diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/rvtn10.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/rvtn10.txt | 8954 |
1 files changed, 8954 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/rvtn10.txt b/old/rvtn10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c944adf --- /dev/null +++ b/old/rvtn10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8954 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Revolution in Tanner's Lane, by Mark Rutherford +(#6 in our series by Mark Rutherford) + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Revolution in Tanner's Lane + +Author: Mark Rutherford + +Release Date: October, 2004 [EBook #6690] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on January 12, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE REVOLUTION IN TANNER'S LANE *** + + + + +Transcribed from the 1913 Hodder and Stoughton edition by David +Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk + + + + +THE REVOLUTION IN TANNER'S LANE + + + + +"Per various casus, per tot discrimina rerum, +Tendimus in Latium; sedes ubi fata quietas +Ostendunt. Illic fas regna resurgere Trojae. +Durate, et vosmet rebus servate secundis." +- Virgil. + +"By diuers casis, sere parrellis and sufferance +Unto Itaill we ettill (aim) quhare destanye +Has schap (shaped) for vs ane rest and quiet harbrye +Predestinatis thare Troye sall ryse agane. +Be stout on prosper fortoun to remane." +- Gwain Douglas's translation. + + + +CHAPTER I--THE WORLD OUTSIDE + + + +The 20th April 1814, an almost cloudless, perfectly sunny day, saw +all London astir. On that day Lewis the Eighteenth was to come from +Hartwell in triumph, summoned by France to the throne of his +ancestors. London had not enjoyed too much gaiety that year. It was +the year of the great frost. Nothing like it had been known in the +memory of man. In the West of England, where snow is rare, roads +were impassable and mails could not be delivered. Four dead men were +dug out of a deep drift about ten miles west of Exeter. Even at +Plymouth, close to the soft south-western ocean, the average depth of +the fall was twenty inches, and there was no other way of getting +eastwards than by pack-horses. The Great North Road was completely +blocked, and there was a barricade over it near Godmanchester of from +six to ten feet high. The Oxford coach was buried. Some passengers +inside were rescued with great difficulty, and their lives were +barely saved. The Solway Firth at Workington resembled the Arctic +Sea, and the Thames was so completely frozen over between Blackfriars +and London Bridges that people were able, not only to walk across, +but to erect booths on the ice. Coals, of course, rose to famine +prices in London, as it was then dependent solely upon water-carriage +for its supply. The Father of his people, the Prince Regent, was +much moved by the general distress of "a large and meritorious class +of industrious persons," as he called them, and issued a circular to +all Lords Lieutenant ordering them to provide all practicable means +of removing obstructions from the highways. + +However, on this 20th April the London mob forgot the frost, forgot +the quartern loaf and the national debt, and prepared for a holiday, +inspired thereto, not so much by Lewis the Eighteenth as by the +warmth and brilliant sky. There are two factors in all human bliss-- +an object and the subject. The object may be a trifle, but the +condition of the subject is most important. Turn a man out with his +digestion in perfect order, with the spring in the air and in his +veins, and he will cheer anything, any Lewis, Lord Liverpool, dog, +cat, or rat who may cross his path. Not that this is intended as a +sufficient explanation of the Bourbon reception. Far from it; but it +does mitigate it a trifle. At eleven o'clock in the forenoon two +troops of the Oxford Blues drew up at Kilburn turnpike to await the +sacred arrival. The Prince Regent himself went as far as Stanmore to +meet his August Brother. When the August Brother reached the +village, the excited inhabitants thereof took the horses out of the +carriage and drew him through the street. The Prince, standing at +the door of the principal inn, was in readiness to salute him, and +this he did by embracing him! There have been some remarkable +embraces in history. Joseph fell on Israel's neck, and Israel said +unto Joseph, "Now let me die, since I have seen thy face:" Paul, +after preaching at Ephesus, calling the elders of the Church to +witness that, for the space of three years, he ceased not to warn +every one night and day with tears, kneeled down and prayed, so that +they all wept sore and fell on his neck: Romeo took a last embrace +of Juliet in the vault, and sealed the doors of breath with a +righteous kiss: Penelope embraced Ulysses, who was welcome to her as +land is welcome to shipwrecked swimmers escaping from the grey +seawater--there have, we say, been some remarkable embraces on this +earth since time began, but none more remarkable than that on the +steps of the Abercorn Arms. The Divine couple then drove in solemn +procession to town. From the park corner for three-quarters of a +mile or so was a line of private carriages, filled with most +fashionable people, the ladies all standing on the seats. The French +Royalist flag waved everywhere. All along the Kilburn Road, then +thinly lined with houses, it was triumphant, and even the trees were +decorated with it. Arriving by way of Cumberland Gate at Piccadilly, +Lewis was escorted, amidst uproarious rejoicing, to Grillon's Hotel +in Albemarle Street. There, in reply to an address from the Prince, +he "ascribed, under Providence," to his Royal Highness and the +British people his present blissful condition; and soon afterwards, +being extremely tired, went to bed. This was on a Wednesday. The +next day, Thursday, His Sacred Majesty, or Most Christian Majesty, as +he was then called, was solemnly made a Knight of the Garter, the +Bishops of Salisbury and Winchester assisting. On Friday he received +the corporation of London, and on Saturday the 23rd he prepared to +take his departure. There was a great crowd in the street when he +came out of the hotel and immense applause; the mob crying out, "God +bless your Majesty!" as if they owed him all they had, and even their +lives. It was very touching, people thought at the time, and so it +was. Is there anything more touching than the waste of human loyalty +and love? As we read the history of the Highlands or a story of +Jacobite loyalty such as that of Cooper's Admiral Bluewater, dear to +boys, we sadden that destiny should decree that in a world in which +piety is not too plentiful it should run so pitifully to waste, and +that men and women should weep hot tears and break their hearts over +bran-stuffing and wax. + +Amidst the hooraying multitude that Saturday April morning was one +man at least, Zachariah Coleman by name, who did not hooray, and did +not lift his hat even when the Sacred Majesty appeared on the hotel +steps. He was a smallish, thin-faced, lean creature in workman's +clothes; his complexion was white, blanched by office air, and his +hands were black with printer's ink. + +"Off with your tile, you b---y Corsican!" exclaimed a roaring voice +behind him. Zachariah turned round, and found the request came from +a drayman weighing about eighteen stone; but the tile was not +removed. In an instant it was sent flying to the other side of the +road, where it was trodden on, picked up, and passed forward in the +air amidst laughter and jeers, till it was finally lost. + +Zachariah was not pugnacious, and could not very well be so in the +presence of his huge antagonist; but he was no coward, and not seeing +for the moment that his hat had hopelessly gone, he turned round +savagely, and laying hold of the drayman, said: + +"You ruffian, give it me back; if I am a Corsican, are you an +Englishman?" + +"Take that for your b---y beaver," said the other, and dealt him a +blow with the fist right in his face, which staggered and stupefied +him, covering him with blood. + +The bystanders, observing the disparity between the two men, +instantly took Zachariah's side, and called out "Shame, shame!" Nor +did they confine themselves to ejaculations, for a young fellow of +about eight and twenty, well dressed, with a bottle-green coat of +broadcloth, buttoned close, stepped up to the drayman. + +"Knock my tile off, beer-barrel." + +The drayman instantly responded by a clutch at it, but before he +could touch it he had an awful cut across the lips, delivered with +such scientific accuracy from the left shoulder that it was clear it +came from a disciple of Jackson or Tom Cribb. The crowd now became +intensely delighted and excited, and a cry of "A ring, a ring!" was +raised. The drayman, blind with rage, let out with his right arm +with force enough to fell an ox, but the stroke was most artistically +parried, and the response was another fearful gash over the right +eye. By this time the patriot had had enough, and declined to +continue the contest. His foe, too, seemed to have no desire for any +further display of his powers, and retired smilingly, edging his way +to the pavement, where he found poor Zachariah almost helpless. + +"Holloa, my republican friend, d---n it, that's a nasty lick you've +got, and from one of the people too; that makes it harder to bear, +eh? Never mind, he's worse off than you are." + +Zachariah thanked him as well as he could for defending him. + +"Not a word; haven't got a scratch myself. Come along with me;" and +he dragged him along Piccadilly into a public-house in Swallow +Street, where apparently he was well known. Water was called for; +Zachariah was sponged, the wound strapped up, some brandy given him, +and the stranger, ordering a hackney coach, told the driver to take +the gentleman home. + +"Wait a bit," he called, as the coach drove off. "You may feel +faint; I'll go home with you," and in a moment he was by Zachariah's +side. The coach found its way slowly through the streets to some +lodgings in Clerkenwell. It was well the stranger did go, for his +companion on arrival was hardly able to crawl upstairs to give a +coherent account to his wife of what had happened. + +Zachariah Coleman, working man, printer, was in April 1814 about +thirty years old. He was employed in a jobbing office in the city, +where he was compositor and pressman as well. He had been married in +January 1814 to a woman a year younger than himself, who attended the +meeting-house at Hackney, whither he went on the Sunday. He was a +Dissenter in religion, and a fierce Radical in politics, as many of +the Dissenters in that day were. He was not a ranter or revivalist, +but what was called a moderate Calvinist; that is to say, he held to +Calvinism as his undoubted creed, but when it came to the push in +actual practice he modified it. In this respect he was inconsistent; +but who is there who is not? His theology probably had no more gaps +in it than that of the latest and most enlightened preacher who +denies miracles and affirms the Universal Benevolence. His present +biographer, from intimate acquaintance with the class to which +Zachariah belonged, takes this opportunity to protest against the +general assumption that the Calvinists of that day, or of any day, +arrived at their belief by putting out their eyes and accepting +blindly the authority of St. Paul or anybody else. It may be +questioned, indeed, whether any religious body has ever stood so +distinctly upon the understanding and has used its intellect with +such rigorous activity, as the Puritans, from whom Zachariah was a +genuine descendant. Even if Calvinism had been carved on tables of +stone and handed down from heaven by the Almighty Hand, it would not +have lived if it had not have found to agree more or less with the +facts, and it was because it was a deduction from what nobody can +help seeing that it was so vital, the Epistle to the Romans serving +as the inspired confirmation of an experience. Zachariah was a great +reader of all kinds of books--a lover especially of Bunyan and +Milton; as logical in his politics as in his religion; and he +defended the execution of Charles the First on the ground that the +people had just as much right to put a king to death as a judge had +to order the execution of any other criminal. + +The courtship between Zachariah and the lady who became his wife had +been short, for there could be no mistake, as they had known one +another so long. She was black-haired, with a perfectly oval face, +always dressed with the most scrupulous neatness, and with a certain +plain tightness which Zachariah admired. She had exquisitely white +and perfect teeth, a pale, clear complexion, and the reputation of +being a most sensible woman. She was not a beauty, but she was good- +looking; the weak points in her face being her eyes, which were mere +inexpressive optic organs, and her mouth, which, when shut, seemed +too much shut, just as if it were compressed by an effort of the will +or by a spring. These, however, Zachariah thought minor matters, if, +indeed, he ever noticed them. "The great thing was, that she was"-- +sometimes this and sometimes that--and so it was settled. +Unfortunately in marriage it is so difficult to be sure of what the +great thing is, and what the little thing is, the little thing +becoming so frightfully big afterwards! Theologically, Mrs. +Zachariah was as strict as her husband, and more so, as far as +outward observance went, for her strictness was not tempered by those +secular interests which to him were so dear. She read little or +nothing--nothing, indeed, on week-days, and even the Morning +Chronicle, which Zachariah occasionally borrowed, was folded up when +he had done with it and put under the tea-caddy till it was returned. +On Sundays she took up a book in the afternoon, but she carefully +prepared herself for the operation as though it were a sacramental +service. When the dinner-things were washed up, when the hearth was +swept and the kettle on the fire, having put on her best Sunday +dress, it was her custom to go to the window, always to the window, +never to the fire--where she would open Boston's Fourfold State and +hold it up in front of her with both hands. This, however, did not +last long, for on the arrival of the milkman the volume was replaced, +and it was necessary to make preparations for tea. + +The hackney coach drove up to the house in Rosoman Street where +Zachariah dwelt on the first floor. He was too weak to go upstairs +by himself, and he and his friend therefore walked into the front +room together. It was in complete order, although it was so early in +the morning. Everything was dusted; even the lower fire-bar had not +a speck of ashes on it, and on the hob already was a saucepan in +which Mrs. Coleman proposed to cook the one o'clock dinner. On the +walls were portraits of Sir Francis Burdett, Major Cartwright, and +the mezzotint engraving of Sadler's Bunyan. Two black silhouettes-- +one of Zachariah and the other of his wife--were suspended on each +side of the mantelpiece. + +Mrs. Coleman was busily engaged in the bedroom, but hearing the +footsteps, she immediately entered. She was slightly taken aback at +seeing Zachariah in such a plight, and uttered a little scream, but +the bottle-green stranger, making her a profound bow, arrested her. + +"Pardon me, my dear madam, there is nothing seriously the matter. +Your husband has had the misfortune to be the victim of a most +blackguardly assault; but I am sure that, under your care, he will be +all right in a day or two; and, with your permission, I take my +leave." + +Mrs. Coleman was irritated. The first emotion was not sympathy. +Absolutely the first was annoyance at being seen without proper +notice by such a fine-looking gentleman. She had, however, no real +cause for vexation under this head. She had tied a white +handkerchief over her hair, fastening it under her chin, as her +manner was when doing her morning's work, and she had on her white +apron; but she was trim and faultless, and the white handkerchief did +but set off her black hair and marble complexion. Her second +emotion, too, was not sympathy. Zachariah was at home at the wrong +time. Her ordinary household arrangements were upset. He might +possibly be ill, and then there would be a mess and confusion. The +thought of sickness was intolerable to her, because it "put +everything out." Rising up at the back of these two emotions came, +haltingly, a third when she looked her husband in the face. She +could not help it, and she did really pity him. + +"I am sure it is very kind of you," she replied. + +Zachariah had as yet spoken no word, nor had she moved towards him. +The stranger was departing. + +"Stop!" cried Zachariah, "you have not told me your name. I am too +faint to say how much I owe you for your protection and kindness." + +"Nonsense. My name is Maitland--Major Maitland, 1A Albany. Good- +bye." + +He was at the top of the stairs, when he turned round, and looking at +Mrs. Coleman, observed musingly, "I think I'll send my doctor, and, +if you will permit me, will call in a day or two." + +She thanked him; he took her hand, politely pressed it to his lips, +and rode off in the coach which had been waiting for him. + +"What has happened, my dear? Tell me all about it," she inquired as +she went back into the parlour, with just the least colour on her +cheek, and perceptibly a little happier than she was five minutes +before. She did nothing more than put her hand on his shoulder, but +he brightened immediately. He told her the tale, and when it was +over desired to lie down and to have some tea. + +Emotion number two returned to Mrs. Coleman immediately. Tea at that +time, the things having been all cleared away and washed up! She did +not, however, like openly to object, but she did go so far as to +suggest that perhaps cold water would be better, as there might be +inflammation. Zachariah, although he was accustomed to give way, +begged for tea; and it was made ready, but not with water boiled +there. She would not again put the copper kettle on the fire, as it +was just cleaned, but she asked to be allowed to use that which +belonged to the neighbour downstairs who kept the shop. The tea- +things were replaced when Zachariah had finished, and his wife +returned to her duties, leaving him sitting in the straight-backed +Windsor-chair, looking into the grate and feeling very miserable. + +In the afternoon Rosoman Street was startled to see a grand carriage +stop at Zachariah's door, and out stepped the grand doctor, who, +after some little hesitation and inquiry, made his way upstairs. +Having examined our friend, he pronounced him free from all mortal or +even serious injury--it was a case of contusion and shaken nerves, +which required a little alterative medicine, and on the day after to- +morrow the patient, although bruised and sore in the mouth, might go +back to work. + +The next morning he was better, but nevertheless he was depressed. +It was now three months since his wedding-day, and the pomp and +beauty of the sunrise, gold and scarlet bars with intermediate lakes +of softest blue, had been obscured by leaden clouds, which showed no +break and let loose a cold drizzling rain. How was it? He often +asked himself that question, but could obtain no satisfactory answer. +Had anything changed? Was his wife anything which he did not know +her to be three months ago? Certainly not. He could not accuse her +of passing herself off upon him with false pretences. What she had +always represented herself to be she was now. There she stood +precisely as she stood twelve months ago, when he asked her to become +his wife, and he thought when she said "yes" that no man was more +blessed than he. It was, he feared, true he did not love her, nor +she him; but why could not they have found that out before? What a +cruel destiny was this which drew a veil before his eyes and led him +blindfold over the precipice! He at first thought, when his joy +began to ebb in February or March, that it would rise again, and that +he would see matters in a different light; but the spring was here, +and the tide had not turned. It never would turn now, and he became +at last aware of the sad truth--the saddest a man can know--that he +had missed the great delight of existence. His chance had come, and +had gone. Henceforth all that was said and sung about love and home +would find no echo in him. He was paralysed, dead in half of his +soul, and would have to exist with the other half as well he could. +He had done no wrong: he had done his best; he had not sold himself +to the flesh or the devil, and, Calvinist as he was, he was tempted +at times to question the justice of such a punishment. If he put his +finger in the fire and got burnt, he was able to bow to the wisdom +which taught him in that plain way that he was not to put his finger +in the fire. But wherein lay the beneficence of visiting a simple +mistake--one which he could not avoid--with a curse worse than the +Jewish curse of excommunication--"the anathema wherewith Joshua +cursed Jericho; the curse which Elisha laid upon the children; all +the curses which are written in the law. Cursed be he by day, and +cursed be he by night: cursed be he in sleeping, and cursed be he in +waking: cursed in going out, and cursed in coming in." Neither the +wretched victim nor the world at large was any better for such a +visitation, for it was neither remedial nor monitory. Ah, so it is! +The murderer is hung at Newgate, and if he himself is not improved by +the process, perhaps a few wicked people are frightened; but men and +women are put to a worse death every day by slow strangulation which +endures for a lifetime, and, as far as we can see, no lesson is +learned by anybody, and no good is done. + +Zachariah, however, did not give way to despair, for he was not a man +to despair. His religion was a part of himself. He had immortality +before him, in which he thanked God there was no marrying nor giving +in marriage. This doctrine, however, did not live in him as the +other dogmas of his creed, for it was not one in which his intellect +had such a share. On the other hand, predestination was dear to him. +God knew him as closely as He knew the angel next His throne, and had +marked out his course with as much concern as that of the seraph. +What God's purposes were he did not know. He took a sort of sullen +pride in not knowing, and he marched along, footsore and wounded, in +obedience to the orders of his great Chief. Only thirty years old, +and only three months a husband, he had already learned renunciation. +There was to be no joy in life? Then he would be satisfied if it +were tolerable, and he strove to dismiss all his dreams and do his +best with what lay before him. Oh my hero! Perhaps somewhere or +other--let us hope it is true--a book is kept in which human worth is +duly appraised, and in that book, if such a volume there be, we shall +find that the divinest heroism is not that of the man who, holding +life cheap, puts his back against a wall, and is shot by Government +soldiers, assured that he will live ever afterwards as a martyr and +saint: a diviner heroism is that of the poor printer, who, in dingy, +smoky Rosoman Street, Clerkenwell, with forty years before him, +determined to live through them, as far as he could, without a +murmur, although there was to be no pleasure in them. A diviner +heroism is this, but divinest of all, is that of him who can in these +days do what Zachariah did, and without Zachariah's faith. + +The next evening, just as Zachariah and his wife were sitting down to +tea, there was a tap at the door, and in walked Major Maitland. He +was now in full afternoon costume, and, if not dandyish, was +undeniably well dressed. Making a profound bow to Mrs. Coleman, he +advanced to the fireplace and instantly shook hands with Zachariah. + +"Well, my republican, you are better, although the beery loyalist has +left his mark upon you." + +"Certainly, much better; but where I should have been, sir, if it had +not been for you, I don't know." + +"Ah, well; it was an absolute pleasure to me to teach the blackguard +that cheering a Bourbon costs something. My God, though, a man must +be a fool who has to be taught that! I wonder what it HAS cost us. +Why, I see you've got my friend, Major Cartwright, up there." + +Zachariah and his wife started a moment at what they considered the +profane introduction of God's name; but it was not exactly swearing, +and Major Maitland's relationship to them was remarkable. They were +therefore silent. + +"A true friend of the people," continued Maitland, "is Major +Cartwright; but he does not go quite far enough to please me." + +"As for the people so-called," quoth Zachariah, "I doubt whether they +are worth saving. Look at the mob we saw the day before yesterday. +I think not of the people. But there is a people, even in these days +of Ahab, whose feet may yet be on the necks of their enemies." + +"Why, you are an aristocrat," said Maitland, smiling; "only you want +to abolish the present aristocracy and give us another. You must not +judge us by what you saw in Piccadilly, and while you are still +smarting from that smasher on your eye. London, I grant you, is not, +and never was, a fair specimen. But, even in London, you must not be +deceived. You don't know its real temper; and then, as to not being +worth saving--why, the worse men are the more they want saving. +However, we are both agreed about this--crew, Liverpool, the Prince +Regent, and his friends." A strong word was about to escape before +"crew," but the Major saw that he was in a house where it would be +out of place. "I wish you'd join our Friends of the People. We want +two or three determined fellows like you. We are all safe." + +"What are the 'Friends of the People'?" + +"Oh, it's a club of--a--good fellows who meet twice a week for a +little talk about affairs. Come with me next Friday and see." + +Zachariah hesitated a moment, and then consented. + +"All right; I'll fetch you." He was going away, and picked up from +the table a book he had brought with him. + +"By the way, you will not be at work till to-morrow. I'll leave you +this to amuse you. It has not been out long. Thirteen thousand +copies were sold the first day. It is the Corsair--Byron's Corsair. +My God, it IS poetry and no mistake! Not exactly, perhaps, in your +line; but you are a man of sense, and if that doesn't make your heart +leap in you I'm much mistaken. Lord Byron is a neighbour of mine in +the Albany. I know him by sight. I've waited a whole livelong +morning at my window to see him go out. So much the more fool you, +you'll say. Ah, well, wait till you have read the Corsair." + +The Major shook hands. Mrs. Coleman, who had been totally silent +during the interview, excepting when she asked him if he would join +in a cup of tea--an offer most gracefully declined--followed him to +the top of the stairs. As before, he kissed her hand, made her a +profound bow, and was off. When she came back into the room the +faint flush on the cheek was repeated, and there was the same unusual +little rippling overflow of kindness to her husband. + +In the evening Zachariah took up the book. Byron was not, indeed, in +his line. He took no interest in him, although, like every other +Englishman, he had heard much about him. He had passed on his way to +Albemarle Street the entrance to the Albany. Byron was lying there +asleep, but Zachariah, although he knew he was within fifty yards of +him, felt no emotion whatever. This was remarkable, for Byron's +influence, even in 1814, was singular, beyond that of all +predecessors and successors, in the wideness of its range. He was +read by everybody. Men and women who were accessible to no other +poetry were accessible to his, and old sea-captains, merchants, +tradesmen, clerks, tailors, milliners, as well as the best judges in +the land repeated his verses by the page. + +Mrs. Coleman, having cleared away the tea-things, sat knitting till +half-past six. It was prayer-meeting night, and she never missed +going. Zachariah generally accompanied her, but he was not quite +presentable, and stayed at home. He went on with the Corsair, and as +he read his heart warmed, and he unconsciously found himself +declaiming several of the most glowing and eloquent lines aloud. He +was by nature a poet; essentially so, for he loved everything which +lifted him above what is commonplace. Isaiah, Milton, a storm, a +revolution, a great passion--with these he was at home; and his +education, mainly on the Old Testament, contributed greatly to the +development both of the strength and weakness of his character. For +such as he are weak as well as strong; weak in the absence of the +innumerable little sympathies and worldlinesses which make life +delightful, and but too apt to despise and tread upon those gentle +flowers which are as really here as the sun and the stars, and are +nearer to us. Zachariah found in the Corsair exactly what answered +to his own inmost self, down to its very depths. The lofty style, +the scorn of what is mean and base, the courage--root of all virtue-- +that dares and evermore dares in the very last extremity, the love of +the illimitable, of freedom, and the cadences like the fall of waves +on a sea-shore were attractive to him beyond measure. More than +this, there was Love. His own love was a failure, and yet it was +impossible for him to indulge for a moment his imagination elsewhere. +The difference between him and his wife might have risen to absolute +aversion, and yet no wandering fancy would ever have been encouraged +towards any woman living. But when he came to Medora's song: + + +"Deep in my soul that tender secret dwells, + Lonely and lost to light for evermore, +Save when to thine my heart responsive swells, + Then trembles into silence as before." + + +and more particularly the second verse: + + +"There, in its centre, a sepulchral lamp + Burns the slow flame, eternal--but unseen; +Which not the darkness of despair can damp, + Though vain its ray as it had never been." + + +love again asserted itself. It was not love for a person; perhaps it +was hardly love so much as the capacity for love. Whatever it may +be, henceforth this is what love will be in him, and it will be fully +maintained, though it knows no actual object. It will manifest +itself in suppressed force, seeking for exit in a thousand +directions; sometimes grotesque perhaps, but always force. It will +give energy to expression, vitality to his admiration of the +beautiful, devotion to his worship, enthusiasm to his zeal for +freedom. More than this, it will NOT make his private life +unbearable by contrast; rather the reverse. The vision of Medora +will not intensify the shadow over Rosoman Street, Clerkenwell, but +will soften it. + + + +CHAPTER II--OUTSIDE PIKE STREET + + + +On the Friday evening the Major called for Zachariah. He had not yet +returned, but his wife was at home. The tea-things were ready, the +kettle was on the hob, and she sat knitting at the window. Her +visitor knocked at the door; she rose, and he entered. This time he +was a little less formal, for after making his bow he shook her hand. +She, too, was not quite so stiff, and begged him to be seated. + +"Upon my word, madam," he began, "if I were as well looked after as +Mr. Coleman, I doubt if I should be so anxious as he is to change the +existing order of things. You would think there is some excuse for +me if you were to see the misery and privation of my lodgings. +Nobody cares a straw, and as for dust and dirt, they would drive you +distracted." + +Mrs. Zachariah smiled, and shifted one of her little white-stockinged +feet over the other. She had on the neatest of sandals, with black +ribbons, which crossed over the instep. It was one of Zachariah's +weak points, she considered, that he did not seem to care +sufficiently for cleanliness, and when he came in he would sometimes +put his black hand, before he had washed, on the white tea-cloth, or +on the back of a chair, and leave behind him a patch of printer's +ink. It was bad enough to be obliged always to wipe the door- +handles. + +"I do my best; but as for dirt, you cannot be so badly off in the +Albany as we are in Clerkenwell. Clerkenwell is very disagreeable, +but we are obliged to live here." + +"If Clerkenwell is so bad, all the more honour to you for your +triumph." + +"Oh, I don't know about honour; my husband says it is simply my +nature." + +"Nature! All the better. I could never live with anybody who was +always trying and trying and struggling. I believe in Nature. Don't +you?" + +This was an abstract inquiry beyond Mrs. Zachariah's scope. "It is +some people's nature to like to be tidy," she contented herself with +observing; "and others do not care for it." + +"Oh, perhaps it is because I am a soldier, and accustomed to order, +that I care for it above everything." + +Mrs. Zachariah started for a moment. She reflected. She had +forgotten it--that she was talking to an officer in His Majesty's +service. + +"Have you seen much fighting, sir?" + +"Oh, well, for the matter of that, have had my share. I was at +Talavera, and suffer a good deal now in damp weather, from having +slept so much in the open air." + +"Dear me, that is very hard! My husband is rheumatic, and finds +Tarver's embrocation do him more good than anything. Will you try it +if I give you some?" + +"With profound gratitude." Mrs. Coleman filled an empty bottle, took +a piece of folded brown paper out of the fireplace cupboard, untied a +coil of twine, made up a compact little parcel, and gave it to the +Major. + +"A thousand thanks. If faith now can really cure, I shall be well in +a week." + +Mrs. Zachariah smiled again. + +"Are you Dissenters?" he asked abruptly. + +"Yes. Independents." + +"I am not surprised. Ever since Cromwell's days you have always been +on the side of liberty; but are you strict--I don't know exactly what +to call it--go to the prayer-meetings--and so on?" + +"We are both members of the church, and Mr. Coleman is a deacon," +replied Mrs. Zachariah, with a gravity not hitherto observable. + +She looked out of the window, and saw him coming down the street. +She placed the kettle nearer the fire, put the tea in the teapot, and +sat down again. He came upstairs, went straight into his bedroom, +cleaned himself as much as possible, changed his coat, and entered. +The Major, being pressed, consented to take tea, and Mrs. Zachariah +was a cheerful and even talkative hostess, to the surprise of at +least one member of the company. She sat next to her husband, and +the Major sat opposite. Three silver spoons and silver sugar-tongs +had been put on the table. Ordinarily the spoons were pewter. +Zachariah, fond of sugar, was in the habit of taking it with his +fingers--a practice to which Mrs. Zachariah strongly objected, and +with some reason. It was dirty, and as his hands were none of the +whitest, the neighbouring lumps became soiled, and acquired a flavour +which did not add to their sweetness. She had told him of it a score +of times; but he did not amend, and seemed to think her particularity +rather a vice than a virtue. So it is that, as love gilds all +defects, lack of love sees nothing but defect in what is truly +estimable. Notwithstanding the sugar-tongs, Zachariah--excusable, +perhaps, this time, considering the warmth of the speech he was +making against the late war--pushed them aside, and helped himself +after the usual fashion. A cloud came over Mrs. Zachariah's face; +she compressed her lips in downright anger, pushed the tongs towards +him with a rattle, and trod on his foot at the same time. His +oration came to an end; he looked round, became confused, and was +suddenly silent; but the Major gallantly came to the rescue by +jumping up to prevent Mrs. Zachariah from moving in order to put more +water on the tea. + +"Excuse me, pray;" but as he had risen somewhat suddenly to reach the +kettle, he caught the table-cloth on his knee, and in a moment his +cup and saucer and the plate were on the floor in twenty pieces, and +the tea running all over the carpet. Zachariah looked at his wife, +and expected to see her half frantic. But no; though it was her best +china, she stopped the Major's apologies, and assured him, with +something almost like laughter, that it was not of the slightest +consequence. "Tea doesn't stain; I hope it has not gone on your +coat;" and producing a duster from the cupboard, the evil, save the +loss of the crockery, was remedied in a couple of minutes. + +At half-past seven o'clock the Major and Zachariah departed. They +walked across the top of Hatton Garden, and so onwards till they came +to Red Lion Street. Entering a low passage at the side of a small +public-house, they went up some stairs, and found themselves opposite +a door which was locked. The Major gave three taps and then paused. +A moment afterwards he tapped again twice; the lock was turned, and +he was admitted. Zachariah found himself in a spacious kind of loft. +There was a table running down the middle, and round it were seated +about a dozen men, most of whom were smoking and drinking beer. They +welcomed the Major with rappings, and he moved towards the empty +chair at the head of the board. + +"You're late, chairman," said one. + +"Been to fetch a new comrade." + +"Is that the cove? He looks all right. Here's your health, guv'nor, +and d---n all tyrants." With that he took a pull at the beer. + +"Swear him," said the Major. + +A disagreeable-looking man with a big round nose, small red eyes, +unshaven face, and slightly unsteady voice, rose, laid down his pipe, +and beckoned to Zachariah, who advanced towards him. + +The Secretary--for he it was--produced a memorandum-book, and began +with a stutter: + +"In the sacred name of--" + +"Stop!" cried Zachariah, "I don't swear." + +"That will do," shouted the Major across a hubbub which arose-- +"religious. I'll answer for him: let him sign; that's enough." + +"You ARE answerable," growled the Secretary "if he's a d---d spy +we'll have his blood, that's all, and yours too, Major." The Major +took no notice, and Zachariah put his name in the book, the roll of +the Red Lion Friends of the People. + +"Business, Mr. Secretary--the last minutes." + +The minutes were read, and an adjourned debate was then renewed on a +motion to organise public meetings to petition in favour of +Parliamentary Reform. The reader must understand that politics in +those days were somewhat different from the politics of fifty or +sixty years later. Bread was thirteenpence a quartern loaf; the +national debt, with a much smaller population, was what it is now; +everything was taxed, and wages were very low. But what was most +galling was the fact that the misery, the taxes, and the debt had +been accumulated, not by the will of the people, but by a corrupt +House of Commons, the property of borough-mongers, for the sake of +supporting the Bourbons directly, but indirectly and chiefly the +House of Hanover and the hated aristocracy. There was also a +scandalous list of jobs and pensions. Years afterwards, when the +Government was forced to look into abuses, the Reverend Thomas +Thurlow, to take one example amongst others, was awarded, as +compensation for the loss of his two offices, Patentee of Bankrupts +and Keeper of Hanaper, the modest allowance annually until his death +of 11,380 pounds 14s. 6d. The men and women of that time, although +there were scarcely any newspapers, were not fools, and there was not +a Nottingham weaver who put a morsel of bread in his hungry belly who +did not know that two morsels might have gone there if there were no +impost on foreign corn to maintain rents, and if there were no +interest to pay on money borrowed to keep these sacred kings and +lords safe in their palaces and parks. Opinion at the Red Lion +Friends of the People Club was much divided. Some were for +demonstrations and agitation, whilst others were for physical force. +The discussion went on irregularly amidst much tumult. + +"How long would they have waited over the water if they had done +nothing but jaw? They met together and tore down the Bastile, and +that's what we must do." + +"That may be true," said a small white-faced man who neither smoked +nor drank, "but what followed? You don't do anything really till +you've reasoned it out." + +"It's my belief, parson," retorted the other, "that you are in a d--- +d funk. This is not the place for Methodists." + +"Order, order!" shouted the chairman. + +"I am not a Methodist," quietly replied the other; "unless you mean +by Methodist a man who fears God and loves his Saviour. I am not +ashamed to own that, and I am none the worse for it as far as I know. +As for being a coward, we shall see." + +The Secretary meanwhile had gone on with his beer. Despite his +notorious failing, he had been chosen for the post because in his +sober moments he was quick with his pen. He was not a working man; +nay, it was said he had been at Oxford. His present profession was +that of attorney's clerk. He got up and began a harangue about +Brutus. + +"There's one way of dealing with tyrants--the old way, Mr. Chairman. +Death to them all, say I; the short cut; none of your palaver; what's +the use of palavering?" + +He was a little shaky, took hold of the rail of his chair, and as he +sat down broke his pipe. + +Some slight applause followed; but the majority were either against +him, or thought it better to be silent. + +The discussion continued irregularly, and Zachariah noticed that +about half-a-dozen of those present took no part in it. At about ten +o'clock the chairman declared the meeting at an end; and it was quite +time he did so, for the smoke and the drink had done their work. + +As Zachariah came out, a man stood by his side whom he had scarcely +noticed during the evening. He was evidently a shoemaker. There was +a smell of leather about him, and his hands and face were grimy. He +had a slightly turned-up nose, smallish eyes, half hidden under very +black eyebrows, and his lips were thin and straight. His voice was +exceedingly high-pitched, and had something creaking in it like the +sound of an ill-greased axle. He spoke with emphasis, but not quite +like an Englishman, was fond of alliteration, and often, in the +middle of a sentence, paused to search for a word which pleased him. +Having found it, the remainder of the sentence was poised and cast +from him like a dart. His style was a curious mixture of foreign +imperfection and rhetoric--a rhetoric, however, by no means affected. +It might have been so in another person, but it was not so in him. + +"Going east?" said he. + +"Yes." + +"If you want company, I'll walk with you. What do you think of the +Friends?" + +Zachariah, it will be borne in mind, although he was a Democrat, had +never really seen the world. He belonged to a religious sect. He +believed in the people, it is true, but it was a people of +Cromwellian Independents. He purposely avoided the company of men +who used profane language, and never in his life entered a tavern. +He did not know what the masses really were; for although he worked +with his hands, printers were rather a superior set of fellows, and +his was an old-established shop which took the best of its class. +When brought actually into contact with swearers and drunkards as +patriots and reformers he was more than a little shocked. + +"Not much," quoth he. + +"Not worse than our virtuous substitute for a sovereign?" + +"No, certainly." + +"You object to giving them votes, but is not the opinion of the +silliest as good as that of Lord Sidmouth?" + +"That's no reason for giving them votes." + +"I should like to behold the experiment of a new form of +misgovernment. If we are to be eternally enslaved to fools and +swindlers, why not a change? We have had regal misrule and +aristocratic swindling long enough." + +"Seriously, my friend," he continued, "study that immortal charter, +the Declaration of the Rights of Man." + +He stopped in the street, and with an oratorical air repeated the +well-known lines, "Men are born and always continue free, and equal +in respect of their rights. . . . Every citizen has a right, either +by himself or by his representative, to a free voice in determining +the necessity of public contributions, the appropriation of them, and +their amount, mode of assessment, and duration." He knew them by +heart. "It is the truth," he continued: "you must come to that, +unless you believe in the Divine appointment of dynasties. There is +no logical repose between Lord Liverpool and the Declaration. What +is the real difference between him and you? None but a question of +degree. He does not believe in absolute monarchy, and stays at this +point. You go a little lower. You are both alike. How dare you +say, 'My brother, I am more honest and more religious than you; pay +me half-a-crown and I will spend it for your welfare'? You cannot +tell me that. You know I should have a RIGHT to reject you. I +refuse to be coerced. I prefer freedom to--felicity." + +Zachariah was puzzled. He was not one of those persons who can see +no escape from an argument and yet are not convinced; one of those +happy creatures to whom the operations of the intellect are a joke-- +who, if they are shown that the three angles of a triangle are equal +to two right angles, decline to disprove it, but act as if they were +but one. To Zachariah the appeal "Where will you stop?" was +generally successful. If his understanding told him he could not +stop, he went on. And yet it so often happens that if we do go on we +are dissatisfied; we cannot doubt each successive step, but we doubt +the conclusion. We arrive serenely at the end, and lo! it is an +absurdity which common sense, as we call it, demolishes with scoffs +and laughter. + +They had walked down to Holborn in order to avoid the rather +dangerous quarter of Gray's Inn Lane. Presently they were overtaken +by the Secretary, staggering under more liquor. He did not recognise +them, and rolled on. The shoemaker instantly detached himself from +Zachariah and followed the drunken official. He was about to turn +into a public-house, when his friend came up to him softly, +abstracted a book which was sticking out of his pocket, laid hold of +him by the arm, and marched off with him across the street and +through Great Turnstile. + +Sunday came, and Zachariah and his wife attended the services at Pike +Street Meeting-house, conducted by that worthy servant of God, the +Reverend Thomas Bradshaw. He was at that time preaching a series of +sermons on the Gospel Covenant, and he enlarged upon the distinction +between those with whom the covenant was made and those with whom +there was none, save of judgment. The poorest and the weakest, if +they were sons of God, were more blessed than the strongest who were +not. These were nothing: "they should go out like the smoke of a +candle with an ill favour; whereas the weak and simple ones are +upholden, and go from strength to strength, and increase with the +increasings of God." Zachariah was rather confused by what had +happened during the week, and his mind, especially during the long +prayer, wandered a good deal much to his discomfort. + + + +CHAPTER III--THE THEATRE + + + +Major Maitland was very fond of the theatre, and as he had grown fond +of Zachariah, and frequently called at his house, sometimes on +business and sometimes for pleasure, he often asked his friend to +accompany him. But for a long time he held out. The theatre and +dancing in 1814 were an abomination to the Independents. Since 1814 +they have advanced, and consequently they not only go to plays and +dance like other Christians, but the freer, less prejudiced, and more +enlightened encourage the ballet, spend their holidays in Paris, and +study French character there. Zachariah, however, had a side open to +literature, and though he had never seen a play acted, he read plays. +He read Shakespeare, and had often thought how wonderful one of his +dramas must be on the stage. So it fell out that at last he yielded, +and it was arranged that Mrs. and Mr. Coleman should go with the +Major to Drury Lane to see the great Edmund Kean in "Othello." The +day was fixed, and Mrs. Coleman was busy for a long time beforehand +in furbishing up and altering her wedding-dress, so that she might +make a decent figure. She was all excitement, and as happy as she +could well be. For months Zachariah had not known her to be so +communicative. She seemed to take an interest in politics; she +discussed with him the report that Bonaparte was mad, and Zachariah, +on his part, told her what had happened to him during the day, and +what he had read in the newspapers. The Prince Regent had been to +Oxford, and verses had been composed in his honour. Mr. Bosanquet +had recited to the Prince an ode, or something of the kind, and had +ventured, after dilating on the enormous services rendered by kings +in general to the community during the last twenty years, to warn +them: + + +"But ye yourselves must bow: your praise be given +To Him, the Lord of lords, your King in heaven." + + +And Mrs. Zachariah, with a smile and unwonted wit, wondered whether +Mr. Bosanquet would not be prosecuted for such treasonable +sentiments. Zachariah hardly knew what to make of his wife's gaiety, +but he was glad. He thought that perhaps he was answerable for her +silence and coldness, and he determined at all costs to try and +amend, and, however weary he might be when he came home at night, +that he would speak and get her to speak too. + +The eventful evening arrived. Zachariah was to get away as early as +he could; the Major was to call at about six. After Zachariah had +washed and dressed, they were to take a hackney coach together. At +the appointed hour the Major appeared, and found Mrs. Zachariah +already in her best clothes and tea ready. She was charming-- +finished from the uttermost hair on her head to the sole of her +slipper--and the dove-coloured, somewhat Quakerish tint of her +wedding-gown suited her admirably. Quarter-past six came, but there +was no Zachariah, and she thought she would make the tea, as he was +never long over his meals. Half-past six, and he was not there. The +two now sat down, and began to listen to every sound. The coach was +ordered at a quarter to seven. + +"What shall we do?" said the Major. "I cannot send you on and wait +for him." + +"No. How vexing it is! It is just like--" and she stopped. + +"We must stay where we are, I suppose; it is rather a pity to miss +being there when Kean first comes on." + +She was in a fretful agony of impatience. She rose and looked out of +the window, thought she heard somebody on the stairs, went outside on +the landing, returned, walked up and down, and mentally cursed her +husband, not profanely--she dared not do that--but with curses none +the less intense. Poor man! he had been kept by a job he had to +finish. She might have thought this possible, and, in fact, did +think it possible; but it made no difference in the hatred which she +permitted to rise against him. At last her animosity relaxed, and +she began to regard him with more composure, and even with pleasure. + +"Had you not better go and leave me here, so that we may follow? I +do not know what has happened, and I am sure he would be so sorry if +you were to be disappointed." + +She turned her eyes anxiously towards the Major. + +"That will never do. You know nothing about the theatre. No! no!" + +She paused and stamped her little foot, and looked again out of the +window. + +The coachman knocked at the door, and when she went down asked her +how long he had to wait. + +She came back, and throwing herself on a chair, fairly gave way to +her mortification, and cried out, "It is too bad--too bad!--it is, +really." + +"I'll tell you what," replied the Major. "Do you mind coming with +me? We will leave one of the tickets which I have bought, and we can +add a message that he is to follow, and that we will keep his place +for him. Put on your bonnet at once, and I will scribble a line to +him." + +Mrs. Zachariah did not see any other course open; her wrath once more +disappeared, and in another moment she was busy before the looking- +glass. The note was written, and pinned to the ticket, both being +stuck on the mantelpiece in a conspicuous place, so that Zachariah +might see them directly he arrived. In exuberant spirits she added +in her own hand, "Make as much haste as you can, my dear," and +subscribed her initials. It was a tremendously hot afternoon and, +what with the fire and the weather and the tea, the air was very +oppressive. She threw the bottom sash open a little wider therefore, +and the two rolled off to Drury Lane. As the door slammed behind +them, the draught caught the ticket and note, and in a moment they +were in the flames and consumed. + +Ten minutes afterwards in came Zachariah. He had run all the way, +and was dripping with perspiration. He rushed upstairs, but there +was nobody. He stared round him, looked at the plates, saw that two +had been there, rushed down again, and asked the woman in the shop: + +"Has Mrs. Coleman left any message?" + +"No. She went off with that gentleman that comes here now and then; +but she never said nothing to me," and Zachariah thought he saw +something like a grin on her face. + +It may be as well to say that he never dreamed of any real injury +done to him by his wife, and, in truth, the Major was incapable of +doing him any. He was gay, unorthodox, a man who went about in the +world, romantic, republican, but he never would have condescended to +seduce a woman, and least of all a woman belonging to a friend. He +paid women whom he admired all kinds of attentions, but they were +nothing more than the gallantry of the age. Although they were +nothing, however, to him, they were a good deal more than nothing to +Mrs. Zachariah. The symbolism of an act varies much, and what may be +mere sport to one is sin in another. The Major's easy manners and +very free courtesy were innocent so far as he was concerned; but when +his rigid, religious companion in the hackney coach felt them sweet, +and was better pleased with them than she had ever been with her +husband's caresses, she sinned, and she knew that she sinned. + +What curiously composite creatures we are! Zachariah for a moment +was half pleased, for she had now clearly wronged him. The next +moment, however, he was wretched. He took up the teapot; it was +empty; the tea-caddy was locked up. It was a mere trifle, but, as he +said to himself, the merest trifles are important if they are +significant. He brooded, therefore, over the empty teapot and locked +tea-caddy for fully five minutes. She had not only gone without him, +but had forgotten him. At the end of the five minutes teapot and +tea-caddy had swollen to enormous dimensions and had become the basis +of large generalisations. "I would rather," he exclaimed, "be +condemned to be led out and hung if I knew one human soul would love +me for a week beforehand and honour me afterwards, than live half a +century and be nothing to any living creature." Presently, however, +it occurred to him that, although in the abstract this might be true +yet at that particular moment he was a fool; and he made the best of +his way to Drury Lane. He managed to find his way into the gallery +just as Kean came on the stage in the second scene of the first act. +Far down below him, through the misty air, he thought he could see +his wife and the Major; but he was in an instant arrested by the +play. It was all new to him; the huge building, the thousands of +excited, eager faces, the lights, and the scenery. He had not +listened, moreover, to a dozen sentences from the great actor before +he had forgotten himself and was in Venice, absorbed in the fortunes +of the Moor. What a blessing is this for which we have to thank the +playwright and his interpreters, to be able to step out of the dingy, +dreary London streets, with all their wretched corrosive cares, and +at least for three hours to be swayed by nobler passions. For three +hours the little petty self, with all its mean surroundings, +withdraws: we breathe a different atmosphere, we are jealous, glad, +weep, laugh with Shakespeare's jealousy, gladness, tears, and +laughter! What priggishness, too, is that which objects to +Shakespeare on a stage because no acting can realise the ideal formed +by solitary reading! Are we really sure of it? Are we really sure +that Garrick or Kean or Siddons, with all their genius and study, +fall short of a lazy dream in an arm-chair! Kean had not only a +thousand things to tell Zachariah--meanings in innumerable passages +which had before been overlooked--but he gave the character of +Othello such vivid distinctness that it might almost be called a +creation. He was exactly the kind of actor, moreover, to impress +him. He was great, grand, passionate, overwhelming with a like +emotion the apprentice and the critic. Everybody after listening to +a play or reading a book uses it when he comes to himself again to +fill his own pitcher, and the Cyprus tragedy lent itself to Zachariah +as an illustration of his own Clerkenwell sorrows and as a gospel for +them, although his were so different from those of the Moor. Why did +he so easily suspect Desdemona? Is it not improbable that a man with +any faith in woman, and such a woman, should proceed to murder on +such evidence? If Othello had reflected for a moment, he would have +seen that everything might have been explained. Why did he not +question, sift, examine, before taking such tremendous revenge?