endowments of the University were grossly abused. The resident authorities +of the college were too often men of the lowest origin, of mean and sordid +souls, destitute of every literary attainment, except that brief and +narrow course of reading by which the first degree was attained: the +vulgar sons of vulgar fathers, without liberality, and wanting the manners +and the sympathies of gentlemen. + +A total neglect of all learning, an unseemly turbulence, the most +monstrous irregularities, open and habitual drunkenness, vice and +violence, were tolerated or encouraged with the basest sycophancy, that +the prospect of perpetual licentiousness might fill the colleges with +young men of fortune; whenever the rarely exercised power of coercion was +extorted, it demonstrated the utter incapacity of our unworthy rulers by +coarseness, ignorance and injustice. + +If a few gentlemen were admitted to fellowships, they were always absent; +they were not persons of literary pretensions, or distinguished by +scholarship, and they had no more share in the government of the college +than the overgrown guardsmen, who, in long white gaiters, bravely protect +the precious life of the sovereign against such assailants as the tenth +Muse, our good friend Mrs Nicholson. + +As the term was drawing to a close, and a great part of the books we were +reading together still remained unfinished, we had agreed to increase our +exertions, and to meet at an early hour. + +It was a fine spring morning on Lady Day, in the year 1811, when I went to +Shelley's rooms; he was absent, but before I had collected our books he +rushed in. He was terribly agitated. I anxiously inquired what had +happened. + +"I am expelled," he said, as soon as he had recovered himself a little. "I +am expelled! I was sent for suddenly a few minutes ago; I went to the +common room, where I found our master and two or three of the fellows. The +master produced a copy of the little syllabus, and asked me if I were the +author of it. He spoke in a rude, abrupt and insolent tone. I begged to +be informed for what purpose he put the question. No answer was given; but +the master loudly and angrily repeated, 'Are you the author of this book?' +'If I can judge from your manner,' I said, 'you are resolved to punish me +if I should acknowledge that it is my work. If you can prove that it is, +produce your evidence; it is neither just nor lawful to interrogate me in +such a case and for such a purpose. Such proceedings would become a court +of inquisitors, but not free men in a free country.' 'Do you choose to +deny that this is your composition?' the master reiterated in the same +rude and angry voice." + +Shelley complained much of his violent and ungentlemanlike deportment, +saying, "I have experienced tyranny and injustice before, and I well know +what vulgar violence is; but I never met with such unworthy treatment. I +told him calmly and firmly, that I was determined not to answer any +questions respecting the publication on the table. He immediately repeated +his demand. I persisted in my refusal, and he said furiously, 'Then you +are expelled, and I desire you will quit the college early to-morrow +morning at the latest.' One of the fellows took up two papers and handed +one of them to me; here it is." He produced a regular sentence of +expulsion, drawn up in due form, under the seal of the college. + +Shelley was full of spirit and courage, frank and fearless; but he was +likewise shy, unpresuming and eminently sensitive. I have been with him in +many trying situations of his after-life, but I never saw him so deeply +shocked and so cruelly agitated as on this occasion. A nice sense of +honour shrinks from the most distant touch of disgrace, even from the +insults of those men whose contumely can bring no shame. He sat on the +sofa, repeating with convulsive vehemence the words "Expelled, expelled!" +his head shaking with emotion, and his whole frame quivering. The +atrocious injustice and its cruel consequences roused the indignation and +moved the compassion of a friend who then stood by Shelley. He has given +the following account of his interference:-- + +"So monstrous and so illegal did the outrage seem, that I held it to be +impossible that any man, or any body of men, would dare to adhere to it; +but, whatever the issue might be, it was a duty to endeavour to the utmost +to assist him. I at once stepped forward, therefore, as the advocate of +Shelley: such an advocate, perhaps, with respect to judgment, as might be +expected at the age of eighteen, but certainly not inferior to the most +practised defenders in good will and devotion. I wrote a short note to the +masters and fellows, in which, as far as I can remember a very hasty +composition after a long interval, I briefly expressed my sorrow at the +treatment my friend had experienced, and my hope that they would +reconsider their sentence since, by the same course of proceeding, myself, +or any other person, might be subjected to the same penalty, and to the +imputation of equal guilt. The note was despatched; the conclave was still +sitting, and in an instant the porter came to summon me to attend, +bearing in his countenance a promise of the reception which I was about to +find. The angry and troubled air of men assembled to commit injustice +according to established forms was then new to me, but a native instinct +told me, as soon as I had entered the room, that it was an affair of +party; that whatever could conciliate the favour of patrons was to be done +without scruple, and whatever could tend to impede preferment was to be +brushed away without remorse. The glowing master produced my poor note. I +acknowledged it, and he forthwith put into my hand, not less abruptly, the +little syllabus. 