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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:43:54 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:43:54 -0700 |
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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/14191-0.txt b/14191-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f58e451 --- /dev/null +++ b/14191-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7248 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14191 *** + +AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE + + +NOVELS BY SIR WALTER BESANT & JAMES RICE. + +Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d. each; post 8vo., boards, 2s. each; cloth, +2s. 6d. each. + + READY-MONEY MORTIBOY. + + THE GOLDEN BUTTERFLY. + + MY LITTLE GIRL. + + WITH HARP AND CROWN. + + THIS SON OF VULCAN. + + THE MONKS OF THELEMA. + + BY CELIA'S ARBOUR. + + THE CHAPLAIN OF THE FLEET. + + THE SEAMY SIDE. + + THE CASE OF MR. LUCRAFT. + + 'TWAS IN TRAFALGAR'S BAY. + + THE TEN YEARS' TENANT. + +*** There is also a LIBRARY EDITION of all the above (excepting the +first two), large crown 8vo., cloth extra, 6s. each. + + * * * * * + +NOVELS BY SIR WALTER BESANT. + +Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d. each; post 8vo., boards, 2s. each; cloth, +2s. 6d. each. + + ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF MEN. 12 Illusts. by BARNARD. + + THE CAPTAINS' ROOM. With Frontispiece by E.J. WHEELER. + + ALL IN A GARDEN FAIR. With 6 Illustrations by HARRY FURNISS, + + DOROTHY FORSTER. With Frontispiece by CHARLES GREEN. + + UNCLE JACK, and other Stories. + + CHILDREN OF GIBEON. + + THE WORLD WENT VERY WELL THEN. 12 Illusts. by FORESTIER. + + HERR PAULUS: His Rise, his Greatness, and his Fall. + + THE BELL OF ST. PAUL'S. + + FOR FAITH AND FREEDOM. Illusts. by FORESTIER and WADDY. + + TO CALL HER MINE. With 9 Illustrations by A. FORESTIER. + + THE HOLY ROSE. With Frontispiece by F. BARNARD. + + ARMOREL OF LYONESSE. With 12 Illustrations by F. BARNARD. + + ST. KATHERINE'S BY THE TOWER. With 12 Illusts. by C. GREEN. + + VERBENA CAMELLIA STEPHANOTIS. Frontis. by GORDON BROWN. + + THE IVORY GATE. + + THE REBEL QUEEN. + + BEYOND THE DREAMS OF AVARICE. 12 Illustrations by HYDE. + + IN DEACON'S ORDERS. With Frontispiece by A. FORESTIER. + + THE REVOLT OF MAN. + + THE MASTER CRAFTSMAN. + + THE CITY OF REFUGE. + + * * * * * + +Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d. each. + + A FOUNTAIN SEALED. With Frontispiece by H.G. BURGESS. + + THE CHANGELING. + + THE FOURTH GENERATION. + + * * * * * + +Crown 8vo., cloth, gilt top, 6s. each. + + THE ORANGE GIRL. With 8 Illustrations by F. PEGRAM. + + THE LADY OF LYNN. With 12 Illustrations by G. DEMAIN-HAMMOND. + + NO OTHER WAY. With 12 Illustrations by CHARLES D. WARD. + + * * * * * + +POPULAR EDITIONS, medium 8vo., 6d, each. + + ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF MEN. + + THE GOLDEN BUTTERFLY. + + READY-MONEY MORTIBOY. + + CHILDREN OF GIBEON. + + THE CHAPLAIN OF THE FLEET. + + THE ORANGE GIRL. + + * * * * * + +Demy 8vo., cloth, 7s. 6d. each. + + LONDON. With 125 Illustrations. + + WESTMINSTER. With Etching by F.S. WALKER and 130 Illusts. + + SOUTH LONDON. With Etching by F.S. WALKER and 118 Illusts. + + EAST LONDON. With an Etched Frontispiece by F.S. WALKER and 55 + Illustrations by PHIL MAY, L. RAVEN HILL, and JOSEPH PENNELL. + + JERUSALEM: The City of Herod and Saladin. By WALTER BESANT and E.H. + PALMER. With a Map and 11 Illustrations. + + * * * * * + + AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE. Crown 8vo., buckram, gilt top, 6s. + + ESSAYS AND HISTORIETTES. Crown 8vo., buckram, gilt top, 6s. + + EULOGY OF RICHARD JEFFERIES. Portrait. Cr. 8vo., cloth, 6s. + + FIFTY YEARS AGO. With 144 Illustrations. Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d + + GASPARD DE COLIGNY. With a Portrait. Crown 8vo., linen, 3s. 6d. + + SIR RICHARD WHITTINGTON, Lord Mayor of London. By Sir WALTER BESANT + and JAMES RICE. With Frontispiece. Crown 8vo., linen, 3s. 6d. + + THE ART OF FICTION. Fcap. 8vo., cloth, 1s. net. + + THE CHARM, and other Drawing-room Plays. By SIR WALTER BESANT and + WALTER POLLOCK. With 50 Illustrations by CHRIS HAMMOND and A. JULE + GOODMAN. Crown 8vo., Cloth, 3s. 6d. + + +LONDON: CHATTO & WINDUS, 111 ST. MARTIN'S LANE, W.C. + + + + + +AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE + +LONDON + +CHATTO & WINDUS + +1903 + + + + + +FOREWORD. + + +_The reader of these Essays, which are not chronologically arranged, +is asked to notice the date in each case affixed to them. Almost +without exception, those passages which cannot fail to strike him as +nearly exact repetitions, whether of argument or of example, will be +seen to have been written at considerable intervals of time. A series +of papers, composed in different circumstances, and with no design of +collective re-issue in any particular form, will always present these +repetitions; and they serve to emphasize the author's message. The +lapse of time will also account for the apparent inaccuracy of a few +statements, and for the fact that some of the occurrences alluded to +in the future tense were accomplished during Sir Walter Besant's +lifetime. 'As We Are and As We May Be' is the exposition of a +practical philanthropist's creed, and of his hopes for the progress of +his fellow-countrymen. Some of these hopes may never be realized; some +he had the great happiness to see bear fruit. And for the realization +of all he spared no pains. The personal service of humanity, that in +these pages he urges repeatedly on others, he was himself ever the +first to give._ + + +CONTENTS + + PAGE + +THE ENDOWMENT OF THE DAUGHTER 1 + +FROM THIRTEEN TO SEVENTEEN 24 + +THE PEOPLE'S PALACE 50 + +SUNDAY MORNING IN THE CITY 67 + +A RIVERSIDE PARISH 106 + +ST. KATHERINE'S BY THE TOWER 137 + +THE UPWARD PRESSURE 166 + +THE LAND OF ROMANCE 203 + +THE LAND OF REALITY 224 + +ART AND THE PEOPLE 246 + +THE AMUSEMENTS OF THE PEOPLE 271 + +THE ASSOCIATED LIFE 296 + + + + + + +AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE + + +THE ENDOWMENT OF THE DAUGHTER. + + +Those who begin to consider the subject of the working woman discover +presently that there is a vast field of inquiry lying quite within +their reach, without any trouble of going into slums or inquiring of +sweaters. This is the field occupied by the gentlewoman who works for +a livelihood. She is not always, perhaps, gentle in quite the old +sense, but she is gentle in that new and better sense which means +culture, education, and refinement. There are now thousands of these +working gentlewomen, and the number is daily increasing. A few among +them--a very few--are working happily and successfully; some are +working contentedly, others with murmuring and discontent at the +hardness of the work and the poorness of the pay. Others, again, are +always trying, and for the most part vainly, to get work--any kind of +work--which will bring in money--any small sum of money. This is a +dreadful spectacle, to any who have eyes to see, of gentlewomen +struggling, snatching, importuning, begging for work. No one knows, +who has not looked into the field, how crowded it is, and how sad a +sight it presents. + +For my own part I think it is a shame that a lady should ever have to +stand in the labour market for hire like a milkmaid at a statute fair. +I think that the rush of women into the labour market is a most +lamentable thing. Labour, and especially labour which is without +organization or union, has to wage an incessant battle--always getting +beaten--against greed and injustice: the natural enemy of labour is +the employer, especially the impecunious employer; in the struggle +women always get worsted. Again, in whatever trade or calling they +attempt, the great majority of women are hopelessly incompetent. As in +the lower occupations, so in the higher, the greatest obstacle to +success is incompetence. How should gentlewomen be anything but +incompetent? They have not been taught anything special, they have not +been 'put through the mill'; mostly, they are fit only for those +employments which require the single quality that everybody can +claim--general intelligence. Hopeless indeed is the position of that +woman who brings into the intellectual labour market nothing but +general intelligence. She is exactly like the labourer who knows no +trade, and has nothing but his strong frame and his pair of hands. To +that man falls the hardest work and the smallest wage. To the woman +with general intelligence is assigned the lowest drudgery of +intellectual labour. And yet there are so many clamouring for this, or +for anything. A few months ago a certain weekly magazine stated that +I, the writer, had started an Association for Providing Ladies with +Copying Work--all in capitals. The number of letters which came to me +by every post in consequence of that statement was incredible. The +writers implored me to give them a share of that copying work; they +told terrible, heart-rending stories of suffering. Of course, there +was no such Association. There is, now that typewriting is fairly +established, no copying work left to speak of. Even now the letters +have not quite ceased to arrive. + +The existence of this army of necessitous gentlewomen is a new thing +in the land. That is to say, there have always been ladies who have +'come down in the world'--not a seaside lodging-housekeeper but has +known better days. There have always been girls who never expected to +be poor; always suffered to live in a fool's paradise who ought to +have been taught some way of earning their livelihood. Never till now, +however, has this army of gentlewomen been so great, or its distress +so acute. One reason--it is one which threatens to increase with +accelerated rapidity--is the depression of agriculture. I think we +hardly realize the magnitude of this great national disaster. We +believe that it is only the landlords, or the landlords and farmers, +who are suffering. If that were all--but can one member of the body +politic suffer and the rest go free from pain? All the trade of the +small towns droops with agriculture; the professional men of the +country towns lose their practice; clergymen who depend upon glebe, +dissenting ministers who depend upon the townspeople, lose their +income; the labourers, the craftsmen--why, it bewilders one even to +think of the widespread ruin which will follow the agricultural +depression if it continues. And every day carriage becomes cheaper, +and food products of all kinds are conveyed at lower prices and from +greater distances. Every fall in price makes it more difficult to let +the farms, drives the rustics in greater numbers from the country to +the town, lays the curse of labour upon thousands of untrained +gentlewomen, and makes it more difficult for them to escape in the old +way, that of marriage. + +Another reason is the enormous increase during the last thirty years +of the cultivated classes. We have all, except the very lowest, moved +upwards. The working-man wears broadcloth and has his club; the +tradesman who has grown rich also has his club, his daughters are +young ladies of culture, his sons are educated at the public schools +and the universities--things perfectly proper and laudable. The +thickness of the cultured stratum grows greater every day. But those +who belong to the lower part of that stratum--those whose position is +not as yet strengthened by family connections and the accumulations of +generations--are apt to yield and to be crushed down by the first +approach of misfortune. Then the daughters who, in the last +generation, would have joined the working girls and become dressmakers +in a 'genteel' way, join the ranks of distressed gentlewomen. + +Everybody knows the way up the social ladder. It has been shown to +those below by millions of twinkling feet. It is a broad ladder up +which people are always climbing, some slowly, some quickly--from +corduroy to broadcloth; from workshop to counter; from shop-boy to +master; from shop to office; from trade to profession; from the +bedroom over the shop to the great country villa. The other day a +bricklayer told me that his grandfather and the first Lord O.'s father +were old pals: they used to go poaching together; but the parent of +Lord O. was so clever as to open a shop, where he sold what his friend +poached. The shop began it you see. The way up is known to everybody. +But there is another way which we seldom regard; it is the way down +again. The Family Rise is the commonest phenomenon. Is not the name +Legion of those of whom men say, partly with the pride of connecting +themselves with greatness, partly with the natural desire, which small +men always show, to tear away something of that greatness, 'Why, I +knew him when his father had a shop!' The Family Fall is less +conspicuous. Yet there are always as many going down as climbing up. +You cannot, in fact, stay still. You must either climb or slip +down--unless, indeed, you have got your leg over the topmost rung, +which means the stability of an hereditary title and landed property. +We all ought to have hereditary titles and landed property, in order +to insure national prosperity for ever. Novelists do not, as a rule, +treat of the Sinking Back because it is a depressing subject. There +are many ways of falling. Mostly, the father makes an ass of himself +in the way of business or speculation; or he dies too soon; or his +sons possess none of their father's ability; or they take to drink. +Anyhow, down goes the Family, at first slowly, but with ever +increasing rapidity, back to its original level. There is no country +in the world--certainly not the United States--where a young man may +rise to distinction with greater ease than this realm of the Three +Kingdoms. There is also none where the families show a greater +alacrity in sinking. But the most reluctant to go down, those who +cling most tightly to the social level which they think they have +reached, are the daughters; so that when misfortunes fall upon them +they are ready to deny themselves everything rather than lose the +social dignity which they think belongs to them. + +Again, a steady feeder of these ranks is the large family of girls. It +is astonishing what a number of families there are in which they are +all, or nearly all, girls. The father is, perhaps, a professional man +of some kind, whose blamelessness has not brought him solid success, +so that there is always tightness. And it is beautiful to remark the +cheerfulness of the girls, and how they accept the tightness as a +necessary part of the World's Order; and how they welcome each new +feminine arrival as if it was really going to add a solid lump of +comfort to the family joy. These girls face work from the beginning. +Well for them if they have any better training than the ordinary +day-school, or any special teaching at all. + +Another--the most potent cause of all--is the complete revolution of +opinion as regards woman's work which has been effected in the course +of a single generation. Thirty years ago, if a girl was compelled to +earn her bread by her own work, what could she do? There were a few--a +very few--who wrote; many very excellent persons held writing to be +'unladylike.' There were a few--a very few--who painted; there were +some--but very few, and those chiefly the daughters of actors--who +went on the stage. All the rest of the women who maintained +themselves, and were called, by courtesy, ladies, became governesses. +Some taught in schools, where they endured hardness--remember the +account of the school where Charlotte Brontë was educated. Some went +to live in private houses--think of the governess in the old novel, +meek and gentle, snubbed by her employer, bullied by her pupils, and +insulted by the footman, until the young Prince came along. Some went +from house to house as daily governesses. Even in teaching they were +greatly restricted. Man was called in to teach dancing; he went round +among the schools in black silk stockings, with a kit under his arm, +and could caper wonderfully. Woman could only teach dancing at the +awful risk of showing her ankles. Who cares now whether a woman shows +her ankles or not? It makes one think of Mr. Snodgrass and Mr. Winkle, +and of the admiration which those sly dogs expressed for a neat pair +of ankles. Man, again, taught drawing; man taught music; man taught +singing; man taught writing; man taught arithmetic; man taught French +and Italian; German was not taught at all. Indeed, had it not been for +geography and the use of the globes, and the right handling of the +blackboard, there would have been nothing at all left for the +governess to teach. Forty years ago, however, she was great on the +Church Catechism and a martinet as to the Sunday sermon. + +It was not every girl, even then, who could teach. I remember one lady +who in her young days had refused to teach on the ground that she +would have to be hanged for child-murder if she tried. Those who did +not teach, unless they married and became mistresses of their own +_ménage_, stayed at home until the parents died, and then went to live +with a brother or a married sister. What family would be without the +unmarried sister, the universal aunt? Sometimes, perhaps, she became a +mere unpaid household servant, who could not give notice. But one +would fain hope that these were rare cases. + +Now, however, all is changed. The doors are thrown wide open. With a +few exceptions--to be sure, the Church, the Law, and Engineering are +important exceptions--a woman can enter upon any career she pleases. +The average woman, specially trained, should do at any intellectual +work nearly as well as the average man. The old prejudice against the +work of women is practically extinct. Love of independence and the +newly awakened impatience of the old shackles, in addition to the +forces already mentioned, are everywhere driving girls to take up +professional lives. + +Not only are the doors of the old avenues thrown open: we have created +new ways for the women who work. Literature offers a hundred paths, +each one with stimulating examples of feminine success. There is +journalism, into which women are only now beginning to enter by ones +and twos. Before long they will sweep in with a flood. In medicine, +which requires arduous study and great bodily strength, they do not +enter in large numbers. Acting is a fashionable craze. Art covers as +wide a field as literature. Education in girls' schools of the highest +kind has passed into their own hands. Moreover, women can now do many +things--and remain gentlewomen--which were formerly impossible. Some +keep furniture shops, some are decorators, some are dressmakers, some +make or sell embroidery. + +In all these professions two things are wanting--natural aptitude and +special training. Unfortunately, the competition is encumbered and +crowded with those who have neither, or else both imperfectly, +developed. + +The present state of things is somewhat as follows: The world contains +a great open market, where the demand for first-class work of every +kind is practically inexhaustible. In literature everything really +good commands instant attention, respect--and payment. But it must be +really good. Publishers are always looking about for genius. +Editors--even the much-abused editors--are always looking about for +good and popular writers. But the world is critical. To become popular +requires a combination of qualities, which include special training, +education, and natural aptitude. Art, again, in every possible branch, +offers recognition--and pay--for good work. But it must be really +good. The world is even more critical in Art than in Literature. In +the theatre, managers are always looking about for good plays, good +actors, and good actresses. In scholarship, women who have taken +university honours command good salaries and an honourable position if +they can teach. In music, a really good composer, player, or singer, +is always received with joy and the usual solid marks of approval. In +this great open Market there is no favouritism possible, because the +public, which is scornful of failure--making no allowance, and +receiving no excuses--is also generous and quick to recognise success. +In this Market clever women have exactly the same chances as clever +men; their work commands the same price. George Eliot is as well paid +as Thackeray; and the Market is full of the most splendid prizes both +of praise and pudding. It is a most wonderful Market. In all other +Markets the stalls are full of good things which the vendors are +anxious to sell, but cannot. In this Market nothing is offered but it +is snapped up greedily by the buyers; there are even, indeed, men who +buy up the things before they reach the open Market. In other Markets +the cry of those who stand at the stalls is 'Buy, buy, buy!' In this +Market it is the buyers who cry out continually, 'Bring out more wares +to sell.' Only to think of this Market, and of the thousands of +gentlewomen outside, fills the heart with sadness. + +For outside, there is quite another kind of Market. Here there are +long lines of stalls behind which stand the gentlewomen eagerly +offering their wares. Alas! here is Art in every shape, but it is not +the art which we can buy. Here are painting and drawing; here are +coloured photographs, painted china, art embroideries, and fine work. +Here are offered original songs and original music. Here are standing +long lines of those who want to teach, and are most melancholy because +they have no degree or diploma, and know nothing. Here are standing +those who wait to be hired, and who will do anything in which 'general +intelligence' will show the way; lastly, there is a whole quarter at +least a quarter--of the Market filled with stalls covered with +manuscripts, and there are thousands of women offering these +manuscripts. The publishers and the editors walk slowly along before +the stalls and receive the manuscripts, which they look at and then +lay down, though their writers weep and wail and wring their hands. +Presently there comes along a man greatly resembling in the expression +of his face the wild and savage wolf trying to smile. His habit is to +take up a manuscript, and presently to express, with the aid of +strange oaths and ejaculations, wonder and imagination. ''Fore Gad, +madam!' he says, ''tis fine! 'Twill take the town by storm! 'Tis an +immortal piece! Your own, madam? Truly 'tis wonderful! Nay, madam, but +I must have it. 'Twill cost you for the printing of it a paltry sixty +pounds or so, and for return, believe me, 'twill prove a new Potosi.' +This is the confidence trick under another form. The unfortunate woman +begs and borrows the money, of which she will never again see one +farthing; and if her book be produced, no one will ever buy a copy. + +The women at these stalls are always changing. They grow tired of +waiting when no one will buy: they go away. A few may be traced. They +become type-writers: they become cashiers in shops; they sit in the +outer office of photographers and receive the visitors: they 'devil' +for literary men: they make extracts: they conduct researches and look +up authorities: they address envelopes; some, I suppose, go home again +and contrive to live somehow with their relations. What becomes of the +rest no man can tell. Only when men get together and talk of these +things it is whispered that there is no family, however prosperous, +but has its unsuccessful members--no House, however great, which has +not its hangers-on and followers, like the _ribauderie_ of an army, +helpless and penniless. + +Considering, therefore, the miseries, drudgeries, insults, and +humiliations which await the necessitous gentlewoman in her quest for +work and a living, and the fact that these ladies are increasing in +number, and likely to increase, I venture to call attention to certain +preventive steps which may be applied--not for those who are now in +this hell, but for those innocent children whose lot it may be to join +the hapless band. The subject concerns all of us who have to work, all +who have to provide for our families; it concerns every woman who has +daughters: it concerns the girls themselves to such a degree that, if +they knew or suspected the dangers before them they would cry aloud +for prevention, they would rebel, they would strike the Fifth +Commandment out of the Tables. So great, so terrible, are the dangers +before them. + +The absolute duty of teaching girls who may at some future time have +to depend upon themselves some trade, calling or profession, seems a +mere axiom, a thing which cannot be disputed or denied. Yet it has not +even begun to be practised. If any thought is taken at all of this +contingency, 'general intelligence' is still relied upon. There are, +however, other ways of facing the future. + +In France, as everybody knows, no girl born of respectable parents is +unprovided with a _dot_; there is no family, however poor, which does +not strive and save in order to find their daughter some kind of +_dot_. If she has no _dot_, she remains unmarried. The amount of the +_dot_ is determined by the social position of the parents. No marriage +is arranged without the _dot_ forming an important part of the +business. No bride goes empty-handed out of her father's house. And +since families in France are much smaller than in this country, a much +smaller proportion of girls go unmarried. + +In this country no girls of the lower class, and few of the middle +class, ever have any _dot_ at all. They go to their husbands +empty-handed, unless, as sometimes happens, the father makes an +allowance to the daughter. All they have is their expectation of what +may come to them after the father's death, when there will be +insurances and savings to be divided. The daughter who marries has no +_dot_. The daughter who remains unmarried has no fortune until her +father dies: very often she has none after that event. + +In Germany, where the custom of the _dot_ is not, I believe, so +prevalent, there are companies or societies founded for the express +purpose of providing for unmarried women. They work, I am told, with a +kind of tontine--it is, in fact, a lottery. On the birth of a girl the +father inscribes her name on the books of the company, and pays a +certain small sum every year on her account. At the age of +twenty-five, if she is still unmarried, she receives the right of +living rent free in two rooms, and becomes entitled to a certain small +annuity. If she marries she has nothing. Those who marry, therefore, +pay for those who do not marry. It is the same principle as with life +insurances: those who live long pay for those who die young. If we +assume, for instance, that four girls out of five marry, which seems a +fair proportion, the fifth girl receives five times her own premium. +Suppose that her father has paid £5 a year for her for twenty-one +years, she would receive the amount, at compound interest, of £25 a +year for twenty-one years--namely, about a thousand pounds. + +Only consider what a thousand pounds may mean to a girl. It may be +invested to produce £35 a year--that is to say, 13s. 6d. a week. Such +an income, paltry as it seems, may be invaluable; it may supplement +her scanty earnings: it may enable her to take a holiday: it may give +her time to look about her: it may keep her out of the sweater's +hands: it may help her to develop her powers and to step into the +front rank. What gratitude would not the necessitous gentlewoman +bestow upon any who would endow her with 13s. 6d. a week? Why, there +are Homes where she could live in comfort on 12s., and have a solid +1s. 6d. to spare. She would even be able to give alms to others not so +rich. + +Take, then, a thousand pounds--£35 a year--as a minimum. Take the case +of a professional man who cannot save much, but who is resolved on +endowing his daughters with an annuity of at least £35 a year. There +are ways and means of doing this which are advertised freely and +placed in everybody's hands. Yet they seem to fail in impressing the +public. One does not hear among one's professional friends of the +endowment of girls. Yet one does hear, constantly, that someone is +dead and has left his daughters without a penny. + +First of all, the rules and regulations of the Post Office, which are +published every quarter, provide what seems the most simple of these +ways. + +I take one table only, that of the cost of an annuity deferred for +twenty-five years. If the child is five years of age, and under six, +an annuity of £1, beginning after twenty-five years, can be purchased +for a yearly premium of 12s. 7d., or for a payment of £12 3s. 8d., the +money to be returned in case of the child's death. An annuity of £35, +therefore, would cost a yearly premium of £22 0s. 5d., or a lump sum +of £426 8s. 4d. + +One or two of the insurance companies have also prepared tables for +the endowment of children. I find, for instance, in the tables issued +by the North British and Mercantile that an annual payment of £3 11s. +begun at infancy will insure the sum of £100 at twenty-one years of +age, with the return of the premium should the child die, or that £35 +10s. paid annually will insure the sum of £1,000. There is also in +these tables a method of payment by which, should the father die and +the premiums be therefore discontinued, the money will be paid just +the same. No doubt, if the practice were to spread, every insurance +company would take up this kind of business. + +It is not every young married man who could afford to pay so large a +sum of money as £426 in one lump; on the contrary, very few indeed +could do so. But suppose, which is quite possible, that he were to +purchase, with the first £12 he could save, a deferred annuity of £1 +for his child, and so with the next £12, and so with the next, until +he had placed her beyond the reach of actual destitution; and suppose, +again, that his conscience was so much awakened to the duty of thus +providing for her that amusement and pleasure would be postponed or +curtailed until this duty was performed, just as amusement is not +thought of until the rent and taxes and housekeeping are first +defrayed: in that case there would be few young married people indeed +who would not speedily be able to purchase this small annuity of £35 a +year. And with every successive payment the sense of the value of the +thing, its importance, its necessity, would grow more and more in the +mind; and with every payment would increase the satisfaction of +feeling that the child was removed from destitution by one pound a +year more. It took a very long time to create in men's minds the duty +of life insurance. That has now taken so firm a hold on people that, +although the English bride brings no dot, the bridegroom is not +permitted to marry her until he settles a life insurance upon her. +When once the mother thoroughly understands that by the exercise of a +little more self-denial her daughter can be rendered independent for +life, that self-denial will certainly not be wanting. Think of the +vast sums of money which are squandered by the middle classes of this +country, even though they are more provident than the working classes. +The money is not spent in any kind of riot: not at all; the middle +classes are, on the whole, most decorous and sober: it is spent in +living just a little more luxuriously than the many changes and +chances of mortal life should permit. It is by lowering the standard +of living that the money must be saved for the endowment of the +daughters; and since the children cost less in infancy than when they +grow older, it is then that the saving must be made. Everyone knows +that there are thousands of young married people who can only by dint +of the strictest economy make both ends meet. It is not for them that +I speak. Another voice, far more powerful than mine, should thunder +into their hearts the selfishness and the wickedness of bringing into +the world children for whom they can make no provision whatever, and +who are destined to be thrown into the battle-field of labour provided +with no other weapons than the knowledge of reading and writing. It is +bad enough for the boys; but as for the girls--they had better have +been thrown as soon as born to the lions. I speak rather to those who +are in better plight, who live comfortably upon the year's income, +which is not too much, and who look forward to putting their boys in +the way of an ambitious career, and to marrying their daughters. But +as for the endowment of the girls, they have not even begun to think +about it. Their conscience has not been yet awakened, their fears not +yet aroused; they look abroad and see their friends struck down by +death or disaster, but they never think it may be their turn next. And +yet the happiness to reflect, if death or disaster does come, that +your girls are safe! + +One sees here, besides, a splendid opening for the rich uncle, the +benevolent godfather, the affectionate grandfather, the kindly aunt, +the successful brother. They will come bearing gifts--not the silver +cup, if you please, but the Deferred Annuity. 'I bring you, my dear, +in honour of your little Molly's birthday, an increase of five pounds +to her Deferred Annuity. This makes it up to twenty pounds, and the +money-box getting on, you say, to another pound. Capital! we shall +have her thirty-five pounds in no time now.' What a noble field for +the uncle! + +The endowment of the daughter is essentially a woman's question. The +bride, or at least her mother for her, ought to consider that, though +every family quiver varies in capacity with the income, her own lot +may be to have a quiver full. Heaven forbid, as Montaigne said, that +we should interfere with the feminine methods, but common prudence +seems to dictate the duty of this forecast. Let, therefore, the demand +for endowment come from the bride's mother. All that she would be +justified in asking of a man whose means are as yet narrow, would be +such an endowment, gradually purchased, as would keep the girls from +starvation. + +For my own part, I think that no woman should be forced to work at +all, except at such things as please her. When a woman marries, for +instance, she voluntarily engages herself to do a vast quantity of +work. To look after the house and to bring up the children involves +daily, unremitting labour and thought. If she has a vocation for any +kind of work, as for Art, or Letters, or Teaching, let her obey the +call and find her happiness. Generally she has none. The average +woman--I make this statement with complete confidence--hates +compulsory work: she hates and loathes it. There are, it is true, some +kinds of work which must be done by women. Well, there will always be +enough for those occupations among women who prefer work to idleness. + +There is another very serious consideration. There is only so much +work--a limited quantity--in the world: so many hands for whom +occupation can be found--and the number of hands wanted does not very +greatly exceed that of the male hands ready for it. Now, by giving +this work to women, we take it from the men. If we open the Civil +Service to women, we take so many posts from the men, which we give to +the women, _at a lower salary_; if they become cashiers, accountants, +clerks, they take these places from the men, _at a lower salary_. +Always they take lower pay, and turn the men out. Well, the men must +either go elsewhere, or they must take the lower pay. In either case +the happiest lot of all--that of marriage--is rendered more difficult, +because the men are made poorer; the position of the toiler becomes +harder, because he gets worse pay; then man's sense of responsibility +for the women of his family is destroyed. Nay, in some cases the men +actually live, and live contentedly, upon the labour of their wives. +But when all is said about women, and their rights and wrongs, and +their work and place, and their equality and their superiority, we +fall back at last upon nature. There is still, and will always remain +with us, the sense in man that it is his duty to work for his wife, +and the sense in woman that nothing is better for her than to receive +the fruits of her husband's labour. + +Let us endow the Daughters: those who are not clever, in order to save +them from the struggles of the Incompetent and the hopelessness of the +Dependent; those who are clever, so as to give them time for work and +training. The Bread-winner may die: his powers may cease: he may lose +his clients, his reputation, his popularity, his business; in a +thousand forms misfortune and poverty may fall upon him. Think of the +happiness with which he would then contemplate that endowment of a +Deferred Annuity. And the endowment will not prevent or interfere with +any work the girls may wish to do. It will even help them in their +work. My brothers, let our girls work if they wish; perhaps they will +be happier if they work let them work at whatever kind of work they +may desire; but not--oh not--because they must. + +[1888.] + + + + + +FROM THIRTEEN TO SEVENTEEN + + + +In the history of every measure designed for the amelioration of the +people there may be observed four distinct and clearly marked stages. +First, there is the original project, fresh from the brain of the +dreamer, glowing with the colours of his imagination, a figure fair +and strong as the newly born Athênê. By its single-handed power +mankind are to be regenerated, and the millennium is to be at once +taken in hand. There are no difficulties which it will not at once +clear away; there are no obstacles which will not vanish at its +approach as the morning mist is burned up by the newly risen sun. The +dreamer creates a school, and presently among his disciples there +arises one who is practical enough to reduce the dream to a possible +and working scheme. The advocates of the Cause are still, however, a +good way from getting the scheme established. The battle with the +opposition follows, in which one has to contend--first with those who +cannot be touched by any generous aims, always a pretty large body; +next with those who are afraid of the people; and lastly with those +who have private interests of their own to defend. The triumph which +presently arrives by no means concludes the history of the agitation, +because there is certain to follow at no distant day the discovery +that the measure has somehow failed to achieve those glorious results +which were so freely promised. It has, in fact, gone to swell the +pages of that chronicle, not yet written, which may be called the +'History of the Well-intentioned.' + +The emancipation of the West Indian slaves, for instance, has not been +accompanied by the burning desire for progress--industrial, artistic, +or educational--which was confidently anticipated. Quite the contrary. +Yet--which is a point which continually recurs in the History of the +Well-intentioned--one would not, if it were possible, go back to the +former conditions. It is better that the negro should lie idle, and +sleep in the sun all his days, than that he should work under the +overseer's lash. For the free man there is always hope; for the slave +there is none. Again, the first apostles of Co-operation expected +nothing less than that their ideas would be universally, immediately, +and ardently adopted. That was a good many years ago. The method of +Co-operation still offers the most wonderful vision of universal +welfare, easily attainable on the simple condition of honesty, ever +put before humanity; yet we see how little has been achieved and how +numerous have been the failures. Again, though the advantages of +temperance are continually preached to working men, beer remains the +national beverage; yet even those of us who would rather see the +working classes sober and self-restrained than water-drinkers by Act +of Parliament or solemn pledge, acknowledge how good it is that the +preaching of temperance was begun. Again, we have got most of those +Points for which the Chartists once so passionately struggled. As for +those we have not got, there is no longer much enthusiasm left for +them. The world does not seem so far very substantially advanced by +the concession of the Points; yet we would not willingly give them +back and return to the old order. Again, we have opened free museums, +containing all kinds of beautiful things: the people visit them in +thousands; yet they remain ignorant of Art, and have no yearning +discoverable for Art. In spite of this, we would not willingly close +the museums. + +The dreamer, in fact, leaves altogether out of his reckoning certain +factors of humanity which his first practical advocate only partially +takes into account. These are stupidity, apathy, ignorance, greed, +indolence, and the Easy Way. There are doubtless others, because in +humanity as in physics no one can estimate all the forces, but these +are the most readily recognised; and the last two perhaps are the most +important, because the great mass of mankind are certainly born with +an incurable indolence of mind or body, which keeps them rooted in the +old grooves and destroys every germ of ambition at its first +appearance. + +The latest failure of the Well-intentioned, so far as we have yet +found out, is the Education Act, for which the London rate has now +mounted to nine-pence in the pound. It is a failure, like the +emancipation of the slaves; because, though it has done some things +well, it has wholly failed to achieve the great results confidently +predicted for it by its advocates in the year '68. What is more, we +now understand that it never can achieve those results. + +It was going, we were told, to give all English children a sound and +thorough elementary education. It was, further, going to inspire those +children with the ardour for knowledge, so that, on leaving school, +they would carry on their studies and continually advance in learning. +It was going to take away the national reproach of ignorance, and to +make us the best educated country in the world. + +As for what it has done and is doing, the children are taught to read, +write, cipher, and spell (this accomplishment being wholly useless to +them and its mastery a sheer waste of time). They are also taught a +little singing, and a few other things; and in general terms the Board +Schools do, I suppose, impart as good an education to the children as +the time at their disposal will allow. They command the services of a +great body of well-trained, disciplined, and zealous teachers, against +whose intelligence and conscientious work nothing can be alleged. And +yet, with the very best intentions of Board and teachers, the +practical result has been, as is now maintained, that but a very small +percentage of all the children who go through the schools are educated +at all. + +This is an extremely disagreeable discovery. It is, however, as will +presently be seen, a result which might have been expected. Those who +looked for so splendid an outcome of this magnificent educational +machinery, this enormous expenditure, forgot to take into account two +or three very important factors. They were, first, those we have +already indicated, stupidity, apathy, and indolence; and next, the +exigencies and conditions of labour. These shall be presently +explained. Meantime, the discovery once made, and once plainly stated, +seems to have been frankly acknowledged and recognised by all who are +interested in educational questions: it has been made the subject of a +great meeting at the Mansion House, which was addressed by men of +every class: and it has, further, which is a very valuable and +encouraging circumstance, been seriously taken up by the Trades Unions +and the working men. + +As for the situation, it is briefly as follows: + +The children leave the Board Schools, for the most part, at the age of +thirteen, when they have passed the standard which exempts them from +further attendance; or if they are half-timers, they remain until they +are fourteen. At this ripe age, when the education of the richer class +is only just beginning, these children have to leave school and begin +work. Whatever kind of work this may be, it is certain to involve a +day's labour of ten hours. It might be thought--at one time it was +fully expected--that the children would by this age have received such +an impetus and imbibed so great a love for reading that they would of +their own accord continue to read and study on the lines laid down, +and eagerly make use of such facilities as might be provided for them. +In the History of the Well-intentioned we shall find that we are +always crediting the working classes with virtues which no other class +can boast. In this case we credited the children of working men with a +clear insight into their own best interests; with resolution and +patience; with industry; with the power of resisting temptation, and +with the strength to forego present enjoyment. This is a good deal to +expect of them. But apply the sane situation to a boy of the middle +class. He is taken from school at sixteen and sent to a merchant's +office or a shop. Here he works from nine till six, or perhaps later. +How many of these lads, when their day's work is over--what proportion +of the whole--make any attempt at all to carry on their education or +to learn anything new? For instance, there are two things, the +acquisition of which doubles the marketable value of a clerk: one is a +knowledge of shorthand, and the other is the power of reading and +writing a foreign language. This is a fact which all clerks very well +understand. But not one in a hundred possesses the industry and +resolution necessary to acquire this knowledge, and this, though he is +taught from infancy to desire a good income, and knows that this +additional power will go far to procure it. Again, these boys come +from homes where there are some books at least, some journals, and +some papers; and they hear at their offices and at home talk which +should stimulate them to effort. Yet most of them lie where they are. + +If such boys as these remain in indolence, what are we to expect of +those who belong to the lower levels? For they have no books at home, +no magazines, no journals; they hear no talk of learning or knowledge; +if they wanted to read, what are they to read? and where are they to +find books? Free libraries are few and far between: in all London, for +instance, I can find but five or six. They are those at the Guildhall, +Bethnal Green, Westminster, Camden Town, Notting Hill, and +Knightsbridge. Put a red dot upon each of these sites on the map of +London, and consider how very small can be the influence of these +libraries over the whole of this great city. Boys and girls at +thirteen have no inclination to read newspapers; there remains, +therefore, nothing but the penny novelette for those who have any +desire to read at all. There is, it is true, the evening school, but +it is not often found to possess attractions for these children. +Again, after their day's work and confinement in the hot rooms, they +are tired; they want fresh air and exercise. To sum up: there are no +existing inducements for the children to read and study; most of them +are sluggish of intellect; outside the evening schools there are no +facilities for them at all; they have no books; when evening comes +they are tired; they do not understand their own interests; after a +day's work they like an evening's rest; of the two paths open to every +man at every juncture, one is for the most part hidden to children, +and the other is always the easier. + +Therefore they spend their evenings in the streets. They would +sometimes, I dare say, prefer the gallery of the theatre or the +music-hall, but these are not often within reach of their means. The +street is always open to them. Here they find their companions of the +workroom; here they feel the strong, swift current of life; here +something is always happening; here there are always new pleasures; +here they can talk and play, unrestrained, left wholly to themselves, +taking for pattern those who are a little older than themselves. As +for their favourite amusements and their pleasures, they grow yearly +coarser; as for their conversation, it grows continually viler, until +Zola himself would be ashamed to reproduce the talk of these young +people. The love which these children have for the street is +wonderful; no boulevard in the world, I am sure, is more loved by its +frequenters than the Whitechapel Road, unless it be the High Street, +Islington. Especially is this the case with the girls. There is a +certain working girls' club with which I am acquainted whose members, +when they leave the club at ten, go back every night to the streets +and walk about till midnight; they would rather give up their club +than the street. As for the moral aspect of this roaming about the +streets, that may for a moment be neglected. Consider the situation +from an educational point of view. How long, do you think, does it +take to forget almost all that the boys and girls learned at school? +'The garden,' says one who knows, 'which by daily culture has been +brought into such an admirable and promising condition, is given over +to utter neglect; the money, the time, the labour, bestowed upon it +are lost.' In the first two years after leaving school it is said that +they have forgotten everything. There is, however, it is objected, the +use and exercise of the intellectual faculty. Can that, once taught, +ever be forgotten? By way of reply, consider this case. The other day +twenty young mechanics were persuaded to join a South Kensington +class. Of the whole twenty one only struggled through the course and +passed his examination; the rest dropped off, one after the other, in +sheer despair, because they had lost not only the little knowledge +they had once acquired, but even the methods of application and study +which they had formerly been able to exercise. There are exceptions, +of course; it is computed, in fact, that there are 4 per cent. of +Board School boys and girls who carry on their studies in the evening +schools, but this proportion is said to be decreasing. After thirteen, +no school, no books, no reading or writing, nothing to keep up the old +knowledge, no kind of conversation that stimulates; no examples of +perseverance; in a great many cases no church, chapel, or +Sunday-school; the street for playground, exercise, observation, and +talk; what kind of young men and maidens are we to expect that these +boys and girls will become? If this were the exact, plain, and naked +truth we were in a parlous state indeed. Fortunately, however, there +arc in every parish mitigations, introduced principally by those who +come from the city of Samaria, or it would be bad indeed for the next +generation. There are a few girls' clubs; the church, the chapel, and +the Sunday-school get hold of many children; visiting and kindly +ladies look after others. There are working boys' institutes here and +there, but these things taken together are almost powerless with the +great mass which remains unaffected. The evil for the most part lies +hidden, yet one sometimes lights upon a case which shows that the +results of our own neglect of the children may be such as cannot be +placed on paper for general reading. For instance, on last August Bank +Holiday I was on Hampstead Heath. The East Heath was crowded with a +noisy, turbulent, good-tempered mob, enjoying, as a London crowd +always does, the mere presence of a multitude. There was a little +rough horse-play and the exchange of favourite witticisms, and there +was some preaching and a great singing of irreverent parodies; there +was little drunkenness and little bad behaviour except for half a +dozen troops or companies of girls. They were quite young, none of +them apparently over fifteen or sixteen. They were running about +together, not courting the company of the boys, but contented with +their own society, and loudly talking and shouting as they ran among +the swings and merry-go-rounds and other attractions of the fair. I +may safely aver that language more vile and depraved, revealing +knowledge and thoughts more vile and depraved, I have never heard from +any grown men or women in the worst part of the town. At mere +profanity, of course, these girls would be easily defeated by men, but +not in absolute vileness. The quiet working men among whom they ran +looked on in amazement and disgust; they had never heard anything in +all their lives to equal the abomination of these girls' language. +Now, they were girls who had all, I suppose, passed the third or +fourth standard. At thirteen they had gone into the workshop and the +street. Of all the various contrivances to influence the young not one +had as yet caught hold of them; the kerbstone and the pavements of the +street were their schools; as for their conversation, it had in this +short time developed to a vileness so amazing. What refining +influence, what trace of good manners, what desire for better things, +what self-restraint, respect, or government, was left in the minds of +these girls as a part of their education? As one of the bystanders, +himself of the working class, said to me, 'God help their husbands!' +Yes, poverty has many stings; but there can be none sharper than the +necessity of marrying one of these poor neglected creatures. + +We do not, therefore, only leave the children without education; we +also leave them, at the most important age, I suppose, of any +namely--the age of early adolescence--without guidance or supervision. +How should we like our own girls left free to run about the streets at +thirteen years of age? Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen--how +can we ever forget this time?--there falls upon boy and girl alike a +strange and subtle change. It is a time when the brain is full of +strange new imaginings, when the thoughts go vaguely forth to unknown +splendours; when the continuity of self is broken, and the lad of +to-day is different from him of yesterday; when the energies, physical +and intellectual, wake into new life, and impel the youth in new +directions. Everyone has been young, but somehow we forget that sweet +spring season. Let us try to remember, in the interests of the +uncared-for youths and girls, the time of glorious dreaming, when the +boy became a man, and stood upon some peak in Darien to gaze upon the +purple isles of life in the great ocean beyond, peopled by men who +were as heroes and by women who were as goddesses. Our own dreaming +was glorified, to be sure, with memories of things we had read; yet, +as we dreamed, so, but without the colour lent to our visions, these +sallow-faced lads, with the long and ugly coats and the round-topped +hats, are dreaming now. For want of our help their dreams become +nightmares, and in their brains are born devils of every evil passion. +And, for the girls, although not all can become so bad as those +foul-mouthed young Bacchantes and raging Mænads of Hamstead Heath, it +would seem as if nothing could be left to them, after the education of +the gutter--nothing at all--of the things which we associate with holy +and gracious womanhood. + +Truly, from the moral as well as the educational point of view, here +is a great evil disclosed. There is, however, another aspect of the +question, which must not be forgotten. If we are to hold our place at +the head of the industrial countries of the world, our workmen must +have technical education. But this can only be received by those who +possess already a certain amount of knowledge, and that a good deal +beyond the grasp of a child of thirteen years. How, then, can it be +made to reach those who have lost the whole of what once they knew? + +These facts are, I believe, beyond any dispute or doubt. They have +only to be stated in order to be appreciated. They affect not London +only, but every great town. The working men themselves have recognised +the gravity of the situation, and are anxious to provide some remedy. +At Nottingham an address, signed on behalf of the School Board and the +Nottingham Trades Council, has been addressed to the employers of +labour, entreating them to assist in the establishment and maintenance +of remedial measures. At the meeting of the Trades Unions' +representatives held in London last year, two resolutions on the +subject were passed; and the School Boards of London, Glasgow, and +Nottingham are all willing to lend their schools for evening use. For +there is but one thing possible or practical--the evening school, In +Germany, Switzerland, Holland, and Belgium, children are by law +compelled to attend 'continuation' schools until the age of sixteen. +In some places the zeal of the people for education outstrips even the +Government regulations. At the town of Chemnitz, in Saxony, for +example, with a population of 92,000 inhabitants, the Workmen's Union +have started a Continuation school with a far more comprehensive +system of subjects and classes than that provided by legislation. It +is attended by over 2,000 scholars, a very large proportion of the +inhabitants between thirteen and eighteen years of age. There is +nothing possible but the evening school. The children _must_ be sent +to work at thirteen or fourteen; they _must_ work all day; it is only +in the evening school that this education can be carried on, and that +they can be rescued from the contaminations and dangers of the +streets. But two difficulties present themselves. There is no law by +which the children can be compelled to attend the evening school. How, +then, can they be made to come in? And if the rate is now ninepence, +what will it be when to the burden of the elementary school is added +that of the Continuation school? + +A scheme has been proposed which has so far met with favour that a +committee, including persons of every class, has been formed to +promote it. Briefly it is as follows: + +The Continuation school is to be established in this country. The +difficulties of the situation will be met, not by compelling the +children to attend, but by persuading and attracting them. Much is +hoped from parents' influence now that working men understand the +situation; much may be hoped from the children themselves being +interested, and from others' example. The Continuation school will +have two branches--the recreative and the instructive. And since after +a hard day's work the children must have amusement, play will be found +for them in the shape of 'Rhythmic Drill,' which is defined as +'pleasant orderly movement accompanied by music,' and the instruction +is promised to be conveyed in a more attractive and pleasing manner +than that of the elementary schools. The latter announcement is at +first discouraging, because effective teaching must require +intellectual exercise and application, which may not always prove +attractive. As regards the former, it seems as if the projectors were +really going at last to recognise dancing as one of the most +delightful, healthful, and innocent amusements possible. I am quite +sure that if we can only make up our minds to give the young people +plenty of dancing, they will gratefully, in exchange, attend any +number of science classes. Next, there will be singing--a great deal +of singing, of course, in parts--which will still further lead to that +orderly association of young men and maidens which is so desirable a +thing and so wholesome for the human soul. There will also be classes +in drawing and design--the very commencement of technical instruction +and the necessary foundation of skilled handicraft. There will be for +boys classes in some elementary science bearing on their trade; for +girls there will be lessons in domestic economy and elementary +cooking; and for both boys and girls there will be classes in those +minor arts which are just now coming to the front, such as modelling, +wood-carving, repoussé work, and so forth. In fact, if the children +can only be persuaded to come in, or can be hailed in, from the +streets, there is no end at all to the things which may be taught +them. + +As regards the management of these schools, it seems, as if we could +hardly do better than follow the example of Nottingham. Here they have +already five evening schools, and seven working men are appointed +managers for each school. The work is thus made essentially +democratic. These managers have begun by calling upon clergymen, +Sunday-school teachers, employers of labour, leaders of trades unions, +and, one supposes, _pères de famille_ generally, to use their +influence in making children attend these schools. The management of +such schools by the people is a feature of the greatest interest and +importance. As regards the girls' schools, it is suggested that 'lady' +managers should be appointed for each school. Alas! It is not yet +thought possible or desirable that working women should be appointed. +Then follows the question of expense. It cannot be supposed that the +rate-payer is going to look on with indifference to so great an +additional burden as this stupendous work threatens to lay upon him. +But let him rest easy. It is not proposed to add one penny to the +rates. The schools are to cost nothing--a fact which will add greatly +to their popularity and assist their establishment. It is proposed to +pay the necessary expenses of Board School teachers' work there will +be nothing to pay for the use of the buildings--by the Government +grant for drawing and for one other specific class subject. Next, a +small additional grant will be asked for singing, and one for +modelling, carving, or design: the standards must be divided in the +evening schools, and there must be necessarily a more elastic method +of examination adopted for the evening than for the day schools, one +which will be more observant of intelligence than careful of memory +concerning facts. Still, when all the aid that can be expected is got +from the Government grants, the, schools will not be self-supporting. +Here, then, comes in the really novel part of the project. _The rest +must be supplied by voluntary work._ The trained staff of the School +Board teachers will instruct the classes in those subjects required or +sanctioned by the Department for which grants are made; but for all +other subjects--the recreative, the technical, the scientific, the +minor arts, the history, the dancing, and the rest--the schools will +depend wholly upon volunteer teachers. + +We must not disguise the audacity of the scheme. There are, I believe, +in London alone 120 schools, for which 2,400 volunteers will be +required. They must not be mere amateurs or kindly, benevolent people, +who will lightly or in a fit of enthusiasm undertake the work, and +after a month or so throw it over in weariness of the drudgery; they +must be honest workers, who will give thought and take trouble over +the work they have in hand, who will keep to their time, stick to +their engagement, study the art of teaching, and be amenable to order +and discipline. Are there so many as 2,400 such teachers to be found +in London, without counting the many thousands wanted for the rest of +the country? It seems a good-sized army of volunteers to raise. + +Let us, however, consider. First, there is the hopeful fact that the +Sunday-School Union numbers 12,000 teachers--all voluntary and +unpaid--in London alone. There is, next, another hopeful fact in the +rapid development of the Home Arts Association, which has existed for +no more than a year or two. The teaching is wholly voluntary; and +volunteers are crowding in faster than the slender means of the +Society can provide schools for them to teach in, and the machinery, +materials, and tools to teach with. Even with these facts before us, +the projector and dreamer of the scheme may appear a bold man when he +asks for 2,400 men and women to help him, not in a religious but a +purely secular scheme. Yet it may not appear to many people purely +secular when they remember that he asks for this large army of +unselfish men and women--so unselfish as to give some of their time, +thought, and activity for nothing, not even praise, but only out of +love for the children--from a population of four millions, all of whom +have been taught, and most believe, that self-sacrifice is the most +divine thing that man can offer. To suppose that one in every two +thousand is willing to the extent of an hour or two every week to +follow at a distance the example of his acknowledged Master does not, +after all, seem so very extravagant, For my own part, I believe that +for every post there will be a dozen volunteers. Is that extravagant? +It means no more than a poor 1 per cent, of such distant followers. + +Those who go at all among the poor, and try to find out for themselves +something of what goes on beneath the surface, presently become aware +of a most remarkable movement, whispers of which from time to time +reach the upper strata. All over London--no doubt over other great +towns as well, but I know no other great town--there are at this day +living, for the most part in obscurity, unpaid, and in some cases +alone, men and women of the gentle class, among the poor, working for +them, thinking for them, and even in some cases thinking with them. +One such case I know where a gentlewoman has spent the greater part of +her life among the industrial poor of the East End, so that she has +come to think as they think, to look on things from their point of +view, though not to talk as they talk. Some of these men are vicars, +curates, Nonconformist ministers, Roman Catholic clergymen; some of +the women are Roman Catholic sisters and nuns; others are sham nuns, +Anglicans, who seem to find that an ugly dress keeps them more +steadily to their work; others are deaconesses or Bible-women. Some, +again, and it is to these that one turns with the greatest hope--they +may or may not be actuated by religious motives--are bound by no vows, +nor tied to any church. When twenty years ago Edward Denison went to +live in Philpot Lane, he was quite alone in his voluntary work. He had +no companion to try that experiment with him. Now he would be one of +many. At Toynbee Hall are gathered together a company of young and +generous hearts, who give their best without grudge or stint to their +poorer brethren. There are rich men who have retired from the haunts +of the wealthy, and voluntarily chosen to place their homes among the +poor. There are men who work all day at business, and in the evening +devote themselves to the care of working boys; there are women, under +no vows, who read in hospitals, preside at cheap dinners, take care of +girls' clubs, collect rents, and in a thousand ways bring light and +kindness into dark places. The clergy of the Established Church, who +may be regarded as almoners and missionaries of civilization rather +than of religion, seeing how few of the poor attend their services, +can generally command voluntary help when they ask for it. Voluntary +work in generous enterprise is no longer, happily, so rare that men +regard it with surprise; yet it belongs essentially to this century, +and almost to this generation. Since the Reformation the work of +English charity presents three distinct aspects. First came the +foundation of almshouses and the endowment of doles. Nothing, surely, +can be more delightful than to found an almshouse, and to consider +that for generations to come there will be a haven of rest provided +for so many old people past their work. The soul of King James's +confectioner--good Balthazar Sanchez--must, we feel sure, still +contemplate his cottages at Tottenham with complacency; one hopes His +Majesty was not overcharged in the matter of pasties and comfits in +order to find the endowment for those cottages. Even the dole of a few +loaves every Sunday to as many aged poor has its attraction, though +necessarily falling far short of the solid satisfaction to be derived +from the foundation of an almshouse. But the period of almshouses +passed away, and that of Societies succeeded. For a hundred years the +well-to-do of this country have been greatly liberal for every kind of +philanthropic effort. But they have conducted their charity as they +have conducted their business, by drawing cheques. The clergy, the +secretaries, and the committees have done the active work, +administering the funds subscribed by the rich man's cheques. The +system of cheque-charity has its merits as well as its defects, +because the help given does generally reach the people for whom it was +intended. Compared, however, with the real thing, which is essentially +personal, it may be likened unto the good old method--which gave the +rich man so glorious an advantage--of getting into heaven by paying +for masses. Its principal defect is that it keeps apart the rich and +poor, creates and widens the breach between classes, causing those who +have the money to consider that it is theirs by Divine right, and +those who have it not to forget that the origin of wealth is thrift +and patience and energy, and that the way to wealth is always open for +all who dare to enter and to practise these virtues. + +It has been reserved for this century, almost for this generation, to +discover that the highest form of charity is personal effort and +self-sacrifice. It has also been reserved for this time to show that +what was only possible in former times for those who were under vows, +so that in old days they man or woman who was moved by the enthusiasm +of humanity put on robe or veil and swore celibacy and obedience, can +really be practised quite as well without religious vows, peculiar +dress, articles of religion, papal allegiance, or anything of the +kind. The doubter, the agnostic, the atheist, may as truly sacrifice +himself and give up his life for humanity as the most saintly of the +faithful. There was an enthusiast fifteen years ago who cheerfully +endured prison and exile, poverty and persecution, for what seemed to +him the one thing in the world desirable and necessary to mankind. I +believe he was an atheist. Then came a time when, for a brief moment, +the dream was realized. And immediately afterwards it crumbled to the +dust. When all was lost, the poor old man arose, and, bareheaded, his +white hair flying behind him in the breeze, this martyr to humanity +mounted a barricade, and stood there until the bullets brought him +death. This is the enthusiasm which may be intensified, disciplined, +and ennobled by religion, but it is independent of religion; it is a +personal quality, like the power of feeling music or writing poetry. +When it is encouraged and developed, it produces men and women who can +only find their true happiness in renouncing all personal ambitions, +and giving up all hopes of distinction. They have hitherto sought the +opportunity of satisfying this instinctive yearning in the Church and +in the convent. They have now found a readier if not a happier way, +with more liberty of action and fewer chains of rule and custom, +outside the Church, as lay-helpers. It seems to me, perhaps because I +am old enough to have fallen under the influence of Maurice's +teaching, that a large part of this voluntary spirit is due to the +writings of that great teacher and his followers. Certainly the +College for Working Men and Women was founded by men of his school, +and has grown and now flourishes exceedingly, and is a monument of +voluntary effort sustained, passing from hand to hand, continually +growing, and always bringing together more and more closely those who +teach and those who are taught. Cheque-charity may harden the heart of +him who gives, and pauperize him who takes. That charity which is +personal can neither harden nor pauperize. + +Considering these things, therefore, the impulse to personal effort +which has fallen upon us, the greatness of the work that is to be +done, the simplicity of the means to be employed, and the cooperation +of the better kind of working men themselves, I cannot but think that +the promoters of this scheme have only to hold up their hands in order +to collect as many voluntary teachers as they wish to have. + +There is a selfish side to this scheme which ought not to be entirely +overlooked. It is this: The wealth of Great Britain is not, as some +seem to suppose, a gold-mine into which we can dig at pleasure; nor is +it a mine of coal or iron into which we can dig as the demand arises. +Our wealth is nothing but the prosperity of the country, and this +depends wholly on the industry, the patience, and the skill of the +working man; everything we possess is locked up, somehow or other, in +industrial enterprise, or depends upon the success of industrial +enterprise; our railways, our ships, our shares of every kind, even +the interest of our National Debt, depend upon the maintenance of our +trade. The dividends even of gas and water companies depend upon the +successful carrying on of trade and manufactures. We may readily +conceive of a time when--our manufactures ruined by superior foreign +intelligence and skill, our railways earning no profit, our carrying +trade lost, our agriculture destroyed by foreign imports, our farms +without farmers, our houses without tenants--the boasted wealth of +England will have vanished like a splendid dream of the morning, and +the children of the rich will have become even as the children of the +poor; all this may be within measurable distance, and may very well +happen before the death of men who are now no more than middle-aged. +Considering this, as well as the other points in favour of the scheme +before us, it may be owned that it is best to look after the boys and +girls while it is yet time. + +[1886.] + + + + + +THE PEOPLE'S PALACE + + + +Now that the foundations of the Palace are fairly laid, and the walls +of the Great Hall are rapidly rising, and the future existence of this +institution for good or for evil seems assured, it may be permitted to +one who has watched day by day, with the keenest interest, the result +of Sir Edmund Currie's appeals, to offer a few remarks on the manner +in which these appeals have been received, and on the mental attitude +of the public towards the class whom it is desired to befriend. + +I. It is, to begin with, highly significant that the recreative side +of the Palace has not been so strongly insisted upon as its +educational side. Is this because the working man, for whom the Palace +is building, has suddenly developed an extraordinary ardour for +education, and a previously unexpected desire for the acquisition of +knowledge in all its branches? Not at all. It is because the +recreative part of the scheme has few attractions for the general +public, and because the educational part, once it began to assume a +practical shape, was seen to possess possibilities which could be +grasped by everyone. Whatever be the future of the Palace as regards +the recreation of the people, one thing is quite clear--that its +educational capacities are almost boundless, and that there will be +founded here a University for the People of a kind hitherto unknown +and undreamed of. + +The recreation of the people, in fact, has proved a stumbling-block +rather than an attraction. It is a new idea suddenly presented to +people who have never considered the subject of recreation at all, +save in connection with skittles, so to speak. Now it seems hardly +necessary to erect a splendid palace for the better convenience of the +skittle alley. The objections, in fact, to supporting the scheme on +the ground of its recreative aims show a mixture of prejudice and +ignorance which ought to astonish us were we not daily, in every +business transaction and in every talk with friend or stranger, +encountering, and very likely revealing, the most wonderful prejudice +and ignorance. One should never be surprised at finding great black +patches in every mind. + +The black patch which concerns us, in the minds of those who have been +asked to support the People's Palace, is the subject of recreation. +'There are enough music-halls. What have the working classes to do +with recreation? If we give anything for the people it will be for +their improvement, not for their amusement.' To these three objections +all the rest may be reduced. Each objection points to a prejudice of +very ancient standing, or else to a deep-seated ignorance of the whole +subject. + +To deal with the first. It is assumed that recreation means amusement, +idle and purposeless, if not skittles with beer and tobacco, then the +music-hall with beer and tobacco, the comic man bawling a topical song +and executing the famous clog-dance. If one points out that it is not +amusement that is meant, but recreation, which is explained to mean a +very different thing, while a truer conception of what recreation +really means may be seized, then there remains a rooted disbelief as +to the power of the working man to rise above his beer and skittles. +It is a disbelief not at all based upon familiarity with the manners +and customs of the working man, because the ordinary well-to-do +citizen, however much he may have read of manners and customs in other +countries, is, as a rule, perfectly ignorant and perfectly incurious +as to those of his fellow-countrymen; nor is it based upon the belief +that the working man is imperfect in mind or body; but on an assurance +that the working man will never lift himself to the level of the +higher form of recreation, simply because the ordinary man knows +himself and his own practice. He desires to be amused, and according +to his manner of life he finds amusement in tobacco, reading, cards, +music, or the theatre. + +Consider the well-to-do man in pursuit of recreation. He has a club; +he goes to his club every day; perhaps he gets whist there; very +likely he belongs to one of the modern sepulchral places where the +members do not know each other and every man glares at his neighbour. +There is a billiard-table in all clubs as well as a card-room. Apart +from cards and billiards the clubs recognise no form of recreation +whatever. There are not in any club that I know, except the Savage, +musical instruments: if you were to propose to have a piano, and to +sing at it, I suppose the universal astonishment would be too great +for words. At the Arts, I believe, some of the members sometimes hang +up pictures of their own for exhibition and criticism, but at no other +club is there any recognition of Art. There are good libraries at two +or three clubs, but many have none. In fact, the clubs which belong to +gentlemen are organized as if there was no other occupation possible +for civilized people in polite society, except dining, smoking, +reading papers, or playing whist and billiards. The working men who +have recently established clubs of their own in imitation of the +West-End clubs are said to be finding them so dull that, where they +cannot turn them into political organizations, they have tolerated the +introduction of gambling. When clubs were first established gambling +was everywhere the favourite recreation, so that the working men are +only beginning where their predecessors began sixty years ago. + +Of all the Arts the average man, be he gentleman or mechanic, knows +none. He has never learned to play any instrument at all; he cannot +use his voice in taking a part, he cannot paint, draw, carve in wood +or ivory, use a lathe, or make anything that the wide world wants to +use. He cannot write poetry, or drama, or fiction; he is no orator; he +plays no games of cards except whist, and no other games at all of any +kind. What can he do? He can practise the trade he has learned, by +which he makes his money. He knows how to convey property, how to buy +and sell stock and shares, how to carry on business in the City. This, +if you please, is all he knows. And when you propose that the working +man shall, have an opportunity of learning and practising Art in any +of its multitudinous varieties, he laughs derisively, because, which +is a very natural and sensible thing to do, he puts himself in that +man's place, and he knows that he would not be tempted to undergo the +drudgery and the drill of learning one of the Arts, even did that Art +appear to him in the form of a nymph more lovely than Helen of Troy. + +The second objection belongs to the old order of prejudice. It used to +be assumed that there were two distinct orders of human beings; it was +the privilege of the higher order to be maintained by the labour of +the lower; for the higher order was reserved all the graces, +refinements, and joys of this fleeting life. The lower order were +privileged to work for their betters, and to have, in the brief +intervals between work and sleep, their own coarse enjoyments, which +were not the same as those of the upper class; they were ordained by +Providence to be different, not only in degree, but also in kind. The +privileges of the former class have received of late years many +grievous knocks. They have had to admit into their body, as capable of +the higher social pleasures and of polite culture, an enormous +accession of people who actually work for their own bread--even people +in trade; and it is beginning to be perceived that their +amusements--also, which seems the last straw, their vices--can +actually be enjoyed by the base mechanical sort, insomuch that, if +this kind of thing goes on, there must in the end follow an effacement +of all classes, and the peer will walk arm and arm with the +blacksmith. But class distinctions die hard, and the working men are +not yet all ready for the disciplined recreation which will help to +break down the barriers, and we may not look for this millennium +within the lifetime of living men. It is enough to note that the old +feeling still lingers even among those who, a hundred years ago, when +class distinctions were in their worst and most odious form, would +have been ranked among those incapable of refinement and ignorant of +polite manners. + +The third objection, that the people should only be helped in the way +of education and self-improvement, is, at first sight, worthy of +respect. But it involves the theory that it is the duty of the working +man when he has done his day's work to devote his evenings to more +work of a harder kind. There is a kind of hypocrisy in this feeling. +Why should the working man be fired with that ardour for knowledge +which is not expected of ourselves? I look round among my own +acquaintances and friends, and I declare that I do not know a single +household, except where the head of it is a literary man, and +therefore obliged to be always studying and learning, in which the +members spend their evenings after the day's work in the acquisition +of new branches of learning. One may go farther: even of those who +belong to the learned professions, few indeed there are who carry on +their studies beyond the point where their knowledge has a marketable +value. The doctor learns his craft as thoroughly as he can, and, after +he has passed, reads no more than is just necessary to keep his eyes +open to new lights; the solicitor knows enough law to carry on his +business, and reads no more. As for the schoolmaster--who ever heard +of a classical master reading any more Latin and Greek than he reads +with the boys? and who ever heard of a mathematical master keeping up +his knowledge of the higher branches, which put him among the +wranglers of his year, but are not wanted in the school? Even the lads +who have just begun to go into the City, and who know very well that +their value would be enormously increased by a practical and real +knowledge of French, German, or shorthand, will not take the trouble +to acquire it. Yet, with the knowledge of all this, we expect the +working man in his hours of leisure, and after a day physically +exhausting, to sit down and work at something intellectual. There are, +without doubt, some men so strong and so avid of knowledge that they +will do this, but these are not many, and they do not long remain +working men. + +The People's Palace offers recreation to all who wish to fit +themselves for its practice and enjoyment. But it is recreation of a +kind which demands skill, patience, discipline, drill, and obedience +to law. Those who master any one of the Arts, the practice of which +constitutes true recreation, have left once and for ever the ranks of +disorder: they belong, by virtue of their aptitude and their +education--say, by virtue of their Election--to the army of Law and +Order. They will not, we may be sure, be recruited from those whom +long years of labour and want of cultivation have tendered stiff of +finger, slow of ear and of eye, impenetrable of brain. We must get +them from the boys and girls. We must be content if the elders learn +to take delight in the hand-work which they cannot execute, the +decorative work which they can never hope wholly to understand, the +music and singing in which they themselves will never take a part. + +But they will by no means be left out. They will have the library, the +writing and reading rooms, the conversation and smoking rooms, with +those games of skill which are loved by all men. There will be +entertainments, concerts, and performances for them. And for those who +desire to learn there will be classes, lectures, and lecturers. At the +same time, I do not, I confess, anticipate a rush of young working men +to share in these joys and privileges. This part of the Palace will +grow and develop by degrees, because it is through the boys and girls +that the real work and usefulness of the Palace will be effected, and +not by means of the men. Of course, there will be from the outset a +small proportion capable of rightly using the place. For all these +reasons, it seems as if we may be very well contented that the +recreation part of the scheme has been for the moment kept in the +background. + + +II. Let us turn to the educational side of the scheme. + +When a lad has passed the standards--very likely a bright, clever +little chap, who had passed the sixth and even the seventh standard +with credit--it becomes necessary for him immediately to earn the +greater part of his own living. It is not in the power of his father, +who lives from week to week, or even from day to day, to apprentice +his boys and put them to a trade. They must earn their living at once. +What are they to do? + +At the very age when these boys have reached the point when the +intellect, already partly trained and the hand, not yet trained at +all, should begin to work together, they are faced by the terrible +fact--how terrible to them they little know--that they can be taught +no trade. They must go out into the world with a pair of unskilled +hands, and nothing more. Consider. A country lad learns every day +something new; he learns continually by daily practice how to use his +hands and his strength, by the time he is eighteen he has become a +very highly skilled agriculturist; he knows and can do a great many +most useful and necessary things. But the town lad, if he learns no +trade, learns nothing. He will never have any chance in life; he can +never have any chance; he is foredoomed to misery; he will all his +life be a servant of the lowest kind; he will never have the least +independence; he will, in all probability, be one of those who wait +day by day for the chance gifts of Luck. At the best, he can but get +into the railway service, or into some house of business where they +want porters and carriers. + +There is, however, a great demand for boys, who can earn five +shillings a week as shop boys, errand boys, and so forth. Our clever +lad, therefore, who has done so well at school, becomes a fruiterer's +lad, cleans out the shop, carries round the baskets, and is generally +useful; he gets a rise in a year or two, to seven shillings and +sixpence; presently he is dismissed to make room for a younger boy who +will take five shillings. Shall we follow the lad farther? If he gets, +as we hope he may, steady employment, we see him next, at the age of +fifteen, marching about the streets in the evening with a girl of the +same age to whom he makes love, and smoking 'fags,' or cigarettes. +There are thousands of such pairs to be seen everywhere; in Victoria +Park on Sundays, or Hampstead Heath on Saturday evenings, every +evening in the great thoroughfares--in Oxford Street as much as in +Whitechapel, in the music-halls and in the public-houses. You may see +them sitting together on doorsteps as well as promenading the +pavement. If there is any way of spending the evenings more +destructive of every good gift and useful quality of manhood and +womanhood than this, I know not what it is. The idleness and +uselessness of it, the precocious abuse of tobacco, the premature and +forced development of the emotions which should belong to love at a +later period, the loss of such intellectual attainments as had already +been acquired, the vacuous mind, the contentment to remain in the +lower depths--in a word, the waste and wanton ruin of a life involved +in such a youth, make the contemplation of this pair the most +melancholy sight in the world. The boy's early cleverness is gone, the +brightness has left his eyes, he reads no more, he has forgotten all +he ever learned, he thinks only now of keeping his berth, if he has +one, or of getting another if he has lost his last. But there is worse +to follow, for at eighteen he will marry the little slip of a girl, +and by the time she is five-and-twenty there will be half a dozen +children born in poverty and privation for a similar life of poverty +and privation, and the hapless parents will have endured all that +there is to be endured from the evils of hunger, cold, starving +children, and want of work. + +This couple were thrown together because they were left to themselves +and uncared for; they marry because they have nothing else to think +about; they remain in misery because the husband knows no trade, and +because of mere hands unskilled and ignorant there are already more +than enough. + +The Palace is going to take that boy out of the streets: it is going +to remove both from boy and girl the temptation--that of the idle +hand--to go away and get married. It will fill that lad's mind with +thoughts and make those hands deft and crafty. + +In other words, the Palace will open a great technical school for all +the trades as well as for all the Arts. It is reckoned that three +years' training in the evenings will give a boy a trade. Once master +of a trade his future is assured, because somewhere in the world there +is always a want of tradesmen of every kind. There may be too many +shoemakers in London while they are wanted in Queensland; +cabinet-makers and carpenters may be overcrowded here, but there are +all the English-speaking countries in the world to choose from. + +There can be no doubt that the schools will be crowded. The success of +the schools at the old Polytechnic (where there are 8,000 boys), of +the Whittington Club, of the Finsbury Technical Schools, leave no +doubt possible that the East-End Palace Schools will be crammed with +eager learners. The Palace is in the very heart and centre of East +London, with its two millions, mostly working men; trams, trains, and +omnibuses make it accessible from every part of this vast city--from +Bromley, Bow and Stratford, from Poplar, Stepney and Ratcliff, from +Bethnal Green and Spitalfields. Yet but two or three years, and there +will be 20,000 boys and more flocking to those gates which shut out +the Earthly Hell of ignorance, dependence, and poverty, and open the +doors to the Earthly Paradise of skilled hands and drilled eye, of +plenty and the dignity of manhood. Why, if it were only to stop these +early marriages--if only for the sake of the poor child-mother and the +unborn children doomed, if they see the light, to life-long +misery--one would shower upon the Palace all the money that is asked +to complete it. Think--with every stone that is laid in its place, +with every hour of work that each mason bestows upon its walls, there +is another couple rescued, one more lad made into a man, one more girl +suffered to grow into a woman before she becomes a mother, one more +humble household furnished with the means of a livelihood, one more +unborn family rescued from the curse of hopeless poverty. + +The remaining portions of the scheme, with its provision for women as +well as men, its entertainments, its University extension lectures, +reading-rooms, and schools of Art in all its branches, can only be +fully realized when the first generation of these boys has passed +through the technical schools, and they have learned to look upon the +Palace as their own, to consider its halls and cloisters the most +delightful place in the world. And what the Palace may then become, +what a perennial fountain it may prove of all that makes for the +purification and elevation of life, one would fain endeavour to +depict, but may not, for fear of the charge of extravagance. + +III. There is one other point which those who have read the +correspondence and comments upon the proposed institution in the +papers have noted with amusement rather than with astonishment. It is +a point which comes out in everything that has been written on the +scheme, except by the actual founders. It is the profound distrust +with which the more wealthy classes regard the working men--not the +poor, so-called, but the working men. They do not seem even to have +begun trusting them: they speak and think of them as if they were +children in leading-strings; as if they were certain to accept with +gratitude whatever gifts may be bestowed upon them, even when they are +safe-guarded and carefully regulated as for mischievous boys; as if +the working men were constantly looking for guidance to the class +which has the money. It is true that the working men are always +looking for guidance, just like the rest of us. 'Lord, send a leader!' +It is the cry of all mankind in all ages. But that the working men +regard the people who live in villas, and are genteel, as possessing +more wisdom than themselves is by no means certain. + +This feeling was, of course, most deeply marked when the great Drink +Question arose, as it was bound to arise. We have heard how meetings +were called, and resolutions passed by worthy people against the +admission of intoxicating drinks into the Palace. At one of the +meetings they had the audacity to pass a resolution that 'East London +will never be satisfied until intoxicating drink of any kind is +prohibited in the Palace.' East London! with its thousands of +public-houses! Dear me! Then, if East London passed such a resolution, +its hypocrisy surpasses the hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees. +If, however, a little knot of people choose to call themselves East +London, or Babylon, or Rome, and to pass resolutions in the name of +those cities, we can accept their resolutions for what they are worth. +Whether the working man will adopt them and put them into practice is +another matter altogether. + +Let us remember, and constantly bear in mind, that the Palace is to be +_governed by the people for themselves_. Otherwise it would be better +for East London that it had never been erected. Whatever we do or +resolve is, in fact, subject to the will of the governing body. As for +passing a resolution on drink for the Palace, we might just as well +resolve that drink shall not be sold to the members of the House of +Commons, and expect them instantly to close their cellars. If the +governing body wish to have drink in the Palace they will have it, +whether we like it or not. But it shows the profound distrust of the +people that these restrictions should be attempted and these +resolutions passed. For my own part, considering the needlessness of +drink in such a place, the abundant facilities provided outside, and +the enormous additional trouble, danger, and expense entailed by +letting drink be sold in a place where there will be every evening +thousands of young people, I am quite sure that the governing +body--that is to say, the chosen representatives of East London--will +never admit it within their walls. + +We do not trust the working man. We have given over to him the whole +of the power. All the power there is we have given to him, because he +stands in an enormous majority. We have made him absolute master of +this realm of Great Britain and Ireland. What could we do more for a +man whom we blindly and implicitly trusted? Yet the working man, for +whom we have done so much, we have not yet begun to trust. + + + + + +SUNDAY MORNING IN THE CITY + + +On Saturday afternoon, when the last of the clerks bangs the great +door behind him and steps out of the office on his way home; when the +shutters of the warehouses are at last all closed; there falls upon +the street a silence and loneliness which lasts from three o'clock on +Saturday till eight o'clock on Monday--a sleep unbroken for forty-one +long hours. In the main arteries, it is true, there is always a little +life; the tramp of feet never ceases day or night in Fleet Street or +Cheapside. But in all the narrow streets branching north and south, +east and west, of the great thoroughfares there is silence--there is +sleep. This Sabbath of forty hours' duration is absolutely +unparalleled in any other City of the world. There is no other place, +there never has been any other place, in which not only work ceases, +but where the workers also disappear. In that far-off City of the +Rabbis called Sambatyon, where live the descendants of the Ten Tribes, +the river which surrounds and protects the City with its broad and +mighty flood, too strong for boats to cross, ceases to flow on the +Sabbath; but it is not pretended that the people cease to live there. +Of no other City can it be said that it sleeps from Saturday night +till Monday morning. + +An attempt is made to awaken the City every Sunday morning when the +bells begin to ring, and there is as great and joyful a ringing from +every church tower or steeple as if the bells were calling the +faithful, as of old, by the hundred thousand; they go on ringing +because it is their duty; they were hung up there for no other +purpose; hidden away in the towers, they do not know that the people +have all gone away, and that they ring to empty houses and deserted +streets. For there is no response. At most one may see a solitary +figure dressed in black stuff creeping stealthily along like a ghost +on her way from the empty house to the empty church. When the bells +leave off silence falls again, there is no one in the street. One's +own footsteps echo from the wall; we walk along in a dream; old words +and old rhymes crowd into the brain. It is a dead City--a City newly +dead--we are gazing upon the dead. + + Life and thought have gone away + Side by side. + All within is dark as night. + In the windows is no light; + And no murmur at the door + So frequent on its hinge before. + +Silence everywhere. The blinds are down in every window of the tall +stack of offices, the doors are all closed, if there are shutters they +are up, there are no carte in the streets, no porters carry burdens, +there are no wheelbarrows, there is no more work done of any kind or +sort. Even the taverns and the eating-shops are shut--no one is +thinking of work. To-morrow--Monday--poverty will lift again his cruel +arm, and drive the world to work with crack of whip. The needle-woman +will appear again with her bundle of work; the porters, the packers, +the carmen, the clerks, the merchants themselves will all come +back--the vast army of those who earn their daily bread in the City +will troop back again. But as for to-day, nobody works; we are all at +rest; we are at peace; we are taking holiday. + +This is the day--this is the time--for those who would study the City +and its monuments. It is only on this day, and at this time, that the +churches are all open. It is only on this day, and at this time, that +a man may wander at his ease and find out how the history of the past +is illustrated by the names of the streets, by the houses and the +sites, and by the few old things which still remain, even by the old +things, names and all, which have perished. The area of the City is +small; its widest part, from Blackfriars to the Tower, is but a single +mile in length, and its greatest depth is no more that half a mile But +it is so crowded and crammed full of sites sacred to this or that +memory of its long life of two thousand busy years, there is so much +to think of in every street, that a pilgrim may spend all his Sunday +mornings for years and never get to the end of London City. I should +hardly like to say how many Sunday mornings I have myself spent in +wandering about the City, Yet I can never go into it without making +some new discovery. Only last week, for instance, I discovered in the +very midst of the City, in its most crowded part, nothing less than a +house--with a private garden. I had thought that the last was +destroyed about four years ago when they pulled down a certain noble +old merchant's mansion, No, there is one other stall left; perhaps +more. There are gardens, I know, belonging to certain Companies' +Halls; there is the ivy-planted garden of Amen Court; there are +burying-grounds laid out as gardens; but this is the only house I know +in the City which has a private garden at the back. One must not say +where it is, otherwise that garden will be seized and built upon. This +the owner evidently fears, for he has surrounded it by a high wall, so +that no one shall be able to seize it, no rich man shall covet it, and +offer to buy it and build great warehouses upon it, and the +underground railway shall not dig it out and swallow it up. + +In such journeyings and wanderings one must not go with an empty mind, +otherwise there will be neither pleasure nor profit. The traveller, +says Emerson, brings away from his travels precisely what he took +there. Not his mind but his climate, says Horace, does he change who +travels beyond the seas. In other words, if a man who knows nothing of +archæology goes to see a collection of flint implements, or a person +ignorant of art goes to see a picture gallery, he comes away as +ignorant as he went, because flint implements by themselves, or +pictures by themselves, teach nothing. They can teach nothing. So, if +a man who knows nothing of history should stand before Guildhall on +the quietest Sunday in the whole year he will see nothing but a +building, he will hear nothing but the fluttering wings of the +pigeons. And if he wanders in the streets he will see nothing but tall +and ugly houses, all with their blinds pulled down. Before he goes on +a pilgrimage in the City he must first prepare his mind by reading +history. This is not difficult to find. If he is in earnest he will +get the great 'Survey of London,' by Strype and Stow, published in the +year 1720 in two folio volumes. If this is too much for him, there are +Peter Cunningham, Timbs, Thornbury, Walford, Hare, Loftie, and a dozen +others, all of whom have a good deal to tell him, though there is +little to tell, save a tale of destruction, after Strype and Stow. + +Thus, before he begins he should learn something of Roman London, +Saxon London, Norman London, of London medieval, London under the +Tudors, London of the Stuarts, and London of the Georges. He should +learn how the municipality arose, gaining one liberty after another, +and letting go of none, but all the more jealously guarding each as a +sacred inheritance; how the trade of the City grew more and more; how +the Companies were formed, one after the other, for the protection of +trade interests. Then he should learn how the Sovereign and great +nobles have always kept themselves in close connection with the City, +even in the proudest times of the Barons, even in the days when the +nobles were supposed to have most despised the burgesses and the men +of trade. He should learn, besides, how the City itself, its houses, +and its streets, grew and covered up the space within the wall, and +spread itself without; he should learn the meaning of the names--why +one street is called College Hill and another Jewry and another +Minories. Armed with such knowledge as this, every new ramble will +bring home to him more and more vividly the history of the past. He +will never be solitary, even at noon on Sunday morning even in Suffolk +Street or Pudding Lane, because all the streets will be thronged with +figures of the dead, silent ghosts haunting the scenes where they +lived and loved and died, and felt the fierce joys of venture, of +risk, and enterprise. + +But let no man ramble aimlessly. It is pleasant, I own, to wander from +street to street idly remembering what has happened here; but it is +more profitable to map out a walk beforehand, to read up all that can +be ascertained about it before sallying forth, and to carry a notebook +to set down the things that may be observed or discovered. + +Or, which is another method, he may consider the City with regard to +certain divisions of subjects. He may make, for instance, a special +study of the London churches. The City, small as it is, formerly +contained nearly 150 parishes, each with its church, its +burying-ground, and its parish charities. Some of these were not +rebuilt after the Great Fire, some have been wickedly and wantonly +destroyed in these latter days. A few yet survive which were not +burned down in that great calamity. These are St. Helen and St. +Ethelburga; St. Katherine Cree, the last expiring effort of Gothic, +consecrated by Archbishop Laud; All Hallows, Barking, and St. Giles. +Most of the existing City churches were built by Wren, as you know. I +think I have seen them nearly all, and in every one, however +externally unpromising, I have found something curious, Interesting, +and unexpected--some wealth of wood-carving, some relic of the past +snatched from the names, some monument, some association with the +medieval city. + +Of course, it is well to visit these churches on the Saturday +afternoon or Monday morning, when they are swept before and after the +service; but as one is never quite certain of finding them open, it +is, perhaps, best to take them after service on the Sunday. If you +show a real interest in the church, you will find the pew-opener or +verger pleased to let you see everything, not only the monuments and +the carvings in the church, but also the treasures of the vestry, in +which are preserved many interesting things--old maps, portraits, old +deeds and gifts, old charities--now all clean swept away by the +Charity Commission--ancient Bibles and Prayer-books, muniment chests, +embroidered palls, old registers with signatures historical--all these +things are found in the vestry of the City church. + +Then there are the churchyards. We are familiar with the little oblong +area open to the street, surrounded by tall warehouses, one tomb left +in the middle, and three headstones ranged against the wall, patches +of green mould to represent grass, and a litter of scraps of paper and +orange-peel. This is fondly believed to be the churchyard of some old +church burned down or rebuilt. There are dozens of these in the City; +it is sometimes difficult to find out the name of the church to which +they once belonged. Every time a building is erected adjacent to them +they become smaller, and when they happened to lie behind the houses +they were shut in and forgotten, covered over and built upon when +nobody was looking, and so their very memory perished. + +It is curious to look for them. For instance, there is a certain great +burying ground laid down in Strype's map of the year 1720. It is there +represented as so large that to cover it up would be a big thing. No +single man would dare to appropriate all at once so huge a slice of +land. I went, therefore, in search of this particular churchyard, and +I found a very curious thing. On one side of the ground stands a great +printing office. As the gate was open I walked in. At the back of the +printing office is a flagged court or yard. In the court the boys--it +was the dinner hour--were leaping and running. Not one of them knows +now that he is running and jumping over the bones of his ancestors. It +is clean forgotten that here was a great churchyard. Another great +burying ground long since built over lay at the back of Botolph's Lane +in Thames Street. That is built over and forgotten. There is another +where lies the dust of the marvellous boy Chatterton. I am due that of +the thousands who every day seek this spot not one can tell or +remember that it was once a burying ground. On this spot the paupers +of the parish of St. Andrew's, Holborn, were buried--Chatterton, that +poor young pauper! with them. And it is now a market, Farringdon +Market--close to Farringdon Street--opposite the site of the Old Fleet +Prison whence came so many of the bodies which now lie beneath these +flags. + +Or, a pilgrim may consider the City with special reference to the +great Houses which formerly stood within its walls. There were palaces +in the City--King Athelstan had one; King Richard II. lived for a time +in the City; Richard III. lived here; Henry V. had a house here. Of +the great nobles, the Beaumonts, Scropes, Arundells, Bigods all had +houses. The names of Worcester House, Buckingham House, Hereford +House, suggest the great Lords who formerly lived here. And the names +of Crosby Hall, Basinghall, Gresham House, College Hill, recall the +merchants who built themselves palaces and entertained kings. + +Again, there are the City Companies and their Halls. Very few visitors +ever make the round of the Halls: yet they are most curious, and +contain treasures great and various. It is not always easy to see +these treasures, but the conscientious pilgrim, who, by the way, must +not seek entrance into these Halls on the Sunday morning, will +persevere until he has managed to see them all. + +As for the sights of the City--the things which Baedeker enumerates, +and which foreign and country visitors run to see--the Tower, the +Monument, the Guildhall, the Mansion House, the Royal Exchange, the +Mint, St. Paul's, and the rest, I say nothing, because the pilgrim +does not waste his Sunday morning over things to be seen as well on +any other day. But there are some things to be seen every day which +are best approached on Sunday, by reason of the peace which prevails +and a certain solemnity in the air. I would, for instance, choose to +visit the Charter House on a Sunday morning, I would sit with the +Pensioners in their quiet chapel, and I would stroll about the +peaceful courts of that holy place, venerable not only for its history +but for the broken and ruined lives--often ruined only in purse, but +rich in honour and in noble record--of the fifty bedesmen or +pensioners who rest there in the evening of their days. And quite +apart from its associations, I know no more beautiful place in the +City or anywhere else than the ancient Charter House. + +Again, we may wander in the City and remember the great men who have +made certain streets for ever famous. Thus, to stand in Bread Street +is to think of Milton. Here he was born, here he was baptized, here +for a time he lived. Or we may visit Blackfriars and remember the +Elizabethan dramatists. Here Shakespeare had a house--it was among the +ruins of old Blackfriars Abbey, part of the foundations of which were +found when some years ago they made an extension of the Times' +printing office. Broad Street recalls the memory of Gresham, while +that of Whittington lingers along Thames Street and College Hill and +clings to St. Michael's Church. In that parish he lived and died. Here +he founded the College of the Holy Spirit which still exists in the +Highgate Almshouses; on its site the boys of Mercers School now study +and play. His tomb was burned in the Great Fire and his ashes +scattered, but the very streets preserve his name. Boas Alley, of +which there are two, records the fact that Whittington brought a +conduit or Boss of fresh water to this spot. It was he who paved +Guildhall, he who built a hall for the Grey Friars, now the Blue Coat +School, he who rebuilt Newgate; of all the merchants who have adorned +the great City not one whose memory is so widely spread and whose +example has so long survived his death. When country boys think of the +City of London they still think of Whittington. + +Perhaps you are afraid that the preparation, the reading, for such a +walk about the City would be dull. I have never found it so. I do not +think that anyone who has the least love for, or knowledge of, old +things would find such reading dull. There are, to be sure, some +unhappy creatures who love nothing but what is new, and esteem +everything for what it will fetch. These are the people who are always +trying to pull down the City churches. They are at this very moment +pulling down another, the poor old church of St. Mary Magdalen. The +tower is down, the roof is off the windows are all broken, in a week +or two the church will be razed to the ground, and in a year or two +its very memory will have perished. Why, we vainly ask, do they pull +it down? What harm has the old church done? To be sure its +congregation numbered less than a dozen, but then we must not estimate +an old church by a modern congregation. There has been a church here +from time immemorial. It is mentioned in the year 1120. It was, +therefore, certainly a Saxon church. Edward the Confessor probably +worshipped here--perhaps King Alfred himself. One of its Rectors was +John Carpenter, executor of Whittington, and founder of the City of +London School; another was Barham, author of the 'Ingoldsby Legends.' +The loss of St. Mary Magdalen is one more link with the past +absolutely destroyed, never to be replaced. These destroyers, for +instance, are the kind of people who pulled down Sion College. As +often as I pass the spot where that place once stood I mourn and +lament its loss more and more. It was the college of the City clergy, +they were its guardians, it was their library, it contained their +reading hall; formerly it held their garden, and it had their +almshouses. There was hardly any place in the City more peaceful or +more beautiful than the long narrow room which held their library. It +was a very ancient site--formerly the site of Elsing's Hospital, the +oldest hospital in the whole City. Everything about it was venerable, +and yet the City clergy themselves--its official guardians--sold it +for what it would fetch, and stuck up the horrid thing on the +embankment which they call Sion College. There they still use the old +seal and arms of the college. But there is no more a Sion +College--that is gone. You cannot replace it. You might as well tear +down King's College Chapel at Cambridge and call Dr. Parker's City +Temple by that honoured and ancient name. Well, for such people as the +majority of the City clergy who can do such things, there can be no +voice or utterance at all from ancient stones, the past can have no +lessons, no teachings for them, there can be no message to them from +the dead who should still live for them in memory and association. For +them the ancient City and its citizens are dumb. + +Now that we know what to expect and what to look for, let us take +together a Sunday morning ramble in a certain part of the City. We +will go on a morning in early summer, when the leaves of those trees +which still stand in the old City churchyards are bright with their +first tender green, and when the river, as we catch glimpses of it, +shows a broad surface of dancing waves across to the stairs and barges +of old Southwark. We will take this walk at the quietest hour in the +whole week, between eleven and twelve. All the churches are open for +service. We will look in noiselessly, but, indeed, we shall find no +congregations to disturb, only, literally, two or three gathered +together. + +I will take you to the very heart of the City. Perhaps you have +thought that the heart of the City is that open triangular space faced +by the Royal Exchange, and flanked by the Bank of England and the +Mansion House. We have taught ourselves to think this, in ignorance of +the City history. But a hundred and fifty years ago there was no +Mansion House, three hundred years ago there was no Royal Exchange, +and the Bank of England itself is but a mushroom building of the day +before yesterday. + +In the long life of London--it covers two thousand years--the chief +seat of its trade, the chief artery of its circulation, has been +Thames Street. Along here for seventeen hundred years were carried on +the chief events in the drama which we call the History of London. Its +past origin, its growth and expansion, are indicated along this line. +Here the City merchants of old--Whittingtons, Fitzwarrens, Sevenokes, +Greshams--thronged to do their business. To these wharves came the +vessels laden from Antwerp, Hamburg, Riga, Bordeaux, Lisbon, Venice, +Genoa, and far-off Smyrna and the Levant. This line stretches across +the whole breadth of the City. It indicates the former extent of the +City, what was behind it originally was the mass of houses built to +accommodate those who could no longer find room on the riverside. It +is now a narrow, dark, and dirty street; its south side is covered +with quays and wharves; narrow lanes lead to ancient river stairs; its +north side is lined with warehouses, the streets which run out of it +are also dark and narrow lanes with offices on either side. It is no +longer one of the great arteries of the City. Those who come here use +it not for a thoroughfare but for a place of business. When their +business is done they go away; the churches, of which there were once +so many, are more deserted here than in any other part of the City Let +me give you a little--a very little--of its history. + +Two thousand years ago, or thereabouts, the City of London was first +begun. At that time the Thames valley, where now stands Greater +London, was a vast morass, sometimes flooded at high tide, everywhere +low and swampy, studded with islands or bits of ground rising a few +feet above the level--such was Thorney Island, on which Westminster +Abbey was built; such was the original site of Chelsea and Battersea. + +On the south side the swamp and low ground continued until the ground +began to rise for the first low Surrey Hills at what is now called +Clapham Rise. On the north side the swamp was bordered by a +well-defined cliff from ten to thirty or forty feet high, which +followed a curve, approaching the river edge from the east till it +reached where is now Tower Hill, where it nearly touched the water, +and the spot now called Dowgate--a continuation of Walbrook +Street--where the river actually washed its base, and where it +presented two little hillocks side by side, with the +brook--Walbrook--running into the river between. This was a natural +site for a town--two hills, a tidal river in front, a freshwater +stream between. Here was a spot adapted both for fortification and for +communication with the outer world. Here, then, the town began to be +built. How the trade began I cannot tell you, but it did begin, and +grew very rapidly, Now, as it grew it became necessary for the people +to stretch out and expand; there was no longer any room on the two +hillocks; they, therefore, built a strong wall to keep out the river +and put up houses, quays, and store-houses above and along this +wall--portions of which have been found quite recently. The river once +kept out--although the cliff receded again--the marsh became dry land, +but, in fact, the cliff receded a very little way, and the slopes of +the streets north of Thames Street show exactly how far it went back. +Many hundreds of years later precisely the same course was adopted for +the rescue of Wapping from the marsh in which it stood. They built a +strong river wall, and Wapping grew up on and behind that wall, just +exactly as London itself had done long before. + +The citizens of London had, from a very early time, their two ports of +Billingsgate and Queenhithe, both of them still ports. They had also +their communication with the south by means of a ferry, which ran from +the place now called the Old Swan Stairs to a port or dock on the +Surrey side, still existing, afterwards called St. Mary of the Ferry, +or St. Mary Overies. The City became rapidly populous and full of +trade and wealth. Vast numbers of ships came yearly, bringing +merchandise, and taking away what the country had to export. Tacitus, +writing in the year 61, says that the City then was full of merchants +and their wares. It is also certain that the Londoners, who have +always been a pugnacious and a valiant folk, already showed that side +of their character, for we learn that, shortly before the landing of +Julius Cæsar, they had a great battle in the Middlesex Forest with the +people of Verulam, now St Albans. The Verulamites had reason to repent +of their rashness in coming out to meet the Londoners, for they were +routed with great slaughter, and never ventured on another trial of +strength. As for the site of the battle, it has been pretty clearly +demonstrated by Professor Hales that it took place close to Parliament +Hill, at Hampstead, and the barrow on the newly acquired part of the +Heath probably marks the burial-place of the forgotten heroes who +perished on that field. And as for the Londoners who fought and won, +let us remember that they came from this part of the modern City--from +Thames Street. + +The town was walled between the years 350 and 369. The building of the +Roman wall has determined down to these days the circuit of the City. +Now, here a very curious and suggestive point has been raised. In or +near all other Roman towns are remains of amphitheatres, theatres and +temples. There is an amphitheatre near Rutupiæ, the present +Richborough; everybody knows the amphitheatres of Nîmes, Arles and +Verona; but in or near London there have never been found any traces +of amphitheatres or temples whatever. Was the City then, so early, +Christian? Observe, again, that the earliest churches were dedicated, +not to British saints, or to the saints and martyrs of the second or +third centuries--the centuries of persecution--but to the Apostles +themselves--to St. Peter, St. Paul, St. James, St. Stephen, St. Mary, +St. Philip. These facts, it is thought, seem to indicate that very +early in the history of the City its people were Christians. When the +Roman wall was built, Thames Street already possessed most of the +streets which you now see branching northward up the hill, and south +to the river stairs, the space beyond was occupied by villas and +gardens, and the life of the merchants and Roman officers who lived in +them was as luxurious as wealth and civilization could make it. + +You now understand why I have called Thames Street the heart of the +City. It was the first part built and settled, the first cradle of the +great trade of England. More than this, it continued to be the thief +centre of trade; its wharves received the imports and exports; its +warehouses behind stored them; its streets which ran up the sloping +ground grew with the growth of the trade; new streets continually +sprang up until villas and gardens were gradually built over and the +whole area was covered; but all sprang in the first place from Thames +Street; everything grew out of the trade carried on along the river. +We are going to walk through all the five riverside wards belonging to +this street. There are one or two things to note in advance, if only +to show how this quarter remained the most populous and the most busy +part of London. The City of London has eighty companies. Forty of +these have--or had--Halls of their own. Out of the forty Halls no +fewer than twenty-two belong to these five wards, while one company, +the Fishmongers', had at one time six Halls, or places of meeting, in +and about Thames Street. Again, the City of London formerly had about +150 churches. Along the river, that is, in and about Thames Street +alone, there were at least twenty-four, or one-sixth of the whole +number. Lastly, to show the estimation in which this part was held, +out of the great houses formerly belonging to the King and nobles, +those of Castle Baynard, Cold Harbour, the Erber, Tower Royal, and the +King's Wardrobe belong to Thames Street, while the names of Beaumont, +Scrope, Derby, Worcester, Burleigh, Suffolk, and Arundell connect +houses in the five wards of Thames Street with noble families, in the +days when knights and nobles rode along the street, side by side with +the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of the City. + +In Thames Street are the ancient markets of Billingsgate and +Queenhithe. The former has been a market and a port for more than a +thousand years. Customs and tolls were paid here in the time of King +Ethelred the Second, that is, in the year 979. The exclusive sale of +fish here is comparatively modern, that is, it is not three hundred +years old. As for Queenhithe it is still more ancient than +Billingsgate. Its earliest name was Edred Hithe, that is, Edred's +wharf. It was given by King Stephen to the Convent of the Holy +Trinity. It returned, however, to the Crown, and was given by King +Henry III. to the Queen Eleanor, whence it was called the Queen's Bank +or Queenhithe. On the west side of Queenhithe lived Sir Richard +Gresham, father of Sir Thomas Gresham, in a great house that had +belonged to the Earls and Dukes of Norfolk. + +The splendid building of the Custom House on the south side is the +fifth Custom House that has been put up on the same spot. The first +was built by one John Churchman, Sheriff in the year 1385; the next in +the reign of Queen Elizabeth--it was furnished with high-pitched +gables and a water gate, this was burned down in the Great Fire. Wren +built the third, which was burned down in 1718; one Ripley built the +fourth, which was also burned down in 1814. The present building was +designed by David Laing and cost nearly half a million. + +Until quite recently a little narrow and dirty passage to the river, +known as Coldharbour Lane, commemorated the site of a great Palace, +known as the Cold Harbour, which stood here overlooking the river with +many gables. It was already standing in the reign of Edward II. It +belonged successively to Sir John Poultney; to John Holland, Duke of +Exeter--that Duke who was buried in St. Katherine's Hospital; to Henry +V., who lived here for a brief period when Prince of Wales; to Richard +III.; to the College of Heralds; and to Henry VIII. Finally, it was +burned in the Great Fire, but during the last hundred years of its +life the old Palace fell into decay and was let out in tenements to +poor people. The City Brewery now stands on the site of Cold Harbour. + +Close beside this great house--the site itself now entirely covered by +the railway--was the Steelyard. This was the centre of the German +trade; here the merchants of the Hanseatic League were permitted to +dwell and to store the goods which they imported. The history of the +German merchants in London is a very important chapter in that of +London. They came here in the year 1250, they formed a fraternity of +their own, living together, by Royal permission, in a kind of college, +with a great and stately hall, wharves, quays, and square courts. The +building is represented, before it was burned down in the Great Fire, +as picturesque, with many gables crowded together like the whole of +London. Their trade was extremely valuable to them; they imported +Rhenish wines, grain of all kinds, cordage and cables, pitch, tar, +flax, deal timber, linen fabrics, wax, steel, and many other things. +They obtained concession after concession until practically they +enjoyed a monopoly. For this they had to pay certain tolls or duties. +They were made, for instance, to maintain one of the City gates. They +were compelled to live together in their own quarters. Their monopoly +lasted for 300 years, during which the London merchants, especially +the Association called Merchant Adventurers, who belonged principally +to the Mercers' Company, continued to besiege the Sovereign with +petitions and complaints. It was not until the reign of Queen +Elizabeth that they were finally turned out and expelled the Kingdom. +Their house and grounds were converted into a store-house for the +Royal Navy. At the same time the old Navy Office, which had formerly +stood in Mark Lane, was transferred to the suppressed college and +chapel belonging to All Hallows, Barking, in Seething Lane, where you +may still see, if you go to look for them, the old stone pillars of +the gates and the old courtyard which was originally the court of the +college, then the court of the Navy Office, and now the court of the +warehouse belonging to the London Docks. As for the unfortunate +Steelyard, that, as I said, is now completely covered by the Cannon +Street Railway. As you walk under the railway arch you may now look +southward and say, 'Here for 300 years lived the Hanseatic +merchants--here the fraternity had their warehouses, their exchange, +their great Hall. Here the German porters loaded and cleared the +ships, the German clerks took notes and kept accounts, and the German +merchants bought and sold.' They ventured not far from their own +place; the Londoners have never loved foreigners or the sound of an +unknown language; they lived here making money as fast as they could +and then going home to Lubeck, Bremen, or Hamburg, others coming to +take their place. + +On Dowgate Hill was another famous old house called the Erber--which +is, I suppose, the same word as Harbour. It belonged at successive +periods to Lord Scroope, the Earl of Warwick, the Earl of Salisbury, +and to George, Duke of Clarence. This house, too, perished in the +Fire. In this street Sir Francis Drake lived, and here are now three +Companies' Halls. Close by, on Laurence Poultney Hill, lived Dr. +William Harvey, who discovered the circulation of the blood. + +In Suffolk Lane the Earls of Suffolk had a great house, and here, +before they moved to Charter House, stood the Merchant Taylors' +School. Three Companies had their Halls on the riverside--the +Watermen's at the bottom of Cold Harbour Lane; the Dyers' at the +bottom of Angel Alley; and the Vintners' which still stands close to +Southwark Bridge. + +Nearly at the end of the street was Baynard's Castle. You may still +see the name on the gate of a wharf, and it also gives its name to the +ward. This was the western fortress of the City, just as the Tower was +the eastern; but with this difference, that Castle Baynard belonged to +the City during the troubled time when the Crown and the City were +constantly in conflict. The Tower, on the other hand, always belonged +to the Crown. Baynard's Castle belonged, in fact, to the FitzWalters, +hereditary barons of the City. One of their functions was at the +outbreak of a war to appear at the west door of St. Paul's, armed and +mounted, with twenty attendants, there to receive from the Lord Mayor +the banner of the City, a horse worth £20, and £20 in money. Finally, +the castle became, I do not know how, Crown property. It was burned to +the ground, but rebuilt by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. Within this +castle the Duke of Buckingham offered the Crown to Richard III., and +here the Privy Council proclaimed Queen Mary. The castle afterwards +fell into the hands of the Earls of Shrewsbury. It was destroyed in +the Great Fire. It consisted of two courts: the south front of the +buildings faced the river, the north front, with the principal +entrance, was in Thames Street. + +In more ancient times there stood a tower west of Baynard's Castle +called Montfichet, but of this building very few memorials remain. +Again, there is said to have been a palace on Addle Hill, built by +Athelstan. The Wardrobe was another great house acquired by King +Edward III., close to the church still called St. Andrew's by the +Wardrobe. The memory of this house is still kept up by that very +interesting little square, which looks exactly like a place in a +southern French town, called Wardrobe Place. One of the court offices +was that of Master of the Wardrobe. In old days he resided in this +house and actually did take care of the King's clothes. The Queen's +wardrobe, on the other hand, was kept in the other royal house, called +Tower Royal, the house still surviving in the street so-called. This +was formerly King Stephen's palace. In the year 1331 it was granted by +the King to his Queen Philippa for her wardrobe. It was then called +'La Réal,' without the addition of the word 'tower,' and the meaning +and origin of the name are unknown. The palace stood in the parish of +St. Thomas Apostle, the church of which was not rebuilt after the +Fire; but the name of the church survives in a small fragment of the +street so-called. + +There were, therefore, in this small bit of London, at least four +royal palaces, besides the great houses of the nobles that I have +enumerated. Half the City companies had their Halls here; and even to +this day there are standing here and there one or two of the solid +houses built by the merchants in the narrow streets north of Thames +Street for their private residences. As late as the beginning of the +present century the house now called the 'Shades,' close to the Swan +Stairs, London Bridge, was built for his own town house by Lord Mayor +Garratt, who laid the foundation stone of London Bridge. Of the old +merchants' houses, rich with carved woodwork, built with black timber +round courts and gardens, not one now remains in the City. But there +are one or two remaining in the old inns of Southwark and the Old Bell +Inn, Holborn, Yet the last great house built in the City, the Mansion +House, was itself originally built round a court. + + * * * * * + +You may, if you try, reconstruct Thames Street as it was before the +Fire. Its breadth was exactly the same as at present. Eight stately +churches stood, each with its own burial-ground, along the street. The +palace of Baynard reared its gables on the right as you entered the +street from the west. Lower down, on the same side, stood the great +House of Cold Harbour, also gabled. The low-gabled warehouses stood +round Queenhithe and Billingsgate; the Custom House was thronged with +those who came to pay their tolls and clear their dues; the broad +court of the Steelyard--covered with boxes, bales, and casks, some +exposed, some under sheds--stretched southward, behind its three great +gates. On the river-side stood its stately Hall. The Halls of the +Companies, great and noble houses, proclaimed the wealth and power of +the merchants. On the north side stood the merchants' houses built +round their gardens. In those days they had no country houses, and +they wanted none. They could carry their falcons out into the fields +which began on the other side of the City wall, or across the river in +the low-lying lands of Bermondsey and Redriffe. The street was already +crammed and thronged with porters, carts, and wheelbarrows; it was +full of noise; there were sailors and merchants from foreign parts. +Already the Levantine was here, lithe and supple, black of eye, ready +of tongue, quick with his dagger; and the Italian, passionate and +eager; and the Spaniard, the Fleming, the Frenchman, and the Dutchman. +All nations were here, as now, but they were then kept on board their +ships or in their own quarters by night. The great merchants walked up +and down, conversing, heedless of the noise, to which their ears were +so accustomed as to be deaf to them. The merchants had reason to be +grave. Always there were wars and rumours of wars; always some pirate +from French shores was attacking their ships; their latest venture was +too often overdue--the ship had to run the gauntlet of the Algerian +galleys, and no one could tell what might have happened; there was +plague at Antwerp--it might be lurking in the bales lying on the quay +before them; there was civil war brewing; fortune is fickle--he who +was rich yesterday may be a beggar to-morrow. Merchants, in those +days, did well to be grave. + +I have considered, so far, some of the great houses standing in or +along this historic street. Let us now note a few of the churches. + +All Hallows, Barking, the first walking from the east, commemorates in +its name the fact that it formerly belonged to the great convent of +Barking in Essex, the gateway of which still stands at the entrance to +the churchyard. This church escaped the Fire. Here was buried the poet +Surrey, Bishop Fisher, and Archbishop Laud. + +In the church of St. Magnus, London Bridge, the remains of Miles +Coverdale, the translator of the Bible, rest: they were removed here +from the Church of St. Bartholomew when it was pulled down to make +more room for the Bank of England. This church has perhaps the finest +tower, lantern, and steeple of all the City churches, in front is a +small court planted with trees, whose foliage is strangely refreshing +in early summer down in this dark place almost below the approach to +the bridge. The church itself is fine but not very interesting. I have +sometimes counted as many as ten present at the Sunday morning +service. + +St. Michael's, Tower Royal, is Whittington's church. In this parish he +lived, though a house was long shown as his in Hart Street; here he +died; in this church he was buried--behind this church stood his +College of the Holy Spirit with its bedesmen and its ecclesiastical +staff. If we pass the church and look in at the gateway on the north, +we shall notice unmistakable signs of an ancient collegiate foundation +in the disposition of the modern houses. Here is now the Mercers' +School. In the church there is no adequate monument to the memory of +London's greatest merchant--the man who did so much for the City which +made him so rich, who royally entertained the King and Queen in his +own house, and at the close of the banquet burned before their eyes +the royal bond for £60,000, worth in modern money at least £600,000. I +never think of Whittington without remembering a certain verse in the +Book of Proverbs, 'Blessed is he who is diligent in his business, for +he shall stand before Kings.' + +St. Nicolas Cole Abbey is, within, a kind of gilded drawing-room. +There is gilt everywhere, gilt and wood-carving; and on Sunday +morning, thanks to the strange taste of the Vicar, who likes to dress +himself up in scarlet and green, and to have a boy making a smell with +a swinging pot, there are sometimes more than the customary ten for a +congregation. + +Of St. Mary Somerset only the tower remains. Why they pulled down this +church, why they pulled down St. Michael's Queenhithe, or St. Nicolas +Olave, or St. Mary Magdalen, all in this part of London, passeth man's +understanding. If you want to find out what these churches were like, +you may consult the book by Britton and Le Keux on London Churches. +They are represented in a collection of steel engravings drawn after +the fashion of eighty years ago, so as to bring out the strong points +with great softening of unpleasant details. + +Many of the churches were not rebuilt after the Fire. This shows that +by the year 1666 this part of London was already beginning to be +occupied more by warehouses than by private dwellings. Among them were +St. Andrew Hubberd, St. Benet Sherehog, St. Leonard, Eastcheap, All +Hallows the Less, Holy Trinity, St. Martin Vintry, St. Laurence +Poultney, St. Botolph Billingsgate, St. Thomas Apostle, St. Mary +Mounthaut, St. Peter's, St. Gregory's by St Paul, and St. Anne's +Blackfriars--thirteen in all. + +At St. Benet's Church--where Fielding was married--you may now hear +the service in the Welsh language, just as in Wellclose Square you may +hear it in Swedish. In Endell Street, Holborn, you may hear it in +French, and in Palestine Place, Hackney, you may hear it in Hebrew. + +Certain spaces on old maps of London are coloured green to show where +stood certain churchyards. In Thames Street the churchyard of All +Hallows the Less still stands; in Queen Street that of St. Thomas +Apostle, in Laurence Poultney Hill that of St. Laurence Poultney, a +very large and well-kept churchyard; St. Dunstan's, All Hallows, +Barking, St. Stephen's, Wallbrook all keep their churchyards still. +That of St. Anne's, Blackfriars, stands retired behind the houses. But +those of St. Nicolas Cole Abbey, St. Mary Somerset, St. Botolph's, and +St. Mary Magdalen, formerly large and crowded churchyards, still kept +sacred in the year 1720, and, indeed, until further interments were +forbidden in the year 1845, are now quite built over and forgotten. +What has become of the churchyards of St. Michael Royal, St. Michael +Queenhithe, St. Benet, St. George, St. Leonard Eastcheap, and St. +James's Garlickhithe? Alas! no one knows. The tombstones are taken +away, the ground has been dug up, the coffin-wood burned, the bones +dispersed, and of all the thousands, the tens of thousands, of +citizens buried there--old and young, rich and poor, Lord Mayors, +aldermen, merchants, clerks, craftsmen, and servants--the dust of all +is scattered abroad, the names of all are as much forgotten as if they +never lived. But they have lived, and if you seek their monument--look +around. It is in the greatness, the wealth, the dignity of the modern +City, that these ancient citizens live again. Life is a long united +chain with links that cannot be separated; the story of humanity is +unbroken; it will go on continuous and continued until the Creator's +great purpose is fulfilled, and the drama of Man complete. + +In one or two of these churches all the churchyard left is a square +yard or two at the back of the church. In one of these tiny +enclosures--I forget which now--I found that of all the headstones and +tombs which had once adorned this now sadly diminished and attenuated +acre, there was left but one. It was a tombstone in memory of an +infant, aged eight months. Out of all the people buried here, who had +lived long and been held in honour, and thought that their memory +would last for many generations--perhaps as long as that of +Whittington or Gresham--only the name of this one baby left! + +It was in the vaults of St. James's Garlickhithe, that they found, +before the place was bricked up and left to be disturbed no more, many +bodies in a state of perfect preservation--mummies. One of these has +been taken out and set up in a cupboard in the outer chapel. He is +decently guarded by a door kept locked, and is neatly framed in glass. +You can see him by special application to the pew-opener, who holds a +candle and points out his beauties. Perhaps in all the City churches +there is no other object quite so curious as this old nameless mummy. +He was once, it may be, Lord Mayor--a good many Lord Mayors have been +buried in this church--or, perhaps, he was a Sheriff, and wore a +splendid chain; or he may have been the poorest and most miserable +wretch of his time. It matters not; he has escaped the dust--he is a +mummy. Somehow he contrives to look superior, as if he was conscious +of the fact and proud of it; he cannot smile, or nod, or wink, but he +can look superior. + +One more church and one more scene, and I have done. + +There is a church on the south side of Thames Street, close to the +site of the Steelyard--_i.e._, almost under the railway arches which +lead to Cannon Street. It is not very much to look at. With one +exception, indeed, it is the ugliest church in the whole of London +City. It is a big oblong box, with round windows stuck in here and +there. Wren designed it, I believe, one evening after dinner, when he +had taken a glass or two more than his customary allowance of port or +mountain. It is the church of All Hallows the Great combined with All +Hallows the Less. Before the Fire it was a very beautiful church, with +a cloister running round its churchyard on the south, and to the east +looking out upon the lane that led to Cold Harbour House. This is the +church to which the Hanseatic merchants for three hundred years came +for worship. Very near the church, on the river bank, stood the +Waterman's Hall. To this church, therefore, came the 'prentices of the +watermen every Sunday. The Great Fire carried it away, with Steelyard, +cloister, church, Waterman's Hall, Cold Harbour House, and everything. +Then Wren, as I said, took a pencil and ruler one evening, and showed +how a square box could be constructed on the site. Now, let no man +judge by externals. If you can get into the church, you will be +rewarded by the sight of an eighteenth-century church left exactly as +it was in those days of grave and sober merchants, and of City +ceremonies and church services attended in state. On the north side, +against the middle of the wall, is planted what we now most +irreverently call a Three Decker. But we must not laugh, because of +all Three Deckers this is the most splendid. There is nothing in the +City more beautiful than the wood-carving which makes pulpit, +sounding-board, reading-desk, and clerk's desk in this church precious +and wonderful. The old pews, which, I rejoice to say, have never been +removed, are many of them richly and beautifully carved. The Pew of +State, reserved for the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs, is a miracle of +art. Across the very middle of the church is a screen in carved wood, +the most wonderful screen you ever saw, presented as a sign of +gratitude to their old church by the Hanseatic merchants. The east end +is decorated by a wooden table, richly carved, and the reredos is +designed by the great Christopher himself, no doubt for partial +expiation of his sin in making the church externally so hideous. It +consists of a marble panel, on which are engraved the Ten +Commandments. On the left hand stands Aaron in full pontificals, as +set forth in the Book of Leviticus or that of Numbers. On the right +hand, in more humble guise, stands Moses, facing the people, in his +hand a rod of gold. With this he points to the Commandments, which +contain among them the whole Rule of Life. The pews are not arranged +to face the east, but are gathered round the pulpit in the north, the +most desirable being those nearest the pulpit. In the outside pews, +close to the east end, sat the watermen's 'prentices. These young +villains, who were afterwards doubtless for the most part hanged, +spent their time during the service in carving their initials, with +rude pictures of ships, houses, and boats, with dates on the sloping +desks before them. There they still remain--because the pews are +unchanged--with the dates 1720, 1730, 1740, and so on. From father to +son they kept up this sacrilegious practice, hidden in the depths of +the high pews. There is, behind the church, a vestry with wainscoting +and more carved wood, and with portraits of bygone rectors, plans of +the parish, and notes on the old parish charities, which exist no +longer. Through the vestry window one looks out upon a little garden. +It is the churchyard. One sees how the old cloister ran. Formerly it +was full of tombs, and he who paced the cloister could meditate on +death. Now it is an open and cheerful place, all the old tombs cleared +away--which is loss, not gain--and in the month of May it is bright +with flowers. At first sight it seems as if it was so completely +hidden away that it could gladden no man's eyes. That is not so. In +the City Brewery there are certain windows which overlook this garden. +These are the windows of the rooms where dwells a chief +officer--Master Brewer, Master Taster, Master Chemist, I know not--of +the City Brewery, last of the many breweries which once stood along +the river bank. He, almost the only resident of the parish, can look +out, solitary and quiet, of the cool of an evening in early summer, +and rejoice in the beauty of this little garden blossoming, all for +his eyes alone, in a desert. + +As one looks about this church the present fades away and the past +comes back. I see, once more, the Rector, what time George II. was +King, in full wig and black gown poring over his learned discourse. +Below him sleeps his clerk. In the Lord Mayor's pew, robed in garments +and chain of state, sleep my Lord Mayor and the worshipful the +Sheriffs; their footmen, all in blue and green and gold, are in the +aisle; the rich merchant of the parish clad in black velvet, with silk +stockings, silver buckles to their shoes, ruffles of the richest and +rarest lace at their throats, and neckties of the same hanging down +before their long silk waistcoats, sleep in their pews--it is a sleepy +time for the Church Service--beside their wives and children. The +wives are grand in hoop, and powder, and painted face. We know what is +meant by rank in the days of King George II. In this our parish church +we who are or have been wardens of our Company, aldermen who have +passed the chair, or aldermen who have yet to pass it, know what is +due to our position, and we bear ourselves accordingly. Our +inferiors--the clerks and the shopkeepers, the servants and the +'prentices--we treat, it is true, with kindliness, but with +condescension and with authority. On those rare occasions when a Peer +comes to our civic banquets we show him that we know what is due to +his rank. As for our life, it is centred in this parish; here are our +houses, here we live, here we carry on our business, and here we die. +Our poor are our servants when they are young and strong, and they are +our bedesmen when they grow old. Do not, I entreat you, believe in the +fiction that the Church neglected the poor during the last century. +The poor in the City parishes were not neglected; the boys were +thoroughly taught and conscientiously flogged, thieves were sent away +to be hanged, bad characters were turned out, the old were maintained, +the sick were looked after, the parish organization was complete, and +the parish charities were many and generous. Outside the City +precincts, if you please, where there were few churches and great +parishes, always increasing in population, the poor were neglected; +but in the City, never. But listen, the Rector has done. He finishes +his sermon with an admirable and appropriate quotation in Greek, which +I hope the congregation understands; he pronounces the prayer of +dismissal; the organ rolls, the clerk wakes up, the Lord Mayor and the +Sheriffs walk forth and get into their coaches, the footmen climb up +behind, the merchants and their families go out next, while all the +people stand in respect to their masters and betters, and those set in +authority over them. Then come out the people themselves, and last of +all the 'prentice boys come clattering down the aisle. + +Let us awake. It is Sunday morning again, but the merchants are gone. +The eighteenth century is gone, the church is empty, the parish is +deserted; the streets are silent. + + Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep; + The river glideth at his own sweet will! + Dear God! the very houses seem asleep, + And all that mighty heart to lying still. + + + + + +A RIVERSIDE PARISH + + + +There are several riverside parishes east of London Bridge, not +counting the ancient towns of Deptford and Greenwich, which formerly +lay beyond London, and could not be reckoned as suburbs. The history +of all these parishes, till the present century, is the same. Once, +south-east and west of London, there stretched a broad marsh covered +with water at every spring-tide; here and there rose islets overgrown +with brambles, the haunt of wild fowl innumerable. In course of time, +the city having grown and stretching out long arms along the bank, +people began to build a broad and strong river-wall to keep out the +floods. This river-wall, which still remains, was gradually extended +until it reached the mouth of the river and ran quite round the low +coast of Essex. To the marshes succeeded a vast level, low-lying, +fertile region affording good pasture, excellent dairy farms, and +gardens of fruit and vegetables. The only inhabitants of this district +were the farmers and the farmhands. So things continued for a thousand +years, while the ships went up the river with wind and tide, and down +the river with wind and tide, and were moored below the Bridge, and +discharged their cargoes into lighters, which landed them on the quays +of London Port, between the Tower and the Bridge. As for the people +who did the work of the Port--the loading and the unloading--those +whom now we call the stevedores, coalers, dockers, lightermen, and +watermen, they lived in the narrow lanes and crowded courts above and +about Thames Street. + +When the trade of London Port increased, these courts became more +crowded; some of them overflowed, and a colony outside the walls was +established in St. Katherine's Precinct beyond the Tower. Next to St. +Katherine's lay the fields called by Stow 'Wappin in the Wose,' or +Wash, where there were broken places in the wall, and the water poured +in so that it was as much a marsh as when there was no dyke at all. +Then the Commissioners of Sewers thought it would be a good plan to +encourage people to build along the wall, so that they would be +personally interested in its preservation. Thus arose the Hamlet of +Wapping, which, till far into the eighteenth century, consisted of +little more than a single long street, with a few cross lanes, +inhabited by sailor-folk. At this time--toward the end of the +sixteenth century--began that great and wonderful development of +London trade which has continued without any cessation of growth. +Gresham began it. He taught the citizens how to unite for the common +weal; he gave them a Bourse; he transferred the foreign trade of +Antwerp to the Thames. Then the service of the river grew apace; where +one lighter had sufficed there were now wanted ten; 'Wappin in the +Wose' became crowded Wapping; the long street stretched farther and +farther along the river beyond Shad's Well; beyond Ratcliff Cross, +where the 'red cliff' came down nearly to the river bank; beyond the +'Lime-house'; beyond the 'Poplar' Grove. The whole of that great city +of a million souls, now called East London, consisted, until the end +of the last century, of Whitechapel and Bethnal Green, still +preserving something of the old rusticity; of Mile End, Stepney and +Bow, and West Ham, hamlets set among fields, and market-gardens, and +of that long fringe of riverside streets and houses. In these rural +hamlets great merchants had their country-houses; the place was +fertile; the air was wholesome; nowhere could one see finer flowers or +finer plants; the merchant-captains--both those at sea and those +retired--had houses with garden-bowers and masts at Mile End Old Town. +Captain Cook left his wife and children there when he went sailing +round the world; here, because ground was cheap and plentiful, were +long rope-walks and tenter-grounds; here were roadside taverns and +gardens for the thirsty Londoner on a summer evening, here were placed +many almshouses, dotted about among the gardens, where the poor old +folks lengthened their days in peace and fresh air. + +But Riverside London was a far different place, here lived none but +sailors, watermen, lightermen, and all those who had to do with ships +and shipping, with the wants and the pleasures of the sailors. Boat +builders had their yards along the bank; mastmakers, sail-makers, +rope-makers, block-makers; there were repairing docks dotted about all +down the river, each able to hold one ship at a time, like one or two +still remaining at Rotherhithe, there were ship-building yards of +considerable importance; all these places employed a vast number of +workmen--carpenters, caulkers, painters, riggers, carvers of +figure-heads, block-makers, stevedores, lightermen, watermen, +victuallers, tavern-keepers, and all the roguery and _ribauderie_ that +always gather round mercantile Jack ashore. A crowded suburb indeed it +was, and for the most part with no gentlefolk to give the people an +example of conduct, temperance, and religion--at best the +master-mariners, a decorous people, and the better class of tradesmen, +to lead the way to church. And as time went on the better class +vanished, until the riverside parishes became abandoned entirely to +mercantile Jack, and to those who live by loading and unloading, +repairing and building the ships, and by showing Jack ashore how +fastest and best to spend his money. There were churches--Wapping, St. +George in the East, Shadwell, and Lime-house--they are there to this +day; but Jack and his friends enter not their portals. Moreover, when +they were built the function of the clergyman was to perform with +dignity and reverence the services of the church; if people chose not +to come, and the law of attendance could not be enforced, so much the +worse for them. Though Jack kept out of church, there was some +religious life in the place, as is shown not only by the presence of +the church, but also by that of the chapel. Now, wherever there is a +chapel it indicates thought, independence, and a sensible elevation +above the reckless, senseless rabble. Some kinds of Nonconformity also +indicate a first step toward education and culture. + +He who now stands on London Bridge and looks down the river, will see +a large number of steamers lying off the quays; there are barges, +river steamers, and boats, there are great ocean steamers working up +or down the river; but there is little to give the stranger even a +suspicion of the enormous trade that is carried on at the Port of +London. That port is now hidden behind the dock gates; the trade is +invisible unless one enters the docks and reckons up the ships and +their tonnage, the warehouses and their contents. But a hundred years +ago this trade was visible to any who chose to look at it, and the +ships in which the trade was carried on were visible as well. + +Below the Bridge, the river, for more than a mile, pursues a straight +course with a uniform breadth. It then bends in a north-easterly +direction for a mile or so, when it turns southward, passing Deptford +and Greenwich. Now, a hundred years ago, for two miles and more below +the bridge, the ships lay moored side by side in double lines, with a +narrow channel between. There were no docks; all the loading and the +unloading had to be done by means of barges and lighters in the +stream. One can hardly realize this vast concourse of boats and barges +and ships; the thousands of men at work; the passage to and fro of the +barges laden to the water's edge, or returning empty to the ship's +side; the yeo-heave-oh! of the sailors hoisting up the casks and bales +and cases; the shouting, the turmoil, the quarrelling, the fighting, +the tumult upon the river, now so peaceful. But when we talk of a +riverside parish we must remember this great concourse, because it was +the cause of practices from which we suffer to the present day. + +Of these things we may be perfectly certain. First, that without the +presence among a people of some higher life, some nobler standard, +than that of the senses, this people will sink rapidly and surely. +Next, that no class of persons, whether in the better or the worser +rank, can ever be trusted to be a law unto themselves. For which +reason we may continue to be grateful to our ancestors who caused to +be written in large letters of gold, for all the world to see once a +week, "THUS SAITH THE LORD, Thou shalt not steal," and the rest: the +lack of which reminder sometimes causes in Nonconformist circles, it +is whispered, a deplorable separation of faith and works. The third +maxim, axiom, or self-evident proposition is, that when people can +steal without fear of consequences they will steal. All through the +last century, and indeed far into this, the only influence brought to +bear upon the common people was that of authority. The master ruled +his servants; he watched over them; when they were young he had them +catechized and taught the sentiments proper to their station; he also +flogged them soundly; when they grew up he gave them wages and work; +he made them go to church regularly; he rewarded them for industry by +fraternal care; he sent them to the almshouse when they were old. At +church the sermons were not for the servants but for the masters; yet +the former were reminded every week of the Ten Commandments, which +were not only written out large for all to see, but were read out for +their instruction every Sunday morning. The decay of authority is one +of the distinguishing features of the present century. + +But in Riverside London there were no masters, and there was no +authority for the great mass of the people. The sailor ashore had no +master; the men who worked on the lighters and on the ships had no +master except for the day; the ignoble horde of those who supplied the +coarse pleasures of the sailors had no masters; they were not made to +do anything but what they pleased; the church was not for them; their +children were not sent to school; their only masters were the fear of +the gallows, constantly before their eyes at Execution Dock and on the +shores of the Isle of Dogs, and their profound respect for the cat o' +nine tails. They knew no morality; they had no other restraint; they +all together slid, ran, fell, leaped, danced, and rolled swiftly and +easily adown the Primrose Path; they fell into a savagery the like of +which has never been known among English-folk since the days of their +conversion to the Christian faith. It is only by searching and poking +among unknown pamphlets and forgotten books that one finds out the +actual depths of the English savagery of the last century. And it is +not too much to say that for drunkenness, brutality, and ignorance, +the Englishman of the baser kind touched about the lowest depth ever +reached by civilized man during the last century. What he was in +Riverside London has been disclosed by Colquhoun, the Police +Magistrate. Here he was not only a drunkard, a brawler, a torturer of +dumb beasts, a wife-beater, a profligate--he was also, with his +fellows, engaged every day, and all day long, in a vast systematic +organized depredation. The people of the riverside were all, to a man, +river pirates; by day and by night they stole from the ships. There +were often as many as a thousand vessels lying in the river; there +were many hundreds of boats, barges, and lighters engaged upon their +cargoes, They practised their robberies in a thousand ingenious ways; +they weighed the anchors and stole them; they cut adrift lighters when +they were loaded, and when they had floated down the river they +pillaged what they could carry and left the rest to sink or swim; they +waited till night and then rowed of to half-laden lighters and helped +themselves. Sometimes they went on board the ships as stevedores and +tossed bales overboard to a confederate in a boat below; or they were +coopers who carried under their aprons bags which they filled with +sugar from the casks; or they took with them bladders for stealing the +rum. Some waded about in the mud at low tide to catch anything that +was thrown to them from the ships. Some obtained admission to the ship +as rat-catchers, and in that capacity were able to carry away plunder +previously concealed by their friends; some, called _scuffle-hunters_, +stood on the quays as porters, carrying bags under their long white +aprons in which to hide whatever they could pilfer. It was estimated +that, taking one year with another, the depredations from the shipping +in the Port of London amounted to nearly a quarter of a million +sterling every year. All this was carried on by the riverside people. +But, to make robbery successful, there must be accomplices, +receiving-houses, fences, a way to dispose of the goods. In this case +the thieves had as their accomplices the whole of the population of +the quarter where they lived. All the public-houses were secret +markets attended by grocers and other tradesmen where the booty was +sold by auction, and, to escape detection, fictitious bills and +accounts were given and received. The thieves were known among +themselves by fancy names, which at once indicated the special line of +each and showed the popularity of the calling; they were bold pirates, +night plunderers, light horsemen, heavy horsemen, mud-larks, game +lightermen, scuffle-hunters and gangsmen. Their thefts enabled them to +live in the coarse profusion of meat and drink, which was all they +wanted; yet they were always poor because their plunder was knocked +down for so little; they saved nothing; and they were always egged on +to new robberies by the men who sold them drinks, by the women who +took their money from them, and by the honest merchants who attended +the secret markets. + +I dwell upon the past because the present is its natural legacy. When +you read of the efforts now being made to raise the living, or at +least to prevent them from sinking any lower, remember that they are +what the dead made them. We inherit more than the wealth of our +ancestors; we inherit the consequences of their misdeeds. It is a most +expensive thing to suffer the people to drop and sink; it is a sad +burden which we lay upon posterity if we do not continually spend our +utmost in lifting them up. Why, we have been the best part of two +thousand years in recovering the civilization which fell to pieces +when the Roman Empire decayed. We have not been fifty years in +dragging up the very poor whom we neglected and left to themselves, +the gallows, the cat, and the press-gang only a hundred years ago. And +how slow, how slow and sometimes hopeless, is the work! + +The establishment of river police and the construction of docks have +cleared the river of all this gentry. Ships now enter the docks; there +discharge and receive; the labourers can carry away nothing through +the dock-gates. No apron allows a bag to be hidden; policemen stand at +the gates to search the men; the old game is gone--what is left is a +surviving spirit of lawlessness; the herding together; the +hand-to-mouth life; the love of drink as the chief attainable +pleasure; the absence of conscience and responsibility; and the old +brutality. + +What the riverside then was may be learned by a small piece of +Rotherhithe in which the old things still linger. Small +repairing-docks, each capable of holding one vessel, are dotted along +the street; to each are its great dock-gates, keeping out the high +tide, and the quays and the shops and the caretaker's lodge; the ship +lies in the dock shored up by timbers on either side, and the workmen +are hammering, caulking, painting, and scraping the wooden hull; her +bowsprit and her figurehead stick out over the street, Between the +docks are small two-storied houses, half of them little shops trying +to sell something; the public-house is frequent, but the 'Humours' of +Ratcliff Highway are absent; mercantile Jack at Rotherhithe is mostly +Norwegian and has morals of his own. Such, however, as this little +village of Rotherhithe is, so were 'Wappin in the Wose,' Shadwell, +Ratcliff, and the 'Limehouse' a hundred years ago, with the addition +of street fighting and brawling all day long; the perpetual adoration +of rum, quarrels over stolen goods; quarrels over drunken drabs; +quarrels over all-fours; the scraping of fiddles from every +public-house, the noise of singing, feasting, and dancing, and a +never-ending, still-beginning debauch, all hushed and quiet--as birds +cower in the hedge at sight of the kestrel--when the press-gang swept +down the narrow streets and carried off the lads, unwilling to leave +the girls and the grog, and put them aboard His Majesty's tender to +meet what fate might bring. + +The construction of the great docks has completely changed this +quarter. The Precinct of St. Katherine's by the Tower has almost +entirely disappeared, being covered by St. Katherine's Dock; the +London Dock has reduced Wapping to a strip covered with warehouses. +But the church remains, so frankly proclaiming itself of the +eighteenth century, with its great churchyard. The new Dock Basin, +Limehouse Basin, and the West India Docks, have sliced huge cantles +out of Shadwell, Limehouse, and Poplar; the little private docks and +boat-building yards have disappeared; here and there the dock remains, +with its river gates gone, an ancient barge reposing in its black mud; +here and there may be found a great building which was formerly a +warehouse when ship-building was still carried on. That branch of +industry was abandoned after 1868, when the shipwrights struck. Their +action transferred the ship-building of the country to the Clyde, and +threw out of work thousands of men who had been earning large wages in +the yards. Before this unlucky event Riverside London had been rough +and squalid, but there were in it plenty of people earning good +wages--skilled artisans, good craftsmen. Since then it has been next +door to starving. The effect of the shipwrights' strike may be +illustrated in the history of one couple. + +The man, of Irish parentage, though born in Stepney, was a painter or +decorator of the saloons and cabins of the ships. He was a +highly-skilled workman of taste and dexterity; he could not only paint +but he could carve; he made about three pounds a week and lived in +comfort. The wife, a decent Yorkshire woman whose manners were very +much above those of the riverside folk, was a few years older than her +husband. They had no children. During the years of fatness they saved +nothing; the husband was not a drunkard, but, like most workmen, he +liked to cut a figure and to make a show. So he saved little or +nothing. When the yard was finally closed he had to cadge about for +work. Fifteen years later he was found in a single room of the meanest +tenement-house; his furniture was reduced to a bed, a table, and a +chair; all that they had was a little tea and no money--no money at +all. He was weak and ill, with trudging about in search of work; he +was lying exhausted on the bed while his wife sat crouched over the +little bit of fire. This was how they had lived for fifteen years--the +whole time on the verge of starvation. Well, they were taken away; +they were persuaded to leave their quarters and to try anther place, +where odd jobs were found for the man, and where the woman made +friends in private families, for whom she did a little sewing. But it +was too late for the man; his privations had destroyed his sleight of +hand, though he knew it not; the fine workman was gone. He took +painters' paralysis, and very often when work was offered his hand +would drop before he could begin it; then the long years of tramping +about had made him restless; from time to time he was fain to borrow a +few shillings and to go on the tramp again, pretending that he was in +search of work; he would stay away for a fortnight, marching about +from place to place, heartily enjoying the change and the social +evening at the public-houses where he put up. For, though no drunkard, +he loved to sit in a warm bar and to talk over the splendours of the +past. Then he died. No one, now looking at the neat old lady in the +clean white cap and apron who sits all day in the nursery crooning +over her work, would believe that she has gone through this ordeal by +famine, and served her fifteen years' term of starvation for the sins +of others. + +The Parish of St. James's, Ratcliff, is the least known of Riverside +London. There is nothing about this parish in the Guide-books; nobody +goes to see it. Why should they? There is nothing to see. Yet it is +not without its romantic touches. Once there was here a cross--the +Ratcliff Cross--but nobody knows what it was, when it was erected, why +it was erected, or when it was pulled down. The oldest inhabitant now +at Ratcliff remembers that there was a cross here--the name survived +until the other day, attached to a little street, but that is now +gone. It is mentioned in Dryden. And on the Queen's Accession, in +1837, she was proclaimed, among other places, at Ratcliff Cross--but +why, no one knows. Once the Shipwrights' Company had their hall here; +it stood among gardens where the scent of the gillyflower and the +stock mingled with the scent of the tar from the neighbouring +rope-yard and boat-building yard. In the old days, many were the +feasts which the jolly shipwrights held in their hall after service at +St. Dunstan's, Stepney. The hall is now pulled down, and the Company, +which is one of the smallest, worth an income of less than a thousand, +has never built another. Then there are the Ratcliff Stairs--rather +dirty and dilapidated to look at, but, at half-tide, affording the +best view one can get anywhere of the Pool and the shipping. In the +good old days of the scuffle-hunters and the heavy horsemen, the view +of the thousand ships moored in their long lines with the narrow +passage between was splendid. History has deigned to speak of Ratcliff +Stairs. 