ヤン・シャルケン3つの願い JAN SCHALKEN'S THREE WISHES.
ヤン・シャルケン3つの願い
JAN SCHALKEN'S THREE WISHES .
A Dutch Legend .
ハリー・ストー・ヴァン・ダイク Harry Stoe Van Dyk
挿絵も前書きも付かない短編。
ヘイニング Great Tales Of Terror From Europe And America でも
Jan Shalken's Three Wishes. Anonymous
とされる。「3つの願い」というと、まずペローの童話『愚かな願い』だが、フランドル地方に伝わる別の話だった。物語では当時の表現で Dutch Flanders と記されているけれど、現在では概ねベルギーに当たる。
THE WORCESTER MAGAZINE Vol 1(1826)が初出のようで、作者名はない。見比べて同じだったから、此方から文字起こししてみた。
THE
WORCESTER MAGAZINE
AND
HISTORICAL JOURNAL.
CONTAINING
ARTICLES ORIGINAL AND SELECTED,
MISCELLANEOUS HISTORICAL-BIOGRAPHICAL-DESCRIPTIVE OF REMARKABLE PLACES AND SCENERY-RELATING TO THE
ARTS SCIENTIFIC-POETICAL-AND AMUSING.
VOL. I.
OCTOBER, 1825, TO APRIL, 1826.
WORCESTER:
PRINTED FOR THE PUBLISHERS, BY ROGERS & GRIFFIN.
1826.
JAN SCHALKEN'S THREE WISHES. A DUTCH LEGEND.
オランダのフランダース地方にある小さな漁村に、小屋の跡が残っている。この小屋は、最初の住人にまつわる奇妙な伝説のために、建っている間は非常に注目されていた。その話はこうだ。
At a small fishing village in Dutch Flanders, there is still shown the site of a hut, which was an object of much attention whilst it stood, on account of a singular legend that relates to its first inhabitant, a kind-hearted fellow, who depended on his boat for subsistence, and his own happy disposition for cheerfulness during every hardship and privation. Thus the story goes:
冬の暗い嵐の夜、ヤン・シャルケンが胸も豊かな気のいい妻と焚き火のそばに座っていると、小屋のドアをノックする音がして、つかの間の微睡みから目が覚めた。立ち上がり、閂を引くと、見知らぬ男が入ってきた。背は高く、しかし顔かたちはほとんど判らなかった。大きな黒いマントを羽織り、それをフードのように頭から被っていたので。
one dark and stormy night in winter, as Jan Schalken was sitting with his goodnatured buxom wife by the fire, he was awakened from a transient doze by a knocking at the door of his hut. He started up, drew back the bolt, and a stranger cntered. He was a tall man, but little could be distinguished either of his face or figure, as he wore a large dark cloak, which he had contrived to pull over his head after the fashion of a cowl.
「私は貧しい旅人です(と見知らぬ男が言う)、一夜の宿が欲しいのです。一晩泊めてくれませんか？」
「はい、どうぞ (とシャルケン答えて）しかし、あなたにとっては残念な食事になりそうです。もっと早くいらしたなら、もっといい結果になったかもしれない。しかしまずは腰を下ろして、残っているものをお上がりください。」
旅人は言われたようにして、その後しばらくしてささやかな寝床に退いた。
"I am a poor traveller (said the stranger,) and want a night's lodging. Will you grant it to me?"
"Aye, to be sure, (replied Schalken,) but I am afraid your cheer will be but sorry. Had you come sooner you might have fared better. Sit down, however, and eat what is left."
The traveller took him at his word, and in a short time afterwards retired to his humble sleeping place.
朝になって出発するとき、男はシャルケンに向かって進み、手を差し伸べてこう言った。
「私が誰であるかは、親友のあなたが知る必要はありません。しかし、これだけは申しておきます。昨夜、金持ち複数は開かずの門から私を追い出したのに、あなたは人が人を迎えるべき時のように私を迎え入れ、嵐の中の荒涼とした旅人を憐れみの目で見てくださった。それで私は、あなたの願いを3つ聞きます。何であろうと、その願いは叶いましょう」
In the morning as he was about to depart, he advanced towards Schalken, and giving him his hand, thus addressed him
"It is needless for you, my good friend, to know who I am; but of this be assured, that I can and will be grateful; for when the rich and the powerful turned me last night from their inhospitable gates, you welcomed me as man should welcome man, and looked with an eye of pity on the desolate traveller in the storm. I grant you three wishes. Be they what they may, those wishes shall be gratified."
