Old Familiar Faces Part 1

Old Familiar Faces.

by Theodore Watts-Dunton.

INTRODUCTION.

For some years before his death it was the intention of Theodore Watts-Dunton to publish in volume form under the t.i.tle of 'Old Familiar Faces,' the recollections of his friends that he had from time to time contributed to _The Athenaeum_. Had his range of interests been less wide he might have found the time in which to further this and many other literary projects he had formed; but he was, unfortunately, very slow to write, and slower still to publish. His long life produced in published works a number of critical and biographical essays contributed to periodicals and encyclopaedias, a romance ('Aylwin'), a sheaf of poems ('The Coming of Love'), two of the most stimulating critical p.r.o.nouncements that his century produced ('Poetry' and 'The Renascence of Wonder'), a handful of introductions to cla.s.sics-and that is all.

Only those who were frequent visitors at "The Pines" can form any idea of his keen interest in life and affairs, which seemed to grow rather than to diminish with the pa.s.sage of each year, even when 81 had pa.s.sed him by. At his charmingly situated house at the foot of Putney Hill, he lived a life of as little seclusion as he would have lived in Fleet Street. Here he received his friends and acquaintances, and there was little happening in the world outside with which he was unacquainted.

He was a tremendous worker, and only a few months before his death he wrote of "the enormous pressure of work" that was upon him, telling his correspondent that he had "no idea, no one can have any idea, what it is.

I am an early riser and breakfast at seven, and from that hour until seven in the evening, I am in full swing of my labours with the aid of two most intelligent secretaries."

To outlive his generation is, perhaps, the worst fate that can befall a man; but this cannot truly be said of Theodore Watts-Dunton, who seemed to be of no generation in particular. His interest in the life of the twentieth century, a life so different from that of his own youth and early manhood, was strangely keen and insistent. Sometimes in talking of his great contemporaries, Tennyson, Meredith, Swinburne, Rossetti, Morris, Matthew Arnold, Borrow, there would creep into his voice a note of reminiscent sadness; but it always seemed poetic rather than personal.

It may be said that he never really grew up, that his spirit never tired.

His laugh was as youthful as the hearty "My dear fellow," with which he would address his friends.

His most remarkable quality was his youth. His body had aged, his voice had shrunk; but once launched into the subject of literature, Greek verse in particular (he regarded the Attic tongue as the peculiar vehicle for poetic expression), he seemed immediately to become a young man. When quoting his favourite pa.s.sage from Keats, his voice would falter with emotion.

Charm'd magic cas.e.m.e.nts, opening on the foam Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.

These lines he regarded as the finest in English poetry.

He possessed the great gift of conversation. Every subject seemed to develope quite naturally out of that which had preceded it, and although in a single hour he would have pa.s.sed from aeschylus and Sophocles to twentieth-century publishers, there was never any break or suspicion of a change of topic. Seated on the sofa in the middle of his study, with reminders of his friends.h.i.+p with Rossetti gazing down upon him from the walls, he welcomed his friends with that almost boyish cordiality that so endeared him to their hearts. If they had been doing anything of which the world knew, he would be sure to have heard all about it. His mind was as alert as his memory was remarkable; but above all he was possessed of a very real charm, a charm that did not vanish before the on-coming years. It was this quality of interesting himself in the doings of others that retained for him the friends.h.i.+ps that his personality and cordiality had created.

Few men have been so richly endowed with great friends.h.i.+ps as Theodore Watts-Dunton: Swinburne, the Rossettis, William Morris, Matthew Arnold, Tennyson, Borrow, Lowell, Latham, men of vastly dissimilar temperaments; yet he was on terms of intimacy with them all, and as they one by one pa.s.sed away, to him was left the sad duty of giving to the world by far the most intimate picture of their various personalities. There was obviously some subtle quality in Watts-Dunton's nature that not only attracted to him great minds in the world of art and letters; but which seemed to hold captive their affection for a lifetime. Even an instinctive recluse such as Borrow, a man almost too sensitive for friends.h.i.+p, found in Watts-Dunton one whose capacity for friends.h.i.+p was so great as to override all other considerations. Watts-Dunton was "the friend of friends" to Rossetti, who wished to make him his heir, and was dissuaded only when he saw that to do so would pain his friend, who regarded it as an act of injustice to Rossetti's own family. During his lifetime Swinburne desired to make over to him his entire fortune. The man to whom these tributes were paid was undoubtedly possessed of some rare and strange gift.

[Picture: Algernon Charles Swinburne]

The greatest among his many great friends.h.i.+ps was with Swinburne. For thirty years they lived together at "The Pines" in the closest unity and accord. They would take their walks together, discuss the hundred and one things in which they were both interested, living, not as great men sometimes live, a frigid existence of intellectual loneliness; but showing the keenest interest in the affairs of the everyday, as well as of the literary, world. When death at last severed the link that it had taken upwards of thirty years to forge, it is not strange that there should be no reminiscences written of the man who had been to Watts-Dunton more than a brother.

