The Author of Sandford and Merton: A Life of Thomas Day, Esq. 9780231892063

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY STUDIES IN ENGLISH AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE

THE AUTHOR OF SANFORD AND MERTON

THE

AUTHOR

OF

SANDFORD AND MERTON LIFE THOMAS

OF DAY,

Esq,

BY

GEORGE WARREN GIGNILLIAT, JR.

NE W COLUMBIA

YORK:

UNIVERSITY

M • CM • XXXII

PRESS

COPYRIGHT 1 9 3 2 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

PRESS

Published April, 1932

PRINTED I N T H E UNITED STATES OF AMERICA GEORGE SANTA PUBLISHING COMPANY, MENASHA, WISCONSIN

TO ANNIE MOORE

PREFACE The author wishes to express his appreciation to a few of the many who have helped him in the preparation of this book. His thanks are especially due to Professor Emest Hunter Wright, who suggested the subject, encouraged and guided the research, and made numerous helpful criticisms upon the manuscript. To the many English people who answered his letters of inquiry (not a single person failed to reply), the author feels very grateful. He owes much to Professor Harold Edgeworth Butler of the University of London, a descendant of Richard Lovell Edgeworth, who furnished useful information and made valuable suggestions about sources of material; and to Mr. Arthur Westwood, Assay Master of Birmingham, England, who gave access to Matthew Boulton's correspondence. Finally he is much indebted to Lieutenant General Sir John Keir, K. C. B.; to Sir Michael Sadler; to Mrs. C. F. Montagu, a great granddaughter of R. L. Edgeworth, of Edgeworthstown, Ireland; to Mr. H. M. Cashmore, City Librarian of Birmingham, England; and to Dr. Emery Neff of Columbia University. G . W . GIGNILLIAT, JR.

Macon, Georgia. January, 1932.

CONTENTS I. Boyhood and Education

1

II. Travels with Edgeworth

36

III. The Adventure in Female Education

53

IV. The Lichfield Group

67

V. Obtaining the Accomplishments VI. Life in the Temple VII. O Gentle Lady of the West! VIII. Cincinnatus IX. The Writer of Children's Books X. Relict and Relics

91 113 14S 167 234 309

Bibliography

351

Index

357

CHAPTER I

BOYHOOD AND EDUCATION The mother of Thomas Day was Jane Bonham of Stepney, the only daughter of a city merchant, Samuel Bonham. About her as a young girl only one incident is given, but it displays excellently that fortitude which was to be her main contribution to Thomas's character. It is the very kind of incident which Day, insistent upon the teaching of hardihood and unselfishness, was to insert into Sandford and Merton and which child readers were to enjoy because of their love of adventure. One day as Jane Bonham and a girl companion were walking across a field, a bull ran toward them, snorting, pawing, shaking his horns. The friend with terror-whitened face and trembling limbs turned to escape. "Wait!" called Jane Bonham. "Don't run. He'll be sure to chase you. If you fall he'll kill you. Don't run. Wait. Now, he's looking at me. Creep toward the stile. I'll see whether I can hold him." And turning her face toward the bull, Jane stood perfectly still. Her fluttering heart seemed rising, choking her. What was the story she had heard as a child about the traveller in the jungle who had controlled a lion with his eyes? That's what she must do with this terrible creature. Steadily she fixed her eyes on his. The bull stopped; then in a fit of rage at the thing which seemed to stand in his way, which he could not chase, he bellowed out a defiance, and tore the ground with feet and horns. Cautiously, not removing her eyes from him, Jane retreated a few steps. With a snort the bull raised his head and trotted towards her. Again her

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steady gaze seemed to check him. Again he furiously put down his head and attacked the turf, while the girl step by step retreated. Oppressed with the fear of stumbling, she drew herself backward, bit by bit traversing infinite space. Would the strained seconds never end? But somehow she did reach the stile and drag herself over it. Shuddering she looked toward the infuriated animal that now roared frantically from the other side of the fence. Some days afterward Jane Bonham and her friend were to shudder again when they heard that this bull had gored his master. The marriage which Jane Bonham made years later was not of the Romeo-Juliet type. It was a good match, the kind which any city merchant with not much money to leave his daughter would have approved. She was a woman of twenty-seven; Thomas Day was a wealthy widower, having a comfortable London home, several country estates, a lucrative position as deputy Collector of Customs Outwards for the Port of London, and, very important, an influential patron, his Grace Robert Duke of Manchester. On May 1, 1746, the marriage was performed at the parish church of St. George's in the East. The rattling of traffic, the piercing street cries were shut out. The shadowy stillness of the church surrounded the couple and their soberly dressed middle-class friends. In measured tones the clergyman read the service; and their low replies scarcely stirred the silence. A few moments more, the final vows had been exchanged. The wigs, knee breeches, silk stockings of Thomas's friends broke their immobility and advanced with compliments; the high head dresses, fans, and voluminous skirts of Jane's friends waved towards her. Now she had been wafted down the aisle, into the handsome coach—and noisy London burst upon her again. Jane came as a bride to a sturdy four-story brick house in an unpretentious, thoroughly respectable community, Wellclose Square. Some of the servants who greeted her, William White and Thomas Ibbs, were old and trusted. And perhaps she trem-

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bled a little when she thought of all the household machinery which she must now manage. But such fears could not last with a young lady who had controlled a bull with her eyes; nor would that benevolent, positive man of affairs, her husband, permit timidity. There were his friends to entertain—George Thombarrow and Thomas Phillips of the Customhouse, and Joseph Letch of the Middle Temple. There were visits over London Bridge to suburban Cambenvell, where Day dined with his "worthy friend, John Whormby," and lavished a paternal love upon John's daughter Ann. And there was her pleasant life as the mistress of a country estate, the Manor of Great Warley in Essex: the fragrance of the hawthorn hedges in May, drives in her coach under the towering beech trees, tea with the vicar in the high-walled sunny garden, visits from some poor widow to whom "good Mr. Day" had been such a friend. The pride which Thomas took in being a landed gentleman, the deference shown him and his wife, the pleasant personal contacts of the place— yes, one could really live in the country. Into the prosperous middle-class home at 42 Wellclose Square, Thomas Day was born, June 22, 1748. Just sixteen days later he was christened at St. George's, the church in which his parents had been married. Appropriately enough, his birthplace was in industrious east-side London. A few blocks south of him lay Wapping, containing a riverside population of sailors; to the north were the market gardens of the city and Whitechapel with its workmen's homes. Westward along the river, past the Tower, the daily course of Thomas's father had led to the Customhouse in which he worked, next door to strident Billingsgate market. Between the workaday London of the east and the elegant residences of the nobility in the west were many worlds: that of commerce, traversing Cheapside and Cornhill and the network of streets within the original London walls; that of law and lawyers from the Temple to Gray's Inn; a pleasure world of theatres and coffee houses clustering round the Strand; and,

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outermost of all, between Lincoln's Inn and Hyde Park, the aristocratic homes, full of fashion, luxury, beauty. But little Thomas, looking westward from his bedroom window, saw instead of the beauty of garden or sunset, the roof of the Danish Church and a row of brick houses as solid and prosaic as his own. With the world of aristocracy the elder Day might have dealings when he secured his collectorship of customs from the Duke of Manchester, or lent three thousand pounds on a house in Berkeley Square; but his friends were in the Temple and the Customhouse, the suburbs and the country. And Thomas the son, going still farther, would cling to the world of work and fight that of aristocratic ease. A little over a year passed. Baby Thomas with the help of his nurse could barely toddle about the street or cling to the pilasters which marked the doonvay of his home. There was plenty for him to hear and see. A never-ending procession of hucksters passed, yelling, " B u y ! Buy! B u y ! " "Sharpen your knives, solder your pans," cried the tinker. "Old clothes, old swords and wigs," called the ragged man with three or four old hats flopping on top of his head. Another hawker asked for buyers of his "nice fresh rabbits." A girl passed wheeling a barrow of fruit: "Chaney oranges! Fine Duke cherries! Quite ripe!" Around the corner came a bawling fellow, ready to give a performance with his bear, his dogs, and his drum. And still the street cries sounded: "Cherry-ripe . . . taffety tarts . . . rosemary and lavender . . . lace and ribbons." Yes, it was a noisy world even in Wellclose Square. But inside Thomas's home things were oppressively still. There was no longer the busy genial father to pick him up. His mother spoke in low tones and never laughed. Everyone tiptoed and whispered; nobody romped with him. And Dr. Dell came frequently.. On July 24, 1749, Thomas's father died, leaving to the little

BOYHOOD AND E D U C A T I O N

S

fellow an estate of about a thousand pounds a year. 1 Only six weeks before his death the father with affectionate solicitude had worked out the system which was to care for his many dependents, and especially for his son. 2 His estate was to be administered by friends whom he trusted implicitly: John Whormby, who, judging from the size of the bequest left him, must have been Day's favorite, George Thornbarrow and Thomas Phillips, 3 his associates in the Customhouse, John Budget of Bread Street, and Joseph Letch, a lawyer of the Middle Temple. Should this group be reduced to two by death, they were to elect an additional two who were to have full powers as trustees and executors. To each of the five he left fifty pounds "in consideration of the trouble they may be at in the execution of the trusts." They were to have the power of giving leases on property for a period not exceeding twenty-one years "at the full improved rents without taking any fine or foregift." Each executor was to be paid the costs of business transacted, was to be responsible only for property which passed through his hands, and was not accountable for any loss to the estate happening without his willful neglect. These trustees, so carefully selected and safeguarded, received for Thomas's benefit an estate which included thirty-five hundred pounds, shares in 1

Anna Seward says that there was an estate of £1,200 a year, out of which Mrs. Day received a £300 annuity, and that in 1770 Day's estate was a clear £1,200 per year. Edgeworth says that at Thomas Day's death in 1789, his estate amounted to £20,000 less than he had recently estimated it. See (1) Seward, Anna, Memoirs of the Life of Dr. Darwin, London, Johnson, 1804, p. 27. (2) Letters of Anna Seward Written between the Years 1784-1807, Edinburgh, 1811, II, 329. (3) Edgeworth, R. L., Memoirs of Richard Lovell Edgeworth, Esq., London, Hunter, 1820, II, 106. 2 The will, extracted from the Principal Registry of the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice, was dated June 11, 1749, and proved July 31, 1749. ' If Thomas the son died, Phillips was left an additional hundred pounds.

