MR. HAMLYN AND SON AT HOME
Mr. Hamlyn lived in Alexandra Road, Hornham. The actual name of his
house was "Balmoral," and it was one of seven or eight other residences
gathered together under the generic title of "Beatrice Villas."
The father and son turned into the little path which led up to the
imitation satin-wood door some twenty minutes after the gate of St.
Elwyn's had been barred to them. Their companions, Mr. Burgoyne and Mr.
Moffatt, had left them at the corner of the street, very flustered at
what they had done, and with a dull remorse flitting about their thick
skulls, that they had joined in "Hamlyn's little game." Nor did the
repeated assurances of the journalist, that Mr. Herbert--the Liberal
candidate--would "see them through it," help them to recover their peace
of mind. Visions of police-court proceedings and an unenviable notoriety
in the daily papers were very vivid, and they parted with their chief
in mingled sorrow and anger.
Mr. Hamlyn let himself and his son into the little hall of his villa. A
smell of roast meat gave evidence that dinner would soon be ready. Both
men turned into the parlour on the left of the passage. It was a room
which showed signs of fugitive rather than regular use. Two or three
long boxes bearing the name of a local draper stood upon the round table
in the centre. The contents showed that Miss Hamlyn, the agitator's only
daughter, had been occupied in the choice of corsets.
The walls of the parlour were covered with a rich mauve and gold paper,
which gave a dignity to the cut-glass lustres of the chandelier. The
pictures, heavily framed in gold, were spirited representations of
scenes from the Old Testament. On the rack of the rosewood piano--which
stood open--was a song called "Roses that Bloomed in my Heart."
The chairs, arranged around the wall with commendable regularity, were
upholstered in plum-coloured plush. On one of them was a card-box of a
vivid green, containing several clean collars of the particular sort
Hamlyn Junior wore; on another stood the wooden box where his father's
silk hat was kept when not in use on Sundays and other important days.
Mr. Hamlyn took off his frock coat and removed the reversible cuffs that
were attached to the sleeves of his flannel shirt by means of an
ingeniously contrived clip. He then put on a loose coat of black alpaca.
His son, having gone through something of the same process, followed his
father to the sitting-room next the little kitchen.
As the parlour was not often used for ceremonial occasions, the Hamlyns
not being very hospitable people, it served as an occasional
dressing-room also, and saved running up-stairs.
The sitting-room window looked out into the backyard, immediately by the
kitchen door, which led into it. As the Hamlyns came in, they were able
to see their servant throwing some hot liquid--the water in which the
cabbage had been boiled, as a matter of fact--into the grid in the
centre of the yard.
The table was already laid for the meal. As, however, it was rather a
long table and the Hamlyns were only three in family,--Hamlyn being a
widower,--the white cloth was laid only on half of it. One or two
volumes of the Heartsease Novelettes and some artificial flowers, with
which a hat was to be trimmed by Miss Hamlyn, were thus left
undisturbed.
"Dinner didn't ought to be long," Mr. Hamlyn remarked.
"'Ope not," said his son shortly. "I'll holler to Maud."
Miss Hamlyn came in soon afterwards, followed by the maid with a joint
of roast beef. The editor's daughter was a tall girl with sulky lips,
bold eyes, and a profusion of dark hair. This last was now screwed round
her forehead in curling-pins.
The two men attacked their dinner in silence. Both of them had tucked a
handkerchief round their necks, in order to preserve the Sunday
waistcoat from droppings of food, a somewhat wise precaution, as both of
them ate very rapidly.
"Maud," said Hamlyn at length, "can you do a bit of typing for me this
afternoon?"
"No, then, I can't, Pa," she replied resentfully, "and it's like you to
ask it. On the Sabbath, too! I'm going out with Gussie Davies for a
walk."
"Touch the 'arp lightly, my dear," he replied, "no need to get your
feathers up."
"Well, Pa," she answered, "I'm sure I'm ready to spank the beastly
machine for you all the week, you know I am. But Sundays is different."
Hamlyn made no reply. Both he and his son were thinking deeply, and as
yet no reference had escaped them as to the doings of the morning.
Although the girl knew there was something special afoot, she was not
much interested in the details, being at all times a person much
occupied with her own affairs.
During the pudding, she had a short and slangy conversation with her
brother, and directly the meal was over she went up-stairs to "dress."
The servant removed the plates and dishes, and Hamlyn and his son sat
down at the table. The father drew a large portfolio of papers towards
him. The son lighted a cheap cigarette.
Both of the Hamlyns spoke fairly correctly in public, though with the
usual cockney twang. In the seclusion of Balmoral, neither of them
thought it necessary to be very particular about the aspirates which
they emphasised so carefully elsewhere.
"When will Mr. Herbert pay up?" said Sam.
"To-morrow. I shall see him in the committee room during the afternoon,
and it's five and twenty pound earned as easy as I ever earned anything
in my life. It'll come in very 'andy too. There's the rent on the
linotype machine just due."
"The money's all right," answered the younger man, "and, of course,
we're guaranteed against fines and anything of that sort. But do you
think the game's worth the candle? How will opinion in the parish go?"
"Like a house on fire. Wait till you see my leader in Wednesday's issue.
Mr. Herbert has put me up to the whole thing. We're carrying out a
patriotic Henglish duty. Public sympathy will all be with us. Rome is
creeping in among us!"
Sam grinned. "Well, you know best, Father, of course. And we're bound to
support Mr. Herbert."
"I've been thinking a great deal," Hamlyn answered slowly. "I've always
been an ambitious man and I've always meant to come out on top somehow
or other. But I've never had a big chance yet. I think,--I'm not
sure,--but I _think_ I see that chance waiting now."
His shrewd face was lighted up with a curious excitement. The eyes
glowed and the impudent merriment on the lips became more pronounced
than before.
"What is it then?"
"Listen quietly to me for a few minutes. The idea came gradual to me. I
got on the track six months ago. First of all, it was the ten gross of
religious books I had down in the shop. They were of all sorts. Which
was the one that went best? Why, it was _The Adventures of Susan
Lefever, the Captive Nun_. I sold 'em all out in no time. The next best
seller was _The Revelations of Pastor Coucherrousset, the Converted
Catholic Priest_. Anything against Rome! Mr. Leatherbarrow, of the New
Connection Methodists, preached three times on those books. He had all
the congregation fair shaking with indignation against the Scarlet
Woman. You see it's like this. People want a cock-shy. They don't much
care about what it is, as long as they've got it--see the way they're
down on the Sheenies in France. Now a religious cock-shy is the best of
all. It gives people a feeling that they're in real earnest, and they
can kid themselves and other people that it's more disinterested than
politics, for instance. They've nothing to get by it--except the fun of
doing it--and that flatters 'em because they're always on the grab in
every other way. See?"
Sam nodded. He was not one of those youths who despise the words of
parental wisdom. He was not himself a fool, and so he did not fall into
the mistake of underrating his father's capacity and knowledge of life.
The small and vulgar triumphs of Hamlyn's career were all appreciated
and noted by his son, who had a sincere respect for him.
"Very well, then," Hamlyn continued. "It's a sure draw, all over
England, to raise the anti-popery cry. The wholesale trade tell me that
the business done in Fox's _Book of Martyrs_ is a perfect knock-out year
by year, and there's a sure sale for the smaller books about the priests
larking with the girls in the confessional and so forth. Anything with
'Secret History' or 'Jesuit' on the title-page 'll sell like the
_Evening News_ on Derby Day. Now, I've been reading all the publications
of the regular Protestant societies during the last few weeks. Plenty of
cuts at the Ritualists, lots of little sixpennies bound in cloth to
prove as there isn't no such thing as apostolic succession, that wafers
is illegal, and the Eastern position rather worse than arson. They're
all very well in their way, but they're written by D.D.'s and M.A.'s and
such like, who don't care to go too far. I have a list in my portfolio
here of the regular Protestant writers--nearly all _class_, my boy.
Listen here:
"_Transubstantiation and the Invocation of Saints._ Rev. J. Cummer,
Canon Residentiary of Ironpool.
"_Popery the Work of 'the Adversary,'--the Roman Clergy under Satanic
Influence._ Rev. R. S. Blanken, LL.D., incumbent of Christ Church,
Oxton.
"_Ritualism in the English Church: A Word of Warning._ Rev. Joshua Cafe,
D.D., prebendary of Bath and Wells.
"There's dozens of others like this. They're all very well in their way,
but they don't strike the really _popular_ note. They've broken the
ground and sowed the seed, but they're not going to reap the harvest."
"Who is, then, Father? And what'll it be worth when it is reaped?"
"Us, my boy. As to the worth of it, go on listening to me and you'll see
things gradually getting clearer. I want you to see how I've worked it
all out. If we _do_ strike oil, all I'm telling you now will be
valuable. During my local work for the Protestant cause down here, I've
been brought in touch with members of the old-established societies and
I've taken the length of their foot. They're too dignified altogether.
Real live methods don't appeal to them. Financially they don't do badly,
but nothing like what they _might_ do if they adopted the right methods.
All their subscriptions come from the upper classes, and there's a whole
goldmine lying at their doors which is quite untouched! _abso-lute-ly_
unworked, Sam! The middle classes and the lower classes haven't _begun_
to give to the Protestant cause. Why? Because it hasn't been put
prominently before them in the way they'll understand. Bang the
field-piece! twang the lyre! thump the tub! rattle the tambourine!
That's the way. Look at the Salvation Army! The time is ripe for new
methods and for a new man who isn't a canon residentiary or a D.D. I've
got all the ritualistic statistics. Day by day the Ritualists are trying
it on, getting nearer and nearer to Rome. Everything is ready."
"I see all that, Father. All you say is clear enough. What I _don't_ see
yet is what you mean to do."
"I'm coming to that. For several years now, I've been prominent in
Hornham affairs. I'm known as a platform speaker in all the
denominations. What do you suppose I did this for six months ago?" he
touched the lapel of his coat, looking down on it as he did so.
"Oh!" he said, "I forgot I'd changed into my old jacket. I was alluding
to the temperance non-smoking ribbon. It's in my frock-coat. Well, I
mentioned it just to point out that I'm known as a man associated with
all good causes."
"But only locally, Pa."
"Exactly. That is all I need to start with. Now, to-day I began: 'Mr.
Hamlyn, a prominent resident in Hornham and a staunch supporter of the
Henglish Protestant Church, has at last felt it his duty to protest
against the illegal practices at St. Elwyn's in as public a manner as
possible.' I've struck a new note, see? What I've done to-day has hardly
ever been done before. Now, why shouldn't this inaugurate a big public
movement all over the country? Why shouldn't offices be taken in the
Strand and a new League started, 'Hamlyn's Protestant Crusade' or
something of that sort? To begin with, subscriptions are invited for
the circulation of real fighting Protestant literature, hot stuff,
giving accounts of the illegal and Romish doings all over the country. I
know where to get the pamphlets written for a mere song, and startlers,
too. Of course, we have all the printing done at the works here in
Hornham,--that'll be worth something considerable. Meanwhile, mark what
happens. The 'silly season' comes on and the newspapers haven't got much
to write about. Our little London concern is established and then we
begin touring round to all the Ritualistic churches and protesting
against their aims. If I know what I'm talking about, in a fortnight or
three weeks one of the biggest booms of the century will begin!
Everything we do will be in the papers, rows in the churches,
police-court proceedings--everything. Whenever I write a letter of
protest to the Bishop of London or the Archbishop of Canterbury it will
appear in all the papers. It don't matter what they say as long as they
mention the Crusade! Then'll come the moment when we really launch out
and become a national Institution. We'll get half a dozen parsons and
fifth-rate M.P.'s to form a committee, and some one to be a treasurer:
he's easy found. Then I become secretary and you assistant-secretary:
we are _salaried_ officials, of course, and we start a little magazine
as the Society's official organ--to be printed at the works. I've many
more ideas for the extension of the plan,--brilliant ideas some of them,
too. But I won't go into them now. I've only given you the roughest
outline of the scheme as yet. Meanwhile, as a preliminary, I'm going to
flimsy out a dozen short reports of to-day's proceedings at St. Elwyn's,
and I want you to run up to Fleet Street with them, about five this
evening. All the dailies will print it."
He chuckled. "That's the chief beauty of the scheme," he continued; "you
get the majority of your advertisements free, and in the best papers,
too! It's about the only scheme I ever heard of that could."
He stopped at last and sank back in his chair, exhausted. He had spoken
long and with great animation, with all the tricks and mannerisms of
rough-and-tumble platform oratory, in which he was a master. The
pantomime of his expressive gestures, the indescribable impudence of the
smile as he sought to prove some depth of folly in the public, the quick
inflections of the voice, gave great force to his words. They sounded
convincing to the younger Hamlyn, into whose muddy pallor a deep red
flush had gradually come.
"It's a big thing, Pa," he said at length, "a very big thing. I see
that, and you're the one to make it go. But there's a lot to be done
first. 'Ave we the ready money to start it? Even in a small way, to get
it once before the public will cost four or five hundred pounds."
"That's the difficulty, Sam, I admit it. We are pretty low down at
present. The business just keeps its head above water, that's all. The
money from Mr. Herbert is a help, but it's all gone as soon as we get
it. I was thinking that if to-day's little protest makes a stir and we
can do ditto round-abouts during the next week or two, we could get
Moffatt and Burgoyne to advance a hundred each, p'r'aps. As a personal
loan. Mr. Herbert would be good for fifty now, but as soon as he's
elected you'll see he won't bother any more. When we've made the whole
thing hum, he'll come to us and offer to be our Parliamentary
representative. I'm reserving him for that. He'll be useful to ask
questions and help the fizz-up generally. It'll suit him because he'll
have a chance of getting his name in the papers, and it's about the
only chance he will have of getting prominent in the House. But, as far
as the preliminary stages are concerned, my opinion is that he's N.G.
The worst of it is that with a scheme of this sort one can't very well
put it on the market. That's the one drawback of a religious scheme.