It was not always easy to get Watts-Dunton to talk of those he had known so intimately; but when he did so it was frankly and freely. Once when telling of some characteristic act of generosity on the part of that strangely composite being, half genius, half schoolboy, William Morris, he remarked, "Yes, Morris was a very dear friend of mine; but he had strange limitations. Swinburne had the utmost contempt for the narrowness of his outlook. It was incredible! Outside his own domain he was unintelligent in his narrowness, and frequently bored and irritated his friends."

As artist, poet, and craftsman, however, Watts-Dunton spoke with enthusiasm of Morris; but intellectually he regarded him as inferior to Mrs. Morris. On the day following the announcement of her death, the present writer happened to be taking tea at "The Pines," and the conversation not unnaturally turned upon the Morrises. Watts-Dunton called attention to the large number of magnificent Rossetti portraits of her that hung from the walls of his study. "A remarkable woman," he said, "a most remarkable woman; superior to Morris intellectually, she reached a greater mental height than he was capable of, yet few knew it."

Then he proceeded to tell how she had acquired French and Italian with the greatest ease and facility. When Morris had met her she possessed very few educational advantages; yet she very quickly made good her shortcomings. When reminded that Mr. H. Buxton Forman had recently written that he had seen beautiful women in all quarters of the globe, "but never one so strangely lovely and majestic as Mrs. Morris,"

Watts-Dunton remarked, "She was the most lovely woman I have ever known, her beauty was incredible."

In answer to a question he went on to say that Rossetti painted her lips with the utmost faithfulness. In spite of her beauty and her high mental qualities, she was very shy and retiring, almost fearful, in her att.i.tude towards others.

In literature and criticism Watts-Dunton stood for enthusiasm. His gospel as a critic was to seek for the good that is to be found in most things, literary or otherwise; and what is, perhaps, most remarkable in one who has known so many great men, he never seemed to draw invidious comparisons between the writers and artists of to-day and those of the great Victorian Era.

Life at "The Pines" was as bright as naturally cheerful and bright people could make it, people who were not only attracted to and interested in each other; but found the world an exceedingly good place in which to live. The home circle was composed of Swinburne, Watts-Dunton, his two sisters, Miss Watts and Mrs. Mason. To these must be added Mr. Thomas Hake, for many years Watts-Dunton's friend and secretary, who was in daily attendance. Later the circle was enlarged by the entry into it of the young and accomplished bride, the present Mrs. Watts-Dunton.

"The Pines" would have seemed a strange place without "the Colonel," as Watts-Dunton always called Mr. Hake, adopting a family name given to him when a boy on account of his likeness to his cousin, General, then Colonel, Gordon. Nothing amused Watts-Dunton more than for some caller to start discussing army matters with the supposed ex-officer. He would watch with a mischievous glee Mr. Hake's endeavours to carry on a conversation in which he had no special interest. Watts-Dunton never informed callers of their mistake, and to this day there is one friend of twenty-five years' standing, a man keenly interested in National Defence, who regards Mr. Hake as an authority upon army matters.

"No living man knew Borrow so well as Thomas Hake," Watts-Dunton once remarked to a friend. To the young Hakes Lavengro was a great joy, and they would often accompany him part of his way home from Coombe End. On one occasion Borrow said to the youngest boy, "Do you know how to fight a man bigger than yourself?" The lad confessed that he did not. "Well,"

said Borrow, "You challenge him to fight, and when he is taking off his coat, you hit him in the stomach as hard as you can and run for your life."

Swinburne and Watts-Dunton had first met in 1872. In 1879 they went to live together at "The Pines," and from that date were never parted until Swinburne's death thirty years' later. In no literary friends.h.i.+p has the bond been closer. Watts-Dunton's first act each morning was to visit Swinburne in his own room, where the poet breakfasted alone with the morning newspapers. During the morning the two would take their daily walk together, a practice continued for many years. "There is no time like the morning for a walk," Swinburne would say, "The sparkle, the exhilaration of it. I walk every morning of my life, no matter what the weather, pelting along all the time as fast as I can go." His perfect health he attributed entirely to this habit.

In later years he would take his walks alone. It was during one of these that he met with an adventure that seemed to cause him some irritation.

A young artist hearing that "the master" walked each day up Putney Hill lay in wait for him. After several unsuccessful ventures he at length saw a figure approaching which he instantly recognized. Crossing the road the youth went boldly up and said:-

"If you are Mr. Swinburne, may I shake hands with you?"

"Eh?" remarked the astonished poet.

The young man repeated his request in a louder voice, remembering Swinburne's deafness, adding:-

"It is my ambition to shake hands with you, sir."

"Oh! very well," was the response, as Swinburne half-heartedly extended his hand, "I'm not accustomed to this sort of thing."