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Eddystone and Portland Lights, the London home, and much land in the country at Pertenhall and Keysoe in Bedford, at Foulness in Essex, and at Swineshead in Huntingdon. These estates, since they could not be leased for more than twenty-one years, would necessarily come under the direct control of Thomas soon after he attained his majority, thus giving him a ready-made interest in agriculture. From this son's estate the trustees were to "apply such . . . sums of money for the use, bringing up, maintenance, and education of my son Thomas Day as they . . . shall think proper and necessary until he shall attain the age of twenty-one years; and so soon as he shall have attained that age . . . they . . . shall convey, surrender, and assure all my residuary . . . estate unto my son." 4 Thomas's education, pocket money, and style of living for the next twenty years were then to depend very largely on the ideas of his father's old friends concerning the "proper and necessary." And we need not be surprised that while these ideas permitted a university education, they hardly went so far as to permit a continental tour. Not merely did Thomas inherit wealth from his father. As one reads through these numerous bequests, a feeling comes that here was a generous spirit which was to give abundantly of its nobility to the boy. From the estate, most of which Day himself had acquired, he willed in specific bequests to others beside his son the Manor of Great Warley in Essex and over nine thousand pounds. First of these bequests, indicative of his gratitude and deference to a patron, was the return of the letters-patent office of Collector of Customs Outwards in the Port of London to Robert Duke of Manchester, and a gift to him of three thousand pounds subject to an annuity of sixty pounds to Mrs. Day during her life. On Mrs. Day a jointure had already been settled. In addition she was willed during her life an annuity of about a ' T h e will has no punctuation. That given in the extracts is my own.

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7

hundred and forty pounds5 and the Manor of Great Warley. Should her son Thomas die without heirs, she was to have half of his estate after the deduction of numerous bequests. To John Whormby, one of the executors and trustees, Day left the largest sum, three thousand pounds; and in case Thomas died without issue before coming of age (a very probable happening in that day of high infant mortality), Whormby was to receive the Eddystone and Portland Lights stock, and his daughter Ann was to get one sixth of the residuary estate. The will shows many wide and benevolent interests of Day, both as the city man of affairs and as the country gentleman. Well over a hundred and fifty people are remembered: his house servants, his clerks at the Customhouse, the poor of the country parishes of Kimbolton in Huntingdon and Great Warley in Essex. The first words of the will, " I , Thomas Day, of Great Warley in the County of Essex, Esquire," and the frequent bequests to friends and dependents in the country show how much he loved rural life. To many of these friends he has evidently lent money with no intention of ever collecting it. To a woman debtor he displays not only liberality but tact: " I release the daughter of the late William Partesoyle of Swineshead from all the money she owes me on her copyhold estate at Swineshead, as also the said estate, and give unto her for her sole and separate use the further sum of five pounds." This additional five pounds cleverly conveys the idea that he is not reluctantly giving up a bad debt but gladly making a gift. The same bountiful tact is displayed in the gift of twenty guineas to each of the parish churches of Kimbolton and Great Warley for communion plate, and a guinea apiece to a number of poor people. A good example of Day's affectionate solicitude for several poor women is his bequest to ' T h i s would be composed of £60 a year from the £3,000 left the Duke of Manchester and the interest on an additional £2,000. Mrs. Day would probably have had a total income somewhat in excess of the £300 mentioned by Miss Seward.

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Mary Peacock, whom he has helped before: "I give and devise to Mary Peacock of Pertenhall in the County of Bedford the use of the house she lives in and also the four acres of land I purchased of her, for and during her natural life; the same to be paid out of the rent of my farm at Pertenhall in the occupation of William Lee, which I hereby charge with the payment thereof without any manner of deductions whatsoever. I also charge my said farm with the repairs of the house the said Mary Peacock lives in during her natural life, the same to be done as often as is needful." And so Mary Peacock would always have a roof and food, though not a great temporary display of fine feathers. Other women, "Mrs. Alice James widow," "Mrs. Susannah Parker," and "the wife of John Vinnicombe of Lomans pound. Southwark," are to have small annuities payable quarterly from the dividends of the shares in Eddystone and Portland Lights. But Day would not allow this money to be taken as a matter of course by a selfish husband: "the said annuity given to the said —Vinnicombe shall be paid to her own sole and separate use or to such person as she shall for that purpose appoint in writing for her use or otherwise as she shall direct and not to be under the controul of her said husband and that her receipt alone shall be a good discharge to my executors for the payment thereof." Out of the numerous bequests come occasional glints of unconscious humor. Day leaves to his friend Phillip Parsell, a lover of fine clothes, "two hundred pounds and also two of my best suits of cloaths, one dozen of my best shirts, my best hatt, and two best perriwigs." Patience Thomas Adams may, if he survives Mrs. Day and her son, enjoy the Manor of Great Warley for the rest of his life. But a friend of more aggressive name, James Hoper, receives an immediate bequest: "all the money and interest which he owes me on bond." Apparent throughout the will are the positiveness and decision of a man of affairs. Specific directions are given as to the means of paying annuities and administering the estate. Even in

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small details Day shows a realization of the uncertainty of human nature. "And to my servants William White and Thomas Ibbs I give the further sum [ten pounds had already been given to each servant] of ten pounds a piece in case they are living with me at the time of my decease but not otherwise." Again, " I also give to my said wife all my jewells, plate, and pictures, except the picture of my late wife, which I give to Diana Gregory." Thomas Day, benevolent and positive, man of business and country gentleman, had he lived, might have been the great sane, steadying influence in his son's life. A full measure of his generosity and his force the boy did receive—and a wealth which was to foster his independence. But his large fund of worldly practicality the father could not will his son. And even the strong-hearted mother and the five conservative trustees were unable to instill it into him. The care of this boy now became the great interest in Mrs. Day's life. Two things she wished above all to give him—fortitude and physical strength. London did not seem to provide the healthy surroundings necessary; but since her friends and the trustees of her husband's estate were there, it was best to take a house near the city. Accordingly she settled at Stoke Newington, a village three or four miles to the north of her old home. There when Thomas was a little older she might walk with him to Hackney Downs; and when he became a very big boy, to Finsbury Park. Certainly she was very successful in her ideals for Thomas's training. He grew up a sturdy little stoic. During a life of high ideals and correspondingly bitter disappointments, he was always somehow able to retire within himself or to find solace in physical exercise. From this life at Stoke Newington" comes an incident which * John Blackman, whom I usually suspect of drawing on a conventional Victorian imagination to fill up gaps, pictures Mrs. Day as living here in a small commodious house, surrounded by a choice circle of intellectual

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illustrates Thomas's bent thus early toward unrelenting investigation and outspoken criticism. When he was a mere child in petticoats learning how to read, he had been turned loose with the Bible. Many things, of course, he did not understand, but his friends should—and he plagued them with questions. Especially attractive to him, as they should be to any future prophet, were the striking descriptions contained in Revelations. One day, seated close by his mother, he was reading the seventeenth chapter. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name written, M Y S T E R Y , BABYLON T H E G R E A T , T H E M O T H E R OF HARLOTS A N D A B O M I N A T I O N S OF T H E EARTH.

On and on the child read the angel's explanation of the seven heads and the ten horns and the Whore of Babylon: And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

"Mother," said the little boy, not at all satisfied by the angel's exposition of the matter, "who is the Whore of Babylon?" "Why—er—my son," said Mrs. Day evasively, "I hardly know. But you may ask the rector the next time he visits us." The child was quiet, and his mother thought the question had passed from his mind. friends and admirers; as regularly attending the parish church; as expatiating to Thomas, during their Sunday walks, on the beneficence of God. Blackmail, John, A Memoir of the Life and Writings of Thomas Day, London, Leno, 1862, pp. 17-19.

