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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/25624-8.txt b/25624-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5c279c8 --- /dev/null +++ b/25624-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6153 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Faces and Places, by Henry William Lucy + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Faces and Places + + +Author: Henry William Lucy + + + +Release Date: May 27, 2008 [eBook #25624] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FACES AND PLACES*** + + +E-text prepared by Ruth Golding + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 25624-h.htm or 25624-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/6/2/25624/25624-h/25624-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/6/2/25624/25624-h.zip) + + + +---------------------------------------------------------------+ + | | + | Transcriber's note: | + | | + | Text originally in italics is enclosed between underscores | + | (_thus_). All special characters in the original text are | + | preserved in this iso-8859-1 version and in the HTML version | + | of this text. | + | | + +---------------------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + +The Whitefriars Library of Wit & Humour + +FACES AND PLACES + +by + +HENRY W. LUCY +(Author of "East by West: A Record of a Journey Round the World") + +With Portrait of the Author and Illustrations + + + + + + + +London: +Henry and Co, Bouverie Street, Ec + + + +_To J.R. Robinson, Editor and Manager of the "Daily News", at whose +suggestion some of these articles were written, they are in their +collected form inscribed, with sincere regard, by an old friend and +colleague._ + +London, _February_ 1892. + + + + +CONTENTS + +Chap. Page + + I. "FRED" BURNABY 1 + II. A NIGHT ON A MOUNTAIN 23 + III. THE PRINCE OF WALES 35 + IV. A HISTORIC CROWD 41 + V. WITH PEGGOTTY AND HAM 52 + VI. TO THOSE ABOUT TO BECOME JOURNALISTS 62 + VII. A CINQUE PORT 69 + VIII. OYSTERS AND ARCACHON 77 + IX. CHRISTMAS EVE AT WATT'S 86 + X. NIGHT AND DAY ON THE CARS IN CANADA 100 + XI. EASTER ON LES AVANTS 108 + XII. THE BATTLE OF MERTHYR 125 + XIII. MOSQUITOES AND MONACO 137 + XIV. A WRECK IN THE NORTH SEA 145 + XV. A PEEP AT AN OLD HOUSE OF COMMONS 152 + XVI. SOME PREACHERS I HAVE KNOWN:-- + Mr. Moody 170 + "Bendigo" 176 + "Fiddler Joss" 181 + Dean Stanley 184 + Dr. Moffat 187 + Mr. Spurgeon 190 + In the Ragged Church 196 + + + + +FACES AND PLACES + +CHAPTER I. + +"FRED" BURNABY + +I made the acquaintance of Colonel Fred Burnaby in a balloon. In such +strange quarters, at an altitude of over a thousand feet, commenced a +friendship that for years was one of the pleasantest parts of my life, +and remains one of its most cherished memories. + +It was on the 14th of September, 1874. A few weeks earlier two French +aeronauts, a Monsieur and Madame Duruof, making an ascent from Calais, +had been carried out to sea, and dropping into the Channel, had passed +through enough perils to make them a nine days' wonder. Arrangements had +been completed for them to make a fresh ascent from the grounds of the +Crystal Palace, and half London seemed to have gone down to Sydenham to +see them off. I was young and eager then, and having but lately joined +the staff of the _Daily News_ as special correspondent, was burning for +an opportunity to distinguish myself. So I went off to the Crystal +Palace resolved to go up in the balloon. + +"No," said Mr. Coxwell, when I asked him if there were a seat to spare +in the car. "No; I am sorry to say that you are too late. I have had at +least thirty applications for seats, and as the car will hold only six +persons, and as practically there are but two seats for outsiders, you +will see that it is impossible." + +This was disappointing, the more so as I had brought with me a large +military cloak and a pair of seal-skin gloves, under a general but +well-defined impression that the thing to do up in a balloon was to keep +yourself warm. Mr. Coxwell's account of the position of affairs so +completely shut out the prospect of a passage in the car that I +reluctantly resigned the charge of the military cloak and gloves, and +strolled down to the enclosure where the process of inflating the +balloon was going on. Here was congregated a vast crowd, which increased +in density as four o'clock rang out, and the great mass of brown silk +into which the gas was being assiduously pumped began to assume a +pear-like shape, and sway to and fro in the light air of the autumn +afternoon. + +About this time the heroes of the hour, Monsieur and Madame Duruof +walked into the enclosure, accompanied by Mr. Coxwell and Mr. Glaisher. +A little work was being extensively sold in the Palace bearing on the +title-page, over the name "M. Duruof," a murderous-looking face, the +letter-press purporting to be a record of the life and adventures of +the French aeronauts. Happily M. Duruof bore but the slightest +resemblance to this portrait, being a young man of pleasing appearance, +with a good, firm, frank-looking face. + +By a quarter to five o'clock the monster balloon was almost fully +charged, and was swaying to and fro in a wild, fitful manner, that could +not have been beheld without trepidation by any of the thirty gentlemen +who had so judiciously booked seats in advance. The wickerwork car now +secured to the balloon was half filled with ballast and crowded with +men, whilst others hung on to the ropes and to each other in the effort +to steady it. + +But they could not do much more than keep it from mounting into mid-air. +Hither and thither it swung, parting in swift haste the curious throng +that encompassed it, and dragging the men about as if they were ounce +weights. The wind seemed to be rising and the faces of the experienced +aeronauts grew graver and graver, answers to the constantly repeated +question, "Where is it likely to come down?" becoming increasingly +vague. At last Mr. Glaisher, looking up at the sky and round at the +neighbouring trees bending under the growing blast, put his veto upon +Madame Duruof's forming one of the party of voyagers. + +"We are not in France," he said. "The people will not insist upon a +woman going up when there is any danger. The descent is sure to be +rough, will possibly be perilous, so Madame Duruof had better stay where +she is." + +Madame Duruof was ready to go, but was at least equally willing to stay +behind, and so it was settled that she should not leave the palace +grounds by the balloon. I cast a lingering thought on the military cloak +and the seal-skin gloves, in safe keeping in a remote part of the +building. If Madame was not going there might be room for a substitute. +But again Mr. Coxwell would not listen to the proposal. There were at +least thirty prior applicants; some had even paid their money, and they +must have the preference. + +At five o'clock all was ready for the start. M. Wilfrid de Fonvielle, +a French aeronaut and journalist, took off his hat, and in full gaze of +a sympathising and deeply interested crowd deliberately attired himself +in a Glengarry cap, a thick overcoat, and a muffler. M Duruof put on +his overcoat, and Mr. Barker, Mr. Coxwell's assistant, seated on the +ring above the car, began to take in light cargo in the shape of +aneroids, barometers, bottles of brandy and water, and other useful +articles. M. Duruof scrambled into the car, one of the men who had been +weighing it down getting out to make room for him. Then M. de Fonvielle, +amid murmurs of admiration from the crowd, nimbly boarded the little +ship, and immediately began taking observations. There was a pause, and +Mr. Coxwell, who stood by the car, prepared for the rush of the Thirty. +But nobody volunteered. Names were called aloud; only the wind, sighing +amongst the trees made answer. + +"Il faut partir," said M. Duruof, somewhat impatiently. Then a +middle-aged gentleman, who, I afterwards learned, had come all the way +from Cambridge to make the journey, and who had only just arrived +breathless on the ground, was half-lifted, half-tumbled in, amid +agonised entreaties from Barker to "mind them bottles." The Thirty had +unquestionably had a fair chance, and Mr. Coxwell made no objection as I +passed him and got into the car, followed by one other gentleman, who +brought the number up to the stipulated half-dozen. We were all ready to +start, but it was thought desirable that Madame Duruof should show +herself in the car. So she was lifted in, and the balloon allowed to +mount some twenty feet, frantically held by ropes by the crowd below. It +descended again, Madame Duruof got out, and in her place came tumbling +in a splendid fellow, some six feet four high, broad-chested to boot, +who instantly made supererogatory the presence of half a dozen of the +bags of ballast that lay in the bottom of the car. + +It was an anxious moment, with the excited multitude spread round far as +the eye could reach, the car leaping under the swaying balloon, and the +anxious, hurried men straining at the ropes. But I remember quite well +sitting at the bottom of the car and wondering when the new-comer would +finish getting in. I dare say he was nimble enough, but his full arrival +seemed like the paying out of a ship's cable. + +This was Fred Burnaby, only Captain then, unknown to fame, with Khiva +unapproached, and the wilds of Asia Minor untrodden by his horse's +hoofs. His presence on the grounds was accidental, and his undertaking +of the journey characteristic. He had invited some friends to dine +with him that night at his rooms, then in St. James's Street. Hearing +of the proposed balloon ascent, he felt drawn to see the voyagers off, +purposing to be home in time to dress for dinner. The defection of the +Thirty appearing to leave an opening for an extra passenger, Burnaby +could not resist the temptation. So with a hasty _Au revoir!_ to his +companion, the Turkish Minister, he pushed his way through the crowd +and dropped into the car. + +I always forgot to ask him how his guests fared. As it turned out, he +had no chance of communicating with his servant before the dinner hour. +The arrival of Burnaby exceeded by one the stipulated number of +passengers, and Coxwell was anxious for us to start before any more got +in. For a minute or two we still cling to the earth, the centre of an +excited throng that shout, and tug at ropes, and run to and fro, and +laugh, and cry, and scream "Good-bye" in a manner that makes our +proposed journey seem dreadful in prospect. The circle of faces look +fixedly into ours; we hear the voices of the crowd, see the women +laughing and crying by turns, and then, with a motion that is absolutely +imperceptible, they all pass away, and we are in mid-air where the echo +of a cheer alone breaks the solemn calm. + +I had an idea that we should go up with a rush, and be instantly in the +cold current of air in view of which the preparation of extra raiment, +the nature of which has been already indicated, had been made. But here +we were a thousand feet above the level of the Palace gardens, sailing +calmly along in bright warm sunlight, and no more motion perceptible +than if we were sitting on chairs in the gardens, and had been so +sitting whilst the balloon mounted. It was a quarter past five when we +left the earth, and in less than five minutes the Crystal Palace +grounds, with its sea of upturned faces, had faded from our sight. +Contrary to prognostication, there was only the slightest breeze, and +this setting north-east, carried us towards the river in the direction +of Greenwich. We seemed to skirt the eastern fringe of London, St. +Paul's standing out in bold relief through the light wreath of mist that +enveloped the city. The balloon slowly rose till the aneroid marked a +height of fifteen hundred feet. Here it found a current which drove it +slightly to the south, till it hovered for some moments directly over +Greenwich Hospital, the training ship beneath looking like a cockle boat +with walking sticks for masts and yards. Driving eastward for some +moments, we slowly turned by Woolwich and crossed the river thereafter +steadily pursuing a north-easterly direction. + +Looking back from the Essex side of the river the sight presented to +view was a magnificent one. London had vanished, even to the dome of +St. Paul's, but we knew where the great city lay by the mist that +shrouded it and shone white in the rays of the sun. Save for this patch +of mist, that seemed to drift after us far away below the car, there was +nothing to obscure the range of vision. I am afraid to say how many +miles it was computed lay within the framework of the glowing panorama. +But I know that we could follow the windings of the river that curled +like a dragon among the green fields, its shining scales all aglow in +the sunlight, and could see where it finally broadened out and trended +northward. And there, as M. Duruof observed with a significant smile, +was "the open sea." + +There was no feeling of dizziness in looking down from the immense +height at which we now floated--two thousand feet was the record as +we cleared the river. By an unfortunate oversight we had no map of +the country, and were, except in respect of such landmarks as +Greenwich, unable with certainty to distinguish the places over which +we passed. + +"That," said Burnaby from his perch up in the netting over the car, +where he had clambered as being the most dangerous place immediately +accessible, "is one of the great drawbacks to the use of balloons in +warfare. Unless a man has natural aptitude, and is specially trained +for the work, his observations from a balloon are of no use, a +bird's-eye view of a country giving impressions so different from the +actual position of places." + +This dictum was illustrated by the scene spread out beneath us. Seen +from a balloon the streets of a rambling town resolve themselves into +beautifully defined curves, straight lines, and various other highly +respectable geometrical shapes. + +We could not at any time make out forms of people. The white highways +that ran like threads among the fields, and the tiny openings in the +towns and villages which we guessed were streets, seemed to belong to +a dead world, for nowhere was there trace of a living person. The +strange stillness that brooded over the earth was made more uncanny +still by cries that occasionally seemed to float in the air around us, +behind, before, to the right, to the left, but never exactly beneath +the car. We could hear people calling, and had a vague idea they were +running after us and cheering; but we could distinguish no moving +thing. Yes; once the gentleman from Cambridge exclaimed that there +were some pheasants running across a field below; but upon close +investigation they turned out to be a troop of horses capering about +in wild dismay. A flock of sheep in another field, huddled close +together, looked like a heap of limestone chippings. As for the +fields stretched out in wide expanse, far as the eye could reach, +they seemed to form a gigantic carpet, with patterns chiefly diamond +shape, in colour shaded from bright emerald to russet brown. + +At six o'clock the sun began to drop behind a broad belt of black +cloud that had settled over London. The mist following us ever since +we crossed the river had overtaken us, even passed us, and was +strewed out over the earth, the sky above our heads being yet a +beautiful pale blue. We were passing with increased rapidity over the +rich level land that stretches from the river bank to Chelmsford, and +there was time to look round at each other. Burnaby had come down from +the netting and disposed his vast person amongst us and the bags of +ballast. He was driven down by the smell of gas, which threatened to +suffocate us all when we started. M. Wilfrid de Fonvielle, kneeling +down by the side of the car, was perpetually "taking observations," +and persistently asking for "the readings," which the gentleman from +Cambridge occasionally protested his inability to supply, owing either +to Burnaby having his foot upon the aneroid, or to the Captain so +jamming him up against the side of the car that the accurate reading +of a scientific instrument was not only inconvenient but impossible. + +When we began to chat and exchange confidences, the fascination which +balloon voyaging has for some people was testified to in a striking +manner. The gentleman from Cambridge had a mildness of manner about him +that made it difficult to conceive him engaged in any perilous +enterprise. Yet he had been in half a dozen balloon ascents, and had +posted up from his native town on hearing that a balloon was going up +from the Crystal Palace. As for Burnaby, it was borne in upon me, even +at this casual meeting, that it did not matter to him what enterprise +he embarked upon, so that it were spiced with danger and promised +adventure. He had some slight preference for ballooning, this being his +sixteenth ascent, including the time when the balloon burst, and the +occupants of the car came rattling down from a height of three thousand +feet, and were saved only by the fortuitous draping of the half emptied +balloon, which prevented all the gas from escaping. + +At half-past six we were still passing over the Turkey carpet, +apparently of the same interminable pattern. Some miles ahead the level +stretch was broken by clumps of trees, which presently developed into +woods of considerable extent. It was growing dusk, and no town or +railway station was near. Burnaby, assured of being too late for his +dinner party, wanted to prolong the journey. But the farther the balloon +went the longer would be the distance over which it would have to be +brought back and Mr. Coxwell's assistant was commendably careful of his +employer's purse. On approaching Highwood the balloon passed over a +dense wood, in which there was some idea of descending. But finally the +open ground was preferred, and, the wood being left behind, a ploughed +field was selected as the place to drop, and the gas was allowed to +escape by wholesale. The balloon swooped downward at a somewhat +alarming pace, and if Barker had had all his wits about him he would +have thrown out half a bag of ballast and lightened the fall. But after +giving instructions for all to stoop down in the bottom of the car and +hold onto the ropes, he himself promptly illustrated the action, and +down we went like a hawk towards the ground. + +As it will appear even to those who have never been in a balloon, no +advice could have been worse than that of stooping down in the bottom of +the car, which was presently to come with a great shock to the earth, +and would inevitably have seriously injured any who shared its contact. +Fortunately Burnaby, who was as cool as if he were riding in his +brougham, shouted out to all to lift their feet from contact with the +bottom of the car, and to hang on to the ropes. This was done, and when +the car struck the earth it merely shook us, and no one had even a +bruise. + +Before we began to descend at full speed the grappling iron had been +pitched over, and, fortunately, got a firm hold in a ridge of the +ploughed land. Thus, when the balloon, after striking the ground, leapt +up again into the air and showed a disposition to wander off and tear +itself to pieces against the hedges and trees, it was checked by the +anchor rope and came down again with another bump on the ground. This +time the shock was not serious, and after a few more flutterings it +finally stood at ease. + +The highest altitude reached by the balloon was three thousand feet, and +this was registered about a couple of miles before we struck Highwood. +For some distance before completing this descent we had been skimming +along at about a thousand feet above the level of the fields, and the +intention to drop being evident, a great crowd of rustics gallantly kept +pace with the balloon for the last half-mile. By the time we were fairly +settled down, half a hundred men, women, and children had converged upon +the field from all directions, and were swarming in through the hedge. + +Actually the first in at the death was an old lady attired chiefly in a +brilliant orange-coloured shawl, who came along over the ridges with a +splendid stride. But she did not fully enjoy the privilege she had so +gallantly earned. She was making straight for the balloon, when Burnaby +mischievously warned her to look out, for it might "go off." Thereupon +the old lady, without uttering a word in reply, turned round and, with +strides slightly increased in length, made for the hedge, through which +she disappeared, and the orange-coloured shawl was seen no more. + +All the rustics appeared to be in a state more or less dazed. What with +having been running some distance, and what with surprise at discovering +seven gentlemen dropped out of the sky into the middle of a ploughed +field, they could find relief only in standing at a safe distance with +their mouths wide open. In vain Barker talked to them in good broad +English, and begged them to come and hold the car whilst we got out. +No one answered a word, and none stirred a step, except when the balloon +gave a lurch, and then they got ready for a start towards the protecting +hedges. At last Burnaby volunteered to drop out. This he did, deftly +holding on to the car, and by degrees the intelligent bystanders +approached and cautiously lent a hand. Finding that the balloon neither +bit nor burned them, they swung on with hearty goodwill, and so we all +got out, and Barker commenced the operation of packing up, in which +task the natives, incited by the promise of a "good drink," lent +hearty assistance. + +We had not the remotest idea where we were, and night was fast closing +in. Where was the nearest railway station? Perhaps if we had arrived in +the neighbourhood in a brake or an omnibus, we might have succeeded in +getting an answer to this question. As it was, we could get none. One +intelligent party said, after profound cogitation, that it was "over +theere," but as "over theere" presented nothing but a vista of +fields--some ploughed and all divided by high hedges--this was scarcely +satisfactory. In despair we asked where the high-road was, and this +being indicated, but still vaguely and after a considerable amount of +thought, Burnaby and I made for it, and presently succeeded in striking +it. + +The next thing was to get to a railway station, wherever it might be, +and as the last train for town might leave early, the quicker we arrived +the better. Looking down the road, Burnaby espied a tumble-down cart +standing close into the hedge, and strode down to requisition it. The +cart was full of hampers and boxes, and sitting upon the shaft was an +elderly gentleman in corduroys intently gazing over the hedge at the +rapidly collapsing balloon, which still fitfully swayed about like a +drunken man awaking out of sleep. + +"Will you drive us to the nearest railway station, old gentleman?" said +Burnaby cheerily. + +The old gentleman withdrew his gaze from the balloon and surveyed us, +a feeble, indecisive smile playing about his wooden features; but he +made no other answer. + +"Will you drive us to the nearest railway station?" repeated Burnaby. +"We'll pay you well." + +Still no answer came from the old gentleman, who smiled more feebly than +ever, now including me in his intelligent purview. After other and +diverse attempts to draw him into conversation, including the pulling of +the horse and cart into the middle of the road, and the making of a +feint to start it off at full gallop, it became painfully clear that the +old gentleman had, at sight of the balloon, gone clean out of such +senses as he had ever possessed, and as there was a prospect of losing +the train if we waited till he came round again, nothing remained but to +help ourselves to the conveyance. So Burnaby got up and disposed of as +much of himself as was possible in a hamper on the top of the cart. I +sat on the shaft, and taking the reins out of the old gentleman's +resistless hand, drove off down the road at quite a respectable pace. + +After we had gone about a mile the old gentleman, who had been employing +his unwonted leisure in staring at us all over, broke into a chuckle. +We gently encouraged him by laughing in chorus, and after a brief space +he said,-- + +_"I seed ye coming."_ + +As I had a good deal to do to keep the pony up and going, Burnaby +undertook to follow up this glimmering of returning sense on the part of +the old gentleman, and with much patience and tact he succeeded in +getting him so far round that we ascertained we were driving in the +direction of "Blackmore." Further than this we could not get, any +pressure in the direction of learning whether there was a railway +station at the town or village, or whatever it might be, being followed +by alarming symptoms of relapse on the part of the old gentleman. +However, to get to Blackmore was something, and after half an hour's +dexterous driving we arrived at the village, of which the inn standing +back under the shade of three immemorial oak trees appeared to be a fair +moiety. + +We paid the old gentleman and parted company with him, though not +without a saddening fear that the shock of the balloon coming down +under his horse's nose, as it were, had permanently affected his brain. +At Blackmore we found a well-horsed trap, and through woods and long +country lanes drove to Ingatestone, and as fast as the train could +travel got back to civilisation. + +This was the beginning of a close and intimate friendship, that ended +only with Burnaby's departure for the Soudan. He often talked to me +of himself and of his still young life. Educated at Harrow, he thence +proceeded to Germany, where, under private tuition, he acquired an +unusually perfect acquaintance with the French, Italian, and German +languages, and incidentally imbibed a taste for gymnastics. At +sixteen he, the youngest of one hundred and fifty candidates, passed +his examination for admission to the army, and at the mature age of +seventeen found himself a cornet in the Royal Horse Guards. At this +time his breast seems to have been fired by the noble ambition to +become the strongest man in the world. How far he succeeded is told +in well-authenticated traditions that linger round various spots in +Windsor and London. He threw himself into the pursuit of muscle with +all the ardour since shown in other directions, and the cup of his +joy must have been full when a precise examination led to the +demonstration of the fact that his arm measured round the biceps +exactly seventeen inches. He could put 'Nathalie' (then starring it +at the Alhambra) to shame with her puny 56-lb. weight in each hand, +and could 'turn the arm' of her athletic father as if it had been +nothing more than a hinge-rusted nut-cracker. His plaything at +Aldershot was a dumb-bell weighing 170 lbs., which he lifted straight +out with one hand, and there was a standing bet of £10 that no +other man in the Camp could perform the same feat. At the rooms of +the London Fencing Club there is to this day a dumb-bell weighing 120 +lbs., with record of how Fred Burnaby was the only member who could +lift it above his head. + +There is a story told of early barrack days which he assured me was +quite true. A horsedealer arrived at Windsor with a pair of beautiful +little ponies he had been commanded to show the Queen. Before +exhibiting them to her Majesty he took them to the Cavalry Barracks +for display to the officers of the Guards. Some of these, by way of +a pleasant surprise, led the ponies upstairs into Burnaby's room, +where they were much admired. But when the time came to take leave an +alarming difficulty presented itself. The ponies, though they had +walked upstairs, could by no means be induced to walk down again. The +officers were in a fix; the horsedealer was in despair; when young +Burnaby settled the matter by taking up the ponies, one under each +arm and, walking downstairs, deposited them in the barrack-yard. The +Queen heard the story when she saw the ponies, and doubtless felt an +increased sense of security at Windsor, having this astounding +testimony to the prowess of her Household Troops. + +Cornet Burnaby was as skilful as he was strong. He was one of the best +amateur boxers of the day, as Tom Paddock, Nat Langham, and Bob Travers +could testify of their well-earned personal experience. Moreover, he +fenced as well as he boxed, and the turn of his wrist, which never +failed to disarm a swordsman, was known in more than one of the capitals +of Europe. Ten years before he started for Khiva, there was much talk at +the Rag of the wonderful feat of the young Guardsman, who undertook +for a small wager to hop a quarter of a mile, run a quarter of a mile, +ride a quarter of a mile, row a quarter of a mile, and walk a quarter of +a mile in a quarter of an hour, and who covered the mile and a quarter +of distance in ten minutes and twenty seconds. + +Fred Burnaby had, whilst barely out of his teens, realised his boyish +dream, and become the strongest man in the world. But he had also begun +to pay the penalty of success in the coin of wasted tissues and failing +health. When a man finds, after anxious and varied experiments, that a +water-ice is the only form of nourishment his stomach will retain, he is +driven to the conviction that there is something wrong, and that he had +better see the doctor. The result of the young athlete's visit to the +doctor was that he mournfully laid down the dumb-bells and the foil, +eschewed gymnastics, and took to travel. + +An average man advised to travel for his health's sake would probably +have gone to Switzerland or the South of France, according to the sort +of climate held to be desirable. Burnaby went to Spain, that being at +the time the most troubled country in Europe, not without promise of an +outbreak of war. Here he added Spanish to his already respectable stock +of languages, and found the benefit of the acquisition in his next +journey, which was to South America, where he spent four months +shooting unaccustomed game and recovering from the effects of his +devotion to gymnastics. Returning to do duty with his regiment, he began +to learn Russian and Arabic, going at them steadily and vigorously, as +if they were long stretches of ploughed land to be ridden over. A second +visit to Spain provided him with the rare gratification of being shut up +in Barcelona during the siege, and sharing all the privations and +dangers of the garrison. Whilst in Seville during a subsequent journey +he received a telegram saying that his father was seriously ill. France +was at the time in the throes of civil war, with the Communists holding +Paris against the army of Versailles. To reach England any other way +than viâ Paris involved a delay of many days, and Burnaby determined to +dare all that was to be done by the Communists. So, carrying a Queen's +Messenger's bag full of cigars in packets that looked more or less like +Government despatches, he passed through Paris and safely reached +Calais. + +A year later he set forth intending to journey to Khiva, but on reaching +Naples was striken with fever, spent four months of his leave in bed, +and was obliged to postpone the trip. In 1874 he once more went to +Spain, this time acting as the special correspondent of the Times with +the Carlists, and his letters form not the least interesting chapter in +the long story of the miserable war. In the early spring of 1875 he made +a dash at Central Africa, hoping to find "Chinese Gordon" and his +expedition. He met that gallant officer on the Sobat river, a stream +which not ten Englishmen have seen, and having stayed in the camp for a +few days, set out homeward, riding on a camel through the Berber desert +to Korosko, a distance of five hundred miles. After an absence of +exactly four months he turned up for duty at the Cavalry Barracks, +Windsor, with as much nonchalance as if he had been for a trip to the +United States in a Cunard steamer. + +It was whilst on this flight through Central Africa that the notion of +the journey to Khiva came back with irresistible force. It had been done +by MacGahan, but that plucky journalist had judiciously started in the +spring. Burnaby resolved to accomplish the enterprise in winter; and +accordingly, on November 30th, 1875, he started by way of St. +Petersburg, treating himself, as a foretaste of the joys that awaited +him on the steppes, to the long lonely ride through Russia in midwinter. +At Sizeran he left civilisation and railways behind him, and rode on a +sleigh to Orenburg, a distance of four hundred and eighty miles. At +Orenburg he engaged a Tartar servant, and another stretch of eight +hundred miles on a sleigh brought him to Fort No. 1, the outpost of the +Russian army facing the desert of Central Asia. After this even the +luxury of sleigh-riding was perforce foregone, and Burnaby set out on +horseback, with one servant, one guide, and a thermometer that +registered between 70° and 80° below freezing point, to find Khiva +across five hundred miles of pathless, trackless, silent snow. + +Two Cossacks riding along this route with despatches had just before +been frozen to death. The Russians, inured to the climate, had never +been able to take Khiva in the winter months. They had tried once, and +had lost six hundred camels and two-thirds of their men before they saw +the enemy. But Fred Burnaby gaily went forth, clothed-on with +sheepskins. After several days' hard riding and some nights' sleep on +the snow, he arrived in Khiva, chatted with the Khan, fraternised with +the Russian officers, kept his eyes wide open, and finally was invited +to return by a telegram from the Commander-in-Chief, who had been +brought to understand how this strange visitor from the Cavalry Barracks +at Windsor had fluttered the military authorities at St. Petersburg. + +This adventure might have sufficed an ordinary man for a lifetime. But +in the very next year, whilst his _Ride to Khiva_ remained the most +popular book in the libraries, he paid a second visit to the Turcomans, +seeking them now, not on the bleak steppes round Khiva, but in the more +fertile, though by Europeans untrodden, plains of Asia Minor. He had one +other cherished project of which he often spoke to me. It was to visit +Timbuctoo. But whilst brooding over this new journey he fell in love, +married, settled down to domestic life in Cromwell Gardens, and took to +politics. It was characteristic of him that, looking about for a seat to +fight, he fixed upon John Bright's at Birmingham, that being at the time +the Gibraltar of political fortresses. + +The last time I saw Fred Burnaby was in September 1884. He was standing +on his doorstep at Somerby Hall, Leicestershire, speeding his parting +guests. By his side, holding on with all the might of a chubby hand +to an extended forefinger, was his little son, a child some five years +old, whose chief delight it was thus to hang on to his gigantic father +and toddle about the grounds. We had been staying a week with Burnaby +in his father's old home, and it had been settled, on the invitation +of his old friend Henry Doetsch, that we should meet again later in +the year, and set out for Spain to spend a month at Huelva. A few +weeks later the trumpet sounded from the Soudan, and like an old +war-horse that joyously scents the battle from afar, Burnaby gave up +all his engagements, and fared forth for the Nile. + +At first he was engaged in superintending the moving of the troops +between Tanjour and Magrakeh. This was hard work admirably done. But +Burnaby was always pining to get to the front. In a private letter +dated Christmas Eve, 1884, he writes: "I do not expect the last boat +will pass this cataract before the middle of next month, and then I +hope to be sent for to the front. It is a responsible post Lord +Wolseley has given me here, with forty miles of the most difficult +part of the river, and I am very grateful to him for letting me have +it. But I must say I shall be better pleased if he sends for me when +the troops advance upon Khartoum." + +The order came in due course, and Burnaby was riding on to the relief +of Gordon when his journey was stopped at Abu-Klea. He was attached to +the staff of General Stewart, whose little force of six-thousand-odd +men was suddenly surrounded by a body of fanatical Arabs, nine +thousand strong. The British troops formed square, inside which the +mounted officers sat directing the desperate defence, that again and +again beat back the angry torrent. After some hours' fighting, a +soldier in the excitement of the moment got outside the line of the +square, and was engaged in a hand-to-hand conflict with a cluster of +Arabs. Burnaby, seeing his peril, dashed out to the rescue--"with a +smile on his face," as one who saw him tells me,--and was making +irresistible way against the odds when an Arab thrust a spear in his +throat, and he fell off his horse dead. He sleeps now, as he always +yearned to rest, in a soldier's grave, dug for him by chance on the +continent whose innermost recesses he had planned some day to explore. + +The date of his death was January 17th, 1885. His grave is nameless, +and its place in the lonely Desert no man knoweth. + + "Brave Burnaby down! Wheresoever 'tis spoken + The news leaves the lips with a wistful regret + We picture that square in the desert, shocked, broken, + Yet packed with stout hearts, and impregnable yet + And there fell, at last, in close _mêlée_, the fighter + Who Death had so often affronted before; + One deemed he'd no dart for his valorous slighter + Who such a gay heart to the battle-front bore. + But alas! for the spear thrust that ended a story + Romantic as Roland's, as Lion-Heart's brief + Yet crowded with incident, gilded with glory + And crowned by a laurel that's verdant of leaf. + A latter-day Paladin, prone to adventure, + With little enough of the spirit that sways + The man of the market, the shop, the indenture! + Yet grief-drops will glitter on Burnaby's bays. + Fast friend as keen fighter, the strife glow preferring, + Yet cheery all round with his friends and his foes; + Content through a life-story short, yet soul-stirring + And happy, as doubtless he'd deem, in its close." + +Thus _Punch_, as it often does, voiced the sentiments of the nation +on learning the death of its hero. + + + +CHAPTER II. + +A NIGHT ON A MOUNTAIN + +There are not many English abroad this morning on the top of +the hill. In fact, unless they had passed the night here it +would not be easy for them to present themselves, seeing that +San Salvatore, though a very modest mound, standing as it does +in the neighbourhood of the Alps, is high enough to lift its +crest out of the curtain of mist that lies over the lower world. +Lugano, its lake, and its many small towns--as like each other +when seen from a distance as if they had been turned out of a +mould--are understood to lie at some uncertain depth beneath +the mist. In truth, unless they have wholly disappeared in the +night, we know that they are there, for we walked up in the +late afternoon with intent to sleep here. + +The people of Lugano, more especially the hotel-keepers, were much +exercised at this undertaking. Nobody in recent recollection had been +known to spend the night on San Salvatore, and if the eccentricity +were permitted and proved enjoyable, no one could say that it might +not spread, leaving empty beds at Lugano. There was, accordingly, +much stress laid on possible dangers and certain discomforts. +Peradventure there was no bed; assuredly it would be hard and damp +and dirty. There would be nothing to eat, nor even to drink; and +in short, if ever there was madness characteristic of the English +abroad, here was the mid March of its season. + +But the undertaking was not nearly so mad as it looked. I had been +up Salvatore on the previous day and surveyed the land. It is a +place that still holds high rank in the Romish calendar of Church +celebrations. Many years ago a chapel was built on its summit, and +pilgrimages instituted. These take place at Ascension and Pentecost, +when the hillside swarms with devout sons and daughters of Italy, and +the music of high mass breaks the silence of the mountains. Even +pilgrims must eat and drink and sleep, and shortly after the chapel +was built there rose up at its feet, in a sheltered nook, a little +house, a chapel-of-ease in the sense that here was sold wine of the +country, cheese of the district, and _jambon_ reputed to come across +the seas from distant "Yorck." A spare bedroom was also established +for the accommodation of the officiating priests, and it was on the +temporary reversion of this apartment that I had counted in making +those arrangements that Lugano held to be hopelessly heretical. + +When, on my first visit to the top of San Salvatore, I reached +the pilgrimage chapel, I found an old gentleman standing at the +door of the hostelry by which the pilgrim must needs pass on +his way to the chapel--a probably undesigned but profitable +arrangement, since it brings directly under his notice the +possibility of purchasing "vins du pays, pain, fromage, +saucissons, and jambon d'Yorck." + +When I broached the subject of the night's entertainment the +landlord was a little taken aback, and evidently inclined +to dwell upon those inconveniences of which Lugano had made +so much. But the more he thought of it, the more he liked the +idea. As I subsequently learned, the hope of his youth, the +sustenance of his manhood, and the dream of his old age was +to see his little hut develop into a grand hotel, with a porter +in the hall, an army of waiters bustling about, and himself in +the receipt of custom. It was a very small beginning that two +English people should propose to lodge with him for a night. +Still, it was something, and everything must have a beginning. +Monte Generoso, among the clouds on the other side of the lake, +began in that way; and look at it now with its _chambres_ at +eight francs a day, its _table d'hôte_ at five francs, and its +_bougies_ dispensed at their weight in silver! + +"Si, signor"; he thought it might be done. He was sure--nay, +he was positive. + +As the picture of the hotel of the future glowed in his mind he +became enthusiastic, and proposed that we should view the +apartments. The bedroom we found sufficiently roomy, with both +fireplace and one of the two windows bricked up to avoid +draughts. The mattress of the bed, it is true, was stuffed with +chopped straw, and was not free from suspicion of harbouring +rats. But there was a gorgeous counterpane, whose many colours +would have excited the envy of Joseph's brethren had their +pilgrimage chanced to lead them in this direction. The floor +was of cement, and great patches of damp displayed themselves +on the walls. Over the bed hung a peaceful picture of a chubby +boy clasping a crook to his breast, and exchanging glances of +maudlin sentimentality with a sheep that skipped at his side. +The damp had eaten up one of the legs of mutton, and the sheep +went on three legs. But nothing could exceed the more than +human tenderness with which it regarded the chubby boy with the +crook. + +We soon settled about the bed, and there remained only +the question of food. On this point also our host displayed +even an increase of airy confidence. What would signor? There +were sausage, ham of York, and eggs, the latter capable of +presentation in divers shapes. + +This, it must be admitted, engendered a feeling of discouragement. +We had two days earlier tasted the sausage of the country when +served up in a first-class hotel as garnish to a dish of spinach. +It is apparently made of pieces of gristle, and when liberated from +the leather case that enshrines it, crumbles like a piece of old +wall. Sausage was clearly out of the question, and the ham of York +does not thrive out of its own country, acquiring a foreign flavour +of salted sawdust. Eggs are very well in their way, but man cannot +live on eggs alone. + +Our host was a man full of resources. Why should we not bring the +materials for dinner from Lugano? He would undertake to cook them, +whatever they might be. This was a happy thought that clenched the +bargain. We undertook to arrive on the following day, bringing our +sheaves with us, in the shape of a supply of veal cutlets. + +The ostensible object of spending a night on San Salvatore is to see +the sun set and rise. The mountain is not high, just touching three +thousand feet, an easy ascent of two hours. But it is a place +glorious in the early morning and solemn in the quiet evening. +Below lies the lake of Lugano, its full length visible. Straight +before you, looking east, is the long arm that stretches to Porlezza, +with its gentle curves where the mountains stand and cool their feet +in the blue water. To the west, beyond a cluster of small and +nameless lakes that lie on the plain, we see the other arm of the +lake, with Ponte Tresa nestling upon it, and still farther west the +sun gleams on the waters of Lago Maggiore. Above Porlezza is Monte +Legnone, and far away on the left glint the snow peaks of the Bernina. +High in the north, above the red tiles and white walls of the town of +Lugano are the two peaks of Monte Camoghe, flanked by something that +seems a dark cloud in the blue sky, but which our host says is the +ridge of St. Gothard. The sun sets behind the Alps of the Valais +among which towers the Matterhorn and gleam the everlasting snows of +Monte Rosa. + +These form the framework of a picture which contains all the softness +and richness of the beauty of a land where the grape and the fig +grow, and where in these October days roses are in full bloom, and +heliotropes sweeten every breath of air. Yesterday had opened +splendidly, the morning sun rising over the fair scene and bringing +out every point. But as we toiled up the hill this afternoon, +carrying the cutlets, the sun had capriciously disappeared. The +mountains were hid in clouds, and the lake, having no blue sky to +reflect, had turned green with chagrin. There was little hope of +visible sunset; but there was a prospect of sunrise, and certainty +of a snug dinner in circumstances to which the novelty of the +surroundings would lend a strange charm. + +It was rather disappointing on arriving to find that our acquaintance +of yesterday had disappeared. I have reason to believe the excitement +of our proposed visit had been too much for him, and that he had +found it desirable to retire to rest in the more prosaic habitation +of the family down in the town. He had selected as substitute the +most stalwart and capable of his sons, a man of the mature age of +thirty-five. This person had the family attribute of readiness of +resource and perfect confidence. The enthusiasm which had been too +dangerously excited in the breast of his aged parent had been +communicated to him. He was ready to go anywhere and cook anything, +and having as a preliminary arranged a napkin under his arm, went +bustling about the table disturbing imaginary flies and flicking off +supposititious crumbs, as he had seen the waiter do in the restaurant +at the hotel down in the town. + +"Signor had brought the cutlets? Si, and beautiful they were! How +would signor like to have them done? Thus, or thus, or thus?" in a +variety of ways which, whilst their recital far exceeded my limited +knowledge of the language, filled me with fullest confidence in +Giacommetti. + +That was his name, he told me in one of his bursts of confidence; +and a very pretty name it is, though for brevity's sake it may be +convenient hereafter to particularise him by the initial letter. + +As I was scarcely in a position to decide among the various +appetising ways of cooking suggested by G., I said I would leave it +to him. + +But, then, the signor could not make a dinner of cutlets. What else +would he be so good as to like? Sausage, ham of York, and eggs--eggs +_à la coque_ or presented as omelettes. No? Then signor would commence +with soup? Finally _potage au riz_ was selected out of the +embarrassment of riches poured at our feet by the enthusiastic G. + +There being yet an hour to dinner, we ascended the few steps that +led to the summit of the hill on which the chapel is perched, a +marvel to all new-comers by the highway of the Lake. The door was +open, and we walked in. There was no light burning on the altar, +nor any water in the stone basin by the door. But there was all +the apparatus of worship--the gaudy toyshop above the grand altar, +the tiny side chapels, with their pictures of the dying Saviour, +and the confessional box, now thick with dust, and echoless of +sob of penitent or counsel of confessor. It was evidently a poorly +endowed chapel, the tinsel adornments being of the cheapest and +the candles of the thinnest. But in some past generation a good +Catholic had bestowed upon it an altarcloth of richest silk, +daintily embroidered. The colours had faded out of the flowers, +and the golden hue of the cloth had been grievously dimmed. Still +it remained the one rich genuine piece of workmanship in a chapel +disfigured by an overbearing hankering after paper flowers and +tinsel. + +Early the next morning, whilst reposing under the magnificent +counterpane on the bed of chopped straw, I was awakened by hearing +the chapel bell ring for mass. I thought it must be the ghost of +some disembodied priest, who had come up through the darkness of +the night and the scarcely more luminous mist of the morning to +say a mass for his own disturbed soul. But, as I presently learned, +they were human hands that pulled the bell-rope, and a living +priest said mass all by himself in this lonely chapel whilst dawn +was breaking over a sleeping world. + +I saw him some hours later sitting on the kitchen dresser, in the +sanctum where G. worked the mysteries of his art. He was resting +his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward, and had in his mouth +a large pipe, from which he vigorously puffed. I found him a very +cheerful old gentleman, by no means unduly oppressed with the +solemnity of this early mass in the lonely chapel. He lived down +at Barbeng, at the back of the hill, and had come up this morning +purely as a matter of business, and in partial fulfilment of a +contract entered into with one of his parishioners, whose husband +had been lost at sea whilst yet they were only twelve months +married. The widow had scraped together sufficient money to have +a due number of masses said on San Salvatore for the repose of the +soul of her young husband. So once a week, whilst the contract ran, +the old priest made his way up through the morning mist, tolled the +bell, said the mass, and thereafter comforted himself with a +voluminous pipe seated on the dresser in G.'s kitchen. + +This is a digression, and I confess I have rather lingered over it, +as it kept the soup waiting. + +The preparation was brought in in a neat white bowl gracefully +carried aloft by G., who still insisted upon going about with a +napkin under his arm. Everything was in order except the soup. I +like to think that the failure may have been entirely due to myself. +G. had proposed quite a dozen soups, and I had ignorantly chosen +the only one he could not make. The liquid was brown and greasy, +smelling horribly of a something which in recognition of G.'s good +intention I will call butter. The rice, which formed a principal +component part, presented itself in conglomerate masses, as if G., +before placing it in the tureen, had squeezed portions of it in his +hand. + +Perhaps he had, for he was not in the humour to spare himself trouble +in his effort to make the banquet a success. + +We helped ourselves plentifully to the contents of the tureen, which +was much easier to do than to settle the disposition of the soup. G. +was in an ecstasy of delight at things having gone on so well thus +far. He positively pervaded the place, nervously changing the napkin +from arm to arm, and frantically flicking off imaginary crumbs. At +length it happily occurred to him that it would be well to go and +see after the cutlets. Whereupon we emptied the soup back into the +tureen, and when G. returned were discovered wiping our lips with +the air of people who had already dined. + +After all, there were the cutlets, and G. had not indulged in +exaggerated approval of their excellence when in a state of nature. +They were those dainty cuts into which veal naturally seems to +resolve itself in butcher's shops on the Continent. We observed +with concern that they looked a little burned in places when they +came to the table, and the same attraction of variety was maintained +in the disposition of salt. There were large districts in the area +of the cutlet absolutely free from savouring. But then you came upon +a small portion where the salt lay in drifts, and thus the average +was preserved. We were very hungry and ate the cutlets, which, with +an allowance of bread, made up the dinner. There were some potatoes, +fried with great skill, amid much of the compound we had agreed to +call butter. But, as I explained to G. in reply to a deprecatory +gesture when he took away the floating mass untouched, I have not +for more than three years been able to eat a potato. One of my +relations was, about that date, choked by a piece of potato, and +since then I have never touched them, especially when fried in a +great deal of butter. + +We had some cheese, for which Earl Granville's family motto would +serve as literal description. You might bend it, but could not +break it. I never was partial to bent cheese, but we made a fair +appearance with this part of the feast, owing to the arrival of +G.'s dog, a miserable-looking cur, attracted to the banquet-hall +by unwonted savours. He seemed to like the cheese; and G., when he +came in with the coffee, was more than ever pleased with our +appreciation of the good things provided for us. + +"Rosbif and chiss--ha!" he said, breaking forth into English, and +smiling knowingly upon us. + +He felt he had probed the profoundest depths of the Englishman's +gastronomical weakness. + +With the appearance of the coffee the real pleasure of the evening +commenced. Along nearly the whole of one side of the banquet-hall +ran a fireplace, a recess of the proportions of a spare bedroom in +an ordinary English house. There were no "dogs" or other contrivance +for minimising the spontaneity of a fire. There are granite quarries +near, and these had contributed an enormous block which formed a +hearth raised about six inches above the level of the floor. On this +an armful of brushwood was placed; and the match applied, it began +to burn with cheerful crackling laughter and pleasant flame, +filling the room with a fragrant perfume. For all other light a +feeble oil lamp twinkled high up on the wall, and a candle burned +on the table where we had so luxuriantly dined. + +The fitful light shone on the oil paintings which partly hid the +damp on the walls. There was a picture (not a bad one) of St. +Sebastian pierced with arrows, and in his death-agony turning +heavenward a beautiful face. There was the portrait of another +monk holding on to a ladder, each rung of which was labelled with +a cardinal virtue. There was a crucifixion or two, and what +elsewhere might well pass for a family portrait--an elderly lady, +with a cap of the period, nursing a spaniel. The damp had spared +the spaniel whilst it made grave ravages upon the lady, eating +a portion of her cheek and the whole of her left ear. + +G. having the dinner off his mind, and having, as was gathered +from a fearsome clattering in the back premises, washed up the +dishes, wandered about the shadows in the background and showed +a disposition for conversation. It was now he unfolded that dream +of the hotel some day to be built up here, with the porter in the +hall, the waiters buzzing round, the old man, his father, in the +receipt of custom, and he (G.) exercising his great natural talents +in supervising the making of soup, the frying of potatoes, and +the selection of elastic cheeses. He showed, with pardonable pride, +a visitors' book in which was written "Leopold, Prince of Great +Britain and Ireland." His Royal Highness came here one rainy day +in 1876, riding on a mule, and escorted by a bedraggled suite. + +Did they partake of any refreshments? + +No; the father, G. frankly admits, lost his head in the excitement +of the moment--a confession which confirms the impression that, on +a much less auspicious occasion, it has been thought desirable that +a younger and stronger man should assume the direction of affairs. +To proffer Royalty _potage au riz_ on such brief notice was of course +out of the question. But the fatuous old gentleman had permitted a +Prince of Great Britain and Ireland to descend the mountain without +having tasted any other of the comestibles which were doubtless on +hand at the time, and portions of which most probably remain to +this day. + +About eight o'clock there were indications from the shadowy +portions of the banqueting chamber that G. was getting sleepy, and +that the hour had arrived when it was usual for residents to retire +for the night. Even on the top of a mountain one cannot go to bed +at eight o'clock, and we affected to disregard these signals. +Beginning gently, the yawns increased in intensity till they became +phenomenal. At nine o'clock G. pointedly compared the hour of the +day as between his watch and mine. + +It was hard to leave a bright wood fire and go to bed at nine +o'clock; but G. was irresistible. He literally yawned us out of +the room, up the staircase, and into the bed-chamber. There was a +key hanging by the outside of the door the size of a small club, +and weighing several pounds. On the inside the keyhole, contrary to +habitude, was in the centre of the door. From this point of approach +it was, however, useful rather for ventilation than for any other +purpose, since the key would not enter. Looking about for some means +of securing the door against possible intrusions on the part of G. +with a new soup, I discovered the trunk of a young tree standing +against the wall. The next discovery was recesses in the wall on +either side of the door, which suggested the evident purpose of the +colossal bar. With this across the door one might sleep in peace, +and I did till eight o'clock in the morning. + +G. had been instructed to call us at sunrise if the morning were +fair. As it happened, our ill luck of the evening was repeated in +the morning. A thick mist obscured all around us, though as we +passed down to civilisation and Lugano the sun, growing stronger, +lifted wreaths of white mist, and showed valley, and lake, and +town bathed in glorious light. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE PRINCE OF WALES + +We in this country have grown accustomed to the existence of the +Prince of Wales, and his personality, real and fabulous, is not +unfamiliar on the other side of the Atlantic. But if we come to +think of it, it is a very strange phenomenon. The only way to +realise its immensity is to conceive its creation today, supposing +that heretofore through the history of England there had been +no such institution. A child is born in accidental circumstances +and with chance connections that might just as reasonably have +fallen to the lot of some other entity. He grows from childhood +through youth into manhood, and all the stages, with increasing +devotion and deference, he is made the object of reverential +solicitude. All his wants are provided for, even anticipated. He +is the first person to be considered wherever he goes. Men who +have won renown in Parliament, in the camp, in literature, doff +their hats at his coming, and high-born ladies curtsey. + +It is all very strange; but so is the rising of the sun and the +sequence of the moon. We grow accustomed to everything and take +the Prince of Wales like the solar system as a matter of course. + +Reflection on the singularity of his position leads to sincere +admiration of the manner in which the Prince fills it. Take it for +all in all, there is no post in English public life so difficult +to fill, not only without reproach, but with success. Day and night +the Prince lives under the bull's-eye light of the lantern of a +prying public. He is more talked about, written about, and pulled +about than any Englishman, except, perhaps, Mr. Gladstone. But Mr. +Gladstone stands on level ground with his countrymen. If he is +attacked or misrepresented, he can hit back again. The position of +the Prince of Wales imposes upon him the impassivity of the target +used in ordinary rifle practice. Whatever is said or written about +him, he can make no reply, and the happy result which in the main +follows upon this necessary attitude suggests that it might with +advantage be more widely adopted. + +Probably in the dead, unhappy night when the rain was on the roof +and the Tranby Croft scandal was on everybody's tongue, the Prince +of Wales had some bad quarters of an hour. But whatever he felt or +suffered, he made no sign. To see him sitting in the chair on the +bench in court whilst that famous trial was proceeding, no one, not +having prior knowledge of the fact, would have guessed that he had +the slightest personal interest in the affair. There was danger of +his even over-doing the attitude of indifference. But he escaped it, +and was exactly as smiling, debonair and courtly as if he were in +his box at the theatre watching the development of some quite other +dramatic performance. He has all the courage of his race, and his +long training has steeled his nerves. + +It would be so easy for the Prince of Wales to make mistakes that +would alienate from him the affection which is now his in unstinted +measure. There are plenty of precedents, and a fatal fulness of +exemplars. Take, for example, his relations with political life. It +would not be possible for him now, as a Prince of Wales did at the +beginning of the century, to form a Parliamentary party, and +control votes in the House of Commons by cabals hatched at +Marlborough House. But he might, if he were so disposed, in less +occult ways meddle in politics. As a matter of fact, noteworthy and +of highest honour to the Prince, the outside public have not the +slightest idea to which side of politics his mind is biassed. They +know all about his private life, what he eats, and how much; how he +dresses, whom he talks to, what he does from the comparatively +early hour at which he rises to the decidedly late one at which he +goes to bed. But in all the gossip daily poured forth about him +there is never a hint as to whether he prefers the politics of Tory +or Liberal, the company of Lord Salisbury or Mr. Gladstone. + +In a country where every man in whatever station of life is a keen +politician, this is a great thing to say for one in the position of +the Prince of Wales. + +This absolute impartiality of attitude does not arise from +indifference to politics or to the current of political warfare. +The Prince is a Peer of Parliament, sits as Duke of Cornwall, and +under that name figures in the division lists on the rare occasions +when he votes. When any important debate is taking place in the +House, he is sure to be found in his corner seat on the front Cross +Bench, an attentive listener. Nor does he confine his attention to +proceedings in the House of Lords. In the Commons there is no more +familiar figure than his seated in the Peers' Gallery over the +clock, with folded hands irreproachably gloved, resting on the +rail before him as he leans forward and watches with keen interest +the sometimes tumultuous scene. + +Thus he sat one afternoon in the spring of the session of 1875. He +had come down to hear a speech with which his friend, Mr. Chaplin, +was known to be primed. The House was crowded in every part, a +number of Peers forming the Prince's suite in the gallery, while +the lofty figure of Count Munster, German Ambassador, towered at +his right hand, divided by the partition between the Peers' +Gallery and that set apart for distinguished strangers. It was a +great occasion for Mr. Chaplin, who sat below the gangway visibly +pluming himself and almost audibly purring in anticipation of +coming triumph. But a few days earlier the eminent orator had the +misfortune to incur the resentment of Mr. Joseph Gillis Biggar. +All unknown to him, Joseph Gillis was now lying in wait, and just +as the Speaker was about to call on the orator of the evening, +the Member for Cavan rose and observed,-- + +"Mr. Speaker, Sir, I believe there are strangers in the house." + +The House of Commons, tied and bound by its own archaic +regulations, had no appeal against the whim of the indomitable +Joey B. He had spied strangers in due form, and out they must go. +So they filed forth, the Prince of Wales at the head of them, the +proud English Peers following, and by another exit the Envoy of the +most potent sovereign of the Continent, representative of a nation +still flushed with the overthrow of France--all publicly and +peremptorily expelled at the raising of the finger of an uneducated, +obscure Irishman, who, when not concerned with the affairs of the +Imperial Parliament, was curing bacon at Belfast and selling it at +enhanced prices to the Saxon in the Liverpool market. + +The Prince of Wales bore this unparalleled indignity with the good +humour which is one of his richest endowments. He possesses in rare +degree the faculty of being amused and interested. The British +workman, who insists on his day's labour being limited by eight +hours, would go into armed revolt if he were called upon to toil +through so long a day as the Prince habitually faces. Some of its +engagements are terribly boring, but the Prince smiles his way +through what would kill an ordinary man. His manner is charmingly +unaffected, and through all the varying duties and circumstances of +the day he manages to say and do the right thing. It is not a heroic +life, but it is in its way a useful one, and must be exceedingly hard +to live. + +Watching the Prince of Wales moving through an assemblage, whether +it be as he enters a public meeting or as he strolls about the +greensward at Marlborough House on the occasion of a garden party, +the observer may get some faint idea of the strain ever upon him. You +can see his eyes glancing rapidly along the line of the crowd in +search of some one whom he can make happy for the day by a smile or a +nod of recognition. If there were one there who might expect the +honour, and who was passed over, the Prince knows full well how sore +would be the heart-burning. + +There is nothing prettier at the garden party than to see him walking +through the crowd of brave men and fair women with the Queen on his +arm. Her Majesty used in days gone by to be habile enough at the +performance of this imperative duty laid upon Royalty of singling +out persons for recognition. Now, when he is in her company, the +Prince of Wales does it for her. Escorting her, bare-headed, +through the throng; he glances swiftly to right or left, and when he +sees some one whom he thinks the Queen should smile upon he whispers +the name. The Queen thereupon does her share in contributing to the +sum of human happiness. + +It is, as I began by saying, all very strange if we look calmly at it. +But, in the present order of things, it has to be done. It is the +Prince of Wales's daily work, and it is impossible to conceive it +accomplished with fuller appearance of real pleasure on the part of +the active agent. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +A HISTORIC CROWD. + +"I very much regret that so much of your valuable time has been +absorbed," said the Lord Chief Justice, speaking to the Tichborne +Jury, as the massive form of the Claimant vanished through the side +door, never more to enter the Court of Queen's Bench; "but it will +be a consolation to you to think that your names will be associated +in history with the most remarkable trial that has ever occurred in +the annals of England." + +There was another jury outside Sir Alexander Cockburn's immediate +observation that always struck me, and I saw a good deal of it, as +not the least notable feature in the great trial that at one time +engrossed the attention of the English-speaking race. That was the +crowd that gathered outside the Courts of Justice, then still an +adjunct of Westminster Hall. + +As there never was before a trial like that of the Claimant, so +there never was a crowd like this. It had followed him through all +the vicissitudes of his appeal to the jury of his countrymen, and +of his countrymen's subsequently handing him over to another jury +upon a fresh appeal. It began to flood the broad spaces at the +bottom of Parliament Street in far-off days when the case of +Tichborne _v._ Lushington was opened in the Sessions House, and it +continued without weariness or falling-off all through the progress +of the civil suit, beginning again with freshened zeal with the +commencement of the criminal trial. + +Like the Severn, Palace Yard filled twice a day whilst the blue +brougham had its daily mission to perform, the crowd assembling in +the morning to welcome the coming Claimant, and foregathering in +the evening to speed him on his departure westward. It ranged in +numbers from 5000 down to 1000. Put the average at 3000, multiply +it by 291, the aggregate number of days which the Claimant was +before the Courts in his varied character of plaintiff and +defendant, and we have 873,000 as the total of the assemblage. + +As a rule, the congregation of Monday was the largest of the week. +Why this should be, students of the manners of this notable crowd +were not agreed. Some held that the circumstance was to be accounted +for by the fact that two days had elapsed during which the Claimant +was not on view, and that on Monday the crowd came back, like a +giant refreshed, to the feast, which, by regular repetition, had +partially palled on Friday's appetite. Others found the desired +explanation in the habit which partly obtains among the labouring +classes of taking Monday as a second day of rest in the week, and +of devoting a portion of it to the duty of going down to Westminster +Hall to cheer "Sir Roger." + +Probably both causes united to bring together the greater crowd of +Monday afternoons. It must not be supposed that the mob was composed +wholly or principally of what are called the working classes. When +an hon. member rose in the House of Commons, and complained of the +inconvenience occasioned to legislators by the "Tichborne crowd," +another member observed that, relative numbers considered, the House +of Commons contributed as much to swell the throng as any other +section of the people. During the last months of the trial, if any +class predominated it was that which came from the provinces. The +Claimant was undoubtedly one of the sights of London and before his +greater attraction the traditional Monument which elsewhere-- + + "Lifts its tall head and like a bully lies," + +sank into absolute insignificance. Not to have seen the Claimant, +argued the London of the period unknown. Fashionably dressed ladies +and exquisitely attired gentlemen battled for front places upon the +pavement with sturdy agriculturists who had brought their wives and +daughters to see "Sir Roger," and who had not the slightest +intention of going back till they had accomplished their desire. + +It came to pass that there were some two hundred faces in the crowd +familiar to the police as daily attendants at the four o'clock +festival in Palace Yard. Day after day, they came to feast their +eyes on the portly figure of "Sir Roger," and, having gazed their +fill, went away, to return again on the morrow. There was one aged +gentleman whose grey gaiters, long-tailed coat, and massive umbrella +were as familiar in Palace Yard as are the features on the clock-face +in the tower. He came up from somewhere in the country in the days +when Kenealy commenced his first speech, and, being a hale old man, +he survived long enough to be in the neighbourhood when the learned +gentleman had finished his second. At the outset, he was wont to +fight gallantly for a place of vantage in the ranks near the arch-way +of the Hall. Then, before the advances of younger and stouter +newcomers, he faded away into the background. Towards the end, he +wandered about outside the railings in Bridge Street, and, as the +clock struck four, got the umbrella as near as its natural +obstructiveness would permit to the carriage-gate whence the +Claimant's brougham was presently to issue. + +At first the police authorities dealt with the assembly in the +ordinary manner, a more or less sufficient force being told off for +the duty of keeping the thoroughfare clear. It soon became manifest +that the Tichborne crowd, like everything else in connection with +the trial, required especial treatment, and accordingly a carefully +elaborated scheme was prepared. Superintendent Denning had under his +command, for the preservation of peace and order in Palace Yard and +the adjacent thoroughfares, not less than sixty men. One or two were +stationed in the justice-chamber itself, and must by the time the +verdict had been delivered have got pretty well up in the details of +the case. Others guarded the entrance-door; others lined the passage +into the yard, others were disposed about the yard itself; whilst, +after three o'clock, two strong companies stood in reserve in the +sheds that flank the entrance to the Hall. At half past three the +crowd began to assemble, building itself up upon the little nucleus +that had been hanging about all day. The favourite standpoint, +especially in the cold, uncertain winter weather that marked the +conclusion of the trial, was inside Westminster Hall, where the +people were massed on the far side of a temporary barricade which +the Tichborne case called into being, the railing of which was worn +black by the touch of the hands of the faithful. + +Outside, in the yard, the crowd momentarily thickened till it formed +a dense lane, opening out from the front of the Hall, and turning to +the left down to the south carriage-gate. The railings in Bridge +Street and St. Margaret's Street were banked with people, and ranks +were formed on the pavement in front of the grass-plot. At a quarter +to four the policemen under the shed received the word of command, +and marched out into St. Margaret's Street, some filing off to take +charge of the gates, whilst the rest were drawn up on the pavement +opposite and at the corner of Bridge Street, with the mission of +preventing rushes after the Claimant's carriage as it drove through. +A few minutes later the distinguished vehicle itself--a plain, +dark-blue brougham, drawn by a finely bred bay mare--drove into the +yard, and, taking up its position a little on one side of the entrance +to the Hall, became the object of curious and respectful consideration. +As the great clock boomed four strokes, the doors of the Court opened, +and the privileged few who had been present at the day's proceedings +issued forth. + +The excitement increased as the Court emptied, culminating when, +after a brief lull, the Claimant himself appeared, and waddled down +the living lane that marked the route to his carriage. There was +much cheering and a great amount of pocket-handkerchief waving, +which "Sir Roger" acknowledged by raising his hat and smiling that +"smile of peculiar sweetness and grace" which Dr. Kenealy brought +under the notice of the three judges and a special jury. As the +Claimant walked through the doorway, closely followed by the +Inspector, the policemen on guard suddenly closed the doors, and +the public within Westminster Hall found themselves netted and +hopelessly frustrated in what was evidently their intention of +rushing out and sharing the outside crowd's privilege of staring +at the Claimant, as he actually stepped into his carriage. + +The outside throng in Palace Yard, meanwhile, made the most of +their special privilege, crowding round "Sir Roger" and cheering +in a manner that made the bay mare plunge and rear. With the least +possible delay, the Claimant is got into the brougham, the door is +banged to, and the bay mare is driven swiftly through the Yard, the +crowd closing in behind. But when they reach the gates, and essay +to pass and flood the streets beyond, where the gigantic umbrella +of the aged gentleman looms uplifted over the shoulders of the line +of police like the section of a windmill sail, the iron gates are +swung to, and this, the second and larger portion of the crowd, is +likewise safely trapped, and can gaze upon the retreating brougham +only through iron bars that, in this instance at least, "do make a +cage." There are not many people outside, for it is hard to catch +even a passing glimpse of the occupant of the carriage as it drives +swiftly westward to Pimlico, finally pulling up in a broad street of +a severely respectable appearance, not to be marred even by the near +contiguity of Millbank convict prison. + +Here also is a crowd, though only a small one, and select to wit, +being composed chiefly of well-dressed ladies, forming part of a +band of pilgrims who daily walked up and down the street, waiting +and watching the outgoing and incoming of "Sir Roger." They are +rewarded by the polite upraising of "Sir Roger's" hat, and a further +diffusion of the sweet and gracious smile; and having seen the door +shut upon the portly form, and having watched the brougham drive +off, they, too, go their way, and the drama is over for the day. + +But the crowd in and about Palace Yard have not accomplished their +mission when they have seen the blue brougham fade in the distance. +There is the "Doctor" to come yet, and all the cheering has to be +repeated, even with added volume of sound. When the Claimant has +got clear away, and the crowd have had a moment or two of +breathing-time, the "Doctor" walks forth from the counsels' +entrance, and is received with a burst of cheering and clapping +of hands, which, "just like Sir Roger", he acknowledges by raising +his hat, but, unlike him, permits no trace of a smile to illumine +his face. Without looking right or left, the "Doctor" walks +northward, raising his hat as he passes the caged and cheering +crowd in Palace Yard. With the same grave countenance, not moved in +the slightest degree by the comical effect of the big men in the +crowd at his heels waving their hats over his head, the "Doctor" +crosses Bridge Street, and walks into Parliament Street, as far as +the Treasury, where a cab is waiting. Into this he gets with much +deliberation, and, with a final waving of his hat, and always with +the same imperturbable countenance, is driven off, and Parliament +Street, subsiding from the turmoil in which the running, laughing, +shouting mob have temporarily thrown it, finds time to wonder +whether it would not have been more convenient for all concerned if +the "Doctor's" cab had picked him up at the door of Westminster Hall. + +Slowly approached the end of this marvellous, and to a succeeding +generation almost incredible, and altogether inexplicable, +phenomenon. It came about noon, on Saturday, the final day of +February, 1874. + +A few minutes before ten o'clock on that morning the familiar bay +mare and the well-known blue brougham--where are they now?--appeared +in sight, with a contingent of volunteer running footmen, who +cheered "Sir Roger" with unabated enthusiasm. As the carriage passed +through into the yard, a cordon of police promptly drew up behind it +across the gateway, and stopped the crowd that would have entered +with it. But inside there was, within reasonable limits, no +restraint upon the movements of the Claimant's admirers, who lustily +cheered, and wildly waved their hats, drowning in the greater sound +the hisses that came from a portion of the assemblage. The Claimant +looked many shades graver than in the days when Kenealy's speech +was in progress. Nevertheless, he smiled acknowledgment of the +reception, and repeatedly raised his hat. When he had passed in, +the throng in Palace Yard rapidly vanished, not more than a couple +of hundred remaining in a state of vague expectation. Westminster +Hall itself continued to be moderately full, a compact section of +the crowd that had secured places of vantage between the barricade +and the temporary telegraph station evidently being prepared to see +it out at whatever hour the end might come. + +For the next hour there was scarcely any movement in the Hall, save +that occasioned by persons who lounged in, looked round, and either +ranged themselves in the ranks behind the policemen, or strolled +out again, holding to the generally prevalent belief that if they +returned at two o'clock they would still have sufficient hours to +wait. In the Yard a thin line extended from the side of the Hall +gateway backwards to the railings in St. Margaret's Street, with +another line drawn up across the far edge of the broad carriage-way +before the entrance. There was no ostentatious show of police, but +they had a way of silently filing out from under the sheds or out +of the Commons' gateway in proportion as the crowd thickened, which +conveyed the impression that there was a force somewhere about that +would prove sufficient to meet any emergency. As a matter of fact, +Mr. Superintendent Denning had under his command three hundred men, +who had marched down to Westminster Hall at six o'clock in the +morning, and were chiefly disposed in reserve, ready for action as +circumstances might dictate. + +At half-past eleven, there being not more than three or four hundred +people in Palace Yard, a number of Press messengers, rushing +helter-skelter out of the court and into waiting cabs, indicated the +arrival of some critical juncture within the jealously guarded +portals. Presently it was whispered that the Lord Chief Justice had +finished his summing up, and that Mr. Justice Mellor was addressing +the jury. A buzz of conversation rose and fell in the Hall, and the +ranks drew closer up, waiting in silence the consummation that could +not now be far distant. + +The news spread with surprising swiftness, not only in Palace Yard, +but throughout Bridge Street and St. Margaret's Street, and the +railings looking thence into the yard became gradually banked with +rows of earnest faces. Little groups formed on the pavement about +the corners of Parliament Street. Faces appeared at the windows of +the houses overlooking the Yard, and the whole locality assumed an +aspect of grave and anxious expectation. A few minutes after the +clock in the tower had slowly boomed forth twelve strokes it was +known in the Bail Court, where a dozen rapid hands were writing out +words the echo of which had scarcely died away in the inner court, +that the Judges had finished their task, and that the Jury had +retired to consider their verdict. It was known also in the lobbies, +where a throng of gowned and wigged barristers were assembled, +hanging on as the fringe of the densely packed audience that sat +behind the Claimant, and overflowed by the opened doorway. Thence +it reached the crowd outside, and after the first movement and hum +of conversation had subsided, a dead silence fell upon Westminster +Hall, and all eyes were fixed upon the door by which, at any moment, +messengers might issue with the word or words up to the utterance of +which by the Foreman of the Jury the great trial slowly dragged its +length. + +Half an hour later the door burst open, and messengers came leaping +in breathless haste down the steps and across the Hall, shouting as +they ran,-- + +"Guilty! Guilty on all counts!" The words were taken up by the +crowd, and passed from mouth to mouth in voices scarcely above a +whisper. It was a flock of junior barristers, issuing from the +court, radiant and laughing, who brought the next news. + +"Fourteen years! Fourteen years!" they called out. + +This time the crowd in Westminster Hall took up the cry in louder +tones, and there was some attempt at cheering, but it did not +prevail. The less dense crowd in the Yard received the intelligence +without any demonstration and after a brief pause made off with one +consent for the judges' entrance in St. Margaret's Street, where, +peradventure, they might see the prisoner taken away, or at least +would catch a glimpse of the judges and counsel. + +From this hour up to nearly four o'clock the crowd, in numbers far +exceeding those present at the first intimation of the verdict and +sentence, hung about St. Margaret's Street and Palace Yard waiting +for the coming forth of the prisoner, who had long ago been safely +lodged in Newgate. They did not know that as soon as the convict +was given in charge of the tipstaff of the court he was led away by +Inspector Denning, along a carefully planned and circuitous route +that entirely baffled the curiosity of the waiting crowd. Through the +Court of Exchequer the prisoner and his guards went, by the members' +private staircase, across the lobby, along the corridor, through the +smoking-room into the Commons Courtyard, where a plain police +omnibus was in waiting with an escort of eleven men. In this the +prisoner took his seat, and was driven through the Victoria Tower +gate _en route_ for Newgate. He accompanied his custodians as quietly +as if they were conducting him to his brougham, and only once broke +the silence of the journey to Newgate. + +"It's very hot," he said, as he panted along the passages of the +House of Commons, "and I am so fat." + + + +CHAPTER V. + +WITH PEGGOTTY AND HAM. + +A careful survey of the map of Kent will disclose Lydd lying within +four miles of the coast, in the most southerly portion of the +promontory tipped by Dungeness. Lydd has now its own branch line +from Ashford, but when I first knew it the nearest point by rail on +one hand was Folkestone, and on the other Appledore. Between these +several points lies a devious road, sometimes picking its way +through the marshes, and occasionally breaking in upon a sinking +village, which it would probably be delightful to dwell in if it +did not lie so low, was not so damp, and did not furnish the +inhabitants with an opportunity for obtaining remarkably close +acquaintance with the symptoms of the ague. Few of the marsh towns +are more picturesque than Lydd, owing to the sturdy independence +shown by the architects of the houses, and to the persistent and +successful efforts made to avoid anything like a straight line in +the formation of the streets. The houses cluster "anyhow" round the +old church, and seem to have dropped accidentally down in all sorts +of odd nooks and corners. They face all ways, and stand at angles, +several going the length of turning their backs upon the streets and +placidly opening out from their front door into the nearest field. + +In the main street, through which her Majesty's cart passes, and +along which all the posting is done, a serious attempt has made at +the production of something like an ordinary street. But even here +the approach to regularity is a failure, owing to some of the houses +along the line putting forth a porch, or blooming into a row of +utterly unnecessary pillars before the parlour windows. In short, +Lydd, being entirely out of the tracks of the world, cares little for +what other towns may do, and has just built its houses where and how +it pleased. Between Dungeness and Lydd there is an expanse of shingle +which makes the transit an arduous undertaking, and one not to be +accomplished easily without the aid of "backstays" (pronounced +"backster"), a simple contrivance somewhat upon the principle of +snowshoes. When the proneness to slip off the unaccustomed foot has +been overcome, backstays are not so awkward as they look. A couple of +flat pieces of inch-thick wood, four inches wide by six long, with a +loop of leather defectively fastened for the insertion of the foot +went to make up the pair of "backsters" by whose assistance I +succeeded in traversing two miles of rough, loose shingle that +separates the southern and eastern edge of Lydd marsh from the sea. + +The lighthouse stands on the farthest point, jutting into the sea, +and has at the right of it West Bay, and on the left East Bay. A +signboard on the top of a pole stuck in the shingle, almost within +hail of the lighthouse, announces the proximity of "The Pilot." "The +Pilot" is a small shanty run up on the shingle, and possessed of +accommodation about equal in extent to that afforded by the +residence of the Peggottys. Reminiscences of the well-known abode on +the beach at Yarmouth are further favoured, as we draw nearer, by +the appearance of the son of the house, who comes lounging out in a +pilot-cloth suit, with a telescope under his arm, and a smile of +welcome upon his bright, honest face. This must be Ham, who we find +occupies the responsible position of signalman at this station, and +frequently has the current of his life stirred by the appearance of +strange sail upon the horizon. Peggotty, his father, is the proprietor +of "The Pilot," which hostelry drives a more or less extensive trade +in malt liquor with the eight men constituting the garrison of a +neighbouring fort, supplemented by such stray customers as wind and +tide may bring in. + +I made the acquaintance of the Peggotty family and was made free of +the cabin many years ago, in the dark winter time when the _Northfleet_ +went down off Dungeness, and over three hundred passengers were lost. +All the coast was then alive with expectancy of some moment finding +the sea crowded with the bodies of the drowned. The nine days during +which, according to all experience at Dungeness, the sea might hold +its dead were past, and at any moment the resurrection might +commence. But it never came, and other theories had to be broached +to explain the unprecedented circumstance. The most generally +acceptable, because the most absolutely irrefragable, was that the +dead men and women had been carried away by an under-current out +into the Atlantic, and for ever lost amid its wilds. + +My old friend Peggotty tells me, in a quiet, matter-of-fact manner, +a story much more weird than this. He says that after we watchers +had left the scene, the divers got fairly to work and attained a +fair run of the ship. They found she lay broadside on to a bank of +sand, by the edge of which she had sunk till it overtopped her +decks. By the action of the tide the sand had drifted over the ship, +and had even at that early date commenced to bury her. The bodies +of the passengers were there by the hundred, all huddled together +on the lee-side. + +"The divers could not see them," Peggotty adds, "for what with the +mud and sand the water is pretty thick down there. But they could +feel them well enough--an arm sticking out there, and a knee sticking +out here, and sometimes half a body clear of the silt, owing to lying +one over another. They could have got them all up easy enough, and +would, too, if they had been paid for it. They were told that they +were to have a pound apiece for all they brought up. They sent up +one, but there was no money for it, and no one particularly glad to +see it, and so they left them all there, snug enough as far as +burying goes. The diving turned out a poor affair altogether. The +cargo wasn't much good for bringing up, bein' chiefly railway iron, +spades, and such like. There were one or two sales at Dover of odd +stores they brought up, but it didn't fetch in much altogether, and +they soon gave up the job as a bad un." + +The years have brought little change to this strange out-of-the-way +corner of the world, an additional wreck or two being scarcely a +noteworthy incident. The section of an old boat in which, with +fortuitous bits of building tacked on at odd times as necessity has +arisen, the Peggottys live is as brightly tarred as ever, and still +stoutly braves the gales in which many a fine ship has foundered +just outside the front door. One peculiarity of the otherwise +desirable residence is that, with the wind blowing either from the +eastward, westward, or southward, Mrs. Peggotty will never allow +the front door to be opened. As these quarters of the wind +comprehend a considerable stretch of possible weather, the +consequence is that the visitor approaching the house in the usual +manner is on eight days out of ten disturbed by the apparition of +Peggotty at the little look-out window, violently, and to the +stranger, mysteriously, beckoning him away to the northward, +apparently in the direction of the lighthouse. + +This means, however, only that he is to go round by the back, and +the _détour_ is not to be regretted, as it leads by Peggotty's garden, +which in its way is a marvel, a monument of indomitable struggle +with adverse circumstances. It is not a large plot of ground, and +perhaps looks unduly small by reason of being packed in by a high +paling, made of the staves of wrecked barrels and designed to keep +the sand and grit from blowing across it. But it is large enough +to produce a serviceable crop of potatoes, which, with peas and +beans galore occupy the centre beds, Peggotty indulging a weakness +for wallflowers and big red tulips on the narrow fringe of soil +running under the shadow of the palings. The peculiarity about the +garden is that every handful of soil that lies upon it has been +carried on Peggotty's back across the four-mile waste of shingle +that separates the sea-coast from Lydd. That is, perhaps, as severe +a test as could be applied to a man's predilection for a garden. +There are many people who like to have a bit of garden at the back +of their house. But how many would gratify their taste at the expense +of bringing the soil on their own backs, plodding on "backstays" +over four miles of loose shingle? + +One important change has happened in this little household since I +last sat by its hearthstone. Ham is married, and is, in some +incomprehensible manner, understood to reside both at Lydd with +Mrs. Ham and at the cabin with his mother. As for Mrs. Peggotty, +she is as lively and as "managing" as ever--perhaps a trifle smaller +in appearance, and with her smooth clean face more than ever +suggestive of the idea of a pebble smoothed and shaped by the action +of the tide. + +I find on chatting with Peggotty that the old gentleman's mind is in +somewhat of a chaotic state with respect to the wrecks that abound +in the bay. He has been here for forty-eight years, and the fact is, +in that time, he has seen so many wrecks that the timbers are, as it +were, floating in an indistinguishable mass through his mind, and +when he tries to recall events connected with them, the jib-boom of +"the _Rhoda_ brig" gets mixed up with the rigging of "the _Spendthrift_," +and "the _Branch_, a coal-loaded brig," that came to grief thirty years +ago, gets inextricably mixed up with the "Rooshian wessel." But, +looking with far-away gaze towards the Ness Lighthouse, and sweeping +slowly round as far east as New Romney, Peggotty can tot off a number +of wrecks, now to be seen at low water, which with others, the names +whereof he "can't just remember," bring the total past a score. + +The first he sees on this side of the lighthouse is the _Mary_, a bit +of black hull that has been lying there for more than twenty years. +She was "bound somewheres in France," and running round the Ness, +looking for shelter in the bay, stuck fast in the sand, "and broke +up in less than no time." She was loaded with linseed and +millstones, which I suspect, from a slight tinge of sadness in +Peggotty's voice as he mentioned the circumstance, is not for people +living on the coast the best cargo which ships that _will_ go down in +the bay might be loaded with. Indeed, I may remark that though +Peggotty, struggling with the recollections of nearly fifty years, +frequently fails to remember the name of the ship whose wreck shows +up through the sand, the nature of her cargo comes back to him with +singular freshness. + +Near the _Mary_ is another French ship, which had been brought to +anchor there in order that the captain might run ashore and visit +the ship's agent at Lydd. Whilst he was ashore a gale of wind came +on "easterdly"; ship drifted down on Ness Point, and knocked right +up on the shore, the crew scrambling out on to dry land as she went +to pieces. Another bit of wreck over there is all that is left of the +_Westbourne_, of Chichester, coal-laden. She was running for Ness Point +at night, and, getting too far in, struck where she lay, and all the +crew save one were drowned. Nearer is the _Branch_, also a coal-loaded +brig, a circumstance which suggests to Peggotty the parenthetical +remark that "at times there is a good deal of coal about the shingle." +A little more to the east is "the Rooshian wessel _Nicholas I._," in +which Peggotty has a special interest so strong that he forgets to +mention what her cargo was. It is forty-six years since _Nicholas I._ +came to grief; and no other help being near, the whole of the crew +were saved through the instrumentality of Peggotty's dog. It was +broad daylight, with a sea running no boat could live in. The +"Rooshian" was rapidly breaking up, and the crew were shrieking in +an unknown tongue, the little group on shore well knowing that the +unfamiliar sound was a cry for help. Peggotty's Newfoundland dog was +there, barking with mad delight at the huge waves that came tumbling +on the shore, when it occurred to Peggotty that perhaps the dog +could swim out to the drowning men. So he signalled him off, and in +the dog went, gallantly buffeting the waves till it reached the ship. +The Russian sailors tied a piece of rope to a stick, put the stick in +the dog's mouth, and he, leaping overboard, carried it safely to +shore, and a line of communication being thus formed, every soul on +board was saved. + +"They've got it in the school-books for the little children to +read," Peggotty says, permitting himself to indulge in the +slightest possible chuckle. I could not ascertain what particular +school-book was meant, because last winter, when another Russian +ship came ashore here and was totally wrecked, Peggotty presented +the captain with his only copy of the work as a souvenir of the +compulsory visit. But when we returned to the cabin, Mrs. Peggotty +brought down a faded, yellow, much-worn copy of the _Kent Herald_, +in which an account of the incident appears among other items of +the local news of the day. + +Further eastward are the remains of a West Indiaman, loaded with +mahogany and turtles, the latter disappearing in a manner still a +marvel at Dungeness, whilst of the former a good deal of salvage +money was made. It is not far from this wreck that the Russian +last-mentioned came to grief. She met her fate in a peculiarly sad +manner. The _Alliance_, a tar-loaded vessel, drifting inwards before +a strong east wind, began to burn pitch barrels as a signal for +assistance. The Russian, thinking she was on fire, ran down to her +assistance, and took the ground close by. Both ships were totally +wrecked, and the crews saved with no other property save +the clothes they stood in. + +Still glancing from Dungeness eastward, we see at every hundred +yards a black mass of timber, sometimes showing the full length of +a ship, oftener only a few jagged ribs marking where the carcase +lies deeply embedded. Each has its name and its history, and is a +memento of some terrible disaster in which strong ships have been +broken up as if they were built of cardboard, and through which +men and women have not always successfully struggled for life. + +"We don't have so much loss of life in this bay as in the west bay +round the point," said Ham. "Here, you see, when there's been a +rumpus, the water quiets soon after, and the shipwrecked folk can +take to their boats; on the other side the water is rougher, and +there's less chance for them. There was one wreck here not long +since, though, when all hands were lost. It was a Danish ship that +came running down one stormy night, and run ashore there before +she could make the light. We saw her flash her flare-up lights, +and made ready to help her, but before we could get up she went to +pieces, and what is most singular, never since has a body been seen +from the wreck. Ah, sir, it's a bad spot. Often between Saturday +and Monday you'll see three fine ships all stranded together on this +beach. When there's a big wreck like the _Northfleet_ over there, +everybody talks about it, and all the world knows full particulars. +But there's many and many a shipwreck here the newspapers never +notice, and hundreds of ships get on, and with luck get off, without +a word being said anywhere." + +"There's mother signallin' the heggs and bakin is done," said +Peggotty, looking back at the cabin, where a white apron waved out +of one of the port-holes that served for window. + +So we turned and left this haunted spot, where, with the ebbing +tide, twenty-three wrecks, one after the other, thrust forth a +rugged rib or a jagged spar to remind the passer-by of a tragedy. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +TO THOSE ABOUT TO BECOME JOURNALISTS. + +AN OPEN LETTER. + +My dear young friends,__ +I suppose no one not prominently engaged in journalism knows how +widely spread is the human conviction that, failing all else, any +one can "write for the papers," making a lucrative living on easy +terms, amid agreeable circumstances. I have often wondered how +Dickens, familiar as he was with this frailty, did not make use of +it in the closing epoch of Micawber's life before he quitted +England. Knowing what he did, as letters coming to light at this +day testify, it would seem to be the most natural thing in the +world that finally, nothing else having turned up, it should occur +to Dickens that Mr. Micawber would join the Press--probably as +editor, certainly on the editorial staff, possibly as dramatic +critic, a position which involves a free run of the theatres and a +more than nodding acquaintance with the dramatic stars of the day. + +Perhaps Dickens avoided this episode because it was too literally +near the truth in the life of the person who, all unconsciously, +stood as the lay figure of David Copperfield's incomparable friend. +It is, I believe, not generally known that Charles Dickens's father +did in his last desolate days become a member of the Press. When +Dickens was made editor of the Daily News, he thoughtfully provided +for his father by installing him leader of the Parliamentary Corps +of that journal. The old gentleman, of course, knew nothing of +journalism, was not even capable of shorthand. Providentially he +was not required to take notes, but generally to overlook things, +a post which exactly suited Mr. Micawber. So he was inducted, and +filled the office even for a short time after his son had +impetuously vacated the editorial chair. Only the other day there +died an original member of the _Daily News_ Parliamentary Corps, who +told me he quite well remembered his first respected leader, his +grandly vague conception of his duties, and his almost ducal manner +of not performing them. + +Of the many letters that come to me with the assurance that I have +in my possession blank appointments on the editorial and reportorial +staff of all contemporary journals paying good salaries, the saddest +are those written by more than middle-aged men with families. Some +have for years been earning a precarious living as reporters or +sub-editors on obscure papers, and now find themselves adrift; +others are men who, having vainly knocked at all other gates, are +flushed by the happy thought that at least they can write +acceptably for the newspapers; others, again, already engaged in +daily work, are anxious to burn the midnight oil, and so add +something to a scanty income. These last are chiefly clergymen and +schoolmasters--educated men with a love of letters and the idea that, +since it is easy and pleasant to read, it must be easy to write, and +that in the immensity of newspapers and periodical literature there +would be not only room, but eager welcome for them. + +This class of correspondents is curiously alike in one feature. +There is an almost sprightliness in their conviction that what they +can write in these circumstances would exactly suit any paper, daily +or weekly, morning or evening. All they have to do is to give up +their odd savings of time to the work; all you--their hapless +correspondent--have to do is to fill up one of those blank +appointments with which your desk is clogged, and send it to them +by first post. + +There is no other profession in the world thus viewed by outsiders. +No one supposes he can make boots, cut clothes, or paint the outside +of a house without having served some sort of apprenticeship, not to +mention the possession of special aptitude. Any one can, right off--, +become a journalist. Such as these, and all those about to become +journalists, I would advise to study a book published several years +ago. It is the _Life of James MacDonell_, a name which, before this +book was published, was an idle sound to the outer world, though to +contemporary workers in the inner circle of the Press Macdonell was +known as one of the ablest and most brilliant of modern journalists. +In these short and simple annals, the aspirant who imagines the +successful journalist's life is all beer and skittles will discover +what patient study, what self-denial, what strenuous effort, and, +more essential than all, what rare natural gifts are needed to +achieve the position into which Macdonell toiled. + +It is this last consideration that makes me doubt whether there is +any utility in offering practical hints "To Those about to become +Journalists." If a boy or youth has in him the journalistic faculty, +it will come out, whatever unpromising or adverse circumstances he +may be born to. If he has it not, he had very much better take to +joinering or carpentering, to clerking, or to the dispensation of +goods over the retail counter. Journalism is an honourable and, +for those specially adapted, a lucrative profession. But it is a +poor business for the man who has mistaken his way into it. The +very fact that it has such strong allurement for human nature makes +harder the struggle for life with those engaged in its pursuit. I +gather from facts brought under my personal notice that at the +present time there are, proportionately with its numbers, more +unemployed in the business of journalism than in any other, not +exceeding that of the dockers. When a vacancy occurs on any staff, +the rush to fill it is tremendous. Where no vacancy exists the +knocking at the doors is incessant. All the gates are thronged +with suitors, and the accommodation is exceedingly limited. + +The first thing the youth who turns his face earnestly towards +journalism should convince himself of is, that the sole guiding +principle controlling admission to the Press or advance in its ranks +is merit. This, as your communications, my dear young friends, have +convinced me, is a statement in direct contravention of general +belief. You are convinced that it is all done by patronage, and that +if only some one in authority will interest himself in you, you +straightway enter upon a glorious career. There is, however, no +royal road to advancement on the Press. Proprietors and editors +simply could not afford it. Living as newspapers do in the fierce +light focussed from a million eyes, fighting daily with keen +competition, the instinct of self-preservation compels their +directors to engage the highest talent where it is discoverable, +and, failing that, the most sedulously nurtured skill. For this they +will pay almost anything; and they ask nothing more, neither +blood-relationship, social distinction, nor even academic training. +In journalism, more than in any other profession, not excepting the +Bar, a man gets on by his own effort, and only by that. Of course, +proprietors, and even editors, may, if the commercial prosperity of +their journal permit the self-indulgence, find salaried situations +for brothers, sons, or nephews or may oblige old friends in the +same direction. Charles Dickens, as we have seen, made his father +manager of the Parliamentary Corps of the _Daily News_. But that did +not make him a journalist, nor did he, after his son's severance of +his connection with the paper, long retain the post. + +This line of reflection is, I am afraid, not encouraging to you, my +dear young friends; but it leads up to one fact in which I trust +you will be justified in finding ground for hope. Amongst the crowd +struggling to obtain a footing within the pale of journalism, the +reiterated rebuffs they meet with naturally lead to the conviction +that it is a sort of close borough, those already in possession +jealously resenting the efforts of outsiders to breach its sacred +portals. Nothing could be further removed from the fact. A nugget of +gold is not more pleasing to the sight of the anxious miner than is +the discovery by the editor or manager of a newspaper of a new light +in the world of journalism. This I put in the forefront of friendly +words of advice to those about to enter journalism. Get rid of the +fatal idea that some one will open the door for you and land you +safely inside. You must force the door yourself with incessant +knocking if need be, prepared for searching inquiry as to your right +to enter, but certain of a hearty welcome and fraternal assistance +when you have proved your right. + +As an ounce of example is worth a ton of precept, I may perhaps +mention that in a journalistic career now extending over just +twenty-five years, I never but once received anything in the way of +patronage, and that was extended at the very outset only after a +severe test of the grounds upon which recommendation could be made. +My parents, in their wisdom, destined me for a commercial career. +If I had followed the bent given me when I left school, I should +now have been a very indifferent clerk in the hide and valonia +business. But like you, my dear young friends, I felt that my true +vocation was journalism, and I determined to be a journalist. + +I will tell you exactly how I did it. Like you, I meant to be an +editor some day, but also, I trust, like you, I felt that it would +be convenient, if not necessary to start by being a reporter. So I +began to study shorthand, teaching myself by Pitman's system. When, +after infinite pains, I had mastered this mystery, I began to look +out for an opening on the Press. I had no friends in journalism, not +the remotest acquaintance. I made the tour of the newspaper offices +in the town where I lived, was more or less courteously received, +and uniformly assured that there was no opening. One exception was +made by a dear friend whose name is to-day known and honoured +throughout Great Britain, who was then the young assistant-editor of +a local daily paper. He gave me some trial work to do, and was so +far satisfied that he promised me the first vacancy on the junior +staff of reporters. + +That was excellent, but I did not sit down waiting till fortune +dropped the promised plum into my mouth. I got at all the newspapers +within reach, searched for advertisements for reporters, answered +them day after day, week after week, even month after month, +without response. At last a cautious inquiry came. The reply was +deemed satisfactory, and I got my chance. + +This, dear young friends, is the short and simple annal of my start +in journalism, and you will see that the pathway is equally open to +you. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A CINQUE PORT. + +Skulls piled roof high in the vault beneath the church tower supply +the only show thing Hythe possesses. There is some doubt as to their +precise nationality, but of their existence there can be none, as any +visitor to the town may see for himself on payment of sixpence +(parties of three or more eighteenpence). It is known how within a +time to which memory distinctly goes the skulls were found down upon +the beach, whole piles of them, thick as shingle on this coast. The +explanation of their tenancy of British ground is popularly referred +to the time, now nearly nine hundred years gone by, when Earl Godwin, +being exiled, made a raid on this conveniently accessible part of +England, and after a hard fight captured all the vessels lying in +the haven. Others find in the peculiar formation of the crania proof +positive that the skulls originally came from Denmark. + +But Saxon or Dane, or whatever they be, it is certain the skulls +were picked up on the beach, and after an interval were, with some +dim notion of decency, carried up to the church, where they lay +neglected in a vault. The church also going to decay, the +determination was taken to rebuild it, and being sorely pressed for +funds a happy thought occurred to a practical vicar. He had the +skulls piled up wall-like in an accessible chamber, caused the +passages to be swept and garnished, and then put on the impost +mentioned above, the receipts helping to liquidate the debt on +the building fund. Thus, by a strange irony of fate, after eight +centuries, all that is left of these heathens brings in sixpences +to build up a Christian church. + +A good deal has happened in Hythe since the skulls first began to +bleach on the inhospitable shore. When Earl Godwin suddenly +appeared with his helm hard up for Hythe, the little town on the +hill faced one of the best havens on the coast. It was, as every +one knows, one of the Cinque Ports, and at the time of the +Conqueror undertook to furnish, as its quota of armament, five +ships, one hundred and five men, and five boys. Even in the time +of Elizabeth there was a fair harbour here. But long ago the sea +changed all that. It occupied itself in its leisure moments by +bringing up illimitable shingle, with which it filled up all water +ways, and cut Hythe off from communication with the sea as +completely as if it were Canterbury. + +It is not without a feeling of humiliation that a burgess of the +once proud port of Hythe can watch the process of the occasional +importation of household coal. Where Earl Godwin swooped down over +twenty fathoms of water the little collier now painfully picks her +way at high water. On shore stand the mariners of Hythe (in number +four), manning the capstan. When the collier gets within a certain +distance a hawser is thrown out, the capstan turns more or less +merrily round, and the collier is beached, so that at low water +she will stand high and dry. + +Thus ignominiously is coal landed at one of the Cinque Ports. + +Of course this change in the water approaches has altogether +revolutionised the character of the place. Hythe is a port without +imports or exports, a harbour in which nothing takes refuge but +shingle. It has not even fishing boats, for lack of place to moor +them in. It is on the greatest water highway of the world, and yet +has no part in its traffic. Standing on the beach you may see day +after day a never-ending fleet of ships sailing up or down as the +wind blows east or west. But, like the Levite in the parable, they +all pass by on the other side. Hythe has nothing to do but to stand +on the beach with its hands in its pockets and lazily watch them. + +Thus cut off from the world by sea, and by land leading nowhere in +particular except to Romney Marshes, Hythe has preserved in an +unusual degree the flavour of our earlier English world. There have +indeed been times when endeavour was made to profit by this +isolation. As one of the Cinque Ports Hythe has since Parliaments +first sat had the privilege of returning representatives. In the +time of James II. it seems to have occurred to the Mayor (an +ancestor of one of the members for West Kent in a recent +Parliament), that since a member had to be returned to Parliament +much trouble would be saved, and no one in London would be any the +wiser, if he quietly, in his capacity as returning officer, +returned himself. But some envious Radical setting on the opposite +benches, was too sharp for him, and we find the sequel of the story +set forth in the Journals of the House of Commons under date 1685, +where it is written-- + +"Information given that the Mayor of Hythe had returned himself: +Resolved by the House of Commons that Mr. Julius Deedes, the Mayor, +is not duly elected. New writ ordered in his stead." + +Hythe is a little better known now, but not much. And yet for many +reasons its acquaintance is worth forming. The town itself, lying +snugly at the foot of the hill crowned by the old church, is full +of those bits of colour and quaintnesses of wall and gable-end +which good people cross the Channel to see. In the High-street there +is a building the like of which probably does not anywhere exist. It +is now a fish-shop, not too well stocked, where a few dried herrings +hang on a string under massive eaves that have seen the birth and +death of centuries. From the centre of the roof there rises a sort +of watch-tower, whence, before the houses on the more modern side of +the street were built, when the sea swept over what is now +meadow-land, keen eyes could scan the bay on the look out for +inconvenient visitors connected with the coastguard. When the sea +prevented Hythe honestly earning its living in deep-keeled boats, it +perforce took to smuggling, a business in which this old watch-tower +played a prominent part. + +This is a special though neglected bit of house architecture in +Hythe. But everywhere, save in the quarters by the railway station +or the Parade, where new residences are beginning to spring up, the +eye is charmed by old brown houses roofed with red tiles, often +standing tree-shaded in a bountiful flower garden, and always +preserving their own lines of frontage and their own angle of gable, +with delightful indifference to the geometric scale of their +neighbour. + +The South-Eastern Railway Company have laid their iron hand on +Hythe, and its old-world stillness is already on Bank Holidays and +other bleak periods of the passing year broken by the babble of +the excursionist. In its characteristically quiet way Hythe has +long been known as what is called a watering-place. When I first +knew it, it had a Parade, on which were built eight or ten houses, +whither in the season came quiet families, with children and +nurses. For a few weeks they gave to the sea frontage quite a +lively appearance, which the mariners (when they were not manning +the capstan) contemplated with complacency, and said to each other +that Hythe was "looking up." For the convenience of these visitors +some enterprising person embarked on the purchase of three bathing +machines, and there are traditions of times when these were all in +use at the same hour--so great was the influx of visitors. + +Also there is a "bathing establishment" built a long way after +the model of the Pavilion at Brighton. The peculiarity of this +bathing establishment is or was when I first knew the charming +place that regularly at the end of September the pump gets out of +order, and the new year is far advanced before the solitary plumber +of the place gets it put right. He begins to walk dreamily round +the place at Easter. At Whitsuntide he brings down an iron vessel +containing unmelted solder, and early in July the pump is mended. + +This mending of the pump is one of the epochs of Hythe, a sure +harbinger of the approaching season. In July "The Families" begin +to come down, and the same people come every year, for visitors to +Hythe share in the privilege of the inhabitants, inasmuch as they +never--or hardly ever--die. Of late years, since the indefatigable +Town Clerk has succeeded in waking up the inhabitants to the +possibilities of the great future that lies before their town, not +only has a new system of drainage and water been introduced, but a +register has been kept of the death-rate. From a return, published +by the Medical Officer of Health, it appears that the death-rate of +Hythe was 9.3 per 1000. Of sixty-three people who died in a year out +of a population of some four thousand, twenty-three were upwards of +sixty years of age, many of them over eighty. Perhaps the best +proof of the healthfulness of Hythe is to be found in a stroll +through the churchyard, whence it would appear that only very +young children or very old people are carried up the hill. + +The difficulty about Hythe up to recent times has been the +comparative absence of accommodation for visitors. Its fame has +been slowly growing as The Families have spread it within their +own circles. But it was no use for strangers to go to Hythe, since +they could not be taken in. This is slowly changing. Eligible +building sites are offered, villas have been run up along the +Sandgate Road, and an hotel has been built by the margin of the +sea. When news reached the tower of the church that down on the +beach there had risen a handsome hotel, fitted with all the +luxuries of modern life, it is no wonder that the skulls turned +on each other and--as Longfellow in the "Skeleton in Armour" puts +it-- + + "Then from those cavernous eyes + Pale flashes seem to rise, + As when the northern skies + Gleam In December." + +This is surely the beginning of the end. Having been endowed with a +railway which brings passengers down from London in a little over +two hours, Hythe is now dowered with an hotel in which they may dine +and sleep. The existence of the hotel being necessarily admitted, +prejudice must not prevent the further admission that it is +exceedingly well done. Architecturally it is a curiosity, seeing +that though it presents a stately and substantial front neither +stone nor brick enters into its composition. It is made entirely +of shingle mixed with mortar, the whole forming a concrete +substance as durable as granite. The first pebble of the new hotel +was laid quite a respectable number of years ago, the ceremony +furnishing an almost dangerous flux of excitement to the mariners +at the capstan. It has grown up slowly, as becomes an undertaking +connected with Hythe. But it is finished now, handsome without, +comfortable within, with views from the front stretching seawards +from Dungeness to Folkestone, and at the back across green pastures, +glimpses are caught through the trees of the red-tiled town. + +Now that suitable accommodation is provided for stray visitors, +Hythe, with its clean beach, its parade that will presently join +hands with Sandgate, its excellent bathing, and its bracing air, +may look to take high rank among watering places suburban to +London. But there are greater charms even than these in the +immediate neighbourhood. With some knowledge of English watering +places, I solemnly declare that none is set in a country of such +beauty as is spread behind Hythe. Unlike the neighbourhood of +most watering places, the country immediately at the back of the +town is hilly and well wooded. Long shady roads lead past blooming +gardens or through rich farms, till they end in some sleepy village +or hamlet, the world forgetting, by the world forgot. In late July +the country is perfect in its loveliness. The fields and woods are +not so flowery as in May, though by way of compensation the gardens +are rich in roses. Still there are sufficient wild flowers to +gladden the eye wherever it turns. From the hedgerows big white +convolvulus stare with wonder-wide eyes, the honeysuckle is out, +the wild geranium blooms in the long grass, the blackberry bushes +are in full flower, and the poppies blaze forth in great clusters +at every turn of the road. The corn is only just beginning to turn +a faint yellow, but the haymakers are at work, and every breath of +the joyous wind carries the sweet scent of hay. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +OYSTERS AND ARCACHON. + +If the name had not been appropriated elsewhere, Arcachon might +well be called the Salt Lake City. It lies on the south shore of +a basin sixty-eight miles in circumference, into which, through a +narrow opening, the Bay of Biscay rolls its illimitable waters. +Little more than thirty years ago the town was represented by half +a dozen huts inhabited by fishermen. It was a terribly lonely place, +with the smooth lake in front of it, the Atlantic thundering on the +dunes beyond, and in the rear the melancholy desert of sand known as +the Landes. + +The Landes is peopled by a strange race, of whom the traveller +speeding along the railway to-day may catch occasional glimpses. +Early in the century the department was literally a sandy plain, +about as productive as Sahara, and in the summer time nearly as hot. +But folks must live, and they exist on the Landes, picking up a +scanty living, and occasionally dying for lack of water. One initial +difficulty in the way of getting along in the Landes is the sheer +impossibility of walking. When the early settler left his hut to pay +a morning call or walk about his daily duties, he sank ankle deep in +sand. + +But the human mind invariably rises superior to difficulties of this +character. + +What the "backstay" is to the inhabitant of the district around Lydd, +the stilts are to the lonely dwellers in the Landes. The peasants of +the department are not exactly born on stilts, but a child learns to +walk on them about the age that his British brother is beginning to +toddle on foot. + +Stilts have the elementary recommendation of overcoming the difficulty +of moving about in the Landes. In addition, they raise a man to a +commanding altitude, and enable him to go about his daily business at +a pace forbidden to ordinary pedestrians. The stilts are, in truth, +a modern realisation of the gift of the seven-league boots. They are +so much a part of the daily life of the people that, except when he +stoops his head to enter his hut, the peasant of the Landes would as +soon think of taking off his legs by way of resting himself as of +removing his stilts. The shepherds, out all day tending their sheep, +might, if they pleased, stretch themselves at full length on the grey +sand, making a pillow of the low bushes. But they prefer to stand; +and you may see them, reclining against a third pole stuck in the +ground at the rear, contentedly knitting stockings, keeping the while +one eye upon the flock of sheep anxiously nibbling at the meagre grass. + +Next to the shepherds, the most remarkable live stock in the Landes +are the sheep. Such a melancholy careworn flock! poor relations of +the plump Southdown that grazes on fat Sussex wolds. Long-legged, +scraggy-necked, anxious-eyed, the sheep of the Landes bear eloquent +testimony to the penury of the place and the difficulty of making both +ends meet--which in their case implies the burrowing of the nose in +tufts of sand-girt grass. To abide among such sheep through the long +day should be enough to make any man melancholy. But the peasant of +the Landes, who is used to his stilts, also grows accustomed to his +sheep, and they all live together more or less happily ever afterwards. + +The Landes is quite a prosperous province to-day compared with what it +was in the time of Louis XVI. During the First Empire there was what +we would call a Minister of Woods and Forests named Bremontier. He +looked over the Landes and found it to be nothing more than a waste of +shifting sand. Rescued from the sea by a mere freak of nature, it might, +for all practical purposes, have been much more usefully employed if +covered a few fathoms deep with salt water. To M. Bremontier came the +happy idea of planting the waste land with fir trees. Nothing else +would grow, the fir tree might. And it did. To-day the vast extent of +the Landes is almost entirely covered with dark forests in perpetual +verdure. + +These have transformed the district, adding not only to the improvement +of its sanitary condition, but creating a new source of wealth. Out of +the boundless vistas of fir trees there ever flows a constant stream of +resin, which brings in large revenues. Passing through the forest by +the railway line from La Mothe to Arcachon, one sees every tree marked +with a deep cut. It looks as if the woodman had been about, picking out +trees ready for the axe, and had come to the conclusion that they might +be cut down _en bloc_. But these marks are indications of the process +of milking the forests. It is a very simple affair, to which mankind +contributes a mere trifle. In order to get at the resin a piece of bark +is cut off from each tree. Out of the wound the resin flows, falling +into a hole dug in the ground at the roots. When this is full it is +emptied into cans and carried off to the big reservoir: when one wound +in the tree is healed another is cut above it, and so the tree is +finally drained. + +Besides this revenue from resin immense sums are obtained from the sale +of timber; and thus the Landes, which a hundred years ago seemed to be +an inconvenient freak of nature afflicting complaining France, has been +turned into a money-yielding department. + +The firs which fringe the seacoast by the long strip of land that lies +between the mouth of the Gironde and the town of Bayonne have much to +do with the prosperity of Arcachon. The salt lake, with its little +cluster of fishermen's cottages, lies within a couple of hours' +journey by rail from Bordeaux, a toiling, prosperous place, which, +seated on the broad Garonne, longed for the sea. Some one discovered +that there was excellent bathing at Arcachon, the bed of the salt +lake sloping gently upwards in smooth and level sands. Then the doctors +took note of the beneficial effects of the fir trees which environed +the place. The aromatic scent they distilled was declared to be good +for weak chests, and, almost by magic, Arcachon began to grow. + +By swift degrees the little cluster of fishermen's cottages spread till +it became a town--of one street truly, but the street is a mile and a +half long, skirting the seashore and backed by the fir forests. Bordeaux +took Arcachon by storm. A railway was made, and all through the summer +months the population poured into the long street, filling it beyond +all moderate notions of capacity. The rush came so soon, and Arcachon +was built in such a hurry, that the houses have a casual appearance, +recalling the towns one comes upon in the Far West of America, which +yesterday were villages, and to-day have a town-hall, a bank, many +grog-shops, a church or two, and four or five daily newspapers. + +A vast number of the dwellings are of the proportion of pill-boxes. Some +are literally composed of two closets, one called a bedroom and the +other a sitting-room; or, oftener still, both used as bedrooms. Others +are built in terraces a storey high and a few feet wide, with the name +of the proprietor painted over the liliputian trap-door that serves for +entrance hall. The idea is that you live at ease and in comfort at +Bordeaux, and just run down to Arcachon for a bath. There are no +bathing machines or tents; but all along the shore, in supplement of the +liliputian houses that serve a double debt to pay--being residences at +night and bathing-machines by day,--stand rows of sentry-boxes, whence +the bather emerges arrayed in more or less bewitching attire. The water +is very shallow, and enterprising persons of either sex spend hours of +the summer day in paddling about in their bathing costumes. + +It is a pretty, lively scene. For background the long straggling town; +in the foreground the motley groups of bathers, the far-reaching smooth +surface of the lake; and, beyond, the broad Atlantic, thundering +impotently upon the barricade of sandhills that makes possible the +peace of Arcachon. + +Like all watering-places, Arcachon lives two lives. In summer-time it +springs into active bustle, with house-room at a premium, and the shops +and streets filled with a gay crowd. It affects to have a winter season, +and is, indeed, ostentatiously divided into two localities, one called +the winter-town and the other the summer-town. The former is situated +on the higher ground at the back of the town, and consists of villa +residences built on plots reclaimed from the fir forest. + +This is well enough in the winter-time, many English people flocking +thither attracted by the shelter and scent of the fir trees; but +Arcachon itself--the long unlovely street--is in the winter months +steeped in the depths of desolation. The shops are deserted, the +pill-boxes have their lids put on, and everywhere forlorn signs hang +forth announcing that here is a _maison_ or an _appartement à louer_. + +All through the winter months, shut up between sea and sand, Arcachon +is A Town to Let. + +Deprived in the winter months of the flock of holiday makers, Arcachon +makes money in quite another way. Just as suddenly as it bloomed forth +a fashionable watering-place, it has grown into an oyster park of +world-wide renown. Last year the Arcachon oyster beds produced not +less than three hundred million oysters, the cultivators taking in +round figures a million francs. The oysters are distributed through +various markets, but the greatest customer is London, whither there +come every year fifty millions of the dainty bivalve. + +"And what do they call your oysters in London?" I asked M. Faure, the +energetic gentleman who has established this new trade between the +Gironde and the Thames. + +"They call them 'Natives'," he said, with a sly twinkle. + +The Arcachon oyster, if properly packed, can live eight days out of the +water, a period more than sufficient to allow for its transit by the +weekly steamers that trade between Bordeaux and London. A vast quantity +go to Marenne in the Charente lnferieure, where they fatten more +successfully than in the salt lake, and acquire that green colour which +makes them so much esteemed and so costly in the restaurants at Paris. + +Oysters have, probably since the time of the Deluge, congregated in the +Basin d'Arcachon; but it is only within the last thirty years the +industry has been developed and placed on a footing that made possible +the growth of today. Up to the year 1860 oysters were left to their own +sweet will in the matter of creating a bed. When they settled upon a +place it was diligently cultivated, but the lead was absolutely left to +the oyster. Dr. Lalanne, in the intervals of a large medical practice at +La Teste, a little place on the margin of the Basin, observed that +oysters were often found attached to a piece of a wreck floating in the +middle of the water far remote from the beds. + +This led him to study more closely the reproductive habits of the +oyster. He discovered that the eggs after incubation remained suspended +in the water for a space of from three to five days. Thus, for some +time after the _frai_ season, practically the whole of the water in the +Basin d'Arcachon was thick with oysters' eggs. Dr. Lalanne conceived +the idea of providing this vast wealth with other means of establishing +itself than were offered by a casual piece of wreck. What was wanted +was something to which the eggs, floating in the water, could attach +themselves, and remain till they were developed beyond the state of +_ova_. After various experiments Dr. Lalanne adapted to the purpose +the hollow roof tile in use everywhere in the South of France. + +These are laid in blocks, each containing one hundred and twelve tiles, +enclosed in a wooden framework. In June, when the oysters lay their +eggs, these blocks of tiles are dropped into the water by the oyster +beds. The eggs floating about, find the crusty surface of the tiles a +convenient resting-place, and attach themselves by millions. Six months +later the tiles, being examined, are found to be covered by oysters +grown to the size of a silver sixpence. The tiles are taken up and the +little oysters scraped off, a process facilitated by the fact that the +tiles have in the first instance been coated with a solution of lime, +which rubs off, carrying the tender oyster with it. + +The infant oysters are next placed in iron network cases, through which +the water freely passes, whilst the young things are protected from +crabs and other natural enemies. At the end of a year or eighteen +months, they have so far grown as to be trusted out on their own +account. They are accordingly strewn on the broad oyster beds, to fatten +for another year or eighteen months, when they are ready for the waiting +_gourmet_. Your oyster is fit to eat at eighteen months of age; but there +is more of it when it is three years old. + +We sailed out from Arcachon across the lake to the oyster park. Here +the water is so shallow that the men who tend the beds walk about them +in waterproof boots coming up to their knees. This part of the bay is +dotted with boats with white canopies. Seen at anchor from Arcachon +they look like boats laid up for the winter season; but every one is +tenanted night and day. They are the homes of the guardians of the +oyster beds, who keep watch and ward through the long winter. + +Even more disastrous than possible visits from a male poacher are the +incursions of a large flat sea-fish, known at Arcachon as the _thére_, +with us the ray. This gentleman has a colossal appetite for oysters. +Scorning to deal with them by the dozen, he devours them by the +thousand, asking neither for the succulent lemon nor the grosser +addition of Chili vinegar. His action with the oyster is exceedingly +summary. He breaks the shell with a vigorous blow of his tail, and +gobbles up the contents. As it is stated by reputable authorities +that the _thére_ can dispose of 100,000 oysters in a day, it is clear +that the tapping must be pretty persistent. + +This selfish brute, regardless of the fact that we pay a minimum three +shillings a dozen for oysters in London, is happily circumvented by +an exceedingly simple device. Rowing about the oyster beds at Arcachon +one notices that they are fringed with small twigs of fir trees. The +natural supposition is that these are to mark the boundary of the +various oyster beds; but it is in truth designed to keep out the +_thére_. This blundering fish, bearing down on the oyster bed in search +of luncheon, comes upon the palisade of loosely planted twigs. Nothing +in the world would be easier than for him to steer between the openings, +of which there are abundance. But though he has stomach enough for a +hundred thousand oysters, he has not brains enough to understand that +by a little manoeuvring he might get at his meal. Repelled by the open +network of twigs, he swims forlornly round and round the beds, so near +and yet so far, with what anguish of heart only the lover of oysters +can fathom. + +The oyster beds at Arcachon belong to the State, and are leased to +private persons, the leading company, which has created the British +trade, having its headquarters at La Teste. The wholesale price of +oysters at Arcachon is from a sovereign to forty shillings a thousand, +according to size. In the long street they sell retail at from twopence +to eightpence a dozen, thus realising what seems to-day the hopeless +dream of the British oyster-eater. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +CHRISTMAS EVE AT WATTS'S. + +Wandering out of the High Street, Rochester, on the afternoon before +Christmas Day, by a narrow passage to the left I came upon the old +Cathedral. The doors were open, and as they were the only doors in +Rochester open to me, except, perhaps, those of the tramp house at the +Union, I entered, and sat down as near as befitted my condition. The +afternoon service was going on, and even to tired limbs and an empty +stomach it was restful and soothing to hear the sweet voices of the +surpliced choristers, and the grand deep tones of the organ, echoing +through the fretted roof, and rolling round the long pillared aisles. +There were not ten people there besides myself, the clergy and the choir +forming the bulk of the assembly. As soon as the service had been gone +through, the clergy and the choir filed out, and the lay people one by +one departed. + +I should have liked to sit where I was all night. It was at least warm +and sheltered, and I have slept on worse beds than may be made of half +a dozen Cathedral chairs. But presently the verger came round, and +perceiving at a glance that I was not a person likely to possess a +superfluous sixpence, asked me if I was going to sit there all night. +I said I was if he didn't mind; but he did, and there was nothing for +it but to clear out. + +"Haven't you got nowhere to go to?" asked the man, as I moved slowly +off. + +"Nowhere in particular," I answered. + +"That's a bad look-out for Christmas-eve. Why don't you go over to +Watts's?" + +"What's Watts's?" + +"It's a house in High Street, where you'll get a good supper, a bed, +and a fourpenny-bit in the morning if you can show you'em an honest man, +and not a regular tramp. There's old Watts's muniment down by the side +of the choir. A reglar brick he was, who not only wrote beautiful hymns, +but gave away his money for the relief of the pore." + +My heart warmed to the good old Doctor whose hymns I had learnt in +my youth, little thinking that the day would come when I should be +thankful to him for more substantial nourishment. I had intended to +go in the ordinary way to get a night's lodging in the casual ward; +but Watts's was evidently a better game, and getting from the verger +minute directions how to proceed in order to gain admittance to +Watts's, I left the Cathedral. + +The verger was not a bad-hearted fellow, I am sure, though he did speak +roughly to me at first. He seemed struck with the fact that a man not +too well clad, who had nowhere particular to sleep on the eve of +Christmas Day, could scarcely be expected to be "merry." All the time +he was talking about Watts's he was fumbling in his waistcoat pocket, +and I know he was feeling if he had there a threepenny-bit. But if he +had, it didn't come immediately handy, and before he got hold of it +the thought of the sufficient provision which awaited me at Watts's +afforded vicarious satisfaction to his charitable feelings, and he +was content with bidding me a kindly good-night, as he pointed my road +down the lane to the police-office, where, it seemed, Dr. Watts's guests +had to put in a preliminary appearance. + +Crossing High Street, passing through a sort of courtyard, and down some +steps, I reached a snug-looking house, which I had some difficulty in +believing was a police-office. But it was, and the first thing I saw was +seven men lounging about the yard. They didn't seem like regular tramps, +but they had a look as if they had walked far, and each man carried a +little bundle and a stick. The verger had told me that only six men per +night were admitted to Watts's, and there were seven already. + +"Are you for Watts's?" one of them, a little, sharp-looking fellow, with +short light hair pasted down over his forehead, asked me, seeing me +hesitate. + +"Yes." + +"Well, it ain't no go to-night. There's seven here, and fust come, +fust served." + +"Don't believe him, young 'un," said an elderly man, "it's all one what +time you come, so as it's afore half-past five you'll take your chance +with the rest of us." + +It was not yet five, so I loafed about with the rest of them, being +scowled upon by all except the elderly man till the arrival of two other +travellers removed to them the weight of the odium I had lightly borne. +At a quarter to six a police-sergeant appeared at the door of the office +and said: + +"Now then." + +This was generally interpreted as a signal to advance, and we stood +forward in an irregular line. The sergeant looked around us sternly +till his eye lighted upon the elderly man. + +"So you're trying it on again, are you?" + +"I've not been here for two months, if I may never sleep in a bed +again," whimpered the elderly man. + +"You was here last Monday week that I know of, and may be since. Off you +go!" and the elderly gentleman went off with an alacrity that rather +reduced the wonderment I had felt at his disinterested intervention to +prevent my losing a chance, suggesting, as it did, that he felt the +probability of gaining admission was exceedingly remote. + +I was the next upon whom the eye of the police-sergeant loweringly fell. + +"What do you want?" + +"A night's lodging at Watts's." + +"Watts's is for decent workmen on the tramp. You ain't a labourer. Show +me your hands." I held out my hands, and the police-sergeant examined +the palms critically. + +"What are you?" + +"A paper stainer." + +"Where have you been to?" + +"I came from Canterbury last." + +"Where do you work?" + +"In London when I can find work." + +"Where are you going now?" + +"To London." + +"How much money have you got?" + +"Three-halfpence." + +"Humph!" + +I don't know whether a murder had recently been committed in Kent, and +whether I in some degree answered to the description of the supposed +murderer. If it were so, the unfortunate circumstance will explain why +the sergeant should have run me through and through with his eyes whilst +propounding these queries, and why he should have made them in such a +gruff voice. However, he seemed to have finally arrived at the +conclusion that I was not the person wanted for the murder, and after a +brief pause he said, "Go inside." + +I went inside, into one of the snuggest little police-offices I have +seen in the course of some tramping, and took the liberty of warming +myself by the cosy fire, whilst the remaining applicants for admission +to Watts's were being put through a sort of minor catechism such as that +I had survived. Presently the sergeant came in with the selected five of +my yard companions, and, taking us one by one, entered in a book, under +the date "24th December," our several names, ages, birthplaces and +occupations, also the names of the last place we had come from, and the +next whither we were going. Then, taking up a scrap of blue paper with +some printed words on it, and filling in figures, a date, and a +signature, he bade us follow him. + +Out of the snug police-office--which put utterly in the shade the +comforts of the cathedral regarded as a sleeping place--across the +courtyard, which somebody said faced the Sessions House, down High +Street to the left till we stopped before an old-fashioned white house +with a projecting lamp lit above the doorway, shining full on an +inscription graven in stone. I read it then and copied it when I left +the house next morning. It ran thus:-- + + RICHARD WATTS, Esqr. + by his will dated 22 Aug., 1579, + founded this charity + for six poor travellers, + who not being Rogues, or Proctors, + may receive gratis, for one Night, + Lodging, Entertainment, + and four pence each. + In testimony of his Munificence, + in honour of his Memory, + and inducement to his Example, + Nathl. Hood, Esq., the present Mayor, + has caused this stone, + gratefully to be renewed, + and inscribed, + A.D. 1771. + +It was not Dr. Watts, then, as the verger had given me to understand. I +was sorry, for it had seemed like going to the house of an old friend, +and I had meant after supper to recite "How doth the little Busy Bee" +for the edification of my fellow-guests, and to tell them what I had +learnt long ago of the good writer's life and labours. + +"Here we are again, Mrs. Kercham," said our conductor, stepping into the +low hall of the white house. + +"Yes, here you are again," replied an old lady, dressed in black, and +wearing a widow's cap. "Have you got 'em all to-night?" + +"Yes, six--all tidy men. Can you write, Mr. Paper Stainer?" + +I could write, and did, setting forth, in a book which lay on a table in +a room labelled "Office," my name, age, occupation, and the town whence +I had last come. Three of the other guests followed my example. Two +could not write; and the sergeant, paying me a compliment on my +beautiful clerkly handwriting, asked me to fill in the particulars for +them. This ceremony over, we were shown into our bedrooms, and told to +give ourselves "a good wash." My room was on the ground-floor, out in +the yard: and I hope I may never be shown into a worse. It was not +large, being about eight feet square, nor was it very high. The walls +were whitewashed, and the floor clean. A single small window, deep set +in the thick stone-built walls, looked out on to the yard, and by it +stood the solitary piece of furniture, a somewhat rickety Windsor chair. +I except the bed, which was supposed to stand in a corner, but actually +covered nearly the whole of the floor. The bedstead was of iron, and, I +should imagine, was one of the earliest constructions of the sort ever +sold in this country. + +"I put on three blankets, being Christmas-time, though the weather is +not according; so you can take one off if you like." + +"Thank you, ma'am; I'll leave it till I go to bed, if you please." Much +reason had I subsequently to be thankful for my caution. + +After having washed, I came out, and was told to go into a room, facing +my bedroom, on the other side of the yard. Here I found three of my +fellow-guests sitting by a fire, and in a few minutes the other two +arrived, all looking very clean and (speaking for myself particularly) +feeling ravenously hungry. The chamber, which had "Travellers' Room" +painted over the doorway, was about twelve or thirteen feet long and +eight wide, and, like our bedrooms, was not remarkable for variety of +furniture. A plain deal table stood at one end, and then there were +two benches, and that's all. Over the mantelpiece a large card hung +with the following inscription:-- + +"Persons accepting this charity are each supplied with a supper, +consisting of half a pound of meat, one pound of bread, and half a pint +of porter at seven o'clock in the evening, and fourpence on leaving the +house in the morning. The additional comfort of a good fire is given +during the winter months, from October 18th till March 10th, for the +purpose of drying their clothes and supplying hot water for their use. +They go to bed at eight o'clock." + +This was satisfactory, except inasmuch as it appeared that supper was +not to be forthcoming till seven o'clock, and it was now only twenty +minutes past six. This forty minutes promised to be harder to bear +than the hunger of the long day; but the pain was averted by the +appearance at half-past six of a pleasant-looking young woman, +carrying a plate of cold roast beef in each hand. These she put down +on the table, supplementing them in course of time with four similar +plates, six small loaves, and as many mugs of porter. + +It does not become guests to dictate arrangements, but if the worshipful +trustees of Watts's knew how tantalising it is to a hungry man to see +cold roast beef brought in in a slow and deliberate manner, they would +buy a large tray for the use of the pleasant young person, and let the +feast burst at once upon the vision of the guests. + +Sharp on the stroke of seven we drew the benches up to the table, and +Mrs. Kercham, standing at one end and leaning over, said grace. +Impatiently hungry as I was, I could not help noticing the precise +terms in which the good matron implored a blessing. I suppose she had +had her tea in the parlour. At any rate, she was not going to favour +us with her company, and so, bending over our plates of cold beef, she +lifted up her voice and said with emphasis,-- + +"For what _you_ are about to receive out of His bountiful goodness may +the Lord make you truly thankful." + +I write the personal pronoun with a capital letter, not being quite +certain from Mrs. Kercham's rapid enunciation whether the bountiful +goodness was Mr. Watts's or the Lord's. + +Six emphatic "Amens!" followed, and before the sound had died away +six able-bodied men had fallen-to upon the beef and the bread in a +manner that would have done kind Master Watts's heart good had he +beheld them. + +I think I had done first, for I remember when I looked round the table +my fellow-guests were still eating and washing their suppers down with +economical draughts from the half-pint mugs of porter. They--I think I +may say we--did credit to the selection of the police sergeant, and, so +far as appearances went, fulfilled one of the requirements of Master +Watts, there being nothing of the rogue in our faces, if I except a +slight hint in the physiognomy of the little man with the fair hair +plastered down over his forehead, and perhaps I am prejudiced against +him. + +It was a little after seven when the plates were all polished, the mugs +drained, and nothing but a few crumbs left to tell where a loaf had +stood. The pleasant young person coming in to clear the table, we drew +up round the fire, and for the first time in our more than two hours' +companionship began to exchange remarks. + +They were of the briefest and most commonplace character, and attempts +made to get up a general conversation signally failed. "What do you +do?" "Where do you come from?" "Things hard down there?" were staple +questions, with an occasional "Did you hear tell of Joe Mackin on the +road?" or "Was Bill O'Brien there at the time?" From the replies to +these inquiries I learnt that my companions were respectively a fitter, +a painter, a waiter, and two indefinitely self-described as "labourers." +They had walked since morning from Faversham, from Sittingbourne, from +Gravesend, and from Greenwich, and, sitting close around the fire, +soon began to testify to their weariness by nodding, and even snoring. + +"Well, lads, I'm off, goodnight," said the painter, yawning and +stretching himself out of the room. + +One by one the remaining four quickly followed, and before what I had +on entering regarded as the absurdly early hour of eight o'clock had +struck, five of Watts's guests had gone to bed, and the sixth was +sitting looking drowsily in the fire, and thinking what a jolly +Christmas he was having. + +I was awakened by a familiar voice inquiring whether I was "going to +sit up all night," and opening my eyes beheld the matron standing by me +with a shovelful of coal in one hand and a small jug in the other. Her +voice was sharp, but her look was kind, and I was not a bit surprised +when she threw the coal on the fire, and, putting down the jug, which +evidently contained porter, said she would bring a glass in a minute. + +"I'm not going to bed myself for a bit, and if you like to sit by the +fire and smoke a pipe and drink a glass whilst I mend a stocking or +two, you'll be company." + +So we sat together by Master Watts's fire, and whilst I drank his +porter and smoked my own tobacco, the matron mended her stockings, and +told me a good deal about the trials she had gone through in a life +that would never again see its sixtieth year. Forty years she had +spent under the roof of Watts's, and knew all about the old man's +will, and how he ordered that after the re-marriage or the death of +his wife, his principal dwelling-house, called Satis, on Boley Hill, +with the house adjoining, the closes, orchards, and appurtenances, +his plate and his furniture, should be sold, and the proceeds be +placed out at usury by the Mayor and citizens of Rochester for the +perpetual support of an alms-house then erected and standing near +the Market Cross; and how he further ordained that there should be +added thereto six rooms, "with a chimney in each," and with +convenient places for six good mattresses or flock beds, and other +good and sufficient furniture for the lodgment of poor wayfarers +for a single night. + +Had she many people come to see the quaint old place beside those +whom the police-sergeant brought every night? + +Not many. The visitors' book had been twenty years in the house, +and it was not nearly full of names. + +I took up the book, and carelessly turning back the leaves came upon +the signature "Charles Dickens," with "Mark Lemon" written underneath. + +I know Dickens pretty well--his books, I mean, of course--and said, +with a gratified start, "Ha! has Dickens been here?" + +"Yes, he has," said the matron, in her sharpest tones, "and a pretty +pack of lies he told about it. Stop a bit." + +I stopped accordingly whilst the old lady flew out of the room, and +flying back again with a well-worn pamphlet in her hand, shoved it at +me, saying, "Read that." I opened it, and found it to be the Christmas +number of _Household Words_ for 1854. It was entitled "The Seven Poor +Travellers," and the opening chapter, in Mr Dickens's well-known style, +described by name, and in detail, the very house in which I had taken +my supper. + +It was a charming narrative, I, poor waif and stray, felt a strong +personal regard for the great novelist as I read the cheery story in +which he sets forth how, calling at the house on the afternoon before +Christmas-day, he obtained permission to give a Christmas feast to the +six Poor Travellers; how he ordered the materials for the feast to be +sent in from his own inn; how, when the feast was set upon the table, +"finer beef, a finer turkey, a greater prodigality of sauce and gravy," +he never saw; and how "it made my heart rejoice to see the wonderful +justice my travellers did to everything set before them." All this and +much more, including "a jug of wassail" and the "hot plum-pudding and +mince pies," which "a wall-eyed young man connected with the fly +department at the hotel was, at a given signal, to dash into the +kitchen, seize, and speed with to Dr. Watts's Charity," was painted +with a warmth and colour that made my mouth water, even after the plate +of cold beef, the small loaf, and the unaccustomed allowance of porter. + +"How like Dickens!" I exclaimed, with wet eyes, as I finished the +recital; "and he even waited in Rochester all night to give his poor +Travellers 'hot coffee and piles of bread and butter in the morning!'" + +"Get along with you! he didn't do nothing of the sort." + +"What! didn't he come here, as he says, and give the poor Travellers a +Christmas treat?" + +Not a bit of it; as the matron, with indignation that seemed to have +lost nothing by lapse of years, forthwith demonstrated. There had been +no supper, no wassail, no hot coffee in the morning, and, in truth, no +meeting between Charles Dickens and the Travellers, at Christmas or at +any other time. + +Indeed, the visitors' book testified that the visit had been paid on +May 11th, 1854, and not at Christmastide at all. + +It was time to go to bed after that, and I left the matron to cool down +from the boiling-point to which she had been suddenly lifted at sight +of the ghost of 1854. My little room looked cheerless enough in the +candlelight, but I had brought sleep with me as a companion, and knew +that I should soon be as happy as if my bed were of down, and the +roof-tree that of Buckingham Palace. + +And so in sooth I would have been but for the chimney. Why did the +otherwise unexceptional Master Watts insist upon the chimney? Such a +chimney it was, too, yawning across the full length of one side of the +room, and open straight up to the cold sky. There was--what I forgot +to mention in the inventory--a sort of tall clothes-horse standing +before the enormous aperture, and after trying various devices to keep +the wind out, I at last bethought me of the supernumerary blanket, and, +throwing it over the clothes-horse, I leaned it against the chimney +board. This served admirably as long as it kept its feet, and when it +blew down, as it did occasionally during the night, it only meant +putting up and refixing it, and the exercise prevented heavy sleeping. + +At seven in the morning we were called up, and after another "good +wash," went our ways, each with fourpence sterling in his hand, the +parting gift of hospitable Master Watts. + +"Good-bye, paper-stainer," said the matron, as, after looking up and +down High Street, I strode off towards the bridge, Londonwards. "Come +and see us again if you are passing this way." + +"Thank you,--I will," I said. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +NIGHT AND DAY ON THE CARS IN CANADA. + +"Porter!" + +The voice broke the stillness of a long night, and suddenly woke me out +of a deep sleep. There was a moment's pause, and then the voice, which +sounded singularly near to my bed-curtains, spoke again. + +"Porter!" + +"Yes, sah!" + +"You have given me the wrong boots." + +From the foot of my bed, as it seemed, there came another voice which +said, with querulous emphasis, "These are not my boots." + +Then followed explanations, apologies, and interchange of boots; and +before the parleying had come to an end I was sufficiently awake to +remember that on the previous night I had gone to bed in a Pullman car +at Montreal, and had been speeding all night towards Halifax. It had +been mild autumnal weather in Montreal, and the snow, which a week ago +had fallen to the depth of two or three inches, had melted and been +trodden out of sight save for the sprinkling which remained on the +crest of Mount Royal. Here, as a glance through the window disclosed, +we were again in the land of snow. It was not deep, for winter had not +yet set in, and the sleighs, joyfully brought out at the first fall, +had been relegated to summer quarters. But there was quite enough about +to give the country a cheerful wintry aspect, the morning sun shining +merrily over the white fields and the leafless trees, bare save for the +foliage with which the snowflakes had endowed them. It may have been an +equally fine morning in Montreal, but it is certain it seemed twice as +bright and fresh here, and we began to realise something of those +exhilarating properties of the Canadian air of which we had fondly read. + +On this long journey eastward travellers do not enter the city of +Quebec. They pass by on the other side of the river, and thus gain the +advantage of seeing Quebec as a picture should be seen, from a +convenient distance. Moreover, like many celebrated paintings, Quebec +will not stand inspection at the length of the nose. But even taken in +detail, walking through its narrow and steep streets, there is much to +delight the eye. It has quaint old houses, and shops with pea green +shutters, over which flaunt crazy, large-lettered signs that it could +have entered into the heart of none but a Frenchman to devise. Save for +the absence of the blouse and the sabot you might, picking your way +through the mud in a street in the lower part of the city, imagine +yourself in some quarters of Dieppe or Calais, or any other of the +busier towns in the north of France. The peaked roofs, the unexpected +balconies, the ill-regulated gables, and the general individuality of +the houses are pleasing to the eye wearied with the prim monotony of +English street architecture. + +Quebec, to be seen at its best, should be gazed at from the harbour, or +from the other side of the river. This morning it is glorious, with its +streets in the snow, its many spires in the sunlight, and the blue haze +of the hills in the distance. We make our first stoppage at Point Levi, +the station for Quebec, and here are twenty minutes for breakfast. The +whereabouts of breakfast is indicated by a youth, who from the steps of +an "hotel" at the station gate stolidly rings a bell. The passengers +enter, and are shown into a room, in the centre of which is a large +stove. The atmosphere is simply horrible. The double windows are up for +the still dallying winter, and, as the drops of dirty moisture which +stand on the panes testify, they are hermetically closed. The kitchen +leads out of the room by what is apparently the only open door in the +house, every other being jealously closed lest peradventure a whiff of +fresh air should get in. It is impossible to eat, and one is glad to +pay for the untasted food and get out into the open air before the +power of respiration is permanently injured. + +It was said this is the only place where there would be any chance of +breakfast, nothing to eat till Trois Pistoles is reached, late in the +afternoon. Happily this information turned out ill-founded. At L'Islet, +a little station reached at eleven o'clock a stoppage was made at an +unpretentious but clean and fresh restaurant, where the people speak +French and know how to make soup. + +A few years ago a journey by rail between Montreal and Halifax, without +break save what is necessary for replenishing the engine stores, would +have been impossible. The Grand Trunk, spanning the breadth of the more +favoured provinces of Ontario and Quebec, leaves New Brunswick and Nova +Scotia without other means of intercommunication than is afforded by its +many rivers and its questionable roads. For many years Canadian +statesmen, and all others interested in the practical confederation of +the various provinces that make up the Dominion, felt that the primary +and surest bond of union would be a railway. The military authorities +were even more urgent as to the necessity of connecting Quebec and +Halifax, and at one time a military road was seriously talked about. +Long ago a railway was projected, and in 1846-8 a survey was carried out +with that object. From that date up to 1869, when the road was actually +commenced, the matter was fitfully discussed, and it was only in 1876 +that the railway was opened. + +It is only a single line, and as a commercial undertaking is not likely +to pay at that, passing as it does through long miles of territory where +"still stands the forest primeval." It was made by the Dominion +Government in pursuance of a high national policy, and it adequately and +admirably meets the ends for which it was devised. The total length from +Rivière du Loup to Halifax is 561 miles. There is a spur running down to +St. John, in the Bay of Fundy, eighty-nine miles long, another branch +fifty-two miles long to Pictou, a great coal district opposite the +southern end of Prince Edward Island; while a third span of eleven +miles, branching off at Monckton and finishing at Point du Char, meets +the steamers for Prince Edward Island, making a total length of 713 +miles. The rails are steel, and the road is, mile for mile, as well made +as any in England. The carriages are on the American principle--the long +waggons capable of seating fifty or sixty persons, with an open passage +down the centre, through which the conductor and ticket collector +periodically walk. The carriages are heated to distraction by means of a +huge stove at either end. It is possible to open the windows, but that +is to be easily accomplished only after an apprenticeship too long for +the stay of the average traveller. After a painful hour one gets +accustomed to the atmosphere of the place, as it is happily possible to +grow accustomed to any atmosphere. But the effect of these fierce stoves +and obstinate windows must be permanently deleterious. + +The Pullman car has fortunately come to make railway travelling in +America endurable. Apart from other considerations, the inevitable stove +is better managed. You are thoroughly warmed,---occasionally, it is +true, parboiled. But there is at least freedom from the sulphurous +atmosphere which pervades the ordinary car, with its two infernal +machines, one at either end. In addition, the Pullman cars have more +luxurious fittings, and are hung on smoother springs. It is at night +their value becomes higher, and travellers are inclined to lie awake and +wonder how their fathers and elder brothers managed to travel in the +pre-Pullman era. + +Life is too short to limit travel on this continent to the daytime. +Travelling eight hours a day by rail, which we in England think a pretty +good allowance, it would take just five days to go from Montreal to +Halifax. Thanks to the Pullman car and its adequate sleeping +accommodation, a business man may leave Montreal at ten o'clock at +night, say on Monday, and be in Halifax in time to transact business +shortly after noon on Wednesday. Thus he loses only a day, for he must +sleep somewhere, and he might find many a worse bed than is made up for +him on a Pullman. The arrangements for ventilation leave nothing to be +desired save a little less apprehension on the part of Canadians of the +supposed malign influence of fresh air. If you can get the ventilators +kept open you may sleep with impunity. But, as far as a desire for +preserving the goodwill of my immediate neighbours controls me, I would, +being in Canada, as soon pick a pocket as open a window. One night, +before the beds were made up I secretly approached the coloured +gentleman in charge of the carriage and heavily bribed him to open the +ventilators. This he faithfully did, as I saw, but when I awoke this +morning, half stifled in the heavy atmosphere, I found every ventilator +closed. + +After leaving Quebec, and for a far-reaching run, the railway skirts the +river St. Lawrence, of which we get glimpses near and far as we pass. +The time is not far distant when this mighty river will be frozen to the +distance of fully a mile out, and men may skate where Atlantic steamers +sail. At present the river is free, but the frost comes like a thief in +the night, and the wary shipmasters have already gone into winter +quarters. The railway people are also preparing for the too familiar +terrors of the Canadian winter. As we steamed out of Quebec we saw the +snow-ploughs conveniently shunted, ready for use at a moment's notice. +The snowsheds are a permanent institution on the Intercolonial Railway. +The train passes through them sometimes for the length of half a mile. +They are simply wooden erections like a box, built in parts of the line +where the snow is likely to drift. Passing swiftly through them just now +you catch glimmers of light through the crevices. Presently, when the +snow comes, these will be effectually closed up. Snow will lie a hundred +feet thick on either side, to the full height of the shed, and the +train, as watched from the line, will seem to vanish in an illimitable +snow mound. + +This is as yet in the future. At present the landscape has all the +beauty that snow can give without the monotony of the unrelieved waste +of white. Mounds of brown earth, tufts of grass, bits of road, roofs of +houses, and belts of pine showing above the sprinkling of snow, give +colour to the landscape. One divines already why Canadians, in building +their houses, paint a door, or a side of a chimney, or a gable-end, red +or chocolate, whilst all the rest is white. This looks strange in the +summer, or in the bleak interregnum when neither the sun nor the +north-east wind can be said absolutely to reign. But in the winter, when +far as the eye can roam it is wearied with sight of the everlasting +snow, a patch of red or of warm brown on the scarcely less white houses +is a surprising relief. + +The country in the neighbourhood of Rivière du Loup, where the Grand +Trunk finishes and the Intercolonial begins, is filled with comfortable +homesteads. The line runs through a valley between two ranges of hills. +All about the slopes on the river side stand snug little houses, each +within its own grounds, each having a peaked roof, which strives more or +less effectually to rival the steepness of its neighbour. The houses +straggle for miles down the line, as if they had started out from Quebec +with the intention of founding a town for themselves, and had stopped on +the way, beguiled by the beauty of the situation. Sometimes a little +group stand together, when be sure you shall find a church, curiously +small but exceedingly ornate in its architecture. The spires are coated +with a glazed tile, which catches whatever sunlight there may be about, +and glistens strangely in the landscape. + +The first day following the first night of our journey closed in a +manner befitting its rare beauty. The sun went down amid a glow of +grandeur that illuminated all the world to the west, transfigured the +blue mountains veined with snow, and spread a soft roseate blush over +the white lowlands. We went to bed in New Brunswick still in the hilly +country named by the colonists Northumberland. We awoke to find +ourselves in the narrow neck of land which connects Nova Scotia with the +continent. It was like going to bed in Sweden in December, and waking in +Ireland in September. The snow was melted, the sun was hidden behind the +one thin cloud that spread from horizon to horizon, and the sharp, brisk +air of yesterday was exchanged for a cold, wet atmosphere, that +distilled itself in dank drops on the window-panes. The aspect of the +country was also changed. The ground was sodden, the grass brown with +perpetual wet. In one field we saw the hapless haycocks floating in +water. Thus it was through Nova Scotia into Halifax--water everywhere on +the ground, and threatening rain in the air. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +EASTER ON LES AVANTS. + +We nearly lost our Naturalist between Paris and Lausanne. It was felt at +the time, more especially by the latest additions to the party, that +this would have been a great calamity. Habits, long acquired, of +stopping by the roadside and minutely examining weeds or bits of stone, +are not to be eradicated in a night's journey by rail. Accordingly, +wherever the train stopped the Naturalist was, at the last moment, +discovered to be absent, and search parties were organised with a +promptness that, before we reached Dijon, had become quite creditable. +But the success achieved begat a condition of confidence that nearly +proved fatal. In travelling on a French line there is only one thing +more remarkable than the leisurely way in which an express train gets +under way after having stopped at a station, and that is the excitement +that pervades the neighbourhood ten minutes before the train starts. Men +in uniform go about shrieking _"En voiture, messieurs, en voiture!"_ in +a manner that suggests to the English traveller that the train is +actually in motion, and that his passage is all but lost. + +It was this habitude that led to our excitement at Melun. We had, after +superhuman efforts, got the Naturalist into the carriage, and had +breathlessly fallen back in the seat, expecting the train to move +forthwith. Ten minutes later it slowly steamed out of the station, +accompanied by the sound of the tootling horn and enveloped in thick +clouds of poisonous smoke. This sort of thing happening at one or two +other stations, we were induced to give our Naturalist an extra five +minutes to gather some fresh specimen of a rare grass growing between +the rails or some curious insect embedded in the bookstall. It was at +Sens that, growing bolder with success, we nearly did lose him, +dragging him in at the last moment, amid a scene of excitement that +could be equalled elsewhere only on the supposition that the station +was on fire and that five kegs of gunpowder were in the booking-office. + +Shortly after leaving Dijon a conviction began to spread that perhaps if +the fates had proved adverse, and we had lost him somewhere under +circumstances that would have permitted him to come on by a morning +train, we might have borne up against the calamity. Amongst a +miscellaneous and imposing collection of scientific instruments, he was +the pleased possessor of an aneroid. This I am sure is an excellent and +even indispensable instrument at certain crises. But when you have been +so lucky as to get to sleep in a railway carriage on a long night +journey, to be awakened every quarter of an hour to be informed "how +high you are now" grows wearisome before morning. + +It was the Chancery Barrister who was partly responsible for this. He +found it impossible to sleep, and our Naturalist, fastening upon him, +kept him carefully posted up in particulars of the increasing altitude. +This was the kind of thing that broke in upon our slumbers all through +the night:-- + +Our Naturalist: "1200 feet above the level of the sea." + +The Chancery Barrister (in provokingly sleepy tone): "Ah!" + +Then we turn over, and fall asleep again. A quarter of an hour later: + +Our Naturalist: "1500 feet now." + +Chancery Barrister: "Really!" + +Another fitful slumber, broken by a strong presentiment that the +demoniacal aneroid is being again produced. + +Our Naturalist (exultantly, as if he had privately arranged the incline, +and was justly boastful of his success): "2100 feet." + +Chancery Barrister (evidently feeling that something extra is expected of +him): "No, _really_ now!" + +This kind of thing through what should be the silent watches of the +night is to be deprecated, as tending to bring science into disrepute. + +There was a good deal of excitement about the baggage. We were a +personally conducted party to the extent that the Hon. Member who had +suggested the trip, had undertaken the general direction, or had had +the office thrust upon him. Feeling his responsibility, he had, +immediately on arriving at Calais, changed some English money. This +was found very convenient. Nobody had any francs except the Member, so +we freely borrowed from him to meet trifling exigencies. + +With the object of arriving at the best possible means of dealing with +the vexed question of luggage, a variety of expedients had been tried. +The Chancery Barrister, having read many moving narratives of raids made +upon registered luggage in the secrecy of the luggage van, had adopted a +course which displayed a profound knowledge of human nature. He had +argued with himself (as if he were a judge in chambers) that what proved +an irresistible temptation to foreign guards and other railway officials +was the appearance of boxes and portmanteaux iron-clasped, +leather-strapped, and double-locked. The inference naturally was that +they contained much that was valuable. Now, he had pointed out to +himself, if you take a directly opposite course, and, as it were, invite +the gentleman in charge of your luggage to open your portmanteau, he +will think you have nothing in it worth his attention, and will pass on +to others more jealously guarded. You can't very well leave your box +open, as the things might tumble out. So, as a happy compromise, he had +duly locked and strapped his portmanteau, and then tied the key to the +handle. + +As he observes, with the shrewd perception that will inevitably lead him +to the Woolsack, "You are really helpless, and can do nothing to prevent +these gentlemen from helping themselves. If you leave the key there, +there is a fair chance of their treating your property as the Levite +treated the Good Samaritan. If not, your box will be decently opened +instead of having the lock broken or the hinges wrenched off." + +That was a good idea, and proved triumphantly successful; for, on +arrival at Montreux, the Chancery Barrister's portmanteau turned up all +right, the key innocently reposing on the handle, and, as subsequent +investigation showed, the contents untouched. + +Our Manufacturer had a still better way, though, as was urged, he comes +from Yorkshire, and we of the southern part of the island have no chance +in competition with the race. He lost his luggage somewhere between +Dover and Paris, and has ever since been free from all care on the +subject. + +Perhaps it was the influence of these varied incidents that led to a +scene of some excitement on our arrival at Montreux station. There, +what was left of our luggage was disgorged, and of fourteen packages +registered, only nine were visible to the naked eye. It was then the +Patriarch came to the front and displayed some of those qualities which +subsequently found a fuller field amid the solitude of the Alps. + +We call him the Patriarch because he is a grandfather. In other respects +he is the youngest of the party, the first on the highest peak, the +first down in the afternoon with his ready order for "tea for ten," of +which, if the party is late in arriving and he finds time hang heavy on +his hands, he will genially drink five cups himself. With the care of +half a dozen colossal commercial undertakings upon his mind, he is as +merry as a boy and as playful as a kitten. But when once aroused his +anger is terrible. + +His thunder and lightning played around the station-master at Montreux +on the discovery of the absence of five packages. The Patriarch has a +wholesome faith in the all-sufficiency of the English language. The +station-master's sole lingual accomplishment was French. This +concatenation of circumstances might with ordinary persons have led to +some diminution of the force of adjuration. But probably the +station-master lost little of the meaning the Patriarch desired to +convey. This tended in the direction of showing the utter incapacity +of the Swiss or French nature to manage a railway, and the discreditable +incompetency of the officials of whatever grade. The station-master was +properly abashed before the torrent of indignant speech. But he had his +turn presently. Calmer inspection disclosed the fact that all the +fourteen packets were delivered. It was delightful to see how the +station-master, immediately assuming the offensive, followed the +Patriarch about with gesticulation indicative of the presence of the +baggage, and with taunting speech designed to make the Patriarch +withdraw his remarks--whatever they might have been. On this point +the station-master was not clear, but he had a shrewd suspicion that +they were not complimentary. The Patriarch, however, now retired upon +his dignity. + +It was, as he said, no use arguing with fellows like this. + +Les Avants sit high up among the mountains at the back of Montreux. +It seems madness to go there at a time when fires are still cheerful +and when the leaves have not yet put forth their greenness. But, as +was made apparent in due time, Les Avants, at no time inconveniently +cold, would be, but for the winds that blow over the snow-clad hills +surprisingly hot. To build an hotel here seems a perilously bold +undertaking. It is not on the way to anywhere, and people going from +the outer world must march up the hill, and, when they are tired of it, +must needs, like the Duke of York in his famous military expedition, +march down again. None but a Swiss would build an hotel here, and few +but English would frequent it. Yet the shrewdness of the proprietor has +been amply justified, and Les Avants is becoming in increasing degree +a favourite pilgrimage. + +The hotel was built nearly twenty years ago. Previously the little +valley it dominates had been planted with one or two chalets which +for more than half a century have looked out upon the deathless snows +of the Dent du Midi. There is one which has rudely carved over the +lintel of its door the date 1816. Noting which, the Chancery Barrister, +with characteristic accuracy, observed that "five centuries look down +upon us." + +Our landlord is an enterprising man. His business in life is to keep an +hotel, and the height of his ambition is to keep it well. Only a +fortnight ago he returned from a grand tour of the winter +watering-places, from the Bay of Biscay to the Bay of Genoa. The +ordinary attractions of the show places from Biarritz to Bordighera had +no lure for him. What he studied were the hotels and their various modes +of management. He told us, with a flush of pride on his sun-tanned +cheek, that he travelled as an ordinary tourist. There was no hint of +his condition or the object of his journey, no appeal to confraternity +with a view to getting bed and breakfast at trade prices, or some +reduction on the _table d'hôte_ charges. He travelled as a sort of Haroun +al Raschid among innkeepers, haughtily paying his bills, and possibly +feeing the waiters. He is a very good sort of a fellow, attentive and +obliging, and it is odd how we all agree in the hope that he was from +time to time over-charged. + +It is a fair prospect looked out upon from the bedroom window on our +arrival. Almost at our feet, it seems, is the Lake of Geneva, though +we remember the wearisome climb up the hill, and know it must be miles +away. On the other side are the snow-clad hills that reach down to +Savoy on the east, and are crowned by the heights of the Dent du Midi +on the west. On the left, flanking our own place of abode, rise up the +grim heights of the Roches de Naye, and, still farther back, the Dent +du Jaman--a terrible tooth this, which draws attention from all the +country round, and excites the wildest ambition of the tourist. The man +or woman resting within a circuit of ten miles of Montreux, who has not +touched the topmost heights of the Dent du Jaman, goes home a crushed +person. A very small proportion do it, but every one talks of doing +it---which, unless the weather be favourable, is perhaps the wiser +thing to do. It fills a large place in the conversation as well as in +the landscape, and it will be a bad thing for the Lake of Geneva if +this tooth should ever be drawn. + +Lovely as was the scene in the fresh morning air, with the glistening +snow, the dark pines on the lower hills, the blue lake, and the +greyish upland, they did but serve to frame the picture of the +Patriarch as he sat upon the bench in the front of the hotel. A short +jacket of blue serge, knickerbockers of the same material, displaying +the proportions of a notable pair of legs, the whole crowned by a +chimney-pot hat, went to make up a remarkable figure. The Patriarch +had in his hand a blue net for catching butterflies. The Naturalist +had excited his imagination by stories of the presence of the +"Camberwell Beauty," a rare and beautiful species of butterfly, of +which he was determined to take home a specimen. In later days he +was fair to see with his hat thrown back on his brow, his net in his +hand: and his stout legs twinkling in their haste to come up with a +butterfly. + +The Alps have witnessed many strange sights since first they uplifted +their heads to heaven. But it is calculated that the Patriarch was +the first who brought under their notice the chimney-pot hat of the +civilised Englishman. + +This haste to be up on the first morning was a faithful precursor of +the indomitable vitality of the Patriarch. He was always first up and +first off, and, amongst many charming peculiarities, was his +indifference as to which way the road lay. We generally had a guide +with us, and nothing was more common in toiling up a mountain side +than to discover the guide half a mile to the left and the Patriarch +half a mile to the right, something after the fashion of the letter Y, +we being at the stem. We saw a good deal more of the country than we +otherwise should have done, owing to the constant necessity of going +after the Patriarch and bringing him back. Sometimes he got away by +himself, at others he deluded some hapless member of the company into +following him. One young man, just called to the bar, had a promising +career almost cut short on the second day. In the innocence of his +heart he had followed the Patriarch, who led him through an apparently +impassable pine forest on to the crest of a remote hill, whence he +crawled down an hour late for luncheon, the Patriarch having arrived +ten minutes before him, and having already had his knife into every +receptacle for food that was spread out, from the loaf of bread to the +box of sardines, from the preserved peaches to the cup without a handle +that held the butter. + +Walking up the hill behind the hotel on the way to the Jaman, the Member +had a happy idea. "Why," he asked, "should not the Parliamentary Session +be movable, like a reading party? Say the Bankruptcy Bill is referred +to a grand committee. What is to prevent them coming right off here and +settling down for a fortnight or three weeks, or in fact whatever time +might be necessary thoroughly to discuss the measure?" + +They might do worse, we agreed, as we walked on, carefully selecting +the shady side of the road, and thinking of dear friends shivering in +England. The blue haze under which we know the lake lies; the Alps all +around, their green sides laced with snow and their heads covered with +it; the fleckless blue sky; the brown rocks, and over all and through +all the murmuring music of the invisible stream, as it trickles on its +way down the gorge, would be better accompaniments to a good grind at a +difficult Bill than any to be found within the precincts of Westminster. + +"You remember what Virgil says?" the Chancery Barrister strikes in. + +Divers things of diverse character we have discovered invariably remind +the Chancery Barrister of Virgil or Horace, occasionally perchance of +an English poet. This is very pleasant, and none the less so because +the reminiscences come slowly, gathering strength as they advance, like +the Chancery Barrister's laugh, which begins like the pattering of rain +on leaves, and ends in the roar of a thunderstorm. The Chancery +Barrister takes his jokes gently to begin with: he sees them afar off, +and, closing one eye, begins to smile. The smile broadens to a grin, the +grin becomes a cachinnation, then, as he hugs the fun, the cachinnation +deepens to a roar of laughter, and the thing is complete. + +It is thus with his quotations, though these are not always +completed--at least, not in accordance with recognised authorities. As +one of the ladies says, with that kindliness peculiar to the sex, "The +Chancery Barrister is most original when he is making a quotation." + +"What's that Wolsey says about the pomps and vanities of this world?" +"'Vain pomps and vanities of this world,'" the Chancery Barrister +begins, and we know we are in for a quotation. "No, not pomps and +vanities. 'Vain pomps and glories of this world' (that's it)--" + + "'Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye. + I feel my heart new opened. O how wretched + Is the poor man that hangs on princes' favours! + There is betwixt the smile we would aspire to, + That sweet aspect of princes and their ruin, + More pangs and fears than wars or women have.'" + +It's odd how one thing leads to another. By the time the Chancery +Barrister has got his quotation right, the Patriarch is half a mile +ahead in the wrong direction, and we all have to go and look for him. + +The Col de Jaman is the salvation of many tourists. Not being regular +Alpine climbers, they start over the Dent and get as far as the Col, +rest awhile just under the great mountain molar, and come down. We had +a splendid day for our expedition. It had been freezing hard in the +night, and when we reached the snow region we found the pines frosted. +On the Col a beneficent commune has built some chalets furnished with +plentiful supply of firewood. Out of the sun it was bitterly cold, and +we were glad to light a fire, which crackled and roared up the broad +chimney and made a pretty accompaniment to the Chancery Barrister's +song about the Jolly Young Waterman. He sang it all in one key, and +that the wrong one. But it was a well-meant effort, and we all joined +in the chorus. + +There's some talk to-day of a startling episode at an hotel up the +Rhone Valley. A Russian gentleman was sitting sipping his tea, when +there approached him a lady, who addressed him in three languages. +His replies not being satisfactory she shot him. This is cited by the +Chancery Barrister as showing the advantage of an early acquaintance +with foreign languages, and the desirableness of a pure accent. + +It is quite agreed that if our Naturalist had been in the Russian's +place he would have been shot after the first question. This morning, +on ringing for his bath, he was answered by a chambermaid with a "Pas +encore." Why "not just yet" our Naturalist did not know. He was not +unusually early. But he had done his duty. He had tried to get up and +have his bath; it was not ready, so he might go back to bed with a +quiet conscience. Presently came another knock, and our Naturalist, +carefully robing himself, opened the door, and discovered the +chambermaid standing there with a plate, a knife, and a breakfast roll. + +"What the dev----I mean _qu'c'est qu'c'est_?" he asked. + +"_Monsieur a demandé le petit pain_," the girl replied, astonished at +his astonishment. + +With great presence of mind he accepted the situation, took in the +bread, and did without his bath. The Member says that, coming upon him +suddenly amid the silence of the snow, he heard him practising the +slightly different sounds of _pain_ and _bain_. + +Nothing but snow between the Col and the Dent du Jaman, but snow at its +very best, hard and dry. Just before we reach the top we come upon a +huge drift frozen hard and slippery. We might have gone round, but we +decided to try and climb. The Patriarch of course was first, and +achieved the task triumphantly. Others followed, and then came the +Chancery Barrister. Another step, and he would have safely landed. +But unhappily a quotation occurred to him. + +"This is jolly," he said, turning half round, with the proud +consciousness that he was at the crest and that with another stride all +would be well; "what's that Horace says about enjoying what you have?" + + "'Me pascant olivae, + Me cichorea, levesque malvae, + Frui paratis, et valido mihi, + Latoe, dones, et, precor, integra + Cum----'" + +Here the most terrible contortion appeared on the generally pleasant +countenance of the Chancery Barrister. He clutched desperately at the +ice; but his suspicion was too true. He had begun to move downwards +("When he got to _cum_ he came," the Member, who makes bad jokes, says), +and with increasing impetus he slid down the bank. His face during the +terrible moments when he was not quite certain where he would stop, or +indeed whether he would ever stop, passed through a series of +contortions highly interesting to those on the bank above. + +"_Me pascant olivae_!" cried the Member. "Olives are evidently no use as +a support in a case like yours, and diachylon would be more use to you +now than soft mallows." + +The Chancery Barrister, who had happily reached the bottom, walked round +by a more accessible path, and nothing further either from Horace or +Virgil occurred to him for more than an hour. + +Perhaps the difference in the weather had something to do with it, but +we found the Dent du Jaman not nearly so difficult to climb as the +Roches de Naye. After the scamper across the snow and the climb over +this little ice-collar down which the Chancery Barrister had slipped, +there is no more snow. We climb up by steps worn by the feet of many +adventurers. The top is a level cone with an area not much greater +than that of a moderate-sized dining-room. There was not a breath of +wind, and the sun beat down with a warmth made all the more delicious +by the recollection of the frozen region through which we had passed. +The Dent is only a trifle above six thousand feet high, but the prospect +as seen from it stretches far. Below is the Canton de Vaud, a portion of +the Jura chain of mountains, the far-reaching Alps of the Savoy, a bit +of the lake gleaming like an emerald under the white tops of the +mountains, a cloud on the southern horizon that the guide tells us are +the mountains of the Valais, and, still to the south just touched by the +sun, glitter the snow summits of the Great St. Bernard. + +Coming down, we bivouac in the _châlet_, lighting up the fire again. +Here, twelve hundred feet lower down, it is bitterly cold, in spite +of, perhaps because of, the fire. The _châlet_ is built with commendable +deference to the necessity for ventilation. The wind, smelling fire, +comes rushing over the snow, and we are glad to put on coat and caps. +The conversation turns to legal topics, and certain eminent personages +are discussed with great severity. Of one it is roundly asserted that +he is mad. + +"I am quite sure of it," said the Chancery Barrister, who has recovered +his spirits with his footing, "and I'll tell you why. He seconded me +for the Reform Club, and----" + +We all agree that this is quite enough; but the Chancery Barrister +insists on proceeding with his narrative, of which it seems this was +merely the introduction. + +We found our Naturalist of very little use. We had expected he would +mount with us whatever heights we sought, and had pleasing views of +his explaining the flora as we went along. But he always had some +excuse that kept him on lower levels. One morning he declared he had +passed a sleepless night owing to the efforts of two Scotch lads who +occupied the room next to him. They had some taste for carpentering, +and were addicted to getting up in the dead of the night and doing odd +jobs about the room. At half-past five a.m. they left their couch and +began playing Cain and Abel. Only the Naturalist protested there is no +authority in Scripture for the fearful row Abel made when Cain got him +down on his back. + +At other times our Naturalist had heard of a "Camberwell Beauty" in +the neighbourhood, and must needs go and catch it, which, by the way, +he never did. On the whole, we conclude our Naturalist is an impostor. + +We reserved the Roches de Naye till the last day. It was rather a +stupendous undertaking, the landlord assuring us that four guides were +necessary. One led a horse that no one would ride, one carried the +indispensable luncheon-basket, and two fared forth at early morn to cut +steps in the snow. The sun was shining when we started on this desperate +enterprise, and it was hot enough as we toiled along the lower heights. +But when we reached the snow level, the sun had gone in, having just +shone long enough to make the snow wet. Then a cold bleak wind set in, +and we began to think that, after all, there was more in the Naturalist +than met the eye. Whilst we were toiling along, sometimes temporarily +despairing, and generally up to our waists in snow, he was enjoying the +comforts of the hotel, or strolling about in languid search of fabulous +butterflies. + +Picking our way round a hill in which had been cut in the snow a ledge +about two feet wide, we came in face of the slope we were to climb. Up +at the top, looking like black ants, were the guides cutting a zigzag +path in the snow. The Member observed that if any one were to offer +him a sovereign and his board on condition of his climbing up this +slope, he would prefer to remain in indigent circumstances. As we +were getting nothing for the labour, were indeed paying for the +privilege of undertaking it, we stuck at it, and after a steady climb +reached the top, when the wind was worse than ever. It was past +luncheon time, and every one was ferociously hungry; but it was agreed +that if we camped here and lunched, we should never get to the top. So +on we went, through the sloppy snow, pursued by the keen blast that +cut through all possible clothing. + +It was a hard pull and not much to see for it, since clouds had rolled +up from the west and hid the promised panorama. The wind was terrible, +and there was no shelter. But we could hold out no longer, and the +luncheon being laid upon the sloppy grass, the Patriarch, with his +accustomed impartiality, went round with his knife. + +By this time we had induced him to take the sardines last, which he +obligingly did. + +We ran most of the way back to the side of the hill where the snow had +been cut. The exercise made us a little warmer; and the genial influence +of the cold fowl, the hard-boiled eggs, the sardines and the thin red +wine beginning to work, we were able to enjoy the spectacle of the +Patriarch leading the first party down the perilous incline. We had +ropes, but didn't think it worth while to be tied. The party was divided +into two sections, half a dozen holding on to a rope. It must have been +a beautiful sight from many a near mountain height to watch the +Patriarch's chimney-pot hat slowly move downwards on the zigzag path. + +"What's that Virgil says about ranging mountain tops?" said the Chancery +Barrister: + + "Me Parnassi deserta per ardua dulcis + Raptat amor: juvat ire jugis, qua nulla priorum + Castaliam molli divertitur orbita clivo." + +He had got in the centre of the second party, and with two before him, +three behind, and a firm grip on the rope, he thought it safe to quote +poetry. + +We had eight days at Les Avants, of which this devoted to the ascent of +the Roches was the only one the sun did not shine upon. Whether on +mountain or in valley, what time the sun was shining it was delightfully +warm. The narcissi were not yet out, but the fields were thick with +their buds. How the place would look when their glory had burst forth on +all the green Alps we could only imagine. But already everywhere bloomed +the abundant marigolds, the hepaticae, the violets, the oxlips, the +gentians, the primroses, and the forget-me-nots. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE BATTLE OF MERTHYR. + +"Well, sir, it is, as you say, a long time ago, but it was one of those +things, look you, that a man meets with only once in his lifetime; and +that being so, I might call it all to mind if I began slowly, and went +on so as to keep my pipe alight to the end." + +The speaker was a little, white-haired miner, who had been employed for +fifty years by the Crawshays, of Cyfarthfa. We were sitting in the +sanctum of his kitchen, the beautifully sanded floor of which smote me +with remorse, for I had walked up from Merthyr, and was painfully +conscious of two muddy footprints in the doorway. + +Mrs. Morgan Griffiths, engaged upon the task of repairing Mr. Morgan +Griffiths's hose, was seated in the middle of the room opposite the +fireplace, having against the wall on either side of her a mahogany +chest of drawers in resplendent state of polish. Mr. Morgan Griffiths +sat beside the fireplace, with his pipe in one hand, the other resting +affectionately upon another mahogany chest of drawers, also +resplendently polished, standing in a recess at his left. The other side +of the fireplace was occupied by the visitor, who, if he had turned his +head a little to the right, might have seen his face reflected in the +resplendent polish of a third mahogany chest of drawers, which somewhat +inconveniently projected from the recess on the side of the fireplace. + +Apparently, every well-to-do Welsh collier marks his status in society +by the possession of a mahogany chest of drawers--if mounted in brass +so much the better--which it is the pride and privilege of his wife to +keep in a state of resplendent polish. Mr. Morgan Griffiths having had a +long run of prosperity, and being of a frugal mind, had launched out +largely in the purchase of mahogany chests of drawers, and his kitchen +may be said to bristle with them. Each had its history, and it was to +the patient listening to the repetition thereof, and to the expenditure +of much appreciative criticism upon the varied styles of architecture +displayed in their construction, that I completely won Mr. Morgan +Griffiths's confidence, and overcame the cautious fencing with which +he met my first inquiries touching his recollection of the memorable +Merthyr Riots of 1831. + +Perfect confidence reigned between us now, and I discovered that, +though it is exceedingly hard to get a Welsh miner to talk freely to +"a Saxon," when he opens his heart, and can look back for a period of +fifty years, he is a very interesting companion. + +"Yes, it's a long time ago," Mr. Morgan Griffiths repeated, in short, +clipping intonation of the English language I will not attempt to +reproduce, "but I've often talked it over with Mrs. Morgan Griffiths, +and I can see it all now. Times was sore bad, and there was a deal +of poverty about. Bread was dear, and iron was cheap--at least so Mr. +Crawshay said when we went up to ask him if he couldn't give us +miners a trifle over the twelve or thirteen shillings a week we was +earning. Everybody I knowed was in debt, and had been in debt for +some time, and was getting further in every week. The shopkeepers +up at Merthyr were getting uneasy about their money, and besides +saying plump out to some of us that we couldn't have any more bread, +or that, without money down on the nail, they served out all round +summonses to what was called the Court of Requests. That was all +very well, but as we couldn't get enough to eat from day to day +upon our wages, it was pretty certain we couldn't go and pay up +arrears. But the summonses came all the same, and it was a black +look-out, I can tell you. + +"One day, in the middle of the summer of this year 1831, there was +a great meeting out on Waun-hill of all the miners of the country. +I can't rightly tell you the day of the month, but it was about +three reeks after we rescued Thomas Llewellin, who had been sent +to gaol on account of the row at Mr. Stephens's. We talked over +our grievances together, and we made up our minds that we couldn't +stand them any longer, though we meant no more mischief than our +little Morgan who wasn't born then, me and Mrs. Morgan Griffiths +not being married at the time, nor indeed set eyes on each other. +After the row opposite the Bush Inn, I went back to my work till +such time as the petition we had agreed to send to the King was +written out by Owen Evans, and had come round to be signed by us +all. But there was others not so peaceably minded, and a lot of +them, meeting outside Merthyr, marched over the hill to Aberdare, +where they went to Mr. Fothergill's and treated him pretty +roughly. They ate up all the victuals in the house, and finished +up all the beer, and then took a turn round the town collecting +all the bread and cheese they could lay their hands on. + +"A lad sent by Mr. Fothergill came running over the mountain with +a letter to the magistrates, telling them what was happening in +Aberdare, and pressing them to send off for the soldiers. It was +said the magistrates did this pretty quick, but we had no railways +or telegraphs then, and, ride as quick as you might, the soldiers +could not get here before morning. The men from Aberdare were back +here the same night, and marched straight for the Court of Requests, +where they made poor Coffin, the clerk, give up every scrap of book +or paper he had about the Court's business, and they made a bonfire +of them in the middle of the street. Then they came over here, and +swore we should all turn out and join them. + +"I remember it well. I was just coming up from the pit to go to my +tea, when they came bursting over the tips, shouting and waving +their sticks, and wearing in their hats little bits of burnt paper +from the bonfire opposite Coffin's house. They were most of them +drunk, but they were very friendly with us, and only wanted us to +leave off work and go along with them. I was a young fellow then, +up to any lark, and didn't make much fuss about it. So off we +went to Dowlais, freed the men there, and we all had a good drink +together. + +"Next day the soldiers came in earnest: Scotchmen with petticoats +on, and nasty-looking guns on their shoulders. I stood in a passage +whilst they marched down High Street from Cyfarthfa way, and didn't +like the look of things at all. But close upon their heels came all +our fellows, with bludgeons in their hands, and one of them, a man +from Dowlais, had tied a red pocket-handkerchief on a stick and waved +it over his head like a flag. The soldiers tramped steadily along till +they got just above the Castle Inn, and there they halted, our men +pressing on till they filled the open place below the Castle, as well +as crowding the street behind the soldiers, who looked to me, as I +hung on by the hands and legs to a lamp-post, just like a patch of red +in the centre of a great mass of black. The soldiers had some bread +and cheese and beer served out to them, but they were a long time +getting it; for as soon as any one came out of the Castle with a loaf +of bread and a piece of cheese some of our men snatched it out of +their hands and eat it, jeering at the soldiers and offering them bits. + +"The soldiers never said a word or budged an inch till the Sheriff +looked out of the window and asked the little fellow who was their +commander-in-chief to draw them up on the pavement close before the +hotel. The little fellow said something to them; and they turned round +their guns so as the butt ends were presented, and marched straight +forward, as if our fellows were not on the pavement as thick as ants. +There was a little stoppage owing to the men not being able to clear +off because of the crowd on the right and left. But the thick ends of +the guns went steadily on with the bare-legged silent soldiers after +them, and in a few strides the pavement was clear, and the soldiers +were eating their bread and cheese with their faces to the crowd, and +a tight right-handed grip on their muskets. + +"The Sheriff got on a chair in the doorway of the Castle, with the +soldiers well placed between him and us, and made a rigmaroling +speech about law and order, and the King; but he said nothing about +giving us more wages. Our master, Mr. Crawshay, was in the hotel too, +and so was Mr. Guest, of Dowlais. Evan Jones, a man who had come over +from Aberdare, got up on the shoulders of his mates and made a +rattling speech all about our poor wages. + +"'Law and order's all very well," he said, "but can you live on twelve +shillings a week, Mr. Sheriff, and bring up a lot of little sheriffs?' + +"Then we all shouted, and old Crawshay coming up to the doorway, I got +down from the lamp-post, not wishing to let him see me there, though I +was only standing on my rights. But Mr. William had a voice which, +something like an old file at work, could go through any crowd, and I +heard him in his quiet, stern way, just as if he was talking to his men +on a pay-day, say it was no use them crowding there with sticks and +stones to talk to him about wages. + +"'Go home, all of you' he said; 'go to bed; and when you are sober and +in your senses, send us a deputation from each mine, and we'll see what +can be done. But you won't be sensible for a fortnight after this mad +acting; so let us say on this day fortnight you come with your +deputation. Now go home, and don't make fools of yourselves any more.' + +"We always listened to what Mr. Crawshay said, though he might be a +little hard sometimes, and this made us waver. But just then +Lewis-yr-Helwyr, shouting out in Welsh, 'We ask for more wages and they +give us soldiers,' leaped at the throat of the Scotchman nearest to him, +and snatching the musket out of his hand, stuck the bayonet into him. + +"In the twinkling of an eye the great black mass jumped upon the little +red patch I told you of, and a fearful struggle began. The attack was so +sudden, and the soldiers were at the moment so earnest with their bread +and cheese, that nearly all the front rank men lost their muskets and +pressed backward on their comrades behind. These levelled their pieces +over the front rank's shoulders and fired straight into the thick of us. +The little officer had hardly given the word to fire when he was knocked +down by a blow on the head, and a bayonet stuck into him, Our men +pressed stoutly forward and, tumbling over the dead, fell upon the +soldiers, who could move neither arm nor leg. The rear rank were, as +fast as they could bustle, filing into the hotel, but not before they +had managed to pass over their heads the little officer, who looked very +sick, with the blood streaming down his face. + +"At last the soldiers all got inside the doorway of the hotel, where +they stood fast like a wedge, two kneeling down shoulder to shoulder +with their bayonets fixed, three others firing over their heads, and +others behind handing up loaded guns as fast as they fired. There was a +lane speedily made amongst us in front of the doorway; but we had won +the fight for all that, and cheered like mad when the soldiers turned +tail. + +"In a few minutes we shouted on the other side of our mouths. Without +any notice the windows of every room in the hotel suddenly flew up, and +out came from each the muzzles of a pair of muskets which flashed death +down upon us at the rate of two men a minute; for as soon as the first +couple of soldiers fired they retired and reloaded whilst two others +took their places and blazed away. A rush was made to the back of the +hotel, and we had got into the passage, when the bearded faces of the +Scotchmen showed through the smoke with which the house was filled, and +the leaders of our lot were shoved back at the point of the bayonet. At +the same time the windows at the back of the house flew up as they had +done in the front, and the muzzles of the muskets peeped out as they +had done before. + +"This was getting rather hot for me. Men dead or dying were lying about +everywhere around the Castle Inn. If I had been asked that night how +many were killed, I think I should have said two hundred; but when the +accounts came to be made up, it was found that not more than sixty or +seventy were shot dead, though many more were wounded. I was neither +hurt nor dead as yet, and I thought I had better go home if I wanted to +keep so. I was below the Castle Inn at the time, and not caring to pass +the windows with those deadly barrels peeping out I turned down High +Street, and walked through the town. It was raining in torrents, and I +never saw Merthyr look so wretched. Every shop was closed, and +barricades placed across some of the windows of the private houses; and +as I walked along, trying to look as if I hadn't been up at the Castle, +I saw white faces peeping over window blinds. + +"Merthyr was trembling in its shoes that day, I can tell you; and it +came out afterwards that every tradesman in the place had got together +all the bread, cheese, meat, pies, and beer he could put his hands on, +ready to throw out to the mob if they came knocking at his door. + +"It was late at night when I got home, having gone a long way round, and +I saw nothing more of our fellows; but I heard that the wounded soldiers +had been taken up to Penydarren House, which was fortified by their +comrades, and held all night against our men. Somehow the word got +passed round that we were to meet the next morning in a quiet place on +the Brecon road, and when I got there I found our gallant fellows in +great force. I, having neither sword nor gun, was told off with a lot of +others to get up on the heights that bank the turnpike road near +Coedycymmer, and roll down big stones, so that the fresh troops expected +up from Brecon could not pass. This we did with a will; and when, in the +afternoon, a lot of cavalry came up, we made it so hot for them, what +with the stones rolled down from above and the musketry that came +rattling up from our men who had guns, that they cleared off pretty +smartly. + +"This cheered us greatly, and another lot of ours, who had been posted +on the Swansea road to intercept troops coming up in that direction, +soon after joined us, with news of a great victory, by which they had +routed the soldiers and taken their swords and muskets. We thought +Merthyr was ours, though I'm not sure that we quite knew what we were +going to do with it. When somebody shouted, 'Let's go to Merthyr!' we +all shouted with him, and ran along the road, intending to take +Penydarren House by storm. On the way we met Evan Price and some others, +who had been to see Mr. Guest, and had been promised fine things for the +men if they would give up their arms and go peaceably to work. Some +jumped at this offer and sneaked off; but I had got a sabre now, and was +in for death or glory. There was a good many in the same boat, and on we +went towards Penydarren House, enough of us to eat it up, if the walls +had been built of boiled potatoes instead of bricks. + +"When we got in sight of the house, we found they were ready for us, and +had got a lot of those soldiers drawn up in battle array. There was a +deal of disputing amongst our leaders how the attack was to commence, +and whilst they were chattering the men were dropping off in twos and +threes, and in about an hour we were all gone, so nothing more was +done that night. + +"We lay quietly in our own homes on Sunday, and on Monday had a great +meeting on Waun-hill again, colliers coming up by thousands to join up +from all parts around. Early in the forenoon we began to move down +towards Merthyr, everybody in high spirits, shouting, waving caps, and +brandishing swords. I saw one man get an awful backhanded cut on the +cheek from an Aberdare collier, who was waving his sword about like a +madman. Nobody knew exactly where we were going, or what we were going +to do; but when we got as far as Dowlais we were saved the trouble of +deciding, for there was Mr. Guest, with a great army of soldiers drawn +up across the road. Mr. Guest was as cool as myself, and rode forward +to meet us as if we were the best friends in the world. He made a good +speech, begging us to think of our wives and families, and go quietly +home whilst we had the chance. Nothing came of that, however, and he +pulled out a paper, and read an Act of Parliament, after which he +turned to the commander-in chief of the soldiers, and said he had done +all a magistrate could do, and the soldiers must do the rest. + +"'Get ready,' shouts out the commander-in-chief; and the soldiers +brought their muskets down with a flash like lightning, and a clash that +made me feel uncomfortable, remembering what I had seen on the Friday. + +"'Present!' + +"There was ten murderous barrels looking straight at us. Another word, +and we should have their contents amongst our clothes. It was an awful +moment. I saw one black-bearded fellow had covered me as if I were a +round target, and I said to myself as well as I could speak for my lips +were like parched peas, 'Morgan Griffiths, twelve shillings a week and +an allowance of coal is better than this'; and I'm not ashamed to own +that I turned round and made my way through the crush of our men, which +was getting less inconveniently pressing at the end nearest to the +levelled barrels. + +"There was, to tell the truth, a good deal of movement towards the rear +amongst our men, and when Mr. Guest saw this he rode up again, and, +standing right between the guns and the front rank of our men, said +something which I could not rightly hear, and then our men began running +off faster than ever, so that in about half an hour the soldiers had the +road to themselves. + +"That was not the last of the riots, but it is all I can tell you about +them, for I had had quite enough of the business. There is something +about the look of a row of muskets pointed at you, with ball inside the +barrels and a steady finger on the triggers, which you don't care to see +too often. + +"Anyhow, I went home, and there heard tell of more fighting all that +week on the Brecon road, of Merthyr in a state of panic, and at last of +Dick Penderyn and Lewis the Huntsman being taken, and the whole of our +men scattered about the country, and hunted as if they were rats. + +"It was a bad business, sir--a very bad business, and I know no more +than them as was shot down in the front of the Castle Hotel how it came +about or what we meant to do. We were like a barrel of gunpowder that +had been broken up and scattered about the road. A spark came, and +poof!--we went off with a bang, and couldn't stop ourselves. Yes, this +is a bad business, too, this strike of to-day, and there's a good many +thousand men going about idle and hungry who were busy and full a month +ago. I don't feel the bitterness of it myself so much, because I have a +little store in the house. I had been saving it to buy another chest of +drawers to stand there, opposite the door, but it's going out now in +bread and meat, and I don't know whether I shall live to save up enough +after the trouble's over, for I'm getting old now, look you." + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +MOSQUITOES AND MONACO. + +Up to the end of October, in ordinary seasons, the mosquitoes hold +their own against all comers along the full length of the Riviera. For +some unexplained reasons they clear out earlier from Genoa, though the +atmosphere may be as unbearably close as at other points of the coast +which mosquitoes have in most melancholy manner marked as their own. +Perhaps it is the noise of the city that scares them. The people live +in the street as much as possible, and therein conduct their converse +in highly-pitched notes. I have a strong suspicion that, like the +habitation jointly rented by Messrs. Box and Cox, Genoa is tenanted by +two distinct populations. One fills the place by day and throughout the +evening up to about ten o'clock; after this hour it disappears, and +there is a brief interval of rare repose. About 2 a.m. the Cox of this +joint tenancy appears on the scene, and by four there is a full tide +of bustle that murders sleep as effectually as was ever done by Macbeth. +I do not wonder that the mosquitoes (who, I have the best reason to +know, are insects of the finest discrimination and the most exacting +good taste) quit Genoa at the earliest possible moment. + +The most delightful spot in or near the city is, to my mind, Campo +Santo, the place where rich Genoese go when they die. The burial-ground +is a large plot of ill-kept land, where weeds grow, and mean little +crosses rear their heads. Round this run colonnades adorned with +statuary, generally life-size, and frequently of striking merit. +Originally, it is presumable that the sculptor's art was invoked in +order to perpetuate the memory of the dead. There are in some of the +recesses, either in the form of medallions or busts, life-like +representations of those who have gone before. But the fashion of the +day is improving upon this. In the newest sculptures there is +exceedingly little of the dead, and as much as possible of the living. + +About half-way down the colonnade, entering from the right, there is a +memorable group. A woman of middle age, portly presence and expansive +dress, is discovered in the centre on her knees, with hands clasped. +The figure is life-size and every detail of adornment, from the heavy +bracelet on her wrist to the fine lace of her collar, is wrought from +the imperishable marble. On her face is an expression of profound grief, +tempered by the consciousness that her large earrings have been done +justice to. Standing at a respectful distance behind her is a youth with +bared head drooped, and a tear delicately chiselled in the eye nearest +to the spectator. He carries his hat in his hand, displays much +shirt-cuff; and the bell-shaped cut of the trouser lying over his dainty +boot makes his foot look preciously small. + +These figures, both life-size, stand in an arched recess, and show to +the best advantage. Just above the arch the more observant visitor will +catch sight of a small medallion, modestly displaying, about half +life-size, the face of an ordinary-looking man, who may have been a +prosperous linendraper or a cheesefactor with whom the markets had gone +well. This is presumably the deceased, and it is difficult to imagine +anything more soothing to the feelings of his widow and son than to come +here in the quiet evenings or peaceful mornings and contemplate their +own life-sized figures so becomingly bereaved. + +Mosquitoes do not meddle with woe so sacred as this; but at San Remo, +for example, which has no Campo Santo, they are having what is known in +the American language as a high old time. Along the Riviera the shutters +of the hotels are taken down in the first week of October. Then arrives +the proprietor with the advance guard of servants, and the third cook; +the _chef_ and his first lieutenant will not come till a month later. In +the meantime the third cook can prepare the meals for the establishment +and for any chance visitor whom evil fate may have led untimeously into +these parts. Then begins the scrubbing down and the dusting, the +bringing out of stored carpets, and the muffling of echoing corridors +in brown matting. The season does not commence till November, +coincidental with the departure of the mosquitoes. But there is enough +to occupy the interval, and there are not wanting casual travellers +whose bills suffice to cover current expenses. On these wayfarers the +faithful mosquito preys with the desperate determination born of the +conviction that time is getting a little short with him, and that his +pleasant evenings are numbered. + +There are several ways of dealing with the mosquito, all more or less +unsatisfactory. The commonest is to make careful examination before +blowing out the candle, with intent to see that none of the enemy +lingers within the curtains of the bed. This is good, as far as it +goes. But, having spent half an hour with candle in hand inside the +curtains, to the imminent danger of setting the premises on fire, and +having convinced yourself that there is not a mosquito in the inclosure, +and so blown out the candle and prepared to sleep, it requires a mind +of singular equanimity forthwith to hear without emotion the too +familiar whiz. At Bordighera the mosquitoes, disdaining strategic +movements, openly flutter round the lamps on the dinner-table, and +ladies sit at meat with blue gauze veils obscuring their charms. Half +measures were evidently of no use in these circumstances, and I tried +a whole one. Having shut the windows of the bedroom, I smoked several +cigars, tobacco fumes being understood to have a dreamy influence on +the mosquito. At Bordighera they had none. I next made a fire of a box +of matches, and burnt on the embers a quantity of insect powder. This +filled the chamber with an intolerable stench, which, whatever may be +the case elsewhere, is much enjoyed by the Bordighera mosquito. These +operations serve a useful purpose in occupying the mind and helping +the night to pass away. But as direct deterrents they cannot +conscientiously be recommended. + +There is one place along the Riviera where the mosquito is defied. +Monaco has special attractions of its own which triumphantly +withstand all countervailing influences. Other places along the +coast are deserted from the end of June to the beginning of November. +But Monaco, or rather the suburb of it situated on Monte Carlo, +remains in full receipt of custom. In late October the place is +enchanting. The wind, blowing across the sea from Africa, making the +atmosphere heavy and sultry, has changed, coming now from the east +and anon from the west. The heavy clouds that cast shadows of purple +and reddish-brown on the sea have descended in a thunderstorm, lasting +continuously for eight hours. Sky and sea vie in the production of +larger expanse of undimmed blue. The well-ordered garden by the Casino +is sweet with the breath of roses and heliotrope. The lawns have the +fresh green look that we islanders associate with earliest summer. The +palm-trees are at their best, and along the road leading down to the +bathing place one walks under the shadow of oleanders in full and +fragrant blossom. The warmth of the summer day is tempered by a +delicious breeze, which falls at night, lest peradventure visitors +should be incommoded by undue measure of cold. + +If there is an easily accessible Paradise on earth, it seems to be +fixed at Monaco. Yet all these things are as nothing in the eyes of +the people who have created and now maintain the place. It seems at +first sight a marvel that the Administration should go to the expense +of providing the costly appointments which crown its natural advantages. +But the Administration know very well what they are about. When man or +woman has been drawn into the feverish vortex that sweeps around the +gaming tables, the fair scene outside the walls is not of the slightest +consequence. It would be all the same to them if the gaming tables, +instead of being set in a handsome apartment in a palace surrounded by +one of the most beautiful scenes in Europe, were made of deal and +spread in a hovel. But gamesters are, literally, soon played out at +Monaco, and it is necessary to attract fresh moths to the gaudily +glittering candle. Moreover, the tenure of the place is held by slender +threads. What is thought of Monaco and its doings by those who have the +fullest opportunity of studying them is shown by the fact that the +Administration are pledged to refuse admission to the tables to any +subject of the Prince of Monaco, or to any French subject of Nice or +the department of the Maritime Alps. The proclamation of this fact +cynically stares in the face all who enter the Casino. The local +authorities will not have any of their own neighbours ruined. Let +foreigners, or even Frenchmen of other departments, care for themselves. + +In face of this sentiment the Administration find it politic to +propitiate the local authorities and the people, who, if they were +aroused to a feeling of honest indignation at what daily passes beneath +their notice, might sweep the pestilence out of their midst. +Accordingly, whilst keeping the gaming rooms closed against natives +resident in the department, the Administration throw open all the other +pleasures of Monte Carlo, inviting the people of Monaco to stroll in +their beautiful gardens, to listen to the concerts played twice a day by +a superb band, and to make unfettered use of what is perhaps the best +reading-room on the Continent. Monaco gets a good deal of pleasure out +of Monte Carlo, which moreover brings much good money into the place. +The Casino will surely at no distant day share the fate of the German +gambling places. But, as surely, the initiative of this most desirable +consummation will not come from Monaco. + +In the meanwhile, Monte Carlo, like the mosquitoes, is having a high +good time. Night and day the tables are crowded, beginning briskly at +eleven in the morning and closing wearily on the stroke of midnight. +There are a good many English about, but they do not contribute largely +to the funds of the amiable and enterprising Administration. English +girls, favoured by an indulgent father or a good-natured brother, put +down their five-franc pieces, and, having lost them, go away smiling. +Sometimes the father or the brother may be discovered seated at the +tables later in the day, looking a little flushed, and poorer by some +sovereigns. But Great Britain and Ireland chiefly contribute spectators +to the melancholy and monotonous scene. + +As usual, women are among the most reckless players. Looking in at two +o'clock one afternoon I saw at one of the tables a well-dressed lady of +about thirty, with a purseful of gold before her and a bundle of notes +under her elbow. She was playing furiously, disdaining the mild +excitement of the five-franc piece, always staking gold. She was losing, +and boldly played on with an apparent composure belied by her flushed +cheeks and flashing eyes. I saw her again at ten o'clock in the evening. +She was playing at another table, having probably tried to retrieve her +luck at each in succession. The bank notes were gone, and she had put +away her purse, for it was easy to hold in her prettily-gloved hand her +remaining store of gold. It was only eight hours since I had last seen +her, but in the meantime she had aged by at least ten years. She sat +looking fixedly on the table, from time to time moistening her dry lips +with scarcely less dry tongue. Her face wore a look of infinite sadness, +which might have been best relieved by a burst of tears. But her eyes +were as dry as her lips, and she stared stonily, staking her napoleons +till the last was gone. This accomplished, she rose with evident intent +to leave the room, but catching sight of a friend at another table she +borrowed a handful of napoleons, and finding another table played on +as recklessly as before. In ten minutes she had lost all but a single +gold piece. Leaving the table again, she held this up between her finger +and thumb, and showed it to her friend with a hysterical little laugh. + +It was her last coin, and she evidently devised it for some such +matter-of-fact purpose as paying her hotel bill. If she had turned her +back on the table and walked straight out, she might have kept her +purpose; but the ball was still rolling, and there remained a chance. +She threw down the napoleon, and the croupier raked it in amid a heap of +coin that might be better or even worse spared. + +This is one of the little dramas that take place every hour in this +gilded hall, and I describe it in detail only because I chanced to be +present at the first scene and the last. Sometimes the dramas become +tragedies, and the Administration, who do all things handsomely, pay +the funeral expenses, and beg as a slight acknowledgment of their +considerate generosity that as little noise as possible may follow +the echo of the pistol-shot. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +A WRECK IN THE NORTH SEA. + +One December afternoon in the year 1875, just as night was closing in, +the steam-tug _Liverpool_, which had left Harwich at six o'clock in the +morning, was seen steaming into the harbour with flag half-mast high. +It was quite dark when she reached the quay, but there was light +enough for the crowd collected to see rows of figures laid in the +stern of the little steamer, the faces covered with blankets. These +figures, as it presently was made known, were twelve dead bodies, the +flotsam of the wreck of the _Deutschland_. When the tug arrived at the +wreck she found her much as she had been left when the survivors had +been brought off the previous day. The two masts and the funnel were +all standing, the sails bellied out with the wind that blustered across +the sandbank. The wind was so high and the sea so rough that Captain +Corrington could not bring his tug alongside; but a boat was launched, +under the charge of the chief mate and Captain Brickerstein, of the +_Deutschland_. The chief officer and the engineer, with some sailors +from the tug, rowed out and made fast to the wreck. It was low water, +and the deck was dry. There were no bodies lying about the deck or near +the ship; but on going below, in the saloon cabin there were found +floating about eight women, a man, and two children. These were taken +on board the boat, and further search in the fore-cabin led to the +discovery of the dead body of a man, making twelve in all. One of the +bodies was that of a lady who, when the wreck was first boarded, had +been seen lying in her berth. She had since been washed out, and had +she floated out by the companion-way or through the skylight might +have drifted out to sea with others. Like all the bodies found, she +was fully dressed. Indeed, as fuller information showed, there was an +interval between the striking of the ship and her becoming water-logged +sufficiently long to enable all to prepare for what might follow. + +According to the captain's narrative, the ill-fated vessel steamed out +of Bremenhaven on Sunday morning with a strong east wind blowing and +snow falling thickly. This continued throughout Sunday. All Sunday night +the lead was thrown every half-hour, the last record showing seventeen +fathoms of water. At four o'clock on Monday morning a light was seen, +which the captain believed to be that of the _North Hinderfire_ ship, a +supposition which tallied with the reckoning. The vessel was forging +slowly ahead, when, at half-past five, a slight shock was felt. This +was immediately succeeded by others, and the captain knew he had run +on a bank. The order was passed to back the engines. This was +immediately done, but before any way could be made the screw broke +and the ship lay at the mercy of wind and waves. She was bumping +heavily, and it was thought if sail were set she might be carried +over the bank. This was tried, but without effect. The captain then +ordered rockets to be sent up and a gun fired. + +In the meantime the boats were ordered to be swung out, but the sea was +running so high that it was felt it would be madness to launch them. Two +boats were, however, lowered without orders, one being immediately +swamped, and six people who had got into her swept into the sea. +Life-preservers were served out to each passenger. The women were +ordered to keep below in the saloon, and the men marshalled on deck to +take turns at the pumps. At night, when the tide rose, the women were +brought up out of the cabin; some placed in the wheel-house, some on the +bridge, and some on the rigging, where they remained till they were +taken off by the tug that first came to the rescue of the hopeless folk. +The whole of the mail was saved, the purser bringing it into the cabin, +whence it was fished out and taken on board the tug. + +The passengers were all in bed when the ship struck, and were roused +first by the bumping of the hull, and next by the cry that rang fore and +aft for every man and woman to put on life-belts, of which there was a +plentiful store in hand. The women jumped up and swarmed in the +companion-way of the saloon, making for the deck, where they were met by +the stewardess, who stood in the way, and half forced, half persuaded +them to go back, telling them there was no danger. After the screw had +broken, the engines also failed, and the sails proved useless. + +The male passengers then cheerfully formed themselves into gangs and +worked at the pumps, but, as one said, they "were pumping at the North +Sea," and as it was obviously impossible to make a clearance of that, +the task was abandoned, and officers, crew, and passengers relapsed into +a state of passive expectancy of succour from without. That this could +not long be coming happily seemed certain. The rockets which had been +sent up had been answered from the shore. The lightship which had helped +to mislead the captain was plainly visible, and at least two ships +sailed by so near that till they began hopelessly to fade away, one to +the northward and the other to the southward, the passengers were sure +those on board had seen the wreck, and were coming to their assistance. + +Perhaps it was this certainty of the nearness of succour that kept off +either the shrieking or the stupor of despair. However that be, it is +one of the most notable features about this fearful scene that, with a +few exceptions, after the first shock everybody was throughout the first +day wonderfully cool, patient, and self-possessed. There was no regular +meal on Monday, but there was plenty to eat and drink, and the +opportunity seems to have been generally, though moderately, improved. +The women kept below all day, and, while the fires were going, were +served with hot soup, meat, bread, and wine, and seemed to have been +inclined to make the best of a bad job. + +Towards night the horror of the situation increased in a measure far +beyond that marked by the darkness. All day long the sea had been +washing over the ship, but by taking refuge in the berths and on the +tables and benches in the saloon it had been possible to keep +comparatively dry. As night fell the tide rose, and at midnight the +water came rushing over the deck in huge volumes, filling the saloon, +and making the cabins floating coffins. The women were ordered up and +instructed to take to the rigging, but many of them, cowed by the +wildness of the sea that now swept the deck fore and aft, and shuddering +before the fury of the pitiless, sleet-laden gale, refused to leave the +saloon. + +Then happened horrible scenes which the pen refuses to portray in their +fulness. One woman, driven mad with fear and despair, deliberately hung +herself from the roof of the saloon. A man, taking out his penknife, dug +it into his wrist and worked it about as long as he had strength, dying +where he fell. Another, incoherently calling on the wife and child he +had left in Germany, rushed about with a bottle in his hand frantically +shouting for paper and pencil. Somebody gave him both, and, scribbling a +note, he corked it down in a bottle and threw it overboard, following it +himself a moment later as a great wave came and swept him out of sight. + +There were five nuns on board who, by their terror-stricken conduct, +seem to have added greatly to the weirdness of the scene. They were deaf +to all entreaties to leave the saloon, and when, almost by main force, +the stewardess (whose conduct throughout was plucky) managed to get them +on to the companion-ladder, they sank down on the steps and stubbornly +refused to go another step. They seemed to have returned to the saloon +again shortly, for somewhere in the dead of the night, when the greater +part of the crew and passengers were in the rigging, one was seen with +her body half through the skylight, crying aloud in a voice heard above +the storm, "Oh, my God, make it quick! make it quick!" At daylight, when +the tide had ebbed, leaving the deck clear, some one from the rigging +went down, and, looking into the cabin, saw the nuns floating about face +upwards, all dead. + +There seems to have been a wonderful amount of unselfishness displayed, +everybody cheering and trying to help every other body. One of the +passengers--a cheery Teuton, named Adolph Herrmann--took a young +American lady under his special charge. He helped her up the rigging +and held her on there all through the night, and says she was as +brave and as self-possessed as if they had been comfortably on shore. +Some time during the night an unknown friend passed down to him a +bottle of whisky. The cork was in the bottle, and as he was holding +on to the rigging with one hand and had the other round the lady, +there was some difficulty in getting at the contents of the bottle. +This he finally solved by knocking the neck off, and then found +himself in the dilemma of not being able to get the bottle to the +lady's mouth. + +"You are pouring it down my neck," was her quiet response to his first +essay. In the end he succeeded in aiming the whisky in the right +direction, and after taking some himself, passed it on, feeling much +refreshed. + +Just before a terrible accident occurred, which threatened death to +one or both. The purser, who had fixed himself in the rigging some +yards above them, getting numbed, loosed his hold, and falling headlong +struck against the lady and bounded off into the sea. But Herrmann kept +his hold, and the shock was scarcely noticed. On such a night all the +obligations were not, as Herrmann gratefully acknowledges, on the one +side; for when one of his feet got numbed, his companion, following his +direction, stamped on it till circulation was restored. + +From their perilous post, with waves occasionally dashing up and +blinding them with spray, they saw some terrible scenes below. A man +tied to the mast nearer the deck had his head cut off by the waves, +as Herrmann says, though probably a rope or a loose spar was the agent. +Not far off, a little boy had his leg broken in the same manner. They +could hear and see one of the nuns shrieking through the skylight, and +when she was silenced the cry was taken up by a woman wailing from +the wheelhouse,-- + +"My child is drowned, my little one, Adam!" + +At daylight a sailor, running nimbly down the rigging, reached the poop, +and, bending over, attempted to seize some of the half-drowned people +who were floating about. Once he caught a little child by the clothes; +but before he could secure it a wave carried it out of his grasp, and +its shrieks were hushed in the roar of the waters. At nine o'clock, on +the second morning of the wreck the tide had so far ebbed that the deck +was clear, and, coming down from the rigging, the battered and shivering +survivors began to think of getting breakfast. A provident sailor had, +whilst it was possible, taken up aloft a couple of loaves of black +bread, a ham, and some cheese. These were now brought out and fairly +distributed. + +An hour and a half later all peril was over, and the gallant survivors +were steaming for Harwich in the tug-boat _Liverpool_. + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +A PEEP AT AN OLD HOUSE OF COMMONS FROM THE LADIES' GALLERY. + +"No," Mrs. Chiltern-Hundreds said when I asked, Was she in these days +a constant visitor at the House of Commons? "Chiltern, you know, has +accepted a place of profit under the Crown, and is no longer eligible +to sit as a member. It is such trouble to get in, and when you are +there the chances are that nothing is going on, so I have given it up. +I remember very well the first time I was there. I wrote all about it +to an old schoolfellow. If you are interested in the subject, I will +show you a copy of what I then jotted down." + +I was much interested, and when I saw the letter was glad I had +expressed my interest. The copy placed at my disposal was undated, +but internal evidence showed that Mrs. Chiltern-Hundreds had paid her +visit in the session of 1874, when Mr. Disraeli had for the first time +in his history been returned to power as well as to office, and Mr. +Gladstone, crushed by an overwhelming defeat, had written his famous +letter to "My dear Granville," announcing his retirement from +political life. Looking down through the _grille_, the visitor in the +gallery saw many bearers of well-known names who have travelled far +since that date, some beyond the grave. Here are Madame's notes +written in her own angular handwriting:-- + +"Be in the great hall at four o'clock." + +Those were Chiltern's words to me as he hurried off after luncheon, +and here we were in the great hall, but there was no Chiltern, +which was vexatious. True, it was half-past four, and he is such a +stickler for what he calls punctuality, and has no sympathy with +those delays which are inseparable from going out in a new bonnet. +One of the strings----but there, what does it matter? Here we were +standing in the great hall, where we had been told to come, and no +one to meet us. There was a crowd of persons standing before the +entrance to a corridor to the left of the hall. Two policemen were +continually begging them to stand back and not block up the entrance, +so that the members who were passing in and out (I dare say on the +look-out for their wives, so that they should not be kept here a +moment) might not be inconvenienced. It is really wonderful how +careful the police about Westminster are of the sacred persons of +members. If I cross the road at the bottom of Parliament Street by +myself I may be run over by a hansom cab or even an omnibus, without +the slightest compunction on the part of the police on duty there. +But if Chiltern happens to be with me the whole of the traffic going +east and west is stopped, and a policeman with outstretched hands +stands waiting till we have gained the other side of the road. + +We were gazing up with the crowd at somebody who was lighting the +big chandelier by swinging down from somewhere in the roof a sort +of censer, when Chiltern came out of the corridor and positively +began to scold us for being late. I thought that at the time very +mean, as I was just going to scold him; but he knows the advantage +of getting the first word. He says, Why were we half an hour late? +and how could he meet us there at four if at that time we had not +left home? But that's nonsense. Chiltern has naturally a great +flow of words, which he has cultivated by close attendance upon +his Parliamentary duties. But he is mistaken if he thinks I am a +Resolution and am to be moved by being "spoken to." + +We walked through a gallery into a hall something like that in which +Chiltern had kept us waiting, only much smaller. This was full of men +chattering away in a manner of which an equal number of women would +have been ashamed. There was one nice pleasant-looking gentleman +carefully wrapped up in an overcoat with a fur collar and cuffs. +That was Earl Granville, Chiltern said. I was glad to see his +lordship looking so well and taking such care of himself. There +was another peer there, a little man with a beaked nose, the only +thing about him that reminded you of the Duke of Wellington. He had +no overcoat, being evidently too young to need or care for such +encumbrance. He wore a short surtout and a smart blue necktie, and +frisked about the hall in quite a lively way. Chiltern said that he +was Lord Hampton, with whom my great-grandfather went to Eton. He +was at that time plain "John Russell" (not Lord John of course), +and has for the last forty-five years been known as Sir John +Pakington. But then Chiltern has a way of saying funny things, and +I am not sure that he was in earnest in telling us that this active +young man was really the veteran of Droitwich. + +From this hall, through a long carpeted passage, catching glimpses +on the way of snug writing rooms, cosy libraries, and other devices +for lightening senatorial labours, we arrived at a door over which +was painted the legend "To the Ladies' Gallery." This opened on to a +flight of steps at the top of which was another long corridor, and +we found ourselves at last at the door of the Ladies' Gallery, where +we were received by a smiling and obliging attendant. + +I expected to find a fine open gallery something like the orchestra +at the Albert Hall, or at least like the dress circle at Drury Lane. +Picture my disappointment when out of the bright light of the +corridor we stepped into a sort of cage, with no light save what +came through the trellis-work in front. I thought this was one of +Chiltern's stupid practical jokes, and being a little cross through +his having kept us waiting for such an unconscionable long time, was +saying something to him when the smiling and obliging attendant said, +"Hush-sh-sh!" and pointed to a placard on which was printed, like a +spelling lesson, the impertinent injunction "Silence is requested." + +There was no doubt about it. This was the Ladies' Gallery of the British +House of Commons, and a pretty place it is to which to invite ladies. I +never was good at geometry and that sort of thing, and cannot say how +many feet or how many furlongs the gallery is in length, but I counted +fourteen chairs placed pretty close together, and covered with a hideous +green damask. There are three rows of chairs, the two back rows being +raised above the first the height of one step. As far as seeing into the +House is concerned, one might as well sit down on the flight of steps in +Westminster Hall as sit on a chair in the back row in the Ladies' +Gallery. On the second row it is tolerable enough, or at least you get a +good view of the little old gentleman with the sword by his side sitting +in a chair at the far end of the House. I thought at first this was the +Speaker, and wondered why gentlemen on the cross benches should turn +their backs to him. But Chiltern said it was Lord Charles Russell, +Sergeant-at-Arms, a much more important personage than the Speaker, who +takes the Mace home with him every night, and is responsible for its due +appearance on the table when the Speaker takes the chair. + +In the front row you can see well enough--what there is to be seen, for +I confess that my notion of the majesty of the House of Commons is +mightily modified since I beheld it with my own eyes. In the first place +you are quite shut out of sight in the Ladies' Gallery, and I might have +saved myself all the trouble of dressing, which made me a little late +and gave Chiltern an opportunity of saying disagreeable things which he +subsequently spread over a fortnight. I might have been wearing a +coal-scuttle bonnet or a mushroom hat for all it mattered in a prison +like this. There was sufficient light for me to see with satisfaction +that other people had given themselves at least an equal amount of +trouble. Two had arrived in charming evening dress, with the loveliest +flowers in their hair. I dare say they were going out to dinner, and at +least I hope so, for it is a disgraceful thing that women should be +entrapped into spending their precious time dressing for a few hours' +stay in a swept and garnished coal-hole like this. + +The smiling and obliging attendant offered me the consolation of knowing +that the Gallery is quite a charming place compared with what it used to +be. Thirty or forty years ago, whilst the business of Parliament was +carried on in a temporary building, accommodation for ladies was +provided in a narrow box stationed above the Strangers' Gallery, whence +they peered into the House through pigeon holes something like what you +see in the framework of a peep-show. The present Gallery formed part of +the design of the new Houses, but when it was opened it was a vastly +different place. It was much darker, had no ante-rooms worth speaking +of, and the leading idea of a sheep-pen was preserved to the extent of +dividing it into three boxes, each accommodating seven ladies. About +twelve years ago one of the dividing walls was knocked down, and the +Ladies' Gallery thrown into a single chamber, with a special pen to +which admission is obtained only by order from the Speaker. Still much +remained to be done to make it even such a place as it now is, and that +work was done by that much--and, as Chiltern will always have it, +_unjustly_--abused man, Mr. Ayrton. It was he who threw open the back of +the Gallery, giving us some light and air, and it is to him that we +ladies are indebted for the dressing-room and the tea-room. + +This being shut up is one reason why I was disappointed with the House +of Commons. Another is with respect to the size of the chamber itself. +It is wonderful to think how _big_ men can talk in a room like this. It +is scarcely larger than a good-sized drawing-room. I must say for +Chiltern that we got seats in the front row, and what there was to be +seen we saw. Right opposite to us was a gallery with rows of men sitting +six deep. It was "a big night," and there was not a seat to spare in +this, which I suppose was the Strangers' Gallery. Everybody there had +his hat off, and there was an official sitting on a raised chair in the +middle of the top row, something like I saw the warders sitting amongst +prisoners at Millbank one Sunday morning when Chiltern took me to see +the Claimant repeating the responses to the Litany. The House itself is +of oblong shape, with rows of benches on either side, cushioned in +green leather and raised a little above each other. There are four of +these rows on either side, with a broad passage between covered with +neat matting. + +Chiltern says the floor is an open framework of iron, and that beneath +is a labyrinth of chambers into which fresh air is pumped and forced in +a gentle stream into the House, the vitiated atmosphere escaping by the +roof. But then the same authority, when I asked him what the narrow band +of red colour that ran along the matting about a pace in front of the +benches on either side meant, gravely told me that if any member when +addressing the House stepped out beyond that line, Lord Charles Russell +would instantly draw his sword, shout his battle-cry, "Who goes Home!" +and rushing upon the offender bear him off into custody. + +So you see it is difficult to know what to believe, and it is a pity +people will not always say what they mean in plain English. + +Midway down each row of benches is a narrow passage that turned out +to be "the gangway," of which you read and hear so much. I had always +associated "the gangway" with a plank along which you walked to +somewhere--perhaps on to the Treasury Bench. But it is only a small +passage like a narrow aisle in a church. There is a good deal of +significance about this gangway, for anybody who sits below it is +supposed to be of an independent turn of mind, and not to be capable +of purchase by Ministers present or prospective. Thus all the Irish +members sit below the gangway, and so do Mr. Macdonald and Mr. Charles +Lewis. It is an odd thing, Chiltern observes, that, notwithstanding +this peculiarity, Ministries are invariably recruited from below the +gangway. Sir Henry James sat there for many Sessions before he was +made Solicitor-General, and there was no more prominent figure in +recent years than that of the gentleman who used to be known as +"Mr. Vernon Harcourt." + +On the conservative side this peculiarity is less marked than on the +Liberal, though it was below the gangway on the Conservative side +that on a memorable night more than a quarter of a century ago a +certain dandified young man, with well-oiled locks and theatrically +folded arms, stood, and, glaring upon a mocking House, told them that +the time would come when they _should_ hear him. As a rule, the +Conservatives make Ministers of men who have borne the heat and +burden of the day on the back Ministerial benches. With the Liberals +the pathway of promotion, Chiltern says, opens from below the gangway. +Mr. Lowe came from there, so did Mr Goschen, Mr. Stansfeld, Mr. +Childers, Mr. Foster, and even Mr. Gladstone himself. The worst thing +a Liberal member who wants to become a Cabinet Minister or a Judge +can do is to sit on the back Ministerial benches, vote as he is bidden, +and hold his tongue when he is told. He should go and sit below the +gangway, near Mr Goldsmid or Mr. Trevelyan, and in a candid, ingenuous, +and truly patriotic manner make himself on every possible occasion as +disagreeable to the leaders of his party as he can. + +I do not attempt to disguise the expectation I cherish of being some day +wife of the First Lord of the Admiralty, or at least of the President of +the Board of Trade; for there are few men who can, upon occasion, make +themselves more disagreeable than Chiltern, who through these awkward +bars I see sitting below the gangway on the left-hand side, and calling +out "Hear, hear!" to Sir Stafford Northcote, who is saying something +unpleasant about somebody on the front Opposition benches. + +The front seat by the table on the right-hand side is the Treasury +bench, and the smiling and obliging attendant tells me the names of the +occupants there and in other parts of the House. The gentleman at the +end of the seat with the black patch over his eye is Lord Barrington, +who, oddly enough, sits for the borough of Eye, and fills the useful +office of Vice-Chamberlain. Next to him is Sir H. Selwin-Ibbetson, +Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, and whom I have +heard genially described as "one of the prosiest speakers in the +House." Next to him, with a paper in his hand and a smirk of supreme +self-satisfaction on his face, is Mr. Cross, the Home Secretary. + +He sits beside a figure you would notice wherever you saw it. The +legs are crossed, the arms folded, and the head bent down, showing +from here one of the most remarkable styles of doing the human hair +that ever I beheld. The hair is combed forward from the crown of the +head and from partings on either side, and brought on to the forehead, +where it is apparently pasted together in a looped curl. + +This is Mr. Disraeli, as I know without being told, though I see him +now for the first time. He is wonderfully old-looking, with sunken +cheeks and furrowed lines about the mouth and eyes. But his lofty +brow does not seem to have a wrinkle on it, and his hands, when he +draws them from under his arms and folds them before him, twiddling +his thumbs the while, are as smooth and white as Coningsby's. He is +marvellously motionless, sitting almost in the same position these +two hours. But he is as watchful as he is quiet. I can see his eyes +taking in all that goes on on the bench at the other side of the +table, where right hon. gentlemen, full of restless energy, are +constantly talking to each other, or passing notes across each other, +or even pulling each other's coat-tails and loudly whispering +promptings as in turn they rise and address the House. + +I observe that Mr. Disraeli does not wear his hat in the House, and +Chiltern, to whom I mention this when he comes up again, tells me +that he and some half-dozen others never do. Since Mr Gladstone has +retired from the cares of office he is sometimes, but very rarely, +able to endure the weight of his hat on his head while sitting in +the House; but, formerly, he never wore it in the presence of the +Speaker. The rule is to wear your hat in the House, and a very odd +effect it has to see men sitting about in a well-lighted and warm +chamber with their hats on their heads. + +Chiltern tells me this peculiarity of wearing hats was very nearly +the means of depriving Great Britain and Ireland of the presence in +Parliament of Mr. John Martin. That distinguished politician, it +appears, had never, before County Meath sent him to Parliament, +worn a hat of the hideous shape which fashion entails upon our +suffering male kindred. It is well known that when he was returned +he declared that he would never sit at Westminster, the reason +assigned for this eccentricity being that he recognised no +Parliament in which the member for County Meath might sit other +than one meeting of the classic ground of College Green. But +Chiltern says that was only a poetical flight, the truth lying at +the bottom of the hat. + +"Never," Mr. Martin is reported to have said to a Deputation of his +constituents, "will I stoop to wear a top hat. I never had one on my +head, and the Saxon shall never make me put it there." + +He was as good as his word when he first came to town, and was wont to +appear in a low-crowned beaver hat of uncertain architecture. But after +he had for some weeks assisted the process of Legislature under the +shadow of this hat, the Speaker privately and in considerate terms +conveyed to him a hint that, in the matter of hats at least, it was +desirable to have uniformity in the House of Commons. + +Mr. Martin, who, in spite of his melodramatic speeches and his strong +personal resemblance to Danny Man in the "Colleen Nawn," is, Chiltern +says, really one of the gentlest and most docile of men, straightway +abandoned the nondescript hat and sacrificed his inclinations and +principles to the extent of buying what he calls "a top hat." But he +has not taken kindly to it, and never will. It is always getting in his +way, under his feet or between his knees, and he is apparently driven +to observe the precaution of constantly holding it in his hands when it +is not safely disposed on his head. It is always thus held before him, +a hand firmly grasping the rim on either side, when he is making those +terrible speeches we read, in which he proves that John Mitchel is an +unoffending martyr, and that the English, to serve their private ends, +introduced the famine in Ireland. + +Mr. Cowen, the member for Newcastle, shares Mr Martin's prejudices about +hats, and up to the present time has not abandoned them. As we passed +through the lobby on our way to the Gallery, Chiltern pointed him out to +me. He was distinguished in the throng by wearing a round hat of soft +felt, and he has never been seen at Westminster in any other. But at +least he does not put it on his head in the House; and it is much better +to sit upon than the tall hats on the top of which excited orators not +unfrequently find themselves when, hotly concluding their perorations +and unconscious of having left their hats just behind them, they throw +themselves back on the bench from which they had erewhile risen to "say +a few words." + +The gentleman on the left of the Premier is said to be Sir Stafford +Northcote, but there is so little of his face to be seen through the +abundance of whisker and moustache that I do not think any one has a +right to speak positively on the matter. The smooth-faced man next to +him is Mr. Gathorne Hardy. The tall, youthful-looking man on his left is +Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, who, I suppose by instructions of the Cabinet, +generally sits, as he does to-night, next to Mr. Ward Hunt. The Chief +Secretary for Ireland is slim; not to put too fine a point on it, Mr. +Ward Hunt is not, and the two manage to seat themselves with some +approach to comfort. The First Lord of the Admiralty further eases the +pressure on his colleagues by throwing his left arm over the back of the +bench, where it hangs like a limb of some monumental tree. + +The carefully devised scheme for the disposition of Mr. Ward Hunt on the +Treasury bench is completed by assigning the place on the other side of +him to Sir Charles Adderley. The President of the Board of Trade, +Chiltern says, is understood to have long passed the mental stage at +which old John Willet had arrived when he was discovered sitting in his +chair in the dismantled bar of the Maypole after the rioters had visited +his hostelry. He is apparently unconscious of discomfort when crushed up +or partially sat upon by his elephantine colleague, which is a fortunate +circumstance. + +The stolid man with the straight back directly facing Mr Disraeli on the +front bench opposite is the Marquis of Hartington. The gentleman with +uncombed hair and squarely cut garments on the left of the Leader of the +Opposition is Mr Forster. The big man further to the left, who sits with +folded arms and wears a smile expressive of his satisfaction with all +mankind, particularly with Sir William Harcourt, is the +ex-Solicitor-General. The duck of a man with black hair, nicely oiled +and sweetly waved, is Sir Henry James. Where have I seen him before? His +face and figure and attitude seem strangely familiar to me. I have been +shopping this morning, but I do not think I could have seen behind any +milliner's or linendraper's counter a person like the hon. and learned +gentleman the member for Taunton. + +Beyond this doughty knight, and last at this end of the bench, is a +little man in spectacles, and with a preternatural look of wisdom on his +face. He is the Right Hon. Lyon Playfair, and is said to have, next to +Mr. Fawcett, the most remarkably retentive memory of any man in the +House. Chiltern says he always writes his lectures before he delivers +them to the House, sending the manuscript to the _Times_, and so accurate +is his recitation that the editor has only to sprinkle the lecture with +"Hear, hears!" and "Cheers" to make the thing complete. + +On the right-hand side of the Marquis of Hartington is Mr. Goschen. In +fact, at the moment I happen to have reached him in my survey he is on +his feet, asking a question of his "right hon. friend opposite." What a +curious attitude the man stands in! Apparently the backs of his legs are +glued to the bench from which he has risen, a device which enables him, +as he speaks, to lean forward like a human Tower of Pisa. He is putting +the simplest question in the world to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, +but if he were a junior clerk asking his employer for the hand of his +eldest daughter he could not look more sheepish. His hat is held in his +left hand behind his back possibly with a view to assist in balancing +him, and to avoid too much strain on the adhesive powers that keep the +back of his legs firmly attached to the bench. With his right hand he +is, when not pulling up his collar, feeling himself nervously round the +waist, as if to make sure that he is there. + +Next to him are Mr. Dodson and Mr. Campbell-Bannerman, and, with these +planted between him and actual or aspirant leaders of the Liberal party, +sits Mr. Lowe. I cannot see much of his face from here, for he wears his +hat and at the moment hangs his head. A little later on I both saw and +heard him speak and a splendid speech he made, going right to the heart +of the matter, laying it bare. His success as a debater is a marvellous +triumph of mind over material influences. It would be hard to conceive +a man having fewer of the outward graces of oratory than Mr Lowe. His +utterance is hesitating, sometimes even to stuttering, he speaks +hurriedly, and without emphasis; his manner is nervous and restless, and +he is so short-sighted that the literary quotations with which his +speeches abound are marred by painful efforts to read his notes. Yet how +he rouses the House, moving it to cheers and laughter, and to the rapid +interchange of volleys of "Hear, hear" from opposite sides of the House, +which Chiltern says is the most exhilarating sound that can reach the +ear of a speaker in the House of Commons. Mr. Lowe sits down with the +same abruptness that marked his rising, and rather gets into his hat +than puts it on, pushing his head so far into its depths that there is +nothing of him left on view save what extends below the line of his +white eyebrows. + +To the right of Mr. Lowe I see a figure which, foreshortened from my +point of view, is chiefly distinguishable by a hat and pair of boots. +Without absolute Quaker fashion about the cut of the hat or garments, +there is a breadth about the former and a looseness about the latter +suggestive of Quaker associations. Perhaps if my idea were mercilessly +analysed it would appear that it has its growth in the knowledge that +I am looking down on Mr. Bright, and that I know Mr. Bright is of +Quaker parentage. But I am jotting down my impressions as I receive +them. Mr. Bright does not address the House to-night, but he has made +one or two short speeches this Session, and Chiltern, who has heard +them, speaks quite sorrowfully of the evidence they give of failing +physical power. The orator who once used to hold the House of Commons +under his command with as much ease as Apollo held in hand the fiery +coursers of the chariot of the sun, now stands before it on rare +occasions with a manner more nervous than that in which some new +members make their maiden speech. The bell-like tones of his voice are +heard no more; he hesitates in choosing words, is not sure of the +sequence of his phrases, and resumes his seat with evident +gratefulness for the renewed rest. + +Chiltern adds that much of this nervousness is probably owing to a +sensibility of the expectation which his rising arouses in the House, +and a knowledge that he is not about to make the "great speech" looked +for ever since he returned to his old place. But at best the matchless +oratory of John Bright is already a tradition in the House of Commons, +and it is but the ghost of the famous Tribune who now nightly haunts +the scene of his former glories. Mr Gladstone was sitting next to Mr. +Bright, in what the always smiling and obliging attendant tells me is +a favourite attitude with him. His legs were stretched out, his hands +loosely clasped before him, and his head thrown back, resting on the +cushion at the back of the seat, so that the soft light from the +illuminated roof shone full on his upturned face. It is a beautiful +face, soft as a woman's, very pale and worn, with furrowed lines that +tell of labour done and sorrow lived through. + +Here again I am conscious of the possibility of my impressions being +moulded by my knowledge of facts; but I fancy I see a great alteration +since last I looked on Mr. Gladstone's face, now two years ago. It was +far away from here, in a big wooden building in a North Wales town. He +was on a platform surrounded by grotesque men in blue gowns and caps, +which marked high rank in Celtic bardship. At that time he was the +nominal leader of a great majority that would not follow him, and +president of a Ministry that thwarted all his steps. His face looked +much harder then, and his eye glanced restlessly round, taking in +every movement of the crowd in the pavilion. He seemed to exist in a +hectic flush of life, and was utterly incapable of taking rest. Now his +face, though still thin, has filled up. The lines on his brow and under +his eyes, though too deeply furrowed to be eradicable, have been +smoothed down, and there is about his face a sense of peace and a +pleasant look of rest. + +Chiltern says that sometimes when Mr. Gladstone has been in the House +this Session he has, during the progress of a debate, momentarily +sprung into his old attitude of earnest, eager attention, and there +have been critical moments when his interposition in debate has +appeared imminent. But he has conquered the impulse, lain back again +on the bench, and let the House go its own way. It is very odd, +Chiltern says, to have him sitting there silent in the midst of so +much talking. This was specially felt during the debate about those +Irish Acts with which he had so much to do. + +Chiltern tells me that whilst the debate on the Irish Bill was going on +there came from no one knows where, passed from hand to hand along the +benches, a scrap of paper on which was written this verse from "In +Memoriam":-- + + "At our old pastimes in the hall + We gambol'd making vain pretence + Of gladness, With an awful sense + Of one mute Shadow watching all." + +Although the gangway has a distinct and important significance in +marking off _nuances_ of political parties, it appears that it does not +follow as an inevitable sequence that because a man sits behind the +Ministerial bench he is therefore a Taper or a Tadpole, or that because +he takes up his quarters below the gangway he is a John Hampden. The +distinction is more strongly marked on the Liberal side; but even there +there are some honest men who usually obey the crack of the Whip. On the +Conservative side the gangway has scarcely any significance, and though +the Lewisian "Party," which consists solely of Charles, sits there, and +from time to time reminds the world of its existence by loudly shouting +in its ear, it may always be depended upon in a real party division to +swell the Ministerial majority by one vote. The Scotch members, who sit +chiefly on the Liberal side, spread themselves impartially over seats +above and below the gangway. The Home Rule members, who also favour the +Liberal side, sit together in a cluster below the gangway in defiant +proximity to the Sergeant-at-Arms. They are rather noisy at times, and +whenever Chiltern comes in late to dinner, or after going back stays +till all hours in the morning, it is sure to be "those Irish fellows." +But I think the House of Commons ought to be much obliged to Ireland for +its contribution of members, and to resist to the last the principle of +Home Rule. For it is not, as at present constituted, an assembly that +can afford to lose any element that has about it a tinge of originality, +a flash of humour, or an echo of eloquence. + +That, of course, is Chiltern's remark. I only know, for my part, that +the Ladies' Gallery is a murky den, in which you can hear very little, +not see much, and are yourself not seen at all. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +SOME PREACHERS I HAVE KNOWN. + +MR. MOODY. + +I heard Mr. Moody preach twice when he paid his first visit to this +country. Borrowing an idea from another profession, he had a series of +rehearsals before he came to London. It was in the Free Trade Hall, +Manchester, and service opened at eight o'clock on a frosty morning in +December. I had to stand during the whole of the service, one of a crowd +wedged in the passages between the closely-packed benches. Every +available seat had been occupied shortly after seven, when the doors +were thrown open. The galleries were thronged, and even the balconies at +the rear of the hall were full to overflowing. The audience were, I +should say, pretty equally divided in the matter of sex, and were +apparently of the class of small tradesmen, clerks, and well-to do +mechanics; that was the general class of the morning congregation. But +it must not therefore be understood that the upper class in Manchester +stood aloof from the special services of the American gentlemen. At the +afternoon meeting, elegantly attired ladies and gentlemen, wearing +spotless kid gloves and coats of irreproachable cut, struggled for a +place in the mighty throng that streamed into the hall. + +Punctually at eight o'clock the meeting was opened by one of the local +clergymen, who prayed for a blessing on the day and the work, declaring, +amid subdued but triumphant cries from portions of the congregation, +that "the Lord has risen indeed! Now is the stone rolled away from the +sepulchre, and the Kingdom of God is at hand." Mr. Moody, who sat at a +small desk in front of the platform, advanced and gave out the hymn, +"Guide us, O Thou Great Jehovah," the singing of which Mr. Sankey, +sitting before a small harmonium, led and accompanied, the vast +congregation joining with great heartiness. + +"Mr. Sankey will now sing a hymn by himself," said Mr. Moody; whereupon +there was a movement in the hall, a rustling of dresses, and a general +settling down to hear something special. + +The movement was so prolonged that Mr. Moody again stood up, and begged +that every one would be "perfectly still whilst Mr. Sankey sang." There +was another pause, Mr. Sankey waiting with marked punctiliousness till +the last cougher had got over his difficulty. Presently the profound +stillness was broken by the harmonium--"melodeon" is, I believe, the +precise name of the instrument--softly sounding a bar of music. Then Mr. +Sankey suddenly and loudly broke in with the first line of the hymn, +"What are you going to do, brother?" + +Mr Sankey has a fairly good voice, which he used in what is called "an +effective" manner, singing certain lines of the hymn _pianissimo_, and +giving the recurrent line, "What are you going to do, brother?" _forte_, +with a long dwelling on the monosyllable "do." When he reached the +last verse, he, after a short pause, began to play a tune well known at +these meetings, into which the congregation struck with a mighty voice +that served to bring into stronger prominence the artificial character +of the preceding performance. The words had a martial, inspiriting sound, +and as the verse rolled forth, filling the great hall with a mighty +musical noise, one could see the eyes of strong men fill with tears. + + "Ho, my comrades! see the signal + Waving in the sky; + Reinforcements now appearing, + Victory is nigh! + 'Hold the fort, for I am coming,' + Jesus signals still; + Wave the answer back to Heaven, + 'By Thy grace we Will.'" + +The subject of Mr. Moody's address was "Daniel"--whom he once, +referring to the prophet's position under King Darius, dubbed "the +Bismarck of those times," and always called "Dan'l." One might converse +for an hour with Mr. Moody without discovering from his accent that he +comes from the United States. But it is unmistakable when he preaches, +and especially in the colloquies supposed to have taken place between +characters in the Bible and elsewhere. + +He began his discourse without other preface than a half apology for +selecting a subject which, it might be supposed, everybody knew +everything about. But, for his part, he liked to take out and look upon +the photographs of old friends when they were far away, and he hoped his +hearers would not think it waste of time to take another look at the +picture of Dan'l. One peculiarity about Dan'l was that there was nothing +against his character to be found all through the Bible. Nowadays, when +men write biographies, they throw what they call the veil of charity +over the dark spots in a career. But when God writes a man's life he +puts it all in. So it happened that there are found very few, even of +the best men in the Bible, without their times of sin. But Dan'l came out +spotless, and the preacher attributed his exceptionally bright life +to the power of saying "No." + +After this exordium, Mr. Moody proceeded to tell in his own words the +story of the life of Daniel. Listening to him, it was not difficult to +comprehend the secret of his power over the masses. Like Bunyan, he +possesses the great gift of being able to realise things unseen, and to +describe his vision in familiar language to those whom he addresses. His +notion of "Babylon, that great city," would barely stand the test of +historic research. But that there really was in far-off days a great +city called Babylon, in which men bustled about, ate and drank, schemed +and plotted, and were finally overruled by the visible hand of God, he +made as clear to the listening congregation as if he were talking about +Chicago. + +He filled the lay figures with life, clothed them with garments, and +then made them talk to each other in the English language as it is +to-day accented in some of the American States. + +On the previous night I had heard him deliver an address in one of the +densely populated districts of Salford. Admission to the chapel in which +the service was held was exclusively confined to women, and, +notwithstanding it was Saturday night, there were at least a thousand +sober-looking and respectably dressed women present. The subject of the +discussion was Christ's conversation with Nicodemus--whose social +position Mr. Moody incidentally made familiar to the congregation by +observing, "if he had lived in these days, he would have been a doctor +of divinity, Nicodemus, D. D, or perhaps LL D." His purpose was to make +it clear that men are saved, not by any action of their own, but simply +by faith. This he illustrated, among other ways, by introducing a +domestic scene from the life of the children of Israel in the Wilderness +at the time the brazen serpent was lifted up. The dramatis personae were +a Young Convert, a Sceptic, and the Sceptic's Mother. The convert, who +has been bitten by the serpent, and, having followed Moses' injunction, +is cured, "comes along" and finds the sceptic lying down "badly bitten." +He entreats him to look upon the brazen serpent which Moses has lifted +up. But the sceptic has no faith in the alleged cure, and refuses. + +"Do you think," he says, "I'm going to be saved by looking at a brass +serpent away off on a pole? No, no." + +"Wall, I dunno," says the young convert, "but I was saved that way +myself. Don't you think you'd better try it?" + +The sceptic refuses, and his mother "comes along," and observes, +--"Hadn't you better look at it, my boy?" + +"Well, mother, the fact is, if I could understand the f'losophy of it I +would look up right off; but I don't see how a brass serpent away off on +a pole can cure me." + +And so he dies in his unbelief. + +It seemed odd to hear this conversation from the Wilderness recited, +word for word, in the American vernacular, and with a local colouring +that suggested that both the sceptic and the young convert wore +tail-coats, and that the mother had "come along" in a stuff dress. But +when the preacher turned aside, and in a few words spoke of sons who +would not hear the counsel of Christian mothers and refused to "look +up and live," the silent tears that coursed down many a face in the +congregation showed that his homely picture had been clear as the +brazen serpent in the Wilderness to the eyes of faith before which +it was held up. + +The story of Daniel is one peculiarly susceptible of Mr. Moody's usual +method of treatment, and for three-quarters of an hour he kept the +congregation at the morning meeting enthralled whilst he told how +Daniel's simple faith triumphed over the machinations of the unbeliever. +Mr. Moody's style is unlike that of most religious revivalists. He +neither shouts nor gesticulates, and mentioned "hell" only once, and +that in connection with the life the drunkard makes for himself. His +manner is reflected by the congregation in respect of abstention from +working themselves up into "a state." This makes all the more impressive +the signs of genuine emotion which follow and accompany the preacher's +utterance. When he was picturing the scene of Daniel translating the +king's dream, rapidly reciting Daniel's account of the dream, and +Nebuchadnezzar's quick and delighted ejaculation, "That's so!" "That's +it!" as he recognised the incidents, I fancied it was not without +difficulty some of the people, bending forward, listening with +glistening eye and heightened colour, refrained from clapping their +hands for glee that the faithful Daniel, the unyielding servant of +God, had triumphed over tribulation, and had walked out of prison +to take his place on the right hand of the king. + +There was not much exhortation throughout the discourse, not the +slightest reference to any disputed point of doctrine. It was nothing +more than a re-telling of the story of Daniel. But whilst +Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Darius, and even +the hundred and twenty princes, became for the congregation living and +moving beings, all the ends of the narrative were, with probably +unconscious, certainly unbetrayed, art, gathered together to lead up to +the one lesson--that compromise, where truth and religion are concerned, +is never worthy of those who profess to believe God's word. + +"I am sick of the shams of the present day," said Mr. Moody, bringing +his discourse to a sudden close. "I am tired of the way men parley +with the world whilst they are holding out their hands to be lifted +into heaven. If we're gwine to be good Christians and God's people let +us be so out-and-out." + + +"BENDIGO." + +Bendigo, the erewhile famous champion of England, I one evening found in +the pulpit at the London Cabman's Mission Hall. After quitting the ring, +Bendigo took to politics; that is to say, he, for a consideration, +directed at Parliamentary elections the proceedings of the "lambs" in +his native town of Nottingham. Now he had given up even that +worldliness, and had taken to preaching. His fame had brought together a +large congregation. The Hall was crowded to overflowing, and the +proceedings were, as one of the speakers described it, conducted "by +shifts," the leaders, including Bendigo, going downstairs to address the +crowd collected in the lower room after having spoken to the +congregation in the regular meeting hall. + +The service was opened with prayer by Mr. John Dupee, superintendent of +the Mission, after which the congregation vigorously joined in the +singing of a hymn. A second hymn followed upon the reading of a psalm; +and Mr. Dupee proceeded to say a few words about "our dear and saved +brother, Bendigo." With a frankness that in no wise disconcerted the +veteran prizefighter, Mr. Dupee discussed and described the condition +in which he had lived up to about two years ago. The speaker was, it +appeared, a fellow-townsman of Bendigo's, and his recollection of him +went back for nearly forty years, at which time his state was so bad +that Mr. Dupee, then a lad, used to walk behind him through the streets +of Nottingham praying that he might be forgiven. Now he was saved, and, +quoting the handbill that had advertised the meeting, Mr. Dupee hailed +him as "a miracle of mercy, the greatest miracle of the nineteenth +century," which view the congregation approved by fervent cries of +"Praise the Lord!" "Hallelujah!" + +Whether Bendigo would stand steadfast in the new course he had begun +to tread was a matter which--Mr. Dupee did not hide it--was freely +discussed in the circles where the ex-champion was best known. But +he had now gone straight for two years, and Mr. Dupee believed he +would keep straight. + +Before introducing Bendigo to the meeting, Mr. Dupee said his own +"brother Jim" would say a few words, his claim upon the attention of +the congregation being enforced by the asseveration that he was "the +next great miracle of the nineteenth century." From particulars which +Mr. Dupee proceeded to give in relation to the early history of his +brother, it would be difficult to decide whether he or Bendigo had +the fuller claim to the title of the "wickedest man in Nottingham." +A single anecdote told to the discredit of his early life must +suffice in indication of its general character. He was, it appeared, +always getting tipsy and arriving home at untimely hours. + +"One night," said the preacher, "he came home very late, and was +kicking up an awful row in the street just before he came in. I +opened the window, and, looking out, said to him very gently, 'Now +Jim, do come in without waking mother.' And what d'ye think he said? +Why, he said nothing, but just up with a brick and heaved it at me. +That was Jim in the old days," he continued, turning to his brother +with an admiring glance. "He always was lively as a sinner, and +he's just the same now he's on his way to join the saints." + +"Jim" even at the outset fully justified this exordium by suddenly +approaching the pulpit desk with his hands stretched out, singing the +"Hallelujah band." In the course of an address delivered with much +animation and filled with startling phrases, it became clear that +"Jim" had been the immediate instrument of the conversion of Bendigo. +He added considerably to the stock of information respecting the +early life of that personage, and told in detail how better things +began to dawn upon him. + +At the outset of his new career Bendigo's enthusiasm was somewhat +misdirected, as was manifested at an infidel meeting he attended in +company with his sponsor. + +"Who's them chaps on the platform?" said Bendigo to Jim. + +"Infidels," said Jim. + +"What's that?" queried Bendigo. + +"Why, fellows as don't believe in God or the devil." + +"Then come along, and we'll soon clear the platform," said Bendigo, +beginning to strip. + +Jim's address lasted for nearly half an hour, and when at last brought +to a conclusion he went below to "begin again" with the crowd in the +lower room. + +Mr. Dupee again appeared at the desk and said they would sing a verse +of a hymn, after which Bendigo would address them, and the plate would +be handed round for a collection to cover the cost of the bills and of +Bendigo's travelling expenses. The hymn was a well-known one, with, as +given out by the preacher, an alteration in the second line thus: + + "Praise God from whom all blessings flow, + Praise Him for brother Bendigo." + +This sung with mighty volume of sound, Bendigo, who had all this time +been quietly seated on the platform, advanced, and began to speak in a +simple, unaffected, but wholly unintelligent manner. He was decently +dressed in a frock-coat, with black velveteen waistcoat buttoned over +his broad chest. He was still, despite his threescore years, straight +as a pole; and had a fine healthy looking face, that belied the fearful +stories told by his friends of his dissipation. Except a certain +flattening of the bridge of the nose, a slight indentation on the +forehead between the eyebrows, and the crooked finger on his left hand, +he bore no traces of many pitched fights of which he is the hero, and +might in such an assembly have been taken for a mild-mannered family +coachman. + +His address, though occasionally marked by the grotesque touches which +characterised the remarks of the two preceding speakers, was not without +touches of pathos. + +"I've been a fighting character," he said, and this was a periphrastic +way of referring to his old occupation in which he evidently took great +pleasure; "but now I'm a Miracle. What could I do? I was the +youngest-born of twenty-one children, and the first thing done with me +was to put me in a workhouse. There I got among fellows who brought me +out, and I became a fighting character. Thirty years ago I came up to +London to fight Ben Caunt, and I licked him. I'm sixty-three now, and +I didn't think I should ever come up to London to fight for King Jesus. +But here I am, and I wish I could read out of the blessed Book for then +I could talk to you better. But I never learnt to read, though I'm +hoping by listening to the conversation around me to pick up a good +deal of the Bible, and then I'll talk to you better. I'm only two years +old at present, and know no more than a baby. It's two years ago since +Jesus came to me and had a bout with me, and I can tell you He licked +me in the first round. He got me down on my knees the first go, and +there I found grace. I've got a good many cups and belts which I won +when I was a fighting character. Them cups and belts will fade, but +there's a crown being prepared for old Bendigo that'll never fade." + +This and much more to the same purport the veteran said, and then Mr. +Dupee interposed with more "few words," the plate was sent round, and +the superintendent and Bendigo went downstairs to relieve "brother Jim," +the echo of whose stentorian voice had occasionally been wafted in at +the open door whilst Bendigo was relating his experiences. + +"FIDDLER JOSS." + +It was at another Mission Chapel in Little Wild Street, Drury Lane, that +I "sat under" Fiddler Joss. His "dictionary name," as in the course of +the evening I learned from one of his friends, is Mr. Joseph Poole. The +small bills which invited all into whose hands they might fall to "come +and hear Fiddler Joss" added the injunction "Come early to secure a +seat." The doors were opened at half-past six, and those who obeyed the +injunction found themselves in a somewhat depressing minority. At +half-past six there were not more than a score of people present, and +these looked few indeed within the walls of the spacious chapel. It is a +surprise to find so well-built, commodious, it may almost be added +handsome, a building in such a poor neighbourhood, and bearing so humble +a designation. It provides comfortable sitting room for twelve hundred +persons. There is a neat, substantial gallery running round the hall, +and forming at one end a circular pulpit, evidently designed after the +fashion of Mr. Spurgeon's at the Tabernacle--a building of which the +Mission Chapel is in many respects a miniature. + +The congregation began to drop in by degrees, and proved to be of a +character altogether different from what might have been expected in +such a place on such an occasion. Out of ten people perhaps one belonged +to the class among which London missionaries are accustomed to labour. +But while men and women of the "casual" order were almost entirely +absent, and men of what is called in this connection "the working class" +were few and far between, there entered by hundreds people who looked as +if they were the responsible owners of snug little businesses in the +provision, stationery, or "general" line. An air of profound +respectability, combined with the enjoyment of creature comforts, +prevailed. + +Whilst waiting for seven o'clock, the hour for the service to commence, +a voluntary choir sang hymns, and the rapidly growing congregation +joined in fitful snatches of harmony. Little hymn-books with green paper +backs were liberally distributed, and there was no excuse for silence on +the score of unfamiliarity with the hymns selected. At seven o'clock the +preacher of the evening appeared on the rostrum, accompanied by two +gentlemen accustomed, it appeared, to take a leading part in conducting +the service in the chapel. One gave out a hymn, reading it verse by +verse, and starting the tune with stentorian voice. This concluded, his +colleague prayed, in a loud voice, and with energetic action. "We must +have souls to-night," he said, smiting the rail of the pulpit; "we must +have souls--not by ones and twos--and we must have them to-night in this +place. There is a drunkard in this place. Give us his soul, O God! There +is a thief in this place; I do not know where he sits, but God knows. We +want to benefit God, and we must have souls to-night, not by twos and +threes, but in hundreds." + +After this there was another hymn, sung even with increased volume of +sound. Energy was the predominant characteristic of the whole service, +and it reached its height in the singing of hymns, when the congregation +found the opportunity of joining their leaders in the devotional +utterance. There were half a dozen women in the congregation who had +solved the home difficulty about the baby by bringing it with them to +chapel. The little ones, catching the enthusiasm of the place, joined +audibly in all the acts of worship save in the singing. They crowed +during the prayers, chattered during the reading of the lesson, and +loudly wept at intervals throughout the sermon. But there was no room +for their shrill voices in the mighty shout which threatened to rend the +roof when hymns were sung. + +Fiddler Joss, being impressively introduced by one of the gentlemen in +the pulpit, began without preface to read rapidly from the fifth chapter +of Romans, a task he accomplished with the assistance of a pair of +double eyeglasses. He formally appropriated no text, and it would be +difficult to furnish any connected account of his sermon. Evidently +accustomed to address open-air audiences, he spoke at the topmost pitch +of a powerful voice. Without desire to misapply rules of criticism, and +in furtherance of an honest intention to describe impressions in as +simple a form as may be, it must be added that the sermon was as far +above the heads of a mission-chapel congregation as was the pitch of the +preacher's voice. Its key-note was struck by an anecdote which Joss +introduced at the outset of his discourse. There was, he said, a +clergyman walking down Cheapside one day, when he heard a man calling +out, "Buy a pie." The clergyman looked at the man, and recognised in him +a member of his church. + +"What, John," he said, "is this what you do in the weekdays?" + +"Yes," said the man, "I earn an honest living by selling pies." + +"Poor fellow," said the parson, "how I pity you." + +"Bother your pity; buy a pie," retorted the man. + +That, according to Fiddler Joss, is the way in which constituted +authorities in church and chapel matters deal with the poor man in +London and elsewhere. Mr. Methodist would not speak to Mr. Baptist, Mr. +Wesleyan would have nothing to do with Mr. Congregationalist, Mr. High +Church scoffed at Mr. Low Church, Mr. Low Church did not care what +became of any of the rest, and among them all the poor man was utterly +neglected. + +"How we pity you," these people said to the poor man. + +"Bother your pity," the poor man answered; "buy a pie." + +Beyond this central argument, affirmation, or illustration, Fiddler Joss +did not get far in the course of the thirty-five minutes during which he +addressed the congregation. At this period he suddenly stopped, and +asked for the sympathy of his friends, explaining that he was subject to +attacks of sickness, one of the legacies of the days of sin, when he was +"five years drunk and never sober." After a pause he recommenced, and +continued for some five minutes longer, when he abruptly wound up, +apparently having got through only one half of his discourse. + +It is only fair to regard the sermon as an incomplete one, and to +believe that the message which "Fiddler Joss" had entered St. Giles's to +speak to the poor and suffering lay in the second and undelivered +portion. + +DEAN STANLEY. + +On St. Andrew's Day, 1875, I was present at two memorable services in +Westminster Abbey. For many years during Dean Stanley's reign this +particular day had been set apart for the holding of special services +on behalf of foreign missions. What made this occasion memorable in the +annals of the Church was the fact that the evening lecture was delivered +by Dr. Moffat, a Nonconformist minister who, in the year after the +Battle of Waterloo, began his career as a missionary to South Africa, +and finally closed his foreign labours in the year when Sedan was +fought. As being the first time a Nonconformist minister had officiated +in Westminster Abbey, the event created wide interest, and lost none of +its importance by the remarkable sermon preached in the afternoon by +Dean Stanley. + +The Dean took for his text two verses, one from the Old Testament, the +other from the New. The first was from the 45th Psalm, and ran thus: +"Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make +princes in all the earth." The second was the 16th verse of the 10th +chapter of the Gospel of St. John: "And other sheep I have, which are +not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My +voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." Thus the verse +runs in the ordinary translation, but the Dean preferred the word +"flock" in place of fold, and used it throughout his discourse. +Referring to an address recently delivered by Mr. W. E. Forster on +"Our Colonies," the Dean observed that the right hon. gentleman had set +himself the task of considering the question, "What were to be the +future relations of the Mother Country to the Colonies?" The Dean +proposed to follow the same course, with this difference: that the +empire of which he had to speak was a spiritual empire, and the question +he would consider was what ought to be the policy of the Church of +England towards fellow-Christians separated from it on matters of form. + +There were, he said, three courses open to the Church. There was the +policy of abstention and isolation; there was the policy of +extermination or absorption; and there was a middle course, avoiding +abstention and not aiming at absorption, which consisted of holding +friendly and constant intercourse with Christians of other Churches, +earnestly and lovingly endeavouring to create as many points of contact +as were compatible with holding fast the truth. The errors of all +religions run into each other, just as their truths do. There was, no +doubt, some exaggeration in the statement of the Roman Catholic +authority who declared that "there is but one bad religion, and that is +the religion of the man who professes what he does not believe." But +there was no reason why, because the Church of England had done in times +past and was still doing grand work, there should be no place for the +Nonconformists. Church people rejoiced, and Nonconformists might +rejoice, that the prayers of the Church of England were enshrined in a +Liturgy radiant with the traditions of a glorious past. But that was no +reason why there should be no room where good work was being done for +men who preferred the chances of extemporaneous prayer--a custom of +Apostolic origin, and perhaps (very daintily this was put) fittest for +the exigencies of special occasions. + +If some of the extremer Nonconformists, desirous of wrapping +themselves in the mantle once worn by Churchmen, and possessed by a love +for uniformity so exaggerated that they would tear down ancient +institutions and reduce all Churches to the same level, there was no +reason why Churchmen should return evil for evil and repay contumely +with scorn. There was a nobler mission for Christians than that of +seeking to exterminate each other, a higher object than that of +endeavouring to sow the seeds of vulgar prejudice either against new +discoveries or ancient institutions. + +DR. MOFFAT. + +Dean Stanley preached his sermon within the chancel, and it formed part +of the customary afternoon service of the Church of England. Dr. Moffat +delivered his lecture in the nave, its simple preface being the singing +of the missionary hymn, "From Greenland's icy mountains." + +The pioneer of missionary labour in South Africa was at this time close +upon his eightieth year, but he seemed to have thriven upon hard work, +and showed no signs of physical weakness. His full, rich voice, musical +with a northern accent, which long residence in South Africa had not +robbed of a note, filled every corner of the long aisle, and no section +of the vast congregation was disappointed by reason of not hearing. +Wearing a plain Geneva robe with the purple hood of his academic degree, +he stood at the lectern, situated not many paces from the grave where +his friend and son-in-law, Dr. Livingstone, lies. + +Dean Stanley was one of many clergymen present, and occupied a seat just +in front of the lectern. + +Dr. Moffat began by protesting that he was very nervous, because, having +been accustomed for fifty years or more to speak and teach and preach in +a language altogether different from European, he had contracted a habit +of thinking in that language, and sometimes found it momentarily +difficult to find the exact expression of his thoughts in English. + +"If I might," he said, with a touch of dry humour that frequently +lighted up his discourse, "speak to you in the Betchuana tongue I could +get along with ease. However, I will do what I can." + +The lecture resolved itself into a quiet, homely, and exceedingly +interesting chat, chiefly about the Betchuanas, with whom Dr. Moffat +longest laboured. When he arrived in the country, early in the present +century, he found the people sunk in the densest ignorance. Unlike most +heathen tribes, they had no idea of a God, no notion of a hereafter. +There was not an idol to be found in all their province, and one the +lecturer's daughter showed to an intelligent leader of the people +excited his liveliest astonishment. He was, indeed, so hopelessly +removed from a state of civilisation that he ridiculed the notion of any +one worshipping a thing made with his own hands. + +Dr. Moffat seems to have been, on the whole, kindly received by the +natives, though they could not make out what he wanted there. A special +stumbling-block to them was, how it came to pass that when, as sometimes +happened, he and Mrs Moffat were disrespectfully treated, they did not +retaliate. This was satisfactorily explained to the popular mind by the +assertion of a distinguished member of the community that the foreigners +had run away from their country, and were content to bear any treatment +rather than return to their own people, who would infallibly kill them. + +The great difficulty met by Dr. and Mrs. Moffat on the threshold of +their mission was their ignorance of the native language. There were no +interpreters, and there was nothing for it but to grub along, patiently +picking up words as they went. The Betchuanas were willing to teach them +as far as they could, occasionally relieving the monotony of the lesson +by a little joke at the pupils' expense. Once, Dr. Moffat told his +hearers, a sentence was written down on a piece of paper, and he was +instructed to take it to an aged lady, who was to give him something he +was in need of. He found the old lady, who was scarcely handsome, and +was decidedly wrinkled, and upon presenting the paper "she blushed very +much." It turned out that the missionary had been the unconscious bearer +of a message asking the old lady to kiss him, "which," Dr. Moffat added, +with a seriousness that appeared to indicate a sense of the awkwardness +of the position still present in his mind, "I did not want to do at +all." + +But he mastered the language at last, and then his moral mastery over +the strange people amongst whom he had been thrown commenced. He found a +firm ally in the Queen, who, first attracted by the flavour of the pills +and other delicacies he was accustomed to administer to her in his +capacity of physician, became his constant and powerful friend. Under +her auspices Christianity flourished, and in Betchuana at the present +time, where once a printed book was regarded as the white man's charm, +thousands now are able to read and treasure the Bible as formerly they +treasured the marks which testified to the number of enemies they had +slain in battle. Peace reigns where once blood ran, and over a vast +tract of country civilisation is closely following in the footsteps of +the missionary. + +Dr. Moffat concluded a simple address, followed with intense interest by +the congregation, by an earnest plea for help for foreign missions. "If +every child of God in Europe and America," he said, "would give +something to this mission, the dark cloud which lies over this neglected +and mysterious continent would soon be lighted, and before many years +are passed we might behold the blessed sight of all Africa stretching +forth her hands to God." + +MR. SPURGEON. + +In a lane leading from the station at Addlestone is a massive oak, +which, if the gossips of the neighbourhood be trustworthy, has seen some +notable sights. It is said that under its far-reaching branches +"Wycliffe has preached and Queen Elizabeth dined." + +Here one summer evening I first heard Mr. Spurgeon preach. The occasion +was in connection with the building of a new Baptist Chapel, and when I +arrived the foundation stone was being utilised as a receptacle for +offerings, over which Mr. Spurgeon, sitting on the wall, and shaded from +the sun by an umbrella reverently held over his head by a disciple, +jovially presided. + +After tea a pulpit was extemporised, upon the model of the one at the +Tabernacle, by covering an empty provision box with red baize, and +fastening before it a wooden railing, also with its decent covering of +baize. A pair of steps, constructed with a considerable amount of +trouble, were placed in position before the rostrum; but when, a few +minutes after seven o'clock, the preacher appeared, he scorned their +assistance, and scrambled on to the box from the level of the field, +grasping the rail as soon as he was in a position to face the +congregation, as if he recognised in it a familiar friend, whose +presence made him feel at home under the novel circumstances that +surrounded him. There might, when Mr. Spurgeon stood up, have been +some doubt whether his voice could be heard throughout the vast throng +gathered in front of the tree. But the first tones of the speaker's +voice dispelled uncertainty, and the congregation settled quietly down, +whilst Mr. Spurgeon, with uplifted hands, besought "the Spirit of God to +be with them, even as in their accustomed places of worship." A hymn was +sung, a portion of the 55th chapter of Isaiah read, another prayer +offered up, and the preacher commenced his Sermon. + +He took for his text a portion of the 36th verse of the 9th chapter of +Matthew--"He was moved with compassion." At the outset he sketched, with +rapid eloquence, the history of Jesus Christ. The first declaration that +might have startled one not accustomed to the preacher's style of +oratory was his expression of a preference for people who absolutely +hated religion over those who simply regarded it with indifference. +These former were people who showed they did think, and, like Saul of +Tarsus, there was hope of their conversion. + +"It is," he said, "a great time when the Lord goes into the devil's +army, and, looking around him, sees some lieutenant, and says to him, +'Come along; you have served the black master long enough, I have need +of you now.' It is astonishing how quietly he comes along, and what a +valiant fight he fights on the side of his new master." + +Mr. Spurgeon had a protest to make against the practice of refusing to +help the poor except through the machinery of the Poor Law. Referring to +Christ's having compassionated the hungry crowd and fed them, he said: +"If Jesus Christ were alive now and presumed to feed a crowd of people, +He would be had up by some society or other, and prosecuted for +encouraging mendicancy. If He were alive in these days He would, I much +fear, have occasion to say, 'I was hungry, and ye fed Me not; thirsty, +and ye gave Me no drink; destitute, and you told Me to go on the +parish.'" + +He thought tracts were very good things in their way, but should not be +relied upon solely as a means of bringing poor people to the Lord. "I +believe a loaf of bread often contains the very essence of theology, and +the Church of God ought to look to it that there are at her gates no, +poor unfed, no sick untended." He was rather hard on "the clergy of all +denominations," regretting to say that "as fish always stunk first at +the head, so a Church when it goes wrong goes bad first among its +ministers." He concluded by an eloquent appeal to his hearers to lose no +time in seeking salvation, calling "heaven and earth, and this old tree, +under which the Gospel was preached five hundred years ago, to bear +witness that I have preached to you the word of God, in which alone +salvation is to be found." + +The sermon occupied exactly an hour in the delivery, and was listened to +throughout with profound attention. When it was over, Mr. Spurgeon held +a sort of levee from the pulpit, the people pressing round to shake his +hand, and it was nearly nine o'clock before the last of the congregation +had passed away, leaving Wycliffe's Tree to its accustomed solitude. + +The next time I heard Mr. Spurgeon preach was in his famous church. The +Tabernacle will hold six thousand people when full, and on this night it +was thronged from door to door, and from floor to ceiling, with a +congregation gathered together to "watch" whilst the Old Year died and +the New was born. At eleven o'clock when Mr. Spurgeon, gownless and +guiltless of white neck-tie, or other clerical insignia, unceremoniously +walked on to the platform which serves him for pulpit, there was not a +foot of vacant space in the vast area looked down upon from the +galleries, for even the aisles were thronged. The capacious galleries +that rise tier over tier to the roof were crowded in like manner, and +the preacher stood, faced and surrounded by a congregation, the sight of +which might well move to the utterance of words that burn a man who had +within him a fount of thoughts that breathe. + +There was no other prelude to the service than the simply spoken +invitation, "Let us pray," and the six thousand, declaring themselves +"creatures of time," bent the knee with one accord to ask the "Lord of +Eternity" to bless them in the coming year. After this a hymn was sung, +Mr. Spurgeon reading out verse by verse, with occasional commentary, and +not unfrequent directions to the congregation as to the manner of their +singing. + +"Dear friends, the devil sometimes makes you lag half a note behind the +leader. Just try if you can't prevail over him to-night, and keep up in +proper time." + +There is no organ, nor even a tuning-fork, in use at the Tabernacle. But +the difficulties, apparently insuperable under these circumstances, of +leading so vast a congregation in the singing of unpractised tunes is +almost overcome by the skilful generalship of the gentleman who steps +forward to the rails beside the preacher's table, pitches the note, +and leads the singing. The hymn brought to a conclusion, Mr. Spurgeon +read and commented upon a passage of Scripture from the 25th of Matthew. +Then another hymn. "Sing this verse very softly and solemnly," says the +pastor; and the congregation in hushed tones, that seem to thrill all +through the aisles and up through the crowded galleries, sing: + + "Who of us death's awful road + In the coming year shall tread, + With Thy rod and staff, O God, + Comfort Thou his dying bed." + +After another prayer from the pastor, and one from one of the deacons +who accompanied him on the platform and sat behind in the crimson velvet +arm-chairs, a third hymn was sung, and Mr. Spurgeon began his short +address. + +He took for text the 42nd verse of the 12th chapter of Exodus: "It is a +night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out from the +land of Egypt: this is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the +children of Israel in their generations." The night referred to in the +text was that of the Passover--"a night of salvation, decision, +emigration, and exultation," said the preacher, "and I pray God that +this night, the last of a memorable year, may be the same for you, my +friends. Oh for a grand emigration among you like that of the departure +of the people of Israel--an emptying out of old Egypt, a robbing of +Pharaoh of his slaves, and the devil of his dupes!" + +It was understood that Mr. Spurgeon was labouring under severe +indisposition, and probably this fact gave to his brief address a tone +comparatively quiet and unimpassioned. Only once did he rise to the +fervent height of oratory to which his congregation are accustomed, and +that at the close, when, with uplifted hands and louder voice, he +apostrophised the parting year: "Thou art almost gone, and if thou goest +now the tidings to the throne of God will be that such and such a soul +is yet unsaved. Oh, stay yet a while, Year, that thou mayest carry with +thee glad tidings that the soul is saved! Thy life is measured now by +seconds, but all things are possible with God, and there is still time +for the salvation of many souls." + +At five minutes to twelve the preacher paused, and bade his hearers "get +away to the Throne of Grace, and in silent prayer beseech the Almighty +to bless you with a rich and special blessing in the new year He is +sending you." + +The congregation bent forward and a great silence was upon it, broken +only by half-stifled coughing here and there, and once by the wailing of +an infant in the gallery. The minutes passed slowly and solemnly as the +Old Year's "face grew sharp and thin" under the ticking of the clock +over the kneeling preacher and his deacons. The minutes dwindled down to +seconds, and then-- + + "Alack, our friend is gone! + Close up his eyes, tie up his chin + Step from the corpse, and let him in + That standeth at the door." + +"Now, as we have passed into the New Year," said Mr. Spurgeon, advancing +to the rails as the last stroke of midnight died away, "I do not think +we can do better than join in singing 'Praise God from whom all +blessings flow.'" + +No need now of instructions how to sing. The congregation were almost +before the leader in raising the familiar strain, with which six +thousand voices filled the spacious Tabernacle. + +Then came the benediction, and a cheery "I wish you all a happy New +Year, my friends," from Mr. Spurgeon. + +A great shout of "The same to you!" arose in response from basement and +galleries, and the congregation passed out into a morning so soft, and +light, and mild, that it seemed as if the seasons were out of joint, and +that the New Year had been born in the springtime. + +IN THE RAGGED CHURCH. + +The Ragged Church is one of the numerous by-paths through which the +managers of the Field Lane Institution strive to approach and benefit +the poor of London. It is situate in Little Saffron Hill, Farringdon +Road, the service being held in a barn-like room, which on weekdays +serves for school, and is capable of accommodating a thousand children. +No money has been expended in architectural embellishment, and no +question of a controversial character is likely to arise in connection +with accessories in the shape of altar, surplice, or candles. The Ragged +Church avoids these stumbling-blocks by the simple expedient of doing +without candles, surplices, or altar. It does not even boast a pulpit, +but draws the line so as to take in a harmonium, indispensable for +leading the tunes. At one end of the room is a platform, on which the +harmonium stands, and whereon the service is conducted. + +It is the congregation rather than the preacher that I remember best in +connection with the Ragged Church. Half-past eleven is the hour for the +commencement of service, and was fixed upon chiefly to suit the +convenience of a portion of the congregation, who, having slept +overnight in the casual wards, are considerately detained in them till +eleven o'clock, by which time society is supposed to be comfortably +seated in its own churches, and is thus saved the shock of suddenly +coming upon Rags and Tatters going to church or elsewhither--Rags and +Tatters, it being well understood, not always showing themselves proof +against the temptation of improving the occasion by begging. At a +quarter to eleven there filed into the church threescore little girls, +all dressed in wincey dresses, with brown, furry jackets and little +brown hats, a monotony of colour that served to bring into fuller +contrast the red and black wool scarf each wore tightly tied round her +neck. They all looked bright, clean, and happy, and one noted a +considerable proportion of pretty-faced and delicately-limbed children. + +How they were born, or with what parentage, is in many cases a question +to which the records of the institution supply no answer. They were +simply "found" on a doorstep, or arrested when wandering about the +street crying for the mother or the father who had cast them off. This +class of school-girl is generally distinguished by the fineness of her +Christian name, Blanche, and Lily, and Constance, being among the waifs +and strays who have found a refuge with the kindly matron of the Field +Lane Institution. There are others whose history is written plainly +enough in the records of the police-courts. + +There is one, a prematurely aged little woman in her eleventh year, who, +previous to being sent here, passed of her own free will night after +night in the streets, living through the day on her wits, which are very +sharp. Another, about the same age, when taken into custody on something +more than suspicion of picking pockets, was found the possessor of no +fewer than seven purses. A third, who is understood to be now in her +ninth year, earned a handsome livelihood in the Haymarket by frequenting +the public houses, and with dramatic gestures singing the more popular +concert-hall songs. One of the most determined and head-strong young +ladies of the establishment was not privileged to be present at the +morning service, being, in fact, in bed, where she was detained with the +hope that amid the silence and solitude of the empty chamber she might +be brought to see in its true light the heinousness of the offence of +wilfully depositing her boots in a pail of water. + +Conviction for offences against the law is by no means a general +characteristic of the girls. For the most part, destitution has been the +simple ground on which they have obtained admission to the institution. + +The girls being seated on the front benches to the right of the +harmonium, the tramp of many feet was heard, and there entered by the +opposite side of the church some sixty boys in corduroys, short jackets, +and clean collars. They took up a position on the left of the harmonium, +and, with one consent, gravely folded their arms. Their private history +is, in its general features, much the same as that of the girls. All +are sent hither by order of the police-court magistrate, but +many have not committed any crime save the unpardonable one of being +absolutely and hopelessly homeless. It is not difficult, stating the +broad rule, to pick out from the boys those who have been convicted of +crime. As compared with the rest they are generally brighter looking, +and gifted with a stronger physique. + +The distinction was strongly marked by the conjunction of two boys who +sat together on the front form. One who had stolen nothing less than a +coalscuttle, observed projecting from an ironmonger's shop in Drury +Lane, was a sturdy, ruddy-cheeked little man, who folded his arms in a +composed manner, and listened with an inquiring interest to the words +poured forth over his head from the platform. The boy next to him, a +pale-faced, inert lad, who stared straight before him with lack-lustre +eyes, had the saddest of all boys' histories. He was born in a casual +ward, his father died in a casual ward, and his mother nightly haunts +the streets of London in pursuance of an elaborately devised plan, by +which she is able so to time her visits to the various casual wards as +never to be turned away from any on the ground that she had slept there +too recently. + +The foreground of the Ragged Church was bright enough, for whilst there +is youth there is hope, and in the present case there is also the +knowledge that these children are under guardianship at once kind and +wise. Presently the back benches began to fill with a congregation such +as no other church in London might show. Crushed-looking women in limp +bonnets, scanty shawls, and much-patched dresses crept quietly in. With +them, though not in their company, came men of all ages, and of a +general level of ragged destitution--a gaunt, haggard, hungry, and +hopeless congregation as ever went to church on a Sunday morning. Some +had passed the night in the Refuge attached to the institution; many had +come straight from the casual wards; others had spent the long hours +since sundown in the streets; and one, a hale old man who diffused +around him an air of respectability and comfort, was a lodger at +Clerkenwell Workhouse. His snuff-coloured coat with two brass buttons at +the back was the solitary whole garment visible in this section of the +congregation. + +It was his "Sunday out" and having had his breakfast at the workhouse, +he had, by way of distraction, come to spend the morning and eat his +lunch at the Field Lane Institution. + +One man might be forgiven if he slept all through the sermon, for, as he +explained, he had "passed a very bad night." He had settled himself to +sleep on various doorsteps, with the fog for a blanket and the railings +for pillow. But there appeared what in his experience was a quite +uncommon activity on the part of the police, and he had been "moved on" +from place to place till morning broke, and he had not slept a wink or +had half an hour's rest for the sole of his foot. + +There were not many of the labouring class among the couple of hundred +men who made up this miserable company. They were chiefly broken-down +people, who, as tradesmen, clerks, or even professional men, had +gradually sunk till they came to regard admission to the casual ward at +night as the cherished hope that kept them up as they shuffled their +way through the day. One man, who over a marvellous costume of rags +carried the mark of respectability comprehended in a thin black silk +necktie tied around a collarless neck, is the son of a late colonel of +artillery, and has a brother at the present time a lieutenant in one of +her Majesty's ships. After leading a reckless life, he turned his +musical acquirements to account by joining the band of a marching +regiment. Unfortunately, the death of his grandfather, two years ago, +made him uncontrolled possessor of £500, and now he is dodging his +way among the casual wards of London, holding on to respectability and +his good connections by this poor black silk necktie. + +Among the congregation was a bright-eyed, honest-looking lad bearing the +familiar name of John Smith. Three months ago he was earning his living +in a Yorkshire coal pit, when a strike among the men threw him out of +work. There being no prospect of doing anything in Yorkshire, he set out +for London, having, as he said, "heard it was a great place, where work +was plenty." With three shillings in his pocket he started from Leeds, +and walked to London, doing the journey in nine days. He had neither +recommendation nor introduction other than his bright, honest, and +intelligent face, and that seems to have served him only to the extent +of getting an odd job that occupied him two days. + +The service opened with singing, of which there was a plentiful +repetition, the boys and girls in the foreground singing, the melancholy +throng behind standing dumb. Hymn-books were supplied to them, and if +they could read they might have found on the page from which the first +hymn was taken a hymn so curiously infelicitous to the occasion that it +is worth quoting a couple of verses. These are the two first:-- + + Let us gather up the sunbeams + Lying all around our path; + Let us keep the wheat and roses, + Casting out the thorns and chaff; + Let us find our sweetest comfort + In the blessings of to-day + With a patient hand removing + All the briars from the way. + + Strange we never prize the music + Till the sweet-voiced bird has flown, + Strange that we should slight the violets + Till the lovely flowers are gone; + Strange that summer skies and sunshine + Never seem one half so fair + As when winter's snowy pinions + Shake the white down in the air. + +After the opening hymns _Sankey's Sacred Song-Book_, in which this rhymed +nonsense appears, was abandoned, and the congregation took to the +admirable little selection of hymns compiled for the use of the +institution, containing much less sentiment, and perhaps on the whole +more suitable. After prayer and a short address, the boys and girls +filed out as they had come in. Then the rest of the congregation rose, +and as they passed out received a large piece of bread, supplemented by +the distribution from a room on a lower storey of a cup of hot cocoa. +Stretching all down the long flight of stone steps, they drank their +cocoa and greedily munched the bread, and when it was done passed out +into the sabbath noon, to slouch about the great city till the doors of +the casual wards were open. + +They had "gathered up all the sunbeams lying around their path" as far +as the day had advanced, and there was no more for them till, at eight +o'clock in the evening, the bread and tea should be set out before them +under the workhouse roof. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FACES AND PLACES*** + + +******* This file should be named 25624-8.txt or 25624-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/6/2/25624 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Faces and Places</p> +<p>Author: Henry William Lucy</p> +<p>Release Date: May 27, 2008 [eBook #25624]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FACES AND PLACES***</p> +<br><br><center><h3>E-text prepared by Ruth Golding</h3></center><br><br> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<p> </p> + +<table width="650" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> + <tr> + <td> +<p class="bold"> </p> + <p class="bold"><span class="bigitalic">The Whitefriars Library of Wit + & Humour</span></p> + <p> </p> + <p class="image"><img src="images/henry_lucy.jpg" alt="Henry W. Lucy" width="485" height="629" class="image"> + </p></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><p> </p> + <p class="bold"><span class="bigitalic"> </span></p> + <p class="bigcap">FACES AND PLACES</p> + <p class="bigcap"> </p> + <p class="bold"> By </p> + <p class="bold">HENRY W. LUCY</p> + <p class="bold"><br> + <span class="smallcapcent">(AUTHOR OF "EAST BY WEST: A RECORD OF + A JOURNEY ROUND THE WORLD")</span></p> + <p class="bold"> </p> + <p class="bold"> <span class="bigitalic">WITH PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR AND + ILLUSTRATIONS</span></p> + <p class="bold"> </p> + <p class="bold"> </p> + <p class="smallcapcent"> LONDON:<br> + HENRY AND CO, BOUVERIE STREET, EC</p> + <p> </p> + <p> </p> + <p><br> + <span class="italic">To J.R. Robinson, Editor and Manager of the "Daily + News", at whose<br> + suggestion some of these articles were written, they are in their<br> + collected form inscribed, with sincere regard, by an old friend and<br> + colleague.</span></p> + <p class="main">London,<span class="italic"> February </span>1892.</p> + <p class="main"> </p> + <p class="main"> </p> + <p></p> + <table width="500" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="main"> + <tr> + <td class="bold">CONTENTS</td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Chap. </td> + <td>Page</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><p><a href="#1">I. "FRED" BURNABY</a></p></td> + <td> <a href="#1">1</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#23">II. A NIGHT ON A MOUNTAIN </a></td> + <td><a href="#23">23</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#35">III. THE PRINCE OF WALES </a></td> + <td><a href="#35">35</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#41">IV. A HISTORIC CROWD </a></td> + <td><a href="#41">41</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#52">V. WITH PEGGOTTY AND HAM</a></td> + <td> <a href="#52">52</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#62">VI. TO THOSE ABOUT TO BECOME JOURNALISTS </a></td> + <td><a href="#62">62</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#69">VII. A CINQUE PORT </a></td> + <td><a href="#69">69</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#77">VIII. OYSTERS AND ARCACHON</a></td> + <td> <a href="#77">77</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#86">IX. CHRISTMAS EVE AT WATTS'S </a></td> + <td><a href="#86">86</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#100">X. NIGHT AND DAY ON THE CARS IN CANADA </a></td> + <td><a href="#100">100</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#108">XI. EASTER ON LES AVANTS </a></td> + <td><a href="#108">108</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#125">XII. THE BATTLE OF MERTHYR </a></td> + <td><a href="#125">125</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#137">XIII. MOSQUITOES AND MONACO</a> </td> + <td><a href="#137">137</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#145">XIV. A WRECK IN THE NORTH SEA </a></td> + <td><a href="#145">145</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#152">XV. A PEEP AT AN OLD HOUSE OF COMMONS </a></td> + <td><a href="#152">152</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><a href="#XVI">XVI. SOME PREACHERS I HAVE KNOWN:--</a><br> </td> + <td> </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><blockquote> + <p><a href="#170">Mr. Moody</a> </p> + </blockquote></td> + <td><a href="#170">170</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><blockquote> + <p><a href="#176">"Bendigo" </a></p> + </blockquote></td> + <td><a href="#176">176</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><blockquote> + <p><a href="#181">"Fiddler Joss"</a> </p> + </blockquote></td> + <td><a href="#181">181</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><blockquote> + <p><a href="#184">Dean Stanley</a> </p> + </blockquote></td> + <td><a href="#184">184</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><blockquote> + <p><a href="#187">Dr. Moffat </a></p> + </blockquote></td> + <td><a href="#187">187</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><blockquote> + <p><a href="#190">Mr. Spurgeon</a> </p> + </blockquote></td> + <td><a href="#190">190</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><blockquote> + <p><a href="#196">In the Ragged Church</a> </p> + </blockquote></td> + <td><a href="#196">196</a></td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> </p> + <p class="boldleft">FACES AND PLACES</p> + <p class="boldleft"> </p> + <p class="boldleft"><a name="1"></a>CHAPTER I.</p> + <p class="boldleft">"FRED" BURNABY</p> + <p class="main">I made the acquaintance of Colonel Fred Burnaby in a balloon. + In such<br> + strange quarters, at an altitude of over a thousand feet, commenced a<br> + friendship that for years was one of the pleasantest parts of my life,<br> + and remains one of its most cherished memories.</p> + <p class="main">It was on the 14th of September, 1874. A few weeks earlier + two French<br> + aeronauts, a Monsieur and Madame Duruof, making an ascent from Calais,<br> + had been carried out to sea, and dropping into the Channel, had passed<br> + through enough perils to make them a nine days' wonder. Arrangements had<br> + been completed for them to make a fresh ascent from the grounds of the<br> + Crystal Palace, and half London seemed to have gone down to Sydenham to<br> + see them off. I was young and eager then, and having but lately joined<br> + the staff of the <span class="italic">Daily News </span>as special correspondent, + was burning for<br> + an opportunity to distinguish myself. So I went off to the Crystal<br> + Palace resolved to go up in the balloon.</p> + <p class="main">"No," said Mr. Coxwell, when I asked him if there + were a seat to spare<br> + in the car. "No; I am sorry to say that you are too late. I have + had at<br> + least thirty applications for seats, and as the car will hold only six<br> + persons, and as practically there are but two seats for outsiders, you<br> + will see that it is impossible."</p> + <p class="main">This was disappointing, the more so as I had brought with + me a large<br> + military cloak and a pair of seal-skin gloves, under a general but<br> + well-defined impression that the thing to do up in a balloon was to keep<br> + yourself warm. Mr. Coxwell's account of the position of affairs so<br> + completely shut out the prospect of a passage in the car that I<br> + reluctantly resigned the charge of the military cloak and gloves, and<br> + strolled down to the enclosure where the process of inflating the<br> + balloon was going on. Here was congregated a vast crowd, which increased<br> + in density as four o'clock rang out, and the great mass of brown silk<br> + into which the gas was being assiduously pumped began to assume a<br> + pear-like shape, and sway to and fro in the light air of the autumn<br> + afternoon.</p> + <p class="main">About this time the heroes of the hour, Monsieur and Madame + Duruof<br> + walked into the enclosure, accompanied by Mr. Coxwell and Mr. Glaisher.<br> + A little work was being extensively sold in the Palace bearing on the<br> + title-page, over the name "M. Duruof," a murderous-looking face, + the<br> + letter-press purporting to be a record of the life and adventures of<br> + the French aeronauts. Happily M. Duruof bore but the slightest<br> + resemblance to this portrait, being a young man of pleasing appearance,<br> + with a good, firm, frank-looking face.</p> + <p class="main">By a quarter to five o'clock the monster balloon was almost + fully<br> + charged, and was swaying to and fro in a wild, fitful manner, that could<br> + not have been beheld without trepidation by any of the thirty gentlemen<br> + who had so judiciously booked seats in advance. The wickerwork car now<br> + secured to the balloon was half filled with ballast and crowded with<br> + men, whilst others hung on to the ropes and to each other in the effort<br> + to steady it.</p> + <p class="main">But they could not do much more than keep it from mounting + into mid-air.<br> + Hither and thither it swung, parting in swift haste the curious throng<br> + that encompassed it, and dragging the men about as if they were ounce<br> + weights. The wind seemed to be rising and the faces of the experienced<br> + aeronauts grew graver and graver, answers to the constantly repeated<br> + question, "Where is it likely to come down?" becoming increasingly<br> + vague. At last Mr. Glaisher, looking up at the sky and round at the<br> + neighbouring trees bending under the growing blast, put his veto upon<br> + Madame Duruof's forming one of the party of voyagers.</p> + <p class="main">"We are not in France," he said. "The people + will not insist upon a<br> + woman going up when there is any danger. The descent is sure to be<br> + rough, will possibly be perilous, so Madame Duruof had better stay where<br> + she is."</p> + <p class="main">Madame Duruof was ready to go, but was at least equally + willing to stay<br> + behind, and so it was settled that she should not leave the palace<br> + grounds by the balloon. I cast a lingering thought on the military cloak<br> + and the seal-skin gloves, in safe keeping in a remote part of the<br> + building. If Madame was not going there might be room for a substitute.<br> + But again Mr. Coxwell would not listen to the proposal. There were at<br> + least thirty prior applicants; some had even paid their money, and they<br> + must have the preference.</p> + <p class="main">At five o'clock all was ready for the start. M. Wilfrid + de Fonvielle,<br> + a French aeronaut and journalist, took off his hat, and in full gaze of<br> + a sympathising and deeply interested crowd deliberately attired himself<br> + in a Glengarry cap, a thick overcoat, and a muffler. M Duruof put on<br> + his overcoat, and Mr. Barker, Mr. Coxwell's assistant, seated on the<br> + ring above the car, began to take in light cargo in the shape of<br> + aneroids, barometers, bottles of brandy and water, and other useful<br> + articles. M. Duruof scrambled into the car, one of the men who had been<br> + weighing it down getting out to make room for him. Then M. de Fonvielle,<br> + amid murmurs of admiration from the crowd, nimbly boarded the little<br> + ship, and immediately began taking observations. There was a pause, and<br> + Mr. Coxwell, who stood by the car, prepared for the rush of the Thirty.<br> + But nobody volunteered. Names were called aloud; only the wind, sighing<br> + amongst the trees made answer.</p> + <p class="main">"Il faut partir," said M. Duruof, somewhat impatiently. + Then a<br> + middle-aged gentleman, who, I afterwards learned, had come all the way<br> + from Cambridge to make the journey, and who had only just arrived<br> + breathless on the ground, was half-lifted, half-tumbled in, amid<br> + agonised entreaties from Barker to "mind them bottles." The + Thirty had<br> + unquestionably had a fair chance, and Mr. Coxwell made no objection as + I<br> + passed him and got into the car, followed by one other gentleman, who<br> + brought the number up to the stipulated half-dozen. We were all ready + to<br> + start, but it was thought desirable that Madame Duruof should show<br> + herself in the car. So she was lifted in, and the balloon allowed to<br> + mount some twenty feet, frantically held by ropes by the crowd below. + It<br> + descended again, Madame Duruof got out, and in her place came tumbling<br> + in a splendid fellow, some six feet four high, broad-chested to boot,<br> + who instantly made supererogatory the presence of half a dozen of the<br> + bags of ballast that lay in the bottom of the car.</p> + <p class="main">It was an anxious moment, with the excited multitude spread + round far as<br> + the eye could reach, the car leaping under the swaying balloon, and the<br> + anxious, hurried men straining at the ropes. But I remember quite well<br> + sitting at the bottom of the car and wondering when the new-comer would<br> + finish getting in. I dare say he was nimble enough, but his full arrival<br> + seemed like the paying out of a ship's cable.</p> + <p class="main">This was Fred Burnaby, only Captain then, unknown to fame, + with Khiva<br> + unapproached, and the wilds of Asia Minor untrodden by his horse's<br> + hoofs. His presence on the grounds was accidental, and his undertaking<br> + of the journey characteristic. He had invited some friends to dine<br> + with him that night at his rooms, then in St. James's Street. Hearing<br> + of the proposed balloon ascent, he felt drawn to see the voyagers off,<br> + purposing to be home in time to dress for dinner. The defection of the<br> + Thirty appearing to leave an opening for an extra passenger, Burnaby<br> + could not resist the temptation. So with a hasty <span class="italic">Au + revoir!</span> to his<br> + companion, the Turkish Minister, he pushed his way through the crowd<br> + and dropped into the car.</p> + <p class="main">I always forgot to ask him how his guests fared. As it turned + out, he<br> + had no chance of communicating with his servant before the dinner hour.<br> + The arrival of Burnaby exceeded by one the stipulated number of<br> + passengers, and Coxwell was anxious for us to start before any more got<br> + in. For a minute or two we still cling to the earth, the centre of an<br> + excited throng that shout, and tug at ropes, and run to and fro, and<br> + laugh, and cry, and scream "Good-bye" in a manner that makes + our<br> + proposed journey seem dreadful in prospect. The circle of faces look<br> + fixedly into ours; we hear the voices of the crowd, see the women<br> + laughing and crying by turns, and then, with a motion that is absolutely<br> + imperceptible, they all pass away, and we are in mid-air where the echo<br> + of a cheer alone breaks the solemn calm.</p> + <p class="main">I had an idea that we should go up with a rush, and be instantly + in the<br> + cold current of air in view of which the preparation of extra raiment,<br> + the nature of which has been already indicated, had been made. But here<br> + we were a thousand feet above the level of the Palace gardens, sailing<br> + calmly along in bright warm sunlight, and no more motion perceptible<br> + than if we were sitting on chairs in the gardens, and had been so<br> + sitting whilst the balloon mounted. It was a quarter past five when we<br> + left the earth, and in less than five minutes the Crystal Palace<br> + grounds, with its sea of upturned faces, had faded from our sight.<br> + Contrary to prognostication, there was only the slightest breeze, and<br> + this setting north-east, carried us towards the river in the direction<br> + of Greenwich. We seemed to skirt the eastern fringe of London, St.<br> + Paul's standing out in bold relief through the light wreath of mist that<br> + enveloped the city. The balloon slowly rose till the aneroid marked a<br> + height of fifteen hundred feet. Here it found a current which drove it<br> + slightly to the south, till it hovered for some moments directly over<br> + Greenwich Hospital, the training ship beneath looking like a cockle boat<br> + with walking sticks for masts and yards. Driving eastward for some<br> + moments, we slowly turned by Woolwich and crossed the river thereafter<br> + steadily pursuing a north-easterly direction.</p> + <p class="main">Looking back from the Essex side of the river the sight + presented to<br> + view was a magnificent one. London had vanished, even to the dome of<br> + St. Paul's, but we knew where the great city lay by the mist that<br> + shrouded it and shone white in the rays of the sun. Save for this patch<br> + of mist, that seemed to drift after us far away below the car, there was<br> + nothing to obscure the range of vision. I am afraid to say how many<br> + miles it was computed lay within the framework of the glowing panorama.<br> + But I know that we could follow the windings of the river that curled<br> + like a dragon among the green fields, its shining scales all aglow in<br> + the sunlight, and could see where it finally broadened out and trended<br> + northward. And there, as M. Duruof observed with a significant smile,<br> + was "the open sea."</p> + <p class="main">There was no feeling of dizziness in looking down from the + immense<br> + height at which we now floated--two thousand feet was the record as<br> + we cleared the river. By an unfortunate oversight we had no map of<br> + the country, and were, except in respect of such landmarks as<br> + Greenwich, unable with certainty to distinguish the places over which<br> + we passed.</p> + <p class="main">"That," said Burnaby from his perch up in the + netting over the car,<br> + where he had clambered as being the most dangerous place immediately<br> + accessible, "is one of the great drawbacks to the use of balloons + in<br> + warfare. Unless a man has natural aptitude, and is specially trained<br> + for the work, his observations from a balloon are of no use, a<br> + bird's-eye view of a country giving impressions so different from the<br> + actual position of places."</p> + <p class="main">This dictum was illustrated by the scene spread out beneath + us. Seen<br> + from a balloon the streets of a rambling town resolve themselves into<br> + beautifully defined curves, straight lines, and various other highly<br> + respectable geometrical shapes.</p> + <p class="main">We could not at any time make out forms of people. The white + highways<br> + that ran like threads among the fields, and the tiny openings in the<br> + towns and villages which we guessed were streets, seemed to belong to<br> + a dead world, for nowhere was there trace of a living person. The<br> + strange stillness that brooded over the earth was made more uncanny<br> + still by cries that occasionally seemed to float in the air around us,<br> + behind, before, to the right, to the left, but never exactly beneath<br> + the car. We could hear people calling, and had a vague idea they were<br> + running after us and cheering; but we could distinguish no moving<br> + thing. Yes; once the gentleman from Cambridge exclaimed that there<br> + were some pheasants running across a field below; but upon close<br> + investigation they turned out to be a troop of horses capering about<br> + in wild dismay. A flock of sheep in another field, huddled close<br> + together, looked like a heap of limestone chippings. As for the<br> + fields stretched out in wide expanse, far as the eye could reach,<br> + they seemed to form a gigantic carpet, with patterns chiefly diamond<br> + shape, in colour shaded from bright emerald to russet brown.</p> + <p class="main">At six o'clock the sun began to drop behind a broad belt + of black<br> + cloud that had settled over London. The mist following us ever since<br> + we crossed the river had overtaken us, even passed us, and was<br> + strewed out over the earth, the sky above our heads being yet a<br> + beautiful pale blue. We were passing with increased rapidity over the<br> + rich level land that stretches from the river bank to Chelmsford, and<br> + there was time to look round at each other. Burnaby had come down from<br> + the netting and disposed his vast person amongst us and the bags of<br> + ballast. He was driven down by the smell of gas, which threatened to<br> + suffocate us all when we started. M. Wilfrid de Fonvielle, kneeling<br> + down by the side of the car, was perpetually "taking observations,"<br> + and persistently asking for "the readings," which the gentleman + from<br> + Cambridge occasionally protested his inability to supply, owing either<br> + to Burnaby having his foot upon the aneroid, or to the Captain so<br> + jamming him up against the side of the car that the accurate reading<br> + of a scientific instrument was not only inconvenient but impossible.</p> + <p class="main">When we began to chat and exchange confidences, the fascination + which<br> + balloon voyaging has for some people was testified to in a striking<br> + manner. The gentleman from Cambridge had a mildness of manner about him<br> + that made it difficult to conceive him engaged in any perilous<br> + enterprise. Yet he had been in half a dozen balloon ascents, and had<br> + posted up from his native town on hearing that a balloon was going up<br> + from the Crystal Palace. As for Burnaby, it was borne in upon me, even<br> + at this casual meeting, that it did not matter to him what enterprise<br> + he embarked upon, so that it were spiced with danger and promised<br> + adventure. He had some slight preference for ballooning, this being his<br> + sixteenth ascent, including the time when the balloon burst, and the<br> + occupants of the car came rattling down from a height of three thousand<br> + feet, and were saved only by the fortuitous draping of the half emptied<br> + balloon, which prevented all the gas from escaping.</p> + <p class="main">At half-past six we were still passing over the Turkey carpet,<br> + apparently of the same interminable pattern. Some miles ahead the level<br> + stretch was broken by clumps of trees, which presently developed into<br> + woods of considerable extent. It was growing dusk, and no town or<br> + railway station was near. Burnaby, assured of being too late for his<br> + dinner party, wanted to prolong the journey. But the farther the balloon<br> + went the longer would be the distance over which it would have to be<br> + brought back and Mr. Coxwell's assistant was commendably careful of his<br> + employer's purse. On approaching Highwood the balloon passed over a<br> + dense wood, in which there was some idea of descending. But finally the<br> + open ground was preferred, and, the wood being left behind, a ploughed<br> + field was selected as the place to drop, and the gas was allowed to<br> + escape by wholesale. The balloon swooped downward at a somewhat<br> + alarming pace, and if Barker had had all his wits about him he would<br> + have thrown out half a bag of ballast and lightened the fall. But after<br> + giving instructions for all to stoop down in the bottom of the car and<br> + hold onto the ropes, he himself promptly illustrated the action, and<br> + down we went like a hawk towards the ground.</p> + <p class="main">As it will appear even to those who have never been in a + balloon, no<br> + advice could have been worse than that of stooping down in the bottom + of<br> + the car, which was presently to come with a great shock to the earth,<br> + and would inevitably have seriously injured any who shared its contact.<br> + Fortunately Burnaby, who was as cool as if he were riding in his<br> + brougham, shouted out to all to lift their feet from contact with the<br> + bottom of the car, and to hang on to the ropes. This was done, and when<br> + the car struck the earth it merely shook us, and no one had even a<br> + bruise.</p> + <p class="main">Before we began to descend at full speed the grappling iron + had been<br> + pitched over, and, fortunately, got a firm hold in a ridge of the<br> + ploughed land. Thus, when the balloon, after striking the ground, leapt<br> + up again into the air and showed a disposition to wander off and tear<br> + itself to pieces against the hedges and trees, it was checked by the<br> + anchor rope and came down again with another bump on the ground. This<br> + time the shock was not serious, and after a few more flutterings it<br> + finally stood at ease.</p> + <p class="main">The highest altitude reached by the balloon was three thousand + feet, and<br> + this was registered about a couple of miles before we struck Highwood.<br> + For some distance before completing this descent we had been skimming<br> + along at about a thousand feet above the level of the fields, and the<br> + intention to drop being evident, a great crowd of rustics gallantly kept<br> + pace with the balloon for the last half-mile. By the time we were fairly<br> + settled down, half a hundred men, women, and children had converged upon<br> + the field from all directions, and were swarming in through the hedge.</p> + <p class="main">Actually the first in at the death was an old lady attired + chiefly in a<br> + brilliant orange-coloured shawl, who came along over the ridges with a<br> + splendid stride. But she did not fully enjoy the privilege she had so<br> + gallantly earned. She was making straight for the balloon, when Burnaby<br> + mischievously warned her to look out, for it might "go off." + Thereupon<br> + the old lady, without uttering a word in reply, turned round and, with<br> + strides slightly increased in length, made for the hedge, through which<br> + she disappeared, and the orange-coloured shawl was seen no more.</p> + <p class="main">All the rustics appeared to be in a state more or less dazed. + What with<br> + having been running some distance, and what with surprise at discovering<br> + seven gentlemen dropped out of the sky into the middle of a ploughed<br> + field, they could find relief only in standing at a safe distance with<br> + their mouths wide open. In vain Barker talked to them in good broad<br> + English, and begged them to come and hold the car whilst we got out.<br> + No one answered a word, and none stirred a step, except when the balloon<br> + gave a lurch, and then they got ready for a start towards the protecting<br> + hedges. At last Burnaby volunteered to drop out. This he did, deftly<br> + holding on to the car, and by degrees the intelligent bystanders<br> + approached and cautiously lent a hand. Finding that the balloon neither<br> + bit nor burned them, they swung on with hearty goodwill, and so we all<br> + got out, and Barker commenced the operation of packing up, in which<br> + task the natives, incited by the promise of a "good drink," + lent<br> + hearty assistance.</p> + <p class="main">We had not the remotest idea where we were, and night was + fast closing<br> + in. Where was the nearest railway station? Perhaps if we had arrived in<br> + the neighbourhood in a brake or an omnibus, we might have succeeded in<br> + getting an answer to this question. As it was, we could get none. One<br> + intelligent party said, after profound cogitation, that it was "over<br> + theere," but as "over theere" presented nothing but a vista + of<br> + fields--some ploughed and all divided by high hedges--this was scarcely<br> + satisfactory. In despair we asked where the high-road was, and this<br> + being indicated, but still vaguely and after a considerable amount of<br> + thought, Burnaby and I made for it, and presently succeeded in striking<br> + it.</p> + <p class="main">The next thing was to get to a railway station, wherever + it might be,<br> + and as the last train for town might leave early, the quicker we arrived<br> + the better. Looking down the road, Burnaby espied a tumble-down cart<br> + standing close into the hedge, and strode down to requisition it. The<br> + cart was full of hampers and boxes, and sitting upon the shaft was an<br> + elderly gentleman in corduroys intently gazing over the hedge at the<br> + rapidly collapsing balloon, which still fitfully swayed about like a<br> + drunken man awaking out of sleep.</p> + <p class="main">"Will you drive us to the nearest railway station, + old gentleman?" said<br> + Burnaby cheerily.</p> + <p class="main">The old gentleman withdrew his gaze from the balloon and + surveyed us,<br> + a feeble, indecisive smile playing about his wooden features; but he<br> + made no other answer.</p> + <p class="main">"Will you drive us to the nearest railway station?" + repeated Burnaby.<br> + "We'll pay you well."</p> + <p class="main">Still no answer came from the old gentleman, who smiled + more feebly than<br> + ever, now including me in his intelligent purview. After other and<br> + diverse attempts to draw him into conversation, including the pulling + of<br> + the horse and cart into the middle of the road, and the making of a<br> + feint to start it off at full gallop, it became painfully clear that the<br> + old gentleman had, at sight of the balloon, gone clean out of such<br> + senses as he had ever possessed, and as there was a prospect of losing<br> + the train if we waited till he came round again, nothing remained but + to<br> + help ourselves to the conveyance. So Burnaby got up and disposed of as<br> + much of himself as was possible in a hamper on the top of the cart. I<br> + sat on the shaft, and taking the reins out of the old gentleman's<br> + resistless hand, drove off down the road at quite a respectable pace.</p> + <p class="main">After we had gone about a mile the old gentleman, who had + been employing<br> + his unwonted leisure in staring at us all over, broke into a chuckle.<br> + We gently encouraged him by laughing in chorus, and after a brief space<br> + he said,--</p> + <p class="italic">"I seed ye coming."</p> + <p class="main">As I had a good deal to do to keep the pony up and going, + Burnaby<br> + undertook to follow up this glimmering of returning sense on the part + of<br> + the old gentleman, and with much patience and tact he succeeded in<br> + getting him so far round that we ascertained we were driving in the<br> + direction of "Blackmore." Further than this we could not get, + any<br> + pressure in the direction of learning whether there was a railway<br> + station at the town or village, or whatever it might be, being followed<br> + by alarming symptoms of relapse on the part of the old gentleman.<br> + However, to get to Blackmore was something, and after half an hour's<br> + dexterous driving we arrived at the village, of which the inn standing<br> + back under the shade of three immemorial oak trees appeared to be a fair<br> + moiety.</p> + <p class="main">We paid the old gentleman and parted company with him, though + not<br> + without a saddening fear that the shock of the balloon coming down<br> + under his horse's nose, as it were, had permanently affected his brain.<br> + At Blackmore we found a well-horsed trap, and through woods and long<br> + country lanes drove to Ingatestone, and as fast as the train could<br> + travel got back to civilisation.</p> + <p class="main">This was the beginning of a close and intimate friendship, + that ended<br> + only with Burnaby's departure for the Soudan. He often talked to me<br> + of himself and of his still young life. Educated at Harrow, he thence<br> + proceeded to Germany, where, under private tuition, he acquired an<br> + unusually perfect acquaintance with the French, Italian, and German<br> + languages, and incidentally imbibed a taste for gymnastics. At<br> + sixteen he, the youngest of one hundred and fifty candidates, passed<br> + his examination for admission to the army, and at the mature age of<br> + seventeen found himself a cornet in the Royal Horse Guards. At this<br> + time his breast seems to have been fired by the noble ambition to<br> + become the strongest man in the world. How far he succeeded is told<br> + in well-authenticated traditions that linger round various spots in<br> + Windsor and London. He threw himself into the pursuit of muscle with<br> + all the ardour since shown in other directions, and the cup of his<br> + joy must have been full when a precise examination led to the<br> + demonstration of the fact that his arm measured round the biceps<br> + exactly seventeen inches. He could put 'Nathalie' (then starring it<br> + at the Alhambra) to shame with her puny 56-lb. weight in each hand,<br> + and could 'turn the arm' of her athletic father as if it had been<br> + nothing more than a hinge-rusted nut-cracker. His plaything at<br> + Aldershot was a dumb-bell weighing 170 lbs., which he lifted straight<br> + out with one hand, and there was a standing bet of £10 that no<br> + other man in the Camp could perform the same feat. At the rooms of<br> + the London Fencing Club there is to this day a dumb-bell weighing 120<br> + lbs., with record of how Fred Burnaby was the only member who could<br> + lift it above his head.</p> + <p class="main">There is a story told of early barrack days which he assured + me was<br> + quite true. A horsedealer arrived at Windsor with a pair of beautiful<br> + little ponies he had been commanded to show the Queen. Before<br> + exhibiting them to her Majesty he took them to the Cavalry Barracks<br> + for display to the officers of the Guards. Some of these, by way of<br> + a pleasant surprise, led the ponies upstairs into Burnaby's room,<br> + where they were much admired. But when the time came to take leave an<br> + alarming difficulty presented itself. The ponies, though they had<br> + walked upstairs, could by no means be induced to walk down again. The<br> + officers were in a fix; the horsedealer was in despair; when young<br> + Burnaby settled the matter by taking up the ponies, one under each<br> + arm and, walking downstairs, deposited them in the barrack-yard. The<br> + Queen heard the story when she saw the ponies, and doubtless felt an<br> + increased sense of security at Windsor, having this astounding<br> + testimony to the prowess of her Household Troops.</p> + <p class="main">Cornet Burnaby was as skilful as he was strong. He was one + of the best<br> + amateur boxers of the day, as Tom Paddock, Nat Langham, and Bob Travers<br> + could testify of their well-earned personal experience. Moreover, he<br> + fenced as well as he boxed, and the turn of his wrist, which never<br> + failed to disarm a swordsman, was known in more than one of the capitals<br> + of Europe. Ten years before he started for Khiva, there was much talk + at<br> + the Rag of the wonderful feat of the young Guardsman, who undertook<br> + for a small wager to hop a quarter of a mile, run a quarter of a mile,<br> + ride a quarter of a mile, row a quarter of a mile, and walk a quarter + of<br> + a mile in a quarter of an hour, and who covered the mile and a quarter<br> + of distance in ten minutes and twenty seconds.</p> + <p class="main">Fred Burnaby had, whilst barely out of his teens, realised + his boyish<br> + dream, and become the strongest man in the world. But he had also begun<br> + to pay the penalty of success in the coin of wasted tissues and failing<br> + health. When a man finds, after anxious and varied experiments, that a<br> + water-ice is the only form of nourishment his stomach will retain, he + is<br> + driven to the conviction that there is something wrong, and that he had<br> + better see the doctor. The result of the young athlete's visit to the<br> + doctor was that he mournfully laid down the dumb-bells and the foil,<br> + eschewed gymnastics, and took to travel.</p> + <p class="image"><img src="images/fred_burnaby.jpg" alt="Col. Fred Burnaby" width="408" height="536"></p> + <p class="main">An average man advised to travel for his health's sake would + probably<br> + have gone to Switzerland or the South of France, according to the sort<br> + of climate held to be desirable. Burnaby went to Spain, that being at<br> + the time the most troubled country in Europe, not without promise of an<br> + outbreak of war. Here he added Spanish to his already respectable stock<br> + of languages, and found the benefit of the acquisition in his next<br> + journey, which was to South America, where he spent four months<br> + shooting unaccustomed game and recovering from the effects of his<br> + devotion to gymnastics. Returning to do duty with his regiment, he began<br> + to learn Russian and Arabic, going at them steadily and vigorously, as<br> + if they were long stretches of ploughed land to be ridden over. A second<br> + visit to Spain provided him with the rare gratification of being shut + up<br> + in Barcelona during the siege, and sharing all the privations and<br> + dangers of the garrison. Whilst in Seville during a subsequent journey<br> + he received a telegram saying that his father was seriously ill. France<br> + was at the time in the throes of civil war, with the Communists holding<br> + Paris against the army of Versailles. To reach England any other way<br> + than viâ Paris involved a delay of many days, and Burnaby determined + to<br> + dare all that was to be done by the Communists. So, carrying a Queen's<br> + Messenger's bag full of cigars in packets that looked more or less like<br> + Government despatches, he passed through Paris and safely reached<br> + Calais.</p> + <p class="main">A year later he set forth intending to journey to Khiva, + but on reaching<br> + Naples was striken with fever, spent four months of his leave in bed,<br> + and was obliged to postpone the trip. In 1874 he once more went to<br> + Spain, this time acting as the special correspondent of the Times with<br> + the Carlists, and his letters form not the least interesting chapter in<br> + the long story of the miserable war. In the early spring of 1875 he made<br> + a dash at Central Africa, hoping to find "Chinese Gordon" and + his<br> + expedition. He met that gallant officer on the Sobat river, a stream<br> + which not ten Englishmen have seen, and having stayed in the camp for + a<br> + few days, set out homeward, riding on a camel through the Berber desert<br> + to Korosko, a distance of five hundred miles. After an absence of<br> + exactly four months he turned up for duty at the Cavalry Barracks,<br> + Windsor, with as much nonchalance as if he had been for a trip to the<br> + United States in a Cunard steamer.</p> + <p class="main">It was whilst on this flight through Central Africa that + the notion of<br> + the journey to Khiva came back with irresistible force. It had been done<br> + by MacGahan, but that plucky journalist had judiciously started in the<br> + spring. Burnaby resolved to accomplish the enterprise in winter; and<br> + accordingly, on November 30th, 1875, he started by way of St.<br> + Petersburg, treating himself, as a foretaste of the joys that awaited<br> + him on the steppes, to the long lonely ride through Russia in midwinter.<br> + At Sizeran he left civilisation and railways behind him, and rode on a<br> + sleigh to Orenburg, a distance of four hundred and eighty miles. At<br> + Orenburg he engaged a Tartar servant, and another stretch of eight<br> + hundred miles on a sleigh brought him to Fort No. 1, the outpost of the<br> + Russian army facing the desert of Central Asia. After this even the<br> + luxury of sleigh-riding was perforce foregone, and Burnaby set out on<br> + horseback, with one servant, one guide, and a thermometer that<br> + registered between 70° and 80° below freezing point, to find Khiva<br> + across five hundred miles of pathless, trackless, silent snow.</p> + <p class="main">Two Cossacks riding along this route with despatches had + just before<br> + been frozen to death. The Russians, inured to the climate, had never<br> + been able to take Khiva in the winter months. They had tried once, and<br> + had lost six hundred camels and two-thirds of their men before they saw<br> + the enemy. But Fred Burnaby gaily went forth, clothed-on with<br> + sheepskins. After several days' hard riding and some nights' sleep on<br> + the snow, he arrived in Khiva, chatted with the Khan, fraternised with<br> + the Russian officers, kept his eyes wide open, and finally was invited<br> + to return by a telegram from the Commander-in-Chief, who had been<br> + brought to understand how this strange visitor from the Cavalry Barracks<br> + at Windsor had fluttered the military authorities at St. Petersburg.</p> + <p class="main">This adventure might have sufficed an ordinary man for a + lifetime. But<br> + in the very next year, whilst his <span class="italic">Ride to Khiva</span> + remained the most<br> + popular book in the libraries, he paid a second visit to the Turcomans,<br> + seeking them now, not on the bleak steppes round Khiva, but in the more<br> + fertile, though by Europeans untrodden, plains of Asia Minor. He had one<br> + other cherished project of which he often spoke to me. It was to visit<br> + Timbuctoo. But whilst brooding over this new journey he fell in love,<br> + married, settled down to domestic life in Cromwell Gardens, and took to<br> + politics. It was characteristic of him that, looking about for a seat + to<br> + fight, he fixed upon John Bright's at Birmingham, that being at the time<br> + the Gibraltar of political fortresses.</p> + <p class="main">The last time I saw Fred Burnaby was in September 1884. + He was standing<br> + on his doorstep at Somerby Hall, Leicestershire, speeding his parting<br> + guests. By his side, holding on with all the might of a chubby hand<br> + to an extended forefinger, was his little son, a child some five years<br> + old, whose chief delight it was thus to hang on to his gigantic father<br> + and toddle about the grounds. We had been staying a week with Burnaby<br> + in his father's old home, and it had been settled, on the invitation<br> + of his old friend Henry Doetsch, that we should meet again later in<br> + the year, and set out for Spain to spend a month at Huelva. A few<br> + weeks later the trumpet sounded from the Soudan, and like an old<br> + war-horse that joyously scents the battle from afar, Burnaby gave up<br> + all his engagements, and fared forth for the Nile.</p> + <p class="main">At first he was engaged in superintending the moving of + the troops<br> + between Tanjour and Magrakeh. This was hard work admirably done. But<br> + Burnaby was always pining to get to the front. In a private letter<br> + dated Christmas Eve, 1884, he writes: "I do not expect the last boat<br> + will pass this cataract before the middle of next month, and then I<br> + hope to be sent for to the front. It is a responsible post Lord<br> + Wolseley has given me here, with forty miles of the most difficult<br> + part of the river, and I am very grateful to him for letting me have<br> + it. But I must say I shall be better pleased if he sends for me when<br> + the troops advance upon Khartoum."</p> + <p class="main">The order came in due course, and Burnaby was riding on + to the relief<br> + of Gordon when his journey was stopped at Abu-Klea. He was attached to<br> + the staff of General Stewart, whose little force of six-thousand-odd<br> + men was suddenly surrounded by a body of fanatical Arabs, nine<br> + thousand strong. The British troops formed square, inside which the<br> + mounted officers sat directing the desperate defence, that again and<br> + again beat back the angry torrent. After some hours' fighting, a<br> + soldier in the excitement of the moment got outside the line of the<br> + square, and was engaged in a hand-to-hand conflict with a cluster of<br> + Arabs. Burnaby, seeing his peril, dashed out to the rescue--"with + a<br> + smile on his face," as one who saw him tells me,--and was making<br> + irresistible way against the odds when an Arab thrust a spear in his<br> + throat, and he fell off his horse dead. He sleeps now, as he always<br> + yearned to rest, in a soldier's grave, dug for him by chance on the<br> + continent whose innermost recesses he had planned some day to explore.</p> + <p class="main">The date of his death was January 17th, 1885. His grave + is nameless,<br> + and its place in the lonely Desert no man knoweth.</p> + <blockquote> + <p class="smallquote">"Brave Burnaby down! Wheresoever 'tis spoken<br> + The news leaves the lips with a wistful regret<br> + We picture that square in the desert, shocked, broken,<br> + Yet packed with stout hearts, and impregnable yet<br> + And there fell, at last, in close mêlée, the fighter<br> + Who Death had so often affronted before;<br> + One deemed he'd no dart for his valorous slighter<br> + Who such a gay heart to the battle-front bore.<br> + But alas! for the spear thrust that ended a story<br> + Romantic as Roland's, as Lion-Heart's brief<br> + Yet crowded with incident, gilded with glory<br> + And crowned by a laurel that's verdant of leaf.<br> + A latter-day Paladin, prone to adventure,<br> + With little enough of the spirit that sways<br> + The man of the market, the shop, the indenture!<br> + Yet grief-drops will glitter on Burnaby's bays.<br> + Fast friend as keen fighter, the strife glow preferring,<br> + Yet cheery all round with his friends and his foes;<br> + Content through a life-story short, yet soul-stirring<br> + And happy, as doubtless he'd deem, in its close."</p> + </blockquote> + <p class="main">Thus <span class="italic">Punch</span>, as it often does, + voiced the sentiments of the nation<br> + on learning the death of its hero.</p> + <p></p> + <p class="boldleft"><a name="23"></a>CHAPTER II.</p> + <p class="boldleft">A NIGHT ON A MOUNTAIN</p> + <p class="main">There are not many English abroad this morning on the top + of<br> + the hill. In fact, unless they had passed the night here it<br> + would not be easy for them to present themselves, seeing that<br> + San Salvatore, though a very modest mound, standing as it does<br> + in the neighbourhood of the Alps, is high enough to lift its<br> + crest out of the curtain of mist that lies over the lower world.<br> + Lugano, its lake, and its many small towns--as like each other<br> + when seen from a distance as if they had been turned out of a<br> + mould--are understood to lie at some uncertain depth beneath<br> + the mist. In truth, unless they have wholly disappeared in the<br> + night, we know that they are there, for we walked up in the<br> + late afternoon with intent to sleep here.</p> + <p class="main">The people of Lugano, more especially the hotel-keepers, + were much<br> + exercised at this undertaking. Nobody in recent recollection had been<br> + known to spend the night on San Salvatore, and if the eccentricity<br> + were permitted and proved enjoyable, no one could say that it might<br> + not spread, leaving empty beds at Lugano. There was, accordingly,<br> + much stress laid on possible dangers and certain discomforts.<br> + Peradventure there was no bed; assuredly it would be hard and damp<br> + and dirty. There would be nothing to eat, nor even to drink; and<br> + in short, if ever there was madness characteristic of the English<br> + abroad, here was the mid March of its season.</p> + <p class="main">But the undertaking was not nearly so mad as it looked. + I had been<br> + up Salvatore on the previous day and surveyed the land. It is a<br> + place that still holds high rank in the Romish calendar of Church<br> + celebrations. Many years ago a chapel was built on its summit, and<br> + pilgrimages instituted. These take place at Ascension and Pentecost,<br> + when the hillside swarms with devout sons and daughters of Italy, and<br> + the music of high mass breaks the silence of the mountains. Even<br> + pilgrims must eat and drink and sleep, and shortly after the chapel<br> + was built there rose up at its feet, in a sheltered nook, a little<br> + house, a chapel-of-ease in the sense that here was sold wine of the<br> + country, cheese of the district, and <span class="italic">jambon</span> + reputed to come across<br> + the seas from distant "Yorck." A spare bedroom was also established<br> + for the accommodation of the officiating priests, and it was on the<br> + temporary reversion of this apartment that I had counted in making<br> + those arrangements that Lugano held to be hopelessly heretical.</p> + <p class="main">When, on my first visit to the top of San Salvatore, I reached<br> + the pilgrimage chapel, I found an old gentleman standing at the<br> + door of the hostelry by which the pilgrim must needs pass on<br> + his way to the chapel--a probably undesigned but profitable<br> + arrangement, since it brings directly under his notice the<br> + possibility of purchasing "vins du pays, pain, fromage,<br> + saucissons, and jambon d'Yorck."</p> + <p class="main">When I broached the subject of the night's entertainment + the<br> + landlord was a little taken aback, and evidently inclined<br> + to dwell upon those inconveniences of which Lugano had made<br> + so much. But the more he thought of it, the more he liked the<br> + idea. As I subsequently learned, the hope of his youth, the<br> + sustenance of his manhood, and the dream of his old age was<br> + to see his little hut develop into a grand hotel, with a porter<br> + in the hall, an army of waiters bustling about, and himself in<br> + the receipt of custom. It was a very small beginning that two<br> + English people should propose to lodge with him for a night.<br> + Still, it was something, and everything must have a beginning.<br> + Monte Generoso, among the clouds on the other side of the lake,<br> + began in that way; and look at it now with its <span class="italic">chambres</span> + at<br> + eight francs a day, its <span class="italic">table d'hôte</span> + at five francs, and its<br> + <span class="italic">bougies</span> dispensed at their weight in silver!</p> + <p class="main">"Si, signor"; he thought it might be done. He + was sure--nay,<br> + he was positive.</p> + <p class="main">As the picture of the hotel of the future glowed in his + mind he<br> + became enthusiastic, and proposed that we should view the<br> + apartments. The bedroom we found sufficiently roomy, with both<br> + fireplace and one of the two windows bricked up to avoid<br> + draughts. The mattress of the bed, it is true, was stuffed with<br> + chopped straw, and was not free from suspicion of harbouring<br> + rats. But there was a gorgeous counterpane, whose many colours<br> + would have excited the envy of Joseph's brethren had their<br> + pilgrimage chanced to lead them in this direction. The floor<br> + was of cement, and great patches of damp displayed themselves<br> + on the walls. Over the bed hung a peaceful picture of a chubby<br> + boy clasping a crook to his breast, and exchanging glances of<br> + maudlin sentimentality with a sheep that skipped at his side.<br> + The damp had eaten up one of the legs of mutton, and the sheep<br> + went on three legs. But nothing could exceed the more than<br> + human tenderness with which it regarded the chubby boy with the<br> + crook.</p> + <p class="main">We soon settled about the bed, and there remained only<br> + the question of food. On this point also our host displayed<br> + even an increase of airy confidence. What would signor? There<br> + were sausage, ham of York, and eggs, the latter capable of<br> + presentation in divers shapes.</p> + <p class="main">This, it must be admitted, engendered a feeling of discouragement.<br> + We had two days earlier tasted the sausage of the country when<br> + served up in a first-class hotel as garnish to a dish of spinach.<br> + It is apparently made of pieces of gristle, and when liberated from<br> + the leather case that enshrines it, crumbles like a piece of old<br> + wall. Sausage was clearly out of the question, and the ham of York<br> + does not thrive out of its own country, acquiring a foreign flavour<br> + of salted sawdust. Eggs are very well in their way, but man cannot<br> + live on eggs alone.</p> + <p class="main">Our host was a man full of resources. Why should we not + bring the<br> + materials for dinner from Lugano? He would undertake to cook them,<br> + whatever they might be. This was a happy thought that clenched the<br> + bargain. We undertook to arrive on the following day, bringing our<br> + sheaves with us, in the shape of a supply of veal cutlets.</p> + <p class="main">The ostensible object of spending a night on San Salvatore + is to see<br> + the sun set and rise. The mountain is not high, just touching three<br> + thousand feet, an easy ascent of two hours. But it is a place<br> + glorious in the early morning and solemn in the quiet evening.<br> + Below lies the lake of Lugano, its full length visible. Straight<br> + before you, looking east, is the long arm that stretches to Porlezza,<br> + with its gentle curves where the mountains stand and cool their feet<br> + in the blue water. To the west, beyond a cluster of small and<br> + nameless lakes that lie on the plain, we see the other arm of the<br> + lake, with Ponte Tresa nestling upon it, and still farther west the<br> + sun gleams on the waters of Lago Maggiore. Above Porlezza is Monte<br> + Legnone, and far away on the left glint the snow peaks of the Bernina.<br> + High in the north, above the red tiles and white walls of the town of<br> + Lugano are the two peaks of Monte Camoghe, flanked by something that<br> + seems a dark cloud in the blue sky, but which our host says is the<br> + ridge of St. Gothard. The sun sets behind the Alps of the Valais<br> + among which towers the Matterhorn and gleam the everlasting snows of<br> + Monte Rosa.</p> + <p class="main">These form the framework of a picture which contains all + the softness<br> + and richness of the beauty of a land where the grape and the fig<br> + grow, and where in these October days roses are in full bloom, and<br> + heliotropes sweeten every breath of air. Yesterday had opened<br> + splendidly, the morning sun rising over the fair scene and bringing<br> + out every point. But as we toiled up the hill this afternoon,<br> + carrying the cutlets, the sun had capriciously disappeared. The<br> + mountains were hid in clouds, and the lake, having no blue sky to<br> + reflect, had turned green with chagrin. There was little hope of<br> + visible sunset; but there was a prospect of sunrise, and certainty<br> + of a snug dinner in circumstances to which the novelty of the<br> + surroundings would lend a strange charm.</p> + <p class="main">It was rather disappointing on arriving to find that our + acquaintance<br> + of yesterday had disappeared. I have reason to believe the excitement<br> + of our proposed visit had been too much for him, and that he had<br> + found it desirable to retire to rest in the more prosaic habitation<br> + of the family down in the town. He had selected as substitute the<br> + most stalwart and capable of his sons, a man of the mature age of<br> + thirty-five. This person had the family attribute of readiness of<br> + resource and perfect confidence. The enthusiasm which had been too<br> + dangerously excited in the breast of his aged parent had been<br> + communicated to him. He was ready to go anywhere and cook anything,<br> + and having as a preliminary arranged a napkin under his arm, went<br> + bustling about the table disturbing imaginary flies and flicking off<br> + supposititious crumbs, as he had seen the waiter do in the restaurant<br> + at the hotel down in the town.</p> + <p class="main">"Signor had brought the cutlets? Si, and beautiful + they were! How<br> + would signor like to have them done? Thus, or thus, or thus?" in + a<br> + variety of ways which, whilst their recital far exceeded my limited<br> + knowledge of the language, filled me with fullest confidence in<br> + Giacommetti.</p> + <p class="main">That was his name, he told me in one of his bursts of confidence;<br> + and a very pretty name it is, though for brevity's sake it may be<br> + convenient hereafter to particularise him by the initial letter.</p> + <p class="main">As I was scarcely in a position to decide among the various<br> + appetising ways of cooking suggested by G., I said I would leave it<br> + to him.</p> + <p class="main">But, then, the signor could not make a dinner of cutlets. + What else<br> + would he be so good as to like? Sausage, ham of York, and eggs--eggs<br> + <span class="italic">à la coque</span> or presented as omelettes. + No? Then signor would commence<br> + with soup? Finally <span class="italic">potage au riz</span> was selected + out of the<br> + embarrassment of riches poured at our feet by the enthusiastic G.