Читать книгу The Son of a Genius - Барбара Хофланд - Страница 7

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In truth he was a strange and wayward wight,

Fond of each gentle and each dreadful scene.

Beattie.

Mr. Lewis was the only surviving son of a gentleman, who had nearly expended a fine fortune in mechanical pursuits, which he had not the steadiness to follow so as to bring any single object to perfection, though he evinced powers sufficient to have fully effected that purpose. His son had received the education suitable for a liberal profession, but a direction of mind too desultory for any, until his seventeenth year, when he professed himself determined on embracing that of a painter, a desire perfectly consonant to the wishes of his father, who obtained for him every aid his profession required; but at the same time, by instilling the belief that on his genius alone he must depend for future fame and fortune, defeated in a great measure the benefits he bestowed, in providing his talents the means of cultivation; since his son was thereby encouraged to neglect that application necessary in every profession, and taught to rest on fortuitous means of producing that which is the reward of well-exerted efforts and unwearied application of appropriate talents. The father died very soon after the son's choice of a profession was settled, leaving his affairs in a state of so much derangement that his widow, who had ever been a most affectionate wife and tender mother, was literally harassed to death with settling them: she had, however, the satisfaction of paying all his debts, reducing his scattered property to a tangible shape, and leaving her son in actual possession of about two thousand pounds, with which she hoped he would be enabled to set out advantageously in life, being assured by all who knew him that he was a young man of the most promising talents, and being happy in the persuasion that he had an excellent disposition, and was not subject to any vicious propensity whatever.

Young Lewis sincerely loved and lamented both his parents; but he neither took warning from the errors into which one had fallen, from following blindly a pursuit praiseworthy in itself, but ruinous to him, from his mismanagement and mutability, nor followed the advice and example of the other, by estimating his own right of expenditure and powers of improvement. Rash, impetuous, and enthusiastic—yet generous, affectionate, and ingenuous; he was perpetually led into the commission of follies which he repented and despised, but whose recurrence he adopted no stable means of preventing;—from attributing them to weakness immediately connected with that superiority in himself, of which he felt too proud to examine minutely its claims to his partiality, or even his right to the distinction thus arrogated; and as it served as an apology for idleness at some times, extravagance at others, and eccentricity in all,—as it had been ceded to him by his father, allowed him by his companions, and was the attribute most dear to him in others,—he indulged himself in believing that he was influenced in all he did by possessing genius.

This suppositious power did not, however, prevent the young man from knowing, that it was by common application and regular study he had become master of all that which was indeed estimable in his attainments; and so long as the period lasted, in which he placed himself under the direction of others, his progress was striking; for his application was truly that of vigorous intellect, and a noble contempt of surrounding difficulties;—but when to the cares of his profession were added those of his worldly affairs, and the possibility of turning his knowledge to profit, he manifested a carelessness amounting to folly, and an ignorance of which a school-boy might blush; and from his scorn of trifles, and neglect of petty cares, was continually subject to serious inconveniences, and in time to alarming calamities.

At the time of his marriage, Mr. Lewis was about four and twenty; and considering his youth, was in possession of a considerable degree of public favour;—but as he had embraced landscape painting, (a branch of the art slow in the fame it bestows, and by no means lucrative until that fame is established), it was necessary to husband his little patrimony with prudence, unless he encreased it by the ordinary method—that of teaching; but there was, according to his apprehension, a degradation in this mode of applying his talents unworthy of him, as a man of genius. He therefore applied himself exclusively to painting; and professing himself devoted to his art, conceived, with all the ardour natural to his years and character, that success must ultimately crown his labours, more especially as he had made considerable progress in his father's studies, possessed a fine taste for poetry, and had spent much of his time in the composition of an epic poem, from which he promised himself the highest honours.

But, alas! between the pen and the pencil, each applied to by turns, but neither with effect, month after month glided on, and Agnes never perceived that the labours of her husband actually produced any money. For some time she forbore to make any remarks, or express any wishes on the subject, since all her modest wants were more liberally supplied than she desired; but as she found that all their expenditure arose from a principle which was, by the confession of her husband, fast waning to a close, she became extremely anxious to see those talents, on which she had so often meditated with delight, produce something like the harvest so long promised, especially as she was become the mother of a boy, whom his father beheld with great delight and affection, and whom, from his partiality to the painter of that name, he christened Ludovico Carracci.

They now removed from the northern counties, where they had hitherto resided, to Manchester, as a place of great importance for its wealth, and where the talents of a respectable artist were likely to meet with that encouragement not to be expected in a more secluded situation. Mr. Lewis regarded his long residence among the mountains as a period of study in Nature's best academy, and considered this the outset of his professional career: he had obtained many valuable introductions to various wealthy inhabitants, and his hopes were so sanguine, that even the consciousness that he had not more than fifty pounds in the world left, to provide for daily increasing expenditure, failed to affect his spirits, or cast a cloud on his brow.

