12 8. 1. APRIL 22, 1916.] N OTES AND QUERIES.
325
- Festus ' will some day have a good
revival." The poem to all who know it is full of the joy of youth, for the author began writing it when he was only 20, and for three years he worked on it years full of joy in the happy things of life, " youth and love and sunshine," of walking "among the sunbeams as with angels," and, joined with these, of the
True bliss to be found in holy life ; In charity to man ; in love to God.
One can imagine the pride with which his father opened the precious book on the 27th of April, 1839, and found that the result of the three years' labour of love was dedicated to him :
My Father ! unto thee to whom I owe All that I am, all that I have and can.
The author of ' Festus,' like the poet Rogers, had the means to produce the poem with every advantage of paper and print. The handsome post 8vo volume is plainly bound, but with gilt edges, and bearing as its publisher the historic name of William Pickering. The young poet modestly sup- pressed xhis own name ; and it was only gradually that it became known. Among those/who have praised ' Festus ' are Lytton, JaiWs Montgomery, Ebenezer Elliott, and Tennyson, the last-named writing to Fitz- Ger^ld : " There are really very grand things in ' Festus.' ' :
Bailey's life was an uneventful one. He had a great sorrow in his early days, his first marriage being unhappy. By this marriage he had a son and daughter ; the son, to whom he was deeply attached, did not long survive him. In 1863 he married for his second wife Anne Sophia, daughter of Alderman George Carey of Nottingham. The marriage was a most happy one, Anne Carey being his early love. Miss F. C. Carey describes her to me as tall and good-looking, beloved by all her friends :
"They were devoted to each other; she was just the wife for him, for she enjoyed society, and forwarded all his interests. It was a great loss to him, and to us, when she died in 1896. It was very pathetic to see him bereft of her daily presence."
His house, a very pleasant one, was only at a distance of five minutes' walk from theirs, with a very fine view looking over the Trent valley. Other nephews and nieces also lived in Nottingham, and formed an affectionate family circle. The husband of one niece, Mr. Forman, is the present proprietor of The Nottingham Guardian. Thus the closing years of the poet's life were very
peaceful ; mostly, when weather allowed, he
would spend his days in his lovely garden,,
filled with flowers for a gardener and his
wife, who had already served in the family,,
were his faithful housekeepers while he
would go to his nieces with the letters he
loved to receive, or for anything he might
require. It was always a delight to him to
meet those associated with literature, and
he would often refer with specie 1 pleasure
to two visits he had had paid to him : one by
Sir Robertson Nicoll, to whom he spoke
much of his old connexion with Nottingham
Dissent ; the other by Mr. Gosse, who in
The Fortnightly for November, 1902, gave
" a careful account of the gradual growth of
' Festus,' with an excellent estimate of
Bailey's worth and significance as a
poet " (' D.N.B.,' Second Supplement, vol. k
p. 79).
Bailey was a man to bring around him hosts of friends, of handsome presence and a winning personality, dignified, yet full of geniality, and with a hearty infectious laugh. No one could approach him without feeling the fascination he exercised, while any praise of ' Festus ' was warmly and modestly appreciated. Knight, who frequently met him at Westland Marston's Sunday evenings,, has described his head as being like that of " a benevolent old Norseman," and the portrait I have of him in my library ,. presented to me by his niece, well bears out this description. Knight, who was learned in all the editions of ' Festus,' stated in Th& Athenceum of the 13th of September, 1902,. that " in later editions some crudities are rectified, and some metrical advance is recognizable " ; but my own love for the first edition will never change.
Few poems lend themselves more to quotation than does ' Festus.' We are still looking to the time when
Earth shall live again, and, like her sons,
Have resurrection to a brighter being :
And shall waken ....
. . . .to a new life !
Another race of souls shall rule in her ;
Creatures all loving, beautiful, and holy.
" Good-bye for a little while," were the- poet's last words as he peacefully passed to tiis rest on the 6th of September, 1 902 ; and bhe last words in 'L'Envoi' to * Festus 1 come as a benediction for our centenary note :
Peace to thee, world I Farewell ! May God the
Power, And God the Love, and God the Grace, be ours !.
JOHN COLLINS FRANCIS..
