I HAD been a partner in the house of Whittaker, Johnson, and Marsh, in
the wholesale drug trade, for twenty-five years, and, for the last ten
years, senior partner. For the first nine years of my seniority I was
not only nominally, but practically, the head of the firm. I had ceased
to occupy myself with details, but nothing of importance was concluded
without consulting me: I was the pivot on which the management turned.
In the tenth year, after a long illness, my wife died: I was very ill
myself, and for months not a paper was sent to me. When I returned to
work I found that the junior partners, who were pushing men, had
distributed between them what I was accustomed to do, and that some
changes which they thought to be indispensable had been made. I resumed
my duties as well as I could, but it was difficult to pick up the dropped
threads, and I was dependent for explanation upon my subordinates.
Many transactions too, from a desire to avoid worrying me, were carried
through without my knowledge, although formerly, as a matter of course,
they would have been submitted to me. Strangers, when they called, asked
to see Johnson or Marsh. I directed the messenger that they were to be
shown into my room if I was disengaged. This was a failure, for, when
they came, I was obliged to ask for help, which was not given very
generously. Sometimes I sent for the papers, but it took a long time to
read them, and my visitors became impatient. During one of these
interviews, I remember that I was sorely perplexed, but I had managed to
say something loosely with no particular meaning. Johnson came in and at
once took up the case, argued for ten minutes while I sat silent and
helpless, and an arrangement was concluded in which I really had no voice
whatever. Now and then I strove to assert myself by disapproval of
suggestions offered to me, but in the end was generally forced to admit I
was wrong. We had a very large order for which we were obliged to make
special arrangements with manufacturers. Both Johnson and Marsh were of
opinion that a particular firm which had often supplied us was not to be
trusted, as our dealings with them during my absence had been
unsatisfactory. I was inclined foolishly but naturally, to attach little
importance to anything which had been done entirely without me, ridiculed
their objections, and forced my decision upon them. The firm broke down;
our contract with them was cancelled; another had to be made under
pressure, and we lost about five hundred pounds. Although I was not
reminded of my responsibility in so many words, I knew that I was solely
to blame; I became more than ever convinced I was useless, and I was much
dejected. At last I made up my mind to retire. I was urged to remain,
but not, as I imagined, with any great earnestness, and on the 31st
December 1856 I left the office in Eastcheap never to enter it again.
For the first two or three weeks I enjoyed my freedom, but when they had
passed I had had enough of it. _I had nothing to do_! Every day at the
hours when business was at its height, I thought of the hurry, of the
inquiries, of the people waiting in the anteroom, of the ringing of
bells, of the rapid instructions to clerks, of the consultations after
the letters were opened, of our anxious deliberations, of the journeys to
Scotland at an hour’s notice, and of the interviews with customers. I
pictured to myself that all this still went on, but went on without me,
while I had no better occupation than to unpack a parcel, pick the knots
out of the string, and put it in a string-box. I saw my happy neighbours
drive off in the morning and return in the evening. I envied them the
haste, which I had so often cursed, over breakfast. I envied them, while
I took an hour over lunch, the chop devoured in ten minutes; I envied
them the weariness with which they dragged themselves along their
gravel-paths, half an hour late for dinner. I was thrown almost entirely
amongst women. I had no children, but a niece thirty-five years old,
devoted to evangelical church affairs, kept house for me, and she had a
multitude of female acquaintances, two or three of whom called every
afternoon. Sometimes, to relieve my loneliness, I took afternoon tea,
and almost invariably saw the curate. I was the only man present. It
was just as if, being strong, healthy, and blessed with a good set of
teeth, I were being fed on water-gruel. The bird-wittedness, the absence
of resistance and of difficulty, were intolerable. The curate, and
occasionally the rector, tried to engage me, as I was a good subscriber,
in discussion on church affairs, but there seemed to me to be nothing in
these which required the force which was necessary for the commonest day
in the City. Mrs. Coleman and the rector were once talking together most
earnestly when I entered the room, and I instinctively sat down beside
them, but I found that the subject of their eager debate was the
allotment of stalls at a bazaar. They were really excited—stirred I
fully admit to their depths. I believe they were more absorbed and
anxious than I was on that never-to-be-forgotten morning when Mortons and
Nicholsons both failed, and for two hours it was just a toss-up whether
we should not go too.
