William Charles Mark Kent

“ In 1865 was published ‘Extracts from the Journals and Correspondence of Miss Berry from 1783 to 1852, edited by Lady Theresa Lewis.’ Portraits of Mary Berry at different ages, from girlhood to eighty-six, enable us to realise something of her personal charm. Those who would see an effigy of her at her very best should turn to the classic bust of her in white marble sculptured by the Hon. Anne Seymour Damer for Horace Walpole, who regarded it as one of his most precious treasures. ”

“ Chatterton was embittered by the repulse. He satirised all the leading people of Bristol, even those who were the most intimately associated with himself, and to whom he was under some small personal obligations. His derisive poetical ‘Epistle to the Rev. Alexander Catcott,’ written on 6 Dec. 1769, and his prose ‘Postscript to the Epistle,’ dated the 20th of the same month, brought their hitherto friendly acquaintance abruptly to a close. One Bristolian alone never had from him other than the most respectful treatment. ”

“ Chatterton addresses to George Catcott the last letter he is known for certain to have addressed to any one. He writes: ‘I intend going abroad as a surgeon. Mr. Barrett has it in his power to assist me greatly by his giving me a physical character. I hope he will.’ He speaks of a roposal for building a new spire for St. Mary Radcliffe, and concludes: ‘Heaven send you the comforts of christianity! I request them not, for I am no christian.' His narrow resources were now rapidly drawing to an end. In his Brooke Street lodgings he had won the affection of all who knew him. ”

“ After passing through many vicissitudes, the family had its fortunes restored about the middle of the seventeenth century by Peter Beckford, the alderman's great-grandfather, who, quitting England in search of advancement, settled down in Jamaica, and there rose to considerable wealth as a planter. His son, Colonel Peter Beckford, acquired so much distinction among the colonists during the reign of Charles II that he was nominated president of the council, being eventually, under William III, appointed lieutenant-governor and commander-in-chief of the island. ”

“ It was for some time a matter of bewilderment how Chatterton could have contrived to make the names of the chiefs correspond so exactly with the ‘Roll of Battle Abbey,’ the fact being that he had only to turn for them to Holinshed’s ‘Chronicles.’ The ‘Battle of Hastings’ is surpassed by the tragical interlude of ‘Ælla,’ which may be accepted as his masterpiece. ‘Ælla,’ in the poet’s handwriting, was in 1768 handed to Catcott in manuscript. ”

“ The whole city was startled by the appearance in ‘Felix Farley's Bristol Journal,’ on 1 Oct. 1768, of an account of the mayor's first passing over the old bridge in 1248. The description purported to have been taken ‘from an old manuscript,’ and was transmitted to the printer of the journal by one signing himself ‘Dunelmus Bristoliensis.’ Curiosity was at once awakened as to the source from which this curious document had emanated, the original of which is now at the British Museum (Add. MS. 5766 B 8) . ”

“ Such was the rapidity with which he wrote at this time, that of the 444 lines of his satirical poem of 'The Exhibition,' the unpublished manuscript of which yet lies at the Bristol Library, the first line was dated 1 May, and the last line 3 May, the whole of it having been run off at a heat at Shoreditch. The merest fragment of it (fourteen lines in all) has been printed, the rest having been suppressed as unfit for publication. Chatterton's life, however, was not licentious. He retained his affection for his family. ”

“ Bishop Baines fell into such serious ill-health that he made a tour on the continent. During a long stay in Rome he became a great favourite of the then pontiff, Leo XII. His arrival in Rome was in the winter of 1826, his illness at the time being of a most critical character. Loitering as a visitor during the summer of 1827 between Assisi and Porto Fermo, his enfeebled constitution was at length re-established by the climate and by repose. The reputation acquired by him in England grew rapidly at Rome. ”

“ Miss Kelly's withdrawal from the company at Drury Lane Theatre was precipitated by her ambition to carry out an early project for counteracting the prejudice against her profession which had found vigorous expression in the article ‘Actress’ in the third edition of the ‘Encyclopædia Britannica,’ published in 1797. She desired to establish a dramatic school for the judicious training of young women. She began by taking the New Strand Theatre, where, to show her capacity for the task, she gave an entertainment in monologue, which became very popular. ”

“ In the autumn of 1839 he spent a month's holiday in Scotland, witnessing the Eglintoun Tournament, which he described in the ‘Chronicle,’ and making many literary acquaintances in Edinburgh. On severing his connection with the ‘Morning Chronicle’ in the autumn of 1844, he removed to Scotland, and became editor of the ‘Glasgow Argus.’ In 1846 he collected verses which had appeared in the ‘Daily News’ under Dickens's editorship as ‘Voices from the Crowd.’ Henry Russell, to whom Lumley had introduced him, set some of the poems to music, and in that form they became popular all over the world. ”

“ After travelling through Norway and Sweden during the autumn of 1853 as the Crystal Palace commissioner, he brought out in 1854 ‘A Brage Beaker with the Swedes, or Notes from the North,’ 8vo. In 1855 he went to Paris to describe the exhibition there for the ‘Daily News,’ the ‘Illustrated London News,’ and the ‘Athenæum.’ Thenceforward until the close of his life he was as much a Parisian as he was a Londoner, spending half of each year in the French and half in the English capital, and writing for English newspapers or in volume form a large number of papers on French politics and society. ”

“ FARGUS, FREDERICK JOHN (1847–1885) , novelist under the pseudonym of Hugh Conway, born at Bristol on 26 Dec. 1847, was the eldest of three brothers who were the children of Frederick Charles Fargus, a local auctioneer. Their mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Marson, died during their boyhood. Frederick was a quiet, contemplative child. His boyish passion for reading novels made him long to be a sailor. ”

