laborers on the
Egyptian pyramid, theirs was too often a mess of leeks, while milk, and
honey, and oil, were the portion of those for whom they toiled, those in
whose honor, and for whose advantage the monument was raised.
Patrons, whether single individuals or nations, have too often proved
but indifferent friends, careless and forgetful of those whom they
proudly pretend to foster. But leaving the poor poet, with his sorrows,
to the regular biographer, we choose rather the lighter task of relating
the history of the letter itself; a man's works are often preferred before
himself, and it is believed that in this, the day of autographs, no further
apology will be needed for the course taken on the present occasion.
We hold ourselves, indeed, entitled to the especial gratitude of
collectors for the following sketch of a document maintaining so high a
rank in their estimation.
And justly might the Lumley Letter claim a full share of literary
homage. Boasting a distinguished signature, it possessed the first
essential of a superior autograph; for, although a rose under any other
name may smell as sweet, yet it is clear that with regard to every thing
coming from the pen, whether folio or billet doux, imaginative poem,
or matter-of-fact note of hand, there is a vast deal in this important item,
which is often the very life and stamina of the whole production. Then
again, the subject of extreme want is one of general interest, while the
allusion to the unpublished poem must always prove an especial
attraction to the curious. Such were the intrinsic merits of the document,
in addition to which, sober Time lent his aid to enhance its value, and
capricious Fortune added a peculiar charm of mystery, which few
papers of the kind could claim to the same extent. The appearance also
of this interesting paper was always admitted to be entirely worthy of
its fame. The hand- writing fully carried out the idea of extreme
debility and agitation corresponding with its nature, while a larger and
a lesser blot bore painful testimony to that recklessness of propriety
which a starving man might be supposed to feel; one corner had been
ruthlessly abstracted at the time it was seen by the writer of this notice,
and with it the last figures of the date; a considerable rent crossed the
sheet from right to left, but happily without injuring its contents;
several punctures were also observed, one of these encroaching very
critically upon the signature. But I need not add that these marks of age
and harsh treatment, like the scars on the face of a veteran, far from
being blemishes, were acknowledged to be so many additional
embellishments. The coloring of the piece was of that precious hue,
verging here and there on the dingy, the very tint most charming in the
eyes of an antiquary, and which Time alone can bestow. In fact, one
rarely sees a relic of the kind, more perfect in color, more expressive in
its general aspect, or more becoming to an album, from the fine
contrast between its poverty-stricken air, torn, worn, and soiled, and the
rich, embossed, unsullied leaf on which it reposed, like some dark
Rembrandt within its gilded frame. In short, it was the very Torso of
autographs. Happily the position which it finally attained was one
worthy of its merits, and we could not have wished it a more elegant
shrine than the precious pages of the Holberton Album, a volume
encased in velvet, secured with jeweled clasps, reposing on a tasteful
etagere.
{etagere = small table or shelf for displaying curios (French)}
But I proceed without further delay to relate some of the more
important steps in the progress of this interesting paper, from the garret
of the starving poet to the drawing-rooms of Holberton House, merely
observing by way of preface that the following notice may be relied on
so far as it goes, the writer--Colonel Jonathan Howard of Trenton, New
Jersey,--having had access to the very best authorities, and having also
had the honor of being enlisted in the service of the Lumley Autograph
upon an occasion of some importance, as will be shown by the
narrative.
It was just one hundred years since, in 1745, that this celebrated letter
was first brought to light, from the obscurity in which it had already
lain some half a century, and which no subsequent research has been
able fully to clear away. In the month of August of that year, the Rev.
John Lumley, tutor to Lord G-----, had the honor of discovering this
curious relic under the following circumstances.
Mr. Lumley was one day perched on the topmost step of a library
ladder, looking over a black letter volume of Hollinshed, from the well
filled
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