MATTHEW ARNOLD AND AN AUSTRALIAN ADMIRER

Turnbull Library Record, Volume 2, 1 July 1940, Page 11

MATTHEW ARNOLD AND AN AUSTRALIAN ADMIRER

lan A. Gordon.

ROBERT Dudley Adams (1829-1912), a busy figure in the Sydney commercial and shipping world, was a litterateur ol some note in his time, a contributor to Sydney and English magazines and the author of a volume of verses The Song of the Stars and other Poems (Melbourne 1882), which he published under the non-de-plume of “ Alpha Crucis.” An indefatigable if undescriminating correspondent with literary figures in England he accumulated from such sources autograph letters which, if the Turnbull Library group represent even the average level of interest, might well repay some research work. The library contains some dozen examples ranging from gushing letters of gratitude for his appreciation from minor women novelists like the now forgotten Mrs. E. Lynn Linton and Helen Reeves, a card of thanks from the minor but not entirely forgotten Ouida, to somewhat more formal though interesting correspondence from R. D. Blackmore and Walter Pater and even a brief acknowledgment ( Grazie per i preziosi Illustrati di Sydney, e per la gentile vostra lettera) from Garibaldi. Adams, it appears, was a practised celebrityhunter. The most interesting group of letters are three from Matthew Arnold, with whom Adams continued to correspond after his initial approach. Adams’ usual method was to write a letter of appreciation to some literary figure, which generally evoked a response of gratitude and surprise that far-off Australia should be interested in literature—and then the correspondence ceased. Arnold, however, had a son in Melbourne and this was an additional reason for an interest in the other side of the world. The first letter (January 23rd 1881) is an acknowledgment of Adams’ original letter of appreciation, which having been posted to “ Matthew Arnold, London ” had not unnaturally missed him, gone back to Australia and had then been re-posted. Arnold expresses his regret and goes on to comment on Adams’ letter : “ You do not give a brilliant account of the Sydney libraries and book-trade. They seem to be ahead of you at Melbourne. My publisher told me that the agent for the Melbourne book-trade took 50 copies of a single book of mine—“ God and the Bible and I am not at all a popular author. My poems are published by Macmillan, in two volumes ; they are at present out of print, but

a new edition is preparing. I will with pleasure send you the second edition of my mixed essays, which has just appeared, since you take an interest in what I write and have difficulty in getting my books in Sydney. ...”

Adams replied to this and the second letter (July 7th 1881) is Arnold’s response. He assures Adams that he is no relative of Edwin Arnold (Adams had apparently been enthusiastic about The Light of Asia— this feeler produced no autograph letter) . He adds a line of comment on the position of letters and then follows details of Arnold’s real interest in Australia : “ I have a son, my only son, at this moment in Australia. He is in the Union Bank at Melbourne. He was idle at Oxford, and I sent him to Melbourne that he might learn what regular work was. I have excellent reports of him from the authorities of his Bank, and he is very popular in Melbourne society too, but he wants to come home and says that a clerk in a Bank has no future in Australia any more than in England. It is not likely that he will be at Sydney, but if you ever are at Melbourne, I wish you would go and see him. ...”

A gap of over a year follows. The correspondence lapsed or (if we can judge from Adams’ practise) was continued in a letter or so which must be accounted lost. The third letter (October 28th 1882) is a reply to one of Adams’ wherein the Australian correspondent had apparently commented on a newspaper report of Arnold’s projected American tour to which the newspaper had hinted that Australia might be added. Arnold has no intention of visiting Australia and even the States seem impossible :

“ Indeed so long as I continue to inspect schools, it would be extremely difficult for me to get the time necessary for a visit to America, still more for a visit to the Colonies in Australia. Thank you very much for your kind letter ... if ever I do come to Sydney, you may rely upon it that one of my first visits will be to you. Believe me, Sincerely yours, Matthew Arnold.” In spite of Arnold’s pessimism the projected American tour took place in 1883 but unfortunately for Australian letters Adams’ persuasions were insufficient to extend the tour across the Pacific. Had time been more merciful the Discourses in America of 1885 might well have had their counterpart in Discourses in Australia.