シャルケンは別に、こんな約束を信じるつもりもなかったが、一つ試してみるのも悪くはあるまい。そして、自分の望みをどうするべきかを考え始めた。ヤンは野心的な意識はほとんどなく、自分が育ってきた生活に満足している人だった。実際、彼は自分の境遇に満足していたので、この退屈な生活を一日たりとも無駄にしようとは思っていなかった。それどころか、あと数年生きたいという切なる願いがあった。そのため、最初の願いが生まれた。
「妻と私を、自然の摂理より50年長く生きさせてくれ」と。
「そうしよう」と客人は答えた。
Now Schalken certainly did not put much faith in these promises, but still he thought it the safest plan to make trial of them; and, accordingly, began to consider how he should fix his wishes. Jan was a man who had few or no ambitious views, and was contented with the way of life in which he had been brought up. In fact, he was so well satisfied with his situation, that he had not the least inclination to lose a single day of his laborious existence; but on the contrary, had a very sincere wish of adding a few years to those which he was destined to live. This gave rise to wish the first.
シャルケンは2つ目の願いを考えているうちに、庭にある梨の木が何度も実を取られ、その木に少なからぬ損害を与え、持ち主を悲しませることを思い出した。
「2つ目の願いは、私の梨の木に登った者は、私の許しがあるまで離れられないように。」
これも承諾された。
"Let my wife and myself live (he said) fifty years longer than nature has designed:"
"It shall be done," cried the stranger. Whilst Schalken was puzzling his brain for a second wish, be bethought him that a pear-tree, which was in his little garden, had been frequently despoiled of its fruit, to the no small detriment of the said tree, and grievous disappointment of its owner.
"For my second wish, grant that whoever climbs my pear-tree shall not have power to leave it until my permission be given."
This was also assented to.
シャルケンは真面目な男で、夜は妻とゆっくり話をするのが好きだった。しかし、妻は賑やかな人で、10回か12回聞いただけの会話の最中に座を立ち、テーブルを磨いたり、粘土の大皿を並べたりすることがよくあった。これほどうんざりすることはない。できればこの迷惑行為の再発を防ごうと決意し、見知らぬ男に近づき、小声で3つ目の、そして最後の願いを告げた。
「この小屋で特定の椅子に座った者は、自分が認めるまで、その椅子から動くことができないようにすること。」
この願いも聞き入れた旅人は、丁寧な挨拶をしてから旅立った。
Schalken was a sober man, and liked to sit down and chat with his wife of an evening; but she was a bustling body, and often jumped up in the midst of a conversation that she had only heard ten or twelve times, to scrub the table or set their clay platters in order. Nothing disturbed him so much as this, and he was determined, if possible, to prevent a recurrence of the nuisance. With this object in view he approached close to the stranger, and in a low whisper told him his third and last wish:
"that whoever sat in a particular chair in his hut, should not be able to move out of it until it should please him so to order."
This wish was agreed to by the traveller, who, after many greetings, departed on his way.
年月は流れ、後の方の願い二つは、しばしば泥棒を木に張り付け、妻を椅子に座らせることによって、十分に満たされたのである。やがて、長寿の約束が反故にされるか、実現される時が来た。たまたま漁師とその妻の誕生日が同じだった。彼は79歳、ミーティアは73歳になったその日の夕方、二人は一緒に座っていた。そのとき、小屋の窓から輝いていた月が、突然消えてしまったかのように見えた。星々が暗い雲を駆け下り、海面にまぶしく横たわっていた。空は風に支配され、雲の波を立てて進んでいるように見えるのに、海面には不自然な静けさが広がっていた。鳥が枝から落ち、木々の葉が薄紅色に染まった。これらはすべて、死が近づいていることを予言しているように思えた。そして数分後、案の定、死がやってきた。しかし、その姿は、夫妻が聞いたり、想像していたのとは全く違っていた。確かに痩せていて、色も薄いが、服装はきちんとしていて、身なりも紳士のそれであった。こちらの年寄り二人に丁寧にお辞儀をして「本来ならこの日から二人は自分のものになるはずだが、50年の猶予が与えられたので、その期間が過ぎたらまた訪れましょう」と告げた。そして、彼は立ち去り、月も星も水も自然の姿を取り戻した。
Years passed on, and his last two wishes had been fully gratified by often detaining thieves in his tree, and his wife on her chair. The time was approaching when the promise of longevity would be falsified or made manifest. It happened that the birthdays of the fisherman and his wife were the same. They were sitting together on the evening of the day that made him 79 years, and Mietja 73 years of age, when the moon that was shining through the window of the hut seemed suddenly to be extinguished, and the stars rushed down the dark clouds and lay glaring on the surface of the ocean, over which was spread an unnatural calmness, although the skies appeared to be mastered by the winds, and were heaving onward, with their mighty waves of clouds. Birds dropped dead from the boughs, and the foilage of the trees turned to a pale red. All seemed to prognosticate the approach of Death: and in a few minutes afterwards sure enough he came. He was, however, very different from all that the worthy couple had heard or fancied of him. He was certainly rather thin, and had very little color, but he was well dressed, and his deportment was that of a gentleman. Bowing very politely to the ancient pair, he told them he merely came to give notice that by right they should have belonged to him on that day, but a fifty year's respite was granted, and when that period had expired, he should visit them again. He then walked away, and the moon, and the stars, and the waters regained their natural appearance.
