| [CHAPTER I] APPRENTICESHIP TO LIFE | |
|---|---|
| PAGE | |
| A “tally-ho” story—Anthony Trollope’s ancestry, historical andapocryphal—Among the Hampshire novelists—FrancesMilton’s girlhood—Acquaintance with Thomas AnthonyTrollope—Marriage and settlement in Keppel Street—Brightprospects soon clouded—Deep in the mire of misfortune—TheAmerican experiment and its consequence—Sold up—Mrs.Trollope becomes a popular authoress—Anthony at school—Abattle-royal and its sequel—Rough customs at Harrow—“Leg-bail”—Afamily flight to Bruges—The future novelist asusher and prospective soldier—Friendly influences at the PostOffice—Autobiographical touches in famous novels | [3] |
| [CHAPTER II] THE NOVELIST AND THE OFFICIAL IN THE MAKING | |
| Activity at the Post Office during the thirties—The romance ofletter-carrying—One of the State’s bad bargains—Trollope’sunhappy life, in the office and out of it—The novelist in themaking—London at the beginning of the Victorian era—Lostopportunities—Mrs. Trollope’s influence on her son’s works—Herreligious opinions as portrayed in The Vicar of Wrexhill—Anthony’sfirst leanings to authorship—Literary labours ofothers of his name—With his mother among famous contemporariesat home and abroad—The trials of a youthful Londonclerk—Trollope’s remarkable friends of school and social life | [21] |
| [CHAPTER III] THE IRELAND THAT TROLLOPE KNEW | |
| A fresh start—Off to Ireland—The dawn of better things—Irelandin the forties and after—The Whigs and Tories in turn makevain efforts to remove the nation’s chief grievances—Themost deep-seated evils social rather than political—Trollope’sbond of union with the “distressful country”—Sowing theseed of authorship on Bianconi’s cars and in the hunting-field—“It’sdogged as does it”—Ireland’s hearty welcome to the PostOffice official—Trollope and his contemporaries on the Irishmanin his true light—The future novelist at Sir WilliamGregory’s home—The legislation of 1849—The history andrace characteristics of the Irish and the Jews compared—Irishnovelists of Trollope’s day—Marriage with Miss Heseltine in1844—His social standing and hunting reputation in Ireland—Interestingnotabilities at Coole Park—Triumphant success ofTrollope’s Post Office plot—Scoring off the advocate | [39] |
| [CHAPTER IV] THE FIRST TWO IRISH NOVELS | |
| Trollope’s first novel, The Macdermots of Ballycloran—“The bestIrish story that has appeared for half a century”—Clevereffects of light and shade—The story’s principal charactersand their allegorical significance—Typical sketches of Irishlife and institutions—The working of the spy system indetection of crime—Some specimens of Trollopian humour—TheKellys and the O’Kellys—Trollope’s second literaryventure—Links with its predecessor—Its plot and some ofthe more interesting figures—The squire, the doctor, and theparson | [60] |
| [CHAPTER V] COSMOPOLITAN CULTURE AND ITS LITERARY FRUITS | |
| Trollope’s Examiner articles—Opposing religious experiences ofboyhood and early manhood—Moulding influences of hisIrish life—The cosmopolitan in the making—Interest inFrance and the French—La Vendée—Trollope’s relation toother English writers on the French Revolution—The movingspirits of the Vendean insurrection—Peasant royalist enthusiasm—Openingof the campaign—The Chouans of fact and fiction—Arepublican portrait-gallery—Barère—Santerre—Westerman—Robespierre—EleanorDuplay | [81] |
| [CHAPTER VI] ON HER MAJESTY’S SERVICE AND HIS OWN | |