'Twas by these steps that the gallant Willoughby embarked for +his fatal voyage; with flags flying and the discharge of guns he +sailed past Greenwich, hoping that the King would come forth to see +him pass. Alas! the young King lay a-dying, and Willoughby himself was +sailing off to meet his death. + +The parish contains four good houses, all of which, I believe, are +marked in Roque's map of 1745. + +One of these is now the vicarage of the new church. It is a large, +solid, and substantial house, built early in the last century, when as +yet the light horsemen and lumpers were no nearer than Wapping. The +walls of the dining-room are painted with Italian landscapes, to which +belongs a romance. The paintings were executed by a young Italian +artist. For the sake of convenience he was allowed by the merchant who +then lived here, and employed him, to stay in the house. Now the +merchant had a daughter, and she was fair. The artist was a goodly +youth, and inflammable; as the poet says, their eyes met; presently, +as the poet goes on, their lips met; then the merchant found out what +was going on, and ordered the young man, with good old British +determination, out of the house. The young man retired to his room, +presumably to pack up his things. But he did not go out of the house; +instead of that, he hanged himself in his room. His ghost, naturally, +continued to remain in the house, and has been seen by many. Why he +has not long ago joined the ghost of the young lady is not clear +unless that, like many ghosts, his chief pleasure is in keeping as +miserable as he possibly can. + +The second large house of the parish is apparently of the same date, +but the broad garden in which it formerly stood has been built over +with mean tenement houses. Nothing is known about it; at present +certain Roman Catholic sisters live in it, and carry on some kind of +work. + +The third great house is one of the few surviving specimens of the +merchant's warehouse and residence in one. It is now an old and +tumbledown place. Its ancient history I know not. What rich and costly +bales were hoisted into this warehouse; what goods lay here waiting to +be carried down the Stairs, and so on board ship in the Pool; what +fortunes were made and lost here one knows not. Its ancient history is +gone and lost, but it has a modern history. Here a certain man began, +in a small way, a work which has grown to be great; here he spent and +was spent; here he gave his life for the work, which was for the +children of the poor. He was a young physician; he saw in this squalid +and crowded neighbourhood the lives of the children needlessly +sacrificed by the thousand for the want of a hospital; to be taken ill +in the wretched room where the whole family lived was to die; the +nearest hospital was two miles away. The young physician had but +slender means, but he had a stout heart. He found this house empty, +its rent a song. He took it, put in half a dozen beds, constituted +himself the physician and his wife the nurse, and opened the +Children's Hospital. Very soon the rooms became wards; the wards +became crowded with children; the one nurse was multiplied by twenty; +the one physician by six. Very soon, too, the physician lay upon his +death-bed, killed by the work. But the Children's Hospital was +founded, and now it stands, not far off, a stately building with one +of its wards--the Heckford Ward--named after the physician who gave +his own life to save the children. When the house ceased to be a +hospital it was taken by a Mr. Dawson, who was the first to start here +a club for the very rough lads. He, too, gave his life for the cause, +for the illness which killed him was due to overwork and neglect. +Devotion and death are therefore associated with this old house. + +The fourth large house is now degraded to a common lodging-house. But +it has still its fine old staircase. + +The Parish of St. James's, Ratcliff, consists of an irregular patch of +ground having the river on the south, and the Commercial Road, one of +the great arteries of London, on the north. It contains about seven +thousand people, of whom some three thousand are Irish Catholics. It +includes a number of small, mean, and squalid streets; there is not +anywhere in the great city a collection of streets smaller or meaner. +The people live in tenement-houses, very often one family for every +room--in one street, for instance, of fifty houses, there are one +hundred and thirty families. The men are nearly all +dock-labourers--the descendants of the scuffle-hunters, whose +traditions still survive, perhaps, in an unconquerable hatred of +government. The women and girls are shirt-makers, tailoresses, +jam-makers, biscuit-makers, match-makers, and rope-makers. + +In this parish the only gentlefolk are the clergy and the ladies +working in the parish for the Church; there are no substantial +shopkeepers, no private residents, no lawyer, no doctor, no +professional people of any kind; there are thirty-six public-houses, +or one to every hundred adults, so that if each spends on an average +only two shillings a week, the weekly takings of each are ten pounds. +Till lately there were forty-six, but ten have been suppressed; there +are no places of public entertainment, there are no books, there are +hardly any papers except some of those Irish papers whose continued +sufferance gives the lie to their own everlasting charges of English +tyranny. Most significant of all, there are no Dissenting chapels, +with one remarkable exception. Fifteen chapels in the three parishes +of Ratcliff, Shadwell, and St. George's have been closed during the +last twenty years. Does this mean conversion to the Anglican Church? +Not exactly; it means, first, that the people have become too poor to +maintain a chapel, and next, that they have become too poor to think +of religion. So long as an Englishman's head is above the grinding +misery, he exercises, as he should, a free and independent choice of +creeds, thereby vindicating and assorting his liberties. Here there is +no chapel, therefore no one thinks; they lie like sheep; of death and +its possibilities no one heeds; they live from day to day; when they +are young they believe they will be always young; when they are old, +so far as they know, they have been always old. + +The people being such as they are--so poor, so hopeless, so +ignorant--what is done for them? How are they helped upward? How are +they driven, pushed, shoved, pulled, to prevent them from sinking +still lower? For they are not at the lowest depths; they are not +criminals; up to their lights they are honest; that poor fellow who +stands with his hands ready--all he has got in the wide world--only +his hands--no trade, no craft, no skill--will give you a good day's +work if you engage him; he will not steal things; he will drink more +than he should with the money you give him; he will knock his wife +down if she angers him; but he is not a criminal. That step has yet to +be taken; he will not take it; but his children may, and unless they +are prevented they certainly will. For the London-born child very soon +learns the meaning of the Easy Way and the Primrose Path. We have to +do with the people ignorant, drunken, helpless, always at the point of +destitution, their whole thoughts as much concentrated upon the +difficulty of the daily bread as ever were those of their ancestor who +roamed about the Middlesex Forest and hunted the bear with a club, and +shot the wild goose with a flint-headed arrow. + +First there is the Church work; that is to say, the various agencies +and machinery directed by the Vicar. It may be new to some readers, +especially to Americans, to learn how much of the time and thoughts of +our Anglican beneficed clergymen are wanted for things not directly +religious. The church, a plain and unpretending edifice, built in the +year 1838, is served by the Vicar and two curates. There are daily +services, and on Sundays an early celebration. The average attendance +at the Sunday morning mid-day service is about one hundred; in the +evening it is generally double that number. They are all adults. For +the children another service is held in the Mission Room, The average +attendance at the Sunday-schools and Bible-classes is about three +hundred and fifty, and would be more if the Vicar had a larger staff +of teachers, of whom, however, there are forty-two. The whole number +of men and women engaged in organized work connected with the Church +is about one hundred and twenty-six. Some of them are ladies from the +other end of London, but most belong to the parish itself; in the +choir, for instance, are found a barber, a postman, a caretaker, and +one or two small shopkeepers, all living in the parish, When we +remember that Ratcliff is not what is called a 'show' parish, that the +newspapers never talk about it, and that rich people never hear of it, +this indicates a very considerable support to Church work. + +In addition to the church proper there is the 'Mission Chapel,' where +other services are held. One day in the week there is a sale of +clothes at very low prices. They are sold rather than given, because +if the women have paid a few pence for them they are less willing to +pawn them than if they had received them for nothing. In the Mission +Chapel are held classes for young girls and services for children. + +The churchyard, like so many of the London churchyards, has been +converted into a recreation ground, where there are trees and +flower-beds, and benches for old and young. + +Outside the Church, but yet connected with it, there is, first, the +Girls' Club. The girls of Ratcliff are all working-girls; as might be +expected, a rough and wild company, as untrained as colts, yet open to +kindly and considerate treatment. Their first yearning is for finery; +give them a high hat with a flaring ostrich feather, a plush jacket, +and a 'fringe,' and they are happy. There are seventy-five of these +girls; they use their club every evening, and they have various +classes, though it cannot be said that they are desirous of learning +anything. Needlework, especially, they dislike; they dance, sing, have +musical drill, and read a little. Five ladies who work for the church +and for the club live in the club-house, and other ladies come to lend +assistance. When we consider what the homes and the companions of +these girls are, what kind of men will be their husbands, and that +they are to become mothers of the next generation, it seems as if one +could not possibly attempt a more useful achievement than their +civilization. Above all, this club stands in the way of the greatest +curse of East London--the boy and girl marriage. For the elder women +there are Mothers' Meetings, at which two hundred attend every week; +and there are branches of the Societies for Nursing and Helping +Married Women. For general purposes there is a Parish Sick and +Distress Fund; a fund for giving dinners to poor children; there is a +frequent distribution of fruit, vegetables, and flowers, sent up by +people from the country. And for the children there is a large room +which they can use as a play-room from four o'clock till half-past +seven. Here they are at least warm; were it not for this room they +would have to run about the cold streets; here they have games and +pictures and toys. In connection with the work for the girls, help is +given by the Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants, +which takes charge of a good many of the girls. + +For the men there is one of the institutions called a Tee-To-Tum Club, +which has a grand café open to everybody all day long; the members +manage the club themselves; they have a concert once a week, a +dramatic performance once a week, a gymnastic display once a week; on +Sunday they have a lecture or an address, with a discussion after it; +and they have smaller clubs attached for football, cricket, rowing, +and swimming. + +For the younger lads there is another club, of one hundred and sixty +members; they also have their gymnasium, their football, cricket, and +swimming clubs; their classes for carpentry, wood-carving, singing, +and shorthand; their savings' bank, their sick club, and their +library. + +Only the better class of lads belong to this club. But there is a +lower set, those who lounge about the streets at night, and take to +gambling and betting. For these boys the children's play-room is +opened in the evening; here they read, talk, box, and play bagstelle, +draughts, and dominoes, These lads are as rough as can be found, yet +on the whole they give very little trouble. + +Another important institution is the Country Holiday; this is +accomplished by saving. It means, while it lasts, an expenditure of +five shillings a week; sometimes the lads are taken to the seaside and +live in a barn; sometimes the girls are sent to a village and placed +about in cottages. A great number of the girls and lads go off every +year a-hopping in Kent. + +Add to these the temperance societies, and we seem to complete the +organized work of the Church. It must, however, be remembered that +this work is not confined to those who attend the services or are +Anglican in name. The clergy and the ladies who help them go about the +whole parish from house to house; they know all the people in every +house, to whatever creed they belong; their visits are looked for as a +kind of right; they are not insulted even by the roughest; they are +trusted by all; as they go along the streets the children run after +them and hang upon their dress; if a strange man is walking with one +of these ladies, they catch at his hands and pull at his +coat-tails--we judge of a man, you see, by his companions. All this +machinery seems costly. It is, of course, far beyond the slender +resources of the parish. It demands, however, no more than £850 a +year, of which £310 is found by different societies and the sum of +£540 has to be raised somehow. + +There are, it has been stated, no more than seven thousand people in +this parish, of whom nearly half belong to the Church of Rome. It +would therefore almost seem as if every man, woman, and child in the +place must be brought under the influence of all this work. In a sense +all the people do feel the influence of the Church, whether they are +Anglicans or not. The parish system, as you have seen, provides +everything; for the men, clubs; for the women, nursing in sickness, +friendly counsel always, help in trouble; the girls are brought +together and kept out of mischief and encouraged in self-respect by +ladies who understand what they want and how they look at things, the +grown lads are taken from the streets, and, with the younger boys, are +taught arts and crafts, and are trained in manly exercises just as if +they were boys of Eton and Harrow. The Church services, which used to +be everything, are now only a part of the parish work. The clergy are +at once servants of the altar, preachers, teachers, almoners, leaders +in all kinds of societies and clubs, and providers of amusements and +recreation. The people look on, hold out their hands, receive, at +first indifferently--but presently, one by one, awaken to a new sense. +As they receive they cannot choose but to discover that these ladies +have given up their luxurious homes and the life of ease in order to +work among them. They also discover that these young gentlemen who +'run' the dubs, teach the boys gymnastics, boxing, drawing, carving, +and the rest, give up for this all their evenings--the flower of the +day in the flower of life. What for? What do they get for it? Not in +this parish only, but in every parish the same kind of thing goes on +and spreads daily. This--observe--is the last step _but one_ of +charity. For the progress of charity is as follows: First, there is +the pitiful dole to the beggar; then the bequest to monk and +monastery; then the founding of the almshouse and the parish charity; +then the Easter and the Christmas offerings; then the gift to the +almoner; then the cheque to a society; next--latest and best--personal +service among the poor. This is both flower and fruit of charity. One +thing only remains. And before long this thing also shall come to pass +as well. + +Those who live in the dens and witness these things done daily must be +stocks and stones if they were not moved by them. They are not stocks +and stones; they are actually, though slowly, moved by them; the old +hatred of the Church--you may find it expressed in the working man's +papers of fifty years ago--is dying out rapidly in our great towns; +the brawling is better, even the drinking is diminishing. And there is +another--perhaps an unexpected--result. Not only are the poor turning +to the Church which befriends them, the Church which they used to +deride, but the clergy are turning to the poor; there are many for +whom the condition of the people is above all other earthly +considerations. If that great conflict--long predicted--of capital and +labour ever takes place, it is safe to prophecy that the Church will +not desert the poor. + +Apart from the Church what machinery is at work? First, because there +are so many Catholics in the place, one must think of them. It is, +however, difficult to ascertain the Catholic agencies at work among +these people. The people are told that they must go to mass; Roman +Catholic sisters give dinners to children; there is the Roman League +of the Cross--a temperance association; I think that the Catholics are +in great measure left to the charities of the Anglicans, so long as +these do not try to convert the Romans. + +The Salvation Army people attempt nothing--absolutely nothing in this +parish. There are at present neither Baptist, nor Wesleyan, nor +Independent chapels in the place. A few years ago, on the appearance +of the book called the 'Bitter Cry of Outcast London,' an attempt was +made by the last-named body; they found an old chapel belonging to the +Congregationalists, with an endowment of £80 a year, which they turned +into a mission-hall, and carried on with spirit for two years mission +work in the place; they soon obtained large funds, which they seem to +have lavished with more zeal than discretion. Presently their money +was all gone and they could get no more; then the chapel was turned +into a night-shelter. Next It was burned to the ground. It is now +rebuilt and is again a night-shelter. There is, however, an historic +monument in the parish with which remains a survival of former +activity. It is a Quaker meeting-house which dates back to 1667. It +stands within its walls, quiet and decorous; there are the chapel, the +ante-room, and the burial-ground. The congregation still meet, reduced +to fifty; they still hold their Sunday-school; and not far off one of +the fraternity carries on a Crêche which takes care of seventy or +eighty babies, and is blessed every day by as many mothers. + +Considering all these agencies--how they are at work day after day, +never resting, never ceasing, never relaxing their hold, always +compelling the people more and more within the circle of their +influence; how they incline the hearts of the children to better +things and show them how to win these better things--one wonders that +the whole parish is not already clad in white robes and sitting with +harp and crown. On the other hand, walking down London Street, +Ratcliff, looking at the foul houses, hearing the foul language, +seeing the poor women with black eyes, watching the multitudinous +children in the mud, one wonders whether even these agencies are +enough to stem the tide and to prevent this mass of people from +falling lower and lower still into the hell of savagery. This parish +is one of the poorest in London; it is one of the least known; it is +one of the least visited. Explorers of slums seldom come here; it is +not fashionably miserable. Yet all these fine things are done here, +and as in this parish so in every other. It is continually stated as a +mere commonplace--one may see the thing advanced everywhere, in +'thoughtful' papers, in leading articles--that the Church of Rome +alone can produce its self-sacrificing martyrs, its lives of pure +devotion. Then what of these parish-workers of the Church of England? +What of that young physician who worked himself to death for the +children? What of the young men--not one here and there but in +dozens--who give up all that young men mostly love for the sake of +laborious nights among rough and rude lads? What of the gentlewomen +who pass long years--give up their youth, their beauty, and their +strength--among girls and women whose language is at first like a blow +to them? What of the clergy themselves, always, all day long, living +in the midst of the very poor--hardly paid, always giving out of their +poverty, forgotten in their obscurity, far from any chance of +promotion, too hard-worked to read or study, dropped out of all the +old scholarly circles? Nay, my brothers, we cannot allow to the Church +of Rome all the unselfish men and women. Father Damien is one of us as +well. I have met him--I know him by sight--he lives and has long +lived, in Riverside London. + + + + + +ST. KATHERINE'S BY THE TOWER + + + +On the 30th day of October, in the year of grace one thousand eight +hundred and twenty-five, there was gathered together a congregation to +assist at the mournfullest service ever heard in any church. The place +was the Precinct of St. Katherine's, the church was that known as St. +Katherine's by the Tower--the most ancient and venerable church in the +whole of East London--a city which now has but two ancient churches +left, those of Bow and of Stepney, without counting the old tower of +Hackney. + +Suppose it was advertised that the last and the farewell service, +before the demolition of the Abbey, would be held at Westminster on a +certain day; that after the service the old church would be pulled +down; that some of the monuments would be removed, the rest destroyed; +that the bones of the illustrious dead would be carted away and +scattered, and that the site would be occupied by warehouses used for +commercial purposes. One can picture the frantic rage and despair with +which the news would everywhere be received; one can imagine the +stirring of the hearts of all those who to every part of the world +inherit the Anglo-Saxon speech, one can hear the sobbing and the +wailing which accompany the last anthem, the last sermon, the last +prayer. + +St. Katherine's by the Tower was the Abbey of East London, poor and +small, certainly, compared with the Cathedral church of the City and +the Abbey of the West; but stately and ancient; endowed by half a +dozen Sovereigns; consecrated by the memory of seven hundred years, +filled with the monuments of great men and small men buried within her +walls; standing in her own Precinct; with her own Courts, Spiritual +and Temporal; with her own judges and officers; surrounded by the +claustral buildings belonging to Master, Brethren, Sisters, and +Bedeswomen. The church and the hospital had long survived the +intentions of the founders; yet as they stood, so situated, so +ancient, so venerable, amid a dense population of rough sailors and +sailor folk, with such enormous possibilities for good and useful +work, sacred and secular, one is lost in wonder that the consent of +Parliament, even for purposes of gain, could be obtained for their +destruction. Yet St. Katherine's was destroyed. When the voice of the +preacher died away, the destroyers began their work. They pulled down +the church; they hacked up the monuments, and dug up the bones; they +destroyed the Master's house, and cut down the trees in his quiet +orchard; they pulled down the Brothers' houses round the little +ancient square; they pulled down the row of Sisters' houses and the +Bedeswomen's houses; they swept the people out of the Precinct, and +destroyed the streets; they pulled down the Courts, Spiritual and +Temporal, and opened the doors of the prison; they grubbed up the +burying ground, and with the bones and the dust of the dead, and the +rubbish of the foundations, they filled up the old reservoir of the +Chelsea water-works, and enabled Mr. + +Cubitt to build Eccleston Square. When all was gone they let the water +into the big hole they had made, and called it St. Katherine's Dock. +All this done, they became aware of certain prickings of conscience. +They had utterly demolished and swept away and destroyed a thing which +could never be replaced; they were fain to do something to appease +those prickings. They therefore stuck up a new chapel, which the +architect called Gothic, with six neat houses in two rows, and a large +house with a garden in Regent's Park, and this they called St. +Katherine's, 'Sirs,' they said, 'it is not true that we have destroyed +that ancient foundation at all; we have only removed it to another +place. Behold your St. Katherine's!' Of course it is nothing of the +kind. It is not St. Katherine's. It is a sham, a house of Shams and +Shadows. + +Thus was St. Katherine's destroyed; not for the needs of the City, +because it is not clear that the new docks were wanted, or that there +was no other place for them, but in sheer inability to understand what +the place meant as to the past, and what it might be made to do in the +future. The story of the Hospital has been often told: partly, as by +Ducarel and by Lysons, for the historical interest; partly, as by Mr. +Simcox Lea, in protest against the present we of its revenues. It is +with the latter object, though I disagree altogether with Mr. Lea's +conclusions, that I ask leave to tell the story once more. The story +will have to be told, perhaps, again and again, until people can be +made to understand the uselessness and the waste and the foolishness +of the present establishment in the Park, which has assumed and bears +the style and title of St. Katherine's Hospital by the Tower. + +The beginning of the Hospital dates seven hundred and forty years +back, when Matilda, Stephen's Queen, founded it for the purpose of +having masses said for the repose of her two children, Baldwin and +Matilda, She ordered that the Hospital should consist of a Master, +Brothers, Sisters, and certain poor persons--probably the same as in +the later foundation. She appointed the Prior and Canons of Holy +Trinity to have perpetual custody of the Hospital; and she reserved to +herself and all succeeding Queens of England the nomination, of the +Master. Her grant was approved by the King, the Archbishop of +Canterbury, and the Pope. Shortly afterwards William of Ypres bestowed +the land of Edredeshede, afterwards called Queenhythe, on the Priory +of Holy Trinity, subject to an annual payment of £20 to the Hospital +of Katherine's by the Tower. + +This was the original foundation. It was not a Charity; it was a +Religious House with a definite duty--to pray for the souls of two +children; it had no other charitable objects than belong to any +religious foundation--viz., the giving of alms to the poor, nor was it +intended as a church for the people; in those days there were no +people outside the Tower, save the inhabitants of a few scattered +cottages along the river Wall, and the farmhouses of Steban Heath. It +was simply founded for the benefit of two little princes' souls. One +refrains from asking what was done for the little paupers' souls in +those days. + +The Prior and Canons of Holy Trinity without Aldgate continued to +exercise some authority over the Hospital, but apparently--the subject +only interests the ecclesiastical historian--against the protests and +grumblings of the St. Katherine's Society. It was, however, formally +handed over to them, a hundred and forty years later, by Henry the +Third. After his death, Queen Eleanor, for some reason, now dimly +intelligible, wanted to get the Hospital into her own hands. The +Bishop of London took it away from the Priory and transferred it to +her. Then, perhaps with the view of preventing any subsequent claim by +the Priory, she declared the Hospital dissolved. + +Here ends the first chapter in the history of the Hospital. The +foundation for the souls of the two princes existed no longer--the +children, no doubt, having been long since sung out of Purgatory. +Queen Eleanor, however, immediately refounded it. The Hospital was, as +before, to consist of a Master, three Brothers, three Sisters, and +bedeswomen. It was also provided that six poor scholars were to be fed +and clothed--not educated, The Queen further provided that on November +the 16th of every year twelve pence each should be given to the poor +scholars, and the same amount to twenty-four poor persons; and that on +November the 20th, the anniversary of the King's death, one thousand +poor men should receive one halfpenny each. Here is the first +introduction of a charity. The Hospital is no longer an ecclesiastical +foundation only; it maintains scholars and gives substantial alms. Who +received these alms? Of course the people in the neighbourhood--if +there were no inhabitants in the Precinct, the poor of Portsoken Ward. +In either case the charity would be local--a point of the greatest +importance. Queen Eleanor also continued her predecessor's rule that +the patronage of the Hospital should remain in the hands of the Queens +of England for ever; when there was no Queen, then in the hands of the +Queen Dowager; failing in her, in those of the King. This rule still +obtains. The Queen appoints the Master, Brothers, and Sisters of the +House of Shams in Regent's Park, just as her predecessors appointed +those of St. Katherine's by the Tower. + +Queen Eleanor was followed by other royal benefactors. Edward the +Second, for example, gave the Hospital the rectory of St. Peter's in +Northampton. Queen Philippa, who, like Eleanor, regarded the place +with especial affection, endowed it with the manor of Upchurch in +Kent, and that of Queenbury in Hertfordshire. She also founded a +chantry with £10 a year for a chaplain. Edward the Third founded +another chantry in honour of Philippa, with a charge of £10 a year +upon the Hanaper Office; he also conferred upon it the right of +cutting wood for fuel in the Forest of Essex. Richard the Second gave +it the manor of Reshyndene in Sheppy, and 120 acres of land in +Minster. Henry the Sixth gave it the manors of Chesingbury in +Wiltshire, and Quasley in Hants; he also granted a charter, with the +privilege of holding a fair. Lastly, Henry the Eighth founded, in +connection with St. Katherine's by the Tower, the Guild of St. +Barbara, consisting of a Master, three Wardens, and a great number of +members, among whom were Cardinal Wolsey, the Duke and Duchess of +Norfolk, the Duke and Duchess of Buckingham, the Earl and Countess of +Shrewsbury, and the Earl and Countess of Northumberland, with other +great and illustrious persons. + +This is a goodly list of benefactors. It is evident that St. +Katherine's was a foundation regarded by the Kings and Queens of +England with great favour. Other benefactors it had, notably John +Holland, Duke of Exeter, Lord High Admiral and Constable of the Tower, +himself of royal descent. He was buried in the church, with his two +wives, and bequeathed to the Hospital the manor of Much Gaddesden. He +also gave it a cup of beryl, garnished with gold, pearls, and precious +stones, and a chalice of gold for the celebration of the Holy +Sacrament. + +In the year 1546 all the lands belonging to the Hospital were +transferred to the Crown. + +At this time the whole revenue of the Hospital was £364 12s. 6d., and +the expenditure was £210 6s. 5d.; the difference being the value of +the mastership. The Master at the dissolution was Gilbert Lathom, a +priest, and the brothers were five in number--namely, the original +three, and the two priests for the chantries. Four of the five had +'for his stipend, mete, and drynke, by yere,' the sum of £8, which is +fivepence farthing a day; the other had £9, which is sixpence a day. +It would be interesting, by comparison of prices, to ascertain how +much could be purchased with sixpence a day. The three Sisters had +also £8 year, and the Bedeswomen had each two pounds five shillings +and sixpence a year. There were six scholars at £4 a year each for +'their mete, drynke, clothes, and other necessaries'; and there were +four servants, a steward, a butler, a cook, and an under-cook, who +cost £5 a year each. There were two gardens and a yard or +court--namely, the square, bounded by the houses of the Brothers, and +the church. + +This marks the closing of the second chapter in the history of the +Hospital. With the cessation of saying masses for the dead its +religious character expired. There remained only the services in the +church for the inhabitants of the Precinct in the time of Henry VIII. + +The only use of the Hospital was now as a charity. Fortunately, the +place was not, like the Priory of the Holy Trinity, granted to a +courtier, otherwise it would have been swept away just as that Priory, +or that of Elsing's Spital, was swept away. It continued after a while +to carry on its existence, but with changes. It was secularized. The +Masters for a hundred and fifty years, not counting the interval of +Queen Mary's reign, were laymen. The Brothers were generally laymen. +The first Master of the third period was Sir Thomas Seymour; he was +succeeded by Sir Francis Flemyng, Lieutenant General of the King's +Ordnance. Flemyng was deprived by Queen Mary, who appointed one +Francis Mallet, a priest, in his place. Queen Elizabeth dispossessed +Malet, and appointed Thomas Wilson, a layman and a Doctor at Laws. +During his mastership there were no Brothers, and only a few Sisters +or Bedeswomen. The Hospital then became a rich sinecure. Among the +Masters were Sir Julius Cæsar, Master of the Rolls; Sir Robert Acton; +Dr. Coxe; three Montague brothers, Walter, Henry, and George; Lord +Brownker; the Earl of Feversham; Sir Henry Newton, Judge of the High +Court of Admiralty; the Hon. George Berkeley; and Sir James Butler. +The Brothers had been re-established--their names are enumerated by +Ducarel--one or two of them were clerks in orders, but all the rest +were laymen. They still received the old stipend of £8 a year, with a +small house. As for the rest of the greatly increased income it went +to the Master after the manner common to all the old charities. During +the latter half of the sixteenth and the whole of the seventeenth +century St. Katherine's by the Tower consisted of a beautiful old +church standing with its buildings clustered round it--a Master's +house, rich in carved and ancient wood-work, with its gardens and +orchards; its houses for the Brothers, Sisters, and Bedeswomen, each +of whom continued to receive the same salary as that ordained by Queen +Eleanor. Service was held in the church for the inhabitants of the +Precinct, but the Hospital was wholly secular. The Master devoured by +far the greater part of the revenue, and the alms-people--Brothers, +Sisters, and Bedeswomen--had no duties to perform of any kind. + +In the year 1698 this, the third chapter in the life of the Hospital, +was closed. The Lord Chancellor, Lord Somers, held in that year a +Visitation of the Hospital, the result of which is interesting, +because it shows, first, a lingering of the old ecclesiastical +traditions, and, next, the sense that something useful ought to be +done with the income of the Hospital. It was therefore ordered in the +new regulations provided by the Chancellor that the Brothers should be +in Holy Orders, and that a school of thirty-five boys and fifteen +girls should be maintained by the Hospital. It does not appear that +any duties were expected of the Brothers. Like the Fellows of colleges +at Oxford and Cambridge, they were all to be in priests' orders, and +for exactly the same reason, because at the original foundations of +the colleges, as well as of the Hospital, the Fellows were all +priests. As for the Master, he remained a layman. This new order of +things, therefore, raised the position of the Brothers, and gave a new +dignity to the Hospital; further, the School as well as the Bedeswomen +defined its position as a charity. It still fell far, very far, short +of what it might have done, but it was not between the years 1698 and +1825 quite so useless as it had been. A plan of the Precinct, with +drawings of the church, within and without, and of the monuments in +the church, may be found in Lysons. The obscurity of the Hospital, and +the neglect into which it fell during the last century, are shown by +the small attention paid to it in the books on London of the last +century, and the early years of the present century. Thus, in +Harrison's 'History of London,' though nearly every church in the City +and its immediate suburbs is figured, St. Katherine's is not drawn. In +Strype (edition 1720) there is no drawing of St. Katherine's; in +Dodsley's 'London,' 1761, it is described but not figured; and +Wilkinson, in his 'Londina Illustrata,' passes it over entirely. The +Hospital buildings consisted of a square, of which the north side was +occupied by the Master's house, with a large garden behind, and the +Master's orchard between his garden and the river; on the east and +west sides were the Brothers' houses; and on the south side of the +square was the church and the chapter-house. On the east of the church +was the burying-ground. South of the church was the Sisters' close, +with the houses occupied by the Sisters and the Bedeswomen. The old +Brothers' houses were taken down and rebuilt about the year 1755, and +the Master's house, an ancient building, full of carved timber-work, +had also been taken down, so that in the year 1825, when the Hospital +was finally destroyed, the only venerable building standing in the +Precinct was the church itself. To look at the drawings of this old +church and to think of the loving care with which it would have been +treated had it been allowed to stand till this day, and then to +consider the 'Gothic' edifice in Regent's Park, is indeed saddening. +The church consisted of the nave and chancel with two aisles, built by +Bishop Beckington, formerly the Master. The east window, 30 feet high +and 25 feet wide, had once been most beautiful when its windows were +stained. The tracery was still fine; a St. Katherine's wheel occupied +the highest part, and beneath it was a rose; but none of the windows +had preserved their painted glass, so that the general effect of the +interior must have been cold. The carved wood of the stalls and the +great pulpit, presented by Sir Julius Cæsar, may still be seen in the +Regent's Park Chapel, where are also some of the monuments. Of these +the church was full. The finest (now in Regent's Park) was that of +John Holland, Duke of Exeter, and his two wives. There was one of the +Hon. George Montague, Master of the Hospital, who died in the year +1681; and there was the monument with kneeling figures of one Cutting +and his wife, with his coat of arms. The seats of the stalls are +curiously carved, as is so often found, with grotesque figures--human +birds, monkeys, lions, boys riding hogs, angels playing bagpipes, +beasts with human heads, pelicans feeding their young, and the devil +with hoof and horns carrying off a brace of souls. There was more than +the customary wealth epitaphs. Thus, on the tablet to the memory of +the daughter of one of the Brothers was written: + + 'Thus we by want, more than by having, learn + The worth of things in which we claim concern.' + +On that of William Cutting, a benefactor to Gonville and Caius, +Cambridge, is written: + + 'Not dead, if good deedes could keep men alive, + Nor all dead since good deedes do men revive. + Gunville and Kaies his good deedes maie record, + And will (no doubt) him praise therefor afford.' + +On the tablet of Charles Stamford, clergyman: + + 'Mille modis morimur mortaies, nascimur uno: + Sunt hominum morbi milie sed una salus.' + +And to the memory of Robert Beadles, free-mason, one of His Majesty's +gunners of the Tower, who died in the year 1683: + + 'He now rests quiet, in his grave secure; + Where still the noise of guns he can endure; + His martial soul is doubtless now at rest, + Who in his lifetime was so oft oppressed + With care and fears, and strange cross acts of late, + But now is happy and in glorious state. + The blustering storm of life with him is o'er, + And he is landed on that happy shore + Where 'tis that he can hope and fear no more.' + +There they lay buried, the good people of St. Katherine's Precinct. +They were of all trades, but chiefly belonged to those who go down to +the sea in ships. On the list of names are those of half a dozen +captains, one of them captain of H.M.S. _Monmouth_, who died in the +year 1706, aged 31 years; there are the names of Lieutenants; there +are those of sailmakers and gunners; there is a sergeant of Admiralty, +a moneyer of the Tower, a weaver, a citizen and stationer, a Dutchman +who fell overboard and was drowned, a surveyor and collector--all the +trades and callings that would gather together in this little +riverside district separated and cut off from the rest of London. +Among the people who lived here were the descendants of them who came +away with the English on the taking of Calais, Guisnes, and Hames. +They settled in a street called Hames and Guisnes Lane, corrupted into +Hangman's Gains. A census taken in the reign of Queen Elizabeth showed +that of those resident in the Precinct, 328 were Dutch, 8 were Danes, +5 were Polanders, 69 Were French--all hat-makers--2 Spanish, 1 +Italian, and 12 Scotch. Verstegan, the antiquary, was born here, and +here lived Raymond Lully. During the last century the Precinct cane to +be inhabited almost entirely by sailors, belonging to every nation and +every religion under the sun. + +This was the place which it was permitted to certain promoters of a +Dock Company to destroy utterly. A place with a history of seven +hundred years, which might, had its ecclesiastical character been +preserved and developed, have been converted into a cathedral for East +London; or, if its secular character had been maintained, might have +become a noble centre of all kinds of useful work for the great +chaotic city of East London. They suffered it to be destroyed. It has +been destroyed for sixty years. As for calling the place in Regent's +Park St. Katherine's Hospital, that, I repeat, is absurd. There is no +longer a St. Katherine's Hospital. As well call the garish new +building on the embankment Sion College. That is not, indeed, Sion +College. The London Clergy, who, of all people, might have been +expected to guard the monuments of the past, have sold Sion College +for what it would fetch. The site of the Cripplegate nunnery; of +Elsing's Spital for blind men; of Sion College, or Clergy House, has +been destroyed by its own trustees. The sweet old place, the +peacefullest spot in the whole city, with its long low library, its +Bedesmen's rooms, and its quiet reading room, is gone. You might just +as well destroy Trinity College, Cambridge, and then stick up a modern +wing to Somerset House, and call that Trinity. In the same way St. +Katherine's by the Tower was destroyed sixty years ago. + +Let me repeat that the Hospital suffered four changes. + +First, it was founded by Queen Matilda, for the repose of her +children's souls. Next, it was dissolved and again founded, and +subsequently endowed as a Religious House with chantries, certain +definite duties of masses for the dead, certain charitable trusts, and +other functions. Thirdly, when the Mass ceased to be said it was +secularized completely. Service was held in the church, but the +Hospital became a perfectly secular charity, supporting a few +almspeople with niggard hand, and a Master in great splendour. +Fourthly, it was again treated as a semi-ecclesiastical foundation, +for reasons which do not appear. At the same time, while its charities +were enlarged, no duties were assigned to the Brothers, who seem to +have been considered as Fellows, forming the Society, and, therefore, +like the Fellows at Oxford and Cambridge, obliged to be in Holy +Orders. Lastly, as we have seen, it was destroyed. + +After the Hospital had been destroyed, a scheme for the management of +the revenues was suggested to Lord Elden, then Lord Chancellor, and +afterwards approved by Lord Lyndhurst. The question before the +Chancellor was, one would think, the following: 'Here is an annual +revenue of £5,000 and more, released by the destruction of the +Hospital. How can it be best applied for the general good or for the +benefit of the crowded city around the site of the old Hospital?' +That, however, was not the view of the Lord Chancellor. He said, +practically: + +'Here is a large property which has hitherto been devoted to the use +of maintaining in idleness, and not as a reward or pension for good +work done, a Master, three Brothers, three Sisters, and ten poor +women. The ecclesiastical purposes for which the property was +originally got together have long since utterly vanished. The church +in which service used to be held is abolished, and the place where it +stood is turned into a dock. We will build a new church where none is +wanted, we will perpetuate the waste of all this money; the stipends +of the Brothers and Sisters shall be raised; to the Brothers shall be +assigned, nominally, the service in the chapel, but they shall have a +chaplain or reader, to prevent this duty from becoming onerous; the +Sisters shall have nothing at all to do; the Bedeswomen shall be +deprived of their houses and shall receive no advance in their pay, +but they shall be doubled in number. Twenty Bedesmen shall also be +added with the same pay, viz., £10 a year, or 4s. a week.[NOTE: Note +that in 1545 each Bedeswomen received 10d, a week, and each Sister +3s., so that the proportion of Bedeswoman's pay to Sister's pay was +then as 1:3'6. But Lord Lyndhurst takes away the houses from the poor +women and gives them no more pay, so that, without _counting the loss +of their houses_, the Bedeswoman's pay under Victoria is to the +Sister's pay as 1:19. The Victorian Bedeswoman was therefore +relatively reduced in proportion to the Sister six-fold compared with +her Tudor predecessor.] The Master shall have a beautiful house with a +garden, conservancy, stabling for seven horses, and £1,200 a year, +besides comfortable perquisites. He shall have no duties except the +presidency of the chapter. And in order that the thing may not seem +perfectly and profoundly ridiculous there shall be a school of +twenty-four boys and twelve girls.' + +This was the solution proposed and adopted by two eminent Chancellors, +and carried into effect for thirty years. During the years 1858-1863 +the average revenue was £7,460 8s. 2-3/4d. Of this sum the Master, +Brethren, and Sisters absorbed with their buildings £4,102 8s. +2-3/4d.; the management expenses Were £909 5s. 6d.; the chapel cost +£211 17s. 11d., sundries amounted to £141 6s. 10-3/4 d.; and the +useful portion of the expenditure was represented by the sum of £554 +9s. 7-1/2 d. Absolute uselessness--for the chapel was by no means +wanted--is represented by £6,904, and usefulness by £554--a proportion +of very nearly 12-1/2:1. + +Yet another opportunity occurred of dealing rationally with this large +property. + +In the year 1871 a Royal Commission was appointed to examine 'into +several matters relative to the Royal Hospital of St. Katherine near +the Tower.' The question might again have been raised how best to +apply the large revenues for the general good. The Commissioners had +before them quite clearly the way in which the seven thousand and odd +pounds a year was being spent; they could arrive as easily as +ourselves at the proportion above set forth, viz.: + + Waste : usefulness :: 12-1/2 : 1. + +They threw away this opportunity; they could not tear away the +ecclesiastical rags with which the new foundation of 1827--the mock +St. Katherine's--has been wrapped in imitation of the old. In an age +when the universities have been secularized, when the Fellows of +colleges are no longer required to be in Orders, when every useless +old charity is being reformed, and every endowment reconsidered with a +view to making it useful to the living as, under former conditions, it +was to the dead, they actually proposed to increase the uselessness +and the waste by adding a fourth Brother (which has not been done), +and raising the stipends of Brothers and Sisters. They also +recommended the establishment of an upper school, with 'foundation +boarders.' Considering that the upper and middle classes have already +appropriated to their own use almost every educational endowment in +the country, this proposition seems too ridiculous. The whole Report +is indeed a marvellous illustration of the tenacity of old prejudices. +Yet it did one good thing; it recommended that the accounts of the +Hospital should be submitted every year to the Charity Commissioners, +thus distinctly recognising the fact that the new foundation is not an +ecclesiastical institution, but a charity. + +The Report mentions several propositions which had been laid before +the Commissioners during their inquiry for the application of the +revenues. The Committee of the Adult Orphan Institution thought that +they should like to administer the funds; the Rector of St. +George's-in-the-East thought that he should very much like to use them +for the purpose of converting that parish into 'a collegiate church, +under a dean and canons, who, with a sisterhood, might devote +themselves to the spiritual benefit, etc.'; others suggested that a +missionary collegiate church should be established 'as a centre of +missionary work for the East of London, with model schools, refuges, +reformatories, etc., conducted by the clergy.' Others, again, pleaded +for the use of the money in aid of the crowded parishes near the +Precinct. + +The Commissioners were of a different opinion. The Hospital, they +said, never had a local character. This is the most startling +statement that ever issued from the mouth of a Lord Chancellor. Not a +local character? Then for whom were the services of the church held? +Where were the Bedeswomen found? Where the poor scholars? Where did +the church stand? Who got the doles? Not a local character? We might +as well contend, for example, that Rochester Cathedral and Close and +School have no local character; that Portsmouth Dockyard has no local +character; that Westminster School has no local character. St. +Katherine's Hospital belonged to its Precinct, where it had stood for +some hundred years. As well pretend that the Tower itself has no local +character. The 'local character' of St. Katherine's grew year by year: +the founder thought only to make a bridge for her children from +purgatory to heaven by the harmonious voices of the Master, the +Brothers, and the Sisters; but purpose widens. Presently purgatory +disappears, and the whole ecclesiastical part of the foundation, +except service in the church, vanishes with it. There remain, however, +the revenues, and these belong, if any revenues could, to the +locality. + +In the year 1863 the proportion of waste to profit was as 12-1/2:1. +Has this proportion in the quarter of a century which has elapsed +increased or has it decreased? + +From time to time, as we have seen, the question forces itself upon +men's minds--whether this revenue could not be administered to better +advantage. Lord Somers encounters the difficulty in the year 1698; +Lord Lyndhurst in 1829; Lord Hatherley in 1871. I suppose that even a +Lord Chancellor does not claim infallible wisdom. Therefore I venture +to insist upon the facts that the Reformation destroyed the Religious +House of St. Katherine; that the changes made by Lord Somers only made +the old Hospital useless; and that the Royal Commission of the year +1871 confirmed, in the new foundation, the later uselessness of the +old. The House of Shams and Shadows in Regent's Park is not the old +St. Katherine's at all; that is dead and done with; it is a fungus +which sprang up yesterday, which is not wholesome for human food, and +uses up, for no good purpose, the soil in which it grows. + +Yet, because one would not be charged with unfairness, what does the +Rev. Simcox Lea, in his history of St. Katherine's Hospital (Longmans, +1878), say? + +'St. Katherine's Hospital is an Ecclesiastical Corporation, returned +as a "Promotion Spiritual" in the reign of Henry VIII., and so +acknowledged by law in the reign of Charles I. It takes its place as a +Collegiate Church with Westminster and Windsor. The Clerical Head of +its Chapter, the Master of the Hospital, will be entitled, unless Her +Majesty shall see fit otherwise to direct, to the style of Very +Reverend and the rank of Dean. The Brothers have the status and +dignity of Canons Residentiary, and through the Sisters of the Chapter +the parallel dignity of Canonesses is preserved, under another style, +to the English Church of our day. The Collegiate Chapter holds its +entire revenues subject to certain eleemosynary trusts embodied in its +original constitution, the ecclesiastical and the charitable charges +belonging alike to all the estates instead of being assigned +separately to different portions of them.... All these principles of +the constitution of St. Katherine's must be kept in view in any scheme +which it may be proposed to submit, or in any suggestions which may be +offered through the press, for the consideration of the Lord +Chancellor in reference to the advice which he may submit to the +Queen.... St. Katherine's Hospital is no more a "Charity" than +Westminster Abbey is a Charity, and to describe it as such, after the +true facts of the case are known, will leave any writer or speaker +open to the charge of discourtesy, directly offered to a capitular +body whose personal constitution is worthy of its high and ancient +corporate ecclesiastical dignity, and indirectly through the members +of the Chapter, to the Queen.' + +It will thus be seen that those of us who think that the place is a +Charity, and therefore call it one--including Lord Eldon and Lord +Lyndhurst, the Report of the Charity Commissioners in 1866, and Lord +Hatherley in 1871--are open to the charge of discourtesy. Well, let us +remain open to that charge; it does not kill. If it is not a Charity, +what is it? A place for getting the souls of rich men out of +purgatory? But the souls of rich men no longer in this country have +the privilege of being bought out of purgatory. Then what is it? A +place where seven well-born ladies and gentlemen are provided with +excellent houses and comfortable incomes--for doing what? Nothing. + +Let us, if we must, offer a compromise. Let the Master, Brothers, and +Sisters, now forming the Society of New St. Katherine's, remain in +Regent's Park. We will not disturb them. Let them enjoy their salaries +so long as they live. At their deaths let those who love shams and +pretences appoint other Brothers and Sisters who will have all the +dignity of the position without the houses or the salaries. We may +even go so far as to provide a chaplain for the service of the chapel, +if the good people of the Terraces would like those services to +continue. But as for the rest of the income one cannot choose but +ask--and, if the request be not granted, ask again, and again--that it +be restored to that part of London to which it belongs. One would not, +with the person who communicated with the Commissioners, insult East +London by founding a 'Missionary' College in its midst unless it be +allowed to have branches in Belgravia, Lincoln's Inn, the Temple, St. +John's Wood, South Kensington, and other parts of West London; we will +certainly not ask permission to turn St. George's-in-the-East into a +Collegiate Church with a Dean and Canons, 'and a sisterhood.' But one +must ask that the pretence and show of keeping up this ugly and +useless modern place as the ancient and venerable Hospital be +abandoned as soon as possible. That old Hospital is dead and +destroyed; its ecclesiastical existence had been dead long before, its +lands and houses and funds remain to be used for the benefit of the +living. + +Ten thousand pounds a year! This is a goodly estate. Think what ten +thousand pounds a year might do, well administered! Think of the +terrible and criminal waste in suffering all that money, which belongs +to East London, to be given away--year after year--in profitless alms +to ladies and gentlemen in return for no services rendered or even +pretended. Ten thousand pounds a year would run a magnificent school +of industrial education; it would teach thousands of lads and girls +how to use their heads and hands; it would be a perennial living +stream, changing the thirsty desert into flowery meads and fruitful +vineyards; it would save thousands of boys from the dreadful doom--a +thing of these latter days--of being able to learn no trade; it would +dignify thousands, and tens of thousands, of lives with the knowledge +and mastery of a craft; it would save from degradation and from +slavery thousands of women; it would restrain thousands of men from +the beery slums of drink and crime. Above all--perhaps this is the +main consideration--the judicious employment of ten thousand pounds a +year would be presently worth many millions a year to London from the +skilled labour it would cultivate and the many arts it would develop +and foster. + +It is a cruel thing--a most cruel thing--to destroy wantonly anything +that is venerable with age and associated with the memories of the +past. It was a horrible thing to destroy that old Hospital. But it is +gone. The house of Shams and Shadows in Regent's Park has got nothing +whatever to do with it. Its revenues did not make the old Hospital; +that was made up by its ancient church; by the old buildings clustered +round the church; by the old customs of the Precinct, with its Courts, +temporal and spiritual, its offices and its prison; by its +burial-grounds, with its Bedesmen and Bedeswomen, and by the rough +sailor population which dwelt in its narrow lanes and courts. How +_could_ that place be allowed to suffer destruction? But when the old +thing is gone we must cast about for the best uses of anything which +once belonged to it. And of all the uses to which the revenues of the +old Hospital might be put, the present seems the most unfit and the +least worthy. + +Again, if Queen Matilda in these days wished to do a good work, what +would she found? There are many purposes for which benevolent persons +bequeath and grant money. They are not the old purposes. They all +mean, nowadays, the advancement and bettering of the people. A great +lady spends thousands in founding a market; a man with much money +presents a free library to his native town; collections are made for +hospitals; everything is for the bettering of the people. We have not +yet advanced to the stage of bettering he rich people; but that will +come very shortly. In fact, the condition of the rich is already +exciting the gravest apprehensions among their poorer brethren. We can +trace, easily enough, the progress and growth of charity. It begins at +home, with anxiety for one's own soul first, and the souls of one's +children next. Charities give way to doles; doles are succeeded by +almshouses; these again by charity schools. The present generation has +begun to understand that the truest charity consists in throwing open +the doors to honest effort, and in helping those who help themselves. +Else what is the meaning of technical schools? What else mean the +classes at the People's Palace, the Polytechnic, the Evening +Recreation Schools, and the City of London Guilds Institute? + +I believe that a conviction of the new truer charity, and of the +futility of the old modes, is destined to sink deeper and deeper into +men's hearts, until our working classes will perhaps fall into the +extreme in unforgiving hardness towards those whom unthrift, +profligacy, idleness, have brought to want. But with this conviction +is growing up the absolute necessity of more technical schools and +better industrial training. We want to make our handicraftsmen better +than any foreigners. More than that, there are some who say that the +very existence of the United Kingdom as a Power depends upon our doing +this. Can we afford any longer to keep up, at a yearly loss of all the +power represented by ten thousand pounds a year, that house of Shams +and Shadows which we call by the name of the ancient and venerable +Hospital of St. Katherine's by the Tower? + + + + + +THE UPWARD PRESSURE: + + + +A PROPHETIC CHAPTER FROM THE 'HISTORY OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY' + + +The most striking part of the great Social Revolution which was +witnessed by the earlier years of the twentieth century was the event +which preceded that Revolution, made it possible, and moulded it; +namely, the Conquest of the Professions by the people. Happily it was +a Conquest achieved without exciting any active opposition; it +advanced unnoticed, step by step, and it was unsuspected, as regards +its real significance, until the end was inevitable and visible to +all. It is my purpose in this Chapter, first to show what was the +position of the mass of the nation before this event, as regards the +Professions; and next to relate briefly the successive events which +led to the Conquest, and so prepared the way for the abolition of all +that was then left of the old aristocratic régime. + +Speaking in general terms--the exceptions shall be noted +afterward--the Professions during the whole of the nineteenth century +were jealously barred and closed in and fenced round. Admission, in +theory, could only be obtained by young men of gentle birth and good +breeding. Not that there was any expressed rule to that effect. It was +not written over the gateway of Lincoln's Inn that none but gentlemen +were to be admitted, nor was it ever stated in any book or paper that +none but gentlemen were to be called. But, as you will be shown +immediately, the barring of the gate against the lad of humble origin +was quite as effectually accomplished without any law, mule, or +regulation whatever. + +The professional avenues of distinction which, early in the twentieth +century, were only three or four, had, by the end of the century, been +multiplied tenfold by the birth or creation of new Professions. +Formerly a young man of ambition might go into tho Church, into one of +the two services, into the Law, or into Medicine. He might also, if he +were a country gentleman, go into the House of Commons. At the end of +the century the professional career included, besides these, all the +various branches of Science, all the forms of Art, all the divisions +of Literature, Music, Architecture, the Drama, Engineering, Teaching, +Archaeology, Political Economy, and, in fact, every conceivable +subject to which the mind of man can worthily devote itself. + +In all these branches there were great--in some, very great--prizes to +be obtained; prizes not always of money, but of honour: in some of +them the prizes included what was considered the greatest of all +rewards--a Peerage. The country, indeed, was already beginning to +insist that the national distinctions should be bestowed upon all +those--and only upon those--who rendered real services to the State. +One poet had been made a Peer. One man of science had been made a +Privy Councillor, and another a Peer; two painters had been made +baronets; and the humble distinction of Knight Bachelor, which had +been tossed contemptuously to city sheriffs, provincial mayors, and +undistinguished persons who used back-stairs influence to get the +title, was now brought into better consideration by being shared by a +few musicians, engineers, physicians, and others. Nothing could more +clearly show the real contempt in which literature and science were +held in an aristocratic country than that, although there were a dozen +degrees of peerage and half a dozen orders of knighthood, there was +not one order reserved for men of science, literature, and art. Feeble +protests from time to time were made against this absurdity, but in +the end it proved useful, because the chief argument against the +continuance of titles of honour in the great debate on the subject, in +the year 1920, was the fact that all through the nineteenth century +the men who most deserved the thanks and recognition of the State were +(with the exception of soldiers and lawyers) absolutely neglected by +the Court and the House of Lords. + +Let us consider by what usages, rather than by what rules, the +Professions were barred to the people. In the Church a young man could +not be ordained under the age of twenty-three. Nor would the Bishop +ordain him, as a rule, unless he was a graduate of Oxford or +Cambridge. This meant that he was to stay at school, and that a good +school, till the age of nineteen; that he was then to devote four +years more to carrying on his studies in a very expensive manner; in +other words, that he must be able to spend at least a thousand pounds +before he could obtain Orders, and that he would then receive pay at a +much lower rate than a good carpenter or engine-driver. + +At the Bar it was the custom for a man to enter his name after leaving +the University: he would then be called at five or six-and-twenty. A +young man must be able to keep himself until that age, and even +longer, because a lawyer's practice begins slowly. There were also +very heavy dues on entrance and on being called. In plain terms, no +young man could enter at the Bar who did not possess or command, at +least, a thousand pounds. + +In the lower branch of the law a young man might, it is true, be +admitted at twenty-one. But he had to pay a heavy premium for his +articles, and large fees both at entrance and on passing the +examination which admitted him. Not much less, therefore, including +his maintenance, than a thousand pounds would be required of him +before he began to make anything for himself. A medical man, even one +who only desired to become a general practitioner, had to work through +a five years' course, with hospital fees. Like the solicitor, he might +qualify for about a thousand pounds. + +In all the new Professions, chemistry, physics, biology, zoology, +geology, botany, and the other branches of science, engineering, +mining, surveying, assying, architecture, actuary +work--everything--long a apprenticeship was needed with special +studies in costly colleges. + +In Teaching, he who aspired to the more distinguished branches had no +chance at all, unless he was a graduate in the highest honours of +Oxford and Cambridge. + +In the Arts--painting, sculpture, music--long practice, devoted study, +and exclusive thought were essential. + +The Civil Service was divided into two branches, both open to +competitive examination. The higher branch attracted first-class men +of Oxford and Cambridge; the lower, clever and well-taught men from +the Middle Class Schools. But the latter could not pass into the +former. + +In the Army, the only branch in which a man could live upon his pay +was the scientific branch, open to anybody who could compete in a very +stiff examination after a long and very expensive course of study, and +could pay £200 a year for two or three years after entrance. In the +other branches of the services, a young lieutenant could not live upon +his pay. + +In the Navy the examinations were frequent and severe, while the pay +was very small. + +The barrier, therefore, which kept the Professions in the hands of the +upper classes was a simple tollgate. At the toll stood a man. 'Come,' +he said, holding out an inexorable palm. 'With an education which has +cost you already a thousand pounds, be ready to pay down another +thousand more. Then you shall be admitted among the ranks of those for +whom are reserved the highest prizes of the State--viz., Authority, +Honour, and Wealth.' + +It is apparent, then, that no one could enter the Professions who had +no money. No need to write up 'None but the sons of gentlemen may +apply.' Very many sons of gentlemen, in fact, had to turn away +sorrowfully after gazing with wistful eyes upon that ladder which they +knew that they, too, could climb, as well as a Denman or an Erskine. +As for the sons of poor parents, they could not so much as think of +the ladder: they hardly knew that it existed: they cared nothing about +it. As well sigh for the Lord Mayor's gilt carriage and four, or the +Field Marshal's baton. No poor lad could aspire to the Professions at +all. In other words, out of a population of thirty-seven millions, or +eight millions of families, the way of distinction was open only to +the young man belonging to the half million families--perhaps +less--who could expend upon their son's education a thousand pounds +apiece. + +Nor for a long time was the exclusion felt or even recognised. He who +wished to rise out of the working class either became a small master +of his own trade, or else he opened a small shop of some kind. But he +did not aspire to become a physician or a barrister or a clergyman. +And it never occurred to him that such a career could be open to him. + +But as happened every day, such a man had got on in the world and was +ambitious for his son, he made him a doctor or a solicitor, these +being the two Professions which cost least--or perhaps he made him a +mechanical engineer, though it might cost a good deal more. Perhaps if +the boy was clever, he managed to send him to the University with the +intention of getting him ordained. Such was the first upward step in +gentility--first, to become a master instead of a servant; then, to +belong to a profession rather than a trade. Always, however, one had +to settle with the man at the toll. + +He was inexorable. 'Pay down,' he said, 'a thousand pounds if you +would be admitted within this bar.' + +The young man, therefore, whose father worked for wages, or for a +small salary, or in a small way of trade, could not so much as dream +of entering any of the Professions. They were as much closed to him as +the gates of Paradise. But during the nineteenth century a new +Profession was created, and this was open to him. This they could not +close. It had already grown went and strong before they thought of +closing it. It was open to the poor man's son. He went into it. And +with the help of it, as with a key, he opened all the rest. You shall +understand immediately what this was. + +I have spoken of certain exceptions to this exclusion of the lower +classes. There were provided at the public schools and the +Universities scholarships founded for the purpose of enabling poor +lads to carry on their studies. 'The schools had long ceased to be the +property of the poor for whom they were designed: their scholarships, +mostly of recent foundation, were granted by competitive examination +to those boys who had already spent a large sum of money on +preliminary work. The scholarships of the colleges at Oxford and +Cambridge were also given by examination, without the least +consideration of the candidates' private resources. There was, +however, a chance that a poor lad might get one of these. If he did, +everything was open to him. The annals of the Universities contain +numberless instances in which lads from the lower middle class made +their way, and a few instances--a very few--here one and there one--in +which the sons of working men thus forced themselves upward. We must +remember these scholarships when we speak of the barrier, but we must +not attach too much importance to them. One may also recall many +instances of generosity when a bay of parts was discovered, educated, +and sent to the University by a rich or noble patron. + +In the Army, again, many men rose from the ranks and obtained +commissions. In the Navy, this was always impossible, with one or two +brilliant exceptions--as the case of Captain Cook. + +It may be said that there are many cases on record in which men of +quite humble origin have advanced themselves in trade, even to +becoming Lord Mayor of London. Could not a poor lad do in the +nineteenth century what Whittington did in the fourteenth? Could he +not tie up his belongings in a handkerchief and make for London, where +the streets were paved with gold, and the walls were built of jasper? +Well, you see, in this matter of the poor lad and his elevation to +giddy heights there has been a little mistake, principally due to the +chap-books. The poor lad who worked his way upward in the nineteenth +century belonged to the bourgeoise, not the craftsman class. While his +schoolfellows remained clerks, he, by some early good fortune--by +marriage, by cousinship, was enabled to get his foot on the ladder, up +which he proceeded to climb with strength and resolution. The poor lad +who got on in earlier times was the son of a country gentleman. Dick +Whittington was the son of Sir William Whittington, Knight and +afterwards outlaw. He was apprenticed to his cousin, Sir John +Fitzwarren, Mercer and merchant-adventurer, son of Sir William +Fitzwarren, Knight. Again, Chichele, Lord Mayor, and his younger +brother, Sheriff, and his elder brother, Archbishop of Canterbury, +were sons of one Chichele, Gentleman and Armiger of Higham Ferrers in +the county of Northampton. Sir Thomas Gresham was the son of Sir +Richard Gresham, nephew of Sir John Gresham, and younger brother of +Sir John Gresham, also of a good old country family. In fact, we may +look in vain through the annals of London city for the rise of the +humble boy from the ranks of the craftsmen. Once or twice, perhaps, +one may find such a case. If we consider the early years of the +nineteenth century, when the long wars attracted to the army all the +younger sons, it does seem as if the Mayors and Aldermen must have +come from very humble beginnings. Even then, however, we find on +investigation that the city fathers of that time had mostly sprung +from small shops. They were never, to begin with, craftsmen, and at +the end of the century any such rise was never dreamed of by the most +ambitious. The clerk, if a lad became a clerk, remained a clerk: he +had no hope of becoming anything else. The shopman remained a shopman, +his only hope being the establishment of himself as a master if he +could save enough money. The craftsman remained a craftsman. And for +partnerships there were always plenty--younger sons and others--eager +to buy themselves in, or there were sons and nephews waiting their +turn. No son of a working man, or a clerk, could hope for any other +advancement in the City than advancement to higher salary for long and +faithful service. + +Once more, then, the situation was this: To him who could afford to +earn nothing till he was two-and-twenty, and little till he was +five-and-twenty, and could find the money for fees, lectures, and +courses and coaches, everything that the country had to offer was +open. With this limitation there was never any country in which prizes +were more open than Great Britain and Ireland. A clever lad might +enter the Royal Engineers or Artillery with a tolerable certainty of +being a Colonel and a K.C.B. at fifty; or he might go into the Church +where if he had ability and had cultivated eloquence and possessed +good manners, he might count on a Bishopric; or he might go to the +Bar, where, if he was lucky, he might become a judge or even Lord +Chancellor. Unless, however, he could provide the capital wanted for +admission, he could attain to nothing--nothing--nothing. + +What became, then, of the clever lad? In some cases he became a clerk, +crowding into a trade already overcrowded. He trampled on his +competitors, because most of them, the sons and grandsons of clerks, +had no ambition and no perception of the things wanted. This young +fellow had. He taught himself the things that were wanted; he +generally took therefore the best place. But he had to remain a clerk. + +Or, more often, he became a teacher in a Board School. In this +capacity he obtained a certain amount of social consideration, a +certain amount of independence, and an income varying From £150 to +£400 a year. + +Or, which also happened frequently, he might become a dissenting +minister of the humbler kind. In that case he had every chance of +passing through life in a little chapel at a small town, a slave to +his own, and to his congregation's, narrow prejudices. + +Or, he might go abroad, to one of the Colonies. Earlier in the +century, between the years 1850 and 1880, many poor lads had gone to +Australia or New Zealand and had done well for themselves, a few had +become millionaires; but by the year 1890 these Colonies, considered +as likely places wherein it young man could advance himself, seemed +played out. Working-men they wanted, but not clever and penniless +young fellows. + +He might, it has been suggested, go into the House. There were already +one or two workingmen in the House. But they were sent there +especially to represent certain interests by working-men, not because +their representative was an ambitious and clever young man. And the +working-man's member, so far, had advanced a very little way as a +political success. It was not in Politics that a young man would find +his opening. + +This brings us to the one career open to him--he might become a +Journalist. It is an attractive profession: and even in its lower +walks it seems a branch of literature. There is independence of hours: +the pay depends upon the man's power of work: there are great openings +in it and--to the rising lad at least--what seems a noble possibility +in the shape of pay. Many distinguished men have been journalists, +from Charles Dickens downward. Nearly all the novelists have dabbled +with journalism; and, since all of us cannot be novelists, the young +man might reflect that there are editor, sub-editors, assistant +editors, news-editors, leader writers, descriptive writers, reviewers, +dramatic critics, art and music critics, wanted for every paper. He +could become a journalist and he could rise to the achievement of +these ambitions. + +At first he rose a very little way, despite his ambition, because in +every branch of letters imperfect education is an insuperable +obstacle. Still he could become news-editor, descriptive reporter, +paragraph writer, and even, in the case of country papers, editor. +Sometimes he passed from the office of the journal to that of one of +the many societies, where he became secretary and succeeded in getting +his name associated with some cause, which gave him some position and +consideration. Whether he succeeded greatly or not, his whole object +was to pass from the class which has no possible future to the class +for which everything is open. His sons would be gentlemen, and if he +could only find the necessary funds, they should make what he had been +unable to make, an attempt upon the prizes of the State. + +This was the situation at the beginning of the last decade of the +nineteenth century. It is summed up by saying that all the avenues to +honour and power were closed and barred to the lad who could not +command a thousand pounds at least. Let us pass on. + +Most thoughtful people have considered the growth and development of +the great educational movement whose origin belongs to the nineteenth +century; whose development so profoundly affects the history of our +own. + +It began, like the spread of scientific knowledge, and the reforms in +the Old Constitution, and everything else, with the introduction of +railways. Before the end of the century the country was covered with +schools, as it was also covered with railways. There was hardly a man +or woman living when the nineteenth century ended who could not read; +there were few indeed who did not read. But the school course +naturally taught little beyond the elements and was already completed +when the pupil reached his fourteenth year. He was then taken from +school and put to work, apprenticed--set to something which was to be +his trade. Clever or stupid, keen of intellect or dull, that was to be +the lot of the boy. He was set to learn how to earn his livelihood. + +About the year 1885 or 1890--no exact date can be fixed for the birth +of a new idea--began a very remarkable extension of the educational +movement. It was discovered by philanthropists that something ought to +be done with the boys after they had left school. The first intentions +seem to have been simply to keep them out of mischief. Having nothing +to do the lads naturally took to loafing about the streets, smoking +bad tobacco, drinking, gambling, and precocious love-making. It was +also perceived by economists about the same time that unless something +was done for technical education, the old superiority of the British +craftsman would speedily vanish. It was further pointed out that the +education of the Board Schools gave the pupils little more than the +mastery of the merest elements, the tools by means of which knowledge +could be acquired. In order, therefore, to carry on general education +and to provide technical training there were started simultaneously in +every great town, but especially in London, Technical Schools, +'Continuation' Classes, Polytechnics, Young Men's Associations and +Clubs, Guilds for instruction and recreation--under whatever form they +were known, they were all schools. + +Then the young working lad was invited to enter himself at one of +these places, and to spend his evenings there. 'Come,' said the +founders, 'you are at an age when everything is new and everything is +delightful. Give up all your present joys. Send the girl with whom you +keep company, night after night, home to her mother. Put down your +cherished cigarette, cease to stand about in bars, give up drinking +beer, go no more to the music-hall. Abandon all that you delight in. +And come to us. After working all day long at your trade, come to us +and work all the evening at books.' + +A strange invitation! To forego delights and live laborious evenings. +Stranger still, the lads accepted the invitation. They accepted in +thousands. They consented to work every evening as well as every day. +The inducements to join were, in fact, artfully devised with a full +knowledge of boys' nature. What a boy desires, over and above +everything else, more than the company of a girl, more than idleness, +more than gambling, more than beer-drinking, more than tobacco, is +association with other lads of the same age. These Polytechnics or +Institutes or Clubs gave him, first of all, that association. They +provided him with societies of every kind. They added recreation to +study; pleasure to work. If half of the evening was spent in a +classroom, or in a workshop, the other half was passed in orderly +amusement. There was, moreover, every kind of choice; the lad felt +himself free, there were, to be sure, barriers here and there, but he +did not feel them; there was a steady pressure upon him in certain +directions, but he did not feel it; in some there were +prayer-meetings; the boys were not obliged to go, but some time or +other they found themselves present. Then there were some who wore the +blue ribbon of temperance; nobody was obliged to assume that symbol, +but somehow most of them did, without feeling that they had been +pressed to do so. For the very work and life and atmosphere of the +place into which beer was not admitted gave them a dislike for beer, +with its coarse and rough associations. Insensibly the boy who joined +was led upward to a nobler and higher level. + +The motives which were strong enough to persuade a working lad to work +on, over hours, may he partly understood by considering one of these +Institutions--the largest and the most popular--the Polytechnic of +Regent Street, called familiarly the Regent Street 'Poly,' with its +thirteen thousand members. Take first its social side, as offering +naturally greater attractions than its educational side. It contained +about forty clubs. The new member on joining was asked in a pamphlet +these three questions: + +1. 'Do you wish to make friends?' + +2. 'Are you anxious to improve yourself?' + +3. 'Do you seek the best opportunities of recreation in your leisure +hours?' + +Observe that the serious object is placed between the other two. What +the Poly lads said to the new member was: 'Come in and have a good old +time with us.' It was for the good old time that the new member +joined. Once in he could look about him and choose. The Gymnasium, the +Boxing Club, the Swimming Club, the Roller-skating Club, the Cricket, +Football, Lawn Tennis, Athletic, Rowing, Cycling, Ramblers and +Harriers Clubs all invited him to join. Surely, among so many clubs +there must be one that he would like. Of course they had their showy +uniform, their envied Captains and other officers, their field days, +their public days, and their prizes. Or there was the Volunteer Corps, +with its Artillery Brigade, and its Volunteer Medical Staff Corps. +There was the Parliament, conducted on the same rules as that of the +House of Commons. For the quieter lads there were Sketching, Natural +History, Photographic, Orchestral, and Choral Societies. There was a +Natural History Society and an Electrical Engineering Society. There +were also associations for religious and moral objects; a Christian +Workers' Union, a Temperance Society, a Social League, a Polytechnic +Mission, and a Bible Class. There were reading-rooms and +refreshment-rooms; in the suburbs there were playing-fields for them. +Up the river was a house-boat for the Rowing Club, the largest on the +Thames. Add to all this an intense 'College feeling'; an ardent +enthusiasm for the Poly; friendships the most faithful; a wholesome, +invigorating, stimulating atmosphere; the encouragement always felt of +bravo endeavour and noble effort, and high principle--in one word the +gift to the young fellows of the working class of all that the public +schools and universities could offer that was best and most precious. +Such an institution as the Polytechnic--mother and sister of so many +others--was a revolution in itself. + +But for the second question: 'Are you anxious to improve yourself?' +What answer was given? Strange to say the answer was also very +decidedly in the affirmative. + +The young fellows were anxious to improve themselves. Now, mark the +difference between these working lads and the boys from the public +schools. Had such a question been put to the latter their answer would +have been a contemptuous stare, or a contemptuous laugh. Improve +themselves? They were already improved. They were so far improved that +nine-tenths of them were contented with the moderate amount of +knowledge necessary for the practice of their professions. If one +became a solicitor, a doctor, a schoolmaster, a barrister, a +clergyman, it was sufficient for him, in most cases, just to pass the +examinations. Then, no further improvement for the rest of their +natural life. But these others, who had everything to gain, whose +ambitions were just awakening, who were just beginning to understand +that there was every inducement to improve themselves, joined the +classes, and began to work with as much zeal as they showed in their +play. + +What they learned concerns us little. It may be recorded, however, +that they learned everything. Practical trades were taught; technical +classes were held; there was a School of Science in which such +subjects as chemistry, physics, mathematics, mechanics, building, were +taught. There was a School of Art, in which wood modelling, carving, +and other minor arts were taught, as well as painting and drawing. +There was a Commercial School for Arithmetic, Book-keeping, Shorthand, +Typewriting; French, German, etc., were taught; there were Musical +Classes, Elocution Classes, a School of Engineering, a School of +Photography. Enough; it will be seen that everything a lad might +desire to learn he could learn and did learn. + +But the Polytechnic was only one of many such institutions. In London +alone there existed, in the year 1893, between two and three hundred, +large and small; there were nearly fifty branches of the University +Extension Scheme; the Continuation classes were held in many Board +Schools, while of special clubs, mostly for athletic purposes, the +number was legion. As for the numbers enrolled in these associations, +already in 1893, when those things were all young, one finds 13,000 +members of the Regent Street Poly, 4,000 at the People's Palace; the +same number at the Birkbeck; the same at the Goldsmiths' Institute; at +the City of London College, 2,500; and so on. Of the Athletic Clubs +the Cyclists' Union alone contained no fewer than 20,000 members. + +Figures may mean anything. It is, however, significant that in a +population of five millions which gives perhaps 700,000 young men +between fifteen and twenty, of whom about 100,000 were below the rank +of craftsmen and 100,000 above, there should have been found a few +years after the introduction of the system about 70,000 youths wise +enough and resolute enough to join these classes. + +It must be owned that only the more generous spirits--the nobler +sort--were attracted by the Polytechnics. They were a first selection +from the mass. Of these, again, another selection was made--those few +who studied the things which at first sight appeared to be least +useful. Everyone who knew a craft could see the wisdom of acquiring +perfection in his trade; everyone who was a clerk, or who hoped to +become a clerk, could see the advantage of learning shorthand, +book-keeping, French and German. What did that boy aim at who studied +Latin, Greek, and Mathematics, matriculated and took his degree at the +London University, then an examining body only? Why did he learn time +things? He did not learn them, remember, in the perfunctory way in +which a public-school boy generally works through his subjects; he +learned as if he meant to know these subjects; he devoured his books; +he tore the heart out of them; he compelled them to give up their +secrets. He had everything to get for himself, while the public-school +boy had everything given to him. + +When it was done, when he had acquired as much knowledge as any +average boy from the best public school, when he had read in the Poly +Reading Room all that there was to read, what was he to do? For when +he looked about him he saw, stretching before him, fair and stately, +the long avenues which led to distinction; but before each there was a +toll-gate, and at the gate stood a man, saying, 'Pay me first a +thousand pounds. Then, and not till then, you shall enter.' + +Alas! and he had not a sixpence--he, or his parents. And so perforce +he must stand aside, while other lads, without his intellect and +courage, paid the money, and were admitted. + +There was but one outlet. He might become a journalist. He had learned +shorthand, a necessary accomplishment; therefore, he got an +appointment as reporter and general hand on a country paper. Such a +youth in these years of which we write was uncommon, but he very soon +became much more common. The charm of learning was discovered by one +lad after another. The chance of exchanging the craftsman's work for +the scholar's work, never thought of before, fired the brains of +hundreds first, and thousands afterward. Then began a rage for +learning. All those who had abilities even mediocre tried to escape +their lot by working at the higher subjects. It was reproached to the +Polytechnics that their original purpose, to bring the boys together +for common discipline and orderly recreation, and to train them in +their crafts, was departed from, and that all their energies were now +devoted to turning working lads into classical scholars, +mathematicians, logicians, and historians. + +Nor was the complaint wholly unfounded. But it was too late to recede. +The boys crowded to the classes; they read and worked with incredible +eagerness; they thought that to be a man of books was better than to +be a man with a saw and a plane. Ambition seized them seized them by +tens of thousands; they would rise. Learning was their stepping-stone. +The recreative side of the Polytechnics was lost in the educational +side. Never before had there been such an ardour, such a thirst for +knowledge; yet only for knowledge as a means to rise. And there was +but one outlet. That, in the course of a few years, became congested. +Journalism, as the number of papers increased, demanded more workmen, +and still more. These young men from the Polytechnic filled up every +vacancy. They had seized upon this profession and made it their own; +those who did not belong to them were gradually, but surely, ousted. +It was recognised that it was the profession of the young man who +wanted to get on. Some there were who affected to lament an alleged +decay; the old scholarly style, they said, was gone; there was also +gone the old reverence for authority, rank, and the established order. +Perhaps the journal, as the new men made it, was above all vigorous. +But it was _true_, which could not always be said of the papers before +their time. From their college--the old Poly--the young men carried +away a love of truth and right dealing which, once imported into the +newspaper press, made it an engine far more mighty--an influence far +more potent--than ever it had been before. There may have been some +loss in style, though many of them wrote gracefully, and many showed +on occasion a wonderful command of wit, sarcasm and satire. But +because the papers were always truthful the writers always knew what +they wanted, and so their work had the strength of directness. + +A few, but very few, continued at the work, whatever it might be, to +which they had been apprenticed. Then their lives were spent in a day +of painful drudgery, followed by an evening of delightful study. Very +few heard of these men. Now and then one would be discovered by a +clergyman working in his parish; now and then one emerged from +obscurity by means of a letter or a paper contributed to some journal. +Most of them lived and died unknown. + +Yet there was one. His case is remarkable because it first set rolling +the ball of reform, He was by trade a metal turner and fitter; he had +the reputation of being an unsociable man because he went home every +day after work and stayed there; he was unmarried and lived alone in a +small, four-roomed cottage near Kilburn, one of a collection of +Workmen's villages. Here it was known that he had a room which he had +furnished with a furnace, a table, shelves and bottles, and that he +worked every evening at something. One day there appeared in a +scientific paper an article containing an account of certain +discoveries of the greatest importance, signed by a name utterly +unknown to scientific men. The article was followed by others, all of +the greatest interest and originality. The man himself had little idea +of the importance of his own discoveries. When his cottage was +besieged by leaders in the world of science, he was amazed; he showed +his simple laboratory to his visitors; he spoke of his labours +carelessly; he told them that he was a metal turner by trade, that he +worked every day for an employer at a wage of thirty-five shillings a +week, and that he was able to devote his evenings to reading and +research. They made him an F.R.S., the first working man who had ever +attained that honour. They tried to get him put upon the Civil List, +but the First Lord of the Treasury had already, according to the usual +custom, given away the annual grant made by the House for Literature, +Science and Art, to the widows and daughters of Civil servants. This +attempt failing, the Royal Society, in order to take him away from his +drudgery, created a small sinecure post for him, and in this way found +an excuse for giving him a pension. + +Then some writer in a London 'Daily' asked how it was that with his +genius for science, which, it was now recalled, had been remarked +while he was a student at the South London Poly, this man had been +allowed to remain at his trade. + +And the answer was, 'Because there is no opening for such an one.' + +It is very astonishing, when we consider the obvious nature of certain +truths, to remark how slow man is to find them out. Now, this +exclusion of all those who could not afford to pay his toll to the man +at the gate had, up to that moment, been accepted as if it were a law +of Nature. As in other things, men said, if they talked about the +matter at all, 'What is, must be. What is, shall be. What is, has +always been. What is, has been ordained by God Himself.' There is +nothing more difficult than to effect a reform in men's minds. The +reformer has, first, to persuade people to listen. Sometimes he never +succeeds, even in this, the very beginning. When they do listen, the +thing, being new to them, irritates them. They therefore call him +names. If he persists they call him worse names. If they can, they put +him in prison, hang him, burn him. If they cannot do this, and he goes +on preaching new things, they presently begin to listen with more +respect. One or two converts are made. The reformer expands his views; +his demands become larger; his claims far exceed the modest dimensions +of his first timid words. And so the reform, bit by bit, is effected. + +At first, then, the demand was for nothing more than an easier +entrance into the scientific world, This naturally rose out of the +case. 'Let us,' they said, 'take care that to such a man as this any +and every branch of science shall be thrown open. But for that purpose +it is necessary that scholarships, whether given at school or college, +shall be sufficient for the maintenance as well as for the tuition +fees of those who hold them.' These scholarships, it was argued, had +been founded for poor students, and belonged to them. All the papers +took up the question, and all, with one or two exceptions, were in +favour of 'restoring'--that was the phrase--'his scholarships'; 'his,' +it was said, assuming that they were his originally--to the poor man. +In vain was it pointed out that these scholarships had been for the +most part founded in recent times when public schools and universities +had long become the property of the richer class, and that they were +needed as aids for those who were not rich, not as means of +maintenance for those who wanted to rise out from one class into +another. + +The cry was raised at the General Election; the majority came into +power pledged to the hilt to restore his scholarships to the poor +student. Then, of course, a compromise was effected. There was created +a class of scholarships at certain public schools for which candidates +had to produce evidence that they possessed nothing, and that their +parents would not assist them. Similar scholarships were created at +Oxford and Cambridge, out of existing revenues, and it was hoped that +concessions opening all the advantages that the public schools and +universities had to give would prove sufficient. By this time the +country was fully awakened to the danger of having thrown upon their +hands a great class of young men who thought themselves too well +educated for any of the lower kinds of work, and were too numerous for +the only work open to them. No one, as yet, it must be remembered, had +ventured to propose throwing open the Professions. + +The concessions were found, however, to make very little difference. +Now and then a lad with a scholarship forced his way to the head of a +public school, and carried off the highest honours at the University. +Mostly, however, the poor scholar was uncomfortable; he could neither +speak, nor think, nor behave like his fellows; the atmosphere chilled +him; too often he failed to justify the early promise; if he succeeded +in getting a 'poor' scholarship at college, he too often ended his +University career with second-class Honours, which were of no use to +him at all, and so he was again face to face with the question: What +to do? His college would not continue to support him. He could not get +a mastership in a good school because there was a prejudice against +'poor' scholars, who were supposed incapable of acquiring the manners +of a gentleman. So he, too, fell back upon the only outlet, and tried +to become a journalist. + +Every day the pressure increased; the pay of the journalist went down; +work could be got for next to nothing, and still the lads poured into +the classes by the thousand, all hoping to exchange the curse of +labour by their hands for that of labour by the pen. No one as yet had +perceived the great truth which has so enormously increased the +happiness of our time that all labour is honourable and respectable, +though to some kinds of labour we assign greater, and some lesser, +honour. The one thought was to leave the ranks of the working man. + +It is not to be supposed that this great class would suffer and starve +in silence. On the contrary, they were continually proclaiming their +woes; the papers were filled with letters and articles. 'What shall we +do with our boys?' was the heading that one saw every day, somewhere +or other. What, indeed! No one ventured to say that they had better go +back to their trade; no one ventured to point out that a man might be +a good cabinet-maker although he knew the Integral Calculus. If one +timidly asked what good purpose was gained by making so many scholars, +that man was called Philistine, first; obstructive, next; and other +stronger names afterward. And yet no one ventured to point out that +all the Professions--and not science only, through the +Universities--might be thrown open. + +Sooner or later this suggestion was certain to be made. It appeared, +first of all, in an unsigned letter addressed to one of the evening +papers. The writer of the letter was almost certainly one of the +suffering class. He began by setting forth the situation, as I have +described it above, quite simply and truly. He showed, as I have +shown, that the Professions and the Services were closed to those who +had no money. And he advanced for the first time the audacious +proposal that they should be thrown open to all on the simple +condition of passing an examination. 'This examination,' he said, 'may +be made as severe as can be desired or devised. There is no +examination so severe that the students of our Polytechnics cannot +face and pass it triumphantly. Let the examination, if you will, be +intended to admit none but those who have taken or can take +first-class Honours. The Poly students need not fear to face a +standard even so high as this. Why should the higher walks of life be +reserved for those who have money to begin with? Why should money +stand in the way of honour? Among the thousands of young men who have +profited by the opportunities offered to them there must be some who +are born to be lawyers; some who are born to be doctors; some who are +born to be preachers; some who are born to be administrators.' And so +on, at length. It was not, however, by a letter in a paper, or by the +leading articles and the correspondence which followed that the +suggested change was effected. But the idea was started. It was talked +about; it grew as the pressure increased it grew more and more. +Meetings were held at which violent speeches were delivered: the +question of opening the Professions was declared of national +importance; at the General Election which followed some months after +the appearance of the letter, members were returned who were pledged +to promote the immediate throwing open of all the Professions to all +who could pass a certain examination; and the first step was taken in +opening all commissions in the Army to competitive examination. + +The Professions, however, remained obstinate. Law and Medicine refused +to make the least concession. It was not until an Act of Parliament +compelled them that the Inns of Court, the Law Institute, the Colleges +of Physicians, Surgeons, and Apothecaries consented to admit +all-comers without fees and by examination alone. + +Then followed such a rush into the Professions as had never before +been witnessed. Already too full, they became at once absolutely +congested and choked. Every other man was either a doctor or a +solicitor. It was at first thought that by making examinations of the +greatest severity possible the rush might be arrested. But this proved +impossible, for the simple reason that an examination for admission, +necessarily a mere 'pass' examination, must be governed and limited by +the intellect of the average candidate. Moreover, in Medicine, if too +severe an examination is proposed, the candidate sacrifices actual +practice and observation in the Hospital wards to book-work. Therefore +the examinations remained much as they always had been, and all the +clever lads from all the Polytechnics became, in an incredibly short +time, members of the Learned Professions. + +There can be no doubt that the Bench and the Bar, that Medicine and +Surgery, owe to the emancipation of the Professions many of their +noblest members. Great names occur to every one which belong to this +and that Polytechnic, and are written on the walls in letters of gold +as an encouragement to succeeding generations. One would not go back +to the old state of things. At the same time there were losses and +there are regrets. So great, for instance, was the competition in +Medicine that the sixpenny General Practitioner established himself +everywhere, even in the most fashionable quarters; so numerous were +solicitors that the old system of a recognised tariff was swept away +and gave place to open competition as in trade. That the two branches +of the law should be fused into one was inevitable; that the splendid +incomes formerly derived from successful practice should disappear was +also a matter of course. And there were many who regretted not only +the loss of the old professional rules and the old incomes, but also +the old professional _esprit de corps_--the old jealousy for the +honour and dignity of the profession: the old brotherhood. All this +was gone. Every man's hand was against his neighbour; advocates sent +in contracts for the job; the physicians undertook a case for so much; +the surgeon operated for a contract price; the usages of trade were +all transferred to the Professions. + +As for the Services, the Navy remained an aristocratic body; boys were +received too young for the Polytechnic lads to have a chance; also, +the pay was too small to tempt them, and the work was too scientific. +In the Army a few appeared from time to time, but it cannot be said +that as officers the working-classes made a good figure. They were not +accustomed to command; they were wanting in the manners of the camp as +well as those of the court; they were neither polished enough nor +rough enough; the influence of the Poly might produce good soldier +obedient, high-principled, and brave; but it could not produce good +officers, who must be, to begin with, lads born in the atmosphere of +authority, the sons of gentlemen or the sons of officers. Yet even +here there were exceptions. Every one, for instance, will remember the +case of the general--once a Poly boy--who successfully defended Herat +against an overwhelming host of Russians in the year 1935. + +It was not enough to throw open the Professions. Some there were in +which, whether they were thrown open or not, a new-comer without +family or capital or influence could never get any work. Thus it would +seem that Engineering was a profession very favourable to such +new-comers. It proved the contrary. All engineers in practice had +pupils--sons, cousins, nephews--to whom they gave their appointments. +To the new-comer nothing was given. What good, then, had been effected +by this revolution? Nothing but the crowding into the learned +Professions of penniless clever lads? Nothing but the destruction of +the old dignity and self-respect of Law and Medicine? Nothing but the +degradation of a Profession to the competition of trade? + +Much more than this had been achieved. The Democratic movement which +had marked the nineteenth century received its final impulse from this +great change. Everyone knows that the House of Lords, long before the +end of that century, had ceased to represent the old aristocracy. The +old names were, for the most part, extinct. A Cecil, a Stanley, a +Howard, a Neville, a Bruce, might yet be found, but by far the greater +part of the Peers were of yesterday. Nor could the House be kept up at +all but for new creations. They were made from rich trade or from the +Law, the latter conferring respect and dignity upon the House. But +lawyers could no longer be made Peers. They were rough in manners, and +they had no longer great incomes. Moreover, the nation demanded that +its honours should be equally bestowed upon all those who rendered +service to the State, and all were poor. Now a House of poor Lords is +absurd. Equally absurd is a House of Lords all brewers. Hence the fall +of the House of Lords was certain. In the year 1924 it was finally +abolished. + +In the next chapter I propose to relate what followed this rush into +the Professions. We have seen how the grant of the higher education to +working lads caused the Conquest of the Professions and brought about +the change I have indicated. We have seen how this revolution was +bound to sweep away in its course the last relics of the old +aristocratic constitution of the country. It remains to be told how +learning, when it became the common possession of all clever lads, +ceased to be a possession by which money could be made, except by the +very foremost. Then the boys went back to their trades. If the reign +of the gentleman is over, the learning and the power and culture that +has belonged to the gentleman now belongs to the craftsman. This, at +least, must be admitted to be pure gain. For one man who read and +studied and thought one hundred years ago, there are now a thousand. +Editions of good books are now issued by a hundred thousand at a time. +The Professions are still the avenues to honours. Still, as before, +the men whom the people respect are the followers of science, the +great Advocate the great Preacher, the great Engineer, the great +Surgeon, the great Dramatist, the great Novelist, the great Poet. That +the national honours no longer take the form of the Peerage will not, +I think, at this hour, be admitted to be a subject for regret by even +the stanchest Conservative. + +[1893.] + + + + + +I.--THE LAND OF ROMANCE + + + +At the back of the setting sun; beyond the glories of the evening; on +the other side of the broad, mysterious ocean, lay for nine +generations of Englishmen the Land of Romance. It began--for the +English youth--to be the Land of Romance from the very day when John +Cabot discovered it for the Bristol merchants it continued to be their +Land of Romance while every sailor-captain discovered new rivers, new +gulfs, and new islands, and went in search of new north-west passages, +while the rovers, freebooters, privateers and buccaneers, put out in +their crazy, ill-found craft, to rob and slay the Spaniard; while the +mystery of the unknown still lay upon it; long after the mystery had +mostly gone out of it, save for the mystery of the Aztec; it remained +the Land of Romance when New England was fully settled and Virginia +already an old colony; it was the English Land of Romance while King +George's redcoats fought side by side with the colonials, to drive the +French out of the continent for ever. + +We have had India, as well. Surely, in the splendid story of the long +struggle with France for the Empire of the East, in the achievements +of our soldiers, in the names of Clive, Lawrence, Havelock; in the +setting of the piece, so to speak, in its people, its wisdom, its +faith, its cities, its triumphs, its costumes, its gold and silver and +precious stones and costly stuffs--there is material wherewith to +create a romance of its own, sufficient to fire the blood and stir the +pulse and light the eye. Or, we have had Australia, New Zealand, the +Cape of Good Hope; coral isles, strongholds, fortresses, islands here, +and great slices and cantles of continent there. We have had all these +possessions, but round none of these places has there grown up the +romance which clung to the shores of America, from the mouth of the +Orinoco round the Spanish Main, and from Florida to Labrador. This +romance formerly belonged to the whole of our people. In their +imaginations--in their dreams--they turned to America. There came a +time when this romance was destroyed violently and suddenly, and, +apparently, for ever. In another shape it has grown up again, for some +of us; it is taking fresh root in some hearts, and putting forth new +branches with new blossoms, to bear new fruit. America may become, +once more, the Land of Romance to the Englishman. I say with intent, +the Englishman. For, if you consider, it was the Englishman, not the +Scot or the Irishman, who discovered America by means of John Cabot +and his Bristol merchants--not to speak of Leif, the son of Eric, or +of Madoc, the Welshman. It was the Englishman, not the Scot or the +Irishman, who fought the Spaniard; who sent planters to Barbadoes; who +settled colonists and convicts in Virginia; from England, not from +Ireland or Scotland, went forth the Pilgrims and the Puritans. While +the Scottish gentlemen were still taking service in foreign +courts--as, for example, the Admirable Crichton with the Duke of +Mantua--the young Englishman was sailing with Cavendish or Drake; he +was fighting and meeting death under desperadoes, such as Oxenham; he +was even, later on, serving with L'Olonnois, Kidd, or Henry Morgan. +All the history of North America before the War of Independence is +English history. Scotland and Ireland hardly came into it until the +eighteenth century; till then their only share in American history was +the deportation of rebels to the plantations. The country was +discovered by England, colonized by England; it was always regarded by +England as specially her own child; the sole attempt made by Scotland +at colonization was a failure; and to this day it is England that the +descendants of the older American families regard as the cradle of +their name and race. + +As for the men who created this romance, they belong to a time when +the world had renewed her youth, put the old things behind, and begun +afresh, with new lands to conquer, a new faith to hold, new learning, +new ideas, and new literature. Those who sit down to consider the +Elizabethan age presently fall to lamenting that they were born three +hundred years too late to share those glories. Their hearts, +especially if they are young, beat the faster only to think of Drake. +They long to climb that tree in the Cordilleras and to look down, as +Drake and Oxenham looked down, upon the old ocean in the East and the +new ocean in the West; they would like to go on pilgrimage to Nombre +de Dios--Brothers, what a Gest was that!--and to Cartagena, where +Drake took the great Spanish ship out of the very harbour, under the +very nose of the Spaniard, they would like to have been on board the +_Golden Hind_, when Drake captured that nobly laden vessel, _Our Lady +of the Conception_, and used her cargo of silver for ballasting his +own ship. Drake--the 'Dragon'--is the typical English hero; he is +Galahad in the Court of the Lady Gloriana; he is one of the long +series of noble knights and valiant soldiers, their lives enriched and +aglow with splendid achievements, who illumine the page of English +history, from King Alfred to Charles Gordon. + +The first and greatest of the Elizabethan knights is Drake; but there +were others of nearly equal note. What of Raleigh, who actually +founded the United States by sending the first colonists to +Virginia--the country where the grapes grew wild? What of Martin +Frobisher and Humphrey Gilbert? What of Cavendish? What of Captain +Amidas? What of Davis and half a score more? The exploits and +victories and discoveries--in many cases, the disasters and death--of +these sea-dogs filled the country from end to end with pride, and +every young, generous heart with envy. They, too, would sail Westward +Ho! to fight the Spaniard--three score of Englishmen against thousand +Dons--and sail home again, heavy laden with the silver ingots of Peru, +taken at Palengue or Nombre de Dios. Kingsley has written a book about +these adventurers; a very good book it is; but his pictures are marred +with the touch of the ecclesiastic--we need not suppose that the young +men sat always Bible in hand, talked like seminarists, or thought like +curates. The rovers who sailed with Drake and Raleigh had their +religion, like their rations, served out to them. Sailors always do. +Drake, the captain, might and did, consult the Bible for encouragement +and hope. Even he, however, reserved the right of using profane oaths; +that right survived the older form of faith. In a word, the +Elizabethan sailor--although a Protestant--was, in all respects, like +his predecessor, save that on this new battle-field he was filled with +a larger confidence and an audacity almost incredible to read +of--almost impossible to think upon. + +This was the first phase of the romance which grew up along the shores +of America. So far it belongs to the Spanish Main and to the Isthmus +of Panama. The romance remained when the Elizabethans passed +away--they were followed by the buccaneers, privateers, marooners and +pirates--a degenerate company, but not without their picturesque side. +Pierre le Grand, François l'Olonnois, Henry Morgan, are captains only +one degree more piratical than Drake and Raleigh. Edward Teach, Kidd, +Avery, Bartholomew Roberts were pirates only because they plundered +ships English and French as well as Spanish; that they were roaring, +reckless, deboshed villains as well, detracted little from the renown +with which their names and exploits were surrounded, and that they +were mostly hanged in the end was an accident common to such a life, +the men under Drake were also sometimes hanged, though they were +mostly killed by sword, bullet, or fever. The romance remained. The +lad who would have enlisted under Drake found no difficulty in joining +Morgan, and, if the occasion offered, he was ready to join the bold +Captain Kidd with alacrity. + +The seventeenth century furnished another kind of romance. It was the +century of settlement. In the year 1606, after Sir Walter Raleigh had +led the way, the Virginia Company sent out the _Susan Constant_ with +two smaller ships, containing a handful of colonists. They settled on +the James River. Among them was John Smith, an adventurer and +free-lance quite of the Elizabethan strain. In him John Oxenham lived +again. We all know the story of Captain John Smith. He began his +career by killing Turks; he continued it by exploring the creeks and +rivers of Virginia, with endless adventures. Sometimes he was a +prisoner of the Indians. Once, if his own account is true, he was +rescued from imminent death by the intervention of Pocahontas, called +Princess--or Lady Rebecca. He explored Chesapeake Bay, and he gave the +name of New England to the country north of Cape Cod. Such histories, +of which this is only one, kept alive in England the adventurous +spirit and the romance of the West. The dream of _finding_ gold had +vanished: what belonged to the present were the things done and +suffered in His Majesty's plantations with all that they suggested. It +is most certain that in every age there are thousands who continually +yearn for the 'way of war' and the life of battle. Mostly, they fail +in their ambitions because in these times the nations fear war. In the +seventeenth century there was always good fighting to be got somewhere +in Europe; if everything else failed there were the American Colonies +and the Indians--plenty of fighting always among the Indians. + +Besides the romance of war there was the romance of religious freedom. +Everybody in America knows the story of the _Mayflower_ and her +Pilgrims in 1620, and the coming of the Puritans in 1630 under John +Winthrop and the Massachusetts Company. I suppose, also, that all +Americans know of the _Ark_ and the _Dove_, and of Lord Baltimore's +Catholic, but tolerant, colony of Maryland. They know as well the very +odd story of Carolina and its 'Lords Proprietors' and the aristocratic +form of government attempted there; of the Quakers in Pennsylvania, +and the Temperance Colony of Georgia. One may recall as well the +influx of Germans by thousands in the early part of the eighteenth +century, and the first immigration of Irish Presbyterians, the flower +of the Irish nation, driven abroad by the stupidity and fanaticism of +their own Government, which wanted to make them conform to the Irish +Episcopal Church. In the whole history of Irish misgovernment there is +nothing more stupid than this persecution of Irish Presbyterians. But, +indeed, we may not blame our forefathers for this stupidity. +Persecution of this kind belonged to the times. It seems to us +inconceivably stupid that men should be exiled because they would not +acknowledge the authority of a bishop, but, out of Maryland, there was +nowhere any real religious toleration; the dream of every sect was to +trample down and to destroy all other sects. Our people in Ireland +were no worse than the people of Salem and Boston. Religious +toleration was not yet understood. Therefore, it was only playing the +game according to the laws of the game when the United Kingdom threw +away tens of thousands--the strongest, the most able, the most +industrious, the most loyal--of her Irish subjects, because they would +not change one sect for another; and retained the Roman Catholics, +hereditary rebels, who were numerically too strong to be turned out. + +All these things are perfectly well known to the American reader. But +is it also well known to the American reader--has he ever asked +himself--how these things affected and impressed the mind of England? + +In this way. The Land of Romance was no longer the fable land where a +dozen Protestant soldiers, headed by the invincible Dragon, could +drive out a whole garrison of Catholic Spaniards and sack a town. It +had ceased to be another Ophir and a richer Golconda; but it was the +Land of Religious Freedom. The Church of England and Ireland, by law +established, had no power across the ocean. America, to the +Nonconformist of the seventeenth century, was a haven and a refuge +ever open in case of need. The history of Nonconformity shows the +vital necessity of such a refuge. The very existence of free America +gave to the English Nonconformist strength and courage. Such a +persecution as that of the Irish Presbyterians became impossible when +it had been once demonstrated that, should the worst happen, the +persecuted religionists would escape by voluntary exile. + +That the spirit of persecution long survived is proved by the +lingering among us down to our own days of the religious disabilities. +Within the memory of living men, no one outside the Church of England +could be educated at a public school; could take a degree at Oxford or +Cambridge; could hold a scholarship or a fellowship at any college; +could become a professor at either university; could sit in the House +of Commons; could be appointed to any municipal office; could hold a +commission in the army or navy. These restrictions practically--though +with some exceptions--reduced Nonconformity in England to the lower +middle class, the small traders. Their ministers, who had formerly +been scholars and theologians, fell into ignorance; their creeds +became narrower; they had no social influence; but for the example of +their brethren across the ocean they would have melted away and been +lost like the Non-Jurors who expired fifty years ago in the last +surviving member; or, like a hundred sects which have arisen, made a +show of flourishing for a while, and then perished. They were +sustained, first, by the memory of a _victorious_ past; next, by the +tradition of religious liberty; and, thirdly, by the report of a +country--a flourishing country--where there were no religious +disabilities, no social inferiority on account of faith and creed. Not +reports only: there was a continual passing to and fro between Bristol +and Boston during three-fourths of the eighteenth century. The +colonies were visited by traders, soldiers and sailors. John Dunton in +the year 1710 thought nothing of a voyage to Boston with a consignment +of books for sale. Ned Ward, another bookseller, made the same journey +with the same object. There exists a whole library of Quaker +biographies showing how these restless apostles travelled backwards +and forwards, crossing and recrossing the Atlantic, and journeying up +and down the country, to preach their gospel. And the life of John +Wesley also proves that the Colonies were regarded as easily +accessible. I have seen a correspondence between a family in London +and their cousins in Philadelphia, in the reign of Queen Anne, which +brings out very clearly the fact that they thought nothing of the +voyage, and fearlessly crossed the ocean on business or pleasure. The +connection between the Colonies and England was much closer than we +are apt to imagine. The Colonies were much better known by us than we +are given to believe; they were regarded by the ecclesiastical mind as +the home of schismatic rebellion; but by the layman as the land where +thought was free. + +That was one side--perhaps the most important side. But the halo of +adventure still lay glowing in the western land. No colony but had its +history of massacre, treachery, and war to the knife with the Red +Indian. Long before the time of Fenimore Cooper the English lad could +read stories of dreadful tortures, of heroic daring, of patience and +endurance, of revenges fierce, of daily and hourly peril. The blood of +the Dragon ran yet in English veins. America was still to the heirs +and successors of that Great Heart the Land of Romance and the Land of +Gallant Fights. + +And such stories! That of Captain John Smith laying his head upon the +block that it might be smashed by the Indians' clubs, and of his +rescue by the Indian girl, afterwards the 'Princess Rebecca'; the +massacre of three hundred and fifty men, women and children of the +infant colony of Virginia, a hundred stories of massacre. Or, that +story of the mother's revenge, told, I believe, by Thoreau. Her name +was Hannah Dunstan. Her house was attacked by Indians; her husband and +her elder children fled for their lives; she, with an infant of a +fortnight, and her nurse, were left behind. The Indians dashed out the +brains of the baby and forced the two women to march with them through +the forest to their camp. Here they found an English boy, also a +prisoner. Hannah Dunstan made the boy find out from one of the Indians +the quickest way to strike with the tomahawk so as to kill and to +secure the scalp. The Indian told the boy. Now there were in the camp +two men, three women, and seven children. In the dead of night Hannah +got up, awakened her nurse and the boy, secured the tomahawks, and in +the way the unsuspecting Indian had taught the boy, she tomahawked +every one--man, woman and child--except a boy who fled into the +woods--and took their scalps. Then she scuttled all the canoes but +one, and taking the scalps with her as proof of her revenge, she put +the nurse and the boy into the canoe and paddled down the river. She +escaped all roving bands and won her way home again to find her +husband and sons safe and well, and to show the scalps--the blood +payment for her murdered child. Such were the stories told and retold +in every colonial township, round every fire; such were the stories +brought home by the sailors and the merchants; they were published in +books of travel. Think you that our English blood had grown so +sluggish that it could not be fired by such tales? Think you that the +romance of the Colonies was one whit less enthralling than the romance +of the Spanish Main? + +I say nothing of the wars in which the British troops and the +Colonial, side by side, at last succeeded in driving the French out of +the country. They belong to the history of the eighteenth century and +to the expansion of the English-speaking race. But for them, North +America would now be half French and a quarter Spanish. These, +however, were regular wars, with no more romance about them than +belongs to war wherever it is conducted according to the war-game of +the day. The manÂœuvres of generals and the deploying of men in masses +inspire none but students, just as a fine game of chess can only be +judged by one who knows the game. Louisburg, Quebec, 'Queen Anne's +War,' 'King George's War'--Wolfe and Montcalm--these things and these +men produced little effect upon the popular view of America. In the +colonies themselves murmurings and complaints began to make themselves +heard; as they became stronger, the discontent increased; but they did +not reach the ear of the average Englishman, who still looked across +the ocean and still saw the country bathed in all the glories of the +West. Then--violently, suddenly--all this romance which had grown up +around and after so much fighting, so many achievements, was broken +off and destroyed. It perished with the War of Independence; it was no +longer possible when the Colonies had become not only a foreign +country, but a country bitterly hostile. The romance of America was +dead. + +After the war was over, with much humiliation and shame for the +nation--the better part of which had been against the war from the +outset--the country turned for consolation to the East. But, as has +been said above, neither India, nor Australia, nor New Zealand, has +ever taken such a place in the affections of our country as that +continent which was planted by our own sons, for whose safety and +freedom from foreign enemies we cheerfully spent treasure incalculable +and lives uncounted. + +Then came the long twenty-three years' war in which Great Britain, for +the most part single-handed, fought for the freedom of Europe against +the most colossal tyranny ever devised by victorious captain. No +nation in the history of the world ever carried on such a war, so +stubborn, so desperate, so vital. Had Great Britain failed, what would +now be the position of the world? The victories, the defeats, the +successes, the disasters, which marked that long struggle, at least +made our people forget their humiliation in America. The final triumph +gave us back, as it was certain to do, more than our former pride, +more than our old self-reliance. America was forgotten, the old love +for America was gone; how could we remember our former affections +when, at the very time when our need was the sorest, when every ship, +every soldier, every sailor that we could find, was wanted to break +down the power of the man who had subjugated the whole of Europe, +except Russia and Great Britain, the United States--the very Land of +Liberty--did her best to cripple the Armies of Liberty by proclaiming +war against us? And now, indeed, there was nothing left at all of the +old romance. It was quite, quite dead. In the popular imagination all +was forgotten, except that on the other side of the Atlantic lived an +implacable enemy, whose rancour--it then seemed to our people--was +even greater than their boasted love of liberty. + +I take it that the very worst time in the history of the relation of +the United States with this country was the first half of this +century. There was very little intercourse between the countries; +there were very few travellers; there was ignorance on both sides, +with misunderstandings, wilful misrepresentations and deliberate +exaggerations. Remember how Nathaniel Hawthorne speaks about the +English people among whom he lived; read how Thoreau speaks of us when +he visits Quebec. Is that time past? Hardly. Among the better class of +Americans one seldom finds any trace of hatred to Great Britain. I +think that, with the exception of Mr. W.D. Howells, I have never found +any American gentleman who would manifest such a passion. But, as +regards the lower class of Americans, it is reported that there still +survives a meaningless, smouldering hostility. The going and the +coming, to and fro, are increasing and multiplying; arbitration seems +to be established as the best way of terminating international +disputes; if the tone of the press is not always gracious, it is not +often openly hostile; we may, perhaps, begin to hope, at last, that +the future of the world will be secured for freedom by the +confederation of all the English-speaking nations. + +The old romance is dead. Yet--yet--as Kingsley cried, when he landed +on a West Indian island, 'At last!' so I, also, when I found myself in +New England, was ready to cry. 'At last!' The old romance is not +everywhere dead, since there can be found one Englishman who, when he +stands for the first time on New England soil, feels that one more +desire of his life has been satisfied. To see the East; to see India +and far Cathay; to see the tropics and to live for a while in a +tropical island; to be carried along the Grand Canal of Venice in a +gondola; to see the gardens of Boccaccio and the cell of Savonarola; +to camp and hunt in the backwoods of Canada, and to walk the streets +of New York, all these things have I longed, from youth upwards, to +see and to do--yea, as ardently as ever Drake desired to set an +English sail upon the great and unknown sea, and all these things, and +many more, have been granted to me. One great thing--perhaps more than +one thing, one unsatisfied desire--remained undone. I would set foot +on the shore of New England. It is a sacred land, consecrated to me +long years ago, for the sake of the things which I used to read--for +the sake of the long-yearning thoughts of childhood and the dim and +mystic splendours which played about the land beyond the sunset, in +the days of my sunrise. + +'At last!' + +Wherever a boy finds a quiet place for reading--an attic lumbered with +rubbish, a bedroom cold and empty, even a corner on the stairs--he +makes of that place a theatre, in which he is the sole audience. +Before his eyes--to him alone--the drama is played, with scenery +complete and costume correct, by such actors as never yet played upon +any other stage, so natural, so lifelike--nay, so godlike, and for +that very reason so lifelike. + +This boy sat where he could--in a crowded household it is not always +possible to get a quiet corner; wherever he sat, this stage rose up +before him and the play went on. He saw upon that stage all these +things of which I have spoken, and more. He saw the fight at Nombre de +Dios, the capture of the rich galleon, the sacking of Maracaibo. I do +not know whether other boys of that time were reading the American +authors with such avidity, or whether it was by some chance that these +books were thrown in his way. Washington Irving, Fenimore Cooper, +Prescott, Emerson (in parts), Longfellow, Whittier, Bryant, Edgar +Allan Poe, Lowell, Holmes, not to mention Thoreau, Herman Melville, +Dana, certain religious novelists and many others whose names I do not +recall, formed a tolerably large field of American reading for an +English boy--without prejudice, be it understood, to the writers of +his own country. To him the country of the American writers became +almost as well known as his own. One thing alone he could not read. +When he came to the War of Independence, he closed the book and +ordered his theatre to vanish. And, to this day, the events of that +war are only partly known to him. No boy who is jealous for his +country will read, except upon compulsion, the story of a war which +was begun in stupidity, carried on with incompetence, and concluded +with humiliation. + +The attack on Panama, the beginning of the Colonies, the exiles for +religion, the long struggle with the French, the driving back of the +Indians: it was a very fine drama--the Romance of America--in ever so +many acts, and twice as many tableaux, that this boy saw. And always +on the stage, now like Drake, now like Raleigh, now like Miles +Standish, now like Captain John Smith, he saw a young Englishman, +performing prodigies of valour and bearing a charmed life. Yet, do not +think that it was a play with nothing but fighting in it. There were +the Dutch burghers of New Amsterdam, under Walter the Doubter, or the +renowned Peter Stuyvesant; there was Rip Van Winkle on the Catskill +Mountains; there were the king-killers, hiding in the rocks beside +Newhaven; there were the witch trials of Salem; there was the peaceful +village of Concord, from which came voices that echoed round and round +the world; there was the Lake, lying still and silent, ringed by its +woods, where the solitary student of Nature loved to sit and watch and +meditate. Hundreds of things, too many to mention, were acted on that +boy's imaginary stage and lived in his brain as much as if he had +himself played a part in them. + +As that boy grew up, the memory of this long pageant survived; there +fell upon him the desire to see some of the places; such a desire, if +it is not gratified, dies away into a feeble spark--but it can always +be blown again into a flame. This year the chance came to the boy, now +a graybeard, to see these places; and the spark flared up again, into +a bright, consuming flame. + +I have seen my Land of Romance; I have travelled for a few weeks among +the New England places, and, with a sigh of satisfaction and relief, I +say with Kingsley: 'At Last!' + +This romance, which belonged to my boyhood, and has grown up with me, +and will never leave me, once belonged then, more or less, to the +whole of the English people. Except with those who, like me, have been +fed with the poetry and the literature of America, this romance is +impossible. I suppose that it can never come again. Something better +and more stable, however, may yet come to us, when the United States +and Great Britain will be allied in amity as firm as that which now +holds together those Federated States. The thing is too vast, it is +too important, to be achieved in a day, or in a generation. But it +will come--it will come; it must come--it must come; Asia and Europe +may become Chinese or Cossack, but our people shall rule over every +other land, and all the islands, and every sea. + + + + + +II.-THE LAND OF REALITY + + + +When a man has received kindnesses unexpected and recognition unlooked +for from strangers and people in a foreign country on whom he had no +kind of claim, it seems a mean and pitiful thing in that man to sit +down in cold blood and pick out the faults and imperfections, if he +can descry any, in that country. The 'cad with a kodak'--where did I +find that happy collocation?--is to be found everywhere; that is quite +certain; every traveller, as is well known, feels himself justified +after six weeks of a country to sit in judgment upon that country and +its institutions, its manners, its customs and its society; he +constitutes himself an authority upon that country for the rest of his +life. Do we not know the man who 'has been there'? Lord Palmerston +knew him. 'Beware,' he used to say, 'of the man who has been there!' +As Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs he was privileged to make +quite a circle of acquaintance with the men who 'had been there'; and +he estimated their experience at its true value. + +The man who has been there very seldom speaks its language with so +much ease as to understand all classes; he has therefore no real +chance of seeing and understanding things otherwise than as they seem. +When an Englishman travels in America, however, he can speak the +language. Therefore, he thinks that he really does understand the +things he sees. Does he? Let us consider. To understand the true +meaning of things in any strange land is not to see certain things by +themselves, but to be able to see them in their relation to other +things. Thus, the question of price must be taken with the question of +wage; that of supply with that of demand; that of things done with the +national opinion on such things; that of the continued existence of +certain recognised evils with, the conditions and exigencies of the +time; and so on. Before an observer can understand the relative value +of this or that he must make a long and sometimes a profound study of +the history of the country, the growth of the people, and the present +condition of the nation. It is obvious that it is given to very few +visitors to conduct such an investigation. Most of them have no time; +very, very few have the intellectual grasp necessary for an +undertaking of this magnitude. It is obvious, therefore, that the +criticism of a two months' traveller must be worthless generally, and +impertinent almost always. The kodak, you see, in the bands of the +cads, produces mischievous and misleading pictures. + +Let us take one or two familiar instances of the dangers of hasty +objection. Nothing worries the average American visitor to Great +Britain more than the House of Lords, and, generally, the national +distinctions. He sees very plainly that the House of Lords no longer +represents an aristocracy of ancient descent, because by far the +greater number of peers belong to modern creations and new families, +chiefly of the trading class; that it no longer represents the men of +whom the country has most reason to be proud, because out of the whole +domain of science, letters, and art there have been but two creations +in the history of the peerage. He sees, also, that an Englishman has, +apparently, only to make enough money in order to command a peerage +for himself, and the elevation to a separate caste of himself and his +children forever. Again, as regards the lower distinctions, he +perceives that they are given for this reason and for that reason; but +he knows nothing at all of the services rendered to the State by the +dozens of knights made every year, while he can see very well that the +men of real distinction, whom he does know, never get any distinctions +at all. These difficulties perplex and irritate him. Probably he goes +home with a hasty generalization. + +But the answer to these objections is not difficult. Without posing as +a champion of the House of Lords, one may point out that it is a very +ancient and deep-rooted institution; that to pull it up would cost an +immense deal of trouble; that it gives us a second or upper house +quite free from the acknowledged dangers of popular election; that the +lords have long ceased to oppose themselves to changes once clearly +and unmistakably demanded by the nation; that the hereditary powers +actually exercised by the very small number of peers who sit in the +House do give us an average exhibition of brain power quite equal to +that found in the House of Commons, in which are the six hundred +chosen delegates of the people; that, as regards the elevation of rich +men, a poor man cannot well accept a peerage, because custom does not +permit a peer to work for his livelihood; that it is necessary to +create new peers continually, in order to keep as close a connection +as possible between the Lords and the Commons; _e.g._, if a peer has a +hundred brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, cousins, they are all +commoners and he is the one peer, so that for six hundred peers there +may be a hundred thousand people closely allied to the House of Lords. +Again, as to the habitual contempt with which the advisers of the +Crown pass over the men who by their science, art, and literature +bring honour upon their generation, the answer is, that when the +newspaper press thinks fit to take up the subject and becomes as +jealous over the national distinctions as they are now over the +national finances, the thing will get itself righted. And not till +then. I instance this point and these objections as illustrating what +is often said, and thought, by American visitors who record their +first impressions. + +The same kind of danger, of course, awaits the English traveller in +America. If he is an unwise traveller, he will note, for admiring or +indignant quotation, many a thing which the wise traveller notes only +with a query and the intention of finding out, if he can, what it +means or why it is permitted. The first questions, in fact, for the +student of manners and laws are why a thing is permitted, encouraged, +or practised; how the thing in consideration affects the people who +practise it, and how they regard it. Thus, to go back to ancient +history, English people, forty years ago, could not understand how +slavery was allowed to continue in the States. We ourselves had +virtuously given freedom to all our slaves; why should not the +Americans? We had not grown up under the institution, you see; we had +little personal knowledge of the negro; we believed that, in spite of +the discouraging examples in Hayti and in our own Jamaica, there was a +splendid future for the black, if only he could be free and educated. +Again, none of our people realized, until the Civil War actually broke +out, the enormous magnitude of the interests involved; we had read +'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' and our hearts glowed with virtuous indignation; +we could not understand the enormous difficulties of the question. +Finally, we succeeded in enraging the South against us before the war +began, because of our continual outcry against slavery; and in +enraging the North after the war began, by reason of our totally +unexpected Southern sympathies. It is a curious history of +wrongheadedness and ignorance. + +This was a big thing. The things which the English traveller in the +States now notices are little things; as life is made up of little +things, he is noting differences all day long, because everything that +he sees is different. Speech is different: the manner of enunciating +the words is different; it is clearer, slower, more grammatical; among +the better sort it is more careful; it is even academical. We English +speak thickly, far back in the throat, the voice choked by beard and +moustache, and we speak much more carelessly. Then the way of living +at the hotels is different; the rooms are much--very much--better +furnished than would be found in towns of corresponding size in +England--_e.g._, at Providence, Rhode Island, which is not a large +city, there is a hotel which is most beautifully furnished; and at +Buffalo, which is a city half the size of Birmingham, the hotel is +perhaps better furnished than any hotel in London. An immense menu is +placed before the visitor for breakfast and dinner. There is an +embarrassment of choice. Perhaps it is insular prejudice which makes +one prefer the simple menu, the limited choice, and the plain food of +the English hotels. At least, rightly or wrongly, the English hotels +appear to the English traveller the more comfortable. I return to the +differences. In the preparation and the serving of food there are +differences--the mid-day meal, far more in America than in England, is +the national dinner. In most American hotels that received us we found +the evening meal called supper--and a very inferior spread it was, +compared to the one o'clock service. In the drinks there is a +difference--the iced water which forms so welcome a part of every meal +in the States is generally the only drink; it is not common, out of +the great cities, to see claret on the table. There are differences in +the conduct of the trains and in the form of the railway carriages; +differences in the despatch and securing of luggage; difference in the +railway whistle; difference in the management of the station, until +one knows the way about, travelling in America is a continual trial to +the temper. Until, for instance, an understanding of the manners and +customs in this respect has been attained, the conveyance of the +luggage to the hotel is a ruinous expense. And unless one understands +the rough usage of luggage on American lines, there will be further +trials of temper over the breakage of things. In France and Italy such +small differences do not exasperate, because they ate known to exist; +one expects them; they are benighted foreigners who know no better. +But in America, where they speak our own language, one seems to have a +right, somehow, to expect that all the usages will be exactly the +same--and they are not; and so the cad with the kodak gets his chance. + +I can quite understand, even at this day, the making of a book which +should hold up to ridicule the whole of a nation on account of these +differences. 'The Americans a great nation? Why, sir, I could not +get--the whole time that I was them--such a simple thing as English +mustard. The Americans a great nation? Well, sir, all I can say is +that their breakfast in the Wagner car is a greasy pretence. The +Americans a great nation? They may be, sir; but all I can say is that +there isn't such a thing--that I could discover--as an honest +bar-parlour, where a man can have his pipe and his grog in comfort.' +And so on--the kind of thing may be multiplied indefinitely. What Mrs. +Trollope did sixty years ago might be done again. + +But, if I had the time, I would write the companion volume--that of +the American in England--in which it should be proved, after the same +fashion, that this poor old country is in the last stage of decay, +because we have compartment carriages on the railway; no checks for +the luggage; no electric trolleys in the street; at the hotels no +elaborate menu, but only a simple dinner of fish and roast-beef; no +iced water, an established Church (the clergy all bursting with +fatness); a House of Lords (all profligates); and a Queen who chops +off heads when so disposed. It would also be noted, as proving the +contemptible decay of the country, that a large proportion of the +lower classes omit the aspirate; that rough holiday-makers laugh and +sing and play the accordion as they take their trips abroad; that the +factory girls wear hideous hats and feathers; that all classes drink +beer, and that men are often seen rolling drunk in the streets. Nor +would the American traveller in Great Britain fail to observe, with +the scorn of a moralist, the political corruption of the time; he +would hold up to the contempt of the world the statesman who with the +utmost vehemence condemns a movement one day which, on the following +day, in order to gain votes and recover power, he adopts, and with +equal vehemence advocates; he would ask what can be the moral +standards of a country where a great party turns right round, at the +bidding of their leader, and follows him like a flock of sheep, +applauding, voting, advocating as he bids them, to-day, +this--to-morrow, its opposite. + +These things and more will be found in that book of the American in +England when it appears. You see how small and worthless and +prejudiced would be such a volume. Well, it is precisely such a volume +that the ordinary traveller is capable of writing. All the things that +I have mentioned are accidentals; they are differences which mean +nothing; they are not essentials; what I wish to show is that he who +would think rightly of a country must disregard the accidentals and +get at the essentials. What follows is my own attempt--which I am well +aware must be of the smallest account--to feel my way to two or three +essentials. + +First and foremost, one essential is that the country is full of +youth. I have discovered this for myself, and I have learned what the +fact means and how it affects the country. I had heard this said over +and over again. It used to irritate me to hear a monotonous repetition +of the words, 'Sir, we are a young county.' Young? At least, it is +three hundred years old; nor was it till I had passed through New +England, and seen Buffalo and Chicago--those cities which stand +between the east and time west--and was able to think and compare, +that I began to understand the reality and the meaning of those words, +which have now become so real and mean so much. It is not that the +cities are new and the buildings put up yesterday; it is in the +atmosphere of buoyancy, elation, self-reliance, and energy, which one +drinks in everywhere, that this sense of youth is apprehended. It is +youth full of confidence. Is there such a thing anywhere in America as +poverty or the fear of poverty? I do not think so. Men may be hard up +or even stone-broke; there are slums; there are hard-worked women; but +there is no general fear of poverty. In the old countries the fear of +poverty lies on all hearts like lead. To be sure, such a fear is a +survival in England. In the last century the strokes of fate were +sudden and heavy, and a merchant sitting to-day in a place of great +honour and repute, an authority on 'Change, would find himself on the +morrow in the Marshalsea or the Fleet, a prisoner for life; once down +a man could not recover; he spent the rest of his life in captivity; +he and his descendants, to the third and fourth generations--for it +was as unlucky to be the son of a bankrupt as the son of a +convict--grovelled in the gutter. There is no longer a Marshalsea or a +Fleet prison; but the dread of failure survives. In the States that +dread seems practically absent. + +Again, youth is extravagant; spends with both hands, cannot hear of +economy; burns the candle at both ends; eats the corn while it is +green; trades upon the future; gives bills at long dates without +hesitation, and while the golden flood rolls past takes what it wants +and sends out its sons to help themselves. Why should youth make +provisions for the sons of youth? The world is young; the riches of +the world are beyond counting; they belong to the young; let us work, +let us spend; let us enjoy, for youth is the time for work and for +enjoyment. + +In youth, again, one is careless about little things; they will right +themselves: persons of the baser sort pervert the freedom of the +country to their own uses; they make 'corners' and 'rings' and steal +the money of the municipality; never mind; some day, when we have +time, we will straighten things out. In youth, also, one is tempted to +gallant apparel, bravery of show, a defiant bearing, gold and lace and +colour. In cities this tendency of youth is shown by great buildings +and big institutions. In youth, there is a natural exaggeration in +talk: hence the spread-eagle of which we hear so much. Then everything +which belongs to youth must be better--beyond comparison better--than +everything that belongs to age. In the last century, if you like, +youth followed and imitated age; it is the note of this, our country, +that youth is always advancing and stepping ahead of age. Even in the +daily press the youth of the country shows itself. Let age sit down +and meditate; let such a paper as the London _Times_--that old, old +paper--give every day three laboured and thoughtful essays written by +scholars and philosophers on the topics of the day. It is not for +youth to ponder over the meaning and the tendencies of things; it is +for youth to act, to make history, to push things along; therefore let +the papers record everything that passes; perhaps when the country is +old, when the time comes for meditation, the London _Times_ may be +imitated, and even a weekly collection of essays, such as the +_Saturday Review_ or the _Spectator_, may be successfully started in +the United States. Again, youth is apt to be jealous over its own +pretensions. Perhaps this quality also might be illustrated; but, for +obvious reasons, we will not press this point. Lastly, youth knows +nothing of the time which came immediately before itself. It is not +till comparatively late in life that a man connects his own +generation--his own history--with that which preceded him. When does +the history of the United States begin--not for the man of letters or +the professor of history--but for the average man? It begins when the +Union begins: not before. There is a very beautiful and very noble +history before the Union. But it is shared with Great Britain. There +is a period of gallant and victorious war--but beside the colonials +marched King George's red-coats. There was a brave struggle for +supremacy, and the French were victoriously driven out--but it was by +English fleets and with the help of English soldiers. Therefore, the +average American mind refuses to dwell on this period. His country +must spring at once, full armed, into the world. His country must be +all his own. He wants no history, if you please, in which any other +country has also a share. + +In a word, America seems to present all the possible characteristics +of youth. It is buoyant, confident, extravagant, ardent, elated, and +proud. It lives in the present. The young men of twenty-one cannot +believe in coming age; people do get to fifty, he believes; but, for +himself, age is so far off that he need not consider it. I observed +the youthfulness of America even in New England, but the country as +one got farther west seemed to become more youthful. At Chicago, I +suppose, no one owns to more than five-and-twenty--youth is +infectious. I felt myself while in the city much under that age. + +Let us pass to another point--also an essential--the flaunting of the +flag, I had the honour of assisting at the 'Sollemnia Academica,' the +commencement of Harvard on the 28th of June last. I believe that +Harvard is the richest, as it is also the oldest, of American +universities; it is also the largest in point of numbers. The function +was celebrated in the college theatre; it was attended by the governor +of the State with the lieutenant-governor and his aide-de-camp; there +was a notable gathering on the stage or platform, consisting of the +president, professors and governors of the university, together with +those men of distinction whom the university proposed to honour with a +degree. The floor, or pit, of the house was filled with the commencing +bachelors; the gallery was crowded with spectators, chiefly ladies. +After the ceremony we were invited to assist at the dinner given by +the students to the president, and a company among whom it was a +distinction for a stranger to sit. The ceremony of conferring degrees +was interesting to an Englishman and a member of the older Cambridge, +because it contained certain points of detail which had certainly been +brought over by Harvard himself, the founder, from the old to the new +Cambridge. The dinner, or luncheon, was interesting for the speeches, +for which it was the occasion and the excuse. The president, for his +part, reported the addition of $750,000 to the wealth of the college, +and called attention to the very remarkable feature of modern American +liberality in the lavish gifts and endowments going on all over the +States to colleges and places of learning. He said that it was +unprecedented in history. With submissions to the learned president, +not quite without precedent. The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries +witnessed a similar spirit in the foundation and endowment of colleges +and schools in England and Scotland. About half the colleges of Oxford +and Cambridge, and three out of the four Scottish universities, belong +to the period. Still, it is very remarkable to find this new largeness +of mind. Since one has received great fortune, let this wealth be +passed on, not to make a son into an idle man, but to endow, with the +best gifts of learning and science, generation after generation of men +born for work. We, who are ourselves so richly endowed, and have been +so richly endowed for four hundred years, have no need to envy Harvard +all her wealth, We may applaud the spirit which seeks not to enrich a +family but to advance the nation; all the more because we have many +instances of a similar spirit in our own country. It is not the +further endowment of Oxford and Cambridge that is continued by one +rich man, but the foundation of new colleges, art galleries, and +schools of art. Angerstein, Vernon, Alexander, Tate, are some of our +benefactors in art. + +The endowments of Owens College, the Mason College, the Firth College, +University College, London, are gifts of private persons. Since we do +not produce rich men so freely as America, our endowments are neither +so many nor so great; but the spirit of endowment is with us as well. + +Presently one observed at this dinner a note of difference, which +afterwards gave food for reflection. It was this: All the speakers, +one after the other, without exception, referred to the free +institutions of the nation, to the duty of citizens, and especially to +the responsibilities of those who were destined by the training and +education of this venerable college to become the leaders of the +country. Nothing whatever was said, by any of the speakers, on the +achievements in scholarship, literature, or science made by former +scholars of the college; nothing was said of the promise in learning +or science of the young men now beginning the world. Now, a year or so +ago, the master and fellows of a certain college of the older +Cambridge bade to a feast as many of the old members of that college +as would fill the hall. It was, of course, a very much smaller hall +than that of Harvard; but it was still a venerable college, the +mother, so to speak, of Emmanuel, and therefore the grandmother of +Harvard. The master, in his speech after dinner, spoke about nothing +but the glories of the college in its long list of worthies and the +very remarkable number of men, either living or recently passed away, +whose work in the world had brought distinction to themselves and +honour to the college. In short, the college only existed in his mind, +and in the minds of those present, for the advancement of learning, +nor was there any other consideration possible for him in connection +with the college. Is there, then, another view of Harvard College? +There must be. The speakers suggested this new and American view. The +college, if my supposed discovery is true, is regarded as a place +which is to furnish the State, not with scholars, for whom there will +always be a very limited demand, but with a large and perennial supply +of men of liberal education and sound principles, whose chief duty +shall be the maintenance of the freedom to which they are born, and a +steady opposition to the corruption into which all free institutions +readily fall without unceasing watchfulness. This thing I advance with +some hesitation. But it explains the inflated patriotism of the +carefully-prepared speech of the governor and the political (not +partisan) spirit of all the other speakers. Oxford and Cambridge have +long furnished the country with a learned clergy, a learned Bar, and +(but this is past) a learned House of Commons. The tradition of +learning lingers still; nay, they are centres of learning beyond +comparison with any other universities in the world. Harvard also, I +suppose, provides a learned clergy; but its principal function, as its +rulers seemed to think, is to send out into the world every year a +great body of young men fully equipped to be leaders in the country. +This is its chief glory; to do this effectively, I take it, is the +chief desire of the president and the society. + +It cannot be denied that this is a very important duty, much more +important, for a special reason, in the States than it is in Great +Britain. I used to marvel, before making these observations, at the +constant flying of the stars and stripes everywhere; at the continual +reminding as to freedom. 