More has perhaps been written about chess-playing than any other of
the games which human ingenuity has invented for recreative purposes,
and it is not easy to foresee the time when dissertation or discovery
on the subject shall be brought to a satisfactory conclusion. Scarcely
a year passes that does not add something to our knowledge of the
history of the royal game; and among the latest additions, the able
paper by Mr Bland, published in the _Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society_, is not the least deserving of notice. It contains many
curious particulars and remarks, interspersed in its dry and technical
narrative, sufficient to form a page or two of pleasant reading for
those--and they are not few--to whom chess is interesting.
We must premise that Mr Bland takes three but little-known Oriental
manuscripts as the groundwork of his observations; one of them, in the
Persian character, is said to be 'probably unique,' though,
unfortunately, very imperfect. It bears no date or author's name,
these being lost with the missing portions, but the treatise itself
contains internal evidence of very high antiquity. The author, whoever
he was, tells us that he had travelled much through Persia and the
adjacent countries, from the age of fifteen until the middle period of
life, during which he gained the knowledge and experience which
enabled him to write his book. Besides which, he measured his strength
with many masters of the art of chess-playing, adding on each occasion
to his reputation as a conqueror: 'and whereas,' as he relates, 'the
greater number of professors were deficient in the art of playing
without looking at the board, I myself played so against four
adversaries at once, and at the same time against another opponent in
the usual manner, and, by divine favour, won all the games.' Here,
singularly enough, we find a Persian Staunton making himself famous
perhaps long before Norman William thought of invading Britain--so
true it is, that in mere intellectual achievements we have scarcely
surpassed bygone generations. He, the Persian, evidently entertained a
comfortable idea of his own abilities; for he boasts largely of the
improvements and new moves or positions which he has introduced into
the game. He disputes, too, the authenticity of the belief, that chess
was originally invented in India, and that it was first introduced
into Persia in the sixth century of our era by a physician, whom
Nushirwan had sent to seek for the work known as Pilpay's Fables. On
the contrary, he contends that chess, in its original and most
developed form, is purely a Persian invention, and that the modern
game is but an abridgment of the ancient one. In how far this
statement is borne out by the fact, we have at present no means of
knowing; and until some more complete manuscript or other work shall
be brought to light which may supply the want, we must rest content
with the account familiar to most readers--that chess was invented by
an Indian physician for the diversion of the monarch, his master, and
the reward claimed in grains of corn, beginning with one grain on the
first square of the board, and doubling the number in regularly
increasing progression up to the last.
We may here briefly state what the ancient, or, as it is commonly
called in the East, 'Timour's Game,' was. It required a board with 110
squares and 56 men--almost as many again as are used in modern
chess--and the moves were extremely complicated and difficult to
learn. The rectangularity of the board was interrupted by four lateral
squares, which served as a fort, or special point of defence for the
king, whose powers, as well as those of the other pieces, were in many
respects different from those at present known. 'Timour's mind,' we
are told, 'was too exalted to play at the Little Chess, and therefore
he played only at the Great Chess, on a board of ten squares by
eleven, with the addition of two camels, two zarafahs,' and other
pieces, with Persian designations.
Next we come to a complete chapter, entitled the 'Ten Advantages of
Chess,' in which the views and reasonings are eminently Oriental and
characteristic. The first explains that food and exercise are good for
the mind as well as for the body, and that chess is a most excellent
means for quickening the intellect, and enabling it to gain knowledge.
'For the glory of man is knowledge, and chess is the nourishment of
the mind, the solace of the spirit, the polisher of intelligence, the
bright sun of understanding, and has been preferred by the
philosopher, its inventor, to all other means by which we arrive at
wisdom.' The second advantage is in the promotion and cultivation of
religion; predestination and free-will are both exemplified--the
player being able to move where he will, yet always in obedience to
certain laws. 'Whereas,' says the writer, 'Nerd--that is, Eastern
backgammon--on the contrary, is mere free-will, while in dice, again,
all is compulsion.' The third and fourth advantages relate to
government and war; and the fifth to astronomy, illustrating its
several phenomena as shewn by the text, according to which 'the board
represents the heavens, in which the squares are the celestial houses,
and the pieces, stars. The superior pieces are likened to the moving
stars; and the pawns, which have only one movement, to the fixed
stars. The king is as the sun, and the wazir in place of the moon, and
the elephants and taliah in the place of Saturn, and the rukhs and
dabbabah in that of Mars, and the horses and camel in that of Jupiter,
and the ferzin and zarafah in that of Venus; and all these pieces have
their accidents, corresponding with the trines and quadrates, and
conjunction and opposition, and ascendancy and decline--such as the
heavenly bodies have; and the eclipse of the sun is figured by shah
caim or stale mate;' and much more to the same purport. We question
whether the astronomer-royal ever suspected he was illustrating his
own science when engaged in one of his quiet games of chess with the
master of trinity.
