Complete Works of Wilkie Collins (2103 page)

“The sketches I have already made are few and slight. I have had so much to see, that I have not yet made those more finished drawings at Leith, which, should I paint the King’s landing, will be quite essential. I have been on board the
Royal George,
the ship in which His Majesty reached this port, and I have, from thence, made a drawing of Leith Harbour, backed by Arthur’s Seat and Salisbury Crags; which I mean to paint, when I return, for
“Mamma.”
What I at present purpose painting, upon a large scale, is the approach of the King to the Pier — the above sketch to form the background; but I am vastly secret and mysterious upon what I mean to paint of the King’s history here, and I have seen so much of his doings that I could paint a series of pictures, — but not one will I do (further than making sketches when I return) without commissions. I think, however, that striking things might be produced.

“The country and city are so replete with subjects in the view way, that, should the weather be fine, I might, I think, make my stay here pay me well — for my picture of ‘Chichester’ has satisfied me that people like a
name
to be given to a landscape.

“To-morrow we hope to be present at the embarkation of His Majesty from Hopetown-house. The Chief Commissioner, who is the commander-in-chief, and who was the first person from this place who shook hands with the King — and is to be the last — takes Wilkie and myself to breakfast on board the
Royal George;
after which, I shall be upon the watch for a picture. The Embarkation may possibly afford a companion to the Landing. From the present state of the weather, however, I fear it may be a dull scene.

“The plan at Hopetown-house is this: The grounds are to be filled with visitors, who are to partake of a cold collation, and at twelve His Majesty is expected, when, after probably remaining some time among us, he will signify his intention to embark; and, after the great kindness and loyal attention he has received from his Scotch subjects, I think he must leave them with a heart overflowing with gratitude. The delight he has expressed himself as having felt, is great. I wish I could give you a connected and progressive account of his proceedings. You cannot possibly conceive the distinguished manner in which the Scotch people — from the lord to the meanest peasant — have behaved. The regularity and dignity of a Scotch mob is really surprising.

“Of His Majesty’s landing I gave you an account in my last. The day following this was a quiet one, but in the evening there was an illumination of the finest kind. The old and new town had the windows of almost every house filled with candles, (generally one in each pane of glass,) the others illuminated with lamps — and, above all, the Castle, with crates of burning coal on its summit, as of old: and, at intervals, cannon firing salutes — answering each other from the Castle, the Calton, Salisbury Crags, etc. But the finest sight of all, notwithstanding the bad weather, was that of Thursday last, when the King went in procession to the Castle from Holyrood-house, through the High street. Upon his arrival at the Castle gate, — where Sir Alexander Hope, Governor of the Castle, presented him with the keys, — the show was most superb. His Majesty then entered the Castle gate, and, in about ten minutes, was seen standing on a platform, in the half-moon battery at the top of the building — when, notwithstanding the heavy rain, he took off his hat, and remained there, bowing in the most graceful manner, for upwards of ten minutes. As he had no umbrella, he must have been much wetted; but he seemed determined to show the people of Edinburgh that he was only anxious to return their acknowledgments of kindness.

“When we have the pleasure of meeting, I trust I can afford you some entertainment upon this and other Scotch subjects. I must not omit, although I have so little room left, to tell you a good joke I heard from a good and great man here: I fear, however, it may encourage Frank in punning — I mean the authority, not the nature of it, for it beats all his. Doctor Chalmers was asked by Wilkie, whether Principal Baird would preach before the King. (Now, Principal Baird has a sad habit of crying in the pulpit.) “Why,” says Chalmers, “if he does, it will be George Baird to George Rex,
greeting!”
*

* To those unacquainted with the Scotch dialect, it may be necessary to observe, that “greeting” signifies, in the north,
weeping
as well as
welcome.

“* * * I would give a trifle to have you here; and, please Heaven, some day or other this may be accomplished. I cannot tell you how kindly Joseph and his wife have treated me, and how happy I feel in their society. Joseph has done a bust of the King, merely from seeing him at the shows here, with which His Majesty has been so much pleased, that he has given him a sitting. * * * Heaven bless you, dear mother and Frank,

“W. COLLINS.”

The expedition of the painters to Blair Adam — mentioned at the commencement of the foregoing letter — produced a sketch on the estate, (finished some years after their visit,) which was the joint production of both: Sir David Wilkie painting the figures, and Mr. Collins the landscape. This work — interesting, as being the only instance in which these two thoroughly national painters ever laboured, together, upon the same canvas — was presented to the hospitable owner of Blair Adam; an estate, which it may not be irrelevant to mention, was adorned with delightful park and garden scenery, on a soil naturally the most desert in Scotland, through the skill and enterprize of its possessor the Lord Chief Commissioner, who perfected and concluded the work that his father and grandfather had begun before him.

Shortly after this, the painters returned by way of Stirling to Edinburgh. Sir David Wilkie then departed for London, leaving his friend behind; and little suspecting, at that time, that Mr. Collins’s delay in the northern metropolis, was occasioned by his venturing on the most momentous risk in which any man can engage — the speculation of marriage.