He was well received at Manchester by those to whom he looked as future patrons; the specimens of his talents exhibited in his rooms were much admired; some were bought, others ordered; and Agnes partook the happiness she had hoped for, though she lamented the expence incurred from residing in a place, where the means of living were so much more expensive than she had ever known them; she however applied herself with double diligence to the management of their household concerns, and endeavoured to supply by frugality the difference in their expenditure.

But now was the time of trial—hitherto Mr. Lewis had followed the bent of his inclination, as it directed his studies, or made those studies his amusement; he was now called upon, (as every man is, more or less), to obey the will of others, and submit to certain privations, for certain rewards: the desultory life he had so long led, his habit of placing Genius at the helm of his thoughts, and indulging in the belief of its all controlling power, without, examining how far caprice, idleness, and folly assumed its name, either in his own mind or that of others, precluded him from every solid advantage offered to him; pursuing the dictates of this suppositious impulse, he scorned every other: the pictures ordered were frequently never touched, or if painted, were not according to the wishes of their owners; they never were finished to any given time, and it frequently happened, that a picture, on which all his hopes of subsistence depended, was abandoned entirely, whilst he composed couplets, meant to garnish the corner of a newspaper, wasted his time in the perusal of a new novel, or with more apparent wisdom, but to equal loss, pursued some mechanical speculation, or learned hypothesis. If any person, who either felt for him that friendship his manners seldom failed to inspire, or was really interested in his speedy conclusion of the work then on his easel, presumed to remonstrate with him on this unfortunate misapplication of his time, he never failed to insist upon "the utter impossibility of binding minds of a superior class to common rules;" gave a thousand instances in which men of genius had acted in the same eccentric manner; declared that the moment of inspiration must be employed, but cannot be pressed into the service of art; and that the independence of his mind should never yield to the shackles which the restraints of prudence threw over souls of a more vulgar mould and meaner destination.

The total negligence of the wishes of his patrons was particularly disgusting to the wealthy merchants and manufacturers of Manchester, who, used to regularity in all their proceedings, and seldom educated in a manner that could make them comprehend the nature of that mental labour, which is in fact the life of the art, viewed his errors with too much austerity, and aggravated the fault, which appeared the greater, because, in opposition to their own mode of action, they condemned him, not more than he despised them. After three years' residence he left Manchester, with a determination never more to reside in a manufacturing town, and set out for York, taking with him a wife, and three little children, who left a place with regret where they had experienced much personal kindness, and where Agnes had seen, that, with common prudence, it was very possible, not only to live in comfort, but to secure an ample independence.

A very short time served to convince Mrs. Lewis, that if the evils of narrow-minded tradesmen were severely felt in their late residence, the narrow purses of gentry, living for the most part on stated incomes, were likely to be more severely felt at the present; but she had some consolation from the cheapness of the place, and from perceiving the kind consideration with which her husband was treated by people of real superiority. Lewis, for his part, was delighted; he now found himself amongst kindred souls, and felt as if he was now for the first time brought into that world which he was formed to enjoy and to embellish; every where courted, invited, and admired, his presence seemed necessary to enliven every party, and to give zest to every enjoyment; for as he was known to be a man of family, as well as a man of genius, every house in York was open to receive him; and literary acquaintance, lively friends, and admiring amateurs, surrounded him on every side; while agreeable invitations poured in from every quarter.

But in this agreeable round of engagements all employment was suspended, and for a time all painting was forgotten; unfortunately the interesting antiquities, the fine cathedral, and many local advantages of York, awoke admiration, which affected him rather as a Poet than a Painter; and every solitary ramble and unengaged hour were given to the composition of poetry. By degrees this pursuit gained still more ground, and with the true spirit of a poet he withdrew from all company, abandoned every other pursuit, and wrapt in the sublime contemplation of the past, became completely absorbed in this single subject: so that at the time when the city was filling with company, who might have been really beneficial to him, and to whom it was the intention of his new friends to introduce him, he was so distracted with the thoughts of being torn from his loved employment, that he hastily fled from the city, took refuge in a distant farmhouse, and determined to live in the closest retirement, till he had accomplished his task, which was writing an Epic Poem, entitled "Constantine the Great."

During the time when he had been visiting in York, though admired and caressed by all, his wife and infants had lived in a solitary lodging, where with melancholy forebodings, she had endeavoured to keep up her spirits in the hope of better times, and by every method of the most self-denying economy, delay the approach of want. As, however, it was impossible to avoid running in debt for mere necessaries, her anxiety became more distressing, and her creditors were so urgent for payment, when her husband thus incautiously forsook her, leaving her a message to follow him, without reflecting on the necessity of settling their affairs, that she was obliged to compromise in the best manner she was able, by disposing of all the little furniture they had brought with them, and the greatest part of her husband's books. This circumstance was quickly spread—their credit was universally blasted; and when the poem was finished, and the author presented it under the idea of a liberal subscription being entered upon for it, which would doubtless have been the case three months before, he found from the bookseller, that he was universally regarded in York as an idle, dissipated man, who ran into debt he had no means of discharging, and exposed his wife and innocent children to bear the brunt of misfortune and the sufferings of poverty.

