The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1877-06-28

World has turned up very interesting liter
I ary treasure, namely, several unpublished let.
ters of the poet John Keats. Nearly all the
remaining relatives Of the poet live in Ken
lucky, the descendants of Mr.. George Keats,
the brother of John who came to this country
with his wife in 1918. He settled at Louisville,
and his descendants have many "reminiscences
OF him and some charming letters.
From long diary letter to his brother and
his brothers wife, we take some passages
NARRATIVE AND ANEcDorE.
You speak Of Lord Byron and me. There
scribes what he sees, describe what 1 Imse-
ine Mine is the hardest task You see tha
immense difference. The Edinburgh Review
ar, are AFRAID AFRAID to touch upon my poem. They do
like to condemn it, and they will not praise it
1or fear. They are shy of it, as I should be Of
wearing Quaker's hat. The fact is thew
nave no real taste. They dare not compromise
on oner Juugment on SO puzzllng q question. If
and SO tug IN Endymion, 1 will address them in
manner they will not at all relish. The cow
ardice OF the Edinburgh is more than the abuse
NJ Sass so1l dis DAY is grand day for Win.
CHESTER; they elect the mayor. 1t was indeed
nlg time the place had some kind of excite-
h5sa patty. and II iYsH' any oia i women have
goS tpsy tney nave not exposed themselves in
| the street. The side streets here are excsssva-
| ~ maden-lIke-the door-steps always fresh
from the flannel; the knockers have a yerv
staio, serious, nay, almost awful quietness
az a1Uus I;an saem; & never saw so qnet collection
OF mons and rams heads The doors most
part black, with little brass handle lust above
the keyhole, so that you may easily shut your-
sel1 out OF your own house-he! he! There ia
i none OF your lady Bellaston rapping and ring
InDs
opera treble tattoes, but modest lifting up of
the knocker by set of little wee old fingers
that peep through the grey mittens.
ana dying fall thereof The great beauty of
interesting.
The paatine Venice and the abbotine Win.
chester are equally interesting. Some time
since began poem called "The Eve of st.
| think it will give you the sensation Of walk
ing about an old country town in the coolish
evening | know not yet whether shall ever
finish it, will give it as far as have gone
ut ibti pldcereU
("The Eve of st. Mark following here In
the letter, having been published in the differ
ent editions OF Keatss POEMS do not copy it,
of course.) ="
81 hope you will like this for all its careless
ness. | must take an opportunity hero to OBJ
serve that though am writing to you, I am
all the while writing at your wife. This ex-
PLANTATION will account for my speaking some
times hoity-tolty-ishly. Whereas if you were
alone. shonld sport a little more sober sad
ness. am like squirting Gentleman. who.
saying soft things to one lady, ogles another;
or what is as bad, in arguing with a person on
ms lett hand, appeals with his eye to one on
tne rgnt. Hls vision is elastic; he bends it to
certain oolect, but having patent sdring, it
flies of. Writing has this disadvantage of
speaking; one cannot write wink or a nod, or
a grin, or purse of the lips or a smile. o
law! one cannot put ones finger to ones nose,
Or lau hnIl Sc
ton in writing. But in all the most lively and
utterly parts OF my letter you must imagine
me, as the epic poets say, now here, now
there, now with one foot pointed at the ceiling,
ear; now with my elbow in my .mouth. Omy
friends, you lose the action, and attitude is
everything, as Fuseli said when he took up his
leg like musket to shoot sparrow just dart
ing behind his shoulder. And yet, does not
the word mum go for ones finger beside the
nose? hope it does. 1 have to mako use of
the word mum before tell you that Severn
has got little baby-sll his own, let us hope.
He told Brown ne had given up painting and
had turned modeller. 1 hope sincerely it's not
ipaIty concern; that Mr.. -o or Z. is the
real Pinxit and Severn the Door sculpst to
this work of art. You know he has long
studied IN the Life Academy. Haydon-'yes,'
your wife will say, here is a sum total account
of Hayden again. wonder your brother
don't put a monthly bulletin in the Philadel-
pha papers about him. 1 won't hear-no-
skip down to the bottom--aye, and there are
some more of his verses; skip (lullaby-by) them
too"
'"'.No, let's 60 regularly through
won't hear word about Haydon-bess
the child! how rioty she is!-there. 20 on,
there!
'Now, pray, go on here for 1 have a few
words to say about Hayden. Before this
chancery threat had cut off every legitimate
supply of cash from me, had little at my
disposal. Hayden being very much in want,
nj in
of life, got nearest to the ground, and this
chancery business riveted me there so that
was sitting in that uneasy position where the
seat slants so abominably. l applied to him
der, but goodman deliver, where was the won
der then, why marry, in this-he did not seem
to care much about it. and let me 20 without
my money with almost nonchasnce, when he
ought to have sold his drawings to supply me.
shall, perhaps. still be acquainted with him;
but for friendship, that is at an end.
KEATS CHAIRMAN.
OF the birth of this passion thus alluded to
by his biographer, and which affected his
whole after-life, he made most charming an
nouncement in one of bis letters to Mrs. George
Keats Lord Houghton has published part
of it
''She is an East Indian, and ought to be her
grandfather's heir. At the time called Mrs.
- was in conference with her up stairs, and
the young ladies were warm in her praise
down stairs, calling her genteel, interesting,
and thousand other pretty things, to which
gave no heed, not being partial to nine DAYS
wonders. Now all is completely changed; they
hate her, and, from what hear she is not
without faults of real kind; but she has 9TH
ers, which are apt to make women of inferior
claims hate her. She is not a Cleopatra, but
is, at least, a CHAIRMAN. She has ricS
eastern look; she has fine eyes and fine man
ners. When she comes into the room she
makes the same impression as the beauty of
the leopardes. She is too fine and too con-
scious of herself to repulse any man who may
address her; from habit she thinks that moth
ing particular. l always find myself more at
ease with such woman; the picture before
me always gives me lite and an animation
which l cannot possibly feel with anything
inferior. L am at such times too much oc-
cupied in admiring to be awkward or ina
tremble; L forgot myself entirely, because l
live in her You will by this time think / am