THROUGH TO FREEDOM
I suppose that there are few things more demoralising to an
assimilative mind than the association with places of a demoralising
tendency. Which I do not intend as a profound remark, but as the fruit
of actual experience. At any rate I know that when I first entered the
Bankruptcy Court, I felt a profound pity for the listless, hopeless,
slouching-looking figures I saw haunting its purlieus. But when I went
up this morning, for my preliminary examination, I felt as listless,
hopeless, and slouching as any of them--I had enlisted in the great
army of the insolvent, and no matter how void of offence my conscience
might be, in that I had not wilfully or in extravagance defrauded any
man, the taint of debt, the virus of unutterable meanness which makes
the Chinese commit suicide, bowed my head, rounded my shoulders, and
robbed me of my self-respect.
I only had to wait about two hours this morning before my turn came
on. When it did, and I was summoned to stand before an inquisitor, I
received a sudden shock. For, behold, the dread Rhadamanthus to whom
I must unveil my most secret sorrows and troubles was a young man whom
I had often seen coming up Victoria Street with a similar individual,
and had loathed from the depths of my soul. His garb was immaculate as
regards the latest fashion, his collar as high as human endurance would
permit, his trousers creased in exactly the right line, turned up to
exactly the proper height; he slouched at exactly the angle prescribed
by his class (or the class to which he wished to appear to belong),
and, crowning iniquity, he wore a monocle in his left eye. Altogether a
"Johnny" of the Johnniest. And he was my inquisitor!
He took several huge sheets of paper (printed forms of course), and
began what I saw was a stereotyped set of questions with a bored air
and yet an unpersonal way with him, almost as if he were addressing a
penny-in-the-slot machine, which was rather helpful. I was a long time
before him, and I answered his questions to the best of my ability, but
often I fear with a desire to get the examination over rather than with
any keen attention to accuracy. It was a curious business altogether,
perfunctory in the extreme, and I had then no idea what my answers
would be used for. I learned later.
When released I sought my faithful friend, who advised me to get home
with all speed, for that an official appraiser would call upon me that
afternoon, and it would be well that I should meet him. So I returned
with haste, reaching home a long time before the individual indicated.
I must say I awaited him with considerable trepidation, for I gathered
that he would be of much the same character as several of the same
class I had sorrowfully made acquaintance with before.
This is not the least of the sorrows which beset the poor, the manner
in which their goods are distrained upon for a small debt, and
furniture honestly worth twenty times the sum due is taken, and I was
going to say sold--but it is never sold then, it is given away to a
gang of heartless rogues, who make it their business to fatten upon
the robbery of the poor within the law. In my case, however, there was
no fear that they would take more than I owed. My furniture had cost
me well over £100, and the two counters in the shop would easily have
sold second-hand for £10, but I doubt if the whole of my chattels put
together could, even if sold in a shop to the public, have been made to
realise more than £30. It was not good furniture when I bought it, and
though some of it was not now very old, it stood revealed as what it
was, shoddy-built, of unseasoned wood, varnished instead of polished,
upholstered with American cloth or sham velvet, and stuffed with
unclassable rubbish.
My visitor arrived at about three o'clock, and to my relief he was
quite a respectable and civil man. He quietly announced his errand as
if it was a duty he was sorry to perform, and therefore I hastened to
assure him that I could readily dissociate a man from his employment.
Thus his work went on very smoothly, and was exceedingly soon over.
Then he closed his book and turning to me said, "You haven't got
much." I smiled wanly, and made no reply for obvious reasons. Then he
went on to inform me that although he was an appraiser of the Court
his inventory was only taken for the official purpose of checking the
accounts of the firm to whom they would presently assign the task of
dealing with it. And bade me a courteous good day, leaving me wishing
that the whole degrading business was over.
