[Illustration: CHAMBERS'S JOURNAL
OF
POPULAR
LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.
Fourth Series
CONDUCTED BY WILLIAM AND ROBERT CHAMBERS.
NO. 695. SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 1877. PRICE 1½_d._]
A MARVEL OF ARTISTIC GENIUS.
Coggeshall in Essex is a small market-town, which, in days past was of
some slight importance as a busy little manufacturing place, but which
of later years has been drained of population, like many another place,
to supply material for the great 'centres.' It now has little to boast
of but its fine church, one of the three finest in the county, and some
most interesting ruins, well known to antiquaries; it takes, however, a
great pride in owning the parentage of the subject of this notice.
John Carter was the only son of a respectable labourer in Coggeshall,
but was himself brought up to silk-weaving, that being the staple
trade of the town. He was educated in the usual way at the national
school; but at the age of thirteen was transferred to Sir R. Hitcham's
grammar-school, where he continued about two years. During this
period he was chiefly remarkable for his aptitude for getting into
mischief; and the only sign given of the latent talent which was
afterwards so strangely developed in him was in drawing horses and
dogs of questionable beauty on his slates and copy-books; the walls of
his cottage also were frequently put under requisition for the same
purpose; a mark of talent which his mother in those days could have
readily dispensed with, as not tending to improve the look of her
humble apartment, which she always kept most scrupulously neat and
clean. He was a bright intelligent boy, and this and his high spirits
made him a general favourite, but proved also a great snare to him. He
became acquainted with a set of wild young men, and soon, naturally
enough, became the ringleader in all sorts of daring enterprise.
When Carter was about twenty he married; but though his wife was a
quiet and respectable young woman, his marriage does not appear to have
steadied him. He and his wild companions used to meet at one of the
public-houses and there talk over and arrange their operations. One
of the projects which these choice spirits agreed upon was a rooking
expedition, the young rooks being then in season. It was in the month
of May 1836. The place agreed on was Holfield Grange, there being there
a fine old avenue of elms, in which the rooks from time immemorial had
comfortably settled. The avenue was disused; and as it was some little
way from the house and away from the road and preserves, there was
little chance of their being interrupted by watchmen or gamekeepers.
They arranged to meet in a field outside the town with a given signal,
by which they might know friend from foe; this was to avoid leaving the
town in a body, which might have suggested suspicions of mischief, and
induced a little watching. Midnight found them all at the rendezvous,
and little more than half an hour's walking brought them to the chosen
spot. Carter, foremost as usual, was the first to climb one of the
tall trees, and was soon busy enough securing the young birds. The
trees in the avenue are very old, and stand somewhat close together,
their gnarled and massive boughs frequently interlacing, making it
quite possible for an expert climber to pass from one tree to another.
In attempting to perform this, Carter deceived either in the distance
or strength of a bough, missed his hold and fell to the ground, a
distance of about forty feet. He had fallen apparently on his head, for
it was crushed forwards on to his chest. For a time he lay perfectly
senseless, and the dismay of his wretched companions may be imagined.
Their position was an unenviable one, to say the least. What were they
to do? A mile and a half from the town, in the dead of night, in the
midst of their depredations, which must now inevitably become known,
and with one of their party dying or dead, they knew not which.
After a time, Carter seems to have recovered consciousness partially,
and made them understand, though his speech was so much affected as to
be almost unintelligible, that he wanted them to 'pull him out!' This
rough surgery they therefore tried, some taking his head and some his
feet, and pulled till he could once more speak plainly; and having done
that, seemed to think that there was nothing more they could do.
Would one or two more judicious tugs have fitted the dislocated bones
together again, or would they have broken the spinal marrow? Who can
tell? In either case the world would have lost one striking case of
latent talent developed by a misfortune which seemed indeed only one
remove from death; so we will not complain.
Finding that no further improvement took place in the poor fellow, and
that he had lapsed into unconsciousness, his companions procured a
hurdle, and laying him on it with all the skill and gentleness of which
they were capable, retraced their steps to the town, and bore him to
the home which he had left a few hours before in the full strength and
health of early manhood. They laid him on his bed and then slunk away,
glad to shut out from their sight the terrible result of their headlong
folly, one only remaining to tell to the poor wife the sad story of the
disaster. The doctor was sent for; and the result of his examination
was the terrible verdict that Carter had not in all probability many
days or even hours to live; in any case, whether he lived or not, he
was paralysed without hope of recovery.
He did not recover consciousness entirely till the following night;
and we who have the full enjoyment of our limbs and health can hardly
realise what that poor fellow must have suffered in learning that,
even if life were granted to him at all, it was under such terrible
conditions as at first to seem to him less a boon than a burden. He
would never again be able to move hand or foot, the only power of
movement remaining to him being in the neck, which just enabled him
to raise or turn round his head; that was _all_--there was not even
feeling in the rest of his body. What a dreary blank in the future!
What wonder if the undisciplined soul cried out aloud with repining,
like a wild bird beating against the bars of a cage; what wonder if in
the bitterness of his heart he cried: 'Of what good is my life to me!
Better that I had never been born, since all that makes life sweet is
taken from me.'
Anguish unknown, terrors too great for words, must that poor soul
have met and overcome, ere he had learned the great lesson of sorrow,
that life, true life, does not consist in mere physical capabilities
and enjoyments, but that there is a far higher, nobler life, the
life of the soul and mind, which is as infinitely above the other as
heaven is above earth. His mind being now no longer overridden by his
superabundant physical nature, began to work and put forth its powers
and energies; but it was long ere he found any object on which to
expend those powers; not till he had, through several long and heavy
years of suffering, learned the great and most difficult lesson of
patience--patience, without which he would never have accomplished the
wonderful work which we will now proceed to describe.
Having read one day of some young woman who, deprived of the use of
her hands, had learned to draw little things with her _mouth_, he was
seized with a desire to try the same thing, and was not content till
he had made his first attempt. Deprived of the use of his hands, why
not try his mouth! A butterfly that had fluttered into the cottage
was caught and transfixed; a rough desk extemporised, and with such
materials as a sixpenny box of paints afforded, he made a sketch of the
insect. Delighted with his success, he determined to persevere. A light
deal desk was made after his own directions, on which to fix his paper;
the picture he was about to copy being fastened above, or if large,
hung from the top of the bed by tapes; he always drew in bed, his head
being slightly raised by pillows. A pencil about six inches long and
bound round with thread was put in his mouth, and with this he sketched
his subject. A saucer of Indian ink was prepared, and a fine camel-hair
brush was dipped and placed in his mouth by the attendant; these
brushes were sometimes not more than four inches long. In this way he
produced the most exquisite drawings, equal to fine line engravings,
which were sold for him by his friends and patrons, some of them
finding their way into the highest quarters; and thus he was enabled to
experience the delight of feeling that paralysed as he was, he was not
a mere burden, but was able to contribute to his own support.
Several of the most beautiful of his works are now in America, and we
believe we are right in saying that as much as twenty-five and fifty
pounds apiece have been given for them. Another very fine work, a copy
of 'St John and the Angel,' about eighteen inches by twelve, is in the
possession of Robert Hanbury, Esq., of Poles Ware, Hertfordshire, and
is wonderful in its power and delicacy. In the copies from Rembrandt,
Carter has so completely caught the peculiar touch and style of the
great master, that even a connoisseur would have some difficulty in
distinguishing them from the original.
Carter tried various styles--water-colour, chalks, mezzotint, and line
drawing; but it was the last in which he succeeded best, and which best
displayed his great delicacy of touch. The chalks required too great
pressure, and fatigued him so much that he was only able to finish two
or three pictures in this style, a masterly head of St Peter being one;
but the grand sweep of the unbroken lines in these shews, we think, his
talent more than any of his works.
He found many kind friends who interested themselves in his work, and
supplied him with subjects to copy; notably amongst these, Miss Hanbury
of Holfield Grange, now wife of the Dean of Winchester. Mr Richmond the
artist also came to see him on several occasions, and speaks of him
thus in a letter: 'The first time I saw him [Carter] I was taken to his
cottage by the Rev. Charles Forster, vicar of Stisted, Essex; and the
impression of that visit I shall never lose, for the contrast of the
utterly helpless body of the man with the bright and beaming expression
of his face, which only a peaceful and clear spirit could raise, was
a sight to do one good. It was as it were "the face of an angel,"
and I always think of him in connection with that passage.' This
latter remark is no exaggeration, for Carter was more than ordinarily
handsome, of that old Roman type so common amongst the agricultural
labourers in Essex, which ill-health and suffering had only improved
by adding refinement to his well-cut features; and the expression
of deep humility and patience was most touching in its earnestness.
Richmond, speaking elsewhere of his works, says: 'His power of
imitation was extraordinary--I mean it would have been extraordinary in
one possessing hands to execute his thought with; but to see him with
his short pencil between his lips executing with the greatest precision
and skill intricate forms and describing difficult curves, filled me
with wonder and admiration.'[1]
Carter lived for fourteen years in this helpless condition, during
which time he was a constant attendant at the church. A light frame and
mattress, on which he lay perfectly prostrate, was lifted on to a sort
of little wheel-carriage, and thus he was carried into the church, and
lay during the service. Useful for locomotion, this carriage, sad to
relate, was the cause of his death. One day, the lad who was wheeling
him about, lost his hold at the top of a hill; the carriage ran back
with violence against a wall, and upset the poor fellow into the road.
From that day he sank rapidly, and died on the 2d of June 1850.
There was a post-mortem examination; and the injured portion of the
spine was removed, and presented by Professor Hilton to the Museum of
the College of Surgeons, London, 'where it remains,' as he said in
lecturing on the case at the College, 'a typical specimen almost unique
in interest.'
[The sight of the drawing of the 'Virgin and Child,' by Carter, which
has been submitted to our inspection, is eminently suggestive of
what may be done in the most adverse circumstances, and also rouses
sentiments of profound regret at the sudden and unforeseen death of a
being so highly gifted with the light of genius.--ED.]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See _Memoir of Carter_, with Illustrations, by Rev. W. J. Dampier.
Simpkin and Marshall. 1876.
THE LAST OF THE HADDONS.
CHAPTER XIX.--MRS CHICHESTER'S ARRANGEMENT.
When an hour later, I re-entered the drawing-room to make my adieu to
Miss Farrar, I found that the aspect of affairs had altogether changed.
She was lounging in her favourite attitude of negligent ease, in a low
chair, playing with the appendages to her watch-chain; and opposite to
her sat Mrs Chichester.
Marian did not give me time to speak, hurriedly commencing, with
haughty graciousness, the moment I entered the room.
'Oh, it is Miss Haddon.--Come in, Miss Haddon. I am sorry to disappoint
you; but I have been thinking the matter over since I spoke to you, and
have come to the conclusion that I shall not require your services.
The truth is I could not feel quite sure that you would suit me, and
therefore I have made another arrangement--a much more satisfactory
one.'
For a moment I did not quite comprehend the state of affairs, asking
myself if she could have so far misinterpreted my words as to suppose
that I had expressed a wish to remain with her. Then the truth flashed
upon me, and I calmly replied: 'It is quite possible I might not have
suited you, Miss Farrar. If, as I suppose, you have made an arrangement
for Mrs Chichester to reside with you, I believe you will find her much
more amenable and easy to get on with than I might prove to be.'
Marian looked at me doubtfully, not quite sure whether to interpret my
words favourably or not. Mrs Chichester's lips closed tightly for a
moment, then she said with her accustomed gentleness and suavity: 'The
arrangement between Miss Farrar and myself is so essentially different
from ordinary engagements, Miss Haddon; simply a friendly one.'
'Yes, indeed,' said Marian, with a grand air. 'Accepting an occasional
little offering' (here I knew she was quoting) 'is quite different from
receiving a salary, you know.'
I cheerfully agreed that it was different; and was mischievous enough
to congratulate 'Miss Farrar' upon having found so disinterested a
friend in the time of need.
With heightened colour, Mrs Chichester explained that she had only done
what any moderately good-natured person would do, in offering to stay
with one who had been deserted by those who ought not to have deserted
her.
'Yes; that's what I call it!' said Marian eagerly catching at the word.
'I've been deserted by those who ought not to have deserted me! And
here's Caroline, that I never cared for, and who I thought never cared
for me, turns out my best friend. Caroline had taken a great fancy
to me from the beginning, only she was afraid of shewing it, in case
Lilian should be jealous. But since my sister has chosen to desert me
as she has, she can't complain about my choosing a fresh friend. As
you know, I have done all I could to make things pleasant for Lilian.
No one in the world could act more generously than I have done to her.
Any one might tell that, by the heaps and heaps of things which have
been taken out of the house, without my saying a word. And then the
piano, when it was found that it would have to be sold on account of
being too large for the cottage, I paid the price it cost two years
ago. Two hundred and fifty pounds for a second-hand piano, Caroline!
I shouldn't mind if I'd been treated accordingly. But to go away like
this, without so much as saying thank you. As Caroline says, it is
treating one too bad; it really is!'
I glanced smilingly at Caroline's flushed face, and then wished them
good afternoon.
'I hear that you are going to stay at the cottage, Miss Haddon?'
'For three or four months I am, Mrs Chichester.'
'Until you find another engagement, I presume?' she asked, eyeing me
curiously.
'Until I make another engagement,' I smilingly replied.
But the 'three or four months' had aroused her suspicions, though I did
not perceive in what way.
'You have made the best of your sojourn at Fairview, Miss
Haddon'--softly.
'The very best, Mrs Chichester,' was my cheerful response; although I
did not see the whole of her meaning, as I was to see it later. I knew
enough to be sure the drift of it was not very friendly. One thing was
very palpable--I made no advance in Mrs Chichester's good graces.
They followed me to the hall with messages for Lilian.
'I can't forget that she's Pa's daughter, you know,' said Marian, once
more striving to be generous. 'Give my love to her, and tell her not to
hesitate about sending for anything she may require from the garden or
what not; she will miss things so at first, you know. And I don't see
why she shouldn't have milk; cook said we have more than she can use
just now. If we go on keeping two cows she shall always have it. And
say that the very first time we drive out I will call at the cottage.'
Saunders, who opened the door for me, drew his hand across his eyes as
he strove to stammer out a message to the 'dear young mistress.'
'Of course you will come to see her; she will be desirous to hear
how you are getting on, Saunders,' I replied, beginning to find some
difficulty in keeping up my own courage. But there was more to try me
yet. Before I could make my escape, every servant employed in or about
the house had crowded into the hall, down to Tom the garden-boy.
'Tell the dear young mistress our hearts ache for her.' 'Tell her there
isn't one here as wouldn't go barefoot to serve her. God bless her!'
'Tell her her kindness to mother will never be forgotten as long as I
live.' 'Why didn't she let us say good-bye, Miss Haddon?' 'Why didn't
she shake hands with us before she went, Miss?'--they asked one after
the other.
The wisdom of our getting her away as we did was manifest enough. 'It
would have been more than she could have borne,' I replied, in a broken
voice. 'But it will do her good to hear of your shewing so much kindly
feeling, though she never doubted your attachment to her. And of course
she expects that you will all go to see her.'
'Ay, that we will!'
Then I got my own share of parting good-wishes, as we shook hands all
round, not at all disturbed in the process by the sudden slamming of
the drawing-room door and the violent ringing of a bell.
Satisfactory as it all was from one point of view, I congratulated
myself upon having contrived to spare Lilian this scene, as well as the
final good-bye to the home that ought to have been her own.
I turned from the main road and walked slowly down across the fields
at the back of Fairview until I reached the stile at the end of the
lane. Then seating myself upon the cross step, I yielded to a little
sentiment, telling myself that there must be no such indulgence at the
cottage for some time to come. We needed our full share of common-sense
to keep the atmosphere healthy. It was all very well trying to assume
philosophic airs about wealth; it did very well in my own case, for
instance; but I really could not see that it was better for Lilian to
lose her large fortune--and so lose it. Into what different channels
would the money have passed from her hands, how different a class
of people would have been benefited from those who would now be the
recipients of it. Granted that Lilian herself might be as happy in
the future as though she possessed a large income, how many would be
the worse for her not possessing it. The other was already developing
a mean nature, and would grudge expenditure upon anything which did
not immediately minister to her own gratification. And so forth and
so forth I complained to myself in the short-sighted way with which
many of us are apt to judge when looking at a question from one point
of view only. I did not even take into consideration the fact that
the loss of fortune had already brought about one good effect--that
of making Arthur Trafford appear in his true colours, and so sparing
Lilian from much misery in the future.
'How did she bear it, Miss Haddon?'
I looked up to find Robert Wentworth standing on the other side the
stile. I rose, shook hands, and replied: 'As you might expect she
would. But we contrived to spare her a final parting scene;' going on
to tell him how we had managed it.
'A good idea. And Mrs Chichester has stepped in, has she?' he added
musingly. 'Well, I suppose that might have been expected too. Trafford
will have a useful ally.'
I told him of the offer I had received, smiling a little over the
recital.
'Fortunately you are not like other women; you can smile at that sort
of thing. And you will not, I trust, be again subjected to anything of
the kind. You will remain at the cottage as long as you need a home
now?'
'Yes,' I replied in a low voice, feeling the hot colour cover my face
in my confusion at hearing such an allusion from him; wondering not a
little how he had come to know what I had been so reticent, even to
those I loved best, about. His tone and look seemed, I thought, so
plainly to imply that he did know.
'But I suppose that is forbidden ground just at present?' he went on,
as I imagined answering my very thoughts.
'Yes,' I whispered stupidly; shy of talking about my love affair to
him, yet a little ashamed of my shyness, as more befitting a young
romantic girl than myself.
'I will obey'--glancing down at me with grave pleasantness--'if you
will consent that some limit shall be put to the restraint. Shall we
say three months?'
I smiled assent. He really did know then; even to the time Philip was
expected. I did not like to ask him how he had gained the knowledge,
as that might lead to more talk upon the subject than I cared to enter
into. In fact I was completely taken by surprise, and not quite equal
to the occasion.
But I soon contrived to account for his knowledge of my secret. My
engagement was well known to Philip's brother and the latter's friends;
and it was quite possible that Robert Wentworth might know some of
them. But however he had found it out, I was quite content that he
should have done so. It would be all the easier to pave the way towards
a friendship between Philip and him, by-and-by. For the present I
quietly returned to the subject which I believed to be most interesting
to him, and we talked over Lilian's prospects hopefully if a little
gravely, as we walked slowly on down the lane.
'You think there are really some grounds for hoping that she may forget
him?' he asked anxiously. 'I should not judge hers to be a changeable
mind.'
'Changeable! No; if she had really loved Arthur Trafford, as she
fancied she did, there would be indeed no hope.'
'Fancied?'
'Yes; I firmly believe it _was_ fancy. She never loved the real Arthur
Trafford; she is only just beginning to know him as he is.'
'Well, I suppose it is all right, so far as she is concerned; and
yet--constancy in love and friendship is part of my religion. One does
not like to have that faith disturbed?'--with what I fancied was a
questioning look.
'You forget that Lilian was almost a child when the acquaintance
commenced; barely sixteen. Though I hold that she will be constant to
her love, in even ceasing to care for Arthur Trafford. Do not you see
that she has never known the real man until now--that in fact she has
been in love with an ideal?' I replied, under the impression that he
was putting the questions which he wished to be combated, and willing
to indulge him so far.
'It must be rather hard upon a man to discover, after a long
engagement, that he does not accord with his lady-love's ideal--all
the harder if the discovery _does_ not happen to be made until after
marriage,' he said; '_and_ I think you will have to acknowledge that
the ideal you talk about ought to preserve a woman from falling in love
with the counterfeit, rather than lead her to it.'
'You are talking about a woman, and I a girl.'
'You must not forget that she was old enough to engage herself to him.
How if she had continued in her blindness until too late--how if she
had become his wife?'
'If she had become his wife before her eyes were opened, Lilian would
in time have recognised her own weakness in the matter, and blamed no
one else. Moreover, she would have made a good wife.'
'Yes; I suppose it would have been patched up that way; by the slow
heart-breaking process of smiling at grief and all the rest of it. And
of course you mean to imply that her fate would have its use, in the
way of serving as a warning to incautious youth against being in love
with ideals?'
'Of course I meant no such thing, and you know that I did not,' I
replied, laughing outright. 'I should think there is need for a great
deal of the ideal in all love, to keep it alive.'
'Ah, now we are getting on to fresh ground,' he said enjoyably. 'Let me
see, the proposition is that love needs a great deal of the ideal to
keep it alive; and yet'----
But I was not going to indulge him with a disquisition upon love;
giving him a Roland for an Oliver, in my own fashion: 'No one is more
glad that Lilian's has turned out to be only an ideal love, than
yourself.'
'Ah, that is not spoken with your usual accuracy of statement. Should
you not rather have said that no one could be more sorry than I that
her ideal did not preserve her from'----
'She _is_ preserved; and that is what you care most about.'
He smiled. 'Well, perhaps it is.'
When we arrived at the turn in the lane leading to the cottage, he took
leave of me. I did not invite him to go in with me, and I think he
quite understood my motive for not doing so, this first evening of our
entrance upon a new life. But he responded as heartily as I could wish,
when I expressed a hope that he would come as frequently as he could
to the cottage; adding that we should expect a great deal from him now
that he had shewn us how helpful he could be in times of emergency.
'Besides, it will be good for us, I suppose, to occasionally see one of
the lords of creation, lest we should come to forget that we are but
women.'
'Yes; you at least require to be occasionally taken down.'
'You must consider me very amiable to say that in my presence.'
'Did you hurt your hand when you struck it upon the seat the other day?
From the violence of the blow, I was afraid you would suffer a little
afterwards.'
'Surely you did not call that temper?'
'O dear, no; I did not venture to call it anything. What did you call
it?'
'Righteous indignation,' I calmly replied.
'Righteous indignation! O indeed. Then if I have cause to be angry with
a person, it is righteous indignation to attack his friend, and enforce
my arguments by blows upon a piece of wood?'
'You are worse than usual to-night; but come soon to see Mrs Tipper and
Lilian,' I said, smiling.
'Let us shake hands upon that.'
I stood looking after him a moment, as he walked away in the twilight
with the long, easy, swinging motion natural to one of a powerfully
built frame. Moreover I knew that his mental power was at least in
equal proportion to his physical strength, and had no fears as to
Lilian's happiness, by-and-by. The only drawback to her happiness would
be the remembrance of past weakness, and that may not be the worst kind
of drawback one could have in the time of prosperity.
As we sat that night by the open window, the May moon flooding the
lovely scene outside, resting, as I persuaded myself, tenderly on _my_
house by the hill-side, nearly facing us, from the other side of the
village, we told each other that some people were not intended for a
life of luxury and grandeur, and that we were of their kind; heartily
agreeing that we were now in our proper sphere.
Dear little Mrs Tipper was a bright example of content and happiness.
Never had I seen her at such advantage as at present. Energetic and
cheerful, company manners packed away with her best dresses, she
was a happy little woman again, bustling about her small domain in
a print-dress and large apron, and finding a new pleasure every ten
minutes. There was not even the drawback of anxiety about Lilian in her
mind.
She had confided to me that she had never felt quite satisfied with
Arthur Trafford as a husband for her niece, though she had been
afraid to trust to her own judgment in the matter, lest her want of
appreciation might arise from her ignorance of society and its ways.
But she quite shared my opinion as to the probability of Lilian's
getting healthily over her disappointment. There was nothing to prevent
her giving expression to her real sentiments about the change in her
life, and Lilian had the pleasure of knowing that auntie at least could
not be said to be suffering from reverses.
'It does me real good to do it, my dear; it does indeed!' she
ejaculated, when I offered to wash the tea-things for her. 'It all
comes so natural and handy again. Little did I think, when I packed up
these and a few other things and brought them to brother's unbeknown,
that I should have the pleasure of washing them again. I couldn't
bear to sell them, because they were father's present to me on my
wedding-day, and nobody has ever washed them but me. You wouldn't
believe how fond I came to be of this one with the little chip in it,
washing it every day for thirty years. John, he used to be sitting
there by the fire with his pipe,' she went on, pointing to a corner,
and evidently seeing in her mind's eye the old cottage home, 'and
telling me how things had been going on at the office in the day; and
the news out of the papers--very fond of the papers, John was; and he
had the reading of them when the gentlemen had done with them. And I
standing here washing up the tea-things, and saying a word now and then
to shew him I was listening.--It all comes back so plain--doesn't it?'
she added, apostrophising the cup with tearful eyes. 'I can almost hear
the cuckoo clock ticking against the wall.'
It was time to put in a word, which I did as gently as possible, and
she was presently smiling cheerily again.
'You mustn't think I'm low-spirited, dear; no, indeed. There was
nothing in those old times to make me sad; and John's in heaven. All
this only reminded me, you see.'
'I hope you will find Becky useful.'
'That I shall, dear; she's so handy and knows about things so much,
more than you might expect. It would never have done to have a fine
lady, afraid of spoiling her hands, for a servant here, you know.'
Stopping a moment to open the door and call out to Becky, at work
in the little scullery at the back: 'You won't forget to order the
currants and candied peel for the cake to-morrow, Becky. It must not
be said we hadn't a bit of home-made cake when there's dripping in the
house. A good thing I thought of ordering tins; but that's what I said
to the young man; leave it to me to know what is wanted in the kitchen.'
'I won't forget, ma'am,' called out Becky in return.
'And, Becky'--trotting to the door again--'there's bedroom candles and
soap to be thought of when the grocer comes in the morning. There would
be no sense in having to send into the town when we could have it all
brought. Don't forget to look at the little slate, if I'm up-stairs, to
see if there's anything else wanted.'
And so on, and so on, until Lilian and I at last got her up to her
bedroom, fairly tired out, but as happy as a queen.
I was rejoiced to see how much good it did Lilian to find that the dear
little woman took so kindly to cottage ways.
'How much worse things might have been, Mary. How thankful I ought to
be!'
'Yes; I think you ought, dearie.'
She and I stood for a few moments at my bedroom window, gazing at the
peaceful scene without. My room, as they already called it, was at
the back of the cottage; and the window commanded a view of the woods
on the one side, and the beautiful open country on the other. But we
tacitly agreed to avoid sentiment; we were not strong enough for that
yet. We just let the outside peace and quiet steal into our hearts,
as we stood there together for a few minutes, my arm about her, and
her cheek resting on my shoulder, and then bade each other good-night
without any demonstration.
THREE WONDERFUL RAILWAYS.
The 'Three Wonderful Railways' which we propose to notice are the
Brenner, the Semmering, and the Rigi lines.
The Brenner line, which lies between Innsbruck and Botzen, and
constitutes a portion of the railway connecting Bavaria and Italy,
although it passes through tunnel after tunnel, until the weary
traveller is prone to abandon all hope of obtaining any view of the
scenery, nevertheless is not content with getting _through_ the pass,
but proudly mounts to the top and passes over the summit level before
beginning the descent. The pass is a low one, indeed one of the lowest
over the main Alps; but then it must be borne in mind that this 'low'
Alpine pass is four thousand seven hundred and seventy-five feet
high; no mean altitude for a railway. Neither is it merely for its
height that the writer is induced to describe it, nor for its pretty
scenery (it can scarcely be called grand), but for the extraordinary
engineering difficulties which the making of the line presented, and
which have been so ably and ingeniously overcome. Some of the more
ordinary difficulties of the district traversed by the line may be
gathered from the fact that the ascent from Innsbruck involves no fewer
than thirteen tunnels, while in the descent there are ten. The line,
clinging to the side of the mountain, has to penetrate projecting rocks
so frequently that it strongly resembles, except in the lovely peeps
obtained in the momentary intervals, the Metropolitan District Railway;
which is dignified by the name of the 'Daylight Route,' because it is
not always underground. In its course up the valley the railway on one
side sometimes rises above the level of the carriage-road on the other,
sometimes finds itself considerably below it. In climbing the pass, the
rail of course never ceases to ascend; while the more humble road bows
to the obstacles it encounters, and rises and falls according to the
nature of the ground. At last, Nature seems determined to put a stop
to the encroachments of steam, and the railroad finds itself directly
facing a lateral valley, the bottom of which lies far below it.
Now how to get over this valley and pursue the direct course up the
main valley, seems a problem. The road would descend to mount again;
not so the rail. The difficulty and its solution may be well realised
by imagining a railway cut in the face of a long row of houses (which
must be supposed to represent one side of the main valley). This
railway, starting from one end of the row at the basement level,
gradually rises, in order to pass over the roofs (that is, the head of
the pass) of another row of houses at right angles to and at the end of
the first row. In its course it encounters a side-street (the lateral
valley) with no outlet at the other end, and which is too broad to
be spanned with a bridge. Now the line at this point has reached the
second floor; and to get to the opposite houses and pursue its course,
it turns a sharp corner, runs along one side of the blind street,
crosses it at the further or blind end by merely clinging still to the
houses, returns along the other side, rounds the corner into the main
street, and resumes its course. During this détour the ascent has been
continued uninterruptedly, so that on the return of the line to the
desired opposite corner it has mounted to the third floor. Applying
this illustration, the reader will perceive the ingenious yet simple
solution of the difficulty.
The effect on reaching the first corner of the lateral valley is most
remarkable. The line is seen at the opposite corner far above the
traveller's head entering a tunnel; and how he is going to get there
is a puzzle which he hardly solves before he finds himself on the spot
looking down on the corner he has just left, wondering how he ever came
from there.
But even this striking instance of engineering triumphs is eclipsed
by a portion of the line on the other side of the pass. Pursuing the
direction he has already come, the traveller has stopped in the descent
at Schelleberg, a small station perched at an enormous height above an
expansive valley, when he perceives a village five hundred feet almost
perpendicularly below him, which he is informed is the next station.
It would not take long to reach this village (Gossensass) in a lift,
but in a train he has to run far past it, always descending, then turn
completely round, and run back again in the direction he has come
from, but now on a level with Gossensass. But at the point where this
evolution has to be made occurs another lateral valley, much longer
than the first alluded to; and this time one which it is not desired to
cross, as Gossensass lies as it were on the basement of the house on
the third floor of which is Schelleberg. The train proceeds, therefore,
to turn the corner into the side-street as before; but without pursuing
the street to its end, it suddenly dives into one of the houses,
makes a complete circuit of its interior, and emerges in the opposite
direction; returning to the corner whence it started by means of the
same houses, but on a lower floor. The appearance of this engineering
feat is quite bewildering; and after tunnelling into the hill on the
sharp curve, and then finding himself proceeding back towards the
place he has just come from, the traveller experiences a difficulty in
believing that the line parallel with him, but almost over his head,
is the one he has just been passing over. Shortly after Gossensass has
been left behind, the train passes close under and almost into the
gigantic and formidable-looking fort of Franzensfeste; and then after
a few more tunnels, gradually leaves the Alps behind, and descends by
Botzen into the Italian plains with all their luxuriant foliage. It
should be added that the Brenner line was completed in the year 1867,
and that its numerous engineering difficulties entailed an average cost
of about twenty-eight thousand pounds per mile.
The Semmering line, which lies south of Vienna, on the way thence to
Trieste, and which, until the completion of the Brenner, was unique in
the boldness of its conception and execution, as also for the height
to which it attained, is now eclipsed as to altitude in more than one
instance; but as a magnificent engineering achievement it can hold its
own against any railway at present constructed. While resembling the
Brenner in many particulars, it differs from it in some important
points. Among these differences is the fact, that whereas the Brenner
line actually surmounts the pass, the Semmering, on reaching a height
of two thousand eight hundred and ninety-three feet, or about four
hundred feet short of the summit, suddenly, as if tired of so much
climbing, plunges into the ground, and only emerges again nearly a
mile off, and on the other side of the pass, which it then proceeds to
descend. It is thus that it may be said to have been the prototype of
its great successor, the Mont Cenis.
The Semmering further differs from the Brenner in what may perhaps be
considered its most remarkable feature--namely, its viaducts. For while
the latter avoids many a yawning abyss by some ingenious curve, the
former seems almost to seek the opportunity for a magnificent display
of span. These viaducts occur frequently, being as many as fifteen in
number; and in many instances are formed of a double row of arches, one
standing on the other in the manner sometimes adopted by the Romans
in the construction of their aqueducts. To realise the grandeur of
these viaducts, they should not be seen merely from a train, but the
traveller should contrive to view them from below. The finest is over
the Kalte Rinne, and consists of five arches below and ten above. The
line also in places requires to be protected from avalanches of stone
or of snow, and this is effected by means of covered galleries, such as
may be seen on so many Alpine roads. The tunnels too are as numerous as
the viaducts. In fact the train no sooner emerges from a tunnel than it
finds itself skimming over a viaduct, only to plunge once more into a
tunnel or a gallery. The device for crossing a lateral valley described
above in the case of the Brenner is also resorted to here, and need not
be further alluded to.
The proportionate cost of the Semmering railway was more than double
that of the Brenner, being about sixty thousand pounds per mile.
This may be accounted for partly by the fact, that the former was
constructed and opened thirteen years prior to the latter; by which the
latter was enabled to reap the benefit of the engineering experience
acquired in the progress of its predecessor. But the chief cause of
this enormous difference in the cost of construction lies in the
different modes adopted for overcoming obstacles; and the vast viaducts
of the Semmering entailed an expense which was wisely and ingeniously
avoided in the construction of the Brenner.
The gradients, as may be supposed, are very steep on both these
railways, and the rate of speed not great. On the Semmering a long
train has to be divided into two or three portions, to enable it to
surmount these steep slopes, which frequently are as rapid as one in
forty, even on the viaducts and in the tunnels. The reader has only to
notice the numbers on the gradient indicators by the side of an English
railway, to be able to judge what an incline of _one in forty_ is like.
But if one in forty seems steep, what shall be said of one in four,
which is the gradient of a large part of the Rigi railway? No doubt
the ascent of the Rigi has come to be regarded much as the Londoner
regards the ascent of Primrose Hill; though in the latter case the
hardy traveller has to use the means of locomotion with which Nature
has provided him in order to reach the summit; while in the former
he merely seats himself in a railway carriage at the base of the
mountain, and is deposited without the smallest exertion on his part at
or nearly at the top.
Steam here, as elsewhere, has almost entirely superseded the old means
of travel. But as if it were not a sufficiently stupendous undertaking
to have one railway to the top of a mountain, two have here been
constructed, one having its base at Art on the Lake of Zug, the other
at Vitznau on the Lake of Lucerne. Taking the latter, which was first
accomplished, the height to be scaled is four thousand four hundred
and seventy-two feet from the level of the Lake of Lucerne, the total
altitude of the mountain being five thousand nine hundred and five
feet above the level of the sea. Of this four thousand four hundred
and seventy-two feet, the rail accomplishes all but one hundred feet
or so. To do this, an excessively steep gradient must be constantly
maintained, as the formation of the mountain does not admit of wide
sweeps, détours, or zigzags; but the course pursued is round the
shoulder, then along the ridge which communicates with the topmost
heights, and finally up those heights themselves, a distance of not
more than eight miles. It is thus that a gradient of one in four
becomes a necessity. Let the reader mark out a distance of four feet,
and at one end place a foot-rule perpendicularly. A line drawn from
one end of this distance to the top of the rule at the other end will
indicate the gradient of one in four. It is a steeper incline than
horses and carriages are expected to surmount, yet trains pass up and
down constantly without difficulty, and it is confidently asserted,
without more danger than on ordinary lines. The rate of speed is of
course not high, one hour twenty minutes being occupied in the ascent,
and a slightly less time in the descent.
The construction of the train is remarkable. It consists of an engine
with small tender and but one carriage. An ordinary locomotive would
be powerless on such steep gradients, therefore one of peculiar
construction is used, which is of itself an extraordinary object. On
level ground it appears as if it had completely broken down and lost
two of its wheels. This arises from the fact that, being expressly
intended to work on an incline, it is built in such a way as to
compensate for the incline and maintain the boiler in a vertical
position. This boiler in appearance resembles nothing so much as a
large beer bottle standing upright when the train is ascending or
descending, but very much out of the perpendicular when on level
ground. The small tender is of course constructed so as to have its
floor level when on the incline. Its sides are of wire-work, and
are made thus with the object of reducing the weight as much as
possible; an object which is also carried out both in the engine and
in the carriage, which are as light as they can be made, it not being
necessary to prevent the wheels jumping from the rails by the pressure
of great weight as on ordinary lines, where a high rate of speed is
attained. This tender, in addition to its usual functions, performs the
office of carrying surplus passengers on an emergency.
The carriage is an open car, rather resembling a block of low pews
taken from a church, placed on wheels, and surmounted by an awning,
with curtains to let down at the sides, as a protection against
the weather. The seats, which are nine in number, and accommodate
six persons each, all face one way--namely, downhill; and a fixed
footstool serves to keep the passengers from sliding off their seats.
Contrary to the usual order, the carriage on this line precedes the
locomotive in the ascent, and is pushed instead of being pulled up
the incline. In the descent the locomotive takes the first place, and
exercises merely a retarding force. It will be seen, therefore, that
the two portions of the train are necessarily in close connection when
in motion, and for this reason, as well as for purposes of safety,
couplings are dispensed with. Each portion is provided with its own
brake-power, so that in the event of the engine getting beyond control,
the carriage can be stopped and rendered entirely independent, since
it is not coupled to the engine. The brake is of course of a totally
different kind from that in ordinary use, which would be of no service
whatever on such inclines, as the wheels, even if the brake were so
powerful as to stop their revolution, would slide down the hill by
the mere force of gravity. Here, however, the brake consists in an
ingenious adaptation of the means which are employed in driving the
engine.
The roadway is laid with three rails, the outer ones being of the
usual kind, while the central one is a long-toothed rack, of which the
teeth are perpendicular. Into this rack fit the teeth of the pinions
or cogged-wheels with which both engine and carriage are provided.
Now it is apparent that if these wheels are put in motion they will
pull the train along the rack; and if stopped and held firmly in one
position, they will prevent any onward motion by the mere clinching of
the teeth, to use a common expression. One of the cogged-wheels, then,
which are attached to the engine is the driving-wheel, and forms the
special means of locomotion, while the other cogged-wheels of course
merely revolve without exercising any traction. But immediately a halt
is required, all these wheels become of equal importance, and supply a
prompt and most efficient brake, since directly they are locked, the
train is brought to a stand-still, and held as in a vice even on the
steepest inclines. Other brake-power is also applied; but this would
seem to be the efficient means of control in case of accident.
It will be seen, therefore, that the danger of the train running away
is carefully provided against; and no less care has been bestowed on
the means for preventing the train leaving the rails, a danger fully
as alarming as the other on a line which, for the greater part of its
course, runs on the brink of a fearful precipice. Along each side of
the central or rack rail, which is raised some inches from the ground,
runs a projecting edge; and the engine and carriage are provided with
two strong rods, the ends of which are bent in such a manner as to pass
under these projections. Any jerk or jump of the train, therefore,
would be resisted by the pressure of these bent ends against the under
surface of the projections.
It is not within the province of this paper to speak of the hotels
which form such huge excrescences on the mountains' sides and top
(by no means an improvement on nature), or to allude to the hundreds
of tourists who daily swarm in these hotels, or to the hundreds of
others who take the journey for the sake of a 'new sensation.' It may,
however, be mentioned that from one of the stations (Rigi Staffel)
runs a branch-line which communicates with the Rigi Scheideck, where
is situated one of the largest of the hotels; and that the line from
Art joins the Vitznau line near the summit. It will thus be seen that
the Rigi is traversed in all directions by railways; and according to
the opinion of an intelligent Swiss with whom the writer conversed,
these railways owe their origin to the fact that the Germans, who have
now become such a travelling nation, will not penetrate in any numbers
where they cannot travel by horse, by carriage, or by steam; and he
further indicated his opinion of Germans by adding, that no doubt ere
long, a lift would be constructed to work up and down the perpendicular
face of the Matterhorn for their benefit. Who shall say that such a
thing is impossible?
SUNSHINE AND CLOUD.
IN TWO PARTS.
PART I.--SUNSHINE.