For the present, it brought him into the thick of London Literature, especially of young London Literature and speculation2; in which turbid3 exciting element he swam and revelled4, nothing loath5, for certain months longer,—a period short of two years in all. He had lodgings6 in Regent Street: his Father's house, now a flourishing and stirring establishment, in South Place, Knightsbridge, where, under the warmth of increasing revenue and success, miscellaneous cheerful socialities and abundant speculations8, chiefly political (and not John's kind, but that of the Times Newspaper and the Clubs), were rife9, he could visit daily, and yet be master of his own studies and pursuits. Maurice, Trench10, John Mill, Charles Buller: these, and some few others, among a wide circle of a transitory phantasmal character, whom he speedily forgot and cared not to remember, were much about him; with these he in all ways employed and disported12 himself: a first favorite with them all.
No pleasanter companion, I suppose, had any of them. So frank, open, guileless, fearless, a brother to all worthy13 souls whatsoever14. Come when you might, here is he open-hearted, rich in cheerful fancies, in grave logic15, in all kinds of bright activity. If perceptibly or imperceptibly there is a touch of ostentation16 in him, blame it not; it is so innocent, so good and childlike. He is still fonder of jingling17 publicly, and spreading on the table, your big purse of opulences than his own. Abrupt18 too he is, cares little for big-wigs19 and garnitures; perhaps laughs more than the real fun he has would order; but of arrogance20 there is no vestige21, of insincerity or of ill-nature none. These must have been pleasant evenings in Regent Street, when the circle chanced to be well adjusted there. At other times, Philistines22 would enter, what we call bores, dullards, Children of Darkness; and then,—except in a hunt of dullards, and a bore-baiting, which might be permissible,—the evening was dark. Sterling, of course, had innumerable cares withal; and was toiling23 like a slave; his very recreations almost a kind of work. An enormous activity was in the man;—sufficient, in a body that could have held it without breaking, to have gone far, even under the unstable24 guidance it was like to have!
Thus, too, an extensive, very variegated25 circle of connections was forming round him. Besides his Athenaeum work, and evenings in Regent Street and elsewhere, he makes visits to country-houses, the Bullers' and others; converses26 with established gentlemen, with honorable women not a few; is gay and welcome with the young of his own age; knows also religious, witty27, and other distinguished28 ladies, and is admiringly known by them. On the whole, he is already locomotive; visits hither and thither29 in a very rapid flying manner. Thus I find he had made one flying visit to the Cumberland Lake-region in 1828, and got sight of Wordsworth; and in the same year another flying one to Paris, and seen with no undue30 enthusiasm the Saint-Simonian Portent31 just beginning to preach for itself, and France in general simmering under a scum of impieties32, levities33, Saint-Simonisms, and frothy fantasticalities of all kinds, towards the boiling-over which soon made the Three Days of July famous. But by far the most important foreign home he visited was that of Coleridge on the Hill of Highgate,—if it were not rather a foreign shrine34 and Dodona-Oracle, as he then reckoned,—to which (onwards from 1828, as would appear) he was already an assiduous pilgrim. Concerning whom, and Sterling's all-important connection with him, there will be much to say anon.
Here, from this period, is a Letter of Sterling's, which the glimpses it affords of bright scenes and figures now sunk, so many of them, sorrowfully to the realm of shadows, will render interesting to some of my readers. To me on the mere35 Letter, not on its contents alone, there is accidentally a kind of fateful stamp. A few months after Charles Buller's death, while his loss was mourned by many hearts, and to his poor Mother all light except what hung upon his memory had gone out in the world, a certain delicate and friendly hand, hoping to give the poor bereaved36 lady a good moment, sought out this Letter of Sterling's, one morning, and called, with intent to read it to her:—alas, the poor lady had herself fallen suddenly into the languors of death, help of another grander sort now close at hand; and to her this Letter was never read!