“ While he had the heartiest enjoyment of society he had a curious impatience of little troubles, and yet the largest indulgence for the weakness of others. It was regarded as significant that Dickens allotted to him, in Lord Lytton's comedy of ‘Not so bad as we seem,’ the character of Mr. Hardman, who, with a severe and peremptory manner, is the readiest to say a kindly word for the small poet and hack pamphleteer. By his will, dated 26 Feb. 1874, he bequeathed to the nation ‘The Forster Collection,’ now at South Kensington. ”

“ The expensive character of the works issued from the press by Dolman involved him at last in embarrassment. In 1858 he had exhausted all his capital, and tried to form his business into a limited liability company, called the Catholic Bookselling and Publishing Company. Dolman withdrew to Paris, where, with the help of friends, he set up a small business at No. 64 Rue du Faubourg St. Honoré. His health, always delicate, gave way, and he died there on 31 Dec. 1863, his widow dying in her sixty-sixth year, on 2 March 1885, at Erith. ”

“ In 1801 he entered a theatre for the first time at Belfast, to see Mrs. Siddons as Elvira. On his return he said that he would die if he were not allowed to become an actor. Two years later he made his first appearance at Belfast on Friday, 19 Aug. 1803. He was announced beforehand as 'a young gentleman only eleven years old, whose theatrical abilities have been the wonder and admiration of all who have heard him.' His part was Osman in the tragedy of 'Zara,' Aaron Hill's version in English of the 'Zaire' of Voltaire. ”

“ Upon the death of Alexander Dyce in 1869, Forster corrected and published his friend's third edition of Shakespeare, and prefixed a memoir to the official catalogue of the library bequeathed by Dyce to the nation. Dickens's death, on 9 June 1870, led to his last finished biography. His ‘Life of Dickens’ was published, the first volume in 1872, the second in 1873, and the third in 1874. His failing health had induced him, in 1872, to resign his office of lunacy commissioner. He survived all his relations, and felt deeply each successive death. ”

“ During a panic in 1851 Dixon brought out an anonymous pamphlet, ‘The French in England, or Both Sides of the Question on Both Sides of the Channel,’ arguing against the possibility of a French invasion. In 1852 Dixon published a life of ‘Robert Blake, Admiral and General at Sea, based on Family and State Papers’ [see Blake, Robert] . It was more successful with the public than with serious historians. After a long tour in Europe he became, in January 1853, editor of the ‘Athenæum,’ to which he had been a contributor for some years. ”

“ During the period of his nearly twenty years' residence in London he himself had an allowance from the court of chancery in Ireland of 550l. a year, and from Lady Harriet d'Orsay of 400l. He founded the Société de Bienfaisance, which still exists. For two years before the break-up at Gore House he was in continual danger of arrest. The final crash came in April of 1849, when D'Orsay started for Paris, taking with him his valet and a single portmanteau. Lady Blessington followed him soon afterwards. Their old friend, Prince Louis Napoleon, was president of the French Republic. ”

“ Warton, the historian of English poetry, accorded to that monk in 1778 a distinct place among the poets of the fifteenth century; while Dean Milles, the president of the Society of Antiquaries, published in 1782 his superb edition in 4to of the ‘Rowley Poems,’ with elaborate commentaries in proof of their authenticity. Arguments one way or the other, however, have long since ceased. By internal and external evidence alike Chatterton is now known to have been the one sole author of these productions. The proofs are abundant. ”

“ BERKELEY, CRAVEN FITZHARDINGE (1805–1855) , member of parliament for Cheltenham, seventh and youngest son and eleventh of the twelve children of Frederick Augustus, fifth earl of Berkeley, of Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire, and of Mary, daughter of William Cole [see Berkeley, Family of] , was born in London, at Berkeley House, Spring Gardens, on 28 July 1805. During the early part of his career he was for a time an officer in the 1st life guards. Immediately after the passing of the Reform Bill, however, in 1832, a new path in life was marked out for him. Cheltenham, on 10 Dec. ”

“ In 1836 he brought out a pamphlet entitled ‘The Lords, the Government, and the Country.’ For the next thirty years he devoted himself entirely to diplomacy. He had become familiar with French society of all ranks, and was said to have suggested or inspired George Sand's ‘Mauprat.’ While at Paris on 14 Aug. 1837 he received his nomination as secretary of embassy at Constantinople. In this post he distinguished himself by negotiating a commercial treaty with the Porte, the duty being entrusted to him by Lord Ponsonby, then ambassador at Constantinople. ”

“ Burgum went to London, a little while afterwards, to have his pedigree duly authenticated at the Heralds' College, and learned that there was no record of a De Bergham ever having borne arms. The whole affair may be regarded as a schoolboy's practical joke. Chatterton's first conception of the ‘Rowley Romance’ dated from 1765. Its central figure was an imaginary monk of the fifteenth century, Thomas Rowley, afterwards spoken of as a secular priest at St. John's Church, the friend and confessor of the great merchant and mayor of Bristol, William Canynge the younger. ”

“ He told a schoolfellow, James Thistlethwaite, that he had lent one of these old manuscripts to the junior usher, Phillips, who a few days later showed a discoloured piece of parchment on which was ‘Elinoure and Juga,’ the earliest produced of the so-called ancient poems, though the latest printed of them all during Chatterton's lifetime. It was first published five years afterwards in the May number for 1769 of Hamilton's ‘Town and Country Magazine.’ Chatterton had therefore written it when he was no more than in the middle of his twelfth year. ”