--and +for the moment the story seemed unnatural. But then he considered +again that men and women, if they do not murder one another, do +actually, in everyday life, for no reason whatever, come to wrong +conclusions about each other; utterly and to the end of their lines +misconstrue and lose each other. Nay, it seems to be a kind of +luxury to them to believe that those who could and would love them +are false to them. We make haste to doubt the divinest fidelity; we +drive the dagger into each other, and we smother the Desdemona who +would have been the light of life to us, not because of any deadly +difference or grievous injury, but because we idly and wilfully +reject. + +The tale, evermore is: + + + "Of one whose hand, +Like the base Indian, threw a pearl away +Richer than all his tribe." + + +So said Zachariah to himself as he came out into Drury Lane and +walked eastwards. His wife and the Major were back before him. The +Major did not wait but returned at once to Albany Street, leaving +Mrs. Coleman to sit up for her husband. He was not hurrying himself, +and could not free himself from the crowd so easily as those who left +from below. The consequence was that he was a full half-hour behind +her, and she was not particularly pleased at having been kept so long +out of her bed. When she let him in all that she said was, "Oh, here +you are at last," and immediately retired. Strange to say, she +forgot all about family worship--never before omitted, however late +it might be. If she had taken the trouble to ask him whether he had +seen her message and the ticket so much might have been cleared up. +Of course he, too, ought to have spoken to her; it was the natural +thing to do, and it was extraordinary that he did not. But he let +her go; she knelt down by her bed, prayed her prayer to her God, and +in five minutes was asleep. Zachariah ten minutes afterwards prayed +his prayer to HIS God, and lay down, but not to sleep. No sooner was +his head on his pillow than the play was before his eyes, and +Othello, Desdemona, and Iago moved and spoke again for hours. Then +came the thoughts with which he had left the theatre and the +revulsion on reaching home. Burning with excitement at what was a +discovery to him, he had entered his house with even an enthusiasm +for his wife, and an impatient desire to try upon her the experiment +which he thought would reveal so much to him and make him wealthy for +ever. But when she met him he was struck dumb. He was shut up again +in his old prison, and what was so hopeful three hours before was all +vanity. So he struggled through the short night, and, as soon as he +could, rose and went out. This was a frequent practice, and his wife +was not surprised when she woke to find he had gone. She was in the +best of spirits again, and when he returned, after offering him the +usual morning greeting, she inquired at once in what part of the +theatre he was, and why he had not used the ticket. + +"We waited for you till the last moment; we should have been too late +if we had stayed an instant longer, and I made sure you would come +directly." + +"Ticket--what ticket? I saw no ticket?" + +"We left it on the mantelpiece, and there was a message with it." + +His face brightened, but he said nothing. A rush of blood rose to +his head; he moved towards her and kissed her. + +"What a wretch you must have thought me!" she said half laughingly, +as she instantly smoothed her hair again, which he had ruffled. "But +what has become of the ticket?" + +"Fell in the fire most likely; the window was open when I came in, +and the draught blew the picture over the mantelpiece nearly off its +hook." + +The breakfast was the happiest meal they had had for months. +Zachariah did his best to overcome his natural indisposition to talk. +Except when he was very much excited, he always found conversation +with his wife too difficult on any save the most commonplace topics, +although he was eloquent enough in company which suited him. She +listened to him, recalling with great pleasure the events of the +preceding evening. She was even affectionate--affectionate for her-- +and playfully patted his shoulder as he went out, warning him not to +be so late again. What was the cause of her gaiety? Was she +thinking improperly of the Major? No. If she had gone with +Zachariah alone to the theatre would she have been so cheerful? No. +Did she really think she loved her husband better? Yes. The human +heart, even the heart of Mrs. Coleman, is beyond our analysis. + + + +CHAPTER IV--A FRIEND OF THE PEOPLE + + + +The Friends of the People continued their meetings, and Zachariah +attended regularly, although, after about three months' experience, +he began to doubt whether any advance was being made. The immediate +subject of discussion now was a projected meeting in Spitalfields, +and each branch of the Society was to organise its own contingent. +All this was perfectly harmless. There was a good deal of wild talk +occasionally; but it mostly came from Mr. Secretary, especially when +he had had his beer. One evening he had taken more than enough, and +was decidedly staggering as he walked down Lamb's Conduit Street +homewards. Zachariah was at some distance, and in front of him, in +close converse, were his shoemaking friend, the Major, and a third +man whom he could not recognise. The Secretary swayed himself across +Holborn and into Chancery Lane, the others following. Presently they +came up to him, passed him, and turned off to the left, leaving him +to continue his troubled voyage southwards. The night air, however, +was a little too much for him, and when he got to Fleet Street he was +under the necessity of supporting himself against a wall. He became +more and more seditious as he became more and more muddled, so that +at last he attracted the attention of a constable who laid hold of +him and locked him up for the night. In the morning he was very much +surprised to find himself in a cell, feeling very miserable, charged +with being drunk and disorderly, and, what was ten times worse, with +uttering blasphemy against the Prince Regent. It may as well be +mentioned here that the greatest precautions had been taken to +prevent any knowledge by the authorities of the proceedings of the +Friends of the People. The Habeas Corpus Act was not yet suspended, +but the times were exceedingly dangerous. The Friends, therefore, +never left in a body nor by the same door. Watch was always kept +with the utmost strictness, not only on the stairs, but from a window +which commanded the street. No written summons was ever sent to +attend any meeting, ordinary or extraordinary. Mr. Secretary, +therefore, was much disconcerted when he found that his pockets were +emptied of all his official documents. He languished in his cell +till about twelve o'clock, very sick and very anxious, when he was +put into a cab, and, to his great surprise, instead of being taken to +a police court, was carried to Whitehall. There he was introduced to +an elderly gentleman, who sat at the head of a long table covered +with green cloth. A younger man, apparently a clerk, sat at a +smaller table by the fire and wrote, seeming to take no notice +whatever of what was going on. Mr. Secretary expected to hear +something about transportation, and to be denounced as an enemy of +the human race; but he was pleasantly disappointed. + +"Sorry to see a respectable person like you in such a position." + +Mr. Secretary wondered how the gentleman knew he was respectable; but +was silent. He was not now in an eloquent or seditious humour. + +"You may imagine that we know you, or we should not have taken the +trouble to bring you here. We should merely have had you committed +for trial." + +The Secretary thought of his empty pockets. In truth it was the +Major who had emptied them before he crossed Holborn; but of course +he suspected the constable. + +"You must be aware that you have exposed yourself to heavy penalties. +I prefer, however, to think of you as a well-meaning but misguided +person. What good do you think you can do? I can assure you that +the Government are fully aware of the distress which prevails, and +will do all they can to alleviate it. If you have any grievances, +why not seek their redress by legitimate and constitutional means?" + +The Secretary was flattered. He had never been brought face to face +with one of the governing classes before. He looked round; +everything was so quiet, so pacific; there were no fetters nor +thumbscrews; the sun was lighting up the park; children were playing +in it, and the necessity for a revolution was not on that particular +spot quite apparent. + +A messenger now entered carrying some sandwiches and a little +decanter of wine on a tray, covered with the whitest of cloths. + +"It struck me," continued the official, taking a sandwich and pouring +out a glass of wine, "when I heard of your arrest, that I should like +myself to have a talk with you. We really are most loth to proceed +to extremities. and you have, I understand, a wife and children. I +need not tell you what we could do with you if we liked. Now, just +consider, my friend. I don't want you to give up one single +principle; but is it worth your while to be sent to jail and to have +your home broken up merely because you want to achieve your object in +the wrong way, and in a foolish way? Keep your principles; we do not +object; but don't go out into the road with them. And you, as an +intelligent man, must see that you will not get what you desire by +violence as soon as you will by lawful methods. Is the difference +between us worth such a price as you will have to pay?" + +The Secretary hesitated; he could not speak; he was very faint and +nervous. + +"Ah, you've had nothing to eat, I dare say." + +The bell was rung, and was answered immediately. + +"Bring some bread and cheese and beer." + +The bread and cheese and beer were brought. + +"Sit down there and have something; I will go on with my work, and we +will finish our talk afterwards." + +The Secretary could not eat much bread and cheese, but he drank the +beer greedily. + +When he had finished the clerk left the room. The Commissioner--for +he was one of the Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury--followed +him to the door, closed it, not without satisfying himself that the +constable was at his post outside, returned to his seat, opened his +drawer, saw that a pistol and five guineas were there, and then +began: + +"Now, look here, my dear sir, let me speak plainly with you and come +to an understanding. We have made inquiries about you; we believe +you to be a good sort of fellow, and we are not going to prosecute +you. We do hope, however, that, should you hear anything which is-- +well--really treasonable, you will let us know. Treason, I am sure, +is as dreadful to you as it is to me. The Government, as I said +before, are most desirous of helping those who really deserve it; and +to prove this, as I understand you are out of work, just accept that +little trifle." + +The guineas were handed to Mr. Secretary, who looked at them +doubtfully. With the beer his conscience had returned, and he broke +out: + +"If you want me to be a d---d spy, d---d if I do!" The Commissioner +was not in the least disconcerted. "Spy, my man!--who mentioned the +word? The money was offered because you haven't got a sixpence. +Haven't I told you you are not required to give up a single +principle? Have I asked you to denounce a single companion? All I +have requested you to do, as an honest citizen, is to give me a hint +if you hear of anything which would be as perilous to you as to me." + +The Secretary after his brief explosion felt flaccid. He was subject +to violent oscillations, and he looked at the five guineas again. He +was very weak--weak naturally, and weaker through a long course of +alcohol. He was, therefore, prone to obscure, crooked, silly +devices, at any rate when he was sober. Half drunk he was very bold; +but when he had no liquor inside him he could NOT do what was +straight. He had not strength sufficient, if two courses were open, +to cast aside the one for which there were the fewer and less +conclusive reasons, and to take the proper path, as if no other were +before him. A sane, strong person is not the prey of reasons: a +person like Mr. Secretary can never free himself from them, and after +he has arrived at some kind of determination is still uncertain and +harks back. With the roar of the flames of the Cities of the Plain +in his ears, he stops, and is half afraid that it was his duty after +all to stay and try and put them out. The Secretary, therefore, +pondered again. The money was given on no condition that was worth +anything. For aught he knew, the Commissioner had his books and +papers already. He could take the guineas and be just as free as he +was before. He could even give a part of it to the funds of the +Friends. There obtruded, moreover, visions of Newgate, and his hands +slowly crept to the coins. + +"I am a Radical, sir, and I don't mind who knows it." + +"Nothing penal in that. Every man has a right to his own political +creed." + +The fingers crept closer and touched the gold. + +"If I thought you wanted to bribe me, I'd rot before I had anything +to do with you." + +The Commissioner smiled. There was no necessity to say anything +more, for the guineas were disappearing and finally, though slowly, +chinked down into Mr. Secretary's pocket. + +The Commissioner held out his hand. + +The Secretary before he took it looked loftier than ever. + +"I hope you understand me, sir, clearly." + +"I DO understand you clearly." + +The Secretary shook the hand; the Commissioner went with him to the +door. + +"Show this gentleman downstairs." + +The constable, without a look of surprise, went downstairs, and Mr. +Secretary found himself in the street. + +Mr. Commissioner drank another glass of wine, and then pencilled +something in a little memorandum book, which he put under the pistol. +The drawer had two locks, and he carefully locked both with two +little keys attached to a ribbon which he wore round his neck. + + + +CHAPTER V--THE HORIZON WIDENS + + + +Jean Caillaud, shoemaker, whom we have met before, commonly called +John Kaylow, friend of the Major and member of the Society of the +Friends of the People, was by birth a Frenchman. He had originally +come to this country in 1795, bringing with him a daughter, Pauline, +about four or five years old. Why he came nobody knew, nor did +anybody know who was the mother of the child. He soon obtained +plenty of employment, for he was an admirable workman, and learned to +speak English well. Pauline naturally spoke both English and French. +Her education was accomplished with some difficulty, though it was +not such a task as it might have been, because Jean's occupation kept +him at home; his house being in one of the streets in that +complication of little alleys and thoroughfares to most Londoners +utterly unknown; within the sound of St. Bride's nevertheless, and +lying about a hundred yards north of Fleet Street. If the explorer +goes up a court nearly opposite Bouverie Street, he will emerge from +a covered ditch into one that is opened, about six feet wide. +Presently the ditch ends in another and wider ditch running east and +west. The western one turns northward, and then westward again, +roofs itself over, squeezes itself till it becomes little less than a +rectangular pipe, and finally discharges itself under an oil and +colourman's house in Fetter Lane. The eastern arm, strange to say, +suddenly expands, and one side of it, for no earthly reason, is set +back with an open space in front of it, partitioned by low palings. +Immediately beyond, as if in a fit of sudden contrition for such +extravagance, the passage or gutter contracts itself to its very +narrowest and, diving under a printing-office shows itself in Shoe +Lane. The houses in these trenches were not by any means of the +worst kind. In the aforesaid expansion they were even genteel, or at +any rate aspired to be so, and each had its own brass knocker and +kept its front-door shut with decent sobriety and reticence. On the +top floor of one of these tenements lodged Jean Caillaud and Pauline. +They had three rooms between them; one was Jean's bedchamber, one +Pauline's, and one was workroom and living-room, where Jean made +ball-slippers and light goods--this being his branch of the trade-- +and Pauline helped him. The workroom faced the north, and was +exactly on a level with an innumerable multitude of red chimney-pots +pouring forth stinking smoke which, for the six winter months, +generally darkened the air during the whole day. But occasionally +Nature resumed her rights, and it was possible to feel that sky, +stars, sun, and moon still existed, and were not blotted out by the +obscurations of what is called civilised life. There came, +occasionally, wild nights in October or November, with a gale from +the south-west and then, when almost everybody had gone to bed and +the fires were out, the clouds, illuminated by the moon, rushed +across the heavens, and the Great Bear hung over the dismal waste of +smutty tiles with the same solemnity with which it hangs over the +mountains, the sea, or the desert. Early in the morning, too, in +summer, between three and four o'clock in June, there were sights to +be seen worth seeing. The distance was clear for miles, and the +heights of Highgate were visible, proclaiming the gospel of a beyond +and beyond even to Kent's Court, and that its immediate surroundings +were mercifully not infinite. The light made even the nearest bit of +soot-grimed, twisted, rotten brickwork beautiful, and occasionally, +but at very rare intervals, the odour of London was vanquished, and a +genuine breath from the Brixton fields was able to find its way +uncontaminated across the river. Jean and Pauline were, on the +whole, fond of the court. They often thought they would prefer the +country, and talked about it; but it is very much to be doubted, if +they had been placed in Devonshire, whether they would not have +turned back uneasily after a time to their garret. They both liked +the excitement of the city, and the feeling that they were so near to +everything that was stirring in men's minds. The long stretch of +lonely sea-shore is all very well, very beautiful, and, maybe, very +instructive to many people; but to most persons half-an-hour's +rational conversation is much more profitable. Pauline was not a +particularly beautiful girl. Her hair was black, and, although there +was a great deal of it, it was coarse and untidy. Her complexion was +sallow--not as clear as it might be--and underneath the cheek-bones +there were slight depressions. She had grown up without an +attachment, so far as her father knew, and indeed so far as she knew. +She had one redeeming virtue--redeeming especially to Jean, who was +with her alone so much. She had an intellect, and it was one which +sought for constant expression; consequently she was never dull. If +she was dull, she was ill. She had none of that horrible mental +constriction which makes some English women so insupportably tedious. +The last thing she read, the last thing she thought, came out with +vivacity and force, and she did not need the stimulus of a great +excitement to reveal what was in her. Living as she did at work side +by side with her father all day, she knew all his thoughts and read +all his books. Neither of them ever went to church. They were not +atheists, nor had they entirely pushed aside the religious questions +which torment men's minds. They believed in what they called a +Supreme Being, whom they thought to be just and good; but they went +no further. They were revolutionary, and when Jean joined the +Friends of the People, he and the Major and one other man became a +kind of interior secret committee, which really directed the affairs +of the branch. Companions they had none, except the Major and one or +two compatriots; but they were drawn to Zachariah, and Zachariah was +drawn to them, very soon after he became a member of the Society. +The first time he went to Kent's Court with Jean was one night after +a meeting. The two walked home together, and Zachariah turned in for +an hour, as it was but ten o'clock. There had been a grand +thanksgiving at St. Paul's that day. The Prince Regent had returned +thanks to Almighty God for the restoration of peace. The Houses of +Parliament were there, with the Foreign Ambassadors, the City +Corporation, the Duke of Wellington, Field-Marshal Blucher, +peeresses, and society generally. The Royal Dukes, Sussex, Kent, +York, and Gloucester, were each drawn by six horses and escorted by a +separate party of the Guards. It took eight horses to drag the +Prince himself to divine service, and he, too, was encompassed by +soldiers. Arrived at the cathedral, he was marshalled to a kind of +pew surmounted by a lofty crimson-and-gold canopy. There he sat +alone, worshipped his Creator, and listened to a sermon by the Bishop +of Chester. Neither Jean nor Pauline troubled themselves to go out, +and indeed it would not have been of much use if they had tried; for +it was by no means certain that Almighty God, who had been so kind as +to get rid of Napoleon, would not permit a row in the streets. +Consequently, every avenue which led to the line of the procession +was strictly blocked. They heard the music from a distance, and +although they both hated Bonaparte, it had not a pleasant sound in +their ears. It was the sound of triumph over Frenchmen, and, +furthermore, with all their dislike to the tyrant, they were proud of +his genius. + +Walking towards Clerkenwell that evening, the streets being clear, +save for a number of drunken men and women, who were testifying to +the orthodoxy of their religious and political faith by rolling about +the kennel in various stages of intoxication, Jean pressed Zachariah +to go upstairs with him. Pauline had prepared supper for herself and +her father, and a very frugal meal it was, for neither of them could +drink beer nor spirits, and they could not afford wine. Pauline and +Zachariah were duly introduced, and Zachariah looked around him. The +room was not dirty, but it was extremely unlike his own. Shoe-making +implements and unfinished jobs lay here and there without being "put +away." An old sofa served as a seat, and on it were a pair of lasts, +a bit of a French newspaper, and a plateful of small onions and +lettuce, which could not find a place on the little table. +Zachariah, upstairs in Rosoman Street, had often felt just as if he +were in his Sunday clothes and new boots. He never could make out +what was the reason for it. There are some houses in which we are +always uncomfortable. Our freedom is fettered, and we can no more +take our ease in them than in a glass and china shop. We breathe +with a sense of oppression, and the surroundings are like repellant +chevaux de frise. Zachariah had no such feelings here. There was +disorder, it is true; but, on the other hand, there was no polished +tea-caddy to stare at him and claim equal rights against him, defying +him to disturb it. He was asked to sit upon the sofa, and in so +doing upset the plateful of salad upon the floor. Pauline smiled, +was down upon her knees in an instant, before he could prevent her, +picked up the vegetables and put them back again. To tell the truth, +they were rather dirty; and she, therefore, washed them in a hand- +basin. Zachariah asked her if she had been out that day. + +"I?--to go with the Lord Mayor and bless the good God for giving us +back Louis Bourbon? No Mr. Coleman; if the good God did give us +Louis back again, I wouldn't bless Him for it, and I don't think He +had much to do with it. So there were two reasons why I didn't go." + +Zachariah was a little puzzled, a little shocked, and a little out of +his element. + +"I thought you might have gone to see the procession and hear the +music." + +"I hate processions. Whenever I see one, and am squeezed and +trampled on just because those fine people may ride by, I am +humiliated and miserable. As for the music, I hate that too. It is +all alike, and might as well be done by machinery. Come, you are +eating nothing. What conspiracy have you and my father hatched to- +night?" + +"Conspiracy!" said Jean. "Who are the conspirators? Not we. The +conspirators are those thieves who have been to St. Paul's." + +"To give thanks," said Pauline. "If I were up there in the sky, +shouldn't I laugh at them. How comical it is! Did they give thanks +for Austerlitz or Jena?" + +"That's about the worst of it," replied Jean. "It is one vast plot +to make the people believe lies. I shouldn't so much mind their +robbing the country of its money to keep themselves comfortable, but +what is the meaning of their Te Deums? I tell you again,"--and he +repeated the words with much emphasis--"it is a vast plot to make men +believe a lie. I abhor them for that ten times more than for taking +my money to replace Louis." + +"Oh," resumed Pauline, "IF I were only up in the sky for an hour, I +would have thundered and lightened on them just as they got to the +top of Ludgate Hill, and scattered a score or so of them. I wonder +if they would have thanked Providence for their escape? O father, +such a joke! The Major told me the other day of an old gentleman he +knew who was riding along in his carriage. A fireball fell and +killed the coachman. The old gentleman, talking about it afterwards, +said that "PROVIDENTIALLY it struck the box-seat." + +Zachariah, although a firm believer in his faith, and not a coward, +was tempted to be silent. He was heavy and slow in action, and this +kind of company was strange to him. Furthermore, Pauline was not an +open enemy, and notwithstanding her little blasphemies, she was +attractive. But then he remembered with shame that he was ordered to +testify to the truth wherever he might be, and unable to find +anything of his own by which he could express himself, a text of the +Bible came into his mind, and, half to himself, he repeated it aloud: + +"I form the light and create darkness: I make peace and create evil; +I the Lord do all these things." + +"What is that?" said Jean. "Repeat it." + +Zachariah slowly repeated it. He had intended to add to it something +which might satisfy his conscience and rebuke Pauline, but he could +not. + +"Whence is that?" said Jean. + +"From the Bible; give me one and I will show it to you." + +There was no English Bible in the house. It was a book not much +used; but Pauline presently produced a French version, and Jean read +the passage--"Qui forme la lumiere, et qui cree les tenebres; qui +fait la paix, et qui cree l'adversite; c'est moi, l'Eternel, qui fais +toutes les choses la." + +Pauline bent over her father and read it again. + +"Qui cree l'adversite," she said. "Do you believe that?" + +"If it is there I do," said Zachariah. + +"Well, I don't." + +"What's adversity to hell fire? If He made hell-fire, why not +adversity? Besides, if He did not, who did?" + +"Don't know a bit, and don't mean to bother myself about it." + +"Right!" broke in Jean--"right, my child; bother--that is a good +word. Don't bother yourself about anything when--bothering will not +benefit. There is so much in the world which will--bear a +botheration out of which some profit will arise. Now, then, clear +the room, and let Zachariah see your art." + +The plates and dishes were all put in a heap and the table pushed +aside. Pauline retired for a few moments, and presently came back in +a short dress of black velvet, which reached about half-way down from +the knee to the ankle. It was trimmed with red; she had stuck a red +artificial flower in her hair, and had on a pair of red stockings +with dancing slippers, probably of her own make. Over her shoulders +was a light gauzy shawl. Her father took his station in a corner, +and motioned to Zachariah to compress himself into another. By dint +of some little management and piling up the chairs an unoccupied +space of about twelve feet square was obtained. Pauline began +dancing, her father accompanying her with an oboe. It was a very +curious performance. It was nothing like ordinary opera-dancing, and +equally unlike any movement ever seen at a ball. It was a series of +graceful evolutions with the shawl which was flung, now on one +shoulder and now on the other, each movement exquisitely resolving +itself, with the most perfect ease, into the one following, and +designed apparently to show the capacity of a beautiful figure for +poetic expression. Wave fell into wave along every line of her body, +and occasionally a posture was arrested, to pass away in an instant +into some new combination. There was no definite character in the +dance beyond mere beauty. It was melody for melody's sake. A +remarkable change, too, came over the face of the performer. She +looked serious; but it was not a seriousness produced by any strain. +It was rather the calm which is found on the face of the statue of a +goddess. In none of her attitudes was there a trace of +coquettishness, although some were most attractive. One in +particular was so. She held a corner of the shawl high above her +with her right hand, and her right foot was advanced so as to show +her whole frame extended excepting the neck; the head being bent +downward and sideways. + +Suddenly Jean ceased; Pauline threw the shawl over both her +shoulders, made a profound curtsey, and retired; but in five minutes +she was back again in her ordinary clothes. Zachariah was in sore +confusion. He had never seen anything of the kind before. + +He had been brought up in a school which would have considered such +an exhibition as the work of the devil. He was distressed too to +find that the old Adam was still so strong within him that he +detected a secret pleasure in what he had seen. He would have liked +to have got up and denounced Jean and Pauline, but somehow he could +not. His great great grandfather would have done it, beyond a doubt, +but Zachariah sat still. + +"Did you ever perform in public?" he asked. + +"No. I was taught when I was very young; but I have never danced +except to please father and his friends." + +This was a relief, and some kind of an excuse. He felt not quite +such a reprobate; but again he reflected that when he was looking at +her he did not know that she was not in a theatre every night in the +week. He expected that Jean would offer some further explanation of +the unusual accomplishment which his daughter had acquired; but he +was silent, and Zachariah rose to depart, for it was eleven o'clock. +Jean apparently was a little restless at the absence of approval on +Zachariah's part, and at last he said abruptly: + +"What do you think of her?" + +Zachariah hesitated, and Pauline came to the rescue. "Father, what a +shame! Don't put him in such an awkward position." + +"It was very wonderful," stammered Zachariah, "but we are not used to +that kind of thing." + +"Who are the 'we'?" said Pauline. "Ah, of course you are Puritans. +I am a--what do you call it?--a daughter, no, that isn't it--a child +of the devil. I won't have that though. My father isn't the devil. +Even YOU wouldn't say that, Mr. Coleman. Ah, I have no business to +joke, you look so solemn; you think my tricks are satanic; but what +was it in your book, 'C'est moi, l'Eternel, qui fais toutes les +choses la'?" and as Zachariah advanced to the doors he made him a bow +with a grace which no lady of quality could have surpassed. + +He walked home with many unusual thoughts. It was the first time he +had ever been in the company of a woman of any liveliness of +temperament, and with an intellect which was on equal terms with that +of a man. In his own Calvinistic Dissenting society the pious women +who were members of the church took little or no interest in the +mental life of their husband. They read no books, knew nothing of +politics, were astonishingly ignorant, and lived in their household +duties. To be with a woman who could stand up against him was a new +experience. Here was a girl to whom every thought her father +possessed was familiar! + +But there was another experience. From his youth upwards he had been +trained with every weapon in the chapel armoury, and yet he now found +himself as powerless as the merest novice to prevent the very sinful +occupation of dwelling upon every attitude of Pauline, and outlining +every one of her limbs. Do what he might, her image was for ever +before his eyes, and reconstructed itself after every attempt to +abolish it, just as a reflected image in a pool slowly but inevitably +gathers itself together again after each disturbance of the water. +When he got home, he found, to his surprise, that his wife was still +sitting up. She had been to the weekly prayer-meeting, and was not +in a very pleasant temper. She was not spiteful, but unusually +frigid. She felt herself to be better than her husband, and she +asked him if he could not arrange in future that his political +meetings might not interfere with his religious duties. + +"Your absence, too, was noticed, and Mrs. Carver asked me how it was +that Mr. Coleman could let me go home alone. She offered to tell Mr. +Carver to come home with me; but I refused." + +Delightfully generous of Mrs. Carver! That was the sort of kindness +for which she and many of her Pike Street friends were so +distinguished; and Mrs. Coleman not only felt it deeply, but was glad +of the opportunity of letting Mr. Coleman know how good the Carvers +were. + +It was late, but Mrs. Coleman produced the Bible. Zachariah opened +it rather mechanically. They were going regularly through it at +family worship, and had got into Numbers. The portion for that +evening was part of the 26th chapter: "And these are they that were +numbered of the Levites after their families: of Gershon, the family +of the Gershonites: of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites: of +Merari, the family of the Merarites," &c., &c. Zachariah, having +read about a dozen verses, knelt down and prayed; but, alas, even in +his prayer he saw Pauline's red stockings. + +The next morning his wife was more pleasant, and even talkative-- +talkative, that is to say, for her. Something had struck her. + +"My dear," quoth she, as they sat at breakfast, "what a pity it is +that the Major is not a converted character!" + +Zachariah could not but think so too. + +"I have been wondering if we could get him to attend our chapel. Who +knows?--some word might go to his heart which might be as the seed +sown on good ground." + +"Have you tried to convert him yourself?" + +"Oh no, Zachariah! I don't think that would be quite proper." + +She screwed up her lips a little, and then, looking down at her knees +very demurely, smoothed her apron. + +"Why not, my dear? Surely it is our duty to testify to the belief +that is in us. Poor Christiana, left alone, says, as you will +remember, 'O neighbour, knew you but as much as I do, I doubt not but +that you would go with me.'" + +"Ah, yes, that was all very well then." She again smoothed her +apron. "Besides, you know," she added suddenly, "there were no +public means of grace in the City of Destruction. Have YOU said +anything to the Major?" + +"No." + +She did not push her advantage, and the unpleasant fact again stood +before Zachariah's eyes, as it had stood a hundred times before them +lately, that when he had been with sinners he had been just what they +were, barring the use of profane language. What had he done for his +master with the Major, with Jean, and with Pauline?--and the awful +figure of the Crucified seemed to rise before him and rebuke him. He +was wretched: he had resolved over and over again to break out +against those who belonged to the world, to abjure them and all their +works. Somehow or other, though, he had not done it. + +"Suppose," said Mrs. Zachariah, "we were to ask the Major here on +Sunday afternoon to tea, and to chapel afterwards." + +"Certainly." He was rather pleased with the proposition. He would +be able to bear witness in this way at any rate to the truth. + +"Perhaps we might at the same time ask Jean Caillaud, his friend. +Would to God"--his wife started--"would to God," he exclaimed +fervently, "that these men could be brought into the Church of +Christ!" + +"To be sure. Ask Mr. Caillaud, then, too." + +"If we do, we must ask his daughter also; he would not go out without +her." + +"I was not aware he had a daughter. You never told me anything about +her." + +"I never saw her till the other evening." + +"I don't know anything of her. She is a foreigner too. I hope she +is a respectable young person." + +"I know very little; but she is more English than foreign. Jean has +been here a good many years, and she came over when she was quite +young. I think she must come." + +"Very well." And so it was settled. + +Zachariah that night vowed to his Redeemer that, come what might, he +would never again give Him occasion to look at him with averted face +and ask if he was ashamed of Him. The text ran in his ears: +"Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of My words in this +adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be +ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy +angels." + + + +CHAPTER VI--TEA A LA MODE + + + +Sunday afternoon came. It was the strangest party. Pauline, on +being introduced to Mrs. Coleman, made a profound curtsey, which Mrs. +Coleman returned by an inclination of her head, as if she consented +to recognise Pauline, but to go no further. Tea was served early, as +chapel began at half-past six. Mrs. Coleman, although it was Sunday, +was very busy. She had made hot buttered toast, and she had bought +some muffins, but had appeased her conscience by telling the boy that +she would not pay for them till Monday. The milk was always obtained +on the same terms. She also purchased some water-cresses; but the +water-cress man demanded prompt cash settlement, and she was in a +strait. At last the desire for the water-cresses prevailed, and she +said: + +"How much?" + +"Three-halfpence." + +"Now, mind I give you twopence for yourself--mind I give it you. I +do not approve of buying and selling on Sunday. We will settle about +the other ha'porth another time." + +"All right, ma'am; if you like it that way, it's no odds to me;" and +Mrs. Coleman went her way upstairs really believing that she had +prevented the commission of a crime. + +Let those of us cast the stone who can take oath that in their own +morality there is no casuistry. Probably ours is worse than hers, +because hers was traditional and ours is self-manufactured. + +Everything being at last in order, Mrs. Coleman, looking rather warm, +but still very neat and very charming, sat at the head of the table, +with her back to the fireplace; the Major was on her right, Jean on +her left, Pauline next to him, and opposite to her Zachariah. +Zachariah and his wife believed in asking a blessing on their food; +but, curiously enough, in 1814, even amongst the strictest sort, it +had come to be the custom not to ask it at breakfast or tea, but only +at dinner; although breakfast and tea in those days certainly needed +a blessing as much as dinner, for they were substantial meals. An +exception was made in favour of public tea-meetings. At a public +tea-meeting a blessing was always asked and a hymn was always sung. + +For some time nothing remarkable was said. The weather was very hot, +and Mrs. Coleman complained. It had been necessary to keep up a fire +for the sake of the kettle. The Major promptly responded to her +confession of faintness by opening the window wider, by getting a +shawl to put over the back of her chair; and these little attentions +she rewarded by smiles and particular watchfulness over his plate and +cup. At last he and Jean fell to talking about the jubilee which was +to take place on the first of the next month to celebrate the +centenary of the "accession of the illustrious family of Brunswick to +the throne"--so ran the public notice. There was to be a grand +display in the parks, a sham naval action on the Serpentine, and a +balloon ascent. + +"Are you going, Caillaud?" said the Major. "It will be a holiday." + +"We," cried Pauline--"we! I should think not. WE go to rejoice over +your House of Brunswick; and it is to be the anniversary of your +battle of the Nile too! WE go! No, no." + +"What's your objection to the House of Brunswick? And as for the +battle of the Nile, you are no friend to Napoleon." So replied the +Major, who always took a pleasure in exciting Pauline. + +"The House of Brunswick! Why should we thank God for them; thank God +for the stupidest race that ever sat upon a throne; thank God for +stupidity--and in a king, Major? God, the Maker of the sun and +stars--to call upon the nation to bless Him for your Prince Regent. +As for the Nile, I am, as you say, no friend to Napoleon, but I am +French. It is horrible to me to think--I saw him the other day--that +your Brunswick Prince is in London and Napoleon is in Elba." + +"God, after all," said the Major, laughing, "is not so hostile to +stupidity, then; as you suppose." + +"Ah! don't plague me, Major; that's what you are always trying to do. +I'm not going to thank the Supreme for the Brunswicks. I don't +believe He wanted them here." + +Pauline's religion was full of the most lamentable inconsistencies, +which the Major was very fond of exposing, but without much effect, +and her faith was restored after every assault with wonderful +celerity. By way of excuse for her we may be permitted to say that a +perfectly consistent, unassailable creed, in which conclusion follows +from premiss in unimpeachable order, is impossible. We cannot +construct such a creed about any man or woman we know, and least of +all about the universe. We acknowledge opposites which we have no +power to bring together; and Pauline, although she knew nothing of +philosophy, may not have been completely wrong with her Supreme who +hated the Brunswicks and nevertheless sanctioned Carlton House. + +Pauline surprised Mrs. Zachariah considerably. A woman, and more +particularly a young woman, even supposing her to be quite orthodox, +who behaved in that style amongst the members of Pike Street, would +have been like a wild seagull in a farmyard of peaceful, clucking, +brown-speckled fowls. All the chapel maidens and matrons, of course, +were serious; but their seriousness was decent and in order. Mrs. +Coleman was therefore scandalised, nervous, and dumb. Jean, as his +manner was when his daughter expressed herself strongly, was also +silent. His love for her was a consuming, hungry fire. It utterly +extinguished all trace, not merely of selfishness, but of self, in +him, and he was perfectly content, when Pauline spoke well, to remain +quiet, and not allow a word of his to disturb the effect which he +thought she ought to produce. + +The Major, as a man of the world, thought the conversation was +becoming a little too metaphysical, and asked Mrs. Coleman gaily if +she would like to see the fete. + +"Really, I hardly know what to say. I suppose"--and this was said +with a peculiar acidity--"there is nothing wrong in it? Zachariah, +my dear, would you like to go?" + +Zachariah did not reply. His thoughts were elsewhere. But at last +the spirit moved in him: + +"Miss Pauline, your Supreme Being won't help you very far. There is +no light save in God's Holy Word. God hath concluded them all in +unbelief that He might have mercy upon all. As by one man's +disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall +many be made righteous. That is the explanation; that is the gospel. +God allows all this wickedness that His own glory may be manifested +thereby, and His own love in sending Jesus Christ to save us: that, +as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through +righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Do you ask +me why does God wink at the crimes of kings and murderers? What if +God, willing to show His wrath, and to make His power known, endured +with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, +and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels +of mercy which He had afore prepared unto glory, even us whom He had +called? Miss Pauline, the mere light of human reason will never save +you or give you peace. Unless you believe God's Word you are lost; +lost here and hereafter; lost HERE even, for until you believe it you +wander in a fog of ever deepening confusion. All is dark and +inexplicable." + +Being very much excited, he used largely the words of St. Paul, and +not his own. How clear it all seemed to him, how indisputable! +Childish association and years of unquestioning repetition gave an +absolute certainty to what was almost unmeaning to other people. + +Mrs. Zachariah, although she had expressed a strong desire for the +Major's conversion, and was the only other representative of the +chapel present, was very fidgety and uncomfortable during this +speech. She had an exquisite art, which she sometimes practised, of +dropping her husband, or rather bringing him down. So, when there +was a pause, everybody being moved at least by his earnestness, she +said: + +"My dear, will you take any more tea?" + +He was looking on the table-cloth, with his head on his hands, and +did not answer. + +"Major Maitland, may I give you some more tea?" + +"No, thank you." The Major too was impressed--more impressed than +the lady who sat next to him, and she felt rebuffed and annoyed. To +Pauline, Zachariah had spoken Hebrew; but his passion was human, and +her heart leapt out to meet him, although she knew not what answer to +make. Her father was in the same position; but the Major's case was +a little different. He had certainly at some time or other read the +Epistle to the Romans, and some expressions were not entirely +unfamiliar to him. + +"'Vessels of wrath fitted to destruction!'--a strong and noble +phrase. Who are your vessels of wrath, Coleman?" + +Caillaud and Pauline saw a little light, but it was speedily eclipsed +again. + +"The unregenerate." + +"Who are they?" + +"Those whom God has not called." + +"Castlereagh, Liverpool, Sidmouth, and the rest of the gang, for +example?" + +Zachariah felt that the moment had come. + +"Yes, yes; but not only they. More than they. God help me if I deny +the Cross of Christ--all of us into whose hearts God's grace has not +been poured--we, you, all of us, if we have not been born of the +Spirit and redeemed by the sacrifice of His Son." + +Zachariah put in the "us" and the "we," it will be observed. It was +a concession to blunt the sharpness of that dreadful dividing-line. + +"We? Not yourself, Caillaud, and Pauline?" + +He could not face the question. Something within him said that he +ought to have gone further; that he ought to have singled out the +Major, Caillaud, and Pauline; held them fast, looked straight into +their eyes, and told them each one there and then that they were in +the bonds of iniquity, sold unto Satan, and in danger of hell-fire. +But, alas! he was at least a century and a half too late. He +struggled, wrestled, self against self, and failed, not through want +of courage, but because he wanted a deeper conviction. The system +was still the same, even to its smallest details, but the application +had become difficult. The application, indeed, was a good deal left +to the sinner himself. That was the difference. Phrases had been +invented or discovered which served to express modern hesitation to +bring the accepted doctrine into actual, direct, week-day practice. +It was in that way that it was gradually bled into impotence. One of +these phrases came into his mind. It was from his favourite author: + +"'Who art thou that judgest?' It is not for me, Major Maitland." + +Ah, but, Zachariah, do you not remember that Paul is not speaking of +those who deny the Lord, but of the weak in faith; of differences in +eating and drinking, and the observation of days? Whether he +remembered it or not, he could say no more. Caillaud, the Major, +Pauline, condemned to the everlasting consequences of the wrath of +the Almighty! He could not pronounce such a sentence, and yet his +conscience whispered that just for want of the last nail in a sure +place what he had built would come tumbling to the ground. During +the conversation the time had stolen away, and, to their horror, +Zachariah and his wife discovered that it was a quarter-past six. He +hastily informed his guests that he had hoped they would attend him +to his chapel. Would they go? The Major consented. He had nothing +particular on hand, but Caillaud and Pauline refused. Zachariah was +particularly urgent that these two should accompany him, but they +were steadfast, for all set religious performances were hateful to +them. + +"No, Coleman, no more; I know what it all means." + +"And I," added Pauline, "cannot sit still with so many respectable +people; I never could. I have been to church, and always felt +impelled to do something peculiar in it which would have made them +turn me out. I cannot, too, endure preaching. I cannot tolerate +that man up in the pulpit looking down over all the people--so wise +and so self-satisfied. I want to pull him out and say. 'Here, you, +sir, come here and let me see if you can tell me two or three things +I want to know.' Then, Mr. Coleman, I am never well in a great +building, especially in a church; I have such a weight upon my head +as if the roof were resting on it." + +He looked mournfully at her, but there was no time to remonstrate. +Mrs. Zachariah was ready, in her Sunday best of sober bluish cloud- +colour. Although it was her Sunday best, there was not a single +thread of finery on it, and there was not a single crease nor spot. +She bade Caillaud and Pauline good-bye with much cheerfulness, and +tripped downstairs. The Major had preceded her, but Zachariah +lingered for a moment with the other two. + +"Come, my dear, make haste, we shall be so late." + +"Go on with the Major; I shall catch you in a moment; I walk faster +than you. I must close the window a trifle, and take two or three of +the coals off the fire." + +Caillaud and Pauline lingered too. The three were infinitely nearer +to one another than they knew. Zachariah thought he was so far, and +yet he was so close. The man rose up behind the Calvinist, and +reached out arms to touch and embrace his friends. + +"Good-bye, Caillaud; good-bye, Pauline! May God in His mercy bless +and save you. God bless you!" + +Caillaud looked steadfastly at him for a moment. and then, in his +half-forgotten French fashion, threw his arms round his neck, and the +two remained for a moment locked together, Pauline standing by +herself apart. She came forward, took Zachariah's hand, when it was +free, in both her own, held her head back a little, as if for +clearness of survey, and said slowly, "God bless you, Mr. Coleman." +She then went downstairs. Her father followed her, and Zachariah +went after his wife and the Major, whom, however, he did not overtake +till he reached the chapel door, where they were both waiting for +him. + + + +CHAPTER VII--JEPHTHAH + + + +The Reverend Thomas Bradshaw, of Pike Street Meeting-House, was not a +descendant from Bradshaw the regicide, but claimed that he belonged +to the same family. He was in 1814 about fifty years old, and +minister of one of the most important churches in the eastern part of +London. He was tall and spare, and showed his height in the pulpit, +for he always spoke without a note, and used a small Bible, which he +held close to his eyes. He was a good classical scholar, and he +understood Hebrew, too, as well as few men in that day understood it. +He had a commanding figure, ruled his church like a despot; had a +crowded congregation, of which the larger portion was masculine; and +believed in predestination and the final perseverance of the saints. +He was rather unequal in his discourses, for he had a tendency to +moodiness, and, at times, even to hypochondria. When this temper was +upon him he was combative or melancholy; and sometimes, to the +disgust of many who came from all parts of London to listen to him, +he did not preach in the proper sense of the word, but read a +chapter, made a comment or two upon it, caused a hymn to be sung, and +then dismissed his congregation with the briefest of prayers. +Although he took no active part in politics, he was republican +through and through, and never hesitated for a moment in those +degenerate days to say what he thought about any scandal. In this +respect he differed from his fellow-ministers, who, under the +pretence of increasing zeal for religion, had daily fewer and fewer +points of contact with the world outside. Mr. Bradshaw had been +married when he was about thirty; but his wife died in giving birth +to a daughter, who also died,--and for twenty years he had been a +widower, with no thought of changing his condition. He was +understood to have peculiar opinions about second marriages, although +he kept them very much to himself. One thing, however, was known, +that for a twelvemonth after the death of his wife he was away from +England, and that he came back an altered man to his people in +Bedfordshire, where at that time he was settled. His discourses were +remarkably strong, and of a kind seldom, or indeed never, heard now. +They taxed the whole mental powers of his audience, and were utterly +unlike the simple stuff which became fashionable with the +Evangelistic movement. Many of them, taken down by some of his +hearers, survive in manuscript to the present day. They will not, as +a rule, bear printing, because the assumption on which they rest is +not now assumed; but if it be granted, they are unanswerable; and it +is curious that even now and then, although they are never for a +moment anything else than a strict deduction from what we in the +latter half of the century consider unproven or even false, they +express themselves in the same terms as the newest philosophy. +Occasionally too, more particularly when he sets himself the task of +getting into the interior of a Bible character, he is intensely +dramatic, and what are shadows to the careless reader become living +human beings, with the reddest of blood visible under their skin. + +On this particular evening Mr. Bradshaw took the story of Jephthah's +daughter: --"The Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah." Here is an +abstract of his discourse. "It WAS the Spirit of the Lord, +notwithstanding what happened. I beg you also to note that there is +a mistranslation in our version. The Hebrew has it, 'Then it shall +be, that WHOSOEVER'--not WHATSOEVER--'cometh forth of the doors of my +house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, +shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer HIM'--not IT--'up for a +burnt-offering.' Nevertheless I believe my text--it WAS the Spirit +of the Lord. This Hebrew soldier was the son of a harlot. He was +driven by his brethren out of his father's house. Ammon made war +upon Israel, and in their distress the elders of Israel went to fetch +Jephthah. Mark, my friends, God's election. The children of the +lawful wife are passed by, and the child of the harlot is chosen. +Jephthah forgets his grievances and becomes captain of the host. +Ammon is over against them. Jephthah's rash vow--this is sometimes +called. I say it is not a rash vow. It may be rash to those who +have never been brought to extremity by the children of Ammon--to +those who have not cared whether Ammon or Christ wins. Men and women +sitting here in comfortable pews"--this was said with a kind of +snarl--"may talk of Jephthah's rash vow. God be with them, what do +they know of the struggles of such a soul? It does not say so +directly in the Bible, but we are led to infer it, that Jephthah was +successful because of his vow. 'The Lord delivered them into his +hands.' He would not have done it if He had been displeased with the +'rash vow'" (another snarl). "He smote them from Aroer even till +thou come to Minnith. Ah, but what follows? The Omnipotent and +Omniscient might have ordered it, surely, that a slave might have met +Jephthah. Why, in His mercy, did He not do it? Who are we that we +should question what He did? But if we may not inquire too closely +into His designs, it is permitted us, my friends, when His reason +accords with ours, to try and show it. Jephthah had played for a +great stake. Ought the Almighty--let us speak it with reverence--to +have let him off with an ox, or even with a serf? I say that if we +are to conquer Ammon we must pay for it, and we ought to pay for it. +Yes, and perhaps God wanted the girl--who can tell? Jephthah comes +back in triumph. Let me read the passage to you: --'Behold his +daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: AND SHE +WAS HIS ONLY CHILD: BESIDE HER HE HAD NEITHER SON NOR DAUGHTER. And +it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, +Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of +them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and +I cannot go back.' Now, you read poetry, I dare say--what you call +poetry. I say in all of it--all, at least, I have seen--nothing +comes up to that. 'SHE WAS HIS ONLY CHILD: BESIDE HER HE HAD +NEITHER SON NOR DAUGHTER.'"--(Mr. Bradshaw's voice broke a little as +he went over the words again with great deliberation and infinite +pathos.)