'Are there,' one asks, 'no other countries in +the world which are free? In what single point is the freedom of the +American greater than the freedom of the Briton, the Canadian, of the +Australian?' In none, certainly. Yet we are not forever waving the +Union Jack everywhere and calling each other brothers in our glorious +liberty. Well: but let us think. In so vast a population, spread over +so many States, each State being a different country, there will +always be ignorant men, men ready to give up everything for a selfish +advantage: there must always be a danger, unless it be continually met +and beaten down, that the United may become the dis-United States. +Why, European statesmen used to look forward confidently to the +disruption of the States from the Declaration of Independence down to +the Civil War. It was a commonplace that the country must inevitably +fall to pieces. The very possibility of a disruption is now not even +thought of: the thing is never mentioned. Why is this? Surely, because +the idea of federation is not only taught and ground in at the +elementary schools, but because the flag of federation is always +displayed as the chief glory of the nation at every place where two or +three Americans are gathered together. The symbol you see is +unmistakable: it means Union, once for all; the word, the idea, the +symbol, it must be always kept before the eyes of the people; it is in +the wisdom of the rulers that the stars and stripes are forever +flaunted before the eyes of the people. + +And it is not only the ignorant and the selfish among Americans +themselves; it is the vast number of immigrants, increasing by half a +million every year, who have to be taught what citizenship means. The +outward symbol is the readiest teacher; let them never forget that +they live under the stars and stripes; let them learn--German, +Norwegian, Italian, Irish--what it means to belong to the Great +Republic. Is this all that a two months' visitor can bring away from +America? It is the most important part of my plunder. What else has +been gathered up is hardly worth talking about, in comparison with +these two discoveries which are, after all, perhaps only useful to +myself: the discovery of the real youthfulness of the country and the +discovery of the real meaning and the necessity of the spread-eagle +speeches and the flaunting of the flag in season and out of season. It +may seem a small thing to learn, but the lesson has wholly changed my +point of view. The fact is perhaps hardly worth recording; it matters +little what a single Englishman thinks; but if he can induce others to +think with him, or to modify their views in the same direction, it may +matter a great deal. + +And, of course, an Englishman must think of his own future--that of +his own country. Before many years the United Kingdom must inevitably +undergo great changes: the vastness of the Empire will vanish; Canada, +Australia, New Zealand, South Africa will fall away and will become +independent republics; what these little islands will become then, I +know not. What will become of the English-speaking races, thus firmly +planted over the whole globe, is a more important question. If a man +had the voice of the silver-mouthed Father, if a man had the +inspiration of a prophet, it would be a small thing for that man to +consecrate and expend all his life, all his strength, all his soul, in +the creation of a great federation of English-speaking peoples. There +should be no war of tariffs between them; there should be no +possibility of dispute between them; there should be as many nations +separate and distinct as might please to call themselves nations; it +should make no difference whether Canada was the separate dominion of +Canada, or a part of the United States; it should make no difference +whether Great Britain and Ireland were a monarchy or a republic. The +one thing of importance would be an indestructible alliance for +offence and defence among the people who have inherited the best part +of the whole world. This alliance can best be forwarded by a promotion +of friendship between private persons; by a constant advocacy in the +press of all the countries concerned; and by the feeling, to be +cultivated everywhere, that such a confederation would present to the +world the greatest, strongest, wealthiest, most highly cultivated +confederacy of nations that ever existed. It would be permanent, +because here would be no war of aggression in tariffs, or of personal +quarrel; no territorial ambitions; no conflict of kings. + +Naturally, I was not called upon to speak at the Harvard dinner. Had I +spoken, I should like to have said: 'Men of Harvard, grandsons of that +benignant mother--still young--who sits crowned with laurels, ever +fresh, on the sedgy bank of Granta, think of the country from which +your fathers have sprung. Go out into the world--your world of +youthful endeavour and success; do your best to bring the hearts of +the people whom you will have to lead back to their kin across the +seas to east and west--over the Atlantic and over the Pacific. Do your +best to bring about the Indestructible fraternity of the whole +English-speaking races. Do this in the sacred name of that freedom of +which you have this day heard so much, and of that Christianity to +which by the very stamp and seal of your college you are the avowed +and sworn servants. Rah!' + +[1893.] + + + + + +ART AND THE PEOPLE. [Paper read at the Birmingham Meeting of the +Social Science Congress.] + + + +There is a passage in one of the letters of Edward Denison which +exactly interprets the dejection and oppression certain to fall upon +one who seriously considers and personally investigates, however +superficially, the condition of the poor in great cities. He writes +from Philpott Street, Commercial Road, East London, and he says: 'My +wits are getting blunted by the monotony and ugliness of the place. I +can almost imagine the awful effect upon a human mind of never seeing +anything but the meanest and vilest of men and man's work, and of +complete exclusion from the sight of God's works.' The very +exaggeration of these words shows the profound dejection of the +writer, at a moment when his resolution to continue living in a place +where there was neither nature nor art, nor beauty anywhere, weighed +upon him like a penal sentence, so that the vileness of the +surroundings entered into his soul and made him feel as if the men and +women in the place, as well as their works, were all alike, mean, +vile, and sordid. Edward Denison wrote these words seventeen years +ago. The place in which he lived is still ugly and monotonous, a small +cross-street leading from the back of the London Hospital into the +Commercial Road, about as far from green fields and parks or gardens +as can be found anywhere in London; there are still a good many of the +vilest of man's works carried on in the neighbourhood, especially the +making of clothes for Government contractors, and the making of shirts +for private sweaters. But something has been attempted since Denison +came here--the pioneer of a great invasion. Many others have followed +his example, and are now, like him, living among the people. Clubs +have been established, concerts and readings have been given, and +excursions into the country, convalescent homes and a thousand +different things have grown up for the amelioration of the poor. +Better than all, there are now thousands of educated and cultivated +men and women who are perpetually considering how existing evils may +be remedied and new evils prevented. With philanthropic efforts, with +the social questions connected with them, I have now nothing to do. We +are at present only concerned with a question of Art: we are to +inquire how the love and desire for Art may be introduced and +developed, and to ask what has already been attempted In this +direction. + +I would first desire to explain that I know absolutely nothing about +the state of things in any other great city of Great Britain than one. +What I say is based upon such small knowledge that I may have gained +concerning London, and especially East London. As regards Birmingham, +Manchester, Sheffield, Glasgow, and any other place where there is a +great industrial population, I know nothing. If, therefore, exception +be taken to any expressions of mine as applied to some other city, I +beg it to be remembered that East London alone is in my mind. Even +concerning East London exception may be taken to anything I may +advance. That is because it is impossible to make any general +proposition whatever of humanity considered in the mass except the +elementary ones, such as that all must eat and sleep, to which +objection may not be raised. Thus, I know that it is true, and I am +prepared to maintain the assertion, that the lower classes in London +care nothing about Art, and know nothing about Art, and have only an +elementary appreciation of things beautiful. It is equally true, on +the other hand, that there are everywhere some whose hearts are +yearning and whose hands are stretched out in prayer for greater +beauty and fulness of life. It is also, as a general statement, true +that there are no amusements in East London, which contains two and a +half millions of people, has no municipality, and is the biggest, +ugliest, and meanest city in the whole world. Yet it is equally true +that there are in it institutes for education and science, art, and +literature, mutual improvement societies, clubs at which there are +evenings for singing, dancing, and private theatricals, and rowing, +swimming, and cricket clubs. It is again, as a general rule, true that +the lower classes are ignorant of science, yet there are everywhere +scattered among the working men single cases of earnest devotion to +science. And it is painfully true that they do not seem to feel the +ugliness of their own streets and houses; yet no one who has been +among the holiday folks in the country on a Bank Holiday or a fine +Sunday in the summer can deny their profound appreciation of field and +forest, flowers and green leaves, sunshine and shade. It is, lastly, +perfectly true that their lives, compared with those of the more +cultivated classes, do seem horribly dull, monotonous, and poor. Yet +the dulness is more apparent than real: ugly houses and mean streets +do not necessarily imply mean and ugly lives. Their days may be +enlivened in a thousand ways which to the outsider are invisible. +Among these are some which directly or indirectly make for the +appreciation of Art. + +It seems safe, however, to advance one proposition. There is a class +in and below which it is impossible that there can exist a feeling for +Art of ally kind, or, indeed, for religion, for virtue, for knowledge +of any kind, or for anything beyond the necessity of providing for the +next day's food and shelter. Those miserable women who work from early +morning to late night, condemned to a slavery worse than any we have +abolished; those hungry men who besiege the dock-gates for a day's +work, and have nothing in the whole world but a pair of hands; that +vast class which is separated from starvation by a single day--what +thought, interest, or care can they have for anything in the world but +the procuring of food? When the physical condition of English men and +women is worse, as Professor Huxley has declared it to be, than the +condition of naked savages in the Southern Seas, how can we look for +the virtues and the aspirations which belong essentially to the level +of comparative ease? Until we have mastered the problem of finding +steady work for all, with adequate wages and decent homes, we need not +look for Art in these lowest ranks. We have to do, therefore, not with +the very poor at all, but with the respectable poor--the families of +skilled mechanics, _employés_ in regular work, workmen in breweries, +ship-yards, and factories independent handicraftsmen, clerks, +cashiers, accountants, writers, small shopkeepers, and all that great +host which is perpetually occupied in increasing the wealth of the +country by labour which, at least, permits them to live in comfort. +All these people have leisure; most of them, except the shop +assistants, have no work in the evening; they are all possessed of +some education. There is no reason at all why they should not, if they +could be only got to desire it, become students in some of the +branches of Art. + +Let us, then, always with reference to this one city and this one +class of its inhabitants, ascertain what has been done already to +create a love of Art. The most important thing as yet attempted is the +Bethnal Green Museum. It is, for our purposes, also the most +instructive, because it has hitherto been, I consider, a complete and +ignominious failure. That is to say, it was established and is +maintained as an educational museum, it was especially designed to +create and develop a knowledge of Art and it has not done so. It was +opened in 1872 with, among other things, the magnificent collection of +pictures lent by Sir Richard Wallace; during the twelve years of its +existence it has exhibited other collections of considerable interest: +but the education, the free library, and the classrooms promised at +the outset have never been forthcoming. It is, in fact, a dumb and +silent gallery. One may compare it to a Board School newly built, +provided with all the latest appliances for education--with books, +desks, seats, blackboards, and everything, including crowds of pupils, +but left without a teaching staff, the pupils being expected to teach +themselves. Why not? There are the books and there are the desks, So +with this museum. You cannot learn anything of Art without the study +of artistic work. Here is the artistic work. Why do not the people +study it? They certainly come to the place; they come in large +numbers; on free days when it is open until ten at night they average +over two thousand a day all the year round. And if you take the +trouble to watch them, to follow them about, and to listen to their +conversation, you will presently discover with how much intelligence +they are studying the artistic work before them. + +The failure of Bethnal Green should teach us what to avoid. Let us +therefore walk round the halls and galleries of this museum. In the +central hall there is placed, each object with a ticket containing a +brief description of it, a really noble collection of cabinets, carved +and painted; with these are rare and costly vases, of English, +Russian, Danish, and German workmanship; there are a few statuettes, +some paintings on china, things in glazed earthenware, and glass cases +containing Syrian and Albanian necklaces and jewellery. In the lower +side galleries there is, first, a collection of food products, showing +specimens of wheat, rice, starch, salt, and so forth, with models of +vegetables and fruit executed in wax; and next, a collection of +woollen stuff and fabrics of all kinds, with feathers, stags' heads, +antlers, and so forth. In the upper galleries there is a collection of +paintings and engravings. Here and there are suspended tablets which +are inscribed with bits of information, chiefly statistical. On my +last visit to the place I could not observe that anyone was studying +these tablets. This is, roughly speaking, all that the Bethnal Green +Museum contains. The directors of this institution, opened with so +much promise, which was going to educate the people and endow them +with a sense of Art and a love of beauty, think they have done all +they promised when they show a collection of cabinets and vases, a few +bottles containing rice and wheat, a few turnips in wax, a few cases +with pretty fabrics, and collection of pictures. There is no music; +there is no sculpture; none of the small arts are represented at all; +there is not the slightest attempt made to educate anybody. If you +want any other information or help besides that given by the tablets +you will not get it, because there is nobody to give it. A policeman +mounts guard over the cases, a woman sells the publications of the +South Kensington Department, and you can rend on a board the number of +visitors for every day in the year. But there is no one to go round +with you and talk about the things on exhibition. There are no +lectures nor any classes, there are no handbooks to teach the history +of the Fine Arts and to illustrate the collection in the museum. There +is not, incredible to say, even a catalogue. _There is no catalogue_. +Imagine an exhibition without even an official guide to its contents. +Here, says the Department, is the Bethnal Green Museum with its doors +wide open: let the people walk in and inspect the contents. + +So, if we invited the people to inspect a collection of cuneiform +inscriptions, we might just as well expect them to carry away a +knowledge of Assyrian history; or by exhibiting an electrical machine +we might as well expect them to understand the appliances of +electricity. It is not enough, in fact, to exhibit pictures: they must +be explained. It is with paintings and drawings as with everything +else, those who come to see them having no knowledge carry none away +with them. The visitors to a museum are like travellers in a foreign +country, of whom Emerson truly says that when they leave it they take +nothing away but what they brought with them. The finest wood carving, +the most beautiful vase, the richest classic painting, produces on the +uncultivated eye no more valuable or lasting impression than the sight +of a sailing ship for the first time produces on the mind of a savage. +That is to say, the impression at the best is of wonder, not of +delight or curiosity at all. In the picture galleries, it is true, the +dull eyes are lifted and the weary faces brighten, because here, if +you plea, we touch upon that art which every human being all over the +world can appreciate. It is the art of story-telling. The visitors go +from picture to picture and they read the stories. As for landscapes, +figures, portraits, or slabs, they pass them by. What they love is a +picture of life in action, a picture that tells a story and quicken +their pulses. You may observe this in every picture gallery--even at +the Grosvenor and the Royal Academy--even among the classes who are +supposed to know something of Art: for one who studies a portrait by +Millsis, or a head by Leighton, there are crowds who stand before a +picture which tells a story. At the Royal Academy the story is +generally, but not always, read in silence; at Bethnal Green it is +read aloud. You will perhaps observe the importance of this +difference. It is because at the Royal Academy everybody has the +feeling that he is present in the character of a critic, and must +therefore affect, at least, to be considering the workmanship, and +passing a judgment on the artist. But at Bethnal Green the visitors +feel that they have been invited to be pleased, to wonder, and to +admire the beautiful stories represented on the canvas by clever men +who have learnt this trade. As for how a story may be told on canvas, +the way in which the conception of the artist has been executed, the +truth of the drawing, the fidelity of colouring--on these points no +questions are asked and no curiosity is expressed. Why should they? +Painting they regard as one of the arts which may be learned for a +trade, like matchmaking or shoemaking. Remember that it never occurs +to people to learn the mysteries of any trade beside their own. On my +last visit to this museum, for instance, I chanced upon two women who +were standing before a vase. It was a large and very beautiful vase, +of admirable form and proportions, and it was decorated on the top by +a group representing three captives chained to the rock. Their comment +on this work of art was as follows: 'Look,' said one, 'look at those +poor men chained to the rock.' 'Yes,' replied the other, 'poor +fellows! ain't it shocking?' + +To their eyes the only thing to be looked at was the group of figures, +and the only suggestion made to their minds by the vase related to the +story, thus half told, of the captives. As for the vase itself, it was +nothing; the workmanship and painting were nothing; the sculpturing of +the figures was nothing. + +It is constantly argued that the mere contemplation of things +beautiful creates this artistic sense--the sense of beauty. This is +undoubtedly true if one were to dwell entirely among beautiful things. +But how if for one thing which is beautiful you are made to +contemplate a hundred which are not? Suppose you offer a girl of +untrained eye a choice of costumes, of which one is artistic and the +rest are all hideous, how can you expect her to know the one--the only +one--which she sought to choose? Or, again, if you allow a boy to read +and learn as much bad poetry as good, what can you expect of his +standard of taste? In other words, when the surroundings of life are +wholly without Art, an occasional visit to a collection of paintings +cannot create an intelligent appreciation of Art. + +Again, there are many branches and diverse forms or Art. For Instance, +there is music, there is singing there is acting, there is sculpture, +poetry, fiction; and besides these there are working in metals, +engraving in wood and copper, leather work, brass work, fret work, and +decoration. None of these arts are illustrated and recognised in the +Bethnal Green Museum, Yet, when we speak of the spreading of Art among +the poor, surely we do not mean only drawing, design, and painting. + +The popularity of this museum has been argued as a proof of its +efficiency. It attracts, as I have stated already, over 2,000 on every +free day all the year round. On the one day in the week when an +entrance fee of sixpence is required it attracts from twenty to forty. +This means that out of two millions of people in East London there is +so little enthusiasm for Art that only forty can be found each week to +pay sixpence in order to enjoy quiet galleries and undisturbed study. +Remember that East London is not altogether a poor place; there are +whole districts which are full of villa residences as good as any in +the southern suburb; there are many people who are wealthy; but all +the wealth and all the Art enthusiasm of the place will not bring more +than forty every week to pay their sixpence. As for copying the +pictures, I do not know if any facilities are afforded for the +purpose, but I have never seen anyone in the place copying at all. + +The throng of visitors on free days may partly be explained on other +grounds than the love of Art. It is a place where one can pleasantly +lounge, or sit down to rest, or lazily look at pleasant things, or +talk with one's friends, or take refuge from bad weather. This is as +it should be; the place is regarded as a pleasant place. Yet the +number of visitors has fallen off. In the first year of its existence +nearly a million entered the gates; four years later an equal number +was registered; for the last three years the number has fallen to less +than half a million. Its popularity, therefore, is on the decline. + +It is, again, a great place for children. They are sent here just as +they are sent to the British Museum and the South Kensington Museum, +in order to be out of the way. You will always see children in these +places, strolling listlessly among the rooms and corridors. Once, for +instance, on a certain Easter Monday, I encountered, in the South +Kensington Museum, a miserable little pair, who were crying in a +corner by themselves. Beside the cases full of splendid embroideries +and golden lace, among which they had strayed, they looked curiously +incongruous, and somewhat like the unfortunate pair led to their +destruction by the wicked uncle. They had, in fact, been sent to the +museum by their mother, with a piece of bread-and-butter for their +dinner, and told to stay there all day long. By this time the +bread-and-butter had long since been eaten up, and they were hungry +again, and there was a long afternoon before them. What to these +hungry children would have been a whole Field of the Cloth of Gold? We +must, therefore, make very large deductions indeed when we consider +the popularity of Bethnal Green. Doubtless it is pleasant to read the +stories of the pictures; but the light, the warmth, the society of the +place are also pleasant. And as for Art education, why, as none is +given, so none is desired. + +I have dwelt upon Bethnal Green Museum at some length, not because I +wished to attack the place, but because it seems to me an example of +what ought not to be done, and because it illustrates most admirably +two propositions which I have to offer. These are--(1) That the lower +classes have no instinctive desire for Art; (2) that they will not +teach themselves. + +We may also learn from considering what this museum is what an +educational and popular museum ought to be; and to this I will +immediately return. Meantime, let us go on to consider a few minor +agencies at work in the East of London, directly or indirectly working +in favour of Art. And, first, I should like to call attention to the +annual exhibition of pictures which the indefatigable Vicar of St. +Jude's, Whitechapel--the Rev. Samuel Barnett--gets together every +Easter for his people. The point is not so much that he holds this +exhibition as that he engages the services of volunteer lecturers, who +go round the show with the visitors and explain the pictures, so that +they may learn what it is they should admire and something of what +they should look for in a drawing or painting. In other words, Mr. +Barnett's visitors are instructed in the first elements of Art +criticism. There are, next, certain institutes, educational and +social, such as the Bow and Bromley and the Beaumont, which might be +used to advantage for Art purposes. Then there are the Church +organizations, with their services, their clubs, their social, +gatherings, and their schools; there are the chapels, each with its +own set of similar institutions; there are the working men's clubs, +which might also lend themselves and their rooms for the development +of Art; there are such societies as the Kyrle Society, which give free +concerts of good music, and are therefore already working for us; +lastly, there are the schools of Art--there are five in East London, +working under the South Kensington Department. All these are agencies +which either are already working in the interests of Art, or could be +easily induced to do so. + +To sum up, at the exhibition of the Bethnal Green Museum the people +walk round the pictures, are pleased to read their stories, and go +away; at the concerts they listen, are satisfied, and go away; at the +readings and recitations they applaud, and go away. They are not, in +fact, stimulated by these exhibitions and performances in the +slightest degree to draw, paint, carve, play an instrument, sing, +recite, or act for themselves. But observe that directly they form +clubs of their own, although they may develop many reprehensible +tendencies, and especially that of gambling, they do at once begin to +act, sing, recite, and dance for themselves. What we want them to do, +then, is to begin for themselves, or to fall in willingly with those +who begin for them, the pursuit of Art in its more difficult and +higher branches. What we desire is that they should realize what we +know, that to teach a lad or a girl one of these Fine Arts is to +confer upon him an inestimable boon; that no life can be wholly +unhappy which is cheered by the power of playing an instrument, +dancing, painting, carving, modelling, singing, making fiction, or +writing poetry, that it is not necessary to do these things so well as +to be able to live by them; but that every man who practises one of +these arts is, during his work, drawn out of himself and away from the +bad conditions of his life. If, I say, the people can be got to +understand something of this, the rest will be easy. A few examples in +their midst would be enough to show them that it wants little to be an +artist, that the practice of Art is a lifelong delight, and that in +the exercise and improvement of the faculties of observation, +comparison, and selection, in the daily consideration of beauty in its +various forms, the years roll by easily and are spent in a continual +dream of happiness. You know that it has been observed especially of +actors, that they never grow old. The thing is true with artists of +every kind--they never grow old. Their hair may become gray and may +fall off, they may be afflicted with the same weaknesses as other men, +but their hearts remain always young to the very end. But this is not +an inducement, I am afraid, that we can put forth in an appeal to the +people to follow Art. I am sure, moreover, that it is the desire of +all to include the encouragement of every kind of Art, not that of +drawing and painting only. We wish that every boy and every girl shall +learn something--and it matters little whether we make him draw, +design, paint, decorate, carve, work in brass or leather, whether we +make him a musician, a painter, a sculptor, a poet, or a novelist, +provided he be instructed in the true principles of Art. Imagine, if +you can, a time when in every family of boys and girls one shall be a +musician, and another a carver of wood, and a third a painter; when +every home shall be full of artistic and beautiful things, and the +Present ugliness be only remembered as a kind of bad dream. This may +appear to some impossible, but it is, on the other hand, very possible +and sure to come in the immediate future. It is true that, as a +nation, we are not artistic, but we might change our character in a +single generation. It has taken less than a single generation to +develop the enormous increase of Art which we now see around us in the +upper classes. Think of such a thing as house decoration and +furniture. We have to extend this development into regions where it is +as yet unfelt, and among a class which have, as yet, shown no +willingness or desire for such extension. + +All this has been said by way of apology for the practical scheme +which I venture now to lay before you. You have already heard from Mr. +Leland's own lips what has been for five years his work in +Philadelphia, you have heard how he has brought the small arts into +hundreds of homes, and has given purpose and brightness to hundreds of +lives. I have followed this work of his from the beginning with the +greatest interest. Before he began it, he told me what he was going to +try, and how he meant to try. But I think that, courageous and +self-reliant as he is, he did not and could not, at tho outset, +anticipate such a magnificent success as he has obtained. You have +also heard something of the society called the Cottage Arts +Association, founded by Mrs. Jebb, by which the villagers are taught +some of the minor arts. + +This Association is, I am convinced, going to do a great work, and I +am very glad to be able to read you Mrs. Jebb's own testimony, the +fruit of her long experience. She says, 'We must give the +people--children of course included--opportunities of unofficial +intercourse with those who already love Art, and who can help them to +see and to discriminate. We must teach them to use their own hands and +eyes in doing actual Art work; even if the work done does not count +for much, it will develop their observation and quicken their +appreciation in a way which I believe nothing else will do--no mere +looking or explaining. They must be helped to make their own homes and +the things they use beautiful. They must not be helped only to learn +to do Art work, but also given ideas as to its application, shown how +and where to get materials, etc. Further, it has been resolved that +prizes shall be given to the pupils for the best copies drawn, +modelled, carved, or repoussé of the casts and designs circulated +among the various classes.' + +I propose, therefore, that, with such modifications as suit our own +way of working, we should initiate on a more extended scale the +example set us by Mrs. Jebb and Mr. Leland. I think that it would not +be difficult, while retaining the machinery and the help afforded by +the South Kensington Department in painting and drawing, to establish +local clubs, classes, and societies, or, which I think much better, a +central society with local branches, either for the whole of England +or for each county or for each great city, for the purpose of +teaching, encouraging, and advancing all the Fine Arts, both small and +great. We do the whole of our collective work in this country by means +of societies: it is an Englishman's instinct, if he ardently desires +to bring about a thing, to recognise that, though he cannot get what +he wants by his own effort, he may get it by associating other people +with him and forming a society. Everything is done by societies. One +need not, therefore, make any apology for desiring to see another +society established. That of which I dream would be, to begin with, +independent of all politics, controversies, or theories whatever; it +would not be a society requiring an immense income--in fact, with a +very small income indeed very large results might be obtained, as you +will immediately see. The work of the society would consist almost +entirely of evening classes; it would not have to build schools or to +buy houses at first, but it would use, or rent, whatever rooms might +be found available-perhaps those of the day-schools. All the arts +would be taught in these schools, except those already taught by the +South Kensington Department, but especially the minor arts, for this +very important and practical reason, that these would be found almost +immediately to have a money value, and would therefore serve the +useful purpose of attracting pupils. At the outset there must be no +fees, but everybody must be invited to come in and learn. After the +value of the school has been established in the popular mind there +would be no difficulty in exacting a small fee towards the expenses of +maintenance. But, from the very first, there must be established a +system of prizes, public exhibitions of work done by the students, +concerts at which the musicians would play and the choirs would sing, +and theatricals at which the actors would perform. Partly by these +public honours, and partly by showing an actual market value for the +work, we may confidently look forward to creating and afterwards +fostering a genuine enthusiasm for Art. + +How are the funds to be provided for all this work? The money required +for a commencement will be in reality very little. There are the +necessary tools and materials to be found, a certain amount of house +service to be done and paid for, gas and firing, and perhaps rent. +Observe, however, that the materials for Art students of all kinds are +not expensive, that house service costs very little, light and firing +not a great deal; and even the rent would not be heavy, since all our +schools would be situated in the poor neighbourhoods. There only +remain the teachers, and here comes in the really important part of +the scheme. _The teachers will cost nothing at all._ They will all be +members of our new society, and they will give, in addition to or in +lieu of an annual subscription, their personal services as gratuitous +teachers. This part of the scheme is sure to command your sympathies, +the more so if you consider the current of contemporary thought. More +and more we are getting volunteer labour in almost every department. +Everywhere, in every town and in every parish, along with the +professional workers, are those who work for nothing. As for the women +who work for nothing, the sisters of religious orders, the women who +collect rents, the women who live among the poor, those who read aloud +to patients in hospitals, those who go about in the poorest places, +their name is legion. And as for the men, we have no cause to be +ashamed of the part which they take in this great voluntary movement, +which is the noblest thing the world has ever seen, and which I +believe to be only just beginning. All our great religious societies, +all our hospitals, all our philanthropic societies, are worked by +unpaid committees. All our School wards over the whole country, not to +speak of the House of Commons, are unpaid. At this very moment there +are springing up here and there in East London actual +monasteries--only without monastic vows--in which live young men who +devote themselves, either wholly or in part, to work among the poor, +often to evening and night work after their own day's labours. It is +no longer a visionary thing; it is a great and solid fact, that there +are hundreds of men willing, without vows, orders, or any rule, and +without hope of reward, not even gratitude, to live for their brother +men. They give, not their money or their influence, or their +exhortations, but they give--_themselves_. Greater love hath no man. +As for us, we shall not ask our teachers to give their whole time, +unless they offer it. One or two evenings out of the week will +suffice. I am convinced--you are all, I am sure, convinced--that there +will be no difficulty at all in getting teachers, but that the only +difficulty will be in selecting those who can add discretion to zeal, +capability to enthusiasm, skill and tact in teaching, as well as a +knowledge of an art to be taught. Think of the Working Men's College +in Great Ormond Street--perhaps you don't know of this institution. It +is a great school for working men; it teaches all subjects, and it has +been running for nearly thirty years. During the whole of that time, I +believe I am right in saying that the professors and teachers have +been all unpaid--they are volunteers. Can we fear that in Art, in +which there are so many enthusiasts, we shall not get as much +volunteer assistance as in Letters and Science? + +This, then, is my proposal for creating and developing an enthusiasm +for Art. There are to be schools everywhere, controlled by local +committees, under a central society; there are to be volunteer +teachers, willing to subject themselves to rule and order; there are +to be public exhibitions and prize-givings; all the arts, not one +only, are to be taught; great prominence is to be given to the minor +arts; at first there will be no fees; above all and before all, the +great College of ours is not to be made a Government department, to be +tied and bound by the hard-and-fast rules and red tape which are the +curse of every department, nor is it to be under the direction of any +School Board, but, like most things in this country that are of any +use, it is to be governed by its own council. + +One thing more. I am firmly convinced that the only institutions in +any country which endure are those which take a firm hold of the +popular mind and are supported by the people themselves. In order to +make the College of Art permanent, it must belong absolutely to the +people. This can only be effected by the gradual retirement of the +wealthy class, who will start it, from the management, and the +substitution of actual working men in their place--working men, I +mean, who have themselves been through some course of study in the +College, and have, perhaps, become teachers. And as working men will +certainly do nothing without pay--in London, whatever may be the case +elsewhere, their strongest feeling is that their only possessions are +their time and their hands--we shall have to provide that the teachers +of the schools, the directors of the college, and the clerks in the +secretariat, shall never be paid at a higher rate than the current +rate of wage for manual work. The people themselves will in the end +supply council, executive officers, and teaching staff. The time is +ripe; we are ready to begin the work; I do not fear for a moment that +the working man will not, if we begin with prudence, presently +respond, and, through him, the boys and girls. + +We must, however, have a museum, although on this subject I cannot +dwell. I should like to take the Bethnal Green institution entirely +out of South Kensington hands; they have had it for fourteen years, +and you have heard what they have made of it. I think they should hand +it over, if not to our new College of Art, then to a local committee, +who would at least try to show what an educational museum should be. +Our educational museum will be a branch of the College of Art; it will +be in all respects the exact opposite of the Bethnal Green Museum; it +will have everything which is there wanting; it will have a library +and reading-room; it will have lecturers and teachers, it will have +class-rooms; the exhibits will be changed continually; there will be +an organ and concerts; there will be a theatre, there will be in it +every appliance which will teach our pupils the exquisite joy, the +true and real delight, of expressing noble thought in beautiful and +precious work. + + + + + + +THE AMUSEMENTS OF THE PEOPLE + + +'And do your workmen,' asked a London visitor of a Lancashire +mill-owner--'do your workmen really live in those hovels?' + +'Certainly not,' replied the master. 'They only sleep there. They live +in my mill.' + +This was forty years ago. Neither question nor answer would now be +possible. For the hovels are improved into cottages; the factory hands +no longer live only in the mill; and the opinion, which was then held +by all employers of labour, as a kind of Fortieth Article, that it is +wicked for poor people to expect or hope for anything but regular work +and sufficient food, has undergone considerable modification. Why, +indeed, they thought, should the poor man look to be merry when his +betters were content to be dull? We must remember how very little play +went on even among the comfortable and opulent classes in those days. +Dulness and a serious view of life seemed inseparable; recreations of +all kinds were so many traps and engines set for the destruction of +the soul; and to desire or seek for pleasure, reprehensible in the +rich, was for the poor a mere accusation of Providence and an opening +of the arms to welcome the devil. So that our mill-owner, after all, +may have been a very kind-hearted and humane creature, in spite of his +hovels and his views of life, and anxious to promote the highest +interests of his employés. + +A hundred years ago, however, before the country became serious, the +people, especially in London, really had a great many amusements, +sports, and pastimes. For instance, they could go baiting of bulls and +bears, and nothing is more historically certain than the fact that the +more infuriated the animals became, the more delighted were the +spectators; they 'drew' badgers, and rejoiced in the tenacity and the +courage of their dogs; they enjoyed the noble sport of the cock-pit; +they fought dogs and killed rats; they 'squalled' fowls--that is to +say, they tied them to stakes and hurled cudgels at them, but only +once a year, and on Shrove Tuesday, for a treat; they boxed and +fought, and were continually privileged to witness the most stubborn +and spirited prize-fights; every day in the streets there was the +chance for everybody of getting a fight with a light-porter, or a +carter, or a passenger--this prospect must have greatly enhanced the +pleasures of a walk abroad; there were wrestling, cudgelling, and +quarter-staff; there were frequent matches made up and wagers laid +over all kinds of things: there were bonfires, with the hurling of +squibs at passers-by; there were public hangings at regular intervals +and on a generous scale; there were open-air floggings for the joy of +the people; there were the stocks and the pillory, also free and +open-air exhibitions; there were the great fairs of Bartholomew, +Charlton, Fairlop Oak, and Barnet; there were also lotteries. Besides +these amusements, which were all for the lower orders as well as for +the rich, they had their mug-houses, whither the men resorted to drink +beer, spruce, and purl; and for music there was the street +ballad-singer, to say nothing of the bear-warden's fiddle and the band +of marrow-bones and cleavers. Lastly, for those of more elevated +tastes, there was the ringing of the church bells. Now, with the +exception of the last named, we have suppressed every single one of +these amusements. What have we put in their place? Since the working +classes are no longer permitted to amuse themselves after the old +fashions--which, to do them justice, they certainly do not seem to +regret--how do they amuse themselves? + +Everybody knows, in general terms, how the English working classes do +amuse themselves. Let us, however, set down the exact facts, so far as +we can get at them, and consider them. First, it must be remembered as +a gain--so many other things having been lost--that the workman of the +present day possesses an accomplishment, one weapon, which was denied +to his fathers--_he can read_. That possession ought to open a +boundless field; but it has not yet done so, for the simple reason +that we have entirely forgotten to give the working man anything to +read. This, if any, is a case in which the supply should have preceded +and created the demand. Books are dear; besides, if a man wants to buy +books, there is no one to guide him or tell him what he should get. +Suppose, for instance, a studious working man anxious to teach himself +natural history, how is he to know the best, latest, and most +trustworthy books? And so for every branch of learning. Secondly, +there are no free libraries to speak of; I find, in London, one for +Camden Town, one for Bethnal Green, one for South London, one for +Notting Hill, one for Westminster, and one for the City; and this +seems to exhaust the list. It would be interesting to know the daily +average of evening visitors at these libraries. There are three +millions of the working classes in London: there is, therefore, one +free library for every half-million, or, leaving out a whole +three-fourths in order to allow for the children and the old people +and those who are wanted at home, there is one library for every +125,000 people. The accommodation does not seem liberal, but one has +as yet heard no complaints of overcrowding. It may be said, however, +that the workman reads his paper regularly. That is quite true. The +paper which he most loves is red-hot on politics; and its readers are +assumed to be politicians of the type which consider the Millennium +only delayed by the existence of the Church, the House of Lords, and a +few other institutions. Yet our English working man is not a +firebrand, and though he listens to an immense quantity of fiery +oratory, and reads endless fiery articles, he has the good sense to +perceive that none of the destructive measures recommended by his +friends are likely to improve his own wages or reduce the price of +food. It is unfortunate that the favourite and popular papers, which +might instruct the people in so many important matters--such as the +growth, extent, and nature of the trades by which they live, the +meaning of the word Constitution, the history of the British Empire, +the rise and development of our liberties, and so forth--teach little +or nothing on these or any other points. + +If the workman does not read, however, he talks. At present he talks +for the most part on the pavement and in public-houses, but there is +every indication that we shall see before long a rapid growth of +workmen's clubs--not the tea-and-coffee make-believes set up by the +well-meaning, but honest, independent clubs, in every respect such as +those in Pall Mall, managed by the workmen themselves, who are not, +and never will become, total abstainers, but have shown themselves, up +to the present moment, strangely tolerant of those weaker brethren who +can only keep themselves sober by putting on the blue ribbon. +Meantime, there is the public house for a club, and perhaps the +workmen spends, night after night, more than he should upon beer. Let +us remember, if he needs excuse, that his employers have found him no +better place and no better amusement than to sit in a tavern, drink +beer (generally in moderation), and talk and smoke tobacco. Why not? A +respectable tavern is a very harmless place; the circle which meets +there is the society of the workman: it is his life: without it he +might as well have been a factory hand of the good old time--such as +hands were forty years ago; and then he would have made but two +journeys a day--one from bed to mill, and the other from mill to bed. + +Another magnificent gift he has obtained of late years--the excursion +train and the cheap steamboat. For a small sum he can get far away +from the close and smoky town, to the seaside perhaps, but certainly +to the fields and country air; he can make of every fine Sunday in the +summer a holiday indeed. Is not the cheap excursion an immense gain? +Again, for those who cannot afford the country excursion, there is now +a Park accessible from almost every quarter. And I seriously recommend +to all those who are inclined to take a gloomy view concerning their +fellow-creatures, and the mischievous and dangerous tendencies of the +lower classes, to pay a visit to Battersea Park on any Sunday evening +in the summer. + +As regards the working man's theatrical tastes, they lean, so far as +they go, to the melodrama; but as a matter of fact there are great +masses of working people who never go to the theatre at all. If you +think of it, there are so few theatres accessible that they cannot go +often. For instance, there are for the accommodation of the West-end +and the visitors to London some thirty theatres, and these are nearly +always kept running; but for the densely populous districts of +Islington, Somers Town, Pentonville, and Clerkenwell, combined, there +are only two; for Hoxton and Haggerston, there is only one; for the +vast region of Marylebone and Paddington, only one; for Whitechapel, +'and her daughters,' two; for Shoreditch and Bethnal Green, one; for +Southwark and Blackfriars, one; for the towns of Hampstead, Highgate, +Camden Town, Kentish Town, Stratford, Bow, Bromley, Bermondsey, +Camberwell, Kensington, or Deptford, not one. And yet each one of +these places, taken separately, is a good large town. Stratford, for +instance, has 60,000 inhabitants, and Deptford 80,000. Only half a +dozen theatres for three millions of people! It is quite clear, +therefore, that there is not yet a craving for dramatic art among our +working classes. Music-halls there are, certainly, and these provide +shows more or less dramatic, and, though they are not so numerous as +might have been expected, they form a considerable part of the +amusements of the people; it is therefore a thousand pities that among +the 'topical' songs, the break-downs, and the comic songs, room has +never been found for part-songs or for music of a quiet and somewhat +better kind. The proprietors doubtless know their audience, but +wherever the Kyrle Society have given concerts to working people, they +have succeeded in interesting them by music and songs of a kind to +which they are not accustomed in their music-halls. + +The theatre, the music-hall, the public-house, the Sunday excursion, +the parks--these seem almost to exhaust the list of amusements. There +are, also, however, the suburban gardens, such as North Woolwich and +Rosherville, where there are entertainments of all kinds and dancing; +there are the tea-gardens all round London; there are such places of +resort as Kew and Hampton Court, Bushey, Burnham Beeches, Epping, +Hainault and Rye House. There are also the harmonic meetings, the +free-and-easy evenings, and the friendly leads at the public-houses. +Until last year there was one place, in the middle of a very poor +district, where dancing went on all the year round. And there are the +various clubs, debating societies, and local parliaments which have +been lately springing up all over London. One may add the pleasure of +listening to the stump orator, whether he exhorts to repentance, to +temperance, to republicanism, to atheism, or to the return of Sir +Roger. He is everywhere on Sunday in the streets, in the country +roads, and in the parks. The people listen, but with apathy; they are +accustomed to the white-heat of oratory; they hear the same thing +every Sunday: their pulses would beat no faster if Peter the Hermit +himself or Bernard were to exhort them to assume the Cross. It is +comic, indeed, only to think of the blank stare with which a British +workman would receive an invitation to take up arms in order to drive +out the accursed Moslem. + +As regards the women, I declare that I have never been able to find +out anything at all concerning their amusements. Certainly one can see +a few of them any Sunday walking about in the lanes and in the fields +of northern London, with their lovers; in the evening they may also be +observed having tea in the tea-gardens. These, however, are the better +sort of girls; they are well dressed, and generally quiet in their +behaviour. The domestic servants, for the most part, spend their +'evening out' in taking tea with other servants, whose evening is in. +On the same principle, an actor when he has a holiday goes to another +theatre; and no doubt it must be interesting for a cook to observe the +_differentiæ_, the finer shades of difference, in the conduct of a +kitchen. When women are married and the cares of maternity set in, one +does not see how they can get any holiday or recreation at all; but I +believe a good deal is done for their amusement by the mothers' +meetings and other clerical agencies. There is, however, below the +shop girls, the dressmakers, the servants, and the working girls whom +the world, so to speak, knows, a very large class of women whom the +world does not know, and is not anxious to know. They are the factory +hands of London; you can see them, if you wish, trooping out of the +factories and places where they work on any Saturday afternoon, and +thus get them, so to speak, in the lump. Their amusement seems to +consist of nothing but walking about the streets, two and three +abreast, and they laugh and shout as they go so noisily that they must +needs be extraordinarily happy. These girls are, I am told, for the +most part so ignorant and helpless, that many of them do not know even +how to use a needle; they cannot read, or, if they can, they never do; +they carry the virtue of independence as far as they are able, and +insist on living by themselves, two sharing a single room; nor will +they brook the least interference with their freedom, even from those +who try to help them. Who are their friends, what becomes of them in +the end, why they all seem to be about eighteen years of age, at what +period of life they begin to get tired of walking up and down the +streets, who their sweethearts are, what are their thoughts, what are +their hopes--these are questions which no man can answer, because no +man could make them communicate their experiences and opinions. +Perhaps only a Bible-woman or two know the history, and could tell it, +of the London factory girl. Their pay is said to be wretched, whatever +work they do; their food, I am told, is insufficient for young and +hearty girls, consisting generally of tea and bread or +bread-and-butter for breakfast and supper, and for dinner a lump of +fried fish and a piece of bread. What can be done? The proprietors of +the factory will give no better wage, the girls cannot combine, and +there is no one to help them. One would not willingly add another to +the 'rights' of man or woman; but surely, if there is such a thing at +all as a 'right,' it is that a day's labour shall earn enough to pay +for sufficient food, for shelter, and for clothes. As for the +amusements of these girls, it is a thing which may be considered when +something has been done for their material condition. The possibility +of amusement only begins when we have reached the level of the well +fed. Great Gaster will let no one enjoy play who is hungry. Would it +be possible, one asks in curiosity, to stop the noisy and mirthless +laughter of these girls with a hot supper of chops fresh from the +grill? Would they, if they were first well fed, incline their hearts +to rest, reflection, instruction, and a little music? The cheap +excursions, the school feasts, the concerts given for the people, the +increased brightness of religious services, the Bank holidays, the +Saturday half-holiday, all point to the gradual recognition of the +great natural law that men and women, as well as boys and girls, must +have play. At the present moment we have just arrived at the stage of +acknowledging this law; the next step will be that of respecting it, +and preparing to obey it, just now we are willing and anxious that all +should play; and it grieves us to see that in their leisure hours the +people do not play because they do not know how. + +Compare, for instance, the young workman with the young gentleman--the +public schoolman, one of the kind who makes his life as 'all round' as +he can, and learns and practises whatever his hand findeth to do. Or, +if you please, compare him with one of the better sort of young City +clerks; or, again, compare him with one of the lads who belong to the +classes now held in the building of the old Polytechnic; or with the +lads who are found every evening at the classes of the Birkbeck. First +of all, the young workman cannot play any game at all, neither +cricket, football, tennis, racquets, fives, or any of the other games +which the young fellows in the class above him love so passionately: +there are, in fact, no places for him where these games can be played; +for though the boys may play cricket in Victoria Park, I do not +understand that the carpenters, shoemakers, or painters have got clubs +and play there too. There is no gymnasium for them, and so they never +learn the use of their limbs; they cannot row, though they have a +splendid river to row upon; they cannot fence, box, wrestle, play +single-stick, or shoot with the rifle; they do not, as a rule, join +the Volunteer corps; they do not run, leap, or practise athletics of +any kind; they cannot swim; they cannot sing in parts, unless, which +is naturally rare, they belong to a church choir; they cannot play any +kind of instrument--to be sure the public schoolboy is generally +grovelling in the same shameful ignorance of music; they cannot dance; +in the whole of this vast city there is not a single place where a +couple, so minded, can go for an evening's dancing, unless they are +prepared to journey as far as North Woolwich. Not one. Ought it not to +be felt and resented as an intolerable grievance that grandmotherly +legislation actually forbids the people to dance? That the working men +themselves do not seem to feel and resent it is really a mournful +thing. Then, they cannot paint, draw, model, or carve. They cannot +act, and seemingly do not care greatly about seeing others act; and, +as already stated, they never read books. Think what it must be to be +shut out entirely from the world of history, philosophy, poetry, +fiction, essays, and travels! Yet our working classes are thus +practically excluded. Partly they have done this for themselves, +because they have never felt the desire to read books; partly, as I +said above, we have done it for them, because we have never taken any +steps to create the demand. Now, as regards these arts and +accomplishments, the public schoolman and the better class City clerk +have the chance of learning some of them at least, and of practising +them, both before and after they have left school. What a poor +creature would that young man seem who could do none of these things! +Yet the working man has no chance of learning any. There are no +teachers for him; the schools for the small arts, the accomplishments, +and the graces of life are not open to him; one never hears, for +instance, of a working man learning to waltz or dance, unless it is in +imitation of a music-hall performer. In other words, the public +schoolman has gone through a mill of discipline out of school as well +as in. Law reigns in his sports as in his studies. Whether he sits +over his books or plays in the fields, he learns to be obedient to +law, order, and rule: he obeys, and expects to be obeyed; it is not +himself whom he must study to please: it is the whole body of his +fellows. And this discipline of self, much more useful than the +discipline of books, the young workman knows not. Worse than this, and +worst of all, not only is he unable to do any of these things, but he +is even ignorant of their uses and their pleasures, and has no desire +to learn any of them, and does not suspect at all that the possession +of these accomplishments would multiply the joys of life. He is +content to go on without them. Now contentment is the most mischievous +of all the virtues; if anything is to be done, and any improvement is +to be effected, the wickedness of discontent must first be explained +away. + +Let us, if you please, brighten this gloomy picture by recognising the +existence of the artisan who pursues knowledge for its own sake. There +are many of this kind. You may come across some of them botanizing, +collecting insects, moths and butterflies in the fields on Sundays; +others you will find reading works on astronomy, geometry, physics, or +electricity: they have not gone through the early training, and so +they often make blunders; but yet they are real students. One of them +I knew once who had taught himself Hebrew; another, who read so much +about co-operation, that he lifted himself clean out of the +co-operative ranks, and is now a master; another and yet another and +another, who read perpetually, and meditate upon, books of political +and social economy; and there are thousands whose lives are made +dignified for them, and sacred, by the continual meditation on +religious things. Let us make every kind of allowance for these +students of the working class; and let us not forget, as well, the +occasional appearance of those heaven-born artists who are fain to +play music or die, and presently get into orchestras of one kind or +another, and so leave the ranks of daily labour and join the great +clan or caste of musicians, who are a race or family apart, and carry +on their mystery from father to son. + +But, as regards any place or institution where the people may learn or +practise or be taught the beauty and desirability of any of the +commoner amusements, arts, and accomplishments, there is not one, +anywhere in London. The Bethnal Green Museum certainly proposed unto +itself, at first, to 'do something,' in a vague and uncertain way, for +the people. Nobody dared to say that it would be first of all +necessary to make the people discontented, because this would have +been considered as flying in the face of Providence; and there was, +besides, a sort of nebulous hope, not strong enough for a theory, that +by dint of long gazing upon vases and tapestry everybody would in time +acquire a true feeling for art, and begin to crave for culture. Many +very beautiful things have, from time to time, been sent +there--pictures, collections, priceless vases; and I am sure that +those visitors who brought with them the sense of beauty and feeling +for artistic work which comes of culture, have carried away memories +and lessons which will last them for a lifetime. On the other hand, to +those who visit the Museum chiefly in order to see the people, it has +long been painfully evident that the folk who do not bring that sense +with them go away carrying nothing of it home with them. Nothing at +all. Those glass cases, those pictures, those big jugs, say no more to +the crowd than a cuneiform or a Hittite inscription. They have now, or +had quite recently, on exhibition a collection of turnips and carrots +beautifully modelled in wax: it is perhaps hoped that the +contemplation of these precious but homely things may carry the people +a step farther in the direction of culture than Sir Richard Wallace's +pictures could effect. In fact, the Bethnal Green Museum does no more +to educate the people than the British Museum. It is to them simply a +collection of curious things which is sometimes changed. It is cold +and dumb. It is merely a dull and unintelligent branch of a +department; and it will remain so, because whatever the collections +may be, a Museum can teach nothing, unless there is someone to expound +the meaning of the things. Why, even that wonderful Museum of the +House Beautiful could teach the pilgrims no lessons at all until the +Sisters explained to them what were the rare and curious things +preserved in their glass cases. + +Is it possible that, by any persuasion, attraction, or teaching, the +walking men of this country can be induced to aim at those organized, +highly skilled, and disciplined forms of recreation which make up the +better pleasure of life? Will they consent, without hope of gain, to +give the labour, patience, and practice required of every man who +would become master of any art or accomplishment, or even any game? +There are men, one is happy to find, who think that it is not only +possible, but even easy, to effect this, and the thing is about to be +transferred from the region or theory to that of practice, by the +creation of the People's Palace. + +The general scheme is already well known. Because the Mile End Road +runs through the most extensive portion of the most dismal city in the +world, the city which has been suffered to exist without recreation, +it has been chosen as the fitting site of the Palace. As regards +simple absence of joy, Hoxton, Haggerston, Pentonville, Clerkenwell, +or Kentish Town, might contend, and have a fair chance of success, +with any portion whatever of the East-end proper. But, then, around +Mile End lie Stepney, Whitechapel, Bethnal Green, the Cambridge Road, +the Commercial Road, Bow, Stratford, Shadwell, Limehouse, Wapping, and +St. George's-in-the-East. Without doubt the real centre, the [Greek: +omphalos] of dreariness, is situated somewhere in the Mile End Road, +and it is to be hoped that the Palace may be placed upon the very +centre itself. + +Let me say a few words as to what this Palace may and may not do. In +the first place, it can do nothing, absolutely nothing, to relieve the +great starvation and misery which lies all about London, but more +especially at the East-end. People who are out of work and starving do +not want amusement, not even of the highest kind; still less do they +want University extension. Therefore, as regards the Palace, let us +forget for a while the miserable condition of the very poor who live +in East London; we are concerned only with the well fed, those who are +in steady work, the respectable artisans and _petits commis_, the +artists in the hundred little industries which are carried on in the +East-end; those, in fact, who have already acquired some power of +enjoyment because they are separated by a sensible distance from their +hand-to-mouth brothers and sisters, and are pretty certain to-day that +they will have enough to eat to-morrow. It is for these, and such as +these, that the Palace will be established. It is to contain: (1) +class-rooms, where all kinds of study can be carried on; (2) concert +rooms; (3) conversation-rooms; (4) a gymnasium; (5) a library; and +lastly, a winter garden. In other words, it is to be an institution +which will recognise the fact, that for some of those who have to work +all day at, perhaps, uncongenial and tedious labour, the best form of +recreation may be study and intellectual effort; while for +others--that is to say, for the great majority--music, reading, +tobacco, and rest will be desired. Let us be under no illusions as to +the supposed thirst for knowledge. Those who desire to learn are even +in youth always a minority. How many men do we know, among our own +friends, who have ever set themselves to learn anything since they +left school? It is a great mistake to suppose that the working man, +any more than the merchant-man or the clerk-man, or the tradesman, is +ardently desirous of learning. But there will always be n few; and +especially there are the young who would fain, if they could, make a +ladder of learning, and so, as has ever been the goodly and godly +custom in this realm of England, mount unto higher things. The Palace +of the People would be incomplete indeed if it gave no assistance to +ambitious youths. Next to the classes in literature and science come +those in music and painting. There is no reason whatever why the +Palace should not include an academy of music, an academy of arts, and +an academy of acting, in a few months after its establishment it +should have its own choir, its own orchestra, its own concerts, its +own opera, and its own theatre, with a company formed of its own +_alumni_. And in a year or two it should have its own exhibition of +paintings, drawings, and sculpture. As regards the simpler amusements, +there must be rooms where the men can smoke, and others where the +girls and women can work, read, and talk; there must be a debating +society for questions, social and political, but especially the +former; there must be a dancing school, and a ball once every week, +all the year round; it should be possible to convert the great hall +into either theatre, concert-room, or ball-room; there must be a bar +for beer as well as for coffee, and at a price calculated so as to pay +just the bare expenses; there must be a library and writing-room, and +the winter garden must be a place where the women and children can +come in the daytime while the men are at work. One thing must be kept +out of the place: there must not be allowed to grow up in the minds +even of the most suspicious the least jealousy that religious +influences are at work; more than this, the institution must be +carefully watched to prevent the rise of such a suspicion; religious +controversy must be kept out of the debating-room, and even in the +conversation-rooms there ought to be power to exclude a man who makes +himself offensive by the exhibition and parade of his religious or +irreligious opinions. + +As for the teaching of the classes, we must look for voluntary work +rather than to a great endowment. The history of the College in Great +Ormond Street shows how much may be done by unpaid labour, and I do +not think it too much to expect that the Palace of the People may be +started by unpaid teachers in every branch of science and art: +moreover, as regards science, history and language, the University +Extension Society will probably find the staff. There must be, +however, volunteers, women as well as men, to teach singing, music, +dancing, sewing, acting, speaking, drawing, painting, carving, +modelling, and many other things. This kind of help should only be +wanted at the outset, because, before long, all the art departments +ought to be conducted by ex-students who have become in their turn +teachers, they should be paid, but not on the West-end scale, from +fees--so that the schools may support themselves. Let us not _give_ +more than is necessary; for every class and every course there should +be some kind of fee, though a liberal system of small scholarships +should encourage the students, and there should be the power of +remitting fees in certain cases. As for the difficulty of starting the +classes, I think that the assistance of Board School masters, foremen +of works, Sunday schools, the political clubs, and debating societies +should be invited; and that besides small scholarships, substantial +prizes of musical and mathematical instruments, books, artists' +materials, and so forth, should be offered, with the glory of public +exhibition and public performances. After the first year there should +be nothing exhibited in the Palace except work done in the classes, +and no performances of music or of plays should be given but by the +students themselves. + +There has been going on in Philadelphia for the last two years an +experiment, conducted by Mr. Charles Leland, whose sagacious and +active mind is as pleased to be engaged upon things practical as upon +the construction of humorous poems. He has founded, and now conducts +personally, an academy for the teaching of the minor arts; he gets +shop girls, work girls, factory girls, boys and young men of all +classes together, and teaches them how to make things, pretty things, +artistic things. 'Nothing,' he writes to me, 'can describe the joy +which fills a poor girl's mind when she finds that she, too, possesses +and can exercise a real accomplishment.' He takes them as ignorant, +perhaps--but I have no means of comparing--as the London factory girl, +the girl of freedom, the girl with the fringe--and he shows them how +to do crewel-work, fretwork, brass work; how to carve in wood; how to +design; how to draw--he maintains that it is possible to teach nearly +every one to draw; how to make and ornament leather work, boxes, +rolls, and all kinds of pretty things in leather. What has been done +in Philadelphia amounts, in fact, to this: that one man who loves his +brother man is bringing purpose, brightness, and hope into thousands +of lives previously made dismal by hard and monotonous work; he has +put new and higher thoughts into their heads; he has introduced the +discipline of methodical training; he has awakened in them the sense +of beauty. Such a man is nothing less than a benefactor to humanity. +Let us follow his example in the Palace of the People. + +I venture, further, to express my strong conviction that the success +of the Palace will depend entirely upon its being governed, within +limits at first, but these limits constantly broadening, by the people +themselves. If they think the Palace is a trap to catch them, and make +them sober, good, religious and temperate, there will be an end. In +the first place, therefore, there must be a real element of the +working man upon the council; there must be real working men on every +sub-committee or branch; the students must be wholly recruited from +the working classes; and gradually the council must be elected by the +people who use the Palace. Fortunately, there would be no difficulty +at the outset in introducing this element, because the great factories +and breweries in the neighbourhood might be asked each to elect one or +more representatives to sit upon the council of the new University. It +'goes without saying' that the police work, the maintenance of order, +the out-kicking of offenders, must be also entirely managed by a +voluntary corps of efficient working men. Rows there will undoubtedly +be, since we are all of us, even the working man, human; but there +need be no scandals. + +I must not go on, though there is so much to be said. I see before us +in the immediate future a vast University whose home is in the Mile +End Road; but it has affiliated colleges in all the suburbs, so that +even poor, dismal, uncared-for Hoxton shall no longer be neglected; +the graduates of this University are the men and women whose lives, +now unlovely and dismal, shall be made beautiful for them by their +studies, and their heavy eyes uplifted to meet the sunlight; the +subjects or examination shall be, first, the arts of every kind: so +that unless a man have neither eyes to see nor hand to work with, he +may here find something or other which he may learn to do; and next, +the games, sports, and amusements with which we cheat the weariness of +leisure and court the joy of exercising brain and wit and strength. +From the crowded class-rooms I hear already the busy hum of those who +learn and those who teach. Outside, in the street, are those--a vast +multitude to be sure--who are too lazy and too sluggish of brain to +learn anything: but these, too, will flock into the Palace presently +to sit, talk, and argue in the smoking-rooms; to read in the library; +to see the students' pictures upon the walls; to listen to the +students' orchestra, discoursing such music as they have never dreamed +of before; to look on while His Majesty's Servants of the People's +Palace perform a play, and to hear the bright-eyed girls sing +madrigals. + +[1884.] + + + + + +THE ASSOCIATED LIFE. [The substance of this paper was delivered as the +presidential speech at the opening of the Hoxton Library and +Institute.] + + + +It has seemed to me--for reasons which I hope to make clear to +you--that the present occasion, the opening of our newly-acquired +Place of Gathering, is one on which something may be said upon the +subject of the Associated Life--that is to say, on the union, or +combination of men, or of men and women, in order to effect by +collective action objects--objects worthy of effort--impossible for +the individual to attempt. + +It would seem at first sight that combination should be the very +simplest thing in the world. It is self-evident that those who want +anything have a much better chance of getting it if they join together +in order to demand it, or to work for it. Like one or two other simple +laws of human nature, this, though the simplest, is the hardest to get +people to understand and to accept. Nothing is so difficult as to +persuade people to trust each other, even to the extent of standing +together and sticking together and working together in order to get +what they want. + +The first association of men was forced upon them for protection, I +wonder how many ages--hundreds of thousands of years--it took to teach +men to join together in order to protect themselves against +starvation, wild beasts, and each other. The necessity of +self-preservation first made men associate, and changed hunters into +soldiers, and turned the whole world into a camp. It was war, which +brought men together; it was war which taught men the necessity of +order, discipline, and obedience; without the necessity for fighting, +without the military spirit, no association at all would now be +possible. A vast number of men practically use modern safety at this +day for the purpose of being fighters, every man against his +neighbour. Just as no one would, even now, do any work but for the +necessity of finding food for himself and his family, so no one would +ever have begun to stand side by side with his neighbour but for the +absolute certainty that he would be killed if he did not. + +Let us, however, consider a more advanced kind of association, that of +men united for purposes of trade and profit. The craftsman of the +town, who made things and sold them, found out by the experience of +some generations that his only chance, if he would not become a slave, +was to combine with others who made the same things for the same +purposes. He therefore formed--here in London, as early as the Saxon +times an association for the protection of his craft--a +rough-and-ready association at first, a religious guild or fraternity, +something which should persuade men to come together as friends, not +rivals, what we should now call a benefit society, gradually +developing into an association of officers, a constitution, and rules; +growing by slow degrees into a powerful and wealthy body, having its +period of birth, development, vigour, and decay. In illustration of +such an association, I will sketch out for you the history of a +certain London Company--what was called a Craft Company; a society of +working-men who were engaged upon the same craft; who all made the +same thing: as the Company of Bowyers who made bows, or of Fletchers +who made arrows. The society began first of all with a Guild of the +Craft, such as I have just mentioned; that is to say, all those who +belonged to the Craft--according to the custom of the time, they all +lived in the same quarter and were well known to each other--were +persuaded or compelled to belong to the Guild. Here religion stepped +in, for every Guild had its own patron saint, and if a craftsman stood +aloof, he lost the protection and incurred the displeasure of that +saint, so that, apart from considerations of the common weal, terror +of how the offended saint might punish the blackleg forced men to +join. Thus, St. George protected the armourers; St. Mary and St. +Thomas the Martyr, the bowyers; St. Catharine the Virgin, the +haberdashers; St. Martin, the sadlers; the Virgin Mary, the +cloth-workers, and so on. On the saint's day they marched in +procession to the parish church and heard Mass; every year each man +paid his fees of membership; the Guild looked after the sick and +maintained the aged of the Craft. The next step, which was not taken +until after many years, and was not at first contemplated, was to +obtain for the Guild--_i.e._, for the Craft--a Royal Charter. This +favour of the Sovereign conferred certain powers of regulating their +trade; and, this once obtained, we hear no more of the Guild--it +became absorbed into the Company. The religious observances remained, +but they were no longer put forward as the chief 'articles' of +association. The powers granted by Royal Charter were very strong. The +Company was empowered to prohibit anyone from working at that trade +within the jurisdiction of the City who was not a member of the +Company; it could prevent markets from being held within a certain +distance of the City; it could oblige all the youth of the City to be +apprenticed to some Company; it could regulate wages and hours of +work; it could examine the work before it could be sold; and it could +limit the number of the workmen. The Company, in fact, ruled its own +trade with an authority from which there was no appeal. On the other +hand, the Company exercised a paternal care over its members. When +they were sick, the Company provided for them; when they became old, +the Company maintained them; if any became dishonest, the Company +turned them out of the City. You, who think yourselves strong with +your Trades Unions (things as yet undeveloped and with all their +history before them), have never yet succeeded in getting a tenth part +of the power and authority over your own men that was excercised by a +City Company in the time of Richard II. over its Livery. + +Then, in order to maintain the dignity of the Craft, a livery was +chosen, the colours of which were worn by every member. On their +saint's day, as in the old days of the Guild, the Company marched in +great magnificence, with music and flags and new liveries, with their +wardens, officers, schoolboys, almsmen, and priests, to church. After +church they banqueted together in the Company's Hall, a splendid +building, where a great feast was served, and where the day was +honoured by the presence of guests--great nobles, city worthies, even +the Lord Mayor, perhaps, or some of the Aldermen, or the Bishop, or +one of the Abbots of the City Religious Houses. Every man was bidden +to bring his wife to the feast of the Company's grand day--if not his +wife, then his sweetheart, for all were to feast together. During +dinner the musicians in their gallery made sweet music. After dinner, +actors and tumblers came in, and they had pageants and shows, and +marvellous feats of skill and legerdemain. + +Ask yourselves, at this point, whether it is possible to conceive of +an institution more purely democratic than such a company as +originally designed. All the craftsmen of every craft combining +together, not one allowed to stand out, electing their own officers, +obeying rules for the general good, building halls, holding banquets, +and creating a spirit of pride in their craft. What more could be +desired? Why do we not imitate this excellent example? + +Yet, when we look at the City Companies, what do we find? The old +Craft Companies, it is true, still exist; they have an income of many +thousands a year, and a livery, or list of members, in number varying +from twenty to four hundred, and not one single craftsman left among +them. What has become, then, or the Association? Well, that remains, +the shadow remains, but the substance has long since gone. Even the +craft itself, in many cases, has disappeared. There are no longer in +existence, for instance, Armourers, Bowyers, Fletchers, or Poulterers. + +What has happened, then? Why did this essentially democratic +Company--in which all were subject to rules for the general good, and +none should undersell his brother, and the rate of wages and the hours +of labour were regulated--so completely fail? + +For many reasons, some of which concern ourselves: it failed, because +the members themselves forgot the original reason of their +combination, and neglected to look after their own interests; it +failed, because the members were too ignorant to remember, or to know, +that the Company was founded for the interests of the Craft itself, +and not for those of the masters alone or the men alone. Now every +Association must needs, of course, have wardens or masters; it must +needs elect to those posts of dignity and responsibility such men as +could understand law and maintain their privileges if necessary before +the dread Sovereign, his Highness the King. The men they necessarily +elected were therefore those who had received some education, +master-workmen--their own employers--not their fellows. It speedily +came about, therefore, that the masters, not the men, ruled the hours +of work, the wages of work, the quantity and quality of work: the +masters, not the craftsmen, admitted members and limited their number. +Do you now understand? The officers ruled the Company of the Craftsmen +for the benefit of the masters and not the men. Nay, they did more. +Since in some trades the men showed a disposition, on dimly perceiving +the reality, to form a union within a union, the masters were strong +enough to put down all combinations for the raising of wages as +illegal; to attempt such combinations was ruled to be conspiracy. And +conspiracy all unions of working men have remained down to the present +day, as the founders of the first Trades Unions in this country +discovered to their cost. So the men were gagged; they were silenced; +they were enslaved by the very institution that they had founded for +the insurance of their own freedom. The thing was inevitable because +they were ignorant, and because, if you put into any man's hands the +power of robbing his neighbour with impunity, that man will inevitably +sooner or later rob his neighbour. I fear that we must acknowledge the +sorrowful fact that not a single man in the whole world, whatever his +position, can be trusted with irresponsible and absolute power--with +the power of robbery coupled with the certainty of immunity. + +Well, in this way came about the first enslavement of the working man. +It lasted for three hundred years. Then followed a time of comparative +freedom, when, the wealth and population of the city increasing, the +craftsmen found themselves pushed out beyond the walls, and taking up +their quarters beyond the power of the Companies. But it was a freedom +without knowledge, without order, without forethought. It was the +freedom of the savage who lives only for himself. For they were now +unable to combine. In the long course of centuries they had lost the +very idea of combination; they had forgotten that in an age we call +rude and rough they possessed the power and perceived the importance +of combination. The great-grandchildren of the men who had formed this +union of the trade had entirely forgotten the meaning, the reason, the +possibility, of the old combination. In this way, then, the Companies +gradually lost their craftsmen, but retained their property. + +One very remarkable result may be noticed. Formerly, the Lord Mayor of +London was elected by the whole of the commonalty. All the citizens +assembled at Paul's Cross, and there, sometimes with tumult and +sometimes with fighting, they elected their mayor for the next year. +But since every man in the City was compelled to belong to his own +Company, to speak of the commonalty meant to speak of the Companies. +Every man who voted for the election of Lord Mayor was therefore bound +to be a liveryman--_i.e_., a member of a Company. This restriction is +still in force; that is to say, the City of London, the richest and +the greatest city in the world, now allows eight thousand liverymen, +or members of the Companies, to elect their chief magistrate. + +Why do I tell over again this old threadbare tale? Perhaps, however, +it is not old or threadbare to you: perhaps there are some here who +learn for the first time that association, trade union, combination, +is a thousand years old in this ancient city. I have told it chiefly, +however, because the history should be a warning to you of London; +because it shows that association itself may be made the very weapon +with which to destroy its own objects; in other words, because you +must find in this history an illustration or the great truth that the +forms of liberty require the most unceasing vigilance to prevent them +from becoming the means of destroying liberty. The Companies failed +because they could be, and were, used to destroy the freedom of the +very men for whose benefit they were founded. At present, as you know, +some of them are very poor indeed: those which are rich are probably +doing far more good with their wealth in promoting all kinds of useful +work than ever they did in all their past history. + +There followed, I said, a long period in which association among +working men was absolutely unknown. The history of this period, from a +craftsman's point of view, has never been written. It is, indeed, a +most terrible chapter in the history of industry. + +Imagine, if you can, crowded districts in which there were no schools, +or but one school for a very few, no churches, no newspapers or books, +a place in which no one could read; a place in which every man, woman +and child regarded the Government of the country, in which they had +not the least share, as their natural enemy and oppressor. Among them +lurked the housebreaker, the highway robber, and the pickpocket. Along +the riverside, where many thousands of working men lived--at St. +Katherine's, Wapping, Shadwell, and Ratcliff--all the people together, +high and low, were in league with the men who loaded and unloaded the +ships in the river and robbed them all day long. What could be +expected of people left thus absolutely to themselves, without any +power of action, without the least thought that amendment was possible +or desirable? Can we wonder if the people sank lower and lower, until, +by the middle of the last century, the working men of London had +reached a depth of degradation that terrified everyone who knew what +things meant? Listen to the following words, written in the year 1772: + +'To paint the manners of the lower rank of the inhabitants of London +is to draw a most disagreeable caricature, since the blackest vices +and the most perpetual scenes of villainy and wickedness are +constantly to be met with there. The most thorough contempt for all +order, morality, and decency is almost universal among the poorer sort +of people, whose manners I cannot but regard as the worst in the whole +world. The open street for ever presents the spectator with the most +loathsome scenes of beastliness, cruelty, and all manner of vice. In a +word, if you would take a view of man in his debased state, go neither +to the savages nor the Hottentots; they are decent, cleanly, and +elegant, compared with the poor people of London.' + +This is very strongly put. If you will look at some of Hogarth's +pictures you will admit that the words are not too strong. + +Union had long since been forbidden; union was called conspiracy; +conspiracy was punishable by imprisonment. If men cannot combine they +sink into their natural condition and become savages again. All these +evils fell upon our unfortunate working men as a natural result of +neglect first, and of enforced isolation. Union was forbidden. During +all these years every man worked for himself, stood by himself; there +was no association. Therefore, there followed savagery. There was no +education. Had there been either, association or rebellion must have +followed. The awakening of associated effort took place at the +beginning of the French Revolution. It was caused, or stimulated, by +that prodigious movement; and the first combinations of working men +were formed for political purposes. Since then, what have we seen? +Associations for political purposes formed, prohibited, persecuted, +formed again in spite of ancient laws. Associations victorious; we +have seen Trades Unions formed, prohibited, formed again, and now +flourishing, though not quite victorious. And the spirit of +association, I cannot but believe, grows stronger every day. In this +most glorious century--the noblest century for the advancement of +mankind that the world has ever seen, yet only the beginning of the +things that are to follow--we have gained an immense number of things: +the suffrage, vote by ballot, the Factory Acts, abolition of flogging, +the freedom of the press, the right of public meeting, the right of +combination, and a system of free education by which the national +character, the national modes of thought; the national customs, will +be changed in ways we cannot forecast; but since the national +character will always remain British we need have no fear of that +change. All these things--remember, all these things; every one of +these things--is the result, direct or indirect, of association. +Think, for instance, of one difference in custom between now and a +hundred years ago. Formerly, when a wrong thing had to be denounced, +or an iniquity attacked, the man who saw the thing wrote a pamphlet or +a book, which never probably reached the class for whom it was +intended at all. He now writes to the papers, which are read by +millions. He thus, to begin with, creates a certain amount of public +opinion; he then forms a society composed of those who think like +himself; then, for his companions, he spreads his doctrines in all +directions. That is our modern method; not to stand up alone like a +prophet, and to preach and cry aloud while the world, unheeding, +passes by, but to march in the ranks with brother soldiers, exhorting +and calling on our comrades to take up the word, and pass it on--and +when the soldiers in the ranks are firm and fixed to carry that cause. + +We are now witnessing one of the most remarkable, one of the most +suggestive, signs of the time--a time which is, I verily believe, +teeming with social mange--a time, as I have said above, of the most +stupendous importance in the history of mankind. We read constantly, +in the paper and everywhere, fears, prophecies, bogies of approaching +revolution. Approaching! Fears of approaching revolution! Why, we are +in the midst of this revolution, we are actually in the midst of the +most wonderful social revolution! People don't perceive it, simply +because the revolutionaries are not chopping off heads, as they did in +France. But it has begun, all the same, and it is going on around us +silently, swiftly, irresistibly. We are actually in the midst of +revolution. Everywhere the old order of things is slipping away; +everywhere things new and unexpected are asserting themselves. Let me +only point out a few things. We have become within the last twenty +years a nation of readers--we all read; most of us, it is true, read +only newspapers. But what newspapers? Why, exactly the same papers as +are read by the people of the highest position in the land. Perhaps +you have not thought of the significance, the extreme significance, of +this fact. Certainly those who continually talk of the ignorance of +the people have never thought of it! What does it mean? Why, that +every reasoning man in the country, whatever his social position, +reads the same news, the same debates, the same arguments as the +statesman, the scholar, the philosopher, the preacher, or the man of +science. He bases his opinions on the same reasoning and on the same +information as the Leader of the House of Commons, as my Lord +Chancellor, as my Lord Archbishop himself. Formerly the working man +read nothing, and he knew nothing, and he had no power. He has now, +not only his vote, but he has as much personal influence among his own +friends as depends upon his knowledge and his force of character, and +he can acquire as much political knowledge as any noble lord not +actually in official circles, if he only chooses to reach out his hand +and take what is offered him! Is not that a revolution which has so +much raised the working man? Again, he was, formerly, the absolute +slave of his employer; he was obliged to take with a semblance of +gratitude whatever wages were offered him. What is he now? A man of +business, who negotiates for his skill. Is not that a revolution? +Formerly he lived where he could. Look, now, at the efforts made +everywhere to house him properly. For, understand, association on one +side, which shows power, commands recognition and respect on the +other. None of these fine things would have been done for the working +men had they not shown that they could combine. Consider, again, the +question of education. Here, indeed, is a mighty revolution going on +around us: the Board Schools teaching things never before presented to +the children of the people; technical schools teaching work of all +kinds; and--a most remarkable sign of the times--thousands upon +thousands of working lads, after a hard day's work, going off to a +Polytechnic for a hard evening's work of another kind. And of what +kind? It is exactly the same kind as is found in the colleges of the +rich. The same sciences, the same languages, the same arts, the same +intellectual culture, are learned by these working lads in their +evenings as are learned by their richer brothers in the mornings. In +many cases the teachers are men of the same standing at the University +as those who teach at the public schools. There are, I believe, a +hundred thousand of these ambitious boys scattered over London, and +the number increases daily. If this is not revolution, I should like +to know what is. That the working classes should study in the highest +schools; that they should enjoy an equal chance with the richest and +noblest of acquiring knowledge of the highest kind; that they should +be found capable actually of foregoing the pleasures of youth--the +rest, the society, the amusements of the evenings--in order to acquire +knowledge--what is this if it is not a revolution and an upsetting? As +for what is coming out of all these things, I have formed, for myself, +very strong views indeed, and I think that I could, if this were a +fitting time, prophesy unto you. But, for the present, let us be +content with simply marking what has been done, and especially with +the recognition that everything--every single thing--that has been +gained has been either achieved by association, or has naturally grown +and developed out of association. + +Through association the way to the higher education is open to you; +through association political power has been acquired for you; through +association you have made yourselves free to combine for trade +purposes; through association you have made yourselves strong, and +even, in the eyes of some, terrible; it remains in these respects only +that you should make, as one believes you will make, a fit and proper +use of advantages and weapons which have never before been placed in +the hands of any nation, not even Germany; certainly not the United +States. + +But what about the other side of life--the social side, the side of +recreation, the side which has been so persistently ignored and +neglected up to the present day? Now, when we look round us and +consider that side of life we observe the plainest and the most +significant proof possible of the great social revolution which is +among us; plainer, more significant, than the success of the Trades +Unions. For we see sprung up, already a vigorous plant, the associated +life applied to purposes above the mere material interests. You have +made them safe, as far as possible, by your unions. The social and +recreative side of life you have now taken over into your keeping, you +order recreation which shall be as music or as poetry in your +associated lives, harmonious, melodious, rhythmic, metrical. All that +I have said to-night leads up to this, that the Associated Life is +necessary for the enjoyment and the attainment of the best and the +highest things that the world can give, as the Guild and the Company +formerly, and the Trade Union is now, for the safeguarding of the +craft. In entering upon this new association, men and women together, +learn the lessons of the past. Be jealous of your democratic lines. +Let every step be a step for the general interest. Let the individual +perish. Let the wishes and intentions of your founders be never lost +to sight. Be not carried away by religion, by politics, by any new +thing; never lose the principles of your association. + +And now, I ask, when, before this day, has it been recorded in the +history of any city that men and women should unite in order to +procure for themselves those social advantages which up to the present +have been enjoyed only by the richer class, and not always by them? +When, before this time, has it been reported that men and women have +banded themselves together resolved that whatever good things rich +people could procure for themselves, they would also make for +themselves? Since the magistrates refused to allow dancing, one of the +most innocent and delightful amusements, they would arrange their own +dancing for themselves without troubling the magistrates for +permission. Since going to concerts cost money, they would have their +own musicians and their own singers. Since selection of companions is +the first essence of social enjoyment, they would have their own rooms +for themselves, where they would meet none but those who, like +themselves, desired education, culture, and orderly recreation. In one +word, when, in the history of any city, has there been found such a +combination, so resolute for culture, as the combination of men and +women which has raised this temple, this sacred Temple of Humanity? +You are, indeed, I plainly perceive, revolutionaries of the most +dangerous kind. As revolutionaries you are engaged in the cultivation +of all those arts and accomplishments which have hitherto belonged to +the West-end; as revolutionaries you claim the right to meet, read, +sing, dance, act, play, debate, with as much freedom as if you lived +in Berkeley Square. Where will these things stop? + +[1893.] + + +[Illustration.] + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's As We Are and As We May Be, by Sir Walter Besant + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 14191 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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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: As We Are and As We May Be + +Author: Sir Walter Besant + +Release Date: November 28, 2004 [EBook #14191] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE *** + + + + +Produced by Bryan Ness, Keith M. Eckrich and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + +AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE + + +NOVELS BY SIR WALTER BESANT & JAMES RICE. + +Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d. each; post 8vo., boards, 2s. each; cloth, +2s. 6d. each. + + READY-MONEY MORTIBOY. + + THE GOLDEN BUTTERFLY. + + MY LITTLE GIRL. + + WITH HARP AND CROWN. + + THIS SON OF VULCAN. + + THE MONKS OF THELEMA. + + BY CELIA'S ARBOUR. + + THE CHAPLAIN OF THE FLEET. + + THE SEAMY SIDE. + + THE CASE OF MR. LUCRAFT. + + 'TWAS IN TRAFALGAR'S BAY. + + THE TEN YEARS' TENANT. + +*** There is also a LIBRARY EDITION of all the above (excepting the +first two), large crown 8vo., cloth extra, 6s. each. + + * * * * * + +NOVELS BY SIR WALTER BESANT. + +Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d. each; post 8vo., boards, 2s. each; cloth, +2s. 6d. each. + + ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF MEN. 12 Illusts. by BARNARD. + + THE CAPTAINS' ROOM. With Frontispiece by E.J. WHEELER. + + ALL IN A GARDEN FAIR. With 6 Illustrations by HARRY FURNISS, + + DOROTHY FORSTER. With Frontispiece by CHARLES GREEN. + + UNCLE JACK, and other Stories. + + CHILDREN OF GIBEON. + + THE WORLD WENT VERY WELL THEN. 12 Illusts. by FORESTIER. + + HERR PAULUS: His Rise, his Greatness, and his Fall. + + THE BELL OF ST. PAUL'S. + + FOR FAITH AND FREEDOM. Illusts. by FORESTIER and WADDY. + + TO CALL HER MINE. With 9 Illustrations by A. FORESTIER. + + THE HOLY ROSE. With Frontispiece by F. BARNARD. + + ARMOREL OF LYONESSE. With 12 Illustrations by F. BARNARD. + + ST. KATHERINE'S BY THE TOWER. With 12 Illusts. by C. GREEN. + + VERBENA CAMELLIA STEPHANOTIS. Frontis. by GORDON BROWN. + + THE IVORY GATE. + + THE REBEL QUEEN. + + BEYOND THE DREAMS OF AVARICE. 12 Illustrations by HYDE. + + IN DEACON'S ORDERS. With Frontispiece by A. FORESTIER. + + THE REVOLT OF MAN. + + THE MASTER CRAFTSMAN. + + THE CITY OF REFUGE. + + * * * * * + +Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d. each. + + A FOUNTAIN SEALED. With Frontispiece by H.G. BURGESS. + + THE CHANGELING. + + THE FOURTH GENERATION. + + * * * * * + +Crown 8vo., cloth, gilt top, 6s. each. + + THE ORANGE GIRL. With 8 Illustrations by F. PEGRAM. + + THE LADY OF LYNN. With 12 Illustrations by G. DEMAIN-HAMMOND. + + NO OTHER WAY. With 12 Illustrations by CHARLES D. WARD. + + * * * * * + +POPULAR EDITIONS, medium 8vo., 6d, each. + + ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF MEN. + + THE GOLDEN BUTTERFLY. + + READY-MONEY MORTIBOY. + + CHILDREN OF GIBEON. + + THE CHAPLAIN OF THE FLEET. + + THE ORANGE GIRL. + + * * * * * + +Demy 8vo., cloth, 7s. 6d. each. + + LONDON. With 125 Illustrations. + + WESTMINSTER. With Etching by F.S. WALKER and 130 Illusts. + + SOUTH LONDON. With Etching by F.S. WALKER and 118 Illusts. + + EAST LONDON. With an Etched Frontispiece by F.S. WALKER and 55 + Illustrations by PHIL MAY, L. RAVEN HILL, and JOSEPH PENNELL. + + JERUSALEM: The City of Herod and Saladin. By WALTER BESANT and E.H. + PALMER. With a Map and 11 Illustrations. + + * * * * * + + AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE. Crown 8vo., buckram, gilt top, 6s. + + ESSAYS AND HISTORIETTES. Crown 8vo., buckram, gilt top, 6s. + + EULOGY OF RICHARD JEFFERIES. Portrait. Cr. 8vo., cloth, 6s. + + FIFTY YEARS AGO. With 144 Illustrations. Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d + + GASPARD DE COLIGNY. With a Portrait. Crown 8vo., linen, 3s. 6d. + + SIR RICHARD WHITTINGTON, Lord Mayor of London. By Sir WALTER BESANT + and JAMES RICE. With Frontispiece. Crown 8vo., linen, 3s. 6d. + + THE ART OF FICTION. Fcap. 8vo., cloth, 1s. net. + + THE CHARM, and other Drawing-room Plays. By SIR WALTER BESANT and + WALTER POLLOCK. With 50 Illustrations by CHRIS HAMMOND and A. JULE + GOODMAN. Crown 8vo., Cloth, 3s. 6d. + + +LONDON: CHATTO & WINDUS, 111 ST. MARTIN'S LANE, W.C. + + + + + +AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE + +LONDON + +CHATTO & WINDUS + +1903 + + + + + +FOREWORD. + + +_The reader of these Essays, which are not chronologically arranged, +is asked to notice the date in each case affixed to them. Almost +without exception, those passages which cannot fail to strike him as +nearly exact repetitions, whether of argument or of example, will be +seen to have been written at considerable intervals of time. A series +of papers, composed in different circumstances, and with no design of +collective re-issue in any particular form, will always present these +repetitions; and they serve to emphasize the author's message. The +lapse of time will also account for the apparent inaccuracy of a few +statements, and for the fact that some of the occurrences alluded to +in the future tense were accomplished during Sir Walter Besant's +lifetime. 'As We Are and As We May Be' is the exposition of a +practical philanthropist's creed, and of his hopes for the progress of +his fellow-countrymen. Some of these hopes may never be realized; some +he had the great happiness to see bear fruit. And for the realization +of all he spared no pains. The personal service of humanity, that in +these pages he urges repeatedly on others, he was himself ever the +first to give._ + + +CONTENTS + + PAGE + +THE ENDOWMENT OF THE DAUGHTER 1 + +FROM THIRTEEN TO SEVENTEEN 24 + +THE PEOPLE'S PALACE 50 + +SUNDAY MORNING IN THE CITY 67 + +A RIVERSIDE PARISH 106 + +ST. KATHERINE'S BY THE TOWER 137 + +THE UPWARD PRESSURE 166 + +THE LAND OF ROMANCE 203 + +THE LAND OF REALITY 224 + +ART AND THE PEOPLE 246 + +THE AMUSEMENTS OF THE PEOPLE 271 + +THE ASSOCIATED LIFE 296 + + + + + + +AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE + + +THE ENDOWMENT OF THE DAUGHTER. + + +Those who begin to consider the subject of the working woman discover +presently that there is a vast field of inquiry lying quite within +their reach, without any trouble of going into slums or inquiring of +sweaters. This is the field occupied by the gentlewoman who works for +a livelihood. She is not always, perhaps, gentle in quite the old +sense, but she is gentle in that new and better sense which means +culture, education, and refinement. There are now thousands of these +working gentlewomen, and the number is daily increasing. A few among +them--a very few--are working happily and successfully; some are +working contentedly, others with murmuring and discontent at the +hardness of the work and the poorness of the pay. Others, again, are +always trying, and for the most part vainly, to get work--any kind of +work--which will bring in money--any small sum of money. This is a +dreadful spectacle, to any who have eyes to see, of gentlewomen +struggling, snatching, importuning, begging for work. No one knows, +who has not looked into the field, how crowded it is, and how sad a +sight it presents. + +For my own part I think it is a shame that a lady should ever have to +stand in the labour market for hire like a milkmaid at a statute fair. +I think that the rush of women into the labour market is a most +lamentable thing. Labour, and especially labour which is without +organization or union, has to wage an incessant battle--always getting +beaten--against greed and injustice: the natural enemy of labour is +the employer, especially the impecunious employer; in the struggle +women always get worsted. Again, in whatever trade or calling they +attempt, the great majority of women are hopelessly incompetent. As in +the lower occupations, so in the higher, the greatest obstacle to +success is incompetence. How should gentlewomen be anything but +incompetent? They have not been taught anything special, they have not +been 'put through the mill'; mostly, they are fit only for those +employments which require the single quality that everybody can +claim--general intelligence. Hopeless indeed is the position of that +woman who brings into the intellectual labour market nothing but +general intelligence. She is exactly like the labourer who knows no +trade, and has nothing but his strong frame and his pair of hands. To +that man falls the hardest work and the smallest wage. To the woman +with general intelligence is assigned the lowest drudgery of +intellectual labour. And yet there are so many clamouring for this, or +for anything. A few months ago a certain weekly magazine stated that +I, the writer, had started an Association for Providing Ladies with +Copying Work--all in capitals. The number of letters which came to me +by every post in consequence of that statement was incredible. The +writers implored me to give them a share of that copying work; they +told terrible, heart-rending stories of suffering. Of course, there +was no such Association. There is, now that typewriting is fairly +established, no copying work left to speak of. Even now the letters +have not quite ceased to arrive. + +The existence of this army of necessitous gentlewomen is a new thing +in the land. That is to say, there have always been ladies who have +'come down in the world'--not a seaside lodging-housekeeper but has +known better days. There have always been girls who never expected to +be poor; always suffered to live in a fool's paradise who ought to +have been taught some way of earning their livelihood. Never till now, +however, has this army of gentlewomen been so great, or its distress +so acute. One reason--it is one which threatens to increase with +accelerated rapidity--is the depression of agriculture. I think we +hardly realize the magnitude of this great national disaster. We +believe that it is only the landlords, or the landlords and farmers, +who are suffering. If that were all--but can one member of the body +politic suffer and the rest go free from pain? All the trade of the +small towns droops with agriculture; the professional men of the +country towns lose their practice; clergymen who depend upon glebe, +dissenting ministers who depend upon the townspeople, lose their +income; the labourers, the craftsmen--why, it bewilders one even to +think of the widespread ruin which will follow the agricultural +depression if it continues. And every day carriage becomes cheaper, +and food products of all kinds are conveyed at lower prices and from +greater distances. Every fall in price makes it more difficult to let +the farms, drives the rustics in greater numbers from the country to +the town, lays the curse of labour upon thousands of untrained +gentlewomen, and makes it more difficult for them to escape in the old +way, that of marriage. + +Another reason is the enormous increase during the last thirty years +of the cultivated classes. We have all, except the very lowest, moved +upwards. The working-man wears broadcloth and has his club; the +tradesman who has grown rich also has his club, his daughters are +young ladies of culture, his sons are educated at the public schools +and the universities--things perfectly proper and laudable. The +thickness of the cultured stratum grows greater every day. But those +who belong to the lower part of that stratum--those whose position is +not as yet strengthened by family connections and the accumulations of +generations--are apt to yield and to be crushed down by the first +approach of misfortune. Then the daughters who, in the last +generation, would have joined the working girls and become dressmakers +in a 'genteel' way, join the ranks of distressed gentlewomen. + +Everybody knows the way up the social ladder. It has been shown to +those below by millions of twinkling feet. It is a broad ladder up +which people are always climbing, some slowly, some quickly--from +corduroy to broadcloth; from workshop to counter; from shop-boy to +master; from shop to office; from trade to profession; from the +bedroom over the shop to the great country villa. The other day a +bricklayer told me that his grandfather and the first Lord O.'s father +were old pals: they used to go poaching together; but the parent of +Lord O. was so clever as to open a shop, where he sold what his friend +poached. The shop began it you see. The way up is known to everybody. +But there is another way which we seldom regard; it is the way down +again. The Family Rise is the commonest phenomenon. Is not the name +Legion of those of whom men say, partly with the pride of connecting +themselves with greatness, partly with the natural desire, which small +men always show, to tear away something of that greatness, 'Why, I +knew him when his father had a shop!' The Family Fall is less +conspicuous. Yet there are always as many going down as climbing up. +You cannot, in fact, stay still. You must either climb or slip +down--unless, indeed, you have got your leg over the topmost rung, +which means the stability of an hereditary title and landed property. +We all ought to have hereditary titles and landed property, in order +to insure national prosperity for ever. Novelists do not, as a rule, +treat of the Sinking Back because it is a depressing subject. There +are many ways of falling. Mostly, the father makes an ass of himself +in the way of business or speculation; or he dies too soon; or his +sons possess none of their father's ability; or they take to drink. +Anyhow, down goes the Family, at first slowly, but with ever +increasing rapidity, back to its original level. There is no country +in the world--certainly not the United States--where a young man may +rise to distinction with greater ease than this realm of the Three +Kingdoms. There is also none where the families show a greater +alacrity in sinking. But the most reluctant to go down, those who +cling most tightly to the social level which they think they have +reached, are the daughters; so that when misfortunes fall upon them +they are ready to deny themselves everything rather than lose the +social dignity which they think belongs to them. + +Again, a steady feeder of these ranks is the large family of girls. It +is astonishing what a number of families there are in which they are +all, or nearly all, girls. The father is, perhaps, a professional man +of some kind, whose blamelessness has not brought him solid success, +so that there is always tightness. And it is beautiful to remark the +cheerfulness of the girls, and how they accept the tightness as a +necessary part of the World's Order; and how they welcome each new +feminine arrival as if it was really going to add a solid lump of +comfort to the family joy. These girls face work from the beginning. +Well for them if they have any better training than the ordinary +day-school, or any special teaching at all. + +Another--the most potent cause of all--is the complete revolution of +opinion as regards woman's work which has been effected in the course +of a single generation. Thirty years ago, if a girl was compelled to +earn her bread by her own work, what could she do? There were a few--a +very few--who wrote; many very excellent persons held writing to be +'unladylike.' There were a few--a very few--who painted; there were +some--but very few, and those chiefly the daughters of actors--who +went on the stage. All the rest of the women who maintained +themselves, and were called, by courtesy, ladies, became governesses. +Some taught in schools, where they endured hardness--remember the +account of the school where Charlotte Brontë was educated. Some went +to live in private houses--think of the governess in the old novel, +meek and gentle, snubbed by her employer, bullied by her pupils, and +insulted by the footman, until the young Prince came along. Some went +from house to house as daily governesses. Even in teaching they were +greatly restricted. Man was called in to teach dancing; he went round +among the schools in black silk stockings, with a kit under his arm, +and could caper wonderfully. Woman could only teach dancing at the +awful risk of showing her ankles. Who cares now whether a woman shows +her ankles or not? It makes one think of Mr. Snodgrass and Mr. Winkle, +and of the admiration which those sly dogs expressed for a neat pair +of ankles. Man, again, taught drawing; man taught music; man taught +singing; man taught writing; man taught arithmetic; man taught French +and Italian; German was not taught at all. Indeed, had it not been for +geography and the use of the globes, and the right handling of the +blackboard, there would have been nothing at all left for the +governess to teach. Forty years ago, however, she was great on the +Church Catechism and a martinet as to the Sunday sermon. + +It was not every girl, even then, who could teach. I remember one lady +who in her young days had refused to teach on the ground that she +would have to be hanged for child-murder if she tried. Those who did +not teach, unless they married and became mistresses of their own +_ménage_, stayed at home until the parents died, and then went to live +with a brother or a married sister. What family would be without the +unmarried sister, the universal aunt? Sometimes, perhaps, she became a +mere unpaid household servant, who could not give notice. But one +would fain hope that these were rare cases. + +Now, however, all is changed. The doors are thrown wide open. With a +few exceptions--to be sure, the Church, the Law, and Engineering are +important exceptions--a woman can enter upon any career she pleases. +The average woman, specially trained, should do at any intellectual +work nearly as well as the average man. The old prejudice against the +work of women is practically extinct. Love of independence and the +newly awakened impatience of the old shackles, in addition to the +forces already mentioned, are everywhere driving girls to take up +professional lives. + +Not only are the doors of the old avenues thrown open: we have created +new ways for the women who work. Literature offers a hundred paths, +each one with stimulating examples of feminine success. There is +journalism, into which women are only now beginning to enter by ones +and twos. Before long they will sweep in with a flood. In medicine, +which requires arduous study and great bodily strength, they do not +enter in large numbers. Acting is a fashionable craze. Art covers as +wide a field as literature. Education in girls' schools of the highest +kind has passed into their own hands. Moreover, women can now do many +things--and remain gentlewomen--which were formerly impossible. Some +keep furniture shops, some are decorators, some are dressmakers, some +make or sell embroidery. + +In all these professions two things are wanting--natural aptitude and +special training. Unfortunately, the competition is encumbered and +crowded with those who have neither, or else both imperfectly, +developed. + +The present state of things is somewhat as follows: The world contains +a great open market, where the demand for first-class work of every +kind is practically inexhaustible. In literature everything really +good commands instant attention, respect--and payment. But it must be +really good. Publishers are always looking about for genius. +Editors--even the much-abused editors--are always looking about for +good and popular writers. But the world is critical. To become popular +requires a combination of qualities, which include special training, +education, and natural aptitude. Art, again, in every possible branch, +offers recognition--and pay--for good work. But it must be really +good. The world is even more critical in Art than in Literature. In +the theatre, managers are always looking about for good plays, good +actors, and good actresses. In scholarship, women who have taken +university honours command good salaries and an honourable position if +they can teach. In music, a really good composer, player, or singer, +is always received with joy and the usual solid marks of approval. In +this great open Market there is no favouritism possible, because the +public, which is scornful of failure--making no allowance, and +receiving no excuses--is also generous and quick to recognise success. +In this Market clever women have exactly the same chances as clever +men; their work commands the same price. George Eliot is as well paid +as Thackeray; and the Market is full of the most splendid prizes both +of praise and pudding. It is a most wonderful Market. In all other +Markets the stalls are full of good things which the vendors are +anxious to sell, but cannot. In this Market nothing is offered but it +is snapped up greedily by the buyers; there are even, indeed, men who +buy up the things before they reach the open Market. In other Markets +the cry of those who stand at the stalls is 'Buy, buy, buy!' In this +Market it is the buyers who cry out continually, 'Bring out more wares +to sell.' Only to think of this Market, and of the thousands of +gentlewomen outside, fills the heart with sadness. + +For outside, there is quite another kind of Market. Here there are +long lines of stalls behind which stand the gentlewomen eagerly +offering their wares. Alas! here is Art in every shape, but it is not +the art which we can buy. Here are painting and drawing; here are +coloured photographs, painted china, art embroideries, and fine work. +Here are offered original songs and original music. Here are standing +long lines of those who want to teach, and are most melancholy because +they have no degree or diploma, and know nothing. Here are standing +those who wait to be hired, and who will do anything in which 'general +intelligence' will show the way; lastly, there is a whole quarter at +least a quarter--of the Market filled with stalls covered with +manuscripts, and there are thousands of women offering these +manuscripts. The publishers and the editors walk slowly along before +the stalls and receive the manuscripts, which they look at and then +lay down, though their writers weep and wail and wring their hands. +Presently there comes along a man greatly resembling in the expression +of his face the wild and savage wolf trying to smile. His habit is to +take up a manuscript, and presently to express, with the aid of +strange oaths and ejaculations, wonder and imagination. ''Fore Gad, +madam!' he says, ''tis fine! 'Twill take the town by storm! 'Tis an +immortal piece! Your own, madam? Truly 'tis wonderful! Nay, madam, but +I must have it. 'Twill cost you for the printing of it a paltry sixty +pounds or so, and for return, believe me, 'twill prove a new Potosi.' +This is the confidence trick under another form. The unfortunate woman +begs and borrows the money, of which she will never again see one +farthing; and if her book be produced, no one will ever buy a copy. + +The women at these stalls are always changing. They grow tired of +waiting when no one will buy: they go away. A few may be traced. They +become type-writers: they become cashiers in shops; they sit in the +outer office of photographers and receive the visitors: they 'devil' +for literary men: they make extracts: they conduct researches and look +up authorities: they address envelopes; some, I suppose, go home again +and contrive to live somehow with their relations. What becomes of the +rest no man can tell. Only when men get together and talk of these +things it is whispered that there is no family, however prosperous, +but has its unsuccessful members--no House, however great, which has +not its hangers-on and followers, like the _ribauderie_ of an army, +helpless and penniless. + +Considering, therefore, the miseries, drudgeries, insults, and +humiliations which await the necessitous gentlewoman in her quest for +work and a living, and the fact that these ladies are increasing in +number, and likely to increase, I venture to call attention to certain +preventive steps which may be applied--not for those who are now in +this hell, but for those innocent children whose lot it may be to join +the hapless band. The subject concerns all of us who have to work, all +who have to provide for our families; it concerns every woman who has +daughters: it concerns the girls themselves to such a degree that, if +they knew or suspected the dangers before them they would cry aloud +for prevention, they would rebel, they would strike the Fifth +Commandment out of the Tables. So great, so terrible, are the dangers +before them. + +The absolute duty of teaching girls who may at some future time have +to depend upon themselves some trade, calling or profession, seems a +mere axiom, a thing which cannot be disputed or denied. Yet it has not +even begun to be practised. If any thought is taken at all of this +contingency, 'general intelligence' is still relied upon. There are, +however, other ways of facing the future. + +In France, as everybody knows, no girl born of respectable parents is +unprovided with a _dot_; there is no family, however poor, which does +not strive and save in order to find their daughter some kind of +_dot_. If she has no _dot_, she remains unmarried. The amount of the +_dot_ is determined by the social position of the parents. No marriage +is arranged without the _dot_ forming an important part of the +business. No bride goes empty-handed out of her father's house. And +since families in France are much smaller than in this country, a much +smaller proportion of girls go unmarried. + +In this country no girls of the lower class, and few of the middle +class, ever have any _dot_ at all. They go to their husbands +empty-handed, unless, as sometimes happens, the father makes an +allowance to the daughter. All they have is their expectation of what +may come to them after the father's death, when there will be +insurances and savings to be divided. The daughter who marries has no +_dot_. The daughter who remains unmarried has no fortune until her +father dies: very often she has none after that event. + +In Germany, where the custom of the _dot_ is not, I believe, so +prevalent, there are companies or societies founded for the express +purpose of providing for unmarried women. They work, I am told, with a +kind of tontine--it is, in fact, a lottery. On the birth of a girl the +father inscribes her name on the books of the company, and pays a +certain small sum every year on her account. At the age of +twenty-five, if she is still unmarried, she receives the right of +living rent free in two rooms, and becomes entitled to a certain small +annuity. If she marries she has nothing. Those who marry, therefore, +pay for those who do not marry. It is the same principle as with life +insurances: those who live long pay for those who die young. If we +assume, for instance, that four girls out of five marry, which seems a +fair proportion, the fifth girl receives five times her own premium. +Suppose that her father has paid £5 a year for her for twenty-one +years, she would receive the amount, at compound interest, of £25 a +year for twenty-one years--namely, about a thousand pounds. + +Only consider what a thousand pounds may mean to a girl. It may be +invested to produce £35 a year--that is to say, 13s. 6d. a week. Such +an income, paltry as it seems, may be invaluable; it may supplement +her scanty earnings: it may enable her to take a holiday: it may give +her time to look about her: it may keep her out of the sweater's +hands: it may help her to develop her powers and to step into the +front rank. What gratitude would not the necessitous gentlewoman +bestow upon any who would endow her with 13s. 6d. a week? Why, there +are Homes where she could live in comfort on 12s., and have a solid +1s. 6d. to spare. She would even be able to give alms to others not so +rich. + +Take, then, a thousand pounds--£35 a year--as a minimum. Take the case +of a professional man who cannot save much, but who is resolved on +endowing his daughters with an annuity of at least £35 a year. There +are ways and means of doing this which are advertised freely and +placed in everybody's hands. Yet they seem to fail in impressing the +public. One does not hear among one's professional friends of the +endowment of girls. Yet one does hear, constantly, that someone is +dead and has left his daughters without a penny. + +First of all, the rules and regulations of the Post Office, which are +published every quarter, provide what seems the most simple of these +ways. + +I take one table only, that of the cost of an annuity deferred for +twenty-five years. If the child is five years of age, and under six, +an annuity of £1, beginning after twenty-five years, can be purchased +for a yearly premium of 12s. 7d., or for a payment of £12 3s. 8d., the +money to be returned in case of the child's death. An annuity of £35, +therefore, would cost a yearly premium of £22 0s. 5d., or a lump sum +of £426 8s. 4d. + +One or two of the insurance companies have also prepared tables for +the endowment of children. I find, for instance, in the tables issued +by the North British and Mercantile that an annual payment of £3 11s. +begun at infancy will insure the sum of £100 at twenty-one years of +age, with the return of the premium should the child die, or that £35 +10s. paid annually will insure the sum of £1,000. There is also in +these tables a method of payment by which, should the father die and +the premiums be therefore discontinued, the money will be paid just +the same. No doubt, if the practice were to spread, every insurance +company would take up this kind of business. + +It is not every young married man who could afford to pay so large a +sum of money as £426 in one lump; on the contrary, very few indeed +could do so. But suppose, which is quite possible, that he were to +purchase, with the first £12 he could save, a deferred annuity of £1 +for his child, and so with the next £12, and so with the next, until +he had placed her beyond the reach of actual destitution; and suppose, +again, that his conscience was so much awakened to the duty of thus +providing for her that amusement and pleasure would be postponed or +curtailed until this duty was performed, just as amusement is not +thought of until the rent and taxes and housekeeping are first +defrayed: in that case there would be few young married people indeed +who would not speedily be able to purchase this small annuity of £35 a +year. And with every successive payment the sense of the value of the +thing, its importance, its necessity, would grow more and more in the +mind; and with every payment would increase the satisfaction of +feeling that the child was removed from destitution by one pound a +year more. It took a very long time to create in men's minds the duty +of life insurance. That has now taken so firm a hold on people that, +although the English bride brings no dot, the bridegroom is not +permitted to marry her until he settles a life insurance upon her. +When once the mother thoroughly understands that by the exercise of a +little more self-denial her daughter can be rendered independent for +life, that self-denial will certainly not be wanting. Think of the +vast sums of money which are squandered by the middle classes of this +country, even though they are more provident than the working classes. +The money is not spent in any kind of riot: not at all; the middle +classes are, on the whole, most decorous and sober: it is spent in +living just a little more luxuriously than the many changes and +chances of mortal life should permit. It is by lowering the standard +of living that the money must be saved for the endowment of the +daughters; and since the children cost less in infancy than when they +grow older, it is then that the saving must be made. Everyone knows +that there are thousands of young married people who can only by dint +of the strictest economy make both ends meet. It is not for them that +I speak. Another voice, far more powerful than mine, should thunder +into their hearts the selfishness and the wickedness of bringing into +the world children for whom they can make no provision whatever, and +who are destined to be thrown into the battle-field of labour provided +with no other weapons than the knowledge of reading and writing. It is +bad enough for the boys; but as for the girls--they had better have +been thrown as soon as born to the lions. I speak rather to those who +are in better plight, who live comfortably upon the year's income, +which is not too much, and who look forward to putting their boys in +the way of an ambitious career, and to marrying their daughters. But +as for the endowment of the girls, they have not even begun to think +about it. Their conscience has not been yet awakened, their fears not +yet aroused; they look abroad and see their friends struck down by +death or disaster, but they never think it may be their turn next. And +yet the happiness to reflect, if death or disaster does come, that +your girls are safe! + +One sees here, besides, a splendid opening for the rich uncle, the +benevolent godfather, the affectionate grandfather, the kindly aunt, +the successful brother. They will come bearing gifts--not the silver +cup, if you please, but the Deferred Annuity. 'I bring you, my dear, +in honour of your little Molly's birthday, an increase of five pounds +to her Deferred Annuity. This makes it up to twenty pounds, and the +money-box getting on, you say, to another pound. Capital! we shall +have her thirty-five pounds in no time now.' What a noble field for +the uncle! + +The endowment of the daughter is essentially a woman's question. The +bride, or at least her mother for her, ought to consider that, though +every family quiver varies in capacity with the income, her own lot +may be to have a quiver full. Heaven forbid, as Montaigne said, that +we should interfere with the feminine methods, but common prudence +seems to dictate the duty of this forecast. Let, therefore, the demand +for endowment come from the bride's mother. All that she would be +justified in asking of a man whose means are as yet narrow, would be +such an endowment, gradually purchased, as would keep the girls from +starvation. + +For my own part, I think that no woman should be forced to work at +all, except at such things as please her. When a woman marries, for +instance, she voluntarily engages herself to do a vast quantity of +work. To look after the house and to bring up the children involves +daily, unremitting labour and thought. If she has a vocation for any +kind of work, as for Art, or Letters, or Teaching, let her obey the +call and find her happiness. Generally she has none. The average +woman--I make this statement with complete confidence--hates +compulsory work: she hates and loathes it. There are, it is true, some +kinds of work which must be done by women. Well, there will always be +enough for those occupations among women who prefer work to idleness. + +There is another very serious consideration. There is only so much +work--a limited quantity--in the world: so many hands for whom +occupation can be found--and the number of hands wanted does not very +greatly exceed that of the male hands ready for it. Now, by giving +this work to women, we take it from the men. If we open the Civil +Service to women, we take so many posts from the men, which we give to +the women, _at a lower salary_; if they become cashiers, accountants, +clerks, they take these places from the men, _at a lower salary_. +Always they take lower pay, and turn the men out. Well, the men must +either go elsewhere, or they must take the lower pay. In either case +the happiest lot of all--that of marriage--is rendered more difficult, +because the men are made poorer; the position of the toiler becomes +harder, because he gets worse pay; then man's sense of responsibility +for the women of his family is destroyed. Nay, in some cases the men +actually live, and live contentedly, upon the labour of their wives. +But when all is said about women, and their rights and wrongs, and +their work and place, and their equality and their superiority, we +fall back at last upon nature. There is still, and will always remain +with us, the sense in man that it is his duty to work for his wife, +and the sense in woman that nothing is better for her than to receive +the fruits of her husband's labour. + +Let us endow the Daughters: those who are not clever, in order to save +them from the struggles of the Incompetent and the hopelessness of the +Dependent; those who are clever, so as to give them time for work and +training. The Bread-winner may die: his powers may cease: he may lose +his clients, his reputation, his popularity, his business; in a +thousand forms misfortune and poverty may fall upon him. Think of the +happiness with which he would then contemplate that endowment of a +Deferred Annuity. And the endowment will not prevent or interfere with +any work the girls may wish to do. It will even help them in their +work. My brothers, let our girls work if they wish; perhaps they will +be happier if they work let them work at whatever kind of work they +may desire; but not--oh not--because they must. + +[1888.] + + + + + +FROM THIRTEEN TO SEVENTEEN + + + +In the history of every measure designed for the amelioration of the +people there may be observed four distinct and clearly marked stages. +First, there is the original project, fresh from the brain of the +dreamer, glowing with the colours of his imagination, a figure fair +and strong as the newly born Athênê. By its single-handed power +mankind are to be regenerated, and the millennium is to be at once +taken in hand. There are no difficulties which it will not at once +clear away; there are no obstacles which will not vanish at its +approach as the morning mist is burned up by the newly risen sun. The +dreamer creates a school, and presently among his disciples there +arises one who is practical enough to reduce the dream to a possible +and working scheme. The advocates of the Cause are still, however, a +good way from getting the scheme established. The battle with the +opposition follows, in which one has to contend--first with those who +cannot be touched by any generous aims, always a pretty large body; +next with those who are afraid of the people; and lastly with those +who have private interests of their own to defend. The triumph which +presently arrives by no means concludes the history of the agitation, +because there is certain to follow at no distant day the discovery +that the measure has somehow failed to achieve those glorious results +which were so freely promised. It has, in fact, gone to swell the +pages of that chronicle, not yet written, which may be called the +'History of the Well-intentioned.' + +The emancipation of the West Indian slaves, for instance, has not been +accompanied by the burning desire for progress--industrial, artistic, +or educational--which was confidently anticipated. Quite the contrary. +Yet--which is a point which continually recurs in the History of the +Well-intentioned--one would not, if it were possible, go back to the +former conditions. It is better that the negro should lie idle, and +sleep in the sun all his days, than that he should work under the +overseer's lash. For the free man there is always hope; for the slave +there is none. Again, the first apostles of Co-operation expected +nothing less than that their ideas would be universally, immediately, +and ardently adopted. That was a good many years ago. The method of +Co-operation still offers the most wonderful vision of universal +welfare, easily attainable on the simple condition of honesty, ever +put before humanity; yet we see how little has been achieved and how +numerous have been the failures. Again, though the advantages of +temperance are continually preached to working men, beer remains the +national beverage; yet even those of us who would rather see the +working classes sober and self-restrained than water-drinkers by Act +of Parliament or solemn pledge, acknowledge how good it is that the +preaching of temperance was begun. Again, we have got most of those +Points for which the Chartists once so passionately struggled. As for +those we have not got, there is no longer much enthusiasm left for +them. The world does not seem so far very substantially advanced by +the concession of the Points; yet we would not willingly give them +back and return to the old order. Again, we have opened free museums, +containing all kinds of beautiful things: the people visit them in +thousands; yet they remain ignorant of Art, and have no yearning +discoverable for Art. In spite of this, we would not willingly close +the museums. + +The dreamer, in fact, leaves altogether out of his reckoning certain +factors of humanity which his first practical advocate only partially +takes into account. These are stupidity, apathy, ignorance, greed, +indolence, and the Easy Way. There are doubtless others, because in +humanity as in physics no one can estimate all the forces, but these +are the most readily recognised; and the last two perhaps are the most +important, because the great mass of mankind are certainly born with +an incurable indolence of mind or body, which keeps them rooted in the +old grooves and destroys every germ of ambition at its first +appearance. + +The latest failure of the Well-intentioned, so far as we have yet +found out, is the Education Act, for which the London rate has now +mounted to nine-pence in the pound. It is a failure, like the +emancipation of the slaves; because, though it has done some things +well, it has wholly failed to achieve the great results confidently +predicted for it by its advocates in the year '68. What is more, we +now understand that it never can achieve those results. + +It was going, we were told, to give all English children a sound and +thorough elementary education. It was, further, going to inspire those +children with the ardour for knowledge, so that, on leaving school, +they would carry on their studies and continually advance in learning. +It was going to take away the national reproach of ignorance, and to +make us the best educated country in the world. + +As for what it has done and is doing, the children are taught to read, +write, cipher, and spell (this accomplishment being wholly useless to +them and its mastery a sheer waste of time). They are also taught a +little singing, and a few other things; and in general terms the Board +Schools do, I suppose, impart as good an education to the children as +the time at their disposal will allow. They command the services of a +great body of well-trained, disciplined, and zealous teachers, against +whose intelligence and conscientious work nothing can be alleged. And +yet, with the very best intentions of Board and teachers, the +practical result has been, as is now maintained, that but a very small +percentage of all the children who go through the schools are educated +at all. + +This is an extremely disagreeable discovery. It is, however, as will +presently be seen, a result which might have been expected. Those who +looked for so splendid an outcome of this magnificent educational +machinery, this enormous expenditure, forgot to take into account two +or three very important factors. They were, first, those we have +already indicated, stupidity, apathy, and indolence; and next, the +exigencies and conditions of labour. These shall be presently +explained. Meantime, the discovery once made, and once plainly stated, +seems to have been frankly acknowledged and recognised by all who are +interested in educational questions: it has been made the subject of a +great meeting at the Mansion House, which was addressed by men of +every class: and it has, further, which is a very valuable and +encouraging circumstance, been seriously taken up by the Trades Unions +and the working men. + +As for the situation, it is briefly as follows: + +The children leave the Board Schools, for the most part, at the age of +thirteen, when they have passed the standard which exempts them from +further attendance; or if they are half-timers, they remain until they +are fourteen. At this ripe age, when the education of the richer class +is only just beginning, these children have to leave school and begin +work. Whatever kind of work this may be, it is certain to involve a +day's labour of ten hours. It might be thought--at one time it was +fully expected--that the children would by this age have received such +an impetus and imbibed so great a love for reading that they would of +their own accord continue to read and study on the lines laid down, +and eagerly make use of such facilities as might be provided for them. +In the History of the Well-intentioned we shall find that we are +always crediting the working classes with virtues which no other class +can boast. In this case we credited the children of working men with a +clear insight into their own best interests; with resolution and +patience; with industry; with the power of resisting temptation, and +with the strength to forego present enjoyment. This is a good deal to +expect of them. But apply the sane situation to a boy of the middle +class. He is taken from school at sixteen and sent to a merchant's +office or a shop. Here he works from nine till six, or perhaps later. +How many of these lads, when their day's work is over--what proportion +of the whole--make any attempt at all to carry on their education or +to learn anything new? For instance, there are two things, the +acquisition of which doubles the marketable value of a clerk: one is a +knowledge of shorthand, and the other is the power of reading and +writing a foreign language. This is a fact which all clerks very well +understand. But not one in a hundred possesses the industry and +resolution necessary to acquire this knowledge, and this, though he is +taught from infancy to desire a good income, and knows that this +additional power will go far to procure it. Again, these boys come +from homes where there are some books at least, some journals, and +some papers; and they hear at their offices and at home talk which +should stimulate them to effort. Yet most of them lie where they are. + +If such boys as these remain in indolence, what are we to expect of +those who belong to the lower levels? For they have no books at home, +no magazines, no journals; they hear no talk of learning or knowledge; +if they wanted to read, what are they to read? and where are they to +find books? Free libraries are few and far between: in all London, for +instance, I can find but five or six. They are those at the Guildhall, +Bethnal Green, Westminster, Camden Town, Notting Hill, and +Knightsbridge. Put a red dot upon each of these sites on the map of +London, and consider how very small can be the influence of these +libraries over the whole of this great city. Boys and girls at +thirteen have no inclination to read newspapers; there remains, +therefore, nothing but the penny novelette for those who have any +desire to read at all. There is, it is true, the evening school, but +it is not often found to possess attractions for these children. +Again, after their day's work and confinement in the hot rooms, they +are tired; they want fresh air and exercise. To sum up: there are no +existing inducements for the children to read and study; most of them +are sluggish of intellect; outside the evening schools there are no +facilities for them at all; they have no books; when evening comes +they are tired; they do not understand their own interests; after a +day's work they like an evening's rest; of the two paths open to every +man at every juncture, one is for the most part hidden to children, +and the other is always the easier. + +Therefore they spend their evenings in the streets. They would +sometimes, I dare say, prefer the gallery of the theatre or the +music-hall, but these are not often within reach of their means. The +street is always open to them. Here they find their companions of the +workroom; here they feel the strong, swift current of life; here +something is always happening; here there are always new pleasures; +here they can talk and play, unrestrained, left wholly to themselves, +taking for pattern those who are a little older than themselves. As +for their favourite amusements and their pleasures, they grow yearly +coarser; as for their conversation, it grows continually viler, until +Zola himself would be ashamed to reproduce the talk of these young +people. The love which these children have for the street is +wonderful; no boulevard in the world, I am sure, is more loved by its +frequenters than the Whitechapel Road, unless it be the High Street, +Islington. Especially is this the case with the girls. There is a +certain working girls' club with which I am acquainted whose members, +when they leave the club at ten, go back every night to the streets +and walk about till midnight; they would rather give up their club +than the street. As for the moral aspect of this roaming about the +streets, that may for a moment be neglected. Consider the situation +from an educational point of view. How long, do you think, does it +take to forget almost all that the boys and girls learned at school? +'The garden,' says one who knows, 'which by daily culture has been +brought into such an admirable and promising condition, is given over +to utter neglect; the money, the time, the labour, bestowed upon it +are lost.' In the first two years after leaving school it is said that +they have forgotten everything. There is, however, it is objected, the +use and exercise of the intellectual faculty. Can that, once taught, +ever be forgotten? By way of reply, consider this case. The other day +twenty young mechanics were persuaded to join a South Kensington +class. Of the whole twenty one only struggled through the course and +passed his examination; the rest dropped off, one after the other, in +sheer despair, because they had lost not only the little knowledge +they had once acquired, but even the methods of application and study +which they had formerly been able to exercise. There are exceptions, +of course; it is computed, in fact, that there are 4 per cent. of +Board School boys and girls who carry on their studies in the evening +schools, but this proportion is said to be decreasing. After thirteen, +no school, no books, no reading or writing, nothing to keep up the old +knowledge, no kind of conversation that stimulates; no examples of +perseverance; in a great many cases no church, chapel, or +Sunday-school; the street for playground, exercise, observation, and +talk; what kind of young men and maidens are we to expect that these +boys and girls will become? If this were the exact, plain, and naked +truth we were in a parlous state indeed. Fortunately, however, there +arc in every parish mitigations, introduced principally by those who +come from the city of Samaria, or it would be bad indeed for the next +generation. There are a few girls' clubs; the church, the chapel, and +the Sunday-school get hold of many children; visiting and kindly +ladies look after others. There are working boys' institutes here and +there, but these things taken together are almost powerless with the +great mass which remains unaffected. The evil for the most part lies +hidden, yet one sometimes lights upon a case which shows that the +results of our own neglect of the children may be such as cannot be +placed on paper for general reading. For instance, on last August Bank +Holiday I was on Hampstead Heath. The East Heath was crowded with a +noisy, turbulent, good-tempered mob, enjoying, as a London crowd +always does, the mere presence of a multitude. There was a little +rough horse-play and the exchange of favourite witticisms, and there +was some preaching and a great singing of irreverent parodies; there +was little drunkenness and little bad behaviour except for half a +dozen troops or companies of girls. They were quite young, none of +them apparently over fifteen or sixteen. They were running about +together, not courting the company of the boys, but contented with +their own society, and loudly talking and shouting as they ran among +the swings and merry-go-rounds and other attractions of the fair. I +may safely aver that language more vile and depraved, revealing +knowledge and thoughts more vile and depraved, I have never heard from +any grown men or women in the worst part of the town. At mere +profanity, of course, these girls would be easily defeated by men, but +not in absolute vileness. The quiet working men among whom they ran +looked on in amazement and disgust; they had never heard anything in +all their lives to equal the abomination of these girls' language. +Now, they were girls who had all, I suppose, passed the third or +fourth standard. At thirteen they had gone into the workshop and the +street. Of all the various contrivances to influence the young not one +had as yet caught hold of them; the kerbstone and the pavements of the +street were their schools; as for their conversation, it had in this +short time developed to a vileness so amazing. What refining +influence, what trace of good manners, what desire for better things, +what self-restraint, respect, or government, was left in the minds of +these girls as a part of their education? As one of the bystanders, +himself of the working class, said to me, 'God help their husbands!' +Yes, poverty has many stings; but there can be none sharper than the +necessity of marrying one of these poor neglected creatures. + +We do not, therefore, only leave the children without education; we +also leave them, at the most important age, I suppose, of any +namely--the age of early adolescence--without guidance or supervision. +How should we like our own girls left free to run about the streets at +thirteen years of age? Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen--how +can we ever forget this time?