それから50年間、すべてのことは以前と同じように静かに過ぎていった。しかし、約束の死の到来が近づくと、ヤンは考え込むようになり、待ち望んでいた死の到来を考えても、喜びを感じられなくなった。
その日が来て、死は前と同様、恐怖と共にやってきた。「さて、皆さん、私に同行することに異存はないでしょう。これまで皆さんは非常に恵まれていたし、十分に長く生きてきたのですから」。
老女は泣きながら夫にしがみつき、長く幸せに暮らした地上を離れ、二人が分かれることを恐れているかのようだった。シャルケンもうつろな表情で、ゆっくりとした動きで死を表現していた。ヤンの庭を通り過ぎたとき、最後に庭を見ようとし、突然ひらめいた。彼は死を呼び、こう言った。
「閣下......申し上げたいことがあります。私たちの旅は長く、食料はなく。あの梨の木に登って、よく成った果実を持ち帰りたいのですが、私はあまりに病弱で。あなたは活発で親切だから、きっと取って来てくれましょう」
死は慇懃にこれに応じ、木に登ってたくさんの梨を集め、シャルケン老人や妻に投げ渡した。やがて死は木を降りようとしたが、驚いたことに自分が動けないことに気づき、ヤンはあと半世紀生きると約束するまで木から離れることを許さなかった。
For the next fifty years every thing passed on as quietly as before; but as the time drew nigh for the appointed advent of Death, Jan became thoughtful, and he felt no pleasure at the idea of the anticipated visit. The day arrived, and Death came preceeded by the same horrors as on the former occasion. "Well, good folks, (said he,) you now can have no objection to accompany me; for assuredly you have hitherto been highly privileged, and have lived long enough." The old dame wept and clung feebly to her busband, as if she feared they were to be divided after passing away from the earth on which they had dwelt so long and so happily together. Poor Schalken also looked very downcast, and moved ter Death but slowly. As they passed by Jan's garden, he turned to take a last look at it, when a sudden thought struck him. He called to Death and said, "Sir allow me to propose something to you. Our journey is a long one, and we have no provisions; I am too infirm, or I would climb yonder pear-tree, and take a stock of its best fruit with us; you are active and obliging, and will, I am sure, Sir, get it for us." Death, with great condescension, complied, and ascending the tree, gathered a great number of pears, which he threw down to old Schalken and his wife. At length he determined upon descending, but to his surprise and apparent consternation discovered that he was immoveable, nor would Jan allow him to leave the tree until he had given them a promise of living another half century.
夫婦は、さらに50年間、昔ながらの暮らしを続けた。そして、死がその日を迎えた。彼は以前ほど礼儀正しくなかった。シャルケンが彼に仕掛けたトリックは、彼の尊厳を傷つけ、プライドを少なからず傷つけていたからだ。「ヤンめ、先日はよくも仕掛けてくれたな。 (死にとって50年は数日に過ぎない！)もはや猶予はない」
ヤンが食卓に座って忙しく書き物をしていると、死が入ってきた。彼は悲しげに頭を上げ、手にしたペンを震わせながら、こう語りかけた。
「私はもうそのような悪癖はなく、人生にはほとんど価値がないことを学びましたし、人生にはもう十分満足しています。しかし、この世を去る前に、できる限りの善を行いたいと思い、あなたが到着したとき、いつも親切にしてくれた貧しい若者がこの小屋と私のボートを受け取ることができるよう、遺言を作成することに取り組んでいました。私が始めたことを完成させるだけでよいのです。どうぞお座りください、まもなく私の仕事は終わります。」
このように訴えられた死は、特に拒む理由もなく、椅子に座る。ところがそこから立ち上がることは、かつて梨の木から降りるのと同じくらい困難なことであった。
They jogged on in the old way for fifty years more, and Death, came to the day. He was by no means so polite as he had formerly been, for the trick that Schalken had put upon him offended his dignity and hurt his pride not a little. "Come, Jan," said he, “you used me scurvily the other day, (Death thinks but very little of fifty years!) and I am now determined to loose no time-come.”