--"The inspired writer leaves the fact just as it stands, and +is content. Inspiration itself can do nothing to make it more +touching than it is in its own bare nakedness. There is no thought +in Jephthah of recantation, nor in the maiden of revolt, but +nevertheless he has his own sorrow. HE IS BROUGHT VERY LOW. God +does not rebuke him for his grief. He knows well enough, my dear +friends, the nature which He took upon Himself--nay, are we not the +breath of His nostrils, created in His image? He does not anywhere, +therefore, I say, forbid that we should even break our hearts over +those we love and lose. She asks for two months by herself upon the +mountains before her death. What a time for him! At the end of the +two months God held him still to his vow; he did not shrink; she +submitted, and was slain. But you will want me to tell you in +conclusion where the gospel is in all this. Gospel! I say that the +blessed gospel is in the Old Testament as well as in the New. I say +that the Word of God is one, and that His message is here this night +for you and me, as distinctly as it is at the end of the sacred +volume. Observe, as I have told you before, that Jephthah is the son +of the harlot. He hath mercy on whom He will have mercy. He calls +them His people who are not His people; and He calls her beloved +which was not beloved. God at any rate is no stickler for hereditary +rights. Moreover, it does not follow because you, my hearers, have +God-fearing parents, that God has elected you. He may have chosen, +instead of you, instead of me, the wretchedest creature outside, +whose rags we will not touch. But to what did God elect Jephthah? +To a respectable, easy, decent existence, with money at interest, +regular meals, sleep after them, and unbroken rest at night? He +elected him to that tremendous oath and that tremendous penalty. He +elected him to the agony he endured while she was away upon the +hills! That is God's election; an election to the cross and to the +cry, 'Eli, Eli, lama Sabachthani.' 'Yes,' you will say, 'but He +elected him to the victory over Ammon.' Doubtless He did; but what +cared Jephthah for his victory over Ammon when she came to meet him, +or, indeed, for the rest of his life? What is a victory, what are +triumphal arches and the praise of all creation to a lonely man? Be +sure, if God elects you, He elects you to suffering. Whom He loveth +He chasteneth, and His stripes are not play-work. Ammon will not be +conquered unless your heart be well nigh broken. I tell you, too, as +Christ's minister, that you are not to direct your course according +to your own desires. You are not to say, -'I will give up this and +that so that I may be saved.' Did not St. Paul wish himself accursed +from Christ for his brethren? If God should command you to go down +to the bottomless pit in fulfilment of His blessed designs, it is +your place to go. Out with self--I was about to say this damned +self; and if Israel calls, if Christ calls, take not a sheep or ox-- +that is easy enough--but take your choicest possession, take your own +heart, your own blood, your very self, to the altar." + +During the sermon the Major was much excited. Apart altogether from +the effect of the actual words spoken, Mr: Bradshaw had a singular +and contagious power over men. The three, Mrs. Coleman, the Major, +and Zachariah, came out together. Mrs. Zachariah stayed behind in +the lobby for some female friend to whom she wished to speak about a +Sunday-school tea-meeting which was to take place that week. The +other two stood aside, ill at ease, amongst the crowd pressing out +into the street. Presently Mrs. Coleman found her friend, whom she +at once informed that Major Maitland and her husband were waiting for +her, and that therefore she had not a moment to spare. That little +triumph accomplished, she had nothing of importance to say about the +tea-meeting, and rejoined her party with great good-humour. She +walked between the Major and Zachariah, and at once asked the Major +how he "enjoyed the service." The phrase was very unpleasant to +Zachariah, but he was silent. + +"Well, ma'am," said the Major, "Mr. Bradshaw is a very remarkable +man. It is a long time since any speaker stirred me as he did. He +is a born orator, if ever there was one." + +"I could have wished," said Zachariah, "as you are not often in +chapel, that his sermon had been founded on some passage in the New +Testament which would have given him the opportunity of more simply +expounding the gospel of Christ." + +"He could not have been better, I should think. He went to my heart, +though it is rather a difficult passage in the case of a man about +town like me; and I tell you what, Coleman, he made me determine I +would read the Bible again. What a story that is!" + +"Major, I thank God if you will read it; and not for the stories in +it, save as all are part of one story--the story of God's redeeming +mercy." + +The Major made no reply, for the word was unwinged. + +Mrs. Zachariah was silent, but when they came to their door both she +and her husband pressed him to come in. He refused, however; he +would stroll homeward, he said, and have a smoke as he went. + +"He touched me, Coleman, he did. I thought, between you and me"--and +he spoke softly--"I had not now got such a tender place; I thought it +was all healed over long ago. I cannot come in. You'll excuse me. +Yes, I'll just wander back to Piccadilly. I could not talk." + +They parted, and Zachariah and his wife went upstairs. Their supper +was soon ready. + +"Jane," he said slowly, "I did not receive much assistance from you +in my endeavours to bring our friends to a knowledge of the truth. I +thought that, as you desired the attempt, you would have helped me a +little." + +"There is a reason for everything; and, what is more, I do not +consider it right to take upon myself what belongs to a minister. It +may do more harm than good." + +"Take upon yourself what belongs to a minister! My dear Jane, is +nobody but a minister to bear witness for the Master?" + +"Of course I did not mean to say that; you know I did not. Why do +you catch at my words? Perhaps, if you had not been quite so +forward, Mr. Caillaud and his daughter might have gone to chapel." + +After supper, and when he was alone, Zachariah sat for some time +without moving. He presently rose and opened the Bible again, which +lay on the table--the Bible which belonged to his father--and turned +to the fly-leaf on which was written the family history. There was +the record of his father's marriage, dated on the day of the event. +There was the record of his own birth. There was the record of his +mother's death, still in his father's writing, but in an altered +hand, the letters not so distinct, and the strokes crooked and formed +with difficulty. There was the record of Zachariah's own marriage. +A cloud of shapeless, inarticulate sentiment obscured the man's eyes +and brain. He could not define what he felt, but he did feel. He +could not bear it, and he shut the book, opening it again at the +twenty-second Psalm--the one which the disciples of Jesus called to +mind on the night of the crucifixion. It was one which Mr. Bradshaw +often read, and Zachariah had noted in it a few corrections made in +the translation: + +"My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me? Our fathers trusted in +Thee; they trusted, and Thou didst deliver them. . . . Be not far +from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help. . . . Be +Thou not far from me, O Lord: O my strength, haste Thee to help me. +. . . Save me from the lion's mouth: and from the horns of the wild +oxen Thou hast answered me." + +"From the horns of the wild oxen"--that correction had often been +precious to Zachariah. When at the point of being pinned to the +ground--so he understood it--help had arisen; risen up from the +earth, and might again arise. It was upon the first part of the text +he dwelt now. It came upon him with fearful distinctness that he was +alone--that he could never hope for sympathy from his wife as long as +he lived. Mr. Bradshaw's words that evening recurred to him. God's +purpose in choosing to smite Jephthah in that way was partly +intelligible, and, after all, Jephthah was elected to redeem his +country too. But what could be God's purpose in electing one of his +servants to indifference and absence of affection where he had a +right to expect it? Could anybody be better for not being loved? +Even Zachariah could not think it possible. But Mr. Bradshaw's words +again recurred. Who was he that he should question God's designs? +It might be part of the Divine design that he, Zachariah Coleman, +should not be made better by anything. It might be part of that +design, part of a fulfilment of a plan devised by the Infinite One, +that he should be broken, nay, perhaps not saved. Mr. Bradshaw's +doctrine that night was nothing new. Zachariah had believed from his +childhood, or had thought he believed, that the potter had power over +the clay--of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour and another +unto dishonour; and that the thing formed unto dishonour could not +reply and say to him that formed it: 'Why hast thou made me thus?' +Nevertheless, to believe it generally was one thing; to believe it as +a truth for him was another. Darkness, the darkness as of the +crucifixion night, seemed over and around him. Poor wretch! he +thought he was struggling with his weakness; but he was in reality +struggling against his own strength. WHY had God so decreed? Do +what he could, that fatal WHY, the protest of his reason, asserted +itself; and yet he cursed himself for permitting it, believing it to +be a sin. He walked about his room for some relief. He looked out +of the window. It was getting late; the sky was clearing, as it does +in London at that hour, and he saw the stars. There was nothing to +help him there. They mocked him rather with their imperturbable, +obstinate stillness. At last he turned round, fell upon his knees, +and poured out himself before his Maker, entreating Him for light. +He rose from the ground, looked again out of the window, and the +first flush of the morning was just visible. Light was coming to the +world in obedience to the Divine command, but not to him. He was +exhausted, and crept into his bedroom, undressing without candle, and +without a sound. For a few minutes he thought he should never sleep +again, save in his grave; but an unseen Hand presently touched him, +and he knew nothing till he was awakened by the broad day streaming +over him. + + + +CHAPTER VIII--UNCONVENTIONAL JUSTICE + + + +In December, 1814, a steamboat was set in motion on the Limehouse +Canal, the Lord Mayor and other distinguished persons being on board. +In the same month Joanna Southcott died. She had announced that on +the 19th October she was to be delivered of the Prince of Peace, +although she was then sixty years old. Thousands of persons believed +her, and a cradle was made. The Prince of Peace did not arrive, and +in a little more than two months poor Joanna had departed, the cause +of her departure having being certified as dropsy. Death did not +diminish the number of her disciples, for they took refuge in the +hope of her resurrection. "The arm of the Lord is not shortened," +they truly affirmed; and even to this day there are people who are +waiting for the fulfilment of Joanna's prophecies and the appearance +of the "second Shiloh." Zachariah had been frequently twitted in +joke by his profane companions in the printing-office upon his +supposed belief in the delusion. It was their delight to assume that +all the "pious ones," as they called them, were alike; and on the +morning of the 30th of December, the day after Joanna expired, they +were more than usually tormenting. Zachariah did not remonstrate. +In his conscientious eagerness to bear witness for his Master, he had +often tried his hand upon his mates; but he had never had the +smallest success, and had now desisted. Moreover, his thoughts were +that morning with his comrades, the Friends of the People. He hummed +to himself the lines from Lara: + + +"Within that land was many a malcontent, +Who cursed the tyranny to which he bent; +That soil full many a wringing despot saw, +Who worked his wantonness in form of law: +Long war without and frequent broil within +Had made a path for blood and giant sin." + + +The last meeting had been unusually exciting. Differences of opinion +had arisen as to future procedure, many of the members, the Secretary +included, advocating action; but what they understood by it is very +difficult to say. A special call had been made for that night, and +Zachariah was in a difficulty. His native sternness and detestation +of kings and their ministers would have led him almost to any length; +but he had a sober head on his shoulders. So had the Major, and so +had Caillaud. Consequently they held back, and insisted, before +stirring a step towards actual revolution, that there should be some +fair chance of support and success. The Major in particular warned +them of the necessity of drill; and plainly told them also that, not +only were the middle classes all against them, but their own class +was hostile. This was perfectly true, although it was a truth so +unpleasant that he had to endure some very strong language, and even +hints of treason. No wonder: for it is undoubtedly very bitter to +be obliged to believe that the men whom we want to help do not +themselves wish to be helped. To work hard for those who will thank +us, to head a majority against oppressors, is a brave thing; but far +more honour is due to the Maitlands, Caillauds, Colemans, and others +of that stamp who strove for thirty years from the outbreak of the +French revolution onwards, not merely to rend the chains of the +prisoners, but had to achieve the more difficult task of convincing +them that they would be happier if they were free. These heroes are +forgotten, or nearly so. Who remembers the poor creatures who met in +the early mornings on the Lancashire moors or were shot by the +yeomanry? They sleep in graves over which stands no tombstone, or +probably their bodies have been carted away to make room for a +railway which has been driven through their resting-place. They saw +the truth before those whom the world delights to honour as its +political redeemers; but they have perished utterly from our +recollection, and will never be mentioned in history. Will there +ever be a great Day of Assize when a just judgment shall be +pronounced; when all the impostors who have been crowned for what +they did not deserve will be stripped, and the Divine word will be +heard calling upon the faithful to inherit the kingdom,--who, when "I +was an hungered gave me meat, when I was thirsty gave me drink; when +I was a stranger took me in; when I was naked visited me; when I was +in prison came unto me?" Never! It was a dream of an enthusiastic +Galilean youth, and let us not desire that it may ever come true. +Let us rather gladly consent to be crushed into indistinguishable +dust, with no hope of record: rejoicing only if some infinitesimal +portion of the good work may be achieved by our obliteration, and +content to be remembered only in that anthem which in the future it +will be ordained shall be sung in our religious services in honour of +all holy apostles and martyrs who have left no name. + +The night before the special meeting a gentleman in a blue cloak, and +with a cigar in his mouth, sauntered past the entrance to Carter's +Rents, where Mr. Secretary lived. It was getting late, but he was +evidently not in a hurry, and seemed to enjoy the coolness of the +air, for presently he turned and walked past the entrance again. He +took out his watch--it was a quarter to eleven o'clock--and he cursed +Mr. Secretary and the beer-shops which had probably detained him. A +constable came by, but never showed himself in the least degree +inquisitive; although it was odd that anybody should select Carter's +Rents for a stroll. Presently Mr. Secretary came in sight, a trifle, +but not much, the worse for liquor. It was odd, also, that he took +no notice of the blue cloak and cigar, but went straight to his own +lodging. The other, after a few moments followed; and it was a third +time odd that he should find the door unbolted and go upstairs. All +this, we say, would have been strange to a spectator, but it was not +so to these three persons. Presently the one first named found +himself in Mr. Secretary's somewhat squalid room. He then stood +disclosed as the assistant whom the Secretary had first seen at +Whitehall sitting in the Commissioner's Office. This was not the +second nor third interview which had taken place since then. + +"Well, Mr. Hardy, what do you want here to-night?" + +"Well, my friend, you know, I suppose. How goes the game?" + +"D---m me if I DO know. If you think I am going to split, you are +very much mistaken." + +"Split! Who wants you to split? Why, there's nothing to split +about. I can tell you just as much as you can tell me." + +"Why do you come here then?" + +"For the pleasure of seeing you, and to--" Mr. Hardy put his hand +carelessly in his pocket, a movement which was followed by a metallic +jingle--"and just to--to--explain one or two little matters." + +The Secretary observed that he was very tired. + +"Are you? I believe I am tired too." + +Mr. Hardy took out a little case-bottle with brandy in it, and the +Secretary, without saying a word, produced two mugs and a jug of +water. The brandy was mixed by Mr. Hardy; but his share of the +spirit differed from that assigned to his friend. + +"Split!" he continued; "no, I should think not. But we want you to +help us. The Major and one or two more had better be kept out of +harm's way for a little while; and we propose not to hurt them, but +to take care of them a bit, you understand? And if, the next time, +he and the others will be there--we have been looking for the Major +for three or four days, but he is not to be found in his old +quarters--we will just give them a call. When will you have your +next meeting? They will be all handy then." + +"You can find that out without my help. It's to-morrow." + +"Ah! I suppose you've had a stormy discussion. I hope your moderate +counsels prevailed." + +Mr. Secretary winked and gave his head a twist on one side, as if he +meant thereby to say: "You don't catch me." + +"It's a pity," continued Mr. Hardy, taking no notice, "that some men +are always for rushing into extremities. Why don't they try and +redress their grievances, if they have any, in the legitimate way +which you yourself propose--by petition?" + +It so happened that a couple of hours before, Mr. Secretary having +been somewhat noisy and insubordinate, the Major had been obliged to +rule him out of order and request his silence. The insult--for so he +considered it--was rankling in him. + +"Because," he replied, "we have amongst us two or three d---d +conceited, stuck-up fools, who think they are going to ride over us. +By God, they are mistaken though! They are the chaps who do all the +mischief. Not that I'd say anything against them--no, +notwithstanding I stand up against them." + +"Do all the mischief--yes, you've just hit it. I do believe that if +it were not for these fellows the others would be quiet enough." + +The Secretary took a little more brandy and water. The sense of +wrong within him was like an open wound, and the brandy inflamed it. +He also began to think that it would not be a bad thing for him if he +could seclude the Major, Caillaud, and Zachariah for a season. +Zachariah in particular he mortally hated. + +"What some of these fine folks would like to do, you see, Mr. Hardy, +is to persuade us poor devils to get up the row, while they DIRECT +it. DIRECT it, that's their word; but we're not going to be +humbugged." + +"Too wide awake, I should say." + +"I should say so too. We are to be told off for the Bank of England, +and they are to show it to us at the other end of Cheapside." + +"Bank of England," said Mr. Hardy, laughing; "that's a joke. You +might run your heads a long while against that before you get in. +You don't drink your brandy and water." + +The Secretary took another gulp. "And he's a military man--a +military man--a military man." He was getting rather stupid now, and +repeated the phrase each of the three times with increasing +unsteadiness, but also with increasing contempt. + +Mr. Hardy took our his watch. It was getting on towards midnight. +"Good-bye; glad to see you all right," and he turned to leave. There +was a jingling of coin again, and when he had left Mr. Secretary took +up the five sovereigns which had found their way to the table and put +them in his pocket. His visitor picked his way downstairs. The +constable was still pacing up and down Carter's Rents, but again did +not seem to observe him, and he walked meditatively to Jermyn Street. +He was at his office by half-past nine, and his chief was only half- +an-hour later. + +The Major had thought it prudent to change his address; and, +furthermore, it was the object of the Government to make his arrest, +with that of his colleagues, at the place of meeting, not only to +save trouble, but because it would look better. Mr. Hardy had found +out, therefore, all he wanted to know, and was enabled to confirm his +opinion that the Major was the head of the conspiracy. + +But underneath Mr. Secretary's mine was a deeper mine; for as the +Major sat at breakfast the next morning a note came for him, the +messenger leaving directly he delivered it to the servant. It was +very brief:- "No meeting to-night. Warn all except the Secretary, +who has already been acquainted." There was no signature, and he did +not know the handwriting. He reflected for a little while, and then +determined to consult Caillaud and Coleman, who were his informal +Cabinet. He had no difficulty in finding Coleman, but the Caillauds +were not at home, and it was agreed that postponement could do no +harm. A message was therefore left at Caillaud's house, and one was +sent to every one of the members, but two or three could not be +discovered. + +Meanwhile Mr. Secretary, who, strange to say, had NOT been +acquainted, had been a little overcome by Mr. Hardy's brandy on the +top of the beer he had taken beforehand, and woke in the morning very +miserable. Finding the five guineas in his pocket, he was tempted to +a public-house hard by, in order that he might cool his stomach and +raise his spirits with a draught or two of ale. He remained there a +little too long, and on reaching home was obliged to go to bed again. +He awoke about six, and then it came into his still somewhat confused +brain that he had to attend the meeting. At half-past seven he +accordingly took his departure. Meanwhile the Major and Zachariah +had determined to post themselves in Red Lion Street, to intercept +those of their comrades with whom they had not been able to +communicate, and also to see what was going to happen. At a quarter +to eight the Secretary turned out of Holborn, and when he came a +little nearer, Zachariah saw that at a distance of fifty yards there +was a constable following him. He came on slowly until he was +abreast of a narrow court, when suddenly there was a pistol-shot, and +he was dead on the pavement. Zachariah's first impulse was to rush +forward, but he saw the constable running, followed by others, and he +discerned in an instant that to attempt to assist would lead to his +own arrest and do no good. He managed, however, to reach the Major, +and for two or three moments they stood stock-still on the edge of +the pavement struck with amazement. Presently a woman passed them +with a thick veil over her face. + +"Home," she said; "don't stay here like fools. Pack up your things +and be off. You'll be in prison to-morrow morning." + +"Be off!" gasped Zachariah; "be off!--where?" + +"Anywhere!" and she had gone. + +The constables, after putting the corpse in a hackney coach, +proceeded to the room; but it was dark and empty. They had no +directions to do anything more that night, and returned to Bow +Street. The next morning, however, as soon as it was light, a +Secretary of State's warrant, backed by sufficient force, was +presented at the lodgings of Caillaud and Zachariah. The birds had +flown, and not a soul could tell what had become of them. In +Zachariah's street, which was rather a Radical quarter, the official +inquiries were not answered politely, and one of the constables +received on the top of his head an old pail with slops in it. The +minutest investigation failed to discover to whom the pail belonged. + + + +CHAPTER IX--A STRAIN ON THE CABLE + + + +Bow Street was completely at fault, and never discovered the secret +of that assassination. It was clear that neither the Major nor +Coleman were the murderers, as they had been noticed at some distance +from the spot where the Secretary fell by several persons who +described them accurately. Nor was Caillaud suspected, as the +constable testified that he passed him on the opposite side of the +street, as he followed the Secretary. The only conclusion, according +to Bow Street, which was free from all doubt was, that whoever did +the deed was a committee consisting of a single member. A reward of +500 pounds did not bring forward anybody who knew anything about the +business. As for Caillaud, his daughter and the Major, the next +morning saw them far on the way to Dover, and eventually they arrived +at Paris in safety. Zachariah, when he reached home, found his wife +gone. A note lay for him there, probably from the same hand which +warned the Major, telling him not to lose an instant, but to join in +Islington one of the mails to Manchester. His wife would start that +night from St. Martin's le Grand by a coach which went by another +road. He was always prompt, and in five minutes he was out of the +house. The fare was carefully folded by his unknown friend in the +letter. He just managed as directed, to secure a place, not by the +regular Manchester mail, but by one which went through Barnet and +stopped to take up passengers at the "Angel." He climbed upon the +roof, and presently was travelling rapidly through Holloway and +Highgate. He found, to his relief, that nobody had heard of the +murder, and he was left pretty much to his own reflections. His +first thoughts were an attempt to unravel the mystery. Why was it so +sudden? Why had no word not hint of what was intended reached him? +He could not guess. In those days the clubs were so beset with spies +that frequently the most important resolutions were taken by one man, +who confided in nobody. It was winter, but fortunately Zachariah was +well wrapped up. He journeyed on, hour after hour, in a state of +mazed bewilderment, one thought tumbling over another, and when +morning broke over the flats he had not advanced a single step in the +determination of his future path. Nothing is more painful to a man +of any energy than the inability to put things in order in himself-- +to place before himself what he has to do, and arrange the means for +doing it. To be the passive victim of a rushing stream of +disconnected impressions is torture, especially if the emergency be +urgent. So when the sun came up Zachariah began to be ashamed of +himself that the night had passed in these idiotic moonings, which +had left him just where he was, and he tried to settle what he was to +do when he reached Manchester. He did not know a soul; but he could +conjecture why he was advised to go thither. It was a disaffected +town, and Friends of the People were very strong there. His first +duty was to get a lodging, his second to get work, and his third to +find out a minister of God under whom he could worship. He put this +last, not because it was the least important, but because he had the +most time to decide upon it. At about ten o'clock at night he came +to his journey's end, and to his joy saw his wife waiting for him. +They went at once to a small inn hard by, and Mrs. Coleman began to +overwhelm him with interrogation; but he quietly suggested that not a +syllable should be spoken till they had had some rest, and that they +should swallow their supper and go to bed. In the morning Zachariah +rose and looked out of the window. He saw nothing but a small +backyard in which some miserable, scraggy fowls were crouching under +a cart to protect themselves from the rain, which was falling heavily +through the dim, smoky air. His spirits sank. He had no fear of +apprehension or prosecution, but the prospect before him was +depressing. Although he was a poor man, he had not been accustomed +to oscillations of fortune, and he was in an utterly strange place, +with five pounds in his pocket, and nothing to do. + +He was, however, resolved not to yield, and thought it best to begin +with his wife before she could begin with him. + +"Now, my dear, tell me what has happened, who sent you here, and what +kind of a journey you have had?" + +"Mr. Bradshaw came about seven o'clock, and told me the Government +was about to suppress the Friends of the People; that you did not +know it; that I must go to Manchester; that you would come after me; +and that a message would be left for you. He took me to the coach, +and paid for me." + +"Mr. Bradshaw! Did he tell you anything more?" + +"No; except that he did not think we should be pursued, and that he +would send our things after us when he knew where we were." + +"You have not heard anything more, then?" + +"No." + +"You haven't heard that the Secretary was shot?" + +"Shot! Oh dear! Zachariah, what will become of us?" + +Her husband then told her what he knew, she listening with great +eagerness and in silence. + +"Oh, Zachariah, what will become of us?" she broke out again. + +"There is no reason to worry yourself, Jane; it is perfectly easy for +me to prove my innocence. It is better for us, however, to stay here +for a time. The Government won't go any further with us; they will +search for the murderer--that's all." + +"Why, then, are we sent here and the others are let alone? I suppose +the Major is not here?" + +"I cannot say." + +"To think I should ever come to this! I haven't got a rag with me +beyond what I have on. I haven't got any clean things; a nice sort +of creature I am to go out of doors. And it all had nothing to do +with us." + +"Nothing to do with us! My dear Jane, do you mean that we are not to +help other people, but sit at home and enjoy ourselves? Besides, if +you thought it wrong, why did you not say so before?" + +"How was I to know what you were doing? You never told me anything; +you never do. One thing I do know is that we shall starve and I +suppose I shall have to go about and beg. I haven't even another +pair of shoes or stockings to my feet." + +Zachariah pondered for a moment. His first impulse was something +very different; but at last he rose, went up to his wife, kissed her +softly on the forehead, and said: + +"Never mind, my dear; courage, you will have your clothes next week. +Come with me and look out for a lodging." + +Mrs. Zachariah, however, shook herself free--not violently, but still +decidedly--from his caresses. + +"Most likely seized by the Government. Look for a lodging! That's +just like you! How can I go out in this pouring rain?" + +Zachariah lately, at any rate, had ceased to expect much affection in +his wife for him; but he thought she was sensible, and equal to any +complexity of circumstances, or even to disaster. He thought this, +not on any positive evidence; but he concluded, somewhat absurdly, +that her coldness meant common sense and capacity for facing trouble +courageously and with deliberation. He had now to find out his +mistake, and to learn that the absence of emotion neither proves, nor +is even a ground for suspecting, any good whatever of a person; that, +on the contrary, it is a ground for suspecting weakness, and possibly +imbecility. + +Mrs. Coleman refused to go out, and after breakfast Zachariah went by +himself, having first inquired what was a likely quarter. As he +wandered along much that had been before him again and again once +more recurred to him. He had been overtaken by calamity, and he had +not heard from his wife one single expression of sympathy, nor had he +received one single idea which could help him. She had thought of +nothing but herself, and even of herself not reasonably. She was not +the helpmeet which he felt he had a right to expect. He could have +endured any defect, so it seemed, if only he could have had love; he +could have endured the want of love if only he could have had a +counsellor. But he had neither, and he rebelled, questioning the +justice of his lot. Then he fell into the old familiar controversy +with himself, and it was curiously characteristic of him, that, as he +paced those dismal Manchester pavements, all their gloom disappeared +as he re-argued the universal problem of which his case was an +example. He admitted the unquestionable right of the Almighty to +damn three parts of creation to eternal hell if so He willed; why +not, then, one sinner like Zachariah Coleman to a weary pilgrimage +for thirty or forty years? He rebuked himself when he found that he +had all his life assented so easily to the doctrine of God's absolute +authority in the election and disposal of the creatures He had made, +and yet that he revolted when God touched him, and awarded him a +punishment which, in comparison with the eternal loss of His +presence, was as nothing. At last--and here, through his religion, +he came down to the only consolation possible for him--he said to +himself, "Thus hath He decreed; it is foolish to struggle against His +ordinances; we can but submit." "A poor gospel," says his critic. +Poor!--yes, it may be; but it is the gospel according to Job, and any +other is a mere mirage. "Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom and stretch +her wings towards the south?" Confess ignorance and the folly of +insurrection, and there is a chance that even the irremediable will +be somewhat mitigated. Poor!--yes; but it is genuine; and this at +least must be said for Puritanism, that of all the theologies and +philosophies it is the most honest in its recognition of the facts; +the most real, if we penetrate to the heart of it, in the remedy +which it offers. + +He found two small furnished rooms which would answer his purpose +till his own furniture should arrive, and he and his wife took +possession that same morning. He then wrote to his landlord in +London--a man whom he knew he could trust--and directed him to send +his goods. For the present, although he had no fear whatever of any +prosecution, he thought fit to adopt a feigned name, with which we +need not trouble ourselves. In the afternoon he sallied out to seek +employment. The weather had cleared, but Mrs. Coleman still refused +to accompany him, and she occupied herself moodily with setting the +place to rights, as she called it, although, as it happened, it was +particularly neat and clean. There was not so much printing done in +Manchester then as now, and Zachariah had no success. He came home +about seven o'clock, weary and disheartened. His wife was one of +those women who under misfortune show all that is worst in them, as +many women in misfortune show all that is best. + +"You might have been sure you would get nothing to do here. If, as +you say, there is no danger, why did you not stay in London?" + +"You know all about it, my dear; we were warned to come." + +"Yes, but why in such a hurry? Why didn't you stop to think?" + +"It is all very well to say so now, but there were only a few minutes +in which to decide. Besides, when I got home I found you gone." + +Mrs. Zachariah conveniently took no notice of the last part of this +remark, which, of course, settled the whole question, but continued: + +"Ah, well, I suppose it's all right; but I'm sure we shall starve--I +am convinced we shall. Oh! I wish my poor dear mother were alive! I +have no home to go to. What WILL become of us?" + +He lost his patience a little. + +"Jane," he said, "what is our religion worth if it does not support +us in times like these? Does it not teach us to bow to God's will? +Surely we, who have had such advantages, ought to behave under our +trials better than those who have been brought up like heathens. God +will not leave us. Don't you remember Mr. Bradshaw's sermon upon the +passage through the Red Sea. When the Israelites were brought down +to the very shore with nothing but destruction before them, a way was +opened. What did Mr. Bradshaw bid us observe? The Egyptians were +close behind--so close that the Israelites saw them; the sea was in +front. The road was not made till the enemy was upon them, and then +the waters were divided and became a wall unto them on their right +hand and on their left; the very waters, Mr. Bradshaw remarked, which +before were their terror. God, too, might have sent them a different +way; no doubt He might, but He chose THAT way." + +"Zachariah, I heard Mr. Bradshaw as well as yourself; I am a member +of the church just as much as you are, and I don't think it becoming +of you to preach to me as if you were a minister." Her voice rose +and became shriller as she went on. "I will not stand it. Who are +you that you should talk to me so?--bad enough to bring me down here +to die, without treating me as if I were an unconverted character. +Oh! if I had but a home to go to!" and she covered her face with her +apron and became hysterical. + +What a revelation! By this time he had looked often into the soul of +the woman whom he had chosen--the woman with whom he was to be for +ever in this world--and had discovered that there was nothing, +nothing, absolutely nothing which answered anything in himself with a +smile of recognition; but he now looked again, and found something +worse than emptiness. He found lurking in the obscure darkness a +reptile with cruel fangs which at any moment might turn upon him when +he was at his weakest and least able to defend himself. He had that +in him by nature which would have prompted him to desperate deeds. +He could have flung himself from her with a curse, or even have +killed himself in order to escape from his difficulty. But whatever +there was in him originally had been changed. Upon the wild stem had +been grafted a nobler slip, which drew all its sap from the old root, +but had civilised and sweetened its acrid juices. He leaned over his +wife, caressed her, gave her water, and restored her. + +"God knows," he said, "I did not mean to preach to you. God in +heaven knows I need that somebody should preach to me." He knelt +down before her as she remained leaning back in the chair, and he +repeated the Lord's Prayer: "Give us this day our daily bread. +Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against +us." But will it be believed that as he rose from his knees, before +he had actually straightened his limbs, two lines from the "Corsair" +flashed into his mind, not particularly apposite, but there they +were: + + +"She rose--she sprung--she clung to his embrace +Till his heart heaved beneath her hidden face?" + + +Whence had they descended? He was troubled at their sudden +intrusion, and he went silently to the window, moodily gazing into +the street. His wife, left to herself, recovered, and prepared +supper. There was no reconciliation, at least on her side. She was +not capable of reconciliation. Her temper exhausted itself +gradually. With her the storm never broke up nobly and with +magnificent forgetfulness into clear spaces of azure, with the +singing of birds and with hot sunshine turning into diamonds every +remaining drop of the deluge which had threatened ruin; the change +was always rather to a uniformly obscured sky and a cold drizzle +which lasted all day. + +The next morning he renewed his quest. He was away all day long, but +he had no success. He was now getting very anxious. He was +expecting his furniture, which he had directed to be sent to the inn +where they had first stayed, and he would have to pay for the +carriage. His landlord had insisted on a week's rent beforehand, so +that, putting aside the sum for the carrier, he had now two pounds +left. He thought of appealing to his friends; but he had a great +horror of asking for charity, and could not bring himself to do it. + +The third, fourth, and fifth day passed, with no result. On the +seventh day he found that his goods had come; but he decided not to +move, as it meant expense. He took away a chest of clothes, and +remained where he was. By way of recoil from the older doctrine that +suffering does men good, it has been said that it does no good. Both +statements are true, and both untrue. Many it merely brutalises. +Half the crime of the world is caused by suffering, and half its +virtues are due to happiness. Nevertheless suffering, actual +personal suffering, is the mother of innumerable beneficial +experiences, and unless we are so weak that we yield and break, it +extracts from us genuine answers to many questions which, without it, +we either do not put to ourselves, or, if they are asked, are turned +aside with traditional replies. A man who is strong and survives can +hardly pace the pavements of a city for days searching for +employment, his pocket every day becoming lighter, without feeling in +after life that he is richer by something which all the universities +in the world could not have given him. The most dramatic of poets +cannot imagine, even afar off, what such a man feels and thinks, +especially if his temperament be nervous and foreboding. How +foreign, hard, repellent, are the streets in which he is a stranger, +alone amidst a crowd of people all intent upon their own occupation, +whilst he has none! At noon, when business is at its height, he, +with nothing to do, sits down on a seat in an open place, or, may be, +on the doorstep of an empty house, unties the little parcel he has +brought with him, and eats his dry bread. He casts up in his mind +the shops he has visited; he reflects that he has taken all the more +promising first, and that not more than two or three are left. He +thinks of the vast waste of the city all round him; its miles of +houses; and he has a more vivid sense of abandonment than if he were +on a plank in the middle of the Atlantic. Towards the end of the +afternoon the pressure in the offices and banks increases; the clerks +hurry hither and thither; he has no share whatever in the excitement; +he is an intrusion. He lingers about aimlessly, and presently the +great tide turns outwards and flows towards the suburbs. Every +vehicle which passes him is crowded with happy folk who have earned +their living and are going home. He has earned nothing. Let anybody +who wants to test the strength of the stalk of carle hemp in him try +it by the wringing strain of a day thus spent! How humiliating are +the repulses he encounters! Most employers to whom a request is made +for something to do prefer to treat it as a petition for aims, and +answer accordingly. They understand what is wanted before a word is +spoken, and bawl out "No! Shut the door after you." One man to whom +Zachariah applied was opening his letters. For a moment he did not +pay the slightest attention, but as Zachariah continued waiting, he +shouted with an oath, "What do you stand staring there for? Be off!" +There was once a time when Zachariah would have stood up against the +wretch; but he could not do it now, and he retreated in silence. +Nevertheless, when he got out into the Street he felt as if he could +have rushed back and gripped the brute's throat till he had squeezed +the soul out of his carcass. Those of us who have craved +unsuccessfully for permission to do what the Maker of us all has +fitted us to do alone understand how revolutions are generated. Talk +about the atrocities of the Revolution! All the atrocities of the +democracy heaped together ever since the world began would not equal, +if we had any gauge by which to measure them, the atrocities +perpetrated in a week upon the poor, simply because they are poor; +and the marvel rather is, not that there is every now and then a +September massacre at which all the world shrieks, but that such +horrors are so infrequent. Again, I say, let no man judge communist +or anarchist TILL HE HAS ASKED FOR LEAVE TO WORK, and a "Damn your +eyes!" has rung in his ears. + +Zachariah had some self-respect; he was cared for by God, and in +God's Book was a registered decree concerning him. These men treated +him as if he were not a person, an individual soul, but as an atom of +a mass to be swept out anywhere, into the gutter--into the river. He +was staggered for a time. Hundreds and thousands of human beings +swarmed past him, and he could not help saying to himself as he +looked up to the grey sky, "Is it true, then? Does God really know +anything about me? Are we not born by the million every week, like +spawn, and crushed out of existence like spawn? Is not humanity the +commonest and cheapest thing in the world?" But as yet his faith was +unshaken, and he repelled the doubt as a temptation of Satan. +Blessed is the man who can assign promptly everything which is not in +harmony with himself to a devil, and so get rid of it. The pitiful +case is that of the distracted mortal who knows not what is the +degree of authority which his thoughts and impulses possess; who is +constantly bewildered by contrary messages, and has no evidence as to +their authenticity. Zachariah had his rule still; the suggestion in +the street was tried by it; found to be false; was labelled +accordingly, and he was relieved. + +The dread of the real, obvious danger was not so horrible as a vague, +shapeless fear which haunted him. It was a coward enemy, for it +seized him when he was most tired and most depressed. What is that +nameless terror? Is it a momentary revelation of the infinite abyss +which surrounds us; from the sight of which we are mercifully +protected by a painted vapour, by an illusion that unspeakable +darkness which we all of us know to exist, but which we +hypocritically deny, and determine never to confess to one another? +Here again, however, Zachariah had his advantage over others. He had +his precedent. He remembered that quagmire in the immortal Progress +into which, if even a good man falls, he can find no bottom; he +remembered that gloom so profound "that ofttimes, when he lifted up +his foot to set forward, he knew not where or upon what he should set +it next;" he remembered the flame and smoke, the sparks and hideous +noises, the things that cared not for Christian's sword, so that he +was forced to betake himself to another weapon called All-prayer; he +remembered how that Christian "was so confounded that he did not know +his own voice;" he remembered the voice of a man as going before, +saying, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I +will fear none ill, for Thou art with me." Lastly, he remembered +that by-and-by the day broke, and Christian cried, "He hath turned +the shadow of death into the morning." He remembered all this; he +could connect his trouble with the trouble of others; he could give +it a place in the dispensation of things, and could therefore lift +himself above it. + +He had now been in Manchester a fortnight, and his little store had +dwindled down to five shillings. It was Saturday night. On the +Sunday, as his last chance, he meant to write to Mr. Bradshaw. He +went out on the Sunday morning, and had persuaded his wife to +accompany him. They entered the first place of worship they saw. It +was a Methodist chapel, and the preacher was Arminian in the extreme. +It was the first time Zachariah had ever been present at a Methodist +service. The congregation sang with much fervour, and during the +prayer, which was very long, they broke in upon it with ejaculations +of their own, such as "Hear him, O Lord!"--"Lord have mercy on us!" + +The preacher spoke a broad Lancashire dialect, and was very dramatic. +He pictured God's efforts to save a soul. Under the pulpit ledge was +the imaginary bottomless pit of this world--not of the next. He +leaned over and pretended to be drawing the soul up with a cord. "He +comes, he comes!" he cried; "God be praised he is safe!" and he +landed him on the Bible. The congregation gave a great groan of +relief. "There he is on the Rock of Ages! No, no, he slips; the +Devil has him!" The preacher tried to rescue him: "He is gone-- +gone!" and he bent over the pulpit in agony. The people almost +shrieked. "Gone--gone!" he said again with most moving pathos, and +was still for a moment. Then gathering himself up, he solemnly +repeated the terrible verses: "For it is impossible for those who +were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were +made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of +God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to +renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves +the Son of God afresh, and put Him to an open shame." Zachariah knew +that text well. Round it had raged the polemics of ages. Mr. +Bradshaw had never referred to it but once, and all the elder members +of his congregation were eager in the extreme to hear what he had to +say about it. He boldly declared that it had nothing to do with the +elect. He was compelled to do so. Following his master Calvin, he +made it apply to outsiders. The elect, says Calvin, are beyond the +risk of fatal fall. But "I deny," he goes on to say, that "there is +any reason why God may not bestow even on the reprobate a taste of +His favour; may irradiate their minds with some scintillations of His +light; may touch them with some sense of His goodness; may somehow +engrave His word on their minds." Horrible, most horrible, we +scream, that the Almighty should thus play with those whom He means +to destroy; but let us once more remember that these men did not idly +believe in such cruelty. They were forced into their belief by the +demands of their understanding, and their assent was more meritorious +than the weak protests of so-called enlightenment. Zachariah, +pondering absently on what he had heard, was passing out of the +chapel when a hand was gently laid on his shoulder. + +"Ah, friend, what are you doing here?" + +He turned round and recognised William Ogden, who had been sent by +the Hampden Club in Manchester some six months before as a delegate +to the Friends of the People in London. The two walked some distance +together, and Zachariah gave him the history of the last three weeks. +With the murder he was, of course, acquainted. Ogden was a +letterpress printer, and when he heard that Zachariah was in such +straits, he said that he thought he might perhaps find him a job for +the present, and told him to come to his office on the following +morning. Zachariah's heart rejoiced that his bread would not fail, +but he characteristically rejoiced even more at this signal proof +that his trust in his God was justified. When he reached home he +proposed to his wife that they should at once kneel down and thank +God for His mercy. + +"Of course, Zachariah; but you are not yet sure you will get +anything. I will take off my things directly." + +"Need you wait to take off your things, my dear?" + +"Really, Zachariah, you do make such strange remarks sometimes. I +need not wait; but I am sure it will be more becoming, and it will +give you an opportunity to think over what you are going to say." + +Accordingly Mrs. Coleman retired for about five minutes. On her +return she observed that it was the time for regular family prayer, +and she produced the Bible. Zachariah had indeed had the opportunity +to think, and he had thought very rapidly. The mere opening of the +sacred Book, however, always acted as a spell, and when its heavy +lids fell down on either side the room cleared itself of all +haunting, intrusive evil spirits. He read the seventeenth chapter of +Exodus, the story of the water brought out of the rock; and he +thanked the Almighty with great earnestness for the favour shown him, +never once expressing a doubt that he would not be successful. He +was not mistaken, for Ogden had a place for him, just as good and +just as permanent as the one he had left in London. + + + +CHAPTER X--DISINTEGRATION BY DEGREES + + + +We must now advance a little more rapidly. It was in the beginning +of 1815 that Zachariah found himself settled in Manchester. That +eventful year passed without any external change, so far as he was +concerned. He became a member of the Hampden Club, to which Ogden +and Bamford belonged; but he heard nothing of Maitland nor of +Caillaud. He had a letter now and then from Mr. Bradshaw and it was +a sore trial to him that nobody could be found in Manchester to take +the place of that worthy man of God. He could not attach himself +definitely to any church in the town, and the habit grew upon him of +wandering into this or the other chapel as his fancy led him. His +comrades often met on Sunday evenings. At first he would not go; but +he was afterwards persuaded to do so. The reasons which induced him +to alter his mind were, in the first place, the piety, methodistic +most of it, which was then mixed up with politics; and secondly, a +growing fierceness of temper, which made the cause of the people a +religion. From 1816 downwards it may be questioned whether he would +not have felt himself more akin with any of his democratic friends, +who were really in earnest over the great struggle, than with a sleek +half Tory professor of the gospel, however orthodox he might have +been. In 1816 the situation of the working classes had become almost +intolerable. Towards the end of the year wheat rose to a quarter, +and incendiarism was common all over England. A sense of insecurity +and terror took possession of everybody. Secret outrages, especially +fires by night, chill the courage of the bravest, as those know well +enough who have lived in an agricultural county, when, just before +going to bed, great lights are seen on the horizon; when men and +women collect on bridges or on hill tops, asking "Where is it?" and +when fire-engines tearing through the streets arrive useless at their +journey's end because the hose has been cut. One evening in November +1816, Zachariah was walking home to his lodgings. A special meeting +of the club had been called for the following Sunday to consider a +proposal made for a march of the unemployed upon London. Three +persons passed him--two men and a woman--who turned round and looked +at him and then went on. He did not recognise them, but he noticed +that they stopped opposite a window, and as he came up they looked at +him again. He could not be mistaken; they were the Major, Caillaud, +and his daughter. The most joyous recognition followed, and +Zachariah insisted on their going home with him. It often happens +that we become increasingly intimate with one another even when we +are shut out from all intercourse. Zachariah had not seen the Major +nor Caillaud nor Pauline for two years, and not a single thought had +been interchanged. Nevertheless he was much nearer and dearer to +them than he was before. He had unconsciously moved on a line +rapidly sweeping round into parallelism with theirs. The +relationship between himself and his wife during those two years had +become, not openly hostile, it is true, but it was neutral. Long ago +he had given up the habit of talking to her about politics, the thing +which lay nearest to his heart just then. The pumping effort of +bringing out a single sentence in her presence on any abstract topic +was incredible, and so he learned at last to come home, though his +heart and mind were full to bursting, and say nothing more to her +than that he had seen her friend Mrs. Sykes, or bought his tea at a +different shop. On the other hand, the revolutionary literature of +the time, and more particularly Byron, increasingly interested him. +The very wildness and remoteness of Byron's romance was just what +suited him. It is all very well for the happy and well-to-do to talk +scornfully of poetic sentimentality. Those to whom a natural outlet +for their affection is denied know better. They instinctively turn +to books which are the farthest removed from commonplace and are in a +sense unreal. Not to the prosperous man, a dweller in beautiful +scenery, well married to an intelligent wife, is Byron precious, but +to the poor wretch, say some City clerk, with an aspiration beyond +his desk, who has two rooms in Camberwell and who before he knew what +he was doing made a marriage--well--which was a mistake, but who is +able to turn to that island in the summer sea, where dwells Kaled, +his mistress--Kaled, the Dark Page disguised as a man, who watches +her beloved dying: + + +"Who nothing fears, nor feels, nor heeds, nor sees, +Save that damp brow which rests upon his knees; +Save that pale aspect, where the eye, though dim, +Held all the light that shone on earth for him." + + +When they came indoors, and Mrs. Zachariah heard on the stairs the +tramp of other feet besides those of her husband, she prepared +herself to be put out of temper. Not that she could ever be really +surprised. She was not one of those persons who keep a house orderly +for the sake of appearances. She would have been just the same if +she had been living alone, shipwrecked on a solitary island in the +Pacific. She was the born natural enemy of dirt, dust, untidiness, +and of every kind of irregularity, as the cat is the born natural +enemy of the mouse. The sight of dirt, in fact, gave her a quiet +kind of delight, because she foresaw the pleasure of annihilating it. +Irregularity was just as hateful to her. She could not sit still if +one ornament on the mantelpiece looked one way and the other another +way, and she would have risen from her deathbed, if she could have +done so, to put a chair straight. She was not, therefore, aggrieved +in expectancy because she was not fit to be seen. It was rather +because she resented any interruption of domestic order of which she +had not been previously forewarned. As it happened, however the +Major came first, and striding into the room, he shook her hand with +considerable fervour and kissed it gallantly. Her gathering ill- +temper disappeared with the promptitude of a flash. It was a muddy +night; the Major had not carefully wiped his boots, and the footmarks +were all over the floor. She saw them, but they were nothing. + +"My dear Mrs. Coleman, how are you? What a blessing to be here again +in your comfortable quarters." + +"Really, Major Maitland, it is very good of you to say so. I am very +glad to see you again. Where have you been? I thought we had lost +you for ever." + +Caillaud and his daughter had followed. They bowed to her formally, +and she begged them to be seated. + +"Then, my dear madam," continued the Major, laughing, "you must have +thought me dead. You might have known that if I had not been dead I +must have come back." + +She coloured just a trifle, but made no reply further than to invite +all the company to have supper. + +Zachariah was somewhat surprised. He did not know what sort of a +supper it could be; but he was silent. She asked Pauline to take off +her bonnet, and then proceeded to lay the cloth. For five minutes, +or perhaps ten minutes, she disappeared, and then there came, not +only bread and cheese, but cold ham, a plentiful supply of beer, and, +more wonderful still, a small cold beefsteak pie. Everything was +produced as easily as if it had been the ordinary fare, and Zachariah +was astonished at his wife's equality to the emergency. Whence she +obtained the ham and beefsteak pie he could not conjecture. She +apologised for having nothing hot; would have had something better if +she had known, etc., etc., and then sat down at the head of the +table. The Major sat on her right, Pauline next to him, and opposite +to Pauline, Caillaud and Zachariah. Their hostess immediately began +to ask questions about the events of that fatal night when they all +left London. + +The Major, however, interposed, and said that it would perhaps be +better if nothing was said upon that subject. + +"A dismal topic," he observed; "talking about it can do no good, and +I for one don't want to be upset by thinking about it just before I +go to bed." + +"At least," said Zachariah, "you can tell us why you are in +Manchester?" + +"Certainly," replied the Major. "In the first place, Paris is not +quite so pleasant as it used to be; London, too, is not attractive; +and we thought that, on the whole, Manchester was to be preferred. +Moreover, a good deal will have to be done during the next +twelvemonth, and Manchester will do it. You will hear all about it +when your club meets next time." + +"You've been in Paris?" said Mrs. Zachariah. "Isn't it very wicked?" + +"Well, that depends on what you call wicked." + +"Surely there cannot be two opinions on that point." + +"It does seem so; and yet when you live abroad you find that things +which are made a great deal of here are not thought so much of there; +and, what is very curious, they think other things very wrong there +of which we take no account here." + +"Is that because they are not Christians?" + +"Oh dear no; I am speaking of good Christian people; at least so I +take them to be. And really, when you come to consider it, we all of +us make a great fuss about our own little bit of virtue, and +undervalue the rest--I cannot tell upon whose authority." + +"But are they not, Major, dreadfully immoral in France?" + +Pauline leaned over her plate and looked Mrs. Coleman straight in the +face. + +"Mrs. Coleman, you are English; you--" + +Her father put up his hand; he foresaw what was coming, and that upon +this subject Pauline would have defied all the rules of hospitality. +So he replied calmly, but with the calm of suppressed force: + +"Mrs. Coleman, as my daughter says, you are English; you are +excusable. I will not dispute with you, but I will tell you a little +story." + +"Will you not take some more beer, Mr. Caillaud, before you begin?" + +"No, thank you, madam, I have finished." + +Caillaud pushed away his plate, on which three parts of what was +given him, including all the ham, remained untouched, and began--his +Gallicisms and broken English have been corrected in the version now +before the reader: + +"In 1790 a young man named Dupin was living in Paris, in the house of +his father, who was a banker there. The Dupins were rich, and the +son kept a mistress, a girl named Victorine. Dupin the younger had +developed into one of the worst of men. He was strictly correct in +all his dealings, sober, guilty of none of the riotous excesses which +often distinguish youth at that age, and most attentive to business; +but he was utterly self-regarding, hard, and emotionless. What could +have induced Victorine to love him I do not know; but love him she +did, and her love instead of being a folly, was her glory. If love +were always to be in proportion to desert, measured out in strictest +and justest huckstering conformity therewith, what a poor thing it +would be! The love at least of a woman is as the love of the Supreme +Himself, and just as magnificent. Victorine was faithful to Dupin; +and poor and handsome as she was, never wronged him by a loose look. +Well, Dupin's father said his son must marry, and the son saw how +reasonable and how necessary the proposal was. He did marry, and he +cut himself adrift from Victorine without the least compunction, +allowing her a small sum weekly, insufficient to keep her. There was +no scene when they parted, for his determination was communicated to +her by letter. Three months afterwards she had a child of whom he +was the father. Did she quietly take the money and say nothing? Did +she tear up the letter in a frenzy and return him the fragments? She +did neither. She wrote to him and told him that she would not touch +his gold. She would never forget him, but she could not be beholden +to him now for a crust of bread. She had done no wrong hitherto--so +she said, Mrs. Coleman; I only repeat her words--they are not mine. +But to live on him after he had left her would be a mortal crime. So +they separated, a victim she--both victims, I may say--to this cursed +thing we call Society. One of the conditions on which the money was +to have been given was, that she should never again recognise him in +any way whatever. This half of the bargain she faithfully observed. +For some months she was alone, trying to keep herself and her child, +but at last she was taken up by a working stone-mason named Legouve. +In 1793 came the Terror, and the Dupins were denounced and thrown +into the Luxembourg. Legouve was one of the Committee of Public +Safety. It came to the recollection of the younger Dupin as he lay +expecting death that he had heard that the girl Victorine had gone to +live with Legouve, and a ray of light dawned on him in his dungeon. +He commissioned his wife to call on Victorine and implore her to help +them. She did so. Ah, that was a wonderful sight--so like the +Revolution! Madame Dupin, in her silks and satins, had often passed +the ragged Victorine in the streets, and, of course, had never taken +the slightest notice of her. Now Madame was kneeling to her! +Respectability was in the dust before that which was not by any means +respectable; the legitimate before the illegitimate! Oh, it was, I +say, a wonderful sight in Victorine's wretched garret! She was +touched with pity, and, furthermore, the memory of her old days with +Dupin and her love for him revived. Legouve was frightfully jealous, +and she knew that if she pleaded Dupin's cause before him she would +make matters worse. A sudden thought struck her. She went to +Couthon and demanded an audience. + +"'Couthon,' she said, 'are the Dupins to die?' + +"'Yes, to-morrow.' + +"'Dupin the younger is the father of my child.' + +"'And he has deserted you, and you hate him. He shall die.' + +"'Pardon me, I do not hate him.' + +"'Ah, you love him still; but that is no reason why he should be +spared, my pretty one. We must do our duty. They are plotters +against the Republic, and must go.' + +"'Couthon, they must live. Consider; shall that man ascend the +scaffold with the thought in his heart that I could have rescued him, +and that I did not; that I have had my revenge? Besides, what will +be said?