It is scarcely necessary to apologise for the length of this extract, because no author that we know of—not even any French author—has given so vivid a description of the man as he lived, moved, and talked, as Mr. Reach; and we believe the reader will thank us for quoting from an almost entirely forgotten book, the above graphic description of the Gascon Poet.
Endnotes for Chapter XIII.
{1} The Athenaeum, 5th November, 1842. 'The Curl-papers of Jasmin, the Barber of Agen.' ('Las Papillotos de Jasmin, Coiffeur.')
{2} 'A Pilgrimage to Auvergne, from Picardy to Velay.' 1842.
{3} 'Bearn and the Pyrenees.' 1844.
{4} "There are no poets in France now", he said to Miss Costello. "There cannot be. The language does not admit of it. Where is the fire, the spirit, the expression, the tenderness, the force, of the Gascon? French is but the ladder to reach the first floor of the Gascon; how can you get up to a height except by means of a ladder?"
{5} Westminster Review for October, 1849.
{6} Published by David Bogue, Fleet Street. 1852. Mr. Reach was very particular about the pronunciation of his name. Being a native of Inverness, the last vowel was guttural. One day, dining with Douglas Jerrold, who insisted on addressing him as Mr. Reek or Reech, "No," said the other; "my name is neither Reek nor Reech,but Reach," "Very well," said Jerrold, "Mr. Reach will you have a Peach?"