Meal times at "The Pines" were occasions when there was much talk and laughter; for in both Swinburne and Watts-Dunton the mischievous spirit of boyhood had not been entirely disciplined by life, and in the other members of the household the same unconquerable spirit of youth was manifest. Sometimes there were great discussions and arguments.

Watts-Dunton had more than a pa.s.sing interest in science, whereas, to Swinburne it was anathema, although his father was strongly scientific in his learning. The libraries of the two men clearly showed how different were their tastes; for that of Watts-Dunton was all-embracing, Swinburne's was as exclusive as his circle of personal friends. The one was the library of a critic, the other that of a poet.

Swinburne enjoyed nothing better than a discussion, and he was a foe who wielded a stout blade. He fought, however, with scrupulous fairness, never interrupting an adversary; but listening to him with a deliberate patience that was almost disconcerting. Then when his turn came he would overwhelm his opponent and destroy his most weighty arguments in what a friend once described as "a lava torrent of burning words." He possessed many of the qualities necessary to debate: concentration, the power of pouncing upon the weak spot in his adversary's argument, and above all a wonderful memory. What he lacked was that calm and calculating frigidity so necessary to the successful debater. Instead of freezing his opponent to silence with deliberate logic, he would strive rather by the tempestuous quality of his rhetoric to hurl him into the next parish.

There were times when he would work himself up into a pa.s.sion of denunciation, when, trembling and quivering in every limb, he would in a fine frenzy of scorn annihilate those whom he conceived to be his enemies, and in scathing periods pour ridicule upon their works. But if he were merciless in his onslaughts upon his foes, he was correspondingly loyal in the defence of his friends. He seemed as incapable of seeing the weakness of a friend as of appreciating the strength of an enemy.

The things and the people who did not interest him he had the fortunate capacity of entirely forgetting. A friend {15} tells of how on one occasion he happened to mention in the course of conversation a book by a certain author whom he knew had been a visitor at "The Pines" on several occasions, and as such was personally known to Swinburne.

"Oh! really," Swinburne remarked, "Yes, now that you mention it, I believe someone of that name has been so good as to come and see us. I seem to recall him, and I seem to remember hearing someone say that he had written something, though I don't remember exactly what. So he has published a book upon the subject of which we are talking. Really? I did not know."

All this was said with perfect courtesy and without the least intention of administering a snub or belittling the writer in question. Swinburne had merely forgotten because there was nothing in that author's personality that had impressed itself upon him. On the other hand, he would remember the minutest details of conversations in which he had been interested.

In spite of his capacity for pa.s.sionate outbursts and inspired invective, Swinburne was a most attentive listener, provided there were things being said to which it was worth listening. At meal times when his attention became engaged he would forget everything but the conversation.

Indifferent as to what stage of the meal he was at, he would turn to whoever it might be that had introduced the subject, and would talk or listen oblivious of the fact that food might be spoiling. Fortunately, he was a small eater.

On one occasion when lunching at "The Pines" Mr. Coulson Kernahan happened to remark that he had in his pocket a copy of Christina Rossetti's then unpublished poem, 'The Death of a First-born,' written in memory of the Duke of Clarence. Down went knife and fork as Swinburne half rose from his chair to reach across the table for the ma.n.u.script.

"She is as a G.o.d to mortals when compared to most other living women poets," he exclaimed. Then, in his thin-high-pitched, but exquisitely modulated voice he half read, half chanted, two stanzas of the poem.

One young life lost, two happy young lives blighted With earthward eyes we see: With eyes uplifted, keener, farther sighted We look, O Lord to thee.

Grief hears a funeral knell: hope hears the ringing Of birthday bells on high.

Faith, Hope and Love make answer with soft singing, Half carol and half cry.

He stopped abruptly refusing to read the third and last stanza because it was unequal, and the poem was stronger and finer by its omission. Then he said in a hushed voice, "For the happy folk who are able to think as she thinks, who believe as she believes, the poem is of its kind perfect."

With glowing eyes and with hand that marked time to the music, he read once more the second verse, repeating the line, "half carol and half cry"

three times, lowering his voice with each repet.i.tion until it became little more than a whisper. Laying the ma.n.u.script reverently beside him, he sat perfectly still for a s.p.a.ce with brooding eyes, then rising silently left the room with short swift strides. {17}

Many of Swinburne's friends have testified to his personal charm and courtliness of bearing. "Unmistakably an aristocrat, and with all the ease and polish which one a.s.sociates with high breeding, there was, even in the cordiality with which he would rise and come forward to welcome a visitor a suspicion of the shy nervousness of the introspective man and of the recluse on first facing a stranger." Mr. Coulson Kernahan has said, "I have seen him angry, I have heard him furiously dissent from, and even denounce the views put forward by others, but never once was what, for want of a better word, I must call his personal deference to those others relaxed.

"To no one would he defer quite so graciously and readily, to no one was he so scrupulously courtly in bearing as to those who const.i.tuted his own household."

If he felt that he had monopolized the conversation he would turn to Watts-Dunton and apologize, and for a time become transformed into an attentive listener.