--that the Republic uses justice to satisfy private +vengeance. All the women in my quarter know who I am.' + +"'That is a fancy.' + +"'Fancy! Is it a fancy to murder Dupin's wife--murder all that is +good in her--murder the belief in her for ever that there is such a +thing as generosity? You do not wish to kill the soul? That is the +way with tyrants, but not with the Republic.' + +"Thus Victorine strove with Couthon, and he at last yielded. Dupin +and his father were released that night, and before daybreak they +were all out of Paris and safe. In the morning Legouve found that +they were liberated, and on asking Couthon the reason, was answered +with a smile that they had an eloquent advocate. Victorine had +warned Couthon not to mention her name, and he kept his promise; but +Legouve conjectured but too truly. He went home, and in a furious +rage taxed Victorine with infidelity to him, in favour of the man who +had abandoned her. He would not listen to her, and thrust her from +him with curses. I say nothing more about her history. I will only +say this, that Pauline is that child who was born to her after Dupin +left her. I say it because I am so proud that Pauline has had such a +mother!" + +"Pauline her daughter!" said Zachariah. "I thought she was your +daughter." + +"She is my daughter: I became her father." + +Everybody was silent. + +"Ah, you say nothing," said Caillaud; "I am not surprised. You are +astonished. Well may you be so that such a creature should ever have +lived. What would Jesus Christ have said to her?" + +The company soon afterwards rose to go. + +"Good-bye, Mrs. Coleman," said the Major in his careless way; "I am +glad to find Manchester does not disagree with you. At least, I +should think it does not." + +"Oh no, Major Maitland, I like it quite as well as London. Mind, you +promise to come again SOON--very soon." + +The Major had gone downstairs first. She had followed him to the +first landing, and then returned to bid Pauline and Caillaud good- +bye. She stood like a statue while Pauline put on her hat. + +"Good-night, madam," said Caillaud, slightly bowing. + +"Good-night, madam," said Pauline, not bowing in the least. + +"Good-night," she replied, without relaxing her rigidity. + +As soon as they were in the street Pauline said, "Father, I abhor +that woman. If she lives she will kill her husband." + +Mrs. Coleman, on the other hand, at the same moment said, "Zachariah, +Pauline and Caillaud cannot come to this house again." + +"Why not?" + +"Why not, Zachariah? I am astonished at you! The child of a woman +who lived in open sin!" + +He made no reply. Years ago not a doubt would have crossed his mind. +That a member of Mr. Bradshaw's church could receive such people as +Caillaud and Pauline would have seemed impossible. Nevertheless, +neither Caillaud nor Pauline were now repugnant to him; nor did he +feel that any soundless gulf separated them from him, although, so +far as he knew his opinions had undergone no change. + +Mrs. Coleman forbore to pursue the subject, for her thoughts went off +upon another theme, and she was inwardly wondering whether the Major +would ever invite her to the theatre again. Just as she was going to +sleep, the figure of the Major hovering before her eyes, she suddenly +bethought herself that Pauline, if not handsome, was attractive. She +started, and lay awake for an hour. When she rose in the morning the +same thought again presented itself, to dwell with her hence +forwards, and to gnaw her continually like vitriol. + + + +CHAPTER XI--POLITICS AND PAULINE + + + +Soon after this visit debates arose in Zachariah's club which +afterwards ended in the famous march of the Blanketeers, as they were +called. Matters were becoming very serious, and the Government was +thoroughly alarmed, as well it might be, at the discontent which was +manifest all over the country. The Prince Regent was insulted as he +went to open Parliament, and the windows of his carriage were broken. +It was thought, and with some reason, that the army could not be +trusted. One thing is certain, that the reformers found their way +into the barracks at Knightsbridge and had lunch there at the expense +of the soldiers, who discussed Hone's pamphlets and roared with +laughter over the Political Litany. The Prince Regent communicated +to both Houses certain papers, and recommended that they should at +once be taken into consideration. They contained evidence, so the +royal message asserted, of treasonable combinations "to alienate the +affections of His Majesty's subjects from His Majesty's person and +Government," &c. Secret committees were appointed to consider them +both by Lords and Commons, and in about a fortnight they made their +reports. The text was the Spitalfields meeting of the preceding 2nd +of December. A mob had made it an excuse to march through the city +and plunder some shops. Some of the charges brought against the +clubs by the Lords' Committee do not now seem so very appalling. One +was, that they were agitating for universal suffrage and annual +Parliaments--"projects," say the Committee, "which evidently involve, +not any qualified or partial change but a total subversion of the +British constitution." Another charge was the advocacy of "parochial +partnership in land, on the principle that the landholders are not +proprietors in chief; that they are but stewards of the public; that +the land is the people's farm; that landed monopoly is contrary to +the spirit of Christianity and destructive of the independence and +morality of mankind." The Reform party in Parliament endeavoured to +prove that the country was in no real danger, and that the singularly +harsh measures proposed were altogether unnecessary. That was true. +There was nothing to be feared, because there was no organisation; +but nevertheless, especially in the manufacturing towns, the +suffering was fearful and the hatred of the Government most bitter. +What is so lamentable in the history of those times is the +undisciplined wildness and feebleness of the attempts made by the +people to better themselves. Nothing is more saddening than the +spectacle of a huge mass of humanity goaded, writhing, starving, and +yet so ignorant that it cannot choose capable leaders, cannot obey +them if perchance it gets them, and does not even know how to name +its wrongs. The governing classes are apt to mistake the absurdity +of the manner in which a popular demand expresses itself for +absurdity of the demand itself; but in truth the absurdity of the +expression makes the demand more noteworthy and terrible. Bamford, +when he came to London in the beginning of 1817, records the +impression which the clubs made upon him. He went to several and +found them all alike; "each man with his porter-pot before him and a +pipe in his mouth; many speaking at once, more talkers than thinkers; +more speakers than listeners. Presently 'Order' would be called, and +comparative silence would ensue; a speaker, stranger or citizen, +would be announced with much courtesy and compliment. 'Hear, hear, +hear' would follow, with clapping of hands and knocking of knuckles +on the tables, till the half-pints danced; then a speech, with +compliments to some brother orator or popular statesman; next a +resolution in favour of Parliamentary Reform, and a speech to second +it; an amendment on some minor point would follow; a seconding of +that; a breach of order by some individual of warm temperament; half +a dozen would rise to set him right; a dozen to put them down; and +the vociferation and gesticulation would become loud and +confounding." + +The Manchester clubs had set their hearts upon an expedition to +London--thousands strong; each man with a blanket to protect him and +a petition in his hand. The discussion on this project was long and +eager. The Major, Caillaud and Zachariah steadfastly opposed it; not +because of its hardihood, but because of its folly. They were +outvoted; but they conceived themselves loyally bound to make it a +success. Zachariah and Caillaud were not of much use in +organisation, and the whole burden fell upon the Major. Externally +gay, and to most persons justifying the charge of frivolity, he was +really nothing of the kind when he had once settled down to the work +he was born to do. His levity was the mere idle sport of a mind +unattached and seeking its own proper object. He was like a cat, +which will play with a ball or its own tail in the sunshine, but if a +mouse or a bird crosses its path will fasten on it with sudden +ferocity. He wrought like a slave during the two months before the +eventful 10th March 1817, and well nigh broke his heart over the +business. Everything had to be done subterraneously; for though the +Habeas Corpus Act was not yet suspended, preparations for what looked +like war were perilous. But this was not the greatest difficulty. +He pleaded for dictatorial powers, and at once found he had made +himself suspected thereby. He was told bluntly that working men did +not mean to exchange one despot for another, and that they were just +as good as he was. Any other man would have thrown up his commission +in disgust, but not so Major Maitland. He persevered unflaggingly, +although a sub-committee had been appointed to act with him and check +his proceedings. The secretary of this very sub-committee, who was +also treasurer, was one of the causes of the failure of the +enterprise, for when the march began neither he nor the funds with +which he had been entrusted could be found. After the club meetings +in the evening there was often an adjournment to Caillaud's lodgings, +where the Major, Zachariah, Caillaud, and Pauline sat up till close +upon midnight. One evening there was an informal conference of this +kind prior to the club meeting on the following night. The Major was +not present, for he was engaged in making some arrangements for the +commissariat on the march. He had always insisted on it that they +were indispensable, and he had been bitterly opposed the week before +by some of his brethren, who were in favour of extempore foraging +which looked very much like plunder. He carried his point, +notwithstanding some sarcastic abuse and insinuations of half- +heartedness, which had touched also Caillaud and Zachariah, who +supported him. Zachariah was much depressed. + +"Mr. Coleman, you are dull," said Pauline. "What is the matter?" + +"Dull!--that's not exactly the word. I was thinking of to-morrow." + +"Ah! I thought so. Well?" + +Zachariah hesitated a little. "Is it worth all the trouble?" at last +he said, an old familiar doubt recurring to him--"Is it worth all the +trouble to save them? What are they?--and, after all, what can we do +for them? Suppose we succeed, and a hundred thousand creatures like +those who blackguarded us last week get votes, and get their taxes +reduced, and get all they want, what then?" + +Pauline broke in with all the eagerness of a woman who is struck with +an idea--"Stop, stop, Mr. Coleman. Here is the mistake you make. +Grant it all--grant your achievement is ridiculously small--is it not +worth the sacrifice of two or three like you and me to accomplish it? +That is our error. We think ourselves of such mighty importance. +The question is, whether we are of such importance, and whether the +progress of the world one inch will not be cheaply purchased by the +annihilation of a score of us. You believe in what you call +salvation. You would struggle and die to save a soul; but in reality +you can never save a man; you must be content to struggle and die to +save a little bit of him--to prevent one habit from descending to his +children. You won't save him wholly, but you may arrest the +propagation of an evil trick, and so improve a trifle--just a trifle- +-whole generations to come. Besides, I don't believe what you will +do is nothing. 'Give a hundred thousand blackguard creatures votes'- +-well, that is something. You are disappointed they do not at once +become converted and all go to chapel. That is not the way of the +Supreme. Your hundred thousand get votes, and perhaps are none the +better, and die as they were before they had votes. But the Supreme +has a million, or millions, of years before Him." + +Zachariah was silent. Fond of dialectic, he generally strove to +present the other side; but he felt no disposition to do so now, and +he tried rather to connect what she had said with something which he +already believed. + +"True," he said at last; "true, or true in part. What are we?--what +are we?" and so Pauline's philosophy seemed to reconcile itself with +one of his favourite dogmas, but it had not quite the same meaning +which it had for him ten years ago. + +"Besides," said Caillaud, "we hate Liverpool and all his crew. When +I think of that speech at the opening of Parliament I become violent. +There it is; I have stuck it up over the mantelpiece: + + +"Deeply as I lament the pressure of these evils upon the country, I +am sensible that they are of a nature not to admit of an immediate +remedy. But whilst I observe with peculiar satisfaction the +fortitude with which so many privations have been borne, and the +active benevolence which has been employed to mitigate them, I am +persuaded that the great sources of our national prosperity are +essentially unimpaired; and I entertain a confident expectation that +the native energy of the country will at no distant period surmount +all the difficulties in which we are involved." + + +"My God," continued Caillaud, "I could drive a knife into the heart +of the man who thus talks!" + +"No murder, Caillaud," said Zachariah. + +"Well, no. What is it but a word? Let us say sacrifice. Do you +call the death of your Charles a murder? No; and the reason why you +do not is what? Not that it was decreed by a Court. There have been +many murders decreed by Courts according to law. Was not the death +of your Jesus Christ a murder? Murder means death for base, selfish +ends. What said Jesus--that He came to send a sword? Of course He +did. Every idea is a sword. What a God He was! He was the first +who ever cared for the people--for the real people, the poor, the +ignorant, the fools, the weak-minded, the slaves. The Greeks and +Romans thought nothing of these. I salute thee, O Thou Son of the +People!" and Caillaud took down a little crucifix which, strange to +say, always hung in his room, and reverently inclined himself to it. +"A child of the people," he continued, "in everything, simple, +foolish, wise, ragged, Divine, martyred Hero." + +Zachariah was not astonished at this melodramatic display, for he +knew Caillaud well; and although this was a little more theatrical +than anything he had ever seen before, it was not out of keeping with +his friend's character. Nor was it insincere, for Caillaud was not +an Englishman. Moreover, there is often more insincerity in +purposely lowering the expression beneath the thought, and denying +the thought thereby, than in a little exaggeration. Zachariah, +although he was a Briton, had no liking for that hypocrisy which +takes a pride in reducing the extraordinary to the commonplace, and +in forcing an ignoble form upon that which is highest. The +conversation went no further. At last Caillaud said: + +"Come, Pauline, a tune; we have not had one for a long time." + +Pauline smiled, and went into her little room. Meanwhile her father +removed chairs and table, piling them one on another so as to leave a +clear space. He and Zachariah crouched into the recess by the +fireplace. Pauline entered in the self same short black dress +trimmed with red, with the red artificial flower, wearing the same +red stockings and dancing-slippers, but without the shawl. The +performance this time was not quite what it was when Zachariah had +seen it in London. Between herself and the corner where Zachariah +and her father were seated she now had an imaginary partner, before +whom she advanced, receded, bowed, displayed herself in the most +exquisitely graceful attitudes, never once overstepping the mark, and +yet showing every limb and line to the utmost advantage. Zachariah, +as before, followed every movement with eager--shall we say with +hungry eyes? He was so unused to exhibitions of this kind that their +grace was not, as it should have been, their only charm; for, as we +before observed, in his chapel circle even ordinary dancing was a +thing prohibited. The severity of manners to which he had been +accustomed tended to produce an effect the very opposite to that +which was designed; for it can hardly be doubted that if it were the +custom in England for women to conceal the face, a glimpse of an eye +or a nose would excite unpleasant thoughts. + +The dance came to an end, and as it was getting late Zachariah rose. + +"Stop," said Caillaud. "It is agreed that if they persist on this +march, one or the other of us goes too. The Major will be sure to +go. Which shall it be, you or me?" + +"We will draw lots." + +"Good." And Zachariah departed, Pauline laughingly making him one of +her costume curtseys. He was very awkward. He never knew how to +conduct himself becomingly, or with even good manners, on commonplace +occasions. When he was excited in argument he was completely equal +to the best company, and he would have held his own on level terms at +a Duke's dinner-party, provided only the conversation were +interesting. But when he was not intellectually excited he was +lubberly. He did not know what response to make to Pauline's +graceful adieu, and retreated sheepishly. When he got home he found +his wife waiting for him. The supper was cleared away, and, as +usual, she was reading, or pretending to be reading, the Bible. + +"You have had supper, of course?" There was a peculiar tone in the +"of course," as if she meant to imply not merely that it was late, +but that he had preferred to have it with somebody else. + +"I do not want any." + +"Then we had better have prayers." + + + +CHAPTER XII--ONE BODY AND ONE SPIRIT + + + +Next week Zachariah found it necessary to consult with Caillaud +again. The Major was to be there. The intended meeting was +announced to Mrs. Coleman by her husband at breakfast on the day +before, and he informed her that he should probably be late, and that +no supper need be kept for him. + +"Why do you never meet here, Zachariah? Why must it always be at +Caillaud's?" + +"Did you not say that they should not come to this house again?" + +"Yes; but I meant I did not want to see them as friends. On business +there is no reason why Caillaud should not come." + +"I cannot draw the line." + +"Zachariah, do you mean to call unconverted infidels your friends?" + +They were his friends--he felt they were--and they were dear to him; +but he was hardly able as yet to confess it, even to himself. + +"It will not do," he said. "Besides, Caillaud will be sure to bring +his daughter." + +"She will not be so bold as to come if she is not asked. Do _I_ go +with you anywhere except when I am asked?" + +"She has always been used to go out with her father wherever he goes. +She knows all his affairs, and is very useful to him." + +"So it seems. She must be VERY useful. Well, if it must be so, and +it is on business, invite her too." + +"I think still it will be better at Caillaud's; there more room. +There would be five of us." + +"How do you make five?" + +"There is the Major. And why, by the way, do you object to Caillaud +and Pauline more than the Major? He is not converted." + +"There is plenty of room here. I didn't say I didn't object to the +Major. Besides, there is a difference between French infidels and +English people, even if they are not church members. But I see how +it is. You want to go there, and you will go. I am of no use to +you. You care nothing for me. You can talk to such dreadful +creatures as Caillaud and that woman who lives with him, and you +never talk to me. Oh, I wish Mr. Bradshaw were here, or I were back +again at home! What would Mr. Bradshaw say?" + +Mrs. Coleman covered her face in her hands. Zachariah felt no pity. +His anger was roused. He was able to say hard things at times, and +there was even a touch of brutality in him. + +"Whose fault is it that I do not talk to you? When did I ever get +any help from you? What do you understand about what concerns me, +and when have you ever tried to understand anything? Your home is no +home to me. My life is blasted, and it might have been different. +The meeting shall not be here, and I will do as I please." + +He went out of the room in a rage, and downstairs into the street, +going straight to his work. It is a terrible moment when the first +bitter quarrel takes place, and when hatred, even if it be hatred for +the moment only first finds expression. That moment can never be +recalled! Is it ever really forgotten, or really forgiven? Some of +us can call to mind a word, just one word, spoken, twenty, thirty, +forty, fifty years ago, which rings in our ears even to-day as +distinctly as when it was uttered, and forces the blood into the head +as it did then. When Zachariah returned that night he and his wife +spoke to each other as if nothing had happened, but they spoke only +about indifferent things. The next day Mrs. Coleman wondered +whether, after all, he would repent; but the evening came and she +waited and waited in vain. The poor woman for hours and hours had +thought one thought and one thought only, until at last she could +bear it no longer. At about eight o'clock she rose, put on her +cloak, and went out of doors. She made straight for Caillaud's +house. It was cold, and the sky was clear at intervals, with masses +of clouds sweeping over the nearly full moon. What she was to do +when she got to Caillaud's had not entered her head. She came to the +door and stopped. It had just begun to rain heavily. The sitting- +room was on the ground-floor, abutting on the pavement. The blind +was drawn down, but not closely, and she could see inside. Caillaud +Pauline, and Zachariah were there, but not the Major. Caillaud was +sitting by the fireside; her husband and Pauline were talking +earnestly across the table. Apparently both of them were much +interested, and his face was lighted up as she never saw it when he +was with her. She was fascinated, and could not move. It was a dull +lonely street and nobody was to be seen that wet night. She had no +protection from the weather but her cloak, and in ten minutes, as the +rain came down more heavily, she was wet through and shivering from +head to foot--she who was usually so careful, so precise, so +singularly averse from anything like disorder. Still she watched-- +watched every movement of those two--every smile, every gesture; and +when Caillaud went out of the room, perhaps to fetch something, she +watched with increasing and self-forgetting intensity. She had not +heard footsteps approaching. The wind had risen; the storm was ever +fiercer and fiercer, and the feverish energy which poured itself into +her eyes had drained and deadened every other sense. + +"Well, my good woman, what do you want?" + +She turned with a start, and it was the Major! + +"Mrs. Coleman! Good God! what are you doing here? You are soaked. +Why don't you come in?" + +"Oh no, Major Maitland indeed I cannot. I--I had been out, and I had +just stopped a moment. I didn't know it was going to rain." + +"But I say you are dripping. Come in and see you husband; he will go +with you." + +"Oh no, Major, please don't; please don't mention it to him; oh no, +please don't; he would be very vexed. I shall be all right; I will +go on at once and dry myself." + +"You cannot go alone. I will see you as far as your house. Here, +take my coat and put it over your shoulders." + +The Major took off a heavy cloak with capes, wrapped it round her, +drew her arm through his, and they went to her lodgings. She forgot +Zachariah, Caillaud, and Pauline. When they arrived she returned the +cloak and thanked him. She dared not ask him upstairs and he made no +offer to stay. + +"Please say nothing to my husband; promise you will not. He would be +in such a way if he thought I had been out; but I could not help it." + +"Oh, certainly not, Mrs. Coleman, if you wish it; though I am sure he +wouldn't, he couldn't be angry with you." + +She lingered as he took the coat. + +"Come inside and put it on, Major Maitland; why, it is you who are +dripping now. You will not wear that over your sopped clothes. +Cannot I lend you something? Won't you have something hot to drink?" + +"No, thank you. I think not; it is not so bad as all that." + +He shook hands with her and had gone. + +She went upstairs into her dark room. The fire was out. She lighted +no candle, but sat down just as she was, put her head on the table, +and sobbed as if her heart would break. She was very seldom overcome +by emotion of this kind, and used to be proud that she had never once +in her life fainted, and was not given to hysterics. Checked at last +by a deadly shivering which came over her, she took off her wet +garments, threw them over a chair, and crept into bed, revolving in +her mind the explanation which she could give to her husband. When +she saw him, and he inquired about her clothes, she offered some +trifling excuse, which seemed very readily to satisfy him, for he +made scarcely any reply, and was soon asleep. This time it was her +turn to lie awake, and the morning found her restless, and with every +symptom of a serious illness approaching. + + + +CHAPTER XIII--TO THE GREEKS FOOLISHNESS + + + +Neither Mrs. Coleman nor her husband thought it anything worse than a +feverish cold, and he went to his work. It was a club night, the +night on which the final arrangements for the march were to be made, +and he did not like to be away. His wife was to lie in bed; but a +woman in the house offered to wait upon her and bring what little +food she wanted. It was settled at the club that the Major should +accompany the expedition and Zachariah and Caillaud having drawn +lots, the lot fell upon Caillaud. A last attempt was made to +dissuade the majority from the undertaking; but it had been made +before, not only by our three friends, but by other Lancashire +societies, and had failed. The only effect its renewal had now was a +disagreeable and groundless insinuation which was unendurable. On +his return from the meeting Zachariah was alarmed. His wife was in +great pain, and had taken next to nothing all day. Late as it was, +he went for a doctor, who would give no opinion as to the nature of +the disease then, but merely ordered her some kind of sedative +mixture, which happily gave her a little sleep. Zachariah was a +working man and a poor man. Occasionally it does happen that a +working man and a poor man has nerves, and never does his poverty +appear so hateful to him as when he has sickness in his house. + +The mere discomforts of poverty are bad enough--the hunger and cold +of it--but worse than all is the impossibility of being decently ill, +or decently dying, or of paying any attention to those who take it +into their heads to be ill or to die. A man tolerably well off can +at least get his wife some help when she is laid up, and when she is +near her end can remain with her to take her last kiss and blessing. +Not so the bricklayer's labourer. If his wife is in bed, he must +depend upon charity for medicine and attendance. And although he +knows he will never see her again, he is forced away to the job on +which he is employed; for if he does not go he will lose it, and must +apply to the parish for a funeral. Happily the poor are not slow to +help one another. The present writer has known women who have to +toil hard all day long, sit up night after night with their +neighbours, and watch them with the most tender care. Zachariah +found it so in his case. A fellow-lodger, the mother of half-a-dozen +children, a woman against whom the Colemans had conceived a +prejudice, and whom they had avoided, came forward and modestly asked +Zachariah if she might "look after" Mrs. Coleman while he was away. +He thought for a moment of sundry harsh things which he had said +about her, and then a well-known parable came into his mind about a +certain Samaritan, and he could have hugged her with joy at her +offer. + +Mrs. Carter was one of those healthy, somewhat red-faced, gay +creatures whom nothing represses. She was never melancholy with +those who were suffering; not because she had no sympathy for she was +profoundly sympathetic--but because she was subduable. Her pulse was +quick, and her heart so sound that her blood, rich and strong--blood +with never a taint in it--renewed every moment every fibre of her +brain. Her very presence to those who were desponding was a magnetic +charm and she could put to flight legions of hypochondriacal fancies +with a cheery word. Critics said she ruled her husband; but what +husband would not rejoice in being so ruled? He came home weary and +he did not want to rule. He wanted to be directed, and he gladly saw +the reins in the hands of his "missus," of whom he was justly proud. +She conducted all the conversation; she spent his money, and even +bought him his own clothes; and although she said a sharp thing or +two now and then, she never really quarrelled with him. The eldest +of her six children was only twelve years old, and she was not over +methodical, so that her apartments were rather confused and +disorderly. She was not, however, dirty, and would not tolerate dirt +even in her boys, to whom, by the way, she administered very short +and sharp corrections sometimes. If they came to the table with +grimy paws, the first intimation they had that their mother noticed +it was a rap on the knuckles with the handle of a knife which sent +the bread and butter flying out of their fingers. She read no books, +and, what was odd in those days, did not go to chapel or church; but +she had her "opinions," as she called them, upon everything which was +stirring in the world, and never was behindhand in the news. She was +really happier when she found that she had to look after Mrs. +Coleman. She bustled about, taking directions from the doctor--not +without some scepticism, for she had notions of her own on the +subject of disease--and going up and down stairs continually to see +how her patient was getting on. It was curious that although she was +a heavy woman she was so active. She was always on her legs from +morning to night, and never seemed fatigued. Indeed, when she sat +still she was rather uncomfortable; and this was her weak point, for +her restlessness interfered with sewing and mending, which she +abominated. + +The time for the march was close at hand. The Habeas Corpus Act had +meanwhile been suspended and every reformer had to walk very warily. +Ogden, in whose office it will be remembered that Zachariah was +engaged, had issued a handbill informing all the inhabitants of +Manchester and its neighbourhood that on the 10th March a meeting +would be held near St. Peter's Church of those persons who had +determined to carry their petitions to London. Zachariah, going to +his shop, as usual, on the morning of the 10th--a Monday--was +astonished to find that Ogden was arrested and in prison. + +We must, however, for a time, follow the fortunes of Caillaud and the +Major on that day. They were both astir at five o'clock, and joined +one another at the club. All the members were to assemble there at +seven. Never was the Major more despondent. As for organisation, +there was none, and every proposal he had made had been thwarted. He +saw well enough, as a soldier, that ten times the enthusiasm at his +command would never carry a hundred men to London in that cold +weather, and that if twenty thousand started, the number would be the +difficulty. The Yeomanry cavalry were under orders to oppose them, +and what could an undisciplined mob do against a semi-military force? +The end of it would be the prompt dispersion of the pilgrims and the +discredit of the cause. Nevertheless, both he and Caillaud had +determined not to desert it. The absence of all preparations on the +part of these poor Blanketeers was, in truth, very touching, as it +showed the innocent confidence which they had in the justice of their +contention. Their avowed object was to present a petition personally +to the Prince Regent, that they might "undeceive" him; as if such a +thing were possible, or, being possible, would be of the slightest +service. The whole country would rise and help them; their journey +would be a triumphal procession; they were not a hostile army; the +women would come to the doors and offer them bread and milk; they +would reach London; Lord Liverpool would resign; and they would come +back to Manchester with banners flying, having saved their country. +At nine o'clock the club was in St. Peter's fields, and a kind of +platform had been erected, from which an address was to be given. +Caillaud and the Major were down below. Both of them were aghast at +what they saw. Thousands of men were present with whom they were +unacquainted, who had been attracted by Ogden's proclamation; some +with coats; others without coats; some with sticks; some with +petitions; but most of them with blankets, which they had rolled up +like knapsacks. The Major's heart sank within him. What on earth +could he do? Nothing except accompany them and try to prevent +collision with the troops. The magistrates were distracted by no +doubts whatever. They read the Riot Act, although there was no riot, +nor the semblance of one, and forthwith surrounded the platform and +carried off everyone on it to prison. The crowd was then chased by +the soldiers and special constables, till all power of combination +was at an end. About three hundred however, were collected, and +found their way to Ardwick Green. They had been joined by others on +the route, and the Major informally reviewed his men. Never, surely, +was there such a regiment! never, surely, did any regiment go on such +an errand! Ragged many of them; ignorant all, fanatical, penniless, +they determined, in spite of all arguments, to proceed. He pointed +out that if they could be so easily scattered when they were +thousands strong, every one of them would be cut down or captured +before they were twenty miles on the road. He was answered as before +with contempt and suspicions of cowardice. A Methodist, half- +starved, grey-haired, with black rings round his eyes and a yellow +face, harangued them. + +"My friends," he said, "we have been told to go back; that we are too +few to accomplish the task to which we have set ourselves. What said +the Lord unto Gideon, Judges vii.: 'The people that are with thee +are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands lest +Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved +me. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, +Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from +Gilead.' Well, twenty-two thousand went back and at last Gideon had +only the three hundred who lapped the water. By those three hundred +Israel was saved from the Midianites. Our thousands have left us; +but we shall triumph. It may be the Lord's will that more should +depart. It may be that there are yet too many. I say, then, in the +words of Gideon, 'Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return.' +Is there anybody?" (Loud shouts answered "None.") "The Lord is with +us," continued the speaker--"the sword of the Lord and of Gideon!" +Every one shouted again. + +Respectable Manchester was frightened when the Blanketeers met, and +laughed them to scorn when they were dispersed. No wonder at the +laughter. What could be more absurd? And yet, when we call to mind +the THING then on the throne; the THING that gave 180 pounds for an +evening coat, and incurred enormous debts, while his people were +perishing; the THING that drank and lied and whored; the THING that +never did nor said nor thought anything that was not utterly brutish +and contemptible--when we think that the THING was a monarch, Heaven- +ordained, so it was said, on which side does the absurdity really +lie? Of a truth, not only is the wisdom of this world foolishness, +as it ever was, but that which to this world is foolishness is +adjudged wisdom by the Eternal Arbiter. The Blanketeers shivering on +Ardwick Green, the weavers who afterwards drilled on the Lancashire +moors, and were hung according to law, or killed at Peterloo, are +less ridiculous than those who hung or sabred them, less ridiculous +than the Crimean war and numberless dignified events in human +history, the united achievements of the sovereigns and ministries of +Europe. + +The route of the three hundred was towards Stockport; but when they +reached the bridge they found it occupied by the Yeomanry and a troop +of the Life Guards. To attempt to force a passage was impossible; +but numbers threw themselves into the river, and so crossed. The +soldiers then withdrew into Stockport town, and the bridge was left +open to the main body. When they got into the street on the other +side the soldiers and police dashed at them, and arrested everybody +whom they could catch. The Major was foremost in the crowd, +endeavouring to preserve some sort of discipline, and one of the +Yeomanry, suspecting him to be a leader, rode up to him, and, leaning +from his horse, collared him. He was unarmed; but he was a powerful +man, and wrenched himself free. The soldier drew his sword, and +although Caillaud was close by, and attempted to parry the blow with +a stick, the Major lay a dead man on the ground. The next moment, +however, the soldier himself was dead--dead from a pistol-shot fired +by Caillaud, who was instantly seized, handed over to a guard, and +marched off with a score of others to Manchester jail. A remnant +only of the Blanketeers escaped from Stockport, and a smaller remnant +got to Macclesfield. There there was no shelter for them, and many +of them lay in the streets all night. When the morning dawned only +twenty went on into Staffordshire, and these shortly afterwards +separated, and wandered back to Manchester. The sword of Gideon was, +alas! not the sword of the Lord, and aching hearts in that bitter +March weather felt that there was something worse than the cold to be +borne at they struggled homewards. Others, amongst whom was our +Methodist orator, were not discouraged. It is a poor religion which +makes no provision for disaster, and even for apparently final +failure. The test of faith is its power under defeat, and these +silly God-fearing souls argued to themselves that their Master's time +was not their time; that perhaps they were being punished for their +sins, and that when it pleased Him they would triumph. Essentially +right they were, right in every particular, excepting, perhaps, that +it was not for their own sins that this sore visitation came upon +them. Visitation for sin it was certainly, but a visitation for the +sins of others--such is the way of Providence, and has been ever +since the world began, much to the amazement of many reflective +persons. Thou hast laid on Him the iniquity of us all, and Jesus is +crucified rather than the Scribes and Pharisees! Yet could we really +wish it otherwise? Would it have been better in the end that +Caiaphas and the elders should have been nailed upon Calvary, and +Jesus die at a good old age, crowned with honour? It was not yet +God's time in 1817, but God's time was helped forward, as it +generally is, by this anticipation of it. It is a commonplace that a +premature outbreak puts back the hands of the clock and is a blunder. +Nine times out of ten this is untrue, and a revolt instantaneously +quenched in blood is not merely the precursor, but the direct +progenitor of success. + +We will spend no time over the death of Major Maitland. The tragic +interest, as one of our greatest masters has said, lies not with the +corpse but with the mourners, and we turn back to Zachariah. Ogden's +office was shut. On the night after the breakdown at Stockport a +note in pencil was left at Zachariah's house, in Pauline's +handwriting. It was very short: --"Fly for your life--they will have +you to-night--P." + +Fly for his life! But how could he fly, with his wife in bed and +with no work before him? Would it not be base to leave her? Then it +occurred to him that if he were taken and imprisoned, he would be +altogether incapable of helping her. He determined to speak to Mrs. +Carter. He showed her the note, and she was troubled with no +hesitation of any kind. + +"My good man," she said, "you be off this minute. That's what you've +got to do. Never mind your wife; I'll see after her. Expense? +Lord, Mr. Coleman what's that? She don't eat much. Besides, we'll +settle all about that afterwards." + +Zachariah hesitated. + +"Now don't stand shilly-shallying and a-thinking and a-thinking,-- +that never did anybody any good. I can't a-bear a man as thinks and +thinks when there's anything to be done as plain as the nose in his +face. Where's your bag?" + +Mrs. Carter was out of the room in an instant, and in ten minutes +came back with a change of clothes. + +"Now, let us know where you are; but don't send your letters here. +You write to my sister; there's her address. You needn't go up +there; your wife's asleep. I'll bid her good-bye for you. Take my +advice--get out of this county somewhere, and get out of Manchester +to-night." + +"I must go upstairs to get some money," and Zachariah stole into his +bedroom to take half a little hoard which was in a desk there. His +wife, as Mrs. Carter had said, was asleep. He went to her bedside +and looked at her. She was pale and worn. Lying there unconscious, +all the defects which had separated him from her vanished. In sleep +and death the divine element of which we are compounded reappears, +and we cease to hate or criticise; we can only weep or pray. He +looked and looked again. The hours of first love and courtship +passed before him; he remembered what she was to him then, and he +thought that perhaps the fault, after all, might have been on his +side, and that he had perhaps not tried to understand her. He +thought of her loneliness--taken away by him into a land of +strangers--and now he was about to desert her; he thought, too, that +she also was one of God's children just as much as he was; perhaps +more so. The tears filled his eyes, although he was a hard, strong +man not used to tears, and something rose in his throat and almost +choked him. He was about to embrace her; but he dared not disturb +her. He knelt down at the foot of the bed, and in an agony besought +his God to have mercy on him. "God have mercy on me! God have mercy +on her!" That was all he could say--nothing else, although he had +been used to praying habitually. His face was upon her feet, as she +lay stretched out there, and he softly uncovered one of them, so +gently that she could not perceive it. Spotlessly white it was, and +once upon a time she was so attractive to him because she was so +exquisitely scrupulous! He bent his lips over it, kissed it--she +stirred, but did not wake; a great cry almost broke from him, but he +stifled it and rose. There was a knock at the door, and he started. +It was Mrs. Carter. + +"Come," she said as he went out, "you have been here long enough. +Poor dear man!--there, there--of course it's hard to bear--poor dear +man!"