| Maternal influence in the Barchester novels—Trollope’s firstliterary success with The Warden—The Barchester cyclebegun—Origin of the Barchester Towers plot—The cleric inEnglish fiction—Conservatism of Trollope’s novels—Typicalscenes from The Warden—Hiram’s Hospital—ArchdeaconGrantly’s soliloquy—Crushing the rebels—Position of theBarchester series in the national literature—Collecting theraw material of later novels—The author’s first meeting withTrollope—The novelist helped by the official—Defence ofMrs. Proudie as a realistic study—The Trollopian method ofrailway travelling—A daily programme of work and play | [101] |
| [CHAPTER VII] ON AND OFF DUTY ROUND THE WORLD | |
| Chafing in harness—“Agin the Government”—The Three Clerks—Avisit to Mrs. Trollope—Florentine visitors of note inletters and art—A widened circle of famous friends—Diamondcut diamond—Trollope’s new sphere of activity—In Egypt asG.P.O. ambassador—Success of his mission—Doctor Thorne—Homewardbound—Post and pen work by the way—Northand South—The West Indies and the Spanish Main—Carlyle’spraise of it—Castle Richmond and some contemporary novels—Anearly instance of Thackeray’s influence over Trollope’swritings—Famous editors and publishers—The flowing tide offortune | [117] |
| [CHAPTER VIII] ESTABLISHMENT IN LONDON | |
| Resettlement in England—Bright prospects for the future—Importanceof The Cornhill connection—Framley Parsonageand other novels of clerical life—Some novelists and theirillustrators—Trollope’s debt to Millais—The social services ofleading lights help him in his historical pictures of the day—Electionto the Garrick and Athenæum Clubs—AnthonyTrollope as he appeared in 1862—Leading Garrick figures—Thackeray’ssocial and literary mastery over Trollope—Thackeray,Dickens, and Yates in a Garrick squabble—Adivided camp—Trollope on Yates and Yates on Trollope—Theorigin of the politico-diplomatic Cosmopolitan Club—Informalgatherings—Trollope becomes a member—Somefamous “Cosmo” characters—The end of the club—Otherclubs frequented by Trollope—The Fielding—The Arundel—TheArts—The Thatched House—The Turf | [134] |
| [CHAPTER IX] IN PERIODICAL HARNESS | |
| Trollope’s one work in the Thackerayan vein—Brown, Jones, andRobinson—Its failure—Thackeray’s two efforts to enterofficial life by a side door—Trollope’s opinion of “untriedelderly tyros”—And of Thackeray’s limitations—His Life ofThackeray—Philippics against open competition in the CivilService—A Liberal by profession, but a Tory at heart—Anthony’sbon mot—The Pall Mall Gazette—Hunting life inEssex—Sir Evelyn Wood to the rescue—Trollope’s cosmopolitanism—TheFortnightly Review, an English Revue desdeux Mondes—Its later developments | [160] |
| [CHAPTER X] THE BROADENING OF THE LITERARY AND GEOGRAPHICAL HORIZON | |
| Trollope as the guest of Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Lewes among thelions of literature and science at The Priory, Regent’s Park—CharlesDickens present in the spirit, not in the flesh, thinksAdam Bede is by Bradbury or Evans, and doesn’t fancy it isBradbury—Was there any exchange of literary influencebetween George Eliot and Trollope?—Trollope’s new departureillustrates the progress from the idyllic to the epic—OrleyFarm—Its plot—Trollope’s first visit to the United States,in 1860 | [182] |
| [CHAPTER XI] AUTHOR, ARTIST, AND THEIR FEMININESUBJECTS | |
| Trollope and Millais succeed in their different spheres of life byworking on similar principles—The ideas which led Trollopeto write Can You Forgive Her?—Lady Macleod’s praises inducethe heroine to dismiss John Grey while Kate Vavasor’sdevices draw her to her cousin George—Alice’s spiritual andsocial surroundings take a great part in moulding her character—Mrs.Greenow’s love affairs relieve the shadow of themain plot—Burgo Fitzgerald tries to recapture Lady Glencora—Mr.Palliser sacrifices his political position to ensure hersafety—He is rewarded at last—Other novels, both social andpolitical | [203] |
