with her all the graces, all the beauties, all the fine, delicate, and
temperate delights of which earth and sky are capable, and she pours
them forth upon a land of perfect loveliness. Around the shores of
other lakes--Maggiore, Lugano, Garda--blue mountains rise and the
vineyards spread their green and dazzling terraces to the sun. Only
Como can show in unmatched union a main composition, incomparably
grand and harmonious, combined with every jeweled or glowing or
exquisite detail. Nowhere do the mountains lean towards each other in
such an ordered splendor as that which bends around the northern
shores of Como. Nowhere do buttressed masses rise behind each other,
to right and left of a blue waterway, in lines statelier or more noble
than those kept by the mountains of Lecco Lake as they marshal
themselves on either hand, along the approaches to Lombardy and
Venetia.
[Illustration: MRS. HUMPHRY WARD AND MISS DOROTHY WARD]
... And within this divine framework, between the glistening snows
which still, in April, crown and glorify the heights, and those
reflections of them which lie encalmed in the deep bosom of the lake,
there's not a foot of pasture, not a shelf of vineyard, not a slope of
forest, where the spring is not at work, dyeing the turf with
gentians, starring it with narcissuses, or drawing across it the first
golden network of the chestnut leaves; where the mere emerald of the
grass is not in itself a thing to refresh the very springs of being;
where the peach-blossom and the wild cherry and the olive are not
perpetually weaving patterns on the blue which ravish the very heart
out of your breast. And already the roses are beginning to pour over
the wall; the wistaria is climbing up the cypresses; a pomp of
camellias and azaleas is in all the gardens; while in the glassy bays
that run up into the hills the primrose banks still keep their sweet
austerity, and the triumph of spring over the just banished winter is
still sharp and new.
It was in a garden such as this, with a wild cherry tree and olives
"perpetually weaving patterns" against the blue sky, that we first met
Mrs. Ward. It was a balmy April morning. The scent of spring was in the
air, and the birds were adding their melody to the beauty of the
landscape. The villa stands well up the slope of a high hill and is
reached by a winding path through fragrant trees. A little below the
level of the house is a shady nook, well sheltered from the sun, from
which the high mountains of the north and the blue glimmer of the lake
beneath can be plainly seen. Here we were greeted by the novelist in
terms of cordiality that instantly made us "feel at home." There was no
posing, none of that condescension which some writers had led us to
expect. We were simply welcomed as friends, with a perfect hospitality
that seemed to be born of the tranquil beauty all about us.
Mrs. Ward is a woman of rather more than medium height and of erect and
graceful carriage. Her manner is dignified, but it is the dignity of
one properly conscious of her own strength and is never repellent. One
cannot help feeling that he is in the presence of a distinguished
person--one who has justly earned a world-wide fame--and yet one in whom
the attributes of true womanliness reign supreme. You are proud of the
honor of her friendship, and yet you cannot help thinking what an
excellent neighbor she would be.
The instinct which impels Mrs. Ward to seek such scenes of beauty as
Lake Como in which to do her writing came to her naturally, for her
childhood was spent in one of the most beautiful parts of all England,
Westmoreland, the home of Wordsworth and of Ruskin. Here "Arnold of
Rugby" made his home in a charmingly situated cottage known as Fox How.
"Fox," in the language of Westmoreland, means "fairy," and "how" is
"hill." A "fairy hill" indeed it must have seemed to Dr. Arnold's little
granddaughter Mary, when as a child of five she was brought there by her
father from far-away Tasmania, where she was born. The English Lakes are
famous for their beauty, but there is no more delightful spot in all the
region than the valley "under Loughrigg," and no lovelier river than the
Rothay, rippling over the smooth pebbles from Wordsworth's beloved Rydal
Water down to the more pretentious grandeur of Lake Windermere. The
impressions of her childhood created in the future novelist an intense
love of these streams and mountains, which only increased with her
absence and the enlargement of her field of vision. When she was the
mother of a little girl of seven and a boy of four, she determined to
give to them the same impressions which had delighted her own childhood,
and the family made an ever-memorable visit from Oxford, where they were
then living, to the vicinity of Fox How--a visit which all children may
enjoy who will read the pretty little story of "Milly and Olly."
