Title: McClure's Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 5, October 1893
Author: Various
Language: English
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McCLURE'S MAGAZINE

VOL. I    OCTOBER, 1893    No. 5


_Copyright, 1893, by S. S. McClure, Limited. All rights reserved._

Table of Contents

                                                                  PAGE
  Thomas B. Reed, of Maine. By Robert P. Porter.                   375
  "Human Documents."                                               387
  The Joneses' Telephone. By Annie Howells Fréchette.              394
  The Psychological Laboratory at Harvard. By Herbert Nichols.     399
  The Spire of St. Stephen's. By Emma W. Demeritt.                 410
  Mountaineering Adventure. By Francis Gribble.                    417
  The Smoke. By George MacDonald.                                  428
  The Earl of Dunraven. By C. Kinloch Cooke.                       429
  At a Dance. By Augusta de Gruchy.                                439
  Dulces Amaryllidis Iræ. By Augusta de Gruchy.                    439
  A Splendid Time--Ahead. By Walter Besant.                        440
  An Old Song.                                                     450
  Stranger Than Fiction. By Dr. William Wright.                    451



Illustrations

                                                                  PAGE
  Thomas B. Reed, Portland Me, 17 July 1893.                       375
  Mr. Reed's Home in Portland.                                     377
  View From the Roof of Mr. Reed's House.                          378
  Mr. Reed in His Library.                                         380
  A Corner of the Library.                                         381
  Mr. Reed's Birthplace in Portland.                               382
  The Members of the Pentagon Club of Bowdoin College.             383
  Mr. Reed's Portland Law Office.                                  386
  Thomas B. Reed.                                                  388
  Frances E. Willard.                                              390
  Edgar Wilson Nye.                                                391
  George W. Cable.                                                 392
  The Joneses' Telephone                                           394
  Studying the Effects of Sound and of Attention on Colors.        400
  Studying the Effects of Colors on Judgments of Time.             401
  Revolving Chair for Studying Localizations of Sounds.            402
  Measuring the Time Required for Various Mental Acts.             404
  Wax Specimens in the Museum.                                     406
  Gustave Theodore Fechner.                                        406
  Professor Wilhelm Wundt, of Leipsic (1878).                      407
  President G. Stanley Hall, Founder of 1st Psychological Lab.     407
  Professor William James, Harvard University.                     407
  Professor Hugo Münsterberg, Harvard University.                  408
  The Mauvais Pas, Mont Blanc.                                     418
  The Needle of the Giants and Mont Blanc.                         419
  The Matterhorn.                                                  421
  The Dent Blanche.                                                422
  The Rhone Glacier.                                               424
  Passage of a Crevasse, Mont Blanc.                               425
  Pyramids of the Morteratsch.                                     426
  Passage of a Crevasse, Mont Blanc.                               428
  Lord Dunraven.                                                   429
  Lady Dunraven.                                                   430
  Dunraven Castle.                                                 431
  Captain William Cranfield of the "Valkyrie."                     431
  G. T. Watson, Designer of the "Valkyrie."                        432
  The "Valkyrie."                                                  433
  The Kenry Gateway.                                               434
  Adare Manor House.                                               435
  Adare Gallery.                                                   436
  Ruins of Desmond Castle.                                         437



THOMAS B. REED, OF MAINE.

THE MAN AND HIS HOME.

BY ROBERT P. PORTER.


It was at a dinner in Washington that I had the good fortune to find
myself seated next to Thomas B. Reed, of Maine. It was a brilliant
occasion, for around the table sat well-known statesmen, scientists,
jurists, economists, and literary men, besides two or three who had
gained eminence in the medical profession. Mr. Reed was at his best,
"better than the best champagne." His conversation, sparkling with
good-nature, was not only exhilarating to his immediate neighbors, but
at times to the entire table. Being among friends, among the sort of
men he really liked, he let himself out as it were.

[Illustration: Thomas B. Reed, Portland Me, 17 July 1893]

Before the conversation had gone beyond the serious point I remember
asking the ex-Speaker how he felt at the time when the entire
Democratic press of the country had pounced upon him; when he was
being held up as "The Czar"--a man whose iron heels were crushing out
American popular government. "Oh," he promptly replied, "you mean what
were my feelings while the uproar about the rules of the Fifty-first
Congress was going on, and while the question was in doubt? Well, I
had no feeling except that of entire serenity, and the reason was
simple. I knew just what I was going to do if the House did not
sustain me;" and raising his eyes, with a typical twist of his mouth
which those who have seen it don't easily forget, he added, "when a
man has decided upon a plan of action for either contingency there is
no need for him to be disturbed, you know."

"And may I ask what you determined to do if the House decided
adversely?"

"I should simply have left the Chair, resigning the Speakership, and
left the House, resigning my seat in Congress. There were things that
could be done, you know, outside of political life, and for my own
part I had made up my mind that if political life consisted in sitting
helplessly in the Speaker's chair, and seeing the majority powerless
to pass legislation, I had had enough of it, and was ready to step
down and out."

After a moment's pause he turned, and, looking me full in the face
with a half smile, continued: "Did it ever occur to you that it is a
very soothing thing to know exactly what you are going to do, if
things do not go your way? You have then made yourself equal to the
worst, and have only to wait and find out what was ordained before the
foundation of the world."

"You never had a doubt in your own mind that the position taken was
in perfect accordance with justice and common sense?" I ventured.

"Never for a moment. Men, you see, being creatures of use and wont,
are naturally bound up in old traditions. While every court which had
ever considered the question had decided one way, we had been used to
the other. Fortunately for the country, there was no wavering in our
ranks."

"But how did you feel," said I, "when the uproar was at its worst,
when the members of the minority were raging on the floor together?"

"Just as you would feel," was the reply, "if a big creature were
jumping at you, and you knew the exact length and strength of his
chain, and were quite sure of the weapon you had in your hands."

This conversation gives a clear insight into the character of Thomas
B. Reed. It shows his chief characteristics: manly aggressiveness, an
iron will--qualities which friend and foe alike have recognized in
him--with a certain serenity of temper, a broadness, a bigness of
horizon which only the men who have been brought into personal contact
with him fully appreciate.

Standing, as he does, in the foremost rank of public men, one of the
leaders of his party, the public has certainly a right to know
something of the man. First of all, one thing about him has to be
emphasized; he lacks one of the traits that popular leaders too often
possess. He cannot be all things to all men. He is bound to be true to
his personal convictions, and he is not the man to vote for a measure
he detests, because his constituents clamor for it. Every one knows
how public men have at times voted against their earnest convictions,
and then gone into the cloak room and apologized for it; but it would
be difficult to imagine a man of Mr. Reed's composition in this rôle.

To judge a man well, to know his best side, it is necessary to see him
at home, and I cull from notes made several weeks ago, during a visit
to Mr. Reed in Portland.

I found Mr. Reed in a three-story corner brick house, on one of the
most sightly spots in town. Over the western walls of that modern,
substantial New England home there clambers a mass of Japanese ivy,
which, relieving the straightness of the architectural lines, gives a
pleasing something, an artistic touch, to the _ensemble_. Its owner
having shown his pride in that beautiful ivy, straightway took me to
the roof of the house, to admire the superb view of Casco Bay and the
picturesque expanse of country around Portland.

The stamp of the man's character is plain everywhere in that house.
The rooms are large, airy, and unpretentiously furnished, yet with
solidity and that certain winning grace of domestic appointments in
old New England. Much of Mr. Reed's work is done at his desk in a wee
bit of a room on the second floor, where crowded book-shelves reach to
the ceiling. His library long ago overflowed the confines of his den,
and books are scattered through the rooms on every floor; books,
bought not for binding nor editions, but for the contents, ranging
from miscellaneous novels to the dryest historical treatises, from
poetry to philosophy.

The library,[1] on the ground floor, where callers are usually
received, has among the inevitable book-shelves a few photographs of
masterpieces. Over the mantelpiece a painting of Weeks's shows that
the sympathies of the owner extend beyond that sphere to which the
great public is inclined to confine him.

  [1] The picture which forms the frontispiece of the Magazine
      represents him in this room, at his favorite seat by the
      window.

Of the favorite haunts of Mr. Reed, the place of all to study his
social side is at his club, The Cumberland.

"You see," said Mr. Reed, "a club of this kind is only possible in a
conservative town like Portland, a staid, old place which grows
slowly, at the rate of about five or six hundred a year, where the
one hundred club members, while belonging to opposite political
parties, unite to a man in celebrating the victory of any of their
fellow-members. Most of them, friends from boyhood, have gone to
school together, and are known to one another but by their
Christian names." There the ex-Czar is always called "Tom," or
"Thomas, old boy," and there reigns supreme a fine spirit of
equality, or unpretentious "give and take" sort of intercourse,
which is really the ideal object of a club.

"Indeed, there is no place like it," said Reed. "It is the most
home-like club one can imagine; too small to have coteries, and with
lots of bright, sensible boys, quick at repartee. People talk of my
wit, but, I tell you, it's hard work to hold my own there; and then no
one can try to pose among us, or attempt to make a fool of himself,
but he is properly sat upon. Intercourse with your fellow-men in such
a _milieu_ is the best discipline I know of for a man--except that of
political life," he added, with his droll smile.

Of course Mr. Reed is interested in the welfare of Portland, and he
cherishes the idea that some day the city of his birth will become one
of the great cities of the continent. "Portland harbor is one of the
finest on the Atlantic coast. It is at least two days nearer Europe
than New York, and one day nearer Europe than Boston. The annexation
of Canada to the United States, or the union of the two countries, one
of which is bound to come in the course of time, will surely bring to
Portland the great prosperity that should be hers by reason of her
admirable harbor and her geographical position. And," he added, "while
I like the life in Washington, especially when the session is active
and there is plenty of work to do, it has never yet been the case that
I have left Portland without regret, or gone back to it without
pleasure."

[Illustration: MR. REED'S HOME IN PORTLAND.]

The frame house in which he was born still stands, shaded by two elms
of obvious age. Henry W. Longfellow was born just around the corner
from it, in a dwelling that marks the spot where, in 1632, one George
Cleeve built the first white man's habitation ever erected in the
territory now included in Portland's boundaries. The settlement was
called, in tender remembrance of an English field, "Stogumnor," and
its founder's life was one of almost ceaseless conflict, now with the
redskins and now with the white neighbors of other settlements, so
that Cleeve left behind him the impress of a bold, vigorous fellow.
His daughter married Michael Mitten, whose two daughters in turn
married two brothers named Brackett. One of the Brackett daughters
married a fisherman named Reed, whose descendant, Thomas Brackett
Reed, has exhibited, in a different way and under vastly different
circumstances, much of the nerve and daring that animated his stern
old fighting settler-ancestor, George Cleeve.

[Illustration: VIEW FROM THE ROOF OF MR. REED'S HOUSE.]

At nine Mr. Reed entered the grammar school, at eleven the high
school. He was sixteen years old when he completed his course in the
latter. His boyhood friends say he was fond of fun, though the amount
of knowledge he absorbed would indicate that he was also fond of
books; yet Mr. Reed himself confesses that literature in general, and
old romances in particular, attracted him more than text-books. He
still remembers his first schoolmaster, a spare young man, "the best
disciplinarian I ever knew," who had the art of holding a turbulent
school by finding out what was the particular spring he could touch to
control every one of his lawless boys.

"He had the pull on me," says Mr. Reed, "by simply holding over me in
critical moments the penalty of dismissal. You know, I had a sort of
inborn idea that the school was a great thing for me, and I knew that
my parents were too poor to afford to send me anywhere else, so I kept
straight along, doing my duty. It was the master's custom to allow
each boy who had no demerits to ring his bell before leaving the
class, and once for three days in succession I did not ring that bell.
I can see now the master coming to me, and saying: 'Tom, is it an
inadvertence?' 'No, sir.' 'Did you break the rules?' 'Yes, sir.'
'Why?' 'Because they were too hard.' 'Well, boy, you know what you can
do if the rules are too hard; you can leave school.' I hung my head,
and he went away, after a few moments of, to me, terrible silence,
saying: 'Never let me hear of this again, Tom.' And I replied: 'No,
sir.' And meant it."

On entering Bowdoin College in 1856, young Reed had a half-formed
desire of becoming a minister, which he relinquished, however, long
before his graduation. His life struggle began in earnest with that
first year at college, for he had to earn enough to pay his way as he
went along. His attendance at class recitations during the first term
of his freshman year was regular, but he found it necessary to drop
out the next two terms and earn some money by teaching. He kept up his
studies, however, without an instructor. All through the first part of
his college course young Reed devoted a great deal of time to
literature, to the neglect of his studies. While in the high school, a
garret in the house of one of his mother's relations had become his
Mecca. It was packed full of books, especially novels, and there he
was wont to journey twice a week, loading himself with volumes, over
which he spent his days and the best part of his nights. Mr. Reed says
that it was mostly trashy, imaginative stuff, but that it also was
full of delight, and in some ways full of information for him. To that
omnivorous reading he attributes in large part his knowledge of words,
and it was also, no doubt, an apprenticeship from which he naturally
stepped into higher literature.

Graduation was but little more than a year off, when, the contents
of the garret being exhausted, the young man realized to his
consternation that his class standing was very low. His place at the
end of the college course depended on his average class standing all
through. He had received none of the sixteen junior parts which were
given out during the junior year, and to his dismay the English
orations, corresponding to the junior parts at the end of the course,
were reduced to twelve. There was but one course open to the
ambitious, spirited boy--to offset the low average of his earlier
terms by an exceptionally high average during his last. Romances
and poems were laid aside, and from that time forward until
Commencement he was up at five in the morning, and by nine o'clock
every night he was in bed, and tired enough to drop asleep at once.
Mr. Reed says very frankly that he did not relish this regimen, for
by nature he is indolent. Apropos of this, it was a common saying
among his comrades that Reed would be somebody some day, if he were
not so lazy.

The consequences of his three years of novel-reading were such a
serious matter to him that he was afraid to go and hear the result of
the final examinations but remained in his room until a friend came to
tell him that he was one of the first five in his class in his average
for the entire course. This is the other side of Reed, "the lazy."

Besides this success, his oration on "The Fear of Death" won the first
prize for English composition. It was in delivering it that Mr. Reed
felt the first emotions of the orator, when every eye in the audience
was riveted upon him, and when the profound silence that prevailed
told the deep interest which his words aroused. Of the year's work
which won for him the privilege of delivering it on that Commencement
Day, thirty-three years ago, Mr. Reed says that it was the hardest of
his life, and the only time he has forced himself up to his full limit
for so long a period.

Graduation from college was not by any means the end of the struggle
for the young man. Money was still lacking, and to get it he engaged
in school-teaching, an occupation which he had already followed during
two terms, and in vacation times. He taught at first for twenty
dollars a month, "boarding round," and the highest pay he ever
received as a teacher was forty-five dollars a month. His old comrades
delight in telling an incident of his school-teaching days. He once
found it necessary to chastise a boy who was about his own age,
although he had been cautioned against whipping, by the members of the
committee of the district, unless he first referred the case to them.
But Reed was Reed even in those days. The committee having failed to
sustain him in the past, in this instance he decided that some one
must be master at school, and that he would be that some one.
Accordingly, the refractory young man was thrashed, after an exciting
quarter of an hour--a close victory, which one pound more avoirdupois
might have decided against the teacher.

Mr. Reed soon gave up school-teaching, and, thinking that a young man
would have a better chance out West, he went to California. Judge
Wallace, afterwards Chief Justice of California, examined Reed for
admission to the bar. It was in '63, during the civil war, when the
Legal Tender Act was much discussed in California, where a gold
basis was still maintained, that Wallace, whose office adjoined
the one where Reed was studying, happened in one day and said, "Mr.
Reed, I understand you want to be admitted to the bar. Have you
studied law?" "Yes, sir, I studied law in Maine while teaching."
"Well," said Wallace, "I have one question to ask. Is the Legal
Tender Act constitutional?" "Yes," said Reed. "You shall be admitted
to the bar," said Wallace. "Tom Bodley [a deputy sheriff, who had
legal aspirations] was asked the same question, and he said 'no.' We
will admit you both, for anybody who can answer off-hand a question
like that ought to practise law in this country."

[Illustration: MR. REED IN HIS LIBRARY.]

Reed's sojourn on the Pacific coast was short. In '64 he was made
Assistant Paymaster in the United States Navy, and served in that
capacity until his honorable discharge a year or so after. His
admission to practise before the Supreme Court of the State of Maine
followed on his return to the East. Cases came to the young lawyer
slowly. The first ones were in the minor municipal courts. Gradually
he secured a certain run of commercial and admiralty cases which began
to yield something tangible in the shape of fees. Yet the goal of
success seemed a long way off, when it happened that in one of those
minor cases he cross-examined a refractory witness in such a manner as
to completely overturn the testimony given, and thereby won the case
for his client. The unexpected result was that the witness who had
been upset by the young lawyer's skill conceived a great admiration
for him, and became influential in sending him many cases.

That he made his mark in his modest position is shown by the fact that
after two years, in 1867, Mr. Reed was nominated for the State
Legislature. Judge Nathan Webb, then County Attorney, who had known
Reed simply as his opponent in a number of cases, had proposed his
name, and, after six ballots, had succeeded in nominating him. The
first thing Reed knew about it was when reading the papers the next
morning, and his first impulse was to decline. When Webb came in he
urged him to accept, saying that a winter's legislative experience
would broaden and be in every respect valuable to him. Mr. Reed
accepted, and after serving two terms in the House he was elected to
the State Senate. Then he was made Attorney-General and afterwards
City Solicitor of Portland, and in 1876 he was for the first time
nominated to represent his district in the House of Representatives in
Washington.

[Illustration: A CORNER OF THE LIBRARY.]

At the very moment when Reed, escorted by one of his colleagues, took
a seat at the first convenient desk, on the day when he began his life
as a congressman, Mr. Reed's massive figure, suggestive of physical
strength; the easy and yet not offensive assurance with which he took
his seat and glanced with quizzical eye about the chamber; the
unaffected way with which he accepted congratulations from the New
England members who knew him, and the reputation he had already won as
a master of wit and the possessor of a tongue which could be eloquent
with sarcasm, all of these things so impressed Mr. S. S. Cox that he
turned to Mr. William T. Frye, then a member for Maine, and said:
"Well, Frye, I see your State has sent another intellectual and
physical giant who is a youngster here." "Whom do you mean?" asked
Frye. "This man Reed, who must be even now cracking a joke, for I see
they are all laughing about him."

But to maintain the reputation which his State had secured for
committing its interests to master men, Mr. Reed had a hard task
before him. Blaine, who had just passed from the House to the Senate,
had made Maine of preëminent influence by reason of his formidable
canvass for the presidential nomination. Eugene Hale and Mr. William
T. Frye represented in part the State in the House. Hannibal Hamlin
was a member of the Senate, and the tradition of the remarkable
intellectual achievements of William Pitt Fessenden, so long a senator
from Maine, was still so fresh in the minds of many members of
Congress that it was common to hear Mr. Fessenden spoken of as perhaps
the ablest senator since the days of Webster, Clay, and Calhoun. But,
unlike the stories that are told of the débuts of many statesmen, Mr.
Reed's first speech was not a failure. On the contrary, it was a
success. A success all the more brilliant because won under trying
circumstances.

A bill was under consideration to pay the College of William and Mary,
in Virginia, damages for the occupancy of its buildings by United
States troops during the war. It was one of an almost innumerable
class of similar claims in the South, and its payment would have
established a precedent that would at that time have opened the door
to the appropriation of millions of dollars. It had been put forward
as being the most meritorious of these southern war claims, in the
hope that the sympathy which could be aroused in behalf of the
venerable institution of learning making the claim (it dating back to
Washington's time, and being of a religious and eleemosynary as well
as educational character) would stir up a sentimental feeling by means
of which the other claims could be slipped through the House.

[Illustration: MR. REED'S BIRTHPLACE IN PORTLAND.]

Doctor Loring, a Republican member from Massachusetts, one of the most
polished and eloquent speakers in the House, had made a strong and
touching appeal, full of pathos and sentiment, in favor of the bill.
At the conclusion of his speech spontaneous applause burst from all
sides; Republicans and Democrats thronged to the desk of the orator to
congratulate and shake him by the hand. The scene was a memorable one.
Cries of "Vote," "Vote," rose from all parts of the House, and it
seemed inevitable that the bill would pass by an almost unanimous
vote.

At this juncture Mr. Reed arose. He has told that he would at that
moment have sold his opportunity to speak for a very insignificant
sum. He stood motionless for ten minutes, unable to utter a word.
Knowing that his only chance was to dominate the turmoil, he at last
raised his voice, and, after five minutes, he felt that he would have
a hearing. Slowly the excitement and noise quieted down, and for forty
minutes he was given the closest attention. The speech was so clear,
forcible, and convincing that, in spite of some break in the
Republican ranks, it recalled members of both parties from their
temporary emotional lapse and turned the tide against these dangerous
claims.

[Illustration: THE MEMBERS OF THE PENTAGON CLUB OF BOWDOIN COLLEGE. (MR.
REED IN THE CENTRE.)]

In '77 he was made a member of what was known as "The Potter
Committee," appointed to investigate the operations of the returning
boards in the South. Committee work was essentially congenial to Mr.
Reed. He delighted in cross-examinations, and his power of sarcasm and
of insinuating inquiry furnished the committee and the public with the
most dramatic scenes which occurred at any of its sessions. In
cross-examining a clever scoundrel, one Anderson, for instance, for
two whole days, he at last compelled him to admit that he was a
forger. "Who is this man Reed," every one began to ask, and the young
congressman found himself, perhaps more in his legal capacity than as
a legislator, famous.

It is not the purpose of this article to describe Mr. Reed's public
career, further than to say that there came a day when, upon the
departure of Mr. Frye from the House to the Senate, and the election
of General Garfield to the presidency, Mr. Reed passed, by common
agreement and without questioning, to the leadership of his party in
the House, and that, in the logical course of events, he was naturally
indicated as the candidate for the Speakership, when, in 1889, after
six years of minority, his party became a majority. What a magnificent
combination of assaults and eulogies his career as Speaker brought
forth is too vividly impressed upon the popular mind to need more than
mention.

During his public career Mr. Reed has manifested in a score or more of
verbal hand-to-hand conflicts his ability to meet an emergency to the
best advantage of his side. Always upon his feet when he scents
danger, he is as quick to scent it as any politician who ever occupied
a seat upon that floor. He is at all times as truly the master of all
his resources as ever Mr. Blaine was in that same tempestuous arena of
the House.

From the first he has shown himself that _rara avis_, a born
debater--aggressive and cautious, able to strike the nail right on the
head at critical moments, to condense a whole argument with
epigrammatic brevity. He has shown, to my judgment, better than any
parliamentarian living, how the turbulent battlings of great
legislative bodies, so chaotic in appearance, are not chaos at all to
one who has the capacity to think with clearness and precision upon
his feet. Such a man assimilates the substance of every speech and
judges its relative bearing upon the question. At the beginning it is
hard to tell where a discussion will hinge, but gradually, as the
debate goes on, the two or three points which are the key of the
situation become clear to the true _debater_. As I understand the art
of the _debater_, it is as if logs were heaped in confusion before
him, and the thing to do was to single out the one log which, when
removed, starts all the others flying down stream--an easier thing to
conceive than to accomplish, and which demands an alliance of widely
diverse qualities. I remember telling Mr. Reed once that it seemed to
me as if there must be in the temperament of the debater something of
the artist's nature--a little of the same instinct to inspire and
guide him. And I added: "Don't you, like the artist, draw for material
everywhere, from friend and foe alike, from things bearing directly
upon your subject as well as from things that are apparently more
removed from it? Don't you have something akin to inspiration?"

"Well, perhaps so," Mr. Reed answered, "and an anecdote occurs to my
mind which you may think fits your theory. An obscure chap got up once
and went for me in what was evidently a six months' laboriously
prepared invective. I hardly realized what he was about, except that I
had an impression of the man using words in the same frantic fashion a
windmill uses its arms in a blow. All the same, when he had finished
pitching into me, I could not but get up and return the compliment. I
had no more idea of what I was going to say than he had, when, by a
hazard, my eye caught in the sea of heads before me the face of
another representative from his State--a man who was one of the
leaders of his party--and instantly the answer flashed in my mind. I
had begun with something like 'This is only another echo of the
minority of the Fifty-first Congress, whose echoes are dying, not
musically, but dying. Gentlemen,' I continued, 'it is too much glory
for a State to furnish us with two such eminent representatives, the
one to lead the House, the other to bring up the rear.'

"But I want to tell you, while we are on this subject of the artist
and the orator," Mr. Reed continued, "that I believe there is as
much of a rhythm in prose as there is in poetry, and if a man has not
the intuitive feeling of that subtile thing, rhythm, he can never
amount to anything as an orator. Certain books of George William
Curtis--'Prue and I,' especially--have helped me as much as anything
to realize how delightful a quality rhythm is."

There is a side to Mr. Reed which few people suspect. He is a lover of
good novels, especially such novels as those of Balzac and Thackeray,
which present human nature in a rugged, truthful manner. I should
think that Mr. Reed would have about as much respect for a namby-pamby
novel as he has for a wishy-washy politician.

Of the English novelists he likes Thackeray by far the best.
"Pendennis," "The Adventures of Philip," and "The Virginians" he
esteems as his most interesting works, though Thackeray reached
high-water mark, in Mr. Reed's opinion, in "Vanity Fair." Charles
Reade, too, has found in him an assiduous reader. He thinks "The
Cloister and the Hearth" the finest and truest picture that has been
made of life in the fifteenth century, and that Charles Reade is the
best story-teller that ever wrote English.

