RECOLLECTIONS OF CHATEAUBRIAND IN ENGLAND. 189 



is a something of inexplicable and celestial harmony a something 

 which disdains subordination to the rules of our modern musicians 

 and artists." 



Such are the thoughts which M. de Chateaubriand has often con- 

 fided to the friends whom he cherished ; but who shall say what 

 balmy odours of poesy his soul has exhaled towards heaven when 

 communing with solitude the poet's divinity ? From the period of 

 his arrival in London to that of his departure for the congress of 

 Verona, he was in the habit of walking for several hours every day 

 in Kensington-gardens, where he occasionally met Mr. Canning. 

 Being questioned as to the reason of his preference for the gardens, 

 which were at a great distance from his residence, whilst the Regent's- 

 park was almost close to his door, he replied, that the predilection 

 was by no means a mere caprice, but was attributable to his repug- 

 nance to visit a place that too painfully reminded him of past suffer- 

 ings. He said that, during his emigration, the Regent's-park, which 

 was then nothing more than a dreary marsh, had frequently been the 

 scene of his wanderings, when a prey to hunger and to the most 

 poignant anguish both of mind and body ; and that he was naturally 

 anxious to shun a spot which, even after a lapse of twenty years, re- 

 vived the recollection of that bitter period. In keeping with the 

 noble simplicity and frankness of this avowal is the trait related in 

 the following anecdote, with which we shall terminate our chapter : 



Our readers are no doubt aware that there exists in London an 

 association, called the Literary Fund Society, the object of which is 

 to afford relief to literary men in distress. No such institution exists 

 in France, where, however, distress amongst men of letters is by no 

 means uncommon. M. de Chateaubriand had made a donation of 

 one hundred pounds to the Literary Fund Society, and as this sum 

 far exceeded the amount of an ordinary subscription, the ambassador 

 received an invitation to the annual dinner of the association, to which 

 were also invited several other distinguished guests, and amongst the 

 number Mr. Canning. After dinner, the health of the Viscount de 

 Chateaubriand was proposed, and the poet was delicately thanked for 

 his munificent offering. He immediately rose, and as he felt some 

 embarrassment in addressing his auditory in English, Mr. Canning, 

 who was seated next to him, declared in his name and at his request, 

 that he had given nothing that he had merely discharged a debt, 

 having, at the period of his first visit to London, been himself fre- 

 quently assisted by the society that in repaying the obligation, he 

 had merely done as one of the literary fraternity should do towards 

 another ; and that it was from him that thanks were due. In our 

 minds the munificence of the act was enhanced by the nobleness of 

 the declaration. The ambassador of France, laying aside his dignity, 

 his pride of office, and placing the forlorn and pennyless author of 

 1802 full in the recollection of the proudest aristocracy of Europe ! 

 And Canning, too ! the prime minister of England ! Canning, who, 

 as our readers may know (for he never disguised the fact), had in 

 his early days availed himself, as a literary man, of the society's as- 

 sistance ! It was a glorious scene a scene of simple and genuine 

 grandeur one to be written among the few bright pages that redeem 

 the insignificance of aristocratic recollections. 