Mary Augusta Arnold was born in Tasmania on the 11th of June, 1851. Her
father, Thomas Arnold, second son of Dr. Arnold of Rugby and brother of
Matthew Arnold, was at that time Inspector of Schools in the far-away
island. He had married the granddaughter of Colonel Sorell, a former
Governor of Tasmania, and no doubt intended to remain there permanently.
But, becoming interested, even at that distance, in the so-called
"Oxford Movement" of the middle of the last century, he determined to
return to England, where he followed Newman and others into the Roman
Catholic Church, accepting a professorship of English Literature in the
Catholic University of Dublin. His daughter Mary, the eldest of six, was
sent to Ambleside to be educated. In 1865, having renounced the Catholic
faith, Mr. Arnold took up his residence at Oxford. Here his eldest
daughter, at the age of fourteen, came under the influence of the
friendships and associations which were to have so potent an influence
upon her future career. The most important of these were Professor Mark
Pattison and the Bodleian Library. Professor Pattison strongly urged her
to specialize her studies, and acting upon his suggestion, she learned
the Spanish language and began a course of study in Spanish literature
and history, in which she found the facilities of the Bodleian Library
invaluable. In 1872 she became the wife of Mr. Thomas Humphry Ward, then
a fellow and tutor in Brasenose College. During the ensuing ten or
eleven years Mrs. Ward assisted her husband in his literary work and
contributed largely to the "Pall Mall Gazette," the "Saturday Review,"
the "Academy," and other magazines, besides publishing the little book
for children already referred to, "Milly and Olly."
[Illustration: "UNDER LOUGHRIGG"]
In 1881 Mr. Ward accepted a position on the staff of the "Times," and
the family removed to London. For several years they occupied a house in
Russell Square, which Mrs. Ward still regards with fond memories, later
removing to their present town house, No. 25 Grosvenor Place. But Mrs.
Ward's love of nature is too intense for an uninterrupted residence in
London, and she possesses an ideal country home some thirty miles away,
near the little village of Aldbury, known as "Stocks." This large and
beautiful estate is ancient enough to be mentioned in "Domesday Book."
Its name does not come from the old "stocks" used as an instrument of
punishment, which may still be seen in the village, although this is a
common supposition. "Stocks" is derived from the German "stock," meaning
stick or tree, and refers to the magnificent grove by which the house is
surrounded.
Before Stocks became a possibility, Mrs. Ward usually managed to choose
a summer home in the country, and these choices are most interestingly
reflected in her novels. During the Oxford residence Surrey was a
favorite resort for seven years, its atmosphere entering largely into
the composition of "Miss Bretherton" and "Robert Elsmere." Two nights
spent at a farm on the Kinderscout gave ample material for the opening
chapter of the "History of David Grieve." The lease for a season of
Hampden House, in Buckinghamshire, gave the original for Mellor Park in
"Marcella," and a visit near Crewe fixed the scenes of "Sir George
Tressady." "Helbeck of Bannisdale" was the result of a summer spent in
the delightful home of Captain Bagot, of Levens Hall, near Kendal.
Summers in Italy and Switzerland gave most charming scenery for "Lady
Rose's Daughter" and "Eleanor," and, to a less degree, "The Marriage of
William Ashe." The cottage of her youngest daughter, Dorothy, near the
Langdale Pikes, suggested the home of Fenwick, while Diana Mallory found
her home in Stocks itself. Thus the creatures of Mrs. Ward's fancy have
simply lived in the places which she knew the best. They are all scenes
of beauty, for Mrs. Ward loves the beautiful in nature, and has spent
her life where this yearning could be most fully gratified.
But if Mrs. Ward seeks the country as the best place for literary work,
she is not idle when in the city. If any one imagines her to be merely a
society woman with a genius for literature, he is making a serious
mistake. Outside of society and literature she is a busy woman, bent on
the accomplishment of a task which few would have the courage to assume.
