THOMAS and PHILIP JAMES BAILEY

(originally in very few paragraphs)

Philip James BAILEY has conferred a lustre upon his native town infinitely transcending the united glory derived from the other bards whose names are chronicled in these pages. "Festus" stands a bright peculiar star in a firmament studded with a dazzling array of poetical planets. And in the distant future, though our goodly town may have become a wreck in all else, yet will it daily gather increasing renown as the birth-place of this distinguished man.

To pass his name over silently would, therefore, be unpardonable on the part of one professing to tell something of Nottingham and its people. At the same time we do not seek to indulge our readers (of this gossip-loving age) with aught that could possibly prove offensive to the modest and retiring subject of our sketch.

Philip BAILEY, the father of Thomas BAILEY, was a stocking maker, and resided at one time in Portland place, Coalpit lane; at another period his residence was in Black Lion court, Castle gate, where he had a shop of stocking frames. He simultaneously left Coalpit lane and loom, having received an appointment to the

office of town jailer. When Daniel Parker COKE's obnoxious bill was passed, empowering the county magistrates to act in and for the town, a strong party spirit prevailed; and the justices of the shire, in the exercise of their newly-acquired power, deposed George VASON from the governorship of the Union Workhouse. Hereupon, Philip BAILEY voluntarily resigned the situation of governor of the town jail for the purpose of allowing the town magistrates to confer the vacant office upon VASON. Mr. BAILEY was held in high estimation; and it is related that during the twenty years in which he discharged the duties of jailer so honorable vigilant were his habits that there was not a single instance of a prisoner have made his escape. After retiring from his duties he received a permanent annuity.

His son Thomas was in early life connected with the stocking making trade. He subsequently established himself in business as a wine and hop merchant at the top of Low pavement, in the premises above those now occupied (1853) by Messrs. STEVENSON, printers. Thence he removed to Moot Hall, at the upper end of Wheeler gate, where he remained for many years - his son-in-law, Mr. John BROWN, succeeding to the business when Mr. BAILEY retired for the purpose of devoting the remainder of his days to journalism. Mr. BAILEY, from his earliest years, was addicted to politics and literature; and at times of great local or national excitement his pen frequently did effective service for the party to which he belonged. The fact that he could utter his thoughts in forcible and eloquent language at a public gathering further tended to make him a man of mark in his native borough, which, more than the most of English towns, is renowned for its political agitations. But Mr. BAILEY was a poet; and he had a feeling and a love for something above the sphere of the agitator. And so, in the words of Edward HAWKSLEY,

It is little more than a year since we furnished a brief sketch of Thomas BAILEY to the columns of a Scottish newspaper. We had gone on a pilgrimage to the story-haunted town of Mansfield. Leisurely passing the noble park of Nottingham and the suburban villages were soon away into the open country, with its fresh green pastures, and ere long we sat surveying one of the busiest villages on the line. "That is Basford," said our friend; "and yonder is the house of Thomas BAILEY." It was with an unusual degree of interest we surveyed the handsome mansion and its comely garden and embowering trees; for the old mansion was the home of a poet, and that poet's son the author of "Festus!"

Thomas BAILEY is now between sixty and seventy years of age, and of course has retired from the active duties of life, though he conducted the "Mercury" newspaper till it became defunct in 1852; since then he has published several numbers of "A New and Popular History of the County of Nottingham, including the Borough." As a local writer of prose and poetry Mr. BAILEY has acquired considerable influence; and at one time he was even spoken of as a likely representative of his native town in parliament.

One of his favorite plans, we have been told, to encourage the formation of provident habits among the poor is the offering of a bonus on all sums deposited in his hands by the working people in his neighbourhood. Many, whose pockets could not retain cash in periods of prosperity, are glad to avail themselves of the kindness; and, when a time of distress has arrived, the accumulated shillings, in the shape of pounds, have frequently been the source of earnest thankfulness at many a poor man's hearth. Principles embodied in such a deed at this point to the practical exponent of true poetry. Such actions recommend the dweller in the ideal world to the people among whom he resides, perhaps more even than his works; for in the living poet they find besides the big-hearted friend and brother.

Among the numerous publications of Thomas BAILEY the best known are "Ireton," a poem suggested one afternoon tot he author's mind in an excursion to Attenborough, dedicated to Lord John RUSSELL, and issued in 1827; the "Carnival of Death;" "What is Life? and other Poems," published as early as 1820, and dedicated "To the learned and unlearned - the high and low - the fastidious and liberal;" "Recreations in Retirement, by an Old Tradesman," 1836, and "The Advent of Charity," 1852. The "Recreations in Retirement" were said by a Scottish critic to furnish "a beautiful picture of the mind of a private individual elevated and refined with intelligence of the highest order, and leavened throughout with those principles which shed the purest halo around the man of genius." In his dedication to "What is Life?" Mr. BAILEY said; "Unaccustomed hitherto in my struggles through life to swim by the aid of corks - necessitated under every circumstance to depend solely upon my own exertions for support; upon my own character for recommendation - owing to no one on earth anything that I am conscious of more than the reciprocal obligations of social life (except my worthy parents, to whose precepts, prayers, and example I am always proud to acknowledge, under heaven, I am indebted for everything that is valuable in my character or praiseworthy in my conduct) I could not now submit myself upon the name or fame of any individual whatsoever.

