had a peep also at Little Ireland. Tell Henry I have not camped quite on the bare earth yet, but nearly as bad, in walking through Mull; for the shepherds' huts you can scarcely breathe in for the smoke, which they seem to endeavour to preserve for smoking on a large scale. I assure you, my dear Madam, that one of the greatest pleasures I shall have on my return, will be seeing you, and that I shall ever be Yours, with the greatest respect and sincerity, In Papers of a Critic, Volume I, page 5, there are two notes of Mrs. Dilke's connected with the termination of Keats's Scotch tour: under date the 16th of August 1818 she writes-“John Keats' brother is extremely ill, and the doctor begged that his brother might be sent for. Dilke accordingly wrote off to him, which was a very unpleasant task. However, from the journal received from Brown last Friday, he says Keats has been so long ill with his sore throat, that he is obliged to give up. I am rather glad of it, as he will not receive the letter, which might have frightened him very much, as he is extremely fond of his brother. How poor Brown will get on alone I know not, as he loses a cheerful, good-tempered, clever companion." And again, on the 19th of August, Mrs. Dilke writes "John Keats arrived here last night, as brown and as shabby as you can imagine; scarcely any shoes left, his jacket all torn at the back, a fur cap, a great plaid, and his knapsack. I cannot tell what he looked like." LIX. To FANNY KEATS. My dear Fanny, Miss Tucker's, Hampstead, August 18th [1818]. I am afraid you will [think?] me very negligent in not having answered your Letter-I see it is dated June 12. I did not arrive at Inverness till the 8th of this Month so I am very much concerned at your being disappointed so long a time. I did not intend to have returned to London so soon but have a bad sore throat from a cold I caught in the island of Mull: therefore I thought it best to get home as soon as possible, and went on board the Smack from Cromarty. We had a nine days passage and were landed at London Bridge yesterday. I shall have a good deal to tell you about Scotland-I would begin here but I have a confounded tooth ache. Tom has not been getting better since I left London and for the last fortnight has been worse than ever he has been getting a little better for these two or three days. I shall ask Mr. Abbey to let me 1 The previous letter, written from Inverness to Mrs. Wylie, is dated the 6th in Lord Houghton's editions; so that Keats would seem to have made a mistake about the date in one letter or the other-probably in this to his sister, for there is a letter from Brown dated "Inverness, 7th August 1818." In that letter (see Appendix) Brown writes very seriously of his friend's illness. 2 This would seem as if Tom was at Hampstead. Lord Houghton says (Life, Letters &c., Volume I, page 215), "On returning to the south, Keats found his brother alarmingly ill, and immediately joined him at Teignmouth. They returned together to Hampstead, bring you to Hampstead. If Mr. A. should see this Letter tell him that he still must if he pleases forward the Post Bill to Perth as I have empowered my fellow traveller to receive it. I have a few Scotch pebbles for you from the Island of Icolmkill-I am afraid they are rather shabby-I did not go near the Mountain of Cairn Gorm. I do not know the Name of George's ship—the Name of the Port he has gone to is Philadelphia when[c]e he will travel to the Settlement across the Country-I will tell you all about this when I see you. The Title of my last Book is 'Endymion'-you shall have one soon. I would not advise you to play on the Flageolet-however I will get you one if you please. I will speak to Mr. Abbey on what you say concerning school. I am sorry for your poor Canary. You shall have another volume of my first Book. My tooth ache keeps on so that I cannot write with any pleasure-all I can say now is that you[r] Letter is a very nice one without fault and that you will hear from or see in a few days if his throat will let him, Your affectionate Brother John. where he gradually sunk under the disease, affectionately tended and fraternally mourned." But taking the passage in the text with the fact that Keats was writing from Hampstead on the Ist of September, and yet wrote to Bailey from Teignmouth in that month, the inference might rather be that the younger brother went for a second trial of Devonshire air after the elder brother's return from the North. My dear Fanny, LX. To FANNY KEATS. Miss Tucker's, Walthamstow. Hampstead, Tuesday [Postmark, 25 August 1818]. I have just written to Mr. Abbey to ask him to let you come and see poor Tom who has lately been much worse. He is better at present-sends his Love to you and wishes much to see you-I hope he will shortly—I have not been able to come to Walthamstow on his account as well as a little Indisposition of my own. I have asked Mr. A. to write me-if he does not mention any thing of it to you, I will tell you what reasons he has though I do not think he will make any objection. Write me what you want1 with a Flageolet and I will get one ready for you by the time you come. Your affectionate Brother Although the post-mark of the original letter is not distinct, there can be no real doubt about the date of this letter. The year and month are clearly stamped; the letter was certainly not written the same day as the previous one; the previous one was written on the 18th of August, which was a Tuesday; on Tuesday the 11th and Tuesday the 4th Keats was in Scotland; and Tuesday the 25th is the only one remaining. On that day, therefore, the brothers were certainly at Hampstead together. In the original the word what is inadvertently repeated in place of want. LXI. To JANE REYNOLDS, Afterwards Mrs. Thomas Hood. Little Britain. Well Walk, Sept. 1st [1818]. My dear Jane, Certainly your kind note would rather refresh than trouble me, and so much the more would your coming if as you say, it could be done without agitating my Brother too much. Receive on your Hearth our deepest thanks for your Solicitude concerning us. I am glad John is not hurt, but gone safe1 into Devonshire-I shall be in great expectation of his Letter -but the promise of it in so anxious and friendly a way I prize more than a hundred. I shall be in town today on some business with my guardian 'as was with scar[c]e a hope of being able to call on you. For these two last days Tom has been more cheerful: you shall hear again soon how he will be. Remember us particularly to your Mother. Your sincere friend 92 John Keats 1 The word in the original might possibly be sane; but it is more probably save, written in mistake for safe. 2 Mr. Abbey, who is mentioned in the two previous letters. |