</p> + <p class="main">There being yet an hour to dinner, we ascended the few steps + that<br> + led to the summit of the hill on which the chapel is perched, a<br> + marvel to all new-comers by the highway of the Lake. The door was<br> + open, and we walked in. There was no light burning on the altar,<br> + nor any water in the stone basin by the door. But there was all<br> + the apparatus of worship--the gaudy toyshop above the grand altar,<br> + the tiny side chapels, with their pictures of the dying Saviour,<br> + and the confessional box, now thick with dust, and echoless of<br> + sob of penitent or counsel of confessor. It was evidently a poorly<br> + endowed chapel, the tinsel adornments being of the cheapest and<br> + the candles of the thinnest. But in some past generation a good<br> + Catholic had bestowed upon it an altarcloth of richest silk,<br> + daintily embroidered. The colours had faded out of the flowers,<br> + and the golden hue of the cloth had been grievously dimmed. Still<br> + it remained the one rich genuine piece of workmanship in a chapel<br> + disfigured by an overbearing hankering after paper flowers and<br> + tinsel.</p> + <p class="main">Early the next morning, whilst reposing under the magnificent<br> + counterpane on the bed of chopped straw, I was awakened by hearing<br> + the chapel bell ring for mass. I thought it must be the ghost of<br> + some disembodied priest, who had come up through the darkness of<br> + the night and the scarcely more luminous mist of the morning to<br> + say a mass for his own disturbed soul. But, as I presently learned,<br> + they were human hands that pulled the bell-rope, and a living<br> + priest said mass all by himself in this lonely chapel whilst dawn<br> + was breaking over a sleeping world.</p> + <p class="main">I saw him some hours later sitting on the kitchen dresser, + in the<br> + sanctum where G. worked the mysteries of his art. He was resting<br> + his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward, and had in his mouth<br> + a large pipe, from which he vigorously puffed. I found him a very<br> + cheerful old gentleman, by no means unduly oppressed with the<br> + solemnity of this early mass in the lonely chapel. He lived down<br> + at Barbeng, at the back of the hill, and had come up this morning<br> + purely as a matter of business, and in partial fulfilment of a<br> + contract entered into with one of his parishioners, whose husband<br> + had been lost at sea whilst yet they were only twelve months<br> + married. The widow had scraped together sufficient money to have<br> + a due number of masses said on San Salvatore for the repose of the<br> + soul of her young husband. So once a week, whilst the contract ran,<br> + the old priest made his way up through the morning mist, tolled the<br> + bell, said the mass, and thereafter comforted himself with a<br> + voluminous pipe seated on the dresser in G.'s kitchen.</p> + <p class="main">This is a digression, and I confess I have rather lingered + over it,<br> + as it kept the soup waiting.</p> + <p class="main">The preparation was brought in in a neat white bowl gracefully<br> + carried aloft by G., who still insisted upon going about with a<br> + napkin under his arm. Everything was in order except the soup. I<br> + like to think that the failure may have been entirely due to myself.<br> + G. had proposed quite a dozen soups, and I had ignorantly chosen<br> + the only one he could not make. The liquid was brown and greasy,<br> + smelling horribly of a something which in recognition of G.'s good<br> + intention I will call butter. The rice, which formed a principal<br> + component part, presented itself in conglomerate masses, as if G.,<br> + before placing it in the tureen, had squeezed portions of it in his<br> + hand.</p> + <p class="main">Perhaps he had, for he was not in the humour to spare himself + trouble<br> + in his effort to make the banquet a success.</p> + <p class="main">We helped ourselves plentifully to the contents of the tureen, + which<br> + was much easier to do than to settle the disposition of the soup. G.<br> + was in an ecstasy of delight at things having gone on so well thus<br> + far. He positively pervaded the place, nervously changing the napkin<br> + from arm to arm, and frantically flicking off imaginary crumbs. At<br> + length it happily occurred to him that it would be well to go and<br> + see after the cutlets. Whereupon we emptied the soup back into the<br> + tureen, and when G. returned were discovered wiping our lips with<br> + the air of people who had already dined.</p> + <p class="main">After all, there were the cutlets, and G. had not indulged + in<br> + exaggerated approval of their excellence when in a state of nature.<br> + They were those dainty cuts into which veal naturally seems to<br> + resolve itself in butcher's shops on the Continent. We observed<br> + with concern that they looked a little burned in places when they<br> + came to the table, and the same attraction of variety was maintained<br> + in the disposition of salt. There were large districts in the area<br> + of the cutlet absolutely free from savouring. But then you came upon<br> + a small portion where the salt lay in drifts, and thus the average<br> + was preserved. We were very hungry and ate the cutlets, which, with<br> + an allowance of bread, made up the dinner. There were some potatoes,<br> + fried with great skill, amid much of the compound we had agreed to<br> + call butter. But, as I explained to G. in reply to a deprecatory<br> + gesture when he took away the floating mass untouched, I have not<br> + for more than three years been able to eat a potato. One of my<br> + relations was, about that date, choked by a piece of potato, and<br> + since then I have never touched them, especially when fried in a<br> + great deal of butter.</p> + <p class="main">We had some cheese, for which Earl Granville's family motto + would<br> + serve as literal description. You might bend it, but could not<br> + break it. I never was partial to bent cheese, but we made a fair<br> + appearance with this part of the feast, owing to the arrival of<br> + G.'s dog, a miserable-looking cur, attracted to the banquet-hall<br> + by unwonted savours. He seemed to like the cheese; and G., when he<br> + came in with the coffee, was more than ever pleased with our<br> + appreciation of the good things provided for us.</p> + <p class="main">"Rosbif and chiss--ha!" he said, breaking forth + into English, and<br> + smiling knowingly upon us.</p> + <p class="main">He felt he had probed the profoundest depths of the Englishman's<br> + gastronomical weakness.</p> + <p class="main">With the appearance of the coffee the real pleasure of the + evening<br> + commenced. Along nearly the whole of one side of the banquet-hall<br> + ran a fireplace, a recess of the proportions of a spare bedroom in<br> + an ordinary English house. There were no "dogs" or other contrivance<br> + for minimising the spontaneity of a fire. There are granite quarries<br> + near, and these had contributed an enormous block which formed a<br> + hearth raised about six inches above the level of the floor. On this<br> + an armful of brushwood was placed; and the match applied, it began<br> + to burn with cheerful crackling laughter and pleasant flame,<br> + filling the room with a fragrant perfume. For all other light a<br> + feeble oil lamp twinkled high up on the wall, and a candle burned<br> + on the table where we had so luxuriantly dined.</p> + <p class="main">The fitful light shone on the oil paintings which partly + hid the<br> + damp on the walls. There was a picture (not a bad one) of St.<br> + Sebastian pierced with arrows, and in his death-agony turning<br> + heavenward a beautiful face. There was the portrait of another<br> + monk holding on to a ladder, each rung of which was labelled with<br> + a cardinal virtue. There was a crucifixion or two, and what<br> + elsewhere might well pass for a family portrait--an elderly lady,<br> + with a cap of the period, nursing a spaniel. The damp had spared<br> + the spaniel whilst it made grave ravages upon the lady, eating<br> + a portion of her cheek and the whole of her left ear.</p> + <p class="main">G. having the dinner off his mind, and having, as was gathered<br> + from a fearsome clattering in the back premises, washed up the<br> + dishes, wandered about the shadows in the background and showed<br> + a disposition for conversation. It was now he unfolded that dream<br> + of the hotel some day to be built up here, with the porter in the<br> + hall, the waiters buzzing round, the old man, his father, in the<br> + receipt of custom, and he (G.) exercising his great natural talents<br> + in supervising the making of soup, the frying of potatoes, and<br> + the selection of elastic cheeses. He showed, with pardonable pride,<br> + a visitors' book in which was written "Leopold, Prince of Great<br> + Britain and Ireland." His Royal Highness came here one rainy day<br> + in 1876, riding on a mule, and escorted by a bedraggled suite.</p> + <p class="main">Did they partake of any refreshments?</p> + <p class="main">No; the father, G. frankly admits, lost his head in the + excitement<br> + of the moment--a confession which confirms the impression that, on<br> + a much less auspicious occasion, it has been thought desirable that<br> + a younger and stronger man should assume the direction of affairs.<br> + To proffer Royalty <span class="italic">potage au riz</span> on such brief + notice was of course<br> + out of the question. But the fatuous old gentleman had permitted a<br> + Prince of Great Britain and Ireland to descend the mountain without<br> + having tasted any other of the comestibles which were doubtless on<br> + hand at the time, and portions of which most probably remain to<br> + this day.</p> + <p class="main">About eight o'clock there were indications from the shadowy<br> + portions of the banqueting chamber that G. was getting sleepy, and<br> + that the hour had arrived when it was usual for residents to retire<br> + for the night. Even on the top of a mountain one cannot go to bed<br> + at eight o'clock, and we affected to disregard these signals.<br> + Beginning gently, the yawns increased in intensity till they became<br> + phenomenal. At nine o'clock G. pointedly compared the hour of the<br> + day as between his watch and mine.</p> + <p class="main">It was hard to leave a bright wood fire and go to bed at + nine<br> + o'clock; but G. was irresistible. He literally yawned us out of<br> + the room, up the staircase, and into the bed-chamber. There was a<br> + key hanging by the outside of the door the size of a small club,<br> + and weighing several pounds. On the inside the keyhole, contrary to<br> + habitude, was in the centre of the door. From this point of approach<br> + it was, however, useful rather for ventilation than for any other<br> + purpose, since the key would not enter. Looking about for some means<br> + of securing the door against possible intrusions on the part of G.<br> + with a new soup, I discovered the trunk of a young tree standing<br> + against the wall. The next discovery was recesses in the wall on<br> + either side of the door, which suggested the evident purpose of the<br> + colossal bar. With this across the door one might sleep in peace,<br> + and I did till eight o'clock in the morning.</p> + <p class="main">G. had been instructed to call us at sunrise if the morning + were<br> + fair. As it happened, our ill luck of the evening was repeated in<br> + the morning. A thick mist obscured all around us, though as we<br> + passed down to civilisation and Lugano the sun, growing stronger,<br> + lifted wreaths of white mist, and showed valley, and lake, and<br> + town bathed in glorious light.</p> + <p><a name="35"></a></p> + <p class="boldleft">CHAPTER III.</p> + <p class="boldleft">THE PRINCE OF WALES</p> + <p class="main">We in this country have grown accustomed to the existence + of the<br> + Prince of Wales, and his personality, real and fabulous, is not<br> + unfamiliar on the other side of the Atlantic. But if we come to<br> + think of it, it is a very strange phenomenon. The only way to<br> + realise its immensity is to conceive its creation today, supposing<br> + that heretofore through the history of England there had been<br> + no such institution. A child is born in accidental circumstances<br> + and with chance connections that might just as reasonably have<br> + fallen to the lot of some other entity. He grows from childhood<br> + through youth into manhood, and all the stages, with increasing<br> + devotion and deference, he is made the object of reverential<br> + solicitude. All his wants are provided for, even anticipated. He<br> + is the first person to be considered wherever he goes. Men who<br> + have won renown in Parliament, in the camp, in literature, doff<br> + their hats at his coming, and high-born ladies curtsey.</p> + <p class="main">It is all very strange; but so is the rising of the sun + and the<br> + sequence of the moon. We grow accustomed to everything and take<br> + the Prince of Wales like the solar system as a matter of course.</p> + <p class="main">Reflection on the singularity of his position leads to sincere<br> + admiration of the manner in which the Prince fills it. Take it for<br> + all in all, there is no post in English public life so difficult<br> + to fill, not only without reproach, but with success. Day and night<br> + the Prince lives under the bull's-eye light of the lantern of a<br> + prying public. He is more talked about, written about, and pulled<br> + about than any Englishman, except, perhaps, Mr. Gladstone. But Mr.<br> + Gladstone stands on level ground with his countrymen. If he is<br> + attacked or misrepresented, he can hit back again. The position of<br> + the Prince of Wales imposes upon him the impassivity of the target<br> + used in ordinary rifle practice. Whatever is said or written about<br> + him, he can make no reply, and the happy result which in the main<br> + follows upon this necessary attitude suggests that it might with<br> + advantage be more widely adopted.</p> + <p class="main">Probably in the dead, unhappy night when the rain was on + the roof<br> + and the Tranby Croft scandal was on everybody's tongue, the Prince<br> + of Wales had some bad quarters of an hour. But whatever he felt or<br> + suffered, he made no sign. To see him sitting in the chair on the<br> + bench in court whilst that famous trial was proceeding, no one, not<br> + having prior knowledge of the fact, would have guessed that he had<br> + the slightest personal interest in the affair. There was danger of<br> + his even over-doing the attitude of indifference. But he escaped it,<br> + and was exactly as smiling, debonair and courtly as if he were in<br> + his box at the theatre watching the development of some quite other<br> + dramatic performance. He has all the courage of his race, and his<br> + long training has steeled his nerves.</p> + <p class="main">It would be so easy for the Prince of Wales to make mistakes + that<br> + would alienate from him the affection which is now his in unstinted<br> + measure. There are plenty of precedents, and a fatal fulness of<br> + exemplars. Take, for example, his relations with political life. It<br> + would not be possible for him now, as a Prince of Wales did at the<br> + beginning of the century, to form a Parliamentary party, and<br> + control votes in the House of Commons by cabals hatched at<br> + Marlborough House. But he might, if he were so disposed, in less<br> + occult ways meddle in politics. As a matter of fact, noteworthy and<br> + of highest honour to the Prince, the outside public have not the<br> + slightest idea to which side of politics his mind is biassed. They<br> + know all about his private life, what he eats, and how much; how he<br> + dresses, whom he talks to, what he does from the comparatively<br> + early hour at which he rises to the decidedly late one at which he<br> + goes to bed. But in all the gossip daily poured forth about him<br> + there is never a hint as to whether he prefers the politics of Tory<br> + or Liberal, the company of Lord Salisbury or Mr. Gladstone.</p> + <p class="main">In a country where every man in whatever station of life + is a keen<br> + politician, this is a great thing to say for one in the position of<br> + the Prince of Wales.</p> + <p class="main">This absolute impartiality of attitude does not arise from<br> + indifference to politics or to the current of political warfare.<br> + The Prince is a Peer of Parliament, sits as Duke of Cornwall, and<br> + under that name figures in the division lists on the rare occasions<br> + when he votes. When any important debate is taking place in the<br> + House, he is sure to be found in his corner seat on the front Cross<br> + Bench, an attentive listener. Nor does he confine his attention to<br> + proceedings in the House of Lords. In the Commons there is no more<br> + familiar figure than his seated in the Peers' Gallery over the<br> + clock, with folded hands irreproachably gloved, resting on the<br> + rail before him as he leans forward and watches with keen interest<br> + the sometimes tumultuous scene.</p> + <p class="main">Thus he sat one afternoon in the spring of the session of + 1875. He<br> + had come down to hear a speech with which his friend, Mr. Chaplin,<br> + was known to be primed. The House was crowded in every part, a<br> + number of Peers forming the Prince's suite in the gallery, while<br> + the lofty figure of Count Munster, German Ambassador, towered at<br> + his right hand, divided by the partition between the Peers'<br> + Gallery and that set apart for distinguished strangers. It was a<br> + great occasion for Mr. Chaplin, who sat below the gangway visibly<br> + pluming himself and almost audibly purring in anticipation of<br> + coming triumph. But a few days earlier the eminent orator had the<br> + misfortune to incur the resentment of Mr. Joseph Gillis Biggar.<br> + All unknown to him, Joseph Gillis was now lying in wait, and just<br> + as the Speaker was about to call on the orator of the evening,<br> + the Member for Cavan rose and observed,--</p> + <p class="main">"Mr. Speaker, Sir, I believe there are strangers in + the house."</p> + <p class="main">The House of Commons, tied and bound by its own archaic<br> + regulations, had no appeal against the whim of the indomitable<br> + Joey B. He had spied strangers in due form, and out they must go.<br> + So they filed forth, the Prince of Wales at the head of them, the<br> + proud English Peers following, and by another exit the Envoy of the<br> + most potent sovereign of the Continent, representative of a nation<br> + still flushed with the overthrow of France--all publicly and<br> + peremptorily expelled at the raising of the finger of an uneducated,<br> + obscure Irishman, who, when not concerned with the affairs of the<br> + Imperial Parliament, was curing bacon at Belfast and selling it at<br> + enhanced prices to the Saxon in the Liverpool market.</p> + <p class="main">The Prince of Wales bore this unparalleled indignity with + the good<br> + humour which is one of his richest endowments. He possesses in rare<br> + degree the faculty of being amused and interested. The British<br> + workman, who insists on his day's labour being limited by eight<br> + hours, would go into armed revolt if he were called upon to toil<br> + through so long a day as the Prince habitually faces. Some of its<br> + engagements are terribly boring, but the Prince smiles his way<br> + through what would kill an ordinary man. His manner is charmingly<br> + unaffected, and through all the varying duties and circumstances of<br> + the day he manages to say and do the right thing. It is not a heroic<br> + life, but it is in its way a useful one, and must be exceedingly hard<br> + to live.</p> + <p class="main">Watching the Prince of Wales moving through an assemblage, + whether<br> + it be as he enters a public meeting or as he strolls about the<br> + greensward at Marlborough House on the occasion of a garden party,<br> + the observer may get some faint idea of the strain ever upon him. You<br> + can see his eyes glancing rapidly along the line of the crowd in<br> + search of some one whom he can make happy for the day by a smile or a<br> + nod of recognition. If there were one there who might expect the<br> + honour, and who was passed over, the Prince knows full well how sore<br> + would be the heart-burning.</p> + <p class="main">There is nothing prettier at the garden party than to see + him walking<br> + through the crowd of brave men and fair women with the Queen on his<br> + arm. Her Majesty used in days gone by to be habile enough at the<br> + performance of this imperative duty laid upon Royalty of singling<br> + out persons for recognition. Now, when he is in her company, the<br> + Prince of Wales does it for her. Escorting her, bare-headed,<br> + through the throng; he glances swiftly to right or left, and when he<br> + sees some one whom he thinks the Queen should smile upon he whispers<br> + the name. The Queen thereupon does her share in contributing to the<br> + sum of human happiness.</p> + <p class="main">It is, as I began by saying, all very strange if we look + calmly at it.<br> + But, in the present order of things, it has to be done. It is the<br> + Prince of Wales's daily work, and it is impossible to conceive it<br> + accomplished with fuller appearance of real pleasure on the part of<br> + the active agent.</p> + <p></p> + <p class="boldleft"><a name="41"></a>CHAPTER IV.</p> + <p class="boldleft">A HISTORIC CROWD.</p> + <p class="main">"I very much regret that so much of your valuable time + has been<br> + absorbed," said the Lord Chief Justice, speaking to the Tichborne<br> + Jury, as the massive form of the Claimant vanished through the side<br> + door, never more to enter the Court of Queen's Bench; "but it will<br> + be a consolation to you to think that your names will be associated<br> + in history with the most remarkable trial that has ever occurred in<br> + the annals of England."</p> + <p class="main">There was another jury outside Sir Alexander Cockburn's + immediate<br> + observation that always struck me, and I saw a good deal of it, as<br> + not the least notable feature in the great trial that at one time<br> + engrossed the attention of the English-speaking race. That was the<br> + crowd that gathered outside the Courts of Justice, then still an<br> + adjunct of Westminster Hall.</p> + <p class="main">As there never was before a trial like that of the Claimant, + so<br> + there never was a crowd like this. It had followed him through all<br> + the vicissitudes of his appeal to the jury of his countrymen, and<br> + of his countrymen's subsequently handing him over to another jury<br> + upon a fresh appeal. It began to flood the broad spaces at the<br> + bottom of Parliament Street in far-off days when the case of<br> + Tichborne <span class="italic">v.</span> Lushington was opened in the + Sessions House, and it<br> + continued without weariness or falling-off all through the progress<br> + of the civil suit, beginning again with freshened zeal with the<br> + commencement of the criminal trial.</p> + <p class="main">Like the Severn, Palace Yard filled twice a day whilst the + blue<br> + brougham had its daily mission to perform, the crowd assembling in<br> + the morning to welcome the coming Claimant, and foregathering in<br> + the evening to speed him on his departure westward. It ranged in<br> + numbers from 5000 down to 1000. Put the average at 3000, multiply<br> + it by 291, the aggregate number of days which the Claimant was<br> + before the Courts in his varied character of plaintiff and<br> + defendant, and we have 873,000 as the total of the assemblage.</p> + <p class="main">As a rule, the congregation of Monday was the largest of + the week.<br> + Why this should be, students of the manners of this notable crowd<br> + were not agreed. Some held that the circumstance was to be accounted<br> + for by the fact that two days had elapsed during which the Claimant<br> + was not on view, and that on Monday the crowd came back, like a<br> + giant refreshed, to the feast, which, by regular repetition, had<br> + partially palled on Friday's appetite. Others found the desired<br> + explanation in the habit which partly obtains among the labouring<br> + classes of taking Monday as a second day of rest in the week, and<br> + of devoting a portion of it to the duty of going down to Westminster<br> + Hall to cheer "Sir Roger."</p> + <p class="main">Probably both causes united to bring together the greater + crowd of<br> + Monday afternoons. It must not be supposed that the mob was composed<br> + wholly or principally of what are called the working classes. When<br> + an hon. member rose in the House of Commons, and complained of the<br> + inconvenience occasioned to legislators by the "Tichborne crowd,"<br> + another member observed that, relative numbers considered, the House<br> + of Commons contributed as much to swell the throng as any other<br> + section of the people. During the last months of the trial, if any<br> + class predominated it was that which came from the provinces. The<br> + Claimant was undoubtedly one of the sights of London and before his<br> + greater attraction the traditional Monument which elsewhere--</p> + <blockquote> + <p class="smallquote">"Lifts its tall head and like a bully lies,"</p> + </blockquote> + <p class="main">sank into absolute insignificance. Not to have seen the + Claimant,<br> + argued the London of the period unknown. Fashionably dressed ladies<br> + and exquisitely attired gentlemen battled for front places upon the<br> + pavement with sturdy agriculturists who had brought their wives and<br> + daughters to see "Sir Roger," and who had not the slightest<br> + intention of going back till they had accomplished their desire.</p> + <p class="main">It came to pass that there were some two hundred faces in + the crowd<br> + familiar to the police as daily attendants at the four o'clock<br> + festival in Palace Yard. Day after day, they came to feast their<br> + eyes on the portly figure of "Sir Roger," and, having gazed + their<br> + fill, went away, to return again on the morrow. There was one aged<br> + gentleman whose grey gaiters, long-tailed coat, and massive umbrella<br> + were as familiar in Palace Yard as are the features on the clock-face<br> + in the tower. He came up from somewhere in the country in the days<br> + when Kenealy commenced his first speech, and, being a hale old man,<br> + he survived long enough to be in the neighbourhood when the learned<br> + gentleman had finished his second. At the outset, he was wont to<br> + fight gallantly for a place of vantage in the ranks near the arch-way<br> + of the Hall. Then, before the advances of younger and stouter<br> + newcomers, he faded away into the background. Towards the end, he<br> + wandered about outside the railings in Bridge Street, and, as the<br> + clock struck four, got the umbrella as near as its natural<br> + obstructiveness would permit to the carriage-gate whence the<br> + Claimant's brougham was presently to issue.</p> + <p class="main">At first the police authorities dealt with the assembly + in the<br> + ordinary manner, a more or less sufficient force being told off for<br> + the duty of keeping the thoroughfare clear. It soon became manifest<br> + that the Tichborne crowd, like everything else in connection with<br> + the trial, required especial treatment, and accordingly a carefully<br> + elaborated scheme was prepared. Superintendent Denning had under his<br> + command, for the preservation of peace and order in Palace Yard and<br> + the adjacent thoroughfares, not less than sixty men. One or two were<br> + stationed in the justice-chamber itself, and must by the time the<br> + verdict had been delivered have got pretty well up in the details of<br> + the case. Others guarded the entrance-door; others lined the passage<br> + into the yard, others were disposed about the yard itself; whilst,<br> + after three o'clock, two strong companies stood in reserve in the<br> + sheds that flank the entrance to the Hall. At half past three the<br> + crowd began to assemble, building itself up upon the little nucleus<br> + that had been hanging about all day. The favourite standpoint,<br> + especially in the cold, uncertain winter weather that marked the<br> + conclusion of the trial, was inside Westminster Hall, where the<br> + people were massed on the far side of a temporary barricade which<br> + the Tichborne case called into being, the railing of which was worn<br> + black by the touch of the hands of the faithful.</p> + <p class="main">Outside, in the yard, the crowd momentarily thickened till + it formed<br> + a dense lane, opening out from the front of the Hall, and turning to<br> + the left down to the south carriage-gate. The railings in Bridge<br> + Street and St. Margaret's Street were banked with people, and ranks<br> + were formed on the pavement in front of the grass-plot. At a quarter<br> + to four the policemen under the shed received the word of command,<br> + and marched out into St. Margaret's Street, some filing off to take<br> + charge of the gates, whilst the rest were drawn up on the pavement<br> + opposite and at the corner of Bridge Street, with the mission of<br> + preventing rushes after the Claimant's carriage as it drove through.<br> + A few minutes later the distinguished vehicle itself--a plain,<br> + dark-blue brougham, drawn by a finely bred bay mare--drove into the<br> + yard, and, taking up its position a little on one side of the entrance<br> + to the Hall, became the object of curious and respectful consideration.<br> + As the great clock boomed four strokes, the doors of the Court opened,<br> + and the privileged few who had been present at the day's proceedings<br> + issued forth.</p> + <p class="main">The excitement increased as the Court emptied, culminating + when,<br> + after a brief lull, the Claimant himself appeared, and waddled down<br> + the living lane that marked the route to his carriage. There was<br> + much cheering and a great amount of pocket-handkerchief waving,<br> + which "Sir Roger" acknowledged by raising his hat and smiling + that<br> + "smile of peculiar sweetness and grace" which Dr. Kenealy brought<br> + under the notice of the three judges and a special jury. As the<br> + Claimant walked through the doorway, closely followed by the<br> + Inspector, the policemen on guard suddenly closed the doors, and<br> + the public within Westminster Hall found themselves netted and<br> + hopelessly frustrated in what was evidently their intention of<br> + rushing out and sharing the outside crowd's privilege of staring<br> + at the Claimant, as he actually stepped into his carriage.</p> + <p class="main">The outside throng in Palace Yard, meanwhile, made the most + of<br> + their special privilege, crowding round "Sir Roger" and cheering<br> + in a manner that made the bay mare plunge and rear. With the least<br> + possible delay, the Claimant is got into the brougham, the door is<br> + banged to, and the bay mare is driven swiftly through the Yard, the<br> + crowd closing in behind. But when they reach the gates, and essay<br> + to pass and flood the streets beyond, where the gigantic umbrella<br> + of the aged gentleman looms uplifted over the shoulders of the line<br> + of police like the section of a windmill sail, the iron gates are<br> + swung to, and this, the second and larger portion of the crowd, is<br> + likewise safely trapped, and can gaze upon the retreating brougham<br> + only through iron bars that, in this instance at least, "do make + a<br> + cage." There are not many people outside, for it is hard to catch<br> + even a passing glimpse of the occupant of the carriage as it drives<br> + swiftly westward to Pimlico, finally pulling up in a broad street of<br> + a severely respectable appearance, not to be marred even by the near<br> + contiguity of Millbank convict prison.</p> + <p class="main">Here also is a crowd, though only a small one, and select + to wit,<br> + being composed chiefly of well-dressed ladies, forming part of a<br> + band of pilgrims who daily walked up and down the street, waiting<br> + and watching the outgoing and incoming of "Sir Roger." They + are<br> + rewarded by the polite upraising of "Sir Roger's" hat, and a + further<br> + diffusion of the sweet and gracious smile; and having seen the door<br> + shut upon the portly form, and having watched the brougham drive<br> + off, they, too, go their way, and the drama is over for the day.</p> + <p class="main">But the crowd in and about Palace Yard have not accomplished + their<br> + mission when they have seen the blue brougham fade in the distance.<br> + There is the "Doctor" to come yet, and all the cheering has + to be<br> + repeated, even with added volume of sound. When the Claimant has<br> + got clear away, and the crowd have had a moment or two of<br> + breathing-time, the "Doctor" walks forth from the counsels'<br> + entrance, and is received with a burst of cheering and clapping<br> + of hands, which, "just like Sir Roger", he acknowledges by raising<br> + his hat, but, unlike him, permits no trace of a smile to illumine<br> + his face. Without looking right or left, the "Doctor" walks<br> + northward, raising his hat as he passes the caged and cheering<br> + crowd in Palace Yard. With the same grave countenance, not moved in<br> + the slightest degree by the comical effect of the big men in the<br> + crowd at his heels waving their hats over his head, the "Doctor"<br> + crosses Bridge Street, and walks into Parliament Street, as far as<br> + the Treasury, where a cab is waiting. Into this he gets with much<br> + deliberation, and, with a final waving of his hat, and always with<br> + the same imperturbable countenance, is driven off, and Parliament<br> + Street, subsiding from the turmoil in which the running, laughing,<br> + shouting mob have temporarily thrown it, finds time to wonder<br> + whether it would not have been more convenient for all concerned if<br> + the "Doctor's" cab had picked him up at the door of Westminster + Hall.</p> + <p class="main">Slowly approached the end of this marvellous, and to a succeeding<br> + generation almost incredible, and altogether inexplicable,<br> + phenomenon. It came about noon, on Saturday, the final day of<br> + February, 1874.</p> + <p class="main">A few minutes before ten o'clock on that morning the familiar + bay<br> + mare and the well-known blue brougham--where are they now?--appeared<br> + in sight, with a contingent of volunteer running footmen, who<br> + cheered "Sir Roger" with unabated enthusiasm. As the carriage + passed<br> + through into the yard, a cordon of police promptly drew up behind it<br> + across the gateway, and stopped the crowd that would have entered<br> + with it. But inside there was, within reasonable limits, no<br> + restraint upon the movements of the Claimant's admirers, who lustily<br> + cheered, and wildly waved their hats, drowning in the greater sound<br> + the hisses that came from a portion of the assemblage. The Claimant<br> + looked many shades graver than in the days when Kenealy's speech<br> + was in progress. Nevertheless, he smiled acknowledgment of the<br> + reception, and repeatedly raised his hat. When he had passed in,<br> + the throng in Palace Yard rapidly vanished, not more than a couple<br> + of hundred remaining in a state of vague expectation. Westminster<br> + Hall itself continued to be moderately full, a compact section of<br> + the crowd that had secured places of vantage between the barricade<br> + and the temporary telegraph station evidently being prepared to see<br> + it out at whatever hour the end might come.</p> + <p class="main">For the next hour there was scarcely any movement in the + Hall, save<br> + that occasioned by persons who lounged in, looked round, and either<br> + ranged themselves in the ranks behind the policemen, or strolled<br> + out again, holding to the generally prevalent belief that if they<br> + returned at two o'clock they would still have sufficient hours to<br> + wait. In the Yard a thin line extended from the side of the Hall<br> + gateway backwards to the railings in St. Margaret's Street, with<br> + another line drawn up across the far edge of the broad carriage-way<br> + before the entrance. There was no ostentatious show of police, but<br> + they had a way of silently filing out from under the sheds or out<br> + of the Commons' gateway in proportion as the crowd thickened, which<br> + conveyed the impression that there was a force somewhere about that<br> + would prove sufficient to meet any emergency. As a matter of fact,<br> + Mr. Superintendent Denning had under his command three hundred men,<br> + who had marched down to Westminster Hall at six o'clock in the<br> + morning, and were chiefly disposed in reserve, ready for action as<br> + circumstances might dictate.</p> + <p class="main">At half-past eleven, there being not more than three or + four hundred<br> + people in Palace Yard, a number of Press messengers, rushing<br> + helter-skelter out of the court and into waiting cabs, indicated the<br> + arrival of some critical juncture within the jealously guarded<br> + portals. Presently it was whispered that the Lord Chief Justice had<br> + finished his summing up, and that Mr. Justice Mellor was addressing<br> + the jury. A buzz of conversation rose and fell in the Hall, and the<br> + ranks drew closer up, waiting in silence the consummation that could<br> + not now be far distant.</p> + <p class="main">The news spread with surprising swiftness, not only in Palace + Yard,<br> + but throughout Bridge Street and St. Margaret's Street, and the<br> + railings looking thence into the yard became gradually banked with<br> + rows of earnest faces. Little groups formed on the pavement about<br> + the corners of Parliament Street. Faces appeared at the windows of<br> + the houses overlooking the Yard, and the whole locality assumed an<br> + aspect of grave and anxious expectation. A few minutes after the<br> + clock in the tower had slowly boomed forth twelve strokes it was<br> + known in the Bail Court, where a dozen rapid hands were writing out<br> + words the echo of which had scarcely died away in the inner court,<br> + that the Judges had finished their task, and that the Jury had<br> + retired to consider their verdict. It was known also in the lobbies,<br> + where a throng of gowned and wigged barristers were assembled,<br> + hanging on as the fringe of the densely packed audience that sat<br> + behind the Claimant, and overflowed by the opened doorway. Thence<br> + it reached the crowd outside, and after the first movement and hum<br> + of conversation had subsided, a dead silence fell upon Westminster<br> + Hall, and all eyes were fixed upon the door by which, at any moment,<br> + messengers might issue with the word or words up to the utterance of<br> + which by the Foreman of the Jury the great trial slowly dragged its<br> + length.</p> + <p class="main">Half an hour later the door burst open, and messengers came + leaping<br> + in breathless haste down the steps and across the Hall, shouting as<br> + they ran,--</p> + <p class="main">"Guilty! Guilty on all counts!" The words were + taken up by the<br> + crowd, and passed from mouth to mouth in voices scarcely above a<br> + whisper. It was a flock of junior barristers, issuing from the<br> + court, radiant and laughing, who brought the next news.</p> + <p class="main">"Fourteen years! Fourteen years!" they called + out.</p> + <p class="main">This time the crowd in Westminster Hall took up the cry + in louder<br> + tones, and there was some attempt at cheering, but it did not<br> + prevail. The less dense crowd in the Yard received the intelligence<br> + without any demonstration and after a brief pause made off with one<br> + consent for the judges' entrance in St. Margaret's Street, where,<br> + peradventure, they might see the prisoner taken away, or at least<br> + would catch a glimpse of the judges and counsel.</p> + <p class="main">From this hour up to nearly four o'clock the crowd, in numbers + far<br> + exceeding those present at the first intimation of the verdict and<br> + sentence, hung about St. Margaret's Street and Palace Yard waiting<br> + for the coming forth of the prisoner, who had long ago been safely<br> + lodged in Newgate. They did not know that as soon as the convict<br> + was given in charge of the tipstaff of the court he was led away by<br> + Inspector Denning, along a carefully planned and circuitous route<br> + that entirely baffled the curiosity of the waiting crowd. Through the<br> + Court of Exchequer the prisoner and his guards went, by the members'<br> + private staircase, across the lobby, along the corridor, through the<br> + smoking-room into the Commons Courtyard, where a plain police<br> + omnibus was in waiting with an escort of eleven men. In this the<br> + prisoner took his seat, and was driven through the Victoria Tower<br> + gate <span class="italic">en route</span> for Newgate. He accompanied + his custodians as quietly<br> + as if they were conducting him to his brougham, and only once broke<br> + the silence of the journey to Newgate.</p> + <p class="main">"It's very hot," he said, as he panted along the + passages of the<br> + House of Commons, "and I am so fat."</p> + <p></p> + <p class="boldleft"><a name="52"></a>CHAPTER V.</p> + <p class="boldleft">WITH PEGGOTTY AND HAM.</p> + <p class="main">A careful survey of the map of Kent will disclose Lydd lying + within<br> + four miles of the coast, in the most southerly portion of the<br> + promontory tipped by Dungeness. Lydd has now its own branch line<br> + from Ashford, but when I first knew it the nearest point by rail on<br> + one hand was Folkestone, and on the other Appledore. Between these<br> + several points lies a devious road, sometimes picking its way<br> + through the marshes, and occasionally breaking in upon a sinking<br> + village, which it would probably be delightful to dwell in if it<br> + did not lie so low, was not so damp, and did not furnish the<br> + inhabitants with an opportunity for obtaining remarkably close<br> + acquaintance with the symptoms of the ague. Few of the marsh towns<br> + are more picturesque than Lydd, owing to the sturdy independence<br> + shown by the architects of the houses, and to the persistent and<br> + successful efforts made to avoid anything like a straight line in<br> + the formation of the streets. The houses cluster "anyhow" round + the<br> + old church, and seem to have dropped accidentally down in all sorts<br> + of odd nooks and corners. They face all ways, and stand at angles,<br> + several going the length of turning their backs upon the streets and<br> + placidly opening out from their front door into the nearest field.</p> + <p class="main">In the main street, through which her Majesty's cart passes, + and<br> + along which all the posting is done, a serious attempt has made at<br> + the production of something like an ordinary street. But even here<br> + the approach to regularity is a failure, owing to some of the houses<br> + along the line putting forth a porch, or blooming into a row of<br> + utterly unnecessary pillars before the parlour windows. In short,<br> + Lydd, being entirely out of the tracks of the world, cares little for<br> + what other towns may do, and has just built its houses where and how<br> + it pleased. Between Dungeness and Lydd there is an expanse of shingle<br> + which makes the transit an arduous undertaking, and one not to be<br> + accomplished easily without the aid of "backstays" (pronounced<br> + "backster"), a simple contrivance somewhat upon the principle + of<br> + snowshoes. When the proneness to slip off the unaccustomed foot has<br> + been overcome, backstays are not so awkward as they look. A couple of<br> + flat pieces of inch-thick wood, four inches wide by six long, with a<br> + loop of leather defectively fastened for the insertion of the foot<br> + went to make up the pair of "backsters" by whose assistance + I<br> + succeeded in traversing two miles of rough, loose shingle that<br> + separates the southern and eastern edge of Lydd marsh from the sea.</p> + <p class="main">The lighthouse stands on the farthest point, jutting into + the sea,<br> + and has at the right of it West Bay, and on the left East Bay. A<br> + signboard on the top of a pole stuck in the shingle, almost within<br> + hail of the lighthouse, announces the proximity of "The Pilot." + "The<br> + Pilot" is a small shanty run up on the shingle, and possessed of<br> + accommodation about equal in extent to that afforded by the<br> + residence of the Peggottys. Reminiscences of the well-known abode on<br> + the beach at Yarmouth are further favoured, as we draw nearer, by<br> + the appearance of the son of the house, who comes lounging out in a<br> + pilot-cloth suit, with a telescope under his arm, and a smile of<br> + welcome upon his bright, honest face. This must be Ham, who we find<br> + occupies the responsible position of signalman at this station, and<br> + frequently has the current of his life stirred by the appearance of<br> + strange sail upon the horizon. Peggotty, his father, is the proprietor<br> + of "The Pilot," which hostelry drives a more or less extensive + trade<br> + in malt liquor with the eight men constituting the garrison of a<br> + neighbouring fort, supplemented by such stray customers as wind and<br> + tide may bring in.</p> + <p class="main">I made the acquaintance of the Peggotty family and was made + free of<br> + the cabin many years ago, in the dark winter time when the <span class="italic">Northfleet</span><br> + went down off Dungeness, and over three hundred passengers were lost.<br> + All the coast was then alive with expectancy of some moment finding<br> + the sea crowded with the bodies of the drowned. The nine days during<br> + which, according to all experience at Dungeness, the sea might hold<br> + its dead were past, and at any moment the resurrection might<br> + commence. But it never came, and other theories had to be broached<br> + to explain the unprecedented circumstance. The most generally<br> + acceptable, because the most absolutely irrefragable, was that the<br> + dead men and women had been carried away by an under-current out<br> + into the Atlantic, and for ever lost amid its wilds.</p> + <p class="main">My old friend Peggotty tells me, in a quiet, matter-of-fact + manner,<br> + a story much more weird than this. He says that after we watchers<br> + had left the scene, the divers got fairly to work and attained a<br> + fair run of the ship. They found she lay broadside on to a bank of<br> + sand, by the edge of which she had sunk till it overtopped her<br> + decks. By the action of the tide the sand had drifted over the ship,<br> + and had even at that early date commenced to bury her. The bodies<br> + of the passengers were there by the hundred, all huddled together<br> + on the lee-side.</p> + <p class="main">"The divers could not see them," Peggotty adds, + "for what with the<br> + mud and sand the water is pretty thick down there. But they could<br> + feel them well enough--an arm sticking out there, and a knee sticking<br> + out here, and sometimes half a body clear of the silt, owing to lying<br> + one over another. They could have got them all up easy enough, and<br> + would, too, if they had been paid for it. They were told that they<br> + were to have a pound apiece for all they brought up. They sent up<br> + one, but there was no money for it, and no one particularly glad to<br> + see it, and so they left them all there, snug enough as far as<br> + burying goes. The diving turned out a poor affair altogether. The<br> + cargo wasn't much good for bringing up, bein' chiefly railway iron,<br> + spades, and such like. There were one or two sales at Dover of odd<br> + stores they brought up, but it didn't fetch in much altogether, and<br> + they soon gave up the job as a bad un."</p> + <p class="main">The years have brought little change to this strange out-of-the-way<br> + corner of the world, an additional wreck or two being scarcely a<br> + noteworthy incident. The section of an old boat in which, with<br> + fortuitous bits of building tacked on at odd times as necessity has<br> + arisen, the Peggottys live is as brightly tarred as ever, and still<br> + stoutly braves the gales in which many a fine ship has foundered<br> + just outside the front door. One peculiarity of the otherwise<br> + desirable residence is that, with the wind blowing either from the<br> + eastward, westward, or southward, Mrs. Peggotty will never allow<br> + the front door to be opened. As these quarters of the wind<br> + comprehend a considerable stretch of possible weather, the<br> + consequence is that the visitor approaching the house in the usual<br> + manner is on eight days out of ten disturbed by the apparition of<br> + Peggotty at the little look-out window, violently, and to the<br> + stranger, mysteriously, beckoning him away to the northward,<br> + apparently in the direction of the lighthouse.</p> + <p class="main">This means, however, only that he is to go round by the + back, and<br> + the <span class="italic">détour</span> is not to be regretted, + as it leads by Peggotty's garden,<br> + which in its way is a marvel, a monument of indomitable struggle<br> + with adverse circumstances. It is not a large plot of ground, and<br> + perhaps looks unduly small by reason of being packed in by a high<br> + paling, made of the staves of wrecked barrels and designed to keep<br> + the sand and grit from blowing across it. But it is large enough<br> + to produce a serviceable crop of potatoes, which, with peas and<br> + beans galore occupy the centre beds, Peggotty indulging a weakness<br> + for wallflowers and big red tulips on the narrow fringe of soil<br> + running under the shadow of the palings. The peculiarity about the<br> + garden is that every handful of soil that lies upon it has been<br> + carried on Peggotty's back across the four-mile waste of shingle<br> + that separates the sea-coast from Lydd. That is, perhaps, as severe<br> + a test as could be applied to a man's predilection for a garden.<br> + There are many people who like to have a bit of garden at the back<br> + of their house. But how many would gratify their taste at the expense<br> + of bringing the soil on their own backs, plodding on "backstays"<br> + over four miles of loose shingle?</p> + <p class="main">One important change has happened in this little household + since I<br> + last sat by its hearthstone. Ham is married, and is, in some<br> + incomprehensible manner, understood to reside both at Lydd with<br> + Mrs. Ham and at the cabin with his mother. As for Mrs. Peggotty,<br> + she is as lively and as "managing" as ever--perhaps a trifle + smaller<br> + in appearance, and with her smooth clean face more than ever<br> + suggestive of the idea of a pebble smoothed and shaped by the action<br> + of the tide.</p> + <p class="main">I find on chatting with Peggotty that the old gentleman's + mind is in<br> + somewhat of a chaotic state with respect to the wrecks that abound<br> + in the bay. He has been here for forty-eight years, and the fact is,<br> + in that time, he has seen so many wrecks that the timbers are, as it<br> + were, floating in an indistinguishable mass through his mind, and<br> + when he tries to recall events connected with them, the jib-boom of<br> + "the <span class="italic">Rhoda</span> brig" gets mixed up with + the rigging of "the <span class="italic">Spendthrift</span>,"<br> + and "the <span class="italic">Branch</span>, a coal-loaded brig," + that came to grief thirty years<br> + ago, gets inextricably mixed up with the "Rooshian wessel." + But,<br> + looking with far-away gaze towards the Ness Lighthouse, and sweeping<br> + slowly round as far east as New Romney, Peggotty can tot off a number<br> + of wrecks, now to be seen at low water, which with others, the names<br> + whereof he "can't just remember," bring the total past a score.</p> + <p class="main">The first he sees on this side of the lighthouse is the + <span class="italic">Mary</span>, a bit<br> + of black hull that has been lying there for more than twenty years.<br> + She was "bound somewheres in France," and running round the + Ness,<br> + looking for shelter in the bay, stuck fast in the sand, "and broke<br> + up in less than no time." She was loaded with linseed and<br> + millstones, which I suspect, from a slight tinge of sadness in<br> + Peggotty's voice as he mentioned the circumstance, is not for people<br> + living on the coast the best cargo which ships that <span class="italic">will</span> + go down in<br> + the bay might be loaded with. Indeed, I may remark that though<br> + Peggotty, struggling with the recollections of nearly fifty years,<br> + frequently fails to remember the name of the ship whose wreck shows<br> + up through the sand, the nature of her cargo comes back to him with<br> + singular freshness.</p> + <p class="main">Near the <span class="italic">Mary</span> is another French + ship, which had been brought to<br> + anchor there in order that the captain might run ashore and visit<br> + the ship's agent at Lydd. Whilst he was ashore a gale of wind came<br> + on "easterdly"; ship drifted down on Ness Point, and knocked + right<br> + up on the shore, the crew scrambling out on to dry land as she went<br> + to pieces. Another bit of wreck over there is all that is left of the<br> + <span class="italic">Westbourne</span>, of Chichester, coal-laden. She + was running for Ness Point<br> + at night, and, getting too far in, struck where she lay, and all the<br> + crew save one were drowned. Nearer is the <span class="italic">Branch</span>, + also a coal-loaded<br> + brig, a circumstance which suggests to Peggotty the parenthetical<br> + remark that "at times there is a good deal of coal about the shingle."<br> + A little more to the east is "the Rooshian wessel <span class="italic">Nicholas + I</span>.," in<br> + which Peggotty has a special interest so strong that he forgets to<br> + mention what her cargo was. It is forty-six years since <span class="italic">Nicholas + I.</span><br> + came to grief; and no other help being near, the whole of the crew<br> + were saved through the instrumentality of Peggotty's dog. It was<br> + broad daylight, with a sea running no boat could live in. The<br> + "Rooshian" was rapidly breaking up, and the crew were shrieking + in<br> + an unknown tongue, the little group on shore well knowing that the<br> + unfamiliar sound was a cry for help. Peggotty's Newfoundland dog was<br> + there, barking with mad delight at the huge waves that came tumbling<br> + on the shore, when it occurred to Peggotty that perhaps the dog<br> + could swim out to the drowning men. So he signalled him off, and in<br> + the dog went, gallantly buffeting the waves till it reached the ship.<br> + The Russian sailors tied a piece of rope to a stick, put the stick in<br> + the dog's mouth, and he, leaping overboard, carried it safely to<br> + shore, and a line of communication being thus formed, every soul on<br> + board was saved.</p> + <p class="main">"They've got it in the school-books for the little + children to<br> + read," Peggotty says, permitting himself to indulge in the<br> + slightest possible chuckle. I could not ascertain what particular<br> + school-book was meant, because last winter, when another Russian<br> + ship came ashore here and was totally wrecked, Peggotty presented<br> + the captain with his only copy of the work as a souvenir of the<br> + compulsory visit. But when we returned to the cabin, Mrs. Peggotty<br> + brought down a faded, yellow, much-worn copy of the <span class="italic">Kent + Herald</span>,<br> + in which an account of the incident appears among other items of<br> + the local news of the day.</p> + <p class="main">Further eastward are the remains of a West Indiaman, loaded + with<br> + mahogany and turtles, the latter disappearing in a manner still a<br> + marvel at Dungeness, whilst of the former a good deal of salvage<br> + money was made. It is not far from this wreck that the Russian<br> + last-mentioned came to grief. She met her fate in a peculiarly sad<br> + manner. The <span class="italic">Alliance</span>, a tar-loaded vessel, + drifting inwards before<br> + a strong east wind, began to burn pitch barrels as a signal for<br> + assistance. The Russian, thinking she was on fire, ran down to her<br> + assistance, and took the ground close by. Both ships were totally<br> + wrecked, and the crews saved with no other property save<br> + the clothes they stood in.</p> + <p class="main">Still glancing from Dungeness eastward, we see at every + hundred<br> + yards a black mass of timber, sometimes showing the full length of<br> + a ship, oftener only a few jagged ribs marking where the carcase<br> + lies deeply embedded. Each has its name and its history, and is a<br> + memento of some terrible disaster in which strong ships have been<br> + broken up as if they were built of cardboard, and through which<br> + men and women have not always successfully struggled for life.</p> + <p class="main">"We don't have so much loss of life in this bay as + in the west bay<br> + round the point," said Ham. "Here, you see, when there's been + a<br> + rumpus, the water quiets soon after, and the shipwrecked folk can<br> + take to their boats; on the other side the water is rougher, and<br> + there's less chance for them. There was one wreck here not long<br> + since, though, when all hands were lost. It was a Danish ship that<br> + came running down one stormy night, and run ashore there before<br> + she could make the light. We saw her flash her flare-up lights,<br> + and made ready to help her, but before we could get up she went to<br> + pieces, and what is most singular, never since has a body been seen<br> + from the wreck. Ah, sir, it's a bad spot. Often between Saturday<br> + and Monday you'll see three fine ships all stranded together on this<br> + beach. When there's a big wreck like the <span class="italic">Northfleet + </span>over there,<br> + everybody talks about it, and all the world knows full particulars.<br> + But there's many and many a shipwreck here the newspapers never<br> + notice, and hundreds of ships get on, and with luck get off, without<br> + a word being said anywhere."</p> + <p class="main">"There's mother signallin' the heggs and bakin is done," + said<br> + Peggotty, looking back at the cabin, where a white apron waved out<br> + of one of the port-holes that served for window.</p> + <p class="main">So we turned and left this haunted spot, where, with the + ebbing<br> + tide, twenty-three wrecks, one after the other, thrust forth a<br> + rugged rib or a jagged spar to remind the passer-by of a tragedy.</p> + <p></p> + <p class="boldleft"><a name="62"></a>CHAPTER VI.</p> + <p class="boldleft">TO THOSE ABOUT TO BECOME JOURNALISTS.</p> + <p class="boldleft">AN OPEN LETTER.</p> + <p class="main">My dear young friends,__<br> + I suppose no one not prominently engaged in journalism knows how<br> + widely spread is the human conviction that, failing all else, any<br> + one can "write for the papers," making a lucrative living on + easy<br> + terms, amid agreeable circumstances. I have often wondered how<br> + Dickens, familiar as he was with this frailty, did not make use of<br> + it in the closing epoch of Micawber's life before he quitted<br> + England. Knowing what he did, as letters coming to light at this<br> + day testify, it would seem to be the most natural thing in the<br> + world that finally, nothing else having turned up, it should occur<br> + to Dickens that Mr. Micawber would join the Press--probably as<br> + editor, certainly on the editorial staff, possibly as dramatic<br> + critic, a position which involves a free run of the theatres and a<br> + more than nodding acquaintance with the dramatic stars of the day.</p> + <p class="main">Perhaps Dickens avoided this episode because it was too + literally<br> + near the truth in the life of the person who, all unconsciously,<br> + stood as the lay figure of David Copperfield's incomparable friend.<br> + It is, I believe, not generally known that Charles Dickens's father<br> + did in his last desolate days become a member of the Press. When<br> + Dickens was made editor of the Daily News, he thoughtfully provided<br> + for his father by installing him leader of the Parliamentary Corps<br> + of that journal. The old gentleman, of course, knew nothing of<br> + journalism, was not even capable of shorthand. Providentially he<br> + was not required to take notes, but generally to overlook things,<br> + a post which exactly suited Mr. Micawber. So he was inducted, and<br> + filled the office even for a short time after his son had<br> + impetuously vacated the editorial chair. Only the other day there<br> + died an original member of the <span class="italic">Daily News</span> + Parliamentary Corps, who<br> + told me he quite well remembered his first respected leader, his<br> + grandly vague conception of his duties, and his almost ducal manner<br> + of not performing them.</p> + <p class="main">Of the many letters that come to me with the assurance that + I have<br> + in my possession blank appointments on the editorial and reportorial<br> + staff of all contemporary journals paying good salaries, the saddest<br> + are those written by more than middle-aged men with families. Some<br> + have for years been earning a precarious living as reporters or<br> + sub-editors on obscure papers, and now find themselves adrift;<br> + others are men who, having vainly knocked at all other gates, are<br> + flushed by the happy thought that at least they can write<br> + acceptably for the newspapers; others, again, already engaged in<br> + daily work, are anxious to burn the midnight oil, and so add<br> + something to a scanty income. These last are chiefly clergymen and<br> + schoolmasters--educated men with a love of letters and the idea that,<br> + since it is easy and pleasant to read, it must be easy to write, and<br> + that in the immensity of newspapers and periodical literature there<br> + would be not only room, but eager welcome for them.</p> + <p class="main">This class of correspondents is curiously alike in one feature.<br> + There is an almost sprightliness in their conviction that what they<br> + can write in these circumstances would exactly suit any paper, daily<br> + or weekly, morning or evening. All they have to do is to give up<br> + their odd savings of time to the work; all you--their hapless<br> + correspondent--have to do is to fill up one of those blank<br> + appointments with which your desk is clogged, and send it to them<br> + by first post.</p> + <p class="main">There is no other profession in the world thus viewed by + outsiders.<br> + No one supposes he can make boots, cut clothes, or paint the outside<br> + of a house without having served some sort of apprenticeship, not to<br> + mention the possession of special aptitude. Any one can, right off--,<br> + become a journalist. Such as these, and all those about to become<br> + journalists, I would advise to study a book published several years<br> + ago. It is the <span class="italic">Life of James MacDonell</span>, a + name which, before this<br> + book was published, was an idle sound to the outer world, though to<br> + contemporary workers in the inner circle of the Press Macdonell was<br> + known as one of the ablest and most brilliant of modern journalists.<br> + In these short and simple annals, the aspirant who imagines the<br> + successful journalist's life is all beer and skittles will discover<br> + what patient study, what self-denial, what strenuous effort, and,<br> + more essential than all, what rare natural gifts are needed to<br> + achieve the position into which Macdonell toiled.</p> + <p class="main">It is this last consideration that makes me doubt whether + there is<br> + any utility in offering practical hints "To Those about to become<br> + Journalists." If a boy or youth has in him the journalistic faculty,<br> + it will come out, whatever unpromising or adverse circumstances he<br> + may be born to. If he has it not, he had very much better take to<br> + joinering or carpentering, to clerking, or to the dispensation of<br> + goods over the retail counter. Journalism is an honourable and,<br> + for those specially adapted, a lucrative profession. But it is a<br> + poor business for the man who has mistaken his way into it. The<br> + very fact that it has such strong allurement for human nature makes<br> + harder the struggle for life with those engaged in its pursuit. I<br> + gather from facts brought under my personal notice that at the<br> + present time there are, proportionately with its numbers, more<br> + unemployed in the business of journalism than in any other, not<br> + exceeding that of the dockers. When a vacancy occurs on any staff,<br> + the rush to fill it is tremendous. Where no vacancy exists the<br> + knocking at the doors is incessant. All the gates are thronged<br> + with suitors, and the accommodation is exceedingly limited.</p> + <p class="main">The first thing the youth who turns his face earnestly towards<br> + journalism should convince himself of is, that the sole guiding<br> + principle controlling admission to the Press or advance in its ranks<br> + is merit. This, as your communications, my dear young friends, have<br> + convinced me, is a statement in direct contravention of general<br> + belief. You are convinced that it is all done by patronage, and that<br> + if only some one in authority will interest himself in you, you<br> + straightway enter upon a glorious career. There is, however, no<br> + royal road to advancement on the Press. Proprietors and editors<br> + simply could not afford it. Living as newspapers do in the fierce<br> + light focussed from a million eyes, fighting daily with keen<br> + competition, the instinct of self-preservation compels their<br> + directors to engage the highest talent where it is discoverable,<br> + and, failing that, the most sedulously nurtured skill. For this they<br> + will pay almost anything; and they ask nothing more, neither<br> + blood-relationship, social distinction, nor even academic training.<br> + In journalism, more than in any other profession, not excepting the<br> + Bar, a man gets on by his own effort, and only by that. Of course,<br> + proprietors, and even editors, may, if the commercial prosperity of<br> + their journal permit the self-indulgence, find salaried situations<br> + for brothers, sons, or nephews or may oblige old friends in the<br> + same direction. Charles Dickens, as we have seen, made his father<br> + manager of the Parliamentary Corps of the <span class="italic">Daily News</span>. + But that did<br> + not make him a journalist, nor did he, after his son's severance of<br> + his connection with the paper, long retain the post.</p> + <p class="main">This line of reflection is, I am afraid, not encouraging + to you, my<br> + dear young friends; but it leads up to one fact in which I trust<br> + you will be justified in finding ground for hope. Amongst the crowd<br> + struggling to obtain a footing within the pale of journalism, the<br> + reiterated rebuffs they meet with naturally lead to the conviction<br> + that it is a sort of close borough, those already in possession<br> + jealously resenting the efforts of outsiders to breach its sacred<br> + portals. Nothing could be further removed from the fact. A nugget of<br> + gold is not more pleasing to the sight of the anxious miner than is<br> + the discovery by the editor or manager of a newspaper of a new light<br> + in the world of journalism. This I put in the forefront of friendly<br> + words of advice to those about to enter journalism. Get rid of the<br> + fatal idea that some one will open the door for you and land you<br> + safely inside. You must force the door yourself with incessant<br> + knocking if need be, prepared for searching inquiry as to your right<br> + to enter, but certain of a hearty welcome and fraternal assistance<br> + when you have proved your right.</p> + <p class="main">As an ounce of example is worth a ton of precept, I may + perhaps<br> + mention that in a journalistic career now extending over just<br> + twenty-five years, I never but once received anything in the way of<br> + patronage, and that was extended at the very outset only after a<br> + severe test of the grounds upon which recommendation could be made.<br> + My parents, in their wisdom, destined me for a commercial career.<br> + If I had followed the bent given me when I left school, I should<br> + now have been a very indifferent clerk in the hide and valonia<br> + business. But like you, my dear young friends, I felt that my true<br> + vocation was journalism, and I determined to be a journalist.</p> + <p class="main">I will tell you exactly how I did it. Like you, I meant + to be an<br> + editor some day, but also, I trust, like you, I felt that it would<br> + be convenient, if not necessary to start by being a reporter. So I<br> + began to study shorthand, teaching myself by Pitman's system. When,<br> + after infinite pains, I had mastered this mystery, I began to look<br> + out for an opening on the Press. I had no friends in journalism, not<br> + the remotest acquaintance. I made the tour of the newspaper offices<br> + in the town where I lived, was more or less courteously received,<br> + and uniformly assured that there was no opening. One exception was<br> + made by a dear friend whose name is to-day known and honoured<br> + throughout Great Britain, who was then the young assistant-editor of<br> + a local daily paper. He gave me some trial work to do, and was so<br> + far satisfied that he promised me the first vacancy on the junior<br> + staff of reporters.</p> + <p class="main">That was excellent, but I did not sit down waiting till + fortune<br> + dropped the promised plum into my mouth. I got at all the newspapers<br> + within reach, searched for advertisements for reporters, answered<br> + them day after day, week after week, even month after month,<br> + without response. At last a cautious inquiry came. The reply was<br> + deemed satisfactory, and I got my chance.</p> + <p class="main">This, dear young friends, is the short and simple annal + of my start<br> + in journalism, and you will see that the pathway is equally open to<br> + you.</p> + <p></p> + <p class="boldleft"><a name="69"></a>CHAPTER VII.</p> + <p class="boldleft">A CINQUE PORT.</p> + <p class="main">Skulls piled roof high in the vault beneath the church tower + supply<br> + the only show thing Hythe possesses. There is some doubt as to their<br> + precise nationality, but of their existence there can be none, as any<br> + visitor to the town may see for himself on payment of sixpence<br> + (parties of three or more eighteenpence). It is known how within a<br> + time to which memory distinctly goes the skulls were found down upon<br> + the beach, whole piles of them, thick as shingle on this coast. The<br> + explanation of their tenancy of British ground is popularly referred<br> + to the time, now nearly nine hundred years gone by, when Earl Godwin,<br> + being exiled, made a raid on this conveniently accessible part of<br> + England, and after a hard fight captured all the vessels lying in<br> + the haven. Others find in the peculiar formation of the crania proof<br> + positive that the skulls originally came from Denmark.</p> + <p class="main">But Saxon or Dane, or whatever they be, it is certain the + skulls<br> + were picked up on the beach, and after an interval were, with some<br> + dim notion of decency, carried up to the church, where they lay<br> + neglected in a vault. The church also going to decay, the<br> + determination was taken to rebuild it, and being sorely pressed for<br> + funds a happy thought occurred to a practical vicar. He had the<br> + skulls piled up wall-like in an accessible chamber, caused the<br> + passages to be swept and garnished, and then put on the impost<br> + mentioned above, the receipts helping to liquidate the debt on<br> + the building fund. Thus, by a strange irony of fate, after eight<br> + centuries, all that is left of these heathens brings in sixpences<br> + to build up a Christian church.</p> + <p class="main">A good deal has happened in Hythe since the skulls first + began to<br> + bleach on the inhospitable shore. When Earl Godwin suddenly<br> + appeared with his helm hard up for Hythe, the little town on the<br> + hill faced one of the best havens on the coast. It was, as every<br> + one knows, one of the Cinque Ports, and at the time of the<br> + Conqueror undertook to furnish, as its quota of armament, five<br> + ships, one hundred and five men, and five boys. Even in the time<br> + of Elizabeth there was a fair harbour here. But long ago the sea<br> + changed all that. It occupied itself in its leisure moments by<br> + bringing up illimitable shingle, with which it filled up all water<br> + ways, and cut Hythe off from communication with the sea as<br> + completely as if it were Canterbury.</p> + <p class="main">It is not without a feeling of humiliation that a burgess + of the<br> + once proud port of Hythe can watch the process of the occasional<br> + importation of household coal. Where Earl Godwin swooped down over<br> + twenty fathoms of water the little collier now painfully picks her<br> + way at high water. On shore stand the mariners of Hythe (in number<br> + four), manning the capstan. When the collier gets within a certain<br> + distance a hawser is thrown out, the capstan turns more or less<br> + merrily round, and the collier is beached, so that at low water<br> + she will stand high and dry.</p> + <p class="main">Thus ignominiously is coal landed at one of the Cinque Ports.</p> + <p class="main">Of course this change in the water approaches has altogether<br> + revolutionised the character of the place. Hythe is a port without<br> + imports or exports, a harbour in which nothing takes refuge but<br> + shingle. It has not even fishing boats, for lack of place to moor<br> + them in. It is on the greatest water highway of the world, and yet<br> + has no part in its traffic. Standing on the beach you may see day<br> + after day a never-ending fleet of ships sailing up or down as the<br> + wind blows east or west. But, like the Levite in the parable, they<br> + all pass by on the other side. Hythe has nothing to do but to stand<br> + on the beach with its hands in its pockets and lazily watch them.</p> + <p class="main">Thus cut off from the world by sea, and by land leading + nowhere in<br> + particular except to Romney Marshes, Hythe has preserved in an<br> + unusual degree the flavour of our earlier English world. There have<br> + indeed been times when endeavour was made to profit by this<br> + isolation. As one of the Cinque Ports Hythe has since Parliaments<br> + first sat had the privilege of returning representatives. In the<br> + time of James II. it seems to have occurred to the Mayor (an<br> + ancestor of one of the members for West Kent in a recent<br> + Parliament), that since a member had to be returned to Parliament<br> + much trouble would be saved, and no one in London would be any the<br> + wiser, if he quietly, in his capacity as returning officer,<br> + returned himself. But some envious Radical setting on the opposite<br> + benches, was too sharp for him, and we find the sequel of the story<br> + set forth in the Journals of the House of Commons under date 1685,<br> + where it is written--</p> + <p class="main">"Information given that the Mayor of Hythe had returned + himself:<br> + Resolved by the House of Commons that Mr. Julius Deedes, the Mayor,<br> + is not duly elected. New writ ordered in his stead."</p> + <p class="main">Hythe is a little better known now, but not much. And yet + for many<br> + reasons its acquaintance is worth forming. The town itself, lying<br> + snugly at the foot of the hill crowned by the old church, is full<br> + of those bits of colour and quaintnesses of wall and gable-end<br> + which good people cross the Channel to see. In the High-street there<br> + is a building the like of which probably does not anywhere exist. It<br> + is now a fish-shop, not too well stocked, where a few dried herrings<br> + hang on a string under massive eaves that have seen the birth and<br> + death of centuries. From the centre of the roof there rises a sort<br> + of watch-tower, whence, before the houses on the more modern side of<br> + the street were built, when the sea swept over what is now<br> + meadow-land, keen eyes could scan the bay on the look out for<br> + inconvenient visitors connected with the coastguard. When the sea<br> + prevented Hythe honestly earning its living in deep-keeled boats, it<br> + perforce took to smuggling, a business in which this old watch-tower<br> + played a prominent part.</p> + <p class="main">This is a special though neglected bit of house architecture + in<br> + Hythe. But everywhere, save in the quarters by the railway station<br> + or the Parade, where new residences are beginning to spring up, the<br> + eye is charmed by old brown houses roofed with red tiles, often<br> + standing tree-shaded in a bountiful flower garden, and always<br> + preserving their own lines of frontage and their own angle of gable,<br> + with delightful indifference to the geometric scale of their<br> + neighbour.</p> + <p class="main">The South-Eastern Railway Company have laid their iron hand + on<br> + Hythe, and its old-world stillness is already on Bank Holidays and<br> + other bleak periods of the passing year broken by the babble of<br> + the excursionist. In its characteristically quiet way Hythe has<br> + long been known as what is called a watering-place. When I first<br> + knew it, it had a Parade, on which were built eight or ten houses,<br> + whither in the season came quiet families, with children and<br> + nurses. For a few weeks they gave to the sea frontage quite a<br> + lively appearance, which the mariners (when they were not manning<br> + the capstan) contemplated with complacency, and said to each other<br> + that Hythe was "looking up." For the convenience of these visitors<br> + some enterprising person embarked on the purchase of three bathing<br> + machines, and there are traditions of times when these were all in<br> + use at the same hour--so great was the influx of visitors.</p> + <p class="main">Also there is a "bathing establishment" built + a long way after<br> + the model of the Pavilion at Brighton. The peculiarity of this<br> + bathing establishment is or was when I first knew the charming<br> + place that regularly at the end of September the pump gets out of<br> + order, and the new year is far advanced before the solitary plumber<br> + of the place gets it put right. He begins to walk dreamily round<br> + the place at Easter. At Whitsuntide he brings down an iron vessel<br> + containing unmelted solder, and early in July the pump is mended.</p> + <p class="main">This mending of the pump is one of the epochs of Hythe, + a sure<br> + harbinger of the approaching season. In July "The Families" + begin<br> + to come down, and the same people come every year, for visitors to<br> + Hythe share in the privilege of the inhabitants, inasmuch as they<br> + never--or hardly ever--die. Of late years, since the indefatigable<br> + Town Clerk has succeeded in waking up the inhabitants to the<br> + possibilities of the great future that lies before their town, not<br> + only has a new system of drainage and water been introduced, but a<br> + register has been kept of the death-rate. From a return, published<br> + by the Medical Officer of Health, it appears that the death-rate of<br> + Hythe was 9.3 per 1000. Of sixty-three people who died in a year out<br> + of a population of some four thousand, twenty-three were upwards of<br> + sixty years of age, many of them over eighty. Perhaps the best<br> + proof of the healthfulness of Hythe is to be found in a stroll<br> + through the churchyard, whence it would appear that only very<br> + young children or very old people are carried up the hill.</p> + <p class="main">The difficulty about Hythe up to recent times has been the<br> + comparative absence of accommodation for visitors. Its fame has<br> + been slowly growing as The Families have spread it within their<br> + own circles. But it was no use for strangers to go to Hythe, since<br> + they could not be taken in. This is slowly changing. Eligible<br> + building sites are offered, villas have been run up along the<br> + Sandgate Road, and an hotel has been built by the margin of the<br> + sea. When news reached the tower of the church that down on the<br> + beach there had risen a handsome hotel, fitted with all the<br> + luxuries of modern life, it is no wonder that the skulls turned<br> + on each other and--as Longfellow in the "Skeleton in Armour" + puts<br> + it--</p> + <blockquote> + <p> <span class="smallquote">"Then from those cavernous eyes<br> + Pale flashes seem to rise,<br> + As when the northern skies<br> + Gleam In December."</span></p> + </blockquote> + <p class="main"><img src="images/whitethorn.jpg" alt="Whitethorn, Hythe, Kent" width="465" height="347"></p> + <p class="main">This is surely the beginning of the end. Having been endowed + with a<br> + railway which brings passengers down from London in a little over<br> + two hours, Hythe is now dowered with an hotel in which they may dine<br> + and sleep. The existence of the hotel being necessarily admitted,<br> + prejudice must not prevent the further admission that it is<br> + exceedingly well done. Architecturally it is a curiosity, seeing<br> + that though it presents a stately and substantial front neither<br> + stone nor brick enters into its composition. It is made entirely<br> + of shingle mixed with mortar, the whole forming a concrete<br> + substance as durable as granite. The first pebble of the new hotel<br> + was laid quite a respectable number of years ago, the ceremony<br> + furnishing an almost dangerous flux of excitement to the mariners<br> + at the capstan. It has grown up slowly, as becomes an undertaking<br> + connected with Hythe. But it is finished now, handsome without,<br> + comfortable within, with views from the front stretching seawards<br> + from Dungeness to Folkestone, and at the back across green pastures,<br> + glimpses are caught through the trees of the red-tiled town.</p> + <p class="main">Now that suitable accommodation is provided for stray visitors,<br> + Hythe, with its clean beach, its parade that will presently join<br> + hands with Sandgate, its excellent bathing, and its bracing air,<br> + may look to take high rank among watering places suburban to<br> + London. But there are greater charms even than these in the<br> + immediate neighbourhood. With some knowledge of English watering<br> + places, I solemnly declare that none is set in a country of such<br> + beauty as is spread behind Hythe. Unlike the neighbourhood of<br> + most watering places, the country immediately at the back of the<br> + town is hilly and well wooded. Long shady roads lead past blooming<br> + gardens or through rich farms, till they end in some sleepy village<br> + or hamlet, the world forgetting, by the world forgot. In late July<br> + the country is perfect in its loveliness. The fields and woods are<br> + not so flowery as in May, though by way of compensation the gardens<br> + are rich in roses. Still there are sufficient wild flowers to<br> + gladden the eye wherever it turns. From the hedgerows big white<br> + convolvulus stare with wonder-wide eyes, the honeysuckle is out,<br> + the wild geranium blooms in the long grass, the blackberry bushes<br> + are in full flower, and the poppies blaze forth in great clusters<br> + at every turn of the road. The corn is only just beginning to turn<br> + a faint yellow, but the haymakers are at work, and every breath of<br> + the joyous wind carries the sweet scent of hay.</p> + <p></p> + <p class="boldleft"><a name="77"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</p> + <p class="boldleft">OYSTERS AND ARCACHON.</p> + <p class="main">If the name had not been appropriated elsewhere, Arcachon + might<br> + well be called the Salt Lake City. It lies on the south shore of<br> + a basin sixty-eight miles in circumference, into which, through a<br> + narrow opening, the Bay of Biscay rolls its illimitable waters.<br> + Little more than thirty years ago the town was represented by half<br> + a dozen huts inhabited by fishermen. It was a terribly lonely place,<br> + with the smooth lake in front of it, the Atlantic thundering on the<br> + dunes beyond, and in the rear the melancholy desert of sand known as<br> + the Landes.</p> + <p class="main">The Landes is peopled by a strange race, of whom the traveller<br> + speeding along the railway to-day may catch occasional glimpses.<br> + Early in the century the department was literally a sandy plain,<br> + about as productive as Sahara, and in the summer time nearly as hot.<br> + But folks must live, and they exist on the Landes, picking up a<br> + scanty living, and occasionally dying for lack of water. One initial<br> + difficulty in the way of getting along in the Landes is the sheer<br> + impossibility of walking. When the early settler left his hut to pay<br> + a morning call or walk about his daily duties, he sank ankle deep in<br> + sand.</p> + <p class="main">But the human mind invariably rises superior to difficulties + of this<br> + character.</p> + <p class="main">What the "backstay" is to the inhabitant of the + district around Lydd,<br> + the stilts are to the lonely dwellers in the Landes. The peasants of<br> + the department are not exactly born on stilts, but a child learns to<br> + walk on them about the age that his British brother is beginning to<br> + toddle on foot.</p> + <p class="main">Stilts have the elementary recommendation of overcoming + the difficulty<br> + of moving about in the Landes. In addition, they raise a man to a<br> + commanding altitude, and enable him to go about his daily business at<br> + a pace forbidden to ordinary pedestrians. The stilts are, in truth,<br> + a modern realisation of the gift of the seven-league boots. They are<br> + so much a part of the daily life of the people that, except when he<br> + stoops his head to enter his hut, the peasant of the Landes would as<br> + soon think of taking off his legs by way of resting himself as of<br> + removing his stilts. The shepherds, out all day tending their sheep,<br> + might, if they pleased, stretch themselves at full length on the grey<br> + sand, making a pillow of the low bushes. But they prefer to stand;<br> + and you may see them, reclining against a third pole stuck in the<br> + ground at the rear, contentedly knitting stockings, keeping the while<br> + one eye upon the flock of sheep anxiously nibbling at the meagre grass.</p> + <p class="main">Next to the shepherds, the most remarkable live stock in + the Landes<br> + are the sheep. Such a melancholy careworn flock! poor relations of<br> + the plump Southdown that grazes on fat Sussex wolds. Long-legged,<br> + scraggy-necked, anxious-eyed, the sheep of the Landes bear eloquent<br> + testimony to the penury of the place and the difficulty of making both<br> + ends meet--which in their case implies the burrowing of the nose in<br> + tufts of sand-girt grass. To abide among such sheep through the long<br> + day should be enough to make any man melancholy. But the peasant of<br> + the Landes, who is used to his stilts, also grows accustomed to his<br> + sheep, and they all live together more or less happily ever afterwards.</p> + <p class="main">The Landes is quite a prosperous province to-day compared + with what it<br> + was in the time of Louis XVI. During the First Empire there was what<br> + we would call a Minister of Woods and Forests named Bremontier. He<br> + looked over the Landes and found it to be nothing more than a waste of<br> + shifting sand. Rescued from the sea by a mere freak of nature, it might,<br> + for all practical purposes, have been much more usefully employed if<br> + covered a few fathoms deep with salt water. To M. Bremontier came the<br> + happy idea of planting the waste land with fir trees. Nothing else<br> + would grow, the fir tree might. And it did. To-day the vast extent of<br> + the Landes is almost entirely covered with dark forests in perpetual<br> + verdure.</p> + <p class="main">These have transformed the district, adding not only to + the improvement<br> + of its sanitary condition, but creating a new source of wealth. Out of<br> + the boundless vistas of fir trees there ever flows a constant stream of<br> + resin, which brings in large revenues. Passing through the forest by<br> + the railway line from La Mothe to Arcachon, one sees every tree marked<br> + with a deep cut. It looks as if the woodman had been about, picking out<br> + trees ready for the axe, and had come to the conclusion that they might<br> + be cut down <span class="italic">en bloc</span>. But these marks are indications + of the process<br> + of milking the forests. It is a very simple affair, to which mankind<br> + contributes a mere trifle. In order to get at the resin a piece of bark<br> + is cut off from each tree. Out of the wound the resin flows, falling<br> + into a hole dug in the ground at the roots. When this is full it is<br> + emptied into cans and carried off to the big reservoir: when one wound<br> + in the tree is healed another is cut above it, and so the tree is<br> + finally drained.</p> + <p class="main">Besides this revenue from resin immense sums are obtained + from the sale<br> + of timber; and thus the Landes, which a hundred years ago seemed to be<br> + an inconvenient freak of nature afflicting complaining France, has been<br> + turned into a money-yielding department.</p> + <p class="main">The firs which fringe the seacoast by the long strip of + land that lies<br> + between the mouth of the Gironde and the town of Bayonne have much to<br> + do with the prosperity of Arcachon. The salt lake, with its little<br> + cluster of fishermen's cottages, lies within a couple of hours'<br> + journey by rail from Bordeaux, a toiling, prosperous place, which,<br> + seated on the broad Garonne, longed for the sea. Some one discovered<br> + that there was excellent bathing at Arcachon, the bed of the salt<br> + lake sloping gently upwards in smooth and level sands. Then the doctors<br> + took note of the beneficial effects of the fir trees which environed<br> + the place. The aromatic scent they distilled was declared to be good<br> + for weak chests, and, almost by magic, Arcachon began to grow.</p> + <p class="main">By swift degrees the little cluster of fishermen's cottages + spread till<br> + it became a town--of one street truly, but the street is a mile and a<br> + half long, skirting the seashore and backed by the fir forests. Bordeaux<br> + took Arcachon by storm. A railway was made, and all through the summer<br> + months the population poured into the long street, filling it beyond<br> + all moderate notions of capacity. The rush came so soon, and Arcachon<br> + was built in such a hurry, that the houses have a casual appearance,<br> + recalling the towns one comes upon in the Far West of America, which<br> + yesterday were villages, and to-day have a town-hall, a bank, many<br> + grog-shops, a church or two, and four or five daily newspapers.</p> + <p class="main">A vast number of the dwellings are of the proportion of + pill-boxes. Some<br> + are literally composed of two closets, one called a bedroom and the<br> + other a sitting-room; or, oftener still, both used as bedrooms. Others<br> + are built in terraces a storey high and a few feet wide, with the name<br> + of the proprietor painted over the liliputian trap-door that serves for<br> + entrance hall. The idea is that you live at ease and in comfort at<br> + Bordeaux, and just run down to Arcachon for a bath. There are no<br> + bathing machines or tents; but all along the shore, in supplement of the<br> + liliputian houses that serve a double debt to pay--being residences at<br> + night and bathing-machines by day,--stand rows of sentry-boxes, whence<br> + the bather emerges arrayed in more or less bewitching attire. The water<br> + is very shallow, and enterprising persons of either sex spend hours of<br> + the summer day in paddling about in their bathing costumes.</p> + <p class="main">It is a pretty, lively scene. For background the long straggling + town;<br> + in the foreground the motley groups of bathers, the far-reaching smooth<br> + surface of the lake; and, beyond, the broad Atlantic, thundering<br> + impotently upon the barricade of sandhills that makes possible the<br> + peace of Arcachon.</p> + <p class="main">Like all watering-places, Arcachon lives two lives. In summer-time + it<br> + springs into active bustle, with house-room at a premium, and the shops<br> + and streets filled with a gay crowd. It affects to have a winter season,<br> + and is, indeed, ostentatiously divided into two localities, one called<br> + the winter-town and the other the summer-town. The former is situated<br> + on the higher ground at the back of the town, and consists of villa<br> + residences built on plots reclaimed from the fir forest.</p> + <p class="main">This is well enough in the winter-time, many English people + flocking<br> + thither attracted by the shelter and scent of the fir trees; but<br> + Arcachon itself--the long unlovely street--is in the winter months<br> + steeped in the depths of desolation. The shops are deserted, the<br> + pill-boxes have their lids put on, and everywhere forlorn signs hang<br> + forth announcing that here is a <span class="italic">maison</span> or + an <span class="italic">appartement à louer</span>.</p> + <p class="main">All through the winter months, shut up between sea and sand, + Arcachon<br> + is A Town to Let.</p> + <p class="main">Deprived in the winter months of the flock of holiday makers, + Arcachon<br> + makes money in quite another way. Just as suddenly as it bloomed forth<br> + a fashionable watering-place, it has grown into an oyster park of<br> + world-wide renown. Last year the Arcachon oyster beds produced not<br> + less than three hundred million oysters, the cultivators taking in<br> + round figures a million francs. The oysters are distributed through<br> + various markets, but the greatest customer is London, whither there<br> + come every year fifty millions of the dainty bivalve.</p> + <p class="main">"And what do they call your oysters in London?" + I asked M. Faure, the<br> + energetic gentleman who has established this new trade between the<br> + Gironde and the Thames.</p> + <p class="main">"They call them 'Natives'," he said, with a sly + twinkle.</p> + <p class="main">The Arcachon oyster, if properly packed, can live eight + days out of the<br> + water, a period more than sufficient to allow for its transit by the<br> + weekly steamers that trade between Bordeaux and London. A vast quantity<br> + go to Marenne in the Charente lnferieure, where they fatten more<br> + successfully than in the salt lake, and acquire that green colour which<br> + makes them so much esteemed and so costly in the restaurants at Paris.</p> + <p class="main">Oysters have, probably since the time of the Deluge, congregated + in the<br> + Basin d'Arcachon; but it is only within the last thirty years the<br> + industry has been developed and placed on a footing that made possible<br> + the growth of today. Up to the year 1860 oysters were left to their own<br> + sweet will in the matter of creating a bed. When they settled upon a<br> + place it was diligently cultivated, but the lead was absolutely left to<br> + the oyster. Dr. Lalanne, in the intervals of a large medical practice + at<br> + La Teste, a little place on the margin of the Basin, observed that<br> + oysters were often found attached to a piece of a wreck floating in the<br> + middle of the water far remote from the beds.</p> + <p class="main">This led him to study more closely the reproductive habits + of the<br> + oyster. He discovered that the eggs after incubation remained suspended<br> + in the water for a space of from three to five days. Thus, for some<br> + time after the <span class="italic">frai </span>season, practically the + whole of the water in the<br> + Basin d'Arcachon was thick with oysters' eggs. Dr. Lalanne conceived<br> + the idea of providing this vast wealth with other means of establishing<br> + itself than were offered by a casual piece of wreck. What was wanted<br> + was something to which the eggs, floating in the water, could attach<br> + themselves, and remain till they were developed beyond the state of<br> + <span class="italic">ova</span>. After various experiments Dr. Lalanne + adapted to the purpose the<br> + hollow roof tile in use everywhere in the South of France.</p> + <p class="main">These are laid in blocks, each containing one hundred and + twelve tiles,<br> + enclosed in a wooden framework. In June, when the oysters lay their<br> + eggs, these blocks of tiles are dropped into the water by the oyster<br> + beds. The eggs floating about, find the crusty surface of the tiles a<br> + convenient resting-place, and attach themselves by millions. Six months<br> + later the tiles, being examined, are found to be covered by oysters<br> + grown to the size of a silver sixpence. The tiles are taken up and the<br> + little oysters scraped off, a process facilitated by the fact that the<br> + tiles have in the first instance been coated with a solution of lime,<br> + which rubs off, carrying the tender oyster with it.</p> + <p class="main">The infant oysters are next placed in iron network cases, + through which<br> + the water freely passes, whilst the young things are protected from<br> + crabs and other natural enemies. At the end of a year or eighteen<br> + months, they have so far grown as to be trusted out on their own<br> + account. They are accordingly strewn on the broad oyster beds, to fatten<br> + for another year or eighteen months, when they are ready for the waiting<br> + <span class="italic">gourmet</span>. Your oyster is fit to eat at eighteen + months of age; but there<br> + is more of it when it is three years old.</p> + <p class="main">We sailed out from Arcachon across the lake to the oyster + park. Here<br> + the water is so shallow that the men who tend the beds walk about them<br> + in waterproof boots coming up to their knees. This part of the bay is<br> + dotted with boats with white canopies. Seen at anchor from Arcachon<br> + they look like boats laid up for the winter season; but every one is<br> + tenanted night and day. They are the homes of the guardians of the<br> + oyster beds, who keep watch and ward through the long winter.</p> + <p class="main">Even more disastrous than possible visits from a male poacher + are the<br> + incursions of a large flat sea-fish, known at Arcachon as the <span class="italic">thére</span>,<br> + with us the ray. This gentleman has a colossal appetite for oysters.<br> + Scorning to deal with them by the dozen, he devours them by the<br> + thousand, asking neither for the succulent lemon nor the grosser<br> + addition of Chili vinegar. His action with the oyster is exceedingly<br> + summary. He breaks the shell with a vigorous blow of his tail, and<br> + gobbles up the contents. As it is stated by reputable authorities<br> + that the <span class="italic">thére</span> can dispose of 100,000 + oysters in a day, it is clear<br> + that the tapping must be pretty persistent.</p> + <p class="main">This selfish brute, regardless of the fact that we pay a + minimum three<br> + shillings a dozen for oysters in London, is happily circumvented by<br> + an exceedingly simple device. Rowing about the oyster beds at Arcachon<br> + one notices that they are fringed with small twigs of fir trees. The<br> + natural supposition is that these are to mark the boundary of the<br> + various oyster beds; but it is in truth designed to keep out the<br> + <span class="italic">thére</span>. This blundering fish, bearing + down on the oyster bed in search<br> + of luncheon, comes upon the palisade of loosely planted twigs. Nothing<br> + in the world would be easier than for him to steer between the openings,<br> + of which there are abundance. But though he has stomach enough for a<br> + hundred thousand oysters, he has not brains enough to understand that<br> + by a little manoeuvring he might get at his meal. Repelled by the open<br> + network of twigs, he swims forlornly round and round the beds, so near<br> + and yet so far, with what anguish of heart only the lover of oysters<br> + can fathom.</p> + <p class="main">The oyster beds at Arcachon belong to the State, and are + leased to<br> + private persons, the leading company, which has created the British<br> + trade, having its headquarters at La Teste. The wholesale price of<br> + oysters at Arcachon is from a sovereign to forty shillings a thousand,<br> + according to size. In the long street they sell retail at from twopence<br> + to eightpence a dozen, thus realising what seems to-day the hopeless<br> + dream of the British oyster-eater.</p> + <p></p> + <p class="boldleft"><a name="86"></a>CHAPTER IX.</p> + <p class="boldleft">CHRISTMAS EVE AT WATTS'S.</p> + <p class="main">Wandering out of the High Street, Rochester, on the afternoon + before<br> + Christmas Day, by a narrow passage to the left I came upon the old<br> + Cathedral. The doors were open, and as they were the only doors in<br> + Rochester open to me, except, perhaps, those of the tramp house at the<br> + Union, I entered, and sat down as near as befitted my condition. The<br> + afternoon service was going on, and even to tired limbs and an empty<br> + stomach it was restful and soothing to hear the sweet voices of the<br> + surpliced choristers, and the grand deep tones of the organ, echoing<br> + through the fretted roof, and rolling round the long pillared aisles.<br> + There were not ten people there besides myself, the clergy and the choir<br> + forming the bulk of the assembly. As soon as the service had been gone<br> + through, the clergy and the choir filed out, and the lay people one by<br> + one departed.</p> + <p class="main">I should have liked to sit where I was all night. It was + at least warm<br> + and sheltered, and I have slept on worse beds than may be made of half<br> + a dozen Cathedral chairs. But presently the verger came round, and<br> + perceiving at a glance that I was not a person likely to possess a<br> + superfluous sixpence, asked me if I was going to sit there all night.<br> + I said I was if he didn't mind; but he did, and there was nothing for<br> + it but to clear out.</p> + <p class="main">"Haven't you got nowhere to go to?" asked the + man, as I moved slowly<br> + off.</p> + <p class="main">"Nowhere in particular," I answered.</p> + <p class="main">"That's a bad look-out for Christmas-eve. Why don't + you go over to<br> + Watts's?"</p> + <p class="main">"What's Watts's?"</p> + <p class="main">"It's a house in High Street, where you'll get a good + supper, a bed,<br> + and a fourpenny-bit in the morning if you can show you'em an honest man,<br> + and not a regular tramp. There's old Watts's muniment down by the side<br> + of the choir. A reglar brick he was, who not only wrote beautiful hymns,<br> + but gave away his money for the relief of the pore."</p> + <p class="main">My heart warmed to the good old Doctor whose hymns I had + learnt in<br> + my youth, little thinking that the day would come when I should be<br> + thankful to him for more substantial nourishment. I had intended to<br> + go in the ordinary way to get a night's lodging in the casual ward;<br> + but Watts's was evidently a better game, and getting from the verger<br> + minute directions how to proceed in order to gain admittance to<br> + Watts's, I left the Cathedral.</p> + <p class="main">The verger was not a bad-hearted fellow, I am sure, though + he did speak<br> + roughly to me at first. He seemed struck with the fact that a man not<br> + too well clad, who had nowhere particular to sleep on the eve of<br> + Christmas Day, could scarcely be expected to be "merry." All + the time<br> + he was talking about Watts's he was fumbling in his waistcoat pocket,<br> + and I know he was feeling if he had there a threepenny-bit. But if he<br> + had, it didn't come immediately handy, and before he got hold of it<br> + the thought of the sufficient provision which awaited me at Watts's<br> + afforded vicarious satisfaction to his charitable feelings, and he<br> + was content with bidding me a kindly good-night, as he pointed my road<br> + down the lane to the police-office, where, it seemed, Dr. Watts's guests<br> + had to put in a preliminary appearance.</p> + <p class="main">Crossing High Street, passing through a sort of courtyard, + and down some<br> + steps, I reached a snug-looking house, which I had some difficulty in<br> + believing was a police-office. But it was, and the first thing I saw was<br> + seven men lounging about the yard. They didn't seem like regular tramps,<br> + but they had a look as if they had walked far, and each man carried a<br> + little bundle and a stick. The verger had told me that only six men per<br> + night were admitted to Watts's, and there were seven already.</p> + <p class="main">"Are you for Watts's?" one of them, a little, + sharp-looking fellow, with<br> + short light hair pasted down over his forehead, asked me, seeing me<br> + hesitate.</p> + <p class="main">"Yes."</p> + <p class="main">"Well, it ain't no go to-night. There's seven here, + and fust come,<br> + fust served."</p> + <p class="main">"Don't believe him, young 'un," said an elderly + man, "it's all one what<br> + time you come, so as it's afore half-past five you'll take your chance<br> + with the rest of us."</p> + <p class="main">It was not yet five, so I loafed about with the rest of + them, being<br> + scowled upon by all except the elderly man till the arrival of two other<br> + travellers removed to them the weight of the odium I had lightly borne.<br> + At a quarter to six a police-sergeant appeared at the door of the office<br> + and said:</p> + <p class="main">"Now then."</p> + <p class="main">This was generally interpreted as a signal to advance, and + we stood<br> + forward in an irregular line. The sergeant looked around us sternly<br> + till his eye lighted upon the elderly man.</p> + <p class="main">"So you're trying it on again, are you?"</p> + <p class="main">"I've not been here for two months, if I may never + sleep in a bed<br> + again," whimpered the elderly man.</p> + <p class="main">"You was here last Monday week that I know of, and + may be since. Off you<br> + go!" and the elderly gentleman went off with an alacrity that rather<br> + reduced the wonderment I had felt at his disinterested intervention to<br> + prevent my losing a chance, suggesting, as it did, that he felt the<br> + probability of gaining admission was exceedingly remote.</p> + <p class="main">I was the next upon whom the eye of the police-sergeant + loweringly fell.</p> + <p class="main">"What do you want?"</p> + <p class="main">"A night's lodging at Watts's."</p> + <p class="main">"Watts's is for decent workmen on the tramp. You ain't + a labourer. Show<br> + me your hands." I held out my hands, and the police-sergeant examined<br> + the palms critically.</p> + <p class="main">"What are you?"</p> + <p class="main">"A paper stainer."</p> + <p class="main">"Where have you been to?"</p> + <p class="main">"I came from Canterbury last."</p> + <p class="main">"Where do you work?"</p> + <p class="main">"In London when I can find work."</p> + <p class="main">"Where are you going now?"</p> + <p class="main">"To London."</p> + <p class="main">"How much money have you got?"</p> + <p class="main">"Three-halfpence."</p> + <p class="main">"Humph!"</p> + <p class="main">I don't know whether a murder had recently been committed + in Kent, and<br> + whether I in some degree answered to the description of the supposed<br> + murderer. If it were so, the unfortunate circumstance will explain why<br> + the sergeant should have run me through and through with his eyes whilst<br> + propounding these queries, and why he should have made them in such a<br> + gruff voice. However, he seemed to have finally arrived at the<br> + conclusion that I was not the person wanted for the murder, and after + a<br> + brief pause he said, "Go inside."</p> + <p class="main">I went inside, into one of the snuggest little police-offices + I have<br> + seen in the course of some tramping, and took the liberty of warming<br> + myself by the cosy fire, whilst the remaining applicants for admission<br> + to Watts's were being put through a sort of minor catechism such as that<br> + I had survived. Presently the sergeant came in with the selected five + of<br> + my yard companions, and, taking us one by one, entered in a book, under<br> + the date "24th December," our several names, ages, birthplaces + and<br> + occupations, also the names of the last place we had come from, and the<br> + next whither we were going. Then, taking up a scrap of blue paper with<br> + some printed words on it, and filling in figures, a date, and a<br> + signature, he bade us follow him.</p> + <p class="main">Out of the snug police-office--which put utterly in the + shade the<br> + comforts of the cathedral regarded as a sleeping place--across the<br> + courtyard, which somebody said faced the Sessions House, down High<br> + Street to the left till we stopped before an old-fashioned white house<br> + with a projecting lamp lit above the doorway, shining full on an<br> + inscription graven in stone. I read it then and copied it when I left<br> + the house next morning. It ran thus:--</p> + <p class="smallquote"> </p> + <table width="400" border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" class="tablecent"> + <tr> + <td>RICHARD WATTS, Esqr.<br> + by his will dated 22 Aug., 1579,<br> + founded this charity<br> + for six poor travellers,<br> + who not being Rogues, or Proctors,<br> + may receive gratis, for one Night,<br> + Lodging, Entertainment,<br> + and four pence each.<br> + In testimony of his Munificence,<br> + in honour of his Memory,<br> + and inducement to his Example,<br> + Nathl. Hood, Esq., the present Mayor,<br> + has caused this stone,<br> + gratefully to be renewed,<br> + and inscribed,<br> + A.D. 1771.</td> + </tr> + </table> + <p class="smallquote"> </p> + <p class="main">It was not Dr. Watts, then, as the verger had given me to + understand. I<br> + was sorry, for it had seemed like going to the house of an old friend,<br> + and I had meant after supper to recite "How doth the little Busy + Bee"<br> + for the edification of my fellow-guests, and to tell them what I had<br> + learnt long ago of the good writer's life and labours.</p> + <p class="main">"Here we are again, Mrs. Kercham," said our conductor, + stepping into the<br> + low hall of the white house.</p> + <p class="main">"Yes, here you are again," replied an old lady, + dressed in black, and<br> + wearing a widow's cap. "Have you got 'em all to-night?"</p> + <p class="main">"Yes, six--all tidy men. Can you write, Mr. Paper Stainer?"</p> + <p class="main">I could write, and did, setting forth, in a book which lay + on a table in<br> + a room labelled "Office," my name, age, occupation, and the + town whence<br> + I had last come. Three of the other guests followed my example. Two<br> + could not write; and the sergeant, paying me a compliment on my<br> + beautiful clerkly handwriting, asked me to fill in the particulars for<br> + them. This ceremony over, we were shown into our bedrooms, and told to<br> + give ourselves "a good wash." My room was on the ground-floor, + out in<br> + the yard: and I hope I may never be shown into a worse. It was not<br> + large, being about eight feet square, nor was it very high. The walls<br> + were whitewashed, and the floor clean. A single small window, deep set<br> + in the thick stone-built walls, looked out on to the yard, and by it<br> + stood the solitary piece of furniture, a somewhat rickety Windsor chair.<br> + I except the bed, which was supposed to stand in a corner, but actually<br> + covered nearly the whole of the floor. The bedstead was of iron, and, + I<br> + should imagine, was one of the earliest constructions of the sort ever<br> + sold in this country.</p> + <p class="main">"I put on three blankets, being Christmas-time, though + the weather is<br> + not according; so you can take one off if you like."</p> + <p class="main">"Thank you, ma'am; I'll leave it till I go to bed, + if you please." Much<br> + reason had I subsequently to be thankful for my caution.</p> + <p class="main">After having washed, I came out, and was told to go into + a room, facing<br> + my bedroom, on the other side of the yard. Here I found three of my<br> + fellow-guests sitting by a fire, and in a few minutes the other two<br> + arrived, all looking very clean and (speaking for myself particularly)<br> + feeling ravenously hungry. The chamber, which had "Travellers' Room"<br> + painted over the doorway, was about twelve or thirteen feet long and<br> + eight wide, and, like our bedrooms, was not remarkable for variety of<br> + furniture. A plain deal table stood at one end, and then there were<br> + two benches, and that's all. Over the mantelpiece a large card hung<br> + with the following inscription:--</p> + <p class="main">"Persons accepting this charity are each supplied with + a supper,<br> + consisting of half a pound of meat, one pound of bread, and half a pint<br> + of porter at seven o'clock in the evening, and fourpence on leaving the<br> + house in the morning. The additional comfort of a good fire is given<br> + during the winter months, from October 18th till March 10th, for the<br> + purpose of drying their clothes and supplying hot water for their use.<br> + They go to bed at eight o'clock."</p> + <p class="main">This was satisfactory, except inasmuch as it appeared that + supper was<br> + not to be forthcoming till seven o'clock, and it was now only twenty<br> + minutes past six. This forty minutes promised to be harder to bear<br> + than the hunger of the long day; but the pain was averted by the<br> + appearance at half-past six of a pleasant-looking young woman,<br> + carrying a plate of cold roast beef in each hand. These she put down<br> + on the table, supplementing them in course of time with four similar<br> + plates, six small loaves, and as many mugs of porter.</p> + <p class="main">It does not become guests to dictate arrangements, but if + the worshipful<br> + trustees of Watts's knew how tantalising it is to a hungry man to see<br> + cold roast beef brought in in a slow and deliberate manner, they would<br> + buy a large tray for the use of the pleasant young person, and let the<br> + feast burst at once upon the vision of the guests.</p> + <p class="main">Sharp on the stroke of seven we drew the benches up to the + table, and<br> + Mrs. Kercham, standing at one end and leaning over, said grace.<br> + Impatiently hungry as I was, I could not help noticing the precise<br> + terms in which the good matron implored a blessing. I suppose she had<br> + had her tea in the parlour. At any rate, she was not going to favour<br> + us with her company, and so, bending over our plates of cold beef, she<br> + lifted up her voice and said with emphasis,--</p> + <p class="main">"For what <span class="italic">you</span> are about + to receive out of His bountiful goodness may<br> + the Lord make you truly thankful."</p> + <p class="main">I write the personal pronoun with a capital letter, not + being quite<br> + certain from Mrs. Kercham's rapid enunciation whether the bountiful<br> + goodness was Mr. Watts's or the Lord's.</p> + <p class="main">Six emphatic "Amens!" followed, and before the + sound had died away<br> + six able-bodied men had fallen-to upon the beef and the bread in a<br> + manner that would have done kind Master Watts's heart good had he<br> + beheld them.</p> + <p class="main">I think I had done first, for I remember when I looked round + the table<br> + my fellow-guests were still eating and washing their suppers down with<br> + economical draughts from the half-pint mugs of porter. They--I think I<br> + may say we--did credit to the selection of the police sergeant, and, so<br> + far as appearances went, fulfilled one of the requirements of Master<br> + Watts, there being nothing of the rogue in our faces, if I except a<br> + slight hint in the physiognomy of the little man with the fair hair<br> + plastered down over his forehead, and perhaps I am prejudiced against<br> + him.</p> + <p class="main">It was a little after seven when the plates were all polished, + the mugs<br> + drained, and nothing but a few crumbs left to tell where a loaf had<br> + stood. The pleasant young person coming in to clear the table, we drew<br> + up round the fire, and for the first time in our more than two hours'<br> + companionship began to exchange remarks.</p> + <p class="main">They were of the briefest and most commonplace character, + and attempts<br> + made to get up a general conversation signally failed. "What do you<br> + do?" "Where do you come from?" "Things hard down there?" + were staple<br> + questions, with an occasional "Did you hear tell of Joe Mackin on + the<br> + road?" or "Was Bill O'Brien there at the time?" From the + replies to these<br> + inquiries I learnt that my companions were respectively a fitter, a<br> + painter, a waiter, and two indefinitely self-described as "labourers."<br> + They had walked since morning from Faversham, from Sittingbourne, from<br> + Gravesend, and from Greenwich, and, sitting close around the fire,<br> + soon began to testify to their weariness by nodding, and even snoring.</p> + <p class="main">"Well, lads, I'm off, goodnight," said the painter, + yawning and<br> + stretching himself out of the room.</p> + <p class="main">One by one the remaining four quickly followed, and before + what I had<br> + on entering regarded as the absurdly early hour of eight o'clock had<br> + struck, five of Watts's guests had gone to bed, and the sixth was<br> + sitting looking drowsily in the fire, and thinking what a jolly<br> + Christmas he was having.</p> + <p class="main">I was awakened by a familiar voice inquiring whether I was + "going to<br> + sit up all night," and opening my eyes beheld the matron standing + by me<br> + with a shovelful of coal in one hand and a small jug in the other. Her<br> + voice was sharp, but her look was kind, and I was not a bit surprised<br> + when she threw the coal on the fire, and, putting down the jug, which<br> + evidently contained porter, said she would bring a glass in a minute.</p> + <p class="main">"I'm not going to bed myself for a bit, and if you + like to sit by the<br> + fire and smoke a pipe and drink a glass whilst I mend a stocking or<br> + two, you'll be company."</p> + <p class="main">So we sat together by Master Watts's fire, and whilst I + drank his<br> + porter and smoked my own tobacco, the matron mended her stockings, and<br> + told me a good deal about the trials she had gone through in a life<br> + that would never again see its sixtieth year. Forty years she had<br> + spent under the roof of Watts's, and knew all about the old man's<br> + will, and how he ordered that after the re-marriage or the death of<br> + his wife, his principal dwelling-house, called Satis, on Boley Hill,<br> + with the house adjoining, the closes, orchards, and appurtenances,<br> + his plate and his furniture, should be sold, and the proceeds be<br> + placed out at usury by the Mayor and citizens of Rochester for the<br> + perpetual support of an alms-house then erected and standing near<br> + the Market Cross; and how he further ordained that there should be<br> + added thereto six rooms, "with a chimney in each," and with<br> + convenient places for six good mattresses or flock beds, and other<br> + good and sufficient furniture for the lodgment of poor wayfarers<br> + for a single night.</p> + <p class="main">Had she many people come to see the quaint old place beside + those<br> + whom the police-sergeant brought every night?</p> + <p class="main">Not many. The visitors' book had been twenty years in the + house,<br> + and it was not nearly full of names.</p> + <p class="main">I took up the book, and carelessly turning back the leaves + came upon<br> + the signature "Charles Dickens," with "Mark Lemon" + written underneath.</p> + <p class="main">I know Dickens pretty well--his books, I mean, of course--and + said,<br> + with a gratified start, "Ha! has Dickens been here?"</p> + <p class="main">"Yes, he has," said the matron, in her sharpest + tones, "and a pretty<br> + pack of lies he told about it. Stop a bit."</p> + <p class="main">I stopped accordingly whilst the old lady flew out of the + room, and<br> + flying back again with a well-worn pamphlet in her hand, shoved it at<br> + me, saying, "Read that." I opened it, and found it to be the + Christmas<br> + number of <span class="italic">Household Words</span> for 1854. It was + entitled "The Seven Poor<br> + Travellers," and the opening chapter, in Mr Dickens's well-known + style,<br> + described by name, and in detail, the very house in which I had taken<br> + my supper.</p> + <p class="main">It was a charming narrative, I, poor waif and stray, felt + a strong<br> + personal regard for the great novelist as I read the cheery story in<br> + which he sets forth how, calling at the house on the afternoon before<br> + Christmas-day, he obtained permission to give a Christmas feast to the<br> + six Poor Travellers; how he ordered the materials for the feast to be<br> + sent in from his own inn; how, when the feast was set upon the table,<br> + "finer beef, a finer turkey, a greater prodigality of sauce and gravy,"<br> + he never saw; and how "it made my heart rejoice to see the wonderful<br> + justice my travellers did to everything set before them." All this + and<br> + much more, including "a jug of wassail" and the "hot plum-pudding + and<br> + mince pies," which "a wall-eyed young man connected with the + fly<br> + department at the hotel was, at a given signal, to dash into the<br> + kitchen, seize, and speed with to Dr. Watts's Charity," was painted<br> + with a warmth and colour that made my mouth water, even after the plate<br> + of cold beef, the small loaf, and the unaccustomed allowance of porter.</p> + <p class="main">"How like Dickens!" I exclaimed, with wet eyes, + as I finished the<br> + recital; "and he even waited in Rochester all night to give his poor<br> + Travellers 'hot coffee and piles of bread and butter in the morning!'"</p> + <p class="main">"Get along with you! he didn't do nothing of the sort."</p> + <p class="main">"What! didn't he come here, as he says, and give the + poor Travellers a<br> + Christmas treat?"</p> + <p class="main">Not a bit of it; as the matron, with indignation that seemed + to have<br> + lost nothing by lapse of years, forthwith demonstrated. There had been<br> + no supper, no wassail, no hot coffee in the morning, and, in truth, no<br> + meeting between Charles Dickens and the Travellers, at Christmas or at<br> + any other time.</p> + <p class="main">Indeed, the visitors' book testified that the visit had + been paid on<br> + May 11th, 1854, and not at Christmastide at all.</p> + <p class="main">It was time to go to bed after that, and I left the matron + to cool down<br> + from the boiling-point to which she had been suddenly lifted at sight<br> + of the ghost of 1854. My little room looked cheerless enough in the<br> + candlelight, but I had brought sleep with me as a companion, and knew<br> + that I should soon be as happy as if my bed were of down, and the<br> + roof-tree that of Buckingham Palace.</p> + <p class="main">And so in sooth I would have been but for the chimney. Why + did the<br> + otherwise unexceptional Master Watts insist upon the chimney? Such a<br> + chimney it was, too, yawning across the full length of one side of the<br> + room, and open straight up to the cold sky. There was--what I forgot<br> + to mention in the inventory--a sort of tall clothes-horse standing<br> + before the enormous aperture, and after trying various devices to keep<br> + the wind out, I at last bethought me of the supernumerary blanket, and,<br> + throwing it over the clothes-horse, I leaned it against the chimney<br> + board. This served admirably as long as it kept its feet, and when it<br> + blew down, as it did occasionally during the night, it only meant<br> + putting up and refixing it, and the exercise prevented heavy sleeping.</p> + <p class="main">At seven in the morning we were called up, and after another + "good<br> + wash," went our ways, each with fourpence sterling in his hand, the<br> + parting gift of hospitable Master Watts.</p> + <p class="main">"Good-bye, paper-stainer," said the matron, as, + after looking up and<br> + down High Street, I strode off towards the bridge, Londonwards. "Come<br> + and see us again if you are passing this way."</p> + <p class="main">"Thank you,--I will," I said.</p> + <p class="main"><br> + <span class="boldleft"><a name="100"></a>CHAPTER X.</span></p> + <p class="boldleft">NIGHT AND DAY ON THE CARS IN CANADA.</p> + <p class="main">"Porter!"</p> + <p class="main">The voice broke the stillness of a long night, and suddenly + woke me out<br> + of a deep sleep. There was a moment's pause, and then the voice, which<br> + sounded singularly near to my bed-curtains, spoke again.</p> + <p class="main">"Porter!"</p> + <p class="main">"Yes, sah!"</p> + <p class="main">"You have given me the wrong boots."</p> + <p class="main">From the foot of my bed, as it seemed, there came another + voice which<br> + said, with querulous emphasis, "These are not my boots."</p> + <p class="main">Then followed explanations, apologies, and interchange of + boots; and<br> + before the parleying had come to an end I was sufficiently awake to<br> + remember that on the previous night I had gone to bed in a Pullman car<br> + at Montreal, and had been speeding all night towards Halifax. It had<br> + been mild autumnal weather in Montreal, and the snow, which a week ago<br> + had fallen to the depth of two or three inches, had melted and been<br> + trodden out of sight save for the sprinkling which remained on the<br> + crest of Mount Royal. Here, as a glance through the window disclosed,<br> + we were again in the land of snow. It was not deep, for winter had not<br> + yet set in, and the sleighs, joyfully brought out at the first fall,<br> + had been relegated to summer quarters. But there was quite enough about<br> + to give the country a cheerful wintry aspect, the morning sun shining<br> + merrily over the white fields and the leafless trees, bare save for the<br> + foliage with which the snowflakes had endowed them. It may have been an<br> + equally fine morning in Montreal, but it is certain it seemed twice as<br> + bright and fresh here, and we began to realise something of those<br> + exhilarating properties of the Canadian air of which we had fondly read.</p> + <p class="main">On this long journey eastward travellers do not enter the + city of<br> + Quebec. They pass by on the other side of the river, and thus gain the<br> + advantage of seeing Quebec as a picture should be seen, from a<br> + convenient distance. Moreover, like many celebrated paintings, Quebec<br> + will not stand inspection at the length of the nose. But even taken in<br> + detail, walking through its narrow and steep streets, there is much to<br> + delight the eye. It has quaint old houses, and shops with pea green<br> + shutters, over which flaunt crazy, large-lettered signs that it could<br> + have entered into the heart of none but a Frenchman to devise. Save for<br> + the absence of the blouse and the sabot you might, picking your way<br> + through the mud in a street in the lower part of the city, imagine<br> + yourself in some quarters of Dieppe or Calais, or any other of the<br> + busier towns in the north of France. The peaked roofs, the unexpected<br> + balconies, the ill-regulated gables, and the general individuality of<br> + the houses are pleasing to the eye wearied with the prim monotony of<br> + English street architecture.