In poetry his preference is for Tennyson, but he is a constant reader
of Browning, Holmes, Longfellow, and Whittier also. "Would you mind,"
said Mr. Reed, while talking of poets, "if I descend from the great
names and say that I have a great liking for the rhymes of a Kansas
lawyer, Eugene F. Ware, who writes over the nom-de-plume of
'Ironquill'? They are so direct; they present a moral in so few and
so strikingly well chosen words; and then they have just enough of
that quality of language which is always attractive because it is
language in the making. How do you like this example of Mr. Ware's
sturdy popular muse?

  "'Once a Kansas zephyr strayed
  Where a brass-eyed bull-pup played;
  And that foolish canine bayed
  At that zephyr in a gay,
  Semi-idiotic way.
  Then that zephyr in about
  Half a jiffy took that pup,
  Tipped him over wrong side up;
  Then it turned him wrong side out.
  And it calmly journeyed thence
  With a barn and string of fence.

                 MORAL.

  When communities turn loose
  Social forces that produce
    The disorders of a gale,
  Act upon a well-known law,
  Face the breeze, but close your jaw;
    It's a rule that will not fail.

  If you bay it in a gay,
  Self-sufficient sort of way,
  It will land you, without doubt,
  Upside down and wrong side out.'"

Mr. Reed, who learned French after he was forty years old, enjoys the
masterpieces of French fiction and French verse in the original. He
reads and rereads Horace, or, rather, certain parts of Horace which
appeal strongly to him. But his one great admiration is Balzac. "Yes,
I like to read Balzac," Mr. Reed often says. "His closeness to nature
and life hold you in spite of yourself. There is hardly a book of his
which is not sad beyond tears. 'Eugénie Grandet' is a most powerful
delineation of the absorbing grasp which love of money has on a strong
man, and the power which love has over an untutored spirit, but
sadness permeates everything. That wonderful love story of the
'Duchess de Langais' is like no other love story ever written. Could
anything be more sad than her life at the convent, and her lover's
long search for her hiding-place? unless it be that lover's discovery,
when he scaled the convent walls, that death had been stronger than
love, and that, after a life of wasted devotion, nothing could be
said of her beautiful form as it sank into the ocean except the
mournful words, 'She was a woman; now she is nothing.' And what an
extraordinary picture that is in the 'Peau de Chagrin' of the
controlling power of society over a fashionable woman! And again, in
'Père Goriot.' How sad they all are, and the sadness of a life that
toils not nor spins! Verily, to be happy we must take no note of the
flying hours, and live outside of ourselves. Is not the condition of
joyous life to forget that we are living? Here most of the characters
are so entirely selfish that one sometimes thinks there is not one
single friendly heart in the entire story. All are so conscious of
living--even those in the higher sphere--and so anxious to appear
other than they are, that their entire lives are only ignoble
struggles, with nothing of serene repose. When the strife is not for
gold or position it is for love, which is thus degraded!"

I was talking the other day to that brilliant orator, Benjamin
Butterworth, of Ohio, and the conversation turned to Tom Reed, as
Butterworth affectionately called him. Said Butterworth: "The way
Reed's constituents have stood by him is one of the most gratifying
things to me in American politics. During one of his campaigns, in
which I spoke for him, I met some Democrats in his district. I said,
'Gentlemen, I do not know anything about your politics, but you have a
man of sterling qualities to represent you.' 'Yes,' they replied, 'he
is an intense Republican and has peculiarities, but we like him
because he represents the best thought of the district, and we vote
for him on the sly.'"

That plain-speaking man, whose chief characteristic is to be true to
his own convictions, is a pretty good specimen of the Puritan. Had he
been in Cromwell's army he either would not have prayed at all or he
would have prayed just as long as Cromwell did. In either case he
would have fought for what he believed to be the right, all the time,
and given no quarter.

Apropos of what might be called his blunt frankness, I recall an
incident told me by a member who had charge of what was known as the
Whiskey Bill. Mr. Reed had baffled the attempts of the whiskey men to
get it up, but in his temporary absence, through the inadvertence or
incapacity of a member, the bill was forced on the House. Reed ran
down to the fellow, and vented his feelings in the remark, "You are
too big a fool to lead, and haven't got sense enough to follow."

[Illustration: MR. REED'S PORTLAND LAW OFFICE.]

If his bits of speeches flung about in the heat of debate, either in
retort or in attack, were gathered, they would make a mighty
interesting book. No other man has like him the power to condense a
whole argument in a few striking words. His epigrams are worthy of the
literary artist in that they are perfect in form. Though struck out on
the spur of the moment you cannot take a word from nor recast them.
They have for solid basis a most profound knowledge of human nature,
of life, and they exhibit to a luminous degree the possession in their
author of that prime quality of a true man--horse sense. I remember
this fragment of a speech of last session: "Gentlemen, everybody has
an opinion about silver, except those who have talked so much about it
that they have ceased to think."

There are many people who believe that Mr. Reed himself disproves one
of his epigrams, that "a statesman is a successful politician who is
dead." As for me, I venture to say that Mr. Reed is right, but he has
there formulated a rule to which he is one of the rare exceptions.



"HUMAN DOCUMENTS."

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES.


THOMAS BRACKETT REED was born in Portland, Me., October 18, 1839. He
graduated at Bowdoin College in 1860, and then commenced to study law.
In 1864 he suspended his studies and joined the navy as Acting
Assistant Paymaster, serving until his honorable discharge at the
close of the war. Resuming his legal studies, he was admitted to the
bar and began to practise in his native town. He soon took an active
part in politics, and was a member of the Maine State Legislature from
1868 to 1869. In 1870 he sat in the State Senate. From that year until
1872 he was State Attorney-General, and in 1874-77 he served as
solicitor for the city of Portland. He was sent to Congress in 1876
and has been continuously re-elected since. When the Republican party
came into power in 1888, he was elected Speaker of the House of
Representatives. He is a powerful debater, an energetic politician,
and a leading authority upon parliamentary procedure.

FRANCES ELIZABETH WILLARD was born in Churchville, N.Y., September 28,
1839. She graduated at Northwestern Female College, Evanston, Ill., in
1859. She became Professor of Natural Science there in 1862, and
Principal of Genesee Wesleyan Seminary in 1866. After two years of
travel and study in Europe and the Holy Land, she became Professor of
Esthetics in Northwestern University, and, as Dean of the Women's
College there, developed her system of self-government, now generally
adopted. In 1874 Miss Willard identified herself with the Woman's
Christian Temperance Union. As secretary of the Union she organized
the Home Protection movement, and in 1879 was elected president. She
took a leading part in the establishment of the Prohibition party, and
in 1887 was elected President of the Women's Council of the United
States. She also accepted the leadership of the White Cross movement,
which has been successful in obtaining enactments in many States for
the protection of women. Besides being a director of the Women's
Temperance Publishing House, Miss Willard is chief contributor to "The
Union Signal" (Chicago) and associate editor of "Our Day" (Boston).
Her chief literary works are "Nineteen Beautiful Years," "Woman and
Temperance," "How to Win," "Woman in the Pulpit," and "Glimpses of
Fifty Years."

EDGAR WILSON NYE, who has become famous as a humorist under the pen
name of "Bill Nye," was born in Shirley, Piscataqua County, Maine,
August 25, 1850. His family removed to Wisconsin shortly afterwards,
and the boy was educated at River Falls, in that State. Early in the
seventies he went to Wyoming Territory; he there studied law, and was
admitted to the bar in 1876. While in Wyoming he served in several
public capacities, as postmaster of Laramie and as a member of the
legislature. He had early begun to furnish humorous sketches to the
newspapers, and for some time was connected with the press as
correspondent. He returned to Wisconsin in 1883. In 1886 he was
connected with the New York "World," and since then has been a weekly
contributor to numerous papers. As a lecturer and reader from his own
books Mr. Nye has been very successful. In 1891 he produced a play,
"The Cadi," at a New York theatre. His best-known books are "Bill Nye
and the Boomerang," "The Forty Liars," "Baled Hay," and "Remarks." Mr.
Nye has resided, for some time past, near Asheville, N.C.

GEORGE W. CABLE was born in New Orleans in 1844. He obtained an
ordinary public-school education. His early life was spent as a clerk
in a commercial office, varied by successful contributions to "The New
Orleans Picayune" under the signature of "Drop-Shot." In 1863 he
joined the Confederate Army, and served in the Fourth Regiment
Mississippi Cavalry, until the end of the civil war. His first
literary work to attract general attention was a short story, "Sieur
George," published in the old "Scribner's Monthly." To that periodical
he contributed numerous other sketches of creole life, which were
published in book form in 1879. Other stories and articles followed,
and Mr. Cable, after working up to a leading position in the
mercantile world, from that of an errand boy, devoted himself to
literature as a profession. "The Grandissimes," in 1880, "Madame
Delphine," 1881, "The Creoles of Louisiana" and "Dr. Sevier," 1884,
established him in a high place amongst modern authors. His knowledge
of the South, and his studies among the creoles and negroes, made him
an authority upon the questions relating to the past and future of the
negro and the southern States, and involved him in numerous and heated
discussions. "The Silent South," 1885, and "The Negro Question," 1890,
are the most prominent of his works on this subject. As a lecturer and
reader he is widely known.


THOMAS B. REED.

[Illustration: 1860. AT GRADUATION.]

[Illustration: 1864. ON ENTERING THE NAVY.]

[Illustration: Thomas B. Reed, Portland Me, 17 July 1893]


FRANCES E. WILLARD.

[Illustration: FROM AN EARLY PICTURE.]

[Illustration: AGE 20. 1859.]

[Illustration: AGE 37. 1876.]

[Illustration: MISS WILLARD AT THE PRESENT DAY.]


EDGAR WILSON NYE.

[Illustration: AGE 20. 1870.]

[Illustration: AGE 28. 1878.]

[Illustration: "BILL NYE" AT THE PRESENT DAY.]

[Illustration: "BILL NYE" AT THE PRESENT DAY.]


GEORGE W. CABLE.

[Illustration: AGE 9. 1853.]

[Illustration: 1874. FIRST SKETCHES OF CREOLE LIFE.]

[Illustration: AGE 19. 1863.]

[Illustration: 1882. "DOCTOR SEVIER."]

[Illustration: AGE 24. 1868.]

[Illustration: AGE 40. 1884. "BONAVENTURE."]

[Illustration: MR. CABLE IN 1892.]



THE JONESES' TELEPHONE

BY ANNIE HOWELLS FRÉCHETTE.

[Illustration: THE JONESES' TELEPHONE]


"Now, we won't be selfish with our telephone, will we, dear? We will
let a few friends use it occasionally--it will be such a pleasure and
a convenience," and Mrs. Jones stood off and looked admiringly at the
new telephone.

"By all means. It is here and it may as well be doing some one a
service as to stand idle--and I like to feel that a friend isn't
afraid to ask a favor of me now and then. Yes, I suppose that
telephone will save us many a car-fare during the year. You can use it
to do your marketing, instead of tiring yourself out and wasting half
a day three or four times a week; and days when I forget things, think
how easy it will be to telephone and remind me. Why, it will entirely
do away with the need for strings to tie around my fingers."

"Of course it will. I'm sure that what we'll save on strings and
car-fare will pay the rent of the instrument," joyously responded Mrs.
Jones, who had no great head for figures.

Thus hope and kindly intentions presided at the inauguration of the
Joneses' telephone.

Three months passed, and the great invention had carried much
information--useful and otherwise--not only to its owners, but to the
entire neighborhood as well. There were even days when the Joneses
questioned whether they were not running a public telephone, so often
did the bell ring. It is true, it had not quite paid for itself in the
anticipated saving of car-fares and finger strings; still, it had
certainly been a great comfort, and "Well, we'll just face the music
and call it a luxury," said Jones, as he put away the receipt for his
first quarter's rent; "especially for our friends," he added, with
just a touch of bitterness.

Scarce twenty-four hours after this philosophical stand was taken,
Mrs. Jones, who was rather a light sleeper, was aroused by a violent
and prolonged ringing. It was six o'clock and Sunday morning--a day
and hour usually dedicated to undisturbed slumber. After a brief
debate in her own mind as to whether the house was on fire or the
milkman was ringing, she realized that it was the telephone bell. She
hastily donned slippers and gown and ran down-stairs. In reply to her
interrogative "Yes?" (Mrs. Jones could never bring herself to say
"Hello!") came the following, in measured and clerical tones:

"It is Mr. Brown--Reverend Mr. Brown, speaking."

"Oh, yes?" instinctively covering her half-clad feet in the folds of
her gown.

"I believe you live near the Reverend Mr. Smith, and are a member of
his church."

"Yes."

"Will you be good enough to send to him, and ask if he can spare his
curate to take Mr. Brown's early service for him, as he is called
away. I would be glad if you would send immediately, as I must have
his answer within fifteen minutes. Thank you. Please call up 1001,"
and snap went the telephone.

Mrs. Jones looked at her raiment and reflected that her one servant
was at mass and would not be back for an hour. She went slowly
up-stairs.

"Tom, Tom dear, wake up."

"What is it?"

"The Reverend Brown has telephoned to know whether the Reverend Smith
can send his curate to take his early service."

"Well, what in the world have I got to do with the peddling out of
early services?" snapped Jones, as he turned and shook up his
pillows.

"He has to have an answer to his message within fifteen minutes."

"Well, let Susan take it," settling back comfortably.

"But Susan has gone to mass."

"And I suppose that means that I am to be turned out of my bed at
daybreak, and canter half a mile!" cried Jones, in a high and excited
voice, as he bounced from his bed and began to grope sleepily for his
clothes. His toilet was made amidst grumblings of "Confound their
early services, why can't they stay in bed like Christians, instead of
prowling about, and sending men out in the chilly morning air," etc.,
etc.

Jones's temper was soured for the day, and that night, as he was
winding his watch, he said severely, "Jane, I'm going to draw the line
at delivering messages. Tom, Dick, and Harry can come here and bellow
into the telephone until they are hoarse, but I'll be switched if I'll
be messenger boy any longer."

But messages continued to come and go, increasing rather than
decreasing in frequency. People in the neighborhood fell into the
habit of saying to friends in distant parts of the city, when leaving
a question open: "Just telephone me when you make up your mind. I
haven't a telephone myself, but the Joneses have, and they are very
obliging about letting me use it."

So the fact that a telephone was owned by an obliging family
circulated almost as rapidly as if it had been a lie.

There were times when Mrs. Jones hadn't the face to ask Susan to stop
her work and carry these messages, so she carried them herself--trying
to keep up her self-respect by combining an errand of her own in the
same direction. There were a few messages, however, which remained
forever indignantly shut within the telephone; as, for instance, that
of the little girl, which came in a shrill, piping voice:

"Mrs. Jones, will you send your servant over to Mrs. Graham's to ask
Milly where she got that perfectly delicious delight she gave me the
other day, and tell her to be quick about it, please, for I'm
waiting."

And another which came in chuffy, distorted, conversational
English--regular "chappie" English, very hard to understand, but
which she finally straightened out into: "I say there--aw--oh--is that
you, Mrs. Jones? Sorry to trouble you, but would you be so awfully
good as to send word to Mrs. Bruce--aw--that I'm awfully cut up
about it, but I won't be able to dine there to-night. Aw--I
wouldn't trouble you, but it's so awfully hot I can't go round to
explain to her--you know. Thanks, awfully." The telephone was closed,
and the awfully-cut-up young man, whose sole claim on Mrs. Jones
was that they had once met at a party, was left to be healed by time.

He had for company in his fate the enthusiastic tennis-player, who, in
the midst of "a little summer shower," summoned Mrs. Jones.

"I want to speak to Flannigan, the gardener."

"This is not Flannigan's telephone."

"And who is speaking?"

"Mrs. Jones."

"Oh, well, Mrs. Jones, I can give my message to you just as well. I
want you to tell Flannigan to come and roll the tennis ground at once.
He will understand. Tell him right away, please."

"Flannigan does not live here."

"Well, you can send him word, I suppose," in a surprised and offended
voice, "to oblige a _lady_. It is _Miss Mortimer_ who is speaking,"
and there was an impressive silence. Mrs. Jones remembered Miss
Mortimer as a high-stepping young woman whom she had met at a friend's
house, and who had given her the impression of taking an inventory of
her. So Mrs. Jones took pleasure in replying, "Miss Mortimer probably
does not know that she is addressing a private telephone. Good day."

But it was Jones, the luckless Jones, who seemed set aside for the
cruel buffeting of the telephoning public. One night, which he will
ever point to as the wildest and wettest night he has known, he had
settled himself into his most comfortable chair, with a pile of new
magazines beside him, when he was disturbed by a summons from the
telephone. He responded with readiness, for he was rather expecting a
call from his partner, and to his cheerful "Hello, old fellow, I'm
here," came, in a sputtering and wind-tossed voice, "Will you please
tell Mrs. Goodson that as it is so stormy her daughter will not go
home to-night?"

Jones turned and confronted his wife, and for a time words refused to
come.

"Well, this is a little too much! Now think of an unknown voice
barking at me to go out into a storm like this and tell the Goodsons
that their daughter will not be at home to-night!"

The Goodsons lived just six squares away.

"And what will you do, dear? Why didn't you say plainly that you would
not and could not go out into a storm like this--that they must send a
messenger?"

"They shut me off without giving me time to answer."

"Well, call them up. Call them up at once."

"Jane, please have some sense. How do I know where Miss Goodson has
gadded off to? How do I know what number to call up?"

"Well, I just wouldn't go."

"Oh, I'll have to. They are friends, and if they are expecting that
girl of theirs home to-night and she doesn't come Mrs. Goodson will go
out of her mind."

So Jones drove himself forth, clad in righteous indignation and a
waterproof coat. The cold rain lashed him and the wind belabored his
umbrella, and he was more than once obliged to pause under friendly
porches to get his breath. At last the home of the Goodsons was
reached, and spent and weary he staggered up the steps. Goodson
himself opened the door.

"Hello, Jones, you're no fair weather friend indeed. Come in, come
in."

"No, I'm too wet," he answered, pointedly (and he felt like adding
"and too mad"). "I only came to tell you that Miss Goodson won't be at
home to-night."

"My daughter! She is at home. Don't you hear her playing on the piano
now? Come into the vestibule, anyway."

Jones walked in, with the rain streaming from his coat.

"Katey!" called Mr. Goodson to his wife. "Here is Jones come to say
that Julia won't be home to-night."

"What?" demanded Mrs. Goodson, appearing in the hall and regarding
Jones as if he were a mild sort of lunatic; "_Julia is_ at home."

"Well, I don't understand it," said Jones, plaintively. "I was rung up
half an hour ago, and asked to come and tell you that your daughter
wouldn't be at home on account of the storm."

"And do you mean to say that you stand ready to turn out at all hours
and deliver messages free of cost?" cried Goodson.

"It looks that way."

"Well, you are an ass!"

"Don't compliment me too freely, Goodson, I can't take in much more;
I'm soaked as it is."

Mrs. Goodson stood thinking. "Who could have been meant? Oh, I've just
thought! It must be that Mrs. Goodson who sews for Mrs. Jones and me.
And she has a daughter--a typewriter down town--and she has friends
living in the suburbs. She has doubtless gone there to dinner and
concluded to stay all night. But she lives just around the corner from
you."

Goodson laughed loudly and brutally. "A bonny sort of a night for a
respectable family man like you, Jones, to be skylarking around
carrying messages for typewriting maidens!"

"Oh, come now, that's a little too much!"

"Well, old man, I'll show my gratitude for your friendly intentions
toward me by going round to the telephone people the first thing in
the morning, and complaining of you. You've no right to be running
opposition to the public telephones in this way."

"_If_ you only would!" and Jones wrung his friend's hand while tears
of thankfulness welled up to his eyes.

Once in the street, he longed for a contemptuous enemy to kick him
briskly to the door of the Widow Goodson. The latter was evidently
about to retire, as it was a long time before she responded to his
ring. When, finally, she did come, she heard him calmly through and
then answered languidly: "Yes, I didn't much expect Bella home
to-night, for she said if it come on to rain she thought she'd stay
with her cousins. Good night. Quite drizzly, isn't it?" peering out
into the darkness.

Full of bitterness, Jones turned homeward. It seemed to him that his
cup was full; and so it was, for it refused to hold more. As he
entered his home, chilled without but hot within, he was greeted by an
unfamiliar voice coming from the regions of the telephone.

"Give me Blair's," it said. "Is that Blair's? Is
that--Blair's--B-l-a-i-r-'s, do you understand? Oh, yes, it is you, is
it, Mrs. Blair? Well, say I want to speak to Miss McCrea--Oh--pshaw!
you must know her--she's the young lady that works for you. Oh, she's
out, is she? Well, when she comes in, tell her Miss Doolan told you to
say that Mr. Brennan has broke his leg--she'll know, he drives
Judson's horses--and me and Mrs. Judson want to know whether he's to
go to the hospital or to his friends. You can send your answer to No.
999. They'll let me know. Give Miss McCrea my love and tell her not to
worry about Mr. Brennan. Good-by."

Jones confronted a stately creature as she stepped into the hall.

"Look here, young woman, who are you?"

"I'm Miss Doolan, and I'm stopping at Judson's--as housemaid," she
answered, so taken aback that for the moment her self-possession
failed her.

"And to whom have you been telephoning?"

"To Blair's--Judge Blair's, over on the avenue--a friend of mine stops
there."

"And are you in the habit of calling up ladies in that fashion?"

"It's a very good fashion, for all _I_ can see," she retorted
impudently.

"And what business have you to order an answer sent here for me to
carry on a night like this?"

"Mrs. Judson and me took you for a _gentleman_, sor, and we thought
you wouldn't mind obliging ladies."

"Nor do I, but I don't know either Mrs. Judson or you, and I don't
propose running errands for you."

"Oh, then don't bother yourself, sor--we can hire a boy," she flung
back with a scornful laugh as she bounced out.

"Now, Jane, I want you to distinctly understand that the last message
has been carried from this house. I have probably to-night sown the
seeds of pleurisy and pneumonia broadcast in my system; I have walked
twelve squares to deliver a message to the wrong person; we have had a
baggage here using our telephone as if it were her own, and we have
been at the beck and call of the unpaying public for the last six
months. Now, if the telephone people are not here by noon to-morrow,
to threaten legal proceedings against me (Goodson has promised to
complain of me) for undermining their business, I shall have that
wretched instrument dragged away, body and soul, and we will try some
other form of economy in the future."



THE PSYCHOLOGICAL LABORATORY AT HARVARD.

BY HERBERT NICHOLS, PH.D.,

Instructor in Psychology, Harvard University.

  EDITOR'S NOTE.--The illustrations of this article are from
  photographs, specially taken for the Harvard University Exhibit at
  the World's Fair.


What do they do there?

What do they expect to come out of it?

The notion of a mental laboratory is still a mystery to most persons.
They ask themselves the above questions, and many feel as they do so
an uncanny shiver. They cannot realize that the study of the mind is
already an established natural science, here, at sober Harvard, in all
the leading universities, and free of spooks and mediums.

Yet a psychological laboratory looks much like any other modern
laboratory. Around the rooms run glass-cases filled with fine
instruments. Shelves line up, row after row, of specimen-jars and
bottles. Charts cover the remainder of the walls. The tables and
floors are crowded with working apparatus. Two large rooms and one
small one are now occupied at Harvard. Four more rooms will be added
to these this summer.

Also, the spirit that reigns in these rooms is the same that is found
in other laboratories of exact science. This is the important thing.
The minds of these workers are not wandering in dialectics and vagrant
hypotheses. Reverence has opened her eyes. Hypotheses they have, and
must have. Often they hold conflicting opinions. But the referee is
always present--Nature herself. To experiment, to show the fact, is
always the method of debate. This is the great advantage of the modern
way of studying psychology over the old.

The American public is so practical that I feel I can alone satisfy
its "whats and wherefores" by explicitly describing some of the
investigations being carried on here.


EFFECT OF ELEMENTARY SENSATIONS ON ONE ANOTHER.

Here is a lantern throwing a steady light through a large tube.
(See illustration below, the right hand group.) By transparent
slides of colored glass or gelatine, the light may be made of any
color. At the end of the tube is a box, like a camera. The operator
covers his head with a cloth, and observes the color of the light as
it shines from the tube through, or on, a tiny hole in the dark
box. The size of the hole can be varied by moving slides, worked by
micrometer screws so fine that they measure the dimensions of the
hole to the four-hundredth of an inch.

[Illustration: STUDYING THE EFFECTS OF SOUND AND OF ATTENTION ON COLORS.]

The first step is to discover the "threshold" of each separate color.
That means the smallest-sized hole through which each color can be
distinguished. This varies for different colors. But now comes the
interesting point. The size of the hole, for any given _color seen_,
varies according to the nature of any _sound heard_ at the same time.
For instance, in order to distinguish a given red, the hole must be
larger or smaller, in proportion as the pitch of a musical tone is
lower or higher, fainter or stronger.

[Illustration: STUDYING THE EFFECTS OF COLORS ON JUDGMENTS OF TIME.]

The above experiment is one in a system of investigations, intended to
discover the laws by which the simplest sensations modify each other
under the simplest conditions. These are laws as fixed as the laws of
gravity, and, once determined, we may move on to study the combination
of these elements into the higher thought processes.


EFFECTS OF ATTENTION.

