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BETWEEN the publication of his [Peacock's] Oct. ign rst an(j jast p Oem s ix ty years had elapsed ; but the records of his existence would, if placed in close juxtaposition, fill hardly out ten years." Thus writes Mr. Freeman ; and Mr. Van Doren's book is a failure just because he has insisted on expanding those records into a volume of three hundred pages. Of such a work a great part must consist in stating trivial facts and drawing from them inferences which there is no reason to accept, and which would be unimportant if accepted. ' " About the time of the publication of Palmyra,' the young poet went back to Chertsey to live. His grandfather, Thomas Love, died December 10, 1805, and Mrs. Love, thus left alone, probably desired the companionship of her daughter and grandson. 1 " The Life of Thomas Love Peacock," By Carl Van Doren. (Dent and Sons.) " Thomas Love Peacock." By (Martin Seeker.) 62 A. Martin Freeman.
PEACOCK 63 A letter to Hookham, dated two years later, testifies that Peacock soon extended one of his walking tours much farther than he had hitherto gone, in an excursion to Scotland." Here follows an extract from a rather gushing and quite unimportant letter about the beauties of Scotch scenery, after which the paragraph concludes as follows : " Nothing further is known of this Scottish tour, but from it probably dates Peacock's inveterate prejudice against the Scotch." This is Mr. Van Doren at his worst and hack biography at normal. At his best he gives a straightforward account of the little that industry can unearth concerning a writer of first-rate importance who died but fiftyfive years ago and whose life is yet more obscure than that of many a smaller man who has been dead twice or thrice as long. Industry in quest of facts is, indeed, Mr. Van Doren's chief merit, which only aggravates our surprise and regret at his having concluded his researches without discovering that Old Sarum is not in Cornwall. Still, he has written a readable book. His knowledge of English is superior to that of the majority
- Page 23 and 24: FOREWORD ii is bound to turn the be
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PEACOCK 63<br />
A letter to Hookham, dated two years<br />
later, testifies that Peacock soon extended<br />
one of his walking tours much farther<br />
than he had hitherto gone, in an excursion<br />
to Scotland."<br />
Here follows an extract from a rather gushing<br />
and quite unimportant letter about the beauties<br />
of Scotch scenery, after which the paragraph<br />
concludes as follows :<br />
" Nothing further is known of this Scottish<br />
tour, but from it probably dates Peacock's<br />
inveterate prejudice against the Scotch."<br />
This is Mr. Van Doren at his worst and<br />
hack biography at normal. At his best he<br />
gives a straightforward account of the little<br />
that industry can unearth concerning a writer<br />
of first-rate importance who died but fiftyfive<br />
years ago and whose life is yet more<br />
obscure than that of many a smaller man who<br />
has been dead twice or thrice as long. Industry<br />
in quest of facts is, indeed, Mr. Van<br />
Doren's chief merit, which only aggravates<br />
our surprise and regret at his having concluded<br />
his researches without discovering<br />
that Old Sarum is not in Cornwall. Still, he<br />
has written a readable book. His knowledge<br />
of English is superior to that of the majority
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