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A good many days later the clergyman, with considerable other company, was present at Mrs. Day's. Suddenly the polite chatter was silenced by a high-pitched childish voice. "Sir," called out little Thomas, standing in the middle of the floor, directly before the parson, "I want to know who the Whore of Babylon is." Embarrassed at the peremptory question, the parson stuttered and stumbled, then took cowardly refuge, as had many a teacher before, in mere words: "My dear, that is allegorical." "Allegorical!" said Thomas, "I do not understand that word." He stopped, pondered. Then throwing a look of contempt at the minister, he ran up to his mother and whispered, "He knows nothing about it.'" Thomas Day, the outspoken investigator, must have been something of a trial to his teachers. Among the friendly visitors to Mrs. Day at Stoke Newington was Thomas Phillips, an usher in the Customhouse, a friend and trustee of Thomas Day's father. It would come about naturally that the young widow would turn to him for advice; and, reenforced by memories of her husband's opinion, hold him in considerable esteem. Natural also was the deepening of this esteem into an affection which resulted in marriage. After all, Jane Bonham had come only into the fag-end of a very busy man's life—a life which had already burnt out its first love ardor. Perhaps there sometimes sprang into her mind that sentence from her husband's will: "I also give to my said wife all my iewells, plate, and pictures, except the picture of my late wife, which I give to Diana Gregory." Now with a long life before her, she felt the need of a companion and the appeal of poor, trustworthy Thomas Phillips. And so she married him." * The incident is given by Keir, p. 108. "The marriage, says Blackman (p. 19), came in 17S5.

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EDUCATION

I t a p p e a r s t o h a v e been a h a p p y m a r r i a g e . T h o u g h T h o m a s D a y during his m i n o r i t y m a y h a v e s m a r t e d o c c a s i o n a l l y u n d e r the a u t h o r i t y of his stepfather and trustee, h e seems v e r y soon a f t e r h e c a m e of a g e to h a v e h a d feelings of confidence

and

friendship for h i m . 9 T h o m a s , now p r o b a b l y a b o u t seven y e a r s old, w a s sent to a child's school a t Stoke Newington, a n d M r . a n d M r s . Phillips w e n t t o live a t a c o u n t r y h o m e , Rarehill n e a r W a r g r a v e , s h i r e . 1 0 I t was during this first s e p a r a t i o n 1 1

Berk-

f r o m his m o t h e r

t h a t h e h a d smallpox, t r a c e s of which were to set h i m off s h a r p l y f r o m others, t o affect adversely his social life, a n d to c o n t r i b u t e m u c h t o w a r d his development into a stoic. 'Phillips, according to Blackman (pp. 17-19), was a fortune-hunter and a tyrant; he disliked Thomas and treated him with severity; and the boy's love of freedom probably came from revolt against this tyranny. Blackman must base this account on Anna Seward's Life of Darwin (pp. 27-28), which he quotes. Her story runs thus: Day often described Phillips to her as a common character who tried to supply his "want of consequence by a busy teizing interference" in the affairs of others. Mrs. Day under the influence of Phillips frequently made Thomas uncomfortable; but the boy paid him, as his mother's husband, an outward respect. Let us remember that Miss Seward likes to paint in glowing colors and that Day himself is decidedly emphatic. In 1770, when she knew Day, he doubtless expressed resentment at Phillips's interference with him, probably a twofold interference: a refusal to permit him during his minority to travel in Europe, and an attempted interference with his radical scheme (see below) for obtaining a wife. Smarting from this opposition the young man may have called his stepfather a meddler. And Miss Seward, intent upon painting Day as a very noble man, would make him seem still nobler if she represented him as helping a stepfather who had been guilty of a "teizing interference." The few references to Phillips in Day's letters, however, express a real esteem. And it is probable that Miss Seward's account simply exaggerated an expression of youthful impatience. 10 Blackman (p. 20) hints that this separation was for the mutual comfort of Day and his mother. 11 Blackman, p. 20.

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Recovered somewhat from this smallpox, the boy went to his mother's home at Barehill. Here he rested for a while, and then proceeded to the Charterhouse school in London. This school into which nine-year-old, pock-marked Thomas Day entered 12 had in its history and regulations many elements which would mingle with and confirm in a boy of sensitive temper the double strain of stoicism and humanitarianism, heroism and benevolence. And these traditions, we may be sure, Thomas imbibed, for he boarded with and was under the direct care of that staunch product of the Charterhouse, Dr. Lewis Eberhard Crusius, schoolmaster from 1748 to 1769. Crusius had gone through the machine which made out of the gownboy a classical scholar: rising at six, eating his spare meals of beer and bread, grinding out his Latin verses; then examined by inspectors, counted fit for learning, sent to the university as an exhibitioner at twenty pounds a year; at last graduated from Cambridge, fitting into the church position to which all this training had led; finally elected to be schoolmaster13 at the pitifully small salary of a hundred pounds. Yes, "Dr. Crusius . . . a master well known for his ability and discipline," was a Charterhouse product who would try to make others on the same Spartan lines on which he had been moulded. "Keir's statement ( L i f e of Day, p. S) that Day stayed here eight or nine years would make him seven or eight at entrance. Andrew Kippis (Thomas Day, Esq., in Biographia Brilannica, 2nd ed., London, Nichols, etc., 1793, V, 21) says he entered about the age of nine. I prefer the latter version because it is based on the assertion of Mrs. Day and Lowndes, Day's nephew, and because it is nearer the minimum age of ten at which foundation scholars were taken in. "Only a year after becoming schoolmaster, Crusius came into conflict with Nicholas Mann, the master. Mann inflicted a fine on Crusius for a defect in his duties; Crusius appealed to the Governors, who excused him. The Governors later were to show their approval by giving him a vote of thanks and an increase in pay. See Davies, G. S., The Charterhouse in London, London, Murray, 1921, p. 260.

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The buildings themselves carried the history and memories of things which outright little Thomas would have abhorred or admired. The stout iron-studded oak door through which he passed on first entering had hung there in the days when this was a Carthusian monastery. And above it had been nailed the arm of a brave monk, Prior Houghton. Even Thomas's companions in the lower form could tell him the story of the martyred Carthusians who had once walked so gravely in white robes through these corridors and courts: Henry VIII, the one who had so many wives, had declared himself the head of the English church; the Carthusians had refused to recognize him as such; Prior Houghton, with other leaders, had been thrown into the Tower, taken to Tyburn, hacked to pieces—and that good right arm of Houghton, which had refused to sign submission to a tyrant, had been nailed over the gate as a warning to the other monks. What happened to the arm? Oh, it was taken up, placed in a chest, and buried in the Charterhouse vaults somewhere. Perhaps the schoolmaster, the school captain, and some of the monitors knew where it was. And the rest of the monks, did they bow before tyrant Henry as head of the English church? A few perhaps who had no pluck. But ten of them were real heroes; died in prison of fever and starvation, chained upright. Ah, they were real Carthusians. The places associated with these monks Thomas could view for himself: austere rock-walled Washhouse Court, where the lay brothers had lived; the Duke of Norfolk's arcade, gloomy, cloisterlike, with a monk's cell at the end of it. One could almost see the white-robed brothers walking down it from their cells, heads bowed, arms folded. The very Green which was to be his playground had once been the monk's cloisters, surrounded by cottage cells of men who lived apart from the world that they might pray for it. The school of a hundred boys now occupying part of the

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Charterhouse grounds also lived apart from the world. Particularly was this true for the forty black-robed gownboys and the twenty boarders with that disciplinarian and schoolmaster, Dr. Crusius." Meals, sleep, lessons, recreations, religious services— all these must be with one's fellows inside the grounds. It was a Spartan life 18 : a breakfast of bread and beer and cheese, dinner of meat and bread, supper of bread and beer and cheese; rising at 5, coming to school at 6 or 7, leaving school at 6 in the afternoon, roll call at 9 by the monitor, at 10 a visit by the usher to see that the boys were settled for the night, two in a bed! During working hours the scholars were busily pumped full of writing, mathematics, and classical languages, the emphasis of course being on the last. A large part of this work was done in a magnificent old Jacobean hall, Gownboy Writing School. Up the huge square oak columns the eyes of many a school boy had wandered to the panelled ceiling richly decorated with the arms of the first Governors of Charterhouse. The only thing to recall those wandering eyes was one of the four teachers. All of the instruction in the six forms (and probably two additional under forms) was done by these: the schoolmaster, the usher, the assistant usher, and, occasionally, the writing master. No wonder that the board of examiners should find in 1742 "the scholars of the general forms . . . deficient in their compositions " I n addition there were about a dozen each in the following groups: town boys, boarders with Mrs. Bathurst, and Metaics (a group for which I have not yet received an explanation; probably boarders in town). These figures are based on "List of Charterhouse Boys from 1759 to 1765" pasted into the earliest school register of Charterhouse. Boys in this list were at school some time during the years mentioned. In 1769 (Davies, Charterhouse, p. 254) the schoolmaster, after providing more room, could accommodate only 23 boarders. " I am speaking here of the life led by the gownboy or foundation scholar, to which the life of a boarder with the schoolmaster probably approximated.

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. . . the whole school not to be sufficiently grounded in Grammar." 16 Into this Spartan régime entered Thomas Day, extremely young,17 rather ugly, friendless. Well for the lad that his mother had given him a healthy outdoor training, that he was of a manly nature. Life, he found, was not all submission to rules. Big boys would bully and others would toady. Some would "tib out," 18 and brag intolerably about their adventures of the day. There were even occasional clashes with authority. The story was still told of the insurrection of gownboys in the days of the headmaster preceding Dr. Crusius.19 They had dashed water over an offending maid of the matron, shattered the windows of the matron's room, and then run yelling on the Green, refusing to enter the house. Only starvation and temporary expulsion had brought these Carthusian rebels to submission. But this very Green which had seen the assembly of the rebels was the playground of the school and the place where the young boy had to gain for himself physical recognition. He might run and jump, play cricket, or kick a ball. But the great sport, one into which even young Thomas could enter, was chasing hoops around the Green. Those most expert raced round the quarter mile track driving four hoops at once, past Chapel, the Cloisters, along the Monks Woods, to the winning post or Crown painted on the old east wall. It was a triumph to do that. The deciding test of a boy's standing with his fellows must be the fight. And how could sturdy, outspoken Thomas Day esM Charterhouse Papers, Feb. 8, 1741-42 in the Carthusian, X, No. 363, p. 34. " Day at nine was three or four years younger than the average foundation scholar at entrance. Marsh, B. and Crisp, F. A., Alumni Carthusiani. A Record of the Foundation Scholars of Charterhouse 1614-1872, London, privately printed, 1913, p. 126. 10 " Play truant for the day. Davies, p. 260.