</p> + <p class="main">Quebec, to be seen at its best, should be gazed at from + the harbour, or<br> + from the other side of the river. This morning it is glorious, with its<br> + streets in the snow, its many spires in the sunlight, and the blue haze<br> + of the hills in the distance. We make our first stoppage at Point Levi,<br> + the station for Quebec, and here are twenty minutes for breakfast. The<br> + whereabouts of breakfast is indicated by a youth, who from the steps of<br> + an "hotel" at the station gate stolidly rings a bell. The passengers<br> + enter, and are shown into a room, in the centre of which is a large<br> + stove. The atmosphere is simply horrible. The double windows are up for<br> + the still dallying winter, and, as the drops of dirty moisture which<br> + stand on the panes testify, they are hermetically closed. The kitchen<br> + leads out of the room by what is apparently the only open door in the<br> + house, every other being jealously closed lest peradventure a whiff of<br> + fresh air should get in. It is impossible to eat, and one is glad to<br> + pay for the untasted food and get out into the open air before the<br> + power of respiration is permanently injured.</p> + <p class="main">It was said this is the only place where there would be + any chance of<br> + breakfast, nothing to eat till Trois Pistoles is reached, late in the<br> + afternoon. Happily this information turned out ill-founded. At L'Islet,<br> + a little station reached at eleven o'clock a stoppage was made at an<br> + unpretentious but clean and fresh restaurant, where the people speak<br> + French and know how to make soup.</p> + <p class="main">A few years ago a journey by rail between Montreal and Halifax, + without<br> + break save what is necessary for replenishing the engine stores, would<br> + have been impossible. The Grand Trunk, spanning the breadth of the more<br> + favoured provinces of Ontario and Quebec, leaves New Brunswick and Nova<br> + Scotia without other means of intercommunication than is afforded by its<br> + many rivers and its questionable roads. For many years Canadian<br> + statesmen, and all others interested in the practical confederation of<br> + the various provinces that make up the Dominion, felt that the primary<br> + and surest bond of union would be a railway. The military authorities<br> + were even more urgent as to the necessity of connecting Quebec and<br> + Halifax, and at one time a military road was seriously talked about.<br> + Long ago a railway was projected, and in 1846-8 a survey was carried out<br> + with that object. From that date up to 1869, when the road was actually<br> + commenced, the matter was fitfully discussed, and it was only in 1876<br> + that the railway was opened.</p> + <p class="main">It is only a single line, and as a commercial undertaking + is not likely<br> + to pay at that, passing as it does through long miles of territory where<br> + "still stands the forest primeval." It was made by the Dominion<br> + Government in pursuance of a high national policy, and it adequately and<br> + admirably meets the ends for which it was devised. The total length from<br> + Rivière du Loup to Halifax is 561 miles. There is a spur running + down to<br> + St. John, in the Bay of Fundy, eighty-nine miles long, another branch<br> + fifty-two miles long to Pictou, a great coal district opposite the<br> + southern end of Prince Edward Island; while a third span of eleven<br> + miles, branching off at Monckton and finishing at Point du Char, meets<br> + the steamers for Prince Edward Island, making a total length of 713<br> + miles. The rails are steel, and the road is, mile for mile, as well made<br> + as any in England. The carriages are on the American principle--the long<br> + waggons capable of seating fifty or sixty persons, with an open passage<br> + down the centre, through which the conductor and ticket collector<br> + periodically walk. The carriages are heated to distraction by means of + a<br> + huge stove at either end. It is possible to open the windows, but that<br> + is to be easily accomplished only after an apprenticeship too long for<br> + the stay of the average traveller. After a painful hour one gets<br> + accustomed to the atmosphere of the place, as it is happily possible to<br> + grow accustomed to any atmosphere. But the effect of these fierce stoves<br> + and obstinate windows must be permanently deleterious.</p> + <p class="main">The Pullman car has fortunately come to make railway travelling + in<br> + America endurable. Apart from other considerations, the inevitable stove<br> + is better managed. You are thoroughly warmed,---occasionally, it is<br> + true, parboiled. But there is at least freedom from the sulphurous<br> + atmosphere which pervades the ordinary car, with its two infernal<br> + machines, one at either end. In addition, the Pullman cars have more<br> + luxurious fittings, and are hung on smoother springs. It is at night<br> + their value becomes higher, and travellers are inclined to lie awake and<br> + wonder how their fathers and elder brothers managed to travel in the<br> + pre-Pullman era.</p> + <p class="main">Life is too short to limit travel on this continent to the + daytime.<br> + Travelling eight hours a day by rail, which we in England think a pretty<br> + good allowance, it would take just five days to go from Montreal to<br> + Halifax. Thanks to the Pullman car and its adequate sleeping<br> + accommodation, a business man may leave Montreal at ten o'clock at<br> + night, say on Monday, and be in Halifax in time to transact business<br> + shortly after noon on Wednesday. Thus he loses only a day, for he must<br> + sleep somewhere, and he might find many a worse bed than is made up for<br> + him on a Pullman. The arrangements for ventilation leave nothing to be<br> + desired save a little less apprehension on the part of Canadians of the<br> + supposed malign influence of fresh air. If you can get the ventilators<br> + kept open you may sleep with impunity. But, as far as a desire for<br> + preserving the goodwill of my immediate neighbours controls me, I would,<br> + being in Canada, as soon pick a pocket as open a window. One night,<br> + before the beds were made up I secretly approached the coloured<br> + gentleman in charge of the carriage and heavily bribed him to open the<br> + ventilators. This he faithfully did, as I saw, but when I awoke this<br> + morning, half stifled in the heavy atmosphere, I found every ventilator<br> + closed.</p> + <p class="main">After leaving Quebec, and for a far-reaching run, the railway + skirts the<br> + river St. Lawrence, of which we get glimpses near and far as we pass.<br> + The time is not far distant when this mighty river will be frozen to the<br> + distance of fully a mile out, and men may skate where Atlantic steamers<br> + sail. At present the river is free, but the frost comes like a thief in<br> + the night, and the wary shipmasters have already gone into winter<br> + quarters. The railway people are also preparing for the too familiar<br> + terrors of the Canadian winter. As we steamed out of Quebec we saw the<br> + snow-ploughs conveniently shunted, ready for use at a moment's notice.<br> + The snowsheds are a permanent institution on the Intercolonial Railway.<br> + The train passes through them sometimes for the length of half a mile.<br> + They are simply wooden erections like a box, built in parts of the line<br> + where the snow is likely to drift. Passing swiftly through them just now<br> + you catch glimmers of light through the crevices. Presently, when the<br> + snow comes, these will be effectually closed up. Snow will lie a hundred<br> + feet thick on either side, to the full height of the shed, and the<br> + train, as watched from the line, will seem to vanish in an illimitable<br> + snow mound.</p> + <p class="main">This is as yet in the future. At present the landscape has + all the<br> + beauty that snow can give without the monotony of the unrelieved waste<br> + of white. Mounds of brown earth, tufts of grass, bits of road, roofs of<br> + houses, and belts of pine showing above the sprinkling of snow, give<br> + colour to the landscape. One divines already why Canadians, in building<br> + their houses, paint a door, or a side of a chimney, or a gable-end, red<br> + or chocolate, whilst all the rest is white. This looks strange in the<br> + summer, or in the bleak interregnum when neither the sun nor the<br> + north-east wind can be said absolutely to reign. But in the winter, when<br> + far as the eye can roam it is wearied with sight of the everlasting<br> + snow, a patch of red or of warm brown on the scarcely less white houses<br> + is a surprising relief.</p> + <p class="main">The country in the neighbourhood of Rivière du Loup, + where the Grand<br> + Trunk finishes and the Intercolonial begins, is filled with comfortable<br> + homesteads. The line runs through a valley between two ranges of hills.<br> + All about the slopes on the river side stand snug little houses, each<br> + within its own grounds, each having a peaked roof, which strives more + or<br> + less effectually to rival the steepness of its neighbour. The houses<br> + straggle for miles down the line, as if they had started out from Quebec<br> + with the intention of founding a town for themselves, and had stopped + on<br> + the way, beguiled by the beauty of the situation. Sometimes a little<br> + group stand together, when be sure you shall find a church, curiously<br> + small but exceedingly ornate in its architecture. The spires are coated<br> + with a glazed tile, which catches whatever sunlight there may be about,<br> + and glistens strangely in the landscape.</p> + <p class="main">The first day following the first night of our journey closed + in a<br> + manner befitting its rare beauty. The sun went down amid a glow of<br> + grandeur that illuminated all the world to the west, transfigured the<br> + blue mountains veined with snow, and spread a soft roseate blush over<br> + the white lowlands. We went to bed in New Brunswick still in the hilly<br> + country named by the colonists Northumberland. We awoke to find<br> + ourselves in the narrow neck of land which connects Nova Scotia with the<br> + continent. It was like going to bed in Sweden in December, and waking + in<br> + Ireland in September. The snow was melted, the sun was hidden behind the<br> + one thin cloud that spread from horizon to horizon, and the sharp, brisk<br> + air of yesterday was exchanged for a cold, wet atmosphere, that<br> + distilled itself in dank drops on the window-panes. The aspect of the<br> + country was also changed. The ground was sodden, the grass brown with<br> + perpetual wet. In one field we saw the hapless haycocks floating in<br> + water. Thus it was through Nova Scotia into Halifax--water everywhere + on<br> + the ground, and threatening rain in the air.</p> + <p class="main"><br> + <span class="boldleft"><a name="108"></a>CHAPTER XI</span></p> + <p class="boldleft">EASTER ON LES AVANTS.</p> + <p class="main">We nearly lost our Naturalist between Paris and Lausanne. + It was felt at<br> + the time, more especially by the latest additions to the party, that<br> + this would have been a great calamity. Habits, long acquired, of<br> + stopping by the roadside and minutely examining weeds or bits of stone,<br> + are not to be eradicated in a night's journey by rail. Accordingly,<br> + wherever the train stopped the Naturalist was, at the last moment,<br> + discovered to be absent, and search parties were organised with a<br> + promptness that, before we reached Dijon, had become quite creditable.<br> + But the success achieved begat a condition of confidence that nearly<br> + proved fatal. In travelling on a French line there is only one thing<br> + more remarkable than the leisurely way in which an express train gets<br> + under way after having stopped at a station, and that is the excitement<br> + that pervades the neighbourhood ten minutes before the train starts. Men<br> + in uniform go about shrieking <span class="italic">"En voiture, messieurs, + en voiture!"</span> in a<br> + manner that suggests to the English traveller that the train is actually<br> + in motion, and that his passage is all but lost.</p> + <p class="main">It was this habitude that led to our excitement at Melun. + We had, after<br> + superhuman efforts, got the Naturalist into the carriage, and had<br> + breathlessly fallen back in the seat, expecting the train to move<br> + forthwith. Ten minutes later it slowly steamed out of the station,<br> + accompanied by the sound of the tootling horn and enveloped in thick<br> + clouds of poisonous smoke. This sort of thing happening at one or two<br> + other stations, we were induced to give our Naturalist an extra five<br> + minutes to gather some fresh specimen of a rare grass growing between<br> + the rails or some curious insect embedded in the bookstall. It was at<br> + Sens that, growing bolder with success, we nearly did lose him,<br> + dragging him in at the last moment, amid a scene of excitement that<br> + could be equalled elsewhere only on the supposition that the station<br> + was on fire and that five kegs of gunpowder were in the booking-office.</p> + <p class="main">Shortly after leaving Dijon a conviction began to spread + that perhaps if<br> + the fates had proved adverse, and we had lost him somewhere under<br> + circumstances that would have permitted him to come on by a morning<br> + train, we might have borne up against the calamity. Amongst a<br> + miscellaneous and imposing collection of scientific instruments, he was<br> + the pleased possessor of an aneroid. This I am sure is an excellent and<br> + even indispensable instrument at certain crises. But when you have been<br> + so lucky as to get to sleep in a railway carriage on a long night<br> + journey, to be awakened every quarter of an hour to be informed "how<br> + high you are now" grows wearisome before morning.</p> + <p class="main">It was the Chancery Barrister who was partly responsible + for this. He<br> + found it impossible to sleep, and our Naturalist, fastening upon him,<br> + kept him carefully posted up in particulars of the increasing altitude.<br> + This was the kind of thing that broke in upon our slumbers all through<br> + the night:--</p> + <p class="main">Our Naturalist: "1200 feet above the level of the sea."</p> + <p class="main">The Chancery Barrister (in provokingly sleepy tone): "Ah!"</p> + <p class="main">Then we turn over, and fall asleep again. A quarter of an + hour later:</p> + <p class="main">Our Naturalist: "1500 feet now."</p> + <p class="main">Chancery Barrister: "Really!"</p> + <p class="main">Another fitful slumber, broken by a strong presentiment + that the<br> + demoniacal aneroid is being again produced.</p> + <p class="main">Our Naturalist (exultantly, as if he had privately arranged + the incline,<br> + and was justly boastful of his success): "2100 feet."</p> + <p class="main">Chancery Barrister (evidently feeling that something extra + is expected of<br> + him): "No, <span class="italic">really</span> now!"</p> + <p class="main">This kind of thing through what should be the silent watches + of the<br> + night is to be deprecated, as tending to bring science into disrepute.</p> + <p class="main">There was a good deal of excitement about the baggage. We + were a<br> + personally conducted party to the extent that the Hon. Member who had<br> + suggested the trip, had undertaken the general direction, or had had<br> + the office thrust upon him. Feeling his responsibility, he had,<br> + immediately on arriving at Calais, changed some English money. This<br> + was found very convenient. Nobody had any francs except the Member, so<br> + we freely borrowed from him to meet trifling exigencies.</p> + <p class="main">With the object of arriving at the best possible means of + dealing with<br> + the vexed question of luggage, a variety of expedients had been tried.<br> + The Chancery Barrister, having read many moving narratives of raids made<br> + upon registered luggage in the secrecy of the luggage van, had adopted + a<br> + course which displayed a profound knowledge of human nature. He had<br> + argued with himself (as if he were a judge in chambers) that what proved<br> + an irresistible temptation to foreign guards and other railway officials<br> + was the appearance of boxes and portmanteaux iron-clasped,<br> + leather-strapped, and double-locked. The inference naturally was that<br> + they contained much that was valuable. Now, he had pointed out to<br> + himself, if you take a directly opposite course, and, as it were, invite<br> + the gentleman in charge of your luggage to open your portmanteau, he<br> + will think you have nothing in it worth his attention, and will pass on<br> + to others more jealously guarded. You can't very well leave your box<br> + open, as the things might tumble out. So, as a happy compromise, he had<br> + duly locked and strapped his portmanteau, and then tied the key to the<br> + handle.</p> + <p class="main">As he observes, with the shrewd perception that will inevitably + lead him<br> + to the Woolsack, "You are really helpless, and can do nothing to + prevent<br> + these gentlemen from helping themselves. If you leave the key there,<br> + there is a fair chance of their treating your property as the Levite<br> + treated the Good Samaritan. If not, your box will be decently opened<br> + instead of having the lock broken or the hinges wrenched off."</p> + <p class="main">That was a good idea, and proved triumphantly successful; + for, on<br> + arrival at Montreux, the Chancery Barrister's portmanteau turned up all<br> + right, the key innocently reposing on the handle, and, as subsequent<br> + investigation showed, the contents untouched.</p> + <p class="main">Our Manufacturer had a still better way, though, as was + urged, he comes<br> + from Yorkshire, and we of the southern part of the island have no chance<br> + in competition with the race. He lost his luggage somewhere between<br> + Dover and Paris, and has ever since been free from all care on the<br> + subject.</p> + <p class="main">Perhaps it was the influence of these varied incidents that + led to a<br> + scene of some excitement on our arrival at Montreux station. There,<br> + what was left of our luggage was disgorged, and of fourteen packages<br> + registered, only nine were visible to the naked eye. It was then the<br> + Patriarch came to the front and displayed some of those qualities which<br> + subsequently found a fuller field amid the solitude of the Alps.</p> + <p class="main">We call him the Patriarch because he is a grandfather. In + other respects<br> + he is the youngest of the party, the first on the highest peak, the<br> + first down in the afternoon with his ready order for "tea for ten," + of<br> + which, if the party is late in arriving and he finds time hang heavy on<br> + his hands, he will genially drink five cups himself. With the care of<br> + half a dozen colossal commercial undertakings upon his mind, he is as<br> + merry as a boy and as playful as a kitten. But when once aroused his<br> + anger is terrible.</p> + <p class="main">His thunder and lightning played around the station-master + at Montreux<br> + on the discovery of the absence of five packages. The Patriarch has a<br> + wholesome faith in the all-sufficiency of the English language. The<br> + station-master's sole lingual accomplishment was French. This<br> + concatenation of circumstances might with ordinary persons have led to<br> + some diminution of the force of adjuration. But probably the<br> + station-master lost little of the meaning the Patriarch desired to<br> + convey. This tended in the direction of showing the utter incapacity<br> + of the Swiss or French nature to manage a railway, and the discreditable<br> + incompetency of the officials of whatever grade. The station-master was<br> + properly abashed before the torrent of indignant speech. But he had his<br> + turn presently. Calmer inspection disclosed the fact that all the<br> + fourteen packets were delivered. It was delightful to see how the<br> + station-master, immediately assuming the offensive, followed the<br> + Patriarch about with gesticulation indicative of the presence of the<br> + baggage, and with taunting speech designed to make the Patriarch<br> + withdraw his remarks--whatever they might have been. On this point<br> + the station-master was not clear, but he had a shrewd suspicion that<br> + they were not complimentary. The Patriarch, however, now retired upon<br> + his dignity.</p> + <p class="main">It was, as he said, no use arguing with fellows like this.</p> + <p class="main">Les Avants sit high up among the mountains at the back of + Montreux.<br> + It seems madness to go there at a time when fires are still cheerful<br> + and when the leaves have not yet put forth their greenness. But, as<br> + was made apparent in due time, Les Avants, at no time inconveniently<br> + cold, would be, but for the winds that blow over the snow-clad hills<br> + surprisingly hot. To build an hotel here seems a perilously bold<br> + undertaking. It is not on the way to anywhere, and people going from<br> + the outer world must march up the hill, and, when they are tired of it,<br> + must needs, like the Duke of York in his famous military expedition,<br> + march down again. None but a Swiss would build an hotel here, and few<br> + but English would frequent it. Yet the shrewdness of the proprietor has<br> + been amply justified, and Les Avants is becoming in increasing degree<br> + a favourite pilgrimage.</p> + <p class="main">The hotel was built nearly twenty years ago. Previously + the little<br> + valley it dominates had been planted with one or two chalets which<br> + for more than half a century have looked out upon the deathless snows<br> + of the Dent du Midi. There is one which has rudely carved over the<br> + lintel of its door the date 1816. Noting which, the Chancery Barrister,<br> + with characteristic accuracy, observed that "five centuries look + down<br> + upon us."</p> + <p class="main">Our landlord is an enterprising man. His business in life + is to keep an<br> + hotel, and the height of his ambition is to keep it well. Only a<br> + fortnight ago he returned from a grand tour of the winter<br> + watering-places, from the Bay of Biscay to the Bay of Genoa. The<br> + ordinary attractions of the show places from Biarritz to Bordighera had<br> + no lure for him. What he studied were the hotels and their various modes<br> + of management. He told us, with a flush of pride on his sun-tanned<br> + cheek, that he travelled as an ordinary tourist. There was no hint of<br> + his condition or the object of his journey, no appeal to confraternity<br> + with a view to getting bed and breakfast at trade prices, or some<br> + reduction on the <span class="italic">table d'hôte</span> charges. + He travelled as a sort of Haroun<br> + al Raschid among innkeepers, haughtily paying his bills, and possibly<br> + feeing the waiters. He is a very good sort of a fellow, attentive and<br> + obliging, and it is odd how we all agree in the hope that he was from<br> + time to time over-charged.</p> + <p class="main">It is a fair prospect looked out upon from the bedroom window + on our<br> + arrival. Almost at our feet, it seems, is the Lake of Geneva, though<br> + we remember the wearisome climb up the hill, and know it must be miles<br> + away. On the other side are the snow-clad hills that reach down to<br> + Savoy on the east, and are crowned by the heights of the Dent du Midi<br> + on the west. On the left, flanking our own place of abode, rise up the<br> + grim heights of the Roches de Naye, and, still farther back, the Dent<br> + du Jaman--a terrible tooth this, which draws attention from all the<br> + country round, and excites the wildest ambition of the tourist. The man<br> + or woman resting within a circuit of ten miles of Montreux, who has not<br> + touched the topmost heights of the Dent du Jaman, goes home a crushed<br> + person. A very small proportion do it, but every one talks of doing<br> + it---which, unless the weather be favourable, is perhaps the wiser<br> + thing to do. It fills a large place in the conversation as well as in<br> + the landscape, and it will be a bad thing for the Lake of Geneva if<br> + this tooth should ever be drawn.</p> + <p class="main">Lovely as was the scene in the fresh morning air, with the + glistening<br> + snow, the dark pines on the lower hills, the blue lake, and the<br> + greyish upland, they did but serve to frame the picture of the<br> + Patriarch as he sat upon the bench in the front of the hotel. A short<br> + jacket of blue serge, knickerbockers of the same material, displaying<br> + the proportions of a notable pair of legs, the whole crowned by a<br> + chimney-pot hat, went to make up a remarkable figure. The Patriarch<br> + had in his hand a blue net for catching butterflies. The Naturalist<br> + had excited his imagination by stories of the presence of the<br> + "Camberwell Beauty," a rare and beautiful species of butterfly, + of<br> + which he was determined to take home a specimen. In later days he<br> + was fair to see with his hat thrown back on his brow, his net in his<br> + hand: and his stout legs twinkling in their haste to come up with a<br> + butterfly.</p> + <p class="main">The Alps have witnessed many strange sights since first + they uplifted<br> + their heads to heaven. But it is calculated that the Patriarch was<br> + the first who brought under their notice the chimney-pot hat of the<br> + civilised Englishman.</p> + <p class="main">This haste to be up on the first morning was a faithful + precursor of<br> + the indomitable vitality of the Patriarch. He was always first up and<br> + first off, and, amongst many charming peculiarities, was his<br> + indifference as to which way the road lay. We generally had a guide<br> + with us, and nothing was more common in toiling up a mountain side<br> + than to discover the guide half a mile to the left and the Patriarch<br> + half a mile to the right, something after the fashion of the letter Y,<br> + we being at the stem. We saw a good deal more of the country than we<br> + otherwise should have done, owing to the constant necessity of going<br> + after the Patriarch and bringing him back. Sometimes he got away by<br> + himself, at others he deluded some hapless member of the company into<br> + following him. One young man, just called to the bar, had a promising<br> + career almost cut short on the second day. In the innocence of his<br> + heart he had followed the Patriarch, who led him through an apparently<br> + impassable pine forest on to the crest of a remote hill, whence he<br> + crawled down an hour late for luncheon, the Patriarch having arrived<br> + ten minutes before him, and having already had his knife into every<br> + receptacle for food that was spread out, from the loaf of bread to the<br> + box of sardines, from the preserved peaches to the cup without a handle<br> + that held the butter.</p> + <p class="main">Walking up the hill behind the hotel on the way to the Jaman, + the Member<br> + had a happy idea. "Why," he asked, "should not the Parliamentary + Session<br> + be movable, like a reading party? Say the Bankruptcy Bill is referred<br> + to a grand committee. What is to prevent them coming right off here and<br> + settling down for a fortnight or three weeks, or in fact whatever time<br> + might be necessary thoroughly to discuss the measure?"</p> + <p class="main">They might do worse, we agreed, as we walked on, carefully + selecting<br> + the shady side of the road, and thinking of dear friends shivering in<br> + England. The blue haze under which we know the lake lies; the Alps all<br> + around, their green sides laced with snow and their heads covered with<br> + it; the fleckless blue sky; the brown rocks, and over all and through<br> + all the murmuring music of the invisible stream, as it trickles on its<br> + way down the gorge, would be better accompaniments to a good grind at + a<br> + difficult Bill than any to be found within the precincts of Westminster.</p> + <p class="main">"You remember what Virgil says?" the Chancery + Barrister strikes in.</p> + <p class="main">Divers things of diverse character we have discovered invariably + remind<br> + the Chancery Barrister of Virgil or Horace, occasionally perchance of<br> + an English poet. This is very pleasant, and none the less so because<br> + the reminiscences come slowly, gathering strength as they advance, like<br> + the Chancery Barrister's laugh, which begins like the pattering of rain<br> + on leaves, and ends in the roar of a thunderstorm. The Chancery<br> + Barrister takes his jokes gently to begin with: he sees them afar off,<br> + and, closing one eye, begins to smile. The smile broadens to a grin, the<br> + grin becomes a cachinnation, then, as he hugs the fun, the cachinnation<br> + deepens to a roar of laughter, and the thing is complete.</p> + <p class="main">It is thus with his quotations, though these are not always<br> + completed--at least, not in accordance with recognised authorities. As<br> + one of the ladies says, with that kindliness peculiar to the sex, "The<br> + Chancery Barrister is most original when he is making a quotation."</p> + <p class="main">"What's that Wolsey says about the pomps and vanities + of this world?"<br> + "'Vain pomps and vanities of this world,'" the Chancery Barrister<br> + begins, and we know we are in for a quotation. "No, not pomps and<br> + vanities. 'Vain pomps and glories of this world' (that's it)--"</p> + <blockquote> + <p> <span class="smallquote">"'Vain pomp and glory of this world, + I hate ye.<br> + I feel my heart new opened. O how wretched<br> + Is the poor man that hangs on princes' favours!<br> + There is betwixt the smile we would aspire to,<br> + That sweet aspect of princes and their ruin,<br> + More pangs and fears than wars or women have.'"</span></p> + </blockquote> + <p class="main">It's odd how one thing leads to another. By the time the + Chancery<br> + Barrister has got his quotation right, the Patriarch is half a mile<br> + ahead in the wrong direction, and we all have to go and look for him.</p> + <p class="main">The Col de Jaman is the salvation of many tourists. Not + being regular<br> + Alpine climbers, they start over the Dent and get as far as the Col,<br> + rest awhile just under the great mountain molar, and come down. We had<br> + a splendid day for our expedition. It had been freezing hard in the<br> + night, and when we reached the snow region we found the pines frosted.<br> + On the Col a beneficent commune has built some chalets furnished with<br> + plentiful supply of firewood. Out of the sun it was bitterly cold, and<br> + we were glad to light a fire, which crackled and roared up the broad<br> + chimney and made a pretty accompaniment to the Chancery Barrister's<br> + song about the Jolly Young Waterman. He sang it all in one key, and<br> + that the wrong one. But it was a well-meant effort, and we all joined<br> + in the chorus.</p> + <p class="main">There's some talk to-day of a startling episode at an hotel + up the<br> + Rhone Valley. A Russian gentleman was sitting sipping his tea, when<br> + there approached him a lady, who addressed him in three languages.<br> + His replies not being satisfactory she shot him. This is cited by the<br> + Chancery Barrister as showing the advantage of an early acquaintance<br> + with foreign languages, and the desirableness of a pure accent.</p> + <p class="main">It is quite agreed that if our Naturalist had been in the + Russian's<br> + place he would have been shot after the first question. This morning,<br> + on ringing for his bath, he was answered by a chambermaid with a "Pas<br> + encore." Why "not just yet" our Naturalist did not know. + He was not<br> + unusually early. But he had done his duty. He had tried to get up and<br> + have his bath; it was not ready, so he might go back to bed with a<br> + quiet conscience. Presently came another knock, and our Naturalist,<br> + carefully robing himself, opened the door, and discovered the<br> + chambermaid standing there with a plate, a knife, and a breakfast roll.</p> + <p class="main">"What the dev----I mean <span class="italic">qu'c'est + qu'c'est</span>?" he asked.</p> + <p class="main">"<span class="italic">Monsieur a demandé le + petit pain</span>," the girl replied, astonished at<br> + his astonishment.</p> + <p class="main">With great presence of mind he accepted the situation, took + in the<br> + bread, and did without his bath. The Member says that, coming upon him<br> + suddenly amid the silence of the snow, he heard him practising the<br> + slightly different sounds of <span class="italic">pain</span> and <span class="italic">bain</span>.</p> + <p class="main">Nothing but snow between the Col and the Dent du Jaman, + but snow at its<br> + very best, hard and dry. Just before we reach the top we come upon a<br> + huge drift frozen hard and slippery. We might have gone round, but we<br> + decided to try and climb. The Patriarch of course was first, and<br> + achieved the task triumphantly. Others followed, and then came the<br> + Chancery Barrister. Another step, and he would have safely landed.<br> + But unhappily a quotation occurred to him.</p> + <p class="main">"This is jolly," he said, turning half round, + with the proud<br> + consciousness that he was at the crest and that with another stride all<br> + would be well; "what's that Horace says about enjoying what you have?"</p> + <blockquote> + <p> <span class="smallquote">"'Me pascant olivae,<br> + Me cichorea, levesque malvae,<br> + Frui paratis, et valido mihi,<br> + Latoe, dones, et, precor, integra<br> + Cum----'"</span></p> + </blockquote> + <p class="main">Here the most terrible contortion appeared on the generally + pleasant<br> + countenance of the Chancery Barrister. He clutched desperately at the<br> + ice; but his suspicion was too true. He had begun to move downwards<br> + ("When he got to <span class="italic">cum</span> he came," the + Member, who makes bad jokes, says),<br> + and with increasing impetus he slid down the bank. His face during the<br> + terrible moments when he was not quite certain where he would stop, or<br> + indeed whether he would ever stop, passed through a series of<br> + contortions highly interesting to those on the bank above.</p> + <p class="main">"<span class="italic">Me pascant olivae</span>!" + cried the Member. "Olives are evidently no use as<br> + a support in a case like yours, and diachylon would be more use to you<br> + now than soft mallows."</p> + <p class="main">The Chancery Barrister, who had happily reached the bottom, + walked round<br> + by a more accessible path, and nothing further either from Horace or<br> + Virgil occurred to him for more than an hour.</p> + <p class="main">Perhaps the difference in the weather had something to do + with it, but<br> + we found the Dent du Jaman not nearly so difficult to climb as the<br> + Roches de Naye. After the scamper across the snow and the climb over<br> + this little ice-collar down which the Chancery Barrister had slipped,<br> + there is no more snow. We climb up by steps worn by the feet of many<br> + adventurers. The top is a level cone with an area not much greater<br> + than that of a moderate-sized dining-room. There was not a breath of<br> + wind, and the sun beat down with a warmth made all the more delicious<br> + by the recollection of the frozen region through which we had passed.<br> + The Dent is only a trifle above six thousand feet high, but the prospect<br> + as seen from it stretches far. Below is the Canton de Vaud, a portion + of<br> + the Jura chain of mountains, the far-reaching Alps of the Savoy, a bit<br> + of the lake gleaming like an emerald under the white tops of the<br> + mountains, a cloud on the southern horizon that the guide tells us are<br> + the mountains of the Valais, and, still to the south just touched by the<br> + sun, glitter the snow summits of the Great St. Bernard.</p> + <p class="main">Coming down, we bivouac in the <span class="italic">châlet</span>, + lighting up the fire again.<br> + Here, twelve hundred feet lower down, it is bitterly cold, in spite<br> + of, perhaps because of, the fire. The <span class="italic">châlet</span> + is built with commendable<br> + deference to the necessity for ventilation. The wind, smelling fire,<br> + comes rushing over the snow, and we are glad to put on coat and caps.<br> + The conversation turns to legal topics, and certain eminent personages<br> + are discussed with great severity. Of one it is roundly asserted that<br> + he is mad.</p> + <p class="main">"I am quite sure of it," said the Chancery Barrister, + who has recovered<br> + his spirits with his footing, "and I'll tell you why. He seconded + me<br> + for the Reform Club, and----"</p> + <p class="main">We all agree that this is quite enough; but the Chancery + Barrister<br> + insists on proceeding with his narrative, of which it seems this was<br> + merely the introduction.</p> + <p class="main">We found our Naturalist of very little use. We had expected + he would<br> + mount with us whatever heights we sought, and had pleasing views of<br> + his explaining the flora as we went along. But he always had some<br> + excuse that kept him on lower levels. One morning he declared he had<br> + passed a sleepless night owing to the efforts of two Scotch lads who<br> + occupied the room next to him. They had some taste for carpentering,<br> + and were addicted to getting up in the dead of the night and doing odd<br> + jobs about the room. At half-past five a.m. they left their couch and<br> + began playing Cain and Abel. Only the Naturalist protested there is no<br> + authority in Scripture for the fearful row Abel made when Cain got him<br> + down on his back.</p> + <p class="main">At other times our Naturalist had heard of a "Camberwell + Beauty" in<br> + the neighbourhood, and must needs go and catch it, which, by the way,<br> + he never did. On the whole, we conclude our Naturalist is an impostor.</p> + <p class="main">We reserved the Roches de Naye till the last day. It was + rather a<br> + stupendous undertaking, the landlord assuring us that four guides were<br> + necessary. One led a horse that no one would ride, one carried the<br> + indispensable luncheon-basket, and two fared forth at early morn to cut<br> + steps in the snow. The sun was shining when we started on this desperate<br> + enterprise, and it was hot enough as we toiled along the lower heights.<br> + But when we reached the snow level, the sun had gone in, having just<br> + shone long enough to make the snow wet. Then a cold bleak wind set in,<br> + and we began to think that, after all, there was more in the Naturalist<br> + than met the eye. Whilst we were toiling along, sometimes temporarily<br> + despairing, and generally up to our waists in snow, he was enjoying the<br> + comforts of the hotel, or strolling about in languid search of fabulous<br> + butterflies.</p> + <p class="main">Picking our way round a hill in which had been cut in the + snow a ledge<br> + about two feet wide, we came in face of the slope we were to climb. Up<br> + at the top, looking like black ants, were the guides cutting a zigzag<br> + path in the snow. The Member observed that if any one were to offer<br> + him a sovereign and his board on condition of his climbing up this<br> + slope, he would prefer to remain in indigent circumstances. As we<br> + were getting nothing for the labour, were indeed paying for the<br> + privilege of undertaking it, we stuck at it, and after a steady climb<br> + reached the top, when the wind was worse than ever. It was past<br> + luncheon time, and every one was ferociously hungry; but it was agreed<br> + that if we camped here and lunched, we should never get to the top. So<br> + on we went, through the sloppy snow, pursued by the keen blast that<br> + cut through all possible clothing.</p> + <p class="main">It was a hard pull and not much to see for it, since clouds + had rolled<br> + up from the west and hid the promised panorama. The wind was terrible,<br> + and there was no shelter. But we could hold out no longer, and the<br> + luncheon being laid upon the sloppy grass, the Patriarch, with his<br> + accustomed impartiality, went round with his knife.</p> + <p class="main">By this time we had induced him to take the sardines last, + which he<br> + obligingly did.</p> + <p class="main">We ran most of the way back to the side of the hill where + the snow had<br> + been cut. The exercise made us a little warmer; and the genial influence<br> + of the cold fowl, the hard-boiled eggs, the sardines and the thin red<br> + wine beginning to work, we were able to enjoy the spectacle of the<br> + Patriarch leading the first party down the perilous incline. We had<br> + ropes, but didn't think it worth while to be tied. The party was divided<br> + into two sections, half a dozen holding on to a rope. It must have been<br> + a beautiful sight from many a near mountain height to watch the<br> + Patriarch's chimney-pot hat slowly move downwards on the zigzag path.</p> + <p class="main">"What's that Virgil says about ranging mountain tops?" + said the Chancery<br> + Barrister:</p> + <blockquote> + <p> <span class="smallquote">"Me Parnassi deserta per ardua dulcis<br> + Raptat amor: juvat ire jugis, qua nulla priorum<br> + Castaliam molli divertitur orbita clivo."</span></p> + </blockquote> + <p class="main">He had got in the centre of the second party, and with two + before him,<br> + three behind, and a firm grip on the rope, he thought it safe to quote<br> + poetry.</p> + <p class="main">We had eight days at Les Avants, of which this devoted to + the ascent of<br> + the Roches was the only one the sun did not shine upon. Whether on<br> + mountain or in valley, what time the sun was shining it was delightfully<br> + warm. The narcissi were not yet out, but the fields were thick with<br> + their buds. How the place would look when their glory had burst forth + on<br> + all the green Alps we could only imagine. But already everywhere bloomed<br> + the abundant marigolds, the hepaticae, the violets, the oxlips, the<br> + gentians, the primroses, and the forget-me-nots.</p> + <p class="main"><br> + <span class="boldleft"><a name="125"></a>CHAPTER XII.</span></p> + <p class="boldleft">THE BATTLE OF MERTHYR.</p> + <p class="main">"Well, sir, it is, as you say, a long time ago, but + it was one of those<br> + things, look you, that a man meets with only once in his lifetime; and<br> + that being so, I might call it all to mind if I began slowly, and went<br> + on so as to keep my pipe alight to the end."</p> + <p class="main">The speaker was a little, white-haired miner, who had been + employed for<br> + fifty years by the Crawshays, of Cyfarthfa. We were sitting in the<br> + sanctum of his kitchen, the beautifully sanded floor of which smote me<br> + with remorse, for I had walked up from Merthyr, and was painfully<br> + conscious of two muddy footprints in the doorway.</p> + <p class="main">Mrs. Morgan Griffiths, engaged upon the task of repairing + Mr. Morgan<br> + Griffiths's hose, was seated in the middle of the room opposite the<br> + fireplace, having against the wall on either side of her a mahogany<br> + chest of drawers in resplendent state of polish. Mr. Morgan Griffiths<br> + sat beside the fireplace, with his pipe in one hand, the other resting<br> + affectionately upon another mahogany chest of drawers, also<br> + resplendently polished, standing in a recess at his left. The other side<br> + of the fireplace was occupied by the visitor, who, if he had turned his<br> + head a little to the right, might have seen his face reflected in the<br> + resplendent polish of a third mahogany chest of drawers, which somewhat<br> + inconveniently projected from the recess on the side of the fireplace.</p> + <p class="main">Apparently, every well-to-do Welsh collier marks his status + in society<br> + by the possession of a mahogany chest of drawers--if mounted in brass<br> + so much the better--which it is the pride and privilege of his wife to<br> + keep in a state of resplendent polish. Mr. Morgan Griffiths having had + a<br> + long run of prosperity, and being of a frugal mind, had launched out<br> + largely in the purchase of mahogany chests of drawers, and his kitchen<br> + may be said to bristle with them. Each had its history, and it was to<br> + the patient listening to the repetition thereof, and to the expenditure<br> + of much appreciative criticism upon the varied styles of architecture<br> + displayed in their construction, that I completely won Mr. Morgan<br> + Griffiths's confidence, and overcame the cautious fencing with which<br> + he met my first inquiries touching his recollection of the memorable<br> + Merthyr Riots of 1831.</p> + <p class="main">Perfect confidence reigned between us now, and I discovered + that,<br> + though it is exceedingly hard to get a Welsh miner to talk freely to<br> + "a Saxon," when he opens his heart, and can look back for a + period of<br> + fifty years, he is a very interesting companion.</p> + <p class="main">"Yes, it's a long time ago," Mr. Morgan Griffiths + repeated, in short,<br> + clipping intonation of the English language I will not attempt to<br> + reproduce, "but I've often talked it over with Mrs. Morgan Griffiths,<br> + and I can see it all now. Times was sore bad, and there was a deal<br> + of poverty about. Bread was dear, and iron was cheap--at least so Mr.<br> + Crawshay said when we went up to ask him if he couldn't give us<br> + miners a trifle over the twelve or thirteen shillings a week we was<br> + earning. Everybody I knowed was in debt, and had been in debt for<br> + some time, and was getting further in every week. The shopkeepers<br> + up at Merthyr were getting uneasy about their money, and besides<br> + saying plump out to some of us that we couldn't have any more bread,<br> + or that, without money down on the nail, they served out all round<br> + summonses to what was called the Court of Requests. That was all<br> + very well, but as we couldn't get enough to eat from day to day<br> + upon our wages, it was pretty certain we couldn't go and pay up<br> + arrears. But the summonses came all the same, and it was a black<br> + look-out, I can tell you.</p> + <p class="main">"One day, in the middle of the summer of this year + 1831, there was<br> + a great meeting out on Waun-hill of all the miners of the country.<br> + I can't rightly tell you the day of the month, but it was about<br> + three reeks after we rescued Thomas Llewellin, who had been sent<br> + to gaol on account of the row at Mr. Stephens's. We talked over<br> + our grievances together, and we made up our minds that we couldn't<br> + stand them any longer, though we meant no more mischief than our<br> + little Morgan who wasn't born then, me and Mrs. Morgan Griffiths<br> + not being married at the time, nor indeed set eyes on each other.<br> + After the row opposite the Bush Inn, I went back to my work till<br> + such time as the petition we had agreed to send to the King was<br> + written out by Owen Evans, and had come round to be signed by us<br> + all. But there was others not so peaceably minded, and a lot of<br> + them, meeting outside Merthyr, marched over the hill to Aberdare,<br> + where they went to Mr. Fothergill's and treated him pretty<br> + roughly. They ate up all the victuals in the house, and finished<br> + up all the beer, and then took a turn round the town collecting<br> + all the bread and cheese they could lay their hands on.</p> + <p class="main">"A lad sent by Mr. Fothergill came running over the + mountain with<br> + a letter to the magistrates, telling them what was happening in<br> + Aberdare, and pressing them to send off for the soldiers. It was<br> + said the magistrates did this pretty quick, but we had no railways<br> + or telegraphs then, and, ride as quick as you might, the soldiers<br> + could not get here before morning. The men from Aberdare were back<br> + here the same night, and marched straight for the Court of Requests,<br> + where they made poor Coffin, the clerk, give up every scrap of book<br> + or paper he had about the Court's business, and they made a bonfire<br> + of them in the middle of the street. Then they came over here, and<br> + swore we should all turn out and join them.</p> + <p class="main">"I remember it well. I was just coming up from the + pit to go to my<br> + tea, when they came bursting over the tips, shouting and waving<br> + their sticks, and wearing in their hats little bits of burnt paper<br> + from the bonfire opposite Coffin's house. They were most of them<br> + drunk, but they were very friendly with us, and only wanted us to<br> + leave off work and go along with them. I was a young fellow then,<br> + up to any lark, and didn't make much fuss about it. So off we<br> + went to Dowlais, freed the men there, and we all had a good drink<br> + together.</p> + <p class="main">"Next day the soldiers came in earnest: Scotchmen with + petticoats<br> + on, and nasty-looking guns on their shoulders. I stood in a passage<br> + whilst they marched down High Street from Cyfarthfa way, and didn't<br> + like the look of things at all. But close upon their heels came all<br> + our fellows, with bludgeons in their hands, and one of them, a man<br> + from Dowlais, had tied a red pocket-handkerchief on a stick and waved<br> + it over his head like a flag. The soldiers tramped steadily along till<br> + they got just above the Castle Inn, and there they halted, our men<br> + pressing on till they filled the open place below the Castle, as well<br> + as crowding the street behind the soldiers, who looked to me, as I<br> + hung on by the hands and legs to a lamp-post, just like a patch of red<br> + in the centre of a great mass of black. The soldiers had some bread<br> + and cheese and beer served out to them, but they were a long time<br> + getting it; for as soon as any one came out of the Castle with a loaf<br> + of bread and a piece of cheese some of our men snatched it out of<br> + their hands and eat it, jeering at the soldiers and offering them bits.</p> + <p class="main">"The soldiers never said a word or budged an inch till + the Sheriff<br> + looked out of the window and asked the little fellow who was their<br> + commander-in-chief to draw them up on the pavement close before the<br> + hotel. The little fellow said something to them; and they turned round<br> + their guns so as the butt ends were presented, and marched straight<br> + forward, as if our fellows were not on the pavement as thick as ants.<br> + There was a little stoppage owing to the men not being able to clear<br> + off because of the crowd on the right and left. But the thick ends of<br> + the guns went steadily on with the bare-legged silent soldiers after<br> + them, and in a few strides the pavement was clear, and the soldiers<br> + were eating their bread and cheese with their faces to the crowd, and<br> + a tight right-handed grip on their muskets.</p> + <p class="main">"The Sheriff got on a chair in the doorway of the Castle, + with the<br> + soldiers well placed between him and us, and made a rigmaroling<br> + speech about law and order, and the King; but he said nothing about<br> + giving us more wages. Our master, Mr. Crawshay, was in the hotel too,<br> + and so was Mr. Guest, of Dowlais. Evan Jones, a man who had come over<br> + from Aberdare, got up on the shoulders of his mates and made a<br> + rattling speech all about our poor wages.</p> + <p class="main">"'Law and order's all very well," he said, "but + can you live on twelve<br> + shillings a week, Mr. Sheriff, and bring up a lot of little sheriffs?'</p> + <p class="main">"Then we all shouted, and old Crawshay coming up to + the doorway, I got<br> + down from the lamp-post, not wishing to let him see me there, though I<br> + was only standing on my rights. But Mr. William had a voice which,<br> + something like an old file at work, could go through any crowd, and I<br> + heard him in his quiet, stern way, just as if he was talking to his men<br> + on a pay-day, say it was no use them crowding there with sticks and<br> + stones to talk to him about wages.</p> + <p class="main">"'Go home, all of you' he said; 'go to bed; and when + you are sober and<br> + in your senses, send us a deputation from each mine, and we'll see what<br> + can be done. But you won't be sensible for a fortnight after this mad<br> + acting; so let us say on this day fortnight you come with your<br> + deputation. Now go home, and don't make fools of yourselves any more.'</p> + <p class="main">"We always listened to what Mr. Crawshay said, though + he might be a<br> + little hard sometimes, and this made us waver. But just then<br> + Lewis-yr-Helwyr, shouting out in Welsh, 'We ask for more wages and they<br> + give us soldiers,' leaped at the throat of the Scotchman nearest to him,<br> + and snatching the musket out of his hand, stuck the bayonet into him.</p> + <p class="main">"In the twinkling of an eye the great black mass jumped + upon the little<br> + red patch I told you of, and a fearful struggle began. The attack was + so<br> + sudden, and the soldiers were at the moment so earnest with their bread<br> + and cheese, that nearly all the front rank men lost their muskets and<br> + pressed backward on their comrades behind. These levelled their pieces<br> + over the front rank's shoulders and fired straight into the thick of us.<br> + The little officer had hardly given the word to fire when he was knocked<br> + down by a blow on the head, and a bayonet stuck into him, Our men<br> + pressed stoutly forward and, tumbling over the dead, fell upon the<br> + soldiers, who could move neither arm nor leg. The rear rank were, as<br> + fast as they could bustle, filing into the hotel, but not before they<br> + had managed to pass over their heads the little officer, who looked very<br> + sick, with the blood streaming down his face.</p> + <p class="main">"At last the soldiers all got inside the doorway of + the hotel, where<br> + they stood fast like a wedge, two kneeling down shoulder to shoulder<br> + with their bayonets fixed, three others firing over their heads, and<br> + others behind handing up loaded guns as fast as they fired. There was + a<br> + lane speedily made amongst us in front of the doorway; but we had won<br> + the fight for all that, and cheered like mad when the soldiers turned<br> + tail.</p> + <p class="main">"In a few minutes we shouted on the other side of our + mouths. Without<br> + any notice the windows of every room in the hotel suddenly flew up, and<br> + out came from each the muzzles of a pair of muskets which flashed death<br> + down upon us at the rate of two men a minute; for as soon as the first<br> + couple of soldiers fired they retired and reloaded whilst two others<br> + took their places and blazed away. A rush was made to the back of the<br> + hotel, and we had got into the passage, when the bearded faces of the<br> + Scotchmen showed through the smoke with which the house was filled, and<br> + the leaders of our lot were shoved back at the point of the bayonet. At<br> + the same time the windows at the back of the house flew up as they had<br> + done in the front, and the muzzles of the muskets peeped out as they<br> + had done before.</p> + <p class="main">"This was getting rather hot for me. Men dead or dying + were lying about<br> + everywhere around the Castle Inn. If I had been asked that night how<br> + many were killed, I think I should have said two hundred; but when the<br> + accounts came to be made up, it was found that not more than sixty or<br> + seventy were shot dead, though many more were wounded. I was neither<br> + hurt nor dead as yet, and I thought I had better go home if I wanted to<br> + keep so. I was below the Castle Inn at the time, and not caring to pass<br> + the windows with those deadly barrels peeping out I turned down High<br> + Street, and walked through the town. It was raining in torrents, and I<br> + never saw Merthyr look so wretched. Every shop was closed, and<br> + barricades placed across some of the windows of the private houses; and<br> + as I walked along, trying to look as if I hadn't been up at the Castle,<br> + I saw white faces peeping over window blinds.</p> + <p class="main">"Merthyr was trembling in its shoes that day, I can + tell you; and it<br> + came out afterwards that every tradesman in the place had got together<br> + all the bread, cheese, meat, pies, and beer he could put his hands on,<br> + ready to throw out to the mob if they came knocking at his door.</p> + <p class="main">"It was late at night when I got home, having gone + a long way round, and<br> + I saw nothing more of our fellows; but I heard that the wounded soldiers<br> + had been taken up to Penydarren House, which was fortified by their<br> + comrades, and held all night against our men. Somehow the word got<br> + passed round that we were to meet the next morning in a quiet place on<br> + the Brecon road, and when I got there I found our gallant fellows in<br> + great force. I, having neither sword nor gun, was told off with a lot + of<br> + others to get up on the heights that bank the turnpike road near<br> + Coedycymmer, and roll down big stones, so that the fresh troops expected<br> + up from Brecon could not pass. This we did with a will; and when, in the<br> + afternoon, a lot of cavalry came up, we made it so hot for them, what<br> + with the stones rolled down from above and the musketry that came<br> + rattling up from our men who had guns, that they cleared off pretty<br> + smartly.</p> + <p class="main">"This cheered us greatly, and another lot of ours, + who had been posted<br> + on the Swansea road to intercept troops coming up in that direction,<br> + soon after joined us, with news of a great victory, by which they had<br> + routed the soldiers and taken their swords and muskets. We thought<br> + Merthyr was ours, though I'm not sure that we quite knew what we were<br> + going to do with it. When somebody shouted, 'Let's go to Merthyr!' we<br> + all shouted with him, and ran along the road, intending to take<br> + Penydarren House by storm. On the way we met Evan Price and some others,<br> + who had been to see Mr. Guest, and had been promised fine things for the<br> + men if they would give up their arms and go peaceably to work. Some<br> + jumped at this offer and sneaked off; but I had got a sabre now, and was<br> + in for death or glory. There was a good many in the same boat, and on + we<br> + went towards Penydarren House, enough of us to eat it up, if the walls<br> + had been built of boiled potatoes instead of bricks.</p> + <p class="main">"When we got in sight of the house, we found they were + ready for us, and<br> + had got a lot of those soldiers drawn up in battle array. There was a<br> + deal of disputing amongst our leaders how the attack was to commence,<br> + and whilst they were chattering the men were dropping off in twos and<br> + threes, and in about an hour we were all gone, so nothing more was<br> + done that night.</p> + <p class="main">"We lay quietly in our own homes on Sunday, and on + Monday had a great<br> + meeting on Waun-hill again, colliers coming up by thousands to join up<br> + from all parts around. Early in the forenoon we began to move down<br> + towards Merthyr, everybody in high spirits, shouting, waving caps, and<br> + brandishing swords. I saw one man get an awful backhanded cut on the<br> + cheek from an Aberdare collier, who was waving his sword about like a<br> + madman. Nobody knew exactly where we were going, or what we were going<br> + to do; but when we got as far as Dowlais we were saved the trouble of<br> + deciding, for there was Mr. Guest, with a great army of soldiers drawn<br> + up across the road. Mr. Guest was as cool as myself, and rode forward<br> + to meet us as if we were the best friends in the world. He made a good<br> + speech, begging us to think of our wives and families, and go quietly<br> + home whilst we had the chance. Nothing came of that, however, and he<br> + pulled out a paper, and read an Act of Parliament, after which he<br> + turned to the commander-in chief of the soldiers, and said he had done<br> + all a magistrate could do, and the soldiers must do the rest.</p> + <p class="main">"'Get ready,' shouts out the commander-in-chief; and + the soldiers<br> + brought their muskets down with a flash like lightning, and a clash that<br> + made me feel uncomfortable, remembering what I had seen on the Friday.</p> + <p class="main">"'Present!'</p> + <p class="main">"There was ten murderous barrels looking straight at + us. Another word,<br> + and we should have their contents amongst our clothes. It was an awful<br> + moment. I saw one black-bearded fellow had covered me as if I were a<br> + round target, and I said to myself as well as I could speak for my lips<br> + were like parched peas, 'Morgan Griffiths, twelve shillings a week and<br> + an allowance of coal is better than this'; and I'm not ashamed to own<br> + that I turned round and made my way through the crush of our men, which<br> + was getting less inconveniently pressing at the end nearest to the<br> + levelled barrels.</p> + <p class="main">"There was, to tell the truth, a good deal of movement + towards the rear<br> + amongst our men, and when Mr. Guest saw this he rode up again, and,<br> + standing right between the guns and the front rank of our men, said<br> + something which I could not rightly hear, and then our men began running<br> + off faster than ever, so that in about half an hour the soldiers had the<br> + road to themselves.</p> + <p class="main">"That was not the last of the riots, but it is all + I can tell you about<br> + them, for I had had quite enough of the business. There is something<br> + about the look of a row of muskets pointed at you, with ball inside the<br> + barrels and a steady finger on the triggers, which you don't care to see<br> + too often.</p> + <p class="main">"Anyhow, I went home, and there heard tell of more + fighting all that<br> + week on the Brecon road, of Merthyr in a state of panic, and at last of<br> + Dick Penderyn and Lewis the Huntsman being taken, and the whole of our<br> + men scattered about the country, and hunted as if they were rats.</p> + <p class="main">"It was a bad business, sir--a very bad business, and + I know no more<br> + than them as was shot down in the front of the Castle Hotel how it came<br> + about or what we meant to do. We were like a barrel of gunpowder that<br> + had been broken up and scattered about the road. A spark came, and<br> + poof!--we went off with a bang, and couldn't stop ourselves. Yes, this<br> + is a bad business, too, this strike of to-day, and there's a good many<br> + thousand men going about idle and hungry who were busy and full a month<br> + ago. I don't feel the bitterness of it myself so much, because I have + a<br> + little store in the house. I had been saving it to buy another chest of<br> + drawers to stand there, opposite the door, but it's going out now in<br> + bread and meat, and I don't know whether I shall live to save up enough<br> + after the trouble's over, for I'm getting old now, look you."</p> + <p></p> + <p class="boldleft"><a name="137"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</p> + <p class="boldleft">MOSQUITOES AND MONACO.</p> + <p class="main">Up to the end of October, in ordinary seasons, the mosquitoes + hold<br> + their own against all comers along the full length of the Riviera. For<br> + some unexplained reasons they clear out earlier from Genoa, though the<br> + atmosphere may be as unbearably close as at other points of the coast<br> + which mosquitoes have in most melancholy manner marked as their own.<br> + Perhaps it is the noise of the city that scares them. The people live<br> + in the street as much as possible, and therein conduct their converse<br> + in highly-pitched notes. I have a strong suspicion that, like the<br> + habitation jointly rented by Messrs. Box and Cox, Genoa is tenanted by<br> + two distinct populations. One fills the place by day and throughout the<br> + evening up to about ten o'clock; after this hour it disappears, and<br> + there is a brief interval of rare repose. About 2 a.m. the Cox of this<br> + joint tenancy appears on the scene, and by four there is a full tide<br> + of bustle that murders sleep as effectually as was ever done by Macbeth.<br> + I do not wonder that the mosquitoes (who, I have the best reason to<br> + know, are insects of the finest discrimination and the most exacting<br> + good taste) quit Genoa at the earliest possible moment.</p> + <p class="main">The most delightful spot in or near the city is, to my mind, + Campo<br> + Santo, the place where rich Genoese go when they die. The burial-ground<br> + is a large plot of ill-kept land, where weeds grow, and mean little<br> + crosses rear their heads. Round this run colonnades adorned with<br> + statuary, generally life-size, and frequently of striking merit.<br> + Originally, it is presumable that the sculptor's art was invoked in<br> + order to perpetuate the memory of the dead. There are in some of the<br> + recesses, either in the form of medallions or busts, life-like<br> + representations of those who have gone before. But the fashion of the<br> + day is improving upon this. In the newest sculptures there is<br> + exceedingly little of the dead, and as much as possible of the living.</p> + <p class="main">About half-way down the colonnade, entering from the right, + there is a<br> + memorable group. A woman of middle age, portly presence and expansive<br> + dress, is discovered in the centre on her knees, with hands clasped.<br> + The figure is life-size and every detail of adornment, from the heavy<br> + bracelet on her wrist to the fine lace of her collar, is wrought from<br> + the imperishable marble. On her face is an expression of profound grief,<br> + tempered by the consciousness that her large earrings have been done<br> + justice to. Standing at a respectful distance behind her is a youth with<br> + bared head drooped, and a tear delicately chiselled in the eye nearest<br> + to the spectator. He carries his hat in his hand, displays much<br> + shirt-cuff; and the bell-shaped cut of the trouser lying over his dainty<br> + boot makes his foot look preciously small.</p> + <p class="main">These figures, both life-size, stand in an arched recess, + and show to<br> + the best advantage. Just above the arch the more observant visitor will<br> + catch sight of a small medallion, modestly displaying, about half<br> + life-size, the face of an ordinary-looking man, who may have been a<br> + prosperous linendraper or a cheesefactor with whom the markets had gone<br> + well. This is presumably the deceased, and it is difficult to imagine<br> + anything more soothing to the feelings of his widow and son than to come<br> + here in the quiet evenings or peaceful mornings and contemplate their<br> + own life-sized figures so becomingly bereaved.</p> + <p class="main">Mosquitoes do not meddle with woe so sacred as this; but + at San Remo,<br> + for example, which has no Campo Santo, they are having what is known in<br> + the American language as a high old time. Along the Riviera the shutters<br> + of the hotels are taken down in the first week of October. Then arrives<br> + the proprietor with the advance guard of servants, and the third cook;<br> + the <span class="italic">chef </span>and his first lieutenant will not + come till a month later. In<br> + the meantime the third cook can prepare the meals for the establishment<br> + and for any chance visitor whom evil fate may have led untimeously into<br> + these parts. Then begins the scrubbing down and the dusting, the<br> + bringing out of stored carpets, and the muffling of echoing corridors<br> + in brown matting. The season does not commence till November,<br> + coincidental with the departure of the mosquitoes. But there is enough<br> + to occupy the interval, and there are not wanting casual travellers<br> + whose bills suffice to cover current expenses. On these wayfarers the<br> + faithful mosquito preys with the desperate determination born of the<br> + conviction that time is getting a little short with him, and that his<br> + pleasant evenings are numbered.</p> + <p class="main">There are several ways of dealing with the mosquito, all + more or less<br> + unsatisfactory. The commonest is to make careful examination before<br> + blowing out the candle, with intent to see that none of the enemy<br> + lingers within the curtains of the bed. This is good, as far as it<br> + goes. But, having spent half an hour with candle in hand inside the<br> + curtains, to the imminent danger of setting the premises on fire, and<br> + having convinced yourself that there is not a mosquito in the inclosure,<br> + and so blown out the candle and prepared to sleep, it requires a mind<br> + of singular equanimity forthwith to hear without emotion the too<br> + familiar whiz. At Bordighera the mosquitoes, disdaining strategic<br> + movements, openly flutter round the lamps on the dinner-table, and<br> + ladies sit at meat with blue gauze veils obscuring their charms. Half<br> + measures were evidently of no use in these circumstances, and I tried<br> + a whole one. Having shut the windows of the bedroom, I smoked several<br> + cigars, tobacco fumes being understood to have a dreamy influence on<br> + the mosquito. At Bordighera they had none. I next made a fire of a box<br> + of matches, and burnt on the embers a quantity of insect powder. This<br> + filled the chamber with an intolerable stench, which, whatever may be<br> + the case elsewhere, is much enjoyed by the Bordighera mosquito. These<br> + operations serve a useful purpose in occupying the mind and helping<br> + the night to pass away. But as direct deterrents they cannot<br> + conscientiously be recommended.</p> + <p class="main">There is one place along the Riviera where the mosquito + is defied.<br> + Monaco has special attractions of its own which triumphantly<br> + withstand all countervailing influences. Other places along the<br> + coast are deserted from the end of June to the beginning of November.<br> + But Monaco, or rather the suburb of it situated on Monte Carlo,<br> + remains in full receipt of custom. In late October the place is<br> + enchanting. The wind, blowing across the sea from Africa, making the<br> + atmosphere heavy and sultry, has changed, coming now from the east<br> + and anon from the west. The heavy clouds that cast shadows of purple<br> + and reddish-brown on the sea have descended in a thunderstorm, lasting<br> + continuously for eight hours. Sky and sea vie in the production of<br> + larger expanse of undimmed blue. The well-ordered garden by the Casino<br> + is sweet with the breath of roses and heliotrope. The lawns have the<br> + fresh green look that we islanders associate with earliest summer. The<br> + palm-trees are at their best, and along the road leading down to the<br> + bathing place one walks under the shadow of oleanders in full and<br> + fragrant blossom. The warmth of the summer day is tempered by a<br> + delicious breeze, which falls at night, lest peradventure visitors<br> + should be incommoded by undue measure of cold.</p> + <p class="main">If there is an easily accessible Paradise on earth, it seems + to be<br> + fixed at Monaco. Yet all these things are as nothing in the eyes of<br> + the people who have created and now maintain the place. It seems at<br> + first sight a marvel that the Administration should go to the expense<br> + of providing the costly appointments which crown its natural advantages.<br> + But the Administration know very well what they are about. When man or<br> + woman has been drawn into the feverish vortex that sweeps around the<br> + gaming tables, the fair scene outside the walls is not of the slightest<br> + consequence. It would be all the same to them if the gaming tables,<br> + instead of being set in a handsome apartment in a palace surrounded by<br> + one of the most beautiful scenes in Europe, were made of deal and<br> + spread in a hovel. But gamesters are, literally, soon played out at<br> + Monaco, and it is necessary to attract fresh moths to the gaudily<br> + glittering candle. Moreover, the tenure of the place is held by slender<br> + threads. What is thought of Monaco and its doings by those who have the<br> + fullest opportunity of studying them is shown by the fact that the<br> + Administration are pledged to refuse admission to the tables to any<br> + subject of the Prince of Monaco, or to any French subject of Nice or<br> + the department of the Maritime Alps. The proclamation of this fact<br> + cynically stares in the face all who enter the Casino. The local<br> + authorities will not have any of their own neighbours ruined. Let<br> + foreigners, or even Frenchmen of other departments, care for themselves.</p> + <p class="main">In face of this sentiment the Administration find it politic + to<br> + propitiate the local authorities and the people, who, if they were<br> + aroused to a feeling of honest indignation at what daily passes beneath<br> + their notice, might sweep the pestilence out of their midst.<br> + Accordingly, whilst keeping the gaming rooms closed against natives<br> + resident in the department, the Administration throw open all the other<br> + pleasures of Monte Carlo, inviting the people of Monaco to stroll in<br> + their beautiful gardens, to listen to the concerts played twice a day + by<br> + a superb band, and to make unfettered use of what is perhaps the best<br> + reading-room on the Continent. Monaco gets a good deal of pleasure out<br> + of Monte Carlo, which moreover brings much good money into the place.<br> + The Casino will surely at no distant day share the fate of the German<br> + gambling places. But, as surely, the initiative of this most desirable<br> + consummation will not come from Monaco.</p> + <p class="main">In the meanwhile, Monte Carlo, like the mosquitoes, is having + a high<br> + good time. Night and day the tables are crowded, beginning briskly at<br> + eleven in the morning and closing wearily on the stroke of midnight.<br> + There are a good many English about, but they do not contribute largely<br> + to the funds of the amiable and enterprising Administration. English<br> + girls, favoured by an indulgent father or a good-natured brother, put<br> + down their five-franc pieces, and, having lost them, go away smiling.<br> + Sometimes the father or the brother may be discovered seated at the<br> + tables later in the day, looking a little flushed, and poorer by some<br> + sovereigns. But Great Britain and Ireland chiefly contribute spectators<br> + to the melancholy and monotonous scene.</p> + <p class="main">As usual, women are among the most reckless players. Looking + in at two<br> + o'clock one afternoon I saw at one of the tables a well-dressed lady of<br> + about thirty, with a purseful of gold before her and a bundle of notes<br> + under her elbow. She was playing furiously, disdaining the mild<br> + excitement of the five-franc piece, always staking gold. She was losing,<br> + and boldly played on with an apparent composure belied by her flushed<br> + cheeks and flashing eyes. I saw her again at ten o'clock in the evening.<br> + She was playing at another table, having probably tried to retrieve her<br> + luck at each in succession. The bank notes were gone, and she had put<br> + away her purse, for it was easy to hold in her prettily-gloved hand her<br> + remaining store of gold. It was only eight hours since I had last seen<br> + her, but in the meantime she had aged by at least ten years. She sat<br> + looking fixedly on the table, from time to time moistening her dry lips<br> + with scarcely less dry tongue. Her face wore a look of infinite sadness,<br> + which might have been best relieved by a burst of tears. But her eyes<br> + were as dry as her lips, and she stared stonily, staking her napoleons<br> + till the last was gone. This accomplished, she rose with evident intent<br> + to leave the room, but catching sight of a friend at another table she<br> + borrowed a handful of napoleons, and finding another table played on<br> + as recklessly as before. In ten minutes she had lost all but a single<br> + gold piece. Leaving the table again, she held this up between her finger<br> + and thumb, and showed it to her friend with a hysterical little laugh.</p> + <p class="main">It was her last coin, and she evidently devised it for some + such<br> + matter-of-fact purpose as paying her hotel bill. If she had turned her<br> + back on the table and walked straight out, she might have kept her<br> + purpose; but the ball was still rolling, and there remained a chance.<br> + She threw down the napoleon, and the croupier raked it in amid a heap + of<br> + coin that might be better or even worse spared.</p> + <p class="main">This is one of the little dramas that take place every hour + in this<br> + gilded hall, and I describe it in detail only because I chanced to be<br> + present at the first scene and the last. Sometimes the dramas become<br> + tragedies, and the Administration, who do all things handsomely, pay<br> + the funeral expenses, and beg as a slight acknowledgment of their<br> + considerate generosity that as little noise as possible may follow<br> + the echo of the pistol-shot.</p> + <p></p> + <p class="boldleft"><a name="145"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</p> + <p class="boldleft">A WRECK IN THE NORTH SEA.</p> + <p class="main">One December afternoon in the year 1875, just as night was + closing in,<br> + the steam-tug <span class="italic">Liverpool</span>, which had left Harwich + at six o'clock in the<br> + morning, was seen steaming into the harbour with flag half-mast high.<br> + It was quite dark when she reached the quay, but there was light<br> + enough for the crowd collected to see rows of figures laid in the<br> + stern of the little steamer, the faces covered with blankets. These<br> + figures, as it presently was made known, were twelve dead bodies, the<br> + flotsam of the wreck of the <span class="italic">Deutschland</span>. When + the tug arrived at the<br> + wreck she found her much as she had been left when the survivors had<br> + been brought off the previous day. The two masts and the funnel were<br> + all standing, the sails bellied out with the wind that blustered across<br> + the sandbank. The wind was so high and the sea so rough that Captain<br> + Corrington could not bring his tug alongside; but a boat was launched,<br> + under the charge of the chief mate and Captain Brickerstein, of the<br> + <span class="italic">Deutschland</span>. The chief officer and the engineer, + with some sailors<br> + from the tug, rowed out and made fast to the wreck. It was low water,<br> + and the deck was dry. There were no bodies lying about the deck or near<br> + the ship; but on going below, in the saloon cabin there were found<br> + floating about eight women, a man, and two children. These were taken<br> + on board the boat, and further search in the fore-cabin led to the<br> + discovery of the dead body of a man, making twelve in all. One of the<br> + bodies was that of a lady who, when the wreck was first boarded, had<br> + been seen lying in her berth. She had since been washed out, and had<br> + she floated out by the companion-way or through the skylight might<br> + have drifted out to sea with others. Like all the bodies found, she<br> + was fully dressed. Indeed, as fuller information showed, there was an<br> + interval between the striking of the ship and her becoming water-logged<br> + sufficiently long to enable all to prepare for what might follow.</p> + <p class="main">According to the captain's narrative, the ill-fated vessel + steamed out<br> + of Bremenhaven on Sunday morning with a strong east wind blowing and<br> + snow falling thickly. This continued throughout Sunday. All Sunday night<br> + the lead was thrown every half-hour, the last record showing seventeen<br> + fathoms of water. At four o'clock on Monday morning a light was seen,<br> + which the captain believed to be that of the <span class="italic">North + Hinderfire</span> ship, a<br> + supposition which tallied with the reckoning. The vessel was forging<br> + slowly ahead, when, at half-past five, a slight shock was felt. This<br> + was immediately succeeded by others, and the captain knew he had run<br> + on a bank. The order was passed to back the engines. This was<br> + immediately done, but before any way could be made the screw broke<br> + and the ship lay at the mercy of wind and waves. She was bumping<br> + heavily, and it was thought if sail were set she might be carried<br> + over the bank. This was tried, but without effect. The captain then<br> + ordered rockets to be sent up and a gun fired.</p> + <p class="main">In the meantime the boats were ordered to be swung out, + but the sea was<br> + running so high that it was felt it would be madness to launch them. Two<br> + boats were, however, lowered without orders, one being immediately<br> + swamped, and six people who had got into her swept into the sea.<br> + Life-preservers were served out to each passenger. The women were<br> + ordered to keep below in the saloon, and the men marshalled on deck to<br> + take turns at the pumps. At night, when the tide rose, the women were<br> + brought up out of the cabin; some placed in the wheel-house, some on the<br> + bridge, and some on the rigging, where they remained till they were<br> + taken off by the tug that first came to the rescue of the hopeless folk.<br> + The whole of the mail was saved, the purser bringing it into the cabin,<br> + whence it was fished out and taken on board the tug.</p> + <p class="main">The passengers were all in bed when the ship struck, and + were roused<br> + first by the bumping of the hull, and next by the cry that rang fore and<br> + aft for every man and woman to put on life-belts, of which there was a<br> + plentiful store in hand. The women jumped up and swarmed in the<br> + companion-way of the saloon, making for the deck, where they were met + by<br> + the stewardess, who stood in the way, and half forced, half persuaded<br> + them to go back, telling them there was no danger. After the screw had<br> + broken, the engines also failed, and the sails proved useless.</p> + <p class="main">The male passengers then cheerfully formed themselves into + gangs and<br> + worked at the pumps, but, as one said, they "were pumping at the + North<br> + Sea," and as it was obviously impossible to make a clearance of that,<br> + the task was abandoned, and officers, crew, and passengers relapsed into<br> + a state of passive expectancy of succour from without. That this could<br> + not long be coming happily seemed certain. The rockets which had been<br> + sent up had been answered from the shore. The lightship which had helped<br> + to mislead the captain was plainly visible, and at least two ships<br> + sailed by so near that till they began hopelessly to fade away, one to<br> + the northward and the other to the southward, the passengers were sure<br> + those on board had seen the wreck, and were coming to their assistance.</p> + <p class="main">Perhaps it was this certainty of the nearness of succour + that kept off<br> + either the shrieking or the stupor of despair. However that be, it is<br> + one of the most notable features about this fearful scene that, with a<br> + few exceptions, after the first shock everybody was throughout the first<br> + day wonderfully cool, patient, and self-possessed. There was no regular<br> + meal on Monday, but there was plenty to eat and drink, and the<br> + opportunity seems to have been generally, though moderately, improved.<br> + The women kept below all day, and, while the fires were going, were<br> + served with hot soup, meat, bread, and wine, and seemed to have been<br> + inclined to make the best of a bad job.</p> + <p class="main">Towards night the horror of the situation increased in a + measure far<br> + beyond that marked by the darkness. All day long the sea had been<br> + washing over the ship, but by taking refuge in the berths and on the<br> + tables and benches in the saloon it had been possible to keep<br> + comparatively dry. As night fell the tide rose, and at midnight the<br> + water came rushing over the deck in huge volumes, filling the saloon,<br> + and making the cabins floating coffins. The women were ordered up and<br> + instructed to take to the rigging, but many of them, cowed by the<br> + wildness of the sea that now swept the deck fore and aft, and shuddering<br> + before the fury of the pitiless, sleet-laden gale, refused to leave the<br> + saloon.</p> + <p class="main">Then happened horrible scenes which the pen refuses to portray + in their<br> + fulness. One woman, driven mad with fear and despair, deliberately hung<br> + herself from the roof of the saloon. A man, taking out his penknife, dug<br> + it into his wrist and worked it about as long as he had strength, dying<br> + where he fell. Another, incoherently calling on the wife and child he<br> + had left in Germany, rushed about with a bottle in his hand frantically<br> + shouting for paper and pencil. Somebody gave him both, and, scribbling + a<br> + note, he corked it down in a bottle and threw it overboard, following + it<br> + himself a moment later as a great wave came and swept him out of sight.</p> + <p class="main">There were five nuns on board who, by their terror-stricken + conduct,<br> + seem to have added greatly to the weirdness of the scene. They were deaf<br> + to all entreaties to leave the saloon, and when, almost by main force,<br> + the stewardess (whose conduct throughout was plucky) managed to get them<br> + on to the companion-ladder, they sank down on the steps and stubbornly<br> + refused to go another step. They seemed to have returned to the saloon<br> + again shortly, for somewhere in the dead of the night, when the greater<br> + part of the crew and passengers were in the rigging, one was seen with<br> + her body half through the skylight, crying aloud in a voice heard above<br> + the storm, "Oh, my God, make it quick! make it quick!" At daylight, + when<br> + the tide had ebbed, leaving the deck clear, some one from the rigging<br> + went down, and, looking into the cabin, saw the nuns floating about face<br> + upwards, all dead.</p> + <p class="main">There seems to have been a wonderful amount of unselfishness + displayed,<br> + everybody cheering and trying to help every other body. One of the<br> + passengers--a cheery Teuton, named Adolph Herrmann--took a young<br> + American lady under his special charge. He helped her up the rigging<br> + and held her on there all through the night, and says she was as<br> + brave and as self-possessed as if they had been comfortably on shore.<br> + Some time during the night an unknown friend passed down to him a<br> + bottle of whisky. The cork was in the bottle, and as he was holding<br> + on to the rigging with one hand and had the other round the lady,<br> + there was some difficulty in getting at the contents of the bottle.<br> + This he finally solved by knocking the neck off, and then found<br> + himself in the dilemma of not being able to get the bottle to the<br> + lady's mouth.</p> + <p class="main">"You are pouring it down my neck," was her quiet + response to his first<br> + essay. In the end he succeeded in aiming the whisky in the right<br> + direction, and after taking some himself, passed it on, feeling much<br> + refreshed.</p> + <p class="main">Just before a terrible accident occurred, which threatened + death to<br> + one or both. The purser, who had fixed himself in the rigging some<br> + yards above them, getting numbed, loosed his hold, and falling headlong<br> + struck against the lady and bounded off into the sea. But Herrmann kept<br> + his hold, and the shock was scarcely noticed. On such a night all the<br> + obligations were not, as Herrmann gratefully acknowledges, on the one<br> + side; for when one of his feet got numbed, his companion, following his<br> + direction, stamped on it till circulation was restored.</p> + <p class="main">From their perilous post, with waves occasionally dashing + up and<br> + blinding them with spray, they saw some terrible scenes below. A man<br> + tied to the mast nearer the deck had his head cut off by the waves,<br> + as Herrmann says, though probably a rope or a loose spar was the agent.<br> + Not far off, a little boy had his leg broken in the same manner. They<br> + could hear and see one of the nuns shrieking through the skylight, and<br> + when she was silenced the cry was taken up by a woman wailing from<br> + the wheelhouse,--</p> + <p class="main">"My child is drowned, my little one, Adam!"</p> + <p class="main">At daylight a sailor, running nimbly down the rigging, reached + the poop,<br> + and, bending over, attempted to seize some of the half-drowned people<br> + who were floating about. Once he caught a little child by the clothes;<br> + but before he could secure it a wave carried it out of his grasp, and<br> + its shrieks were hushed in the roar of the waters. At nine o'clock, on<br> + the second morning of the wreck the tide had so far ebbed that the deck<br> + was clear, and, coming down from the rigging, the battered and shivering<br> + survivors began to think of getting breakfast. A provident sailor had,<br> + whilst it was possible, taken up aloft a couple of loaves of black<br> + bread, a ham, and some cheese. These were now brought out and fairly<br> + distributed.</p> + <p class="main">An hour and a half later all peril was over, and the gallant + survivors<br> + were steaming for Harwich in the tug-boat <span class="italic">Liverpool</span>.</p> + <p class="main"><br> + <span class="boldleft"><a name="152"></a>CHAPTER XV.</span></p> + <p class="boldleft">A PEEP AT AN OLD HOUSE OF COMMONS FROM THE LADIES' GALLERY.</p> + <p class="main">"No," Mrs. Chiltern-Hundreds said when I asked, + Was she in these days<br> + a constant visitor at the House of Commons? "Chiltern, you know, + has<br> + accepted a place of profit under the Crown, and is no longer eligible<br> + to sit as a member. It is such trouble to get in, and when you are<br> + there the chances are that nothing is going on, so I have given it up.<br> + I remember very well the first time I was there. I wrote all about it<br> + to an old schoolfellow. If you are interested in the subject, I will<br> + show you a copy of what I then jotted down."</p> + <p class="main">I was much interested, and when I saw the letter was glad + I had<br> + expressed my interest. The copy placed at my disposal was undated,<br> + but internal evidence showed that Mrs. Chiltern-Hundreds had paid her<br> + visit in the session of 1874, when Mr. Disraeli had for the first time<br> + in his history been returned to power as well as to office, and Mr.<br> + Gladstone, crushed by an overwhelming defeat, had written his famous<br> + letter to "My dear Granville," announcing his retirement from<br> + political life. Looking down through the grille, the visitor in the<br> + gallery saw many bearers of well-known names who have travelled far<br> + since that date, some beyond the grave. Here are Madame's notes<br> + written in her own angular handwriting:--</p> + <p class="main">"Be in the great hall at four o'clock."</p> + <p class="main">Those were Chiltern's words to me as he hurried off after + luncheon,<br> + and here we were in the great hall, but there was no Chiltern,<br> + which was vexatious. True, it was half-past four, and he is such a<br> + stickler for what he calls punctuality, and has no sympathy with<br> + those delays which are inseparable from going out in a new bonnet.<br> + One of the strings----but there, what does it matter? Here we were<br> + standing in the great hall, where we had been told to come, and no<br> + one to meet us. There was a crowd of persons standing before the<br> + entrance to a corridor to the left of the hall. Two policemen were<br> + continually begging them to stand back and not block up the entrance,<br> + so that the members who were passing in and out (I dare say on the<br> + look-out for their wives, so that they should not be kept here a<br> + moment) might not be inconvenienced. It is really wonderful how<br> + careful the police about Westminster are of the sacred persons of<br> + members. If I cross the road at the bottom of Parliament Street by<br> + myself I may be run over by a hansom cab or even an omnibus, without<br> + the slightest compunction on the part of the police on duty there.<br> + But if Chiltern happens to be with me the whole of the traffic going<br> + east and west is stopped, and a policeman with outstretched hands<br> + stands waiting till we have gained the other side of the road.</p> + <p class="main">We were gazing up with the crowd at somebody who was lighting + the<br> + big chandelier by swinging down from somewhere in the roof a sort<br> + of censer, when Chiltern came out of the corridor and positively<br> + began to scold us for being late. I thought that at the time very<br> + mean, as I was just going to scold him; but he knows the advantage<br> + of getting the first word. He says, Why were we half an hour late?<br> + and how could he meet us there at four if at that time we had not<br> + left home? But that's nonsense. Chiltern has naturally a great<br> + flow of words, which he has cultivated by close attendance upon<br> + his Parliamentary duties. But he is mistaken if he thinks I am a<br> + Resolution and am to be moved by being "spoken to."</p> + <p class="main">We walked through a gallery into a hall something like that + in which<br> + Chiltern had kept us waiting, only much smaller. This was full of men<br> + chattering away in a manner of which an equal number of women would<br> + have been ashamed. There was one nice pleasant-looking gentleman<br> + carefully wrapped up in an overcoat with a fur collar and cuffs.<br> + That was Earl Granville, Chiltern said. I was glad to see his<br> + lordship looking so well and taking such care of himself. There<br> + was another peer there, a little man with a beaked nose, the only<br> + thing about him that reminded you of the Duke of Wellington. He had<br> + no overcoat, being evidently too young to need or care for such<br> + encumbrance. He wore a short surtout and a smart blue necktie, and<br> + frisked about the hall in quite a lively way. Chiltern said that he<br> + was Lord Hampton, with whom my great-grandfather went to Eton. He<br> + was at that time plain "John Russell" (not Lord John of course),<br> + and has for the last forty-five years been known as Sir John<br> + Pakington. But then Chiltern has a way of saying funny things, and<br> + I am not sure that he was in earnest in telling us that this active<br> + young man was really the veteran of Droitwich.</p> + <p class="main">From this hall, through a long carpeted passage, catching + glimpses<br> + on the way of snug writing rooms, cosy libraries, and other devices<br> + for lightening senatorial labours, we arrived at a door over which<br> + was painted the legend "To the Ladies' Gallery." This opened + on to a<br> + flight of steps at the top of which was another long corridor, and<br> + we found ourselves at last at the door of the Ladies' Gallery, where<br> + we were received by a smiling and obliging attendant.</p> + <p class="main">I expected to find a fine open gallery something like the + orchestra<br> + at the Albert Hall, or at least like the dress circle at Drury Lane.<br> + Picture my disappointment when out of the bright light of the<br> + corridor we stepped into a sort of cage, with no light save what<br> + came through the trellis-work in front. I thought this was one of<br> + Chiltern's stupid practical jokes, and being a little cross through<br> + his having kept us waiting for such an unconscionable long time, was<br> + saying something to him when the smiling and obliging attendant said,<br> + "Hush-sh-sh!" and pointed to a placard on which was printed, + like a<br> + spelling lesson, the impertinent injunction "Silence is requested."</p> + <p class="main">There was no doubt about it. This was the Ladies' Gallery + of the British<br> + House of Commons, and a pretty place it is to which to invite ladies. + I<br> + never was good at geometry and that sort of thing, and cannot say how<br> + many feet or how many furlongs the gallery is in length, but I counted<br> + fourteen chairs placed pretty close together, and covered with a hideous<br> + green damask. There are three rows of chairs, the two back rows being<br> + raised above the first the height of one step. As far as seeing into the<br> + House is concerned, one might as well sit down on the flight of steps + in<br> + Westminster Hall as sit on a chair in the back row in the Ladies'<br> + Gallery. On the second row it is tolerable enough, or at least you get + a<br> + good view of the little old gentleman with the sword by his side sitting<br> + in a chair at the far end of the House. I thought at first this was the<br> + Speaker, and wondered why gentlemen on the cross benches should turn<br> + their backs to him. But Chiltern said it was Lord Charles Russell,<br> + Sergeant-at-Arms, a much more important personage than the Speaker, who<br> + takes the Mace home with him every night, and is responsible for its due<br> + appearance on the table when the Speaker takes the chair.</p> + <p class="main">In the front row you can see well enough--what there is + to be seen, for<br> + I confess that my notion of the majesty of the House of Commons is<br> + mightily modified since I beheld it with my own eyes. In the first place<br> + you are quite shut out of sight in the Ladies' Gallery, and I might have<br> + saved myself all the trouble of dressing, which made me a little late<br> + and gave Chiltern an opportunity of saying disagreeable things which he<br> + subsequently spread over a fortnight. I might have been wearing a<br> + coal-scuttle bonnet or a mushroom hat for all it mattered in a prison<br> + like this. There was sufficient light for me to see with satisfaction<br> + that other people had given themselves at least an equal amount of<br> + trouble. Two had arrived in charming evening dress, with the loveliest<br> + flowers in their hair. I dare say they were going out to dinner, and at<br> + least I hope so, for it is a disgraceful thing that women should be<br> + entrapped into spending their precious time dressing for a few hours'<br> + stay in a swept and garnished coal-hole like this.</p> + <p class="main">The smiling and obliging attendant offered me the consolation + of knowing<br> + that the Gallery is quite a charming place compared with what it used + to<br> + be. Thirty or forty years ago, whilst the business of Parliament was<br> + carried on in a temporary building, accommodation for ladies was<br> + provided in a narrow box stationed above the Strangers' Gallery, whence<br> + they peered into the House through pigeon holes something like what you<br> + see in the framework of a peep-show. The present Gallery formed part of<br> + the design of the new Houses, but when it was opened it was a vastly<br> + different place. It was much darker, had no ante-rooms worth speaking<br> + of, and the leading idea of a sheep-pen was preserved to the extent of<br> + dividing it into three boxes, each accommodating seven ladies. About<br> + twelve years ago one of the dividing walls was knocked down, and the<br> + Ladies' Gallery thrown into a single chamber, with a special pen to<br> + which admission is obtained only by order from the Speaker. Still much<br> + remained to be done to make it even such a place as it now is, and that<br> + work was done by that much--and, as Chiltern will always have it,<br> + <span class="italic">unjustly</span>--abused man, Mr. Ayrton. It was he + who threw open the back of<br> + the Gallery, giving us some light and air, and it is to him that we<br> + ladies are indebted for the dressing-room and the tea-room.</p> + <p class="main">This being shut up is one reason why I was disappointed + with the House<br> + of Commons. Another is with respect to the size of the chamber itself.<br> + It is wonderful to think how <span class="italic">big</span> men can talk + in a room like this. It<br> + is scarcely larger than a good-sized drawing-room. I must say for<br> + Chiltern that we got seats in the front row, and what there was to be<br> + seen we saw. Right opposite to us was a gallery with rows of men sitting<br> + six deep. It was "a big night," and there was not a seat to + spare in<br> + this, which I suppose was the Strangers' Gallery. Everybody there had<br> + his hat off, and there was an official sitting on a raised chair in the<br> + middle of the top row, something like I saw the warders sitting amongst<br> + prisoners at Millbank one Sunday morning when Chiltern took me to see<br> + the Claimant repeating the responses to the Litany. The House itself is<br> + of oblong shape, with rows of benches on either side, cushioned in<br> + green leather and raised a little above each other. There are four of<br> + these rows on either side, with a broad passage between covered with<br> + neat matting.</p> + <p class="main">Chiltern says the floor is an open framework of iron, and + that beneath<br> + is a labyrinth of chambers into which fresh air is pumped and forced in<br> + a gentle stream into the House, the vitiated atmosphere escaping by the<br> + roof. But then the same authority, when I asked him what the narrow band<br> + of red colour that ran along the matting about a pace in front of the<br> + benches on either side meant, gravely told me that if any member when<br> + addressing the House stepped out beyond that line, Lord Charles Russell<br> + would instantly draw his sword, shout his battle-cry, "Who goes Home!"<br> + and rushing upon the offender bear him off into custody.</p> + <p class="main">So you see it is difficult to know what to believe, and + it is a pity<br> + people will not always say what they mean in plain English.</p> + <p class="main">Midway down each row of benches is a narrow passage that + turned out<br> + to be "the gangway," of which you read and hear so much. I had + always<br> + associated "the gangway" with a plank along which you walked + to<br> + somewhere--perhaps on to the Treasury Bench. But it is only a small<br> + passage like a narrow aisle in a church. There is a good deal of<br> + significance about this gangway, for anybody who sits below it is<br> + supposed to be of an independent turn of mind, and not to be capable<br> + of purchase by Ministers present or prospective. Thus all the Irish<br> + members sit below the gangway, and so do Mr. Macdonald and Mr. Charles<br> + Lewis. It is an odd thing, Chiltern observes, that, notwithstanding<br> + this peculiarity, Ministries are invariably recruited from below the<br> + gangway. Sir Henry James sat there for many Sessions before he was<br> + made Solicitor-General, and there was no more prominent figure in<br> + recent years than that of the gentleman who used to be known as<br> + "Mr. Vernon Harcourt."</p> + <p class="main">On the conservative side this peculiarity is less marked + than on the<br> + Liberal, though it was below the gangway on the Conservative side<br> + that on a memorable night more than a quarter of a century ago a<br> + certain dandified young man, with well-oiled locks and theatrically<br> + folded arms, stood, and, glaring upon a mocking House, told them that<br> + the time would come when they <span class="italic">should </span>hear + him. As a rule, the<br> + Conservatives make Ministers of men who have borne the heat and<br> + burden of the day on the back Ministerial benches. With the Liberals<br> + the pathway of promotion, Chiltern says, opens from below the gangway.<br> + Mr. Lowe came from there, so did Mr Goschen, Mr. Stansfeld, Mr.<br> + Childers, Mr. Foster, and even Mr. Gladstone himself. The worst thing<br> + a Liberal member who wants to become a Cabinet Minister or a Judge<br> + can do is to sit on the back Ministerial benches, vote as he is bidden,<br> + and hold his tongue when he is told. He should go and sit below the<br> + gangway, near Mr Goldsmid or Mr. Trevelyan, and in a candid, ingenuous,<br> + and truly patriotic manner make himself on every possible occasion as<br> + disagreeable to the leaders of his party as he can.</p> + <p class="main">I do not attempt to disguise the expectation I cherish of + being some day<br> + wife of the First Lord of the Admiralty, or at least of the President + of<br> + the Board of Trade; for there are few men who can, upon occasion, make<br> + themselves more disagreeable than Chiltern, who through these awkward<br> + bars I see sitting below the gangway on the left-hand side, and calling<br> + out "Hear, hear!" to Sir Stafford Northcote, who is saying something<br> + unpleasant about somebody on the front Opposition benches.</p> + <p class="main">The front seat by the table on the right-hand side is the + Treasury<br> + bench, and the smiling and obliging attendant tells me the names of the<br> + occupants there and in other parts of the House. The gentleman at the<br> + end of the seat with the black patch over his eye is Lord Barrington,<br> + who, oddly enough, sits for the borough of Eye, and fills the useful<br> + office of Vice-Chamberlain. Next to him is Sir H. Selwin-Ibbetson,<br> + Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, and whom I have<br> + heard genially described as "one of the prosiest speakers in the<br> + House." Next to him, with a paper in his hand and a smirk of supreme<br> + self-satisfaction on his face, is Mr. Cross, the Home Secretary.</p> + <p class="main">He sits beside a figure you would notice wherever you saw + it. The<br> + legs are crossed, the arms folded, and the head bent down, showing<br> + from here one of the most remarkable styles of doing the human hair<br> + that ever I beheld. The hair is combed forward from the crown of the<br> + head and from partings on either side, and brought on to the forehead,<br> + where it is apparently pasted together in a looped curl.</p> + <p class="main">This is Mr. Disraeli, as I know without being told, though + I see him<br> + now for the first time. He is wonderfully old-looking, with sunken<br> + cheeks and furrowed lines about the mouth and eyes. But his lofty<br> + brow does not seem to have a wrinkle on it, and his hands, when he<br> + draws them from under his arms and folds them before him, twiddling<br> + his thumbs the while, are as smooth and white as Coningsby's. He is<br> + marvellously motionless, sitting almost in the same position these<br> + two hours. But he is as watchful as he is quiet. I can see his eyes<br> + taking in all that goes on on the bench at the other side of the<br> + table, where right hon. gentlemen, full of restless energy, are<br> + constantly talking to each other, or passing notes across each other,<br> + or even pulling each other's coat-tails and loudly whispering<br> + promptings as in turn they rise and address the House.</p> + <p class="main">I observe that Mr. Disraeli does not wear his hat in the + House, and<br> + Chiltern, to whom I mention this when he comes up again, tells me<br> + that he and some half-dozen others never do. Since Mr Gladstone has<br> + retired from the cares of office he is sometimes, but very rarely,<br> + able to endure the weight of his hat on his head while sitting in<br> + the House; but, formerly, he never wore it in the presence of the<br> + Speaker. The rule is to wear your hat in the House, and a very odd<br> + effect it has to see men sitting about in a well-lighted and warm<br> + chamber with their hats on their heads.</p> + <p class="main">Chiltern tells me this peculiarity of wearing hats was very + nearly<br> + the means of depriving Great Britain and Ireland of the presence in<br> + Parliament of Mr. John Martin. That distinguished politician, it<br> + appears, had never, before County Meath sent him to Parliament,<br> + worn a hat of the hideous shape which fashion entails upon our<br> + suffering male kindred. It is well known that when he was returned<br> + he declared that he would never sit at Westminster, the reason<br> + assigned for this eccentricity being that he recognised no<br> + Parliament in which the member for County Meath might sit other<br> + than one meeting of the classic ground of College Green. But<br> + Chiltern says that was only a poetical flight, the truth lying at<br> + the bottom of the hat.</p> + <p class="main">"Never," Mr. Martin is reported to have said to + a Deputation of his<br> + constituents, "will I stoop to wear a top hat. I never had one on + my<br> + head, and the Saxon shall never make me put it there."</p> + <p class="main">He was as good as his word when he first came to town, and + was wont to<br> + appear in a low-crowned beaver hat of uncertain architecture. But after<br> + he had for some weeks assisted the process of Legislature under the<br> + shadow of this hat, the Speaker privately and in considerate terms<br> + conveyed to him a hint that, in the matter of hats at least, it was<br> + desirable to have uniformity in the House of Commons.</p> + <p class="main">Mr. Martin, who, in spite of his melodramatic speeches and + his strong<br> + personal resemblance to Danny Man in the "Colleen Nawn," is, + Chiltern<br> + says, really one of the gentlest and most docile of men, straightway<br> + abandoned the nondescript hat and sacrificed his inclinations and<br> + principles to the extent of buying what he calls "a top hat." + But he<br> + has not taken kindly to it, and never will. It is always getting in his<br> + way, under his feet or between his knees, and he is apparently driven<br> + to observe the precaution of constantly holding it in his hands when it<br> + is not safely disposed on his head. It is always thus held before him,<br> + a hand firmly grasping the rim on either side, when he is making those<br> + terrible speeches we read, in which he proves that John Mitchel is an<br> + unoffending martyr, and that the English, to serve their private ends,<br> + introduced the famine in Ireland.</p> + <p class="main">Mr. Cowen, the member for Newcastle, shares Mr Martin's + prejudices about<br> + hats, and up to the present time has not abandoned them. As we passed<br> + through the lobby on our way to the Gallery, Chiltern pointed him out + to<br> + me. He was distinguished in the throng by wearing a round hat of soft<br> + felt, and he has never been seen at Westminster in any other. But at<br> + least he does not put it on his head in the House; and it is much better<br> + to sit upon than the tall hats on the top of which excited orators not<br> + unfrequently find themselves when, hotly concluding their perorations<br> + and unconscious of having left their hats just behind them, they throw<br> + themselves back on the bench from which they had erewhile risen to "say<br> + a few words."</p> + <p class="main">The gentleman on the left of the Premier is said to be Sir + Stafford<br> + Northcote, but there is so little of his face to be seen through the<br> + abundance of whisker and moustache that I do not think any one has a<br> + right to speak positively on the matter. The smooth-faced man next to<br> + him is Mr. Gathorne Hardy. The tall, youthful-looking man on his left + is<br> + Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, who, I suppose by instructions of the Cabinet,<br> + generally sits, as he does to-night, next to Mr. Ward Hunt. The Chief<br> + Secretary for Ireland is slim; not to put too fine a point on it, Mr.<br> + Ward Hunt is not, and the two manage to seat themselves with some<br> + approach to comfort. The First Lord of the Admiralty further eases the<br> + pressure on his colleagues by throwing his left arm over the back of the<br> + bench, where it hangs like a limb of some monumental tree.</p> + <p class="main">The carefully devised scheme for the disposition of Mr. + Ward Hunt on the<br> + Treasury bench is completed by assigning the place on the other side of<br> + him to Sir Charles Adderley. The President of the Board of Trade,<br> + Chiltern says, is understood to have long passed the mental stage at<br> + which old John Willet had arrived when he was discovered sitting in his<br> + chair in the dismantled bar of the Maypole after the rioters had visited<br> + his hostelry. He is apparently unconscious of discomfort when crushed + up<br> + or partially sat upon by his elephantine colleague, which is a fortunate<br> + circumstance.</p> + <p class="main">The stolid man with the straight back directly facing Mr + Disraeli on the<br> + front bench opposite is the Marquis of Hartington. The gentleman with<br> + uncombed hair and squarely cut garments on the left of the Leader of the<br> + Opposition is Mr Forster. The big man further to the left, who sits with<br> + folded arms and wears a smile expressive of his satisfaction with all<br> + mankind, particularly with Sir William Harcourt, is the<br> + ex-Solicitor-General. The duck of a man with black hair, nicely oiled<br> + and sweetly waved, is Sir Henry James. Where have I seen him before? His<br> + face and figure and attitude seem strangely familiar to me. I have been<br> + shopping this morning, but I do not think I could have seen behind any<br> + milliner's or linendraper's counter a person like the hon. and learned<br> + gentleman the member for Taunton.</p> + <p class="main">Beyond this doughty knight, and last at this end of the + bench, is a<br> + little man in spectacles, and with a preternatural look of wisdom on his<br> + face. He is the Right Hon. Lyon Playfair, and is said to have, next to<br> + Mr. Fawcett, the most remarkably retentive memory of any man in the<br> + House. Chiltern says he always writes his lectures before he delivers<br> + them to the House, sending the manuscript to the <span class="italic">Times</span>, + and so accurate<br> + is his recitation that the editor has only to sprinkle the lecture with<br> + "Hear, hears!" and "Cheers" to make the thing complete.</p> + <p class="main">On the right-hand side of the Marquis of Hartington is Mr. + Goschen. In<br> + fact, at the moment I happen to have reached him in my survey he is on<br> + his feet, asking a question of his "right hon. friend opposite." + What a<br> + curious attitude the man stands in! Apparently the backs of his legs are<br> + glued to the bench from which he has risen, a device which enables him,<br> + as he speaks, to lean forward like a human Tower of Pisa. He is putting<br> + the simplest question in the world to the Chancellor of the Exchequer,<br> + but if he were a junior clerk asking his employer for the hand of his<br> + eldest daughter he could not look more sheepish. His hat is held in his<br> + left hand behind his back possibly with a view to assist in balancing<br> + him, and to avoid too much strain on the adhesive powers that keep the<br> + back of his legs firmly attached to the bench. With his right hand he<br> + is, when not pulling up his collar, feeling himself nervously round the<br> + waist, as if to make sure that he is there.</p> + <p class="main">Next to him are Mr. Dodson and Mr. Campbell-Bannerman, and, + with these<br> + planted between him and actual or aspirant leaders of the Liberal party,<br> + sits Mr. Lowe. I cannot see much of his face from here, for he wears his<br> + hat and at the moment hangs his head. A little later on I both saw and<br> + heard him speak and a splendid speech he made, going right to the heart<br> + of the matter, laying it bare. His success as a debater is a marvellous<br> + triumph of mind over material influences. It would be hard to conceive<br> + a man having fewer of the outward graces of oratory than Mr Lowe. His<br> + utterance is hesitating, sometimes even to stuttering, he speaks<br> + hurriedly, and without emphasis; his manner is nervous and restless, and<br> + he is so short-sighted that the literary quotations with which his<br> + speeches abound are marred by painful efforts to read his notes. Yet how<br> + he rouses the House, moving it to cheers and laughter, and to the rapid<br> + interchange of volleys of "Hear, hear" from opposite sides of + the House,<br> + which Chiltern says is the most exhilarating sound that can reach the<br> + ear of a speaker in the House of Commons. Mr. Lowe sits down with the<br> + same abruptness that marked his rising, and rather gets into his hat<br> + than puts it on, pushing his head so far into its depths that there is<br> + nothing of him left on view save what extends below the line of his<br> + white eyebrows.</p> + <p class="main">To the right of Mr. Lowe I see a figure which, foreshortened + from my<br> + point of view, is chiefly distinguishable by a hat and pair of boots.<br> + Without absolute Quaker fashion about the cut of the hat or garments,<br> + there is a breadth about the former and a looseness about the latter<br> + suggestive of Quaker associations. Perhaps if my idea were mercilessly<br> + analysed it would appear that it has its growth in the knowledge that<br> + I am looking down on Mr. Bright, and that I know Mr. Bright is of<br> + Quaker parentage. But I am jotting down my impressions as I receive<br> + them. Mr. Bright does not address the House to-night, but he has made<br> + one or two short speeches this Session, and Chiltern, who has heard<br> + them, speaks quite sorrowfully of the evidence they give of failing<br> + physical power. The orator who once used to hold the House of Commons<br> + under his command with as much ease as Apollo held in hand the fiery<br> + coursers of the chariot of the sun, now stands before it on rare<br> + occasions with a manner more nervous than that in which some new<br> + members make their maiden speech. The bell-like tones of his voice are<br> + heard no more; he hesitates in choosing words, is not sure of the<br> + sequence of his phrases, and resumes his seat with evident<br> + gratefulness for the renewed rest.</p> + <p class="main">Chiltern adds that much of this nervousness is probably + owing to a<br> + sensibility of the expectation which his rising arouses in the House,<br> + and a knowledge that he is not about to make the "great speech" + looked<br> + for ever since he returned to his old place. But at best the matchless<br> + oratory of John Bright is already a tradition in the House of Commons,<br> + and it is but the ghost of the famous Tribune who now nightly haunts<br> + the scene of his former glories. Mr Gladstone was sitting next to Mr.<br> + Bright, in what the always smiling and obliging attendant tells me is<br> + a favourite attitude with him. His legs were stretched out, his hands<br> + loosely clasped before him, and his head thrown back, resting on the<br> + cushion at the back of the seat, so that the soft light from the<br> + illuminated roof shone full on his upturned face. It is a beautiful<br> + face, soft as a woman's, very pale and worn, with furrowed lines that<br> + tell of labour done and sorrow lived through.</p> + <p class="main">Here again I am conscious of the possibility of my impressions + being<br> + moulded by my knowledge of facts; but I fancy I see a great alteration<br> + since last I looked on Mr. Gladstone's face, now two years ago. It was<br> + far away from here, in a big wooden building in a North Wales town. He<br> + was on a platform surrounded by grotesque men in blue gowns and caps,<br> + which marked high rank in Celtic bardship. At that time he was the<br> + nominal leader of a great majority that would not follow him, and<br> + president of a Ministry that thwarted all his steps. His face looked<br> + much harder then, and his eye glanced restlessly round, taking in<br> + every movement of the crowd in the pavilion. He seemed to exist in a<br> + hectic flush of life, and was utterly incapable of taking rest. Now his<br> + face, though still thin, has filled up. The lines on his brow and under<br> + his eyes, though too deeply furrowed to be eradicable, have been<br> + smoothed down, and there is about his face a sense of peace and a<br> + pleasant look of rest.</p> + <p class="main">Chiltern says that sometimes when Mr. Gladstone has been + in the House<br> + this Session he has, during the progress of a debate, momentarily<br> + sprung into his old attitude of earnest, eager attention, and there<br> + have been critical moments when his interposition in debate has<br> + appeared imminent. But he has conquered the impulse, lain back again<br> + on the bench, and let the House go its own way. It is very odd,<br> + Chiltern says, to have him sitting there silent in the midst of so<br> + much talking. This was specially felt during the debate about those<br> + Irish Acts with which he had so much to do.</p> + <p class="main">Chiltern tells me that whilst the debate on the Irish Bill + was going on<br> + there came from no one knows where, passed from hand to hand along the<br> + benches, a scrap of paper on which was written this verse from "In<br> + Memoriam":--</p> + <blockquote> + <p> <span class="smallquote">"At our old pastimes in the hall<br> + We gambol'd making vain pretence<br> + Of gladness, With an awful sense<br> + Of one mute Shadow watching all."</span></p> + </blockquote> + <p class="main">Although the gangway has a distinct and important significance + in<br> + marking off <span class="italic">nuances </span>of political parties, + it appears that it does not<br> + follow as an inevitable sequence that because a man sits behind the<br> + Ministerial bench he is therefore a Taper or a Tadpole, or that because<br> + he takes up his quarters below the gangway he is a John Hampden. The<br> + distinction is more strongly marked on the Liberal side; but even there<br> + there are some honest men who usually obey the crack of the Whip. On the<br> + Conservative side the gangway has scarcely any significance, and though<br> + the Lewisian "Party," which consists solely of Charles, sits + there, and<br> + from time to time reminds the world of its existence by loudly shouting<br> + in its ear, it may always be depended upon in a real party division to<br> + swell the Ministerial majority by one vote. The Scotch members, who sit<br> + chiefly on the Liberal side, spread themselves impartially over seats<br> + above and below the gangway. The Home Rule members, who also favour the<br> + Liberal side, sit together in a cluster below the gangway in defiant<br> + proximity to the Sergeant-at-Arms. They are rather noisy at times, and<br> + whenever Chiltern comes in late to dinner, or after going back stays<br> + till all hours in the morning, it is sure to be "those Irish fellows."<br> + But I think the House of Commons ought to be much obliged to Ireland for<br> + its contribution of members, and to resist to the last the principle of<br> + Home Rule. For it is not, as at present constituted, an assembly that<br> + can afford to lose any element that has about it a tinge of originality,<br> + a flash of humour, or an echo of eloquence.</p> + <p class="main">That, of course, is Chiltern's remark. I only know, for + my part, that<br> + the Ladies' Gallery is a murky den, in which you can hear very little,<br> + not see much, and are yourself not seen at all.</p> + <p></p> + <p class="boldleft"><a name="XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</p> + <p class="boldleft">SOME PREACHERS I HAVE KNOWN.</p> + <p class="boldleft"><a name="170"></a>MR. MOODY.</p> + <p class="main">I heard Mr. Moody preach twice when he paid his first visit + to this<br> + country. Borrowing an idea from another profession, he had a series of<br> + rehearsals before he came to London. It was in the Free Trade Hall,<br> + Manchester, and service opened at eight o'clock on a frosty morning in<br> + December. I had to stand during the whole of the service, one of a crowd<br> + wedged in the passages between the closely-packed benches. Every<br> + available seat had been occupied shortly after seven, when the doors<br> + were thrown open. The galleries were thronged, and even the balconies + at<br> + the rear of the hall were full to overflowing. The audience were, I<br> + should say, pretty equally divided in the matter of sex, and were<br> + apparently of the class of small tradesmen, clerks, and well-to do<br> + mechanics; that was the general class of the morning congregation. But<br> + it must not therefore be understood that the upper class in Manchester<br> + stood aloof from the special services of the American gentlemen. At the<br> + afternoon meeting, elegantly attired ladies and gentlemen, wearing<br> + spotless kid gloves and coats of irreproachable cut, struggled for a<br> + place in the mighty throng that streamed into the hall.</p> + <p class="main">Punctually at eight o'clock the meeting was opened by one + of the local<br> + clergymen, who prayed for a blessing on the day and the work, declaring,<br> + amid subdued but triumphant cries from portions of the congregation,<br> + that "the Lord has risen indeed! Now is the stone rolled away from + the<br> + sepulchre, and the Kingdom of God is at hand." Mr. Moody, who sat + at a<br> + small desk in front of the platform, advanced and gave out the hymn,<br> + "Guide us, O Thou Great Jehovah," the singing of which Mr. Sankey,<br> + sitting before a small harmonium, led and accompanied, the vast<br> + congregation joining with great heartiness.</p> + <p class="main">"Mr. Sankey will now sing a hymn by himself," + said Mr. Moody; whereupon<br> + there was a movement in the hall, a rustling of dresses, and a general<br> + settling down to hear something special.</p> + <p class="main">The movement was so prolonged that Mr. Moody again stood + up, and begged<br> + that every one would be "perfectly still whilst Mr. Sankey sang." + There<br> + was another pause, Mr. Sankey waiting with marked punctiliousness till<br> + the last cougher had got over his difficulty. Presently the profound<br> + stillness was broken by the harmonium--"melodeon" is, I believe, + the<br> + precise name of the instrument--softly sounding a bar of music. Then Mr.<br> + Sankey suddenly and loudly broke in with the first line of the hymn,<br> + "What are you going to do, brother?"</p> + <p class="main">Mr Sankey has a fairly good voice, which he used in what + is called "an<br> + effective" manner, singing certain lines of the hymn <span class="italic">pianissimo</span>, + and<br> + giving the recurrent line, "What are you going to do, brother?" + <span class="italic">forte</span>,<br> + with a long dwelling on the monosyllable "do." When he reached + the<br> + last verse, he, after a short pause, began to play a tune well known at<br> + these meetings, into which the congregation struck with a mighty voice<br> + that served to bring into stronger prominence the artificial character<br> + of the preceding performance. The words had a martial, inspiriting sound,<br> + and as the verse rolled forth, filling the great hall with a mighty<br> + musical noise, one could see the eyes of strong men fill with tears.</p> + <blockquote> + <p> <span class="smallquote">"Ho, my comrades! see the signal<br> + Waving in the sky;<br> + Reinforcements now appearing,<br> + Victory is nigh!<br> + 'Hold the fort, for I am coming,'<br> + Jesus signals still;<br> + Wave the answer back to Heaven,<br> + 'By Thy grace we Will.'"</span></p> + </blockquote> + <p class="main">The subject of Mr. Moody's address was "Daniel"--whom + he once,<br> + referring to the prophet's position under King Darius, dubbed "the<br> + Bismarck of those times," and always called "Dan'l." One + might converse<br> + for an hour with Mr. Moody without discovering from his accent that he<br> + comes from the United States. But it is unmistakable when he preaches,<br> + and especially in the colloquies supposed to have taken place between<br> + characters in the Bible and elsewhere.