LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2650, 5 October 1882, Page 4

LITERATURE.

A SPHKJQLATrVE SFIKIP. [' All the Year Bound ']; Now, ti understand the solemnity of tbis story you mast believe that Hopkins w«a a waa eii-.ir ly without imaxina'.iia—Frank Elai; and I d-'--"dei that whan we Irst made faia aqiialiit-»uc« y-ars ago. and have never change.! ou' nc'sion v Vo were then two ycuug gerisE s>, -ho t) siar to fama ma. the wiog'o f art, th 3 most Imaginative sort of all, painting, and we knew we were glad to hsil Imagination wherever we saw is B63iiieg, ts B'air truly remarked, Hopkins 7(u man whose voca'ion it was to make monoy, somehow, oa the Rtook Ex change ; oo ere as wall lnok for imagination in a mcd-1 engaged at a Bbilhrjg aa hour. Th<jn, again, the man's face was sufficient to assure you that be was to*, fclesaed with any Bach quality. It ii a face, rather flabby, and sprinkled With freckles ; the ncse Is abort and thick, and lip, chin snd cheeks quite destitute of hair, Hopkins' body, too, U almost inclined to corpulence; he dresses in a commonplace manner, his fingers ore short and thiok ; so I thick we may tafelv settle, to start with, that Hopkins is a very ordinary man, and Itas no imagination.

I Ecarcely remember bow we first foregathered with Bopkins. He was hardly the man W 8 should have chosen for en intimtta friend ; yet, at one t'me, we saw a good deii of him. In those jolly old days Frank and I lodged in modes l ; rooms together and shared a studio I think Mr Levi Solomon, tile picture dealer, to whom, when hardly pressvd, we would sell a picture or two, brought hiui to U 3 a« a gentleman who dapired a personal interview. It was, of sours?, against Solomon's secret wishes that the introduction took place, as the worthy Israelite did not approve of direct transactions between artist and collector, but Hopkins waa doubtless a good customer and stood firm, ao one day Solomon condcoted klc t 5 our studio. We must have been in fund's at that moment, for I remember we treat-id poor Solomon rather cavalierly, and aa for Hopkins, we looked upon him as a being from a lower sphere— a Philistine ; a orei.ure who3e presence in the world could only be tolerated from the stern necessity that an artist must S3!l his pictures ti eomi one in order to live. Our ideas of the true suasion of art wore very lofty in thoss days, especially if we happened to have a few pounds in oar pockets. Hopkins, to us, was one of » class of men who buy young artists' pictures solely with the view of realis-ng hundreds per cent, on the investmea's when fame comes to the painter. However, whether from mercenary incliui'iiona or for many good qualities that adorned as, Hopkins to-jk a great fancy t.) as, aad sought oar society from that day. Of course, he had the usual commercial £.iuifc i, and not a few defects of education ; but he had a great and proper reverence for genius, and delighted to do it homage—at loMt so wo understood the meaaing of those little dliners ho gave us at his own chamber* ar-d various other places. As artists, after oil, are but mortal, and. when young and struggling, not too highly fed, we aooepted Hopkins' attentions iu the spirit we faoc'ed they were meant, and, afSer a bit, tolerated fclru ; irdsei, even began to think he was a desirable acquaintance—so moved by a fading of gratitude for his civilities, only doubled the market price of the pictures we Co aid induce him to bay. We enjoyed the dinners he gave us very muoh, but I am sure Hopkins enjoyed himself more when we were kind enough to «>udos3end to invite him to spend an evening at oar lodgings. He gftve us Lafitte ard choice cigars ; we only placed pipes and •whiskey upon the table ; but then, as he Bald, our rooms, if humble, were the abode of art, which he honored. Altogether Hopkins waa not a bad sort, and those were merry old times. If Hopkins did not himself take a leading part In the conversation during these evening entertainments, he •eras at least a caoltal listener; and, somehow, when Frank Blair and I, as was our wont, got into lively discussions on things in general and art in particular, we had contracted the habit of ad dressing our remarks to our guest, much in the same way that honorable members address th°ir words to the speaker. Hopkins would sit in the crazy armchair and listen