--and the good creature put her hand affectionately on his +shoulder. + +"I don't know how it is," she continued, wiping her eyes with her +apron, "I can't a-bear to see a man cry. It always upsets me. My +husband ain't done it above once or twice in his life, and, Lord, I'd +sooner a cried myself all night long. Good-bye, my dear, good-bye, +good-bye; God bless you! It will all come right." + +In another minute Zachariah was out of doors. It was dark, and +getting late. The cold air revived him but he could not for some +time come to any determination as to what he ought to do next. He +was not well acquainted with the country round Manchester, and he +could not decide to what point of the compass it would be safest to +bend his steps. At last he remembered that at any rate he must +escape from the town boundaries, and get a night's lodging somewhere +outside them. With the morning some light would possibly dawn upon +him. + +Pauline's warning was well-timed, for the constables made a descent +upon Caillaud's lodgings as soon as they got him into jail, and +thence proceeded to Coleman's. They insisted on a search, and Mrs. +Carter gave them a bit of her mind, for they went into every room of +the house, and even into Mrs. Coleman's bedroom. + +"I'll tell you what it is, Mr. Nadin," she said, turning towards the +notorious chief constable, "if God A'mighty had to settle who was to +be hung in Manchester, it wouldn't be any of them poor Blanketeers. +Wouldn't you like to strip the clothes off the bed? That would be +just in your line." + +"Hold your damned tongue!" quoth Mr. Nadin; but, nevertheless, seeing +his men grinning and a little ashamed of themselves, he ordered them +back. + +Meanwhile Zachariah pursued his way north-westward unchallenged, and +at last came to a roadside inn, which he thought looked safe. He +walked in, and found half a dozen decent-looking men sitting round a +fire and smoking. One of them was a parson, and another was one of +the parish overseers. It was about half-past ten, and they were not +merry, but a trifle boozy and stupid. Zachariah called for a pint of +beer and some bread and cheese, and asked if he could have a bed. +The man who served him didn't know; but would go and see. Presently +the overseer was beckoned out of the room, and the man came back +again and informed Zachariah that there was no bed for him, and that +he had better make haste with his supper, as the house would close at +eleven. In a minute or two the door opened again, and a poor, +emaciated weaver entered and asked the overseer for some help. His +wife, he said, was down with the fever; he had no work; he had had no +victuals all day, and he and his family were starving. He was +evidently known to the company. + +"Ah," said the overseer, "no work, and the fever and starving; that's +what they always say. I'll bet a sovereign you've been after them +Blanketeers." + +"It's a judgment on you," observed the parson. "You and your like go +setting class against class; you never come near the church, and then +you wonder God Almighty punishes you." + +"You can come on your knees to us when it suits you, and you'd burn +my rick to-morrow," said a third. + +"There's a lot of fever amongst 'em down my way," said another, whose +voice was rather thick, "and a damned lot of expense they are, too, +for physic and funerals. It's my belief that they catch it out of +spite." + +"Aren't you going to give me nothing?" said the man. "There isn't a +mouthful of food in the place, and the wife may be dead before the +morning." + +"Well, what do you say, parson?" said the overseer. + +"I say we've got quite enough to do to help those who deserve help," +he replied, "and that it's flying in the face of Providence to +interfere with its judgment." With that he knocked the ashes out of +his pipe, and took a great gulp of his brandy-and-water. + +There was an echo of assent. + +"God have mercy on me!" said the man, as he sat down on the form by +the table. Zachariah touched him gently, and pushed the plate and +jug to him. He looked at Zachariah, and without saying a word, +devoured it greedily. He just had time to finish, for the landlord, +entering the room, roughly ordered them to turn out. Out they went +accordingly. + +"The Lord in heaven curse them!" exclaimed Zachariah's companion when +they were in the road. "I could have ripped 'em up, every one of +'em. My wife is in bed with her wits a-wandering, and there a'nt a +lump of coal, nor a crumb of bread, nor a farthing in the house." + +"Hush, my friend, cursing is of no use." + +"Ah! it's all very well to talk; you've got money maybe." + +"Not much. I too have no work, no lodging, and I'm driven away from +home. Here's half of what's left." + +"What a sinner I am!" said the other. "You wouldn't think it, to +hear me go on as I did, but I am a Methodist. The last two or three +days, though, I've been like a raving madman. That's the worst of +it. Starvation has brought the devil into me. I'm not a-going to +take all that though, master; I'll take some of it; and if ever I +prayed to the Throne of Grace in my life, I'll pray for you. Who are +you? Where are you going?" + +Zachariah felt that he could safely trust him, and told him what had +happened. + +"I haven't got a bit of straw myself on which to put you; but you +come along with me." + +They walked together for about half a mile, till they came to a barn. +There was a haystack close by, and they dragged some of the dry hay +into it. + +"You'd better be away from these parts afore it's light, and, if you +take my advice, Liverpool is the best place for you." + +He was right. Liverpool was a large town, and, what was of more +consequence, it was not so revolutionary as Manchester, and the +search there for the suspected was not so strict. The road was +explained, so far as Zachariah's friend knew it, and they parted. + +Zachariah slept but little, and at four o'clock, with a bright moon, +he started. He met with no particular adventure, and in the evening +found himself once more in a wilderness of strange streets, with no +outlook, face to face with the Red Sea. Happy is the man who, if he +is to have an experience of this kind, is trained to it when young, +and is not suddenly brought to it after a life of security. +Zachariah, although he was desponding, could now say he had been in +the same straits before, and had survived. That is the consolation +of all consolations to us. We have actually touched and handled the +skeleton, and after all we have not been struck dead. {132} + + +"O socii, neque enim ignari sumus ante malorum, +O passi graviora, dabit Deus his quoque finem. +Vos et Scyllaeam rabiem penitusque sonantes +Accestis scopulos; vos et Cyclopia saxa +Experti. Revocate animos, moestumque timorem +Mittite; forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit." + + +He wandered down to the water and saw a ship cleared for some port +across the Atlantic. A longing seized him to go with her. Over the +sea,--he thought there he would be at rest. So we all think, and as +we watch the vessels dropping below the horizon in the sunset cloud, +we imagine them bound with a happy crew to islands of the blest, the +truth being that the cloud is a storm, and the destined port is as +commonplace and full of misery as the one they have left. Zachariah, +however, did not suffer himself to dream. He went diligently and +systematically to work; but this time all his efforts were fruitless. +He called on every printing-office he could find, and there was not +one which wanted a hand, or saw any prospect of wanting one. He +thought of trying the river-side; but he stood no chance there, as he +had never been accustomed to carry heavy weights. His money was +running short, and at last, when evening came on the third day, and +he was faint with fatigue, his heart sank. He was ill, too, and +sickness began to cloud his brain. As the power of internal +resistance diminishes, the circumstance of the external world presses +on us like the air upon an exhausted glass ball, and finally crushes +us. It saddened him, too, to think, as it has saddened thousands +before him, that the fight which he fought, and the death which, +perhaps, was in front of him, were so mean. Ophelia dies; Juliet +dies, and we fancy that their fate, although terrible, is more +enviable than that of a pauper who drops undramatically on London +stones. He came to his lodging at the close of the third day, wet, +tired, hungry, and with a headache. There was nobody to suggest +anything to him or offer him anything. He went to bed, and a +thousand images, uncontrolled, rushed backwards and forwards before +him. He became excited, so that he could not rest, and after walking +about his room till nearly daylight, turned into bed again. When +morning had fairly arrived he tried to rise, but he was beaten. He +lay still till about eleven, and then the woman who kept the lodging- +house appeared and asked him if he was going to stay all day where he +was. He told her he was very bad; but she went away without a word, +and he saw nothing more of her. Towards night he became worse and +finally delirious. + + + +CHAPTER XIV--THE SCHOOL OF ADVERSITY THE SIXTH FORM THEREOF + + + +When Zachariah came to himself he was in a large, long, whitewashed +room, with twenty beds or more in it. A woman in a greyish check +dress was standing near him. + +"Where am I?" he said. + +"Where are yer?" she said; "why, in the workus infirmary, to be sure, +with me a-looking after yer. Where would yer be?" + +Zachariah relapsed and was still. The next time he opened his eyes +the woman had left him. It was true he was in the workhouse, and a +workhouse then was not what it is now. Who can possibly describe +what it was? Who can possibly convey to anybody who has not known +what it was by actual imprisonment in it any adequate sense of its +gloom; of the utter, callous, brutal indifference of the so-called +nurses; of the neglect of the poor patients by those who were paid to +attend to them; of the absence of even common decency; of the +desperate persistent attempts made by everybody concerned to impress +upon the wretched mortals who were brought there that they were +chargeable to the parish and put there for form's sake, prior to +being shovelled into a hole in the adjoining churchyard? The +infirmary nurses were taken from the other side of the building-- +sometimes for very strange reasons. The master appointed them, and +was not bound to account to anybody for his preferences. One woman +had given him much trouble. She was a stout, lazy brute, who had no +business in the House, and who went in and out just as she liked. +One day something displeased her, and she attacked him with such fury +and suddenness that he would have been a dead man in a few minutes if +she had not been pulled off. But he dared not report her. She knew +too much about him, and she was moved a few days afterwards to look +after the sick. She it was who spoke to Zachariah. She, however, +was not by any means the worst. Worse than her were the old, +degraded, sodden, gin-drinking hags, who had all their lives breathed +pauper air and pauper contamination; women with not one single +vestige of their Maker's hand left upon them, and incapable, even +under the greatest provocation, of any human emotion; who would see a +dying mother call upon Christ, or cry for her husband and children, +and would swear at her and try to smother her into silence. As for +the doctor, he was hired at the lowest possible rate, and was allowed +a certain sum for drugs. It was utterly insufficient to provide +anything except the very commonest physic; and what could he do in +the midst of such a system, even if he had been inclined to do +anything? He accordingly did next to nothing; walked through the +wards, and left his patients pretty much to Providence. They were +robbed even of their food. They were not much to be pitied for being +robbed of the stimulants, for every drop, including the "port wine," +was obtained by the directors from those of their number or from +their friends who were in the trade, and it was mostly poisonous. +Death is always terrible--terrible on the battlefield; terrible in a +sinking ship; terrible to the exile--but the present writer, who has +seen Death in the "House" of years gone by, cannot imagine that he +can ever be so distinctively the King of Terrors as he was there. +The thought that thousands and thousands of human beings, some of +them tender-hearted, have had to face him there is more horrifying +than the thought of French soldiers freezing in their blood on the +Borodino, or of Inquisitional tortures. It is one of those thoughts +which ought not to be thought--a thought to be suppressed, for it +leads to atheism, or even something worse than mere denial of a God. +Thank Heaven that the present generation of the poor has been +relieved at least of one argument in favour of the creed that the +world is governed by the Devil! Thank Heaven that the modern +hospital, with its sisters gently nurtured, devoted to their duty +with that pious earnestness which is a true religion, has supplied +some evidence of a Theocracy. + +Zachariah looked round again. There was an old male attendant near +him. He had on a brown rough coat with brass buttons, and shoes +which were much too big for him. They were supplied in sizes, and +never fitted. The old men always took those that were too large. +They had as their place of exercise a paved courtyard surrounded by +high brick walls, and they all collected on the sunny side, and +walked up and down there, making a clapping noise with their feet as +the shoes slipped off their heels. This sound was characteristic of +the whole building. It was to be heard everywhere. + +"You've been very bad," said the old man, "but you'll get better now; +it a'nt many as get better here." + +He was a poor-looking, half-fed creature, with a cadaverous face. He +had the special, workhouse, bloodless aspect--just as if he had lived +on nothing stronger than gruel and had never smelt fresh air. The +air, by the way, of those wards was something peculiar. It had no +distinctive odour--that is to say, no odour which was specially this +or that; but it had one that bore the same relation to ordinary +odours which well-ground London mud bears to ordinary colours. The +old man's face, too, had nothing distinctive in it. The only thing +certainly predicable of him was, that nothing could be predicated of +him. He was neither selfish nor generous; neither a liar nor +truthful; neither believed anything, nor disbelieved anything; was +neither good nor bad; had no hope hereafter, nor any doubt. + +"Who are you?" said Zachariah. + +"Well, that ain't easy to say. I does odd jobs here as the nurses +don't do, and I gets a little extra ration." + +"How long have I been here?" + +"About a fortnight." + +Zachariah was too weak to say anything more, and fell asleep again. +Next day he was better, and he then thought of his wife; he thought +of Caillaud, the Major, and Pauline; but he had no power to reflect +connectedly. He was in that miserable condition in which objects +present themselves in a tumbling crowd, one following the other with +inconceivable rapidity, the brain possessing no power to disentangle +the chaos. He could not detach the condition of his wife, for +example, and determine what ought to be done; he could not even bring +himself to decide if it would be best to let her know where he was. +No sooner did he try to turn his attention to her, even for a moment, +than the Major came before him, and then his other friends, and then +the workhouse and the dread of death there. Mercifully he went to +sleep again, and after another long night's rest he was much +stronger. He was able now--first sign of restored power--to settle +that he ought before everything to communicate with Mrs. Carter, and +he inquired of the old man if he could write. + +"Oh, yes, I can write," said he, and something like a gleam of light +passed over his countenance at being asked to practise an art almost +forgotten in those walls. + +A letter was accordingly written to Mrs. Carter, at her sister's +address, telling her briefly what had happened, but that she was not +to be alarmed, as the writer was rapidly recovering. He was able to +sign his name; but when the letter was finished, he reflected that he +had not got a coin in his pocket with which to pay the postage. One +of the institutions of the workhouse was, however, a kind of pawnshop +kept by one of the under-masters, as they were called, and Zachariah +got a shilling advanced on a pocket-knife. The letter, therefore, +was duly despatched, and he gave his secretary a penny for his +trouble. This led to a little further intimacy, and Zachariah asked +him how he came there. + +"I don't know," he replied. "I was born in the country, and when I +was fourteen, my father apprenticed me to the watchmaking. He was +well off--my father was--and when I was out of my time he set me up +in business in Liverpool. It was a business as had been established +some time--a fairish business it was. But when I came to Liverpool I +felt dull." + +"What do you mean by dull? Stupid?" + +"No, not exactly that. You know what dull means, don't you?--low- +spirited like--got nothing to talk about. Well, I can't tell how it +come about, but I was always dull, and have been so ever since. I +got married soon after I was settled. My wife was a good sort of +woman, but she wasn't cheerful, and she wasn't very strong. Somehow +the business fell off. Customers as used to come didn't come, and I +got no new ones. I did my work pretty well; but still, for all that, +things went down and down by degrees. I never could make out why, +except that people liked to be talked to, and I had nothing +particular to say to any of them when they came in. The shop, too, +ought to have been painted more often, and I ought to have had +something in the window, but, as I say, I was always dull, and my +wife wasn't strong. At last I was obliged to give up and go to +journey-work; but when I got old I couldn't see, and was put in +here." + +"But," said Zachariah, "is that all? Why, you are nearly seventy +years old. You must have something more to tell me." + +"No. I don't know as I have; that seems about all." + +"But what became of your father? He was well off. What became of +his money when he died?" + +"I'd had my share." + +"Had you no brothers nor sisters to help you?" + +"Yes, I had some." + +"Did they let you come here?" + +"Why, you see, as I've told you before, I was dull, and my wife +wasn't strong. They never came much to see me. It was my fault; I +never had nothing to say to them." + +"Had you no children?" + +"Yes, I had a son and daughter." + +"Are they alive now?" + +"Yes--both of them; at least I haven't heard as they are dead." + +"And able to keep themselves?" + +"They used to be." + +"And do you mean that your son and daughter let you go to the +workhouse?" + +The old man was a little disturbed, and for a moment some slight sign +of nervous excitement revealed itself in his lustreless eyes. + +"I haven't see anything of 'em for years." + +"Did you quarrel?" + +"No, we didn't quarrel; but they left off visiting us. They both of +them married, and went out a good bit, and were gayer than we were. +We used to ask them, and then they'd look in sometimes: but never +except when they were asked, and always seemed to wish to get away. +We never had nothing to show anybody, nor nothing to give anybody; +for we didn't drink and I never smoked. They went away too, both of +them, from Liverpool, somewhere towards London." + +"But when you broke down didn't you inform them?" + +"No. I hadn't heard anything of them for so long. I thought I might +as well get into the House. It will do very well." + +"Didn't you know anybody belonging to your church or chapel?" + +"Well, we went to church; but when the business dropped we left off +going, for nothing much seemed to come of it, and nobody ever spoke +to us." + +"Wouldn't you like to get out of this place?" + +"No--I don't know as I should now; I shouldn't know what to do, and +it won't last long." + +"How old are you?" + +"Sixty-five." + +It puzzled Zachariah that the man's story of his life was so short-- +all told in five minutes. + +"But did you never have any adventures? Did you never hear about +anything, or see anybody worth remembering? Tell me all about +yourself. We've got nothing to do." + +"I don't recollect anything particular after I came to Liverpool. +Things seemed to go on pretty much in the same way." + +"But you got married, and your wife died?" + +"Yes--I got married, and she died." + +"What was your wife's name?" + +"Her name was Jenkins; she was the daughter of the saddler that lived +next door." + +"Couldn't her friends have helped you?" + +"After she died they had nothing more to do with me." + +"And you really cannot tell me any more?" + +"No--how can I? What more is there to tell? It's all alike." + +The old pauper was called away, and went shuffling along to the door, +leaving Zachariah to his meditations. + +Another day passed, and he was lying half asleep when a visitor was +announced, and close upon the announcement stood before him--who +should it be?--no other than Mrs. Carter, out of breath, radiant, +healthy, impetuous. + +"God bless the poor dear man!" she burst out; "to think of finding +you here, and not to have told us before. But I suppose you +couldn't. Directly as I got your letter off I came, and here I am, +you see." + +Her presence was like the south-west wind and sunlight after long +north-easterly gloom and frost. Astonishing is that happy power +which some people possess which enables them at once to dispel +depression and even disease. A woman like Mrs. Carter comes into a +house where there is misery and darkness; where the sufferer is +possessed by demons; unnameable apprehensions, which thicken his +blood and make him cry for death, and they retreat precipitately, as +their brethren were fabled to retreat at the sign of the cross. No +man who is so blessed as to have a friend with that magnetic force in +him need disbelieve in much of what is recorded as miraculous. +Zachariah felt as if a draught of good wine had been poured down his +throat. But he instantly asked: + +"How is my wife?" + +"She is all right; but you mustn't bother about her. You must come +out at once. You mustn't go back to Manchester just yet--not as +they'd care much about you now; Nadin's got plenty of work to do, and +wouldn't concern himself about you--but you aren't well enough and +are better away. Now, look here--I'll tell you what I've been and +done. I've got a cousin living here in Liverpool, as good a soul as +ever lived. I goes to her and tells her you must stay there." + +"But how can I? Just think of the trouble and expense. I don't know +her." + +"Lord a mercy, there you are again--trouble and expense! What +trouble will you be? And as for expense, one would think you'd been +living like a Lord Mayor to hear you talk. What are we made for if +not to help one another?" + +"I can't walk; and shouldn't I be obliged to get the doctor's +permission?" + +"Walk! Of course you can't. And what did my husband say to me +before I started? Says he, 'You'll have to get a conveyance to take +him.' 'Leave me alone for that,' says I; 'although right you are.' +And I says to my cousin's husband, who drives a hackney coach, 'Just +you drop down and carry him home. It won't be ten minutes out of +your time.' So he'll be here in about a quarter of an hour. As for +the doctor, I understand as much about you as he does, and, doctor or +no doctor, you won't sleep in this bed to-night. I'll go and tell +the head nurse or master, or somebody or the other, that you are off. +You just put on your clothes." + +In a short time she returned, found Zachariah dressed, wrapped him +round in shawls and rugs, helped him downstairs, put him into the +coach, and brought him to her cousin's. It was a little house, in a +long uniform street; but a good deal of pains had been taken with it +to make it something special. There were two bedroom windows in +front, on the upper storey, and each one had flowers outside. The +flower-pots were prevented from falling off the ledge by a lattice- +work wrought in the centre into a little gate--an actual little gate. +What purpose it was intended to answer is a mystery; but being there +the owner of the flower-pots unfastened it every morning when the +sill was dusted, and removed them through it, although lifting them +would have been a much simpler operation. There were flowers in the +sitting-room downstairs too; but they were inside, as the window was +flush with the pavement. This sitting-room was never used except on +Sundays. It was about nine feet square, and it had in it a cupboard +on either side of the fireplace, a black horse-hair sofa alongside +the wall on the right-hand side of the door, red curtains, a black +horse-hair arm-chair, three other chairs to match, a little round +table, two large shells, a framed sampler on the wall representing +first the letters of the alphabet, then the figures 1, 2, 3, &c., +and, finally, a very blue Jesus talking to a very red woman of +Samaria on a very yellow well--underneath, the inscription and date, +"Margaret Curtin, 10th March 1785." The only other decorations--for +pictures were dear in those days--were two silhouettes, male, and +female, one at each corner of the mantelpiece, and two earthenware +dogs which sat eternally looking at one another on the top of one of +the cupboards. On the cupboard farthest away from the window was a +large Bible with pictures in it and notes, and, strange to say, a +copy of Ferguson's Astronomy and a handsome quarto edition in three +volumes of Cook's First Voyage. Everything was as neat and clean as +it could possibly be; but Mr. and Mrs. Hocking had no children, and +had saved a little money. + +Into this apartment Zachariah was brought. There was a fire burning, +though it was not cold, and on the table, covered with a perfectly +white cloth, stood a basin of broth, with some toast, a little brandy +in a wine-glass, a jug of water, and a tumbler. The books, including +the Bible, had apparently not been read much, and were probably an +heirloom. As Zachariah began to recover strength he read the +Ferguson. It was the first time he had ever thought seriously of +Astronomy, and it opened a new world to him. His religion had +centred all his thoughts upon the earth as the theatre of the history +of the universe, and although he knew theoretically that it was but a +subordinate planet, he had not realised that it was so. For him, +practically, this little globe had been the principal object of the +Creator's attention. Ferguson told him also, to his amazement, that +the earth moved in a resisting medium, and that one day it would +surely fall into the sun. That day would be the end of the world, +and of everything in it. He learned something about the magnitude of +the planets and the distances of the fixed stars, and noted that his +author, pious as he is, cannot admit that planets or stars were +created for the sake of man. He dwelt upon these facts, more +especially upon the first till the ground seemed to disappear under +his feet, and he fell into that strange condition in which people in +earthquake countries are said to be when their houses begin to +tremble. We may laugh, and call him a fool to be disturbed by a +forecast of what is not going to happen for millions of years; but he +was not a fool. He was one of those unhappy creatures whom an idea +has power to shake, and almost to overmaster. Ferguson was a +Christian, and the thought of the destruction of our present +dwelling-place, with every particle of life on it, did not trouble +him. He had his refuge in Revelation. Zachariah too was a +Christian, but the muscles of his Christianity were--now at any rate, +whatever they may once have been--not firm enough to strangle this +new terror. His supernatural heaven had receded into shadow; he was +giddy, and did not know where he was. He did not feel to their full +extent the tremendous consequences of this new doctrine, and the +shock which it has given to so much philosophy and so many theories, +but he felt quite enough, and wished he had never opened the volume. +There are many truths, no doubt, which we are not robust enough to +bear. In the main it is correct that the only way to conquer is +boldly to face every fact, however horrible it may seem to be, and +think, and think, till we pass it and come to a higher fact; but +often we are too weak, and perish in the attempt. As we lie +prostrate, we curse the day on which our eyes were opened, and we cry +in despair that it would have been better for us to have been born +oxen or swine than men. It is an experience, I suppose, not new that +in certain diseased conditions some single fear may fasten on the +wretched victim so that he is almost beside himself. He is unaware +that this fear in itself is of no importance, for it is nothing but +an index of ill-health, which might find expression in a hundred +other ways. He is unconscious of the ill-health except through his +fancy, and regards it as an intellectual result. It is an affliction +worse ten thousand times than any direct physical pain which ends in +pain. Zachariah could not but admit that he was still physically +weak; he had every reason, therefore, for supposing that his mental +agony was connected with his sickness, but he could not bring himself +to believe that it was so, and he wrestled with his nightmares and +argued with them as though they were mere logical inferences. +However, he began to get better, and forthwith other matters occupied +his mind. His difficulty was not fairly slain, pierced through the +midst by some heaven-directed arrow, but it was evaded and forgotten. +Health, sweet blood, unimpeded action of the heart, are the divine +narcotics which put to sleep these enemies to our peace and enable us +to pass happily through life. Without these blessings a man need not +stir three steps without finding a foe able to give him his death- +stroke. + +Zachariah longed to see his wife again; but he could not bring her to +Liverpool until he had some work to do. At last the day came when he +was able to say that he was once more earning his living, and one +evening when he reached home she was there too. Mrs. Carter had +herself brought her to Liverpool, but had gone back again to +Manchester at once, as she could not stay the night. When he first +set eyes on his wife he was astonished at the change in her. She was +whiter, if possible, than ever, thin in the face, dark-ringed about +the eyes, and very weak. But otherwise she was what she had always +been. The hair was just as smooth, everything about her just as +spotlessly clean and unruffled, and she sat as she always did, rather +upright and straight, as if she preferred the discomfort of a +somewhat rigid position to the greater discomfort of disarranging her +gown. + +Zachariah had much to say. During the whole of the four hours before +bedtime he did not once feel that drying-up of conversation which +used to be so painful to him. It is true she herself said little or +nothing, but that was of no moment. She was strengthless, and he did +not expect her to talk. So long as he could speak he was happy. The +next morning came, and with it came Hope, as it usually came to him +in the morning, and he kissed her with passionate fervour as he went +out, rejoicing to think that, although she was so feeble, she was +recovering; that he could once more look forward as in earlier days, +to the evening, and forgetting every cloud which had ever come +between them. Alas, when the night of that very day came he found +his little store exhausted, and he and the companion of his life sat +together for a quarter of an hour or more without speaking a word. +He proposed reading a book, and took up the Ferguson, thinking he +could extract from it something which might interest her; but she was +so irresponsive, and evidently cared so little for it, that he +ceased. It was but eight o'clock, and how to fill up the time he did +not know. At last he said he would just take a turn outside and look +at the weather. He went out and stood under the stars of which he +had been reading. The meeting, after such a separation, was scarcely +twenty-four hours old, and yet he felt once more the old weariness +and the old inability to profit by her society or care for it. He +wished, or half wished, that there might have existed such +differences between them that they could have totally disregarded or +even hated one another. The futility, however, of any raving was +soon perfectly clear to him. He might as well have strained at a +chain which held him fast by the leg, and he therefore strove to +quiet himself. He came back, after being absent longer than he +intended and found she was upstairs. He sat down and meditated +again, but came to no conclusion, for no conclusion was possible. +The next evening, after they had sat dumb for some moments, he said, +"My dear; you don't seem well." + +"I am not well, as you know. You yourself don't seem well." + +He felt suddenly as if he would have liked to throw himself on his +knees before her, and to have it all out with her; to say to her all +he had said to himself; to expose all his misery to her; to try to +find out whether she still loved him; to break or thaw the shell of +ice which seemed to have frozen round her. But he could not do it. +He was on the point of doing it, when he looked at her face, and +there was something in it which stopped him. No such confidence was +possible, and he went back into himself again. + +"Shall I read to you?" + +"Yes, if you like." + +"What shall I read? + +"I don't care; anything you please." + +"Shall it be Cook's Voyages?" + +"I have just said I really do not care." + +He took down the Cook's Voyages; but after about ten minutes he could +not go on and he put it back in its place. + +"Caillaud's trial is to take place next week," he observed after a +long pause. + +"Horrible man!" she exclaimed, with a sudden increase of energy. "I +understand that it was in defending him Major Maitland lost his +life." + +"My dear, you are quite wrong. He was defending Major Maitland, and +shot the soldier who killed him." + +"Quite wrong, am I? Of course I am quite wrong!" + +"I was at head-quarters, you remember." + +"Yes, you were; but you were not near Major Maitland." + +Zachariah raised his eyes; he thought he detected, he was sure he +detected, in the tone of this sentence a distinct sneer. + +"I was not with Major Maitland; my duties called me elsewhere; but I +am more likely to know what happened than any gossiping outsider." + +"I don't believe in your foreign infidels." + +"MY foreign infidels! You have no right to call them my infidels, if +you mean that, I am one. But let me tell you again you are mistaken. +Besides, supposing you are right, I don't see why he should be a +horrible man. He will probably be executed for what he did." + +"It was he and that daughter of his who dragged you and the Major +into all this trouble." + +"On the contrary, Caillaud, as well as myself and the Major, did all +we could to prevent the march. You must admit I understand what I am +talking about. I was at every meeting." + +"As usual, nothing I say is right. It was to be expected that you +would take the part of the Caillauds." + +Zachariah did not reply. It was supper-time; the chapter from the +Bible was duly read, the prayer duly prayed, and husband and wife +afterwards once more, each in turn, silently at the bedside, with +more or less of sincerity or pathos, sought Him who was the Maker of +both. It struck Zachariah during his devotions--a rather unwelcome +interruption--that his wife as well as himself was in close +communication with the Almighty. + + + +CHAPTER XV--END OF THE BEGINNING + + + +The trial took place at Lancaster. Zachariah was sorely tempted to +go; but, in the first place, he had no money, and, in the second +place, he feared arrest. Not that he would have cared two pins if he +had been put into jail; but he could not abandon his wife. He was +perfectly certain what the result would be, but nevertheless, on the +day when the news was due, he could not rest. There was a mail coach +which ran from Lancaster to Liverpool, starting from Lancaster in the +afternoon and reaching Liverpool between eleven and twelve at night. +He went out about that time and loitered about the coach-office as if +he were waiting for a friend. Presently he heard the wheels and the +rapid trot of the horses. His heart failed him, and he could almost +have fainted. + +"What's the news?" said the clerk to the coachman. "All the whole d- +--d lot convicted, and one of 'em going to be hung." + +"One of them hung! Which one is that?" + +"Why, him as killed the soldier, of course--the Frenchman." + +"A d---d good job too," replied the clerk. "I should like to serve +every --- Frenchman in the country the same way." + +Zachariah could not listen any longer, but went home, and all night +long a continuous series of fearful images passed before his eyes-- +condemned cells, ropes, gallows and the actual fall of the victim, +down to the contortion of his muscles. He made up his mind on the +following day that he would see Caillaud before he died, and he told +his wife he was going. She was silent for a moment, and then she +said: + +"You will do as you like, I suppose: but I cannot see what is the +use of it. You can do no good; you will lose your place here; it +will cost you something; and when you get there you may have to stop +there." + +Zachariah could not restrain himself. + +"Good God!" he cried, "you hear that one of my best friends is about +to be hung, and you sit there like a statue--not a single word of +sympathy or horror--you care no more than a stone. USE of going! I +tell you I will go if I starve, or have to rot in jail all my +lifetime. Furthermore, I will go this instant." + +He went out of the room in a rage, rammed a few things into a bag, +and was out of the house in ten minutes. He was excusably unjust to +his wife--excusably, because he could not help thinking that she was +hard, and even cruel. Yet really she was not so, or if she was, she +was not necessarily so, for injustice, not only to others, but to +ourselves, is always begotten by a false relationship. There were +multitudes of men in the world, worse than Zachariah, with whom she +would have been, not only happier, but better. He, poor man, with +all his virtues, stimulated and developed all that was disagreeable +in her. + +He was in no mood to rest, and walked on all that night. Amidst all +his troubles he could not help being struck with the solemn, silent +procession overhead. It was perfectly clear--so clear that the +heavens were not a surface, but a depth, and the stars of a lesser +magnitude were so numerous and brilliant that they obscured the forms +of the greater constellations. Presently the first hint of day +appeared in the east. We must remember that this was the year 1817, +before, so it is commonly supposed, men knew what it was properly to +admire a cloud or a rock. Zachariah was not, therefore, on a level +with the most ordinary subscriber to a modern circulating library. +Nevertheless he could not help noticing--we will say he did no more-- +the wonderful, the sacredly beautiful, drama which noiselessly +displayed itself before him. Over in the east the intense deep blue +of the sky softened a little. Then the trees in that quarter began +to contrast themselves against the background and reveal their +distinguishing shapes. Swiftly, and yet with such even velocity that +in no one minute did there seem to be any progress compared with the +minute preceding, the darkness was thinned, and resolved itself +overhead into pure sapphire, shaded into yellow below and in front of +him, while in the west it was still almost black. The grassy floor +of the meadows now showed its colour, grey green, with the dew lying +on it, and in the glimmer under the hedge might be discerned a hare +or two stirring. Star by star disappeared, until none were left, +save Venus, shining like a lamp till the very moment almost when the +sun's disc touched the horizon. Half a dozen larks mounted and +poured forth that ecstasy which no bird but the lark can translate. +More amazing than the loveliness of scene, sound, and scent around +him was the sense of irrestisible movement. He stopped to watch it, +for it grew so rapid that he could almost detect definite pulsations. +Throb followed throb every second with increasing force, and in a +moment more a burning speck of gold was visible, and behold it was +day! He slowly turned his eyes away and walked onwards. + +Lancaster was reached on the second evening after he left Liverpool. +He could not travel fast nor long together, for he was not yet +completely strong. He secured a bed in a low part of the town, at a +public-house, and on the morning of the third day presented himself +at the prison door. After some formalities he was admitted, and +taken by a warder along a corridor with whitewashed walls to the +condemned cell where Caillaud lay. The warder looked through a +grating, and said to Zachariah that a visitor was already there. Two +were not allowed at a time, but he would tell the prisoner that +somebody was waiting for him. + +"Let's see, what's your name?" said the warder. Then it suddenly +struck him that he had been fool enough, in the excitement of +entering the prison, to sign his real name in the book. There was no +help for it now, and he repeated that it was Coleman. + +"Ah yes, Coleman," echoed the man, in a manner which was significant. + +"Who is the other visitor?" said Zachariah. + +"It is his daughter." + +His first thought was to ask to be let in, but his next was, that it +would be profanity to disturb the intercourse of father and child, +and he was silent. However, he had been announced, and Caillaud +appeared at the grating begging permission for his friend to enter. +It was at first refused; but presently something seemed to strike the +jailer, for he relented with a smile. + +"You won't want to come again?" he observed interrogatively. + +"No; that is to say, I think not." + +"No; that is to say, I think not," he repeated slowly, word for word, +adding, "I shall have to stay with you while you are together." + +Zachariah entered, the warder locking the door behind him, and +seating himself on the edge of the bedstead, where he remained during +the whole of the interview, jingling his keys and perfectly unmoved. + +The three friends spoke not a word for nearly five minutes. +Zachariah was never suddenly equal to any occasion which made any +great demands upon him. It often made him miserable that it was so. +Here he was, in the presence of one whom he had so much loved, and +who was about to leave him for ever, and he had nothing to say. That +could have been endured could he but have FELT and showed his +feeling, could he but have cast himself upon his neck and wept over +him, but he was numbed and apparently immovable. It was Caillaud who +first broke the silence. + +"It appears I shall have to console you rather than you me; believe +me, I care no more about dying, as mere dying, than I do about +walking across this room. There are two things which disturb me--the +apprehension of some pain, and bidding good-bye to Pauline and you, +and two or three more." + +There was, after all, but just a touch needed to break up Zachariah +and melt him. + +"You are happier than I," he cried. "Your work is at an end. No +more care for things done or undone; you are discharged, and nobly +discharged, with honour. But as for me!" + +"With honour!" and Caillaud smiled. "To be hung like a forger of +bank-notes--not even to be shot--and then to be forgotten. Forgotten +utterly! This does not happen to be one of those revolutions which +men remember." + +"No! men will not remember," said Pauline, with an elevation of voice +and manner almost oratorical. "Men will not remember, but there is a +memory in the world which forgets nothing." + +"Do you know," said Caillaud, "I have always loved adventure, and at +times I look forward to death with curiosity and interest, just as if +I were going to a foreign country." + +"Tell me," said Zachariah, "if there is anything I can do." + +"Nothing. I would ask you to see that Pauline comes to no harm, but +she can take care of herself. I have nothing to give you in parting. +They have taken everything from me." + +"What a brute I am! I shall never see you again, and I cannot +speak," sobbed Zachariah. + +"Speak! What need is there of speaking? What is there which can be +said at such a time? To tell you the truth, Coleman, I hardly cared +about having you here. I did not want to imperil the calm which is +now happily upon me; we all of us have something unaccountable and +uncontrollable in us, and I do not know how soon it may wake in me. +But I did wish to see you, in order that your mind might be at peace +about me. Come, good-bye!" + +Caillaud put his hand on Zachariah's shoulder. + +"This will not do," he said. "For my sake forbear. I can face what +I have to go through next Monday if am not shaken. Come, Pauline, +you too, my child, must leave me for a bit." + +Zachariah looked at Pauline, who rose and threw her shawl over her +shoulders. Her lips were tightly shut, but she was herself. The +warder opened the door. Zachariah took his friend's hand, held it +for a moment, and then threw his arms round his neck. There is a +pathos in parting which the mere loss through absence does not +explain. We all of us feel it, even if there is to be a meeting +again in a few months, and we are overcome by incomprehensible +emotion when we turn back down the pier, unable any longer to discern +the waving of the handkerchief, or when the railway train turns the +curve in the cutting and leaves us standing on the platform. +Infinitely pathetic, therefore, is the moment when we separate for +ever. + +Caillaud was unsettled for an instant, and then, slowly untwining the +embrace, he made a sign to Pauline, who took Zachariah's hand and led +him outside; the heavy well-oiled bolt of the lock shooting back +under the key with a smooth strong thud between them. She walked +down the corridor alone, not noticing that he had not followed her, +and had just passed out of sight when an officer stepped up to him +and said: + +"Your name is Coleman?" + +"Yes." + +"Sorry to hear it. My name is Nadin. You know me, I think. You +must consider yourself my prisoner." + +Zachariah was in prison for two years. He had not been there three +months when his wife died. + +* * * * + +Let us now look forward to 1821; let us walk down one of the new +streets just beginning to stretch northwards from Pentonville; let us +stop opposite a little house, with a little palisade in front, +enclosing a little garden five and twenty feet long and fifteen feet +broad; let us peep through the chink between the blind and the +window. We see Zachariah and Pauline. Another year passes; we peep +through the same chink again. A cradle is there, in which lies Marie +Pauline Coleman; but where is the mother? She is not there, and the +father alone sits watching the child. + + + +CHAPTER XVI--COWFOLD + + + +Cowfold, half village, half town, lies about three miles to the west +of the great North Road from London to York. As you go from London, +about fifty miles from the Post-Office in St. Martin's le Grand--the +fiftieth milestone is just beyond the turning--you will see a hand- +post with three arms on it; on one is written in large letters, "To +LONDON;" on the second, in equally large letters, "To YORK;" and on +the third, in small italic letters, "To Cowfold." Two or three years +before the events narrated in the following chapters took place--that +is to say, about twenty years after the death of Zachariah's second +wife--a hundred coaches a day rolled past that hand-post, and about +two miles beyond it was a huge inn, with stables like cavalry +barracks, where horses were changed. No coach went through Cowfold. +When the inhabitants wished to go northwards or southwards they +walked or drove to the junction, and waited on the little grassy +triangle till a coach came by which had room for them. When they +returned they were deposited at the same spot, and the passengers who +were going through from London to York or Scotland, or who were +coming up to London, always seemed to despise people who were taken +up or who were left by the roadside there. + +There was, perhaps, some reason for this contempt. The North Road +was at that time one of the finest roads in the world, broad, hard- +metalled, and sound in the wettest weather. That which led to +Cowfold was under the control of the parish, and in winter-time was +very bad indeed. When you looked down it it seemed as if it led +nowhere, and indeed the inhabitants of the town were completely shut +off from any close communication with the outer world. How strange +it was to emerge from the end of the lane and to see those wonderful +words, "To LONDON," "To YORK!" What an opening into infinity! Boys +of a slightly imaginative turn of mind--for there were boys with +imagination even in Cowfold--would, on a holiday trudge the three +miles eastward merely to get to the post and enjoy the romance of +those mysterious fingers. No wonder; for the excitement begotten by +the long stretch of the road--London at one end, York at the other-- +by the sight of the Star, Rover, Eclipse, or Times racing along at +twelve miles an hour, and by the inscriptions on them, was worth a +whole afternoon's cricket or wandering in the fields. Cowfold itself +supplied no such stimulus. The only thing like it was the mail-cart, +which every evening took the letters from the post-office, +disappeared into the dark, nobody could tell whither, and brought +letters in the morning, nobody could tell whence, before the +inhabitants were out of bed. There was a vague belief that it went +about fifteen miles and "caught" something somewhere; but nobody knew +for certain, except the postmistress and the mail-cart driver, who +were always remarkably reticent on the point. The driver was dressed +in red, carried a long horn slung at the side of the cart, and was +popularly believed also to have pistols with him. He never accosted +anybody; sat on a solitary perch just big enough for him; swayed +always backwards and forwards a little in a melancholy fashion as he +rode; was never seen during the day-time, and was not, in any proper +sense, a Cowfold person. + +Cowfold had four streets, or, more correctly, only two, which crossed +one another at right angles in the middle of the town, and formed +there a kind of square or open place, in which, on Saturdays, a +market was held. + +The "Angel" was in this square, and the shops grouped themselves +round it. In the centre was a large pump with a great leaden spout +that had a hole bored in it at the side. By stopping up the mouth of +the spout with the hand it was possible through this hole to get a +good drink, if a friend was willing to work the handle; and as the +square was a public playground, the pump did good service, especially +amongst the boys, all of whom preferred it greatly to a commonplace +mug. On Sundays it was invariably chained up; for although it was no +breach of the Sabbath to use the pump in the backyard, the line was +drawn there, and it would have been voted by nine-tenths of Cowfold +as decidedly immoral to get water from the one outside. The shops +were a draper's, a grocer's, an ironmonger's, a butcher's and a +baker's. All these were regular shops, with shop-windows, and were +within sight of one another. + +There were also other houses where things were sold; but these were +mere dwelling-houses, and were at the poorer and more remote ends of +Cowfold. None of the regular shops aforesaid were strictly what they +professed to be. Each of them diverged towards "the general." The +draper sold boots and shoes; the grocer sold drugs, stationery, horse +and cow medicines, and sheep ointment; and the ironmonger dealt in +crockery. Even the butcher was more than a butcher, for he was never +to be seen at his chopping block, and his wife did all the retail +work. He himself was in the "jobbing" line, and was always jogging +about in a cart, in the hind part of which, covered with a net, was a +calf or a couple of pigs. Three out of the four streets ran out in +cottages; but one was more aristocratic. This was Church Street, +which contained the church and the parsonage. It also had in it four +red brick houses, each surrounded with large gardens. In one lived a +brewer who had a brewery in Cowfold, and owned a dozen beer-shops in +the neighbourhood; another was a seminary for young ladies; in the +third lived the doctor; and in the fourth old Mr. and Mrs. Muston, +who had no children, had been there for fifty years; and this, so far +as Cowfold was aware, was all their history. Mr. and Mrs. Muston and +the seminary were the main strength of the church. To be sure the +doctor and the landlord of the "Angel" professed devotion to the +Establishment, but they were never inside the church, except just now +and then, and were charitably excused because of their peculiar +calling. The rest of Cowfold was Dissenting or "went nowhere." +There were three chapels; one the chapel, orthodox, Independent, +holding about seven hundred persons, and more particularly to be +described presently; the second Wesleyan, new, stuccoed, with grained +doors and cast-iron railing; the third, strict Baptist, ultra- +Calvinistic, Antinomian according to the other sects, dark, down an +alley, mean, surrounded by a small long-grassed graveyard, and named +ZOAR in large letters over the long window in front. The "went +nowhere" class was apparently not very considerable. On Sunday +morning at twelve o'clock Cowfold looked as if it had been swept +clean. It was only by comparison between the total number of church- +goers and chapel-goers and the total population that it could be +believed that there was anybody absent from the means of grace; but +if a view could have been taken of the back premises an explanation +would have been discovered. Men and women "did up their gardens," or +found, for a variety of reasons, that they were forced to stay at +home. In the evening they grew bolder, and strolled through the +meadows. It is, however, only fair to respectable Cowfold to say +that it knew nothing of these creatures, except by employing them on +week-days. + +With regard to the Wesleyan Chapel, nothing much need be said. Its +creed was imported, and it had no roots in the town. The Church +disliked it because it was Dissenting, and the Dissenters disliked it +because it was half-Church, and, above all, Tory. It was supported +mainly by the brewer, who was drawn thither for many reasons, one of +which was political. Another was, that he was not in trade, and +although he objected to be confounded with his neighbours who stood +behind counters, the Church did not altogether suit him, because +there Mr. and Mrs. Muston and the seminary stood in his way. Lastly, +as he owned beer-shops, supplied liquor which was a proverb +throughout the county, and did a somewhat doubtful business according +to the more pious of the Cowfold Christians, he preferred to be +accredited as a religious person by Methodism than by any other sect, +the stamp of Methodism standing out in somewhat higher relief. + +As for Zoar, it was a place apart. Its minister was a big, large- +jawed, heavy-eyed man, who lived in a little cottage hard by. His +wife was a very plain-looking person, who wore even on Sundays a +cotton gown without any ornament, and who took her husband's arm as +they walked down the lane to the chapel. The Independent minister, +the Wesleyan minister, and, of course, the rector had nothing to do +with the minister of Zoar. This was not because of any heresy or +difference of doctrine, but because he was a poor man and poor +persons sat under him. Nevertheless he was not in any way a +characteristic Calvinist. The Calvinistic creed was stuck in him as +in a lump of fat, and had no organising influence upon him whatever. +He had no weight in Cowfold, took part in none of its affairs, and +his ministrations were confined to about fifty sullen, half stupid, +wholly ignorant people who found in the Zoar services something +sleepier and requiring less mental exertion than they needed +elsewhere; although it must be said that the demands made upon the +intellect in none of the places of worship were very extensive. +There was a small endowment attached to Zoar, and on this, with the +garden and house rent free, the minister lived. Once now and then-- +perhaps once in every three or four years--there was a baptism in +Zoar, and at such times it was crowded. The children of the +congregation, as a rule fell away from it as they grew up; but +occasionally a girl remained faithful and was formally admitted to +its communion. In front of the pulpit was an open space usually +covered; but the boards could be taken up, and then a large kind of +tank was disclosed, which was filled with water when the ceremony was +performed. After hymns had been sung the minister went down into the +water, and the candidate appeared dressed in a long white robe very +much like a night-gown. The dear sister, during a short address, +stood on the brink of the tank for a few moments, and then descended +into it beside the minister, who, taking her by the neck and round +the waist, ducked her fairly and completely. She emerged, and walked +dripping into the vestry, where it was always said that hot brandy +and water was ready. + +Many of us have felt that we would give all our books if we could but +see with our own eyes how a single day was passed by a single ancient +Jewish, Greek, or Roman family; how the house was opened in the +morning; how the meals were prepared; what was said; how the husband, +wife, and children went about their work; what clothes they wore, and +what were their amusements. Would that the present historian could +do as much for Cowfold! Would that he could bring back one blue +summer morning, one afternoon and evening, and reproduce exactly what +happened in Cowfold Square, in one of the Cowfold shops, in one of +the Cowfold parlours, and in one Cowfold brain and heart. Could this +be done with strictest accuracy, a book would be written, although +Cowfold was not Athens, Rome, nor Jerusalem, which would live for +many many years longer than much of the literature of this century. +But alas! the preliminary image in the mind of the writer is faint +enough, and when he comes to trace it, the pencil swerves and goes +off into something utterly unlike it. An attempt, however, to show +what the waking hours in Cowfold Square were like may not be out of +place. The shopkeeper came into his shop at half-past seven, about +half an hour after the shutters had been taken down by his +apprentice. At eight o'clock breakfast was ready; but before +breakfast there was family worship, and a chapter was read from the +Bible, followed by an extempore prayer from the head of the +household. If the master happened to be absent, it was not +considered proper that the mistress should pray extempore, and she +used a book of "Family Devotions." A very solid breakfast followed, +and business began. It was very slow, but it was very human--much +more so than business at the present day in the City. Every customer +had something to say beyond his own immediate errand, and the shop +was the place where everything touching Cowfold interests was +abundantly discussed. Cowfold too, did much trade in the country +round it. Most of the inhabitants kept a gig, and two or three +times, perhaps, in a week a journey somewhere or other was necessary +which was not in the least like a journey in a railway train. Debts +in the villages were collected by the creditor in person, who called +and invited his debtors to a most substantial dinner at the inn. At +one o'clock Cowfold dined. Between one and two nobody was to be seen +in the streets, and the doors were either fastened or a bell was put +upon them. After dinner the same duties returned in the shop; but +inside the house dinner was the turning-point of the day. When the +"things were washed, up," servant and mistress began to smarten +themselves, and disappearing into their bedrooms, emerged at four, to +make preparations for tea, the meal most enjoyed in all Cowfold. If +any spark of wit slept in any Cowfoldian male or female, it appeared +then. No invitations to dinner were ever heard of; but tea was the +opportunity for hospitality, especially amongst women. The minister, +when he visited, invariably came to tea. The news circulated at tea, +and, in fact, at tea between five and six, Cowfold, if its intellect +could have been measured by a properly constructed gauge, would have +been found many degrees higher in the scale than at any other hour. +Granted that the conversation was personal, trivial, and even +scandalous, it was in a measure philosophical. Cowfold, though it +knew nothing, or next to nothing of abstractions, took immense +interest in the creatures in which they were embodied. It would have +turned a deaf ear to any debate on the nature of ethical obligation; +but it was very keen indeed in apportioning blame to its neighbours +who had sinned, and in deciding how far they had gone wrong. Cowfold +in other words believed that flesh and blood, and not ideas, are the +school and the religion for most of us, and that we learn a language +by the examples rather than by the rules. The young scholar fresh +from his study is impatient at what he considers the unprofitable +gossip about the people round the corner; but when he gets older he +sees that often it is much better than his books, and that +distinctions are expressed by a washerwoman, if the objects to be +distinguished eat and drink and sleep, which he would find it +difficult to make with his symbols. Moreover, the little Cowfold +clubs and parties understood what they were saying, and so far had an +advantage over the clubs and parties which, since the days of penny +newspapers, now discuss in Cowfold the designs of Russia, the +graduation of the Income Tax, or the merits and demerits of the +administration. The Cowfold horizon has now been widened, to use the +phrase of an enlightened gentleman who came down and lectured there +on the criminality of the advertisement duty; but unfortunately the +eyes remain the same. Cowfold now looks abroad, and is very eloquent +upon the fog in the distance, and the objects it thinks it sees +therein; but, alas! what it has gained in inclusive breadth it has +lost in definition. Politics, however, were not unknown in Cowfold; +for before 1832 it was a borough, and after 1832 it was one of the +principal polling-places for the county. Nevertheless it was only on +the eve of an election that anybody dabbled in them, and even then +they were very rudimentary. The science to most of the voters meant +nothing more than a preference of blue to yellow, or yellow to blue; +and women had nothing whatever to do with it, excepting that wives +always, of course, took their husbands' colours. Politics, too, as a +rule, were not mentioned in private houses. They were mostly +reserved for the "Angel," and for the brandies and water and pipes +which collected there in the evening. + +To return. After tea the master went back once more to his counter, +and the shutters were put up at eight. From eight to nine was an +hour of which no account can be given: The lights were left burning +in the shops, and the neighbour across the way looked in and remained +talking till his supper was ready. Supper at nine, generally hot, +was an institution never omitted, and, like tea, was convivial; but +the conviviality was of a distinctly lower order. Everybody had +whisky, gin, or brandy afterwards, and every male person who was of +age smoked. There was, as a rule, no excess, but the remarks were +apt to be disconnected and woolly; and the wife, who never had grog +for herself, but always sipped her husband's went to sleep. Eleven +o'clock saw all Cowfold in bed, and disturbed only by such dreams as +were begotten of the previous liver and bacon and alcohol. + +There were no villains amongst that portion of the inhabitants with +which this history principally concerns itself, nor was a single +adventure of any kind ever known to happen beyond the adventures of +being born, getting married, falling sick, and dying, with now and +then an accident from a gig. Consequently it might be though that +there was no romance in Cowfold. There could not be a greater +mistake. The history of every boy or girl of ordinary make is one of +robbery, murder, imprisonment, death sentence, filing of chains, +scaling of prison walls, recapture, scaffold, reprieve, poison, and +pistols; the difference between such a history and that in the +authorised versions being merely circumstantial. The garden of Eden, +the murder of Cain, the deluge, the salvation of Noah, the exodus +from Egypt, David and Bathsheba, with the murder of Uriah, the +Assyrian invasion, the Incarnation, the Atonement, and the +Resurrection from the Dead; to say nothing of the Decline and Fall of +the Roman Empire, the