Philip James BAILEY, author of "Festus" and "The Angle World," is the only son of Mr. Thomas BAILEY, and was born at Nottingham on the 22^nd day of April, 1816. This great poet, who has married and settle down in the immediate vicinity of his birth-place, is now nearly forty years of age. He was educated, we believe, at Edinburgh, whence he proceeded to London, where, after attending the necessary terms, he became a barrister. He never practised, however, at the bar. For several years he assisted his father in editing the "Nottingham Mercury."

The first edition of his great poem was published in 1839, and was printed at Manchester. The volume created a deep and lasting impression on the mind of the country. It was conveyed across the Atlantic, where an extraordinary number of editions were soon produced, one being beautifully illustrated. Sturdy Ebenezer ELLIOTT avowed that it contained "poetry enough to set up fifty poets." MONTOMERY, another Sheffield bard, said it was "one of those books which we read with throbbing heart and with wonder and almost amazement," and that after reading it "one feels as if one had 'eaten of the insane root that takes the reason prisoner.'" Alfred TENNYSON, now our poet laureate, said he was afraid to praise if for fear of falling into extravagance. And the highest American critics declared that it would stand out in coming time as the book of the age - an opinion shared in by the gifted George GILFILLAN, who, viewing it as a mighty exponent of the great mystery of evil as a purifier, dedicated a luminous paper to its praise in his "Gallery of Literary Portraits."

The additional scene to "Festus" appeared in the "Monthly Magazine" for April, 1849. In 1850 appeared "The Angel World," which, was generally, and, we think, justly, considered a poem unworthy of its author. In 1852 Mr. BAILEY issued a fifth edition of his "Festus," which was printed at Nottingham, and the two chief peculiarities of which were, that it was printed, as at first, in a duodecimo form, and that it included the whole of "The Angel World," except, as George GILFILLAN remarked, "its hideous frontispiece and the poor poems which were tagged to its tail."

The theory of "Festus" is said to have been derived, in a great measure, from the writings of the remarkable Scottish Universalist, the Rev. David THOM of Liverpool, formerly a clergyman of the Established Church of Scotland. In 1846 Mr. John A.P. MACBRIDE of Liverpool, sculptor, modelled a bust of Mr. BAILEY, which he subsequently carved in marble, and which is not less distinguished for its accuracy as a portrait than for its excellence as a work of art.

Henry SUTTON, in his "Clifton Grove Garland," has sketched the immortal "Festus:

And now we shall give a sketch in prose, with which we have been favored by a friend:

Who is that unostentatious, but somewhat singular-looking, gentleman walking up the Derby road? His hat, which appears a size and-a-half too large, shades the upper part of his countenance; and his eyes are fixed upon the ground, as though he were intently studying one of the sermons which the deep gazer finds even in stones - reading as he walks. His features are dark and strongly marked, and a quiet repose sleeps upon them. He wears a surtout-coat, buttoned over, and carries in his right hand a thin cane, which he swings to and fro, as though he were beating time to sweet music heard only by himself.

But this cannot be one of the Nottingham worthies; he attracts no more attention than an ordinary person. Even that stout alderman has passed him by without giving the nod of recognition. You must be mistaken, my friend; he cannot be one of the local celebrities.

No other, sir, than Philip James BAILEY, the author of "Festus" and "The Angel Word." You may think it strange that he has not more consideration paid to him, but it is the way of the world; "a prophet hath no honor in his own country." It is singular, but not the less true, that the poet whose first and greatest work has been pirated in America, and printed there in all possible, and what to an Englishman would seem impossible, forms - and whose mighty genius is appreciated at the remotest nooks of the reading world - should scarcely be known in his native town. Even that stout luminary of the council chamber, perhaps, never heard of such a book as "Festus," and would infinitely prefer dining on "mock turtle and capon larded" to being introduced to its author.

Philip BAILEY is naturally of a diffident disposition, and keeps aloof from society. To a stranger he may appear singularly retiring; but his reserve is at once dispelled by acquaintanceship. The chief attraction of his conversation is the suaviter in modo which goes hand-in-hand with all he says. The profundity of his literary acquirements; the sparkling strokes of wit, which, like the magic touches of a maestro's pencil, give point and relief to the subject under treatment; and his uniform affability and gentleness of disposition are traits which render him a loveable companion. His features bear witness to his possessing great mental power. His black curly hair, parted in the centre, reveals a full, round brow. The organs of ideality and wonder are largely developed, and those of identity and observation are also prominent. He has full, dark eyes; a well formed nose, belonging to no particular class; and an expressive, generous looking mouth. Though admitted to the bar at an early period, he has always preferred the society of the muses to the emolument of his profession.