I went with my niece one day to St. Paul’s Churchyard to choose a gown,
but it was too much for me to be in a draper’s shop when the brokers’
drug sales were just beginning. I left my niece, walked round the
Churchyard as fast as I could, trying to make people believe I was busy,
and just as I came to Doctors Commons I stumbled against Larkins, who
used to travel for Jackman and Larkins.
‘Hullo, Whittaker!’ said he, ‘haven’t seen you since you left. Lucky
dog! Wish I could do the same. Ta-ta; can’t stop.’
A year ago Mr. Larkins, with the most pressing engagement in front of
him, would have spared me just as much time as I liked to give him.
Formerly I woke up (sometimes, it is true, after a restless night) with
the feeling that before me lay a day of adventure. I did not know what
was in my letters, nor what might happen. Now, when I rose I had nothing
to anticipate but fifteen hours of monotony varied only by my meals. My
niece proposed that I should belong to a club, but the members of clubs
were not of my caste. I had taken a pride in my garden and determined I
would attend to it more myself. I bought gardening books, but the
gardener knew far more than I could ever hope to know, and I could not
displace him. I had been in the habit of looking through a microscope in
the evening, although I did not understand any science in which the
microscope is useful, and my slides were bought ready-made. I brought it
out now in the daytime, but I was soon weary of it and sold it. We went
to Worthing for a month. We had what were called comfortable lodgings
and the weather was fine, but if I had been left to myself I should have
gone back to Stockwell directly my boxes were unpacked. We drove
eastwards as far as we could and then westward, and after that there was
nothing more to be done except to do the same thing over again. At the
end of the first week I could stand it no longer, and we returned. I
fancied my liver was out of order and consulted a physician. He gave me
some medicine and urged me to ‘cultivate cheerful society,’ and to take
more exercise. I therefore tried long walks, and often extended them
beyond Croydon, and once as far as Reigate, but I had never been
accustomed to walking by myself, and as I knew the names of scarcely
half-a-dozen birds or trees, my excursions gave me no pleasure. I have
stood on Banstead Downs in the blaze of sunlight on a still October
morning, and when I saw the smoke-cloud black as night hang over the
horizon northwards, I have longed with the yearning of an imprisoned
convict to be the meanest of the blessed souls enveloped in it.
I determined at last to break up my household at Stockwell, to move far
away into the country; to breed fowls—an occupation which I was assured
was very profitable and very entertaining; dismiss my niece and marry
again. I began to consider which lady of those whom I knew would suit me
best, and I found one who was exactly the person I wanted. She was about
thirty-five years old, was cheerful, fond of going out (I never was), a
good housekeeper, played the piano fairly well, and, as the daughter of a
retired major in the Army, had a certain air and manner which
distinguished her from the wives and daughters of our set and would
secure for me an acquaintance with the country gentlefolk, from which,
without her, I should probably be debarred. She had also told me when I
mentioned my project to her, but saying nothing about marriage, that she
doted on fowls—they had such pretty ways. As it was obviously prudent
not to engage myself until I knew more of her, I instigated my niece in a
careless way to invite her to stay a fortnight with us. She came, and
once or twice I was on the verge of saying something decisive to her, but
I could not. A strange terror of change in my way of life took hold upon
me. I should now have to be more at home, and although I might occupy
myself with the fowls during the morning and afternoon, the evening must
be spent in company, and I could not endure for more than half an hour a
drawing-room after dinner. There was another reason for hesitation. I
could see the lady would accept me if I proposed to her, but I was not
quite sure why. She would in all probability survive me, and I fancied
that her hope of survival might be her main reason for consenting. I
gave her up, but no sooner had she left us than I found myself impelled
to make an offer to a handsome girl of eight-and-twenty who I was ass
enough to dream might love me. I was happily saved by an accident not
worth relating, and although I afterwards dwelt much upon the charms of
two or three other ladies and settled with myself I would take one of
them, nothing came of my resolution. I was greatly distressed by this
growing indecision. It began to haunt me. If I made up my mind to-day
that I would do this or that, I always had on the morrow twenty reasons
for not doing it. I was never troubled with this malady in Eastcheap. I
was told that decay in the power of willing was one of the symptoms of
softening of the brain, and this then was what was really the matter with
me! It might last for years! Wretched creature! my life was to be
nothing better than that of the horse in Bewick’s terrible picture. I
was ‘waiting for death.’