Still I must say in strict justice that so far as it had gone, and
remembering the immense number of formalities to be gone through, there
had been scarcely any delay, but that I think was largely due to my
personal interest in the matter and the energy I put into it. And now
I was, all unknowing, come nearly to the end of the miserable business
as far as my comfort and relief was concerned. I had one more quiet
Sunday at the shop, spent in the usual way, and on Monday morning
there arrived a man like a jovial costermonger of the better class out
for a holiday--one of those men who are born comedians, whom to look
at is to laugh, unless one is so sour or so sad that laughter is an
impossibility. My very heart warmed to him, and when I found that he
represented the firm of auctioneers, who were to deal with my chattels,
I felt quite relieved, though I could not then have known any reason
why I should be.
He was exceedingly abrupt and swift in all his movements, so that
before I had realised that he had been through one room, he was
beckoning me into the shop with a comic forefinger and an air of
mystery. When I came up to him smiling in spite of myself, he said in
a hoarse whisper, "Now, look y'ere, Guvnor, 'ow much yer goin' ter bid
fer this little lot?" and he bent his brows upon me in a funny frown.
I stared at him blankly, and then stammered out, "I--I don't know what
you mean." "Ow, you don't, don't yer. Well, I'll 'splaint yer. If I
sen's one of our vans daown 'ere, and clears your sticks aht, we cawn't
tike the trouble t' sell'em orf bit by bit. 'Taint likely. Theyn't
worf it. Nah, wot we sh'll do is ter sen rahnd t'one of ahr small Jew
'angers on, an' sye, 'Nah then, Moses or Abrams or Jyecob, as the kise
mye be, wot yer givin' t' clear aht this little lot.' An' it's six
ter four that we tikes 'is fust orfer, 'cause it don't matter t' us
a bit on a little job like that, we gets the same commishun. Now, I
mean that ter prevent that there kerlamity 'appenin' t'yer, you mike a
bid for 'em yerself, an' you tike it strite from me that if your bid
is anythin' over rubbish price ahr Guvnor 'll jump at it, syevin the
trouble er tikin' it awye too an' all."
My brain, working furiously, had absorbed his whole meaning and
exhausted every possible avenue of raising any more money by the time
he had done speaking. And I shook my head, sadly murmuring, "It's
no use. I'm most grateful to you for giving me this opportunity of
saving my poor bits of goods, but I exhausted all my friend's means
raising the money for the Court fees. I don't believe I could raise
another sovereign to save my life." "P'raps not," returned he drily.
"An' yet you might ter syve yer sticks. Nah once more, 'cause I got
ter be movin', got arf dozen jobs on ter dye, you jist dig out like
all possessed ter dye. Say you _will_ 'ave a bit a brass ter sive that
there poor little 'ome from bein' broke up, an' bring it, wotever it
is, up t' th' orfice termorrow mornin' ten o'clock. I sh'll be there,
an' I promise yer thet if it's anywheres near the mark the Guvnor 'll
tike it. G'mornin,' keep yer chivvy up," and he was gone, whistling
like a thrush, bless him.
While I stood there dazed, who should burst in, as was his custom,
but my chum Bob from next door. I have said little of him lately, but
indeed nothing could exceed the comfort that his cheery presence and
sympathy had been all through this trying time. With money he could not
help me, for he had but a very small salary, every penny of which he
needed for the maintenance of his aged mother and himself; but he did
what was even better at this time, he gave me himself, gave up such
recreations as he had after his long day's confinement to come and
talk over my lugubrious affairs, and try to devise ways of bettering
them. Now he came up to me with a rush, saying, "Hullo, old boy, how's
things? you look as if you'd had a knock."
Gratefully I turned to him, and in a few minutes he was in possession
of the situation. He considered deeply for a little, and then said
musingly, "I think I see a light. How many pictures have you got ready
for sale? I gave him the number," showed him the best of them, and he
went on: "Will you let me try and sell 'em for you to-night, getting
what I can for 'em?" Of course I gladly acquiesced, as drowning men
catch at straws, and salved my conscience for the dishonesty by the
reflection that the transaction was really far more beneficial to my
creditors, to say nothing of myself, than the clearing of them out by
the Jew spoken of by my late visitor could possibly be.