with a sort of stolid impartiality, but rarely ( ventured to make a remark on hia own account. Occasionally I fancied his face during our talk would wear an expression of •ontent, bat should not like to be rash «cough to assart even thai much. He wonld sit smoking his pipe or cigar, but the nearest approach ho made to entering Into the diswas by g'ving an occasional grunl, -which might ba either of approbation or condemnation, a? those who heard ohose to construe it. Sometimes: for want of better amusement, Frank aud I would join our forces together and chaff our friend unmercifully. He bore oar sallies of wit very well, and seemed to like us none the worse that we made fun at hia expense. Yet there was little fun is It after all. and wo decided that, except to keep our hands in, it was acarctly worth whila to waste our fine Eassws on a man who wa r < so unresisting and new bo little of fence. But one unluoky evening he brought upon himself a regular Onslaught. We ha* been dilating upon the charms of an artist's life and asserting its moral superiority to that of sny trade, when our friend sighed deeply and said—- ' Somatimos, do you know, I think had I learned to draw when a boy, I might have done something in your line. But cow lam afraid it is too late.' This Idea was ao presumptuous that we felt It demanded instant and severe punishment, so Frank said gently : ' My dear fellow, even without an artist's education—c:eckafor instance.' I followed more severely. 'Mr Hopkins, allow me to warn you against filling into the error of that genuine public which yon so waU represent, in thinking that the execution alone makes the artist. An artist, as I understand the word, must have many qualities besides manual doxterlty. He roust have, in addition, many of the gifts of the poet, and among them that greatest gift of all—imagination. Now you, aiy dew sir, I am afraid, are not very great at that.' Poor Hbphins said nothing, evidently convinced by Frank's sarc»3m and my ponderous arguments that his case was a hopeless one. ' Bo yen over dream ?' asked Frank. * Not very often,' replied Hosklns, ' only after curried lobster cr crab, or something of that tort. lam a very aaund sleeper.' ' Then you see, if you can't dream without the a.'aistanoe of indigestible food, you can't imagine, and I, with every wish to encourage Incipient talent, should advice yon not to adopt the profession of an artist.' 'Well, well,' said Hopkins, 'let us say no more about it,' aud he sighed again. But we were not inolined to let him off so easily, and went on in the same vein till we wore wea*y, and tossed him and his a»p!rations a s out between us like a ball. Wo treated him very bidly, and he must iiavo been the bast tempered or the thickest eklnced of men to have stood it without showing anger. Tired at last of baiting our imperturbable friend vie turned to other topics. ' Seen Jones' now picture ?' asked Frank 'Yes. Dm't oare much for it,' I replied; e mcn shouldn't try to paint old subjects sales.! they can treat them in a new manner.' ' Well, it must be hard to strike oat a mw Una with Hamlet and the ghoßt. I cover tried to paint a ghost, so I dan'c know ■whit I ahould make of It.' f I shall wait till I les one, and then off3r It handsome terms for a few sittings. I think tEero is something to be done with ghosts, bat they must tie cf an original kind, not conventional, like Jones'.' ' it, no. They are always the fame ; tbln!y painted, with something placed c:nvoniently behind them to show their transparency. I wouldn't care to paint a ghos? of that tort, people only laugh at them ; but I should like to pat that oreopy sensation on oanva3— that feeling that something uncsany 8 about'

• Well, when someone does see a ghost we may get the correct thing; not till then.' 'Ghosts ain't visible,' said Hopkins, .uolcmnly, 'but for all that there are ghosts.' A remark like thta from Hopkins was an event not lightly to be passed by, so we «rlod In a breath—- ' What do you know about ghosts ? Ever troubled With them P* Ho took his pipe from hia llpo and said alatlp—

*lf you young fellows won't laugh too muoh I don't mind telling yon.' We promised the gravity of Solon, and Frank wlnied at me in so barefaced a manner that anybody bnt our unobservant friend would have seen It and »toaie deoliuud speaking. However, no mirchlef was done, fcr in deep accents he began—--1 You remember— *

« Step a bit,' I said ; ' I can tell from the wi-y the s u o-y opens it Is g"lr-g to be something awful. Let us all fill the glasrea first.' Wo did so. * Now fire away, old fallow, and don't please embellish your truib'ul tale vil h tco many flowers of fancy.* Hopkins paused a little. • Look here,' he said, * you won't mention this to anybody; I should not like the people on the Stock Exchange to hear cf it. They chaff bo.' We vowed that wild horses should not rend the tembl.i revelaiioa from our 1 O*OXl3.

Hopkins began again—- • You renumber my late partner, peer old Bobbet -?'

' Never even hoard of him,' interrupted 31alr.

* Afc, to be sure. Before your time. Well, our firm was Indeed, ia now —Bobbetfc, Bopkint and Oompauy.' 'What business?' I asked, with the air of a orcss-exsmlning counsel. • Stock-jobbers ; office, Capel court," said Hopkins, with a return ta his asaJ brevity. ' Excuse my interrupting your interesting tale,' said Frank, 'but what is a stockjobber I Something eminently rospeotanle, honest and lucrative, I have na doubt. But what is it ?'

Hopkins summed up hi 3 profession briefly thus : '"S on want to sell stock—another man wants to buy stock—you go to a broker—he eoe* to a broker—both brokers go to a jobber or doaler, which sounds nice—your broker sells him the stock, his broker buys it of him. That's a stock jobber's business in a nut shell.'

' But as I am ignorant of all transactions in stock, I fail to see the pull of it.' ' Well, your broier sells it to me for, "say, one hundred and twenty; the other ai.-.u's broker buys it of me for, say, one hundred and twenty-one; and that's the way we make our living.' 'That Is a nice basinets,' said Blair in tones of admiration, 'so easy, just the thing to suit you, I should th'nk.' ■ Don't listen to him,' I orled ; 'go on with yoar tale ' Sopkin', not the least diaoompaad by the interruptions, proceeded : ' Old Bobbett was my partner, and a capital partner he was—sharp as a needle and bold as a lion, and always fair in his deali gs between partner and partner. The ouly f suit I had to find with him was that be was a liitle too fond of speculating on his own account. I like best ta let people speculate through me. It pays best in the long run, and you Bleep sounder when a rising or falling market don't mr.ke a difference of a thousand or so to you. Bui Bobbstt couldn't keep out of it. The excitement was everything to him, and I must say he wi> very clever, seldom making a bad mistake. He gave all his time to it, and had the most marvellous way of picking up information before other people. I never knew where he got his tips, but when he strolled into the office of a morning and said, "Be.ter sell or buy North brlti'h Bright in As," or what else it might be, I knew he had heard something, and there would be a move one way or another in the stocks be named. I tell you I used to get very f tightened at first, especially when we did make losses ; but at eaoh year's end I found the balance the right side, so at last I came to trust Bobett implicltely—let him do just as be liked ; and if he had told me oonsolß were going to drop to 80, I think I nhould h&ve believed him. Poor old Bobbett!' Hopkins paused here; it might have been from the emotion caused by the recollection of tender commercial passages between himself and the lamented Bobbett; but if so his face said nothing. Frank drew the back of his hand across his eye and murmured—--1 This is all very interesting—very pathetic, but where is the promised ghost V Our stolid friend took no notice, but went on like one commencing a fresh chapter of a novel. {To be continued )