Part of my income was derived from interest on money lent to a cousin.
Without any warning I had a letter to say that he was bankrupt, and that
his estate would probably not pay eighteenpence in the pound. It was
quite clear that I must economise, and what to do and whither to go was
an insoluble problem to me. By chance I met an old City acquaintance who
told me of a ‘good thing’ in Spanish bonds which, when information was
disclosed which he possessed, were certain to rise twenty per cent. If
what he said was true—and I had no reason to doubt him—I could easily get
back without much risk about two-thirds of the money I had lost. Had I
been in full work, I do not believe I should have wasted a shilling on
the speculation, but the excitement attracted me, and I ventured a
considerable sum. In about a fortnight there was a sudden jump of two
per cent. in my securities, and I was so much elated that I determined to
go farther. I doubled my stake; in three weeks another rise was
announced; I again increased the investment, and now I watched the market
with feverish eagerness. One day I was downstairs a quarter of an hour
earlier than usual waiting for the boy who brought the paper.
I tore it open and to my horror saw that there was a panic on the Stock
Exchange; my bonds were worthless, and I was ruined.
I had always secretly feared that this would happen, and that I should be
so distracted as to lose my reason. To my surprise, I was never more
self-possessed, and I was not so miserable as might have been expected.
I at once gave notice of discharge to my servants, sold nearly all my
furniture and let my house. I was offered help, but declined it. I
moved into a little villa in one of the new roads then being made at
Brixton, and found that I possessed a capital which, placed in
Consols—for I would not trust anything but the public funds—brought me
one hundred and twenty-five pounds a year. This was not enough for my
niece, myself and a maid, and I was forced to consider whether I could
not obtain some employment. To return to Eastcheap was clearly out of
the question, but there was a possibility, although I was fifty-six, that
my experience might make me useful elsewhere. I therefore called on
Jackman and Larkins at twelve o’clock, the hour at which I knew there was
a chance of finding them able to see me. During my prosperity I always
walked straight into their room marked ‘private,’ but now I went into the
clerks’ office, took off my hat and modestly inquired if either Mr.
Jackman or Mr. Larkins could spare me a minute. I was not asked to sit
down—I, to whom these very clerks a little over a twelvemonth ago would
have risen when I entered; but my message was taken, and I was told in
reply that both Mr. Jackman and Mr. Larkins were engaged. I was bold
enough to send in another message and was informed I might call in two
hours’ time. I went out, crossed London Bridge, and seeing the doors of
St. Saviour’s, Southwark, open, rested there awhile. When I returned at
the end of two hours, I had to wait another ten minutes until a luncheon
tray came out. A bell then rang, which a clerk answered, and in about
five minutes, with a ‘come this way’ I was ushered into the presence of
Jackman, who was reading the newspaper with a decanter and a glass of
sherry by his side.
‘Well, Whittaker, what brings you here? Ought to be looking after your
grapes at Stockwell—but I forgot; heard you’d given up grape-growing.
Ah! odd thing, a man never retires, but he gets into some mess; marries
or dabbles on the Stock Exchange. I’ve known lots of cases like yours.
What can we do for you? Times are horribly bad.’ Jackman evidently
thought I was going to borrow some money of him, and his tone altered
when he found I did not come on that errand.
‘I was very sorry—really I was, my dear fellow—to hear of your loss, but
it was a damned foolish thing to do, excuse me.’
‘Mr. Jackman,’ said I, ‘I have not lost all my property, but I cannot
quite live on what is left. Can you give me some work? My connection
and knowledge of your business may be of some service.’ I had put
hundreds of pounds in this man’s pocket, but forbore to urge this claim
upon him.