On "Fanny Kemble," it appears, there is an Essay by Sterling in the Athenaeum of this year: "16th December, 1829." Very laudatory37, I conclude. He much admired her genius, nay38 was thought at one time to be vaguely39 on the edge of still more chivalrous40 feelings. As the Letter itself may perhaps indicate.
"KNIGHTSBRIDGE, 10th Nov., 1829.
"MY DEAR ANTHONY,—Here in the Capital of England and of Europe, there is less, so far as I hear, of movement and variety than in your provincial42 Dublin, or among the Wicklow Mountains. We have the old prospect43 of bricks and smoke, the old crowd of busy stupid faces, the old occupations, the old sleepy amusements; and the latest news that reaches us daily has an air of tiresome44, doting45 antiquity46. The world has nothing for it but to exclaim with Faust, "Give me my youth again." And as for me, my month of Cornish amusement is over; and I must tie myself to my old employments. I have not much to tell you about these; but perhaps you may like to hear of my expedition to the West.
"I wrote to Polvellan (Mr. Buller's) to announce the day on which I intended to be there, so shortly before setting out, that there was no time to receive an answer; and when I reached Devonport, which is fifteen or sixteen miles from my place of destination, I found a letter from Mrs. Buller, saying that she was coming in two days to a Ball at Plymouth, and if I chose to stay in the mean while and look about me, she would take me back with her. She added an introduction to a relation of her husband's, a certain Captain Buller of the Rifles, who was with the Depot47 there,—a pleasant person, who I believe had been acquainted with Charlotte, 7 or at least had seen her. Under his superintendence—...
"On leaving Devonport with Mrs. Buller, I went some of the way by water, up the harbor and river; and the prospects48 are certainly very beautiful; to say nothing of the large ships, which I admire almost as much as you, though without knowing so much about them. There is a great deal of fine scenery all along the road to Looe; and the House itself, a very unpretending Gothic cottage, stands beautifully among trees, hills and water, with the sea at the distance of a quarter of a mile.
"And here, among pleasant, good-natured, well-informed and clever people, I spent an idle month. I dined at one or two Corporation dinners; spent a few days at the old Mansion49 of Mr. Buller of Morval, the patron of West Looe; and during the rest of the time, read, wrote, played chess, lounged, and ate red mullet (he who has not done this has not begun to live); talked of cookery to the philosophers, and of metaphysics to Mrs. Buller; and altogether cultivated indolence, and developed the faculty50 of nonsense with considerable pleasure and unexampled success. Charles Buller you know: he has just come to town, but I have not yet seen him. Arthur, his younger brother, I take to be one of the handsomest men in England; and he too has considerable talent. Mr. Buller the father is rather a clever man of sense, and particularly good-natured and gentlemanly; and his wife, who was a renowned51 beauty and queen of Calcutta, has still many striking and delicate traces of what she was. Her conversation is more brilliant and pleasant than that of any one I know; and, at all events, I am bound to admire her for the kindness with which she patronizes me. I hope that, some day or other, you may be acquainted with her.
"I believe I have seen no one in London about whom you would care to hear,—unless the fame of Fanny Kemble has passed the Channel, and astonished the Irish Barbarians52 in the midst of their bloody-minded politics. Young Kemble, whom you have seen, is in Germany: but I have the happiness of being also acquainted with his sister, the divine Fanny; and I have seen her twice on the stage, and three or four times in private, since my return from Cornwall. I had seen some beautiful verses of hers, long before she was an actress; and her conversation is full of spirit and talent. She never was taught to act at all; and though there are many faults in her performance of Juliet, there is more power than in any female playing I ever saw, except Pasta's Medea. She is not handsome, rather short, and by no means delicately formed; but her face is marked, and the eyes are brilliant, dark, and full of character. She has far more ability than she ever can display on the stage; but I have no doubt that, by practice and self-culture, she will be a far finer actress at least than any one since Mrs. Siddons. I was at Charles Kemble's a few evenings ago, when a drawing of Miss Kemble, by Sir Thomas Lawrence, was brought in; and I have no doubt that you will shortly see, even in Dublin, an engraving53 of her from it, very unlike the caricatures that have hitherto appeared. I hate the stage; and but for her, should very likely never have gone to a theatre again. Even as it is, the annoyance54 is much more than the pleasure; but I suppose I must go to see her in every character in which she acts. If Charlotte cares for plays, let me know, and I will write in more detail about this new Melpomene. I fear there are very few subjects on which I can say anything that will in the least interest her.
