Publisher's Synopsis
The intensely interesting stories of eighteen famous failures, of certain celebrities who tasted fame and then in a flash went down to failure. 4 illustrations.
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From the INTRODUCTION:
IT was, I think, Henry Hawkins who nicknamed Edwin James "Necessity," because he knew no law, but then no man is a hero to his rivals, and, besides, the clever barrister, whose dramatic failure coincided with the rise to respectable fame of the judge who closed his career with a seat in the House of Lords, borrowed two thousand five hundred pounds from Hawkins and never paid it back. That episode entitled the younger man to indulge in the luxury of an offensive joke, and, doubtless, James felt he could ignore it because of his many triumphs in the courts. The gibe, however, is eloquent of the opinion of his contemporaries, and it is not astonishing that when disaster overtook him he should have found himself friendless.
James is a supreme example of the self-made man who unmakes himself by his inability to pass unscathed through the fiery ordeal of success. And success is a greater test of character than failure. Had he combined common sense with cleverness he might have attained to the very head of his profession. As it was he is now chiefly remembered because he was such an utter failure. Someone said that James was a born actor, but it is a fact that he stage-managed his life very badly, Lady Hamilton and the Duchess of Kingston have their places in my gallery because of their very interesting and diversified careers. Emma Lyon made Nelson human, while Elizabeth Chudleigh captured the hand of an earl and the fortune of a duke. Doubtless, she would be greatly surprised to find herself described as a failure, but even a state trial for bigamy cannot stamp her as a success.
The royalties I include were men who flung away their chances, though in the case of the Emperor Maximilian it may be said that he had greatness thrust upon him and was not equal to his opportunities. Rudolph of Austria proved how human he was by erring constantly, and his father did not ape divinity by forgiving him. Ludwig and Milan were both mad, the latter in a feeble way, the former with a sort of barbaric splendour.
My criminals are an interesting lot, ranging from cultured murderers like Dr Webster and Wainewright to great swindlers of the Roupell and Sadleir brand, and their deeds are in strong contrast to the fooleries of Beau Brummell and the inanities of the Marquis of Hastings.
We know that the successful are seldom happy and that the happy rarely achieve success, and those men and women who have touched life at both extremes are necessarily remarkable characters. Their experiences make their careers memorable, and that is why I have chosen eighteen of the most interesting for this volume.
