A practical joke which Lorrequer played shortly after his resignation of ‘The Dublin University’ caused some trouble more than six years after date. In the Magazine, early in 1846, there appeared “Lines by G. P. R James” entitled “A Cloud is on the Western Sky.” The verses were prefaced by a note: “My dear L------, I send you the song you wished to have. The Americans totally forgot, when they so insolently calculated upon aid from Ireland in a war with England, that their own apple is rotten at the core. A nation with five or six millions of slaves who would go to war with an equally strong nation with no slaves is a mad people.--Yours, G. P. R James.” “The Cloud” (amongst other things not intended to be pleasant to Americans) called upon the dusky millions to “shout,” and the author of the “Lines” declared that Britain was ready to draw the sword in the sacred cause of liberty. ‘The Dublin University’ must have had a circulation in the States, and the readers of it across the Atlantic had longer memories than Lever wotted. When his friend James was appointed British Consul at Richmond, Virginia, in 1852, an attempt was made to expel him from the country. The cause of the aversion to the British Consul was the “Cloud is on the Western Sky.” James had never even heard of this rhythmical irritant, and fortunately he was able to convince indignant American patriots that he was not the author of the poem. When Lever heard of the _contretemps_ he exclaimed: “God forgive me! it was my doing; but I had no more notion that ‘James’s powder’ could stir up national animosity than that Holloway’s ointment could absorb a Swiss glacier.” It is pleasant to note that the belated discovery of this extraordinary joke did not create any ill-feeling between the two novelists.
“I am glad you like ‘The Dodds.’ I tried it as a vehicle for all manner of opinions and criticisms--of course as often fanciful as real--on all manner of things. Kenny Dodd is of course the _cheval de bataille_ of the performance, and by him and his remarks I hope to make the whole readable.
“Of Charlie I have the very best account. He is a very quiet boy, and with great energy of character, half smothered by the indolence of foreign life and habits; but once in a position to display his abilities, I have few fears of the result.