Her ideal is best expressed in the closing words of "Robert Elsmere":--
The New Brotherhood still exists, and grows. There are many who
imagined that, as it had been raised out of the earth by Elsmere's
genius, so it would sink with him. Not so! He would have fought the
struggle to victory with surpassing force, with a brilliancy and
rapidity none after him could rival. But the struggle was not his. His
effort was but a fraction of the effort of the race. In that effort,
and in the Divine force behind it, is our trust, as was his.
These words, written nearly a quarter of a century ago, were truly
prophetic. For Mrs. Ward not only possesses the kind of genius from
which an Elsmere could be created, but is gifted with a rare capacity
for business, which has enabled her to crystallize the ideals of her
work of fiction into a substantial and permanent institution for
practical benevolence. She was already interested in "settlement" work
among the poor of London during the writing of the novel. But in 1891,
after the storm of criticism which the book aroused had subsided, its
suggestions began to take definite shape in the organization of the
Passmore Edwards Settlement, in University Hall, in Gordon Square. In
1898 the work was moved to its present quarters in Tavistock Place,
where, under the leadership of Mrs. Ward and through the generosity of
herself and the friends whom she had been able to influence, a large and
substantial building was erected. Directly in the rear of the building
is a large garden owned by the Duke of Bedford, who recently placed it
at the disposal of the Settlement, keeping it in order at his own
expense, resowing the grass every year to keep it fresh and thick. Here
in the vacation season one thousand children daily enjoy the luxury of
sitting and walking on the grass, and that in the heart of central
London. The garden occupies the site of Dickens's Tavistock House. One
cannot help imagining the author of Little Nell sitting there in spirit
while troops of happy London children pass in review. The land here
placed entirely at the disposal of Mrs. Ward and the warden of the
Settlement is worth not less than half a million dollars. Twenty-seven
teachers, under the direction of a competent supervisor, give
instruction in organized out-of-door exercises.
This was the first of the recreation schools or play centers. Handwork
occupations, such as cooking--both for girls and boys--sewing, knitting,
basket-work, carpentering, cobbling, clay modeling, painting and
drawing; dancing combined with old English songs and nursery rhymes;
musical drill and gymnastics; quiet games and singing games; acting; and
a children's library of story-books and picture-books--these are the
provisions which have been made for the fortunate children of that
locality.
[Illustration: THE PASSMORE EDWARDS SETTLEMENT HOUSE]
The entire purpose of such play centers is to rescue the children of the
poor from the demoralization that results from being turned out to play
after school hours in the streets and alleyways, where they are
subjected to every kind of vile association and influence. The effects
already noted by those in charge of the centers are improvement in
manners, in thoughtfulness for the little ones, and in unselfishness;
increase in regard for truth and honesty; the development of the
instinct in all children to "make something"; the teaching that it is
more enjoyable to play together in harmony than when obedience to a
leader is refused. The success of this first experiment was so marked
that gradually other centers were started in different parts of
London. Liberal sums of money were placed in the hands of Mrs. Ward, who
enlisted the support of the County Council to the extent of securing
facilities in the public school buildings. The work has so far
progressed that the total attendance last year[5] reached an aggregate
of six hundred thousand. It is difficult to estimate from these figures
how many children were affected, but, taking--at a guess--fifty times as
the average attendance of each, this would mean that the lives of at
least twelve thousand poor children were directly lifted up by this
practical charity, and that as many more hard-working and anxious
parents were indirectly benefited.
But Mrs. Ward will not be satisfied until the entire school population
of London has been made to feel the influence of these play centers.
Private beneficence, as she has plainly pointed out, can never solve the
problem. "Private effort," said she in a well-known letter to the London
"Times," "cannot deal with seven hundred and fifty thousand children, or
even with three hundred thousand. If there is a serious and urgent need,
if both the physique and the morale of our town children are largely at
stake, and if private persons can only touch a fraction of the problem,
what remains but to appeal to the public conscience?"
This is Mrs. Ward's way of "doing things." She does not appeal to public
authority to accomplish an ideal without first finding a way and proving
that it can be done. But, having clearly demonstrated her proposition at
private expense, she does not rest content with the results so obtained,
but pushes steadily forward toward the larger ideal, which can be
realized only through public support.
