A ROMANCE THAT FAILED.
[To THE EDITOR OF TER "SPECTATOR."3 Sue,—Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote a long ballad entitled "Agnes," a very beautiful and pathetic one, it is true, but most inaccurate. It was supposed to describe the life and adventures of the more or less famous Sir Harry Frankland and Agnes Surriage, the lovely daughter of a fisherman who in the first half of the eighteenth century lived at Marble- head, near Boston, New England. Then an American came along, one E. Nason, who publish:d a book on Sir Harry Frankland. He was followed by a second American author, E. L. Bynner, who also wrote a book on the life and love affair of Sir Harry and Agnes Surriage. Another teller of the old tale is Mr. Quiller-Couch, who has quite recently revived it in his "Lady Good-for-Nothing." In the well-known poem I have mentioned, and in each of the three books, not omitting articles in papers and reviews, all said to be based on fact, the essence of the story is to be found in the romantic descriptions of how Agnes Surriage saved Sir Harry's life by' dragging him from beneath the ruins of a church overthrown in the great earthquake at Lisbon, 1755, where he was Consul-General at the time, and bow, from an excess of gratitude, he married his rescuer directly after ! In justice to Sir Harry, and for the information of all future novelists and historians who may meddle with his life and that of Agnes Surriage, a fascinating subject apparently, especially in America, I wish to record that Sir Harry was married to Agnes Surriage nearly a year before the Lisbon earthquake, as letters and documents in my possession prove beyond all question. Again, and I am sorry for the tellers of the story, Sir Harry never owned Thirkleby or ever lived there ! And instead of being wealthy. his income was but small, as he was unfairly disinherited by his uncle, Sir Thomas Frankland, in favour of the latter's widow, who outlived Sir Harry many years. The accounts given in various books of the palatial marble residence said to have been built by Sir Harry near Hopkinton, America, as a home for himself and Agnes Surriage are as fictitious as are most other details of his career.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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