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Tracks of a Rolling Stone-Part50_Henry J.Coke(1827-1916)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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During the summer of last year, my friend Miss Alice Bird,

who was paying me a visit at Longford, gave me this account



of it.

When Leigh Hunt's memoirs were being edited by his son



Thornton in 1861, he engaged the services of three intimate

friends of the family to read and collate the enormous mass



of his father's correspondence. Miss Alice Bird was one of

the chosen three. The arduous task completed, Thornton Hunt



presented each of his three friends with a number of

autographic letters, which, according to Miss Bird's



description, he took almost at random from the eliminated

pile. Amongst the lot that fell to Miss Bird's share was a



roll of stained paper tied up with tape. This she was led to

suppose - she never carefully examined it - might be either a



copy or a draft of some friend's unpublished poem.

The unknown treasure was put away in a drawer with the rest.



Here it remained undisturbed for forty-three years. Having

now occasion to remove these papers, she opened the forgotten



scroll, and was at once struck both with the words of the

'Hyperion,' and with the resemblance of the writing to



Keats's.

She forthwith consulted the Keepers of the Manuscripts in the



British Museum, with the result that her TROUVAILLE was

immediately identified as the poet's own draft of the



'Hyperion.' The responsible authorities soon after, offered

the fortunate possessor five hundred guineas for the



manuscript, but courteously and honestly informed her that,

were it put up to auction, some American collector would be



almost sure to give a much larger sum for it.

Miss Bird's patriotism prevailed over every other



consideration. She expressed her wish that the poem should

be retained in England; and generously accepted what was



indubitably less than its market value.

CHAPTER XLVII



A MAN whom I had known from my school-days, Frederick

Thistlethwayte, coming into a huge fortune when a subaltern



in a marching regiment, had impulsively married a certain

Miss Laura Bell. In her early days, when she made her first



appearance in London and in Paris, Laura Bell's extraordinary

beauty was as much admired by painters as by men of the



world. Amongst her reputed lovers were Dhuleep Singh, the

famous Marquis of Hertford, and Prince Louis Napoleon. She



was the daughter of an Irish constable, and began life on the

stage at Dublin. Her Irish wit and sparkling merriment, her



cajolery, her good nature and her feminine artifice, were

attractions which, in the eyes of the male sex, fully atoned



for her youthful indiscretions.

My intimacy with both Mr. and Mrs. Thistlethwayte extended



over many years; and it is but justice to her memory to aver

that, to the best of my belief, no wife was ever more



faithful to her husband. I speak of the Thistlethwaytes here

for two reasons - absolutely unconnected in themselves, yet



both interesting in their own way. The first is, that at my

friend's house in Grosvenor Square I used frequently to meet



Mr. Gladstone, sometimes alone, sometimes at dinner. As may

be supposed, the dinner parties were of men, but mostly of



men eminent in public life. The last time I met Mr.

Gladstone there the Duke of Devonshire and Sir W. Harcourt



were both present. I once dined with Mrs. Thistlethwayte in

the absence of her husband, when the only others were Munro



of Novar - the friend of Turner, and the envied possessor of

a splendid gallery of his pictures - and the Duke of



Newcastle - then a Cabinet Minister. Such were the

notabilities whom the famous beauty gathered about her.



But it is of Mr. Gladstone that I would say a word. The

fascination which he exercised over most of those who came



into contact with him is incontestable; and everyone is




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