</p> + <p class="main">He began his discourse without other preface than a half + apology for<br> + selecting a subject which, it might be supposed, everybody knew<br> + everything about. But, for his part, he liked to take out and look upon<br> + the photographs of old friends when they were far away, and he hoped his<br> + hearers would not think it waste of time to take another look at the<br> + picture of Dan'l. One peculiarity about Dan'l was that there was nothing<br> + against his character to be found all through the Bible. Nowadays, when<br> + men write biographies, they throw what they call the veil of charity<br> + over the dark spots in a career. But when God writes a man's life he<br> + puts it all in. So it happened that there are found very few, even of<br> + the best men in the Bible, without their times of sin. But Dan'l came + out<br> + spotless, and the preacher attributed his exceptionally bright life<br> + to the power of saying "No."</p> + <p class="main">After this exordium, Mr. Moody proceeded to tell in his + own words the<br> + story of the life of Daniel. Listening to him, it was not difficult to<br> + comprehend the secret of his power over the masses. Like Bunyan, he<br> + possesses the great gift of being able to realise things unseen, and to<br> + describe his vision in familiar language to those whom he addresses. His<br> + notion of "Babylon, that great city," would barely stand the + test of<br> + historic research. But that there really was in far-off days a great<br> + city called Babylon, in which men bustled about, ate and drank, schemed<br> + and plotted, and were finally overruled by the visible hand of God, he<br> + made as clear to the listening congregation as if he were talking about<br> + Chicago.</p> + <p class="main">He filled the lay figures with life, clothed them with garments, + and<br> + then made them talk to each other in the English language as it is<br> + to-day accented in some of the American States.</p> + <p class="main">On the previous night I had heard him deliver an address + in one of the<br> + densely populated districts of Salford. Admission to the chapel in which<br> + the service was held was exclusively confined to women, and,<br> + notwithstanding it was Saturday night, there were at least a thousand<br> + sober-looking and respectably dressed women present. The subject of the<br> + discussion was Christ's conversation with Nicodemus--whose social<br> + position Mr. Moody incidentally made familiar to the congregation by<br> + observing, "if he had lived in these days, he would have been a doctor<br> + of divinity, Nicodemus, D. D, or perhaps LL D." His purpose was to + make<br> + it clear that men are saved, not by any action of their own, but simply<br> + by faith. This he illustrated, among other ways, by introducing a<br> + domestic scene from the life of the children of Israel in the Wilderness<br> + at the time the brazen serpent was lifted up. The dramatis personae were<br> + a Young Convert, a Sceptic, and the Sceptic's Mother. The convert, who<br> + has been bitten by the serpent, and, having followed Moses' injunction,<br> + is cured, "comes along" and finds the sceptic lying down "badly + bitten."<br> + He entreats him to look upon the brazen serpent which Moses has lifted<br> + up. But the sceptic has no faith in the alleged cure, and refuses.</p> + <p class="main">"Do you think," he says, "I'm going to be + saved by looking at a brass<br> + serpent away off on a pole? No, no."</p> + <p class="main">"Wall, I dunno," says the young convert, "but + I was saved that way<br> + myself. Don't you think you'd better try it?"</p> + <p class="main">The sceptic refuses, and his mother "comes along," + and observes,<br> + --"Hadn't you better look at it, my boy?"</p> + <p class="main">"Well, mother, the fact is, if I could understand the + f'losophy of it I<br> + would look up right off; but I don't see how a brass serpent away off + on<br> + a pole can cure me."</p> + <p class="main">And so he dies in his unbelief.</p> + <p class="main">It seemed odd to hear this conversation from the Wilderness + recited,<br> + word for word, in the American vernacular, and with a local colouring<br> + that suggested that both the sceptic and the young convert wore<br> + tail-coats, and that the mother had "come along" in a stuff + dress. But<br> + when the preacher turned aside, and in a few words spoke of sons who<br> + would not hear the counsel of Christian mothers and refused to "look<br> + up and live," the silent tears that coursed down many a face in the<br> + congregation showed that his homely picture had been clear as the<br> + brazen serpent in the Wilderness to the eyes of faith before which<br> + it was held up.</p> + <p class="main">The story of Daniel is one peculiarly susceptible of Mr. + Moody's usual<br> + method of treatment, and for three-quarters of an hour he kept the<br> + congregation at the morning meeting enthralled whilst he told how<br> + Daniel's simple faith triumphed over the machinations of the unbeliever.<br> + Mr. Moody's style is unlike that of most religious revivalists. He<br> + neither shouts nor gesticulates, and mentioned "hell" only once, + and<br> + that in connection with the life the drunkard makes for himself. His<br> + manner is reflected by the congregation in respect of abstention from<br> + working themselves up into "a state." This makes all the more + impressive<br> + the signs of genuine emotion which follow and accompany the preacher's<br> + utterance. When he was picturing the scene of Daniel translating the<br> + king's dream, rapidly reciting Daniel's account of the dream, and<br> + Nebuchadnezzar's quick and delighted ejaculation, "That's so!" + "That's<br> + it!" as he recognised the incidents, I fancied it was not without<br> + difficulty some of the people, bending forward, listening with<br> + glistening eye and heightened colour, refrained from clapping their<br> + hands for glee that the faithful Daniel, the unyielding servant of<br> + God, had triumphed over tribulation, and had walked out of prison<br> + to take his place on the right hand of the king.</p> + <p class="main">There was not much exhortation throughout the discourse, + not the<br> + slightest reference to any disputed point of doctrine. It was nothing<br> + more than a re-telling of the story of Daniel. But whilst<br> + Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Darius, and even<br> + the hundred and twenty princes, became for the congregation living and<br> + moving beings, all the ends of the narrative were, with probably<br> + unconscious, certainly unbetrayed, art, gathered together to lead up to<br> + the one lesson--that compromise, where truth and religion are concerned,<br> + is never worthy of those who profess to believe God's word.</p> + <p class="main">"I am sick of the shams of the present day," said + Mr. Moody, bringing<br> + his discourse to a sudden close. "I am tired of the way men parley<br> + with the world whilst they are holding out their hands to be lifted<br> + into heaven. If we're gwine to be good Christians and God's people let<br> + us be so out-and-out."</p> + <p class="boldleft"><br> + <a name="176"></a>"BENDIGO."</p> + <p class="main">Bendigo, the erewhile famous champion of England, I one + evening found in<br> + the pulpit at the London Cabman's Mission Hall. After quitting the ring,<br> + Bendigo took to politics; that is to say, he, for a consideration,<br> + directed at Parliamentary elections the proceedings of the "lambs" + in<br> + his native town of Nottingham. Now he had given up even that<br> + worldliness, and had taken to preaching. His fame had brought together + a<br> + large congregation. The Hall was crowded to overflowing, and the<br> + proceedings were, as one of the speakers described it, conducted "by<br> + shifts," the leaders, including Bendigo, going downstairs to address + the<br> + crowd collected in the lower room after having spoken to the<br> + congregation in the regular meeting hall.</p> + <p class="main">The service was opened with prayer by Mr. John Dupee, superintendent + of<br> + the Mission, after which the congregation vigorously joined in the<br> + singing of a hymn. A second hymn followed upon the reading of a psalm;<br> + and Mr. Dupee proceeded to say a few words about "our dear and saved<br> + brother, Bendigo." With a frankness that in no wise disconcerted + the<br> + veteran prizefighter, Mr. Dupee discussed and described the condition<br> + in which he had lived up to about two years ago. The speaker was, it<br> + appeared, a fellow-townsman of Bendigo's, and his recollection of him<br> + went back for nearly forty years, at which time his state was so bad<br> + that Mr. Dupee, then a lad, used to walk behind him through the streets<br> + of Nottingham praying that he might be forgiven. Now he was saved, and,<br> + quoting the handbill that had advertised the meeting, Mr. Dupee hailed<br> + him as "a miracle of mercy, the greatest miracle of the nineteenth<br> + century," which view the congregation approved by fervent cries of<br> + "Praise the Lord!" "Hallelujah!"</p> + <p class="main">Whether Bendigo would stand steadfast in the new course + he had begun<br> + to tread was a matter which--Mr. Dupee did not hide it--was freely<br> + discussed in the circles where the ex-champion was best known. But<br> + he had now gone straight for two years, and Mr. Dupee believed he<br> + would keep straight.</p> + <p class="main">Before introducing Bendigo to the meeting, Mr. Dupee said + his own<br> + "brother Jim" would say a few words, his claim upon the attention + of<br> + the congregation being enforced by the asseveration that he was "the<br> + next great miracle of the nineteenth century." From particulars which<br> + Mr. Dupee proceeded to give in relation to the early history of his<br> + brother, it would be difficult to decide whether he or Bendigo had<br> + the fuller claim to the title of the "wickedest man in Nottingham."<br> + A single anecdote told to the discredit of his early life must<br> + suffice in indication of its general character. He was, it appeared,<br> + always getting tipsy and arriving home at untimely hours.</p> + <p class="main">"One night," said the preacher, "he came + home very late, and was<br> + kicking up an awful row in the street just before he came in. I<br> + opened the window, and, looking out, said to him very gently, 'Now<br> + Jim, do come in without waking mother.' And what d'ye think he said?<br> + Why, he said nothing, but just up with a brick and heaved it at me.<br> + That was Jim in the old days," he continued, turning to his brother<br> + with an admiring glance. "He always was lively as a sinner, and<br> + he's just the same now he's on his way to join the saints."</p> + <p class="main">"Jim" even at the outset fully justified this + exordium by suddenly<br> + approaching the pulpit desk with his hands stretched out, singing the<br> + "Hallelujah band." In the course of an address delivered with + much<br> + animation and filled with startling phrases, it became clear that<br> + "Jim" had been the immediate instrument of the conversion of + Bendigo.<br> + He added considerably to the stock of information respecting the<br> + early life of that personage, and told in detail how better things<br> + began to dawn upon him.</p> + <p class="main">At the outset of his new career Bendigo's enthusiasm was + somewhat<br> + misdirected, as was manifested at an infidel meeting he attended in<br> + company with his sponsor.</p> + <p class="main">"Who's them chaps on the platform?" said Bendigo + to Jim.</p> + <p class="main">"Infidels," said Jim.</p> + <p class="main">"What's that?" queried Bendigo.</p> + <p class="main">"Why, fellows as don't believe in God or the devil."</p> + <p class="main">"Then come along, and we'll soon clear the platform," + said Bendigo,<br> + beginning to strip.</p> + <p class="main">Jim's address lasted for nearly half an hour, and when at + last brought<br> + to a conclusion he went below to "begin again" with the crowd + in the<br> + lower room.</p> + <p class="main">Mr. Dupee again appeared at the desk and said they would + sing a verse<br> + of a hymn, after which Bendigo would address them, and the plate would<br> + be handed round for a collection to cover the cost of the bills and of<br> + Bendigo's travelling expenses. The hymn was a well-known one, with, as<br> + given out by the preacher, an alteration in the second line thus:</p> + <blockquote> + <p> <span class="smallquote">"Praise God from whom all blessings + flow,<br> + Praise Him for brother Bendigo."</span></p> + </blockquote> + <p class="main">This sung with mighty volume of sound, Bendigo, who had + all this time<br> + been quietly seated on the platform, advanced, and began to speak in a<br> + simple, unaffected, but wholly unintelligent manner. He was decently<br> + dressed in a frock-coat, with black velveteen waistcoat buttoned over<br> + his broad chest. He was still, despite his threescore years, straight<br> + as a pole; and had a fine healthy looking face, that belied the fearful<br> + stories told by his friends of his dissipation. Except a certain<br> + flattening of the bridge of the nose, a slight indentation on the<br> + forehead between the eyebrows, and the crooked finger on his left hand,<br> + he bore no traces of many pitched fights of which he is the hero, and<br> + might in such an assembly have been taken for a mild-mannered family<br> + coachman.</p> + <p class="main">His address, though occasionally marked by the grotesque + touches which<br> + characterised the remarks of the two preceding speakers, was not without<br> + touches of pathos.</p> + <p class="main">"I've been a fighting character," he said, and + this was a periphrastic<br> + way of referring to his old occupation in which he evidently took great<br> + pleasure; "but now I'm a Miracle. What could I do? I was the<br> + youngest-born of twenty-one children, and the first thing done with me<br> + was to put me in a workhouse. There I got among fellows who brought me<br> + out, and I became a fighting character. Thirty years ago I came up to<br> + London to fight Ben Caunt, and I licked him. I'm sixty-three now, and<br> + I didn't think I should ever come up to London to fight for King Jesus.<br> + But here I am, and I wish I could read out of the blessed Book for then<br> + I could talk to you better. But I never learnt to read, though I'm<br> + hoping by listening to the conversation around me to pick up a good<br> + deal of the Bible, and then I'll talk to you better. I'm only two years<br> + old at present, and know no more than a baby. It's two years ago since<br> + Jesus came to me and had a bout with me, and I can tell you He licked<br> + me in the first round. He got me down on my knees the first go, and<br> + there I found grace. I've got a good many cups and belts which I won<br> + when I was a fighting character. Them cups and belts will fade, but<br> + there's a crown being prepared for old Bendigo that'll never fade."</p> + <p class="main">This and much more to the same purport the veteran said, + and then Mr.<br> + Dupee interposed with more "few words," the plate was sent round, + and<br> + the superintendent and Bendigo went downstairs to relieve "brother + Jim,"<br> + the echo of whose stentorian voice had occasionally been wafted in at<br> + the open door whilst Bendigo was relating his experiences.</p> + <p class="boldleft"><a name="181"></a>"FIDDLER JOSS."</p> + <p class="main">It was at another Mission Chapel in Little Wild Street, + Drury Lane, that<br> + I "sat under" Fiddler Joss. His "dictionary name," + as in the course of<br> + the evening I learned from one of his friends, is Mr. Joseph Poole. The<br> + small bills which invited all into whose hands they might fall to "come<br> + and hear Fiddler Joss" added the injunction "Come early to secure + a<br> + seat." The doors were opened at half-past six, and those who obeyed + the<br> + injunction found themselves in a somewhat depressing minority. At<br> + half-past six there were not more than a score of people present, and<br> + these looked few indeed within the walls of the spacious chapel. It is + a<br> + surprise to find so well-built, commodious, it may almost be added<br> + handsome, a building in such a poor neighbourhood, and bearing so humble<br> + a designation. It provides comfortable sitting room for twelve hundred<br> + persons. There is a neat, substantial gallery running round the hall,<br> + and forming at one end a circular pulpit, evidently designed after the<br> + fashion of Mr. Spurgeon's at the Tabernacle--a building of which the<br> + Mission Chapel is in many respects a miniature.</p> + <p class="main">The congregation began to drop in by degrees, and proved + to be of a<br> + character altogether different from what might have been expected in<br> + such a place on such an occasion. Out of ten people perhaps one belonged<br> + to the class among which London missionaries are accustomed to labour.<br> + But while men and women of the "casual" order were almost entirely<br> + absent, and men of what is called in this connection "the working + class"<br> + were few and far between, there entered by hundreds people who looked + as<br> + if they were the responsible owners of snug little businesses in the<br> + provision, stationery, or "general" line. An air of profound<br> + respectability, combined with the enjoyment of creature comforts,<br> + prevailed.</p> + <p class="main">Whilst waiting for seven o'clock, the hour for the service + to commence,<br> + a voluntary choir sang hymns, and the rapidly growing congregation<br> + joined in fitful snatches of harmony. Little hymn-books with green paper<br> + backs were liberally distributed, and there was no excuse for silence + on<br> + the score of unfamiliarity with the hymns selected. At seven o'clock the<br> + preacher of the evening appeared on the rostrum, accompanied by two<br> + gentlemen accustomed, it appeared, to take a leading part in conducting<br> + the service in the chapel. One gave out a hymn, reading it verse by<br> + verse, and starting the tune with stentorian voice. This concluded, his<br> + colleague prayed, in a loud voice, and with energetic action. "We + must<br> + have souls to-night," he said, smiting the rail of the pulpit; "we + must<br> + have souls--not by ones and twos--and we must have them to-night in this<br> + place. There is a drunkard in this place. Give us his soul, O God! There<br> + is a thief in this place; I do not know where he sits, but God knows. + We<br> + want to benefit God, and we must have souls to-night, not by twos and<br> + threes, but in hundreds."</p> + <p class="main">After this there was another hymn, sung even with increased + volume of<br> + sound. Energy was the predominant characteristic of the whole service,<br> + and it reached its height in the singing of hymns, when the congregation<br> + found the opportunity of joining their leaders in the devotional<br> + utterance. There were half a dozen women in the congregation who had<br> + solved the home difficulty about the baby by bringing it with them to<br> + chapel. The little ones, catching the enthusiasm of the place, joined<br> + audibly in all the acts of worship save in the singing. They crowed<br> + during the prayers, chattered during the reading of the lesson, and<br> + loudly wept at intervals throughout the sermon. But there was no room<br> + for their shrill voices in the mighty shout which threatened to rend the<br> + roof when hymns were sung.</p> + <p class="main">Fiddler Joss, being impressively introduced by one of the + gentlemen in<br> + the pulpit, began without preface to read rapidly from the fifth chapter<br> + of Romans, a task he accomplished with the assistance of a pair of<br> + double eyeglasses. He formally appropriated no text, and it would be<br> + difficult to furnish any connected account of his sermon. Evidently<br> + accustomed to address open-air audiences, he spoke at the topmost pitch<br> + of a powerful voice. Without desire to misapply rules of criticism, and<br> + in furtherance of an honest intention to describe impressions in as<br> + simple a form as may be, it must be added that the sermon was as far<br> + above the heads of a mission-chapel congregation as was the pitch of the<br> + preacher's voice. Its key-note was struck by an anecdote which Joss<br> + introduced at the outset of his discourse. There was, he said, a<br> + clergyman walking down Cheapside one day, when he heard a man calling<br> + out, "Buy a pie." The clergyman looked at the man, and recognised + in him<br> + a member of his church.</p> + <p class="main">"What, John," he said, "is this what you + do in the weekdays?"</p> + <p class="main">"Yes," said the man, "I earn an honest living + by selling pies."</p> + <p class="main">"Poor fellow," said the parson, "how I pity + you."</p> + <p class="main">"Bother your pity; buy a pie," retorted the man.</p> + <p class="main">That, according to Fiddler Joss, is the way in which constituted<br> + authorities in church and chapel matters deal with the poor man in<br> + London and elsewhere. Mr. Methodist would not speak to Mr. Baptist, Mr.<br> + Wesleyan would have nothing to do with Mr. Congregationalist, Mr. High<br> + Church scoffed at Mr. Low Church, Mr. Low Church did not care what<br> + became of any of the rest, and among them all the poor man was utterly<br> + neglected.</p> + <p class="main">"How we pity you," these people said to the poor + man.</p> + <p class="main">"Bother your pity," the poor man answered; "buy + a pie."</p> + <p class="main">Beyond this central argument, affirmation, or illustration, + Fiddler Joss<br> + did not get far in the course of the thirty-five minutes during which + he<br> + addressed the congregation. At this period he suddenly stopped, and<br> + asked for the sympathy of his friends, explaining that he was subject + to<br> + attacks of sickness, one of the legacies of the days of sin, when he was<br> + "five years drunk and never sober." After a pause he recommenced, + and<br> + continued for some five minutes longer, when he abruptly wound up,<br> + apparently having got through only one half of his discourse.</p> + <p class="main">It is only fair to regard the sermon as an incomplete one, + and to<br> + believe that the message which "Fiddler Joss" had entered St. + Giles's to<br> + speak to the poor and suffering lay in the second and undelivered<br> + portion.</p> + <p class="boldleft"><a name="184"></a>DEAN STANLEY.</p> + <p class="main">On St. Andrew's Day, 1875, I was present at two memorable + services in<br> + Westminster Abbey. For many years during Dean Stanley's reign this<br> + particular day had been set apart for the holding of special services<br> + on behalf of foreign missions. What made this occasion memorable in the<br> + annals of the Church was the fact that the evening lecture was delivered<br> + by Dr. Moffat, a Nonconformist minister who, in the year after the<br> + Battle of Waterloo, began his career as a missionary to South Africa,<br> + and finally closed his foreign labours in the year when Sedan was<br> + fought. As being the first time a Nonconformist minister had officiated<br> + in Westminster Abbey, the event created wide interest, and lost none of<br> + its importance by the remarkable sermon preached in the afternoon by<br> + Dean Stanley.</p> + <p class="main">The Dean took for his text two verses, one from the Old + Testament, the<br> + other from the New. The first was from the 45th Psalm, and ran thus:<br> + "Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make<br> + princes in all the earth." The second was the 16th verse of the 10th<br> + chapter of the Gospel of St. John: "And other sheep I have, which + are<br> + not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My<br> + voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." Thus the verse<br> + runs in the ordinary translation, but the Dean preferred the word<br> + "flock" in place of fold, and used it throughout his discourse.<br> + Referring to an address recently delivered by Mr. W. E. Forster on<br> + "Our Colonies," the Dean observed that the right hon. gentleman + had set<br> + himself the task of considering the question, "What were to be the<br> + future relations of the Mother Country to the Colonies?" The Dean<br> + proposed to follow the same course, with this difference: that the<br> + empire of which he had to speak was a spiritual empire, and the question<br> + he would consider was what ought to be the policy of the Church of<br> + England towards fellow-Christians separated from it on matters of form.</p> + <p class="main">There were, he said, three courses open to the Church. There + was the<br> + policy of abstention and isolation; there was the policy of<br> + extermination or absorption; and there was a middle course, avoiding<br> + abstention and not aiming at absorption, which consisted of holding<br> + friendly and constant intercourse with Christians of other Churches,<br> + earnestly and lovingly endeavouring to create as many points of contact<br> + as were compatible with holding fast the truth. The errors of all<br> + religions run into each other, just as their truths do. There was, no<br> + doubt, some exaggeration in the statement of the Roman Catholic<br> + authority who declared that "there is but one bad religion, and that + is<br> + the religion of the man who professes what he does not believe." + But<br> + there was no reason why, because the Church of England had done in times<br> + past and was still doing grand work, there should be no place for the<br> + Nonconformists. Church people rejoiced, and Nonconformists might<br> + rejoice, that the prayers of the Church of England were enshrined in a<br> + Liturgy radiant with the traditions of a glorious past. But that was no<br> + reason why there should be no room where good work was being done for<br> + men who preferred the chances of extemporaneous prayer--a custom of<br> + Apostolic origin, and perhaps (very daintily this was put) fittest for<br> + the exigencies of special occasions.</p> + <p class="main">If some of the extremer Nonconformists, desirous of wrapping<br> + themselves in the mantle once worn by Churchmen, and possessed by a love<br> + for uniformity so exaggerated that they would tear down ancient<br> + institutions and reduce all Churches to the same level, there was no<br> + reason why Churchmen should return evil for evil and repay contumely<br> + with scorn. There was a nobler mission for Christians than that of<br> + seeking to exterminate each other, a higher object than that of<br> + endeavouring to sow the seeds of vulgar prejudice either against new<br> + discoveries or ancient institutions.</p> + <p class="boldleft"><a name="187"></a>DR. MOFFAT.</p> + <p class="main">Dean Stanley preached his sermon within the chancel, and + it formed part<br> + of the customary afternoon service of the Church of England. Dr. Moffat<br> + delivered his lecture in the nave, its simple preface being the singing<br> + of the missionary hymn, "From Greenland's icy mountains."</p> + <p class="main">The pioneer of missionary labour in South Africa was at + this time close<br> + upon his eightieth year, but he seemed to have thriven upon hard work,<br> + and showed no signs of physical weakness. His full, rich voice, musical<br> + with a northern accent, which long residence in South Africa had not<br> + robbed of a note, filled every corner of the long aisle, and no section<br> + of the vast congregation was disappointed by reason of not hearing.<br> + Wearing a plain Geneva robe with the purple hood of his academic degree,<br> + he stood at the lectern, situated not many paces from the grave where<br> + his friend and son-in-law, Dr. Livingstone, lies.</p> + <p class="main">Dean Stanley was one of many clergymen present, and occupied + a seat just<br> + in front of the lectern.</p> + <p class="main">Dr. Moffat began by protesting that he was very nervous, + because, having<br> + been accustomed for fifty years or more to speak and teach and preach + in<br> + a language altogether different from European, he had contracted a habit<br> + of thinking in that language, and sometimes found it momentarily<br> + difficult to find the exact expression of his thoughts in English.</p> + <p class="main">"If I might," he said, with a touch of dry humour + that frequently<br> + lighted up his discourse, "speak to you in the Betchuana tongue I + could<br> + get along with ease. However, I will do what I can."</p> + <p class="main">The lecture resolved itself into a quiet, homely, and exceedingly<br> + interesting chat, chiefly about the Betchuanas, with whom Dr. Moffat<br> + longest laboured. When he arrived in the country, early in the present<br> + century, he found the people sunk in the densest ignorance. Unlike most<br> + heathen tribes, they had no idea of a God, no notion of a hereafter.<br> + There was not an idol to be found in all their province, and one the<br> + lecturer's daughter showed to an intelligent leader of the people<br> + excited his liveliest astonishment. He was, indeed, so hopelessly<br> + removed from a state of civilisation that he ridiculed the notion of any<br> + one worshipping a thing made with his own hands.</p> + <p class="main">Dr. Moffat seems to have been, on the whole, kindly received + by the<br> + natives, though they could not make out what he wanted there. A special<br> + stumbling-block to them was, how it came to pass that when, as sometimes<br> + happened, he and Mrs Moffat were disrespectfully treated, they did not<br> + retaliate. This was satisfactorily explained to the popular mind by the<br> + assertion of a distinguished member of the community that the foreigners<br> + had run away from their country, and were content to bear any treatment<br> + rather than return to their own people, who would infallibly kill them.</p> + <p class="main">The great difficulty met by Dr. and Mrs. Moffat on the threshold + of<br> + their mission was their ignorance of the native language. There were no<br> + interpreters, and there was nothing for it but to grub along, patiently<br> + picking up words as they went. The Betchuanas were willing to teach them<br> + as far as they could, occasionally relieving the monotony of the lesson<br> + by a little joke at the pupils' expense. Once, Dr. Moffat told his<br> + hearers, a sentence was written down on a piece of paper, and he was<br> + instructed to take it to an aged lady, who was to give him something he<br> + was in need of. He found the old lady, who was scarcely handsome, and<br> + was decidedly wrinkled, and upon presenting the paper "she blushed + very<br> + much." It turned out that the missionary had been the unconscious + bearer<br> + of a message asking the old lady to kiss him, "which," Dr. Moffat + added,<br> + with a seriousness that appeared to indicate a sense of the awkwardness<br> + of the position still present in his mind, "I did not want to do + at<br> + all."</p> + <p class="main">But he mastered the language at last, and then his moral + mastery over<br> + the strange people amongst whom he had been thrown commenced. He found + a<br> + firm ally in the Queen, who, first attracted by the flavour of the pills<br> + and other delicacies he was accustomed to administer to her in his<br> + capacity of physician, became his constant and powerful friend. Under<br> + her auspices Christianity flourished, and in Betchuana at the present<br> + time, where once a printed book was regarded as the white man's charm,<br> + thousands now are able to read and treasure the Bible as formerly they<br> + treasured the marks which testified to the number of enemies they had<br> + slain in battle. Peace reigns where once blood ran, and over a vast<br> + tract of country civilisation is closely following in the footsteps of<br> + the missionary.</p> + <p class="main">Dr. Moffat concluded a simple address, followed with intense + interest by<br> + the congregation, by an earnest plea for help for foreign missions. "If<br> + every child of God in Europe and America," he said, "would give<br> + something to this mission, the dark cloud which lies over this neglected<br> + and mysterious continent would soon be lighted, and before many years<br> + are passed we might behold the blessed sight of all Africa stretching<br> + forth her hands to God."</p> + <p class="boldleft"><a name="190"></a>MR. SPURGEON.</p> + <p class="main">In a lane leading from the station at Addlestone is a massive + oak,<br> + which, if the gossips of the neighbourhood be trustworthy, has seen some<br> + notable sights. It is said that under its far-reaching branches<br> + "Wycliffe has preached and Queen Elizabeth dined."</p> + <p class="main">Here one summer evening I first heard Mr. Spurgeon preach. + The occasion<br> + was in connection with the building of a new Baptist Chapel, and when + I<br> + arrived the foundation stone was being utilised as a receptacle for<br> + offerings, over which Mr. Spurgeon, sitting on the wall, and shaded from<br> + the sun by an umbrella reverently held over his head by a disciple,<br> + jovially presided.</p> + <p class="main">After tea a pulpit was extemporised, upon the model of the + one at the<br> + Tabernacle, by covering an empty provision box with red baize, and<br> + fastening before it a wooden railing, also with its decent covering of<br> + baize. A pair of steps, constructed with a considerable amount of<br> + trouble, were placed in position before the rostrum; but when, a few<br> + minutes after seven o'clock, the preacher appeared, he scorned their<br> + assistance, and scrambled on to the box from the level of the field,<br> + grasping the rail as soon as he was in a position to face the<br> + congregation, as if he recognised in it a familiar friend, whose<br> + presence made him feel at home under the novel circumstances that<br> + surrounded him. There might, when Mr. Spurgeon stood up, have been<br> + some doubt whether his voice could be heard throughout the vast throng<br> + gathered in front of the tree. But the first tones of the speaker's<br> + voice dispelled uncertainty, and the congregation settled quietly down,<br> + whilst Mr. Spurgeon, with uplifted hands, besought "the Spirit of + God to<br> + be with them, even as in their accustomed places of worship." A hymn + was<br> + sung, a portion of the 55th chapter of Isaiah read, another prayer<br> + offered up, and the preacher commenced his Sermon.</p> + <p class="main">He took for his text a portion of the 36th verse of the + 9th chapter of<br> + Matthew--"He was moved with compassion." At the outset he sketched, + with<br> + rapid eloquence, the history of Jesus Christ. The first declaration that<br> + might have startled one not accustomed to the preacher's style of<br> + oratory was his expression of a preference for people who absolutely<br> + hated religion over those who simply regarded it with indifference.<br> + These former were people who showed they did think, and, like Saul of<br> + Tarsus, there was hope of their conversion.</p> + <p class="main">"It is," he said, "a great time when the + Lord goes into the devil's<br> + army, and, looking around him, sees some lieutenant, and says to him,<br> + 'Come along; you have served the black master long enough, I have need<br> + of you now.' It is astonishing how quietly he comes along, and what a<br> + valiant fight he fights on the side of his new master."</p> + <p class="main">Mr. Spurgeon had a protest to make against the practice + of refusing to<br> + help the poor except through the machinery of the Poor Law. Referring + to<br> + Christ's having compassionated the hungry crowd and fed them, he said:<br> + "If Jesus Christ were alive now and presumed to feed a crowd of people,<br> + He would be had up by some society or other, and prosecuted for<br> + encouraging mendicancy. If He were alive in these days He would, I much<br> + fear, have occasion to say, 'I was hungry, and ye fed Me not; thirsty,<br> + and ye gave Me no drink; destitute, and you told Me to go on the<br> + parish.'"</p> + <p class="main">He thought tracts were very good things in their way, but + should not be<br> + relied upon solely as a means of bringing poor people to the Lord. "I<br> + believe a loaf of bread often contains the very essence of theology, and<br> + the Church of God ought to look to it that there are at her gates no,<br> + poor unfed, no sick untended." He was rather hard on "the clergy + of all<br> + denominations," regretting to say that "as fish always stunk + first at<br> + the head, so a Church when it goes wrong goes bad first among its<br> + ministers." He concluded by an eloquent appeal to his hearers to + lose no<br> + time in seeking salvation, calling "heaven and earth, and this old + tree,<br> + under which the Gospel was preached five hundred years ago, to bear<br> + witness that I have preached to you the word of God, in which alone<br> + salvation is to be found."</p> + <p class="main">The sermon occupied exactly an hour in the delivery, and + was listened to<br> + throughout with profound attention. When it was over, Mr. Spurgeon held<br> + a sort of levée from the pulpit, the people pressing round to shake + his<br> + hand, and it was nearly nine o'clock before the last of the congregation<br> + had passed away, leaving Wycliffe's Tree to its accustomed solitude.</p> + <p class="main">The next time I heard Mr. Spurgeon preach was in his famous + church. The<br> + Tabernacle will hold six thousand people when full, and on this night + it<br> + was thronged from door to door, and from floor to ceiling, with a<br> + congregation gathered together to "watch" whilst the Old Year + died and<br> + the New was born. At eleven o'clock when Mr. Spurgeon, gownless and<br> + guiltless of white neck-tie, or other clerical insignia, unceremoniously<br> + walked on to the platform which serves him for pulpit, there was not a<br> + foot of vacant space in the vast area looked down upon from the<br> + galleries, for even the aisles were thronged. The capacious galleries<br> + that rise tier over tier to the roof were crowded in like manner, and<br> + the preacher stood, faced and surrounded by a congregation, the sight + of<br> + which might well move to the utterance of words that burn a man who had<br> + within him a fount of thoughts that breathe.</p> + <p class="main">There was no other prelude to the service than the simply + spoken<br> + invitation, "Let us pray," and the six thousand, declaring themselves<br> + "creatures of time," bent the knee with one accord to ask the + "Lord of<br> + Eternity" to bless them in the coming year. After this a hymn was + sung,<br> + Mr. Spurgeon reading out verse by verse, with occasional commentary, and<br> + not unfrequent directions to the congregation as to the manner of their<br> + singing.</p> + <p class="main">"Dear friends, the devil sometimes makes you lag half + a note behind the<br> + leader. Just try if you can't prevail over him to-night, and keep up in<br> + proper time."</p> + <p class="main">There is no organ, nor even a tuning-fork, in use at the + Tabernacle. But<br> + the difficulties, apparently insuperable under these circumstances, of<br> + leading so vast a congregation in the singing of unpractised tunes is<br> + almost overcome by the skilful generalship of the gentleman who steps<br> + forward to the rails beside the preacher's table, pitches the note,<br> + and leads the singing. The hymn brought to a conclusion, Mr. Spurgeon<br> + read and commented upon a passage of Scripture from the 25th of Matthew.<br> + Then another hymn. "Sing this verse very softly and solemnly," + says the<br> + pastor; and the congregation in hushed tones, that seem to thrill all<br> + through the aisles and up through the crowded galleries, sing:</p> + <blockquote> + <p> <span class="smallquote">"Who of us death's awful road<br> + In the coming year shall tread,<br> + With Thy rod and staff, O God,<br> + Comfort Thou his dying bed."</span></p> + </blockquote> + <p class="main">After another prayer from the pastor, and one from one of + the deacons<br> + who accompanied him on the platform and sat behind in the crimson velvet<br> + arm-chairs, a third hymn was sung, and Mr. Spurgeon began his short<br> + address.</p> + <p class="main">He took for text the 42nd verse of the 12th chapter of Exodus: + "It is a<br> + night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out from the<br> + land of Egypt: this is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the<br> + children of Israel in their generations." The night referred to in + the<br> + text was that of the Passover--"a night of salvation, decision,<br> + emigration, and exultation," said the preacher, "and I pray + God that<br> + this night, the last of a memorable year, may be the same for you, my<br> + friends. Oh for a grand emigration among you like that of the departure<br> + of the people of Israel--an emptying out of old Egypt, a robbing of<br> + Pharaoh of his slaves, and the devil of his dupes!"</p> + <p class="main">It was understood that Mr. Spurgeon was labouring under + severe<br> + indisposition, and probably this fact gave to his brief address a tone<br> + comparatively quiet and unimpassioned. Only once did he rise to the<br> + fervent height of oratory to which his congregation are accustomed, and<br> + that at the close, when, with uplifted hands and louder voice, he<br> + apostrophised the parting year: "Thou art almost gone, and if thou + goest<br> + now the tidings to the throne of God will be that such and such a soul<br> + is yet unsaved. Oh, stay yet a while, Year, that thou mayest carry with<br> + thee glad tidings that the soul is saved! Thy life is measured now by<br> + seconds, but all things are possible with God, and there is still time<br> + for the salvation of many souls."</p> + <p class="main">At five minutes to twelve the preacher paused, and bade + his hearers "get<br> + away to the Throne of Grace, and in silent prayer beseech the Almighty<br> + to bless you with a rich and special blessing in the new year He is<br> + sending you."</p> + <p class="main">The congregation bent forward and a great silence was upon + it, broken<br> + only by half-stifled coughing here and there, and once by the wailing + of<br> + an infant in the gallery. The minutes passed slowly and solemnly as the<br> + Old Year's "face grew sharp and thin" under the ticking of the + clock<br> + over the kneeling preacher and his deacons. The minutes dwindled down + to<br> + seconds, and then--</p> + <blockquote> + <p> <span class="smallquote">"Alack, our friend is gone!<br> + Close up his eyes, tie up his chin<br> + Step from the corpse, and let him in<br> + That standeth at the door."</span></p> + </blockquote> + <p class="main">"Now, as we have passed into the New Year," said + Mr. Spurgeon, advancing<br> + to the rails as the last stroke of midnight died away, "I do not + think<br> + we can do better than join in singing 'Praise God from whom all<br> + blessings flow.'"</p> + <p class="main">No need now of instructions how to sing. The congregation + were almost<br> + before the leader in raising the familiar strain, with which six<br> + thousand voices filled the spacious Tabernacle.</p> + <p class="main">Then came the benediction, and a cheery "I wish you + all a happy New<br> + Year, my friends," from Mr. Spurgeon.</p> + <p class="main">A great shout of "The same to you!" arose in response + from basement and<br> + galleries, and the congregation passed out into a morning so soft, and<br> + light, and mild, that it seemed as if the seasons were out of joint, and<br> + that the New Year had been born in the springtime.</p> + <p class="boldleft"><a name="196"></a>IN THE RAGGED CHURCH.</p> + <p class="main">The Ragged Church is one of the numerous by-paths through + which the<br> + managers of the Field Lane Institution strive to approach and benefit<br> + the poor of London. It is situate in Little Saffron Hill, Farringdon<br> + Road, the service being held in a barn-like room, which on weekdays<br> + serves for school, and is capable of accommodating a thousand children.<br> + No money has been expended in architectural embellishment, and no<br> + question of a controversial character is likely to arise in connection<br> + with accessories in the shape of altar, surplice, or candles. The Ragged<br> + Church avoids these stumbling-blocks by the simple expedient of doing<br> + without candles, surplices, or altar. It does not even boast a pulpit,<br> + but draws the line so as to take in a harmonium, indispensable for<br> + leading the tunes. At one end of the room is a platform, on which the<br> + harmonium stands, and whereon the service is conducted.</p> + <p class="main">It is the congregation rather than the preacher that I remember + best in<br> + connection with the Ragged Church. Half-past eleven is the hour for the<br> + commencement of service, and was fixed upon chiefly to suit the<br> + convenience of a portion of the congregation, who, having slept<br> + overnight in the casual wards, are considerately detained in them till<br> + eleven o'clock, by which time society is supposed to be comfortably<br> + seated in its own churches, and is thus saved the shock of suddenly<br> + coming upon Rags and Tatters going to church or elsewhither--Rags and<br> + Tatters, it being well understood, not always showing themselves proof<br> + against the temptation of improving the occasion by begging. At a<br> + quarter to eleven there filed into the church threescore little girls,<br> + all dressed in wincey dresses, with brown, furry jackets and little<br> + brown hats, a monotony of colour that served to bring into fuller<br> + contrast the red and black wool scarf each wore tightly tied round her<br> + neck. They all looked bright, clean, and happy, and one noted a<br> + considerable proportion of pretty-faced and delicately-limbed children.</p> + <p class="main">How they were born, or with what parentage, is in many cases + a question<br> + to which the records of the institution supply no answer. They were<br> + simply "found" on a doorstep, or arrested when wandering about + the<br> + street crying for the mother or the father who had cast them off. This<br> + class of school-girl is generally distinguished by the fineness of her<br> + Christian name, Blanche, and Lily, and Constance, being among the waifs<br> + and strays who have found a refuge with the kindly matron of the Field<br> + Lane Institution. There are others whose history is written plainly<br> + enough in the records of the police-courts.</p> + <p class="main">There is one, a prematurely aged little woman in her eleventh + year, who,<br> + previous to being sent here, passed of her own free will night after<br> + night in the streets, living through the day on her wits, which are very<br> + sharp. Another, about the same age, when taken into custody on something<br> + more than suspicion of picking pockets, was found the possessor of no<br> + fewer than seven purses. A third, who is understood to be now in her<br> + ninth year, earned a handsome livelihood in the Haymarket by frequenting<br> + the public houses, and with dramatic gestures singing the more popular<br> + concert-hall songs. One of the most determined and head-strong young<br> + ladies of the establishment was not privileged to be present at the<br> + morning service, being, in fact, in bed, where she was detained with the<br> + hope that amid the silence and solitude of the empty chamber she might<br> + be brought to see in its true light the heinousness of the offence of<br> + wilfully depositing her boots in a pail of water.</p> + <p class="main">Conviction for offences against the law is by no means a + general<br> + characteristic of the girls. For the most part, destitution has been the<br> + simple ground on which they have obtained admission to the institution.</p> + <p class="main">The girls being seated on the front benches to the right + of the<br> + harmonium, the tramp of many feet was heard, and there entered by the<br> + opposite side of the church some sixty boys in corduroys, short jackets,<br> + and clean collars. They took up a position on the left of the harmonium,<br> + and, with one consent, gravely folded their arms. Their private history<br> + is, in its general features, much the same as that of the girls. All<br> + are sent hither by order of the police-court magistrate, but<br> + many have not committed any crime save the unpardonable one of being<br> + absolutely and hopelessly homeless. It is not difficult, stating the<br> + broad rule, to pick out from the boys those who have been convicted of<br> + crime. As compared with the rest they are generally brighter looking,<br> + and gifted with a stronger physique.</p> + <p class="main">The distinction was strongly marked by the conjunction of + two boys who<br> + sat together on the front form. One who had stolen nothing less than a<br> + coalscuttle, observed projecting from an ironmonger's shop in Drury<br> + Lane, was a sturdy, ruddy-cheeked little man, who folded his arms in a<br> + composed manner, and listened with an inquiring interest to the words<br> + poured forth over his head from the platform. The boy next to him, a<br> + pale-faced, inert lad, who stared straight before him with lack-lustre<br> + eyes, had the saddest of all boys' histories. He was born in a casual<br> + ward, his father died in a casual ward, and his mother nightly haunts<br> + the streets of London in pursuance of an elaborately devised plan, by<br> + which she is able so to time her visits to the various casual wards as<br> + never to be turned away from any on the ground that she had slept there<br> + too recently.</p> + <p class="main">The foreground of the Ragged Church was bright enough, for + whilst there<br> + is youth there is hope, and in the present case there is also the<br> + knowledge that these children are under guardianship at once kind and<br> + wise. Presently the back benches began to fill with a congregation such<br> + as no other church in London might show. Crushed-looking women in limp<br> + bonnets, scanty shawls, and much-patched dresses crept quietly in. With<br> + them, though not in their company, came men of all ages, and of a<br> + general level of ragged destitution--a gaunt, haggard, hungry, and<br> + hopeless congregation as ever went to church on a Sunday morning. Some<br> + had passed the night in the Refuge attached to the institution; many had<br> + come straight from the casual wards; others had spent the long hours<br> + since sundown in the streets; and one, a hale old man who diffused<br> + around him an air of respectability and comfort, was a lodger at<br> + Clerkenwell Workhouse. His snuff-coloured coat with two brass buttons + at<br> + the back was the solitary whole garment visible in this section of the<br> + congregation.</p> + <p class="main">It was his "Sunday out" and having had his breakfast + at the workhouse,<br> + he had, by way of distraction, come to spend the morning and eat his<br> + lunch at the Field Lane Institution.</p> + <p class="main">One man might be forgiven if he slept all through the sermon, + for, as he<br> + explained, he had "passed a very bad night." He had settled + himself to<br> + sleep on various doorsteps, with the fog for a blanket and the railings<br> + for pillow. But there appeared what in his experience was a quite<br> + uncommon activity on the part of the police, and he had been "moved + on"<br> + from place to place till morning broke, and he had not slept a wink or<br> + had half an hour's rest for the sole of his foot.</p> + <p class="main">There were not many of the labouring class among the couple + of hundred<br> + men who made up this miserable company. They were chiefly broken-down<br> + people, who, as tradesmen, clerks, or even professional men, had<br> + gradually sunk till they came to regard admission to the casual ward at<br> + night as the cherished hope that kept them up as they shuffled their<br> + way through the day. One man, who over a marvellous costume of rags<br> + carried the mark of respectability comprehended in a thin black silk<br> + necktie tied around a collarless neck, is the son of a late colonel of<br> + artillery, and has a brother at the present time a lieutenant in one of<br> + her Majesty's ships. After leading a reckless life, he turned his<br> + musical acquirements to account by joining the band of a marching<br> + regiment. Unfortunately, the death of his grandfather, two years ago,<br> + made him uncontrolled possessor of £500, and now he is dodging his<br> + way among the casual wards of London, holding on to respectability and<br> + his good connections by this poor black silk necktie.</p> + <p class="main">Among the congregation was a bright-eyed, honest-looking + lad bearing the<br> + familiar name of John Smith. Three months ago he was earning his living<br> + in a Yorkshire coal pit, when a strike among the men threw him out of<br> + work. There being no prospect of doing anything in Yorkshire, he set out<br> + for London, having, as he said, "heard it was a great place, where + work<br> + was plenty." With three shillings in his pocket he started from Leeds,<br> + and walked to London, doing the journey in nine days. He had neither<br> + recommendation nor introduction other than his bright, honest, and<br> + intelligent face, and that seems to have served him only to the extent<br> + of getting an odd job that occupied him two days.</p> + <p class="main">The service opened with singing, of which there was a plentiful<br> + repetition, the boys and girls in the foreground singing, the melancholy<br> + throng behind standing dumb. Hymn-books were supplied to them, and if<br> + they could read they might have found on the page from which the first<br> + hymn was taken a hymn so curiously infelicitous to the occasion that it<br> + is worth quoting a couple of verses. These are the two first:--</p> + <blockquote> + <p class="main"> <span class="smallquote">Let us gather up the sunbeams<br> + Lying all around our path;<br> + Let us keep the wheat and roses,<br> + Casting out the thorns and chaff;<br> + Let us find our sweetest comfort<br> + In the blessings of to-day<br> + With a patient hand removing<br> + All the briars from the way.</span></p> + <p class="smallquote"> Strange we never prize the music<br> + Till the sweet-voiced bird has flown,<br> + Strange that we should slight the violets<br> + Till the lovely flowers are gone;<br> + Strange that summer skies and sunshine<br> + Never seem one half so fair<br> + As when winter's snowy pinions<br> + Shake the white down in the air.</p> + </blockquote> + <p class="main">After the opening hymns <span class="italic">Sankey's Sacred + Song-Book</span>, in which this rhymed<br> + nonsense appears, was abandoned, and the congregation took to the<br> + admirable little selection of hymns compiled for the use of the<br> + institution, containing much less sentiment, and perhaps on the whole<br> + more suitable. After prayer and a short address, the boys and girls<br> + filed out as they had come in. Then the rest of the congregation rose,<br> + and as they passed out received a large piece of bread, supplemented by<br> + the distribution from a room on a lower storey of a cup of hot cocoa.<br> + Stretching all down the long flight of stone steps, they drank their<br> + cocoa and greedily munched the bread, and when it was done passed out<br> + into the sabbath noon, to slouch about the great city till the doors of<br> + the casual wards were open.</p> + <p class="main">They had "gathered up all the sunbeams lying around + their path" as far<br> + as the day had advanced, and there was no more for them till, at eight<br> + o'clock in the evening, the bread and tea should be set out before them<br> + under the workhouse roof.</p> + </td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FACES AND PLACES***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 25624-h.txt or 25624-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/6/2/25624">http://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/6/2/25624</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Faces and Places + + +Author: Henry William Lucy + + + +Release Date: May 27, 2008 [eBook #25624] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FACES AND PLACES*** + + +E-text prepared by Ruth Golding + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 25624-h.htm or 25624-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/6/2/25624/25624-h/25624-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/6/2/25624/25624-h.zip) + + + +-------------------------------------------------------------+ + | | + | Transcriber's note: | + | | + | Text originally in italics is enclosed between underscores | + | (_thus_). | + | | + | In this ASCII text version, symbols for the British Pound | + | and degrees of temperature have been spelled out in words, | + | while accents in foreign words have been omitted. | + | | + +-------------------------------------------------------------+ + + + + + +The Whitefriars Library of Wit & Humour + +FACES AND PLACES + +by + +HENRY W. LUCY +(Author of "East by West: A Record of a Journey Round the World") + +With Portrait of the Author and Illustrations + + + + + + + +London: +Henry and Co, Bouverie Street, Ec + + + +_To J.R. Robinson, Editor and Manager of the "Daily News", at whose +suggestion some of these articles were written, they are in their +collected form inscribed, with sincere regard, by an old friend and +colleague._ + +London, _February_ 1892. + + + + +CONTENTS + +Chap. Page + + I. "FRED" BURNABY 1 + II. A NIGHT ON A MOUNTAIN 23 + III. THE PRINCE OF WALES 35 + IV. A HISTORIC CROWD 41 + V. WITH PEGGOTTY AND HAM 52 + VI. TO THOSE ABOUT TO BECOME JOURNALISTS 62 + VII. A CINQUE PORT 69 + VIII. OYSTERS AND ARCACHON 77 + IX. CHRISTMAS EVE AT WATT'S 86 + X. NIGHT AND DAY ON THE CARS IN CANADA 100 + XI. EASTER ON LES AVANTS 108 + XII. THE BATTLE OF MERTHYR 125 + XIII. MOSQUITOES AND MONACO 137 + XIV. A WRECK IN THE NORTH SEA 145 + XV. A PEEP AT AN OLD HOUSE OF COMMONS 152 + XVI. SOME PREACHERS I HAVE KNOWN:-- + Mr. Moody 170 + "Bendigo" 176 + "Fiddler Joss" 181 + Dean Stanley 184 + Dr. Moffat 187 + Mr. Spurgeon 190 + In the Ragged Church 196 + + + + +FACES AND PLACES + +CHAPTER I. + +"FRED" BURNABY + +I made the acquaintance of Colonel Fred Burnaby in a balloon. In such +strange quarters, at an altitude of over a thousand feet, commenced a +friendship that for years was one of the pleasantest parts of my life, +and remains one of its most cherished memories. + +It was on the 14th of September, 1874. A few weeks earlier two French +aeronauts, a Monsieur and Madame Duruof, making an ascent from Calais, +had been carried out to sea, and dropping into the Channel, had passed +through enough perils to make them a nine days' wonder. Arrangements had +been completed for them to make a fresh ascent from the grounds of the +Crystal Palace, and half London seemed to have gone down to Sydenham to +see them off. I was young and eager then, and having but lately joined +the staff of the _Daily News_ as special correspondent, was burning for +an opportunity to distinguish myself. So I went off to the Crystal +Palace resolved to go up in the balloon. + +"No," said Mr. Coxwell, when I asked him if there were a seat to spare +in the car. "No; I am sorry to say that you are too late. I have had at +least thirty applications for seats, and as the car will hold only six +persons, and as practically there are but two seats for outsiders, you +will see that it is impossible." + +This was disappointing, the more so as I had brought with me a large +military cloak and a pair of seal-skin gloves, under a general but +well-defined impression that the thing to do up in a balloon was to keep +yourself warm. Mr. Coxwell's account of the position of affairs so +completely shut out the prospect of a passage in the car that I +reluctantly resigned the charge of the military cloak and gloves, and +strolled down to the enclosure where the process of inflating the +balloon was going on. Here was congregated a vast crowd, which increased +in density as four o'clock rang out, and the great mass of brown silk +into which the gas was being assiduously pumped began to assume a +pear-like shape, and sway to and fro in the light air of the autumn +afternoon. + +About this time the heroes of the hour, Monsieur and Madame Duruof +walked into the enclosure, accompanied by Mr. Coxwell and Mr. Glaisher. +A little work was being extensively sold in the Palace bearing on the +title-page, over the name "M. Duruof," a murderous-looking face, the +letter-press purporting to be a record of the life and adventures of +the French aeronauts. Happily M. Duruof bore but the slightest +resemblance to this portrait, being a young man of pleasing appearance, +with a good, firm, frank-looking face. + +By a quarter to five o'clock the monster balloon was almost fully +charged, and was swaying to and fro in a wild, fitful manner, that could +not have been beheld without trepidation by any of the thirty gentlemen +who had so judiciously booked seats in advance. The wickerwork car now +secured to the balloon was half filled with ballast and crowded with +men, whilst others hung on to the ropes and to each other in the effort +to steady it. + +But they could not do much more than keep it from mounting into mid-air. +Hither and thither it swung, parting in swift haste the curious throng +that encompassed it, and dragging the men about as if they were ounce +weights. The wind seemed to be rising and the faces of the experienced +aeronauts grew graver and graver, answers to the constantly repeated +question, "Where is it likely to come down?" becoming increasingly +vague. At last Mr. Glaisher, looking up at the sky and round at the +neighbouring trees bending under the growing blast, put his veto upon +Madame Duruof's forming one of the party of voyagers. + +"We are not in France," he said. "The people will not insist upon a +woman going up when there is any danger. The descent is sure to be +rough, will possibly be perilous, so Madame Duruof had better stay where +she is." + +Madame Duruof was ready to go, but was at least equally willing to stay +behind, and so it was settled that she should not leave the palace +grounds by the balloon. I cast a lingering thought on the military cloak +and the seal-skin gloves, in safe keeping in a remote part of the +building. If Madame was not going there might be room for a substitute. +But again Mr. Coxwell would not listen to the proposal. There were at +least thirty prior applicants; some had even paid their money, and they +must have the preference. + +At five o'clock all was ready for the start. M. Wilfrid de Fonvielle, +a French aeronaut and journalist, took off his hat, and in full gaze of +a sympathising and deeply interested crowd deliberately attired himself +in a Glengarry cap, a thick overcoat, and a muffler. M Duruof put on +his overcoat, and Mr. Barker, Mr. Coxwell's assistant, seated on the +ring above the car, began to take in light cargo in the shape of +aneroids, barometers, bottles of brandy and water, and other useful +articles. M. Duruof scrambled into the car, one of the men who had been +weighing it down getting out to make room for him. Then M. de Fonvielle, +amid murmurs of admiration from the crowd, nimbly boarded the little +ship, and immediately began taking observations. There was a pause, and +Mr. Coxwell, who stood by the car, prepared for the rush of the Thirty. +But nobody volunteered. Names were called aloud; only the wind, sighing +amongst the trees made answer. + +"Il faut partir," said M. Duruof, somewhat impatiently. Then a +middle-aged gentleman, who, I afterwards learned, had come all the way +from Cambridge to make the journey, and who had only just arrived +breathless on the ground, was half-lifted, half-tumbled in, amid +agonised entreaties from Barker to "mind them bottles." The Thirty had +unquestionably had a fair chance, and Mr. Coxwell made no objection as I +passed him and got into the car, followed by one other gentleman, who +brought the number up to the stipulated half-dozen. We were all ready to +start, but it was thought desirable that Madame Duruof should show +herself in the car. So she was lifted in, and the balloon allowed to +mount some twenty feet, frantically held by ropes by the crowd below. It +descended again, Madame Duruof got out, and in her place came tumbling +in a splendid fellow, some six feet four high, broad-chested to boot, +who instantly made supererogatory the presence of half a dozen of the +bags of ballast that lay in the bottom of the car. + +It was an anxious moment, with the excited multitude spread round far as +the eye could reach, the car leaping under the swaying balloon, and the +anxious, hurried men straining at the ropes. But I remember quite well +sitting at the bottom of the car and wondering when the new-comer would +finish getting in. I dare say he was nimble enough, but his full arrival +seemed like the paying out of a ship's cable. + +This was Fred Burnaby, only Captain then, unknown to fame, with Khiva +unapproached, and the wilds of Asia Minor untrodden by his horse's +hoofs. His presence on the grounds was accidental, and his undertaking +of the journey characteristic. He had invited some friends to dine +with him that night at his rooms, then in St. James's Street. Hearing +of the proposed balloon ascent, he felt drawn to see the voyagers off, +purposing to be home in time to dress for dinner. The defection of the +Thirty appearing to leave an opening for an extra passenger, Burnaby +could not resist the temptation. So with a hasty _Au revoir!_ to his +companion, the Turkish Minister, he pushed his way through the crowd +and dropped into the car. + +I always forgot to ask him how his guests fared. As it turned out, he +had no chance of communicating with his servant before the dinner hour. +The arrival of Burnaby exceeded by one the stipulated number of +passengers, and Coxwell was anxious for us to start before any more got +in. For a minute or two we still cling to the earth, the centre of an +excited throng that shout, and tug at ropes, and run to and fro, and +laugh, and cry, and scream "Good-bye" in a manner that makes our +proposed journey seem dreadful in prospect. The circle of faces look +fixedly into ours; we hear the voices of the crowd, see the women +laughing and crying by turns, and then, with a motion that is absolutely +imperceptible, they all pass away, and we are in mid-air where the echo +of a cheer alone breaks the solemn calm. + +I had an idea that we should go up with a rush, and be instantly in the +cold current of air in view of which the preparation of extra raiment, +the nature of which has been already indicated, had been made. But here +we were a thousand feet above the level of the Palace gardens, sailing +calmly along in bright warm sunlight, and no more motion perceptible +than if we were sitting on chairs in the gardens, and had been so +sitting whilst the balloon mounted. It was a quarter past five when we +left the earth, and in less than five minutes the Crystal Palace +grounds, with its sea of upturned faces, had faded from our sight. +Contrary to prognostication, there was only the slightest breeze, and +this setting north-east, carried us towards the river in the direction +of Greenwich. We seemed to skirt the eastern fringe of London, St. +Paul's standing out in bold relief through the light wreath of mist that +enveloped the city. The balloon slowly rose till the aneroid marked a +height of fifteen hundred feet. Here it found a current which drove it +slightly to the south, till it hovered for some moments directly over +Greenwich Hospital, the training ship beneath looking like a cockle boat +with walking sticks for masts and yards. Driving eastward for some +moments, we slowly turned by Woolwich and crossed the river thereafter +steadily pursuing a north-easterly direction. + +Looking back from the Essex side of the river the sight presented to +view was a magnificent one. London had vanished, even to the dome of +St. Paul's, but we knew where the great city lay by the mist that +shrouded it and shone white in the rays of the sun. Save for this patch +of mist, that seemed to drift after us far away below the car, there was +nothing to obscure the range of vision. I am afraid to say how many +miles it was computed lay within the framework of the glowing panorama. +But I know that we could follow the windings of the river that curled +like a dragon among the green fields, its shining scales all aglow in +the sunlight, and could see where it finally broadened out and trended +northward. And there, as M. Duruof observed with a significant smile, +was "the open sea." + +There was no feeling of dizziness in looking down from the immense +height at which we now floated--two thousand feet was the record as +we cleared the river. By an unfortunate oversight we had no map of +the country, and were, except in respect of such landmarks as +Greenwich, unable with certainty to distinguish the places over which +we passed. + +"That," said Burnaby from his perch up in the netting over the car, +where he had clambered as being the most dangerous place immediately +accessible, "is one of the great drawbacks to the use of balloons in +warfare. Unless a man has natural aptitude, and is specially trained +for the work, his observations from a balloon are of no use, a +bird's-eye view of a country giving impressions so different from the +actual position of places." + +This dictum was illustrated by the scene spread out beneath us. Seen +from a balloon the streets of a rambling town resolve themselves into +beautifully defined curves, straight lines, and various other highly +respectable geometrical shapes. + +We could not at any time make out forms of people. The white highways +that ran like threads among the fields, and the tiny openings in the +towns and villages which we guessed were streets, seemed to belong to +a dead world, for nowhere was there trace of a living person. The +strange stillness that brooded over the earth was made more uncanny +still by cries that occasionally seemed to float in the air around us, +behind, before, to the right, to the left, but never exactly beneath +the car. We could hear people calling, and had a vague idea they were +running after us and cheering; but we could distinguish no moving +thing. Yes; once the gentleman from Cambridge exclaimed that there +were some pheasants running across a field below; but upon close +investigation they turned out to be a troop of horses capering about +in wild dismay. A flock of sheep in another field, huddled close +together, looked like a heap of limestone chippings. As for the +fields stretched out in wide expanse, far as the eye could reach, +they seemed to form a gigantic carpet, with patterns chiefly diamond +shape, in colour shaded from bright emerald to russet brown. + +At six o'clock the sun began to drop behind a broad belt of black +cloud that had settled over London. The mist following us ever since +we crossed the river had overtaken us, even passed us, and was +strewed out over the earth, the sky above our heads being yet a +beautiful pale blue. We were passing with increased rapidity over the +rich level land that stretches from the river bank to Chelmsford, and +there was time to look round at each other. Burnaby had come down from +the netting and disposed his vast person amongst us and the bags of +ballast. He was driven down by the smell of gas, which threatened to +suffocate us all when we started. M. Wilfrid de Fonvielle, kneeling +down by the side of the car, was perpetually "taking observations," +and persistently asking for "the readings," which the gentleman from +Cambridge occasionally protested his inability to supply, owing either +to Burnaby having his foot upon the aneroid, or to the Captain so +jamming him up against the side of the car that the accurate reading +of a scientific instrument was not only inconvenient but impossible. + +When we began to chat and exchange confidences, the fascination which +balloon voyaging has for some people was testified to in a striking +manner. The gentleman from Cambridge had a mildness of manner about him +that made it difficult to conceive him engaged in any perilous +enterprise. Yet he had been in half a dozen balloon ascents, and had +posted up from his native town on hearing that a balloon was going up +from the Crystal Palace. As for Burnaby, it was borne in upon me, even +at this casual meeting, that it did not matter to him what enterprise +he embarked upon, so that it were spiced with danger and promised +adventure. He had some slight preference for ballooning, this being his +sixteenth ascent, including the time when the balloon burst, and the +occupants of the car came rattling down from a height of three thousand +feet, and were saved only by the fortuitous draping of the half emptied +balloon, which prevented all the gas from escaping. + +At half-past six we were still passing over the Turkey carpet, +apparently of the same interminable pattern. Some miles ahead the level +stretch was broken by clumps of trees, which presently developed into +woods of considerable extent. It was growing dusk, and no town or +railway station was near. Burnaby, assured of being too late for his +dinner party, wanted to prolong the journey. But the farther the balloon +went the longer would be the distance over which it would have to be +brought back and Mr. Coxwell's assistant was commendably careful of his +employer's purse. On approaching Highwood the balloon passed over a +dense wood, in which there was some idea of descending. But finally the +open ground was preferred, and, the wood being left behind, a ploughed +field was selected as the place to drop, and the gas was allowed to +escape by wholesale. The balloon swooped downward at a somewhat +alarming pace, and if Barker had had all his wits about him he would +have thrown out half a bag of ballast and lightened the fall. But after +giving instructions for all to stoop down in the bottom of the car and +hold onto the ropes, he himself promptly illustrated the action, and +down we went like a hawk towards the ground. + +As it will appear even to those who have never been in a balloon, no +advice could have been worse than that of stooping down in the bottom of +the car, which was presently to come with a great shock to the earth, +and would inevitably have seriously injured any who shared its contact. +Fortunately Burnaby, who was as cool as if he were riding in his +brougham, shouted out to all to lift their feet from contact with the +bottom of the car, and to hang on to the ropes. This was done, and when +the car struck the earth it merely shook us, and no one had even a +bruise. + +Before we began to descend at full speed the grappling iron had been +pitched over, and, fortunately, got a firm hold in a ridge of the +ploughed land. Thus, when the balloon, after striking the ground, leapt +up again into the air and showed a disposition to wander off and tear +itself to pieces against the hedges and trees, it was checked by the +anchor rope and came down again with another bump on the ground. This +time the shock was not serious, and after a few more flutterings it +finally stood at ease. + +The highest altitude reached by the balloon was three thousand feet, and +this was registered about a couple of miles before we struck Highwood. +For some distance before completing this descent we had been skimming +along at about a thousand feet above the level of the fields, and the +intention to drop being evident, a great crowd of rustics gallantly kept +pace with the balloon for the last half-mile. By the time we were fairly +settled down, half a hundred men, women, and children had converged upon +the field from all directions, and were swarming in through the hedge. + +Actually the first in at the death was an old lady attired chiefly in a +brilliant orange-coloured shawl, who came along over the ridges with a +splendid stride. But she did not fully enjoy the privilege she had so +gallantly earned. She was making straight for the balloon, when Burnaby +mischievously warned her to look out, for it might "go off." Thereupon +the old lady, without uttering a word in reply, turned round and, with +strides slightly increased in length, made for the hedge, through which +she disappeared, and the orange-coloured shawl was seen no more. + +All the rustics appeared to be in a state more or less dazed. What with +having been running some distance, and what with surprise at discovering +seven gentlemen dropped out of the sky into the middle of a ploughed +field, they could find relief only in standing at a safe distance with +their mouths wide open. In vain Barker talked to them in good broad +English, and begged them to come and hold the car whilst we got out. +No one answered a word, and none stirred a step, except when the balloon +gave a lurch, and then they got ready for a start towards the protecting +hedges. At last Burnaby volunteered to drop out. This he did, deftly +holding on to the car, and by degrees the intelligent bystanders +approached and cautiously lent a hand. Finding that the balloon neither +bit nor burned them, they swung on with hearty goodwill, and so we all +got out, and Barker commenced the operation of packing up, in which +task the natives, incited by the promise of a "good drink," lent +hearty assistance. + +We had not the remotest idea where we were, and night was fast closing +in. Where was the nearest railway station? Perhaps if we had arrived in +the neighbourhood in a brake or an omnibus, we might have succeeded in +getting an answer to this question. As it was, we could get none. One +intelligent party said, after profound cogitation, that it was "over +theere," but as "over theere" presented nothing but a vista of +fields--some ploughed and all divided by high hedges--this was scarcely +satisfactory. In despair we asked where the high-road was, and this +being indicated, but still vaguely and after a considerable amount of +thought, Burnaby and I made for it, and presently succeeded in striking +it. + +The next thing was to get to a railway station, wherever it might be, +and as the last train for town might leave early, the quicker we arrived +the better. Looking down the road, Burnaby espied a tumble-down cart +standing close into the hedge, and strode down to requisition it. The +cart was full of hampers and boxes, and sitting upon the shaft was an +elderly gentleman in corduroys intently gazing over the hedge at the +rapidly collapsing balloon, which still fitfully swayed about like a +drunken man awaking out of sleep. + +"Will you drive us to the nearest railway station, old gentleman?" said +Burnaby cheerily. + +The old gentleman withdrew his gaze from the balloon and surveyed us, +a feeble, indecisive smile playing about his wooden features; but he +made no other answer. + +"Will you drive us to the nearest railway station?" repeated Burnaby. +"We'll pay you well." + +Still no answer came from the old gentleman, who smiled more feebly than +ever, now including me in his intelligent purview. After other and +diverse attempts to draw him into conversation, including the pulling of +the horse and cart into the middle of the road, and the making of a +feint to start it off at full gallop, it became painfully clear that the +old gentleman had, at sight of the balloon, gone clean out of such +senses as he had ever possessed, and as there was a prospect of losing +the train if we waited till he came round again, nothing remained but to +help ourselves to the conveyance. So Burnaby got up and disposed of as +much of himself as was possible in a hamper on the top of the cart. I +sat on the shaft, and taking the reins out of the old gentleman's +resistless hand, drove off down the road at quite a respectable pace. + +After we had gone about a mile the old gentleman, who had been employing +his unwonted leisure in staring at us all over, broke into a chuckle. +We gently encouraged him by laughing in chorus, and after a brief space +he said,-- + +_"I seed ye coming."_ + +As I had a good deal to do to keep the pony up and going, Burnaby +undertook to follow up this glimmering of returning sense on the part of +the old gentleman, and with much patience and tact he succeeded in +getting him so far round that we ascertained we were driving in the +direction of "Blackmore." Further than this we could not get, any +pressure in the direction of learning whether there was a railway +station at the town or village, or whatever it might be, being followed +by alarming symptoms of relapse on the part of the old gentleman. +However, to get to Blackmore was something, and after half an hour's +dexterous driving we arrived at the village, of which the inn standing +back under the shade of three immemorial oak trees appeared to be a fair +moiety. + +We paid the old gentleman and parted company with him, though not +without a saddening fear that the shock of the balloon coming down +under his horse's nose, as it were, had permanently affected his brain. +At Blackmore we found a well-horsed trap, and through woods and long +country lanes drove to Ingatestone, and as fast as the train could +travel got back to civilisation. + +This was the beginning of a close and intimate friendship, that ended +only with Burnaby's departure for the Soudan. He often talked to me +of himself and of his still young life. Educated at Harrow, he thence +proceeded to Germany, where, under private tuition, he acquired an +unusually perfect acquaintance with the French, Italian, and German +languages, and incidentally imbibed a taste for gymnastics. At +sixteen he, the youngest of one hundred and fifty candidates, passed +his examination for admission to the army, and at the mature age of +seventeen found himself a cornet in the Royal Horse Guards. At this +time his breast seems to have been fired by the noble ambition to +become the strongest man in the world. How far he succeeded is told +in well-authenticated traditions that linger round various spots in +Windsor and London. He threw himself into the pursuit of muscle with +all the ardour since shown in other directions, and the cup of his +joy must have been full when a precise examination led to the +demonstration of the fact that his arm measured round the biceps +exactly seventeen inches. He could put 'Nathalie' (then starring it +at the Alhambra) to shame with her puny 56-lb. weight in each hand, +and could 'turn the arm' of her athletic father as if it had been +nothing more than a hinge-rusted nut-cracker. His plaything at +Aldershot was a dumb-bell weighing 170 lbs., which he lifted straight +out with one hand, and there was a standing bet of 10 pounds that no +other man in the Camp could perform the same feat. At the rooms of +the London Fencing Club there is to this day a dumb-bell weighing 120 +lbs., with record of how Fred Burnaby was the only member who could +lift it above his head. + +There is a story told of early barrack days which he assured me was +quite true. A horsedealer arrived at Windsor with a pair of beautiful +little ponies he had been commanded to show the Queen. Before +exhibiting them to her Majesty he took them to the Cavalry Barracks +for display to the officers of the Guards. Some of these, by way of +a pleasant surprise, led the ponies upstairs into Burnaby's room, +where they were much admired. But when the time came to take leave an +alarming difficulty presented itself. The ponies, though they had +walked upstairs, could by no means be induced to walk down again. The +officers were in a fix; the horsedealer was in despair; when young +Burnaby settled the matter by taking up the ponies, one under each +arm and, walking downstairs, deposited them in the barrack-yard. The +Queen heard the story when she saw the ponies, and doubtless felt an +increased sense of security at Windsor, having this astounding +testimony to the prowess of her Household Troops. + +Cornet Burnaby was as skilful as he was strong. He was one of the best +amateur boxers of the day, as Tom Paddock, Nat Langham, and Bob Travers +could testify of their well-earned personal experience. Moreover, he +fenced as well as he boxed, and the turn of his wrist, which never +failed to disarm a swordsman, was known in more than one of the capitals +of Europe. Ten years before he started for Khiva, there was much talk at +the Rag of the wonderful feat of the young Guardsman, who undertook +for a small wager to hop a quarter of a mile, run a quarter of a mile, +ride a quarter of a mile, row a quarter of a mile, and walk a quarter of +a mile in a quarter of an hour, and who covered the mile and a quarter +of distance in ten minutes and twenty seconds. + +Fred Burnaby had, whilst barely out of his teens, realised his boyish +dream, and become the strongest man in the world. But he had also begun +to pay the penalty of success in the coin of wasted tissues and failing +health. When a man finds, after anxious and varied experiments, that a +water-ice is the only form of nourishment his stomach will retain, he is +driven to the conviction that there is something wrong, and that he had +better see the doctor. The result of the young athlete's visit to the +doctor was that he mournfully laid down the dumb-bells and the foil, +eschewed gymnastics, and took to travel. + +An average man advised to travel for his health's sake would probably +have gone to Switzerland or the South of France, according to the sort +of climate held to be desirable. Burnaby went to Spain, that being at +the time the most troubled country in Europe, not without promise of an +outbreak of war. Here he added Spanish to his already respectable stock +of languages, and found the benefit of the acquisition in his next +journey, which was to South America, where he spent four months +shooting unaccustomed game and recovering from the effects of his +devotion to gymnastics. Returning to do duty with his regiment, he began +to learn Russian and Arabic, going at them steadily and vigorously, as +if they were long stretches of ploughed land to be ridden over. A second +visit to Spain provided him with the rare gratification of being shut up +in Barcelona during the siege, and sharing all the privations and +dangers of the garrison. Whilst in Seville during a subsequent journey +he received a telegram saying that his father was seriously ill. France +was at the time in the throes of civil war, with the Communists holding +Paris against the army of Versailles. To reach England any other way +than via Paris involved a delay of many days, and Burnaby determined to +dare all that was to be done by the Communists. So, carrying a Queen's +Messenger's bag full of cigars in packets that looked more or less like +Government despatches, he passed through Paris and safely reached +Calais. + +A year later he set forth intending to journey to Khiva, but on reaching +Naples was striken with fever, spent four months of his leave in bed, +and was obliged to postpone the trip. In 1874 he once more went to +Spain, this time acting as the special correspondent of the Times with +the Carlists, and his letters form not the least interesting chapter in +the long story of the miserable war. In the early spring of 1875 he made +a dash at Central Africa, hoping to find "Chinese Gordon" and his +expedition. He met that gallant officer on the Sobat river, a stream +which not ten Englishmen have seen, and having stayed in the camp for a +few days, set out homeward, riding on a camel through the Berber desert +to Korosko, a distance of five hundred miles. After an absence of +exactly four months he turned up for duty at the Cavalry Barracks, +Windsor, with as much nonchalance as if he had been for a trip to the +United States in a Cunard steamer. + +It was whilst on this flight through Central Africa that the notion of +the journey to Khiva came back with irresistible force. It had been done +by MacGahan, but that plucky journalist had judiciously started in the +spring. Burnaby resolved to accomplish the enterprise in winter; and +accordingly, on November 30th, 1875, he started by way of St. +Petersburg, treating himself, as a foretaste of the joys that awaited +him on the steppes, to the long lonely ride through Russia in midwinter. +At Sizeran he left civilisation and railways behind him, and rode on a +sleigh to Orenburg, a distance of four hundred and eighty miles. At +Orenburg he engaged a Tartar servant, and another stretch of eight +hundred miles on a sleigh brought him to Fort No. 1, the outpost of the +Russian army facing the desert of Central Asia. After this even the +luxury of sleigh-riding was perforce foregone, and Burnaby set out on +horseback, with one servant, one guide, and a thermometer that +registered between 70 degrees and 80 degrees below freezing point, to +find Khiva across five hundred miles of pathless, trackless, silent +snow. + +Two Cossacks riding along this route with despatches had just before +been frozen to death. The Russians, inured to the climate, had never +been able to take Khiva in the winter months. They had tried once, and +had lost six hundred camels and two-thirds of their men before they saw +the enemy. But Fred Burnaby gaily went forth, clothed-on with +sheepskins. After several days' hard riding and some nights' sleep on +the snow, he arrived in Khiva, chatted with the Khan, fraternised with +the Russian officers, kept his eyes wide open, and finally was invited +to return by a telegram from the Commander-in-Chief, who had been +brought to understand how this strange visitor from the Cavalry Barracks +at Windsor had fluttered the military authorities at St. Petersburg. + +This adventure might have sufficed an ordinary man for a lifetime. But +in the very next year, whilst his _Ride to Khiva_ remained the most +popular book in the libraries, he paid a second visit to the Turcomans, +seeking them now, not on the bleak steppes round Khiva, but in the more +fertile, though by Europeans untrodden, plains of Asia Minor. He had one +other cherished project of which he often spoke to me. It was to visit +Timbuctoo. But whilst brooding over this new journey he fell in love, +married, settled down to domestic life in Cromwell Gardens, and took to +politics. It was characteristic of him that, looking about for a seat to +fight, he fixed upon John Bright's at Birmingham, that being at the time +the Gibraltar of political fortresses. + +The last time I saw Fred Burnaby was in September 1884. He was standing +on his doorstep at Somerby Hall, Leicestershire, speeding his parting +guests. By his side, holding on with all the might of a chubby hand +to an extended forefinger, was his little son, a child some five years +old, whose chief delight it was thus to hang on to his gigantic father +and toddle about the grounds. We had been staying a week with Burnaby +in his father's old home, and it had been settled, on the invitation +of his old friend Henry Doetsch, that we should meet again later in +the year, and set out for Spain to spend a month at Huelva. A few +weeks later the trumpet sounded from the Soudan, and like an old +war-horse that joyously scents the battle from afar, Burnaby gave up +all his engagements, and fared forth for the Nile. + +At first he was engaged in superintending the moving of the troops +between Tanjour and Magrakeh. This was hard work admirably done. But +Burnaby was always pining to get to the front. In a private letter +dated Christmas Eve, 1884, he writes: "I do not expect the last boat +will pass this cataract before the middle of next month, and then I +hope to be sent for to the front. It is a responsible post Lord +Wolseley has given me here, with forty miles of the most difficult +part of the river, and I am very grateful to him for letting me have +it. But I must say I shall be better pleased if he sends for me when +the troops advance upon Khartoum." + +The order came in due course, and Burnaby was riding on to the relief +of Gordon when his journey was stopped at Abu-Klea. He was attached to +the staff of General Stewart, whose little force of six-thousand-odd +men was suddenly surrounded by a body of fanatical Arabs, nine +thousand strong. The British troops formed square, inside which the +mounted officers sat directing the desperate defence, that again and +again beat back the angry torrent. After some hours' fighting, a +soldier in the excitement of the moment got outside the line of the +square, and was engaged in a hand-to-hand conflict with a cluster of +Arabs. Burnaby, seeing his peril, dashed out to the rescue--"with a +smile on his face," as one who saw him tells me,--and was making +irresistible way against the odds when an Arab thrust a spear in his +throat, and he fell off his horse dead. He sleeps now, as he always +yearned to rest, in a soldier's grave, dug for him by chance on the +continent whose innermost recesses he had planned some day to explore. + +The date of his death was January 17th, 1885. His grave is nameless, +and its place in the lonely Desert no man knoweth. + + "Brave Burnaby down! Wheresoever 'tis spoken + The news leaves the lips with a wistful regret + We picture that square in the desert, shocked, broken, + Yet packed with stout hearts, and impregnable yet + And there fell, at last, in close _melee_, the fighter + Who Death had so often affronted before; + One deemed he'd no dart for his valorous slighter + Who such a gay heart to the battle-front bore. + But alas! for the spear thrust that ended a story + Romantic as Roland's, as Lion-Heart's brief + Yet crowded with incident, gilded with glory + And crowned by a laurel that's verdant of leaf. + A latter-day Paladin, prone to adventure, + With little enough of the spirit that sways + The man of the market, the shop, the indenture! + Yet grief-drops will glitter on Burnaby's bays. + Fast friend as keen fighter, the strife glow preferring, + Yet cheery all round with his friends and his foes; + Content through a life-story short, yet soul-stirring + And happy, as doubtless he'd deem, in its close." + +Thus _Punch_, as it often does, voiced the sentiments of the nation +on learning the death of its hero. + + + +CHAPTER II. + +A NIGHT ON A MOUNTAIN + +There are not many English abroad this morning on the top of +the hill. In fact, unless they had passed the night here it +would not be easy for them to present themselves, seeing that +San Salvatore, though a very modest mound, standing as it does +in the neighbourhood of the Alps, is high enough to lift its +crest out of the curtain of mist that lies over the lower world. +Lugano, its lake, and its many small towns--as like each other +when seen from a distance as if they had been turned out of a +mould--are understood to lie at some uncertain depth beneath +the mist. In truth, unless they have wholly disappeared in the +night, we know that they are there, for we walked up in the +late afternoon with intent to sleep here. + +The people of Lugano, more especially the hotel-keepers, were much +exercised at this undertaking. Nobody in recent recollection had been +known to spend the night on San Salvatore, and if the eccentricity +were permitted and proved enjoyable, no one could say that it might +not spread, leaving empty beds at Lugano. There was, accordingly, +much stress laid on possible dangers and certain discomforts. +Peradventure there was no bed; assuredly it would be hard and damp +and dirty. There would be nothing to eat, nor even to drink; and +in short, if ever there was madness characteristic of the English +abroad, here was the mid March of its season. + +But the undertaking was not nearly so mad as it looked. I had been +up Salvatore on the previous day and surveyed the land. It is a +place that still holds high rank in the Romish calendar of Church +celebrations. Many years ago a chapel was built on its summit, and +pilgrimages instituted. These take place at Ascension and Pentecost, +when the hillside swarms with devout sons and daughters of Italy, and +the music of high mass breaks the silence of the mountains. Even +pilgrims must eat and drink and sleep, and shortly after the chapel +was built there rose up at its feet, in a sheltered nook, a little +house, a chapel-of-ease in the sense that here was sold wine of the +country, cheese of the district, and _jambon_ reputed to come across +the seas from distant "Yorck." A spare bedroom was also established +for the accommodation of the officiating priests, and it was on the +temporary reversion of this apartment that I had counted in making +those arrangements that Lugano held to be hopelessly heretical. + +When, on my first visit to the top of San Salvatore, I reached +the pilgrimage chapel, I found an old gentleman standing at the +door of the hostelry by which the pilgrim must needs pass on +his way to the chapel--a probably undesigned but profitable +arrangement, since it brings directly under his notice the +possibility of purchasing "vins du pays, pain, fromage, +saucissons, and jambon d'Yorck." + +When I broached the subject of the night's entertainment the +landlord was a little taken aback, and evidently inclined +to dwell upon those inconveniences of which Lugano had made +so much. But the more he thought of it, the more he liked the +idea. As I subsequently learned, the hope of his youth, the +sustenance of his manhood, and the dream of his old age was +to see his little hut develop into a grand hotel, with a porter +in the hall, an army of waiters bustling about, and himself in +the receipt of custom. It was a very small beginning that two +English people should propose to lodge with him for a night. +Still, it was something, and everything must have a beginning. +Monte Generoso, among the clouds on the other side of the lake, +began in that way; and look at it now with its _chambres_ at +eight francs a day, its _table d'hote_ at five francs, and its +_bougies_ dispensed at their weight in silver! + +"Si, signor"; he thought it might be done. He was sure--nay, +he was positive. + +As the picture of the hotel of the future glowed in his mind he +became enthusiastic, and proposed that we should view the +apartments. The bedroom we found sufficiently roomy, with both +fireplace and one of the two windows bricked up to avoid +draughts. The mattress of the bed, it is true, was stuffed with +chopped straw, and was not free from suspicion of harbouring +rats. But there was a gorgeous counterpane, whose many colours +would have excited the envy of Joseph's brethren had their +pilgrimage chanced to lead them in this direction. The floor +was of cement, and great patches of damp displayed themselves +on the walls. Over the bed hung a peaceful picture of a chubby +boy clasping a crook to his breast, and exchanging glances of +maudlin sentimentality with a sheep that skipped at his side. +The damp had eaten up one of the legs of mutton, and the sheep +went on three legs. But nothing could exceed the more than +human tenderness with which it regarded the chubby boy with the +crook. + +We soon settled about the bed, and there remained only +the question of food. On this point also our host displayed +even an increase of airy confidence. What would signor? There +were sausage, ham of York, and eggs, the latter capable of +presentation in divers shapes. + +This, it must be admitted, engendered a feeling of discouragement. +We had two days earlier tasted the sausage of the country when +served up in a first-class hotel as garnish to a dish of spinach. +It is apparently made of pieces of gristle, and when liberated from +the leather case that enshrines it, crumbles like a piece of old +wall. Sausage was clearly out of the question, and the ham of York +does not thrive out of its own country, acquiring a foreign flavour +of salted sawdust. Eggs are very well in their way, but man cannot +live on eggs alone. + +Our host was a man full of resources. Why should we not bring the +materials for dinner from Lugano? He would undertake to cook them, +whatever they might be. This was a happy thought that clenched the +bargain. We undertook to arrive on the following day, bringing our +sheaves with us, in the shape of a supply of veal cutlets. + +The ostensible object of spending a night on San Salvatore is to see +the sun set and rise. The mountain is not high, just touching three +thousand feet, an easy ascent of two hours. But it is a place +glorious in the early morning and solemn in the quiet evening. +Below lies the lake of Lugano, its full length visible. Straight +before you, looking east, is the long arm that stretches to Porlezza, +with its gentle curves where the mountains stand and cool their feet +in the blue water. To the west, beyond a cluster of small and +nameless lakes that lie on the plain, we see the other arm of the +lake, with Ponte Tresa nestling upon it, and still farther west the +sun gleams on the waters of Lago Maggiore. Above Porlezza is Monte +Legnone, and far away on the left glint the snow peaks of the Bernina. +High in the north, above the red tiles and white walls of the town of +Lugano are the two peaks of Monte Camoghe, flanked by something that +seems a dark cloud in the blue sky, but which our host says is the +ridge of St. Gothard. The sun sets behind the Alps of the Valais +among which towers the Matterhorn and gleam the everlasting snows of +Monte Rosa. + +These form the framework of a picture which contains all the softness +and richness of the beauty of a land where the grape and the fig +grow, and where in these October days roses are in full bloom, and +heliotropes sweeten every breath of air. Yesterday had opened +splendidly, the morning sun rising over the fair scene and bringing +out every point. But as we toiled up the hill this afternoon, +carrying the cutlets, the sun had capriciously disappeared. The +mountains were hid in clouds, and the lake, having no blue sky to +reflect, had turned green with chagrin. There was little hope of +visible sunset; but there was a prospect of sunrise, and certainty +of a snug dinner in circumstances to which the novelty of the +surroundings would lend a strange charm. + +It was rather disappointing on arriving to find that our acquaintance +of yesterday had disappeared. I have reason to believe the excitement +of our proposed visit had been too much for him, and that he had +found it desirable to retire to rest in the more prosaic habitation +of the family down in the town. He had selected as substitute the +most stalwart and capable of his sons, a man of the mature age of +thirty-five. This person had the family attribute of readiness of +resource and perfect confidence. The enthusiasm which had been too +dangerously excited in the breast of his aged parent had been +communicated to him. He was ready to go anywhere and cook anything, +and having as a preliminary arranged a napkin under his arm, went +bustling about the table disturbing imaginary flies and flicking off +supposititious crumbs, as he had seen the waiter do in the restaurant +at the hotel down in the town. + +"Signor had brought the cutlets? Si, and beautiful they were! How +would signor like to have them done? Thus, or thus, or thus?" in a +variety of ways which, whilst their recital far exceeded my limited +knowledge of the language, filled me with fullest confidence in +Giacommetti. + +That was his name, he told me in one of his bursts of confidence; +and a very pretty name it is, though for brevity's sake it may be +convenient hereafter to particularise him by the initial letter. + +As I was scarcely in a position to decide among the various +appetising ways of cooking suggested by G., I said I would leave it +to him. + +But, then, the signor could not make a dinner of cutlets. What else +would he be so good as to like? Sausage, ham of York, and eggs--eggs +_a la coque_ or presented as omelettes. No? Then signor would commence +with soup? Finally _potage au riz_ was selected out of the +embarrassment of riches poured at our feet by the enthusiastic G. + +There being yet an hour to dinner, we ascended the few steps that +led to the summit of the hill on which the chapel is perched, a +marvel to all new-comers by the highway of the Lake. The door was +open, and we walked in. There was no light burning on the altar, +nor any water in the stone basin by the door. But there was all +the apparatus of worship--the gaudy toyshop above the grand altar, +the tiny side chapels, with their pictures of the dying Saviour, +and the confessional box, now thick with dust, and echoless of +sob of penitent or counsel of confessor. It was evidently a poorly +endowed chapel, the tinsel adornments being of the cheapest and +the candles of the thinnest. But in some past generation a good +Catholic had bestowed upon it an altarcloth of richest silk, +daintily embroidered. The colours had faded out of the flowers, +and the golden hue of the cloth had been grievously dimmed. Still +it remained the one rich genuine piece of workmanship in a chapel +disfigured by an overbearing hankering after paper flowers and +tinsel. + +Early the next morning, whilst reposing under the magnificent +counterpane on the bed of chopped straw, I was awakened by hearing +the chapel bell ring for mass. I thought it must be the ghost of +some disembodied priest, who had come up through the darkness of +the night and the scarcely more luminous mist of the morning to +say a mass for his own disturbed soul. But, as I presently learned, +they were human hands that pulled the bell-rope, and a living +priest said mass all by himself in this lonely chapel whilst dawn +was breaking over a sleeping world. + +I saw him some hours later sitting on the kitchen dresser, in the +sanctum where G. worked the mysteries of his art. He was resting +his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward, and had in his mouth +a large pipe, from which he vigorously puffed. I found him a very +cheerful old gentleman, by no means unduly oppressed with the +solemnity of this early mass in the lonely chapel. He lived down +at Barbeng, at the back of the hill, and had come up this morning +purely as a matter of business, and in partial fulfilment of a +contract entered into with one of his parishioners, whose husband +had been lost at sea whilst yet they were only twelve months +married. The widow had scraped together sufficient money to have +a due number of masses said on San Salvatore for the repose of the +soul of her young husband. So once a week, whilst the contract ran, +the old priest made his way up through the morning mist, tolled the +bell, said the mass, and thereafter comforted himself with a +voluminous pipe seated on the dresser in G.'s kitchen. + +This is a digression, and I confess I have rather lingered over it, +as it kept the soup waiting. + +The preparation was brought in in a neat white bowl gracefully +carried aloft by G., who still insisted upon going about with a +napkin under his arm. Everything was in order except the soup. I +like to think that the failure may have been entirely due to myself. +G. had proposed quite a dozen soups, and I had ignorantly chosen +the only one he could not make. The liquid was brown and greasy, +smelling horribly of a something which in recognition of G.'s good +intention I will call butter. The rice, which formed a principal +component part, presented itself in conglomerate masses, as if G., +before placing it in the tureen, had squeezed portions of it in his +hand. + +Perhaps he had, for he was not in the humour to spare himself trouble +in his effort to make the banquet a success. + +We helped ourselves plentifully to the contents of the tureen, which +was much easier to do than to settle the disposition of the soup. G. +was in an ecstasy of delight at things having gone on so well thus +far. He positively pervaded the place, nervously changing the napkin +from arm to arm, and frantically flicking off imaginary crumbs. At +length it happily occurred to him that it would be well to go and +see after the cutlets. Whereupon we emptied the soup back into the +tureen, and when G. returned were discovered wiping our lips with +the air of people who had already dined. + +After all, there were the cutlets, and G. had not indulged in +exaggerated approval of their excellence when in a state of nature. +They were those dainty cuts into which veal naturally seems to +resolve itself in butcher's shops on the Continent. We observed +with concern that they looked a little burned in places when they +came to the table, and the same attraction of variety was maintained +in the disposition of salt. There were large districts in the area +of the cutlet absolutely free from savouring. But then you came upon +a small portion where the salt lay in drifts, and thus the average +was preserved. We were very hungry and ate the cutlets, which, with +an allowance of bread, made up the dinner. There were some potatoes, +fried with great skill, amid much of the compound we had agreed to +call butter. But, as I explained to G. in reply to a deprecatory +gesture when he took away the floating mass untouched, I have not +for more than three years been able to eat a potato. One of my +relations was, about that date, choked by a piece of potato, and +since then I have never touched them, especially when fried in a +great deal of butter. + +We had some cheese, for which Earl Granville's family motto would +serve as literal description. You might bend it, but could not +break it. I never was partial to bent cheese, but we made a fair +appearance with this part of the feast, owing to the arrival of +G.'s dog, a miserable-looking cur, attracted to the banquet-hall +by unwonted savours. He seemed to like the cheese; and G., when he +came in with the coffee, was more than ever pleased with our +appreciation of the good things provided for us. + +"Rosbif and chiss--ha!" he said, breaking forth into English, and +smiling knowingly upon us. + +He felt he had probed the profoundest depths of the Englishman's +gastronomical weakness. + +With the appearance of the coffee the real pleasure of the evening +commenced. Along nearly the whole of one side of the banquet-hall +ran a fireplace, a recess of the proportions of a spare bedroom in +an ordinary English house. There were no "dogs" or other contrivance +for minimising the spontaneity of a fire. There are granite quarries +near, and these had contributed an enormous block which formed a +hearth raised about six inches above the level of the floor. On this +an armful of brushwood was placed; and the match applied, it began +to burn with cheerful crackling laughter and pleasant flame, +filling the room with a fragrant perfume. For all other light a +feeble oil lamp twinkled high up on the wall, and a candle burned +on the table where we had so luxuriantly dined. + +The fitful light shone on the oil paintings which partly hid the +damp on the walls. There was a picture (not a bad one) of St. +Sebastian pierced with arrows, and in his death-agony turning +heavenward a beautiful face. There was the portrait of another +monk holding on to a ladder, each rung of which was labelled with +a cardinal virtue. There was a crucifixion or two, and what +elsewhere might well pass for a family portrait--an elderly lady, +with a cap of the period, nursing a spaniel. The damp had spared +the spaniel whilst it made grave ravages upon the lady, eating +a portion of her cheek and the whole of her left ear. + +G. having the dinner off his mind, and having, as was gathered +from a fearsome clattering in the back premises, washed up the +dishes, wandered about the shadows in the background and showed +a disposition for conversation. It was now he unfolded that dream +of the hotel some day to be built up here, with the porter in the +hall, the waiters buzzing round, the old man, his father, in the +receipt of custom, and he (G.) exercising his great natural talents +in supervising the making of soup, the frying of potatoes, and +the selection of elastic cheeses. He showed, with pardonable pride, +a visitors' book in which was written "Leopold, Prince of Great +Britain and Ireland." His Royal Highness came here one rainy day +in 1876, riding on a mule, and escorted by a bedraggled suite. + +Did they partake of any refreshments? + +No; the father, G. frankly admits, lost his head in the excitement +of the moment--a confession which confirms the impression that, on +a much less auspicious occasion, it has been thought desirable that +a younger and stronger man should assume the direction of affairs. +To proffer Royalty _potage au riz_ on such brief notice was of course +out of the question. But the fatuous old gentleman had permitted a +Prince of Great Britain and Ireland to descend the mountain without +having tasted any other of the comestibles which were doubtless on +hand at the time, and portions of which most probably remain to +this day. + +About eight o'clock there were indications from the shadowy +portions of the banqueting chamber that G. was getting sleepy, and +that the hour had arrived when it was usual for residents to retire +for the night. Even on the top of a mountain one cannot go to bed +at eight o'clock, and we affected to disregard these signals. +Beginning gently, the yawns increased in intensity till they became +phenomenal. At nine o'clock G. pointedly compared the hour of the +day as between his watch and mine. + +It was hard to leave a bright wood fire and go to bed at nine +o'clock; but G. was irresistible. He literally yawned us out of +the room, up the staircase, and into the bed-chamber. There was a +key hanging by the outside of the door the size of a small club, +and weighing several pounds. On the inside the keyhole, contrary to +habitude, was in the centre of the door. From this point of approach +it was, however, useful rather for ventilation than for any other +purpose, since the key would not enter. Looking about for some means +of securing the door against possible intrusions on the part of G. +with a new soup, I discovered the trunk of a young tree standing +against the wall. The next discovery was recesses in the wall on +either side of the door, which suggested the evident purpose of the +colossal bar. With this across the door one might sleep in peace, +and I did till eight o'clock in the morning. + +G. had been instructed to call us at sunrise if the morning were +fair. As it happened, our ill luck of the evening was repeated in +the morning. A thick mist obscured all around us, though as we +passed down to civilisation and Lugano the sun, growing stronger, +lifted wreaths of white mist, and showed valley, and lake, and +town bathed in glorious light. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE PRINCE OF WALES + +We in this country have grown accustomed to the existence of the +Prince of Wales, and his personality, real and fabulous, is not +unfamiliar on the other side of the Atlantic. But if we come to +think of it, it is a very strange phenomenon. The only way to +realise its immensity is to conceive its creation today, supposing +that heretofore through the history of England there had been +no such institution. A child is born in accidental circumstances +and with chance connections that might just as reasonably have +fallen to the lot of some other entity. He grows from childhood +through youth into manhood, and all the stages, with increasing +devotion and deference, he is made the object of reverential +solicitude. All his wants are provided for, even anticipated. He +is the first person to be considered wherever he goes. Men who +have won renown in Parliament, in the camp, in literature, doff +their hats at his coming, and high-born ladies curtsey. + +It is all very strange; but so is the rising of the sun and the +sequence of the moon. We grow accustomed to everything and take +the Prince of Wales like the solar system as a matter of course. + +Reflection on the singularity of his position leads to sincere +admiration of the manner in which the Prince fills it. Take it for +all in all, there is no post in English public life so difficult +to fill, not only without reproach, but with success. Day and night +the Prince lives under the bull's-eye light of the lantern of a +prying public. He is more talked about, written about, and pulled +about than any Englishman, except, perhaps, Mr. Gladstone. But Mr. +Gladstone stands on level ground with his countrymen. If he is +attacked or misrepresented, he can hit back again. The position of +the Prince of Wales imposes upon him the impassivity of the target +used in ordinary rifle practice. Whatever is said or written about +him, he can make no reply, and the happy result which in the main +follows upon this necessary attitude suggests that it might with +advantage be more widely adopted. + +Probably in the dead, unhappy night when the rain was on the roof +and the Tranby Croft scandal was on everybody's tongue, the Prince +of Wales had some bad quarters of an hour. But whatever he felt or +suffered, he made no sign. To see him sitting in the chair on the +bench in court whilst that famous trial was proceeding, no one, not +having prior knowledge of the fact, would have guessed that he had +the slightest personal interest in the affair. There was danger of +his even over-doing the attitude of indifference. But he escaped it, +and was exactly as smiling, debonair and courtly as if he were in +his box at the theatre watching the development of some quite other +dramatic performance. He has all the courage of his race, and his +long training has steeled his nerves. + +It would be so easy for the Prince of Wales to make mistakes that +would alienate from him the affection which is now his in unstinted +measure. There are plenty of precedents, and a fatal fulness of +exemplars. Take, for example, his relations with political life. It +would not be possible for him now, as a Prince of Wales did at the +beginning of the century, to form a Parliamentary party, and +control votes in the House of Commons by cabals hatched at +Marlborough House. But he might, if he were so disposed, in less +occult ways meddle in politics. As a matter of fact, noteworthy and +of highest honour to the Prince, the outside public have not the +slightest idea to which side of politics his mind is biassed. They +know all about his private life, what he eats, and how much; how he +dresses, whom he talks to, what he does from the comparatively +early hour at which he rises to the decidedly late one at which he +goes to bed. But in all the gossip daily poured forth about him +there is never a hint as to whether he prefers the politics of Tory +or Liberal, the company of Lord Salisbury or Mr. Gladstone. + +In a country where every man in whatever station of life is a keen +politician, this is a great thing to say for one in the position of +the Prince of Wales. + +This absolute impartiality of attitude does not arise from +indifference to politics or to the current of political warfare. +The Prince is a Peer of Parliament, sits as Duke of Cornwall, and +under that name figures in the division lists on the rare occasions +when he votes. When any important debate is taking place in the +House, he is sure to be found in his corner seat on the front Cross +Bench, an attentive listener. Nor does he confine his attention to +proceedings in the House of Lords. In the Commons there is no more +familiar figure than his seated in the Peers' Gallery over the +clock, with folded hands irreproachably gloved, resting on the +rail before him as he leans forward and watches with keen interest +the sometimes tumultuous scene. + +Thus he sat one afternoon in the spring of the session of 1875. He +had come down to hear a speech with which his friend, Mr. Chaplin, +was known to be primed. The House was crowded in every part, a +number of Peers forming the Prince's suite in the gallery, while +the lofty figure of Count Munster, German Ambassador, towered at +his right hand, divided by the partition between the Peers' +Gallery and that set apart for distinguished strangers. It was a +great occasion for Mr. Chaplin, who sat below the gangway visibly +pluming himself and almost audibly purring in anticipation of +coming triumph. But a few days earlier the eminent orator had the +misfortune to incur the resentment of Mr. Joseph Gillis Biggar. +All unknown to him, Joseph Gillis was now lying in wait, and just +as the Speaker was about to call on the orator of the evening, +the Member for Cavan rose and observed,-- + +"Mr. Speaker, Sir, I believe there are strangers in the house." + +The House of Commons, tied and bound by its own archaic +regulations, had no appeal against the whim of the indomitable +Joey B. He had spied strangers in due form, and out they must go. +So they filed forth, the Prince of Wales at the head of them, the +proud English Peers following, and by another exit the Envoy of the +most potent sovereign of the Continent, representative of a nation +still flushed with the overthrow of France--all publicly and +peremptorily expelled at the raising of the finger of an uneducated, +obscure Irishman, who, when not concerned with the affairs of the +Imperial Parliament, was curing bacon at Belfast and selling it at +enhanced prices to the Saxon in the Liverpool market. + +The Prince of Wales bore this unparalleled indignity with the good +humour which is one of his richest endowments. He possesses in rare +degree the faculty of being amused and interested. The British +workman, who insists on his day's labour being limited by eight +hours, would go into armed revolt if he were called upon to toil +through so long a day as the Prince habitually faces. Some of its +engagements are terribly boring, but the Prince smiles his way +through what would kill an ordinary man. His manner is charmingly +unaffected, and through all the varying duties and circumstances of +the day he manages to say and do the right thing. It is not a heroic +life, but it is in its way a useful one, and must be exceedingly hard +to live. + +Watching the Prince of Wales moving through an assemblage, whether +it be as he enters a public meeting or as he strolls about the +greensward at Marlborough House on the occasion of a garden party, +the observer may get some faint idea of the strain ever upon him. You +can see his eyes glancing rapidly along the line of the crowd in +search of some one whom he can make happy for the day by a smile or a +nod of recognition. If there were one there who might expect the +honour, and who was passed over, the Prince knows full well how sore +would be the heart-burning. + +There is nothing prettier at the garden party than to see him walking +through the crowd of brave men and fair women with the Queen on his +arm. Her Majesty used in days gone by to be habile enough at the +performance of this imperative duty laid upon Royalty of singling +out persons for recognition. Now, when he is in her company, the +Prince of Wales does it for her. Escorting her, bare-headed, +through the throng; he glances swiftly to right or left, and when he +sees some one whom he thinks the Queen should smile upon he whispers +the name. The Queen thereupon does her share in contributing to the +sum of human happiness. + +It is, as I began by saying, all very strange if we look calmly at it. +But, in the present order of things, it has to be done. It is the +Prince of Wales's daily work, and it is impossible to conceive it +accomplished with fuller appearance of real pleasure on the part of +the active agent. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +A HISTORIC CROWD. + +"I very much regret that so much of your valuable time has been +absorbed," said the Lord Chief Justice, speaking to the Tichborne +Jury, as the massive form of the Claimant vanished through the side +door, never more to enter the Court of Queen's Bench; "but it will +be a consolation to you to think that your names will be associated +in history with the most remarkable trial that has ever occurred in +the annals of England." + +There was another jury outside Sir Alexander Cockburn's immediate +observation that always struck me, and I saw a good deal of it, as +not the least notable feature in the great trial that at one time +engrossed the attention of the English-speaking race. That was the +crowd that gathered outside the Courts of Justice, then still an +adjunct of Westminster Hall. + +As there never was before a trial like that of the Claimant, so +there never was a crowd like this. It had followed him through all +the vicissitudes of his appeal to the jury of his countrymen, and +of his countrymen's subsequently handing him over to another jury +upon a fresh appeal. It began to flood the broad spaces at the +bottom of Parliament Street in far-off days when the case of +Tichborne _v._ Lushington was opened in the Sessions House, and it +continued without weariness or falling-off all through the progress +of the civil suit, beginning again with freshened zeal with the +commencement of the criminal trial. + +Like the Severn, Palace Yard filled twice a day whilst the blue +brougham had its daily mission to perform, the crowd assembling in +the morning to welcome the coming Claimant, and foregathering in +the evening to speed him on his departure westward. It ranged in +numbers from 5000 down to 1000. Put the average at 3000, multiply +it by 291, the aggregate number of days which the Claimant was +before the Courts in his varied character of plaintiff and +defendant, and we have 873,000 as the total of the assemblage. + +As a rule, the congregation of Monday was the largest of the week. +Why this should be, students of the manners of this notable crowd +were not agreed. Some held that the circumstance was to be accounted +for by the fact that two days had elapsed during which the Claimant +was not on view, and that on Monday the crowd came back, like a +giant refreshed, to the feast, which, by regular repetition, had +partially palled on Friday's appetite. Others found the desired +explanation in the habit which partly obtains among the labouring +classes of taking Monday as a second day of rest in the week, and +of devoting a portion of it to the duty of going down to Westminster +Hall to cheer "Sir Roger." + +Probably both causes united to bring together the greater crowd of +Monday afternoons. It must not be supposed that the mob was composed +wholly or principally of what are called the working classes. When +an hon. member rose in the House of Commons, and complained of the +inconvenience occasioned to legislators by the "Tichborne crowd," +another member observed that, relative numbers considered, the House +of Commons contributed as much to swell the throng as any other +section of the people. During the last months of the trial, if any +class predominated it was that which came from the provinces. The +Claimant was undoubtedly one of the sights of London and before his +greater attraction the traditional Monument which elsewhere-- + + "Lifts its tall head and like a bully lies," + +sank into absolute insignificance. Not to have seen the Claimant, +argued the London of the period unknown. Fashionably dressed ladies +and exquisitely attired gentlemen battled for front places upon the +pavement with sturdy agriculturists who had brought their wives and +daughters to see "Sir Roger," and who had not the slightest +intention of going back till they had accomplished their desire. + +It came to pass that there were some two hundred faces in the crowd +familiar to the police as daily attendants at the four o'clock +festival in Palace Yard. Day after day, they came to feast their +eyes on the portly figure of "Sir Roger," and, having gazed their +fill, went away, to return again on the morrow. There was one aged +gentleman whose grey gaiters, long-tailed coat, and massive umbrella +were as familiar in Palace Yard as are the features on the clock-face +in the tower. He came up from somewhere in the country in the days +when Kenealy commenced his first speech, and, being a hale old man, +he survived long enough to be in the neighbourhood when the learned +gentleman had finished his second. At the outset, he was wont to +fight gallantly for a place of vantage in the ranks near the arch-way +of the Hall. Then, before the advances of younger and stouter +newcomers, he faded away into the background. Towards the end, he +wandered about outside the railings in Bridge Street, and, as the +clock struck four, got the umbrella as near as its natural +obstructiveness would permit to the carriage-gate whence the +Claimant's brougham was presently to issue. + +At first the police authorities dealt with the assembly in the +ordinary manner, a more or less sufficient force being told off for +the duty of keeping the thoroughfare clear. It soon became manifest +that the Tichborne crowd, like everything else in connection with +the trial, required especial treatment, and accordingly a carefully +elaborated scheme was prepared. Superintendent Denning had under his +command, for the preservation of peace and order in Palace Yard and +the adjacent thoroughfares, not less than sixty men. One or two were +stationed in the justice-chamber itself, and must by the time the +verdict had been delivered have got pretty well up in the details of +the case. Others guarded the entrance-door; others lined the passage +into the yard, others were disposed about the yard itself; whilst, +after three o'clock, two strong companies stood in reserve in the +sheds that flank the entrance to the Hall. At half past three the +crowd began to assemble, building itself up upon the little nucleus +that had been hanging about all day. The favourite standpoint, +especially in the cold, uncertain winter weather that marked the +conclusion of the trial, was inside Westminster Hall, where the +people were massed on the far side of a temporary barricade which +the Tichborne case called into being, the railing of which was worn +black by the touch of the hands of the faithful. + +Outside, in the yard, the crowd momentarily thickened till it formed +a dense lane, opening out from the front of the Hall, and turning to +the left down to the south carriage-gate. The railings in Bridge +Street and St. Margaret's Street were banked with people, and ranks +were formed on the pavement in front of the grass-plot. At a quarter +to four the policemen under the shed received the word of command, +and marched out into St. Margaret's Street, some filing off to take +charge of the gates, whilst the rest were drawn up on the pavement +opposite and at the corner of Bridge Street, with the mission of +preventing rushes after the Claimant's carriage as it drove through. +A few minutes later the distinguished vehicle itself--a plain, +dark-blue brougham, drawn by a finely bred bay mare--drove into the +yard, and, taking up its position a little on one side of the entrance +to the Hall, became the object of curious and respectful consideration. +As the great clock boomed four strokes, the doors of the Court opened, +and the privileged few who had been present at the day's proceedings +issued forth. + +The excitement increased as the Court emptied, culminating when, +after a brief lull, the Claimant himself appeared, and waddled down +the living lane that marked the route to his carriage. There was +much cheering and a great amount of pocket-handkerchief waving, +which "Sir Roger" acknowledged by raising his hat and smiling that +"smile of peculiar sweetness and grace" which Dr. Kenealy brought +under the notice of the three judges and a special jury. As the +Claimant walked through the doorway, closely followed by the +Inspector, the policemen on guard suddenly closed the doors, and +the public within Westminster Hall found themselves netted and +hopelessly frustrated in what was evidently their intention of +rushing out and sharing the outside crowd's privilege of staring +at the Claimant, as he actually stepped into his carriage. + +The outside throng in Palace Yard, meanwhile, made the most of +their special privilege, crowding round "Sir Roger" and cheering +in a manner that made the bay mare plunge and rear. With the least +possible delay, the Claimant is got into the brougham, the door is +banged to, and the bay mare is driven swiftly through the Yard, the +crowd closing in behind. But when they reach the gates, and essay +to pass and flood the streets beyond, where the gigantic umbrella +of the aged gentleman looms uplifted over the shoulders of the line +of police like the section of a windmill sail, the iron gates are +swung to, and this, the second and larger portion of the crowd, is +likewise safely trapped, and can gaze upon the retreating brougham +only through iron bars that, in this instance at least, "do make a +cage." There are not many people outside, for it is hard to catch +even a passing glimpse of the occupant of the carriage as it drives +swiftly westward to Pimlico, finally pulling up in a broad street of +a severely respectable appearance, not to be marred even by the near +contiguity of Millbank convict prison. + +Here also is a crowd, though only a small one, and select to wit, +being composed chiefly of well-dressed ladies, forming part of a +band of pilgrims who daily walked up and down the street, waiting +and watching the outgoing and incoming of "Sir Roger." They are +rewarded by the polite upraising of "Sir Roger's" hat, and a further +diffusion of the sweet and gracious smile; and having seen the door +shut upon the portly form, and having watched the brougham drive +off, they, too, go their way, and the drama is over for the day. + +But the crowd in and about Palace Yard have not accomplished their +mission when they have seen the blue brougham fade in the distance. +There is the "Doctor" to come yet, and all the cheering has to be +repeated, even with added volume of sound. When the Claimant has +got clear away, and the crowd have had a moment or two of +breathing-time, the "Doctor" walks forth from the counsels' +entrance, and is received with a burst of cheering and clapping +of hands, which, "just like Sir Roger", he acknowledges by raising +his hat, but, unlike him, permits no trace of a smile to illumine +his face. Without looking right or left, the "Doctor" walks +northward, raising his hat as he passes the caged and cheering +crowd in Palace Yard. With the same grave countenance, not moved in +the slightest degree by the comical effect of the big men in the +crowd at his heels waving their hats over his head, the "Doctor" +crosses Bridge Street, and walks into Parliament Street, as far as +the Treasury, where a cab is waiting. Into this he gets with much +deliberation, and, with a final waving of his hat, and always with +the same imperturbable countenance, is driven off, and Parliament +Street, subsiding from the turmoil in which the running, laughing, +shouting mob have temporarily thrown it, finds time to wonder +whether it would not have been more convenient for all concerned if +the "Doctor's" cab had picked him up at the door of Westminster Hall. + +Slowly approached the end of this marvellous, and to a succeeding +generation almost incredible, and altogether inexplicable, +phenomenon. It came about noon, on Saturday, the final day of +February, 1874. + +A few minutes before ten o'clock on that morning the familiar bay +mare and the well-known blue brougham--where are they now?--appeared +in sight, with a contingent of volunteer running footmen, who +cheered "Sir Roger" with unabated enthusiasm. As the carriage passed +through into the yard, a cordon of police promptly drew up behind it +across the gateway, and stopped the crowd that would have entered +with it. But inside there was, within reasonable limits, no +restraint upon the movements of the Claimant's admirers, who lustily +cheered, and wildly waved their hats, drowning in the greater sound +the hisses that came from a portion of the assemblage. The Claimant +looked many shades graver than in the days when Kenealy's speech +was in progress. Nevertheless, he smiled acknowledgment of the +reception, and repeatedly raised his hat. When he had passed in, +the throng in Palace Yard rapidly vanished, not more than a couple +of hundred remaining in a state of vague expectation. Westminster +Hall itself continued to be moderately full, a compact section of +the crowd that had secured places of vantage between the barricade +and the temporary telegraph station evidently being prepared to see +it out at whatever hour the end might come. + +For the next hour there was scarcely any movement in the Hall, save +that occasioned by persons who lounged in, looked round, and either +ranged themselves in the ranks behind the policemen, or strolled +out again, holding to the generally prevalent belief that if they +returned at two o'clock they would still have sufficient hours to +wait. In the Yard a thin line extended from the side of the Hall +gateway backwards to the railings in St. Margaret's Street, with +another line drawn up across the far edge of the broad carriage-way +before the entrance. There was no ostentatious show of police, but +they had a way of silently filing out from under the sheds or out +of the Commons' gateway in proportion as the crowd thickened, which +conveyed the impression that there was a force somewhere about that +would prove sufficient to meet any emergency. As a matter of fact, +Mr. Superintendent Denning had under his command three hundred men, +who had marched down to Westminster Hall at six o'clock in the +morning, and were chiefly disposed in reserve, ready for action as +circumstances might dictate. + +At half-past eleven, there being not more than three or four hundred +people in Palace Yard, a number of Press messengers, rushing +helter-skelter out of the court and into waiting cabs, indicated the +arrival of some critical juncture within the jealously guarded +portals. Presently it was whispered that the Lord Chief Justice had +finished his summing up, and that Mr. Justice Mellor was addressing +the jury. A buzz of conversation rose and fell in the Hall, and the +ranks drew closer up, waiting in silence the consummation that could +not now be far distant. + +The news spread with surprising swiftness, not only in Palace Yard, +but throughout Bridge Street and St. Margaret's Street, and the +railings looking thence into the yard became gradually banked with +rows of earnest faces. Little groups formed on the pavement about +the corners of Parliament Street. Faces appeared at the windows of +the houses overlooking the Yard, and the whole locality assumed an +aspect of grave and anxious expectation. A few minutes after the +clock in the tower had slowly boomed forth twelve strokes it was +known in the Bail Court, where a dozen rapid hands were writing out +words the echo of which had scarcely died away in the inner court, +that the Judges had finished their task, and that the Jury had +retired to consider their verdict. It was known also in the lobbies, +where a throng of gowned and wigged barristers were assembled, +hanging on as the fringe of the densely packed audience that sat +behind the Claimant, and overflowed by the opened doorway. Thence +it reached the crowd outside, and after the first movement and hum +of conversation had subsided, a dead silence fell upon Westminster +Hall, and all eyes were fixed upon the door by which, at any moment, +messengers might issue with the word or words up to the utterance of +which by the Foreman of the Jury the great trial slowly dragged its +length. + +Half an hour later the door burst open, and messengers came leaping +in breathless haste down the steps and across the Hall, shouting as +they ran,-- + +"Guilty! Guilty on all counts!" The words were taken up by the +crowd, and passed from mouth to mouth in voices scarcely above a +whisper. It was a flock of junior barristers, issuing from the +court, radiant and laughing, who brought the next news. + +"Fourteen years! Fourteen years!" they called out. + +This time the crowd in Westminster Hall took up the cry in louder +tones, and there was some attempt at cheering, but it did not +prevail. The less dense crowd in the Yard received the intelligence +without any demonstration and after a brief pause made off with one +consent for the judges' entrance in St. Margaret's Street, where, +peradventure, they might see the prisoner taken away, or at least +would catch a glimpse of the judges and counsel. + +From this hour up to nearly four o'clock the crowd, in numbers far +exceeding those present at the first intimation of the verdict and +sentence, hung about St. Margaret's Street and Palace Yard waiting +for the coming forth of the prisoner, who had long ago been safely +lodged in Newgate. They did not know that as soon as the convict +was given in charge of the tipstaff of the court he was led away by +Inspector Denning, along a carefully planned and circuitous route +that entirely baffled the curiosity of the waiting crowd. Through the +Court of Exchequer the prisoner and his guards went, by the members' +private staircase, across the lobby, along the corridor, through the +smoking-room into the Commons Courtyard, where a plain police +omnibus was in waiting with an escort of eleven men. In this the +prisoner took his seat, and was driven through the Victoria Tower +gate _en route_ for Newgate. He accompanied his custodians as quietly +as if they were conducting him to his brougham, and only once broke +the silence of the journey to Newgate. + +"It's very hot," he said, as he panted along the passages of the +House of Commons, "and I am so fat." + + + +CHAPTER V. + +WITH PEGGOTTY AND HAM. + +A careful survey of the map of Kent will disclose Lydd lying within +four miles of the coast, in the most southerly portion of the +promontory tipped by Dungeness. Lydd has now its own branch line +from Ashford, but when I first knew it the nearest point by rail on +one hand was Folkestone, and on the other Appledore. Between these +several points lies a devious road, sometimes picking its way +through the marshes, and occasionally breaking in upon a sinking +village, which it would probably be delightful to dwell in if it +did not lie so low, was not so damp, and did not furnish the +inhabitants with an opportunity for obtaining remarkably close +acquaintance with the symptoms of the ague. Few of the marsh towns +are more picturesque than Lydd, owing to the sturdy independence +shown by the architects of the houses, and to the persistent and +successful efforts made to avoid anything like a straight line in +the formation of the streets. The houses cluster "anyhow" round the +old church, and seem to have dropped accidentally down in all sorts +of odd nooks and corners. They face all ways, and stand at angles, +several going the length of turning their backs upon the streets and +placidly opening out from their front door into the nearest field. + +In the main street, through which her Majesty's cart passes, and +along which all the posting is done, a serious attempt has made at +the production of something like an ordinary street. But even here +the approach to regularity is a failure, owing to some of the houses +along the line putting forth a porch, or blooming into a row of +utterly unnecessary pillars before the parlour windows. In short, +Lydd, being entirely out of the tracks of the world, cares little for +what other towns may do, and has just built its houses where and how +it pleased. Between Dungeness and Lydd there is an expanse of shingle +which makes the transit an arduous undertaking, and one not to be +accomplished easily without the aid of "backstays" (pronounced +"backster"), a simple contrivance somewhat upon the principle of +snowshoes. When the proneness to slip off the unaccustomed foot has +been overcome, backstays are not so awkward as they look. A couple of +flat pieces of inch-thick wood, four inches wide by six long, with a +loop of leather defectively fastened for the insertion of the foot +went to make up the pair of "backsters" by whose assistance I +succeeded in traversing two miles of rough, loose shingle that +separates the southern and eastern edge of Lydd marsh from the sea. + +The lighthouse stands on the farthest point, jutting into the sea, +and has at the right of it West Bay, and on the left East Bay. A +signboard on the top of a pole stuck in the shingle, almost within +hail of the lighthouse, announces the proximity of "The Pilot." "The +Pilot" is a small shanty run up on the shingle, and possessed of +accommodation about equal in extent to that afforded by the +residence of the Peggottys. Reminiscences of the well-known abode on +the beach at Yarmouth are further favoured, as we draw nearer, by +the appearance of the son of the house, who comes lounging out in a +pilot-cloth suit, with a telescope under his arm, and a smile of +welcome upon his bright, honest face. This must be Ham, who we find +occupies the responsible position of signalman at this station, and +frequently has the current of his life stirred by the appearance of +strange sail upon the horizon. Peggotty, his father, is the proprietor +of "The Pilot," which hostelry drives a more or less extensive trade +in malt liquor with the eight men constituting the garrison of a +neighbouring fort, supplemented by such stray customers as wind and +tide may bring in. + +I made the acquaintance of the Peggotty family and was made free of +the cabin many years ago, in the dark winter time when the _Northfleet_ +went down off Dungeness, and over three hundred passengers were lost. +All the coast was then alive with expectancy of some moment finding +the sea crowded with the bodies of the drowned. The nine days during +which, according to all experience at Dungeness, the sea might hold +its dead were past, and at any moment the resurrection might +commence. But it never came, and other theories had to be broached +to explain the unprecedented circumstance. The most generally +acceptable, because the most absolutely irrefragable, was that the +dead men and women had been carried away by an under-current out +into the Atlantic, and for ever lost amid its wilds. + +My old friend Peggotty tells me, in a quiet, matter-of-fact manner, +a story much more weird than this. He says that after we watchers +had left the scene, the divers got fairly to work and attained a +fair run of the ship. They found she lay broadside on to a bank of +sand, by the edge of which she had sunk till it overtopped her +decks. By the action of the tide the sand had drifted over the ship, +and had even at that early date commenced to bury her. The bodies +of the passengers were there by the hundred, all huddled together +on the lee-side. + +"The divers could not see them," Peggotty adds, "for what with the +mud and sand the water is pretty thick down there. But they could +feel them well enough--an arm sticking out there, and a knee sticking +out here, and sometimes half a body clear of the silt, owing to lying +one over another. They could have got them all up easy enough, and +would, too, if they had been paid for it. They were told that they +were to have a pound apiece for all they brought up. They sent up +one, but there was no money for it, and no one particularly glad to +see it, and so they left them all there, snug enough as far as +burying goes. The diving turned out a poor affair altogether. The +cargo wasn't much good for bringing up, bein' chiefly railway iron, +spades, and such like. There were one or two sales at Dover of odd +stores they brought up, but it didn't fetch in much altogether, and +they soon gave up the job as a bad un." + +The years have brought little change to this strange out-of-the-way +corner of the world, an additional wreck or two being scarcely a +noteworthy incident. The section of an old boat in which, with +fortuitous bits of building tacked on at odd times as necessity has +arisen, the Peggottys live is as brightly tarred as ever, and still +stoutly braves the gales in which many a fine ship has foundered +just outside the front door. One peculiarity of the otherwise +desirable residence is that, with the wind blowing either from the +eastward, westward, or southward, Mrs. Peggotty will never allow +the front door to be opened. As these quarters of the wind +comprehend a considerable stretch of possible weather, the +consequence is that the visitor approaching the house in the usual +manner is on eight days out of ten disturbed by the apparition of +Peggotty at the little look-out window, violently, and to the +stranger, mysteriously, beckoning him away to the northward, +apparently in the direction of the lighthouse. + +This means, however, only that he is to go round by the back, and +the _detour_ is not to be regretted, as it leads by Peggotty's garden, +which in its way is a marvel, a monument of indomitable struggle +with adverse circumstances. It is not a large plot of ground, and +perhaps looks unduly small by reason of being packed in by a high +paling, made of the staves of wrecked barrels and designed to keep +the sand and grit from blowing across it. But it is large enough +to produce a serviceable crop of potatoes, which, with peas and +beans galore occupy the centre beds, Peggotty indulging a weakness +for wallflowers and big red tulips on the narrow fringe of soil +running under the shadow of the palings. The peculiarity about the +garden is that every handful of soil that lies upon it has been +carried on Peggotty's back across the four-mile waste of shingle +that separates the sea-coast from Lydd. That is, perhaps, as severe +a test as could be applied to a man's predilection for a garden. +There are many people who like to have a bit of garden at the back +of their house. But how many would gratify their taste at the expense +of bringing the soil on their own backs, plodding on "backstays" +over four miles of loose shingle? + +One important change has happened in this little household since I +last sat by its hearthstone. Ham is married, and is, in some +incomprehensible manner, understood to reside both at Lydd with +Mrs. Ham and at the cabin with his mother. As for Mrs. Peggotty, +she is as lively and as "managing" as ever--perhaps a trifle smaller +in appearance, and with her smooth clean face more than ever +suggestive of the idea of a pebble smoothed and shaped by the action +of the tide. + +I find on chatting with Peggotty that the old gentleman's mind is in +somewhat of a chaotic state with respect to the wrecks that abound +in the bay. He has been here for forty-eight years, and the fact is, +in that time, he has seen so many wrecks that the timbers are, as it +were, floating in an indistinguishable mass through his mind, and +when he tries to recall events connected with them, the jib-boom of +"the _Rhoda_ brig" gets mixed up with the rigging of "the _Spendthrift_," +and "the _Branch_, a coal-loaded brig," that came to grief thirty years +ago, gets inextricably mixed up with the "Rooshian wessel." But, +looking with far-away gaze towards the Ness Lighthouse, and sweeping +slowly round as far east as New Romney, Peggotty can tot off a number +of wrecks, now to be seen at low water, which with others, the names +whereof he "can't just remember," bring the total past a score. + +The first he sees on this side of the lighthouse is the _Mary_, a bit +of black hull that has been lying there for more than twenty years. +She was "bound somewheres in France," and running round the Ness, +looking for shelter in the bay, stuck fast in the sand, "and broke +up in less than no time." She was loaded with linseed and +millstones, which I suspect, from a slight tinge of sadness in +Peggotty's voice as he mentioned the circumstance, is not for people +living on the coast the best cargo which ships that _will_ go down in +the bay might be loaded with. Indeed, I may remark that though +Peggotty, struggling with the recollections of nearly fifty years, +frequently fails to remember the name of the ship whose wreck shows +up through the sand, the nature of her cargo comes back to him with +singular freshness. + +Near the _Mary_ is another French ship, which had been brought to +anchor there in order that the captain might run ashore and visit +the ship's agent at Lydd. Whilst he was ashore a gale of wind came +on "easterdly"; ship drifted down on Ness Point, and knocked right +up on the shore, the crew scrambling out on to dry land as she went +to pieces. Another bit of wreck over there is all that is left of the +_Westbourne_, of Chichester, coal-laden. She was running for Ness Point +at night, and, getting too far in, struck where she lay, and all the +crew save one were drowned. Nearer is the _Branch_, also a coal-loaded +brig, a circumstance which suggests to Peggotty the parenthetical +remark that "at times there is a good deal of coal about the shingle." +A little more to the east is "the Rooshian wessel _Nicholas I._," in +which Peggotty has a special interest so strong that he forgets to +mention what her cargo was. It is forty-six years since _Nicholas I._ +came to grief; and no other help being near, the whole of the crew +were saved through the instrumentality of Peggotty's dog. It was +broad daylight, with a sea running no boat could live in. The +"Rooshian" was rapidly breaking up, and the crew were shrieking in +an unknown tongue, the little group on shore well knowing that the +unfamiliar sound was a cry for help. Peggotty's Newfoundland dog was +there, barking with mad delight at the huge waves that came tumbling +on the shore, when it occurred to Peggotty that perhaps the dog +could swim out to the drowning men. So he signalled him off, and in +the dog went, gallantly buffeting the waves till it reached the ship. +The Russian sailors tied a piece of rope to a stick, put the stick in +the dog's mouth, and he, leaping overboard, carried it safely to +shore, and a line of communication being thus formed, every soul on +board was saved. + +"They've got it in the school-books for the little children to +read," Peggotty says, permitting himself to indulge in the +slightest possible chuckle. I could not ascertain what particular +school-book was meant, because last winter, when another Russian +ship came ashore here and was totally wrecked, Peggotty presented +the captain with his only copy of the work as a souvenir of the +compulsory visit. But when we returned to the cabin, Mrs. Peggotty +brought down a faded, yellow, much-worn copy of the _Kent Herald_, +in which an account of the incident appears among other items of +the local news of the day. + +Further eastward are the remains of a West Indiaman, loaded with +mahogany and turtles, the latter disappearing in a manner still a +marvel at Dungeness, whilst of the former a good deal of salvage +money was made. It is not far from this wreck that the Russian +last-mentioned came to grief. She met her fate in a peculiarly sad +manner. The _Alliance_, a tar-loaded vessel, drifting inwards before +a strong east wind, began to burn pitch barrels as a signal for +assistance. The Russian, thinking she was on fire, ran down to her +assistance, and took the ground close by. Both ships were totally +wrecked, and the crews saved with no other property save +the clothes they stood in. + +Still glancing from Dungeness eastward, we see at every hundred +yards a black mass of timber, sometimes showing the full length of +a ship, oftener only a few jagged ribs marking where the carcase +lies deeply embedded. Each has its name and its history, and is a +memento of some terrible disaster in which strong ships have been +broken up as if they were built of cardboard, and through which +men and women have not always successfully struggled for life. + +"We don't have so much loss of life in this bay as in the west bay +round the point," said Ham. "Here, you see, when there's been a +rumpus, the water quiets soon after, and the shipwrecked folk can +take to their boats; on the other side the water is rougher, and +there's less chance for them. There was one wreck here not long +since, though, when all hands were lost. It was a Danish ship that +came running down one stormy night, and run ashore there before +she could make the light. We saw her flash her flare-up lights, +and made ready to help her, but before we could get up she went to +pieces, and what is most singular, never since has a body been seen +from the wreck. Ah, sir, it's a bad spot. Often between Saturday +and Monday you'll see three fine ships all stranded together on this +beach. When there's a big wreck like the _Northfleet_ over there, +everybody talks about it, and all the world knows full particulars. +But there's many and many a shipwreck here the newspapers never +notice, and hundreds of ships get on, and with luck get off, without +a word being said anywhere." + +"There's mother signallin' the heggs and bakin is done," said +Peggotty, looking back at the cabin, where a white apron waved out +of one of the port-holes that served for window. + +So we turned and left this haunted spot, where, with the ebbing +tide, twenty-three wrecks, one after the other, thrust forth a +rugged rib or a jagged spar to remind the passer-by of a tragedy. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +TO THOSE ABOUT TO BECOME JOURNALISTS. + +AN OPEN LETTER. + +My dear young friends,__ +I suppose no one not prominently engaged in journalism knows how +widely spread is the human conviction that, failing all else, any +one can "write for the papers," making a lucrative living on easy +terms, amid agreeable circumstances. I have often wondered how +Dickens, familiar as he was with this frailty, did not make use of +it in the closing epoch of Micawber's life before he quitted +England. Knowing what he did, as letters coming to light at this +day testify, it would seem to be the most natural thing in the +world that finally, nothing else having turned up, it should occur +to Dickens that Mr. Micawber would join the Press--probably as +editor, certainly on the editorial staff, possibly as dramatic +critic, a position which involves a free run of the theatres and a +more than nodding acquaintance with the dramatic stars of the day. + +Perhaps Dickens avoided this episode because it was too literally +near the truth in the life of the person who, all unconsciously, +stood as the lay figure of David Copperfield's incomparable friend. +It is, I believe, not generally known that Charles Dickens's father +did in his last desolate days become a member of the Press. When +Dickens was made editor of the Daily News, he thoughtfully provided +for his father by installing him leader of the Parliamentary Corps +of that journal. The old gentleman, of course, knew nothing of +journalism, was not even capable of shorthand. Providentially he +was not required to take notes, but generally to overlook things, +a post which exactly suited Mr. Micawber. So he was inducted, and +filled the office even for a short time after his son had +impetuously vacated the editorial chair. Only the other day there +died an original member of the _Daily News_ Parliamentary Corps, who +told me he quite well remembered his first respected leader, his +grandly vague conception of his duties, and his almost ducal manner +of not performing them. + +Of the many letters that come to me with the assurance that I have +in my possession blank appointments on the editorial and reportorial +staff of all contemporary journals paying good salaries, the saddest +are those written by more than middle-aged men with families. Some +have for years been earning a precarious living as reporters or +sub-editors on obscure papers, and now find themselves adrift; +others are men who, having vainly knocked at all other gates, are +flushed by the happy thought that at least they can write +acceptably for the newspapers; others, again, already engaged in +daily work, are anxious to burn the midnight oil, and so add +something to a scanty income. These last are chiefly clergymen and +schoolmasters--educated men with a love of letters and the idea that, +since it is easy and pleasant to read, it must be easy to write, and +that in the immensity of newspapers and periodical literature there +would be not only room, but eager welcome for them. + +This class of correspondents is curiously alike in one feature. +There is an almost sprightliness in their conviction that what they +can write in these circumstances would exactly suit any paper, daily +or weekly, morning or evening. All they have to do is to give up +their odd savings of time to the work; all you--their hapless +correspondent--have to do is to fill up one of those blank +appointments with which your desk is clogged, and send it to them +by first post. + +There is no other profession in the world thus viewed by outsiders. +No one supposes he can make boots, cut clothes, or paint the outside +of a house without having served some sort of apprenticeship, not to +mention the possession of special aptitude. Any one can, right off--, +become a journalist. Such as these, and all those about to become +journalists, I would advise to study a book published several years +ago. It is the _Life of James MacDonell_, a name which, before this +book was published, was an idle sound to the outer world, though to +contemporary workers in the inner circle of the Press Macdonell was +known as one of the ablest and most brilliant of modern journalists. +In these short and simple annals, the aspirant who imagines the +successful journalist's life is all beer and skittles will discover +what patient study, what self-denial, what strenuous effort, and, +more essential than all, what rare natural gifts are needed to +achieve the position into which Macdonell toiled. + +It is this last consideration that makes me doubt whether there is +any utility in offering practical hints "To Those about to become +Journalists." If a boy or youth has in him the journalistic faculty, +it will come out, whatever unpromising or adverse circumstances he +may be born to. If he has it not, he had very much better take to +joinering or carpentering, to clerking, or to the dispensation of +goods over the retail counter. Journalism is an honourable and, +for those specially adapted, a lucrative profession. But it is a +poor business for the man who has mistaken his way into it. The +very fact that it has such strong allurement for human nature makes +harder the struggle for life with those engaged in its pursuit. I +gather from facts brought under my personal notice that at the +present time there are, proportionately with its numbers, more +unemployed in the business of journalism than in any other, not +exceeding that of the dockers. When a vacancy occurs on any staff, +the rush to fill it is tremendous. Where no vacancy exists the +knocking at the doors is incessant. All the gates are thronged +with suitors, and the accommodation is exceedingly limited. + +The first thing the youth who turns his face earnestly towards +journalism should convince himself of is, that the sole guiding +principle controlling admission to the Press or advance in its ranks +is merit. This, as your communications, my dear young friends, have +convinced me, is a statement in direct contravention of general +belief. You are convinced that it is all done by patronage, and that +if only some one in authority will interest himself in you, you +straightway enter upon a glorious career. There is, however, no +royal road to advancement on the Press. Proprietors and editors +simply could not afford it. Living as newspapers do in the fierce +light focussed from a million eyes, fighting daily with keen +competition, the instinct of self-preservation compels their +directors to engage the highest talent where it is discoverable, +and, failing that, the most sedulously nurtured skill. For this they +will pay almost anything; and they ask nothing more, neither +blood-relationship, social distinction, nor even academic training. +In journalism, more than in any other profession, not excepting the +Bar, a man gets on by his own effort, and only by that. Of course, +proprietors, and even editors, may, if the commercial prosperity of +their journal permit the self-indulgence, find salaried situations +for brothers, sons, or nephews or may oblige old friends in the +same direction. Charles Dickens, as we have seen, made his father +manager of the Parliamentary Corps of the _Daily News_. But that did +not make him a journalist, nor did he, after his son's severance of +his connection with the paper, long retain the post. + +This line of reflection is, I am afraid, not encouraging to you, my +dear young friends; but it leads up to one fact in which I trust +you will be justified in finding ground for hope. Amongst the crowd +struggling to obtain a footing within the pale of journalism, the +reiterated rebuffs they meet with naturally lead to the conviction +that it is a sort of close borough, those already in possession +jealously resenting the efforts of outsiders to breach its sacred +portals. Nothing could be further removed from the fact. A nugget of +gold is not more pleasing to the sight of the anxious miner than is +the discovery by the editor or manager of a newspaper of a new light +in the world of journalism. This I put in the forefront of friendly +words of advice to those about to enter journalism. Get rid of the +fatal idea that some one will open the door for you and land you +safely inside. You must force the door yourself with incessant +knocking if need be, prepared for searching inquiry as to your right +to enter, but certain of a hearty welcome and fraternal assistance +when you have proved your right. + +As an ounce of example is worth a ton of precept, I may perhaps +mention that in a journalistic career now extending over just +twenty-five years, I never but once received anything in the way of +patronage, and that was extended at the very outset only after a +severe test of the grounds upon which recommendation could be made. +My parents, in their wisdom, destined me for a commercial career. +If I had followed the bent given me when I left school, I should +now have been a very indifferent clerk in the hide and valonia +business. But like you, my dear young friends, I felt that my true +vocation was journalism, and I determined to be a journalist. + +I will tell you exactly how I did it. Like you, I meant to be an +editor some day, but also, I trust, like you, I felt that it would +be convenient, if not necessary to start by being a reporter. So I +began to study shorthand, teaching myself by Pitman's system. When, +after infinite pains, I had mastered this mystery, I began to look +out for an opening on the Press. I had no friends in journalism, not +the remotest acquaintance. I made the tour of the newspaper offices +in the town where I lived, was more or less courteously received, +and uniformly assured that there was no opening. One exception was +made by a dear friend whose name is to-day known and honoured +throughout Great Britain, who was then the young assistant-editor of +a local daily paper. He gave me some trial work to do, and was so +far satisfied that he promised me the first vacancy on the junior +staff of reporters. + +That was excellent, but I did not sit down waiting till fortune +dropped the promised plum into my mouth. I got at all the newspapers +within reach, searched for advertisements for reporters, answered +them day after day, week after week, even month after month, +without response. At last a cautious inquiry came. The reply was +deemed satisfactory, and I got my chance. + +This, dear young friends, is the short and simple annal of my start +in journalism, and you will see that the pathway is equally open to +you. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A CINQUE PORT. + +Skulls piled roof high in the vault beneath the church tower supply +the only show thing Hythe possesses. There is some doubt as to their +precise nationality, but of their existence there can be none, as any +visitor to the town may see for himself on payment of sixpence +(parties of three or more eighteenpence). It is known how within a +time to which memory distinctly goes the skulls were found down upon +the beach, whole piles of them, thick as shingle on this coast. The +explanation of their tenancy of British ground is popularly referred +to the time, now nearly nine hundred years gone by, when Earl Godwin, +being exiled, made a raid on this conveniently accessible part of +England, and after a hard fight captured all the vessels lying in +the haven. Others find in the peculiar formation of the crania proof +positive that the skulls originally came from Denmark. + +But Saxon or Dane, or whatever they be, it is certain the skulls +were picked up on the beach, and after an interval were, with some +dim notion of decency, carried up to the church, where they lay +neglected in a vault. The church also going to decay, the +determination was taken to rebuild it, and being sorely pressed for +funds a happy thought occurred to a practical vicar. He had the +skulls piled up wall-like in an accessible chamber, caused the +passages to be swept and garnished, and then put on the impost +mentioned above, the receipts helping to liquidate the debt on +the building fund. Thus, by a strange irony of fate, after eight +centuries, all that is left of these heathens brings in sixpences +to build up a Christian church. + +A good deal has happened in Hythe since the skulls first began to +bleach on the inhospitable shore. When Earl Godwin suddenly +appeared with his helm hard up for Hythe, the little town on the +hill faced one of the best havens on the coast. It was, as every +one knows, one of the Cinque Ports, and at the time of the +Conqueror undertook to furnish, as its quota of armament, five +ships, one hundred and five men, and five boys. Even in the time +of Elizabeth there was a fair harbour here. But long ago the sea +changed all that. It occupied itself in its leisure moments by +bringing up illimitable shingle, with which it filled up all water +ways, and cut Hythe off from communication with the sea as +completely as if it were Canterbury. + +It is not without a feeling of humiliation that a burgess of the +once proud port of Hythe can watch the process of the occasional +importation of household coal. Where Earl Godwin swooped down over +twenty fathoms of water the little collier now painfully picks her +way at high water. On shore stand the mariners of Hythe (in number +four), manning the capstan. When the collier gets within a certain +distance a hawser is thrown out, the capstan turns more or less +merrily round, and the collier is beached, so that at low water +she will stand high and dry. + +Thus ignominiously is coal landed at one of the Cinque Ports. + +Of course this change in the water approaches has altogether +revolutionised the character of the place. Hythe is a port without +imports or exports, a harbour in which nothing takes refuge but +shingle. It has not even fishing boats, for lack of place to moor +them in. It is on the greatest water highway of the world, and yet +has no part in its traffic. Standing on the beach you may see day +after day a never-ending fleet of ships sailing up or down as the +wind blows east or west. But, like the Levite in the parable, they +all pass by on the other side. Hythe has nothing to do but to stand +on the beach with its hands in its pockets and lazily watch them. + +Thus cut off from the world by sea, and by land leading nowhere in +particular except to Romney Marshes, Hythe has preserved in an +unusual degree the flavour of our earlier English world. There have +indeed been times when endeavour was made to profit by this +isolation. As one of the Cinque Ports Hythe has since Parliaments +first sat had the privilege of returning representatives. In the +time of James II. it seems to have occurred to the Mayor (an +ancestor of one of the members for West Kent in a recent +Parliament), that since a member had to be returned to Parliament +much trouble would be saved, and no one in London would be any the +wiser, if he quietly, in his capacity as returning officer, +returned himself. But some envious Radical setting on the opposite +benches, was too sharp for him, and we find the sequel of the story +set forth in the Journals of the House of Commons under date 1685, +where it is written-- + +"Information given that the Mayor of Hythe had returned himself: +Resolved by the House of Commons that Mr. Julius Deedes, the Mayor, +is not duly elected. New writ ordered in his stead." + +Hythe is a little better known now, but not much. And yet for many +reasons its acquaintance is worth forming. The town itself, lying +snugly at the foot of the hill crowned by the old church, is full +of those bits of colour and quaintnesses of wall and gable-end +which good people cross the Channel to see. In the High-street there +is a building the like of which probably does not anywhere exist. It +is now a fish-shop, not too well stocked, where a few dried herrings +hang on a string under massive eaves that have seen the birth and +death of centuries. From the centre of the roof there rises a sort +of watch-tower, whence, before the houses on the more modern side of +the street were built, when the sea swept over what is now +meadow-land, keen eyes could scan the bay on the look out for +inconvenient visitors connected with the coastguard. When the sea +prevented Hythe honestly earning its living in deep-keeled boats, it +perforce took to smuggling, a business in which this old watch-tower +played a prominent part. + +This is a special though neglected bit of house architecture in +Hythe. But everywhere, save in the quarters by the railway station +or the Parade, where new residences are beginning to spring up, the +eye is charmed by old brown houses roofed with red tiles, often +standing tree-shaded in a bountiful flower garden, and always +preserving their own lines of frontage and their own angle of gable, +with delightful indifference to the geometric scale of their +neighbour. + +The South-Eastern Railway Company have laid their iron hand on +Hythe, and its old-world stillness is already on Bank Holidays and +other bleak periods of the passing year broken by the babble of +the excursionist. In its characteristically quiet way Hythe has +long been known as what is called a watering-place. When I first +knew it, it had a Parade, on which were built eight or ten houses, +whither in the season came quiet families, with children and +nurses. For a few weeks they gave to the sea frontage quite a +lively appearance, which the mariners (when they were not manning +the capstan) contemplated with complacency, and said to each other +that Hythe was "looking up." For the convenience of these visitors +some enterprising person embarked on the purchase of three bathing +machines, and there are traditions of times when these were all in +use at the same hour--so great was the influx of visitors. + +Also there is a "bathing establishment" built a long way after +the model of the Pavilion at Brighton. The peculiarity of this +bathing establishment is or was when I first knew the charming +place that regularly at the end of September the pump gets out of +order, and the new year is far advanced before the solitary plumber +of the place gets it put right. He begins to walk dreamily round +the place at Easter. At Whitsuntide he brings down an iron vessel +containing unmelted solder, and early in July the pump is mended. + +This mending of the pump is one of the epochs of Hythe, a sure +harbinger of the approaching season. In July "The Families" begin +to come down, and the same people come every year, for visitors to +Hythe share in the privilege of the inhabitants, inasmuch as they +never--or hardly ever--die. Of late years, since the indefatigable +Town Clerk has succeeded in waking up the inhabitants to the +possibilities of the great future that lies before their town, not +only has a new system of drainage and water been introduced, but a +register has been kept of the death-rate. From a return, published +by the Medical Officer of Health, it appears that the death-rate of +Hythe was 9.3 per 1000. Of sixty-three people who died in a year out +of a population of some four thousand, twenty-three were upwards of +sixty years of age, many of them over eighty. Perhaps the best +proof of the healthfulness of Hythe is to be found in a stroll +through the churchyard, whence it would appear that only very +young children or very old people are carried up the hill. + +The difficulty about Hythe up to recent times has been the +comparative absence of accommodation for visitors. Its fame has +been slowly growing as The Families have spread it within their +own circles. But it was no use for strangers to go to Hythe, since +they could not be taken in. This is slowly changing. Eligible +building sites are offered, villas have been run up along the +Sandgate Road, and an hotel has been built by the margin of the +sea. When news reached the tower of the church that down on the +beach there had risen a handsome hotel, fitted with all the +luxuries of modern life, it is no wonder that the skulls turned +on each other and--as Longfellow in the "Skeleton in Armour" puts +it-- + + "Then from those cavernous eyes + Pale flashes seem to rise, + As when the northern skies + Gleam In December." + +This is surely the beginning of the end. Having been endowed with a +railway which brings passengers down from London in a little over +two hours, Hythe is now dowered with an hotel in which they may dine +and sleep. The existence of the hotel being necessarily admitted, +prejudice must not prevent the further admission that it is +exceedingly well done. Architecturally it is a curiosity, seeing +that though it presents a stately and substantial front neither +stone nor brick enters into its composition. It is made entirely +of shingle mixed with mortar, the whole forming a concrete +substance as durable as granite. The first pebble of the new hotel +was laid quite a respectable number of years ago, the ceremony +furnishing an almost dangerous flux of excitement to the mariners +at the capstan. It has grown up slowly, as becomes an undertaking +connected with Hythe. But it is finished now, handsome without, +comfortable within, with views from the front stretching seawards +from Dungeness to Folkestone, and at the back across green pastures, +glimpses are caught through the trees of the red-tiled town. + +Now that suitable accommodation is provided for stray visitors, +Hythe, with its clean beach, its parade that will presently join +hands with Sandgate, its excellent bathing, and its bracing air, +may look to take high rank among watering places suburban to +London. But there are greater charms even than these in the +immediate neighbourhood. With some knowledge of English watering +places, I solemnly declare that none is set in a country of such +beauty as is spread behind Hythe. Unlike the neighbourhood of +most watering places, the country immediately at the back of the +town is hilly and well wooded. Long shady roads lead past blooming +gardens or through rich farms, till they end in some sleepy village +or hamlet, the world forgetting, by the world forgot. In late July +the country is perfect in its loveliness. The fields and woods are +not so flowery as in May, though by way of compensation the gardens +are rich in roses. Still there are sufficient wild flowers to +gladden the eye wherever it turns. From the hedgerows big white +convolvulus stare with wonder-wide eyes, the honeysuckle is out, +the wild geranium blooms in the long grass, the blackberry bushes +are in full flower, and the poppies blaze forth in great clusters +at every turn of the road. The corn is only just beginning to turn +a faint yellow, but the haymakers are at work, and every breath of +the joyous wind carries the sweet scent of hay. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +OYSTERS AND ARCACHON. + +If the name had not been appropriated elsewhere, Arcachon might +well be called the Salt Lake City. It lies on the south shore of +a basin sixty-eight miles in circumference, into which, through a +narrow opening, the Bay of Biscay rolls its illimitable waters. +Little more than thirty years ago the town was represented by half +a dozen huts inhabited by fishermen. It was a terribly lonely place, +with the smooth lake in front of it, the Atlantic thundering on the +dunes beyond, and in the rear the melancholy desert of sand known as +the Landes. + +The Landes is peopled by a strange race, of whom the traveller +speeding along the railway to-day may catch occasional glimpses. +Early in the century the department was literally a sandy plain, +about as productive as Sahara, and in the summer time nearly as hot. +But folks must live, and they exist on the Landes, picking up a +scanty living, and occasionally dying for lack of water. One initial +difficulty in the way of getting along in the Landes is the sheer +impossibility of walking. When the early settler left his hut to pay +a morning call or walk about his daily duties, he sank ankle deep in +sand. + +But the human mind invariably rises superior to difficulties of this +character. + +What the "backstay" is to the inhabitant of the district around Lydd, +the stilts are to the lonely dwellers in the Landes. The peasants of +the department are not exactly born on stilts, but a child learns to +walk on them about the age that his British brother is beginning to +toddle on foot. + +Stilts have the elementary recommendation of overcoming the difficulty +of moving about in the Landes. In addition, they raise a man to a +commanding altitude, and enable him to go about his daily business at +a pace forbidden to ordinary pedestrians. The stilts are, in truth, +a modern realisation of the gift of the seven-league boots. They are +so much a part of the daily life of the people that, except when he +stoops his head to enter his hut, the peasant of the Landes would as +soon think of taking off his legs by way of resting himself as of +removing his stilts. The shepherds, out all day tending their sheep, +might, if they pleased, stretch themselves at full length on the grey +sand, making a pillow of the low bushes. But they prefer to stand; +and you may see them, reclining against a third pole stuck in the +ground at the rear, contentedly knitting stockings, keeping the while +one eye upon the flock of sheep anxiously nibbling at the meagre grass. + +Next to the shepherds, the most remarkable live stock in the Landes +are the sheep. Such a melancholy careworn flock! poor relations of +the plump Southdown that grazes on fat Sussex wolds. Long-legged, +scraggy-necked, anxious-eyed, the sheep of the Landes bear eloquent +testimony to the penury of the place and the difficulty of making both +ends meet--which in their case implies the burrowing of the nose in +tufts of sand-girt grass. To abide among such sheep through the long +day should be enough to make any man melancholy. But the peasant of +the Landes, who is used to his stilts, also grows accustomed to his +sheep, and they all live together more or less happily ever afterwards. + +The Landes is quite a prosperous province to-day compared with what it +was in the time of Louis XVI. During the First Empire there was what +we would call a Minister of Woods and Forests named Bremontier. He +looked over the Landes and found it to be nothing more than a waste of +shifting sand. Rescued from the sea by a mere freak of nature, it might, +for all practical purposes, have been much more usefully employed if +covered a few fathoms deep with salt water. To M. Bremontier came the +happy idea of planting the waste land with fir trees. Nothing else +would grow, the fir tree might. And it did. To-day the vast extent of +the Landes is almost entirely covered with dark forests in perpetual +verdure. + +These have transformed the district, adding not only to the improvement +of its sanitary condition, but creating a new source of wealth. Out of +the boundless vistas of fir trees there ever flows a constant stream of +resin, which brings in large revenues. Passing through the forest by +the railway line from La Mothe to Arcachon, one sees every tree marked +with a deep cut. It looks as if the woodman had been about, picking out +trees ready for the axe, and had come to the conclusion that they might +be cut down _en bloc_. But these marks are indications of the process +of milking the forests. It is a very simple affair, to which mankind +contributes a mere trifle. In order to get at the resin a piece of bark +is cut off from each tree. Out of the wound the resin flows, falling +into a hole dug in the ground at the roots. When this is full it is +emptied into cans and carried off to the big reservoir: when one wound +in the tree is healed another is cut above it, and so the tree is +finally drained. + +Besides this revenue from resin immense sums are obtained from the sale +of timber; and thus the Landes, which a hundred years ago seemed to be +an inconvenient freak of nature afflicting complaining France, has been +turned into a money-yielding department. + +The firs which fringe the seacoast by the long strip of land that lies +between the mouth of the Gironde and the town of Bayonne have much to +do with the prosperity of Arcachon. The salt lake, with its little +cluster of fishermen's cottages, lies within a couple of hours' +journey by rail from Bordeaux, a toiling, prosperous place, which, +seated on the broad Garonne, longed for the sea. Some one discovered +that there was excellent bathing at Arcachon, the bed of the salt +lake sloping gently upwards in smooth and level sands. Then the doctors +took note of the beneficial effects of the fir trees which environed +the place. The aromatic scent they distilled was declared to be good +for weak chests, and, almost by magic, Arcachon began to grow. + +By swift degrees the little cluster of fishermen's cottages spread till +it became a town--of one street truly, but the street is a mile and a +half long, skirting the seashore and backed by the fir forests. Bordeaux +took Arcachon by storm. A railway was made, and all through the summer +months the population poured into the long street, filling it beyond +all moderate notions of capacity. The rush came so soon, and Arcachon +was built in such a hurry, that the houses have a casual appearance, +recalling the towns one comes upon in the Far West of America, which +yesterday were villages, and to-day have a town-hall, a bank, many +grog-shops, a church or two, and four or five daily newspapers. + +A vast number of the dwellings are of the proportion of pill-boxes. Some +are literally composed of two closets, one called a bedroom and the +other a sitting-room; or, oftener still, both used as bedrooms. Others +are built in terraces a storey high and a few feet wide, with the name +of the proprietor painted over the liliputian trap-door that serves for +entrance hall. The idea is that you live at ease and in comfort at +Bordeaux, and just run down to Arcachon for a bath. There are no +bathing machines or tents; but all along the shore, in supplement of the +liliputian houses that serve a double debt to pay--being residences at +night and bathing-machines by day,--stand rows of sentry-boxes, whence +the bather emerges arrayed in more or less bewitching attire. The water +is very shallow, and enterprising persons of either sex spend hours of +the summer day in paddling about in their bathing costumes. + +It is a pretty, lively scene. For background the long straggling town; +in the foreground the motley groups of bathers, the far-reaching smooth +surface of the lake; and, beyond, the broad Atlantic, thundering +impotently upon the barricade of sandhills that makes possible the +peace of Arcachon. + +Like all watering-places, Arcachon lives two lives. In summer-time it +springs into active bustle, with house-room at a premium, and the shops +and streets filled with a gay crowd. It affects to have a winter season, +and is, indeed, ostentatiously divided into two localities, one called +the winter-town and the other the summer-town. The former is situated +on the higher ground at the back of the town, and consists of villa +residences built on plots reclaimed from the fir forest. + +This is well enough in the winter-time, many English people flocking +thither attracted by the shelter and scent of the fir trees; but +Arcachon itself--the long unlovely street--is in the winter months +steeped in the depths of desolation. The shops are deserted, the +pill-boxes have their lids put on, and everywhere forlorn signs hang +forth announcing that here is a _maison_ or an _appartement a louer_. + +All through the winter months, shut up between sea and sand, Arcachon +is A Town to Let. + +Deprived in the winter months of the flock of holiday makers, Arcachon +makes money in quite another way. Just as suddenly as it bloomed forth +a fashionable watering-place, it has grown into an oyster park of +world-wide renown. Last year the Arcachon oyster beds produced not +less than three hundred million oysters, the cultivators taking in +round figures a million francs. The oysters are distributed through +various markets, but the greatest customer is London, whither there +come every year fifty millions of the dainty bivalve. + +"And what do they call your oysters in London?" I asked M. Faure, the +energetic gentleman who has established this new trade between the +Gironde and the Thames. + +"They call them 'Natives'," he said, with a sly twinkle. + +The Arcachon oyster, if properly packed, can live eight days out of the +water, a period more than sufficient to allow for its transit by the +weekly steamers that trade between Bordeaux and London. A vast quantity +go to Marenne in the Charente lnferieure, where they fatten more +successfully than in the salt lake, and acquire that green colour which +makes them so much esteemed and so costly in the restaurants at Paris. + +Oysters have, probably since the time of the Deluge, congregated in the +Basin d'Arcachon; but it is only within the last thirty years the +industry has been developed and placed on a footing that made possible +the growth of today. Up to the year 1860 oysters were left to their own +sweet will in the matter of creating a bed. When they settled upon a +place it was diligently cultivated, but the lead was absolutely left to +the oyster. Dr. Lalanne, in the intervals of a large medical practice at +La Teste, a little place on the margin of the Basin, observed that +oysters were often found attached to a piece of a wreck floating in the +middle of the water far remote from the beds. + +This led him to study more closely the reproductive habits of the +oyster. He discovered that the eggs after incubation remained suspended +in the water for a space of from three to five days. Thus, for some +time after the _frai_ season, practically the whole of the water in the +Basin d'Arcachon was thick with oysters' eggs. Dr. Lalanne conceived +the idea of providing this vast wealth with other means of establishing +itself than were offered by a casual piece of wreck. What was wanted +was something to which the eggs, floating in the water, could attach +themselves, and remain till they were developed beyond the state of +_ova_. After various experiments Dr. Lalanne adapted to the purpose +the hollow roof tile in use everywhere in the South of France. + +These are laid in blocks, each containing one hundred and twelve tiles, +enclosed in a wooden framework. In June, when the oysters lay their +eggs, these blocks of tiles are dropped into the water by the oyster +beds. The eggs floating about, find the crusty surface of the tiles a +convenient resting-place, and attach themselves by millions. Six months +later the tiles, being examined, are found to be covered by oysters +grown to the size of a silver sixpence. The tiles are taken up and the +little oysters scraped off, a process facilitated by the fact that the +tiles have in the first instance been coated with a solution of lime, +which rubs off, carrying the tender oyster with it. + +The infant oysters are next placed in iron network cases, through which +the water freely passes, whilst the young things are protected from +crabs and other natural enemies. At the end of a year or eighteen +months, they have so far grown as to be trusted out on their own +account. They are accordingly strewn on the broad oyster beds, to fatten +for another year or eighteen months, when they are ready for the waiting +_gourmet_. Your oyster is fit to eat at eighteen months of age; but +there is more of it when it is three years old. + +We sailed out from Arcachon across the lake to the oyster park. Here +the water is so shallow that the men who tend the beds walk about them +in waterproof boots coming up to their knees. This part of the bay is +dotted with boats with white canopies. Seen at anchor from Arcachon +they look like boats laid up for the winter season; but every one is +tenanted night and day. They are the homes of the guardians of the +oyster beds, who keep watch and ward through the long winter. + +Even more disastrous than possible visits from a male poacher are the +incursions of a large flat sea-fish, known at Arcachon as the _there_, +with us the ray. This gentleman has a colossal appetite for oysters. +Scorning to deal with them by the dozen, he devours them by the +thousand, asking neither for the succulent lemon nor the grosser +addition of Chili vinegar. His action with the oyster is exceedingly +summary. He breaks the shell with a vigorous blow of his tail, and +gobbles up the contents. As it is stated by reputable authorities +that the _there_ can dispose of 100,000 oysters in a day, it is clear +that the tapping must be pretty persistent. + +This selfish brute, regardless of the fact that we pay a minimum three +shillings a dozen for oysters in London, is happily circumvented by +an exceedingly simple device. Rowing about the oyster beds at Arcachon +one notices that they are fringed with small twigs of fir trees. The +natural supposition is that these are to mark the boundary of the +various oyster beds; but it is in truth designed to keep out the +_there_. This blundering fish, bearing down on the oyster bed in search +of luncheon, comes upon the palisade of loosely planted twigs. Nothing +in the world would be easier than for him to steer between the openings, +of which there are abundance. But though he has stomach enough for a +hundred thousand oysters, he has not brains enough to understand that +by a little manoeuvring he might get at his meal. Repelled by the open +network of twigs, he swims forlornly round and round the beds, so near +and yet so far, with what anguish of heart only the lover of oysters +can fathom. + +The oyster beds at Arcachon belong to the State, and are leased to +private persons, the leading company, which has created the British +trade, having its headquarters at La Teste. The wholesale price of +oysters at Arcachon is from a sovereign to forty shillings a thousand, +according to size. In the long street they sell retail at from twopence +to eightpence a dozen, thus realising what seems to-day the hopeless +dream of the British oyster-eater. + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +CHRISTMAS EVE AT WATTS'S. + +Wandering out of the High Street, Rochester, on the afternoon before +Christmas Day, by a narrow passage to the left I came upon the old +Cathedral. The doors were open, and as they were the only doors in +Rochester open to me, except, perhaps, those of the tramp house at the +Union, I entered, and sat down as near as befitted my condition. The +afternoon service was going on, and even to tired limbs and an empty +stomach it was restful and soothing to hear the sweet voices of the +surpliced choristers, and the grand deep tones of the organ, echoing +through the fretted roof, and rolling round the long pillared aisles. +There were not ten people there besides myself, the clergy and the choir +forming the bulk of the assembly. As soon as the service had been gone +through, the clergy and the choir filed out, and the lay people one by +one departed. + +I should have liked to sit where I was all night. It was at least warm +and sheltered, and I have slept on worse beds than may be made of half +a dozen Cathedral chairs. But presently the verger came round, and +perceiving at a glance that I was not a person likely to possess a +superfluous sixpence, asked me if I was going to sit there all night. +I said I was if he didn't mind; but he did, and there was nothing for +it but to clear out. + +"Haven't you got nowhere to go to?" asked the man, as I moved slowly +off. + +"Nowhere in particular," I answered. + +"That's a bad look-out for Christmas-eve. Why don't you go over to +Watts's?" + +"What's Watts's?" + +"It's a house in High Street, where you'll get a good supper, a bed, +and a fourpenny-bit in the morning if you can show you'em an honest man, +and not a regular tramp. There's old Watts's muniment down by the side +of the choir. A reglar brick he was, who not only wrote beautiful hymns, +but gave away his money for the relief of the pore." + +My heart warmed to the good old Doctor whose hymns I had learnt in +my youth, little thinking that the day would come when I should be +thankful to him for more substantial nourishment. I had intended to +go in the ordinary way to get a night's lodging in the casual ward; +but Watts's was evidently a better game, and getting from the verger +minute directions how to proceed in order to gain admittance to +Watts's, I left the Cathedral. + +The verger was not a bad-hearted fellow, I am sure, though he did speak +roughly to me at first. He seemed struck with the fact that a man not +too well clad, who had nowhere particular to sleep on the eve of +Christmas Day, could scarcely be expected to be "merry." All the time +he was talking about Watts's he was fumbling in his waistcoat pocket, +and I know he was feeling if he had there a threepenny-bit. But if he +had, it didn't come immediately handy, and before he got hold of it +the thought of the sufficient provision which awaited me at Watts's +afforded vicarious satisfaction to his charitable feelings, and he +was content with bidding me a kindly good-night, as he pointed my road +down the lane to the police-office, where, it seemed, Dr. Watts's guests +had to put in a preliminary appearance. + +Crossing High Street, passing through a sort of courtyard, and down some +steps, I reached a snug-looking house, which I had some difficulty in +believing was a police-office. But it was, and the first thing I saw was +seven men lounging about the yard. They didn't seem like regular tramps, +but they had a look as if they had walked far, and each man carried a +little bundle and a stick. The verger had told me that only six men per +night were admitted to Watts's, and there were seven already. + +"Are you for Watts's?" one of them, a little, sharp-looking fellow, with +short light hair pasted down over his forehead, asked me, seeing me +hesitate. + +"Yes." + +"Well, it ain't no go to-night. There's seven here, and fust come, +fust served." + +"Don't believe him, young 'un," said an elderly man, "it's all one what +time you come, so as it's afore half-past five you'll take your chance +with the rest of us." + +It was not yet five, so I loafed about with the rest of them, being +scowled upon by all except the elderly man till the arrival of two other +travellers removed to them the weight of the odium I had lightly borne. +At a quarter to six a police-sergeant appeared at the door of the office +and said: + +"Now then." + +This was generally interpreted as a signal to advance, and we stood +forward in an irregular line. The sergeant looked around us sternly +till his eye lighted upon the elderly man. + +"So you're trying it on again, are you?" + +"I've not been here for two months, if I may never sleep in a bed +again," whimpered the elderly man. + +"You was here last Monday week that I know of, and may be since. Off you +go!" and the elderly gentleman went off with an alacrity that rather +reduced the wonderment I had felt at his disinterested intervention to +prevent my losing a chance, suggesting, as it did, that he felt the +probability of gaining admission was exceedingly remote. + +I was the next upon whom the eye of the police-sergeant loweringly fell. + +"What do you want?" + +"A night's lodging at Watts's." + +"Watts's is for decent workmen on the tramp. You ain't a labourer. Show +me your hands." I held out my hands, and the police-sergeant examined +the palms critically. + +"What are you?" + +"A paper stainer." + +"Where have you been to?" + +"I came from Canterbury last." + +"Where do you work?" + +"In London when I can find work." + +"Where are you going now?" + +"To London." + +"How much money have you got?" + +"Three-halfpence." + +"Humph!" + +I don't know whether a murder had recently been committed in Kent, and +whether I in some degree answered to the description of the supposed +murderer. If it were so, the unfortunate circumstance will explain why +the sergeant should have run me through and through with his eyes whilst +propounding these queries, and why he should have made them in such a +gruff voice. However, he seemed to have finally arrived at the +conclusion that I was not the person wanted for the murder, and after a +brief pause he said, "Go inside." + +I went inside, into one of the snuggest little police-offices I have +seen in the course of some tramping, and took the liberty of warming +myself by the cosy fire, whilst the remaining applicants for admission +to Watts's were being put through a sort of minor catechism such as that +I had survived. Presently the sergeant came in with the selected five of +my yard companions, and, taking us one by one, entered in a book, under +the date "24th December," our several names, ages, birthplaces and +occupations, also the names of the last place we had come from, and the +next whither we were going. Then, taking up a scrap of blue paper with +some printed words on it, and filling in figures, a date, and a +signature, he bade us follow him. + +Out of the snug police-office--which put utterly in the shade the +comforts of the cathedral regarded as a sleeping place--across the +courtyard, which somebody said faced the Sessions House, down High +Street to the left till we stopped before an old-fashioned white house +with a projecting lamp lit above the doorway, shining full on an +inscription graven in stone. I read it then and copied it when I left +the house next morning. It ran thus:-- + + RICHARD WATTS, Esqr. + by his will dated 22 Aug., 1579, + founded this charity + for six poor travellers, + who not being Rogues, or Proctors, + may receive gratis, for one Night, + Lodging, Entertainment, + and four pence each. + In testimony of his Munificence, + in honour of his Memory, + and inducement to his Example, + Nathl. Hood, Esq., the present Mayor, + has caused this stone, + gratefully to be renewed, + and inscribed, + A.D. 1771. + +It was not Dr. Watts, then, as the verger had given me to understand. I +was sorry, for it had seemed like going to the house of an old friend, +and I had meant after supper to recite "How doth the little Busy Bee" +for the edification of my fellow-guests, and to tell them what I had +learnt long ago of the good writer's life and labours. + +"Here we are again, Mrs. Kercham," said our conductor, stepping into the +low hall of the white house. + +"Yes, here you are again," replied an old lady, dressed in black, and +wearing a widow's cap. "Have you got 'em all to-night?" + +"Yes, six--all tidy men. Can you write, Mr. Paper Stainer?" + +I could write, and did, setting forth, in a book which lay on a table in +a room labelled "Office," my name, age, occupation, and the town whence +I had last come. Three of the other guests followed my example. Two +could not write; and the sergeant, paying me a compliment on my +beautiful clerkly handwriting, asked me to fill in the particulars for +them. This ceremony over, we were shown into our bedrooms, and told to +give ourselves "a good wash." My room was on the ground-floor, out in +the yard: and I hope I may never be shown into a worse. It was not +large, being about eight feet square, nor was it very high. The walls +were whitewashed, and the floor clean. A single small window, deep set +in the thick stone-built walls, looked out on to the yard, and by it +stood the solitary piece of furniture, a somewhat rickety Windsor chair. +I except the bed, which was supposed to stand in a corner, but actually +covered nearly the whole of the floor. The bedstead was of iron, and, I +should imagine, was one of the earliest constructions of the sort ever +sold in this country. + +"I put on three blankets, being Christmas-time, though the weather is +not according; so you can take one off if you like." + +"Thank you, ma'am; I'll leave it till I go to bed, if you please." Much +reason had I subsequently to be thankful for my caution. + +After having washed, I came out, and was told to go into a room, facing +my bedroom, on the other side of the yard. Here I found three of my +fellow-guests sitting by a fire, and in a few minutes the other two +arrived, all looking very clean and (speaking for myself particularly) +feeling ravenously hungry. The chamber, which had "Travellers' Room" +painted over the doorway, was about twelve or thirteen feet long and +eight wide, and, like our bedrooms, was not remarkable for variety of +furniture. A plain deal table stood at one end, and then there were +two benches, and that's all. Over the mantelpiece a large card hung +with the following inscription:-- + +"Persons accepting this charity are each supplied with a supper, +consisting of half a pound of meat, one pound of bread, and half a pint +of porter at seven o'clock in the evening, and fourpence on leaving the +house in the morning. The additional comfort of a good fire is given +during the winter months, from October 18th till March 10th, for the +purpose of drying their clothes and supplying hot water for their use. +They go to bed at eight o'clock." + +This was satisfactory, except inasmuch as it appeared that supper was +not to be forthcoming till seven o'clock, and it was now only twenty +minutes past six. This forty minutes promised to be harder to bear +than the hunger of the long day; but the pain was averted by the +appearance at half-past six of a pleasant-looking young woman, +carrying a plate of cold roast beef in each hand. These she put down +on the table, supplementing them in course of time with four similar +plates, six small loaves, and as many mugs of porter. + +It does not become guests to dictate arrangements, but if the worshipful +trustees of Watts's knew how tantalising it is to a hungry man to see +cold roast beef brought in in a slow and deliberate manner, they would +buy a large tray for the use of the pleasant young person, and let the +feast burst at once upon the vision of the guests. + +Sharp on the stroke of seven we drew the benches up to the table, and +Mrs. Kercham, standing at one end and leaning over, said grace. +Impatiently hungry as I was, I could not help noticing the precise +terms in which the good matron implored a blessing. I suppose she had +had her tea in the parlour. At any rate, she was not going to favour +us with her company, and so, bending over our plates of cold beef, she +lifted up her voice and said with emphasis,-- + +"For what _you_ are about to receive out of His bountiful goodness may +the Lord make you truly thankful." + +I write the personal pronoun with a capital letter, not being quite +certain from Mrs. Kercham's rapid enunciation whether the bountiful +goodness was Mr. Watts's or the Lord's. + +Six emphatic "Amens!" followed, and before the sound had died away +six able-bodied men had fallen-to upon the beef and the bread in a +manner that would have done kind Master Watts's heart good had he +beheld them. + +I think I had done first, for I remember when I looked round the table +my fellow-guests were still eating and washing their suppers down with +economical draughts from the half-pint mugs of porter. They--I think I +may say we--did credit to the selection of the police sergeant, and, so +far as appearances went, fulfilled one of the requirements of Master +Watts, there being nothing of the rogue in our faces, if I except a +slight hint in the physiognomy of the little man with the fair hair +plastered down over his forehead, and perhaps I am prejudiced against +him. + +It was a little after seven when the plates were all polished, the mugs +drained, and nothing but a few crumbs left to tell where a loaf had +stood. The pleasant young person coming in to clear the table, we drew +up round the fire, and for the first time in our more than two hours' +companionship began to exchange remarks. + +They were of the briefest and most commonplace character, and attempts +made to get up a general conversation signally failed. "What do you +do?" "Where do you come from?" "Things hard down there?" were staple +questions, with an occasional "Did you hear tell of Joe Mackin on the +road?" or "Was Bill O'Brien there at the time?" From the replies to +these inquiries I learnt that my companions were respectively a fitter, +a painter, a waiter, and two indefinitely self-described as "labourers." +They had walked since morning from Faversham, from Sittingbourne, from +Gravesend, and from Greenwich, and, sitting close around the fire, +soon began to testify to their weariness by nodding, and even snoring. + +"Well, lads, I'm off, goodnight," said the painter, yawning and +stretching himself out of the room. + +One by one the remaining four quickly followed, and before what I had +on entering regarded as the absurdly early hour of eight o'clock had +struck, five of Watts's guests had gone to bed, and the sixth was +sitting looking drowsily in the fire, and thinking what a jolly +Christmas he was having. + +I was awakened by a familiar voice inquiring whether I was "going to +sit up all night," and opening my eyes beheld the matron standing by me +with a shovelful of coal in one hand and a small jug in the other. Her +voice was sharp, but her look was kind, and I was not a bit surprised +when she threw the coal on the fire, and, putting down the jug, which +evidently contained porter, said she would bring a glass in a minute. + +"I'm not going to bed myself for a bit, and if you like to sit by the +fire and smoke a pipe and drink a glass whilst I mend a stocking or +two, you'll be company." + +So we sat together by Master Watts's fire, and whilst I drank his +porter and smoked my own tobacco, the matron mended her stockings, and +told me a good deal about the trials she had gone through in a life +that would never again see its sixtieth year. Forty years she had +spent under the roof of Watts's, and knew all about the old man's +will, and how he ordered that after the re-marriage or the death of +his wife, his principal dwelling-house, called Satis, on Boley Hill, +with the house adjoining, the closes, orchards, and appurtenances, +his plate and his furniture, should be sold, and the proceeds be +placed out at usury by the Mayor and citizens of Rochester for the +perpetual support of an alms-house then erected and standing near +the Market Cross; and how he further ordained that there should be +added thereto six rooms, "with a chimney in each," and with +convenient places for six good mattresses or flock beds, and other +good and sufficient furniture for the lodgment of poor wayfarers +for a single night. + +Had she many people come to see the quaint old place beside those +whom the police-sergeant brought every night? + +Not many. The visitors' book had been twenty years in the house, +and it was not nearly full of names. + +I took up the book, and carelessly turning back the leaves came upon +the signature "Charles Dickens," with "Mark Lemon" written underneath. + +I know Dickens pretty well--his books, I mean, of course--and said, +with a gratified start, "Ha! has Dickens been here?" + +"Yes, he has," said the matron, in her sharpest tones, "and a pretty +pack of lies he told about it. Stop a bit." + +I stopped accordingly whilst the old lady flew out of the room, and +flying back again with a well-worn pamphlet in her hand, shoved it at +me, saying, "Read that." I opened it, and found it to be the Christmas +number of _Household Words_ for 1854. It was entitled "The Seven Poor +Travellers," and the opening chapter, in Mr Dickens's well-known style, +described by name, and in detail, the very house in which I had taken +my supper. + +It was a charming narrative, I, poor waif and stray, felt a strong +personal regard for the great novelist as I read the cheery story in +which he sets forth how, calling at the house on the afternoon before +Christmas-day, he obtained permission to give a Christmas feast to the +six Poor Travellers; how he ordered the materials for the feast to be +sent in from his own inn; how, when the feast was set upon the table, +"finer beef, a finer turkey, a greater prodigality of sauce and gravy," +he never saw; and how "it made my heart rejoice to see the wonderful +justice my travellers did to everything set before them." All this and +much more, including "a jug of wassail" and the "hot plum-pudding and +mince pies," which "a wall-eyed young man connected with the fly +department at the hotel was, at a given signal, to dash into the +kitchen, seize, and speed with to Dr. Watts's Charity," was painted +with a warmth and colour that made my mouth water, even after the plate +of cold beef, the small loaf, and the unaccustomed allowance of porter. + +"How like Dickens!" I exclaimed, with wet eyes, as I finished the +recital; "and he even waited in Rochester all night to give his poor +Travellers 'hot coffee and piles of bread and butter in the morning!'" + +"Get along with you! he didn't do nothing of the sort." + +"What! didn't he come here, as he says, and give the poor Travellers a +Christmas treat?" + +Not a bit of it; as the matron, with indignation that seemed to have +lost nothing by lapse of years, forthwith demonstrated. There had been +no supper, no wassail, no hot coffee in the morning, and, in truth, no +meeting between Charles Dickens and the Travellers, at Christmas or at +any other time. + +Indeed, the visitors' book testified that the visit had been paid on +May 11th, 1854, and not at Christmastide at all. + +It was time to go to bed after that, and I left the matron to cool down +from the boiling-point to which she had been suddenly lifted at sight +of the ghost of 1854. My little room looked cheerless enough in the +candlelight, but I had brought sleep with me as a companion, and knew +that I should soon be as happy as if my bed were of down, and the +roof-tree that of Buckingham Palace. + +And so in sooth I would have been but for the chimney. Why did the +otherwise unexceptional Master Watts insist upon the chimney? Such a +chimney it was, too, yawning across the full length of one side of the +room, and open straight up to the cold sky. There was--what I forgot +to mention in the inventory--a sort of tall clothes-horse standing +before the enormous aperture, and after trying various devices to keep +the wind out, I at last bethought me of the supernumerary blanket, and, +throwing it over the clothes-horse, I leaned it against the chimney +board. This served admirably as long as it kept its feet, and when it +blew down, as it did occasionally during the night, it only meant +putting up and refixing it, and the exercise prevented heavy sleeping. + +At seven in the morning we were called up, and after another "good +wash," went our ways, each with fourpence sterling in his hand, the +parting gift of hospitable Master Watts. + +"Good-bye, paper-stainer," said the matron, as, after looking up and +down High Street, I strode off towards the bridge, Londonwards. "Come +and see us again if you are passing this way." + +"Thank you,--I will," I said. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +NIGHT AND DAY ON THE CARS IN CANADA. + +"Porter!" + +The voice broke the stillness of a long night, and suddenly woke me out +of a deep sleep. There was a moment's pause, and then the voice, which +sounded singularly near to my bed-curtains, spoke again. + +"Porter!" + +"Yes, sah!" + +"You have given me the wrong boots." + +From the foot of my bed, as it seemed, there came another voice which +said, with querulous emphasis, "These are not my boots." + +Then followed explanations, apologies, and interchange of boots; and +before the parleying had come to an end I was sufficiently awake to +remember that on the previous night I had gone to bed in a Pullman car +at Montreal, and had been speeding all night towards Halifax. It had +been mild autumnal weather in Montreal, and the snow, which a week ago +had fallen to the depth of two or three inches, had melted and been +trodden out of sight save for the sprinkling which remained on the +crest of Mount Royal. Here, as a glance through the window disclosed, +we were again in the land of snow. It was not deep, for winter had not +yet set in, and the sleighs, joyfully brought out at the first fall, +had been relegated to summer quarters. But there was quite enough about +to give the country a cheerful wintry aspect, the morning sun shining +merrily over the white fields and the leafless trees, bare save for the +foliage with which the snowflakes had endowed them. It may have been an +equally fine morning in Montreal, but it is certain it seemed twice as +bright and fresh here, and we began to realise something of those +exhilarating properties of the Canadian air of which we had fondly read. + +On this long journey eastward travellers do not enter the city of +Quebec. They pass by on the other side of the river, and thus gain the +advantage of seeing Quebec as a picture should be seen, from a +convenient distance. Moreover, like many celebrated paintings, Quebec +will not stand inspection at the length of the nose. But even taken in +detail, walking through its narrow and steep streets, there is much to +delight the eye. It has quaint old houses, and shops with pea green +shutters, over which flaunt crazy, large-lettered signs that it could +have entered into the heart of none but a Frenchman to devise. Save for +the absence of the blouse and the sabot you might, picking your way +through the mud in a street in the lower part of the city, imagine +yourself in some quarters of Dieppe or Calais, or any other of the +busier towns in the north of France. The peaked roofs, the unexpected +balconies, the ill-regulated gables, and the general individuality of +the houses are pleasing to the eye wearied with the prim monotony of +English street architecture. + +Quebec, to be seen at its best, should be gazed at from the harbour, or +from the other side of the river. This morning it is glorious, with its +streets in the snow, its many spires in the sunlight, and the blue haze +of the hills in the distance. We make our first stoppage at Point Levi, +the station for Quebec, and here are twenty minutes for breakfast. The +whereabouts of breakfast is indicated by a youth, who from the steps of +an "hotel" at the station gate stolidly rings a bell. The passengers +enter, and are shown into a room, in the centre of which is a large +stove. The atmosphere is simply horrible. The double windows are up for +the still dallying winter, and, as the drops of dirty moisture which +stand on the panes testify, they are hermetically closed. The kitchen +leads out of the room by what is apparently the only open door in the +house, every other being jealously closed lest peradventure a whiff of +fresh air should get in. It is impossible to eat, and one is glad to +pay for the untasted food and get out into the open air before the +power of respiration is permanently injured. + +It was said this is the only place where there would be any chance of +breakfast, nothing to eat till Trois Pistoles is reached, late in the +afternoon. Happily this information turned out ill-founded. At L'Islet, +a little station reached at eleven o'clock a stoppage was made at an +unpretentious but clean and fresh restaurant, where the people speak +French and know how to make soup. + +A few years ago a journey by rail between Montreal and Halifax, without +break save what is necessary for replenishing the engine stores, would +have been impossible. The Grand Trunk, spanning the breadth of the more +favoured provinces of Ontario and Quebec, leaves New Brunswick and Nova +Scotia without other means of intercommunication than is afforded by its +many rivers and its questionable roads. For many years Canadian +statesmen, and all others interested in the practical confederation of +the various provinces that make up the Dominion, felt that the primary +and surest bond of union would be a railway. The military authorities +were even more urgent as to the necessity of connecting Quebec and +Halifax, and at one time a military road was seriously talked about. +Long ago a railway was projected, and in 1846-8 a survey was carried out +with that object. From that date up to 1869, when the road was actually +commenced, the matter was fitfully discussed, and it was only in 1876 +that the railway was opened. + +It is only a single line, and as a commercial undertaking is not likely +to pay at that, passing as it does through long miles of territory where +"still stands the forest primeval." It was made by the Dominion +Government in pursuance of a high national policy, and it adequately and +admirably meets the ends for which it was devised. The total length from +Riviere du Loup to Halifax is 561 miles. There is a spur running down to +St. John, in the Bay of Fundy, eighty-nine miles long, another branch +fifty-two miles long to Pictou, a great coal district opposite the +southern end of Prince Edward Island; while a third span of eleven +miles, branching off at Monckton and finishing at Point du Char, meets +the steamers for Prince Edward Island, making a total length of 713 +miles. The rails are steel, and the road is, mile for mile, as well made +as any in England. The carriages are on the American principle--the long +waggons capable of seating fifty or sixty persons, with an open passage +down the centre, through which the conductor and ticket collector +periodically walk. The carriages are heated to distraction by means of a +huge stove at either end. It is possible to open the windows, but that +is to be easily accomplished only after an apprenticeship too long for +the stay of the average traveller. After a painful hour one gets +accustomed to the atmosphere of the place, as it is happily possible to +grow accustomed to any atmosphere. But the effect of these fierce stoves +and obstinate windows must be permanently deleterious. + +The Pullman car has fortunately come to make railway travelling in +America endurable. Apart from other considerations, the inevitable stove +is better managed. You are thoroughly warmed,---occasionally, it is +true, parboiled. But there is at least freedom from the sulphurous +atmosphere which pervades the ordinary car, with its two infernal +machines, one at either end. In addition, the Pullman cars have more +luxurious fittings, and are hung on smoother springs. It is at night +their value becomes higher, and travellers are inclined to lie awake and +wonder how their fathers and elder brothers managed to travel in the +pre-Pullman era. + +Life is too short to limit travel on this continent to the daytime. +Travelling eight hours a day by rail, which we in England think a pretty +good allowance, it would take just five days to go from Montreal to +Halifax. Thanks to the Pullman car and its adequate sleeping +accommodation, a business man may leave Montreal at ten o'clock at +night, say on Monday, and be in Halifax in time to transact business +shortly after noon on Wednesday. Thus he loses only a day, for he must +sleep somewhere, and he might find many a worse bed than is made up for +him on a Pullman. The arrangements for ventilation leave nothing to be +desired save a little less apprehension on the part of Canadians of the +supposed malign influence of fresh air. If you can get the ventilators +kept open you may sleep with impunity. But, as far as a desire for +preserving the goodwill of my immediate neighbours controls me, I would, +being in Canada, as soon pick a pocket as open a window. One night, +before the beds were made up I secretly approached the coloured +gentleman in charge of the carriage and heavily bribed him to open the +ventilators. This he faithfully did, as I saw, but when I awoke this +morning, half stifled in the heavy atmosphere, I found every ventilator +closed. + +After leaving Quebec, and for a far-reaching run, the railway skirts the +river St. Lawrence, of which we get glimpses near and far as we pass. +The time is not far distant when this mighty river will be frozen to the +distance of fully a mile out, and men may skate where Atlantic steamers +sail. At present the river is free, but the frost comes like a thief in +the night, and the wary shipmasters have already gone into winter +quarters. The railway people are also preparing for the too familiar +terrors of the Canadian winter. As we steamed out of Quebec we saw the +snow-ploughs conveniently shunted, ready for use at a moment's notice. +The snowsheds are a permanent institution on the Intercolonial Railway. +The train passes through them sometimes for the length of half a mile. +They are simply wooden erections like a box, built in parts of the line +where the snow is likely to drift. Passing swiftly through them just now +you catch glimmers of light through the crevices. Presently, when the +snow comes, these will be effectually closed up. Snow will lie a hundred +feet thick on either side, to the full height of the shed, and the +train, as watched from the line, will seem to vanish in an illimitable +snow mound. + +This is as yet in the future. At present the landscape has all the +beauty that snow can give without the monotony of the unrelieved waste +of white. Mounds of brown earth, tufts of grass, bits of road, roofs of +houses, and belts of pine showing above the sprinkling of snow, give +colour to the landscape. One divines already why Canadians, in building +their houses, paint a door, or a side of a chimney, or a gable-end, red +or chocolate, whilst all the rest is white. This looks strange in the +summer, or in the bleak interregnum when neither the sun nor the +north-east wind can be said absolutely to reign. But in the winter, when +far as the eye can roam it is wearied with sight of the everlasting +snow, a patch of red or of warm brown on the scarcely less white houses +is a surprising relief. + +The country in the neighbourhood of Riviere du Loup, where the Grand +Trunk finishes and the Intercolonial begins, is filled with comfortable +homesteads. The line runs through a valley between two ranges of hills. +All about the slopes on the river side stand snug little houses, each +within its own grounds, each having a peaked roof, which strives more or +less effectually to rival the steepness of its neighbour. The houses +straggle for miles down the line, as if they had started out from Quebec +with the intention of founding a town for themselves, and had stopped on +the way, beguiled by the beauty of the situation. Sometimes a little +group stand together, when be sure you shall find a church, curiously +small but exceedingly ornate in its architecture. The spires are coated +with a glazed tile, which catches whatever sunlight there may be about, +and glistens strangely in the landscape. + +The first day following the first night of our journey closed in a +manner befitting its rare beauty. The sun went down amid a glow of +grandeur that illuminated all the world to the west, transfigured the +blue mountains veined with snow, and spread a soft roseate blush over +the white lowlands. We went to bed in New Brunswick still in the hilly +country named by the colonists Northumberland. We awoke to find +ourselves in the narrow neck of land which connects Nova Scotia with the +continent. It was like going to bed in Sweden in December, and waking in +Ireland in September. The snow was melted, the sun was hidden behind the +one thin cloud that spread from horizon to horizon, and the sharp, brisk +air of yesterday was exchanged for a cold, wet atmosphere, that +distilled itself in dank drops on the window-panes. The aspect of the +country was also changed. The ground was sodden, the grass brown with +perpetual wet. In one field we saw the hapless haycocks floating in +water. Thus it was through Nova Scotia into Halifax--water everywhere on +the ground, and threatening rain in the air. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +EASTER ON LES AVANTS. + +We nearly lost our Naturalist between Paris and Lausanne. It was felt at +the time, more especially by the latest additions to the party, that +this would have been a great calamity. Habits, long acquired, of +stopping by the roadside and minutely examining weeds or bits of stone, +are not to be eradicated in a night's journey by rail. Accordingly, +wherever the train stopped the Naturalist was, at the last moment, +discovered to be absent, and search parties were organised with a +promptness that, before we reached Dijon, had become quite creditable. +But the success achieved begat a condition of confidence that nearly +proved fatal. In travelling on a French line there is only one thing +more remarkable than the leisurely way in which an express train gets +under way after having stopped at a station, and that is the excitement +that pervades the neighbourhood ten minutes before the train starts. Men +in uniform go about shrieking _"En voiture, messieurs, en voiture!"_ in +a manner that suggests to the English traveller that the train is +actually in motion, and that his passage is all but lost. + +It was this habitude that led to our excitement at Melun. We had, after +superhuman efforts, got the Naturalist into the carriage, and had +breathlessly fallen back in the seat, expecting the train to move +forthwith. Ten minutes later it slowly steamed out of the station, +accompanied by the sound of the tootling horn and enveloped in thick +clouds of poisonous smoke. This sort of thing happening at one or two +other stations, we were induced to give our Naturalist an extra five +minutes to gather some fresh specimen of a rare grass growing between +the rails or some curious insect embedded in the bookstall. It was at +Sens that, growing bolder with success, we nearly did lose him, +dragging him in at the last moment, amid a scene of excitement that +could be equalled elsewhere only on the supposition that the station +was on fire and that five kegs of gunpowder were in the booking-office. + +Shortly after leaving Dijon a conviction began to spread that perhaps if +the fates had proved adverse, and we had lost him somewhere under +circumstances that would have permitted him to come on by a morning +train, we might have borne up against the calamity. Amongst a +miscellaneous and imposing collection of scientific instruments, he was +the pleased possessor of an aneroid. This I am sure is an excellent and +even indispensable instrument at certain crises. But when you have been +so lucky as to get to sleep in a railway carriage on a long night +journey, to be awakened every quarter of an hour to be informed "how +high you are now" grows wearisome before morning. + +It was the Chancery Barrister who was partly responsible for this. He +found it impossible to sleep, and our Naturalist, fastening upon him, +kept him carefully posted up in particulars of the increasing altitude. +This was the kind of thing that broke in upon our slumbers all through +the night:-- + +Our Naturalist: "1200 feet above the level of the sea." + +The Chancery Barrister (in provokingly sleepy tone): "Ah!" + +Then we turn over, and fall asleep again. A quarter of an hour later: + +Our Naturalist: "1500 feet now." + +Chancery Barrister: "Really!" + +Another fitful slumber, broken by a strong presentiment that the +demoniacal aneroid is being again produced. + +Our Naturalist (exultantly, as if he had privately arranged the incline, +and was justly boastful of his success): "2100 feet." + +Chancery Barrister (evidently feeling that something extra is expected of +him): "No, _really_ now!" + +This kind of thing through what should be the silent watches of the +night is to be deprecated, as tending to bring science into disrepute. + +There was a good deal of excitement about the baggage. We were a +personally conducted party to the extent that the Hon. Member who had +suggested the trip, had undertaken the general direction, or had had +the office thrust upon him. Feeling his responsibility, he had, +immediately on arriving at Calais, changed some English money. This +was found very convenient. Nobody had any francs except the Member, so +we freely borrowed from him to meet trifling exigencies. + +With the object of arriving at the best possible means of dealing with +the vexed question of luggage, a variety of expedients had been tried. +The Chancery Barrister, having read many moving narratives of raids made +upon registered luggage in the secrecy of the luggage van, had adopted a +course which displayed a profound knowledge of human nature. He had +argued with himself (as if he were a judge in chambers) that what proved +an irresistible temptation to foreign guards and other railway officials +was the appearance of boxes and portmanteaux iron-clasped, +leather-strapped, and double-locked. The inference naturally was that +they contained much that was valuable. Now, he had pointed out to +himself, if you take a directly opposite course, and, as it were, invite +the gentleman in charge of your luggage to open your portmanteau, he +will think you have nothing in it worth his attention, and will pass on +to others more jealously guarded. You can't very well leave your box +open, as the things might tumble out. So, as a happy compromise, he had +duly locked and strapped his portmanteau, and then tied the key to the +handle. + +As he observes, with the shrewd perception that will inevitably lead him +to the Woolsack, "You are really helpless, and can do nothing to prevent +these gentlemen from helping themselves. If you leave the key there, +there is a fair chance of their treating your property as the Levite +treated the Good Samaritan. If not, your box will be decently opened +instead of having the lock broken or the hinges wrenched off." + +That was a good idea, and proved triumphantly successful; for, on +arrival at Montreux, the Chancery Barrister's portmanteau turned up all +right, the key innocently reposing on the handle, and, as subsequent +investigation showed, the contents untouched. + +Our Manufacturer had a still better way, though, as was urged, he comes +from Yorkshire, and we of the southern part of the island have no chance +in competition with the race. He lost his luggage somewhere between +Dover and Paris, and has ever since been free from all care on the +subject. + +Perhaps it was the influence of these varied incidents that led to a +scene of some excitement on our arrival at Montreux station. There, +what was left of our luggage was disgorged, and of fourteen packages +registered, only nine were visible to the naked eye. It was then the +Patriarch came to the front and displayed some of those qualities which +subsequently found a fuller field amid the solitude of the Alps. + +We call him the Patriarch because he is a grandfather. In other respects +he is the youngest of the party, the first on the highest peak, the +first down in the afternoon with his ready order for "tea for ten," of +which, if the party is late in arriving and he finds time hang heavy on +his hands, he will genially drink five cups himself. With the care of +half a dozen colossal commercial undertakings upon his mind, he is as +merry as a boy and as playful as a kitten. But when once aroused his +anger is terrible. + +His thunder and lightning played around the station-master at Montreux +on the discovery of the absence of five packages. The Patriarch has a +wholesome faith in the all-sufficiency of the English language. The +station-master's sole lingual accomplishment was French. This +concatenation of circumstances might with ordinary persons have led to +some diminution of the force of adjuration. But probably the +station-master lost little of the meaning the Patriarch desired to +convey. This tended in the direction of showing the utter incapacity +of the Swiss or French nature to manage a railway, and the discreditable +incompetency of the officials of whatever grade. The station-master was +properly abashed before the torrent of indignant speech. But he had his +turn presently. Calmer inspection disclosed the fact that all the +fourteen packets were delivered. It was delightful to see how the +station-master, immediately assuming the offensive, followed the +Patriarch about with gesticulation indicative of the presence of the +baggage, and with taunting speech designed to make the Patriarch +withdraw his remarks--whatever they might have been. On this point +the station-master was not clear, but he had a shrewd suspicion that +they were not complimentary. The Patriarch, however, now retired upon +his dignity. + +It was, as he said, no use arguing with fellows like this. + +Les Avants sit high up among the mountains at the back of Montreux. +It seems madness to go there at a time when fires are still cheerful +and when the leaves have not yet put forth their greenness. But, as +was made apparent in due time, Les Avants, at no time inconveniently +cold, would be, but for the winds that blow over the snow-clad hills +surprisingly hot. To build an hotel here seems a perilously bold +undertaking. It is not on the way to anywhere, and people going from +the outer world must march up the hill, and, when they are tired of it, +must needs, like the Duke of York in his famous military expedition, +march down again. None but a Swiss would build an hotel here, and few +but English would frequent it. Yet the shrewdness of the proprietor has +been amply justified, and Les Avants is becoming in increasing degree +a favourite pilgrimage. + +The hotel was built nearly twenty years ago. Previously the little +valley it dominates had been planted with one or two chalets which +for more than half a century have looked out upon the deathless snows +of the Dent du Midi. There is one which has rudely carved over the +lintel of its door the date 1816. Noting which, the Chancery Barrister, +with characteristic accuracy, observed that "five centuries look down +upon us." + +Our landlord is an enterprising man. His business in life is to keep an +hotel, and the height of his ambition is to keep it well. Only a +fortnight ago he returned from a grand tour of the winter +watering-places, from the Bay of Biscay to the Bay of Genoa. The +ordinary attractions of the show places from Biarritz to Bordighera had +no lure for him. What he studied were the hotels and their various modes +of management. He told us, with a flush of pride on his sun-tanned +cheek, that he travelled as an ordinary tourist. There was no hint of +his condition or the object of his journey, no appeal to confraternity +with a view to getting bed and breakfast at trade prices, or some +reduction on the _table d'hote_ charges. He travelled as a sort of Haroun +al Raschid among innkeepers, haughtily paying his bills, and possibly +feeing the waiters. He is a very good sort of a fellow, attentive and +obliging, and it is odd how we all agree in the hope that he was from +time to time over-charged. + +It is a fair prospect looked out upon from the bedroom window on our +arrival. Almost at our feet, it seems, is the Lake of Geneva, though +we remember the wearisome climb up the hill, and know it must be miles +away. On the other side are the snow-clad hills that reach down to +Savoy on the east, and are crowned by the heights of the Dent du Midi +on the west. On the left, flanking our own place of abode, rise up the +grim heights of the Roches de Naye, and, still farther back, the Dent +du Jaman--a terrible tooth this, which draws attention from all the +country round, and excites the wildest ambition of the tourist. The man +or woman resting within a circuit of ten miles of Montreux, who has not +touched the topmost heights of the Dent du Jaman, goes home a crushed +person. A very small proportion do it, but every one talks of doing +it---which, unless the weather be favourable, is perhaps the wiser +thing to do. It fills a large place in the conversation as well as in +the landscape, and it will be a bad thing for the Lake of Geneva if +this tooth should ever be drawn. + +Lovely as was the scene in the fresh morning air, with the glistening +snow, the dark pines on the lower hills, the blue lake, and the +greyish upland, they did but serve to frame the picture of the +Patriarch as he sat upon the bench in the front of the hotel. A short +jacket of blue serge, knickerbockers of the same material, displaying +the proportions of a notable pair of legs, the whole crowned by a +chimney-pot hat, went to make up a remarkable figure. The Patriarch +had in his hand a blue net for catching butterflies. The Naturalist +had excited his imagination by stories of the presence of the +"Camberwell Beauty," a rare and beautiful species of butterfly, of +which he was determined to take home a specimen. In later days he +was fair to see with his hat thrown back on his brow, his net in his +hand: and his stout legs twinkling in their haste to come up with a +butterfly. + +The Alps have witnessed many strange sights since first they uplifted +their heads to heaven. But it is calculated that the Patriarch was +the first who brought under their notice the chimney-pot hat of the +civilised Englishman. + +This haste to be up on the first morning was a faithful precursor of +the indomitable vitality of the Patriarch. He was always first up and +first off, and, amongst many charming peculiarities, was his +indifference as to which way the road lay. We generally had a guide +with us, and nothing was more common in toiling up a mountain side +than to discover the guide half a mile to the left and the Patriarch +half a mile to the right, something after the fashion of the letter Y, +we being at the stem. We saw a good deal more of the country than we +otherwise should have done, owing to the constant necessity of going +after the Patriarch and bringing him back. Sometimes he got away by +himself, at others he deluded some hapless member of the company into +following him. One young man, just called to the bar, had a promising +career almost cut short on the second day. In the innocence of his +heart he had followed the Patriarch, who led him through an apparently +impassable pine forest on to the crest of a remote hill, whence he +crawled down an hour late for luncheon, the Patriarch having arrived +ten minutes before him, and having already had his knife into every +receptacle for food that was spread out, from the loaf of bread to the +box of sardines, from the preserved peaches to the cup without a handle +that held the butter. + +Walking up the hill behind the hotel on the way to the Jaman, the Member +had a happy idea. "Why," he asked, "should not the Parliamentary Session +be movable, like a reading party? Say the Bankruptcy Bill is referred +to a grand committee. What is to prevent them coming right off here and +settling down for a fortnight or three weeks, or in fact whatever time +might be necessary thoroughly to discuss the measure?" + +They might do worse, we agreed, as we walked on, carefully selecting +the shady side of the road, and thinking of dear friends shivering in +England. The blue haze under which we know the lake lies; the Alps all +around, their green sides laced with snow and their heads covered with +it; the fleckless blue sky; the brown rocks, and over all and through +all the murmuring music of the invisible stream, as it trickles on its +way down the gorge, would be better accompaniments to a good grind at a +difficult Bill than any to be found within the precincts of Westminster. + +"You remember what Virgil says?" the Chancery Barrister strikes in. + +Divers things of diverse character we have discovered invariably remind +the Chancery Barrister of Virgil or Horace, occasionally perchance of +an English poet. This is very pleasant, and none the less so because +the reminiscences come slowly, gathering strength as they advance, like +the Chancery Barrister's laugh, which begins like the pattering of rain +on leaves, and ends in the roar of a thunderstorm. The Chancery +Barrister takes his jokes gently to begin with: he sees them afar off, +and, closing one eye, begins to smile. The smile broadens to a grin, the +grin becomes a cachinnation, then, as he hugs the fun, the cachinnation +deepens to a roar of laughter, and the thing is complete. + +It is thus with his quotations, though these are not always +completed--at least, not in accordance with recognised authorities. As +one of the ladies says, with that kindliness peculiar to the sex, "The +Chancery Barrister is most original when he is making a quotation." + +"What's that Wolsey says about the pomps and vanities of this world?" +"'Vain pomps and vanities of this world,'" the Chancery Barrister +begins, and we know we are in for a quotation. "No, not pomps and +vanities. 'Vain pomps and glories of this world' (that's it)--" + + "'Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye. + I feel my heart new opened. O how wretched + Is the poor man that hangs on princes' favours! + There is betwixt the smile we would aspire to, + That sweet aspect of princes and their ruin, + More pangs and fears than wars or women have.'" + +It's odd how one thing leads to another. By the time the Chancery +Barrister has got his quotation right, the Patriarch is half a mile +ahead in the wrong direction, and we all have to go and look for him. + +The Col de Jaman is the salvation of many tourists. Not being regular +Alpine climbers, they start over the Dent and get as far as the Col, +rest awhile just under the great mountain molar, and come down. We had +a splendid day for our expedition. It had been freezing hard in the +night, and when we reached the snow region we found the pines frosted. +On the Col a beneficent commune has built some chalets furnished with +plentiful supply of firewood. Out of the sun it was bitterly cold, and +we were glad to light a fire, which crackled and roared up the broad +chimney and made a pretty accompaniment to the Chancery Barrister's +song about the Jolly Young Waterman. He sang it all in one key, and +that the wrong one. But it was a well-meant effort, and we all joined +in the chorus. + +There's some talk to-day of a startling episode at an hotel up the +Rhone Valley. A Russian gentleman was sitting sipping his tea, when +there approached him a lady, who addressed him in three languages. +His replies not being satisfactory she shot him. This is cited by the +Chancery Barrister as showing the advantage of an early acquaintance +with foreign languages, and the desirableness of a pure accent. + +It is quite agreed that if our Naturalist had been in the Russian's +place he would have been shot after the first question. This morning, +on ringing for his bath, he was answered by a chambermaid with a "Pas +encore." Why "not just yet" our Naturalist did not know. He was not +unusually early. But he had done his duty. He had tried to get up and +have his bath; it was not ready, so he might go back to bed with a +quiet conscience. Presently came another knock, and our Naturalist, +carefully robing himself, opened the door, and discovered the +chambermaid standing there with a plate, a knife, and a breakfast roll. + +"What the dev----I mean _qu'c'est qu'c'est_?" he asked. + +"_Monsieur a demande le petit pain_," the girl replied, astonished at +his astonishment. + +With great presence of mind he accepted the situation, took in the +bread, and did without his bath. The Member says that, coming upon him +suddenly amid the silence of the snow, he heard him practising the +slightly different sounds of _pain_ and _bain_. + +Nothing but snow between the Col and the Dent du Jaman, but snow at its +very best, hard and dry. Just before we reach the top we come upon a +huge drift frozen hard and slippery. We might have gone round, but we +decided to try and climb. The Patriarch of course was first, and +achieved the task triumphantly. Others followed, and then came the +Chancery Barrister. Another step, and he would have safely landed. +But unhappily a quotation occurred to him. + +"This is jolly," he said, turning half round, with the proud +consciousness that he was at the crest and that with another stride all +would be well; "what's that Horace says about enjoying what you have?" + + "'Me pascant olivae, + Me cichorea, levesque malvae, + Frui paratis, et valido mihi, + Latoe, dones, et, precor, integra + Cum----'" + +Here the most terrible contortion appeared on the generally pleasant +countenance of the Chancery Barrister. He clutched desperately at the +ice; but his suspicion was too true. He had begun to move downwards +("When he got to _cum_ he came," the Member, who makes bad jokes, says), +and with increasing impetus he slid down the bank. His face during the +terrible moments when he was not quite certain where he would stop, or +indeed whether he would ever stop, passed through a series of +contortions highly interesting to those on the bank above. + +"_Me pascant olivae_!" cried the Member. "Olives are evidently no use as +a support in a case like yours, and diachylon would be more use to you +now than soft mallows." + +The Chancery Barrister, who had happily reached the bottom, walked round +by a more accessible path, and nothing further either from Horace or +Virgil occurred to him for more than an hour. + +Perhaps the difference in the weather had something to do with it, but +we found the Dent du Jaman not nearly so difficult to climb as the +Roches de Naye. After the scamper across the snow and the climb over +this little ice-collar down which the Chancery Barrister had slipped, +there is no more snow. We climb up by steps worn by the feet of many +adventurers. The top is a level cone with an area not much greater +than that of a moderate-sized dining-room. There was not a breath of +wind, and the sun beat down with a warmth made all the more delicious +by the recollection of the frozen region through which we had passed. +The Dent is only a trifle above six thousand feet high, but the prospect +as seen from it stretches far. Below is the Canton de Vaud, a portion of +the Jura chain of mountains, the far-reaching Alps of the Savoy, a bit +of the lake gleaming like an emerald under the white tops of the +mountains, a cloud on the southern horizon that the guide tells us are +the mountains of the Valais, and, still to the south just touched by the +sun, glitter the snow summits of the Great St. Bernard. + +Coming down, we bivouac in the _chalet_, lighting up the fire again. +Here, twelve hundred feet lower down, it is bitterly cold, in spite +of, perhaps because of, the fire. The _chalet_ is built with commendable +deference to the necessity for ventilation. The wind, smelling fire, +comes rushing over the snow, and we are glad to put on coat and caps. +The conversation turns to legal topics, and certain eminent personages +are discussed with great severity. Of one it is roundly asserted that +he is mad. + +"I am quite sure of it," said the Chancery Barrister, who has recovered +his spirits with his footing, "and I'll tell you why. He seconded me +for the Reform Club, and----" + +We all agree that this is quite enough; but the Chancery Barrister +insists on proceeding with his narrative, of which it seems this was +merely the introduction. + +We found our Naturalist of very little use. We had expected he would +mount with us whatever heights we sought, and had pleasing views of +his explaining the flora as we went along. But he always had some +excuse that kept him on lower levels. One morning he declared he had +passed a sleepless night owing to the efforts of two Scotch lads who +occupied the room next to him. They had some taste for carpentering, +and were addicted to getting up in the dead of the night and doing odd +jobs about the room. At half-past five a.m. they left their couch and +began playing Cain and Abel. Only the Naturalist protested there is no +authority in Scripture for the fearful row Abel made when Cain got him +down on his back. + +At other times our Naturalist had heard of a "Camberwell Beauty" in +the neighbourhood, and must needs go and catch it, which, by the way, +he never did. On the whole, we conclude our Naturalist is an impostor. + +We reserved the Roches de Naye till the last day. It was rather a +stupendous undertaking, the landlord assuring us that four guides were +necessary. One led a horse that no one would ride, one carried the +indispensable luncheon-basket, and two fared forth at early morn to cut +steps in the snow. The sun was shining when we started on this desperate +enterprise, and it was hot enough as we toiled along the lower heights. +But when we reached the snow level, the sun had gone in, having just +shone long enough to make the snow wet. Then a cold bleak wind set in, +and we began to think that, after all, there was more in the Naturalist +than met the eye. Whilst we were toiling along, sometimes temporarily +despairing, and generally up to our waists in snow, he was enjoying the +comforts of the hotel, or strolling about in languid search of fabulous +butterflies. + +Picking our way round a hill in which had been cut in the snow a ledge +about two feet wide, we came in face of the slope we were to climb. Up +at the top, looking like black ants, were the guides cutting a zigzag +path in the snow. The Member observed that if any one were to offer +him a sovereign and his board on condition of his climbing up this +slope, he would prefer to remain in indigent circumstances. As we +were getting nothing for the labour, were indeed paying for the +privilege of undertaking it, we stuck at it, and after a steady climb +reached the top, when the wind was worse than ever. It was past +luncheon time, and every one was ferociously hungry; but it was agreed +that if we camped here and lunched, we should never get to the top. So +on we went, through the sloppy snow, pursued by the keen blast that +cut through all possible clothing. + +It was a hard pull and not much to see for it, since clouds had rolled +up from the west and hid the promised panorama. The wind was terrible, +and there was no shelter. But we could hold out no longer, and the +luncheon being laid upon the sloppy grass, the Patriarch, with his +accustomed impartiality, went round with his knife. + +By this time we had induced him to take the sardines last, which he +obligingly did. + +We ran most of the way back to the side of the hill where the snow had +been cut. The exercise made us a little warmer; and the genial influence +of the cold fowl, the hard-boiled eggs, the sardines and the thin red +wine beginning to work, we were able to enjoy the spectacle of the +Patriarch leading the first party down the perilous incline. We had +ropes, but didn't think it worth while to be tied. The party was divided +into two sections, half a dozen holding on to a rope. It must have been +a beautiful sight from many a near mountain height to watch the +Patriarch's chimney-pot hat slowly move downwards on the zigzag path. + +"What's that Virgil says about ranging mountain tops?" said the Chancery +Barrister: + + "Me Parnassi deserta per ardua dulcis + Raptat amor: juvat ire jugis, qua nulla priorum + Castaliam molli divertitur orbita clivo." + +He had got in the centre of the second party, and with two before him, +three behind, and a firm grip on the rope, he thought it safe to quote +poetry. + +We had eight days at Les Avants, of which this devoted to the ascent of +the Roches was the only one the sun did not shine upon. Whether on +mountain or in valley, what time the sun was shining it was delightfully +warm. The narcissi were not yet out, but the fields were thick with +their buds. How the place would look when their glory had burst forth on +all the green Alps we could only imagine. But already everywhere bloomed +the abundant marigolds, the hepaticae, the violets, the oxlips, the +gentians, the primroses, and the forget-me-nots. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE BATTLE OF MERTHYR. + +"Well, sir, it is, as you say, a long time ago, but it was one of those +things, look you, that a man meets with only once in his lifetime; and +that being so, I might call it all to mind if I began slowly, and went +on so as to keep my pipe alight to the end." + +The speaker was a little, white-haired miner, who had been employed for +fifty years by the Crawshays, of Cyfarthfa. We were sitting in the +sanctum of his kitchen, the beautifully sanded floor of which smote me +with remorse, for I had walked up from Merthyr, and was painfully +conscious of two muddy footprints in the doorway. + +Mrs. Morgan Griffiths, engaged upon the task of repairing Mr. Morgan +Griffiths's hose, was seated in the middle of the room opposite the +fireplace, having against the wall on either side of her a mahogany +chest of drawers in resplendent state of polish. Mr. Morgan Griffiths +sat beside the fireplace, with his pipe in one hand, the other resting +affectionately upon another mahogany chest of drawers, also +resplendently polished, standing in a recess at his left. The other side +of the fireplace was occupied by the visitor, who, if he had turned his +head a little to the right, might have seen his face reflected in the +resplendent polish of a third mahogany chest of drawers, which somewhat +inconveniently projected from the recess on the side of the fireplace. + +Apparently, every well-to-do Welsh collier marks his status in society +by the possession of a mahogany chest of drawers--if mounted in brass +so much the better--which it is the pride and privilege of his wife to +keep in a state of resplendent polish. Mr. Morgan Griffiths having had a +long run of prosperity, and being of a frugal mind, had launched out +largely in the purchase of mahogany chests of drawers, and his kitchen +may be said to bristle with them. Each had its history, and it was to +the patient listening to the repetition thereof, and to the expenditure +of much appreciative criticism upon the varied styles of architecture +displayed in their construction, that I completely won Mr. Morgan +Griffiths's confidence, and overcame the cautious fencing with which +he met my first inquiries touching his recollection of the memorable +Merthyr Riots of 1831. + +Perfect confidence reigned between us now, and I discovered that, +though it is exceedingly hard to get a Welsh miner to talk freely to +"a Saxon," when he opens his heart, and can look back for a period of +fifty years, he is a very interesting companion. + +"Yes, it's a long time ago," Mr. Morgan Griffiths repeated, in short, +clipping intonation of the English language I will not attempt to +reproduce, "but I've often talked it over with Mrs. Morgan Griffiths, +and I can see it all now. Times was sore bad, and there was a deal +of poverty about. Bread was dear, and iron was cheap--at least so Mr. +Crawshay said when we went up to ask him if he couldn't give us +miners a trifle over the twelve or thirteen shillings a week we was +earning. Everybody I knowed was in debt, and had been in debt for +some time, and was getting further in every week. The shopkeepers +up at Merthyr were getting uneasy about their money, and besides +saying plump out to some of us that we couldn't have any more bread, +or that, without money down on the nail, they served out all round +summonses to what was called the Court of Requests. That was all +very well, but as we couldn't get enough to eat from day to day +upon our wages, it was pretty certain we couldn't go and pay up +arrears. But the summonses came all the same, and it was a black +look-out, I can tell you. + +"One day, in the middle of the summer of this year 1831, there was +a great meeting out on Waun-hill of all the miners of the country. +I can't rightly tell you the day of the month, but it was about +three reeks after we rescued Thomas Llewellin, who had been sent +to gaol on account of the row at Mr. Stephens's. We talked over +our grievances together, and we made up our minds that we couldn't +stand them any longer, though we meant no more mischief than our +little Morgan who wasn't born then, me and Mrs. Morgan Griffiths +not being married at the time, nor indeed set eyes on each other. +After the row opposite the Bush Inn, I went back to my work till +such time as the petition we had agreed to send to the King was +written out by Owen Evans, and had come round to be signed by us +all. But there was others not so peaceably minded, and a lot of +them, meeting outside Merthyr, marched over the hill to Aberdare, +where they went to Mr. Fothergill's and treated him pretty +roughly. They ate up all the victuals in the house, and finished +up all the beer, and then took a turn round the town collecting +all the bread and cheese they could lay their hands on. + +"A lad sent by Mr. Fothergill came running over the mountain with +a letter to the magistrates, telling them what was happening in +Aberdare, and pressing them to send off for the soldiers. It was +said the magistrates did this pretty quick, but we had no railways +or telegraphs then, and, ride as quick as you might, the soldiers +could not get here before morning. The men from Aberdare were back +here the same night, and marched straight for the Court of Requests, +where they made poor Coffin, the clerk, give up every scrap of book +or paper he had about the Court's business, and they made a bonfire +of them in the middle of the street. Then they came over here, and +swore we should all turn out and join them. + +"I remember it well. I was just coming up from the pit to go to my +tea, when they came bursting over the tips, shouting and waving +their sticks, and wearing in their hats little bits of burnt paper +from the bonfire opposite Coffin's house. They were most of them +drunk, but they were very friendly with us, and only wanted us to +leave off work and go along with them. I was a young fellow then, +up to any lark, and didn't make much fuss about it. So off we +went to Dowlais, freed the men there, and we all had a good drink +together. + +"Next day the soldiers came in earnest: Scotchmen with petticoats +on, and nasty-looking guns on their shoulders. I stood in a passage +whilst they marched down High Street from Cyfarthfa way, and didn't +like the look of things at all. But close upon their heels came all +our fellows, with bludgeons in their hands, and one of them, a man +from Dowlais, had tied a red pocket-handkerchief on a stick and waved +it over his head like a flag. The soldiers tramped steadily along till +they got just above the Castle Inn, and there they halted, our men +pressing on till they filled the open place below the Castle, as well +as crowding the street behind the soldiers, who looked to me, as I +hung on by the hands and legs to a lamp-post, just like a patch of red +in the centre of a great mass of black. The soldiers had some bread +and cheese and beer served out to them, but they were a long time +getting it; for as soon as any one came out of the Castle with a loaf +of bread and a piece of cheese some of our men snatched it out of +their hands and eat it, jeering at the soldiers and offering them bits. + +"The soldiers never said a word or budged an inch till the Sheriff +looked out of the window and asked the little fellow who was their +commander-in-chief to draw them up on the pavement close before the +hotel. The little fellow said something to them; and they turned round +their guns so as the butt ends were presented, and marched straight +forward, as if our fellows were not on the pavement as thick as ants. +There was a little stoppage owing to the men not being able to clear +off because of the crowd on the right and left. But the thick ends of +the guns went steadily on with the bare-legged silent soldiers after +them, and in a few strides the pavement was clear, and the soldiers +were eating their bread and cheese with their faces to the crowd, and +a tight right-handed grip on their muskets. + +"The Sheriff got on a chair in the doorway of the Castle, with the +soldiers well placed between him and us, and made a rigmaroling +speech about law and order, and the King; but he said nothing about +giving us more wages. Our master, Mr. Crawshay, was in the hotel too, +and so was Mr. Guest, of Dowlais. Evan Jones, a man who had come over +from Aberdare, got up on the shoulders of his mates and made a +rattling speech all about our poor wages. + +"'Law and order's all very well," he said, "but can you live on twelve +shillings a week, Mr. Sheriff, and bring up a lot of little sheriffs?' + +"Then we all shouted, and old Crawshay coming up to the doorway, I got +down from the lamp-post, not wishing to let him see me there, though I +was only standing on my rights. But Mr. William had a voice which, +something like an old file at work, could go through any crowd, and I +heard him in his quiet, stern way, just as if he was talking to his men +on a pay-day, say it was no use them crowding there with sticks and +stones to talk to him about wages. + +"'Go home, all of you' he said; 'go to bed; and when you are sober and +in your senses, send us a deputation from each mine, and we'll see what +can be done. But you won't be sensible for a fortnight after this mad +acting; so let us say on this day fortnight you come with your +deputation. Now go home, and don't make fools of yourselves any more.' + +"We always listened to what Mr. Crawshay said, though he might be a +little hard sometimes, and this made us waver. But just then +Lewis-yr-Helwyr, shouting out in Welsh, 'We ask for more wages and they +give us soldiers,' leaped at the throat of the Scotchman nearest to him, +and snatching the musket out of his hand, stuck the bayonet into him. + +"In the twinkling of an eye the great black mass jumped upon the little +red patch I told you of, and a fearful struggle began. The attack was so +sudden, and the soldiers were at the moment so earnest with their bread +and cheese, that nearly all the front rank men lost their muskets and +pressed backward on their comrades behind. These levelled their pieces +over the front rank's shoulders and fired straight into the thick of us. +The little officer had hardly given the word to fire when he was knocked +down by a blow on the head, and a bayonet stuck into him, Our men +pressed stoutly forward and, tumbling over the dead, fell upon the +soldiers, who could move neither arm nor leg. The rear rank were, as +fast as they could bustle, filing into the hotel, but not before they +had managed to pass over their heads the little officer, who looked very +sick, with the blood streaming down his face. + +"At last the soldiers all got inside the doorway of the hotel, where +they stood fast like a wedge, two kneeling down shoulder to shoulder +with their bayonets fixed, three others firing over their heads, and +others behind handing up loaded guns as fast as they fired. There was a +lane speedily made amongst us in front of the doorway; but we had won +the fight for all that, and cheered like mad when the soldiers turned +tail. + +"In a few minutes we shouted on the other side of our mouths. Without +any notice the windows of every room in the hotel suddenly flew up, and +out came from each the muzzles of a pair of muskets which flashed death +down upon us at the rate of two men a minute; for as soon as the first +couple of soldiers fired they retired and reloaded whilst two others +took their places and blazed away. A rush was made to the back of the +hotel, and we had got into the passage, when the bearded faces of the +Scotchmen showed through the smoke with which the house was filled, and +the leaders of our lot were shoved back at the point of the bayonet. At +the same time the windows at the back of the house flew up as they had +done in the front, and the muzzles of the muskets peeped out as they +had done before. + +"This was getting rather hot for me. Men dead or dying were lying about +everywhere around the Castle Inn. If I had been asked that night how +many were killed, I think I should have said two hundred; but when the +accounts came to be made up, it was found that not more than sixty or +seventy were shot dead, though many more were wounded. I was neither +hurt nor dead as yet, and I thought I had better go home if I wanted to +keep so. I was below the Castle Inn at the time, and not caring to pass +the windows with those deadly barrels peeping out I turned down High +Street, and walked through the town. It was raining in torrents, and I +never saw Merthyr look so wretched. Every shop was closed, and +barricades placed across some of the windows of the private houses; and +as I walked along, trying to look as if I hadn't been up at the Castle, +I saw white faces peeping over window blinds. + +"Merthyr was trembling in its shoes that day, I can tell you; and it +came out afterwards that every tradesman in the place had got together +all the bread, cheese, meat, pies, and beer he could put his hands on, +ready to throw out to the mob if they came knocking at his door. + +"It was late at night when I got home, having gone a long way round, and +I saw nothing more of our fellows; but I heard that the wounded soldiers +had been taken up to Penydarren House, which was fortified by their +comrades, and held all night against our men. Somehow the word got +passed round that we were to meet the next morning in a quiet place on +the Brecon road, and when I got there I found our gallant fellows in +great force. I, having neither sword nor gun, was told off with a lot of +others to get up on the heights that bank the turnpike road near +Coedycymmer, and roll down big stones, so that the fresh troops expected +up from Brecon could not pass. This we did with a will; and when, in the +afternoon, a lot of cavalry came up, we made it so hot for them, what +with the stones rolled down from above and the musketry that came +rattling up from our men who had guns, that they cleared off pretty +smartly. + +"This cheered us greatly, and another lot of ours, who had been posted +on the Swansea road to intercept troops coming up in that direction, +soon after joined us, with news of a great victory, by which they had +routed the soldiers and taken their swords and muskets. We thought +Merthyr was ours, though I'm not sure that we quite knew what we were +going to do with it. When somebody shouted, 'Let's go to Merthyr!' we +all shouted with him, and ran along the road, intending to take +Penydarren House by storm. On the way we met Evan Price and some others, +who had been to see Mr. Guest, and had been promised fine things for the +men if they would give up their arms and go peaceably to work. Some +jumped at this offer and sneaked off; but I had got a sabre now, and was +in for death or glory. There was a good many in the same boat, and on we +went towards Penydarren House, enough of us to eat it up, if the walls +had been built of boiled potatoes instead of bricks. + +"When we got in sight of the house, we found they were ready for us, and +had got a lot of those soldiers drawn up in battle array. There was a +deal of disputing amongst our leaders how the attack was to commence, +and whilst they were chattering the men were dropping off in twos and +threes, and in about an hour we were all gone, so nothing more was +done that night. + +"We lay quietly in our own homes on Sunday, and on Monday had a great +meeting on Waun-hill again, colliers coming up by thousands to join up +from all parts around. Early in the forenoon we began to move down +towards Merthyr, everybody in high spirits, shouting, waving caps, and +brandishing swords. I saw one man get an awful backhanded cut on the +cheek from an Aberdare collier, who was waving his sword about like a +madman. Nobody knew exactly where we were going, or what we were going +to do; but when we got as far as Dowlais we were saved the trouble of +deciding, for there was Mr. Guest, with a great army of soldiers drawn +up across the road. Mr. Guest was as cool as myself, and rode forward +to meet us as if we were the best friends in the world. He made a good +speech, begging us to think of our wives and families, and go quietly +home whilst we had the chance. Nothing came of that, however, and he +pulled out a paper, and read an Act of Parliament, after which he +turned to the commander-in chief of the soldiers, and said he had done +all a magistrate could do, and the soldiers must do the rest. + +"'Get ready,' shouts out the commander-in-chief; and the soldiers +brought their muskets down with a flash like lightning, and a clash that +made me feel uncomfortable, remembering what I had seen on the Friday. + +"'Present!' + +"There was ten murderous barrels looking straight at us. Another word, +and we should have their contents amongst our clothes. It was an awful +moment. I saw one black-bearded fellow had covered me as if I were a +round target, and I said to myself as well as I could speak for my lips +were like parched peas, 'Morgan Griffiths, twelve shillings a week and +an allowance of coal is better than this'; and I'm not ashamed to own +that I turned round and made my way through the crush of our men, which +was getting less inconveniently pressing at the end nearest to the +levelled barrels. + +"There was, to tell the truth, a good deal of movement towards the rear +amongst our men, and when Mr. Guest saw this he rode up again, and, +standing right between the guns and the front rank of our men, said +something which I could not rightly hear, and then our men began running +off faster than ever, so that in about half an hour the soldiers had the +road to themselves. + +"That was not the last of the riots, but it is all I can tell you about +them, for I had had quite enough of the business. There is something +about the look of a row of muskets pointed at you, with ball inside the +barrels and a steady finger on the triggers, which you don't care to see +too often. + +"Anyhow, I went home, and there heard tell of more fighting all that +week on the Brecon road, of Merthyr in a state of panic, and at last of +Dick Penderyn and Lewis the Huntsman being taken, and the whole of our +men scattered about the country, and hunted as if they were rats. + +"It was a bad business, sir--a very bad business, and I know no more +than them as was shot down in the front of the Castle Hotel how it came +about or what we meant to do. We were like a barrel of gunpowder that +had been broken up and scattered about the road. A spark came, and +poof!--we went off with a bang, and couldn't stop ourselves. Yes, this +is a bad business, too, this strike of to-day, and there's a good many +thousand men going about idle and hungry who were busy and full a month +ago. I don't feel the bitterness of it myself so much, because I have a +little store in the house. I had been saving it to buy another chest of +drawers to stand there, opposite the door, but it's going out now in +bread and meat, and I don't know whether I shall live to save up enough +after the trouble's over, for I'm getting old now, look you." + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +MOSQUITOES AND MONACO. + +Up to the end of October, in ordinary seasons, the mosquitoes hold +their own against all comers along the full length of the Riviera. For +some unexplained reasons they clear out earlier from Genoa, though the +atmosphere may be as unbearably close as at other points of the coast +which mosquitoes have in most melancholy manner marked as their own. +Perhaps it is the noise of the city that scares them. The people live +in the street as much as possible, and therein conduct their converse +in highly-pitched notes. I have a strong suspicion that, like the +habitation jointly rented by Messrs. Box and Cox, Genoa is tenanted by +two distinct populations. One fills the place by day and throughout the +evening up to about ten o'clock; after this hour it disappears, and +there is a brief interval of rare repose. About 2 a.m. the Cox of this +joint tenancy appears on the scene, and by four there is a full tide +of bustle that murders sleep as effectually as was ever done by Macbeth. +I do not wonder that the mosquitoes (who, I have the best reason to +know, are insects of the finest discrimination and the most exacting +good taste) quit Genoa at the earliest possible moment. + +The most delightful spot in or near the city is, to my mind, Campo +Santo, the place where rich Genoese go when they die. The burial-ground +is a large plot of ill-kept land, where weeds grow, and mean little +crosses rear their heads. Round this run colonnades adorned with +statuary, generally life-size, and frequently of striking merit. +Originally, it is presumable that the sculptor's art was invoked in +order to perpetuate the memory of the dead. There are in some of the +recesses, either in the form of medallions or busts, life-like +representations of those who have gone before. But the fashion of the +day is improving upon this. In the newest sculptures there is +exceedingly little of the dead, and as much as possible of the living. + +About half-way down the colonnade, entering from the right, there is a +memorable group. A woman of middle age, portly presence and expansive +dress, is discovered in the centre on her knees, with hands clasped. +The figure is life-size and every detail of adornment, from the heavy +bracelet on her wrist to the fine lace of her collar, is wrought from +the imperishable marble. On her face is an expression of profound grief, +tempered by the consciousness that her large earrings have been done +justice to. Standing at a respectful distance behind her is a youth with +bared head drooped, and a tear delicately chiselled in the eye nearest +to the spectator. He carries his hat in his hand, displays much +shirt-cuff; and the bell-shaped cut of the trouser lying over his dainty +boot makes his foot look preciously small. + +These figures, both life-size, stand in an arched recess, and show to +the best advantage. Just above the arch the more observant visitor will +catch sight of a small medallion, modestly displaying, about half +life-size, the face of an ordinary-looking man, who may have been a +prosperous linendraper or a cheesefactor with whom the markets had gone +well. This is presumably the deceased, and it is difficult to imagine +anything more soothing to the feelings of his widow and son than to come +here in the quiet evenings or peaceful mornings and contemplate their +own life-sized figures so becomingly bereaved. + +Mosquitoes do not meddle with woe so sacred as this; but at San Remo, +for example, which has no Campo Santo, they are having what is known in +the American language as a high old time. Along the Riviera the shutters +of the hotels are taken down in the first week of October. Then arrives +the proprietor with the advance guard of servants, and the third cook; +the _chef_ and his first lieutenant will not come till a month later. In +the meantime the third cook can prepare the meals for the establishment +and for any chance visitor whom evil fate may have led untimeously into +these parts. Then begins the scrubbing down and the dusting, the +bringing out of stored carpets, and the muffling of echoing corridors +in brown matting. The season does not commence till November, +coincidental with the departure of the mosquitoes. But there is enough +to occupy the interval, and there are not wanting casual travellers +whose bills suffice to cover current expenses. On these wayfarers the +faithful mosquito preys with the desperate determination born of the +conviction that time is getting a little short with him, and that his +pleasant evenings are numbered. + +There are several ways of dealing with the mosquito, all more or less +unsatisfactory. The commonest is to make careful examination before +blowing out the candle, with intent to see that none of the enemy +lingers within the curtains of the bed. This is good, as far as it +goes. But, having spent half an hour with candle in hand inside the +curtains, to the imminent danger of setting the premises on fire, and +having convinced yourself that there is not a mosquito in the inclosure, +and so blown out the candle and prepared to sleep, it requires a mind +of singular equanimity forthwith to hear without emotion the too +familiar whiz. At Bordighera the mosquitoes, disdaining strategic +movements, openly flutter round the lamps on the dinner-table, and +ladies sit at meat with blue gauze veils obscuring their charms. Half +measures were evidently of no use in these circumstances, and I tried +a whole one. Having shut the windows of the bedroom, I smoked several +cigars, tobacco fumes being understood to have a dreamy influence on +the mosquito. At Bordighera they had none. I next made a fire of a box +of matches, and burnt on the embers a quantity of insect powder. This +filled the chamber with an intolerable stench, which, whatever may be +the case elsewhere, is much enjoyed by the Bordighera mosquito. These +operations serve a useful purpose in occupying the mind and helping +the night to pass away. But as direct deterrents they cannot +conscientiously be recommended. + +There is one place along the Riviera where the mosquito is defied. +Monaco has special attractions of its own which triumphantly +withstand all countervailing influences. Other places along the +coast are deserted from the end of June to the beginning of November. +But Monaco, or rather the suburb of it situated on Monte Carlo, +remains in full receipt of custom. In late October the place is +enchanting. The wind, blowing across the sea from Africa, making the +atmosphere heavy and sultry, has changed, coming now from the east +and anon from the west. The heavy clouds that cast shadows of purple +and reddish-brown on the sea have descended in a thunderstorm, lasting +continuously for eight hours. Sky and sea vie in the production of +larger expanse of undimmed blue. The well-ordered garden by the Casino +is sweet with the breath of roses and heliotrope. The lawns have the +fresh green look that we islanders associate with earliest summer. The +palm-trees are at their best, and along the road leading down to the +bathing place one walks under the shadow of oleanders in full and +fragrant blossom. The warmth of the summer day is tempered by a +delicious breeze, which falls at night, lest peradventure visitors +should be incommoded by undue measure of cold. + +If there is an easily accessible Paradise on earth, it seems to be +fixed at Monaco. Yet all these things are as nothing in the eyes of +the people who have created and now maintain the place. It seems at +first sight a marvel that the Administration should go to the expense +of providing the costly appointments which crown its natural advantages. +But the Administration know very well what they are about. When man or +woman has been drawn into the feverish vortex that sweeps around the +gaming tables, the fair scene outside the walls is not of the slightest +consequence. It would be all the same to them if the gaming tables, +instead of being set in a handsome apartment in a palace surrounded by +one of the most beautiful scenes in Europe, were made of deal and +spread in a hovel. But gamesters are, literally, soon played out at +Monaco, and it is necessary to attract fresh moths to the gaudily +glittering candle. Moreover, the tenure of the place is held by slender +threads. What is thought of Monaco and its doings by those who have the +fullest opportunity of studying them is shown by the fact that the +Administration are pledged to refuse admission to the tables to any +subject of the Prince of Monaco, or to any French subject of Nice or +the department of the Maritime Alps. The proclamation of this fact +cynically stares in the face all who enter the Casino. The local +authorities will not have any of their own neighbours ruined. Let +foreigners, or even Frenchmen of other departments, care for themselves. + +In face of this sentiment the Administration find it politic to +propitiate the local authorities and the people, who, if they were +aroused to a feeling of honest indignation at what daily passes beneath +their notice, might sweep the pestilence out of their midst. +Accordingly, whilst keeping the gaming rooms closed against natives +resident in the department, the Administration throw open all the other +pleasures of Monte Carlo, inviting the people of Monaco to stroll in +their beautiful gardens, to listen to the concerts played twice a day by +a superb band, and to make unfettered use of what is perhaps the best +reading-room on the Continent. Monaco gets a good deal of pleasure out +of Monte Carlo, which moreover brings much good money into the place. +The Casino will surely at no distant day share the fate of the German +gambling places. But, as surely, the initiative of this most desirable +consummation will not come from Monaco. + +In the meanwhile, Monte Carlo, like the mosquitoes, is having a high +good time. Night and day the tables are crowded, beginning briskly at +eleven in the morning and closing wearily on the stroke of midnight. +There are a good many English about, but they do not contribute largely +to the funds of the amiable and enterprising Administration. English +girls, favoured by an indulgent father or a good-natured brother, put +down their five-franc pieces, and, having lost them, go away smiling. +Sometimes the father or the brother may be discovered seated at the +tables later in the day, looking a little flushed, and poorer by some +sovereigns. But Great Britain and Ireland chiefly contribute spectators +to the melancholy and monotonous scene. + +As usual, women are among the most reckless players. Looking in at two +o'clock one afternoon I saw at one of the tables a well-dressed lady of +about thirty, with a purseful of gold before her and a bundle of notes +under her elbow. She was playing furiously, disdaining the mild +excitement of the five-franc piece, always staking gold. She was losing, +and boldly played on with an apparent composure belied by her flushed +cheeks and flashing eyes. I saw her again at ten o'clock in the evening. +She was playing at another table, having probably tried to retrieve her +luck at each in succession. The bank notes were gone, and she had put +away her purse, for it was easy to hold in her prettily-gloved hand her +remaining store of gold. It was only eight hours since I had last seen +her, but in the meantime she had aged by at least ten years. She sat +looking fixedly on the table, from time to time moistening her dry lips +with scarcely less dry tongue. Her face wore a look of infinite sadness, +which might have been best relieved by a burst of tears. But her eyes +were as dry as her lips, and she stared stonily, staking her napoleons +till the last was gone. This accomplished, she rose with evident intent +to leave the room, but catching sight of a friend at another table she +borrowed a handful of napoleons, and finding another table played on +as recklessly as before. In ten minutes she had lost all but a single +gold piece. Leaving the table again, she held this up between her finger +and thumb, and showed it to her friend with a hysterical little laugh. + +It was her last coin, and she evidently devised it for some such +matter-of-fact purpose as paying her hotel bill. If she had turned her +back on the table and walked straight out, she might have kept her +purpose; but the ball was still rolling, and there remained a chance. +She threw down the napoleon, and the croupier raked it in amid a heap of +coin that might be better or even worse spared. + +This is one of the little dramas that take place every hour in this +gilded hall, and I describe it in detail only because I chanced to be +present at the first scene and the last. Sometimes the dramas become +tragedies, and the Administration, who do all things handsomely, pay +the funeral expenses, and beg as a slight acknowledgment of their +considerate generosity that as little noise as possible may follow +the echo of the pistol-shot. + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +A WRECK IN THE NORTH SEA. + +One December afternoon in the year 1875, just as night was closing in, +the steam-tug _Liverpool_, which had left Harwich at six o'clock in the +morning, was seen steaming into the harbour with flag half-mast high. +It was quite dark when she reached the quay, but there was light +enough for the crowd collected to see rows of figures laid in the +stern of the little steamer, the faces covered with blankets. These +figures, as it presently was made known, were twelve dead bodies, the +flotsam of the wreck of the _Deutschland_. When the tug arrived at the +wreck she found her much as she had been left when the survivors had +been brought off the previous day. The two masts and the funnel were +all standing, the sails bellied out with the wind that blustered across +the sandbank. The wind was so high and the sea so rough that Captain +Corrington could not bring his tug alongside; but a boat was launched, +under the charge of the chief mate and Captain Brickerstein, of the +_Deutschland_. The chief officer and the engineer, with some sailors +from the tug, rowed out and made fast to the wreck. It was low water, +and the deck was dry. There were no bodies lying about the deck or near +the ship; but on going below, in the saloon cabin there were found +floating about eight women, a man, and two children. These were taken +on board the boat, and further search in the fore-cabin led to the +discovery of the dead body of a man, making twelve in all. One of the +bodies was that of a lady who, when the wreck was first boarded, had +been seen lying in her berth. She had since been washed out, and had +she floated out by the companion-way or through the skylight might +have drifted out to sea with others. Like all the bodies found, she +was fully dressed. Indeed, as fuller information showed, there was an +interval between the striking of the ship and her becoming water-logged +sufficiently long to enable all to prepare for what might follow. + +According to the captain's narrative, the ill-fated vessel steamed out +of Bremenhaven on Sunday morning with a strong east wind blowing and +snow falling thickly. This continued throughout Sunday. All Sunday night +the lead was thrown every half-hour, the last record showing seventeen +fathoms of water. At four o'clock on Monday morning a light was seen, +which the captain believed to be that of the _North Hinderfire_ ship, a +supposition which tallied with the reckoning. The vessel was forging +slowly ahead, when, at half-past five, a slight shock was felt. This +was immediately succeeded by others, and the captain knew he had run +on a bank. The order was passed to back the engines. This was +immediately done, but before any way could be made the screw broke +and the ship lay at the mercy of wind and waves. She was bumping +heavily, and it was thought if sail were set she might be carried +over the bank. This was tried, but without effect. The captain then +ordered rockets to be sent up and a gun fired. + +In the meantime the boats were ordered to be swung out, but the sea was +running so high that it was felt it would be madness to launch them. Two +boats were, however, lowered without orders, one being immediately +swamped, and six people who had got into her swept into the sea. +Life-preservers were served out to each passenger. The women were +ordered to keep below in the saloon, and the men marshalled on deck to +take turns at the pumps. At night, when the tide rose, the women were +brought up out of the cabin; some placed in the wheel-house, some on the +bridge, and some on the rigging, where they remained till they were +taken off by the tug that first came to the rescue of the hopeless folk. +The whole of the mail was saved, the purser bringing it into the cabin, +whence it was fished out and taken on board the tug. + +The passengers were all in bed when the ship struck, and were roused +first by the bumping of the hull, and next by the cry that rang fore and +aft for every man and woman to put on life-belts, of which there was a +plentiful store in hand. The women jumped up and swarmed in the +companion-way of the saloon, making for the deck, where they were met by +the stewardess, who stood in the way, and half forced, half persuaded +them to go back, telling them there was no danger. After the screw had +broken, the engines also failed, and the sails proved useless. + +The male passengers then cheerfully formed themselves into gangs and +worked at the pumps, but, as one said, they "were pumping at the North +Sea," and as it was obviously impossible to make a clearance of that, +the task was abandoned, and officers, crew, and passengers relapsed into +a state of passive expectancy of succour from without. That this could +not long be coming happily seemed certain. The rockets which had been +sent up had been answered from the shore. The lightship which had helped +to mislead the captain was plainly visible, and at least two ships +sailed by so near that till they began hopelessly to fade away, one to +the northward and the other to the southward, the passengers were sure +those on board had seen the wreck, and were coming to their assistance. + +Perhaps it was this certainty of the nearness of succour that kept off +either the shrieking or the stupor of despair. However that be, it is +one of the most notable features about this fearful scene that, with a +few exceptions, after the first shock everybody was throughout the first +day wonderfully cool, patient, and self-possessed. There was no regular +meal on Monday, but there was plenty to eat and drink, and the +opportunity seems to have been generally, though moderately, improved. +The women kept below all day, and, while the fires were going, were +served with hot soup, meat, bread, and wine, and seemed to have been +inclined to make the best of a bad job. + +Towards night the horror of the situation increased in a measure far +beyond that marked by the darkness. All day long the sea had been +washing over the ship, but by taking refuge in the berths and on the +tables and benches in the saloon it had been possible to keep +comparatively dry. As night fell the tide rose, and at midnight the +water came rushing over the deck in huge volumes, filling the saloon, +and making the cabins floating coffins. The women were ordered up and +instructed to take to the rigging, but many of them, cowed by the +wildness of the sea that now swept the deck fore and aft, and shuddering +before the fury of the pitiless, sleet-laden gale, refused to leave the +saloon. + +Then happened horrible scenes which the pen refuses to portray in their +fulness. One woman, driven mad with fear and despair, deliberately hung +herself from the roof of the saloon. A man, taking out his penknife, dug +it into his wrist and worked it about as long as he had strength, dying +where he fell. Another, incoherently calling on the wife and child he +had left in Germany, rushed about with a bottle in his hand frantically +shouting for paper and pencil. Somebody gave him both, and, scribbling a +note, he corked it down in a bottle and threw it overboard, following it +himself a moment later as a great wave came and swept him out of sight. + +There were five nuns on board who, by their terror-stricken conduct, +seem to have added greatly to the weirdness of the scene. They were deaf +to all entreaties to leave the saloon, and when, almost by main force, +the stewardess (whose conduct throughout was plucky) managed to get them +on to the companion-ladder, they sank down on the steps and stubbornly +refused to go another step. They seemed to have returned to the saloon +again shortly, for somewhere in the dead of the night, when the greater +part of the crew and passengers were in the rigging, one was seen with +her body half through the skylight, crying aloud in a voice heard above +the storm, "Oh, my God, make it quick! make it quick!" At daylight, when +the tide had ebbed, leaving the deck clear, some one from the rigging +went down, and, looking into the cabin, saw the nuns floating about face +upwards, all dead. + +There seems to have been a wonderful amount of unselfishness displayed, +everybody cheering and trying to help every other body. One of the +passengers--a cheery Teuton, named Adolph Herrmann--took a young +American lady under his special charge. He helped her up the rigging +and held her on there all through the night, and says she was as +brave and as self-possessed as if they had been comfortably on shore. +Some time during the night an unknown friend passed down to him a +bottle of whisky. The cork was in the bottle, and as he was holding +on to the rigging with one hand and had the other round the lady, +there was some difficulty in getting at the contents of the bottle. +This he finally solved by knocking the neck off, and then found +himself in the dilemma of not being able to get the bottle to the +lady's mouth. + +"You are pouring it down my neck," was her quiet response to his first +essay. In the end he succeeded in aiming the whisky in the right +direction, and after taking some himself, passed it on, feeling much +refreshed. + +Just before a terrible accident occurred, which threatened death to +one or both. The purser, who had fixed himself in the rigging some +yards above them, getting numbed, loosed his hold, and falling headlong +struck against the lady and bounded off into the sea. But Herrmann kept +his hold, and the shock was scarcely noticed. On such a night all the +obligations were not, as Herrmann gratefully acknowledges, on the one +side; for when one of his feet got numbed, his companion, following his +direction, stamped on it till circulation was restored. + +From their perilous post, with waves occasionally dashing up and +blinding them with spray, they saw some terrible scenes below. A man +tied to the mast nearer the deck had his head cut off by the waves, +as Herrmann says, though probably a rope or a loose spar was the agent. +Not far off, a little boy had his leg broken in the same manner. They +could hear and see one of the nuns shrieking through the skylight, and +when she was silenced the cry was taken up by a woman wailing from +the wheelhouse,-- + +"My child is drowned, my little one, Adam!" + +At daylight a sailor, running nimbly down the rigging, reached the poop, +and, bending over, attempted to seize some of the half-drowned people +who were floating about. Once he caught a little child by the clothes; +but before he could secure it a wave carried it out of his grasp, and +its shrieks were hushed in the roar of the waters. At nine o'clock, on +the second morning of the wreck the tide had so far ebbed that the deck +was clear, and, coming down from the rigging, the battered and shivering +survivors began to think of getting breakfast. A provident sailor had, +whilst it was possible, taken up aloft a couple of loaves of black +bread, a ham, and some cheese. These were now brought out and fairly +distributed. + +An hour and a half later all peril was over, and the gallant survivors +were steaming for Harwich in the tug-boat _Liverpool_. + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +A PEEP AT AN OLD HOUSE OF COMMONS FROM THE LADIES' GALLERY. + +"No," Mrs. Chiltern-Hundreds said when I asked, Was she in these days +a constant visitor at the House of Commons? "Chiltern, you know, has +accepted a place of profit under the Crown, and is no longer eligible +to sit as a member. It is such trouble to get in, and when you are +there the chances are that nothing is going on, so I have given it up. +I remember very well the first time I was there. I wrote all about it +to an old schoolfellow. If you are interested in the subject, I will +show you a copy of what I then jotted down." + +I was much interested, and when I saw the letter was glad I had +expressed my interest. The copy placed at my disposal was undated, +but internal evidence showed that Mrs. Chiltern-Hundreds had paid her +visit in the session of 1874, when Mr. Disraeli had for the first time +in his history been returned to power as well as to office, and Mr. +Gladstone, crushed by an overwhelming defeat, had written his famous +letter to "My dear Granville," announcing his retirement from +political life. Looking down through the _grille_, the visitor in the +gallery saw many bearers of well-known names who have travelled far +since that date, some beyond the grave. Here are Madame's notes +written in her own angular handwriting:-- + +"Be in the great hall at four o'clock." + +Those were Chiltern's words to me as he hurried off after luncheon, +and here we were in the great hall, but there was no Chiltern, +which was vexatious. True, it was half-past four, and he is such a +stickler for what he calls punctuality, and has no sympathy with +those delays which are inseparable from going out in a new bonnet. +One of the strings----but there, what does it matter? Here we were +standing in the great hall, where we had been told to come, and no +one to meet us. There was a crowd of persons standing before the +entrance to a corridor to the left of the hall. Two policemen were +continually begging them to stand back and not block up the entrance, +so that the members who were passing in and out (I dare say on the +look-out for their wives, so that they should not be kept here a +moment) might not be inconvenienced. It is really wonderful how +careful the police about Westminster are of the sacred persons of +members. If I cross the road at the bottom of Parliament Street by +myself I may be run over by a hansom cab or even an omnibus, without +the slightest compunction on the part of the police on duty there. +But if Chiltern happens to be with me the whole of the traffic going +east and west is stopped, and a policeman with outstretched hands +stands waiting till we have gained the other side of the road. + +We were gazing up with the crowd at somebody who was lighting the +big chandelier by swinging down from somewhere in the roof a sort +of censer, when Chiltern came out of the corridor and positively +began to scold us for being late. I thought that at the time very +mean, as I was just going to scold him; but he knows the advantage +of getting the first word. He says, Why were we half an hour late? +and how could he meet us there at four if at that time we had not +left home? But that's nonsense. Chiltern has naturally a great +flow of words, which he has cultivated by close attendance upon +his Parliamentary duties. But he is mistaken if he thinks I am a +Resolution and am to be moved by being "spoken to." + +We walked through a gallery into a hall something like that in which +Chiltern had kept us waiting, only much smaller. This was full of men +chattering away in a manner of which an equal number of women would +have been ashamed. There was one nice pleasant-looking gentleman +carefully wrapped up in an overcoat with a fur collar and cuffs. +That was Earl Granville, Chiltern said. I was glad to see his +lordship looking so well and taking such care of himself. There +was another peer there, a little man with a beaked nose, the only +thing about him that reminded you of the Duke of Wellington. He had +no overcoat, being evidently too young to need or care for such +encumbrance. He wore a short surtout and a smart blue necktie, and +frisked about the hall in quite a lively way. Chiltern said that he +was Lord Hampton, with whom my great-grandfather went to Eton. He +was at that time plain "John Russell" (not Lord John of course), +and has for the last forty-five years been known as Sir John +Pakington. But then Chiltern has a way of saying funny things, and +I am not sure that he was in earnest in telling us that this active +young man was really the veteran of Droitwich. + +From this hall, through a long carpeted passage, catching glimpses +on the way of snug writing rooms, cosy libraries, and other devices +for lightening senatorial labours, we arrived at a door over which +was painted the legend "To the Ladies' Gallery." This opened on to a +flight of steps at the top of which was another long corridor, and +we found ourselves at last at the door of the Ladies' Gallery, where +we were received by a smiling and obliging attendant. + +I expected to find a fine open gallery something like the orchestra +at the Albert Hall, or at least like the dress circle at Drury Lane. +Picture my disappointment when out of the bright light of the +corridor we stepped into a sort of cage, with no light save what +came through the trellis-work in front. I thought this was one of +Chiltern's stupid practical jokes, and being a little cross through +his having kept us waiting for such an unconscionable long time, was +saying something to him when the smiling and obliging attendant said, +"Hush-sh-sh!" and pointed to a placard on which was printed, like a +spelling lesson, the impertinent injunction "Silence is requested." + +There was no doubt about it. This was the Ladies' Gallery of the British +House of Commons, and a pretty place it is to which to invite ladies. I +never was good at geometry and that sort of thing, and cannot say how +many feet or how many furlongs the gallery is in length, but I counted +fourteen chairs placed pretty close together, and covered with a hideous +green damask. There are three rows of chairs, the two back rows being +raised above the first the height of one step. As far as seeing into the +House is concerned, one might as well sit down on the flight of steps in +Westminster Hall as sit on a chair in the back row in the Ladies' +Gallery. On the second row it is tolerable enough, or at least you get a +good view of the little old gentleman with the sword by his side sitting +in a chair at the far end of the House. I thought at first this was the +Speaker, and wondered why gentlemen on the cross benches should turn +their backs to him. But Chiltern said it was Lord Charles Russell, +Sergeant-at-Arms, a much more important personage than the Speaker, who +takes the Mace home with him every night, and is responsible for its due +appearance on the table when the Speaker takes the chair. + +In the front row you can see well enough--what there is to be seen, for +I confess that my notion of the majesty of the House of Commons is +mightily modified since I beheld it with my own eyes. In the first place +you are quite shut out of sight in the Ladies' Gallery, and I might have +saved myself all the trouble of dressing, which made me a little late +and gave Chiltern an opportunity of saying disagreeable things which he +subsequently spread over a fortnight. I might have been wearing a +coal-scuttle bonnet or a mushroom hat for all it mattered in a prison +like this. There was sufficient light for me to see with satisfaction +that other people had given themselves at least an equal amount of +trouble. Two had arrived in charming evening dress, with the loveliest +flowers in their hair. I dare say they were going out to dinner, and at +least I hope so, for it is a disgraceful thing that women should be +entrapped into spending their precious time dressing for a few hours' +stay in a swept and garnished coal-hole like this. + +The smiling and obliging attendant offered me the consolation of knowing +that the Gallery is quite a charming place compared with what it used to +be. Thirty or forty years ago, whilst the business of Parliament was +carried on in a temporary building, accommodation for ladies was +provided in a narrow box stationed above the Strangers' Gallery, whence +they peered into the House through pigeon holes something like what you +see in the framework of a peep-show. The present Gallery formed part of +the design of the new Houses, but when it was opened it was a vastly +different place. It was much darker, had no ante-rooms worth speaking +of, and the leading idea of a sheep-pen was preserved to the extent of +dividing it into three boxes, each accommodating seven ladies. About +twelve years ago one of the dividing walls was knocked down, and the +Ladies' Gallery thrown into a single chamber, with a special pen to +which admission is obtained only by order from the Speaker. Still much +remained to be done to make it even such a place as it now is, and that +work was done by that much--and, as Chiltern will always have it, +_unjustly_--abused man, Mr. Ayrton. It was he who threw open the back of +the Gallery, giving us some light and air, and it is to him that we +ladies are indebted for the dressing-room and the tea-room. + +This being shut up is one reason why I was disappointed with the House +of Commons. Another is with respect to the size of the chamber itself. +It is wonderful to think how _big_ men can talk in a room like this. It +is scarcely larger than a good-sized drawing-room. I must say for +Chiltern that we got seats in the front row, and what there was to be +seen we saw. Right opposite to us was a gallery with rows of men sitting +six deep. It was "a big night," and there was not a seat to spare in +this, which I suppose was the Strangers' Gallery. Everybody there had +his hat off, and there was an official sitting on a raised chair in the +middle of the top row, something like I saw the warders sitting amongst +prisoners at Millbank one Sunday morning when Chiltern took me to see +the Claimant repeating the responses to the Litany. The House itself is +of oblong shape, with rows of benches on either side, cushioned in +green leather and raised a little above each other. There are four of +these rows on either side, with a broad passage between covered with +neat matting. + +Chiltern says the floor is an open framework of iron, and that beneath +is a labyrinth of chambers into which fresh air is pumped and forced in +a gentle stream into the House, the vitiated atmosphere escaping by the +roof. But then the same authority, when I asked him what the narrow band +of red colour that ran along the matting about a pace in front of the +benches on either side meant, gravely told me that if any member when +addressing the House stepped out beyond that line, Lord Charles Russell +would instantly draw his sword, shout his battle-cry, "Who goes Home!" +and rushing upon the offender bear him off into custody. + +So you see it is difficult to know what to believe, and it is a pity +people will not always say what they mean in plain English. + +Midway down each row of benches is a narrow passage that turned out +to be "the gangway," of which you read and hear so much. I had always +associated "the gangway" with a plank along which you walked to +somewhere--perhaps on to the Treasury Bench. But it is only a small +passage like a narrow aisle in a church. There is a good deal of +significance about this gangway, for anybody who sits below it is +supposed to be of an independent turn of mind, and not to be capable +of purchase by Ministers present or prospective. Thus all the Irish +members sit below the gangway, and so do Mr. Macdonald and Mr. Charles +Lewis. It is an odd thing, Chiltern observes, that, notwithstanding +this peculiarity, Ministries are invariably recruited from below the +gangway. Sir Henry James sat there for many Sessions before he was +made Solicitor-General, and there was no more prominent figure in +recent years than that of the gentleman who used to be known as +"Mr. Vernon Harcourt." + +On the conservative side this peculiarity is less marked than on the +Liberal, though it was below the gangway on the Conservative side +that on a memorable night more than a quarter of a century ago a +certain dandified young man, with well-oiled locks and theatrically +folded arms, stood, and, glaring upon a mocking House, told them that +the time would come when they _should_ hear him. As a rule, the +Conservatives make Ministers of men who have borne the heat and +burden of the day on the back Ministerial benches. With the Liberals +the pathway of promotion, Chiltern says, opens from below the gangway. +Mr. Lowe came from there, so did Mr Goschen, Mr. Stansfeld, Mr. +Childers, Mr. Foster, and even Mr. Gladstone himself. The worst thing +a Liberal member who wants to become a Cabinet Minister or a Judge +can do is to sit on the back Ministerial benches, vote as he is bidden, +and hold his tongue when he is told. He should go and sit below the +gangway, near Mr Goldsmid or Mr. Trevelyan, and in a candid, ingenuous, +and truly patriotic manner make himself on every possible occasion as +disagreeable to the leaders of his party as he can. + +I do not attempt to disguise the expectation I cherish of being some day +wife of the First Lord of the Admiralty, or at least of the President of +the Board of Trade; for there are few men who can, upon occasion, make +themselves more disagreeable than Chiltern, who through these awkward +bars I see sitting below the gangway on the left-hand side, and calling +out "Hear, hear!" to Sir Stafford Northcote, who is saying something +unpleasant about somebody on the front Opposition benches. + +The front seat by the table on the right-hand side is the Treasury +bench, and the smiling and obliging attendant tells me the names of the +occupants there and in other parts of the House. The gentleman at the +end of the seat with the black patch over his eye is Lord Barrington, +who, oddly enough, sits for the borough of Eye, and fills the useful +office of Vice-Chamberlain. Next to him is Sir H. Selwin-Ibbetson, +Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, and whom I have +heard genially described as "one of the prosiest speakers in the +House." Next to him, with a paper in his hand and a smirk of supreme +self-satisfaction on his face, is Mr. Cross, the Home Secretary. + +He sits beside a figure you would notice wherever you saw it. The +legs are crossed, the arms folded, and the head bent down, showing +from here one of the most remarkable styles of doing the human hair +that ever I beheld. The hair is combed forward from the crown of the +head and from partings on either side, and brought on to the forehead, +where it is apparently pasted together in a looped curl. + +This is Mr. Disraeli, as I know without being told, though I see him +now for the first time. He is wonderfully old-looking, with sunken +cheeks and furrowed lines about the mouth and eyes. But his lofty +brow does not seem to have a wrinkle on it, and his hands, when he +draws them from under his arms and folds them before him, twiddling +his thumbs the while, are as smooth and white as Coningsby's. He is +marvellously motionless, sitting almost in the same position these +two hours. But he is as watchful as he is quiet. I can see his eyes +taking in all that goes on on the bench at the other side of the +table, where right hon. gentlemen, full of restless energy, are +constantly talking to each other, or passing notes across each other, +or even pulling each other's coat-tails and loudly whispering +promptings as in turn they rise and address the House. + +I observe that Mr. Disraeli does not wear his hat in the House, and +Chiltern, to whom I mention this when he comes up again, tells me +that he and some half-dozen others never do. Since Mr Gladstone has +retired from the cares of office he is sometimes, but very rarely, +able to endure the weight of his hat on his head while sitting in +the House; but, formerly, he never wore it in the presence of the +Speaker. The rule is to wear your hat in the House, and a very odd +effect it has to see men sitting about in a well-lighted and warm +chamber with their hats on their heads. + +Chiltern tells me this peculiarity of wearing hats was very nearly +the means of depriving Great Britain and Ireland of the presence in +Parliament of Mr. John Martin. That distinguished politician, it +appears, had never, before County Meath sent him to Parliament, +worn a hat of the hideous shape which fashion entails upon our +suffering male kindred. It is well known that when he was returned +he declared that he would never sit at Westminster, the reason +assigned for this eccentricity being that he recognised no +Parliament in which the member for County Meath might sit other +than one meeting of the classic ground of College Green. But +Chiltern says that was only a poetical flight, the truth lying at +the bottom of the hat. + +"Never," Mr. Martin is reported to have said to a Deputation of his +constituents, "will I stoop to wear a top hat. I never had one on my +head, and the Saxon shall never make me put it there." + +He was as good as his word when he first came to town, and was wont to +appear in a low-crowned beaver hat of uncertain architecture. But after +he had for some weeks assisted the process of Legislature under the +shadow of this hat, the Speaker privately and in considerate terms +conveyed to him a hint that, in the matter of hats at least, it was +desirable to have uniformity in the House of Commons. + +Mr. Martin, who, in spite of his melodramatic speeches and his strong +personal resemblance to Danny Man in the "Colleen Nawn," is, Chiltern +says, really one of the gentlest and most docile of men, straightway +abandoned the nondescript hat and sacrificed his inclinations and +principles to the extent of buying what he calls "a top hat." But he +has not taken kindly to it, and never will. It is always getting in his +way, under his feet or between his knees, and he is apparently driven +to observe the precaution of constantly holding it in his hands when it +is not safely disposed on his head. It is always thus held before him, +a hand firmly grasping the rim on either side, when he is making those +terrible speeches we read, in which he proves that John Mitchel is an +unoffending martyr, and that the English, to serve their private ends, +introduced the famine in Ireland. + +Mr. Cowen, the member for Newcastle, shares Mr Martin's prejudices about +hats, and up to the present time has not abandoned them. As we passed +through the lobby on our way to the Gallery, Chiltern pointed him out to +me. He was distinguished in the throng by wearing a round hat of soft +felt, and he has never been seen at Westminster in any other. But at +least he does not put it on his head in the House; and it is much better +to sit upon than the tall hats on the top of which excited orators not +unfrequently find themselves when, hotly concluding their perorations +and unconscious of having left their hats just behind them, they throw +themselves back on the bench from which they had erewhile risen to "say +a few words." + +The gentleman on the left of the Premier is said to be Sir Stafford +Northcote, but there is so little of his face to be seen through the +abundance of whisker and moustache that I do not think any one has a +right to speak positively on the matter. The smooth-faced man next to +him is Mr. Gathorne Hardy. The tall, youthful-looking man on his left is +Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, who, I suppose by instructions of the Cabinet, +generally sits, as he does to-night, next to Mr. Ward Hunt. The Chief +Secretary for Ireland is slim; not to put too fine a point on it, Mr. +Ward Hunt is not, and the two manage to seat themselves with some +approach to comfort. The First Lord of the Admiralty further eases the +pressure on his colleagues by throwing his left arm over the back of the +bench, where it hangs like a limb of some monumental tree. + +The carefully devised scheme for the disposition of Mr. Ward Hunt on the +Treasury bench is completed by assigning the place on the other side of +him to Sir Charles Adderley. The President of the Board of Trade, +Chiltern says, is understood to have long passed the mental stage at +which old John Willet had arrived when he was discovered sitting in his +chair in the dismantled bar of the Maypole after the rioters had visited +his hostelry. He is apparently unconscious of discomfort when crushed up +or partially sat upon by his elephantine colleague, which is a fortunate +circumstance. + +The stolid man with the straight back directly facing Mr Disraeli on the +front bench opposite is the Marquis of Hartington. The gentleman with +uncombed hair and squarely cut garments on the left of the Leader of the +Opposition is Mr Forster. The big man further to the left, who sits with +folded arms and wears a smile expressive of his satisfaction with all +mankind, particularly with Sir William Harcourt, is the +ex-Solicitor-General. The duck of a man with black hair, nicely oiled +and sweetly waved, is Sir Henry James. Where have I seen him before? His +face and figure and attitude seem strangely familiar to me. I have been +shopping this morning, but I do not think I could have seen behind any +milliner's or linendraper's counter a person like the hon. and learned +gentleman the member for Taunton. + +Beyond this doughty knight, and last at this end of the bench, is a +little man in spectacles, and with a preternatural look of wisdom on his +face. He is the Right Hon. Lyon Playfair, and is said to have, next to +Mr. Fawcett, the most remarkably retentive memory of any man in the +House. Chiltern says he always writes his lectures before he delivers +them to the House, sending the manuscript to the _Times_, and so accurate +is his recitation that the editor has only to sprinkle the lecture with +"Hear, hears!" and "Cheers" to make the thing complete. + +On the right-hand side of the Marquis of Hartington is Mr. Goschen. In +fact, at the moment I happen to have reached him in my survey he is on +his feet, asking a question of his "right hon. friend opposite." What a +curious attitude the man stands in! Apparently the backs of his legs are +glued to the bench from which he has risen, a device which enables him, +as he speaks, to lean forward like a human Tower of Pisa. He is putting +the simplest question in the world to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, +but if he were a junior clerk asking his employer for the hand of his +eldest daughter he could not look more sheepish. His hat is held in his +left hand behind his back possibly with a view to assist in balancing +him, and to avoid too much strain on the adhesive powers that keep the +back of his legs firmly attached to the bench. With his right hand he +is, when not pulling up his collar, feeling himself nervously round the +waist, as if to make sure that he is there. + +Next to him are Mr. Dodson and Mr. Campbell-Bannerman, and, with these +planted between him and actual or aspirant leaders of the Liberal party, +sits Mr. Lowe. I cannot see much of his face from here, for he wears his +hat and at the moment hangs his head. A little later on I both saw and +heard him speak and a splendid speech he made, going right to the heart +of the matter, laying it bare. His success as a debater is a marvellous +triumph of mind over material influences. It would be hard to conceive +a man having fewer of the outward graces of oratory than Mr Lowe. His +utterance is hesitating, sometimes even to stuttering, he speaks +hurriedly, and without emphasis; his manner is nervous and restless, and +he is so short-sighted that the literary quotations with which his +speeches abound are marred by painful efforts to read his notes. Yet how +he rouses the House, moving it to cheers and laughter, and to the rapid +interchange of volleys of "Hear, hear" from opposite sides of the House, +which Chiltern says is the most exhilarating sound that can reach the +ear of a speaker in the House of Commons. Mr. Lowe sits down with the +same abruptness that marked his rising, and rather gets into his hat +than puts it on, pushing his head so far into its depths that there is +nothing of him left on view save what extends below the line of his +white eyebrows. + +To the right of Mr. Lowe I see a figure which, foreshortened from my +point of view, is chiefly distinguishable by a hat and pair of boots. +Without absolute Quaker fashion about the cut of the hat or garments, +there is a breadth about the former and a looseness about the latter +suggestive of Quaker associations. Perhaps if my idea were mercilessly +analysed it would appear that it has its growth in the knowledge that +I am looking down on Mr. Bright, and that I know Mr. Bright is of +Quaker parentage. But I am jotting down my impressions as I receive +them. Mr. Bright does not address the House to-night, but he has made +one or two short speeches this Session, and Chiltern, who has heard +them, speaks quite sorrowfully of the evidence they give of failing +physical power. The orator who once used to hold the House of Commons +under his command with as much ease as Apollo held in hand the fiery +coursers of the chariot of the sun, now stands before it on rare +occasions with a manner more nervous than that in which some new +members make their maiden speech. The bell-like tones of his voice are +heard no more; he hesitates in choosing words, is not sure of the +sequence of his phrases, and resumes his seat with evident +gratefulness for the renewed rest. + +Chiltern adds that much of this nervousness is probably owing to a +sensibility of the expectation which his rising arouses in the House, +and a knowledge that he is not about to make the "great speech" looked +for ever since he returned to his old place. But at best the matchless +oratory of John Bright is already a tradition in the House of Commons, +and it is but the ghost of the famous Tribune who now nightly haunts +the scene of his former glories. Mr Gladstone was sitting next to Mr. +Bright, in what the always smiling and obliging attendant tells me is +a favourite attitude with him. His legs were stretched out, his hands +loosely clasped before him, and his head thrown back, resting on the +cushion at the back of the seat, so that the soft light from the +illuminated roof shone full on his upturned face. It is a beautiful +face, soft as a woman's, very pale and worn, with furrowed lines that +tell of labour done and sorrow lived through. + +Here again I am conscious of the possibility of my impressions being +moulded by my knowledge of facts; but I fancy I see a great alteration +since last I looked on Mr. Gladstone's face, now two years ago. It was +far away from here, in a big wooden building in a North Wales town. He +was on a platform surrounded by grotesque men in blue gowns and caps, +which marked high rank in Celtic bardship. At that time he was the +nominal leader of a great majority that would not follow him, and +president of a Ministry that thwarted all his steps. His face looked +much harder then, and his eye glanced restlessly round, taking in +every movement of the crowd in the pavilion. He seemed to exist in a +hectic flush of life, and was utterly incapable of taking rest. Now his +face, though still thin, has filled up. The lines on his brow and under +his eyes, though too deeply furrowed to be eradicable, have been +smoothed down, and there is about his face a sense of peace and a +pleasant look of rest. + +Chiltern says that sometimes when Mr. Gladstone has been in the House +this Session he has, during the progress of a debate, momentarily +sprung into his old attitude of earnest, eager attention, and there +have been critical moments when his interposition in debate has +appeared imminent. But he has conquered the impulse, lain back again +on the bench, and let the House go its own way. It is very odd, +Chiltern says, to have him sitting there silent in the midst of so +much talking. This was specially felt during the debate about those +Irish Acts with which he had so much to do. + +Chiltern tells me that whilst the debate on the Irish Bill was going on +there came from no one knows where, passed from hand to hand along the +benches, a scrap of paper on which was written this verse from "In +Memoriam":-- + + "At our old pastimes in the hall + We gambol'd making vain pretence + Of gladness, With an awful sense + Of one mute Shadow watching all." + +Although the gangway has a distinct and important significance in +marking off _nuances_ of political parties, it appears that it does not +follow as an inevitable sequence that because a man sits behind the +Ministerial bench he is therefore a Taper or a Tadpole, or that because +he takes up his quarters below the gangway he is a John Hampden. The +distinction is more strongly marked on the Liberal side; but even there +there are some honest men who usually obey the crack of the Whip. On the +Conservative side the gangway has scarcely any significance, and though +the Lewisian "Party," which consists solely of Charles, sits there, and +from time to time reminds the world of its existence by loudly shouting +in its ear, it may always be depended upon in a real party division to +swell the Ministerial majority by one vote. The Scotch members, who sit +chiefly on the Liberal side, spread themselves impartially over seats +above and below the gangway. The Home Rule members, who also favour the +Liberal side, sit together in a cluster below the gangway in defiant +proximity to the Sergeant-at-Arms. They are rather noisy at times, and +whenever Chiltern comes in late to dinner, or after going back stays +till all hours in the morning, it is sure to be "those Irish fellows." +But I think the House of Commons ought to be much obliged to Ireland for +its contribution of members, and to resist to the last the principle of +Home Rule. For it is not, as at present constituted, an assembly that +can afford to lose any element that has about it a tinge of originality, +a flash of humour, or an echo of eloquence. + +That, of course, is Chiltern's remark. I only know, for my part, that +the Ladies' Gallery is a murky den, in which you can hear very little, +not see much, and are yourself not seen at all. + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +SOME PREACHERS I HAVE KNOWN. + +MR. MOODY. + +I heard Mr. Moody preach twice when he paid his first visit to this +country. Borrowing an idea from another profession, he had a series of +rehearsals before he came to London. It was in the Free Trade Hall, +Manchester, and service opened at eight o'clock on a frosty morning in +December. I had to stand during the whole of the service, one of a crowd +wedged in the passages between the closely-packed benches. Every +available seat had been occupied shortly after seven, when the doors +were thrown open. The galleries were thronged, and even the balconies at +the rear of the hall were full to overflowing. The audience were, I +should say, pretty equally divided in the matter of sex, and were +apparently of the class of small tradesmen, clerks, and well-to do +mechanics; that was the general class of the morning congregation. But +it must not therefore be understood that the upper class in Manchester +stood aloof from the special services of the American gentlemen. At the +afternoon meeting, elegantly attired ladies and gentlemen, wearing +spotless kid gloves and coats of irreproachable cut, struggled for a +place in the mighty throng that streamed into the hall. + +Punctually at eight o'clock the meeting was opened by one of the local +clergymen, who prayed for a blessing on the day and the work, declaring, +amid subdued but triumphant cries from portions of the congregation, +that "the Lord has risen indeed! Now is the stone rolled away from the +sepulchre, and the Kingdom of God is at hand." Mr. Moody, who sat at a +small desk in front of the platform, advanced and gave out the hymn, +"Guide us, O Thou Great Jehovah," the singing of which Mr. Sankey, +sitting before a small harmonium, led and accompanied, the vast +congregation joining with great heartiness. + +"Mr. Sankey will now sing a hymn by himself," said Mr. Moody; whereupon +there was a movement in the hall, a rustling of dresses, and a general +settling down to hear something special. + +The movement was so prolonged that Mr. Moody again stood up, and begged +that every one would be "perfectly still whilst Mr. Sankey sang." There +was another pause, Mr. Sankey waiting with marked punctiliousness till +the last cougher had got over his difficulty. Presently the profound +stillness was broken by the harmonium--"melodeon" is, I believe, the +precise name of the instrument--softly sounding a bar of music. Then Mr. +Sankey suddenly and loudly broke in with the first line of the hymn, +"What are you going to do, brother?" + +Mr Sankey has a fairly good voice, which he used in what is called "an +effective" manner, singing certain lines of the hymn _pianissimo_, and +giving the recurrent line, "What are you going to do, brother?" _forte_, +with a long dwelling on the monosyllable "do." When he reached the +last verse, he, after a short pause, began to play a tune well known at +these meetings, into which the congregation struck with a mighty voice +that served to bring into stronger prominence the artificial character +of the preceding performance. The words had a martial, inspiriting sound, +and as the verse rolled forth, filling the great hall with a mighty +musical noise, one could see the eyes of strong men fill with tears. + + "Ho, my comrades! see the signal + Waving in the sky; + Reinforcements now appearing, + Victory is nigh! + 'Hold the fort, for I am coming,' + Jesus signals still; + Wave the answer back to Heaven, + 'By Thy grace we Will.'" + +The subject of Mr. Moody's address was "Daniel"--whom he once, +referring to the prophet's position under King Darius, dubbed "the +Bismarck of those times," and always called "Dan'l." One might converse +for an hour with Mr. Moody without discovering from his accent that he +comes from the United States. But it is unmistakable when he preaches, +and especially in the colloquies supposed to have taken place between +characters in the Bible and elsewhere. + +He began his discourse without other preface than a half apology for +selecting a subject which, it might be supposed, everybody knew +everything about. But, for his part, he liked to take out and look upon +the photographs of old friends when they were far away, and he hoped his +hearers would not think it waste of time to take another look at the +picture of Dan'l. One peculiarity about Dan'l was that there was nothing +against his character to be found all through the Bible. Nowadays, when +men write biographies, they throw what they call the veil of charity +over the dark spots in a career. But when God writes a man's life he +puts it all in. So it happened that there are found very few, even of +the best men in the Bible, without their times of sin. But Dan'l came out +spotless, and the preacher attributed his exceptionally bright life +to the power of saying "No." + +After this exordium, Mr. Moody proceeded to tell in his own words the +story of the life of Daniel. Listening to him, it was not difficult to +comprehend the secret of his power over the masses. Like Bunyan, he +possesses the great gift of being able to realise things unseen, and to +describe his vision in familiar language to those whom he addresses. His +notion of "Babylon, that great city," would barely stand the test of +historic research. But that there really was in far-off days a great +city called Babylon, in which men bustled about, ate and drank, schemed +and plotted, and were finally overruled by the visible hand of God, he +made as clear to the listening congregation as if he were talking about +Chicago. + +He filled the lay figures with life, clothed them with garments, and +then made them talk to each other in the English language as it is +to-day accented in some of the American States. + +On the previous night I had heard him deliver an address in one of the +densely populated districts of Salford. Admission to the chapel in which +the service was held was exclusively confined to women, and, +notwithstanding it was Saturday night, there were at least a thousand +sober-looking and respectably dressed women present. The subject of the +discussion was Christ's conversation with Nicodemus--whose social +position Mr. Moody incidentally made familiar to the congregation by +observing, "if he had lived in these days, he would have been a doctor +of divinity, Nicodemus, D. D, or perhaps LL D." His purpose was to make +it clear that men are saved, not by any action of their own, but simply +by faith. This he illustrated, among other ways, by introducing a +domestic scene from the life of the children of Israel in the Wilderness +at the time the brazen serpent was lifted up. The dramatis personae were +a Young Convert, a Sceptic, and the Sceptic's Mother. The convert, who +has been bitten by the serpent, and, having followed Moses' injunction, +is cured, "comes along" and finds the sceptic lying down "badly bitten." +He entreats him to look upon the brazen serpent which Moses has lifted +up. But the sceptic has no faith in the alleged cure, and refuses. + +"Do you think," he says, "I'm going to be saved by looking at a brass +serpent away off on a pole? No, no." + +"Wall, I dunno," says the young convert, "but I was saved that way +myself. Don't you think you'd better try it?" + +The sceptic refuses, and his mother "comes along," and observes, +--"Hadn't you better look at it, my boy?" + +"Well, mother, the fact is, if I could understand the f'losophy of it I +would look up right off; but I don't see how a brass serpent away off on +a pole can cure me." + +And so he dies in his unbelief. + +It seemed odd to hear this conversation from the Wilderness recited, +word for word, in the American vernacular, and with a local colouring +that suggested that both the sceptic and the young convert wore +tail-coats, and that the mother had "come along" in a stuff dress. But +when the preacher turned aside, and in a few words spoke of sons who +would not hear the counsel of Christian mothers and refused to "look +up and live," the silent tears that coursed down many a face in the +congregation showed that his homely picture had been clear as the +brazen serpent in the Wilderness to the eyes of faith before which +it was held up. + +The story of Daniel is one peculiarly susceptible of Mr. Moody's usual +method of treatment, and for three-quarters of an hour he kept the +congregation at the morning meeting enthralled whilst he told how +Daniel's simple faith triumphed over the machinations of the unbeliever. +Mr. Moody's style is unlike that of most religious revivalists. He +neither shouts nor gesticulates, and mentioned "hell" only once, and +that in connection with the life the drunkard makes for himself. His +manner is reflected by the congregation in respect of abstention from +working themselves up into "a state." This makes all the more impressive +the signs of genuine emotion which follow and accompany the preacher's +utterance. When he was picturing the scene of Daniel translating the +king's dream, rapidly reciting Daniel's account of the dream, and +Nebuchadnezzar's quick and delighted ejaculation, "That's so!" "That's +it!" as he recognised the incidents, I fancied it was not without +difficulty some of the people, bending forward, listening with +glistening eye and heightened colour, refrained from clapping their +hands for glee that the faithful Daniel, the unyielding servant of +God, had triumphed over tribulation, and had walked out of prison +to take his place on the right hand of the king. + +There was not much exhortation throughout the discourse, not the +slightest reference to any disputed point of doctrine. It was nothing +more than a re-telling of the story of Daniel. But whilst +Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Darius, and even +the hundred and twenty princes, became for the congregation living and +moving beings, all the ends of the narrative were, with probably +unconscious, certainly unbetrayed, art, gathered together to lead up to +the one lesson--that compromise, where truth and religion are concerned, +is never worthy of those who profess to believe God's word. + +"I am sick of the shams of the present day," said Mr. Moody, bringing +his discourse to a sudden close. "I am tired of the way men parley +with the world whilst they are holding out their hands to be lifted +into heaven. If we're gwine to be good Christians and God's people let +us be so out-and-out." + + +"BENDIGO." + +Bendigo, the erewhile famous champion of England, I one evening found in +the pulpit at the London Cabman's Mission Hall. After quitting the ring, +Bendigo took to politics; that is to say, he, for a consideration, +directed at Parliamentary elections the proceedings of the "lambs" in +his native town of Nottingham. Now he had given up even that +worldliness, and had taken to preaching. His fame had brought together a +large congregation. The Hall was crowded to overflowing, and the +proceedings were, as one of the speakers described it, conducted "by +shifts," the leaders, including Bendigo, going downstairs to address the +crowd collected in the lower room after having spoken to the +congregation in the regular meeting hall. + +The service was opened with prayer by Mr. John Dupee, superintendent of +the Mission, after which the congregation vigorously joined in the +singing of a hymn. A second hymn followed upon the reading of a psalm; +and Mr. Dupee proceeded to say a few words about "our dear and saved +brother, Bendigo." With a frankness that in no wise disconcerted the +veteran prizefighter, Mr. Dupee discussed and described the condition +in which he had lived up to about two years ago. The speaker was, it +appeared, a fellow-townsman of Bendigo's, and his recollection of him +went back for nearly forty years, at which time his state was so bad +that Mr. Dupee, then a lad, used to walk behind him through the streets +of Nottingham praying that he might be forgiven. Now he was saved, and, +quoting the handbill that had advertised the meeting, Mr. Dupee hailed +him as "a miracle of mercy, the greatest miracle of the nineteenth +century," which view the congregation approved by fervent cries of +"Praise the Lord!" "Hallelujah!" + +Whether Bendigo would stand steadfast in the new course he had begun +to tread was a matter which--Mr. Dupee did not hide it--was freely +discussed in the circles where the ex-champion was best known. But +he had now gone straight for two years, and Mr. Dupee believed he +would keep straight. + +Before introducing Bendigo to the meeting, Mr. Dupee said his own +"brother Jim" would say a few words, his claim upon the attention of +the congregation being enforced by the asseveration that he was "the +next great miracle of the nineteenth century." From particulars which +Mr. Dupee proceeded to give in relation to the early history of his +brother, it would be difficult to decide whether he or Bendigo had +the fuller claim to the title of the "wickedest man in Nottingham." +A single anecdote told to the discredit of his early life must +suffice in indication of its general character. He was, it appeared, +always getting tipsy and arriving home at untimely hours. + +"One night," said the preacher, "he came home very late, and was +kicking up an awful row in the street just before he came in. I +opened the window, and, looking out, said to him very gently, 'Now +Jim, do come in without waking mother.' And what d'ye think he said? +Why, he said nothing, but just up with a brick and heaved it at me. +That was Jim in the old days," he continued, turning to his brother +with an admiring glance. "He always was lively as a sinner, and +he's just the same now he's on his way to join the saints." + +"Jim" even at the outset fully justified this exordium by suddenly +approaching the pulpit desk with his hands stretched out, singing the +"Hallelujah band." In the course of an address delivered with much +animation and filled with startling phrases, it became clear that +"Jim" had been the immediate instrument of the conversion of Bendigo. +He added considerably to the stock of information respecting the +early life of that personage, and told in detail how better things +began to dawn upon him. + +At the outset of his new career Bendigo's enthusiasm was somewhat +misdirected, as was manifested at an infidel meeting he attended in +company with his sponsor. + +"Who's them chaps on the platform?" said Bendigo to Jim. + +"Infidels," said Jim. + +"What's that?" queried Bendigo. + +"Why, fellows as don't believe in God or the devil." + +"Then come along, and we'll soon clear the platform," said Bendigo, +beginning to strip. + +Jim's address lasted for nearly half an hour, and when at last brought +to a conclusion he went below to "begin again" with the crowd in the +lower room. + +Mr. Dupee again appeared at the desk and said they would sing a verse +of a hymn, after which Bendigo would address them, and the plate would +be handed round for a collection to cover the cost of the bills and of +Bendigo's travelling expenses. The hymn was a well-known one, with, as +given out by the preacher, an alteration in the second line thus: + + "Praise God from whom all blessings flow, + Praise Him for brother Bendigo." + +This sung with mighty volume of sound, Bendigo, who had all this time +been quietly seated on the platform, advanced, and began to speak in a +simple, unaffected, but wholly unintelligent manner. He was decently +dressed in a frock-coat, with black velveteen waistcoat buttoned over +his broad chest. He was still, despite his threescore years, straight +as a pole; and had a fine healthy looking face, that belied the fearful +stories told by his friends of his dissipation. Except a certain +flattening of the bridge of the nose, a slight indentation on the +forehead between the eyebrows, and the crooked finger on his left hand, +he bore no traces of many pitched fights of which he is the hero, and +might in such an assembly have been taken for a mild-mannered family +coachman. + +His address, though occasionally marked by the grotesque touches which +characterised the remarks of the two preceding speakers, was not without +touches of pathos. + +"I've been a fighting character," he said, and this was a periphrastic +way of referring to his old occupation in which he evidently took great +pleasure; "but now I'm a Miracle. What could I do? I was the +youngest-born of twenty-one children, and the first thing done with me +was to put me in a workhouse. There I got among fellows who brought me +out, and I became a fighting character. Thirty years ago I came up to +London to fight Ben Caunt, and I licked him. I'm sixty-three now, and +I didn't think I should ever come up to London to fight for King Jesus. +But here I am, and I wish I could read out of the blessed Book for then +I could talk to you better. But I never learnt to read, though I'm +hoping by listening to the conversation around me to pick up a good +deal of the Bible, and then I'll talk to you better. I'm only two years +old at present, and know no more than a baby. It's two years ago since +Jesus came to me and had a bout with me, and I can tell you He licked +me in the first round. He got me down on my knees the first go, and +there I found grace. I've got a good many cups and belts which I won +when I was a fighting character. Them cups and belts will fade, but +there's a crown being prepared for old Bendigo that'll never fade." + +This and much more to the same purport the veteran said, and then Mr. +Dupee interposed with more "few words," the plate was sent round, and +the superintendent and Bendigo went downstairs to relieve "brother Jim," +the echo of whose stentorian voice had occasionally been wafted in at +the open door whilst Bendigo was relating his experiences. + +"FIDDLER JOSS." + +It was at another Mission Chapel in Little Wild Street, Drury Lane, that +I "sat under" Fiddler Joss. His "dictionary name," as in the course of +the evening I learned from one of his friends, is Mr. Joseph Poole. The +small bills which invited all into whose hands they might fall to "come +and hear Fiddler Joss" added the injunction "Come early to secure a +seat." The doors were opened at half-past six, and those who obeyed the +injunction found themselves in a somewhat depressing minority. At +half-past six there were not more than a score of people present, and +these looked few indeed within the walls of the spacious chapel. It is a +surprise to find so well-built, commodious, it may almost be added +handsome, a building in such a poor neighbourhood, and bearing so humble +a designation. It provides comfortable sitting room for twelve hundred +persons. There is a neat, substantial gallery running round the hall, +and forming at one end a circular pulpit, evidently designed after the +fashion of Mr. Spurgeon's at the Tabernacle--a building of which the +Mission Chapel is in many respects a miniature. + +The congregation began to drop in by degrees, and proved to be of a +character altogether different from what might have been expected in +such a place on such an occasion. Out of ten people perhaps one belonged +to the class among which London missionaries are accustomed to labour. +But while men and women of the "casual" order were almost entirely +absent, and men of what is called in this connection "the working class" +were few and far between, there entered by hundreds people who looked as +if they were the responsible owners of snug little businesses in the +provision, stationery, or "general" line. An air of profound +respectability, combined with the enjoyment of creature comforts, +prevailed. + +Whilst waiting for seven o'clock, the hour for the service to commence, +a voluntary choir sang hymns, and the rapidly growing congregation +joined in fitful snatches of harmony. Little hymn-books with green paper +backs were liberally distributed, and there was no excuse for silence on +the score of unfamiliarity with the hymns selected. At seven o'clock the +preacher of the evening appeared on the rostrum, accompanied by two +gentlemen accustomed, it appeared, to take a leading part in conducting +the service in the chapel. One gave out a hymn, reading it verse by +verse, and starting the tune with stentorian voice. This concluded, his +colleague prayed, in a loud voice, and with energetic action. "We must +have souls to-night," he said, smiting the rail of the pulpit; "we must +have souls--not by ones and twos--and we must have them to-night in this +place. There is a drunkard in this place. Give us his soul, O God! There +is a thief in this place; I do not know where he sits, but God knows. We +want to benefit God, and we must have souls to-night, not by twos and +threes, but in hundreds." + +After this there was another hymn, sung even with increased volume of +sound. Energy was the predominant characteristic of the whole service, +and it reached its height in the singing of hymns, when the congregation +found the opportunity of joining their leaders in the devotional +utterance. There were half a dozen women in the congregation who had +solved the home difficulty about the baby by bringing it with them to +chapel. The little ones, catching the enthusiasm of the place, joined +audibly in all the acts of worship save in the singing. They crowed +during the prayers, chattered during the reading of the lesson, and +loudly wept at intervals throughout the sermon. But there was no room +for their shrill voices in the mighty shout which threatened to rend the +roof when hymns were sung. + +Fiddler Joss, being impressively introduced by one of the gentlemen in +the pulpit, began without preface to read rapidly from the fifth chapter +of Romans, a task he accomplished with the assistance of a pair of +double eyeglasses. He formally appropriated no text, and it would be +difficult to furnish any connected account of his sermon. Evidently +accustomed to address open-air audiences, he spoke at the topmost pitch +of a powerful voice. Without desire to misapply rules of criticism, and +in furtherance of an honest intention to describe impressions in as +simple a form as may be, it must be added that the sermon was as far +above the heads of a mission-chapel congregation as was the pitch of the +preacher's voice. Its key-note was struck by an anecdote which Joss +introduced at the outset of his discourse. There was, he said, a +clergyman walking down Cheapside one day, when he heard a man calling +out, "Buy a pie." The clergyman looked at the man, and recognised in him +a member of his church. + +"What, John," he said, "is this what you do in the weekdays?" + +"Yes," said the man, "I earn an honest living by selling pies." + +"Poor fellow," said the parson, "how I pity you." + +"Bother your pity; buy a pie," retorted the man. + +That, according to Fiddler Joss, is the way in which constituted +authorities in church and chapel matters deal with the poor man in +London and elsewhere. Mr. Methodist would not speak to Mr. Baptist, Mr. +Wesleyan would have nothing to do with Mr. Congregationalist, Mr. High +Church scoffed at Mr. Low Church, Mr. Low Church did not care what +became of any of the rest, and among them all the poor man was utterly +neglected. + +"How we pity you," these people said to the poor man. + +"Bother your pity," the poor man answered; "buy a pie." + +Beyond this central argument, affirmation, or illustration, Fiddler Joss +did not get far in the course of the thirty-five minutes during which he +addressed the congregation. At this period he suddenly stopped, and +asked for the sympathy of his friends, explaining that he was subject to +attacks of sickness, one of the legacies of the days of sin, when he was +"five years drunk and never sober." After a pause he recommenced, and +continued for some five minutes longer, when he abruptly wound up, +apparently having got through only one half of his discourse. + +It is only fair to regard the sermon as an incomplete one, and to +believe that the message which "Fiddler Joss" had entered St. Giles's to +speak to the poor and suffering lay in the second and undelivered +portion. + +DEAN STANLEY. + +On St. Andrew's Day, 1875, I was present at two memorable services in +Westminster Abbey. For many years during Dean Stanley's reign this +particular day had been set apart for the holding of special services +on behalf of foreign missions. What made this occasion memorable in the +annals of the Church was the fact that the evening lecture was delivered +by Dr. Moffat, a Nonconformist minister who, in the year after the +Battle of Waterloo, began his career as a missionary to South Africa, +and finally closed his foreign labours in the year when Sedan was +fought. As being the first time a Nonconformist minister had officiated +in Westminster Abbey, the event created wide interest, and lost none of +its importance by the remarkable sermon preached in the afternoon by +Dean Stanley. + +The Dean took for his text two verses, one from the Old Testament, the +other from the New. The first was from the 45th Psalm, and ran thus: +"Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make +princes in all the earth." The second was the 16th verse of the 10th +chapter of the Gospel of St. John: "And other sheep I have, which are +not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My +voice; and there shall be one fold and one shepherd." Thus the verse +runs in the ordinary translation, but the Dean preferred the word +"flock" in place of fold, and used it throughout his discourse. +Referring to an address recently delivered by Mr. W. E. Forster on +"Our Colonies," the Dean observed that the right hon. gentleman had set +himself the task of considering the question, "What were to be the +future relations of the Mother Country to the Colonies?" The Dean +proposed to follow the same course, with this difference: that the +empire of which he had to speak was a spiritual empire, and the question +he would consider was what ought to be the policy of the Church of +England towards fellow-Christians separated from it on matters of form. + +There were, he said, three courses open to the Church. There was the +policy of abstention and isolation; there was the policy of +extermination or absorption; and there was a middle course, avoiding +abstention and not aiming at absorption, which consisted of holding +friendly and constant intercourse with Christians of other Churches, +earnestly and lovingly endeavouring to create as many points of contact +as were compatible with holding fast the truth. The errors of all +religions run into each other, just as their truths do. There was, no +doubt, some exaggeration in the statement of the Roman Catholic +authority who declared that "there is but one bad religion, and that is +the religion of the man who professes what he does not believe." But +there was no reason why, because the Church of England had done in times +past and was still doing grand work, there should be no place for the +Nonconformists. Church people rejoiced, and Nonconformists might +rejoice, that the prayers of the Church of England were enshrined in a +Liturgy radiant with the traditions of a glorious past. But that was no +reason why there should be no room where good work was being done for +men who preferred the chances of extemporaneous prayer--a custom of +Apostolic origin, and perhaps (very daintily this was put) fittest for +the exigencies of special occasions. + +If some of the extremer Nonconformists, desirous of wrapping +themselves in the mantle once worn by Churchmen, and possessed by a love +for uniformity so exaggerated that they would tear down ancient +institutions and reduce all Churches to the same level, there was no +reason why Churchmen should return evil for evil and repay contumely +with scorn. There was a nobler mission for Christians than that of +seeking to exterminate each other, a higher object than that of +endeavouring to sow the seeds of vulgar prejudice either against new +discoveries or ancient institutions. + +DR. MOFFAT. + +Dean Stanley preached his sermon within the chancel, and it formed part +of the customary afternoon service of the Church of England. Dr. Moffat +delivered his lecture in the nave, its simple preface being the singing +of the missionary hymn, "From Greenland's icy mountains." + +The pioneer of missionary labour in South Africa was at this time close +upon his eightieth year, but he seemed to have thriven upon hard work, +and showed no signs of physical weakness. His full, rich voice, musical +with a northern accent, which long residence in South Africa had not +robbed of a note, filled every corner of the long aisle, and no section +of the vast congregation was disappointed by reason of not hearing. +Wearing a plain Geneva robe with the purple hood of his academic degree, +he stood at the lectern, situated not many paces from the grave where +his friend and son-in-law, Dr. Livingstone, lies. + +Dean Stanley was one of many clergymen present, and occupied a seat just +in front of the lectern. + +Dr. Moffat began by protesting that he was very nervous, because, having +been accustomed for fifty years or more to speak and teach and preach in +a language altogether different from European, he had contracted a habit +of thinking in that language, and sometimes found it momentarily +difficult to find the exact expression of his thoughts in English. + +"If I might," he said, with a touch of dry humour that frequently +lighted up his discourse, "speak to you in the Betchuana tongue I could +get along with ease. However, I will do what I can." + +The lecture resolved itself into a quiet, homely, and exceedingly +interesting chat, chiefly about the Betchuanas, with whom Dr. Moffat +longest laboured. When he arrived in the country, early in the present +century, he found the people sunk in the densest ignorance. Unlike most +heathen tribes, they had no idea of a God, no notion of a hereafter. +There was not an idol to be found in all their province, and one the +lecturer's daughter showed to an intelligent leader of the people +excited his liveliest astonishment. He was, indeed, so hopelessly +removed from a state of civilisation that he ridiculed the notion of any +one worshipping a thing made with his own hands. + +Dr. Moffat seems to have been, on the whole, kindly received by the +natives, though they could not make out what he wanted there. A special +stumbling-block to them was, how it came to pass that when, as sometimes +happened, he and Mrs Moffat were disrespectfully treated, they did not +retaliate. This was satisfactorily explained to the popular mind by the +assertion of a distinguished member of the community that the foreigners +had run away from their country, and were content to bear any treatment +rather than return to their own people, who would infallibly kill them. + +The great difficulty met by Dr. and Mrs. Moffat on the threshold of +their mission was their ignorance of the native language. There were no +interpreters, and there was nothing for it but to grub along, patiently +picking up words as they went. The Betchuanas were willing to teach them +as far as they could, occasionally relieving the monotony of the lesson +by a little joke at the pupils' expense. Once, Dr. Moffat told his +hearers, a sentence was written down on a piece of paper, and he was +instructed to take it to an aged lady, who was to give him something he +was in need of. He found the old lady, who was scarcely handsome, and +was decidedly wrinkled, and upon presenting the paper "she blushed very +much." It turned out that the missionary had been the unconscious bearer +of a message asking the old lady to kiss him, "which," Dr. Moffat added, +with a seriousness that appeared to indicate a sense of the awkwardness +of the position still present in his mind, "I did not want to do at +all." + +But he mastered the language at last, and then his moral mastery over +the strange people amongst whom he had been thrown commenced. He found a +firm ally in the Queen, who, first attracted by the flavour of the pills +and other delicacies he was accustomed to administer to her in his +capacity of physician, became his constant and powerful friend. Under +her auspices Christianity flourished, and in Betchuana at the present +time, where once a printed book was regarded as the white man's charm, +thousands now are able to read and treasure the Bible as formerly they +treasured the marks which testified to the number of enemies they had +slain in battle. Peace reigns where once blood ran, and over a vast +tract of country civilisation is closely following in the footsteps of +the missionary. + +Dr. Moffat concluded a simple address, followed with intense interest by +the congregation, by an earnest plea for help for foreign missions. "If +every child of God in Europe and America," he said, "would give +something to this mission, the dark cloud which lies over this neglected +and mysterious continent would soon be lighted, and before many years +are passed we might behold the blessed sight of all Africa stretching +forth her hands to God." + +MR. SPURGEON. + +In a lane leading from the station at Addlestone is a massive oak, +which, if the gossips of the neighbourhood be trustworthy, has seen some +notable sights. It is said that under its far-reaching branches +"Wycliffe has preached and Queen Elizabeth dined." + +Here one summer evening I first heard Mr. Spurgeon preach. The occasion +was in connection with the building of a new Baptist Chapel, and when I +arrived the foundation stone was being utilised as a receptacle for +offerings, over which Mr. Spurgeon, sitting on the wall, and shaded from +the sun by an umbrella reverently held over his head by a disciple, +jovially presided. + +After tea a pulpit was extemporised, upon the model of the one at the +Tabernacle, by covering an empty provision box with red baize, and +fastening before it a wooden railing, also with its decent covering of +baize. A pair of steps, constructed with a considerable amount of +trouble, were placed in position before the rostrum; but when, a few +minutes after seven o'clock, the preacher appeared, he scorned their +assistance, and scrambled on to the box from the level of the field, +grasping the rail as soon as he was in a position to face the +congregation, as if he recognised in it a familiar friend, whose +presence made him feel at home under the novel circumstances that +surrounded him. There might, when Mr. Spurgeon stood up, have been +some doubt whether his voice could be heard throughout the vast throng +gathered in front of the tree. But the first tones of the speaker's +voice dispelled uncertainty, and the congregation settled quietly down, +whilst Mr. Spurgeon, with uplifted hands, besought "the Spirit of God to +be with them, even as in their accustomed places of worship." A hymn was +sung, a portion of the 55th chapter of Isaiah read, another prayer +offered up, and the preacher commenced his Sermon. + +He took for his text a portion of the 36th verse of the 9th chapter of +Matthew--"He was moved with compassion." At the outset he sketched, with +rapid eloquence, the history of Jesus Christ. The first declaration that +might have startled one not accustomed to the preacher's style of +oratory was his expression of a preference for people who absolutely +hated religion over those who simply regarded it with indifference. +These former were people who showed they did think, and, like Saul of +Tarsus, there was hope of their conversion. + +"It is," he said, "a great time when the Lord goes into the devil's +army, and, looking around him, sees some lieutenant, and says to him, +'Come along; you have served the black master long enough, I have need +of you now.' It is astonishing how quietly he comes along, and what a +valiant fight he fights on the side of his new master." + +Mr. Spurgeon had a protest to make against the practice of refusing to +help the poor except through the machinery of the Poor Law. Referring to +Christ's having compassionated the hungry crowd and fed them, he said: +"If Jesus Christ were alive now and presumed to feed a crowd of people, +He would be had up by some society or other, and prosecuted for +encouraging mendicancy. If He were alive in these days He would, I much +fear, have occasion to say, 'I was hungry, and ye fed Me not; thirsty, +and ye gave Me no drink; destitute, and you told Me to go on the +parish.'" + +He thought tracts were very good things in their way, but should not be +relied upon solely as a means of bringing poor people to the Lord. "I +believe a loaf of bread often contains the very essence of theology, and +the Church of God ought to look to it that there are at her gates no, +poor unfed, no sick untended." He was rather hard on "the clergy of all +denominations," regretting to say that "as fish always stunk first at +the head, so a Church when it goes wrong goes bad first among its +ministers." He concluded by an eloquent appeal to his hearers to lose no +time in seeking salvation, calling "heaven and earth, and this old tree, +under which the Gospel was preached five hundred years ago, to bear +witness that I have preached to you the word of God, in which alone +salvation is to be found." + +The sermon occupied exactly an hour in the delivery, and was listened to +throughout with profound attention. When it was over, Mr. Spurgeon held +a sort of levee from the pulpit, the people pressing round to shake his +hand, and it was nearly nine o'clock before the last of the congregation +had passed away, leaving Wycliffe's Tree to its accustomed solitude. + +The next time I heard Mr. Spurgeon preach was in his famous church. The +Tabernacle will hold six thousand people when full, and on this night it +was thronged from door to door, and from floor to ceiling, with a +congregation gathered together to "watch" whilst the Old Year died and +the New was born. At eleven o'clock when Mr. Spurgeon, gownless and +guiltless of white neck-tie, or other clerical insignia, unceremoniously +walked on to the platform which serves him for pulpit, there was not a +foot of vacant space in the vast area looked down upon from the +galleries, for even the aisles were thronged. The capacious galleries +that rise tier over tier to the roof were crowded in like manner, and +the preacher stood, faced and surrounded by a congregation, the sight of +which might well move to the utterance of words that burn a man who had +within him a fount of thoughts that breathe. + +There was no other prelude to the service than the simply spoken +invitation, "Let us pray," and the six thousand, declaring themselves +"creatures of time," bent the knee with one accord to ask the "Lord of +Eternity" to bless them in the coming year. After this a hymn was sung, +Mr. Spurgeon reading out verse by verse, with occasional commentary, and +not unfrequent directions to the congregation as to the manner of their +singing. + +"Dear friends, the devil sometimes makes you lag half a note behind the +leader. Just try if you can't prevail over him to-night, and keep up in +proper time." + +There is no organ, nor even a tuning-fork, in use at the Tabernacle. But +the difficulties, apparently insuperable under these circumstances, of +leading so vast a congregation in the singing of unpractised tunes is +almost overcome by the skilful generalship of the gentleman who steps +forward to the rails beside the preacher's table, pitches the note, +and leads the singing. The hymn brought to a conclusion, Mr. Spurgeon +read and commented upon a passage of Scripture from the 25th of Matthew. +Then another hymn. "Sing this verse very softly and solemnly," says the +pastor; and the congregation in hushed tones, that seem to thrill all +through the aisles and up through the crowded galleries, sing: + + "Who of us death's awful road + In the coming year shall tread, + With Thy rod and staff, O God, + Comfort Thou his dying bed." + +After another prayer from the pastor, and one from one of the deacons +who accompanied him on the platform and sat behind in the crimson velvet +arm-chairs, a third hymn was sung, and Mr. Spurgeon began his short +address. + +He took for text the 42nd verse of the 12th chapter of Exodus: "It is a +night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing them out from the +land of Egypt: this is that night of the Lord to be observed of all the +children of Israel in their generations." The night referred to in the +text was that of the Passover--"a night of salvation, decision, +emigration, and exultation," said the preacher, "and I pray God that +this night, the last of a memorable year, may be the same for you, my +friends. Oh for a grand emigration among you like that of the departure +of the people of Israel--an emptying out of old Egypt, a robbing of +Pharaoh of his slaves, and the devil of his dupes!" + +It was understood that Mr. Spurgeon was labouring under severe +indisposition, and probably this fact gave to his brief address a tone +comparatively quiet and unimpassioned. Only once did he rise to the +fervent height of oratory to which his congregation are accustomed, and +that at the close, when, with uplifted hands and louder voice, he +apostrophised the parting year: "Thou art almost gone, and if thou goest +now the tidings to the throne of God will be that such and such a soul +is yet unsaved. Oh, stay yet a while, Year, that thou mayest carry with +thee glad tidings that the soul is saved! Thy life is measured now by +seconds, but all things are possible with God, and there is still time +for the salvation of many souls." + +At five minutes to twelve the preacher paused, and bade his hearers "get +away to the Throne of Grace, and in silent prayer beseech the Almighty +to bless you with a rich and special blessing in the new year He is +sending you." + +The congregation bent forward and a great silence was upon it, broken +only by half-stifled coughing here and there, and once by the wailing of +an infant in the gallery. The minutes passed slowly and solemnly as the +Old Year's "face grew sharp and thin" under the ticking of the clock +over the kneeling preacher and his deacons. The minutes dwindled down to +seconds, and then-- + + "Alack, our friend is gone! + Close up his eyes, tie up his chin + Step from the corpse, and let him in + That standeth at the door." + +"Now, as we have passed into the New Year," said Mr. Spurgeon, advancing +to the rails as the last stroke of midnight died away, "I do not think +we can do better than join in singing 'Praise God from whom all +blessings flow.'" + +No need now of instructions how to sing. The congregation were almost +before the leader in raising the familiar strain, with which six +thousand voices filled the spacious Tabernacle. + +Then came the benediction, and a cheery "I wish you all a happy New +Year, my friends," from Mr. Spurgeon. + +A great shout of "The same to you!" arose in response from basement and +galleries, and the congregation passed out into a morning so soft, and +light, and mild, that it seemed as if the seasons were out of joint, and +that the New Year had been born in the springtime. + +IN THE RAGGED CHURCH. + +The Ragged Church is one of the numerous by-paths through which the +managers of the Field Lane Institution strive to approach and benefit +the poor of London. It is situate in Little Saffron Hill, Farringdon +Road, the service being held in a barn-like room, which on weekdays +serves for school, and is capable of accommodating a thousand children. +No money has been expended in architectural embellishment, and no +question of a controversial character is likely to arise in connection +with accessories in the shape of altar, surplice, or candles. The Ragged +Church avoids these stumbling-blocks by the simple expedient of doing +without candles, surplices, or altar. It does not even boast a pulpit, +but draws the line so as to take in a harmonium, indispensable for +leading the tunes. At one end of the room is a platform, on which the +harmonium stands, and whereon the service is conducted. + +It is the congregation rather than the preacher that I remember best in +connection with the Ragged Church. Half-past eleven is the hour for the +commencement of service, and was fixed upon chiefly to suit the +convenience of a portion of the congregation, who, having slept +overnight in the casual wards, are considerately detained in them till +eleven o'clock, by which time society is supposed to be comfortably +seated in its own churches, and is thus saved the shock of suddenly +coming upon Rags and Tatters going to church or elsewhither--Rags and +Tatters, it being well understood, not always showing themselves proof +against the temptation of improving the occasion by begging. At a +quarter to eleven there filed into the church threescore little girls, +all dressed in wincey dresses, with brown, furry jackets and little +brown hats, a monotony of colour that served to bring into fuller +contrast the red and black wool scarf each wore tightly tied round her +neck. They all looked bright, clean, and happy, and one noted a +considerable proportion of pretty-faced and delicately-limbed children. + +How they were born, or with what parentage, is in many cases a question +to which the records of the institution supply no answer. They were +simply "found" on a doorstep, or arrested when wandering about the +street crying for the mother or the father who had cast them off. This +class of school-girl is generally distinguished by the fineness of her +Christian name, Blanche, and Lily, and Constance, being among the waifs +and strays who have found a refuge with the kindly matron of the Field +Lane Institution. There are others whose history is written plainly +enough in the records of the police-courts. + +There is one, a prematurely aged little woman in her eleventh year, who, +previous to being sent here, passed of her own free will night after +night in the streets, living through the day on her wits, which are very +sharp. Another, about the same age, when taken into custody on something +more than suspicion of picking pockets, was found the possessor of no +fewer than seven purses. A third, who is understood to be now in her +ninth year, earned a handsome livelihood in the Haymarket by frequenting +the public houses, and with dramatic gestures singing the more popular +concert-hall songs. One of the most determined and head-strong young +ladies of the establishment was not privileged to be present at the +morning service, being, in fact, in bed, where she was detained with the +hope that amid the silence and solitude of the empty chamber she might +be brought to see in its true light the heinousness of the offence of +wilfully depositing her boots in a pail of water. + +Conviction for offences against the law is by no means a general +characteristic of the girls. For the most part, destitution has been the +simple ground on which they have obtained admission to the institution. + +The girls being seated on the front benches to the right of the +harmonium, the tramp of many feet was heard, and there entered by the +opposite side of the church some sixty boys in corduroys, short jackets, +and clean collars. They took up a position on the left of the harmonium, +and, with one consent, gravely folded their arms. Their private history +is, in its general features, much the same as that of the girls. All +are sent hither by order of the police-court magistrate, but +many have not committed any crime save the unpardonable one of being +absolutely and hopelessly homeless. It is not difficult, stating the +broad rule, to pick out from the boys those who have been convicted of +crime. As compared with the rest they are generally brighter looking, +and gifted with a stronger physique. + +The distinction was strongly marked by the conjunction of two boys who +sat together on the front form. One who had stolen nothing less than a +coalscuttle, observed projecting from an ironmonger's shop in Drury +Lane, was a sturdy, ruddy-cheeked little man, who folded his arms in a +composed manner, and listened with an inquiring interest to the words +poured forth over his head from the platform. The boy next to him, a +pale-faced, inert lad, who stared straight before him with lack-lustre +eyes, had the saddest of all boys' histories. He was born in a casual +ward, his father died in a casual ward, and his mother nightly haunts +the streets of London in pursuance of an elaborately devised plan, by +which she is able so to time her visits to the various casual wards as +never to be turned away from any on the ground that she had slept there +too recently. + +The foreground of the Ragged Church was bright enough, for whilst there +is youth there is hope, and in the present case there is also the +knowledge that these children are under guardianship at once kind and +wise. Presently the back benches began to fill with a congregation such +as no other church in London might show. Crushed-looking women in limp +bonnets, scanty shawls, and much-patched dresses crept quietly in. With +them, though not in their company, came men of all ages, and of a +general level of ragged destitution--a gaunt, haggard, hungry, and +hopeless congregation as ever went to church on a Sunday morning. Some +had passed the night in the Refuge attached to the institution; many had +come straight from the casual wards; others had spent the long hours +since sundown in the streets; and one, a hale old man who diffused +around him an air of respectability and comfort, was a lodger at +Clerkenwell Workhouse. His snuff-coloured coat with two brass buttons at +the back was the solitary whole garment visible in this section of the +congregation. + +It was his "Sunday out" and having had his breakfast at the workhouse, +he had, by way of distraction, come to spend the morning and eat his +lunch at the Field Lane Institution. + +One man might be forgiven if he slept all through the sermon, for, as he +explained, he had "passed a very bad night." He had settled himself to +sleep on various doorsteps, with the fog for a blanket and the railings +for pillow. But there appeared what in his experience was a quite +uncommon activity on the part of the police, and he had been "moved on" +from place to place till morning broke, and he had not slept a wink or +had half an hour's rest for the sole of his foot. + +There were not many of the labouring class among the couple of hundred +men who made up this miserable company. They were chiefly broken-down +people, who, as tradesmen, clerks, or even professional men, had +gradually sunk till they came to regard admission to the casual ward at +night as the cherished hope that kept them up as they shuffled their +way through the day. One man, who over a marvellous costume of rags +carried the mark of respectability comprehended in a thin black silk +necktie tied around a collarless neck, is the son of a late colonel of +artillery, and has a brother at the present time a lieutenant in one of +her Majesty's ships. After leading a reckless life, he turned his +musical acquirements to account by joining the band of a marching +regiment. Unfortunately, the death of his grandfather, two years ago, +made him uncontrolled possessor of 500 pounds, and now he is dodging his +way among the casual wards of London, holding on to respectability and +his good connections by this poor black silk necktie. + +Among the congregation was a bright-eyed, honest-looking lad bearing the +familiar name of John Smith. Three months ago he was earning his living +in a Yorkshire coal pit, when a strike among the men threw him out of +work. There being no prospect of doing anything in Yorkshire, he set out +for London, having, as he said, "heard it was a great place, where work +was plenty." With three shillings in his pocket he started from Leeds, +and walked to London, doing the journey in nine days. He had neither +recommendation nor introduction other than his bright, honest, and +intelligent face, and that seems to have served him only to the extent +of getting an odd job that occupied him two days. + +The service opened with singing, of which there was a plentiful +repetition, the boys and girls in the foreground singing, the melancholy +throng behind standing dumb. Hymn-books were supplied to them, and if +they could read they might have found on the page from which the first +hymn was taken a hymn so curiously infelicitous to the occasion that it +is worth quoting a couple of verses. These are the two first:-- + + Let us gather up the sunbeams + Lying all around our path; + Let us keep the wheat and roses, + Casting out the thorns and chaff; + Let us find our sweetest comfort + In the blessings of to-day + With a patient hand removing + All the briars from the way. + + Strange we never prize the music + Till the sweet-voiced bird has flown, + Strange that we should slight the violets + Till the lovely flowers are gone; + Strange that summer skies and sunshine + Never seem one half so fair + As when winter's snowy pinions + Shake the white down in the air. + +After the opening hymns _Sankey's Sacred Song-Book_, in which this rhymed +nonsense appears, was abandoned, and the congregation took to the +admirable little selection of hymns compiled for the use of the +institution, containing much less sentiment, and perhaps on the whole +more suitable. After prayer and a short address, the boys and girls +filed out as they had come in. Then the rest of the congregation rose, +and as they passed out received a large piece of bread, supplemented by +the distribution from a room on a lower storey of a cup of hot cocoa. +Stretching all down the long flight of stone steps, they drank their +cocoa and greedily munched the bread, and when it was done passed out +into the sabbath noon, to slouch about the great city till the doors of +the casual wards were open. + +They had "gathered up all the sunbeams lying around their path" as far +as the day had advanced, and there was no more for them till, at eight +o'clock in the evening, the bread and tea should be set out before them +under the workhouse roof. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FACES AND PLACES*** + + +******* This file should be named 25624.txt or 25624.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/6/2/25624 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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