BOYHOOD AND EDUCATION

17

cape that ordeal? At least once he went through it.20 A circle of eager boys had instinctively surrounded him and his opponent, shutting out the Green, on which they had just been playing. Lustily the two struck out with bare fists. The thud of a blow on the body, the sharp smack of a fist landing on the face, deep-drawn breaths—it was all tremendously exciting to little Thomas. Exultation stirred him as he felt he was holding his own. More lustily still he lunged at the other chap's face. It was easier to reach now. Somehow those arms didn't get in his way. Why, the boy's face had gone white, he had commenced to totter. Where was the fun of beating a fellow who was just keeping on out of shame of being defeated before his schoolmates? A sharp tug came to Thomas's heart as he looked at the anxious eyes and pain-twisted mouth of the beaten boy. "Let's stop!" he shouted. And then he was grasping his opponent's hand, telling him that he was a brave, plucky fellow. No doubt the group of boys broke up, a little disappointed and puzzled, but at least one of them, William Seward, realized that about Thomas Day there was something noble. It was in William Seward, only a year his senior, that Day found a friend and admirer. This boy, son of a wealthy Cripplegate brewer, occupied about the same financial and social place as Day, and had literary interests in common with him. The strongest tie, however, was doubtless the admiration which Seward, a rather sickly lad, had for Day's physical courage. And well he might admire it, for Day rescued him from peril once at a great personal risk.21 But Day's "closest and most intimate" 22 friend was John Bicknell, a boy of impressive abili20 No date is given for this fight. It was probably not at the very beginning of Day's life at Charterhouse. See Keir, p. 11. M Keir's vague statement (Day, p. 108) based on Seward's keeps me from giving any concrete details here. 23 Kippis, Day in Biographia Britannica, p. 21.

BOYHOOD AND EDUCATION

18

ties.23 With him Day must have shared his aspirations to become a great lawyer, speaker, and writer. A few years later Day was to room with him as a law student, to have him as a listener to his first political speech, and to collaborate with him in his first printed poem of note. While friends sympathized with his aspirations, the great figures connected with Charterhouse history served to embody them. And these figures in ruff, doublet and hose would emerge more and more plainly before a boy who walked through the courts and galleries with eager imagination. What heroic visions must have clustered round Thomas Howard, one-time owner of these grounds! Howard matching his little ship the Golden Lion against the towering galleons of the Armada, Howard kneeling on the quarter-deck of the Ark for Lord Admiral Effingham to knight him, Howard with his squadron burning the Spanish ships at Cadiz. Ah, and was there not now many an old gentleman pensioner who, sitting down in his black robe, twisting his cane, could tell of heroic actions fought in India, Europe, and America?24 But there were some dastards who had lived in Charterhouse. North, the timeserver, once its master, had extorted money for Henry VIII, and had led an unscrupulous successful career till, the tradition ran, he had impoverished himself with gorgeous entertainments to Elizabeth here. The Great Chamber with its many-hued tapestries and its magnificent black-columned mantel, had once held Queen Elizabeth and her brilliantly garbed courtiers, who doffed plumed hats in stately bows. What could such a life of display and vanity bring but ruin? And here the vanity of those days had ruined another dastard, Thomas Duke of Norfolk. Not satisfied with being the richest and noblest born s

® Edge-worth's

24

Memoirs,

I, 187.

The old officer has always been a familiar figure among the gentlemen pensioners at Charterhouse. Thackeray used this fact in making Colonel Newcome a pensioner here.

BOYHOOD AND E D U C A T I O N

19

of peers, he had planned a marriage with Mary Queen of Scots, and had plotted with the Spanish emissary Ridolfi in these very halls to unite his forces with the Duke of Alva's in an attack on Elizabeth. And the conclusion of all this was Norfolk's arrest on the Great Staircase, his imprisonment in the Tower, his execution as a traitor. The figure which bulked largest in every Carthusian's life was that of Thomas Sutton, the founder. The chapel in which the school boys and pensioners assembled for daily services was reminiscent of him. The northern part, where Thomas Day and the other boarders sat, had been built with Sutton's money; the tomb of the founder was there as a visible reminder of his life and purpose. Even from the stillness of that darkened corner the benevolent life was proclaimed by the tomb with all its heraldry and allegory: the figure of charity carrying a child; the richly emblazoned Sutton arms; a bas-relief of a minister in a pulpit preaching to a group of reverent black-gowned men. Below this was the epitaph on a tablet of black marble. 25 Here lieth buried the B o d y of T h o m a s Sutton, Esquire, at whose only costs and charges the Hospital was founded, and endowed with large possessions for the relief of poor men and children: he was a gentleman born at K n a y t h in the County of Lincoln of worthy and honest parentage: he lived to the age of seventy-nine years and deceased the 12th of D e c e m b e r 1611.

Below this rested the effigy of the founder, a venerable whitehaired man with patriarchal beard, clad in citizen's gown. The high pillow, the Elizabethan ruff could not detract from the reposeful dignity of those folded hands and that calm, decided face. Many a time Thomas, seated in the northern bay of Chapel, looked over the darkly gleaming wood of the pews with their carved heads, listened to the organ and the boy voices pealing 25

Davies, p. 219.

20

BOYHOOD AND EDUCATION

amid the arches, bowed with the black-clothed gownboys and pensioners as thanks were given for the beneficent spirit of Thomas Sutton. Often the Reverend Samuel Salter,28 or some other preacher for the day, revived the story of a life sufficient to launch a kind-hearted boy upon a sea of noble dreams. How well they all knew the old story: Thomas Sutton, sturdy captain in Elizabeth's service and surveyor of the Queen's ordnance; Sutton, who had equipped against the Armada a bark said to have captured a galleon worth ¿20,000; Sutton, reported the wealthiest commoner of his time; Sutton, living a retired, dignified old age, refusing to buy a title with his money, hoarding it for his grand purpose of a foundation where poor boys might be educated and impoverished gentlemen lead a peaceful old age. How base did timeserving North and vain Norfolk seem! How much nobler the life of an independent gentleman of means living apart from worldly corruptions, using his wealth for the education and support of others! Yes, the choice that lay before a man was very simple. He could serve his country, lead a plain life, help the poor, and die blessed. Or he could waste his life and money in vain struggles for personal advancement, and die accursed. Year by year in the Spartan surroundings of Charterhouse Day's character was being formed. His natural disposition was toward fortitude and sympathy—and in this schoolboy life there were many things to develop both characteristics. Undoubtedly the boy stood out from his companions.27 Outspoken and decided in opinion, he must have borne many a schoolboy attack of ridicule and physical violence. Sympathetic and generous, he must have dipped into his pocket often to supply the needs of a "Preacher 1754 to 1761, master 1761 to 1778. Davies, pp. 349-SO. " O n the faded slip of paper containing the list of Charterhouse boys from 1759 to 1765, there is only one name that has by it a comment; that is written in pencil by Day's: "Wilson's wonderful character." Just who Wilson was is not given, but the note is additional evidence that sturdy Thomas had made his mark.

BOYHOOD AND EDUCATION

21

poverty-stricken gownboy. Like Harry Sandford28 he could fight stoutly against a bully, take his beating without a whimper, give his goods to feed the poor, and (we suspect) talk like a prig. For was not "the main object of his academical pursuits . . . the discovery of moral truths." One fears that thus early he had become a moral lecturer and that his studies of the ancient classics,'9 especially the Stoics, only set him more firmly in his course. But very little could be done about it. To ridicule he was impervious. Physical assault found him a stout fighter. Reason only encouraged him in "the severity of logical induction." On the other hand, he was exceedingly generous, had a decided personality, and, final link in his defensive armor, was consistently virtuous. No, against male violence he was impervious, and to female charms he had not yet been exposed. At the age of fifteen he had climbed from the usher's classes up to the fourth form, probably under Crusius himself.30 Here, if we may take as indicative a schedule of nearly twenty years before, he learned of love from Ovid's Metamorphoses, of conduct from Aesop's Fables, of verse-making from Bysshe's Art oj Poetry.31 There was much studying of Greek and Latin grammars, much parsing and construing, much writing of exercises, themes, and verses in Latin, Greek, and English. In the eyes of his schoolfellows32 Day's verses and themes were not elegantly * Keir describes him in his youth as like Harry. Blackman, p. 21, states that at Charterhouse, Day avoided mingling in frivolous amusements and cruel sports (such as bird-nesting); saved his pocket money; gave to the poor, the distressed, and (often) the unworthy. " Keir, from whom this account is taken (p. 7), is vague as to whether these came at Charterhouse or Oxford. Day must have read some of them at Charterhouse. "European Magazine, X I X , 4 2 7 ; X X V I I , 8. n Carthusian, X , No. 362, p. 18. " Keir, p. 6. The schoolfellow cited here must have been William Seward, the only one of Day's schoolmates who seems to have rendered assistance in the biography.