Another experiment will further illustrate this method of study. An
apparatus is so contrived that a colored disk can be made darker or
brighter by the operator, and a measure of the change be recorded.
(See illustration on opposite page, rear group.) The persons operated
on do not know what change is made, or whether any will be made or
not. They first look at the disk for ten seconds, taking good note of
its color. Next, the operator changes the shade (or not) as he sees
fit. Then for another ten seconds the subject judges the shade of
color, but this time performs meanwhile a sum in addition as the
operator calls to him simple numbers.

The experiment is to determine how the appearance of the color
changes, by reason of dividing the attention between observing the
disk and performing the addition. Do the colors of a rival's bonnet
really grow more glaring the harder they are looked at? To explain
this is to touch on a social as well as an esthetic problem.

Diversion of attention changes the appearance of distances as well as
of colors. A large frame covered with black cloth stands vertical. Two
tiny white disks are held in place on the cloth by invisible threads
manipulated behind the frame by the operator. When the disks are set a
given distance apart they rest close upon the smooth black ground. The
eye sees but two white spots in a free field, and may judge the
distance between them without complication. This is done for ten
seconds, as with the color disks. Then the spots are covered, and
their distance apart slightly changed (or not) by the operator. Again
they are shown, and now judged for ten seconds while adding figures.
The mental process of addition changes the judgment of the distance.

You will say it is a familiar experience that the road seems longer or
shorter as the mind is busy or not. But it is not a familiar thing to
determine the law of such lengthening and shortening for definite
distances, and under precise mental condition, as in the above
experiment.


JUDGMENTS OF TIME.

Every woman knows that color has an effect on the apparent size of
objects; that of her dress on her figure.[2] It is not as well known
that color affects our judgments of time. Our next experiment examines
this matter.

  [2] In the diagram on the preceding page the white squares show
      plainly larger than the black squares.

[Illustration: REVOLVING CHAIR FOR STUDYING LOCALIZATIONS OF SOUNDS.]

Upon a cylinder, slowly revolving by fine clockwork, strips of
different colored cardboard are fastened, and observed through a hole
in a screen. (See illustration on the preceding page.) The time of
each rotation is measured precisely. By observation it is found that
the period of rotation _seems_ to vary with the colors on the
cylinder. By combining colors differently through a long and tedious
series of investigations on many people, it is being determined what
part this sort of influence plays in mental processes. "When things
look gay, time seems short." Psychology seeks the laws of such
happenings.


LOCALIZATION OF SOUNDS.

They are the most familiar things which in our science become the
strangest. _Not_ to know where you are when seasick, still less where
your mind is, is common enough. Our next experiment will trace our
power to know where sounds are to the same origin as seasickness.

Seasickness starts in the ear. In its cavity are three small tubes,
each bent in a circle, and filled with fluid. The three sit at right
angles to each other, like the three sides at the corner of a room or
a box. Consequently, in whatever direction the head is moved, the
fluid in some one of the tubes is given a circular motion. Hanging
out into the tubes, from their sides, are hairs or _cilia_, which
connect with nerve cells and fibres that branch off from the auditory
nerve. When the head moves the fluid moves, the hairs move, the cells
are "fired off," a nervous current is sent up to the brain, and a
feeling of the head's peculiar motion is consequent.

As for seasickness: this nerve current, on its way to the brain, at
one point runs beside the spot or "centre" where the nerve governing
the stomach has its origin. When the rocking of the head is abnormally
violent and prolonged, the stimulus is so great that the current leaks
over into this adjoining "centre," and so excites the nerve running to
the stomach as to cause wretchedness and retching. Deaf mutes, whose
ear "canals" are affected, are never seasick.

But normally the amount of ear-feeling which we get by reason of
moving our head in a particular direction comes in a curious way to be
a measure of the direction of sound. The feelings we get from our skin
and muscles in turning the head play a similar _rôle_. We turn our ear
to catch a sound. We do this so frequently for every point, that in
time we learn to judge the direction of the sound by the way we would
have to turn the head in order to hear the sound best. Thereafter we
do not have to turn the head to get the direction, for we now remember
the proper feeling and know it. This memory of the old feeling _is_
our idea of the present direction. If we never moved our heads we
never could have any such notion of the location of sounds as at
present--perhaps none whatever.


MENTAL ORIGIN OF NUMBERS.

Number! surely there can be nothing mysterious here; no "law" to be
discovered about one, two, three? Well, the next time you shake hands,
ask the man what he feels. A hand. Then ask further and he will feel
five fingers. Now ask rightly and he will feel any number of distinct
spots of pressure. But the real pressures were practically the same
all through. Why, then, did he feel first one, then five, then eight,
ten, or a dozen? So with the objects we become acquainted with through
any of our senses! Why does the same bit of nature now stand before us
"one tree," and now a myriad of leaves and branches? Why do the same
outer groupings fall into such different inner groupings? Why does not
the result of each little nerve of the millions continually played on
in eye, ear, and skin stand out by itself, and we have so many million
feelings?

To explain this: the first time a child opens his eyes he sees, as
Professor James says, but "one big, blooming, buzzing confusion." Not
till some "whole" (knife) be broken up into parts (blade, handle) and
each part be mentally perceived _in immediate succession the one after
the other_ can the idea of "twoness" ever be possible to that child.
The "twoness" is a feeling of distinct nature apart from the two terms
(blade, handle). It rises from the "shock of succession." It is one of
the "modified states" wrought by one element on another, which we
studied in our first experiment. Once lodged in the mind, the feeling
may be remembered and reawakened, like any other. Thereafter the two
parts or terms may come before the mind, awaken this feeling of
twoness, and _now_ stand side by side, simultaneously and numerically
separate.

These are the primary laws of number perception. Our experiments
illustrate and prove them. Though the nerves lying under a needle
point are really several in number, the pressure on them is commonly
felt as "one prick." The area is so small that usually, through life,
all the nerves have been pressed together. They have not been split up
and pressed enough times in succession among themselves for a memory
of "twoness" to have been developed among them. But, by proper
manipulation, not unlike some of the processes of hypnotism, yet
perfectly normal, the "twoness" of some other group of nerves can be
yoked to the feeling resulting from the pressure of a particular
needle point. Thereupon the one needle will feel like two, as
distinctly and clearly as any real two.

[Illustration: MEASURING THE TIME REQUIRED FOR VARIOUS MENTAL ACTS.]


MENTAL ORIGIN OF DISTANCES AND SPACE.

By similar manipulations the simple needle may be made to feel like
three or like four; now standing in a line, now in a triangle, and
again in the corners of a square. But, since there is but one needle,
what about the apparent distance _between_ these several points that
are clearly _felt_? This is the most curious thing of all, and from
the light it throws on the formation of our "ideas" both of number and
of space, is the most important.

To explain this: our notion of distance results out of "series" of
sensations, in the same way as our notions of number. To have any idea
of "distance" aroused between any two points of skin, the line of
nerves lying between those points must, some time during life, have
been previously stimulated in a line of succession, such as would
result from a pencil drawn along between them. A card edge would give
no idea of "distance" until such a series had some time been
previously experienced. The memory of the "series" _is_ the idea of
the distance.

Within small areas of the skin, so few "series" have been experienced
that no "distance memories" have been developed. Consequently
pin-point areas commonly awaken no notion of distance. For some
regions of the body these "limit areas" are larger than for others; at
some places are quite large. On the back, spaces three inches apart
may fail to give any idea of number or of distance. Every region has
such a limit distance.

_Now it is this limit distance, the smallest distance for which a
"series" memory has been developed for a given region, that always
shoves itself in, as the apparent distance between the several
fictitious points felt from the single needle in our experiment. On
the back the one needle feels like two set three inches apart; on the
forehead like two half an inch apart; on the tongue one-sixteenth of
an inch; and so on._

The upshot, then, of this matter is to show that our whole mind--our
notions of space, number, time, and all else--is but a bundle of
lawful habits, formed in relation with the things and occurrences
around us. Ordinarily we have right ideas, because on the whole our
mind has formed right habits. We have the right idea of an inch of
skin, because the proper idea of an "inch long" has become habitually
joined to each inch of skin, or in so far as this has been done. When
a wrong idea gets joined, then we have an illusion; that is, the
stretch of skin, or, as well, the pin-point of skin, seems a fraction
of an inch in length; or, again, like three inches.


"TIME REACTIONS:" METHODS OF MEASURING THE TIME REQUIRED FOR
PERFORMING VARIOUS MENTAL ACTS.

A sketch like this would be incomplete without a word about time
reactions--a subject that historically was almost the first in the
field, and has occupied more workers than any other. A generation ago
"as quick as thought" was our extreme limit of expression. It outran
"quicker than lightning." The great physiologist, Johannes Müller,
wrote, in 1844:

  "We shall probably never secure the means of ascertaining the
  speed of nerve activities, because we lack the comparative
  distances from which the speed of a movement, in this respect
  analogous to light, could be calculated."

We now know that sensory processes travel along the nerves on an
average only about one hundred and ten feet per second, and often less
than twenty-six feet. While you are performing the commonest judgment,
electricity or light would have shot from continent to continent. The
time-measurement of different mental processes is now one of the chief
means which the psychologist uses for getting at mental laws. When
certain measures are once determined, he uses these as the chemist
does his familiar reagents, to dissolve the unfamiliar and more
complicated combinations.

The following table shows in decimals of a second about the average
length of time which our commonest judgments occupy:

SECONDS

  To recognize the direction of a ray of light            .011

  To recognize a color when one of two, as red and blue,  .012
  and expected to be seen

  To recognize the direction of ordinary sounds           .015

  To localize mentally, when blindfolded, any place on    .021
  our body, touched by another person

  Mentally to judge a distance when seen                  .022

  To recognize the direction of loud sounds               .062

  To recognize capital letters                            .180

  To recognize short English words                        .214

  To recognize pictures of objects                        .163

  To add single figures                                   .170

  Given a month, to name its season                       .164 to .354

  To answer such questions as "Who wrote Hamlet?"       .900 and over

Such then, are a few out of the many problems which have been
experimented upon in the Harvard Laboratory during the last
year--problems in perception, association, attention, "reaction
times," psycho-physic law, kinesthetics, esthetics, memory, will, and
so on, covering nearly the whole range of mental phenomena. I have
selected these few for presentation here, not for their importance
over others, but because they could be simply described in these
pages. The general aim of all the work is, however, very simple. As in
the other sciences, it seeks to establish fact after fact, in orderly
manner, along the whole line of mental nature; and by unifying these
to work ever to a larger knowledge of the whole.

[Illustration: WAX SPECIMENS IN THE MUSEUM.]


FACILITIES FOR TEACHING.

But the university laboratory is for teaching as well as for
discovering. It is equipped for the undergraduate, as well as for the
advanced investigator. The elementary or demonstrational courses are
designed to impress upon the student the facts, the methods, and the
spirit of his science. There is now furnished for these, at Harvard,
nearly every kind of apparatus commonly used in physical and
physiological laboratories, for the study of neurology, optics,
acoustics, kinesthetics, esthetics, anthropology, and so on. The
electrical department is a miniature laboratory in itself. And the
various models in wax, wire, and plaster--of eyes, ears, brains,
fishes, reptiles, monkeys, children, adults, idiots, insane people,
and people of genius--is a veritable museum.[3]

  [3] How interesting these things are to a thoughtful man may be told
      to the readers of MCCLURE'S MAGAZINE in an anecdote which they
      have a peculiar right to hear. Its founder, a few months ago,
      stood before a shelf full of the very pedagogic images which his
      illustrations now present to you. I pointed out a series of
      dainty models, showing, comparatively, the various evolutionary
      stages of brain development in the animal kingdom. His eyes
      fastened on them and--there they stayed.

      The same part of each brain was tinted in the same color. I
      showed him the olfactory lobes; in man, two little insignificant
      yellow streaks; in the shark, two big bulbs larger than all the
      rest of the brain together. I thus made visible to him how small
      a sphere "smell" plays in our mental life, while pretty nearly
      the whole life of the shark must be a world of smells. I showed
      him the optic lobes in the brain of a blind mole, and then in
      that of a carrier pigeon, which sees its way over dizzy leagues
      to familiar places. I showed him the cerebellum of the rabbit
      that hops, the fish that swims, and the alligator that crawls. I
      say, he stood still, almost. I could get him to look at nothing
      else. He seemed to see, projecting down future volumes of
      MCCLURE'S MAGAZINE, pages after pages of comparative mental
      menageries--pink infundibula swimming in blue Gulf Streams;
      green cerebra flying through gorgeous sunsets; oceans of
      terrific shark-smells diagrammatically printed in blood red; and
      Kipling poems of adventure sent to press in surprising
      variegations of color, the more scientifically to express their
      psychological emotions. He stood till he murmured, "We must have
      an article on this," and rushed to the train or to the telegraph
      office, and secured, I suspect, from Professor Drummond, his now
      famous article, "Where Man Got His Ears."--H. N.

[Illustration: GUSTAVE THEODORE FECHNER.]

The laboratory workshop is provided with the common implements and
facilities required for working in wood, glass, and metal. Both for
original research and for demonstration, this laboratory is the most
unique, the richest, and the most complete in any country; and in
witness of the fame and genius of its present director, and of the
rapidly spreading interest in experimental psychology, particularly
in America, there are already gathered here, under Professor
Münsterberg's administration, a larger number of students specially
devoted to mental science than ever previously studied together in
any one place.


THE FUTURE AND INFLUENCE OF THE NEW SCIENCE.

So much for the place and what is done there. Now, what is expected to
come from this new psychology? "Do you fellows expect to invent patent
ways of thinking?" was once asked me. Who can tell? Who, before
Galileo, would have prophesied that man should weigh the stars or know
their chemistry? Yet there is much ground for comparison between the
position of physical science then and that of mental science now. The
popular opinion of to-day is perhaps even less awake to the fact that
the world of mental phenomena is a world of laws, susceptible to
scientific experimentation, than was the day of Galileo to the similar
conception regarding physical phenomena. Have the physical sciences
changed aught for man since the sixteenth century? Then we must not
forget how slow was the growth, and how long it took to arrive at the
laws of gravity and of conservation, not to mention those of
evolution. Experimental psychology, as a systematic science, is almost
younger than its youngest students. The mental laws are as fixed and
as determinable as the laws of physics. Who then shall say what man
shall come to know of mental composition, of the great mental
universe, and of ourselves, its wandering planets, since minds _may_
be known as well as stars!

[Illustration: PROFESSOR WILHELM WUNDT, OF LEIPSIC, FOUNDER OF FIRST
PSYCHOLOGICAL LABORATORY (1878).]

But psychology will not have to wait till its greater laws shall be
wholly established before she becomes of practical influence in common
affairs. He who reads most thoughtfully to-day will most appreciate
this truth. He who reads at all, reads of "individualism" as opposed
to "socialism." The Pope of Rome has declared that the "preoccupying"
problem for active Christianity must now be the industrial problem.
Every important treatise on the subject, appearing at present, admits
that the crucial question of the industrial problem is an ethical
problem, and every ethical treatise, that every ethical problem is a
psychological problem. Two years ago the Roman Catholic Church
established a psychological laboratory in its leading American
college.

The Presbyterians the coming year will follow with a laboratory at
Princeton. Psychology is no longer feared by religion, but is
accepted, though in places yet too timidly, as a source of its further
and unending revelation.

[Illustration: PRESIDENT G. STANLEY HALL, FOUNDER OF FIRST PSYCHOLOGICAL
LABORATORY IN AMERICA.]

But psychology is coming close to affairs of church and state in more
than one way. One of the greatest crimes of modern society is its
conception of criminal jurisprudence. Between the foetal period and
adult life man passes through, in abridged series, all the degrees of
evolution that have led up through the lower animal stages to his own.
In early infancy, and even in childhood, he is not yet wholly man; not
yet safely over the brute period of his lineal development. If the
domestic calf and chicken spend their first days wild in the woods,
this pre-domestic environment will seize upon and develop their
pre-domestic traits; and these once set, no amount of domestic
training will, thereafter, make calf or chicken anything else than a
wild, untamable creature. The early instinctive periods of man's
progeny are more prolonged, more delicate, and more susceptible than
those of lower animals, yet are of the same nature. If left to evil
environment in early years the latent brute within him will surely lay
hold of its own, and ripen the yet innocent child to a creature
bearing the same relation to the moral and civilized man that the wild
wolf does to the house-dog.

On the other hand, the wolf whose first lair is the hunter's hearth,
grows to share it lovingly with the hunter's children. The government
that ignores the hordes of children which crowd to-day the criminal
quarters of its great cities, and abandons them to ripen their
pre-civilized propensities under such evil influences, becomes itself
the foster-father of its own crimes; nurses its own children to fill
its poorhouses, and raises its own youths to fill its prisons.
Psychology, if on mere ground of financial economy alone, will yet
force criminal jurisprudence to begin its work before, rather than
after, this early period of "unalterable penalty."

[Illustration: PROFESSOR WILLIAM JAMES, HARVARD UNIVERSITY.]

The benefits of a psychological training to the medical man are now so
obvious as to make a knowledge of psychology imperative for every
first-class physician. The nervous activities are the regulating
activities of every part of the body; and the brain embodies an
ever-meddling three-fourths of the body's whole neural energy. The
mind is a play-house wherein the skilful physician now looks to
observe the condition of the general system, and with growing
precision even to read the working of such specific organs as the
heart, the stomach, the bladder, and the liver.

The relation of our science to modern education has long passed from
novelty to a recognized principle. A chair of psychology and a
chair of pedagogy, side by side and hand in hand, is now the
requisite of every institution of advanced learning. "To get up
more 'fads'? More patent methods?" It is only the ignorant now who
ask these questions. Galton has shown that some men do their thinking
in visual pictures--in memories of what they see; others, in memories
of what they hear; others, in the memories of their own speaking.
There is reason to suspect that the lightning-calculator's speed is
largely due to peculiar "image processes" used in his thinking, and
that these could be taught if science could but catch his unconscious
secrets. This in time will be done, and is but an instance of
innumerable things that are sure to be accomplished. In the face of
all present pedagogical fads and blunders we may yet say with
confidence, of the mind, the instincts, the emotions, the conduct of
man, individual and social, all is lawful; and the laws may be
discovered. They are difficult--more difficult than all the physical
laws achieved from Ptolemy to Darwin. But they can be scientifically
determined and mastered, and modern methods, swift with gathering
impetus, shall make of this no lingering matter.


HISTORY OF MENTAL LABORATORIES.

[Illustration: PROFESSOR HUGO MÜNSTERBERG, HARVARD UNIVERSITY.]

The psychological laboratory sprang first from no single mind; not
wholly from science nor yet from philosophy, but from an age. In
1860 Gustave Theodore Fechner, the godfather of experimental
psychology, published his famous Law. Fechner was as much a mystic
as a scientist. His Law was, perhaps, the first great impetus to
active psycho-physical experimentation. The prospects now are,
however, that this Law will stand, a halfway truth, beside Newton's
erroneous theory of light, rather than, as was at first claimed
for it, beside the Law of Gravity, a great primary law of nature.

The spirit of Fechner, of evolution, and of our times joined to fall
upon Wilhelm Wundt, who founded at Leipsic, in 1878, the first
laboratory in the world for regular scientific mental experimentation.
Professor Wundt is the greatest psychologist now living in Europe, and
a majority of the noted psychological experts, both of Germany and of
America, have been his pupils.

One of these pupils, G. Stanley Hall, now President of Clark
University, opened the first American laboratory at Johns Hopkins in
1883, and the larger laboratory at Worcester in 1889. To him must be
credited the founding of experimental psychology in this country, and
an eminent share of its present successful growth.

A foremost figure in modern psychology is Professor William James, of
Harvard, whose great text-book, the product of twelve years of labor,
appeared in 1890. In 1891 he opened the present Harvard Laboratory,
or, at least, expanded a previously slow growth to important
dimensions.

In 1892 Harvard established a new chair of Experimental Psychology,
and elected to the same, and to direct its new laboratory, Professor
Hugo Münsterberg, previously Professor of Philosophy at Freyburg,
Germany. Professor Münsterberg was at one time a pupil of Wundt, but
is much more a man of original inspiration; and in his genius the
hopes and destiny of experimental psychology at Harvard are now
centred.

Some twenty laboratories are now actively at work in America, and
about half that number in Europe. The twentieth century will be to
mental what the sixteenth century was to physical science, and the
central field of its development is likely to be America.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY, _July, 1893_.



THE SPIRE OF ST. STEPHEN'S.

BY EMMA W. DEMERITT.


"It needs but a steady head and a clear conscience and the thing is
done." Those were old Jacob's words.

"The clear conscience is not lacking, thank God! but all these weeks
of watching by a sick bed, and the scanty meals, have made the head
anything but steady. If it were but three months ago, my courage would
not fail me, but now----"

The boy broke off abruptly, and, stepping back several feet, stood
looking up at the stately spire that towered above him. Fair and
shapely it rose, with gradually receding buttress and arch, until it
terminated at a point over four hundred feet from the pavement.

All day long little groups of men had straggled across the Platz and
gathered in front of the great cathedral, elbowing one another, and
stretching upon tiptoe to read the notice nailed to the massive door.
Many were the jests passed around.

"Does the old sexton think men are flies, to creep along yonder dizzy
height?" asked one.

"The prize is indeed worth winning," said another, "but"--he turned
away with an expressive shrug of the shoulder--"life is sweet."

"When I try to reach heaven 'twill be by some less steep and dangerous
way," laughed a third, with an upward glance at the spire.

"It makes a strong man feel a bit queer to go up inside as far as the
great bell and look up at the network of crossing ladders; but to
stand _outside_ and wave a flag!--why, the mere thought of it is
enough to make one's head swim," said the first speaker.

"Jacob Wirtig is the only man in all Vienna who has the nerve for such
a part."

"But he served a good apprenticeship! He learned the knack of keeping
a steady head during his early days of chamois-hunting in the Tyrol.
But why does he seek to draw others into danger? For so much gold many
a man would risk his life."

"I can understand it, Caspar. Twice before, on some grand occasion,
has old Jacob stood on the spire and waved a flag as the emperor
passed in the streets below. And now, after all the fighting and the
victory, when there is to be a triumphal entry into the city and a
grand review, and such rejoicing as was never known before, he feels
in honor bound to supply the customary salute from the cathedral. And
since this miserable fever, which has stricken down so many in the
city, has left him too weak to attempt it, he is trying, as you see by
this notice, to get some one to take his place. He offers all the
money which the emperor never fails to send as a reward, to say
nothing of the glory. I'll wager a florin that he'll offer in vain!
But come, let us be going. There's too much work to be done, to be
loitering here."

Twice before on that day, once in the early morning, and again at
noon, had the boy stood as if spellbound, with his eyes riveted on the
beautiful spire. And now the setting of the sun had found him a third
time at his post. The Platz was deserted, but the streets beyond were
thronged with people hurrying to their homes. Was it fear, or the
chill of the night air, that sent a shiver over the slender figure of
the boy as he stood, letting his eyes slowly wander from the top of
the spire to the base of the tower beneath, as if measuring the
frightful distance? But as he turned away with a little gesture of
despair, there rose before him the vision of a wan and weary face, as
white as the pillow against which it rested, and he heard the
physician's voice as he gently replaced the wasted hand on the
coverlet: "The fever has gone, my boy, and all that your mother needs
now to make her well and strong is good care and plenty of nourishing
food." The money offered by old Jacob would do all that, and much
more. It would mean comfort for two or three years for both mother and
son, with their simple way of living.

When the lad again faced the cathedral it was with an involuntary
straightening of the shrinking figure. "With God's help I will try,"
he said aloud, with a determined ring to his voice, "and I must go at
once to let Master Wirtig know. Now that I have finally decided, it is
strange how the fear has flown. It is the hesitating that takes the
courage out of one. After all"--he paced back, back, back, until he
was far enough from the cathedral to get a good view of the noble
structure--"who knows? It may look more difficult than it really is.
'Tis but a foothold of a few inches, but 'tis enough. If it were near
the ground I should feel as safe as if I were on the floor of the
great hall in the Stadt Haus. Why, then, should I fear up yonder?"

The flush in the western sky suddenly deepened to a vivid crimson. The
clouds above the horizon, which a moment before had shone like waves
of gold, became a sea of flame. The ruddy glow illumined the old
cathedral, touching rich carving and lace-like tracery with a new
splendor, while far over sculptured dome and stately tower rose the
lofty spire, bathed from finial to base in the radiant light.

The boy made a step forward, and, slipping back the little cap from
his locks, stretched out his clasped hands toward the sky. "O Mary,
tender mother!" he cried, "plead thou for me in my time of need
to-morrow! O Jesu! be near to help and save!"

He replaced the cap, and hurried across the Platz to the crowded
thoroughfare beyond. At the end of three blocks he turned into a
narrow street, and stopped in front of a high house with steep, tiled
roof. The lamp in the swinging iron bracket above the door gave such a
feeble light that he was obliged to grope his way through the hall to
the stairs.

At the second landing he paused for a moment, fancying that he heard a
light footfall behind him, but all was still, and he hastened on to
the next floor. Again he stopped, thinking that he caught the sound of
a stealthy, cat-like tread on the steps below. "Who's there?" he
called out boldly, but the lingering echo of his own voice was the
only answer.

"How foolish I am!" he exclaimed. "It is but the clatter of my shoes
on the stone stairs." Up another flight and down the long, narrow
entry he went, and still he could not shake off the feeling that he
was being followed.

At that moment a door opened and a woman peered out, holding a candle
high above her head. "Is that you, Franz?" she said. "My brother has
been expecting you this half hour." By the flickering light of the
candle Franz could see that there was no one in the entry. He turned,
impelled by a strong desire to search the tall cupboard near the
stairs and see if any one had concealed himself within, but the dread
of being laughed at kept him back, and he followed the woman into a
room where a gray-haired man sat, leaning wearily against the back of
his chair.