But the recreation school is only a part of the work of the Passmore
Edwards Settlement. During the daytime many of the rooms are used by the
"Cripple Schools." Children who are suffering from spinal diseases,
heart trouble, and deformities of various kinds which prevent attendance
at the regular schools are daily brought to the Settlement in
ambulances. Here the little ones do all kinds of kindergarten work,
while the older ones are instructed in drawing, sewing, bent-iron work,
and other suitable tasks. As an outgrowth of this school twenty-three
cripple schools are now in operation in London.
But it is in the evening that the Passmore Edwards Settlement is seen to
best advantage. There is a large library containing some three thousand
volumes, which are kept in active use. On Monday nights two tables in
this room are the centers of busy groups. These represent the "coal
club," a businesslike charity of a very practical kind. The club buys a
large quantity of coal in the summer-time, when it can be obtained
cheapest. As a large consumer, it usually gets every possible
concession. The members of this club can buy the coal in small
quantities as wanted, or as they are able to pay for it, at any time
during the year, at the summer price of one shilling one and a half
pence per hundred weight (twenty-seven cents). If bought during the
winter in the ordinary way, they would have to pay perhaps five or six
pence more--a very substantial saving. Thrift is encouraged by allowing
members to deposit small sums in the summer to apply against their
winter purchases. Last year the club transacted a business equal to
about $4300.
"The Poor Man's Lawyer" is another practical part of the work. Once each
week free legal advice is given to all who ask it, and considerable
money has been saved to people who, from ignorance and poverty, might
have been imposed upon. The "Men's Club," the "Boys' Club," the "Factory
Girls' Club," and the "Women's Club" are all actively engaged in
performing the usual functions of such organizations. There is a
gymnasium where boys and girls, men and women, all have their regular
turns of systematic instruction.
An orchestra of a dozen pieces and a choral society of forty members,
together with a dramatic society, give opportunity for many to take part
in numerous concerts and entertainments. A large hall is the scene
nearly every night of some kind of social amusement. The room is
decorated with many pictures, all reproductions of the best works of
art, while around the walls are placed busts in marble of Emerson, James
Martineau, Dickens, Matthew Arnold, Benjamin Jowett, and Sir William
Herschel--the gift of Mr. Passmore Edwards. There is a large stage for
dramatic performances, drills, etc., with a piano and a good organ.
There are tables where the members may play cards, smoke, or have light
refreshments. On Sunday nights there are concerts or lectures. The whole
atmosphere of the place is attractive to the men and women who frequent
it. There is no obtrusive piety, no patronizing air, nothing to offend
the pride of the poor man who values his self-esteem, yet all the
influences of the place are elevating.
The whole spirit of the Settlement is expressed in these words,
displayed in a framed notice at the entrance to the social hall:--
We believe that many changes in the conditions of life and labour are
needed, and are coming to pass; but we believe also that men, without
any change except in themselves and in their feelings towards one
another, might make this world a better and a happier place.
Therefore, with the same sympathies but different experiences of life,
we meet to exchange ideas and to discuss social questions, in the hope
that, as we learn to know one another better, a feeling of fellowship
may arise among us.
To these ends we have a Library, Clubs, Lectures, Classes,
Entertainments, etc., and we endeavour to make the Settlement a centre
where we may unite our several resources in a social and intellectual
home.
In all this work Mrs. Humphry Ward is the inspiration, and a moving,
active spirit. Her name stands next to that of the wealthy Duke of
Bedford as the most liberal contributor. She is the Honorable Secretary
of the Council, a member of the Finance Committee, president of the
Women's Club, etc. But these are only her official positions. Her
directing hand is manifest in every branch of the work, and, from the
warden down to the humblest member of the Girls' Club, her name is
accorded a respect amounting almost to reverence.
But, as with the play centers, Mrs. Ward is not content with the work of
this one institution, splendid as it is. To her it is only the means of
ascertaining the way. She feels that she is dealing with a great
problem, and her method is to ascertain, first of all, the best
solution, and then to use her large influence to induce others to take
up the work. Thus the "New Brotherhood" of Robert Elsmere has not only
continued to exist for a quarter of a century, but has in it the
elements of growth which will make it a vital power in human society
long after the real Robert Elsmere, in the person of Mrs. Ward, has
ceased to be the directing force.
