The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-06-16
CHARLES REApE,s FRIEND.
Mrs. Laura Seymour and Her Influence on
the NOvelist's Fortunes.


the NOvelist's Fortunes.
Rev: Compton Reade in Contemporary Review.
The story of Charles Reade's first meeting
with the woman who was destined to mold his
future has been so often narrated, and with so
many embellishments, that it would seem al
most superfuous to repeat it, But as it was the
turning point of a career that was fruitful of the
highest results it cannot well be omitted from
this brief sketch. 1t may be termed, indeed,
with truth his apology. Like Oliver Goldsmith
his copy, and ready enough to part with it for
an old song, so that it should not
be buried in oblivion. Now, there
happened to be at the time on the boards of the
Haymarket theater brisk comedy woman, who
was supposed to possess the of Mr.. Buck
stone, the manager. To this actress Charles
Reade addressed himself by letter-wrtten pos
siby in that singular vein of eccentric originality
which has his won't The lady in response re
quested him to call and bring his play. He did
so. She was ehatty, but not encouraging. He
inclined to quarrel with fate. He left and the
next day there arrived note from his actress.
The play, she declared, had merit but he had
better turn it into a novel, in which
case she would find a publisher. More
over, she added a postscript to the effect
that, being sincerely sorry to see gentleman of
his obvious birth and breeding so low in the
world, she begged to enclose five-pound note
as a loan The actress was Mrs Laura Seymour.
The play Masks and Faces" Charles
Reade was profoundly affected. He did not
want &5, never having dropped quite to that
level-in fact, the benevolent hght-comedy
woman had mistaken his dependence for impe-
curiosity. But he called, and, in his own grand
way-and assuredly no one of his contemporaries
had more magnetic presenee-begged that she
would allow him to return the money, and give him
instead her friendship The offer was accepted,
and henceforward Laura Seymour and Charles
Reade became partners She took the eccentric
genius by the hand, and being hard headed
business woman, turned his brain to the best
IL Ta-l-,
and Faces appeared as "Peg Wellington" a
novel, By her advice, too, instead of runningit as
a drama of his own, he invited Tom Taylor to
take half profits in consideration of the loan of
his name. And then, as he prospered, they
joined forces; first in Bolton row, where she was
landlady and he ledger; afterward at Albert
Gate, where the positions were reversed She
was his philosopher, guide and friend She dis
cussed with him every manuscript that
went to press. The arrangement as
mere question of pounds. shillings and
pence was immensely profitable to her, but
far more so to man who had never
the faintest notion of the value of money. Here,
by the way of parenthesis it is but just to state
emphatcally that Charles Reade held Mrs. Sey
mour in romantic reverence, and was at especial
pains to emphasize in every way possible his de-
NAL of their relations being eQuivocal The
world, of course, thought otherwise, and said so;
but the world may have been mistaken. Any
how, the motto of Albert Gate was, ''Honi soft
qui NAL pense." Mrs Seymour went to the
Oxford commemoraton, and was introduced by
Charles Reade to his friends and relations, an
experiment, by the way, not very successful,
since, apart from her antecedents Mrs. Seymour
in private life hardly up to the strict
society level Winwood Reade Charles ReadeIs
nephew and himself an author of certain celeb
rity, and who, to judge by his littera scripta
held morality in profound contempt, declared in
the most positive terms that the friendship of
Charles Reade for Laura Seymour was platonc.
In the absence of a scintilla of evidence to the
contrary, it is but equitable to the memory of
one who always upheld good and never quite
lost grip of the fervid Puritamism implanted by
his magnanimous mother to adopt the generous
and charitable view, the more so because, after
Mrs. Seymour became a widow, and when
Charles Reade was a comparatively wealthy
man and had no need of his Fellowship, she said
positively, "If Mr.. Reade were to ask me to
marry him, I should refuse" 1t was by no
means certain that such offer not made
and rejected