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diff --git a/old/52310-0.txt b/old/52310-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 2c8e87f..0000000 --- a/old/52310-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,10316 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Beacon for the Blind, by Winifred Holt - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: A Beacon for the Blind - Being a Life of Henry Fawcett, the Blind Postmaster-General - - -Author: Winifred Holt - - - -Release Date: June 12, 2016 [eBook #52310] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A BEACON FOR THE BLIND*** - - -E-text prepared by Richard Hulse, Elizabeth Oscanyan, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images -generously made available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 52310-h.htm or 52310-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/52310/52310-h/52310-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/52310/52310-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/cu31924028315400 - - - - - -A BEACON FOR THE BLIND - - -[Illustration: _Photo. Emery Walker_ - - PROFESSOR AND MRS. FAWCETT - From the painting by Ford Madox Brown, - now in the National Portrait Gallery] - - -A BEACON FOR THE BLIND - -Being a Life of Henry Fawcett -the Blind Postmaster-General - -by - -WINIFRED HOLT - - - ‘He that is greatest among you - let him be servant of all.’ - - - - - - - -Boston and New York -Houghton Mifflin Company -1914 - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED - - TO THE FIVE ON TWO CONTINENTS - - WHO MADE ITS WRITING POSSIBLE—— - - IN ENGLAND, B. T. AND F. DE G. E. - - IN AMERICA, E. H. B., H. H. - - AND R. H. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - FOREWORD - - BY - - THE RIGHT HONOURABLE VISCOUNT BRYCE - LATE BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO AMERICA - - -There has been no more striking example in our time of how self-reliance -and strength of purpose can triumph over adverse fortune than that -presented by the career of Henry Fawcett. The story of his life as it is -to be told in this book will give ample illustrations of his fortitude -and his perseverance. All that I, an old friend of his, need speak of is -a quality hardly less remarkable than was his energy. I mean his -cheerfulness. It was specially wonderful and admirable in one afflicted -as he was. Nothing would seem so to cut a man off from his fellows as -the loss of sight, nor would it appear possible to enjoy the charms of -external nature without seeing them. Fawcett, however, delighted in -society. He never moped. He loved to be among his friends, and found an -inexhaustible pleasure in talk wherever he was, in his College (Trinity -Hall, Cambridge), at London dinner-parties, in the lobbies or -smoking-room of the House of Commons. If he had moments of sadness in -solitude we knew nothing of them, for in company he was always bright. -His greetings were joyous; his good spirits proverbial at Cambridge, and -indeed in all the circles that knew him, making his friends feel, in any -moments of depression that might come upon them, half ashamed to be less -cheery than one with whom fate had dealt so hardly. Without this natural -buoyancy of temper, even such a resolute will as his might have failed -to achieve so much as he achieved. He seemed determined to hold on to -every possible source of enjoyment he had ever known before sight was -lost. That determination used to strike me most in his fondness for -open-air nature and physical exercise. He loved not only walking but -riding. I remember how once when I was staying with him in the same -country house in Surrey, our host arranged a long excursion on horseback -through the lanes and woods of the pretty country that lies on both -sides of the North Downs, to the south-west of London. Fawcett insisted -on being one of the party, and when he approached a place where the -bridle-path ran through a wood of beeches, whose spreading boughs came -down almost to the height of the horses’ heads, he said to me, ‘Tell me -to duck my head whenever we come to a spot where the branches are low.’ -I felt uneasy, for if he had struck against one of the thick boughs, he -might have been unhorsed and would certainly have been hurt. However, I -went in front and warned him as he had desired. He rode on fearlessly, -stooping low over the horse’s neck whenever I called out to him to do -so, and he evidently enjoyed the fresh scent of the woods and the -rustling of the leaves just as much as did all the rest of us. - -His love of nature, joined to his sympathy with the masses of the -people, made him eager to secure the preservation of public rights in -commons and village greens and footpaths. He was one of the founders of -that Commons Preservation Society which has done so much to save open -spaces in England from the grasp of the spoiler; frequently attended its -meetings, and was always ready to vote and speak in the House of Commons -when any question involving popular rights in the land arose there. - -At a time when extremely few non-official persons in Parliament -interested themselves in the government and administration of India, -Fawcett, though he had never visited the East, and had no family -connection with it, felt, and set himself to impress upon others, the -grave responsibility of Britain for the welfare of the peoples of India. -He studied with characteristic thoroughness and assiduity the facts and -conditions of Indian life, the financial problems those conditions -involve, the needs and feelings of the subject population. His speeches -were of the greatest value in calling public attention to these -subjects, and his name is gratefully remembered in India. - -His mental powers were remarkable rather for strength than for subtlety. -It was an eminently English intellect, forcible in its broad commonsense -way of looking at things, and in its disposition to pass by side issues -and refinements in order to go straight to the main conclusions he -desired to enforce. This was what chiefly gave weight to his speeches in -Parliament and on the platform. Debarred as he was from the use of -writing, he formed the habit of thinking out fully beforehand both what -he meant to say and the words in which he meant to say it, and thus he -became a master of lucid statement and cogent argument, making each of -his points sharp and clear, and driving them home in a way which every -listener could comprehend. The same merits of directness and coherency -are conspicuous in his writings on political economy, his favourite -study. There were no dark corners in his mind any more than in his -political creed, or indeed in his course of action as a statesman. In -practical politics, it was said of him, to use a familiar phrase, that -you always knew where to find him. That was one of the qualities which -secured for him not only the confidence of his political friends but the -respect of his political opponents. When he died prematurely he had -reached a position in the House of Commons which would have secured his -early admission to the Cabinet, and the only doubt I ever heard raised -was whether his blindness, which would have made it necessary that -documents, however confidential, should be read aloud to him, would have -constituted a fatal obstacle. - -The force of his character and the vigour of his intellect must have -ensured him a distinguished career even had he been stricken by no -calamity. That he should have been stricken by one which would have -overwhelmed almost any other man, and should have triumphed over it by -his cheerful and persistent courage, marks him out as an extraordinary -man, worthy to be long remembered. - - BRYCE. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - INTRODUCTION - - -‘I wish we had Fawcett here to-day. At this crisis England needs him -sorely.’ These words, said with much feeling by the late Lord Avebury, -were spoken to the writer of this book only two years ago. - -Fawcett is not needed only in England. His is the type of man needed -sorely to-day and every day in every empire and democracy under the sun. -His example of valour against odds is just as necessary for America as -for the Mother Country, for the men who are now doing the world’s work -as for the lads who will be at work to-morrow. - -Sir Leslie Stephen said that while writing the biography of Fawcett, -there was not a single fact which he had to conceal, nothing to explain -away, nothing to apologise for, and he judged the best way to do his -subject honour was to tell the plain story as fully and as frankly as he -could. - -Sir Leslie wrote with the reticent dignity of one recently grieving for -the loss of his friend; the present writer will have executed her task -if she has succeeded in throwing a more personal light on the heroic -figure of Fawcett. - -This little book has no pretensions. It endeavours merely to preserve -carefully and reverently glimpses and flashes—which might have otherwise -been lost—of a great life, a life of deep significance not only to those -who see, but especially to those who, like Fawcett, must depend for -their vision on that inner eye which no calamity can darken. - -When he lost his sight, Fawcett had his fixed manner of life, his tastes -and ambitions, and he was painfully forced to readjust himself to -altered aspects. The tracing of the beneficent effect of this necessity -on a man of his strong mind, body and will, is a psychological study of -deep interest. - -His attitude towards questions that are still vital, such as the -treatment of dependent peoples, the widening of the suffrage and the -perfecting of its machinery, make his personality still unique, modern -and absorbing. - -A nearer view of the man, seen through the recollections and anecdotes -of his friends, shows his intense love of fun, his high ideals and -bravery, his tremendous industry and accomplishment. - -The author is grateful for permission to use the facsimiles of the -letters of Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales (King Edward). - -She is also deeply obliged for the help given by reminiscences and -anecdotes from the Right Honourable the late Lord Avebury; Dr. Beck, -Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge; Dr. Henry Bond; the Right Honourable -Viscount Bryce, late British Ambassador to America; Sir Francis -Campbell; the late Robert Campbell, Esq.; the Honourable Joseph H. -Choate, late American Ambassador to Great Britain; Lord and Lady -Courtney; Sir Alfred Dale; the late Sir Robert Hunter; the late Sir -William Lee-Warner, G.C.S.I.; the Right Honourable Viscount Morley; Lady -Ritchie, Miss McCleod Smith; the Right Honourable the late James Stuart, -Esq., and Mr. Sedley Taylor. - -She is particularly indebted to Miss Fawcett, the sister of Mr. Fawcett, -and to Mrs. Fawcett, his widow, for their assistance. Their interest in -the book was a great stimulus towards its writing. Mr. F. J. Dryhurst, -C.B., who from 1871 to 1884 was secretary to Mr. Fawcett, has been a -great aid in preparing the book. The greatest assistance has been given -by Miss de Grasse Evans and Miss Beatrice Taylor, without whose sympathy -and help in various stages of the work its completion might have been -impossible. - -It has been inevitable that Sir Leslie’s biography should be largely -quarried. His arrangement of facts has been followed as the simplest and -most logical framework for the story, and descriptions of scenes which -he and his friends witnessed, and stories of Fawcett not elsewhere -given, have been used. The admiration and gratitude of the novice for -help from the master biographer is here humbly recorded. - -This book should enhance the interest of the older biography, which -perhaps may be reintroduced after many years oblivion—as it has been out -of print—by its younger and less formal companion. - -The material to be had has been used and adapted as it might best serve, -and the narrative has not been interrupted to give its source; it is -believed that this policy will be in accordance with the wishes of those -of Mr. Fawcett’s appreciators who have so generously helped. - -The more we know about this brave, patient and humorous man, the more -inspiration we get; and to help us to achieve and to rejoice—never was -inspiration more sorely needed than to-day! It is in the hope of -supplying a little of this great need that this brief story of a -steadfast life is written. - - WINIFRED HOLT. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - FOREWORD BY THE RIGHT HON. VISCOUNT BRYCE vii - - INTRODUCTION xiii - - - YOUTH - - CHAPTER I. WATERLOO, THE MAYOR AND THE BABY 3 - - The Fisherman—The Battle of Waterloo—The Mayor of Salisbury—the - Mayor’s Son—The Market-place—The Circus—Boarding-School and - Fun—A Diary - - - CHAPTER II. THE BOY LECTURER 11 - - A Lecture on the Uses of Steam—Parliamentary Ambitions—King’s - College—Politics in the Fifties—Cribbage and Cricket - - - CAMBRIDGE - - CHAPTER III. THE TALL STUDENT 25 - - Peterhouse—Quoits and Billiards—Trinity Hall—A - Fellowship—Lincoln’s Inn - - - CHAPTER IV. A SET BACK 35 - - A Trip to France—Wiltshire French—A Discouragement - - - WINNING BACK - - CHAPTER V. DARKNESS 43 - - A Shooting Accident—Blindness—Readjustment - - - CHAPTER VI. HAPPINESS 54 - - The clear-sighted Man—A Scot’s Accent—Mountain - Climbing—Skating—Riding, etc. - - - CHAPTER VII. DISTRACTION 63 - - Fishing—In the House of Commons—Need for Distraction—What Helen - Keller thinks—Sir Francis Campbell—Leap Frog—Despair and - Cheer—Paupers and Political Economy - - - CAMBRIDGE AGAIN - - CHAPTER VIII. THE PROBLEM OF THE POOR 75 - - A Prime Object—Lincoln—Leslie Stephen—Daily Life at - Cambridge—Deepening interest in Social Questions - - - CHAPTER IX. THE GOOD SAMARITAN 84 - - ‘Ask Fawcett’—The Ancient Mariners and the Diplomat—Christmas - Exceedings—Fawcett as Host—A Bore Foiled—The British - Association - - - CHAPTER X. THE YOUNG ECONOMIST 94 - - Championing Darwin—Darwin at Down—Salisbury gossip—Meeting - Mill—Fawcett for Lincoln and the Union—John Bright’s Dog—Chair - of Political Economy - - - THE PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL ECONOMY - - CHAPTER XI. A PROGRAMME OF HELPFULNESS 111 - - Triumphing over Blindness—The Professor’s Audience—Free Trade - and Protection—The Luxury of Light—The Malady of Poverty - - - CHAPTER XII. THE SCHOOLS OF THE POOR 119 - - Need of non-secular Education—Charity and Pauperism—Friendship - with Working-Men—The Voice that Linked - - - CHAPTER XIII. THE NEW M.P. AND THE CLUB 127 - - Thackeray and the Reform Club—The Popular M.P.—The Assassination - of Lincoln—Marriage - - - CHAPTER XIV. THE WOMAN AND THE VOTE 135 - - The Home in London—Sympathy with Woman Suffrage—The Blind - Gardener—Clubs—Hatred of Flunkeyism - - - THE NEW M.P. - - CHAPTER XV. BLIND SUPERSTITIONS 143 - - Speech before the British Association—Mill again—Bright and Lord - Brougham—The Mythical Committee Room—Defeat at Southwark - - - CHAPTER XVI. PURE POLITICS 151 - - Defeat at Cambridge and Brighton—Routing a Chimæra—Elected the - Member for Brighton—The House of Commons - - - CHAPTER XVII. A PROPHETIC QUESTION IN PARLIAMENT 162 - - The Blind and Silent M.P.—His First Speech—Protecting Cattle, - neglecting Children—Industry earns Penury—Mill ‘out’ - - - CHAPTER XVIII. GLADSTONE PRIME MINISTER 173 - - Opposition to Gladstone—‘The Most Thorough Radical Member in the - House’—Growing Dissatisfaction with the Government—The Irish - Universities Bill—Helping to Defeat his own Party - - - SAVING THE PEOPLE’s PLAYGROUNDS - - CHAPTER XIX. THE STOLEN COMMONS 185 - - The Disappearance of the English Playgrounds and - Commons—Fawcett’s First Protest—The Annual Enclosure Bill - stopped by his Energetic Action - - - CHAPTER XX. THE FIGHT FOR THE FOREST 194 - - The Commons Preservation Society—The Saving of Epping Forest—The - Queen’s Rights—The Lords of the Manors’ Rights.—The People’s - Rights - - - CHAPTER XXI. FOR THE PEOPLE’S WOODS AND STREAMS 203 - - Saving the Forests—‘The Monstrous Notion’—Walking with Lord - Morley—The Boat Race—Safeguarding the Rivers - - - THE MEMBER FOR INDIA - - CHAPTER XXII. WHAT INDIA PAID 217 - - India Pays for English Hospitality—Royal English Generosity to - India paid for by India—How to Deal with an Angry - Opponent—Indian Finance and the poor Ryot—Gratitude from - India—How Fawcett Prepared his Speeches - - - CHAPTER XXIII. THE ‘ONE MAN WHO CARED FOR INDIA’ 227 - - Defeated at Brighton—Spectacles and the Man—Elected for Hackney - - - CHAPTER XXIV. FAMINE, TURKS AND INDIANS 234 - - _Punch_ and Fawcett—The Indian Famine—Parliamentary Interest - Aroused in India—Bulgarian Atrocities—Afghanistan - War—Gladstone’s Faith in Fawcett—A £9,000,000 Mistake - - - A NEW KIND OF POSTMASTER-GENERAL - - CHAPTER XXV. LIBERALS IN POWER 249 - - General Expectation that Fawcett would join the - Cabinet—Importance of a Fish—Postmaster-General—Queen Victoria - Interested—Post Office Problems—Scientific Business Management - Anticipated—Women’s Work—A Likeness to Lincoln - - - CHAPTER XXVI. FRESH AIR, BLUE RIBBONS AND POSTMEN 262 - - A Day with the Postmaster-General—How he Worked—Reform—The - Parcel Post - - - CHAPTER XXVII. THE PENNIES OF THE POOR 275 - - Cheap Postal Orders—Savings Bank—Life Insurance—Two Post Office - Pamphlets to Help the People—Cheap Telegrams—Telephones—‘The - Man for the Post’—‘Words are Silver, Silence is Gold’ - - - A TRIUMPHANT END - - CHAPTER XXVIII. AT HOME AND AT COURT 287 - - Appreciating Opponents—Hackney Address—Proportional - Representation—Justice for Women—A State Concert—Humble - Friendships—Pigs—Salisbury again - - - CHAPTER XXIX. A GRAVE ILLNESS 300 - - Illness—Convalescence—Musical Discrimination - - - CHAPTER XXX. AMONG THE BLIND 306 - - A Leader of the Blind—Honours—His Last Speech - - - CHAPTER XXXI. LIGHT 311 - - The Passing—The People Grieve—Sorrow in Parliament—The Nation’s - Loss—Letters from Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales (the - late King Edward) and Gladstone—The Railroad Men’s Tribute—The - Significance of his Life—India’s Loss—Fawcett’s Message - - HENRY FAWCETT, FROM ‘PUNCH’ 327 - - APPENDIX 329 - - INDEX 335 - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - - - PROFESSOR AND MRS. FAWCETT _Frontispiece_ - - HENRY FAWCETT’S MOTHER _Facing page_ 6 - - HENRY FAWCETT BEFORE HE WAS BLIND „ 26 - - MISS MARIA FAWCETT „ 50 - - HENRY FAWCETT AT CAMBRIDGE, 1863 „ 102 - - HENRY FAWCETT AND MRS. FAWCETT „ 130 - - HENRY FAWCETT „ 180 - - HENRY FAWCETT AND HIS FATHER „ 204 - - HENRY FAWCETT „ 224 - - FAWCETT’S SIGNATURE AND SEAL AS „ 252 - POSTMASTER-GENERAL OF ENGLAND - - THE MAN FOR THE POST „ 272 - - THE NEW STAMP DUTY „ 276 - - HERE STANDS A POST „ 282 - - FACSIMILE OF A LETTER FROM QUEEN VICTORIA TO „ 316 - MRS. FAWCETT - - FACSIMILE OF A LETTER FROM THE PRINCE OF WALES „ 318 - (KING EDWARD VII.) TO MRS. FAWCETT - - MEMORIAL IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY „ 322 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - YOUTH - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ‘Where the pools are bright and deep, - Where the gray trout lies asleep, - Up the river and over the lea, - That’s the way for Billy and me.’ - JAMES HOGG. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER I - - WATERLOO, THE MAYOR, AND THE BABY - - The Fisherman—The Battle of Waterloo—The Mayor of Salisbury—The - Mayor’s Son—The Market-place—The Circus—Boarding-School and - Fun—A Diary. - - -One midsummer day in 1815 a young draper’s assistant was gently fishing -in the Salisbury Avon. William Fawcett was but lately come to Salisbury, -yet he already knew his river. While trying a deep pool in the shadow of -a bridge near the town he was startled by shouts from the roadway above. -‘News from the army! A great victory! Boney in flight!’ - -The fisherman forgot his fish, and hurried away to join the rejoicing -crowd gathering in the market-place. There having been bustled to the -roof of a stage-coach, and had the gazette containing the news thrust -into his hands, he read out in his remarkably clear and resonant voice -the account of the great battle of Waterloo. - -[Sidenote: Rejoicings.] - -Seventeen years later, when the shopkeeper had become the Mayor of -Salisbury, he again led the town in rejoicings. The great Reform Bill -had become law. Salisbury townsfolk were henceforth to have a voice in -the councils of the nation, and the barren hill on which stood the -pocket borough of old Sarum was no longer to mock them with its -political power. - -The town joyously prepared to celebrate the event. The houses were -decorated. Elaborate illuminations were set up. Victory, assisted by -Greek gods and goddesses, presided over a transparency in which -Britannia throttled the hydra of corruption, while Wellington and Peel -scowled in the background. Meat and beer were given to the poor; in the -market-place, at great fires lighted in the open air, whole sheep were -roasted. The smoke swirled blindly about the bustling crowd, and then -surged up past the latticed windows of the Mayor’s house, to seek in -ever thinning rifts the spire of the wonderful cathedral that for -centuries has watched over the destinies of the town. The next day was -held in the market-place a great banquet, at which the Mayor presided; -and after dinner all adjourned to the Green Croft Cricket Ground, where -his Worship led off the dance with a prominent and elderly lady of the -town—the Mayor resplendent in plaited shirt frill and high stock, the -buckles on his shoes twinkling as he cut ‘pigeon wings,’ the lady sedate -in her wide brocade gown, her poke bonnet, and lace veil. - -Fawcett’s heart was as light as his heels on that occasion. All his life -he had been a reformer, a staunch Liberal, ardent for the extension of -the franchise. It says much for his personal charm and worth that, in a -close Tory borough such as Salisbury then was, he should have been -chosen Mayor by his political opponents. - -[Sidenote: The Mayor and his Wife.] - -So dear to his heart was the spirit of freedom that the Mayor had -forsooth to fall in love with the daughter of the solicitor who acted as -agent for the Liberal party. Miss Mary Cooper was a good and clever -woman, deeply interested in politics, and as ardent a reformer as the -man she married. - -The couple were sociable and humorous. They kept a good table, laid in -an excellent stock of wine, and diffused such a pleasant atmosphere of -hospitality that they became immensely popular, and many distinguished -people sought their company. But William Fawcett was not only a good -townsman, he was a good countryman as well, a great jumper, a keen -sportsman, a good shot, and a renowned fisherman. - -[Sidenote: The Brick-house Baby.] - -In 1833, when the Princess Victoria was fourteen years old, when the -negro slaves were being freed throughout the British Colonies, when -Stephenson had completed his locomotive and the first railroads had been -started, when all things seemed to be pushing and striving for -independence and progress, in the Mayor’s old low red-brick house -overlooking the market-place, in a wonderful Elizabethan room, on 26th -August, Henry Fawcett was born. - -The baby seems to have been singularly like most other babies. He shared -the uneventful placidity of his nursery with an older brother, William, -and a sister, Sarah Maria. Six years later there came another brother, -Thomas Cooper. - -[Sidenote: The Market.] - -When Harry was four years old Queen Victoria, whom he was to serve in so -distinguished a capacity, came to the throne. But it was still too early -to find in Harry indications of the future statesman. He was delicate, -and much spoiled at home, had a strong will of his own, and was on the -whole rather selfish. He was not an imaginative child, though he loved -at times, holding his sister Maria tightly by the hand, to venture into -the great cathedral and see the coloured light as it filtered through -the high windows, or to thrill in response to the thundering of the -great organ. But more often we find him, still very tiny, standing -squarely on his feet, inquiring with real interest the price of bacon, -how much sheep and wool brought; or walking with his father and wearying -him with ceaseless economic questions as to ‘Why are things cheaper -to-day than last month?’ ‘Why does butter cost more than milk?’ until -that patient man was heard to exclaim not too patiently, ‘Harry asks me -so many questions that he quite worries me.’ - -[Illustration: HENRY FAWCETT’s MOTHER] - -He went to a Dame’s school, where his first teacher said that she had -never had so troublesome a pupil, that his head was like a colander; but -Harry puts the case more pathetically when he tells his mother that -‘Mrs. Harris says if we go on, we shall kill her, and we do go on,’ -regretfully adding, ‘and yet she does not die.’ A schoolmate of these -days says that Harry lisped very much, and that the boys used to tease -him about it. He was also so slow about his lessons that they called him -thickhead. But when school was out Harry entered the realms he loved. -From his home on the market-place he had only to go outside the door to -be at once in touch with the active world whose economic problems -appealed to him so keenly. He made friends among the country folk, and -talked of their crops and the money they would bring, and noted in his -childish mind the rise and fall in the price of wheat. - -[Sidenote: The Circus.] - -Then to the same open space came all sorts of travelling shows. -Sometimes the circus spread its mysterious tents, and when the children -were dragged away from the wild beasts and the seductive freaks and put -to bed, the little Fawcetts would stealthily creep to the bedroom window -overlooking the market and see the lights shining on all the wonderful -but forbidden marvels, and hear the hurdy-gurdy and the band mix their -triumphal blare with the solemn striking of the clock in the near-by -cathedral. - -[Sidenote: Boarding-School.] - -In 1841 Harry’s father took a delightful farmhouse at Longford, about -three miles south of Salisbury, with delectable streams full of fish. -Harry loved to fish every day, and hated lessons, but, alas! grim fate -backed the lessons, and sent him ruthlessly to school. He went as a -boarder to Mr. Sopp at Alderbury, a few miles away. - -There are many tales showing that Harry loved the fleshpots and that he -had been much indulged at home. He writes, ‘I have begun Ovid—I hate -it.’ ‘This is a beastly school—milk and water, no milk—bread and butter, -no butter. Please give a quarter’s notice.’ - -And still more heartrending was the prayer to his mother, ‘Please when -the family has quite finished with the ham bone, send it to me.’ -Imagination can supply the effect of this on the family circle, and -guess what a well-covered ham bone was shipped to the starving Harry. -Starving or no, he grew immensely stronger and larger, and though he -never admitted that he got enough to eat at any school, he became -ultimately reconciled to his exile. - -He used to come home often for half-holidays, and to go to Longford and -revel in all country delights. Then began the close friendships with the -cottagers about him which meant so much to him and influenced all his -life. - -In the summer that completed his tenth year there came to Salisbury two -men who also loved the common people and sought to make their lives -easier. It was the year of the great Free Trade campaign in the -agricultural districts, and the men were Cobden and Bright. They visited -Harry’s father, and perhaps Harry himself met them then for the first -time. Lord Morley has said in his life of Cobden that ‘the picture of -these two men, leaving their homes and their business, and going over -the length and breadth of the land to convert the nation, had about it -something apostolic.’ In a home where they and their teachings were so -reverenced, to even hear of their journeyings would make a strong -impression on a boy of Harry’s interests, and perhaps helped to give a -definite aim to his ambitions. - -At Mr. Sopp’s school he began a diary, of which the penmanship is -admirable. On some days the only record is the startling fact, ‘It was a -very fine day.’ June 21st, 1847, however, is a very eventful day, for he -lists the capture of the first fish that he took with a fly, which -weighed ‘about three-quarters of a pound.’ - -[Sidenote: Hedgehogs and Cake.] - -Again, he is transported with joy by the gift of a hedgehog and four -young ones, and he has a glorious time in going on board H.M.S. _Howe_, -of one hundred and twenty guns. On one occasion he goes to the theatre, -on another he is in court hearing a trial. He begins Greek, and this -anguish is modified by the arrival of a cake for one of his -schoolfellows, which Harry doubtless shares. - -A change of scene is recorded in the diary when on 3rd August Henry -becomes the first pupil at Queenwood College. In its previous career -this temple of learning had been Harmony Hall, built by Robert Owen for -his last socialist experiment. In 1817 it was opened as a school by Mr. -Edmonson, a Quaker. Special emphasis was given to scientific training -and English literature. The school seems to have been very congenial to -Harry, and his intellect now began to develop rapidly. - -[Sidenote: The Editor.] - -To continue from the diary, we learn that ‘we elected the various school -officers. J. Mansergh and I were elected without opposition editors of -the _Queenwood Chronicle_.’ He had been at Queenwood but a fortnight, -and was fourteen years old when this great honour came to him. Mr. -Fawcett was delighted at this good news, and offered because of it and -because Harry had been ’studying most determinedly’ to take the boy to -Stonehenge. His aversion to books had distressed his family, and this -new interest in his studies gave his father great pleasure. On reading a -composition which Harry had sent home, Mr. Fawcett exclaimed to his -wife, ‘I really think, mother, after all that there is something in that -boy!’ His literary performances at this time indicate an increasing -imagination, but in the main he never deviated from the practical paths -of thought shown when as a tiny child he studiously investigated the -Salisbury market. His schoolmates report him as ‘tall for his age, -loose-limbed, and rather ungainly.’ He had become much of a bookworm, -and though later good at games, at this time he preferred to wander off -by himself and read. He was strongest in mathematics; languages did not -much appeal to him; but he liked to learn long passages of poetry by -heart. There was a disused chalk-pit near Queenwood where he would take -refuge and declaim his lines. The extravagance of his gesticulations -might well cause unexpecting passers-by to consider him the village -loony. - - - - - CHAPTER II - - THE BOY LECTURER - - A Lecture on the uses of Steam—Parliamentary Ambitions—King’s - College—Politics in the Fifties—Cribbage and Cricket. - - -Fawcett was interested in the scientific lectures, and he had a very -good time. Professor Tyndall took them out surveying. Harry comments on -a lecture at which he heard that there ‘is fire in everything, even -ice’; he also records some chemical experiments in the laboratory. - -In September the diary states, ‘I began writing my lecture on -phonography, on the uses of steam without copying any of it.’ - -There is an error here, as these were two lectures, not one. That on -steam, in a blue marbled-covered copy-book, lies before the writer. The -title, inscribed in tall, shaded handwriting, contained within -scrupulously ruled lines, is: - - ================================= - A Lecture delivered by H. Fawcett - On Uses of Steam - At Queenwood College - September 27, 1847. - ================================= - -The ink, which was black sixty-six years ago, is now much faded; but the -essay of the fourteen-year-old schoolboy is still fresh and interesting, -and so prophetic of the man that it is like a simple map indicating the -chief features of the country we are about to see. - -Henry writes in his careful penmanship, for which he must have been -marked at least 9+ in a scale of 10, ‘Things which appear simple to an -unobserving Person are to an observing Person the most complicated and -beautifully formed ... such a simple Thing as a blade of Grass, has ever -any Man been yet so wise as to tell what it is?’ - -[Sidenote: The Essayist.] - -Here is another curious sentence written by the bright-eyed youngster -with the monumental dignity of the lecturer: - -‘What can be so beautifully contrived and framed as the human Body, -where there are innumerable Parts, acting all in Unity?... if one of the -Parts go wrong, the whole Body is put out of Tune ... is there any one -Part of our Body which we could dispense with?... I think the Answer -“No” must be evident to every one.’ - -It is curious that Fawcett should have been called upon later by the -loss of his eyesight to contradict this childish statement, and to prove -not only that we can get along without some of our most precious -faculties, but that the law of compensation so works that we may be able -to accomplish more by reason of the loss. - -The essay proceeds to deal with railways, and contains all kinds of -figures relating to tonnage, trains, traffics, the cost of railroad -construction, etc., all with careful, correct figures; a complicated -study for a railroad expert. This schoolboy is already coping with the -figures and statistics of which he had later such a marvellous control. -He dwells on the importance of the railroad to the Wiltshire farmer, who -can sell his cheese at sevenpence a pound in London, when it is only -worth sixpence where it is made. In this and similar statements we find -the political economist foreshadowed: he speaks of the nobility who -selfishly object to having railways, which he feels are the greatest -help to the common people; and he adds, ‘A Man should sacrifice a little -of his own Pleasure when he knows that by sacrificing that Pleasure he -will benefit the People at large.’ We must note that pleasure is always -spelt with a beautiful and exceptionally large P. - -Later there are some intelligent remarks on the power of a railway to -create traffic, so that ’some Railways have been made between two Places -where there was not sufficient Traffic for a Coach, and yet when they -are made, a Trade springs up, and they pay very well indeed.’ - -[Sidenote: Transportation—Rich and Poor.] - -He further approves of the railway as a means of cheap transportation, -and remarks, ‘Many a Person can avail himself of a Day’s Pleasure ...’ -or, ‘Enjoy the beautiful Air of some Country Village.’ Here we have not -only the keystone of Henry Fawcett’s character, but indications of the -political activities in which he was to be so pre-eminent. His public -career was one long, unbroken effort to do away with the monopolies and -prerogatives of any class, and so to increase the independence and -rights of the poor. - -The essay continues by quoting from an article in the _Quarterly Review_ -written in 1825, which considers it impossible that an engine could -travel eighteen miles an hour. With evident joy he quotes, ‘The gross -Exaggerations of the Powers of the Locomotive Steam Engine, or to speak -English, the Steam Carriage, may delude for a time, but must end in -Mortification to those concerned. We should as soon expect the People of -Woolwich to suffer themselves to be fired off in Congreve’s Ricochet -Rockets, as to trust themselves to the Mercies of such a Machine going -at such a rate.’ Harry himself then tells of the M.P. who insisted that -the best possible locomotive could not compete with a canal boat. The -scribe seems fully to appreciate the humour of this, and so foreshadows -the love of fun and the vibrant laugh of the man to be. - -Steam-engines lead to steamships. Our author now invites us to cross -‘the wide heaving Ocean,’ saying, ‘When you are on a Voyage in a Steam -Vessel you feel none of that Inconvenience of having to remain at Anchor -for two or three Weeks waiting for a favourable Wind ... you can -proceed, for you are quite independent of the Winds, and the Speed of a -Steam Vessel is very considerably greater than that of any other -Vessel.’ A steam vessel went from Liverpool to Boston in eleven days and -nine hours, and yet when steam navigation was struggling into existence -‘it struck the minds of our brave Captains as a poor mean mechanical -Thing unworthy of the least Consideration.’... ‘I think you may almost -remark’ (note the conservative discretion) ‘that the greatest and most -useful inventions when they are struggling into Existence receive the -greatest Opposition, because they make great changes, and most people, -especially the ignorant, are generally very adverse to any changes.’ - -[Sidenote: Patriotism—Bonaparte and Babylon.] - -Now he boasts magnificently about the British navy and merchant marine, -approves of Bonaparte’s wisdom in coveting the British sailors, and yet -prudently warns all against pride, citing the lamentable consequence of -lack of humility to Babylon and Nineveh. We are asked to consider the -relative values of coal, diamonds, gold, and silver, and are informed -that ‘every Difficulty can be overcome by steady Perseverance—some -Persons will never scarcely be overcome by Difficulties—they say they -will do it, and they will never rest till they have performed what they -want to, and it is to Men like these that we are indebted.... No -Improvements or Inventions will run into a Person’s Mind like Water will -run into a Bottle, but they come from Years of Study and Perseverance.’ - -We are asked, ‘Do you suppose that Sir Isaac Newton established the Laws -of Gravitation without some trouble, do you suppose that such a Piece of -Poetry as Milton’s “Paradise Lost” was written without a Moment’s -Thought—or do you suppose that Watt improved the Steam Engine without -some hard Labour?’ Our scribe then finishes his masterpiece with a -stupendous finale, by the help of a bit of poetry culled from an -American newspaper and entitled the ’song of Steam,’ a verse of which -will be sufficient: - - ‘I’ve no Muscle to weary, no Breast to decay, - No Bones to be laid on the “Shelf,” - And soon I intend you may go and play, - While I manage the World by myself.’ - -This _magnum opus_, being now successfully brought to completion, is -signed in full, no longer, as on the title-page, with only the initial -of his first name, but by Henry Fawcett, writ exceedingly large and -clear, Queenwood College, October 12th, 1847. Every page in the marbled -copy-book has been filled with various spellings, and only a very few -erasures, between 27th September and 12th October. - -We have quoted this delicious essay as fully as space would allow, not -only on account of its unique charm, but because every page is coloured -by a preoccupation with those subjects and a love for those traits of -human nature which were later so characteristic of Henry Fawcett, the -teacher and statesman. In fact, we may accept this essay on steam as his -official debut. The lecture had an encore at Salisbury in the family -circle, when, as Harry writes, all were ‘much pleased with it, and Papa -promised to give me a sovereign for it.’ - -[Sidenote: Phonography and simplified Spelling.] - -His lecture on phonography is much in the spirit of to-day, when -simplified spelling is causing such ardent controversies. Harry comments -that ‘out of fifty thousand Words in the language, only fifty are -written as they are pronounced.’ We must note that in these writings his -own inventions in spelling tend to change these statistics. - -The range of his composition at this period is great. An article on -‘Angling and Sir Isaac Walton’ is in happy contrast to the account of a -first visit to London. Another fragment contains the acute observation -that ’statesmen depend upon their brains.’ In another essay called -‘Reflection’ an imaginary trip is taken past Spain, during which the -author ponders on people who are ‘made poor by gold.’ Progressing to -Egypt, we are told that Mahomet was ‘in many respects a worthy man.’ -Arriving in India, our guide tells us of a company of men who, -‘occupying a house of no very considerable size in London, have entirely -from their enterprise and powers of mind, got possession of many -thousand acres of land.’ Does this refer to the East India Company, and -had Harry seen the stately East India House in Leadenhall Street on that -first visit to London? - -The breathless exuberant feat of imagination and philosophy closes with -quotations from Portia’s lines to Mercy and Cicero’s oration on Verres, -both of which, the author truthfully says, ’show powers of reflection.’ - -Harry was writing and studying with a definite end in view. Already the -youth had determined on a political career, and when the schoolboys -discussed their plans for the future he invariably declared that he -meant to be a Member of Parliament. The statement was received with -roars of laughter, but Harry remained imperturbably sure. - -[Sidenote: Still at the foot of the Class.] - -He was at Queenwood for a year and a half, and then went to London, -where he first attended King’s College School, and then King’s College. -A schoolmate described him as ‘a very tall boy with pale whitey brown -hair, who always stood at the bottom of the lower sixth class.’ - -He attended the school in his fifteenth and sixteenth years, and then -went to lectures in the college until the summer of 1852, when he was -nineteen years old. - -Standing in the school was, in those days, entirely determined by -knowledge of the classics, for which Fawcett showed a grand -indifference; but he gained the arithmetic prize in 1849, also the -class-work prize, the first prize in German, and the second in French in -the same term. His knowledge of these languages was always so vague that -we fear his teacher was over-partial in the award, or that the other -boys were strangely deficient. In 1850 he carried off another honour for -mathematics, and a first prize after that in the Michaelmas term. The -masters noted Fawcett’s unusual mathematical power, and were also -impressed by his ability to write English prose. - -[Sidenote: King’s College and Cricket.] - -At Easter in 1851 he left school and worked only at the college for -mathematics and classics. We hear that he made no particular mark; but -he occasionally played billiards and cricket, and he was already an -interested spectator in the gallery of the House of Commons. - -During his stay in London he lived with some family connections, a Mr. -and Mrs. Fearon. Mr. Fearon was a Chief Office Keeper at Somerset House, -and lived there. Somerset House adjoins King’s College, and this was -fortunate for Harry, who, when he first went to London, had much -outgrown his strength. The hours spent in the little parlour tucked away -in the vast building were not without charm for the home-loving boy. -Sitting on the corner of the horse-hair sofa, with its relentless early -Victorian back and its unyielding springs, trying, mostly in vain, not -to disturb Mrs. Fearon’s best antimacassar, he would cheerfully play -cribbage by the hour with his hostess, while his host expounded -pungently on the questions of the day. Harry had passed from the -Liberalism of the country home to the Liberalism of the metropolis. For -both, Bright and Cobden were now leaders and standard-bearers, though -Lord Palmerston was the Party Chief. Free Trade had been won, but -neither Parliament nor country had settled down to it as a policy, and -the need of another and more democratic Reform Bill was looming up on -the political horizon. - -These were the days that followed the abortive revolutions of ‘48. The -battle for political independence was raging everywhere, but both -leaders and rank and file were learning with bitterness to make haste -slowly. None the less, hearts were glowing hotly for Freedom, and while -Fawcett was in London, Kossuth, the Hungarian, was welcomed with -enthusiasm. He followed Carl Schurz, that valiant apostle of Liberty, to -America, where Garibaldi was already working at his soap factory on -Staten Island. There was no doubt as to the heartiness of Kossuth’s -reception across the Atlantic. The fire of Freedom burnt to high heaven -there: was it not sufficient proof of this that the dandies of that land -reverently encased their mighty brains in the Kossuth hat? Talk of these -great men, of their vain endeavours, of the persecution of the poor, of -the need of opening cages and letting in the light of Freedom, made its -mark on Harry, and he often spoke afterwards of Fearon’s ‘quaint and -forcible’ phrases. - -In 1851 was the great Exhibition in Hyde Park. Did Harry’s tall head -peer above the crowd that lined the streets as Queen Victoria drove in -state to the opening of that proud achievement? One would like to think -that once with seeing eyes Fawcett beheld the little lady who presided -over England’s destinies throughout his working life. - -And now Mr. Fawcett, senior, conscientiously counting his pennies, and -the ability which his son had already shown as a student, went to his -neighbour, the Dean of Salisbury. He showed the Dean Harry’s -mathematical papers, and asked for advice about the next step. It was -not customary for one of Harry’s social standing to go to a university, -and the strain on the paternal purse to send him there would be -considerable, but the Dean had no doubt that Cambridge offered the -proper opening. The sacrifice was cheerfully made. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CAMBRIDGE - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ‘I count life just a stuff to try the soul’s strength on - —educe the man.’—BROWNING. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER III - - THE TALL STUDENT - - Peterhouse—Quoits and Billiards—Trinity Hall—A - Fellowship—Lincoln’s Inn. - - -[Sidenote: The new Under-graduate.] - -Harry knew that for his father’s sake it was necessary for him to be -self-supporting as soon as possible, and therefore chose his college on -purely financial grounds. He went to Peterhouse, where the fellowships -could be held by laymen, and were reported to be of unusual value. - -His great friend, Sir Leslie Stephen, saw him there for the first time. -We cannot do better than quote from Sir Leslie’s biography of Fawcett -the impression his subject then made upon him: - -‘I saw Fawcett for the first time a few months after his entrance (in -October 1852).... I could point to the precise spot on the bank of the -Cam where I noticed a very tall, gaunt figure swinging along with huge -strides upon the towing path. He was over 6 feet 3 inches in height. His -chest, I should say, was not very broad in proportion to his height, but -he was remarkably large of bone and massive of limb. - -‘The face was impressive, though not handsome. The skull was very large; -my own head vanished as into a cavern if I accidentally put on his hat. -The forehead was lofty, though rather retreating, and the brow finely -arched. - -‘The complexion was rather dull, but more than one of his early -acquaintance speaks of the brightness of his eye and the keenness of his -glance. The eyes were full and capable of vivid expression, though not, -I think, brilliant in colour. The features were strong, and, though not -delicately carved, were far from heavy, and gave a general impression of -remarkable energy. The mouth long, thin-lipped, and very flexible, had a -characteristic nervous tremor as of one eager to speak and voluble of -discourse.... - -‘A certain wistfulness was a frequent shade of expression. But a -singularly hearty and cordial laugh constantly lighted up the whole face -with an expression of most genial and infectious good-humour.[3-1] - -Footnote 3-1: - - Sir Leslie Stephen, speaking of the photograph reproduced to face p. - 26, says, ‘The rather peculiar expression of the eyes results from the - weakness of sight presently to be noticed which made him shrink from - any strong light.’ - -‘On my first glimpse of Fawcett, however, I was troubled by a question -of classification. I vaguely speculated as to whether he was an -undergraduate, or a young farmer, or possibly somebody connected with -horses at Newmarket, come over to see the sights. He had a certain -rustic air, in strong contrast to that of the young Pendennises who -might stroll along the bank to make a book upon the next boat race. - -[Illustration: HENRY FAWCETT BEFORE HE WAS BLIND] - -‘He rather resembled some of the athletic figures who may be seen at the -side of a north-country wrestling-ring. Indeed, I fancy that Fawcett may -have inherited from his father some of the characteristics of the true -long-legged, long-limbed Dandie Dinmont type of north-countryman. The -impression was, no doubt, fixed in my mental camera because I was soon -afterwards surprised by seeing my supposed rustic dining in our College -Hall. I insist upon this because it may indicate Fawcett’s superficial -characteristics on his first appearance at Cambridge. - -‘Many qualities, which all his friends came to recognise sooner or -later, were for the present rather latent, or, maybe, undeveloped. The -first glance revealed the stalwart, bucolic figure, with features -stamped by intelligence, but that kind of intelligence which we should -rather call shrewdness than by any higher name.’ - -[Sidenote: Sports and Games.] - -At first the men of his own year were inclined to estimate Harry as an -outsider in sports and games. His simple provincial ways gave little -sign of expert skill. But he won his way in dramatic fashion. An -undergraduate nick-named the ‘Captain’ challenged him to a game of -quoits. Salisbury’s native game is quoits; Harry was well trained, and -won easily. Then the battle shifted to billiards. Captain’s score pushed -steadily ahead until in a game of a hundred points he had ninety-six to -Harry’s seventy-five: four points more for the Captain, twenty-five for -Harry. The onlookers vociferously offered ten to one on the Captain. -Fawcett gravely took all the bets offered at this rate, and any others -that he could get, and then calmly, in a single break, made the -twenty-five necessary points. - -[Sidenote: A successful Game of Billiards.] - -Fawcett is quoted as having given this account, ‘Bets were forced on me; -but the odds were really more than ten to one against my making -twenty-five in any position of the balls, but I saw a stroke which I -knew that I could make, and which would leave me a fine game.’ No matter -by what magic the feat was achieved, it filled his pockets, and cleared -for ever any doubts in his companions’ minds as to the capacity and -shrewdness of ‘Old Serpent,’ as he was then dubbed, and by which -nickname he went for a brief time. - -He never gambled again. The story is paralleled in later years by an -equally solitary financial speculation. He then showed the same -quickness in seizing the facts and calculating the chances, the same -boldness in acting on his own judgment, and the same restraint in not -repeating the adventure. - -He disapproved of gambling, and had a wholesome dislike of it. His sense -of fun made it impossible for him ever to have a holier-than-thou -attitude, but his common sense and natural goodness kept him singularly -free from the failings so common among his associates. While anything -but a Puritan, he ‘was in all senses perfectly blameless in his life.’ - -[Sidenote: Making Friends.] - -He had a rare talent for friendship, attracting people to him as easily -as he was attracted to them, and his faculty of making friends and -keeping them held to the end. He was never known to lose a friend. - -Those who knew him well appreciated his strong intellectual equipment. -Perhaps his chief characteristics were his absolute normality, his -remarkable freedom from self-consciousness, his common sense, and his -ever-present sense of fun. These early years at the university, when the -lank boy was emerging into the statesman, were years of great happiness -and joviality. Fawcett found many congenial spirits, and formed -intimacies among men destined to distinguished careers. Most of his -associates were good workers, but not particularly given to intellectual -subtleties. Music made slight appeal to him, and he was flagrantly -ignorant of classics and modern languages, and made no pretence to -culture. The young Cambridge men of this period were greatly afraid of -sentimentality, and devotees of the ‘God of Things as they are.’ - -But there was one subject peculiarly attractive to the men with whom -Fawcett consorted—political economy. And in those days political economy -meant Mill. His book, gathering together all the last words of the -science, had been written a very few years before Fawcett went to -Cambridge. It had had a phenomenal success, and it and its author were -enjoying a phenomenal authority. Edward Wilson, a brilliant Senior, well -represented the feeling of his day, when he would confute all opposition -by an apt quotation, leaving Mill triumphantly supreme, and then close -his vindication with the cry, ‘Read Mill! Read Mill!’ Fawcett did, from -early till late, until he knew the book by heart. As he was thoroughly -inoculated with this cult, his reverence for Mill was one of his strong -steadfast beliefs through life. - -Fawcett begrudged time taken from his books, and never rowed in his -college boat, although Sir Leslie Stephen writes: - -[Sidenote: Boating.] - -‘That he occasionally performed in the second boat, I remember by this -circumstance, that I can still hear him proclaiming in stentorian tones -and in good vernacular from an attic window to a captain of the boat on -the opposite side of the quadrangle, and consequently to all bystanders -below, that he had a pain in his inside and must decline to row. I have -some reason to think that he had felt bad effects from some previous -exertions, and had been warned by a doctor against straining himself. I -have an impression that there was some weakness in the heart’s action. -Fawcett, like many men who enjoy unbroken health, was a little nervous -about any trifling symptoms. One day we found him lying in bed, -complaining lustily of his sufferings, and stating that he had -dispatched a messenger to bring him at once the first doctor attainable. -A doctor arrived, and his first question as to the nature of Fawcett’s -last dinner resolved the consultation into a general explosion of -laughter, in which the patient joined most heartily.’ - -It was characteristic of Fawcett that he treated all men as equals, and -took from them the best of what they had to offer. He became intimate -with men of all ages. Mr. Hopkins, a Peterhouse man, with whom Fawcett -read, had received his B.A. in 1827, twenty-five years before Fawcett’s -appearance at Cambridge; but this difference in age did not prevent a -close bond. Fawcett never alluded to Hopkins without great enthusiasm, -and in the days of his grave trial this friend was the most helpful of -all. He was of great service in the first years at Cambridge, urging -Fawcett to regard the mathematical studies necessary for taking a good -degree as valuable intellectual gymnastics. Fawcett with his usual -keenness and common sense was quite alive to the fact that a good degree -was a distinct commercial asset, and said that he would rather be Senior -Wrangler in the worst year than second to Sir Isaac Newton. His definite -aim in life—a political career—made any wanderings into study for its -own sake of no interest to him. He planned through life so to select -that he might obtain. - -From the days of declaiming in the chalk-pit at Queenwood, Fawcett had -realised the value of public speaking. - -[Sidenote: The Debater.] - -The great Macaulay, Sir William Harcourt, and other distinguished men -had tried their oratorical pinions in flights at the Debating Club -called ‘The Union.’ Fawcett joined, and after some tentative efforts, -despite his friends’ amusement and discouragement, boldly won his way, -and became a good speaker. He worked over his orations carefully, and by -great persistence gained an easy and fearless manner of speaking, and we -find that he opened debates on National Education and University Reform. - -In these years the events which led to the Crimean War provided the -chief subjects of debate, such as the foreign policy of Austria and -Prussia, the independence of Poland, and the character of the Emperor -Nicholas. On these questions Fawcett did not share the views of John -Bright, who was then making his great speeches on behalf of peace; but -the undergraduate’s democratic sympathies are clearly shown in his -advocacy of non-sectarian National Education, of a motion that ‘the -party called “Cobdenites” have done the country good service,’ or in -favour of a ‘considerable extension of the franchise,’ and of -‘University Reform.’ - -[Sidenote: Good-bye to Grandiloquence.] - -It was during this period of careful self-training that Fawcett -gradually reduced his style of speaking to that simplicity and -directness which became so marked throughout his career. There is a -lingering trace of grandiloquence and schoolboy rhetoric in an essay -written on the merit of Pope’s poetry, but that seems to have been his -swan-song to elocution with frills. - -[Sidenote: The Friend of Friends.] - -Fawcett left Peterhouse in his second year, and went to Trinity Hall as -a pensioner, thus reducing the expense to his father. There chances for -scholarship were alluring, and several immigrants from other colleges -joined forces at Trinity Hall. There also he met Leslie Stephen, his -lifelong friend and biographer, who speaks of this friendship as ‘one of -the greatest privileges of my life.’ - -Fawcett set to work with a will to carry off the Senior Wranglership. We -are told that in the Tripos, for the first and the last time in his -life, Fawcett’s nerve failed. Though he got out of bed and ran round the -college quadrangle to exhaust himself, he could not sleep, and failed to -gain the success which meant so much to him. He sank to seventh; but in -spite of his comparative failure he had shown marked ability, and made -so great an impression by his work, that he was elected to a fellowship -at Christmas 1856. - -[Sidenote: Pounds and Pence.] - -He adhered to his boyish ambition of entering Parliament, but there were -still great obstacles in his way. Beyond his fellowship, which brought -him £250 a year, he had no income of his own. His father was not a rich -man, and the strain on his purse to support his other three children was -sufficient. Harry resolved, therefore, to make his way by a career at -the Bar, and while still at Cambridge entered Lincoln’s Inn. When he had -won his fellowship he settled in London, and set himself to study law. -No one who came in contact with him at this time had any doubt that he -would arrive at his goal by main force. A friendly firm of solicitors -had already promised that he should have opportunities, and his great -talent for working well with all sorts of people, his genius for -friendship, and his real business ability bid well for the success of -his plan. His will was inflexible, his good-nature chronic, and his -acuteness of mind and general ability far beyond the average. - -In the mimic legislature of the Westminster Debating Society, which -consisted of young barristers and journalists, Fawcett soon became the -leader of the Radical party. The organisation followed the form of the -House of Commons. It is said that Bulwer Lytton had once paid it a -visit, and said afterwards that he had entered in a fit of abstraction, -mistaking it for the House of Commons, and only discovered his error -upon finding that there were no dull speeches and no one asleep, which -seems to prove that it must have been a most remarkable society. - -One of his contemporaries, who saw Fawcett in the height of these -pseudo-Parliamentary triumphs, speaks of his ‘resonant voice, wild hair, -and expressive eyes.’ But just at this point, when he seemed to be -setting with full sail on the channel towards success, his eyes began to -trouble him. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - A SET BACK - - A Trip to France—Wiltshire French—A Discouragement. - - -In 1857 the great Critchett warned him against making any exertion, and -forbade his reading. Though he appeared cheerful as usual with his -family, a friend recalls that during his entire career he had never -known him to be so depressed. - -In 1857 he was glad to find occupation by taking a pupil to Paris. Miss -Fawcett went with them. The pupil was to read mathematics and to learn -French, while it was hoped that the master’s eyes might benefit under -the care of foreign specialists, as well as by the change. - -The oculists gave him some slight encouragement: one ordered low living, -and the other high. It was characteristic of Fawcett that he frugally -chose the former. - -[Sidenote: The Ways of the French.] - -In Paris our long Wiltshire man seems to have been much of a fish out of -water. The Latin morals and customs were naturally not sympathetic to -his uncompromising though uncensorious nature. He could never cope -successfully with a foreign language. There was even a frequent strong -Wiltshire flavour about his English speech. The difference between -‘February’ and ‘Febuwerry’ never became apparent to him. At Alderbury he -had learnt French with a pronounced English accent. In Paris he now -delighted the French ladies at the pension where he stayed with his -peculiar and unique speech. There was a Madame Palliasse there whom, -much to her joy, he called Madame Peleas. - -He came back from France with his eyes still in bad shape and his spirit -totally unresponsive to the lure of Gaul. - -On his return he was extremely tried by his inability to work. His real -feelings about life at this time are well expressed in a letter to his -dear friend, Mrs Hodding: - -[Sidenote: Confession.] - -‘I regard you with such true affection that I have long wished to impart -my mind on many subjects.... You know somewhat of my character; you -shall now hear my views as to my future. I started life as a boy with -the ambition some day to enter the House of Commons. Every effort, every -endeavour, which I have ever put forth has had this object in view. I -have continually tried, and shall, I trust, still try not only -honourably to gratify my desire, but to fit myself for such an important -trust. And now the realisation of these hopes has become something even -more than the gratification of ambition. I feel that I ought to make any -sacrifice, to endure any amount of labour, to obtain this position, -because every day I become more deeply impressed with the powerful -conviction that this is the position in which I could be of the greatest -use to my fellow-men, and that I could in the House of Commons exert an -influence in removing the social evils of our country, and especially -the paramount one—the mental degradation of millions. - -‘I have tried myself severely, but in vain, to discover whether this -desire has not some worldly source. I could therefore never be happy -unless I was to do everything to secure and fit myself for this -position. For I should be racked with remorse through life if any -selfishness checked such efforts. For I must regard it as a high -privilege from God if I have such aspirations, and if He has endowed me -with powers which will enable me to assist in such a work.’ - -This is an interesting revelation of a pure ambition. Fawcett wished to -succeed for no self-regarding purpose. His ideals were noble, and his -ambition their legitimate accompaniment. - -About this time he shows a lively interest in the social condition of -the people. After an expedition to some manufacturing towns he mentions -an investigation of ‘gaols and ragged schools,’ and shows much interest -in these sombre centres. He describes a meeting with a good gentleman -whom he characterises as ’so fine and perfect an example of a venerable -Christian.’ - -[Sidenote: Palmerston, Disraeli, and Gladstone.] - -Even twelve hours spent in one day at the House of Commons does not seem -to have been for him an overdose of politics. It did not tax his eyes, -and it delighted his ears, though he writes, ‘No one need fear obtaining -a position in the House of Commons now; for I should say never was good -speaking more required. There is not a man in the Ministry can speak but -Lord Palmerston; Disraeli is the support of the Opposition; but, -although he was considered to have achieved a success that night, it was -done by uttering a multitude of words and indulging in a great deal of -clap-trap. - -‘Gladstone made the speech of the evening, and he is a fine speaker. He -never hesitates, and his manner and elocution are admirable; in fact, in -this he resembles Bright, but is, in my opinion, inferior to Bright, in -not condensing his matter.’ - -Towards the close of this letter there is an exceedingly interesting -statement, prophetic of his future interests. He says that he feels that -Australia must have in future a great effect on England, and adds these -significant words, ‘India too is the land I much desire to see and know; -and it ought to be by any one who takes part in public life.’ - -The doctor now forbade Fawcett all reading, for fear that he might lose -his sight. He took this sentence philosophically, commenting that it -came at an extremely favourable time, when he could best afford to take -a holiday. He writes, ‘I cannot be sufficiently thankful that it has -occurred just now, when perhaps I can spare the time with so little -inconvenience.... Maria will resign her needle with great composure to -devote herself to reading to me. I shall thus get quite as much reading -as I desire, and I can well foresee that, far from being a misfortune, -it may become an advantage, since it will perhaps for the next year -induce me to _think_ more than young men are apt to do: it will give me -an opportunity to solidify and arrange my knowledge, and _you_ will know -how happy Maria and I shall be together.’ - -[Sidenote: Discouraged.] - -About this time a classmate writes of him: ‘We recognised as fully as at -a later period his energy and keen intelligence. If we were still a -little blind to some of his nobler qualities, we at least recognised in -him the thoroughly good fellow, whose success would be as gratifying to -his friends as it was confidently anticipated.’ - -Yes, anticipated and ardently hoped for; but could it be expected by -Fawcett himself, doomed as he was to idleness by the condition of his -eyes, his doctor’s warnings, and their orders for absolute rest—and -unfitted as he now was for work, and able only to send an occasional -letter to the papers on matters of current interest? - -He was staying at his father’s house at Longford with such patience as -he could muster. He, however, enjoyed sitting in the fields near -Salisbury and listening to the sounds about him. The murmuring streams, -the songs of birds, and the hum of drowsy insects seemed to bring him -comfort and rest. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - WINNING BACK - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ‘If you can meet with triumph and disaster - And treat those two impostors just the same.’ - KIPLING. - - - ‘Life is sweet, brother.’ - . . . . . . - ‘In sickness, Jasper?’ - ‘There’s the sun and the stars, brother.’ - ‘In blindness, Jasper?’ - ‘There’s the wind on the heath.’ - BORROW. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER V - - DARKNESS - - A Shooting Accident—Blindness—Readjustment. - - -[Sidenote: A Shooting Accident.] - -Unfortunate as was the fate which condemned him to so much trouble with -his eyes, it was a fortunate and strange preparation for what was to -follow. Obedient to his physician’s injunctions to give up work, Fawcett -remained with his family near Salisbury. On 15 September 1858, he went -shooting with his father. Together they climbed Harnham Hill. Fawcett -turned to look back at the glorious view, bathed in an autumn light, the -trees, already turning to gold, the village nestled in the valley -through which the river Avon wound, the spire of the great cathedral -touched with glory by the setting sun. To Fawcett this was one of the -loveliest views in England: he looked on all this beauty for the last -time. - -As they were crossing a field he advanced in front of his father, who, -suffering from incipient cataract of the eye, did not see his son. A -partridge rose and the father fired, hitting the bird, but some of the -stray shot penetrated both the son’s eyes, blinding him instantly. To -protect his eyes from the glare he was wearing tinted spectacles, both -glasses were pierced, but the resistance which they offered to the shot -prevented the charge entering the brain, and so probably saved his life. -His first thought on being blinded was that he would never again see the -beautiful view which he loved so dearly. There is a widely current -story, which, however, we have been unable to verify, that after the -accident his first words to his agonised father were, ‘This shall make -no difference.’ - -[Sidenote: Unflinching Bravery.] - -He was taken back to his father’s house in a cart, and his first words -to his sister as she received him there were, ‘Maria, will you read the -newspaper to me?’ This way of taking his calamity sounded the key-note -of his heroic acceptance of it from the first. His unflinching bravery -gave the cue which he wished his family to follow. His calmness remained -unaltered even when the doctors gave little encouragement. All knew that -there was not much hope, though he was in such splendid physical -condition that he suffered very little pain. - -Mrs. Fawcett, whom her relations called ‘the brightness of the house,’ -was having tea with some friends when her wounded son was brought in. -When she saw him she bravely tried to control her grief, but it was so -overwhelming that she took refuge in another room, and only appeared in -the short intervals when she was able to master her distress. - -In this crisis his sister Maria was a tower of strength. The poor father -seemed more sorely stricken by the accident than the son. But for his -daughter’s wisdom, he would probably have lost his reason. All through -the night Maria kept him busy at small, useful tasks, and for several -days occupied both her mother and him as fully as possible. - -[Sidenote: Blindness.] - -After a lapse of six weeks Fawcett was able for three days to perceive -light, but after that the curtain fell for the rest of his life, and he -remained in total darkness. In the following June he suffered some pain -in one of his eyes, and later submitted to an operation which was -unsuccessful, and put the final seal on his calamity. Perhaps the father -deserves as much sympathy as the son. Their relations had been -particularly affectionate, and were, if possible, more intensely so -after the catastrophe. The elder Fawcett often said that his grief at -having blinded Henry would be less, if ‘the boy’ would only complain. -But this was perhaps the only way in his life that the son refused to -gratify the parent whom he loved so tenderly. He was never known to -complain of his loss of sight, and used to say that blindness was not a -tragedy, but an inconvenience. - -The life-long ambition of Fawcett to lend a hand in public affairs had -been shared by his father, and the hope and pride which he felt in his -son’s career added, if possible, to the tragedy of seeing it so suddenly -broken. The indomitable pluck shown by more than one blind man which -makes out of his stumbling-block a mounting-stone had yet to be proven. -It did not then seem possible for him to win even greater triumphs than -he might have won if he had not been forced to sharpen his courage -because he had to fight his battle in the dark. - -A friend who visited Fawcett a few weeks after the accident found him -serene and cheerful, although his father was evidently heart-broken, and -his appearance gave abundant evidence of it. Fawcett, though not much -given to quotation, was fond at this time of repeating the phrase of -Henry V. at the battle of Agincourt: - - ‘There is some soul of goodness in things evil, - Would men observingly distil it out.’ - -What Fawcett distilled from the evil thing which had befallen him was an -iron determination, which triumphed over odds such as few have -encountered on any battlefield. - -[Sidenote: A Cloud.] - -But the blind man’s horizon had not yet cleared. His outlook, despite -the loving care of his family, was still sad, and though he gave no -sign, there was a fearful slough of despond still to be struggled -through. Ten minutes after the accident, he had made up his mind to -stick to his pursuits as much as possible, but how nearly possible was -it for a blind man to succeed in Parliament, and to give a helpful -impetus to the affairs of nations? This was still at Fawcett’s time in -England untested and remained for him to show. He lacked fortune and -social position to clear the road for him, and the letters of condolence -that poured in mostly obstructed his path with futile sentimentality. He -said, ‘they give more pain than comfort,’ and added that nothing pained -him so much as these letters. The writers counselled resignation to the -will of Providence, meekness, submission, and of course all implied -inaction. But Fawcett asked what was the will of Providence. Why, -without trying, should he suppose that inaction would be the nobler part -for him to play. His sister read to him all the missives from the Job’s -comforters, and he, though much saddened, listened, ‘in a fixed state of -stoical calm.’ - -[Sidenote: The Message of a Friend.] - -Into this atmosphere, heavy with grief, came the message of a friend. -His dear old Cambridge teacher, Hopkins, wrote admitting that blindness -is ‘one of the severest bodily calamities that can befal us,’ yet added -cheerfully: ‘But depend upon it, my dear fellow, it must be our own -fault if such things are without their alleviation.... Give up your mind -to meet the evil in the worst form it can hereafter assume. Now it seems -to me that your mind is eminently adapted to many of those studies which -may be followed with least disadvantage without the help of sight.... - -‘I would suggest your directing your attention to subjects of a -philosophical and speculative character, such as any branch of mental -science and the history of its progress; the Philosophy of Physical -Science, as Herschel’s work in _Lardner’s Encyclopædia_, Whewell’s -_Inductive Philosophy_, etc., or any work treating on the general -principles, views, and results of physical science. Political Economy, -statistics, and social science in general are assuming interesting forms -in the present day. - -‘What a wide range of speculative study, full of interest, do these -subjects present to us! For any part of which, if I mistake not, your -mind is well qualified. - -‘The evil that has fallen upon you, like all other evils, will lose half -its terror if regarded steadfastly in the face with the determination to -subdue it as far as it may be possible to do so. - -‘Cultivate your intellectual resources (how thankful you may be for -them!) and cultivate them systematically: they will avail you much in -your many hours of trial. Under any circumstances I hope you will visit -Cambridge from time to time. I’ll lend you my aid to amuse you by -talking philosophy or reading an act of Shakespeare or a canto from -Byron. I shall certainly avail myself of the first opportunity I have of -paying you a visit at Longford, and shall engage you for my guide across -the chalk hills. I may then perhaps find the means of indoctrinating you -with a few healthy geological principles.’ - -Hopkins had struck the right chord. He roused his pupil from his -depression and gave him new hope and ambition. ‘Keep that letter for -me,’ he said to his sister, and from its arrival dated his returning -zeal and the spontaneous cheerfulness which heretofore had been so -skilfully assumed. - -[Sidenote: A Rigid Resolution.] - -Though the sanity and wisdom of this letter aroused Fawcett as nothing -had before, it is not to be understood that his taking up life again -depended upon the spur given to his hope and self-confidence by his old -friend, but this did come at the psychological moment. It enabled him to -shoulder his burden with more courage, and to begin again climbing -towards the ambitions he had entertained before his blindness. Unhelped -he had planned to travel the road already begun, deviating as little as -possible from the course before mapped out; and he would have done so -without the comfort from his friend’s advice. But the letter was -undoubtedly a first milestone on his race towards the goal which he had -set himself. - -Much has been said of the philosophy which is apt to accompany -blindness, of the resignation and calm of those afflicted with it. The -unusual feature in the bravery with which Fawcett met his calamity was -his almost instantaneous resolution to disregard it, and to make good -just as he would have made good without it. Too much honour cannot be -given him for this extraordinary and immediate courage. - -Very soon after the accident he took up walking, and at once showed his -fearlessness while going between his brother and a friend who has -recorded the brave adventure. - -[Sidenote: Walking.] - -On leaving the house, he struck out at once with the long, quick strides -of his old walking era, and naturally stumbled almost at the first step. -One of the party caught him by the arm, and begged him to pick his steps -more carefully. ‘Leave me alone!’ was his reply; ‘I’ve got to learn to -walk without seeing, and I mean to begin at once—only tell me when I am -going off the road.’ To say that he knew not fear would be to give an -impression of callousness which would be entirely false; but it can be -truly said that fear never kept him from carrying out his purpose. - -An early glimpse of the hard conflict and longing of his soul was given -when walking with his dearly loved sister. He turned to her suddenly as -if he had been thinking, and asked if she knew Southey’s ‘Hymn before -Sunrise in the Valley of Chamounix.’ When she replied that she did not, -he astonished her by reciting the poem with rare beauty and fervour. The -vibrant voice gathered intensity as, with that wistful expression so -often on his newly blinded face, he repeated the last lines: - - ‘Rise, O ever rise! - Rise like a cloud of incense from the Earth! - Thou kingly Spirit throned among the hills, - Thou dread ambassador from Earth to Heaven, - Great Hierarch! tell thou the silent sky, - And tell the stars, and tell yon rising sun, - Earth, with her thousand voices, praises God.’ - -[Illustration: MISS MARIA FAWCETT] - -[Sidenote: Social Ways.] - -After his accident Fawcett took his meals with his sister from a tray in -the drawing-room. When some weeks had passed, he was persuaded to -venture out with her to a quiet supper at the home of friends. Finding -that it was not a formidable undertaking after all, and that he had an -extremely interesting time, he determined to see as much of people as -possible, and resumed his social ways. - -It was inevitable that at first his merriment and cheerfulness were a -little bit laboured, but in an astonishingly short time they became -invariable, and those closest to him detected no permanent depression. -About everything but his sadness under his affliction, Fawcett was -frank, but about this sadness he remained bravely reticent. - -He soon began candidly to enjoy life, and he seems to have gotten -infinitely more of its beauty and happiness than the average person who -is without handicaps. He had only had one fear, which he confided to his -sister: it would be unbearable for him if through loss of physical force -he should become useless. - -Despite very great difficulty, Fawcett for some time tried to keep up -writing with his own hand, and there are still several of his autograph -letters. But he found the effort so great that he soon gave it up and -depended entirely on dictation. He was not entirely loath to do this, -because he thought the practice of dictation useful to him as a speaker. -He never mastered Braille or any other system of printing for the blind, -but depended on being read to. - -[Sidenote: Catalogued Collars.] - -In many minor things Fawcett never acquired the dexterity possible to -those who are blinded in youth. When his catastrophe came his habits -were already too fixed, and he was too mature to adapt himself readily -in unimportant matters. But his ingenuity in studying out scientific -management of all the little problems of daily routine was marvellously -practical and at times even comic. For example, he had all his clothes -carefully and legibly labelled with numbers, placed so as not to show -during wear. In this way his garments might easily be identified by any -one not familiar with his wardrobe. If he came home in a great hurry to -metamorphise his attire, directions like the following to his family or -an aide-de-camp were not infrequent. He would call in his clarion, -cheerful voice, probably from the door as he entered: ‘I must dress -quickly. Please help. Coat one, vest six, collar one, trousers three; -shoes and socks twelve and thirteen.’ The rest we will leave to -imagination, but there was no detail, even to pocket-handkerchiefs, -which did not have its allotted place and catalogue number. - -[Sidenote: A Hero to his Tailor.] - -He seems long to have remained faithful to his Salisbury tailor, a -charming person of the old school who recently vouchsafed to the author -the following recollections of his distinguished client: ‘Mr. Fawcett -was very matter of fact and methodical. A very honest kind of man, a -sterling man. He was very susceptible to cold, and was apt to carry -changes of different underwear with him. He was particular about the -material which he bought for his clothes, and always felt of it. He -wouldn’t be humbugged. You couldn’t help liking him. He was that loose -and easy in his walk, his limbs didn’t seem to belong to him. I often -heard him at the hustings, he spoke to the point—he made a thorough -impression.’ - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - HAPPINESS - - The Clear-sighted Man—A Scot’s Accent—Mountain - Climbing—Skating—Riding, etc. - - -His friends all testify to his spirit, his normal view of life -frequently making them forget the fact of his blindness. A distinguished -writer and diplomat, who had known Fawcett, on being asked what -impression had been produced on him, replied quickly and quite simply, -‘I think that he was an extraordinarily clear-sighted man.’ Stephen in -his biography uses this sentence: ‘Fawcett had come to _see_ more -distinctly the real tendency of the proposal and to feel the full force -of the objections to which he had never been blind.’ Such remarks -illustrate Fawcett’s power of making people utterly forget his -blindness. - -[Sidenote: How to be happy.] - -He was always grateful when his companions paid no attention to his -affliction, and would talk to him about the scenery which they passed -and the people whom they met as if he too could see them. He kept his -resolve to be as happy as was possible, and often said: ‘There is only -one thing that I ever regret, and that is to have missed a chance for -enjoyment.’ He told his friends that he intended to live to be ninety, -and to relish every day of his life. He deliberately set about -cultivating those tastes which would redound to his happiness: he taught -himself to smoke, he patiently learned to listen to music, which had -never unfolded its full joys to him before he had lost his sight. He so -far succeeded as to be able to enjoy concerts and the opera. - -Doubtless, he systematically trained himself to remember. It was often -remarked of him that if he had heard a voice once he would remember it -again years after. One day in the Cambridge streets he was accosted by a -Scottish professor. Fawcett could not remember him, but encouraged him -to talk, and kept up his end of a long conversation. After a good twenty -minutes, a trick in the Scot’s accent betrayed him, and Fawcett -enthusiastically grasped his hand, and said, ‘How do you do, Clerk -Maxwell?’ - -He never attempted to modify his vocabulary to fit his infirmity, and -though the effect was at times strange he would greet people in the most -natural way in the world with: ‘How do you do? how well you’re looking’; -or ‘What’s the matter, you’re looking pale to-day? Too much work, eh?’ -He commented on a friend’s looking old, and added: ‘But when men with -that colour hair turn grey, they do look prematurely old.’ - -It was not unusual for him to mimic people, whom he had only known since -his blindness, reproducing their gestures as well as their speech. - -[Sidenote: Games.] - -Later he learned to play cribbage and écarté with cards pricked by his -secretary with raised dots, in the fashion used by the blind to produce -tactile prints. It took him but three days to conquer all difficulties -in this new system, and he played with quickness and enjoyment. It is of -no small interest to those who have studied the psychology of those -blinded by accident in maturity to note this successful development of -card playing. Shortly after his accident he had made an attempt which -proved a total failure and yet afterwards he took it up without effort. -This point should be dwelt on, and may well give courage to many an -adult who is blinded. It shows that it is worth while to repeat often, -and to hope for success in experiments which have been abandoned as -futile. - -His hearing developed great acuteness, so that he could tell in towns by -the pressure of the atmosphere if he was passing an opening caused by a -cross street. When he walked in the country he loved the sound of the -leaves, the feel of grass, the springing of the sod beneath his feet, -the note of a bird or the leap of a fish. He seems to have tried to -gather from his friends’ descriptions an even deeper insight into the -charm and subtleties of Nature than before it was shut out from his -bodily vision. When, later, he enjoyed driving, he would stop the -carriage in order to see the view at some favourite point. He was so -fond of the view at Brighton that he often telegraphed a friend there to -take him a walk to Rottingdean. He always enjoyed this intensely, and -spoke of the exquisite prospect as of one of the most wonderful in -England. A breath of the sea stimulated him greatly. After a storm he -loved to listen to the booming and breaking of the waves on the shore, -and to feel the burn of the brine which was cast in his face as he -breasted the receding gale. The little shells and the seaweed interested -him, and he liked to pass the latter between his fingers to get the -slippery gluey feeling, and to play with their little pods and queer -tentacles. - -[Sidenote: Enjoying the View from the Mountain Tops.] - -Fawcett loved great heights and mountains, a fellow climber says: ‘I -went up Helvellyn with Fawcett. It was his first mountain since he was -blind—by no means his last. He held one end of a stick and I the other, -to direct his turns; and that was all the aid he needed. But it warmed -one’s heart to see his hearty enjoyment. He would have all the views -described to him, what hills and lakes he saw, what colours they were, -where the mist floated, and he anxiously asked of his secretary who was -with us whether he enjoyed it as much as he expected.’ - -Later he climbed the Cima di Jazzi, in order to see the glorious array -of snow-covered peaks. It does not seem too much to believe that the -highly developed blind have a feeling of the beauty which we say they -cannot see, and a realisation of its presence which we lack and which it -is impossible for them to explain. Though science has not yet been able -to classify this faculty it may before long, and in the meantime there -is sufficient evidence that this unclassified vision of the sightless to -a great extent illumines their darkness. - -Excepting cricket and rackets, he gave up none of the sports of which he -was already fond. - -[Sidenote: The Giant’s Stride.] - -All his friends are agreed that it was almost impossible to keep up with -him in his walks. They tried to modify his break-neck pace by various -devices, such as engaging him in absorbing discussions, or stopping to -talk to some one on the road. But in vain. His long legs would shoot out -like relentless walking beams, and if his friend happened to be small -and holding on to Fawcett’s arm before long he would be swept off his -feet, hanging on like a mere appendage to the rushing blind man. - -Fawcett’s recollection for the places that he had known before his -blindness was astonishing. He could even remember in closest detail the -country where he had been as a child at school. - -[Sidenote: Skating.] - -Having before his accident been a powerful skater he now took it up -again, and after a few strokes showed no hesitancy. He was known even to -accompany a skating race, leaving the course clear for the competitors -and himself unaccompanied getting over the rough ice on the side. Of his -first attempt we read: - -‘After a few strokes the only difficulty was to keep his pace down to -mine. We each held one end of a stick, and as we were on the crowded -Serpentine, we came into a good many collisions. As, however, we were a -couple, and one of us a heavy man, we had decidedly the best of these -encounters, especially as the conscience of our antagonists was on our -side when they saw that they had tripped up a blind man.’ - -In after years his recklessness became proverbial. He had been on a long -expedition on the frozen Cam one cold winter, and was returning at -sunset, chatting gaily with his friends to the accompanying click of -their skates. They were flying along at a good fifteen miles an hour -when they came upon a treacherous stretch of very rough ice. Fawcett, -who accepted ice baths as part of the fun, urged them forward, zealously -calling out: ‘Go on—I only got my legs through!’ - -[Sidenote: Riding.] - -In the early stages of his blindness, Fawcett’s purse did not permit him -to ride much. Moreover, some narrow escapes from accident—he was at one -time nearly crushed at Salisbury by a cart—made him for a short time -hesitate as to its expediency. But later he took it up with enthusiasm, -at first accompanied by a riding master, and later by groups of friends. -One of these tells how he would often ride over to Newmarket to spend -Sunday. During the Sabbath he would nearly walk his friend off his legs, -and on other days contented himself with walking his horse off its legs. -With a box of sandwiches provided for luncheon, Fawcett would ride over -from Cambridge at Christmas time to feast on the sunny side of the -Devil’s Ditch. He loved the chalk downs, and often stopped at a cottage -to ask for a draught of the sparkling, deep-well water. He enjoyed, too, -gossiping with the shepherds about the flocks, for his early interest in -agricultural matters was through life a marked characteristic. Once he -came across the harriers, and joined in their gallops, trusting entirely -to the prudence of his horse to select the most favourable gaps in the -hedgerows. - -A frequent companion on these rides tells how one day, going at a brisk -pace, she was so interested in something he was telling her that she did -not see until within a few feet of it that they were at the edge of a -precipitous gravel pit. Fearing to alarm Fawcett she simply called out, -’stop at once, please.’ Fawcett, always quick to act, pulled up short, -and but for his prompt response to her call would certainly have been -killed. Fawcett was so reckless and enthusiastic an equestrian that it -is still a well-remembered tradition in the livery-stables at Cambridge -that Professor Fawcett took so much vitality out of his mounts that he -was always charged extra. It must not be gathered that he was inhuman to -his horses—they probably had just as good a time, relatively, as he had, -but whatever he did, he did in a whole-souled and muscular fashion. - -[Sidenote: Fishing.] - -But for Fawcett, who had been trained from childhood as a fisherman, the -crowning joy of all sports was a good fishing expedition. Very soon -after the accident, he took up his fishing again. He remembered his -native stream well, and to the end of his life he was always eager to -run down to Salisbury to fish. His letters to his father abound in -reference to angling parties, past and to come. He gave directions about -his fishing-boots (they were so frequently in use that they must have -had a simple number in his catalogue of clothes) and instructions to -secure some expert angler to accompany him, or framed some subtle -tactics for way-laying and ensnaring some particularly elusive aquatic -prey, who had perhaps been known to his neighbours but had remained -uncaught by them. - -[Sidenote: Trout and Political Economy.] - -Many friends urged him to try their waters for trout, pike, salmon, -jack-fishing, and he enjoyed their hospitality greatly. His father who -was devoted to the sport, in which he excelled even after his ninetieth -year, was very fond of accompanying him. Fawcett’s early practice -enabled him to throw a fly with great accuracy. He was fond of combining -his amusements, and would wade in the stream while one of his great -friends often went with him, though walking on the bank so as not to -throw his shadow on the water, but so that he could talk to his heart’s -content without disturbing the angler. Fawcett was wont to say that -trout hear very badly, and are not distracted by political economy. So -fond was Fawcett of the study of his favourite subject that his first -secretary records how in moments snatched between fishing he would -accompany Fawcett to a tea-house, where he would read to him Mill’s -_Political Economy_. - -Those who accompanied him fishing are agreed that he was a much better -fisherman than sighted people generally are. This may have been due to -his extraordinary patience, or to his zeal in learning from the experts -with whom he associated. - -A Salisbury friend who often fished with him says: ‘He would make his -way through anything. He often walked along the river’s edge fishing, -and he never fell in. One day he was fishing and caught his line in a -tree overhead. He exclaimed to his secretary, who came up, “Can’t you -see it?” then, with added impatience, “See it’s up there, I can see -it!”’ - -With his characteristic pluck he did not hesitate to wade in the stream -or to cross a narrow plank. He enjoyed all the roughing incidents in -fishing, even bumping about in a donkey cart full of fish, and he was -particularly glad to meet the country folk and have a chat with them. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - DISTRACTION - - Fishing—In the Commons—Need for Distraction—What Helen Keller - thinks—Sir Francis Campbell—Leap Frog—Despair and Cheer—Paupers - and Political Economy. - - -[Sidenote: What Fishing meant for Fawcett.] - -It sometimes seems inconsistent that one so acutely sensitive as Fawcett -was to suffering of all kinds should not have hesitated to get pleasure -from a sport involving the necessary cruelty of fishing. In discussing -this, Fawcett at times would maintain the usual ground of the fishes -insensibility to pain, but again he would frankly justify it as the best -method of keeping himself employed and distracted from the weighty -problems which often overburdened him. - -It must not be forgotten that, however clever in adapting themselves to -their misfortune the blind are, they are relieved from the thousands of -the distractions which disturb the concentration of even the best seeing -worker. In his lecture-room the sighted teacher is unconsciously drawn -from the monotony of his one purpose by seeing his mind play on the -sensibilities of his hearers. - -[Sidenote: Screened Bobbing Bonnets.] - -In the House of Commons the statesman’s mind is unconsciously diverted -by the lights, the expressions of his opponents, the sympathy on the -faces of his partisans, the guests in the gallery, to say nothing of his -imaginings concerning those hidden and gracious unseen personalities -behind the screen in the ladies’ gallery—that screen which, perhaps more -than anything else in the House of Commons, piques the curiosity of the -beholder, and sets his thoughts aglow with the mysteries of the Orient. -If the indiscreet and objectionable person who devised that screen had -left the wives and mothers and sweethearts of the members to regale the -combatants in the arena beneath them with a smile of approbation, or a -glimpse of their spring bonnets, or even the pang caused by the thought -of the inevitable bill which belongs to such plumage, the path of duty -and politics would have been less dull. - -Then, think of the countless literary distractions, the day’s paper, the -illustrated magazine, the picture posters, and even the advertisements -which to the hurrying business man unconsciously suggest fresh trains of -thought. Again, the sight of the crowd, with its noble and curious -personalities, or the occasional patch of colour made by the passing -omnibus whose garish poster proclaims the latest star at the theatre. -All these, and countless others, make up a kaleidoscope, which, however -taxing and at times palling to the man with sight, are counter-irritants -which make it difficult for him to over-concentrate or to become -exhausted by harping continuously on one thought, to the exclusion of -all else. To think without interruption the seeing man sometimes closes -his eyes. The blind man’s eyes are always closed, and therefore to keep -his spirits bright, to prevent morbidity and even insanity, occupations -and amusement are not only advisable, but imperative. In frank -recognition of this Fawcett felt that the larger good—his usefulness to -the community—justified his ‘going fishing.’ - -[Sidenote: What Helen Keller thinks.] - -The great need of recreation brings as its corollary the advantages for -uninterrupted thought, which are among the alleviations of the loss of -sight. Helen Keller, in answer to the question, What is it to be blind? -said joyfully, ‘To be blind is to see the bright side of life.’ She is -perfectly sincere in this, and feels that in blindness, uncomeliness and -ugliness can never obtrude, while imagination is free to paint the most -sublime pictures. Not a few blind people have said that they would -prefer not to see, because with sight would come many disillusionments. - -It is a question of great interest whether either Miss Keller or -Fawcett, without their spur from blindness, without that need of iron -determination and unflinching pluck to win their race in the dark, -would, as seeing people, have attained their respective distinction and -have been such great servants of humanity. Many fail on account of the -insurmountable barriers which seem to accompany blindness, but not a few -heroic souls are developed and stimulated by their blindness in a way -that nothing else could have equalled. To these ranks it seems that -Fawcett belonged. - -He hesitated greatly to allude to his blindness, and we find him doing -so voluntarily, only to help those similarly afflicted. It was a very -painful thing for him to speak on behalf of the blind, and on one such -occasion he confided to a friend that he had never been so nervous in -his life. He hated to be put, or to place himself, in a position to -evoke pity, still more to seem to show what he had achieved despite his -handicap. - -He said to the blind, ‘Act as if you were not blind, be of good courage, -and help yourselves.’ He advised the seeing, ‘Do not patronise; treat us -without reference to our misfortune; and, above all, help us to be -independent.’ Also, he emphasised that ‘home associations are for the -blind as important as for you’ (meaning the seeing); ‘you must not wall -up the blind.’ ‘Do not sever them from all the pleasures and -fascinations of home.’ - -[Sidenote: Sir Francis Campbell.] - -He was particularly interested in the work of Dr. Campbell, later Sir -Francis Campbell, the intrepid American blind man who was knighted by -King Edward for the splendid work he had done to emancipate the blind -through education. Fawcett spoke often for the benefit of Campbell’s -work at the Royal Normal College for the Blind. The following quotations -from Fawcett’s speeches were written for this book by some of the blind -stenographers employed at the college, the work of which was inspired by -Sir Francis. - -Fawcett, referring to the blind, said, ‘Nothing, he found, was so hard -to bear as to hear people, when they spoke of the blind, assume a -patronising tone towards them, as if they were suffering from something -for which in some mysterious way they should feel thankful. The kindest -thing that could be done or said to a blind person was not to use -patronising language, but to tell him, as far as possible, to be “of -good cheer,” to give him confidence that help would be afforded him -whenever it was required, that there was still good work for him to do, -and the more active his career, the more useful his life to others, the -more happy his days to himself.’ - -[Sidenote: Fawcett Reminiscences.] - -To a blind and most responsive audience he said, ‘I did not lose my -sight until I had reached manhood. I was twenty-five years of age at the -time, and when I knew that my sight was gone, never to return, many -friends came forward and, prompted by the kindest motives, advised me to -adopt a life of quiet contemplation. I very soon, however, came to the -resolution to live, as far as possible, just as I had lived before, -following the same pursuits and enjoying, as well as I could, the same -pleasures. (Cheers.) I would strongly advise those who may be similarly -situated to try to pursue the same course, for I have found that there -is a wide range of amusements in which I can take just the same delight -as I did in days of yore. No one can more enjoy catching a salmon in the -Tweed or the Spey, or throwing a fly in some quiet trout stream in -Wiltshire or Hampshire. I can take the greatest delight, accompanied by -a friend, in a gallop over the turf; a long row from Oxford to London -gives me the same invigorating exercise that it used to do, and during -the recent long frost I do not think any one in the whole country found -more pleasure than I did in a long day’s skating with a friend. Often in -the Cambridgeshire fens I have skated fifty or sixty miles in the day. -(Cheers.) It is a true remark that nature provides a wonderful -compensating power, but I am bound to say that of all the compensations -which I have found, the greatest is the generous and cordial readiness -with which people are ever ready to come forward to offer us that -assistance without which we are often powerless to do anything. -(Cheers.) This with regard to our lot is certainly a silver lining to -the dark cloud.’ - -‘There are at the present time some nine or ten different systems of -printing for the blind. Each of these systems has its different -advocates, and as the cost of printing is very heavy, a great and -unnecessary outlay is incurred in printing the same book in many -different ways. If an agreement could be arrived at to adopt one -particular system, with the same outlay the numbers of books that would -be brought within the reach of the blind would be increased manyfold, -and an inestimable boon would be conferred upon them by having brought -within their reach a greater number of the masterpieces of English -literature.’ - -[Sidenote: Leap-frog.] - -Fawcett spoke of an apparently hopeless blind boy who had come to the -institution. At last his chance of making his way seemed assured, -because Dr. Campbell had induced him to play leap-frog. Fawcett said -that that seemed to him ‘the one test which ought to be applied to any -institution devoted to the training of the youthful blind. -Notwithstanding,’ he said, ‘no one felt more than he, or was more -anxious to acknowledge, that, however independent they might be made, -they still constantly required some assistance; and he felt that -whatever he might be doing at the present time, he should be reduced to -a state of entire helplessness if it were not for the friendly arm and -helping voice which were always extended to him.’ - -[Sidenote: An Apostle of Despair.] - -At a meeting to promote a scheme for the benefit of the blind an apostle -of despair began a prepared speech; but Fawcett, who had preceded him, -so completely convinced his audience of the sanity of a cheerful and -useful outlook when helping the blind that the apostle of despair found -the wind completely taken out of his sails, and was forced to sit down -with his speech unfinished. At the end of the controversy, when the -gloomy speaker had retired, Fawcett said to Lady Campbell, ‘I hope I -didn’t hit him too hard!’ - -Fawcett was most generous to his opponents, and feared lest his -victories should have caused them the slightest suffering. - -When Postmaster-General he was anxious to bring deaf and dumb assorters -into the Post Office. - -When he heard that telegraphy was thought of as a possible occupation -for the blind, he sent for Sir Francis Campbell, to talk the matter over -at the Post Office with the Comptroller-General. ‘For,’ said Fawcett, -‘if you think it is practical for the blind to be employed in this way, -I shall give them a chance.’ The plan was not considered practical, -though Fawcett was eager for it. - -[Sidenote: Heartening the Blind.] - -He was zealous to do anything he could by his energy and gaiety to help -those afflicted as he was but who took a more despondent view of their -condition. - -The frank recognition which he gives of his dependence in his blindness -on the help of others gives touching insight into one of the integral -qualities of his friendship. A friendship meant for him the acceptance -of countless little services which it would be a privilege for his -friend to perform, and while tacitly accepting these aids Fawcett felt -deeply thankful, and sought automatically to do what he could in return. -His kindness was not in the least of the give-and-take type; he revelled -in giving fully of his life and strength where there could not possibly -be any return. - -[Sidenote: Wright of Salisbury.] - -[Sidenote: Paupers and Political Economy.] - -An old fisherman and a delightful character, Wright of Salisbury, was a -great friend of Fawcett. Wright was an ardent politician and a -pronounced Liberal; that he was a celebrated angler is proved by -Fawcett’s remark, ‘Why, Wright, I was in Wales fishing and they knew you -there, and when I was in Scotland I asked if they knew you, and they -said, “Oh yes, quite well.”’ The two used to go fishing together, and -Fawcett would make special request of his companion to tell him of every -blind person they met. He never met any one afflicted with blindness -without offering help. On one occasion, Wright has chronicled, he was -greatly concerned after he had given a poor blind person alms, and asked -whether Wright had noticed what coin he had given to the woman. When the -fisherman said he thought that it was a ‘florin or half a crown,’ -Fawcett exclaimed with a sigh of relief, ‘Oh, I am so glad; I was afraid -I gave her a penny.’ - -His ear was wonderfully acute, and he would detect the tapping of a -beggar’s stick on the sidewalk at a great distance, or in the midst of -the roar of London traffic. The distinguished political economist, as -soon as he heard this little progressive noise, would let all his -well-assorted theories of economy and social justice fly to the winds -and hail the approaching beggar merrily, stop and have a few cheery -words with him, and before they parted gave him some pence. His -secretary never knew him to overlook a beggar or to fail to give him -money. It is the only instance that I can find in his life where he did -not live up to his principles. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CAMBRIDGE AGAIN - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ‘And ye shall know the truth, - and the truth shall make you free.’ - - ‘Be swift to hear; and let thy - life be sincere; and with patience - give answer.’ - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - - THE PROBLEM OF THE POOR - - A Prime Object—Lincoln—Leslie Stephen—Daily Life at - Cambridge—Deepening Interest in Social Questions. - - -[Sidenote: Prime Object of his Career.] - -When Fawcett first began to pick up the threads of his life again he -planned to continue reading for the Bar, and obtained special facilities -from the Council of Legal Education. But about a year after his -blindness he decided to give up law altogether. There have been -successful blind lawyers, but Fawcett’s goal was not law but Parliament, -and he shrewdly perceived that he might make his way to the front as -quickly by distinction as a political economist as by good work at the -Bar. To live at Cambridge among the colleges and streets that he knew -and loved, and among the many intimate friends he had there, appealed -very strongly to him in his first blindness. - -He determined to avail himself of all that the University had to give -him. While continuing his economic studies he took occasion to give -lectures and to attend and speak at meetings of learned societies. Above -all, he sought to find and win a constituency. - -[Sidenote: Personality at twenty-five.] - -Let us try to realise what manner of man he was when he went back to -Trinity Hall. He was a little over twenty-five years of age, and a -little over six feet three inches in height, not broad in proportion, -but lanky; of commanding presence, he had a voice of such volume that -his friends used to say it ’scorned concealment.’ Frank and transparent -in all his relations with men and women, he hated subterfuge of any -kind. His quick kindness saved him from hurting any one’s feelings, -though he was still somewhat rough in his ways. Never stereotyped in -appearance or manner, nor really conventional, he had a distinction -quite his own. His pronunciation never became entirely urbane, and his -friends had much difficulty in persuading him that Professor Tyndall -might be right in saying that glacier ice was a viscous fluid, but that -he had never asserted it to be ‘vicious.’ - -Fawcett hated tyranny in every form. His sympathies ranged from the -smallest child forced to work in the English mines to the American negro -enslaved, whose problems were then beginning to shake the Western -Hemisphere. Deeply interested in America, Fawcett became an ardent -Federalist and a great admirer of Lincoln. - -[Sidenote: English Fun, American Humour.] - -Not only by his build and love of justice does he suggest the great -emancipator for whom he felt such interest. If Lincoln had lived in -England it is probable that he would have lent a hand in some of the -many problems which Fawcett helped to solve; while if Fawcett had been -born in a cabin in Kentucky instead of by Salisbury Plain, it is not -unthinkable that he might have been a great fighter for the cause of -freedom and integrity of the Union. Another strong characteristic which -these men shared was an ever-present sense of humour. In Fawcett it was -akin to that of the big schoolboy; practical jokes appealed to him and -called forth his ringing laughter. His fun was of a hearty kind that -suited his voice and his huge type. Perhaps Fawcett’s humour would best -be described by the American as an English sense of fun, and by the -Englishman as not in the least American. - -Lincoln’s immortal wit, both in its defects as well as its perfection, -could only have been the outcome of American conditions. But for the -support and relief afforded to Lincoln by his intense, unfailing humour -he would probably not have been able to bear the strain necessary to -accomplish his mighty task; but for his present love of fun and his -elastic buoyancy of spirit Fawcett would not have been able to master -his great affliction and to have continued in his struggle on behalf of -the down-trodden, ignorant, and afflicted of his country. - -[Sidenote: Grey Suits.] - -His Conservative Salisbury tailor said recently of him, ‘He was a very -great anti-slavery man, and sympathised with the abolitionists in -America.’ We can imagine Fawcett holding forth in stentorian tones about -the rights of the negro, while his small, gentle tailor tried in vain to -make the new grey suit fit his giant customer. By the same authority we -learn that Fawcett ‘was very partial to grey suits.’ - -[Sidenote: Fawcett and Stephen.] - -He established himself at the Hall, as the college is known in -Cambridge, in rooms in the main court that looked south and gathered all -the sun grey Cambridge had to give them. They were on the first floor, -and above them his attendant and guide, Brown, occupied some garrets. -Leslie Stephen roomed on the same floor, and could reach Fawcett by -passing through a lecture-room. The two men were always together, and -Stephen writes that Fawcett’s rooms seemed part of his own. - -Onlookers have said that Stephen’s care of Fawcett at this time ‘was -beautiful to see’; it ‘was almost womanly.’ The two men were curiously -different in temperament and traditions. They seem to have shared little -but their earlier politics and their love of walking. Stephen, from whom -Meredith is said to have modelled his character of Vernon Whitford, was -a writer and student, a descendant of writers and students. Though he -seems to have much enjoyed the Cambridge society in which he was then -living, he was usually the silent member of a company where Fawcett -dominated by force of energy if not always by the intrinsic value of -what he said. - -Fawcett’s room was gay with photographs and the flowers which the blind -man loved to have about him. His fondness for them was a strong and -charming trait. In these days he usually wore a flower in his -button-hole. He loved having them about him; through their fragrance and -the delicacy of their petals he took in their beauty so completely that -he seemed to lose little because he could not see them with his bodily -eye. - -[Sidenote: The Fellows’ Garden on the Cam.] - -Trinity Hall is in the very heart of Collegiate Cambridge, wedged in -between the Senate House and the Cam. Along the river lies the Fellows’ -Garden that Henry James has so warmly praised. After Fawcett’s death -Stephen spoke of this garden and Fawcett’s love for it. - -‘I always associated Fawcett with a garden. He loved a garden because he -could there take the exercise in which he delighted without the -precautions necessary for a blind man in public places. He loved it -because he heartily enjoyed the sweet air and the scent of flowers and -the song of birds. He loved it because he could ... enjoy even the -sights, the sky and the trees, through the eyes of others. He loved it -not least because a garden is the best of all places for those long -talks with friends which were among the greatest pleasures of his life. -The garden where I oftenest met Fawcett, and where I have talked with -him for long hours, never clouded by an unkind word, is the garden of an -old Cambridge College with a smooth bowling green, and a terrace walk by -the side of the river, and a noble range of old chestnut trees and the -grand pinnacles of King’s College Chapel looking down through the -foliage.’ - -Within the limits of his college Fawcett moved freely and alone. He -would cross the court and find his way up and down stairs quite -unattended, verifying places with his cane. A Cambridge friend tells how -his coming would be heralded by his well-known step and by the tapping -of that same cane. Announcing himself outside the door with ‘Hello, are -you there?’ he would come into the room, waving his stick about to -locate objects. A hearty handshake would be followed by some such -comment as ‘How well you are looking,’ or ‘I am sorry you are not -looking so well to-day,’ this information probably reaching him from the -greeting of what was to him the tell-tale voice of his host. - -Sometimes he would wander in the court at night, annoying the sleepers -by his tapping on the stone flags. Was it as a just retribution that one -night his sleep was hopelessly broken by the continuous singing of a -nightingale near his window? At last he could stand it no longer, and -sought for a missile to drive the bird away; his soap proving the only -available ammunition, he hurled it at the offending mistrel, and routed -him completely. But though the blind man achieved his purpose without -injury to the nightingale, later he had a long and futile hunt for his -cherished bit of soap, and his lusty voice was heard echoing along the -historic Cambridge walls, ‘Oh, I say, who will lend me some soap?’ until -that essential was provided by a neighbour. - -He worked in the mornings, and between tea and dinner, the afternoons -were given up to exercise, and the evenings to conversations -interminable. - -[Sidenote: Work and Walks.] - -His favourite walk was over the Gog Magogs, the Cambridge Hills. They -are perhaps the lowest hills to be dignified with the name, but he -insisted that the air was purer on their summit than anywhere else, -because there was practically nothing between him and the Ural -Mountains. He would call attention to the outlook towards the distant -towers of Ely Cathedral, and invariably paused at certain points ‘to -look at the view.’ Through life he took the keenest joy in walking to -some place where the scenery was beautiful, and, helped by his friends’ -description, he would see with their eyes. His love of Nature was -intense; he would often describe a sunset with such vividness that he -himself forgot whether he had actually seen it before he was blind, or -had only beheld it in his mind’s eye. - -The fascination political economy had for him grew as he worked. To him -it was never the dry and impersonal science which freezes so many -enthusiasms, but the science which is necessary knowledge for the -statesman who wishes to better the condition of the man furthest down. -We have seen how Fawcett’s interest in the market folk at Salisbury -began when he was a child. The sight of many industrious, hard-working -people unable to support themselves in spite of the greatest frugality, -and having nothing better to look forward to than the poorhouse, had -left an indelible impression; he wanted to free these people so that -they might have rational lives with a fair return for their hard work. -His father’s political example and his own sympathetic nature and wish -to serve had made him from his youth a Radical. He had a passion for -justice and a zeal to redress wrongs and to liberate the poor from the -bondage in which their ignorance kept them. He regarded political -economy and kindred studies as means to his end, and Parliament as the -ultimate stronghold, from which he could direct his campaign. This was -his prime object, and while achieving it he gathered on his way all the -happiness and merriment that was honourably to be had. - -[Sidenote: Freeing the Fellowships.] - -In the year that Fawcett was elected fellow of his college the question -of reforming the tenure of the fellowships was newly opened, and at once -he took a hot and revolutionary part. When he returned to Cambridge he -continued to uphold a policy which would leave the fellowships open to -the freest competition. He insisted that neither religious opinions nor -other disabilities, many of which existed, should be any bar. The issues -involved by these reforms were intricate and came up for discussion in -the House of Commons when Fawcett was a member; but all through their -varying phases he kept to the one view that fellowships should be aids -to poor men who desired a university training and should be open to the -competition of the ablest. - -But in 1858 fellowships could be held by unmarried men only. Cambridge -society consisted largely of young men before their departure into those -wider fields which permit of matrimony, and a few belated seniors -lingering behind, bachelors by predilection or compulsion. The -youthfulness of the majority appealed to the youthful; sanguine, -buoyant, and sociable, they could boast of sufficient ability to have -won them places in open competition. If they gave evidence of the truth -of the famous admonition of Dr. Thompson, the Master of Trinity College, -that ‘we are none of us infallible, not even the youngest of us,’ their -intercourse was only the more lively. - -Into this circle Fawcett came like a huge magnet, drawing to himself all -kinds of curiously different people. He was most heartily welcomed -everywhere, and even when his hot Radicalism encountered in some senior -a wall of Conservative opposition, the wall soon crumbled under -Fawcett’s unquestionable sincerity and good-will. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - - THE GOOD SAMARITAN - - ‘Ask Fawcett’—The Ancient Mariners and the Diplomat—Christmas - Exceedings—Fawcett as Host—A Bore foiled—The British - Association. - - -But if no respecter of persons, Fawcett unfailingly took every -opportunity to play the good Samaritan. Were a friend in trouble, this -great rough comforter was the first at hand to help. If ill, he had -probably from the beginning been sitting daily at the patient’s bedside, -bringing good cheer, or aiding in the thousand and one ways which his -understanding of suffering, through his own great suffering, had taught -him. Nothing gave him greater joy than to help in this way. - -He was sent for on one occasion by an old gentleman on his deathbed. - -[Sidenote: ‘Ask Fawcett.’] - -The invalid had shared some of his guest’s tastes, and before the -interview ended the old man, instead of dedicating his last hours to -spiritual things, became so cheered and animated by his blind friend -that he called from his bed for his fishing-tackle and a bottle of his -best port. This sudden convalescence so scandalised the family that the -vitalising guest was not urged to call again. He was sure to give the -heartiest, least morbid cheer, and revelled in his great privilege of -service wherever it was needed, wherever he could enter. Moreover, his -helpfulness was not spasmodic, it was continuous and unforgetting, and -he was counted on as the most faithful and, in a homespun way, the most -delicate of friends. It necessarily follows that he became a connecting -link to a large circle of Cambridge friends. To the inquiry where any -Cambridge man was, and how the fates were treating him, it was the usual -thing to say, ‘Ask Fawcett.’ Whether the man had drifted away or had -been wrecked financially, socially, or by bad health, the blind man -always knew all about it, and had usually tried to set things right. He -believed firmly in the need of ‘keeping his friendships in constant -repair.’ He did not age prematurely and had the happy talent throughout -life of seeing things from a youthful point of view. It was one of his -principles to make friendships with younger men. Some of the most -brilliant juniors found in him a warm and loyal comrade. - -[Sidenote: The Ancient Mariners and the Diplomat.] - -He joined a famous boat crew known as the Ancient Mariners, an entirely -safe body of athletes not liable to over-exert itself. Fawcett’s rowing -was as vigorous as it was erratic. He could not keep time with the -others, so they wisely made him stroke. - -The Ancient Mariners shockingly beguiled a trusting diplomat sent by -Napoleon III. to study Cambridge sport. The young envoy had just arrived -at Cambridge and was taking in with close scientific observation all its -characteristics. He paused while passing through the Backs as the -Ancient Mariners stroked by Fawcett, skying horribly as was his wont, -hove into sight. Full of interest, the Frenchman studied their -movements, and was surprised when the learned body of professors passed -at their aged and intellectual appearance. He spoke to two -undergraduates standing by. ‘_Pardon, messieurs_, is that the famous -Cambridge crew?’ ‘Yes,’ solemnly responded one shameless youth. ‘But, -monsieur, they are very old.’ ‘Oh yes,’ came the answer, ‘the strain in -training makes them so.’ Pondering on this shocking fact, the Frenchman -industriously made notes which were later digested by his compatriots. -Unfortunately history has not given us his report to the Emperor on the -Cambridge crew. - -[Sidenote: Trinity Hall.] - -[Sidenote: Christmas Festivities.] - -Trinity Hall was founded in 1350 by the far-sighted Bishop Bateman. He -had been greatly alarmed by the terrible black death, and wished to -provide against a scarcity of lawyers. A more genial benefactor sought -to leave a merrier bequest, and provided for an annual Christmas -festivity, properly ushered in by chapel service and followed by a Latin -oration—a eulogy on Civil Law. These Yule-Tide ‘exceedings,’ as they -were gaily termed by the fellows, had a picturesque historic reputation, -and are well described by Leslie Stephen, who enjoyed them to the full. -He writes: ‘It was almost a religious ceremony. If we could not rival -the luxury of a civic banquet, there was an impressive solemnity about -the series of festivities which lasted some ten days at Christmas time. -The college butler swelled with patriotic pride as he arranged the -pyramid of plate—the quaint little enamelled cup bequeathed by our -founder, which had, I think, a shadowy reputation for detecting poison; -the statelier goblet given by Archbishop Parker, which made its rounds -with due ceremony that we might drink “in piam memoriam fundatoris”; and -the huge silver punchbowl, which represented Lord Chesterfield’s view of -the kind of conviviality likely to be appreciated by the Fellows of his -own period. The Master ... beamed hospitality from every feature as he -presided at the table, prolonging the after-dinner sitting till the port -and madeira had made the orthodox number of rounds.’ - -Fawcett loved these festivities, and rejoiced greatly when he could -succeed in bringing his old friends back to Cambridge, where ‘midst the -clatter of forty pair of knives and forks and the talk of forty guests -his ringing volleys of laughter would assert their supremacy.’ - -A friend adds: ‘We used to argue whether Fawcett or one of his friends, -whose lungs could emit a crow of superlative vigour, was capable of the -most effective laughter; but if the single explosion of his rival was -most startling no one could deny that Fawcett was superior in point of -continuous and infectious hilarity.’ - -These Christmas functions would be accompanied by long expeditions, -walking, riding, or when weather permitted, skating. Fawcett would never -lose a chance of this last. A Cambridge companion has told that ‘as soon -as it was even frosty, Fawcett wanted to go skating. Even if no one else -risked it he was glad to open the season. Once early in the winter he -insisted on skating on the river Cam at Cambridge. We took a boy with -us. It was very rough. We skated below the lock, where there is a long -space of river with a strong current. It wasn’t at all safe, and I was -relieved when I was able to persuade Fawcett to come ashore. Scarcely -had I succeeded when two undergraduates appeared on the river. “I don’t -see why I can’t skate if they can!” said Fawcett. “They will be in the -river in a minute,” I replied, and so one of them was, and the boy whom -we had taken with us and I were forced to become life-savers.’ - -He always remembered to carry pennies in his pocket for the man to put -on his skates, or oranges for the children. - -[Sidenote: Fawcett as Host.] - -In 1859 Fawcett, who had recently opened a correspondence with Mill, -hospitably asked him to the college Christmasing, but the great -economist did not come. At different times Fawcett had many guests, -notably Cobden, who came to see Fawcett in the summer of 1864 and -charmed the Dons by his delightful urbanity. The great agitator was -himself glad to make the discovery that Dons abate their political -prejudice to be hospitable. Professor Huxley was also gladly welcomed by -Fawcett, besides other scientists, politicians, economists, and lawyers, -famous in their time, and who if not immortals now at all events did -their share to create that great epoch of betterment in the English -world, the Victorian era. - -Fawcett had now become a well-known figure, and suffered the usual -consequences. His strategy in self-preservation is described by one -friend thus: - -[Sidenote: A Bore foiled.] - -‘I was walking with him one day when he was stopped by the long -conversation of a very uninteresting Professor. A few days later, when -we were again walking, I told Fawcett of the approach of the same old -bore. “How far off is he?” asked Fawcett. “About three hundred feet ... -now about a hundred and fifty.” Fawcett’s pace kept quickening and -quickening so that I could hardly keep up; when about twenty yards off -his legs shot out like the huge pistons of an engine. I had to run to -keep up with him. Like a flash of lightning we passed the Professor, -Fawcett shouting as he sped furiously by, “How do you do, Professor? -Very fine day. Good-bye”; and when the Professor in a few seconds was -left a marvelling dot on the horizon, Fawcett turned to me and said, -“He’s even slower than he looks!”’ - -Fawcett revelled in Cambridge society, and constantly compared it with -London, to its great disadvantage. He felt that no continuity was -possible in the talk of London drawing-rooms, and that an enormous -amount of time was lost in unnecessary pioneering before one could -discover a ground of common interest. At last when you were established -comfortably on this ground, you were briskly whirled away to repeat the -tragedy in some other circle. He had no patience with the early break-up -of London dinner-parties, owing to the custom of moving on to other -functions, and he staunchly refused to go to ‘At Homes.’ - -[Sidenote: Cambridge Society.] - -In Cambridge life was so much simpler, men knew each other, so that no -time was lost by preliminaries, and one could still have ‘talk such as -Johnson enjoyed at the Turk’s Head.’ One had only to walk across a court -to meet old friends, to strike at once into the vital things one cared -about. Here serious subjects were considered seriously, and by men who -were young enough to feel what they had to say and hope that their -opinions would jog the old world a little from its hackneyed course. - -Stephen tells us how at Christmas time he would rejoice with Fawcett in -an early and conversational breakfast; then discuss the newspaper until -luncheon; the long afternoon tramp and talk would end just in time to -prepare for dinner, and after dinner more smoking and argument until the -wee hours of the next day. What a triumphant test of friendship and -fluency! - -Much of the ability of Fawcett to entertain—and be entertained—from -morning until past midnight was the result of his talent for accepting -the small and trivial things of life as legitimate pabulum for talk. He -would begin a morning’s conversation with, ‘What did you have for -breakfast to-day?’ - -[Sidenote: Anecdotage.] - -He had a surprising avidity for anecdotes, and loved to hear certain -lengthy ones repeated numberless times. He would listen, his attention -glued to these worn tales, and would beg with an infantile eagerness to -have some hoary story retold which he had heard over and over for a -quarter of a century. His friend, the late Master of Jesus College, had -a rare genius for mimicry of voice and gesture. Fawcett revelled in his -performances; he would be on the _qui vive_ with the delight of -anticipation, and ‘as the well-known anecdote proceeded every muscle of -his body would quiver with enjoyment and he would end with -laughter-choked petitions for more.’ - -Though Fawcett possessed a remarkably strong and rugged mind, his -training reflected the limitations of the Cambridge curriculum of his -day, in which the development of brain fibre by mental gymnastics and -keen competition was the chief object. - -The undeniable charm which accompanies the type of mind which is -attracted by mystery or the more subtle forms of the æsthetic was denied -to Fawcett. Though his biographers may feel that he would have been more -interesting if he had possessed these qualities, the frank acceptance of -his limitations and the record of his achievement make a story of such -heroism that it requires nothing more than what legitimately belongs to -it. - -The short-sighted put him down as a Philistine, an epithet well -described as that name which a prig bestows on the rest of the species; -but between Fawcett and a prig there was a natural lack of harmony. He -appreciated good work wherever he found it. The novels of George Eliot, -the Brontës, or Jane Austen were a great delight to him. _Esmond_ and -_Vanity Fair_ were read to him several times over, and he would ask for -certain sonorous passages from Milton or Burke. - -[Sidenote: The British Association Meeting.] - -In 1860 he visited Oxford, where the British Association was holding its -meeting. He read a paper in which he had the hardihood to attack the -caustic Whewell, assailing his preface to the works of Richard Jones. A -large meeting gathered to witness the encounter. ‘Fawcett had learned by -heart a sentence from Whewell’s preface. Whewell replied and repudiated -the phrases quoted. Fawcett slowly and accurately repeated the words, -which Whewell again disavowed. Then Fawcett called to his secretary to -produce the volume in which the unlucky sentence had been marked. The -Chairman read it out, when Fawcett’s quotation appeared to be perfectly -correct. He thus gained an apparently conclusive triumph.’ ‘There were -not a half-dozen people in the room,’ Fawcett observed afterwards, ‘who -would have understood if I had got the best of the argument as to the -inductive method; but they all heard the passage repeated distinctly -three times.’ Though the younger man had unquestionably routed this -senior, Whewell took his defeat magnanimously, and was from that time on -excellent terms with his conqueror. - - - - - CHAPTER X - - THE YOUNG ECONOMIST - - Championing Darwin—Darwin at Downe—Salisbury Gossip—Meeting - Mill—Fawcett for Lincoln and the Union—John Bright’s Dog—Chair - of Political Economy. - - -[Sidenote: Championing Darwin.] - -In consequence of that Oxford meeting Fawcett entered another arena. -Bishop Wilberforce, representing the attitude of many not narrow-minded -men, took that occasion to attack Darwin’s recently published _Origin of -Species_. Fawcett, indignant at the theological onslaught on the new -theories, published an article in _Macmillan’s Magazine_ in which he -valiantly took up the gauntlet for Darwin. - -Now, when evolution has become so much a part of our accepted and -automatic thought, when we realise that science can in no way disprove -religion, but if anything recommends it on a scientific basis, making -the wonder of creation more real, it seems quaint to remember and -difficult to appreciate that in Fawcett’s day the great evolutionist was -hated as an iconoclast whose teachings would undermine religion, that -Darwin was actually anathema to the orthodox and the pious minded. - -Fawcett writes with his usual clearness, stating the true and logical -position of Darwin’s theory; distinguishing carefully between a fruitful -hypothesis and a scientific demonstration; exhibiting the general nature -of the argument and the geological difficulty with great clearness, and -taking some pains to prove that religion is in no danger from Darwinism. -In any case, he says, ‘life must have been originally introduced by an -act of creative will.’ He restated these arguments at the next year’s -meeting of the British Association in Manchester. Although this -controversy for his part went little further, it led to some -correspondence with Darwin, from whose letters it is of interest to -quote: - -[Sidenote: A Letter from Darwin.] - - MY DEAR MR. FAWCETT,—I wondered who had so kindly sent me the - newspapers, which I was very glad to see; and now I have to thank you - sincerely for allowing me to see your MS. It seems to me very good and - sound; though I am certainly not an impartial judge. You will have - done good service in calling the attention of scientific men to means - and laws of philosophising. As far as I could judge by the papers your - opponents were unworthy of you. How miserably A. talked of my - reputation, as if that had anything to do with it.... How profoundly - ignorant B. [who had said that Darwin should have published facts - alone] must be of the very soul of observation! About thirty years ago - there was much talk that geologists ought only to observe and not - theorise; and I well remember some one saying that at this rate a man - might as well go into a gravel-pit and count the pebbles and describe - the colours. How odd it is that any one should not see that all - observation must be for or against some view if it is to be of any - service! - - I have returned only lately from a two months’ visit to Torquay, which - did my health at the time good; but I am one of those miserable - creatures who are never comfortable for twenty-four hours; and it is - clear to me that I ought to be exterminated. I have been rather idle - of late, or, speaking more strictly, working at some miscellaneous - papers, which, however, have some direct bearing on the subject of - species; yet I feel guilty at having neglected my larger book. But, to - me, observing is much better sport than writing. I fear that I shall - have wearied you with this long note. - - Pray believe that I feel sincerely grateful that you have taken up the - cudgels in defence of the line of argument in the _Origin_; you will - have benefited the subject. - - Many are so fearful of speaking out. A German naturalist came here the - other day, and he tells me that there are many in Germany on our side; - but that all seem fearful of speaking out, and waiting for some one to - speak, and then many will follow. The Naturalists seem as timid as - young ladies should be, about their scientific reputation. There is - much discussion on the subject on the Continent, even in quiet - Holland, and I had a pamphlet from Moscow the other day by a man who - sticks up famously for the imperfection of the ‘Geological Record’ but - complains that I have sadly _understated_ the variability of the old - fossilised animals! But I _must_ not run on. With sincere thanks and - respect, pray believe me, yours very sincerely, - - CHARLES DARWIN. - -[Sidenote: Going to Darwin at Downe.] - -Fawcett was a great admirer of Darwin, and the famous scientist had a -whole-hearted admiration for him, and thought most highly of his work on -political economy. While Fawcett was staying with Lord Avebury they -started on the tree-shaded lane that leads uphill to Downe, where Darwin -lived, but Fawcett sped much too fast for his host, who had taken his -arm. The blind man said, ‘I don’t need you to lead me; if you just keep -close enough to me to prevent my going into the hedges, I am all right!’ -‘But I don’t do it to guide you,’ replied Lord Avebury, ‘I do it to help -myself, you walk so quickly.’ Fawcett was hugely amused, and the blind -man continuing thus to lead the sighted, they arrived at Darwin’s, where -they had a very merry time. - -[Sidenote: At Salisbury.] - -It was a great relaxation and joy for Fawcett when he was able to spend -a few days with his beloved family at Salisbury. He often took his work -with him, and was forced at times to deny himself to visitors. One -morning when he was at work an old lady called who had been his sister’s -schoolmistress. When, at luncheon, he heard that she had been there, and -had asked for him, but that they had refused to interrupt him, he -exclaimed, ‘Oh, why didn’t you call me for a friend?’ Although he knew -the old lady but slightly, and she had no claims on him, he was not -happy until he had called on her that same afternoon and told her how -sorry he was not to have seen her. - -[Sidenote: The Joy of Gossip.] - -It is refreshing to find that he was devoted to gossip, and in the home -circle at Salisbury he would often ask Mrs. Fawcett pleadingly, ‘Mother, -can’t you go out to hook a little news for me?’ and the mother would -sally forth in search of the latest village excitement. She had a -talent, perhaps inherited by the son, of, to state it conservatively, -making the very best of any anecdote; and when she returned to the -picturesque stone cottage in the close, where she found her long son -toasting himself before the fire in pleasant anticipation of a good dish -of fresh gossip, great was their mutual satisfaction. Urged by him ‘to -tell it all without interruptions,’ she would relate what she had -absorbed with her neighbour’s tea. She knew well how to give the flowery -rendering that delighted her son. As the story increased in -picturesqueness and interest, Fawcett, who had been bending forward, his -lips slightly parted in anticipation of coming smiles, would rock back -and forth with sheer glee. As the narrator skilfully made each point he -would shout joyously, ‘Bravo, mother! Bravo! go it, mother!’ He would -never let any one else retail the village talk. She gave it so much more -point. - -He could also ‘hook news’ for himself, and had a favourite tale culled -from a Salisbury gossip. An old dairyman who was a great friend of his -announced one day that they had ‘a new, beautiful clergyman at Harnham.’ -‘What kind?’ asked Fawcett. ‘Oh, fine—he goes so terrible high and so -terrible low!’ - -Though he retained his childlike curiosity, it is notable that he was -absolutely free from ill-nature, and one of his intimates states that he -never heard Fawcett say an ill-natured thing or intentionally spread a -possibly mischievous rumour. Though he had a splendid contempt for -certain weaknesses, he was always discreet, and tried his best to -promote kindly feeling. His love of talk was so infective that it -stimulated a flow in those who without him would have been reticent or -silent. - -[Sidenote: Meeting Mill.] - -In Cambridge he used to be teased about his total lack of any -embarrassment or shyness, but he would answer these sallies with, ‘If -you could ever see me meeting Mill, you would see me awkward enough!’ -The meeting took place, but not in the presence of these Cambridge -cronies; and what happened was never known, as Fawcett kept this sacred -mystery to himself. - -In the letter, already mentioned, written to Mill in 1859, he says that -he is ‘personally a stranger to you,’ and then alludes to ‘the very kind -sympathy you have expressed to me,’ and continues: - -[Sidenote: Correspon-dence with Mill.] - - For the last three years your books have been the chief education of - my mind; I consequently have entertained towards you such a sense of - gratitude as I can only hope at all adequately to repay by doing what - lies in my power to propagate the valuable truths contained in every - page of your writing. - -He certainly was a deeply attached pupil. - -He writes later: - - Pray accept my most sincere thanks for your letter; I cannot tell you - how much I value your words of kind encouragement. Often when I - reflect on my affliction, I feel that it is rash on my part to attempt - anything like a career of public usefulness; and again and again, I am - sure, my heart would fail me if it was not stimulated by your thoughts - and teachings. I can therefore assure you that your kind words will - remove many an obstacle to my course. - -This allusion to his blindness and to the depressing effect that it had -in making him doubt at times the practicability of his having a ‘career -of public usefulness’ is as unusual for him as it is touching. - -Even his iron will could not exclude the quiet moments when his disaster -weighed on him with the force of its full burden, and he could not at -all times banish a wistful expression which his friends grew to -recognise when his face was not animated by talk or the stimulus of -debate. It is even reproduced in some of the photographs, which show on -his features the calm acceptance of a great tragedy. - -Mill had not long lost the wife who had so radiantly coloured an -otherwise grey existence, and doubtless the cordial admiration and the -open-hearted friendship of the younger economist was very pleasant to -him. - -The pupil and master became great friends. Fawcett appreciated the -gentle charm of the singular delicacy of feeling which he found under -Mill’s austere and aloof nature. At the unveiling in 1878 of Mill’s -statue, Fawcett said that Mill possessed qualities supposed to be the -peculiar privileges of women, a gentleness and tenderness such as no -woman could exceed. He revered his teacher so profoundly that it was -sometimes thought that he was less generous in listening to the side of -their common opponents. - -In later years Professor Sidgwick, who ventured to find some flaws in -the crystal, met with scant sympathy from Fawcett. Walking with a friend -in Cambridge, Fawcett’s attention was called to the nearness of -Professor Sidgwick, apparently deep in conversation. ‘Oh yes,’ said he, -‘there goes Sidgwick, carping on Mill.’ - -[Sidenote: American Civil War.] - -While Fawcett was busying himself with the theory of economics in the -quiet courts of Cambridge, its practice had given rise to a great -conflagration in the Western Continent. The American Civil War raised -many problems outside the country where it raged. England was -considering where her sympathies lay. The Palmerstonian instinct to -support a small state revolting against the possibly arbitrary -insistence of a greater power gave one impulse in favour of the South; -the grudging desire to see a large country split up gave another in the -same direction. These were the feelings of the aristocracy and the -press. But the Radicals and the common people had quite other thoughts. -To them the great country in the West was the home and hope of freedom, -and that [Sidenote: Lancashire Work People and Freedom.] it should -strive to wipe itself free of the stain of slavery won the full sympathy -of the freedom-loving people in the mother country. The working people -of Lancashire stood by and starved that they might help America to be -free. - -In 1863 Leslie Stephen crossed the Atlantic. His letters to his mother -were at his request all forwarded to Fawcett, who helped his friend by -getting him letters of introduction. - -Stephen writes, ‘The letter which Fawcett got me from Bright to Seward -proved very useful. It brought Seward down completely. Bright’s name is -(as Fawcett may tell him) a complete tower of strength in these parts. -They all talked of him with extraordinary admiration.’ And again, ‘I -also hear that old fox, Fawcett, with his customary low cunning, speaks -complimentarily of my letters and suggests my writing a book on -America.’ - -[Sidenote: Fawcett for Lincoln and the Union.] - -Fawcett from the first was a strong Federalist, and both in public and -in private spoke for the North. At Cambridge he was one of a small -minority, and his rooms were the scene of many a battle for Lincoln and -the Union. - -[Illustration: - - HENRY FAWCETT AT CAMBRIDGE, 1863 - - From a contemporary painting in Trinity Hall - - The other figures from left to right are Fawcett’s guide, Professor - Geldart and Leslie Stephen] - -We have already commented on the curious resemblance, both physical and -mental, between the American and the Englishman. If we turn to the -Trinity Hall picture of Fawcett, Leslie Stephen, and others, the blind -man’s lofty top hat made in England suggests the similar hideous -head-gear which was worn by the American President at his inauguration, -and which was humbly held by his conquered adversary when the oath of -office was taken by the victor. Fawcett is like Lincoln in his great -wiry, lank length of six feet three inches or against the American six -feet four inches; in their athletic force and power, as youths, they -both threw their adversaries in wrestling bouts; their rusticity, -simplicity, and felicity in ready speech; their unfailing love of fun -and affection for small boys, animals, and all weak things in need of -help. In their slight characteristics and in their great traits they had -much in common; their sympathy, honesty, phenomenal patience and -courage. They started on their careers with similar equipments—their -great hearts and tremendous energies. They both, through vast suffering, -found the road to a deep happiness, and with all their love and power -they served their countries. - -[Sidenote: Hooking John Bright’s property.] - -Fawcett’s friendship for Bright has been referred to. It may not be out -of place to repeat a favourite story Fawcett used to tell against -himself of a fishing exploit in Bright’s company. They had had no luck, -and Bright was walking ahead along the river bank when Fawcett called -out exultantly, ‘Oh, Bright, I’ve got a big one!’ He pulled hard. Bright -turned round and exclaimed, ‘Yes, indeed, you have caught your hook in -the long hair of my dog,’ and went to the rescue of the mystified -collie, who was trying to extricate himself from Fawcett’s vigorous -fishing-line. - -[Sidenote: Friendship with Macmillan.] - -Largely at the instigation of his friend and future publisher, -Macmillan, Fawcett began to write his first book on political economy in -1861. Alexander Macmillan was a great friend of Fawcett and of his -circle. He often came to Fawcett’s rooms to ask him and to persuade him -to contribute some articles to the early numbers of _Macmillan’s -Magazine_. - -It is possible that these two were drawn to each other by their great -differences—Macmillan to Fawcett’s strong, dogged common sense, and -Fawcett to that esoteric vein in his friend’s mentality. The following -incident brings out strongly this contrast. Macmillan was popular with -the graduates, who often spent interesting evenings at his house. One -day he in turn was their guest in the Common Room. He held the floor in -an extremely metaphysical conversation. Fawcett, who cared little for -such talk and always said that philosophy ran off him like water off a -duck’s back, showed scant interest in the proceedings. Macmillan became -more and more introspective and transcendental, and finally exclaimed, -‘I often wonder, Fawcett, what I am here for,’ to which Fawcett -cheerfully replied, ‘O Macmillan, we all know what you are here for—to -bring out another edition of Hamblin Smith’s _Arithmetic_.’ - -[Sidenote: _Manual of Political Economy._] - -[Sidenote: Candidate for the Chair of Political Economy.] - -Fawcett’s _Manual of Political Economy_ appeared early in 1863, when he -was in his thirtieth year. He regarded his book merely as an -introduction to Mill’s larger work, which he said ‘will be remembered as -one of the most enduring productions of the nineteenth century.’ The -manual was very well received, and opened the way for Fawcett to succeed -the then Professor of Political Economy, Professor Pryne, who was in -failing health. On the death of this gentleman the choice for a -successor lay among four candidates. The great ability of one of these, -then Mr. Leonard H. Courtney, now Lord Courtney, was already recognised. -As, however, residents were preferred to strangers, the real contest was -reduced to the two local candidates, Fawcett and Mayor. Fawcett’s book -was his chief asset in the struggle, and it, together with his -discussion at the London Political Economy Club, of which he was a -member, constituted the chief claims urged by his many influential -friends throughout the country. They wrote the usual laudatory letters, -but with perhaps more than the usual heartiness. Nevertheless, his -blindness seemed a probable barrier to his ambition. Even one of his -dearest friends refused to uphold his claims, feeling that a blind man -could not properly fill the post, and there was much sincere doubt -whether a man who could not see could keep order in his lecture-room. In -addition to this, Fawcett’s frank Radicalism counted against him; he had -already, as we shall see in a later chapter, twice been a candidate for -Parliament in the Liberal interest, the last time in Cambridge itself. - -Such was the reputation for extreme opinions Fawcett and Stephen had -given by their connection with Trinity Hall, that a certain country -squire of ancient lineage and Conservative principles hesitated whether -he dared send his son to the college where his ancestors had gained -their learning. He decided to visit Cambridge, and there interviewed -Stephen and Fawcett. He told them with unfeigned horror of the serious -charges of Radicalism against the college that made him afraid to -entrust his son to its keeping. The grave fellows compared notes -solemnly before answering the father, then Fawcett reassured him, saying -that the rumours which he had heard had been much exaggerated, and -though at one time ’some of us had been rather infected with extreme -opinions, now we have greatly moderated our views, and shall be content -simply with the Disestablishment of the Church and the abolition of the -Throne.’ The immediate flight of the horrified squire can be imagined. - -[Sidenote: Elected.] - -Undismayed, however, Fawcett and his friends went to their -electioneering with an astuteness and enthusiasm that vanquished all -opposition, and on 28th November 1863 Fawcett was elected to the -professorial chair. A jubilant letter was despatched by him to his -mother the day after the election on 28th November 1863: - - MY DEAR MOTHER,—I hope you duly received the telegram. The victory - yesterday was a wonderful triumph. I don’t think an election has - produced so much excitement in Cambridge for years. At last excitement - was greatly increased by its being made quite a church and political - question. All the Masters opposed me with two exceptions, but I was - strongly supported by a great majority of the most distinguished - resident Fellows. My victory was a great surprise to the University. I - thought on the whole that I should win, but I expected a much smaller - majority. Clarke however was very confident. He managed the election - splendidly for me, and curiously predicted that I should poll exactly - ninety votes, and made a bet with Stephen that I should beat Mayor by - ten to twelve. We are going to publish a list of the votes, which I - shall send to you. My great strength after all was in Trinity. This - says much for the independence of the College, as the Master was one - of my strongest opponents.... - - All my friends in town regard it as a great political triumph. The - Forsters [who had supported him in the election at Cambridge] were in - a wonderful state of delight, and I have been overwhelmed with - congratulations. I must now conclude, as I have many more letters to - write. Give my kindest love to Maria, and believe me to be, dear - Mother, ever yours affectionately, - - HENRY FAWCETT. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE PROFESSOR - - OF POLITICAL ECONOMY - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - 'A man may see how this world goes with no eyes.' - - SHAKESPEARE. - - 'He that hath light within his own dim breast - May sit i' the centre, and enjoy bright day.' - - MILTON. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XI - - A PROGRAMME OF HELPFULNESS - - The Triumph over Blindness—The Professor’s Audience—Free Trade - and Protection—The Luxury of Light—The Malady of Poverty. - - -[Sidenote: The Triumph over Blindness.] - -His election to a professorial chair meant much to Fawcett and helped -greatly to carry him successfully forward in the career which he had -mapped out for himself. It proved two points of much significance in his -life as a blind man: first, that his colleagues and the elder men in -authority at Cambridge thought that he had the intellectual training and -qualifications to develop the honourable post to which he was elected; -and secondly, that they did not feel that his blindness would hinder his -making the most of his knowledge or prevent his students reaping good -results from his lectures. Perhaps no less important was the added -buoyancy and confidence given to Fawcett by a knowledge of his ability -to control and lead men, even if they were only his pupils at Cambridge. -This was a step, even if a very small one, on his path towards his -election to Parliament. From that point of vantage he felt that he could -ultimately lead the hosts of the ignorant and oppressed and force great -issues for the national welfare. - -The material advantages following his victory were also important: his -fellowship yielded from £250 to £300 a year, which, with his -professorship worth £300 a year, was sufficient for his needs. He -rejoiced that his professorship compelled him to be at Cambridge for -eighteen weeks each year, and for the rest of his life he continued to -give his annual course of lectures. - -The attitude taken towards the duties of a professor at Cambridge at -that time seems to us now almost comic and Gilbertian. It was not -expected that the professor should have a voluntary attendance of -enthusiastic pupils at his lectures. When it was considered advisable -for him to have a larger audience, the lecture-rooms were filled by -forcing the ‘poll’ men, that is the undergraduates taking the Ordinary -Degree, to attend a certain number of lectures; and whilst this -arrangement remained in force Fawcett had a large share of these coerced -auditors. In 1876 the regulation was done away with, and his lectures -were nearly deserted, though in his later years he had again a -respectable audience. - -[Sidenote: The Professor’s Audience.] - -A friend who saw Fawcett lecturing at Cambridge after the repeal of -compulsory attendance says that the impression made upon him was -grotesque. On entering the lecture-room, which was practically deserted, -one saw the huge blind man holding forth with his ringing voice to -space. Fawcett, in answer to condolences on this weird phenomenon, -replied, with a merry laugh, that it was quite all right and he was used -to it. - -Fawcett was practically the only professor who objected to the -withdrawal of compulsion; he said that he had been convinced by -experience that his hearers profited more than he had anticipated. -Examinations showed that they had really acquired useful knowledge. He -did not share the objections of his colleagues, who felt that they had -to lecture above the capacities of their enforced audiences. He should -not, he said, alter in any case the character of his own lectures. There -is something sublime and adamantine in this attitude; with his two feet -planted firmly, the blind man proposed not for a moment to lessen the -height of his intellectual stature, but by sheer force and -determination, derrick-like, to hoist even the lowest members of his -audience up to his own level. The impracticability of this point of view -is obvious, but it is intensely Fawcettian. He felt that the great -truths embodied in political economy were so simple and vital that he -could graft them painlessly and with good results on the most unfertile -mind. - -[Sidenote: The Science of Helpfulness.] - -He did not confine himself to elucidating the essential elements of his -science only, nor was he content to reiterate what he had said to former -audiences. He loved political economy as a living and helpful science. -His lectures were always fresh, earnest, and illustrated by the bearing -of the subject on history or current political events. He did not care -to teach subtleties, but to drill his pupils in a science which he -firmly believed would help them to deal intelligently and efficiently -with the great problems of inequality, poverty, ignorance, and misery -which were calling in vain to high Heaven to be solved. - -Fawcett’s critics among the younger men often felt that he was too -conservative. He idealised Mill, and his friends maintained that he had -read no book except Mill’s _Political Economy_; it was true that he had -read no book so exhaustively. He urged his hearers at one of his -lectures to study some good book until they were prepared to give the -substance and fully to analyse the argument of every chapter, and then -having acted conscientiously on his advice himself, naïvely suggested -Mill’s _Political Economy_ as excellent for this purpose. - -[Sidenote: Homely Political Economy.] - -He proved the teachings of Ricardo and Mill by what he had learned from -the conditions of the country folk about Salisbury and Cambridge. He was -wont to base his arguments on some homely, definite fact as illustration -for his plain, home-made reasoning; for instance, he objected to a -certain increased tax because it meant that every old woman in England -would have a lump of sugar the less in her tea. That was the concrete -thing on which he based his policy; and surely it is not one to be -overlooked by a true statesman. He supplemented his knowledge by -studying inexhaustibly the political, financial and economic movements -of his time, and delighted in spending a quiet Sunday reading through -all the newspapers he could collect. His appetite for them was -insatiable, and he felt that he had been defrauded if his friends, when -reading the Parliamentary debates, skipped any of even ‘the blow off,’ -as they called the peroration. - -He enriched his mind less by a pre-occupation with the abstract theory -of Political Economy than by keeping constantly in touch with the -affairs which were in actual course of transaction. - -[Sidenote: _Free Trade and Protection._] - -He was keenly interested in all those questions where political economy -borders on finance. His book, _Free Trade and Protection_, published -fifteen years after his first, assailed the tariff fetish dear to his -generation. Terse and masterly, his publication became popular, and was -regarded by many of the critics of his day as conclusive. In it he -limited the problem to what he deemed its practical viewpoint. To him -this was purely a commercial one, a question of profit and loss. Was -protection profitable or not? He found that, sporadic evidence at times -to the contrary, protection was not a paying business, and that it would -only be maintained in the long run by a loss to the community, and -therefore he considered it an obstruction in the way of progress, -capital, and the general weal. - -[Sidenote: The Luxury of Light.] - -He was impressed by the fact that the evil of the day was the hopeless -poverty of the mass of the people. He felt that the only way to help -them was to understand the principles that govern ‘the conditions and -consequences of money making and money spending,’ and so discover how -best to make it possible for them to earn more money, that is, to have -more power in exchange. He felt that men should be less content with -their lot, and that schools and savings banks to replace the -public-house would be great factors for regeneration. He used to tell -the following anecdote, which touched his friend Mill deeply. Fawcett -knew a Wiltshire man who was in the habit of going to bed at dusk. The -man explained that this was his custom because he could not afford a -candle, and added that, even if he could, he could not read, so why -should he have the expense or luxury of light? How was it possible to -change this labourer’s horizon, to lift him beyond the degrading -pressure of sordid poverty, and to fill him with ambition, when he had -to support his wife and himself on nine shillings a week? ‘Let us -endeavour,’ Fawcett says, ‘to understand the true causes of poverty. -That is the vital problem.’ - -[Sidenote: Malady of Poverty.] - -As a Professor of Political Economy he tries, like a careful doctor, -painstakingly to study and understand the symptoms of the malady of -poverty and misery, refusing to accept any superficial diagnosis. He -wants to discover the cause of the disturbance which, like a malignant -tumour, vitiates the whole social system. While coping with these -problems he kept his mind cool, critical, and impersonal, refusing all -quack remedies, and seized every detail that helped him to his goal. In -all simplicity he once asked Leslie Stephen why Carlyle called political -economy the ‘dismal Science’—not a difficult question for the average -man! But Fawcett loved budgets and balance-sheets; they brought to his -mind vivid, concrete pictures that could never be dull, and he studied -them industriously; industriously enough to realise thoroughly the -fallibility of figures and the old truth so often quoted (can the reader -bear it again?) that there are three kinds of lies, ‘Lies, Damned Lies, -and Statistics.’ Though his respect for his forerunners was great, his -beliefs were fearlessly his own. - -His warm personal relations with country labourers, many of whom he -called his intimate friends, never lessened. Once, after a day’s fishing -at Salisbury with Wright, he had some beer with a farmer, who told him -that the labourers’ wages were to be lowered after the harvest. Fawcett, -after vainly protesting, refused more beer and walked home. On his way -he met one of his labouring friends, who accounted for his best clothes -by saying that he was going to a harvest-home celebration at the church. -Fawcett fell into a long reverie, and at last asked Wright how he would -like to give thanks for a bountiful harvest when his wages were to be -docked of a shilling a week. - -[Sidenote: Co-operation.] - -Such facts touched him deeply and set him pondering and writing on how -best they could be changed. Co-operation seemed to him to be the cure -for these ills; he felt that it would bind together the interests of the -capitalists and the working men, and would ultimately do away with the -friction between them. An article he published on this subject attracted -the notice of George Eliot, and his proposals were put into practice at -a colliery near Leeds. - - - - - CHAPTER XII - - THE SCHOOLS OF THE POOR - - Need of Non-Sectarian Education—Charity and Pauperism—Friendship - with Working Men—The Voice that linked. - - -[Sidenote: Need of Non-Sectarian Education.] - -But co-operation without intelligence and education in all classes was -impossible. Fawcett felt keenly the need of non-sectarian national -education, especially for the rural population. Schools would enlighten -the workman so that he could learn how to make his work more profitable -to himself and others, and how to make the best of his free hours, and -so work out his independence. - -[Sidenote: Charity and Pauperism.] - -To the argument that compulsory school attendance, when the schooling -was not gratuitous, would impose additional burdens upon the poor, he -replied that the wages of labourers were determined not by open -competition, but by what was absolutely necessary to keep soul and body -together. The payment for schools would therefore not come out of their -pockets, but be made up in their wages. The employer would be reimbursed -either by a reduction of his rent or, it might be confidently hoped, by -the increased efficiency of labour. A man considers himself repaid for -keeping his horses in good condition, whilst he leaves his labourers in -a state of semi-starvation. Fawcett held that whatever would give and -stimulate the best in men was good, but he abhorred all that tended to -restrict the independence and freedom of action of the poor. This latter -principle made him a strong opponent of any form of State regulation of -the lives and labour of the adult poor. It seemed to him that charity -unsafeguarded which inevitably increases pauperism. He realised that -tyranny always tries to justify itself; his interest in America made him -familiar with the doctrine that slavery is best for the slave. -‘Interference may be tyranny in disguise even when it is really based on -the best motives.’ He wrote sternly against State socialism and the -nationalisation of the land. These plans, he said, regarded the State as -a kind of supernatural milch cow, a body capable of making something out -of nothing, of directly commanding supplies of manna from the heavens -and water from the rocks; whereas, in point of fact, these were simply -schemes for taking money from the prudent and handing it over to the -idle. - -In his search for practical solutions to these questions he put himself -in close touch with the individual workman and his conditions, as well -as with Trade Union officials. When at Bradford, during a strike against -the introduction of new labour-saving machinery, the blind man went -fearlessly among the excited workmen and cautioned the men against -driving away their trade by their methods. He strongly denounced -violence, and arguing calmly to these under-fed, discontented men, he -compelled their interest; they listened, and were largely convinced by -his logic and good-will. Many working men regarded him as their hero and -champion. - -Recently a London locksmith told the writer that he was a member of the -Henry Fawcett Club for Workmen, and that one of their proudest memories -was that Fawcett had at one time addressed the club and taught it great -principles of life and work. - -[Sidenote: Friendships with Working Men.] - -The working men and women appreciated what his friendship meant, and -felt that there was no one who could better speak for them. - -[Sidenote: Odger.] - -[Sidenote: Frank Fairness.] - -George Odger, a shoemaker, the first workman to stand for Parliament, -was a great friend of Fawcett’s. He used to tell this tale of his -candidature. It was before the ballot, and it was the custom to publish -the state of the poll from time to time throughout the day. There were -two Conservatives and two Liberals standing for two seats, and Odger -standing as an independent working-class candidate. As the day went on -it became clear that one of the Liberals would be returned, but that if -the second Liberal and Odger held on a Conservative would win the second -seat. Fawcett and some other Liberal politicians went more than once to -the Liberal Whip’s headquarters, and implored him as the chief of the -Liberal party organisation to allow the second Liberal candidate to -withdraw from the contest, and thus both save a seat for the Liberal -party and allow a workman to get in. Out of dislike to a working-class -candidate, the party leader refused. The result was that both Odger and -the second Liberal were defeated and a Conservative got in; and also a -lasting bitterness on the part of Odger and his sympathisers towards the -wire-pullers of the Liberal party, and apparently an enduring affection -for Fawcett. At one of his political meetings, years after, Odger -appeared to make a speech in defence of his friend, about whom he said, -that if he or any other working-class leader went to see the professor -in the House of Commons or elsewhere to ask him for his support for some -Bill or proposal in which they were interested, Fawcett would not keep -them standing in the lobby as some members would, but would receive them -in the most friendly and unassuming manner. If he didn’t agree with -their proposal he would tell them so in the clearest and most direct -terms, so that they always knew where they stood with him; if he agreed -with them and thought them right he would back them through thick and -thin, and if he thought their views unsound he would with equal candour -tell them so and oppose them. - -Odger had shown the same liking for plain speaking when he was present -at the extraordinary meeting held during Mill’s election for -Westminster. In an essay in which he compared the working classes in -different countries, Mill had said that in England the working classes -were generally liars. At this meeting Mill was publicly asked if he had -made the statement. Mill replied, ‘I did.’ His courage was received with -a great burst of applause, and Odger, who spoke next, said that the -working classes wanted friends not flatterers, and were truly obliged to -any one who could treat them so straightforwardly. - -[Sidenote: Friendship till Death.] - -When, years later, Odger lay dying in the slums of St. Giles, Fawcett -went to his bedside, giving what comfort he could, and an unfailing -sympathy. When the old man died, Fawcett went to his funeral in Brompton -Cemetery. His secretary, who accompanied him, gives this description, it -was ‘a long walk in a procession of many thousands, with trade bands -playing funeral marches, alternating with the Marseillaise, and the -banners of working-class organisations flying. We joined the procession -in Knightsbridge and walked all the way to Brompton, and the throng at -the cemetery was immense. Mr. Fawcett and I were dragged through the -crowd to the grave, where the leader who had arranged the procession -insisted on his making a short speech in eulogy of their dead comrade.’ - -A characteristic glimpse of Fawcett and his surroundings at this time is -given to us by one of his sympathisers, who says: - -‘The first time I saw Mr. Fawcett was at a meeting summoned, as I -understood, by himself, for the purpose of hearing an address from him -on some subject connected with political economy and the interests of -the working class. I was introduced to Mr. Fawcett after the lecture. -Neither he nor anybody else had ever heard of my name at that time, but -he was as frank and friendly as if we had met before and had known each -other. He told me he was determined to try for a seat in the House of -Commons, and he added cheerily, “I know I shall get a seat there some -time.” - -‘I did not meet him again for more than a year, it may have been two -years, after. I happened to sit next to him at a small meeting of -politicians and philanthropists. Mr. Mill was at the same meeting. We -had the Reform question to interest us, the question between the -Northern and Southern States of America, the question of legislation -affecting the position of working men, the Irish question. Radicalism -was then at once curiously robust and “viewy,” a combination of -qualities which politicians of a more recent birth find it perhaps a -little difficult to understand. Mr. Mill belonged to some of our -fraternities. Mr. Herbert Spencer was at one of them, at least. Mr. -Huxley rather later came into one or two. - -[Sidenote: The Voice that linked.] - -‘Some speaker got up who spoke well, and whom I did not know, and I -asked Mr. Fawcett who it was. He told me promptly, and then to my -surprise addressed me by name, and reminded me of the fact that we had -talked together after his speech in St. Martin’s Hall. His power of -recognising men by the sound of their voices was something wonderful. -Seventeen or eighteen years afterwards, I happened to sit two rows of -benches behind him in the House of Commons. The House was nearly empty. -Fawcett had spoken a few words on some subject of interest in India. -When he sat down I uttered one quiet “Hear, hear.” In a moment he turned -towards me, and addressing me by my name, asked me whether I had seen a -friend of his, the late Sir David Wedderburn, anywhere in the House that -evening.’ - -[Sidenote: The Call of the Outside.] - -However great his absorption in political affairs, Fawcett never forgot -to satisfy his craving for fresh air and exercise. His sanity of outlook -on serious things was largely due to his power of throwing them aside to -enjoy a long tramp, a ride or a wintry skate. His nerve never failed -him. One frosty day he walked across the frozen fens from Cambridge to -Newmarket. The country is intersected with dikes and at any moment it -was possible to plunge beyond one’s depth into a half-frozen ditch. To -Fawcett this was part of the fun, but his companion was far more -anxious, and said that the Victoria Cross had been won by deeds -requiring no greater courage and strength than this feat required of a -blind man. Fawcett had learnt his lesson that for him life without -courage was no life, and he habituated himself to hourly risks. - -In company with a seeing confederate, he would have made a good scout. -His knowledge of the country, of the mysteries of the woods and fields, -intensified as he grew older. In the Wilderness, many an Indian -path-finder would have lost the crackling of the branches under the -swift hoof of a distant hurrying deer, or the soft call of the partridge -to her young which Fawcett always heard. The distinctive smells and -sounds of the seasons were clearly marked for him. The swish of the -rollicking crisp leaves dancing before the wind along the roadways, and -the thud of the falling apples on the hard ground in the orchard, made -him laugh as it brought autumn to his senses. Winter, with its clear-cut -noises, cracklings of ice and snow under foot, lost none of its -sternness because he could not see its long white robes. He loved the -smells of spring, and seemed to feel the pushing and striving in the -dank earth and to divine the fragrance soon to burst forth. Like a giant -lizard he revelled and basked in the heat of the summer sun, and -rejoiced in the contrast of the cool shadow beneath the heavy-laden -trees, the smell of the hot grass and of fully opened fragrant flowers, -and the sedate ‘brum’ of the bourgeois bumble-bee. - -[Sidenote: Increasing Interests.] - -Though by his professorship attached for life to Cambridge, Fawcett’s -interests were deep in the world of politics, in which he had already -made his début as the member of Parliament for Brighton. To simplify our -story we will take up the history of his early political efforts in a -new chapter. - -The new M.P. was extremely popular; his friends were among the greatest -men of the day—three of them at least, Darwin, Mill, Thackeray, gave new -life to widely different callings. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - - THE NEW M.P. AND THE CLUB - - Thackeray and the Reform Club—The popular M.P.—The Assassination - of Lincoln—Marriage. - - -[Sidenote: Thackeray as Champion.] - -As Fawcett was often in London, his friends were anxious for him to -belong to a club. He was put up for membership at the Reform Club, but -to the chagrin of his friends, the committee was loath to admit a blind -man. It felt that he would be helpless and in the way. It delegated a -member to tell Fawcett tactfully the feeling in the matter. He received -the news with entire good humour and calmness, remarking quietly that -‘every club has a perfect right to elect, or to refuse to elect, -whomever it chooses on whatever ground it pleases.’ But the attitude of -Thackeray, who was a member of the club, was quite different; he felt -the ruling was outrageous, and said so, exclaiming ‘It is ridiculous—if -Mr. Fawcett is only brought into the dining-room or the library every -one of us there will forget that he is blind, and he will find his way -about without any difficulty.’ Vigorously taking up the cudgels, -Thackeray routed all prejudice against his friend, and Fawcett was -enthusiastically elected a member of the Reform Club. He received this -news of success with the same genial calm with which he had before -received that of failure. - -It was a great disappointment to him that Thackeray, whom he had asked -to the Christmas dinner at Trinity Hall in 1863, was unable to come -owing to illness. Lady Ritchie remembers her father’s desire to go to -Cambridge for the famous festivity, and his regretful shake of the head -as he said, ‘No, I must give it up.’ Lady Ritchie adds, ‘We were so -sorry for him, and also because he admired Mr. Fawcett very much.’ - -Overwhelmed with invitations, he had a tremendously good time wherever -he went. If he was dining out, he would sometimes arrive at his host’s a -little before dinner, and ask to be shown to the dining-room and to have -the places where each guest was to sit pointed out to him; he never -forgot his lesson, so that during dinner he was able to speak quite -naturally, turning as if he saw to any one at the table, addressing them -by name. His conversation was delightful, and he had a marvellous -faculty of putting people at their ease. On one occasion his hostess was -absent when her guests arrived; a general formality and stiffness -pervaded the circle until Fawcett arrived and at once broke up the ice -and substituted a genial and comfortable glow of friendliness. - -[Sidenote: The popular M.P.] - -We have noted how he remembered people instantly by their voices, even -if many years had elapsed since an only hearing. To him every woman -seemed both charming and unforgettable. A friend tells how his wife, who -had not seen Fawcett for many years, entered the drawing-room at a large -reception. Although Fawcett was at the other end of the large room, he -at once disentangled the lady’s voice from the web of the general -conversation, and threaded his way through the crowd to speak with her. - -It is worth pausing a moment to think what an exquisite sense of hearing -this story implies. What must the roar of a political mob have been to -an ear of such delicacy? - -At this time, all who saw Fawcett were not only drawn to him by his -delightful and frank personality, but arrested by his strikingly -interesting appearance. Like Saul, his fine head towered far above the -people, his commanding height dominated any gathering. A great shock of -blond hair at this time added picturesqueness to his strong face, and -his vibrant voice roused all by its very earnestness; in intimate talk -he spoke rapidly, riveting attention by his complete sincerity. - -Though truly a mighty talker, Fawcett had the rare accompanying grace of -absorbing himself in the conversation and interests of others. -Furthermore, his blindness, by quickening all his remaining faculties, -enabled him to hear without effort everything going on around him. - -[Sidenote: The Lure within.] - -The chatter in the brilliant drawing-rooms, the swish of silks, the -trailing of velvets on silken carpets, the rustle of starch and frills -on the parquet floor, the perfume used by the women, the smell of furs, -candles, lamps and the warm air heavy with fragrant flowers, the murmur -of distant fountains and music—everything touched the sensitive nervous -organism. Transmitting quickly hundreds of impressions to his swift -brain and wonderful imagination, they created for the blind man vividly -the scenes in which he moved, and in which he delighted with greater -keenness than the usual seeing person, and probably even more intensely -than if he had seen them actually with his bodily eye. - -[Sidenote: Lincoln’s Assassination.] - -He must have been in a listening mood one evening at a reception in -London, when he suddenly heard a girlish voice, vibrant with tense -emotion, say, ‘Oh, it would have been better if every crowned head in -Europe had been shot, than Lincoln!’ The voice belonged to Miss -Millicent Garrett, a girl of eighteen, who had just heard of Lincoln’s -assassination. Fawcett, too, was deeply moved by this news, and asked to -meet Miss Garrett. He found himself at once with her on a common ground -of sympathy, not only in the loss of the great emancipator, but in a -deep admiration for the lofty principles of liberty for which Lincoln -had given his life. - -This meeting was the beginning of a rare understanding between two -strangely harmonious and independent natures, and in the autumn of 1866 -Fawcett became engaged to Miss Garrett, whom he married on April 23, -1867. Mrs. Fawcett was the daughter of Mr. Newson Garrett of Aldeburgh. -The following notice of the event is taken from the _Suffolk Mercury_ of -the day: - -‘The commanding figure of the bridegroom, which towered above the -surrounding gentlemen, bespoke him one of the tallest as well as one of -the most distinguished of his countrymen. - -‘Amongst the most interesting of the wedding presents were a massive -repeating chronometer, sent by the Fellows of Cambridge University, and -a beautiful silver inkstand, the gift of one of Mr. Fawcett’s -constituents at Brighton.’ - -[Illustration: HENRY FAWCETT AND MRS. FAWCETT] - -[Sidenote: Marriage.] - -The marriage of Fawcett did more to help him realise his ambitions and -develop his intellectual abilities than any other event in his life. He -used to say that he fell in love with his wife’s mind, but from this we -must not imagine that she lacked personal charm and a vivacious sense of -humour. Their affection rested on a strong foundation of common -principles and interests and of the love of freedom and justice. - -A vivid impression of this unique and romantic couple is sketched for us -in the accompanying story told by Lord Avebury.[1] - -Sir John Lubbock, as he then was, was waiting at the Railway Station on -his way to Wiltshire, when his attention was called to a reserved -compartment decorated gaily with flowers. On asking the station-master -to explain this unusual phenomenon, he was informed that the compartment -was reserved for Professor Fawcett and his bride, who were about to -start on their wedding trip. - -[Sidenote: A Trio and a Wedding Trip.] - -Just then Fawcett loomed in sight, his little girlish bride hanging on -his arm. Sir John tried to vanish, but Fawcett’s marvellous intuition -had already detected his presence, and the blind man cried out in that -voice which scorned concealment: ‘Hello, Sir John, I want you to meet my -wife. We are going on our wedding trip; you must come along!’ - -Willy nilly, Sir John was seized by the giant and hustled after the -bride into the beflowered compartment. Much embarrassed, he protested as -best he could, and tried to extricate himself, but Fawcett would not -hear of it, and insisted on his accompanying them upon their wedding -trip. Sir John made another heroic effort for flight, but just then the -guard slammed the door, and he was forced to form a third for a part of -the honeymoon. - -This cordiality to his friends on all occasions was one of Fawcett’s -chief characteristics. He could not imagine any one whom he liked being -in the way; and his wife’s sense of fun always managed to make what -might have been otherwise a difficult situation amusing and acceptable. - -For the honeymoon Fawcett had taken a small cottage at Alderbury. The -country had been familiar to him when he was there as a schoolboy. Each -day he took his bride on some new and lovely drive, stopping on the way -to show her the views which he loved and so well remembered. - -[Sidenote: Mrs. Fawcett.] - -Mrs. Fawcett had been before her marriage deeply interested in the -questions of social interest which absorbed Fawcett. She had his entire -sympathy both in her independent work as a political economist and in -her championship of woman suffrage. - -After their marriage, they published together a collection of essays and -lectures. Mrs. Fawcett’s _Political Economy for Beginners_ appeared -shortly after, and quickly won its way to popularity. Fawcett was always -eager in acknowledging his wife’s help, and not only as his literary -critic and editor. He valued her judgment in political matters more than -his own, and would leave important questions unsettled until he had -discussed them with her. - -He gave a touching proof of his devotion and belief in her ability when -a sudden accident threatened Mrs. Fawcett’s life, and shook him out of -his usual reserve. They had been riding together at Brighton, when Mrs. -Fawcett was thrown violently from her horse. The fall knocked her -senseless, and she did not regain consciousness for some time. The blind -man could not be convinced that her stupor was not death, and that his -friends, were not deceiving him. The grief and uncontrollable weeping of -the big man were infinitely touching. He was so completely overcome that -he had to give up an election meeting which he had expected to attend in -the evening. On the following day, at a great assembly, he referred to -his absence, and thanked the constituency for its previous support, -saying that whatever difficulties he had met had been surmounted with -the aid of others, and because he had ‘a help-mate whose political -judgment was much less frequently at fault than his own.’ This was his -attitude to his wife and her opinions throughout his life. - -Footnote 1: - - The above was given to the writer by the late Lord Avebury at his home - in London in 1911; it is taken directly from the notes made at the - time. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - - THE WOMAN AND THE VOTE - - The Home in London—Sympathy with Woman Suffrage—The Blind - Gardener—Clubs—Hatred of Flunkeyism. - - -[Sidenote: The Home in London.] - -His belief in Woman Suffrage probably began before he met his wife. It -was but a month after his marriage that he voted for Mill’s motion in -favour of extending the suffrage to women, the first time the question -was introduced into the House of Commons. - -The hampered and restricted position of women industrially was a -condition that stirred Fawcett strongly. He felt that to bring the -necessary pressure upon legislation, women should have votes, and that -much of the injustice from which they suffered was due to their -political powerlessness. - -He loved a fight, and believed in competition to determine merit, but -his spirit revolted at the unjust restraint of the rights of mind and -virtue by brute force. He found that many paupers were women, and that -their chance to support themselves was often negligible. So few -wage-earning opportunities were open to them that their employers were -able to make what terms they pleased with these impoverished seekers for -work. Poor women often gladly accepted wages which were insufficient to -hold soul and body together. Fawcett enthusiastically advocated that -women should be given a fair chance to do what work they could do well. -He spoke and worked to have women admitted to the examinations at -Cambridge. He did not attempt to dwell on the equality or inequality of -man and woman, but consistent with his lively sense of fairness, he felt -that they should be given at least an equal chance to develop whatever -powers they had. The sad fate of the hundreds of women whose lives were -forced into useless inactivity depressed him: he did what he could all -his life to open many new fields to them. - -[Sidenote: Zeal for Fair Play.] - -His single-handed fight against a Bill restricting the work of adult -women was in the same direction. In this he took a very independent -position. He considered that restrictions on adult women were an -infringement of their liberty, and that it would probably have the -effect of lessening their already narrow chances of employment. His -quickness to consider this second point was evidenced also in his -treatment of a question arising out of the bill for the compulsory -registration of teachers. A lady quite unknown to Fawcett wrote that it -would tend to prevent many a young woman who was not regularly employed -in teaching from adding to, or temporarily earning, her livelihood: he -at once answered that that side of the question had not struck him, but -that he would call upon her immediately to hear her statement of facts. -Mrs. Fawcett, of course, augmented and shared her husband’s natural -enthusiasm for the enfranchisement of women. When she was asked to speak -at Brighton on Woman’s Suffrage some of his constituents objected, -fearing that it would react unfavourably on Fawcett’s political -position, but he would not hear of preventing her carrying out her plan, -and did then, as always, everything to help her in her cause. - -[Sidenote: Sympathy with Woman’s Suffrage.] - -Since these pioneer efforts Mrs. Fawcett has been and is one of the -strongest and most successful workers in a rational and dignified -campaign for obtaining the suffrage for women. She and her daughter have -effectively made great sacrifices for the cause which they have so much -advanced by their eloquent enthusiasm and disinterested and legitimate -efforts. - -A most unusual honour has been accorded to Mrs. Fawcett. The portrait of -Fawcett with his wife now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, and is -at this time the only portrait of a living woman, not of royal blood, in -that historic collection. - -[Sidenote: The Blind Gardener.] - -Fawcett took his wife to live at 42 Bessborough Gardens. Later they went -to live in The Lawn, Lambeth, where they stayed during the sittings of -the House until his death. Despite the additional griminess due to the -vicinity of Vauxhall Station, the Political Economist at once turned -farmer on his estate of about three-quarters of an acre. He sent the -asparagus which he raised within fifteen minutes’ walk of the House of -Commons, and which he insisted was a peculiarly good variety, to his -father in Salisbury as proof of the excellent climate of London. Two -small greenhouses furnished opportunity for raising flowers. These were -an unfailing source of pleasure to the blind man, always keenly -conscious of their beauty and gratified by their perfume. He knew them -all by name and took pride in showing them to his guests. The -old-fashioned house was made delightful by the artistic sense of Mrs. -Fawcett. The happy couple were unmindful of the lack of social -distinction inherent in their neighbourhood, and felt that the nearness -to the Houses of Parliament, which were within pleasant walk along the -river and over Westminster Bridge, as well as the horticultural -opportunities, compensated their slender purse for any other -shortcomings. - -[Sidenote: Radical Club.] - -A most fantastic incident occurred shortly after Fawcett’s marriage -which might have seriously affected his political career. His most -sociable instincts had prompted him to found a club about the beginning -of his first Parliament. It was called the Radical Club, and it -consisted in equal numbers of politicians in and out of the House. Of -course Mill joined. The club gathered influence. It met at weekly -dinners, when the topics of the day were discussed. Soon afterwards -Fawcett and his friends founded at Cambridge a new club, with the -fearful name of Republican. It defined the name Republican as ‘Hostility -to the hereditary principle as exemplified in monarchical and -aristocratic institutions, and to all social and political privileges -dependent upon difference of sex.’ - -[Sidenote: Republican Club.] - -The Republican Club was the means of promoting many delightful and -charming dinners and evenings among a circle of brilliant and -interesting friends. It was not a dark centre of conspiracy or -revolution, and its members were not concocting a nineteenth-century -version of the Gunpowder Plot. Unfortunately a weird and garbled account -of the Club appeared in the papers and struck terror in the hearts of -Fawcett’s constituents. To them republicanism meant revolution and all -the horrors depicted by Dickens in his _Tale of Two Cities_. One of -Fawcett’s best friends talked of making an amendment to the usual vote -of confidence at the next Liberal meeting in Brighton. Though the -proposed motion was given up, Fawcett profited by the opening to state -clearly his principles; he said that he adhered to ‘merit, not birth,’ -and denied any revolutionary predilections for his friends or himself, -or any sentiment of disloyalty. - -[Sidenote: Hatred of Flunkeyism.] - -Fawcett was essentially a peace-loving citizen when peace and progress -could go hand in hand. He had no plans for upsetting the monarchy, -though he alone objected to the dowry voted by the House to the Princess -Louise. He abominated flunkeyism as an aping of loyalty, and had no more -regard for distinctions of rank than for differences of creed. - -It is characteristic of him that while a democrat to democrats, he did -not fall into the mistake of many broad-minded people, and forget that -tact and congeniality are essential in bringing people together -socially. He was very keenly alive to the differences in individuals, -and took care that the gatherings at his house should be congenial and -harmonious. When a proposed party was being plotted out he would say, -‘Oh, don’t ask the So-and-so’s, they are such frumps.’ - -[Sidenote: His very own Salt Cellar.] - -Mrs. Fawcett and he were delightful hosts; they liked having people at -their house, and he greatly enjoyed his own as well as other folks’ -dinners. He was abnormally fond of salt, and to ensure an unfailing and -adequate supply, carried a little sprinkling salt cellar with him, which -he had carefully filled before dinner. He appreciated his food very -much, and though not in any way a gourmand, paid full tribute to the -high art of the cook. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE NEW M.P. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XV - - BLIND SUPERSTITIONS - - Speech before the British Association—Mill again—Bright and Lord - Brougham—The Mythical Committee Room—Defeat at Southwark. - - -[Sidenote: Blind Superstitions.] - -Fawcett never deviated from his school-boy longing for a political -career. But despite the recognition which he had obtained as a speaker -and thinker, even his best friends felt that his dream of a political -future was worse than impracticable. They tried to dissuade him from his -purpose, and make him content with a writer’s life of study, thought and -theory. - -Opposition, the breath of life to this dauntless man, only added another -stimulating obstacle to those he rejoiced to overcome—blindness, lack of -money, and lack of distinguished origin. He had made up his mind to be a -statesman before his accident; and he would in no wise falter. In the -wonderful crucible of his genial kindliness, the opposition of his -friends was distilled into a warm co-operation. He forced them to -believe in his powers and future, and changed them into his enthusiastic -political backers. His blindness, which appealed to the gentleness and -pity of many, with him became a recognised force to help him to great -feats of memory and prodigies of concentration. His very inability to -read books and newspapers compelled him to cultivate his memory and -tirelessly to think over the problems he wished to master. As a result -of constant practice, he became able to memorise statistical information -and use it in debate in a way which utterly baffled men of average -ability. Even the most brilliant men of his day would have to use notes -where Fawcett could trust to his memory alone. - -[Sidenote: A Telling Speech.] - -As we have said, a year after his blindness, with Brown to guide him, he -went to Aberdeen, and spoke before the British Association. His paper -there on the ‘Social and Economical Influence of the New Gold’ made a -profound impression, and won him his first public recognition as an -economist and statesman. He was much pleased with the result of his -first effort in public, and the cordiality with which he was personally -received. - -But his sociability was not, as we know, confined to learned persons. -During a journey he found himself in a small Scottish inn with a lonely -dinner in prospect; he was cheered to hear voices in the next room. He -sent for the landlord and asked who was there. ‘Some commercial gents,’ -was the reply. Fawcett asked the landlord to take his compliments to the -‘commercial gents,’ upon which he received an invitation to dine with -them. He accepted with alacrity, and passed a most jovial evening in -their company. - -He next spoke at the Social Science Association at Bradford on the -Protection of Labour from Immigration, and also on the theory and -tendency of strikes. He made several loyal friends there, and his -manifest ability led some of them to wish he might become a -parliamentary candidate for a northern Borough. - -The next year he acted as the member of a committee appointed by the -Social Science Association, to investigate the problem of strikes. Lord -Brougham and others of distinction were very friendly to him, though the -veteran Reformer made some remarks about the American War which, Fawcett -said, ‘drove me half wild.’ - -[Sidenote: Mill and a Political Opening.] - -In 1860 Fawcett was greatly encouraged by a meeting with Mill, who -congratulated him on his choice of a political career. Mill considered -that the blind man’s loss of sight could only injure his prospects of -political success if with sight zeal had also gone. The affliction could -be turned into an asset which would arouse sympathy, and soften -jealousies. Fawcett felt elated and stimulated by the older man’s -interest and belief in him, and lost no time in hunting for a political -opening. - -He interviewed Lord Stanley, but without results, for, as he reported to -a friend, Lord Stanley ‘thought me, I fancy, rather young.’ And, after -all, he was young—only twenty-seven—but he was determined. He watched -for every chance of a bye-election, and knocked at the door of any -borough where candidates seemed likely to be in requisition. - -[Sidenote: Bright and Lord Brougham.] - -When he asked Mr. Bright about some Scotch burgh, he was kindly but -firmly advised to wait until his star had risen a little more above the -public horizon. But Fawcett refused to lose time, and made his own -opportunity. An article appeared in the _Morning Star_ which stated that -Southwark, then in need of a representative, had revolted against the -control of its paid agents, and that a committee had been appointed to -look for an independent candidate who would stand upon ‘principles of -purity.’ The following morning Fawcett appeared before the committee. -Bringing with him a letter from Lord Brougham, he introduced himself as -‘of Norfolk Street, Strand, and a Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge.’ -His declaration of principles was so satisfactory that the chairman of -the committee consented to preside at a meeting. - -[Sidenote: First Political Meeting at Southwark.] - -Two good stories are told about this election. There is evidence to show -that Fawcett himself set them in circulation. They curiously illustrate -both his sense of fun and his shrewdness. One tells of his first -meeting. This was held in an inn, and only one reporter came to it. -Fawcett began chatting to him, asked him if he had anything special to -do that evening, and then, as there was no audience, suggested to him to -go home. He offered to send on a résumé of his speech. The reporter -gratefully left, Fawcett then asked the landlord if there was any one in -the ‘parlour.’ There were only a few commercial travellers, but Fawcett -sent his compliments to them and asked them to come in. They joined him -and all started a joyful evening together. In course of time, Fawcett -asked one of the travellers if he would mind taking the chair, which he -did. Fawcett then made a brief speech, and after drinks and a very merry -time the party broke up, whereupon Fawcett wrote an account of the -evening to his friend the reporter, giving the speech from the chair, -which he of course made up, and his own oration. - -As there was nothing particular doing, to Fawcett’s surprise, the next -day the London papers came out with a full account of the meeting at -Southwark. - -Fawcett went promptly to see the chairman of the previous evening, whom -he found absorbed in the account of the great meeting. ‘Why,’ he -exclaimed to Fawcett, ‘I had no idea I made this speech last night. I -have made speeches before, and I usually remember them! I only had a -glass or two! I cannot see why I should have forgotten this one.’ To -which Fawcett replied quietly, ‘You certainly have been well reported,’ -and left the bewildered orator to revel in his eloquence. - -Lord Avebury said of this tale, which he had repeated to the writer: -‘Tyndall was much shocked by this story, but I thought that the -cleverness far outweighed the wickedness, and the humour of it appealed -to me greatly.’ - -[Sidenote: The Mythical Committee Room.] - -The other story tells of Fawcett’s mythical committee room. It is to be -remembered that he was quite unknown, and put himself up without support -and with no possibility of winning. - -He engaged a very small room and a very small boy to open its door. The -candidate was rarely at headquarters, but his acolyte kept up -appearances by informing any one who called that Mr. Fawcett was engaged -with his committee. - -[Sidenote: The Contest.] - -He stood for a larger franchise; abolition of Church rates; removal of -religious restrictions; economy; the volunteer movement; the -equalisation of poor rates, and the reform of local government in -London. He proved his principles of purity by refusing to pay a shilling -to influence votes. - -His success was immediate. The meetings that followed the first were -crowded and overflowing. His interesting personality drew people from -all parts of London to his meetings, till even the neighbouring streets -were crowded. - -But the other candidate entered the field. A campaign was started on -behalf of a Mr. Scovell. This did not open with success. A meeting held -for Scovell broke up in a pandemonium. Fawcett had the satisfaction a -few days later of holding an orderly and overcrowded meeting in the very -same hall. - -The opposition now introduced a more formidable candidate in Mr. Layard -(later Sir Austin Henry); the Government and the great employers were -understood to favour him. This opposition seemed to decide the contest -against Fawcett, and his friend Leslie Stephen says that he doubts if -Fawcett ever seriously expected to go to the poll. Nevertheless he had -his committee room duly placarded, though the candidate with his small -attendant guide seems still to have been the committee. Fawcett spoke -every night, and urged without success that a mass meeting of electors -should choose between his qualifications and Layard’s! - -[Sidenote: The Speaker’s Eye.] - -Of course his opponents urged that Fawcett’s obvious disqualification -was his blindness, and that this was an insurmountable obstacle. The -matter was hotly debated on both sides. All sorts of arguments were -brought up at meetings and in the newspapers. How could a blind man -decide questions about the laying out of streets? Fawcett showed how he -could judge accurately of such things by putting pins in a map. How -could he ‘catch the Speaker’s eye’? This objection amused Fawcett and -his friends greatly. It is true that no member can raise his voice in -the Commons unless able to perform that ceremony. But, as Fawcett -gleefully explained, that mysterious ceremony consists in standing in -one’s place hat in hand, no difficult task for a blind man. It is for -the roving eye of the Speaker to note the standing member and announce -his name to the assembly. He thus gaily disposed of these objections, -and cheerfully asked ‘Mr. Layard to argue with him any point supposed to -require eyesight,’ when he would show his power of dealing with it. - -Friends came forward to testify, at meetings and by letter, to his great -abilities, and the editor of the _Morning Star_, which had treated his -first speech so generously, delivered an eloquent oration in his favour. - -[Sidenote: Triumphant Defeat.] - -Fawcett fought that large borough for a month on less than £250. But the -odds were too great, and he wisely decided not to go to the poll, where -Layard obtained a majority of one thousand votes over Scovell. - -Fawcett told a friend that this defeat would ensure him victory at the -next contest. Notwithstanding his optimistic belief, he had still much -to win through. He had shown his power of influencing a constituency, -but he had still to overcome the scepticism in the minds of practical -men as to the capabilities of a blind man, and to create for himself a -support which could be counted on as a more positive factor than mere -popular enthusiasm. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - - PURE POLITICS - - Defeat at Cambridge and Brighton—Routing a Chimæra—Elected the - Member for Brighton—The House of Commons. - - -Fawcett’s day was no more free from political chicanery and wire-pulling -than our own. Like all aspirants, he was sorely pressed to compromise -with the underworld of politics, but he kept himself clear of the -political mire, and made no promise which he could not justly fulfil. - -[Sidenote: The Flutter.] - -While waiting for his next chance his life was as usual busy and happy, -labouring over papers for _Macmillan’s Magazine_, editing his books, -lecturing, and generally leading the honest, frugal life of a man of -letters. This quiet was diversified by Fawcett’s one and only ‘flutter’ -in mining shares. His father had been for some years working to retrieve -the fortunes of a big mining undertaking in Cornwall. The son had been -much interested, and accompanied his father on several business journeys -to the mine. - -The elder Fawcett at last pulled his undertaking to a successful issue; -this success gave a sudden fillip to mining shares. The son ‘plunged,’ -and plunged with success—so much so that he was seriously advised to -give up politics, for the time at least, and go on the Stock Exchange. - -But he was not to be tempted by the lure of quick monetary success. - -‘I am convinced,’ he said once, ‘that the duties of a member of the -House of Commons are so multifarious, the questions brought before him -so complicated and difficult, that if he fully discharges his duty, he -requires almost a lifetime of study.’ And again, ‘If I take up this -profession, I will not trifle with the interests of my country. I will -not trifle with the interests of my constituents by going into the House -of Commons inadequately prepared, because I gave up to the acquisition -of wealth the time which I ought to have spent in the acquisition of -political knowledge.’ - -The sacrifice was unquestionable, and it emphasises his firm adherence -to his ideals, and his willingness to sacrifice great personal interests -for the still uncertain career on which he had set his heart. - -In 1863 a vacancy occurred in the representation of Cambridge. Fawcett’s -friend, Macmillan, now came forward, begging Fawcett to issue an -address, which was circulated broadcast. - -[Sidenote: ‘Anybody’s Candidate.’] - -‘If I am anybody’s candidate,’ Fawcett said, ‘I am Macmillan’s -candidate,’ but he tried to be nobody’s candidate. - -His friends helped him vigorously, presiding or speaking at his -meetings, or acting as his election agents. - -Fawcett the elder came to support his son. Though the local papers -assailed him, the most condemning assertions they could make were that -Fawcett was an advanced Radical, who would abolish Church rates, though -he professed to be a member of the Church of England; and worst of all, -that he was capable of the crime of admitting Dissenters to Fellowships. -How funny that latter accusation seems now, when the only question in -obtaining a fellowship is, Has the man the brains to win it? - -[Sidenote: The Defeat at Cambridge.] - -Fawcett was defeated by eighty-one votes. The cost of the campaign had -amounted to £600, but it had shown that Fawcett ‘could go to the poll as -well as make speeches.’ - -The election took place the same year that Fawcett was given the Chair -of Political Economy, and made this latter honour all the greater, as it -came despite his fearless Radical protestations. - -The following January we find him coming forward as a Liberal candidate -at a bye-election in Brighton. Three other Liberals presented -themselves, and it was decided to have a meeting at which a committee, -appointed by the electors, was to report on the merits of the -candidates. The candidates should then address the meeting, and the -decision was to be made by show of hands. But the committee managed ill, -exceeding its instructions, and the meeting became a tumult. In the -midst of the uproar Fawcett came forward and won probably the greatest -oratorical triumph of his life. He began amidst great interruption, and -after a few sentences the vast body of electors listened with breathless -attention. - -[Sidenote: Routing a Chimæra.] - -Fawcett told them his story. ‘You do not know me now,’ he said, ‘but you -shall know me in the course of a few minutes.’ He proceeded with the -account of his accident, during which, says the reporter, ‘a deep -feeling of pity and sympathy seemed to pervade the meeting.’ He told -them how he had been blinded by two stray shots ‘from a companion’s -gun’; how the lovely landscape had been instantly blotted out; and how -he knew that every lovely scene would be henceforth ’shrouded in -impenetrable gloom.’ ‘It was a blow to a man,’ he said simply; but in -ten minutes he had made up his mind to face the difficulty bravely. He -would never ask for sympathy, but he demanded to be treated as an equal. -He went on with the story of his previous attempts to enter Parliament, -and ended with a profession of his political principles. - -This account of the meeting is given by Stephen, who adds the comment: -‘I do not think Fawcett ever again referred to his accident in public, -except in speaking to fellow-sufferers. His blindness was apparently -being made an insuperable obstacle; his best and most natural answer was -to tell the plain story of his struggle, and he told it with a -straightforward manliness which carried away his audience.’ - -The other candidates had spoken in a hesitating way about the attitude -that England should hold towards the American Civil War. Fawcett began -the political part of his speech by saying: ‘Gentlemen, I am an -uncompromising Northerner,’ a statement that greatly pleased the -meeting. - -[Sidenote: Sir Leslie helps.] - -Then the hard work of electioneering began. Fawcett set himself -vigorously to the task, speaking effectively and often. His father and -sister came to him to inspire and help as they could. His friend Leslie -Stephen buckled on his friendly armour, and with all his love and great -abilities did much to help in the brave campaign. He began by writing an -article urging Fawcett’s qualifications. It was refused in all the local -papers, but this difficulty was gallantly surmounted. The editor of the -_Morning Star_, who had supported Fawcett in his Southwark campaign, -lent sufficient type; a room was taken, and the _Brighton Election -Reporter_ started a brief but brilliant career. Leslie Stephen became -editor and moving spirit in chief. The publication was sold at a -halfpenny a copy. Was it shrewdness or love for boys—for both were in -Fawcett in full measure—that determined that the newsboys should keep -the halfpence for themselves? Certain it is that the paper had a wide -and speedy circulation, and though Stephen modestly refuses it a -permanent place in the world of letters, it played a very important and -effective part in Fawcett’s candidature. - -When the conflict was at its highest the inaugural lecture as Professor -of Political Economy took place. Fawcett delivered the lecture at -Cambridge in the morning, and the same evening was back in Brighton -addressing a meeting. - -[Sidenote: Nomination Day.] - -[Sidenote: Political Eggs.] - -On nomination day the candidates duly drove to the Town Hall. In the -sixties this was an occasion for much rowdiness. The blind candidate did -not shrink from rough contacts, and doubtless enjoyed the commotion as -much as any. The varying notes in the discordant shouts of the mob told -his sensitive ears every subtlety of friendly greeting or enmity. The -rattle of pebbles against the window panes, or their thud as they struck -a victim, the squelch of an ancient egg against the side of the -carriage—all bore their message to the man from whom sight was withheld. -And the sense of smell brought him knowledge too—of the hot, unwashed -crowd, of the dust-trampled road, of the stale vegetables and ‘political -eggs’ that hurtled through the air. Every phase of the day’s emotion was -present to him and shared by him, thanks to his imagination, alertness -and genial power of good fellowship. - -The election took place on February 15. - -Fawcett headed the poll in the early hours, when the working men voted, -but he was finally defeated by one hundred and ninety-five by Moore, the -Conservative candidate. Had the votes not been so split up by four -candidates, the Liberal triumph would have been secured and Fawcett -elected. - -He took his defeat cheerfully, and indeed had some reason to be -satisfied. He had done quite well enough for his success in the next -election to seem positive. - -In the autumn of the same year he again addressed meetings at Brighton, -and made his best speech on Parliamentary Reform. - -‘Fawcett spoke of the honourable attitude of the working classes during -the American War, and upon the reception of Garibaldi in London. They -proved, he said, that the questions which really roused enthusiasm in -the English people were those which appealed to their moral sentiments. -He argued that something must be rotten if a man at 20s. a week had not -as much interest in the peace and prosperity of the country as his -neighbour with £10,000 a year. The sufferings inflicted by a war fall -chiefly upon the poor; and any argument which implied that they should -be rightfully excluded from the franchise as incompetent and -indifferent, was an argument denoting a degraded and unwholesome state -of feeling.’ - -[Sidenote: The Tide of Freedom.] - -It is significant how Fawcett’s whole nature rose to the wave of -independence which was flooding the world. The emancipation of Italy, -the freeing of the American slaves, and kindred struggles to give the -lesser man a fair chance, found an echo in the policy which he -championed for the helpless labouring classes. He was a lusty swimmer on -this tide of freedom. He believed that working men were divided in their -opinions as much as any other class, and that therefore, it was futile -to fear that the rich vote would be killed by the poor. His attitude -towards any proposal for reform of the franchise was: ‘Do we think it -will cause the various sections of opinion to be more independently and -honestly represented?’ - -Mill thought well of Fawcett’s speech on Parliamentary Reform, but he -was opposed to his doctrine that workmen would not probably be united in -their opinions. Mill felt that no matter how workmen might differ on -other points, they would be united on whatever touched their class -interests. - -[Sidenote: Back to Brighton.] - -The Brighton election was now at hand. At a great meeting held at the -riding-school of the Pavilion, the two Liberal candidates, Mr. White, -the sitting Liberal member, and Fawcett appeared, and resolutions in -their favour were passed. Fawcett’s father was also present and -enthusiastically received. Fawcett placed his difficulties cheerfully -before his audience. ‘A Tory,’ he said, ‘had summed them up by saying -that he would have to contend with £1500 from the Carlton, and a -cartload of slander.’ - -The serious arguments against Fawcett were that he was a poor man, and -that he was plotting the ruin of the tradesmen by his advocacy of -co-operation. He frankly accepted both these charges, saying that he -favoured co-operation as the best cure for poverty, and that he was -certainly poor, having deliberately preferred the study of politics to -money-making. Poverty, he said, did not weaken a man’s influence in -Parliament. Cobden, then recently dead, was a poor man, but he had -‘vanquished a proud aristocracy and had given cheap bread to millions of -his countrymen.’ ‘Every word uttered by Cobden in the House of Commons -made its impression, whilst the words of millionaires might pass -unnoticed.’ Poverty would not destroy a man’s influence in the House, if -he were thoroughly qualified for his position, nor would it prevent his -return by an independent constituency in spite of all ostentation of -richer men. - -In this case, Fawcett’s optimism was justified, though Mammon had his -usual good position in Brighton; candidates who could dispense champagne -freely and spend money to help trade and politics were naturally -preferred to candidates who were equipped solely with lofty principles -and poverty. So it is much to the credit of the community that for at -least a time it accepted higher things, and elected a blind member with -high ideals and no money. - -[Sidenote: The Victor.] - -On the day of the election (July 12, 1865) 6492 out of 8661 electors -polled, and the numbers were—White 3065; Fawcett 2665; Moore 2134. - -At last Fawcett was an M.P., and at thirty-two had arrived at the goal -towards which from boyhood he had set himself so unflinchingly. The -letter which he wrote to his father of his first day in the House of -Commons, deserves to be quoted in full. - - ‘123 Cambridge Street, Warwick Square, - - LONDON, Feb. 1, 1866. - -[Sidenote: A Letter home.] - - ‘My dear Father,—I have just returned from my first experience of the - House of Commons. I went there early in the morning, and soon found - that I should have no difficulty in finding my way about. I walked in - with Tom Hughes about five minutes to two, and a most convenient seat - close to the door was at once, as it were, conceded to me; and I have - no doubt that it will always be considered my seat. Every one was most - kind, and I was quite overwhelmed with congratulations. I am glad that - my first visit is over, as I shall now feel perfect confidence that I - shall be able to get on without any particular difficulty. The seat I - have is as convenient a one as any in the House, and a capital place - to speak from. I walked away from the House of Commons with Mill. He - sits on the bench just above me, close to Bright. I sit next but one - to Danby Seymour. White (his colleague for Brighton) is three or four - places from me. - - ‘Mother has indeed made a most wise selection in lodgings. They at - present seem everything I could desire; the rooms are larger than I - expected, and Mrs. Lark and the servant are most civil and obliging. - This is everything in lodgings. I can walk to the House of Commons in - exactly a quarter of an hour; this is not too far. Accept my best - thanks for the hamper. Everything has arrived quite safely, and all - the contents will prove most acceptable. We are going to have the fowl - for dinner to-night at seven. I hope, now that I am so comfortably - settled, some of you will often come to London. When am I to expect - Maria? Give my kindest love to Mother and to her, and in great haste, - to save post, believe me, dear Father, ever yours affectionately, - - ‘HENRY FAWCETT.’ - -[Sidenote: Parliamentary Arena.] - -When Fawcett was elected M.P. the great ‘Pam’ still led the Liberals, -Radicals and Whigs, but he died before Parliament met. By the time of -Fawcett’s visit to the House described in the foregoing letter, Lord -John Russell, the successor of Lord Palmerston as Prime Minister, had -resigned the leadership of the Commons to Gladstone, who for a -generation was to dominate English Liberalism. Bright, known to his -supporters as the Tribune of the People, from his seat below the -gangway, led the Radical wing. It was much strengthened by many new men, -among whom John Stuart Mill was conspicuous. He represented Westminster, -having experienced perhaps the most unique election in English politics. -The Conservative opposition was led by Disraeli, known already, not only -as a wearer of gorgeous waistcoats and a writer of brilliant political -novels, but also for his strong and vivid personality. In the next few -years he was to show his even more extraordinary gifts as a manipulator -of Parliaments. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - - A PROPHETIC QUESTION IN PARLIAMENT - - The Blind and Silent M.P.—His First Speech—Protecting Cattle, - Neglecting Children—Industry earns Penury—Mill ‘out.’ - - -[Sidenote: The Blind and Silent M.P.] - -Surrounded by these picturesque personages already so familiar to him, -some by repute, and some by personal friendship, the blind M.P. quietly -took his place. He had to learn the ways of the House, and, duly -estimating the value of the unspoken word, said very little during his -first Parliament. - -[Sidenote: His First Speech.] - -In view of his subsequent career, it is suggestive that Fawcett spoke in -Parliament almost for the first time ‘when he asked why the wages of -certain letter-carriers had not been raised by the Post Office.’ His -first serious speech was in March 1866, in favour of the ill-fated -Reform Bill brought in by Russell, and hailed by Bright with the -doubtful welcome that half a loaf is better than no bread. - -Fawcett in this speech repudiated indignantly the sneers at the working -classes made by certain Whigs, and praised the fine political sense -shown by them during the American War. He said that the problems of the -future were the problems of capital and labour, and in these the working -classes were most deeply interested and should directly affect the -decisions to be made. He further maintained (in spite of the previously -noted criticism of Mill) that the working classes would no more vote _en -masse_ than any other section of the community. - -[Sidenote: Where Fawcett sat.] - -As the gentle reader may know, in the House of Commons the long benches, -upholstered in dark green leather, face one another in two raised tiers. -There are no desks as in the American House of Representatives, and the -men sit close together, the serried rows of faces making long lines of -light against the dark background. Between them is the broad passage-way -that leads up from the bar to the Speaker’s chair, in front of which is -set the great table on which many a minister’s hand has hammered away -his superabundant energy as his words made history. Fawcett sat on the -lowest bench at the end farthest from the table. When he stood up to -speak he was in all his long length in full view of the members who -opposed him and of the leaders of his own party, who sat near the table -on a bench that was continuous with his own. - -The impression he made when speaking was of intense earnestness. His -commanding presence and strongly marked individuality compelled -attention. His voice was phenomenally clear, ranging from an almost -nasal twang to tones of rare sweetness. His head was held very erect, -every feature quick with intelligence saving the eyes shaded by the dark -glasses, which gave a pathos to the face. The mouth was very mobile, -sometimes trembling with eagerness for utterance, and with an underlying -expression of wistfulness often routed by swift smiles. There was never -anything cheap or theatrical about the man; he was simple, genuine, -noble, and spoke fearlessly from his big heart, pleading the cause of -the poor and the oppressed. - -The Reform Bill was withdrawn, and at the end of the summer the Liberals -resigned office. There was no general election, and the next year -Disraeli from the Government benches faced a House in which the majority -were in opposition. - -[Sidenote: Tea-Room Party.] - -During the winter there had been so much demonstration of public feeling -that the Conservatives had to bring in a Reform Bill of their own. Their -Bill appeared to be generous, but was hedged about with many provisoes -and exceptions. Gladstone wished his followers to vote against it on the -ground that it was hopelessly bad, and Bright agreed with this policy. -But some Radicals, among whom was Fawcett, considered that to vote -against any Reform Bill was retrograde, and they declined to follow -Gladstone’s lead. These men were known as the Tea-Room Party, as they -plotted their rebellion from that comfortable retreat within the -recesses of the Parliamentary buildings. They held out, in spite of the -reproach that they were showing more confidence in their opponents than -in their own leaders, and contended that to vote against any Reform was -to put themselves in a false position. A deputation of five, of which -one was Fawcett, waited on Gladstone to give their views. Fawcett was -distressed at this early necessity of opposing his chief, and often -spoke with admiration of Gladstone’s earnestness and ability. The -Tea-Room party won their way, and Disraeli’s Bill passed, but the -Liberals and Radicals so altered it that it became a more democratic -bill than the one the Tory leader and his party had opposed the previous -session. - -It was during these debates that Fawcett both spoke and voted in favour -of Mill’s amendment to admit women to the franchise. - -[Sidenote: Protecting Cattle, neglecting Children.] - -During his first Parliament he made himself felt as an ardent and -determined Radical. He made various proposals to help his poor friends -the labourers in the agricultural districts, and spoke forcibly on ‘the -interest taken in the cattle-plague, by some members, and the want of -interest in the more terrible plague which was ruining thousands of the -constituents of the same gentlemen.’ - -He urged the extension of the Factory Acts to agricultural labourers, -and complained that these Acts had been opposed by the rich on the -‘paltry or cold-hearted plea that they would interfere with industry; as -if it were the mission of a great nation simply to produce bales of -goods and to swell exports and imports, even at the cost of sacrificing -the health and blighting the minds of the young!’ - -It was in order to promote the prosperity of all classes that Fawcett -longed for a truly national and representative Parliament. He had no -sympathy with those who thought it necessary to ’stem the tide of -democracy.’ - -He was also eager to make it more possible for poor men to enter -Parliament, and urged a reform that is still being agitated—that the -expenses of the returning officers at elections should be paid by the -State. ‘It was impossible,’ he said, ‘to exaggerate the mischief of thus -shutting out the ablest men from political life.’ This reform was urged -many times and in different Parliaments by Fawcett, but in spite of his -tenacity he did not succeed in carrying it through. - -Already he had entered into that discussion of Indian affairs which was -to open up such a noble chapter in his life. He had also done good -service in committee on the Bill for University Reform. An impression on -the House had been made by his honest zeal, and though he had been -perhaps a little too radical for his party leader, his Radical -supporters could find no reason for dissatisfaction with him. For all -time the chimæra that his blindness would prove an obstacle to his -remarkable efficiency had disappeared. - -[Sidenote: General Election of 1868.] - -Parliament was dissolved in 1868, and a general election took place in -the summer. Part of the constituency of Brighton longed for a rich -representative, and as one of his opponents was popular and kept a -yacht, Fawcett’s struggle for re-election was sharply fought, and he -came out with no more than a respectable majority. - -Gladstone was re-elected, but all the working-class candidates were -defeated. This distressed Fawcett greatly. His friendships with many -working men, and his knowledge of their fitness to represent their -fellows, made him appreciate the real loss this meant to the country. - -Professor Cairnes of Dublin had first met Fawcett in the long ago days -of the British Association Meeting at Aberdeen. He was a political -economist of much distinction, but had become a helpless invalid, and -lived for years in great suffering. Fawcett had much affection for him, -and neglected no opportunity to run down to his friend’s house at -Blackheath, taking to the sufferer by his own vitality, and high, -mirth-loving spirits, encouragement, new life and energy. Lord Courtney -completed the congenial and closely united trio, and Fawcett’s public -action was often the result of much careful discussion with the other -two. - -The following letter, written during these elections to his invalid -friend, shows much of Fawcett’s feeling at the time. - -[Sidenote: The Condition of Affairs.] - -‘I begin to be very confident that Gladstone will obtain a great -majority. The Irish Church would have been a good cry to have appealed -to the old constituencies on, but working men neither care about the -Irish Church nor any other Church. The election, though satisfactory in -a party sense, will, I fear, return a House scarcely superior in -character to the last. Few good new men are coming out, and more -over-rich manufacturers and iron-masters are standing than ever. Before -the next general election after the coming one, the working men will -have felt their power and will have learnt, perhaps by bitter -experience, that Liberals do not all belong to the same species; in fact -a consummate naturalist, like Darwin, would classify Mill and Harvey -Lewis as belonging to different and well-defined genera. Something must -be done immediately Parliament meets to check election expenses. When -last I saw you in Dover Street, I little thought that late that evening -the Government would give notice of reversing the clause I passed for -throwing necessary election expenses on the rates. - -[Sidenote: Industry earns Penury.] - -‘The shabby tactics of Disraeli have done much to make the country -favour the clause. If I am returned I shall embody the clause in a bill -and introduce it the first night of the session. I have had no news -about Westminster since leaving London, but I cling to the conviction -that Mill is safe. I spent a day at Brighton about a fortnight since, -and everything there looks as promising as possible. Did you read -Hooker’s address to the British Association? Some portions of it were -most masterly; the _Spectator_ is, I think, just in its criticism of his -sweeping hostility to all metaphysics. When the next essay is written on -peasant proprietors, the £26,000,000 which have been subscribed in cash, -a great portion of it by French peasants, to the recent loan, will -provide a strong argument in favour of cultivation by the owner. I am -staying in the midst of what is considered to be one of the most -prosperous agricultural districts of England. It would be almost -impossible to find a labourer who had saved a sovereign, and not one in -a thousand of these labourers will save enough to keep him from the poor -rates when old age compels him to cease work. Yet nine Englishmen out of -ten think that it is in agriculture that we show our great superiority -to the French.’ - -Cairnes replies with an interesting letter of warm congratulations, in -which he deplores bitterly the defeat as candidate for the Liberal party -of that ‘exemplar of far-seeing statesmanship, commanding views, and -lofty moral purpose,’ Mill, and adds, ‘How the enemies of truth and -light will blaspheme!’ - -[Sidenote: Mill ‘out.’] - -Fawcett’s reply to Cairnes’ letter gives a vivid idea of the condition -of politics. He writes in December 1868, ‘You and I feel alike about the -rejection of Mill. Those who have watched him in the House of Commons -can perhaps fully realise the injury which his rejection has inflicted -on English politics. He diffused a certain moral atmosphere over an -assembly whose average tone is certainly not high. A letter which I -received from Mill yesterday confirms me in the belief I have long -entertained, that Parliament involved to him a most severe personal -sacrifice. He speaks almost with enthusiastic joy of being restored to -freedom, and he is evidently supremely happy in the prospect of being -able to work uninterruptedly. Still I am sure his sense of public duty -is so high that he would at once accept a seat if one were offered to -him. The working men know what a friend he is of theirs, and I believe -they are determined to return him the first time a good opportunity -offers. The Liberal majority at the general election is of course -eminently satisfactory, but there is much in the constitution of the -present House which is very disappointing. Intellectually it is inferior -to the last, and wealthy uneducated manufacturers and merchants are more -predominant than ever. Mill always predicted that this would be the -case, thinking that the new voters would require two or three years to -understand the power which had been given to them. - -[Sidenote: The third Brighton contest.] - -‘I had a hard fight at Brighton. Not only was there disunion in my own -party, got up by a small section, who thought I did not spend enough -money in the town, but the Tory who opposed me was very rich, and all -that wealth could do against me was done. - -‘My success was peculiarly satisfactory, because it was obtained without -a paid agent or a paid canvasser; and we never held even a meeting at a -public house. - -‘I quite agree with you that the present Government will have to be most -narrowly watched with regard to what they do upon education and the land -question.’ - -His ever-increasing responsibilities exhilarated Fawcett, and his -friendships increased in proportion; he was always accumulating relays -of young friends who filled up the sad gaps caused by death. If he had -lived to be a Methuselah he would have died regretted by troops of young -folks. He and his wife were now much sought after, and they much enjoyed -festivities together. Mrs. Fawcett was frequently amused by her -husband’s delight in gossip and his irrepressible boyishness. - -One evening, at the house of a friend, Fawcett met another M.P. They -immediately retired together to a remote corner of the room, where they -discussed in low and earnest voices. Mrs. Fawcett, thinking that they -were debating matters of State, was much surprised when she happened to -pass near them to hear Fawcett asking eagerly, ‘Was it her fault or his -fault?’ - -[Sidenote: Roller Skating.] - -On another occasion, shortly after skating on rollers was introduced, -Mrs. Fawcett went to a rink, and as she came in was told that a most -extraordinary thing was going on—there was a blind man trying -roller-skating. It was her husband, whizzing round delightedly. Fawcett -was having a royal time, darting like a huge swallow in swift circles -about the skating rink. He revelled in the motion and the exercise, -which put him into a fine glow. The merry noise of many little wooden -wheels rolling smoothly over the polished floor—the lifting and -stumbling of awkward feet, and the skilful glide of the good skaters -gave him a happy consciousness of the gay revolving spectacle through -which he winged his way. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - - GLADSTONE PRIME MINISTER - - Opposition to Gladstone—‘The most Thorough Radical Member in the - House’—Growing Dissatisfaction with the Government—The Irish - Universities Bill—Helping to Defeat his own Party. - - -[Sidenote: Gladstone and Fawcett.] - -In the new Parliament Gladstone became Prime Minister for the first -time. Fawcett had much appreciation of his leader’s wonderful powers, of -his ability as a financier, of his sincerity as a reformer, and of his -right to the support of the Liberal party. - -But the ramifications, subtleties and luminosities of Gladstone’s -marvellous intellect and culture were a closed book to Fawcett’s -downright, strong, unimaginative and limited mind, limited in a sense by -its very excellencies, its honesties, its insistence on the real, the -well proved, his willingness to consider the workable problem only, -rejecting all inquiries which savoured of the visionary, the -philosophic, or the purely æsthetic. Whatever Fawcett’s mind was willing -to dally with or to assimilate must have the qualities of -serviceableness and a certain homespun simplicity. Culture for its own -sake, the higher flights of the imagination, and struggles to pierce the -veil of the unknown seemed to him a sentimental waste of good time which -could better be spent on real work or good play. - -[Sidenote: A Difference in Temperaments.] - -The great flights which Gladstone’s intellect revelled in, his delight -in ancient as well as in the most recent philosophy, seemed as amusing -and unnecessary to Fawcett as it was to him profitless and extravagant. - -In their entirely divergent points of view we must recognise the cause -of much of the later incompatibility of these two temperaments which -really never understood each other, and had not the power to meet on a -truly common footing. - -[Sidenote: The Bills of 1869.] - -In the session of 1869 they struck fire more than once. The Bill for -removing Religious Tests at the Universities did not satisfy Fawcett, -and he also much disapproved of the financial arrangements in the Bill -for disestablishing the Irish Church. The Education Bill pleased him as -little. The phrase ‘We must educate our masters’ represented the feeling -of many in regard to the newly enfranchised labour. To them education -was a desperate safeguard against a necessary evil. To Fawcett it was -the beautiful and logical outcome of a simple act of justice. The -Education Bill of 1870 was hampered by conflicting religious -difficulties, and the resultant law was a compromise little to Fawcett’s -liking. - -Fawcett’s position in Parliament had now become strong and unique. A -contemporary writes of him as ‘the most thorough Radical now in the -House.’ He was regarded as a leader of the extreme party. - -[Sidenote: A Radical of the Radicals.] - -As a critic of the Government he was ruthless and reckless, like a -mighty woodman hacking mercilessly at ill-grown timber. There was ample -reason for his dissatisfaction, as he emphatically proved to a crowded -meeting at Brighton. - -He began by telling a story to which he often referred. Some -old-fashioned Liberal had told him that after two hours’ reflection he -and his friends had been unable to answer the question, what there was -for the Liberal party to do. Fawcett said that he had enlightened his -friend in the course of a short stroll, and he now proceeded to -enlighten his constituents. He began by insisting upon the shortcomings -of the previous sessions. The Irish Church had been disestablished, but -at the cost of a bribe of £7,000,000. The praise bestowed upon the -Education Act was, as often happened, one more proof that it was ‘a -feeble and timorous compromise.’ Time had been wasted in ’squabbling -over a paltry religious difficulty,’ which had been handed over to the -local authorities instead of finally settled by Parliament. The -University Tests had been only half settled. The Ballot Bill was a good -measure, yet it left the most serious difficulty of election expenses -inadequately treated. ‘We had therefore still to make up leeway; but -above all we had to introduce new ideas.’ In this last sentence he -emphasised the paralysis of progress which had so long crippled the -advance of England. New cures, new methods, new energy, were what this -young politician had craved from the first of his co-workers. - -[Sidenote: New Ideas.] - -Full of life and enthusiasm, the blind youth abounded in plans to make -the world happier and saner. It should have no rest till his thoughts -had become beneficient law. He prodded those sedate Whiggish gentlemen -who formed so large a part of the Liberal majority on the importance of -a fair minority representation. He cried out that there must be ‘no more -hereditary legislation, and that the House of Lords needed reform.’ He -held before them abuses connected with the Poor Laws, and the horrible -fact that in England one in every twenty of their fellows was then a -pauper. - -[Sidenote: Being disagreeable.] - -The party whips and organisers used to say that whatever was proposed, -Fawcett would say something disagreeable. Fawcett did, in fact, say the -‘most disagreeable’ thing pretty often, because nothing can be so -disagreeable as an opposition based upon the very principle of which the -party claims a special monopoly. - -Fawcett’s increasing dissatisfaction with the Government was strongly -set forth in an article in the _Fortnightly Review_ of 1871 ‘On the -Present Position of the Government.’ - -It was a vigorous criticism of the ministry. While giving them credit -for what they had done, he contended that the reforms that had been -attempted were but half-heartedly done, and had not met the evils they -were supposed to overcome. He mentioned many of the questions we have -already referred to, but he also spoke of two others that will be -discussed more fully in later chapters. He complained that the -Government had done its utmost to promote the enclosure of English -commons, and that Indian Finance had been dismissed by the Cabinet with -fifteen minutes’ discussion. - -He forestalled the rejoinder that the Government was not to be expected -to satisfy the extreme Radicals, by claiming that it did not even keep -up with the main body of its supporters. It was enormously pleased with -itself when it, ‘after much curious twisting, and many a dubious halt, -decided to accept a principle which, years before, had been endorsed at -a hundred provincial meetings.’ - -He felt that while Government could have kept the enthusiasm of its -supporters by following out a simple, strong policy, it had injured -itself and disgusted them, not by going too far, but by -shilly-shallying, compromising, and equivocating. This frankness hurt -Fawcett’s position with the strong supporters of the Government, and he -was looked on as its enemy, so that the Government Whips did not even -send him the usual notices. - -[Sidenote: The Irish University Bill.] - -Then came the last great battle of that Parliament, in which Fawcett was -to play so dramatic a part. Trinity College, Dublin, was a Protestant -university financed by the State. Liberals were eager to remove the -religious tests which prevented Catholics from enjoying the emoluments -of the college. This proposal had Fawcett’s enthusiastic sympathy. His -standpoint in dealing with these questions can best be shown by a -comment he once made on Mill’s book on _Liberty_. - -‘As I was reading Mill’s _Liberty_—perhaps the greatest work of our -greatest living writer—as I read his noble, I might almost say his holy -ideas, I thought to myself, if every one in my country could and would -do his work, how infinitely happier would the nation be! How much less -desirous should we be to wrangle about petty religious differences! How -much less of the energy of the nation would be wasted in contemptible -quarrels about creeds and formularies; and how much more powerful should -we be as a nation to achieve works of good, when, as this work would -teach us to be, we were firmly bound together by the bonds of a wise -toleration.’ - -Fawcett resented any narrow sectarian rules, and, though never -irreligious, was out of sympathy with ceremonial and dogmatic detail. - -He himself really lived according to the creed that ‘the world was his -country, and to do good his religion.’ He had probably little true -understanding of the depth of feeling that can be aroused by differences -of creed and church. All men were alike to him, the Catholic, the Jew, -or the Agnostic; and for Ireland as well as for England he fought for -absolute equality of privilege for all. - -Even in his first Parliament, Fawcett had urged the removal of religious -tests in Dublin, and had continued to do so in the various sessions that -followed. His friend, Professor Cairnes, and he would discuss the -matter. Fawcett studied it very thoroughly and pressed this reform -incessantly. At last in 1873, when he had again brought in a Bill for -abolishing tests and for certain other changes, he agreed to withdraw it -in favour of a Government Bill if this latter should seem to him -sufficiently satisfactory. - -[Sidenote: Gladstone’s Speech.] - -The Government measure was introduced by Gladstone in a speech so -persuasive that Fawcett said that ‘if the decision could have taken -place whilst the House was still under its spell, the Bill would have -been almost unanimously carried.’ But, after a careful examination, -Fawcett found it impossible to give it his support. He was, however, -much moved by Gladstone’s speech, and afterwards congratulated him most -heartily on his eloquence. Gladstone’s eagle eye glanced at him with a -slight air of reproach as he replied, ‘I could have wished that it had -proved more persuasive, sir.’ - -The scheme of the Bill was very complicated. The various colleges in -Ireland, Catholic and Protestant, were to be combined into one -university. Instruction in subjects likely to be controversial was to be -limited to the colleges themselves. These subjects were theology, moral -philosophy, and modern history. On these the university Professors were -not to lecture, nor was the university to examine in them. ‘Gagging -clauses’ Fawcett called these, and made against them the ablest speech -of his life. He lifted the debate out of the level plain of -Parliamentary commonplace, and almost savagely closed with the weak -arguments of his antagonists, and vanquished them. He contended that the -proposed regulations would make ‘the treatment of all subjects, even -political economy, for example, hopeless’ and would seem a Government -sanction of any criticism advanced by any religious authority. The -separate colleges, each with their separate religious control, would -perpetuate and deepen the bitter religious quarrels from which Ireland -had suffered so long. - -When Fawcett felt that it was his mission to drive home an idea, so that -it would penetrate and permeate unforgettably the minds of his auditors, -he set out deliberately to pierce like a steel drill the rock of -opposition. His relentless facts bored a hole in the wall of antagonism, -which he then tried to fill with the dynamite of action. When embittered -and roused to righteous anger, his words were like blows. Often his -enemies gave in from sheer weariness, because their reasons were too -black and blue to fight his logic any longer. - -[Illustration: HENRY FAWCETT] - -[Sidenote: Fawcett’s Bill passed.] - -Opposition seemed only to feed his triple flame of courage, -resourcefulness, and energy. The ministers received but lukewarm -support, and were unable to withstand Fawcett’s onslaught. The Bill was -defeated in division, and immediately Fawcett brought in his own -measure. The Government agreed to support it if all changes but those -abolishing religious tests were omitted. Fawcett consented, and at last, -after many years struggle, his Bill became law. - -This defeat of the Ministry by some of its own supporters was one of the -main causes which brought about its fall. Fawcett had dared that -courageous thing, to wreck his own party rather than consent to a Bill -of which he disapproved. He did more, for Gladstone retired from the -leadership shortly after this, and largely because of the weak support -of members of his own party. It says well for both that the two men -worked together later on several occasions. - -Fawcett was never a party man in the sense of submitting his judgment to -the policy of his leaders; but he kept their respect, for his honesty -could not be questioned, and when he turned and rent his own party, it -was because he felt it lacked that Liberalism for which it stood. The -fact that his action was likely to stand in the way of his chance of -office was a consideration which it would never occur to him to -entertain. He desired office, but as a better means of serving the -people; if office could not mean that to him, it meant nothing. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - SAVING THE PEOPLE’S - PLAYGROUNDS - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ‘Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to the iron string. God - will not have His work made manifest by cowards.’—EMERSON. - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - - THE STOLEN COMMONS - - The Disappearance of the English Playgrounds and - Commons—Fawcett’s first Protest—The Annual Enclosure Bill - stopped by his energetic Action. - - -[Sidenote: A Countryman to the Rescue.] - -Fawcett used to say that there was no part of his public work on which -he looked with so much unalloyed satisfaction as on his work for the -commons. Perhaps a few words show what a complicated question he had to -deal with, and how great the need was for the strong and courageous -action which he took in this matter. - -He would see the urgency as only those could see it whose knowledge of -country life and country ways was drawn from the farming and labouring -classes. He kept true to his early lessons and did not allow his path to -be deviated by the many side issues in which these questions were -involved. - -[Sidenote: Common Lands.] - -From the earliest times there had been in every parish in England a -large tract of land held in common. Part of it was cultivated jointly by -the villagers and part of it was kept as open common land, and all -parishioners had the right to feed their beasts there, and to cut wood -or furze, and similar privileges. - -This gave much independence to the simpler folk and added to their -resources and comforts, but it also made it impossible to farm the -common lands by more modern and more productive methods. So there arose -a movement for enclosing these lands and dividing them up among the -different village inhabitants, to become their own individual property. -As regards the lands farmed jointly, this course had many advantages -provided that the distribution was made fairly. But when it came to the -commons proper, the benefit was much more doubtful even from a -wealth-giving point of view. As to the non-economic value of a -common—its value as an open place for recreation and health-giving—this -only began to be realised as the commons became few. - -Fawcett, in his first professional lectures (1864), mentions the evils -arising from enclosures. - -[Sidenote: No room for the Cow and the Pig.] - -‘He declared, from his own knowledge of the agricultural labourer, that -cottagers could no longer keep a cow, a pig, or poultry; that the -village greens had become extinct, and that the turnpike road was too -often the only playground for the village children. - -‘He doubted whether the enclosure of commons, involving the breaking up -of pastures, had, in point of fact, permanently increased the wealth of -the country; but the wealth in any case was dearly purchased if -purchased by a diminution of the labourers’ comforts. The compensation -paid to the poor commoner had generally been spent by the first -receiver, whilst his descendants were permanently deprived of many of -the little advantages which might have helped to eke out their scanty -resources.’ - -The procedure whereby a common was enclosed was one that dealt very -hardly on the poorer folk, and made it very difficult, if not -impossible, for them to make their objections felt. The matter went -before the Enclosure Commissioners, and they every year presented a Bill -to Parliament recommending such enclosures as they had at that time -approved. The Bill would be passed almost without investigation, as part -of the routine work of Parliament. - -Fawcett appreciated from a child the blessings of open free tracts for -fresh air and fun. He watched with distress and indignation the rights -of the people to their woods and open spaces being put aside, their -commons seized and fenced off, their forests appropriated and their -venerable trees cut down—and all this without protest, nay by the -consent of a Government which undertook to be the guardian of the -people’s interests. Their historic right in Epping Forest, Hampstead -Heath, and many other places were ignored in mean schemes for -appropriating the land and raising paltry sums by selling it as farm or -building land, or by marketing the timber. Fawcett might have chanted in -his sonorous voice the following apt and classic verse: - - The law locks up the man or woman - Who steals the goose from off the common, - But lets the greater villain loose - Who steals the common from the goose. - -[Sidenote: Battle of Wisley Common.] - -The annual enclosure Bill, introduced in 1869, submitted over six -thousand acres for enclosure, of which only three acres were to be -reserved for the public. In this area was included the beautiful common -of Wisley. It chanced that a resident near Wisley, who was a member of -Parliament, strongly objected to enclosures, and to this one in -particular, and he drew the attention of the House to the case. The -Minister in charge of the Bill agreed to withdraw Wisley and refer it to -a select committee, but said, at the same time, that it would be -obviously unfair to stop unopposed enclosures, and he proposed to -proceed with the rest of the Bill. - -Fawcett, who joined in the debate, was made a member of this committee, -but his interest and energy went further. The Wisley case had fixed his -attention on the nature of the Bill itself, and he saw that there was -every reason to suppose that similar but unnoticed abuses were -occurring. The Bill had almost reached its final stage in the House of -Commons, but Fawcett was not to be stopped. He gave notice that ‘upon -the third reading he should move for a recommittal of the Bill in order -that a better provision might be made for allotments.’ This motion -created a great outcry. Why this interference? Parliament had been -getting along most harmoniously with the Enclosure Commission. Why -change this comfortable order of things and create delay and -inconvenience to those interested in making enclosures? Fawcett had a -hearty contempt for this comfort and convenience at the expense of the -poor. He continued his efforts to stop the passage of the Bill. - -[Sidenote: Outwitting the Whips.] - -The Government Whips, whose business it is to get business done, tried -to evade Fawcett’s opposition by arranging for the Bill to be discussed -at awkward times. They arranged for it to come on half an hour after -midnight, after the main business of the sitting was finished. Night -after night it would be put off on one excuse or another, and Fawcett -and the small band of friends who supported him would wait in vain. None -the less, they took turns and tried to be always on guard, for they knew -that their absence would be the signal for hurrying the Bill through. -Fawcett used to tell this story with glee: one night, as he had a very -bad cold, he sent a message to the Whips asking to have the motion -postponed again as had been so frequently done before. He had no answer, -but trusting that his request would be granted, he went home to bed. A -friend who dropped in to see him suggested that it would be unwise to -relax guard even for the night. Fawcett thereupon hurled on his clothes -and arrived to find the House about to pass the obnoxious Bill. - -The wily Whip started ‘like a guilty thing surprised,’ and admitted -good-naturedly the failure of his tactics, and gave a formal undertaking -to defer the Bill then and to arrange for it to be brought on later at a -reasonable hour. Then, at last, Fawcett moved his resolution, dwelt upon -the injustice to the labourer, of the absurdly small reservations for -public allotments, protested at the attitude of the speakers for the -Government, who shirked all responsibility beyond confirming the action -of the commissioners. On his motion a committee was appointed to -consider the working of the present system, and the expediency of better -provision for recreation and allotment grounds. - -[Sidenote: Fawcett opposes the traditional.] - -In committee Fawcett opposed the existing system. The Enclosure -Commissioners and their supporters were content with the doctrine, that -‘the final cause of an enclosure commission is naturally to enclose,’ -and considered it advantageous to get rid of common rights which -obstructed a more profitable employment of the land. Surely, they -claimed, it is a hardship to prevent the owners of any piece of property -from distributing their various rights on terms upon which they all -agree. Fawcett argued that the agreement was illusory. Country gentlemen -and farmers had looked after themselves, but the cottager had been put -off with some trifle, spent as soon as received. - -[Sidenote: Withypool Parish Clerk.] - -Fawcett was particularly delighted with the evidence given by Mr. J. -Reed, parish clerk of Withypool. When asked how far people would have to -go for an open space, the witness replied, ‘They could not find one for -miles except they did go on the common.’ ‘Is there no common within -reach of an ordinary walk?’ ‘No, he would not want any more recreation -by the time he came to any other common. The people say they will be as -badly off as in a town.’ ‘Are there no fields where they can walk?’ -‘Yes, they can trespass, if they like that.’ - -The committee’s report, after vigorous discussion, accepted the chief -principles advocated by Fawcett; ‘Parliamentary scrutiny was to become -real and searching.’ Bills should be more carefully prepared in future. -It was even admitted to be questionable whether enclosures were always -beneficial. - -Thus was a first great battle won for the safety of the commons. Others -had felt the wrong as well as Fawcett, and supported him loyally, but it -was his bulldog tenacity and his doing the disagreeable thing that -finally throttled the Annual Enclosures Bill and stopped the mechanical -process by which so many harmful enclosures were made. - -[Sidenote: Sir Robert Hunter.] - -Fawcett made a notable speech against this Bill. The late Sir Robert -Hunter, who saw much of Fawcett at this time, says: ‘Mr. Fawcett’s -memory was very remarkable, apart from the recognition of voices. I -remember an instance of this which struck me very much. He was making a -stand against the enclosure of rural commons; the question arose whether -certain enclosures which had been commenced should be carried out or -abandoned. There were some twenty or thirty cases, and Mr. Fawcett in a -speech to the House of Commons gave figured details of each case, the -whole area of each common, the extent of the allotments for fields, for -gardens and a host of other particulars. - -[Sidenote: The Style for the House.] - -But all his friends were not so appreciative. Lord Courtney tells how -Fawcett on one occasion took a Liverpool man of little humour down to -Cambridge for the Christmas dinner. In return for his hospitality the -guest rewarded Fawcett by fearless and supercilious criticism of his -method of speaking, saying, ‘Fawcett, you haven’t got the style for the -House of Commons!’ Fawcett accepted the criticism in good part and his -friend undertook to show how to speak, rising to his feet and -gesticulating dramatically and making himself greatly absurd. Fawcett, -after a little good-natured listening, excused himself on the plea of an -engagement, saying, ‘Thanks ever so much. Edward,’ indicating his guide, -who was present, ‘is a first-rate reporter, and will tell me the rest of -your speech when I return.’ With which he flung gaily out of the room, -leaving his instructor agape. - -Perhaps he had fled to go skating. His enthusiasm for this sport was -unquenchable. A Cambridge friend of those days writes: - -‘Fawcett insisted that skating was best on the first day of a thaw. He -would come to my room, calling in his cheerful, loud voice, “Hullo, are -you going skating?” More than once I argued with him without avail that -it was dangerous to skate when the ice was thinning. He was deaf to all -reason, and would haul me out on the river, where he would skate ankle -deep in water. Well I remember my alarm once when I saw him—he was -heading full tilt towards a big hole. I shouted to him to steer clear of -it, myself horrified at his imminent danger. When he barely escaped the -opening he called out cheerily. “Oh, don’t worry, it will be all right!” -Shod with his skates he was absolutely without fear.’ - - - - - CHAPTER XX - - THE FIGHT FOR THE FOREST - - The Commons Preservation Society—The saving of Epping Forest—The - Queen’s Rights—The Lords of the Manors’ Rights—The People’s - Rights. - - -A society had been founded in 1865, called the Commons Preservation -Society, which had for object to defend the public rights in the commons -round London. Two years later Fawcett joined their committee and -attended their meetings sedulously. One of his first actions was to -recommend that the sphere of their operations be extended to the country -at large. - -[Sidenote: Epping Forest.] - -He found them busy in the effort to save Epping Forest, which stretches -some ten to thirty miles to the north-east of the city. It is one of the -most beautiful forests of England. Old trees stand there that in their -youth witnessed the hunting of Saxon kings. Epping Forest was for many -centuries a favourite royal hunting-ground. Up to the time of Charles -II., kings followed the deer there in person. But after that time the -Crown no longer protected the game or looked after the woodlands, and -the district became waste land—subject only to certain rather vague -rights of the Crown, of the local lords of the manors, and of the -commoners. - -In the nineteenth century the Crown thought to turn an honest penny out -of Epping. It sold its forestal rights over some four thousand acres, -about half the area of the forest, to the neighbouring lords of the -manors at an average price of £5 an acre. These gentlemen now began -gaily to enclose the land. The commoners were few and powerless, and the -lords of the manors professed to have compensated them or received their -consent, where they did not ignore them altogether. One landowner calmly -ploughed up three hundred acres without consent of Crown or commons. - -[Sidenote: Prison for tree lopping.] - -But though much of the forest was lost in some places, in others it was -successfully defended. For four years that part of the forest that is -within the Manor of Loughton was saved by the courage and public spirit -of a labourer named Willingdale. By immemorial custom the men of that -parish had the right of tree-lopping, and on St. Martin’s Eve at -midnight they used to meet and go into the forest, cut wood, and drag it -to their homes. When the lord of this manor, who was also the rector of -the parish, enclosed thirteen hundred acres, Willingdale and his two -sons, on the St. Martin’s Eve following, broke through the fencing and -lopped and carried away their wood. For this assertion of their rights -they were summoned before the local justices and sentenced to two -months’ hard labour. - -The sentence roused great indignation in East London. The Commons -Preservation Society took up the matter, and a fund was raised to fight -the case in the law-courts on behalf of Willingdale. - -Willingdale himself had a hard time. Unless he continued to live in -Loughton he had no right to bring his suit, but he could get no -employment there, and was forced to accept a pension from the Commons -Preservation Society. Even then he found it difficult to get a lodging -in the village. He was more than once offered big bribes of money if he -would abandon his suit. One son died in prison, and he himself died in -1870, but his pluck had saved the forest long enough for others to be -found to take up the fight. - -It was during this litigation that Fawcett became actively interested in -the case. He appeared as one of a deputation from the Commons -Preservation Society to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and shared in -the severe rebuke which that gentleman administered to the deputation. - -[Sidenote: Royal Rights made People’s Rights.] - -This reception was enough in itself to set Fawcett to work. He proposed -to move forthwith an address to the Queen, urging that the Crown rights -might be defended, and by this means the forest kept free for the -recreation of the people. He felt that a clear statement of a sane and -popular principle would force the Liberal party to choose a definite -course as champion either of popular rights or private interests. - -In his determination to bring the whole matter thus before the public -and challenge the Government policy, Fawcett stood quite alone. The best -friends of the movement begged him to desist, believing he was inviting -defeat, and would thus injure the cause, but he had a firmer belief in -the strength of public opinion. It was another proof of that far-sighted -independence of judgment which his fellow-workers learned so heartily to -respect. - -His influence on his friends deepened year by year. His personality is -perhaps most felt in the strong impression he made on them. Professor -Stewart, also an M.P., tells of Fawcett: ‘He sat at times when we came -to tell him things in his easy-chair with his hands holding the elbows -of it, his face towards us, his lips a little parted, his whole -physiognomy lit up with intelligence and interest, his mind evidently -drawing before itself the picture of which we spoke, and the smile that -was on his features playing even to his broad brow. Or again, when -animated with his own clear mental vision, his whole frame eloquent, he -spoke strong, incisive, direct words, looking through my very soul with -his empty eyes.’ - -[Sidenote: A friendly Cabby.] - -He very rarely went about alone, but the late Sir Robert Hunter told of -once journeying to London with him one evening. ‘When we arrived at -Waterloo, Fawcett asked me to put him into a cab, and refused to let me -go with him, shouting “Good-bye” merrily as he drove off into the night. -Notwithstanding his fearlessness he seemed to me so helpless, this blind -giant all alone in a cab in London, utterly at the mercy of the cabman.’ -But he had friends among the cabmen too, for once when he turned to pay -a cabby his fare, the man utterly refused it with ‘No, Mr. Fawcett, no, -sir. You have done too much for the working man.’ - -When his motion came on in the House, he reviewed the whole question of -Epping Forest and showed the value of the Crown rights as a protection -of the people’s rights. He stated that the Crown had sold its rights on -four thousand acres for £18,603, 16s. 2d., so small an amount as to be -negligible to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and a healthful means of -enjoyment for the people had been destroyed. Ten times the sum might -have been saved by abolishing a sinecure office, such as the Lord Privy -Seal. This last a truly Fawcettian fling. - -[Sidenote: Deer, yes. Picnickers, no!] - -The principal argument which he had to meet now was that ‘the forest -rights were relics of feudalism; they were useful to keep up deer for -the royal hunting. Now that the Queen did not want to hunt it would be -unfair to keep them up for a different purpose.’ A man may not put up a -fence to keep out the Queen’s deer, but he may put it up to restrain a -picnic party of her subjects. The Queen might not make over her rights -to the public, but must resign them to the lords of the manors. Fawcett -(taking, I fear, a real and humorous satisfaction in his reply) -answered, ‘If a right ceased when the original purpose became obsolete, -what would become of the lord of the manor? He had ceased to discharge -any duties; should he cease to have any rights?’ - -Fawcett’s motion was strongly supported. Mr. Gladstone showed a wider -appreciation of the significance of the problem than other members of -his Government. He conceded that Fawcett had demonstrated that it was -the duty of Government to take up the question, and as the champions of -the people to secure whatever was practical. He proposed a modification, -accepted by Fawcett, and the motion was passed. - -This was a great triumph, but entire success was not yet assured. -Government endorsed the policy of the Commons Preservation Society. The -Prime Minister recognised that Fawcett’s road was the right one to -travel, but there were still many enemies who were to be won over to an -appreciation of the people’s rights. A compromise was proposed which -seemed quite inadequate to the society. But the Government introduced a -Bill on the lines of this so-called compromise which would have enclosed -nearly all the forest and have left, perhaps, six hundred acres in -various scattered plots to be reserved for public use. - -[Sidenote: An inept Proposal.] - -At once Fawcett gave notice of moving the rejection of this inept -document. For this and other technical reasons the Bill was dropped. But -even its short life had shown its infirmities to such a degree that -Government was too wise to let it reappear. - -[Sidenote: High Beach.] - -The next year, 1871, the Commons Preservation Society was stirred to -immediate action by a new danger. Notice was given that the most -beautiful of the ancient trees in Epping, those of High Beach, were to -be felled! High Beach was a part of the forest in which there were no -Crown rights. The timber belonged to the lords of the manors and the -rights of the public seemed difficult to ascertain. The Commons -Preservation Society sat in committee, and Fawcett suggested that a -motion should be proposed in the House of Commons desiring that measures -should be taken for keeping open those parts of the forest which had not -been enclosed by consent of the Crown, or by legal authority. This -ingenious phrasing, for all its complicated appearance, would have the -simple and satisfactory effect of saving Epping Forest until such time -as the House of Commons legislated further on the subject. Fawcett -suggested that this motion should be brought forward by Mr. Cowper -Temple, who, on account of his previous services and his less extreme -views, was much better qualified to press the matter than himself. This -was like Fawcett, thorough and direct, standing back to give another his -place whenever it meant better service. - -Government opposed this resolution with all its force, but so strongly -had the public feeling been roused that it was defeated by a majority of -one hundred and one. - -[Sidenote: The Hunting-ground of Kings.] - -[Sidenote: Five thousand acres secured for the People.] - -Later in the session the Government appointed a Royal Commission. And -then the City of London found out that it also had forestal rights, and -took the matter into the law-courts. For eleven weary years more the -battle went on. It was not till 1882 that Queen Victoria went in person -to Epping Forest to hand over five thousand acres of the old -hunting-ground of her ancestors to the people of England. But the -critical time had been in those first years before the public conscience -was roused. And in those years Fawcett’s persistence had made the -after-work possible. - -By his brave common sense, and lucid justice and eloquence, Fawcett had -won this great battle for the people for all time. In his article in the -_Fortnightly_, the following November, he says: ‘The few remaining -commons are the only places where the people, except by sufferance, can -leave the beaten pathway or the frequented high road.’ ‘And yet this -Government, so grand in its popular professions, so strong in its -hustings denunciations of those who would divorce the people from the -soil, used the whole weight of official influence to enclose the few -commons that were left.’ ’so anxious were they to pursue this policy of -depriving the public and the poor of their commons that night after -night the House was kept sitting to two or three o’clock in the morning -in order to pass an Enclosure Bill,’ ‘and the Ministry, apparently -willing to risk something more than reputation in the cause, were -disastrously defeated by those who were anxious to preserve Epping -Forest.’ - -The Ministry had come to stigmatise him as ‘impracticable.’ Yet the -course which he obliged them against their will to follow was of vital -importance to the country, and it seems as if the ‘impracticable’ -Fawcett, the blind Don Quixote, had not tilted in vain at his opponents. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - - FOR THE PEOPLE’s WOODS AND STREAMS - - Saving the Forests—‘The monstrous Nation’—Walking with Lord - Morley—The Boat Race—Safeguarding the Rivers. - - -[Sidenote: The shearing of a Statesman.] - -Fawcett had the knack of saving time and getting the most out of it. One -spring day when he was going to pay a promised visit, absent-mindedly he -put his hand to his hair, which he found rather long. Discovering that -he had five minutes to spare, he shouted in his cheerful loud voice to -the cabby through the opening in the roof of the hansom: ‘stop at the -first hairdresser’s shop.’ Arrived there he sprang out quickly and -rushed in to the barber, exclaiming as he whizzed past him: ‘Cut off as -much of my hair as you can in five minutes.’ Literally following these -directions with zealous enthusiasm, the man quickly left his victim -absolutely shorn to the skull, so that when Fawcett put on his hat it -was far too large for him. A few minutes later he was shown into the -drawing-room at the very minute of his appointment. He felt extremely -embarrassed and sheepish coming in his despoiled condition, but his -hostess, rising to meet him, exclaimed with as much tact as concealed -surprise: ‘O Mr. Fawcett, what an improvement! I have never before been -able to see the beautiful shape of your head.’ So the hostess tempered -the wind to the shorn statesman. There was sufficient truth for art in -her flattery, as Fawcett’s head was really of an unusually fine shape, -massive, rugged—even beautiful. - -[Sidenote: He loved to be read to.] - -He loved to be read to, and he kept a separate book for each friend who -entertained him in this fashion. One day _The Rhyme of the Duchess May_ -was being read to him. In each stanza of the poem recurs the phrase -‘Toll slowly.’ The whole thing was admirably read—with pathetic emphasis -on the refrain. One of the audience says: ‘We all thought that Fawcett -was asleep, but to our amusement, when the reader had finished, he said -enthusiastically, with his generous voice, “Thank you very much; -beautifully read, but don’t you think that you might have left out that -‘told slowly’?” - -[Illustration: HENRY FAWCETT AND HIS FATHER] - -[Sidenote: Salisbury Close.] - -He continued a frequent visitor at Salisbury, and always fitted in with -the home ways. His parents had come to pass their closing year in a -house in the Cathedral Close. Opposite the house there was a stretch of -old wall, where before breakfast Fawcett used to walk quite by himself, -enjoying a seclusion and peace such as was his in the court of his old -Cambridge College. The gates of the close are shut at eleven o’clock -every night. Miss Fawcett tells the following: ‘As Henry liked to walk -the last thing at night before going to bed, and as it was not always -convenient for one of us to accompany him, we arranged for him to go -with the gate closer on his rounds. So regularly, when Harry was at -home, the gate closer’s voice would be heard at half-past ten, “I’ve -come for Mr. Harry,” and together they would sally forth and lock the -ancient gates about the close.’ The scheme worked admirably to the -entire satisfaction of Fawcett, and to the delight of the watchman, who, -like the rest of the world, found Fawcett a stimulating and cheering -companion. He awakened the seeing man’s interest in the beauty of the -cathedral which they passed in their nightly patrol, and often asked if -a different planet had yet appeared on the horizon, if the moon could be -seen over the church tower, or if the clouds were obscuring the stars. - -[Sidenote: The New Forest in peril.] - -Though he had passed his childhood on the edge of the New Forest, it is -doubtful if Fawcett ever saw its beauties excepting with his mind’s eye -and by the help of his friends’ description. - -In the seventies he was fond of going there and combining the comfort -and joy that he always found in his walk by the great trees with a -fishing expedition at Ibbesley. Here he liked to stay with his fisher -friend Tizard and his good wife, sharing their homely meals and chat; -the place abounded in birds whose singing delighted him. It was here -that he caught the huge salmon that graced the table at his father’s and -mother’s golden wedding feast. - -On these fishing expeditions he heard of the mania for money-making that -threatened to rout the ancient spirit of romance which for centuries had -lived in the seclusion of the great oaks and beeches. One enterprising -surveyor said that the old wood should be cleared ’smack smooth.’ The -patrician ancient trees were being replaced by symmetrical lines of -Scotch firs planted for sacrifice by fire or for building purposes. -Fawcett in answer to inquiry was informed that the woods would not be -cleared till the House of Commons had come to a division on the -treatment of open spaces. Not content with this rather vague answer, he -moved that ‘no ornamental timber should be felled, and no timber -whatever should be cut except for necessary purposes, whilst legislation -was pending.’ This resolution came none too soon and ’stood between the -forest and the axe’ for six years. The official point of view was that -the term ‘public’ was misused; it really meant taxpayers, not tourists, -nor even the neighbouring residents. The official duty consisted in -making an income for the nation and making the most of the property of -the Heir Apparent, so that he might make a better bargain on the next -settlement of the Civil List. No resolution of the House of Commons -could prevent the commissioner in charge of the New Forest from -performing his duties, which were similar to those of a trustee of a -settled estate. - -[Sidenote: The Forest—Health and Art.] - -Fawcett received signed petitions protesting against the devastation of -the forest. In 1875 the Government, this time a Conservative Government, -appointed a select committee on the condition of the New Forest. Fawcett -gave evidence and spoke forcibly. ‘The forest should be preserved as a -national park. Any money which could be made by its enclosure was not -worth considering in comparison with the effects upon the health, -happiness, and morality of the people. Even arguing the matter from a -purely economical point of view, the influence of the forest on the -health and artistic faculties of the people had a far greater money -value than that of the mere timber.’ His comment of the effect of the -beauty of the forest on the ‘artistic faculties of the people’ must have -been peculiarly impressive; that a blind man could see so true, plead so -wisely and far-seeingly for the best influence that his fellows could -get from the right of those historic glades. Fawcett suggested that -these honest, if penny-wise, stewards could ease their consciences by -accepting the liberal compensation which the nation would be glad to -pay. It was a mere superstition to feel that though neither the Crown -nor the nation wished it, there was need to treat the forest as it would -be treated by a timber merchant. He wisely pointed out that the -Secretary of the Treasury had four years before used the same arguments -to good purpose on behalf of the Thames Embankment Gardens. The -committee speedily reported, and an Act was passed to preserve the -ancient woods, and stop destructive enclosures, and the Verderer’s Court -was reconstituted, so as to represent the commoners more effectually. - -[Sidenote: Fawcett _versus_ Ruskin.] - -It is when dwelling on this fight of Fawcett’s for beauty versus money -that it is amusing to realise that he was once challenged by Ruskin to a -public debate—Fawcett to defend the political economy of his day against -Ruskin’s charge that it was radically opposed to Christianity. Fawcett -wisely realised that they would have no common meeting-ground and -refused to enter the lists. - -[Sidenote: ‘The monstrous Notion.’] - -The general questions of enclosures had still to be settled. The old -method had been stopped for all time in Fawcett’s Battle of Wisley -Common, but no new machinery had been substituted. Bills were brought in -two or three times, but failed to win sufficient support to be carried. -In 1876 Lord Cross, the Home Secretary, brought in a Bill which showed a -distinct advance in public opinion. Nevertheless, it did not satisfy the -Commons Preservation Society. Next, the chairman of the society, Mr. -Shaw Lefevre, now Lord Eversley, moved a resolution embodying the -enactment of provisions and safeguards. The Bill was supported by a -speaker who at the same time attacked what he chose to call ‘the -monstrous notion,’ _i.e._ that the inhabitants of large towns had a -right to wander over distant commons as they pleased. Fawcett, who also -supported the Bill in a vigorous speech, swooped down, seized this -‘monstrous notion’ and held it aloft for admiration and support, and -contended that the commons were a great and valuable possession for the -people of the entire country.’ He had again to insist that the bill did -not adequately protect the labourers nor provide sufficient security -against a ruthless enclosure of commons. He pointed out that ‘under the -old Enclosure Commission, 5,500,000 acres had been added to the estates -of great proprietors, whilst villagers by the hundred had lost their -rights of pasture, and now found it difficult to provide milk for their -children. Yet the commission which had used this procedure was still to -be trusted.’ ‘The worst and most mischievous of all economies,’ he -declared, ‘was that which aggrandised a few, and made a paltry addition -to the sum-total of wealth by shutting out the poor from fresh air and -lovely scenery.’ The bill passed through the committee, doggedly, though -not very successfully, opposed by Fawcett and his friends. - -Lord Eversley and Fawcett succeeded later in amending the procedure to -be followed by the Enclosure Commissioners. The Commissioners were -instructed that they must have proof that any proposed enclosure should -be of real benefit to the neighbourhood as well as to private interests. -Furthermore, every enclosure scheme had to be submitted to a standing -committee of the House of Commons of which Fawcett was one of the first -members. - -[Sidenote: Charm of Home.] - -The unfailing charm of Fawcett’s home life was a constant delight and -rest to him. Mrs. Fawcett’s share in his career was of the greatest -possible moment. Their only child Philippa began to be a source of great -pleasure, and she enjoyed being with her father on his country -expeditions as much as he delighted in having her with him. - -Declaring firmly that he believed in at least eleven hours’ skating, -this serious statesman would often ponder deeply, as he thoughtfully -rubbed his blue glasses and replaced them on his nose, how with -ingenuity it would be possible to contrive to fit in another hour on the -ice. He not only skated by himself, depending only on the voice of his -companion to steer him, but he insisted that his wife, daughter, -secretary, and two maids should all turn out to have a good time with -him. Only the cook, on the uncontrovertible score of old age, was -excused. - -Little Philippa greatly enjoyed accompanying her father, and whistling -in order to guide him. When she was about nine years old she had -returned from a wonderful skate, when she had steered him in the -customary fashion. She told her mother all about it and what fun they -had had, on a particularly difficult route, her father depending solely -on her piping to guide him. ‘And what did you whistle?’ asked the -mother. ‘Oh, just “Gentle Jesus,”’ came the prompt reply. - -[Sidenote: Hymns.] - -Perhaps it is not amiss to indicate here the complete control that this -small person exercised over her giant father. At this period of her life -she had been imbued by her nurse with an intense devoutness. One Sunday -morning he was singing to himself: it is only proper to say that the -word singing is not an exact term, as all his friends and family are -agreed that he was incapable of producing melody or sweet noises. His -tiny daughter popped her head in at the crack of the door, saying -solemnly: ‘You mustn’t sing, it’s Sunday!’ ‘Are you sure?’ asked -Fawcett. ‘Wait,’ was the answer; closing the door his mentor -disappeared, doubtless to consult with the nurse who had filled her with -so much theological technique. Again the child appeared at the crack in -the door, saying briefly: ‘If it’s hymns you may, if it isn’t you -mayn’t,’ and the singing ceased abruptly! - -[Sidenote: The sanctity of Open Spaces.] - -Open spaces, especially those near the big towns, had in the railway -companies another and most powerful enemy. It was so much easier to take -a railway across a common than through the neighbouring enclosed land, -that there arose a serious risk that the commons though at last secured -for the people, would still be despoiled of their freshness and beauty. -Fawcett was quick to perceive this, and to try to save the open spaces -from such invasions of their sanctity. He was characteristically amused -once by the suggestion of some more prudent members of the Commons -Preservation Society that he might weaken their position by failure. It -was not by fear of defeat that he so often succeeded in turning defeat -into victory. He never hesitated in his attack. Even when -Postmaster-General he voted against his colleague, Mr. Chamberlain, the -President of the Board of Trade, on a question of railway encroachment -on Wimbledon Common. - -It is a beautiful thing for all of us who have the privilege of enjoying -the glory of the commons and forests of England to appreciate that that -pleasure has been kept for us, and for countless others for all time, -largely by the valiant fight and generous labours of a man who, though -he loved them as he loved light, freedom and justice, and gave part of -his life to save them, could only see them through the eyes of others. - -[Sidenote: Lord Morley takes Fawcett [on] a walk.] - -Lord Morley tells of Fawcett on these lands which he saved for the poor. -Fawcett had been walking on Lord Morley’s arm over the Wimbledon -Commons, with that vigour and enjoyment in the exercise which he -invariably found. They paused on a hill. Lord Morley, impressed with the -unusual loveliness of the sunset and its ineffable melancholy, was -startled to hear Fawcett beside him ask wistfully: ‘Morley, is the -sunset very beautiful?’ ‘Yes,’ was the answer. ‘Ah, I thought so,’ came -the comment before a long silence, in which the blind man seemed to be -taking in the exquisite scene spread before his unseeing eyes. - -We know how Fawcett’s deep love of nature and beauty was a strong factor -of his very being. He loved the forest and the hills, the fields and the -skies, and above all the rivers. - -[Sidenote: Following the Boat Race.] - -Until nearly the end of his life, Fawcett rarely missed the Oxford and -Cambridge rowing contests. It was a matter of course to see him ‘looking -over’ the crew of the college ‘eight’ and expressing his opinion frankly -about its fitness, or eagerly ‘watching’ a race. He followed the -University boat race on one occasion in a launch, and in the keenest -excitement continually asked his friend, ‘How are they going now, -Morgan? How near are they now?’ - -The race gained much zest for Fawcett from the motion of the tug from -which he watched it, from the noise of the water lapping against the -side of the boat, the splash of the oars, the occasional spray dashed in -his face as the little ship darted to hasten its course by benefiting in -an opening in the crowd of craft. The cheers of the spectators, the -calling of the coxswains to the straining crews, and even the occasional -tooting of an unmannerly tug, all gave colour to the picture for the -blind man. The river’s fascination perhaps even increased for him after -he could not see it. - -[Sidenote: Safeguarding the Rivers.] - -When the Thames needed a protector to safeguard its loveliness, it was -the blind man who eagerly urged that an organisation, similar to the -Commons Preservation Society, should be formed to protect the river, and -it was through his advice that a Select Committee with this object was -later appointed. He also took occasion to support Lord Bryce in his -efforts to abolish the system which hampered the public in their -enjoyment of the beauties of the Scottish Highlands. - -Stephen speaks of his readiness to refuse prominence if he thought that -others could serve better than he, of his eagerness ‘to meet the -strength of the opposite case,’ to see his opponent’s point of view and -to judge it generously; he dwells on the great interest he took in -private life in considering impartially and thoughtfully his friends’ -problems, so that his advice to them was of unusual value. The whole -chapter of this fight for the rights of those who were least able to -fight for themselves, sustained and led by a man who could not see or -enjoy, saving vicariously, what he was fighting for, is as heroic as any -in history. He faced the danger of losing his hard-won position, and -often alone made the decision to act against the advice of his friends -and his own interests and to stand for the right. In his simple direct -plea for justice he never rested until he got what was the people’s due, -and what must remain for all time a living monument to his singleness of -purpose and chivalrous bravery. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - THE MEMBER FOR INDIA - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - ‘Let thy dauntless mind - Still ride in triumph over all mischance.’ - Shakespeare. - - - ‘Not from without us only, from - Within can come upon us light.’ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - - WHAT INDIA PAID - - India pays for English Hospitality—Royal English generosity - to India paid for by India—How to deal with an angry - opponent—Indian Finance and the poor Ryot—Gratitude from - India—How Fawcett prepared his Speeches. - - -[Sidenote: The Sultan’s Ball.] - -The purpose of this chapter is not to comment on the condition of India, -and of its government in Fawcett’s time, but through these new labours -of his to know him better, to show how gallantly he fought for a poor -remote people, and how poignantly he brought their needs before their -English fellow-subjects. It was a work he was peculiarly fitted to do. -His vigorous action, his picturesque personality, his gift for singling -out a weak point, perhaps trifling in itself, and making it a vivid -symbol of wrong policy, all helped Englishmen unfamiliar with India to -realise better their responsibilities to a country in whose destinies -they were so closely concerned. - -Fawcett once said that in his undergraduate days he had picked up a book -on India which attracted him to the subject. His comments in his -schoolboy essays have been noted. It is possible that Mill and other -friends of his closely connected with India stimulated his interest. He -referred to the country a good deal in his _Manual of Political -Economy_. - -He first dealt with Indian affairs publicly in 1867, and in most -characteristic fashion. The Sultan of Turkey was about to visit England, -and it was proposed to give a ball in his honour at the India Office. -Fawcett demanded who was to foot the bill. He was told that India was to -pay for this courtesy offered to the Sultan by the British, because the -Sultan had been courteous in the matter of telegraphic communication -between India and Europe. - -[Sidenote: India pays for English Hospitality.] - -Though Mill urged Fawcett not to protest, as there were greater abuses -to be found, Fawcett could not quiet his resentment at this unfair -distribution of the burden. Had not England benefited equally by the -telegraphic communication, and should it not at least pay equally? So, -when a motion was made for the list of invitations, with the usual -Parliamentary pleasantries about the unfair selection of guests, Fawcett -rose with true reluctance to strike a discordant note. He urged that the -really important question was to determine by what justice the Secretary -for India could tax the people of India for this entertainment. It might -be proper for the officials themselves to give the entertainment. But -why should the toiling peasant pay for it? At that very time there was -famine in India, and the Indian press complained of the slowness of -relief measures. It would have new occasion for sarcasm, when a part of -the much-needed Indian revenue was voted for an entertainment of smart -folk in London. - -His protest against this ‘masterpiece of meanness,’ as he afterwards -called it, had little effect for the time being. But it aroused the -attention of many in India, and began to make known to them the man whom -they learned to call almost affectionately the ‘Member for India.’ - -[Sidenote: An Insolent Meddler.] - -When presenting a petition to the House of Commons from European -residents and natives of India, who complained of the expenditure on -public works and asked for greater economy, Fawcett moved that a -commission be sent to India to obtain evidence on the spot—a motion that -he afterwards withdrew. During the debate arising out of his motion, he -was attacked with such asperity and lack of civility by one of the Under -Secretaries of State, that it aroused the protest of other members. -Fawcett was content to reply with a very characteristic maxim. ‘Five -years’ experience in the House,’ he said, ‘had taught him that a member -was always right in bringing forward a question, when the fact of his -bringing it forward caused the minister concerned to lose his temper.’ -On another occasion the same antagonist warned Fawcett that his love of -competition was becoming a fetish. But Fawcett smilingly retaliated, -‘Beware of the fetish of officialism.’ Good advice for many! - -Fawcett’s stand from the first was taken so surely and firmly, that his -ground could not be cut from under him. His success was merely a -question of work and time. Part of his power lay in his frank -realisation of his own limitations. - -[Sidenote: Supporting a family on fourpence halfpenny a day.] - -He had no special knowledge of Indian religion and customs, and was not -competent to judge questions of internal policy. But the financial -relations between England and India, as well as the methods of dealing -with finance in India itself, were well within the compass of his clear -mind. With these he proposed to deal exhaustively. He knew whether the -balance-sheets shown by Indian statesmen were intelligible or not, -whether charges made to India were just, and he set himself with a will -to study these questions. And to them he knew how to give a most -intimately personal touch. He was an untravelled man, and lived within -the isolation of his blindness. But he had the great gift of realising -habitually the existence of the world beyond his experience. He made -England understand that India is no rich country from the Arabian -Nights, but a poor country, where the ryot, the peasant of India, had -but fourpence halfpenny a day to keep himself and his family, where -taxes were increased only with great hardship to the poor, and where of -all places money must not be wasted. - -In 1870, in a long and technical speech, he criticised the Indian -Budget. He complained that it was brought on so late in the session that -there was no time for proper discussion, and urged that a committee on -Indian finance should be appointed. In this speech, which showed his -careful study of the whole Budget, he singled out one item for especial -scorn. The Queen’s second son, the Duke of Edinburgh, had recently -journeyed through India, and had distributed royal gifts amounting in -value to £10,000. These had been paid for out of the Indian revenues, -that is to say, by the Indian taxpayers themselves! - -The Prime Minister agreed that the Indian Budget should be presented -earlier in the session, and the next year adopted Fawcett’s proposal to -appoint a committee on Indian finance. It sat for four years, and -Fawcett was a hard-working member of it, and a most effective one. - -The committee, urged by Fawcett, asked for native witnesses, and two -Hindoos were sent to England to give evidence, and their expenses were -paid by the Government. - -Mr. Nadabhai Naoroji, one of them, said that he wrote a letter telling -of the evidence which he had to give, and then appeared before the -Finance Committee. The chairman was not sympathetic, and made things as -uncomfortable as possible for him. But when Fawcett, with whom Naoroji -had discussed matters previously, undertook the examination, by a series -of apt questions he brought out all the distinguished Hindoo had to say. -Mr. Naoroji adds: ‘This was an instance of the justice and fearlessness -with which he wanted to treat this country. As I saw him pleading our -cause, I felt awe and veneration as for a superior being.’ - -[Sidenote: Grateful messages from India.] - -In Miss Maria Fawcett’s dining-room there hangs at this day a long -hand-written document, with a beautifully illuminated gold and coloured -border. It was sent to her brother from a remote city in India in 1873, -to thank him for the work he had done. Too long to quote in full, a -sentence from it may show how Fawcett was regarded in India. ‘We view -with feelings of inexpressible delight your efforts to enlighten your -countrymen of the wants and grievances of the millions of Her Majesty’s -subjects living in a country so far from the seat of government, and our -feeling of admiration is heightened into that of reverence on learning -that you are labouring in this cause of philanthropy under great -disadvantages, among which the great physical disability which -Providence has pleased to impose upon you is much to be regretted.’ - -Distinguished now as an able critic on Indian finance, Fawcett had an -extensive correspondence with residents of India, and with members of -the Indian Civil Service, and neglected no opportunity to increase his -knowledge of Indian affairs. - -Appreciative resolutions were sent to him from many native Indian -associations. At a meeting in Calcutta an address was voted to him and -also one to ‘the Mayor of Brighton thanking the constituency for -returning such a worthy representative and disinterested friend of -India.’ He was frequently begged to present petitions stating the -grievances of the native and non-official community. - -He helped privately, as well as publicly, as many a poor Indian student -or petitioner came to know. When, however, Fawcett was urged to -represent the grievances of certain Indian rulers, he refused, saying -quaintly that ‘he was too poor a man to have anything to do with -princes.’ - -[Sidenote: An Optimist.] - -Mr. Justice Scott said, speaking of the ideal for which Fawcett worked: -‘It is not enough for us Englishmen to say that we have given to India -order, peace, security and justice, roads, railroads, and other material -benefits of Western civilisation, but it should be our duty to ourselves -and in co-operation with the people of India in the great task of -education, private, social and political, never to rest content till -every individual of the teeming masses of India can take an intelligent -part as a citizen in the management of their own concerns. This is a -great idea. It may seem the Utopian dream of an optimist. Mr. Fawcett -was no doubt an optimist.’ - -Fawcett most powerfully influenced people by his speeches. His -appearance was arresting and interesting, while his brave disregard of -his blindness claimed instant sympathy and admiration. His voice, which -was unusually powerful, softened in tone with years, and his language -grew less severe; he uttered each word clearly, and what he said was -clearly thought out. What he wanted was never for himself. What he -fought for was invariably to help some one less fortunate, less free, -less happy, than the blind man who pleaded so earnestly. - -He delivered two speeches in 1872 and 1873 on the Indian Budgets of -those years which an adversary said ‘he considered to be the most -remarkable intellectual efforts he had ever heard.’ Of course Fawcett, -unlike other speakers, had no notes to help him, yet he gave an -exposition of complex questions with a clearness which might have raised -the envy of the most accomplished Chancellor of the Exchequer. - -[Sidenote: How Fawcett prepared his Speeches.] - -The way he prepared his speeches is interesting. First, he would master -the vital facts and figures he wanted. Then he would press into his -service some friend well up on the subject with which he wished to deal, -and together they would go over the ground until Fawcett felt that the -facts were arranged so as to express most clearly and pithily his -contention. - -Lucid arrangement helped his memory. His object was primarily to be -clear, to say a thing as well as he could. He did not hesitate to repeat -the same illustrations and statements, and paid little attention to -rhetoric, epigram or elegance. He wished to hammer certain leading -principles into people’s heads, and he did this so effectively that they -stuck there, and he pressed his points so vividly and insistently that -he made his audiences, no matter where he found them, usually become his -supporters, and even workers for his policy. - -[Illustration: _Photo. Mansell_ - - HENRY FAWCETT From a painting by Sir Hubert von -Herkomer ] - -On one occasion Fawcett spoke on India for nearly two hours. He had the -House absolutely in his hand the whole of that time, and never once had -to hark back. The figures that he dealt with were exceedingly -complicated and numerous. Later an M.P. congratulated him and expressed -his surprise at his wonderful memory. Fawcett, with his habitual -modesty, said, ‘There is nothing strange about it. You know I see the -thing mentally as I suppose you see whatever you are looking upon now; -really that is the difference.’ The M.P. replied, ‘Yes, but it doesn’t -account for it at all. I see and forget—you see and don’t forget, -there’s the difference.’ - -[Sidenote: Sympathy from Suffering.] - -A Cambridge professor said of Fawcett when he began to make those -remarkable speeches on Indian affairs: ‘We, I think, were mainly struck -with the extraordinary intellectual feats that they were for a man under -his calamity; but the effect produced in India was of a different and -profounder kind. There was the sense of the largeness of heart of the -statesman who had known suffering, and a gratitude for his broad -sympathy with all whom he could protect against what he conceived to be -oppression of any kind.’ - -[Sidenote: No time in Parliament for India.] - -He did not hesitate to speak on Indian affairs to his constituency, and -to ask of them their sympathy and interest. At a meeting in Brighton he -said that the most trumpery question ever brought before Parliament, a -wrangle over the purchase of a picture or a road through a park excited -more interest than the welfare of the many millions of our Indian -fellow-subjects. Constituencies were said to take no interest in the -subject. They would be some day forced to take an interest, if affairs -were neglected in the future as they had been in the past. ‘The people -of India have not votes; they cannot bring so much pressure to bear upon -Parliament as can be brought by one of our great railway companies; but -with some confidence I believe that I shall not be misinterpreting your -wishes if, as your representative, I do whatever can be done by one -humble individual to render justice to the defenceless and powerless.’ - -That last sentence could be taken as his policy and motto through life. -Could there be a more valiant one for a blind man, or for any one -fighting against great odds for the right? ‘I do whatever can be done by -one humble individual to render justice to the defenceless and -powerless.’ He does not limit whom or where. There are no limitations. -That they are defenceless and powerless is all the recommendation which -they need to claim his warmest interest and ceaseless effort to help -them to find the way out of their misery. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - - THE ‘ONE MAN WHO CARED FOR INDIA’ - - Defeated at Brighton—Spectacles and the Man—Elected for Hackney. - - -[Sidenote: Effect of Speeches in India.] - -In spite of many warnings that his Indian policy would be unpopular, his -adherence to his high ideal of a truly Imperial citizenship proved a -good campaign asset, and Fawcett’s constituents were proud of him, and -absorbed in his expositions of Indian affairs. - -Notwithstanding that he lost his seat at Brighton at the next general -election, he was soon in the House again, representing another -constituency. The prominence of his position in the House of Commons and -out of it was much enhanced by the power of his Indian speeches. - -His popularity in Cambridge was unquestioned. On his return to residence -there, his home was a merry meeting-place for his many friends old and -new. His original ways were a byword. He once began a new -acquaintanceship in this fashion. Shaking hands warmly with a young -student who had just been introduced, Fawcett said jovially, ‘What do -you do—ride, or row or fish? I smoke!’ - -In speaking of Fawcett, the present head Master of Trinity used these -words: ‘We all had a veneration for Fawcett, and loved to see the way he -won every one. A friend of all of ours with whom Fawcett stayed tried us -very much by insisting that all his guests should go to bed by ten -o’clock. One of them vowed that “he’d be hanged if he would go to bed at -ten o’clock.” We were greatly relieved and amused that when Fawcett -appeared on the scene, his conversation so completely charmed his host -that it was impossible to get him to bed until long after midnight.’ - -[Sidenote: Mastership of Trinity Hall.] - -When a vacancy occurred in the Mastership of Trinity Hall, Fawcett was -asked to stand, and though he retired from the candidature in favour of -Sir Henry Maine, it is an interesting evidence of Fawcett’s close -interest in his old college that no new interests could weaken. - -At this time his chief exercise seems to have been riding. A friend who -often accompanied him gives this description of one adventurous morning -ride: ‘His riding was like the driving of Jehu. He was entirely -fearless, seemed to know all the road, the turnings, the signposts, and -the houses, where the turf began that was good to go on, and where the -horse must be allowed to walk. - -[Sidenote: Spectacles and the Man.] - -‘We were going together at a moderate pace on his favourite road. I was -a yard in front; suddenly I heard a noise as of a fall, and looking back -saw to my horror Fawcett lying on the ground, and his horse standing -quietly by. How it happened I don’t know. I jumped down in terror, but -was soon reassured by Fawcett calling out in his natural voice, “Just -look for my spectacles, will you?” When I had helped him up and brought -him to his horse, he remounted without the least appearance of flurry or -alarm. He explained to me as we cantered on, that he thought that in -case of a fall, he was in less danger than a seeing man, as he did not -attempt to move or struggle. He seemed to think no more of his fall, -beyond expressing a wish that I should not speak of it at home, and thus -cause alarm and nervousness when he was riding again.’ - -[Sidenote: Enjoying the Sunset.] - -This courage is the more remarkable in view of the fact that Fawcett -once said: ‘The happiest moments I spend in my life are when I am in the -companionship of some friend who will forget that I have lost my -eyesight, who will talk to me as if I could see, who will describe to me -the persons I meet, a beautiful sunset, or scenes of great beauty -through which we may be passing. For so wonderful is the adaptability of -the human mind, that when for instance some scene of great beauty has -been described to me, I recall that scene in after years, and I speak -about it in such a manner that sometimes I have to check myself and -consider for a moment whether the impression was produced when I had my -sight or was conveyed by the description of another.’ - -It is not conceivable that the man who so thoroughly saw through the -vision given to him by others, could have been deficient in the power to -imagine vividly, acutely, all possible dangers. It meant a very -deliberate courage to overcome all slowness and hesitancy—to gallop -alone, trusting entirely to his horse to save him from, may be, serious -collisions. Yet, so complete was Fawcett’s self-mastery that he thrust -fear utterly behind him, and found only hearty, high-spirited joy in his -outings. - -[Sidenote: Hackney. A model campaign.] - -This same courage stood him in good stead in the general election in -1874, which resulted in a great victory for the Conservatives. In -Brighton both the Liberal candidates were thrown out, though Fawcett -polled forty-nine more votes than before. Within six weeks he was again -an M.P., this time enthusiastically elected for Hackney; and the -management of his election for that borough was so inexpensive that it -was long cited as a model of electioneering efficiency and economy. - -The Indian papers spoke strongly of his ‘unique position,’ and a fund of -£400 was raised and transmitted to England to pay the expenses of -another contest. It arrived too late, but went towards the expenses of -the contest at Hackney in 1880. Another sum of £350 was then raised in -India, which was placed in the hands of trustees with a view to a future -election, and in due time was devoted to some purpose connected with -India. - -Fawcett’s first speech to his Hackney constituents was delivered in -March. What he said there, then and later, was distinguished by his -fearless and frank adherence to what were considered unpopular -principles. He denounced what he deemed the unworthy competition between -Gladstone and Disraeli, saying that when the former announced that in -case of his election he would repeal the Income Tax, the latter promptly -announced that he would do the same. Fawcett considered that neither -could carry out this promise, and that it was merely a discreditable bid -for votes. He said that he would continue in his efforts for India, then -threatened anew by famine. - -[Sidenote: The Times.] - -The _Saturday Review_, not usually favourable to his party, hoped for -his return as the ‘one man,’ out of official circles, who cared for -India. The _Times_ said ‘he offended publicans by refusing to use their -houses as committee rooms; he offended the advocates of the Permissive -Bill by declaring his resolution to vote against it; he offended -shopkeepers by his zeal in favour of the co-operative movement; he -offended working men by his opposition to the latest movement for -limiting the hours of labour of adult women; he offended old-fashioned -Liberals, and Liberals who are getting old-fashioned, by his persistent -advocacy of reforms that had not come within the range of their -education when they were young; and Liberals of a later growth -remembered how often Fawcett had found himself unable to acquiesce in -Mr. Gladstone’s policy and plans. Yet he must have secured the support -of men of all these sections, who concurred in sending him to -Parliament, because they believed that his presence there would be -advantageous, in spite of errors of opinion which each section in turn -lamented.’ - -His short absence between his defeat at Brighton and his fresh -appearance as the representative for Hackney was sincerely regretted in -the House of Commons on all sides. Warm friends missed his genial -personality and the jovial meetings at his seat, whence many merry -stories and much gossip emanated. Those who saw Fawcett casually found -it difficult to believe that he was blind. It was his unfailing habit to -turn to the person to whom he was speaking as if he saw them. He knew -his way about the House of Commons so well that he was quick and sure in -all his movements. He would cross the floor of the House and, bowing to -the Speaker, take his seat with familiar assurance. His father used -often to come up from Salisbury, and Fawcett would take him to the -privileged strangers’ seats under the gallery, and bring his -Parliamentary friends to talk to the old gentleman. - -One of the favourite ways of drawing attention to departmental misdeeds -is to ask questions of the Minister of State concerned to be answered by -him at the beginning of the sitting. These questions were sent up in -writing and then read aloud to the House by the members who asked them. -The Rt. Hon. Thomas Burt, one of the first working-class -representatives, and an old friend of Fawcett’s, says: ‘Mr. Fawcett -often put long questions, and he repeated them word for word as they -were printed on the order paper, never a slip, never the slightest -hesitation.’ - -[Sidenote: The hard-worked Hen.] - -Fawcett was at once added to the committee on Indian finance appointed a -few days before his election. This was the fourth year that this -committee had worked. _Punch_ said that it reminded him ‘of the hen that -laid so many eggs she could never come to the hatching of any.’ And -indeed it never published a report, though it collected a great deal of -most valuable evidence. - -It was before this committee that Lord Salisbury gave evidence on the -difficulty for an Indian Secretary of State to withstand the demands of -the Treasury. Continued resistance on his part was ‘to stop the -machine.’ ’so,’ said Fawcett, ‘you must either stop the machine, or -resign, or go on tacitly submitting to injustice.’ ‘I should accept the -statement,’ replied Lord Salisbury, ‘barring the word tacitly. I should -go on submitting with loud remonstrances.’ - -But a strong echo in the public conscience would be necessary for these -remonstrances to be of any value to India, and this is what Fawcett saw. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - - FAMINE, TURKS AND INDIANS - - _Punch_ and Fawcett—The Indian Famine—Parliamentary - Interest aroused in India—Bulgarian Atrocities—Afghanistan - War—Gladstone’s Faith in Fawcett—A £9,000,000 Mistake. - - -He was becoming one of the most prominent figures in the House of -Commons, and as such is frequently mentioned in the political diary with -which _Punch_ has amused more than two generations. _Punch_ gives vivid -glimpses of our hero ‘hitting out in fine style,’ giving ‘a well -deserved rap over the knuckles’ to some not too scrupulous speaker. Then -he is ‘the blind gentleman who cannot see things in his way like other -people, and so will not be turned aside’; or ‘One of the biggest wigs on -India.’ On a night of great debate ‘First in the lists was that ablest -of intractables, Professor Fawcett, who not seeing when he bores others -can defy the penalties of boredom in the strength of an honest purpose.’ -Finally, when energy was required ‘Professor Fawcett danced over it.’ - -Then back to the quiet home across the river, and a peaceful time by his -own fireside. In damp weather the tolling of Big Ben would ring clear -over the water. Fawcett did not need to be told it was raining or to -depend on the patter on the window panes for his knowledge. He knew it -by the distinctive noises of the wet wheels of traffic. All the various -noises of the London streets were acutely present to him: the uneven, -slow hammer of a lame horse’s hoofs, the short quick step of a donkey, -and the whir of the two wheels of a coster’s donkey-cart piled high with -vegetables for Covent Garden, or the more rhythmic trot of a pair of -carriage horses and the almost noiseless revolutions of the wheels of -prosperous vehicles. He knew of fog by the muffled cries of the cabbies -and the linkmen, or by the bewildering tooting of the river craft on the -Thames. - -In 1875 Gladstone retired from the Liberal leadership, and Lord -Hartington was elected in his stead. The Liberals were a disorganised -and despondent party, sitting in the coldest of cold shades of -opposition. But there was nothing dispirited about Fawcett. In this -session he reiterated two former war-cries: the one to reduce the -expenses of Parliamentary candidates—a proposal which still had little -support from either side of the House; the other, to insist with this -Government as he had insisted with the former one, to bring on the -debate on the Indian Budget in sufficient time for proper discussion. In -the same session funds were voted to meet the expenses of the tour about -to be made by the Prince of Wales in India. Fawcett was wishful that the -whole cost of this voyage of good will should be met by England. But -both Disraeli and Gladstone opposed him, and he was unable to get his -point carried. - -[Sidenote: The Liberty of the Individual.] - -His strong belief in individual liberty gave Fawcett scant sympathy with -that school of thought which was for controlling people into better -conditions of living. When the Conservative Government brought in a bill -for municipal action in cases of bad housing, and the premier happily -misquoted ’sanitas sanitatum, omnia sanitas,’ Fawcett was scornful. He -considered it class legislation and paternally patronising in a way that -few would understand to-day. He had the same feeling about the Factory -Acts, except when they were to protect the most helpless. On the other -hand, he was eager to extend the compulsory attendance of children at -school, and urged it several times during this Parliament. - -[Sidenote: Empress of India.] - -[Sidenote: Famine.] - -Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India at Delhi in 1877 amidst -much stately ceremonial and much thundering of cannon. But the -reverberations from the Imperial salute had hardly died away before -ominous news was muttered of famine in Bengal. It proved only too true, -and was very terrible in its effects. More than two million people died. -Many endeavours were made to cope with the disaster, and also to provide -better against its recurrence, in all of which Fawcett took deep -interest. A month or two later it was proposed to remit the duty on -cotton. Fawcett, although a strong free trader, opposed this, as he -thought the change at this time would deal hardly with India. - -In 1879 Fawcett published an article in the _Nineteenth Century_, called -‘The New Departure in Finance,’ in which he shows the changes that have -been wrought. He points out, amongst other things, that in that year the -Indian Budget was discussed in May instead of in August, and that it -excited sufficient interest for the debate to last three nights, whereas -in former years it was generally hurried over in the closing hours of -the session. The vital importance of limiting taxation and reducing -expenditure had been acknowledged by the highest authorities, and an -obstacle had thus been surmounted which had hitherto stood in the way of -all serious reforms. He insisted on the importance of developing the -resources of the country, but objected to reckless borrowing for that -purpose. He considered that the expenses could be reduced until there -should be a fair surplus to spend on works of real value. He emphasised -most particularly a policy always much in his mind. There might be a -great saving of money, and a great gain politically, if more opportunity -were given to the native races to be employed in Government posts. After -calling attention to the heavy military expenditure, he ends with the -expression of a hope that a new financial era is really being -inaugurated. - -Fawcett was surprised and amused at the way in which his essay was -received with unanimous approval, and said that it showed ‘the -uncertainty of any forecast of the effect of an appeal to the public.’ -After years of labour apparently productive of little result, he had -suddenly become an exponent of accepted principles. - -He is now the great man. And a great man’s jokes, however feeble, make -their impress. But through this atmosphere we see the cheerful Fawcett -of our ken, gay, brusque, and light-hearted. - -He walks with a friend from Newmarket to Cambridge. The friend relates: - -[Sidenote: Fawcett and the Yokels.] - -‘We stopped at a roadside inn for lunch; the country yokels stared, as -well they might, at this strong-faced blind man, full of interest for -the things they knew about. He insisted on paying more than the landlady -asked, because he had taken all the crust off the loaf! - -‘I saw some one on the road whom I thought Fawcett ought to know, who -passed with no sign of recognition. On inquiry from him why I thought he -would know this man, I described him as some old fogey who looked like a -member of the University. Later on I had occasion to talk to him about -the strenuous exercise he often took, and hazarded a conjecture that he -was as strong as any member of the House of Commons. His version, -shouted out to his wife directly he got inside of his house, was that I -had been calling him an old fogey, and had been trying to make up for it -by calling him the strongest member of the House.’ - -‘In the evening his wife or any friend present read aloud to him. I -remember one evening, after I had been reading the _Spectator_ to him, -Mrs. Fawcett took up Trevelyan’s _Life of Fox_, and read to him for some -minutes; she then looked up and said, ‘Harry, you are asleep!’ He -indignantly denied it, and to show that he had not been asleep said, “I -have heard every word you said. I think we will have some of Fox’s Life -now.” When informed that we had been reading it for ten minutes, he -said, without being at all disconcerted, “Oh, have you, then go on!”’ - -[Sidenote: The terrible Turks.] - -The Beaconsfield Government (for Disraeli was now Earl of Beaconsfield), -which had begun its course so prosperously, had from 1876 onwards to -meet difficulties arising from war in Eastern Europe. The Turks put down -a rising in Bulgaria with inconceivable barbarity, and Beaconsfield’s -handling of the question gave great offence to many Englishmen. The -sufferings of the Christians brought Gladstone out of his retirement -and, in the first days of September, he published a pamphlet that was -sold daily in its thousands. Within a fortnight Fawcett presided at a -great meeting in Exeter Hall, the birthplace of so many crusades. - -It is popularly supposed that it is particularly difficult for the blind -to keep order or to compel attention. This idea has often been used as -an objection to the blind as teachers or lecturers. As many things are -true in the same degree of the blind person as of the seeing person. The -practical question which should be asked in such cases is irrespective -of blindness, and is: ‘Has the man sufficient personality to be -interesting and to command attention and respect?’ Fawcett had. Both his -blindness and his disregard of it compelled admiration, even reverence, -while they added interest to what he said, and brought out the latent -chivalrous, gracious qualities of his audience. It was probably far -easier for him to preside at a meeting than it would have been for a -sighted person of average calibre. He was not forced to keep order by -himself, for most of the men at the meeting unconsciously helped the -blind chairman by their sympathy and attention. Fawcett’s natural -quickness, keyed to high pitch by his blindness, made him swift to -detect the slightest movement or half-murmured objection, and to catch -the change of mood in the tones of a speaker who was, even unknown to -himself, being turned from his original point. - -No breach of procedure escaped this chairman, whose unseeing eyes seemed -to watch the expression of each debater. To see Fawcett in the chair, -dominating the other strong men with whom he worked, was a sight not to -be forgotten. Rising to his great height, and looking around with his -genial smile, he would open the meeting with a few words. If their quiet -authority left no doubt but that there would be order, there was a -pleasant marginal sense that it would be order not necessarily dreary or -even unmixed with fun. - -A striking proof of his popularity occurred at the National Conference -in the following December. Gladstone was chief orator, but Fawcett, who -was on the platform, was called for from the audience to add his words -as well. - -But the first popular indignation became overcast by a jealousy of -Russian action, and when the House met its mood was hesitating and -uncertain. But not Fawcett. In March he moved independently a resolution -demanding that the European Powers should insist on adequate reforms, -and led an attack on the Government, that claimed to have a spirited -foreign policy which was really a do-nothing policy. The Conservatives -cried, horror-stricken, that Fawcett wanted a ‘bloody war.’ The Liberal -front bench said that the resolution was inopportune, and they suggested -it should be withdrawn. To this Fawcett felt obliged to consent, as a -weak following from his own party would have made a most discouraging -vote. - -Two months later Gladstone brought in a resolution on the subject, but -thought it unwise to go further than he could persuade the front bench -to follow him. How eagerly he urged the Liberal leaders, and how -reluctantly they consented, was not known at the time, and the weakness -of Gladstone’s resolution was a great disappointment to Fawcett. He -spoke vigorously at this May debate, and _Punch_ says of ‘this blind, -brave Mr. Fawcett,’ ‘And it do me good to hear one so downright in these -over timid times. And do call a spade a spade as plain as ever I -hear.... And Mr. Gladstone did speak mighty well to the same time as Mr. -Fawcett, only sharper and stronger and brisker and fiercer all at once -as is his wont.’ - -[Sidenote: The Bengal Tiger.] - -Fawcett, who had so lately been treated as a firebrand, found himself on -the other side of the scales when in the next year’s phase of the -question Beaconsfield’s Government became bellicose, and moved troops -from India to the Mediterranean. Beaconsfield sided more and more -strongly with the Turks as the question wrapped itself up into those -complications whose orchestration is called the Concert of Europe. It -was generally felt that these troops were on hand to help the Turks. -Their removal from India to Malta roused Fawcett on two issues—the -possibility of helping the Turks and the making of unfair demands on -India. He again attacked the Ministers, or as _Punch_ says, ‘had it out -with the Government about bringing the Bengal Tiger into European -Waters.’ - -The Eastern question was to continue to disturb Europe, creating -suspicions and fostering disagreements. Its first dramatic fruit was at -the other end of the Russian dominions, where Afghanistan lies between -the threatening borders of the Russian and British Empires. The Amir of -Afghanistan, ‘an earthen pipkin between two iron pots,’ was wooed by -England and by Russia, but desired the attentions of neither. But to -prove his neutrality was impossible. The Indian Government accused him -of favouring Russia, and a clumsy diplomacy led finally to war. - -[Sidenote: To shield the Indian Taxpayer.] - -Fawcett denounced at Bethnal Green, and again at Hackney, the underhand -conduct of the Indian Government towards the Amir, and demanded that -Parliament should be summoned. He argued from the opinions of high -authorities that an occupation of the capital city, Cabul, would involve -an intolerable burden upon Indian finances. When Parliament met to -approve the expenditure incurred in Afghanistan, Fawcett, seconded by -Mr. Gladstone, proposed that the cost of the war should not be thrown -upon India. Once more he was defending the Indian tax-payer. He -complained that when it was a question of declaring war, the Government -had boasted that they were carrying out a great Imperial policy; when it -was a question of paying for the war, they represented it as a mere -border squabble. The course adopted by Government was unpopular, because -it was marked by meanness and ‘entire absence of generosity.’ He -declared that his constituents at Hackney would prefer to pay their fair -share of the expense. His motion was rejected by 235 to 125. Fawcett -returned to the charge in the next session, when a financial arrangement -was proposed for apportioning the burden between England and India. -Fawcett, in criticising, showed that India would have to pay twice as -much as England. He was again seconded by Gladstone, but was again -unsuccessful. - -[Sidenote: Gladstone’s Faith in Fawcett’s knowledge.] - -A story told of Fawcett at this time shows how real was the respect for -his knowledge and exactness. He was staying at a week-end house-party in -the country. Gladstone was there, and said to him, ‘What do you think of -the news of Afghanistan? I have not read the papers and I have a speech -to make on the subject. I have been at the Corpus Christi library, -looking at the Parker manuscripts, comparing the 39 Articles, so that I -have had no time.’ Fawcett told him about the Afghanistan conditions so -fully and accurately that Gladstone, without having any further -information, made a long and most telling speech about them in -Parliament. - -The importance to Gladstone of the Parker manuscript as compared with -the Afghanistan complications is highly characteristic; we can imagine -Fawcett’s amusement that Gladstone should become absorbed in an academic -question of theological punctilio, for such it would seem to him, when -there was such really vital matters at issue. - -Before Parliament met again, Fawcett had accepted his appointment as -Postmaster-General on condition that he would be free ‘to take part in -Indian debates.’ But the great demands made on his time left little -energy for other matters. - -[Sidenote: A Mistake of Nine Million Pounds, no one to blame.] - -He expressed himself in 1880 at length on the Indian Budget, when an -error of nine millions in the accounts of the Afghan War came before the -House. He showed how it emphasised the need of the precautions which he -had urged on the Finance Committee, especially when it appeared that no -one could be held responsible for this great carelessness. It was a -comfort for him to be able to approve, in the main, the trend which the -Indian policy continued to take, and that what he had laboured for so -devotedly became the policy of the Government. - -In reviewing his struggles for India, several things about him stand out -forcefully. The fearlessness with which he took up a dangerous position, -and by his very bravery made it safe ground. The scornful way he pushed -aside whatever he considered spurious or unworthy. He gained not only -the love of those whose battles he fought, but also the respect and -goodwill of his adversaries. - -Sir William Lee Warner says, ‘His great fear was that India might be -saddled with charges which the British Treasury ought to bear; and the -poverty of the ryot afflicted him as if he suffered himself.’ This -suffering for others, so characteristic of Fawcett, was another common -trait which he had with Lincoln, who we remember said that ‘he didn’t -pull the wretched pig out of the mire for the pig’s sake, but to take -the pain out of his own heart.’ - -In recognition of her husband’s great service, a beautiful necklace was -sent in gratitude from India for Mrs. Fawcett, and a sumptuous -tea-service was sent to him, which was inscribed, ‘Presented to the Rt. -Honble. Henry Fawcett, M.P., by his native friends and admirers in -Bombay, India, June 1880.’ - -With no aid save his great heart and tremendous energy, he had won his -battle for India. Despite his galvanic talk and pioneering energy, he -had shown great diplomacy. His stand had been made on the rock bed of -honesty, and he had given no quarter to deceit or self-seekers. In -serving his country as he would serve himself he had found his path of -happiness. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - A NEW KIND OF - POSTMASTER-GENERAL - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - ‘You can force your heart and nerve and sinew to serve your turn - long after they have gone—and so hold on when there is nothing in - you except the will which says hold on.’—KIPLING. - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XXV - - LIBERALS IN POWER - - General Expectation that Fawcett would join the Cabinet—The - Importance of a Fish—Postmaster-General—Queen Victoria - interested—Post Office Problems—Scientific Business Management - anticipated—Women’s Work—A Likeness to Lincoln. - - -[Sidenote: His Preparation.] - -It is doubtful if anything but incessant struggles, the single-handed -upholding of forlorn hopes, the fighting of battles with no other -ammunition than irrefutable fact, and finally, the frequent victory over -overwhelming difficulties, could have fitted Fawcett for the great task -which lay before him. No easier life could have given him the -instinctive grip of the essential, the sympathy which reads men truly, -and the eagerness to serve the least of them which fitted this blind man -to take efficient command of an army of over 90,000 people, to inspire -them with an _esprit de corps_ which they had heretofore lacked, and -incidentally to fill them with a sense of gratitude, loyalty and -affection to their chief. This is what Fawcett did with the Post Office -department of England. - -The General Election of 1880 returned the Liberals into power, with -Gladstone once more at their head. Fawcett’s prominence before the -public had grown so steadily and surely, and his attack on the last -Government had been so strong, that he was widely accepted as a probable -member of the new Government. - -[Sidenote: The Importance of a Fish.] - -He ran down to Cambridge just before he received his appointment. All -who knew him there were on the _qui vive_, eagerly awaiting the good -tidings which they expected any minute. A friend called, in the hope of -gathering news. Fawcett greeted him cordially, and went on to ask, ‘Have -you seen that fish I caught yesterday?’ Characteristic this, to discuss -fish, not politics, at the crisis of his career. - -Mr. Gladstone offered the Postmaster-Generalship to Fawcett in April -1880. The following letter was written to his parents the day after: - -[Sidenote: Queen Victoria interested.] - - ‘My dear Father and Mother,—You will I know all be delighted to hear - that last night I received a most kind letter from Gladstone offering - me the Postmaster-Generalship. It is the office which Lord Hartington - held when Gladstone was last in power. I shall be a Privy Councillor, - but shall not have a seat in the Cabinet. I believe there was some - difficulty raised about my having to confide Cabinet secrets; - apparently because of the dependence on others for handling - correspondence. This objection, I think, time will remove. I did not - telegraph to you the appointment at first because Gladstone did not - wish it to be known until it was formally confirmed by the Queen; but - he told me in my interview with him this morning that he was quite - sure that the Queen took a kindly interest in my appointment.’ - -He adds that Mr. Gladstone said ‘that he has given me the appointment in -order that I might have time to speak in Indian and other debates.’ He -goes on to make some arrangements for fishing at Salisbury. - -He had himself feared that his lack of sight might keep him from holding -office, and was not surprised that it debarred him from being in the -Cabinet, but his friends were keenly disappointed. It was generally held -at the time that his blindness was the cause of his exclusion, but it is -noteworthy that Gladstone himself is not reported to have said so. - -A contemporary newspaper wrote: - -‘No one asked why Mr. Fawcett was a member of the Government, but many -inquired why he was not in the Cabinet. We have reason to believe that -if Mr. Fawcett had been definitely apprised that his blindness was -considered an insuperable barrier in the way of his admission to the -Cabinet, he would have resigned office. He would not have consented to -have been permanently debarred from the free discussion in Parliament of -the questions in which he was intensely interested, and to which he -brought a greater capacity of judgment than three-fourths of the members -of any Cabinet England has ever seen. The opinions he could not express -in council, he would have resumed the right of expressing in -Parliamentary debate. It is a matter of regret that a barrier of weak -prejudice should have excluded a man who had overcome so many real, and -seemingly insuperable, barriers.’ - -It was argued that a member of the Cabinet has to see many confidential -papers, and that there would be difficulty in admitting some one who, in -order to read them, would have to use other eyes than his own. This -explanation seems hardly sufficient. Six months later, Lord Hartington -offered Fawcett a seat on the Indian Council, where confidential -documents would also have to be scrutinised. The English Cabinet, even -in its methods of procedure, is so secret, that it is impossible to -dogmatise on the subject. But for that very reason, it seems the more -plausible that difficulties such as those due to Fawcett’s blindness -could have been met and overcome. Fawcett’s exclusion from the Cabinet -may as much have been due to his uncompromising individuality as to his -physical infirmity. It is to be remembered that Cabinet forming is -difficult work, and a Prime Minister has to think of the claims and -capacities of many candidates, and of how they will pull together. -Furthermore, the principle that a man should serve in a subordinate -office first, before being asked to join the Cabinet, was a favourite -one with Gladstone. - -[Illustration: - - FAWCETT’s SIGNATURE AND SEAL AS POSTMASTER GENERAL OF ENGLAND - - The impression of the seal was taken from the actual seal used by - Fawcett; but, at the time of King Edward’s accession, when the - expression “Her Majesty’s” became incorrect, the word “his” was - cut on the seal in substitution to the word “her”] - -The reader must draw his own conclusions as to these high matters of -State. The only reference Fawcett is known to have made is in the letter -to his father already quoted. - -In a previous administration Gladstone had had reason to know that the -financial work of a Postmaster-General is complex and full of intricate -detail. In his choice of Fawcett for this post he showed his respect for -the economist's financial ability. This respect was mutual: Fawcett in -one of his letters speaks of 'the pleasure of doing business with a -Master of the Art.' - -On the spring day when Fawcett made his first call at the busy Post -Office, he was warmly received by his predecessor and political -opponent, Lord John Manners, and introduced by him to the leading -officials. - -[Sidenote: An Official Welcome.] - -[Sidenote: Hand-shaking.] - -At a more formal reception to Fawcett, 'all the officials at the General -Post Office' were mustered to be individually introduced to him, -beginning with the heads of departments, with each of whom he shook -hands. These were followed by officials next in rank. To the first of -these Fawcett was about to hold out his hand, when the hint was -whispered to him, 'It is not usual for Her Majesty's Postmaster-General -to shake hands with any one in the office below the rank of head of a -department.' 'I suppose,' rejoined Fawcett, 'that I am at liberty to -make what use I like of my own hand,' and he went on shaking hands with -every one who was presented to him. - -There is a report that this democratic handshaking proclivity was shown -also in the opposite direction socially. At some function when Royalty -was present, Fawcett was sent for by the Queen. It was his first -interview with her, and unlike a seeing man he had no chance to observe -the customary etiquette in these matters. So he advanced cheerily, -heartily grasped Her Majesty’s hand and spoke of his pleasure in -greeting her. - -Queen Victoria always knew how to overlook an unintentional breach of -etiquette, and fascinated, as so many were, by Fawcett’s friendliness, -chatted gaily and unceremoniously with him, while the court looked on, -much amused and somewhat astounded. - -[Sidenote: A great Opening of Service.] - -To understand Fawcett’s methods and the manner in which he took up his -new work, it is essential to get his estimate of its scope, and of his -relation to it as its director. His attitude was very simple. He was the -servant of the people—an engine to lift their loads and to help them to -help themselves to fuller, happier lives. He regarded the Post Office -neither as an end in itself, nor as a money-making machine for the -Government, but as an instrument which could be made of service, -especially to the poor. - -First, he wished to give the machine a _soul_ and a heart: the thought -of such things in the Post Office seems comic, but in Fawcett’s time -this miracle was accomplished. Its whole system was waked up, shaken -from its lethargy, and flooded with a new interest, and that unusual -_esprit de corps_ which has been mentioned, was aroused among the -employees, and alone made possible the results which he achieved. - -As usual, far ahead of his time, he grasped the chief principles of -scientific business management—that recent art which has claimed so much -attention from the great capitalists and the directors of huge -enterprises, especially in America. Without labelling his principles -with high-sounding names, he carried them out, insisting on economy, -both of work and fatigue, which produced contentment, increased interest -and zeal among the employees; hence greater efficiency. - -His method was, first, to diminish fatigue, perhaps the most wasteful -factor in quasi-efficient business. Working and sanitary conditions were -improved, and the staff of Post Office doctors was augmented. He noticed -the failure in health, however slight, of those officers with whom he -came in contact, and at once suggested that they should recruit -themselves by leave of absence. Thus he raised the standard of physique -among his workers. He tried to adjust the work to each individual. This -seems impossible in so vast an enterprise, but by the tremendous amount -of investigation which he made himself, and by seeing his humble -employees as well as heads of departments, Fawcett brought this about to -an astonishing degree. The threat of a strike among the telegraphists -soon after he assumed office gave him an early opportunity to prove -this. Fawcett investigated their grievances with much personal inquiry, -and, by a re-classification of the employees, satisfactorily met their -complaints. - -Before long he had won the loyal adherence of the officials of his -department, and it is delightful to see how highly he esteemed them and -their integrity and industry. He was careful to give credit to the work -of his subordinates, and to obtain for them any marks of approval or -honorary distinctions that were their due. He would add to his own -labours rather than cause a subordinate to be late for luncheon or lose -a train home. - -At that time the selection of women for Post Office work was not by open -competition, but the applications were submitted to the -Postmaster-General. Fawcett took much trouble about these, and would not -allow himself to be affected by the influential backing of an applicant, -but tried, other things being equal, to give the position to the one who -needed it most. - -The following interesting anecdote is told by Fawcett’s old friend, Sir -William Lee Warner: ‘I remember on one occasion I passed him in the -street in London, and he asked me to walk with him. First he asked me -whether by chance any half-sovereigns had got into the pocket in which -he kept sixpences. Then he wished to visit a certain Post Office, and as -we went he would tell me his impressions of the names of the streets -down which we passed, and ask me to correct him. His memory was -wonderfully good, and even his sense of distances. “We must now be near -such a post office,” he said, and he was nearly always right. We entered -it and I took him to the counter. “Is Miss B. here?” he asked. “No, but -she will be back directly,” was the reply. Then ensued a scene which -impressed me with the inconvenience of blindness. Having ascertained -that Miss B. was before him, he told her that he had received her -application for promotion, and proceeded to discuss the matter with her. -The applicant blushed greatly—her neighbours, and possibly her rivals, -pressed forward to hear, and perhaps resent her application. The poor -creature looked the more uncomfortable as the Postmaster-General became -the more considerate and promised to give his best attention to her -request.’ - -[Sidenote: Help for Women.] - -Keen for any efficient service obtainable, he welcomed what able -assistance women could offer. He largely extended the employment of -women workers in the Post Office. This has proved so successful that the -number of women in the various branches of the Post Office has steadily -increased, and is now very large. Fawcett was wont to say that he -considered the head of the women’s staff of the Savings Bank one of the -ablest officials in the whole postal service. - -Mrs. Garrett Anderson, his sister-in-law, was deeply interested in his -work for the women in the Post Office, and especially in his efforts to -have them labour under healthful conditions. She was a distinguished -doctor, and in 1882 Fawcett, after consultation with her, appointed a -woman doctor to look after the women in the London post office. He also, -with excellent results, appointed women doctors at Liverpool and -Manchester. Under the improved conditions for health and of health, the -women’s work was eminently satisfactory, and at the time of his death -there were two thousand nine hundred and nineteen employed in the -department. - -He noted that difficulties occurred when, as was then customary, on the -marriage of a postmistress her appointment was given to her husband. -When he was not the right person for the new place, this led to trouble; -in 1882 the passage of the Married Woman’s Property Act enabled him to -decide that a woman should in every case have the option of retaining -the appointment in her own name. This arrangement was confirmed by Lord -Eversley, who succeeded Fawcett at the Post Office. - -Fawcett went personally into many complaints against petty officials. -Unless fully convinced, he was righteously unwilling to dismiss a man, -and so often leave him with a stigma for life. Losses of letters having -occurred in a local post office, a watch was set, and suspicion fell on -a clerk who had been caught using telegrams for racing and betting. As a -preliminary measure, the clerk was removed to another office for a -month, and the irregularities immediately ceased; he was then sent back, -and at once they began again. What could be a clearer case? He must be -dismissed at once. ‘Give him another chance,’ said Fawcett. ‘He has -admitted his gambling. Had he denied it I should have been convinced he -was guilty of thefts.’ Certain tests, usual in the Post Office service, -were applied, and the result proved conclusively that the culprit was a -guard on the railway, who had been astute enough to forgo taking the -letters during the absence of the suspected clerk, and who began again -when the man returned. ‘There, you see,’ said Fawcett, ‘by a little -extra care I saved a foolish young man from the absolute ruin of -character which his dismissal from the Post Office would have caused.’ - -Again we are reminded of his likeness to that other great, tall, -contemporary champion of justice, who, across the Atlantic, had given -his life to serve the oppressed and the debased. Lincoln’s critics were -always reproaching him for his excessive leniency and clemency; he would -never let a shadow fall on the life of an unfortunate if he could help -it. He forgot to sign the death warrant for a scared boy who had run -away when his officer told him to face his first mad sight of battle; -and he meekly granted a widowed mother a pardon for her renegade son. So -Fawcett, in his peaceful rôle of directing the Post Office, hated and -hesitated to confirm an order for dismissing a subordinate. His critics -say that occasionally he pushed clemency to weakness, and that he was -‘unwilling to enforce punishments really called for in the interests of -the necessary discipline.’ More than a quarter of a century has passed -since this was said, and with the definition of bad (as good out of -place) we have come to question the use of so-called punishments. -Perhaps Fawcett and Lincoln, in trying not to inflict them, because of -their dislike to give pain, were in this respect also far ahead of their -time, and, by their intuitive hate of doing an injury to any one, were -anticipating the wisest policy of to-day, which seeks by scientific -adjustment and inspiration to do away with so crude a thing as -punishment. The future will judge of this, but we can appreciate the -righteous fear such men had of unjustly interfering with personal -rights, or trying to make a stereotyped formula fit an erring human -being. - -When differences of opinion occurred, Fawcett would discuss the question -with his subordinates to an ‘almost wearisome length’ because he -disliked unnecessarily to thrust their opinions aside. He often said -that as he could not see himself, he had an earnest wish to see things -as much as possible from the point of view of others. By bringing home -his personality to the great mass of Post Office servants, and by -calling the attention of the public to the value of the work done by the -permanent staff, he raised the tone of the whole service, enhanced their -self-respect, and increased the estimation in which they are held by the -public. - -[Sidenote: Esprit de Corps.] - -The employee who had fallen under the spell of his new chief’s -enthusiasm and kindliness felt, no matter how humble a niche he -occupied, that he was doing part of the good work of a great country, -and forgot that he was, perhaps, a poorly paid clerk in a God-forsaken -hamlet. His efforts would be redoubled; the golden chain of service -linked all the little outlying posts with the great ones, bound even the -little half-frozen postmistress in the bleakest settlement of the empire -to help on the work of the jovial, warm-hearted chief in the brilliant -city of London. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVI - - FRESH AIR, BLUE RIBBONS, AND POSTMEN - - A Day with the Postmaster-General—How he worked Reform—The - Parcel Post. - - -By his intense love of the open air Fawcett kept mind and body fresh, -and was eager and able to cope with his problems, and to welcome new -ones. The late Sir Robert Hunter said: ‘He frequently walked up and down -outside the post office in the middle of the day, while smoking his -cigarette, and on Saturdays he either walked, or rowed on the Thames -with an old friend or two. He rowed very badly, and caused much -discomfort to his companions by ‘catching crabs.’ - -‘I often used to accompany him, on long walks over Wimbledon Common, and -he liked walking on uneven ground as contrasted with smooth pavements. I -remember his saying one day how much better it was to get out into the -country than to follow the prevalent fashion of hanging about the clubs -on a Saturday, on the chance of picking up some piece of political -gossip, gossip mostly untrue and worthless.’ It is also told that when a -mutual friend mentioned to Fawcett that he was going to stay in the -country with the newly appointed solicitor: ‘Ah,’ said the blind man, -‘you are going down to ——: Hunter has a wonderful view there!’ - -Applications did not need to be influentially backed to receive his -interested attention. The request of a cottager to have his letters -brought to his own cottage instead of to the house of his employer would -be investigated by Fawcett as carefully as a request from a Minister of -State. Nothing was too much trouble for him. He received a petition from -the town of Guildford asking for an additional daily postal delivery. He -invited a small deputation from among the signers of the petition to -come to London and talk the matter over with him. Among those who formed -the deputation was a medical man who gave the following account of what -took place at the interview: ‘After Fawcett had welcomed us most kindly, -he had a little map of the town, which had been specially drawn up for -the occasion, distributed among us, and then himself gave us an address -on the work of the Guildford postmen. He described minutely the various -rounds of each of them, specifying the names of the streets passed -through, and the length of time occupied in traversing them. Summing up -these data, he proved that the additional delivery for which we asked -could only be provided at the cost of engaging an additional postman, -which the local finances would not justify. None of us had a word to say -against this demonstration, and I, for my part, quitted the General Post -Office filled with astonishment that a blind man should seem to know -more than I myself did about a town in which, as boy and man, I had been -going about all my life.’[2] - -[Sidenote: What kind of a Donkey?] - -A large factor in his success was that he always kept his sense of -humour to the fore. A friend remonstrated with the Postmaster-General -because the post was brought to him by a donkey. But his only answer was -a deeply interested inquiry, ‘What kind of a donkey is it, a lean -donkey, or a fat donkey?’ - -[Sidenote: Blue Ribbon.] - -When complaint was made to the Postmaster-General that it was not -‘official’ for women working in the Post Office to wear the ‘blue -ribbon,’ Fawcett replied that by doing so they set a very good example, -and he had no fault to find with their office work. To a similar -complaint about a postman, he replied that they might wear all the -colours of the rainbow if it would keep them from drinking. - -Though he did not take part in the various temperance campaigns of his -day, Fawcett believed very strongly in the evils of drink. His own -temperate existence, the fact that even in his college days he had never -drunk too much, put him in a strong position to talk to others about the -foolishness of drunkenness and the great loss of strength caused by an -indulgence in drink. He was much in earnest in trying to persuade men of -all classes to be temperate, and would unhesitatingly argue with -hard-drinking men against their unwise course. - -[Sidenote: A day with the Postmaster-General.] - -The following outline of his daily work is kindly given by Mr. Dryhurst, -who was his secretary at the time. The official pouches would be brought -to the House of Commons at six o’clock. These contained the ‘minutes,’ -to use the official term, _i.e._ the proposals submitted for his -approval or instructions. His secretary would get up these papers and -afterwards read them to his chief. This had to be a thorough process, -for Fawcett, instead of passing them as a matter of form, was certain to -ask minute questions about them. He returned home from the House of -Commons any time from one to four A.M. After breakfast the following -morning, ‘the meat,’ as he called it, would be read to him out of the -morning news, and then important papers would be put before him to be -approved or initialled. If he felt he did not know enough to approve or -disapprove, he would ask to see So-and-so later at the post office. At -eleven-thirty to twelve, partly by cab and partly on foot, he would -reach the post office, and there spend the next three to four hours in -discussing with the officials the proposals they had put before him, or -new ones which were in contemplation. - -Other important business during the parliamentary session would be the -preparation of answers to the questions to be asked in the House of -Commons in the afternoon. As soon as this work was done, he walked along -the Embankment from Blackfriars to the House of Commons. - -It is interesting to set beside this more impressions of Sir Robert -Hunter, which he most kindly gave to the writer shortly before his -death. Sir Robert was appointed solicitor to the Post Office by Fawcett, -who was particularly glad to make the appointment, as Mr. Hunter, as he -was then, was an old friend. The two men had worked together in the -Commons Preservation Society, to which Sir Robert Hunter was the -indefatigable solicitor, and Fawcett had then become thoroughly familiar -with his great abilities. - -[Sidenote: How he worked.] - -Speaking of the blind Postmaster-General, Sir Robert said that he gave -the Post Office an enormous lift; he tried to make it an important -social instrument for the amelioration of the State. His personality was -most inspiriting. He would come to the post office on Monday morning -with a crumpled little piece of paper, which he would hand to any one -standing near to read to him. It contained perhaps half a dozen words; -for example: ‘Foreign delivery, parcels, stamp, alterations.’ This -slight help to his memory was sufficient to remind him perhaps of all -the day’s work, including investigations and even what he was prepared -to say before the House of Commons in the afternoon. He took great pains -with his answers for question time, discussing, writing, and re-writing -them. But once they were settled and read over to him in their final -form, they were delivered by him in the House verbatim without any -effort. If some proposal came before him in the guise of a file of -papers, he always endeavoured to ascertain what official had given most -consideration to the question, and he then discussed the matter with him -personally. This was an innovation. The discussion would suggest ideas -which would often lead to improvements in the administration. His -enthusiasm made every one feel the need of working harder and doing -better than under a less inspiring leader. He gained the affection of -all by his astonishing consideration, and by not giving unnecessary -trouble.’ - -Though now a mature and distinguished man, he had not changed from his -buoyant earlier self, and with each return to Cambridge took up his -lectures and his social life with a new glow and fresh zeal. He -appreciated more than ever, if possible, the value of work and fun in -life, and in return, for his industry and gaiety, life yielded him full -measure of joy and contentment. - -[Sidenote: Interested Cows.] - -A Trinity Hall contemporary tells of going to stay with a friend in the -country, and on his arrival finding no one at home; but being told by -the butler that Mr. Fawcett had arrived and was fishing in the -neighbourhood, the new guest went in search. After a short walk in the -meadows he was surprised to see in the neighbourhood of a brook a large -group of cows standing in contemplation about some central object which -he could not make out. A nearer view revealed Fawcett seated in the -charmed circle, the cynosure of all the bovine eyes! In his hand he held -a fishing-rod, the line being firmly caught above his head to the branch -of a tree. The anxious and puzzled observer asked what was the matter, -to which Fawcett answered unconcernedly: ‘Oh, I’m all right, thanks; I’m -very glad to see you!’ On further inquiry about his hypnotised audience -of cows, he explained, ‘Oh, it was the boy’s lunch-time, so I sent him -off to get it. My fish-hook got caught in the tree and these cows just -happened to come round.’ As always, he was having an idyllic time, and -was amused by his friend’s perplexity. - -[Sidenote: A Faithful Plaster.] - -Mr. Dryhurst tells of Fawcett in a different predicament, the centre of -a very different circle at Cambridge. Like most healthy men, he took his -trifling ailments most seriously, and was much worried by any unusual -symptoms. One day, having a fearful pain in his chest, he went to a -chemist in Cambridge. The chemist properly made inquiry as to a possible -cause for the trouble. Had there been perhaps some reckless indulgence? -some forbidden fruit or similar dissipation? Fawcett could find, -however, no possible explanation for his illness, though he -parenthetically remarked that he had eaten forty walnuts. The chemist -finally prescribed for this mysterious illness a tar adhesive plaster -and applied a large one to Fawcett’s chest. The same evening the invalid -went to a dinner-party. The weather was close, the room badly -ventilated. A slight but rapidly increasing odour of tar was noticed by -one or two of the guests. Fawcett blandly remarked that they were -repairing the streets of Cambridge, which might perhaps account for the -odour, and thus diverted any awkward investigation. - -[Sidenote: A German Visitor.] - -On his return to London, Fawcett was asked by the head of the German -Post Office to allow him to send an official to study certain points of -administration. Fawcett gladly gave the required leave, and on reaching -the office one morning was informed that the German official had arrived -and was already at work in one of the departments. ‘Tell him,’ said -Fawcett, ‘that I should be glad to speak to him in my room.’ As a -considerable time elapsed without his putting in an appearance, Fawcett -asked the reason for the delay, and received the following answer: -‘Directly we told the German gentleman that you wished to speak to him, -he put on his coat and hat and left the office, and we saw him drive off -in a hansom cab.’ This seemed a very odd way of behaving, but the matter -was satisfactorily cleared up before long by the return of the German -visitor in full official costume and with all his orders on. Fawcett, -concealing his amusement, expressed his regret that so much trouble -should have been thrown away on a blind man who could not perceive the -results. The German visitor explained that in no case could he have -presented himself before a Minister of a foreign power in ordinary -attire. To have done so would have rendered him liable to most serious -censure from his own official superiors. - -[Sidenote: New Ideas.] - -Fawcett always lent a ready ear to all suggestions for widening the -work. Friends told him of the reply postcard and of the indicators used -abroad to show when the last collection had been made at the pillar -boxes. Gleefully, like a boy with a new toy, he seized these, to him, -new ideas, and made them part of the little details of his great -machine. He loved to watch the effect of any new improvement, and was -interested in hearing of the greater convenience and consequently -greater correspondence due to the erection of a pillar box in Salisbury -near his old home. He multiplied pillar boxes in railway stations, and -had letter boxes fixed to the travelling post offices in trains, and -greatly accelerated the collection and delivery of letters. He arranged -for the issue of postal orders on board ship, and earned the gratitude -of pensioners by arranging to have their money sent by post, thus saving -them a journey. The official reports testify to his love of the minutiæ -of his task. - -[Sidenote: Five things to be done.] - -He was as genuinely absorbed in it as if the administration of the Post -Office had been the desire of his lifetime. In a letter to his father on -7th April 1883, he names briefly his chief ambitions for the extension -of his work. He writes: ‘Before I had been a fortnight at the Post -Office I felt that there were five things to be done: (1) The parcel -post; (2) the issue of postal orders; (3) the receipt of small savings -in stamps and the allowing of small sums to be invested in the funds; -(4) increasing the facilities for life insurance and annuities; (5) -reducing the price of telegrams. The first four I have succeeded in -getting done, and now the fifth is to be accomplished.’ - -[Sidenote: Parcel Post.] - -It is only last year (1913) that the United States Post Office, after -many struggles, has at last followed the example of the Mother Country -in introducing the parcel post. At this time it may be of especial -interest to take a short survey of the history of this great agent for -helpfulness and of the splendid part which Fawcett played in promoting -it. As early as 1698 Docwra originated the penny post for London. It -dispensed impartially ‘bank boxes, tradesmen’s parcels, and -apothecaries’ mixtures.’ Patients complained wisely or unwisely (for it -seems that there has always been a faction in favour of mind cure) that -they did not get their physic in time. But the high rate of postage put -an end to this. Though a parcel post was advocated by Sir Rowland Hill, -the Society of Arts, the Royal Commission on Railways, and though Lord -John Manners had opened up negotiations with the various interests -involved, no working agreement had been arrived at. When Fawcett took -office he became keenly interested and persisted resolutely till the -many difficulties were overcome. It required tireless patience, tact, -and diplomacy, both with the Treasury department, which had to provide -funds to meet the first outlay, and with the railway companies. -Fawcett’s part in the work of establishing this new system was -interrupted by illness, but, nevertheless, the new order was in full -swing in August 1883. - -[Sidenote: The new red Vans.] - -He took a keen delight in this fresh work, of which he felt that the -public should have the benefit, even if the Government made little -profit. On the evening when the parcel post was started, Fawcett, with -his wife and daughter, went to the ‘circulation office.’ He writes -afterwards on the same night to his parents, describing the scene, the -extraordinary variety of objects posted, and the ’smartly painted red -vans.’ He begs them to come and have a look at it. Three days later he -reports that things are working smoothly, and speaks warmly of the zeal -of all concerned, from the head officials down to the humblest -letter-carrier. He says that he shall soon issue a general notice of -thanks to the persons co-operating in the result. The only difficulty -was the public inexperience in the art of packing. - -In his report Fawcett writes: ‘The new post had been introduced without -the least interference with the older services. The number of parcels -conveyed had increased and was now at the rate of from twenty-one to -twenty-two millions a year. Simplifications, and consequent economies -had been introduced, and further improvements were under consideration.’ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration: - - PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.——APRIL 15, 1882. - - THE MAN FOR THE POST. - - _With special permission from the Proprietors of “Punch”_] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -Though not at first a financial success, the parcel post became a great -national asset, and later also a generous contributor to the national -exchequer; and though Fawcett’s death came too soon, probably, for him -to realise the quick improvement, his innovations and model methods made -the English Post Office an all-important study for other countries. - -[Sidenote: The Heart of the Post Office.] - -Men, not things, interested Fawcett, as they do most born leaders. He -knew that if he could energise the minds and bodies of the men and women -of the peaceful army he commanded, and fill them with zeal for their -job, the work of England’s Post Office would go of itself. The machinery -would fly, and each department fill its mission with miraculous new -life. Telegrams, letters, and parcels would dart and fly with fresh -quickness to their destinations, and the revenue from his latest -ventures would return, like a carrier pigeon, to his fostering hand. - -Fawcett’s magnetism and good nature, combined with his driving energy, -and his love for the work and the workers, brought about the -transformation of the Post Office from a partially efficient machine to -a highly sensitive, highly organised, democratic department, highly -efficient for the good of his country and its dependencies. His -irrepressible enthusiasm for service infected his force from the lowest -to the highest, brought out the best in them, and knit them together by -this bond of interest and brotherhood. He instilled in them the fervour -for conquest of the nobler kind that inspires patriots, soldiers, or -explorers. Thus he gave wings, interest, even poetry to the stamping of -letters and collecting of mail. - -Footnote 2: - - This account was given in approximately the above words by the late - Mr. Henry Taylor of Guildford to his cousin, Mr. Sedley Taylor of - Cambridge. - - - - - CHAPTER XXVII - - THE PENNIES OF THE POOR - - Cheap Postal Orders—Savings Bank—Life Insurance—Two Post Office - Pamphlets to help the People—Cheap Telegrams—Telephones—‘The Man - for the Post’—‘Words are Silver, Silence is Gold.’ - - -[Sidenote: Postal Money Orders.] - -It had been felt for some time that it would be possible to send small -sums of money by post more cheaply. The only method, that of Post Office -Money Orders, in force when Fawcett became Postmaster-General, was well -described by him when he said: ‘If a boy wanted to send his mother the -first shilling he had saved, he would have to pay twopence for the order -and a penny for postage.’ A committee had a measure prepared to remedy -this, and Fawcett quickly saw its value and got the measure passed -through Parliament. Thus originated the Postal Order which is so -familiar to us all. - -[Sidenote: Postal Savings Bank.] - -In making this change Fawcett had to overcome the opposition of the -banking interest, who considered that the Government was infringing on -their preserves. He came into conflict with them again when he increased -the facilities of the Savings Bank. He made it possible to begin with -the smallest sums by adopting the scheme of stamp slip deposits, which -had been worked out and devised by Mr. Chetwynd, an official of the Post -Office. This was a blank form which could be filled up with twelve penny -stamps, and then deposited in the Savings Bank. - -At this time Fawcett, with the help of a Mr. Cardin, another official, -prepared his first popular pamphlet, called ‘Aids to Thrift.’ He took an -enormous amount of interest in this little leaflet, which he felt would -be a great help to the poor and ignorant. He tried to give the -information printed in the regular Post Office Guide in the simplest -language, so that the benefits offered by the Post Office could be -easily grasped by the most ignorant. - -[Sidenote: The Working Man who Insured.] - -A sad incident set his mind to working out another scheme for lessening -the difficulties of the working man. ‘A poor neighbour employed in a -mill near Salisbury had fallen ill. He had insured himself in a certain -society which was to pay him an allowance in case of illness. The -allowance was stopped under certain pretences strongly suggestive of -fraud. Fawcett, to whom he appealed, immediately called at the offices -of the society. The secretary, not recognising his visitor, treated him -with considerable insolence. Fawcett brought the man to his senses, -extracted certain sums from the society, and took steps to investigate -the nature of its business. He had the satisfaction of obtaining -something for the poor man, who died not long afterwards. Fawcett did -what he could for the family.’ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Illustration: - - PUNCH OR, THE LONDON CHARIVARI—November 27, 1880. - - THE NEW STAMP DUTY. - - Mr. Fawcett. “NOW, THEN, ALL OF YOU, ‘IN FOR A PENNY IN FOR A POUND.’” - - “Mr. Fawcett’s scheme brings saving within everybody’s - reach.”—_Times._ - - _With special permission from the Proprietors of “Punch”_] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - -[Sidenote: Post Office Annuities.] - -The facts which he gleaned in connection with this case and others, as -well as from his many friendships since childhood with labourers and -peasants, made him realise the problems which beset the poor who wish to -insure against the future. He improved the system of Post Office -Annuities, and arranged for the publication of a short paper called -‘Plain Rules for the Guidance of persons wishing to make provision for -the future with the aid of the Government.’ This also was to be had -gratuitously, and did much to teach the poor how to provide for -themselves. - -[Sidenote: Cheaper Telegrams.] - -Fawcett regretted that telegrams were too expensive to be a convenience -for any but the rich. The betting ring and the Stock Exchange were its -principal patrons. He was deeply interested in lowering the cost, so -that telegrams could become useful to the ‘plain people.’ Among the -first deputations to be given an audience by the new Postmaster, was one -requesting cheap telegrams. He set himself with a will to get them, -writing and speaking to urge this new reform. It meant a fresh expense -for the Treasury, at least at the beginning, and he could not get the -consent of that department. But there were many members of the House of -Commons who favoured the change, and pushed it, relying on the -Postmaster-General’s well-known sympathy. In 1883 they succeeded in -outvoting the Government, and the adoption of sixpenny telegrams became -certain. - -[Sidenote: The Telegraph Boys.] - -Fawcett always had a fellow-feeling for the small boy, and he was very -anxious that the telegraph boys used in the Post Office should be kept -in the service, mounting from their positions as understudies of Mercury -to those of greater distinction and better pay. When on a visit to a -friend in a suburb of a large manufacturing town, Fawcett found that his -friend was able by telephone to direct his business in the town by half -an hour’s conversation, and was then free for the rest of the day. This -so greatly impressed Fawcett, that he became eager to give the public as -large an enjoyment of telephones as possible. He was in favour of -granting the widest possible liberty to qualified persons to start -telephone exchanges, making the condition that the Post Office should be -paid a royalty of ten per cent., and that no written telephone messages -should be delivered. One of his last acts was the approval of a licence -containing these terms, which was signed by his successor. He refused -firmly but gently, in his last interview at the Post Office, to grant to -a gentleman the protection which he asked for a small telephone company, -thus showing himself to the last true to his belief in open competition. - -[Sidenote: An Executive Genius.] - -We have now seen something of Fawcett’s task at the Post Office, -thirty-three years ago, and how he strove to do the work largely in -accordance with our most approved and up-to-date methods. Some of his -tools are now obsolete, the work has been changed in detail, but the -philosophy and wisdom, the business sense and control which he showed in -his four and a half years of office were what could be considered to-day -so remarkable, so successful, as to amount to executive genius. - -Sir Arthur Blackwood, who was Permanent Secretary to the Post Office in -Fawcett’s day, used of his chief this striking phrase: ‘He had a passion -for justice.’ His only criticism of Fawcett’s administration was that he -was too lenient to erring subordinates, and apt to give too much time to -details which might have been entrusted to others. His conclusion was: -‘The Post Office could never, I believe, have a more capable -Postmaster-General, nor its officers a truer friend.’ - -As witness to this last, a post-office clerk wrote: ‘The humblest -servant within the dominion of his authority was not left uncared for. -During his history as Postmaster-General, a greatly improved state of -feeling has been introduced among the officers in their general tone -towards each other and towards those beneath them.’ - -The view of the country at large was equally emphatic. Let these verses -from _Punch_, written after Fawcett had been two years in office, speak -for the popular appreciation of his work:— - - - ‘THE MAN FOR THE POST - - John Bull _loquitur_ - - Well, well, here’s comfort, and, by Jove, it’s needed - Amidst the chaos of cantankerous cackle, - Here is one man has silently succeeded— - One man who a tough job can stoutly tackle. - O si sic omnes! In my blatant Babel - Business is a lost art—at least it seems so. - All the more honour to the Champion able - Who still can realise my hopes and dreams so, - To serve the State, to sagely shape and plan for it, - Is the true Statesman’s part, and here’s the man for it. - - No epic hero! Well, I’m getting weary - Of the huge windiness now dubbed heroic, - “Arms and the Man”—and a fiasco dreary - Too oft repeated, irritate a Stoic - Such as I’m grown. And then I’m not quite certain, - Applied to him the name _is_ pure misnomer. - _Fawcett_, though seldom called before the curtain, - Perhaps in more than _one_ point pairs with _Homer_. - Although one sang Achilles and his host, - The other schemed, not sang, the Parcels Post. - - Perhaps the large ambition that loves spangles - And warrior fame might pooh-pooh the projectors, - But I’m inclined to fancy Red Tape’s tangles - Are tougher foes than many Trojan Hectors. - Achilles as Laocoön might have thundered - And thrust tremendously, and yet been throttled. - St. Stephen’s spouters long have fought and blundered, - And long my rising wrath I’ve choked and bottled, - But I _am_ glad to see one silent, strong fellow, - Who emulates the hero sung by Longfellow. - - “Something attempted, something done!” Precisely! - A friend of mine, who much inclined to scoff is, - Declares when Fawcett’s plans have ripened nicely, - The World will be a branch of the Post Office. - Let the Wit wag, the World won’t find salvation - In parcels or reply-cards, stamps or thriftiness; - Danger there may be in “centralisation,” - But after all the squabbling, hobbling shiftiness - Of the cantankerous, rancorous jaw-jaw-jaw-set, - ’Tis a relief to turn to turn to Henry Fawcett!’ - -The ‘one silent, strong fellow’ had learned a patience and tact in his -later years that stood him in good stead when he found himself member of -a Government, and there bound to refrain from criticising its actions. A -story told of him at this time shows a gentle avoidance of differences -not so common in his earlier days. - -Professor Clifford, an old Cambridge friend, and secretary of the whilom -Republican Club, died in 1880 leaving his widow in straitened -circumstances. Professor Clifford was a mathematician of the first -order, but, especially in his later years, he became an aggressive -anti-religionist, and wrote much on these matters. - -[Sidenote: A Widow’s Pension.] - -Fawcett wanted to arrange for a pension for the widow, and took occasion -to speak to the Prime Minister. Gladstone took Fawcett with him down to -his room and asked him, ‘Who is the great man at Cambridge now?’ Fawcett -mentioned the loss that the university had recently sustained by the -death of its mathematician, carefully alluding to Professor Clifford in -this manner. Gladstone said, ‘I always regarded him as a third-rate -theologian.’ To which Fawcett said, ‘I know nothing about his theology, -but as a mathematician he stood in the very front rank.’ This opinion of -Fawcett’s so impressed Gladstone that Mrs. Clifford’s name was added to -the Civil Pension List. - -Fawcett would not have joined the Ministry unless he felt in real -sympathy with its avowed principles, but it is probable that had he -remained independent he would have found much to criticise. Leslie -Stephen comments: ‘His position as a Minister without a seat in the -Cabinet imposed reserve, whilst it did not enable him to exert any -direct influence upon the Government. On some points I can only -conjecture his probable views. Mr. Gladstone’s Government was especially -notable for its Irish and Egyptian policy. In both cases I imagine -Fawcett’s sympathy must have been imperfect.’ - -This position requiring silence, without giving him power to exert -direct influence on the Government, must have been, to one of his frank, -honest, fighting temperament, at times very difficult. - -[Sidenote: Interest in Ireland.] - -He was profoundly interested in Ireland, and felt that the only -satisfactory symptom in Irish matters was the increased use of the -Savings Bank. A friend of Fawcett’s having casually mentioned his name -in a remote part of Ireland, was surprised at the exclamation, ‘Oh, we -know all about him here!’ This remark was based on the fact that a girl -from the district had gone with great credit through all the stages of a -telegraph clerk’s position in the English General Post Office. On her -quitting to get married, Fawcett had sent for her, and in the kindest -manner thanked her for her past services, and offered his hearty good -wishes for her happiness. - -[Illustration: - - April 9, 1861.] PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI. 159 - - “HERE STANDS A POST!” - - _With special permission from the Proprietors of “Punch”_] - -He felt strongly that exceptional legislation was required to deal with -the land questions of Ireland, and that any legislation would be futile -which did not reflect in some way the wishes of the Irish themselves. No -one could be more opposed than he to Home Rule, which, he declared, -meant ‘the disruption of the Empire.’ He would rather, as he said on one -occasion, that the Liberal Party should remain out of office till its -youngest member had grown grey with age, than be intimidated into voting -for Home Rule. Still he held that some such legislation as that embodied -in Mr. Gladstone’s Land Bill was necessary. - -It is related that once at this time, when sitting with friends who were -discussing the Irish irreconcilability, he kept repeating, as if to -himself, ‘We must press on and do what is right’; and he wrote to his -father, ‘There is nothing for it, but to persevere in doing justice in -spite of all provocation.’ - -[Sidenote: Loyal Work and Loyal Silence.] - -He felt that the Egyptian policy was weak, and on one or two occasions -so far showed his distrust as to refuse to vote. But for the most part -he absorbed himself in the work of his own department, and did it nobly. -He gave hard work, sound sense, resolute purpose, and a gay elasticity -of spirit which no weariness could break. It was truly said of him that -he bettered everything and kept his eye on everything. In this, as in -every task, he neared his ideal which he had expressed on leaving -Cambridge: ‘To exert an influence in removing the social evils of our -country, and especially the paramount one, the mental degradation of -millions. I regard it as a high privilege of God if He will enable me to -assist in such a work.’ - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - A TRIUMPHANT END - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - ‘Strive for the truth unto death, - and the Lord shall fight for thee.’ - - ‘The things which are seen are temporal, but - the things which are unseen are eternal.’ - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - CHAPTER XXVIII - - AT HOME AND AT COURT - - Appreciating Opponents—Hackney Address—Proportional - Representation—Justice for Women—A State Concert—Humble - Friendships—Pigs—Salisbury again. - - -[Sidenote: Appreciating Opponents.] - -The same respect for the individuality of others which made Fawcett -unwilling to punish a subordinate if he could honourably avoid it, which -made him often detect good qualities in the offender to compensate for -the offence, made him also quick to respect and admire an adversary, -even when strongly repudiating his principles. Fawcett never forgot that -his opponent was a human being, however different their political -creeds. In his later years his sympathy may not have been any deeper -than in his vigorous youth, but it expressed itself more gently and more -skilfully. When his fine wrath was roused, he still had at his command -barbed arrows of sarcasm and thunders of denunciation, but his speech -was more apt to be kindly. He trusted more than in his less experienced -days to force of example and to irrefutable logic. His fairness and -justice stood out in fine contrast to the hectic verbal warfare raging -between rival factions. When, on 13th October 1884, he spoke in public -for the last time, he administered a grave rebuke to ‘the spirit of -mutual intolerance,’ saying: - -[Sidenote: ‘Prudence and Patriotism.’] - -‘If we take a calm review of the situation ... we refuse to enter into -useless recriminations and taunts about the past. I still have not -relinquished the hope ... that the counsels of common sense, prudence, -and patriotism will prevail.... Can we come to any other conclusion than -that the present is a time when the dictates of prudence and patriotism -demand that everything should be done to lessen, rather than to -intensify, the bitterness of party strife.’ - -He went on to speak on a subject which had been much in his mind from -the beginning of his political career. Proportional representation meant -to him the method, and the only method, by which the different elements -of the body politic could be fairly represented in Parliament. So -earnestly did he hold to this view that he made up his mind, with his -friend Lord Courtney, to resign his office should the Government proceed -with legislation incompatible with these principles. In this last word -on a subject on which it has been necessary in this book to omit so many -other words, Fawcett emphasised the main principle in these phrases: -‘While we regard it as of the first moment that no important section of -opinion should be effaced from representation, yet at the same time we -are most anxious to secure to the majority the preponderance of power to -which it is justly entitled. Let the voice of the weak be heard as well -as the voice of the strong by your Government, give fair play to all, -and make justice possible.’ And he added this vital remark: ‘The -enfranchisement of women, already dictated by justice, would soon become -a necessity.’ - -[Sidenote: Fawcett’s unfailing Chivalry.] - -His unfailing chivalry was always a radiant characteristic of his -courteous nature, and he felt it his high privilege to serve women; he -had the faculty of encouraging them, and filling them with confidence in -their own ability; his voice, though not melodious, had a peculiar -brightness that raised drooping spirits, and impressed itself upon the -memory. Besides the encouragement which he gave by the employment of -women in the Post Office, his efforts for compulsory education, now -accepted as a matter of course, his labours to protect young children at -work in factory or field, as well as his fight for free playgrounds and -commons, were all helpful to the mothers of the race. - -On the day after his death, a poor woman, who came to the employment -office to make inquiries on behalf of her daughter, who wished to enter -the Civil Service, must have expressed the feelings of hundreds of -struggling women, when she said: ‘We do not know who will help us now -that so good a friend has gone.’ - -[Sidenote: Fair-play Expedient.] - -Believing that justice must infallibly become the most expedient policy, -he felt it was not only repugnant, but bad diplomacy, that any class -should be excluded by force or prejudice from having a voice in the -Government, and he realised to the full that government could only be -fair when it existed with the consent of the governed. - -The constant society of his wife and other brilliant women of her family -and her friends, impressed him with the great benefit that it would be -to the community to have the assistance of their votes, as expressing -their fair and able minds. He said concerning women’s voting: ‘The -Parliamentary suffrage should be applied to those women who fulfil the -qualifications of property and residence demanded from the elector. That -is to say, if a widow or a spinster is in possession of a house, and -pays rates and taxes, she should have the borough vote, and if she -possesses freehold or leasehold property, she should have a county vote, -as if it were held by a man.’ - -[Sidenote: The Uses of Adversity.] - -We have dwelt on the great part that Fawcett’s blindness played in -forming his character. It intensified his bravery and determination, -broadened his sympathies, sharpened his observation, made his memory -keener, quickened his intellect, and gave him a greater power to conquer -himself and others. Affliction had given him strength as of steel well -tempered, to withstand and pierce all muddled thought and murky -sentiment, and so make the clear under-light of his soul a shining -beacon to all who knew him. But there were, inevitably, quiet moments, -when, all efforts unavailing, his blindness must have weighed heavily -upon him. Seated by his fireside, feeling the glow which he might never -see, he would listen to the crackling of the coal and the ticking of the -clock as it marked a minute less of his darkness. Such hours had to be -fought through single-handed, by his own courage and strength of will. - -[Sidenote: Hearth and Home.] - -No small part of his triumph over circumstance was due to the great -affections and friendships which were at the heart of his life. Chiefest -and most constant of these were his flawless devotion to his wife and -daughter, and the singularly beautiful sympathy and companionship which -he found at home. It is not for the biographer to intrude into this holy -of holies—enough to know that Fawcett had with his wife that perfect -understanding and fellowship, that entire sympathy and intellectual -inspiration, which, when he was most sorely tried, gave him a sure haven -of rest and happiness from which to start forth again, better armed and -braver, to battle anew. - -When Mrs. Fawcett was absent, her husband would postpone a decision of -great moment until he was able to get her opinion. She often acted as -his secretary, and in all matters was his trusted counsellor. In later -years, his daughter Philippa, whose great talent was a source of deep -interest to him, completed with her brilliant intellect and happy wit -this perfectly attuned trio. There is a poetic justice that Fawcett -having fought so for the admission of women students at Cambridge, it -was left for his daughter to achieve the highest mathematical honours -bestowed on any woman in Great Britain, when as a student at Newnham she -won four hundred marks above the Senior Wrangler. - -[Sidenote: A blithe Spirit.] - -He still greatly enjoyed society, and threw himself so thoroughly into -the spirit of sociability and gaiety, that he seemed to leave his -critical Parliamentary self. Mrs. Fawcett, as a comment on his -whole-souled capacity for finding all things and everybody lovely, -jestingly composed this epitaph for him: ‘Here lies the man who found -every soup delicious and every woman charming.’ He did, and what is -more, he tried to make every one else find life lovely and to have as -glorious a time as he did. - -He would never overlook any quiet mousy individuals lost in the general -gaiety, but would take pains to draw them out, to throw himself so -thoroughly into their interests that he put them at their ease, and made -them take part in the conversation and shine unwontedly. - -A contemporary gives a gay glimpse of him chatting and joking merrily -among the smart crowd at Lady Granville’s. His tall figure towered over -the little knot of friends invariably gathered round him. - -[Sidenote: A State Concert.] - -Fawcett duly attended the levees and occasional official dinners held by -the Prince of Wales, and on one occasion, when in the neighbourhood of -Balmoral, he dined with the Queen. With his wife he went to the concerts -given by her at Buckingham Palace. These were very stately events. -Arrayed in his court uniform, Fawcett would drive with his wife betimes -to the palace; as they approached, the music of the band in the -courtyard was in full swing, and they liked to hear it as they waited in -line until the preceding carriages had deposited their burdens. The -guests moved through the glass doors to the entrance-hall, which echoed -the rumbling of wheels and the closing of the carriage doors, the -clanging of the spurs and swords of the men. They mounted the main -staircase between the stationed Yeomen of the Guard, Fawcett’s cheery -voice and laughter resounding as he greeted friends above and below him. -A moment’s pause on the threshold of the great concert-room, and here -the parquet floor gave back the tapping of little slippered feet and the -heavy tread of the men, as the groups of guests flocked together or -dispersed to find places before the music began. - -On both sides of the room were raised tiers of seats for the company. At -one end was the low platform with chairs arranged for Royalty. At the -opposite end, a balcony with the organ provided places for the singers -and musicians. Crystal chandeliers with hanging stalactites lighted the -brilliant scene. Fawcett’s fine ear caught the tiny tinkle of the -crystals, as they answered to the draughts from the movement of the -crowd, or trembled when the waves of music shook them on their little -metal moorings. The good acoustics of the room, and the consequent -clearness of all the sounds, brought the scene with unusual vividness -before the blind man. - -[Sidenote: Enter Victoria Regina et Imperatrix.] - -A sudden expectant murmur rose from the crowd, a pause, a flutter of -silks and a tapping of scabbards, the organ played ‘God save the Queen,’ -and the mighty little Empress entered and greeted her guests. Returning -her courtesy, the brilliant throng bowed as a field of wheat swayed by -the wind, until the Queen had seated herself in the centre of the dais, -surrounded in due order by members of the Royal Family. - -Then the guests resumed their places and the music began. - -[Sidenote: Voices of Youth and Art.] - -Here Fawcett, as much if not more than any other guests, enjoyed the -fresh young voices of the chorus of young girls from the Royal School of -Music, and choir-boys from the Chapel Royal. This youthfulness -contrasted charmingly with the more formal and perfect singing of the -great artists of whose skill Queen Victoria was so appreciative. - -When the programme was finished, the Queen rose and, preceded by -gentlemen of the court walking backwards, went to the supper-room, -through an aisle formed by her guests, stopping as she passed the -balcony, to speak to the chief artists. The princesses who followed her -often darted a smile or stole a fleeting word with one of the throng, -and the more decorous ladies-in-waiting brought up the rear of the -procession. The guests followed, with them Fawcett guided by his wife. - -As Royalty was well separated by an encircling wall of court gentlemen, -the assault by the guests on the sandwiches, cakes and bonbons began -without restraint. A horseshoe buffet surrounded the room. The throng -stood about chatting together, waited upon by gorgeous footmen -resplendent in scarlet and white. The clinking of glass and china was -drowned in the general conversation, all the more lively after the long -silent listening to the music. Then the guests drifted in friendly -groups down to the great hall, where the names of departing guests -called from footman to footman echoed among the pillars. - -A frequent and happy conversation this, as they sat on the long benches, -muffled up and waiting for their carriages, and doubtless more than one -of Fawcett’s good stories was cut short by the call ‘The -Postmaster-General’s carriage stops the way.’ - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: A Big Friend of all the World.] - -Though he could find amusement in any form of social intercourse, it was -the opportunities of close companionship that he most valued. He rarely -lapsed into silence, and with his family, when there were no guests at -table, he would talk with the same animation as if he had been at a -brilliant dinner. Talk was an essential of life to him; wherever he -went, reserve vanished. - -If any unsuccessful schoolmate, who had no other claim on him, wrote for -help, he was always sure to get it. In his interviews he was -marvellously patient, would never let a person leave him in anger or -displeasure; few people left him without being his friends. If he said a -sharp thing to any one, he confessed at once, and was not happy until he -had made full amends; any irritable action towards another on his part -caused him much more suffering than he inflicted. - -His real democratic feeling and disregard of rank put him at his ease -with all classes, his abounding geniality and accessibility often placed -him in difficult predicaments from which it required a lively ingenuity -successfully to extricate himself. - -Once while he was walking, a well-known bore buttonholed the -Postmaster-General, and explained at length how the Post Office might be -regenerated. Fawcett listened patiently for five minutes; then when it -was clear that the man had no idea or facts to offer, but only words, -Fawcett held out his hand, saying, ‘Good day, Mr. J——, I am much obliged -to you for your kind wish to help me,’ and walked on, leaving the bore, -who felt himself just warming to his work, helplessly stranded. - -[Sidenote: His Dog.] - -His servants and his friends loved him; he was wonderfully considerate -to all dependants, and indeed to every one whom he met. Certainly he was -over-attentive to his dog Oddo, who had emerged from a refuge of lost -dogs to assume the high office of watch-dog in the garden of the London -house. Fawcett was deeply interested in the higher education of this -humble friend, and their common affection was very warm. - -[Sidenote: Sudden Friendships.] - -His friendships were so sudden, at times so instantaneous, that their -strength and duration was surprising. He had an incredible number of -people whom he called in all sincerity his intimate friends, and, as one -of them says, ‘all the overgrowth of new friendship seemed rather to -strengthen than to stifle the earlier ties.’ As we have recorded, even -the voice of an acquaintance once made, was to him unforgettable. When -walking in London with his sister, Fawcett met the Primate of New -Zealand, who had been at Cambridge with him. They had not met for many -years, and the Primate did not wish to trouble Fawcett by recalling a -long-ago acquaintanceship. But Miss Fawcett, recognising him, stopped, -and as soon as the Primate spoke, Fawcett exclaimed with delight, ‘Why, -it’s Nevill!’ - -[Sidenote: Postmaster and Pigs.] - -At Salisbury he invariably called on his father’s old farm servant, -Rumbold. Rumbold was one day giving to Fawcett’s mother the last news -from his sties, and he added ‘Mind you tell Master Harry when you write -to him, for if there’s one thing he cares about, ‘tis pigs.’ Truly it -was one thing, though it is generally suspected that the Postmaster had -other interests. - -His increased income as Postmaster-General made no change in his simple -mode of life, though he may have spent a little more on riding; he had, -however, the satisfaction of being able to buy his family more presents, -and he took an intense delight in tactfully giving many little things; -he heard his sister say that she very much liked a lamp by which she had -read to him in London. To her surprise and delight, on her return to -Salisbury its twin appeared, found and sent to her by her brother. - -Nothing gave him greater pleasure than to have his parents and sister -under his roof, and to give them a good time. One of the most touching -things in his life was his intense affection for his father. When the -father grew old and was forced to breakfast in bed, the big son, after -saying good-bye to him in the morning, would often quickly run upstairs -again just to kiss the old gentleman a second time. - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: Presents and Parents.] - -When his sister told him that his letters gave his parents the greatest -pleasure of their lives, he never let a week elapse without sending off -two newsy documents to Salisbury. These letters abound in affection and -in many little proofs of his eagerness to make them happy. He sends a -birthday present, a comfortable pair of ‘Norwegian slippers,’ or -encloses letters containing bits of political news which he is at -liberty to show them; he tells them of his triumphs, even of compliments -which he thinks that they would like to hear, and boasts of the -admiration expressed for his father’s remarkable vigour and youthfulness -for his years; he also compliments the admirable packing evinced by the -excellent condition in which sundry gifts in various interesting hampers -have arrived. - -He ran down to Salisbury whenever he could make time, and was there for -the ovation given by the Liberals to his father on his ninety-first -birthday. The old gentleman had been a fighter in the Liberal ranks -since the days of the great Reform Bill. - -Six months later, in spite of the urgent claims Cambridge lectures and -Post Office work made upon him, he again went to speak at Salisbury. -Parliament was in session too, an unusual thing in November, so that he -was particularly hard worked. Still November 17th found him at Salisbury -speaking to an enthusiastic audience, of which his father was one. After -the meeting he seemed exhausted, but he returned to London on the 20th, -lectured at Cambridge on the 22nd, and on the 23rd discharged his -business at the House of Commons. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIX - - A GRAVE ILLNESS - - Illness—Convalescence—Musical Discrimination. - - -He was suffering from a cold, and complained of feeling ill. Mrs. -Fawcett had been called away by the fatal illness of her cousin. When -she returned to London, it was to hear that her husband’s illness was -pronounced to be diphtheria, and it was rendered more serious later by -typhoid and other complications. - -[Sidenote: Through the Valley and Back.] - -Until the end of December his condition was grave. During the first -stage of the illness he had frequently been delirious, and remembered -little of what had happened. His mind was made up that he would not -recover, and he insisted on hearing the bulletins. They were read to him -with omissions. - -There was to be an important election at Liverpool, and he, remembering -its date, asked about the prospect. It was his habit at Christmas to -send to a list of country labourers whom he knew, or whose names had -been given to him by his father, envelopes each containing a card on -which was written ‘Please give to bearer John Smith [so many] pounds of -beef or mutton.’ With the card he sent a personal letter after this -fashion: ‘Dear John, I enclose a ticket for Christmas beef. Hoping you -and the children are well, I am,’ etc. The entire list of these -benefactions he kept clearly in his mind. Before he was out of his -delirium, he asked his secretary to send out the Christmas letters and -food tickets as usual. - -A little later, when he was just beginning to recover, a Cambridge crony -was permitted to stand for a short time by his bedside. In the midst of -his own weakness, Fawcett’s thoughts flew to a Cambridge friend in -trouble, and he charged his guest to do the utmost to give whatever help -was possible. - -The course of Fawcett’s illness was watched with extraordinary anxiety. -It was the dominant theme at working men’s meetings and in third-class -railway carriages. The Royal Family showed the same interest as the -labourers who discussed the latest bulletin in the market-place of -Salisbury. The Queen telegraphed for news, at times twice a day. -Gradually the patient improved, and the danger was pronounced over. - -[Sidenote: Convalescing with _Vanity Fair_.] - -The convalescent was permitted to see his friends, who in relays read to -him the whole of _Vanity Fair_. After three weeks’ inaction, he was -allowed to write to his parents, and amidst great rejoicing the cat and -dog were permitted to resume their usual place in the family circle. In -the early part of January he went to stay at his father-in-law’s, on the -Suffolk coast. - -His friend Mr. Sedley Taylor came to play to him. Fawcett would listen -to him often for an hour at a time. Though he had little acquaintance -with music, he showed for it a genuine appreciation and discrimination. -There were two compositions which he particularly enjoyed, one by -Mendelssohn and one by Bach, which Mr. Taylor often played in that -sequence. One day, however, he inverted the order. After listening with -interest, Fawcett remarked: ‘I don’t know how it is, Taylor, but somehow -that Bach seems to have taken the taste out of the Mendelssohn.’ - -[Sidenote: Visits he enjoyed.] - -At the end of this visit, Fawcett sent for all the servants, so that he -might personally give each a gratuity and shake of the hand, while -thanking them individually for the kindness they had shown him. When no -more were forthcoming, Fawcett said: ‘Where is that boy that blacks the -shoes? I should like to give him a tip too.’ Whereupon the boy, who had -been overlooked, was sent for and duly rewarded. - -Fawcett went on to pay some other visits in the west of England, which -seemed to help him regain his strength. It was at this time that he -first successfully amused himself by playing cards, though his former -attempts had been so unpromising. His secretary devised the simple and -ingenious method of marking the cards, which has been described, so that -he could tell each one by touch. Thus he was able with great -satisfaction to spend hours at cribbage, écarté and loo. - -In February he went to stay with his parents at Salisbury, and there -used his enforced leisure to prepare a new edition of his book on -Political Economy. It was there that a stranger to the town, not knowing -his way, questioned a tall scholarly man who approached briskly. He was -given minute directions; the streets and their windings were described -in detail, and it was only after an amusing chat that the stranger -discovered that his guide was the learned Professor Fawcett, and that -therefore he must be blind! It was extraordinary how his own attitude to -his affliction caused others to forget it. Not infrequently his cottage -friends would tidy up and put things in order ‘in case Mr. Fawcett -should drop in.’ - -[Sidenote: With his Parents again.] - -It was a great joy to his old parents in the Salisbury Close to have -their busy, cheery ‘boy’ back again; and Miss Fawcett, that brave -understanding friend in his affliction and throughout his life, was very -happy in his companionship. One day they had been talking together as -only those who have always understood each other can, lovingly they had -gone over reminiscences of Salisbury and Cambridge, and had fought -Parliamentary battles over again. Fawcett told his sister that above all -his other work, he cherished his privilege of winning the forests and -commons free for the people, theirs to the end of time. - -[Sidenote: His Sister and the Cathedral.] - -The two sauntered together into the near-by cathedral where, as a tiny, -half-scared boy, Harry had gone clinging to his big sister’s hand. Now -the tall blind man held her arm, and his cane on the pavement was echoed -by the high arches; suddenly a great glory of music broke forth from the -organ, magic uplifting notes shook the walls, and piercing with gladness -the shadows of centuries, rehallowed the old sanctuary with melody. -Fawcett stood leaning slightly against a column, his heroic head -uplifted as if he were looking through the vaulting, his whole being -suffused with an inward light, and his sensitive ear revelling in the -lovely harmonies. The voices of men and women raised in chorus burst -forth in a mighty Hallelujah; the organ thrilled in glorious fulness, -and again the voices repeated the refrain until it echoed from the wall -like a song of triumph of good over evil, of light over darkness. A glad -smile broke over the blind man’s face as, pressing his dear companion’s -hand, he exclaimed: ‘Oh, how beautiful that is!’ - -[Sidenote: Back to his Post.] - -He returned to his work in March, seemingly in fully restored health. - -His reception at the Post Office and the House of Commons showed how -deep had been the love and anxiety called forth by his illness. He lived -in the hearts of all classes—his bitterest antagonists, Conservatives as -well as Socialists, loved and trusted him; never was a man more of a -democrat and less of a demagogue. - -[Sidenote: Humble friends.] - -The old woman who for many years had the care of Fawcett’s rooms at -Cambridge had been much distressed by his illness, and had said to the -Master of Trinity Hall, ‘Poor Mrs. Fawcett would miss him so terribly.’ -‘Why should she miss him more than any woman would miss the husband she -loved?’ sympathetically asked the Master. ‘Because he is such a happy -noisy man; whenever he is in the house you know it, he is always -shouting so,’ was the tearful reply. - -A poor old shoemaker who had never spoken to Fawcett, but whose shop the -Postmaster-General passed daily on his way to his work, gave voice to -the public feeling when he said, ‘If Professor had died, I should have -missed him dreadfully. He always looked so pleased and cheery, it did -one good.’ - - - - - CHAPTER XXX - - AMONG THE BLIND - - A Leader of the Blind—Honours—His Last Speech. - - -[Sidenote: What he meant to the Blind.] - -What his happy, successful life meant to the blind, and how he heartened -them by his hearty personality, cannot be overestimated. - -‘I went with him,’ says Mr. Dryhurst, ‘to a tea-meeting at Bethnal -Green. It was night, and the Assembly Hall, which was low, was crowded -with over one thousand blind people and their guides. Fawcett, who spoke -briefly, was greeted with fervent enthusiasm when he entered, and when, -in the course of the speech he exclaimed in his thundering voice, ‘Do -not wall us up in institutions, but let us live as other men live,’ the -excitement of the audience and the animation of the blind faces, was -something which I shall never forget.’ - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: A Leader out of Darkness.] - -While at Cambridge preparing this book, the writer was sent for by a -blind lady whom she did not know. She was old and ill in bed, but in -happier times she had known Fawcett, who had often dined at her house. -Recently she also had lost her sight, and she evidently felt that she -had a debt to the great blind man who had been her friend when she could -see. She wished the relief of expressing her indebtedness, as in her -weak voice she struggled to say: ‘I wanted to tell you that in my life -no one has helped me as much as Mr. Fawcett; his help is constant even -now.’ - -Fawcett had always lived so that he might be strong and attain. He was -careful of his diet, exercise and clothing; of this last to such a -degree that his friends, as we know, loved to poke fun at him for his -precautions against chills. Tradition tells of two suits of -underclothing being superimposed while in an express train London-bound -on his way to the Houses of Parliament. - -We are given a glimpse of him at this time by a friend: ‘Coming towards -me I saw a man leaning on the arm of his companion, and walking with a -smiling upturned face, as though he were watching the clouds of smoke -from a small but exceedingly fragrant cigar.’ - -[Sidenote: The Wear of Work.] - -He seemed now quite his old self again in mind and body, though he would -often return home exhausted from his work, and when Mrs. Fawcett read to -him he would frequently fall fast asleep. On one occasion she was -reading to him the biography of some distinguished man, and had come to -a passage where the author was describing a moonlight scene, when -Fawcett, waking from a nap, interrupted the peaceful picture with the -exclamation, ‘I always said he was a sagacious old fool.’ - -[Sidenote: Honours.] - -It was natural that when his achievements had won him such wide -popularity and distinction he should receive many of those tokens which -most men cherish. Oxford gave him the honorary degree of Doctor of Civil -Law; Würzburg, on its tricentenary celebration, made him Doctor of -Political Economy; he was elected a corresponding member of the section -of political economy of the Institute of France; the Royal Society -elected him to a Fellowship, and in 1883, a year after his illness, the -University of Glasgow gave him an LL.D. and elected him their Lord -Rector, the other candidates being Lord Bute and Mr. Ruskin. - -He did not live to give his Rectorial address, but Mrs. Fawcett sent a -copy of his Hackney speech to each of the students, saying as preface, -‘This last speech appears to me so characteristic of him on whom the -choice of the students fell, so free from party passion and prejudice, -so scrupulously just to opponents, so fearless in saying what he knew -would not be popular, so instinct with devotion to principle and love of -justice, that I cannot believe it will be useless or unacceptable to -young men just beginning the battle of life.’ - -His friends had been over sanguine in their belief in Fawcett’s restored -strength. He did not take a proper vacation in the summer of 1884, but -devoted himself to settling questions which he found anxious and onerous -about telephone rights. The work told on his weakened constitution. In -September he went to Wales, ‘made a vigorous little speech,’ and visited -two friends. He returned for his lectures at Cambridge, but he was -forced to be much in London. Even so he snatched every occasion for -fresh air and exercise that he could. He gloried in the great -out-of-doors. - -[Sidenote: Bells.] - -One Sunday he went rowing with a friend on the Thames. It was a glorious -day, and Fawcett was delighted with the church bells. They paused to -listen, and he exclaimed, ‘How lovely the bells are!’ and then added -wickedly, ‘and how glad I am that I am not in church.’ About him there -always hovered a glint of the impish schoolboy playing ‘hookey,’ -especially when he was in the open air, revelling in the warmth of the -sunshine, listening to the lap and swish of the water, the rustle of the -leaves, the wind in the grass, or the songs of the birds. He loved all -these glad noises, and at such times his whole being gave out joy, his -gay spirit had the freshness and the unhesitating truthfulness of early -youth. He was so full of the light of that inner eye which nothing could -darken, that he forgot his blindness in the fulness of his own bright -soul. Heartily would he have assented to the sentiment: ‘It is a comely -fashion to be glad—Joy is the grace we say to God.’ It surprised and -startled those about him, whom he made so oblivious of his misfortune, -when he would ask, ‘Is the sun shining?’ - -[Sidenote: Golden Leaves of Autumn.] - -Hearing that the foliage at Clarendon was singularly lovely that autumn, -the tired, busy, blind man snatched a moment to run down to see the -woods. The glory of that autumn light on the trees at Salisbury, when he -was last permitted to see them, was never to be forgotten. He refused to -remember the catastrophe which had blinded him, and still delighted to -recall the beauty thus lost, and to love all similar autumn glories. - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: His Last Speech.] - -His final speech was made at Hackney on 13th October; he lectured with -weakened voice on the 30th, went to London, and returned to Cambridge, -where, though he found the weather damp and raw, he enjoyed a ride with -some relatives. In the evening he compared his cold with that of a -friend who was dining with them, and was forced to admit that the -friend’s cold was superior to his own. - -The next day, though he did Post Office work with his secretary, he kept -his bed; his lecture for Monday had to be put off. On Tuesday and -Wednesday he grew worse, though he greatly enjoyed Mrs. Fawcett’s -reading of Dickens, laughing heartily over it. It was now necessary to -ask Lord Eversley, so often his able substitute, to act again as his -deputy. - - - - - CHAPTER XXXI - - LIGHT - - The Passing—The People grieve—Sorrow in Parliament—The Nation’s - Loss—Letters from Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales (the late - King Edward) and Gladstone—The Railroad Men’s Tribute—The - Significance of his Life—India’s Loss—Fawcett’s Message. - - -[Sidenote: Between the Lights.] - -On Thursday morning, 6th November 1884, the two doctors who saw him -found that his heart was weak, and he asked his secretary to notify the -papers of his illness. Another doctor came from London, and when the -three went to Fawcett’s room, they found that there was no hope of his -recovery. Thoughtful as always of the comfort of others, he asked in a -failing voice if dinner had been arranged for the doctor who had just -come. - -When his hands began to grow cold, he thought the weather had changed. -Practical and exact to the last, he said: ‘The best things to warm my -hands with would be my fur gloves. They are in the pocket of my coat in -the dressing-room.’ He never spoke again. In the quiet room, the dull -autumn afternoon darkened as his wife and daughter sat by the bedside. -Very gently, his brave fight won, the tired blind man’s unquenchable -spirit left them in the twilight and passed to find the light. - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: Remembered and Loved.] - -Rarely has a loss caused so much deep personal sorrow in every class. A -dearly loved friend of many had gone, a noble life had been spent for -others. There was mourning in many a little cottage when the head of the -family read aloud that the good Postmaster-General had passed away. - -In the misty lamplit village squares, and in the market-place at -Salisbury, the rural labourers gathered to lament his loss, and to -recall his many good deeds and the countless little friendlinesses which -he had personally shown to so many of them. - -‘That such a man should have died at only fifty-one is one of those -apparent wastes in Nature before which our philosophy stands impotent; -but that such a light should have existed at all makes philosophy -superfluous in contemplating it.’[3] - -The morning after Fawcett’s going, Lady Courtney told the news to her -parlourmaid, who had known Fawcett. On entering the kitchen, to her -surprise the cook burst out weeping and sat by the table rocking herself -to and fro. ‘Why,’ said Lady Courtney, ‘Maria, you didn’t know Mr. -Fawcett, did you?’ ‘Ah, yes, your ladyship, I knew him, the kind -gentleman. It was when you and his lordship were out of town. I opened -the door for him, and when he found you were not at home, he said, “I -have been here to dine very often, and I want to know you.” “Oh no, -sir,” says I, “I’m only the cook,” with which he puts out his hand and -shakes mine like an old friend, as he says, “Well, I’m very glad indeed -to meet you.” Then I offered him a glass of water, ma’am, which he drank -so grateful.’ Lady Courtney queried, ‘But Maria, why didn’t you offer -him tea, for the credit of the house?’ ‘Oh, your ladyship, I didn’t dare -to, for fear he’d see the state of the house with your ladyship away.’ - -When the news came to the House of Commons, sudden as such news always -is, it fell to the Marquis of Hartington to announce it to the House. It -is said that he all but broke down. - -[Sidenote: Sorrow in Parliament.] - -Later in the evening there were more formal expressions of grief. Sir -Stafford Northcote, on behalf of the Conservative Party, whom Fawcett -had so consistently opposed, spoke of the loss the House had sustained, -and said: ‘I do not think anybody can recall a single word that ever -fell from him that gave unnecessary offence or pain to any one.’ The -Marquis of Hartington, on behalf of the Government, said Fawcett -commanded the ‘respect, I think I may say the affection, of the whole -House’; and Mr. Justin McCarthy, on behalf of the Irish Party, spoke -with much feeling of ‘the sudden and melancholy close of so promising -and great a career.’ The next evening Gladstone, who had not been -present the night before, said: ‘Mr. Fawcett’s name is a name which is -heard in all quarters of the House with feelings of the greatest -respect. We have all been accustomed to regard with admiration his -admirable integrity and independence of mind, his absolute devotion to -the public service, the marvellous tenacity of his memory, combined with -his remarkable clearness of mental vision; and, I think, even above all -these, if possible, the rare courage, the unfailing, the unmeasured -courage, with which he confronted and mastered all the difficulties -which would have daunted and repelled an ordinary man in connection with -the loss of the precious gift of sight. From these and other causes he -acquired a place in the hearts and minds such as is undoubtedly accorded -to few; and I believe that he had won a place equally high in the esteem -and respect of the House of Commons. I wish in these few words to place -on record, in the name of myself and my colleagues, our deep sense of -the loss of a most distinguished public servant.’ The last words were -spoken by Lord John Manners, who, referring to the personal intercourse -he had had with Fawcett, said, ‘It was impossible to exceed in courtesy -and fairness the eminent statesman whose loss we all deplore.’ - -Writing of Fawcett shortly after his death, Mr. Beresford Hope used -these words: ‘He was a man who had conquered all personal enmity, all -personal suspicion, and lived in the hearts of every man, on every side -of the House, without exception. Ask me why it was? That is a difficult -question to answer. The appreciation of character—the influence that a -man has—is generally indescribable.... He had gained a strange influence -over the House, from the absolute certainty with which he inspired every -man of the clear, transparent honesty and courage of his character.’ - - * * * * * - -[Sidenote: The Reason of a Boy.] - -Fawcett was always strongly opposed to taking away any legitimate -pleasure, and the keen appreciation of this fact by a child seems worth -recording. Soon after the Postmaster’s death, his small nephew, who had -been promised that he should go to the Lord Mayor’s Show, begged to be -taken there; the family naturally hesitated, and discussed the propriety -of the boy’s going to the festivity the day before his uncle’s funeral. -The natural question was, ‘What would Fawcett have said under similar -circumstances?’ The small nephew piped up with ‘I know Uncle Harry would -have said: “Go, my boy!”’ This was so true that the boy went. - -[Sidenote: Britain mourns.] - -Numerous letters were sent to the family, some from those who, from lack -of learning, were forced to dictate their letters to the village -schoolmaster. Others, who had rarely struggled with the intricate -problems of pen and paper, strove painfully to put their sympathy into -written words. Telegrams and resolutions of sympathy came from -workingmen’s societies, labour unions, and all kinds of associations and -societies, tokens of love and grief from a vaster circle of personal -friends than almost any one ever had. - -We have the privilege of printing a facsimile of the sympathetic letter -written with her own hand by Queen Victoria, and of the note of -condolence from the Prince of Wales (the late King Edward). - - -[Sidenote: Letters from Queen Victoria and the Prince of Wales (the late - King Edward).] - - ‘BALMORAL CASTLE, - ‘_November 8th, 1884._ - - ‘DEAR MRS. FAWCETT,—I am anxious to express to you myself the - true and sincere sympathy I feel for you in your present - terrible bereavement, as well as my sincere regret for the loss - of your distinguished husband, who bore his great trial with - such courage and patience, and who served his Queen and country - ably and faithfully. - - ‘You, who were so devoted a wife to him, must, even in this hour - of overwhelming grief, be gratified by the universal expression - of respect and regret on this sad occasion. - - ‘That He Who alone can give consolation and peace in the hour of - affliction may support you, is the earnest wish of yours - sincerely, - - ‘(Signed) VICTORIA, R. AND I.’ - -[Illustration: Facsimile of a letter from Queen Victoria to Mrs. -Fawcett.] - - - ‘SANDRINGHAM, - ‘KING’S LYNN, _November 8th, 1884._ - - ‘DEAR MRS. FAWCETT,—You are certain to receive many letters - expressing sympathy with your present grief, and although I - hardly like intruding so soon on your great sorrow, yet I am - anxious to express how deeply both the Princess and myself - sympathise with you in this severe hour of trial. Mr. Fawcett - cannot fail to be deeply mourned and regretted by all who knew - him—but he has left a name, which will ever be remembered among - England’s distinguished men.—Believe me, dear Mrs. Fawcett, - truly yours, - - ‘(Signed) ALBERT EDWARD.’ - -[Illustration: - - Facsimile of a letter from the Prince of Wales (King Edward VII) - to Mrs. Fawcett] - - -[Sidenote: What Gladstone wrote.] - -Mr. Gladstone wrote to Fawcett’s father. Miss Fawcett has kindly given -us permission to reprint the letter. - - ‘10 DOWNING STREET, - ‘WHITEHALL, _November 25th, 1884_. - - ‘DEAR SIR,—Will you allow me to intrude upon you for a moment by - offering to you in private my assurances of deep sympathy under - the grievous loss you have sustained, and to repeat also the - testimony which I have endeavoured to render in public to your - distinguished son. There has been no public man in our day whose - remarkable qualities have been more fully recognised by his - fellow-countrymen, and more deeply enshrined in their memories. - There they will long remain now that they form the subject of - recollection only and are no longer associated, as they were - until the sad event, with sanguine and brilliant hopes. - - ‘He has left a record of some qualities which are given to few; - but of others, perhaps yet more remarkable, which all his - fellow-countrymen may in their degree emulate and follow; for - integrity so high, and courage so far beyond the common range, - aid more often than his great powers of intellect and memory to - profitable imitation, and will, I trust, give to thousands a - powerful incentive to honourable imitation and a means of real - advancement. - - ‘Heartily wishing to you, dear Sir, both in retrospect and in - prospect every consolation,—I remain, faithfully yours, - - ‘W. E. GLADSTONE. - - ‘W. FAWCETT, Esqr.’ - -Mr. Fawcett, senior, died at Salisbury at the ripe age of ninety-five, -after a successful and much honoured life. - -It is interesting to read what the Prime Minister said of Fawcett, by -whom he had been at times so vigorously and successfully opposed, and to -whom the downfall of his Government was once largely due. - -[Sidenote: The Old Folk and Salisbury.] - -The sorrow of the grief-stricken parents in Salisbury for the loss of -their beloved son seemed too great a burden for their aged shoulders to -bear. But slowly, as time went on, the father gathered comfort from the -sympathy of great and humble. Reviewing lovingly bit by bit the brave -course which his boy had run, he realised perhaps, as the crowning -comfort, that in the inscrutable workings of fate, his unwittingly -blinding his own child had not after all proved an irreparable calamity. -Rather it had, by depriving the lad of the blessing of sight, -miraculously sped him on valiantly to a great life gladly lived. - -[Sidenote: From Carpenters, Bricklayers, etc.] - -Among the many sympathetic letters sent to Mrs. Fawcett, perhaps none -express more truly the feelings of those to whom her husband had given -his constant solicitude, and certainly none are more touching, than -these two:— - - PANGBOURNE, _November 8th, 1884_. - - ‘DEAR MADAM,—I hope you will forgive us, but having followed the - political life of the late Professor Fawcett, we felt when we - saw his death in the papers on the 7th that we had lost a - personal friend, and that a great man had gone from us. The loss - to you must be beyond measure; but we as part of the nation do - give you who have been his helper our heartfelt sympathy in your - great trouble, and we do hope you may find a little consolation - in knowing that his work that he has done for the working - classes has not been in vain. - - ‘We, as working men, do offer you and your child our deepest - sympathy, and beg to be yours respectfully, - - ‘HARRY COX, Carpenter. - CHARLES EDDY, Carpenter. - RICHARD BOWLES, Carpenter. - G. LEWENDON, Bricklayer. - GEORGE BROWN, Bricklayer. - WILLIAM COX, Carpenter. - CHARLES COX, Blacksmith. - M. CLIFFORD, Postmaster. - F. CLIFFORD, Clerk.’ - -[Sidenote: A Tribute from the Railroad men of Brighton.] - - ‘11 ELDER PLACE, - ‘BRIGHTON, _November 11th, 1884_. - - ‘DEAR MRS. FAWCETT,—Excuse me in not writing you sooner, on the - sad death of your dear lamented husband. Several of his old - friends at the Brighton Railway Works has wished me to ask you - privately how you are situated in a pecuniary sense. We always - thought that the Professor was a poor man, and only had what he - earned by his talents; his three years of office could not have - brought in much money for you and the family to live in ease and - comfort for the rest of your days. It is our opinion that you - are richly entitled to a public pension. - - ‘Failing this, would you accept a public subscription, say a - penny one, from the working classes of this country, for the - many good and noble deeds your noble partner done for the - working classes of this country. His advice was always sound, - good and practical, and full of sympathy, a good private friend - to all men. - - ‘I see you had a plentiful supply of flowers, but those flowers - soon fade and are no support to the poor and fatherless ones. I - am confident, if you could make up your mind to accept a penny - testimonial the working classes would give cheerfully, not in - the shape of charity, but for public and striking services - rendered by one of the best men since Edmund Burke. We only wish - he had lived twenty years longer. - - ‘Pray excuse my plain way of writing to you, as an honest - workman, one of his supporters from first to last. His last - letter to me a month back was full of sound and good advice - concerning our Provident Society.—Believe me, your sincere - friend and well-wisher, - - JOHN SHORT, Senior.’ - - -Mrs. Fawcett, profoundly touched by this letter, was able to say that -she could not properly accept the generous offer, as her husband had -left her adequately provided for. Mr. Short, who had written the letter, -replied to Mrs. Fawcett, ‘our men of the railway works say that you are -entitled to all honour for refusing a pension or a public subscription -from the working men; also that your dear husband and our best friend -has practised what he always preached to us, private thrift!’ - - -[Sidenote: Burial.] - -Fawcett was buried in the churchyard at Trumpington, near Cambridge, by -the little old church, with its square tower, which he had so often -passed on his joyful walks and rides. He was followed to his -resting-place by representatives of all the classes and the peoples who -had loved him. Those humble folk who were so dear to him mingled with -statesmen of all parties and many countries, delegates from learned -bodies and universities, his colleagues, and the undergraduates from his -beloved Cambridge. - -[Sidenote: The significance of Fawcett’s life.] - -The influence of such a career, the significance of its eternal echo, -grows in value each year. As life becomes more complicated, and -competition keener, men in the general struggle naturally think -themselves forced to safeguard their own interests, and forget what, by -their very birthright as citizens, they owe to the community, to the -making and purifying of the Government which should be the protector of -the weak, the instigator of progress, and the guardian of national -honour. - -Fawcett’s life awakens us to the possibilities of happiness and -usefulness without the aid of money or position, and even despite one of -the gravest impediments under which a man can labour. He completely -forgot himself and his personal interests, and in so doing found -happiness and success. His career was a forceful illustration of that -ancient truth, ‘He that loses his life shall find it.’ - -His heroic victory should help to give that faith and inspiration needed -so much in our day in every field. Like that great friend of liberty -with whom he so deeply sympathised and to whom we have compared him, -Fawcett came from the humble people whom he fully appreciated, and he -too might have said that ‘God must have loved the plain people, or He -would not have made so many of them.’ He too struggled against gigantic -difficulties, and became a leader of his countrymen. From this position -of vantage, which he cherished because it enabled him to do good -effectively, he helped the poor and neglected, and those who had no -voice to ask justice for themselves. Even the least of these touched his -great heart and claimed his sympathy, and he wrought unsparingly, -unselfishly for their rights. Worn out with his ceaseless task, he too -was taken in his prime, at the height of his powers, beloved and -reverenced by his own people, and the great and small of many lands. - -[Illustration: MEMORIAL IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY] - -[Sidenote: Gloria Mundis.] - -A national memorial and many others were set up. Contributions were -received from all parts of the Empire, in gifts ranging from the widow’s -mite to the munificent donations of Indian princes, in recognition of -the help which Fawcett had given to their country. To the one fittingly -placed in Westminster Abbey, the employees of the Post Office -contributed one-quarter of the cost. Besides the portrait, the memorial -includes two figures symbolising Brotherhood, and others for Zeal, -Justice, Fortitude, Sympathy and Industry. - -The remainder of the National Memorial Fund was devoted to the Fawcett -Scholarship, available for blind students at the universities, and to -the Fawcett playgrounds, gymnasium, skating rinks, boating equipment, -and other athletic facilities at the Royal Normal College for the Blind. - -[Sidenote: India’s loss.] - -We have spoken of the feeling of India. A great public meeting was held -at Bombay; extracts from some of the speeches are given below, and with -them some cuttings from the Indian papers. - - -‘This great assembly is here to do honour to the memory of a high-minded -English statesman, whose name has become a household word out here, to -express that policy of strict justice and warm sympathy which alone can -bind India to England.’ - -‘The best friend of India has gone—the Right Honble. Henry Fawcett. All -people will regret the death of this statesman—especially those in -India. He had so identified himself with the interests of India, and so -fearlessly advocated the cause of the dumb millions of this poor -country, that he had gained for himself the honorary title of the Member -for India. It was certainly unfortunate that he had no place in the -Cabinet. His colleagues, who knew him thoroughly, were probably afraid -that in Indian matters he would prove too stiff for them. By far the -best place for him would have been that of Secretary of State for India. -In fact, ever since he was Postmaster-General India lost the services of -its Member.’ - -‘Independently of his political services to India, Mr. Fawcett was well -known among us as an author. His _Manual of Political Economy_ has -become a text-book in all our colleges and universities, and his other -writings on social and economic questions are extensively read by the -educated portion of our countrymen.’ - -‘There was no more touching spectacle than that of the blind Professor -devoting himself as the champion of the country he had never seen, and -the steadfast friend of the people with whom he had never come into -personal contact, simply because that country needed a champion, and -those people wanted a friend to represent their interests. Such a figure -strikes me as even more chivalrous than the figures of the ideal knights -who went about redressing human wrongs.’ - -‘To India his loss is truly irreparable.’ - -[Sidenote: The Statue in his Birthplace.] - -‘In the market-place at Salisbury, near the house where Fawcett was -born, and where he made his first economic investigation, they have -placed a statue of him, so that the inhabitants of India and others -coming from distant parts to see Stonehenge and the great Cathedral may -pause before the memorial, and, seeing Fawcett’s name, will remember -that he was the friend who fought for their rights.’ - -[Sidenote: His Message.] - -As a friend wrote when deploring Fawcett’s untimely death: ‘The -necessity of the hour is one brave man, faithful to his convictions, -strong enough to make himself heard above the angry cries of a mob, and -determined that no amount of popular applause, no momentary party -advantage, no miserable plea of expediency, and no false imputation of -cowardice shall move him one hair’s-breadth from the path of rectitude.’ -Yes, Fawcett is needed to-day, and his example is needed now—the -teaching of his generous brotherhood, his intense industry, his fair -thoroughness of investigation, and his conscientious deliberation. - -On his grave they have written, ‘Speak to the people that they go -forward.’ In obedience to this summons this book has been written, and -in hope that it will lead others to tell the story over and over again. -It may too help others to follow in the footsteps of this country boy, -who, blinded, fought valiantly against tremendous odds, and taught -himself to ignore his misfortune and to make at last his spirit see so -clearly that he found the truth and pointed it out to others. He became -the champion of those who most needed a protector, and battled against -oppression, ignorance, and neglect. He gave to the humblest the right to -enjoy the commons and forests which he himself could not see. He strove -for the friendless in India, and for the poor woman who had no voice in -the making of the laws which bound her. He shouldered tasks beyond his -strength, loving them. He attained the best because he believed the -best. - -There is no parallel in history for this heroic and romantic life, in -spite of the overhanging shadow, so full of usefulness, of joy and -light. So keen was the sight of the eyes on his finger-tips, that he -could detect the smallest leaf carried by the stream against his -fishing-line. After a score of years he would recognise the laugh and -the voice of a long absent friend. He worshipped in the cathedral of the -immensity he could not see. His creed was simple,—love and service; -sacrifice, his interpretation of God, and the secret of his life. - -He was called the ‘Messiah of the Blind,’ and it was said that with his -death the beacon for those who sit in darkness had been extinguished. -Let us rather say that he kindled one for them for all time; that saving -for the blindness of the spirit there is no blindness; through the light -shed by his bright and noble life this blind man has proved it, and -still teaches us to see. - -Footnote 3: - - This tribute is from an American appreciator of Fawcett. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - HENRY FAWCETT - - BORN 1833, DIED NOV. 6, 1884 - - Virtus in arducis! Valour against odds - That must have daunted courage less complete. - A spectacle to gladden men, and meet - The calm approval of the gazing gods. - So some large singer of the heroic days - Might well have summed that life the fatal shears - Too soon have severed. Many fruitful years, - More conquests yet, still wider meed of praise, - All hoped of him who had goodwill of all,— - The brave, the justly balanced, calmly strong, - Friend of all truth, and foe of every wrong, - Who now, whilst lingering autumn’s last leaves fall, - Too soon! too soon! if the stern stroke of fate - Ever too early falls, or falls too late, - At least the passing of this stern, strong soul - In fullest strength and clearness wakes lament. - We could have better spared a hundred loud, - Incontinent, blaring flatterers of the crowd - Than him, whose self-respecting years were spent - In silent thought and sense-directed toil, - Ungagged by greed, unshackled and unswayed - By sordid impulse of the sophist’s trade, - By lies unsnared and unseduced by spoil. - No braver conquest o’er ill fortune’s flout - Our age has seen than his, who held straight on - Though the great God-gift from his days was gone, - ‘And wisdom at one entrance quite shut out.’ - Held on with genial stoutness, seeing more - Than men with sight undarkened, but with mind - Through prejudice and party bias blind. - The ‘foolish fires’ of faction through the flare - Betraying beacons, in the battle’s van. - _Vale!_ A valid and a valiant man! - Ampler horizons and serener air - Await the fighter of so good a fight - Than favour Party’s low, mist-haunted hollow. - Heart-deep regrets and honest plaudits follow - Him who has passed from darkness into light. - _Punch._ - - - - - APPENDIX - - - MEMORIALS - - THE NATIONAL MEMORIAL IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY - MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FOR BLIND STUDENTS - PLAYGROUNDS, SKATING RINK, BOATS, AND OTHER - ATHLETIC EQUIPMENT FOR THE BLIND - MEMORIAL IN VAUXHALL PARK - MEMORIAL NEAR CHARING CROSS - MEMORIAL IN THE PARISH CHURCH, ALDERBURGH - MEMORIAL WINDOW AT TRUMPINGTON - MEMORIAL AT SALISBURY - -To make this record complete the following descriptions of the Fawcett -Memorials is appended, together with the copy of a letter from Mrs. -Fawcett’s sister. - - -There are three memorials in London, besides others elsewhere. - -The national memorial to Fawcett in Westminster Abbey bears the -following inscription, written by Sir Leslie Stephen. - - HENRY FAWCETT - - BORN 26 AUGUST 1833. DIED 6 NOVEMBER 1884 - - After losing his sight by an accident, at the age of 24, he - became Professor of Political Economy in the University of - Cambridge, Member of four Parliaments, and from 1880 to - 1884, H.M. Postmaster-General. - - His inexorable fidelity to his convictions commanded the - respect of statesmen. His chivalrous self-devotion to the - cause of the poor and helpless won the affection of his - countrymen and of his Indian fellow-subjects. His heroic - acceptance of the calamity of blindness has left a memorable - example of the power of a brave man to transmute evil into - good and wrest victory from misfortune. - -This memorial was erected by the subscribers to a national memorial. - - * * * * * - -Memorial Scholarship for the Blind. Playgrounds, skating rink, boats and -other athletic equipment at the Royal Normal College for the Blind. - -As has been said elsewhere, the national memorial in Westminster Abbey -represented contributions received from all parts of the Empire. This -sum was expended not only in erecting the memorial in Westminster Abbey, -but also in providing the above-mentioned scholarship and athletic -facilities for the blind. - - * * * * * - -The small Vauxhall Park, just behind Vauxhall Station, includes within -its area the site of the house where Fawcett lived from shortly after -his marriage till his death. In it stands a handsome memorial to Fawcett -given by Sir Henry Doulton. The high pedestal is decorated with eight -panels in bas-relief. Fawcett is represented seated. An angel stands -behind his chair and is about to crown him with a wreath of laurel. The -inscription is the same as that in Westminster Abbey. - - * * * * * - -A drinking fountain was erected as a Women’s Memorial to Fawcett in the -Gardens on the Thames Embankment, east of Charing Cross. - -‘The first person to drink of the waters of the fountain was a postman; -this gracefully recalled the regard in which Professor Fawcett was held -by the humble servants of the state, whose duties he regulated, and -whose welfare he had ever at heart during his tenure of the office of -Postmaster-General.’—Extract from a contemporaneous paper. - - * * * * * - -A memorial was placed by the inhabitants of Alderburgh in the Parish -Church there. The words with which the memorial is inscribed are as -follow: - - Erected by the inhabitants of Alderburgh - In memory of the Rt. Hon. Henry Fawcett, M.P., - who was born August 26, 1833, and who - died November 6, 1884. - His brave and kindly nature will ever live in - the hearts of all who knew and loved him. - Be ye also strong, and of good courage. - - * * * * * - -There is a memorial window in Trumpington Church; below the figures of -Truth, Fortitude and Charity is the inscription: - - In memory of - HENRY FAWCETT - Born August 26, 1833 - Died November 6, 1884 - -A statue of Fawcett was erected to his memory in the market-place of -Salisbury, near the house where he was born. - - * * * * * - - EXTRACT FROM A LETTER FROM MRS. FAWCETT’S SISTER - - ‘A clergyman came to me one day in the street and asked if I was not - Mrs. Fawcett’s sister. I said “Yes,” and then he told me his little - story. - - ‘A friend of his had become blind and had lost hope and courage, and - seemed unable to face the disaster; then some one reminded him of - Mr. Fawcett, and read his life to him, and the poor man took fresh - heart, and met his misfortune bravely. The clergyman added, “I do - not know Mrs. Fawcett or any of his family, and could not let slip - this chance of telling them what Mr. Fawcett’s example had done for - my friend.”’ - -May his example continue ceaselessly to help, and may this little book -make his story more widely known, so that those who sit in darkness may -see the light which his keen spirit saw—and seeing, choose the nobler -part. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - INDEX - - Aberdeen, Fawcett at, 144, 167. - - Abolition of Slavery, 5, 76, 77, 120, 157. - - Afghanistan, position of, 242-4. - - Agriculture, Fawcett on, 169. - - _Aids to Thrift_, Fawcett’s, 276. - - Aldeburgh, the Garrett family of, 130, 301; - memorial to Fawcett in, 333. - - Alderbury, Fawcett at, 7, 36, 132. - - American Civil War, the, Fawcett’s interest in, 101, 124, 145, 155, - 157, 162. - - Ancient Mariners, the, 85, 86, 262. - - Anderson, Dr. Garrett, 334; - her interest in the Post Office, 257. - - Anecdotage, Fawcett’s love of, 91, 98, 99, 171. - - Angling, Fawcett’s love of, 17, 60-63, 67, 268. - - Austen, Jane, novels of, 92. - - Australia, Fawcett on future of, 38. - - Avebury, Lord, accompanies Fawcett on his honeymoon, 131, 132; - his friendship with Fawcett, xiii, xv, 97, 147. - - - Babylon, 15. - - Bach, Fawcett on, 302. - - Ballot Act, Fawcett on the, 175. - - Balmoral, Fawcett at, 292. - - Bateman, Bishop, founder of Trinity Hall, 86. - - Beaconsfield, Lord, Fawcett on, 38, 168, 231, 242; - leads the Conservative party, 161, 164, 236, 239, 242. - - Beck, Dr., master of Trinity Hall, xv. - - Bengal, famine in, 236. - - Bethnal Green, Fawcett at, 243, 306. - - Billiards, Fawcett plays, 27, 28. - - Blackheath, Fawcett at, 167. - - Blackwood, Sir Arthur, on Fawcett, 279. - - Blind, Fawcett’s alms to the, 71; - literature for the, 68. - - Blindness, as a spur, 65; - Fawcett on, 45, 66-69, 100, 149, 154, 306. - - Blue ribbon, Fawcett on the, 264. - - Bombay, honour to Fawcett in, 323. - - Bond, Dr. Henry, xv. - - Bowles, Richard, 319. - - Bradford, Fawcett at, 120, 145. - - Braille, never mastered by Fawcett, 51. - - Bright, John, advises Fawcett, 146; - advocates peace, 32; - apostle of Free Trade, 8, 19; - Fawcett on, 38, 103, 160; - on the Reform Bill, 162, 164; - revered in America, 102. - - Brighton, Fawcett at, 56, 133; - Fawcett contests, 153-9, 166, 170, 227, 230, 232; - Fawcett M.P. for, 126, 131, 139, 159, 166, 168, 170, 174, 222, 225, - 227, 320. - - _Brighton Election Reporter, the_, 155. - - British Association, the, 168; - at Aberdeen, 144, 167; - at Manchester, 95; - at Oxford, 92. - - Brompton Cemetery, 123. - - Brougham, Lord, Fawcett on, 145; - introduces Fawcett, 146. - - Brown, attendant, 78, 144, 192. - - Brown, George, 319. - - Browning, E. B., 204. - - Bryce, James, Viscount, on Fawcett, vii-xi, xv; - supported by Fawcett, 213. - - Buckingham Palace, Fawcett at, 292-295. - - Bulgarian atrocities, the, 239-43. - - Burke, Edmund, 92, 320. - - Burt, Rt. Hon. Thomas, on Fawcett, 232. - - Bute, Lord, 308. - - Byron, Lord, 48. - - - Cabmen, Fawcett’s friends among, 198. - - Cabul, Fawcett on, 243. - - Cairnes, Professor, his friendship with Fawcett, 167, 169, 179. - - Calcutta, gratitude to Fawcett in, 222. - - Cambridge, boat race, 212; - Fawcett as a Fellow in, 33, 59, 60, 75-91, 104, 112; - Fawcett as a professor in, 105-115, 126, 138, 153, 156, 227, 250, - 267, 299, 309, 321, 331; - Fawcett as an undergraduate in, 25-33; - Fawcett contests, 106, 152, 153; - Fawcett on society in, 89; - position of women at, 136, 291; - the Union, 32. - - Campbell, Lady, 69. - - —— Robert, xv. - - —— Sir Francis, xv; - his work for the blind, 66, 69, 70. - - Cardin, Mr. postal official, 276. - - Cards, Fawcett plays, 56, 302. - - Carlyle, Thomas, on political economy, 117. - - Cattle-plague, Fawcett on the, 165. - - Chamberlain, Joseph, Fawcett votes against, 211. - - Charles II., King, 194. - - Chartism, 20. - - Chesterfield, Lord, 87. - - Chetwynd, Mr. postal official, 276. - - Children’s Acts, Fawcett on the, 165. - - Choate, Hon. J. H., xv. - - Church rates, abolition of, 148, 152. - - Cicero, quoted, 18. - - Cima di Jazzi, Fawcett climbs, 57. - - Civil Pension List, 282. - - Clarendon, Fawcett at, 309. - - Clarke of Cambridge, 107. - - Clifford, M. & F., 319. - - —— Professor, Fawcett on, 281. - - Club for Workmen, Fawcett, 121. - - Cobden, Richard, apostle of Free Trade, 8, 19; - Fawcett on, 159; - visits Fawcett, 88. - - Common Lands, Fawcett’s defence of, 185, 194-213, 289, 303. - - Commons Preservation Society, the, Fawcett as member of, ix, 194, 196, - 199, 200, 208, 211, 213, 266. - - Congreve’s rockets, 14. - - Cooper, Mary, marries William Fawcett, 5. - - Co-operation, Fawcett advocates, 117-120, 231. - - Cornish mines, Fawcett’s, 151. - - Corpus Christi Library, 244. - - Courtney, Lord, candidate for professorship, 105; - his friendship with Fawcett, xv, 167, 192, 288. - - Courtney, Lady, xv, 312, 313. - - Cowper Temple, Mr., his motion _re_ Epping Forest, 200. - - Cox, Harry, Charles and William, 319. - - Crimean War, the, 32. - - Critchett, oculist, 35. - - Cross, Lord, as Home Secretary, 208. - - - Dale, Sir Alfred, xv. - - Darwin, Charles, defended by Fawcett, 94-97; - his friendship with Fawcett, 97, 126, 168. - - Delhi, Empire proclaimed in, 236. - - Devonshire, Duke of, announces Fawcett’s death, 313; - as Liberal Leader, 235, 252; - as Postmaster-General, 250. - - Dickens, Charles, his novels, 139, 310. - - Disestablishment, Fawcett on, 106, 153. - - Disraeli. _See_ Beaconsfield. - - Docwra, originates the penny post, 271. - - Doulton, Sir Henry, his memorial to Fawcett, 332. - - Downe, Darwin at, 97. - - Dryhurst, F. J., Fawcett’s secretary, xv, 265, 268, 306. - - Dublin, 167; Trinity College, 177, 178. - - - East India Company, 17. - - Eddy, Charles, 319. - - Edinburgh, Duke of, in India, 221. - - Edmonston, Mr., opens Queenwood College, 9. - - Education, National, Fawcett advocates, 32, 119, 171, 174, 236, 289. - - Edward VII., his interest in Fawcett, 292, 317; - in India, 235; - knights Dr. Campbell, 66. - - Egyptian question, Fawcett on the, 282, 283. - - Electioneering experiences, Fawcett’s, 146-159. - - Eliot, George, her interest in Fawcett, 118; - her novels, 92. - - Ely Cathedral, 81. - - Enclosure Bills, the, 187-91, 201. - - Epping Forest, saved for the nation, 187, 194-201. - - Evans, F. de Grasse, xv. - - Eversley, Lord, as Postmaster-General, 258, 310; - his Bill _re_ Common Lands, 208, 209. - - Evolution, Fawcett’s defence of, 94-97. - - Exeter Hall, Fawcett at, 239. - - Exhibition of 1851, the, 20. - - - Factory Acts, Fawcett on the, 165, 236, 289. - - Fawcett, Henry, his blindness, vii, xiv, 43-71, 111, 149, 154, 229, - 240, 251, 306, 326; - his cheerful courage, vii, xi, 44, 273, 305, 309, 325, 334; - his love of riding, viii, 59, 60, 68, 229; - his mental powers, ix, 29, 91, 173; - his endeavours to save Common Lands, ix, 185-214; - his biography, xiii, xv; - his birth, 5; - his early questions on economy, 6, 10, 81; - his schooldays, 6-21; - his love of fishing, 7, 17, 60-63, 67, 104, 268; - influenced by Cobden and Bright, 8, 19; - his diary, 9; - his oratory, 10, 31, 32, 143, 163; - his boyish lectures and essays, 11-17; - in London, 17, 19, 33, 137, 197, 235, 332; - his ambition to enter Parliament, 18, 19, 33, 36-38, 45, 46, 75, 82, - 111, 124, 143-59; - as an undergraduate at Cambridge, 25-33; - his friendship with Stephen, 25, 33, 78; - his personal appearance, 25-27, 76, 103, 129, 163, 197, 223; - his skill in games, 27; - his talent for friendship, 29, 31, 84, 85, 132; - his love for political economy, 29, 61, 81, 101; - his anxiety for his health, 30, 52, 268, 307; - advocates national education, 32, 119, 171, 174, 236, 289; - his Fellowship, 33, 78, 82, 87; - studies law, 33; - his eyesight fails, 34-39; - his radicalism, 34, 83, 105, 106, 124, 138, 148, 153, 161, 165, 166, - 174-81; - visits Paris, 35; - his ideals, 37, 284; - his interest in social questions, 38, 117, 121-4, 165, 236, 283; - his interest in Indian finance, 38, 166, 177, 217-27, 230, 233, - 235-8, 242-6, 331; - is accidentally blinded, 43; - his love of walking, 49, 57, 58, 81, 125, 238; - his tailor, 52, 77; - his memory, 55, 58, 124, 128, 144, 191, 225, 233, 238, 297; - his love of skating, 58, 68, 88, 171, 192, 193, 210; - as Postmaster General, 70, 211, 244, 249-83, 289, 296, 304, 308, 331; - compared with Lincoln, 76, 77, 102, 103, 245, 259, 260; - his love of freedom, 76, 157, 236; - his love of rowing, 85; - evades bores, 89, 192, 296; - his life in Cambridge, 82, 87, 90; - his conversational powers, 91, 98, 129; - his sociability, 91, 98, 144, 171, 292, 295; - addresses the British Association, 92, 144, 167; - defends Darwin, 94; - his love of home life, 97-99, 204, 209-211, 234, 291, 297-9, 303; - his friendship with Mill, 99; - his sympathy with the Federalists, 102, 145, 155; - portraits of, 103, 137; - his _Manual of Political Economy_, 105, 218, 303, 324; - as Professor of Political Economy, 106-117, 126, 144, 153, 156, 186, - 299, 309, 321, 331; - contests Cambridge, 106, 152; - his _Free Trade and Protection_, 115; - as an M.P., 122, 125, 138, 149, 160-7, 174, 176, 188-192, 232, 265, - 299, 304; - elected to the Reform Club, 127; - his marriage, 130-2; - his wife’s companionship, 133, 209, 239, 290-2, 307, 310; - advocates Woman Suffrage, 133, 135-7, 165, 289, 290; - contests Brighton, 139, 153-9, 166, 170, 227, 230, 232; - as M.P. for Brighton, 126, 131, 139, 159, 166, 168, 170, 174, 222, - 225, 227, 320; - his love of salt, 140; - his campaign in Southwark, 146-50; - his flutter on the Stock Exchange, 151; - his intractability, 176, 189; - opposes the ministry, 176-81; - his hair cut, 203; - his love of being read to, 204, 239, 307; - as M.P. for Hackney, 230-2, 243, 310; - advocates peace, 242; - his handshaking proclivity, 253, 254; - his temperance, 264; - his sense of fairness, 287; - his chivalry, 289; - his illness, 300; - his honorary degrees, 308; - his death, 311, 312; - tributes to, 312-334. - - Fawcett, Mrs., mother of Henry, 5, 44, 98, 107, 160. - - —— Mrs. Henry, advocates Woman Suffrage, 133, 135-7; - her accident at Brighton, 133; - her marriage, 130-3; - her necklace from India, 245; - her portrait, 137; - on her husband, 171; - shares her husband’s interests, 209, 239, 290-2, 307, 310; - sympathy shown to, 319-21. - - Fawcett, Philippa, daughter of Henry Fawcett, 210, 291, 311. - - —— Sarah Maria, sister of Henry Fawcett, 6, 35, 39, 44-51, 107, 161, - 204, 222, 297, 303. - - —— Thomas Cooper, 6. - - —— William, as Mayor of Salisbury, 3-5; - causes his son’s blindness, 43-45; - death of, 318; - encourages his son, 10; - Gladstone’s letter to, 317; - his Cornish mines, 152; - his marriage, 5; - his memory of Waterloo, 3; - his son’s affection for, 298; - sends his son to Cambridge, 21, 25, 33; - supports his son’s elections, 153, 158, 160, 232. - - —— —— junior, 6. - - —— scholarship, the, 323. - - Fearon, Mr. and Mrs., Fawcett lives with, 19, 20. - - Fishing, Fawcett’s love of, 17, 60-63, 67, 268. - - Flunkeyism, Fawcett on, 139. - - Forster family, the, 107. - - _Fortnightly Review, The_, Fawcett’s articles in, 176, 201. - - Franchise, Fawcett on the, 135, 153, 158. - - Free Trade, Cobden and Bright’s campaign for, 8, 19. - - _Free Trade and Protection_, Fawcett’s, 115. - - Freedom, Fawcett’s love of, 133, 135-7, 157. - - - Gambling, Fawcett on, 28, 151. - - Garibaldi, in America, 20; - in London, 157. - - Garrett, Millicent, her marriage, 130-3. - - Germany, evolution in, 96; - sends an official to the Post Office, 269. - - Gladstone, William Ewart, as Liberal leader, 161, 164, 167, 173, - 179-81, 235, 243, 259, 281; - endorses Fawcett’s policy in preserving Commons, 199; - Fawcett on, 38, 231, 282; - his eulogy of Fawcett, 314, 317; - his Indian policy, 221, 236, 243, 244; - his Irish policy, 282, 283; - offers Fawcett Postmaster-Generalship, 250-3; - on Bulgaria, 239, 241, 242; - on Professor Clifford, 281; - portrait of, 103. - - Glasgow University, elects Fawcett as Rector, 308. - - Gog Magog hills, the, 81. - - Granville, Lady, Fawcett visits, 292. - - Guildford postal arrangements, 263. - - - Hackney, Fawcett M.P. for, 230-2, 243, 310. - - Hampstead Heath, 187. - - Harcourt, Sir William, as an orator, 31. - - Harmony Hall, 9. - - Harnham, 99. - - Harnham Hill, Fawcett on, 43. - - Harris, Mrs., 6. - - Hartington, Lord. _See_ Devonshire. - - Helvellyn, Fawcett climbs, 57. - - Henry Fawcett Club for Workmen, the, 121. - - Herschel’s philosophy, 47. - - Hill, Sir Roland, advocates parcel post, 271. - - Hodding, Mrs., Fawcett’s letter to, 36. - - Holland, evolution in, 96. - - Home Rule, Fawcett opposes, 283. - - Hooker, Sir Joseph, Fawcett on, 168. - - Hope, Beresford, on Fawcett, 314. - - Hopkins, Mr., his friendship with Fawcett, 31, 47-49. - - House of Commons, the, Fawcett’s ambition to enter, 18, 19, 33, 36-38, - 45, 46, 75, 82, 111, 124, 143-59; - Fawcett as a member of, 122, 125, 138, 149, 160-7, 174, 176, 188-92, - 265, 299, 304; - Ladies’ gallery, 64; - mourns Fawcett’s loss, 313. - - Housing Bills, Fawcett on, 236. - - _Howe_, H.M.S., 9. - - Hughes, Tom., introduces Fawcett to the House, 160. - - Hunter, Sir Robert, as Solicitor to the Post Office, 266; - on Fawcett, xv, 191, 197, 262, 266. - - Huxley, Professor, as a Radical, 124; - visits Fawcett, 89. - - - Ibbesley, Fawcett at, 205. - - Iddesleigh, Lord, on Fawcett, 313. - - Immigration, Fawcett on, 145. - - Income Tax, Fawcett on, 231. - - India, famine in, 236; - Fawcett’s interest in, 38, 166, 177, 217-27, 230, 233, 235-8, 242-6, - 331; - gratitude to Fawcett in, 230, 245, 323-6. - - Indian Council, Fawcett as member of, 252. - - Institute of France, Fawcett as member of, 308. - - Insurance, Fawcett on, 276. - - Irish question, the, Fawcett on, 124, 167, 175, 282, 283. - - Irish University Bill, the, 177-81. - - Italian Unity, Fawcett’s interest in, 157. - - - James, Henry, on Trinity Hall Garden, 79. - - Jesus College, Cambridge, 91. - - Johnson, Dr., 90. - - Jones, Richard, Whewell on, 92. - - - Keller, Helen, on her blindness, 65. - - King’s College, Fawcett at, 18-21. - - Knightsbridge, 123. - - Kossuth, in London, 20. - - - Lambeth, Fawcett’s garden in, 137. - - Lancashire love of freedom, 102. - - Land question, Fawcett on the, 120, 169, 171. - - _Lardner’s Encyclopædia_, 47. - - Lark, Mrs., 160. - - Layard, Sir A. H., contests Southwark, 148-50. - - Leeds, colliery near, 118. - - Lee-Warner, Sir William, on Fawcett, xv, 245, 256. - - Lefevre, Shaw. _See_ Lord Eversley. - - Lewis, Harvey, Fawcett on, 168. - - Lewendon, G., 319. - - Liberal Party, the, Fawcett on, 176, 201, 231. - - Lincoln, Abraham, assassination of, 130; - compared with Fawcett, 76, 77, 102, 103, 245, 259, 260; - Fawcett’s admiration of, 76, 102. - - Lincoln’s Inn, Fawcett studies at, 33, 75. - - Liverpool, election at, 300; - postal work in, 258. - - London, Fawcett in, 17, 19-21, 33, 137, 197, 235, 332; - Fawcett on society in, 89, 90. - - Longford, Fawcett family at, 7, 8, 39, 48. - - Longton, manor of, 195, 196. - - Louise, Princess, dowry of, 139. - - Lytton, Bulwer, on the Westminster Debating Society, 34. - - - Macaulay, Lord, as an orator, 31. - - M‘Carthy, Justin, on Fawcett, 313. - - Macmillan, publisher, his friendship with Fawcett, 104. - - _Macmillan’s Magazine_, Fawcett’s contributions to, 94, 104, 151. - - Mahomet, 17. - - Maine, Sir Henry, master of Trinity Hall, 228. - - Malta, 242. - - Manchester, Fawcett at, 95; - postal conditions in, 258. - - Manners, Lord John, as Postmaster-General, 253, 271; - on Fawcett, 314. - - Mansergh, J., 10. - - _Manual of Political Economy_, Fawcett’s, 105, 218, 303, 324. - - Married Women’s Property Act, 258. - - Maxwell, Clerk, 55. - - Mayor, candidate for professorship, 105, 107. - - Memory, cultivated by the blind, 55, 144, 191, 225, 233, 297. - - Mendelssohn, Fawcett on, 302. - - Meredith, George, his Vernon Whitford, 78. - - Mill, John Stuart, advocates Woman Suffrage, 135, 165; - Fawcett on, 101; - Fawcett studies his _Political Economy_, 29, 61, 101, 105, 114; - Fawcett’s correspondence with, 99, 100; - his friendship with Fawcett, 99, 116, 126, 145; - his interest in India, 217, 218; - his _Liberty_, 178; - his political opinions, 158, 161, 163, 168-70; - his wife, 100; - invited to Cambridge, 88; - M.P. for Westminster, 122, 124, 160, 161, 168, 169; - member of the Radical Club, 138. - - Milton, John, 16, 92. - - Mining in Cornwall, Fawcett’s interest in, 151. - - Monarchism, Fawcett on, 106. - - Moore, M.P. for Brighton, 156, 159. - - Morgan, master of Jesus College, Cambridge, 91, 213. - - Morley, John, Viscount, on Cobden, 8; - takes Fawcett a walk, xv, 212. - - _Morning Star, The_, supports Fawcett, 146, 150, 155. - - Moscow, evolution in, 96. - - Music, Fawcett’s love of, 302, 304. - - - Naoroji, Nadabhai, evidence of, 221. - - Napoleon I., 3, 15. - - —— III., 85. - - National Education, Fawcett advocates, 32, 119, 171, 174, 236, 289. - - —— Portrait Gallery, the, 137. - - Nationalisation of land, Fawcett on, 120, 169. - - Nevill, Primate of New Zealand, 297. - - New Forest, Fawcett’s defence of the, 205-8. - - Newmarket, Fawcett at, 26, 59, 125, 238. - - Newnham, Miss Fawcett at, 292. - - Newton, Sir Isaac, 16, 31. - - Nicholas, Emperor, 32. - - _Nineteenth Century, the_, Fawcett’s article in, 237. - - Nineveh, 15. - - Northcote, Sir Stafford, on Fawcett, 313. - - - Oddo, Fawcett’s dog, 296. - - Odger, George, Fawcett’s friendship with, 121-3. - - Owen, Robert, builds Harmony Hall, 9. - - Oxford and Cambridge boat race, 212. - - —— confers D.C.L. on Fawcett, 308; - Fawcett at, 68, 92. - - - Palliasse, Madame, 36. - - Palmerston, Lord, as Premier, 19, 161; - Fawcett on, 38; - his foreign policy, 101. - - Pangbourne, sympathy from, 319. - - Paris, Fawcett in, 35, 36. - - Parker, Archbishop, 87, 244. - - Parliamentary Reform, Fawcett on, 157, 162, 166, 176, 235, 288. - - Peel, Sir Robert, 4. - - Permissive Bill, the, 231. - - Peterhouse College, Cambridge, Fawcett at, 25, 33. - - Phonography, Fawcett on, 17. - - Political Economy, in America, 101; - Fawcett begins to study, 29, 30, 48, 81, 101; - Fawcett as professor of, 105-17, 126, 144, 153, 156, 186, 299, 309, - 321, 331. - - —— —— Club, the London, 105. - - _Political Economy for Beginners_, Mrs. Fawcett’s, 133. - - Poor Laws, Fawcett on the, 176. - - —— rates, the, 148. - - Pope, Alexander, 32. - - Postmaster-General, Fawcett as, 70, 211, 244, 249, 283, 289, 296, 304, - 308, 331. - - Post Office, annuities, 277; - employment of women in, 256-8, 289; - Fawcett’s first speech on, 162; - Fawcett’s wish to employ the blind in, 70; - memorial to Fawcett, 323; - money orders, 275; - parcel post, 271-3; - savings bank, the, 257, 271, 275, 282; - telegraph service, 271, 277, 278, 282; - telephone service, 278, 308. - - Privy Seal, Fawcett on the, 198. - - Pryne, Professor, Fawcett succeeds, 105. - - _Punch_ on Henry Fawcett, 233, 234, 241, 242, 279-81, 328. - - - _Quarterly Review_, quoted, 14. - - Queenwood College, Fawcett at, 9-18, 31. - - Quoits, Fawcett plays, 27. - - - Radical Club, the, Fawcett founds, 138. - - —— party, Fawcett as a member of the, 34, 83, 105, 124, 138, 153, 161, - 165, 166, 174-81. - - Railways, Royal Commission on, 271. - - Reed, J., evidence of, 191. - - Reform Bills, Liberal and Conservative, 162-4; - rejoicings in 1832, 3, 4. - - —— Club, Fawcett as member of the, 127. - - Religious restrictions, Fawcett advocates removal of, 148, 174, 177-9. - - Republican Club, Fawcett founds the, 138, 139, 281. - - Ricardo, Fawcett on, 114. - - Riding, Fawcett’s love of, viii, 59, 60, 68, 229. - - Ritchie, Lady, on Thackeray and Fawcett, xv, 128. - - Roller-skating, Fawcett tries, 171. - - Rottingdean, Fawcett at, 57. - - Rowing, Fawcett’s love of, 68, 85, 262, 309. - - Royal Normal College for the Blind, Campbell’s work at the, 66; - Fawcett memorials in, 323, 332. - - Royal Society, Fawcett a Fellow of the, 308. - - Rumbold, farm-servant, 297. - - Ruskin, John, 308; - challenges Fawcett, 208. - - Russell, Lord John, his Reform Bill, 162-4; - resignation of, 161. - - Russian action in Turkey, 241-3. - - - Salisbury, dean of, 21; - Fawcett in, 52, 59, 61, 77, 81, 97, 204, 251, 270, 297-9, 303, 310; - Fawcett family at, 3-8, 39, 43, 98, 298; - marquis of, on India, 233; - rejoices over Reform Bill, 4; - statue of Fawcett in, 324, 334. - - Salt, Fawcett’s love of, 140. - - _Saturday Review_, on Fawcett, 231. - - Schurz, Carl, in America, 20. - - Scott, Mr. Justice, on India, 223. - - Scovell, contests Southwark, 148-50. - - Serpentine, skating on the, 58. - - Seward, Stephen meets, 102. - - Seymour, Danby, 160. - - Shakespeare, quoted, 17, 46. - - Short, John, 320. - - Sidgwick, professor, on Mill, 101. - - Skating, Fawcett’s love of, 58, 68, 88, 171, 192, 193, 210. - - Slavery, abolition of, 5, 76, 77, 120, 157. - - Smith, Hamblin, his arithmetic, 104; - Miss M‘Cleod, xv. - - Socialism, Fawcett on state, 120. - - Social Science Association at Bradford, 145. - - Society of Arts, advocates parcel post, 271. - - Somerset House, Fawcett at, 19. - - Sopp, Mr., schoolmaster, 79. - - Southey, Robert, Fawcett quotes, 50. - - Southwark, Fawcett contests, 146-50. - - _Spectator, The_, 239; - on Hooker, 168. - - Spencer, Herbert, as a Radical, 124. - - Stanley, Lord, interviewed by Fawcett, 145. - - Staten Island, Garibaldi in, 20. - - Steam, Fawcett on the powers of, 14-17. - - Stephen, Sir Leslie, as Vernon Whitford, 78; - at Cambridge with Fawcett, 25-27, 30, 33, 78, 90, 106, 116; - composes inscription on Fawcett memorial, 331; - his biography of Fawcett, xiii, xv, 25, 54, 154, 213; - on Fawcett at Southwark, 149; - on Fawcett’s parliamentary career, 282; - on Trinity Hall festivities, 86; - portrait of, 103; - supports Fawcett at Brighton, 154-5; - visits America, 102. - - Stevenson, George, 5. - - Stewart, Professor, on Fawcett, 197. - - St. Martin’s Hall, Fawcett at, 124. - - Stock Exchange, Fawcett’s flutter on the, 151, 152; - telegrams, 277. - - Stonehenge, 10, 325. - - Stuart, Rt. Hon. James, xv. - - _Suffolk Mercury_, quoted, 131. - - Suffrage for Women, advocated by Fawcett, 133, 135-7, 165, 289, 290. - - Sultan of Turkey, visits England, 218. - - - Taylor, Beatrice, xv. - - —— Henry, 264 _n._ - - —— Sedley, xv, 264 _n._, 302. - - Tea-Room Party, the, 164. - - Telegraphic communication with India, 218. - - Thackeray, W. M., his friendship with Fawcett, 126-128; - novels of, 92, 301. - - Thames Embankment Gardens, 207, 332. - - _Times, The_, on Fawcett, 231. - - Tizard, fisherman, 205. - - Torquay, Darwin at, 96. - - Trade Unionism, Fawcett’s interest in, 120. - - Trevelyan, Sir George, his _Life of Fox_, 239. - - Trinity College, Cambridge, 83; - master of, 228. - - Trinity Hall, Cambridge, Fawcett at, vii, 33, 76-91, 102-7, 128, 228, - 267, 304; - its Christmas festivities, 86-88, 128. - - Trumpington, Fawcett’s grave at, and memorial at, 321, 333. - - Turkey, Sultan of, visits England, 218. - - Turkish atrocities in Bulgaria, 239-43. - - Tyndall, Professor, at Queenwood College, 11, 76; - Lord Avebury on, 147. - - - University Reform, Fawcett advocates, 32, 82, 153, 166, 174, 175, 178. - - Ural Mountains, the, 81. - - - Victoria, Queen, accession of, 5, 6; - hands over Epping Forest to the nation, 201; - her interest in Fawcett, 251, 254, 292, 301, 316; - opens the Great Exhibition, 20; - proclaimed empress, 236. - - Volunteer movement, the, 148. - - - Walking, Fawcett’s love of, 50, 58, 125, 238. - - Walton, Sir Isaac, Fawcett on, 17. - - Waterloo, battle of, 3. - - Watt, James, 16. - - Wedderburn, Sir David, 125. - - Wellington, Arthur, first duke of, 4. - - Westminster, J. S. Mill stands for, 122. - - —— Abbey, memorial to Fawcett in, 323, 331, 332. - - —— Debating Society, Fawcett at the, 34. - - Whewell, Dr., Fawcett defeats, 92, 93; - his admonition on fallibility, 83; - _Inductive Philosophy_, 47. - - White, M.P. for Brighton, 158-60. - - Wilberforce, bishop, attacks Darwin, 94. - - Willingdale, public spirit of, 195. - - Wilson, Edward, on Mill, 30. - - Wimbledon Common, 212, 262. - - Wisley Common, case of, 188, 208. - - Withypool Common, 191. - - Woman Suffrage, Fawcett advocates, 133, 135-7, 165, 289, 290. - - Woolwich, 14. - - Wright, fisherman, his friendship with Fawcett, 70, 71, 117. - - Würzburg, confers honours on Fawcett, 308. - -Printed by T. and A. 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