The sixth advantage is somewhat astrological in character: as there
are four principal movements of chess, these answer to the four
physical temperaments, Cold, Warm, Dry, and Wet, which are ruled by
their respective planets; and thus each piece on the board is made to
have its peculiar significance in relation with the stars. It is
further shewn, that chess-playing is remedial against many of the
lesser bodily ailments; 'and no illness is more grievous than hunger
and thirst, yet both of these, when the mind is engaged in chess, are
no longer thought of.' Next in order, the seventh advantage, is 'in
obtaining repose for the soul;' as the author observes: 'The soul hath
illnesses like as the body hath, and the cure of these last is known;
but of the soul's illness there be also many kinds, and of these I
will mention a few.' These are ignorance, disobedience, haste,
cunning, avarice, tyranny, lying, pride, deceit, and envy. Deceit is
said to be of two kinds: that which deceives others, and that which
deceives ourselves. But of all evils, ignorance is the greatest; 'for
it is the soul's death, as learning is its life; and for this disease
is chess an especial cure, since there is no way by which men arrive
more speedily at knowledge and wisdom; and in like manner, by its
practice, all the faults which form the diseases of the soul are
converted into their corresponding virtues.' It is not to be doubted
that chess-playing may keep individuals out of mischief; but, whatever
may have been the case in ancient times, we do not hear of its
transforming vicious characters into virtuous ones in our days.
The eighth advantage is social, inasmuch as it brings men of different
degrees together, and promotes their intimacy and friendship; and
'advantage the ninth, is in wisdom and knowledge, and that wise men do
play chess; and to those who object that foolish men also play chess,
and, though constantly engaged in it, become no wiser, it may be
answered, that the distinction between wise and foolish men in playing
chess, is as that of man and beast in eating of the tree--that the man
chooses its ripe and sweet fruit, while the beast eats but the leaves
and branches, and the unripe and bitter fruit; and so it is with
players at chess--the wise man plays for those virtues and advantages
which have been already mentioned, and the foolish man plays it but
for mere sport and gambling, and regards not its advantages and
virtues. This is the condition of the wise man and foolish man in
playing chess.' From this it seems a descent to the tenth advantage,
which is, that chess combines war with sport; and pleasant allegories
are made subservient to the inculcation of sound truths and important
principles.
Next comes an explanation of the mode in which Great Chess was played,
with the nature and value of the various moves. Among the hard
technicalities with which it abounds, the writer takes occasion to
condemn the practice of giving a different value to the piece which
may have reached the end of the board; 'for,' as he says, 'what is
more natural or just than that men should occupy the station of their
predecessors, and that the son of a king should become a king, and a
general's son attain the rank of a general.' An instance of rigid
caste-law carried into a harmless recreation.
In another manuscript, chess is shewn to have something to do with a
man's fortunes: he who could watch a game without speaking, was held
to be discreet, and qualified for a government office. And conquerors
are enjoined not to boast of their success; not to say, even if such
be the case, that they have won all the games, but that they have 'won
some.' Exemplary virtue is not, however, claimed for chess-players, as
in the former instance, for some are said to be continually 'swearing
false oaths, and making many vain excuses;' and again, 'You never see
a chess-player rich, who is not a sordid miser, nor hear a squabbling
that is not a question of the chess-board.' On the other hand, there
were 'rules of politeness in chess,' which it behoved all persons to
follow:--'He who is lowest in rank is to spread the board, and pour
out the men on it, and then wait patiently till his superior has made
his choice; then he who is inferior may take his own men, and place
all of them except the king, and when the senior in rank has placed
his own king, he may also place his opposite to it.' During the game,
'all foolish talk and ribaldry' is to be avoided, and onlookers are
'to keep silence, and to abstain from remarks and advice to the
players;' and an inferior, when playing with a superior, is enjoined
to exert his utmost skill, and not 'underplay himself that his senior
may win'--an observation which what is called the 'flunkey class'
might remember with advantage. And further, chess is not to be played
'when the mind is engaged with other objects, nor when the stomach is
full after a meal, neither when overcome by hunger, nor on the day of
taking a bath; nor, in general, while suffering under any pain, bodily
or mental.'