"That's all right then," he said; "now you get 'em all ready, an' as
soon as I can get off, I'll trot 'em round." He secured leave from his
duties, and began a circuit of his friends, and after making several
visits to the shop for more pictures he came in at last about ten
o'clock tired but triumphant, and slapped down £5. 19s. on the table. I
felt so glad I had a bit of supper ready for him, as I had nothing to
do but cook, for he was almost ravenous with hunger. With great glee,
he recounted his experiences, how he had implored, cajoled, bullied,
his friends into buying the pictures they had so long seen in my shop
window, taking large discounts for ready money, but he did not tell
me, nor did I discover until long afterwards, that he had borrowed
nearly £2. 10s. of the money, and bought three pictures himself, for my
sake, which he didn't want, and certainly could not afford. But then
that was his idea of being a chum.
It was only now that I permitted myself to realise how wretched would
have been my lot had it not been for those avenues of escape, illegal
as they were. To have been stripped of every article of furniture, and
turned with my young family into an empty house, with no credit, and
without as far as I could see at present more than sufficient money
than would buy the most necessary articles of food allowed me out of
the wages I was earning, cannot be regarded in any other light than
that of a severe penalty for being a bad business man. Yet such was
the law, and it was only mitigated by evasion or defiance. There can,
I think, be no doubt of the badness of the law which crushes those who
obey it honestly, but permits itself to be rendered nugatory with the
utmost ease and impunity by any who are sufficiently dishonest. Nay,
more, which tacitly invites and fosters dishonesty and falsehood to
such an extent that I am sure no decent man can ever go through the
process of being made a bankrupt without having deep scars left in his
soul.
But although my present relief was undoubtedly great, and I
consequently felt much happier, I was by no means upon secure ground as
yet. Therefore, I was exceedingly impatient when morning came to be
off to the city with my precious little hoard. I was outside the office
some time before the clock struck, and at the earliest possible moment
I was inside, much to the disgust of the first arrivals, who resented
my punctuality. My vivacious friend of the previous day was there,
cutting jokes with all and sundry except me, whom he seemed to regard
as a piece of furniture which had accidentally got left in the office,
by which I gathered correctly that he did not want to be recognised by
me.
Presently a clerk came towards me and said with a lowering face,
"Who did you want to see?" I told him, the principal; upon which he
disappeared into an inner office. When he returned, he said, "The
Governor'll see you directly." Presently I was called in, and a very
kindly old gentleman demanded my business. I told him I was a debtor
upon whom his firm had orders to distrain, and that I had come up to
make an offer to buy in my small stock of furniture, so small that it
was hardly worth his while to remove. "Ah," he said, "you are Mr Bullen
of Lordship Lane, I believe," consulting a book at his side. I answered
that I was.
"Now then," he went on, "what are you prepared to bid for this
furniture of yours?" "Five pounds," I replied as calmly as I could,
though to tell the truth my heart was thumping with the excitement of
the crisis. "Five pounds," he repeated scornfully, "for a houseful of
furniture! the thing's absurd. I never heard the like. Indeed you'll
have to offer a good deal more than that." Very earnestly I answered
him that it was quite impossible that I should do so. I had reached the
limit, and that only by what I felt to be a miracle. Then he called the
man whom I had received my instructions from, and consulted him in a
low voice. The upshot of their conversation was that he turned to me
and said, "My man here thinks your offer isn't out of the way, and so
I'll accept it, but you must pay our fee." Again I assured him of my
impecuniosity, but he cut me short by saying, "All right, you give me
a promissory note to pay a guinea for my fee within a month, and the
bargain's closed. But remember, if you try to chisel me, you'll be very
sorry for it. My clerk will make out the receipt and note. He won't
keep you waiting long."
So I paid the £5 and signed the promissory note. When I was leaving the
office the principal said as if through an afterthought, "Look here,
we've done with you--as far as we are concerned, your goods are free.
But your landlord can distrain, if you let him, at any time between
sunrise and sunset. So if I was you I'd shift those goods to another
house--then they'll be safe and not before. Good morning."
