Synopses & Reviews
BARRY CORNWALL. AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL FRAGMENT BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES, WITH PERSONAL SKETCHES OF CONTEMPORARIES, UNPUBLISHED LYRICS, AND LETTERS OF LITERARY FRIENDS. 1877 - PREFACE. I HAVE been asked and the request, from the circumstances, has the force of a com- mand to edit the following memoranda by Mr. Procter relating to himself and his con- temporaries, and to accompany them by a few remarks, biographical and otherwise, of my own. My only qualification lies in the fact of my having for this task known and loved Mr. Procter for more than thirty years. Inasmuch as he was, during that period, the friend of almost every person of character in art or letters, and as I saw less of him, owing to my having lived nearly always out of London, than many of his friends did, this qualification seems to me to be an inadequate one. But of that I have not been allowed to judge. For this reason, and because I have VI been obliged to work in the country and without means of verifying dates, etc., I claim the forbearance of criticism in regard to the defects in my honorable task. February 1, 1877. execution .of this dear and C. P. CONTENTS. PART I. PAGE AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL FRAGMENTS AND BIO- GRAPHICAL NOTES . 3 CHAPTER I. Autobiographical Sketcfi. Early reminiscences Ancestry Recollections of his father and mother Goes to a board- ing-school CHAPTER II. Removes to Harrow School Spends vacations with his mothers uncle Alice W., the servant, teaches him to love Shakespeare His schoolfellows, Peel, Byron His want of ambition 16 CHAPTER III. Leaves school Articled to a solicitor in Wiltshire Events which marked the progress of his mind Cravings for intellectual delights which the study of the law could notgratify Ransacks the village library and reads the early novelists 24 CHAPTER IV. Reads all the English poets Throws himself into letters Falls in love at eighteen Returns to London and thinks 8 CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. tontimied. of literature as a profession Early literary acquaintances Autobiographical sketch ends Contributes poems to the Literary Gazette His essay on the Death of Friends contains autobiographical passages His moth- ers account of his early childhood His first school a dames school at Finchley Anecdote by Miss Martineau School anecdote of Sir R. Peel Death of his father In partnership with Mr. Slaney Takes lessons in box- ing Falls in love Dissolves partnership Period of his active career as a poet Production of his tragedy at Covent Garden His own account of its success Lord Jeffreys estimate of his writing Popularity of his nar- rative and dramatic poems Criticisms Lord Byrons opinion Miss Martineaus sketch of the poet in the Daily News Introduction to Mr. and Mrs. Basil Montagu and Miss Skepper Marries Extracts from his letters to Miss Skepper His fondness for the theatre Solicited to contribute to the Edinburgh Review Contributes to the Annuals, etc. Returns in earnest to his profession Takes pupils, Mr. Kinglake and Mr. Eliot Warburton Birth of his eldest child, Adelaide Notes concerning the Kembles, Cooper, Sir T. Lawrence, George Dyer, Campbell, and Stothard Resemblance between the characters of Stothard and Procter Called to the Bar and becomes a Commissioner in Lunacy Loses his second son, Edward Unpublished verses on the same Miss Procter publishes her Legends and Lyrics His kind disposition Resigns his Commissioners hip of Lunacy Intimacy with Mr. Forster andMr. Browning Pub- lishes the Life of Charles Kean Letters to Mr. Fields PAGB Last few years of his life Lines on his death by Mr. Swinburne Grave, and monumental stone at Finchley . 31 CONTENTS. IX PART II. RECOLLECTIONS OF LITERARY MEN. PAGE Parallel between Lamb, Hazlitt, and Leigh Hunt Rev. W. L. Bowles John Howard Payne Rev. G. Croly Lord Byron Wordsworth Southey Coleridge S. Rogers T. Campbell T...