A Lady of England 21

A Lady of England 21

Exactly when she began or finished _The Claremont Tales_ is not known.

With her usual reserve she at first said nothing about the completed

MS.--beyond, at all events, reading the stories to the children. Probably

she felt doubtful about her own venture; and some little time seems to

have passed before she showed it to her Mother. Mrs. Tucker was much

delighted with the attempt, said at once that it ought to be published,

and insisted on action being taken.

 

So, on November 19, 1851, the MS. was sent to Messrs. W. and R. Chambers,

with the accompanying letter:--

 

‘SIR,--It has for some time been my anxious desire to add my

mite to the Treasury of useful literature, which you have

opened to the young as well as the old.

 

‘The Tales which I now venture to offer to you for publication

were originally composed for young children under my own

charge, and were listened to with an appearance of interest,

which gives me hopes that they may meet with no unfavourable

reception from others of the same tender years.

 

‘I ask for no earthly remuneration; my position in life renders

me independent of any exertions of my own; I pray but for God’s

blessing upon my attempts to instruct His lambs in the things

which concern their everlasting welfare; and deeply gratified

should I feel, were my little work to be classed among the

numerous valuable publications which you have already given to

the world.

 

‘The Tales might be printed separately, as each forms a

complete story, though all are united by connecting links.’

 

The date is given, but no name and no address; and a letter more quaintly

stiff and unbusiness-like can surely never have won a Publisher’s smile.

To return the MS. to herself, if disapproved of, was not possible; and,

as it happened, _The Claremont Tales_ did not belong to the class of

publications undertaken by Messrs. Chambers. Very kindly, however, they

passed it on to the house of Messrs. Gall and Inglis; and by them the

little book was brought out. One can imagine how eagerly Charlotte, while

preserving her strict incognita, must have watched for the possible

appearance of her Tales, and how delighted she would be to see the name

advertised. When this occurred, she wrote again--

 

‘_May 24, 1853._

 

‘A. L. O. E. presents her compliments to Messrs. Gall and

Inglis, and, admiring the elegant form in which they have

presented _The Claremont Tales_ to the public, is happy to

offer to them for publication the accompanying volume of

poems,--asking no further remuneration than 20 copies of the

work, when printed, for _gratuitous_ distribution. A. L. O. E.

proposes sending a few copies of her poems to the principal

Reviews, as a means of extending their circulation.

 

‘A. L. O. E. would be glad to know whether Messrs. Gall and

Inglis propose adopting her suggestion of printing some or

all of _The Claremont Tales_ in a _very cheap_ form, for

distribution amongst poor children, Ragged Schools, etc.

 

‘Any communication will be received by the Authoress, if

addressed to--“Miss Aloe; care of Miss Lanzun; S----;

Middlesex.”

 

‘_P.S._--Miss ---- would much like to know whether _The

Claremont Tales_ were first placed in the hands of Messrs. Gall

and Inglis by Messrs. Chambers, to whom she originally sent

them; and whether Messrs. Gall and Inglis have any professional

connection with those Publishers, so distinguished in the

field of literature. Should Messrs. Gall and Inglis not wish

themselves to undertake the publication of a volume of poetry,

they are at perfect liberty to submit the work to Messrs.

Chambers. An early answer will oblige.’

 

Three months later comes another letter, still further relaxing her

secrecy, and still on the subject of the ‘volume of poems’:--

 

‘_August 6, 1853._

 

‘Miss C. M. Tucker presents her compliments to Mr. Inglis, and

begs to acknowledge the receipt this morning of his obliging

communication to Miss A. L. O. E., which _nom de guerre_, in

compliance with his wish, and in reliance on his promise to

preserve her incognita, she now exchanges for her own.

 

‘Miss C. M. Tucker is now at the seaside, and is therefore

unable personally to communicate with Mr. Inglis. She requests,

however, that he will continue to direct any letters to S----,

to the care of Miss Lanzun.

 

‘Miss C. M. Tucker is much pleased to learn that her little

work has been favourably received in America. She will be very

happy to write such an addition to _The Fortress_, as may make

it equal in length to its companion tales.

