diff options
Diffstat (limited to '78168-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 78168-0.txt | 2423 |
1 files changed, 2423 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/78168-0.txt b/78168-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..323fbc0 --- /dev/null +++ b/78168-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2423 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78168 *** + + + “_Familiar in their Mouths as HOUSEHOLD WORDS._”—SHAKESPEARE. + + + + + HOUSEHOLD WORDS. + A WEEKLY JOURNAL + + + CONDUCTED BY CHARLES DICKENS. + + + N^{o.} 5.] SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 1850. [PRICE 2_d._ + + + + + PET PRISONERS + + +The system of separate confinement first experimented on in England at +the model prison, Pentonville, London, and now spreading through the +country, appears to us to require a little calm consideration and +reflection on the part of the public. We purpose, in this paper, to +suggest what we consider some grave objections to this System. + +We shall do this temperately, and without considering it necessary to +regard every one from whom we differ, as a scoundrel, actuated by base +motives, to whom the most unprincipled conduct may be recklessly +attributed. Our faith in most questions where the good men are +represented to be all _pro_, and the bad men to be all _con_, is very +small. There is a hot class of riders of hobby-horses in the field, in +this century, who think they do nothing unless they make a steeple-chase +of their object; throw a vast quantity of mud about, and spurn every +sort of decent restraint and reasonable consideration under their +horses’ heels. This question has not escaped such championship. It has +its steeple-chase riders, who hold the dangerous principle that the end +justifies any means, and to whom no means, truth and fair-dealing +usually excepted, come amiss. + +Considering the separate system of imprisonment, here, solely in +reference to England, we discard, for the purpose of this discussion, +the objection founded on its extreme severity, which would immediately +arise if we were considering it with any reference to the State of +Pennsylvania in America. For whereas in that State it may be inflicted +for a dozen years, the idea is quite abandoned at home of extending it +usually, beyond a dozen months, or in any case beyond eighteen months. +Besides which, the school and the chapel afford periods of comparative +relief here, which are not afforded in America. + +Though it has been represented by the steeple-chase riders as a most +enormous heresy to contemplate the possibility of any prisoner going mad +or idiotic, under the prolonged effects of separate confinement; and +although any one who should have the temerity to maintain such a doubt +in Pennsylvania, would have a chance of becoming a profane St. Stephen; +Lord Grey, in his very last speech in the House of Lords on this +subject, made in the present session of Parliament, in praise of this +separate system, said of it: ‘Wherever it has been fairly tried, one of +its great defects has been discovered to be this,—that it cannot be +continued for a sufficient length of time without danger to the +individual, and that human nature cannot bear it beyond a limited +period. The evidence of medical authorities proves beyond dispute that, +if it is protracted beyond twelve months, the health of the convict, +mental and physical, would require the most close and vigilant +superintendence. Eighteen months is stated to be the _maximum_ time for +the continuance of its infliction, and, as a general rule, it is advised +that it never be continued for more than twelve months.’ This being +conceded, and it being clear that the prisoner’s mind, and all the +apprehensions weighing upon it, must be influenced from the first hour +of his imprisonment by the greater or less extent of its duration in +perspective before him, we are content to regard the system as +dissociated in England from the American objection of too great +severity. + +We shall consider it, first in the relation of the extraordinary +contrast it presents, in a country circumstanced as England is, between +the physical condition of the convict in prison, and that of the +hard-working man outside, or the pauper outside. We shall then enquire, +and endeavour to lay before our readers some means of judging, whether +its proved or probable efficiency in producing a real, trustworthy, +practically repentant state of mind, is such as to justify the +presentation of that extraordinary contrast. If, in the end, we indicate +the conclusion that the associated silent system is less objectionable, +it is not because we consider it in the abstract a good secondary +punishment, but because it is a severe one, capable of judicious +administration, much less expensive, not presenting the objectionable +contrast so strongly, and not calculated to pet and pamper the mind of +the prisoner and swell his sense of his own importance. We are not +acquainted with any system of secondary punishment that we think +reformatory, except the mark system of Captain Macconnochie, formerly +governor of Norfolk Island, which proceeds upon the principle of +obliging the convict to some exercise of self-denial and resolution in +every act of his prison life, and which would condemn him to a sentence +of so much labour and good conduct instead of so much time. There are +details in Captain Macconnochie’s scheme on which we have our doubts +(rigid silence we consider indispensable); but, in the main, we regard +it as embodying sound and wise principles. We infer from the writings of +Archbishop Whateley, that those principles have presented themselves to +his profound and acute mind in a similar light. + +We will first contrast the dietary of The Model Prison at Pentonville, +with the dietary of what we take to be the nearest workhouse, namely, +that of Saint Pancras. In the prison, every man receives twenty-eight +ounces of meat weekly. In the workhouse, every able-bodied adult +receives eighteen. In the prison, every man receives one hundred and +forty ounces of bread weekly. In the workhouse, every able-bodied adult +receives ninety-six. In the prison, every man receives one hundred and +twelve ounces of potatoes weekly. In the workhouse, every able-bodied +adult receives thirty-six. In the prison, every man receives five pints +and a quarter of liquid cocoa weekly, (made of flaked cocoa or +cocoa-nibs), with fourteen ounces of milk and forty-two drams of +molasses; also seven pints of gruel weekly, sweetened with forty-two +drams of molasses. In the workhouse, every able-bodied adult receives +fourteen pints and a half of milk-porridge weekly, and no cocoa, and no +gruel. In the prison, every man receives three pints and a half of soup +weekly. In the workhouse, every able-bodied adult male receives four +pints and a half, and a pint of Irish stew. This, with seven pints of +table-beer weekly, and six ounces of cheese, is all the man in the +workhouse has to set off against the immensely superior advantages of +the prisoner in all the other respects we have stated. His lodging is +very inferior to the prisoner’s, the costly nature of whose +accommodation we shall presently show. + +Let us reflect upon this contrast in another aspect. We beg the reader +to glance once more at The Model Prison dietary, and consider its +frightful disproportion to the dietary of the free labourer in any of +the rural parts of England. What shall we take his wages at? Will twelve +shillings a week do? It cannot be called a low average, at all events. +Twelve shillings a week make thirty-one pounds four a year. The cost, in +1848, for the victualling and management of every prisoner in the Model +Prison was within a little of thirty-six pounds. Consequently, that free +labourer, with young children to support, with cottage-rent to pay, and +clothes to buy, and no advantage of purchasing his food in large amounts +by contract, has, for the whole subsistence of himself and family, +between four and five pounds a year _less_ than the cost of feeding and +overlooking one man in the Model Prison. Surely to his enlightened mind, +and sometimes low morality, this must be an extraordinary good reason +for keeping out of it! + +But we will not confine ourselves to the contrast between the labourer’s +scanty fare and the prisoner’s ‘flaked cocoa or cocoa-nibs,’ and daily +dinner of soup, meat, and potatoes. We will rise a little higher in the +scale. Let us see what advertisers in the _Times_ newspaper can board +the middle classes at, and get a profit out of, too. + + +A LADY, residing in a cottage, with a large garden, in a pleasant and +healthful locality, would be happy to receive one or two LADIES to BOARD +with her. Two ladies occupying the same apartment may be accommodated +for 12s. a week each. The cottage is within a quarter of an hour’s walk +of a good market town, 10 minutes’ of a South-Western Railway Station, +and an hour’s distance from town. + + +These two ladies could not be so cheaply boarded in the Model Prison. + + +BOARD and RESIDENCE, at £70 per annum, for a married couple, or in +proportion for a single gentleman or lady, with a respectable family. +Rooms large and airy, in an eligible dwelling, at Islington, about 20 +minutes’ walk from the Bank. Dinner hour six o’clock. There are one or +two vacancies to complete a small, cheerful, and agreeable circle. + + +Still cheaper than the Model Prison! + + +BOARD and RESIDENCE.—A lady, keeping a select school, in a town, about +30 miles from London, would be happy to meet with a LADY to BOARD and +RESIDE with her. She would have her own bed-room and a sitting-room. Any +lady wishing for accomplishments would find this desirable. Terms £30 +per annum. References will be expected and given. + + +Again, some six pounds a year less than the Model Prison! And if we were +to pursue the contrast through the newspaper file for a month, or +through the advertising pages of two or three numbers of Bradshaw’s +Railway Guide, we might probably fill the present number of this +publication with similar examples, many of them including a decent +education into the bargain. + +This Model Prison had cost at the close of 1847, under the heads of +‘building’ and ‘repairs’ alone, the insignificant sum of ninety-three +thousand pounds—within seven thousand pounds of the amount of the last +Government grant for the Education of the whole people, and enough to +pay for the emigration to Australia of four thousand, six hundred and +fifty poor persons at twenty pounds per head. Upon the work done by five +hundred prisoners in the Model Prison, in the year 1848, (we collate +these figures from the Reports, and from Mr. Hepworth Dixon’s useful +work on the London Prisons,) there was no profit, but an actual loss of +upwards of eight hundred pounds. The cost of instruction, and the time +occupied in instruction, when the labour is necessarily unskilled and +unproductive, may be pleaded in explanation of this astonishing fact. We +are ready to allow all due weight to such considerations, but we put it +to our readers whether the whole system is right or wrong; whether the +money ought or ought not rather to be spent in instructing the unskilled +and neglected outside the prison walls. It will be urged that it is +expended in preparing the convict for the exile to which he is doomed. +We submit to our readers, who are the jury in this case, that all this +should be done outside the prison, first; that the first persons to be +prepared for emigration are the miserable children who are consigned to +the tender mercies of a DROUET, or who disgrace our streets; and that in +this beginning at the wrong end, a spectacle of monstrous inconsistency +is presented, shocking to the mind. Where is our Model House of Youthful +Industry, where is our Model Ragged School, costing for building and +repairs, from ninety to a hundred thousand pounds, and for its annual +maintenance upwards of twenty thousand pounds a year? Would it be a +Christian act to build that, first? To breed our skilful labour there? +To take the hewers of wood and drawers of water in a strange country +from the convict ranks, until those men by earnest working, zeal, and +perseverance, proved themselves, and raised themselves? Here are two +sets of people in a densely populated land, always in the balance before +the general eye. Is Crime for ever to carry it against Poverty, and to +have a manifest advantage? There are the scales before all men. +Whirlwinds of dust scattered in mens’ eyes—and there is plenty flying +about—cannot blind them to the real state of the balance. + +We now come to enquire into the condition of mind produced by the +seclusion (limited in duration as Lord Grey limits it) which is +purchased at this great cost in money, and this greater cost in +stupendous injustice. That it is a consummation much to be desired, that +a respectable man, lapsing into crime, should expiate his offence +without incurring the liability of being afterwards recognised by +hardened offenders who were his fellow-prisoners, we most readily admit. +But, that this object, howsoever desirable and benevolent, is in itself +sufficient to outweigh such objections as we have set forth, we cannot +for a moment concede. Nor have we any sufficient guarantee that even +this solitary point is gained. Under how many apparently inseparable +difficulties, men immured in solitary cells, will by some means obtain a +knowledge of other men immured in other solitary cells, most of us know +from all the accounts and anecdotes we have read of secret prisons and +secret prisoners from our school-time upwards. That there is a +fascination in the desire to know something of the hidden presence +beyond the blank wall of the cell; that the listening ear is often laid +against that wall; that there is an overpowering temptation to respond +to the muffled knock, or any other signal which sharpened ingenuity +pondering day after day on one idea can devise: is in that constitution +of human nature which impels mankind to communication with one another, +and makes solitude a false condition against which nature strives. That +such communication within the Model Prison, is not only probable, but +indisputably proved to be possible by its actual discovery, we have no +hesitation in stating as a fact. Some pains have been taken to hush the +matter, but the truth is, that when the Prisoners at Pentonville ceased +to be selected Prisoners, especially picked out and chosen for the +purposes of that experiment, an extensive conspiracy was found out among +them, involving, it is needless to say, extensive communication. Small +pieces of paper with writing upon them, had been crushed into balls, and +shot into the apertures of cell doors, by prisoners passing along the +passages; false responses had been made during Divine Service in the +chapel, in which responses they addressed one another; and armed men +were secretly dispersed by the Governor in various parts of the +building, to prevent the general rising, which was anticipated as the +consequence of this plot. Undiscovered communication, under this system, +we assume to be frequent. + +The state of mind into which a man is brought who is the lonely +inhabitant of his own small world, and who is only visited by certain +regular visitors, all addressing themselves to him individually and +personally, as the object of their particular solicitude—we believe in +most cases to have very little promise in it, and very little of solid +foundation. A strange absorbing selfishness—a spiritual egotism and +vanity, real or assumed—is the first result. It is most remarkable to +observe, in the cases of murderers who become this kind of object of +interest, when they are at last consigned to the condemned cell, how the +rule is (of course there are exceptions,) that the murdered person +disappears from the stage of their thoughts, except as a part of their +own important story; and how they occupy the whole scene. _I_ did this, +_I_ feel that, _I_ confide in the mercy of Heaven being extended to +_me_; this is the autograph of _me_, the unfortunate and unhappy; in my +childhood I was so and so; in my youth I did such a thing, to which I +attribute my downfall—not this thing of basely and barbarously defacing +the image of my Creator, and sending an immortal soul into eternity +without a moment’s warning, but something else of a venial kind that +many unpunished people do. I don’t want the forgiveness of this foully +murdered person’s bereaved wife, husband, brother, sister, child, +friend; I don’t ask for it, I don’t care for it. I make no enquiry of +the clergyman concerning the salvation of that murdered person’s soul; +_mine_ is the matter; and I am almost happy that I came here, as to the +gate of Paradise. ‘I never liked him,’ said the repentant Mr. Manning, +false of heart to the last, calling a crowbar by a milder name, to +lessen the cowardly horror of it, ‘and I beat in his skull with the +ripping chisel.’ I am going to bliss, exclaims the same authority, in +effect. Where my victim went to, is not my business at all. Now, GOD +forbid that we, unworthily believing in the Redeemer, should shut out +hope, or even humble trustfulness, from any criminal at that dread pass; +but, it is not in us to call this state of mind repentance. + +The present question is with a state of mind analogous to this (as we +conceive) but with a far stronger tendency to hypocrisy; the dread of +death not being present, and there being every possible inducement, +either to feign contrition, or to set up an unreliable semblance of it. +If I, John Styles, the prisoner, don’t do my work, and outwardly conform +to the rules of the prison, I am a mere fool. There is nothing here to +tempt me to do anything else, and everything to tempt me to do that. The +capital dietary (and every meal is a great event in this lonely life) +depends upon it; the alternative is a pound of bread a day. I should be +weary of myself without occupation. I should be much more dull if I +didn’t hold these dialogues with the gentlemen who are so anxious about +me. I shouldn’t be half the object of interest I am, if I didn’t make +the professions I do. Therefore, I John Styles go in for what is popular +here, and I may mean it, or I may not. + +There will always, under any decent system, be certain prisoners, +betrayed into crime by a variety of circumstances, who will do well in +exile, and offend against the laws no more. Upon this class, we think +the Associated Silent System would have quite as good an influence as +this expensive and anomalous one; and we cannot accept them as evidence +of the efficiency of separate confinement. Assuming John Styles to mean +what he professes, for the time being, we desire to track the workings +of his mind, and to try to test the value of his professions. Where +shall we find an account of John Styles, proceeding from no objector to +this system, but from a staunch supporter of it? We will take it from a +work called ‘Prison Discipline, and the advantages of the separate +system of imprisonment,’ written by the Reverend Mr. Field, chaplain of +the new County Gaol at Reading; pointing out to Mr. Field, in passing, +that the question is not justly, as he would sometimes make it, a +question between this system and the profligate abuses and customs of +the old unreformed gaols, but between it and the improved gaols of this +time, which are not constructed on his favourite principles.[1] + +Footnote 1: + + As Mr. Field condescends to quote some vapouring about the account + given by Mr. Charles Dickens in his ‘American Notes,’ of the Solitary + Prison at Philadelphia, he may perhaps really wish for some few words + of information on the subject. For this purpose, Mr. Charles Dickens + has referred to the entry in his Diary, made at the close of that day. + + He left his hotel for the Prison at twelve o’clock, being waited on, + by appointment, by the gentleman who showed it to him; and he returned + between seven and eight at night; dining in the prison in the course + of that time; which, according to his calculation, in despite of the + Philadelphia Newspaper, rather exceeds two hours. He found the Prison + admirably conducted, extremely clean, and the system administered in a + most intelligent, kind, orderly, tender, and careful manner. He did + not consider (nor should he, if he were to visit Pentonville + to-morrow) that the book in which visitors were expected to record + their observation of the place, was intended for the insertion of + criticisms on the system, but for honest testimony to the manner of + its administration; and to that, he bore, as an impartial visitor, the + highest testimony in his power. In returning thanks for his health + being drunk, at the dinner within the walls, he said that what he had + seen that day was running in his mind; that he could not help + reflecting on it; and that it was an awful punishment. If the American + officer who rode back with him afterwards should ever see these words, + he will perhaps recall his conversation with Mr. Dickens on the road, + as to Mr. Dickens having said so, very plainly and strongly. In + reference to the ridiculous assertion that Mr. Dickens in his book + termed a woman ‘quite beautiful’ who was a Negress, he positively + believes that he was shown no Negress in the Prison, but one who was + nursing a woman much diseased, and to whom no reference whatever is + made in his published account. In describing three young women, ‘all + convicted at the same time of a conspiracy,’ he may, _possibly_, among + many cases, have substituted in his memory for one of them whom he did + not see, some other prisoner, confined for some other crime, whom he + did see; but he has not the least doubt of having been guilty of the + (American) enormity of detecting beauty in a pensive quadroon or + mulatto girl, or of having seen exactly what he describes; and he + remembers the girl more particularly described in this connexion, + perfectly. Can Mr. Field really suppose that Mr. Dickens had any + interest or purpose in misrepresenting the system, or that if he could + be guilty of such unworthy conduct, or desire to do it anything but + justice, he would have volunteered the narrative of a man’s having, of + his own choice, undergone it for two years? + + We will not notice the objection of Mr. Field (who strengthens the + truth of Burns to nature, by the testimony of Mr. Pitt!) to the + discussion of such a topic as the present in a work of ‘mere + amusement;’ though, we had thought we remembered in that book a word + or two about slavery, which, although a very amusing, can scarcely be + considered an unmitigatedly comic theme. We are quite content to + believe, without seeking to make a convert of the Reverend Mr. Field, + that no work need be one of ‘mere amusement;’ and that some works to + which he would apply that designation have done a little good in + advancing principles to which, we hope, and will believe, for the + credit of his Christian office, he is not indifferent. + +Now, here is John Styles, twenty years of age, in prison for a felony. +He has been there five months, and he writes to his sister, ‘Don’t fret +my dear sister, about my being here. I cannot help fretting when I think +about my usage to my father and mother: when I think about it, it makes +me quite ill. I hope God will forgive me; I pray for it night and day +from my heart. Instead of fretting about imprisonment, I ought to thank +God for it, for before I came here, I was living quite a careless life; +neither was God in all my thoughts; all I thought about was ways that +led me towards destruction. Give my respects to my wretched companions, +and I hope they will alter their wicked course, for they don’t know for +a day nor an hour but what they may be cut off. I have seen my folly, +and I hope they may see their folly; but I shouldn’t if I had not been +in trouble. It is good for me that I have been in trouble. Go to church, +my sister, every Sunday, and don’t give your mind to going to playhouses +and theatres, for that is no good to you. There are a great many +temptations.’ + +Observe! John Styles, who has committed the felony has been ‘living +quite a careless life.’ That is his worst opinion of it, whereas his +companions who did not commit the felony are ‘wretched companions.’ John +saw _his_ ‘folly,’ and sees _their_ ‘wicked course.’ It is playhouses +and theatres which many unfelonious people go to, that prey upon John’s +mind—not felony. John is shut up in that pulpit to lecture his +companions and his sister, about the wickedness of the unfelonious +world. Always supposing him to be sincere, is there no exaggeration of +himself in this? Go to church where I can go, and don’t go to theatres +where I can’t! Is there any tinge of the fox and the grapes in it? Is +this the kind of penitence that will wear outside! Put the case that he +had written, of his own mind, ‘My dear sister, I feel that I have +disgraced you and all who should be dear to me, and if it please God +that I live to be free, I will try hard to repair that, and to be a +credit to you. My dear sister, when I committed this felony, I stole +something—and these pining five months have not put it back—and I will +work my fingers to the bone to make restitution, and oh! my dear sister, +seek out my late companions, and tell Tom Jones, that poor boy, who was +younger and littler than me, that I am grieved I ever led him so wrong, +and I am suffering for it now!’ Would that be better? Would it be more +like solid truth? + +But no. This is not the pattern penitence. There would seem to be a +pattern penitence, of a particular form, shape, limits, and dimensions, +like the cells. While Mr. Field is correcting his proof-sheets for the +press, another letter is brought to him, and in that letter too, that +man, also a felon, speaks of his ‘past folly,’ and lectures his mother +about labouring under ‘strong delusions of the devil.’ Does this +overweening readiness to lecture other people, suggest the suspicion of +any parrot-like imitation of Mr. Field, who lectures him, and any +presumptuous confounding of their relative positions? + +We venture altogether to protest against the citation, in support of +this system, of assumed repentance which has stood no test or trial in +the working world. We consider that it proves nothing, and is worth +nothing, except as a discouraging sign of that spiritual egotism and +presumption of which we have already spoken. It is not peculiar to the +separate system at Reading; Miss Martineau, who was on the whole +decidedly favourable to the separate prison at Philadelphia, observed it +there. ‘The cases I became acquainted with,’ says she, ‘were not all +hopeful. Some of the convicts were so stupid as not to be relied upon, +more or less. Others canted so detestably, and were (always in connexion +with their cant) so certain that they should never sin more, that I have +every expectation that they will find themselves in prison again some +day. One fellow, a sailor, notorious for having taken more lives than +probably any man in the United States, was quite confident that he +should be perfectly virtuous henceforth. He should never touch anything +stronger than tea, or lift his hand against money or life. I told him I +thought he could not be sure of all this till he was within sight of +money and the smell of strong liquors; and that he was more confident +than I should like to be. He shook his shock of red hair at me, and +glared with his one ferocious eye, as he said he knew all about it. He +had been the worst of men, and Christ had had mercy on his poor soul.’ +(Observe again, as in the general case we have put, that he is not at +all troubled about the souls of the people whom he had killed.) + +Let us submit to our readers another instance from Mr. Field, of the +wholesome state of mind produced by the separate system. ‘The 25th of +March, in the last year, was the day appointed for a general fast, on +account of the threatened famine. The following note is in my journal of +that day. “During the evening I visited many prisoners, and found with +much satisfaction that a large proportion of them had observed the day +in a manner becoming their own situation, and the purpose for which it +had been set apart. I think it right to record the following remarkable +proof of the effect of discipline. * * * * * They were all supplied with +their usual rations. I went first this evening to the cells of the +prisoners recently committed for trial (Ward A. 1.), and amongst these +(upwards of twenty) I found that but three had abstained from any +portion of their food. I then visited twenty-one convicted prisoners who +had spent some considerable time in the gaol (Ward C. 1.), and amongst +them I found that some had altogether abstained from food, and of the +whole number two-thirds had partially abstained.”’ We will take it for +granted that this was not because they had more than they could eat, +though we know that with such a dietary even that sometimes happens, +especially in the case of persons long confined. ‘The remark of one +prisoner whom I questioned concerning his abstinence was, I believe, +sincere, and was very pleasing. “Sir, I have not felt able to eat +to-day, whilst I have thought of those poor starving people; but I hope +that I have prayed a good deal that God will give _them_ something to +eat.”’ + +If this were not pattern penitence, and the thought of those poor +starving people had honestly originated with that man, and were really +on his mind, we want to know why he was not uneasy, every day, in the +contemplation of his soup, meat, bread, potatoes, cocoa-nibs, milk, +molasses, and gruel, and its contrast to the fare of ‘those poor +starving people’ who, in some form or other, were taxed to pay for it? + +We do not deem it necessary to comment on the authorities quoted by Mr. +Field to show what a fine thing the separate system is, for the health +of the body; how it never affects the mind except for good; how it is +the true preventive of pulmonary disease; and so on. The deduction we +must draw from such things is, that Providence was quite mistaken in +making us gregarious, and that we had better all shut ourselves up +directly. Neither will we refer to that ‘talented criminal,’ Dr. Dodd, +whose exceedingly indifferent verses applied to a system now extinct, in +reference to our penitentiaries for convicted prisoners. Neither, after +what we have quoted from Lord Grey, need we refer to the likewise quoted +report of the American authorities, who are perfectly sure that no +extent of confinement in the Philadelphia prison has ever affected the +intellectual powers of any prisoner. Mr. Croker cogently observes, in +the Good-Natured Man, that either his hat must be on his head, or it +must be off. By a parity of reasoning, we conclude that both Lord Grey +and the American authorities cannot possibly be right—unless indeed the +notoriously settled habits of the American people, and the absence of +any approach to restlessness in the national character, render them +unusually good subjects for protracted seclusion, and an exception from +the rest of mankind. + +In using the term ‘pattern penitence’ we beg it to be understood that we +do not apply it to Mr. Field, or to any other chaplain, but to the +system; which appears to us to make these doubtful converts all alike. +Although Mr. Field has not shown any remarkable courtesy in the instance +we have set forth in a note, it is our wish to show all courtesy to him, +and to his office, and to his sincerity in the discharge of its duties. +In our desire to represent him with fairness and impartiality, we will +not take leave of him without the following quotation from his book: + +‘Scarcely sufficient time has yet expired since the present system was +introduced, for me to report much concerning discharged criminals. Out +of a class so degraded—the very dregs of the community—it can be no +wonder that some, of whose improvement I cherished the hope, should have +relapsed. Disappointed in a few cases I have been, yet by no means +discouraged, since I can with pleasure refer to many whose conduct is +affording proof of reformation. Gratifying indeed have been some +accounts received from liberated offenders themselves, as well as from +clergymen of parishes to which they have returned. I have also myself +visited the homes of some of our former prisoners, and have been cheered +by the testimony given, and the evident signs of improved character +which I have there observed. Although I do not venture at present to +describe the particular cases of prisoners, concerning whose reformation +I feel much confidence, because, as I have stated, the time of trial has +hitherto been short; yet I can with pleasure refer to some public +documents which prove the happy effects of similar discipline in other +establishments.’ + +It should also be stated that the Reverend Mr. Kingsmill, the chaplain +of the Model Prison at Pentonville, in his calm and intelligent report +made to the Commissioners on the first of February, 1849, expresses his +belief ‘that the effects produced here upon the character of prisoners, +have been encouraging in a high degree.’ + +But, we entreat our readers once again to look at that Model Prison +dietary (which is essential to the system, though the system is so very +healthy of itself); to remember the other enormous expenses of the +establishment; to consider the circumstances of this old country, with +the inevitable anomalies and contrasts it must present; and to decide, +on temperate reflection, whether there are any sufficient reasons for +adding this monstrous contrast to the rest. Let us impress upon our +readers that the existing question is, not between this system and the +old abuses of the old profligate Gaols (with which, thank Heaven, we +have nothing to do), but between this system and the associated silent +system, where the dietary is much lower, where the annual cost of +provision, management, repairs, clothing, &c., does not exceed, on a +liberal average, £25 for each prisoner; where many prisoners are, and +every prisoner would be (if due accommodation were provided in some +over-crowded prisons), locked up alone, for twelve hours out of every +twenty-four, and where, while preserved from contamination, he is still +one of a society of men, and not an isolated being, filling his whole +sphere of view with a diseased dilation of himself. We hear that the +associated silent system is objectionable, because of the number of +punishments it involves for breaches of the prison discipline; but how +can we, in the same breath, be told that the resolutions of prisoners +for the misty future are to be trusted, and that, on the least +temptation, they are so little to be relied on, as to the solid present? +How can I set the pattern penitence against the career that preceded it, +when I am told that if I put that man with other men, and lay a solemn +charge upon him not to address them by word or sign, there are such and +such great chances that he will want the resolution to obey? + +Remember that this separate system, though commended in the English +Parliament and spreading in England, has not spread in America, despite +of all the steeple-chase riders in the United States. Remember that it +has never reached the State most distinguished for its learning, for its +moderation, for its remarkable men of European reputation, for the +excellence of its public Institutions. Let it be tried here, on a +limited scale, if you will, with fair representatives of all classes of +prisoners: let Captain Macconnochie’s system be tried: let anything with +a ray of hope in it be tried: but, only as a part of some general system +for raising up the prostrate portion of the people of this country, and +not as an exhibition of such astonishing consideration for crime, in +comparison with want and work. Any prison built, at a great expenditure, +for this system, is comparatively useless for any other; and the +ratepayers will do well to think of this, before they take it for +granted that it is a proved boon to the country which will be enduring. + +Under the separate system, the prisoners work at trades. Under the +associated silent system, the Magistrates of Middlesex have almost +abolished the treadmill. Is it no part of the legitimate consideration +of this important point of work, to discover what kind of work the +people always filtering through the gaols of large towns—the pickpocket, +the sturdy vagrant, the habitual drunkard, and the begging-letter +impostor—like least, and to give them that work to do in preference to +any other? It is out of fashion with the steeple-chase riders we know; +but we would have, for all such characters, a kind of work in gaols, +badged and degraded as belonging to gaols only, and never done +elsewhere. And we must avow that, in a country circumstanced as England +is, with respect to labour and labourers, we have strong doubts of the +propriety of bringing the results of prison labour into the over-stocked +market. On this subject some public remonstrances have recently been +made by tradesmen; and we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that they are +well-founded. + + + + + A TALE OF THE GOOD OLD TIMES. + + +An alderman of the ancient borough of Beetlebury, and churchwarden of +the parish of St. Wulfstan’s in the said borough, Mr. Blenkinsop might +have been called, in the language of the sixteenth century, a man of +worship. This title would probably have pleased him very much, it being +an obsolete one, and he entertaining an extraordinary regard for all +things obsolete, or thoroughly deserving to be so. He looked up with +profound veneration to the griffins which formed the water-spouts of St. +Wulfstan’s Church, and he almost worshipped an old boot under the name +of a black jack, which on the affidavit of a forsworn broker, he had +bought for a drinking vessel of the sixteenth century. Mr. Blenkinsop +even more admired the wisdom of our ancestors than he did their +furniture and fashions. He believed that none of their statutes and +ordinances could possibly be improved on, and in this persuasion had +petitioned Parliament against every just or merciful change, which, +since he had arrived at man’s estate, had been made in the laws. He had +successively opposed all the Beetlebury improvements, gas, waterworks, +infant schools, mechanics’ institute, and library. He had been active in +an agitation against any measure for the improvement of the public +health, and, being a strong advocate of intramural interment, was +instrumental in defeating an attempt to establish a pretty cemetery +outside Beetlebury. He had successfully resisted a project for removing +the pig-market from the middle of the High Street. Through his influence +the shambles, which were corporation property, had been allowed to +remain where they were; namely, close to the Town Hall, and immediately +under his own and his brethren’s noses. In short, he had regularly, +consistently, and nobly done his best to frustrate every scheme that was +proposed for the comfort and advantage of his fellow creatures. For this +conduct, he was highly esteemed and respected, and, indeed, his +hostility to any interference with disease, had procured him the honour +of a public testimonial;—shortly after the presentation of which, with +several neat speeches, the cholera broke out in Beetlebury. + +The truth is, that Mr. Blenkinsop’s views on the subject of public +health and popular institutions were supposed to be economical (though +they were, in truth, desperately costly), and so pleased some of the +ratepayers. Besides, he withstood ameliorations, and defended nuisances +and abuses with all the heartiness of an actual philanthropist. +Moreover, he was a jovial fellow,—a boon companion; and his love of +antiquity leant particularly towards old ale and old port wine. Of both +of these beverages he had been partaking rather largely at a +visitation-dinner, where, after the retirement of the bishop and his +clergy, festivities were kept up till late, under the presidency of the +deputy-registrar. One of the last to quit the Crown and Mitre was Mr. +Blenkinsop. + +He lived in a remote part of the town, whither, as he did not walk +exactly in a right line, it may be allowable, perhaps, to say that he +bent his course. Many of the dwellers in Beetlebury High Street, +awakened at half-past twelve on that night, by somebody passing below, +singing, not very distinctly, + + ‘With a jolly full bottle let each man be armed,’ + +were indebted, little as they may have suspected it, to Alderman +Blenkinsop, for their serenade. + +In his homeward way stood the Market Cross; a fine mediæval structure, +supported on a series of circular steps by a groined arch, which served +as a canopy to the stone figure of an ancient burgess. This was the +effigies of Wynkyn de Vokes, once Mayor of Beetlebury, and a great +benefactor to the town; in which he had founded almshouses and a grammar +school, A.D. 1440. The post was formerly occupied by St. Wulfstan; but +De Vokes had been removed from the Town Hall in Cromwell’s time, and +promoted to the vacant pedestal, _vice_ Wulfstan, demolished. Mr. +Blenkinsop highly revered this work of art, and he now stopped to take a +view of it by moonlight. In that doubtful glimmer, it seemed almost +life-like. Mr. Blenkinsop had not much imagination, yet he could well +nigh fancy he was looking upon the veritable Wynkyn, with his bonnet, +beard, furred gown, and staff, and his great book under his arm. So +vivid was this impression, that it impelled him to apostrophise the +statue. + +‘Fine old fellow!’ said Mr. Blenkinsop. ‘Rare old buck! We shall never +look upon your like, again. Ah! the good old times—the jolly good old +times! No times like the good old times—my ancient worthy. No such times +as the good old times!’ + +‘And pray, Sir, what times do you call the good old times?’ in distinct +and deliberate accents, answered—according to the positive affirmation +of Mr. Blenkinsop, subsequently made before divers witnesses—the Statue. + +Mr. Blenkinsop is sure that he was in the perfect possession of his +senses. He is certain that he was not the dupe of ventriloquism, or any +other illusion. The value of these convictions must be a question +between him and the world, to whose perusal the facts of his tale, +simply as stated by himself, are here submitted. + +When first he heard the Statue speak, Mr. Blenkinsop says, he certainly +experienced a kind of sudden shock, a momentary feeling of +consternation. But this soon abated in a wonderful manner. The Statue’s +voice was quite mild and gentle—not in the least grim—had no funereal +twang in it, and was quite different from the tone a statue might be +expected to take by anybody who had derived his notions on that subject +from having heard the representative of the class in ‘Don Giovanni.’ + +‘Well; what times do you mean by the good old times?’ repeated the +Statue, quite familiarly. The churchwarden was able to reply with some +composure, that such a question coming from such a quarter had taken him +a little by surprise. + +‘Come, come, Mr. Blenkinsop,’ said the Statue, ‘don’t be astonished. +’Tis half-past twelve, and a moonlight night, as your favourite police, +the sleepy and infirm old watchman, says. Don’t you know that we statues +are apt to speak when spoken to, at these hours? Collect yourself. I +will help you to answer my own question. Let us go back step by step; +and allow me to lead you. To begin. By the good old times, do you mean +the reign of George the Third?’ + +‘The last of them, Sir,’ replied Mr. Blenkinsop, very respectfully, ‘I +am inclined to think, were seen by the people who lived in those days.’ + +‘I should hope so,’ the Statue replied. ‘Those the good old times? What! +Mr. Blenkinsop, when men were hanged by dozens, almost weekly, for +paltry thefts. When a nursing woman was dragged to the gallows with her +child at her breast, for shop-lifting, to the value of a shilling. When +you lost your American colonies, and plunged into war with France, +which, to say nothing of the useless bloodshed it cost, has left you +saddled with the national debt. Surely you will not call these the good +old times, will you, Mr. Blenkinsop?’ + +‘Not exactly, Sir; no: on reflection I don’t know that I can,’ answered +Mr. Blenkinsop. He had now—it was such a civil, well-spoken statue—lost +all sense of the preternatural horror of his situation, and scratched +his head just as if he had been posed in argument by an ordinary mortal. + +‘Well then,’ resumed the Statue, ‘my dear Sir, shall we take the two or +three reigns preceding. What think you of the then existing state of +prisons and prison discipline? Unfortunate debtors confined +indiscriminately with felons, in the midst of filth, vice, and misery +unspeakable. Criminals under sentence of death tippling in the condemned +cell with the Ordinary for their pot companion. Flogging, a common +punishment of women convicted of larceny. What say you of the times when +London streets were absolutely dangerous, and the passenger ran the risk +of being hustled and robbed even in the day-time? When not only Hounslow +and Bagshot Heath, but the public roads swarmed with robbers, and a +stage-coach was as frequently plundered as a hen-roost. When, indeed, +“the road” was esteemed the legitimate resource of a gentleman in +difficulties, and a highwayman was commonly called “Captain”—if not +respected accordingly. When cock-fighting, bear-baiting, and +bull-baiting were popular, nay, fashionable amusements. When the bulk of +the landed gentry could barely read and write, and divided their time +between fox-hunting and guzzling. When a duellist was a hero, and it was +an honour to have “killed your man.” When a gentleman could hardly open +his mouth without uttering a profane or filthy oath. When the country +was continually in peril of civil war through a disputed succession; and +two murderous insurrections, followed by more murderous executions, +actually took place. This era of inhumanity, shamelessness, brigandage, +brutality, and personal and political insecurity, what say you of it, +Mr. Blenkinsop? Do you regard this wig and pigtail period as +constituting the good old times, respected friend?’ + +‘There was Queen Anne’s golden reign, Sir,’ deferentially suggested Mr. +Blenkinsop. + +‘A golden reign!’ exclaimed the Statue. ‘A reign of favouritism and +court trickery at home, and profitless war abroad. The time of +Bolingbroke’s, and Harley’s, and Churchill’s intrigues. The reign of +Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough and of Mrs. Masham. A golden fiddlestick! +I imagine you must go farther back yet for your good old times, Mr. +Blenkinsop.’ + +‘Well,’ answered the churchwarden, ‘I suppose I must, Sir, after what +you say.’ + +‘Take William the Third’s rule,’ pursued the Statue. ‘War, war again; +nothing but war. I don’t think you’ll particularly call these the good +old times. Then what will you say to those of James the Second? Were +they the good old times when Judge Jefferies sat on the bench? When +Monmouth’s rebellion was followed by the Bloody Assize—When the King +tried to set himself above the law, and lost his crown in +consequence—Does your worship fancy that these were the good old times?’ + +Mr. Blenkinsop admitted that he could not very well imagine that they +were. + +‘Were Charles the Second’s the good old times?’ demanded the Statue. +‘With a court full of riot and debauchery—a palace much less decent than +any modern casino—whilst Scotch Covenanters were having their legs +crushed in the “Boots,” under the auspices and personal superintendence +of His Royal Highness the Duke of York. The time of Titus Oates, Bedloe, +and Dangerfield, and their sham-plots, with the hangings, drawings, and +quarterings, on perjured evidence, that followed them. When Russell and +Sidney were judicially murdered. The time of the Great Plague and Fire +of London. The public money wasted by roguery and embezzlement, while +sailors lay starving in the streets for want of their just pay; the +Dutch about the same time burning our ships in the Medway. My friend, I +think you will hardly call the scandalous monarchy of the “Merry +Monarch” the good old times.’ + +‘I feel the difficulty which you suggest, Sir,’ owned Mr. Blenkinsop. + +‘Now, that a man of your loyalty,’ pursued the Statue, ‘should identify +the good old times with Cromwell’s Protectorate, is of course out of the +question.’ + +‘Decidedly, Sir!’ exclaimed Mr. Blenkinsop. ‘_He_ shall not have a +statue, though you enjoy that honour,’ bowing. + +‘And yet,’ said the Statue, ‘with all its faults, this era was perhaps +no worse than any we have discussed yet. Never mind! It was a dreary, +cant-ridden one, and if you don’t think those England’s palmy days, +neither do I. There’s the previous reign then. During the first part of +it, there was the king endeavouring to assert arbitrary power. During +the latter, the Parliament were fighting against him in the open field. +What ultimately became of him I need not say. At what stage of King +Charles the First’s career did the good old times exist, Mr. Alderman? I +need barely mention the Star Chamber and poor Prynne; and I merely +allude to the fate of Strafford and of Laud. On consideration, should +you fix the good old times anywhere thereabouts?’ + +‘I am afraid not, indeed, Sir,’ Mr. Blenkinsop responded, tapping his +forehead. + +‘What is your opinion of James the First’s reign? Are you enamoured of +the good old times of the Gunpowder Plot? or when Sir Walter Raleigh was +beheaded? or when hundreds of poor miserable old women were burnt alive +for witchcraft, and the royal wiseacre on the throne wrote as wise a +book, in defence of the execrable superstition through which they +suffered?’ + +Mr. Blenkinsop confessed himself obliged to give up the times of James +the First. + +‘Now, then,’ continued the Statue, ‘we come to Elizabeth.’ + +‘There I’ve got you!’ interrupted Mr. Blenkinsop, exultingly. ‘I beg +your pardon, Sir,’ he added, with a sense of the freedom he had taken; +‘but everybody talks of the times of Good Queen Bess, you know!’ + +‘Ha, ha!’ laughed the Statue, not at all like Zamiel, or Don Guzman, or +a paviour’s rammer, but really with unaffected gaiety. ‘Everybody +sometimes says very foolish things. Suppose Everybody’s lot had been +cast under Elizabeth! How would Everybody have relished being subject to +the jurisdiction of the Ecclesiastical Commission, with its power of +imprisonment, rack, and torture? How would Everybody have liked to see +his Roman Catholic and Dissenting fellow-subjects, butchered, fined, and +imprisoned for their opinions; and charitable ladies butchered, too, for +giving them shelter in the sweet compassion of their hearts? What would +Everybody have thought of the murder of Mary Queen of Scots? Would +Everybody, would Anybody, would _you_, wish to have lived in these days, +whose emblems are cropped ears, pillory, stocks, thumb-screws, gibbet, +axe, chopping-block, and Scavenger’s daughter? Will you take your stand +upon this stage of History for the good old times, Mr. Blenkinsop?’ + +‘I should rather prefer firmer and safer ground, to be sure, upon the +whole,’ answered the worshipper of antiquity, dubiously. + +‘Well, now,’ said the Statue, ‘’tis getting late, and, unaccustomed as I +am to conversational speaking, I must be brief. Were those the good old +times when Sanguinary Mary roasted bishops, and lighted the fires of +Smithfield? When Henry the Eighth, the British Bluebeard, cut his wives’ +heads off, and burnt Catholic and Protestant at the same stake? When +Richard the Third smothered his nephews in the Tower? When the Wars of +the Roses deluged the land with blood? When Jack Cade marched upon +London? When we were disgracefully driven out of France under Henry the +Sixth, or, as disgracefully, went marauding there, under Henry the +Fifth? Were the good old times those of Northumberland’s rebellion? Of +Richard the Second’s assassination? Of the battles, burnings, massacres, +cruel tormentings, and atrocities, which form the sum of the Plantagenet +reigns? Of John’s declaring himself the Pope’s vassal, and performing +dental operations on the Jews? Of the Forest Laws and Curfew under the +Norman kings? At what point of this series of bloody and cruel annals +will you place the times which you praise? Or do your good old times +extend over all that period when somebody or other was constantly +committing high treason, and there was a perpetual exhibition of heads +on London Bridge and Temple Bar?’ + +It was allowed by Mr. Blenkinsop that either alternative presented +considerable difficulty. + +‘Was it in the good old times that Harold fell at Hastings, and William +the Conqueror enslaved England? Were those blissful years the ages of +monkery; of Odo and Dunstan, bearding monarchs and branding queens? Of +Danish ravage and slaughter? Or were they those of the Saxon Heptarchy, +and the worship of Thor and Odin? Of the advent of Hengist and Horsa? Of +British subjugation by the Romans? Or, lastly, must we go back to the +Ancient Britons, Druidism, and human sacrifices; and say that those were +the real, unadulterated, genuine, good old times when the true-blue +natives of this island went naked, painted with woad?’ + +‘Upon my word, Sir,’ said Mr. Blenkinsop, ‘after the observations that I +have heard from you this night, I acknowledge that I _do_ feel myself +rather at a loss to assign a precise period to the times in question.’ + +‘Shall I do it for you?’ asked the Statue. + +‘If you please, Sir. I should be very much obliged if you would,’ +replied the bewildered Blenkinsop, greatly relieved. + +‘The best times, Mr. Blenkinsop,’ said the Statue, ‘are the oldest. They +are the wisest; for the older the world grows the more experience it +acquires. It is older now than ever it was. The oldest and best times +the world has yet seen are the present. These, so far as we have yet +gone, are the genuine good old times, Sir.’ + +‘Indeed, Sir?’ ejaculated the astonished Alderman. + +‘Yes, my good friend. These are the best times that we know of—bad as +the best may be. But in proportion to their defects, they afford room +for amendment. Mind that, Sir, in the future exercise of your municipal +and political wisdom. Don’t continue to stand in the light which is +gradually illuminating human darkness. The Future is the date of that +happy period which your imagination has fixed in the Past. It will +arrive when all shall do what is right; hence none shall suffer what is +wrong. The true good old times are yet to come.’ + +‘Have you any idea when, Sir?’ Mr. Blenkinsop inquired, modestly. + +‘That is a little beyond me,’ the Statue answered. ‘I cannot say how +long it will take to convert the Blenkinsops. I devoutly wish you may +live to see them. And with that, I wish you good night, Mr. Blenkinsop.’ + +‘Sir,’ returned Mr. Blenkinsop with a profound bow, ‘I have the honour +to wish you the same.’ + +Mr. Blenkinsop returned home an altered man. This was soon manifest. In +a few days he astonished the Corporation by proposing the appointment of +an Officer of Health to preside over the sanitary affairs of Beetlebury. +It had already transpired that he had consented to the introduction of +lucifer-matches into his domestic establishment, in which, previously, +he had insisted on sticking to the old tinder-box. Next, to the wonder +of all Beetlebury, he was the first to propose a great new school, and +to sign a requisition that a county penitentiary might be established +for the reformation of juvenile offenders. The last account of him is +that he has not only become a subscriber to the mechanics’ institute, +but that he actually presided thereat, lately, on the occasion of a +lecture on Geology. + +The remarkable change which has occurred in Mr. Blenkinsop’s views and +principles, he himself refers to his conversation with the Statue, as +above related. That narrative, however, his fellow townsmen receive with +incredulous expressions, accompanied by gestures and grimaces of like +import. They hint, that Mr. Blenkinsop had been thinking for himself a +little, and only wanted a plausible excuse for recanting his errors. +Most of his fellow aldermen believe him mad; not less on account of his +new moral and political sentiments, so very different from their own, +than of his Statue story. When it has been suggested to them that he has +only had his spectacles cleaned, and has been looking about him, they +shake their heads, and say that he had better have left his spectacles +alone, and that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, and a good deal +of dirt quite the contrary. _Their_ spectacles have never been cleaned, +they say, and any one may see they don’t want cleaning. + +The truth seems to be, that Mr. Blenkinsop has found an altogether new +pair of spectacles, which enable him to see in the right direction. +Formerly, he could only look backwards; he now looks forwards to the +grand object that all human eyes should have in view—progressive +improvement. + + + + + BAPTISMAL RITUALS. + + +The subject of baptism having recently been pressed prominently upon +public attention, it has been thought that a few curious particulars +relating exclusively to the rite as anciently performed would be +interesting. + +In the earliest days of the Christian Church those who were admitted +into it by baptism were necessarily not infants but adolescent or adult +converts. These previously underwent a course of religious instruction, +generally for two years. They were called during their pupilage, +‘catechumens,’[2] a name afterwards transferred to all infants before +baptism. When such candidates were judged worthy to be received within +the pale of the Church, their names were inscribed at the beginning of +Lent, on a list of the competent or ‘illuminated.’ On Easter or +Pentecost eve they were baptised, by three solemn immersions, the first +of the right side, the second of the left, and the third of the face. +They were confirmed at the same time, often, in addition, receiving the +sacrament. Sprinkling was only resorted to in cases of the sick and +bedridden, who were called _clinics_,[3] because they received the rite +in bed. Baptism was at that early period accompanied by certain +symbolical ceremonies long since disused. For example, milk and honey +were given to the new Christian to mark his entrance into the land of +promise, and as a sign of his spiritual infancy in being ‘born again;’ +for milk and honey were the food of children when weaned. The three +immersions were made in honour of the three persons of the Trinity; but +the Arians having found in that ceremony an argument favouring the +notion of distinction and plurality of natures in the Deity, Pope +Gregory by a letter addressed to St. Leander of Seville, ordained that +in Spain, the then stronghold of Arianism, only one immersion should be +practised. This prescription was preserved and applied to the Church +universal by the 6th canon of the Council of Toledo in 633. The triple +immersion was, however, persisted in in Ireland to the 12th century. +Infants were thus baptised by their fathers, or indeed by any other +person at hand, either in water or in milk; but the custom was abolished +in 1172 by the Council of Cashel. + +Footnote 2: + + From the participle of a Greek verb, expressing the act of receiving + rudimentary instruction. + +Footnote 3: + + From a Greek word signifying a bed, whence we derive the word + _clinical_. + +The African churches obliged those who were to be baptised on Easter eve +to bathe on Good Friday, ‘in order,’ says P. Richard, in his _Analyse +des Conciles_, ‘to rid themselves of the impurities contracted during +the observance of Lent before presenting themselves at the sacred font.’ +The bishops and priesthood of some of the Western churches, as at Milan, +in Spain, and in Wales, washed the feet of the newly baptised, in +imitation of the humiliation of the Redeemer. This was forbidden in 303 +by the 48th canon of the Council of Elvira. + +The Baptistery of the early church was one of the _exedræ_, or +out-buildings, and consisted of a porch or ante-room, where adult +converts made their confession of faith, and an inner room, where the +actual baptism took place. Thus it continued till the sixth century, +when baptisteries began to be taken into the church itself. The font was +always of wood or stone. Indeed, we find the provincial council held in +Scotland, in 1225, prescribing those materials as the only ones to be +used. The Church in all ages discouraged private baptism. By the 55th +canon of the same Council, the water which had been used to baptise a +child out of church was to be thrown into the fire, or carried +immediately to the parish baptistery, that it might be employed for no +other purpose; in like manner, the vessel which, had held it was to be +either burnt or consecrated for church use. For many centuries +superstitious virtues were attributed to water which had been used for +baptism. The blind bathed their eyes in it in the hope of obtaining +their sight. It was said to ‘drown the devil,’ and to purify those who +had recourse to it. + +Baptism was by the early Church strictly forbidden during Lent. The +Council of Toledo, held in 694, ordered by its 2nd canon, that, from the +commencement of the fast to Good Friday, every baptistery should be +closed, and sealed up with the seal of the bishop. The Council held at +Reading, Berkshire, in 1279, prescribed that infants born the week +previous to each Easter and Pentecost, should be baptised only at those +festivals. There is no restriction of this kind preserved by the +Reformed Church; but we are admonished in the rubric that the most +acceptable place and time for the ceremony is in church, no later than +the first or second Sunday after birth. Sundays or holidays are +suggested, because ‘the most number of people come together,’ to be +edified thereby, and be witnesses of the admission of the child into the +Church. Private baptism is objected to, except when need shall compel. + +The practice of administering the Eucharist to the adult converts to +Christianity after baptism, was in many churches improperly, during the +fourth century, extended to infants. The priest dipped his fore-finger +into the wine, and put it to the lips of the child to suck. This abuse +of the Holy Sacrament did not survive the twelfth century. It was +repeatedly forbidden by various Councils of the Church, and at length +fell into desuetude. + +Christening fees originated at a very early date. At first, bishops and +those who had aided in the ceremony of baptism were entertained at a +feast. This was afterwards commuted to an actual payment of money. Both +were afterwards forbidden. The 48th canon of the Council of Elvira, held +in 303, prohibits the leaving of money in the fonts, ‘that the ministers +of the Church may not appear to sell that which it is their duty to give +gratuitously.’ This rule was, however, as little observed in the Middle +Ages as it has been since. Strype says, that in 1560 it was enjoined by +the heads of the Church that, ‘to avoid contention, let the curate have +the value of the “Chrisome,” not under 4_d._, and above as they can +agree, and as the state of the parents may require.’ The Chrisome was +the white cloth placed by the minister upon the head of a child, which +had been newly anointed with chrism, or hallowed ointment composed of +oil and balm, always used after baptism. The gift of this cloth was +usually made by the mother at the time of Churching. To show how +enduring such customs are, even after the occasion for them has passed +away, we need only quote a passage from Morant’s ‘Essex.’ ‘In Denton +Church there has been a custom, time out of mind, at the churching of a +woman, for her to give a white cambric handkerchief to the minister as +an offering.’ The same custom is kept up in Kent, as may be seen in +Lewis’s History of the Isle of Thanet. + +The number of sponsors for each child was prescribed by the 4th Canon of +the Council of York, in 1196, to be _no more_ than three persons;—two +males and one female for a boy, and two females and one male for a +girl;—a rule which is still preserved. A custom sprung up afterwards, +which reversed the old state of things. By little and little, large +presents were looked for from sponsors, not only to the child but to its +mother; the result was that there grew to be a great difficulty in +procuring persons to undertake so expensive an office. Indeed, it +sometimes happened that fraudulent parents had a child baptised thrice, +for the sake of the godfather’s gifts. To remedy these evils, a Council +held at l’Isle, in Provence, in 1288, ordered that thenceforth nothing +was to be given to the baptised but a white robe. This prescription +appears to have been kept for ages; Stow, in his Chronicle of King +James’s Reign, says, ‘At this time, and for many ages, it was not the +use and custom (as now it is) for godfathers and godmothers to give +plate at the baptism of children, but only to give _christening shirts_, +with little bands and cuffs, wrought either with silk or blue thread, +the best of them edged with a small lace of silk and gold.’ Cups and +spoons have, however, stood their ground as favourite presents to babies +on such occasions, ever since. ‘Apostle spoons’—so called because a +figure of one of the apostles was chased on the handle of each—were +anciently given: opulent sponsors presenting the whole twelve. Those in +middling circumstances gave four, and the poorer sort contented +themselves with the gift of one, exhibiting the figure of any saint, in +honour of whom the child received its name. Thus, in the books of the +Stationers’ Company, we find under 1560, ‘a spoone the gift of Master +Reginald Woolf, all gilte, with the picture of St. John.’ + +Shakspeare, in his Henry VIII., makes the king say, when Cranmer +professes himself unworthy to be sponsor to the young princess:— + + ‘Come, come, my lord, you’d spare your spoons.’ + +Again, in Davenant’s Comedy of ‘The Wits,’ (1639): + + ‘My pendants, cascanets, and rings; + My christ’ning caudle-cup and spoons, + Are dissolved into that lump.’ + +The coral and bells is an old invention for baptismal presents. Coral +was anciently considered an amulet against fascination and evil spirits. + +It is to be regretted that, at the present time, the grave +responsibilities of the sponsors of children is too often considered to +end with the presentation of some such gifts as we have enumerated. It +is not to our praise that the ties between sponsors and god-children, +were much closer, and held more sacredly in times which we are pleased +to call barbarous. God-children were placed not only in a state of +pupilage with their sureties, but also in the position of relations. A +sort of relationship was established even between the Godfathers and +Godmothers; insomuch, that marriage between any such parties was +forbidden under pain of severe punishment. This injunction, like many +others, had it appears been sufficiently disobeyed to warrant a special +canon (12th) of the Council of Compiègne, held so early as 757, which +enforced the separation of all those sponsors and God-children of both +sexes who had intermarried, and the Church refused the rites of marriage +to the women so separated. A century after (815) the Council of Mayence +not only reinforced these restrictions and penalties, but added others. + + + + + ARCTIC HEROES. + + A FRAGMENT OF NAVAL HISTORY. + + SCENE, _a stupendous region of icebergs and snow. The bare mast of a + half-buried ship stands among the rifts and ridges. The figures of + two men, covered closely with furs and skins, slowly emerge from + beneath the winter-housing of the deck, and descend upon the snow + by an upper ladder, and steps cut below in the frozen wall of + snow. They advance._ + + + _1st Man._ We are out of hearing now. Give thy heart words. + + [_They walk on in silence some steps further, and then pause._ + + _2nd Man._ Here ‘midst the sea’s unfathomable ice, + Life-piercing cold, and the remorseless night + Which never ends, nor changes its dead face, + Save in the ’ghast smile of the hopeless moon, + Must slowly close our sum of wasted hours; + And with them all the enterprising dreams, + Efforts, endurance, and resolve, which make + The power and glory of us Englishmen. + + _1st Man._ It _may_ be so. + + _2nd Man._ Oh, doubt not but it must. + Day after day, week crawling after week, + So slowly that they scarcely seem to move, + Nor we to know it, till our calendar + Shows us that months have lapsed away, and left + Our drifting time, while here our bodies lie + Like melancholy blots upon the snow. + Thus have we lived, and gradually seen, + By calculations which appear to mock + Our hearts with their false figures, that ’tis now + Three years since we were cut off from the world + By these impregnable walls of solid ocean! + + _1st Man._ All this is true: the physical elements + We thought to conquer, are too strong for man. + + _2nd Man._ We have felt the crush of battle side by side; + Seen our best friends, with victory in their eyes, + Suddenly smitten down, a mangled heap, + And thought our own turn might be next; yet never + Drooped we in spirit, or such horror felt + As in the voiceless tortures of this place, + Which freezes up the mind. + + _1st Man._ Not yet. + + _2nd Man._ I feel it. + Death, flying red-eyed from the cannon’s mouth, + Were child’s play to confront, compared with this. + Inch by inch famine in the silent frost— + The cold anatomies of our dear friends, + One by one carried in their rigid sheets + To lay beneath the snow—till he that’s last, + Creeps to the lonely horror of his berth + Within the vacant ship, and while the bears + Grope round and round, thinks of his distant home— + Those dearest to him—glancing rapidly + Through his past life—then with a wailful sigh + And a brief prayer, his soul becomes a blank. + + _1st Man._ This is despair—I’ll hear no more of it. + We have provisions still. + + _2nd Man._ And for how long? + + _1st Man._ A flock of wild birds may pass over us, + And some our shots may reach. + + _2nd Man._ And by this chance + Find food for one day more. + + _1st Man._ Yes, and thank God; + For the next day may preservation come, + And rescue from old England. + + _2nd Man._ All our fuel + Is nearly gone; and as the last log burns + And falls in ashes, so may we foresee + The frozen circle sitting round. + + _1st Man._ Nay, nay— + Our boats, loose spars, our masts, and half our decks + Must serve us ere that pass. But, if indeed + Nothing avail, and no help penetrate + To this remote place, inaccessible + Perchance for years, except to some wild bird— + We came here knowing all this might befal, + And set our lives at stake. God’s will be done. + I, too, have felt the horrors of our fate: + Jammed in a moving field of solid ice, + Borne onward day and night we knew not where, + Till the loud cracking sounds reverberating + Far distant, were soon followed by the rending + Of the vast pack, whose heaving blocks and wedges, + Like crags broke loose, all rose to our destruction + As by some ghastly instinct. Then the hand + Of winter smote the all-congealing air, + And with its freezing tempest piled on high + These massy fragments which environ us:— + Cathedrals many-spired, by lightning riven— + Sharp-angled chaos-heaps of palaced cities, + With splintered pyramids, and broken towers + That yawn for ever at the bursting moon + And her four pallid flame-spouts. Now, appalled + By the long roar o’ the cloud-like avalanche— + Now, by the stealthy creeping of the glaciers + In silence tow’rds our frozen ships. So Death + Hath often whispered to me in the night; + And I have seen him in the Aurora-gleam + Smile as I rose and came upon the deck; + Or when the icicle’s prismatic glance— + Bright, flashing,—and then, colourless, unmoved ice— + Emblem’d our passing life, and its cold end. + Oh, friend in many perils, fail not now! + Am I not, e’en as thou art, utterly sick + Of my own heavy heart, and loading clothes?