‘Delighted, I am sure, if it were possible, but we have no vacancy, and,
to be quite plain with you, you are much too old. We could get more out
of a boy at ten shillings a week than we could out of you.’
Mr. Jackman drank another glass of sherry.
‘But, sir’—(sir! that I should ever call Tom Jackman ‘sir,’ but I
did)—‘as I just said, my experience and connection might be valuable.’
‘Oh, as to experience, me and Larkins supply all that, and the clerks do
as they are told. Never keep a clerk more than two years: he then begins
to think he knows too much and wants more pay. As to connection, pardon
me—mean nothing, of course—but your recommendation now wouldn’t bring
much.’
At this moment the door opened and Larkins entered in haste. ‘I say,
Jackman—’ then turning and seeing me,—‘Hullo, Whittaker, what the devil
are you doing here? Jackman, I’ve just heard—’
‘Good-bye, Whittaker,’ said Jackman, ‘sorry can’t help you.’
Neither of them offered to shake hands, and I passed out into the street.
The chop-houses were crammed; waiters were rushing hither and thither; I
looked up at the first floor of that very superior house, used solely by
principals, where I often had my lunch, and again crossed London Bridge
on my way back. London Bridge at half-past one! I do not suppose I had
ever been there at half-past one in my life. I saw a crowd still passing
both southwards and northwards. At half-past nine it all went one way
and at half-past six another. It was the morning and evening crowd which
was the people to me. These half-past one o’clock creatures were strange
to me, loafers, nondescripts. I was faint and sick when I reached home,
for I walked all the way, and after vainly trying to eat something went
straight to bed. But the next post brought me a note saying that Jackman
and Larkins were willing to engage me at a salary of £100 a year—much
more, it was added, than they would have paid for more efficient service,
but conceded as a recognition of the past. The truth was, as I
afterwards found out, that Larkins persuaded Jackman that it would
increase their reputation to take old Whittaker. Larkins too had become
a little tired of soliciting orders, and I could act as his substitute.
I was known to nearly all the houses with which they did business and
very likely should gain admittance where a stranger would be denied. My
hours would be long, from nine till seven, and must be observed rigidly.
Instead of my three-and-sixpenny lunch I should now have to take in my
pocket whatever I wanted in the middle of the day. For dinner I must
substitute a supper—a meal which did not suit me. I should have to
associate with clerks, to meet as a humble subordinate those with whom I
was formerly intimate as an equal; but all this was overlooked, and I was
happy, happy as I had not been for months.
It was on a Wednesday when I received my appointment, and on Monday I was
to begin. I said my prayers more fervently that night than I had said
them for years, and determined that, please God, I would always go to
church every Sunday morning no matter how fine it might be. There were
only three clear week-days, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, to be got
through. I imagined them to be holidays, although I had never before
taken three consecutive holidays, save in those wretched Augusts or
Septembers, when pride annually forced me away to the seaside. At last
Monday came: our breakfast hour was henceforth fixed at half-past seven,
and at eight o’clock I started to walk to Kennington, and thence to ride
by an omnibus to King William’s statue. Oh! with what joy did I shut the
little garden gate and march down the road, once more somebody! I looked
round, saw other little front gates open, each by-street contributed, so
that in the Kennington Road there was almost a procession moving steadily
and uniformly City-wards, and _I_ was in it. I was still a part of the
great world; something depended on me. Fifty-six? yes, but what was
that? Many men are at their best at fifty-six. So exhilarated was I,
that just before I mounted the omnibus—it was a cold morning, but I would
not ride inside—I treated myself to a twopenny cigar. My excitement soon
wore off. I could not so far forget myself as not to make suggestions
now and then, and Jackman took a delight in snubbing me. It was a trial
to me also to sit with the clerks. We had never set ourselves up as
grand people at Stockwell, but I had all my life been accustomed to
delicate food properly cooked, and now that my appetite was declining
with my years, I would almost at any time have gone without a meal rather
than eat anything that was coarse or dirtily served. My colleagues
ridiculed my ‘Stockwell manners,’ as they called them, and were very
witty, so they thought, in their inquiries when I produced my sandwich
wrapped up in a clean napkin, how much it cost me for my washing. They
were a very cheap set, had black finger-nails, and stuck their pens
behind their ears. One of them always brought a black-varnished canvas
bag with him, not respectably stiff like leather—a puckered,
dejected-looking bag. It was deposited in the washing place to be out of
the way of the sun. At one o’clock it was brought out and emptied of its
contents, which were usually a cold chop and a piece of bread. A plate,
knife and fork, and some pepper and salt were produced from the desk, and
after the meat, which could be cut off from the chop, was devoured, the
bone was gnawed, wrapped up in paper, and put back in the bag. The
plate, knife, and fork were washed in the wash-hand basin and wiped with
the office jack-towel. It was hard when old business friends called and
I had to knock at the inner door and say, ‘Mr. — wants to see you, sir,’
the object of the visit not being entrusted to me. A few of them behaved
politely to me, but to others it seemed to be a pleasure to humble me.