Chess-playing without looking at the board, now taught by professors,
and supposed to be a comparatively modern art, was, as we have seen
above, known and practised many centuries ago; and among the
instructions last quoted are those for playing the 'blindfold-game.'
The player is 'to picture to himself the board as divided first into
two opposite sides, and then each side into halves, those of the king
and the queen, so that when his naib, or deputy, announces that 'such
a knight has been played to the second of the queen's rook,' or 'the
queen to the king's bishop's third,' he may immediately understand its
effect on the position of the game. This mode of playing, however, is
not recommended to those who do not possess a powerful memory, with
great reflection and perseverance, 'without which no man can play
blindfold.' These, with other instructions, are followed by the
author's remark, 'that some have arrived to such a degree of
perfection as to have played blindfold at four or five boards at a
time, nor to have made a mistake in any of the games, and to have
recited poetry during the match;' and he adds: 'I have seen it written
in a book, that a certain person played in this manner at ten boards
at once, and gained all the games, and even corrected his adversaries
when a mistake was made.'
Besides their conventional value, the pieces had a money value, which
was essential to be known by all who desired to win. The rook and
knight were estimated at about sixpence each; the queen, threepence;
the pawns, three-halfpence; and the 'side-pawns,' three farthings. The
value of bishops varied, while the king was beyond all price. The
regulations respecting odds were also well defined, in degrees from a
single pawn up to a knight and rook; but any one claiming the latter
odds was held not 'to count as a chess-player.' And it was not unusual
for works on chess to contain puzzling problems, representations of
drawn games, and well-combined positions. Some authors describe five
different kinds of chess: one had 10 × 10, or 100 squares; another was
oblong, 16 × 4, which employed dice as well as the usual pieces;
another board was circular, with a central spot for the king, where he
could intrench himself in safety; another represented the zodiac, with
spaces for each planet, according to the number of houses or mansions
assigned by astrologers. The ingenuity did not end here: chess was
made to illustrate dreams, and to embellish many amusing games and
recreations. Odes and poems were written upon it, and the poets at
times exhibited their skill in a play upon words--for instance:
'When my beloved learnt the chess-play of cruelty,
In the very beginning of the game her sweet cheek
(rukh) took my heart captive.'
It served also to point riddles, some of which exhibit remarkable
ingenuity, as shewn by the following example, where the name of
Mohammed is enigmatically embodied. It is thus rendered:
'The vow of Moses twice repeat;
The principles of life and heat;
The squares of chess, in order due,
Must take their place between these two;
When thus arranged, a name appears,
Which every Muslim heart reveres.'
The solution, as given by a reverend ulema of Constantinople to a
learned German who could not solve the mystery, is: 'Take the "vow of
Moses," which is 40; double it, and it becomes 80, equivalent to the
two Mims in the name Muhammed. Place under these the bases of the
temperaments--that is, the elements--which are four (the power of the
letter D); then take the number of the houses (or squares) of chess,
which are eight in a row, and place it (8 being equal to the letter H)
between the two Ms, and you have the name of the prophet, Muhammed
(MHMD.')
'It has been necessary,' observes Mr Bland, 'to turn the Arabic
commentary a little, in order to make the solution more intelligible
to those unacquainted with the trick of Eastern riddles. Some further
explanation is also required to illustrate the solution itself.
The vow of Moses refers to his forty days' fast; the four
temperaments--the bile, the atrabile, phlegm, and blood--are
represented in the Arabian system of physics by the four elements,
which are considered to be connected with them; the figures refer to
the numerical power of the _abjad_, or alphabet; and the enigma itself
has been attributed, though on uncertain grounds, to Ali, the
son-in-law of the prophet.'
'THE SUCCESSFUL MERCHANT.'