— + A mind—that in its firmest hour hath fits + Of madness for some change, that shoot across + Its steadfastness, and scarce are trampled down. + Yet, friend, I will not let my spirit sink, + Nor shall mine eyes, e’en with snow-blindness veiled, + Man’s great prerogative of inward sight + Forego, nor cease therein to speculate + On England’s feeling for her countrymen; + Whereof relief will some day surely come. + + _2nd Man._ I well believe it; but perhaps too late. + + _1st Man._ Then, if too late, one noble task remains, + And one consoling thought. We, to the last, + With firmness, order, and considerate care, + Will act as though our death-beds were at home, + Grey heads with honour sinking to the tomb; + So future times shall record bear that we, + Imprisoned in these frozen horrors, held + Our sense of duty, both to man and God. + + _The muffled beat of the ship’s bell sounds for evening prayers._ + _The two men return: they ascend the steps in the snow—then the + ladder—and disappear beneath the snow-covered housing of the + deck._ + + + + + A CORONER’S INQUEST. + + + If there appeared a paragraph in the newspapers, stating that her + Majesty’s representative, the Lord Chief Justice of the Queen’s Bench, + had held a solemn Court in the parlour of the ‘Elephant and + Tooth-pick,’ the reader would rightly conceive that the Crown and + dignity of our Sovereign Lady had suffered some derogation. Yet an + equal abasement daily takes place without exciting especial wonder. + The subordinates of the Lord Chief Justice of the Queen’s Bench (who + is, by an old law, the Premier Coroner of all England) habitually + preside at houses of public entertainment; yet they are no less + delegates of Royalty—as the name of their office implies[4]—than the + ermined dignitary himself, when surrounded with all the pomp and + circumstance of the law’s majesty at Westminster. This is quite + characteristic of our thoroughly commercial nation. An action about a + money-debt is tried in an imposing manner in a spacious edifice, and + with only too great an excess of formality; but for an inquest into + the sacrifice of a mere human life, ‘the worst inn’s worst room’ is + deemed good enough. In order rightly to determine whether Jones owes + Smith five pounds ten, the Goddess of Justice is surrounded with the + most imposing insignia, and worshipped in an appropriate temple: but + when she is invoked to decide why a human spirit, + +Footnote 4: + + It is derived from _a coronâ_ (from the crown), because the coroner, + says Coke, “hath conusance in some pleas which are called _placita + coronæ_.” + + ‘Unhousel’d, disappointed, unanel’d, + No reckoning made, is sent to its account + With all its imperfections on its head;’ + + she is thrust into the ‘Hole in the Wall,’ the ‘Bag o’ Nails,’ or the + parlour of the ‘Two Spies.’ + + Desirous of having aural and ocular demonstration of the curious + manner in which the office of Coroner is now fulfilled, we were + attracted, a few weeks since, to the Old Drury Tavern, in Vinegar + Yard, Drury Lane. Having made our way to a small parlour, we perceived + the Majesty of England, as personated on this occasion, enveloped in + an ordinary surtout, sitting at the head of a table, and surrounded by + a knot of good-humoured faces, who might, if judged from mere + appearances, have rallied round their president for some social + purpose—only that the cigars and spirits and water had not yet come + in. There was nothing official to be seen but a few pens, a sheet or + two of paper, an inkstand, and a parish beadle. + + When we entered, the Coroner was holding a friendly conversation with + some of the jury, the beadle, and the gentlemen of the press, + respecting the inferiority of the accommodation; and, considering the + number of persons present, and the accessions expected from more + jurymen, parochial officers, and witnesses, the subject was suggested + naturally enough: for the private apartment of the landlord was of + exceedingly moderate dimensions; and that had been appropriated as the + temporary Court. + + Here then, to a back parlour of the Old Drury Tavern, Vinegar Yard, + Drury Lane, London, the Queen’s representative was consigned—by no + fault of his own, but from that of a system of which he is rather a + victim than a promoter—to institute one of the most important + inquiries which the law of England prescribes. A human being had been + prematurely sent into eternity, and the coroner was called upon—amidst + several implements of conviviality, the odour of gin and the smell of + tobacco-smoke—‘to inquire in this manner: that is, to wit, if they + [the witnesses] know where the person was slain, whether it were in + any house, field, bed, tavern, or company, and who were there; who are + culpable, either of the act, or of the force; and who were present, + either men or women, and of what age soever they be, if they can speak + or have any discretion; and how many soever be found culpable they + shall be taken and delivered to the sheriff, and shall be committed to + the gaol.’ So runs the clause of the act of parliament, still in force + by which the coroner and jury were now assembled. It is the second + statute of the fourth year of Edward I., and is the identical law + which is discussed by the grave-diggers in Hamlet. + + The pleasant colloquy about the size of the room ended in a resolution + to adjourn the Court to the ‘Two Spies,’ in a neighbouring alley. Time + appeared, throughout the proceedings, to be as valuable as space, and + the rest of the jurors having dropped in, the coroner—with a bible + supplied from the bar,—at once delivered the oath to the foreman. The + other jurors were rapidly sworn in batches, upon the Old Drury Bible, + under an abridged dispensation administered, if our memory be correct, + by the beadle. + + ‘Now, then, gentlemen,’ said the coroner, ‘we’ll view the body.’ + + Not without alacrity the entire company left their confined quarters + to breathe such air as is vouchsafed in Vinegar Yard. The subject of + inquiry lay at a baker’s shop, ‘a few doors round the corner,’—to use + the topographical formula of the parish functionary—and thither he + ushered us. A few of the window shutters of the shop were up, but in + all other respects there was as little to indicate a house of death as + there was to show it to be a house of mourning. If the journeyman had + not been standing at the end of the counter in his holiday coat, it + would have seemed as if business was going on as usual. There was the + same tempting display of tarts, the same heaps of biscuits, the same + supply of loaves, the same ranges of flour in paper bags as is to be + observed in ordinary bakers’ shops on ordinary occasions. Yet the + mistress of this particular baker’s shop lay dead only a few paces + within, and its master was in gaol on suspicion of having murdered + her. + + Through a parlour and a sort of passage with a bed and a sink in + it,the jury were shown into a confined kitchen. Here, on a mahogany + dining-table, lay the remains covered with a dirty sheet. To describe + the spectacle which presented itself when the beadle, with + business-like immobility turned down the covering, does not happily + fall within our present object. It is, however, necessary to say that + it presented evidences of continued ill-usage from blows and kicks, + not to be beheld without strong indignation. Yet this was not all. + + ‘The cause of death,’ said the beadle—_his_ mind was quite made up—‘is + on the back; it’s covered with bruises: but I suppose you won’t want + to see that, gentlemen.’ + + By no means. Everybody had seen enough; for they were surrounded by + whatever could increase distress and engender disgust. The apartment + was so small, that the table left only room for the jurors to edge + round it one by one; and it was hardly possible to do this, without + actual contact with the head or feet of the corpse. A gridiron and + other black utensils were hanging against the wall, and could only be + escaped by the exercise on the part of the spectators of great + ingenuity of motion. This and the bed-place (bed-_room_ is no word for + it) indicated squalid poverty; but the scene was changed in the + parlour. There, appearances were at least kept up. It was filled with + decent furniture—even elegancies; including a pianoforte and a couple + of portraits. + + These strange evidences of refinement only brought out the squalor, + smallness, and unfitness for any part of a judicial inquiry of the + inner apartments, into more glaring relief. Surely so important a + function as that of a coroner and his jury should not be conducted + amidst such a scene! Besides other obvious objections, the danger of + keeping corpses in confined apartments, and in close neighbourhoods, + was here strongly exemplified. The smell was so ‘close’ and + insanitary, that the first man who entered the den where the body lay, + caused the window to be opened. Two children, the offspring of the + victim and the accused, lived in these apartments; and above stairs + the house was crowded with lodgers, to all of whom any sort of + infection would have proved the more disastrous from living next door, + as it were, to Death. It is terrible to reflect that every decease + happening among the myriads of the population a little lower in + circumstances than this baker, deals around it its proportion of + destruction to the living, from the same causes. True, that had it + been impossible to retain the body where death occurred—as chances + when several persons live in the same room—it would have been removed. + But where.—The coroner and jury would have had to view it in the + tap-room of a public-house. + + There is another objection—all-powerful in the eyes of a lawyer. He + recognises as a first necessity that the jurors should have no + opportunity of communicating with witnesses, except when before the + Court. But here the melancholy honours of the baker’s shop and parlour + were performed by the two persons from whose evidence the cause of + death was to be chiefly elicited;—the journeyman and a female relative + of the deceased, who were in the house when the last blows were dealt, + and when the woman died. They received the fifteen jurymen who were + presently to judge of their testimony; and there was nothing but the + strong sense of propriety which actuated these gentlemen on the + present occasion, to prevent the witnesses from telling their own + story privately in their own way, to any one or half dozen of the + inquest, and thus to give a premature bent to opinions, the materials + for forming which, ought to be strictly reserved for the public Court. + Many examples can be supplied in illustration of this evil. We select + one:—Some years ago, an old woman in the most wretched part of + Westminster, was found dead in her bed—strangled. When the Coroner and + jury went to view the body, they were ushered by a young female—a + relative—who lived with the deceased. She explained there and then all + about the death. When the Court re-assembled, she was—chiefly, it was + understood, in consequence of what had previously passed—examined as + first and principal witness, and upon her evidence, the verdict + arrived at, was ‘Temporary insanity.’ The case, however, subsequently + passed through more formal judicial ordeals, and the result was, that + the coroner’s prime witness was hanged for the _murder_ of the old + woman. We must have it distinctly understood that not the faintest + shade of parallel exists between the two cases. We bring them together + solely to illustrate the evils of a system. + + On passing into the baker’s parlour, dumb witnesses presented + themselves, which—properly or improperly—must have had their effect on + the promoters of the inquiry. The piano indicated hours formerly + spent, and thoughts once indulged, which, when imagined by minds fresh + from the appalling reality in the squalid kitchen, must have excited + new throes of indignation and pity. One portrait was that of the + bruised and crushed corpse when living and young. Then she must have + been comely; now no feature could be recognised as ever having been + human. Then, she was cleanly and neatly dressed, and, if the pictured + smile might be trusted, happy; now, she lay amidst dirt, the victim of + long, long ill-usage and lingering misery, ended in premature death. + The other, was a likeness of her husband. Had words of love ever + passed between the originals of those painted effigies? Had they ever + courted? It seemed that one of the jurors was inwardly asking some + such question while gazing at the portraits, for he was visibly + affected. + + We all at length made our way to the ‘Two Spies’ in Whitehart Yard, + Brydges Street. The accommodation afforded was a little more spacious + than those of the Old Drury; but the delegated Majesty of the Crown + had no dignity imparted to it from the coroner’s figure being brought + out in relief by a clothes-horse and table cloth which were, during + the inquiry, placed behind him to serve as a fire-screen. Neither did + the case of stuffed birds, the sampler of Moses in the bulrushes, the + picture of the licensed victuallers’ school, or the portraits of the + rubicund host and of his ‘good lady,’ tend to impress the minds of + jury, witnesses, or spectators, with that awe for the supremacy of the + Law which a court of justice is expected to inspire. + + The circumstances as detailed by the witnesses are already familiar to + the readers of newspapers; but from the insecutive manner in which the + evidence was produced, it is difficult to frame a coherent narrative. + It all tended to prove that the husband had for several years + exercised great harshness towards his wife. That boxing her ears and + kicking her were among his ‘habits.’ On the Friday previous to her + decease, the journeyman had been, as usual, ‘bolted down’ in the + bake-house for the night, (such, he said, being the custom in the + trade) and from eleven o’clock till three in the morning he heard a + great noise overhead as of two persons quarrelling, and of one person + dragging the other across the room. There were cries of distress from + the deceased woman. Another witness—a second cousin of the wife—called + on Saturday afternoon. She found the wife in a pitiable state from + ill-usage and want of rest. Her left ear and all that part of the head + was much bruised. There were cuts, and the hair was matted with + congealed blood. The husband was told how much she was injured, but he + did not appear to take any notice of it. A trait of the dread in which + the woman lived of the man was here mentioned; she asked the witness + to ask her husband to allow her to lie down. She dared not prefer so + reasonable a request herself; although she had been up all the + previous night being beaten. He refused. The cousin sat down to dinner + with the wretched pair; only for the purpose of being between them to + prevent further violence, for she had dined. She remained until + half-past three o’clock, and during that interval the husband + frequently boxed his wife’s ears as hard as he could; and once kicked + her with great force. Her usual remonstrance was, ‘Man alive, don’t + touch me.’ The visitor returned in the evening, and she, with the + journeyman, saw another brutal attack, some minutes after which the + victim fell as if in a fit. She was assisted into an inner room, sank + down and never rose again. She lay till the following Sunday morning + in a state of insensibility, and no attempt had been made to procure + surgical assistance. A practitioner at last was summoned, gave no + hope, and the poor creature died on Monday morning. The post mortem + examination, described by the surgeon, revealed the cause of death in + the blows at the side of the head, which he said was like ‘beefsteaks + when beaten by cooks.’ No trace of habitual drunkenness appeared. The + deceased had been, in the course of the inquiry, charged with that. + + A lawyer would have felt especially fidgetty, while these facts were + being elicited. The questions were put in an undecided rambling + manner, and were so interrupted by half-made remarks from the jurors + and other parties in the room, that it was a wonder how the report of + the proceedings, which appeared in the morning newspapers, could have + been so cleverly cleared as it was of the chaff from which it was + winnowed. One or two circumstances occurred during this time which + tended to throw over the whole affair the air of an ill-played farce. + At an interesting point of the evidence, the door was opened, and a + scream from a female voice announced ‘Please sir, the beadle’s + wanted!’ There were four gentlemen sitting on a horse-hair sofa close + behind some of the jury, with whom more than once they entered into + conversation, doubtless about the case in hand. The way in which the + coroner took notice of this breach of every judisprudential rule, was + extremely characteristic: he said, in effect, that there was, perhaps, + no actual harm in it, but it _might_ be objected to—the parties + conversing might be relatives of the accused. In fact, he mildly + insinuated that such unprivileged communications might warp the + jurymen’s judgments—that’s all! + + After the coroner had summed up, the jury returned a verdict of + manslaughter against the husband. The Queen’s representative then + retired, and so did the jury and the beadle; a little extra business + was done at the bar of the ‘Two Spies,’ and, to use a reporter’s pet + phrase, ‘the proceedings terminated.’ + + It is far from our desire, in describing this particular inquest, in + any way to disparage—supposing anything we have said can be construed + into disparagement—any person or persons concerned in it directly or + remotely. Our wish is to point out the exceeding looseness, + informality, and difficulty of ensuring sound judgment, which the + system occasions. Indeed we were told by a competent authority that + the proceedings at the Old Drury and ‘Two Spies’ taverns, formed an + orderly and superior specimen of their class. + + There is a mischief of some gravity, which we have yet to notice. The + essential check upon all judicial or private dereliction is publicity, + and publicity gained through the press in _all_ cases which require + it; but the existing system gives the coroner the power of excluding + reporters. He can, if he pleases, make a Star Chamber of his court, + hold it in a private house, and conduct it in secret. Instances—though + very rare ones—can be adduced of this having been actually done. Here + opens a door to another abuse;—it is known that a certain few among + newspaper hangers-on—persons only connected with the press by the + precarious and slender tenure of ‘a penny-a-line’—find it profitable + to attend inquests—not for legitimate purposes—for their ‘copy’ is + seldom inserted by editors—but to obtain money from relatives and + parties interested in the deceased for what they are pleased to call + ‘suppressing’ their reports. This generally happens in cases which + from their having no public interest whatever would not, under any + circumstances, be admitted into the crowded columns of the journals; + for we can with confidence say that any case in which the public + interests are likely to be staked, once before the editors of any + London Journal, and supplied by a gentleman of their own + establishment, no power on earth could suppress it. It has happened + again occasionally that, from the suddenness with which the coroner is + summoned, and the slovenly manner in which his office is performed, an + inquest that ought to have been made public has wholly escaped the + knowledge of newspaper conductors and their accredited reporters, and + has thus passed over in silence. + + Let us here put up another guard against misconception. No imputation + _can_ rest upon any accredited member of the press; the high state + dignities which some men who have been reporters now so well support, + are a guarantee against that. Neither do we wish to undervalue the + important services sometimes performed by occasional or ‘penny-a-line’ + reporters; among whom there are honourable and clever men. We only + point out a small body of exceptional characters who are no more than + what we have described—‘hangers-on’ of the press. + + We now proceed to suggest a remedy for the inherent vices of + ‘Crowner’s quests.’ + + In the report of the Board of Health on intramural interments, upon + which a bill now before Parliament is founded, it is proposed to erect + in convenient parts of London eight reception-houses for the dead, + previous to interment in the cemeteries to be established. This will + remove the mortal remains from that immediate and fatal contact—fatal, + morally as well as physically—which is compulsory among the poorer + classes under the existing system of sepulture. It appears that of the + deaths which take place in the metropolis, in upwards of 20,000 + instances the corpse must be kept, during the interval between the + death and the interment, in the same room in which the surviving + members of the family live and sleep; while of the 8,000 deaths every + year from epidemic diseases, by far the greater part happen under the + circumstances just described. + + If from these causes the necessity for dead-houses is so great when no + inquest is necessary, how much stronger is it when the services of the + coroner are requisite? The reason given for the peripatetic nature of + the office, is the assumed necessity of the jury seeing the bodies on + the spot and in the circumstances of death. But that such a necessity + is unreal was proved on the inquest we have been detailing, by the + fact of the remains having been lifted from the bed where life ceased, + to a table, and having been opened by the surgeons. Surely, removal to + a wholesome and convenient reception-house, would not disturb such + appearances as may be presumed to form evidence. As it is, the only + place among the poor in which medical men can perform the important + duty of examination by _post mortem_ dissection is a room crowded with + inmates—or the tap-room of the nearest tavern. + + To preserve, then, a degree of order, dignity, and solemnity equal at + least to that which is maintained to try an action for debt, and to + prevent the possibility of any ‘private’ dealings, we would strongly + urge that a suitable Coroner’s Court-house be attached to each of the + proposed reception-houses. A clause to this effect can be easily + introduced into the new bill. With such accommodation the coroner + could perform his office in a manner worthy of a delegate of the + Crown, and no such informalities as tend to intercept and taint the + pure stream of Justice could continue to exist. + + + + + FRANCIS JEFFREY. + + + JEFFREY was a year younger than SCOTT, whom he outlived eighteen + years, and with whose career his own had some points of resemblance. + They came of the same middle-class stock, and had played together as + lads in the High School ‘yard’ before they met as advocates in the + Court of Session. The fathers of both were connected with that Court; + and from childhood, both were devoted to the law. But Scott’s boyish + infirmity imprisoned him in Edinburgh, while Jeffrey was let loose to + Glasgow University, and afterwards passed up to Queen’s College, + Oxford. The boys, thus separated, had no remembrance of having + previously met, when they saw each other at the Speculative Society in + 1791. + + The Oxford of that day suited Jeffrey ill. It suited few people well + who cared for anything but cards and claret. Southey, who came just + after him, tells us that the Greek he took there he left there, nor + ever passed such unprofitable months; and Lord Malmesbury, who had + been there but a little time before him, wonders how it was that so + many men should make their way in the world creditably, after leaving + a place that taught nothing but idleness and drunkenness. But Jeffrey + was not long exposed to its temptations. He left after the brief + residence of a single term; and what in after life he remembered most + vividly in connection with it, seems to have been the twelve days’ + hard travelling between Edinburgh and London which preceded his + entrance at Queen’s. Some seventy years before, another Scotch lad, on + his way to become yet more famous in literature and law, had taken + nearly as many weeks to perform the same journey; but, between the + schooldays of Mansfield and of Jeffrey, the world had not been + resting. + + It was enacting its greatest modern incident, the first French + Revolution, when the young Scotch student returned to Edinburgh and + changed his College gown for that of the advocate. Scott had the start + of him in the Court of Session by two years, and had become rather + active and distinguished in the Speculative Society before Jeffrey + joined it. When the latter, then a lad of nineteen, was introduced, + (one evening in 1791), he observed a heavy-looking young man + officiating as secretary, who sat solemnly at the bottom of the table + in a huge woollen night-cap, and who, before the business of the night + began, rose from his chair, and, with imperturbable gravity seated on + as much of his face as was discernible from the wrappings of the + ‘portentous machine’ that enveloped it, apologised for having left + home with a bad toothache. This was his quondam schoolfellow Scott. + Perhaps Jeffrey was pleased with the mingled enthusiasm for the + speculative, and regard for the practical, implied in the woollen + night-cap; or perhaps he was interested by the Essay on Ballads which + the hero of the night-cap read in the course of the evening: but + before he left the meeting he sought an introduction to Mr. Walter + Scott, and they were very intimate for many years afterwards. + + The Speculative Society dealt with the usual subjects of elocution and + debate prevalent in similar places then and since; such as, whether + there ought to be an Established Religion, and whether the Execution + of Charles I. was justifiable, and if Ossian’s poems were authentic? + It was not a fraternity of speculators by any means of an alarming or + dangerous sort. John Allen and his friends, at this very time, were + spouting forth active sympathy for French Republicanism at Fortune’s + Tavern, under immediate and watchful superintendence of the Police; + James Macintosh was parading the streets with Horne Tooke’s colours in + his hat; James Montgomery was expiating in York Jail his exulting + ballad on the Fall of the Bastille; and Southey and Coleridge, in + despair of old England, had completed the arrangements of their + youthful colony for a community of property, and proscription of + everything selfish, on the banks of the Susquehana;—but the + Speculative orators rarely probed the sores of the body politic deeper + than an inquiry into the practical advantages of belief in a future + state? and whether it was for the interest of Britain to maintain the + balance of Europe? or if knowledge could be too much disseminated + among the lower ranks of the people? + + In short, nothing of the extravagance of the time, on either side, is + associable with the outset of Jeffrey’s career. As little does he seem + to have been influenced, on the one hand, by the democratic foray of + some two hundred convention delegates into Edinburgh in 1792, as, on + the other, by the prominence of his father’s name to a protest of + frantic high-tory defiance; and he was justified not many years since + in referring with pride to the fact that, at the opening of his public + life, his view of the character of the first French revolution, and of + its probable influence on other countries, had been such as to require + little modification during the whole of his subsequent career. The + precision and accuracy of his judgment had begun to show itself thus + early. At the crude young Jacobins, so soon to ripen into Quarterly + Reviewers, who were just now coquetting with Mary Woolstonecraft, or + making love to the ghost of Madame Roland, or branding as worthy of + the bowstring the tyrannical enormities of Mr. Pitt, he could afford + to laugh from the first. From the very first he had the strongest + liberal tendencies, but restrained them so wisely that he could + cultivate them well. + + He joined the band of youths who then sat at the feet of Dugald + Stewart, and whose first incentive to distinction in the more + difficult paths of knowledge, as well as their almost universal + adoption of the liberal school of politics, are in some degree + attributable to the teaching of that distinguished man. Among them + were Brougham and Horner, who had played together from boyhood in + Edinburgh streets, had joined the Speculative on the same evening six + years after Jeffrey (who in Brougham soon found a sharp opponent on + colonial and other matters), and were still fast friends. Jeffrey’s + father, raised to a deputy clerk of session, now lived on a third or + fourth flat in Buchanan’s Court in the Lawn Market, where the worthy + old gentleman kept two women servants and a man at livery; but where + the furniture does not seem to have been of the soundest. This fact + his son used to illustrate by an anecdote of the old gentleman eagerly + setting-to at a favourite dinner one day, with the two corners of the + table cloth tied round his neck to protect his immense professional + frills, when the leg of his chair gave way, and he tumbled back on the + floor with all the dishes, sauces, and viands a-top of him. Father and + son lived here together, till the latter took for his first wife the + daughter of the Professor of Hebrew in the University of St. Andrew, + and moved to an upper story in another part of town. He had been + called to the bar in 1794, and was married eight years afterward. He + had not meanwhile obtained much practice, and the elevation implied in + removal to an upper flat is not of the kind that a young Benedict + covets. But distinction of another kind was at length at hand. + + One day early in 1802, ‘in the eighth or ninth story or flat in + Buccleugh Place, the elevated residence of the then Mr. Jeffrey,’ Mr. + Jeffrey had received a visit from Horner and Sydney Smith, when + Sydney, at this time a young English curate temporarily resident in + Edinburgh, preaching, teaching, and joking with a flow of wit, + humanity, and sense that fascinated everybody, started the notion of + the Edinburgh Review. The two Scotchmen at once voted the Englishman + its editor, and the notion was communicated to John Archibald Murray + (Lord Advocate after Jeffrey, long years afterward), John Allen (then + lecturing on medical subjects at the University, but who went abroad + before he could render any essential service), and Alexander Hamilton + (afterwards Sanscrit professor at Haileybury). This was the first + council; but it was extended, after a few days, till the two Thomsons + (John and Thomas, the physician and the advocate), Thomas Brown (who + succeeded to Dugald Stewart’s chair), and Henry Brougham, were + admitted to the deliberations. Horner’s quondam playfellow was an ally + too potent to be obtained without trouble; and, even thus early, had + not a few characteristics in common with the Roman statesman and + orator whom it was his greatest ambition in after life to resemble, + and of whom Shakspeare has told us that he never followed anything + that other men began. + + ‘You remember how cheerfully Brougham approved of our plan at first,’ + wrote Jeffrey to Horner, in April, in the thick of anxious + preparations for the start, ‘and agreed to give us an article or two + without hesitation. Three or four days ago I proposed two or three + books that I thought would suit him; when he answered, with perfect + good humour, that he had changed his view of our plan a little, and + rather thought now that he should decline to have any connection with + it.’ This little coquetry was nevertheless overcome; and before the + next six months were over, Brougham had become an efficient and + zealous member of the band. + + It is curious to see how the project hung fire at first. Jeffrey had + nearly finished four articles, Horner had partly written four, and + more than half the number was printed; and yet well nigh the other + half had still to be written. The memorable fasciculus at last + appeared in November, after a somewhat tedious gestation of nearly ten + months; having been subject to what Jeffrey calls so ‘miserable a + state of backwardness’ and so many ‘symptoms of despondency,’ that + Constable had to delay the publication some weeks beyond the day first + fixed. Yet as early as April had Sydney Smith completed more than half + of what he contributed, while nobody else had put pen to paper; and + shortly after the number appeared he was probably not sorry to be + summoned, with his easy pen and his cheerful wit, to London, and to + abandon the cares of editorship to Jeffrey. + + No other choice could have been made. That first number settled the + point. It is easy to discover that Jeffrey’s estimation in Edinburgh + had not, up to this time, been in any just proportion to his powers; + and that, even with those who knew him best, his playful and sportive + fancy sparkled too much to the surface of his talk to let them see the + grave deep currents that ran underneath. Every one now read with + surprise the articles attributed to him. Sydney had yielded him the + place of honour, and he had vindicated his right to it. He had thrown + out a new and forcible style of criticism, with a fearless, + unmisgiving, and unhesitating courage. Objectors might doubt or cavil + at the opinions expressed; but the various and comprehensive + knowledge, the subtle argumentative genius, the brilliant and definite + expression, there was no disputing or denying. A fresh and startling + power was about to make itself felt in literature. + + ‘Jeffrey,’ said his most generous fellow labourer, a few days after + the Review appeared, ‘is the person who will derive most honour from + this publication, as his articles in this number are generally known, + and are incomparably the best; I have received the greater pleasure + from this circumstance, because the genius of that little man has + remained almost unknown to all but his most intimate acquaintances. + His manner is not at first pleasing; what is worse, it is of that cast + which almost irresistibly impresses upon strangers the idea of levity + and superficial talents. Yet there is not any man, whose real + character is so much the reverse; he has, indeed, a very sportive and + playful fancy, but it is accompanied with an extensive and varied + information, with a readiness of apprehension almost intuitive, with + judicious and calm discernment, with a profound and penetrating + understanding.’ This confident passage from a private journal of the + 20th November, 1802, may stand as a remarkable monument of the + prescience of Francis Horner. + + Yet it was also the opinion of this candid and sagacious man that he + and his fellows had not gained much character by that first number of + the Review. As a set-off to the talents exhibited, he spoke of the + severity—of what, in some of the papers, might be called the + scurrility—as having given general dissatisfaction; and he predicted + that they would have to soften their tone, and be more indulgent to + folly and bad taste. Perhaps it is hardly thus that the objection + should have been expressed. It is now, after the lapse of nearly half + a century, admitted on all hands that the tone adopted by these young + Edinburgh reviewers was in some respects extremely indiscreet; and + that it was not simply folly and bad taste, but originality and + genius, that had the right to more indulgence at their hands. When + Lord Jeffrey lately collected Mr. Jeffrey’s critical articles, he + silently dropped those very specimens of his power which by their + boldness of view, severity of remark, and vivacity of expression, + would still as of old have attracted the greatest notice; and + preferred to connect with his name, in the regard of such as might + hereafter take interest in his writings, only those papers which, by + enforcing what appeared to him just principles and useful opinions, he + hoped might have a tendency to make men happier and better. Somebody + said by way of compliment of the early days of the Scotch Review, that + it made reviewing more respectable than authorship; and the remark, + though essentially the reverse of a compliment, exhibits with + tolerable accuracy the general design of the work at its outset. Its + ardent young reviewers took a somewhat too ambitious stand above the + literature they criticised. ‘To all of us,’ Horner ingenuously + confessed, ‘it is only matter of temporary amusement and subordinate + occupation.’ + + Something of the same notion was in Scott’s thoughts when, smarting + from a severe but not unjust or ungenerous review of Marmion, he said + that Jeffrey loved to see imagination best when it is bitted and + managed, and ridden upon the _grand pas_. He did not make sufficient + allowance for starts and sallies and bounds, when Pegasus was + beautiful to behold, though sometimes perilous to his rider. He would + have had control of horse as well as rider, Scott complained, and made + himself master of the ménage to both. But on the other hand this was + often very possible; and nothing could then be conceived more charming + than the earnest, playful, delightful way in which his comments + adorned and enriched the poets he admired. Hogarth is not happier in + Charles Lamb’s company, than is the homely vigour and genius of Crabbe + under Jeffrey’s friendly leading; he returned fancy for fancy to + Moore’s exuberance, and sparkled with a wit as keen; he ‘tamed his + wild heart’ to the loving thoughtfulness of Rogers, his scholarly + enthusiasm, his pure and vivid pictures; with the fiery energy and + passionate exuberance of Byron, his bright courageous spirit broke + into earnest sympathy; for the clear and stirring strains of Campbell + he had an ever lively and liberal response; and Scott, in the midst of + many temptations to the exercise of severity, never ceased to awaken + the romance and generosity of his nature. + + His own idea of the more grave critical claims put forth by him in his + early days, found expression in later life. He had constantly + endeavoured, he said, to combine ethical precepts with literary + criticism. He had earnestly sought to impress his readers with a + sense, both of the close connection between sound intellectual + attainments, and the higher elements of duty and enjoyment; and of the + just and ultimate subordination of the former to the latter. Nor + without good reason did he take this praise to himself. The taste + which Dugald Stewart had implanted in him, governed him more than any + other at the outset of his career; and may often have contributed not + a little, though quite unconsciously, to lift the aspiring young + metaphysician somewhat too ambitiously above the level of the luckless + author summoned to his judgment seat. Before the third year of the + review had opened, he had broken a spear in the lists of metaphysical + philosophy even with his old tutor, and with Jeremy Bentham, both in + the maturity of their fame; he had assailed, with equal gallantry, the + opposite errors of Priestley and Reid; and, not many years later, he + invited his friend Alison to a friendly contest, from which the + fancies of that amiable man came out dulled by a superior brightness, + by more lively, varied, and animated conceptions of beauty, and by a + style which recommended a more than Scotch soberness of doctrine with + a more than French vivacity of expression. + + For it is to be said of Jeffrey, that when he opposed himself to + enthusiasm, he did so in the spirit of an enthusiast; and that this + had a tendency to correct such critical mistakes as he may + occasionally have committed. And as of him, so of his Review. In + professing to go deeply into the _principles_ on which its judgments + were to be rested, as well as to take large and original views of all + the important questions to which those works might relate,—it + substantially succeeded, as Jeffrey presumed to think it had done, in + familiarising the public mind with higher speculations, and sounder + and larger views of the great objects of human pursuit; as well as in + permanently raising the standard, and increasing the influence, of all + such occasional writings far beyond the limits of Great Britain. + + Nor let it be forgotten that the system on which Jeffrey established + relations between his writers and publishers has been of the highest + value as a precedent in such matters, and has protected the + independence and dignity of a later race of reviewers. He would never + receive an unpaid-for contribution. He declined to make it the + interest of the proprietors to prefer a certain class of contributors. + The payment was ten guineas a sheet at first, and rose gradually to + double that sum, with increase on special occasions; and even when + rank or other circumstances made remuneration a matter of perfect + indifference, Jeffrey insisted that it should nevertheless be + received. The Czar Peter, when working in the trenches, he was wont to + say, received pay as a common soldier. Another principle which he + rigidly carried out, was that of a thorough independence of publishing + interests. The Edinburgh Review was never made in any manner tributary + to particular bookselling schemes. It assailed or supported with equal + vehemence or heartiness the productions of Albemarle-street and + Paternoster-row. ‘I never asked such a thing of him but once,’ said + the late Mr. Constable, describing an attempt to obtain a favourable + notice from his obdurate Editor, ‘and I assure you the result was no + encouragement to repeat such petitions.’ The book was Scott’s edition + of Swift; and the result one of the bitterest attacks on the + popularity of Swift, in one of Jeffrey’s most masterly criticisms. + + He was the better able thus to carry his point, because against more + potent influences he had already taken a decisive stand. It was not + till six years after the Review was started that Scott remonstrated + with Jeffrey on the virulence of its party politics. But much earlier + even than this, the principal proprietors had made the same complaint; + had pushed their objections to the contemplation of Jeffrey’s + surrender of the editorship; and had opened negotiations with writers + known to be bitterly opposed to him. To his honour, Southey declined + these overtures, and advised a compromise of the dispute. Some of the + leading Whigs themselves were discontented, and Horner had appealed to + him from the library of Holland House. Nevertheless, Jeffrey stood + firm. He carried the day against Paternoster-row, and unassailably + established the all-important principle of a perfect independence of + his publishers’ control. He stood as resolute against his friend + Scott; protesting that on one leg, and the weakest, the Review could + not and should not stand, for that its _right leg_ he knew to be + politics. To Horner he replied by carrying the war into the Holland + House country with inimitable spirit and cogency. ‘Do, for Heaven’s + sake, let your Whigs do something popular and effective this session. + Don’t you see the nation is now divided into two, and only two + parties; and that _between_ these stand the Whigs, utterly + inefficient, and incapable of ever becoming efficient, if they will + still maintain themselves at an equal distance from both. You must lay + aside a great part of your aristocratic feelings, and side with the + most respectable and sane of the democrats.’ + + The vigorous wisdom of the advice was amply proved by subsequent + events, and its courage nobody will doubt who knows anything of what + Scotland was at the time. In office, if not in intellect, the Tories + were supreme. A single one of the Dundases named the sixteen Scots + peers, and forty-three of the Scots commoners; nor was it an + impossible farce, that the sheriff of a county should be the only + freeholder present at the election of a member to represent it in + Parliament, should as freeholder vote himself chairman, should as + chairman receive the oaths and the writ from himself as sheriff, + should as chairman and sheriff sign them, should propose himself as + candidate, declare himself elected, dictate and sign the minutes of + election, make the necessary indenture between the various parties + represented solely by himself, transmit it to the Crown-office, and + take his seat by the same night’s mail to vote with Mr. Addington! We + must recollect such things, when we would really understand the + services of such men as Jeffrey. We must remember the evil and + injustice he so strenuously laboured to remove, and the cost at which + his labour was given. We must bear in mind that he had to face day by + day, in the exercise of his profession, the very men most interested + in the abuses actively assailed, and keenly resolved as far as + possible to disturb and discredit their assailant. ‘Oh, Mr. Smith,’ + said Lord Stowell to Sydney, ‘you would have been a much richer man if + you had come over to us!’ This was in effect the sort of thing said to + Jeffrey daily in the Court of Session, and disregarded with generous + scorn. What it is to an advocate to be on the deaf side of ‘the ear of + the Court,’ none but an advocate can know; and this, with Jeffrey, was + the twenty-five years’ penalty imposed upon him for desiring to see + the Catholics emancipated, the consciences of dissenters relieved, the + barbarism of jurisprudence mitigated, and the trade in human souls + abolished. + + The Scotch Tories died hard. Worsted in fair fight they resorted to + foul; and among the publications avowedly established for personal + slander of their adversaries, a preeminence so infamous was obtained + by the Beacon, that it disgraced the cause irretrievably. Against this + malignant libeller Jeffrey rose in the Court of Session again and + again, and the result of its last prosecution showed the power of the + party represented by it thoroughly broken. The successful advocate, at + length triumphant even in that Court over the memory of his talents + and virtues elsewhere, had now forced himself into the front rank of + his profession; and they who listened to his advocacy found it even + more marvellous than his criticism, for power, versatility, and + variety. Such rapidity yet precision of thought, such volubility yet + clearness of utterance, left all competitors behind. Hardly any + subject could be so indifferent or uninviting, that this teeming and + fertile intellect did not surround it with a thousand graces of + allusion, illustration, and fanciful expression. He might have + suggested Butler’s hero, + + ‘—who could not ope + His mouth but out there flew a trope,’ + + with the difference that each trope flew to its proper mark, each + fancy found its place in the dazzling profusion, and he could at all + times, with a charming and instinctive ease, put the nicest restraints + and checks on his glowing velocity of declamation. A worthy Glasgow + baillie, smarting under an adverse verdict obtained by these + facilities of speech, could find nothing so bitter to advance against + the speaker as a calculation made with the help of Johnson’s + Dictionary, to the effect that Mr. Jeffrey, in the course of a few + hours, had spoken the whole English language twice over! + + But the Glasgow baillie made little impression on his fellow citizens; + and from Glasgow came the first public tribute to Jeffrey’s now + achieved position, and legal as well as literary fame. He was elected + Lord Rector of the University in 1821 and 1822. Some seven or eight + years previously he had married the accomplished lady who survives + him, a grandniece of the celebrated Wilkes; and had purchased the + lease of the villa near Edinburgh which he occupied to the time of his + death, and whose romantic woods and grounds will long be associated + with his name. At each step of his career a new distinction now + awaited him, and with every new occasion his unflagging energies + seemed to rise and expand. He never wrote with such masterly success + for his Review as when his whole time appeared to be occupied with + criminal prosecutions, with contested elections, with journeyings from + place to place, with examinings and cross-examinings, with speeches, + addresses, exhortations, denunciations. In all conditions and on all + occasions, a very atmosphere of activity was around him. Even as he + sat, apparently still, waiting to address a jury or amaze a witness, + it made a slow man nervous to look at him. Such a flush of energy + vibrated through that delicate frame, such rapid and never ceasing + thought played on those thin lips, such restless flashes of light + broke from those kindling eyes. You continued to look at him, till his + very silence acted as a spell; and it ceased to be difficult to + associate with his small but well-knit figure even the giant-like + labours and exertions of this part of his astonishing career. + + At length, in 1829, he was elected Dean of the Faculty of Advocates; + and thinking it unbecoming that the official head of a great law + corporation should continue the editing of a party organ, he + surrendered the management of the Edinburgh Review. In the year + following, he took office with the Whigs as Lord Advocate, and + replaced Sir James Scarlett in Lord Fitzwilliam’s borough of Malton. + In the next memorable year he contested his native city against a + Dundas; not succeeding in his election, but dealing the last heavy + blow to his opponent’s sinking dynasty. Subsequently he took his seat + as Member for Perth, introduced and carried the Scotch Reform bill, + and in the December of 1832 was declared member for Edinburgh. He had + some great sorrows at this time to check and alloy his triumphs. + Probably no man had gone through a life of eager conflict and active + antagonism with a heart so sensitive to the gentler emotions, and the + deaths