Jan was sitting at his table, busily employed in writing, when Death entered. He raised his head sorrowfully, and the pen trembled in his hand as he thus addressed him,
"I confess that my former conduct towards you merits blame, but I have done with such knaveries now, and have learnt to know that life is of little worth, and that I have seen enough of it. Still, before I quit this world I should like to do all the good I can, and was engaged when you arrived in making a will that a poor lad who had been always kind to us, may receive this hut and my boat. Suffer me but to finish what I have begun, and I shall cheerfully follow wherever you may lead. Pray sit down, in a few minutes my task will be ended."
Death, thus appealed to, could refuse no longer, and seated himself in a chair from which he found it as difficult to rise as he had formerly to descend from the pear-tree.
彼の解放は、さらに50年の歳月を費やして行われた。この村にあまりに長く住んでいたヤン・シャルケンとその妻は、この村すべての人の父と母になっていたのだが、誕生日のちょうどその日に二人して、ベッドの上で静かに息を引き取り、小さな村は海に沈んだということである。
His liberation was bought at the expense of an additional fifty years, at the end of which period, and exactly on their birthday, Jan Schalken and his wife died quietly in their bed, and the salt water flowed freely in the little village, in which they had lived long enough to be considered the father and mother of all its inhabitants.
更に古い版がないか探したところ、爾後に作者がまとめたらしき単行本の小説 The Gondola.(1827)が見つかった。第5章に同じ話が、但し挿話として載っている。残念ながら作者名はない。
ところが、因縁浅からぬ The New Manthly Magazine の訃報に、The Gondola. 作者が載っていた。
The New Manthly Magazine 1828 part 3
MR.HARRY STOE VAN DYK.
故ハリー・ストー・ヴァン・ダイク氏は、1798年頃ロンドンに出生。父親はオランダの出身、母親は喜望峰の出身であった。二人は1797年頃にロンドンに住むようになった。ヴァン・ダイク氏は、ロンドン-デメララ間の航海に従事する船の船主兼船長であった。最後の航海の帰路、イギリスの南西海岸で、有名なブラッキー少佐が指揮するフランスの私掠船に遭い、大いに抵抗して重傷を負った後、フランスに運ばれ、フランスの牢獄に監禁されて、最終的にそこで亡くなった。この出来事のすぐ後、ヴァン・ダイク夫人は家族とともにロンドンを離れ、夫の死によって困難な状況に陥ったデムララの農園を運営しに行った。しかし、彼女はその事業を成功させ、数年間そこに住み、1817年に医師ページ博士と結婚し、その後間もなく亡くなった。