Under this title has lately been produced a novelty in our literature,
the memoirs of an eminent commercial man.[2] Samuel Budgett died in
May 1851, at the age of fifty-seven. Though starting in life without
capital or credit, he had, by the sheer exercise of his own innate
qualities, risen to the head of one of the most colossal _concerns_ in
England. Had he been merely a clever bargainer, and a skilful
organiser of business arrangements, there might have been some value
in his memoirs, as a guidance to young mercantile aspirants; but
Budgett was something more than all this, and his biography serves the
far higher purpose of shewing how a man may be at once a most adroit
merchandiser, and a man of liberal practice, and a true lover of his
kind. Let it not be supposed that he was a _soft_ man, who had
prospered through some lucky accident. He really was a thorough-paced
follower of the maxim which recommends buying in the cheapest and
selling in the dearest market: he was reputed as _keen_ in business.
But he was also kind-hearted and high-principled, and it is this union
of remarkable qualities which gives his memoirs their best value.
Mr Budgett was a general provision-merchant at Bristol, with also a
large warehouse at Kingswood Hill, where his private residence was.
His biographer presents him as he came daily into town to attend to
business. 'You might have often seen driving into Bristol, a man under
the middle size, verging towards sixty, wrapped up in a coat of deep
olive, with gray hair, an open countenance, a quick brown eye, and an
air less expressive of polish than of push. He drives a phaeton, with
a first-rate horse, at full speed. He looks as if he had work to do,
and had the art of doing it. On the way, he overtakes a woman carrying
a bundle. In an instant, the horse is reined up by her side, and a
voice of contagious promptitude tells her to put up her bundle and
mount. The voice communicates to the astonished pedestrian its own
energy. She is forthwith seated, and away dashes the phaeton. In a few
minutes, the stranger is deposited in Bristol, with the present of
some pretty little book, and the phaeton hastes on to Nelson Street.
There it turns into the archway of an immense warehouse. "Here, boy;
take my horse, take my horse!" It is the voice of the head of the
firm. The boy flies. The master passes through the offices as if he
had three days' work to do. Yet his eye notes everything. He reaches
his private office. He takes from his pocket a memorandum-book, on
which he has set down, in order, the duties of the day. A boy waits at
the door. He glances at his book, and orders the boy to call a clerk.
The clerk is there promptly, and receives his instructions in a
moment. "Now, what is the next thing?" asks the master, glancing at
his memorandum. Again the boy is on the wing, and another clerk
appears. He is soon dismissed. "Now, what is the next thing?" again
looking at the memorandum. At the call of the messenger, a young man
now approaches the office door. He is a "traveller;" but
notwithstanding the habitual push and self-possession of his class, he
evidently is approaching his employer with reluctance and
embarrassment. He almost pauses at the entrance. And now that he is
face to face with the strict man of business, he feels much confused.
"Well, what's the matter? I understand you can't make your cash quite
right."
"No, sir."
"How much are you short?"
"Eight pounds, sir."
"Never mind; I am quite sure you have done what is right and
honourable. It is some mistake; and you won't let it happen again.
Take this and make your account straight."
'The young man takes the proffered paper. He sees an order for ten
pounds; and retires as full of admiration as he had approached full of
anxiety.
"Now, what is the next thing?" This time a porter is summoned. He
comes forward as if he expected rebuke. "Oh! I have got such a
complaint reported against you. You know that will never do. You must
not let that occur again."
'Thus, with incredible dispatch, matter after matter is settled, and
all who leave that office go to their work as if some one had oiled
all their joints.
'At another time, you find the master passing through the warehouse.
Here, his quick glance descries a man who is moving drowsily, and he
says a sharp word that makes him, in a moment, nimble. There, he sees
another blundering at his work. He had no idea that the master's eye
was upon him, till he finds himself suddenly supplanted at the job. In
a trice, it is done; and his master leaves him to digest the
stimulant. Now, a man comes up to tell him of some plan he has in his
mind, for improving something in his own department of the business.
"Yes, thank you, that's a good idea;" and putting half-a-crown into
his hand, he passes on. In another place he finds a man idling. You
can soon see, that of all spectacles this is the one least to his
mind. "If you waste five minutes, that is not much; but probably if
you waste five minutes yourself, you lead some one else to waste five
minutes, and that makes ten. If a third follow your example, that
makes a quarter of an hour. Now, there are about a hundred and eighty
of us here; and if every one wasted five minutes in a day, what would
it come to? Let me see. Why, it would be fifteen hours; and fifteen
hours a day would be ninety hours--about eight days, working-time, in
a week; and in a year, would be four hundred days. Do you think we
could ever stand waste like that?" The poor loiterer is utterly
confounded. He had no idea of eating up fifteen hours, much less four
hundred days, of his good employer's time; and he never saw before how
fast five minutes could be multiplied.'