tragedy of Count Cenci, the execution of Mary +Queen of Scots, the Inquisition in Spain, and Revolt of the +Netherlands, all happened in Cowfold, as well as elsewhere, and were +perhaps more interesting there because they could be studied in +detail and the records were authentic. + +Church Street, Cowfold--that is to say, the street in which the +church stood--was tolerably broad going east and west, so that the +sun shone full on the white window-frames and red brick of Mr. +Muston's house, in which everything seemed to sleep in eternal calm. +On the opposite side was the seminary, also red brick and white +paint, facing the north; but, to make amends, the garden had a +southern aspect, and the back of the house was covered with a huge +magnolia whose edges curled round to the western side, so that it +could be seen by wayfarers. It was a sight not to be forgotten--the +red brick, the white paint, the July sun the magnolia leaves, the +flanking elms on the east high above the chimneys, the glimpse of the +acre of lawn through the great gates when they happened to be open, +the peace, so profound, of summer noon! How lovely it looks as it +hovers unsteadily before the eye, seen through the transfiguring haze +of so many years! It was really, there is no doubt about it, +handsomer than the stuccoed villa which stares at us over the way; +but yet, if Cowfold Church Street, red brick, white paint, elms, +lawn, and midsummer repose could be restored at the present moment, +would it be exactly what the vision of it is? What is this magic +gift which even for the humblest of us paints and frames these +enchanting pictures? It is nothing less than the genius which is +common to humanity. If we are not able to draw or model, we possess +the power to select, group, and clothe with an ideal grace, which is +the very soul of art, and every man and woman, every bush, nay, every +cabbage, cup, and saucer, provided only it be not actually before us, +becomes part of a divine picture. Would that we could do with the +present what we do with the past! We CAN do something if we try. + +At the end of Church Street came the vicarage, and then the +churchyard, with the church. Beyond was the park, which half +embraced Cowfold, for it was possible to enter it not only from +Church Street, but from North Street, which ran at right angles to +it. The Hall was not much. It was a large plain stone mansion, +built in the earlier part of the eighteenth century; but in front of +the main entrance was a double row of limes stretching for a quarter +of a mile, and the whole of the park was broken up into soft swelling +hills, from whose tops, owing to the flatness of the country round, +an almost immeasurable distance could be seen, gradually losing +itself in deepening mist of tenderest blue. The park, too, was not +rigidly circumscribed. Public roads led through it. It melted on +two or three sides into cultivated fields, and even the private +garden of the Hall seemed a part of it, for there was nothing between +them but a kind of grassy ditch and an almost invisible fence. The +domain of Cowfold Hall was the glory of Cowfold and the pride of its +inhabitants. The modern love of scenery was not known in Cowfold, +and still less was that worship of landscape and nature known which, +as before observed, is peculiar to the generation born under the +influence of Wordsworth. We have learnt, however, from Zachariah +that even before Wordsworth's days people were sometimes touched by +dawn or sunset. The morning cheered, the moon lent pathos and +sentiment, and the stars awoke unanswerable interrogations in +Cowfold, although it knew no poetry, save Dr. Watts, Pollok's Course +of Time, and here and there a little of Cowper. Under the avenue, +too, whose slender columns, in triple rows on either side, rose to an +immense height, and met in a roof overhead with all the grace of +cathedral stone, and without its superincumbent weight and +imprisonment--a roof that was not impervious to the sunlight, but let +it pass and fall in quivering flakes on the ground--Cowfold generally +took off its hat, partly, no doubt, because the place was cool, but +also as an act of homage. Here and in the woods adjoining youths and +maidens for three hundred years had walked and made love, for, though +the existing house was new, it stood on the site of a far older +building. Dead men and women, lord and churl, gone to +indistinguishable dust, or even beyond that--gone perhaps, into +vapour and gas, which had been blown to New Zealand, and become men +and women again--had burned with passion here, and vowed a union +which was to last beyond the Judgment Day. They wept here, +quarrelled here, rushed again into one another's arms here, swore to +one another here, when Henry the Eighth was king; and they wept here, +quarrelled here, embraced here, swore here, in exactly the same mad +fashion, when William the Fourth sat upon the throne. Half-way up +the avenue was a stone pillar commanding a gentle descent, one way to +the Hall, and the other way to the lodge. It set forth the anguish +of a former lord of the time of Queen Anne, who had lost his wife +when she was twenty-six years old. She was beneath him in rank, but +very beautiful, and his affection for her had fought with and +triumphed over the cruel opposition of father, mother, and relations, +who had other designs. He had made enemies of them all; but he won +his wife, and, casting her in the scale, father, mother, and friends +were as gossamer. She died two years after the wedding--to the very +day. Rich in her love, he had never taken a thought to propitiate +anybody, nor to make friends with the Mammon of Unrighteousness, and +when she suddenly departed, he turned round and found himself alone. +So far from knocking at men's doors, he more fiercely hated those who +now, touched with pity, would gladly have welcomed him. He broke +from them all, lived his own life, was reputed to be a freethinker, +and when he came to his estate, a long while afterwards, he put up +the obelisk, and recorded in Latin how Death, the foul adulterer, had +ravished his sweet bride--the coward Death whom no man could +challenge--and that the inconsolable bridegroom had erected this +monument in memory of her matchless virtues. That was all: no +blessed resurrection nor trust in the Saviour. The Reverend John +Broad, minister of Tanner's Lane Chapel, when he brought visitors +here regularly translated the epitaph. He was not very good at +Latin, but he had somehow found out its meaning. He always observed +that it was not classic, and consequently not easy to render. He +pointed out, too, as a further curiosity, which somewhat increased +the difficulty to any ordinary person, that V was used for U, and I +for J. He never, as might be expected, omitted to enlarge upon the +omission of any reference to the Atoning Blood and the Life to Come, +and remarked how the poor man's sufferings would have been entirely +"assuaged"--a favourite word with Mr. Broad--if he had believed in +those "remedies." At the same time Mr. Broad dwelt upon the +"associations" of the avenue, which, he thought, added much to its +natural "attractiveness." Cowfold thought so too, and welcomed the +words as exactly expressing what it felt. John Broad and Cowfold +were right, and more right, perhaps, than they knew. The draper's +young man, who walked through the park with his arm round his young +woman's waist, looked up at the obelisk, repeated its story, and +became more serious. Thus it came to pass that the old lord's love +lived again somewhat in the apprentice, and that which to the +apprentice seemed most particularly himself was a little bit of the +self of the Queen Anne's earl long since asleep in the vault under +Cowfold Church. + + + +CHAPTER XVII--WHEN WILT THOU ARISE OUT OF THY SLEEP? YET A LITTLE +SLEEP + + + +The Reverend John Broad was minister of Tanner's Lane Chapel, or, +more properly, Meeting-house, a three gabled building, with the date +1688 upon it, which stood in a short street leading out of North +Street. Why it was called Tanner's Lane nobody knew; for not in the +memory of man had any tanner carried on his trade there. There was +nothing of any consequence in it but the meeting-house, and when +people said Tanner's Lane this was what they meant. There were about +seven hundred and fifty sittings in it, and on Sundays it was +tolerably full, for it was attended by large numbers of people from +the surrounding villages, who came in gigs and carts, and brought +their dinners with them, which they ate in the vestry. It was, in +fact, the centre of the Dissenting activity for a whole district. It +had small affiliated meeting-houses in places like Sheepgate, +Hackston Green, and Bull's Cross, in which service was held on Sunday +evening by the deacons of Tanner's Lane, or by some of the young men +whom Mr. Broad prepared to be missionaries. For a great many years +the congregation had apparently undergone no change in character; but +the uniformity was only apparent. The fervid piety of Cowper's time +and of the Evangelical revival was a thing almost of the past. The +Reverend John Broad was certainly not of the Revival type. He was a +big, gross-feeding, heavy person, with heavy ox-face and large mouth, +who might have been bad enough for anything if nature had ordained +that he should have been born in a hovel at Sheepgate or in the Black +Country. As it happened, his father was a woollen draper, and John +was brought up to the trade as a youth; got tired of it, thought he +might do something more respectable; went to a Dissenting College; +took charge of a little chapel in Buckinghamshire; married early; was +removed to Tanner's Lane, and became a preacher of the Gospel. He +was moderate in all of what he called his "views;" neither ultra- +Calvinist nor Arminian not rigid upon Baptism, and certainly much +unlike his lean and fervid predecessor, the Reverend James Harden, +M.A., who was educated at Cambridge; threw up all his chances there +when he became convinced of sin; cast in his lot with the +Independents, and wrestled even unto blood with the world, the flesh, +and the devil in Cowfold for thirty years, till he was gathered to +his rest. A fiery, ardent, untamable soul was Harden's, bold and +uncompromising. He never scrupled to tell anybody what he thought, +and would send an arrow sharp and swift through any iniquity, no +matter where it might couch. He absolutely ruled Cowfold, hated by +many, beloved by many, feared by all--a genuine soldier of the Cross. +Mr. Broad very much preferred the indirect mode of doing good, and if +he thought a brother had done wrong, contented himself with praying +in private for him. He was, however, not a hypocrite, that is to +say, not an ordinary novel or stage hypocrite. There is no such +thing as a human being simply hypocritical or simply sincere. We are +all hypocrites, more or less, in every word and every action, and, +what is more, in every thought. It is a question simply of degree. +Furthermore, there are degrees of natural capacity for sincerity, and +Mr. Broad was probably as sincere as his build of soul and body +allowed him to be. Certainly no doubt as to the truth of what he +preached ever crossed his mind. He could not doubt, for there was no +doubt in the air; and yet he could not believe as Harden believed, +for neither was Harden's belief now in the air. Nor was Mr. Broad a +criminal in any sense. He was upright, on the whole, in all his +transactions, although a little greedy and hard, people thought, when +the trustees proposed to remit to Widow Oakfield, on her husband's +death, half the rent of a small field belonging to the meeting-house, +and contributing a modest sum to Mr. Broad's revenue. He objected. +Widow Oakfield was poor; but then she did not belong to Tanner's +Lane, and was said to have relations who could help her. Mr. Broad +loved his wife decently, brought up his children decently, and not +the slightest breath of scandal ever tarnished his well-polished +reputation. On some points he was most particular, and no young +woman who came to him with her experience before she was admitted +into the church was ever seen by him alone. Always was a deacon +present, and all Cowfold admitted that the minister was most +discreet. Another recommendation, too, was that he was temperate in +his drink. He was not so in his meat. Supper was his great meal, +and he would then consume beef, ham, or sausages, hot potatoes, mixed +pickles, fruit pies, bread, cheese, and celery in quantities which +were remarkable even in those days; but he never drank anything but +beer--a pint at dinner and a pint at supper. + +On one Monday afternoon in July, 1840, Mr. and Mrs. Broad sat at tea +in the study. This was Mr. Broad's habit on Monday afternoon. On +that day, after the three sermons on the Sunday, he always professed +himself "Mondayish." The morning was given over to calling in the +town; when he had dined he slept in his large leathern chair; and at +five husband and wife had tea by themselves. Thomas, the eldest son, +and his two younger sisters, Priscilla and Tryphosa, aged seventeen +and fifteen, were sent to the dining-room. Mr. Broad never omitted +this custom of spending an hour and a half on Monday with Mrs. Broad. +It gave them an opportunity of talking over the affairs of the +congregation, and it added to Mr. Broad's importance with the +missionary students, because they saw how great were the weight and +fatigue of the pastoral office. + +A flock like that which was shepherded by Mr. Broad required some +management. Mrs. Broad took the women, and Mr. Broad the men; but +Mrs. Broad was not a very able tactician. She was a Flavel by birth, +and came from a distant part of the country. Her father was a +Dissenting minister; but he was Dr. Flavel, with a great chapel in a +great town. Consequently she gave herself airs, and occasionally let +fall, to the great displeasure of the Cowfold ladies, words which +implied some disparagement of Cowfold. She was a shortish, stout, +upright little woman, who used a large fan and spoke with an accent +strange to the Midlands. She was not a great help to the minister, +because she was not sufficiently flexible and insinuating for her +position; but nevertheless they always worked together, and she +followed as well as she could the directions of her astuter husband, +who, considering his bovine cast, was endowed with quite a +preternatural sagacity in the secular business of his profession. + +On this particular afternoon, however, the subject of the +conversation was not the congregation, but young Thomas Broad, aged +eighteen, the exact, and almost ridiculously exact, counterpart of +his father. He had never been allowed to go to school, but had been +taught at home. There was only one day-school in Cowfold, and his +mother objected to the "mixture." She had been heard to say as much, +and Cowfold resented this too, and the Cowfold youths resented it by +holding Tommy Broad in extreme contempt. He had never been properly +a boy, for he could play at no boyish games; had a tallowy, +unpleasant complexion, went for formal walks, and carried gloves. +But though in a sense incompletely developed, he was not incompletely +developed in another direction. He was at what is called an awkward +age, and both father and mother had detected in him an alarming +tendency to enjoy the society of young women--a tendency much +stimulated by his unnatural mode of life. Thomas was already a +member of the church and was a teacher in the Sunday-school; but his +mother was uneasy, for a serious attachment between Thomas and +anybody in the town would have been very distasteful to her. The tea +having been poured out, and Mr. Broad having fairly settled down upon +the buttered toast and radishes, Mrs. Broad began: + +"Have you thought anything more about Thomas, my dear?" + +Being a minister's son, he was never called Tom by either papa or +mamma. + +"Yes, my love; but it is very difficult to know how to proceed +judiciously in such a case." + +"Mrs. Allen asked me, last Wednesday, when he was going to leave +home, and I told her we had not made up our minds. She said that her +brother in Birmingham wanted a youth in his office, but my answer was +directly that we had quite determined that Thomas should not enter +into any trade." + +"What did she say?" + +"That she was not surprised, for she hardly thought Thomas was fitted +for it." + +The minister looked grave and perplexed, for Mr. Allen was in trade, +and was a deacon. Mrs. Broad proceeded: + +"I am quite sure Thomas ought to be a minister; and I am quite sure, +too, he ought to leave Cowfold and go to college." + +"Don't you think this event might be procrastinated; the expense +would be considerable." + +"Well, my dear, Fanny Allen came here to tea the day before +yesterday. When she went away she could not find her clogs. I was +on the landing, and saw what happened, though they did not think it. +Fanny's brother was waiting outside. Priscilla had gone somewhere +far the moment--I don't know where--and Tryphosa was upstairs. +Thomas said he would look for the clogs, and presently I saw him +fastening them for her. Then he walked with her down the garden. I +just went into the front bedroom and looked. It was not very dark, +and,--well, I may be mistaken, but I do believe--" The rest of the +sentence was wanting. Mrs. Broad stopped at this point. She felt it +was more becoming to do so. She shifted on her chair with a fidgety +motion, threw her head back a little, looked up at the portrait of +Dr. Flavel in gown and bands which hung over the fireplace, +straightened her gown upon her knees, and pushed it forward over her +feet so as to cover them altogether--a mute protest against the +impropriety of the scene she had partly described. Mr. Broad +inwardly would have liked her to go on; but he always wore his white +neckerchief, except when he was in bed, and he was still the Reverend +John Broad, although nobody but his wife was with him. He therefore +refrained, but after a while slowly observed: + +"Thomas has not made much progress in systematic theology." + +"They do not require much on admission, do they? He knows the +outlines, and I am sure the committee will recollect my father and be +glad to get Thomas. I have heard that the social position of the +candidates is not what it used to be, and that they wish to obtain +some of a superior stamp, who ultimately may be found adapted to +metropolitan churches." + +"One of the questions last year, my dear, was upon the office of the +Comforter, and you remember Josiah Collins was remanded. I hardly +think Thomas is sufficiently instructed on that subject at present; +and there are others. On the whole, it is preferable that he should +not go till September twelvemonths." + +"His personal piety would have weight." + +"Undoubtedly." + +There was a pause, and Mrs. Broad then continued: + +"Well, my dear, you know best; but what about Fanny? I shall not ask +her again. How very forward, and indeed altogether"--Another +stoppage, another twitch at her gown, with another fidget on the +chair, the eyes going up to Dr. Flavel's bands as before. "In OUR +house too--to put herself in Thomas's way!" + +Ah! Mrs. Broad, are you sure Thomas did not go out of his way--even +in your house, that eminently respectable, eminently orthodox +residence--even Thomas, your Samuel, who had been granted to the +Lord, and who, to use his own words when his written religious +autobiography was read at the church-meeting, being the child of +pious parents, and of many prayers, had never been exposed to those +assaults of the enemy of souls which beset ordinary young men, and +consequently had not undergone a sudden conversion? + +"But," observed Mr. Broad, leaning back in his easy-chair, and half +covering his face with his great broad, fat hand, "we shall offend +the Allens if Fanny does not come, and we shall injure the cause." + +"Has George Allen, Fanny's brother, prayed at the prayer-meeting yet? +He was admitted two months ago." + +"No." + +"Then ask his father to let him pray; and we need not invite Fanny +till Thomas has left." + +The papa objected that perhaps Thomas might go to the Allen's, but +the mamma, with Dr. Flavel's bands before her, assured him that +Thomas would do nothing of the kind. So it was settled that Mr. +Broad should call at the Allen's to-morrow, and suggest that George +should "engage" on the following Thursday. This, it was confidently +hoped, would prevent any suspicion on their part that Fanny had been +put aside. Of course, once having begun, George would be regularly +on the list. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII--A RELIGIOUS PICNIC + + + +Occasionally, in the summer months, Tanner's Lane indulged in a +picnic; that is to say, the principal members of the congregation, +with their wives and children, had an early dinner, and went in gigs +and four-wheel chaises to Shott Woods, taking hampers of bread, cake, +jam, butter, ham, and other eatables with them. At Shott Woods, in a +small green space under an immense oak, a fire was lighted and tea +was prepared. Mr. Broad and his family always joined the party. +These were the days when Dissenters had no set amusements, and the +entertainment at Shott mainly consisted in getting the sticks for the +fire, fetching the water, and waiting on one another; the waiting +being particularly pleasant to the younger people. Dancing, of +course, was not thought of. In 1840 it may safely be said that there +were not twenty Independent families in Great Britain in which it +would have been tolerated, and, moreover, none but the rich learned +to dance. + +No dancing-master ever came into Cowfold; there was no music-master +there; no concert was ever given; and Cowfold, in fact, never "saw +nor heard anything;" to use a modern phrase, save a travelling +menagerie with a brass band. What an existence! How DID they live? +It's certain, however, that they did live, and, on the whole, enjoyed +their life. + +The picnics were generally on a Monday, as a kind of compliment to +Mr. Broad, who was supposed to need rest and change on Monday, and +who was also supposed not to be able to spare the time on any other +day. About a month after the conversation recorded in the previous +chapter Tanner's Lane was jogging along to Shott on one of its +excursions. It was a brilliant, blazing afternoon towards the end of +August. The corn stood in shocks, and a week with that sun would see +it all stacked. There was no dreary suburb round Cowfold, neither +town nor country, to shut out country influences. The fields came up +to the gardens and orchards at the back of half the houses, and +flowed irregularly, like an inundation, into the angles of the +streets. As you walked past the great gate of the "Angel" yard you +could see the meadow at the bottom belonging to Hundred Acres. +Consequently all Cowfold took an interest in agriculture, and knew a +good deal about it. Every shopkeeper was half a farmer, and +understood the points of a pig or a horse. Cowfold was not a town +properly speaking, but the country a little thickened and congested. +The conversation turned upon the crops, and more particularly upon +turnips and drainage, both of them a new importation. Hitherto all +the parishes round had no drainage whatever, excepting along the +bottoms of the ridges, and the now familiar red pipes had just made +their appearance on a farm belonging to a stranger to those parts--a +young fellow from Norfolk. Everybody was sceptical, and called him a +fool. Everybody wanted to know how water was going to get through +fifteen inches of heavy land when it would lie for two days where a +horse trod. However, the pipes went in, and it so happened that the +first wet day after they were laid was a Sunday. The congregation in +Shott Church was very restless, although the sermon was unusually +short. One by one they crept out, and presently they were followed +by the parson. All of them had collected in the pouring rain and +were watching the outfall in the ditches. To their unspeakable +amazement the pipes were all running! Shott scratched its head and +was utterly bewildered. A new idea in a brain not accustomed to the +invasion of ideas produces a disturbance like a revolution. It +causes giddiness almost as bad as that of a fit, and an extremely +unpleasant sensation of having been whirled round and turned head +over heels. It was the beginning of new things in Shott, the +beginning of a breakdown in its traditions; a belief in something +outside the ordinary parochial uniformities was forced into the skull +of every man, woman, and child by the evidence of the senses; and +when other beliefs asked, in the course of time, for admittance they +found the entrance easier than it would have been otherwise. + +The elderly occupants of the Tanner's Lane gigs and chaises talked +exclusively upon these and other cognate topics. The sons and +daughters talked about other things utterly unworthy of any record in +a serious history. Delightful their chatter was to them. What does +it signify to eighteen years what is said on such an afternoon by +seventeen years, when seventeen years is in a charming white muslin +dress, with the prettiest hat? Words are of importance between me +and you, who care little or nothing for one another. But there is a +thrice blessed time when words are nothing. The real word is that +which is not uttered. We may be silent, or we may be eloquent with +nonsense or sense--it is all one. So it was between George Allen and +Miss Priscilla Broad, who at the present moment were sitting next to +one another. George was a broad, hearty, sandy-haired, sanguine- +faced young fellow of one and twenty, eldest son of the ironmonger. +His education had been that of the middle classes of those days. +Leaving school at fourteen, he had been apprenticed to his father for +seven years, and had worked at the forge down the backyard before +coming into the front shop. On week-days he generally wore a +waistcoat with sleeves and a black apron. He was never dirty; in +fact, he was rather particular as to neatness and cleanliness; but he +was always a little dingy and iron-coloured, as retail ironmongers +are apt to be. He was now in charge of the business under his +father; stood behind the counter; weighed nails; examined locks +brought for repair; went to the different houses in Cowfold with a +man under him to look at boiler-pipes, the man wearing a cap and +George a tall hat. He had a hard, healthy, honest life, was up at +six o'clock in the morning, ate well, and slept well. He was always +permitted by his father to go on these excursions, and, in fact, they +could not have been a success without him. If anything went wrong he +was always the man to set it right. If a horse became restive, +George was invariably the one to jump out, and nobody else thought of +stirring. He had good expectations. The house in which the Allens +lived was their own. Mr. Allen did a thriving trade, not only in +Cowfold, but in all the country round, and particularly among the +village blacksmiths, to whom he sold iron. He had steadily saved +money, and had enlarged the original little back parlour into a room +which would hold comfortably a tea-party of ten or a dozen. + +Miss Priscilla Broad was framed after a different model. Her face +was not much unlike that of one of those women of the Restoration so +familiar to us in half a hundred pictures. Not that Restoration +levity and Restoration manners were chargeable to Miss Priscilla. +She never forgot her parentage; but there were the same kind of +prettiness, the same sideways look, the same simper about the lips, +and there were the same flat unilluminated eyes. She had darkish +brown hair, which fell in rather formal curls on her shoulder, and +she was commonly thought to be "delicate." Like her sister and +brother, she had never been to school, on account of the "mixture," +but had been taught by her mother. Her accomplishments included +Scripture and English history, arithmetic, geography, the use of the +globes, and dates. She had a very difficult part to play in Cowfold, +for she was obliged to visit freely all Tanner's Lane, but at the +same time to hold herself above it and not to form any exclusive +friendships. These would have been most injudicious, because, in the +first place, they would have excited jealousy, and, in the next +place, the minister's daughter could not be expected to be very +intimate with anybody belonging to the congregation. She was not +particularly popular with the majority, and was even thought to be +just a bit of a fool. But what could she have been with such +surroundings? The time had passed when religion could be talked on +week-days, and the present time, when ministers' children learn +French, German, and Latin, and read selected plays of Shakespeare, +had not come. Miss Priscilla Broad found it very difficult, also, to +steer her course properly amongst the young men in Cowfold. Mrs. +Broad would not have permitted any one of them for a moment to dream +of an alliance with her family. As soon might a Princess of the +Blood Royal unite herself with an ordinary knight. Miss Broad, +however, as her resources within herself were not particularly +strong, thought about little or nothing else than ensnaring the +hearts of the younger Cowfold males--that is to say, the hearts which +were converted, and yet she encouraged none of them, save by a +general acceptance of little attentions, by little mincing smiles, +and little mincing speeches. + +"Such a beautiful day," said George, "and such pleasant company!" + +"Really, Mr. Allen, don't you think it would have been pleasanter for +you in front?" + +"What did you say, my dear?" came immediately from her mother, the +ever-watchful dragon just before them. She forthwith turned a little +round, for the sun was on her left hand, and with her right eye kept +Priscilla well in view for the rest of the journey. + +In the chaise behind pretty much the same story was told, but with a +difference. In the back part were Mr. Thomas Broad and Miss Fanny +Allen. The arrangement which brought these two together was most +objectionable to Mrs. Broad; but unfortunately she was a little late +in starting, and it was made before she arrived. She could not, +without insulting the Allens, have it altered; but she consoled +herself by vowing that it should not stand on the return journey in +the dusk. Miss Fanny was flattered that the minister's son should be +by her side, and the minister's son was not in the least deterred +from playing with Miss Fanny by the weight of responsibility which +oppressed and checked his sister. He did not laugh much; he had not +a nature for wholesome laughter, but he chuckled, lengthened his +lips, half shut his eyes; asked his companion whether the rail did +not hurt her, put his arm on the top, so that she might lean against +it, and talked in a manner which even she would have considered a +little silly and a little odd, if his position, that of a student for +the ministry, had not surrounded him with such a halo of glory. + +Presently Shott Woods were reached; the parcels and hampers were +unpacked, the fire was lit, the tea prepared, and the pastor asked a +blessing. Everybody sat on the grass, save the reverend gentleman +and his wife, who had chairs which had been brought on purpose. It +would not have been considered proper that Mr. or Mrs. Broad should +sit upon the grass, and indeed physically it would have been +inconvenient to Mr. Broad to do so. He ate his ham in considerable +quantities, adding thereto much plumcake, and excusing himself on the +ground that the ride had given him an appetite. The meal being over, +grace was said, and the victuals that were left were repacked. About +an hour remained before the return journey began. This was usually +passed in sauntering about or in walking to the springs, a mile away, +down one of the grass drives. Mrs. Broad never for a moment lost +sight of Thomas, and pressed him as much as possible into her +service; but when Mrs. Allen announced that the young people had all +determined to go to the springs, Mrs. Broad could not hold out. +Accordingly off they started, under strict orders to be back by +eight. They mixed themselves up pretty indiscriminately as they left +their seniors; but after a while certain affinities displayed +themselves, George being found with Priscilla, for example, and +Thomas with Fanny. The party kept together; but Thomas and Fanny +lagged somewhat till they came to a little opening in the underwood, +which Thomas said was a short cut, and he pressed her to try it with +him. She agreed, and they slipped out of sight nearly, but not, +quite, unobserved. Thomas professed himself afraid Fanny might be +tired, and offered his arm. She again consented, not without a +flutter, and so they reached a clearing with three or four paths +branching from it. Thomas was puzzled, and as for Fanny, she knew +nothing. To add to their perplexity some drops of rain were felt. +She was a little frightened, and was anxious to try one of the most +likely tracks which looked, she thought, as if it went to the +springs, where they could take shelter in the cottage with the +others. Thomas, however, was doubtful, and proposed that they should +stand up in a shed which had been used for faggot-making. The rain, +which now came down heavily, enforced his arguments, and she felt +obliged to stay till the shower had ceased. + +"Only think, Fanny," he said, "to be here alone with you!" + +He called her Fanny now; he had always called her Miss Allen before. + +"Yes," said she, not knowing what answer to make. + +"You are cold," he added, with a little trembling in his voice and a +little more light than usual in his eyes. + +"Oh no, I am not cold." + +"I know you are," and he took her hand; "why, it is quite cold." + +"Oh dear no, Mr. Thomas, it is really not cold," and she made a +movement to withdraw it, but it remained. + +The touch of the hand caused his voice to shake a little more than +before. + +"I say you are cold; come a little closer to me. What will your +mamma say if you catch a chill?" and he drew Fanny a little nearer to +him. The thick blood now drove through him with increasing speed: +everything seemed in a mist, and a little perspiration was on his +forehead. His arm found its way round Fanny's waist, and he pressed +her closer and closer to him till his hot lips were upon her cheek. +She made two or three futile attempts to release herself; but she +might as well have striven with that brazen, red-hot idol who was +made to clasp his victims to death. She was frightened and screamed, +when suddenly a strong man's voice was heard calling "Fanny, Fanny." +It was her brother. Knowing that she and Thomas had no umbrellas, he +had brought them a couple. + +"But, Fanny," he cried, "did I not hear you scream? What was the +matter?" + +"Nothing," hastily interposed Thomas; "she thought she saw it +lighten." Fanny looked at Thomas for a moment; but she was scared +and bewildered, and held her peace. + +The three went down to the rendezvous together, where the rest of the +party had already assembled. Mrs. Broad had been very uneasy when +she found that Thomas and Fanny were the only absentees, and she had +urged George the moment she saw him to look for his sister without a +moment's delay. The excuse of the rain was given and accepted; but +Mrs. Broad felt convinced from Fanny's forward look that she had once +more thrown herself in the way of her beloved child, her delicate +Samuel. She was increasingly anxious that he should go to college, +and his papa promised at once to transmit the application. +Meanwhile, in the few days left before the examination, he undertook +to improve Thomas where he was weakest, that is to say, in Systematic +Theology, and more particularly in the doctrine of the Comforter. + + + +CHAPTER XIX--"THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE UNTO LEAVEN" + + + +Mr. Isaac Allen, Fanny's father, was an ardent Whig in politics--what +in later years would have been called a Radical. He had been +apprenticed in London, and had attended Mr. Bradshaw's ministrations +there. He was the chosen friend of Zachariah Coleman; but although +he loved Zachariah, he had held but little intercourse with him +during his first marriage. There were family reasons for the +estrangement, due principally to a quarrel between Mrs. Isaac and the +first Mrs. Zachariah. But after Mrs. Zachariah had died and her +husband suffered so much Isaac was drawn to him again. He was proud +of him as a martyr for a good cause, and he often saw him when he +went to London on business. + +It was in consequence of these London visits that books appeared on +the little book-shelf in Cowfold Square which were to be found +nowhere else in the town, at any rate not in the Dissenting portion +of it. It was a little bookcase, it is true, for people in country +places were not great readers in those days; but Sir Walter Scott was +there, and upstairs in Mr. Allen's room there was Byron--not an uncut +copy, but one well used both by husband and wife. Mrs. Allen was not +a particularly robust woman, although she was energetic. Often +without warning, she would not make her appearance till twelve or one +o'clock in the day, and would have her fire alight in her bedroom and +take her breakfast in bed. It was well understood when she was not +at the table with the others that the house was to be kept quiet. +After a cup of tea--nothing more--she rose and sat reading for a good +two hours. It was not that she was particularly unwell--she simply +needed rest. Every now and then retreat from the world and perfect +isolation were a necessity to her. If she forced herself to come +downstairs when she ought to be by herself she became really ill. +Occasionally the fire was alight in the evening, too, and she would +be off the moment tea was over, Isaac frequently joining her then, +although he never remained with her in the morning. She was almost +sure to escape on the day following any excitement or undue worry +about household affairs. She knew Sir Walter Scott from end to end, +and as few people knew him. He had been to her, and to her husband +too, what he can only be to people leading a dull life far from the +world. He had broken up its monotony and created a new universe! He +had introduced them into a royal society of noble friends. He had +added to the ordinary motives which prompted Cowfold action a +thousand higher motives. Then there was the charm of the magician, +so sanative, so blessed, felt directly any volume of that glorious +number was opened. Kenilworth or Redgauntlet was taken down, and the +reader was at once in another country and in another age, transported +as if by some Arabian charm away from Cowfold cares. If anywhere in +another world the blessings which men have conferred here are taken +into account in distributing reward, surely the choicest in the store +of the Most High will be reserved for His servant Scott! It may be +said of others that they have made the world wise or rich, but of him +it must be said that HE, MORE THAN ALL, HAS MADE THE WORLD HAPPIER-- +wiser too, wiser through its happiness. + +Of the influence of Byron nothing more need be said here, because so +much has been said before. It may seem strange that the deacon of a +Dissenting chapel and his wife could read him, and could continue to +wait upon the ministrations of the Reverend John Broad; but I am only +stating a fact. Mrs. Allen could repeat page after page of Childe +Harold, and yet she went diligently to Tanner's Lane. Part of what +was read exhaled in the almost republican politics of the Allen +household; but it had also its effect in another direction, and it +was always felt by the Broads that the Allens were questionable +members of the flock. They were gathered into the fold on Sunday, +and had the genuine J. B. on their wool, but there was a cross in +them. There was nothing which could be urged against them. No word +of heresy ever escaped them, no symptom of disbelief was ever seen +and yet Mr. Broad often desired exceedingly that they were different, +was never at ease with them, and in his heart of hearts bitterly +hated them. After all that can be said by way of explanation, there +was much in this concealed animosity of Mr. Broad which was +unaccountable. It was concealed because he was far too worldly-wise +to show it openly; but it was none the less intense. Indeed, it was +so intense as to be almost inconsistent with Mr. Broad's cast of +character, and his biographer is at a loss to find the precise point +where it naturally connects itself with the main stem from which +branch off the rest of his virtues and vices. However, there it was, +and perhaps some shrewder psychologist may be able to explain how +such a passion could be begotten in a nature otherwise so somnolent. + +For this literary leaven in the Allen's household, as we have said, +Zachariah was answerable. Mrs. Allen loved him as she loved her +father, and he wrote to her long letters, through which travelled +into Cowfold Square all the thought of the Revolution. He never went +to Cowfold himself, nor could he ever be persuaded to let little +Pauline go. She had been frequently invited, but he always declined +the invitation courteously on the ground that he could not spare her. +The fame of her beauty and abilities had, however, reached Cowfold, +and so it came to pass that when Mr. Thomas Broad, junior, being duly +instructed in the doctrine of the Comforter, entered the Dissenting +College in London, he determined that at the first opportunity he +would call and see her. He had been privately warned both by his +father and mother that he was on no account to visit this particular +friend of the Allens, firstly, because Zachariah was reputed to be, +"inclined towards infidelity," and secondly, because, summing up the +whole argument, he was not "considered respectable." + +"Of course, my dear, you know his history," quoth Mrs. Broad, "and it +would very much interfere with your usefulness if you were to be +intimate with him." + +Little Pauline had by this time grown to be a woman, or very nearly +one. She had, as in nine times, perhaps, out of ten is the case, +inherited her temperament from her mother. She had also inherited +something more, for she was like her in face. She had the same +luxuriantly dark hair--a wonder to behold when it was let down over +her shoulders--the same grey eyes, the same singularly erect +attitude, and lips which, although they were not tight and screwed +up, were always set with decision. But her distinguishing +peculiarity was her inherited vivacity, which was perfectly natural, +but frequently exposed her--just as it did her mother--to the charge +of being theatrical. The criticism was as unjust in her case as in +that of her mother, if by being theatrical we mean being unreal. The +unreal person is the half-alive languid person. Pauline felt what +she said, and acted it in every gesture. Her precious promptitude of +expression made her invaluable as a companion to her father. He was +English all over and all through; hypochondriacal, with a strong +tendency to self-involution and self-absorption. She was only half +English, or rather altogether French, and when he came home in the +evening he often felt as if some heavy obstruction in his brain and +about his heart were suddenly dissolved. She and her mother were +like Hercules in the house of Admetus. Before Hercules has promised +to rescue Alcestis we feel that the darkness has disappeared. +Pauline was loved by her father with intense passion. When she was a +little child, and he was left alone with a bitter sense of wrong, a +feeling that he had more than his proper share of life's misery, his +heart was closed, and he cared for no friendship. But the man's +nature could not be thus thwarted, and gradually it poured itself out +in full flood--denied exit elsewhere--at this one small point. He +rejoiced to find that he had not stiffened into death, and he often +went up to her bedside as she lay asleep, and the tears came, and he +thanked God, not only for her but for his tears. He could not afford +to bring her up like a lady, but he did his best to give her a good +education. He was very anxious that she should learn French, and as +she was wonderfully quick at languages, she managed in a very short +time to speak it fluently. + + + +CHAPTER XX--THE REVEREND THOMAS BROAD'S EXPOSITION OF ROMANS VIII. 7 + + + +Such was the Coleman household when Mr. Thomas Broad called one fine +Monday afternoon about three months after he had been at college. He +had preached his first sermon on the Sunday before, in a village +about twelve miles from London in a north-easterly direction, +somewhere in the flat regions of Essex. Mr. Thomas was in unusually +good humour, for he had not broken down, and thought he had crowned +himself with glory. The trial, to be sure, was not very severe. The +so-called chapel was the downstairs living-room of a cottage holding +at a squeeze about five-and-twenty people. Nevertheless, there was a +desk at one corner, with two candles on either side, and Mr. Thomas +was actually, for the first time, elevated above an audience. It +consisted of the wheelwright and his wife, both very old, half a +dozen labourers, with their wives, and two or three children. The +old wheelwright, as he was in business, was called the "principal +support of the cause." The "cause," however, was not particularly +prosperous, nor its supporters enthusiastic. It was "supplied" +always by a succession of first-year's students, who made their +experiments on the corpus vile here. Spiritual teaching, spiritual +guidance, these poor peasants had none, and when the Monday came they +went to their work in the marshes and elsewhere, and lived their +blind lives under grey skies, with nothing left in them of the +Sunday, save the recollection of a certain routine performed which +might one day save them from some disaster with which flames and +brimstone had something to do. It was not, however, a reality to +them. Neither the future nor the past was real to them; no spiritual +existence was real; nothing, in fact, save the most stimulant +sensation. Once upon a time, a man, looking towards the celestial +city, saw "The reflection of the sun upon the city (for the city was +of pure gold), so exceeding glorious that he could not as yet with +open face behold it, save through an instrument made for that +purpose;" but Mr. Thomas Broad and his hearers needed no smoked glass +now to prevent injury to their eyes. Mr. Thomas had put on a white +neckerchief, had mounted the desk, and had spoken for three-quarters +of an hour from the text, "The carnal mind is at enmity with God." +He had received during the last three weeks his first lectures on the +"Scheme of Salvation," and his discourse was a reproduction of his +notes thereon. The wheelwright and his wife, and the six labourers +with their wives, listened as oxen might listen, wandered home along +the lanes heavy-footed like oxen, with heads towards the ground, and +went heavily to bed. The elder student who had accompanied Mr. +Thomas informed him that, on the whole, he had acquitted himself very +well, but that it would be better, perhaps, in future to be a little +simpler, and avoid what "may be called the metaphysics of +Redemption." + +"No doubt," said he, "they are very attractive, and of enormous +importance. There is no objection to expound them before a +cultivated congregation in London; but in the villages we cannot be +too plain--that, at least, is my experience. Simply tell them we are +all sinners, and deserve damnation. God sent His Son into the world. +If we believe in Him we shall be saved; if not, we shall be lost. +There is no mystery in that; everybody can understand it; and people +are never weary of hearing the old old gospel." + +Mr. Thomas was well contented with himself, as we have said, when he +knocked at Zachariah's door. It was opened by Pauline. He took off +his hat and smiled. + +"My name is Broad. I come from Cowfold, and know the Allens very +well. I am now living in London, and having heard of you so often, I +thought I should like to call." + +"Pray come in," she said; "I am very glad to see you. I wish my +father were here." + +He was shown into the little front room, and after some inquiries +about his relations Pauline asked him where was his abode in London. + +"At the Independent College. I am studying for the ministry." + +Pauline was not quite sure what "the ministry" meant; but as Mr. +Thomas had yesterday's white tie round his neck--he always "dirtied +out" the Sunday's neckerchief on Monday, and wore a black one on the +other week-days--she guessed his occupation. + +"Dear me! you must be tired with walking so far." + +"Oh no, not tired with walking; but the fact is I am a little +Mondayish." + +"A little what?" + +Mr. Thomas giggled a little. "Ah, you young ladies, of course, don't +know what that means. I had to conduct a service in the country +yesterday, and am rather fatigued. I am generally so on Mondays, and +I always relax on that day." This, it is to be remembered, was his +first Monday. + +Pauline regretted very much that she had no wine in the house; +neither had they any beer. They were not total abstainers, but +nothing of the kind was kept in their small store-closet. + +"Oh, thank you; never mind." He took a bottle of smelling-salts from +the mantelpiece and smelt it. The conversation flagged a little. +Pauline sat at the window, and Mr. Thomas at the table. At last he +observed. + +"Are you alone all day?" + +"Generally, except on Sunday. Father does not get home till late." + +"Dear me! And you are not dull nor afraid?" + +"Dull or afraid! Why?" + +"Oh, well," he sniggered, "dull--why, young ladies, you know, usually +like society. At least," and he laughed a little greasy laugh at his +wit, "we like theirs. And then--afraid--well, if my sister were so +attractive"--he looked to see if this pretty compliment was +effective--"I should not like her to be without anybody in the +house." + +Pauline became impatient. She rose. "When you come again," she +said, "I hope my father will be here." + +Mr. Thomas rose too. He had begun to feel awkward. For want of +something better to say, he asked whose was the portrait over the +mantelpiece. + +"Major Cartwright." + +"Major Cartwright! Dear me, is that Major Cartwright?" He had never +heard of him before, but he did not like to profess ignorance of a +Major. + +"And this likeness of this young gentleman?" he inquired, looking at +Pauline sideways, with an odious simper on his lips. "Nobody I know, +I suppose?" + +"My father when he was one-and-twenty." She moved towards the door. +Mr. Thomas closed his fat eyes till they became almost slits, +simpered still more effectively, as he thought, trusted he might have +the pleasure of calling again, and departed. + +Pauline returned, opened the window and door for ten minutes, and +went upstairs. When she saw her father she told him briefly that she +had entertained a visitor, and expressed her utter loathing of him in +terms so strong that he was obliged to check her. He did not want a +quarrel with any of Isaac's friends. + +Mr. Thomas, having returned to the college, did not delay to +communicate by mysterious hints to his colleagues that he was on +visiting terms with a most delightfully charming person, and sunned +himself deliciously in their bantering congratulations. About three +weeks afterwards he thought he might safely repeat his visit; but he +was in a difficulty. He was not quite so stupid as not to see that, +the next time he went, it ought to be when her father was present, +and yet he preferred his absence. At last he determined he would go +about tea-time. He was quite sure that Mr. Coleman would not have +returned then; but he could assume that he had, and would propose to +wait for him. He therefore duly presented himself at half-past five. + +"Good-evening, Miss Coleman. Is your father at home?" + +"No, not yet," replied Pauline, holding the door doubtingly. + +"Oh, I am so sorry;" and, to Pauline's surprise, he entered without +any further ceremony. She hardly knew what to do; but she followed +him as he walked into the room, where she had just laid the tea- +things and put the bread and butter on the table. + +"Oh, tea!" he cried. "Dear me, it would be very rude of me to ask +myself to tea, and yet, do you know, Miss Coleman, I can hardly help +it." + +"I am afraid my father will not be here till eight." He sat down. + +"That is very unfortunate. You will tell him I came on purpose to +see him." + +Pauline hesitated whether she should or should not inform Mr. Thomas +that his presence was disagreeable, but her father's caution recurred +to her, and she poured out a cup for her visitor. + +It was one of his peculiarities that tea, of which he took enormous +quantities, made him garrulous, and he expatiated much upon his +college. By degrees, however, he became silent, and as he was +sitting with his face to the window, he shifted his chair to the +opposite side, under the pretence that the light dazzled his eyes. +Pauline shifted too, apparently to make room for him, but really to +get farther from him. + +"Do people generally say that you take after your mother?" he said. + +"I believe I am like my mother in many things." + +Another pause. He became fidgety; the half smile, half grin which he +almost perpetually wore passed altogether from his face, and he +looked uncomfortable and dangerous. Pauline felt him to be so, and +resolved that, come what might, he should never set foot in the house +again. + +"You have such black hair," he observed. + +She rose to take away the tea-things. + +"I am afraid," said she, "that I must go out; I have one or two +commissions to execute." + +He remained seated, and observed that surely she would not go alone. + +"Why not?" and having collected the tea-things, she was on the point +of leaving. He then rose, and she bade him good-bye. He held out +his hand, and she took it in hers, but he did not let it go, and +having pulled it upwards with much force, kissed it. He still held +it, and before the astonished Pauline knew what he was doing his arm +was round her waist. At that moment the little front gate swung +back. Nobody was there; but the Reverend Thomas was alarmed, and in +an instant she had freed herself, and had placed the table between +them. + +"What do you mean, you Gadarene pig, you scoundrel, by insulting a +stranger in this way?" she cried. "Away! My father will know what +to do with you." + +"Oh, if you please, Miss Coleman, pray say nothing about it, pray do +not mention it to your father; I do not know what the consequences +will be; I really meant nothing; I really did not"--which was +entirely true. + +"You who propose to teach religion to people! I ought to stop you; +but no, I will not be dragged into the mud." + +A sudden thought struck her. He was shaky, and was holding on by the +table. "I will be silent," she cried--what a relief it was to him to +hear her say that! "but I will mark you," and before he could +comprehend what she was doing she had seized a little pair of +scissors which lay near her, had caught his wrist, and had scored a +deep cross on the back of the hand. The blood burst out and she +threw him a handkerchief. + +"Take that and be gone!" + +He was so amazed and terrified, not only at the sight of the blood, +but at her extraordinary behaviour, that he turned ghastly white. +The pain, however, recalled him to his senses; he rolled the +handkerchief over the wound, twisted his own round it too, for the +red stain came through Pauline's cambric, and departed. The account +current in the college was, that he had torn himself against a nail +in a fence. The accident was a little inconvenient on the following +Sunday, when he had to preach at Hogsbridge Corner; but as he +reproduced the sermon on the carnal mind, which he knew pretty well +by heart, he was not nervous. He had made it much simpler, in +accordance with the advice given on a former occasion. He had struck +out the metaphysics and had put in a new head--"Neither indeed CAN +be." "The apostle did not merely state a fact that the carnal mind +was not subject to the law of God; he said, 'Neither indeed CAN be.' +Mark, my brethren, the force of the neither can." + + + +CHAPTER XXI--THE WISDOM OF THE SERPENT + + + +George Allen meanwhile, at Cowfold, languished in love with Priscilla +Broad, who was now a comely girl of eighteen. Mrs. Broad had, of +course, discovered what was in the wind, and her pride suffered a +severe shock. She had destined Priscilla, as the daughter of a +Flavel, for a London minister, and that she should marry a tradesman +was intolerable. Worse still, a tradesman in Cowfold! What would +become of their influence in the town, she continually argued with +Mr. Broad, if they became connected with a member of their +congregation? She thought it would be a serious hindrance to their +usefulness. But Mr. Broad was not so sure, although he hated the +Allens; and Priscilla, somehow or other, was not so sure, for, +despite her mother's constant hints about their vulgarity, she not +infrequently discovered that something was wanted from the shop, and +bought it herself. + +One Monday afternoon, Mr. Broad having thrown the silk handkerchief +off his face and bestirred himself at the sight of the radishes, +water-cresses, tea, and hot buttered toast, thus addressed his wife: + +"My love, I am not altogether inclined to discountenance the +attentions which George pays to Priscilla. There are so many +circumstances to be taken into account." + +"It is a great trouble to me, John, and I really think if anything of +the kind were to happen, at least you would have to seek another +cause. Just consider the position in which I should stand towards +Mrs. Allen. Besides, I am sure it will interfere with