22

BOYHOOD AND EDUCATION

expressed; but they were "conspicuous.. .for ingenuity and solidity of matter." And this decided youth, who "was not diverted by the dread of ridicule" from anything he undertook, even dared to send his verse and prose to be published in the Public Advertiser under the signature of Knife and Fork. Day's last year at Charterhouse probably found him in the fifth form under Dr. Crusius. With only a few scholars above him, he was beginning to taste something of the freedom which he was to enjoy at Oxford. And there he was going now, not as a twenty-pound-a-year exhibitioner from the Charterhouse, who might be compelled to eke out his living by taking a servitor's place, but as an independent gentleman commoner. This was an Oxford of contrasts to which earnest Thomas Day came in search of knowledge. A narrow curving lane, over which the upper stories of houses projected, meandered through noisy market stalls past a gothic gateway. It was only a few steps through this gateway to the secluded, silent cloisters of a college quadrangle. Here walked the portly don in rusty black gown and grizzle wig, intent upon getting an appetite for dinner, dreaming of that two-hundred-pound benefice in Kent which had been promised to him when the old vicar died. The dream was interrupted by the rustle of a gentleman commoner in his silk gown, and upon him the don smiled graciously, wishing that he also had enough money to vary this deadly monotony with a spree at the Mitre. On Oxford streets the fluttering fopling of the university dangled his cloudy-headed cane, damned the market-cart driver that splattered filth on his red-topped shoes, and picked his way toward the meeting of the Poetical Club at the Three Tuns; and the drunken bully swaggered by, laughing at the spluttering protestations of the little clerk whom he had brushed into the gutter. Sir Fopling on reaching his club spent a whole afternoon with the other members in sipping claret and in making poetic epigrams on the charms of the new

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23

barmaid; and the glories of tree-bordered Christ Church Meadow, of winding Isis, of Blenheim Forest were unseen and unsung. In Merton Walks the painted belle smiled her prettiest at the great catch, Lord Richly's son; in the market place a fish-monger was selling his wife for twenty guineas, handing over to the waterman, her new master, the rope by which he had been leading her. While the mason's trowel rang on the stone which was helping to raise that great example of Oxford charity, the Radcliffe Infirmary, the judge's droning voice at the Oxford Assizes was sentencing a petty thief to life exportation. Those dreaming spires and lofty domes of the university, once homes of religion and learning, now sheltered sloth and frivolity, dissipation and brutality; "religion has dwindled down to a rollcall, and education may be found anywhere save in the lectureroom." 3 3 To this city of contrasts came young Day, with whose principles and ideals nothing could form a greater contrast than the general university atmosphere. Especially contributory to the frivolity and dissipation of that atmosphere was the class to which Day belonged, the gentleman commoners. Dick Dashit, the commoner, was privileged. At six the college bell rang for chapel, but Dick merely snored the louder while servitors and fellows, half-clothed, made a wild scramble to get into their places before the door was closed. Disdaining the humble breakfast of smoking toast and buttery ale, he slept till ten. Waking as a servitor made up his fire, he started off the day with a rousing good drink of brandy. Then to Horseman's coffee house for a substantial meal. As Dashit entered, the waiter spied his silken gown, velvet hat with the golden tassel—sign of the privileged and wealthy class—and rushed up to give service " Green, (Rev.) J . R. and Roberson, (Rev.) George, Studies in Oxford History Chiefly in the Eighteenth Century. In Oxford Historical Society Publications, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1901, X L I , 30.

24

BOYHOOD AND EDUCATION

and receive a tirade of gentlemanly abuse. A toadying friend also approached and got himself invited to a meal, which he paid for by praising Dashit's red silk stockings, by damning Wilkes, and by drinking healths to King George. Breakfast over, Dashit lounged into the coffee house library, selected the latest French novel and the most recent volume of Tristram Shandy, and settled himself for a moming of rest. Tutors and lectures be hanged! He'd drink with the dons but not listen to them; and they preferred that kind of attention anyhow. Two o'clock came. He must be getting back to his room to dress for dinner. Special appointment with the barber to curl his peruke, and the tailor was to have his new sleeve ruffles ready. At three the young exquisite was ready: peruke newly curled and powdered, white satin coat, white silk stockings, low shoes with elegant silver buckles. He sat with the other richly dressed commoners under the picture of the stern-faced founder, who had established this college for the propagation of religion true and undefiled. A threadbare servitor waited on him, looking hungrily at the choice meats with which he played. The conversation went on merrily—of Phyllis, who had taken that phaeton ride with a certain young lord of Abingdon, of the most effective place for Delia to put a patch, of the respective merits of horses to run at the next Woodstock races and cocks to be fought at Holywell pit. Dinner ended, Dick showed his sociability with the other gentlemen by smoking a pipe in the common room and telling with supercilious gesture a story about Dr. Randolph, President of Corpus Christi: "Remember how he is always muttering, Mors omnibus communis? Well, the old fellow's horse stumbled on Magdalen bridge today. He didn't notice the group that gathered; but dropped the reins, drew up the waistband of his breeches, crossed his arms, and exclaimed, Mors omnibus communis! Some gownsmen pulled up the horse,

BOYHOOD AND EDUCATION

25

and a wag whispered, 'This is Oxford, not heaven, sir.' "a* Dashit dropped the attitude of pious resignation which he had assumed and gave the Doctor's customary guttural ejaculation, a noise somewhat between a cough and the postman's horn. His audience went into a fit of laughter. They vowed that he should be the next terrae filius at the Oxford Encaenia and take off the incident before the whole university. Dick left this applause for the real business of the day. A fencing lesson at Paniotti's. Betting on the cock fight at Holywell pit. Tea with Delia, and a stroll beside her on the Magdalen Water Walk: the billowing hoop skirt, waving fan, high head dress—and from behind all these protections the coquettish eyes which looked on approvingly as he read a poem in her honor, full of gods and goddesses, laves and waves, gales and tales. Satisfied that he had done his duty as heart-smasher, he left a lingering kiss upon Delia's hand and betook himself to more solid refreshment, in fact, to the cook shop of that famous Ben Tyrrell, who served such wonderful mutton pies. Other young blades were there. With a few of these Dick spent the rest of the night at cards. The next morning Dick Dashit, enriched by his gaming of the night before, got a stout horse from Blagrave's, and splashed out on the road to pass the heavy coach rumbling toward London. But let him tell the story in his own words: " M o n d a y Rode to town in six hours; saw two last acts of Hamlet; at night with Polly Brown. Tuesday—Saw Harlequin the Sorcerer; at night with Polly again. Wednesday—-Saw Macbeth; at night with Sally Parker, Polly engaged. Thursday—set out for Oxford—a d-d muzzy place." 35 And then he would brag to his 14 Except for the last sentence, this is essentially the story told about Randolph by R. L. Edgeworth, Memoirs, I, 93. " Q u o t e d from a quotation in Green, Studies in Oxford History, p. 81.

26

BOYHOOD A N D E D U C A T I O N

fellow members of the Amorous Club about the beautiful lady of quality who had fallen prey to his victorious arts. But there were certain excuses for this conduct of young Dashit, fresh from the schoolmaster's rod, turned loose now with a generous allowance and no duties. If he studied his books, he was called "morose," "a heavy bookish" fellow. His very initiation might be a drinking bout, and the opinion which his tutor held of him was often based on his wine rather than his mentality. Eager to criticize those who made some pretense of enforcing musty college laws, he was furnished with abundant encouragement and opportunity. A group of flatterers attended his private dinners and applauded his sarcasms. In truth officers elected by rotation, not by fitness, were often worse than useless. The proctor who attempted to make him withdraw from the tavern at midnight was probably slightly intoxicated himself. The chaplain who conducted religious exercises in his college was "admonished for his misbehaviour, drunkenness, extravagance, and other irregularities" "before the President, Seniors, and Officers"; and later, though allowed, from pity for his circumstances, to perform the duties of his office, was forbidden as "unfit to eat, drink, or sleep within the college walls." 30 Three-fourths of the university members were students intended for divinity or graduates engaged in the profession of divinity. Yet their scholarship was slothful and unproductive, and their religious spirit went no farther than a public assent (at matriculation) to the Thirty-Nine Articles, which in private they ridiculed as illogical and contradictory. The life of one of these poor students seemed terribly dull to Dashit: waiting four years for a Bachelor's degree, waiting two more for a Master's, settling down as a fellow to wait till some interminable old vicar died. " T h i s occurred in the case of John Modd, w h o became chaplain of Corpus Christi during Day's last year. Fowler, Thomas, The History of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, printed for Oxford Historical Society, 1893, pp. 289, 296.