この訃報の対象である人は、植民地からオランダに渡り、ロッテルダム近郊のウェストマースに3、4年ほど滞在し、父や母と親しかった聖職者のもとで、ラテン語とフランス語の知識を身につけたのである。 彼はよく「ドミニ-」の逸話を、尊敬と愛情を込めて話した。1821年頃にロンドンに戻り、母の死後、デメララの農園を所有していた兄からの送金に生活の糧を頼っていた。この農園は、多くの不運な状況のために、収入源としては非常に不安定不十分で、晩年の3、4年間は、この方面からの援助は受けられなかったと思われる。
早くから舞台への強い憧れを抱いており、シェイクスピアの描くすべての登場人物、そしてそれ以降の有名劇作家の登場人物にもよく精通していた。自分でもバスキンを試した筈だが、自分の姿は似合っていない、背が高すぎ痩せすぎていると考えていたようだ。
幼少の頃から詩を書き始める。演劇の肖像画と一緒に出版された小品は、彼の最も初期の作品の一つである。詩人としての名声を確立するような大作に挑戦するよう促されたとき、彼の答えは「そのような仕事に腰を据えて取り組むことは、財政状況から不可能だ」というものであった。日々の糧を得るために毎日、鵜の目鷹の目だったのだ。晩年の2、3年間、音楽出版社のために歌を書くことに従事していたが、それが有益な仕事であるとは思わなかった。しかし、彼の歌は非常に趣味がよく、繊細に書かれており、このような方法で一般大衆に提供される有象無象よりはるかに優れている。バイロンとムーアが彼のお手本であり、この偉人達に対して、彼ほど誠実な崇拝者もいなかったが、盗作は避けた。1826年にコーンヒルのレルフェ社から出版された『ゴンドラ』という小品に収められている詩が間違いなく証明しているように、彼はまったく独自の考え方と表現方法を持っていたのである。
1825年にはボウリング氏と共同で、オランダ詩人たちの作品を「バタヴィア詩集」と題して1冊にまとめて翻訳した。この翻訳には、ロンドンの大使を通じて、オランダ国王陛下から非常に高価なメダルが贈られ、翻訳者から国王陛下に送られたコピーを受け取ったことを認める感謝の手紙も添えられている。
ヴァン・ダイクは亡くなる数カ月前に、もう一冊の詩集を出版するために自分の原稿を整理する意向を表明していた。先に述べたように、それは主に伝説の類の短編から成るものであっただろう。彼のこの世のキャリアを終わらせることになった病は、昨年12月25日に始まった。その日から2、3週間もすると風邪の症状が現れ、回復の見込みはないように思われた。5月中旬までウォルワースの自宅にいたが、本人の希望で友人たちがブロンプトンに移し、6月5日に死亡。12日にケンジントン教会墓地に埋葬された。数週間前、Bの署名入りのモーニング・ヘラルドに、彼の死を知らせる記事が掲載され、その中で彼の「惨めさ」と「荒れ果てた炉」が語られていることを、ここで触れておくべきだろう。この作家は間違いなく善意で書いたのだろうが、彼の私的・家庭的な物事がどうなっているかを知らなかったのだろう、でなければこのような意見を口にすることはできなかっただろう。ヴァン・ダイク氏は、健康なときも、病気のときも、貧困に苦しんだことはなかったからだ。このような理由から、彼は決して不幸ではなく、囲炉裏は決して荒れはしなかった。
これほど利害関係のない、愛情深い友人を持っていた人は外にいないだろう。彼らは彼の病気を心配して見守り、彼らの手引きで最高の医療援助を受けた。そして最後に、すべてが役に立たないことが判明したとき、最後の悲しい儀式が正当かつ適切に行われるのを見るために集まった。ヴァン・ダイクは実にあっさりと詩を作り、その書き方は非常に正確で、ほとんど手直しをする必要がなかった。
ラテン語を完全にマスターしており、かの偉人たちがフランス語の知識を大して持っていなかったにもかかわらず、相当なものを持っていた。
彼はまた、自分の言語に非常に注意を払っていたので、文法的な構成や正書法に誤りを犯すことはほとんど有り得ず、他人の作文にある文法的な誤りやその他の誤りを発見することにかけては、これほど目敏い人はいなかった。
一人でいると、彼の心の傾きは非常にロマンチックで、むしろ憂鬱でさえあった。仲間に囲まれたときの彼の性格や気質とは正反対である。彼は、会話する相手の意味を正確に聞き取るのが非常に速く、これは非常に好ましい資質であったが、虚偽を見抜くのも同様に速かった。
彼の出版物は「ゴンドラ」、「音楽に合わせた歌」、「ヴォーカル」、及び定期刊行物への雑多な寄稿もある。
The late Mr. Harry Stoe Van Dyk was born in London about the year 1798. His father was a native of Holland, his mother of the Cape of Good Hope. They came to reside in London about the year 1797.