II
THE REAL ROBERT ELSMERE
In seeking to point out the real persons and places of Mrs. Ward's
novels, it is only fair to the author to begin with her own statement as
to the story-teller's method of procedure:--
An idea, a situation, is suggested to him by real life, he takes
traits and peculiarities from this or that person whom he has known or
seen, but that is all. When he comes to write ... the mere necessities
of an imaginative effort oblige him to cut himself adrift from
reality. His characters become to him the creatures of a dream, as
vivid often as his waking life, but still a dream. And the only
portraits he is drawing are portraits of phantoms, of which the germs
were present in reality, but to which he himself has given voice,
garb, and action.
[Illustration: THE LIME WALK]
It is my purpose to point out some of these "germs of reality" in Mrs.
Ward's work, relying for the essential facts, at least, upon information
given me personally by the novelist herself. For Mrs. Ward does not
hesitate to admit that certain characters were drawn from real life; but
she insists upon a proper understanding of the exact sense in which this
is true. Because "Miss Bretherton" was suggested by the career of Mary
Anderson it does not follow that all that is said of the former is true
of the latter. There is a vast difference between a "suggestion" and
a "portrait." The thoughts and feelings or the personal characteristics
of a certain individual may suggest a character who in his physical
aspects, his environment, and the events of his career may be conceived
as an individual totally different. Mrs. Ward's novels contain no
portraits and no history. But they abound in characters suggested by
people whom she has known, in incidents and reminiscences of real life,
and in vivid word-pictures of scenes which she has learned to love or of
places with which she is personally familiar.
A study of the scenery of these novels properly begins in the County of
Surrey. About four miles southwest of Godalming is Borough Farm, an
old-fashioned brick house, which we reached by a drive over country that
seemed in places almost like a desert--so wild and forsaken that one
could scarcely believe it to be within a few miles of some of the
busiest suburbs of London. But it has a splendid beauty of its own. The
thick gorse with its golden blossoms everywhere waves a welcome. There
are now and then great oaks to greet you, and graceful patches of white
birch. And everywhere is a delightfully exhilarating sense of freedom
and fresh air such as only this kind of open country can suggest. Here
Mrs. Ward lived for seven summers, finding in the country round about
some of the most interesting of the scenes of her first novel, "Miss
Bretherton," and of "Robert Elsmere."
"Miss Bretherton" was published in 1884. Mary Anderson was at that time
the reigning success on the London stage, while Sarah Bernhardt, in
Paris, was startling the world with an art of a totally different
character. The beauty of the young American actress was the one subject
of conversation. Was it her beauty that attracted the crowds to the
theater, and that alone? Was she totally lacking in that consummate art
which the great Frenchwoman admittedly possessed? These questions
suggested to Mrs. Ward the theme of her first attempt at fiction. The
beautiful Miss Bretherton is taken in hand by a party of friends
representing the highest types of culture. In their effort to give her
mind and body much-needed rest from the exactions of London society she
is carried away on two notable excursions. The first is to Surrey, the
real scene of this outing being a place near Borough Farm called "Forked
Pond," well known to Mrs. Ward and her family while residents at the
farm. The other is to Oxford, where, after admiring the colleges, which
brought many happy recollections to the gentlemen of the party, Miss
Bretherton is taken to Nuneham Park, a beautiful place on the river
where a small rustic bridge enhances the romantic character of the
surroundings. This, of course, was familiar ground to the author, who
spent sixteen happy years in that vicinity as a resident of Oxford.
Through the kindness of these friends, and particularly by the influence
of Kendal, who becomes her lover, Miss Bretherton is made to take a new
view of her art, and is transformed into an actress of real dramatic
power.
Although a charming story, "Miss Bretherton" did not prove successful
and had little part in making the reputation of the novelist, who is
likely to be known as "the author of 'Robert Elsmere,'" so long as her
fame shall endure. For this great book created a sensation throughout
the English-speaking world when it appeared, and aroused controversies
which did not subside for many years.