--there falls upon boy and girl alike a +strange and subtle change. It is a time when the brain is full of +strange new imaginings, when the thoughts go vaguely forth to unknown +splendours; when the continuity of self is broken, and the lad of +to-day is different from him of yesterday; when the energies, physical +and intellectual, wake into new life, and impel the youth in new +directions. Everyone has been young, but somehow we forget that sweet +spring season. Let us try to remember, in the interests of the +uncared-for youths and girls, the time of glorious dreaming, when the +boy became a man, and stood upon some peak in Darien to gaze upon the +purple isles of life in the great ocean beyond, peopled by men who +were as heroes and by women who were as goddesses. Our own dreaming +was glorified, to be sure, with memories of things we had read; yet, +as we dreamed, so, but without the colour lent to our visions, these +sallow-faced lads, with the long and ugly coats and the round-topped +hats, are dreaming now. For want of our help their dreams become +nightmares, and in their brains are born devils of every evil passion. +And, for the girls, although not all can become so bad as those +foul-mouthed young Bacchantes and raging Mænads of Hamstead Heath, it +would seem as if nothing could be left to them, after the education of +the gutter--nothing at all--of the things which we associate with holy +and gracious womanhood. + +Truly, from the moral as well as the educational point of view, here +is a great evil disclosed. There is, however, another aspect of the +question, which must not be forgotten. If we are to hold our place at +the head of the industrial countries of the world, our workmen must +have technical education. But this can only be received by those who +possess already a certain amount of knowledge, and that a good deal +beyond the grasp of a child of thirteen years. How, then, can it be +made to reach those who have lost the whole of what once they knew? + +These facts are, I believe, beyond any dispute or doubt. They have +only to be stated in order to be appreciated. They affect not London +only, but every great town. The working men themselves have recognised +the gravity of the situation, and are anxious to provide some remedy. +At Nottingham an address, signed on behalf of the School Board and the +Nottingham Trades Council, has been addressed to the employers of +labour, entreating them to assist in the establishment and maintenance +of remedial measures. At the meeting of the Trades Unions' +representatives held in London last year, two resolutions on the +subject were passed; and the School Boards of London, Glasgow, and +Nottingham are all willing to lend their schools for evening use. For +there is but one thing possible or practical--the evening school, In +Germany, Switzerland, Holland, and Belgium, children are by law +compelled to attend 'continuation' schools until the age of sixteen. +In some places the zeal of the people for education outstrips even the +Government regulations. At the town of Chemnitz, in Saxony, for +example, with a population of 92,000 inhabitants, the Workmen's Union +have started a Continuation school with a far more comprehensive +system of subjects and classes than that provided by legislation. It +is attended by over 2,000 scholars, a very large proportion of the +inhabitants between thirteen and eighteen years of age. There is +nothing possible but the evening school. The children _must_ be sent +to work at thirteen or fourteen; they _must_ work all day; it is only +in the evening school that this education can be carried on, and that +they can be rescued from the contaminations and dangers of the +streets. But two difficulties present themselves. There is no law by +which the children can be compelled to attend the evening school. How, +then, can they be made to come in? And if the rate is now ninepence, +what will it be when to the burden of the elementary school is added +that of the Continuation school? + +A scheme has been proposed which has so far met with favour that a +committee, including persons of every class, has been formed to +promote it. Briefly it is as follows: + +The Continuation school is to be established in this country. The +difficulties of the situation will be met, not by compelling the +children to attend, but by persuading and attracting them. Much is +hoped from parents' influence now that working men understand the +situation; much may be hoped from the children themselves being +interested, and from others' example. The Continuation school will +have two branches--the recreative and the instructive. And since after +a hard day's work the children must have amusement, play will be found +for them in the shape of 'Rhythmic Drill,' which is defined as +'pleasant orderly movement accompanied by music,' and the instruction +is promised to be conveyed in a more attractive and pleasing manner +than that of the elementary schools. The latter announcement is at +first discouraging, because effective teaching must require +intellectual exercise and application, which may not always prove +attractive. As regards the former, it seems as if the projectors were +really going at last to recognise dancing as one of the most +delightful, healthful, and innocent amusements possible. I am quite +sure that if we can only make up our minds to give the young people +plenty of dancing, they will gratefully, in exchange, attend any +number of science classes. Next, there will be singing--a great deal +of singing, of course, in parts--which will still further lead to that +orderly association of young men and maidens which is so desirable a +thing and so wholesome for the human soul. There will also be classes +in drawing and design--the very commencement of technical instruction +and the necessary foundation of skilled handicraft. There will be for +boys classes in some elementary science bearing on their trade; for +girls there will be lessons in domestic economy and elementary +cooking; and for both boys and girls there will be classes in those +minor arts which are just now coming to the front, such as modelling, +wood-carving, repoussé work, and so forth. In fact, if the children +can only be persuaded to come in, or can be hailed in, from the +streets, there is no end at all to the things which may be taught +them. + +As regards the management of these schools, it seems, as if we could +hardly do better than follow the example of Nottingham. Here they have +already five evening schools, and seven working men are appointed +managers for each school. The work is thus made essentially +democratic. These managers have begun by calling upon clergymen, +Sunday-school teachers, employers of labour, leaders of trades unions, +and, one supposes, _pères de famille_ generally, to use their +influence in making children attend these schools. The management of +such schools by the people is a feature of the greatest interest and +importance. As regards the girls' schools, it is suggested that 'lady' +managers should be appointed for each school. Alas! It is not yet +thought possible or desirable that working women should be appointed. +Then follows the question of expense. It cannot be supposed that the +rate-payer is going to look on with indifference to so great an +additional burden as this stupendous work threatens to lay upon him. +But let him rest easy. It is not proposed to add one penny to the +rates. The schools are to cost nothing--a fact which will add greatly +to their popularity and assist their establishment. It is proposed to +pay the necessary expenses of Board School teachers' work there will +be nothing to pay for the use of the buildings--by the Government +grant for drawing and for one other specific class subject. Next, a +small additional grant will be asked for singing, and one for +modelling, carving, or design: the standards must be divided in the +evening schools, and there must be necessarily a more elastic method +of examination adopted for the evening than for the day schools, one +which will be more observant of intelligence than careful of memory +concerning facts. Still, when all the aid that can be expected is got +from the Government grants, the, schools will not be self-supporting. +Here, then, comes in the really novel part of the project. _The rest +must be supplied by voluntary work._ The trained staff of the School +Board teachers will instruct the classes in those subjects required or +sanctioned by the Department for which grants are made; but for all +other subjects--the recreative, the technical, the scientific, the +minor arts, the history, the dancing, and the rest--the schools will +depend wholly upon volunteer teachers. + +We must not disguise the audacity of the scheme. There are, I believe, +in London alone 120 schools, for which 2,400 volunteers will be +required. They must not be mere amateurs or kindly, benevolent people, +who will lightly or in a fit of enthusiasm undertake the work, and +after a month or so throw it over in weariness of the drudgery; they +must be honest workers, who will give thought and take trouble over +the work they have in hand, who will keep to their time, stick to +their engagement, study the art of teaching, and be amenable to order +and discipline. Are there so many as 2,400 such teachers to be found +in London, without counting the many thousands wanted for the rest of +the country? It seems a good-sized army of volunteers to raise. + +Let us, however, consider. First, there is the hopeful fact that the +Sunday-School Union numbers 12,000 teachers--all voluntary and +unpaid--in London alone. There is, next, another hopeful fact in the +rapid development of the Home Arts Association, which has existed for +no more than a year or two. The teaching is wholly voluntary; and +volunteers are crowding in faster than the slender means of the +Society can provide schools for them to teach in, and the machinery, +materials, and tools to teach with. Even with these facts before us, +the projector and dreamer of the scheme may appear a bold man when he +asks for 2,400 men and women to help him, not in a religious but a +purely secular scheme. Yet it may not appear to many people purely +secular when they remember that he asks for this large army of +unselfish men and women--so unselfish as to give some of their time, +thought, and activity for nothing, not even praise, but only out of +love for the children--from a population of four millions, all of whom +have been taught, and most believe, that self-sacrifice is the most +divine thing that man can offer. To suppose that one in every two +thousand is willing to the extent of an hour or two every week to +follow at a distance the example of his acknowledged Master does not, +after all, seem so very extravagant, For my own part, I believe that +for every post there will be a dozen volunteers. Is that extravagant? +It means no more than a poor 1 per cent, of such distant followers. + +Those who go at all among the poor, and try to find out for themselves +something of what goes on beneath the surface, presently become aware +of a most remarkable movement, whispers of which from time to time +reach the upper strata. All over London--no doubt over other great +towns as well, but I know no other great town--there are at this day +living, for the most part in obscurity, unpaid, and in some cases +alone, men and women of the gentle class, among the poor, working for +them, thinking for them, and even in some cases thinking with them. +One such case I know where a gentlewoman has spent the greater part of +her life among the industrial poor of the East End, so that she has +come to think as they think, to look on things from their point of +view, though not to talk as they talk. Some of these men are vicars, +curates, Nonconformist ministers, Roman Catholic clergymen; some of +the women are Roman Catholic sisters and nuns; others are sham nuns, +Anglicans, who seem to find that an ugly dress keeps them more +steadily to their work; others are deaconesses or Bible-women. Some, +again, and it is to these that one turns with the greatest hope--they +may or may not be actuated by religious motives--are bound by no vows, +nor tied to any church. When twenty years ago Edward Denison went to +live in Philpot Lane, he was quite alone in his voluntary work. He had +no companion to try that experiment with him. Now he would be one of +many. At Toynbee Hall are gathered together a company of young and +generous hearts, who give their best without grudge or stint to their +poorer brethren. There are rich men who have retired from the haunts +of the wealthy, and voluntarily chosen to place their homes among the +poor. There are men who work all day at business, and in the evening +devote themselves to the care of working boys; there are women, under +no vows, who read in hospitals, preside at cheap dinners, take care of +girls' clubs, collect rents, and in a thousand ways bring light and +kindness into dark places. The clergy of the Established Church, who +may be regarded as almoners and missionaries of civilization rather +than of religion, seeing how few of the poor attend their services, +can generally command voluntary help when they ask for it. Voluntary +work in generous enterprise is no longer, happily, so rare that men +regard it with surprise; yet it belongs essentially to this century, +and almost to this generation. Since the Reformation the work of +English charity presents three distinct aspects. First came the +foundation of almshouses and the endowment of doles. Nothing, surely, +can be more delightful than to found an almshouse, and to consider +that for generations to come there will be a haven of rest provided +for so many old people past their work. The soul of King James's +confectioner--good Balthazar Sanchez--must, we feel sure, still +contemplate his cottages at Tottenham with complacency; one hopes His +Majesty was not overcharged in the matter of pasties and comfits in +order to find the endowment for those cottages. Even the dole of a few +loaves every Sunday to as many aged poor has its attraction, though +necessarily falling far short of the solid satisfaction to be derived +from the foundation of an almshouse. But the period of almshouses +passed away, and that of Societies succeeded. For a hundred years the +well-to-do of this country have been greatly liberal for every kind of +philanthropic effort. But they have conducted their charity as they +have conducted their business, by drawing cheques. The clergy, the +secretaries, and the committees have done the active work, +administering the funds subscribed by the rich man's cheques. The +system of cheque-charity has its merits as well as its defects, +because the help given does generally reach the people for whom it was +intended. Compared, however, with the real thing, which is essentially +personal, it may be likened unto the good old method--which gave the +rich man so glorious an advantage--of getting into heaven by paying +for masses. Its principal defect is that it keeps apart the rich and +poor, creates and widens the breach between classes, causing those who +have the money to consider that it is theirs by Divine right, and +those who have it not to forget that the origin of wealth is thrift +and patience and energy, and that the way to wealth is always open for +all who dare to enter and to practise these virtues. + +It has been reserved for this century, almost for this generation, to +discover that the highest form of charity is personal effort and +self-sacrifice. It has also been reserved for this time to show that +what was only possible in former times for those who were under vows, +so that in old days they man or woman who was moved by the enthusiasm +of humanity put on robe or veil and swore celibacy and obedience, can +really be practised quite as well without religious vows, peculiar +dress, articles of religion, papal allegiance, or anything of the +kind. The doubter, the agnostic, the atheist, may as truly sacrifice +himself and give up his life for humanity as the most saintly of the +faithful. There was an enthusiast fifteen years ago who cheerfully +endured prison and exile, poverty and persecution, for what seemed to +him the one thing in the world desirable and necessary to mankind. I +believe he was an atheist. Then came a time when, for a brief moment, +the dream was realized. And immediately afterwards it crumbled to the +dust. When all was lost, the poor old man arose, and, bareheaded, his +white hair flying behind him in the breeze, this martyr to humanity +mounted a barricade, and stood there until the bullets brought him +death. This is the enthusiasm which may be intensified, disciplined, +and ennobled by religion, but it is independent of religion; it is a +personal quality, like the power of feeling music or writing poetry. +When it is encouraged and developed, it produces men and women who can +only find their true happiness in renouncing all personal ambitions, +and giving up all hopes of distinction. They have hitherto sought the +opportunity of satisfying this instinctive yearning in the Church and +in the convent. They have now found a readier if not a happier way, +with more liberty of action and fewer chains of rule and custom, +outside the Church, as lay-helpers. It seems to me, perhaps because I +am old enough to have fallen under the influence of Maurice's +teaching, that a large part of this voluntary spirit is due to the +writings of that great teacher and his followers. Certainly the +College for Working Men and Women was founded by men of his school, +and has grown and now flourishes exceedingly, and is a monument of +voluntary effort sustained, passing from hand to hand, continually +growing, and always bringing together more and more closely those who +teach and those who are taught. Cheque-charity may harden the heart of +him who gives, and pauperize him who takes. That charity which is +personal can neither harden nor pauperize. + +Considering these things, therefore, the impulse to personal effort +which has fallen upon us, the greatness of the work that is to be +done, the simplicity of the means to be employed, and the cooperation +of the better kind of working men themselves, I cannot but think that +the promoters of this scheme have only to hold up their hands in order +to collect as many voluntary teachers as they wish to have. + +There is a selfish side to this scheme which ought not to be entirely +overlooked. It is this: The wealth of Great Britain is not, as some +seem to suppose, a gold-mine into which we can dig at pleasure; nor is +it a mine of coal or iron into which we can dig as the demand arises. +Our wealth is nothing but the prosperity of the country, and this +depends wholly on the industry, the patience, and the skill of the +working man; everything we possess is locked up, somehow or other, in +industrial enterprise, or depends upon the success of industrial +enterprise; our railways, our ships, our shares of every kind, even +the interest of our National Debt, depend upon the maintenance of our +trade. The dividends even of gas and water companies depend upon the +successful carrying on of trade and manufactures. We may readily +conceive of a time when--our manufactures ruined by superior foreign +intelligence and skill, our railways earning no profit, our carrying +trade lost, our agriculture destroyed by foreign imports, our farms +without farmers, our houses without tenants--the boasted wealth of +England will have vanished like a splendid dream of the morning, and +the children of the rich will have become even as the children of the +poor; all this may be within measurable distance, and may very well +happen before the death of men who are now no more than middle-aged. +Considering this, as well as the other points in favour of the scheme +before us, it may be owned that it is best to look after the boys and +girls while it is yet time. + +[1886.] + + + + + +THE PEOPLE'S PALACE + + + +Now that the foundations of the Palace are fairly laid, and the walls +of the Great Hall are rapidly rising, and the future existence of this +institution for good or for evil seems assured, it may be permitted to +one who has watched day by day, with the keenest interest, the result +of Sir Edmund Currie's appeals, to offer a few remarks on the manner +in which these appeals have been received, and on the mental attitude +of the public towards the class whom it is desired to befriend. + +I. It is, to begin with, highly significant that the recreative side +of the Palace has not been so strongly insisted upon as its +educational side. Is this because the working man, for whom the Palace +is building, has suddenly developed an extraordinary ardour for +education, and a previously unexpected desire for the acquisition of +knowledge in all its branches? Not at all. It is because the +recreative part of the scheme has few attractions for the general +public, and because the educational part, once it began to assume a +practical shape, was seen to possess possibilities which could be +grasped by everyone. Whatever be the future of the Palace as regards +the recreation of the people, one thing is quite clear--that its +educational capacities are almost boundless, and that there will be +founded here a University for the People of a kind hitherto unknown +and undreamed of. + +The recreation of the people, in fact, has proved a stumbling-block +rather than an attraction. It is a new idea suddenly presented to +people who have never considered the subject of recreation at all, +save in connection with skittles, so to speak. Now it seems hardly +necessary to erect a splendid palace for the better convenience of the +skittle alley. The objections, in fact, to supporting the scheme on +the ground of its recreative aims show a mixture of prejudice and +ignorance which ought to astonish us were we not daily, in every +business transaction and in every talk with friend or stranger, +encountering, and very likely revealing, the most wonderful prejudice +and ignorance. One should never be surprised at finding great black +patches in every mind. + +The black patch which concerns us, in the minds of those who have been +asked to support the People's Palace, is the subject of recreation. +'There are enough music-halls. What have the working classes to do +with recreation? If we give anything for the people it will be for +their improvement, not for their amusement.' To these three objections +all the rest may be reduced. Each objection points to a prejudice of +very ancient standing, or else to a deep-seated ignorance of the whole +subject. + +To deal with the first. It is assumed that recreation means amusement, +idle and purposeless, if not skittles with beer and tobacco, then the +music-hall with beer and tobacco, the comic man bawling a topical song +and executing the famous clog-dance. If one points out that it is not +amusement that is meant, but recreation, which is explained to mean a +very different thing, while a truer conception of what recreation +really means may be seized, then there remains a rooted disbelief as +to the power of the working man to rise above his beer and skittles. +It is a disbelief not at all based upon familiarity with the manners +and customs of the working man, because the ordinary well-to-do +citizen, however much he may have read of manners and customs in other +countries, is, as a rule, perfectly ignorant and perfectly incurious +as to those of his fellow-countrymen; nor is it based upon the belief +that the working man is imperfect in mind or body; but on an assurance +that the working man will never lift himself to the level of the +higher form of recreation, simply because the ordinary man knows +himself and his own practice. He desires to be amused, and according +to his manner of life he finds amusement in tobacco, reading, cards, +music, or the theatre. + +Consider the well-to-do man in pursuit of recreation. He has a club; +he goes to his club every day; perhaps he gets whist there; very +likely he belongs to one of the modern sepulchral places where the +members do not know each other and every man glares at his neighbour. +There is a billiard-table in all clubs as well as a card-room. Apart +from cards and billiards the clubs recognise no form of recreation +whatever. There are not in any club that I know, except the Savage, +musical instruments: if you were to propose to have a piano, and to +sing at it, I suppose the universal astonishment would be too great +for words. At the Arts, I believe, some of the members sometimes hang +up pictures of their own for exhibition and criticism, but at no other +club is there any recognition of Art. There are good libraries at two +or three clubs, but many have none. In fact, the clubs which belong to +gentlemen are organized as if there was no other occupation possible +for civilized people in polite society, except dining, smoking, +reading papers, or playing whist and billiards. The working men who +have recently established clubs of their own in imitation of the +West-End clubs are said to be finding them so dull that, where they +cannot turn them into political organizations, they have tolerated the +introduction of gambling. When clubs were first established gambling +was everywhere the favourite recreation, so that the working men are +only beginning where their predecessors began sixty years ago. + +Of all the Arts the average man, be he gentleman or mechanic, knows +none. He has never learned to play any instrument at all; he cannot +use his voice in taking a part, he cannot paint, draw, carve in wood +or ivory, use a lathe, or make anything that the wide world wants to +use. He cannot write poetry, or drama, or fiction; he is no orator; he +plays no games of cards except whist, and no other games at all of any +kind. What can he do? He can practise the trade he has learned, by +which he makes his money. He knows how to convey property, how to buy +and sell stock and shares, how to carry on business in the City. This, +if you please, is all he knows. And when you propose that the working +man shall, have an opportunity of learning and practising Art in any +of its multitudinous varieties, he laughs derisively, because, which +is a very natural and sensible thing to do, he puts himself in that +man's place, and he knows that he would not be tempted to undergo the +drudgery and the drill of learning one of the Arts, even did that Art +appear to him in the form of a nymph more lovely than Helen of Troy. + +The second objection belongs to the old order of prejudice. It used to +be assumed that there were two distinct orders of human beings; it was +the privilege of the higher order to be maintained by the labour of +the lower; for the higher order was reserved all the graces, +refinements, and joys of this fleeting life. The lower order were +privileged to work for their betters, and to have, in the brief +intervals between work and sleep, their own coarse enjoyments, which +were not the same as those of the upper class; they were ordained by +Providence to be different, not only in degree, but also in kind. The +privileges of the former class have received of late years many +grievous knocks. They have had to admit into their body, as capable of +the higher social pleasures and of polite culture, an enormous +accession of people who actually work for their own bread--even people +in trade; and it is beginning to be perceived that their +amusements--also, which seems the last straw, their vices--can +actually be enjoyed by the base mechanical sort, insomuch that, if +this kind of thing goes on, there must in the end follow an effacement +of all classes, and the peer will walk arm and arm with the +blacksmith. But class distinctions die hard, and the working men are +not yet all ready for the disciplined recreation which will help to +break down the barriers, and we may not look for this millennium +within the lifetime of living men. It is enough to note that the old +feeling still lingers even among those who, a hundred years ago, when +class distinctions were in their worst and most odious form, would +have been ranked among those incapable of refinement and ignorant of +polite manners. + +The third objection, that the people should only be helped in the way +of education and self-improvement, is, at first sight, worthy of +respect. But it involves the theory that it is the duty of the working +man when he has done his day's work to devote his evenings to more +work of a harder kind. There is a kind of hypocrisy in this feeling. +Why should the working man be fired with that ardour for knowledge +which is not expected of ourselves? I look round among my own +acquaintances and friends, and I declare that I do not know a single +household, except where the head of it is a literary man, and +therefore obliged to be always studying and learning, in which the +members spend their evenings after the day's work in the acquisition +of new branches of learning. One may go farther: even of those who +belong to the learned professions, few indeed there are who carry on +their studies beyond the point where their knowledge has a marketable +value. The doctor learns his craft as thoroughly as he can, and, after +he has passed, reads no more than is just necessary to keep his eyes +open to new lights; the solicitor knows enough law to carry on his +business, and reads no more. As for the schoolmaster--who ever heard +of a classical master reading any more Latin and Greek than he reads +with the boys? and who ever heard of a mathematical master keeping up +his knowledge of the higher branches, which put him among the +wranglers of his year, but are not wanted in the school? Even the lads +who have just begun to go into the City, and who know very well that +their value would be enormously increased by a practical and real +knowledge of French, German, or shorthand, will not take the trouble +to acquire it. Yet, with the knowledge of all this, we expect the +working man in his hours of leisure, and after a day physically +exhausting, to sit down and work at something intellectual. There are, +without doubt, some men so strong and so avid of knowledge that they +will do this, but these are not many, and they do not long remain +working men. + +The People's Palace offers recreation to all who wish to fit +themselves for its practice and enjoyment. But it is recreation of a +kind which demands skill, patience, discipline, drill, and obedience +to law. Those who master any one of the Arts, the practice of which +constitutes true recreation, have left once and for ever the ranks of +disorder: they belong, by virtue of their aptitude and their +education--say, by virtue of their Election--to the army of Law and +Order. They will not, we may be sure, be recruited from those whom +long years of labour and want of cultivation have tendered stiff of +finger, slow of ear and of eye, impenetrable of brain. We must get +them from the boys and girls. We must be content if the elders learn +to take delight in the hand-work which they cannot execute, the +decorative work which they can never hope wholly to understand, the +music and singing in which they themselves will never take a part. + +But they will by no means be left out. They will have the library, the +writing and reading rooms, the conversation and smoking rooms, with +those games of skill which are loved by all men. There will be +entertainments, concerts, and performances for them. And for those who +desire to learn there will be classes, lectures, and lecturers. At the +same time, I do not, I confess, anticipate a rush of young working men +to share in these joys and privileges. This part of the Palace will +grow and develop by degrees, because it is through the boys and girls +that the real work and usefulness of the Palace will be effected, and +not by means of the men. Of course, there will be from the outset a +small proportion capable of rightly using the place. For all these +reasons, it seems as if we may be very well contented that the +recreation part of the scheme has been for the moment kept in the +background. + + +II. Let us turn to the educational side of the scheme. + +When a lad has passed the standards--very likely a bright, clever +little chap, who had passed the sixth and even the seventh standard +with credit--it becomes necessary for him immediately to earn the +greater part of his own living. It is not in the power of his father, +who lives from week to week, or even from day to day, to apprentice +his boys and put them to a trade. They must earn their living at once. +What are they to do? + +At the very age when these boys have reached the point when the +intellect, already partly trained and the hand, not yet trained at +all, should begin to work together, they are faced by the terrible +fact--how terrible to them they little know--that they can be taught +no trade. They must go out into the world with a pair of unskilled +hands, and nothing more. Consider. A country lad learns every day +something new; he learns continually by daily practice how to use his +hands and his strength, by the time he is eighteen he has become a +very highly skilled agriculturist; he knows and can do a great many +most useful and necessary things. But the town lad, if he learns no +trade, learns nothing. He will never have any chance in life; he can +never have any chance; he is foredoomed to misery; he will all his +life be a servant of the lowest kind; he will never have the least +independence; he will, in all probability, be one of those who wait +day by day for the chance gifts of Luck. At the best, he can but get +into the railway service, or into some house of business where they +want porters and carriers. + +There is, however, a great demand for boys, who can earn five +shillings a week as shop boys, errand boys, and so forth. Our clever +lad, therefore, who has done so well at school, becomes a fruiterer's +lad, cleans out the shop, carries round the baskets, and is generally +useful; he gets a rise in a year or two, to seven shillings and +sixpence; presently he is dismissed to make room for a younger boy who +will take five shillings. Shall we follow the lad farther? If he gets, +as we hope he may, steady employment, we see him next, at the age of +fifteen, marching about the streets in the evening with a girl of the +same age to whom he makes love, and smoking 'fags,' or cigarettes. +There are thousands of such pairs to be seen everywhere; in Victoria +Park on Sundays, or Hampstead Heath on Saturday evenings, every +evening in the great thoroughfares--in Oxford Street as much as in +Whitechapel, in the music-halls and in the public-houses. You may see +them sitting together on doorsteps as well as promenading the +pavement. If there is any way of spending the evenings more +destructive of every good gift and useful quality of manhood and +womanhood than this, I know not what it is. The idleness and +uselessness of it, the precocious abuse of tobacco, the premature and +forced development of the emotions which should belong to love at a +later period, the loss of such intellectual attainments as had already +been acquired, the vacuous mind, the contentment to remain in the +lower depths--in a word, the waste and wanton ruin of a life involved +in such a youth, make the contemplation of this pair the most +melancholy sight in the world. The boy's early cleverness is gone, the +brightness has left his eyes, he reads no more, he has forgotten all +he ever learned, he thinks only now of keeping his berth, if he has +one, or of getting another if he has lost his last. But there is worse +to follow, for at eighteen he will marry the little slip of a girl, +and by the time she is five-and-twenty there will be half a dozen +children born in poverty and privation for a similar life of poverty +and privation, and the hapless parents will have endured all that +there is to be endured from the evils of hunger, cold, starving +children, and want of work. + +This couple were thrown together because they were left to themselves +and uncared for; they marry because they have nothing else to think +about; they remain in misery because the husband knows no trade, and +because of mere hands unskilled and ignorant there are already more +than enough. + +The Palace is going to take that boy out of the streets: it is going +to remove both from boy and girl the temptation--that of the idle +hand--to go away and get married. It will fill that lad's mind with +thoughts and make those hands deft and crafty. + +In other words, the Palace will open a great technical school for all +the trades as well as for all the Arts. It is reckoned that three +years' training in the evenings will give a boy a trade. Once master +of a trade his future is assured, because somewhere in the world there +is always a want of tradesmen of every kind. There may be too many +shoemakers in London while they are wanted in Queensland; +cabinet-makers and carpenters may be overcrowded here, but there are +all the English-speaking countries in the world to choose from. + +There can be no doubt that the schools will be crowded. The success of +the schools at the old Polytechnic (where there are 8,000 boys), of +the Whittington Club, of the Finsbury Technical Schools, leave no +doubt possible that the East-End Palace Schools will be crammed with +eager learners. The Palace is in the very heart and centre of East +London, with its two millions, mostly working men; trams, trains, and +omnibuses make it accessible from every part of this vast city--from +Bromley, Bow and Stratford, from Poplar, Stepney and Ratcliff, from +Bethnal Green and Spitalfields. Yet but two or three years, and there +will be 20,000 boys and more flocking to those gates which shut out +the Earthly Hell of ignorance, dependence, and poverty, and open the +doors to the Earthly Paradise of skilled hands and drilled eye, of +plenty and the dignity of manhood. Why, if it were only to stop these +early marriages--if only for the sake of the poor child-mother and the +unborn children doomed, if they see the light, to life-long +misery--one would shower upon the Palace all the money that is asked +to complete it. Think--with every stone that is laid in its place, +with every hour of work that each mason bestows upon its walls, there +is another couple rescued, one more lad made into a man, one more girl +suffered to grow into a woman before she becomes a mother, one more +humble household furnished with the means of a livelihood, one more +unborn family rescued from the curse of hopeless poverty. + +The remaining portions of the scheme, with its provision for women as +well as men, its entertainments, its University extension lectures, +reading-rooms, and schools of Art in all its branches, can only be +fully realized when the first generation of these boys has passed +through the technical schools, and they have learned to look upon the +Palace as their own, to consider its halls and cloisters the most +delightful place in the world. And what the Palace may then become, +what a perennial fountain it may prove of all that makes for the +purification and elevation of life, one would fain endeavour to +depict, but may not, for fear of the charge of extravagance. + +III. There is one other point which those who have read the +correspondence and comments upon the proposed institution in the +papers have noted with amusement rather than with astonishment. It is +a point which comes out in everything that has been written on the +scheme, except by the actual founders. It is the profound distrust +with which the more wealthy classes regard the working men--not the +poor, so-called, but the working men. They do not seem even to have +begun trusting them: they speak and think of them as if they were +children in leading-strings; as if they were certain to accept with +gratitude whatever gifts may be bestowed upon them, even when they are +safe-guarded and carefully regulated as for mischievous boys; as if +the working men were constantly looking for guidance to the class +which has the money. It is true that the working men are always +looking for guidance, just like the rest of us. 'Lord, send a leader!' +It is the cry of all mankind in all ages. But that the working men +regard the people who live in villas, and are genteel, as possessing +more wisdom than themselves is by no means certain. + +This feeling was, of course, most deeply marked when the great Drink +Question arose, as it was bound to arise. We have heard how meetings +were called, and resolutions passed by worthy people against the +admission of intoxicating drinks into the Palace. At one of the +meetings they had the audacity to pass a resolution that 'East London +will never be satisfied until intoxicating drink of any kind is +prohibited in the Palace.' East London! with its thousands of +public-houses! Dear me! Then, if East London passed such a resolution, +its hypocrisy surpasses the hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees. +If, however, a little knot of people choose to call themselves East +London, or Babylon, or Rome, and to pass resolutions in the name of +those cities, we can accept their resolutions for what they are worth. +Whether the working man will adopt them and put them into practice is +another matter altogether. + +Let us remember, and constantly bear in mind, that the Palace is to be +_governed by the people for themselves_. Otherwise it would be better +for East London that it had never been erected. Whatever we do or +resolve is, in fact, subject to the will of the governing body. As for +passing a resolution on drink for the Palace, we might just as well +resolve that drink shall not be sold to the members of the House of +Commons, and expect them instantly to close their cellars. If the +governing body wish to have drink in the Palace they will have it, +whether we like it or not. But it shows the profound distrust of the +people that these restrictions should be attempted and these +resolutions passed. For my own part, considering the needlessness of +drink in such a place, the abundant facilities provided outside, and +the enormous additional trouble, danger, and expense entailed by +letting drink be sold in a place where there will be every evening +thousands of young people, I am quite sure that the governing +body--that is to say, the chosen representatives of East London--will +never admit it within their walls. + +We do not trust the working man. We have given over to him the whole +of the power. All the power there is we have given to him, because he +stands in an enormous majority. We have made him absolute master of +this realm of Great Britain and Ireland. What could we do more for a +man whom we blindly and implicitly trusted? Yet the working man, for +whom we have done so much, we have not yet begun to trust. + + + + + +SUNDAY MORNING IN THE CITY + + +On Saturday afternoon, when the last of the clerks bangs the great +door behind him and steps out of the office on his way home; when the +shutters of the warehouses are at last all closed; there falls upon +the street a silence and loneliness which lasts from three o'clock on +Saturday till eight o'clock on Monday--a sleep unbroken for forty-one +long hours. In the main arteries, it is true, there is always a little +life; the tramp of feet never ceases day or night in Fleet Street or +Cheapside. But in all the narrow streets branching north and south, +east and west, of the great thoroughfares there is silence--there is +sleep. This Sabbath of forty hours' duration is absolutely +unparalleled in any other City of the world. There is no other place, +there never has been any other place, in which not only work ceases, +but where the workers also disappear. In that far-off City of the +Rabbis called Sambatyon, where live the descendants of the Ten Tribes, +the river which surrounds and protects the City with its broad and +mighty flood, too strong for boats to cross, ceases to flow on the +Sabbath; but it is not pretended that the people cease to live there. +Of no other City can it be said that it sleeps from Saturday night +till Monday morning. + +An attempt is made to awaken the City every Sunday morning when the +bells begin to ring, and there is as great and joyful a ringing from +every church tower or steeple as if the bells were calling the +faithful, as of old, by the hundred thousand; they go on ringing +because it is their duty; they were hung up there for no other +purpose; hidden away in the towers, they do not know that the people +have all gone away, and that they ring to empty houses and deserted +streets. For there is no response. At most one may see a solitary +figure dressed in black stuff creeping stealthily along like a ghost +on her way from the empty house to the empty church. When the bells +leave off silence falls again, there is no one in the street. One's +own footsteps echo from the wall; we walk along in a dream; old words +and old rhymes crowd into the brain. It is a dead City--a City newly +dead--we are gazing upon the dead. + + Life and thought have gone away + Side by side. + All within is dark as night. + In the windows is no light; + And no murmur at the door + So frequent on its hinge before. + +Silence everywhere. The blinds are down in every window of the tall +stack of offices, the doors are all closed, if there are shutters they +are up, there are no carte in the streets, no porters carry burdens, +there are no wheelbarrows, there is no more work done of any kind or +sort. Even the taverns and the eating-shops are shut--no one is +thinking of work. To-morrow--Monday--poverty will lift again his cruel +arm, and drive the world to work with crack of whip. The needle-woman +will appear again with her bundle of work; the porters, the packers, +the carmen, the clerks, the merchants themselves will all come +back--the vast army of those who earn their daily bread in the City +will troop back again. But as for to-day, nobody works; we are all at +rest; we are at peace; we are taking holiday. + +This is the day--this is the time--for those who would study the City +and its monuments. It is only on this day, and at this time, that the +churches are all open. It is only on this day, and at this time, that +a man may wander at his ease and find out how the history of the past +is illustrated by the names of the streets, by the houses and the +sites, and by the few old things which still remain, even by the old +things, names and all, which have perished. The area of the City is +small; its widest part, from Blackfriars to the Tower, is but a single +mile in length, and its greatest depth is no more that half a mile But +it is so crowded and crammed full of sites sacred to this or that +memory of its long life of two thousand busy years, there is so much +to think of in every street, that a pilgrim may spend all his Sunday +mornings for years and never get to the end of London City. I should +hardly like to say how many Sunday mornings I have myself spent in +wandering about the City, Yet I can never go into it without making +some new discovery. Only last week, for instance, I discovered in the +very midst of the City, in its most crowded part, nothing less than a +house--with a private garden. I had thought that the last was +destroyed about four years ago when they pulled down a certain noble +old merchant's mansion, No, there is one other stall left; perhaps +more. There are gardens, I know, belonging to certain Companies' +Halls; there is the ivy-planted garden of Amen Court; there are +burying-grounds laid out as gardens; but this is the only house I know +in the City which has a private garden at the back. One must not say +where it is, otherwise that garden will be seized and built upon. This +the owner evidently fears, for he has surrounded it by a high wall, so +that no one shall be able to seize it, no rich man shall covet it, and +offer to buy it and build great warehouses upon it, and the +underground railway shall not dig it out and swallow it up. + +In such journeyings and wanderings one must not go with an empty mind, +otherwise there will be neither pleasure nor profit. The traveller, +says Emerson, brings away from his travels precisely what he took +there. Not his mind but his climate, says Horace, does he change who +travels beyond the seas. In other words, if a man who knows nothing of +archæology goes to see a collection of flint implements, or a person +ignorant of art goes to see a picture gallery, he comes away as +ignorant as he went, because flint implements by themselves, or +pictures by themselves, teach nothing. They can teach nothing. So, if +a man who knows nothing of history should stand before Guildhall on +the quietest Sunday in the whole year he will see nothing but a +building, he will hear nothing but the fluttering wings of the +pigeons. And if he wanders in the streets he will see nothing but tall +and ugly houses, all with their blinds pulled down. Before he goes on +a pilgrimage in the City he must first prepare his mind by reading +history. This is not difficult to find. If he is in earnest he will +get the great 'Survey of London,' by Strype and Stow, published in the +year 1720 in two folio volumes. If this is too much for him, there are +Peter Cunningham, Timbs, Thornbury, Walford, Hare, Loftie, and a dozen +others, all of whom have a good deal to tell him, though there is +little to tell, save a tale of destruction, after Strype and Stow. + +Thus, before he begins he should learn something of Roman London, +Saxon London, Norman London, of London medieval, London under the +Tudors, London of the Stuarts, and London of the Georges. He should +learn how the municipality arose, gaining one liberty after another, +and letting go of none, but all the more jealously guarding each as a +sacred inheritance; how the trade of the City grew more and more; how +the Companies were formed, one after the other, for the protection of +trade interests. Then he should learn how the Sovereign and great +nobles have always kept themselves in close connection with the City, +even in the proudest times of the Barons, even in the days when the +nobles were supposed to have most despised the burgesses and the men +of trade. He should learn, besides, how the City itself, its houses, +and its streets, grew and covered up the space within the wall, and +spread itself without; he should learn the meaning of the names--why +one street is called College Hill and another Jewry and another +Minories. Armed with such knowledge as this, every new ramble will +bring home to him more and more vividly the history of the past. He +will never be solitary, even at noon on Sunday morning even in Suffolk +Street or Pudding Lane, because all the streets will be thronged with +figures of the dead, silent ghosts haunting the scenes where they +lived and loved and died, and felt the fierce joys of venture, of +risk, and enterprise. + +But let no man ramble aimlessly. It is pleasant, I own, to wander from +street to street idly remembering what has happened here; but it is +more profitable to map out a walk beforehand, to read up all that can +be ascertained about it before sallying forth, and to carry a notebook +to set down the things that may be observed or discovered. + +Or, which is another method, he may consider the City with regard to +certain divisions of subjects. He may make, for instance, a special +study of the London churches. The City, small as it is, formerly +contained nearly 150 parishes, each with its church, its +burying-ground, and its parish charities. Some of these were not +rebuilt after the Great Fire, some have been wickedly and wantonly +destroyed in these latter days. A few yet survive which were not +burned down in that great calamity. These are St. Helen and St. +Ethelburga; St. Katherine Cree, the last expiring effort of Gothic, +consecrated by Archbishop Laud; All Hallows, Barking, and St. Giles. +Most of the existing City churches were built by Wren, as you know. I +think I have seen them nearly all, and in every one, however +externally unpromising, I have found something curious, Interesting, +and unexpected--some wealth of wood-carving, some relic of the past +snatched from the names, some monument, some association with the +medieval city. + +Of course, it is well to visit these churches on the Saturday +afternoon or Monday morning, when they are swept before and after the +service; but as one is never quite certain of finding them open, it +is, perhaps, best to take them after service on the Sunday. If you +show a real interest in the church, you will find the pew-opener or +verger pleased to let you see everything, not only the monuments and +the carvings in the church, but also the treasures of the vestry, in +which are preserved many interesting things--old maps, portraits, old +deeds and gifts, old charities--now all clean swept away by the +Charity Commission--ancient Bibles and Prayer-books, muniment chests, +embroidered palls, old registers with signatures historical--all these +things are found in the vestry of the City church. + +Then there are the churchyards. We are familiar with the little oblong +area open to the street, surrounded by tall warehouses, one tomb left +in the middle, and three headstones ranged against the wall, patches +of green mould to represent grass, and a litter of scraps of paper and +orange-peel. This is fondly believed to be the churchyard of some old +church burned down or rebuilt. There are dozens of these in the City; +it is sometimes difficult to find out the name of the church to which +they once belonged. Every time a building is erected adjacent to them +they become smaller, and when they happened to lie behind the houses +they were shut in and forgotten, covered over and built upon when +nobody was looking, and so their very memory perished. + +It is curious to look for them. For instance, there is a certain great +burying ground laid down in Strype's map of the year 1720. It is there +represented as so large that to cover it up would be a big thing. No +single man would dare to appropriate all at once so huge a slice of +land. I went, therefore, in search of this particular churchyard, and +I found a very curious thing. On one side of the ground stands a great +printing office. As the gate was open I walked in. At the back of the +printing office is a flagged court or yard. In the court the boys--it +was the dinner hour--were leaping and running. Not one of them knows +now that he is running and jumping over the bones of his ancestors. It +is clean forgotten that here was a great churchyard. Another great +burying ground long since built over lay at the back of Botolph's Lane +in Thames Street. That is built over and forgotten. There is another +where lies the dust of the marvellous boy Chatterton. I am due that of +the thousands who every day seek this spot not one can tell or +remember that it was once a burying ground. On this spot the paupers +of the parish of St. Andrew's, Holborn, were buried--Chatterton, that +poor young pauper! with them. And it is now a market, Farringdon +Market--close to Farringdon Street--opposite the site of the Old Fleet +Prison whence came so many of the bodies which now lie beneath these +flags. + +Or, a pilgrim may consider the City with special reference to the +great Houses which formerly stood within its walls. There were palaces +in the City--King Athelstan had one; King Richard II. lived for a time +in the City; Richard III. lived here; Henry V. had a house here. Of +the great nobles, the Beaumonts, Scropes, Arundells, Bigods all had +houses. The names of Worcester House, Buckingham House, Hereford +House, suggest the great Lords who formerly lived here. And the names +of Crosby Hall, Basinghall, Gresham House, College Hill, recall the +merchants who built themselves palaces and entertained kings. + +Again, there are the City Companies and their Halls. Very few visitors +ever make the round of the Halls: yet they are most curious, and +contain treasures great and various. It is not always easy to see +these treasures, but the conscientious pilgrim, who, by the way, must +not seek entrance into these Halls on the Sunday morning, will +persevere until he has managed to see them all. + +As for the sights of the City--the things which Baedeker enumerates, +and which foreign and country visitors run to see--the Tower, the +Monument, the Guildhall, the Mansion House, the Royal Exchange, the +Mint, St. Paul's, and the rest, I say nothing, because the pilgrim +does not waste his Sunday morning over things to be seen as well on +any other day. But there are some things to be seen every day which +are best approached on Sunday, by reason of the peace which prevails +and a certain solemnity in the air. I would, for instance, choose to +visit the Charter House on a Sunday morning, I would sit with the +Pensioners in their quiet chapel, and I would stroll about the +peaceful courts of that holy place, venerable not only for its history +but for the broken and ruined lives--often ruined only in purse, but +rich in honour and in noble record--of the fifty bedesmen or +pensioners who rest there in the evening of their days. And quite +apart from its associations, I know no more beautiful place in the +City or anywhere else than the ancient Charter House. + +Again, we may wander in the City and remember the great men who have +made certain streets for ever famous. Thus, to stand in Bread Street +is to think of Milton. Here he was born, here he was baptized, here +for a time he lived. Or we may visit Blackfriars and remember the +Elizabethan dramatists. Here Shakespeare had a house--it was among the +ruins of old Blackfriars Abbey, part of the foundations of which were +found when some years ago they made an extension of the Times' +printing office. Broad Street recalls the memory of Gresham, while +that of Whittington lingers along Thames Street and College Hill and +clings to St. Michael's Church. In that parish he lived and died. Here +he founded the College of the Holy Spirit which still exists in the +Highgate Almshouses; on its site the boys of Mercers School now study +and play. His tomb was burned in the Great Fire and his ashes +scattered, but the very streets preserve his name. Boas Alley, of +which there are two, records the fact that Whittington brought a +conduit or Boss of fresh water to this spot. It was he who paved +Guildhall, he who built a hall for the Grey Friars, now the Blue Coat +School, he who rebuilt Newgate; of all the merchants who have adorned +the great City not one whose memory is so widely spread and whose +example has so long survived his death. When country boys think of the +City of London they still think of Whittington. + +Perhaps you are afraid that the preparation, the reading, for such a +walk about the City would be dull. I have never found it so. I do not +think that anyone who has the least love for, or knowledge of, old +things would find such reading dull. There are, to be sure, some +unhappy creatures who love nothing but what is new, and esteem +everything for what it will fetch. These are the people who are always +trying to pull down the City churches. They are at this very moment +pulling down another, the poor old church of St. Mary Magdalen. The +tower is down, the roof is off the windows are all broken, in a week +or two the church will be razed to the ground, and in a year or two +its very memory will have perished. Why, we vainly ask, do they pull +it down? What harm has the old church done? To be sure its +congregation numbered less than a dozen, but then we must not estimate +an old church by a modern congregation. There has been a church here +from time immemorial. It is mentioned in the year 1120. It was, +therefore, certainly a Saxon church. Edward the Confessor probably +worshipped here--perhaps King Alfred himself. One of its Rectors was +John Carpenter, executor of Whittington, and founder of the City of +London School; another was Barham, author of the 'Ingoldsby Legends.' +The loss of St. Mary Magdalen is one more link with the past +absolutely destroyed, never to be replaced. These destroyers, for +instance, are the kind of people who pulled down Sion College. As +often as I pass the spot where that place once stood I mourn and +lament its loss more and more. It was the college of the City clergy, +they were its guardians, it was their library, it contained their +reading hall; formerly it held their garden, and it had their +almshouses. There was hardly any place in the City more peaceful or +more beautiful than the long narrow room which held their library. It +was a very ancient site--formerly the site of Elsing's Hospital, the +oldest hospital in the whole City. Everything about it was venerable, +and yet the City clergy themselves--its official guardians--sold it +for what it would fetch, and stuck up the horrid thing on the +embankment which they call Sion College. There they still use the old +seal and arms of the college. But there is no more a Sion +College--that is gone. You cannot replace it. You might as well tear +down King's College Chapel at Cambridge and call Dr. Parker's City +Temple by that honoured and ancient name. Well, for such people as the +majority of the City clergy who can do such things, there can be no +voice or utterance at all from ancient stones, the past can have no +lessons, no teachings for them, there can be no message to them from +the dead who should still live for them in memory and association. For +them the ancient City and its citizens are dumb. + +Now that we know what to expect and what to look for, let us take +together a Sunday morning ramble in a certain part of the City. We +will go on a morning in early summer, when the leaves of those trees +which still stand in the old City churchyards are bright with their +first tender green, and when the river, as we catch glimpses of it, +shows a broad surface of dancing waves across to the stairs and barges +of old Southwark. We will take this walk at the quietest hour in the +whole week, between eleven and twelve. All the churches are open for +service. We will look in noiselessly, but, indeed, we shall find no +congregations to disturb, only, literally, two or three gathered +together. + +I will take you to the very heart of the City. Perhaps you have +thought that the heart of the City is that open triangular space faced +by the Royal Exchange, and flanked by the Bank of England and the +Mansion House. We have taught ourselves to think this, in ignorance of +the City history. But a hundred and fifty years ago there was no +Mansion House, three hundred years ago there was no Royal Exchange, +and the Bank of England itself is but a mushroom building of the day +before yesterday. + +In the long life of London--it covers two thousand years--the chief +seat of its trade, the chief artery of its circulation, has been +Thames Street. Along here for seventeen hundred years were carried on +the chief events in the drama which we call the History of London. Its +past origin, its growth and expansion, are indicated along this line. +Here the City merchants of old--Whittingtons, Fitzwarrens, Sevenokes, +Greshams--thronged to do their business. To these wharves came the +vessels laden from Antwerp, Hamburg, Riga, Bordeaux, Lisbon, Venice, +Genoa, and far-off Smyrna and the Levant. This line stretches across +the whole breadth of the City. It indicates the former extent of the +City, what was behind it originally was the mass of houses built to +accommodate those who could no longer find room on the riverside. It +is now a narrow, dark, and dirty street; its south side is covered +with quays and wharves; narrow lanes lead to ancient river stairs; its +north side is lined with warehouses, the streets which run out of it +are also dark and narrow lanes with offices on either side. It is no +longer one of the great arteries of the City. Those who come here use +it not for a thoroughfare but for a place of business. When their +business is done they go away; the churches, of which there were once +so many, are more deserted here than in any other part of the City Let +me give you a little--a very little--of its history. + +Two thousand years ago, or thereabouts, the City of London was first +begun. At that time the Thames valley, where now stands Greater +London, was a vast morass, sometimes flooded at high tide, everywhere +low and swampy, studded with islands or bits of ground rising a few +feet above the level--such was Thorney Island, on which Westminster +Abbey was built; such was the original site of Chelsea and Battersea. + +On the south side the swamp and low ground continued until the ground +began to rise for the first low Surrey Hills at what is now called +Clapham Rise. On the north side the swamp was bordered by a +well-defined cliff from ten to thirty or forty feet high, which +followed a curve, approaching the river edge from the east till it +reached where is now Tower Hill, where it nearly touched the water, +and the spot now called Dowgate--a continuation of Walbrook +Street--where the river actually washed its base, and where it +presented two little hillocks side by side, with the +brook--Walbrook--running into the river between. This was a natural +site for a town--two hills, a tidal river in front, a freshwater +stream between. Here was a spot adapted both for fortification and for +communication with the outer world. Here, then, the town began to be +built. How the trade began I cannot tell you, but it did begin, and +grew very rapidly, Now, as it grew it became necessary for the people +to stretch out and expand; there was no longer any room on the two +hillocks; they, therefore, built a strong wall to keep out the river +and put up houses, quays, and store-houses above and along this +wall--portions of which have been found quite recently. The river once +kept out--although the cliff receded again--the marsh became dry land, +but, in fact, the cliff receded a very little way, and the slopes of +the streets north of Thames Street show exactly how far it went back. +Many hundreds of years later precisely the same course was adopted for +the rescue of Wapping from the marsh in which it stood. They built a +strong river wall, and Wapping grew up on and behind that wall, just +exactly as London itself had done long before. + +The citizens of London had, from a very early time, their two ports of +Billingsgate and Queenhithe, both of them still ports. They had also +their communication with the south by means of a ferry, which ran from +the place now called the Old Swan Stairs to a port or dock on the +Surrey side, still existing, afterwards called St. Mary of the Ferry, +or St. Mary Overies. The City became rapidly populous and full of +trade and wealth. Vast numbers of ships came yearly, bringing +merchandise, and taking away what the country had to export. Tacitus, +writing in the year 61, says that the City then was full of merchants +and their wares. It is also certain that the Londoners, who have +always been a pugnacious and a valiant folk, already showed that side +of their character, for we learn that, shortly before the landing of +Julius Cæsar, they had a great battle in the Middlesex Forest with the +people of Verulam, now St Albans. The Verulamites had reason to repent +of their rashness in coming out to meet the Londoners, for they were +routed with great slaughter, and never ventured on another trial of +strength. As for the site of the battle, it has been pretty clearly +demonstrated by Professor Hales that it took place close to Parliament +Hill, at Hampstead, and the barrow on the newly acquired part of the +Heath probably marks the burial-place of the forgotten heroes who +perished on that field. And as for the Londoners who fought and won, +let us remember that they came from this part of the modern City--from +Thames Street. + +The town was walled between the years 350 and 369. The building of the +Roman wall has determined down to these days the circuit of the City. +Now, here a very curious and suggestive point has been raised. In or +near all other Roman towns are remains of amphitheatres, theatres and +temples. There is an amphitheatre near Rutupiæ, the present +Richborough; everybody knows the amphitheatres of Nîmes, Arles and +Verona; but in or near London there have never been found any traces +of amphitheatres or temples whatever. Was the City then, so early, +Christian? Observe, again, that the earliest churches were dedicated, +not to British saints, or to the saints and martyrs of the second or +third centuries--the centuries of persecution--but to the Apostles +themselves--to St. Peter, St. Paul, St. James, St. Stephen, St. Mary, +St. Philip. These facts, it is thought, seem to indicate that very +early in the history of the City its people were Christians. When the +Roman wall was built, Thames Street already possessed most of the +streets which you now see branching northward up the hill, and south +to the river stairs, the space beyond was occupied by villas and +gardens, and the life of the merchants and Roman officers who lived in +them was as luxurious as wealth and civilization could make it. + +You now understand why I have called Thames Street the heart of the +City. It was the first part built and settled, the first cradle of the +great trade of England. More than this, it continued to be the thief +centre of trade; its wharves received the imports and exports; its +warehouses behind stored them; its streets which ran up the sloping +ground grew with the growth of the trade; new streets continually +sprang up until villas and gardens were gradually built over and the +whole area was covered; but all sprang in the first place from Thames +Street; everything grew out of the trade carried on along the river. +We are going to walk through all the five riverside wards belonging to +this street. There are one or two things to note in advance, if only +to show how this quarter remained the most populous and the most busy +part of London. The City of London has eighty companies. Forty of +these have--or had--Halls of their own. Out of the forty Halls no +fewer than twenty-two belong to these five wards, while one company, +the Fishmongers', had at one time six Halls, or places of meeting, in +and about Thames Street. Again, the City of London formerly had about +150 churches. Along the river, that is, in and about Thames Street +alone, there were at least twenty-four, or one-sixth of the whole +number. Lastly, to show the estimation in which this part was held, +out of the great houses formerly belonging to the King and nobles, +those of Castle Baynard, Cold Harbour, the Erber, Tower Royal, and the +King's Wardrobe belong to Thames Street, while the names of Beaumont, +Scrope, Derby, Worcester, Burleigh, Suffolk, and Arundell connect +houses in the five wards of Thames Street with noble families, in the +days when knights and nobles rode along the street, side by side with +the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of the City. + +In Thames Street are the ancient markets of Billingsgate and +Queenhithe. The former has been a market and a port for more than a +thousand years. Customs and tolls were paid here in the time of King +Ethelred the Second, that is, in the year 979. The exclusive sale of +fish here is comparatively modern, that is, it is not three hundred +years old. As for Queenhithe it is still more ancient than +Billingsgate. Its earliest name was Edred Hithe, that is, Edred's +wharf. It was given by King Stephen to the Convent of the Holy +Trinity. It returned, however, to the Crown, and was given by King +Henry III. to the Queen Eleanor, whence it was called the Queen's Bank +or Queenhithe. On the west side of Queenhithe lived Sir Richard +Gresham, father of Sir Thomas Gresham, in a great house that had +belonged to the Earls and Dukes of Norfolk. + +The splendid building of the Custom House on the south side is the +fifth Custom House that has been put up on the same spot. The first +was built by one John Churchman, Sheriff in the year 1385; the next in +the reign of Queen Elizabeth--it was furnished with high-pitched +gables and a water gate, this was burned down in the Great Fire. Wren +built the third, which was burned down in 1718; one Ripley built the +fourth, which was also burned down in 1814. The present building was +designed by David Laing and cost nearly half a million. + +Until quite recently a little narrow and dirty passage to the river, +known as Coldharbour Lane, commemorated the site of a great Palace, +known as the Cold Harbour, which stood here overlooking the river with +many gables. It was already standing in the reign of Edward II. It +belonged successively to Sir John Poultney; to John Holland, Duke of +Exeter--that Duke who was buried in St. Katherine's Hospital; to Henry +V., who lived here for a brief period when Prince of Wales; to Richard +III.; to the College of Heralds; and to Henry VIII. Finally, it was +burned in the Great Fire, but during the last hundred years of its +life the old Palace fell into decay and was let out in tenements to +poor people. The City Brewery now stands on the site of Cold Harbour. + +Close beside this great house--the site itself now entirely covered by +the railway--was the Steelyard. This was the centre of the German +trade; here the merchants of the Hanseatic League were permitted to +dwell and to store the goods which they imported. The history of the +German merchants in London is a very important chapter in that of +London. They came here in the year 1250, they formed a fraternity of +their own, living together, by Royal permission, in a kind of college, +with a great and stately hall, wharves, quays, and square courts. The +building is represented, before it was burned down in the Great Fire, +as picturesque, with many gables crowded together like the whole of +London. Their trade was extremely valuable to them; they imported +Rhenish wines, grain of all kinds, cordage and cables, pitch, tar, +flax, deal timber, linen fabrics, wax, steel, and many other things. +They obtained concession after concession until practically they +enjoyed a monopoly. For this they had to pay certain tolls or duties. +They were made, for instance, to maintain one of the City gates. They +were compelled to live together in their own quarters. Their monopoly +lasted for 300 years, during which the London merchants, especially +the Association called Merchant Adventurers, who belonged principally +to the Mercers' Company, continued to besiege the Sovereign with +petitions and complaints. It was not until the reign of Queen +Elizabeth that they were finally turned out and expelled the Kingdom. +Their house and grounds were converted into a store-house for the +Royal Navy. At the same time the old Navy Office, which had formerly +stood in Mark Lane, was transferred to the suppressed college and +chapel belonging to All Hallows, Barking, in Seething Lane, where you +may still see, if you go to look for them, the old stone pillars of +the gates and the old courtyard which was originally the court of the +college, then the court of the Navy Office, and now the court of the +warehouse belonging to the London Docks. As for the unfortunate +Steelyard, that, as I said, is now completely covered by the Cannon +Street Railway. As you walk under the railway arch you may now look +southward and say, 'Here for 300 years lived the Hanseatic +merchants--here the fraternity had their warehouses, their exchange, +their great Hall. Here the German porters loaded and cleared the +ships, the German clerks took notes and kept accounts, and the German +merchants bought and sold.' They ventured not far from their own +place; the Londoners have never loved foreigners or the sound of an +unknown language; they lived here making money as fast as they could +and then going home to Lubeck, Bremen, or Hamburg, others coming to +take their place. + +On Dowgate Hill was another famous old house called the Erber--which +is, I suppose, the same word as Harbour. It belonged at successive +periods to Lord Scroope, the Earl of Warwick, the Earl of Salisbury, +and to George, Duke of Clarence. This house, too, perished in the +Fire. In this street Sir Francis Drake lived, and here are now three +Companies' Halls. Close by, on Laurence Poultney Hill, lived Dr. +William Harvey, who discovered the circulation of the blood. + +In Suffolk Lane the Earls of Suffolk had a great house, and here, +before they moved to Charter House, stood the Merchant Taylors' +School. Three Companies had their Halls on the riverside--the +Watermen's at the bottom of Cold Harbour Lane; the Dyers' at the +bottom of Angel Alley; and the Vintners' which still stands close to +Southwark Bridge. + +Nearly at the end of the street was Baynard's Castle. You may still +see the name on the gate of a wharf, and it also gives its name to the +ward. This was the western fortress of the City, just as the Tower was +the eastern; but with this difference, that Castle Baynard belonged to +the City during the troubled time when the Crown and the City were +constantly in conflict. The Tower, on the other hand, always belonged +to the Crown. Baynard's Castle belonged, in fact, to the FitzWalters, +hereditary barons of the City. One of their functions was at the +outbreak of a war to appear at the west door of St. Paul's, armed and +mounted, with twenty attendants, there to receive from the Lord Mayor +the banner of the City, a horse worth £20, and £20 in money. Finally, +the castle became, I do not know how, Crown property. It was burned to +the ground, but rebuilt by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. Within this +castle the Duke of Buckingham offered the Crown to Richard III., and +here the Privy Council proclaimed Queen Mary. The castle afterwards +fell into the hands of the Earls of Shrewsbury. It was destroyed in +the Great Fire. It consisted of two courts: the south front of the +buildings faced the river, the north front, with the principal +entrance, was in Thames Street. + +In more ancient times there stood a tower west of Baynard's Castle +called Montfichet, but of this building very few memorials remain. +Again, there is said to have been a palace on Addle Hill, built by +Athelstan. The Wardrobe was another great house acquired by King +Edward III., close to the church still called St. Andrew's by the +Wardrobe. The memory of this house is still kept up by that very +interesting little square, which looks exactly like a place in a +southern French town, called Wardrobe Place. One of the court offices +was that of Master of the Wardrobe. In old days he resided in this +house and actually did take care of the King's clothes. The Queen's +wardrobe, on the other hand, was kept in the other royal house, called +Tower Royal, the house still surviving in the street so-called. This +was formerly King Stephen's palace. In the year 1331 it was granted by +the King to his Queen Philippa for her wardrobe. It was then called +'La Réal,' without the addition of the word 'tower,' and the meaning +and origin of the name are unknown. The palace stood in the parish of +St. Thomas Apostle, the church of which was not rebuilt after the +Fire; but the name of the church survives in a small fragment of the +street so-called. + +There were, therefore, in this small bit of London, at least four +royal palaces, besides the great houses of the nobles that I have +enumerated. Half the City companies had their Halls here; and even to +this day there are standing here and there one or two of the solid +houses built by the merchants in the narrow streets north of Thames +Street for their private residences. As late as the beginning of the +present century the house now called the 'Shades,' close to the Swan +Stairs, London Bridge, was built for his own town house by Lord Mayor +Garratt, who laid the foundation stone of London Bridge. Of the old +merchants' houses, rich with carved woodwork, built with black timber +round courts and gardens, not one now remains in the City. But there +are one or two remaining in the old inns of Southwark and the Old Bell +Inn, Holborn, Yet the last great house built in the City, the Mansion +House, was itself originally built round a court. + + * * * * * + +You may, if you try, reconstruct Thames Street as it was before the +Fire. Its breadth was exactly the same as at present. Eight stately +churches stood, each with its own burial-ground, along the street. The +palace of Baynard reared its gables on the right as you entered the +street from the west. Lower down, on the same side, stood the great +House of Cold Harbour, also gabled. The low-gabled warehouses stood +round Queenhithe and Billingsgate; the Custom House was thronged with +those who came to pay their tolls and clear their dues; the broad +court of the Steelyard--covered with boxes, bales, and casks, some +exposed, some under sheds--stretched southward, behind its three great +gates. On the river-side stood its stately Hall. The Halls of the +Companies, great and noble houses, proclaimed the wealth and power of +the merchants. On the north side stood the merchants' houses built +round their gardens. In those days they had no country houses, and +they wanted none. They could carry their falcons out into the fields +which began on the other side of the City wall, or across the river in +the low-lying lands of Bermondsey and Redriffe. The street was already +crammed and thronged with porters, carts, and wheelbarrows; it was +full of noise; there were sailors and merchants from foreign parts. +Already the Levantine was here, lithe and supple, black of eye, ready +of tongue, quick with his dagger; and the Italian, passionate and +eager; and the Spaniard, the Fleming, the Frenchman, and the Dutchman. +All nations were here, as now, but they were then kept on board their +ships or in their own quarters by night. The great merchants walked up +and down, conversing, heedless of the noise, to which their ears were +so accustomed as to be deaf to them. The merchants had reason to be +grave. Always there were wars and rumours of wars; always some pirate +from French shores was attacking their ships; their latest venture was +too often overdue--the ship had to run the gauntlet of the Algerian +galleys, and no one could tell what might have happened; there was +plague at Antwerp--it might be lurking in the bales lying on the quay +before them; there was civil war brewing; fortune is fickle--he who +was rich yesterday may be a beggar to-morrow. Merchants, in those +days, did well to be grave. + +I have considered, so far, some of the great houses standing in or +along this historic street. Let us now note a few of the churches. + +All Hallows, Barking, the first walking from the east, commemorates in +its name the fact that it formerly belonged to the great convent of +Barking in Essex, the gateway of which still stands at the entrance to +the churchyard. This church escaped the Fire. Here was buried the poet +Surrey, Bishop Fisher, and Archbishop Laud. + +In the church of St. Magnus, London Bridge, the remains of Miles +Coverdale, the translator of the Bible, rest: they were removed here +from the Church of St. Bartholomew when it was pulled down to make +more room for the Bank of England. This church has perhaps the finest +tower, lantern, and steeple of all the City churches, in front is a +small court planted with trees, whose foliage is strangely refreshing +in early summer down in this dark place almost below the approach to +the bridge. The church itself is fine but not very interesting. I have +sometimes counted as many as ten present at the Sunday morning +service. + +St. Michael's, Tower Royal, is Whittington's church. In this parish he +lived, though a house was long shown as his in Hart Street; here he +died; in this church he was buried--behind this church stood his +College of the Holy Spirit with its bedesmen and its ecclesiastical +staff. If we pass the church and look in at the gateway on the north, +we shall notice unmistakable signs of an ancient collegiate foundation +in the disposition of the modern houses. Here is now the Mercers' +School. In the church there is no adequate monument to the memory of +London's greatest merchant--the man who did so much for the City which +made him so rich, who royally entertained the King and Queen in his +own house, and at the close of the banquet burned before their eyes +the royal bond for £60,000, worth in modern money at least £600,000. I +never think of Whittington without remembering a certain verse in the +Book of Proverbs, 'Blessed is he who is diligent in his business, for +he shall stand before Kings.' + +St. Nicolas Cole Abbey is, within, a kind of gilded drawing-room. +There is gilt everywhere, gilt and wood-carving; and on Sunday +morning, thanks to the strange taste of the Vicar, who likes to dress +himself up in scarlet and green, and to have a boy making a smell with +a swinging pot, there are sometimes more than the customary ten for a +congregation. + +Of St. Mary Somerset only the tower remains. Why they pulled down this +church, why they pulled down St. Michael's Queenhithe, or St. Nicolas +Olave, or St. Mary Magdalen, all in this part of London, passeth man's +understanding. If you want to find out what these churches were like, +you may consult the book by Britton and Le Keux on London Churches. +They are represented in a collection of steel engravings drawn after +the fashion of eighty years ago, so as to bring out the strong points +with great softening of unpleasant details. + +Many of the churches were not rebuilt after the Fire. This shows that +by the year 1666 this part of London was already beginning to be +occupied more by warehouses than by private dwellings. Among them were +St. Andrew Hubberd, St. Benet Sherehog, St. Leonard, Eastcheap, All +Hallows the Less, Holy Trinity, St. Martin Vintry, St. Laurence +Poultney, St. Botolph Billingsgate, St. Thomas Apostle, St. Mary +Mounthaut, St. Peter's, St. Gregory's by St Paul, and St. Anne's +Blackfriars--thirteen in all. + +At St. Benet's Church--where Fielding was married--you may now hear +the service in the Welsh language, just as in Wellclose Square you may +hear it in Swedish. In Endell Street, Holborn, you may hear it in +French, and in Palestine Place, Hackney, you may hear it in Hebrew. + +Certain spaces on old maps of London are coloured green to show where +stood certain churchyards. In Thames Street the churchyard of All +Hallows the Less still stands; in Queen Street that of St. Thomas +Apostle, in Laurence Poultney Hill that of St. Laurence Poultney, a +very large and well-kept churchyard; St. Dunstan's, All Hallows, +Barking, St. Stephen's, Wallbrook all keep their churchyards still. +That of St. Anne's, Blackfriars, stands retired behind the houses. But +those of St. Nicolas Cole Abbey, St. Mary Somerset, St. Botolph's, and +St. Mary Magdalen, formerly large and crowded churchyards, still kept +sacred in the year 1720, and, indeed, until further interments were +forbidden in the year 1845, are now quite built over and forgotten. +What has become of the churchyards of St. Michael Royal, St. Michael +Queenhithe, St. Benet, St. George, St. Leonard Eastcheap, and St. +James's Garlickhithe? Alas! no one knows. The tombstones are taken +away, the ground has been dug up, the coffin-wood burned, the bones +dispersed, and of all the thousands, the tens of thousands, of +citizens buried there--old and young, rich and poor, Lord Mayors, +aldermen, merchants, clerks, craftsmen, and servants--the dust of all +is scattered abroad, the names of all are as much forgotten as if they +never lived. But they have lived, and if you seek their monument--look +around. It is in the greatness, the wealth, the dignity of the modern +City, that these ancient citizens live again. Life is a long united +chain with links that cannot be separated; the story of humanity is +unbroken; it will go on continuous and continued until the Creator's +great purpose is fulfilled, and the drama of Man complete. + +In one or two of these churches all the churchyard left is a square +yard or two at the back of the church. In one of these tiny +enclosures--I forget which now--I found that of all the headstones and +tombs which had once adorned this now sadly diminished and attenuated +acre, there was left but one. It was a tombstone in memory of an +infant, aged eight months. Out of all the people buried here, who had +lived long and been held in honour, and thought that their memory +would last for many generations--perhaps as long as that of +Whittington or Gresham--only the name of this one baby left! + +It was in the vaults of St. James's Garlickhithe, that they found, +before the place was bricked up and left to be disturbed no more, many +bodies in a state of perfect preservation--mummies. One of these has +been taken out and set up in a cupboard in the outer chapel. He is +decently guarded by a door kept locked, and is neatly framed in glass. +You can see him by special application to the pew-opener, who holds a +candle and points out his beauties. Perhaps in all the City churches +there is no other object quite so curious as this old nameless mummy. +He was once, it may be, Lord Mayor--a good many Lord Mayors have been +buried in this church--or, perhaps, he was a Sheriff, and wore a +splendid chain; or he may have been the poorest and most miserable +wretch of his time. It matters not; he has escaped the dust--he is a +mummy. Somehow he contrives to look superior, as if he was conscious +of the fact and proud of it; he cannot smile, or nod, or wink, but he +can look superior. + +One more church and one more scene, and I have done. + +There is a church on the south side of Thames Street, close to the +site of the Steelyard--_i.e._, almost under the railway arches which +lead to Cannon Street. It is not very much to look at. With one +exception, indeed, it is the ugliest church in the whole of London +City. It is a big oblong box, with round windows stuck in here and +there. Wren designed it, I believe, one evening after dinner, when he +had taken a glass or two more than his customary allowance of port or +mountain. It is the church of All Hallows the Great combined with All +Hallows the Less. Before the Fire it was a very beautiful church, with +a cloister running round its churchyard on the south, and to the east +looking out upon the lane that led to Cold Harbour House. This is the +church to which the Hanseatic merchants for three hundred years came +for worship. Very near the church, on the river bank, stood the +Waterman's Hall. To this church, therefore, came the 'prentices of the +watermen every Sunday. The Great Fire carried it away, with Steelyard, +cloister, church, Waterman's Hall, Cold Harbour House, and everything. +Then Wren, as I said, took a pencil and ruler one evening, and showed +how a square box could be constructed on the site. Now, let no man +judge by externals. If you can get into the church, you will be +rewarded by the sight of an eighteenth-century church left exactly as +it was in those days of grave and sober merchants, and of City +ceremonies and church services attended in state. On the north side, +against the middle of the wall, is planted what we now most +irreverently call a Three Decker. But we must not laugh, because of +all Three Deckers this is the most splendid. There is nothing in the +City more beautiful than the wood-carving which makes pulpit, +sounding-board, reading-desk, and clerk's desk in this church precious +and wonderful. The old pews, which, I rejoice to say, have never been +removed, are many of them richly and beautifully carved. The Pew of +State, reserved for the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs, is a miracle of +art. Across the very middle of the church is a screen in carved wood, +the most wonderful screen you ever saw, presented as a sign of +gratitude to their old church by the Hanseatic merchants. The east end +is decorated by a wooden table, richly carved, and the reredos is +designed by the great Christopher himself, no doubt for partial +expiation of his sin in making the church externally so hideous. It +consists of a marble panel, on which are engraved the Ten +Commandments. On the left hand stands Aaron in full pontificals, as +set forth in the Book of Leviticus or that of Numbers. On the right +hand, in more humble guise, stands Moses, facing the people, in his +hand a rod of gold. With this he points to the Commandments, which +contain among them the whole Rule of Life. The pews are not arranged +to face the east, but are gathered round the pulpit in the north, the +most desirable being those nearest the pulpit. In the outside pews, +close to the east end, sat the watermen's 'prentices. These young +villains, who were afterwards doubtless for the most part hanged, +spent their time during the service in carving their initials, with +rude pictures of ships, houses, and boats, with dates on the sloping +desks before them. There they still remain--because the pews are +unchanged--with the dates 1720, 1730, 1740, and so on. From father to +son they kept up this sacrilegious practice, hidden in the depths of +the high pews. There is, behind the church, a vestry with wainscoting +and more carved wood, and with portraits of bygone rectors, plans of +the parish, and notes on the old parish charities, which exist no +longer. Through the vestry window one looks out upon a little garden. +It is the churchyard. One sees how the old cloister ran. Formerly it +was full of tombs, and he who paced the cloister could meditate on +death. Now it is an open and cheerful place, all the old tombs cleared +away--which is loss, not gain--and in the month of May it is bright +with flowers. At first sight it seems as if it was so completely +hidden away that it could gladden no man's eyes. That is not so. In +the City Brewery there are certain windows which overlook this garden. +These are the windows of the rooms where dwells a chief +officer--Master Brewer, Master Taster, Master Chemist, I know not--of +the City Brewery, last of the many breweries which once stood along +the river bank. He, almost the only resident of the parish, can look +out, solitary and quiet, of the cool of an evening in early summer, +and rejoice in the beauty of this little garden blossoming, all for +his eyes alone, in a desert. + +As one looks about this church the present fades away and the past +comes back. I see, once more, the Rector, what time George II. was +King, in full wig and black gown poring over his learned discourse. +Below him sleeps his clerk. In the Lord Mayor's pew, robed in garments +and chain of state, sleep my Lord Mayor and the worshipful the +Sheriffs; their footmen, all in blue and green and gold, are in the +aisle; the rich merchant of the parish clad in black velvet, with silk +stockings, silver buckles to their shoes, ruffles of the richest and +rarest lace at their throats, and neckties of the same hanging down +before their long silk waistcoats, sleep in their pews--it is a sleepy +time for the Church Service--beside their wives and children. The +wives are grand in hoop, and powder, and painted face. We know what is +meant by rank in the days of King George II. In this our parish church +we who are or have been wardens of our Company, aldermen who have +passed the chair, or aldermen who have yet to pass it, know what is +due to our position, and we bear ourselves accordingly. Our +inferiors--the clerks and the shopkeepers, the servants and the +'prentices--we treat, it is true, with kindliness, but with +condescension and with authority. On those rare occasions when a Peer +comes to our civic banquets we show him that we know what is due to +his rank. As for our life, it is centred in this parish; here are our +houses, here we live, here we carry on our business, and here we die. +Our poor are our servants when they are young and strong, and they are +our bedesmen when they grow old. Do not, I entreat you, believe in the +fiction that the Church neglected the poor during the last century. +The poor in the City parishes were not neglected; the boys were +thoroughly taught and conscientiously flogged, thieves were sent away +to be hanged, bad characters were turned out, the old were maintained, +the sick were looked after, the parish organization was complete, and +the parish charities were many and generous. Outside the City +precincts, if you please, where there were few churches and great +parishes, always increasing in population, the poor were neglected; +but in the City, never. But listen, the Rector has done. He finishes +his sermon with an admirable and appropriate quotation in Greek, which +I hope the congregation understands; he pronounces the prayer of +dismissal; the organ rolls, the clerk wakes up, the Lord Mayor and the +Sheriffs walk forth and get into their coaches, the footmen climb up +behind, the merchants and their families go out next, while all the +people stand in respect to their masters and betters, and those set in +authority over them. Then come out the people themselves, and last of +all the 'prentice boys come clattering down the aisle. + +Let us awake. It is Sunday morning again, but the merchants are gone. +The eighteenth century is gone, the church is empty, the parish is +deserted; the streets are silent. + + Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep; + The river glideth at his own sweet will! + Dear God! the very houses seem asleep, + And all that mighty heart to lying still. + + + + + +A RIVERSIDE PARISH + + + +There are several riverside parishes east of London Bridge, not +counting the ancient towns of Deptford and Greenwich, which formerly +lay beyond London, and could not be reckoned as suburbs. The history +of all these parishes, till the present century, is the same. Once, +south-east and west of London, there stretched a broad marsh covered +with water at every spring-tide; here and there rose islets overgrown +with brambles, the haunt of wild fowl innumerable. In course of time, +the city having grown and stretching out long arms along the bank, +people began to build a broad and strong river-wall to keep out the +floods. This river-wall, which still remains, was gradually extended +until it reached the mouth of the river and ran quite round the low +coast of Essex. To the marshes succeeded a vast level, low-lying, +fertile region affording good pasture, excellent dairy farms, and +gardens of fruit and vegetables. The only inhabitants of this district +were the farmers and the farmhands. So things continued for a thousand +years, while the ships went up the river with wind and tide, and down +the river with wind and tide, and were moored below the Bridge, and +discharged their cargoes into lighters, which landed them on the quays +of London Port, between the Tower and the Bridge. As for the people +who did the work of the Port--the loading and the unloading--those +whom now we call the stevedores, coalers, dockers, lightermen, and +watermen, they lived in the narrow lanes and crowded courts above and +about Thames Street. + +When the trade of London Port increased, these courts became more +crowded; some of them overflowed, and a colony outside the walls was +established in St. Katherine's Precinct beyond the Tower. Next to St. +Katherine's lay the fields called by Stow 'Wappin in the Wose,' or +Wash, where there were broken places in the wall, and the water poured +in so that it was as much a marsh as when there was no dyke at all. +Then the Commissioners of Sewers thought it would be a good plan to +encourage people to build along the wall, so that they would be +personally interested in its preservation. Thus arose the Hamlet of +Wapping, which, till far into the eighteenth century, consisted of +little more than a single long street, with a few cross lanes, +inhabited by sailor-folk. At this time--toward the end of the +sixteenth century--began that great and wonderful development of +London trade which has continued without any cessation of growth. +Gresham began it. He taught the citizens how to unite for the common +weal; he gave them a Bourse; he transferred the foreign trade of +Antwerp to the Thames. Then the service of the river grew apace; where +one lighter had sufficed there were now wanted ten; 'Wappin in the +Wose' became crowded Wapping; the long street stretched farther and +farther along the river beyond Shad's Well; beyond Ratcliff Cross, +where the 'red cliff' came down nearly to the river bank; beyond the +'Lime-house'; beyond the 'Poplar' Grove. The whole of that great city +of a million souls, now called East London, consisted, until the end +of the last century, of Whitechapel and Bethnal Green, still +preserving something of the old rusticity; of Mile End, Stepney and +Bow, and West Ham, hamlets set among fields, and market-gardens, and +of that long fringe of riverside streets and houses. In these rural +hamlets great merchants had their country-houses; the place was +fertile; the air was wholesome; nowhere could one see finer flowers or +finer plants; the merchant-captains--both those at sea and those +retired--had houses with garden-bowers and masts at Mile End Old Town. +Captain Cook left his wife and children there when he went sailing +round the world; here, because ground was cheap and plentiful, were +long rope-walks and tenter-grounds; here were roadside taverns and +gardens for the thirsty Londoner on a summer evening, here were placed +many almshouses, dotted about among the gardens, where the poor old +folks lengthened their days in peace and fresh air. + +But Riverside London was a far different place, here lived none but +sailors, watermen, lightermen, and all those who had to do with ships +and shipping, with the wants and the pleasures of the sailors. Boat +builders had their yards along the bank; mastmakers, sail-makers, +rope-makers, block-makers; there were repairing docks dotted about all +down the river, each able to hold one ship at a time, like one or two +still remaining at Rotherhithe, there were ship-building yards of +considerable importance; all these places employed a vast number of +workmen--carpenters, caulkers, painters, riggers, carvers of +figure-heads, block-makers, stevedores, lightermen, watermen, +victuallers, tavern-keepers, and all the roguery and _ribauderie_ that +always gather round mercantile Jack ashore. A crowded suburb indeed it +was, and for the most part with no gentlefolk to give the people an +example of conduct, temperance, and religion--at best the +master-mariners, a decorous people, and the better class of tradesmen, +to lead the way to church. And as time went on the better class +vanished, until the riverside parishes became abandoned entirely to +mercantile Jack, and to those who live by loading and unloading, +repairing and building the ships, and by showing Jack ashore how +fastest and best to spend his money. There were churches--Wapping, St. +George in the East, Shadwell, and Lime-house--they are there to this +day; but Jack and his friends enter not their portals. Moreover, when +they were built the function of the clergyman was to perform with +dignity and reverence the services of the church; if people chose not +to come, and the law of attendance could not be enforced, so much the +worse for them. Though Jack kept out of church, there was some +religious life in the place, as is shown not only by the presence of +the church, but also by that of the chapel. Now, wherever there is a +chapel it indicates thought, independence, and a sensible elevation +above the reckless, senseless rabble. Some kinds of Nonconformity also +indicate a first step toward education and culture. + +He who now stands on London Bridge and looks down the river, will see +a large number of steamers lying off the quays; there are barges, +river steamers, and boats, there are great ocean steamers working up +or down the river; but there is little to give the stranger even a +suspicion of the enormous trade that is carried on at the Port of +London. That port is now hidden behind the dock gates; the trade is +invisible unless one enters the docks and reckons up the ships and +their tonnage, the warehouses and their contents. But a hundred years +ago this trade was visible to any who chose to look at it, and the +ships in which the trade was carried on were visible as well. + +Below the Bridge, the river, for more than a mile, pursues a straight +course with a uniform breadth. It then bends in a north-easterly +direction for a mile or so, when it turns southward, passing Deptford +and Greenwich. Now, a hundred years ago, for two miles and more below +the bridge, the ships lay moored side by side in double lines, with a +narrow channel between. There were no docks; all the loading and the +unloading had to be done by means of barges and lighters in the +stream. One can hardly realize this vast concourse of boats and barges +and ships; the thousands of men at work; the passage to and fro of the +barges laden to the water's edge, or returning empty to the ship's +side; the yeo-heave-oh! of the sailors hoisting up the casks and bales +and cases; the shouting, the turmoil, the quarrelling, the fighting, +the tumult upon the river, now so peaceful. But when we talk of a +riverside parish we must remember this great concourse, because it was +the cause of practices from which we suffer to the present day. + +Of these things we may be perfectly certain. First, that without the +presence among a people of some higher life, some nobler standard, +than that of the senses, this people will sink rapidly and surely. +Next, that no class of persons, whether in the better or the worser +rank, can ever be trusted to be a law unto themselves. For which +reason we may continue to be grateful to our ancestors who caused to +be written in large letters of gold, for all the world to see once a +week, "THUS SAITH THE LORD, Thou shalt not steal," and the rest: the +lack of which reminder sometimes causes in Nonconformist circles, it +is whispered, a deplorable separation of faith and works. The third +maxim, axiom, or self-evident proposition is, that when people can +steal without fear of consequences they will steal. All through the +last century, and indeed far into this, the only influence brought to +bear upon the common people was that of authority. The master ruled +his servants; he watched over them; when they were young he had them +catechized and taught the sentiments proper to their station; he also +flogged them soundly; when they grew up he gave them wages and work; +he made them go to church regularly; he rewarded them for industry by +fraternal care; he sent them to the almshouse when they were old. At +church the sermons were not for the servants but for the masters; yet +the former were reminded every week of the Ten Commandments, which +were not only written out large for all to see, but were read out for +their instruction every Sunday morning. The decay of authority is one +of the distinguishing features of the present century. + +But in Riverside London there were no masters, and there was no +authority for the great mass of the people. The sailor ashore had no +master; the men who worked on the lighters and on the ships had no +master except for the day; the ignoble horde of those who supplied the +coarse pleasures of the sailors had no masters; they were not made to +do anything but what they pleased; the church was not for them; their +children were not sent to school; their only masters were the fear of +the gallows, constantly before their eyes at Execution Dock and on the +shores of the Isle of Dogs, and their profound respect for the cat o' +nine tails. They knew no morality; they had no other restraint; they +all together slid, ran, fell, leaped, danced, and rolled swiftly and +easily adown the Primrose Path; they fell into a savagery the like of +which has never been known among English-folk since the days of their +conversion to the Christian faith. It is only by searching and poking +among unknown pamphlets and forgotten books that one finds out the +actual depths of the English savagery of the last century. And it is +not too much to say that for drunkenness, brutality, and ignorance, +the Englishman of the baser kind touched about the lowest depth ever +reached by civilized man during the last century. What he was in +Riverside London has been disclosed by Colquhoun, the Police +Magistrate. Here he was not only a drunkard, a brawler, a torturer of +dumb beasts, a wife-beater, a profligate--he was also, with his +fellows, engaged every day, and all day long, in a vast systematic +organized depredation. The people of the riverside were all, to a man, +river pirates; by day and by night they stole from the ships. There +were often as many as a thousand vessels lying in the river; there +were many hundreds of boats, barges, and lighters engaged upon their +cargoes, They practised their robberies in a thousand ingenious ways; +they weighed the anchors and stole them; they cut adrift lighters when +they were loaded, and when they had floated down the river they +pillaged what they could carry and left the rest to sink or swim; they +waited till night and then rowed of to half-laden lighters and helped +themselves. Sometimes they went on board the ships as stevedores and +tossed bales overboard to a confederate in a boat below; or they were +coopers who carried under their aprons bags which they filled with +sugar from the casks; or they took with them bladders for stealing the +rum. Some waded about in the mud at low tide to catch anything that +was thrown to them from the ships. Some obtained admission to the ship +as rat-catchers, and in that capacity were able to carry away plunder +previously concealed by their friends; some, called _scuffle-hunters_, +stood on the quays as porters, carrying bags under their long white +aprons in which to hide whatever they could pilfer. It was estimated +that, taking one year with another, the depredations from the shipping +in the Port of London amounted to nearly a quarter of a million +sterling every year. All this was carried on by the riverside people. +But, to make robbery successful, there must be accomplices, +receiving-houses, fences, a way to dispose of the goods. In this case +the thieves had as their accomplices the whole of the population of +the quarter where they lived. All the public-houses were secret +markets attended by grocers and other tradesmen where the booty was +sold by auction, and, to escape detection, fictitious bills and +accounts were given and received. The thieves were known among +themselves by fancy names, which at once indicated the special line of +each and showed the popularity of the calling; they were bold pirates, +night plunderers, light horsemen, heavy horsemen, mud-larks, game +lightermen, scuffle-hunters and gangsmen. Their thefts enabled them to +live in the coarse profusion of meat and drink, which was all they +wanted; yet they were always poor because their plunder was knocked +down for so little; they saved nothing; and they were always egged on +to new robberies by the men who sold them drinks, by the women who +took their money from them, and by the honest merchants who attended +the secret markets. + +I dwell upon the past because the present is its natural legacy. When +you read of the efforts now being made to raise the living, or at +least to prevent them from sinking any lower, remember that they are +what the dead made them. We inherit more than the wealth of our +ancestors; we inherit the consequences of their misdeeds. It is a most +expensive thing to suffer the people to drop and sink; it is a sad +burden which we lay upon posterity if we do not continually spend our +utmost in lifting them up. Why, we have been the best part of two +thousand years in recovering the civilization which fell to pieces +when the Roman Empire decayed. We have not been fifty years in +dragging up the very poor whom we neglected and left to themselves, +the gallows, the cat, and the press-gang only a hundred years ago. And +how slow, how slow and sometimes hopeless, is the work! + +The establishment of river police and the construction of docks have +cleared the river of all this gentry. Ships now enter the docks; there +discharge and receive; the labourers can carry away nothing through +the dock-gates. No apron allows a bag to be hidden; policemen stand at +the gates to search the men; the old game is gone--what is left is a +surviving spirit of lawlessness; the herding together; the +hand-to-mouth life; the love of drink as the chief attainable +pleasure; the absence of conscience and responsibility; and the old +brutality. + +What the riverside then was may be learned by a small piece of +Rotherhithe in which the old things still linger. Small +repairing-docks, each capable of holding one vessel, are dotted along +the street; to each are its great dock-gates, keeping out the high +tide, and the quays and the shops and the caretaker's lodge; the ship +lies in the dock shored up by timbers on either side, and the workmen +are hammering, caulking, painting, and scraping the wooden hull; her +bowsprit and her figurehead stick out over the street, Between the +docks are small two-storied houses, half of them little shops trying +to sell something; the public-house is frequent, but the 'Humours' of +Ratcliff Highway are absent; mercantile Jack at Rotherhithe is mostly +Norwegian and has morals of his own. Such, however, as this little +village of Rotherhithe is, so were 'Wappin in the Wose,' Shadwell, +Ratcliff, and the 'Limehouse' a hundred years ago, with the addition +of street fighting and brawling all day long; the perpetual adoration +of rum, quarrels over stolen goods; quarrels over drunken drabs; +quarrels over all-fours; the scraping of fiddles from every +public-house, the noise of singing, feasting, and dancing, and a +never-ending, still-beginning debauch, all hushed and quiet--as birds +cower in the hedge at sight of the kestrel--when the press-gang swept +down the narrow streets and carried off the lads, unwilling to leave +the girls and the grog, and put them aboard His Majesty's tender to +meet what fate might bring. + +The construction of the great docks has completely changed this +quarter. The Precinct of St. Katherine's by the Tower has almost +entirely disappeared, being covered by St. Katherine's Dock; the +London Dock has reduced Wapping to a strip covered with warehouses. +But the church remains, so frankly proclaiming itself of the +eighteenth century, with its great churchyard. The new Dock Basin, +Limehouse Basin, and the West India Docks, have sliced huge cantles +out of Shadwell, Limehouse, and Poplar; the little private docks and +boat-building yards have disappeared; here and there the dock remains, +with its river gates gone, an ancient barge reposing in its black mud; +here and there may be found a great building which was formerly a +warehouse when ship-building was still carried on. That branch of +industry was abandoned after 1868, when the shipwrights struck. Their +action transferred the ship-building of the country to the Clyde, and +threw out of work thousands of men who had been earning large wages in +the yards. Before this unlucky event Riverside London had been rough +and squalid, but there were in it plenty of people earning good +wages--skilled artisans, good craftsmen. Since then it has been next +door to starving. The effect of the shipwrights' strike may be +illustrated in the history of one couple. + +The man, of Irish parentage, though born in Stepney, was a painter or +decorator of the saloons and cabins of the ships. He was a +highly-skilled workman of taste and dexterity; he could not only paint +but he could carve; he made about three pounds a week and lived in +comfort. The wife, a decent Yorkshire woman whose manners were very +much above those of the riverside folk, was a few years older than her +husband. They had no children. During the years of fatness they saved +nothing; the husband was not a drunkard, but, like most workmen, he +liked to cut a figure and to make a show. So he saved little or +nothing. When the yard was finally closed he had to cadge about for +work. Fifteen years later he was found in a single room of the meanest +tenement-house; his furniture was reduced to a bed, a table, and a +chair; all that they had was a little tea and no money--no money at +all. He was weak and ill, with trudging about in search of work; he +was lying exhausted on the bed while his wife sat crouched over the +little bit of fire. This was how they had lived for fifteen years--the +whole time on the verge of starvation. Well, they were taken away; +they were persuaded to leave their quarters and to try anther place, +where odd jobs were found for the man, and where the woman made +friends in private families, for whom she did a little sewing. But it +was too late for the man; his privations had destroyed his sleight of +hand, though he knew it not; the fine workman was gone. He took +painters' paralysis, and very often when work was offered his hand +would drop before he could begin it; then the long years of tramping +about had made him restless; from time to time he was fain to borrow a +few shillings and to go on the tramp again, pretending that he was in +search of work; he would stay away for a fortnight, marching about +from place to place, heartily enjoying the change and the social +evening at the public-houses where he put up. For, though no drunkard, +he loved to sit in a warm bar and to talk over the splendours of the +past. Then he died. No one, now looking at the neat old lady in the +clean white cap and apron who sits all day in the nursery crooning +over her work, would believe that she has gone through this ordeal by +famine, and served her fifteen years' term of starvation for the sins +of others. + +The Parish of St. James's, Ratcliff, is the least known of Riverside +London. There is nothing about this parish in the Guide-books; nobody +goes to see it. Why should they? There is nothing to see. Yet it is +not without its romantic touches. Once there was here a cross--the +Ratcliff Cross--but nobody knows what it was, when it was erected, why +it was erected, or when it was pulled down. The oldest inhabitant now +at Ratcliff remembers that there was a cross here--the name survived +until the other day, attached to a little street, but that is now +gone. It is mentioned in Dryden. And on the Queen's Accession, in +1837, she was proclaimed, among other places, at Ratcliff Cross--but +why, no one knows. Once the Shipwrights' Company had their hall here; +it stood among gardens where the scent of the gillyflower and the +stock mingled with the scent of the tar from the neighbouring +rope-yard and boat-building yard. In the old days, many were the +feasts which the jolly shipwrights held in their hall after service at +St. Dunstan's, Stepney. The hall is now pulled down, and the Company, +which is one of the smallest, worth an income of less than a thousand, +has never built another. Then there are the Ratcliff Stairs--rather +dirty and dilapidated to look at, but, at half-tide, affording the +best view one can get anywhere of the Pool and the shipping. In the +good old days of the scuffle-hunters and the heavy horsemen, the view +of the thousand ships moored in their long lines with the narrow +passage between was splendid. History has deigned to speak of Ratcliff +Stairs. 'Twas by these steps that the gallant Willoughby embarked for +his fatal voyage; with flags flying and the discharge of guns he +sailed past Greenwich, hoping that the King would come forth to see +him pass. Alas! the young King lay a-dying, and Willoughby himself was +sailing off to meet his death. + +The parish contains four good houses, all of which, I believe, are +marked in Roque's map of 1745. + +One of these is now the vicarage of the new church. It is a large, +solid, and substantial house, built early in the last century, when as +yet the light horsemen and lumpers were no nearer than Wapping. The +walls of the dining-room are painted with Italian landscapes, to which +belongs a romance. The paintings were executed by a young Italian +artist. For the sake of convenience he was allowed by the merchant who +then lived here, and employed him, to stay in the house. Now the +merchant had a daughter, and she was fair. The artist was a goodly +youth, and inflammable; as the poet says, their eyes met; presently, +as the poet goes on, their lips met; then the merchant found out what +was going on, and ordered the young man, with good old British +determination, out of the house. The young man retired to his room, +presumably to pack up his things. But he did not go out of the house; +instead of that, he hanged himself in his room. His ghost, naturally, +continued to remain in the house, and has been seen by many. Why he +has not long ago joined the ghost of the young lady is not clear +unless that, like many ghosts, his chief pleasure is in keeping as +miserable as he possibly can. + +The second large house of the parish is apparently of the same date, +but the broad garden in which it formerly stood has been built over +with mean tenement houses. Nothing is known about it; at present +certain Roman Catholic sisters live in it, and carry on some kind of +work. + +The third great house is one of the few surviving specimens of the +merchant's warehouse and residence in one. It is now an old and +tumbledown place. Its ancient history I know not. What rich and costly +bales were hoisted into this warehouse; what goods lay here waiting to +be carried down the Stairs, and so on board ship in the Pool; what +fortunes were made and lost here one knows not. Its ancient history is +gone and lost, but it has a modern history. Here a certain man began, +in a small way, a work which has grown to be great; here he spent and +was spent; here he gave his life for the work, which was for the +children of the poor. He was a young physician; he saw in this squalid +and crowded neighbourhood the lives of the children needlessly +sacrificed by the thousand for the want of a hospital; to be taken ill +in the wretched room where the whole family lived was to die; the +nearest hospital was two miles away. The young physician had but +slender means, but he had a stout heart. He found this house empty, +its rent a song. He took it, put in half a dozen beds, constituted +himself the physician and his wife the nurse, and opened the +Children's Hospital. Very soon the rooms became wards; the wards +became crowded with children; the one nurse was multiplied by twenty; +the one physician by six. Very soon, too, the physician lay upon his +death-bed, killed by the work. But the Children's Hospital was +founded, and now it stands, not far off, a stately building with one +of its wards--the Heckford Ward--named after the physician who gave +his own life to save the children. When the house ceased to be a +hospital it was taken by a Mr. Dawson, who was the first to start here +a club for the very rough lads. He, too, gave his life for the cause, +for the illness which killed him was due to overwork and neglect. +Devotion and death are therefore associated with this old house. + +The fourth large house is now degraded to a common lodging-house. But +it has still its fine old staircase. + +The Parish of St. James's, Ratcliff, consists of an irregular patch of +ground having the river on the south, and the Commercial Road, one of +the great arteries of London, on the north. It contains about seven +thousand people, of whom some three thousand are Irish Catholics. It +includes a number of small, mean, and squalid streets; there is not +anywhere in the great city a collection of streets smaller or meaner. +The people live in tenement-houses, very often one family for every +room--in one street, for instance, of fifty houses, there are one +hundred and thirty families. The men are nearly all +dock-labourers--the descendants of the scuffle-hunters, whose +traditions still survive, perhaps, in an unconquerable hatred of +government. The women and girls are shirt-makers, tailoresses, +jam-makers, biscuit-makers, match-makers, and rope-makers. + +In this parish the only gentlefolk are the clergy and the ladies +working in the parish for the Church; there are no substantial +shopkeepers, no private residents, no lawyer, no doctor, no +professional people of any kind; there are thirty-six public-houses, +or one to every hundred adults, so that if each spends on an average +only two shillings a week, the weekly takings of each are ten pounds. +Till lately there were forty-six, but ten have been suppressed; there +are no places of public entertainment, there are no books, there are +hardly any papers except some of those Irish papers whose continued +sufferance gives the lie to their own everlasting charges of English +tyranny. Most significant of all, there are no Dissenting chapels, +with one remarkable exception. Fifteen chapels in the three parishes +of Ratcliff, Shadwell, and St. George's have been closed during the +last twenty years. Does this mean conversion to the Anglican Church? +Not exactly; it means, first, that the people have become too poor to +maintain a chapel, and next, that they have become too poor to think +of religion. So long as an Englishman's head is above the grinding +misery, he exercises, as he should, a free and independent choice of +creeds, thereby vindicating and assorting his liberties. Here there is +no chapel, therefore no one thinks; they lie like sheep; of death and +its possibilities no one heeds; they live from day to day; when they +are young they believe they will be always young; when they are old, +so far as they know, they have been always old. + +The people being such as they are--so poor, so hopeless, so +ignorant--what is done for them? How are they helped upward? How are +they driven, pushed, shoved, pulled, to prevent them from sinking +still lower? For they are not at the lowest depths; they are not +criminals; up to their lights they are honest; that poor fellow who +stands with his hands ready--all he has got in the wide world--only +his hands--no trade, no craft, no skill--will give you a good day's +work if you engage him; he will not steal things; he will drink more +than he should with the money you give him; he will knock his wife +down if she angers him; but he is not a criminal. That step has yet to +be taken; he will not take it; but his children may, and unless they +are prevented they certainly will. For the London-born child very soon +learns the meaning of the Easy Way and the Primrose Path. We have to +do with the people ignorant, drunken, helpless, always at the point of +destitution, their whole thoughts as much concentrated upon the +difficulty of the daily bread as ever were those of their ancestor who +roamed about the Middlesex Forest and hunted the bear with a club, and +shot the wild goose with a flint-headed arrow. + +First there is the Church work; that is to say, the various agencies +and machinery directed by the Vicar. It may be new to some readers, +especially to Americans, to learn how much of the time and thoughts of +our Anglican beneficed clergymen are wanted for things not directly +religious. The church, a plain and unpretending edifice, built in the +year 1838, is served by the Vicar and two curates. There are daily +services, and on Sundays an early celebration. The average attendance +at the Sunday morning mid-day service is about one hundred; in the +evening it is generally double that number. They are all adults. For +the children another service is held in the Mission Room, The average +attendance at the Sunday-schools and Bible-classes is about three +hundred and fifty, and would be more if the Vicar had a larger staff +of teachers, of whom, however, there are forty-two. The whole number +of men and women engaged in organized work connected with the Church +is about one hundred and twenty-six. Some of them are ladies from the +other end of London, but most belong to the parish itself; in the +choir, for instance, are found a barber, a postman, a caretaker, and +one or two small shopkeepers, all living in the parish, When we +remember that Ratcliff is not what is called a 'show' parish, that the +newspapers never talk about it, and that rich people never hear of it, +this indicates a very considerable support to Church work. + +In addition to the church proper there is the 'Mission Chapel,' where +other services are held. One day in the week there is a sale of +clothes at very low prices. They are sold rather than given, because +if the women have paid a few pence for them they are less willing to +pawn them than if they had received them for nothing. In the Mission +Chapel are held classes for young girls and services for children. + +The churchyard, like so many of the London churchyards, has been +converted into a recreation ground, where there are trees and +flower-beds, and benches for old and young. + +Outside the Church, but yet connected with it, there is, first, the +Girls' Club. The girls of Ratcliff are all working-girls; as might be +expected, a rough and wild company, as untrained as colts, yet open to +kindly and considerate treatment. Their first yearning is for finery; +give them a high hat with a flaring ostrich feather, a plush jacket, +and a 'fringe,' and they are happy. There are seventy-five of these +girls; they use their club every evening, and they have various +classes, though it cannot be said that they are desirous of learning +anything. Needlework, especially, they dislike; they dance, sing, have +musical drill, and read a little. Five ladies who work for the church +and for the club live in the club-house, and other ladies come to lend +assistance. When we consider what the homes and the companions of +these girls are, what kind of men will be their husbands, and that +they are to become mothers of the next generation, it seems as if one +could not possibly attempt a more useful achievement than their +civilization. Above all, this club stands in the way of the greatest +curse of East London--the boy and girl marriage. For the elder women +there are Mothers' Meetings, at which two hundred attend every week; +and there are branches of the Societies for Nursing and Helping +Married Women. For general purposes there is a Parish Sick and +Distress Fund; a fund for giving dinners to poor children; there is a +frequent distribution of fruit, vegetables, and flowers, sent up by +people from the country. And for the children there is a large room +which they can use as a play-room from four o'clock till half-past +seven. Here they are at least warm; were it not for this room they +would have to run about the cold streets; here they have games and +pictures and toys. In connection with the work for the girls, help is +given by the Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants, +which takes charge of a good many of the girls. + +For the men there is one of the institutions called a Tee-To-Tum Club, +which has a grand café open to everybody all day long; the members +manage the club themselves; they have a concert once a week, a +dramatic performance once a week, a gymnastic display once a week; on +Sunday they have a lecture or an address, with a discussion after it; +and they have smaller clubs attached for football, cricket, rowing, +and swimming. + +For the younger lads there is another club, of one hundred and sixty +members; they also have their gymnasium, their football, cricket, and +swimming clubs; their classes for carpentry, wood-carving, singing, +and shorthand; their savings' bank, their sick club, and their +library. + +Only the better class of lads belong to this club. But there is a +lower set, those who lounge about the streets at night, and take to +gambling and betting. For these boys the children's play-room is +opened in the evening; here they read, talk, box, and play bagstelle, +draughts, and dominoes, These lads are as rough as can be found, yet +on the whole they give very little trouble. + +Another important institution is the Country Holiday; this is +accomplished by saving. It means, while it lasts, an expenditure of +five shillings a week; sometimes the lads are taken to the seaside and +live in a barn; sometimes the girls are sent to a village and placed +about in cottages. A great number of the girls and lads go off every +year a-hopping in Kent. + +Add to these the temperance societies, and we seem to complete the +organized work of the Church. It must, however, be remembered that +this work is not confined to those who attend the services or are +Anglican in name. The clergy and the ladies who help them go about the +whole parish from house to house; they know all the people in every +house, to whatever creed they belong; their visits are looked for as a +kind of right; they are not insulted even by the roughest; they are +trusted by all; as they go along the streets the children run after +them and hang upon their dress; if a strange man is walking with one +of these ladies, they catch at his hands and pull at his +coat-tails--we judge of a man, you see, by his companions. All this +machinery seems costly. It is, of course, far beyond the slender +resources of the parish. It demands, however, no more than £850 a +year, of which £310 is found by different societies and the sum of +£540 has to be raised somehow. + +There are, it has been stated, no more than seven thousand people in +this parish, of whom nearly half belong to the Church of Rome. It +would therefore almost seem as if every man, woman, and child in the +place must be brought under the influence of all this work. In a sense +all the people do feel the influence of the Church, whether they are +Anglicans or not. The parish system, as you have seen, provides +everything; for the men, clubs; for the women, nursing in sickness, +friendly counsel always, help in trouble; the girls are brought +together and kept out of mischief and encouraged in self-respect by +ladies who understand what they want and how they look at things, the +grown lads are taken from the streets, and, with the younger boys, are +taught arts and crafts, and are trained in manly exercises just as if +they were boys of Eton and Harrow. The Church services, which used to +be everything, are now only a part of the parish work. The clergy are +at once servants of the altar, preachers, teachers, almoners, leaders +in all kinds of societies and clubs, and providers of amusements and +recreation. The people look on, hold out their hands, receive, at +first indifferently--but presently, one by one, awaken to a new sense. +As they receive they cannot choose but to discover that these ladies +have given up their luxurious homes and the life of ease in order to +work among them. They also discover that these young gentlemen who +'run' the dubs, teach the boys gymnastics, boxing, drawing, carving, +and the rest, give up for this all their evenings--the flower of the +day in the flower of life. What for? What do they get for it? Not in +this parish only, but in every parish the same kind of thing goes on +and spreads daily. This--observe--is the last step _but one_ of +charity. For the progress of charity is as follows: First, there is +the pitiful dole to the beggar; then the bequest to monk and +monastery; then the founding of the almshouse and the parish charity; +then the Easter and the Christmas offerings; then the gift to the +almoner; then the cheque to a society; next--latest and best--personal +service among the poor. This is both flower and fruit of charity. One +thing only remains. And before long this thing also shall come to pass +as well. + +Those who live in the dens and witness these things done daily must be +stocks and stones if they were not moved by them. They are not stocks +and stones; they are actually, though slowly, moved by them; the old +hatred of the Church--you may find it expressed in the working man's +papers of fifty years ago--is dying out rapidly in our great towns; +the brawling is better, even the drinking is diminishing. And there is +another--perhaps an unexpected--result. Not only are the poor turning +to the Church which befriends them, the Church which they used to +deride, but the clergy are turning to the poor; there are many for +whom the condition of the people is above all other earthly +considerations. If that great conflict--long predicted--of capital and +labour ever takes place, it is safe to prophecy that the Church will +not desert the poor. + +Apart from the Church what machinery is at work? First, because there +are so many Catholics in the place, one must think of them. It is, +however, difficult to ascertain the Catholic agencies at work among +these people. The people are told that they must go to mass; Roman +Catholic sisters give dinners to children; there is the Roman League +of the Cross--a temperance association; I think that the Catholics are +in great measure left to the charities of the Anglicans, so long as +these do not try to convert the Romans. + +The Salvation Army people attempt nothing--absolutely nothing in this +parish. There are at present neither Baptist, nor Wesleyan, nor +Independent chapels in the place. A few years ago, on the appearance +of the book called the 'Bitter Cry of Outcast London,' an attempt was +made by the last-named body; they found an old chapel belonging to the +Congregationalists, with an endowment of £80 a year, which they turned +into a mission-hall, and carried on with spirit for two years mission +work in the place; they soon obtained large funds, which they seem to +have lavished with more zeal than discretion. Presently their money +was all gone and they could get no more; then the chapel was turned +into a night-shelter. Next It was burned to the ground. It is now +rebuilt and is again a night-shelter. There is, however, an historic +monument in the parish with which remains a survival of former +activity. It is a Quaker meeting-house which dates back to 1667. It +stands within its walls, quiet and decorous; there are the chapel, the +ante-room, and the burial-ground. The congregation still meet, reduced +to fifty; they still hold their Sunday-school; and not far off one of +the fraternity carries on a Crêche which takes care of seventy or +eighty babies, and is blessed every day by as many mothers. + +Considering all these agencies--how they are at work day after day, +never resting, never ceasing, never relaxing their hold, always +compelling the people more and more within the circle of their +influence; how they incline the hearts of the children to better +things and show them how to win these better things--one wonders that +the whole parish is not already clad in white robes and sitting with +harp and crown. On the other hand, walking down London Street, +Ratcliff, looking at the foul houses, hearing the foul language, +seeing the poor women with black eyes, watching the multitudinous +children in the mud, one wonders whether even these agencies are +enough to stem the tide and to prevent this mass of people from +falling lower and lower still into the hell of savagery. This parish +is one of the poorest in London; it is one of the least known; it is +one of the least visited. Explorers of slums seldom come here; it is +not fashionably miserable. Yet all these fine things are done here, +and as in this parish so in every other. It is continually stated as a +mere commonplace--one may see the thing advanced everywhere, in +'thoughtful' papers, in leading articles--that the Church of Rome +alone can produce its self-sacrificing martyrs, its lives of pure +devotion. Then what of these parish-workers of the Church of England? +What of that young physician who worked himself to death for the +children? What of the young men--not one here and there but in +dozens--who give up all that young men mostly love for the sake of +laborious nights among rough and rude lads? What of the gentlewomen +who pass long years--give up their youth, their beauty, and their +strength--among girls and women whose language is at first like a blow +to them? What of the clergy themselves, always, all day long, living +in the midst of the very poor--hardly paid, always giving out of their +poverty, forgotten in their obscurity, far from any chance of +promotion, too hard-worked to read or study, dropped out of all the +old scholarly circles? Nay, my brothers, we cannot allow to the Church +of Rome all the unselfish men and women. Father Damien is one of us as +well. I have met him--I know him by sight--he lives and has long +lived, in Riverside London. + + + + + +ST. KATHERINE'S BY THE TOWER + + + +On the 30th day of October, in the year of grace one thousand eight +hundred and twenty-five, there was gathered together a congregation to +assist at the mournfullest service ever heard in any church. The place +was the Precinct of St. Katherine's, the church was that known as St. +Katherine's by the Tower--the most ancient and venerable church in the +whole of East London--a city which now has but two ancient churches +left, those of Bow and of Stepney, without counting the old tower of +Hackney. + +Suppose it was advertised that the last and the farewell service, +before the demolition of the Abbey, would be held at Westminster on a +certain day; that after the service the old church would be pulled +down; that some of the monuments would be removed, the rest destroyed; +that the bones of the illustrious dead would be carted away and +scattered, and that the site would be occupied by warehouses used for +commercial purposes. One can picture the frantic rage and despair with +which the news would everywhere be received; one can imagine the +stirring of the hearts of all those who to every part of the world +inherit the Anglo-Saxon speech, one can hear the sobbing and the +wailing which accompany the last anthem, the last sermon, the last +prayer. + +St. Katherine's by the Tower was the Abbey of East London, poor and +small, certainly, compared with the Cathedral church of the City and +the Abbey of the West; but stately and ancient; endowed by half a +dozen Sovereigns; consecrated by the memory of seven hundred years, +filled with the monuments of great men and small men buried within her +walls; standing in her own Precinct; with her own Courts, Spiritual +and Temporal; with her own judges and officers; surrounded by the +claustral buildings belonging to Master, Brethren, Sisters, and +Bedeswomen. The church and the hospital had long survived the +intentions of the founders; yet as they stood, so situated, so +ancient, so venerable, amid a dense population of rough sailors and +sailor folk, with such enormous possibilities for good and useful +work, sacred and secular, one is lost in wonder that the consent of +Parliament, even for purposes of gain, could be obtained for their +destruction. Yet St. Katherine's was destroyed. When the voice of the +preacher died away, the destroyers began their work. They pulled down +the church; they hacked up the monuments, and dug up the bones; they +destroyed the Master's house, and cut down the trees in his quiet +orchard; they pulled down the Brothers' houses round the little +ancient square; they pulled down the row of Sisters' houses and the +Bedeswomen's houses; they swept the people out of the Precinct, and +destroyed the streets; they pulled down the Courts, Spiritual and +Temporal, and opened the doors of the prison; they grubbed up the +burying ground, and with the bones and the dust of the dead, and the +rubbish of the foundations, they filled up the old reservoir of the +Chelsea water-works, and enabled Mr. + +Cubitt to build Eccleston Square. When all was gone they let the water +into the big hole they had made, and called it St. Katherine's Dock. +All this done, they became aware of certain prickings of conscience. +They had utterly demolished and swept away and destroyed a thing which +could never be replaced; they were fain to do something to appease +those prickings. They therefore stuck up a new chapel, which the +architect called Gothic, with six neat houses in two rows, and a large +house with a garden in Regent's Park, and this they called St. +Katherine's, 'Sirs,' they said, 'it is not true that we have destroyed +that ancient foundation at all; we have only removed it to another +place. Behold your St. Katherine's!' Of course it is nothing of the +kind. It is not St. Katherine's. It is a sham, a house of Shams and +Shadows. + +Thus was St. Katherine's destroyed; not for the needs of the City, +because it is not clear that the new docks were wanted, or that there +was no other place for them, but in sheer inability to understand what +the place meant as to the past, and what it might be made to do in the +future. The story of the Hospital has been often told: partly, as by +Ducarel and by Lysons, for the historical interest; partly, as by Mr. +Simcox Lea, in protest against the present we of its revenues. It is +with the latter object, though I disagree altogether with Mr. Lea's +conclusions, that I ask leave to tell the story once more. The story +will have to be told, perhaps, again and again, until people can be +made to understand the uselessness and the waste and the foolishness +of the present establishment in the Park, which has assumed and bears +the style and title of St. Katherine's Hospital by the Tower. + +The beginning of the Hospital dates seven hundred and forty years +back, when Matilda, Stephen's Queen, founded it for the purpose of +having masses said for the repose of her two children, Baldwin and +Matilda, She ordered that the Hospital should consist of a Master, +Brothers, Sisters, and certain poor persons--probably the same as in +the later foundation. She appointed the Prior and Canons of Holy +Trinity to have perpetual custody of the Hospital; and she reserved to +herself and all succeeding Queens of England the nomination, of the +Master. Her grant was approved by the King, the Archbishop of +Canterbury, and the Pope. Shortly afterwards William of Ypres bestowed +the land of Edredeshede, afterwards called Queenhythe, on the Priory +of Holy Trinity, subject to an annual payment of £20 to the Hospital +of Katherine's by the Tower. + +This was the original foundation. It was not a Charity; it was a +Religious House with a definite duty--to pray for the souls of two +children; it had no other charitable objects than belong to any +religious foundation--viz., the giving of alms to the poor, nor was it +intended as a church for the people; in those days there were no +people outside the Tower, save the inhabitants of a few scattered +cottages along the river Wall, and the farmhouses of Steban Heath. It +was simply founded for the benefit of two little princes' souls. One +refrains from asking what was done for the little paupers' souls in +those days. + +The Prior and Canons of Holy Trinity without Aldgate continued to +exercise some authority over the Hospital, but apparently--the subject +only interests the ecclesiastical historian--against the protests and +grumblings of the St. Katherine's Society. It was, however, formally +handed over to them, a hundred and forty years later, by Henry the +Third. After his death, Queen Eleanor, for some reason, now dimly +intelligible, wanted to get the Hospital into her own hands. The +Bishop of London took it away from the Priory and transferred it to +her. Then, perhaps with the view of preventing any subsequent claim by +the Priory, she declared the Hospital dissolved. + +Here ends the first chapter in the history of the Hospital. The +foundation for the souls of the two princes existed no longer--the +children, no doubt, having been long since sung out of Purgatory. +Queen Eleanor, however, immediately refounded it. The Hospital was, as +before, to consist of a Master, three Brothers, three Sisters, and +bedeswomen. It was also provided that six poor scholars were to be fed +and clothed--not educated, The Queen further provided that on November +the 16th of every year twelve pence each should be given to the poor +scholars, and the same amount to twenty-four poor persons; and that on +November the 20th, the anniversary of the King's death, one thousand +poor men should receive one halfpenny each. Here is the first +introduction of a charity. The Hospital is no longer an ecclesiastical +foundation only; it maintains scholars and gives substantial alms. Who +received these alms? Of course the people in the neighbourhood--if +there were no inhabitants in the Precinct, the poor of Portsoken Ward. +In either case the charity would be local--a point of the greatest +importance. Queen Eleanor also continued her predecessor's rule that +the patronage of the Hospital should remain in the hands of the Queens +of England for ever; when there was no Queen, then in the hands of the +Queen Dowager; failing in her, in those of the King. This rule still +obtains. The Queen appoints the Master, Brothers, and Sisters of the +House of Shams in Regent's Park, just as her predecessors appointed +those of St. Katherine's by the Tower. + +Queen Eleanor was followed by other royal benefactors. Edward the +Second, for example, gave the Hospital the rectory of St. Peter's in +Northampton. Queen Philippa, who, like Eleanor, regarded the place +with especial affection, endowed it with the manor of Upchurch in +Kent, and that of Queenbury in Hertfordshire. She also founded a +chantry with £10 a year for a chaplain. Edward the Third founded +another chantry in honour of Philippa, with a charge of £10 a year +upon the Hanaper Office; he also conferred upon it the right of +cutting wood for fuel in the Forest of Essex. Richard the Second gave +it the manor of Reshyndene in Sheppy, and 120 acres of land in +Minster. Henry the Sixth gave it the manors of Chesingbury in +Wiltshire, and Quasley in Hants; he also granted a charter, with the +privilege of holding a fair. Lastly, Henry the Eighth founded, in +connection with St. Katherine's by the Tower, the Guild of St. +Barbara, consisting of a Master, three Wardens, and a great number of +members, among whom were Cardinal Wolsey, the Duke and Duchess of +Norfolk, the Duke and Duchess of Buckingham, the Earl and Countess of +Shrewsbury, and the Earl and Countess of Northumberland, with other +great and illustrious persons. + +This is a goodly list of benefactors. It is evident that St. +Katherine's was a foundation regarded by the Kings and Queens of +England with great favour. Other benefactors it had, notably John +Holland, Duke of Exeter, Lord High Admiral and Constable of the Tower, +himself of royal descent. He was buried in the church, with his two +wives, and bequeathed to the Hospital the manor of Much Gaddesden. He +also gave it a cup of beryl, garnished with gold, pearls, and precious +stones, and a chalice of gold for the celebration of the Holy +Sacrament. + +In the year 1546 all the lands belonging to the Hospital were +transferred to the Crown. + +At this time the whole revenue of the Hospital was £364 12s. 6d., and +the expenditure was £210 6s. 5d.; the difference being the value of +the mastership. The Master at the dissolution was Gilbert Lathom, a +priest, and the brothers were five in number--namely, the original +three, and the two priests for the chantries. Four of the five had +'for his stipend, mete, and drynke, by yere,' the sum of £8, which is +fivepence farthing a day; the other had £9, which is sixpence a day. +It would be interesting, by comparison of prices, to ascertain how +much could be purchased with sixpence a day. The three Sisters had +also £8 year, and the Bedeswomen had each two pounds five shillings +and sixpence a year. There were six scholars at £4 a year each for +'their mete, drynke, clothes, and other necessaries'; and there were +four servants, a steward, a butler, a cook, and an under-cook, who +cost £5 a year each. There were two gardens and a yard or +court--namely, the square, bounded by the houses of the Brothers, and +the church. + +This marks the closing of the second chapter in the history of the +Hospital. With the cessation of saying masses for the dead its +religious character expired. There remained only the services in the +church for the inhabitants of the Precinct in the time of Henry VIII. + +The only use of the Hospital was now as a charity. Fortunately, the +place was not, like the Priory of the Holy Trinity, granted to a +courtier, otherwise it would have been swept away just as that Priory, +or that of Elsing's Spital, was swept away. It continued after a while +to carry on its existence, but with changes. It was secularized. The +Masters for a hundred and fifty years, not counting the interval of +Queen Mary's reign, were laymen. The Brothers were generally laymen. +The first Master of the third period was Sir Thomas Seymour; he was +succeeded by Sir Francis Flemyng, Lieutenant General of the King's +Ordnance. Flemyng was deprived by Queen Mary, who appointed one +Francis Mallet, a priest, in his place. Queen Elizabeth dispossessed +Malet, and appointed Thomas Wilson, a layman and a Doctor at Laws. +During his mastership there were no Brothers, and only a few Sisters +or Bedeswomen. The Hospital then became a rich sinecure. Among the +Masters were Sir Julius Cæsar, Master of the Rolls; Sir Robert Acton; +Dr. Coxe; three Montague brothers, Walter, Henry, and George; Lord +Brownker; the Earl of Feversham; Sir Henry Newton, Judge of the High +Court of Admiralty; the Hon. George Berkeley; and Sir James Butler. +The Brothers had been re-established--their names are enumerated by +Ducarel--one or two of them were clerks in orders, but all the rest +were laymen. They still received the old stipend of £8 a year, with a +small house. As for the rest of the greatly increased income it went +to the Master after the manner common to all the old charities. During +the latter half of the sixteenth and the whole of the seventeenth +century St. Katherine's by the Tower consisted of a beautiful old +church standing with its buildings clustered round it--a Master's +house, rich in carved and ancient wood-work, with its gardens and +orchards; its houses for the Brothers, Sisters, and Bedeswomen, each +of whom continued to receive the same salary as that ordained by Queen +Eleanor. Service was held in the church for the inhabitants of the +Precinct, but the Hospital was wholly secular. The Master devoured by +far the greater part of the revenue, and the alms-people--Brothers, +Sisters, and Bedeswomen--had no duties to perform of any kind. + +In the year 1698 this, the third chapter in the life of the Hospital, +was closed. The Lord Chancellor, Lord Somers, held in that year a +Visitation of the Hospital, the result of which is interesting, +because it shows, first, a lingering of the old ecclesiastical +traditions, and, next, the sense that something useful ought to be +done with the income of the Hospital. It was therefore ordered in the +new regulations provided by the Chancellor that the Brothers should be +in Holy Orders, and that a school of thirty-five boys and fifteen +girls should be maintained by the Hospital. It does not appear that +any duties were expected of the Brothers. Like the Fellows of colleges +at Oxford and Cambridge, they were all to be in priests' orders, and +for exactly the same reason, because at the original foundations of +the colleges, as well as of the Hospital, the Fellows were all +priests. As for the Master, he remained a layman. This new order of +things, therefore, raised the position of the Brothers, and gave a new +dignity to the Hospital; further, the School as well as the Bedeswomen +defined its position as a charity. It still fell far, very far, short +of what it might have done, but it was not between the years 1698 and +1825 quite so useless as it had been. A plan of the Precinct, with +drawings of the church, within and without, and of the monuments in +the church, may be found in Lysons. The obscurity of the Hospital, and +the neglect into which it fell during the last century, are shown by +the small attention paid to it in the books on London of the last +century, and the early years of the present century. Thus, in +Harrison's 'History of London,' though nearly every church in the City +and its immediate suburbs is figured, St. Katherine's is not drawn. In +Strype (edition 1720) there is no drawing of St. Katherine's; in +Dodsley's 'London,' 1761, it is described but not figured; and +Wilkinson, in his 'Londina Illustrata,' passes it over entirely. The +Hospital buildings consisted of a square, of which the north side was +occupied by the Master's house, with a large garden behind, and the +Master's orchard between his garden and the river; on the east and +west sides were the Brothers' houses; and on the south side of the +square was the church and the chapter-house. On the east of the church +was the burying-ground. South of the church was the Sisters' close, +with the houses occupied by the Sisters and the Bedeswomen. The old +Brothers' houses were taken down and rebuilt about the year 1755, and +the Master's house, an ancient building, full of carved timber-work, +had also been taken down, so that in the year 1825, when the Hospital +was finally destroyed, the only venerable building standing in the +Precinct was the church itself. To look at the drawings of this old +church and to think of the loving care with which it would have been +treated had it been allowed to stand till this day, and then to +consider the 'Gothic' edifice in Regent's Park, is indeed saddening. +The church consisted of the nave and chancel with two aisles, built by +Bishop Beckington, formerly the Master. The east window, 30 feet high +and 25 feet wide, had once been most beautiful when its windows were +stained. The tracery was still fine; a St. Katherine's wheel occupied +the highest part, and beneath it was a rose; but none of the windows +had preserved their painted glass, so that the general effect of the +interior must have been cold. The carved wood of the stalls and the +great pulpit, presented by Sir Julius Cæsar, may still be seen in the +Regent's Park Chapel, where are also some of the monuments. Of these +the church was full. The finest (now in Regent's Park) was that of +John Holland, Duke of Exeter, and his two wives. There was one of the +Hon. George Montague, Master of the Hospital, who died in the year +1681; and there was the monument with kneeling figures of one Cutting +and his wife, with his coat of arms. The seats of the stalls are +curiously carved, as is so often found, with grotesque figures--human +birds, monkeys, lions, boys riding hogs, angels playing bagpipes, +beasts with human heads, pelicans feeding their young, and the devil +with hoof and horns carrying off a brace of souls. There was more than +the customary wealth epitaphs. Thus, on the tablet to the memory of +the daughter of one of the Brothers was written: + + 'Thus we by want, more than by having, learn + The worth of things in which we claim concern.' + +On that of William Cutting, a benefactor to Gonville and Caius, +Cambridge, is written: + + 'Not dead, if good deedes could keep men alive, + Nor all dead since good deedes do men revive. + Gunville and Kaies his good deedes maie record, + And will (no doubt) him praise therefor afford.' + +On the tablet of Charles Stamford, clergyman: + + 'Mille modis morimur mortaies, nascimur uno: + Sunt hominum morbi milie sed una salus.' + +And to the memory of Robert Beadles, free-mason, one of His Majesty's +gunners of the Tower, who died in the year 1683: + + 'He now rests quiet, in his grave secure; + Where still the noise of guns he can endure; + His martial soul is doubtless now at rest, + Who in his lifetime was so oft oppressed + With care and fears, and strange cross acts of late, + But now is happy and in glorious state. + The blustering storm of life with him is o'er, + And he is landed on that happy shore + Where 'tis that he can hope and fear no more.' + +There they lay buried, the good people of St. Katherine's Precinct. +They were of all trades, but chiefly belonged to those who go down to +the sea in ships. On the list of names are those of half a dozen +captains, one of them captain of H.M.S. _Monmouth_, who died in the +year 1706, aged 31 years; there are the names of Lieutenants; there +are those of sailmakers and gunners; there is a sergeant of Admiralty, +a moneyer of the Tower, a weaver, a citizen and stationer, a Dutchman +who fell overboard and was drowned, a surveyor and collector--all the +trades and callings that would gather together in this little +riverside district separated and cut off from the rest of London. +Among the people who lived here were the descendants of them who came +away with the English on the taking of Calais, Guisnes, and Hames. +They settled in a street called Hames and Guisnes Lane, corrupted into +Hangman's Gains. A census taken in the reign of Queen Elizabeth showed +that of those resident in the Precinct, 328 were Dutch, 8 were Danes, +5 were Polanders, 69 Were French--all hat-makers--2 Spanish, 1 +Italian, and 12 Scotch. Verstegan, the antiquary, was born here, and +here lived Raymond Lully. During the last century the Precinct cane to +be inhabited almost entirely by sailors, belonging to every nation and +every religion under the sun. + +This was the place which it was permitted to certain promoters of a +Dock Company to destroy utterly. A place with a history of seven +hundred years, which might, had its ecclesiastical character been +preserved and developed, have been converted into a cathedral for East +London; or, if its secular character had been maintained, might have +become a noble centre of all kinds of useful work for the great +chaotic city of East London. They suffered it to be destroyed. It has +been destroyed for sixty years. As for calling the place in Regent's +Park St. Katherine's Hospital, that, I repeat, is absurd. There is no +longer a St. Katherine's Hospital. As well call the garish new +building on the embankment Sion College. That is not, indeed, Sion +College. The London Clergy, who, of all people, might have been +expected to guard the monuments of the past, have sold Sion College +for what it would fetch. The site of the Cripplegate nunnery; of +Elsing's Spital for blind men; of Sion College, or Clergy House, has +been destroyed by its own trustees. The sweet old place, the +peacefullest spot in the whole city, with its long low library, its +Bedesmen's rooms, and its quiet reading room, is gone. You might just +as well destroy Trinity College, Cambridge, and then stick up a modern +wing to Somerset House, and call that Trinity. In the same way St. +Katherine's by the Tower was destroyed sixty years ago. + +Let me repeat that the Hospital suffered four changes. + +First, it was founded by Queen Matilda, for the repose of her +children's souls. Next, it was dissolved and again founded, and +subsequently endowed as a Religious House with chantries, certain +definite duties of masses for the dead, certain charitable trusts, and +other functions. Thirdly, when the Mass ceased to be said it was +secularized completely. Service was held in the church, but the +Hospital became a perfectly secular charity, supporting a few +almspeople with niggard hand, and a Master in great splendour. +Fourthly, it was again treated as a semi-ecclesiastical foundation, +for reasons which do not appear. At the same time, while its charities +were enlarged, no duties were assigned to the Brothers, who seem to +have been considered as Fellows, forming the Society, and, therefore, +like the Fellows at Oxford and Cambridge, obliged to be in Holy +Orders. Lastly, as we have seen, it was destroyed. + +After the Hospital had been destroyed, a scheme for the management of +the revenues was suggested to Lord Elden, then Lord Chancellor, and +afterwards approved by Lord Lyndhurst. The question before the +Chancellor was, one would think, the following: 'Here is an annual +revenue of £5,000 and more, released by the destruction of the +Hospital. How can it be best applied for the general good or for the +benefit of the crowded city around the site of the old Hospital?' +That, however, was not the view of the Lord Chancellor. He said, +practically: + +'Here is a large property which has hitherto been devoted to the use +of maintaining in idleness, and not as a reward or pension for good +work done, a Master, three Brothers, three Sisters, and ten poor +women. The ecclesiastical purposes for which the property was +originally got together have long since utterly vanished. The church +in which service used to be held is abolished, and the place where it +stood is turned into a dock. We will build a new church where none is +wanted, we will perpetuate the waste of all this money; the stipends +of the Brothers and Sisters shall be raised; to the Brothers shall be +assigned, nominally, the service in the chapel, but they shall have a +chaplain or reader, to prevent this duty from becoming onerous; the +Sisters shall have nothing at all to do; the Bedeswomen shall be +deprived of their houses and shall receive no advance in their pay, +but they shall be doubled in number. Twenty Bedesmen shall also be +added with the same pay, viz., £10 a year, or 4s. a week.