The Haslingden Gazette. — 1914-04-11 (Haslingden, Lancashire, England)

LELTURETTE ON FRANCIS THOMPSON.  An Adult. School was opened at Oswaldtwistic on Sunday, the meeting being held in Lord-street. There was a large audience to bear Mr. Will Grimhaw. er Blackburn, !ectiire On " Franci, Thompson. Mr. R. I. Constantine presided. - _  • The lecturer said:—'Tia an 'axiom that poets are born, not, inade. No amount of training will make  a man or a woman into one of those sweet 9ongstme whom the world describes as a poet. The power to put. earth's best thought's into musical language is given to people. The subject of this paper is apparently one of those persons whom Naturo ha, most lavishly endowed. He is a genius in the subtle art Of poetry. There i 0 tie trace of literary ability in the family. Another proof Id the truths that genius does what it must. Talent doer what it can. Again, Francis Thompson is one of those mess. with a strong, enormous mind in as poor, weak consumptive body. He was born • in Preston M 1859. His father was a physician I  practising there. Nothing is said of Lis mothee except that the was a, convert to the Roman Catholic faith. Young Thompson was sent at eleven pars of age to IJahaw College, near Durham (a Roman Catholic College). The youth—we are told showed a remarkable love for books, atpenally the elastics. His love for books must have been boring for any one of the ordinary mind, and his school fellows often used him as a tar.t for catapult shies, bullets of paper, rubber, or anything else that was oonvenient to throw. He wan nsit strong enough to take part in the college games. His love for sport was Amen by simply watching. Perhaps this lack of sport and love of taroks may account for the unwekome attentions I of his fellow students. lii arithmetic and Math, maths Francis Thompson was a failure, but in English and eseay-writing he invariably headed the list.. The seven years spent at Ughaw stamped his after life deeply with its religious atmosphere. He was an orthodox Roman Catholic through and through from within, from without, from beneath outwards to hie acts and upward through his poetry. It is said that. his poetry in spiritual to a fault, a fault- whieli muse be the glory of his "Alma Mater." At eighteen, Thompson swat, sent to Owee's College, Manchester, to study medicine. As can be easily understood, he was soon an adept at Greek and Latin, but if arithmetic and mathematics were distasteful to hint the study of fhe human body wan unbearable. The public (bears, of Manchester were more to his taste, and the hospital and kw-titre-room were places to be avoided. As a medical student he was a 11116 fit. Suck conduct ris this inevitably brought hit mt oppsition with an angry parent. A terrible scene between father anti son was the result. He went back to Manchester till 1885, ano rather than meet his father again Thompson left berth, anti drifted to  Misery. poverty. starvation. and doses of lauds. IlUlti were to be .his teachers, and his constant companions. Suicide was contemplated. and was to be accomplished from London Bridge. It was whilst. in this pitiable plight that a young woman—it has been said she was a prostitute—kept. Thompson in food, and the moment that fame called him to prominence the vanished completely out of his fife. and be never saw her again. Thi,, incident is best told in his own poetry. A