Mr Budgett was the son of a worthy couple, not exactly in poor, but in
rather difficult circumstances. He had little school education; but
his mother gave him a good religious training. From his earliest
intelligent years, he loved traffic. His first transaction was getting
a penny for a horse-shoe which he had found. Discovering that for a
half-penny he got six marbles, but for a penny fourteen, he bought
pennyworths and sold them in half-pennyworths to his companions, thus
realising a profit. Meeting an old woman with a basket of cucumbers,
he bought them, and by selling them again, realised ninepence. Truly
in his case the boy was father to the man. But, what was notable in
him, he would give away his accumulated profits all at once, in the
purchase of a hymn-book, or for the relief of some poor person. Even
then, it was not for sordid or selfish ends that he trafficked. In
these early years, his singular tact also came out. 'I remember,' he
said, 'about 1806 or 1807, a young man called on my mother, from Mr
D---- of Shepton, to solicit orders in the grocery trade. His
introduction and mode of treating my mother were narrowly watched by
me, particularly when she asked the price of several articles. On
going in to my father, she remarked, there would be no advantage in
dealing with Mr D----, as she could not see that his prices were any
lower than those she was in the habit of giving. I slipped aside, and
began to think: "Why, that young man might have got my mother's trade,
if he had known how; if, instead of mentioning so many articles, he
had just offered one or two at a lower price than we have been in the
habit of giving, she would have been induced to try those articles;
and thus he would have been introduced, most likely, to her whole
trade: beside, his manner was rather loose, and not of the most modest
and attractive kind." I believe the practical lesson then learned has,
since that, been worth to me thousands of pounds--namely,
Self-interest is the mainspring of human actions: you have only to lay
before persons, in a strong light, that what you propose is to their
own interest, and you will generally accomplish your purpose.' There
are certainly few boys of twelve years who would have caught up such
an idea as this from so common-place a circumstance.
By the time he was fourteen, he had realised thirty pounds by private
barter. He gave the money to help his parents. When put as apprentice
to an elder brother, a grocer in Kingswood Hill, it might have been
expected that he would speedily distinguish himself; and so he might
have done as far as intellect was concerned; but, unluckily, his
strength was at first inadequate for his duties, and his brother
actually sent him away as hopeless. With great difficulty, he made his
way into another trader's employment, and there he gave entire
satisfaction. His brother, then, reclaimed him, and though offered a
higher salary where he was, he returned to serve out his time. Long
before that period had arrived, he was beginning to soar above retail
business. 'The markets were well watched, every advantage of time or
change turned to account, and his singular power of cheap buying
exerted with all vigour. The trade steadily grew; every now and then
those in their own line were surprised at the sales they were able to
make, and the neighbourhood resounded with the news of the great
bargains to be had at Budgett's. As custom increased, so did envy and
accusation. Many scrupled not to declare, that they sold cheaper than
they bought, and therefore must soon come to an end; yet they went on,
year by year, in steady and rapid increase.... He already seemed to
descry in the distance the possibility of a great wholesale
establishment; but this must be reached by little and little. He would
not attempt what he could not accomplish. Any sudden bound, therefore,
by which he was at once to pass the gulf now separating him from his
object, was not to be thought of. A little at a time; secure what you
have, work it well, make it fruitful, and then push on a little
farther; but never stretch out to anything new till all the old is
perfectly cultivated.'
The brother, who was fifteen years his senior, and a man of ordinary
character, was borne on by the towering genius of Samuel the
apprentice. 'Among the customers of the shop were numbers of good
women, who came from villages at a few miles' distance, mounted on
donkeys. As the flow of purchasers was great, a crowd of these patient
steeds would often be for a long time about the door, while their
respective mistresses were obtaining goods. In this concourse from a
distance, the quick eye of Samuel discovered the germ of an extended
trade. Why should he not go into their neighbourhood regularly, and
obtain their orders; so securing their custom always, and affording
them accommodation, while he obtained new chances of extension? His
brother was much more inclined to pursue the regular course than to
branch into anything new; and the caution of the one probably acted as
a useful counterbalance to the energy of the other. But Samuel was not
to be held within the shop-walls: he had his plans for erecting a
great business, and no power could restrain him. He soon set forth to
the villages of Doynton and Pucklechurch, and arranged to meet the
good folks at fixed times, in one house or another convenient for
them, and there to receive their orders. He made himself their friend:
he was hearty, familiar, and in earnest; he noticed their children; he
knew their ways; and he rapidly gained their favour, and effected
considerable sales.'