It may be easily imagined what effect this advice had upon my already
fretted nerves, and I felt as if I must fly. But when I got outside
my friend was there, and I could do no less than thank him for his
invaluable tip, succeeding at the same time in prevailing upon him
to accept half-a-crown as a tiny recognition of, not payment for, his
great kindness. Then I fled, suffering all the time until I reached
home. I dashed into the shop where my wife was standing talking to Bob.
I paid no attention to either of them, but seized the long arm, rushed
outside, and began to pull the shutters down. "Whatever's the matter
with you?" cried my wife, and they both stared at me as if they thought
I was mad. But I never heeded them until I had the place effectually
closed, and then wiping my brow I turned to them and breathlessly
declared the reason of my haste.
It is hardly to be wondered at that they both laughed until the tears
ran down. I joined them after a while, but at the same time I had
an overwhelming sense of danger passed. The rest of that day was
devoted to preparations for moving, the new abode as I have before
said having been secured. As soon as the legal limit of entry by
bailiffs had passed, I sallied forth and hired a van, horse, and man,
at one and sixpence an hour (see large bills), and the work of removal
began. Of course Bob was in his element, and we worked liked demons.
By supper-time we were fairly installed in the new premises and as
comfortable as circumstances would permit. Nay, I am ungrateful, far
more comfortable than I had been since I first took upon my unfit
shoulders the burden of a shop.
The last duty I performed that night was to post to the landlord the
key of the premises with a line stating what it was. I did not add
insult to injury by any expressions of apology, although I felt that an
apology, very full and ample, was indicated. But, doubtless, the sense
of exultation at having emerged from the late turmoil with my "bits of
sticks," as the poor lovingly call their home plenishing, was uppermost
in my mind, and overcame my sense of what was right and due to all, a
tribute I was unable to pay. We had a delicious little supper of stewed
rabbit and pickled pork that night, total cost for six eighteenpence
(because it was Monday, and Ostend rabbits unsold from Saturday were a
little stale), and afterwards a long, long talk over the beginning of
better times. Then we parted happily, and I enjoyed a perfect night's
rest.
I had left in the shop the broken lamps, a few of the fittings and the
two counters. I claim no credit for leaving those counters; they had
cost me £10, but I could not have sold them on the spur of the moment
for ten shillings, although they were legally mine, if the term can be
used of transactions which all seemed to me extra-legal if not actually
illegal. To tell the truth I detached the shop entirely from my mind;
it was an incubus removed as was Christian's burden in the "Pilgrim's
Progress," and, although never in the habit of making resolutions or
swearing off, I felt that nothing could, would, or should ever induce
me to take upon my shoulders such a burden again.
I went back to my office with a fairly light heart, except for the
lingering doubts which always assailed me when I had been away a
long time, and found everything proceeding calmly in its accustomed
channels. I did learn afterwards that one kind gentleman, suffering
from insufficiency of occupation, had brought my bankruptcy before the
Secretary, and had been snubbed for his pains. The same philanthropist
I afterwards learned had been to the manager of a firm to which I was
indebted and suggested that they should get an order to garnishee my £2
a week, but was again repulsed in his benevolent ideas. I may say in
passing that his salary was double mine, that he was a bachelor, and
I was seven, like the Wordsworth child, and after that I think I can
leave the matter.
How long it was after this sudden passing from storm to calm, before I
was called upon to meet my creditors I do not know, but I do know that
I woke every morning feeling that life had begun anew. The postman's
knock (truly it was rare now) no longer gave me palpitation of the
heart, nor did I fear that upon coming home, I should meet one of my
uninvited guests with designs upon my "bits of sticks." Demands for
money, peremptory, denunciatory, ceased automatically. I moved in a new
world, where debts were not, and £2 a week was a neat little annuity
amply sufficient for all present needs; and I began to feel again
as if life was worth living. Of course I had carried my tools with
me and had set up a bench where I might do an occasional job if the
opportunity offered; and as many of my old customers sought me out, I
still earned a little extra, which I found very useful.