| [CHAPTER XII] RELIGIOUS ORTHODOXY AND OPINIONS | |
| Anglican orthodoxy and evangelical antipathies imbibed byTrollope in childhood—His personal objections to the LowChurch Party for theological as well as social reasons—Hischaracteristic revenge on Norman Macleod for extorting fromhim a Good Words novel—Rachel Ray a case of “vous l’avezvoulu, George Dandin”—And instead of a story for evangelicalreaders a spun-out satire on evangelicalism—Its plot, characters,and incidents—Nina Balatka regarded as a problemJew story—Linda Tressel to Bavarian Puritanism much asRachel Ray to English—Miss Mackenzie another hit at theLow Church—Its characters and plot—The Last Chronicle ofBarset and The Vicar of Bullhampton—Their serious elements,as well as social photographs and occasional touches of satireagainst women, ever doing second thing before first and thendoing the first wrong—Both novels illustrate Trollope’s viewsof the tragic volcano ever ready to break out from under thesocial crust | [223] |
| [CHAPTER XIII] PEN AND PLATFORM POLITICS | |
| Failures of literary men in the political world at the beginning ofthe nineteenth century—Trollope increases the number bygoing under at Beverley—“Not in, but in at the death”—Ralphthe Heir—Its plots and politics—Trollope as editor ofThe St. Paul’s Magazine—Phineas Finn—Some remarks onTrollope’s Palmerston—In the heart of political society—Thehero’s flirtations and fights in London—His final return to theold home and friends—Phineas Redux—Again in London—Chargedwith murder—Madame Goesler’s double triumph—Someprobable caricatures—Trollope renews acquaintancewith Planty Pal and his wife in The Prime Minister—Theclose of the political series comes with The Duke’s Children | [245] |
| [CHAPTER XIV] AMERICAN MISSIONS AND COLONIAL TOURS | |
| Trollope’s third visit to America—That of 1868 about the PostalTreaty and Copyright Commission—Mr. and Mrs. Trollope’sAustralian visit (1871) to their sheep-farming son—Family orpersonal features and influences in the colonial novels suggestedby this journey—Trollope as colonial novelist compared withCharles Reade and Henry Kingsley—Why the colonial novelswere preceded by The Eustace Diamonds—Rival SouthAfrican travellers—Trollope follows Froude to the Cape—Whathe thought about the country’s present and future—Howhe found out Dr. Jameson and Miss Schreiner—JohnBlackwood, Trollope’s particular friend among publishers—Trollope,Blackwood’s pattern writer—Julius Cæsar—Anthony’sbirthday present to John—The South African book—Whatthe critics said—Well-timed and sells accordingly | [269] |
| [CHAPTER XV] CLOSING ACQUAINTANCES, SCENES, AND BOOKS | |
| Trollope on the third Earl Grey, the fourth Earl of Carnarvon, andthe Colonies—Intimacy at Highclere and its literary consequences—Trollopeand Cicero, 1879—Fraternally criticisedby T. A. Trollope and others—Fear of literary fogeydomproduces later up-to-date novels beginning with He Knew Hewas Right—A similarity between Trollope and Dickens—Trollopeand Delane—The editor’s article and novelist’s bookabout social and financial scandals of the time—Mr. Scarborough’sFamily, Trollope’s first novel for a Dickens magazine—Retirementfrom Montagu Square to North End, Harting—LastIrish novels, An Eye for an Eye (1879), The LandLeaguers (1883), Dr. Wortle’s School—General estimate—LastLondon residence—Seizure at Sir John Tilley’s—Deathin Welbeck Street—Funeral at Kensal Green | [288] |
| [BIBLIOGRAPHY] | [309] |
| [INDEX] | [337] |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| [Anthony Trollope] | [Frontispiece] |
| [Harting Grange—North Front] | [ To face page 3] |
| [Harting Grange—South Entrance] | [” 288] |
ANTHONY TROLLOPE
HARTING GRANGE. NORTH FRONT.