'This point gained, he began to talk of supplying the smaller shops.
"Why should not we supply them as well as other people?" His brother
shrank from anything that seemed to approach the wholesale. He feared
that they would get beyond their means, and wished to pursue only the
old course. Samuel could wait, but he could not surrender. Supply the
smaller shops he would, and by degrees he managed to accomplish it.
Very gradually, the range of this quasi-wholesale trade extended.
Firmly keeping to his purpose of working all he had got, and going on
little by little, he made no abrupt enterprise--no great dash; but on,
on he plodded in the humblest way, caring nothing for show, but
careful that every foot of ground under him was solid. He gradually
began to make a modest sort of commercial journey; and among tradesmen
to whom he would not venture to offer the higher articles of grocery,
raised a considerable trade in such descriptions of goods as he might
supply without seeming to push into too important a sphere.'
Having made a lucky purchase of butter, Samuel went amongst traders of
his own kind for orders, and at first met with little but contempt. He
persevered, nevertheless, and in a little time made his way. By little
and little his house, of which he became a partner, acquired a
footing, and began to be talked of as a kind of prodigy for a village.
The leading principle followed, was to do business entirely by
ready-money, in buying as in selling. A wonder may be felt how Mr
Budgett contrived, with no advantage of capital at starting, to act
upon this rule. The plan is simple, and may be easily followed. Let
the transactions be in a proper proportion to the means. It looks a
slow plan; but, in reality, by securing an exemption from pecuniary
embarrassment, it allows a business, other circumstances being equal,
to go on faster than might otherwise be the case. Mr Budgett could
accept small profits on his ready-money transactions, and by their
frequency, outstrip heavier-pursed but also heavier-minded men.
The leading maxims of Samuel Budgett in business were--_Tact_, _Push_,
and _Principle_. In the two former, he was a great genius, and much he
no doubt was indebted to them. Yet we are inclined to think that
Principle had the chief hand in his success. He was entirely a just
man. He would rebuke a young salesman more severely for a slight
inequality in his weighing-scales against the public, than for a
neglect of his duty. It was a custom of grocers to mix up pepper with
an article called P.D. Mr Budgett long kept a cask of P.D.; but at
length, reflecting seriously on it one evening, he went to the shop,
re-opened it, took out the hypocritical cask to a neighbouring quarry,
and there staved it, scattering the P.D. amongst the clods, and slags,
and stones; after which he returned with a light heart to bed. There
was also a benevolence at the bottom of all Mr Budgett's proceedings
as a man of business. It appeared strongly in his relations to his
subalterns and working-people. Though a strict disciplinarian, and not
to be imposed upon in anything, he was so humane and liberal towards
all around him, that they served him as much from love as duty. He has
discharged men for misconduct or disloyalty, and afterwards pensioned
their families till they got other employment. His liberality in
supporting charitable institutions, and relieving private cases of
distress, knew hardly any bounds; but, at a fair computation, it has
been estimated at about L.2000 a year.
Observing one of his men looking for some time very melancholy, he
called him up, and inquired into the cause. 'The sickness of his wife
had entangled him in debt; he could not eat, he could not sleep; his
life was a misery to him, and he had exclaimed with a pathos that sunk
deep into my dear relative's tender heart: "Master, I am in debt;
every time I go near the river, something bids me fling myself into
it, telling me there's water enough to rid me of all my troubles; and
that if I don't, I shall be sent into the prison there for debt!"
'Deeply affected, he inquired of the poor man the names of his
creditors, the amount of their respective claims, and the peculiar
circumstances which had led to the contraction of each liability.
