A visit from N-. He stayed with me two days, and I wish he could have
stayed a third. (Beyond the third day, I am not sure that any man would
be wholly welcome. My strength will bear but a certain amount of
conversation, even the pleasantest, and before long I desire solitude,
which is rest.)
The mere sight of N-, to say nothing of his talk, did me good. If
appearances can ever be trusted, there are few men who get more enjoyment
out of life. His hardships were never excessive; they did not affect his
health or touch his spirits; probably he is in every way a better man for
having--as he says--"gone through the mill." His recollection of the
time when he had to work hard for a five-pound note, and was not always
sure of getting it, obviously lends gusto to his present state of ease. I
persuaded him to talk about his successes, and to give me a glimpse of
their meaning in solid cash. Last Midsummer day, his receipts for the
twelvemonth were more than two thousand pounds. Nothing wonderful, of
course, bearing in mind what some men are making by their pen; but very
good for a writer who does not address the baser throng. Two thousand
pounds in a year! I gazed at him with wonder and admiration.
I have known very few prosperous men of letters; N--- represents for me
the best and brightest side of literary success. Say what one will after
a lifetime of disillusion, the author who earns largely by honest and
capable work is among the few enviable mortals. Think of N---'s
existence. No other man could do what he is doing, and he does it with
ease. Two, or at most three, hours' work a day--and that by no means
every day--suffices to him. Like all who write, he has his unfruitful
times, his mental worries, his disappointments, but these bear no
proportion to the hours of happy and effective labour. Every time I see
him he looks in better health, for of late years he has taken much more
exercise, and he is often travelling. He is happy in his wife and
children; the thought of all the comforts and pleasures he is able to
give them must be a constant joy to him; were he to die, his family is
safe from want. He has friends and acquaintances as many as he desires;
congenial folk gather at his table; he is welcome in pleasant houses near
and far; his praise is upon the lips of all whose praise is worth having.
With all this, he has the good sense to avoid manifest dangers; he has
not abandoned his privacy, and he seems to be in no danger of being
spoilt by good fortune. His work is more to him than a means of earning
money; he talks about a book he has in hand almost as freshly and keenly
as in the old days, when his annual income was barely a couple of
hundred. I note, too, that his leisure is not swamped with the
publications of the day; he reads as many old books as new, and keeps
many of his early enthusiasms.
He is one of the men I heartily like. That he greatly cares for me I do
not suppose, but this has nothing to do with the matter; enough that he
likes my society well enough to make a special journey down into Devon. I
represent to him, of course, the days gone by, and for their sake he will
always feel an interest in me. Being ten years my junior, he must
naturally regard me as an old buffer; I notice, indeed, that he is just a
little too deferential at moments. He feels a certain respect for some
of my work, but thinks, I am sure, that I ceased writing none too
soon--which is very true. If I had not been such a lucky fellow--if at
this moment I were still toiling for bread--it is probable that he and I
would see each other very seldom; for N--- has delicacy, and would shrink
from bringing his high-spirited affluence face to face with Grub Street
squalor and gloom; whilst I, on the other hand, should hate to think that
he kept up my acquaintance from a sense of decency. As it is we are very
good friends, quite unembarrassed, and--for a couple of days--really
enjoy the sight and hearing of each other. That I am able to give him a
comfortable bedroom, and set before him an eatable dinner, flatters my
pride. If I chose at any time to accept his hearty invitation, I can do
so without moral twinges.
Two thousand pounds! If, at N---'s age, I had achieved that income, what
would have been the result upon me? Nothing but good, I know; but what
form would the good have taken? Should I have become a social man, a
giver of dinners, a member of clubs? Or should I merely have begun, ten
years sooner, the life I am living now? That is more likely.
In my twenties I used to say to myself: what a splendid thing it will be
_when_ I am the possessor of a thousand pounds! Well, I have never
possessed that sum--never anything like it--and now never shall. Yet it
was not an extravagant ambition, methinks, however primitive.
As we sat in the garden dusk, the scent of our pipes mingling with that
of roses, N--- said to me in a laughing tone: "Come now, tell me how you
felt when you first heard of your legacy?" And I could not tell him; I
had nothing to say; no vivid recollection of the moment would come back
to me. I am afraid N--- thought he had been indiscreet, for he passed
quickly to another subject. Thinking it over now, I see, of course, that
it would be impossible to put into words the feeling of that supreme
moment of life. It was not joy that possessed me; I did not exult; I did
not lose control of myself in any way. But I remember drawing one or two
deep sighs, as if all at once relieved of some distressing burden or
constraint. Only some hours after did I begin to feel any kind of
agitation. That night I did not close my eyes; the night after I slept
longer and more soundly than I remember to have done for a score of
years. Once or twice in the first week I had a hysterical feeling; I
scarce kept myself from shedding tears. And the strange thing is that it
seems to have happened so long ago; I seem to have been a free man for
many a twelvemonth, instead of only for two. Indeed, that is what I have
often thought about forms of true happiness; the brief are quite as
satisfying as those that last long. I wanted, before my death, to enjoy
liberty from care, and repose in a place I love. That was granted me;
and, had I known it only for one whole year, the sum of my enjoyment
would have been no whit less than if I live to savour it for a decade.