[16] He himself notes the circumstances of composition. "Mem.—'Ode to Setting Sun' begun in the field of the Cross, and under shadow of the Cross, at sunset; finished ascending and descending Jacob's Ladder (mid or late noon?)" "The Song of the Hours" also was written at Storrington.
[17] The Shelley Essay bears signs of the booklessness of Storrington. All the quotations were made from memory, and nearly all were inaccurate.
[18] Also a Shelley "Selection," not published.
[19] There perished with Mr. Stead in the Titanic disaster in 1912 a Catholic priest, who had, shortly before sailing, recommended "The Hound of Heaven" (with the strangely significant line "Adown Titanic glooms of chasméd fears") to a friend, as an antidote to decadent poetry.
[20] At this time he met another Cardinal, then without his Hat, who knew his people in Manchester. There were many pauses when the talk turned to his home. Francis, untamable in shabbiness, even to the point of rags, explained afterwards: "I did not like to dwell on the subject, lest he should discover that I was in poor circumstances. You see he corresponds with my father." But his father did, of course, already know of his need. A letter, dated April 1892, from Bishop Carroll, runs:—
"My dear Mr. Meynell,—Francis Thompson's father has agreed to give me a small sum weekly (3s. 6d.) for his son. I have consented to forward it, and will do so monthly, adding a little myself. I now enclose a cheque for 24s. It is not much, but it will help.—Ever yours sincerely,
J. Carroll."
[21] The old Archbishop's House in Carlisle Place.
[22] At this time he wrote to W. M. of an article in Merry England:—
"The Franciscan article is decidedly good. But I am getting a little sick of this talk of 'individualism,' which only darkens counsel. The writer seems to mean by it not at all what it means to me—and, I think, to the Cardinal. What he calls regulated individualism many people would call Socialism. In fact, some Socialists claim the Franciscans as a Catholic and religious experiment in the direction of Socialism. It seems to me that you can juggle with words like 'individualism' to suit your own whims."