"You may go now, Katrina," said the man, motioning to an adjoining
room; and when the door closed he turned to Franz, trembling with
eagerness. "Well, have you decided?"

"I will try, Master Wirtig."

The old sexton wrung his thin hands nervously. "But if you should
fail?"

"In God is my trust," answered the boy, calmly. "But one 'if' is as
good as another. Why not say, if you succeed? It sounds more cheery."

"God grant it!" answered the man, sinking back in his chair. "I had
thought that it would be some hardy young sprig who should accept my
offer--some sailor or stone-mason, whose calling had taught him to
carry a steady head. I never dreamed that it would be a mere lad like
thyself, and worn out, too, with the care of thy sick mother! Even now
I feel I do thee a grievous wrong to listen to thy entreaties."

"Think not of _me_, Master Wirtig; think rather of my mother. Shall we
let her die, when a few moments on yonder spire would furnish the
means to make her well? The kind physician who would have helped me
was smitten with the fever yesterday, and there is no one to whom I
can go."

"Had I been as prudent as I ought, I could have aided thee. But this
lingering illness has used up what I had put aside. Here is a little
for thy present need--some broth for thy mother, and a bite for
thyself, for thy cheeks look as pinched as if thou hadst not eaten a
good meal for a fortnight." He pulled out a covered basket from under
the table, and continued: "I shall arrange with Nicholas--for he has
worked with me so long that he is as familiar with the ladders as
myself--to go with thee up to the little sliding window, and pass out
the flag. Thou must let thyself down _outside_ the window until thy
toes touch the ledge below. Then thou must creep cautiously around to
the opposite side of the spire, and wave the flag. Look always
straight before thee or up at the sky. _Thy safety lies in not
glancing below._ I believe in my heart thou wilt succeed. How I wish
that this graceless Nicholas, this unruly nephew of mine, were such an
one as thou! Then should I have some comfort. But with his evil
companions and bad ways, he brings me naught but sorrow. Listen,
Franz; if all goes well, thou shalt have his place in helping me with
the care of the cathedral. There is no longer any dependence to be
placed on him."

In his excitement old Jacob's voice rang through the room. "What is
it?" he asked, as he saw Franz start and look toward the door.

"I thought I heard a rattling of the latch--as if some one were
outside."

"It's nothing but the wind drawing through the entry."

Franz took up his basket and bade the old sexton good-night. After he
had passed into the street a figure crept out from the cupboard, and
stole softly down stairs. The light by the door showed a boy about
seventeen years old, with an evil scowl on his face. "And so thou art
to take my place, Franz Halle," he sneered. "That is nothing new.
Twice this year has our master, the goldsmith, preferred thy work to
mine, and has set thee over me. Truly, I wish thou mayst fall
to-morrow and break thy neck."

When Franz reached home the kind neighbor who was watching by his
mother's bed motioned for him to be quiet. "The sick one is sleeping
well," she said. "If I had but some good broth to give her when she
wakes." Franz pointed to the basket, and the delighted woman began the
preparations for the evening meal. When the invalid awoke they gave
her a few spoonfuls of the broth, and had the satisfaction of seeing a
faint color come into the white cheeks as she sank into a peaceful
slumber.

"Do thou go to bed, Franz! I will stay with thy mother to-night, and
to-morrow too, for that matter, so that thou canst have the whole day
to thyself. Thou needest it after all thy care and watching. I like
not these parades and these marches of triumph. They remind me too
much of my boy, whose young life helped to purchase the victory," and
the good frau wiped away a tear.

The morning dawned with a bright blue sky and a crisp breeze, which
shook out the folds of the triumphal banners floating from every tower
and turret. The city was one blaze of color. The gorgeous festoons on
column and arch and façade were matched by the rich tints of the
splendid costumes in the streets below. On every side the black eagles
of Austria stood out distinctly from their gleaming orange background.
The procession was due at the cathedral by the middle of the
afternoon, but owing to some delay it was nearly sunset when the
salute from the "Fort" told of the approach of the troops. To Franz,
the hours had dragged wearily on, and he sprang up joyfully when
Nicholas finally appeared in the little room in the tower, with the
furled flag under his arm. "Come," he said gruffly, "you have just
time to climb up and take your stand on the spire." Up the boys went,
as far as the great bell, Franz close behind Nicholas. Thus far the
ascent had been easy, but from this point the steps dwindled to long,
frail ladders terminating in small platforms, and steadied by iron
bars.

Still they toiled upward, more slowly and cautiously now, for the
danger increased with every turn. At last they halted, side by side,
on the little platform under the sliding window. To Nicholas's
surprise Franz stood there, surveying it all without flinching. The
younger boy turned to his burly companion: "Somehow, we've never been
very good friends. I don't think the fault was all on my side, because
you wouldn't let me be your friend. And we have had a good many
quarrels. Won't you shake hands with me now and wish me good luck?
If--if"--and there was just the suspicion of a tremor in the winning
voice--"I should never see you again, I should like to feel that we
were friends at the last. You're very good to come up here with me."

To his dying day Nicholas never forgot the slight, almost girlish,
figure, standing there, with the wistful little smile, and the
pleading tenderness shining in the blue eyes. He touched the slender
outstretched hand with his own, but dropped it suddenly, as if he had
received an electric shock. He tried to say "Good luck," but his
tongue seemed glued to the roof of his mouth.

"Look you, Franz," he murmured hoarsely, "when you are safe outside
I'll hand out the flag. I'll wait till you reach the opposite side of
the spire and call out, 'All's well,' and then I'll go down and leave
you to make your way back. And glad I shall be to leave this miserable
trap in mid air."

Franz's face was deathly pale, but his eyes shone like two stars. He
climbed up nimbly through the opening, let himself carefully down to
the stone ledge outside, and reached up for the flag. A few moments
passed, which seemed like ages to the waiting Nicholas. Then a cheery
"All's well" rang out, without a quiver in the steady voice. The older
boy's face grew black with rage. "What nerve the pale, sickly little
thing has!" he muttered between his set teeth. "I believe he'll do it
after all! And so this baby gets not only the prizes at the
goldsmith's, but the money and the glory of this thing, to say nothing
of his taking my place in the cathedral."

He raised his hand to the window, and stood in front of it for a
moment. Then he began the descent as if some demon were after him. The
frail ladders vibrated and swayed with the dangerous strain, but down
he went, with reckless haste, until he reached the second platform,
when he raised his hands with an agonized gesture to his ears as if he
was trying to shut out the voice of conscience, that kept calling to
him, "Back! back! before it is too late! Stain not thy young soul with
such a crime!"

Still he hurried down with flying step to the landing near the great
bell, where he paused, and stood leaning breathless against one of the
cross-beams of the tower. Into the fierce, turbulent passions of the
troubled face stole a softened expression, lighting up the swarthy
lineaments like a gleam of sunshine. "I will go back and undo the
horrid deed," he cried, as if in answer to the good angel pleading
within his breast. "I am coming, Franz! God forgive me!"

He had turned to make the ascent, and his hand was stretched out to
grasp the side of the ladder, when his toe caught in a coil of rope on
the platform, and, missing his hold, he plunged down, down, into the
space beneath.

In the meantime Franz had made his way safely around the spire, and
stood quietly, with the end of the flagstaff on the ledge beneath,
waiting for the signal. It came in a few moments; the thunder of the
great gun on the Platz, and, bracing his feet firmly, he unfurled the
flag and slowly waved it back and forth. From the answering roar of
artillery, and the cheer upon cheer that floated up through the air,
he knew that his salute had been seen.

With a light heart he began to retrace his steps, edging himself
cautiously, inch by inch, to the window. To his surprise, the sliding
wooden panel was closed! With one hand he grasped the iron ring
fastened to the wall beneath the window, and with the other pushed,
first gently, and then with all his might, but the panel remained
fast. He tried to batter it with the flagstaff, but soon found that,
in his cramped position, it only increased his danger. Again and again
he endeavored to force it open, breaking his nails and bruising his
finger-tips in his frenzy, but to no purpose. Suddenly the conviction
dawned upon him that the window was bolted from the inside. With a
despairing sob he tottered backward, but his grasp on the ring held,
and with a supreme effort he pulled himself up close to the wall, and
tried to collect his scattered wits.

"It is no use to shout," he said aloud. "It is more than folly to
attempt to make myself heard from this height, I might as well save my
strength. All that remains for me to do is to wait patiently. Some one
will be sure to miss me and come to my relief. In God is my trust!"
and his courage rose with the words.

The troops disbanded, and the people hurried off to the brilliantly
lighted cafés and theatres, all unconscious of the pale, silent boy
clinging with desperate grip to the spire, with but a narrow shelf of
stone between him and a horrible death.

The sunset faded into the twilight, and with a sudden wave darkness
drifted over the earth. The noise in the streets grew fainter and
fainter. The minutes lengthened into hours, and still the boy stood
there, as the night wore on, occasionally shifting his position to
ease his cramped and aching limbs. The night wind pierced his thin
clothing, and his hands were benumbed with the cold. One by one the
bright constellations rose and glittered and dipped in the sky, and
the boy still managed to keep his foothold, as rigid as the stone
statues on the dome below.

"Two, three, four," pealed the bells in their hoarse, deep tones, and
when the first glimmer of dawn tinged the eastern horizon with pale
yellow, the haggard face lighted with expectancy, and from the ashen
lips, which had been moving all night in prayer, came the words, "In
God is my trust."

       *       *       *       *       *

"What is the meaning of yonder crowd?" asked one of two artisans, who
had met while hurrying across the Platz to their work.

"What! have you not heard? All Vienna is ringing with the news! It was
young Franz, the goldsmith's apprentice, who climbed out on the spire
yesterday and waved the flag. In some way, the little window near the
top was fastened on the inside, and the poor boy was forced to stay
out all night clinging to the spire. It is only a short time ago that
he was discovered and brought fainting down the ladders. After working
over him a little while he seemed all right, and was carried to his
home. And there's another strange thing. Nicholas, old Jacob Wirtig's
nephew, was picked up, mangled and bleeding, at the foot of the tower
stairs this morning. He has just been taken to the hospital."

The next day Franz received a summons from the emperor. As he followed
the officer who had been sent to conduct him to the palace, to his
surprise the marble steps and the corridor beyond were lined on either
sides with the soldiers of the Imperial Guard, and as the slender,
boyish figure, with its crown of golden hair, passed between the
files, each mailed and bearded warrior reverently saluted.

On he went, through another chamber, and into a spacious hall with
marble floors and hangings of rich tapestry. On both sides were rows
of courtiers and officers, the rich costumes and nodding plumes and
splendid uniforms, with their jewelled orders, contrasting strangely
with the lad's plain, homespun garments. "It is the emperor,"
whispered the guide as they drew near a canopied throne, and Franz
dropped on one knee.

He felt the hand which was placed on his bowed head tremble, and a
kind voice said, "Rise, my boy! kneel not to me! It is I, thy emperor,
who should rather kneel to do thee homage for thy filial piety. My
brave lad, I know thy story well! Ask of me a place near my person,
aid for thy sick mother, what thou wilt, and it is granted thee! And
remember that as long as the Emperor of Austria shall live he will
feel himself honored in being known as thy friend!"

In a short time another summons came, this time from the hospital. At
the end of a long row of beds lay Nicholas, with his arm bandaged and
strips of plaster covering the gashes on his forehead.

"Oh, Franz!" he groaned, "if God has forgiven me, why cannot you? And
you will believe that I speak the truth when I tell you that I was
sorry for what I had done, and I had turned to go back and unbolt the
door when I tripped and fell."

Franz bent over him with a bright smile. "I forgive you everything,
Nicholas," he said, sweetly, "so please let us say no more about it.
It wasn't a bad exchange. I lost an enemy but I gained a friend," and
the hands of the two boys met in a firm, loving grasp.



MOUNTAINEERING ADVENTURE.

THE DANGERS OF AVALANCHE, GLACIER, CREVASSE, AND PRECIPICE.

BY FRANCIS GRIBBLE.


This is the season when the mountaineer once more takes down his
Norfolk jacket, his nailed boots, and his ice-axe, and prepares to
face the perils that may lurk for him above the snowline.

Strictly speaking--from the point of view of the expert who knows and
does everything that an expert ought to know and do--mountaineering
has two dangers only. There is the danger of bad weather, and there is
the danger of the falling stone. But every climber is not an expert,
and even of experts it may be said that _nemo horis omnibus sapit_. So
that there are all sorts of dangers to be reckoned with, and foremost
among them is the avalanche.

Everybody knows--vaguely, if not precisely--what an avalanche is.
Masses of snow accumulate in winter on the mountain slopes. In spring
the warmth loosens their coherence, and they fall into the valleys,
sweeping away or burying everything in their track. It is bad for the
mountaineer, if he happens to be in the way of one.

Says the editor of the volume devoted to mountaineering, in the
Badminton Library: "The simple rule with regard to all forms of
avalanche is to avoid their track, and all that is necessary in the
majority of instances is to recognize the marks on the snow surfaces
that denote their cause, and to steer clear of them."


THE NARROW ESCAPE OF MR. TUCKETT.

Undoubtedly an admirable rule, if only it could be always carried out.
But mistakes, unhappily, may be made even by experts, as witness this
story of a thrilling adventure which befell F. F. Tuckett, twenty-two
years ago.

The season had been exceptionally cold and wet. Snow lay thickly
everywhere, even on the Faulhorn, the Scheinige Platte, and the
Wengern Alp. But in the early days of July an improvement began to
show itself, and Mr. Tuckett, who for a whole month had been able to
make no big expedition, resolved to make an attempt upon the Eiger.

The members of the party were Mr. Tuckett, Mr. Whitwell, J. H. Fox,
and the guides, Christian and Ulrich Lauener. They got off between 3
and 4 A.M., and presently started to ascend the Eiger glacier. The
surface of it was entirely concealed with snow, but, for some reason,
they neglected to put on the rope. High up in front of them were the
disordered pillars and buttresses of the ice-fall, and above the
ice-fall rested an enormous weight of freshly fallen snow.

Instead of ascending the centre of the glacier, the party, fortunately
for themselves, were keeping to the left, towards the rocks of the
Rothstock. Of a sudden, a sort of crack was heard high up above their
heads, and every eye was turned upon the hanging ice-cliff from which
it came. A large mass of "_sérac_" was seen to break away, mingled
with a still larger contingent of snow from the slopes above; and the
whole mass slid down like a cataract, filling the "_couloir_" to its
brim, and dashing in clouds of frozen spray over the rocky ridges in
its path, towards the travellers.

[Illustration: THE MAUVAIS PAS, MONT BLANC.]

For a moment they did not realize that they were in its track. But
then the knowledge flashed upon them all, and they shouted to each
other, "Run for your lives," and struggled desperately through the
deep, soft snow to reach the rocks of the Rothstock, yet with their
faces turned to watch the swift oncoming of the foe.

Let Mr. Tuckett himself describe that thrilling race for life.

"I remember," he writes, "being struck with the idea that it seemed as
though, sure of its prey, it wished to play with us for a while, at
one moment letting us imagine that we had gained upon it, and were
getting beyond the line of its fire, and the next, with mere
wantonness of vindictive power, suddenly rolling out on its right a
vast volume of grinding blocks and whirling snow, as though to show
that it could outflank us at any moment if it chose.

"Nearer and nearer it came, its front like a mighty wave about to
break. Now it has traversed the whole width of the glacier above
us, taking a somewhat diagonal direction; and now--run, oh! run,
if ever you did, for here it comes straight at us, swift, deadly,
and implacable! The next instant we saw no more; a wild confusion
of whirling snow and fragments of ice--a frozen cloud--swept over
us, entirely concealing us from one another, and still we were
untouched--at least I knew that I was--and still we ran. Another
half-second and the mist had passed, and there lay the body of
the monster, whose head was still careering away at lightning
speed far below us, motionless, rigid, and harmless."

The danger was over, and the party examined the avalanche at their
leisure. It had a length of three thousand three hundred feet, an
average breadth of a thousand feet, and an average depth of five feet.
This is to say, its bulk was six hundred and eleven thousand cubic
yards, and its weight, on a moderate computation, about four hundred
and fifty thousand tons.

Accidents of this sort, happily, are very rare, and the climber who is
carried away by the avalanche has, as a rule, deliberately faced the
risk out of bravado, and the desire to go home and boast that he had
done hard things. But there is another sort of avalanche which is a
much more frequent source of danger. It consists of a stratum of snow
loosely adherent to a slope of _névé_ or ice. The snow breaks away
under the weight of the party, and carries them down with it,
sometimes to a place of safety, sometimes to a crevasse.


AN ADVENTURE OF PROFESSOR TYNDALL.

Experience, of course, has laid down many rules for determining
whether snow of this sort is safe, but the best men--guides as well as
amateurs--may sometimes be misled. Professor Tyndall, for instance,
was always a cautious as well as a brilliant mountaineer; yet there
was a day when the professor's snow craft failed him, and he came very
near to paying for his blunder with his life.

The place was the Piz Morteratsch, in the Engadine, and the time the
month of July, 1864. Professor Tyndall's companions were Mr.
Hutchinson and Lee Warner, and the guides Jenni and Walter. Jenni was
at that time the dictator of Pontresina, and he seems to have set out
with the deliberate intention of showing his _Herren_ how great and
brave a man he was.

The ascent was accomplished without any incident of note. On the way
down the party reached a broad _couloir_, or gully, filled with snow,
which had been melted and refrozen, so as to expose a steeply sloping
wall of ice. The question arose whether it would be better to descend
this wall of ice, or to keep to the steep rocks by the side of it.
Professor Tyndall preferred the rocks; Jenni inclined towards the
slope, and started to lead the way upon it.

[Illustration: THE NEEDLE OF THE GIANTS AND MONT BLANC.]

There was a remonstrance from the professor:

"Jenni," he said, "do you know where you are going? The slope is pure
ice."

"I know it," the guide replied, "but the ice is quite bare for a few
rods only. Across this exposed portion I will cut steps, and then the
snow which covers the ice will give us a footing."

So they started, roped together, Jenni in front, Mr. Tyndall next,
followed by Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Lee Warner, the one inexperienced
member of the party, and, last of all, the guide Walter, ready to
check on the instant any false step that Mr. Lee Warner might make.

After a few steps Jenni began to see that the slope was less safe than
he had supposed. He stopped and turned round to speak a word of
warning to the three men above him.

"Keep carefully in the steps, gentlemen," he said; "a false step here
might start an avalanche."

And, even as he spoke, the false step was made. There was a sound of a
fall and a rush, and Professor Tyndall saw his friends and their
guide, all apparently entangled, whirled past him. He planted himself
to resist the shock, but it was irresistible; he, too, was torn from
his foothold, and Jenni followed him, and all five found themselves
riding downwards, with uncontrollable speed, on the back of an
avalanche, which a single slip had started.

"Turn on your face, and grind the point of your axe or baton through
the moving snow into the ice"--that is the golden rule for cases of
the kind, the only way in which the faller can do anything to arrest
his speed. But it seldom avails much, and in this instance it availed
nothing.

"No time," writes Professor Tyndall, "was allowed for the break's
action; for I had held it firmly thus for a few seconds only, when I
came into collision with some obstacle and was rudely tossed through
the air, Jenni at the same time being shot down upon me. Both of us
here lost our batons. We had been carried over a crevasse, had hit its
lower edge, and, instead of dropping into it, were pitched by our
great velocity beyond it. I was quite bewildered for a moment, but
immediately righted myself, and could see the men in front of me,
half-buried in the snow, and jolted from side to side by the ruts
among which we were passing."

Presently a second crevasse was reached. Jenni knew that it was there,
and did a brave thing. He deliberately threw himself into the chasm,
thinking that the strain thus put upon the rope would stop the motion.
But, though he was over a hundred and eighty pounds in weight, he was
violently jerked out of the fissure, and almost squeezed to death by
the pressure of the rope.

And so they continued to slide on. Below them was a long slope,
leading directly downwards to a brow where the glacier fell
precipitously; and at the base of the declivity the ice was cut by a
series of profound chasms, where they must fall, and where the tail of
the avalanche would cover them up forever.

The three foremost men rode upon the forehead of the avalanche, and
were at times almost wholly hidden by the snow; but behind, the
sliding layer was not so thick, and Jenni strove with desperate energy
to arrest his progress.

"Halt! Herr Jesus! halt!" he shouted, as again and again he drove his
heels into the firmer surface underneath.

[Illustration: THE MATTERHORN.]

And now let Professor Tyndall tell the rest:

"Looking in advance, I noticed that the slope, for a short distance,
became less steep, and then fell as before. Now or never we must be
brought to rest. The speed visibly slackened, and I thought we were
saved. But the momentum had been too great; the avalanche crossed the
brow and in part regained its motion. Here Hutchinson threw his arm
round his friend, all hope being extinguished, while I grasped my belt
and struggled to free myself. Finding this difficult, from the
tossing, I sullenly resumed the strain upon the rope. Destiny had so
related the downward impetus to Jenni's pull as to give the latter a
slight advantage, and the whole question was whether the opposing
force would have sufficient time to act. This was also arranged in our
favor, for we came to rest so near the brow that two or three seconds
of our average motion of descent must have carried us over. Had this
occurred, we should have fallen into the chasms and been covered up by
the tail of the avalanche. Hutchinson emerged from the snow with his
forehead bleeding, but the wound was superficial; Jenni had a bit of
flesh removed from his hand by collision against a stone; the
pressure of the rope had left black welts on my arms, and we all
experienced a tingling sensation over the hands, like that produced by
incipient frost-bite, which continued for several days. This was all.
I found a portion of my watch-chain hanging round my neck, another
portion in my pocket; the watch was gone."

Very similar in many respects was the famous accident of the Haut de
Cry, in which J. J. Bennen perished in February, 1864. So sure of foot
was Bennen that it used to be said of him, as it was said of Johann
Lauener, who died upon the Jungfrau, that nothing could bring him to
grief but an avalanche. And the hour came when the snowfield which he
was crossing with his _Herren_ split suddenly and the ground on which
they stood began to move, and Bennen solemnly called out the words,
"Wir sind alle verloren," and never spoke again.

[Illustration: THE DENT BLANCHE.]

The avalanche was deeper than the one which swept Professor Tyndall
down the glacier of the Piz Morteratsch. "Before long," writes Mr.
Gossett, one of the survivors of the accident, "I was covered up with
snow and in utter darkness. I was suffocating, when, with a jerk, I
suddenly came to the surface again. To prevent myself sinking again I
made use of my arms much in the same way as when swimming in a
standing position. At last I noticed that I was moving slower; then I
saw the pieces of snow in front of me stop at some yards distance;
then the snow straight before me stopped, and I heard on a large scale
the same creaking sound that is produced when a heavy cart passes over
hard, frozen snow in winter."

But the snow behind pressed on and buried Mr. Gossett. So intense was
the pressure that he could not move, and he began to fear that it
would be impossible to extricate himself. Then, while trying vainly to
move his arms, he suddenly became aware that his hands, as far as the
wrist, had the faculty of motion. The cheering conclusion was that
they must be above the snow. So Mr. Gossett struggled on. At last he
saw a faint glimmer of light. The crust above his head was getting
thinner, and let a little air pass; but he could no longer reach it
with his hands. The idea struck him that he might pierce it with his
breath. He tried, and after several efforts he succeeded. Then he
shouted for help, and one of his guides, who had escaped uninjured,
came and extricated him. The snow had to be cut with the axe down to
his feet before he could be pulled out. Then he found that his
travelling companion, M. Boissonnet, was dead, and that no trace of
Bennen could be seen. His body, however, was afterwards recovered. The
story is told in a letter from Mr. Gossett to Professor Tyndall.

"Bennen's body," he writes, "was found with great difficulty the day
after Boissonnet was found. The cord end had been covered up with
snow. The Curé d'Ardon informed me that poor Bennen was found eight
feet under the snow, in a horizontal position, the head facing the
valley of the Luzerne. His watch had been wrenched from the chain,
probably when the cord broke; the chain, however, remained attached to
his waist-coat. This reminds me of your fall on the Morteratsch
glacier."

It may be said that the principal danger of climbing rock-mountains is
the danger of falling off them. For the art consists largely in
traversing the faces of precipices by means of narrow and imperfect
ledges, which afford more facilities for falling off than will readily
be believed by any one who has not tried to stand on them. The
climbers, of course, are always securely roped together in such
places, and the theory is that two of them shall always be so firmly
anchored that they can instantly check any slip that the third may
make. But that is not always feasible. It is not feasible, for
instance, at the difficult corner on the Dent Blanche, where Mr.
Gabbett and the two Lochmatters came to grief.

As all three climbers were killed on that occasion, no details of the
accident are known. But the elder Lochmatter was known to be an
exceptionally heavy man, and the presumption is that it was he who
fell, and dragged the rest of the party after him. How he came to fall
may be understood from the following description of the "Mauvais Pas,"
given by a traveller who traversed it a little afterwards:

"Here," he writes, "we must get round past a perpendicular ledge by
creeping out on an overhanging rock, and then turning sharp round,
with head and arms on one side of the rock, while the legs are still
on the other; then we must at once cling to a hardly visible fissure,
and draw round the rest of the body, gently, cautiously, little by
little, and hang there by the points of our fingers until our toes
find their way to a second fissure lower down. I made this passage,"
he adds, "like a bale of goods at the end of a rope, without being
conscious of the danger, and I really do not know how I escaped in
safety."

