"I were summat ruff afore I went to Lunnon," said John Cassell.
He had called to see his friend Thomas Whittaker, who was staying at
Nottingham, and John was announced as "the Manchester carpenter".
He was dressed on the occasion in a suit of clothes which a Quaker
friend had given him; but Cassell being tall and thin, and the Quaker
short and stout, they did not altogether fit!
The trousers were too short, and the hat too big; accordingly, John's
legs came a long way through the trousers, and his head went a good
way in at the top. "It was something like taking a tin saucepan with
the bottom out and using it as a scabbard for a broad sword," remarked
one who knew him. He had on an old overcoat, and a basket of tools
was thrown over his shoulder with which to earn his food in case
temperance lecturing failed.
When John remarked that he was "summat ruff," the gentleman at whose
house Mr. Whittaker was staying nearly had a fit; and after he had at
length recovered his gravity he ejaculated, "Well, I would have given
a guinea to have seen you before you did go".
Yet John Cassell was a diamond--though at that time the roughest
specimen one could come across from the pit's mouth to the Isle of
Dogs. His ideas were clear cut; he had confidence in himself, he meant
to make a name in the world,--and he _did_.
John Cassell was born in Manchester in 1817. His father, the
bread-winner of the family, had the misfortune to meet with an injury
which entirely disabled him, and from the effects of which he died
when John was quite young. His mother worked hard for her own and her
son's support, and had little time left to look very particularly to
the education of her boy. He, however, grew up strong and hardy.
It is true that when he ought to have been at school he was often at
play, or seeing something of the world, its sights and festivities,
on his own account. True, also, that he tumbled into the river, and
nearly ended his career at a very early age. Still he survived his
river catastrophe; and, though he gained little book learning,
possessed such a good and retentive memory, and was so observant,
that his mind became stored with vivid impressions of the scenes and
surroundings of his youth, which he related with great effect in
after-life.
He had, of course, to begin work at an early age. First of all, he
went into a cotton factory, and later to a velveteen factory; then,
having a taste for carpentering, he took to it as a trade, though he
was at best but a rough unskilled workman, tramping about the country,
and doing odd jobs wherever he could get them.
One day John Cassell was working at the Manchester Exchange when he
was persuaded to go and hear Dr. Grindrod lecture on temperance. The
lecture seems to have bitten itself into John's mind; for a little
later on, in July, 1835, after hearing Mr. Swindlehurst lecture, he
signed the pledge. That was the unsuspected turning-point of carpenter
John's life.
After this he attended meetings and took an active part on the
platform, and became known as "the boy lecturer". Though he was
dressed in fustian, and wore a workman's apron, he spoke effectively,
and his words went to the hearts of his hearers. His originality of
style, too, pleased the audiences of working people whom he addressed.
In 1836 John Cassell made his first move towards London.
He worked his way to town, and lectured on the road. He carried a
bell, and with that brought together his audiences.
At times he was very roughly handled by the crowd; yet this had no
effect upon him, except to make him the more determined.
His clothes became threadbare, his boots worn out, his general
appearance dilapidated; but he got help from a few good people, who
saw the hero beneath his rags.
He was three weeks accomplishing the journey; and when he arrived
in London spent the first day in search of work, which he failed to
obtain.
In the evening, seeing that a temperance meeting was to be held in a
hall off the Westminster Road, he went to it; and asked to be allowed
to speak. Some of those on the platform viewed with distrust the
gaunt, shabby, travel-stained applicant. But he would take no denial,
and soon won cheers from the audience. When he stopped short, after a
brief address, someone shouted "Go on". "How can a chap go on when he
has nothing to say?" came the ready reply. That night he had no money
in his pocket to pay for a bed; so he walked the streets of London
through the weary hours till dawn of day.
Other temperance meetings he addressed; for his heart and mind were
full of that subject. After one of the meetings a gentleman questioned
him as to his means; and, finding the straits he was in, asked if he
were not disheartened.
"No," replied John; "it is true I carry all my wealth in my little
wallet, and have only a few pence in my pocket; but I have faith in
God I shall yet succeed."
Struck by his manifest sincerity, the gentleman introduced him next
day to a friend who took a warm interest in the temperance cause.
"Which wouldst thou prefer, carpentering or trying to persuade thy
fellow-men to give up drinking, and to become teetotalers?" he asked.