your duties +here if we are obliged to take notice of the Allens more than of +other people in the town." + +"To seek for another cause, my love? That is a very grave matter at +my time of life. You remember too, that there is an endowment here." + +"Quite so; and that is the more reason why we should not permit the +attachment." + +"But, my love, as I observed, there are so many circumstances to be +taken into account. You know as well as I do in what aspect I view +the Allens, and what my sentiments with regard to them are-- +personally that is to say, and not as minister of the gospel. +Perhaps Providence, my dear, intends this opportunity as a means +whereby the emotions of my poor sinful nature--emotions which may +have been uncharitable--may be converted into brotherly love. Then +we must recollect that Isaac is a prominent member of the church and +a deacon. Thirdly, in all probability, if we do not permit Priscilla +to marry George, offence will be taken and they may withdraw their +subscription, which, I believe, comes altogether to twenty pounds per +annum. Fourthly, the Allens have been blessed with an unusual share +of worldly prosperity, and George is about to become a partner. +Fifthly and lastly"--Mr. Broad had acquired a habit of dividing his +most ordinary conversation into heads--"it is by no means improbable +that I may need a co-pastor before long, and we shall secure the +Allens' powerful influence in favour of Thomas." + +Mrs. Broad felt the full force of these arguments. + +"I should think," she added, "that George, after marriage, cannot +live at the shop." + +"No, that will not be possible; they must take a private house." + +So it was agreed, without any reference to the question whether +Priscilla and George cared for one another, that no opposition should +be offered. The Allens themselves, father and mother, were by no +means so eager for the honour of the match as Mrs. Broad supposed +them to be, for Mrs. Isaac, particularly proud of her husband, and a +little proud of their comfortable business and their comfortable +property, was not dazzled by the Flavel ancestry. + +When George formally asked permission of Mr. Broad to sanction his +addresses, a meeting between the parents became necessary, and Mrs. +Broad called on Mrs. Allen. She was asked into the dining-room at +the back of the shop. At that time, at any rate in Cowfold, the +drawing-room, which was upstairs, was an inaccessible sanctuary, save +on Sunday and on high tea-party days. Mrs. Broad looked round at the +solid mahogany furniture; cast her eyes on the port and sherry +standing on the sideboard, in accordance with Cowfold custom; +observed that not a single thing in the room was worn or shabby; that +everything was dusted with absolute nicety, for the Allen's kept two +servants; and became a little reconciled to her lot. + +Mrs. Allen presently appeared in her black silk dress, with her gold +watch hanging in front, and saluted the minister's wife with the +usual good-humoured, slightly democratic freedom which always annoyed +Mrs. Broad. + +"My dear Mrs. Allen," began Mrs. Broad, "I have called to announce to +you a surprising piece of intelligence, although I dare say you know +it all. Your son George has asked Mr. Broad to be allowed to +consider himself as Priscilla's suitor. We have discussed the matter +together, and I have come to know what your views are. I may say +that we had destined--hoped--that--er--Priscilla would find her +sphere as a minister's wife in the metropolis; but it is best, +perhaps, to follow the leadings of Providence." + +"Well, Mrs. Broad, I must say I was a little bit disappointed myself- +-to tell you the plain truth; but it is of no use to contradict young +people in love with one another." + +Mrs. Broad was astonished. Disappointed! But she remembered her +husband's admonitions. So she contented herself with an insinuation. + +"What I meant, my dear Mrs. Allen, was that, as the Flavels have been +a ministerial family for so long, it would have been gratifying to +me, of course, if Priscilla had bestowed herself upon--upon somebody +occupying the same position." + +"That is just what my mother used to say. I was a Burton, you +remember. They were large tanners in Northamptonshire, and she did +not like my going to a shop. But you know, Mrs. Broad, you had +better be in a shop and have plenty of everything, and not have to +pinch and screw, than have a brass knocker on your door, and not be +able to pay for the clothes you wear. That's my belief, at any +rate." + +The dart entered Mrs. Broad's soul. She remembered some +"procrastination"--to use her husband's favourite word--in settling a +draper's bill, even when it was diminished by the pew rent, and she +wondered if Mrs. Allen knew the facts. Of course she did; all +Cowfold knew every fact connected with everybody in the town. She +discerned it was best to retreat. + +"I wished to tell you, Mrs. Allen, that we do not intend to offer the +least objection"--she thought that perhaps a little professional +unction might reduce her antagonist--"and I am sure I pray that God +will bless their union." + +"As I said before, Mrs. Broad, neither shall we object. We shall let +George do as he likes. He is a real good boy, worth a princess, and +if he chooses to have Miss Broad, we shan't hinder him. She will +always be welcome here, and it will be a consolation to you to know +she will never want anything." Mrs. Allen shook her silk dress out a +little, and offered Mrs. Broad a glass of wine. Her feelings were a +little flustered, and she needed support, but she refused. + +"No thank you, Mrs. Allen. I must be going." + + + +CHAPTER XXII--THE ORACLE WARNS--AFTER THE EVENT + + + +It is no part of my business to tell the story of the love-making +between George and Priscilla. Such stories have been told too often. +Every weakness in her was translated by George into some particularly +attractive virtue. He saw nothing, heard nothing, which was not to +her advantage. Once, indeed, when he was writing the letter that was +for ever to decide his destiny, it crossed his mind that this was an +epoch--a parting of the ways--and he hesitated as he folded it up. +But no warning voice was heard; nothing smote him; he was doing what +he believed to be the best; he was allowed to go on without a single +remonstrant sign. The messenger was despatched, and his fate was +sealed. His mother and father had held anxious debate. They +believed Priscilla to be silly, and the question was whether they +should tell George so. The more they reflected on the affair the +less they liked it; but it was agreed that they could do nothing, and +that to dissuade their son would only embitter him against them. + +"Perhaps," said Mrs. Allen, "when she has a family she will be +better." + +Mrs. Allen had a belief that children cured a woman of many follies. + +Nevertheless the mother could not refrain, when she had to talk to +George about his engagement, from "letting out" just a word. + +"I hope you will be happy, my dear boy. The great thing is not to +have a fool for a wife. There has never, to my knowledge, been a +woman amongst the Burtons or the Allens who was a fool. + +George felt nothing at the time, for he suspected nothing; but the +words somehow remained with him, and reappeared later on in black +intensity like invisible writing under heat. + +So they were married, and went to live in a cottage, small, but very +respectable, in the Shott Road. For the first six months both were +in bliss. Priscilla was constantly backwards and forwards to her +mother, who took upon herself at once the whole direction of her +affairs; but there was no rupture with the Allens, for, whatever her +other faults might be, Priscilla was not given to making quarrels, +and there was little or no bitterness or evil temper in her. George +came home after his work was over at the shop, and sometimes went out +to supper with his wife, or read to her the newspaper, which came +once a week. Like his father, he was an ardent politician, and, from +the very beginning of the struggle, an enthusiastic Free Trader. The +Free Trade creed was, indeed, the cause of serious embarrassment, for +not only were the customers agricultural and Protectionist, but the +deacons at Tanner's Lane, being nearly all either farmers or +connected with the land, were also Protectionist, and Mr. Broad had a +hard time of it. For himself, he expressed no opinion; but once, at +a deacons' meeting, when it looked as if some controversy would +arise, he begged Brother Allen to remember that, though we might be +wise as serpents, we were also commanded to be harmless as doves. +There was a small charity connected with the chapel, which was +distributed, not in money, but in bread, and Brother Allen, not being +able to contain himself, had let fall a word or two about the price +of bread which would have raised a storm if Mr. Broad had not poured +on the troubled waters that oil of which he was a perfect reservoir. + +George did his best to instruct his wife in the merits of the +controversy, and when he found anything in his newspaper read it +aloud to her. + +"You see, Priscilla," he said one evening, "it stands to reason that +if foreign corn pays a duty, the price of every quarter grown here is +raised, and this increased price goes into the farmer's or landlord's +pocket: Why should I, or why should my men, pay twopence more for +every loaf to buy Miss Wootton a piano?" + +"Really, George, do you mean to say that they are going to buy Miss +Wootton a piano?" + +"My dear, I said that when they buy a loaf of bread twopence out of +it goes to buy Miss Wootton's piano!" repeated George, laying an +emphasis on every word. "I did not mean, of course, that they put +their twopences in her pocket. The point is, that the duty enables +Wootton to get more for his corn." + +"Well," said Priscilla triumphantly, "I can tell you she is NOT going +to have a piano. She's going to have a little organ instead, because +she can play tunes better on an organ, and it's more suitable for +her; so there's an end of that." + +"It doesn't matter whether it is an organ or piano," said George, +"the principle is the same." + +"Well, but you said a piano; I don't think the principle is the same. +If I were she I would sooner have the piano." + +A shade of perplexed trouble crossed George's face, and some creases +appeared in his forehead; but he smoothed them away and laid down his +paper. + +"Priscilla, put away your work for a moment and just listen." + +Priscilla was making something in the shape of netting by means of +pins and a long loop which was fastened under her foot. + +"I can listen, George; there is no occasion to put it away." + +"Well then," he answered, placing both his elbows on the table, and +resting his face upon them, "all corn which comes into this country +pays a duty--that you understand. Consequently it cannot be sold +here for less than sixty shillings a quarter. Of course, if that is +the case, English wheat is kept up to a higher price than it would +fetch it there was no duty. Therefore bread is, as I calculate, +about twopence a loaf dearer than it ought to be. And why should it +be? That's what I want to know." + +"I believe," said Priscilla, "we might save a good bit by baking at +home." + +"Yes, yes; but never mind that now. You know that foreign corn pays +a duty. You do know that?" + +"Yes," said Priscilla, because there was nothing else to be said. + +"Well, then, you must see that, if that be so, farmers can obtain a +higher price for English corn." + +Poor Priscilla really did her best to comprehend. She stopped her +knitting for a moment, put her knitting-pin to her lips, and answered +very slowly and solemnly "Ye-es." + +"Ah; but I know when you say 'Ye-es' like that you do not +understand." + +"I do understand," she retorted, with a little asperity. + +"Well then, repeat it, and let us see." + +"No, I shall not." + +"Dear Priscilla, I am not vexed: but I only wanted to make it quite +plain to you. The duty on foreign corn is a tax in favour of the +farmer, or perhaps the landlord, just as distinctly as if the tax- +collector carried the coin from our till and gave it them." + +"Of course it is quite plain," she responded, making a bold stroke +for her life. "Of course it is quite plain we are taxed"--George's +face grew bright, for he thought the truth had dawned upon her-- +"because the farmers have to pay the duty on foreign corn." + +He took up his newspaper, held it open so as to cover his face, was +silent for a few minutes, and then, pulling out his watch, declared +it was time to go to bed. She gathered up her netting, looked at him +doubtfully as she passed, and went upstairs. + +The roof of George's house had a kind of depression or well in the +middle of it, whence ran a rainwater pipe, which passed down inside, +and so, under the floor, to the soft-water cistern. A bad piece of +construction, thought he, and he wished, if he could have done so, to +improve it; but there was no way of altering it without pulling the +whole place to pieces. One day, a very short time after the talk +about Free Trade, a fearful storm of rain broke over Cowfold, and he +was startled by Ellen, his servant, running into the shop and telling +him that the staircase was flooded, and missis wanted him at once. +He put on his coat and was off in a moment. When he got there +Priscilla met him at the door crying, and in a great fright. The +well up aloft was full of water, and it was pouring in torrents +through the little window. It had gone through the floor of the +bedroom and into the dining-room, pulling down with it about half the +ceiling, which lay in a horrid mess upon the dining table and the +carpet, George saw in an instant what was the matter. He ran up the +steps to the well, pulled out a quantity of straw and dirt which +blocked up the entrance to the pipe; the water disappeared in two +minutes, and all further danger was arrested. + +"Why on earth," he cried in half a passion, "did not you think to +clear away the rubbish, instead of wasting your time in sending for +me? It ought to have entered into anybody's head to do such a simple +thing as that." + +"How was I to know?" replied Mrs. George. "I am not an ironmonger. +What have I to do with pipes? You shouldn't have had such a thing." + +Ellen stood looking at the wreck. + +"We don't want you;" said George savagely; "go into the kitchen," and +he shut the dining-room door. There the husband and wife stood face +to face with one another, with the drip, drip, drip still proceeding, +the ruined plaster, and the spoilt furniture. + +"I don't care," he broke out, "one brass farthing for it all; but +what I do care for is that you should not have had the sense to +unstop that pipe." + +She said nothing, but cried bitterly. At last she sat down and +sobbed out: "O George, George, you are in a rage with me; you are +tired of me; you are disappointed with me. Oh! what shall I do, what +SHALL I do?" Poor child! her pretty curls fell over her face as she +covered it with her long white hands. George was touched with pity +in an instant, and his arms were round her neck. He kissed her +fervently, and besought her not to think anything of what he had +said. He took out his handkerchief, wiped her eyes tenderly, lifted +one of her arms and put it round his neck as he pulled a chair +towards him and sat down beside her. Nothing she loved like +caresses! She knew what THEIR import was, though she could not +follow his economical logic, and she clung to him, and buried her +face on his shoulder. At that moment, as he drew her heavy brown +tresses over him, smothered his eyes and mouth in them, and then +looked down through them on the white, sweet beauty they shadowed, he +forgot or overlooked everything, and was once more completely happy. + +Suddenly she released herself. "What shall we do to-night, George, +the bedroom will be so damp?" + +He recovered himself, and admitted that they could not sleep there. +There was the spare bedroom; but the wet had come in there too. + +"I will sleep at father's, and you sleep at home too. We will have +fires alight, and we shall be dry enough to-morrow. You be off now, +my dear; I will see about it all." + +So George had the fires alight, got in a man to help him, and they +swept and scoured and aired till it was dark. In a day or two the +plasterer could mend the ceiling. + +Priscilla had left, and, excepting the servant, who was upstairs, +George was alone. He looked round, walked about--what was it? Was +he tired? It could not be that; he was never tired. He left as soon +as he could and went back to the shop. After telling the tale of the +calamity which had befallen him he announced--it was now supper-time- +-that he was going to stay all night. Mother, father, and sister +were delighted to have him--"It looked like old times again;" but +George was not in much of a mood for talking, and at ten o'clock went +upstairs; his early departure being, of course, set down to the worry +he had gone through. He turned into bed. Generally speaking he +thought no more of sleep than he did of breathing; it came as +naturally as the air into his lungs; but what was this new +experience? Half an hour, an hour, after he had laid down he was +still awake, and worse than awake; for his thoughts were of a +different cast from his waking thoughts; fearful forebodings; a +horror of great darkness. He rose and bathed his head in cold water, +and lay down again; but it was of no use, and he walked about his +room. What an epoch is the first sleepless night--the night when the +first wrench has been given us by the Destinies to loosen us from the +love of life; when we have first said to ourselves that there are +worse things than death! + +George's father always slept well, but the mother stirred at the +slightest sound. She heard her boy on the other side of the wall +pacing to and fro, and she slipped out of bed, put on her dressing- +gown, and went to listen. Presently she knocked gently. + +"George, my dear, aren't you well?" + +"Yes, mother; nothing the matter." + +"Let me in." + +He let her in, and sat down. The moon shone brightly, and there was +no need for any other light. + +The mother came and sat beside her child. + +"George, my dear, there is something on you mind? What is it?--tell +me." + +"Nothing, mother; nothing indeed." + +She answered by taking his cold hand in both her own and putting it +on her lap. Presently he disengaged himself and went to the window. +She sat still for a moment, and followed him. She looked up in his +face; the moonlight was full upon it; there was no moisture in his +eyes, but his lips quivered. She led him away, and got him to sit +down again, taking his hand as before, but speaking no word. +Suddenly, without warning, his head was on his mother's bosom, and he +was weeping as if his heart would break. Another first experience to +him and to her; the first time he had ever wept since he was a child +and cried over a fall or because it was dark. She supported that +heavy head with the arm which had carried him before he could walk +alone; she kissed him, and her tears flowed with his; but still she +was silent. There was no reason why she should make further inquiry; +she knew it all. By themselves there they remained till he became a +little calmer, and then he begged her to leave him. She wished to +stay, but he would not permit it, and she withdrew. When she reached +her bedroom her husband was still asleep, and although she feared to +wake him, she could no longer contain herself, and falling on her +knees with her face in the bedclothes, so that she might not be +heard, she cried to her Maker to have mercy on her child. She was +not a woman much given to religious exercises, but she prayed that +night such a prayer as had not been prayed in Tanner's Lane since its +foundation was laid. For this cause shall a man leave father and +mother and cleave to his wife? Ah, yes! he does leave them; but in +his heart does he never go back? And if he never does, does his +mother ever leave him? + +In the morning Mrs. Allen was a little pale, and was asked by her +husband if she was unwell, but she held her peace. George, too, +rose, went about his work, and in the afternoon walked up to the +cottage to meet his wife there. She was bright and smiling, and had +a thousand things to tell him about what her mamma said, and how +mamma hoped that the nasty pipe would be altered and never ought to +have been there; and how she was coming after tea to talk to him, and +how she herself, Priscilla, had got a plan. + +"What is it?" said George. + +"Why, I would put a grating, or something, over the pipe, so that it +shouldn't get stopped up." + +"But if the grating got stopped up that would be just as bad." + +"Well then, I wouldn't have a well there at all. Why don't you cover +it over?" + +'"But what are you to do with the window? You cannot block out the +light." + +So Priscilla's "plans," as she called them, were nothing. And though +George had a plan which he thought might answer, he did not consult +her about it. + + + +CHAPTER XXIII--FURTHER DEVELOPMENT + + + +Six months afterwards Priscilla was about to give birth to her first- +born. At Mrs. Allen's earnest request old nurse Barton had been +engaged, who nursed Mrs. Allen when George came into the world, and +loved him like her own child. As a counterpoise, Mrs. Broad, who had +desired a nurse from a distance, whom she knew, installed herself +with Priscilla. Nurse Barton had a great dislike to Mrs. Broad, +although she attended Mr. Broad's ministrations at Tanner's Lane. +She was not a member of the church, and never could be got to propose +herself for membership. There was, in fact, a slight flavour of +Paganism about her. She was considered to belong to the "world," and +it was only her age and undoubted skill which saved her practice +amongst the Tanner's Lane ladies. There was a rival in the town; but +she was a younger woman, and never went out to any of the respectable +houses, save when Mrs. Barton was not available. + +The child was safely born, and as soon as nurse Barton could be +spared for an hour or two she went to Mrs. Allen, whom she found +alone. The good woman then gave Mrs. Allen her opinions, which, by +the way, she always gave with prefect frankness. + +"Thank the Lord-i-mercy this 'ere job, Mrs. Allen, is near at an end. +If it 'adn't been my dear boy George's wife, never would I have set +foot in that 'ouse." + +"Why not?" + +"Why not? Now, Mrs. Allen, you know as well as I do. To see that +there Mrs. Broad! She might 'ave ordered me about; that wouldn't a +been nothin'; but to see 'er a orderin' 'IM, and a ridin' on 'im like +a wooden rockin'-'orse, and with no more feelin'! A nasty, prancin', +'igh-'eaded creatur'. Thinks I to myself, often and often, if things +was different I'd let yer know, that I would; but I 'eld my tong. It +'ud a been wuss for us all, p'r'aps, if I 'adn't." + +"I should think so," said Mrs. Allen; "remember she is the minister's +wife." + +"Minister's wife!" repeated Mrs. Barton, and with much scorn. "And +then them children of hern. Lord be praised I never brought such +things as them into the world. That was her fine nuss as she must +get down from London; and pretty creaturs they are!" + +"Hush, hush; George has one of them, and she is mine." + +"I can't 'elp it, ma'am, I must speak out. I say as he ought to 'ave +married somebody better nor 'er; though I don't mind a tellin' of yer +she's the best of the lot. Why did the Lord in heaven, as sent Jesus +Christ to die for our souls, let my George 'ave such a woman as that? +What poor silly creaturs we all are!" and the old woman, bending her +head down, shook it mournfully and rubbed her knees with her hand. +She was thinking of him as he lay in her lap years and years ago, and +pondering, in her disconnected, incoherent way, over the mysteries +which are mysteries to us as much as to her. + +Mrs. Broad, who was in constant attendance upon Priscilla, at the +very earliest moment pronounced the baby a Flavel, and made haste to +tell father and mother so. There was no mistaking a refinement, so +to say, in the features and an expression in the eye. George, of +course, was nearly banished for a time, and was much with his father +and mother. At length, however, the hour arrived when the nurse took +her departure, and, Mrs. Broad having also somewhat retired, he began +to see a little more of his wife; but it was very little. She was +altogether shut up in maternal cares--closed round, apparently, from +the whole world. He was not altogether displeased, but he did at +times think that she might give him a moment now and then, especially +as he was greatly interested in the coming county election. It was +rather too early in the day for a Free Trader to stand as a +candidate, but two Whigs, of whom they had great hopes, had been put +up, and both George and his father were most energetic in canvassing +and on committees. + +Mr. Broad had decided not to vote. He did not deny that his +sympathies were not with the Tories, but as a minister of religion it +would be better for him to remain neutral. This annoyed the Allens +and damaged their cause. At a meeting held by the Tories one of the +speakers called upon the audience to observe that all the respectable +people, with very few exceptions, were on their side. "Why," cried +he, "I'll bet you, my friends, all Lombard Street to a china orange +that they don't get even the Dissenting parson to vote for the +Radicals. Of course he won't, and why? Just because he's a cut +above his congregation, and knows a little more than they do, and +belongs to the intelligent classes." + +George bethought himself that perhaps he might do something through +Priscilla to influence her mother, and he determined to speak to her +about it. He came home one evening after attending a committee, and +found supper ready. Priscilla was downstairs, sitting with the door +open. + +"Hadn't we better shut the door?" said George; "it is rather cold." + +"No, no, George; I shouldn't hear the baby." + +"But Ellen is upstairs." + +"Yes; but then she might go to sleep." + +"My dear," began George, "I wish your father could be got to vote +straight. You see that by not doing so he goes against all the +principles of the Independents. Ever since they have been in +existence they have always stood up for freedom, and we are having +the large yellow flag worked with the words, Civil and Religious +Liberty. It will be a bad thing for us if he holds aloof. I cannot +understand," he continued, getting eloquent, "how a Dissenting +minister can make up his mind not to vote against a party which has +been answerable for all the oppression and all the wrongs in English +history, and for all our useless wars, and actually persecuted his +predecessors in this very meeting-house in which he now preaches. +Besides, to say nothing about the past, just look at what we have +before us now. The Tories are the most bitter opponents of Free +Trade. I can't tell you how I feel about it, and I do think that if +you were to speak to your mother she would perhaps induce him to +change his mind." + +It was a long time since he had said so much all at once to his wife. + +"George, George, I am sure he's awake!" and she was off out of the +room in an instant. Presently she returned. + +"Mamma came here this afternoon and brought his hood--a new one--such +a lovely hood!--and she says he looks more than ever like a Flavel in +it." + +"I don't believe you listened to a word of what I was saying." + +"Oh yes, I did; you always think I don't listen; but I can listen to +you and watch for him too." + +"What did I say?" + +"Never mind, I know." + +"I cannot understand," he said sullenly, and diverted for a moment +from his subject, "why mamma should be always telling YOU he is a +Flavel." + +"Well, really, George, why shouldn't she? Tryphosa said the other +day that if you were to take away grandpapa Flavel's wig and bands +from the picture in the Evangelical Magazine he would be just like +him." + +"It seems to me," replied George, "that if there's any nonsense going +about the town, it always comes to you. People don't talk such +rubbish to me." + +What the effect of this speech might have been cannot be told, for at +this moment the baby did really cry, and Priscilla departed hastily +for the night. She never spoke to her mother about the election, +for, as George suspected, she had not paid the slightest attention to +him; and as to exchanging with her mother a single word upon such a +subject as politics, or upon any other subject which was in any way +impersonal,--she never did such a thing in her life. + +It was the uniform practice of the Reverend John Broad to walk down +the main Street of Cowfold on Monday morning, and to interchange a +few words with any of his congregation whom he might happen to meet. +This pastoral perambulation not only added importance to him, and +made him a figure in Cowfold, but, coming always on Monday, served to +give people some notion of a preoccupation during the other days of +the week which was forbidden, for mental reasons, on the day after +Sunday. On this particular Monday Mr. Broad was passing Mr. Allen's +shop, and seeing father and son there, went in. Mr. Allen himself +was at a desk which stood near the window, and George was at the +counter, in a black apron, weighing nails. + +After an unimportant remark or two about the weather, Mr. Allen began +in a cheery tone, so as to prevent offence: + +"Mr. Broad, we are sorry we cannot persuade you to vote for the good +cause." + +Mr. Broad's large mouth lengthened itself, and his little eyes had an +unpleasant light in them. + +"Brother Allen, I have made this matter the subject of much +meditation, and I may even say of prayer, and I have come to the +conclusion it will be better for me to occupy a neutral position." + +"Why, Mr. Broad? You cannot doubt on which side the right lies." + +"No; but then there are so many things to be considered, so many +responsibilities, and my first care, you see, must be the ministerial +office and the church which Providence has placed in my charge." + +"But, Mr. Broad, there are only two or three of them who are Tory." + +"Only old Bushel and another farmer or two," interrupted George. + +Mr. Broad looked severely at George, but did not condescend to answer +him. + +"Those two or three, Brother Allen, require consideration as much as +ourselves. Brother Bushel is, I may say, a pillar of the cause, a +most faithful follower of the Lord; and what are political questions +compared with that? How could I justify myself if my liberty were to +become a stumbling-block to my brother. The house of God without +Brother Bushel to give out the hymns on Sunday would, I am sure, not +be the same house of God to any of us." + +"But, Mr. Broad, do you think he will be so silly as to be offended +because you exercise the same right which he claims for himself?" + +"Ah, Brother Allen--offended! You remember, no doubt, the text, +'Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh +while the world standeth.'" + +It is a very good thing to have at one's elbow a Bible of rules for +our guidance; but unfortunately we relieve ourselves very often of +the most necessary inquiry whether the rule applies to the particular +case in hand. Mr. Allen had the greatest possible respect for St. +Paul, but he felt sure the apostle was where he had no business to be +just at that particular moment. George also saw the irrelevance of +the quotation, and discerned exactly where it did not fit. + +"Mr. Broad, I am sure I don't pretend to know what St. Paul thought +as well as you do--of course not--but do you think that voting is +like eating meat? Is it not a duty to express our convictions on +such questions as those now before the country? It didn't much +matter whether a man ate meat which had been offered to an idol or +not, but it does matter how we are governed." + +Mr. Broad turned round on George, and smiled with a smile which was +certainly not a sign of affection, but otherwise did not notice him. + +"Well, Mr. Broad," continued Mr. Allen, "all I can say is, I regret +it; and I am sure you will excuse me if I also say that we too +deserve some consideration. You forget that your refusal to declare +yourself may be stumbling-block to US." + +"I hope not, I hope not. George, how is Priscilla, and how is her +child? Are they both quite well?" and with a pontifical benediction +the minister moved away. When he got home he consulted the oracle; +not on his knees, but sitting in his arm-chair; that is to say, Mrs. +Broad at the Monday afternoon tea, and she relieved his anxiety. +There was no fear of any secession on the part of the Allens, +connected as they were with them through Priscilla. On the other +hand, Brother Bushel, although he gave out the hymns, had already had +a quarrel with the singing pew because they would not more frequently +perform a tune with a solo for the double bass, which he always +accompanied with his own bass voice, and Mr. Broad had found it +difficult to restore peace; the flute and clarionet justly urging +that they never had solos, and why the double bass, who only played +from ear, and not half as many notes as they played, should be +allowed to show off they didn't know. Mr. Bushel, too, contributed +ten pounds a year to the cause, and Piddingfold Green Chapel was but +a mile farther off from him than Cowfold. There were allies of the +Allens in Tanner's Lane, no doubt; but none of them would be likely +to desert so long as the Allens themselves remained. Therefore +Providence seemed to point out to Mr. and Mrs. Broad that their +course was clear. + + + +CHAPTER XXIV--"I CAME NOT TO SEND PEACE, BUT A SWORD" + + + +Mr. Allen, having business in London, determined to go on Saturday, +and spend the next day with Zachariah. Although he always called on +his old friend whenever he could do so, he was not often away from +home on a Sunday. He also resolved to take George with him. +Accordingly on Saturday morning they were up early and caught a coach +on the North Road. The coaches by this time had fallen off +considerably, for the Birmingham railway was open, and there was even +some talk of a branch through Cowfold; but there were still perhaps a +dozen which ran to places a good way east of the line. Father and +son dismounted at the "George and Blue Boar," where they were to +sleep. Sunday was to be spent with the Colemans, whom George had +seen before but very seldom; never, indeed, since he was a boy. + +Zachariah still went to Pike Street Chapel, but only in the morning +to hear Mr. Bradshaw, who was now an old man, and could not preach +twice. On that particular Sunday on which Zachariah, Pauline, Mr. +Allen, and George heard him he took for his text the thirteenth verse +of the twelfth chapter of Deuteronomy: "Take heed to thyself that +thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place thou seest." He +put down his spectacles after he had read these words, for he never +used a note, and said: "If your religion doesn't help you, it is no +religion for you; you had better be without it. I don't mean if it +doesn't help you to a knowledge of a future life or of the way to +heaven. Everybody will say his religion does that. What I do mean +is, that the sign of a true religion--true for YOU, is this--Does it +assist you to bear your own private difficulties?--does it really?-- +not the difficulties of the schools and theology, but those of the +parlour and countinghouse; ay, difficulties most difficult, those +with persons nearest to you? . . . Everybody ought to have his OWN +religion. In one sense we are all disciples of Christ, but +nevertheless each man has troubles peculiar to himself, and it is +absurd to expect that any book system will be sufficient for each one +of us at all points. You must make your own religion, and it is only +what you make yourself which will be of any use to you. Don't be +disturbed if you find it is not of much use to other persons. Stick +to it yourself if it is really your own, a bit of yourself. There +are, however, in the Book of God universal truths, and the wonderful +thing about them is, that they are at the same time more particularly +adapted to you and me and all our innermost wants than anything we +can discover for ourselves. That is the miracle of inspiration. For +thousands and thousands of years some of the sayings here have +comforted those who have well nigh despaired in the desert of the +world. The wisdom of millions of apostles, of heroes, of martyrs, of +poor field labourers, of solitary widows, of orphans of the +destitute, of men driven to their last extremity has been the wisdom +of this volume--not their own, and yet most truly theirs. . . . Here +is a word for us this morning: 'Take heed to thyself that thou offer +not thy burnt offerings in every place thou seest.' Ah, what a word +it is! You and I are not idolaters, and there is no danger of our +being so. For you and me this is not a warning against idolatry. +What is it for us then? Reserve yourself; discriminate in your +worship. Reserve yourself, I say; but what is the implication? What +says the next verse? 'In the place which the Lord shall choose;' +that is to say, keep your worship for the Highest. Do not squander +yourself, but, on the other hand, before the shrine of the Lord offer +all your love and adoration. What a practical application this has! +. . I desire to come a little closer to you. What are the +consequences of not obeying this Divine law? You will not be struck +dead nor excommunicated, you will be simply DISAPPOINTED. Your burnt +offering will receive no answer; you will not be blessed through it; +you will come to see that you have been pouring forth your treasure, +and something worse, your heart's blood--not the blood of cattle-- +before that which is no God--a nothing, in fact. 'Vanity of +vanities,' you will cry, 'all is vanity.' My young friends, young +men and young women, you are particularly prone to go wrong in this +matter. You not only lay your possessions but yourselves on altars +by the roadside." + +It was the first time George had ever heard anything from any public +speaker which came home to him, and he wondered if Mr. Bradshaw knew +his history. He interpreted the discourse after his own way, and +Priscilla was ever before him. + +They came back to the little house, and sat down to dinner in the +little front room. There were portraits on the walls--nothing else +but portraits--and the collection at first sight was inconsistent. +Major Cartwright was still there; there were also Byron, Bunyan, +Scott, Paine, Burns, Mr. Bradshaw, and Rousseau. It was closely +expressive of its owners. Zachariah and Pauline were private +persons; they were, happily for them, committed to nothing, and were +not subsidised by their reputations to defend a system. They were +consequently free to think at large, and if they admired both Bunyan +and Rousseau, they were at liberty to do so. Zachariah, in a +measure, and a very large measure, had remained faithful to his +earliest beliefs--who is there that does not?--and although they had +been modified, they were still there; and he listened to Mr. Bradshaw +with the faith of thirty years ago. He also believed in a good many +things he had learned without him, and perhaps the old and the new +were not so discordant as at first sight they might have seemed to +be. He was not, in fact, despite all his love of logic, the "yes OR +no" from which most people cannot escape, but a "yes AND no"; not +immorally and through lack of resolution, but by reason of an +original receptivity and the circumstances of his training. If he +had been merely a student the case would have been different but he +was not a student. He was a journeyman printer; and hard work has a +tendency to demolish the distinctions of dialectics. He had also +been to school outside his shop, and had learned many lessons, often +confusing and apparently contradictory. Blanketeer marches; his +first wife; the workhouse imprisonment; his second wife; the little +Pauline had each come to him with its own special message, and the +net result was a character, but a character disappointing to persons +who prefer men and women of linear magnitude to those of three +dimensions. + +After dinner the conversation turned upon politics and Mr. Allen +described his interview with Mr. Broad, regretting that the movement +in the district round Cowfold would receive no countenance from the +minister of the very sect which ought to be its chief support. + +"A sad falling off," said Zachariah, "from the days, even in my time, +when the Dissenters were the insurrectionary class. Mr. Bradshaw, +last Sunday, after his sermon, shut his Bible, and told the people +that he did not now interfere much in political matters; but he felt +he should not be doing his duty if he did not tell those whom he +taught which way they ought to vote, and that what he had preached to +them for so many years would be poor stuff if it did not compel them +into a protest against taxing the poor for the sake of the rich." + +"Yes," replied Mr. Allen; "but then Broad never has taught what +Bradshaw teaches; he never seems to me to see anything clearly; at +least he never makes me see anything clearly; the whole world is in a +fog to him." + +"From what I have heard of Mr. Broad," said Pauline, "I should think +the explanation of him is very simple; he is a hypocrite--an ordinary +hypocrite. What is the use of going out of the way to seek for +explanations of such commonplace persons?" + +"Pauline, Pauline," cried Zachariah, "you surely forget, my child, in +whose company you are!" + +"Oh, as for that," said George, "Miss Coleman needn't mind me. I +haven't married Mr. Broad, and my father is quite right. For that +matter, I believe Miss Coleman is right too." + +"Well," said Mr. Allen, "it is rather strong to say a man is an +ordinary hypocrite, and it is not easy to prove it." + +"Not easy to prove it," said Pauline, shifting a little her chair and +looking straight at Mr. Allen, with great earnestness; "hypocrisy is +the one thing easiest to prove. I can tell whether a man is a +hypocrite before I know anything else about him. I may not for a +long time be able to say what else he may be, but before he speaks, +almost, I can detect whether he is sincere." + +"You women," said Zachariah, with a smile, "or you girls rather, are +so positive. Just as though the world were divided like the goats +and the sheep in the gospel. That is a passage that I never could +quite understand. I never, hardly, see a pure breed either of goat +or sheep. I never see anybody who deserves go straight to heaven or +who deserves to go straight to hell. When the judgment day comes it +will be a difficult task. Why, Pauline, my dear, I am a humbug +myself." + +"Ah well, I have heard all that before; but, nevertheless, what I say +is true. Some men, using speech as God meant men to use it, are +liars, and some are not. Of course not entirely so, nor at all +times. We cannot speak mere truth; we are not made to speak it. For +all that you are not a liar." + +"Anyhow, I shall go on," said Mr. Allen. "We shall have a desperate +fight, and shall most likely lose; but no Tory shall sit for our +county if I can help it." + +"Of course you will go on," said Zachariah. "So shall I go on. We +are to have a meeting in Clerkenwell to-morrow night, although, to +tell you the truth, I don't feel exactly the interest in the struggle +which I did in those of five-and-twenty years ago, when we had to +whisper our treasons to one another in locked rooms and put sentries +at the doors. You know nothing about those times, George." + +"I wish I had," said George, with an unusual passion, which surprised +his father and caused Pauline to lift her eyes from the table and +look at him. "I only wish I had. I can't speak as father can, and I +often say to myself I should like to take myself off to some foreign +country where men get shot for what they call conspiracy. If I knew +such a country I half believe I would go to-morrow." + +"Which means," said Pauline, "that there would be an end of you and +your services. If you care anything for a cause, you can do +something better than get shot for it; and if you want martyrdom, +there is a nobler martyrdom than death. The Christians who were +trundled in barrels with spikes in them deserve higher honour than +those who died in a moment, before they could recant. The highest +form of martyrdom, though, is not even living for the sake of a +cause, but living without one, merely because it is your duty to +live. If you are called upon to testify to a great truth, it is easy +to sing in flames. Yes, yes, Mr. George, the saints whom I would +canonise are not martyrs for a cause, but those who have none." + +George thought that what Pauline said--just as he had thought of Mr. +Bradshaw's sermon--seemed to be said for him; and yet what did she +know about him? Nothing. He was silent. All were silent, for it is +difficult to follow anybody who pitches the conversation at so high a +level; and Zachariah, who alone could have maintained it, was +dreaming over his lost Pauline and gazing on the sacred pictures +which were hung in the chamber of his heart. Just at that moment he +was looking at the one of his wife as a girl; the room in which he +was sitting had gone; he was in the court near Fleet Street; she had +cleared the space for the dance; she had begun, and he was watching +her with all the passion of his youth. The conversation gradually +turned to something more indifferent, and the company broke up. + +On the Monday George and his father went home. It is very +depressing, after being with people who have been at their best, and +with whom we have been at our best, to descend upon ordinary +existence. George felt it particularly as he stood in the shop on +Tuesday morning and reflected that for the whole of that day--for his +father was out--he should probably not say nor hear a word for which +he cared a single straw. But there was to be an election meeting +that evening, and Mr. Allen was to speak, and George, of course, must +be there. The evening came, and the room at the Mechanics' +Institute, which had just been established in Cowfold, was crowded. +Admission was not by ticket, so that, though the Whigs had convened +it, there was a strong muster of the enemy. Mr. Allen moved the +first resolution in a stirring speech, which was constitutionally +interrupted with appeals to him to go home and questions about a grey +mare--"How about old Pinfold's grey mare?"--which seemed conclusive +and humorous to the last degree. Old Pinfold was a well-known +character in Cowfold, horse-dealer, pig-jobber, attendant at races, +with no definite occupation, and the grey mare was an animal which he +managed to impose upon Mr. Allen, who sued him and lost. + +When Mr. Allen's resolution had been duly seconded, one Rogers, a +publican, got up and said he had something to say. There was +indescribable confusion, some crying, "Turn him out;" others "Pitch +into 'em, Bill." Bill Rogers was well known as the funny man in +Cowfold, a half-drunken buffoon, whose wit, such as it was, was +retailed all over the place; a man who was specially pleased if he +could be present in any assembly collected for any serious purpose +and turn it into ridicule. He got upon a chair, not far from where +George sat, but refused to go upon the platform. "No, thank yer my +friends, I'm best down here; up there's the place for the gentlefolk, +the clever uns, them as buy grey mares!"--(roars of laughter)--"but, +Mr. Chairman, with your permission"--and here Bill put his had upon +his chest and made a most profound bow to the chair, which caused +more laughter--"there is just one question I should like to ask--not +about the grey mare, sir"--(roars of laughter again)--"but I see a +young gentleman here beknown to us all"--(points to George)--"and I +should just like to ask him, does his mother-in-law--not his mother, +you observe, sir--does his mother-in-law know he's out?" Once more +there was an explosion, for Mr. Broad's refusal to take part in the +contest was generally ascribed to Mrs. Broad. George sat still for a +moment, hardly realising his position, and then the blood rose to his +head; up crashed across the forms, and before the grin had settled +into smoothness on Bill's half-intoxicated features there was a grip +like that of a giant on his greasy coat collar; he was dragged amidst +shouts and blows to the door, George nothing heeding, and dismissed +with such energy that he fell prostrate on the pavement. His friends +had in vain attempted to stop George's wrathful progress; but they +were in a minority. + +Next Saturday a report of the scene appeared in the county newspaper, +giving full particulars, considerably exaggerated; and Mr. Broad read +all about it to Mrs. Broad on Saturday afternoon, in the interval +between the preparation of his two sermons. He had heard the story +on the following day; but here was an authentic account in print. +Mrs. Broad was of opinion that it was shocking; so vulgar, so low; +her poor dear Priscilla, and so forth. Mr. Broad's sullen animosity +was so much stimulated that it had overcome his customary +circumspection, and on the Sunday evening he preached from the text, +"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To +visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep +himself unspotted from the world." Mr. Broad remarked that the +Apostle James made no mention here of the scheme of redemption; not +because that was not the chief part of religion, but because he was +considering religion in the aspect--he was very fond of this word +"aspect"--which it presented to those outside the Church. He called +upon his hearers to reflect with him for a few moments, in the first +place, upon what religion was not; secondly, upon what it was; and +thirdly, he would invite their attention to a few practical +conclusions. He observed that religion did not consist in vain +strife upon earthly matters, which only tended towards divisions in +the Body of Christ. "At such a time as this, my brethren, it is +important for us to remember that these disputes, especially if they +are conducted with unseemly heat, are detrimental to the interests of +the soul and give occasion to the enemy to blaspheme." When Mr. +Broad came to the secondly. and to that sub-division of it which +dealt with freedom from worldly spots, he repeated the words with +some emphasis, "'Unspotted from the world.' Think, my friends, of +what this involves. Spots! The world spots and stains! We are not +called upon to withdraw ourselves from the world--the apostle does +not say that--but to keep ourselves unspotted, uncontaminated he +appears to mean, by worldly influence. The word unspotted in the +original bears that interpretation--uncontaminated. Therefore, +though we must be in the world, we are not to be OF the world, but to +set an example to it. In the world! Yes, my brethren, we must +necessarily be in the world; that is the condition imposed upon us by +the Divine Providence, because we are in a state of probation; we are +so constituted, with a body, and with fleshly appetites, that we must +be in the world; but we must be separate from it and its +controversies, which are so unimportant compared with our eternal +welfare." + +Mr. Bushel sat on high at his desk, where he gave out the hymns, and +coughed every now and then, and looked straight at the pew where the +Allens and George sat. Mr. Bushel knew well enough that, although he +was just as ardent on the other side, the sermon was not meant for +him, and not one of Mr. Broad's remarks touched him. He thought only +of the Allens, and rejoiced inwardly. George walked home with +Priscilla in silence. At supper-time he suddenly said: + +"I think your father might have found something better to do than +preach at me." + +Priscilla was shocked. She had never heard a criticism on her father +before. + +"Really, George, what are you thinking of to talk in that way about a +sermon, and on a Sunday night too?" + +"He did preach at me; and if he has anything to say against me, why +doesn't he come and say it here or at the shop?" + +"O George, this is dreadful! Besides, mamma DID come and talk to +me." + +"What has that got to do with it? Well, what did your mother say?" + +"Why, she told me all about thus meeting, and how you fought a man +and nearly killed him, and you a member at Tanner's Lane, and how you +oughtn't to have been there at all, and what Mr. Bushel was going to +do." + +"Oughtn't to have been there at all? Why not? I don't believe you +know any more than this table why I was there." + +"Oh yes, I do. You never tell me anything, but Mrs. Bushel told me. +You want to get them all turned out of their farms." + +"Bosh! There you are again!--the pains I took the other night again +to make you comprehend what Free Trade meant. I knew you didn't +understand a word about it; and if you did understand, you wouldn't +believe me. You never take any notice of anything I say; but if Mrs. +Bushel or any other blockhead tells you anything, you believe that +directly." + +Priscilla's eyes filled; she took out her handkerchief, and went +upstairs. George sat still for a while, and then followed her. He +found her sitting by the baby's cradle, her head on her hands and +sobbing. It touched him beyond measure to see how she retreated to +her child; he went to her; his anger was once more forgotten, and +once more he was reconciled with kisses and self-humiliation. The +next morning, however, as he went to the square, the conversation of +the night before returned to him. "What does it all mean?" he cried +to himself. "Would to God it were either one thing or another! I +could be happy if I really cared for her, and if I hated her +downright I could endure it like any other calamity which cannot be +altered; but this is more than I can bear!" + +The Allens, father and mother, held anxious debate whether they +should take any notice of the attack by their pastor, and in the end +determined to do nothing. They considered, and rightly considered, +that any action on their part would only make George's position more +difficult, and he was the first person to be considered. + +Next Saturday there was some business to be done in London, and +George went, this time by himself. On the Sunday morning he called +on the Colemans, and found Zachariah at home, but Pauline away. Mr. +Bradshaw, too, was not to preach that day. It was wet, and Zachariah +and George sat and talked, first about the election, and then about +other indifferent subjects. Conversation--even of the best, and +between two friends--is poor work when one of the two suffers from +some secret sorrow which he cannot reveal, and George grew weary. +Zachariah knew what was the matter with him, and had known it for a +long while, but was too tender to hint his knowledge. Nevertheless, +remembering his own history, he pitied the poor boy exceedingly. He +loved him as his own child, for his father's sake, and loved him all +the more for an experience so nearly resembling another which he +recollected too well. + +"How is it Mr. Bradshaw is not preaching to-day?" said George. + +"He is ill; I am afraid he is breaking up; and latterly he has been +worried by the small attacks made upon him by people who are afraid +to say anything distinctly." + +"What kind of attacks?" + +"Well, they insinuate that he is Arian." + +"What is that?" + +Zachariah explained the case as well as he could, and George was much +interested. + +"Arian or not, I tell you one thing, Mr. Coleman, that Mr. Bradshaw, +whenever I have heard him, seems to help me as Mr. Broad never does. +I never think about what Mr. Broad says except when I am in chapel, +and sometimes not then." + +"Bradshaw speaks from himself. He said a thing last Sunday which +stuck by me, and would have pleased a country lad like you more than +it did three parts of his congregation, who are not so familiar with +country life as he is. He told us he was out for a holiday, and saw +some men hoeing in a field--'Hoeing the charlock,' he said to +himself; but when he came nearer he found they were hoeing turnips-- +hoeing up the poor plants themselves, which lay dying all around; +hoeing them up to let the other plants have room to grow. + +"I have known men," added Zachariah after a pause, "from whose life +so much--all love, for example--has been cut out; and the effect has +been, not ruin, but growth in other directions which we should never +have seen without it." + +Zachariah took down a little book from his shelf, and wrote George's +name in it. + +"There, my boy, it is not much to look at, but I know nothing better, +and keep it always in your pocket. It is the Imitation of Christ. +You will find a good deal in it which will suit you, and you will +say, as I have said a thousand times over it, that other people may +write of science or philosophy, but this man writes about me." + +He put it on the table, and George opened it at the sentence, "He +that can best tell how to suffer will best keep himself in peace. +That man is conqueror of himself, and lord of the world, the friend +of Christ, and the heir of heaven." He turned over the leaves again- +-"He to whom the Eternal Word speaketh is delivered from a world of +unnecessary conceptions." Zachariah bent his head near him and +gently expounded the texts. As the exposition grew George's heart +dilated, and he was carried beyond his troubles. It was the birth in +him--even in him, a Cowfold ironmonger, not a scholar by any means-- +of what philosophers call the IDEA, that Incarnation which has ever +been our Redemption. He said nothing to Zachariah about his own +affairs, nor did Zachariah, as before observed, say anything to him; +but the two knew one another, and felt that they knew one another as +intimately as if George had imparted to his friend the minutest +details of his unhappiness with his wife. + +Towards the end of the afternoon Pauline returned, and inquired how +the battle went in Cowfold. + +"I am afraid we shall be beaten. Sometimes I don't seem to care much +about it." + +"Don't care! Why not?" + +"Oh, we talk and talk, father and I, and somehow people's minds are +made up without talking, and nobody ever changes. When we have our +meetings, who is it who comes? Does Bushel come? Not a bit of it. +We only get our own set." + +"Well," said Zachariah, the old man's republican revolutionary ardour +returning, "this is about the only struggle in which I have felt much +interest of late years. I should like to have cheap bread, and what +is more, I should like to deprive the landlords of that bit of the +price which makes the bread dear. I agree with you, my boy. Endless +discussion is all very well--forms 'public opinion,' they say; but I +wish a could be put to it when it has come round to where it began; +that one side could say to the other, 'You have heard all our logic, +and we have heard all yours;' now then, let us settle it. 