When I had almost forgotten that such a place as the Bankruptcy Court
existed, much less that I had ever owed any money, I received an
order to attend a first meeting of creditors at the Court. Of course
I attended promptly, but only one of my creditors appeared, and I
learned afterwards that he only came for the purpose of opposing
any hostile resolutions which might be proposed. There were none,
and he said nothing, in fact the whole proceedings were of the most
perfunctory nature and occupied less than a quarter of an hour. I saw
my old friend Mr Hardhat, who congratulated me upon the smooth way
in which my affairs were going. "Now," he said, "there's only the
public examination, and as soon as that is over you can apply for your
discharge." I thanked him, and paid him the very small sum in which he
said I was indebted to him, went away, and in another fortnight forgot
the shameful business again.
The thought, however, would continually arise in my mind, how very
different my position was now compared to what it had been a few days
ago. Then, while fighting most desperately against overwhelming odds
to pay my way and do my duty, I was being literally harassed to death;
now, having by a substantial payment, not to my creditors but to the
Government, obtained the right to declare my inability to pay anybody,
I was left in perfect peace, and even in my appointed meeting with
creditors no man of all those to whom I owed money came to say a word
against me. I was not at all inclined to question very closely the
means by which I had obtained deliverance from the morass in which I
had so long been floundering, but the reflections would continually
obtrude themselves, and I could only say with a sigh, as so many others
have said in a like case, that it was a topsy-turvy world.
Then came the day of my public examination, but it had no terrors for
me, for I knew that it could make no difference to me now, and besides
I rather welcomed the opportunity of saying something in public on my
own behalf. But I little thought that I was to have an object lesson in
the absurdity and injustice of our Bankruptcy laws that day which would
dwell in my mind as long as I lived. Yet it was so, and although I have
read of many more flagrant instances since they are only exaggerations
of this case, the principle is the same.
A man was being examined whose salary and commission had for over
twenty years been more than £1200 a year. His debts were over £5000,
contracted in all sorts of extravagant ways, and his creditors were
very angry indeed. Now his assets were nil--I heard nothing about the
selling up of his home or of his being turned out of the house for
which he was supposed to pay £100 a year rent. In reply to questions he
pleaded that he had a large family, but it turned out that the eldest
was twenty-five and the youngest fourteen. Asked what reason he could
assign for being in this position, he could or would give none but
living beyond his means. Then came the very pertinent question, what
did he propose to do?
Well, in the first place, said his eminent solicitor, his employers
were willing to retain him in their service providing that he obtained
his discharge, but not otherwise. Supposing that to be the case, his
earnings would be much reduced, say to £800 a year. Now the proposition
made was that whatever he earned over £600 a year should be set aside
to be distributed _pro rata_ among his creditors until they had
received a dividend of five shillings in the pound on their claims.
All this on condition only that he received his discharge then and
there. There was some little talk, purely I judged for the sake of
appearances, and then he was discharged to begin again. Now I do not
say that this was injustice, but if it was just, what was I to call the
treatment I subsequently received?
I was presently subjected to a searching examination by a very clever
gentleman, who dilated upon my iniquity in continuing to trade after I
knew that I was unable to fulfil my obligations. All the questions put
were from the notes of my preliminary examination, and I felt very
grateful for my excellent memory.
No creditor appeared to say a word in my disfavour, and the examination
was concluded, nothing apparently having been done for or against me. I
was puzzled, and as soon as I got outside the Court I eagerly enquired
of my faithful Mr Hardhat, who was waiting for me, what I ought to do
now. "Apply for your discharge at once," said he, "for if you delay it,
the period you will be suspended for (and it's sure to be two years),
will only date from the time of application, however long hence that
may be." Of course I was eager to apply at once, but when I learned
that there would be more fees to pay amounting to several pounds, none
of which money would benefit my creditors at all, I indignantly refused
to do anything of the sort, and said that I didn't care if I was never
discharged, I would pay no more fees if I had thousands. And I rejoice
to say that I never did.