'Did you write this?' he asked, as fiercely as if I alone +stood between him and the rich see of Durham. I attempted, submissively, +to point out to him the extreme unfairness of the question, the injustice +of punishing Shelley for refusing to answer it; that if it were urged upon +me I must offer the like refusal, as I had no doubt every man in college +would, every gentleman, indeed, in the University, which, if such a course +were adopted with all, and there could not be any reason why it should +be used with one and not with the rest, would thus be stripped of every +member. I soon perceived that arguments were thrown away upon a man +possessing no more intellect or erudition, and far less renown, than that +famous ram, since translated to the stars, through grasping whose tail +less firmly than was expedient, the sister of Phryxus formerly found a +watery grave, and gave her name to the broad Hellespont. + +"The other persons present took no part in the conversation; they presumed +not to speak, scarcely to breathe, but looked mute subserviency. The few +resident fellows, indeed, were but so many incarnations of the spirit of +the master, whatever that spirit might be. When I was silent, the master +told me to retire, and to consider whether I was resolved to persist in my +refusal. The proposal was fair enough. The next day or the next week, I +might have given my final answer--a deliberate answer; having in the +meantime consulted with older and more experienced persons, as to what +course was best for myself and for others. I had scarcely passed the door, +however, when I was recalled. The master again showed me the book, and +hastily demanded whether I admitted or denied that I was the author of it. +I answered that I was fully sensible of the many and great inconveniences +of being dismissed with disgrace from the University, and I specified some +of them, and expressed a humble hope that they would not impose such a +mark of discredit upon me without any cause. I lamented that it was +impossible either to admit or to deny the publication--no man of spirit +could submit to do so--and that a sense of duty compelled me respectfully +to refuse to answer the question which had been proposed. 'Then you are +expelled,' said the master, angrily, in a loud, great voice. A formal +sentence, duly signed and sealed, was instantly put into my hand: in what +interval the instrument had been drawn up I cannot imagine. The alleged +offence was contumacious refusal to disavow the imputed publication. My +eye glanced over it, and observing the word _contumaciously_, I said +calmly that I did not think that term was justified by my behaviour. +Before I had concluded the remark, the master, lifting up the little +syllabus, and then dashing it on the table and looking sternly at me, +said, 'Am I to understand, sir, that you adopt the principles contained in +this work?' or some such words; for like one red with the suffusion of +college port and college ale, the intense heat of anger seemed to deprive +him of the power of articulation, by reason of a rude provincial dialect +and thickness of utterance, his speech being at all times indistinct. 'The +last question is still more improper than the former,' I replied, for I +felt that the imputation was an insult; 'and since, by your own act, you +have renounced all authority over me, our communication is at an end.' 'I +command you to quit my college to-morrow at an early hour.' I bowed and +withdrew. I thank God I have never seen that man since; he is gone to his +bed, and there let him sleep. Whilst he lived, he ate freely of the +scholar's bread and drank from his cup, and he was sustained, throughout +the whole term of his existence, wholly and most nobly, by those sacred +funds that were consecrated by our pious forefathers to the advancement of +learning. If the vengeance of the all-patient and long-contemned gods can +ever be roused, it will surely be by some such sacrilege! The favour which +he showed to scholars and his gratitude have been made manifest. If he +were still alive, he would doubtless be as little desirous that his zeal +should now be remembered as those bigots who had been most active in +burning Archbishop Cranmer could have been to publish their officiousness +during the reign of Elizabeth." + +Busy rumour has ascribed, on what foundation I know not, since an active +and searching inquiry has not hitherto been made, the infamy of having +denounced Shelley to the pert, meddling tutor of a college of inferior +note, a man of an insalubrious and inauspicious aspect. Any paltry fellow +can whisper a secret accusation; but a certain courage, as well as +malignity, is required by him who undertakes to give evidence openly +against another; to provoke thereby the displeasure of the accused, of his +family and friends, and to submit his own veracity and his motives to +public scrutiny. Hence the illegal and inquisitorial mode of proceeding by +interrogation, instead of the lawful and recognised course by the +production of witnesses. The disposal of ecclesiastical preferment has +long been so reprehensible, the practice of desecrating institutions that +every good man desires to esteem most holy is so inveterate, that it is +needless to add that the secret accuser was rapidly enriched with the most +splendid benefices, and finally became a dignitary of the Church. The +modest prelate did not seek publicity in the charitable and dignified act +of deserving; it is not probable, therefore, that he is anxious at present +to invite an examination of the precise nature of his deserts. + +The next morning at eight o'clock Shelley and his friend set out together +for London on the top of a coach; and with his final departure from the +University these reminiscences of his life at Oxford terminate. The +narrative of the injurious effects of this cruel, precipitate, unjust and +illegal expulsion upon the entire course of his subsequent life would not +be wanting in interest or instruction, when the scene was changed from the +quiet seclusion of academic groves and gardens, and the calm valley of our +silvery Isis, to the stormy ocean of that vast and shoreless world, to the +utmost violence of which he was, at an early age, suddenly and unnaturally +abandoned. + + +THE END + + + EDINBURGH + COLSTON AND COY, LIMITED + PRINTERS + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_. + +The following misprints have been corrected: + "surrrounding" corrected to "surrounding" (page 5) + "gometricians" corrected to "geometricians" (page 83) + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Shelley at Oxford, by Thomas Jefferson Hogg + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SHELLEY AT OXFORD *** + +***** This file should be named 34525.txt or 34525.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/4/5/2/34525/ + +Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images +generously made available by The Internet Archive/American +Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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