The lady to whom the painter was now to be united, was Miss Geddes, related to the family of Dr. Geddes of theological and critical celebrity and sister of Mrs. Carpenter, the portrait-painter. Their attachment had begun with their first meeting, at a ball given by a few artists to their lady friends, in 1814; but remained undeclared until many years afterwards. At that time, Mr. Collins felt that his straightened circumstances presented an insuperable obstacle to any project of immediate marriage with a portionless bride; and, with all the uncertainties that then attended his future prospects, he honourably shrunk from the responsibility of fettering a young girl with the anxieties and disappointments of that most weary of all social ordeals, “a long engagement.” In 1816 and 1818, Mr. Collins and Miss Geddes met occasionally in society, but, it was not until 1821, when they accidentally met in London and found that each had still remained single, that the painter’s attachment was actually avowed. The engagement which, in his now improved circumstances, he felt justified in contracting, received the unqualified approbation of his family: but, although she fully recognised the propriety of her son’s choice, Mrs. Collins, with the prudence of her age and nation, desired to delay his marriage, until the pictorial successes of a few more years had made a few more solid additions to his still fluctuating income. She remembered the embarrassments under which he had suffered, but a few years since; and, dreading the possibility of their recurrence, if he married before his prospects definitely changed from the encouraging to the secure, withheld her consent from the union which he desired should be solemnized in this year (1822), inculcating the excellence of patience, proving the duty of making fit provision for all future emergencies, and addressing much advice of the same excellent, but unpalatable nature, to ears, which, as usual in such cases, heard but profited not. From Edinburgh Mr. Collins wrote, as follows, to his future bride — a vexatious Marriage Act, requiring various oaths and attestations from parents and guardians, having lately come into operation in England, and rendering it expedient, considering the deference due to Mrs. Collins’s temporary objections to the match, that the young couple should be married in Scotland, if they were then to be married at all:

“To Miss GEDDES.

“Edinburgh, August 24, 1822.

“My dear Harriet. * * * As my former letter contained such accounts of my proceedings as were worthy your regard, I have now to give you some details, which I am sorry must be done briefly, as the bustle and confusion under which every one here labours, is truly harassing. I find that the King does not leave us till Thursday next; and on Saturday I must go northward, on a visit to the Chief Commissioner’s. The country in the neighbourhood of his house will probably occupy my attention for about a week: at the expiration of that time, I really know not whether to return to London, or to Edinburgh.

“I think you had better either go to Alderbury, to Mrs. Bryan, or come down here (if you could get a companion to protect you.) And yet, I feel so nervous at the idea of your journey in your present state of health, and without me, that I am quite miserable. Write to me by return of post, and do help me to decide.

“Mrs. Joseph, to whom I have told my distress, will be most happy (and she is one of the best creatures in the world) to give you a bed here, and we might spend a short time in Scotland, and return to London, cemented by that tie, which, please God, may brighten our present prospects. * * * Believe me, my dear Harriet,

“Ever and only yours,

“WILLIAM COLLINS.”

Shortly after this, Miss Geddes accepted an invitation from her friend Mrs. Joseph, to meet Mr. Collins in Edinburgh. While the simple preliminaries of his marriage were in course of arrangement, the painter wrote a letter to his mother, which, as displaying the filial affection and respect that he always accorded to the expression of her sentiments, however distasteful to himself, deserves to be sub-joined.

“To MRS. COLLINS.

“Edinburgh, September 15th, 1822.

“My dear Mother, — As I much fear that I cannot reach London in time to dine with the Lord Mayor, I have to beg that you will send him a note, stating that you have received a letter from me, lamenting the loss of the pleasure I had promised myself in dining with his lordship, as I shall be unavoidably detained in Scotland until after the 24th.

“Since I wrote to you last, and indeed very frequently since I have been here, I have been sorely vexed with the toothache and to such a degree at last, that I have discarded my enemy, and am now quite easy. Upon another subject, I am not so gifted with the art of hoping, as at once to expect relief — although the only person on earth who can make me quite happy, is my own dear mother. I need not again tell you, that the only cause of my wretchedness of mind is our unhappy difference upon the most vital of all subjects, connected as it is with happiness here, and the hope of it in a better world. Your opposition to my union with Harriet, we are both aware has arisen from an affection for me, which has never ceased to show itself upon all occasions; and this affection has been met, I am ready to confess, on too many occasions, by an apparently heartless neglect of your kindness. Upon the matter nearest my heart at this moment, however, God knows I have never thought otherwise of you than as you deserve; but there are feelings which you cannot enter into, and which I shall not attempt to describe, and these tell me that, in the person I hope soon to call mine, I shall find all I can desire in a companion for the journey of this life, and through Almighty God’s assistance, we feel determined to devote the best efforts of our existence to your comfort. * * *

“I have been in great uneasiness for some time upon the subject of writing to you the determination, however, to pay you that respect which is so entirely your due, precludes the possibility of my letting any one hear of my marriage before you.

“Miss Geddes is now on a visit to my kind friend Mrs. Joseph. She has many friends here, as well as relations, with one family of whom she spends some of her time; (the Smiths — bankers here) to whom I have been introduced, and a delightful and elegant addition to my catalogue of Scotch friends they are.

“I cannot tell you how much I shall long for a letter from you — and whether it breathes forgiveness or not, still, my dear mother, shall I always be,

“Your affectionate Son,

“WILLIAM COLLINS.”

“P.S. I am getting sketches daily, which will, I doubt not, turn to account when I reach London; which I think may be in about a fortnight or three weeks. Love to Frank — please God we shall spend a pleasant winter all together. * * * “

Soon after this Mr. Collins was united to Miss Geddes, in the English Episcopal Church, in Yorkplace, Edinburgh, by the Rev. Dr. Alison — author of the celebrated work on Taste; who, on this occasion, exhibited his literary enthusiasm in a graceful and pleasing light, by declining to take any fees on the conclusion of the ceremony — ”You bear the name of a great poet,” said he to the painter, “and you are yourself increasing the honours of that name, by your progress in one of the intellectual Arts I could receive no fees from
any
‘William Collins;’ and still less could I take them from
you.”