BOYHOOD AND E D U C A T I O N

27

Long Time he watches, and by Stealth, Each frail Incumbent's doubtful Health; At length—and in his fortieth year, A Living drops—two hundred clear!37 If this kind of life prepared a man to be a vicar, reasoned Dick, why shouldn't playing cards and fighting cocks prepare him to represent the pocket borough which his father was to give him soon after he came of age? And yet amid lively Dick Dashits and slothful pedants, Thomas Day led an earnest, purposeful life at Corpus Christi. The "main object of his academical pursuits was the discovery of moral truths, which he investigated with the severity of logical induction and the depth of metaphysical research." 38 He read the classical historians and poets, the works of Xenophon and Plato, the institutions of Lycurgus, the conversations of Socrates, the philosophy of the Stoics. From them he gained a contempt for wealth, ease, and pleasure; an admiration for heroism and magnanimity, for simplicity and purity of manners. He determined to devote "his passions, pleasures, fortune and talents to virtue." And these principles of conduct, formed and adopted by the boy in his teens, "were the invariable rule by which all his actions were governed"; from them "he was not diverted by the dread of ridicule . . . by the impulse of passions . . . by the allurements of pleasure, nor by the assimilating manners of the age." 38 One pauses in amazement at this contrast between Thomas Day and his environment. How in the world could this compact of eighteenth-century virtue and moralizing live in this world of slothful study and frivolous dissipation? The answer is contained in Day's character and that of Corpus Christi College. The former was such that university opposition would merely " W o r d s w o r t h , Christopher, Social Life at English Eighteenth Century, p. 158. M w Keir, p. 6. Keir, p. 9.

Universities

in

the

28

BOYHOOD AND E D U C A T I O N

strengthen his ideals. Corpus Christi College allowed, nay encouraged, them to grow. It was a very small college, having about the time of Day's entrance 40 only sixteen members, five of whom were gentlemen commoners. Day entered as a gentleman commoner June 1, 1764; and during this year only one other commoner was admitted. One of the few members of a privileged class, Day would be practically unmolested in his private suite of rooms, would enjoy, in comparison with his crowded quarters at Charterhouse, a life of wonderful privacy. In fact, under the kindly influence of the President, Dr. Thomas Randolph, 41 the acts of rowdyism at Corpus Christi had decreased, and about 1760 the college had subsided into peace—a statement which could be made of very few colleges at this time. The physical appearance of Corpus Christi made it an ideal dwelling for a spirit that disdained the ornaments of life. One who had looked at Oxford from afar, a dream of white and ivory palaces, of dome and spire, might have exclaimed on approaching Corpus Christi, "A medieval castle within the Heavenly C i t y ! " Here is no tracery of spires sweeping the heavens, no architectural fretwork, no gorgeous sunburst of stained glass. All is square, solid, substantial, even ascetic: the strong heavy tower over the entrance gate, the small bare courtyard with its walls of blackened and yellowed stone, the simple garden extending to the rock wall of the city. Standing under the beech tree at the edge of that garden, Thomas Day might look over Merton Fields, Christ Church Meadow and the winding Isis, and imagine himself far away from the luxury and pomp of city life. As he gazed during services upon the chapel walls of stone and dark-hued wood; or as he sat on a bench in the library, allowing his eye to stray occasionally to the vellum-bound " I n November, 1762, there were 7 scholars, 2 clerks, 2 choristers, and S gentlemen commoners, a total of 16. Fowler, p. 321. " Dr. Randolph was the ideal self-made churchman of the time. Com-

BOYHOOD AND EDUCATION

29

tomes, the iron rods to which they had been chained, and beyond those to the dull gleam of the wooden-arched ceiling; or as he dined at the commoners' table with the firelight playing on wainscot, founder's picture, and carved wooden beam—there was little to suggest luxury. Nay, self-sacrifice and piety, the qualities symbolized by the pelican upon the sun dial in the court, had somehow been wrought into these walls. And an architecture which expressed these things with severe simplicity was an appropriate background for Thomas Day. Nor was intellectual stimulus lacking. Day's friend, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, a gentleman commoner at Corpus Christi in 1761, worked hard under his tutor, Mr. Russell, and besides read "the best English writers, both in prose and verse." While visiting Mr. Elers, who had several pretty daughters, Edgeworth not only managed to become engaged to one of the daughters, but even read Cicero and Longinus with the father. At Corpus Christi he was elated by "the consciousness of intellectual improvement" and came to know young men distinguished "for application, abilities, and good conduct." 42 Day was placed under this "excellent tutor," John Russell, who doubtless fulfilled the character assigned to the tutor by a certain Oxford Professor of Divinity: 43 "he to whom the care ing to Oxford as a poor scholar, he later became a fellow and took all the degrees from A.B. to D.D.; he held various livings under the patronage of Archbishop Potter and published a reply to a book attacking Christianity; elected President of Corpus Christi in 1748, he continued his career of churchman by preaching many sermons and writing many theological works; he was rewarded by numerous appointments—as Vice Chancellor of the University, as Archdeacon of Oxford, as Margaret Professor of Divinity. Fowler, p. 283. " Edgeworth's Memoirs, I, 90-94. 41 Edward Bentham, D.D., Regius Professor of Divinity, in Advices to a Young Man of Quality, Upon his Coming to the University, London, [1760], p. 22.

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BOYHOOD AND EDUCATION

of your health, your morals, your oeconomy, your learning, indeed, your whole interests in this place are immediately consigned." To complete this university equipment Day needed only a friend who had ideals and interests in common with him. Part of this requirement might be filled by William Seward, his friend of Charterhouse days, who attended Oriel near by. But the real sharer of his ideals he found in William Jones, later Sir William Jones, of University College. He was described by a school friend as having at this time "a decision of mind and a strict attachment to virtue, an enthusiastic love of liberty, a uniform spirit of philanthropy." 44 Add to these an aversion to sexual vice, a condemnation of the African slave trade, a love of classical studies, a belief in the sovereignty of the people, a profound admiration for the English Constitution, and we seem to be making an inventory not of Jones, but of Day himself. Amid the sloth and vice of Oxford, Jones achieved wonders by his own efforts. Admitted about the same time as Day, he obtained a scholarship during his first year, became tutor to Lord Althorpe a year after entrance, and the year after that became a fellow. During the four years that Jones kept terms at Oxford, he managed to carry on Althorpe's tutoring, to read English law, and to master Oriental languages.45 In fact he became the foremost linguist of his day—and the utmost that the university could do to assist him was to free him from the necessity of attending lectures and give him access to its library. Both Jones and Day at the time intended to study law. The latter, interested perhaps in the profession by his father's friend, " Wilks, S. C., Memoirs of the Life, Writings and Correspondence of Sir Wm. Jones by Lord Teignmouth [J. Shore, 1st baron] with the life of Lord Teignmouth . . . and notes by Rev. S. C. Wilks, London, 1835, I, chap. II. " S e e Letters of Sir William Jones, 2 vols., London, 1821, and Teignmouth's Memoirs, 2 vols., London, 1835.

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Joseph Letch, of the Middle Temple, certainly considered it soon after entering Oxford, for he was "admitted of the Middle Temple" February 12, 1765.48 Jones, for his part, had studied Coke before entering Oxford; and, as he neared his Bachelor's degree, he read English laws and acquired a great admiration for the English system. "The original form of our constitution is almost divine," he wrote then.47 Many other students shared the legal interests of these two, for though divinity as a profession occupied the majority of the students, law and physic came next in popularity. They had the opportunity of attending lectures on civil and common law, of the latter of which William Blackstone was professor at the time. Doubtless, too, they attended the Oxford assizes, where gownsmen, presuming on the judge's indulgence, made so much noise that the jury could hear neither the evidence nor the judge's charge. Everywhere a student of the laws might see that justice was not done, order not preserved. Street fellows hooted and mocked the people exposed in the stocks. The London coach was robbed two miles from town. The hungry populace seized flour from the adjacent mills and divided it in the market place. A pickpocket was mobbed. A thief was sentenced to death. "Then, indeed, a more sanguinary code of penal laws was in force than can be found in the whole history of executive justice and . . . in the eye of the law almost all offences were equally flagitious and were equally punishable with death." 48 Along with this severity of laws went corruption in parliamentary representation. The corporation of Oxford was offering to reelect the city's representa" A boy was admitted often years before he actually commenced keeping terms at the Middle Temple. T h e date here is from Kippis, p. 22 and Hutchinson, John, Catalogue of Notable Middle Templars, London, 1902, p. 70. 41 Jones's Letters, I, 22. " Green, J. R. and Roberson, Geo., Studies in Oxford History the Eighteenth Century. Appendix A, p. 238.

chiefly

in

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BOYHOOD AND E D U C A T I O N

tives to parliament for £7,500, a sum which the hard-pressed corporation would use to pay the city's debts. All around him Day saw misery, oppression, corruption—and to deal with this situation, antiquated laws. No wonder if he dreamed with Jones of studying the law to equip himself for "defending the rights of mankind" and for disentangling "the system of English laws, so excellent in genuine principles, from those feudal and other absurdities which disgrace and perplex it." 4 9 With the Dashits of Oxford Day had no sympathy. In his eyes they were fiddling Neros. Their attention to dress roused his ridicule, served to illustrate for him the luxury and effeminacy of the age. Contemptuously he viewed their cocked hats and lace, their fencing and dancing, their chatter and flirtation. His time was not to be wasted on barbers and fencing masters. And so he refused to powder his flowing raven locks, nay scarcely bothered to comb them. And instead of bowing and smirking to Delia in Merton Walks he was swimming in the Isis or walking in Shotover Forest. T o the ladies of the time the melancholy Day had few graces that would recommend him. He, for his part, was suspicious of them and averse to risking his happiness for their charms. Even in their company he delighted to descant on the evils brought upon mankind by love, exclaiming as he concluded his catalogue, T h e s e and a t h o u s a n d m o r e , we

find:

A h ! f e a r the t h o u s a n d y e t u n n a m ' d b e h i n d . 5 0

But though he disdained one eighteenth-century type, the fine lady, he championed with all youthful violence, another, the seduced girl. Over Clarissa's misfortune many a virtuous matron shed luxurious tears while her son made love to Polly the maid. Seventeen-year-old Thomas Day, however, at Oxford not only " Keir, p. 28.