Having ascertained these particulars, and perfectly satisfied himself
that the man had not forgotten the precept of the society of which he
was a member--"Not to contract debt without at least a reasonable
prospect of discharging it"--he asked him whether freedom from these
liabilities would restore to him peace of mind. The question was
answered by a sort of sickly smile, which seemed to indicate a perfect
despair of such a consummation. "Well, come," said the master, "I
don't think things are quite so bad, ----, as they appear to be to
you. See here, my poor fellow, you owe ---- pounds: it's a very large
sum for a man like you, to be sure; and if you had run into debt to
anything like this amount through extravagance, or even
thoughtlessness, I should have regarded it as an act of dishonesty on
your part, and I _might_ have felt it right to discharge you. But you
are to be pitied, and not to be blamed. Cold pity alone goes for
nothing, so let us see how you can be helped out of your troubles.
Now, do you think your creditors, considering all the circumstances,
would take one-half, and be satisfied? Here's Dr Edwards--his bill is
the heaviest; if we can get him to take one-half"----
"One-half, master!" exclaimed the poor man, "but if they _would_ take
half, where's the money to come from? I 'arn't got a shilling in the
world but what's coming to me Friday night; and when I take my wages
now, I 'arn't any pleasure in looking at the money, because it 'arn't
my own; it should go to pay my debts, and I'm obliged to use it to buy
victuals. I think in my heart I shall ne'er be happy again."
'Still more sensibly affected by the poor man's manner the longer the
interview lasted, my kind-hearted relative begged him not to distress
himself any more; he said that a Friend of his had given him a sum
that was quite equal to one-half his debts, bade him return to his
work, order a horse to be put into harness as he passed through the
yard, and brought round in ten minutes; and told him to be sure to
make himself as happy as he could till he saw him again. He
immediately drove round to every creditor the poor man had, compounded
with them for their respective claims, and obtained their receipts in
full discharge. On his return, the poor man's stare of bewilderment
was indescribable. He watched his master unfold the receipts one by
one without uttering a syllable; and when they were put into his hand,
he clutched them with a sort of convulsive grasp, but still not a word
escaped him. At length he exclaimed: "But, master, where's the money
come from?"
"Never do you mind that, ----," was the reply; "go home, and tell your
wife you are out of debt; you are an independent man. I only hope the
creditors have felt something of the satisfaction in forgiving you
one-half your debt to them, that we know God feels in forgiving our
debts to him for Christ's sake: I have said that much to all of them."
'But the puzzling question had not yet been answered, and again it was
put: "But, master, where's the money come from?"
"Well, well, I told you a FRIEND had given it to me for you. _You_
know that Friend as well as I do. There now, you may leave your work
for to-day: go home to your wife, and thank that Friend together for
making you an independent man. But stay, ----, I had almost forgotten
one thing. I called to see Mr P---- as I drove through Stoke's Croft;
I told him the errand that had carried me away from home all day, and
he gave me a sovereign for you to begin the world with."
'The poor fellow was too much affected to say anything more. The next
morning, however, he appeared again, but after a most complete failure
in a valorous attempt he made to express his thanks, he was obliged to
leave the counting-house, stammering out that "both he and his wife
felt their hearts to be as light as a feather."'
Mr Budgett was, by family connection, a Wesleyan, and at all periods
of his life under a strong sense of religion. He had even acted as a
lay-preacher. It was his custom to have all the people of his
establishment assembled for religious exercises every morning before
proceeding to business. He was active as a Sunday-school teacher, and
assisted with his purse and his own active exertions in every effort
to Christianise the rude people of Kingswood. When he became a
highly-prosperous man, he had a good country-house and a handsome
establishment; but wealth and its refinements never withdrew him from
familiar personal intercourse with his people. Neither did it ever in
the least alienate him from his many humble relations. His conduct,
indeed, in all these respects was admirable, and well entitled him to
be, what he was, the most revered man of his neighbourhood and
kindred. At his death, the expression of mourning was widely spread,
as if the whole population had felt in his loss the loss of a friend.
The volume which supplies us with these particulars and extracts, is a
very interesting one; yet we could wish to see it abridged of some
portion of the long episodes, in the style of pulpit discourses, with
which the author has thought proper to expand it. If properly
condensed, and the details of the life presented given perhaps in
somewhat better order, so as to explain more clearly the steps of Mr
Budgett's rise as a merchant, the work might become a _vade-mecum_ for
the young man of business, exhibiting to him a model of character and
conduct such as could not but exercise a good influence over his
future career.