The Purcell Papers, vol 1 | Page 6

'SAMUEL LOVER.'
We have heard it said (though without having?inquired into the truth of the tradition) that?'Shamus O'Brien' was the result of a match at?pseudo-national ballad writing made between Le?Fanu and several of the most brilliant of his?young literary confreres at T. C. D. But?however this may be, Le Fanu undoubtedly was no?young Irelander; indeed he did the stoutest?service as a press writer in the Conservative?interest, and was no doubt provoked as well as?amused at the unexpected popularity to which?his poem attained amongst the Irish Nationalists.?And here it should be remembered that the ballad?was written some eleven years before the outbreak?of '48, and at a time when a '98 subject might?fairly have been regarded as legitimate literary?property amongst the most loyal.
We left Le Fanu as editor of the 'Warder.'?He afterwards purchased the 'Dublin Evening?Packet,' and much later the half-proprietorship?of the 'Dublin Evening Mail.' Eleven or twelve?years ago he also became the owner and editor?of the 'Dublin University Magazine,' in which?his later as well as earlier Irish Stories?appeared. He sold it about a year before his death?in 1873, having previously parted with the?'Warder' and his share in the 'Evening?Mail.'
He had previously published in the 'Dublin?University Magazine' a number of charming?lyrics, generally anonymously, and it is to be?feared that all clue to the identification of?most of these is lost, except that of internal?evidence.
The following poem, undoubtedly his, should?make general our regret at being unable to fix?with certainty upon its fellows:
'One wild and distant bugle sound
Breathed o'er Killarney's magic shore?Will shed sweet floating echoes round?When that which made them is no more.
'So slumber in the human heart
Wild echoes, that will sweetly thrill?The words of kindness when the voice?That uttered them for aye is still.
'Oh! memory, though thy records tell
Full many a tale of grief and sorrow,?Of mad excess, of hope decayed,?Of dark and cheerless melancholy;
'Still, memory, to me thou art
The dearest of the gifts of mind,?For all the joys that touch my heart?Are joys that I have left behind.
Le Fanu's literary life may be divided into?three distinct periods. During the first of these,?and till his thirtieth year, he was an Irish?ballad, song, and story writer, his first published?story being the 'Adventures of Sir Robert?Ardagh,' which appeared in the 'Dublin University?Magazine' of 1838.
In 1844 he was united to Miss Susan Bennett,?the beautiful daughter of the late George?Bennett, Q.C. From this time until her decease,?in 1858, he devoted his energies almost entirely?to press work, making, however, his first essays?in novel writing during that period. The?'Cock and Anchor,' a chronicle of old Dublin?city, his first and, in the opinion of competent?critics, one of the best of his novels, seeing the?light about the year 1850. This work, it is to?be feared, is out of print, though there is now a?cheap edition of 'Torlogh O'Brien,' its immediate?successor. The comparative want of success?of these novels seems to have deterred Le Fanu?from using his pen, except as a press writer,?until 1863, when the 'House by the Churchyard'?was published, and was soon followed by 'Uncle?Silas' and his five other well-known novels.
We have considered Le Fanu as a ballad?writer and poet. As a press writer he is still?most honourably remembered for his learning?and brilliancy, and the power and point of his?sarcasm, which long made the 'Dublin Evening?Mail' one of the most formidable of Irish press?critics; but let us now pass to the consideration?of him in the capacity of a novelist, and in?particular as the author of 'Uncle Silas.'
There are evidences in 'Shamus O'Brien,' and?even in 'Phaudrig Croohore,' of a power over?the mysterious, the grotesque, and the horrible,?which so singularly distinguish him as a writer?of prose fiction.
'Uncle Silas,' the fairest as well as most?familiar instance of this enthralling spell over?his readers, is too well known a story to tell in?detail. But how intensely and painfully distinct?is the opening description of the silent, inflexible?Austin Ruthyn of Knowl, and his shy, sweet?daughter Maude, the one so resolutely confident?in his brother's honour, the other so romantically?and yet anxiously interested in her uncle--the?sudden arrival of Dr. Bryerly, the strange?Swedenborgian, followed by the equally unexpected?apparition of Madame de la Rougiere,?Austin Ruthyn's painful death, and the reading of his strange will consigning poor Maude to?the protection of her unknown Uncle Silas--her?cousin, good, bright devoted Monica Knollys, and?her dreadful distrust of Silas--Bartram Haugh?and its uncanny occupants, and foremost amongst?them Uncle Silas.
This is his portrait:
'A face like marble, with a fearful monumental?look, and for an old man, singularly?vivid, strange eyes, the singularity of which?rather grew upon me as I looked; for his?eyebrows were still black, though his hair?descended from his temples in long locks of the?purest silver and fine as silk, nearly to his?shoulders.
'He rose, tall and slight, a little stooped, all?in black, with an ample black velvet tunic,?which was rather a gown than a