60

Edgeworth, I, 181.

BOYHOOD AND EDUCATION

33

declaimed against the wrong,51 but was willing at the risk of his life to right it. Aflame with indignation because a nobleman near his home who made seduction the chief business of his life had just deserted a victim, a farmer's daughter, to a life of poverty and vice, Day dashed off a letter of reproof. He emphatically reprimanded the noble seducer for the complicated villainy and meanness of his conduct; he urged him to relieve the want of his victim and thus rescue her from vice. If this minimum of justice were not done, Day issued a personal challenge to the seducer. Perhaps my lord used the letter as a subject for verse epigram; at least he did not sacrifice another victim to his masculine vanity by puncturing with his rapier a boy who had never used any weapon except his fists.52 Along with Day's quixotism went a tender dream of his ideal mate. Somewhere he would find a woman wiser than the rest of her sex, who, for his sake, would willingly leave female vanity and folly, go clad like our maidens in grey, And live in a cottage on l o v e . 5 3

The best account of this ideal girl Day gave in a poem which the beautiful Dorsetshire country inspired him to write while on a solitary walking trip. Written during a Tour to the West of England represents the writer as leaving "every rich and gaudy scene" of "crowded capitals," as flying "on reason's wings" "from vice, from folly, pomp, and noise." In "this secure retreat, unvisited by kings," Virtue and Freedom still reside. Here, too, he hopes to meet his "gentle Lady of the West," "all simply neat," her "tresses floating on the gale," "Health's rosy bloom" " See Day's To the Authoress of Kers« to be inscribed on Delia's Tomb, written some years later, Keir, pp. 22-25. For the incident here given see Keir, p. 21. " Blackman, p. 25, says the letter and the challenge were unnoticed. " Edgeworth, I, 182.

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upon her cheek, her artless eyes speaking "the genuine feelings of the soul," her unaffected air quite different from that of the town nymph's "proud . . . disdainful face." Indifferent if the eye of Fame T h y merit unobserving see: And heedless of the praise or blame Of all mankind, of all but me. O gentle Lady of the West! T o find thee, be my only task; When found, I'll clasp thee to m y breast: N o haughty birth or dower I ask. Sequestered in some secret glade, With thee unnotic'd would I live; And if Content adorn the shade, What more can Heav'n or Nature give? T o o long deceiv'd by Pomp's false glare 'Tis thou must soothe m y soul to rest; 'Tis thou must soften ev'ry care, 0 gentle Lady of the W e s t ! 5 4

Such was his dream of escape from the vile city to the pure country, of marriage with a healthy simple girl, uncorrupted by culture, of living the retired life. This picture Day could paint eloquently, but he never realized that behind this healthy simplicity there would be a corresponding mental vacuity, which after the first fine rapture would make a life "sequestered in some secret glade" intolerably dull. How Dr. Johnson would have trampled the dream with his big boots! "Sir, your gentle Lady of the West is a frowsy-headed, red-cheeked milkmaid. She has no education, and is therefore a proper companion for cows, not for gentlemen. Sheer nonsense, sir!" Yet for this ideal woman Day felt "he could give up fortune, fame, life, every thing but virtue.'"® " Keir, pp. 43-44.

" Edgeworth, I, 182.

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35

As the poem implies, Day considered that the virtues resided in the country, where the vice, pomp, and culture of city life had not yet reached. Human nature, always his great study, he decided was best examined among the lower classes, where it was least disguised by art. And by taking walking trips he would meet men who "treading the unimproved paths of nature, might be presumed to have the qualities of the mind pure and unsophisticated by art." 5 6 So young Day took long journeys on foot through different parts of England and Wales. Sometimes he was accompanied, but frequently he travelled alone, as on the trip from Oxford to Wales in 1766. He managed to meet and talk with all kinds of people. He went not merely into the inn parlor but into the kitchen. And there standing before the big stone-arched fireplace with its revolving spit full of joints and fowls, he made comments in learned language to his audience of cooks and scullions. Who was he? they wondered. He talked like a gentleman, but why should any young gentleman of means travel afoot? wear a rusty suit? come into the kitchen? And all of this wonder and embarrassment the young man enjoyed hugely, for underneath his melancholy air was a flow of animal spirits and a love of frolic which flourished in this outdoor life. How different this idealistic, athletic young man was from the sedentary university fop! Somehow as we imagine Day shaking his black locks while he declaims against luxury to the powdered dandies, impulsively writing a personal challenge to the seducer, walking surrounded by dreams of the unspoiled girl who was to lead with him a life of benevolence—somehow the smart Dashits, smirking Delias, and slothful dons fade away as mere shadows; and upon this uncouth, priggish youth, who fought so stoutly against the corruption of his times, flashes a gleam of real nobility. " K i p p i s , Day,

p. 22.

CHAPTER

TRAVELS WITH

II

EDGEWORTH

In the early part of 1766, while Day was spending a vacation with his mother and stepfather at Barehill near Wargrave, Berkshire, he heard of an eccentric young neighbor, Richard Lovell Edgeworth. The people of the community hardly understood this gentleman, for though he had been to Oxford and could quote his classics, though he dressed well and talked wittily, he was continually toiling over mysterious machinery in his workshop or taking trips to the coachmakers at Reading. For Day it was sufficient that Edgeworth had attended Corpus Christi only a few years before and had been under his tutor, John Russell; he must call upon the newcomer. So came the visit and a lifelong friendship. The first conversation between the unkempt Day and the polished Edgeworth lasted for several hours. Edgeworth was full of reminiscences about his gefttleman commoner's life at Oxford: his retort to Dr. Randolph, who reproached him for not attending chapel; stories of that good man's peculiarities; how Edgeworth humiliated a bully at Paniotti's fencing school. In all this animated talk there must have been much to remind Day of the dashing gentleman commoner. Gay, passionate, pleasure-loving, an accomplished squire of dames, Edgeworth possessed much of that social attractiveness which the awkward, melancholy Day lacked. A fop! thought Day. A sloven! thought Edgeworth. And yet these first fleeting impressions gave way to a strong mutual esteem. Though Day's chief interest was in metaphysics and Edgeworth's was in mechanics, both of them had a love of knowledge and a freedom

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37

from the admiration of splendor. They fell into the habit of spending several hours a day together. Indeed the wealthy people who lived at Hare Hatch provided little intellectual companionship for them. Conversation at a tea table or playing cards seemed to be the only amusements offered by these neighbors; so the two young men found themselves very dependent upon each other. Their long conversations dealt with literature and metaphysics, particularly the latter. And in their admiration for Rousseau's educational system as given in Emile there was much subject for discussion. Edgeworth had decided to rear his child as Emile had been reared; Day wished to do all things as Emile had—to travel, to marry, to retire to a country retreat where he might give a natural education to his own hardy brood of Emiles. These philosophic friends, walking over the common or down the lanes, had many a hot argument, the eminent practicality of Edgeworth opposed to Day's reasoning and eloquence. Forty years later Edgeworth said of the young Day, "I never was acquainted with any man who in conversation reasoned so profoundly and so logically, or who stated his arguments with so much eloquence as Mr. Day." The only obstacle to this friendship was Edgeworth's wife. To that "moral and improving companion," Mr. Day, she took a jealous dislike, a feeling which she had never evinced for her husband's "dangerous and seductive" London acquaintances, such as Sir Francis Delaval. This friend might have a large estate, but he failed to dress for dinner. He might be generous, but he gave her no compliments. Instead he declaimed against the vanity and frivolity of women and harped upon the evils which they brought upon mankind. Final insult of all, he gave to her husband that intellectual companionship of which she was incapable. The estrangement between the two was extremely ironical, for this "prudent, domestic, affectionate," and uneducated girl whom Edgeworth had married from pity was in many

38

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respects an embodiment of Day's Lady of the West, and Day with all his moral energy strove to keep faithful to her the husband that her complaining drove from home. After his first meeting with Edgeworth, Day returned to college. But he thought a degree unnecessary, for he did not intend to pursue a profession. His position as a man of means and a country gentleman did not require the degree; neither was it necessary for the study of the law which he was contemplating. Accordingly he left Oxford in 1767, probably in the summer, and went to Barehill. What he really wished was to travel abroad. As a youth, Rousseau's imaginary pupil Emile had been taken on a foreign tour by his tutor to study government and consider his civil relations with his fellow-citizens. Day likewise wished to travel abroad to observe men and manners, political and civil society. But his guardians were unwilling, and he must yield to their wishes till he came of age. Meanwhile there were left him his books, his expeditions afoot, and his close friendship with Edgeworth. Edgeworth was an inspiring force in Day's life at this time. He was thoroughly alive and much interested in various experiments. From London, where he went to keep his terms at the Middle Temple, he brought news of that legal group into which D a y was to enter, and of many notables such as Foote, Macklin, and Sir Francis Delaval. In Lichfield Edgeworth became acquainted with Dr. Erasmus Darwin; in Birmingham with James Watt and his partner, Matthew Boulton, with Captain Keir and Dr. Small. These men Day came to know in the next few years through Edgeworth's introduction, and from them he selected his closest friends. All of this Lichfield-Birmingham group were successful experimenters in one or more fields, chemistry, physics, or biology. And Edgeworth revelled in the intellectual stimulus which he received from them. He was busy in developing all kinds of machinery: a carriage which