'Who is +the strongest and best drilled?' I believe in insurrection. +Everlasting debate--and it is not genuine debate, for nobody really +ranges himself alongside his enemy's strongest points--demoralises us +all. It encourages all sorts of sophistry, becomes mere manoeuvring, +and saps people's faith in the truth. In half an hour, if two +persons were to sit opposite one another, they could muster every +single reason for and against Free Trade. What is the use of going +on after that? Moreover, insurrection strengthens the belief of men +in the right. A man who voluntarily incurs the risk of being shot +believes ever afterwards, if he escapes, a little more earnestly than +he did before. 'Who is on the Lord's side, let him come unto me,' +says the flag. Insurrection strengthens, too, the faith of others. +When a company of poor men meet together and declare that things have +got to such a pass that they will either kill their enemies or die +themselves, the world then thinks there must, after all, be SOME +difference between right and wrong." + +"Father, that is all past now. We must settle our quarrels in the +appointed way. Don't say anything to discourage Mr. Allen. Besides, +people are not so immovable as you think. How they alter I don't +know; but they do alter. There is a much larger minority in favour +of Free Trade than there was ten years ago." + +"All past now, is it? You will see one of these days." + +It was time for tea, and Pauline left to get the tea-things. In the +evening they strolled out for a walk through Barnsbury and up Maiden +Lane, then a real and pretty lane stretching north-westwards through +hedges to Highgate. After they had gone a few hundred yards +Zachariah went back; he had forgotten something, and George and +Pauline walked on slowly together. The street was crowded, for it +was just about church time, but on the opposite side of the road +George saw somebody whom he knew, but who took no notice of him. + +"How odd!" he said to Pauline; "that is Tom Broad! What is he doing +here, I wonder?" + +Pauline made no answer, and at that moment Zachariah rejoined them. + +The reason for Mr. Thomas Broad's appearance in that quarter will be +best explained by the following letter, which he had received the day +before from his father:- + + +"My Dear Thomas,--I was very glad to hear of your success at Mr. +Martin's chapel, at Hackney, on Sunday afternoon. Although it was +nothing more than an afternoon service, you must remember that it is +the first invitation to a metropolitan pulpit which you have +received. It would be as well if you were to call on Mr. Martin at +your earliest convenience, and also on Mr. Chandler, in Leather Lane, +whom you mentioned to me, and who, I believe, is a prominent deacon. +The choice of your subject was judicious, although it is not so easy +to fix the character of a discourse for the afternoon as for the +morning or evening. 'I will give him a white stone' is a text I have +used myself with great profit. A young minister, I need hardly say, +my dear Thomas, ought to confine himself to what is generally +accepted, and not to particularise. For this reason he should avoid +not only all disputed topics, but, as far as possible, all reference +to particular offences. I always myself doubted the wisdom, for +example, of sermons against covetousness, or worldliness, or +hypocrisy. Let us follow our Lord and Master, and warn our hearers +against sin, and leave the application to the Holy Spirit. I only +mention this matter now because I have found two or three young +students err in this direction, and the error, I am sure, militates +against their usefulness. + +"Your dear mamma and Tryphosa are both quite well. Not so Priscilla. +I grieve to say she is NOT well. George's conduct lately has been +very strange. I am afraid that he will be a trouble not only to us, +but to the Church of Christ. Both he and his father have kindled +strife amongst us in this unhappy election contest, for which, as a +minister of God's Word, I have held aloof. For one or two Sundays +the Allens have absented themselves from Divine service in the +evening, and we know that there has been no sickness in the house. I +feel certain that before long they will withdraw their subscription. +I have good reason to believe that their friend, Mr. Coleman, +exercises a very baleful influence upon them. However, God's will be +done! These are the trials which His servants who minister to His +flock must expect. Good-bye, my dear Thomas. Mamma and Tryphosa +send their love. Give diligence to make your calling and election +sure.--Your affectionate father, + +"JOHN BROAD. + +"P.S.--It will be as well, perhaps, if you can ascertain whether the +Allens visit the Colemans, and more particularly if George goes +there. The Coleman household consists, I believe, of a father and +daughter. You will remember that Coleman has been a convict, and, I +have heard, has tendencies towards infidelity. Priscilla informs me +that Mr. Allen and George will be in London to-morrow; but she does +not know what they are going to do there. You will doubtless be able +to obtain the information I desire, and on future occasions I will +also advise you when either George or his father is in the +metropolis." + + +Mr. Thomas Broad had his own reasons for complying with his father's +request. He hated the Colemans and George with as much active +malignity as was possible to his heavy unctuous nature. Why he +should hate the Colemans is intelligible, and his hatred to George +can also be explained, partly through sympathy between father and +son, and partly because the hatred of a person like Thomas Broad to a +person like George Allen needs no explanation. + + + +CHAPTER XXV--"AND A MAN'S FOES SHALL BE THEY OF HIS OWN HOUSEHOLD" + + + +The county polling day meanwhile drew near, and with its approach +party spirit rose and the mutual exasperation of both sides +increased. George and his father were out every evening at the +Institute or canvassing, and George's first attempts at public +speaking were a success. At length the day dawned which was to +decide their fate. Cowfold was the polling station for a large +district, and both sides fully recognised its importance. The +Democratic colour was orange, and the Tory was purple. Everybody +wore rosettes, and bands of music went about the town, carrying flags +and banners, which had such an effect upon the Cowfold population, +more particularly upon that portion of it which knew nothing whatever +of the questions at issue, that the mere sound of the instruments or +sight of a bit of bunting tied to a pole was sufficient to enable +them to dare a broken head, or even death. Beer may have been partly +the cause of this peculiar mental condition, but not entirely, for +sober persons felt the contagion. We may laugh at it if we please, +and no doubt it is evidence of the weakness of human nature; but, +like much more evidence of the same order, it is double-voiced, and +testifies also to our strength. + +Priscilla was staying that night with her mother. Mr. Broad's house, +at the end of the town, was very quiet, and George did not care to +leave her alone with the servant. Those were the days when the state +of the poll was published every hour, and as Cowfold lay near the +centre of the county a very fair opinion could be formed of the +progress of the voting. By three o'clock it was known that up to +eleven parties were neck and neck, and the excitement grew more and +more intense. Every public-house in Cowfold was free, and soon after +dinner-time there was not a single person in the place who was ever +drunk before who had not found it necessary to get drunk then in +order to support the strain on his nerves. Four o'clock came, and +the polling-booth was shut; the numbers were made up, and the two +committees now anxiously awaited the news from the outlying +districts. The general impression seemed to be that the popular +candidate would win by about a dozen, and by eight o'clock a crowd +had assembled before the "Cross Keys" to give due welcome to the +desired announcement. Ten o'clock came, and the mob began to get +impatient and unruly. Then there was a stir and a roar, and the +whole assemblage rushed off to the "Angel," in the square. On the +balcony was a huge placard, with the purple hero at the top--1837-- +and below was the orange favourite, in small and ignominious figures- +-1831. Bushel stood at the open window waving his hat, apparently +half frantic. Just underneath him was a smaller crowd of the purple +faction, who were cheering and bawling with all their might as the +enemy came in sight. In an instant the conflict had begun. The +purple banners were the first objects of attack, and disappeared +every one of them, in less than five minutes, underfoot. Seen from +one of the upper storeys of the houses, the square looked like a +great pot full of boiling confusion. By degrees the wearers of +purple were driven hard against the "Angel" yard-gates, which opened +to receive them; some who were not successful in securing admittance +escaping, with bloody heads, down the side lane, and so out across +the fields. There was great difficulty in shutting the gates again; +but the "Angel" hostlers appeared on the scene with pitchforks and +other weapons, which caused an ebb of the tide for a moment. They +managed in the nick of time to swing the gates together, and the +heavy wooden bar was thrown across them. The orange party was now +triumphant, but very unhappy, because it was able to do no further +mischief. Suddenly Bushel was seen again at the window, and, as it +was afterwards averred, made some insulting gesture. A stone was the +prompt response, and in five minutes there was not a whole pane of +glass left in the front of the building. "Have old Bushel out! +Smoke 'em out!" was shouted, and a rush followed towards the door. +But the insurgents had no siege train for such a fortress, and the +sight of two or three fowling-pieces somewhat damped their courage. +They therefore turned off, wrecked the brewer's house, and forced the +"Angel" tap, which was separated from the main building. The spirit- +casks were broached, and men turned the gin and brandy taps into +their mouths without waiting for glasses. Many of them, especially +those who first entered, were at once overcome and dropped, lying +about in the room and in the gutter perfectly insensible. The +remainder, who could only drink what was left, became more and more +riotous, and a general sack of all purple property was imminent. Mr. +Allen was at the "Cross Keys," but George was at home, and as he +watched the scene he saw the mob take a kind of lurch and sway along +the street which led to Mr. Broad's. He thought he heard Mr. Broad's +name, and in an instant he had buttoned-up his coat, taken the +heaviest stick he could find, and was off. He had the greatest +difficulty in forcing his way, and he did not reach the front of the +crowd till it was opposite Mr. Broad's and the destruction of the +windows had begun. He leaped over the iron railing, and presented +himself at the gate with the orange rosette on his coat and the stick +in his right hand. He was just in time, for yells of "Psalm-singing +old hypocrite!" were already in the air, and the fence was being +stormed. George administered to the foremost ruffian a blow on the +shoulder which felled him on the path outside, and then, standing on +the low brick wall on which the railings rested, showed his rosette, +brandished his club, and made some kind of inarticulate +expostulation, which, happily for him and Mr. Broad, was received +with cheers. Whether taken by itself it would have been effectual or +not cannot be said, for just at that moment a more powerful auxiliary +appeared. When the "Angel" was abandoned the imprisoned garrison, +amongst whom were one or two county magistrates, held a brief +consultation. They organised their force and marched out, the well- +to-do folk in front and abreast, armed with bludgeons, the "Angel" +dependents--and about fifty more of the refugees coming in the rear, +every garden and stable weapon of offence being distributed amongst +them. They had the advantage, of course, of being sober. They +advanced at a run, and their tramp was heard just as George was +beginning to try the effect of his eloquence. Panic and scattering +flight at once followed, not, however, before some dozen or so of the +fugitives had recovered what little sense they ever had by virtue of +sundry hard knocks on their skulls, and a dozen more or so had been +captured. By twelve o'clock Cowfold was quiet and peaceable. + +Citizens were left to wonder how their town, lying usually so +sleepily still, like a farmyard on a summer Sunday afternoon, could +ever transform itself after this fashion. Men unknown and never +before seen seemed suddenly to spring out of the earth, and as +suddenly to disappear. Who were they? Respectable Cowfold, which +thought it knew everybody in the place, could not tell. There was no +sign of their existence on the next day. People gathered together +and looked at the mischief wrought the night before, and talked +everlastingly about it; but the doers of it vanished, rapt away +apparently into an invisible world. On Sunday next, at one o'clock, +Cowfold Square, save for a few windows not yet mended, looked just as +it always looked; that is to say, not a soul was visible in it, and +the pump was, as usual, chained. + +The band of rescuers had passed George as he stood in the garden, and +when they had gone he knocked at the door. It was a long time before +anybody came, but at last it was partly opened, just as far as the +chain would permit, and the Reverend John Broad, looking very white +and with a candle in his hand appeared. + +"It is I, George, Mr. Broad. Please tell me how Priscilla is, and-- +how you all are after your fright. I will not come in if you are all +well." + +"No, Mr. George, you will not come in. I little thought that a +member of Tanner's Lane Church, and my daughter's husband, would +associate himself with such disgraceful proceedings as those we have +witnessed this evening." + +"But, Mr. Broad, you are quite mistaken. I was not with the mob. I +came here as soon as I could to protect you." + +Mr. Broad, terrified and wrathful, had, however, disappeared, and +George heard the bolts drawn. He was beside himself with passion, +and knocked again and again, but there was no answer. He was +inclined to try and break open the door at first, or seek an entrance +through a window, but he thought of Priscilla, and desisted. + +He was turning homewards, when he reflected that it would be useless +to attempt to go to sleep, and he wandered out into the country +towards Piddingfold, pondering over many things. The reaction of +that night had been too severe. His ardour was again almost entirely +quenched when he saw the men for whom he had worked, and who +professed themselves his supporters, filthily drunk. A noble +sentence, however, from the Idler came into his mind--his mother had +a copy of the Idler in her bedroom, and read and re-read it, and +oftentimes quoted it to her husband and her son--"He that has +improved the virtue or advanced the happiness of one fellow-creature +. . may be contented with his own performance; and, with respect to +mortals like himself, may demand, like Augustus, to be dismissed at +his departure with applause." He reflected that he, an ironmonger's +son, was not born to save the world, and if the great Dr. Johnson +could say what he did, with how little ought not a humble Cowfold +tradesman to be satisfied! We all of us have too vast a conception +of the duty which Providence has imposed upon us; and one great +service which modern geology and astronomy have rendered is the +abatement of the fever by which earnest people are so often consumed. +But George's meditations all through that night were in the main +about his wife, and as soon as he reached his shop in the morning, +the first thing he did was to write a note to her telling her to come +home. This she did, although her mother and father objected, and +George found her there at dinner-time. She looked pale and careworn, +but this, of course, was set down to fright. She was unusually +quiet, and George forbore to say anything about her father's +behaviour. He dreaded rather to open the subject; he could not tell +to what it might lead. Priscilla knew all about George's repulse +from her father's door, and George could tell she knew it. + +His father and he had determined that Cowfold would not be a pleasant +place for them on the following Sunday, and that business, moreover, +demanded their presence in London. Thither, accordingly, they went +on the Saturday, as usual; and Priscilla naturally communicating +their intention to her mother, Mr. Thomas Broad received an epistle +from his father something like one we have already read, but still +more imperative in its orders that the dutiful son should see whether +the Allens made Zachariah's house their head-quarters. That they did +not sleep there was well-known, but it was believed they had constant +intercourse with that unregenerate person, a disciple of Voltaire, as +the Reverend John Broad firmly believed, and it would be +"advantageous to possess accumulated evidence of the fact." +Priscilla knew that they lodged always at the "George and Blue Boar"; +but how they spent their time on Sunday she did not know. There was +also a postscript, this time with a new import: + + +"It has been reported that Coleman's daughter is a young female not +without a certain degree of attractiveness. It may perhaps, my dear +Thomas, be some day of service to me and to the church if you were to +inform me whether you have observed any tendencies towards +familiarity between George and this person. I need not at the +present moment give you my reasons for this inquiry. It will be +sufficient to say that I have nothing more in view than the welfare +of the flock which Divine Providence has committed to my charge." + + +Mr. Thomas did his duty, and a letter was received by his father on +the following Tuesday, which was carefully locked up in the drawer in +which the sermons were preserved. + +The next day--that is to say, on Wednesday--George was at work, as +usual, when his little maid came to say that her mistress was very +bad, and would he go home directly? She had been unwell for some +days, but it was not thought that there was anything serious the +matter with her. George followed the girl at once, and found +Priscilla in bed with a violent headache and very feverish. The +doctor came, and pronounced it a case of "low fever," a disease well +enough known in Cowfold. Let us make the dismal story as brief as +possible. Nurse Barton, hearing of her "dear boy's" trouble, +presented herself uninvited that evening at ten o'clock, and insisted +that George should not sit up. She remained in the house, +notwithstanding Mrs. Broad's assurances that she really was not +wanted, and watched over Priscilla till the end came. + +About a week afterwards, just when Priscilla seemed to be getting a +little better--she had been delirious, but her senses had returned-- +and Mrs. Allen, who had been in the house all day, had departed, a +change for the worse took place, and the doctor was summoned. +George, sitting in the parlour alone, heard Nurse Barton come +downstairs. + +"My dear boy," she said as she entered, "God in His mercy strengthen +you in this trial as He has laid upon you, but I thought I'd just +come and tell you myself. The doctor wor a-comm', but I said 'No; my +boy shall hear it from me.' I don't think as your wife will get +better; she don't seem to pull herself up a bit. She a'nt got no +strength no more than a fly. You'd better see her, I think." + +"Who is there?" + +"Her mother and the doctor." + +"Can't you get rid of them?" + +"All right, my dear. I must stay with you both, but you won't mind +me--God bless you!" and the woman put her arms round George's neck +and kissed him tenderly. + +She returned, and presently she redeemed her promise, for she +actually got Mrs. Broad away. At first she was obstinate, but +Priscilla whispered that she wished to see her husband alone, and the +doctor took upon him to warn Mrs. Broad that resistance on her part +might be dangerous. She then retreated with him, and George found +himself by the bedside. His wife was so prostrate that she was +hardly able to make herself heard, but she lifted up her finger and +made a sign that he should bend his head down to her. He bent it +down, and her damp brown hair--the beautiful brown hair he had loved +so--lay on his forehead, and its scent was all about him once more. + +"George, my dear," she just breathed out, "I am a poor silly girl, +but I always loved you." + +He stopped her instantly with his kisses, but Death had stopped her +too. He recoiled for a moment, and with a sudden scream. "O God, +she's gone!" he fell into the arms of his nurse, who stood behind +him. + + + +CHAPTER XXVI--A PROFESSIONAL CONSULTATION + + + +Three months passed, during which the Allens' pew was vacant at +Tanner's Lane. George remained at home with his only child, or was +at his mother's, or, shocking to relate, was in the fields, but not +at chapel; nor were any of his family there. During the whole of +these three months one image was for ever before his eyes. What +self-accusations! Of what injustice had he not been guilty? Little +things, at the time unnoticed, turns of her head, smiles, the fall of +her hair--oh, that sweet sweet brown hair!--all came back to him, and +were as real before him as the garden wall. He thought of her lying +in her grave--she whom he had caressed--of what was going on down +there, under the turf, and he feared he should go mad. Where was +she? Gone, for ever gone--gone before he had been able to make her +understand how much he really loved her, and so send her to sleep in +peace. But was she not in heaven? Would he not see her again? He +did not know. Strange to say, but true, he, a member of Tanner's +Lane Church, who had never read a sceptical book in his life, was +obliged to confess, perhaps not consciously, but none the less +actually, he did not know. + +In those dark three months the gospel according to Tanner's Lane did +nothing for him, and he was cast forth to wrestle with his sufferings +alone. It is surely a terrible charge to bring against a religious +system, that in the conflict which has to be waged by every son of +Adam with disease, misfortune, death, the believers in it are +provided with neither armour nor weapons. Surely a real religion, +handed down from century to century, ought to have accumulated a +store of consolatory truths which will be of some help to us in time +of need. If it can tell us nothing, if we cannot face a single +disaster any the better for it, and if we never dream of turning to +it when we are in distress, of what value is it? There is one +religious teacher, however, which seldom fails those who are in +health, and, at last, did not fail him. He was helped by no priest +and by no philosophy; but Nature helped him, the beneficent Power +which heals the burn or scar and covers it with new skin. + +At the end of the three months the Reverend John Broad received a +brief note from Mr. Allen announcing that their pew at the chapel +could be considered vacant, and that the subscription would be +discontinued. Within a week Mr. Broad invited Brother Bushel, +Brother Wainwright the cart-builder and blacksmith, and Brother +Scotton the auctioneer, to a private meeting at his own house. In a +short speech Mr. Broad said that he had sought a preliminary +conference with them to lay before them the relationship in which the +Allens stood to the church in Tanner's Lane. They had formally +ceased to attend his ministrations, but of course, as yet, they +remained on the church books. It was a matter which he, as the +minister of the flock, felt could not any longer be overlooked. He +would say nothing of the part which the Allens had taken in the late +unhappy controversies which had distracted the town, excepting that +he considered they had displayed a heat and animosity inconsistent +with their professions and detrimental to the best interests of the +cause. + +"I agree with that, Mr. Broad," interrupted Mr. Bushel; "and I may +say that, as you know, if you had done nothing, _I_ SHOULD; for how +any member of the--gospel--could live in--and go on--peace harmony +with all men in the Church of Christ, I, at, least--that's my +opinion." Mr. Bushel was shortnecked, and shook his head always +while he was talking, apparently in order to disengage his meaning, +which consequently issued in broken fragments. + +Mr. Broad resumed--"I may, however, observe that George Allen was in +company with the intoxicated mob which devastated Cowfold; and +although he has asserted that he merely endeavoured to control its +excesses--and such appears to be the view taken by the civil +authorities who have prosecuted the perpetrators of the outrages--we, +as members, my dear brethren, of Christ's Body, have to be guided by +other considerations. While upon this subject of George Allen, I may +say, with as much delicacy as is permissible to a faithful minister +of God's holy Word, that I fear George has been--a--h'm--what shall I +say?--at least led astray by an unhappy intimacy with a female +residing in the metropolis who is an infidel. I have no doubt in my +own mind that the knowledge of this fact accelerated the departure of +my dear daughter, whose sorrow was of a twofold character--sorrow, in +the first place, with regard to her husband's unfaithfulness, causing +her thereby much personal affliction, which, however, endureth but +for a moment, for she now inherits a far more exceeding weight of +glory"--Mr. Broad's week-day and extempore quotations from the Bible +were always rather muddled--"and, in the second place, sorrow for her +husband's soul. I think we have distinct evidence of this intimacy, +which I shall be able to produce at the proper moment. We have all +observed, too, that whilst the Allens have not latterly attended +Divine Service at Tanner's Lane, they have not seceded to another +place of worship. Finally, and by way of conclusion, let me remark +that I have wrestled long with the Lord to know what was my duty +towards these apostates and towards the Church of Christ. I +considered at first I ought to remonstrate privately with Mr. Allen; +but, alas! he has shown a recalcitrant disposition whenever I have +attempted to approach him. I have consulted Brother Bushel on the +subject; indeed, I may say that Brother Bushel had previously +intimated to me the necessity of taking some steps in the matter, and +had assured me that he could not any longer occupy the prominent +position which he now occupies in the church--so much, I may say, to +our own edification and advantage--if something were not done. We +think, therefore, that the church should be privately convoked for +deliberation. Brother Wainwright, what counsel have you to give?" + +Brother Wainwright always had a heavy account with Brother Bushel. +He was a little man, with a little round head covered with straggling +hair, which came over his forehead. He sat with his hat between his +knees, looked into it, scratched his head, and said with a jerk, "Oi +agree with Brother Bushel." + +"Brother Scotton, what do you say?" + +Brother Scotton was a Cowfold man, tall and thin, superintendent of +the Sunday-school, and to a considerable extent independent of +village custom. He was not only an auctioneer, but a land surveyor; +he also valued furniture, and when there were any houses to be let, +drew up agreements, made inventories, and had even been known to +prepare leases. There was always, therefore, a legal flavour about +him, and he prided himself on his distant professional relationship +to full-blown attorneyhood. It was tacitly understood in Cowfold +that his opinion in certain cases was at least equal to that of +Mortimer, Wake, Collins & Mortimer who acted as solicitors for half +the county. Mr. Scotton, too, represented Cowfold urban intelligence +as against agricultural rusticity; and another point in his favour +was, that he had an office--no shop--with a wire blind in the window +with the words, "Scotton, Land Agent, Auctioneer, and Appraiser," +painted on it. On Mr. Broad's present appeal for his verdict put +himself in a meditative attitude, stretched out his legs to their +full length, threw his head back, took his lower lip in his left +hand, pulled up his legs again, bent forward, put his hands on his +knees, and looked sideways at Mr. Broad. + +"I suppose that Mr. Allen and his son will have the charges +communicated to them, Mr. Broad, and be summoned to attend the +meeting?" + +"What do you say, Brother Bushel?" + +"Don't see no use in it. All very well them lawyers"--a snap at +Scotton--"come and argyfy--I hate argyfying, I do myself--never seed +no good on it. Get rid of a man--I do. 'Sickly sheep infects the +flock and pisons all the rest.'" These last words formed part of a +hymn of which Brother Bushel was fond. + +"What do you say, Brother Wainwright?" + +Brother Wainwright, although he could do nothing but agree with +Brother Bushel, and never did anything but agree with him, preferred +to make a show of reflection. He again looked in his hat, shut his +mouth fast; again scratched his head; again shook it a little, and +with another jerk, as if announcing a conclusion at which he had +arrived with great certainty, but after a severe mental effort, he +said: + +"Oi go with Brother Bushel, Oi do." + +"Well," said Scotton, extending his legs again and gazing at the +ceiling, "I must nevertheless be permitted to adhere--" + +"Adhere," interrupted Bushel. "What's the use of talking like that? +You always adhere--what for, I should like to know?" + +Scotton went on with dignity, not noticing the attack. + +"Adhere, I was about to say, Mr. Broad, to my previously expressed +opinion. I am not at all sure that the Allens have not a legal +status, and that an action would not lie if we proceeded without due +formalities. Tanner's Lane, you must recollect, is in a peculiar +position, and there is an endowment." + +Mr. Scotton had this advantage over Cowfold generally, that if he +knew nothing about the law himself, excepting so far as bids at a +sale were concerned, Cowfold knew less, and the mention of the +endowment somewhat disturbed Mr. Broad's mind. + +"Brother Bushel is no doubt quite justified in his anxiety to avoid +discussion, which will in all probability lead to no useful result; +but, on the other hand, it will be as well, perhaps, to proceed with +caution." + +"Well," ejaculated Bushel, "do as yer like; you'll see you'll get in +an argyfication and a mess, you take my word on it." + +"Suppose," said Mr. Broad, his face shining as he spoke, "we hit upon +a third course, the via media, you know, Brother Scotton"--Brother +Scotton nodded approvingly, as much as to say, "_I_ know; but how +about Bushel?"--"the via media, and have a friendly meeting of the +most influential members of the church--a majority--and determine +upon a course of action, which we can afterwards ratify at the formal +meeting, at which the Allens will be present. We shall in this way, +it seems to me, prevent much debate, and practically arrive at a +conclusion beforehand." + +"Yes," said Scotton--very slowly. "I don't see, at the present +moment, any particular objection; but I should not like to commit +myself." + +"How does it strike you, Brother Bushel?" + +"Arter that, I suppose Scotton ull want some sort of a dockyment +sent. I'm agin all deckyments. Why, what'll Allen do? Take it over +to Collins--Mortimer--stamp it, ten-and-sixpenny stamp. What will +yer do then?" + +"No, Brother Bushel; I apprehend that it will be my duty as pastor to +write to the Allens a simple letter--a simple pastoral letter-- +announcing that a church meeting will be convened at a certain hour +in the vestry, to consider some statements--charges--naming them--not +going into unnecessary detail, and requesting their attendance." + +"That's better; that wouldn't be a dockyment, I s'pose; and yet praps +he might stamp that. Resolution arterwards. Time they were out of +it. Come on, Wainwright, gettin' dark." + +"Well then, we agree," said Mr. Broad--"happily agree; and I trust +that the Lord will yet prosper His Zion, and heal the breaches +thereof. Will any of you take any refreshments before you go? Will +you, Brother Bushel?" + +Brother Bushel did not believe in Mr. Broad's refreshments, save +those which were spiritual, and declined them with some abruptness, +preferring much a glass of hot brown brandy and water at the inn +where his horse was. Brother Wainwright would have taken anything, +but was bound to follow Brother Bushel, who was about to give him a +lift homewards; and Brother Scotton was a teetotaller, one of the +first who was converted to total abstinence in Cowfold, and just a +trifle suspected at Tanner's Lane, and by Bushel in particular, on +that account. Water-drinking was not a heresy to which any definite +objection could be raised; but Tanner's Lane always felt that if once +a man differed so far from his fellows as not to drink beer and +spirits, there was no knowing where the division might end. "It was +the thin end of the wedge," Mr. Broad observed confidentially to +Bushel once when the subject was mentioned. + +The preliminary meeting, therefore, was held, and Mr. Broad having +communicated the charges against the Allens--absenting themselves +from public worship, disturbance of the peace of the church, +intercourse with infidel associates, and finally so far as George was +concerned, "questionable behaviour," as Mr. Broad delicately put it, +"with an infidel female"--it was determined to call them to account. +There was some difference of opinion, however. It was thought by +some that all reference to the election, direct or indirect, should +be avoided, for the majority in Tanner's Lane was certainly not Tory. +But Brother Bushel seemed to consider this the head and front of the +offence, and declared that if this were not part of the indictment he +would resign. He also was opposed to giving the Allens any +information beforehand, and, if he had been allowed to have his own +way, would not have permitted them to attend. He would have them +"cut off," he said, "there and then, summararlilly." He got into +great difficulties with this last word, and before he could get rid +of it had to shake his head several times. Others thought it would +be dangerous to act in this style; and there seemed no chance of any +agreement, until Mr. Broad once more "healed the incipient division" +by proposing another via media, which was carried. It was determined +that there should be only an allusion to the political charge. It +was to be subsidiary. In fact, it was not to be a political charge +at all, but a moral charge, although, as Mr. Broad privately +explained to Brother Bushel, it would come to the same thing in the +end. Then Mr. Broad, as he had suggested at an earlier stage, was +himself to write a letter to the Allens, stating in "general terms" +the dissatisfaction felt by the church and its minister with them, +and requesting their appearance in the vestry on the day named. +Brother Scotton was still malcontent, but as he was in a minority he +held his peace. He resolved, however, on his own account, to +acquaint the Allens with what had happened, and prepare them. They +were no particular friends of his, but Bushel also was no particular +friend, and his auctioneering trade had at least educated him, in the +disputes amongst buyers, to hold the scales of justice a little more +evenly than they were held by Bushel's hands. + +Neither George nor his father were much disturbed by any of the items +in Scotton's information nor by Mr. Broad's letter, save the +reference to Pauline. It is true it was very remote, but the +meaning, especially after Scotton's explanation, was obvious, and +George was in a fury which his father found it very difficult to +repress. For himself George did not care, but he did care that +Pauline's name should not be dragged into the wretched squabble. +Father and son both agreed that the case should be laid before +Zachariah; but when Mr. Allen came back from London he merely said, +in answer to George's inquiries, that Zachariah and himself were in +perfect accord, and that at the meeting George was not to interfere. + + + +CHAPTER XXVII--MR. BROAD'S LAST CHURCH MEETING--LATIMER CHAPEL + + + +The eventful evening at last arrived. It had been announced from the +pulpit on the Sunday before that a special meeting of the church +would be held on the following Wednesday to consider certain +questions of discipline--nothing more--as it was not thought proper +before the general congregation to introduce matters with which the +church alone was qualified to deal. Everybody, however, knew what +was intended, and when Wednesday night came the vestry was crowded. +Mr. Broad sat in a seat slightly elevated at the end of the room, +with a desk before him. On his right hand was Brother Bushel, on the +left was Brother Scotton, and on the front bench were Brother +Wainwright and a few of the more important members, amongst whom was +Thomas Broad, who, although it was a week-day, was in full +ministerial costume; that is to say, he wore his black--not pepper- +and-salt--trousers and a white neckerchief. Mr. Allen and George +were at the back of the room. There were no women there, for +although women were members as well as men, it was always an +understood thing at Tanner's Lane that they were to take no part in +the business of the community. Seven o'clock having struck, Mr. +Broad rose and said, "Let us pray." He prayed for about ten minutes, +and besought the Almighty to shed abroad His Holy Spirit upon them +for their guidance. As the chosen people had been brought through +the wilderness and delivered from the manifold perils therein, so +God, he hoped, would lead His flock then assembled, through the +dangers which encompassed them. Oh that they might be wise as +serpents and harmless as doves! Might they for ever cleave to the +faith once delivered to the saints! Might they never be led astray +to doubt the efficacy of the Blood of the Atonement once offered by +the Son of God! Might they, through their Saviour's merits, secure +at last an entrance into those mansions where all the saints of God, +those faithful souls whom He had elected as His own, of His own +eternal foreknowledge, would abide for ever, in full fruition of the +joys promised in His Word. + +The prayer over, Mr. Broad rose and said that he was there that night +to discharge a most painful duty--one which, if he had taken counsel +with flesh and blood, he would most gladly have avoided. But he was +a humble servant of their common Lord and Master. It behoved him to +cease not to warn every one night and day; to remember that the Holy +Ghost had made him an overseer to feed the church of God which He had +purchased with His precious blood. He had done nothing in this +matter without constant recurrence to the footstool of grace, and he +had also consulted with some of his dear brethren in Christ whom he +saw near him. They would have observed that Brother Allen and his +family had for some time absented themselves from the means of grace. +He should have said nothing upon this point if they had joined any +other Christian community. If even they had attended the Established +Church, he would have been silent, for he was free to confess that in +other religious bodies besides their own God had faithful servants +who held fast to the fundamental doctrines of His book. But it was +notorious, alas! that his dear brother had gone NOWHERE! In the face +of the apostolic command not to forsake the assembling of themselves +together, what could they do but suspect that his dear brother's +belief had been undermined--sapped, he would say? But to that point +he would return presently. Then, again, they were all familiar with +the circumstances attending the late political contest in the county. +He knew that many of his dear brethren differed one from another +concerning matters relating to this world, although they were all, +blessed be God, one in Christ, members of His body. He himself had +thought it better to follow as far as he could, the example of his +Lord and Master to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, +and to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. +He would not for a moment, however, condemn any who differed from him +in carnal policy. But his dear Brother Allen and his son had +overstepped the line; and, considering this was a mixed church, he +was of opinion that they should have acted--what should he say?--with +more Christian consideration. More than this, Mr. George Allen was +known to have abetted an unruly mob, a position highly unbecoming, he +might say, to one occupying the position of member at Tanner's Lane. +But he might, perhaps, be permitted to dwell for a moment on another +point. His dear Brother Allen and his son had--there was no doubt of +it--consorted with infidels, one of whom had been convicted by the +laws of his country--a convict--and it was through their +instrumentality that his brethren had been led to wander from the +fold. This was the secret of the calamity which had overtaken the +church. Wolves, he would say--yes, wolves, grievous wolves--had +entered in, not sparing the flock. Let them consider what an Infidel +was! It meant a man who denied his Maker, Revelation, a life beyond +the grave, and who made awful jests upon the Holy Scriptures! He had +evidence that in this miserable household there was a portrait of +that dreadful blasphemer Voltaire, who on his deathbed cried out in +vain for that salvation which he had so impiously refused, and amidst +shrieks of--despair, which chilled with terror those who stood by +him, was carried off by the Enemy of Souls to the lake that burneth +with brimstone, where their worm dieth not and the fire is not +quenched.--(Sensation.) (This was a famous paragraph in one of Mr. +Broad's sermons preached on great occasions, and particularly when he +supplied a metropolitan pulpit. The story had been contradicted +twice in the county paper by a Frenchman, a retired teacher of his +native language, who had somehow heard of the insult offered to his +great countryman, and a copy of the contradiction had been sent to +Mr. Broad. He was content with observing that its author was a +Frenchman, and therefore probably an atheist, "with no consciousness +of moral obligation." Voltaire's diabolic disappearance continued, +therefore, to be one of Mr. Broad's most striking effects.)--This was +a subject of great delicacy. They knew how closely related he was to +Brother Allen through that dear saint now in glory. He did not--he +could not--(Mr. Broad seemed to be affected)--allude in any detail to +what had happened; but still it was his duty to point out that Mr. +George Allen had been in constant intercourse with a female in an +infidel family--yes, before his wife's death he had been seen with +her ALONE! ALONE with an infidel female! He only hoped that the +knowledge of this fact did not accelerate the departure of his +blessed daughter--daughter in the flesh and daughter in Christ. He +could not measure the extent of that intercourse; the Searcher of +hearts alone could do that, save the parties concerned; but, of +course, as she was an unbeliever, they must fear the worst. For +himself, he had felt that this was the root of everything. They +would judge for themselves how fervently he must have appealed to the +Mercy-seat, considering his position and relationship with his dear +brother, before he had seen his way to take the present course; but +at last God had revealed Himself to him, and he now committed the +case to them. Might God have mercy on them, and His Spirit lead +them. + +Mr. Allen and George had scarcely restrained themselves, and George, +notwithstanding his father's injunction, leapt up before the +concluding sentences were out of Mr. Broad's mouth. Mr. Scotton, +however, rose, and Mr. Allen pulled George down. Mr. Scotton wished +to say just one word. They could not, he was sure, overestimate the +gravity of the situation. They were called together upon a most +solemn occasion. Their worthy pastor had spoken as a minister of the +gospel. He, Mr. Scotton, as a layman, wished just to remind them +that they were exercising judicial functions--(Brother Bushel +fidgeted and got very red)--and that it was necessary they should +proceed in proper order. With regard to two of the charges, the +evidence was fully before them; that is to say, absence from public +worship and what might perhaps be thought want of consideration for +the peace of the church.--("Praps," grunted Bushel--"praps indeed.")- +-But with regard to the third charge, the evidence was NOT before +them, and as this was the most important of the three he would +suggest before going any farther that they should hear what Mr. Broad +could produce. + +Brother Bushel objected. It was very seldom indeed that he offered +any remarks in public; but this time he could not refrain, and +introduced himself as follows: + +"Brother Scotton says 'praps.' I don't say 'praps,' when people go +settin' class agin class. Praps nobody's windows was broke! +Evidence! Hasn't our minister told us George Allen has been to +London? He wouldn't tell us an untruth. Due respec', Brother +Scotton--no lawyering--none of that--of them functions--'specially +when it's infidels and ricks may be afire--aught I know." + +Mr. Broad interposed. He quite understood Brother Bushel's ardour +for the truth, but he was prepared to produce some simple +corroboration of what he had affirmed, which would, he thought, +satisfy Brother Scotton and the brethren generally. "Thomas," quoth +Mr. Broad, "will you please step forward and say what you know?" + +Mr. Thomas thereupon advanced to the table, and said it would ill +become him to expatiate on the present occasion. He would confine +himself to obeying the mandate of his father. He then reported that +he had been led to visit the Colemans at first as friends of the +Allens, and not knowing their devilish tendencies. God had, however, +he hoped, mercifully protected him. If it had not been for God's +grace, where might he not have been that day? It was true that they +were disciples of the French sceptic; his likeness was on the walls; +his books were on the bookshelves! Mr. George Allen had been in the +habit of associating not only with Mr. Coleman, but with the +daughter, and with the daughter ALONE! as has already been stated. +She was also an infidel--more so, perhaps, than her father; and Satan +had a way, as they all knew, of instilling the deadly poison so +seductively that unwary souls were often lost, lost, lost beyond +recall, before they could truly be said to be aware of it. He +wished, therefore, that evening to confess again, as, indeed, he had +just confessed before, that by grace he had been saved. It is not of +him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth +mercy. He trembled to think how near he himself had been to the pit +of destruction, lured by the devices of the great Enemy of Souls; but +praise be to God he had been saved, not through own merits, but +through the merits of his Redeemer. + +Mr. Broad purred with pleasure during this oration, and looked round +on the audience for their approval. Mr. Allen was now completely +quieted. The speech had acted like a charm. He rose immediately. + +"Mr. Broad," he said deliberately, but with much emphasis--you might +have heard a pin drop--"the value of the testimony just given depends +upon character of the witness. May I ask him to explain HOW HE CAME +BY THAT SCAR ON THE BACK OF HIS HAND?" + +Mr. Allen remained standing. There was no sign of an answer. He sat +down for a moment but still there was no movement. He rose again. + +"Mr. Broad, as there is no reply, will you permit me to give the +explanation?" + +Mr. Thomas Broad then slowly erected himself near the table at which +his father was sitting. He held on by it hard, and gulped down half +a glass of water which was there. His tallowy face looked more +tallowy than ever, and his voice shook most unpleasantly as he was +just heard to say that he did not know with what object the question +was put--that it--that it--seemed--seemed irrel--irrelev--and these +were the last syllables ever heard from the lips of Mr. Thomas in +Tanner's Lane, for he dropped into his seat and apparently fainted. +There was great confusion while his recovery was attempted. He was +conveyed into the chapel, more water was given him, smelling-salts +applied, and in due time he regained his senses; but his father, on +his return to the vestry, announced that after what had happened the +meeting had perhaps better be adjourned. He felt it impossible to go +any further just then. Tanner's Lane Church, therefore, departed, +much musing, and was never again summoned on that business. Mr. +Allen had some thoughts of demanding another meeting and a formal +acquittal, but the pastor was suddenly struck with paralysis, and +although he lingered for nearly two years, he preached no more. So +it came to pass that George and his father are on the church books +till this day. There was, of course, endless gossip as to the +meaning of Mr. Allen's appeal. Whether George ever knew what it was +is more than I can say, but it is certain that Cowfold never knew. +Mr. Allen always resolutely repelled all questions, saying that it +would be time enough to go further when he was next attacked. The +Broads, mother and daughter, asserted that no doubt Thomas had a mark +upon the back of his hand, but that it had been caused by a nail in a +fence, and that he had fainted through indisposition. This theory, +however, was obviously ridiculous, for Mr. Allen's reference had no +meaning if Thomas had met with a simple accident. Mrs. Broad saw +that her son's explanation, greatly as she trusted him, was weak, and +at last Thomas, with Christian compunction, admitted that the fence +was the palings of the College garden, over which he had once +clambered when he was too late for admittance at the College gates. +This was true. Mr. Thomas on the very evening of his interview with +Pauline, had obtained admission over the palings, had been detected, +and there had been an inquiry by the authorities; but the scar, as we +know, had another origin. Mrs. Broad was compelled to circulate this +story, and accompanied it with many apologies and much regret. It +was the sorrow of her life, she said; but, at the same time, she must +add that her son was delayed by no fault of his. The President had +investigated the matter, and had contended himself with a reprimand. +Her friends would understand that Thomas would prefer, under the +circumstances, not to visit Cowfold again, and considering her dear +husband's sickness, she could not advise that prosecution of the +Allens should be pressed. + +Cowfold, however, was not satisfied. Mr. Allen would not, as a man +of the world, have thought so much of such an indiscretion. Why was +Mr. Thomas late? Cowfold could not endure simple suspense of +judgment. Any theory, however wild, is more tolerable than a +confession that the facts are not sufficient for a decision, and the +common opinion, corroborated, it was declared, by surest testimony, +was that Mr. Thomas had been to the theatre. There was not a tittle +of evidence to support this story, but everybody was certain it was +true. Everybody repeated it, and constant repetition will harden the +loosest hearsay into a creed far more unshakable than faith in the +law of gravity. + +Just before Mr. Broad's last illness, the secession of the Allens was +imitated by about twenty of the younger members of the congregation, +who met together on Sunday, under Mr. Allen's guidance, and +worshipped by themselves, each of them in turn making some attempt at +an exposition of the Bible and a short address. By the time Mr. +Broad died Tanner's Lane had sunk very low; but when his successor +was chosen the seceders exercised their rights, and were strong +enough to elect a student fresh from college, who had taken an M.A. +degree at the University of London. He preached his first sermon +from the text, "I am crucified with Christ," and told his hearers, +with fluent self-confidence, that salvation meant perfect sympathy +with Christ--"Not I, but Christ liveth in me;" that the office of +Christ was not to reconcile God to man, but man to God; and this is +effected in proportion as Christ dwells in us, bringing us more and +more into harmony with the Divine. The Atonement is indeed the +central doctrine, the pivot of Christianity, but it is an atONEment, +a making of one mind. To which Tanner's Lane listened with much +wonderment and not without uncomfortable mental disturbance, the +elder members complaining particularly that this was not the simple +gospel, and that the trumpet gave an uncertain sound. But opposition +gradually died out; the meeting-house was rebuilt, and called Latimer +Chapel. The afternoon service was dropped and turned into a service +for the Sunday-school children; an organ was bought and a choir +trained; the minister gave week-day lectures on secular subjects, and +became a trustee of the Cowfold charity schools, recently enlarged +under a new scheme. He brought home a wife one day who could read +German; joined the County Archaeological Society, and wrote a paper +on the discoveries made when the railway station was built on what +was supposed to be an ancient British encampment. For Cowfold was to +become an important junction on the new line to the north, and Mr. +Bushel's death had been accelerated by vexation through seeing a +survey carried across his own fields. + +As for Mrs. Broad and Tryphosa, they left Cowfold and went into +Lancashire, to be near uncle Flavel. George, notwithstanding the new +doctrine in Latimer Chapel and the improvement in the Cowfold +atmosphere, was restless, and before the revolution just described +was completed, had been entirely overcome with a desire to emigrate +with his child. His father and mother not only did not oppose, but +decided to accompany. Mr. Allen had saved money, and though he and +his wife were getting on in years, there was nothing in either of +them of that subsidence into indifferent sloth which is the great +mistake of advancing age. Both were keen in their desire to know the +last new thing, eager to recognise the last new truth, forgetful of +the past, dwelling in the present, and, consequently, they remained +young. They were younger, at any rate, just now than George; and it +was his, not exactly melancholy, but lack of zest for life, which +mainly induced them so readily to assent to his plans. One bright +June morning, therefore, saw them, with their children, on the deck +of the Liverpool vessel which was to take them to America. Oh day of +days, when after years of limitation, monotony, and embarrassment, we +see it all behind us, and face a new future with an illimitable +prospect! George once more felt his bosom's lord sit lightly on his +throne; once more felt that the sunlight and blue sky were able to +cheer him. So they went away to the West, and we take leave of them. + +What became of Zachariah and Pauline? At present I do not know. + + + +Footnotes: + +{132} "O ze (ye) my feris (companions) and deir freyndis, quod he, +Of bywent perillis not ignorant ben we, +Ze have sustenit gretir dangeris unkend, +Like as hereof God sall make sone ane end: +The rage of Silla, that huge sweste (whirlpool) in the se +Ze have eschapit and passit eik (each) have ze: +The euer (pot) routand (roaring) Caribdis rokkis fell +The craggis quhare monstruous Cyclopes dwell: +Ze are expert: pluk up zour harts, I zou pray, +This dolorous drede expell and do away. +Sum tyme thereon to think may help perchance." +--Gawin Douglas. + +"Endure and conquer! Jove will soon dispose, +To future good, our past and present woes. +With me, the rocks of Scylla you have tried; +Th' inhuman Cyclops, and his den defied. +What greater ills hereafter can you bear! +Resume your courage, and dismiss your care. +An hour will come, with pleasure to relate +Your sorrows past, as benefits of fate." +- Dryden. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE REVOLUTION IN TANNER'S LANE *** + +This file should be named rvtn10.txt or rvtn10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, rvtn11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, rvtn10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +http://gutenberg.net or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext04 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext04 + +Or /etext03, 02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + |