THE MEETING
The next day we were at Goodford. The mansion is Queen Anne, square and
grave, standing on grounds which slope towards the exterior of the
domain into oak-dotted swards that droop down to a wooded valley.
That first day at dinner I was able to point out to Langler the sneer of
Baron Kolár at the part of the table where he droned amid the silence of
his neighbours; and the next afternoon, when some men who had been
shooting were standing in a group on a terrace, Baron Kolár, who was
among them, left them to lower himself upon a bench close to that on
which Langler and I were sitting.
It was just then that I heard someone in the standing group remark:
"here comes our eloquent divine." And I heard Mr Edwards, who had looked
round, say in his characteristic way: "what, he still on that same
temperance job, I wonder?"
This remarkable man (who started life as a puddler's-boy in South Wales,
then became a typewriter in a London newspaper-office, then editor of a
boys' paper, then of a financial paper, then speculator and millionaire,
then--without eloquence, stateliness, "brilliance" of any sort--Prime
Minister of his country at the age of thirty-seven)--this remarkable
man, I say, gave by his mere manners and appearance some hint of the
reasons which underlay his elevation; he himself always accounted for it
by declaring that "he alone knew how to run the Empire on purely
business lines"; and, in truth, he looked like a man who could do this.
His face at this period was still fresh and pink, and assuredly he did
not look older than a youth of four or five and twenty. His hair swept
from the parting across his forehead quite down to the right eyebrow;
and against this he waged an old war, ever dashing it back, but down it
came again. His eyes darted from side to side, and he appeared ever on
the point of pitching at something, and having it over and accomplished.
He was not large in stature, and by the side of big Mrs Edwards (who was
some ten years his senior) looked rather insignificant. It was suggested
by his walk that one of his legs was somewhat shorter than the other.
He started out at once to meet Dr Burton, who came toiling up the
terraces swinging a copy of, I fancy, Paradisus Animæ. I saw them shake
hands, and then lay their heads together, Edwards hearkening, Burton
talking. Their walk led them towards Langler and me. Edwards began half
to laugh, deprecatingly I thought; his shoulders shrugged; his arms
opened; Dr Burton's brogue swelled; he waxed wroth.
The first words which I heard were these: "and are these poor sheep,
then, to be so lost and ruined, Mr Edwards? Always, always the body, and
never the soul? And is the protest of the Church no longer of avail with
the great ones of the earth, sir? I tell you, sir----!"
Mr Edwards said: "but, Dr Burton, if you would only listen to common
reason! My good sir, what can _I_ do? If I were a parish councillor,
now--or a magistrate--but I am only a Prime Minister, after all."
Edwards, by the way, was never averse from references to this fact, with
some mirth tacked on. But now he was interrupted by a deep, a bitter
word: the doctor looked ireful, and in the very voice of reproof he
said: "the matter is not one for jest, sir. I have laid this question
before the Bishop, before the Suffragan of Southampton, before the
Bishop of Guildford, the Dean, the Residential Canons; I have appealed
to the Licensing Magistrates; again and again I have appealed to you; I
have turned right, I have turned left: and everywhere I have fallen in
with evasions, with infidel shrugs, with dull delay. Now hear what _I_
say as to this grievance: I say that I should not suffer it, no, I
should not bear it at all. I don't wish to see this new bugbear in my
parish: I will not see it: and if the heavens should rain for a
harvest-moon a rain of atheist archbishops and rebellious
ministers-of-State and blatant councils, all bound together to impose it
upon me, still I say I would not suffer it, no, I would not bear it at
all, at all, for God's sake I would not. In the spirit of the blessed St
Ambrose, with my own sacred hand I shall abolish it from my sight if it
confront me; and afterwards, but not before, will I give up the
government that I hold, not of men, but of God."
And as this torrent ceased I just heard snuffled with a drawl near my
ear these words:
"Oh, well, he is not so bad, though; he does it very well--very
well...."
They came from Baron Kolár, who was gazing through sleepy lids at Dr
Burton with (it seemed to me) the fondness of a father contemplating the
feats of his boy in the presence of friends.
As for Mr Edwards, I saw him fling his hand at Dr Burton's words. He was
a being who gave heed to one thing only--effective force. Pride, high
words were so far wide of his interest that they failed even to win a
smile from him; he heard them like wind, regarded only facts, results.
"Well, Dr Burton," he said, "I am always glad to lend a helping hand to
a parson like yourself, interested in your work, go-a-head, and so on,
and so on; I am the same kind of man myself, and there's the
fellow-feeling, and so on, and so on. But I can do nothing in this
matter--candidly, it would be going too far out of my way; you must
approach the proper authorities, mentioning, of course, that you have my
sympathies, and so on, and so on----"
Here I lost his words. Meantime the baron's eyes were dreamily following
the priest and the minister-of-State, while Langler's gaze was fastened
upon the baron's face, and I glanced from one to the other, seeking to
fathom how much was inherent in what I saw about me.
Presently the Baron's eyes wandered round, as if looking for someone to
talk to, and when they lighted upon me quite close he droned in his
happy manner: "Well, he seems a worthy fellow, a nice fellow: a little
too zealous, like a torrid sun, but he's not so bad. Have you heard him
preach?"
"Dr Burton? No. Have you?"
"I went to hear him last Sunday. He does it very well--very well. You
should hear him."
"Yes, I have been told...."
"But you could not conceive; he does not do it badly. He is a man who
really is master of his business. He preaches with the progression of a
great river. He is destined to become the greatest priest in Europe...."
"Ah? You think that?"
"Wait, you will see. If a man is master of his business, and has
self-assertion to make the world cringe before his force, that is all
that is necessary. A man is either like leaven or like meal: he leavens
or is leavened. The chief thing about any animal is its amount of
available vigour. How much of Sun-fire has the man in him?--that is the
question. If he has only enough, he can wash the world in his flush, and
also if he is taught in what fashion to use it. But this Dr Burton, I
assure you, he is not a paltry man. I want you to present me--now."
"I?" I said, taken rather aback, "I don't know him."
But at once Langler said at my ear: "_I_ do."
"Mr Langler, however," I added, "probably knows him."
At this the baron said, half rising: "Ah, then----," and Langler stood
up quickly, saying: "with pleasure...."
Dr Burton had now parted from Mr Edwards, and was passing close by us,
wrapped in gloom, his frock brabbling at every stalk with the breeze; so
Langler hurried out to get at him, and Baron Kolár goaded after Langler
his rolling gait.
At this Dr Burton, as when a bull stops in its career to stare at some
new object, stood still, and at once Langler said graciously to him: "Dr
Burton, permit me to present to you my friend, Mr Templeton--his
Excellency Baron Kolár--Dr Burton."
The moment which followed was full of misery: for one could not tell
what the doctor, still heated, would say or do. I was afraid that he
wouldn't shake hands!
But the baron, with instant tact, spoke. "It was I," he said, "who asked
Mr Langler to present me to Dr Burton. I had the pleasure last Sunday of
being in the church at Ritching: that will explain."
At some moments, when he ceased to show his teeth and measured one with
a stern up-and-down movement of the eyes, this man's face took on an
expression of power which could even become compelling; so he looked
now, eyeing Dr Burton, measuring him from head to toe, till Dr Burton
put out his hand, whereupon the baron pipped a nothing sideways, and
showed his teeth.
"Ah, well," he said in his happy drawl, "it is not often now that one
can hear a sermon--not often. The pleasure comes from toillessly lolling
and watching the toil of another: but the toil of that other must be
real toil, and the toillessness of the hearer must be real also. I
confess that I have some fault to find with your pews, doctor: a pew
should never be a symbol of the narrow path that leadeth unto life. Oh,
but they are not so bad, though--not so bad. Still, I, now, in Styria,
have a church, and the pews are _fauteuils_. A man begins to cherish
these little boons when the hair is getting grey. Oh, yes. The later
Romans were the only race who truly understood the art of temple
service. The courts, too, where men like Cicero, Hortensius, and Pliny
thundered, were made luxurious. There must be the felt contrast between
another's toil and one's own comfortable indolence. Only, the toil must
be real toil. In the matter of books, now, the French have not done so
badly in that--not badly. The author thinks and works hard, yet manages
so that the reader need merely read, without thought or worry. That is
rather good, very nice. I, for example, am no longer a young man: an old
fellow gets to feel that people should see a little to his comforts.
Everything should be made easy and pleasant. The King of Korea, now: he
sits, I am told, through a certain ceremonial on a couch made, back and
seat, of four bags of brains. You know the derivation of the word
_assiduity_: to sit is to be a man; to sit much is to be civilised. But
that is a long tale. What I wanted to tell you was not to disturb
yourself about the detail which I heard you discussing with Mr Edwards.
I will take the affair upon my shoulders, and see to it that no
public-house is opened in your parish to offend your eyes."
As the sense of these words possessed my ears I saw that the
astonishment of Dr Burton was as supreme as my own. Langler leant with
his well-straightened neck over his thorn-stick, smiling, the lax skin
of his forehead twitching a little.
After some seconds Dr Burton said, looking at the baron as at some
strange being: "I am sorry, sir, but I am pressed for time. As you see,
I am a priest, and my harvest is great, and the labourers are few, so I
think you will understand that I have no time for loitering and
listening. As to your reference to the public-house, I confess that I do
not understand you at all."
Baron Kolár was bestowing upon him a smile of sleepy fondness, and as
the doctor half turned to go, the baron's hand went out to the doctor's
arm.
"Ah, well, you are busy, of course," he said: "well, it does not
displease me to see you so. A man's youth is his ancestry: the best
heirloom which he can inherit from it is a habit of industry. A young
man should work hard, not for the sake of what he can accomplish in his
youth, but because the impulse of his acquired energy will last him
through his course in a higher sphere. He buys the habit of strife and
empire, and that persists to the end. I am rejoiced to see you stressful
and _impressé_. Similarly, the youth of nations should be full of rages;
their age suave and luxurious. But with regard to the public-house,
now--do not harass yourself about such a nothing, since I answer for it
that the difficulty will vanish. I would speak to you, but you are so
busy. I will call upon you to talk it over. Tell me when, and I will
come, oh yes, I will come."
I was certain that, as the baron stopped, Langler, standing now close by
Dr Burton, whispered some word at the doctor's ear. He afterwards told
me that the words were: "_you should say no_."
But at his whisper Dr Burton turned upon him a look of surprise and some
resentment, and at once said to the baron: "I shall be at home to-morrow
evening at eight-thirty, sir, if that will please you." Whereupon he
bowed, and was off.
"Oh, well, he's a nice fellow--a nice fellow," said the baron, summing
up the doctor. "In a high position he would be just the man whom the
Church needs to push her forward and make her aggressive. What is your
opinion of the Church in England?"
His eyes rested upon Langler's face.
"My opinion?" said Langler.
"As to her lasting powers, now, I mean."
"My outlook is vague enough," answered Langler: "I should say that
bishops, church-bells, sermons, and so on, will persist as we know them
in England for another thirty, forty years."
"Ah, you think that. Well, well. I, now, should say a hundred, a hundred
and fifty years."
"That is a long time," said Langler.
"Not so long. I mean, you know, if nothing happens to annihilate her. It
is astonishing how old things will continue to hold on long after they
are quite dead and decayed. Look at old oaks and houses! A glass of
water will sometimes remain in the liquid state a long time below the
freezing-point; the least shake would make it shiver into a glass of
ice, but, lacking that, it remains liquid. Well, so with the Church.
Especially in a country like England, I give her another hundred and
fifty years."
"You are quite possibly right," said Langler; "your opportunities for
observing may have been better than mine."
"Oh, yes, I know old England very well--very well. I was once an
_attaché_ to the Embassy for three years; altogether, I have lived in
England eight to ten years. I know the old country very well--not badly.
Very nice it is, too--provided one brings one's own _chef_. The pride of
England is not her political potency, but her beef, for in no country in
the world is so exquisite a care bestowed upon the culture of cattle,
and if a quarter as much had been given to the culture of men, by this
time the Angles would, in truth, have been angels. Not that I have a
word to say against the culture of cattle. Perhaps after all man himself
is not of so much importance as what he eats. Beef is the half of life;
the other half is mutton. No, that is a little hyperbole perhaps--my
little tendency to neatness and epigram. It is astonishing how, as a man
gets older, he runs to seed in that way, for epigram is only an
instinctive device for concealing meagreness of thought. I, for example,
am no longer a young man. I begin to get fond of my little comforts. To
be candid with you, the cooking at Goodford does not altogether please
me, those partridges at dinner last night were not done enough--not
enough. Still, they were not so bad--a little underdone--and the wines
are very good--very good. But, talking of the Church, I assure you I
give her a hundred and fifty years--unless someone has a motive for
giving her a push, and then down she goes. Would _you_ care to see that
done?"
His wandering eyes halted suddenly upon Langler's face.
"I?" said Langler, "why should I?"
"Oh, well, isn't there always the danger that a decayed old house may
tumble and crush one? If the thing is a groan and a danger it may as
well go, and be done."
"But if it be quaint and gracious and historic," said Langler, "it may
as well stay, even at the cost of a prop or two. While it stands it
hurts no one: it is only its fall that may hurt."
"Well, I see your point of view. You are right, too, in your own
fashion. But for myself, the Modern Spirit does not displease me; it is
very nice in its way--oh yes. Let us have it in its full noon, I say.
Whatever survival of the past stifles it should be quickly excised and
suppressed. And if in England the Church is only laughable, I assure you
that in other parts of Europe, where it is more mixed up with the life
of the people, it continues to be positively baleful. In Austria, for
example, one half of the teachers in the common schools are still
ecclesiastics! and though the people do not believe in the Church any
more than you do here, yet it influences them, it checks and hampers
them: they feel that they would like to be quit of it, yet do not quite
know how. And, apart from any harm which it does, it is astonishing how
many thousands of men might be found in Europe who, from mere motives of
vanity, merely to tell how they took a part in modifying the modern
world, would lend a willing hand to pulling down the old building. I
believe that that is so. But you, now, you see from a different
standpoint. Well, you are right, too, in your own fashion."
To me it became clear that these two were pumping and sounding each
other with some not very evident motive on either side, Langler striking
his stick into the turf as he walked, looking downward; the baron
looking downward also, at Langler's face.
Langler said: "I cannot be made a convert, Baron Kolár. Shells, you
know, are sometimes quite charming things, and for this shell which
remains of the Church, I personally should, under certain conceivable
conditions, be even prepared to give my life: such is the whim of my
mind. But now you will excuse me--Arthur, you will excuse me: I have
some letters.... But stay; I have to ask you a question, baron."
He had stood still; we all stood still, and Langler and the baron faced
each other.
"Well, then," said the baron gravely, eyeing Langler up and down.
Langler, I must say, was paler than usual. He said: "I have lately had
reason to run my eyes down a list of the Styrian nobility, baron, and
find that three several Styrian barons have the name of 'Gregor'--you
being one. Are you acquainted with the other two?"
"Well, yes," was the answer: "one is a Strass, the other a Dirnbach;
easy, good fellows they are. Our Styrian nobility is not what it was;
no, the nobilities will soon have to go too. Fortunate thing, they will
last through my time. Look at Mr Edwards, now--nice fellow, powerful
fellow. It is fellows like him, with fresh, vulgar energies and
elementary insights, whom the world needs to guide it now. Oh no, the
nobilities must go, too. Do you know----?"
But Langler cut short that drawl. He said: "Well, one of these two
Barons Gregor unlawfully has in his castle a prisoner, one
Father--Max--Dees----"
He spoke pointedly, his eyes fixed on Baron Kolár's face; and on his
face dwelt the Gorgon eyes of the Styrian.
Some time went by in what was to me a distressing silence, till the
baron pipped a nothing sideways--a movement, to me, of relief, as it
were setting me free to breathe again, for I felt that Langler had dared
to cross a definite Rubicon.
"What about him?" said the baron, a new something in his voice.
Undaunted, though gauntly, leaning over his stick, Langler went on.
"It is my intention," he said, "to expose and punish this particular
Styrian baron as soon as ever I discover his identity; and I speak of
him to you in order to see if you can give me any hint as to which of
the two is the guilty one."
The baron's look had lost its rigour now; his lips unwreathed from his
teeth in a smile.
"It is that fellow Strass, you may be sure," he said; "or it may be
Dirnbach, it may be, there is no telling. The nobilities are no longer
what they were in authoritative power, and in Styria, I assure you, it
is nothing very astonishing that a baron should lawlessly clap a priest
into a dungeon; but nice fellows all of them, not wicked, not so bad. I
really should not worry myself about the matter, if I were you."
Langler said: "thank you, baron, I will think over what you have said."
And he walked away to the house.
It was only after two or three minutes of silence that the baron said to
me: "your friend is one of the brightest minds in the world, really as
extraordinary a fellow as I ever met, I assure you. No one with any
respect for intellect could avoid liking him. But he is a man of books,
he is of the scholar type, he is not a man of action--oh no. A scholar
should never jog himself into antagonism with a man of action. The man
of action may even wish to save and spare him, but sometimes he cannot:
for, just as he is vastly stronger than the scholar, so facts and
auspices may be vastly stronger than he. By far the safest plan for the
scholar is to hatch pastorals in his closet and handle volumes of piety.
So amiable a man is your friend Mr Langler, so charming--nice fellow. I
don't know if you think it worth while to repeat my words to him. Now I
must leave you to talk to Mr Edwards about my friend the doctor ..." and
he rolled away on his bow-legs, his hat canted over his eyes in his
habitual manner.
That very night, some time after ten, Langler was handed a letter which
he called me into the library to show me. It was a card damasked with
raised devices in red--a Christ on the Cross--and on it had been
scribbled in pencil the words: "You should not interfere."