Mr. Van Dyk was principal owner and captain of a ship, in which he made voyages between London and Demerara. On the passage home of his last voyage, he was boarded on the south-west coast of England by a French privateer, commanded by the celebrated Capt. Blacke; and after making considerable resistance, in which he was severely wounded, was taken, carried to France, and confined in one of the French prisons, where he ultimately died. Shortly after this event, Mrs. Van Dyk quitted London for Demrara,with her family,to take possession of a plantation there, which was, in consequence of her husband's death, involved in some difficulty. She, however, succeeded in her undertaking, resided there some years, married, in 1817,Dr.Page, a gentleman of the medical profession, and died not long afterwards ; when the subject of this notice left the colony for Holland, and resided at Westmaas, near Rotterdam, about three or four years,with a clergyman who was intimately acquainted with his father and mother, and of whom he acquired his knowledge of the Latin and French languages. He often related anecdotes of “the Dominie," and spoke of him with much esteem and affection. He returned to London about the year 1821, depending for bis support on remittances from his brother, who, after the death of mother, occupied the plantation in Demerara, which, owing to many untoward circumstances, afforded him very precarious and insufficient means; and for the three or four last years of his life it is presumed he did not receive any supplies from this quarter.
At an early period of his life he erinced a strong and decided predilection for the stage—was well acquainted with every character that Shakspeare has drawn, and almost as well with those of every other celebrated dramatist since his time. He would indeed have tried the buskin; but his own opinion was that his figure was not suitable,--as he considered himself to be too tall and thin. He commenced writing poetry at an early age. Some of the small pieces published with his theatrical portraits are among his earliest productions. When urged to aitempt something of a considerable character,--something that might establish his claim to poetical fame,-his answer was, that his means would not admit of his sitting se- riously down to such a pursuit :-he had to look abroad daily to earn his daily bread. He was engaged during the two or three last years of his life in writing songs for the publishers of music; but did not find it a profitable employment: his songs, however, are written with great good taste and delicacy ;-certainly very far superior to the trash which is too generally dispensed to the public in this way.
Byron and Moore were his models; and although these great men had never a more sincere worshipper, he kept clear of plagiarism : he had a way of thinking and of expressing bis thoughts, quite his own, as the poetry in his little work called“ The Gondola,” published in 1826, by Relfe of Cornhill, unquestionably evinces.
In 1825 he translated, in conjunction with Mr. Bowring,Specimens of the Dutch poets, in one volume, entitled “ Batavian Anthology,” for which each obtained a very handsome medal from his Majesty King of Holland, tbrough his amubassador in London, with a flattering letter, acknowledging the receipt of the copies which were forwarded by the translators to his Majesty. A few months previous to his decease, Mr. Van Dyk expressed his intention of arranging his MSS. for the publication of another volume of poems; but, as before observed, it would have consisted of short pieces only-principally of the legendary kind. The illness which terminated his earthly career, commenced on the 25th of December last.
Symptoms of consumption were visible in the course of two or three weeks from that day, and there never seemed to be a chance of recovery. He remained at his residence at Walworth until about the middle of May, when his friends removed him at his own request to Brompton, where he died on the 5th of June, and buried in Kensington churchyard on the 12th. It is considered proper to mention here, that a notice of bis death appeared a few weeks since in the Morning Herald signed B. ; in which his “ wretchedness” and his “ desolate hearth” are spoken of.
The writer, no doubt, meant well, but did not know how the case stood as to his private and domestic concerns, or he could not have uttered these opinions ; for neither in the days of his health, nor during his sickness, did Mr. Van Dyk suffer from poverty. He never was wretched from this cause; and his hearth was never desolate. Few persons ever possessed more friends, disinterested and affectionate. They watched his illness with anxious care, and through their instrumentality he had the best medical assistance: and at last, when all proved unavailing, they assembled together to see the last sad solemnity duly and suitabiy performed. Mr. Van Dyk composed his verses apparently with much ease; and his habit of writing was so correct, that he seldom had to make any alterations. He was thoroughly master of the Latin tongue, and possessed considerable although these great men had never a knowledge of the French. He had also paid so much attention to his own language, that it was scarcely possible for him to commit an error in grammatical construction or orthography; and no man had a quicker eye for the discovery of the one or the other in the compositions of others. He had certainly many rare qualifications for an author; and it seems much to be regretted that he did not use his pen more industrionsly. As a companion, he was indeed a choice spirit,"a fellow of infinite whim, most excellent fancy.” If his spontaneous witticisms could be penned, they would make a large show in the annals of wit and pleasantry.
Alone, the inclination of his mind was very romantic, and rather melancholy; the reverse of his character and disposition when excited by company. He was singularly quick in catching the precise meaning of any one with whom he conversed - a most agreeable endowment; and equally quick in detecting a falsehood. His publications are, " The Gondola;' ” “ Songs set to Music;" and miscellaneous contributions to several periodical works.
Lit. Gazette .
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