Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 04.djvu/100

---

lished: another, the 'Last Man,' which is frequently referred to in Beddoes' correspondence, has entirely disappeared. He became deeply interested in Shelley, and in 1824 became guarantee, in common with several other friends, for the first edition of that poet's 'Posthumous Poems.' In an unpublished letter in 1824 Procter describes Beddoes as 'innocently gay, with a gibe always on his tongue, a mischievous eye, and locks curling like the hyacinth;' and it appears that this was by far the brightest and happiest part of his career, though even at this time his excessive shyness made him averse to society. His mother's health was now breaking up, and in the summer of 1824 he was called to Florence, where she was residing; but she was dead before he could reach her. He spent some time in Italy, where he became acquainted with W. S. Landor and Mrs. Shelley, and he then brought his sisters back to England. These interruptions delayed the preparation for his bachelor's degree, which he eventually took on 25 May 1825. During this year he wrote the dramatic fragments, the 'Second Brother' and 'Torrismond,' which appear in the second volume of his works, and he began his great poem, 'Death's Jest-Book,' upon the polishing of which he was engaged for more than twenty years. He planned to publish a volume of lyrics, entitled 'Outidana, or Effusions, Amorous, Pathetic, and Fantastical;' but he was dissuaded from doing so by his unpopularity with a certain clique at Oxford, Milman, in particular, denouncing him as belonging to 'a villainous school.' He now determined to abandon literature, which he had thought of taking up as a profession, and to give his whole attention to medicine, and particularly to anatomy. Accordingly, in July 1825, he went to the university of Göttingen, where he remained in residence for four years, studying physiology under Blumenbach, surgery under Langenbeck, and chemistry under Stromeyer. All this time he was slowly completing 'Death's Jest-Book,' which was finished, in its first form, in February 1829. During these four years Beddoes only left Göttingen once, to take his M.A. degree at Oxford on 16 April 1828. In the winter of 1829 he transferred his residence to Würzburg, in Bavaria, where he continued his medical studies, and in 1832 obtained the degree of doctor of medicine at that university. He had, however, by the open expression of democratic opinions, made himself obnoxious to the government, and before the diploma was actually conferred upon him he was obliged to fly out of the Bavarian dominions, and to take refuge at Strassburg. In 1833 he visited Zurich, and was so much pleased with it that, when his political intrigues had again made it impossible for him to remain in Germany, he settled down at Zurich in June 1835. He brought with him a considerable reputation as a physiologist, for Blumenbach, in a testimonial which exists, calls him the best pupil he ever had; and he now assumed his degree of M.D. The surgeon Schoelien proposed him to the university as a professor, and he was elected, although the syndic, for a political reason, refused to ratify the election. Beddoes, however, continued to reside in Zurich for several years, and amassed there a scientific library of 600 volumes. He was at Zurich on 8 Sept. 1839, when the peasantry stormed the town, and deposed the liberal government. He observed the riot from a window, and witnessed the murder of the minister Hegetschweiber, who was one of his best friends. Beddoes had taken an acute interest in the cause of liberal politics, supporting it with his purse and his pen, for he now wrote German with complete fluency. After the defeat and dispersion of his friends, Zurich was no longer safe for him. In March 1840 his life was threatened by the insurgents, and he was helped to fly from the town in secret by a former leader of the liberal party named Jasper. He proceeded to Berlin, where, in 1841, he made the acquaintance of one of his latest friends, Dr. Frey. From this time to the date of his death he was a wanderer, still carrying about with him everywhere, and altering, his 'Death's Jest-Book.' In August 1842 he was in England; in 1843 at Baden in Aargau, and again at Zurich; from 1844 to 1846 at Baden, Frankfort, and Berlin. In the summer of 1846 he came once more to England for nearly a year; his friends found him very much changed, and most eccentric in manner. He complained of neuralgia, and shut himself up for six months in his bedroom, reading and smoking. In June 1847 he finally quitted England, and settled for twelve months at Frankfort in the house of an actor named Degen, practising a little as a physician. Here in the early part of 1848 his blood became poisoned from the virus of a dead body entering a slight wound in his hand. This was overcome, but seriously affected his health and spirits. His republican friends had deserted him, and he felt disgusted with life. The circumstances which attended his death were mysterious, and have not been made known to the public. The published account was founded on a letter from Beddoes to his sister, in which he says: 'In July I fell with a horse in a precipitous part of the neigh-