The description gives some idea of what stiff rock-climbing is really
like; and it should be remembered that in the Dolomites more awkward
places even than the Lochmatters' corner have often to be passed, and
that when, as often happens, the rocks are glazed with ice, the danger
of climbing them is more than doubled.

It is always assumed that the Dent Blanche is inaccessible in such a
case. Yet the story is told of an inexperienced climber who managed to
get to the summit in spite of the ice.

He was on his first visit to Switzerland; and as soon as he got to
Zermatt he engaged the best available guide.

"What are considered the hardest mountains here?" he asked.

The guide told him: "The Dent Blanche, the Weisshorn, and the Ober
Gabelhorn."

"Very well," said the novice; "we'll begin with the Dent Blanche."

The guide protested. Did not his _Herr_ think it would be better to
begin with something easier--with the Rothhorn, for instance, or the
Strahlhorn, or the Unter Gabelhorn?

"No," was the reply; "you've got to take me up the Dent Blanche. I've
climbed in Wales, and I'll undertake to climb any rock you show me."

So the guide yielded, and the two started, with a porter, and for a
certain distance got on very well. But at last they came to a point
where all the hand-holds within reach were frozen up; the nearest
practicable hand-hold could only just be found by stretching out the
ice-axe. The guide explained the situation, and insisted that they
must turn back. But his employer had been roused to such a pitch of
excitement that he would not hear of it.

[Illustration: THE RHONE GLACIER.]

"Look here," he said, "you're a bachelor; I'm a married man with a
family. If I can afford to risk my life you can afford to risk yours.
You've got to go on up this mountain. Otherwise I'll throw myself over
the precipice, and as you're roped to me you'll have to come, too."

The man was absolutely mad. There was no question that, in his
excitement, he would do what he threatened if he were not obeyed. So
the guide sullenly struck his ice-axe into the fissure, and climbed up
it hand over hand, and took his lunatic up and down the Dent Blanche
at a time when its ascent ought by all the laws of ice-craft to have
been impossible.


CROSSING GLACIERS.

To turn from rock to snow climbing. Accidents are constantly happening
on glaciers; yet the observance of the most elementary precautions
ought to make such accidents absolutely impossible.

An open glacier, of course, is safe enough under any circumstances.
The one thing needful is to look where you are going and not try to
make flying leaps across crevasses. But even when the crevasses are
masked by snow all danger may still quite easily be obviated. The
simple rule is that the party crossing the glacier should never
consist of less than three, and that the three should be roped
together in such a way that, if one falls into a crevasse, the other
two can pull him out. And this, of course, involves the further rule
that the rope must always be kept taut, so that a fall may be checked
before it has gained an impetus which would make it difficult to
resist.

[Illustration: PASSAGE OF A CREVASSE, MONT BLANC.]

By experience it is possible to recognize a crevasse, with tolerable
accuracy, in spite of its snow covering; and by sounding with the
ice-axe before treading on it, one ought to be able to tell whether
the snow bridge will bear one's weight. But, now and again, it will
happen that the most experienced man's judgment is at fault. Relying
upon their instinctive perception of such things, the Swiss peasantry
constantly traverse glaciers alone in mid-winter. But accidents are
very frequent, and when guides, tourists, or porters have attempted
the same thing, accidents have constantly befallen them as well. As an
illustration may be quoted the case of a reporter, who foolishly
ventured to return alone over the Loetschen pass. A snow bridge broke
and he fell into a crevasse, where only his knapsack saved him from
breaking his neck. He lay on his back, wedged into the ice in such a
way that he could not move, and it was by the merest accident that he
was discovered in time, and rescued by a party journeying in the same
direction.

So much, as Herodotus would say, for crevasses. Another serious Alpine
danger is the danger of bad weather; and bad weather, as Leslie
Stephen has pointed out, may make the Righi at one time as dangerous
as the Matterhorn at another.

To a certain extent, of course, bad weather can be foreseen; but
meteorology is not yet an exact science, and even the acquired
instinct of the guides is sometimes at fault, so that grave mistakes,
often followed by fatal consequences, are made almost every year.


DANGERS OF BAD WEATHER.

Mont Blanc is probably the mountain in which bad weather makes the
greatest difference. On a fine day, the ascent of it is scarcely more
dangerous than the ascent of Primrose Hill; but in a storm you will
lose your way, and wander round and round, until you sink down
exhausted, and freeze to death.

In September, 1870, a party of eleven persons, eight of whom were
guides or porters, were lost in this way. When their bodies were
recovered, a memorandum was found in the pocket of one of them, J.
Beane, of the United States of America, finished apparently just
before his death, and giving a brief summary of the circumstances of
the calamity. This is how it read:

"Tuesday, September 6.--I have made the ascent of Mont Blanc, with ten
persons; eight guides, Mr. Corkendal and Mr. Randall. We arrived at
the summit at 2.30 o'clock. Immediately after leaving it, I was
enveloped in clouds of snow. We passed the night in a grotto excavated
out of snow, affording very uncomfortable shelter, and I was ill all
night.

"September 7 (morning).--Intense cold; much snow falls uninterruptedly:
guides restless.

[Illustration: PYRAMIDS OF THE MORTERATSCH.]

"September 7 (evening).--We have been on Mont Blanc for two days in a
terrible snow-storm: we have lost our way and are in a hole scooped
out of the snow, at a height of fifteen thousand feet. I have no hope
of descending. Perhaps this book may be found and forwarded. (Here
follow some instructions on his private affairs.) We have no food; my
feet are already frozen and I am exhausted; I have only strength to
write a few words. I die in the faith of Jesus Christ, with
affectionate thoughts of my family. My remembrance to all. I trust we
may meet in heaven."

Says Leslie Stephen, commenting on the incident in the "Alpine
Journal:"

"The main facts are so simple that little explanation is needed. The
one special danger of Mont Blanc is bad weather. The inexperienced
travellers were probably ignorant of the fearful danger they were
encountering, and had not the slightest conception of the risk to life
and limb which accompanies even a successful ascent of the mountain
under such circumstances. I once ascended Mont Blanc on a day so
unusually fine that we could lie on the summit for an hour, light
matches in the open air, and enjoy the temperature. Yet, in two or
three hours before sunrise, the guide of another party which ascended
the same day was so severely frost-bitten as to lose his toes. Such
things may happen in the finest weather, when proper precautions are
neglected; but in bad weather it is simple madness to proceed. Why,
one cannot help asking, did not the guides oppose the wishes of their
employers?"


FALLING ICE.

Among other dangers that the mountaineer has to reckon with are ice
avalanches and cornices.

A cornice is a mass of snow projecting over the edge of a precipice,
and resting upon empty space. Occasionally it will bear the weight of
one, or even several, men; but more often it gives way when trodden
on, carrying a whole party to destruction. This was the case in the
famous accident on the Lyskamm--a mountain where the cornices are
particularly treacherous--when Messrs. William Arnold Lewis and Noel
H. Paterson, with the guides Niklaus, Johann, and Peter Joseph Knubel,
met their deaths in the year 1877. "The cornice," writes Mr. Hartley,
who visited the scene of the accident immediately afterwards, "had
broken away in two places, leaving some ten feet in the middle still
adhering to the mountain. The length of the parts which broke away
was, perhaps, forty feet on each side of the remaining portion. The
distance of the fall we estimated at from twelve hundred to fifteen
hundred feet. The bodies, from the nature of the injuries they had
received, had evidently fallen upon their heads on the rocks, and
then, in one great bound, had reached almost the spot where they were
found."

A typical instance of the ice-avalanche accident happened to, and has
been recorded by, Mr. Whymper. Accompanied by A. W. Moore and the
guides Croz and Almer, he was trying to discover a shorter route than
those usually taken between Zinal and Zermatt. After spending the
night in a _châlet_ on the Arpitetta Alp, they started, and struck
directly up the centre of the Moming glacier. The route proved
impracticable, and it became necessary to cut steps across an
ice-slope immediately below the great pillars and buttresses of the
ice-fall, which were liable to break away and descend upon them at any
moment.

"I am not ashamed to confess," wrote Mr. Moore in his journal, "that
during the whole time we were crossing the slope my heart was in my
mouth, and I never felt so relieved from such a load of care as when,
after, I suppose, a passage of about twenty minutes, we got on to the
rocks and were in safety. I have never heard a positive oath come from
Almer's mouth, but the language in which he kept up a running
commentary, more to himself than to me, as we went along, was stronger
than I should have given him credit for using. His prominent feeling
seemed to be one of indignation that we should be in such a position,
and self-reproach at being a party to the proceeding; while the
emphatic way in which, at intervals, he exclaimed, 'Quick; be quick,'
sufficiently betokened his alarm."

And now, let the rest of the story be told in Mr. Whymper's graphic
words. Croz, it should be remembered, was leading, and had advised the
perilous route.

"It was not necessary," Mr. Whymper says, "to admonish Croz to be
quick. He was fully as alive to the risk as any of the others. He told
me afterwards that the place was not only the most dangerous he had
ever crossed, but that no consideration whatever would tempt him to
cross it again. Manfully did he exert himself to escape from the
impending destruction. His head, bent down to his work, never turned
to the right or to the left. One, two, three, went his axe, and then
he stepped on to the spot where he had been cutting. How painfully
insecure should we have considered those steps at any other time! But
now we thought of nothing but the rocks in front, and of the hideous
'_séracs_' lurching over above us, apparently in the very act of
falling."

[Illustration: PASSAGE OF A CREVASSE, MONT BLANC.]

At last they reached the rocks in safety, and, says Mr. Whymper, "If
they had been doubly as difficult as they were, we should still have
been well content. We sat down and refreshed the inner man; keeping
our eyes on the towering pinnacles of ice which we had passed, but
which now were almost beneath us. Without a preliminary warning sound,
one of the largest--as high as the Monument, at London Bridge--fell
upon the slope below. The stately mass heeled over as if upon a hinge
(holding together until it bent thirty degrees forward), then it
crushed out its base, and, rent into a thousand fragments, plunged
vertically down upon the slope that we had crossed. Every atom of our
track that was in its course was obliterated; all the new snow was
swept away, and a broad sheet of smooth, glassy ice showed the
resistless force with which it had fallen."



THE SMOKE.

FROM "PAUL FABER, SURGEON."

BY GEORGE MACDONALD.


  Lord, I have laid my heart upon thy altar,
    But cannot get the wood to burn:
  It hardly flares ere it begins to falter,
    And to the dark return.

  Old sap, or night-fallen dew, has damped the fuel;
    In vain my breath would flame provoke;
  Yet see--at every poor attempt's renewal,
    To thee ascends the smoke.

  'Tis all I have--smoke, failure, foiled endeavor
    Coldness and doubt and palsied lack:
  Such as I have I send thee. Perfect Giver
    Send thou thy lightning back.



THE EARL OF DUNRAVEN.

BY C. KINLOCH COOKE.


Wyndham Thos. Wyndhamquin, fourth Earl of Dunraven and Mount Earl, was
born fifty-two years ago. His father, who was a convert to Roman
Catholicism, devoted much time to scientific pursuits, and wrote a
book on Irish architecture, which is generally recognized as the
standard work on the subject. His mother was a Protestant, and a
daughter of Sergeant Goold, the eminent Dublin lawyer, who, although
past forty when called to the bar, made both a name and a fortune for
himself in his profession. His grandfather on the paternal side
supported the Union, but Sergeant Goold, like so many of the leading
men in Dublin at that time, more especially barristers, opposed it.
Here, then, we have a very fair example of the fact that the prominent
men in the counties desired to see the fusion of the two countries,
while the chief representatives of the cities held the opposite
opinion.

[Illustration: LORD DUNRAVEN.]

Viscount Adare, the title belonging to the eldest son in the Dunraven
family, was educated privately, and although fond of athletics, had
few opportunities of joining in cricket, football, rackets, and
similar public-school games. At an early age he was sent abroad with a
tutor, and while still in his teens had visited and explored many of
the principal cities of Europe. In compliance with his father's wishes
he stayed some time at Rome. But neither the influence of the priests
nor the attractions of the Vatican were sufficient to induce him to
become a Roman Catholic. Soon after he returned to England he went to
Oxford and matriculated at Christ Church, where he spent the next
three years of his life. At college, except holding a commission for a
year in the 'Varsity volunteers, he did nothing to distinguish himself
from the ordinary undergraduate, and, like many others of his set,
came down without taking a degree. He then joined the First Life
Guards, and spent much of his spare time steeplechasing. Pluck and
nerve, combined with light weight, secured him many mounts from
Captain Machell and others. He was christened "Fly" by his brother
officers, a name by which he is still known among his most intimate
friends.

So energetic a nature soon tired of the London soldier's life, and
when war broke out with Abyssinia he applied to the proprietors of the
"Daily Telegraph" to be allowed to act as their special correspondent.
His offer being accepted, he resigned his commission and started for
North Africa. Colonel Phayre, who was Quartermaster-General, attached
him to his staff, and so he obtained the earliest and most authentic
information. Mr. H. M. Stanley, who was doing similar duty for the
"New York Herald," shared a tent with the amateur journalist, and was
much struck with the workmanlike character of the despatches which he
sent off on every available opportunity. At the close of the campaign
he returned to England and fell in love with Lord Charles Lennox Kerr's
daughter, whom he shortly afterwards married. In 1869 he started with
his wife for a tour in the United States, where he remained for some
time and made many friends.

In journalistic circles he was well received, and particularly so by
the late Mr. Louis Jennings, then editor of the "New York Times," Mr.
Hurlbert, who at that time had charge of the "New York World," and the
late "Sam" Ward. At the outbreak of war between France and Germany he
went to Berlin for the "Daily Telegraph," and followed the campaign
right through. As a matter of course he carried his life in his hand,
but though he had some narrow escapes he met with no accident, until
just before the capitulation of Paris, when he broke his arm and was
invalided home, with the result that he missed the days of the
Commune.

For twelve years or more he crossed the Atlantic annually and
travelled in the States, Canada, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. He was
the first private individual to investigate the Yellowstone region,
and wrote a capital book on the expedition called "The Great Divide,"
which met with a good reception both in America and England. He hunted
and shot with Buffalo Bill and Texas Jack long before they ever went
east of the Mississippi, and his name was well known among the
Indians, who allowed him to travel about their territory without
interruption. His articles in the "Nineteenth Century Review" on moose
and caribou hunting, and his stories of animal life, drafted on the
spot, were much appreciated in sporting circles. In Colorado he
purchased a tract of land called Estes Park, which is about to be
transferred to an English company. When the branch railway is made and
the proposed irrigation works inaugurated, the estate should be a
valuable property.

[Illustration: LADY DUNRAVEN.]

Lord Dunraven's yachting may be said to date from his college days,
since he generally spent the long vacation with his friend Lord
Romney, voyaging in a small sloop he purchased from a Cardiff pilot.
In this craft, with a man and boy for a crew, he used to cruise in all
sorts of weather round the coasts of Scotland and Ireland. Very funny
indeed are some of the yarns about the dangers and difficulties which
the "Cripple"--as the yacht was named--and those on board met with
from time to time. In this way he picked up some knowledge of
navigation, learned how to manage a boat, and became well acquainted
with the discomforts of seafaring life. From the days of the "Cripple"
until 1887 Lord Dunraven took but little interest in yachting or yacht
racing. But in August of that year he chanced to be at Cowes, and went
for a sail in the "Irex." As usual with Mr. Jameson, the conversation
turned on yacht building. In a very short time Lord Dunraven was
persuaded to return to his old love, and before a month was over Mr.
Richardson, of Liverpool, who designed the "Irex," had received
instructions to build him a cutter. The result was the "Petronilla,"
but, in spite of several alterations, the yacht was a failure,
although she was steered by Gomes, who during the last two seasons has
had charge of "Meteor" (_née_ "Thistle") for the German Emperor.

Disheartened, but not defeated, he gave a commission to Mr. Watson, of
Glasgow, who designed the first "Valkyrie." She was a signal success,
and was sailed by Thomas Diaper, better known as Tommy Dutch, and
afterwards by William Cranfield, who had been so fortunate with the
"Yarana," now the "Maid Marian," for Mr. Ralli. Like the present ship,
she was built for the express purpose of racing for the America Cup.
The challenge sent by the Royal Yacht Squadron was accepted by the New
York Yacht Club. But as conditions, considered distasteful by the
Squadron, were imposed as to the future holding of the cup, and the
New York Yacht Club declined to yield in any way, the match was
reluctantly abandoned. The following year the Watson cutter came out
again and did as well as before. In the winter of 1891-92 Lord
Dunraven took her to the Mediterranean, where, after winning every
race she sailed in, she was sold to the Archduke Carl Stephan, and
delivered at Pola.

[Illustration: DUNRAVEN CASTLE.]

The next order was given to Mr. Alfred Payne, of Southampton, who was
bidden to design a yacht which should serve the twofold purpose of a
fast cruiser and a reliable, seaworthy fishing boat. "L'Esperance" was
built with that object in view, and fully realized the expectations of
her owner, though, of course, she was not fast enough to hold her own
with the first-class racers. During the two seasons the yacht was
afloat she carried off several prizes in handicap matches.

Last year Lord Dunraven determined to have a second try to bring off a
race for the America Cup, and gave an order to Mr. Watson to build him
another cutter. The success of the Clyde designer's last venture was
probably the reason for calling the new vessel "Valkyrie." The Royal
Yacht Squadron again challenged in Lord Dunraven's behalf, and the
challenge was duly accepted. Fortunately, no difficulties arose on
this occasion, and the 5th of October is fixed for the first match.

[Illustration: CAPTAIN WILLIAM CRANFIELD OF THE "VALKYRIE."]

The new ship was built by Messrs. Henderson, of Glasgow, side by side
with the "Britannia," the Prince of Wales's yacht. It is a mistake,
however, to suppose, as some do, that the two vessels are copies, one
of the other. The "Valkyrie" was designed first, and her building
begun, before Mr. Watson considered with Mr. Jameson the lines of the
"Britannia." "Valkyrie's" registered tonnage is 106.55, and her length
on the load water line 86.82 feet, which is 1.82 feet above the length
of the load water line given in the challenge, but doubtless she will
be altered to meet the conditions governing the race. Her length from
the fore part of stem under the bowsprit to the aft side of the head
of the stern-post is 97.75 feet, and her length over all 116.25. Her
racing rating is 148, and her sail area 10,200 square feet, being
3,500 square feet more than the first "Valkyrie." She carries a crew
of thirty hands all told, and her cabins are prettily fitted up in
cedar and cretonne.

[Illustration: G. T. WATSON, DESIGNER OF THE "VALKYRIE."]

The second "Valkyrie" has been tried in all weathers and in various
waters with the "Britannia," the "Satanita," the "Calluna," and the
"Iverna." Therefore her capabilities against British yachts of her own
class are pretty well known. Up to the time of writing, namely, the
eve of the Royal Yacht Squadron regatta at Cowes--the regatta in which
the schooner yacht "America" won the cup which Lord Dunraven hopes to
bring back to England--the "Valkyrie" has sailed in twenty matches and
won fourteen flags, eleven first and three second, representing a
total value of £930. Her first match was in the Thames on May 25, when
she had bad luck and only came in third, "Britannia" being first and
"Iverna" second. In the middle of the race she broke her bowsprit off
short in the stem, and in a few minutes was, for all sailing purposes,
practically a wreck. In the second Royal Thames match it was doubtful
whether "Britannia" or "Valkyrie" won. The Prince of Wales's yacht was
first in, but according to some watches she only won by seven seconds,
whereas the official timekeeper made it seventeen seconds, thus
covering "Valkyrie's" time allowance. In the Royal Cinque Ports
regatta several vessels collided, with the result that the "Britannia"
did not race at all, and Lord Dunraven's yacht was detained at the
start twelve and a half minutes, and so was not placed. During the
Royal Ulster match one of "Valkyrie's" men fell overboard, and the
time lost in picking up the man could not be recovered. It is,
however, but fair to say that when "Valkyrie" won the second Royal
Western match, "Britannia" came to grief, while in the second race on
the Clyde the prince's yacht was disqualified.

[Illustration: THE "VALKYRIE."]

It now remains to see how she acquits herself in contest with the
American vessels which have been built to meet her. The long notice
required gives a distinct advantage to the other side; although only
one boat can sail against the challenger, there is nothing to prevent
any number of boats being designed by the party challenged. The
Americans have built four cutters to select from, hence the chances
against the "Valkyrie" may be roughly calculated at four to one.

There is no doubt that Lord Dunraven's ship is a great improvement on
anything hitherto built in England, and, given her time allowance, is
the fastest vessel afloat on British waters. She has gone much better
since she had her top-mast clipped and topsails cut. Her strong point
is going to windward, and her best chance is in light weather. She
leaves England on or about August 20, in charge of William Cranfield,
than whom it would be difficult to find a more experienced skipper on
either side of the Atlantic. He has sailed her all through her trial
matches and will steer her in the races for the cup.

But it must not be supposed that Lord Dunraven is always racing in
large yachts. On the contrary, he is perhaps even more interested
in small boat sailing, and has, since 1889, built four "fives," all
of which have given a very good account of themselves. This year he
brought out a twenty-rater, but so far she has not proved a
success, and has succumbed to "Dragon" on almost every occasion. He
is commodore of the Castle Yacht Club, a sporting little racing
club on the South Coast, where races take place every Saturday and
often twice a week. The commodore generally enters his boat for
these matches, and always steers himself. Besides belonging to the
Royal Yacht Squadron and the Castle Yacht Club, Lord Dunraven is a
member of the Austrian Imperial Yacht Squadron; the Royal Cork,
London, Southern, Southampton, Clyde, Western, and Victoria; the
New Thames, Bristol Channel, Portsmouth, Corinthian and many other
yachting clubs.

The same year that he returned to yachting he took up racing again,
and started a stable in partnership with Lord Randolph Churchill,
having Mr. R. W. Sherwood as trainer, and "Morny" Cannon and Woodburn
as jockeys. On the whole his horses have been fairly successful.
L'Abbesse de Jouarre won the Oaks in 1889, and Inverness has secured
some good stakes. Strange to say, on the day the mare won at Epsom,
Lord Randolph was in Norway, and Lord Dunraven was sailing in his
five-rater at Calshot Castle. Under these circumstances it is quite
permissible to draw the conclusion that he prefers yachting to horse
racing. After four years of partnership racing, Lord Dunraven bought
Lord Randolph's share of the stud and now races entirely on his own
account. He is a good fisherman, and as equally at home with his
salmon rod as with a deep-sea line. He knows nearly every fishing
ground round the coast, and, after the regattas are over, generally
goes trawling. His favorite places are off Plymouth, the Scilly and
the Channel Islands. Both with rifle and gun he is a first-rate shot,
and although he always shoots in spectacles, seldom misses his game.

[Illustration: THE KENRY GATEWAY.]

Lord Dunraven took his seat in the House of Lords as a supporter
of Mr. Gladstone, who subsequently offered him a minor post in the
government. But at that time the young traveler took but little
part in politics, and so declined the flattering invitation. His
real entry into public life, and, in fact, the foundation of his
subsequent career as a politician, are due to an article which he
wrote in the "New York World" on Mr. Gladstone's famous attack on
Lord Beaconsfield. The article obtained much attention at the
time, and attracted the notice of the Conservative chief, who was
much struck at the clever criticism of the young Liberal peer. An
acquaintance sprang up between Lord Beaconsfield and the writer,
which later on ripened into friendship, and probably had something
to do with Lord Dunraven joining the Conservative party.

His early speeches were chiefly on foreign policy, and the intimate
knowledge he showed respecting treaties of all kinds was an additional
link between him and the leader of his new party. His favorite theme
was Egypt, and he rarely missed an opportunity of condemning Mr.
Gladstone's policy in respect to that country. Later on he interested
himself more especially in colonial affairs. Here his personal
acquaintance with the North American colonies stood him in good stead,
and gained him the ear of the House of Lords. Thus it was scarcely
surprising that when Lord Salisbury came into office he chose him as
Under Secretary of State for the colonies, a post he again filled on
the return of the Conservatives to power in 1886.

Soon after he had taken office the second time, the Newfoundland
Government passed an act prohibiting the French fishermen from
purchasing bait in the colony. This act the imperial government at
first declined to ratify. Lord Dunraven sided with the local
legislators, on the ground that Newfoundland was a self-governing
colony. He pressed this view of the case at Downing Street, and, as
the government declined to yield, resigned his Under Secretaryship.
Some say he resigned merely to support his friend, Lord Randolph
Churchill, who had just given up the post of Chancellor of the
Exchequer and leader of the House of Commons, but, although the two
resignations may have had some connection, the immediate cause of Lord
Dunraven's leaving the Colonial Office was as I have stated. Being out
of office and out of favor with his chief, Lord Dunraven turned his
attention to social questions, and, when Mr. Burnett's report on the
Sweating System at the East End of London was presented to Parliament,
he moved the House of Lords for a select committee to inquire into the
subject. The request was granted, and he was appointed chairman. For
more than two years the committee sat, and during all that time Lord
Dunraven worked most energetically, examining and cross-examining the
various witnesses sent up from all parts of the United Kingdom, for he
was not long in discovering that the system was practised quite as
much in the provincial cities as in the East End of London, and
quickly took steps to have the reference extended. With much care he
drafted an exhaustive report, giving, as the chief causes of the
existence of sweating, unrestricted foreign immigration and
over-competition. Lord Derby and Lord Thring declined to accept this
view, and Lord Dunraven, finding himself in a minority, retired from
the chairmanship. Subsequent events have shown that Lord Dunraven was
not so far out in his diagnosis as his colleagues supposed. The evil
effects of foreign immigration upon the unskilled labor market so
impressed him that, on his own initiative and at his own expense, he
formed a society for the express purpose of making these effects known
to the public, and of forcing them upon the attention of Parliament.