of Macintosh and Scott affected him deeply. He had had + occasion, during the illness of the latter, to allude to him in the + House of Commons; and he did this with so much beauty and delicacy, + with such manly admiration of the genius and modest deference to the + opinions of his great Tory friend, that Sir Robert Peel made a journey + across the floor of the house to thank him cordially for it. + + The House of Commons nevertheless was not his natural element, and + when, in 1834, a vacancy in the Court of Session invited him to his + due promotion, he gladly accepted the dignified and honourable office + so nobly earned by his labours and services. He was in his + sixty-second year at the time of his appointment, and he continued for + nearly sixteen years the chief ornament of the Court in which he sat. + In former days the judgment-seats in Scotland had not been unused to + the graces of literature: but in Jeffrey these were combined with an + acute and profound knowledge of law less usual in that connection; and + also with such a charm of demeanour, such a play of fancy and wit + sobered to the kindliest courtesies, such clear sagacity, perfect + freedom from bias, consideration for all differences of opinion; and + integrity, independence, and broad comprehensiveness of view in + maintaining his own; that there has never been but one feeling as to + his judicial career. Universal veneration and respect attended it. The + speculative studies of his youth had done much to soften all the + asperities of his varied and vigorous life, and now, at its close, + they gave to his judgments a large reflectiveness of tone, a moral + beauty of feeling, and a philosophy of charity and good taste, which + have left to his successors in that Court of Session no nobler models + for imitation and example. Impatience of dulness _would_ break from + him, now and then; and the still busy activity of his mind might be + seen as he rose often suddenly from his seat, and paced up and down + before it; but in his charges or decisions nothing of this feeling was + perceptible, except that lightness and grace of expression in which + his youth seemed to linger to the last, and a quick sensibility to + emotion and enjoyment which half concealed the ravages of time. + + If such was the public estimation of this great and amiable man, to + the very termination of his useful life, what language should describe + the charm of his influence in his private and domestic circle? The + affectionate pride with which every citizen of Edinburgh regarded him + rose here to a kind of idolatry. For here the whole man was known—his + kind heart, his open hand, his genial talk, his ready sympathy, his + generous encouragement and assistance to all that needed it. The first + passion of his life was its last, and never was the love of literature + so bright within him as at the brink of the grave. What dims and + deadens the impressibility of most men, had rendered his not only more + acute and fresh, but more tributary to calm satisfaction, and pure + enjoyment. He did not live merely in the past, as age is wont to do, + but drew delight from every present manifestation of worth or genius, + from whatever quarter it addressed him. His vivid pleasure where his + interest was awakened, his alacrity and eagerness of appreciation, the + fervour of his encouragement and praise, have animated the hopes and + relieved the toil alike of the successful and the unsuccessful, who + cannot hope, through whatever chequered future may await them, to find + a more generous critic, a more profound adviser, a more indulgent + friend. + + The present year opened upon Francis Jeffrey with all hopeful promise. + He had mastered a severe illness, and resumed his duties with his + accustomed cheerfulness; private circumstances had more than + ordinarily interested him in his old Review; and the memory of past + friends, giving yet greater strength to the affection that surrounded + him, was busy at his heart. ‘God bless you!’ he wrote to Sydney + Smith’s widow on the night of the 18th of January; ‘I am very old, and + have many infirmities; but I am tenacious of old friendships, and find + much of my present enjoyments in the recollections of the past.’ He + sat in Court the next day, and on the Monday and Tuesday of the + following week, with his faculties and attention unimpaired. On the + Wednesday he had a slight attack of bronchitis; on Friday, symptoms of + danger appeared; and on Saturday he died, peacefully and without pain. + Few men had completed with such consummate success the work appointed + them in this world; few men had passed away to a better with more + assured hopes of their reward. The recollection of his virtues + sanctifies his fame; and his genius will never cease to awaken the + gratitude, respect, and pride of his countrymen. + + HAIL AND FAREWELL! + + + + + THE YOUNG JEW OF TUNIS. + + + People are glad to be assured that an interesting story is true. The + following history was communicated to the writer by a friend, residing + in the East, who had it from the French Consul himself. It reminds one + of the Arabian Nights. + + In the year 1836, a Jewish family residing in Algiers were plunged in + the greatest distress by the death of the father. A son, two + daughters, and a mother were by this calamity left almost destitute. + After the funeral, the son, whose name was Ibrahim, sold what little + property there was to realise and gave it to his mother and sisters; + after which, commending them to the charity of a distant relative, he + left Algiers and departed for Tunis, hoping that if he did not find + his fortune, he would at least make a livelihood there. + + He presented himself to the French Consul with his papers, and + requested a license as a donkey-driver. This was granted, and Ibrahim + entered the service of a man who let out asses, both for carrying + water and for hire. + + Ibrahim was extremely handsome and very graceful in his demeanour; + but, being so poor, his clothes were too ragged for him to be employed + on anything but drudgery that was out of sight. He used to be sent + with water-skins to the meanest parts of the town. + + One day, as he was driving his ass laden with water up a narrow + street, he met a cavalcade of women riding (as usual in that country) + upon donkeys covered with sumptuous housings. He drew on one side to + allow them to pass by, but a string of camels coming up at the same + instant, there ensued some confusion. The veil of one of the women + became slightly deranged, and Ibrahim caught sight of a lovely + countenance. + + He contrived to ascertain who the lady was and where she lived. She + was Rebecca, the only daughter of a wealthy Jew. + + From this time, Ibrahim had but one thought; that of becoming rich + enough to demand Rebecca in marriage. He had already saved up a few + pieces of money; with these he bought himself better clothes, and he + was now sometimes sent to conduct the donkeys hired out for riding. + + It so chanced, that one of his first expeditions was to take Rebecca + and her attendants to a mercer’s shop. Either from accident or + coquetry, Rebecca’s veil became again deranged, and again Ibrahim + beheld the heavenly face beneath it. Ibrahim’s appearance, and his + look of burning passionate love, did not displease the young Jewess. + He frequently attended her on her excursions, and he was often + permitted to see beneath the veil. + + Ibrahim deprived himself almost of the necessaries of life, and at + length saved enough money to purchase an ass of his own. By degrees he + was able to buy more, and became a master employing boys under him. + + When he thought himself sufficiently well off in the world, he + presented himself before the family of Rebecca, and demanded her in + marriage; but they did not consider his prospects brilliant, and + rejected his proposals with contempt. Rebecca, however, sent her old + nurse to him (just as a lady in the ‘Arabian Nights’ might have sent a + similar messenger) to let him know that the family contempt was not + shared by her. + + Ibrahim was more determined than ever to obtain her. He went to a + magician, who bade him return to Algiers, and declared that if he + accepted the _first_ offer of any kind which he should receive after + entering the city, he would become rich and obtain the desire of his + heart. + + Ibrahim sold his asses and departed for Algiers. He walked up and down + the streets till nightfall, in expectation of the mysterious offer + which had been foretold—but no one came. + + He had, however, been observed by a rich widow, somewhat advanced in + years, a Frenchwoman and the widow of an officer of engineers. She + dispatched an attendant to discover who he was and where he lived, and + the next day sent for him to her house. His graceful address + fascinated her even more than his good looks, and she made him + overtures of marriage: offering at the same time to settle upon him a + handsome portion of her wealth. + + This was not precisely the mode in which Ibrahim had intended to make + his fortune; but, he recollected the prediction of the magician, and + accepted the proposal. + + They were married, and for twelve months Ibrahim lived with his wife + in great splendour and apparent happiness. At the end of that time he + professed to be called to Tunis by indispensable business, which would + require his presence for some time. His wife made no opposition, + though she was sorry to lose him, and wished to accompany him; but + that he prohibited, and departed alone: taking with him a good supply + of money. + + He again presented himself before the French Consul at Tunis, who was + surprised at the change in his appearance. His vest of flowered silk, + brocaded with gold, was girded round the waist by a Barbary sash of + the richest silk; his ample trowsers of fine cloth were met by red + morocco boots; a Cashmere shawl of the most radiant colours was + twisted round his head; his beard, carefully trimmed, fell half-way + down his breast; a jewelled dagger hung at his girdle; and an ample + Bournooz worn over all, gave an additional grace to his appearance, + while it served to conceal his rich attire, which far exceeded the + license of the sad-coloured garments prescribed by law to the Jews. + + He lost no time in repairing to the house of Rebecca. She was still + unmarried, and again he made his proposals; this time it was with more + success. He had all the appearance of a man of high consideration; and + the riches which he half-negligently displayed, took their due effect. + He had enjoyed a good character when he lived at Tunis before, and + they took it for granted that he had done nothing to forfeit it. They + asked no questions how his riches had been obtained, but gave him + Rebecca in marriage. + + At the end of six months, the French Consul received inquiries from + Algiers about Ibrahim; his wife, it was said, had become alarmed at + his prolonged absence. + + The Consul sent for Ibrahim, and told him what he had heard. Ibrahim + at first appeared disturbed and afterwards indignant. He denied in the + strongest terms that he had any other wife than Rebecca, but owned + that the woman in question had fallen in love with him. He also denied + that he had given her any sort of legal claim upon him. The French + Consul was perplexed; Ibrahim’s papers were all regular, he had always + led an exemplary life in Tunis, he denied his marriage, and there was + no proof of it. + + Had Ibrahim retained the smallest presence of mind, no harm could have + befallen him. In that land of polygamy, his two wives (even though one + were European) would have caused little scandal. His domestic position + was somewhat complicated but by no means desperate. On departing from + the Consul’s house, however, he would seem to have become possessed by + a strange panic not to be explained by any rules of logic, and to have + gone mad straightway. His one idea was that he was hurried on by + destiny to—murder Rebecca! + + This miserable wretch, possessed by the fixed idea of destroying + Rebecca, made deliberate preparations for carrying it into effect. But + with the strange fanaticism and superstition which formed a main part + of his character, and which forms a part of many such characters in + those countries, he determined to give her a chance for her life; for, + he seems to have thought in some confused, wild, mad, vain way, that + it might still be the will of Providence that she should live. + + He concerted measures with the captain of a Greek vessel, whom he + induced by heavy bribes to enter into his views. He gave it out that + he was going to Algiers, to put an end to the ridiculous report which + had been raised, and to destroy the claim which had been set up by his + pretended wife. + + He embarked with Rebecca, without any attendants, on board the Greek + vessel, which was bound for Algiers. Rebecca was taken at once into + the cabin, where her curiosity was excited by a strange-looking black + box which stood at one end of it. The black box was high and square, + and large enough to contain a person sitting upright. The lid was + thrown back; and she saw that the box was lined with thick cotton + cloth, and contained a small brass pitcher full of water and a loaf of + bread. Whilst she was examining these things, Ibrahim and the Captain + entered; they neither of them spoke one word; but, coming behind her, + Ibrahim placed his hand over her mouth, and muffling her head in her + veil, lifted her into the box with the assistance of the captain, and + shut down the lid, which they securely fastened. They then carried the + box between them upon deck, and lowered it over the side of the + vessel. The box had holes bored in the lid; it was very strong; and so + built as to float like a boat. + + The Greek vessel continued her course towards Algiers. Either the crew + had really not noticed the strange proceedings of Ibrahim and the + Captain, or (which is more probable) they were paid to be silent. It + is certain that they did not attempt to interfere. + + The next morning, as a French steamer, the Panama, was bearing towards + Tunis, something like the hull of a small vessel was seen drifting + about directly in their course. They picked it up, as it floated + athwart the steamer’s bow; and were horrified to hear feeble cries + proceeding from the interior. Hastily breaking it open, they found the + unhappy Rebecca nearly dead with fright and exhaustion. When she was + sufficiently recovered to speak, she told the captain how she had come + into that strange condition, and he made all speed on to Tunis. + + The French Consul immediately dispatched a swift sailing steamer to + Algiers with Rebecca and her nearest friends on board, bearing a + dispatch to the governor, containing a hasty account of all these + things. The steamer arrived first. When the Greek vessel entered the + port, Ibrahim and the Captain were ordered to follow the officer on + guard, and in a few moments Ibrahim stood face to face with his + victim. To render the complication more complete, the French wife + hearing that a steamer from Tunis had arrived with dispatches, went + down to the governor’s house to make inquiries after her husband. + + At first, Ibrahim nearly fainted; but he soon regained his insane + self, and boldly confessed his crime. Addressing himself to Rebecca, + he said: + + ‘I confided thee to the sea, for I thought it might be the will of + Providence to save thee! If thou hadst died, it would have been + Providence that decreed thy fate, but thou art saved, and I am + destroyed.’ + + Both the wives wept bitterly. Their natural jealousy of each other was + merged into the desire to save the fanatic from the consequence of his + madness. Rebecca attempted to deny her former statement, and used + great intercession with her relatives to forego their vengeance. The + Frenchwoman made interest with the authorities too, but it was all, + happily, in vain. The friends of Rebecca were implacable and insisted + on justice. + + Ibrahim works now in the gallies at Toulon. The captain is under + punishment also. The magician, it is to be feared, is practising his + old trade. + + This is, perhaps, as strange an instance as there is on record, of an + audacious and besotted transference of every responsibility to + Providence. As though Providence had left man to work out nothing for + himself! It is probable that this selfish monomaniac made the same + pretext to his mind for basely marrying the widow, whom he intended to + desert. There is no kind of impiety so monstrous as this; and yet + there is, perhaps, none encountered so frequently, in one phase or + other, in many aspects of life. + + * * * * * + + _To be Published Monthly, with the Magazines, + Price 2d., or Stamped, 3d.,_ + + THE HOUSEHOLD NARRATIVE + + OF + + CURRENT EVENTS. + + CONDUCTED + + BY CHARLES DICKENS. + + BEING + + A Monthly Supplement to ‘HOUSEHOLD WORDS.’ + + + Published at the Office, No. 16, Wellington Street North, Strand. + Printed by BRADBURY & EVANS, Whitefriars, London. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES + + + ● Fixed typos; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. + ● Renumbered footnotes. + ● Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. + ● The caret (^) serves as a superscript indicator, applicable to + individual characters (like 2^d) and even entire phrases (like + 1^{st}). + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 78168 *** |