[NOTE: Note +that in 1545 each Bedeswomen received 10d, a week, and each Sister +3s., so that the proportion of Bedeswoman's pay to Sister's pay was +then as 1:3'6. But Lord Lyndhurst takes away the houses from the poor +women and gives them no more pay, so that, without _counting the loss +of their houses_, the Bedeswoman's pay under Victoria is to the +Sister's pay as 1:19. The Victorian Bedeswoman was therefore +relatively reduced in proportion to the Sister six-fold compared with +her Tudor predecessor.] The Master shall have a beautiful house with a +garden, conservancy, stabling for seven horses, and £1,200 a year, +besides comfortable perquisites. He shall have no duties except the +presidency of the chapter. And in order that the thing may not seem +perfectly and profoundly ridiculous there shall be a school of +twenty-four boys and twelve girls.' + +This was the solution proposed and adopted by two eminent Chancellors, +and carried into effect for thirty years. During the years 1858-1863 +the average revenue was £7,460 8s. 2-3/4d. Of this sum the Master, +Brethren, and Sisters absorbed with their buildings £4,102 8s. +2-3/4d.; the management expenses Were £909 5s. 6d.; the chapel cost +£211 17s. 11d., sundries amounted to £141 6s. 10-3/4 d.; and the +useful portion of the expenditure was represented by the sum of £554 +9s. 7-1/2 d. Absolute uselessness--for the chapel was by no means +wanted--is represented by £6,904, and usefulness by £554--a proportion +of very nearly 12-1/2:1. + +Yet another opportunity occurred of dealing rationally with this large +property. + +In the year 1871 a Royal Commission was appointed to examine 'into +several matters relative to the Royal Hospital of St. Katherine near +the Tower.' The question might again have been raised how best to +apply the large revenues for the general good. The Commissioners had +before them quite clearly the way in which the seven thousand and odd +pounds a year was being spent; they could arrive as easily as +ourselves at the proportion above set forth, viz.: + + Waste : usefulness :: 12-1/2 : 1. + +They threw away this opportunity; they could not tear away the +ecclesiastical rags with which the new foundation of 1827--the mock +St. Katherine's--has been wrapped in imitation of the old. In an age +when the universities have been secularized, when the Fellows of +colleges are no longer required to be in Orders, when every useless +old charity is being reformed, and every endowment reconsidered with a +view to making it useful to the living as, under former conditions, it +was to the dead, they actually proposed to increase the uselessness +and the waste by adding a fourth Brother (which has not been done), +and raising the stipends of Brothers and Sisters. They also +recommended the establishment of an upper school, with 'foundation +boarders.' Considering that the upper and middle classes have already +appropriated to their own use almost every educational endowment in +the country, this proposition seems too ridiculous. The whole Report +is indeed a marvellous illustration of the tenacity of old prejudices. +Yet it did one good thing; it recommended that the accounts of the +Hospital should be submitted every year to the Charity Commissioners, +thus distinctly recognising the fact that the new foundation is not an +ecclesiastical institution, but a charity. + +The Report mentions several propositions which had been laid before +the Commissioners during their inquiry for the application of the +revenues. The Committee of the Adult Orphan Institution thought that +they should like to administer the funds; the Rector of St. +George's-in-the-East thought that he should very much like to use them +for the purpose of converting that parish into 'a collegiate church, +under a dean and canons, who, with a sisterhood, might devote +themselves to the spiritual benefit, etc.'; others suggested that a +missionary collegiate church should be established 'as a centre of +missionary work for the East of London, with model schools, refuges, +reformatories, etc., conducted by the clergy.' Others, again, pleaded +for the use of the money in aid of the crowded parishes near the +Precinct. + +The Commissioners were of a different opinion. The Hospital, they +said, never had a local character. This is the most startling +statement that ever issued from the mouth of a Lord Chancellor. Not a +local character? Then for whom were the services of the church held? +Where were the Bedeswomen found? Where the poor scholars? Where did +the church stand? Who got the doles? Not a local character? We might +as well contend, for example, that Rochester Cathedral and Close and +School have no local character; that Portsmouth Dockyard has no local +character; that Westminster School has no local character. St. +Katherine's Hospital belonged to its Precinct, where it had stood for +some hundred years. As well pretend that the Tower itself has no local +character. The 'local character' of St. Katherine's grew year by year: +the founder thought only to make a bridge for her children from +purgatory to heaven by the harmonious voices of the Master, the +Brothers, and the Sisters; but purpose widens. Presently purgatory +disappears, and the whole ecclesiastical part of the foundation, +except service in the church, vanishes with it. There remain, however, +the revenues, and these belong, if any revenues could, to the +locality. + +In the year 1863 the proportion of waste to profit was as 12-1/2:1. +Has this proportion in the quarter of a century which has elapsed +increased or has it decreased? + +From time to time, as we have seen, the question forces itself upon +men's minds--whether this revenue could not be administered to better +advantage. Lord Somers encounters the difficulty in the year 1698; +Lord Lyndhurst in 1829; Lord Hatherley in 1871. I suppose that even a +Lord Chancellor does not claim infallible wisdom. Therefore I venture +to insist upon the facts that the Reformation destroyed the Religious +House of St. Katherine; that the changes made by Lord Somers only made +the old Hospital useless; and that the Royal Commission of the year +1871 confirmed, in the new foundation, the later uselessness of the +old. The House of Shams and Shadows in Regent's Park is not the old +St. Katherine's at all; that is dead and done with; it is a fungus +which sprang up yesterday, which is not wholesome for human food, and +uses up, for no good purpose, the soil in which it grows. + +Yet, because one would not be charged with unfairness, what does the +Rev. Simcox Lea, in his history of St. Katherine's Hospital (Longmans, +1878), say? + +'St. Katherine's Hospital is an Ecclesiastical Corporation, returned +as a "Promotion Spiritual" in the reign of Henry VIII., and so +acknowledged by law in the reign of Charles I. It takes its place as a +Collegiate Church with Westminster and Windsor. The Clerical Head of +its Chapter, the Master of the Hospital, will be entitled, unless Her +Majesty shall see fit otherwise to direct, to the style of Very +Reverend and the rank of Dean. The Brothers have the status and +dignity of Canons Residentiary, and through the Sisters of the Chapter +the parallel dignity of Canonesses is preserved, under another style, +to the English Church of our day. The Collegiate Chapter holds its +entire revenues subject to certain eleemosynary trusts embodied in its +original constitution, the ecclesiastical and the charitable charges +belonging alike to all the estates instead of being assigned +separately to different portions of them.... All these principles of +the constitution of St. Katherine's must be kept in view in any scheme +which it may be proposed to submit, or in any suggestions which may be +offered through the press, for the consideration of the Lord +Chancellor in reference to the advice which he may submit to the +Queen.... St. Katherine's Hospital is no more a "Charity" than +Westminster Abbey is a Charity, and to describe it as such, after the +true facts of the case are known, will leave any writer or speaker +open to the charge of discourtesy, directly offered to a capitular +body whose personal constitution is worthy of its high and ancient +corporate ecclesiastical dignity, and indirectly through the members +of the Chapter, to the Queen.' + +It will thus be seen that those of us who think that the place is a +Charity, and therefore call it one--including Lord Eldon and Lord +Lyndhurst, the Report of the Charity Commissioners in 1866, and Lord +Hatherley in 1871--are open to the charge of discourtesy. Well, let us +remain open to that charge; it does not kill. If it is not a Charity, +what is it? A place for getting the souls of rich men out of +purgatory? But the souls of rich men no longer in this country have +the privilege of being bought out of purgatory. Then what is it? A +place where seven well-born ladies and gentlemen are provided with +excellent houses and comfortable incomes--for doing what? Nothing. + +Let us, if we must, offer a compromise. Let the Master, Brothers, and +Sisters, now forming the Society of New St. Katherine's, remain in +Regent's Park. We will not disturb them. Let them enjoy their salaries +so long as they live. At their deaths let those who love shams and +pretences appoint other Brothers and Sisters who will have all the +dignity of the position without the houses or the salaries. We may +even go so far as to provide a chaplain for the service of the chapel, +if the good people of the Terraces would like those services to +continue. But as for the rest of the income one cannot choose but +ask--and, if the request be not granted, ask again, and again--that it +be restored to that part of London to which it belongs. One would not, +with the person who communicated with the Commissioners, insult East +London by founding a 'Missionary' College in its midst unless it be +allowed to have branches in Belgravia, Lincoln's Inn, the Temple, St. +John's Wood, South Kensington, and other parts of West London; we will +certainly not ask permission to turn St. George's-in-the-East into a +Collegiate Church with a Dean and Canons, 'and a sisterhood.' But one +must ask that the pretence and show of keeping up this ugly and +useless modern place as the ancient and venerable Hospital be +abandoned as soon as possible. That old Hospital is dead and +destroyed; its ecclesiastical existence had been dead long before, its +lands and houses and funds remain to be used for the benefit of the +living. + +Ten thousand pounds a year! This is a goodly estate. Think what ten +thousand pounds a year might do, well administered! Think of the +terrible and criminal waste in suffering all that money, which belongs +to East London, to be given away--year after year--in profitless alms +to ladies and gentlemen in return for no services rendered or even +pretended. Ten thousand pounds a year would run a magnificent school +of industrial education; it would teach thousands of lads and girls +how to use their heads and hands; it would be a perennial living +stream, changing the thirsty desert into flowery meads and fruitful +vineyards; it would save thousands of boys from the dreadful doom--a +thing of these latter days--of being able to learn no trade; it would +dignify thousands, and tens of thousands, of lives with the knowledge +and mastery of a craft; it would save from degradation and from +slavery thousands of women; it would restrain thousands of men from +the beery slums of drink and crime. Above all--perhaps this is the +main consideration--the judicious employment of ten thousand pounds a +year would be presently worth many millions a year to London from the +skilled labour it would cultivate and the many arts it would develop +and foster. + +It is a cruel thing--a most cruel thing--to destroy wantonly anything +that is venerable with age and associated with the memories of the +past. It was a horrible thing to destroy that old Hospital. But it is +gone. The house of Shams and Shadows in Regent's Park has got nothing +whatever to do with it. Its revenues did not make the old Hospital; +that was made up by its ancient church; by the old buildings clustered +round the church; by the old customs of the Precinct, with its Courts, +temporal and spiritual, its offices and its prison; by its +burial-grounds, with its Bedesmen and Bedeswomen, and by the rough +sailor population which dwelt in its narrow lanes and courts. How +_could_ that place be allowed to suffer destruction? But when the old +thing is gone we must cast about for the best uses of anything which +once belonged to it. And of all the uses to which the revenues of the +old Hospital might be put, the present seems the most unfit and the +least worthy. + +Again, if Queen Matilda in these days wished to do a good work, what +would she found? There are many purposes for which benevolent persons +bequeath and grant money. They are not the old purposes. They all +mean, nowadays, the advancement and bettering of the people. A great +lady spends thousands in founding a market; a man with much money +presents a free library to his native town; collections are made for +hospitals; everything is for the bettering of the people. We have not +yet advanced to the stage of bettering he rich people; but that will +come very shortly. In fact, the condition of the rich is already +exciting the gravest apprehensions among their poorer brethren. We can +trace, easily enough, the progress and growth of charity. It begins at +home, with anxiety for one's own soul first, and the souls of one's +children next. Charities give way to doles; doles are succeeded by +almshouses; these again by charity schools. The present generation has +begun to understand that the truest charity consists in throwing open +the doors to honest effort, and in helping those who help themselves. +Else what is the meaning of technical schools? What else mean the +classes at the People's Palace, the Polytechnic, the Evening +Recreation Schools, and the City of London Guilds Institute? + +I believe that a conviction of the new truer charity, and of the +futility of the old modes, is destined to sink deeper and deeper into +men's hearts, until our working classes will perhaps fall into the +extreme in unforgiving hardness towards those whom unthrift, +profligacy, idleness, have brought to want. But with this conviction +is growing up the absolute necessity of more technical schools and +better industrial training. We want to make our handicraftsmen better +than any foreigners. More than that, there are some who say that the +very existence of the United Kingdom as a Power depends upon our doing +this. Can we afford any longer to keep up, at a yearly loss of all the +power represented by ten thousand pounds a year, that house of Shams +and Shadows which we call by the name of the ancient and venerable +Hospital of St. Katherine's by the Tower? + + + + + +THE UPWARD PRESSURE: + + + +A PROPHETIC CHAPTER FROM THE 'HISTORY OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY' + + +The most striking part of the great Social Revolution which was +witnessed by the earlier years of the twentieth century was the event +which preceded that Revolution, made it possible, and moulded it; +namely, the Conquest of the Professions by the people. Happily it was +a Conquest achieved without exciting any active opposition; it +advanced unnoticed, step by step, and it was unsuspected, as regards +its real significance, until the end was inevitable and visible to +all. It is my purpose in this Chapter, first to show what was the +position of the mass of the nation before this event, as regards the +Professions; and next to relate briefly the successive events which +led to the Conquest, and so prepared the way for the abolition of all +that was then left of the old aristocratic régime. + +Speaking in general terms--the exceptions shall be noted +afterward--the Professions during the whole of the nineteenth century +were jealously barred and closed in and fenced round. Admission, in +theory, could only be obtained by young men of gentle birth and good +breeding. Not that there was any expressed rule to that effect. It was +not written over the gateway of Lincoln's Inn that none but gentlemen +were to be admitted, nor was it ever stated in any book or paper that +none but gentlemen were to be called. But, as you will be shown +immediately, the barring of the gate against the lad of humble origin +was quite as effectually accomplished without any law, mule, or +regulation whatever. + +The professional avenues of distinction which, early in the twentieth +century, were only three or four, had, by the end of the century, been +multiplied tenfold by the birth or creation of new Professions. +Formerly a young man of ambition might go into tho Church, into one of +the two services, into the Law, or into Medicine. He might also, if he +were a country gentleman, go into the House of Commons. At the end of +the century the professional career included, besides these, all the +various branches of Science, all the forms of Art, all the divisions +of Literature, Music, Architecture, the Drama, Engineering, Teaching, +Archaeology, Political Economy, and, in fact, every conceivable +subject to which the mind of man can worthily devote itself. + +In all these branches there were great--in some, very great--prizes to +be obtained; prizes not always of money, but of honour: in some of +them the prizes included what was considered the greatest of all +rewards--a Peerage. The country, indeed, was already beginning to +insist that the national distinctions should be bestowed upon all +those--and only upon those--who rendered real services to the State. +One poet had been made a Peer. One man of science had been made a +Privy Councillor, and another a Peer; two painters had been made +baronets; and the humble distinction of Knight Bachelor, which had +been tossed contemptuously to city sheriffs, provincial mayors, and +undistinguished persons who used back-stairs influence to get the +title, was now brought into better consideration by being shared by a +few musicians, engineers, physicians, and others. Nothing could more +clearly show the real contempt in which literature and science were +held in an aristocratic country than that, although there were a dozen +degrees of peerage and half a dozen orders of knighthood, there was +not one order reserved for men of science, literature, and art. Feeble +protests from time to time were made against this absurdity, but in +the end it proved useful, because the chief argument against the +continuance of titles of honour in the great debate on the subject, in +the year 1920, was the fact that all through the nineteenth century +the men who most deserved the thanks and recognition of the State were +(with the exception of soldiers and lawyers) absolutely neglected by +the Court and the House of Lords. + +Let us consider by what usages, rather than by what rules, the +Professions were barred to the people. In the Church a young man could +not be ordained under the age of twenty-three. Nor would the Bishop +ordain him, as a rule, unless he was a graduate of Oxford or +Cambridge. This meant that he was to stay at school, and that a good +school, till the age of nineteen; that he was then to devote four +years more to carrying on his studies in a very expensive manner; in +other words, that he must be able to spend at least a thousand pounds +before he could obtain Orders, and that he would then receive pay at a +much lower rate than a good carpenter or engine-driver. + +At the Bar it was the custom for a man to enter his name after leaving +the University: he would then be called at five or six-and-twenty. A +young man must be able to keep himself until that age, and even +longer, because a lawyer's practice begins slowly. There were also +very heavy dues on entrance and on being called. In plain terms, no +young man could enter at the Bar who did not possess or command, at +least, a thousand pounds. + +In the lower branch of the law a young man might, it is true, be +admitted at twenty-one. But he had to pay a heavy premium for his +articles, and large fees both at entrance and on passing the +examination which admitted him. Not much less, therefore, including +his maintenance, than a thousand pounds would be required of him +before he began to make anything for himself. A medical man, even one +who only desired to become a general practitioner, had to work through +a five years' course, with hospital fees. Like the solicitor, he might +qualify for about a thousand pounds. + +In all the new Professions, chemistry, physics, biology, zoology, +geology, botany, and the other branches of science, engineering, +mining, surveying, assying, architecture, actuary +work--everything--long a apprenticeship was needed with special +studies in costly colleges. + +In Teaching, he who aspired to the more distinguished branches had no +chance at all, unless he was a graduate in the highest honours of +Oxford and Cambridge. + +In the Arts--painting, sculpture, music--long practice, devoted study, +and exclusive thought were essential. + +The Civil Service was divided into two branches, both open to +competitive examination. The higher branch attracted first-class men +of Oxford and Cambridge; the lower, clever and well-taught men from +the Middle Class Schools. But the latter could not pass into the +former. + +In the Army, the only branch in which a man could live upon his pay +was the scientific branch, open to anybody who could compete in a very +stiff examination after a long and very expensive course of study, and +could pay £200 a year for two or three years after entrance. In the +other branches of the services, a young lieutenant could not live upon +his pay. + +In the Navy the examinations were frequent and severe, while the pay +was very small. + +The barrier, therefore, which kept the Professions in the hands of the +upper classes was a simple tollgate. At the toll stood a man. 'Come,' +he said, holding out an inexorable palm. 'With an education which has +cost you already a thousand pounds, be ready to pay down another +thousand more. Then you shall be admitted among the ranks of those for +whom are reserved the highest prizes of the State--viz., Authority, +Honour, and Wealth.' + +It is apparent, then, that no one could enter the Professions who had +no money. No need to write up 'None but the sons of gentlemen may +apply.' Very many sons of gentlemen, in fact, had to turn away +sorrowfully after gazing with wistful eyes upon that ladder which they +knew that they, too, could climb, as well as a Denman or an Erskine. +As for the sons of poor parents, they could not so much as think of +the ladder: they hardly knew that it existed: they cared nothing about +it. As well sigh for the Lord Mayor's gilt carriage and four, or the +Field Marshal's baton. No poor lad could aspire to the Professions at +all. In other words, out of a population of thirty-seven millions, or +eight millions of families, the way of distinction was open only to +the young man belonging to the half million families--perhaps +less--who could expend upon their son's education a thousand pounds +apiece. + +Nor for a long time was the exclusion felt or even recognised. He who +wished to rise out of the working class either became a small master +of his own trade, or else he opened a small shop of some kind. But he +did not aspire to become a physician or a barrister or a clergyman. +And it never occurred to him that such a career could be open to him. + +But as happened every day, such a man had got on in the world and was +ambitious for his son, he made him a doctor or a solicitor, these +being the two Professions which cost least--or perhaps he made him a +mechanical engineer, though it might cost a good deal more. Perhaps if +the boy was clever, he managed to send him to the University with the +intention of getting him ordained. Such was the first upward step in +gentility--first, to become a master instead of a servant; then, to +belong to a profession rather than a trade. Always, however, one had +to settle with the man at the toll. + +He was inexorable. 'Pay down,' he said, 'a thousand pounds if you +would be admitted within this bar.' + +The young man, therefore, whose father worked for wages, or for a +small salary, or in a small way of trade, could not so much as dream +of entering any of the Professions. They were as much closed to him as +the gates of Paradise. But during the nineteenth century a new +Profession was created, and this was open to him. This they could not +close. It had already grown went and strong before they thought of +closing it. It was open to the poor man's son. He went into it. And +with the help of it, as with a key, he opened all the rest. You shall +understand immediately what this was. + +I have spoken of certain exceptions to this exclusion of the lower +classes. There were provided at the public schools and the +Universities scholarships founded for the purpose of enabling poor +lads to carry on their studies. 'The schools had long ceased to be the +property of the poor for whom they were designed: their scholarships, +mostly of recent foundation, were granted by competitive examination +to those boys who had already spent a large sum of money on +preliminary work. The scholarships of the colleges at Oxford and +Cambridge were also given by examination, without the least +consideration of the candidates' private resources. There was, +however, a chance that a poor lad might get one of these. If he did, +everything was open to him. The annals of the Universities contain +numberless instances in which lads from the lower middle class made +their way, and a few instances--a very few--here one and there one--in +which the sons of working men thus forced themselves upward. We must +remember these scholarships when we speak of the barrier, but we must +not attach too much importance to them. One may also recall many +instances of generosity when a bay of parts was discovered, educated, +and sent to the University by a rich or noble patron. + +In the Army, again, many men rose from the ranks and obtained +commissions. In the Navy, this was always impossible, with one or two +brilliant exceptions--as the case of Captain Cook. + +It may be said that there are many cases on record in which men of +quite humble origin have advanced themselves in trade, even to +becoming Lord Mayor of London. Could not a poor lad do in the +nineteenth century what Whittington did in the fourteenth? Could he +not tie up his belongings in a handkerchief and make for London, where +the streets were paved with gold, and the walls were built of jasper? +Well, you see, in this matter of the poor lad and his elevation to +giddy heights there has been a little mistake, principally due to the +chap-books. The poor lad who worked his way upward in the nineteenth +century belonged to the bourgeoise, not the craftsman class. While his +schoolfellows remained clerks, he, by some early good fortune--by +marriage, by cousinship, was enabled to get his foot on the ladder, up +which he proceeded to climb with strength and resolution. The poor lad +who got on in earlier times was the son of a country gentleman. Dick +Whittington was the son of Sir William Whittington, Knight and +afterwards outlaw. He was apprenticed to his cousin, Sir John +Fitzwarren, Mercer and merchant-adventurer, son of Sir William +Fitzwarren, Knight. Again, Chichele, Lord Mayor, and his younger +brother, Sheriff, and his elder brother, Archbishop of Canterbury, +were sons of one Chichele, Gentleman and Armiger of Higham Ferrers in +the county of Northampton. Sir Thomas Gresham was the son of Sir +Richard Gresham, nephew of Sir John Gresham, and younger brother of +Sir John Gresham, also of a good old country family. In fact, we may +look in vain through the annals of London city for the rise of the +humble boy from the ranks of the craftsmen. Once or twice, perhaps, +one may find such a case. If we consider the early years of the +nineteenth century, when the long wars attracted to the army all the +younger sons, it does seem as if the Mayors and Aldermen must have +come from very humble beginnings. Even then, however, we find on +investigation that the city fathers of that time had mostly sprung +from small shops. They were never, to begin with, craftsmen, and at +the end of the century any such rise was never dreamed of by the most +ambitious. The clerk, if a lad became a clerk, remained a clerk: he +had no hope of becoming anything else. The shopman remained a shopman, +his only hope being the establishment of himself as a master if he +could save enough money. The craftsman remained a craftsman. And for +partnerships there were always plenty--younger sons and others--eager +to buy themselves in, or there were sons and nephews waiting their +turn. No son of a working man, or a clerk, could hope for any other +advancement in the City than advancement to higher salary for long and +faithful service. + +Once more, then, the situation was this: To him who could afford to +earn nothing till he was two-and-twenty, and little till he was +five-and-twenty, and could find the money for fees, lectures, and +courses and coaches, everything that the country had to offer was +open. With this limitation there was never any country in which prizes +were more open than Great Britain and Ireland. A clever lad might +enter the Royal Engineers or Artillery with a tolerable certainty of +being a Colonel and a K.C.B. at fifty; or he might go into the Church +where if he had ability and had cultivated eloquence and possessed +good manners, he might count on a Bishopric; or he might go to the +Bar, where, if he was lucky, he might become a judge or even Lord +Chancellor. Unless, however, he could provide the capital wanted for +admission, he could attain to nothing--nothing--nothing. + +What became, then, of the clever lad? In some cases he became a clerk, +crowding into a trade already overcrowded. He trampled on his +competitors, because most of them, the sons and grandsons of clerks, +had no ambition and no perception of the things wanted. This young +fellow had. He taught himself the things that were wanted; he +generally took therefore the best place. But he had to remain a clerk. + +Or, more often, he became a teacher in a Board School. In this +capacity he obtained a certain amount of social consideration, a +certain amount of independence, and an income varying From £150 to +£400 a year. + +Or, which also happened frequently, he might become a dissenting +minister of the humbler kind. In that case he had every chance of +passing through life in a little chapel at a small town, a slave to +his own, and to his congregation's, narrow prejudices. + +Or, he might go abroad, to one of the Colonies. Earlier in the +century, between the years 1850 and 1880, many poor lads had gone to +Australia or New Zealand and had done well for themselves, a few had +become millionaires; but by the year 1890 these Colonies, considered +as likely places wherein it young man could advance himself, seemed +played out. Working-men they wanted, but not clever and penniless +young fellows. + +He might, it has been suggested, go into the House. There were already +one or two workingmen in the House. But they were sent there +especially to represent certain interests by working-men, not because +their representative was an ambitious and clever young man. And the +working-man's member, so far, had advanced a very little way as a +political success. It was not in Politics that a young man would find +his opening. + +This brings us to the one career open to him--he might become a +Journalist. It is an attractive profession: and even in its lower +walks it seems a branch of literature. There is independence of hours: +the pay depends upon the man's power of work: there are great openings +in it and--to the rising lad at least--what seems a noble possibility +in the shape of pay. Many distinguished men have been journalists, +from Charles Dickens downward. Nearly all the novelists have dabbled +with journalism; and, since all of us cannot be novelists, the young +man might reflect that there are editor, sub-editors, assistant +editors, news-editors, leader writers, descriptive writers, reviewers, +dramatic critics, art and music critics, wanted for every paper. He +could become a journalist and he could rise to the achievement of +these ambitions. + +At first he rose a very little way, despite his ambition, because in +every branch of letters imperfect education is an insuperable +obstacle. Still he could become news-editor, descriptive reporter, +paragraph writer, and even, in the case of country papers, editor. +Sometimes he passed from the office of the journal to that of one of +the many societies, where he became secretary and succeeded in getting +his name associated with some cause, which gave him some position and +consideration. Whether he succeeded greatly or not, his whole object +was to pass from the class which has no possible future to the class +for which everything is open. His sons would be gentlemen, and if he +could only find the necessary funds, they should make what he had been +unable to make, an attempt upon the prizes of the State. + +This was the situation at the beginning of the last decade of the +nineteenth century. It is summed up by saying that all the avenues to +honour and power were closed and barred to the lad who could not +command a thousand pounds at least. Let us pass on. + +Most thoughtful people have considered the growth and development of +the great educational movement whose origin belongs to the nineteenth +century; whose development so profoundly affects the history of our +own. + +It began, like the spread of scientific knowledge, and the reforms in +the Old Constitution, and everything else, with the introduction of +railways. Before the end of the century the country was covered with +schools, as it was also covered with railways. There was hardly a man +or woman living when the nineteenth century ended who could not read; +there were few indeed who did not read. But the school course +naturally taught little beyond the elements and was already completed +when the pupil reached his fourteenth year. He was then taken from +school and put to work, apprenticed--set to something which was to be +his trade. Clever or stupid, keen of intellect or dull, that was to be +the lot of the boy. He was set to learn how to earn his livelihood. + +About the year 1885 or 1890--no exact date can be fixed for the birth +of a new idea--began a very remarkable extension of the educational +movement. It was discovered by philanthropists that something ought to +be done with the boys after they had left school. The first intentions +seem to have been simply to keep them out of mischief. Having nothing +to do the lads naturally took to loafing about the streets, smoking +bad tobacco, drinking, gambling, and precocious love-making. It was +also perceived by economists about the same time that unless something +was done for technical education, the old superiority of the British +craftsman would speedily vanish. It was further pointed out that the +education of the Board Schools gave the pupils little more than the +mastery of the merest elements, the tools by means of which knowledge +could be acquired. In order, therefore, to carry on general education +and to provide technical training there were started simultaneously in +every great town, but especially in London, Technical Schools, +'Continuation' Classes, Polytechnics, Young Men's Associations and +Clubs, Guilds for instruction and recreation--under whatever form they +were known, they were all schools. + +Then the young working lad was invited to enter himself at one of +these places, and to spend his evenings there. 'Come,' said the +founders, 'you are at an age when everything is new and everything is +delightful. Give up all your present joys. Send the girl with whom you +keep company, night after night, home to her mother. Put down your +cherished cigarette, cease to stand about in bars, give up drinking +beer, go no more to the music-hall. Abandon all that you delight in. +And come to us. After working all day long at your trade, come to us +and work all the evening at books.' + +A strange invitation! To forego delights and live laborious evenings. +Stranger still, the lads accepted the invitation. They accepted in +thousands. They consented to work every evening as well as every day. +The inducements to join were, in fact, artfully devised with a full +knowledge of boys' nature. What a boy desires, over and above +everything else, more than the company of a girl, more than idleness, +more than gambling, more than beer-drinking, more than tobacco, is +association with other lads of the same age. These Polytechnics or +Institutes or Clubs gave him, first of all, that association. They +provided him with societies of every kind. They added recreation to +study; pleasure to work. If half of the evening was spent in a +classroom, or in a workshop, the other half was passed in orderly +amusement. There was, moreover, every kind of choice; the lad felt +himself free, there were, to be sure, barriers here and there, but he +did not feel them; there was a steady pressure upon him in certain +directions, but he did not feel it; in some there were +prayer-meetings; the boys were not obliged to go, but some time or +other they found themselves present. Then there were some who wore the +blue ribbon of temperance; nobody was obliged to assume that symbol, +but somehow most of them did, without feeling that they had been +pressed to do so. For the very work and life and atmosphere of the +place into which beer was not admitted gave them a dislike for beer, +with its coarse and rough associations. Insensibly the boy who joined +was led upward to a nobler and higher level. + +The motives which were strong enough to persuade a working lad to work +on, over hours, may he partly understood by considering one of these +Institutions--the largest and the most popular--the Polytechnic of +Regent Street, called familiarly the Regent Street 'Poly,' with its +thirteen thousand members. Take first its social side, as offering +naturally greater attractions than its educational side. It contained +about forty clubs. The new member on joining was asked in a pamphlet +these three questions: + +1. 'Do you wish to make friends?' + +2. 'Are you anxious to improve yourself?' + +3. 'Do you seek the best opportunities of recreation in your leisure +hours?' + +Observe that the serious object is placed between the other two. What +the Poly lads said to the new member was: 'Come in and have a good old +time with us.' It was for the good old time that the new member +joined. Once in he could look about him and choose. The Gymnasium, the +Boxing Club, the Swimming Club, the Roller-skating Club, the Cricket, +Football, Lawn Tennis, Athletic, Rowing, Cycling, Ramblers and +Harriers Clubs all invited him to join. Surely, among so many clubs +there must be one that he would like. Of course they had their showy +uniform, their envied Captains and other officers, their field days, +their public days, and their prizes. Or there was the Volunteer Corps, +with its Artillery Brigade, and its Volunteer Medical Staff Corps. +There was the Parliament, conducted on the same rules as that of the +House of Commons. For the quieter lads there were Sketching, Natural +History, Photographic, Orchestral, and Choral Societies. There was a +Natural History Society and an Electrical Engineering Society. There +were also associations for religious and moral objects; a Christian +Workers' Union, a Temperance Society, a Social League, a Polytechnic +Mission, and a Bible Class. There were reading-rooms and +refreshment-rooms; in the suburbs there were playing-fields for them. +Up the river was a house-boat for the Rowing Club, the largest on the +Thames. Add to all this an intense 'College feeling'; an ardent +enthusiasm for the Poly; friendships the most faithful; a wholesome, +invigorating, stimulating atmosphere; the encouragement always felt of +bravo endeavour and noble effort, and high principle--in one word the +gift to the young fellows of the working class of all that the public +schools and universities could offer that was best and most precious. +Such an institution as the Polytechnic--mother and sister of so many +others--was a revolution in itself. + +But for the second question: 'Are you anxious to improve yourself?' +What answer was given? Strange to say the answer was also very +decidedly in the affirmative. + +The young fellows were anxious to improve themselves. Now, mark the +difference between these working lads and the boys from the public +schools. Had such a question been put to the latter their answer would +have been a contemptuous stare, or a contemptuous laugh. Improve +themselves? They were already improved. They were so far improved that +nine-tenths of them were contented with the moderate amount of +knowledge necessary for the practice of their professions. If one +became a solicitor, a doctor, a schoolmaster, a barrister, a +clergyman, it was sufficient for him, in most cases, just to pass the +examinations. Then, no further improvement for the rest of their +natural life. But these others, who had everything to gain, whose +ambitions were just awakening, who were just beginning to understand +that there was every inducement to improve themselves, joined the +classes, and began to work with as much zeal as they showed in their +play. + +What they learned concerns us little. It may be recorded, however, +that they learned everything. Practical trades were taught; technical +classes were held; there was a School of Science in which such +subjects as chemistry, physics, mathematics, mechanics, building, were +taught. There was a School of Art, in which wood modelling, carving, +and other minor arts were taught, as well as painting and drawing. +There was a Commercial School for Arithmetic, Book-keeping, Shorthand, +Typewriting; French, German, etc., were taught; there were Musical +Classes, Elocution Classes, a School of Engineering, a School of +Photography. Enough; it will be seen that everything a lad might +desire to learn he could learn and did learn. + +But the Polytechnic was only one of many such institutions. In London +alone there existed, in the year 1893, between two and three hundred, +large and small; there were nearly fifty branches of the University +Extension Scheme; the Continuation classes were held in many Board +Schools, while of special clubs, mostly for athletic purposes, the +number was legion. As for the numbers enrolled in these associations, +already in 1893, when those things were all young, one finds 13,000 +members of the Regent Street Poly, 4,000 at the People's Palace; the +same number at the Birkbeck; the same at the Goldsmiths' Institute; at +the City of London College, 2,500; and so on. Of the Athletic Clubs +the Cyclists' Union alone contained no fewer than 20,000 members. + +Figures may mean anything. It is, however, significant that in a +population of five millions which gives perhaps 700,000 young men +between fifteen and twenty, of whom about 100,000 were below the rank +of craftsmen and 100,000 above, there should have been found a few +years after the introduction of the system about 70,000 youths wise +enough and resolute enough to join these classes. + +It must be owned that only the more generous spirits--the nobler +sort--were attracted by the Polytechnics. They were a first selection +from the mass. Of these, again, another selection was made--those few +who studied the things which at first sight appeared to be least +useful. Everyone who knew a craft could see the wisdom of acquiring +perfection in his trade; everyone who was a clerk, or who hoped to +become a clerk, could see the advantage of learning shorthand, +book-keeping, French and German. What did that boy aim at who studied +Latin, Greek, and Mathematics, matriculated and took his degree at the +London University, then an examining body only? Why did he learn time +things? He did not learn them, remember, in the perfunctory way in +which a public-school boy generally works through his subjects; he +learned as if he meant to know these subjects; he devoured his books; +he tore the heart out of them; he compelled them to give up their +secrets. He had everything to get for himself, while the public-school +boy had everything given to him. + +When it was done, when he had acquired as much knowledge as any +average boy from the best public school, when he had read in the Poly +Reading Room all that there was to read, what was he to do? For when +he looked about him he saw, stretching before him, fair and stately, +the long avenues which led to distinction; but before each there was a +toll-gate, and at the gate stood a man, saying, 'Pay me first a +thousand pounds. Then, and not till then, you shall enter.' + +Alas! and he had not a sixpence--he, or his parents. And so perforce +he must stand aside, while other lads, without his intellect and +courage, paid the money, and were admitted. + +There was but one outlet. He might become a journalist. He had learned +shorthand, a necessary accomplishment; therefore, he got an +appointment as reporter and general hand on a country paper. Such a +youth in these years of which we write was uncommon, but he very soon +became much more common. The charm of learning was discovered by one +lad after another. The chance of exchanging the craftsman's work for +the scholar's work, never thought of before, fired the brains of +hundreds first, and thousands afterward. Then began a rage for +learning. All those who had abilities even mediocre tried to escape +their lot by working at the higher subjects. It was reproached to the +Polytechnics that their original purpose, to bring the boys together +for common discipline and orderly recreation, and to train them in +their crafts, was departed from, and that all their energies were now +devoted to turning working lads into classical scholars, +mathematicians, logicians, and historians. + +Nor was the complaint wholly unfounded. But it was too late to recede. +The boys crowded to the classes; they read and worked with incredible +eagerness; they thought that to be a man of books was better than to +be a man with a saw and a plane. Ambition seized them seized them by +tens of thousands; they would rise. Learning was their stepping-stone. +The recreative side of the Polytechnics was lost in the educational +side. Never before had there been such an ardour, such a thirst for +knowledge; yet only for knowledge as a means to rise. And there was +but one outlet. That, in the course of a few years, became congested. +Journalism, as the number of papers increased, demanded more workmen, +and still more. These young men from the Polytechnic filled up every +vacancy. They had seized upon this profession and made it their own; +those who did not belong to them were gradually, but surely, ousted. +It was recognised that it was the profession of the young man who +wanted to get on. Some there were who affected to lament an alleged +decay; the old scholarly style, they said, was gone; there was also +gone the old reverence for authority, rank, and the established order. +Perhaps the journal, as the new men made it, was above all vigorous. +But it was _true_, which could not always be said of the papers before +their time. From their college--the old Poly--the young men carried +away a love of truth and right dealing which, once imported into the +newspaper press, made it an engine far more mighty--an influence far +more potent--than ever it had been before. There may have been some +loss in style, though many of them wrote gracefully, and many showed +on occasion a wonderful command of wit, sarcasm and satire. But +because the papers were always truthful the writers always knew what +they wanted, and so their work had the strength of directness. + +A few, but very few, continued at the work, whatever it might be, to +which they had been apprenticed. Then their lives were spent in a day +of painful drudgery, followed by an evening of delightful study. Very +few heard of these men. Now and then one would be discovered by a +clergyman working in his parish; now and then one emerged from +obscurity by means of a letter or a paper contributed to some journal. +Most of them lived and died unknown. + +Yet there was one. His case is remarkable because it first set rolling +the ball of reform, He was by trade a metal turner and fitter; he had +the reputation of being an unsociable man because he went home every +day after work and stayed there; he was unmarried and lived alone in a +small, four-roomed cottage near Kilburn, one of a collection of +Workmen's villages. Here it was known that he had a room which he had +furnished with a furnace, a table, shelves and bottles, and that he +worked every evening at something. One day there appeared in a +scientific paper an article containing an account of certain +discoveries of the greatest importance, signed by a name utterly +unknown to scientific men. The article was followed by others, all of +the greatest interest and originality. The man himself had little idea +of the importance of his own discoveries. When his cottage was +besieged by leaders in the world of science, he was amazed; he showed +his simple laboratory to his visitors; he spoke of his labours +carelessly; he told them that he was a metal turner by trade, that he +worked every day for an employer at a wage of thirty-five shillings a +week, and that he was able to devote his evenings to reading and +research. They made him an F.R.S., the first working man who had ever +attained that honour. They tried to get him put upon the Civil List, +but the First Lord of the Treasury had already, according to the usual +custom, given away the annual grant made by the House for Literature, +Science and Art, to the widows and daughters of Civil servants. This +attempt failing, the Royal Society, in order to take him away from his +drudgery, created a small sinecure post for him, and in this way found +an excuse for giving him a pension. + +Then some writer in a London 'Daily' asked how it was that with his +genius for science, which, it was now recalled, had been remarked +while he was a student at the South London Poly, this man had been +allowed to remain at his trade. + +And the answer was, 'Because there is no opening for such an one.' + +It is very astonishing, when we consider the obvious nature of certain +truths, to remark how slow man is to find them out. Now, this +exclusion of all those who could not afford to pay his toll to the man +at the gate had, up to that moment, been accepted as if it were a law +of Nature. As in other things, men said, if they talked about the +matter at all, 'What is, must be. What is, shall be. What is, has +always been. What is, has been ordained by God Himself.' There is +nothing more difficult than to effect a reform in men's minds. The +reformer has, first, to persuade people to listen. Sometimes he never +succeeds, even in this, the very beginning. When they do listen, the +thing, being new to them, irritates them. They therefore call him +names. If he persists they call him worse names. If they can, they put +him in prison, hang him, burn him. If they cannot do this, and he goes +on preaching new things, they presently begin to listen with more +respect. One or two converts are made. The reformer expands his views; +his demands become larger; his claims far exceed the modest dimensions +of his first timid words. And so the reform, bit by bit, is effected. + +At first, then, the demand was for nothing more than an easier +entrance into the scientific world, This naturally rose out of the +case. 'Let us,' they said, 'take care that to such a man as this any +and every branch of science shall be thrown open. But for that purpose +it is necessary that scholarships, whether given at school or college, +shall be sufficient for the maintenance as well as for the tuition +fees of those who hold them.' These scholarships, it was argued, had +been founded for poor students, and belonged to them. All the papers +took up the question, and all, with one or two exceptions, were in +favour of 'restoring'--that was the phrase--'his scholarships'; 'his,' +it was said, assuming that they were his originally--to the poor man. +In vain was it pointed out that these scholarships had been for the +most part founded in recent times when public schools and universities +had long become the property of the richer class, and that they were +needed as aids for those who were not rich, not as means of +maintenance for those who wanted to rise out from one class into +another. + +The cry was raised at the General Election; the majority came into +power pledged to the hilt to restore his scholarships to the poor +student. Then, of course, a compromise was effected. There was created +a class of scholarships at certain public schools for which candidates +had to produce evidence that they possessed nothing, and that their +parents would not assist them. Similar scholarships were created at +Oxford and Cambridge, out of existing revenues, and it was hoped that +concessions opening all the advantages that the public schools and +universities had to give would prove sufficient. By this time the +country was fully awakened to the danger of having thrown upon their +hands a great class of young men who thought themselves too well +educated for any of the lower kinds of work, and were too numerous for +the only work open to them. No one, as yet, it must be remembered, had +ventured to propose throwing open the Professions. + +The concessions were found, however, to make very little difference. +Now and then a lad with a scholarship forced his way to the head of a +public school, and carried off the highest honours at the University. +Mostly, however, the poor scholar was uncomfortable; he could neither +speak, nor think, nor behave like his fellows; the atmosphere chilled +him; too often he failed to justify the early promise; if he succeeded +in getting a 'poor' scholarship at college, he too often ended his +University career with second-class Honours, which were of no use to +him at all, and so he was again face to face with the question: What +to do? His college would not continue to support him. He could not get +a mastership in a good school because there was a prejudice against +'poor' scholars, who were supposed incapable of acquiring the manners +of a gentleman. So he, too, fell back upon the only outlet, and tried +to become a journalist. + +Every day the pressure increased; the pay of the journalist went down; +work could be got for next to nothing, and still the lads poured into +the classes by the thousand, all hoping to exchange the curse of +labour by their hands for that of labour by the pen. No one as yet had +perceived the great truth which has so enormously increased the +happiness of our time that all labour is honourable and respectable, +though to some kinds of labour we assign greater, and some lesser, +honour. The one thought was to leave the ranks of the working man. + +It is not to be supposed that this great class would suffer and starve +in silence. On the contrary, they were continually proclaiming their +woes; the papers were filled with letters and articles. 'What shall we +do with our boys?' was the heading that one saw every day, somewhere +or other. What, indeed! No one ventured to say that they had better go +back to their trade; no one ventured to point out that a man might be +a good cabinet-maker although he knew the Integral Calculus. If one +timidly asked what good purpose was gained by making so many scholars, +that man was called Philistine, first; obstructive, next; and other +stronger names afterward. And yet no one ventured to point out that +all the Professions--and not science only, through the +Universities--might be thrown open. + +Sooner or later this suggestion was certain to be made. It appeared, +first of all, in an unsigned letter addressed to one of the evening +papers. The writer of the letter was almost certainly one of the +suffering class. He began by setting forth the situation, as I have +described it above, quite simply and truly. He showed, as I have +shown, that the Professions and the Services were closed to those who +had no money. And he advanced for the first time the audacious +proposal that they should be thrown open to all on the simple +condition of passing an examination. 'This examination,' he said, 'may +be made as severe as can be desired or devised. There is no +examination so severe that the students of our Polytechnics cannot +face and pass it triumphantly. Let the examination, if you will, be +intended to admit none but those who have taken or can take +first-class Honours. The Poly students need not fear to face a +standard even so high as this. Why should the higher walks of life be +reserved for those who have money to begin with? Why should money +stand in the way of honour? Among the thousands of young men who have +profited by the opportunities offered to them there must be some who +are born to be lawyers; some who are born to be doctors; some who are +born to be preachers; some who are born to be administrators.' And so +on, at length. It was not, however, by a letter in a paper, or by the +leading articles and the correspondence which followed that the +suggested change was effected. But the idea was started. It was talked +about; it grew as the pressure increased it grew more and more. +Meetings were held at which violent speeches were delivered: the +question of opening the Professions was declared of national +importance; at the General Election which followed some months after +the appearance of the letter, members were returned who were pledged +to promote the immediate throwing open of all the Professions to all +who could pass a certain examination; and the first step was taken in +opening all commissions in the Army to competitive examination. + +The Professions, however, remained obstinate. Law and Medicine refused +to make the least concession. It was not until an Act of Parliament +compelled them that the Inns of Court, the Law Institute, the Colleges +of Physicians, Surgeons, and Apothecaries consented to admit +all-comers without fees and by examination alone. + +Then followed such a rush into the Professions as had never before +been witnessed. Already too full, they became at once absolutely +congested and choked. Every other man was either a doctor or a +solicitor. It was at first thought that by making examinations of the +greatest severity possible the rush might be arrested. But this proved +impossible, for the simple reason that an examination for admission, +necessarily a mere 'pass' examination, must be governed and limited by +the intellect of the average candidate. Moreover, in Medicine, if too +severe an examination is proposed, the candidate sacrifices actual +practice and observation in the Hospital wards to book-work. Therefore +the examinations remained much as they always had been, and all the +clever lads from all the Polytechnics became, in an incredibly short +time, members of the Learned Professions. + +There can be no doubt that the Bench and the Bar, that Medicine and +Surgery, owe to the emancipation of the Professions many of their +noblest members. Great names occur to every one which belong to this +and that Polytechnic, and are written on the walls in letters of gold +as an encouragement to succeeding generations. One would not go back +to the old state of things. At the same time there were losses and +there are regrets. So great, for instance, was the competition in +Medicine that the sixpenny General Practitioner established himself +everywhere, even in the most fashionable quarters; so numerous were +solicitors that the old system of a recognised tariff was swept away +and gave place to open competition as in trade. That the two branches +of the law should be fused into one was inevitable; that the splendid +incomes formerly derived from successful practice should disappear was +also a matter of course. And there were many who regretted not only +the loss of the old professional rules and the old incomes, but also +the old professional _esprit de corps_--the old jealousy for the +honour and dignity of the profession: the old brotherhood. All this +was gone. Every man's hand was against his neighbour; advocates sent +in contracts for the job; the physicians undertook a case for so much; +the surgeon operated for a contract price; the usages of trade were +all transferred to the Professions. + +As for the Services, the Navy remained an aristocratic body; boys were +received too young for the Polytechnic lads to have a chance; also, +the pay was too small to tempt them, and the work was too scientific. +In the Army a few appeared from time to time, but it cannot be said +that as officers the working-classes made a good figure. They were not +accustomed to command; they were wanting in the manners of the camp as +well as those of the court; they were neither polished enough nor +rough enough; the influence of the Poly might produce good soldier +obedient, high-principled, and brave; but it could not produce good +officers, who must be, to begin with, lads born in the atmosphere of +authority, the sons of gentlemen or the sons of officers. Yet even +here there were exceptions. Every one, for instance, will remember the +case of the general--once a Poly boy--who successfully defended Herat +against an overwhelming host of Russians in the year 1935. + +It was not enough to throw open the Professions. Some there were in +which, whether they were thrown open or not, a new-comer without +family or capital or influence could never get any work. Thus it would +seem that Engineering was a profession very favourable to such +new-comers. It proved the contrary. All engineers in practice had +pupils--sons, cousins, nephews--to whom they gave their appointments. +To the new-comer nothing was given. What good, then, had been effected +by this revolution? Nothing but the crowding into the learned +Professions of penniless clever lads? Nothing but the destruction of +the old dignity and self-respect of Law and Medicine? Nothing but the +degradation of a Profession to the competition of trade? + +Much more than this had been achieved. The Democratic movement which +had marked the nineteenth century received its final impulse from this +great change. Everyone knows that the House of Lords, long before the +end of that century, had ceased to represent the old aristocracy. The +old names were, for the most part, extinct. A Cecil, a Stanley, a +Howard, a Neville, a Bruce, might yet be found, but by far the greater +part of the Peers were of yesterday. Nor could the House be kept up at +all but for new creations. They were made from rich trade or from the +Law, the latter conferring respect and dignity upon the House. But +lawyers could no longer be made Peers. They were rough in manners, and +they had no longer great incomes. Moreover, the nation demanded that +its honours should be equally bestowed upon all those who rendered +service to the State, and all were poor. Now a House of poor Lords is +absurd. Equally absurd is a House of Lords all brewers. Hence the fall +of the House of Lords was certain. In the year 1924 it was finally +abolished. + +In the next chapter I propose to relate what followed this rush into +the Professions. We have seen how the grant of the higher education to +working lads caused the Conquest of the Professions and brought about +the change I have indicated. We have seen how this revolution was +bound to sweep away in its course the last relics of the old +aristocratic constitution of the country. It remains to be told how +learning, when it became the common possession of all clever lads, +ceased to be a possession by which money could be made, except by the +very foremost. Then the boys went back to their trades. If the reign +of the gentleman is over, the learning and the power and culture that +has belonged to the gentleman now belongs to the craftsman. This, at +least, must be admitted to be pure gain. For one man who read and +studied and thought one hundred years ago, there are now a thousand. +Editions of good books are now issued by a hundred thousand at a time. +The Professions are still the avenues to honours. Still, as before, +the men whom the people respect are the followers of science, the +great Advocate the great Preacher, the great Engineer, the great +Surgeon, the great Dramatist, the great Novelist, the great Poet. That +the national honours no longer take the form of the Peerage will not, +I think, at this hour, be admitted to be a subject for regret by even +the stanchest Conservative. + +[1893.] + + + + + +I.--THE LAND OF ROMANCE + + + +At the back of the setting sun; beyond the glories of the evening; on +the other side of the broad, mysterious ocean, lay for nine +generations of Englishmen the Land of Romance. It began--for the +English youth--to be the Land of Romance from the very day when John +Cabot discovered it for the Bristol merchants it continued to be their +Land of Romance while every sailor-captain discovered new rivers, new +gulfs, and new islands, and went in search of new north-west passages, +while the rovers, freebooters, privateers and buccaneers, put out in +their crazy, ill-found craft, to rob and slay the Spaniard; while the +mystery of the unknown still lay upon it; long after the mystery had +mostly gone out of it, save for the mystery of the Aztec; it remained +the Land of Romance when New England was fully settled and Virginia +already an old colony; it was the English Land of Romance while King +George's redcoats fought side by side with the colonials, to drive the +French out of the continent for ever. + +We have had India, as well. Surely, in the splendid story of the long +struggle with France for the Empire of the East, in the achievements +of our soldiers, in the names of Clive, Lawrence, Havelock; in the +setting of the piece, so to speak, in its people, its wisdom, its +faith, its cities, its triumphs, its costumes, its gold and silver and +precious stones and costly stuffs--there is material wherewith to +create a romance of its own, sufficient to fire the blood and stir the +pulse and light the eye. Or, we have had Australia, New Zealand, the +Cape of Good Hope; coral isles, strongholds, fortresses, islands here, +and great slices and cantles of continent there. We have had all these +possessions, but round none of these places has there grown up the +romance which clung to the shores of America, from the mouth of the +Orinoco round the Spanish Main, and from Florida to Labrador. This +romance formerly belonged to the whole of our people. In their +imaginations--in their dreams--they turned to America. There came a +time when this romance was destroyed violently and suddenly, and, +apparently, for ever. In another shape it has grown up again, for some +of us; it is taking fresh root in some hearts, and putting forth new +branches with new blossoms, to bear new fruit. America may become, +once more, the Land of Romance to the Englishman. I say with intent, +the Englishman. For, if you consider, it was the Englishman, not the +Scot or the Irishman, who discovered America by means of John Cabot +and his Bristol merchants--not to speak of Leif, the son of Eric, or +of Madoc, the Welshman. It was the Englishman, not the Scot or the +Irishman, who fought the Spaniard; who sent planters to Barbadoes; who +settled colonists and convicts in Virginia; from England, not from +Ireland or Scotland, went forth the Pilgrims and the Puritans. While +the Scottish gentlemen were still taking service in foreign +courts--as, for example, the Admirable Crichton with the Duke of +Mantua--the young Englishman was sailing with Cavendish or Drake; he +was fighting and meeting death under desperadoes, such as Oxenham; he +was even, later on, serving with L'Olonnois, Kidd, or Henry Morgan. +All the history of North America before the War of Independence is +English history. Scotland and Ireland hardly came into it until the +eighteenth century; till then their only share in American history was +the deportation of rebels to the plantations. The country was +discovered by England, colonized by England; it was always regarded by +England as specially her own child; the sole attempt made by Scotland +at colonization was a failure; and to this day it is England that the +descendants of the older American families regard as the cradle of +their name and race. + +As for the men who created this romance, they belong to a time when +the world had renewed her youth, put the old things behind, and begun +afresh, with new lands to conquer, a new faith to hold, new learning, +new ideas, and new literature. Those who sit down to consider the +Elizabethan age presently fall to lamenting that they were born three +hundred years too late to share those glories. Their hearts, +especially if they are young, beat the faster only to think of Drake. +They long to climb that tree in the Cordilleras and to look down, as +Drake and Oxenham looked down, upon the old ocean in the East and the +new ocean in the West; they would like to go on pilgrimage to Nombre +de Dios--Brothers, what a Gest was that!--and to Cartagena, where +Drake took the great Spanish ship out of the very harbour, under the +very nose of the Spaniard, they would like to have been on board the +_Golden Hind_, when Drake captured that nobly laden vessel, _Our Lady +of the Conception_, and used her cargo of silver for ballasting his +own ship. Drake--the 'Dragon'--is the typical English hero; he is +Galahad in the Court of the Lady Gloriana; he is one of the long +series of noble knights and valiant soldiers, their lives enriched and +aglow with splendid achievements, who illumine the page of English +history, from King Alfred to Charles Gordon. + +The first and greatest of the Elizabethan knights is Drake; but there +were others of nearly equal note. What of Raleigh, who actually +founded the United States by sending the first colonists to +Virginia--the country where the grapes grew wild? What of Martin +Frobisher and Humphrey Gilbert? What of Cavendish? What of Captain +Amidas? What of Davis and half a score more? The exploits and +victories and discoveries--in many cases, the disasters and death--of +these sea-dogs filled the country from end to end with pride, and +every young, generous heart with envy. They, too, would sail Westward +Ho! to fight the Spaniard--three score of Englishmen against thousand +Dons--and sail home again, heavy laden with the silver ingots of Peru, +taken at Palengue or Nombre de Dios. Kingsley has written a book about +these adventurers; a very good book it is; but his pictures are marred +with the touch of the ecclesiastic--we need not suppose that the young +men sat always Bible in hand, talked like seminarists, or thought like +curates. The rovers who sailed with Drake and Raleigh had their +religion, like their rations, served out to them. Sailors always do. +Drake, the captain, might and did, consult the Bible for encouragement +and hope. Even he, however, reserved the right of using profane oaths; +that right survived the older form of faith. In a word, the +Elizabethan sailor--although a Protestant--was, in all respects, like +his predecessor, save that on this new battle-field he was filled with +a larger confidence and an audacity almost incredible to read +of--almost impossible to think upon. + +This was the first phase of the romance which grew up along the shores +of America. So far it belongs to the Spanish Main and to the Isthmus +of Panama. The romance remained when the Elizabethans passed +away--they were followed by the buccaneers, privateers, marooners and +pirates--a degenerate company, but not without their picturesque side. +Pierre le Grand, François l'Olonnois, Henry Morgan, are captains only +one degree more piratical than Drake and Raleigh. Edward Teach, Kidd, +Avery, Bartholomew Roberts were pirates only because they plundered +ships English and French as well as Spanish; that they were roaring, +reckless, deboshed villains as well, detracted little from the renown +with which their names and exploits were surrounded, and that they +were mostly hanged in the end was an accident common to such a life, +the men under Drake were also sometimes hanged, though they were +mostly killed by sword, bullet, or fever. The romance remained. The +lad who would have enlisted under Drake found no difficulty in joining +Morgan, and, if the occasion offered, he was ready to join the bold +Captain Kidd with alacrity. + +The seventeenth century furnished another kind of romance. It was the +century of settlement. In the year 1606, after Sir Walter Raleigh had +led the way, the Virginia Company sent out the _Susan Constant_ with +two smaller ships, containing a handful of colonists. They settled on +the James River. Among them was John Smith, an adventurer and +free-lance quite of the Elizabethan strain. In him John Oxenham lived +again. We all know the story of Captain John Smith. He began his +career by killing Turks; he continued it by exploring the creeks and +rivers of Virginia, with endless adventures. Sometimes he was a +prisoner of the Indians. Once, if his own account is true, he was +rescued from imminent death by the intervention of Pocahontas, called +Princess--or Lady Rebecca. He explored Chesapeake Bay, and he gave the +name of New England to the country north of Cape Cod. Such histories, +of which this is only one, kept alive in England the adventurous +spirit and the romance of the West. The dream of _finding_ gold had +vanished: what belonged to the present were the things done and +suffered in His Majesty's plantations with all that they suggested. It +is most certain that in every age there are thousands who continually +yearn for the 'way of war' and the life of battle. Mostly, they fail +in their ambitions because in these times the nations fear war. In the +seventeenth century there was always good fighting to be got somewhere +in Europe; if everything else failed there were the American Colonies +and the Indians--plenty of fighting always among the Indians. + +Besides the romance of war there was the romance of religious freedom. +Everybody in America knows the story of the _Mayflower_ and her +Pilgrims in 1620, and the coming of the Puritans in 1630 under John +Winthrop and the Massachusetts Company. I suppose, also, that all +Americans know of the _Ark_ and the _Dove_, and of Lord Baltimore's +Catholic, but tolerant, colony of Maryland. They know as well the very +odd story of Carolina and its 'Lords Proprietors' and the aristocratic +form of government attempted there; of the Quakers in Pennsylvania, +and the Temperance Colony of Georgia. One may recall as well the +influx of Germans by thousands in the early part of the eighteenth +century, and the first immigration of Irish Presbyterians, the flower +of the Irish nation, driven abroad by the stupidity and fanaticism of +their own Government, which wanted to make them conform to the Irish +Episcopal Church. In the whole history of Irish misgovernment there is +nothing more stupid than this persecution of Irish Presbyterians. But, +indeed, we may not blame our forefathers for this stupidity. +Persecution of this kind belonged to the times. It seems to us +inconceivably stupid that men should be exiled because they would not +acknowledge the authority of a bishop, but, out of Maryland, there was +nowhere any real religious toleration; the dream of every sect was to +trample down and to destroy all other sects. Our people in Ireland +were no worse than the people of Salem and Boston. Religious +toleration was not yet understood. Therefore, it was only playing the +game according to the laws of the game when the United Kingdom threw +away tens of thousands--the strongest, the most able, the most +industrious, the most loyal--of her Irish subjects, because they would +not change one sect for another; and retained the Roman Catholics, +hereditary rebels, who were numerically too strong to be turned out. + +All these things are perfectly well known to the American reader. But +is it also well known to the American reader--has he ever asked +himself--how these things affected and impressed the mind of England? + +In this way. The Land of Romance was no longer the fable land where a +dozen Protestant soldiers, headed by the invincible Dragon, could +drive out a whole garrison of Catholic Spaniards and sack a town. It +had ceased to be another Ophir and a richer Golconda; but it was the +Land of Religious Freedom. The Church of England and Ireland, by law +established, had no power across the ocean. America, to the +Nonconformist of the seventeenth century, was a haven and a refuge +ever open in case of need. The history of Nonconformity shows the +vital necessity of such a refuge. The very existence of free America +gave to the English Nonconformist strength and courage. Such a +persecution as that of the Irish Presbyterians became impossible when +it had been once demonstrated that, should the worst happen, the +persecuted religionists would escape by voluntary exile. + +That the spirit of persecution long survived is proved by the +lingering among us down to our own days of the religious disabilities. +Within the memory of living men, no one outside the Church of England +could be educated at a public school; could take a degree at Oxford or +Cambridge; could hold a scholarship or a fellowship at any college; +could become a professor at either university; could sit in the House +of Commons; could be appointed to any municipal office; could hold a +commission in the army or navy. These restrictions practically--though +with some exceptions--reduced Nonconformity in England to the lower +middle class, the small traders. Their ministers, who had formerly +been scholars and theologians, fell into ignorance; their creeds +became narrower; they had no social influence; but for the example of +their brethren across the ocean they would have melted away and been +lost like the Non-Jurors who expired fifty years ago in the last +surviving member; or, like a hundred sects which have arisen, made a +show of flourishing for a while, and then perished. They were +sustained, first, by the memory of a _victorious_ past; next, by the +tradition of religious liberty; and, thirdly, by the report of a +country--a flourishing country--where there were no religious +disabilities, no social inferiority on account of faith and creed. Not +reports only: there was a continual passing to and fro between Bristol +and Boston during three-fourths of the eighteenth century. The +colonies were visited by traders, soldiers and sailors. John Dunton in +the year 1710 thought nothing of a voyage to Boston with a consignment +of books for sale. Ned Ward, another bookseller, made the same journey +with the same object. There exists a whole library of Quaker +biographies showing how these restless apostles travelled backwards +and forwards, crossing and recrossing the Atlantic, and journeying up +and down the country, to preach their gospel. And the life of John +Wesley also proves that the Colonies were regarded as easily +accessible. I have seen a correspondence between a family in London +and their cousins in Philadelphia, in the reign of Queen Anne, which +brings out very clearly the fact that they thought nothing of the +voyage, and fearlessly crossed the ocean on business or pleasure. The +connection between the Colonies and England was much closer than we +are apt to imagine. The Colonies were much better known by us than we +are given to believe; they were regarded by the ecclesiastical mind as +the home of schismatic rebellion; but by the layman as the land where +thought was free. + +That was one side--perhaps the most important side. But the halo of +adventure still lay glowing in the western land. No colony but had its +history of massacre, treachery, and war to the knife with the Red +Indian. Long before the time of Fenimore Cooper the English lad could +read stories of dreadful tortures, of heroic daring, of patience and +endurance, of revenges fierce, of daily and hourly peril. The blood of +the Dragon ran yet in English veins. America was still to the heirs +and successors of that Great Heart the Land of Romance and the Land of +Gallant Fights. + +And such stories! That of Captain John Smith laying his head upon the +block that it might be smashed by the Indians' clubs, and of his +rescue by the Indian girl, afterwards the 'Princess Rebecca'; the +massacre of three hundred and fifty men, women and children of the +infant colony of Virginia, a hundred stories of massacre. Or, that +story of the mother's revenge, told, I believe, by Thoreau. Her name +was Hannah Dunstan. Her house was attacked by Indians; her husband and +her elder children fled for their lives; she, with an infant of a +fortnight, and her nurse, were left behind. The Indians dashed out the +brains of the baby and forced the two women to march with them through +the forest to their camp. Here they found an English boy, also a +prisoner. Hannah Dunstan made the boy find out from one of the Indians +the quickest way to strike with the tomahawk so as to kill and to +secure the scalp. The Indian told the boy. Now there were in the camp +two men, three women, and seven children. In the dead of night Hannah +got up, awakened her nurse and the boy, secured the tomahawks, and in +the way the unsuspecting Indian had taught the boy, she tomahawked +every one--man, woman and child--except a boy who fled into the +woods--and took their scalps. Then she scuttled all the canoes but +one, and taking the scalps with her as proof of her revenge, she put +the nurse and the boy into the canoe and paddled down the river. She +escaped all roving bands and won her way home again to find her +husband and sons safe and well, and to show the scalps--the blood +payment for her murdered child. Such were the stories told and retold +in every colonial township, round every fire; such were the stories +brought home by the sailors and the merchants; they were published in +books of travel. Think you that our English blood had grown so +sluggish that it could not be fired by such tales? Think you that the +romance of the Colonies was one whit less enthralling than the romance +of the Spanish Main? + +I say nothing of the wars in which the British troops and the +Colonial, side by side, at last succeeded in driving the French out of +the country. They belong to the history of the eighteenth century and +to the expansion of the English-speaking race. But for them, North +America would now be half French and a quarter Spanish. These, +however, were regular wars, with no more romance about them than +belongs to war wherever it is conducted according to the war-game of +the day. The manœuvres of generals and the deploying of men in masses +inspire none but students, just as a fine game of chess can only be +judged by one who knows the game. Louisburg, Quebec, 'Queen Anne's +War,' 'King George's War'--Wolfe and Montcalm--these things and these +men produced little effect upon the popular view of America. In the +colonies themselves murmurings and complaints began to make themselves +heard; as they became stronger, the discontent increased; but they did +not reach the ear of the average Englishman, who still looked across +the ocean and still saw the country bathed in all the glories of the +West. Then--violently, suddenly--all this romance which had grown up +around and after so much fighting, so many achievements, was broken +off and destroyed. It perished with the War of Independence; it was no +longer possible when the Colonies had become not only a foreign +country, but a country bitterly hostile. The romance of America was +dead. + +After the war was over, with much humiliation and shame for the +nation--the better part of which had been against the war from the +outset--the country turned for consolation to the East. But, as has +been said above, neither India, nor Australia, nor New Zealand, has +ever taken such a place in the affections of our country as that +continent which was planted by our own sons, for whose safety and +freedom from foreign enemies we cheerfully spent treasure incalculable +and lives uncounted. + +Then came the long twenty-three years' war in which Great Britain, for +the most part single-handed, fought for the freedom of Europe against +the most colossal tyranny ever devised by victorious captain. No +nation in the history of the world ever carried on such a war, so +stubborn, so desperate, so vital. Had Great Britain failed, what would +now be the position of the world? The victories, the defeats, the +successes, the disasters, which marked that long struggle, at least +made our people forget their humiliation in America. The final triumph +gave us back, as it was certain to do, more than our former pride, +more than our old self-reliance. America was forgotten, the old love +for America was gone; how could we remember our former affections +when, at the very time when our need was the sorest, when every ship, +every soldier, every sailor that we could find, was wanted to break +down the power of the man who had subjugated the whole of Europe, +except Russia and Great Britain, the United States--the very Land of +Liberty--did her best to cripple the Armies of Liberty by proclaiming +war against us? And now, indeed, there was nothing left at all of the +old romance. It was quite, quite dead. In the popular imagination all +was forgotten, except that on the other side of the Atlantic lived an +implacable enemy, whose rancour--it then seemed to our people--was +even greater than their boasted love of liberty. + +I take it that the very worst time in the history of the relation of +the United States with this country was the first half of this +century. There was very little intercourse between the countries; +there were very few travellers; there was ignorance on both sides, +with misunderstandings, wilful misrepresentations and deliberate +exaggerations. Remember how Nathaniel Hawthorne speaks about the +English people among whom he lived; read how Thoreau speaks of us when +he visits Quebec. Is that time past? Hardly. Among the better class of +Americans one seldom finds any trace of hatred to Great Britain. I +think that, with the exception of Mr. W.D. Howells, I have never found +any American gentleman who would manifest such a passion. But, as +regards the lower class of Americans, it is reported that there still +survives a meaningless, smouldering hostility. The going and the +coming, to and fro, are increasing and multiplying; arbitration seems +to be established as the best way of terminating international +disputes; if the tone of the press is not always gracious, it is not +often openly hostile; we may, perhaps, begin to hope, at last, that +the future of the world will be secured for freedom by the +confederation of all the English-speaking nations. + +The old romance is dead. Yet--yet--as Kingsley cried, when he landed +on a West Indian island, 'At last!' so I, also, when I found myself in +New England, was ready to cry. 'At last!' The old romance is not +everywhere dead, since there can be found one Englishman who, when he +stands for the first time on New England soil, feels that one more +desire of his life has been satisfied. To see the East; to see India +and far Cathay; to see the tropics and to live for a while in a +tropical island; to be carried along the Grand Canal of Venice in a +gondola; to see the gardens of Boccaccio and the cell of Savonarola; +to camp and hunt in the backwoods of Canada, and to walk the streets +of New York, all these things have I longed, from youth upwards, to +see and to do--yea, as ardently as ever Drake desired to set an +English sail upon the great and unknown sea, and all these things, and +many more, have been granted to me. One great thing--perhaps more than +one thing, one unsatisfied desire--remained undone. I would set foot +on the shore of New England. It is a sacred land, consecrated to me +long years ago, for the sake of the things which I used to read--for +the sake of the long-yearning thoughts of childhood and the dim and +mystic splendours which played about the land beyond the sunset, in +the days of my sunrise. + +'At last!' + +Wherever a boy finds a quiet place for reading--an attic lumbered with +rubbish, a bedroom cold and empty, even a corner on the stairs--he +makes of that place a theatre, in which he is the sole audience. +Before his eyes--to him alone--the drama is played, with scenery +complete and costume correct, by such actors as never yet played upon +any other stage, so natural, so lifelike--nay, so godlike, and for +that very reason so lifelike. + +This boy sat where he could--in a crowded household it is not always +possible to get a quiet corner; wherever he sat, this stage rose up +before him and the play went on. He saw upon that stage all these +things of which I have spoken, and more. He saw the fight at Nombre de +Dios, the capture of the rich galleon, the sacking of Maracaibo. I do +not know whether other boys of that time were reading the American +authors with such avidity, or whether it was by some chance that these +books were thrown in his way. Washington Irving, Fenimore Cooper, +Prescott, Emerson (in parts), Longfellow, Whittier, Bryant, Edgar +Allan Poe, Lowell, Holmes, not to mention Thoreau, Herman Melville, +Dana, certain religious novelists and many others whose names I do not +recall, formed a tolerably large field of American reading for an +English boy--without prejudice, be it understood, to the writers of +his own country. To him the country of the American writers became +almost as well known as his own. One thing alone he could not read. +When he came to the War of Independence, he closed the book and +ordered his theatre to vanish. And, to this day, the events of that +war are only partly known to him. No boy who is jealous for his +country will read, except upon compulsion, the story of a war which +was begun in stupidity, carried on with incompetence, and concluded +with humiliation. + +The attack on Panama, the beginning of the Colonies, the exiles for +religion, the long struggle with the French, the driving back of the +Indians: it was a very fine drama--the Romance of America--in ever so +many acts, and twice as many tableaux, that this boy saw. And always +on the stage, now like Drake, now like Raleigh, now like Miles +Standish, now like Captain John Smith, he saw a young Englishman, +performing prodigies of valour and bearing a charmed life. Yet, do not +think that it was a play with nothing but fighting in it. There were +the Dutch burghers of New Amsterdam, under Walter the Doubter, or the +renowned Peter Stuyvesant; there was Rip Van Winkle on the Catskill +Mountains; there were the king-killers, hiding in the rocks beside +Newhaven; there were the witch trials of Salem; there was the peaceful +village of Concord, from which came voices that echoed round and round +the world; there was the Lake, lying still and silent, ringed by its +woods, where the solitary student of Nature loved to sit and watch and +meditate. Hundreds of things, too many to mention, were acted on that +boy's imaginary stage and lived in his brain as much as if he had +himself played a part in them. + +As that boy grew up, the memory of this long pageant survived; there +fell upon him the desire to see some of the places; such a desire, if +it is not gratified, dies away into a feeble spark--but it can always +be blown again into a flame. This year the chance came to the boy, now +a graybeard, to see these places; and the spark flared up again, into +a bright, consuming flame. + +I have seen my Land of Romance; I have travelled for a few weeks among +the New England places, and, with a sigh of satisfaction and relief, I +say with Kingsley: 'At Last!' + +This romance, which belonged to my boyhood, and has grown up with me, +and will never leave me, once belonged then, more or less, to the +whole of the English people. Except with those who, like me, have been +fed with the poetry and the literature of America, this romance is +impossible. I suppose that it can never come again. Something better +and more stable, however, may yet come to us, when the United States +and Great Britain will be allied in amity as firm as that which now +holds together those Federated States. The thing is too vast, it is +too important, to be achieved in a day, or in a generation. But it +will come--it will come; it must come--it must come; Asia and Europe +may become Chinese or Cossack, but our people shall rule over every +other land, and all the islands, and every sea. + + + + + +II.-THE LAND OF REALITY + + + +When a man has received kindnesses unexpected and recognition unlooked +for from strangers and people in a foreign country on whom he had no +kind of claim, it seems a mean and pitiful thing in that man to sit +down in cold blood and pick out the faults and imperfections, if he +can descry any, in that country. The 'cad with a kodak'--where did I +find that happy collocation?--is to be found everywhere; that is quite +certain; every traveller, as is well known, feels himself justified +after six weeks of a country to sit in judgment upon that country and +its institutions, its manners, its customs and its society; he +constitutes himself an authority upon that country for the rest of his +life. Do we not know the man who 'has been there'? Lord Palmerston +knew him. 'Beware,' he used to say, 'of the man who has been there!' +As Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs he was privileged to make +quite a circle of acquaintance with the men who 'had been there'; and +he estimated their experience at its true value. + +The man who has been there very seldom speaks its language with so +much ease as to understand all classes; he has therefore no real +chance of seeing and understanding things otherwise than as they seem. +When an Englishman travels in America, however, he can speak the +language. Therefore, he thinks that he really does understand the +things he sees. Does he? Let us consider. To understand the true +meaning of things in any strange land is not to see certain things by +themselves, but to be able to see them in their relation to other +things. Thus, the question of price must be taken with the question of +wage; that of supply with that of demand; that of things done with the +national opinion on such things; that of the continued existence of +certain recognised evils with, the conditions and exigencies of the +time; and so on. Before an observer can understand the relative value +of this or that he must make a long and sometimes a profound study of +the history of the country, the growth of the people, and the present +condition of the nation. It is obvious that it is given to very few +visitors to conduct such an investigation. Most of them have no time; +very, very few have the intellectual grasp necessary for an +undertaking of this magnitude. It is obvious, therefore, that the +criticism of a two months' traveller must be worthless generally, and +impertinent almost always. The kodak, you see, in the bands of the +cads, produces mischievous and misleading pictures. + +Let us take one or two familiar instances of the dangers of hasty +objection. Nothing worries the average American visitor to Great +Britain more than the House of Lords, and, generally, the national +distinctions. He sees very plainly that the House of Lords no longer +represents an aristocracy of ancient descent, because by far the +greater number of peers belong to modern creations and new families, +chiefly of the trading class; that it no longer represents the men of +whom the country has most reason to be proud, because out of the whole +domain of science, letters, and art there have been but two creations +in the history of the peerage. He sees, also, that an Englishman has, +apparently, only to make enough money in order to command a peerage +for himself, and the elevation to a separate caste of himself and his +children forever. Again, as regards the lower distinctions, he +perceives that they are given for this reason and for that reason; but +he knows nothing at all of the services rendered to the State by the +dozens of knights made every year, while he can see very well that the +men of real distinction, whom he does know, never get any distinctions +at all. These difficulties perplex and irritate him. Probably he goes +home with a hasty generalization. + +But the answer to these objections is not difficult. Without posing as +a champion of the House of Lords, one may point out that it is a very +ancient and deep-rooted institution; that to pull it up would cost an +immense deal of trouble; that it gives us a second or upper house +quite free from the acknowledged dangers of popular election; that the +lords have long ceased to oppose themselves to changes once clearly +and unmistakably demanded by the nation; that the hereditary powers +actually exercised by the very small number of peers who sit in the +House do give us an average exhibition of brain power quite equal to +that found in the House of Commons, in which are the six hundred +chosen delegates of the people; that, as regards the elevation of rich +men, a poor man cannot well accept a peerage, because custom does not +permit a peer to work for his livelihood; that it is necessary to +create new peers continually, in order to keep as close a connection +as possible between the Lords and the Commons; _e.g._, if a peer has a +hundred brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, cousins, they are all +commoners and he is the one peer, so that for six hundred peers there +may be a hundred thousand people closely allied to the House of Lords. +Again, as to the habitual contempt with which the advisers of the +Crown pass over the men who by their science, art, and literature +bring honour upon their generation, the answer is, that when the +newspaper press thinks fit to take up the subject and becomes as +jealous over the national distinctions as they are now over the +national finances, the thing will get itself righted. And not till +then. I instance this point and these objections as illustrating what +is often said, and thought, by American visitors who record their +first impressions. + +The same kind of danger, of course, awaits the English traveller in +America. If he is an unwise traveller, he will note, for admiring or +indignant quotation, many a thing which the wise traveller notes only +with a query and the intention of finding out, if he can, what it +means or why it is permitted. The first questions, in fact, for the +student of manners and laws are why a thing is permitted, encouraged, +or practised; how the thing in consideration affects the people who +practise it, and how they regard it. Thus, to go back to ancient +history, English people, forty years ago, could not understand how +slavery was allowed to continue in the States. We ourselves had +virtuously given freedom to all our slaves; why should not the +Americans? We had not grown up under the institution, you see; we had +little personal knowledge of the negro; we believed that, in spite of +the discouraging examples in Hayti and in our own Jamaica, there was a +splendid future for the black, if only he could be free and educated. +Again, none of our people realized, until the Civil War actually broke +out, the enormous magnitude of the interests involved; we had read +'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' and our hearts glowed with virtuous indignation; +we could not understand the enormous difficulties of the question. +Finally, we succeeded in enraging the South against us before the war +began, because of our continual outcry against slavery; and in +enraging the North after the war began, by reason of our totally +unexpected Southern sympathies. It is a curious history of +wrongheadedness and ignorance. + +This was a big thing. The things which the English traveller in the +States now notices are little things; as life is made up of little +things, he is noting differences all day long, because everything that +he sees is different. Speech is different: the manner of enunciating +the words is different; it is clearer, slower, more grammatical; among +the better sort it is more careful; it is even academical. We English +speak thickly, far back in the throat, the voice choked by beard and +moustache, and we speak much more carelessly. Then the way of living +at the hotels is different; the rooms are much--very much--better +furnished than would be found in towns of corresponding size in +England--_e.g._, at Providence, Rhode Island, which is not a large +city, there is a hotel which is most beautifully furnished; and at +Buffalo, which is a city half the size of Birmingham, the hotel is +perhaps better furnished than any hotel in London. An immense menu is +placed before the visitor for breakfast and dinner. There is an +embarrassment of choice. Perhaps it is insular prejudice which makes +one prefer the simple menu, the limited choice, and the plain food of +the English hotels. At least, rightly or wrongly, the English hotels +appear to the English traveller the more comfortable. I return to the +differences. In the preparation and the serving of food there are +differences--the mid-day meal, far more in America than in England, is +the national dinner. In most American hotels that received us we found +the evening meal called supper--and a very inferior spread it was, +compared to the one o'clock service. In the drinks there is a +difference--the iced water which forms so welcome a part of every meal +in the States is generally the only drink; it is not common, out of +the great cities, to see claret on the table. There are differences in +the conduct of the trains and in the form of the railway carriages; +differences in the despatch and securing of luggage; difference in the +railway whistle; difference in the management of the station, until +one knows the way about, travelling in America is a continual trial to +the temper. Until, for instance, an understanding of the manners and +customs in this respect has been attained, the conveyance of the +luggage to the hotel is a ruinous expense. And unless one understands +the rough usage of luggage on American lines, there will be further +trials of temper over the breakage of things. In France and Italy such +small differences do not exasperate, because they ate known to exist; +one expects them; they are benighted foreigners who know no better. +But in America, where they speak our own language, one seems to have a +right, somehow, to expect that all the usages will be exactly the +same--and they are not; and so the cad with the kodak gets his chance. + +I can quite understand, even at this day, the making of a book which +should hold up to ridicule the whole of a nation on account of these +differences. 'The Americans a great nation? Why, sir, I could not +get--the whole time that I was them--such a simple thing as English +mustard. The Americans a great nation? Well, sir, all I can say is +that their breakfast in the Wagner car is a greasy pretence. The +Americans a great nation? They may be, sir; but all I can say is that +there isn't such a thing--that I could discover--as an honest +bar-parlour, where a man can have his pipe and his grog in comfort.' +And so on--the kind of thing may be multiplied indefinitely. What Mrs. +Trollope did sixty years ago might be done again. + +But, if I had the time, I would write the companion volume--that of +the American in England--in which it should be proved, after the same +fashion, that this poor old country is in the last stage of decay, +because we have compartment carriages on the railway; no checks for +the luggage; no electric trolleys in the street; at the hotels no +elaborate menu, but only a simple dinner of fish and roast-beef; no +iced water, an established Church (the clergy all bursting with +fatness); a House of Lords (all profligates); and a Queen who chops +off heads when so disposed. It would also be noted, as proving the +contemptible decay of the country, that a large proportion of the +lower classes omit the aspirate; that rough holiday-makers laugh and +sing and play the accordion as they take their trips abroad; that the +factory girls wear hideous hats and feathers; that all classes drink +beer, and that men are often seen rolling drunk in the streets. Nor +would the American traveller in Great Britain fail to observe, with +the scorn of a moralist, the political corruption of the time; he +would hold up to the contempt of the world the statesman who with the +utmost vehemence condemns a movement one day which, on the following +day, in order to gain votes and recover power, he adopts, and with +equal vehemence advocates; he would ask what can be the moral +standards of a country where a great party turns right round, at the +bidding of their leader, and follows him like a flock of sheep, +applauding, voting, advocating as he bids them, to-day, +this--to-morrow, its opposite. + +These things and more will be found in that book of the American in +England when it appears. You see how small and worthless and +prejudiced would be such a volume. Well, it is precisely such a volume +that the ordinary traveller is capable of writing. All the things that +I have mentioned are accidentals; they are differences which mean +nothing; they are not essentials; what I wish to show is that he who +would think rightly of a country must disregard the accidentals and +get at the essentials. What follows is my own attempt--which I am well +aware must be of the smallest account--to feel my way to two or three +essentials. + +First and foremost, one essential is that the country is full of +youth. I have discovered this for myself, and I have learned what the +fact means and how it affects the country. I had heard this said over +and over again. It used to irritate me to hear a monotonous repetition +of the words, 'Sir, we are a young county.' Young? At least, it is +three hundred years old; nor was it till I had passed through New +England, and seen Buffalo and Chicago--those cities which stand +between the east and time west--and was able to think and compare, +that I began to understand the reality and the meaning of those words, +which have now become so real and mean so much. It is not that the +cities are new and the buildings put up yesterday; it is in the +atmosphere of buoyancy, elation, self-reliance, and energy, which one +drinks in everywhere, that this sense of youth is apprehended. It is +youth full of confidence. Is there such a thing anywhere in America as +poverty or the fear of poverty? I do not think so. Men may be hard up +or even stone-broke; there are slums; there are hard-worked women; but +there is no general fear of poverty. In the old countries the fear of +poverty lies on all hearts like lead. To be sure, such a fear is a +survival in England. In the last century the strokes of fate were +sudden and heavy, and a merchant sitting to-day in a place of great +honour and repute, an authority on 'Change, would find himself on the +morrow in the Marshalsea or the Fleet, a prisoner for life; once down +a man could not recover; he spent the rest of his life in captivity; +he and his descendants, to the third and fourth generations--for it +was as unlucky to be the son of a bankrupt as the son of a +convict--grovelled in the gutter. There is no longer a Marshalsea or a +Fleet prison; but the dread of failure survives. In the States that +dread seems practically absent. + +Again, youth is extravagant; spends with both hands, cannot hear of +economy; burns the candle at both ends; eats the corn while it is +green; trades upon the future; gives bills at long dates without +hesitation, and while the golden flood rolls past takes what it wants +and sends out its sons to help themselves. Why should youth make +provisions for the sons of youth? The world is young; the riches of +the world are beyond counting; they belong to the young; let us work, +let us spend; let us enjoy, for youth is the time for work and for +enjoyment. + +In youth, again, one is careless about little things; they will right +themselves: persons of the baser sort pervert the freedom of the +country to their own uses; they make 'corners' and 'rings' and steal +the money of the municipality; never mind; some day, when we have +time, we will straighten things out. In youth, also, one is tempted to +gallant apparel, bravery of show, a defiant bearing, gold and lace and +colour. In cities this tendency of youth is shown by great buildings +and big institutions. In youth, there is a natural exaggeration in +talk: hence the spread-eagle of which we hear so much. Then everything +which belongs to youth must be better--beyond comparison better--than +everything that belongs to age. In the last century, if you like, +youth followed and imitated age; it is the note of this, our country, +that youth is always advancing and stepping ahead of age. Even in the +daily press the youth of the country shows itself. Let age sit down +and meditate; let such a paper as the London _Times_--that old, old +paper--give every day three laboured and thoughtful essays written by +scholars and philosophers on the topics of the day. It is not for +youth to ponder over the meaning and the tendencies of things; it is +for youth to act, to make history, to push things along; therefore let +the papers record everything that passes; perhaps when the country is +old, when the time comes for meditation, the London _Times_ may be +imitated, and even a weekly collection of essays, such as the +_Saturday Review_ or the _Spectator_, may be successfully started in +the United States. Again, youth is apt to be jealous over its own +pretensions. Perhaps this quality also might be illustrated; but, for +obvious reasons, we will not press this point. Lastly, youth knows +nothing of the time which came immediately before itself. It is not +till comparatively late in life that a man connects his own +generation--his own history--with that which preceded him. When does +the history of the United States begin--not for the man of letters or +the professor of history--but for the average man? It begins when the +Union begins: not before. There is a very beautiful and very noble +history before the Union. But it is shared with Great Britain. There +is a period of gallant and victorious war--but beside the colonials +marched King George's red-coats. There was a brave struggle for +supremacy, and the French were victoriously driven out--but it was by +English fleets and with the help of English soldiers. Therefore, the +average American mind refuses to dwell on this period. His country +must spring at once, full armed, into the world. His country must be +all his own. He wants no history, if you please, in which any other +country has also a share. + +In a word, America seems to present all the possible characteristics +of youth. It is buoyant, confident, extravagant, ardent, elated, and +proud. It lives in the present. The young men of twenty-one cannot +believe in coming age; people do get to fifty, he believes; but, for +himself, age is so far off that he need not consider it. I observed +the youthfulness of America even in New England, but the country as +one got farther west seemed to become more youthful. At Chicago, I +suppose, no one owns to more than five-and-twenty--youth is +infectious. I felt myself while in the city much under that age. + +Let us pass to another point--also an essential--the flaunting of the +flag, I had the honour of assisting at the 'Sollemnia Academica,' the +commencement of Harvard on the 28th of June last. I believe that +Harvard is the richest, as it is also the oldest, of American +universities; it is also the largest in point of numbers. The function +was celebrated in the college theatre; it was attended by the governor +of the State with the lieutenant-governor and his aide-de-camp; there +was a notable gathering on the stage or platform, consisting of the +president, professors and governors of the university, together with +those men of distinction whom the university proposed to honour with a +degree. The floor, or pit, of the house was filled with the commencing +bachelors; the gallery was crowded with spectators, chiefly ladies. +After the ceremony we were invited to assist at the dinner given by +the students to the president, and a company among whom it was a +distinction for a stranger to sit. The ceremony of conferring degrees +was interesting to an Englishman and a member of the older Cambridge, +because it contained certain points of detail which had certainly been +brought over by Harvard himself, the founder, from the old to the new +Cambridge. The dinner, or luncheon, was interesting for the speeches, +for which it was the occasion and the excuse. The president, for his +part, reported the addition of $750,000 to the wealth of the college, +and called attention to the very remarkable feature of modern American +liberality in the lavish gifts and endowments going on all over the +States to colleges and places of learning. He said that it was +unprecedented in history. With submissions to the learned president, +not quite without precedent. The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries +witnessed a similar spirit in the foundation and endowment of colleges +and schools in England and Scotland. About half the colleges of Oxford +and Cambridge, and three out of the four Scottish universities, belong +to the period. Still, it is very remarkable to find this new largeness +of mind. Since one has received great fortune, let this wealth be +passed on, not to make a son into an idle man, but to endow, with the +best gifts of learning and science, generation after generation of men +born for work. We, who are ourselves so richly endowed, and have been +so richly endowed for four hundred years, have no need to envy Harvard +all her wealth, We may applaud the spirit which seeks not to enrich a +family but to advance the nation; all the more because we have many +instances of a similar spirit in our own country. It is not the +further endowment of Oxford and Cambridge that is continued by one +rich man, but the foundation of new colleges, art galleries, and +schools of art. Angerstein, Vernon, Alexander, Tate, are some of our +benefactors in art. + +The endowments of Owens College, the Mason College, the Firth College, +University College, London, are gifts of private persons. Since we do +not produce rich men so freely as America, our endowments are neither +so many nor so great; but the spirit of endowment is with us as well. + +Presently one observed at this dinner a note of difference, which +afterwards gave food for reflection. It was this: All the speakers, +one after the other, without exception, referred to the free +institutions of the nation, to the duty of citizens, and especially to +the responsibilities of those who were destined by the training and +education of this venerable college to become the leaders of the +country. Nothing whatever was said, by any of the speakers, on the +achievements in scholarship, literature, or science made by former +scholars of the college; nothing was said of the promise in learning +or science of the young men now beginning the world. Now, a year or so +ago, the master and fellows of a certain college of the older +Cambridge bade to a feast as many of the old members of that college +as would fill the hall. It was, of course, a very much smaller hall +than that of Harvard; but it was still a venerable college, the +mother, so to speak, of Emmanuel, and therefore the grandmother of +Harvard. The master, in his speech after dinner, spoke about nothing +but the glories of the college in its long list of worthies and the +very remarkable number of men, either living or recently passed away, +whose work in the world had brought distinction to themselves and +honour to the college. In short, the college only existed in his mind, +and in the minds of those present, for the advancement of learning, +nor was there any other consideration possible for him in connection +with the college. Is there, then, another view of Harvard College? +There must be. The speakers suggested this new and American view. The +college, if my supposed discovery is true, is regarded as a place +which is to furnish the State, not with scholars, for whom there will +always be a very limited demand, but with a large and perennial supply +of men of liberal education and sound principles, whose chief duty +shall be the maintenance of the freedom to which they are born, and a +steady opposition to the corruption into which all free institutions +readily fall without unceasing watchfulness. This thing I advance with +some hesitation. But it explains the inflated patriotism of the +carefully-prepared speech of the governor and the political (not +partisan) spirit of all the other speakers. Oxford and Cambridge have +long furnished the country with a learned clergy, a learned Bar, and +(but this is past) a learned House of Commons. The tradition of +learning lingers still; nay, they are centres of learning beyond +comparison with any other universities in the world. Harvard also, I +suppose, provides a learned clergy; but its principal function, as its +rulers seemed to think, is to send out into the world every year a +great body of young men fully equipped to be leaders in the country. +This is its chief glory; to do this effectively, I take it, is the +chief desire of the president and the society. + +It cannot be denied that this is a very important duty, much more +important, for a special reason, in the States than it is in Great +Britain. I used to marvel, before making these observations, at the +constant flying of the stars and stripes everywhere; at the continual +reminding as to freedom. 'Are there,' one asks, 'no other countries in +the world which are free? In what single point is the freedom of the +American greater than the freedom of the Briton, the Canadian, of the +Australian?' In none, certainly. Yet we are not forever waving the +Union Jack everywhere and calling each other brothers in our glorious +liberty. Well: but let us think. In so vast a population, spread over +so many States, each State being a different country, there will +always be ignorant men, men ready to give up everything for a selfish +advantage: there must always be a danger, unless it be continually met +and beaten down, that the United may become the dis-United States. +Why, European statesmen used to look forward confidently to the +disruption of the States from the Declaration of Independence down to +the Civil War. It was a commonplace that the country must inevitably +fall to pieces. The very possibility of a disruption is now not even +thought of: the thing is never mentioned. Why is this? Surely, because +the idea of federation is not only taught and ground in at the +elementary schools, but because the flag of federation is always +displayed as the chief glory of the nation at every place where two or +three Americans are gathered together. The symbol you see is +unmistakable: it means Union, once for all; the word, the idea, the +symbol, it must be always kept before the eyes of the people; it is in +the wisdom of the rulers that the stars and stripes are forever +flaunted before the eyes of the people. + +And it is not only the ignorant and the selfish among Americans +themselves; it is the vast number of immigrants, increasing by half a +million every year, who have to be taught what citizenship means. The +outward symbol is the readiest teacher; let them never forget that +they live under the stars and stripes; let them learn--German, +Norwegian, Italian, Irish--what it means to belong to the Great +Republic. Is this all that a two months' visitor can bring away from +America? It is the most important part of my plunder. What else has +been gathered up is hardly worth talking about, in comparison with +these two discoveries which are, after all, perhaps only useful to +myself: the discovery of the real youthfulness of the country and the +discovery of the real meaning and the necessity of the spread-eagle +speeches and the flaunting of the flag in season and out of season. It +may seem a small thing to learn, but the lesson has wholly changed my +point of view. The fact is perhaps hardly worth recording; it matters +little what a single Englishman thinks; but if he can induce others to +think with him, or to modify their views in the same direction, it may +matter a great deal. + +And, of course, an Englishman must think of his own future--that of +his own country. Before many years the United Kingdom must inevitably +undergo great changes: the vastness of the Empire will vanish; Canada, +Australia, New Zealand, South Africa will fall away and will become +independent republics; what these little islands will become then, I +know not. What will become of the English-speaking races, thus firmly +planted over the whole globe, is a more important question. If a man +had the voice of the silver-mouthed Father, if a man had the +inspiration of a prophet, it would be a small thing for that man to +consecrate and expend all his life, all his strength, all his soul, in +the creation of a great federation of English-speaking peoples. There +should be no war of tariffs between them; there should be no +possibility of dispute between them; there should be as many nations +separate and distinct as might please to call themselves nations; it +should make no difference whether Canada was the separate dominion of +Canada, or a part of the United States; it should make no difference +whether Great Britain and Ireland were a monarchy or a republic. The +one thing of importance would be an indestructible alliance for +offence and defence among the people who have inherited the best part +of the whole world. This alliance can best be forwarded by a promotion +of friendship between private persons; by a constant advocacy in the +press of all the countries concerned; and by the feeling, to be +cultivated everywhere, that such a confederation would present to the +world the greatest, strongest, wealthiest, most highly cultivated +confederacy of nations that ever existed. It would be permanent, +because here would be no war of aggression in tariffs, or of personal +quarrel; no territorial ambitions; no conflict of kings. + +Naturally, I was not called upon to speak at the Harvard dinner. Had I +spoken, I should like to have said: 'Men of Harvard, grandsons of that +benignant mother--still young--who sits crowned with laurels, ever +fresh, on the sedgy bank of Granta, think of the country from which +your fathers have sprung. Go out into the world--your world of +youthful endeavour and success; do your best to bring the hearts of +the people whom you will have to lead back to their kin across the +seas to east and west--over the Atlantic and over the Pacific. Do your +best to bring about the Indestructible fraternity of the whole +English-speaking races. Do this in the sacred name of that freedom of +which you have this day heard so much, and of that Christianity to +which by the very stamp and seal of your college you are the avowed +and sworn servants. Rah!' + +[1893.] + + + + + +ART AND THE PEOPLE. [Paper read at the Birmingham Meeting of the +Social Science Congress.] + + + +There is a passage in one of the letters of Edward Denison which +exactly interprets the dejection and oppression certain to fall upon +one who seriously considers and personally investigates, however +superficially, the condition of the poor in great cities. He writes +from Philpott Street, Commercial Road, East London, and he says: 'My +wits are getting blunted by the monotony and ugliness of the place. I +can almost imagine the awful effect upon a human mind of never seeing +anything but the meanest and vilest of men and man's work, and of +complete exclusion from the sight of God's works.' The very +exaggeration of these words shows the profound dejection of the +writer, at a moment when his resolution to continue living in a place +where there was neither nature nor art, nor beauty anywhere, weighed +upon him like a penal sentence, so that the vileness of the +surroundings entered into his soul and made him feel as if the men and +women in the place, as well as their works, were all alike, mean, +vile, and sordid. Edward Denison wrote these words seventeen years +ago. The place in which he lived is still ugly and monotonous, a small +cross-street leading from the back of the London Hospital into the +Commercial Road, about as far from green fields and parks or gardens +as can be found anywhere in London; there are still a good many of the +vilest of man's works carried on in the neighbourhood, especially the +making of clothes for Government contractors, and the making of shirts +for private sweaters. But something has been attempted since Denison +came here--the pioneer of a great invasion. Many others have followed +his example, and are now, like him, living among the people. Clubs +have been established, concerts and readings have been given, and +excursions into the country, convalescent homes and a thousand +different things have grown up for the amelioration of the poor. +Better than all, there are now thousands of educated and cultivated +men and women who are perpetually considering how existing evils may +be remedied and new evils prevented. With philanthropic efforts, with +the social questions connected with them, I have now nothing to do. We +are at present only concerned with a question of Art: we are to +inquire how the love and desire for Art may be introduced and +developed, and to ask what has already been attempted In this +direction. + +I would first desire to explain that I know absolutely nothing about +the state of things in any other great city of Great Britain than one. +What I say is based upon such small knowledge that I may have gained +concerning London, and especially East London. As regards Birmingham, +Manchester, Sheffield, Glasgow, and any other place where there is a +great industrial population, I know nothing. If, therefore, exception +be taken to any expressions of mine as applied to some other city, I +beg it to be remembered that East London alone is in my mind. Even +concerning East London exception may be taken to anything I may +advance. That is because it is impossible to make any general +proposition whatever of humanity considered in the mass except the +elementary ones, such as that all must eat and sleep, to which +objection may not be raised. Thus, I know that it is true, and I am +prepared to maintain the assertion, that the lower classes in London +care nothing about Art, and know nothing about Art, and have only an +elementary appreciation of things beautiful. It is equally true, on +the other hand, that there are everywhere some whose hearts are +yearning and whose hands are stretched out in prayer for greater +beauty and fulness of life. It is also, as a general statement, true +that there are no amusements in East London, which contains two and a +half millions of people, has no municipality, and is the biggest, +ugliest, and meanest city in the whole world. Yet it is equally true +that there are in it institutes for education and science, art, and +literature, mutual improvement societies, clubs at which there are +evenings for singing, dancing, and private theatricals, and rowing, +swimming, and cricket clubs. It is again, as a general rule, true that +the lower classes are ignorant of science, yet there are everywhere +scattered among the working men single cases of earnest devotion to +science. And it is painfully true that they do not seem to feel the +ugliness of their own streets and houses; yet no one who has been +among the holiday folks in the country on a Bank Holiday or a fine +Sunday in the summer can deny their profound appreciation of field and +forest, flowers and green leaves, sunshine and shade. It is, lastly, +perfectly true that their lives, compared with those of the more +cultivated classes, do seem horribly dull, monotonous, and poor. Yet +the dulness is more apparent than real: ugly houses and mean streets +do not necessarily imply mean and ugly lives. Their days may be +enlivened in a thousand ways which to the outsider are invisible. +Among these are some which directly or indirectly make for the +appreciation of Art. + +It seems safe, however, to advance one proposition. There is a class +in and below which it is impossible that there can exist a feeling for +Art of ally kind, or, indeed, for religion, for virtue, for knowledge +of any kind, or for anything beyond the necessity of providing for the +next day's food and shelter. Those miserable women who work from early +morning to late night, condemned to a slavery worse than any we have +abolished; those hungry men who besiege the dock-gates for a day's +work, and have nothing in the whole world but a pair of hands; that +vast class which is separated from starvation by a single day--what +thought, interest, or care can they have for anything in the world but +the procuring of food? When the physical condition of English men and +women is worse, as Professor Huxley has declared it to be, than the +condition of naked savages in the Southern Seas, how can we look for +the virtues and the aspirations which belong essentially to the level +of comparative ease? Until we have mastered the problem of finding +steady work for all, with adequate wages and decent homes, we need not +look for Art in these lowest ranks. We have to do, therefore, not with +the very poor at all, but with the respectable poor--the families of +skilled mechanics, _employés_ in regular work, workmen in breweries, +ship-yards, and factories independent handicraftsmen, clerks, +cashiers, accountants, writers, small shopkeepers, and all that great +host which is perpetually occupied in increasing the wealth of the +country by labour which, at least, permits them to live in comfort. +All these people have leisure; most of them, except the shop +assistants, have no work in the evening; they are all possessed of +some education. There is no reason at all why they should not, if they +could be only got to desire it, become students in some of the +branches of Art. + +Let us, then, always with reference to this one city and this one +class of its inhabitants, ascertain what has been done already to +create a love of Art. The most important thing as yet attempted is the +Bethnal Green Museum. It is, for our purposes, also the most +instructive, because it has hitherto been, I consider, a complete and +ignominious failure. That is to say, it was established and is +maintained as an educational museum, it was especially designed to +create and develop a knowledge of Art and it has not done so. It was +opened in 1872 with, among other things, the magnificent collection of +pictures lent by Sir Richard Wallace; during the twelve years of its +existence it has exhibited other collections of considerable interest: +but the education, the free library, and the classrooms promised at +the outset have never been forthcoming. It is, in fact, a dumb and +silent gallery. One may compare it to a Board School newly built, +provided with all the latest appliances for education--with books, +desks, seats, blackboards, and everything, including crowds of pupils, +but left without a teaching staff, the pupils being expected to teach +themselves. Why not? There are the books and there are the desks, So +with this museum. You cannot learn anything of Art without the study +of artistic work. Here is the artistic work. Why do not the people +study it? They certainly come to the place; they come in large +numbers; on free days when it is open until ten at night they average +over two thousand a day all the year round. And if you take the +trouble to watch them, to follow them about, and to listen to their +conversation, you will presently discover with how much intelligence +they are studying the artistic work before them. + +The failure of Bethnal Green should teach us what to avoid. Let us +therefore walk round the halls and galleries of this museum. In the +central hall there is placed, each object with a ticket containing a +brief description of it, a really noble collection of cabinets, carved +and painted; with these are rare and costly vases, of English, +Russian, Danish, and German workmanship; there are a few statuettes, +some paintings on china, things in glazed earthenware, and glass cases +containing Syrian and Albanian necklaces and jewellery. In the lower +side galleries there is, first, a collection of food products, showing +specimens of wheat, rice, starch, salt, and so forth, with models of +vegetables and fruit executed in wax; and next, a collection of +woollen stuff and fabrics of all kinds, with feathers, stags' heads, +antlers, and so forth. In the upper galleries there is a collection of +paintings and engravings. Here and there are suspended tablets which +are inscribed with bits of information, chiefly statistical. On my +last visit to the place I could not observe that anyone was studying +these tablets. This is, roughly speaking, all that the Bethnal Green +Museum contains. The directors of this institution, opened with so +much promise, which was going to educate the people and endow them +with a sense of Art and a love of beauty, think they have done all +they promised when they show a collection of cabinets and vases, a few +bottles containing rice and wheat, a few turnips in wax, a few cases +with pretty fabrics, and collection of pictures. There is no music; +there is no sculpture; none of the small arts are represented at all; +there is not the slightest attempt made to educate anybody. If you +want any other information or help besides that given by the tablets +you will not get it, because there is nobody to give it. A policeman +mounts guard over the cases, a woman sells the publications of the +South Kensington Department, and you can rend on a board the number of +visitors for every day in the year. But there is no one to go round +with you and talk about the things on exhibition. There are no +lectures nor any classes, there are no handbooks to teach the history +of the Fine Arts and to illustrate the collection in the museum. There +is not, incredible to say, even a catalogue. _There is no catalogue_. +Imagine an exhibition without even an official guide to its contents. +Here, says the Department, is the Bethnal Green Museum with its doors +wide open: let the people walk in and inspect the contents. + +So, if we invited the people to inspect a collection of cuneiform +inscriptions, we might just as well expect them to carry away a +knowledge of Assyrian history; or by exhibiting an electrical machine +we might as well expect them to understand the appliances of +electricity. It is not enough, in fact, to exhibit pictures: they must +be explained. It is with paintings and drawings as with everything +else, those who come to see them having no knowledge carry none away +with them. The visitors to a museum are like travellers in a foreign +country, of whom Emerson truly says that when they leave it they take +nothing away but what they brought with them. The finest wood carving, +the most beautiful vase, the richest classic painting, produces on the +uncultivated eye no more valuable or lasting impression than the sight +of a sailing ship for the first time produces on the mind of a savage. +That is to say, the impression at the best is of wonder, not of +delight or curiosity at all. In the picture galleries, it is true, the +dull eyes are lifted and the weary faces brighten, because here, if +you plea, we touch upon that art which every human being all over the +world can appreciate. It is the art of story-telling. The visitors go +from picture to picture and they read the stories. As for landscapes, +figures, portraits, or slabs, they pass them by. What they love is a +picture of life in action, a picture that tells a story and quicken +their pulses. You may observe this in every picture gallery--even at +the Grosvenor and the Royal Academy--even among the classes who are +supposed to know something of Art: for one who studies a portrait by +Millsis, or a head by Leighton, there are crowds who stand before a +picture which tells a story. At the Royal Academy the story is +generally, but not always, read in silence; at Bethnal Green it is +read aloud. You will perhaps observe the importance of this +difference. It is because at the Royal Academy everybody has the +feeling that he is present in the character of a critic, and must +therefore affect, at least, to be considering the workmanship, and +passing a judgment on the artist. But at Bethnal Green the visitors +feel that they have been invited to be pleased, to wonder, and to +admire the beautiful stories represented on the canvas by clever men +who have learnt this trade. As for how a story may be told on canvas, +the way in which the conception of the artist has been executed, the +truth of the drawing, the fidelity of colouring--on these points no +questions are asked and no curiosity is expressed. Why should they? +Painting they regard as one of the arts which may be learned for a +trade, like matchmaking or shoemaking. Remember that it never occurs +to people to learn the mysteries of any trade beside their own. On my +last visit to this museum, for instance, I chanced upon two women who +were standing before a vase. It was a large and very beautiful vase, +of admirable form and proportions, and it was decorated on the top by +a group representing three captives chained to the rock. Their comment +on this work of art was as follows: 'Look,' said one, 'look at those +poor men chained to the rock.' 'Yes,' replied the other, 'poor +fellows! ain't it shocking?' + +To their eyes the only thing to be looked at was the group of figures, +and the only suggestion made to their minds by the vase related to the +story, thus half told, of the captives. As for the vase itself, it was +nothing; the workmanship and painting were nothing; the sculpturing of +the figures was nothing. + +It is constantly argued that the mere contemplation of things +beautiful creates this artistic sense--the sense of beauty. This is +undoubtedly true if one were to dwell entirely among beautiful things. +But how if for one thing which is beautiful you are made to +contemplate a hundred which are not? Suppose you offer a girl of +untrained eye a choice of costumes, of which one is artistic and the +rest are all hideous, how can you expect her to know the one--the only +one--which she sought to choose? Or, again, if you allow a boy to read +and learn as much bad poetry as good, what can you expect of his +standard of taste? In other words, when the surroundings of life are +wholly without Art, an occasional visit to a collection of paintings +cannot create an intelligent appreciation of Art. + +Again, there are many branches and diverse forms or Art. For Instance, +there is music, there is singing there is acting, there is sculpture, +poetry, fiction; and besides these there are working in metals, +engraving in wood and copper, leather work, brass work, fret work, and +decoration. None of these arts are illustrated and recognised in the +Bethnal Green Museum, Yet, when we speak of the spreading of Art among +the poor, surely we do not mean only drawing, design, and painting. + +The popularity of this museum has been argued as a proof of its +efficiency. It attracts, as I have stated already, over 2,000 on every +free day all the year round. On the one day in the week when an +entrance fee of sixpence is required it attracts from twenty to forty. +This means that out of two millions of people in East London there is +so little enthusiasm for Art that only forty can be found each week to +pay sixpence in order to enjoy quiet galleries and undisturbed study. +Remember that East London is not altogether a poor place; there are +whole districts which are full of villa residences as good as any in +the southern suburb; there are many people who are wealthy; but all +the wealth and all the Art enthusiasm of the place will not bring more +than forty every week to pay their sixpence. As for copying the +pictures, I do not know if any facilities are afforded for the +purpose, but I have never seen anyone in the place copying at all. + +The throng of visitors on free days may partly be explained on other +grounds than the love of Art. It is a place where one can pleasantly +lounge, or sit down to rest, or lazily look at pleasant things, or +talk with one's friends, or take refuge from bad weather. This is as +it should be; the place is regarded as a pleasant place. Yet the +number of visitors has fallen off. In the first year of its existence +nearly a million entered the gates; four years later an equal number +was registered; for the last three years the number has fallen to less +than half a million. Its popularity, therefore, is on the decline. + +It is, again, a great place for children. They are sent here just as +they are sent to the British Museum and the South Kensington Museum, +in order to be out of the way. You will always see children in these +places, strolling listlessly among the rooms and corridors. Once, for +instance, on a certain Easter Monday, I encountered, in the South +Kensington Museum, a miserable little pair, who were crying in a +corner by themselves. Beside the cases full of splendid embroideries +and golden lace, among which they had strayed, they looked curiously +incongruous, and somewhat like the unfortunate pair led to their +destruction by the wicked uncle. They had, in fact, been sent to the +museum by their mother, with a piece of bread-and-butter for their +dinner, and told to stay there all day long. By this time the +bread-and-butter had long since been eaten up, and they were hungry +again, and there was a long afternoon before them. What to these +hungry children would have been a whole Field of the Cloth of Gold? We +must, therefore, make very large deductions indeed when we consider +the popularity of Bethnal Green. Doubtless it is pleasant to read the +stories of the pictures; but the light, the warmth, the society of the +place are also pleasant. And as for Art education, why, as none is +given, so none is desired. + +I have dwelt upon Bethnal Green Museum at some length, not because I +wished to attack the place, but because it seems to me an example of +what ought not to be done, and because it illustrates most admirably +two propositions which I have to offer. These are--(1) That the lower +classes have no instinctive desire for Art; (2) that they will not +teach themselves. + +We may also learn from considering what this museum is what an +educational and popular museum ought to be; and to this I will +immediately return. Meantime, let us go on to consider a few minor +agencies at work in the East of London, directly or indirectly working +in favour of Art. And, first, I should like to call attention to the +annual exhibition of pictures which the indefatigable Vicar of St. +Jude's, Whitechapel--the Rev. Samuel Barnett--gets together every +Easter for his people. The point is not so much that he holds this +exhibition as that he engages the services of volunteer lecturers, who +go round the show with the visitors and explain the pictures, so that +they may learn what it is they should admire and something of what +they should look for in a drawing or painting. In other words, Mr. +Barnett's visitors are instructed in the first elements of Art +criticism. There are, next, certain institutes, educational and +social, such as the Bow and Bromley and the Beaumont, which might be +used to advantage for Art purposes. Then there are the Church +organizations, with their services, their clubs, their social, +gatherings, and their schools; there are the chapels, each with its +own set of similar institutions; there are the working men's clubs, +which might also lend themselves and their rooms for the development +of Art; there are such societies as the Kyrle Society, which give free +concerts of good music, and are therefore already working for us; +lastly, there are the schools of Art--there are five in East London, +working under the South Kensington Department. All these are agencies +which either are already working in the interests of Art, or could be +easily induced to do so. + +To sum up, at the exhibition of the Bethnal Green Museum the people +walk round the pictures, are pleased to read their stories, and go +away; at the concerts they listen, are satisfied, and go away; at the +readings and recitations they applaud, and go away. They are not, in +fact, stimulated by these exhibitions and performances in the +slightest degree to draw, paint, carve, play an instrument, sing, +recite, or act for themselves. But observe that directly they form +clubs of their own, although they may develop many reprehensible +tendencies, and especially that of gambling, they do at once begin to +act, sing, recite, and dance for themselves. What we want them to do, +then, is to begin for themselves, or to fall in willingly with those +who begin for them, the pursuit of Art in its more difficult and +higher branches. What we desire is that they should realize what we +know, that to teach a lad or a girl one of these Fine Arts is to +confer upon him an inestimable boon; that no life can be wholly +unhappy which is cheered by the power of playing an instrument, +dancing, painting, carving, modelling, singing, making fiction, or +writing poetry, that it is not necessary to do these things so well as +to be able to live by them; but that every man who practises one of +these arts is, during his work, drawn out of himself and away from the +bad conditions of his life. If, I say, the people can be got to +understand something of this, the rest will be easy. A few examples in +their midst would be enough to show them that it wants little to be an +artist, that the practice of Art is a lifelong delight, and that in +the exercise and improvement of the faculties of observation, +comparison, and selection, in the daily consideration of beauty in its +various forms, the years roll by easily and are spent in a continual +dream of happiness. You know that it has been observed especially of +actors, that they never grow old. The thing is true with artists of +every kind--they never grow old. Their hair may become gray and may +fall off, they may be afflicted with the same weaknesses as other men, +but their hearts remain always young to the very end. But this is not +an inducement, I am afraid, that we can put forth in an appeal to the +people to follow Art. I am sure, moreover, that it is the desire of +all to include the encouragement of every kind of Art, not that of +drawing and painting only. We wish that every boy and every girl shall +learn something--and it matters little whether we make him draw, +design, paint, decorate, carve, work in brass or leather, whether we +make him a musician, a painter, a sculptor, a poet, or a novelist, +provided he be instructed in the true principles of Art. Imagine, if +you can, a time when in every family of boys and girls one shall be a +musician, and another a carver of wood, and a third a painter; when +every home shall be full of artistic and beautiful things, and the +Present ugliness be only remembered as a kind of bad dream. This may +appear to some impossible, but it is, on the other hand, very possible +and sure to come in the immediate future. It is true that, as a +nation, we are not artistic, but we might change our character in a +single generation. It has taken less than a single generation to +develop the enormous increase of Art which we now see around us in the +upper classes. Think of such a thing as house decoration and +furniture. We have to extend this development into regions where it is +as yet unfelt, and among a class which have, as yet, shown no +willingness or desire for such extension. + +All this has been said by way of apology for the practical scheme +which I venture now to lay before you. You have already heard from Mr. +Leland's own lips what has been for five years his work in +Philadelphia, you have heard how he has brought the small arts into +hundreds of homes, and has given purpose and brightness to hundreds of +lives. I have followed this work of his from the beginning with the +greatest interest. Before he began it, he told me what he was going to +try, and how he meant to try. But I think that, courageous and +self-reliant as he is, he did not and could not, at tho outset, +anticipate such a magnificent success as he has obtained. You have +also heard something of the society called the Cottage Arts +Association, founded by Mrs. Jebb, by which the villagers are taught +some of the minor arts. + +This Association is, I am convinced, going to do a great work, and I +am very glad to be able to read you Mrs. Jebb's own testimony, the +fruit of her long experience. She says, 'We must give the +people--children of course included--opportunities of unofficial +intercourse with those who already love Art, and who can help them to +see and to discriminate. We must teach them to use their own hands and +eyes in doing actual Art work; even if the work done does not count +for much, it will develop their observation and quicken their +appreciation in a way which I believe nothing else will do--no mere +looking or explaining. They must be helped to make their own homes and +the things they use beautiful. They must not be helped only to learn +to do Art work, but also given ideas as to its application, shown how +and where to get materials, etc. Further, it has been resolved that +prizes shall be given to the pupils for the best copies drawn, +modelled, carved, or repoussé of the casts and designs circulated +among the various classes.' + +I propose, therefore, that, with such modifications as suit our own +way of working, we should initiate on a more extended scale the +example set us by Mrs. Jebb and Mr. Leland. I think that it would not +be difficult, while retaining the machinery and the help afforded by +the South Kensington Department in painting and drawing, to establish +local clubs, classes, and societies, or, which I think much better, a +central society with local branches, either for the whole of England +or for each county or for each great city, for the purpose of +teaching, encouraging, and advancing all the Fine Arts, both small and +great. We do the whole of our collective work in this country by means +of societies: it is an Englishman's instinct, if he ardently desires +to bring about a thing, to recognise that, though he cannot get what +he wants by his own effort, he may get it by associating other people +with him and forming a society. Everything is done by societies. One +need not, therefore, make any apology for desiring to see another +society established. That of which I dream would be, to begin with, +independent of all politics, controversies, or theories whatever; it +would not be a society requiring an immense income--in fact, with a +very small income indeed very large results might be obtained, as you +will immediately see. The work of the society would consist almost +entirely of evening classes; it would not have to build schools or to +buy houses at first, but it would use, or rent, whatever rooms might +be found available-perhaps those of the day-schools. All the arts +would be taught in these schools, except those already taught by the +South Kensington Department, but especially the minor arts, for this +very important and practical reason, that these would be found almost +immediately to have a money value, and would therefore serve the +useful purpose of attracting pupils. At the outset there must be no +fees, but everybody must be invited to come in and learn. After the +value of the school has been established in the popular mind there +would be no difficulty in exacting a small fee towards the expenses of +maintenance. But, from the very first, there must be established a +system of prizes, public exhibitions of work done by the students, +concerts at which the musicians would play and the choirs would sing, +and theatricals at which the actors would perform. Partly by these +public honours, and partly by showing an actual market value for the +work, we may confidently look forward to creating and afterwards +fostering a genuine enthusiasm for Art. + +How are the funds to be provided for all this work? The money required +for a commencement will be in reality very little. There are the +necessary tools and materials to be found, a certain amount of house +service to be done and paid for, gas and firing, and perhaps rent. +Observe, however, that the materials for Art students of all kinds are +not expensive, that house service costs very little, light and firing +not a great deal; and even the rent would not be heavy, since all our +schools would be situated in the poor neighbourhoods. There only +remain the teachers, and here comes in the really important part of +the scheme. _The teachers will cost nothing at all._ They will all be +members of our new society, and they will give, in addition to or in +lieu of an annual subscription, their personal services as gratuitous +teachers. This part of the scheme is sure to command your sympathies, +the more so if you consider the current of contemporary thought. More +and more we are getting volunteer labour in almost every department. +Everywhere, in every town and in every parish, along with the +professional workers, are those who work for nothing. As for the women +who work for nothing, the sisters of religious orders, the women who +collect rents, the women who live among the poor, those who read aloud +to patients in hospitals, those who go about in the poorest places, +their name is legion. And as for the men, we have no cause to be +ashamed of the part which they take in this great voluntary movement, +which is the noblest thing the world has ever seen, and which I +believe to be only just beginning. All our great religious societies, +all our hospitals, all our philanthropic societies, are worked by +unpaid committees. All our School wards over the whole country, not to +speak of the House of Commons, are unpaid. At this very moment there +are springing up here and there in East London actual +monasteries--only without monastic vows--in which live young men who +devote themselves, either wholly or in part, to work among the poor, +often to evening and night work after their own day's labours. It is +no longer a visionary thing; it is a great and solid fact, that there +are hundreds of men willing, without vows, orders, or any rule, and +without hope of reward, not even gratitude, to live for their brother +men. They give, not their money or their influence, or their +exhortations, but they give--_themselves_. Greater love hath no man. +As for us, we shall not ask our teachers to give their whole time, +unless they offer it. One or two evenings out of the week will +suffice. I am convinced--you are all, I am sure, convinced--that there +will be no difficulty at all in getting teachers, but that the only +difficulty will be in selecting those who can add discretion to zeal, +capability to enthusiasm, skill and tact in teaching, as well as a +knowledge of an art to be taught. Think of the Working Men's College +in Great Ormond Street--perhaps you don't know of this institution. It +is a great school for working men; it teaches all subjects, and it has +been running for nearly thirty years. During the whole of that time, I +believe I am right in saying that the professors and teachers have +been all unpaid--they are volunteers. Can we fear that in Art, in +which there are so many enthusiasts, we shall not get as much +volunteer assistance as in Letters and Science? + +This, then, is my proposal for creating and developing an enthusiasm +for Art. There are to be schools everywhere, controlled by local +committees, under a central society; there are to be volunteer +teachers, willing to subject themselves to rule and order; there are +to be public exhibitions and prize-givings; all the arts, not one +only, are to be taught; great prominence is to be given to the minor +arts; at first there will be no fees; above all and before all, the +great College of ours is not to be made a Government department, to be +tied and bound by the hard-and-fast rules and red tape which are the +curse of every department, nor is it to be under the direction of any +School Board, but, like most things in this country that are of any +use, it is to be governed by its own council. + +One thing more. I am firmly convinced that the only institutions in +any country which endure are those which take a firm hold of the +popular mind and are supported by the people themselves. In order to +make the College of Art permanent, it must belong absolutely to the +people. This can only be effected by the gradual retirement of the +wealthy class, who will start it, from the management, and the +substitution of actual working men in their place--working men, I +mean, who have themselves been through some course of study in the +College, and have, perhaps, become teachers. And as working men will +certainly do nothing without pay--in London, whatever may be the case +elsewhere, their strongest feeling is that their only possessions are +their time and their hands--we shall have to provide that the teachers +of the schools, the directors of the college, and the clerks in the +secretariat, shall never be paid at a higher rate than the current +rate of wage for manual work. The people themselves will in the end +supply council, executive officers, and teaching staff. The time is +ripe; we are ready to begin the work; I do not fear for a moment that +the working man will not, if we begin with prudence, presently +respond, and, through him, the boys and girls. + +We must, however, have a museum, although on this subject I cannot +dwell. I should like to take the Bethnal Green institution entirely +out of South Kensington hands; they have had it for fourteen years, +and you have heard what they have made of it. I think they should hand +it over, if not to our new College of Art, then to a local committee, +who would at least try to show what an educational museum should be. +Our educational museum will be a branch of the College of Art; it will +be in all respects the exact opposite of the Bethnal Green Museum; it +will have everything which is there wanting; it will have a library +and reading-room; it will have lecturers and teachers, it will have +class-rooms; the exhibits will be changed continually; there will be +an organ and concerts; there will be a theatre, there will be in it +every appliance which will teach our pupils the exquisite joy, the +true and real delight, of expressing noble thought in beautiful and +precious work. + + + + + + +THE AMUSEMENTS OF THE PEOPLE + + +'And do your workmen,' asked a London visitor of a Lancashire +mill-owner--'do your workmen really live in those hovels?' + +'Certainly not,' replied the master. 