[Illustration: ADARE MANOR HOUSE.]

The working-man may have good reason to thank Lord Dunraven, but it
is doubtful whether the capitalist will regard his efforts in the same
light. The Sweating Committee brought Mr. Alderman Ben Tillett to the
front, and Mr. Alderman Ben Tillett, in conjunction with Mr. John
Burns, M.P., were the promoters of the dock strike. The dock strike
started "new unionism," and new unionism gave an impetus to the
eight-hour-day movement. Lord Dunraven and Lord Randolph Churchill
were the first prominent politicians to openly advocate an eight-hour
day for miners, and Lord Dunraven's speech on the eight-hours' case
generally, before the members of the Chamber of Commerce at Liverpool,
attracted much comment at the time. The Factories and Workshops act
was really an extension of the very able bill which Lord Dunraven
introduced into the House of Lords, in order to carry into force
certain amendments in the law which he had suggested in his draft on
the sweating inquiry. Together with Lord Sandhurst, the present Under
Secretary for War, he championed the cause of the laundresses. Indeed,
there is scarcely a question affecting the interests of the working
classes in which he has not taken an active part, and when a separate
state department for labor is established, as it must be eventually,
Lord Dunraven, supposing the Conservatives to be in power, will
probably be invited to act as its first minister.

There is scarcely a subject on which he is not well informed. His
difficulty seems to be in making a choice. In matters of sport he has
thrown his heart and soul into yachting, and, as a consequence, on
that subject he is naturally considered the first authority. What he
has done in yachting he must do in politics, if he is ever to reach
the position to which his abilities entitle him.

[Illustration: ADARE GALLERY.]

The rough-and-tumble work of the House of Commons would have been a
far better school for him than the Upper House of Parliament, and had
he not been a peer he would probably by this time have reached a far
higher rung on the political ladder than he has done. Although
nervous, he is a good speaker, and never misses his points. He seldom
addresses the House without a thorough knowledge of his subject, and
as a consequence is generally listened to and considered. Naturally
quick, he soon masters his facts. He has great power of concentration,
but, like most Irishmen, lacks application. Unlike his race, however,
he is not impulsive, and seldom speaks without thinking. He has more
the memory of a barrister than that of a permanent official, and
should he forget the details, always remembers the line of argument.
With a little more patience he would make a good judge, as he knows
well how to sift evidence, and is just in dealing with the opinions of
others. Thorough himself, he expects thoroughness in those about him.
Cant and hypocrisy he will have none of. Nor does he believe in
employing second-rate intellect. The best man and the best price is
Lord Dunraven's motto. There is no niggardliness about him, yet at
the same time he intends to get his money's worth. Mistakes are not
overlooked, but forgiven. As a result he is much liked by all who have
any dealings with him.

The principal family estates are in Ireland and Wales. Adare Manor,
the Irish home where the present peer was born, is situated in one of
the prettiest parts of County Limerick. The house, which had fallen
into decay during the last century, was entirely rebuilt by Lord
Dunraven's grandfather. It is of gray stone and in the style of the
Tudor period. The most imposing apartment is the gallery, which is
panelled in old oak and has a beautifully carved ceiling. This room is
approached from the hall by means of a stone stair-case let into the
wall, and is entered through richly carved double doors brought from
an old church at Antwerp. It is one hundred and thirty-two feet long
and twenty-one feet wide. Along the sides hang the family pictures,
and a few choice paintings by old masters. The hall is lofty, and
lighted by colored windows, which, together with the organ, hidden
away in a recess, gives the place more the appearance of a cathedral
than the entrance to a private house. The river Maigne flows past the
manor on the south side, and, when at home, the subject of our sketch
may often be seen fishing for a salmon or shooting a weir in his
canoe, after the manner of Canadian log men down the rapids. Not far
from the manor house, on the banks of the river, are the ruins of a
Franciscan abbey, built in 1464 for the Observant Brothers by a former
Earl of Kildare, while adjoining lie the ruins of Desmond Castle, so
celebrated in Irish history.

[Illustration: RUINS OF DESMOND CASTLE.]

Lord Dunraven is much attached to Ireland and the Irish. He devotes
large sums of money annually towards improving and keeping up Adare,
and spends all the income derived from the estate in giving employment
to the people of the district. This fact alone, seeing that he has
only a life interest in the place, shows his large-mindedness. His
property is probably the only one in the south of Ireland on which no
outrage has ever been committed, and it speaks well for his popularity
that when he came amongst his own tenants a few months ago to deliver
a speech against Mr. Gladstone's Home Rule bill, not only was he
listened to, but, for the time, received the support of many Home
Rulers in the district. At Adare, Lord Dunraven entertained Lord
Spencer and the vice-regal court in state, and subsequently received
Lord Londonderry and Lord Houghton.

Dunraven Castle, in Glamorganshire, is built on the edge of a cliff,
and overlooks the Bristol Channel. The coast is very dangerous, and
many a ship has struck and gone to pieces on the treacherous rocks in
sight of the castle. There is no safe anchorage anywhere near, so Lord
Dunraven is in the peculiar position of having a home by the sea, but
is unable to approach it in his yacht. Lately the castle has been
enlarged, and a new wing and courtyard added. During the last few
years, owing probably to the unsettled state of Ireland, Lord and Lady
Dunraven have done most of their entertaining here. Not long ago the
Duke and Duchess of Teck and the Princess May (Duchess of York) made a
long stay at the castle. The gardens are well kept, but the want of
shelter prevents the shrubs and coverts from growing, and gives the
more exposed part of the estate rather a barren appearance. The
shooting is fairly good, and the park well stocked with deer.

Kenry House, in the vale of Putney, was until recently used as the
town residence, but when Lord Dunraven's daughters grew up it was
necessary to take a house in London. Still Kenry is a favorite
Saturday to Monday resort of Lord Dunraven during the parliamentary
session.

Few men in like position have led so varied a life as the owner of
"Valkyrie," and as a consequence he has come into contact with most
men and women worth knowing. In social circles he is very popular, and
no smart entertainment is complete without him. In clubland he is
always welcome, and is as equally at home at the Beefsteak or the
Savage as at the Marlborough or the Turf. While Parliament is sitting
he is often found at the Carlton, discussing with his party the latest
move on the political chess-board, or talking science and literature
with his friends at the Athenæum. His energy is boundless. He will
work all the morning, legislate in the afternoon, dine out, and then
spend the evening in amusement. Travelling to him is nothing. He never
tires. He is an early riser, and no matter what time he goes to bed is
always up and attending to his correspondence at the usual hour the
next morning. In this way he gets through a great amount of work, and
is able to find time for the same amount of pleasure. He is very
generous, and as a result is often imposed upon. Not only is he called
upon to give money toward the charities in his own neighborhoods, but
people write to him from all parts of the United Kingdom to help them
in their distress. Often he yields, and many a home has been made
happy by a gift of money or money's worth. Scarcely a church or chapel
on his Welsh estate is self-supporting. All expect, and many get,
grants from Lord Dunraven. In Ireland, too, he is equally liberal; and
Father Flanagan, the priest at Adare, could tell many a tale of want
relieved and assistance given to the Catholics on the estate.

LONDON, ENGLAND.



AT A DANCE.


  My queen is tired and craves surcease
    Of twanging string and clamorous brass;
  I lean against the mantelpiece,
    And watch her in the glass.

  One whom I see not where I stand
    Fans her, and talks in whispers low;
  Her loose locks flutter as his hand
    Moves lightly to and fro.

  He begs a flower; her finger tips
    Stray round a rose half veiled in lace;
  She grants the boon with smiling lips,
    Her clear eyes read his face.

  I cannot look--my sight grows dim--
    While Fate allots, unequally,
  The living woman's self to him,
    The mirrored form to me.



DULCES AMARYLLIDIS IRÆ.


  I told my love a truth she liked not well;
    She spoke no word. I raised my eyes to watch
  Her cheek's red flush, her bosom's angry swell;
   She rose to go; her hand was on the latch;
  When some swift thought--of my fond love, maybe,
    Or ill-requited patience--bowed her head:
  She faltered, paused with foot half raised to flee,
    Then turned, and stole into my arms instead.

  _Reproduced, by special arrangement, from_ "Under the Hawthorn,
  and Other Verse," by Augusta de Gruchy.

  London: Edwin Matthews and John Lane, 1893.



A SPLENDID TIME--AHEAD.

BY WALTER BESANT.


I.

It was Sunday evening in July--an evening aglow with warmth and
splendor; an evening when even the streets of London were glorious
with the light of the splendid west; an evening when, if you are young
(as I sincerely hope you are), only to wander hand-in-hand over the
grass and under the trees with your sweetheart should be happiness
enough. One ought to be ashamed to ask for more. Nay, a great many do
not ask for more.

They are engaged. Some time, but not just yet, they will marry. They
work separately all the week, but on the Sunday they are free to go
about together. Of all the days that make the week they dearly love
but one day--namely the day that lies between the Saturday and Monday.
Now that the voice of the Sabbatarian has sunk to a whisper or a
whine; now that we have learned to recognize the beauty, the priceless
boon, the true holiness of the Sunday, which not only rests body and
brain, but may be so used as to fill the mind with memories of lovely
scenes, of sweet and confidential talk, of love-making and of
happiness, we ought to determine that of all the things which make up
the British liberties, there is nothing for which the working man
should more fiercely fight or more jealously watch than the full
freedom of his Sunday--freedom uncontrolled to wander where he will,
to make his recreation as he chooses.

If the church doors are open wide, let the doors of the public
galleries and the museums and the libraries be opened wide as well.
Let him, if he choose, step from church to library. But if he is wise,
when the grass is long and the bramble is in blossom, and the foliage
is thick and heavy on the elms, he will, after dinner, repair to the
country, if it is only to breathe the air of the fields, and lie on
his back watching the slow westering of the sun and listening to the
note of the blackbird in the wood.

Two by two they stroll or sit about Hempstead Heath on such an
evening. If you were to listen (a pleasant thing to do, but wrong) to
the talk of these couples you would find that they are mostly silent,
except that they only occasionally exchange a word or two. Why should
they talk? They know each other's cares and prospects; they know the
burden that each has to bear--the evil temper of the boss, the
uncertainties of employment, the difficulties in the way of an
improved screw, and the family troubles--there are always family
troubles, due to some inconsiderate member or other. I declare that we
have been teaching morality and the proper conduct of life on quite a
wrong principle--namely, the selfish principle.

We say, "Be good, my child, and you will go to heaven." The
proposition is no doubt perfectly true. But it proposes a selfish
motive for action. I would rather say to that child, "Be good, my
dear, or else you will become an intolerable nuisance to other
people." Now, no child likes to consider himself an intolerable
nuisance.

These lovers, therefore, wander about the Heath, sometimes up to their
knees in bracken, sometimes sitting under the trees, not talking much,
but, as the old phrase has it, "enjoying themselves" very much indeed.
At the end of the Spaniards' Road--that high causeway whence one can
see, in clear weather, the steeple of Harrow Church on one side and
the dome of St. Paul's on the other--there is a famous clump of firs,
which have been represented by painters over and over again. Benches
have been placed under these trees, where one can sit and have a very
fine view indeed, with the Hendon Lake in the middle distance, and a
range of hills beyond, and fields and rills between.

On one of these benches were sitting this evening two--Adam and Eve,
boy and girl--newly entered into paradise. Others were sitting there
as well--an ancient gentleman whose thoughts were seventy years back,
a working man with a child of three on his knee, and beside him his
wife, carrying the baby. But these lovers paid no heed to their
neighbors. They sat at the end of the bench. The boy was holding the
girl's hand, and he was talking eagerly.

"Lily," he said, "you must come some evening to our debating society
when we begin again and hear me speak. No one speaks better. That is
acknowledged. There is to be a debate on the House of Lords in
October. I mean to come out grand. When I'm done there will be mighty
little left of the Lords." He was a handsome lad, tall and well set
up, straight featured and bright eyed. The girl looked at him proudly.
He was her own lad--this handsome chap. Not that she was bad-looking
either. Many an honest fellow has to put up with a girl not nearly so
good-looking, if you were to compare.

He was a clerk in the city. She was in the post-office. He attended at
his office daily from half-past nine to six, doing such work as was
set before him for the salary of a pound a week. She stood all day
long at the counter, serving out postal orders, selling stamps,
weighing letters, and receiving telegrams. When I add that she was
civil to everybody you will understand that she was quite a superior
clerk--one of the queen's lucky bargains. It is not delicate to talk
about a young lady's salary, therefore I shall not say for how much
she gave her services to the British Empire.

He was a clever boy, who read and thought. That is to say, he thought
that he thought--which is more than most do. As he took his facts from
the newspapers, and nothing else, and as he was profoundly ignorant
of English history, English law, the British Constitution, the duties
of a citizen, and the British Empire generally, his opinions, after he
had done thinking, were not of so much value to the country, it is
believed. But still a clever fellow, and able to spout in a frothy way
which carried his hearers along, if it never convinced or defeated an
opponent.

To this kind of clever boy there are always two or three dangers. One
is that he should be led on to think more and more of froth and less
of fact; another, that he should grow conceited over his eloquence and
neglect his business. A third temptation which peculiarly besets this
kind is that he should take to drink. Oratory is thirsty work, and
places where young men orate are often in immediate proximity to bars.
As yet, however, Charley was only twenty. He was still at the first
stage of everything--oratory, business, and love; and he was still at
the stage when everything appears possible--the total abolition of
injustice, privilege, class, capital, power, oppression, greed,
sweating, poverty, suffering--by the simple process of tinkering the
constitution.

"Oh," he cried, "we shall have the most glorious, the most splendid
time, Lily! The power of the people is only just beginning; it hasn't
begun yet. We shall see the most magnificent things...." He enumerated
them as above indicated. Well, it is very good that young men should
have such dreams and see such visions. I never heard of any girl being
thus carried out of herself. The thing belongs exclusively to male man
in youth, and it is very good for him. When he is older he will
understand that over and above the law and the constitution there is
something else more important still--namely, that every individual man
should be honest, temperate, and industrious. In brief, he will
understand the force of the admonition: "Be good, my child, or else
you will become an intolerable nuisance to everybody."

The sun sank behind Harrow-on-the-Hill. The red light of the west
flamed in the boy's bright eyes. Presently the girl rose.

"Yes, Charley," she said, less sympathetic than might have been
expected; "yes, and it will be a very fine time, if it comes. But I
don't know. People will always want to get rich, won't they? I think
this beautiful time will have to come after us. Perhaps we had better
be looking after our own nest first."

"Oh, it will come--it will come!"

"I like to hear you talk about it, Charley. But if we are ever to
marry--if I am to give up the post-office, you must make a bigger
screw. Remember what you promised. The shorthand and the French class.
Put them before your speechifying."

"All right, Lily dear, and then we will get married, and we will have
the most splendid time. Oh, there's the most splendid time for
us--ahead!"


II.

It is six months later and mid-winter, and the time is again the
evening. The day has been gloomy, with a fog heavy enough to cause the
offices to be lit with gas, so that the eyes of all London are red and
the heads of all London are heavy.

Lily stepped outside the post-office, work done. She was going home.

At the door stood her sweetheart, waiting for her. She tossed her head
and made as if she would pass him without speaking. But he stepped
after and walked beside her.

"No, Lily," he said, "I will speak to you; even if you don't answer my
letters you shall hear me speak."

"You have disgraced yourself," she said.

"Yes, I know. But you will forgive me. It is the first time. I swear
it is the first time."

Well, it was truly the first time that she had seen him in such a
state.

"Oh, to be a drunkard!" she replied. "Oh, could I ever believe that I
should see you rolling about the street?"

"It was the first time, Lily, and it shall be the last. Forgive me
and take me on again. If you give me up I shall go to the devil!"

"Charley"--her voice broke into a sob--"you have made me miserable--I
was so proud of you. No other girl, I thought, had such a clever
sweetheart; and last Tuesday--oh! it's dreadful to think of."

"Yes, Lily, I know. There's only one excuse. I spoke for more than an
hour, and I was exhausted. So what I took went to my head. Another
time I should not have felt it a bit. And when I found myself
staggering I was going home as fast as possible, and as bad luck would
have it, I must needs meet you."

"Good luck, I call it. Else I might never have found it out till too
late."

"Lily, make it up. Give me another chance. I'll swear off. I'll take
the pledge."

He caught her hand and held it.

"Oh, Charley," she said, "if I can only trust you."

"You can, you must, Lily. For your sake I will take the pledge. I will
do whatever you ask me to do."

She gave way, but not without conditions.

"Well," she said, "I will try to think no more about it. But, Charley,
remember, I could never, never, never marry a man who drinks."

"You never shall, dear," he replied, earnestly.

"And then, another thing, Charley. This speaking work--oh! I know it
is clever and that--but it doesn't help us forward. How long is it
since you determined to learn shorthand, because it would advance you
so much? And French, because a clerk who can write French is worth
double? Where are your fine resolutions?"

"I will begin again--I will practise hard; see now, Lily, I will do
all you want. I will promise anything to please you--and do it, too.
See if I won't. Only not quite to give up the speaking. Think how
people are beginning to look up to me. Why, when we get a reformed
House, and the members are paid, they will send me to Parliament--me!
I shall be a member for Camden Town. Then I shall be made Home
Secretary, or Attorney General, or something. You will be proud, Lily,
of your husband when he is a distinguished man. There's a splendid
time for us--ahead!"

"Yes, dear. But first you know you have got to get a salary that we
can live on."

He left her at her door with a kiss and a laugh, and turned to go
home. In the next street he passed a public-house. He stopped, he
hesitated, he felt in his pocket, he went in and had a go, just a
single go--Lily would never find out--of Scotch, cold. Then he went
home and played at practising shorthand for an hour. He had promised
his Lily. She should see how well he could keep his promise.


III.

"It is good of you to come, my dear. Of course, I understand that it
is all over now. It must be. It is not in nature that you should keep
him on any longer. But I thought you would see my poor boy once
more."

It was Charley's mother who spoke. He was the only son of a widow.

"Oh, yes, I came--I came," Lily replied, tearfully. "But what is the
good? He will promise everything again. How many times has he repented
and promised--and promised?"

"My poor boy! And we were so proud of him, weren't we, dear?" said the
mother, wiping away a tear. "He was going to do such great things with
his cleverness and his speaking. And now--I have seen it coming on, my
dear, for a year and more, but I durstn't speak to you. When he came
home night after night with a glassy eye and a husky voice, when he
reeled across the room, at first I pretended not to notice it. A man
mustn't be nagged or shamed, must he? Then I spoke in the morning, and
he promised to pull himself up."

"He will promise--ah! yes--he will promise."

"If you could only forgive him he might keep his promise."

Lily shook her head doubtfully.

"I went to the office this morning, my dear. They have been expecting
it for weeks. The head clerk warned him. It was known that he had
fallen into bad company--in the city they don't like spouters. And
when he came back after his dinner he was so tipsy that he fell along.
They just turned him out on the spot."

"Mother," said Lily, "it's like this. I can't help forgiving him. We
two must forgive him, whatever he does. We love him, you see, that's
what it is."

"Yes, dear, yes."

"It isn't the poor, tipsy boy we love, but the real boy--the clever
boy behind. We must forgive him. But"--her lips quivered--"I cannot
marry him. Do not ask me to do that unless--what will never happen--he
reforms altogether."

"If you would, dear, I think he might keep straight. If you were
always with him to watch him."

"I could not be always with him. And besides, mother, think what
might happen as well. Would you have me bring into the world children
whose lives would make me wretched by a drunken father? And how should
we live? Because, you see, if I marry I must give up my place."

The mother sighed. "Charley is in his own room," she said, "I will
send him to you."

Lily sat down and buried her face in her hands. Alas! to this had her
engagement come. But she loved him. When he came into the room and
stood before her and she looked up, seeing him shamefaced and with
hanging head, she was filled with pity as well as love--pity and
shame, and sorrow for the boy. She took his hand and pressed it
between her own and burst into tears. "Oh, Charley, Charley!" she
cried.

"I am a brute and a wretch," he said. "I don't deserve anything. But
don't throw me over--don't, Lily!"

He fell on his knees before her, crying like a little school-boy. A
tendency to weep readily sometimes accompanies the consumption of
strong drink.

Then he made confession, such confession as one makes who puts things
as prettily as their ugliness allows. He had given way once or twice;
he had never intended to get drunk; he had been overtaken yesterday.
The day was close, he had a headache in the morning. To cure his
headache he took a single glass of beer. When he went back to the
office he felt giddy. They said he was drunk. They bundled him out on
the spot without even the opportunity of explaining.

Lily sighed. What could she say or answer? The weakness of the man's
nature only came out the more clearly by his confession. What could
she say? To reason with him was useless. To make him promise was
useless.

"Charley," she said at length, "if my forgiveness will do any good
take it and welcome. But we cannot undo the past. You have lost your
place and your character. As for the future----"

"You have forgiven me, Lily," he said; "oh, I can face the future. I
can get another place easily. I shall very soon retrieve my character.
Why, all they can say is that I seemed to have taken too much.
Nothing--that is nothing!"

"What will you do? Have you got any money?"

"No. I must go and look for another place. Until I get one I suppose
there will be short commons. I deserve it, Lily. You shall not hear me
grumble."

She took out her purse. "I can spare two pounds," she said. "Take the
money, Charley. Nay--you must--you shall. You must not go about
looking half starved."

He hesitated and changed color, but he took the money.

Half an hour later he was laughing, as they all three sat at their
simple supper, as light-hearted as if there had never been such a
scene. When a man is forgiven he may as well behave accordingly. Only,
when he lifted his glass of water to his lips he gasped--it was a
craving for something stronger than water which tightened his throat
like hydrophobia. But it passed; he drank the water and set down the
glass with a nod.

"Good water, that," he said. "Nothing like water. Mean to stick to
water in future--water and tea. Lily, I've made up my mind. For the
next six months I shall give up speaking, though it's against my
interests. Shorthand and French in the evening. By that time I shall
get a post worth a hundred--ay, a hundred and twenty--pounds a year,
if I'm lucky, and we'll get married and all live together and be as
happy as the day is long. You shall never repent your wedding-day, my
dear. I shall keep you like a lady. Oh, we will have a splendid
time."

At ten o'clock Lily rose to go home. He sprang to his feet and took
his hat and went.

"No, no," he said. "Let you go alone? Not if I know it."

She laid her hand on his arm once more, and tried to believe that his
promise would be kept this time. He led her home, head in air, gallant
and brave. At the door he kissed her. "Good-night, my dear," he said.
"You know you can trust me. Haven't I promised?"

On the way home he passed a public-house. The craving came back to
him, and the tightness of his throat and the yearning of his heart;
his footsteps were drawn and dragged toward the door.

At eleven o'clock his mother, who was waiting up for him, heard him
bumping and tumbling about the stairs on his way up. He came in--his
eyes fishy, his voice thick. "Saw her home," he said. "Good girl,
Lily. Made--(hic)--faithful promise--we are going to have--splendid
time!"


IV.

The two women stood outside the prison doors. At eight o'clock their
man would be released; the son of one, the lover of the other. The
elder woman looked frail and bowed, her face was full of trouble--the
kind of trouble that nothing can remove. The younger woman stood
beside her on the pavement; she was thinner, and her cheeks were pale;
in her eyes, too, you could read abiding trouble.

"We will take him home between us," said the girl. "Not a word of
reproach. He has sinned and suffered. We must forgive. Oh, we cannot
choose but forgive!"

Alas! the noble boy--the clever boy she loved--was further off than
ever. He who loses a place and his character with it never gets
another berth. This is a rule in the city. We talk of retrieving
character and getting back to work. Neither the one nor the other
event ever comes off. The wretch who is in this hapless plight begins
the weary search for employment in hope. How it ends varies with his
temperament or with the position of his friends. All day long he
climbs stairs, puts his head into offices, and asks if a clerk is
wanted.

No clerk is wanted. Then he comes down the stairs and climbs others,
and asks the same question and gets the same reply. If ever a clerk is
wanted a character is wanted with him; and when the character includes
the qualification of drink, as well as of zeal and ability, the owner
is told that he may move on.

I am told there is a never-ending procession of clerks out of work up
and down the London stairs. What becomes of them is never known. It
is, however, rumored that short commons, long tramps, and hope
deferred bring most of them to the hospitals, where it is tenderly
called pneumonia.

Charley began his tramp. After a little--a very little while--his
money, the money that Lily lent him, was all gone. He was ashamed to
borrow more, because he would have to confess how that money was
chiefly spent.

Then he pawned his watch.

Then he borrowed another pound of Lily.

Every evening he came home drunk. His mother knew it, and told Lily.
They could do nothing. They said nothing. They left off hoping.

Then his mother perceived that things began to disappear. He stole
the clock on the mantel-shelf first, and pawned it.

Then he stole other things. At last he took the furniture, bit by bit,
and pawned it, until his mother was left with nothing but a mattress
and a pair of blankets. He could not take her money, because all she
had was an annuity of fifteen shillings a week, otherwise he would
have had that too. He then borrowed Lily's watch and pawned it, and
her little trinkets and pawned them; he took from her all the money
she would give him.

Both women half starved themselves to find him in drink and to save
him from crime. Yes, to save him from crime. They did not use these
words--they understood. For now he had become mad for drink. There was
no longer any pretence; he even left off lying; he was drunk every
day; if he could not get drunk he sat on the bare floor and cried.
Neither his mother nor Lily reproached him.