Stung more with the injustice of this sentence than the truth it contained, since he conceived that the very people who pronounced it were those who, on his arrival, had made him idle and dissipated, and now when by incessant application he had redeemed his character abandoned him without mercy, he hastily repaired to his unhappy wife, declaring that he would instantly fly to the metropolis, where alone he could publish his poem, and where genius never failed to meet with patrons, whose wealth and liberality ensured the success due to superior talent.

This scheme was found impracticable; the utmost limits of their power only enabled them to proceed to Leeds, where they were obliged to take a poor lodging, which, in the course of a week, was exchanged for one still poorer, and where the infant poor Agnes now nursed at her breast, (affected by the suppressed, but bitter grief of its unhappy mother), soon breathed its last—the victim of sorrow and imprudence.

Over the corpse of his youngest darling the father shed many a heartfelt tear; but the mother's sacrifice, though lamented, was more easily resigned. As soon as she was somewhat recovered from the shock, she earnestly looked around for some employment which should enable her to assist in providing for her family; and having lodged in the house of a glover during her residence in York, and being ever of an observant turn, and remarkably quick with her needle, she determined on making gloves for sale, and had provided herself with the means of carrying this purpose into effect, when her husband, on perceiving her intention, reprobated it in the severest manner, as a means of injuring him in his profession, and precluding him from appearing in the light of a gentleman.

"But our children want bread, my dear Lewis!" This appeal overwhelmed the wretched man with so severe an agony, that Agnes resolved to comply, apparently at least, with his wishes. She soothed his sorrows, praised his poem, predicted its success, and finally persuaded him to resume his habits of sketching, and preparing a few pictures, though she almost dreaded their finishing, knowing that the expence of providing frames was utterly out of her power. During the hours he was in the house, she applied herself to household concerns, and to instructing her two little boys; but the moment he went out she flew to the business she had adopted; and by dint of incessant labour, and that quickness which practice supplies, she was enabled to find food, though very coarse food, for herself and children,—ever making an excuse to their father, on his return, for having dined without him, and providing something more palatable for him, which she was under the necessity of purchasing from the sale of her clothes, or entreating the butcher to trust her. Lewis returned to the study of nature with increasing avidity; became again a painter; and so long as no one troubled him with claims for money he could not produce, was perfectly easy how his boys were fed or clothed; their smiles were delightful to him, and every display of talent they evinced transported him; but of their real comforts or their future destination he either thought not at all, or when, by some pressing circumstance, forced to think, he shrunk from with a weakness that enervated, or self-reproach that overwhelmed him.

By degrees the artist emerged from the obscurity that attended his first appearance at Leeds; and a bookseller having permitted his pictures to be hung in his shop, was so fortunate as to dispose of two of them. This circumstance renovated the spirits of Lewis; he took better lodgings immediately; replenished his wardrobe; increased his stock of materials; sent his eldest son to school; and considerably extended his credit with various new tradesmen;—but he neglected to pay those who had trusted him, and whom he thus made his enemies, to the sincere grief and mortification of his wife, whose utmost endeavours could not enable her to repay them; for as he was now much at home, it was impossible for her to carry on her employment with effect, especially as she was again likely to increase her family, and her second son was a very delicate boy, and occupied much of her attention. Many a heartbreaking sigh did she breathe over him, under the distressing idea that the hardships to which he had been exposed, in consequence of their poverty, had prayed upon his constitution; for notwithstanding all that may be said, and with truth, respecting the healthiness of poor people's children, yet it will not be found that scanty meals and long protracted fasts produce firm flesh and ruddy looks,—and Agnes well remembered that her boys at Manchester were blessed with both, and her heart sickened at the present contrast; but she endeavoured in all her sorrows to look up to her heavenly Father for consolation and strength, and as far as it was possible to lead her poor babes to the same celestial fountain;—and many a time did the little boys, kneeling on each side of their prostrate mother, with clasped hands and devout looks, listen to her fervent prayers for their welfare and that of their beloved father, who at some times fervently partook of their devotions, but never without evidently suffering so much, that the tender heart of his partner almost shrunk from witnessing emotions, which she perceived were indications of sensibility, unaccompanied by resolution, and unattended by reform; since from time to time he suffered every opportunity for really benefitting himself and family to escape, either from a carelessness which lost the time for securing employment, a haughtiness which rejected it, or what was prejudicial in the highest degree, a versatility in the application of his talents, which, while it evinced his real superiority, prevented every effect that might have been expected. After three years' residence in a rich, populous, and hospitable town, Agnes found herself again with a babe at her breast, her second son in his coffin, and her eldest pale, emaciated, and weeping by her side, without money to procure support for the one or interment for the other,—surrounded by creditors she could not satisfy, and far distant from all her natural connections,—yet forced to urge the instant departure of her dejected husband, lest every pang she felt should be aggravated by seeing him dragged to a long-threatened prison.