 

‘As Mr. Inglis’ objection to publishing _The White Shroud_,

etc., seems only to rest upon the shortness of the poems,

Miss C. M. Tucker would have no objection to sending a larger

book of her poetry, from which Mr. Inglis might select what

he thought likely to please the public. Miss C. M. Tucker

has written an Epic on the eventful Life of St. Paul, and a

variety of other pieces. Would Mr. Inglis wish them forwarded

to Scotland, or to his present address in London? Miss C. M.

Tucker herself selected _The White Shroud_, as she thought

it one of those most likely to be popular, and perhaps most

calculated to be useful. The _name_ might attract readers,

who would not glance at what appeared from its title to be

exclusively religious. It would also be well adapted for

illustration; but that Miss C. M. Tucker leaves entirely to the

taste and judgment of Messrs. Gall and Inglis, only suggesting

that perhaps the commencement of winter might be a favourable

time for such a work of Fancy to make its appearance, when it

might take its place among the elegant little volumes designed

for Christmas remembrances.’

 

Others were disposed to take a different view as to the peculiar

attractiveness of such a name as _The White Shroud_, and when the volume

was published it came out as _Glimpses of the Unseen_.

 

A first interview between Charlotte and one of her Publishers, recalled

by some of the family, probably took place at about this date, or not

very long afterwards. She is said to have been shy on seeing him, though

not commonly supposed to suffer from shyness. In any case it is to be

hoped that few Authors are, at first starting, so absolutely convinced of

their own powers as not to go through certain twinges of bashfulness.

 

One copy of _The Claremont Tales_ was sent out to her brother, Mr. St.

George Tucker, who was again in India, and had recently gone to Azimgurh.

When the book arrived, he sat up reading it until past one o’clock in

the morning; no small compliment to a young Author. He then despatched

a messenger on horseback to Benares, with the volume,--a ride of sixty

miles,--that his brother, Mr. Henry Carre Tucker, might with all speed

enjoy the same pleasure. Charlotte, hearing this through her Mother, was

not a little gratified.

 

Thenceforth Charlotte went steadily in for Authorship. Volume after

volume flowed from her fertile pen; most of them for children; many

of them exceedingly amusing; all of them definitely designed to teach

something. One is rather disposed to fancy that in the writing of

these books there may have been, in the beginning, something of a

struggle. Charlotte was by nature ambitious; and her literary gift

was considerable; and some of its potentialities appear to have been

sacrificed to her ardent desire for usefulness. Whether she ever could

or would have made her mark in any of the higher walks of literature is

a question which could only have been decided by actual experiment; but

at least she must have felt it to lie within the bounds of possibility.

Some people may think that her desire for usefulness was a little too

ardent in its manifestation, since it led to so extremely didactic a mode

of writing as that of many among her books. No one can deny that some of

the said volumes do contain a large amount of direct ‘preaching’; not

merely of life-lessons, interwoven with the story in such wise that the

one could not be read and the other missed, but rather of little sermons

so alternating with the story that a child might read the latter and

skip the former. Probably, most children, when reading to themselves,

did follow this plan. Directness to a fault was, however, a leading

characteristic of Charlotte all through life. The same tendency,--many

would say in plain terms, the same mistake--is apparent in the later

years of her Indian work, in the mode of her Zenana teaching.

 

With respect to her writings, nothing is more impossible than to gauge

correctly the amount of comparative good worked in any age, by different

books or different styles of composition. That which makes the most stir,

that which has the greatest apparent success, is by no means always the

most wide in its influence. Some of us may be inclined to think that A.

L. O. E. might have reached a larger circle, might have gained a more

extensive influence, if she had less anxiously pressed so very much

didactic talk into her tales,--if too she had more studiously cultivated

her own dramatic instincts, and had more closely studied human nature.

All this we are quite at liberty to believe. For the question as to

‘doing good’ through a book does not rest upon the amount of religious

teaching which may be packed into a given number of printed pages, but

rather upon the force with which a certain lesson is presented, with or

without many words. There is no especial power in an abundance of words;

rather the reverse!