"Ever affectionately yours,
"J. STERLING."
Sterling and his circle, as their ardent55 speculation and activity fermented56 along, were in all things clear for progress, liberalism; their politics, and view of the Universe, decisively of the Radical57 sort. As indeed that of England then was, more than ever; the crust of old hide-bound Toryism being now openly cracking towards some incurable58 disruption, which accordingly ensued as the Reform Bill before long. The Reform Bill already hung in the wind. Old hide-bound Toryism, long recognized by all the world, and now at last obliged to recognize its very self, for an overgrown Imposture59, supporting itself not by human reason, but by flunky blustering60 and brazen61 lying, superadded to mere brute62 force, could be no creed63 for young Sterling and his friends. In all things he and they were liberals, and, as was natural at this stage, democrats64; contemplating65 root-and-branch innovation by aid of the hustings66 and ballot-box. Hustings and ballot-box had speedily to vanish out of Sterling's thoughts: but the character of root-and-branch innovator67, essentially68 of "Radical Reformer," was indelible with him, and under all forms could be traced as his character through life.
For the present, his and those young people's aim was: By democracy, or what means there are, be all impostures put down. Speedy end to Superstition,—a gentle one if you can contrive69 it, but an end. What can it profit any mortal to adopt locutions and imaginations which do not correspond to fact; which no sane70 mortal can deliberately71 adopt in his soul as true; which the most orthodox of mortals can only, and this after infinite essentially impious effort to put out the eyes of his mind, persuade himself to "believe that he believes"? Away with it; in the name of God, come out of it, all true men!
Piety72 of heart, a certain reality of religious faith, was always Sterling's, the gift of nature to him which he would not and could not throw away; but I find at this time his religion is as good as altogether Ethnic73, Greekish, what Goethe calls the Heathen form of religion. The Church, with her articles, is without relation to him. And along with obsolete74 spiritualisms, he sees all manner of obsolete thrones and big-wigged temporalities; and for them also can prophesy75, and wish, only a speedy doom76. Doom inevitable77, registered in Heaven's Chancery from the beginning of days, doom unalterable as the pillars of the world; the gods are angry, and all nature groans78, till this doom of eternal justice be fulfilled.
With gay audacity79, with enthusiasm tempered by mockery, as is the manner of young gifted men, this faith, grounded for the present on democracy and hustings operations, and giving to all life the aspect of a chivalrous battle-field, or almost of a gay though perilous80 tournament, and bout11 of "A hundred knights7 against all comers,"—was maintained by Sterling and his friends. And in fine, after whatever loud remonstrances81, and solemn considerations, and such shaking of our wigs as is undoubtedly82 natural in the case, let us be just to it and him. We shall have to admit, nay it will behoove83 us to see and practically know, for ourselves and him and others, that the essence of this creed, in times like ours, was right and not wrong. That, however the ground and form of it might change, essentially it was the monition of his natal84 genius to this as it is to every brave man; the behest of all his clear insight into this Universe, the message of Heaven through him, which he could not suppress, but was inspired and compelled to utter in this world by such methods as he had. There for him lay the first commandment; this is what it would have been the unforgivable sin to swerve85 from and desert: the treason of treasons for him, it were there; compared with which all other sins are venial86!
The message did not cease at all, as we shall see; the message was ardently87, if fitfully, continued to the end: but the methods, the tone and dialect and all outer conditions of uttering it, underwent most important modifications88!
