158 THE LIFE OF PHILIP HENRY GOSSE. 



which it was beyond the power of pride to conceal any 

 longer. 



Mr. Van Voorst, in venerable age, is still living as I write 

 these words. I trust that I may be permitted the pleasure 

 of assuring him of the gratitude which the family of his 

 old friend feel and must ever continue to feel towards him. 

 Since Otway dedicated his Soldier's Fortune to Richard 

 Bentley in 1681, many things have been said by authors 

 about publishers, and sometimes not in so amicable a spirit 

 as. that of Otway. The relations of the two professions 

 have even, at times, so it is whispered, become positively 

 strained. But between John Van Voorst and Philip Henry 

 Gosse there was sealed, under the circumstances I have just 

 described, a bond of business friendship which held them 

 together for nearly fifty years, without a single misunder- 

 standing or even momentary disagreement. 



From this time forward, Philip Gosse had an aim in life. 

 The form of literary work which he had adopted, or, rather, 

 which had at last forced him to recognize its claims, was 

 not a very lucrative one, and he was still, as will be seen, 

 curiously unready in taking to literary work. Nevertheless, 

 he had now made a successful start, and there was Mr. Van 

 Voorst in Paternoster Row always ready to listen to a 

 reasonable suggestion. Mr. George Loddiges, the once 

 famous florist, was also a useful acquaintance gained through 

 Thomas Bell. He was charmed with Philip Gosse's draw- 

 ings of American flowers, made him free of his own admired 

 series of orchid-houses and nurseries, and recommended 

 him to seek employment in ladies' schools, as a teacher of 

 flower-painting. In the winter of 1839 I find that Gosse has 

 removed into the suburbs, to a lodging at Hackney. He 

 writes, with his customary cheerfulness — for these letters 

 never show the slightest petulance or ill-humour under 

 failure—" Day by day, I trudge wearily through the streets, 