An end--a semicolon, if not a full stop--comes to such a course.
Unfortunately not always the end which is most to be desired--the only
effectual end.

The end or semicolon which came to this young man was that, having
nothing more of his mother's that he could pawn, one day he slipped
into the ground floor lodger's room and made up quite a valuable
little parcel for his friend the pawnbroker. It contained a Waterbury
watch, a seven and sixpenny clock, a mug--electro-plate, won at a
spelling competition--a bound volume of "Tit Bits," and a Bible.

When the lodger came home and found out his loss he proved to be of an
irascible, suspicious, and revengeful disposition. He immediately, for
instance, suspected the drunken young man of the first floor. He
caused secret inquiry to be made, and--but why go on? Alas! the
conclusion of the affair was eight months' hard.

"Here he comes," said Lily. "Look up, mother; we must meet him with a
smile. He will come out sober, at any rate."

He was looking much better for his period of seclusion. He walked
home between them, subdued, but ready, on encouragement, for their
old confidence.

In fact, it broke out, after an excellent breakfast.

"I have made up my mind," he said, "while I was thinking--oh! I had
plenty to think about and plenty of time to do my thinking in. Well, I
have made up my mind. Mother, this is no country for me any longer.
After what has happened I must go. You two go on living together, just
for company, but I shall go--I shall go to America. There's always an
opening, I am told, in America, for fellows who are not afraid of
work. Cleverness tells there. A man isn't kept down because he's had a
misfortune. What is there against me, after all? Character gone, eh?
Well, if you come to that, I don't deny that appearances were against
me. I could explain, however.

"But there nobody cares about character nor what you've done
here"--(this remarkable belief is widely spread concerning the
colonies, as well as the United States)--"it's what can you do? not,
what have you done? Very well. I mean to go to America, mother. I
shall polish up the shorthand and pick up the French grammar again. I
mean to get rich now. Oh, I've sown my wild oats! Then you'll both
come out to me, and then we'll be married; and, Lily, we'll have a
most splendid time!"


V.

Five years later Lily sat one Sunday morning in the same lodgings. The
poor old mother was gone, praying her with her last breath not to
desert the boy. But of Charley not a word had come to her--no news of
any kind.

She was quite alone--in those days she was generally alone; she had
kept her place at the post-office, but everybody knew of her trouble,
and somehow it made a kind of barrier between herself and her sister
clerks. The sorrows of love are sacred, but when they are mixed up
with a criminal and a prison there is a feeling--a kind of a
feeling--as if, well, one doesn't like somehow to be mixed up with it.
Lily was greatly to be pitied, no doubt; her lover had turned out
shameful; but she ought to have given up the man long before he got so
bad.

She was alone. The church bells were beginning to ring. She thought
she would go to church. While she considered this point, she heard a
woman's step on the stairs, and there was a knock at the door.

It was a nurse or probationer, dressed in the now familiar garb--a
young nurse.

"You are Lily Chesters?" she asked. "There is a patient just brought
in to the London Hospital who wants to see you. He is named Charley,
he says, and will give no other name. He wrote your address on paper.
'Tell her,' he said, 'that it is Charley.'"

Lily rose quietly. "I will go to him."

"He is your brother?"

"He is my lover. Is he ill?"

"He is very ill. He came in all in rags, dirty and penniless--he is
very ill indeed. Prepare yourself. He is dying of pneumonia."

I told you before what they call it.

Lily sat at the bedside of the dying man.

"It is all over," he whispered. "I have reformed, Lily. I have quite
turned over a new leaf. I have now resolved to taking the pledge. Kiss
me, dear, and tell me that you forgive me."

"Yes, yes, Charley. God knows that I forgive you. Why, you will come
back to yourself in a very little while. Thank God for it, dear! Your
own true self. You will be my dear old boy again--the boy that I have
always loved; not the drinking, bad boy--the clever, bright boy. Oh,
my dear, my dear! you will see mother again very soon, and she will
welcome her boy, returned to himself again."

"Yes," he said, "that's it. A serious reform this time. Lily, I dare
say I shall be up and well again in a day or two. Then we will see
what to do next. I am going out to Australia, where everybody has a
chance--America is a fraud. I shall get rich there, and then you and
mother will come to me, and we shall get married, and--oh! Lily, Lily,
after all that we have suffered, we shall have--I see that we shall
have"--he paused, and his voice grew faint--"we shall have--the most
splendid time!"

"He is gone," said the nurse.



AN OLD SONG.

AUTHOR UNKNOWN.


  As, t'other day, o'er the green meadow I pass'd,
  A swain overtook me, and held my hand fast;
  Then cried, "My dear Lucy, thou cause of my care,
  How long must thy faithful young Thyrsis despair?
  To grant my petition, no longer be shy;"
  But, frowning, I answer'd, "O, fie, shepherd, fie!"

  He told me his fondness like time should endure;
  That beauty which kindled his flame 'twould secure;
  That all my sweet charms were for homage design'd,
  And youth was the season to love and be kind.
  Lord, what could I say? I could hardly deny,
  And faintly I uttered, "O, fie, shepherd, fie!"

  He swore--with a kiss--that he could not refrain;
  I told him 'twas rude, but he kissed me again.
  My conduct, ye fair ones, in question ne'er call,
  Nor think I did wrong--I did nothing at all!
  Resolved to resist, yet inclined to comply,
  I leave it for you to say, "Fie, shepherd, fie!"



STRANGER THAN FICTION.

LOVE IN A COTTAGE. THE IRISH STORY-TELLER. HUGH BRONTË AS A TENANT-RIGHTER.

Stories of the Brontë Family in Ireland.

BY DR. WILLIAM WRIGHT.


I. LOVE IN A COTTAGE.

After a brief honeymoon, spent at Warrenpoint, Alice Brontë returned,
on her brother's invitation, to her old home, and Hugh went back to
complete his term of service in Loughorne. It soon became desirable
that his wife should have a home of her own, and he took a cottage in
Emdale, in the parish of Drumballyroney, with which Drumgooland was
united at the time.

The house stands near crossroads leading to important towns. In a
direct line it is about three and three-quarters statute miles from
Rathfriland, seven and three-quarters from Newry, twelve from
Warrenpoint, and five and a quarter from Banbridge. The exact position
of the house, is on the north-west side of the old road, leading, in
Hugh Brontë's day, to Newry and Warrenpoint. Almost opposite, on the
other side of the road, there was a blacksmith's shop, which still
continues to be a blacksmith's shop. The Brontë house remains, though
partially in ruins.

The house is now used as a byre, but its dimensions are exactly the
same as when it became the home of Hugh Brontë and his bride. The rent
then would be about sixpence per week, and would, in accordance with
the general custom, be paid by one day's work in the week, with board,
the work being given in the busy season.

The house consisted of two rooms. That over which the roof still
stands was without chimney, and was used as bedroom and parlor, and
the outer room, from which the roof has fallen, was used as a
corn-kiln, and also as kitchen and reception-room.

A farmer's wife, whose ancestors lived close to the Brontë house long
before the Brontës were heard of in County Down, pointing to a spot in
the corner of the byre opposite to the window, said: "There is the
very spot where the Reverend Patrick Brontë was born." Then she added,
"Numbers of great folk have asked me about his birthplace, but och!
how could I tell them that any _dacent_ man was ever born in such a
place!" This feeling on the part of the neighbors will probably
account for the fact that everything written thus far regarding
Patrick Brontë's birthplace is wrong, neither the townland, nor even
the parish of his birth, being correctly given.

In the lowly cottage in Emdale, now known as "The Kiln," and used as a
cowhouse, Patrick Brontë was born, on the 17th of March, 1777. Men
have risen to fame from a lowly origin, but few men have ever emerged
from humbler circumstances than Patrick Brontë.

Many a reader of Mrs. Gaskell's life of Charlotte Brontë has been
saddened by the picture of the vicar's daughters amid their narrow and
grim surroundings, but the gray vicarage of Haworth was a palace
compared with the hovel in which the vicar himself was born and
reared.

Besides, the Haworth vicarage was never really as sombre as Mrs.
Gaskell painted it, for Miss Ellen Nussey was a constant visitor, and
she assures me that the girls were bright and happy in their home,
always engaged on some project of absorbing interest, and always
enjoying life in their own sober and thoughtful way.

The Brontë cottage in Emdale was very poor, but it was brightened with
the perennial sunshine of love. It was love in a cottage, in which the
bare walls and narrow board were golden in the light of Alice Brontë's
smile. It was said in the neighborhood that Mrs. Brontë's smile "would
have tamed a mad bull," and on her deathbed she thanked God that her
husband had never looked upon her with a frown.

In their wedded love they were very poor, but very happy. Hugh's
constant, steady work provided for the daily wants of an ever-increasing
family, but it made no provision for the strain of adverse
circumstances. In fact, the Emdale Brontës lived like birds, and as
happy as birds.

Hugh Brontë was one of the industrious poor. The salt of his life was
honest, manly toil. He had forgotten the luxury of his childhood's
home, and he did not feel any degradation in his lowly lot.

In our artificial civilization we have come to place too much store on
the accident of wealth. Our Blessed Saviour, whom all the rich and
luxurious call "Lord," was born in as lowly a condition of comfortless
poverty as Patrick Brontë. Cows are now housed in Brontë's birthplace,
but our Lord was born among the animals in the _caravansérai_. And
yet, in our social code, we have reduced the Decalogue to this one
commandment, "Thou shalt not be poor."

Hugh Brontë did not choose poverty as his lot, but, being a working
man, like the carpenter of Nazareth, he did the daily work that came
to his hand, and then, side by side with Alice, he found the fulness
of each day sufficient for all its wants.

The happy home was soon crowded with children, and the family removed
to a larger and better house, in the townland of Lisnacreevy. The
parish register of Drumballyroney Church, to which the Brontës
belonged, unfortunately goes no farther back than 1779, two years
after the birth of Patrick. The register, which is now kept in the
parish church of Drumgooland, belonged to the united parishes of
Drumballyroney and Drumgooland, in which, when united, the Reverend
Mr. Tighe was vicar for forty-two years. When Patrick Brontë was two
years old, less one day, his brother William was baptized, and about
every two succeeding years either a brother or a sister was added
until the family numbered ten.


II. THE DAILY ROUND.

Hugh Brontë and his wife could not live wholly on love in a cottage,
and Hugh had to bestir himself. He was an unskilled laborer, but he
understood the art of burning lime. There was no limestone, however,
in that part of County Down to burn, and as he could not have a
lime-kiln, he resolved to have a corn-kiln.

At the beginning of this century a corn-kiln in such a district in
Ireland was a very simple affair. A floor of earthenware tiles,
pierced nearly through from the underside, was arranged on a kind of
platform or loft. Beneath there was a furnace, which was heated by
burning the rough, dry seeds, or outer _shelling_, ground off the
oats. In front of the furnace there was a hollow, called "the
logie-hole," in which the kiln man sat, with the shelling or seeds
heaped up within arm's length around him, and with his right hand he
_beeked_ the kiln, by throwing, every few seconds, a sprinkling of
seeds on the flame. In this way he kept up a warm glow under the corn
till it was sufficiently dried for the mill.

Such was the simple character of the ordinary corn-kiln in County Down
at the beginning of the century. But I have been assured by the old
men of the neighborhood that Hugh Brontë's kiln was of a still more
primitive structure. The platform, or corn-floor, was constructed by
laying iron bars across unhewn stones set up on end. On these bars
straw matting was spread, and on the matting the corn was placed to
dry. Such a structure was the immediate precursor of the pottery
floored kiln. The design was the same in both, but the matting was
always liable to catch fire, and required careful attention.

The kiln was erected in the part of the Brontë cottage now roofless,
and, like the cottage itself, must have been a very humble affair. It
has been suggested that the kiln may have stood elsewhere, but it is
now established beyond all doubt, on the unanimous testimony of the
inhabitants, that the Brontë kiln stood in the ruined room of the
Brontë cottage, and, in fact, it is known by the name of "the Brontës'
kiln."

Within those walls, now roofless, the grandfather of Charlotte Brontë
began in 1776 to earn the daily bread of himself and his bride, by
roasting his neighbors' oats. His wage was known by the name of
"muther," and consisted of so many pounds of fresh oats taken from
every hundredweight brought to him to be kiln-dried. The miller, too,
was paid in kind, but his muther was taken by measure, after the
shelling, or seeds, had been ground off the grain.

When Hugh Brontë had accumulated a sackful of muther he dried it on
his kiln, took it to the mill, and paid his muther in turn to the
miller, to have it ground into meal.

The meal, when taken home, was stored in a barrel, and with the
produce of the rood of potatoes which Hugh had _sod_ on his
brother-in-law's farm, became the food of himself and family. As the
Brontës could not consume all the muther themselves, the surplus would
be sold to provide clothing and other necessaries, and though there
remains no trace of pig-stye or fowl-house, there can be little doubt
that Mrs. Brontë would have both pigs and fowl to eke out her
husband's earnings.

Mrs. Brontë was a famous spinner, and she handed down the art to her
daughters. She had always a couple of sheep grazing on her brother's
land. She carded and span the wool, her spinning-wheel singing all day
beside her husband, as he beeked the kiln. Then, during the long, dark
evenings, when they had no light but the red eye of the kiln, she
knitted the yarn into hose and vest and shirt, and even head-gear, so
that Hugh Brontë, like his sons in after years, was almost wholly clad
in "homespun."

This, probably, had something to do with the general impression, which
still remains in the neighborhood, of the stately and shapely forms of
the Brontë men and women. The knitted woollen garments fitted close,
unlike the fantastic and shapeless habiliments that came from the
hands of local tailors in those days.

Alice Brontë also span nearly all the garments which she wore, and her
tall and comely daughters after her were dressed in clothes which
their own hands had taken from the fleece.

On principle, as well as from necessity, the Brontës wore woollen
garments, and the vicar carried the same taste with him to England,
where his dislike of everything made of cotton was attributed by his
biographer to dread of fire. The absurd servants' gossip as to his
cutting up his wife's silk gown had possibly a grain of truth in it,
owing to his preference for woollen garments; but the atrocity spun
out of the gossip by Mrs. Gaskell was probably an exaggeration of an
innocent act. At any rate, the old man characterized the statement, I
believe truly, by a small but ugly word.

All the Brontës, father, mother, sons, and daughters, to the number of
twelve, were clad in wool, and they were the healthiest, handsomest,
strongest, heartiest family in the whole country. They were a standing
proof of the excellency of the woollen theory, and it is interesting
to note how Hugh Brontë's theory and practice have received approval
in our own day. For a time the Brontës had to look to others to weave
their yarn into the blankets and friezes that they required, but
Patrick was taught to weave as soon as he was able to throw the
shuttle and roll the beam, and then his father's house manufactured
for themselves everything they wore, from the raw staple to the
gracefully fitting corset.

Even the scarlet mantle for which "Ayles" Brontë is still remembered
in Ballynaskeagh was carded, spun, knitted, and dyed by Mrs. Brontë's
own hands. The spirit of independence manifested by the Brontës in
England was a survival of a still sturdier spirit that had had its
origin in one of the humblest cabins in County Down.

As time passed Hugh Brontë became a famous ditcher. There is a very
old man called Hugh Norton, living in Ballynaskeagh, who remembers him
making fences and philosophizing at the same time. It is very probable
that the introduction of corn-kilns constructed of burnt pottery may
have left him without custom for his straw-mat kiln, just as the
introduction of machinery at a later period left the country
hand-looms idle.

In Hugh Brontë's time more careful attention began to be given to the
land. Bogs were drained, fields fenced, roads constructed, bridges
made, houses built, with greater energy than had ever been known
before, and, although the landlord generally raised the rent on every
improvement effected by the tenant, the wave of prosperity and
improvement continued. Hugh Brontë was a good, steady workman, and
found constant employment, and at that time wages rose from sixpence
per day to eightpence and tenpence. The sod fences made by him still
stand as a monument of honest work, and there are few country
districts where huntsmen would find greater difficulty with the fences
than in Emdale and Ballynaskeagh.

As Hugh Brontë advanced in life he continued to prosper. He removed
from the Emdale cottage to a larger house in Lisnacreevy, and from
thence he and his family went home to live with Red Paddy, Mrs.
Brontë's brother. On the Ballynaskeagh farm the children found full
scope for their energies, and they continued to prosper and purchase
surrounding farms until they were in very comfortable circumstances.
The Brontës were greatly advanced in their prosperity by a discovery
made by one of their countrymen. John Loudon Macadam was a County Down
surveyor. He wrote several treatises on road-making of a revolutionary
character. His proposal was to make roads by laying down layers of
broken stones, which he said would become hardened into a solid mass
by the traffic passing over them.

For a time he was the subject of much ridicule, but he persevered, and
proved his theory in a practical fashion. The importance of the
invention was acknowledged by a grant from the government of ten
thousand pounds, which he accepted, and by the offer of a baronetcy,
which he declined. He lived to see the world's highways improved by
his discovery, and the English language enriched by his name.

The old, unscientific road-makers were too conservative to engage in
the construction of _macadamized_ roads, but the Brontës were shrewd
enough to see the value of the new method, and they tendered for
county contracts, and their tenders were accepted. Then the way to
fortune lay open before them. They opened quarries on their own land,
where they found an inexhaustible supply of stone, easily broken to
the required size. With suitable stone ready to their hands they had a
great advantage over all rivals, and for a generation the macadamizing
of the roads in the neighborhood was practically a monopoly in the
Brontë family.

I remember the excellent carts and horses employed by the Brontës on
the road, and I also distinctly recollect that the names painted on
the carts were spelled "Brontë," the pronunciation being "Brontë,"
never "Prunty," as has been alleged.

With the lucrative monopoly of road-making added to their farm profits
the Brontës grew in wealth. They raised on their farm the oats and
fodder required by the horses, and, as the brothers did a large amount
of the work themselves and had nothing to purchase, the money received
for road-making was nearly all profit.

In those days the Brontës added field to field, until they farmed a
considerable tract of land, which they held from a model landlord
called Sharman Crawford. That was the period at which a two-storied
house was built, and there were houses occupied by the Brontës, from
the two-storied house down to the thatched cottage. In fact, the house
of Red Paddy McClory, in which Alice was born and reared, stood about
half-way between the two-storied house and the cabin. The foundations
of the house in which Charlotte Brontë's Irish grandmother was born
are still visible.

Shortly after the death of old Hugh, and in the time of the Brontë
prosperity, one of the brothers, called Welsh, opened a public-house
in the thatched cabin referred to, and from that moment, as far as I
have been able to make out, the tide of the Brontë prosperity turned.

Everything the Brontës did was genuine. Their whiskey was as good in
quality as their roads, and I fear it must be added that they were
among the heartiest customers for their own commodities. They ceased
to work on the roads, their hard-earned money slipped through their
fingers, and the public-house became the meeting-place for the fast
and wild youth of the locality.

Then another brother, called William, but known as Billy, opened on
the Knock Hill another public-house, which also became a centre of
demoralization to the young men of the district, and a source of
degradation to the keeper. I remember both these pests in full force.
They were much frequented by Orangemen, who, when tired playing "The
Protestant Boys," used to slake their thirst and fire their hatred of
the _Papishes_ by drinking Brontë's whiskey.

I am bound to say distinctly that I do not believe any of Charlotte
Brontë's Irish uncles ever became confirmed drunkards. They took to
the drink business too late in life to be wholly overmastered by the
passion for alcohol. Besides, their father's example, and the
industrious habits of their youth and early manhood, had combined to
give moral fibre to the stubborn Brontë character, which saved them
from precipitate descent on the down grade.

I never saw any of the Brontës drunk, and I believe the occasional
drinking of the family was limited to the two brothers who sold drink,
and who would always feel bound in honor "to taste a drop" with their
customers. The other brothers would drink like other people, in fairs
and markets, where every transaction was ratified by a glass of grog,
but I do not believe they often drank to excess.

In those days everybody drank. At births, at baptisms, at weddings, at
wakes, at funerals, and in all the other leading incidents of life,
intoxicating liquors were considered indispensable. If a man was too
hot he drank, and if he was too cold he drank. He drank if he was in
sorrow, and he drank when in joy. When his gains were great he drank,
and he drank also when crushed by losses. The symbol of universal
hospitality was the black bottle.

Ministers of the Gospel used to visit their people quarterly. On these
visitations the minister was accompanied by one of his deacons. Into
whatever house they entered they were immediately met by the
hospitable bottle and two glasses, and they were always expected to
fortify themselves with spirituous draughts before beginning their
spiritual duties. As the visitors called at from twelve to twenty
houses on their rounds, they must have been "unco fou" by the close of
the day.

It is interesting to remember that when the drinking habits of the
country were at their height the temperance reformation was begun in
Great Britain, by the best friend the Brontës had, the Reverend David
McKee. It is of still greater interest, in our present investigation,
to know that Mr. McKee was moved to the action which has resulted in
the great temperance reform by the Brontë public-houses at his door,
and by the demoralization they were creating.

The little incident which has led to such momentous results came about
in this way: the Reverend David McKee of Ballynaskeagh was the
minister of the Presbyterian Church of Anaghlone. He had built his
church, and he was largely independent of his congregation. One
Sunday he thought fit to preach on _The Rechabites_. In the sermon he
ridiculed and denounced the drinking habits of the time. The sermon
fell on the congregation like a thunderbolt from a cloudless sky.
Blank amazement in the audience was succeeded by hot indignation.

On the following morning an angry deputation from the congregation
waited on Mr. McKee. He listened to them with patient courtesy while
they urged that the sermon should be immediately burnt, and that an
apology should be tendered to the congregation on the following
Sunday.

When the deputation had exhausted themselves and their subject, Mr.
McKee began quietly to draw attention to the happy homes which had
been desolated by whiskey, the brilliant young men whom it had ruined,
the amiable neighbors whom it had hurried into drunkards' graves, and
then he pointed to the Brontës as an example of the baneful influence
of the trade on the sellers of the stuff themselves.

The deputation, some of them Orangemen, were in no mood to listen to
radical doctrines, subversive of their time-honored customs, and they
began to threaten.

Mr. McKee, who was six feet six inches high, and of great muscular
power, drew himself up to his full stature, and calling to his
servant, then at breakfast in the kitchen, told him to saddle his best
mare, as he wished to ride in haste to Newry, to publish his sermon in
time for circulation on the following Sunday. Then, turning to the
deputation, he thanked them for their early visit, which he hoped
would bear fruit, and bowed them out of his parlor.

He rode the best horse in the whole district, and he never drew rein
till he reached the printing-office in Newry, and he had the sermon
ready for circulation on the following Sunday, and handed it to his
people as they retired.

In 1798 Mr. McKee, then a youth, watched from a hill in his father's
land the battle of Ballynahinch. He had in his arms at the time a
little nephew who had been left in his charge. The little nephew
became the great Doctor Edgar of Belfast, who used to boast playfully
that he was "up in arms" at the battle of Ballynahinch.

Mr. McKee sent a copy of _The Rechabites_ to his eloquent nephew.
Doctor Edgar read the sermon, and then, rising from his seat,
proceeded swiftly to carry all the whiskey he had in the house into
the street, and empty it into the gutter. With that drink offering
Doctor Edgar inaugurated the great temperance reform. From Ireland he
passed to Scotland, and from Scotland to England. The whole kingdom
was mightily stirred, and the temperance cause has ever since
continued to flourish. The little seed, stimulated at first by the
Brontë public-houses, has become a great tree, the branches of which
extend to all lands.

We have now seen the Brontës in the daily round of their common
pursuits. In the next chapter we hope to see old Hugh in the light of
his Brontë genius.


III. THE IRISH RACONTEUR OR STORY-TELLER.

The Hakkawãti is the oriental story-teller, the man who beyond all
others relieves the tedium and wearisomeness of oriental life. I have
often watched the oriental Hakkawãti, seated in the centre of a large
crowd, weaving stories with subtile plots and startling surprises,
using pathos and passion and pungent wit, and always interspersing his
narratives with familiar incidents, and laying on local color, to give
an appearance of _vraisemblance_, or reality, to the wildest fancies.

The Arabian Hakkawãti generally tells his stories at night, when the
weird and wonderful are most effective. He has always a fire so
arranged as to light up his countenance with a ruddy glow, so that the
movements and contortions of a mobile face may add support to the
narrative. He sometimes proceeds slowly, stumbling and correcting
himself, like D'Israeli, as if his one great desire was to stick to
the literal truth.

Without any apparent effort to please, the Hakkawãti keeps his finger
on the pulse of his audience. Should they show signs of weariness, he
makes them smile by some pleasantry, and as the Arab holds that
"smiles and tears are in the same _khury_," or wallet, he brings
something of great seriousness on the heels of the fun, and works
himself into a white heat of passion over it, the veins rising like
cords on his forehead, and his whole frame convulsed and throbbing,
the rapt audience following, in full sympathy with every mood.

I have seen the Arabs shivering and pale with terror, as the Hakkawãti
narrated the fearful deeds of some imaginary _jinn_, and I have seen
them feeling for their daggers, and ready to spring to their feet, to
avenge some dastard act of imaginary cruelty; and a few seconds after
I have seen them melted to tears at the recital of some imaginary tale
of woe. I never wearied in listening to the Hakkawãti, or in watching
the artlessness of his consummate art; and I have always looked on him
as the most interesting of all orientals, a positive benefactor to his
illiterate countrymen.

Hugh Brontë was an Irish Hakkawãti, the last of an extinct race. I
knew several men who had heard him when he was at his best. He would
sit long winter nights in the logie-hole of his corn-kiln, in the
Emdale cottage, telling stories to an audience of rapt listeners who
thronged around him. Mrs. Brontë plied her knitting in the outer
darkness of the kitchen, for there was no light except the glow from
the furnace of the kiln, which lighted up old Hugh's face as he
_beeked_ the kiln, and told his yarns.