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1
sterling
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| adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑) | |
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speculation
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| n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机 | |
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turbid
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| adj.混浊的，泥水的，浓的 | |
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revelled
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| v.作乐( revel的过去式和过去分词 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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loath
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| adj.不愿意的；勉强的 | |
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lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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7
knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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speculations
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| n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 )；思考；投机活动；推断 | |
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rife
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| adj.(指坏事情)充斥的，流行的，普遍的 | |
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trench
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| n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕 | |
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bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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disported
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| v.嬉戏，玩乐，自娱( disport的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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whatsoever
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| adv.（用于否定句中以加强语气）任何；pron.无论什么 | |
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logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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ostentation
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| n.夸耀，卖弄 | |
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jingling
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| 叮当声 | |
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abrupt
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| adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的 | |
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wigs
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| n.假发，法官帽( wig的名词复数 ) | |
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arrogance
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| n.傲慢，自大 | |
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vestige
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| n.痕迹，遗迹，残余 | |
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philistines
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| n.市侩，庸人( philistine的名词复数 )；庸夫俗子 | |
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toiling
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| 长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 )； 艰难缓慢地移动，跋涉 | |
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unstable
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| adj.不稳定的，易变的 | |
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variegated
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| adj.斑驳的，杂色的 | |
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converses
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的第三人称单数 ) | |
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witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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undue
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| adj.过分的；不适当的；未到期的 | |
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portent
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| n.预兆；恶兆；怪事 | |
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impieties
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| n.不敬( impiety的名词复数 )；不孝；不敬的行为；不孝的行为 | |
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levities
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| n.欠考虑( levity的名词复数 )；不慎重；轻率；轻浮 | |
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shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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bereaved
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| adj.刚刚丧失亲人的v.使失去（希望、生命等）( bereave的过去式和过去分词)；（尤指死亡）使丧失（亲人、朋友等）；使孤寂；抢走（财物） | |
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laudatory
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| adj.赞扬的 | |
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nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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chivalrous
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| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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tiresome
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| adj.令人疲劳的，令人厌倦的 | |
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doting
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| adj.溺爱的，宠爱的 | |
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antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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depot
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| n.仓库，储藏处；公共汽车站；火车站 | |
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prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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49
mansion
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| n.大厦，大楼；宅第 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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renowned
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| adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的 | |
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barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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engraving
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| n.版画；雕刻（作品）；雕刻艺术；镌版术v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的现在分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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fermented
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| v.（使）发酵( ferment的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）激动；骚动；骚扰 | |
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radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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incurable
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| adj.不能医治的，不能矫正的，无救的；n.不治的病人，无救的人 | |
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imposture
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| n.冒名顶替，欺骗 | |
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blustering
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| adj.狂风大作的，狂暴的v.外强中干的威吓( bluster的现在分词 )；咆哮；（风）呼啸；狂吹 | |
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brazen
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| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
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brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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creed
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| n.信条；信念，纲领 | |
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democrats
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| n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
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contemplating
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| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
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hustings
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| n.竞选活动 | |
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innovator
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| n.改革者；创新者 | |
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essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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ethnic
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| adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的 | |
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obsolete
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| adj.已废弃的，过时的 | |
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prophesy
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| v.预言；预示 | |
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76
doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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77
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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78
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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79
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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80
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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81
remonstrances
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| n.抱怨，抗议( remonstrance的名词复数 ) | |
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82
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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behoove
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| v.理应；有益于 | |
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84
natal
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| adj.出生的，先天的 | |
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85
swerve
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| v.突然转向，背离；n．转向，弯曲，背离 | |
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86
venial
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| adj.可宽恕的；轻微的 | |
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ardently
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| adv.热心地，热烈地 | |
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modifications
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| n.缓和( modification的名词复数 )；限制；更改；改变 | |
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