On that very first Monday, Bullock, the junior in Wiggens, Moggs, and
Bullock, burst into the room. He knew me very well, but took no notice
of me, although I was alone, except to ask—
‘Is Mr. Jackman in?’
‘No, sir, can I do anything for you?’
He did not deign to say a word, but went out, slamming the door behind
him.
Nevertheless I kept up my spirits, or rather they kept themselves up. At
five o’clock, when the scramble to get the letters signed began, I
thought of our street at home, so dull at that hour, of the milkman, and
the muffin-boy, of the curate, and of my niece’s companions, and
reflected, thank God, that I was in the City, a man amongst men. When
seven o’clock came and the gas was put out, there was the anticipation
also of the fight for a place in the omnibus, especially if it was a wet
night, and the certainty that I should meet with one or two neighbours
who would recognise me. No more putting up window-blinds, pulling up
weeds in the back garden, sticking in seeds which never grew, or errands
to suburban shops at midday. How I used in my retirement to detest the
sight of those little shopkeepers when the doors of Glyn’s Bank were
swinging to and fro! I came home dead-beaten now, it is true, but it was
a luxury to be dead-beaten, and I slept more soundly than I had ever
slept in my life. In about six months my position improved a little.
Jackman’s love for sherry grew upon him, and once or twice, to Larkins’s
disgust, his partner was not quite as fit to appear in public as he ought
to have been. Very often he was absent, sick. Two of the cheap clerks
also left in order to better themselves. I never shall forget the
afternoon—I felt as if I could have danced for joy—when Larkins said to
me, ‘Whittaker, Mr. Jackman hasn’t very good health, and if he’s not here
when I am out, you must answer anybody who calls, but don’t commit
yourself—and—let me see—I was going to tell you you’ll have ten pounds a
year more, beginning next quarter—and there was something else—Oh! I
recollect, if anybody should want to see Mr. Jackman when he happens to
be unwell here, and I am not with him, send for me if you know where I
am. If you don’t know, you must do the best you can.’ My office coat
had hitherto been an old shiny, ragged thing, and I had always taken off
my shirt-cuffs when I began work, because they so soon became dirty. I
rammed the old coat that night into the fire; brought my second-best coat
in a brown paper parcel the next morning, and wore my shirt-cuffs all day
long. Continually I had to think—only fancy, to think—once more; in a
very small way, it is true, but still to think and to act upon my
thought, and when Larkins came in and inquired if anybody had called, he
now and then said ‘all right’ when I told him what I had done. A clerk
from my old office swaggered in and did not remove his hat. I descended
from my stool and put on my own hat. The next time he came he was more
polite. I have now had two years of it, and have not been absent for a
day. I hope I may go on till I drop. My father died in a fit; his
father died in a fit; and I myself often feel giddy, and things go round
for a few seconds. I should not care to have a fit here, because there
would be a fuss and a muddle, but I should like, just when everything was
_quite_ straight, to be able to get home safely and then go off. To lie
in bed for weeks and worry about my work is what I could not endure.