The Reverend William McAllister, from whom I got most details as to
Brontë's story-telling, had heard his father say that he spent a night
in Brontë's kiln either in the winter of 1779 or 1780. Brontë's fame
was then new. The place was crowded to suffocation. At that time he
reserved a place near the fire for Mrs. Brontë, and Patrick, then a
baby, was lying on the heap of seeds from which the fire was fed, with
his eyes fixed on his father, and listening, like the rest, in
breathless silence.

Hugh Brontë seems to have had the rare faculty of believing his own
stories, even when they were purely imaginary, and he would sometimes
conjure up scenes so unearthly and awful that both he and his hearers
were afraid to part company for the night. Frequently his neighbors
could not face the darkness alone after one of Hugh's gruesome
stories, and lay upon the _shelling_ seeds till day dawned.

The farmers' sons of the whole neighborhood used to gather round
Brontë at night to hear his narratives, and he continued to
manufacture stories of all descriptions as long as he lived.

I have always understood that Hugh Brontë's stories, though sometimes
rough in texture and interspersed with emphatic expletives, after the
manner of the time, had always a healthy moral bearing. As a genuine
Irishman he never used an immodest word, or by gesture, phrase, or
innuendo suggested an impure thought. On this point all my informants
were unanimous. He neither used unchaste words himself, nor permitted
any one to do so in his house. Tyranny and cruelty of every kind he
denounced fiercely. Faithlessness and deceit always met condign
punishment in his romances, and in cases where girls had been
betrayed, either the ghost of the injured woman, or the devil himself,
in some awful form, wreaked unutterable vengeance on the betrayer.

Hugh Brontë was a great moral teacher and a power for good, as far as
his influence extended. There are still some old men living in his
neighborhood who never understood him, and who are disposed to think
he was in league with the devil.

It is always at his peril that any man dares to live before his time,
or to leave the beaten track of the commonplace. The reformers have
all, without exception, been mad, or worse, in the eyes of dull
conservatism. Brontë dared to teach his neighbors by allowing them to
see as well as hear, and those who were too stupid to understand were
clever enough to denounce.

By a very great effort Hugh Brontë learned to read, late in life. He
began at Mount Pleasant, with no higher aim than that of being able to
write letters to Alice McClory, when he could no longer visit her. He
made rapid strides in learning under the tutelage of his master's
children, when he lived in Loughorne, and when he went to live in
Emdale he knew the sweetness and solace of good books, and he had
always a book on his knee, which he read by the light of the kiln
fire, when he was alone. He knew the Bible, Bunyan's "Pilgrim's
Progress," and Burns's poems, well. Those were bookless days. The
newspaper had not yet found its way to the people, and in a
neighborhood of mental stagnation it was something to have one man who
could hold the mirror up to nature, and lead his illiterate visitors
into enchanted ground.

Many of Hugh's stories were far removed from the region of romance,
but he had the literary art of giving an artistic touch to everything
he said, which added a charm to the narration, independent of the
facts which he narrated.

The story of his early life, which I have tried to reduce to simple
prose, was delivered in the rhapsodic style of the ancient bards, but
simple enough to be understood by the most unlettered peasant. None of
Brontë's stories were so acceptable as the simple record of his early
hardships.

Mingled with all his stories, shrewd maxims for life and conduct were
interwoven; but in his oration on tenant-right he broke new ground,
and showed that under different circumstances he might have been a
great statesman, and saved his country from unutterable woe.

Hugh Brontë was superstitious, but while his superstitious character
descended to all his children, the faculty of story-telling was
inherited, as far as I have been able to ascertain, by Patrick alone.
All the sons and daughters talked with a dash of genius--as one of
their old acquaintances said, "They were very cliver with their
tongues"--but I have never heard of any of them except Patrick trying
to tell a story.

Patrick, at the age of two or three, used to lie on the warm shelling
seeds and listen to his father's entrancing stories, and he seems to
have caught something of his father's gift and power. Miss Nussey,
Charlotte's friend, "Miss E.," has often told me of Patrick's power to
rivet the attention of his children, and awe them with realistic
descriptions of simple scenes. All the girls used to sit in breathless
silence, their prominent eyes starting out of their heads, while their
father unfolded lurid scene after scene; but the greatest effect was
produced on Emily, who seemed to be unconscious of everything else
except her father's story, and sometimes the descriptions became so
vivid, intense, and terrible that they had to implore him to desist.

Miss Nussey had opportunities for observing the Brontë girls that no
other person had. She became Charlotte's friend at school, when both
were homesick and needed friends. She continued to be her fast friend
through life. Gentle Anne Brontë died in her arms, and she was
Charlotte's true consoler when the heroic Emily passed swiftly away.
She early discovered the ring of genius in Charlotte's letters, and
preserved every scrap of them, and it is chiefly through those letters
that the Brontës are known in England. She was Charlotte's confidante
in all private transactions and love matters, and she might have been
a nearer friend still had Charlotte not refused an offer of marriage
from her brother--an incident in the novelist's life here for the
first time made public.

Miss Nussey was not only Charlotte's devoted friend, but she was a
constant visitor at Haworth, and a keen observer. She had a great
power of discernment in literary matters, and a very considerable
literary gift herself. She had not to wait till "Jane Eyre" and
"Wuthering Heights" were published to learn that Charlotte and Emily
Brontë were endowed with genius. We owe it to her penetrating sagacity
that we know so much of the vicar's daughters. She watched their
growth of intellect and everything that ministered to it, and she
believes firmly that the girls caught their inspiration from their
father, and that Emily got not only her inspiration but most of her
facts from her father's narratives.[4]

  [4] Swinburne, in his "Note on Charlotte Brontë," has alone had the
      poetic insight and artistic instinct to discern this fact. He is
      right when he says, "Charlotte evidently never worked so well as
      when painting more or less directly from nature.... In most
      cases, probably, the designs begun by means of the camera were
      transferred for completion to the canvas."

      Swinburne, however, falls short in discernment, when, in
      contrasting Charlotte with her sister, he says: "Emily Brontë,
      like William Blake, would probably have said, or at least
      presumably have felt, that such study after the model was to her
      impossible--an attempt but too certain to diminish her
      imaginative insight and disable her creative hand."

      Surely the highest imaginative insight and deftest creative hand
      work from the model, nature, but the result is not a mere
      portrait of the model.

"The dirty, ragged, black-haired child," brought home by Mr. Earnshaw
from Liverpool, is none other than the real dirty, naked, black-haired
foundling, discovered on the boat between Liverpool and Drogheda, and
taken home by Charlotte's great-grandfather and great-grandmother to
the banks of the Boyne. The artist, however, is not a mere copyist,
and hence, while the story starts from existing facts, and follows the
general outline of the real, it is not the very image of the real, and
makes deviations from the original facts to meet the exigencies of
art.

There is no difficulty, however, in recognizing the original of the
incarnate fiend Heathcliff in the man Welsh, who tormented Hugh
Brontë, Patrick's father, in the old family home near Drogheda. Had
Welsh never played the demon among the Brontës, Emily Brontë had never
placed on the canvas Heathcliff, "child neither of lascar nor gypsy,
but a man's shape animated by demon life--a ghoul, an afrit." Nelly
Dean, the benevolent but irresolute medium of romance and tragedy, is
Hugh's Aunt Mary, clear-eyed as to right and duty, but ever slipping
down before the force of circumstances. And old Gallagher, on the
banks of the Boyne, with "the Blessed Virgin and all the saints" on
his side, is none other than the original of the old hypocrite, Joe.
Gallagher is Joe speaking the Yorkshire dialect.

And Edgar Linton is the gentle and forgiving brother of Alice, our
friend Red Paddy McClory, who took his sister home after her runaway
marriage with a Protestant, and finally took the whole Brontë family
under his roof, and gave them all he possessed. Even Catherine
Linton's flight and marriage has solid foundation in fact, either in
Alice Brontë's romantic elopement with Hugh, or in the more tragic
circumstances of Mary Brontë's marriage with Welsh.

It is not credible that Patrick Brontë, in his story-telling moods,
never narrated to his listening daughters the romance of their
grandfather and grandmother. It is true Miss Nussey never heard any
reference to the story, nor did the Brontës ever in her presence refer
to their Irish home or friends or history, though, at the very time
she was visiting Haworth, they were in constant communication with
their Irish relatives, and, as we shall see, one of the uncles
actually visited them, as Charlotte's champion, and one of them had
visited Haworth at an earlier date.

They were too proud to talk even to their most intimate friends of
their Irish home, much less to expose the foibles of their immediate
ancestors to phlegmatic English ears; but Patrick Brontë would not
omit to tell his story-loving daughters the thrilling adventures of
their ancestors, and the girls, having brooded over the incidents,
reproduced them in variant forms, and in the sombre setting of their
own surroundings.

The originals lived and died, acted and were acted upon, in Louth and
Down; but on the steeps of "Wuthering Heights" they strut again,
speaking the Yorkshire dialect, and braced by the tonic air of the
northern downs.

None of the stories betray their origin so clearly as "Wuthering
Heights," just as none of the novelists were so fascinated with their
father's tales as Emily. But the stories are all Brontë stories, an
echo of the thrilling narratives related by old Hugh, and retold, I
believe, a hundred times by Patrick. Of course, all the stories are
made to live again under new forms, each writer giving the stamp of
her own character to the new creations. Artists of the Brontë stamp
are not portrait painters, nor mere reproducers.

They never were content to be mere lackeys of nature. They were above
nature, and everything without and within themselves they placed under
contribution.

Even the rough and rugged characters that have come from the hand of
Emily show the work of the artist. She added to the repulsive
Heathcliff qualities of her own. She is perfectly serious when she
says: "Possibly some people might suspect him [Heathcliff] of a degree
of under-bred pride. I have a sympathetic chord within me that tells
me it is nothing of the sort. I know by instinct his reserve springs
from an aversion to showy display of feeling, to manifestations of
mutual kindliness. He'll love and hate equally under cover, and esteem
it a species of impertinence to be loved or hated again. No! I'm
running on too fast. I bestow my own attributes over-liberally on
him."

Knowing the model from which Emily Brontë worked, there are few
passages which throw more light on the artist than this. Catherine
Linton was modelled on the lovely Alice McClory, who bequeathed to her
clever granddaughters all the personal attractions they possessed; but
here again Emily bestows attributes of herself and sisters on her
stately and lily-like grandmother.

"She [Catherine] was slender, and apparently scarcely past girlhood.
An admirable form, and the most exquisite little face I had ever had
the pleasure of beholding; small features, very fair; flaxen
ringlets, or rather golden, hanging loose on her delicate neck; and
eyes, had they been agreeable in expression, that would have been
irresistible."

The picture is neither that of a Brontë of the Haworth vicarage nor is
it a portraiture of the flower plucked in Ballynaskeagh by Hugh
Brontë, but it is Alice McClory diluted with a dash of the Penzance
Branwells, and the effect is a perfect and beautiful picture, more
pleasing, indeed, than a life-like portrait, with all the radiant
beauty of the charming Alice, when she rode off to Magherally Church
with the dashing Hugh Brontë.


IV. HUGH BRONTË AS A TENANT-RIGHTER.

Hugh Brontë worked up to his tenant-right doctrines by a series of
assertions, negative and positive, on religious, political, and
economic questions. His address, in which he set forth his views on
such matters, approximated to the form of a lecture more nearly than
any of his other talks, which were generally in the narrative form.
The following are the chief points of the discourse, as given to me by
my old tutor and friend, and the propositions were never varied,
except in the mere wording, although the statement had never been
formally written out.

Hugh Brontë always began with a little black Bible in his hand, or on
his knee, and his first negative assertion was:

I. "The church is not Christ's."

Laying his hand on the little book he would declare that he found
grace in the Bible, but in the church only greed. Once and only once
he had appealed to a parson. He was hungry, naked, and bleeding, but
the great double-chinned, red-faced man had looked on him as if he
were a rat, and, without hearing his story, had him driven off by a
grand-looking servant, who cracked a whip over his head and swore at
him.

In Hugh Brontë's eyes the parsons got their livings for political
services, and not for learning or goodness. Enormous sums were paid
them to do work that they did not do. They rarely visited their
parishes, and their duties were performed by hungry and ill-paid
curates. When they did return occasionally to their livings they were
heard of at banquets, where they ate and drank too freely, and at
other resorts, where they gambled recklessly. They were seen riding
over the country after foxes and hounds, and sitting in judgment on
the men whose grain they had trampled down, and sending them to penal
servitude for trapping hares in their own gardens. They were said to
be ignorant, but they were known to be irreligious, immoral,
arrogant, and cruel. They acted as the ministers of the gentry,
before whom they were very humble, and they utterly despised the
people who paid for their luxuries, and supported their own priests
besides.

They gave the sanction of the church to violence, craft, and crime in
high places, and they were as far removed as men could be, in origin,
position, and practices, from the apostles of the New Testament. And
yet, he added, they claimed, in the most haughty manner, that they and
they alone were the successors of the apostles, although they showed
no signs of apostolic spirituality or apostolic service.

Hugh Brontë declared that he could not submit to the Protestant
parson, who despised him because he was poor, and could not aid in his
promotion, nor could he yield obedience to the Catholic priest, who
demanded utter subjection and prostration of both body and mind, and
enforced his church's claims by a stout stick. With these views it is
not to be wondered at that Hugh Brontë did not belong to any church.

To us, now, his statements appear exaggerated and too sweeping, but it
must be remembered that he spoke of the Irish clergy in the closing
decades of the last century. He expressed himself fiercely regarding
the parsons, and in return they dubbed him "atheist."

His second negative assertion was:

II. "The world is not God's."

He knew from the Bible that God had made all things very good, and
that he loved the world, but he held that a number of people had got
in between God and his world, and made it very bad and hateful. They
were known as kings and emperors, and they had seized on the world by
fraud and force. They lived on the best of everything that the land
produced, and when they disagreed among themselves they sent their
people to kill each other on their account, while they sat at home in
peace and luxury.

These usurpers not only held sway over the possessions and lives of
men, but they decreed the exact thoughts men were to entertain
concerning God, and the exact words they were to speak concerning God;
and when men presumed to obey God rather than men they were tied to
stakes and burned to death as blasphemers. For such sentiments as
these Hugh Brontë was denounced as a socialist--a very bad and
dangerous name at the beginning of the present century.

His third negative proposition was:

III. "Ireland is not the king's."

He understood that King George III. was not a wise man, but that he
was a humane man. Ireland was not governed by King George III., but by
a gang of rapacious brigands. They constantly invoked the king's name,
but only to serve more fully their own selfish ends. By the king's
authority they carried out their policy of systematic outrage, until
he hated the very name of the king whom he always wished to love.

The chief business of the king's representatives was to plunder his
majesty's poorer subjects. For this purpose the country was parcelled
out and divided among a number of base and greedy adventurers, in
return for odious services. Each of these adventurers became king, or
landlord, in his own district, and lived on the wretched natives.
Every meskin of butter made on the farm, every pig reared in the
cabin, every egg laid by the hens that roosted in the kitchen, went to
support the land-king.

The cottages were mud hovels. The land was bog and barren waste. The
men and women were in rags. The children were hungry, pinched, and
bare-footed. But the landlord carried off everything, except the
potato crop, which was barely sufficient to sustain life.

The landlord was a very great man. He lived in London, near the king,
in more than royal splendor. Or he passed his time in some of the
great cities of Europe, spending as much on gay women as would have
clothed and fed all the starving children on his estate. In English
society his pleasantries were said to be most entertaining, regarding
the poverty, misery, and squalor of his tenants, whom he fleeced; but
he took care never to come near them, lest his fine sensibilities
should be shocked at their condition. His serious occupation was the
making of laws to increase his own power for rapacity, and to take
away from the people every vestige of rights that they might have
inherited.

"The landlord takes everything and gives nothing," was Hugh Brontë's
simple form of the fine modern phrase regarding landlords' privileges
and duties.

Hugh Brontë maintained that the landlord was a courteous gentleman,
graced with polished manners, and that if he had lived among his
people he might in time have developed a heart. At least, he could
hardly have kept up a gentlemanly indifference, in the presence of
squalor and misery. But he kept quite out of sight of his tenantry, or
he would not have made so much merriment about the pig, which was
being brought up among the children, to pay for his degrading
extravagances. The landlord's place among the people was taken by an
agent, an attorney, and a sub-agent. The agent was a local potentate,
whose will was law. The attorney's business was to make the law square
with the agent's acts. And the under agent was employed to do mean and
vile and inhuman acts, that neither the agent nor attorney could
conveniently do.

The duty of the three was to find out, by public inspection and by
private espionage, the uttermost farthing the tenants could pay, and
extract it from them legally. In getting the rent for the landlord
each got as much as he could for himself. The key of the situation was
the word "eviction."

Then Hugh told the story of his ancestors' farm. The Brontës had
occupied a piece of forfeited land, with well-defined obligations to a
chief, or landlord. Soon the landlord succeeded in removing all legal
restraints which in any way interfered with his absolute control of
the place. Remonstrance and entreaty were alike unavailing. The
alterations in title were made by the authority of "George III., by
the grace of God King of England!"

Hugh's great-grandfather drained the bog and improved the land, at
enormous expense. Every improvement was followed by a rise in the
rent. His grandfather built a fine house on the land, by money made in
dealing, and again the rent was raised, on the increased value given
to the place by the tenant's industry. Then, the vilest creature in
human form having ingratiated himself with the agent, by vile
services, the place was handed over to him, without one farthing of
compensation to the heirs of the man whose labor had made the place of
value. All these things were done in the name of George III., though
the king had no more to do with the nefarious transactions than the
child unborn.

From this conclusion Hugh Brontë proceeded to his fourth negative
proposition:

IV. "Irish law is not justice."

He expressed regret that he was unable to respect the laws of the
country. According to his views, the laws were made by an assembly of
landlords, purely and solely to serve their own rapacious desires, and
not in accordance with any dictates of right or wrong. As soon might
the lambs respect the laws of the wolves as the people of Ireland
respect the laws of the landlords.

From this point he naturally arrived at his fifth negative proposition:

V. "Obedience to law is not a duty."

He said it might be prudent to obey a bad law, cruelly administered,
because disobedience might entail inconvenient consequences; but there
was no moral obligation impelling a man to obey a law which outraged
decency, and against which every righteous and generous instinct
revolted. Human laws should be the reflection of divine laws; but the
landlord-made laws of Ireland had neither the approval of honest men
nor the sanction of divine justice.

Hugh's sixth and last negative proposition was:

VI. "Patriotism is not a virtue."

He held that every man should love his country, and that every
Irishman did; but he could not do violence to the most sacred
instincts of his nature, by any zeal to uphold a system of government
which dealt with Ireland as the legitimate prey of plunderers.

In other lands men were patriotic because they loved their country. He
loved his country too well to be a patriot. Love of country more than
any other passion had prompted to the purest patriotism; but who would
do heroic acts to maintain a swarm of harpies to pollute and lacerate
his country? Who would have his zeal aglow to maintain the desolators
of his native land?

Hugh Brontë gave out his views with a warmth that betrayed _animus_
arising from personal injury. He was therefore declared to be
disloyal, and that at a time when there was danger in disloyalty.
About the time Hugh Brontë was enunciating these sentiments the rising
of the United Irishmen took place, and the pitched battle of
Ballynahinch was fought, in 1798. It has always seemed to me strange
that he should have passed through those times in peace, for the
"Welsh horse" devastated the country far and wide after the battle,
and hundreds of innocent people were shot down like dogs. Besides,
William, his second son, was a United Irishman, and present at the
battle of Ballynahinch. After the battle he was pursued by cavalry,
who fired at him repeatedly, but he led them into a bog and escaped.

Hugh Brontë lived in a secluded glen; but the "Welsh horse" visited
his house, and after a short parley with his wife, in which neither
understood the other, one of the soldiers struck a light into the
thatch. Hugh suddenly appeared and spoke to the Welsh soldiers in
Irish, which it was supposed they understood, as being akin to their
own language, and they joined heartily with him in extinguishing the
flames. They joined still more heartily with Hugh in disposing of his
stock of whiskey. The inability of Hugh's neighbors to communicate
with the Welsh may account for the fact that a man well known for such
advanced and disloyal views passed safely through those troublous
times.

Having completed his negative assertions, or paradoxes, Hugh Brontë
proceeded to state his theories, or positive conclusions. He laid it
down as an axiom that justice must be at the root of all good
government, and he declared emphatically what O'Connell and Agent
Townsend have since maintained, that the Irish were the most
justice-loving people in the world. He also held that unjust laws were
the fruitful source of all the turbulence and crime in Ireland.

Justice, he said, was nothing very grand. It meant simply that every
man should have his own by legal right. This definition brought him to
his tenant-right theory. In illustration he returned to the story of
his ancestral home and the wrongs of his ancestors. He maintained that
when his forefathers drained the bog and improved the land they were
entitled to every ounce of improvement they had made. The landlord had
done nothing for the land. He never went near it, and had never spent
one farthing upon it, and he should not have been entitled to
confiscate to his own profit the additional value given to it by the
labor of another.

He further declared that a just and wise legislature should secure to
every man, high and low, the fruits of his own labor, and he
maintained that such simple, natural justice would produce confidence
in Ireland, and that confidence would beget content and industry, and
that a contented and industrious people would soon learn to love both
king and country, and make Ireland happy and England strong. Just laws
would silence the agitator and the blunderbuss, and range the people
on the side of the rulers.

Hugh Brontë preached his revolutionary doctrines of simple justice in
the cheerless east wind, but a little seed, carried I know not how,
took root in genial soil, and the revolutionary doctrine of "_Every
man his own_," at which the political parsons used to cry "Anathema,"
and the short-sighted politicians used to shout "confiscation," has
become one of the commonplaces of the modern reformation programme of
fair play. The doctrine of common honesty enunciated by Hugh Brontë
has lately received the approval of Liberal and Conservative
governments in what is known as "Tenant-Right," or "The Ulster
Custom."

And here it is interesting to note that Hugh Brontë was a tenant on
the estate of Sharman Crawford, a landlord who first took up the cause
of Irish tenant-right, and after spending a long life in its advocacy,
bequeathed its defence to his sons and daughters.

Whether Hugh Brontë's doctrines on the relation of landlord and tenant
ever came to the ears of the Crawford family, I know not. I think it
is exceedingly probable that they heard of the remarkable man on their
estate, and of his stories and theories. The Crawfords were never
absentee landlords, and, as men of high Christian character, they
always took a personal interest in their tenants, and would not, I
believe, have failed to note any special intellectual activity among
them. It is certain, however, that the Sharman Crawfords, father and
son in succession, spent their lives largely in the propagation of
Hugh Brontë's views, both in the House of Commons and throughout the
country, and it seems to me not only probable and possible, but almost
certain, that Brontë's eloquent and passionate arguments, dropped into
the justice-loving minds of the Crawfords,[5] _may_ have been the
primary seeds of the great agrarian harvest which, with the full
sanction of the legislature, is now being reaped by the farmers in
Ireland.

  [5] In 1833 W. Sharman Crawford published a pamphlet embodying Hugh
      Brontë's doctrines, and making suggestions for the good
      government of Ireland. The pamphlet was republished by Doctor W.
      H. Dodd, Q. C., in 1892. Councillor Dodd is an old pupil of the
      Ballynaskeagh school. He received his early education from Mr.
      McKee, the friend of the Brontës, and he was acquainted, as a
      student, with Charlotte Brontë's uncles. The following is his
      summary of the political portion of the pamphlet:

      "Mr. Crawford anticipates, as the probable result of refusing
      self government to Ireland, the growth of secret societies, the
      influence of agitation, and the necessity of resorting to force
      in the government of the country. He touches upon the question
      of private bill legislation, of a reform of the grand jury
      system, of county government. He points out that the creation of
      county councils, without having a central body to control them,
      is not desirable. And he suggests the creation of a local
      legislature for Irish affairs, combined with representation in
      the Imperial Parliament, as the true method of preserving the
      Union, as the surest bond of the connection between the two
      countries, and as essentially necessary to tranquillity in
      Ireland.

      "He refers, among other measures, to the disestablishment of the
      Irish Church, and the reform of the relations between landlord
      and tenant, as being pressing.

      "The arguments against his views are met and answered. One would
      think he had read some of the speeches lately delivered, so apt
      is his reply.

      "It is curious to note the length of time Ireland has had to
      wait for the reforms he thought urgent, and it is sad to reflect
      how much suffering has been endured and how much blood has been
      shed because the men of his time would not listen to his
      words."

Should my surmise be correct, and I have never doubted for forty years
that it is so, great results have flowed from the inhuman treatment of
a child. Had little Brontë been left in the luxury of his father's
home, it is not likely he would ever have been shaken up to original
and independent thought; but the iron of cruel wrong had entered into
his soul, and he felt that all was not well. He owed no gratitude to
the existing order of things, and had no compunction in denouncing it;
and having thought out and formulated a new theory, he proclaimed it
with the strong conviction of an apostle who sees salvation in his
gospel alone.

The daring character of Hugh Brontë's speculations in their
paradoxical form, combined with the fierce energy of his manner in
making them known, secured for him an audience and an amount of
consideration to which, as an uneducated working man, he could have
had no claim. Indeed, Hugh Brontë's revolutionary doctrines were known
far beyond his own immediate neighborhood, and while many said he was
mad, some declared that he only saw a little clearer than his
contemporaries.





*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "McClure's Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 5, October 1893" ***

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