'They only sleep there. They live +in my mill.' + +This was forty years ago. Neither question nor answer would now be +possible. For the hovels are improved into cottages; the factory hands +no longer live only in the mill; and the opinion, which was then held +by all employers of labour, as a kind of Fortieth Article, that it is +wicked for poor people to expect or hope for anything but regular work +and sufficient food, has undergone considerable modification. Why, +indeed, they thought, should the poor man look to be merry when his +betters were content to be dull? We must remember how very little play +went on even among the comfortable and opulent classes in those days. +Dulness and a serious view of life seemed inseparable; recreations of +all kinds were so many traps and engines set for the destruction of +the soul; and to desire or seek for pleasure, reprehensible in the +rich, was for the poor a mere accusation of Providence and an opening +of the arms to welcome the devil. So that our mill-owner, after all, +may have been a very kind-hearted and humane creature, in spite of his +hovels and his views of life, and anxious to promote the highest +interests of his employés. + +A hundred years ago, however, before the country became serious, the +people, especially in London, really had a great many amusements, +sports, and pastimes. For instance, they could go baiting of bulls and +bears, and nothing is more historically certain than the fact that the +more infuriated the animals became, the more delighted were the +spectators; they 'drew' badgers, and rejoiced in the tenacity and the +courage of their dogs; they enjoyed the noble sport of the cock-pit; +they fought dogs and killed rats; they 'squalled' fowls--that is to +say, they tied them to stakes and hurled cudgels at them, but only +once a year, and on Shrove Tuesday, for a treat; they boxed and +fought, and were continually privileged to witness the most stubborn +and spirited prize-fights; every day in the streets there was the +chance for everybody of getting a fight with a light-porter, or a +carter, or a passenger--this prospect must have greatly enhanced the +pleasures of a walk abroad; there were wrestling, cudgelling, and +quarter-staff; there were frequent matches made up and wagers laid +over all kinds of things: there were bonfires, with the hurling of +squibs at passers-by; there were public hangings at regular intervals +and on a generous scale; there were open-air floggings for the joy of +the people; there were the stocks and the pillory, also free and +open-air exhibitions; there were the great fairs of Bartholomew, +Charlton, Fairlop Oak, and Barnet; there were also lotteries. Besides +these amusements, which were all for the lower orders as well as for +the rich, they had their mug-houses, whither the men resorted to drink +beer, spruce, and purl; and for music there was the street +ballad-singer, to say nothing of the bear-warden's fiddle and the band +of marrow-bones and cleavers. Lastly, for those of more elevated +tastes, there was the ringing of the church bells. Now, with the +exception of the last named, we have suppressed every single one of +these amusements. What have we put in their place? Since the working +classes are no longer permitted to amuse themselves after the old +fashions--which, to do them justice, they certainly do not seem to +regret--how do they amuse themselves? + +Everybody knows, in general terms, how the English working classes do +amuse themselves. Let us, however, set down the exact facts, so far as +we can get at them, and consider them. First, it must be remembered as +a gain--so many other things having been lost--that the workman of the +present day possesses an accomplishment, one weapon, which was denied +to his fathers--_he can read_. That possession ought to open a +boundless field; but it has not yet done so, for the simple reason +that we have entirely forgotten to give the working man anything to +read. This, if any, is a case in which the supply should have preceded +and created the demand. Books are dear; besides, if a man wants to buy +books, there is no one to guide him or tell him what he should get. +Suppose, for instance, a studious working man anxious to teach himself +natural history, how is he to know the best, latest, and most +trustworthy books? And so for every branch of learning. Secondly, +there are no free libraries to speak of; I find, in London, one for +Camden Town, one for Bethnal Green, one for South London, one for +Notting Hill, one for Westminster, and one for the City; and this +seems to exhaust the list. It would be interesting to know the daily +average of evening visitors at these libraries. There are three +millions of the working classes in London: there is, therefore, one +free library for every half-million, or, leaving out a whole +three-fourths in order to allow for the children and the old people +and those who are wanted at home, there is one library for every +125,000 people. The accommodation does not seem liberal, but one has +as yet heard no complaints of overcrowding. It may be said, however, +that the workman reads his paper regularly. That is quite true. The +paper which he most loves is red-hot on politics; and its readers are +assumed to be politicians of the type which consider the Millennium +only delayed by the existence of the Church, the House of Lords, and a +few other institutions. Yet our English working man is not a +firebrand, and though he listens to an immense quantity of fiery +oratory, and reads endless fiery articles, he has the good sense to +perceive that none of the destructive measures recommended by his +friends are likely to improve his own wages or reduce the price of +food. It is unfortunate that the favourite and popular papers, which +might instruct the people in so many important matters--such as the +growth, extent, and nature of the trades by which they live, the +meaning of the word Constitution, the history of the British Empire, +the rise and development of our liberties, and so forth--teach little +or nothing on these or any other points. + +If the workman does not read, however, he talks. At present he talks +for the most part on the pavement and in public-houses, but there is +every indication that we shall see before long a rapid growth of +workmen's clubs--not the tea-and-coffee make-believes set up by the +well-meaning, but honest, independent clubs, in every respect such as +those in Pall Mall, managed by the workmen themselves, who are not, +and never will become, total abstainers, but have shown themselves, up +to the present moment, strangely tolerant of those weaker brethren who +can only keep themselves sober by putting on the blue ribbon. +Meantime, there is the public house for a club, and perhaps the +workmen spends, night after night, more than he should upon beer. Let +us remember, if he needs excuse, that his employers have found him no +better place and no better amusement than to sit in a tavern, drink +beer (generally in moderation), and talk and smoke tobacco. Why not? A +respectable tavern is a very harmless place; the circle which meets +there is the society of the workman: it is his life: without it he +might as well have been a factory hand of the good old time--such as +hands were forty years ago; and then he would have made but two +journeys a day--one from bed to mill, and the other from mill to bed. + +Another magnificent gift he has obtained of late years--the excursion +train and the cheap steamboat. For a small sum he can get far away +from the close and smoky town, to the seaside perhaps, but certainly +to the fields and country air; he can make of every fine Sunday in the +summer a holiday indeed. Is not the cheap excursion an immense gain? +Again, for those who cannot afford the country excursion, there is now +a Park accessible from almost every quarter. And I seriously recommend +to all those who are inclined to take a gloomy view concerning their +fellow-creatures, and the mischievous and dangerous tendencies of the +lower classes, to pay a visit to Battersea Park on any Sunday evening +in the summer. + +As regards the working man's theatrical tastes, they lean, so far as +they go, to the melodrama; but as a matter of fact there are great +masses of working people who never go to the theatre at all. If you +think of it, there are so few theatres accessible that they cannot go +often. For instance, there are for the accommodation of the West-end +and the visitors to London some thirty theatres, and these are nearly +always kept running; but for the densely populous districts of +Islington, Somers Town, Pentonville, and Clerkenwell, combined, there +are only two; for Hoxton and Haggerston, there is only one; for the +vast region of Marylebone and Paddington, only one; for Whitechapel, +'and her daughters,' two; for Shoreditch and Bethnal Green, one; for +Southwark and Blackfriars, one; for the towns of Hampstead, Highgate, +Camden Town, Kentish Town, Stratford, Bow, Bromley, Bermondsey, +Camberwell, Kensington, or Deptford, not one. And yet each one of +these places, taken separately, is a good large town. Stratford, for +instance, has 60,000 inhabitants, and Deptford 80,000. Only half a +dozen theatres for three millions of people! It is quite clear, +therefore, that there is not yet a craving for dramatic art among our +working classes. Music-halls there are, certainly, and these provide +shows more or less dramatic, and, though they are not so numerous as +might have been expected, they form a considerable part of the +amusements of the people; it is therefore a thousand pities that among +the 'topical' songs, the break-downs, and the comic songs, room has +never been found for part-songs or for music of a quiet and somewhat +better kind. The proprietors doubtless know their audience, but +wherever the Kyrle Society have given concerts to working people, they +have succeeded in interesting them by music and songs of a kind to +which they are not accustomed in their music-halls. + +The theatre, the music-hall, the public-house, the Sunday excursion, +the parks--these seem almost to exhaust the list of amusements. There +are, also, however, the suburban gardens, such as North Woolwich and +Rosherville, where there are entertainments of all kinds and dancing; +there are the tea-gardens all round London; there are such places of +resort as Kew and Hampton Court, Bushey, Burnham Beeches, Epping, +Hainault and Rye House. There are also the harmonic meetings, the +free-and-easy evenings, and the friendly leads at the public-houses. +Until last year there was one place, in the middle of a very poor +district, where dancing went on all the year round. And there are the +various clubs, debating societies, and local parliaments which have +been lately springing up all over London. One may add the pleasure of +listening to the stump orator, whether he exhorts to repentance, to +temperance, to republicanism, to atheism, or to the return of Sir +Roger. He is everywhere on Sunday in the streets, in the country +roads, and in the parks. The people listen, but with apathy; they are +accustomed to the white-heat of oratory; they hear the same thing +every Sunday: their pulses would beat no faster if Peter the Hermit +himself or Bernard were to exhort them to assume the Cross. It is +comic, indeed, only to think of the blank stare with which a British +workman would receive an invitation to take up arms in order to drive +out the accursed Moslem. + +As regards the women, I declare that I have never been able to find +out anything at all concerning their amusements. Certainly one can see +a few of them any Sunday walking about in the lanes and in the fields +of northern London, with their lovers; in the evening they may also be +observed having tea in the tea-gardens. These, however, are the better +sort of girls; they are well dressed, and generally quiet in their +behaviour. The domestic servants, for the most part, spend their +'evening out' in taking tea with other servants, whose evening is in. +On the same principle, an actor when he has a holiday goes to another +theatre; and no doubt it must be interesting for a cook to observe the +_differentiæ_, the finer shades of difference, in the conduct of a +kitchen. When women are married and the cares of maternity set in, one +does not see how they can get any holiday or recreation at all; but I +believe a good deal is done for their amusement by the mothers' +meetings and other clerical agencies. There is, however, below the +shop girls, the dressmakers, the servants, and the working girls whom +the world, so to speak, knows, a very large class of women whom the +world does not know, and is not anxious to know. They are the factory +hands of London; you can see them, if you wish, trooping out of the +factories and places where they work on any Saturday afternoon, and +thus get them, so to speak, in the lump. Their amusement seems to +consist of nothing but walking about the streets, two and three +abreast, and they laugh and shout as they go so noisily that they must +needs be extraordinarily happy. These girls are, I am told, for the +most part so ignorant and helpless, that many of them do not know even +how to use a needle; they cannot read, or, if they can, they never do; +they carry the virtue of independence as far as they are able, and +insist on living by themselves, two sharing a single room; nor will +they brook the least interference with their freedom, even from those +who try to help them. Who are their friends, what becomes of them in +the end, why they all seem to be about eighteen years of age, at what +period of life they begin to get tired of walking up and down the +streets, who their sweethearts are, what are their thoughts, what are +their hopes--these are questions which no man can answer, because no +man could make them communicate their experiences and opinions. +Perhaps only a Bible-woman or two know the history, and could tell it, +of the London factory girl. Their pay is said to be wretched, whatever +work they do; their food, I am told, is insufficient for young and +hearty girls, consisting generally of tea and bread or +bread-and-butter for breakfast and supper, and for dinner a lump of +fried fish and a piece of bread. What can be done? The proprietors of +the factory will give no better wage, the girls cannot combine, and +there is no one to help them. One would not willingly add another to +the 'rights' of man or woman; but surely, if there is such a thing at +all as a 'right,' it is that a day's labour shall earn enough to pay +for sufficient food, for shelter, and for clothes. As for the +amusements of these girls, it is a thing which may be considered when +something has been done for their material condition. The possibility +of amusement only begins when we have reached the level of the well +fed. Great Gaster will let no one enjoy play who is hungry. Would it +be possible, one asks in curiosity, to stop the noisy and mirthless +laughter of these girls with a hot supper of chops fresh from the +grill? Would they, if they were first well fed, incline their hearts +to rest, reflection, instruction, and a little music? The cheap +excursions, the school feasts, the concerts given for the people, the +increased brightness of religious services, the Bank holidays, the +Saturday half-holiday, all point to the gradual recognition of the +great natural law that men and women, as well as boys and girls, must +have play. At the present moment we have just arrived at the stage of +acknowledging this law; the next step will be that of respecting it, +and preparing to obey it, just now we are willing and anxious that all +should play; and it grieves us to see that in their leisure hours the +people do not play because they do not know how. + +Compare, for instance, the young workman with the young gentleman--the +public schoolman, one of the kind who makes his life as 'all round' as +he can, and learns and practises whatever his hand findeth to do. Or, +if you please, compare him with one of the better sort of young City +clerks; or, again, compare him with one of the lads who belong to the +classes now held in the building of the old Polytechnic; or with the +lads who are found every evening at the classes of the Birkbeck. First +of all, the young workman cannot play any game at all, neither +cricket, football, tennis, racquets, fives, or any of the other games +which the young fellows in the class above him love so passionately: +there are, in fact, no places for him where these games can be played; +for though the boys may play cricket in Victoria Park, I do not +understand that the carpenters, shoemakers, or painters have got clubs +and play there too. There is no gymnasium for them, and so they never +learn the use of their limbs; they cannot row, though they have a +splendid river to row upon; they cannot fence, box, wrestle, play +single-stick, or shoot with the rifle; they do not, as a rule, join +the Volunteer corps; they do not run, leap, or practise athletics of +any kind; they cannot swim; they cannot sing in parts, unless, which +is naturally rare, they belong to a church choir; they cannot play any +kind of instrument--to be sure the public schoolboy is generally +grovelling in the same shameful ignorance of music; they cannot dance; +in the whole of this vast city there is not a single place where a +couple, so minded, can go for an evening's dancing, unless they are +prepared to journey as far as North Woolwich. Not one. Ought it not to +be felt and resented as an intolerable grievance that grandmotherly +legislation actually forbids the people to dance? That the working men +themselves do not seem to feel and resent it is really a mournful +thing. Then, they cannot paint, draw, model, or carve. They cannot +act, and seemingly do not care greatly about seeing others act; and, +as already stated, they never read books. Think what it must be to be +shut out entirely from the world of history, philosophy, poetry, +fiction, essays, and travels! Yet our working classes are thus +practically excluded. Partly they have done this for themselves, +because they have never felt the desire to read books; partly, as I +said above, we have done it for them, because we have never taken any +steps to create the demand. Now, as regards these arts and +accomplishments, the public schoolman and the better class City clerk +have the chance of learning some of them at least, and of practising +them, both before and after they have left school. What a poor +creature would that young man seem who could do none of these things! +Yet the working man has no chance of learning any. There are no +teachers for him; the schools for the small arts, the accomplishments, +and the graces of life are not open to him; one never hears, for +instance, of a working man learning to waltz or dance, unless it is in +imitation of a music-hall performer. In other words, the public +schoolman has gone through a mill of discipline out of school as well +as in. Law reigns in his sports as in his studies. Whether he sits +over his books or plays in the fields, he learns to be obedient to +law, order, and rule: he obeys, and expects to be obeyed; it is not +himself whom he must study to please: it is the whole body of his +fellows. And this discipline of self, much more useful than the +discipline of books, the young workman knows not. Worse than this, and +worst of all, not only is he unable to do any of these things, but he +is even ignorant of their uses and their pleasures, and has no desire +to learn any of them, and does not suspect at all that the possession +of these accomplishments would multiply the joys of life. He is +content to go on without them. Now contentment is the most mischievous +of all the virtues; if anything is to be done, and any improvement is +to be effected, the wickedness of discontent must first be explained +away. + +Let us, if you please, brighten this gloomy picture by recognising the +existence of the artisan who pursues knowledge for its own sake. There +are many of this kind. You may come across some of them botanizing, +collecting insects, moths and butterflies in the fields on Sundays; +others you will find reading works on astronomy, geometry, physics, or +electricity: they have not gone through the early training, and so +they often make blunders; but yet they are real students. One of them +I knew once who had taught himself Hebrew; another, who read so much +about co-operation, that he lifted himself clean out of the +co-operative ranks, and is now a master; another and yet another and +another, who read perpetually, and meditate upon, books of political +and social economy; and there are thousands whose lives are made +dignified for them, and sacred, by the continual meditation on +religious things. Let us make every kind of allowance for these +students of the working class; and let us not forget, as well, the +occasional appearance of those heaven-born artists who are fain to +play music or die, and presently get into orchestras of one kind or +another, and so leave the ranks of daily labour and join the great +clan or caste of musicians, who are a race or family apart, and carry +on their mystery from father to son. + +But, as regards any place or institution where the people may learn or +practise or be taught the beauty and desirability of any of the +commoner amusements, arts, and accomplishments, there is not one, +anywhere in London. The Bethnal Green Museum certainly proposed unto +itself, at first, to 'do something,' in a vague and uncertain way, for +the people. Nobody dared to say that it would be first of all +necessary to make the people discontented, because this would have +been considered as flying in the face of Providence; and there was, +besides, a sort of nebulous hope, not strong enough for a theory, that +by dint of long gazing upon vases and tapestry everybody would in time +acquire a true feeling for art, and begin to crave for culture. Many +very beautiful things have, from time to time, been sent +there--pictures, collections, priceless vases; and I am sure that +those visitors who brought with them the sense of beauty and feeling +for artistic work which comes of culture, have carried away memories +and lessons which will last them for a lifetime. On the other hand, to +those who visit the Museum chiefly in order to see the people, it has +long been painfully evident that the folk who do not bring that sense +with them go away carrying nothing of it home with them. Nothing at +all. Those glass cases, those pictures, those big jugs, say no more to +the crowd than a cuneiform or a Hittite inscription. They have now, or +had quite recently, on exhibition a collection of turnips and carrots +beautifully modelled in wax: it is perhaps hoped that the +contemplation of these precious but homely things may carry the people +a step farther in the direction of culture than Sir Richard Wallace's +pictures could effect. In fact, the Bethnal Green Museum does no more +to educate the people than the British Museum. It is to them simply a +collection of curious things which is sometimes changed. It is cold +and dumb. It is merely a dull and unintelligent branch of a +department; and it will remain so, because whatever the collections +may be, a Museum can teach nothing, unless there is someone to expound +the meaning of the things. Why, even that wonderful Museum of the +House Beautiful could teach the pilgrims no lessons at all until the +Sisters explained to them what were the rare and curious things +preserved in their glass cases. + +Is it possible that, by any persuasion, attraction, or teaching, the +walking men of this country can be induced to aim at those organized, +highly skilled, and disciplined forms of recreation which make up the +better pleasure of life? Will they consent, without hope of gain, to +give the labour, patience, and practice required of every man who +would become master of any art or accomplishment, or even any game? +There are men, one is happy to find, who think that it is not only +possible, but even easy, to effect this, and the thing is about to be +transferred from the region or theory to that of practice, by the +creation of the People's Palace. + +The general scheme is already well known. Because the Mile End Road +runs through the most extensive portion of the most dismal city in the +world, the city which has been suffered to exist without recreation, +it has been chosen as the fitting site of the Palace. As regards +simple absence of joy, Hoxton, Haggerston, Pentonville, Clerkenwell, +or Kentish Town, might contend, and have a fair chance of success, +with any portion whatever of the East-end proper. But, then, around +Mile End lie Stepney, Whitechapel, Bethnal Green, the Cambridge Road, +the Commercial Road, Bow, Stratford, Shadwell, Limehouse, Wapping, and +St. George's-in-the-East. Without doubt the real centre, the [Greek: +omphalos] of dreariness, is situated somewhere in the Mile End Road, +and it is to be hoped that the Palace may be placed upon the very +centre itself. + +Let me say a few words as to what this Palace may and may not do. In +the first place, it can do nothing, absolutely nothing, to relieve the +great starvation and misery which lies all about London, but more +especially at the East-end. People who are out of work and starving do +not want amusement, not even of the highest kind; still less do they +want University extension. Therefore, as regards the Palace, let us +forget for a while the miserable condition of the very poor who live +in East London; we are concerned only with the well fed, those who are +in steady work, the respectable artisans and _petits commis_, the +artists in the hundred little industries which are carried on in the +East-end; those, in fact, who have already acquired some power of +enjoyment because they are separated by a sensible distance from their +hand-to-mouth brothers and sisters, and are pretty certain to-day that +they will have enough to eat to-morrow. It is for these, and such as +these, that the Palace will be established. It is to contain: (1) +class-rooms, where all kinds of study can be carried on; (2) concert +rooms; (3) conversation-rooms; (4) a gymnasium; (5) a library; and +lastly, a winter garden. In other words, it is to be an institution +which will recognise the fact, that for some of those who have to work +all day at, perhaps, uncongenial and tedious labour, the best form of +recreation may be study and intellectual effort; while for +others--that is to say, for the great majority--music, reading, +tobacco, and rest will be desired. Let us be under no illusions as to +the supposed thirst for knowledge. Those who desire to learn are even +in youth always a minority. How many men do we know, among our own +friends, who have ever set themselves to learn anything since they +left school? It is a great mistake to suppose that the working man, +any more than the merchant-man or the clerk-man, or the tradesman, is +ardently desirous of learning. But there will always be n few; and +especially there are the young who would fain, if they could, make a +ladder of learning, and so, as has ever been the goodly and godly +custom in this realm of England, mount unto higher things. The Palace +of the People would be incomplete indeed if it gave no assistance to +ambitious youths. Next to the classes in literature and science come +those in music and painting. There is no reason whatever why the +Palace should not include an academy of music, an academy of arts, and +an academy of acting, in a few months after its establishment it +should have its own choir, its own orchestra, its own concerts, its +own opera, and its own theatre, with a company formed of its own +_alumni_. And in a year or two it should have its own exhibition of +paintings, drawings, and sculpture. As regards the simpler amusements, +there must be rooms where the men can smoke, and others where the +girls and women can work, read, and talk; there must be a debating +society for questions, social and political, but especially the +former; there must be a dancing school, and a ball once every week, +all the year round; it should be possible to convert the great hall +into either theatre, concert-room, or ball-room; there must be a bar +for beer as well as for coffee, and at a price calculated so as to pay +just the bare expenses; there must be a library and writing-room, and +the winter garden must be a place where the women and children can +come in the daytime while the men are at work. One thing must be kept +out of the place: there must not be allowed to grow up in the minds +even of the most suspicious the least jealousy that religious +influences are at work; more than this, the institution must be +carefully watched to prevent the rise of such a suspicion; religious +controversy must be kept out of the debating-room, and even in the +conversation-rooms there ought to be power to exclude a man who makes +himself offensive by the exhibition and parade of his religious or +irreligious opinions. + +As for the teaching of the classes, we must look for voluntary work +rather than to a great endowment. The history of the College in Great +Ormond Street shows how much may be done by unpaid labour, and I do +not think it too much to expect that the Palace of the People may be +started by unpaid teachers in every branch of science and art: +moreover, as regards science, history and language, the University +Extension Society will probably find the staff. There must be, +however, volunteers, women as well as men, to teach singing, music, +dancing, sewing, acting, speaking, drawing, painting, carving, +modelling, and many other things. This kind of help should only be +wanted at the outset, because, before long, all the art departments +ought to be conducted by ex-students who have become in their turn +teachers, they should be paid, but not on the West-end scale, from +fees--so that the schools may support themselves. Let us not _give_ +more than is necessary; for every class and every course there should +be some kind of fee, though a liberal system of small scholarships +should encourage the students, and there should be the power of +remitting fees in certain cases. As for the difficulty of starting the +classes, I think that the assistance of Board School masters, foremen +of works, Sunday schools, the political clubs, and debating societies +should be invited; and that besides small scholarships, substantial +prizes of musical and mathematical instruments, books, artists' +materials, and so forth, should be offered, with the glory of public +exhibition and public performances. After the first year there should +be nothing exhibited in the Palace except work done in the classes, +and no performances of music or of plays should be given but by the +students themselves. + +There has been going on in Philadelphia for the last two years an +experiment, conducted by Mr. Charles Leland, whose sagacious and +active mind is as pleased to be engaged upon things practical as upon +the construction of humorous poems. He has founded, and now conducts +personally, an academy for the teaching of the minor arts; he gets +shop girls, work girls, factory girls, boys and young men of all +classes together, and teaches them how to make things, pretty things, +artistic things. 'Nothing,' he writes to me, 'can describe the joy +which fills a poor girl's mind when she finds that she, too, possesses +and can exercise a real accomplishment.' He takes them as ignorant, +perhaps--but I have no means of comparing--as the London factory girl, +the girl of freedom, the girl with the fringe--and he shows them how +to do crewel-work, fretwork, brass work; how to carve in wood; how to +design; how to draw--he maintains that it is possible to teach nearly +every one to draw; how to make and ornament leather work, boxes, +rolls, and all kinds of pretty things in leather. What has been done +in Philadelphia amounts, in fact, to this: that one man who loves his +brother man is bringing purpose, brightness, and hope into thousands +of lives previously made dismal by hard and monotonous work; he has +put new and higher thoughts into their heads; he has introduced the +discipline of methodical training; he has awakened in them the sense +of beauty. Such a man is nothing less than a benefactor to humanity. +Let us follow his example in the Palace of the People. + +I venture, further, to express my strong conviction that the success +of the Palace will depend entirely upon its being governed, within +limits at first, but these limits constantly broadening, by the people +themselves. If they think the Palace is a trap to catch them, and make +them sober, good, religious and temperate, there will be an end. In +the first place, therefore, there must be a real element of the +working man upon the council; there must be real working men on every +sub-committee or branch; the students must be wholly recruited from +the working classes; and gradually the council must be elected by the +people who use the Palace. Fortunately, there would be no difficulty +at the outset in introducing this element, because the great factories +and breweries in the neighbourhood might be asked each to elect one or +more representatives to sit upon the council of the new University. It +'goes without saying' that the police work, the maintenance of order, +the out-kicking of offenders, must be also entirely managed by a +voluntary corps of efficient working men. Rows there will undoubtedly +be, since we are all of us, even the working man, human; but there +need be no scandals. + +I must not go on, though there is so much to be said. I see before us +in the immediate future a vast University whose home is in the Mile +End Road; but it has affiliated colleges in all the suburbs, so that +even poor, dismal, uncared-for Hoxton shall no longer be neglected; +the graduates of this University are the men and women whose lives, +now unlovely and dismal, shall be made beautiful for them by their +studies, and their heavy eyes uplifted to meet the sunlight; the +subjects or examination shall be, first, the arts of every kind: so +that unless a man have neither eyes to see nor hand to work with, he +may here find something or other which he may learn to do; and next, +the games, sports, and amusements with which we cheat the weariness of +leisure and court the joy of exercising brain and wit and strength. +From the crowded class-rooms I hear already the busy hum of those who +learn and those who teach. Outside, in the street, are those--a vast +multitude to be sure--who are too lazy and too sluggish of brain to +learn anything: but these, too, will flock into the Palace presently +to sit, talk, and argue in the smoking-rooms; to read in the library; +to see the students' pictures upon the walls; to listen to the +students' orchestra, discoursing such music as they have never dreamed +of before; to look on while His Majesty's Servants of the People's +Palace perform a play, and to hear the bright-eyed girls sing +madrigals. + +[1884.] + + + + + +THE ASSOCIATED LIFE. [The substance of this paper was delivered as the +presidential speech at the opening of the Hoxton Library and +Institute.] + + + +It has seemed to me--for reasons which I hope to make clear to +you--that the present occasion, the opening of our newly-acquired +Place of Gathering, is one on which something may be said upon the +subject of the Associated Life--that is to say, on the union, or +combination of men, or of men and women, in order to effect by +collective action objects--objects worthy of effort--impossible for +the individual to attempt. + +It would seem at first sight that combination should be the very +simplest thing in the world. It is self-evident that those who want +anything have a much better chance of getting it if they join together +in order to demand it, or to work for it. Like one or two other simple +laws of human nature, this, though the simplest, is the hardest to get +people to understand and to accept. Nothing is so difficult as to +persuade people to trust each other, even to the extent of standing +together and sticking together and working together in order to get +what they want. + +The first association of men was forced upon them for protection, I +wonder how many ages--hundreds of thousands of years--it took to teach +men to join together in order to protect themselves against +starvation, wild beasts, and each other. The necessity of +self-preservation first made men associate, and changed hunters into +soldiers, and turned the whole world into a camp. It was war, which +brought men together; it was war which taught men the necessity of +order, discipline, and obedience; without the necessity for fighting, +without the military spirit, no association at all would now be +possible. A vast number of men practically use modern safety at this +day for the purpose of being fighters, every man against his +neighbour. Just as no one would, even now, do any work but for the +necessity of finding food for himself and his family, so no one would +ever have begun to stand side by side with his neighbour but for the +absolute certainty that he would be killed if he did not. + +Let us, however, consider a more advanced kind of association, that of +men united for purposes of trade and profit. The craftsman of the +town, who made things and sold them, found out by the experience of +some generations that his only chance, if he would not become a slave, +was to combine with others who made the same things for the same +purposes. He therefore formed--here in London, as early as the Saxon +times an association for the protection of his craft--a +rough-and-ready association at first, a religious guild or fraternity, +something which should persuade men to come together as friends, not +rivals, what we should now call a benefit society, gradually +developing into an association of officers, a constitution, and rules; +growing by slow degrees into a powerful and wealthy body, having its +period of birth, development, vigour, and decay. In illustration of +such an association, I will sketch out for you the history of a +certain London Company--what was called a Craft Company; a society of +working-men who were engaged upon the same craft; who all made the +same thing: as the Company of Bowyers who made bows, or of Fletchers +who made arrows. The society began first of all with a Guild of the +Craft, such as I have just mentioned; that is to say, all those who +belonged to the Craft--according to the custom of the time, they all +lived in the same quarter and were well known to each other--were +persuaded or compelled to belong to the Guild. Here religion stepped +in, for every Guild had its own patron saint, and if a craftsman stood +aloof, he lost the protection and incurred the displeasure of that +saint, so that, apart from considerations of the common weal, terror +of how the offended saint might punish the blackleg forced men to +join. Thus, St. George protected the armourers; St. Mary and St. +Thomas the Martyr, the bowyers; St. Catharine the Virgin, the +haberdashers; St. Martin, the sadlers; the Virgin Mary, the +cloth-workers, and so on. On the saint's day they marched in +procession to the parish church and heard Mass; every year each man +paid his fees of membership; the Guild looked after the sick and +maintained the aged of the Craft. The next step, which was not taken +until after many years, and was not at first contemplated, was to +obtain for the Guild--_i.e._, for the Craft--a Royal Charter. This +favour of the Sovereign conferred certain powers of regulating their +trade; and, this once obtained, we hear no more of the Guild--it +became absorbed into the Company. The religious observances remained, +but they were no longer put forward as the chief 'articles' of +association. The powers granted by Royal Charter were very strong. The +Company was empowered to prohibit anyone from working at that trade +within the jurisdiction of the City who was not a member of the +Company; it could prevent markets from being held within a certain +distance of the City; it could oblige all the youth of the City to be +apprenticed to some Company; it could regulate wages and hours of +work; it could examine the work before it could be sold; and it could +limit the number of the workmen. The Company, in fact, ruled its own +trade with an authority from which there was no appeal. On the other +hand, the Company exercised a paternal care over its members. When +they were sick, the Company provided for them; when they became old, +the Company maintained them; if any became dishonest, the Company +turned them out of the City. You, who think yourselves strong with +your Trades Unions (things as yet undeveloped and with all their +history before them), have never yet succeeded in getting a tenth part +of the power and authority over your own men that was excercised by a +City Company in the time of Richard II. over its Livery. + +Then, in order to maintain the dignity of the Craft, a livery was +chosen, the colours of which were worn by every member. On their +saint's day, as in the old days of the Guild, the Company marched in +great magnificence, with music and flags and new liveries, with their +wardens, officers, schoolboys, almsmen, and priests, to church. After +church they banqueted together in the Company's Hall, a splendid +building, where a great feast was served, and where the day was +honoured by the presence of guests--great nobles, city worthies, even +the Lord Mayor, perhaps, or some of the Aldermen, or the Bishop, or +one of the Abbots of the City Religious Houses. Every man was bidden +to bring his wife to the feast of the Company's grand day--if not his +wife, then his sweetheart, for all were to feast together. During +dinner the musicians in their gallery made sweet music. After dinner, +actors and tumblers came in, and they had pageants and shows, and +marvellous feats of skill and legerdemain. + +Ask yourselves, at this point, whether it is possible to conceive of +an institution more purely democratic than such a company as +originally designed. All the craftsmen of every craft combining +together, not one allowed to stand out, electing their own officers, +obeying rules for the general good, building halls, holding banquets, +and creating a spirit of pride in their craft. What more could be +desired? Why do we not imitate this excellent example? + +Yet, when we look at the City Companies, what do we find? The old +Craft Companies, it is true, still exist; they have an income of many +thousands a year, and a livery, or list of members, in number varying +from twenty to four hundred, and not one single craftsman left among +them. What has become, then, or the Association? Well, that remains, +the shadow remains, but the substance has long since gone. Even the +craft itself, in many cases, has disappeared. There are no longer in +existence, for instance, Armourers, Bowyers, Fletchers, or Poulterers. + +What has happened, then? Why did this essentially democratic +Company--in which all were subject to rules for the general good, and +none should undersell his brother, and the rate of wages and the hours +of labour were regulated--so completely fail? + +For many reasons, some of which concern ourselves: it failed, because +the members themselves forgot the original reason of their +combination, and neglected to look after their own interests; it +failed, because the members were too ignorant to remember, or to know, +that the Company was founded for the interests of the Craft itself, +and not for those of the masters alone or the men alone. Now every +Association must needs, of course, have wardens or masters; it must +needs elect to those posts of dignity and responsibility such men as +could understand law and maintain their privileges if necessary before +the dread Sovereign, his Highness the King. The men they necessarily +elected were therefore those who had received some education, +master-workmen--their own employers--not their fellows. It speedily +came about, therefore, that the masters, not the men, ruled the hours +of work, the wages of work, the quantity and quality of work: the +masters, not the craftsmen, admitted members and limited their number. +Do you now understand? The officers ruled the Company of the Craftsmen +for the benefit of the masters and not the men. Nay, they did more. +Since in some trades the men showed a disposition, on dimly perceiving +the reality, to form a union within a union, the masters were strong +enough to put down all combinations for the raising of wages as +illegal; to attempt such combinations was ruled to be conspiracy. And +conspiracy all unions of working men have remained down to the present +day, as the founders of the first Trades Unions in this country +discovered to their cost. So the men were gagged; they were silenced; +they were enslaved by the very institution that they had founded for +the insurance of their own freedom. The thing was inevitable because +they were ignorant, and because, if you put into any man's hands the +power of robbing his neighbour with impunity, that man will inevitably +sooner or later rob his neighbour. I fear that we must acknowledge the +sorrowful fact that not a single man in the whole world, whatever his +position, can be trusted with irresponsible and absolute power--with +the power of robbery coupled with the certainty of immunity. + +Well, in this way came about the first enslavement of the working man. +It lasted for three hundred years. Then followed a time of comparative +freedom, when, the wealth and population of the city increasing, the +craftsmen found themselves pushed out beyond the walls, and taking up +their quarters beyond the power of the Companies. But it was a freedom +without knowledge, without order, without forethought. It was the +freedom of the savage who lives only for himself. For they were now +unable to combine. In the long course of centuries they had lost the +very idea of combination; they had forgotten that in an age we call +rude and rough they possessed the power and perceived the importance +of combination. The great-grandchildren of the men who had formed this +union of the trade had entirely forgotten the meaning, the reason, the +possibility, of the old combination. In this way, then, the Companies +gradually lost their craftsmen, but retained their property. + +One very remarkable result may be noticed. Formerly, the Lord Mayor of +London was elected by the whole of the commonalty. All the citizens +assembled at Paul's Cross, and there, sometimes with tumult and +sometimes with fighting, they elected their mayor for the next year. +But since every man in the City was compelled to belong to his own +Company, to speak of the commonalty meant to speak of the Companies. +Every man who voted for the election of Lord Mayor was therefore bound +to be a liveryman--_i.e_., a member of a Company. This restriction is +still in force; that is to say, the City of London, the richest and +the greatest city in the world, now allows eight thousand liverymen, +or members of the Companies, to elect their chief magistrate. + +Why do I tell over again this old threadbare tale? Perhaps, however, +it is not old or threadbare to you: perhaps there are some here who +learn for the first time that association, trade union, combination, +is a thousand years old in this ancient city. I have told it chiefly, +however, because the history should be a warning to you of London; +because it shows that association itself may be made the very weapon +with which to destroy its own objects; in other words, because you +must find in this history an illustration or the great truth that the +forms of liberty require the most unceasing vigilance to prevent them +from becoming the means of destroying liberty. The Companies failed +because they could be, and were, used to destroy the freedom of the +very men for whose benefit they were founded. At present, as you know, +some of them are very poor indeed: those which are rich are probably +doing far more good with their wealth in promoting all kinds of useful +work than ever they did in all their past history. + +There followed, I said, a long period in which association among +working men was absolutely unknown. The history of this period, from a +craftsman's point of view, has never been written. It is, indeed, a +most terrible chapter in the history of industry. + +Imagine, if you can, crowded districts in which there were no schools, +or but one school for a very few, no churches, no newspapers or books, +a place in which no one could read; a place in which every man, woman +and child regarded the Government of the country, in which they had +not the least share, as their natural enemy and oppressor. Among them +lurked the housebreaker, the highway robber, and the pickpocket. Along +the riverside, where many thousands of working men lived--at St. +Katherine's, Wapping, Shadwell, and Ratcliff--all the people together, +high and low, were in league with the men who loaded and unloaded the +ships in the river and robbed them all day long. What could be +expected of people left thus absolutely to themselves, without any +power of action, without the least thought that amendment was possible +or desirable? Can we wonder if the people sank lower and lower, until, +by the middle of the last century, the working men of London had +reached a depth of degradation that terrified everyone who knew what +things meant? Listen to the following words, written in the year 1772: + +'To paint the manners of the lower rank of the inhabitants of London +is to draw a most disagreeable caricature, since the blackest vices +and the most perpetual scenes of villainy and wickedness are +constantly to be met with there. The most thorough contempt for all +order, morality, and decency is almost universal among the poorer sort +of people, whose manners I cannot but regard as the worst in the whole +world. The open street for ever presents the spectator with the most +loathsome scenes of beastliness, cruelty, and all manner of vice. In a +word, if you would take a view of man in his debased state, go neither +to the savages nor the Hottentots; they are decent, cleanly, and +elegant, compared with the poor people of London.' + +This is very strongly put. If you will look at some of Hogarth's +pictures you will admit that the words are not too strong. + +Union had long since been forbidden; union was called conspiracy; +conspiracy was punishable by imprisonment. If men cannot combine they +sink into their natural condition and become savages again. All these +evils fell upon our unfortunate working men as a natural result of +neglect first, and of enforced isolation. Union was forbidden. During +all these years every man worked for himself, stood by himself; there +was no association. Therefore, there followed savagery. There was no +education. Had there been either, association or rebellion must have +followed. The awakening of associated effort took place at the +beginning of the French Revolution. It was caused, or stimulated, by +that prodigious movement; and the first combinations of working men +were formed for political purposes. Since then, what have we seen? +Associations for political purposes formed, prohibited, persecuted, +formed again in spite of ancient laws. Associations victorious; we +have seen Trades Unions formed, prohibited, formed again, and now +flourishing, though not quite victorious. And the spirit of +association, I cannot but believe, grows stronger every day. In this +most glorious century--the noblest century for the advancement of +mankind that the world has ever seen, yet only the beginning of the +things that are to follow--we have gained an immense number of things: +the suffrage, vote by ballot, the Factory Acts, abolition of flogging, +the freedom of the press, the right of public meeting, the right of +combination, and a system of free education by which the national +character, the national modes of thought; the national customs, will +be changed in ways we cannot forecast; but since the national +character will always remain British we need have no fear of that +change. All these things--remember, all these things; every one of +these things--is the result, direct or indirect, of association. +Think, for instance, of one difference in custom between now and a +hundred years ago. Formerly, when a wrong thing had to be denounced, +or an iniquity attacked, the man who saw the thing wrote a pamphlet or +a book, which never probably reached the class for whom it was +intended at all. He now writes to the papers, which are read by +millions. He thus, to begin with, creates a certain amount of public +opinion; he then forms a society composed of those who think like +himself; then, for his companions, he spreads his doctrines in all +directions. That is our modern method; not to stand up alone like a +prophet, and to preach and cry aloud while the world, unheeding, +passes by, but to march in the ranks with brother soldiers, exhorting +and calling on our comrades to take up the word, and pass it on--and +when the soldiers in the ranks are firm and fixed to carry that cause. + +We are now witnessing one of the most remarkable, one of the most +suggestive, signs of the time--a time which is, I verily believe, +teeming with social mange--a time, as I have said above, of the most +stupendous importance in the history of mankind. We read constantly, +in the paper and everywhere, fears, prophecies, bogies of approaching +revolution. Approaching! Fears of approaching revolution! Why, we are +in the midst of this revolution, we are actually in the midst of the +most wonderful social revolution! People don't perceive it, simply +because the revolutionaries are not chopping off heads, as they did in +France. But it has begun, all the same, and it is going on around us +silently, swiftly, irresistibly. We are actually in the midst of +revolution. Everywhere the old order of things is slipping away; +everywhere things new and unexpected are asserting themselves. Let me +only point out a few things. We have become within the last twenty +years a nation of readers--we all read; most of us, it is true, read +only newspapers. But what newspapers? Why, exactly the same papers as +are read by the people of the highest position in the land. Perhaps +you have not thought of the significance, the extreme significance, of +this fact. Certainly those who continually talk of the ignorance of +the people have never thought of it! What does it mean? Why, that +every reasoning man in the country, whatever his social position, +reads the same news, the same debates, the same arguments as the +statesman, the scholar, the philosopher, the preacher, or the man of +science. He bases his opinions on the same reasoning and on the same +information as the Leader of the House of Commons, as my Lord +Chancellor, as my Lord Archbishop himself. Formerly the working man +read nothing, and he knew nothing, and he had no power. He has now, +not only his vote, but he has as much personal influence among his own +friends as depends upon his knowledge and his force of character, and +he can acquire as much political knowledge as any noble lord not +actually in official circles, if he only chooses to reach out his hand +and take what is offered him! Is not that a revolution which has so +much raised the working man? Again, he was, formerly, the absolute +slave of his employer; he was obliged to take with a semblance of +gratitude whatever wages were offered him. What is he now? A man of +business, who negotiates for his skill. Is not that a revolution? +Formerly he lived where he could. Look, now, at the efforts made +everywhere to house him properly. For, understand, association on one +side, which shows power, commands recognition and respect on the +other. None of these fine things would have been done for the working +men had they not shown that they could combine. Consider, again, the +question of education. Here, indeed, is a mighty revolution going on +around us: the Board Schools teaching things never before presented to +the children of the people; technical schools teaching work of all +kinds; and--a most remarkable sign of the times--thousands upon +thousands of working lads, after a hard day's work, going off to a +Polytechnic for a hard evening's work of another kind. And of what +kind? It is exactly the same kind as is found in the colleges of the +rich. The same sciences, the same languages, the same arts, the same +intellectual culture, are learned by these working lads in their +evenings as are learned by their richer brothers in the mornings. In +many cases the teachers are men of the same standing at the University +as those who teach at the public schools. There are, I believe, a +hundred thousand of these ambitious boys scattered over London, and +the number increases daily. If this is not revolution, I should like +to know what is. That the working classes should study in the highest +schools; that they should enjoy an equal chance with the richest and +noblest of acquiring knowledge of the highest kind; that they should +be found capable actually of foregoing the pleasures of youth--the +rest, the society, the amusements of the evenings--in order to acquire +knowledge--what is this if it is not a revolution and an upsetting? As +for what is coming out of all these things, I have formed, for myself, +very strong views indeed, and I think that I could, if this were a +fitting time, prophesy unto you. But, for the present, let us be +content with simply marking what has been done, and especially with +the recognition that everything--every single thing--that has been +gained has been either achieved by association, or has naturally grown +and developed out of association. + +Through association the way to the higher education is open to you; +through association political power has been acquired for you; through +association you have made yourselves free to combine for trade +purposes; through association you have made yourselves strong, and +even, in the eyes of some, terrible; it remains in these respects only +that you should make, as one believes you will make, a fit and proper +use of advantages and weapons which have never before been placed in +the hands of any nation, not even Germany; certainly not the United +States. + +But what about the other side of life--the social side, the side of +recreation, the side which has been so persistently ignored and +neglected up to the present day? Now, when we look round us and +consider that side of life we observe the plainest and the most +significant proof possible of the great social revolution which is +among us; plainer, more significant, than the success of the Trades +Unions. For we see sprung up, already a vigorous plant, the associated +life applied to purposes above the mere material interests. You have +made them safe, as far as possible, by your unions. The social and +recreative side of life you have now taken over into your keeping, you +order recreation which shall be as music or as poetry in your +associated lives, harmonious, melodious, rhythmic, metrical. All that +I have said to-night leads up to this, that the Associated Life is +necessary for the enjoyment and the attainment of the best and the +highest things that the world can give, as the Guild and the Company +formerly, and the Trade Union is now, for the safeguarding of the +craft. In entering upon this new association, men and women together, +learn the lessons of the past. Be jealous of your democratic lines. +Let every step be a step for the general interest. Let the individual +perish. Let the wishes and intentions of your founders be never lost +to sight. Be not carried away by religion, by politics, by any new +thing; never lose the principles of your association. + +And now, I ask, when, before this day, has it been recorded in the +history of any city that men and women should unite in order to +procure for themselves those social advantages which up to the present +have been enjoyed only by the richer class, and not always by them? +When, before this time, has it been reported that men and women have +banded themselves together resolved that whatever good things rich +people could procure for themselves, they would also make for +themselves? Since the magistrates refused to allow dancing, one of the +most innocent and delightful amusements, they would arrange their own +dancing for themselves without troubling the magistrates for +permission. Since going to concerts cost money, they would have their +own musicians and their own singers. Since selection of companions is +the first essence of social enjoyment, they would have their own rooms +for themselves, where they would meet none but those who, like +themselves, desired education, culture, and orderly recreation. In one +word, when, in the history of any city, has there been found such a +combination, so resolute for culture, as the combination of men and +women which has raised this temple, this sacred Temple of Humanity? +You are, indeed, I plainly perceive, revolutionaries of the most +dangerous kind. As revolutionaries you are engaged in the cultivation +of all those arts and accomplishments which have hitherto belonged to +the West-end; as revolutionaries you claim the right to meet, read, +sing, dance, act, play, debate, with as much freedom as if you lived +in Berkeley Square. Where will these things stop? + +[1893.] + + +[Illustration.] + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's As We Are and As We May Be, by Sir Walter Besant + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE *** + +***** This file should be named 14191-8.txt or 14191-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/1/9/14191/ + +Produced by Bryan Ness, Keith M. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/14191-8.zip b/old/14191-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2711965 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14191-8.zip diff --git a/old/14191.txt b/old/14191.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..553881e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/14191.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7638 @@ +Project Gutenberg's As We Are and As We May Be, by Sir Walter Besant + +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: As We Are and As We May Be + +Author: Sir Walter Besant + +Release Date: November 28, 2004 [EBook #14191] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE *** + + + + +Produced by Bryan Ness, Keith M. Eckrich and the Project Gutenberg +Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + +AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE + + +NOVELS BY SIR WALTER BESANT & JAMES RICE. + +Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d. each; post 8vo., boards, 2s. each; cloth, +2s. 6d. each. + + READY-MONEY MORTIBOY. + + THE GOLDEN BUTTERFLY. + + MY LITTLE GIRL. + + WITH HARP AND CROWN. + + THIS SON OF VULCAN. + + THE MONKS OF THELEMA. + + BY CELIA'S ARBOUR. + + THE CHAPLAIN OF THE FLEET. + + THE SEAMY SIDE. + + THE CASE OF MR. LUCRAFT. + + 'TWAS IN TRAFALGAR'S BAY. + + THE TEN YEARS' TENANT. + +*** There is also a LIBRARY EDITION of all the above (excepting the +first two), large crown 8vo., cloth extra, 6s. each. + + * * * * * + +NOVELS BY SIR WALTER BESANT. + +Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d. each; post 8vo., boards, 2s. each; cloth, +2s. 6d. each. + + ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF MEN. 12 Illusts. by BARNARD. + + THE CAPTAINS' ROOM. With Frontispiece by E.J. WHEELER. + + ALL IN A GARDEN FAIR. With 6 Illustrations by HARRY FURNISS, + + DOROTHY FORSTER. With Frontispiece by CHARLES GREEN. + + UNCLE JACK, and other Stories. + + CHILDREN OF GIBEON. + + THE WORLD WENT VERY WELL THEN. 12 Illusts. by FORESTIER. + + HERR PAULUS: His Rise, his Greatness, and his Fall. + + THE BELL OF ST. PAUL'S. + + FOR FAITH AND FREEDOM. Illusts. by FORESTIER and WADDY. + + TO CALL HER MINE. With 9 Illustrations by A. FORESTIER. + + THE HOLY ROSE. With Frontispiece by F. BARNARD. + + ARMOREL OF LYONESSE. With 12 Illustrations by F. BARNARD. + + ST. KATHERINE'S BY THE TOWER. With 12 Illusts. by C. GREEN. + + VERBENA CAMELLIA STEPHANOTIS. Frontis. by GORDON BROWN. + + THE IVORY GATE. + + THE REBEL QUEEN. + + BEYOND THE DREAMS OF AVARICE. 12 Illustrations by HYDE. + + IN DEACON'S ORDERS. With Frontispiece by A. FORESTIER. + + THE REVOLT OF MAN. + + THE MASTER CRAFTSMAN. + + THE CITY OF REFUGE. + + * * * * * + +Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d. each. + + A FOUNTAIN SEALED. With Frontispiece by H.G. BURGESS. + + THE CHANGELING. + + THE FOURTH GENERATION. + + * * * * * + +Crown 8vo., cloth, gilt top, 6s. each. + + THE ORANGE GIRL. With 8 Illustrations by F. PEGRAM. + + THE LADY OF LYNN. With 12 Illustrations by G. DEMAIN-HAMMOND. + + NO OTHER WAY. With 12 Illustrations by CHARLES D. WARD. + + * * * * * + +POPULAR EDITIONS, medium 8vo., 6d, each. + + ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF MEN. + + THE GOLDEN BUTTERFLY. + + READY-MONEY MORTIBOY. + + CHILDREN OF GIBEON. + + THE CHAPLAIN OF THE FLEET. + + THE ORANGE GIRL. + + * * * * * + +Demy 8vo., cloth, 7s. 6d. each. + + LONDON. With 125 Illustrations. + + WESTMINSTER. With Etching by F.S. WALKER and 130 Illusts. + + SOUTH LONDON. With Etching by F.S. WALKER and 118 Illusts. + + EAST LONDON. With an Etched Frontispiece by F.S. WALKER and 55 + Illustrations by PHIL MAY, L. RAVEN HILL, and JOSEPH PENNELL. + + JERUSALEM: The City of Herod and Saladin. By WALTER BESANT and E.H. + PALMER. With a Map and 11 Illustrations. + + * * * * * + + AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE. Crown 8vo., buckram, gilt top, 6s. + + ESSAYS AND HISTORIETTES. Crown 8vo., buckram, gilt top, 6s. + + EULOGY OF RICHARD JEFFERIES. Portrait. Cr. 8vo., cloth, 6s. + + FIFTY YEARS AGO. With 144 Illustrations. Crown 8vo., cloth, 3s. 6d + + GASPARD DE COLIGNY. With a Portrait. Crown 8vo., linen, 3s. 6d. + + SIR RICHARD WHITTINGTON, Lord Mayor of London. By Sir WALTER BESANT + and JAMES RICE. With Frontispiece. Crown 8vo., linen, 3s. 6d. + + THE ART OF FICTION. Fcap. 8vo., cloth, 1s. net. + + THE CHARM, and other Drawing-room Plays. By SIR WALTER BESANT and + WALTER POLLOCK. With 50 Illustrations by CHRIS HAMMOND and A. JULE + GOODMAN. Crown 8vo., Cloth, 3s. 6d. + + +LONDON: CHATTO & WINDUS, 111 ST. MARTIN'S LANE, W.C. + + + + + +AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE + +LONDON + +CHATTO & WINDUS + +1903 + + + + + +FOREWORD. + + +_The reader of these Essays, which are not chronologically arranged, +is asked to notice the date in each case affixed to them. Almost +without exception, those passages which cannot fail to strike him as +nearly exact repetitions, whether of argument or of example, will be +seen to have been written at considerable intervals of time. A series +of papers, composed in different circumstances, and with no design of +collective re-issue in any particular form, will always present these +repetitions; and they serve to emphasize the author's message. The +lapse of time will also account for the apparent inaccuracy of a few +statements, and for the fact that some of the occurrences alluded to +in the future tense were accomplished during Sir Walter Besant's +lifetime. 'As We Are and As We May Be' is the exposition of a +practical philanthropist's creed, and of his hopes for the progress of +his fellow-countrymen. Some of these hopes may never be realized; some +he had the great happiness to see bear fruit. And for the realization +of all he spared no pains. The personal service of humanity, that in +these pages he urges repeatedly on others, he was himself ever the +first to give._ + + +CONTENTS + + PAGE + +THE ENDOWMENT OF THE DAUGHTER 1 + +FROM THIRTEEN TO SEVENTEEN 24 + +THE PEOPLE'S PALACE 50 + +SUNDAY MORNING IN THE CITY 67 + +A RIVERSIDE PARISH 106 + +ST. KATHERINE'S BY THE TOWER 137 + +THE UPWARD PRESSURE 166 + +THE LAND OF ROMANCE 203 + +THE LAND OF REALITY 224 + +ART AND THE PEOPLE 246 + +THE AMUSEMENTS OF THE PEOPLE 271 + +THE ASSOCIATED LIFE 296 + + + + + + +AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE + + +THE ENDOWMENT OF THE DAUGHTER. + + +Those who begin to consider the subject of the working woman discover +presently that there is a vast field of inquiry lying quite within +their reach, without any trouble of going into slums or inquiring of +sweaters. This is the field occupied by the gentlewoman who works for +a livelihood. She is not always, perhaps, gentle in quite the old +sense, but she is gentle in that new and better sense which means +culture, education, and refinement. There are now thousands of these +working gentlewomen, and the number is daily increasing. A few among +them--a very few--are working happily and successfully; some are +working contentedly, others with murmuring and discontent at the +hardness of the work and the poorness of the pay. Others, again, are +always trying, and for the most part vainly, to get work--any kind of +work--which will bring in money--any small sum of money. This is a +dreadful spectacle, to any who have eyes to see, of gentlewomen +struggling, snatching, importuning, begging for work. No one knows, +who has not looked into the field, how crowded it is, and how sad a +sight it presents. + +For my own part I think it is a shame that a lady should ever have to +stand in the labour market for hire like a milkmaid at a statute fair. +I think that the rush of women into the labour market is a most +lamentable thing. Labour, and especially labour which is without +organization or union, has to wage an incessant battle--always getting +beaten--against greed and injustice: the natural enemy of labour is +the employer, especially the impecunious employer; in the struggle +women always get worsted. Again, in whatever trade or calling they +attempt, the great majority of women are hopelessly incompetent. As in +the lower occupations, so in the higher, the greatest obstacle to +success is incompetence. How should gentlewomen be anything but +incompetent? They have not been taught anything special, they have not +been 'put through the mill'; mostly, they are fit only for those +employments which require the single quality that everybody can +claim--general intelligence. Hopeless indeed is the position of that +woman who brings into the intellectual labour market nothing but +general intelligence. She is exactly like the labourer who knows no +trade, and has nothing but his strong frame and his pair of hands. To +that man falls the hardest work and the smallest wage. To the woman +with general intelligence is assigned the lowest drudgery of +intellectual labour. And yet there are so many clamouring for this, or +for anything. A few months ago a certain weekly magazine stated that +I, the writer, had started an Association for Providing Ladies with +Copying Work--all in capitals. The number of letters which came to me +by every post in consequence of that statement was incredible. The +writers implored me to give them a share of that copying work; they +told terrible, heart-rending stories of suffering. Of course, there +was no such Association. There is, now that typewriting is fairly +established, no copying work left to speak of. Even now the letters +have not quite ceased to arrive. + +The existence of this army of necessitous gentlewomen is a new thing +in the land. That is to say, there have always been ladies who have +'come down in the world'--not a seaside lodging-housekeeper but has +known better days. There have always been girls who never expected to +be poor; always suffered to live in a fool's paradise who ought to +have been taught some way of earning their livelihood. Never till now, +however, has this army of gentlewomen been so great, or its distress +so acute. One reason--it is one which threatens to increase with +accelerated rapidity--is the depression of agriculture. I think we +hardly realize the magnitude of this great national disaster. We +believe that it is only the landlords, or the landlords and farmers, +who are suffering. If that were all--but can one member of the body +politic suffer and the rest go free from pain? All the trade of the +small towns droops with agriculture; the professional men of the +country towns lose their practice; clergymen who depend upon glebe, +dissenting ministers who depend upon the townspeople, lose their +income; the labourers, the craftsmen--why, it bewilders one even to +think of the widespread ruin which will follow the agricultural +depression if it continues. And every day carriage becomes cheaper, +and food products of all kinds are conveyed at lower prices and from +greater distances. Every fall in price makes it more difficult to let +the farms, drives the rustics in greater numbers from the country to +the town, lays the curse of labour upon thousands of untrained +gentlewomen, and makes it more difficult for them to escape in the old +way, that of marriage. + +Another reason is the enormous increase during the last thirty years +of the cultivated classes. We have all, except the very lowest, moved +upwards. The working-man wears broadcloth and has his club; the +tradesman who has grown rich also has his club, his daughters are +young ladies of culture, his sons are educated at the public schools +and the universities--things perfectly proper and laudable. The +thickness of the cultured stratum grows greater every day. But those +who belong to the lower part of that stratum--those whose position is +not as yet strengthened by family connections and the accumulations of +generations--are apt to yield and to be crushed down by the first +approach of misfortune. Then the daughters who, in the last +generation, would have joined the working girls and become dressmakers +in a 'genteel' way, join the ranks of distressed gentlewomen. + +Everybody knows the way up the social ladder. It has been shown to +those below by millions of twinkling feet. It is a broad ladder up +which people are always climbing, some slowly, some quickly--from +corduroy to broadcloth; from workshop to counter; from shop-boy to +master; from shop to office; from trade to profession; from the +bedroom over the shop to the great country villa. The other day a +bricklayer told me that his grandfather and the first Lord O.'s father +were old pals: they used to go poaching together; but the parent of +Lord O. was so clever as to open a shop, where he sold what his friend +poached. The shop began it you see. The way up is known to everybody. +But there is another way which we seldom regard; it is the way down +again. The Family Rise is the commonest phenomenon. Is not the name +Legion of those of whom men say, partly with the pride of connecting +themselves with greatness, partly with the natural desire, which small +men always show, to tear away something of that greatness, 'Why, I +knew him when his father had a shop!' The Family Fall is less +conspicuous. Yet there are always as many going down as climbing up. +You cannot, in fact, stay still. You must either climb or slip +down--unless, indeed, you have got your leg over the topmost rung, +which means the stability of an hereditary title and landed property. +We all ought to have hereditary titles and landed property, in order +to insure national prosperity for ever. Novelists do not, as a rule, +treat of the Sinking Back because it is a depressing subject. There +are many ways of falling. Mostly, the father makes an ass of himself +in the way of business or speculation; or he dies too soon; or his +sons possess none of their father's ability; or they take to drink. +Anyhow, down goes the Family, at first slowly, but with ever +increasing rapidity, back to its original level. There is no country +in the world--certainly not the United States--where a young man may +rise to distinction with greater ease than this realm of the Three +Kingdoms. There is also none where the families show a greater +alacrity in sinking. But the most reluctant to go down, those who +cling most tightly to the social level which they think they have +reached, are the daughters; so that when misfortunes fall upon them +they are ready to deny themselves everything rather than lose the +social dignity which they think belongs to them. + +Again, a steady feeder of these ranks is the large family of girls. It +is astonishing what a number of families there are in which they are +all, or nearly all, girls. The father is, perhaps, a professional man +of some kind, whose blamelessness has not brought him solid success, +so that there is always tightness. And it is beautiful to remark the +cheerfulness of the girls, and how they accept the tightness as a +necessary part of the World's Order; and how they welcome each new +feminine arrival as if it was really going to add a solid lump of +comfort to the family joy. These girls face work from the beginning. +Well for them if they have any better training than the ordinary +day-school, or any special teaching at all. + +Another--the most potent cause of all--is the complete revolution of +opinion as regards woman's work which has been effected in the course +of a single generation. Thirty years ago, if a girl was compelled to +earn her bread by her own work, what could she do? There were a few--a +very few--who wrote; many very excellent persons held writing to be +'unladylike.' There were a few--a very few--who painted; there were +some--but very few, and those chiefly the daughters of actors--who +went on the stage. All the rest of the women who maintained +themselves, and were called, by courtesy, ladies, became governesses. +Some taught in schools, where they endured hardness--remember the +account of the school where Charlotte Bronte was educated. Some went +to live in private houses--think of the governess in the old novel, +meek and gentle, snubbed by her employer, bullied by her pupils, and +insulted by the footman, until the young Prince came along. Some went +from house to house as daily governesses. Even in teaching they were +greatly restricted. Man was called in to teach dancing; he went round +among the schools in black silk stockings, with a kit under his arm, +and could caper wonderfully. Woman could only teach dancing at the +awful risk of showing her ankles. Who cares now whether a woman shows +her ankles or not? It makes one think of Mr. Snodgrass and Mr. Winkle, +and of the admiration which those sly dogs expressed for a neat pair +of ankles. Man, again, taught drawing; man taught music; man taught +singing; man taught writing; man taught arithmetic; man taught French +and Italian; German was not taught at all. Indeed, had it not been for +geography and the use of the globes, and the right handling of the +blackboard, there would have been nothing at all left for the +governess to teach. Forty years ago, however, she was great on the +Church Catechism and a martinet as to the Sunday sermon. + +It was not every girl, even then, who could teach. I remember one lady +who in her young days had refused to teach on the ground that she +would have to be hanged for child-murder if she tried. Those who did +not teach, unless they married and became mistresses of their own +_menage_, stayed at home until the parents died, and then went to live +with a brother or a married sister. What family would be without the +unmarried sister, the universal aunt? Sometimes, perhaps, she became a +mere unpaid household servant, who could not give notice. But one +would fain hope that these were rare cases. + +Now, however, all is changed. The doors are thrown wide open. With a +few exceptions--to be sure, the Church, the Law, and Engineering are +important exceptions--a woman can enter upon any career she pleases. +The average woman, specially trained, should do at any intellectual +work nearly as well as the average man. The old prejudice against the +work of women is practically extinct. Love of independence and the +newly awakened impatience of the old shackles, in addition to the +forces already mentioned, are everywhere driving girls to take up +professional lives. + +Not only are the doors of the old avenues thrown open: we have created +new ways for the women who work. Literature offers a hundred paths, +each one with stimulating examples of feminine success. There is +journalism, into which women are only now beginning to enter by ones +and twos. Before long they will sweep in with a flood. In medicine, +which requires arduous study and great bodily strength, they do not +enter in large numbers. Acting is a fashionable craze. Art covers as +wide a field as literature. Education in girls' schools of the highest +kind has passed into their own hands. Moreover, women can now do many +things--and remain gentlewomen--which were formerly impossible. Some +keep furniture shops, some are decorators, some are dressmakers, some +make or sell embroidery. + +In all these professions two things are wanting--natural aptitude and +special training. Unfortunately, the competition is encumbered and +crowded with those who have neither, or else both imperfectly, +developed. + +The present state of things is somewhat as follows: The world contains +a great open market, where the demand for first-class work of every +kind is practically inexhaustible. In literature everything really +good commands instant attention, respect--and payment. But it must be +really good. Publishers are always looking about for genius. +Editors--even the much-abused editors--are always looking about for +good and popular writers. But the world is critical. To become popular +requires a combination of qualities, which include special training, +education, and natural aptitude. Art, again, in every possible branch, +offers recognition--and pay--for good work. But it must be really +good. The world is even more critical in Art than in Literature. In +the theatre, managers are always looking about for good plays, good +actors, and good actresses. In scholarship, women who have taken +university honours command good salaries and an honourable position if +they can teach. In music, a really good composer, player, or singer, +is always received with joy and the usual solid marks of approval. In +this great open Market there is no favouritism possible, because the +public, which is scornful of failure--making no allowance, and +receiving no excuses--is also generous and quick to recognise success. +In this Market clever women have exactly the same chances as clever +men; their work commands the same price. George Eliot is as well paid +as Thackeray; and the Market is full of the most splendid prizes both +of praise and pudding. It is a most wonderful Market. In all other +Markets the stalls are full of good things which the vendors are +anxious to sell, but cannot. In this Market nothing is offered but it +is snapped up greedily by the buyers; there are even, indeed, men who +buy up the things before they reach the open Market. In other Markets +the cry of those who stand at the stalls is 'Buy, buy, buy!' In this +Market it is the buyers who cry out continually, 'Bring out more wares +to sell.' Only to think of this Market, and of the thousands of +gentlewomen outside, fills the heart with sadness. + +For outside, there is quite another kind of Market. Here there are +long lines of stalls behind which stand the gentlewomen eagerly +offering their wares. Alas! here is Art in every shape, but it is not +the art which we can buy. Here are painting and drawing; here are +coloured photographs, painted china, art embroideries, and fine work. +Here are offered original songs and original music. Here are standing +long lines of those who want to teach, and are most melancholy because +they have no degree or diploma, and know nothing. Here are standing +those who wait to be hired, and who will do anything in which 'general +intelligence' will show the way; lastly, there is a whole quarter at +least a quarter--of the Market filled with stalls covered with +manuscripts, and there are thousands of women offering these +manuscripts. The publishers and the editors walk slowly along before +the stalls and receive the manuscripts, which they look at and then +lay down, though their writers weep and wail and wring their hands. +Presently there comes along a man greatly resembling in the expression +of his face the wild and savage wolf trying to smile. His habit is to +take up a manuscript, and presently to express, with the aid of +strange oaths and ejaculations, wonder and imagination. ''Fore Gad, +madam!' he says, ''tis fine! 'Twill take the town by storm! 'Tis an +immortal piece! Your own, madam? Truly 'tis wonderful! Nay, madam, but +I must have it. 'Twill cost you for the printing of it a paltry sixty +pounds or so, and for return, believe me, 'twill prove a new Potosi.' +This is the confidence trick under another form. The unfortunate woman +begs and borrows the money, of which she will never again see one +farthing; and if her book be produced, no one will ever buy a copy. + +The women at these stalls are always changing. They grow tired of +waiting when no one will buy: they go away. A few may be traced. They +become type-writers: they become cashiers in shops; they sit in the +outer office of photographers and receive the visitors: they 'devil' +for literary men: they make extracts: they conduct researches and look +up authorities: they address envelopes; some, I suppose, go home again +and contrive to live somehow with their relations. What becomes of the +rest no man can tell. Only when men get together and talk of these +things it is whispered that there is no family, however prosperous, +but has its unsuccessful members--no House, however great, which has +not its hangers-on and followers, like the _ribauderie_ of an army, +helpless and penniless. + +Considering, therefore, the miseries, drudgeries, insults, and +humiliations which await the necessitous gentlewoman in her quest for +work and a living, and the fact that these ladies are increasing in +number, and likely to increase, I venture to call attention to certain +preventive steps which may be applied--not for those who are now in +this hell, but for those innocent children whose lot it may be to join +the hapless band. The subject concerns all of us who have to work, all +who have to provide for our families; it concerns every woman who has +daughters: it concerns the girls themselves to such a degree that, if +they knew or suspected the dangers before them they would cry aloud +for prevention, they would rebel, they would strike the Fifth +Commandment out of the Tables. So great, so terrible, are the dangers +before them. + +The absolute duty of teaching girls who may at some future time have +to depend upon themselves some trade, calling or profession, seems a +mere axiom, a thing which cannot be disputed or denied. Yet it has not +even begun to be practised. If any thought is taken at all of this +contingency, 'general intelligence' is still relied upon. There are, +however, other ways of facing the future. + +In France, as everybody knows, no girl born of respectable parents is +unprovided with a _dot_; there is no family, however poor, which does +not strive and save in order to find their daughter some kind of +_dot_. If she has no _dot_, she remains unmarried. The amount of the +_dot_ is determined by the social position of the parents. No marriage +is arranged without the _dot_ forming an important part of the +business. No bride goes empty-handed out of her father's house. And +since families in France are much smaller than in this country, a much +smaller proportion of girls go unmarried. + +In this country no girls of the lower class, and few of the middle +class, ever have any _dot_ at all. They go to their husbands +empty-handed, unless, as sometimes happens, the father makes an +allowance to the daughter. All they have is their expectation of what +may come to them after the father's death, when there will be +insurances and savings to be divided. The daughter who marries has no +_dot_. The daughter who remains unmarried has no fortune until her +father dies: very often she has none after that event. + +In Germany, where the custom of the _dot_ is not, I believe, so +prevalent, there are companies or societies founded for the express +purpose of providing for unmarried women. They work, I am told, with a +kind of tontine--it is, in fact, a lottery. On the birth of a girl the +father inscribes her name on the books of the company, and pays a +certain small sum every year on her account. At the age of +twenty-five, if she is still unmarried, she receives the right of +living rent free in two rooms, and becomes entitled to a certain small +annuity. If she marries she has nothing. Those who marry, therefore, +pay for those who do not marry. It is the same principle as with life +insurances: those who live long pay for those who die young. If we +assume, for instance, that four girls out of five marry, which seems a +fair proportion, the fifth girl receives five times her own premium. +Suppose that her father has paid L5 a year for her for twenty-one +years, she would receive the amount, at compound interest, of L25 a +year for twenty-one years--namely, about a thousand pounds. + +Only consider what a thousand pounds may mean to a girl. It may be +invested to produce L35 a year--that is to say, 13s. 6d. a week. Such +an income, paltry as it seems, may be invaluable; it may supplement +her scanty earnings: it may enable her to take a holiday: it may give +her time to look about her: it may keep her out of the sweater's +hands: it may help her to develop her powers and to step into the +front rank. What gratitude would not the necessitous gentlewoman +bestow upon any who would endow her with 13s. 6d. a week? Why, there +are Homes where she could live in comfort on 12s., and have a solid +1s. 6d. to spare. She would even be able to give alms to others not so +rich. + +Take, then, a thousand pounds--L35 a year--as a minimum. Take the case +of a professional man who cannot save much, but who is resolved on +endowing his daughters with an annuity of at least L35 a year. There +are ways and means of doing this which are advertised freely and +placed in everybody's hands. Yet they seem to fail in impressing the +public. One does not hear among one's professional friends of the +endowment of girls. Yet one does hear, constantly, that someone is +dead and has left his daughters without a penny. + +First of all, the rules and regulations of the Post Office, which are +published every quarter, provide what seems the most simple of these +ways. + +I take one table only, that of the cost of an annuity deferred for +twenty-five years. If the child is five years of age, and under six, +an annuity of L1, beginning after twenty-five years, can be purchased +for a yearly premium of 12s. 7d., or for a payment of L12 3s. 8d., the +money to be returned in case of the child's death. An annuity of L35, +therefore, would cost a yearly premium of L22 0s. 5d., or a lump sum +of L426 8s. 4d. + +One or two of the insurance companies have also prepared tables for +the endowment of children. I find, for instance, in the tables issued +by the North British and Mercantile that an annual payment of L3 11s. +begun at infancy will insure the sum of L100 at twenty-one years of +age, with the return of the premium should the child die, or that L35 +10s. paid annually will insure the sum of L1,000. There is also in +these tables a method of payment by which, should the father die and +the premiums be therefore discontinued, the money will be paid just +the same. No doubt, if the practice were to spread, every insurance +company would take up this kind of business. + +It is not every young married man who could afford to pay so large a +sum of money as L426 in one lump; on the contrary, very few indeed +could do so. But suppose, which is quite possible, that he were to +purchase, with the first L12 he could save, a deferred annuity of L1 +for his child, and so with the next L12, and so with the next, until +he had placed her beyond the reach of actual destitution; and suppose, +again, that his conscience was so much awakened to the duty of thus +providing for her that amusement and pleasure would be postponed or +curtailed until this duty was performed, just as amusement is not +thought of until the rent and taxes and housekeeping are first +defrayed: in that case there would be few young married people indeed +who would not speedily be able to purchase this small annuity of L35 a +year. And with every successive payment the sense of the value of the +thing, its importance, its necessity, would grow more and more in the +mind; and with every payment would increase the satisfaction of +feeling that the child was removed from destitution by one pound a +year more. It took a very long time to create in men's minds the duty +of life insurance. That has now taken so firm a hold on people that, +although the English bride brings no dot, the bridegroom is not +permitted to marry her until he settles a life insurance upon her. +When once the mother thoroughly understands that by the exercise of a +little more self-denial her daughter can be rendered independent for +life, that self-denial will certainly not be wanting. Think of the +vast sums of money which are squandered by the middle classes of this +country, even though they are more provident than the working classes. +The money is not spent in any kind of riot: not at all; the middle +classes are, on the whole, most decorous and sober: it is spent in +living just a little more luxuriously than the many changes and +chances of mortal life should permit. It is by lowering the standard +of living that the money must be saved for the endowment of the +daughters; and since the children cost less in infancy than when they +grow older, it is then that the saving must be made. Everyone knows +that there are thousands of young married people who can only by dint +of the strictest economy make both ends meet. It is not for them that +I speak. Another voice, far more powerful than mine, should thunder +into their hearts the selfishness and the wickedness of bringing into +the world children for whom they can make no provision whatever, and +who are destined to be thrown into the battle-field of labour provided +with no other weapons than the knowledge of reading and writing. It is +bad enough for the boys; but as for the girls--they had better have +been thrown as soon as born to the lions. I speak rather to those who +are in better plight, who live comfortably upon the year's income, +which is not too much, and who look forward to putting their boys in +the way of an ambitious career, and to marrying their daughters. But +as for the endowment of the girls, they have not even begun to think +about it. Their conscience has not been yet awakened, their fears not +yet aroused; they look abroad and see their friends struck down by +death or disaster, but they never think it may be their turn next. And +yet the happiness to reflect, if death or disaster does come, that +your girls are safe! + +One sees here, besides, a splendid opening for the rich uncle, the +benevolent godfather, the affectionate grandfather, the kindly aunt, +the successful brother. They will come bearing gifts--not the silver +cup, if you please, but the Deferred Annuity. 'I bring you, my dear, +in honour of your little Molly's birthday, an increase of five pounds +to her Deferred Annuity. This makes it up to twenty pounds, and the +money-box getting on, you say, to another pound. Capital! we shall +have her thirty-five pounds in no time now.' What a noble field for +the uncle! + +The endowment of the daughter is essentially a woman's question. The +bride, or at least her mother for her, ought to consider that, though +every family quiver varies in capacity with the income, her own lot +may be to have a quiver full. Heaven forbid, as Montaigne said, that +we should interfere with the feminine methods, but common prudence +seems to dictate the duty of this forecast. Let, therefore, the demand +for endowment come from the bride's mother. All that she would be +justified in asking of a man whose means are as yet narrow, would be +such an endowment, gradually purchased, as would keep the girls from +starvation. + +For my own part, I think that no woman should be forced to work at +all, except at such things as please her. When a woman marries, for +instance, she voluntarily engages herself to do a vast quantity of +work. To look after the house and to bring up the children involves +daily, unremitting labour and thought. If she has a vocation for any +kind of work, as for Art, or Letters, or Teaching, let her obey the +call and find her happiness. Generally she has none. The average +woman--I make this statement with complete confidence--hates +compulsory work: she hates and loathes it. There are, it is true, some +kinds of work which must be done by women. Well, there will always be +enough for those occupations among women who prefer work to idleness. + +There is another very serious consideration. There is only so much +work--a limited quantity--in the world: so many hands for whom +occupation can be found--and the number of hands wanted does not very +greatly exceed that of the male hands ready for it. Now, by giving +this work to women, we take it from the men. If we open the Civil +Service to women, we take so many posts from the men, which we give to +the women, _at a lower salary_; if they become cashiers, accountants, +clerks, they take these places from the men, _at a lower salary_. +Always they take lower pay, and turn the men out. Well, the men must +either go elsewhere, or they must take the lower pay. In either case +the happiest lot of all--that of marriage--is rendered more difficult, +because the men are made poorer; the position of the toiler becomes +harder, because he gets worse pay; then man's sense of responsibility +for the women of his family is destroyed. Nay, in some cases the men +actually live, and live contentedly, upon the labour of their wives. +But when all is said about women, and their rights and wrongs, and +their work and place, and their equality and their superiority, we +fall back at last upon nature. There is still, and will always remain +with us, the sense in man that it is his duty to work for his wife, +and the sense in woman that nothing is better for her than to receive +the fruits of her husband's labour. + +Let us endow the Daughters: those who are not clever, in order to save +them from the struggles of the Incompetent and the hopelessness of the +Dependent; those who are clever, so as to give them time for work and +training. The Bread-winner may die: his powers may cease: he may lose +his clients, his reputation, his popularity, his business; in a +thousand forms misfortune and poverty may fall upon him. Think of the +happiness with which he would then contemplate that endowment of a +Deferred Annuity. And the endowment will not prevent or interfere with +any work the girls may wish to do. It will even help them in their +work. My brothers, let our girls work if they wish; perhaps they will +be happier if they work let them work at whatever kind of work they +may desire; but not--oh not--because they must. + +[1888.] + + + + + +FROM THIRTEEN TO SEVENTEEN + + + +In the history of every measure designed for the amelioration of the +people there may be observed four distinct and clearly marked stages. +First, there is the original project, fresh from the brain of the +dreamer, glowing with the colours of his imagination, a figure fair +and strong as the newly born Athene. By its single-handed power +mankind are to be regenerated, and the millennium is to be at once +taken in hand. There are no difficulties which it will not at once +clear away; there are no obstacles which will not vanish at its +approach as the morning mist is burned up by the newly risen sun. The +dreamer creates a school, and presently among his disciples there +arises one who is practical enough to reduce the dream to a possible +and working scheme. The advocates of the Cause are still, however, a +good way from getting the scheme established. The battle with the +opposition follows, in which one has to contend--first with those who +cannot be touched by any generous aims, always a pretty large body; +next with those who are afraid of the people; and lastly with those +who have private interests of their own to defend. The triumph which +presently arrives by no means concludes the history of the agitation, +because there is certain to follow at no distant day the discovery +that the measure has somehow failed to achieve those glorious results +which were so freely promised. It has, in fact, gone to swell the +pages of that chronicle, not yet written, which may be called the +'History of the Well-intentioned.' + +The emancipation of the West Indian slaves, for instance, has not been +accompanied by the burning desire for progress--industrial, artistic, +or educational--which was confidently anticipated. Quite the contrary. +Yet--which is a point which continually recurs in the History of the +Well-intentioned--one would not, if it were possible, go back to the +former conditions. It is better that the negro should lie idle, and +sleep in the sun all his days, than that he should work under the +overseer's lash. For the free man there is always hope; for the slave +there is none. Again, the first apostles of Co-operation expected +nothing less than that their ideas would be universally, immediately, +and ardently adopted. That was a good many years ago. The method of +Co-operation still offers the most wonderful vision of universal +welfare, easily attainable on the simple condition of honesty, ever +put before humanity; yet we see how little has been achieved and how +numerous have been the failures. Again, though the advantages of +temperance are continually preached to working men, beer remains the +national beverage; yet even those of us who would rather see the +working classes sober and self-restrained than water-drinkers by Act +of Parliament or solemn pledge, acknowledge how good it is that the +preaching of temperance was begun. Again, we have got most of those +Points for which the Chartists once so passionately struggled. As for +those we have not got, there is no longer much enthusiasm left for +them. The world does not seem so far very substantially advanced by +the concession of the Points; yet we would not willingly give them +back and return to the old order. Again, we have opened free museums, +containing all kinds of beautiful things: the people visit them in +thousands; yet they remain ignorant of Art, and have no yearning +discoverable for Art. In spite of this, we would not willingly close +the museums. + +The dreamer, in fact, leaves altogether out of his reckoning certain +factors of humanity which his first practical advocate only partially +takes into account. These are stupidity, apathy, ignorance, greed, +indolence, and the Easy Way. There are doubtless others, because in +humanity as in physics no one can estimate all the forces, but these +are the most readily recognised; and the last two perhaps are the most +important, because the great mass of mankind are certainly born with +an incurable indolence of mind or body, which keeps them rooted in the +old grooves and destroys every germ of ambition at its first +appearance. + +The latest failure of the Well-intentioned, so far as we have yet +found out, is the Education Act, for which the London rate has now +mounted to nine-pence in the pound. It is a failure, like the +emancipation of the slaves; because, though it has done some things +well, it has wholly failed to achieve the great results confidently +predicted for it by its advocates in the year '68. What is more, we +now understand that it never can achieve those results. + +It was going, we were told, to give all English children a sound and +thorough elementary education. It was, further, going to inspire those +children with the ardour for knowledge, so that, on leaving school, +they would carry on their studies and continually advance in learning. +It was going to take away the national reproach of ignorance, and to +make us the best educated country in the world. + +As for what it has done and is doing, the children are taught to read, +write, cipher, and spell (this accomplishment being wholly useless to +them and its mastery a sheer waste of time). They are also taught a +little singing, and a few other things; and in general terms the Board +Schools do, I suppose, impart as good an education to the children as +the time at their disposal will allow. They command the services of a +great body of well-trained, disciplined, and zealous teachers, against +whose intelligence and conscientious work nothing can be alleged. And +yet, with the very best intentions of Board and teachers, the +practical result has been, as is now maintained, that but a very small +percentage of all the children who go through the schools are educated +at all. + +This is an extremely disagreeable discovery. It is, however, as will +presently be seen, a result which might have been expected. Those who +looked for so splendid an outcome of this magnificent educational +machinery, this enormous expenditure, forgot to take into account two +or three very important factors. They were, first, those we have +already indicated, stupidity, apathy, and indolence; and next, the +exigencies and conditions of labour. These shall be presently +explained. Meantime, the discovery once made, and once plainly stated, +seems to have been frankly acknowledged and recognised by all who are +interested in educational questions: it has been made the subject of a +great meeting at the Mansion House, which was addressed by men of +every class: and it has, further, which is a very valuable and +encouraging circumstance, been seriously taken up by the Trades Unions +and the working men. + +As for the situation, it is briefly as follows: + +The children leave the Board Schools, for the most part, at the age of +thirteen, when they have passed the standard which exempts them from +further attendance; or if they are half-timers, they remain until they +are fourteen. At this ripe age, when the education of the richer class +is only just beginning, these children have to leave school and begin +work. Whatever kind of work this may be, it is certain to involve a +day's labour of ten hours. It might be thought--at one time it was +fully expected--that the children would by this age have received such +an impetus and imbibed so great a love for reading that they would of +their own accord continue to read and study on the lines laid down, +and eagerly make use of such facilities as might be provided for them. +In the History of the Well-intentioned we shall find that we are +always crediting the working classes with virtues which no other class +can boast. In this case we credited the children of working men with a +clear insight into their own best interests; with resolution and +patience; with industry; with the power of resisting temptation, and +with the strength to forego present enjoyment. This is a good deal to +expect of them. But apply the sane situation to a boy of the middle +class. He is taken from school at sixteen and sent to a merchant's +office or a shop. Here he works from nine till six, or perhaps later. +How many of these lads, when their day's work is over--what proportion +of the whole--make any attempt at all to carry on their education or +to learn anything new? For instance, there are two things, the +acquisition of which doubles the marketable value of a clerk: one is a +knowledge of shorthand, and the other is the power of reading and +writing a foreign language. This is a fact which all clerks very well +understand. But not one in a hundred possesses the industry and +resolution necessary to acquire this knowledge, and this, though he is +taught from infancy to desire a good income, and knows that this +additional power will go far to procure it. Again, these boys come +from homes where there are some books at least, some journals, and +some papers; and they hear at their offices and at home talk which +should stimulate them to effort. Yet most of them lie where they are. + +If such boys as these remain in indolence, what are we to expect of +those who belong to the lower levels? For they have no books at home, +no magazines, no journals; they hear no talk of learning or knowledge; +if they wanted to read, what are they to read? and where are they to +find books? Free libraries are few and far between: in all London, for +instance, I can find but five or six. They are those at the Guildhall, +Bethnal Green, Westminster, Camden Town, Notting Hill, and +Knightsbridge. Put a red dot upon each of these sites on the map of +London, and consider how very small can be the influence of these +libraries over the whole of this great city. Boys and girls at +thirteen have no inclination to read newspapers; there remains, +therefore, nothing but the penny novelette for those who have any +desire to read at all. There is, it is true, the evening school, but +it is not often found to possess attractions for these children. +Again, after their day's work and confinement in the hot rooms, they +are tired; they want fresh air and exercise. To sum up: there are no +existing inducements for the children to read and study; most of them +are sluggish of intellect; outside the evening schools there are no +facilities for them at all; they have no books; when evening comes +they are tired; they do not understand their own interests; after a +day's work they like an evening's rest; of the two paths open to every +man at every juncture, one is for the most part hidden to children, +and the other is always the easier. + +Therefore they spend their evenings in the streets. They would +sometimes, I dare say, prefer the gallery of the theatre or the +music-hall, but these are not often within reach of their means. The +street is always open to them. Here they find their companions of the +workroom; here they feel the strong, swift current of life; here +something is always happening; here there are always new pleasures; +here they can talk and play, unrestrained, left wholly to themselves, +taking for pattern those who are a little older than themselves. As +for their favourite amusements and their pleasures, they grow yearly +coarser; as for their conversation, it grows continually viler, until +Zola himself would be ashamed to reproduce the talk of these young +people. The love which these children have for the street is +wonderful; no boulevard in the world, I am sure, is more loved by its +frequenters than the Whitechapel Road, unless it be the High Street, +Islington. Especially is this the case with the girls. There is a +certain working girls' club with which I am acquainted whose members, +when they leave the club at ten, go back every night to the streets +and walk about till midnight; they would rather give up their club +than the street. As for the moral aspect of this roaming about the +streets, that may for a moment be neglected. Consider the situation +from an educational point of view. How long, do you think, does it +take to forget almost all that the boys and girls learned at school? +'The garden,' says one who knows, 'which by daily culture has been +brought into such an admirable and promising condition, is given over +to utter neglect; the money, the time, the labour, bestowed upon it +are lost.' In the first two years after leaving school it is said that +they have forgotten everything. There is, however, it is objected, the +use and exercise of the intellectual faculty. Can that, once taught, +ever be forgotten? By way of reply, consider this case. The other day +twenty young mechanics were persuaded to join a South Kensington +class. Of the whole twenty one only struggled through the course and +passed his examination; the rest dropped off, one after the other, in +sheer despair, because they had lost not only the little knowledge +they had once acquired, but even the methods of application and study +which they had formerly been able to exercise. There are exceptions, +of course; it is computed, in fact, that there are 4 per cent. of +Board School boys and girls who carry on their studies in the evening +schools, but this proportion is said to be decreasing. After thirteen, +no school, no books, no reading or writing, nothing to keep up the old +knowledge, no kind of conversation that stimulates; no examples of +perseverance; in a great many cases no church, chapel, or +Sunday-school; the street for playground, exercise, observation, and +talk; what kind of young men and maidens are we to expect that these +boys and girls will become? If this were the exact, plain, and naked +truth we were in a parlous state indeed. Fortunately, however, there +arc in every parish mitigations, introduced principally by those who +come from the city of Samaria, or it would be bad indeed for the next +generation. There are a few girls' clubs; the church, the chapel, and +the Sunday-school get hold of many children; visiting and kindly +ladies look after others. There are working boys' institutes here and +there, but these things taken together are almost powerless with the +great mass which remains unaffected. The evil for the most part lies +hidden, yet one sometimes lights upon a case which shows that the +results of our own neglect of the children may be such as cannot be +placed on paper for general reading. For instance, on last August Bank +Holiday I was on Hampstead Heath. The East Heath was crowded with a +noisy, turbulent, good-tempered mob, enjoying, as a London crowd +always does, the mere presence of a multitude. There was a little +rough horse-play and the exchange of favourite witticisms, and there +was some preaching and a great singing of irreverent parodies; there +was little drunkenness and little bad behaviour except for half a +dozen troops or companies of girls. They were quite young, none of +them apparently over fifteen or sixteen. They were running about +together, not courting the company of the boys, but contented with +their own society, and loudly talking and shouting as they ran among +the swings and merry-go-rounds and other attractions of the fair. I +may safely aver that language more vile and depraved, revealing +knowledge and thoughts more vile and depraved, I have never heard from +any grown men or women in the worst part of the town. At mere +profanity, of course, these girls would be easily defeated by men, but +not in absolute vileness. The quiet working men among whom they ran +looked on in amazement and disgust; they had never heard anything in +all their lives to equal the abomination of these girls' language. +Now, they were girls who had all, I suppose, passed the third or +fourth standard. At thirteen they had gone into the workshop and the +street. Of all the various contrivances to influence the young not one +had as yet caught hold of them; the kerbstone and the pavements of the +street were their schools; as for their conversation, it had in this +short time developed to a vileness so amazing. What refining +influence, what trace of good manners, what desire for better things, +what self-restraint, respect, or government, was left in the minds of +these girls as a part of their education? As one of the bystanders, +himself of the working class, said to me, 'God help their husbands!' +Yes, poverty has many stings; but there can be none sharper than the +necessity of marrying one of these poor neglected creatures. + +We do not, therefore, only leave the children without education; we +also leave them, at the most important age, I suppose, of any +namely--the age of early adolescence--without guidance or supervision. +How should we like our own girls left free to run about the streets at +thirteen years of age? Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen--how +can we ever forget this time?--there falls upon boy and girl alike a +strange and subtle change. It is a time when the brain is full of +strange new imaginings, when the thoughts go vaguely forth to unknown +splendours; when the continuity of self is broken, and the lad of +to-day is different from him of yesterday; when the energies, physical +and intellectual, wake into new life, and impel the youth in new +directions. Everyone has been young, but somehow we forget that sweet +spring season. Let us try to remember, in the interests of the +uncared-for youths and girls, the time of glorious dreaming, when the +boy became a man, and stood upon some peak in Darien to gaze upon the +purple isles of life in the great ocean beyond, peopled by men who +were as heroes and by women who were as goddesses. Our own dreaming +was glorified, to be sure, with memories of things we had read; yet, +as we dreamed, so, but without the colour lent to our visions, these +sallow-faced lads, with the long and ugly coats and the round-topped +hats, are dreaming now. For want of our help their dreams become +nightmares, and in their brains are born devils of every evil passion. +And, for the girls, although not all can become so bad as those +foul-mouthed young Bacchantes and raging Maenads of Hamstead Heath, it +would seem as if nothing could be left to them, after the education of +the gutter--nothing at all--of the things which we associate with holy +and gracious womanhood. + +Truly, from the moral as well as the educational point of view, here +is a great evil disclosed. There is, however, another aspect of the +question, which must not be forgotten. If we are to hold our place at +the head of the industrial countries of the world, our workmen must +have technical education. But this can only be received by those who +possess already a certain amount of knowledge, and that a good deal +beyond the grasp of a child of thirteen years. How, then, can it be +made to reach those who have lost the whole of what once they knew? + +These facts are, I believe, beyond any dispute or doubt. They have +only to be stated in order to be appreciated. They affect not London +only, but every great town. The working men themselves have recognised +the gravity of the situation, and are anxious to provide some remedy. +At Nottingham an address, signed on behalf of the School Board and the +Nottingham Trades Council, has been addressed to the employers of +labour, entreating them to assist in the establishment and maintenance +of remedial measures. At the meeting of the Trades Unions' +representatives held in London last year, two resolutions on the +subject were passed; and the School Boards of London, Glasgow, and +Nottingham are all willing to lend their schools for evening use. For +there is but one thing possible or practical--the evening school, In +Germany, Switzerland, Holland, and Belgium, children are by law +compelled to attend 'continuation' schools until the age of sixteen. +In some places the zeal of the people for education outstrips even the +Government regulations. At the town of Chemnitz, in Saxony, for +example, with a population of 92,000 inhabitants, the Workmen's Union +have started a Continuation school with a far more comprehensive +system of subjects and classes than that provided by legislation. It +is attended by over 2,000 scholars, a very large proportion of the +inhabitants between thirteen and eighteen years of age. There is +nothing possible but the evening school. The children _must_ be sent +to work at thirteen or fourteen; they _must_ work all day; it is only +in the evening school that this education can be carried on, and that +they can be rescued from the contaminations and dangers of the +streets. But two difficulties present themselves. There is no law by +which the children can be compelled to attend the evening school. How, +then, can they be made to come in? And if the rate is now ninepence, +what will it be when to the burden of the elementary school is added +that of the Continuation school? + +A scheme has been proposed which has so far met with favour that a +committee, including persons of every class, has been formed to +promote it. Briefly it is as follows: + +The Continuation school is to be established in this country. The +difficulties of the situation will be met, not by compelling the +children to attend, but by persuading and attracting them. Much is +hoped from parents' influence now that working men understand the +situation; much may be hoped from the children themselves being +interested, and from others' example. The Continuation school will +have two branches--the recreative and the instructive. And since after +a hard day's work the children must have amusement, play will be found +for them in the shape of 'Rhythmic Drill,' which is defined as +'pleasant orderly movement accompanied by music,' and the instruction +is promised to be conveyed in a more attractive and pleasing manner +than that of the elementary schools. The latter announcement is at +first discouraging, because effective teaching must require +intellectual exercise and application, which may not always prove +attractive. As regards the former, it seems as if the projectors were +really going at last to recognise dancing as one of the most +delightful, healthful, and innocent amusements possible. I am quite +sure that if we can only make up our minds to give the young people +plenty of dancing, they will gratefully, in exchange, attend any +number of science classes. Next, there will be singing--a great deal +of singing, of course, in parts--which will still further lead to that +orderly association of young men and maidens which is so desirable a +thing and so wholesome for the human soul. There will also be classes +in drawing and design--the very commencement of technical instruction +and the necessary foundation of skilled handicraft. There will be for +boys classes in some elementary science bearing on their trade; for +girls there will be lessons in domestic economy and elementary +cooking; and for both boys and girls there will be classes in those +minor arts which are just now coming to the front, such as modelling, +wood-carving, repousse work, and so forth. In fact, if the children +can only be persuaded to come in, or can be hailed in, from the +streets, there is no end at all to the things which may be taught +them. + +As regards the management of these schools, it seems, as if we could +hardly do better than follow the example of Nottingham. Here they have +already five evening schools, and seven working men are appointed +managers for each school. The work is thus made essentially +democratic. These managers have begun by calling upon clergymen, +Sunday-school teachers, employers of labour, leaders of trades unions, +and, one supposes, _peres de famille_ generally, to use their +influence in making children attend these schools. The management of +such schools by the people is a feature of the greatest interest and +importance. As regards the girls' schools, it is suggested that 'lady' +managers should be appointed for each school. Alas! It is not yet +thought possible or desirable that working women should be appointed. +Then follows the question of expense. It cannot be supposed that the +rate-payer is going to look on with indifference to so great an +additional burden as this stupendous work threatens to lay upon him. +But let him rest easy. It is not proposed to add one penny to the +rates. The schools are to cost nothing--a fact which will add greatly +to their popularity and assist their establishment. It is proposed to +pay the necessary expenses of Board School teachers' work there will +be nothing to pay for the use of the buildings--by the Government +grant for drawing and for one other specific class subject. Next, a +small additional grant will be asked for singing, and one for +modelling, carving, or design: the standards must be divided in the +evening schools, and there must be necessarily a more elastic method +of examination adopted for the evening than for the day schools, one +which will be more observant of intelligence than careful of memory +concerning facts. Still, when all the aid that can be expected is got +from the Government grants, the, schools will not be self-supporting. +Here, then, comes in the really novel part of the project. _The rest +must be supplied by voluntary work._ The trained staff of the School +Board teachers will instruct the classes in those subjects required or +sanctioned by the Department for which grants are made; but for all +other subjects--the recreative, the technical, the scientific, the +minor arts, the history, the dancing, and the rest--the schools will +depend wholly upon volunteer teachers. + +We must not disguise the audacity of the scheme. There are, I believe, +in London alone 120 schools, for which 2,400 volunteers will be +required. They must not be mere amateurs or kindly, benevolent people, +who will lightly or in a fit of enthusiasm undertake the work, and +after a month or so throw it over in weariness of the drudgery; they +must be honest workers, who will give thought and take trouble over +the work they have in hand, who will keep to their time, stick to +their engagement, study the art of teaching, and be amenable to order +and discipline. Are there so many as 2,400 such teachers to be found +in London, without counting the many thousands wanted for the rest of +the country? It seems a good-sized army of volunteers to raise. + +Let us, however, consider. First, there is the hopeful fact that the +Sunday-School Union numbers 12,000 teachers--all voluntary and +unpaid--in London alone. There is, next, another hopeful fact in the +rapid development of the Home Arts Association, which has existed for +no more than a year or two. The teaching is wholly voluntary; and +volunteers are crowding in faster than the slender means of the +Society can provide schools for them to teach in, and the machinery, +materials, and tools to teach with. Even with these facts before us, +the projector and dreamer of the scheme may appear a bold man when he +asks for 2,400 men and women to help him, not in a religious but a +purely secular scheme. Yet it may not appear to many people purely +secular when they remember that he asks for this large army of +unselfish men and women--so unselfish as to give some of their time, +thought, and activity for nothing, not even praise, but only out of +love for the children--from a population of four millions, all of whom +have been taught, and most believe, that self-sacrifice is the most +divine thing that man can offer. To suppose that one in every two +thousand is willing to the extent of an hour or two every week to +follow at a distance the example of his acknowledged Master does not, +after all, seem so very extravagant, For my own part, I believe that +for every post there will be a dozen volunteers. Is that extravagant? +It means no more than a poor 1 per cent, of such distant followers. + +Those who go at all among the poor, and try to find out for themselves +something of what goes on beneath the surface, presently become aware +of a most remarkable movement, whispers of which from time to time +reach the upper strata. All over London--no doubt over other great +towns as well, but I know no other great town--there are at this day +living, for the most part in obscurity, unpaid, and in some cases +alone, men and women of the gentle class, among the poor, working for +them, thinking for them, and even in some cases thinking with them. +One such case I know where a gentlewoman has spent the greater part of +her life among the industrial poor of the East End, so that she has +come to think as they think, to look on things from their point of +view, though not to talk as they talk. Some of these men are vicars, +curates, Nonconformist ministers, Roman Catholic clergymen; some of +the women are Roman Catholic sisters and nuns; others are sham nuns, +Anglicans, who seem to find that an ugly dress keeps them more +steadily to their work; others are deaconesses or Bible-women. Some, +again, and it is to these that one turns with the greatest hope--they +may or may not be actuated by religious motives--are bound by no vows, +nor tied to any church. When twenty years ago Edward Denison went to +live in Philpot Lane, he was quite alone in his voluntary work. He had +no companion to try that experiment with him. Now he would be one of +many. At Toynbee Hall are gathered together a company of young and +generous hearts, who give their best without grudge or stint to their +poorer brethren. There are rich men who have retired from the haunts +of the wealthy, and voluntarily chosen to place their homes among the +poor. There are men who work all day at business, and in the evening +devote themselves to the care of working boys; there are women, under +no vows, who read in hospitals, preside at cheap dinners, take care of +girls' clubs, collect rents, and in a thousand ways bring light and +kindness into dark places. The clergy of the Established Church, who +may be regarded as almoners and missionaries of civilization rather +than of religion, seeing how few of the poor attend their services, +can generally command voluntary help when they ask for it. Voluntary +work in generous enterprise is no longer, happily, so rare that men +regard it with surprise; yet it belongs essentially to this century, +and almost to this generation. Since the Reformation the work of +English charity presents three distinct aspects. First came the +foundation of almshouses and the endowment of doles. Nothing, surely, +can be more delightful than to found an almshouse, and to consider +that for generations to come there will be a haven of rest provided +for so many old people past their work. The soul of King James's +confectioner--good Balthazar Sanchez--must, we feel sure, still +contemplate his cottages at Tottenham with complacency; one hopes His +Majesty was not overcharged in the matter of pasties and comfits in +order to find the endowment for those cottages. Even the dole of a few +loaves every Sunday to as many aged poor has its attraction, though +necessarily falling far short of the solid satisfaction to be derived +from the foundation of an almshouse. But the period of almshouses +passed away, and that of Societies succeeded. For a hundred years the +well-to-do of this country have been greatly liberal for every kind of +philanthropic effort. But they have conducted their charity as they +have conducted their business, by drawing cheques. The clergy, the +secretaries, and the committees have done the active work, +administering the funds subscribed by the rich man's cheques. The +system of cheque-charity has its merits as well as its defects, +because the help given does generally reach the people for whom it was +intended. Compared, however, with the real thing, which is essentially +personal, it may be likened unto the good old method--which gave the +rich man so glorious an advantage--of getting into heaven by paying +for masses. Its principal defect is that it keeps apart the rich and +poor, creates and widens the breach between classes, causing those who +have the money to consider that it is theirs by Divine right, and +those who have it not to forget that the origin of wealth is thrift +and patience and energy, and that the way to wealth is always open for +all who dare to enter and to practise these virtues. + +It has been reserved for this century, almost for this generation, to +discover that the highest form of charity is personal effort and +self-sacrifice. It has also been reserved for this time to show that +what was only possible in former times for those who were under vows, +so that in old days they man or woman who was moved by the enthusiasm +of humanity put on robe or veil and swore celibacy and obedience, can +really be practised quite as well without religious vows, peculiar +dress, articles of religion, papal allegiance, or anything of the +kind. The doubter, the agnostic, the atheist, may as truly sacrifice +himself and give up his life for humanity as the most saintly of the +faithful. There was an enthusiast fifteen years ago who cheerfully +endured prison and exile, poverty and persecution, for what seemed to +him the one thing in the world desirable and necessary to mankind. I +believe he was an atheist. Then came a time when, for a brief moment, +the dream was realized. And immediately afterwards it crumbled to the +dust. When all was lost, the poor old man arose, and, bareheaded, his +white hair flying behind him in the breeze, this martyr to humanity +mounted a barricade, and stood there until the bullets brought him +death. This is the enthusiasm which may be intensified, disciplined, +and ennobled by religion, but it is independent of religion; it is a +personal quality, like the power of feeling music or writing poetry. +When it is encouraged and developed, it produces men and women who can +only find their true happiness in renouncing all personal ambitions, +and giving up all hopes of distinction. They have hitherto sought the +opportunity of satisfying this instinctive yearning in the Church and +in the convent. They have now found a readier if not a happier way, +with more liberty of action and fewer chains of rule and custom, +outside the Church, as lay-helpers. It seems to me, perhaps because I +am old enough to have fallen under the influence of Maurice's +teaching, that a large part of this voluntary spirit is due to the +writings of that great teacher and his followers. Certainly the +College for Working Men and Women was founded by men of his school, +and has grown and now flourishes exceedingly, and is a monument of +voluntary effort sustained, passing from hand to hand, continually +growing, and always bringing together more and more closely those who +teach and those who are taught. Cheque-charity may harden the heart of +him who gives, and pauperize him who takes. That charity which is +personal can neither harden nor pauperize. + +Considering these things, therefore, the impulse to personal effort +which has fallen upon us, the greatness of the work that is to be +done, the simplicity of the means to be employed, and the cooperation +of the better kind of working men themselves, I cannot but think that +the promoters of this scheme have only to hold up their hands in order +to collect as many voluntary teachers as they wish to have. + +There is a selfish side to this scheme which ought not to be entirely +overlooked. It is this: The wealth of Great Britain is not, as some +seem to suppose, a gold-mine into which we can dig at pleasure; nor is +it a mine of coal or iron into which we can dig as the demand arises. +Our wealth is nothing but the prosperity of the country, and this +depends wholly on the industry, the patience, and the skill of the +working man; everything we possess is locked up, somehow or other, in +industrial enterprise, or depends upon the success of industrial +enterprise; our railways, our ships, our shares of every kind, even +the interest of our National Debt, depend upon the maintenance of our +trade. The dividends even of gas and water companies depend upon the +successful carrying on of trade and manufactures. We may readily +conceive of a time when--our manufactures ruined by superior foreign +intelligence and skill, our railways earning no profit, our carrying +trade lost, our agriculture destroyed by foreign imports, our farms +without farmers, our houses without tenants--the boasted wealth of +England will have vanished like a splendid dream of the morning, and +the children of the rich will have become even as the children of the +poor; all this may be within measurable distance, and may very well +happen before the death of men who are now no more than middle-aged. +Considering this, as well as the other points in favour of the scheme +before us, it may be owned that it is best to look after the boys and +girls while it is yet time. + +[1886.] + + + + + +THE PEOPLE'S PALACE + + + +Now that the foundations of the Palace are fairly laid, and the walls +of the Great Hall are rapidly rising, and the future existence of this +institution for good or for evil seems assured, it may be permitted to +one who has watched day by day, with the keenest interest, the result +of Sir Edmund Currie's appeals, to offer a few remarks on the manner +in which these appeals have been received, and on the mental attitude +of the public towards the class whom it is desired to befriend. + +I. It is, to begin with, highly significant that the recreative side +of the Palace has not been so strongly insisted upon as its +educational side. Is this because the working man, for whom the Palace +is building, has suddenly developed an extraordinary ardour for +education, and a previously unexpected desire for the acquisition of +knowledge in all its branches? Not at all. It is because the +recreative part of the scheme has few attractions for the general +public, and because the educational part, once it began to assume a +practical shape, was seen to possess possibilities which could be +grasped by everyone. Whatever be the future of the Palace as regards +the recreation of the people, one thing is quite clear--that its +educational capacities are almost boundless, and that there will be +founded here a University for the People of a kind hitherto unknown +and undreamed of. + +The recreation of the people, in fact, has proved a stumbling-block +rather than an attraction. It is a new idea suddenly presented to +people who have never considered the subject of recreation at all, +save in connection with skittles, so to speak. Now it seems hardly +necessary to erect a splendid palace for the better convenience of the +skittle alley. The objections, in fact, to supporting the scheme on +the ground of its recreative aims show a mixture of prejudice and +ignorance which ought to astonish us were we not daily, in every +business transaction and in every talk with friend or stranger, +encountering, and very likely revealing, the most wonderful prejudice +and ignorance. One should never be surprised at finding great black +patches in every mind. + +The black patch which concerns us, in the minds of those who have been +asked to support the People's Palace, is the subject of recreation. +'There are enough music-halls. What have the working classes to do +with recreation? If we give anything for the people it will be for +their improvement, not for their amusement.' To these three objections +all the rest may be reduced. Each objection points to a prejudice of +very ancient standing, or else to a deep-seated ignorance of the whole +subject. + +To deal with the first. It is assumed that recreation means amusement, +idle and purposeless, if not skittles with beer and tobacco, then the +music-hall with beer and tobacco, the comic man bawling a topical song +and executing the famous clog-dance. If one points out that it is not +amusement that is meant, but recreation, which is explained to mean a +very different thing, while a truer conception of what recreation +really means may be seized, then there remains a rooted disbelief as +to the power of the working man to rise above his beer and skittles. +It is a disbelief not at all based upon familiarity with the manners +and customs of the working man, because the ordinary well-to-do +citizen, however much he may have read of manners and customs in other +countries, is, as a rule, perfectly ignorant and perfectly incurious +as to those of his fellow-countrymen; nor is it based upon the belief +that the working man is imperfect in mind or body; but on an assurance +that the working man will never lift himself to the level of the +higher form of recreation, simply because the ordinary man knows +himself and his own practice. He desires to be amused, and according +to his manner of life he finds amusement in tobacco, reading, cards, +music, or the theatre. + +Consider the well-to-do man in pursuit of recreation. He has a club; +he goes to his club every day; perhaps he gets whist there; very +likely he belongs to one of the modern sepulchral places where the +members do not know each other and every man glares at his neighbour. +There is a billiard-table in all clubs as well as a card-room. Apart +from cards and billiards the clubs recognise no form of recreation +whatever. There are not in any club that I know, except the Savage, +musical instruments: if you were to propose to have a piano, and to +sing at it, I suppose the universal astonishment would be too great +for words. At the Arts, I believe, some of the members sometimes hang +up pictures of their own for exhibition and criticism, but at no other +club is there any recognition of Art. There are good libraries at two +or three clubs, but many have none. In fact, the clubs which belong to +gentlemen are organized as if there was no other occupation possible +for civilized people in polite society, except dining, smoking, +reading papers, or playing whist and billiards. The working men who +have recently established clubs of their own in imitation of the +West-End clubs are said to be finding them so dull that, where they +cannot turn them into political organizations, they have tolerated the +introduction of gambling. When clubs were first established gambling +was everywhere the favourite recreation, so that the working men are +only beginning where their predecessors began sixty years ago. + +Of all the Arts the average man, be he gentleman or mechanic, knows +none. He has never learned to play any instrument at all; he cannot +use his voice in taking a part, he cannot paint, draw, carve in wood +or ivory, use a lathe, or make anything that the wide world wants to +use. He cannot write poetry, or drama, or fiction; he is no orator; he +plays no games of cards except whist, and no other games at all of any +kind. What can he do? He can practise the trade he has learned, by +which he makes his money. He knows how to convey property, how to buy +and sell stock and shares, how to carry on business in the City. This, +if you please, is all he knows. And when you propose that the working +man shall, have an opportunity of learning and practising Art in any +of its multitudinous varieties, he laughs derisively, because, which +is a very natural and sensible thing to do, he puts himself in that +man's place, and he knows that he would not be tempted to undergo the +drudgery and the drill of learning one of the Arts, even did that Art +appear to him in the form of a nymph more lovely than Helen of Troy. + +The second objection belongs to the old order of prejudice. It used to +be assumed that there were two distinct orders of human beings; it was +the privilege of the higher order to be maintained by the labour of +the lower; for the higher order was reserved all the graces, +refinements, and joys of this fleeting life. The lower order were +privileged to work for their betters, and to have, in the brief +intervals between work and sleep, their own coarse enjoyments, which +were not the same as those of the upper class; they were ordained by +Providence to be different, not only in degree, but also in kind. The +privileges of the former class have received of late years many +grievous knocks. They have had to admit into their body, as capable of +the higher social pleasures and of polite culture, an enormous +accession of people who actually work for their own bread--even people +in trade; and it is beginning to be perceived that their +amusements--also, which seems the last straw, their vices--can +actually be enjoyed by the base mechanical sort, insomuch that, if +this kind of thing goes on, there must in the end follow an effacement +of all classes, and the peer will walk arm and arm with the +blacksmith. But class distinctions die hard, and the working men are +not yet all ready for the disciplined recreation which will help to +break down the barriers, and we may not look for this millennium +within the lifetime of living men. It is enough to note that the old +feeling still lingers even among those who, a hundred years ago, when +class distinctions were in their worst and most odious form, would +have been ranked among those incapable of refinement and ignorant of +polite manners. + +The third objection, that the people should only be helped in the way +of education and self-improvement, is, at first sight, worthy of +respect. But it involves the theory that it is the duty of the working +man when he has done his day's work to devote his evenings to more +work of a harder kind. There is a kind of hypocrisy in this feeling. +Why should the working man be fired with that ardour for knowledge +which is not expected of ourselves? I look round among my own +acquaintances and friends, and I declare that I do not know a single +household, except where the head of it is a literary man, and +therefore obliged to be always studying and learning, in which the +members spend their evenings after the day's work in the acquisition +of new branches of learning. One may go farther: even of those who +belong to the learned professions, few indeed there are who carry on +their studies beyond the point where their knowledge has a marketable +value. The doctor learns his craft as thoroughly as he can, and, after +he has passed, reads no more than is just necessary to keep his eyes +open to new lights; the solicitor knows enough law to carry on his +business, and reads no more. As for the schoolmaster--who ever heard +of a classical master reading any more Latin and Greek than he reads +with the boys? and who ever heard of a mathematical master keeping up +his knowledge of the higher branches, which put him among the +wranglers of his year, but are not wanted in the school? Even the lads +who have just begun to go into the City, and who know very well that +their value would be enormously increased by a practical and real +knowledge of French, German, or shorthand, will not take the trouble +to acquire it. Yet, with the knowledge of all this, we expect the +working man in his hours of leisure, and after a day physically +exhausting, to sit down and work at something intellectual. There are, +without doubt, some men so strong and so avid of knowledge that they +will do this, but these are not many, and they do not long remain +working men. + +The People's Palace offers recreation to all who wish to fit +themselves for its practice and enjoyment. But it is recreation of a +kind which demands skill, patience, discipline, drill, and obedience +to law. Those who master any one of the Arts, the practice of which +constitutes true recreation, have left once and for ever the ranks of +disorder: they belong, by virtue of their aptitude and their +education--say, by virtue of their Election--to the army of Law and +Order. They will not, we may be sure, be recruited from those whom +long years of labour and want of cultivation have tendered stiff of +finger, slow of ear and of eye, impenetrable of brain. We must get +them from the boys and girls. We must be content if the elders learn +to take delight in the hand-work which they cannot execute, the +decorative work which they can never hope wholly to understand, the +music and singing in which they themselves will never take a part. + +But they will by no means be left out. They will have the library, the +writing and reading rooms, the conversation and smoking rooms, with +those games of skill which are loved by all men. There will be +entertainments, concerts, and performances for them. And for those who +desire to learn there will be classes, lectures, and lecturers. At the +same time, I do not, I confess, anticipate a rush of young working men +to share in these joys and privileges. This part of the Palace will +grow and develop by degrees, because it is through the boys and girls +that the real work and usefulness of the Palace will be effected, and +not by means of the men. Of course, there will be from the outset a +small proportion capable of rightly using the place. For all these +reasons, it seems as if we may be very well contented that the +recreation part of the scheme has been for the moment kept in the +background. + + +II. Let us turn to the educational side of the scheme. + +When a lad has passed the standards--very likely a bright, clever +little chap, who had passed the sixth and even the seventh standard +with credit--it becomes necessary for him immediately to earn the +greater part of his own living. It is not in the power of his father, +who lives from week to week, or even from day to day, to apprentice +his boys and put them to a trade. They must earn their living at once. +What are they to do? + +At the very age when these boys have reached the point when the +intellect, already partly trained and the hand, not yet trained at +all, should begin to work together, they are faced by the terrible +fact--how terrible to them they little know--that they can be taught +no trade. They must go out into the world with a pair of unskilled +hands, and nothing more. Consider. A country lad learns every day +something new; he learns continually by daily practice how to use his +hands and his strength, by the time he is eighteen he has become a +very highly skilled agriculturist; he knows and can do a great many +most useful and necessary things. But the town lad, if he learns no +trade, learns nothing. He will never have any chance in life; he can +never have any chance; he is foredoomed to misery; he will all his +life be a servant of the lowest kind; he will never have the least +independence; he will, in all probability, be one of those who wait +day by day for the chance gifts of Luck. At the best, he can but get +into the railway service, or into some house of business where they +want porters and carriers. + +There is, however, a great demand for boys, who can earn five +shillings a week as shop boys, errand boys, and so forth. Our clever +lad, therefore, who has done so well at school, becomes a fruiterer's +lad, cleans out the shop, carries round the baskets, and is generally +useful; he gets a rise in a year or two, to seven shillings and +sixpence; presently he is dismissed to make room for a younger boy who +will take five shillings. Shall we follow the lad farther? If he gets, +as we hope he may, steady employment, we see him next, at the age of +fifteen, marching about the streets in the evening with a girl of the +same age to whom he makes love, and smoking 'fags,' or cigarettes. +There are thousands of such pairs to be seen everywhere; in Victoria +Park on Sundays, or Hampstead Heath on Saturday evenings, every +evening in the great thoroughfares--in Oxford Street as much as in +Whitechapel, in the music-halls and in the public-houses. You may see +them sitting together on doorsteps as well as promenading the +pavement. If there is any way of spending the evenings more +destructive of every good gift and useful quality of manhood and +womanhood than this, I know not what it is. The idleness and +uselessness of it, the precocious abuse of tobacco, the premature and +forced development of the emotions which should belong to love at a +later period, the loss of such intellectual attainments as had already +been acquired, the vacuous mind, the contentment to remain in the +lower depths--in a word, the waste and wanton ruin of a life involved +in such a youth, make the contemplation of this pair the most +melancholy sight in the world. The boy's early cleverness is gone, the +brightness has left his eyes, he reads no more, he has forgotten all +he ever learned, he thinks only now of keeping his berth, if he has +one, or of getting another if he has lost his last. But there is worse +to follow, for at eighteen he will marry the little slip of a girl, +and by the time she is five-and-twenty there will be half a dozen +children born in poverty and privation for a similar life of poverty +and privation, and the hapless parents will have endured all that +there is to be endured from the evils of hunger, cold, starving +children, and want of work. + +This couple were thrown together because they were left to themselves +and uncared for; they marry because they have nothing else to think +about; they remain in misery because the husband knows no trade, and +because of mere hands unskilled and ignorant there are already more +than enough. + +The Palace is going to take that boy out of the streets: it is going +to remove both from boy and girl the temptation--that of the idle +hand--to go away and get married. It will fill that lad's mind with +thoughts and make those hands deft and crafty. + +In other words, the Palace will open a great technical school for all +the trades as well as for all the Arts. It is reckoned that three +years' training in the evenings will give a boy a trade. Once master +of a trade his future is assured, because somewhere in the world there +is always a want of tradesmen of every kind. There may be too many +shoemakers in London while they are wanted in Queensland; +cabinet-makers and carpenters may be overcrowded here, but there are +all the English-speaking countries in the world to choose from. + +There can be no doubt that the schools will be crowded. The success of +the schools at the old Polytechnic (where there are 8,000 boys), of +the Whittington Club, of the Finsbury Technical Schools, leave no +doubt possible that the East-End Palace Schools will be crammed with +eager learners. The Palace is in the very heart and centre of East +London, with its two millions, mostly working men; trams, trains, and +omnibuses make it accessible from every part of this vast city--from +Bromley, Bow and Stratford, from Poplar, Stepney and Ratcliff, from +Bethnal Green and Spitalfields. Yet but two or three years, and there +will be 20,000 boys and more flocking to those gates which shut out +the Earthly Hell of ignorance, dependence, and poverty, and open the +doors to the Earthly Paradise of skilled hands and drilled eye, of +plenty and the dignity of manhood. Why, if it were only to stop these +early marriages--if only for the sake of the poor child-mother and the +unborn children doomed, if they see the light, to life-long +misery--one would shower upon the Palace all the money that is asked +to complete it. Think--with every stone that is laid in its place, +with every hour of work that each mason bestows upon its walls, there +is another couple rescued, one more lad made into a man, one more girl +suffered to grow into a woman before she becomes a mother, one more +humble household furnished with the means of a livelihood, one more +unborn family rescued from the curse of hopeless poverty. + +The remaining portions of the scheme, with its provision for women as +well as men, its entertainments, its University extension lectures, +reading-rooms, and schools of Art in all its branches, can only be +fully realized when the first generation of these boys has passed +through the technical schools, and they have learned to look upon the +Palace as their own, to consider its halls and cloisters the most +delightful place in the world. And what the Palace may then become, +what a perennial fountain it may prove of all that makes for the +purification and elevation of life, one would fain endeavour to +depict, but may not, for fear of the charge of extravagance. + +III. There is one other point which those who have read the +correspondence and comments upon the proposed institution in the +papers have noted with amusement rather than with astonishment. It is +a point which comes out in everything that has been written on the +scheme, except by the actual founders. It is the profound distrust +with which the more wealthy classes regard the working men--not the +poor, so-called, but the working men. They do not seem even to have +begun trusting them: they speak and think of them as if they were +children in leading-strings; as if they were certain to accept with +gratitude whatever gifts may be bestowed upon them, even when they are +safe-guarded and carefully regulated as for mischievous boys; as if +the working men were constantly looking for guidance to the class +which has the money. It is true that the working men are always +looking for guidance, just like the rest of us. 'Lord, send a leader!' +It is the cry of all mankind in all ages. But that the working men +regard the people who live in villas, and are genteel, as possessing +more wisdom than themselves is by no means certain. + +This feeling was, of course, most deeply marked when the great Drink +Question arose, as it was bound to arise. We have heard how meetings +were called, and resolutions passed by worthy people against the +admission of intoxicating drinks into the Palace. At one of the +meetings they had the audacity to pass a resolution that 'East London +will never be satisfied until intoxicating drink of any kind is +prohibited in the Palace.' East London! with its thousands of +public-houses! Dear me! Then, if East London passed such a resolution, +its hypocrisy surpasses the hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees. +If, however, a little knot of people choose to call themselves East +London, or Babylon, or Rome, and to pass resolutions in the name of +those cities, we can accept their resolutions for what they are worth. +Whether the working man will adopt them and put them into practice is +another matter altogether. + +Let us remember, and constantly bear in mind, that the Palace is to be +_governed by the people for themselves_. Otherwise it would be better +for East London that it had never been erected. Whatever we do or +resolve is, in fact, subject to the will of the governing body. As for +passing a resolution on drink for the Palace, we might just as well +resolve that drink shall not be sold to the members of the House of +Commons, and expect them instantly to close their cellars. If the +governing body wish to have drink in the Palace they will have it, +whether we like it or not. But it shows the profound distrust of the +people that these restrictions should be attempted and these +resolutions passed. For my own part, considering the needlessness of +drink in such a place, the abundant facilities provided outside, and +the enormous additional trouble, danger, and expense entailed by +letting drink be sold in a place where there will be every evening +thousands of young people, I am quite sure that the governing +body--that is to say, the chosen representatives of East London--will +never admit it within their walls. + +We do not trust the working man. We have given over to him the whole +of the power. All the power there is we have given to him, because he +stands in an enormous majority. We have made him absolute master of +this realm of Great Britain and Ireland. What could we do more for a +man whom we blindly and implicitly trusted? Yet the working man, for +whom we have done so much, we have not yet begun to trust. + + + + + +SUNDAY MORNING IN THE CITY + + +On Saturday afternoon, when the last of the clerks bangs the great +door behind him and steps out of the office on his way home; when the +shutters of the warehouses are at last all closed; there falls upon +the street a silence and loneliness which lasts from three o'clock on +Saturday till eight o'clock on Monday--a sleep unbroken for forty-one +long hours. In the main arteries, it is true, there is always a little +life; the tramp of feet never ceases day or night in Fleet Street or +Cheapside. But in all the narrow streets branching north and south, +east and west, of the great thoroughfares there is silence--there is +sleep. This Sabbath of forty hours' duration is absolutely +unparalleled in any other City of the world. There is no other place, +there never has been any other place, in which not only work ceases, +but where the workers also disappear. In that far-off City of the +Rabbis called Sambatyon, where live the descendants of the Ten Tribes, +the river which surrounds and protects the City with its broad and +mighty flood, too strong for boats to cross, ceases to flow on the +Sabbath; but it is not pretended that the people cease to live there. +Of no other City can it be said that it sleeps from Saturday night +till Monday morning. + +An attempt is made to awaken the City every Sunday morning when the +bells begin to ring, and there is as great and joyful a ringing from +every church tower or steeple as if the bells were calling the +faithful, as of old, by the hundred thousand; they go on ringing +because it is their duty; they were hung up there for no other +purpose; hidden away in the towers, they do not know that the people +have all gone away, and that they ring to empty houses and deserted +streets. For there is no response. At most one may see a solitary +figure dressed in black stuff creeping stealthily along like a ghost +on her way from the empty house to the empty church. When the bells +leave off silence falls again, there is no one in the street. One's +own footsteps echo from the wall; we walk along in a dream; old words +and old rhymes crowd into the brain. It is a dead City--a City newly +dead--we are gazing upon the dead. + + Life and thought have gone away + Side by side. + All within is dark as night. + In the windows is no light; + And no murmur at the door + So frequent on its hinge before. + +Silence everywhere. The blinds are down in every window of the tall +stack of offices, the doors are all closed, if there are shutters they +are up, there are no carte in the streets, no porters carry burdens, +there are no wheelbarrows, there is no more work done of any kind or +sort. Even the taverns and the eating-shops are shut--no one is +thinking of work. To-morrow--Monday--poverty will lift again his cruel +arm, and drive the world to work with crack of whip. The needle-woman +will appear again with her bundle of work; the porters, the packers, +the carmen, the clerks, the merchants themselves will all come +back--the vast army of those who earn their daily bread in the City +will troop back again. But as for to-day, nobody works; we are all at +rest; we are at peace; we are taking holiday. + +This is the day--this is the time--for those who would study the City +and its monuments. It is only on this day, and at this time, that the +churches are all open. It is only on this day, and at this time, that +a man may wander at his ease and find out how the history of the past +is illustrated by the names of the streets, by the houses and the +sites, and by the few old things which still remain, even by the old +things, names and all, which have perished. The area of the City is +small; its widest part, from Blackfriars to the Tower, is but a single +mile in length, and its greatest depth is no more that half a mile But +it is so crowded and crammed full of sites sacred to this or that +memory of its long life of two thousand busy years, there is so much +to think of in every street, that a pilgrim may spend all his Sunday +mornings for years and never get to the end of London City. I should +hardly like to say how many Sunday mornings I have myself spent in +wandering about the City, Yet I can never go into it without making +some new discovery. Only last week, for instance, I discovered in the +very midst of the City, in its most crowded part, nothing less than a +house--with a private garden. I had thought that the last was +destroyed about four years ago when they pulled down a certain noble +old merchant's mansion, No, there is one other stall left; perhaps +more. There are gardens, I know, belonging to certain Companies' +Halls; there is the ivy-planted garden of Amen Court; there are +burying-grounds laid out as gardens; but this is the only house I know +in the City which has a private garden at the back. One must not say +where it is, otherwise that garden will be seized and built upon. This +the owner evidently fears, for he has surrounded it by a high wall, so +that no one shall be able to seize it, no rich man shall covet it, and +offer to buy it and build great warehouses upon it, and the +underground railway shall not dig it out and swallow it up. + +In such journeyings and wanderings one must not go with an empty mind, +otherwise there will be neither pleasure nor profit. The traveller, +says Emerson, brings away from his travels precisely what he took +there. Not his mind but his climate, says Horace, does he change who +travels beyond the seas. In other words, if a man who knows nothing of +archaeology goes to see a collection of flint implements, or a person +ignorant of art goes to see a picture gallery, he comes away as +ignorant as he went, because flint implements by themselves, or +pictures by themselves, teach nothing. They can teach nothing. So, if +a man who knows nothing of history should stand before Guildhall on +the quietest Sunday in the whole year he will see nothing but a +building, he will hear nothing but the fluttering wings of the +pigeons. And if he wanders in the streets he will see nothing but tall +and ugly houses, all with their blinds pulled down. Before he goes on +a pilgrimage in the City he must first prepare his mind by reading +history. This is not difficult to find. If he is in earnest he will +get the great 'Survey of London,' by Strype and Stow, published in the +year 1720 in two folio volumes. If this is too much for him, there are +Peter Cunningham, Timbs, Thornbury, Walford, Hare, Loftie, and a dozen +others, all of whom have a good deal to tell him, though there is +little to tell, save a tale of destruction, after Strype and Stow. + +Thus, before he begins he should learn something of Roman London, +Saxon London, Norman London, of London medieval, London under the +Tudors, London of the Stuarts, and London of the Georges. He should +learn how the municipality arose, gaining one liberty after another, +and letting go of none, but all the more jealously guarding each as a +sacred inheritance; how the trade of the City grew more and more; how +the Companies were formed, one after the other, for the protection of +trade interests. Then he should learn how the Sovereign and great +nobles have always kept themselves in close connection with the City, +even in the proudest times of the Barons, even in the days when the +nobles were supposed to have most despised the burgesses and the men +of trade. He should learn, besides, how the City itself, its houses, +and its streets, grew and covered up the space within the wall, and +spread itself without; he should learn the meaning of the names--why +one street is called College Hill and another Jewry and another +Minories. Armed with such knowledge as this, every new ramble will +bring home to him more and more vividly the history of the past. He +will never be solitary, even at noon on Sunday morning even in Suffolk +Street or Pudding Lane, because all the streets will be thronged with +figures of the dead, silent ghosts haunting the scenes where they +lived and loved and died, and felt the fierce joys of venture, of +risk, and enterprise. + +But let no man ramble aimlessly. It is pleasant, I own, to wander from +street to street idly remembering what has happened here; but it is +more profitable to map out a walk beforehand, to read up all that can +be ascertained about it before sallying forth, and to carry a notebook +to set down the things that may be observed or discovered. + +Or, which is another method, he may consider the City with regard to +certain divisions of subjects. He may make, for instance, a special +study of the London churches. The City, small as it is, formerly +contained nearly 150 parishes, each with its church, its +burying-ground, and its parish charities. Some of these were not +rebuilt after the Great Fire, some have been wickedly and wantonly +destroyed in these latter days. A few yet survive which were not +burned down in that great calamity. These are St. Helen and St. +Ethelburga; St. Katherine Cree, the last expiring effort of Gothic, +consecrated by Archbishop Laud; All Hallows, Barking, and St. Giles. +Most of the existing City churches were built by Wren, as you know. I +think I have seen them nearly all, and in every one, however +externally unpromising, I have found something curious, Interesting, +and unexpected--some wealth of wood-carving, some relic of the past +snatched from the names, some monument, some association with the +medieval city. + +Of course, it is well to visit these churches on the Saturday +afternoon or Monday morning, when they are swept before and after the +service; but as one is never quite certain of finding them open, it +is, perhaps, best to take them after service on the Sunday. If you +show a real interest in the church, you will find the pew-opener or +verger pleased to let you see everything, not only the monuments and +the carvings in the church, but also the treasures of the vestry, in +which are preserved many interesting things--old maps, portraits, old +deeds and gifts, old charities--now all clean swept away by the +Charity Commission--ancient Bibles and Prayer-books, muniment chests, +embroidered palls, old registers with signatures historical--all these +things are found in the vestry of the City church. + +Then there are the churchyards. We are familiar with the little oblong +area open to the street, surrounded by tall warehouses, one tomb left +in the middle, and three headstones ranged against the wall, patches +of green mould to represent grass, and a litter of scraps of paper and +orange-peel. This is fondly believed to be the churchyard of some old +church burned down or rebuilt. There are dozens of these in the City; +it is sometimes difficult to find out the name of the church to which +they once belonged. Every time a building is erected adjacent to them +they become smaller, and when they happened to lie behind the houses +they were shut in and forgotten, covered over and built upon when +nobody was looking, and so their very memory perished. + +It is curious to look for them. For instance, there is a certain great +burying ground laid down in Strype's map of the year 1720. It is there +represented as so large that to cover it up would be a big thing. No +single man would dare to appropriate all at once so huge a slice of +land. I went, therefore, in search of this particular churchyard, and +I found a very curious thing. On one side of the ground stands a great +printing office. As the gate was open I walked in. At the back of the +printing office is a flagged court or yard. In the court the boys--it +was the dinner hour--were leaping and running. Not one of them knows +now that he is running and jumping over the bones of his ancestors. It +is clean forgotten that here was a great churchyard. Another great +burying ground long since built over lay at the back of Botolph's Lane +in Thames Street. That is built over and forgotten. There is another +where lies the dust of the marvellous boy Chatterton. I am due that of +the thousands who every day seek this spot not one can tell or +remember that it was once a burying ground. On this spot the paupers +of the parish of St. Andrew's, Holborn, were buried--Chatterton, that +poor young pauper! with them. And it is now a market, Farringdon +Market--close to Farringdon Street--opposite the site of the Old Fleet +Prison whence came so many of the bodies which now lie beneath these +flags. + +Or, a pilgrim may consider the City with special reference to the +great Houses which formerly stood within its walls. There were palaces +in the City--King Athelstan had one; King Richard II. lived for a time +in the City; Richard III. lived here; Henry V. had a house here. Of +the great nobles, the Beaumonts, Scropes, Arundells, Bigods all had +houses. The names of Worcester House, Buckingham House, Hereford +House, suggest the great Lords who formerly lived here. And the names +of Crosby Hall, Basinghall, Gresham House, College Hill, recall the +merchants who built themselves palaces and entertained kings. + +Again, there are the City Companies and their Halls. Very few visitors +ever make the round of the Halls: yet they are most curious, and +contain treasures great and various. It is not always easy to see +these treasures, but the conscientious pilgrim, who, by the way, must +not seek entrance into these Halls on the Sunday morning, will +persevere until he has managed to see them all. + +As for the sights of the City--the things which Baedeker enumerates, +and which foreign and country visitors run to see--the Tower, the +Monument, the Guildhall, the Mansion House, the Royal Exchange, the +Mint, St. Paul's, and the rest, I say nothing, because the pilgrim +does not waste his Sunday morning over things to be seen as well on +any other day. But there are some things to be seen every day which +are best approached on Sunday, by reason of the peace which prevails +and a certain solemnity in the air. I would, for instance, choose to +visit the Charter House on a Sunday morning, I would sit with the +Pensioners in their quiet chapel, and I would stroll about the +peaceful courts of that holy place, venerable not only for its history +but for the broken and ruined lives--often ruined only in purse, but +rich in honour and in noble record--of the fifty bedesmen or +pensioners who rest there in the evening of their days. And quite +apart from its associations, I know no more beautiful place in the +City or anywhere else than the ancient Charter House. + +Again, we may wander in the City and remember the great men who have +made certain streets for ever famous. Thus, to stand in Bread Street +is to think of Milton. Here he was born, here he was baptized, here +for a time he lived. Or we may visit Blackfriars and remember the +Elizabethan dramatists. Here Shakespeare had a house--it was among the +ruins of old Blackfriars Abbey, part of the foundations of which were +found when some years ago they made an extension of the Times' +printing office. Broad Street recalls the memory of Gresham, while +that of Whittington lingers along Thames Street and College Hill and +clings to St. Michael's Church. In that parish he lived and died. Here +he founded the College of the Holy Spirit which still exists in the +Highgate Almshouses; on its site the boys of Mercers School now study +and play. His tomb was burned in the Great Fire and his ashes +scattered, but the very streets preserve his name. Boas Alley, of +which there are two, records the fact that Whittington brought a +conduit or Boss of fresh water to this spot. It was he who paved +Guildhall, he who built a hall for the Grey Friars, now the Blue Coat +School, he who rebuilt Newgate; of all the merchants who have adorned +the great City not one whose memory is so widely spread and whose +example has so long survived his death. When country boys think of the +City of London they still think of Whittington. + +Perhaps you are afraid that the preparation, the reading, for such a +walk about the City would be dull. I have never found it so. I do not +think that anyone who has the least love for, or knowledge of, old +things would find such reading dull. There are, to be sure, some +unhappy creatures who love nothing but what is new, and esteem +everything for what it will fetch. These are the people who are always +trying to pull down the City churches. They are at this very moment +pulling down another, the poor old church of St. Mary Magdalen. The +tower is down, the roof is off the windows are all broken, in a week +or two the church will be razed to the ground, and in a year or two +its very memory will have perished. Why, we vainly ask, do they pull +it down? What harm has the old church done? To be sure its +congregation numbered less than a dozen, but then we must not estimate +an old church by a modern congregation. There has been a church here +from time immemorial. It is mentioned in the year 1120. It was, +therefore, certainly a Saxon church. Edward the Confessor probably +worshipped here--perhaps King Alfred himself. One of its Rectors was +John Carpenter, executor of Whittington, and founder of the City of +London School; another was Barham, author of the 'Ingoldsby Legends.' +The loss of St. Mary Magdalen is one more link with the past +absolutely destroyed, never to be replaced. These destroyers, for +instance, are the kind of people who pulled down Sion College. As +often as I pass the spot where that place once stood I mourn and +lament its loss more and more. It was the college of the City clergy, +they were its guardians, it was their library, it contained their +reading hall; formerly it held their garden, and it had their +almshouses. There was hardly any place in the City more peaceful or +more beautiful than the long narrow room which held their library. It +was a very ancient site--formerly the site of Elsing's Hospital, the +oldest hospital in the whole City. Everything about it was venerable, +and yet the City clergy themselves--its official guardians--sold it +for what it would fetch, and stuck up the horrid thing on the +embankment which they call Sion College. There they still use the old +seal and arms of the college. But there is no more a Sion +College--that is gone. You cannot replace it. You might as well tear +down King's College Chapel at Cambridge and call Dr. Parker's City +Temple by that honoured and ancient name. Well, for such people as the +majority of the City clergy who can do such things, there can be no +voice or utterance at all from ancient stones, the past can have no +lessons, no teachings for them, there can be no message to them from +the dead who should still live for them in memory and association. For +them the ancient City and its citizens are dumb. + +Now that we know what to expect and what to look for, let us take +together a Sunday morning ramble in a certain part of the City. We +will go on a morning in early summer, when the leaves of those trees +which still stand in the old City churchyards are bright with their +first tender green, and when the river, as we catch glimpses of it, +shows a broad surface of dancing waves across to the stairs and barges +of old Southwark. We will take this walk at the quietest hour in the +whole week, between eleven and twelve. All the churches are open for +service. We will look in noiselessly, but, indeed, we shall find no +congregations to disturb, only, literally, two or three gathered +together. + +I will take you to the very heart of the City. Perhaps you have +thought that the heart of the City is that open triangular space faced +by the Royal Exchange, and flanked by the Bank of England and the +Mansion House. We have taught ourselves to think this, in ignorance of +the City history. But a hundred and fifty years ago there was no +Mansion House, three hundred years ago there was no Royal Exchange, +and the Bank of England itself is but a mushroom building of the day +before yesterday. + +In the long life of London--it covers two thousand years--the chief +seat of its trade, the chief artery of its circulation, has been +Thames Street. Along here for seventeen hundred years were carried on +the chief events in the drama which we call the History of London. Its +past origin, its growth and expansion, are indicated along this line. +Here the City merchants of old--Whittingtons, Fitzwarrens, Sevenokes, +Greshams--thronged to do their business. To these wharves came the +vessels laden from Antwerp, Hamburg, Riga, Bordeaux, Lisbon, Venice, +Genoa, and far-off Smyrna and the Levant. This line stretches across +the whole breadth of the City. It indicates the former extent of the +City, what was behind it originally was the mass of houses built to +accommodate those who could no longer find room on the riverside. It +is now a narrow, dark, and dirty street; its south side is covered +with quays and wharves; narrow lanes lead to ancient river stairs; its +north side is lined with warehouses, the streets which run out of it +are also dark and narrow lanes with offices on either side. It is no +longer one of the great arteries of the City. Those who come here use +it not for a thoroughfare but for a place of business. When their +business is done they go away; the churches, of which there were once +so many, are more deserted here than in any other part of the City Let +me give you a little--a very little--of its history. + +Two thousand years ago, or thereabouts, the City of London was first +begun. At that time the Thames valley, where now stands Greater +London, was a vast morass, sometimes flooded at high tide, everywhere +low and swampy, studded with islands or bits of ground rising a few +feet above the level--such was Thorney Island, on which Westminster +Abbey was built; such was the original site of Chelsea and Battersea. + +On the south side the swamp and low ground continued until the ground +began to rise for the first low Surrey Hills at what is now called +Clapham Rise. On the north side the swamp was bordered by a +well-defined cliff from ten to thirty or forty feet high, which +followed a curve, approaching the river edge from the east till it +reached where is now Tower Hill, where it nearly touched the water, +and the spot now called Dowgate--a continuation of Walbrook +Street--where the river actually washed its base, and where it +presented two little hillocks side by side, with the +brook--Walbrook--running into the river between. This was a natural +site for a town--two hills, a tidal river in front, a freshwater +stream between. Here was a spot adapted both for fortification and for +communication with the outer world. Here, then, the town began to be +built. How the trade began I cannot tell you, but it did begin, and +grew very rapidly, Now, as it grew it became necessary for the people +to stretch out and expand; there was no longer any room on the two +hillocks; they, therefore, built a strong wall to keep out the river +and put up houses, quays, and store-houses above and along this +wall--portions of which have been found quite recently. The river once +kept out--although the cliff receded again--the marsh became dry land, +but, in fact, the cliff receded a very little way, and the slopes of +the streets north of Thames Street show exactly how far it went back. +Many hundreds of years later precisely the same course was adopted for +the rescue of Wapping from the marsh in which it stood. They built a +strong river wall, and Wapping grew up on and behind that wall, just +exactly as London itself had done long before. + +The citizens of London had, from a very early time, their two ports of +Billingsgate and Queenhithe, both of them still ports. They had also +their communication with the south by means of a ferry, which ran from +the place now called the Old Swan Stairs to a port or dock on the +Surrey side, still existing, afterwards called St. Mary of the Ferry, +or St. Mary Overies. The City became rapidly populous and full of +trade and wealth. Vast numbers of ships came yearly, bringing +merchandise, and taking away what the country had to export. Tacitus, +writing in the year 61, says that the City then was full of merchants +and their wares. It is also certain that the Londoners, who have +always been a pugnacious and a valiant folk, already showed that side +of their character, for we learn that, shortly before the landing of +Julius Caesar, they had a great battle in the Middlesex Forest with the +people of Verulam, now St Albans. The Verulamites had reason to repent +of their rashness in coming out to meet the Londoners, for they were +routed with great slaughter, and never ventured on another trial of +strength. As for the site of the battle, it has been pretty clearly +demonstrated by Professor Hales that it took place close to Parliament +Hill, at Hampstead, and the barrow on the newly acquired part of the +Heath probably marks the burial-place of the forgotten heroes who +perished on that field. And as for the Londoners who fought and won, +let us remember that they came from this part of the modern City--from +Thames Street. + +The town was walled between the years 350 and 369. The building of the +Roman wall has determined down to these days the circuit of the City. +Now, here a very curious and suggestive point has been raised. In or +near all other Roman towns are remains of amphitheatres, theatres and +temples. There is an amphitheatre near Rutupiae, the present +Richborough; everybody knows the amphitheatres of Nimes, Arles and +Verona; but in or near London there have never been found any traces +of amphitheatres or temples whatever. Was the City then, so early, +Christian? Observe, again, that the earliest churches were dedicated, +not to British saints, or to the saints and martyrs of the second or +third centuries--the centuries of persecution--but to the Apostles +themselves--to St. Peter, St. Paul, St. James, St. Stephen, St. Mary, +St. Philip. These facts, it is thought, seem to indicate that very +early in the history of the City its people were Christians. When the +Roman wall was built, Thames Street already possessed most of the +streets which you now see branching northward up the hill, and south +to the river stairs, the space beyond was occupied by villas and +gardens, and the life of the merchants and Roman officers who lived in +them was as luxurious as wealth and civilization could make it. + +You now understand why I have called Thames Street the heart of the +City. It was the first part built and settled, the first cradle of the +great trade of England. More than this, it continued to be the thief +centre of trade; its wharves received the imports and exports; its +warehouses behind stored them; its streets which ran up the sloping +ground grew with the growth of the trade; new streets continually +sprang up until villas and gardens were gradually built over and the +whole area was covered; but all sprang in the first place from Thames +Street; everything grew out of the trade carried on along the river. +We are going to walk through all the five riverside wards belonging to +this street. There are one or two things to note in advance, if only +to show how this quarter remained the most populous and the most busy +part of London. The City of London has eighty companies. Forty of +these have--or had--Halls of their own. Out of the forty Halls no +fewer than twenty-two belong to these five wards, while one company, +the Fishmongers', had at one time six Halls, or places of meeting, in +and about Thames Street. Again, the City of London formerly had about +150 churches. Along the river, that is, in and about Thames Street +alone, there were at least twenty-four, or one-sixth of the whole +number. Lastly, to show the estimation in which this part was held, +out of the great houses formerly belonging to the King and nobles, +those of Castle Baynard, Cold Harbour, the Erber, Tower Royal, and the +King's Wardrobe belong to Thames Street, while the names of Beaumont, +Scrope, Derby, Worcester, Burleigh, Suffolk, and Arundell connect +houses in the five wards of Thames Street with noble families, in the +days when knights and nobles rode along the street, side by side with +the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of the City. + +In Thames Street are the ancient markets of Billingsgate and +Queenhithe. The former has been a market and a port for more than a +thousand years. Customs and tolls were paid here in the time of King +Ethelred the Second, that is, in the year 979. The exclusive sale of +fish here is comparatively modern, that is, it is not three hundred +years old. As for Queenhithe it is still more ancient than +Billingsgate. Its earliest name was Edred Hithe, that is, Edred's +wharf. It was given by King Stephen to the Convent of the Holy +Trinity. It returned, however, to the Crown, and was given by King +Henry III. to the Queen Eleanor, whence it was called the Queen's Bank +or Queenhithe. On the west side of Queenhithe lived Sir Richard +Gresham, father of Sir Thomas Gresham, in a great house that had +belonged to the Earls and Dukes of Norfolk. + +The splendid building of the Custom House on the south side is the +fifth Custom House that has been put up on the same spot. The first +was built by one John Churchman, Sheriff in the year 1385; the next in +the reign of Queen Elizabeth--it was furnished with high-pitched +gables and a water gate, this was burned down in the Great Fire. Wren +built the third, which was burned down in 1718; one Ripley built the +fourth, which was also burned down in 1814. The present building was +designed by David Laing and cost nearly half a million. + +Until quite recently a little narrow and dirty passage to the river, +known as Coldharbour Lane, commemorated the site of a great Palace, +known as the Cold Harbour, which stood here overlooking the river with +many gables. It was already standing in the reign of Edward II. It +belonged successively to Sir John Poultney; to John Holland, Duke of +Exeter--that Duke who was buried in St. Katherine's Hospital; to Henry +V., who lived here for a brief period when Prince of Wales; to Richard +III.; to the College of Heralds; and to Henry VIII. Finally, it was +burned in the Great Fire, but during the last hundred years of its +life the old Palace fell into decay and was let out in tenements to +poor people. The City Brewery now stands on the site of Cold Harbour. + +Close beside this great house--the site itself now entirely covered by +the railway--was the Steelyard. This was the centre of the German +trade; here the merchants of the Hanseatic League were permitted to +dwell and to store the goods which they imported. The history of the +German merchants in London is a very important chapter in that of +London. They came here in the year 1250, they formed a fraternity of +their own, living together, by Royal permission, in a kind of college, +with a great and stately hall, wharves, quays, and square courts. The +building is represented, before it was burned down in the Great Fire, +as picturesque, with many gables crowded together like the whole of +London. Their trade was extremely valuable to them; they imported +Rhenish wines, grain of all kinds, cordage and cables, pitch, tar, +flax, deal timber, linen fabrics, wax, steel, and many other things. +They obtained concession after concession until practically they +enjoyed a monopoly. For this they had to pay certain tolls or duties. +They were made, for instance, to maintain one of the City gates. They +were compelled to live together in their own quarters. Their monopoly +lasted for 300 years, during which the London merchants, especially +the Association called Merchant Adventurers, who belonged principally +to the Mercers' Company, continued to besiege the Sovereign with +petitions and complaints. It was not until the reign of Queen +Elizabeth that they were finally turned out and expelled the Kingdom. +Their house and grounds were converted into a store-house for the +Royal Navy. At the same time the old Navy Office, which had formerly +stood in Mark Lane, was transferred to the suppressed college and +chapel belonging to All Hallows, Barking, in Seething Lane, where you +may still see, if you go to look for them, the old stone pillars of +the gates and the old courtyard which was originally the court of the +college, then the court of the Navy Office, and now the court of the +warehouse belonging to the London Docks. As for the unfortunate +Steelyard, that, as I said, is now completely covered by the Cannon +Street Railway. As you walk under the railway arch you may now look +southward and say, 'Here for 300 years lived the Hanseatic +merchants--here the fraternity had their warehouses, their exchange, +their great Hall. Here the German porters loaded and cleared the +ships, the German clerks took notes and kept accounts, and the German +merchants bought and sold.' They ventured not far from their own +place; the Londoners have never loved foreigners or the sound of an +unknown language; they lived here making money as fast as they could +and then going home to Lubeck, Bremen, or Hamburg, others coming to +take their place. + +On Dowgate Hill was another famous old house called the Erber--which +is, I suppose, the same word as Harbour. It belonged at successive +periods to Lord Scroope, the Earl of Warwick, the Earl of Salisbury, +and to George, Duke of Clarence. This house, too, perished in the +Fire. In this street Sir Francis Drake lived, and here are now three +Companies' Halls. Close by, on Laurence Poultney Hill, lived Dr. +William Harvey, who discovered the circulation of the blood. + +In Suffolk Lane the Earls of Suffolk had a great house, and here, +before they moved to Charter House, stood the Merchant Taylors' +School. Three Companies had their Halls on the riverside--the +Watermen's at the bottom of Cold Harbour Lane; the Dyers' at the +bottom of Angel Alley; and the Vintners' which still stands close to +Southwark Bridge. + +Nearly at the end of the street was Baynard's Castle. You may still +see the name on the gate of a wharf, and it also gives its name to the +ward. This was the western fortress of the City, just as the Tower was +the eastern; but with this difference, that Castle Baynard belonged to +the City during the troubled time when the Crown and the City were +constantly in conflict. The Tower, on the other hand, always belonged +to the Crown. Baynard's Castle belonged, in fact, to the FitzWalters, +hereditary barons of the City. One of their functions was at the +outbreak of a war to appear at the west door of St. Paul's, armed and +mounted, with twenty attendants, there to receive from the Lord Mayor +the banner of the City, a horse worth L20, and L20 in money. Finally, +the castle became, I do not know how, Crown property. It was burned to +the ground, but rebuilt by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. Within this +castle the Duke of Buckingham offered the Crown to Richard III., and +here the Privy Council proclaimed Queen Mary. The castle afterwards +fell into the hands of the Earls of Shrewsbury. It was destroyed in +the Great Fire. It consisted of two courts: the south front of the +buildings faced the river, the north front, with the principal +entrance, was in Thames Street. + +In more ancient times there stood a tower west of Baynard's Castle +called Montfichet, but of this building very few memorials remain. +Again, there is said to have been a palace on Addle Hill, built by +Athelstan. The Wardrobe was another great house acquired by King +Edward III., close to the church still called St. Andrew's by the +Wardrobe. The memory of this house is still kept up by that very +interesting little square, which looks exactly like a place in a +southern French town, called Wardrobe Place. One of the court offices +was that of Master of the Wardrobe. In old days he resided in this +house and actually did take care of the King's clothes. The Queen's +wardrobe, on the other hand, was kept in the other royal house, called +Tower Royal, the house still surviving in the street so-called. This +was formerly King Stephen's palace. In the year 1331 it was granted by +the King to his Queen Philippa for her wardrobe. It was then called +'La Real,' without the addition of the word 'tower,' and the meaning +and origin of the name are unknown. The palace stood in the parish of +St. Thomas Apostle, the church of which was not rebuilt after the +Fire; but the name of the church survives in a small fragment of the +street so-called. + +There were, therefore, in this small bit of London, at least four +royal palaces, besides the great houses of the nobles that I have +enumerated. Half the City companies had their Halls here; and even to +this day there are standing here and there one or two of the solid +houses built by the merchants in the narrow streets north of Thames +Street for their private residences. As late as the beginning of the +present century the house now called the 'Shades,' close to the Swan +Stairs, London Bridge, was built for his own town house by Lord Mayor +Garratt, who laid the foundation stone of London Bridge. Of the old +merchants' houses, rich with carved woodwork, built with black timber +round courts and gardens, not one now remains in the City. But there +are one or two remaining in the old inns of Southwark and the Old Bell +Inn, Holborn, Yet the last great house built in the City, the Mansion +House, was itself originally built round a court. + + * * * * * + +You may, if you try, reconstruct Thames Street as it was before the +Fire. Its breadth was exactly the same as at present. Eight stately +churches stood, each with its own burial-ground, along the street. The +palace of Baynard reared its gables on the right as you entered the +street from the west. Lower down, on the same side, stood the great +House of Cold Harbour, also gabled. The low-gabled warehouses stood +round Queenhithe and Billingsgate; the Custom House was thronged with +those who came to pay their tolls and clear their dues; the broad +court of the Steelyard--covered with boxes, bales, and casks, some +exposed, some under sheds--stretched southward, behind its three great +gates. On the river-side stood its stately Hall. The Halls of the +Companies, great and noble houses, proclaimed the wealth and power of +the merchants. On the north side stood the merchants' houses built +round their gardens. In those days they had no country houses, and +they wanted none. They could carry their falcons out into the fields +which began on the other side of the City wall, or across the river in +the low-lying lands of Bermondsey and Redriffe. The street was already +crammed and thronged with porters, carts, and wheelbarrows; it was +full of noise; there were sailors and merchants from foreign parts. +Already the Levantine was here, lithe and supple, black of eye, ready +of tongue, quick with his dagger; and the Italian, passionate and +eager; and the Spaniard, the Fleming, the Frenchman, and the Dutchman. +All nations were here, as now, but they were then kept on board their +ships or in their own quarters by night. The great merchants walked up +and down, conversing, heedless of the noise, to which their ears were +so accustomed as to be deaf to them. The merchants had reason to be +grave. Always there were wars and rumours of wars; always some pirate +from French shores was attacking their ships; their latest venture was +too often overdue--the ship had to run the gauntlet of the Algerian +galleys, and no one could tell what might have happened; there was +plague at Antwerp--it might be lurking in the bales lying on the quay +before them; there was civil war brewing; fortune is fickle--he who +was rich yesterday may be a beggar to-morrow. Merchants, in those +days, did well to be grave. + +I have considered, so far, some of the great houses standing in or +along this historic street. Let us now note a few of the churches. + +All Hallows, Barking, the first walking from the east, commemorates in +its name the fact that it formerly belonged to the great convent of +Barking in Essex, the gateway of which still stands at the entrance to +the churchyard. This church escaped the Fire. Here was buried the poet +Surrey, Bishop Fisher, and Archbishop Laud. + +In the church of St. Magnus, London Bridge, the remains of Miles +Coverdale, the translator of the Bible, rest: they were removed here +from the Church of St. Bartholomew when it was pulled down to make +more room for the Bank of England. This church has perhaps the finest +tower, lantern, and steeple of all the City churches, in front is a +small court planted with trees, whose foliage is strangely refreshing +in early summer down in this dark place almost below the approach to +the bridge. The church itself is fine but not very interesting. I have +sometimes counted as many as ten present at the Sunday morning +service. + +St. Michael's, Tower Royal, is Whittington's church. In this parish he +lived, though a house was long shown as his in Hart Street; here he +died; in this church he was buried--behind this church stood his +College of the Holy Spirit with its bedesmen and its ecclesiastical +staff. If we pass the church and look in at the gateway on the north, +we shall notice unmistakable signs of an ancient collegiate foundation +in the disposition of the modern houses. Here is now the Mercers' +School. In the church there is no adequate monument to the memory of +London's greatest merchant--the man who did so much for the City which +made him so rich, who royally entertained the King and Queen in his +own house, and at the close of the banquet burned before their eyes +the royal bond for L60,000, worth in modern money at least L600,000. I +never think of Whittington without remembering a certain verse in the +Book of Proverbs, 'Blessed is he who is diligent in his business, for +he shall stand before Kings.' + +St. Nicolas Cole Abbey is, within, a kind of gilded drawing-room. +There is gilt everywhere, gilt and wood-carving; and on Sunday +morning, thanks to the strange taste of the Vicar, who likes to dress +himself up in scarlet and green, and to have a boy making a smell with +a swinging pot, there are sometimes more than the customary ten for a +congregation. + +Of St. Mary Somerset only the tower remains. Why they pulled down this +church, why they pulled down St. Michael's Queenhithe, or St. Nicolas +Olave, or St. Mary Magdalen, all in this part of London, passeth man's +understanding. If you want to find out what these churches were like, +you may consult the book by Britton and Le Keux on London Churches. +They are represented in a collection of steel engravings drawn after +the fashion of eighty years ago, so as to bring out the strong points +with great softening of unpleasant details. + +Many of the churches were not rebuilt after the Fire. This shows that +by the year 1666 this part of London was already beginning to be +occupied more by warehouses than by private dwellings. Among them were +St. Andrew Hubberd, St. Benet Sherehog, St. Leonard, Eastcheap, All +Hallows the Less, Holy Trinity, St. Martin Vintry, St. Laurence +Poultney, St. Botolph Billingsgate, St. Thomas Apostle, St. Mary +Mounthaut, St. Peter's, St. Gregory's by St Paul, and St. Anne's +Blackfriars--thirteen in all. + +At St. Benet's Church--where Fielding was married--you may now hear +the service in the Welsh language, just as in Wellclose Square you may +hear it in Swedish. In Endell Street, Holborn, you may hear it in +French, and in Palestine Place, Hackney, you may hear it in Hebrew. + +Certain spaces on old maps of London are coloured green to show where +stood certain churchyards. In Thames Street the churchyard of All +Hallows the Less still stands; in Queen Street that of St. Thomas +Apostle, in Laurence Poultney Hill that of St. Laurence Poultney, a +very large and well-kept churchyard; St. Dunstan's, All Hallows, +Barking, St. Stephen's, Wallbrook all keep their churchyards still. +That of St. Anne's, Blackfriars, stands retired behind the houses. But +those of St. Nicolas Cole Abbey, St. Mary Somerset, St. Botolph's, and +St. Mary Magdalen, formerly large and crowded churchyards, still kept +sacred in the year 1720, and, indeed, until further interments were +forbidden in the year 1845, are now quite built over and forgotten. +What has become of the churchyards of St. Michael Royal, St. Michael +Queenhithe, St. Benet, St. George, St. Leonard Eastcheap, and St. +James's Garlickhithe? Alas! no one knows. The tombstones are taken +away, the ground has been dug up, the coffin-wood burned, the bones +dispersed, and of all the thousands, the tens of thousands, of +citizens buried there--old and young, rich and poor, Lord Mayors, +aldermen, merchants, clerks, craftsmen, and servants--the dust of all +is scattered abroad, the names of all are as much forgotten as if they +never lived. But they have lived, and if you seek their monument--look +around. It is in the greatness, the wealth, the dignity of the modern +City, that these ancient citizens live again. Life is a long united +chain with links that cannot be separated; the story of humanity is +unbroken; it will go on continuous and continued until the Creator's +great purpose is fulfilled, and the drama of Man complete. + +In one or two of these churches all the churchyard left is a square +yard or two at the back of the church. In one of these tiny +enclosures--I forget which now--I found that of all the headstones and +tombs which had once adorned this now sadly diminished and attenuated +acre, there was left but one. It was a tombstone in memory of an +infant, aged eight months. Out of all the people buried here, who had +lived long and been held in honour, and thought that their memory +would last for many generations--perhaps as long as that of +Whittington or Gresham--only the name of this one baby left! + +It was in the vaults of St. James's Garlickhithe, that they found, +before the place was bricked up and left to be disturbed no more, many +bodies in a state of perfect preservation--mummies. One of these has +been taken out and set up in a cupboard in the outer chapel. He is +decently guarded by a door kept locked, and is neatly framed in glass. +You can see him by special application to the pew-opener, who holds a +candle and points out his beauties. Perhaps in all the City churches +there is no other object quite so curious as this old nameless mummy. +He was once, it may be, Lord Mayor--a good many Lord Mayors have been +buried in this church--or, perhaps, he was a Sheriff, and wore a +splendid chain; or he may have been the poorest and most miserable +wretch of his time. It matters not; he has escaped the dust--he is a +mummy. Somehow he contrives to look superior, as if he was conscious +of the fact and proud of it; he cannot smile, or nod, or wink, but he +can look superior. + +One more church and one more scene, and I have done. + +There is a church on the south side of Thames Street, close to the +site of the Steelyard--_i.e._, almost under the railway arches which +lead to Cannon Street. It is not very much to look at. With one +exception, indeed, it is the ugliest church in the whole of London +City. It is a big oblong box, with round windows stuck in here and +there. Wren designed it, I believe, one evening after dinner, when he +had taken a glass or two more than his customary allowance of port or +mountain. It is the church of All Hallows the Great combined with All +Hallows the Less. Before the Fire it was a very beautiful church, with +a cloister running round its churchyard on the south, and to the east +looking out upon the lane that led to Cold Harbour House. This is the +church to which the Hanseatic merchants for three hundred years came +for worship. Very near the church, on the river bank, stood the +Waterman's Hall. To this church, therefore, came the 'prentices of the +watermen every Sunday. The Great Fire carried it away, with Steelyard, +cloister, church, Waterman's Hall, Cold Harbour House, and everything. +Then Wren, as I said, took a pencil and ruler one evening, and showed +how a square box could be constructed on the site. Now, let no man +judge by externals. If you can get into the church, you will be +rewarded by the sight of an eighteenth-century church left exactly as +it was in those days of grave and sober merchants, and of City +ceremonies and church services attended in state. On the north side, +against the middle of the wall, is planted what we now most +irreverently call a Three Decker. But we must not laugh, because of +all Three Deckers this is the most splendid. There is nothing in the +City more beautiful than the wood-carving which makes pulpit, +sounding-board, reading-desk, and clerk's desk in this church precious +and wonderful. The old pews, which, I rejoice to say, have never been +removed, are many of them richly and beautifully carved. The Pew of +State, reserved for the Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs, is a miracle of +art. Across the very middle of the church is a screen in carved wood, +the most wonderful screen you ever saw, presented as a sign of +gratitude to their old church by the Hanseatic merchants. The east end +is decorated by a wooden table, richly carved, and the reredos is +designed by the great Christopher himself, no doubt for partial +expiation of his sin in making the church externally so hideous. It +consists of a marble panel, on which are engraved the Ten +Commandments. On the left hand stands Aaron in full pontificals, as +set forth in the Book of Leviticus or that of Numbers. On the right +hand, in more humble guise, stands Moses, facing the people, in his +hand a rod of gold. With this he points to the Commandments, which +contain among them the whole Rule of Life. The pews are not arranged +to face the east, but are gathered round the pulpit in the north, the +most desirable being those nearest the pulpit. In the outside pews, +close to the east end, sat the watermen's 'prentices. These young +villains, who were afterwards doubtless for the most part hanged, +spent their time during the service in carving their initials, with +rude pictures of ships, houses, and boats, with dates on the sloping +desks before them. There they still remain--because the pews are +unchanged--with the dates 1720, 1730, 1740, and so on. From father to +son they kept up this sacrilegious practice, hidden in the depths of +the high pews. There is, behind the church, a vestry with wainscoting +and more carved wood, and with portraits of bygone rectors, plans of +the parish, and notes on the old parish charities, which exist no +longer. Through the vestry window one looks out upon a little garden. +It is the churchyard. One sees how the old cloister ran. Formerly it +was full of tombs, and he who paced the cloister could meditate on +death. Now it is an open and cheerful place, all the old tombs cleared +away--which is loss, not gain--and in the month of May it is bright +with flowers. At first sight it seems as if it was so completely +hidden away that it could gladden no man's eyes. That is not so. In +the City Brewery there are certain windows which overlook this garden. +These are the windows of the rooms where dwells a chief +officer--Master Brewer, Master Taster, Master Chemist, I know not--of +the City Brewery, last of the many breweries which once stood along +the river bank. He, almost the only resident of the parish, can look +out, solitary and quiet, of the cool of an evening in early summer, +and rejoice in the beauty of this little garden blossoming, all for +his eyes alone, in a desert. + +As one looks about this church the present fades away and the past +comes back. I see, once more, the Rector, what time George II. was +King, in full wig and black gown poring over his learned discourse. +Below him sleeps his clerk. In the Lord Mayor's pew, robed in garments +and chain of state, sleep my Lord Mayor and the worshipful the +Sheriffs; their footmen, all in blue and green and gold, are in the +aisle; the rich merchant of the parish clad in black velvet, with silk +stockings, silver buckles to their shoes, ruffles of the richest and +rarest lace at their throats, and neckties of the same hanging down +before their long silk waistcoats, sleep in their pews--it is a sleepy +time for the Church Service--beside their wives and children. The +wives are grand in hoop, and powder, and painted face. We know what is +meant by rank in the days of King George II. In this our parish church +we who are or have been wardens of our Company, aldermen who have +passed the chair, or aldermen who have yet to pass it, know what is +due to our position, and we bear ourselves accordingly. Our +inferiors--the clerks and the shopkeepers, the servants and the +'prentices--we treat, it is true, with kindliness, but with +condescension and with authority. On those rare occasions when a Peer +comes to our civic banquets we show him that we know what is due to +his rank. As for our life, it is centred in this parish; here are our +houses, here we live, here we carry on our business, and here we die. +Our poor are our servants when they are young and strong, and they are +our bedesmen when they grow old. Do not, I entreat you, believe in the +fiction that the Church neglected the poor during the last century. +The poor in the City parishes were not neglected; the boys were +thoroughly taught and conscientiously flogged, thieves were sent away +to be hanged, bad characters were turned out, the old were maintained, +the sick were looked after, the parish organization was complete, and +the parish charities were many and generous. Outside the City +precincts, if you please, where there were few churches and great +parishes, always increasing in population, the poor were neglected; +but in the City, never. But listen, the Rector has done. He finishes +his sermon with an admirable and appropriate quotation in Greek, which +I hope the congregation understands; he pronounces the prayer of +dismissal; the organ rolls, the clerk wakes up, the Lord Mayor and the +Sheriffs walk forth and get into their coaches, the footmen climb up +behind, the merchants and their families go out next, while all the +people stand in respect to their masters and betters, and those set in +authority over them. Then come out the people themselves, and last of +all the 'prentice boys come clattering down the aisle. + +Let us awake. It is Sunday morning again, but the merchants are gone. +The eighteenth century is gone, the church is empty, the parish is +deserted; the streets are silent. + + Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep; + The river glideth at his own sweet will! + Dear God! the very houses seem asleep, + And all that mighty heart to lying still. + + + + + +A RIVERSIDE PARISH + + + +There are several riverside parishes east of London Bridge, not +counting the ancient towns of Deptford and Greenwich, which formerly +lay beyond London, and could not be reckoned as suburbs. The history +of all these parishes, till the present century, is the same. Once, +south-east and west of London, there stretched a broad marsh covered +with water at every spring-tide; here and there rose islets overgrown +with brambles, the haunt of wild fowl innumerable. In course of time, +the city having grown and stretching out long arms along the bank, +people began to build a broad and strong river-wall to keep out the +floods. This river-wall, which still remains, was gradually extended +until it reached the mouth of the river and ran quite round the low +coast of Essex. To the marshes succeeded a vast level, low-lying, +fertile region affording good pasture, excellent dairy farms, and +gardens of fruit and vegetables. The only inhabitants of this district +were the farmers and the farmhands. So things continued for a thousand +years, while the ships went up the river with wind and tide, and down +the river with wind and tide, and were moored below the Bridge, and +discharged their cargoes into lighters, which landed them on the quays +of London Port, between the Tower and the Bridge. As for the people +who did the work of the Port--the loading and the unloading--those +whom now we call the stevedores, coalers, dockers, lightermen, and +watermen, they lived in the narrow lanes and crowded courts above and +about Thames Street. + +When the trade of London Port increased, these courts became more +crowded; some of them overflowed, and a colony outside the walls was +established in St. Katherine's Precinct beyond the Tower. Next to St. +Katherine's lay the fields called by Stow 'Wappin in the Wose,' or +Wash, where there were broken places in the wall, and the water poured +in so that it was as much a marsh as when there was no dyke at all. +Then the Commissioners of Sewers thought it would be a good plan to +encourage people to build along the wall, so that they would be +personally interested in its preservation. Thus arose the Hamlet of +Wapping, which, till far into the eighteenth century, consisted of +little more than a single long street, with a few cross lanes, +inhabited by sailor-folk. At this time--toward the end of the +sixteenth century--began that great and wonderful development of +London trade which has continued without any cessation of growth. +Gresham began it. He taught the citizens how to unite for the common +weal; he gave them a Bourse; he transferred the foreign trade of +Antwerp to the Thames. Then the service of the river grew apace; where +one lighter had sufficed there were now wanted ten; 'Wappin in the +Wose' became crowded Wapping; the long street stretched farther and +farther along the river beyond Shad's Well; beyond Ratcliff Cross, +where the 'red cliff' came down nearly to the river bank; beyond the +'Lime-house'; beyond the 'Poplar' Grove. The whole of that great city +of a million souls, now called East London, consisted, until the end +of the last century, of Whitechapel and Bethnal Green, still +preserving something of the old rusticity; of Mile End, Stepney and +Bow, and West Ham, hamlets set among fields, and market-gardens, and +of that long fringe of riverside streets and houses. In these rural +hamlets great merchants had their country-houses; the place was +fertile; the air was wholesome; nowhere could one see finer flowers or +finer plants; the merchant-captains--both those at sea and those +retired--had houses with garden-bowers and masts at Mile End Old Town. +Captain Cook left his wife and children there when he went sailing +round the world; here, because ground was cheap and plentiful, were +long rope-walks and tenter-grounds; here were roadside taverns and +gardens for the thirsty Londoner on a summer evening, here were placed +many almshouses, dotted about among the gardens, where the poor old +folks lengthened their days in peace and fresh air. + +But Riverside London was a far different place, here lived none but +sailors, watermen, lightermen, and all those who had to do with ships +and shipping, with the wants and the pleasures of the sailors. Boat +builders had their yards along the bank; mastmakers, sail-makers, +rope-makers, block-makers; there were repairing docks dotted about all +down the river, each able to hold one ship at a time, like one or two +still remaining at Rotherhithe, there were ship-building yards of +considerable importance; all these places employed a vast number of +workmen--carpenters, caulkers, painters, riggers, carvers of +figure-heads, block-makers, stevedores, lightermen, watermen, +victuallers, tavern-keepers, and all the roguery and _ribauderie_ that +always gather round mercantile Jack ashore. A crowded suburb indeed it +was, and for the most part with no gentlefolk to give the people an +example of conduct, temperance, and religion--at best the +master-mariners, a decorous people, and the better class of tradesmen, +to lead the way to church. And as time went on the better class +vanished, until the riverside parishes became abandoned entirely to +mercantile Jack, and to those who live by loading and unloading, +repairing and building the ships, and by showing Jack ashore how +fastest and best to spend his money. There were churches--Wapping, St. +George in the East, Shadwell, and Lime-house--they are there to this +day; but Jack and his friends enter not their portals. Moreover, when +they were built the function of the clergyman was to perform with +dignity and reverence the services of the church; if people chose not +to come, and the law of attendance could not be enforced, so much the +worse for them. Though Jack kept out of church, there was some +religious life in the place, as is shown not only by the presence of +the church, but also by that of the chapel. Now, wherever there is a +chapel it indicates thought, independence, and a sensible elevation +above the reckless, senseless rabble. Some kinds of Nonconformity also +indicate a first step toward education and culture. + +He who now stands on London Bridge and looks down the river, will see +a large number of steamers lying off the quays; there are barges, +river steamers, and boats, there are great ocean steamers working up +or down the river; but there is little to give the stranger even a +suspicion of the enormous trade that is carried on at the Port of +London. That port is now hidden behind the dock gates; the trade is +invisible unless one enters the docks and reckons up the ships and +their tonnage, the warehouses and their contents. But a hundred years +ago this trade was visible to any who chose to look at it, and the +ships in which the trade was carried on were visible as well. + +Below the Bridge, the river, for more than a mile, pursues a straight +course with a uniform breadth. It then bends in a north-easterly +direction for a mile or so, when it turns southward, passing Deptford +and Greenwich. Now, a hundred years ago, for two miles and more below +the bridge, the ships lay moored side by side in double lines, with a +narrow channel between. There were no docks; all the loading and the +unloading had to be done by means of barges and lighters in the +stream. One can hardly realize this vast concourse of boats and barges +and ships; the thousands of men at work; the passage to and fro of the +barges laden to the water's edge, or returning empty to the ship's +side; the yeo-heave-oh! of the sailors hoisting up the casks and bales +and cases; the shouting, the turmoil, the quarrelling, the fighting, +the tumult upon the river, now so peaceful. But when we talk of a +riverside parish we must remember this great concourse, because it was +the cause of practices from which we suffer to the present day. + +Of these things we may be perfectly certain. First, that without the +presence among a people of some higher life, some nobler standard, +than that of the senses, this people will sink rapidly and surely. +Next, that no class of persons, whether in the better or the worser +rank, can ever be trusted to be a law unto themselves. For which +reason we may continue to be grateful to our ancestors who caused to +be written in large letters of gold, for all the world to see once a +week, "THUS SAITH THE LORD, Thou shalt not steal," and the rest: the +lack of which reminder sometimes causes in Nonconformist circles, it +is whispered, a deplorable separation of faith and works. The third +maxim, axiom, or self-evident proposition is, that when people can +steal without fear of consequences they will steal. All through the +last century, and indeed far into this, the only influence brought to +bear upon the common people was that of authority. The master ruled +his servants; he watched over them; when they were young he had them +catechized and taught the sentiments proper to their station; he also +flogged them soundly; when they grew up he gave them wages and work; +he made them go to church regularly; he rewarded them for industry by +fraternal care; he sent them to the almshouse when they were old. At +church the sermons were not for the servants but for the masters; yet +the former were reminded every week of the Ten Commandments, which +were not only written out large for all to see, but were read out for +their instruction every Sunday morning. The decay of authority is one +of the distinguishing features of the present century. + +But in Riverside London there were no masters, and there was no +authority for the great mass of the people. The sailor ashore had no +master; the men who worked on the lighters and on the ships had no +master except for the day; the ignoble horde of those who supplied the +coarse pleasures of the sailors had no masters; they were not made to +do anything but what they pleased; the church was not for them; their +children were not sent to school; their only masters were the fear of +the gallows, constantly before their eyes at Execution Dock and on the +shores of the Isle of Dogs, and their profound respect for the cat o' +nine tails. They knew no morality; they had no other restraint; they +all together slid, ran, fell, leaped, danced, and rolled swiftly and +easily adown the Primrose Path; they fell into a savagery the like of +which has never been known among English-folk since the days of their +conversion to the Christian faith. It is only by searching and poking +among unknown pamphlets and forgotten books that one finds out the +actual depths of the English savagery of the last century. And it is +not too much to say that for drunkenness, brutality, and ignorance, +the Englishman of the baser kind touched about the lowest depth ever +reached by civilized man during the last century. What he was in +Riverside London has been disclosed by Colquhoun, the Police +Magistrate. Here he was not only a drunkard, a brawler, a torturer of +dumb beasts, a wife-beater, a profligate--he was also, with his +fellows, engaged every day, and all day long, in a vast systematic +organized depredation. The people of the riverside were all, to a man, +river pirates; by day and by night they stole from the ships. There +were often as many as a thousand vessels lying in the river; there +were many hundreds of boats, barges, and lighters engaged upon their +cargoes, They practised their robberies in a thousand ingenious ways; +they weighed the anchors and stole them; they cut adrift lighters when +they were loaded, and when they had floated down the river they +pillaged what they could carry and left the rest to sink or swim; they +waited till night and then rowed of to half-laden lighters and helped +themselves. Sometimes they went on board the ships as stevedores and +tossed bales overboard to a confederate in a boat below; or they were +coopers who carried under their aprons bags which they filled with +sugar from the casks; or they took with them bladders for stealing the +rum. Some waded about in the mud at low tide to catch anything that +was thrown to them from the ships. Some obtained admission to the ship +as rat-catchers, and in that capacity were able to carry away plunder +previously concealed by their friends; some, called _scuffle-hunters_, +stood on the quays as porters, carrying bags under their long white +aprons in which to hide whatever they could pilfer. It was estimated +that, taking one year with another, the depredations from the shipping +in the Port of London amounted to nearly a quarter of a million +sterling every year. All this was carried on by the riverside people. +But, to make robbery successful, there must be accomplices, +receiving-houses, fences, a way to dispose of the goods. In this case +the thieves had as their accomplices the whole of the population of +the quarter where they lived. All the public-houses were secret +markets attended by grocers and other tradesmen where the booty was +sold by auction, and, to escape detection, fictitious bills and +accounts were given and received. The thieves were known among +themselves by fancy names, which at once indicated the special line of +each and showed the popularity of the calling; they were bold pirates, +night plunderers, light horsemen, heavy horsemen, mud-larks, game +lightermen, scuffle-hunters and gangsmen. Their thefts enabled them to +live in the coarse profusion of meat and drink, which was all they +wanted; yet they were always poor because their plunder was knocked +down for so little; they saved nothing; and they were always egged on +to new robberies by the men who sold them drinks, by the women who +took their money from them, and by the honest merchants who attended +the secret markets. + +I dwell upon the past because the present is its natural legacy. When +you read of the efforts now being made to raise the living, or at +least to prevent them from sinking any lower, remember that they are +what the dead made them. We inherit more than the wealth of our +ancestors; we inherit the consequences of their misdeeds. It is a most +expensive thing to suffer the people to drop and sink; it is a sad +burden which we lay upon posterity if we do not continually spend our +utmost in lifting them up. Why, we have been the best part of two +thousand years in recovering the civilization which fell to pieces +when the Roman Empire decayed. We have not been fifty years in +dragging up the very poor whom we neglected and left to themselves, +the gallows, the cat, and the press-gang only a hundred years ago. And +how slow, how slow and sometimes hopeless, is the work! + +The establishment of river police and the construction of docks have +cleared the river of all this gentry. Ships now enter the docks; there +discharge and receive; the labourers can carry away nothing through +the dock-gates. No apron allows a bag to be hidden; policemen stand at +the gates to search the men; the old game is gone--what is left is a +surviving spirit of lawlessness; the herding together; the +hand-to-mouth life; the love of drink as the chief attainable +pleasure; the absence of conscience and responsibility; and the old +brutality. + +What the riverside then was may be learned by a small piece of +Rotherhithe in which the old things still linger. Small +repairing-docks, each capable of holding one vessel, are dotted along +the street; to each are its great dock-gates, keeping out the high +tide, and the quays and the shops and the caretaker's lodge; the ship +lies in the dock shored up by timbers on either side, and the workmen +are hammering, caulking, painting, and scraping the wooden hull; her +bowsprit and her figurehead stick out over the street, Between the +docks are small two-storied houses, half of them little shops trying +to sell something; the public-house is frequent, but the 'Humours' of +Ratcliff Highway are absent; mercantile Jack at Rotherhithe is mostly +Norwegian and has morals of his own. Such, however, as this little +village of Rotherhithe is, so were 'Wappin in the Wose,' Shadwell, +Ratcliff, and the 'Limehouse' a hundred years ago, with the addition +of street fighting and brawling all day long; the perpetual adoration +of rum, quarrels over stolen goods; quarrels over drunken drabs; +quarrels over all-fours; the scraping of fiddles from every +public-house, the noise of singing, feasting, and dancing, and a +never-ending, still-beginning debauch, all hushed and quiet--as birds +cower in the hedge at sight of the kestrel--when the press-gang swept +down the narrow streets and carried off the lads, unwilling to leave +the girls and the grog, and put them aboard His Majesty's tender to +meet what fate might bring. + +The construction of the great docks has completely changed this +quarter. The Precinct of St. Katherine's by the Tower has almost +entirely disappeared, being covered by St. Katherine's Dock; the +London Dock has reduced Wapping to a strip covered with warehouses. +But the church remains, so frankly proclaiming itself of the +eighteenth century, with its great churchyard. The new Dock Basin, +Limehouse Basin, and the West India Docks, have sliced huge cantles +out of Shadwell, Limehouse, and Poplar; the little private docks and +boat-building yards have disappeared; here and there the dock remains, +with its river gates gone, an ancient barge reposing in its black mud; +here and there may be found a great building which was formerly a +warehouse when ship-building was still carried on. That branch of +industry was abandoned after 1868, when the shipwrights struck. Their +action transferred the ship-building of the country to the Clyde, and +threw out of work thousands of men who had been earning large wages in +the yards. Before this unlucky event Riverside London had been rough +and squalid, but there were in it plenty of people earning good +wages--skilled artisans, good craftsmen. Since then it has been next +door to starving. The effect of the shipwrights' strike may be +illustrated in the history of one couple. + +The man, of Irish parentage, though born in Stepney, was a painter or +decorator of the saloons and cabins of the ships. He was a +highly-skilled workman of taste and dexterity; he could not only paint +but he could carve; he made about three pounds a week and lived in +comfort. The wife, a decent Yorkshire woman whose manners were very +much above those of the riverside folk, was a few years older than her +husband. They had no children. During the years of fatness they saved +nothing; the husband was not a drunkard, but, like most workmen, he +liked to cut a figure and to make a show. So he saved little or +nothing. When the yard was finally closed he had to cadge about for +work. Fifteen years later he was found in a single room of the meanest +tenement-house; his furniture was reduced to a bed, a table, and a +chair; all that they had was a little tea and no money--no money at +all. He was weak and ill, with trudging about in search of work; he +was lying exhausted on the bed while his wife sat crouched over the +little bit of fire. This was how they had lived for fifteen years--the +whole time on the verge of starvation. Well, they were taken away; +they were persuaded to leave their quarters and to try anther place, +where odd jobs were found for the man, and where the woman made +friends in private families, for whom she did a little sewing. But it +was too late for the man; his privations had destroyed his sleight of +hand, though he knew it not; the fine workman was gone. He took +painters' paralysis, and very often when work was offered his hand +would drop before he could begin it; then the long years of tramping +about had made him restless; from time to time he was fain to borrow a +few shillings and to go on the tramp again, pretending that he was in +search of work; he would stay away for a fortnight, marching about +from place to place, heartily enjoying the change and the social +evening at the public-houses where he put up. For, though no drunkard, +he loved to sit in a warm bar and to talk over the splendours of the +past. Then he died. No one, now looking at the neat old lady in the +clean white cap and apron who sits all day in the nursery crooning +over her work, would believe that she has gone through this ordeal by +famine, and served her fifteen years' term of starvation for the sins +of others. + +The Parish of St. James's, Ratcliff, is the least known of Riverside +London. There is nothing about this parish in the Guide-books; nobody +goes to see it. Why should they? There is nothing to see. Yet it is +not without its romantic touches. Once there was here a cross--the +Ratcliff Cross--but nobody knows what it was, when it was erected, why +it was erected, or when it was pulled down. The oldest inhabitant now +at Ratcliff remembers that there was a cross here--the name survived +until the other day, attached to a little street, but that is now +gone. It is mentioned in Dryden. And on the Queen's Accession, in +1837, she was proclaimed, among other places, at Ratcliff Cross--but +why, no one knows. Once the Shipwrights' Company had their hall here; +it stood among gardens where the scent of the gillyflower and the +stock mingled with the scent of the tar from the neighbouring +rope-yard and boat-building yard. In the old days, many were the +feasts which the jolly shipwrights held in their hall after service at +St. Dunstan's, Stepney. The hall is now pulled down, and the Company, +which is one of the smallest, worth an income of less than a thousand, +has never built another. Then there are the Ratcliff Stairs--rather +dirty and dilapidated to look at, but, at half-tide, affording the +best view one can get anywhere of the Pool and the shipping. In the +good old days of the scuffle-hunters and the heavy horsemen, the view +of the thousand ships moored in their long lines with the narrow +passage between was splendid. History has deigned to speak of Ratcliff +Stairs. 'Twas by these steps that the gallant Willoughby embarked for +his fatal voyage; with flags flying and the discharge of guns he +sailed past Greenwich, hoping that the King would come forth to see +him pass. Alas! the young King lay a-dying, and Willoughby himself was +sailing off to meet his death. + +The parish contains four good houses, all of which, I believe, are +marked in Roque's map of 1745. + +One of these is now the vicarage of the new church. It is a large, +solid, and substantial house, built early in the last century, when as +yet the light horsemen and lumpers were no nearer than Wapping. The +walls of the dining-room are painted with Italian landscapes, to which +belongs a romance. The paintings were executed by a young Italian +artist. For the sake of convenience he was allowed by the merchant who +then lived here, and employed him, to stay in the house. Now the +merchant had a daughter, and she was fair. The artist was a goodly +youth, and inflammable; as the poet says, their eyes met; presently, +as the poet goes on, their lips met; then the merchant found out what +was going on, and ordered the young man, with good old British +determination, out of the house. The young man retired to his room, +presumably to pack up his things. But he did not go out of the house; +instead of that, he hanged himself in his room. His ghost, naturally, +continued to remain in the house, and has been seen by many. Why he +has not long ago joined the ghost of the young lady is not clear +unless that, like many ghosts, his chief pleasure is in keeping as +miserable as he possibly can. + +The second large house of the parish is apparently of the same date, +but the broad garden in which it formerly stood has been built over +with mean tenement houses. Nothing is known about it; at present +certain Roman Catholic sisters live in it, and carry on some kind of +work. + +The third great house is one of the few surviving specimens of the +merchant's warehouse and residence in one. It is now an old and +tumbledown place. Its ancient history I know not. What rich and costly +bales were hoisted into this warehouse; what goods lay here waiting to +be carried down the Stairs, and so on board ship in the Pool; what +fortunes were made and lost here one knows not. Its ancient history is +gone and lost, but it has a modern history. Here a certain man began, +in a small way, a work which has grown to be great; here he spent and +was spent; here he gave his life for the work, which was for the +children of the poor. He was a young physician; he saw in this squalid +and crowded neighbourhood the lives of the children needlessly +sacrificed by the thousand for the want of a hospital; to be taken ill +in the wretched room where the whole family lived was to die; the +nearest hospital was two miles away. The young physician had but +slender means, but he had a stout heart. He found this house empty, +its rent a song. He took it, put in half a dozen beds, constituted +himself the physician and his wife the nurse, and opened the +Children's Hospital. Very soon the rooms became wards; the wards +became crowded with children; the one nurse was multiplied by twenty; +the one physician by six. Very soon, too, the physician lay upon his +death-bed, killed by the work. But the Children's Hospital was +founded, and now it stands, not far off, a stately building with one +of its wards--the Heckford Ward--named after the physician who gave +his own life to save the children. When the house ceased to be a +hospital it was taken by a Mr. Dawson, who was the first to start here +a club for the very rough lads. He, too, gave his life for the cause, +for the illness which killed him was due to overwork and neglect. +Devotion and death are therefore associated with this old house. + +The fourth large house is now degraded to a common lodging-house. But +it has still its fine old staircase. + +The Parish of St. James's, Ratcliff, consists of an irregular patch of +ground having the river on the south, and the Commercial Road, one of +the great arteries of London, on the north. It contains about seven +thousand people, of whom some three thousand are Irish Catholics. It +includes a number of small, mean, and squalid streets; there is not +anywhere in the great city a collection of streets smaller or meaner. +The people live in tenement-houses, very often one family for every +room--in one street, for instance, of fifty houses, there are one +hundred and thirty families. The men are nearly all +dock-labourers--the descendants of the scuffle-hunters, whose +traditions still survive, perhaps, in an unconquerable hatred of +government. The women and girls are shirt-makers, tailoresses, +jam-makers, biscuit-makers, match-makers, and rope-makers. + +In this parish the only gentlefolk are the clergy and the ladies +working in the parish for the Church; there are no substantial +shopkeepers, no private residents, no lawyer, no doctor, no +professional people of any kind; there are thirty-six public-houses, +or one to every hundred adults, so that if each spends on an average +only two shillings a week, the weekly takings of each are ten pounds. +Till lately there were forty-six, but ten have been suppressed; there +are no places of public entertainment, there are no books, there are +hardly any papers except some of those Irish papers whose continued +sufferance gives the lie to their own everlasting charges of English +tyranny. Most significant of all, there are no Dissenting chapels, +with one remarkable exception. Fifteen chapels in the three parishes +of Ratcliff, Shadwell, and St. George's have been closed during the +last twenty years. Does this mean conversion to the Anglican Church? +Not exactly; it means, first, that the people have become too poor to +maintain a chapel, and next, that they have become too poor to think +of religion. So long as an Englishman's head is above the grinding +misery, he exercises, as he should, a free and independent choice of +creeds, thereby vindicating and assorting his liberties. Here there is +no chapel, therefore no one thinks; they lie like sheep; of death and +its possibilities no one heeds; they live from day to day; when they +are young they believe they will be always young; when they are old, +so far as they know, they have been always old. + +The people being such as they are--so poor, so hopeless, so +ignorant--what is done for them? How are they helped upward? How are +they driven, pushed, shoved, pulled, to prevent them from sinking +still lower? For they are not at the lowest depths; they are not +criminals; up to their lights they are honest; that poor fellow who +stands with his hands ready--all he has got in the wide world--only +his hands--no trade, no craft, no skill--will give you a good day's +work if you engage him; he will not steal things; he will drink more +than he should with the money you give him; he will knock his wife +down if she angers him; but he is not a criminal. That step has yet to +be taken; he will not take it; but his children may, and unless they +are prevented they certainly will. For the London-born child very soon +learns the meaning of the Easy Way and the Primrose Path. We have to +do with the people ignorant, drunken, helpless, always at the point of +destitution, their whole thoughts as much concentrated upon the +difficulty of the daily bread as ever were those of their ancestor who +roamed about the Middlesex Forest and hunted the bear with a club, and +shot the wild goose with a flint-headed arrow. + +First there is the Church work; that is to say, the various agencies +and machinery directed by the Vicar. It may be new to some readers, +especially to Americans, to learn how much of the time and thoughts of +our Anglican beneficed clergymen are wanted for things not directly +religious. The church, a plain and unpretending edifice, built in the +year 1838, is served by the Vicar and two curates. There are daily +services, and on Sundays an early celebration. The average attendance +at the Sunday morning mid-day service is about one hundred; in the +evening it is generally double that number. They are all adults. For +the children another service is held in the Mission Room, The average +attendance at the Sunday-schools and Bible-classes is about three +hundred and fifty, and would be more if the Vicar had a larger staff +of teachers, of whom, however, there are forty-two. The whole number +of men and women engaged in organized work connected with the Church +is about one hundred and twenty-six. Some of them are ladies from the +other end of London, but most belong to the parish itself; in the +choir, for instance, are found a barber, a postman, a caretaker, and +one or two small shopkeepers, all living in the parish, When we +remember that Ratcliff is not what is called a 'show' parish, that the +newspapers never talk about it, and that rich people never hear of it, +this indicates a very considerable support to Church work. + +In addition to the church proper there is the 'Mission Chapel,' where +other services are held. One day in the week there is a sale of +clothes at very low prices. They are sold rather than given, because +if the women have paid a few pence for them they are less willing to +pawn them than if they had received them for nothing. In the Mission +Chapel are held classes for young girls and services for children. + +The churchyard, like so many of the London churchyards, has been +converted into a recreation ground, where there are trees and +flower-beds, and benches for old and young. + +Outside the Church, but yet connected with it, there is, first, the +Girls' Club. The girls of Ratcliff are all working-girls; as might be +expected, a rough and wild company, as untrained as colts, yet open to +kindly and considerate treatment. Their first yearning is for finery; +give them a high hat with a flaring ostrich feather, a plush jacket, +and a 'fringe,' and they are happy. There are seventy-five of these +girls; they use their club every evening, and they have various +classes, though it cannot be said that they are desirous of learning +anything. Needlework, especially, they dislike; they dance, sing, have +musical drill, and read a little. Five ladies who work for the church +and for the club live in the club-house, and other ladies come to lend +assistance. When we consider what the homes and the companions of +these girls are, what kind of men will be their husbands, and that +they are to become mothers of the next generation, it seems as if one +could not possibly attempt a more useful achievement than their +civilization. Above all, this club stands in the way of the greatest +curse of East London--the boy and girl marriage. For the elder women +there are Mothers' Meetings, at which two hundred attend every week; +and there are branches of the Societies for Nursing and Helping +Married Women. For general purposes there is a Parish Sick and +Distress Fund; a fund for giving dinners to poor children; there is a +frequent distribution of fruit, vegetables, and flowers, sent up by +people from the country. And for the children there is a large room +which they can use as a play-room from four o'clock till half-past +seven. Here they are at least warm; were it not for this room they +would have to run about the cold streets; here they have games and +pictures and toys. In connection with the work for the girls, help is +given by the Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants, +which takes charge of a good many of the girls. + +For the men there is one of the institutions called a Tee-To-Tum Club, +which has a grand cafe open to everybody all day long; the members +manage the club themselves; they have a concert once a week, a +dramatic performance once a week, a gymnastic display once a week; on +Sunday they have a lecture or an address, with a discussion after it; +and they have smaller clubs attached for football, cricket, rowing, +and swimming. + +For the younger lads there is another club, of one hundred and sixty +members; they also have their gymnasium, their football, cricket, and +swimming clubs; their classes for carpentry, wood-carving, singing, +and shorthand; their savings' bank, their sick club, and their +library. + +Only the better class of lads belong to this club. But there is a +lower set, those who lounge about the streets at night, and take to +gambling and betting. For these boys the children's play-room is +opened in the evening; here they read, talk, box, and play bagstelle, +draughts, and dominoes, These lads are as rough as can be found, yet +on the whole they give very little trouble. + +Another important institution is the Country Holiday; this is +accomplished by saving. It means, while it lasts, an expenditure of +five shillings a week; sometimes the lads are taken to the seaside and +live in a barn; sometimes the girls are sent to a village and placed +about in cottages. A great number of the girls and lads go off every +year a-hopping in Kent. + +Add to these the temperance societies, and we seem to complete the +organized work of the Church. It must, however, be remembered that +this work is not confined to those who attend the services or are +Anglican in name. The clergy and the ladies who help them go about the +whole parish from house to house; they know all the people in every +house, to whatever creed they belong; their visits are looked for as a +kind of right; they are not insulted even by the roughest; they are +trusted by all; as they go along the streets the children run after +them and hang upon their dress; if a strange man is walking with one +of these ladies, they catch at his hands and pull at his +coat-tails--we judge of a man, you see, by his companions. All this +machinery seems costly. It is, of course, far beyond the slender +resources of the parish. It demands, however, no more than L850 a +year, of which L310 is found by different societies and the sum of +L540 has to be raised somehow. + +There are, it has been stated, no more than seven thousand people in +this parish, of whom nearly half belong to the Church of Rome. It +would therefore almost seem as if every man, woman, and child in the +place must be brought under the influence of all this work. In a sense +all the people do feel the influence of the Church, whether they are +Anglicans or not. The parish system, as you have seen, provides +everything; for the men, clubs; for the women, nursing in sickness, +friendly counsel always, help in trouble; the girls are brought +together and kept out of mischief and encouraged in self-respect by +ladies who understand what they want and how they look at things, the +grown lads are taken from the streets, and, with the younger boys, are +taught arts and crafts, and are trained in manly exercises just as if +they were boys of Eton and Harrow. The Church services, which used to +be everything, are now only a part of the parish work. The clergy are +at once servants of the altar, preachers, teachers, almoners, leaders +in all kinds of societies and clubs, and providers of amusements and +recreation. The people look on, hold out their hands, receive, at +first indifferently--but presently, one by one, awaken to a new sense. +As they receive they cannot choose but to discover that these ladies +have given up their luxurious homes and the life of ease in order to +work among them. They also discover that these young gentlemen who +'run' the dubs, teach the boys gymnastics, boxing, drawing, carving, +and the rest, give up for this all their evenings--the flower of the +day in the flower of life. What for? What do they get for it? Not in +this parish only, but in every parish the same kind of thing goes on +and spreads daily. This--observe--is the last step _but one_ of +charity. For the progress of charity is as follows: First, there is +the pitiful dole to the beggar; then the bequest to monk and +monastery; then the founding of the almshouse and the parish charity; +then the Easter and the Christmas offerings; then the gift to the +almoner; then the cheque to a society; next--latest and best--personal +service among the poor. This is both flower and fruit of charity. One +thing only remains. And before long this thing also shall come to pass +as well. + +Those who live in the dens and witness these things done daily must be +stocks and stones if they were not moved by them. They are not stocks +and stones; they are actually, though slowly, moved by them; the old +hatred of the Church--you may find it expressed in the working man's +papers of fifty years ago--is dying out rapidly in our great towns; +the brawling is better, even the drinking is diminishing. And there is +another--perhaps an unexpected--result. Not only are the poor turning +to the Church which befriends them, the Church which they used to +deride, but the clergy are turning to the poor; there are many for +whom the condition of the people is above all other earthly +considerations. If that great conflict--long predicted--of capital and +labour ever takes place, it is safe to prophecy that the Church will +not desert the poor. + +Apart from the Church what machinery is at work? First, because there +are so many Catholics in the place, one must think of them. It is, +however, difficult to ascertain the Catholic agencies at work among +these people. The people are told that they must go to mass; Roman +Catholic sisters give dinners to children; there is the Roman League +of the Cross--a temperance association; I think that the Catholics are +in great measure left to the charities of the Anglicans, so long as +these do not try to convert the Romans. + +The Salvation Army people attempt nothing--absolutely nothing in this +parish. There are at present neither Baptist, nor Wesleyan, nor +Independent chapels in the place. A few years ago, on the appearance +of the book called the 'Bitter Cry of Outcast London,' an attempt was +made by the last-named body; they found an old chapel belonging to the +Congregationalists, with an endowment of L80 a year, which they turned +into a mission-hall, and carried on with spirit for two years mission +work in the place; they soon obtained large funds, which they seem to +have lavished with more zeal than discretion. Presently their money +was all gone and they could get no more; then the chapel was turned +into a night-shelter. Next It was burned to the ground. It is now +rebuilt and is again a night-shelter. There is, however, an historic +monument in the parish with which remains a survival of former +activity. It is a Quaker meeting-house which dates back to 1667. It +stands within its walls, quiet and decorous; there are the chapel, the +ante-room, and the burial-ground. The congregation still meet, reduced +to fifty; they still hold their Sunday-school; and not far off one of +the fraternity carries on a Creche which takes care of seventy or +eighty babies, and is blessed every day by as many mothers. + +Considering all these agencies--how they are at work day after day, +never resting, never ceasing, never relaxing their hold, always +compelling the people more and more within the circle of their +influence; how they incline the hearts of the children to better +things and show them how to win these better things--one wonders that +the whole parish is not already clad in white robes and sitting with +harp and crown. On the other hand, walking down London Street, +Ratcliff, looking at the foul houses, hearing the foul language, +seeing the poor women with black eyes, watching the multitudinous +children in the mud, one wonders whether even these agencies are +enough to stem the tide and to prevent this mass of people from +falling lower and lower still into the hell of savagery. This parish +is one of the poorest in London; it is one of the least known; it is +one of the least visited. Explorers of slums seldom come here; it is +not fashionably miserable. Yet all these fine things are done here, +and as in this parish so in every other. It is continually stated as a +mere commonplace--one may see the thing advanced everywhere, in +'thoughtful' papers, in leading articles--that the Church of Rome +alone can produce its self-sacrificing martyrs, its lives of pure +devotion. Then what of these parish-workers of the Church of England? +What of that young physician who worked himself to death for the +children? What of the young men--not one here and there but in +dozens--who give up all that young men mostly love for the sake of +laborious nights among rough and rude lads? What of the gentlewomen +who pass long years--give up their youth, their beauty, and their +strength--among girls and women whose language is at first like a blow +to them? What of the clergy themselves, always, all day long, living +in the midst of the very poor--hardly paid, always giving out of their +poverty, forgotten in their obscurity, far from any chance of +promotion, too hard-worked to read or study, dropped out of all the +old scholarly circles? Nay, my brothers, we cannot allow to the Church +of Rome all the unselfish men and women. Father Damien is one of us as +well. I have met him--I know him by sight--he lives and has long +lived, in Riverside London. + + + + + +ST. KATHERINE'S BY THE TOWER + + + +On the 30th day of October, in the year of grace one thousand eight +hundred and twenty-five, there was gathered together a congregation to +assist at the mournfullest service ever heard in any church. The place +was the Precinct of St. Katherine's, the church was that known as St. +Katherine's by the Tower--the most ancient and venerable church in the +whole of East London--a city which now has but two ancient churches +left, those of Bow and of Stepney, without counting the old tower of +Hackney. + +Suppose it was advertised that the last and the farewell service, +before the demolition of the Abbey, would be held at Westminster on a +certain day; that after the service the old church would be pulled +down; that some of the monuments would be removed, the rest destroyed; +that the bones of the illustrious dead would be carted away and +scattered, and that the site would be occupied by warehouses used for +commercial purposes. One can picture the frantic rage and despair with +which the news would everywhere be received; one can imagine the +stirring of the hearts of all those who to every part of the world +inherit the Anglo-Saxon speech, one can hear the sobbing and the +wailing which accompany the last anthem, the last sermon, the last +prayer. + +St. Katherine's by the Tower was the Abbey of East London, poor and +small, certainly, compared with the Cathedral church of the City and +the Abbey of the West; but stately and ancient; endowed by half a +dozen Sovereigns; consecrated by the memory of seven hundred years, +filled with the monuments of great men and small men buried within her +walls; standing in her own Precinct; with her own Courts, Spiritual +and Temporal; with her own judges and officers; surrounded by the +claustral buildings belonging to Master, Brethren, Sisters, and +Bedeswomen. The church and the hospital had long survived the +intentions of the founders; yet as they stood, so situated, so +ancient, so venerable, amid a dense population of rough sailors and +sailor folk, with such enormous possibilities for good and useful +work, sacred and secular, one is lost in wonder that the consent of +Parliament, even for purposes of gain, could be obtained for their +destruction. Yet St. Katherine's was destroyed. When the voice of the +preacher died away, the destroyers began their work. They pulled down +the church; they hacked up the monuments, and dug up the bones; they +destroyed the Master's house, and cut down the trees in his quiet +orchard; they pulled down the Brothers' houses round the little +ancient square; they pulled down the row of Sisters' houses and the +Bedeswomen's houses; they swept the people out of the Precinct, and +destroyed the streets; they pulled down the Courts, Spiritual and +Temporal, and opened the doors of the prison; they grubbed up the +burying ground, and with the bones and the dust of the dead, and the +rubbish of the foundations, they filled up the old reservoir of the +Chelsea water-works, and enabled Mr. + +Cubitt to build Eccleston Square. When all was gone they let the water +into the big hole they had made, and called it St. Katherine's Dock. +All this done, they became aware of certain prickings of conscience. +They had utterly demolished and swept away and destroyed a thing which +could never be replaced; they were fain to do something to appease +those prickings. They therefore stuck up a new chapel, which the +architect called Gothic, with six neat houses in two rows, and a large +house with a garden in Regent's Park, and this they called St. +Katherine's, 'Sirs,' they said, 'it is not true that we have destroyed +that ancient foundation at all; we have only removed it to another +place. Behold your St. Katherine's!' Of course it is nothing of the +kind. It is not St. Katherine's. It is a sham, a house of Shams and +Shadows. + +Thus was St. Katherine's destroyed; not for the needs of the City, +because it is not clear that the new docks were wanted, or that there +was no other place for them, but in sheer inability to understand what +the place meant as to the past, and what it might be made to do in the +future. The story of the Hospital has been often told: partly, as by +Ducarel and by Lysons, for the historical interest; partly, as by Mr. +Simcox Lea, in protest against the present we of its revenues. It is +with the latter object, though I disagree altogether with Mr. Lea's +conclusions, that I ask leave to tell the story once more. The story +will have to be told, perhaps, again and again, until people can be +made to understand the uselessness and the waste and the foolishness +of the present establishment in the Park, which has assumed and bears +the style and title of St. Katherine's Hospital by the Tower. + +The beginning of the Hospital dates seven hundred and forty years +back, when Matilda, Stephen's Queen, founded it for the purpose of +having masses said for the repose of her two children, Baldwin and +Matilda, She ordered that the Hospital should consist of a Master, +Brothers, Sisters, and certain poor persons--probably the same as in +the later foundation. She appointed the Prior and Canons of Holy +Trinity to have perpetual custody of the Hospital; and she reserved to +herself and all succeeding Queens of England the nomination, of the +Master. Her grant was approved by the King, the Archbishop of +Canterbury, and the Pope. Shortly afterwards William of Ypres bestowed +the land of Edredeshede, afterwards called Queenhythe, on the Priory +of Holy Trinity, subject to an annual payment of L20 to the Hospital +of Katherine's by the Tower. + +This was the original foundation. It was not a Charity; it was a +Religious House with a definite duty--to pray for the souls of two +children; it had no other charitable objects than belong to any +religious foundation--viz., the giving of alms to the poor, nor was it +intended as a church for the people; in those days there were no +people outside the Tower, save the inhabitants of a few scattered +cottages along the river Wall, and the farmhouses of Steban Heath. It +was simply founded for the benefit of two little princes' souls. One +refrains from asking what was done for the little paupers' souls in +those days. + +The Prior and Canons of Holy Trinity without Aldgate continued to +exercise some authority over the Hospital, but apparently--the subject +only interests the ecclesiastical historian--against the protests and +grumblings of the St. Katherine's Society. It was, however, formally +handed over to them, a hundred and forty years later, by Henry the +Third. After his death, Queen Eleanor, for some reason, now dimly +intelligible, wanted to get the Hospital into her own hands. The +Bishop of London took it away from the Priory and transferred it to +her. Then, perhaps with the view of preventing any subsequent claim by +the Priory, she declared the Hospital dissolved. + +Here ends the first chapter in the history of the Hospital. The +foundation for the souls of the two princes existed no longer--the +children, no doubt, having been long since sung out of Purgatory. +Queen Eleanor, however, immediately refounded it. The Hospital was, as +before, to consist of a Master, three Brothers, three Sisters, and +bedeswomen. It was also provided that six poor scholars were to be fed +and clothed--not educated, The Queen further provided that on November +the 16th of every year twelve pence each should be given to the poor +scholars, and the same amount to twenty-four poor persons; and that on +November the 20th, the anniversary of the King's death, one thousand +poor men should receive one halfpenny each. Here is the first +introduction of a charity. The Hospital is no longer an ecclesiastical +foundation only; it maintains scholars and gives substantial alms. Who +received these alms? Of course the people in the neighbourhood--if +there were no inhabitants in the Precinct, the poor of Portsoken Ward. +In either case the charity would be local--a point of the greatest +importance. Queen Eleanor also continued her predecessor's rule that +the patronage of the Hospital should remain in the hands of the Queens +of England for ever; when there was no Queen, then in the hands of the +Queen Dowager; failing in her, in those of the King. This rule still +obtains. The Queen appoints the Master, Brothers, and Sisters of the +House of Shams in Regent's Park, just as her predecessors appointed +those of St. Katherine's by the Tower. + +Queen Eleanor was followed by other royal benefactors. Edward the +Second, for example, gave the Hospital the rectory of St. Peter's in +Northampton. Queen Philippa, who, like Eleanor, regarded the place +with especial affection, endowed it with the manor of Upchurch in +Kent, and that of Queenbury in Hertfordshire. She also founded a +chantry with L10 a year for a chaplain. Edward the Third founded +another chantry in honour of Philippa, with a charge of L10 a year +upon the Hanaper Office; he also conferred upon it the right of +cutting wood for fuel in the Forest of Essex. Richard the Second gave +it the manor of Reshyndene in Sheppy, and 120 acres of land in +Minster. Henry the Sixth gave it the manors of Chesingbury in +Wiltshire, and Quasley in Hants; he also granted a charter, with the +privilege of holding a fair. Lastly, Henry the Eighth founded, in +connection with St. Katherine's by the Tower, the Guild of St. +Barbara, consisting of a Master, three Wardens, and a great number of +members, among whom were Cardinal Wolsey, the Duke and Duchess of +Norfolk, the Duke and Duchess of Buckingham, the Earl and Countess of +Shrewsbury, and the Earl and Countess of Northumberland, with other +great and illustrious persons. + +This is a goodly list of benefactors. It is evident that St. +Katherine's was a foundation regarded by the Kings and Queens of +England with great favour. Other benefactors it had, notably John +Holland, Duke of Exeter, Lord High Admiral and Constable of the Tower, +himself of royal descent. He was buried in the church, with his two +wives, and bequeathed to the Hospital the manor of Much Gaddesden. He +also gave it a cup of beryl, garnished with gold, pearls, and precious +stones, and a chalice of gold for the celebration of the Holy +Sacrament. + +In the year 1546 all the lands belonging to the Hospital were +transferred to the Crown. + +At this time the whole revenue of the Hospital was L364 12s. 6d., and +the expenditure was L210 6s. 5d.; the difference being the value of +the mastership. The Master at the dissolution was Gilbert Lathom, a +priest, and the brothers were five in number--namely, the original +three, and the two priests for the chantries. Four of the five had +'for his stipend, mete, and drynke, by yere,' the sum of L8, which is +fivepence farthing a day; the other had L9, which is sixpence a day. +It would be interesting, by comparison of prices, to ascertain how +much could be purchased with sixpence a day. The three Sisters had +also L8 year, and the Bedeswomen had each two pounds five shillings +and sixpence a year. There were six scholars at L4 a year each for +'their mete, drynke, clothes, and other necessaries'; and there were +four servants, a steward, a butler, a cook, and an under-cook, who +cost L5 a year each. There were two gardens and a yard or +court--namely, the square, bounded by the houses of the Brothers, and +the church. + +This marks the closing of the second chapter in the history of the +Hospital. With the cessation of saying masses for the dead its +religious character expired. There remained only the services in the +church for the inhabitants of the Precinct in the time of Henry VIII. + +The only use of the Hospital was now as a charity. Fortunately, the +place was not, like the Priory of the Holy Trinity, granted to a +courtier, otherwise it would have been swept away just as that Priory, +or that of Elsing's Spital, was swept away. It continued after a while +to carry on its existence, but with changes. It was secularized. The +Masters for a hundred and fifty years, not counting the interval of +Queen Mary's reign, were laymen. The Brothers were generally laymen. +The first Master of the third period was Sir Thomas Seymour; he was +succeeded by Sir Francis Flemyng, Lieutenant General of the King's +Ordnance. Flemyng was deprived by Queen Mary, who appointed one +Francis Mallet, a priest, in his place. Queen Elizabeth dispossessed +Malet, and appointed Thomas Wilson, a layman and a Doctor at Laws. +During his mastership there were no Brothers, and only a few Sisters +or Bedeswomen. The Hospital then became a rich sinecure. Among the +Masters were Sir Julius Caesar, Master of the Rolls; Sir Robert Acton; +Dr. Coxe; three Montague brothers, Walter, Henry, and George; Lord +Brownker; the Earl of Feversham; Sir Henry Newton, Judge of the High +Court of Admiralty; the Hon. George Berkeley; and Sir James Butler. +The Brothers had been re-established--their names are enumerated by +Ducarel--one or two of them were clerks in orders, but all the rest +were laymen. They still received the old stipend of L8 a year, with a +small house. As for the rest of the greatly increased income it went +to the Master after the manner common to all the old charities. During +the latter half of the sixteenth and the whole of the seventeenth +century St. Katherine's by the Tower consisted of a beautiful old +church standing with its buildings clustered round it--a Master's +house, rich in carved and ancient wood-work, with its gardens and +orchards; its houses for the Brothers, Sisters, and Bedeswomen, each +of whom continued to receive the same salary as that ordained by Queen +Eleanor. Service was held in the church for the inhabitants of the +Precinct, but the Hospital was wholly secular. The Master devoured by +far the greater part of the revenue, and the alms-people--Brothers, +Sisters, and Bedeswomen--had no duties to perform of any kind. + +In the year 1698 this, the third chapter in the life of the Hospital, +was closed. The Lord Chancellor, Lord Somers, held in that year a +Visitation of the Hospital, the result of which is interesting, +because it shows, first, a lingering of the old ecclesiastical +traditions, and, next, the sense that something useful ought to be +done with the income of the Hospital. It was therefore ordered in the +new regulations provided by the Chancellor that the Brothers should be +in Holy Orders, and that a school of thirty-five boys and fifteen +girls should be maintained by the Hospital. It does not appear that +any duties were expected of the Brothers. Like the Fellows of colleges +at Oxford and Cambridge, they were all to be in priests' orders, and +for exactly the same reason, because at the original foundations of +the colleges, as well as of the Hospital, the Fellows were all +priests. As for the Master, he remained a layman. This new order of +things, therefore, raised the position of the Brothers, and gave a new +dignity to the Hospital; further, the School as well as the Bedeswomen +defined its position as a charity. It still fell far, very far, short +of what it might have done, but it was not between the years 1698 and +1825 quite so useless as it had been. A plan of the Precinct, with +drawings of the church, within and without, and of the monuments in +the church, may be found in Lysons. The obscurity of the Hospital, and +the neglect into which it fell during the last century, are shown by +the small attention paid to it in the books on London of the last +century, and the early years of the present century. Thus, in +Harrison's 'History of London,' though nearly every church in the City +and its immediate suburbs is figured, St. Katherine's is not drawn. In +Strype (edition 1720) there is no drawing of St. Katherine's; in +Dodsley's 'London,' 1761, it is described but not figured; and +Wilkinson, in his 'Londina Illustrata,' passes it over entirely. The +Hospital buildings consisted of a square, of which the north side was +occupied by the Master's house, with a large garden behind, and the +Master's orchard between his garden and the river; on the east and +west sides were the Brothers' houses; and on the south side of the +square was the church and the chapter-house. On the east of the church +was the burying-ground. South of the church was the Sisters' close, +with the houses occupied by the Sisters and the Bedeswomen. The old +Brothers' houses were taken down and rebuilt about the year 1755, and +the Master's house, an ancient building, full of carved timber-work, +had also been taken down, so that in the year 1825, when the Hospital +was finally destroyed, the only venerable building standing in the +Precinct was the church itself. To look at the drawings of this old +church and to think of the loving care with which it would have been +treated had it been allowed to stand till this day, and then to +consider the 'Gothic' edifice in Regent's Park, is indeed saddening. +The church consisted of the nave and chancel with two aisles, built by +Bishop Beckington, formerly the Master. The east window, 30 feet high +and 25 feet wide, had once been most beautiful when its windows were +stained. The tracery was still fine; a St. Katherine's wheel occupied +the highest part, and beneath it was a rose; but none of the windows +had preserved their painted glass, so that the general effect of the +interior must have been cold. The carved wood of the stalls and the +great pulpit, presented by Sir Julius Caesar, may still be seen in the +Regent's Park Chapel, where are also some of the monuments. Of these +the church was full. The finest (now in Regent's Park) was that of +John Holland, Duke of Exeter, and his two wives. There was one of the +Hon. George Montague, Master of the Hospital, who died in the year +1681; and there was the monument with kneeling figures of one Cutting +and his wife, with his coat of arms. The seats of the stalls are +curiously carved, as is so often found, with grotesque figures--human +birds, monkeys, lions, boys riding hogs, angels playing bagpipes, +beasts with human heads, pelicans feeding their young, and the devil +with hoof and horns carrying off a brace of souls. There was more than +the customary wealth epitaphs. Thus, on the tablet to the memory of +the daughter of one of the Brothers was written: + + 'Thus we by want, more than by having, learn + The worth of things in which we claim concern.' + +On that of William Cutting, a benefactor to Gonville and Caius, +Cambridge, is written: + + 'Not dead, if good deedes could keep men alive, + Nor all dead since good deedes do men revive. + Gunville and Kaies his good deedes maie record, + And will (no doubt) him praise therefor afford.' + +On the tablet of Charles Stamford, clergyman: + + 'Mille modis morimur mortaies, nascimur uno: + Sunt hominum morbi milie sed una salus.' + +And to the memory of Robert Beadles, free-mason, one of His Majesty's +gunners of the Tower, who died in the year 1683: + + 'He now rests quiet, in his grave secure; + Where still the noise of guns he can endure; + His martial soul is doubtless now at rest, + Who in his lifetime was so oft oppressed + With care and fears, and strange cross acts of late, + But now is happy and in glorious state. + The blustering storm of life with him is o'er, + And he is landed on that happy shore + Where 'tis that he can hope and fear no more.' + +There they lay buried, the good people of St. Katherine's Precinct. +They were of all trades, but chiefly belonged to those who go down to +the sea in ships. On the list of names are those of half a dozen +captains, one of them captain of H.M.S. _Monmouth_, who died in the +year 1706, aged 31 years; there are the names of Lieutenants; there +are those of sailmakers and gunners; there is a sergeant of Admiralty, +a moneyer of the Tower, a weaver, a citizen and stationer, a Dutchman +who fell overboard and was drowned, a surveyor and collector--all the +trades and callings that would gather together in this little +riverside district separated and cut off from the rest of London. +Among the people who lived here were the descendants of them who came +away with the English on the taking of Calais, Guisnes, and Hames. +They settled in a street called Hames and Guisnes Lane, corrupted into +Hangman's Gains. A census taken in the reign of Queen Elizabeth showed +that of those resident in the Precinct, 328 were Dutch, 8 were Danes, +5 were Polanders, 69 Were French--all hat-makers--2 Spanish, 1 +Italian, and 12 Scotch. Verstegan, the antiquary, was born here, and +here lived Raymond Lully. During the last century the Precinct cane to +be inhabited almost entirely by sailors, belonging to every nation and +every religion under the sun. + +This was the place which it was permitted to certain promoters of a +Dock Company to destroy utterly. A place with a history of seven +hundred years, which might, had its ecclesiastical character been +preserved and developed, have been converted into a cathedral for East +London; or, if its secular character had been maintained, might have +become a noble centre of all kinds of useful work for the great +chaotic city of East London. They suffered it to be destroyed. It has +been destroyed for sixty years. As for calling the place in Regent's +Park St. Katherine's Hospital, that, I repeat, is absurd. There is no +longer a St. Katherine's Hospital. As well call the garish new +building on the embankment Sion College. That is not, indeed, Sion +College. The London Clergy, who, of all people, might have been +expected to guard the monuments of the past, have sold Sion College +for what it would fetch. The site of the Cripplegate nunnery; of +Elsing's Spital for blind men; of Sion College, or Clergy House, has +been destroyed by its own trustees. The sweet old place, the +peacefullest spot in the whole city, with its long low library, its +Bedesmen's rooms, and its quiet reading room, is gone. You might just +as well destroy Trinity College, Cambridge, and then stick up a modern +wing to Somerset House, and call that Trinity. In the same way St. +Katherine's by the Tower was destroyed sixty years ago. + +Let me repeat that the Hospital suffered four changes. + +First, it was founded by Queen Matilda, for the repose of her +children's souls. Next, it was dissolved and again founded, and +subsequently endowed as a Religious House with chantries, certain +definite duties of masses for the dead, certain charitable trusts, and +other functions. Thirdly, when the Mass ceased to be said it was +secularized completely. Service was held in the church, but the +Hospital became a perfectly secular charity, supporting a few +almspeople with niggard hand, and a Master in great splendour. +Fourthly, it was again treated as a semi-ecclesiastical foundation, +for reasons which do not appear. At the same time, while its charities +were enlarged, no duties were assigned to the Brothers, who seem to +have been considered as Fellows, forming the Society, and, therefore, +like the Fellows at Oxford and Cambridge, obliged to be in Holy +Orders. Lastly, as we have seen, it was destroyed. + +After the Hospital had been destroyed, a scheme for the management of +the revenues was suggested to Lord Elden, then Lord Chancellor, and +afterwards approved by Lord Lyndhurst. The question before the +Chancellor was, one would think, the following: 'Here is an annual +revenue of L5,000 and more, released by the destruction of the +Hospital. How can it be best applied for the general good or for the +benefit of the crowded city around the site of the old Hospital?' +That, however, was not the view of the Lord Chancellor. He said, +practically: + +'Here is a large property which has hitherto been devoted to the use +of maintaining in idleness, and not as a reward or pension for good +work done, a Master, three Brothers, three Sisters, and ten poor +women. The ecclesiastical purposes for which the property was +originally got together have long since utterly vanished. The church +in which service used to be held is abolished, and the place where it +stood is turned into a dock. We will build a new church where none is +wanted, we will perpetuate the waste of all this money; the stipends +of the Brothers and Sisters shall be raised; to the Brothers shall be +assigned, nominally, the service in the chapel, but they shall have a +chaplain or reader, to prevent this duty from becoming onerous; the +Sisters shall have nothing at all to do; the Bedeswomen shall be +deprived of their houses and shall receive no advance in their pay, +but they shall be doubled in number. Twenty Bedesmen shall also be +added with the same pay, viz., L10 a year, or 4s. a week.[NOTE: Note +that in 1545 each Bedeswomen received 10d, a week, and each Sister +3s., so that the proportion of Bedeswoman's pay to Sister's pay was +then as 1:3'6. But Lord Lyndhurst takes away the houses from the poor +women and gives them no more pay, so that, without _counting the loss +of their houses_, the Bedeswoman's pay under Victoria is to the +Sister's pay as 1:19. The Victorian Bedeswoman was therefore +relatively reduced in proportion to the Sister six-fold compared with +her Tudor predecessor.] The Master shall have a beautiful house with a +garden, conservancy, stabling for seven horses, and L1,200 a year, +besides comfortable perquisites. He shall have no duties except the +presidency of the chapter. And in order that the thing may not seem +perfectly and profoundly ridiculous there shall be a school of +twenty-four boys and twelve girls.' + +This was the solution proposed and adopted by two eminent Chancellors, +and carried into effect for thirty years. During the years 1858-1863 +the average revenue was L7,460 8s. 2-3/4d. Of this sum the Master, +Brethren, and Sisters absorbed with their buildings L4,102 8s. +2-3/4d.; the management expenses Were L909 5s. 6d.; the chapel cost +L211 17s. 11d., sundries amounted to L141 6s. 10-3/4 d.; and the +useful portion of the expenditure was represented by the sum of L554 +9s. 7-1/2 d. Absolute uselessness--for the chapel was by no means +wanted--is represented by L6,904, and usefulness by L554--a proportion +of very nearly 12-1/2:1. + +Yet another opportunity occurred of dealing rationally with this large +property. + +In the year 1871 a Royal Commission was appointed to examine 'into +several matters relative to the Royal Hospital of St. Katherine near +the Tower.' The question might again have been raised how best to +apply the large revenues for the general good. The Commissioners had +before them quite clearly the way in which the seven thousand and odd +pounds a year was being spent; they could arrive as easily as +ourselves at the proportion above set forth, viz.: + + Waste : usefulness :: 12-1/2 : 1. + +They threw away this opportunity; they could not tear away the +ecclesiastical rags with which the new foundation of 1827--the mock +St. Katherine's--has been wrapped in imitation of the old. In an age +when the universities have been secularized, when the Fellows of +colleges are no longer required to be in Orders, when every useless +old charity is being reformed, and every endowment reconsidered with a +view to making it useful to the living as, under former conditions, it +was to the dead, they actually proposed to increase the uselessness +and the waste by adding a fourth Brother (which has not been done), +and raising the stipends of Brothers and Sisters. They also +recommended the establishment of an upper school, with 'foundation +boarders.' Considering that the upper and middle classes have already +appropriated to their own use almost every educational endowment in +the country, this proposition seems too ridiculous. The whole Report +is indeed a marvellous illustration of the tenacity of old prejudices. +Yet it did one good thing; it recommended that the accounts of the +Hospital should be submitted every year to the Charity Commissioners, +thus distinctly recognising the fact that the new foundation is not an +ecclesiastical institution, but a charity. + +The Report mentions several propositions which had been laid before +the Commissioners during their inquiry for the application of the +revenues. The Committee of the Adult Orphan Institution thought that +they should like to administer the funds; the Rector of St. +George's-in-the-East thought that he should very much like to use them +for the purpose of converting that parish into 'a collegiate church, +under a dean and canons, who, with a sisterhood, might devote +themselves to the spiritual benefit, etc.'; others suggested that a +missionary collegiate church should be established 'as a centre of +missionary work for the East of London, with model schools, refuges, +reformatories, etc., conducted by the clergy.' Others, again, pleaded +for the use of the money in aid of the crowded parishes near the +Precinct. + +The Commissioners were of a different opinion. The Hospital, they +said, never had a local character. This is the most startling +statement that ever issued from the mouth of a Lord Chancellor. Not a +local character? Then for whom were the services of the church held? +Where were the Bedeswomen found? Where the poor scholars? Where did +the church stand? Who got the doles? Not a local character? We might +as well contend, for example, that Rochester Cathedral and Close and +School have no local character; that Portsmouth Dockyard has no local +character; that Westminster School has no local character. St. +Katherine's Hospital belonged to its Precinct, where it had stood for +some hundred years. As well pretend that the Tower itself has no local +character. The 'local character' of St. Katherine's grew year by year: +the founder thought only to make a bridge for her children from +purgatory to heaven by the harmonious voices of the Master, the +Brothers, and the Sisters; but purpose widens. Presently purgatory +disappears, and the whole ecclesiastical part of the foundation, +except service in the church, vanishes with it. There remain, however, +the revenues, and these belong, if any revenues could, to the +locality. + +In the year 1863 the proportion of waste to profit was as 12-1/2:1. +Has this proportion in the quarter of a century which has elapsed +increased or has it decreased? + +From time to time, as we have seen, the question forces itself upon +men's minds--whether this revenue could not be administered to better +advantage. Lord Somers encounters the difficulty in the year 1698; +Lord Lyndhurst in 1829; Lord Hatherley in 1871. I suppose that even a +Lord Chancellor does not claim infallible wisdom. Therefore I venture +to insist upon the facts that the Reformation destroyed the Religious +House of St. Katherine; that the changes made by Lord Somers only made +the old Hospital useless; and that the Royal Commission of the year +1871 confirmed, in the new foundation, the later uselessness of the +old. The House of Shams and Shadows in Regent's Park is not the old +St. Katherine's at all; that is dead and done with; it is a fungus +which sprang up yesterday, which is not wholesome for human food, and +uses up, for no good purpose, the soil in which it grows. + +Yet, because one would not be charged with unfairness, what does the +Rev. Simcox Lea, in his history of St. Katherine's Hospital (Longmans, +1878), say? + +'St. Katherine's Hospital is an Ecclesiastical Corporation, returned +as a "Promotion Spiritual" in the reign of Henry VIII., and so +acknowledged by law in the reign of Charles I. It takes its place as a +Collegiate Church with Westminster and Windsor. The Clerical Head of +its Chapter, the Master of the Hospital, will be entitled, unless Her +Majesty shall see fit otherwise to direct, to the style of Very +Reverend and the rank of Dean. The Brothers have the status and +dignity of Canons Residentiary, and through the Sisters of the Chapter +the parallel dignity of Canonesses is preserved, under another style, +to the English Church of our day. The Collegiate Chapter holds its +entire revenues subject to certain eleemosynary trusts embodied in its +original constitution, the ecclesiastical and the charitable charges +belonging alike to all the estates instead of being assigned +separately to different portions of them.... All these principles of +the constitution of St. Katherine's must be kept in view in any scheme +which it may be proposed to submit, or in any suggestions which may be +offered through the press, for the consideration of the Lord +Chancellor in reference to the advice which he may submit to the +Queen.... St. Katherine's Hospital is no more a "Charity" than +Westminster Abbey is a Charity, and to describe it as such, after the +true facts of the case are known, will leave any writer or speaker +open to the charge of discourtesy, directly offered to a capitular +body whose personal constitution is worthy of its high and ancient +corporate ecclesiastical dignity, and indirectly through the members +of the Chapter, to the Queen.' + +It will thus be seen that those of us who think that the place is a +Charity, and therefore call it one--including Lord Eldon and Lord +Lyndhurst, the Report of the Charity Commissioners in 1866, and Lord +Hatherley in 1871--are open to the charge of discourtesy. Well, let us +remain open to that charge; it does not kill. If it is not a Charity, +what is it? A place for getting the souls of rich men out of +purgatory? But the souls of rich men no longer in this country have +the privilege of being bought out of purgatory. Then what is it? A +place where seven well-born ladies and gentlemen are provided with +excellent houses and comfortable incomes--for doing what? Nothing. + +Let us, if we must, offer a compromise. Let the Master, Brothers, and +Sisters, now forming the Society of New St. Katherine's, remain in +Regent's Park. We will not disturb them. Let them enjoy their salaries +so long as they live. At their deaths let those who love shams and +pretences appoint other Brothers and Sisters who will have all the +dignity of the position without the houses or the salaries. We may +even go so far as to provide a chaplain for the service of the chapel, +if the good people of the Terraces would like those services to +continue. But as for the rest of the income one cannot choose but +ask--and, if the request be not granted, ask again, and again--that it +be restored to that part of London to which it belongs. One would not, +with the person who communicated with the Commissioners, insult East +London by founding a 'Missionary' College in its midst unless it be +allowed to have branches in Belgravia, Lincoln's Inn, the Temple, St. +John's Wood, South Kensington, and other parts of West London; we will +certainly not ask permission to turn St. George's-in-the-East into a +Collegiate Church with a Dean and Canons, 'and a sisterhood.' But one +must ask that the pretence and show of keeping up this ugly and +useless modern place as the ancient and venerable Hospital be +abandoned as soon as possible. That old Hospital is dead and +destroyed; its ecclesiastical existence had been dead long before, its +lands and houses and funds remain to be used for the benefit of the +living. + +Ten thousand pounds a year! This is a goodly estate. Think what ten +thousand pounds a year might do, well administered! Think of the +terrible and criminal waste in suffering all that money, which belongs +to East London, to be given away--year after year--in profitless alms +to ladies and gentlemen in return for no services rendered or even +pretended. Ten thousand pounds a year would run a magnificent school +of industrial education; it would teach thousands of lads and girls +how to use their heads and hands; it would be a perennial living +stream, changing the thirsty desert into flowery meads and fruitful +vineyards; it would save thousands of boys from the dreadful doom--a +thing of these latter days--of being able to learn no trade; it would +dignify thousands, and tens of thousands, of lives with the knowledge +and mastery of a craft; it would save from degradation and from +slavery thousands of women; it would restrain thousands of men from +the beery slums of drink and crime. Above all--perhaps this is the +main consideration--the judicious employment of ten thousand pounds a +year would be presently worth many millions a year to London from the +skilled labour it would cultivate and the many arts it would develop +and foster. + +It is a cruel thing--a most cruel thing--to destroy wantonly anything +that is venerable with age and associated with the memories of the +past. It was a horrible thing to destroy that old Hospital. But it is +gone. The house of Shams and Shadows in Regent's Park has got nothing +whatever to do with it. Its revenues did not make the old Hospital; +that was made up by its ancient church; by the old buildings clustered +round the church; by the old customs of the Precinct, with its Courts, +temporal and spiritual, its offices and its prison; by its +burial-grounds, with its Bedesmen and Bedeswomen, and by the rough +sailor population which dwelt in its narrow lanes and courts. How +_could_ that place be allowed to suffer destruction? But when the old +thing is gone we must cast about for the best uses of anything which +once belonged to it. And of all the uses to which the revenues of the +old Hospital might be put, the present seems the most unfit and the +least worthy. + +Again, if Queen Matilda in these days wished to do a good work, what +would she found? There are many purposes for which benevolent persons +bequeath and grant money. They are not the old purposes. They all +mean, nowadays, the advancement and bettering of the people. A great +lady spends thousands in founding a market; a man with much money +presents a free library to his native town; collections are made for +hospitals; everything is for the bettering of the people. We have not +yet advanced to the stage of bettering he rich people; but that will +come very shortly. In fact, the condition of the rich is already +exciting the gravest apprehensions among their poorer brethren. We can +trace, easily enough, the progress and growth of charity. It begins at +home, with anxiety for one's own soul first, and the souls of one's +children next. Charities give way to doles; doles are succeeded by +almshouses; these again by charity schools. The present generation has +begun to understand that the truest charity consists in throwing open +the doors to honest effort, and in helping those who help themselves. +Else what is the meaning of technical schools? What else mean the +classes at the People's Palace, the Polytechnic, the Evening +Recreation Schools, and the City of London Guilds Institute? + +I believe that a conviction of the new truer charity, and of the +futility of the old modes, is destined to sink deeper and deeper into +men's hearts, until our working classes will perhaps fall into the +extreme in unforgiving hardness towards those whom unthrift, +profligacy, idleness, have brought to want. But with this conviction +is growing up the absolute necessity of more technical schools and +better industrial training. We want to make our handicraftsmen better +than any foreigners. More than that, there are some who say that the +very existence of the United Kingdom as a Power depends upon our doing +this. Can we afford any longer to keep up, at a yearly loss of all the +power represented by ten thousand pounds a year, that house of Shams +and Shadows which we call by the name of the ancient and venerable +Hospital of St. Katherine's by the Tower? + + + + + +THE UPWARD PRESSURE: + + + +A PROPHETIC CHAPTER FROM THE 'HISTORY OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY' + + +The most striking part of the great Social Revolution which was +witnessed by the earlier years of the twentieth century was the event +which preceded that Revolution, made it possible, and moulded it; +namely, the Conquest of the Professions by the people. Happily it was +a Conquest achieved without exciting any active opposition; it +advanced unnoticed, step by step, and it was unsuspected, as regards +its real significance, until the end was inevitable and visible to +all. It is my purpose in this Chapter, first to show what was the +position of the mass of the nation before this event, as regards the +Professions; and next to relate briefly the successive events which +led to the Conquest, and so prepared the way for the abolition of all +that was then left of the old aristocratic regime. + +Speaking in general terms--the exceptions shall be noted +afterward--the Professions during the whole of the nineteenth century +were jealously barred and closed in and fenced round. Admission, in +theory, could only be obtained by young men of gentle birth and good +breeding. Not that there was any expressed rule to that effect. It was +not written over the gateway of Lincoln's Inn that none but gentlemen +were to be admitted, nor was it ever stated in any book or paper that +none but gentlemen were to be called. But, as you will be shown +immediately, the barring of the gate against the lad of humble origin +was quite as effectually accomplished without any law, mule, or +regulation whatever. + +The professional avenues of distinction which, early in the twentieth +century, were only three or four, had, by the end of the century, been +multiplied tenfold by the birth or creation of new Professions. +Formerly a young man of ambition might go into tho Church, into one of +the two services, into the Law, or into Medicine. He might also, if he +were a country gentleman, go into the House of Commons. At the end of +the century the professional career included, besides these, all the +various branches of Science, all the forms of Art, all the divisions +of Literature, Music, Architecture, the Drama, Engineering, Teaching, +Archaeology, Political Economy, and, in fact, every conceivable +subject to which the mind of man can worthily devote itself. + +In all these branches there were great--in some, very great--prizes to +be obtained; prizes not always of money, but of honour: in some of +them the prizes included what was considered the greatest of all +rewards--a Peerage. The country, indeed, was already beginning to +insist that the national distinctions should be bestowed upon all +those--and only upon those--who rendered real services to the State. +One poet had been made a Peer. One man of science had been made a +Privy Councillor, and another a Peer; two painters had been made +baronets; and the humble distinction of Knight Bachelor, which had +been tossed contemptuously to city sheriffs, provincial mayors, and +undistinguished persons who used back-stairs influence to get the +title, was now brought into better consideration by being shared by a +few musicians, engineers, physicians, and others. Nothing could more +clearly show the real contempt in which literature and science were +held in an aristocratic country than that, although there were a dozen +degrees of peerage and half a dozen orders of knighthood, there was +not one order reserved for men of science, literature, and art. Feeble +protests from time to time were made against this absurdity, but in +the end it proved useful, because the chief argument against the +continuance of titles of honour in the great debate on the subject, in +the year 1920, was the fact that all through the nineteenth century +the men who most deserved the thanks and recognition of the State were +(with the exception of soldiers and lawyers) absolutely neglected by +the Court and the House of Lords. + +Let us consider by what usages, rather than by what rules, the +Professions were barred to the people. In the Church a young man could +not be ordained under the age of twenty-three. Nor would the Bishop +ordain him, as a rule, unless he was a graduate of Oxford or +Cambridge. This meant that he was to stay at school, and that a good +school, till the age of nineteen; that he was then to devote four +years more to carrying on his studies in a very expensive manner; in +other words, that he must be able to spend at least a thousand pounds +before he could obtain Orders, and that he would then receive pay at a +much lower rate than a good carpenter or engine-driver. + +At the Bar it was the custom for a man to enter his name after leaving +the University: he would then be called at five or six-and-twenty. A +young man must be able to keep himself until that age, and even +longer, because a lawyer's practice begins slowly. There were also +very heavy dues on entrance and on being called. In plain terms, no +young man could enter at the Bar who did not possess or command, at +least, a thousand pounds. + +In the lower branch of the law a young man might, it is true, be +admitted at twenty-one. But he had to pay a heavy premium for his +articles, and large fees both at entrance and on passing the +examination which admitted him. Not much less, therefore, including +his maintenance, than a thousand pounds would be required of him +before he began to make anything for himself. A medical man, even one +who only desired to become a general practitioner, had to work through +a five years' course, with hospital fees. Like the solicitor, he might +qualify for about a thousand pounds. + +In all the new Professions, chemistry, physics, biology, zoology, +geology, botany, and the other branches of science, engineering, +mining, surveying, assying, architecture, actuary +work--everything--long a apprenticeship was needed with special +studies in costly colleges. + +In Teaching, he who aspired to the more distinguished branches had no +chance at all, unless he was a graduate in the highest honours of +Oxford and Cambridge. + +In the Arts--painting, sculpture, music--long practice, devoted study, +and exclusive thought were essential. + +The Civil Service was divided into two branches, both open to +competitive examination. The higher branch attracted first-class men +of Oxford and Cambridge; the lower, clever and well-taught men from +the Middle Class Schools. But the latter could not pass into the +former. + +In the Army, the only branch in which a man could live upon his pay +was the scientific branch, open to anybody who could compete in a very +stiff examination after a long and very expensive course of study, and +could pay L200 a year for two or three years after entrance. In the +other branches of the services, a young lieutenant could not live upon +his pay. + +In the Navy the examinations were frequent and severe, while the pay +was very small. + +The barrier, therefore, which kept the Professions in the hands of the +upper classes was a simple tollgate. At the toll stood a man. 'Come,' +he said, holding out an inexorable palm. 'With an education which has +cost you already a thousand pounds, be ready to pay down another +thousand more. Then you shall be admitted among the ranks of those for +whom are reserved the highest prizes of the State--viz., Authority, +Honour, and Wealth.' + +It is apparent, then, that no one could enter the Professions who had +no money. No need to write up 'None but the sons of gentlemen may +apply.' Very many sons of gentlemen, in fact, had to turn away +sorrowfully after gazing with wistful eyes upon that ladder which they +knew that they, too, could climb, as well as a Denman or an Erskine. +As for the sons of poor parents, they could not so much as think of +the ladder: they hardly knew that it existed: they cared nothing about +it. As well sigh for the Lord Mayor's gilt carriage and four, or the +Field Marshal's baton. No poor lad could aspire to the Professions at +all. In other words, out of a population of thirty-seven millions, or +eight millions of families, the way of distinction was open only to +the young man belonging to the half million families--perhaps +less--who could expend upon their son's education a thousand pounds +apiece. + +Nor for a long time was the exclusion felt or even recognised. He who +wished to rise out of the working class either became a small master +of his own trade, or else he opened a small shop of some kind. But he +did not aspire to become a physician or a barrister or a clergyman. +And it never occurred to him that such a career could be open to him. + +But as happened every day, such a man had got on in the world and was +ambitious for his son, he made him a doctor or a solicitor, these +being the two Professions which cost least--or perhaps he made him a +mechanical engineer, though it might cost a good deal more. Perhaps if +the boy was clever, he managed to send him to the University with the +intention of getting him ordained. Such was the first upward step in +gentility--first, to become a master instead of a servant; then, to +belong to a profession rather than a trade. Always, however, one had +to settle with the man at the toll. + +He was inexorable. 'Pay down,' he said, 'a thousand pounds if you +would be admitted within this bar.' + +The young man, therefore, whose father worked for wages, or for a +small salary, or in a small way of trade, could not so much as dream +of entering any of the Professions. They were as much closed to him as +the gates of Paradise. But during the nineteenth century a new +Profession was created, and this was open to him. This they could not +close. It had already grown went and strong before they thought of +closing it. It was open to the poor man's son. He went into it. And +with the help of it, as with a key, he opened all the rest. You shall +understand immediately what this was. + +I have spoken of certain exceptions to this exclusion of the lower +classes. There were provided at the public schools and the +Universities scholarships founded for the purpose of enabling poor +lads to carry on their studies. 'The schools had long ceased to be the +property of the poor for whom they were designed: their scholarships, +mostly of recent foundation, were granted by competitive examination +to those boys who had already spent a large sum of money on +preliminary work. The scholarships of the colleges at Oxford and +Cambridge were also given by examination, without the least +consideration of the candidates' private resources. There was, +however, a chance that a poor lad might get one of these. If he did, +everything was open to him. The annals of the Universities contain +numberless instances in which lads from the lower middle class made +their way, and a few instances--a very few--here one and there one--in +which the sons of working men thus forced themselves upward. We must +remember these scholarships when we speak of the barrier, but we must +not attach too much importance to them. One may also recall many +instances of generosity when a bay of parts was discovered, educated, +and sent to the University by a rich or noble patron. + +In the Army, again, many men rose from the ranks and obtained +commissions. In the Navy, this was always impossible, with one or two +brilliant exceptions--as the case of Captain Cook. + +It may be said that there are many cases on record in which men of +quite humble origin have advanced themselves in trade, even to +becoming Lord Mayor of London. Could not a poor lad do in the +nineteenth century what Whittington did in the fourteenth? Could he +not tie up his belongings in a handkerchief and make for London, where +the streets were paved with gold, and the walls were built of jasper? +Well, you see, in this matter of the poor lad and his elevation to +giddy heights there has been a little mistake, principally due to the +chap-books. The poor lad who worked his way upward in the nineteenth +century belonged to the bourgeoise, not the craftsman class. While his +schoolfellows remained clerks, he, by some early good fortune--by +marriage, by cousinship, was enabled to get his foot on the ladder, up +which he proceeded to climb with strength and resolution. The poor lad +who got on in earlier times was the son of a country gentleman. Dick +Whittington was the son of Sir William Whittington, Knight and +afterwards outlaw. He was apprenticed to his cousin, Sir John +Fitzwarren, Mercer and merchant-adventurer, son of Sir William +Fitzwarren, Knight. Again, Chichele, Lord Mayor, and his younger +brother, Sheriff, and his elder brother, Archbishop of Canterbury, +were sons of one Chichele, Gentleman and Armiger of Higham Ferrers in +the county of Northampton. Sir Thomas Gresham was the son of Sir +Richard Gresham, nephew of Sir John Gresham, and younger brother of +Sir John Gresham, also of a good old country family. In fact, we may +look in vain through the annals of London city for the rise of the +humble boy from the ranks of the craftsmen. Once or twice, perhaps, +one may find such a case. If we consider the early years of the +nineteenth century, when the long wars attracted to the army all the +younger sons, it does seem as if the Mayors and Aldermen must have +come from very humble beginnings. Even then, however, we find on +investigation that the city fathers of that time had mostly sprung +from small shops. They were never, to begin with, craftsmen, and at +the end of the century any such rise was never dreamed of by the most +ambitious. The clerk, if a lad became a clerk, remained a clerk: he +had no hope of becoming anything else. The shopman remained a shopman, +his only hope being the establishment of himself as a master if he +could save enough money. The craftsman remained a craftsman. And for +partnerships there were always plenty--younger sons and others--eager +to buy themselves in, or there were sons and nephews waiting their +turn. No son of a working man, or a clerk, could hope for any other +advancement in the City than advancement to higher salary for long and +faithful service. + +Once more, then, the situation was this: To him who could afford to +earn nothing till he was two-and-twenty, and little till he was +five-and-twenty, and could find the money for fees, lectures, and +courses and coaches, everything that the country had to offer was +open. With this limitation there was never any country in which prizes +were more open than Great Britain and Ireland. A clever lad might +enter the Royal Engineers or Artillery with a tolerable certainty of +being a Colonel and a K.C.B. at fifty; or he might go into the Church +where if he had ability and had cultivated eloquence and possessed +good manners, he might count on a Bishopric; or he might go to the +Bar, where, if he was lucky, he might become a judge or even Lord +Chancellor. Unless, however, he could provide the capital wanted for +admission, he could attain to nothing--nothing--nothing. + +What became, then, of the clever lad? In some cases he became a clerk, +crowding into a trade already overcrowded. He trampled on his +competitors, because most of them, the sons and grandsons of clerks, +had no ambition and no perception of the things wanted. This young +fellow had. He taught himself the things that were wanted; he +generally took therefore the best place. But he had to remain a clerk. + +Or, more often, he became a teacher in a Board School. In this +capacity he obtained a certain amount of social consideration, a +certain amount of independence, and an income varying From L150 to +L400 a year. + +Or, which also happened frequently, he might become a dissenting +minister of the humbler kind. In that case he had every chance of +passing through life in a little chapel at a small town, a slave to +his own, and to his congregation's, narrow prejudices. + +Or, he might go abroad, to one of the Colonies. Earlier in the +century, between the years 1850 and 1880, many poor lads had gone to +Australia or New Zealand and had done well for themselves, a few had +become millionaires; but by the year 1890 these Colonies, considered +as likely places wherein it young man could advance himself, seemed +played out. Working-men they wanted, but not clever and penniless +young fellows. + +He might, it has been suggested, go into the House. There were already +one or two workingmen in the House. But they were sent there +especially to represent certain interests by working-men, not because +their representative was an ambitious and clever young man. And the +working-man's member, so far, had advanced a very little way as a +political success. It was not in Politics that a young man would find +his opening. + +This brings us to the one career open to him--he might become a +Journalist. It is an attractive profession: and even in its lower +walks it seems a branch of literature. There is independence of hours: +the pay depends upon the man's power of work: there are great openings +in it and--to the rising lad at least--what seems a noble possibility +in the shape of pay. Many distinguished men have been journalists, +from Charles Dickens downward. Nearly all the novelists have dabbled +with journalism; and, since all of us cannot be novelists, the young +man might reflect that there are editor, sub-editors, assistant +editors, news-editors, leader writers, descriptive writers, reviewers, +dramatic critics, art and music critics, wanted for every paper. He +could become a journalist and he could rise to the achievement of +these ambitions. + +At first he rose a very little way, despite his ambition, because in +every branch of letters imperfect education is an insuperable +obstacle. Still he could become news-editor, descriptive reporter, +paragraph writer, and even, in the case of country papers, editor. +Sometimes he passed from the office of the journal to that of one of +the many societies, where he became secretary and succeeded in getting +his name associated with some cause, which gave him some position and +consideration. Whether he succeeded greatly or not, his whole object +was to pass from the class which has no possible future to the class +for which everything is open. His sons would be gentlemen, and if he +could only find the necessary funds, they should make what he had been +unable to make, an attempt upon the prizes of the State. + +This was the situation at the beginning of the last decade of the +nineteenth century. It is summed up by saying that all the avenues to +honour and power were closed and barred to the lad who could not +command a thousand pounds at least. Let us pass on. + +Most thoughtful people have considered the growth and development of +the great educational movement whose origin belongs to the nineteenth +century; whose development so profoundly affects the history of our +own. + +It began, like the spread of scientific knowledge, and the reforms in +the Old Constitution, and everything else, with the introduction of +railways. Before the end of the century the country was covered with +schools, as it was also covered with railways. There was hardly a man +or woman living when the nineteenth century ended who could not read; +there were few indeed who did not read. But the school course +naturally taught little beyond the elements and was already completed +when the pupil reached his fourteenth year. He was then taken from +school and put to work, apprenticed--set to something which was to be +his trade. Clever or stupid, keen of intellect or dull, that was to be +the lot of the boy. He was set to learn how to earn his livelihood. + +About the year 1885 or 1890--no exact date can be fixed for the birth +of a new idea--began a very remarkable extension of the educational +movement. It was discovered by philanthropists that something ought to +be done with the boys after they had left school. The first intentions +seem to have been simply to keep them out of mischief. Having nothing +to do the lads naturally took to loafing about the streets, smoking +bad tobacco, drinking, gambling, and precocious love-making. It was +also perceived by economists about the same time that unless something +was done for technical education, the old superiority of the British +craftsman would speedily vanish. It was further pointed out that the +education of the Board Schools gave the pupils little more than the +mastery of the merest elements, the tools by means of which knowledge +could be acquired. In order, therefore, to carry on general education +and to provide technical training there were started simultaneously in +every great town, but especially in London, Technical Schools, +'Continuation' Classes, Polytechnics, Young Men's Associations and +Clubs, Guilds for instruction and recreation--under whatever form they +were known, they were all schools. + +Then the young working lad was invited to enter himself at one of +these places, and to spend his evenings there. 'Come,' said the +founders, 'you are at an age when everything is new and everything is +delightful. Give up all your present joys. Send the girl with whom you +keep company, night after night, home to her mother. Put down your +cherished cigarette, cease to stand about in bars, give up drinking +beer, go no more to the music-hall. Abandon all that you delight in. +And come to us. After working all day long at your trade, come to us +and work all the evening at books.' + +A strange invitation! To forego delights and live laborious evenings. +Stranger still, the lads accepted the invitation. They accepted in +thousands. They consented to work every evening as well as every day. +The inducements to join were, in fact, artfully devised with a full +knowledge of boys' nature. What a boy desires, over and above +everything else, more than the company of a girl, more than idleness, +more than gambling, more than beer-drinking, more than tobacco, is +association with other lads of the same age. These Polytechnics or +Institutes or Clubs gave him, first of all, that association. They +provided him with societies of every kind. They added recreation to +study; pleasure to work. If half of the evening was spent in a +classroom, or in a workshop, the other half was passed in orderly +amusement. There was, moreover, every kind of choice; the lad felt +himself free, there were, to be sure, barriers here and there, but he +did not feel them; there was a steady pressure upon him in certain +directions, but he did not feel it; in some there were +prayer-meetings; the boys were not obliged to go, but some time or +other they found themselves present. Then there were some who wore the +blue ribbon of temperance; nobody was obliged to assume that symbol, +but somehow most of them did, without feeling that they had been +pressed to do so. For the very work and life and atmosphere of the +place into which beer was not admitted gave them a dislike for beer, +with its coarse and rough associations. Insensibly the boy who joined +was led upward to a nobler and higher level. + +The motives which were strong enough to persuade a working lad to work +on, over hours, may he partly understood by considering one of these +Institutions--the largest and the most popular--the Polytechnic of +Regent Street, called familiarly the Regent Street 'Poly,' with its +thirteen thousand members. Take first its social side, as offering +naturally greater attractions than its educational side. It contained +about forty clubs. The new member on joining was asked in a pamphlet +these three questions: + +1. 'Do you wish to make friends?' + +2. 'Are you anxious to improve yourself?' + +3. 'Do you seek the best opportunities of recreation in your leisure +hours?' + +Observe that the serious object is placed between the other two. What +the Poly lads said to the new member was: 'Come in and have a good old +time with us.' It was for the good old time that the new member +joined. Once in he could look about him and choose. The Gymnasium, the +Boxing Club, the Swimming Club, the Roller-skating Club, the Cricket, +Football, Lawn Tennis, Athletic, Rowing, Cycling, Ramblers and +Harriers Clubs all invited him to join. Surely, among so many clubs +there must be one that he would like. Of course they had their showy +uniform, their envied Captains and other officers, their field days, +their public days, and their prizes. Or there was the Volunteer Corps, +with its Artillery Brigade, and its Volunteer Medical Staff Corps. +There was the Parliament, conducted on the same rules as that of the +House of Commons. For the quieter lads there were Sketching, Natural +History, Photographic, Orchestral, and Choral Societies. There was a +Natural History Society and an Electrical Engineering Society. There +were also associations for religious and moral objects; a Christian +Workers' Union, a Temperance Society, a Social League, a Polytechnic +Mission, and a Bible Class. There were reading-rooms and +refreshment-rooms; in the suburbs there were playing-fields for them. +Up the river was a house-boat for the Rowing Club, the largest on the +Thames. Add to all this an intense 'College feeling'; an ardent +enthusiasm for the Poly; friendships the most faithful; a wholesome, +invigorating, stimulating atmosphere; the encouragement always felt of +bravo endeavour and noble effort, and high principle--in one word the +gift to the young fellows of the working class of all that the public +schools and universities could offer that was best and most precious. +Such an institution as the Polytechnic--mother and sister of so many +others--was a revolution in itself. + +But for the second question: 'Are you anxious to improve yourself?' +What answer was given? Strange to say the answer was also very +decidedly in the affirmative. + +The young fellows were anxious to improve themselves. Now, mark the +difference between these working lads and the boys from the public +schools. Had such a question been put to the latter their answer would +have been a contemptuous stare, or a contemptuous laugh. Improve +themselves? They were already improved. They were so far improved that +nine-tenths of them were contented with the moderate amount of +knowledge necessary for the practice of their professions. If one +became a solicitor, a doctor, a schoolmaster, a barrister, a +clergyman, it was sufficient for him, in most cases, just to pass the +examinations. Then, no further improvement for the rest of their +natural life. But these others, who had everything to gain, whose +ambitions were just awakening, who were just beginning to understand +that there was every inducement to improve themselves, joined the +classes, and began to work with as much zeal as they showed in their +play. + +What they learned concerns us little. It may be recorded, however, +that they learned everything. Practical trades were taught; technical +classes were held; there was a School of Science in which such +subjects as chemistry, physics, mathematics, mechanics, building, were +taught. There was a School of Art, in which wood modelling, carving, +and other minor arts were taught, as well as painting and drawing. +There was a Commercial School for Arithmetic, Book-keeping, Shorthand, +Typewriting; French, German, etc., were taught; there were Musical +Classes, Elocution Classes, a School of Engineering, a School of +Photography. Enough; it will be seen that everything a lad might +desire to learn he could learn and did learn. + +But the Polytechnic was only one of many such institutions. In London +alone there existed, in the year 1893, between two and three hundred, +large and small; there were nearly fifty branches of the University +Extension Scheme; the Continuation classes were held in many Board +Schools, while of special clubs, mostly for athletic purposes, the +number was legion. As for the numbers enrolled in these associations, +already in 1893, when those things were all young, one finds 13,000 +members of the Regent Street Poly, 4,000 at the People's Palace; the +same number at the Birkbeck; the same at the Goldsmiths' Institute; at +the City of London College, 2,500; and so on. Of the Athletic Clubs +the Cyclists' Union alone contained no fewer than 20,000 members. + +Figures may mean anything. It is, however, significant that in a +population of five millions which gives perhaps 700,000 young men +between fifteen and twenty, of whom about 100,000 were below the rank +of craftsmen and 100,000 above, there should have been found a few +years after the introduction of the system about 70,000 youths wise +enough and resolute enough to join these classes. + +It must be owned that only the more generous spirits--the nobler +sort--were attracted by the Polytechnics. They were a first selection +from the mass. Of these, again, another selection was made--those few +who studied the things which at first sight appeared to be least +useful. Everyone who knew a craft could see the wisdom of acquiring +perfection in his trade; everyone who was a clerk, or who hoped to +become a clerk, could see the advantage of learning shorthand, +book-keeping, French and German. What did that boy aim at who studied +Latin, Greek, and Mathematics, matriculated and took his degree at the +London University, then an examining body only? Why did he learn time +things? He did not learn them, remember, in the perfunctory way in +which a public-school boy generally works through his subjects; he +learned as if he meant to know these subjects; he devoured his books; +he tore the heart out of them; he compelled them to give up their +secrets. He had everything to get for himself, while the public-school +boy had everything given to him. + +When it was done, when he had acquired as much knowledge as any +average boy from the best public school, when he had read in the Poly +Reading Room all that there was to read, what was he to do? For when +he looked about him he saw, stretching before him, fair and stately, +the long avenues which led to distinction; but before each there was a +toll-gate, and at the gate stood a man, saying, 'Pay me first a +thousand pounds. Then, and not till then, you shall enter.' + +Alas! and he had not a sixpence--he, or his parents. And so perforce +he must stand aside, while other lads, without his intellect and +courage, paid the money, and were admitted. + +There was but one outlet. He might become a journalist. He had learned +shorthand, a necessary accomplishment; therefore, he got an +appointment as reporter and general hand on a country paper. Such a +youth in these years of which we write was uncommon, but he very soon +became much more common. The charm of learning was discovered by one +lad after another. The chance of exchanging the craftsman's work for +the scholar's work, never thought of before, fired the brains of +hundreds first, and thousands afterward. Then began a rage for +learning. All those who had abilities even mediocre tried to escape +their lot by working at the higher subjects. It was reproached to the +Polytechnics that their original purpose, to bring the boys together +for common discipline and orderly recreation, and to train them in +their crafts, was departed from, and that all their energies were now +devoted to turning working lads into classical scholars, +mathematicians, logicians, and historians. + +Nor was the complaint wholly unfounded. But it was too late to recede. +The boys crowded to the classes; they read and worked with incredible +eagerness; they thought that to be a man of books was better than to +be a man with a saw and a plane. Ambition seized them seized them by +tens of thousands; they would rise. Learning was their stepping-stone. +The recreative side of the Polytechnics was lost in the educational +side. Never before had there been such an ardour, such a thirst for +knowledge; yet only for knowledge as a means to rise. And there was +but one outlet. That, in the course of a few years, became congested. +Journalism, as the number of papers increased, demanded more workmen, +and still more. These young men from the Polytechnic filled up every +vacancy. They had seized upon this profession and made it their own; +those who did not belong to them were gradually, but surely, ousted. +It was recognised that it was the profession of the young man who +wanted to get on. Some there were who affected to lament an alleged +decay; the old scholarly style, they said, was gone; there was also +gone the old reverence for authority, rank, and the established order. +Perhaps the journal, as the new men made it, was above all vigorous. +But it was _true_, which could not always be said of the papers before +their time. From their college--the old Poly--the young men carried +away a love of truth and right dealing which, once imported into the +newspaper press, made it an engine far more mighty--an influence far +more potent--than ever it had been before. There may have been some +loss in style, though many of them wrote gracefully, and many showed +on occasion a wonderful command of wit, sarcasm and satire. But +because the papers were always truthful the writers always knew what +they wanted, and so their work had the strength of directness. + +A few, but very few, continued at the work, whatever it might be, to +which they had been apprenticed. Then their lives were spent in a day +of painful drudgery, followed by an evening of delightful study. Very +few heard of these men. Now and then one would be discovered by a +clergyman working in his parish; now and then one emerged from +obscurity by means of a letter or a paper contributed to some journal. +Most of them lived and died unknown. + +Yet there was one. His case is remarkable because it first set rolling +the ball of reform, He was by trade a metal turner and fitter; he had +the reputation of being an unsociable man because he went home every +day after work and stayed there; he was unmarried and lived alone in a +small, four-roomed cottage near Kilburn, one of a collection of +Workmen's villages. Here it was known that he had a room which he had +furnished with a furnace, a table, shelves and bottles, and that he +worked every evening at something. One day there appeared in a +scientific paper an article containing an account of certain +discoveries of the greatest importance, signed by a name utterly +unknown to scientific men. The article was followed by others, all of +the greatest interest and originality. The man himself had little idea +of the importance of his own discoveries. When his cottage was +besieged by leaders in the world of science, he was amazed; he showed +his simple laboratory to his visitors; he spoke of his labours +carelessly; he told them that he was a metal turner by trade, that he +worked every day for an employer at a wage of thirty-five shillings a +week, and that he was able to devote his evenings to reading and +research. They made him an F.R.S., the first working man who had ever +attained that honour. They tried to get him put upon the Civil List, +but the First Lord of the Treasury had already, according to the usual +custom, given away the annual grant made by the House for Literature, +Science and Art, to the widows and daughters of Civil servants. This +attempt failing, the Royal Society, in order to take him away from his +drudgery, created a small sinecure post for him, and in this way found +an excuse for giving him a pension. + +Then some writer in a London 'Daily' asked how it was that with his +genius for science, which, it was now recalled, had been remarked +while he was a student at the South London Poly, this man had been +allowed to remain at his trade. + +And the answer was, 'Because there is no opening for such an one.' + +It is very astonishing, when we consider the obvious nature of certain +truths, to remark how slow man is to find them out. Now, this +exclusion of all those who could not afford to pay his toll to the man +at the gate had, up to that moment, been accepted as if it were a law +of Nature. As in other things, men said, if they talked about the +matter at all, 'What is, must be. What is, shall be. What is, has +always been. What is, has been ordained by God Himself.' There is +nothing more difficult than to effect a reform in men's minds. The +reformer has, first, to persuade people to listen. Sometimes he never +succeeds, even in this, the very beginning. When they do listen, the +thing, being new to them, irritates them. They therefore call him +names. If he persists they call him worse names. If they can, they put +him in prison, hang him, burn him. If they cannot do this, and he goes +on preaching new things, they presently begin to listen with more +respect. One or two converts are made. The reformer expands his views; +his demands become larger; his claims far exceed the modest dimensions +of his first timid words. And so the reform, bit by bit, is effected. + +At first, then, the demand was for nothing more than an easier +entrance into the scientific world, This naturally rose out of the +case. 'Let us,' they said, 'take care that to such a man as this any +and every branch of science shall be thrown open. But for that purpose +it is necessary that scholarships, whether given at school or college, +shall be sufficient for the maintenance as well as for the tuition +fees of those who hold them.' These scholarships, it was argued, had +been founded for poor students, and belonged to them. All the papers +took up the question, and all, with one or two exceptions, were in +favour of 'restoring'--that was the phrase--'his scholarships'; 'his,' +it was said, assuming that they were his originally--to the poor man. +In vain was it pointed out that these scholarships had been for the +most part founded in recent times when public schools and universities +had long become the property of the richer class, and that they were +needed as aids for those who were not rich, not as means of +maintenance for those who wanted to rise out from one class into +another. + +The cry was raised at the General Election; the majority came into +power pledged to the hilt to restore his scholarships to the poor +student. Then, of course, a compromise was effected. There was created +a class of scholarships at certain public schools for which candidates +had to produce evidence that they possessed nothing, and that their +parents would not assist them. Similar scholarships were created at +Oxford and Cambridge, out of existing revenues, and it was hoped that +concessions opening all the advantages that the public schools and +universities had to give would prove sufficient. By this time the +country was fully awakened to the danger of having thrown upon their +hands a great class of young men who thought themselves too well +educated for any of the lower kinds of work, and were too numerous for +the only work open to them. No one, as yet, it must be remembered, had +ventured to propose throwing open the Professions. + +The concessions were found, however, to make very little difference. +Now and then a lad with a scholarship forced his way to the head of a +public school, and carried off the highest honours at the University. +Mostly, however, the poor scholar was uncomfortable; he could neither +speak, nor think, nor behave like his fellows; the atmosphere chilled +him; too often he failed to justify the early promise; if he succeeded +in getting a 'poor' scholarship at college, he too often ended his +University career with second-class Honours, which were of no use to +him at all, and so he was again face to face with the question: What +to do? His college would not continue to support him. He could not get +a mastership in a good school because there was a prejudice against +'poor' scholars, who were supposed incapable of acquiring the manners +of a gentleman. So he, too, fell back upon the only outlet, and tried +to become a journalist. + +Every day the pressure increased; the pay of the journalist went down; +work could be got for next to nothing, and still the lads poured into +the classes by the thousand, all hoping to exchange the curse of +labour by their hands for that of labour by the pen. No one as yet had +perceived the great truth which has so enormously increased the +happiness of our time that all labour is honourable and respectable, +though to some kinds of labour we assign greater, and some lesser, +honour. The one thought was to leave the ranks of the working man. + +It is not to be supposed that this great class would suffer and starve +in silence. On the contrary, they were continually proclaiming their +woes; the papers were filled with letters and articles. 'What shall we +do with our boys?' was the heading that one saw every day, somewhere +or other. What, indeed! No one ventured to say that they had better go +back to their trade; no one ventured to point out that a man might be +a good cabinet-maker although he knew the Integral Calculus. If one +timidly asked what good purpose was gained by making so many scholars, +that man was called Philistine, first; obstructive, next; and other +stronger names afterward. And yet no one ventured to point out that +all the Professions--and not science only, through the +Universities--might be thrown open. + +Sooner or later this suggestion was certain to be made. It appeared, +first of all, in an unsigned letter addressed to one of the evening +papers. The writer of the letter was almost certainly one of the +suffering class. He began by setting forth the situation, as I have +described it above, quite simply and truly. He showed, as I have +shown, that the Professions and the Services were closed to those who +had no money. And he advanced for the first time the audacious +proposal that they should be thrown open to all on the simple +condition of passing an examination. 'This examination,' he said, 'may +be made as severe as can be desired or devised. There is no +examination so severe that the students of our Polytechnics cannot +face and pass it triumphantly. Let the examination, if you will, be +intended to admit none but those who have taken or can take +first-class Honours. The Poly students need not fear to face a +standard even so high as this. Why should the higher walks of life be +reserved for those who have money to begin with? Why should money +stand in the way of honour? Among the thousands of young men who have +profited by the opportunities offered to them there must be some who +are born to be lawyers; some who are born to be doctors; some who are +born to be preachers; some who are born to be administrators.' And so +on, at length. It was not, however, by a letter in a paper, or by the +leading articles and the correspondence which followed that the +suggested change was effected. But the idea was started. It was talked +about; it grew as the pressure increased it grew more and more. +Meetings were held at which violent speeches were delivered: the +question of opening the Professions was declared of national +importance; at the General Election which followed some months after +the appearance of the letter, members were returned who were pledged +to promote the immediate throwing open of all the Professions to all +who could pass a certain examination; and the first step was taken in +opening all commissions in the Army to competitive examination. + +The Professions, however, remained obstinate. Law and Medicine refused +to make the least concession. It was not until an Act of Parliament +compelled them that the Inns of Court, the Law Institute, the Colleges +of Physicians, Surgeons, and Apothecaries consented to admit +all-comers without fees and by examination alone. + +Then followed such a rush into the Professions as had never before +been witnessed. Already too full, they became at once absolutely +congested and choked. Every other man was either a doctor or a +solicitor. It was at first thought that by making examinations of the +greatest severity possible the rush might be arrested. But this proved +impossible, for the simple reason that an examination for admission, +necessarily a mere 'pass' examination, must be governed and limited by +the intellect of the average candidate. Moreover, in Medicine, if too +severe an examination is proposed, the candidate sacrifices actual +practice and observation in the Hospital wards to book-work. Therefore +the examinations remained much as they always had been, and all the +clever lads from all the Polytechnics became, in an incredibly short +time, members of the Learned Professions. + +There can be no doubt that the Bench and the Bar, that Medicine and +Surgery, owe to the emancipation of the Professions many of their +noblest members. Great names occur to every one which belong to this +and that Polytechnic, and are written on the walls in letters of gold +as an encouragement to succeeding generations. One would not go back +to the old state of things. At the same time there were losses and +there are regrets. So great, for instance, was the competition in +Medicine that the sixpenny General Practitioner established himself +everywhere, even in the most fashionable quarters; so numerous were +solicitors that the old system of a recognised tariff was swept away +and gave place to open competition as in trade. That the two branches +of the law should be fused into one was inevitable; that the splendid +incomes formerly derived from successful practice should disappear was +also a matter of course. And there were many who regretted not only +the loss of the old professional rules and the old incomes, but also +the old professional _esprit de corps_--the old jealousy for the +honour and dignity of the profession: the old brotherhood. All this +was gone. Every man's hand was against his neighbour; advocates sent +in contracts for the job; the physicians undertook a case for so much; +the surgeon operated for a contract price; the usages of trade were +all transferred to the Professions. + +As for the Services, the Navy remained an aristocratic body; boys were +received too young for the Polytechnic lads to have a chance; also, +the pay was too small to tempt them, and the work was too scientific. +In the Army a few appeared from time to time, but it cannot be said +that as officers the working-classes made a good figure. They were not +accustomed to command; they were wanting in the manners of the camp as +well as those of the court; they were neither polished enough nor +rough enough; the influence of the Poly might produce good soldier +obedient, high-principled, and brave; but it could not produce good +officers, who must be, to begin with, lads born in the atmosphere of +authority, the sons of gentlemen or the sons of officers. Yet even +here there were exceptions. Every one, for instance, will remember the +case of the general--once a Poly boy--who successfully defended Herat +against an overwhelming host of Russians in the year 1935. + +It was not enough to throw open the Professions. Some there were in +which, whether they were thrown open or not, a new-comer without +family or capital or influence could never get any work. Thus it would +seem that Engineering was a profession very favourable to such +new-comers. It proved the contrary. All engineers in practice had +pupils--sons, cousins, nephews--to whom they gave their appointments. +To the new-comer nothing was given. What good, then, had been effected +by this revolution? Nothing but the crowding into the learned +Professions of penniless clever lads? Nothing but the destruction of +the old dignity and self-respect of Law and Medicine? Nothing but the +degradation of a Profession to the competition of trade? + +Much more than this had been achieved. The Democratic movement which +had marked the nineteenth century received its final impulse from this +great change. Everyone knows that the House of Lords, long before the +end of that century, had ceased to represent the old aristocracy. The +old names were, for the most part, extinct. A Cecil, a Stanley, a +Howard, a Neville, a Bruce, might yet be found, but by far the greater +part of the Peers were of yesterday. Nor could the House be kept up at +all but for new creations. They were made from rich trade or from the +Law, the latter conferring respect and dignity upon the House. But +lawyers could no longer be made Peers. They were rough in manners, and +they had no longer great incomes. Moreover, the nation demanded that +its honours should be equally bestowed upon all those who rendered +service to the State, and all were poor. Now a House of poor Lords is +absurd. Equally absurd is a House of Lords all brewers. Hence the fall +of the House of Lords was certain. In the year 1924 it was finally +abolished. + +In the next chapter I propose to relate what followed this rush into +the Professions. We have seen how the grant of the higher education to +working lads caused the Conquest of the Professions and brought about +the change I have indicated. We have seen how this revolution was +bound to sweep away in its course the last relics of the old +aristocratic constitution of the country. It remains to be told how +learning, when it became the common possession of all clever lads, +ceased to be a possession by which money could be made, except by the +very foremost. Then the boys went back to their trades. If the reign +of the gentleman is over, the learning and the power and culture that +has belonged to the gentleman now belongs to the craftsman. This, at +least, must be admitted to be pure gain. For one man who read and +studied and thought one hundred years ago, there are now a thousand. +Editions of good books are now issued by a hundred thousand at a time. +The Professions are still the avenues to honours. Still, as before, +the men whom the people respect are the followers of science, the +great Advocate the great Preacher, the great Engineer, the great +Surgeon, the great Dramatist, the great Novelist, the great Poet. That +the national honours no longer take the form of the Peerage will not, +I think, at this hour, be admitted to be a subject for regret by even +the stanchest Conservative. + +[1893.] + + + + + +I.--THE LAND OF ROMANCE + + + +At the back of the setting sun; beyond the glories of the evening; on +the other side of the broad, mysterious ocean, lay for nine +generations of Englishmen the Land of Romance. It began--for the +English youth--to be the Land of Romance from the very day when John +Cabot discovered it for the Bristol merchants it continued to be their +Land of Romance while every sailor-captain discovered new rivers, new +gulfs, and new islands, and went in search of new north-west passages, +while the rovers, freebooters, privateers and buccaneers, put out in +their crazy, ill-found craft, to rob and slay the Spaniard; while the +mystery of the unknown still lay upon it; long after the mystery had +mostly gone out of it, save for the mystery of the Aztec; it remained +the Land of Romance when New England was fully settled and Virginia +already an old colony; it was the English Land of Romance while King +George's redcoats fought side by side with the colonials, to drive the +French out of the continent for ever. + +We have had India, as well. Surely, in the splendid story of the long +struggle with France for the Empire of the East, in the achievements +of our soldiers, in the names of Clive, Lawrence, Havelock; in the +setting of the piece, so to speak, in its people, its wisdom, its +faith, its cities, its triumphs, its costumes, its gold and silver and +precious stones and costly stuffs--there is material wherewith to +create a romance of its own, sufficient to fire the blood and stir the +pulse and light the eye. Or, we have had Australia, New Zealand, the +Cape of Good Hope; coral isles, strongholds, fortresses, islands here, +and great slices and cantles of continent there. We have had all these +possessions, but round none of these places has there grown up the +romance which clung to the shores of America, from the mouth of the +Orinoco round the Spanish Main, and from Florida to Labrador. This +romance formerly belonged to the whole of our people. In their +imaginations--in their dreams--they turned to America. There came a +time when this romance was destroyed violently and suddenly, and, +apparently, for ever. In another shape it has grown up again, for some +of us; it is taking fresh root in some hearts, and putting forth new +branches with new blossoms, to bear new fruit. America may become, +once more, the Land of Romance to the Englishman. I say with intent, +the Englishman. For, if you consider, it was the Englishman, not the +Scot or the Irishman, who discovered America by means of John Cabot +and his Bristol merchants--not to speak of Leif, the son of Eric, or +of Madoc, the Welshman. It was the Englishman, not the Scot or the +Irishman, who fought the Spaniard; who sent planters to Barbadoes; who +settled colonists and convicts in Virginia; from England, not from +Ireland or Scotland, went forth the Pilgrims and the Puritans. While +the Scottish gentlemen were still taking service in foreign +courts--as, for example, the Admirable Crichton with the Duke of +Mantua--the young Englishman was sailing with Cavendish or Drake; he +was fighting and meeting death under desperadoes, such as Oxenham; he +was even, later on, serving with L'Olonnois, Kidd, or Henry Morgan. +All the history of North America before the War of Independence is +English history. Scotland and Ireland hardly came into it until the +eighteenth century; till then their only share in American history was +the deportation of rebels to the plantations. The country was +discovered by England, colonized by England; it was always regarded by +England as specially her own child; the sole attempt made by Scotland +at colonization was a failure; and to this day it is England that the +descendants of the older American families regard as the cradle of +their name and race. + +As for the men who created this romance, they belong to a time when +the world had renewed her youth, put the old things behind, and begun +afresh, with new lands to conquer, a new faith to hold, new learning, +new ideas, and new literature. Those who sit down to consider the +Elizabethan age presently fall to lamenting that they were born three +hundred years too late to share those glories. Their hearts, +especially if they are young, beat the faster only to think of Drake. +They long to climb that tree in the Cordilleras and to look down, as +Drake and Oxenham looked down, upon the old ocean in the East and the +new ocean in the West; they would like to go on pilgrimage to Nombre +de Dios--Brothers, what a Gest was that!--and to Cartagena, where +Drake took the great Spanish ship out of the very harbour, under the +very nose of the Spaniard, they would like to have been on board the +_Golden Hind_, when Drake captured that nobly laden vessel, _Our Lady +of the Conception_, and used her cargo of silver for ballasting his +own ship. Drake--the 'Dragon'--is the typical English hero; he is +Galahad in the Court of the Lady Gloriana; he is one of the long +series of noble knights and valiant soldiers, their lives enriched and +aglow with splendid achievements, who illumine the page of English +history, from King Alfred to Charles Gordon. + +The first and greatest of the Elizabethan knights is Drake; but there +were others of nearly equal note. What of Raleigh, who actually +founded the United States by sending the first colonists to +Virginia--the country where the grapes grew wild? What of Martin +Frobisher and Humphrey Gilbert? What of Cavendish? What of Captain +Amidas? What of Davis and half a score more? The exploits and +victories and discoveries--in many cases, the disasters and death--of +these sea-dogs filled the country from end to end with pride, and +every young, generous heart with envy. They, too, would sail Westward +Ho! to fight the Spaniard--three score of Englishmen against thousand +Dons--and sail home again, heavy laden with the silver ingots of Peru, +taken at Palengue or Nombre de Dios. Kingsley has written a book about +these adventurers; a very good book it is; but his pictures are marred +with the touch of the ecclesiastic--we need not suppose that the young +men sat always Bible in hand, talked like seminarists, or thought like +curates. The rovers who sailed with Drake and Raleigh had their +religion, like their rations, served out to them. Sailors always do. +Drake, the captain, might and did, consult the Bible for encouragement +and hope. Even he, however, reserved the right of using profane oaths; +that right survived the older form of faith. In a word, the +Elizabethan sailor--although a Protestant--was, in all respects, like +his predecessor, save that on this new battle-field he was filled with +a larger confidence and an audacity almost incredible to read +of--almost impossible to think upon. + +This was the first phase of the romance which grew up along the shores +of America. So far it belongs to the Spanish Main and to the Isthmus +of Panama. The romance remained when the Elizabethans passed +away--they were followed by the buccaneers, privateers, marooners and +pirates--a degenerate company, but not without their picturesque side. +Pierre le Grand, Francois l'Olonnois, Henry Morgan, are captains only +one degree more piratical than Drake and Raleigh. Edward Teach, Kidd, +Avery, Bartholomew Roberts were pirates only because they plundered +ships English and French as well as Spanish; that they were roaring, +reckless, deboshed villains as well, detracted little from the renown +with which their names and exploits were surrounded, and that they +were mostly hanged in the end was an accident common to such a life, +the men under Drake were also sometimes hanged, though they were +mostly killed by sword, bullet, or fever. The romance remained. The +lad who would have enlisted under Drake found no difficulty in joining +Morgan, and, if the occasion offered, he was ready to join the bold +Captain Kidd with alacrity. + +The seventeenth century furnished another kind of romance. It was the +century of settlement. In the year 1606, after Sir Walter Raleigh had +led the way, the Virginia Company sent out the _Susan Constant_ with +two smaller ships, containing a handful of colonists. They settled on +the James River. Among them was John Smith, an adventurer and +free-lance quite of the Elizabethan strain. In him John Oxenham lived +again. We all know the story of Captain John Smith. He began his +career by killing Turks; he continued it by exploring the creeks and +rivers of Virginia, with endless adventures. Sometimes he was a +prisoner of the Indians. Once, if his own account is true, he was +rescued from imminent death by the intervention of Pocahontas, called +Princess--or Lady Rebecca. He explored Chesapeake Bay, and he gave the +name of New England to the country north of Cape Cod. Such histories, +of which this is only one, kept alive in England the adventurous +spirit and the romance of the West. The dream of _finding_ gold had +vanished: what belonged to the present were the things done and +suffered in His Majesty's plantations with all that they suggested. It +is most certain that in every age there are thousands who continually +yearn for the 'way of war' and the life of battle. Mostly, they fail +in their ambitions because in these times the nations fear war. In the +seventeenth century there was always good fighting to be got somewhere +in Europe; if everything else failed there were the American Colonies +and the Indians--plenty of fighting always among the Indians. + +Besides the romance of war there was the romance of religious freedom. +Everybody in America knows the story of the _Mayflower_ and her +Pilgrims in 1620, and the coming of the Puritans in 1630 under John +Winthrop and the Massachusetts Company. I suppose, also, that all +Americans know of the _Ark_ and the _Dove_, and of Lord Baltimore's +Catholic, but tolerant, colony of Maryland. They know as well the very +odd story of Carolina and its 'Lords Proprietors' and the aristocratic +form of government attempted there; of the Quakers in Pennsylvania, +and the Temperance Colony of Georgia. One may recall as well the +influx of Germans by thousands in the early part of the eighteenth +century, and the first immigration of Irish Presbyterians, the flower +of the Irish nation, driven abroad by the stupidity and fanaticism of +their own Government, which wanted to make them conform to the Irish +Episcopal Church. In the whole history of Irish misgovernment there is +nothing more stupid than this persecution of Irish Presbyterians. But, +indeed, we may not blame our forefathers for this stupidity. +Persecution of this kind belonged to the times. It seems to us +inconceivably stupid that men should be exiled because they would not +acknowledge the authority of a bishop, but, out of Maryland, there was +nowhere any real religious toleration; the dream of every sect was to +trample down and to destroy all other sects. Our people in Ireland +were no worse than the people of Salem and Boston. Religious +toleration was not yet understood. Therefore, it was only playing the +game according to the laws of the game when the United Kingdom threw +away tens of thousands--the strongest, the most able, the most +industrious, the most loyal--of her Irish subjects, because they would +not change one sect for another; and retained the Roman Catholics, +hereditary rebels, who were numerically too strong to be turned out. + +All these things are perfectly well known to the American reader. But +is it also well known to the American reader--has he ever asked +himself--how these things affected and impressed the mind of England? + +In this way. The Land of Romance was no longer the fable land where a +dozen Protestant soldiers, headed by the invincible Dragon, could +drive out a whole garrison of Catholic Spaniards and sack a town. It +had ceased to be another Ophir and a richer Golconda; but it was the +Land of Religious Freedom. The Church of England and Ireland, by law +established, had no power across the ocean. America, to the +Nonconformist of the seventeenth century, was a haven and a refuge +ever open in case of need. The history of Nonconformity shows the +vital necessity of such a refuge. The very existence of free America +gave to the English Nonconformist strength and courage. Such a +persecution as that of the Irish Presbyterians became impossible when +it had been once demonstrated that, should the worst happen, the +persecuted religionists would escape by voluntary exile. + +That the spirit of persecution long survived is proved by the +lingering among us down to our own days of the religious disabilities. +Within the memory of living men, no one outside the Church of England +could be educated at a public school; could take a degree at Oxford or +Cambridge; could hold a scholarship or a fellowship at any college; +could become a professor at either university; could sit in the House +of Commons; could be appointed to any municipal office; could hold a +commission in the army or navy. These restrictions practically--though +with some exceptions--reduced Nonconformity in England to the lower +middle class, the small traders. Their ministers, who had formerly +been scholars and theologians, fell into ignorance; their creeds +became narrower; they had no social influence; but for the example of +their brethren across the ocean they would have melted away and been +lost like the Non-Jurors who expired fifty years ago in the last +surviving member; or, like a hundred sects which have arisen, made a +show of flourishing for a while, and then perished. They were +sustained, first, by the memory of a _victorious_ past; next, by the +tradition of religious liberty; and, thirdly, by the report of a +country--a flourishing country--where there were no religious +disabilities, no social inferiority on account of faith and creed. Not +reports only: there was a continual passing to and fro between Bristol +and Boston during three-fourths of the eighteenth century. The +colonies were visited by traders, soldiers and sailors. John Dunton in +the year 1710 thought nothing of a voyage to Boston with a consignment +of books for sale. Ned Ward, another bookseller, made the same journey +with the same object. There exists a whole library of Quaker +biographies showing how these restless apostles travelled backwards +and forwards, crossing and recrossing the Atlantic, and journeying up +and down the country, to preach their gospel. And the life of John +Wesley also proves that the Colonies were regarded as easily +accessible. I have seen a correspondence between a family in London +and their cousins in Philadelphia, in the reign of Queen Anne, which +brings out very clearly the fact that they thought nothing of the +voyage, and fearlessly crossed the ocean on business or pleasure. The +connection between the Colonies and England was much closer than we +are apt to imagine. The Colonies were much better known by us than we +are given to believe; they were regarded by the ecclesiastical mind as +the home of schismatic rebellion; but by the layman as the land where +thought was free. + +That was one side--perhaps the most important side. But the halo of +adventure still lay glowing in the western land. No colony but had its +history of massacre, treachery, and war to the knife with the Red +Indian. Long before the time of Fenimore Cooper the English lad could +read stories of dreadful tortures, of heroic daring, of patience and +endurance, of revenges fierce, of daily and hourly peril. The blood of +the Dragon ran yet in English veins. America was still to the heirs +and successors of that Great Heart the Land of Romance and the Land of +Gallant Fights. + +And such stories! That of Captain John Smith laying his head upon the +block that it might be smashed by the Indians' clubs, and of his +rescue by the Indian girl, afterwards the 'Princess Rebecca'; the +massacre of three hundred and fifty men, women and children of the +infant colony of Virginia, a hundred stories of massacre. Or, that +story of the mother's revenge, told, I believe, by Thoreau. Her name +was Hannah Dunstan. Her house was attacked by Indians; her husband and +her elder children fled for their lives; she, with an infant of a +fortnight, and her nurse, were left behind. The Indians dashed out the +brains of the baby and forced the two women to march with them through +the forest to their camp. Here they found an English boy, also a +prisoner. Hannah Dunstan made the boy find out from one of the Indians +the quickest way to strike with the tomahawk so as to kill and to +secure the scalp. The Indian told the boy. Now there were in the camp +two men, three women, and seven children. In the dead of night Hannah +got up, awakened her nurse and the boy, secured the tomahawks, and in +the way the unsuspecting Indian had taught the boy, she tomahawked +every one--man, woman and child--except a boy who fled into the +woods--and took their scalps. Then she scuttled all the canoes but +one, and taking the scalps with her as proof of her revenge, she put +the nurse and the boy into the canoe and paddled down the river. She +escaped all roving bands and won her way home again to find her +husband and sons safe and well, and to show the scalps--the blood +payment for her murdered child. Such were the stories told and retold +in every colonial township, round every fire; such were the stories +brought home by the sailors and the merchants; they were published in +books of travel. Think you that our English blood had grown so +sluggish that it could not be fired by such tales? Think you that the +romance of the Colonies was one whit less enthralling than the romance +of the Spanish Main? + +I say nothing of the wars in which the British troops and the +Colonial, side by side, at last succeeded in driving the French out of +the country. They belong to the history of the eighteenth century and +to the expansion of the English-speaking race. But for them, North +America would now be half French and a quarter Spanish. These, +however, were regular wars, with no more romance about them than +belongs to war wherever it is conducted according to the war-game of +the day. The manoeuvres of generals and the deploying of men in masses +inspire none but students, just as a fine game of chess can only be +judged by one who knows the game. Louisburg, Quebec, 'Queen Anne's +War,' 'King George's War'--Wolfe and Montcalm--these things and these +men produced little effect upon the popular view of America. In the +colonies themselves murmurings and complaints began to make themselves +heard; as they became stronger, the discontent increased; but they did +not reach the ear of the average Englishman, who still looked across +the ocean and still saw the country bathed in all the glories of the +West. Then--violently, suddenly--all this romance which had grown up +around and after so much fighting, so many achievements, was broken +off and destroyed. It perished with the War of Independence; it was no +longer possible when the Colonies had become not only a foreign +country, but a country bitterly hostile. The romance of America was +dead. + +After the war was over, with much humiliation and shame for the +nation--the better part of which had been against the war from the +outset--the country turned for consolation to the East. But, as has +been said above, neither India, nor Australia, nor New Zealand, has +ever taken such a place in the affections of our country as that +continent which was planted by our own sons, for whose safety and +freedom from foreign enemies we cheerfully spent treasure incalculable +and lives uncounted. + +Then came the long twenty-three years' war in which Great Britain, for +the most part single-handed, fought for the freedom of Europe against +the most colossal tyranny ever devised by victorious captain. No +nation in the history of the world ever carried on such a war, so +stubborn, so desperate, so vital. Had Great Britain failed, what would +now be the position of the world? The victories, the defeats, the +successes, the disasters, which marked that long struggle, at least +made our people forget their humiliation in America. The final triumph +gave us back, as it was certain to do, more than our former pride, +more than our old self-reliance. America was forgotten, the old love +for America was gone; how could we remember our former affections +when, at the very time when our need was the sorest, when every ship, +every soldier, every sailor that we could find, was wanted to break +down the power of the man who had subjugated the whole of Europe, +except Russia and Great Britain, the United States--the very Land of +Liberty--did her best to cripple the Armies of Liberty by proclaiming +war against us? And now, indeed, there was nothing left at all of the +old romance. It was quite, quite dead. In the popular imagination all +was forgotten, except that on the other side of the Atlantic lived an +implacable enemy, whose rancour--it then seemed to our people--was +even greater than their boasted love of liberty. + +I take it that the very worst time in the history of the relation of +the United States with this country was the first half of this +century. There was very little intercourse between the countries; +there were very few travellers; there was ignorance on both sides, +with misunderstandings, wilful misrepresentations and deliberate +exaggerations. Remember how Nathaniel Hawthorne speaks about the +English people among whom he lived; read how Thoreau speaks of us when +he visits Quebec. Is that time past? Hardly. Among the better class of +Americans one seldom finds any trace of hatred to Great Britain. I +think that, with the exception of Mr. W.D. Howells, I have never found +any American gentleman who would manifest such a passion. But, as +regards the lower class of Americans, it is reported that there still +survives a meaningless, smouldering hostility. The going and the +coming, to and fro, are increasing and multiplying; arbitration seems +to be established as the best way of terminating international +disputes; if the tone of the press is not always gracious, it is not +often openly hostile; we may, perhaps, begin to hope, at last, that +the future of the world will be secured for freedom by the +confederation of all the English-speaking nations. + +The old romance is dead. Yet--yet--as Kingsley cried, when he landed +on a West Indian island, 'At last!' so I, also, when I found myself in +New England, was ready to cry. 'At last!' The old romance is not +everywhere dead, since there can be found one Englishman who, when he +stands for the first time on New England soil, feels that one more +desire of his life has been satisfied. To see the East; to see India +and far Cathay; to see the tropics and to live for a while in a +tropical island; to be carried along the Grand Canal of Venice in a +gondola; to see the gardens of Boccaccio and the cell of Savonarola; +to camp and hunt in the backwoods of Canada, and to walk the streets +of New York, all these things have I longed, from youth upwards, to +see and to do--yea, as ardently as ever Drake desired to set an +English sail upon the great and unknown sea, and all these things, and +many more, have been granted to me. One great thing--perhaps more than +one thing, one unsatisfied desire--remained undone. I would set foot +on the shore of New England. It is a sacred land, consecrated to me +long years ago, for the sake of the things which I used to read--for +the sake of the long-yearning thoughts of childhood and the dim and +mystic splendours which played about the land beyond the sunset, in +the days of my sunrise. + +'At last!' + +Wherever a boy finds a quiet place for reading--an attic lumbered with +rubbish, a bedroom cold and empty, even a corner on the stairs--he +makes of that place a theatre, in which he is the sole audience. +Before his eyes--to him alone--the drama is played, with scenery +complete and costume correct, by such actors as never yet played upon +any other stage, so natural, so lifelike--nay, so godlike, and for +that very reason so lifelike. + +This boy sat where he could--in a crowded household it is not always +possible to get a quiet corner; wherever he sat, this stage rose up +before him and the play went on. He saw upon that stage all these +things of which I have spoken, and more. He saw the fight at Nombre de +Dios, the capture of the rich galleon, the sacking of Maracaibo. I do +not know whether other boys of that time were reading the American +authors with such avidity, or whether it was by some chance that these +books were thrown in his way. Washington Irving, Fenimore Cooper, +Prescott, Emerson (in parts), Longfellow, Whittier, Bryant, Edgar +Allan Poe, Lowell, Holmes, not to mention Thoreau, Herman Melville, +Dana, certain religious novelists and many others whose names I do not +recall, formed a tolerably large field of American reading for an +English boy--without prejudice, be it understood, to the writers of +his own country. To him the country of the American writers became +almost as well known as his own. One thing alone he could not read. +When he came to the War of Independence, he closed the book and +ordered his theatre to vanish. And, to this day, the events of that +war are only partly known to him. No boy who is jealous for his +country will read, except upon compulsion, the story of a war which +was begun in stupidity, carried on with incompetence, and concluded +with humiliation. + +The attack on Panama, the beginning of the Colonies, the exiles for +religion, the long struggle with the French, the driving back of the +Indians: it was a very fine drama--the Romance of America--in ever so +many acts, and twice as many tableaux, that this boy saw. And always +on the stage, now like Drake, now like Raleigh, now like Miles +Standish, now like Captain John Smith, he saw a young Englishman, +performing prodigies of valour and bearing a charmed life. Yet, do not +think that it was a play with nothing but fighting in it. There were +the Dutch burghers of New Amsterdam, under Walter the Doubter, or the +renowned Peter Stuyvesant; there was Rip Van Winkle on the Catskill +Mountains; there were the king-killers, hiding in the rocks beside +Newhaven; there were the witch trials of Salem; there was the peaceful +village of Concord, from which came voices that echoed round and round +the world; there was the Lake, lying still and silent, ringed by its +woods, where the solitary student of Nature loved to sit and watch and +meditate. Hundreds of things, too many to mention, were acted on that +boy's imaginary stage and lived in his brain as much as if he had +himself played a part in them. + +As that boy grew up, the memory of this long pageant survived; there +fell upon him the desire to see some of the places; such a desire, if +it is not gratified, dies away into a feeble spark--but it can always +be blown again into a flame. This year the chance came to the boy, now +a graybeard, to see these places; and the spark flared up again, into +a bright, consuming flame. + +I have seen my Land of Romance; I have travelled for a few weeks among +the New England places, and, with a sigh of satisfaction and relief, I +say with Kingsley: 'At Last!' + +This romance, which belonged to my boyhood, and has grown up with me, +and will never leave me, once belonged then, more or less, to the +whole of the English people. Except with those who, like me, have been +fed with the poetry and the literature of America, this romance is +impossible. I suppose that it can never come again. Something better +and more stable, however, may yet come to us, when the United States +and Great Britain will be allied in amity as firm as that which now +holds together those Federated States. The thing is too vast, it is +too important, to be achieved in a day, or in a generation. But it +will come--it will come; it must come--it must come; Asia and Europe +may become Chinese or Cossack, but our people shall rule over every +other land, and all the islands, and every sea. + + + + + +II.-THE LAND OF REALITY + + + +When a man has received kindnesses unexpected and recognition unlooked +for from strangers and people in a foreign country on whom he had no +kind of claim, it seems a mean and pitiful thing in that man to sit +down in cold blood and pick out the faults and imperfections, if he +can descry any, in that country. The 'cad with a kodak'--where did I +find that happy collocation?--is to be found everywhere; that is quite +certain; every traveller, as is well known, feels himself justified +after six weeks of a country to sit in judgment upon that country and +its institutions, its manners, its customs and its society; he +constitutes himself an authority upon that country for the rest of his +life. Do we not know the man who 'has been there'? Lord Palmerston +knew him. 'Beware,' he used to say, 'of the man who has been there!' +As Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs he was privileged to make +quite a circle of acquaintance with the men who 'had been there'; and +he estimated their experience at its true value. + +The man who has been there very seldom speaks its language with so +much ease as to understand all classes; he has therefore no real +chance of seeing and understanding things otherwise than as they seem. +When an Englishman travels in America, however, he can speak the +language. Therefore, he thinks that he really does understand the +things he sees. Does he? Let us consider. To understand the true +meaning of things in any strange land is not to see certain things by +themselves, but to be able to see them in their relation to other +things. Thus, the question of price must be taken with the question of +wage; that of supply with that of demand; that of things done with the +national opinion on such things; that of the continued existence of +certain recognised evils with, the conditions and exigencies of the +time; and so on. Before an observer can understand the relative value +of this or that he must make a long and sometimes a profound study of +the history of the country, the growth of the people, and the present +condition of the nation. It is obvious that it is given to very few +visitors to conduct such an investigation. Most of them have no time; +very, very few have the intellectual grasp necessary for an +undertaking of this magnitude. It is obvious, therefore, that the +criticism of a two months' traveller must be worthless generally, and +impertinent almost always. The kodak, you see, in the bands of the +cads, produces mischievous and misleading pictures. + +Let us take one or two familiar instances of the dangers of hasty +objection. Nothing worries the average American visitor to Great +Britain more than the House of Lords, and, generally, the national +distinctions. He sees very plainly that the House of Lords no longer +represents an aristocracy of ancient descent, because by far the +greater number of peers belong to modern creations and new families, +chiefly of the trading class; that it no longer represents the men of +whom the country has most reason to be proud, because out of the whole +domain of science, letters, and art there have been but two creations +in the history of the peerage. He sees, also, that an Englishman has, +apparently, only to make enough money in order to command a peerage +for himself, and the elevation to a separate caste of himself and his +children forever. Again, as regards the lower distinctions, he +perceives that they are given for this reason and for that reason; but +he knows nothing at all of the services rendered to the State by the +dozens of knights made every year, while he can see very well that the +men of real distinction, whom he does know, never get any distinctions +at all. These difficulties perplex and irritate him. Probably he goes +home with a hasty generalization. + +But the answer to these objections is not difficult. Without posing as +a champion of the House of Lords, one may point out that it is a very +ancient and deep-rooted institution; that to pull it up would cost an +immense deal of trouble; that it gives us a second or upper house +quite free from the acknowledged dangers of popular election; that the +lords have long ceased to oppose themselves to changes once clearly +and unmistakably demanded by the nation; that the hereditary powers +actually exercised by the very small number of peers who sit in the +House do give us an average exhibition of brain power quite equal to +that found in the House of Commons, in which are the six hundred +chosen delegates of the people; that, as regards the elevation of rich +men, a poor man cannot well accept a peerage, because custom does not +permit a peer to work for his livelihood; that it is necessary to +create new peers continually, in order to keep as close a connection +as possible between the Lords and the Commons; _e.g._, if a peer has a +hundred brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, cousins, they are all +commoners and he is the one peer, so that for six hundred peers there +may be a hundred thousand people closely allied to the House of Lords. +Again, as to the habitual contempt with which the advisers of the +Crown pass over the men who by their science, art, and literature +bring honour upon their generation, the answer is, that when the +newspaper press thinks fit to take up the subject and becomes as +jealous over the national distinctions as they are now over the +national finances, the thing will get itself righted. And not till +then. I instance this point and these objections as illustrating what +is often said, and thought, by American visitors who record their +first impressions. + +The same kind of danger, of course, awaits the English traveller in +America. If he is an unwise traveller, he will note, for admiring or +indignant quotation, many a thing which the wise traveller notes only +with a query and the intention of finding out, if he can, what it +means or why it is permitted. The first questions, in fact, for the +student of manners and laws are why a thing is permitted, encouraged, +or practised; how the thing in consideration affects the people who +practise it, and how they regard it. Thus, to go back to ancient +history, English people, forty years ago, could not understand how +slavery was allowed to continue in the States. We ourselves had +virtuously given freedom to all our slaves; why should not the +Americans? We had not grown up under the institution, you see; we had +little personal knowledge of the negro; we believed that, in spite of +the discouraging examples in Hayti and in our own Jamaica, there was a +splendid future for the black, if only he could be free and educated. +Again, none of our people realized, until the Civil War actually broke +out, the enormous magnitude of the interests involved; we had read +'Uncle Tom's Cabin,' and our hearts glowed with virtuous indignation; +we could not understand the enormous difficulties of the question. +Finally, we succeeded in enraging the South against us before the war +began, because of our continual outcry against slavery; and in +enraging the North after the war began, by reason of our totally +unexpected Southern sympathies. It is a curious history of +wrongheadedness and ignorance. + +This was a big thing. The things which the English traveller in the +States now notices are little things; as life is made up of little +things, he is noting differences all day long, because everything that +he sees is different. Speech is different: the manner of enunciating +the words is different; it is clearer, slower, more grammatical; among +the better sort it is more careful; it is even academical. We English +speak thickly, far back in the throat, the voice choked by beard and +moustache, and we speak much more carelessly. Then the way of living +at the hotels is different; the rooms are much--very much--better +furnished than would be found in towns of corresponding size in +England--_e.g._, at Providence, Rhode Island, which is not a large +city, there is a hotel which is most beautifully furnished; and at +Buffalo, which is a city half the size of Birmingham, the hotel is +perhaps better furnished than any hotel in London. An immense menu is +placed before the visitor for breakfast and dinner. There is an +embarrassment of choice. Perhaps it is insular prejudice which makes +one prefer the simple menu, the limited choice, and the plain food of +the English hotels. At least, rightly or wrongly, the English hotels +appear to the English traveller the more comfortable. I return to the +differences. In the preparation and the serving of food there are +differences--the mid-day meal, far more in America than in England, is +the national dinner. In most American hotels that received us we found +the evening meal called supper--and a very inferior spread it was, +compared to the one o'clock service. In the drinks there is a +difference--the iced water which forms so welcome a part of every meal +in the States is generally the only drink; it is not common, out of +the great cities, to see claret on the table. There are differences in +the conduct of the trains and in the form of the railway carriages; +differences in the despatch and securing of luggage; difference in the +railway whistle; difference in the management of the station, until +one knows the way about, travelling in America is a continual trial to +the temper. Until, for instance, an understanding of the manners and +customs in this respect has been attained, the conveyance of the +luggage to the hotel is a ruinous expense. And unless one understands +the rough usage of luggage on American lines, there will be further +trials of temper over the breakage of things. In France and Italy such +small differences do not exasperate, because they ate known to exist; +one expects them; they are benighted foreigners who know no better. +But in America, where they speak our own language, one seems to have a +right, somehow, to expect that all the usages will be exactly the +same--and they are not; and so the cad with the kodak gets his chance. + +I can quite understand, even at this day, the making of a book which +should hold up to ridicule the whole of a nation on account of these +differences. 'The Americans a great nation? Why, sir, I could not +get--the whole time that I was them--such a simple thing as English +mustard. The Americans a great nation? Well, sir, all I can say is +that their breakfast in the Wagner car is a greasy pretence. The +Americans a great nation? They may be, sir; but all I can say is that +there isn't such a thing--that I could discover--as an honest +bar-parlour, where a man can have his pipe and his grog in comfort.' +And so on--the kind of thing may be multiplied indefinitely. What Mrs. +Trollope did sixty years ago might be done again. + +But, if I had the time, I would write the companion volume--that of +the American in England--in which it should be proved, after the same +fashion, that this poor old country is in the last stage of decay, +because we have compartment carriages on the railway; no checks for +the luggage; no electric trolleys in the street; at the hotels no +elaborate menu, but only a simple dinner of fish and roast-beef; no +iced water, an established Church (the clergy all bursting with +fatness); a House of Lords (all profligates); and a Queen who chops +off heads when so disposed. It would also be noted, as proving the +contemptible decay of the country, that a large proportion of the +lower classes omit the aspirate; that rough holiday-makers laugh and +sing and play the accordion as they take their trips abroad; that the +factory girls wear hideous hats and feathers; that all classes drink +beer, and that men are often seen rolling drunk in the streets. Nor +would the American traveller in Great Britain fail to observe, with +the scorn of a moralist, the political corruption of the time; he +would hold up to the contempt of the world the statesman who with the +utmost vehemence condemns a movement one day which, on the following +day, in order to gain votes and recover power, he adopts, and with +equal vehemence advocates; he would ask what can be the moral +standards of a country where a great party turns right round, at the +bidding of their leader, and follows him like a flock of sheep, +applauding, voting, advocating as he bids them, to-day, +this--to-morrow, its opposite. + +These things and more will be found in that book of the American in +England when it appears. You see how small and worthless and +prejudiced would be such a volume. Well, it is precisely such a volume +that the ordinary traveller is capable of writing. All the things that +I have mentioned are accidentals; they are differences which mean +nothing; they are not essentials; what I wish to show is that he who +would think rightly of a country must disregard the accidentals and +get at the essentials. What follows is my own attempt--which I am well +aware must be of the smallest account--to feel my way to two or three +essentials. + +First and foremost, one essential is that the country is full of +youth. I have discovered this for myself, and I have learned what the +fact means and how it affects the country. I had heard this said over +and over again. It used to irritate me to hear a monotonous repetition +of the words, 'Sir, we are a young county.' Young? At least, it is +three hundred years old; nor was it till I had passed through New +England, and seen Buffalo and Chicago--those cities which stand +between the east and time west--and was able to think and compare, +that I began to understand the reality and the meaning of those words, +which have now become so real and mean so much. It is not that the +cities are new and the buildings put up yesterday; it is in the +atmosphere of buoyancy, elation, self-reliance, and energy, which one +drinks in everywhere, that this sense of youth is apprehended. It is +youth full of confidence. Is there such a thing anywhere in America as +poverty or the fear of poverty? I do not think so. Men may be hard up +or even stone-broke; there are slums; there are hard-worked women; but +there is no general fear of poverty. In the old countries the fear of +poverty lies on all hearts like lead. To be sure, such a fear is a +survival in England. In the last century the strokes of fate were +sudden and heavy, and a merchant sitting to-day in a place of great +honour and repute, an authority on 'Change, would find himself on the +morrow in the Marshalsea or the Fleet, a prisoner for life; once down +a man could not recover; he spent the rest of his life in captivity; +he and his descendants, to the third and fourth generations--for it +was as unlucky to be the son of a bankrupt as the son of a +convict--grovelled in the gutter. There is no longer a Marshalsea or a +Fleet prison; but the dread of failure survives. In the States that +dread seems practically absent. + +Again, youth is extravagant; spends with both hands, cannot hear of +economy; burns the candle at both ends; eats the corn while it is +green; trades upon the future; gives bills at long dates without +hesitation, and while the golden flood rolls past takes what it wants +and sends out its sons to help themselves. Why should youth make +provisions for the sons of youth? The world is young; the riches of +the world are beyond counting; they belong to the young; let us work, +let us spend; let us enjoy, for youth is the time for work and for +enjoyment. + +In youth, again, one is careless about little things; they will right +themselves: persons of the baser sort pervert the freedom of the +country to their own uses; they make 'corners' and 'rings' and steal +the money of the municipality; never mind; some day, when we have +time, we will straighten things out. In youth, also, one is tempted to +gallant apparel, bravery of show, a defiant bearing, gold and lace and +colour. In cities this tendency of youth is shown by great buildings +and big institutions. In youth, there is a natural exaggeration in +talk: hence the spread-eagle of which we hear so much. Then everything +which belongs to youth must be better--beyond comparison better--than +everything that belongs to age. In the last century, if you like, +youth followed and imitated age; it is the note of this, our country, +that youth is always advancing and stepping ahead of age. Even in the +daily press the youth of the country shows itself. Let age sit down +and meditate; let such a paper as the London _Times_--that old, old +paper--give every day three laboured and thoughtful essays written by +scholars and philosophers on the topics of the day. It is not for +youth to ponder over the meaning and the tendencies of things; it is +for youth to act, to make history, to push things along; therefore let +the papers record everything that passes; perhaps when the country is +old, when the time comes for meditation, the London _Times_ may be +imitated, and even a weekly collection of essays, such as the +_Saturday Review_ or the _Spectator_, may be successfully started in +the United States. Again, youth is apt to be jealous over its own +pretensions. Perhaps this quality also might be illustrated; but, for +obvious reasons, we will not press this point. Lastly, youth knows +nothing of the time which came immediately before itself. It is not +till comparatively late in life that a man connects his own +generation--his own history--with that which preceded him. When does +the history of the United States begin--not for the man of letters or +the professor of history--but for the average man? It begins when the +Union begins: not before. There is a very beautiful and very noble +history before the Union. But it is shared with Great Britain. There +is a period of gallant and victorious war--but beside the colonials +marched King George's red-coats. There was a brave struggle for +supremacy, and the French were victoriously driven out--but it was by +English fleets and with the help of English soldiers. Therefore, the +average American mind refuses to dwell on this period. His country +must spring at once, full armed, into the world. His country must be +all his own. He wants no history, if you please, in which any other +country has also a share. + +In a word, America seems to present all the possible characteristics +of youth. It is buoyant, confident, extravagant, ardent, elated, and +proud. It lives in the present. The young men of twenty-one cannot +believe in coming age; people do get to fifty, he believes; but, for +himself, age is so far off that he need not consider it. I observed +the youthfulness of America even in New England, but the country as +one got farther west seemed to become more youthful. At Chicago, I +suppose, no one owns to more than five-and-twenty--youth is +infectious. I felt myself while in the city much under that age. + +Let us pass to another point--also an essential--the flaunting of the +flag, I had the honour of assisting at the 'Sollemnia Academica,' the +commencement of Harvard on the 28th of June last. I believe that +Harvard is the richest, as it is also the oldest, of American +universities; it is also the largest in point of numbers. The function +was celebrated in the college theatre; it was attended by the governor +of the State with the lieutenant-governor and his aide-de-camp; there +was a notable gathering on the stage or platform, consisting of the +president, professors and governors of the university, together with +those men of distinction whom the university proposed to honour with a +degree. The floor, or pit, of the house was filled with the commencing +bachelors; the gallery was crowded with spectators, chiefly ladies. +After the ceremony we were invited to assist at the dinner given by +the students to the president, and a company among whom it was a +distinction for a stranger to sit. The ceremony of conferring degrees +was interesting to an Englishman and a member of the older Cambridge, +because it contained certain points of detail which had certainly been +brought over by Harvard himself, the founder, from the old to the new +Cambridge. The dinner, or luncheon, was interesting for the speeches, +for which it was the occasion and the excuse. The president, for his +part, reported the addition of $750,000 to the wealth of the college, +and called attention to the very remarkable feature of modern American +liberality in the lavish gifts and endowments going on all over the +States to colleges and places of learning. He said that it was +unprecedented in history. With submissions to the learned president, +not quite without precedent. The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries +witnessed a similar spirit in the foundation and endowment of colleges +and schools in England and Scotland. About half the colleges of Oxford +and Cambridge, and three out of the four Scottish universities, belong +to the period. Still, it is very remarkable to find this new largeness +of mind. Since one has received great fortune, let this wealth be +passed on, not to make a son into an idle man, but to endow, with the +best gifts of learning and science, generation after generation of men +born for work. We, who are ourselves so richly endowed, and have been +so richly endowed for four hundred years, have no need to envy Harvard +all her wealth, We may applaud the spirit which seeks not to enrich a +family but to advance the nation; all the more because we have many +instances of a similar spirit in our own country. It is not the +further endowment of Oxford and Cambridge that is continued by one +rich man, but the foundation of new colleges, art galleries, and +schools of art. Angerstein, Vernon, Alexander, Tate, are some of our +benefactors in art. + +The endowments of Owens College, the Mason College, the Firth College, +University College, London, are gifts of private persons. Since we do +not produce rich men so freely as America, our endowments are neither +so many nor so great; but the spirit of endowment is with us as well. + +Presently one observed at this dinner a note of difference, which +afterwards gave food for reflection. It was this: All the speakers, +one after the other, without exception, referred to the free +institutions of the nation, to the duty of citizens, and especially to +the responsibilities of those who were destined by the training and +education of this venerable college to become the leaders of the +country. Nothing whatever was said, by any of the speakers, on the +achievements in scholarship, literature, or science made by former +scholars of the college; nothing was said of the promise in learning +or science of the young men now beginning the world. Now, a year or so +ago, the master and fellows of a certain college of the older +Cambridge bade to a feast as many of the old members of that college +as would fill the hall. It was, of course, a very much smaller hall +than that of Harvard; but it was still a venerable college, the +mother, so to speak, of Emmanuel, and therefore the grandmother of +Harvard. The master, in his speech after dinner, spoke about nothing +but the glories of the college in its long list of worthies and the +very remarkable number of men, either living or recently passed away, +whose work in the world had brought distinction to themselves and +honour to the college. In short, the college only existed in his mind, +and in the minds of those present, for the advancement of learning, +nor was there any other consideration possible for him in connection +with the college. Is there, then, another view of Harvard College? +There must be. The speakers suggested this new and American view. The +college, if my supposed discovery is true, is regarded as a place +which is to furnish the State, not with scholars, for whom there will +always be a very limited demand, but with a large and perennial supply +of men of liberal education and sound principles, whose chief duty +shall be the maintenance of the freedom to which they are born, and a +steady opposition to the corruption into which all free institutions +readily fall without unceasing watchfulness. This thing I advance with +some hesitation. But it explains the inflated patriotism of the +carefully-prepared speech of the governor and the political (not +partisan) spirit of all the other speakers. Oxford and Cambridge have +long furnished the country with a learned clergy, a learned Bar, and +(but this is past) a learned House of Commons. The tradition of +learning lingers still; nay, they are centres of learning beyond +comparison with any other universities in the world. Harvard also, I +suppose, provides a learned clergy; but its principal function, as its +rulers seemed to think, is to send out into the world every year a +great body of young men fully equipped to be leaders in the country. +This is its chief glory; to do this effectively, I take it, is the +chief desire of the president and the society. + +It cannot be denied that this is a very important duty, much more +important, for a special reason, in the States than it is in Great +Britain. I used to marvel, before making these observations, at the +constant flying of the stars and stripes everywhere; at the continual +reminding as to freedom. 'Are there,' one asks, 'no other countries in +the world which are free? In what single point is the freedom of the +American greater than the freedom of the Briton, the Canadian, of the +Australian?' In none, certainly. Yet we are not forever waving the +Union Jack everywhere and calling each other brothers in our glorious +liberty. Well: but let us think. In so vast a population, spread over +so many States, each State being a different country, there will +always be ignorant men, men ready to give up everything for a selfish +advantage: there must always be a danger, unless it be continually met +and beaten down, that the United may become the dis-United States. +Why, European statesmen used to look forward confidently to the +disruption of the States from the Declaration of Independence down to +the Civil War. It was a commonplace that the country must inevitably +fall to pieces. The very possibility of a disruption is now not even +thought of: the thing is never mentioned. Why is this? Surely, because +the idea of federation is not only taught and ground in at the +elementary schools, but because the flag of federation is always +displayed as the chief glory of the nation at every place where two or +three Americans are gathered together. The symbol you see is +unmistakable: it means Union, once for all; the word, the idea, the +symbol, it must be always kept before the eyes of the people; it is in +the wisdom of the rulers that the stars and stripes are forever +flaunted before the eyes of the people. + +And it is not only the ignorant and the selfish among Americans +themselves; it is the vast number of immigrants, increasing by half a +million every year, who have to be taught what citizenship means. The +outward symbol is the readiest teacher; let them never forget that +they live under the stars and stripes; let them learn--German, +Norwegian, Italian, Irish--what it means to belong to the Great +Republic. Is this all that a two months' visitor can bring away from +America? It is the most important part of my plunder. What else has +been gathered up is hardly worth talking about, in comparison with +these two discoveries which are, after all, perhaps only useful to +myself: the discovery of the real youthfulness of the country and the +discovery of the real meaning and the necessity of the spread-eagle +speeches and the flaunting of the flag in season and out of season. It +may seem a small thing to learn, but the lesson has wholly changed my +point of view. The fact is perhaps hardly worth recording; it matters +little what a single Englishman thinks; but if he can induce others to +think with him, or to modify their views in the same direction, it may +matter a great deal. + +And, of course, an Englishman must think of his own future--that of +his own country. Before many years the United Kingdom must inevitably +undergo great changes: the vastness of the Empire will vanish; Canada, +Australia, New Zealand, South Africa will fall away and will become +independent republics; what these little islands will become then, I +know not. What will become of the English-speaking races, thus firmly +planted over the whole globe, is a more important question. If a man +had the voice of the silver-mouthed Father, if a man had the +inspiration of a prophet, it would be a small thing for that man to +consecrate and expend all his life, all his strength, all his soul, in +the creation of a great federation of English-speaking peoples. There +should be no war of tariffs between them; there should be no +possibility of dispute between them; there should be as many nations +separate and distinct as might please to call themselves nations; it +should make no difference whether Canada was the separate dominion of +Canada, or a part of the United States; it should make no difference +whether Great Britain and Ireland were a monarchy or a republic. The +one thing of importance would be an indestructible alliance for +offence and defence among the people who have inherited the best part +of the whole world. This alliance can best be forwarded by a promotion +of friendship between private persons; by a constant advocacy in the +press of all the countries concerned; and by the feeling, to be +cultivated everywhere, that such a confederation would present to the +world the greatest, strongest, wealthiest, most highly cultivated +confederacy of nations that ever existed. It would be permanent, +because here would be no war of aggression in tariffs, or of personal +quarrel; no territorial ambitions; no conflict of kings. + +Naturally, I was not called upon to speak at the Harvard dinner. Had I +spoken, I should like to have said: 'Men of Harvard, grandsons of that +benignant mother--still young--who sits crowned with laurels, ever +fresh, on the sedgy bank of Granta, think of the country from which +your fathers have sprung. Go out into the world--your world of +youthful endeavour and success; do your best to bring the hearts of +the people whom you will have to lead back to their kin across the +seas to east and west--over the Atlantic and over the Pacific. Do your +best to bring about the Indestructible fraternity of the whole +English-speaking races. Do this in the sacred name of that freedom of +which you have this day heard so much, and of that Christianity to +which by the very stamp and seal of your college you are the avowed +and sworn servants. Rah!' + +[1893.] + + + + + +ART AND THE PEOPLE. [Paper read at the Birmingham Meeting of the +Social Science Congress.] + + + +There is a passage in one of the letters of Edward Denison which +exactly interprets the dejection and oppression certain to fall upon +one who seriously considers and personally investigates, however +superficially, the condition of the poor in great cities. He writes +from Philpott Street, Commercial Road, East London, and he says: 'My +wits are getting blunted by the monotony and ugliness of the place. I +can almost imagine the awful effect upon a human mind of never seeing +anything but the meanest and vilest of men and man's work, and of +complete exclusion from the sight of God's works.' The very +exaggeration of these words shows the profound dejection of the +writer, at a moment when his resolution to continue living in a place +where there was neither nature nor art, nor beauty anywhere, weighed +upon him like a penal sentence, so that the vileness of the +surroundings entered into his soul and made him feel as if the men and +women in the place, as well as their works, were all alike, mean, +vile, and sordid. Edward Denison wrote these words seventeen years +ago. The place in which he lived is still ugly and monotonous, a small +cross-street leading from the back of the London Hospital into the +Commercial Road, about as far from green fields and parks or gardens +as can be found anywhere in London; there are still a good many of the +vilest of man's works carried on in the neighbourhood, especially the +making of clothes for Government contractors, and the making of shirts +for private sweaters. But something has been attempted since Denison +came here--the pioneer of a great invasion. Many others have followed +his example, and are now, like him, living among the people. Clubs +have been established, concerts and readings have been given, and +excursions into the country, convalescent homes and a thousand +different things have grown up for the amelioration of the poor. +Better than all, there are now thousands of educated and cultivated +men and women who are perpetually considering how existing evils may +be remedied and new evils prevented. With philanthropic efforts, with +the social questions connected with them, I have now nothing to do. We +are at present only concerned with a question of Art: we are to +inquire how the love and desire for Art may be introduced and +developed, and to ask what has already been attempted In this +direction. + +I would first desire to explain that I know absolutely nothing about +the state of things in any other great city of Great Britain than one. +What I say is based upon such small knowledge that I may have gained +concerning London, and especially East London. As regards Birmingham, +Manchester, Sheffield, Glasgow, and any other place where there is a +great industrial population, I know nothing. If, therefore, exception +be taken to any expressions of mine as applied to some other city, I +beg it to be remembered that East London alone is in my mind. Even +concerning East London exception may be taken to anything I may +advance. That is because it is impossible to make any general +proposition whatever of humanity considered in the mass except the +elementary ones, such as that all must eat and sleep, to which +objection may not be raised. Thus, I know that it is true, and I am +prepared to maintain the assertion, that the lower classes in London +care nothing about Art, and know nothing about Art, and have only an +elementary appreciation of things beautiful. It is equally true, on +the other hand, that there are everywhere some whose hearts are +yearning and whose hands are stretched out in prayer for greater +beauty and fulness of life. It is also, as a general statement, true +that there are no amusements in East London, which contains two and a +half millions of people, has no municipality, and is the biggest, +ugliest, and meanest city in the whole world. Yet it is equally true +that there are in it institutes for education and science, art, and +literature, mutual improvement societies, clubs at which there are +evenings for singing, dancing, and private theatricals, and rowing, +swimming, and cricket clubs. It is again, as a general rule, true that +the lower classes are ignorant of science, yet there are everywhere +scattered among the working men single cases of earnest devotion to +science. And it is painfully true that they do not seem to feel the +ugliness of their own streets and houses; yet no one who has been +among the holiday folks in the country on a Bank Holiday or a fine +Sunday in the summer can deny their profound appreciation of field and +forest, flowers and green leaves, sunshine and shade. It is, lastly, +perfectly true that their lives, compared with those of the more +cultivated classes, do seem horribly dull, monotonous, and poor. Yet +the dulness is more apparent than real: ugly houses and mean streets +do not necessarily imply mean and ugly lives. Their days may be +enlivened in a thousand ways which to the outsider are invisible. +Among these are some which directly or indirectly make for the +appreciation of Art. + +It seems safe, however, to advance one proposition. There is a class +in and below which it is impossible that there can exist a feeling for +Art of ally kind, or, indeed, for religion, for virtue, for knowledge +of any kind, or for anything beyond the necessity of providing for the +next day's food and shelter. Those miserable women who work from early +morning to late night, condemned to a slavery worse than any we have +abolished; those hungry men who besiege the dock-gates for a day's +work, and have nothing in the whole world but a pair of hands; that +vast class which is separated from starvation by a single day--what +thought, interest, or care can they have for anything in the world but +the procuring of food? When the physical condition of English men and +women is worse, as Professor Huxley has declared it to be, than the +condition of naked savages in the Southern Seas, how can we look for +the virtues and the aspirations which belong essentially to the level +of comparative ease? Until we have mastered the problem of finding +steady work for all, with adequate wages and decent homes, we need not +look for Art in these lowest ranks. We have to do, therefore, not with +the very poor at all, but with the respectable poor--the families of +skilled mechanics, _employes_ in regular work, workmen in breweries, +ship-yards, and factories independent handicraftsmen, clerks, +cashiers, accountants, writers, small shopkeepers, and all that great +host which is perpetually occupied in increasing the wealth of the +country by labour which, at least, permits them to live in comfort. +All these people have leisure; most of them, except the shop +assistants, have no work in the evening; they are all possessed of +some education. There is no reason at all why they should not, if they +could be only got to desire it, become students in some of the +branches of Art. + +Let us, then, always with reference to this one city and this one +class of its inhabitants, ascertain what has been done already to +create a love of Art. The most important thing as yet attempted is the +Bethnal Green Museum. It is, for our purposes, also the most +instructive, because it has hitherto been, I consider, a complete and +ignominious failure. That is to say, it was established and is +maintained as an educational museum, it was especially designed to +create and develop a knowledge of Art and it has not done so. It was +opened in 1872 with, among other things, the magnificent collection of +pictures lent by Sir Richard Wallace; during the twelve years of its +existence it has exhibited other collections of considerable interest: +but the education, the free library, and the classrooms promised at +the outset have never been forthcoming. It is, in fact, a dumb and +silent gallery. One may compare it to a Board School newly built, +provided with all the latest appliances for education--with books, +desks, seats, blackboards, and everything, including crowds of pupils, +but left without a teaching staff, the pupils being expected to teach +themselves. Why not? There are the books and there are the desks, So +with this museum. You cannot learn anything of Art without the study +of artistic work. Here is the artistic work. Why do not the people +study it? They certainly come to the place; they come in large +numbers; on free days when it is open until ten at night they average +over two thousand a day all the year round. And if you take the +trouble to watch them, to follow them about, and to listen to their +conversation, you will presently discover with how much intelligence +they are studying the artistic work before them. + +The failure of Bethnal Green should teach us what to avoid. Let us +therefore walk round the halls and galleries of this museum. In the +central hall there is placed, each object with a ticket containing a +brief description of it, a really noble collection of cabinets, carved +and painted; with these are rare and costly vases, of English, +Russian, Danish, and German workmanship; there are a few statuettes, +some paintings on china, things in glazed earthenware, and glass cases +containing Syrian and Albanian necklaces and jewellery. In the lower +side galleries there is, first, a collection of food products, showing +specimens of wheat, rice, starch, salt, and so forth, with models of +vegetables and fruit executed in wax; and next, a collection of +woollen stuff and fabrics of all kinds, with feathers, stags' heads, +antlers, and so forth. In the upper galleries there is a collection of +paintings and engravings. Here and there are suspended tablets which +are inscribed with bits of information, chiefly statistical. On my +last visit to the place I could not observe that anyone was studying +these tablets. This is, roughly speaking, all that the Bethnal Green +Museum contains. The directors of this institution, opened with so +much promise, which was going to educate the people and endow them +with a sense of Art and a love of beauty, think they have done all +they promised when they show a collection of cabinets and vases, a few +bottles containing rice and wheat, a few turnips in wax, a few cases +with pretty fabrics, and collection of pictures. There is no music; +there is no sculpture; none of the small arts are represented at all; +there is not the slightest attempt made to educate anybody. If you +want any other information or help besides that given by the tablets +you will not get it, because there is nobody to give it. A policeman +mounts guard over the cases, a woman sells the publications of the +South Kensington Department, and you can rend on a board the number of +visitors for every day in the year. But there is no one to go round +with you and talk about the things on exhibition. There are no +lectures nor any classes, there are no handbooks to teach the history +of the Fine Arts and to illustrate the collection in the museum. There +is not, incredible to say, even a catalogue. _There is no catalogue_. +Imagine an exhibition without even an official guide to its contents. +Here, says the Department, is the Bethnal Green Museum with its doors +wide open: let the people walk in and inspect the contents. + +So, if we invited the people to inspect a collection of cuneiform +inscriptions, we might just as well expect them to carry away a +knowledge of Assyrian history; or by exhibiting an electrical machine +we might as well expect them to understand the appliances of +electricity. It is not enough, in fact, to exhibit pictures: they must +be explained. It is with paintings and drawings as with everything +else, those who come to see them having no knowledge carry none away +with them. The visitors to a museum are like travellers in a foreign +country, of whom Emerson truly says that when they leave it they take +nothing away but what they brought with them. The finest wood carving, +the most beautiful vase, the richest classic painting, produces on the +uncultivated eye no more valuable or lasting impression than the sight +of a sailing ship for the first time produces on the mind of a savage. +That is to say, the impression at the best is of wonder, not of +delight or curiosity at all. In the picture galleries, it is true, the +dull eyes are lifted and the weary faces brighten, because here, if +you plea, we touch upon that art which every human being all over the +world can appreciate. It is the art of story-telling. The visitors go +from picture to picture and they read the stories. As for landscapes, +figures, portraits, or slabs, they pass them by. What they love is a +picture of life in action, a picture that tells a story and quicken +their pulses. You may observe this in every picture gallery--even at +the Grosvenor and the Royal Academy--even among the classes who are +supposed to know something of Art: for one who studies a portrait by +Millsis, or a head by Leighton, there are crowds who stand before a +picture which tells a story. At the Royal Academy the story is +generally, but not always, read in silence; at Bethnal Green it is +read aloud. You will perhaps observe the importance of this +difference. It is because at the Royal Academy everybody has the +feeling that he is present in the character of a critic, and must +therefore affect, at least, to be considering the workmanship, and +passing a judgment on the artist. But at Bethnal Green the visitors +feel that they have been invited to be pleased, to wonder, and to +admire the beautiful stories represented on the canvas by clever men +who have learnt this trade. As for how a story may be told on canvas, +the way in which the conception of the artist has been executed, the +truth of the drawing, the fidelity of colouring--on these points no +questions are asked and no curiosity is expressed. Why should they? +Painting they regard as one of the arts which may be learned for a +trade, like matchmaking or shoemaking. Remember that it never occurs +to people to learn the mysteries of any trade beside their own. On my +last visit to this museum, for instance, I chanced upon two women who +were standing before a vase. It was a large and very beautiful vase, +of admirable form and proportions, and it was decorated on the top by +a group representing three captives chained to the rock. Their comment +on this work of art was as follows: 'Look,' said one, 'look at those +poor men chained to the rock.' 'Yes,' replied the other, 'poor +fellows! ain't it shocking?' + +To their eyes the only thing to be looked at was the group of figures, +and the only suggestion made to their minds by the vase related to the +story, thus half told, of the captives. As for the vase itself, it was +nothing; the workmanship and painting were nothing; the sculpturing of +the figures was nothing. + +It is constantly argued that the mere contemplation of things +beautiful creates this artistic sense--the sense of beauty. This is +undoubtedly true if one were to dwell entirely among beautiful things. +But how if for one thing which is beautiful you are made to +contemplate a hundred which are not? Suppose you offer a girl of +untrained eye a choice of costumes, of which one is artistic and the +rest are all hideous, how can you expect her to know the one--the only +one--which she sought to choose? Or, again, if you allow a boy to read +and learn as much bad poetry as good, what can you expect of his +standard of taste? In other words, when the surroundings of life are +wholly without Art, an occasional visit to a collection of paintings +cannot create an intelligent appreciation of Art. + +Again, there are many branches and diverse forms or Art. For Instance, +there is music, there is singing there is acting, there is sculpture, +poetry, fiction; and besides these there are working in metals, +engraving in wood and copper, leather work, brass work, fret work, and +decoration. None of these arts are illustrated and recognised in the +Bethnal Green Museum, Yet, when we speak of the spreading of Art among +the poor, surely we do not mean only drawing, design, and painting. + +The popularity of this museum has been argued as a proof of its +efficiency. It attracts, as I have stated already, over 2,000 on every +free day all the year round. On the one day in the week when an +entrance fee of sixpence is required it attracts from twenty to forty. +This means that out of two millions of people in East London there is +so little enthusiasm for Art that only forty can be found each week to +pay sixpence in order to enjoy quiet galleries and undisturbed study. +Remember that East London is not altogether a poor place; there are +whole districts which are full of villa residences as good as any in +the southern suburb; there are many people who are wealthy; but all +the wealth and all the Art enthusiasm of the place will not bring more +than forty every week to pay their sixpence. As for copying the +pictures, I do not know if any facilities are afforded for the +purpose, but I have never seen anyone in the place copying at all. + +The throng of visitors on free days may partly be explained on other +grounds than the love of Art. It is a place where one can pleasantly +lounge, or sit down to rest, or lazily look at pleasant things, or +talk with one's friends, or take refuge from bad weather. This is as +it should be; the place is regarded as a pleasant place. Yet the +number of visitors has fallen off. In the first year of its existence +nearly a million entered the gates; four years later an equal number +was registered; for the last three years the number has fallen to less +than half a million. Its popularity, therefore, is on the decline. + +It is, again, a great place for children. They are sent here just as +they are sent to the British Museum and the South Kensington Museum, +in order to be out of the way. You will always see children in these +places, strolling listlessly among the rooms and corridors. Once, for +instance, on a certain Easter Monday, I encountered, in the South +Kensington Museum, a miserable little pair, who were crying in a +corner by themselves. Beside the cases full of splendid embroideries +and golden lace, among which they had strayed, they looked curiously +incongruous, and somewhat like the unfortunate pair led to their +destruction by the wicked uncle. They had, in fact, been sent to the +museum by their mother, with a piece of bread-and-butter for their +dinner, and told to stay there all day long. By this time the +bread-and-butter had long since been eaten up, and they were hungry +again, and there was a long afternoon before them. What to these +hungry children would have been a whole Field of the Cloth of Gold? We +must, therefore, make very large deductions indeed when we consider +the popularity of Bethnal Green. Doubtless it is pleasant to read the +stories of the pictures; but the light, the warmth, the society of the +place are also pleasant. And as for Art education, why, as none is +given, so none is desired. + +I have dwelt upon Bethnal Green Museum at some length, not because I +wished to attack the place, but because it seems to me an example of +what ought not to be done, and because it illustrates most admirably +two propositions which I have to offer. These are--(1) That the lower +classes have no instinctive desire for Art; (2) that they will not +teach themselves. + +We may also learn from considering what this museum is what an +educational and popular museum ought to be; and to this I will +immediately return. Meantime, let us go on to consider a few minor +agencies at work in the East of London, directly or indirectly working +in favour of Art. And, first, I should like to call attention to the +annual exhibition of pictures which the indefatigable Vicar of St. +Jude's, Whitechapel--the Rev. Samuel Barnett--gets together every +Easter for his people. The point is not so much that he holds this +exhibition as that he engages the services of volunteer lecturers, who +go round the show with the visitors and explain the pictures, so that +they may learn what it is they should admire and something of what +they should look for in a drawing or painting. In other words, Mr. +Barnett's visitors are instructed in the first elements of Art +criticism. There are, next, certain institutes, educational and +social, such as the Bow and Bromley and the Beaumont, which might be +used to advantage for Art purposes. Then there are the Church +organizations, with their services, their clubs, their social, +gatherings, and their schools; there are the chapels, each with its +own set of similar institutions; there are the working men's clubs, +which might also lend themselves and their rooms for the development +of Art; there are such societies as the Kyrle Society, which give free +concerts of good music, and are therefore already working for us; +lastly, there are the schools of Art--there are five in East London, +working under the South Kensington Department. All these are agencies +which either are already working in the interests of Art, or could be +easily induced to do so. + +To sum up, at the exhibition of the Bethnal Green Museum the people +walk round the pictures, are pleased to read their stories, and go +away; at the concerts they listen, are satisfied, and go away; at the +readings and recitations they applaud, and go away. They are not, in +fact, stimulated by these exhibitions and performances in the +slightest degree to draw, paint, carve, play an instrument, sing, +recite, or act for themselves. But observe that directly they form +clubs of their own, although they may develop many reprehensible +tendencies, and especially that of gambling, they do at once begin to +act, sing, recite, and dance for themselves. What we want them to do, +then, is to begin for themselves, or to fall in willingly with those +who begin for them, the pursuit of Art in its more difficult and +higher branches. What we desire is that they should realize what we +know, that to teach a lad or a girl one of these Fine Arts is to +confer upon him an inestimable boon; that no life can be wholly +unhappy which is cheered by the power of playing an instrument, +dancing, painting, carving, modelling, singing, making fiction, or +writing poetry, that it is not necessary to do these things so well as +to be able to live by them; but that every man who practises one of +these arts is, during his work, drawn out of himself and away from the +bad conditions of his life. If, I say, the people can be got to +understand something of this, the rest will be easy. A few examples in +their midst would be enough to show them that it wants little to be an +artist, that the practice of Art is a lifelong delight, and that in +the exercise and improvement of the faculties of observation, +comparison, and selection, in the daily consideration of beauty in its +various forms, the years roll by easily and are spent in a continual +dream of happiness. You know that it has been observed especially of +actors, that they never grow old. The thing is true with artists of +every kind--they never grow old. Their hair may become gray and may +fall off, they may be afflicted with the same weaknesses as other men, +but their hearts remain always young to the very end. But this is not +an inducement, I am afraid, that we can put forth in an appeal to the +people to follow Art. I am sure, moreover, that it is the desire of +all to include the encouragement of every kind of Art, not that of +drawing and painting only. We wish that every boy and every girl shall +learn something--and it matters little whether we make him draw, +design, paint, decorate, carve, work in brass or leather, whether we +make him a musician, a painter, a sculptor, a poet, or a novelist, +provided he be instructed in the true principles of Art. Imagine, if +you can, a time when in every family of boys and girls one shall be a +musician, and another a carver of wood, and a third a painter; when +every home shall be full of artistic and beautiful things, and the +Present ugliness be only remembered as a kind of bad dream. This may +appear to some impossible, but it is, on the other hand, very possible +and sure to come in the immediate future. It is true that, as a +nation, we are not artistic, but we might change our character in a +single generation. It has taken less than a single generation to +develop the enormous increase of Art which we now see around us in the +upper classes. Think of such a thing as house decoration and +furniture. We have to extend this development into regions where it is +as yet unfelt, and among a class which have, as yet, shown no +willingness or desire for such extension. + +All this has been said by way of apology for the practical scheme +which I venture now to lay before you. You have already heard from Mr. +Leland's own lips what has been for five years his work in +Philadelphia, you have heard how he has brought the small arts into +hundreds of homes, and has given purpose and brightness to hundreds of +lives. I have followed this work of his from the beginning with the +greatest interest. Before he began it, he told me what he was going to +try, and how he meant to try. But I think that, courageous and +self-reliant as he is, he did not and could not, at tho outset, +anticipate such a magnificent success as he has obtained. You have +also heard something of the society called the Cottage Arts +Association, founded by Mrs. Jebb, by which the villagers are taught +some of the minor arts. + +This Association is, I am convinced, going to do a great work, and I +am very glad to be able to read you Mrs. Jebb's own testimony, the +fruit of her long experience. She says, 'We must give the +people--children of course included--opportunities of unofficial +intercourse with those who already love Art, and who can help them to +see and to discriminate. We must teach them to use their own hands and +eyes in doing actual Art work; even if the work done does not count +for much, it will develop their observation and quicken their +appreciation in a way which I believe nothing else will do--no mere +looking or explaining. They must be helped to make their own homes and +the things they use beautiful. They must not be helped only to learn +to do Art work, but also given ideas as to its application, shown how +and where to get materials, etc. Further, it has been resolved that +prizes shall be given to the pupils for the best copies drawn, +modelled, carved, or repousse of the casts and designs circulated +among the various classes.' + +I propose, therefore, that, with such modifications as suit our own +way of working, we should initiate on a more extended scale the +example set us by Mrs. Jebb and Mr. Leland. I think that it would not +be difficult, while retaining the machinery and the help afforded by +the South Kensington Department in painting and drawing, to establish +local clubs, classes, and societies, or, which I think much better, a +central society with local branches, either for the whole of England +or for each county or for each great city, for the purpose of +teaching, encouraging, and advancing all the Fine Arts, both small and +great. We do the whole of our collective work in this country by means +of societies: it is an Englishman's instinct, if he ardently desires +to bring about a thing, to recognise that, though he cannot get what +he wants by his own effort, he may get it by associating other people +with him and forming a society. Everything is done by societies. One +need not, therefore, make any apology for desiring to see another +society established. That of which I dream would be, to begin with, +independent of all politics, controversies, or theories whatever; it +would not be a society requiring an immense income--in fact, with a +very small income indeed very large results might be obtained, as you +will immediately see. The work of the society would consist almost +entirely of evening classes; it would not have to build schools or to +buy houses at first, but it would use, or rent, whatever rooms might +be found available-perhaps those of the day-schools. All the arts +would be taught in these schools, except those already taught by the +South Kensington Department, but especially the minor arts, for this +very important and practical reason, that these would be found almost +immediately to have a money value, and would therefore serve the +useful purpose of attracting pupils. At the outset there must be no +fees, but everybody must be invited to come in and learn. After the +value of the school has been established in the popular mind there +would be no difficulty in exacting a small fee towards the expenses of +maintenance. But, from the very first, there must be established a +system of prizes, public exhibitions of work done by the students, +concerts at which the musicians would play and the choirs would sing, +and theatricals at which the actors would perform. Partly by these +public honours, and partly by showing an actual market value for the +work, we may confidently look forward to creating and afterwards +fostering a genuine enthusiasm for Art. + +How are the funds to be provided for all this work? The money required +for a commencement will be in reality very little. There are the +necessary tools and materials to be found, a certain amount of house +service to be done and paid for, gas and firing, and perhaps rent. +Observe, however, that the materials for Art students of all kinds are +not expensive, that house service costs very little, light and firing +not a great deal; and even the rent would not be heavy, since all our +schools would be situated in the poor neighbourhoods. There only +remain the teachers, and here comes in the really important part of +the scheme. _The teachers will cost nothing at all._ They will all be +members of our new society, and they will give, in addition to or in +lieu of an annual subscription, their personal services as gratuitous +teachers. This part of the scheme is sure to command your sympathies, +the more so if you consider the current of contemporary thought. More +and more we are getting volunteer labour in almost every department. +Everywhere, in every town and in every parish, along with the +professional workers, are those who work for nothing. As for the women +who work for nothing, the sisters of religious orders, the women who +collect rents, the women who live among the poor, those who read aloud +to patients in hospitals, those who go about in the poorest places, +their name is legion. And as for the men, we have no cause to be +ashamed of the part which they take in this great voluntary movement, +which is the noblest thing the world has ever seen, and which I +believe to be only just beginning. All our great religious societies, +all our hospitals, all our philanthropic societies, are worked by +unpaid committees. All our School wards over the whole country, not to +speak of the House of Commons, are unpaid. At this very moment there +are springing up here and there in East London actual +monasteries--only without monastic vows--in which live young men who +devote themselves, either wholly or in part, to work among the poor, +often to evening and night work after their own day's labours. It is +no longer a visionary thing; it is a great and solid fact, that there +are hundreds of men willing, without vows, orders, or any rule, and +without hope of reward, not even gratitude, to live for their brother +men. They give, not their money or their influence, or their +exhortations, but they give--_themselves_. Greater love hath no man. +As for us, we shall not ask our teachers to give their whole time, +unless they offer it. One or two evenings out of the week will +suffice. I am convinced--you are all, I am sure, convinced--that there +will be no difficulty at all in getting teachers, but that the only +difficulty will be in selecting those who can add discretion to zeal, +capability to enthusiasm, skill and tact in teaching, as well as a +knowledge of an art to be taught. Think of the Working Men's College +in Great Ormond Street--perhaps you don't know of this institution. It +is a great school for working men; it teaches all subjects, and it has +been running for nearly thirty years. During the whole of that time, I +believe I am right in saying that the professors and teachers have +been all unpaid--they are volunteers. Can we fear that in Art, in +which there are so many enthusiasts, we shall not get as much +volunteer assistance as in Letters and Science? + +This, then, is my proposal for creating and developing an enthusiasm +for Art. There are to be schools everywhere, controlled by local +committees, under a central society; there are to be volunteer +teachers, willing to subject themselves to rule and order; there are +to be public exhibitions and prize-givings; all the arts, not one +only, are to be taught; great prominence is to be given to the minor +arts; at first there will be no fees; above all and before all, the +great College of ours is not to be made a Government department, to be +tied and bound by the hard-and-fast rules and red tape which are the +curse of every department, nor is it to be under the direction of any +School Board, but, like most things in this country that are of any +use, it is to be governed by its own council. + +One thing more. I am firmly convinced that the only institutions in +any country which endure are those which take a firm hold of the +popular mind and are supported by the people themselves. In order to +make the College of Art permanent, it must belong absolutely to the +people. This can only be effected by the gradual retirement of the +wealthy class, who will start it, from the management, and the +substitution of actual working men in their place--working men, I +mean, who have themselves been through some course of study in the +College, and have, perhaps, become teachers. And as working men will +certainly do nothing without pay--in London, whatever may be the case +elsewhere, their strongest feeling is that their only possessions are +their time and their hands--we shall have to provide that the teachers +of the schools, the directors of the college, and the clerks in the +secretariat, shall never be paid at a higher rate than the current +rate of wage for manual work. The people themselves will in the end +supply council, executive officers, and teaching staff. The time is +ripe; we are ready to begin the work; I do not fear for a moment that +the working man will not, if we begin with prudence, presently +respond, and, through him, the boys and girls. + +We must, however, have a museum, although on this subject I cannot +dwell. I should like to take the Bethnal Green institution entirely +out of South Kensington hands; they have had it for fourteen years, +and you have heard what they have made of it. I think they should hand +it over, if not to our new College of Art, then to a local committee, +who would at least try to show what an educational museum should be. +Our educational museum will be a branch of the College of Art; it will +be in all respects the exact opposite of the Bethnal Green Museum; it +will have everything which is there wanting; it will have a library +and reading-room; it will have lecturers and teachers, it will have +class-rooms; the exhibits will be changed continually; there will be +an organ and concerts; there will be a theatre, there will be in it +every appliance which will teach our pupils the exquisite joy, the +true and real delight, of expressing noble thought in beautiful and +precious work. + + + + + + +THE AMUSEMENTS OF THE PEOPLE + + +'And do your workmen,' asked a London visitor of a Lancashire +mill-owner--'do your workmen really live in those hovels?' + +'Certainly not,' replied the master. 'They only sleep there. They live +in my mill.' + +This was forty years ago. Neither question nor answer would now be +possible. For the hovels are improved into cottages; the factory hands +no longer live only in the mill; and the opinion, which was then held +by all employers of labour, as a kind of Fortieth Article, that it is +wicked for poor people to expect or hope for anything but regular work +and sufficient food, has undergone considerable modification. Why, +indeed, they thought, should the poor man look to be merry when his +betters were content to be dull? We must remember how very little play +went on even among the comfortable and opulent classes in those days. +Dulness and a serious view of life seemed inseparable; recreations of +all kinds were so many traps and engines set for the destruction of +the soul; and to desire or seek for pleasure, reprehensible in the +rich, was for the poor a mere accusation of Providence and an opening +of the arms to welcome the devil. So that our mill-owner, after all, +may have been a very kind-hearted and humane creature, in spite of his +hovels and his views of life, and anxious to promote the highest +interests of his employes. + +A hundred years ago, however, before the country became serious, the +people, especially in London, really had a great many amusements, +sports, and pastimes. For instance, they could go baiting of bulls and +bears, and nothing is more historically certain than the fact that the +more infuriated the animals became, the more delighted were the +spectators; they 'drew' badgers, and rejoiced in the tenacity and the +courage of their dogs; they enjoyed the noble sport of the cock-pit; +they fought dogs and killed rats; they 'squalled' fowls--that is to +say, they tied them to stakes and hurled cudgels at them, but only +once a year, and on Shrove Tuesday, for a treat; they boxed and +fought, and were continually privileged to witness the most stubborn +and spirited prize-fights; every day in the streets there was the +chance for everybody of getting a fight with a light-porter, or a +carter, or a passenger--this prospect must have greatly enhanced the +pleasures of a walk abroad; there were wrestling, cudgelling, and +quarter-staff; there were frequent matches made up and wagers laid +over all kinds of things: there were bonfires, with the hurling of +squibs at passers-by; there were public hangings at regular intervals +and on a generous scale; there were open-air floggings for the joy of +the people; there were the stocks and the pillory, also free and +open-air exhibitions; there were the great fairs of Bartholomew, +Charlton, Fairlop Oak, and Barnet; there were also lotteries. Besides +these amusements, which were all for the lower orders as well as for +the rich, they had their mug-houses, whither the men resorted to drink +beer, spruce, and purl; and for music there was the street +ballad-singer, to say nothing of the bear-warden's fiddle and the band +of marrow-bones and cleavers. Lastly, for those of more elevated +tastes, there was the ringing of the church bells. Now, with the +exception of the last named, we have suppressed every single one of +these amusements. What have we put in their place? Since the working +classes are no longer permitted to amuse themselves after the old +fashions--which, to do them justice, they certainly do not seem to +regret--how do they amuse themselves? + +Everybody knows, in general terms, how the English working classes do +amuse themselves. Let us, however, set down the exact facts, so far as +we can get at them, and consider them. First, it must be remembered as +a gain--so many other things having been lost--that the workman of the +present day possesses an accomplishment, one weapon, which was denied +to his fathers--_he can read_. That possession ought to open a +boundless field; but it has not yet done so, for the simple reason +that we have entirely forgotten to give the working man anything to +read. This, if any, is a case in which the supply should have preceded +and created the demand. Books are dear; besides, if a man wants to buy +books, there is no one to guide him or tell him what he should get. +Suppose, for instance, a studious working man anxious to teach himself +natural history, how is he to know the best, latest, and most +trustworthy books? And so for every branch of learning. Secondly, +there are no free libraries to speak of; I find, in London, one for +Camden Town, one for Bethnal Green, one for South London, one for +Notting Hill, one for Westminster, and one for the City; and this +seems to exhaust the list. It would be interesting to know the daily +average of evening visitors at these libraries. There are three +millions of the working classes in London: there is, therefore, one +free library for every half-million, or, leaving out a whole +three-fourths in order to allow for the children and the old people +and those who are wanted at home, there is one library for every +125,000 people. The accommodation does not seem liberal, but one has +as yet heard no complaints of overcrowding. It may be said, however, +that the workman reads his paper regularly. That is quite true. The +paper which he most loves is red-hot on politics; and its readers are +assumed to be politicians of the type which consider the Millennium +only delayed by the existence of the Church, the House of Lords, and a +few other institutions. Yet our English working man is not a +firebrand, and though he listens to an immense quantity of fiery +oratory, and reads endless fiery articles, he has the good sense to +perceive that none of the destructive measures recommended by his +friends are likely to improve his own wages or reduce the price of +food. It is unfortunate that the favourite and popular papers, which +might instruct the people in so many important matters--such as the +growth, extent, and nature of the trades by which they live, the +meaning of the word Constitution, the history of the British Empire, +the rise and development of our liberties, and so forth--teach little +or nothing on these or any other points. + +If the workman does not read, however, he talks. At present he talks +for the most part on the pavement and in public-houses, but there is +every indication that we shall see before long a rapid growth of +workmen's clubs--not the tea-and-coffee make-believes set up by the +well-meaning, but honest, independent clubs, in every respect such as +those in Pall Mall, managed by the workmen themselves, who are not, +and never will become, total abstainers, but have shown themselves, up +to the present moment, strangely tolerant of those weaker brethren who +can only keep themselves sober by putting on the blue ribbon. +Meantime, there is the public house for a club, and perhaps the +workmen spends, night after night, more than he should upon beer. Let +us remember, if he needs excuse, that his employers have found him no +better place and no better amusement than to sit in a tavern, drink +beer (generally in moderation), and talk and smoke tobacco. Why not? A +respectable tavern is a very harmless place; the circle which meets +there is the society of the workman: it is his life: without it he +might as well have been a factory hand of the good old time--such as +hands were forty years ago; and then he would have made but two +journeys a day--one from bed to mill, and the other from mill to bed. + +Another magnificent gift he has obtained of late years--the excursion +train and the cheap steamboat. For a small sum he can get far away +from the close and smoky town, to the seaside perhaps, but certainly +to the fields and country air; he can make of every fine Sunday in the +summer a holiday indeed. Is not the cheap excursion an immense gain? +Again, for those who cannot afford the country excursion, there is now +a Park accessible from almost every quarter. And I seriously recommend +to all those who are inclined to take a gloomy view concerning their +fellow-creatures, and the mischievous and dangerous tendencies of the +lower classes, to pay a visit to Battersea Park on any Sunday evening +in the summer. + +As regards the working man's theatrical tastes, they lean, so far as +they go, to the melodrama; but as a matter of fact there are great +masses of working people who never go to the theatre at all. If you +think of it, there are so few theatres accessible that they cannot go +often. For instance, there are for the accommodation of the West-end +and the visitors to London some thirty theatres, and these are nearly +always kept running; but for the densely populous districts of +Islington, Somers Town, Pentonville, and Clerkenwell, combined, there +are only two; for Hoxton and Haggerston, there is only one; for the +vast region of Marylebone and Paddington, only one; for Whitechapel, +'and her daughters,' two; for Shoreditch and Bethnal Green, one; for +Southwark and Blackfriars, one; for the towns of Hampstead, Highgate, +Camden Town, Kentish Town, Stratford, Bow, Bromley, Bermondsey, +Camberwell, Kensington, or Deptford, not one. And yet each one of +these places, taken separately, is a good large town. Stratford, for +instance, has 60,000 inhabitants, and Deptford 80,000. Only half a +dozen theatres for three millions of people! It is quite clear, +therefore, that there is not yet a craving for dramatic art among our +working classes. Music-halls there are, certainly, and these provide +shows more or less dramatic, and, though they are not so numerous as +might have been expected, they form a considerable part of the +amusements of the people; it is therefore a thousand pities that among +the 'topical' songs, the break-downs, and the comic songs, room has +never been found for part-songs or for music of a quiet and somewhat +better kind. The proprietors doubtless know their audience, but +wherever the Kyrle Society have given concerts to working people, they +have succeeded in interesting them by music and songs of a kind to +which they are not accustomed in their music-halls. + +The theatre, the music-hall, the public-house, the Sunday excursion, +the parks--these seem almost to exhaust the list of amusements. There +are, also, however, the suburban gardens, such as North Woolwich and +Rosherville, where there are entertainments of all kinds and dancing; +there are the tea-gardens all round London; there are such places of +resort as Kew and Hampton Court, Bushey, Burnham Beeches, Epping, +Hainault and Rye House. There are also the harmonic meetings, the +free-and-easy evenings, and the friendly leads at the public-houses. +Until last year there was one place, in the middle of a very poor +district, where dancing went on all the year round. And there are the +various clubs, debating societies, and local parliaments which have +been lately springing up all over London. One may add the pleasure of +listening to the stump orator, whether he exhorts to repentance, to +temperance, to republicanism, to atheism, or to the return of Sir +Roger. He is everywhere on Sunday in the streets, in the country +roads, and in the parks. The people listen, but with apathy; they are +accustomed to the white-heat of oratory; they hear the same thing +every Sunday: their pulses would beat no faster if Peter the Hermit +himself or Bernard were to exhort them to assume the Cross. It is +comic, indeed, only to think of the blank stare with which a British +workman would receive an invitation to take up arms in order to drive +out the accursed Moslem. + +As regards the women, I declare that I have never been able to find +out anything at all concerning their amusements. Certainly one can see +a few of them any Sunday walking about in the lanes and in the fields +of northern London, with their lovers; in the evening they may also be +observed having tea in the tea-gardens. These, however, are the better +sort of girls; they are well dressed, and generally quiet in their +behaviour. The domestic servants, for the most part, spend their +'evening out' in taking tea with other servants, whose evening is in. +On the same principle, an actor when he has a holiday goes to another +theatre; and no doubt it must be interesting for a cook to observe the +_differentiae_, the finer shades of difference, in the conduct of a +kitchen. When women are married and the cares of maternity set in, one +does not see how they can get any holiday or recreation at all; but I +believe a good deal is done for their amusement by the mothers' +meetings and other clerical agencies. There is, however, below the +shop girls, the dressmakers, the servants, and the working girls whom +the world, so to speak, knows, a very large class of women whom the +world does not know, and is not anxious to know. They are the factory +hands of London; you can see them, if you wish, trooping out of the +factories and places where they work on any Saturday afternoon, and +thus get them, so to speak, in the lump. Their amusement seems to +consist of nothing but walking about the streets, two and three +abreast, and they laugh and shout as they go so noisily that they must +needs be extraordinarily happy. These girls are, I am told, for the +most part so ignorant and helpless, that many of them do not know even +how to use a needle; they cannot read, or, if they can, they never do; +they carry the virtue of independence as far as they are able, and +insist on living by themselves, two sharing a single room; nor will +they brook the least interference with their freedom, even from those +who try to help them. Who are their friends, what becomes of them in +the end, why they all seem to be about eighteen years of age, at what +period of life they begin to get tired of walking up and down the +streets, who their sweethearts are, what are their thoughts, what are +their hopes--these are questions which no man can answer, because no +man could make them communicate their experiences and opinions. +Perhaps only a Bible-woman or two know the history, and could tell it, +of the London factory girl. Their pay is said to be wretched, whatever +work they do; their food, I am told, is insufficient for young and +hearty girls, consisting generally of tea and bread or +bread-and-butter for breakfast and supper, and for dinner a lump of +fried fish and a piece of bread. What can be done? The proprietors of +the factory will give no better wage, the girls cannot combine, and +there is no one to help them. One would not willingly add another to +the 'rights' of man or woman; but surely, if there is such a thing at +all as a 'right,' it is that a day's labour shall earn enough to pay +for sufficient food, for shelter, and for clothes. As for the +amusements of these girls, it is a thing which may be considered when +something has been done for their material condition. The possibility +of amusement only begins when we have reached the level of the well +fed. Great Gaster will let no one enjoy play who is hungry. Would it +be possible, one asks in curiosity, to stop the noisy and mirthless +laughter of these girls with a hot supper of chops fresh from the +grill? Would they, if they were first well fed, incline their hearts +to rest, reflection, instruction, and a little music? The cheap +excursions, the school feasts, the concerts given for the people, the +increased brightness of religious services, the Bank holidays, the +Saturday half-holiday, all point to the gradual recognition of the +great natural law that men and women, as well as boys and girls, must +have play. At the present moment we have just arrived at the stage of +acknowledging this law; the next step will be that of respecting it, +and preparing to obey it, just now we are willing and anxious that all +should play; and it grieves us to see that in their leisure hours the +people do not play because they do not know how. + +Compare, for instance, the young workman with the young gentleman--the +public schoolman, one of the kind who makes his life as 'all round' as +he can, and learns and practises whatever his hand findeth to do. Or, +if you please, compare him with one of the better sort of young City +clerks; or, again, compare him with one of the lads who belong to the +classes now held in the building of the old Polytechnic; or with the +lads who are found every evening at the classes of the Birkbeck. First +of all, the young workman cannot play any game at all, neither +cricket, football, tennis, racquets, fives, or any of the other games +which the young fellows in the class above him love so passionately: +there are, in fact, no places for him where these games can be played; +for though the boys may play cricket in Victoria Park, I do not +understand that the carpenters, shoemakers, or painters have got clubs +and play there too. There is no gymnasium for them, and so they never +learn the use of their limbs; they cannot row, though they have a +splendid river to row upon; they cannot fence, box, wrestle, play +single-stick, or shoot with the rifle; they do not, as a rule, join +the Volunteer corps; they do not run, leap, or practise athletics of +any kind; they cannot swim; they cannot sing in parts, unless, which +is naturally rare, they belong to a church choir; they cannot play any +kind of instrument--to be sure the public schoolboy is generally +grovelling in the same shameful ignorance of music; they cannot dance; +in the whole of this vast city there is not a single place where a +couple, so minded, can go for an evening's dancing, unless they are +prepared to journey as far as North Woolwich. Not one. Ought it not to +be felt and resented as an intolerable grievance that grandmotherly +legislation actually forbids the people to dance? That the working men +themselves do not seem to feel and resent it is really a mournful +thing. Then, they cannot paint, draw, model, or carve. They cannot +act, and seemingly do not care greatly about seeing others act; and, +as already stated, they never read books. Think what it must be to be +shut out entirely from the world of history, philosophy, poetry, +fiction, essays, and travels! Yet our working classes are thus +practically excluded. Partly they have done this for themselves, +because they have never felt the desire to read books; partly, as I +said above, we have done it for them, because we have never taken any +steps to create the demand. Now, as regards these arts and +accomplishments, the public schoolman and the better class City clerk +have the chance of learning some of them at least, and of practising +them, both before and after they have left school. What a poor +creature would that young man seem who could do none of these things! +Yet the working man has no chance of learning any. There are no +teachers for him; the schools for the small arts, the accomplishments, +and the graces of life are not open to him; one never hears, for +instance, of a working man learning to waltz or dance, unless it is in +imitation of a music-hall performer. In other words, the public +schoolman has gone through a mill of discipline out of school as well +as in. Law reigns in his sports as in his studies. Whether he sits +over his books or plays in the fields, he learns to be obedient to +law, order, and rule: he obeys, and expects to be obeyed; it is not +himself whom he must study to please: it is the whole body of his +fellows. And this discipline of self, much more useful than the +discipline of books, the young workman knows not. Worse than this, and +worst of all, not only is he unable to do any of these things, but he +is even ignorant of their uses and their pleasures, and has no desire +to learn any of them, and does not suspect at all that the possession +of these accomplishments would multiply the joys of life. He is +content to go on without them. Now contentment is the most mischievous +of all the virtues; if anything is to be done, and any improvement is +to be effected, the wickedness of discontent must first be explained +away. + +Let us, if you please, brighten this gloomy picture by recognising the +existence of the artisan who pursues knowledge for its own sake. There +are many of this kind. You may come across some of them botanizing, +collecting insects, moths and butterflies in the fields on Sundays; +others you will find reading works on astronomy, geometry, physics, or +electricity: they have not gone through the early training, and so +they often make blunders; but yet they are real students. One of them +I knew once who had taught himself Hebrew; another, who read so much +about co-operation, that he lifted himself clean out of the +co-operative ranks, and is now a master; another and yet another and +another, who read perpetually, and meditate upon, books of political +and social economy; and there are thousands whose lives are made +dignified for them, and sacred, by the continual meditation on +religious things. Let us make every kind of allowance for these +students of the working class; and let us not forget, as well, the +occasional appearance of those heaven-born artists who are fain to +play music or die, and presently get into orchestras of one kind or +another, and so leave the ranks of daily labour and join the great +clan or caste of musicians, who are a race or family apart, and carry +on their mystery from father to son. + +But, as regards any place or institution where the people may learn or +practise or be taught the beauty and desirability of any of the +commoner amusements, arts, and accomplishments, there is not one, +anywhere in London. The Bethnal Green Museum certainly proposed unto +itself, at first, to 'do something,' in a vague and uncertain way, for +the people. Nobody dared to say that it would be first of all +necessary to make the people discontented, because this would have +been considered as flying in the face of Providence; and there was, +besides, a sort of nebulous hope, not strong enough for a theory, that +by dint of long gazing upon vases and tapestry everybody would in time +acquire a true feeling for art, and begin to crave for culture. Many +very beautiful things have, from time to time, been sent +there--pictures, collections, priceless vases; and I am sure that +those visitors who brought with them the sense of beauty and feeling +for artistic work which comes of culture, have carried away memories +and lessons which will last them for a lifetime. On the other hand, to +those who visit the Museum chiefly in order to see the people, it has +long been painfully evident that the folk who do not bring that sense +with them go away carrying nothing of it home with them. Nothing at +all. Those glass cases, those pictures, those big jugs, say no more to +the crowd than a cuneiform or a Hittite inscription. They have now, or +had quite recently, on exhibition a collection of turnips and carrots +beautifully modelled in wax: it is perhaps hoped that the +contemplation of these precious but homely things may carry the people +a step farther in the direction of culture than Sir Richard Wallace's +pictures could effect. In fact, the Bethnal Green Museum does no more +to educate the people than the British Museum. It is to them simply a +collection of curious things which is sometimes changed. It is cold +and dumb. It is merely a dull and unintelligent branch of a +department; and it will remain so, because whatever the collections +may be, a Museum can teach nothing, unless there is someone to expound +the meaning of the things. Why, even that wonderful Museum of the +House Beautiful could teach the pilgrims no lessons at all until the +Sisters explained to them what were the rare and curious things +preserved in their glass cases. + +Is it possible that, by any persuasion, attraction, or teaching, the +walking men of this country can be induced to aim at those organized, +highly skilled, and disciplined forms of recreation which make up the +better pleasure of life? Will they consent, without hope of gain, to +give the labour, patience, and practice required of every man who +would become master of any art or accomplishment, or even any game? +There are men, one is happy to find, who think that it is not only +possible, but even easy, to effect this, and the thing is about to be +transferred from the region or theory to that of practice, by the +creation of the People's Palace. + +The general scheme is already well known. Because the Mile End Road +runs through the most extensive portion of the most dismal city in the +world, the city which has been suffered to exist without recreation, +it has been chosen as the fitting site of the Palace. As regards +simple absence of joy, Hoxton, Haggerston, Pentonville, Clerkenwell, +or Kentish Town, might contend, and have a fair chance of success, +with any portion whatever of the East-end proper. But, then, around +Mile End lie Stepney, Whitechapel, Bethnal Green, the Cambridge Road, +the Commercial Road, Bow, Stratford, Shadwell, Limehouse, Wapping, and +St. George's-in-the-East. Without doubt the real centre, the [Greek: +omphalos] of dreariness, is situated somewhere in the Mile End Road, +and it is to be hoped that the Palace may be placed upon the very +centre itself. + +Let me say a few words as to what this Palace may and may not do. In +the first place, it can do nothing, absolutely nothing, to relieve the +great starvation and misery which lies all about London, but more +especially at the East-end. People who are out of work and starving do +not want amusement, not even of the highest kind; still less do they +want University extension. Therefore, as regards the Palace, let us +forget for a while the miserable condition of the very poor who live +in East London; we are concerned only with the well fed, those who are +in steady work, the respectable artisans and _petits commis_, the +artists in the hundred little industries which are carried on in the +East-end; those, in fact, who have already acquired some power of +enjoyment because they are separated by a sensible distance from their +hand-to-mouth brothers and sisters, and are pretty certain to-day that +they will have enough to eat to-morrow. It is for these, and such as +these, that the Palace will be established. It is to contain: (1) +class-rooms, where all kinds of study can be carried on; (2) concert +rooms; (3) conversation-rooms; (4) a gymnasium; (5) a library; and +lastly, a winter garden. In other words, it is to be an institution +which will recognise the fact, that for some of those who have to work +all day at, perhaps, uncongenial and tedious labour, the best form of +recreation may be study and intellectual effort; while for +others--that is to say, for the great majority--music, reading, +tobacco, and rest will be desired. Let us be under no illusions as to +the supposed thirst for knowledge. Those who desire to learn are even +in youth always a minority. How many men do we know, among our own +friends, who have ever set themselves to learn anything since they +left school? It is a great mistake to suppose that the working man, +any more than the merchant-man or the clerk-man, or the tradesman, is +ardently desirous of learning. But there will always be n few; and +especially there are the young who would fain, if they could, make a +ladder of learning, and so, as has ever been the goodly and godly +custom in this realm of England, mount unto higher things. The Palace +of the People would be incomplete indeed if it gave no assistance to +ambitious youths. Next to the classes in literature and science come +those in music and painting. There is no reason whatever why the +Palace should not include an academy of music, an academy of arts, and +an academy of acting, in a few months after its establishment it +should have its own choir, its own orchestra, its own concerts, its +own opera, and its own theatre, with a company formed of its own +_alumni_. And in a year or two it should have its own exhibition of +paintings, drawings, and sculpture. As regards the simpler amusements, +there must be rooms where the men can smoke, and others where the +girls and women can work, read, and talk; there must be a debating +society for questions, social and political, but especially the +former; there must be a dancing school, and a ball once every week, +all the year round; it should be possible to convert the great hall +into either theatre, concert-room, or ball-room; there must be a bar +for beer as well as for coffee, and at a price calculated so as to pay +just the bare expenses; there must be a library and writing-room, and +the winter garden must be a place where the women and children can +come in the daytime while the men are at work. One thing must be kept +out of the place: there must not be allowed to grow up in the minds +even of the most suspicious the least jealousy that religious +influences are at work; more than this, the institution must be +carefully watched to prevent the rise of such a suspicion; religious +controversy must be kept out of the debating-room, and even in the +conversation-rooms there ought to be power to exclude a man who makes +himself offensive by the exhibition and parade of his religious or +irreligious opinions. + +As for the teaching of the classes, we must look for voluntary work +rather than to a great endowment. The history of the College in Great +Ormond Street shows how much may be done by unpaid labour, and I do +not think it too much to expect that the Palace of the People may be +started by unpaid teachers in every branch of science and art: +moreover, as regards science, history and language, the University +Extension Society will probably find the staff. There must be, +however, volunteers, women as well as men, to teach singing, music, +dancing, sewing, acting, speaking, drawing, painting, carving, +modelling, and many other things. This kind of help should only be +wanted at the outset, because, before long, all the art departments +ought to be conducted by ex-students who have become in their turn +teachers, they should be paid, but not on the West-end scale, from +fees--so that the schools may support themselves. Let us not _give_ +more than is necessary; for every class and every course there should +be some kind of fee, though a liberal system of small scholarships +should encourage the students, and there should be the power of +remitting fees in certain cases. As for the difficulty of starting the +classes, I think that the assistance of Board School masters, foremen +of works, Sunday schools, the political clubs, and debating societies +should be invited; and that besides small scholarships, substantial +prizes of musical and mathematical instruments, books, artists' +materials, and so forth, should be offered, with the glory of public +exhibition and public performances. After the first year there should +be nothing exhibited in the Palace except work done in the classes, +and no performances of music or of plays should be given but by the +students themselves. + +There has been going on in Philadelphia for the last two years an +experiment, conducted by Mr. Charles Leland, whose sagacious and +active mind is as pleased to be engaged upon things practical as upon +the construction of humorous poems. He has founded, and now conducts +personally, an academy for the teaching of the minor arts; he gets +shop girls, work girls, factory girls, boys and young men of all +classes together, and teaches them how to make things, pretty things, +artistic things. 'Nothing,' he writes to me, 'can describe the joy +which fills a poor girl's mind when she finds that she, too, possesses +and can exercise a real accomplishment.' He takes them as ignorant, +perhaps--but I have no means of comparing--as the London factory girl, +the girl of freedom, the girl with the fringe--and he shows them how +to do crewel-work, fretwork, brass work; how to carve in wood; how to +design; how to draw--he maintains that it is possible to teach nearly +every one to draw; how to make and ornament leather work, boxes, +rolls, and all kinds of pretty things in leather. What has been done +in Philadelphia amounts, in fact, to this: that one man who loves his +brother man is bringing purpose, brightness, and hope into thousands +of lives previously made dismal by hard and monotonous work; he has +put new and higher thoughts into their heads; he has introduced the +discipline of methodical training; he has awakened in them the sense +of beauty. Such a man is nothing less than a benefactor to humanity. +Let us follow his example in the Palace of the People. + +I venture, further, to express my strong conviction that the success +of the Palace will depend entirely upon its being governed, within +limits at first, but these limits constantly broadening, by the people +themselves. If they think the Palace is a trap to catch them, and make +them sober, good, religious and temperate, there will be an end. In +the first place, therefore, there must be a real element of the +working man upon the council; there must be real working men on every +sub-committee or branch; the students must be wholly recruited from +the working classes; and gradually the council must be elected by the +people who use the Palace. Fortunately, there would be no difficulty +at the outset in introducing this element, because the great factories +and breweries in the neighbourhood might be asked each to elect one or +more representatives to sit upon the council of the new University. It +'goes without saying' that the police work, the maintenance of order, +the out-kicking of offenders, must be also entirely managed by a +voluntary corps of efficient working men. Rows there will undoubtedly +be, since we are all of us, even the working man, human; but there +need be no scandals. + +I must not go on, though there is so much to be said. I see before us +in the immediate future a vast University whose home is in the Mile +End Road; but it has affiliated colleges in all the suburbs, so that +even poor, dismal, uncared-for Hoxton shall no longer be neglected; +the graduates of this University are the men and women whose lives, +now unlovely and dismal, shall be made beautiful for them by their +studies, and their heavy eyes uplifted to meet the sunlight; the +subjects or examination shall be, first, the arts of every kind: so +that unless a man have neither eyes to see nor hand to work with, he +may here find something or other which he may learn to do; and next, +the games, sports, and amusements with which we cheat the weariness of +leisure and court the joy of exercising brain and wit and strength. +From the crowded class-rooms I hear already the busy hum of those who +learn and those who teach. Outside, in the street, are those--a vast +multitude to be sure--who are too lazy and too sluggish of brain to +learn anything: but these, too, will flock into the Palace presently +to sit, talk, and argue in the smoking-rooms; to read in the library; +to see the students' pictures upon the walls; to listen to the +students' orchestra, discoursing such music as they have never dreamed +of before; to look on while His Majesty's Servants of the People's +Palace perform a play, and to hear the bright-eyed girls sing +madrigals. + +[1884.] + + + + + +THE ASSOCIATED LIFE. [The substance of this paper was delivered as the +presidential speech at the opening of the Hoxton Library and +Institute.] + + + +It has seemed to me--for reasons which I hope to make clear to +you--that the present occasion, the opening of our newly-acquired +Place of Gathering, is one on which something may be said upon the +subject of the Associated Life--that is to say, on the union, or +combination of men, or of men and women, in order to effect by +collective action objects--objects worthy of effort--impossible for +the individual to attempt. + +It would seem at first sight that combination should be the very +simplest thing in the world. It is self-evident that those who want +anything have a much better chance of getting it if they join together +in order to demand it, or to work for it. Like one or two other simple +laws of human nature, this, though the simplest, is the hardest to get +people to understand and to accept. Nothing is so difficult as to +persuade people to trust each other, even to the extent of standing +together and sticking together and working together in order to get +what they want. + +The first association of men was forced upon them for protection, I +wonder how many ages--hundreds of thousands of years--it took to teach +men to join together in order to protect themselves against +starvation, wild beasts, and each other. The necessity of +self-preservation first made men associate, and changed hunters into +soldiers, and turned the whole world into a camp. It was war, which +brought men together; it was war which taught men the necessity of +order, discipline, and obedience; without the necessity for fighting, +without the military spirit, no association at all would now be +possible. A vast number of men practically use modern safety at this +day for the purpose of being fighters, every man against his +neighbour. Just as no one would, even now, do any work but for the +necessity of finding food for himself and his family, so no one would +ever have begun to stand side by side with his neighbour but for the +absolute certainty that he would be killed if he did not. + +Let us, however, consider a more advanced kind of association, that of +men united for purposes of trade and profit. The craftsman of the +town, who made things and sold them, found out by the experience of +some generations that his only chance, if he would not become a slave, +was to combine with others who made the same things for the same +purposes. He therefore formed--here in London, as early as the Saxon +times an association for the protection of his craft--a +rough-and-ready association at first, a religious guild or fraternity, +something which should persuade men to come together as friends, not +rivals, what we should now call a benefit society, gradually +developing into an association of officers, a constitution, and rules; +growing by slow degrees into a powerful and wealthy body, having its +period of birth, development, vigour, and decay. In illustration of +such an association, I will sketch out for you the history of a +certain London Company--what was called a Craft Company; a society of +working-men who were engaged upon the same craft; who all made the +same thing: as the Company of Bowyers who made bows, or of Fletchers +who made arrows. The society began first of all with a Guild of the +Craft, such as I have just mentioned; that is to say, all those who +belonged to the Craft--according to the custom of the time, they all +lived in the same quarter and were well known to each other--were +persuaded or compelled to belong to the Guild. Here religion stepped +in, for every Guild had its own patron saint, and if a craftsman stood +aloof, he lost the protection and incurred the displeasure of that +saint, so that, apart from considerations of the common weal, terror +of how the offended saint might punish the blackleg forced men to +join. Thus, St. George protected the armourers; St. Mary and St. +Thomas the Martyr, the bowyers; St. Catharine the Virgin, the +haberdashers; St. Martin, the sadlers; the Virgin Mary, the +cloth-workers, and so on. On the saint's day they marched in +procession to the parish church and heard Mass; every year each man +paid his fees of membership; the Guild looked after the sick and +maintained the aged of the Craft. The next step, which was not taken +until after many years, and was not at first contemplated, was to +obtain for the Guild--_i.e._, for the Craft--a Royal Charter. This +favour of the Sovereign conferred certain powers of regulating their +trade; and, this once obtained, we hear no more of the Guild--it +became absorbed into the Company. The religious observances remained, +but they were no longer put forward as the chief 'articles' of +association. The powers granted by Royal Charter were very strong. The +Company was empowered to prohibit anyone from working at that trade +within the jurisdiction of the City who was not a member of the +Company; it could prevent markets from being held within a certain +distance of the City; it could oblige all the youth of the City to be +apprenticed to some Company; it could regulate wages and hours of +work; it could examine the work before it could be sold; and it could +limit the number of the workmen. The Company, in fact, ruled its own +trade with an authority from which there was no appeal. On the other +hand, the Company exercised a paternal care over its members. When +they were sick, the Company provided for them; when they became old, +the Company maintained them; if any became dishonest, the Company +turned them out of the City. You, who think yourselves strong with +your Trades Unions (things as yet undeveloped and with all their +history before them), have never yet succeeded in getting a tenth part +of the power and authority over your own men that was excercised by a +City Company in the time of Richard II. over its Livery. + +Then, in order to maintain the dignity of the Craft, a livery was +chosen, the colours of which were worn by every member. On their +saint's day, as in the old days of the Guild, the Company marched in +great magnificence, with music and flags and new liveries, with their +wardens, officers, schoolboys, almsmen, and priests, to church. After +church they banqueted together in the Company's Hall, a splendid +building, where a great feast was served, and where the day was +honoured by the presence of guests--great nobles, city worthies, even +the Lord Mayor, perhaps, or some of the Aldermen, or the Bishop, or +one of the Abbots of the City Religious Houses. Every man was bidden +to bring his wife to the feast of the Company's grand day--if not his +wife, then his sweetheart, for all were to feast together. During +dinner the musicians in their gallery made sweet music. After dinner, +actors and tumblers came in, and they had pageants and shows, and +marvellous feats of skill and legerdemain. + +Ask yourselves, at this point, whether it is possible to conceive of +an institution more purely democratic than such a company as +originally designed. All the craftsmen of every craft combining +together, not one allowed to stand out, electing their own officers, +obeying rules for the general good, building halls, holding banquets, +and creating a spirit of pride in their craft. What more could be +desired? Why do we not imitate this excellent example? + +Yet, when we look at the City Companies, what do we find? The old +Craft Companies, it is true, still exist; they have an income of many +thousands a year, and a livery, or list of members, in number varying +from twenty to four hundred, and not one single craftsman left among +them. What has become, then, or the Association? Well, that remains, +the shadow remains, but the substance has long since gone. Even the +craft itself, in many cases, has disappeared. There are no longer in +existence, for instance, Armourers, Bowyers, Fletchers, or Poulterers. + +What has happened, then? Why did this essentially democratic +Company--in which all were subject to rules for the general good, and +none should undersell his brother, and the rate of wages and the hours +of labour were regulated--so completely fail? + +For many reasons, some of which concern ourselves: it failed, because +the members themselves forgot the original reason of their +combination, and neglected to look after their own interests; it +failed, because the members were too ignorant to remember, or to know, +that the Company was founded for the interests of the Craft itself, +and not for those of the masters alone or the men alone. Now every +Association must needs, of course, have wardens or masters; it must +needs elect to those posts of dignity and responsibility such men as +could understand law and maintain their privileges if necessary before +the dread Sovereign, his Highness the King. The men they necessarily +elected were therefore those who had received some education, +master-workmen--their own employers--not their fellows. It speedily +came about, therefore, that the masters, not the men, ruled the hours +of work, the wages of work, the quantity and quality of work: the +masters, not the craftsmen, admitted members and limited their number. +Do you now understand? The officers ruled the Company of the Craftsmen +for the benefit of the masters and not the men. Nay, they did more. +Since in some trades the men showed a disposition, on dimly perceiving +the reality, to form a union within a union, the masters were strong +enough to put down all combinations for the raising of wages as +illegal; to attempt such combinations was ruled to be conspiracy. And +conspiracy all unions of working men have remained down to the present +day, as the founders of the first Trades Unions in this country +discovered to their cost. So the men were gagged; they were silenced; +they were enslaved by the very institution that they had founded for +the insurance of their own freedom. The thing was inevitable because +they were ignorant, and because, if you put into any man's hands the +power of robbing his neighbour with impunity, that man will inevitably +sooner or later rob his neighbour. I fear that we must acknowledge the +sorrowful fact that not a single man in the whole world, whatever his +position, can be trusted with irresponsible and absolute power--with +the power of robbery coupled with the certainty of immunity. + +Well, in this way came about the first enslavement of the working man. +It lasted for three hundred years. Then followed a time of comparative +freedom, when, the wealth and population of the city increasing, the +craftsmen found themselves pushed out beyond the walls, and taking up +their quarters beyond the power of the Companies. But it was a freedom +without knowledge, without order, without forethought. It was the +freedom of the savage who lives only for himself. For they were now +unable to combine. In the long course of centuries they had lost the +very idea of combination; they had forgotten that in an age we call +rude and rough they possessed the power and perceived the importance +of combination. The great-grandchildren of the men who had formed this +union of the trade had entirely forgotten the meaning, the reason, the +possibility, of the old combination. In this way, then, the Companies +gradually lost their craftsmen, but retained their property. + +One very remarkable result may be noticed. Formerly, the Lord Mayor of +London was elected by the whole of the commonalty. All the citizens +assembled at Paul's Cross, and there, sometimes with tumult and +sometimes with fighting, they elected their mayor for the next year. +But since every man in the City was compelled to belong to his own +Company, to speak of the commonalty meant to speak of the Companies. +Every man who voted for the election of Lord Mayor was therefore bound +to be a liveryman--_i.e_., a member of a Company. This restriction is +still in force; that is to say, the City of London, the richest and +the greatest city in the world, now allows eight thousand liverymen, +or members of the Companies, to elect their chief magistrate. + +Why do I tell over again this old threadbare tale? Perhaps, however, +it is not old or threadbare to you: perhaps there are some here who +learn for the first time that association, trade union, combination, +is a thousand years old in this ancient city. I have told it chiefly, +however, because the history should be a warning to you of London; +because it shows that association itself may be made the very weapon +with which to destroy its own objects; in other words, because you +must find in this history an illustration or the great truth that the +forms of liberty require the most unceasing vigilance to prevent them +from becoming the means of destroying liberty. The Companies failed +because they could be, and were, used to destroy the freedom of the +very men for whose benefit they were founded. At present, as you know, +some of them are very poor indeed: those which are rich are probably +doing far more good with their wealth in promoting all kinds of useful +work than ever they did in all their past history. + +There followed, I said, a long period in which association among +working men was absolutely unknown. The history of this period, from a +craftsman's point of view, has never been written. It is, indeed, a +most terrible chapter in the history of industry. + +Imagine, if you can, crowded districts in which there were no schools, +or but one school for a very few, no churches, no newspapers or books, +a place in which no one could read; a place in which every man, woman +and child regarded the Government of the country, in which they had +not the least share, as their natural enemy and oppressor. Among them +lurked the housebreaker, the highway robber, and the pickpocket. Along +the riverside, where many thousands of working men lived--at St. +Katherine's, Wapping, Shadwell, and Ratcliff--all the people together, +high and low, were in league with the men who loaded and unloaded the +ships in the river and robbed them all day long. What could be +expected of people left thus absolutely to themselves, without any +power of action, without the least thought that amendment was possible +or desirable? Can we wonder if the people sank lower and lower, until, +by the middle of the last century, the working men of London had +reached a depth of degradation that terrified everyone who knew what +things meant? Listen to the following words, written in the year 1772: + +'To paint the manners of the lower rank of the inhabitants of London +is to draw a most disagreeable caricature, since the blackest vices +and the most perpetual scenes of villainy and wickedness are +constantly to be met with there. The most thorough contempt for all +order, morality, and decency is almost universal among the poorer sort +of people, whose manners I cannot but regard as the worst in the whole +world. The open street for ever presents the spectator with the most +loathsome scenes of beastliness, cruelty, and all manner of vice. In a +word, if you would take a view of man in his debased state, go neither +to the savages nor the Hottentots; they are decent, cleanly, and +elegant, compared with the poor people of London.' + +This is very strongly put. If you will look at some of Hogarth's +pictures you will admit that the words are not too strong. + +Union had long since been forbidden; union was called conspiracy; +conspiracy was punishable by imprisonment. If men cannot combine they +sink into their natural condition and become savages again. All these +evils fell upon our unfortunate working men as a natural result of +neglect first, and of enforced isolation. Union was forbidden. During +all these years every man worked for himself, stood by himself; there +was no association. Therefore, there followed savagery. There was no +education. Had there been either, association or rebellion must have +followed. The awakening of associated effort took place at the +beginning of the French Revolution. It was caused, or stimulated, by +that prodigious movement; and the first combinations of working men +were formed for political purposes. Since then, what have we seen? +Associations for political purposes formed, prohibited, persecuted, +formed again in spite of ancient laws. Associations victorious; we +have seen Trades Unions formed, prohibited, formed again, and now +flourishing, though not quite victorious. And the spirit of +association, I cannot but believe, grows stronger every day. In this +most glorious century--the noblest century for the advancement of +mankind that the world has ever seen, yet only the beginning of the +things that are to follow--we have gained an immense number of things: +the suffrage, vote by ballot, the Factory Acts, abolition of flogging, +the freedom of the press, the right of public meeting, the right of +combination, and a system of free education by which the national +character, the national modes of thought; the national customs, will +be changed in ways we cannot forecast; but since the national +character will always remain British we need have no fear of that +change. All these things--remember, all these things; every one of +these things--is the result, direct or indirect, of association. +Think, for instance, of one difference in custom between now and a +hundred years ago. Formerly, when a wrong thing had to be denounced, +or an iniquity attacked, the man who saw the thing wrote a pamphlet or +a book, which never probably reached the class for whom it was +intended at all. He now writes to the papers, which are read by +millions. He thus, to begin with, creates a certain amount of public +opinion; he then forms a society composed of those who think like +himself; then, for his companions, he spreads his doctrines in all +directions. That is our modern method; not to stand up alone like a +prophet, and to preach and cry aloud while the world, unheeding, +passes by, but to march in the ranks with brother soldiers, exhorting +and calling on our comrades to take up the word, and pass it on--and +when the soldiers in the ranks are firm and fixed to carry that cause. + +We are now witnessing one of the most remarkable, one of the most +suggestive, signs of the time--a time which is, I verily believe, +teeming with social mange--a time, as I have said above, of the most +stupendous importance in the history of mankind. We read constantly, +in the paper and everywhere, fears, prophecies, bogies of approaching +revolution. Approaching! Fears of approaching revolution! Why, we are +in the midst of this revolution, we are actually in the midst of the +most wonderful social revolution! People don't perceive it, simply +because the revolutionaries are not chopping off heads, as they did in +France. But it has begun, all the same, and it is going on around us +silently, swiftly, irresistibly. We are actually in the midst of +revolution. Everywhere the old order of things is slipping away; +everywhere things new and unexpected are asserting themselves. Let me +only point out a few things. We have become within the last twenty +years a nation of readers--we all read; most of us, it is true, read +only newspapers. But what newspapers? Why, exactly the same papers as +are read by the people of the highest position in the land. Perhaps +you have not thought of the significance, the extreme significance, of +this fact. Certainly those who continually talk of the ignorance of +the people have never thought of it! What does it mean? Why, that +every reasoning man in the country, whatever his social position, +reads the same news, the same debates, the same arguments as the +statesman, the scholar, the philosopher, the preacher, or the man of +science. He bases his opinions on the same reasoning and on the same +information as the Leader of the House of Commons, as my Lord +Chancellor, as my Lord Archbishop himself. Formerly the working man +read nothing, and he knew nothing, and he had no power. He has now, +not only his vote, but he has as much personal influence among his own +friends as depends upon his knowledge and his force of character, and +he can acquire as much political knowledge as any noble lord not +actually in official circles, if he only chooses to reach out his hand +and take what is offered him! Is not that a revolution which has so +much raised the working man? Again, he was, formerly, the absolute +slave of his employer; he was obliged to take with a semblance of +gratitude whatever wages were offered him. What is he now? A man of +business, who negotiates for his skill. Is not that a revolution? +Formerly he lived where he could. Look, now, at the efforts made +everywhere to house him properly. For, understand, association on one +side, which shows power, commands recognition and respect on the +other. None of these fine things would have been done for the working +men had they not shown that they could combine. Consider, again, the +question of education. Here, indeed, is a mighty revolution going on +around us: the Board Schools teaching things never before presented to +the children of the people; technical schools teaching work of all +kinds; and--a most remarkable sign of the times--thousands upon +thousands of working lads, after a hard day's work, going off to a +Polytechnic for a hard evening's work of another kind. And of what +kind? It is exactly the same kind as is found in the colleges of the +rich. The same sciences, the same languages, the same arts, the same +intellectual culture, are learned by these working lads in their +evenings as are learned by their richer brothers in the mornings. In +many cases the teachers are men of the same standing at the University +as those who teach at the public schools. There are, I believe, a +hundred thousand of these ambitious boys scattered over London, and +the number increases daily. If this is not revolution, I should like +to know what is. That the working classes should study in the highest +schools; that they should enjoy an equal chance with the richest and +noblest of acquiring knowledge of the highest kind; that they should +be found capable actually of foregoing the pleasures of youth--the +rest, the society, the amusements of the evenings--in order to acquire +knowledge--what is this if it is not a revolution and an upsetting? As +for what is coming out of all these things, I have formed, for myself, +very strong views indeed, and I think that I could, if this were a +fitting time, prophesy unto you. But, for the present, let us be +content with simply marking what has been done, and especially with +the recognition that everything--every single thing--that has been +gained has been either achieved by association, or has naturally grown +and developed out of association. + +Through association the way to the higher education is open to you; +through association political power has been acquired for you; through +association you have made yourselves free to combine for trade +purposes; through association you have made yourselves strong, and +even, in the eyes of some, terrible; it remains in these respects only +that you should make, as one believes you will make, a fit and proper +use of advantages and weapons which have never before been placed in +the hands of any nation, not even Germany; certainly not the United +States. + +But what about the other side of life--the social side, the side of +recreation, the side which has been so persistently ignored and +neglected up to the present day? Now, when we look round us and +consider that side of life we observe the plainest and the most +significant proof possible of the great social revolution which is +among us; plainer, more significant, than the success of the Trades +Unions. For we see sprung up, already a vigorous plant, the associated +life applied to purposes above the mere material interests. You have +made them safe, as far as possible, by your unions. The social and +recreative side of life you have now taken over into your keeping, you +order recreation which shall be as music or as poetry in your +associated lives, harmonious, melodious, rhythmic, metrical. All that +I have said to-night leads up to this, that the Associated Life is +necessary for the enjoyment and the attainment of the best and the +highest things that the world can give, as the Guild and the Company +formerly, and the Trade Union is now, for the safeguarding of the +craft. In entering upon this new association, men and women together, +learn the lessons of the past. Be jealous of your democratic lines. +Let every step be a step for the general interest. Let the individual +perish. Let the wishes and intentions of your founders be never lost +to sight. Be not carried away by religion, by politics, by any new +thing; never lose the principles of your association. + +And now, I ask, when, before this day, has it been recorded in the +history of any city that men and women should unite in order to +procure for themselves those social advantages which up to the present +have been enjoyed only by the richer class, and not always by them? +When, before this time, has it been reported that men and women have +banded themselves together resolved that whatever good things rich +people could procure for themselves, they would also make for +themselves? Since the magistrates refused to allow dancing, one of the +most innocent and delightful amusements, they would arrange their own +dancing for themselves without troubling the magistrates for +permission. Since going to concerts cost money, they would have their +own musicians and their own singers. Since selection of companions is +the first essence of social enjoyment, they would have their own rooms +for themselves, where they would meet none but those who, like +themselves, desired education, culture, and orderly recreation. In one +word, when, in the history of any city, has there been found such a +combination, so resolute for culture, as the combination of men and +women which has raised this temple, this sacred Temple of Humanity? +You are, indeed, I plainly perceive, revolutionaries of the most +dangerous kind. As revolutionaries you are engaged in the cultivation +of all those arts and accomplishments which have hitherto belonged to +the West-end; as revolutionaries you claim the right to meet, read, +sing, dance, act, play, debate, with as much freedom as if you lived +in Berkeley Square. Where will these things stop? + +[1893.] + + +[Illustration.] + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's As We Are and As We May Be, by Sir Walter Besant + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AS WE ARE AND AS WE MAY BE *** + +***** This file should be named 14191.txt or 14191.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/4/1/9/14191/ + +Produced by Bryan Ness, Keith M. 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