There's lots of men who'd see the money in it, but who'd see that if
they joined they couldn't touch a cent. There can't be more than one or
two salaried officials. No, we must depend upon ourselves entirely. I'm
not afraid. It's what Napoleon did, and I'm going to be the Protestant
Napoleon! There's a lot in catchwords--speaking on a side issue--'The
Luther League!' 'Smithfield Soldiers!' or Bunyan's 'Holy War' might be
revived."
"No, Pa, that wouldn't do now. 'Holy' is a regular Ritualistic word."
"Well, so it is, Sam. I hadn't thought of it. I'm glad to see that
you've got a good grip of the thing."
There was a silence in the mean little room. In the adjacent kitchen,
the servant could be heard singing, "Ower lod geris anoice yeng men, ow
dear, ow dear naow!" A big green-bellied fly sung and drummed on the
window-pane in the afternoon sunlight. Hamlyn, replete with enthusiasm
and beef, had taken off his alpaca coat and unloosed his collar. The air
was heavy with the odour of food and the acrid smell of Sam's
"ten-for-threepence" cigarettes, while a penetrating smell of new
calico, proceeding from some of Maud's dressmaking operations, dominated
it all.
A church bell, ringing for afternoon service, was heard not far away.
Suddenly Hamlyn struck the table a sounding blow with his fist.
"It _is_ a good thing," he shouted in a wild burst of enthusiasm.
The voice was so full, and confident, that it rang out in the place like
a trumpet.
It had the true accent of an enthusiast, of a leader. There was
mesmerism in it. Hearing it, one would have said that this man would
succeed.
He could influence others, he had energy, resource, and temperamental
force. It was true. The man was gifted. He had power, and to whatever
end that might be directed it would not lose its efficacy. The
conviction of success, its trumpet note, was to become familiar in vast
hysterical assemblies. It was to be mistaken for a deep and earnest
wish to purify the Church, to scatter the wolves from the environs of
the fold. Greed can be sonorous. Tartuffe can always find his Orgon, and
to hawk a battle-cry among the ignorant and dull has ever been a
profitable game.
"I've a word to say, Pa," the son echoed; "I've an idea where the first
cash is to come from."
"Good, my boy. Let's have it."
"What about Miss Pritchett?"
Hamlyn looked reproachfully at his son. "What about the monument!" he
answered with a sneer. "She's got the cash, she's got tons of it. But
she's a red-hot Ritualist and Romaniser. Ask me another, Sam."
Samuel smiled slyly. "Wait a mo, Pa," he said. "I know a good deal more
about Miss Pritchett than you do. I've been walkin' out with Augusta
Davis lately. She's a friend of Maud's."
"The companion, you mean? Miss Pritchett's companion? Oh, you've been
smelling round in that quarter, have you?"
"And I've learnt a bit. I know all that goes on. Gussie tells me and
Maud everything. Miss Pritchett's getting tired of St. Elwyn's. She
can't boss the new vicar like she used the old one. As for the Roman
business, she doesn't really care for it. She's nothing to amuse herself
with except that and her ailments. It's the old cat's vanity, that's
all. She likes to be a patroness."
"That's the sort of woman we want," answered Mr. Hamlyn, obviously
struck by the the word. "There are a lot of rich, single old judies only
fit to be patronesses. They're cut out for it. Do you really think
anything could be done."
"I do most certainly, Pa. I 'appen to know that Miss Pritchett is
getting on very bad terms with Blantyre. He won't stand her meddling.
I've one or two ideas in my head to help it along. Gussie'll do anything
I tell her."
"Well, Sam, you do all you can. We won't talk about the matter any more
now. I've got a lot of strings to pull, and I've got a lot of matters in
my mind. We shall get a summons for brawling to-morrow, I expect. I'm
done up now, and I'm going to have a nap. Wake me up in an hour if I'm
asleep, and I'll get out the flimsies for to-morrow's papers."
Hamlyn possessed that faculty of sleeping at any moment, and of waking
when it suited him, that so often goes with any marked executive
capacity.
He stretched himself upon the little horsehair sofa and covered his face
with his handkerchief.
Samuel picked up one of the "Heartsease" novelettes and tried to read in
it. But his brain was alight with the splendour of the new project, and
he could not concentrate his thought upon _Joyce Heathcote's Lover_.
It was thus that the seeds of the new movement were sown, in the back
parlour at Balmoral, Beatrice Villas, Alexandra Road. Historians tell us
that even greater and more epoch-making movements than Mr. Hamlyn's was
destined to be, have originated in even less pretentious dwellings.
Many of us have seen the little house in the Brede Kirk Street of the
old Dutch town, on which is written, _Haec est parva domus natus qua
magnus Erasmus_.
Mr. Hamlyn, Junior, had never heard of Erasmus, but he saw visions of
greatness on that afternoon.