TRAVELS WITH EDGEWORTH

39

stood on four points when the wheels were locked under it, a perambulator (not to roll one of his numerous progeny in, but to measure ground), and a visual telegraph. Sometimes the experiments almost resulted in catastrophes, as when Edgeworth's sailing carriage started off without him and came very near frightening some stage-coach horses before he could check its course at the peril of his life. Again a walking wheel, constructed on the principle of the modern bicycle, ran away with the youth who attempted to steal a ride on it before the brakes had been attached; only by jumping out was the boy able to avoid being dashed to death at the bottom of a chalkpit. Especially in the field of educational experiment Day and Edgeworth had a common interest. When Edgeworth settled in his house at Hare Hatch at the beginning of 1766, his son Richard was about two. The father, much impressed by Rousseau's Entile, had decided to rear his child in accord with it. Edgeworth's reaction against the mistaken zeal of his mother's system doubtless explains his partiality for Rousseau's. "I was naturally strong and active," he says; "but I was now [as a child] obliged to take a course of physic twice a year, every Spring and Autumn, with nine days' potions of small beer and rhubarb, to fortify my stomach, and to kill imaginary worms. I was not suffered to feel the slightest inclemency of weather; I was muffled up whenever I was permitted to ride a mile or two on horseback before the coachman; my feet never brushed the dew, nor was my head ever exposed to the wind or sun." 1 Before he was six, Edgeworth was reading the Old Testament, Aesop's Fables, and Arabian Nights. Needless to say, much of this was incomprehensible to him. Xo wonder that Rousseau's system with its avoidance of books and its emphasis upon physical hardening should have appealed to him. Mrs. Edgeworth consented. Richard's education was begun. His body and mind * Edgeworth, I, 31.

40

TRAVELS WITH EDGEWORTH

were left to the education of nature and accident. He went with arms and legs bare. He became fearless and hardy. He had all the virtues of a savage child, all the factual knowledge of a civilized child. Of books and theories he knew almost nothing. But his senses were unusually alert, his body strong, his judgment keen. Good-tempered and generous, the boy had only one defect, a lack of deference for others. "With me," says the father, "he was always what I wished; with others, he was never any thing but what he wished to be himself."2 This type of education Day thoroughly believed in. He even imagined himself as selecting for his mate a girl who had received this "natural" training. Though friends and relatives opposed and ridiculed Edgeworth in his course, Day, only made more determined by disapproval, encouraged and assisted him. In the spring of 1768 this Rousseauistic trio visited Ireland, leaving the complaining Mrs. Edgeworth and her baby Maria in England. They travelled in Edgeworth's specially constructed phaeton, behind his horses. As they were nearing Eccleshall in Staffordshire, a traveller's joke such as Day had played on some of his pedestrian trips occurred to them. Day was to be the master, an odd gentleman travelling about to forget the loss of his wife; Richard was to be an extraordinary child; and Edgeworth, an airy servant. Though the servant was to be very civil to his master's face, behind his back he was to represent him as a humorist and misanthropist; finally the master was to be content with plain fare, and the servant was to take the best for himself. And so the plan worked. Edgeworth drove his phaeton before the inn with a great flourish, disengaged his horses instantaneously by a special contrivance, and shouted lustily for the hostler. A crowd soon gathered about the group, the vociferous servant and the master sitting so calmly with his child in a horseless phaeton. Edgeworth now descended and 'Ibid., I, 179.

TRAVELS WITH EDGEWORTH

41

with hat off helped his master very slowly to alight. Day was shown into the parlor, and Edgeworth went into the kitchen to order dinner. The landlady gaped helplessly before his commands. His master was to have cold meat, the child a tart, and for himself—well, he must see the larder that he might make his own selection. This he proceeded to do by ordering everything costly and delicate that he could find. After this he went to examine the carriage, and sent the stable attendants scurrying various ways. Richard, ever aggressive, came down, climbed into the phaeton, and jumped into his father's arms from a considerable height. He did other feats. A curious crowd collected about the athletic, scantily clad boy; and this audience Edgeworth entertained with accounts of Day's misanthropy and adventures by sea and land. The master interrupted this recital at dinner-time by calling for the child. With the utmost obsequiousness Edgeworth carried him in. Day was about to sit down to his cold fare in the diningroom; Edgeworth was condescendingly giving final directions to the cook about his own sumptuous meal in the kitchen. Suddenly a well-known voice hailed him, "Edgeworth!" And there was Dr. Darwin of Lichfield. Of course, all pretences were now abandoned. The landlady cast a reproachful look at Edgeworth and protested that from the beginning she had not been deceived. "Ah! Doctor," said she, "this gentleman wanted to pass himself upon me for a servant; but I suspected him, notwithstanding all his pretensions. He has ordered every thing good in the house, and I hope he will share his dinner with his friends, who have acknowledged him in his low estate." 3 Darwin, with his companion, Mr. Whitehurst, was invited to share the meal. And so commenced for Day another lifelong * Ibid., I, 196.

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friendship. Dr. Darwin, however, was not the man to whom a stranger would be instantly attracted. His figure was fat and clumsy, his head sunk low upon his shoulders. Above a hoglike neck rose his fleshy face. The upward-slanting eyebrows, aquiline nose, curled lip with the drooping lines at each corner— all these made the face rather cynical in repose. This gross man, devouring quantities of food, stammering abominably, talking exclusively about mechanics, did not appeal to Day. For several hours he took no part in the conversation, so that Darwin thought him just such an odd misanthropic character as Edgeworth had represented him. But before the symposium was over, a proper topic for the philosophic Day was introduced, on which he displayed so much knowledge, feeling, and eloquence as completely to captivate the good doctor. And a closer acquaintance made Day realize, as others had, the true benevolence of Darwin. The broad brow, deeply sagacious eyes, even the heavy face, were animated with a spirit of kindliness. His new friend invited him to Lichfield, and thus opened the way to intimacy with a brilliant and influential group of men. After leaving Eccleshall, the travellers proceeded to Dublin without further adventure. With this city Day was surprised and disgusted. The dirty, wretchedly paved streets, the squalid, strident poor, the ill-kept hackney coaches with their shabby drivers constantly astonished him. In the country, matters were no better. Here indeed Day believed simplicity, beauty, and virtue must dwell. But he and his companions travelled through black tracts of bog. In houses they were stifled by the smell of burning peat. Want and misery were everywhere, but hardly a beautiful simplicity. The gentry themselves surprised Day much, for these law-ridden, debt-burdened people lived in luxury. As they were passing through one of the counties, Day had a glimpse of an Irish election. While Edgeworth, the experimenter, was maintaining his right to vote in an election with-

TRAVELS W I T H E D G E W O R T H

43

out answering questions about his freehold, Day had a chance to observe the scene. The streets were crowded with a motley mob, collected and subsidized by the four rival candidates. Shabby men who had lived on the sparsest of fare gorged themselves on the beef and claret provided in the streets. Noise, riot, confusion, and drunkenness were everywhere. Day fell into a deep melancholy. Miserable humanity, thus it sold its freedom for a mess of pottage! The travellers finally reached their destination, the Edgeworth home at Edgeworthstown. Not a very inviting sight, cut off from the green fields by high yew hedges and screens of clipped elms and horn-beam. Behind such obstructions stood this "slice of a house, all front, with rooms opening into each other, through its whole length, without any intervention of passage. All the rooms small and gloomy, with dark wainscots, heavy cornices, little windows, corner chimneys, and a staircase taking up half the house, to the destruction of the upper story." 4 In fact, it was such a rambling, overgrown house as we should imagine a fit background for the unkempt Day. Its occupants, however, proved to be anything but uncouth. Richard Edgeworth, the father of Day's companion, was the Joseph in a long line of Esaus. As a mere youth he had studied law, and then proceeded to clear his estate of those typical Irish encumbrances, lawsuits and debts. Temperate, economical, careful, Richard Edgeworth had patiently gone through endless litigation, paid off thousands of pounds of debt. Despite the struggle he had remained honorable, sweet-tempered, pious. His very political record—twenty-five years in the Irish parliament w-ithout giving a single vote against his conviction or receiving a single emolument—should have made Day respect him; but the fact that he had twice refused a baronetage should have made D a y admire him. Alas, between these spirits so 4

See Edgeworth, I, 332, II, S, 6.

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TRAVELS WITH EDGEWORTH

fundamentally alike was interposed the barrier of manners. Richard Edgeworth, who in giving a receipt wrote out in letters the date, the pounds, shillings, and pence, was not less careful in conventional manners. And for these Mr. Day of the tousled hair gave not a snap. Edgeworth thought his carelessness in eating and sitting at the table utterly unsuitable for a gentleman; he conceived against him a violent prejudice, which did not yield to an admiration for his eloquence and philosophy. Day, for his part, smiled stoically at this attitude and thought his host something of a fool to lay such emphasis on external appearances. Margaret, a younger sister of Richard Lovell Edgeworth, also had a love of good breeding and stood aloof from this singular character. She had such grace and charm of manner that a gentleman once said, "If I were to see . . . [Miss Edgeworth] sitting in rags as a beggar on the doorstep, I should say 'Madam' to her." 8 Day thought her a fine lady (a type most horrible to him) and, accordingly, kept an awful distance from her. But Margaret was too much like her brother to allow this estrangement. Her easy manners and agreeable conversation after a few weeks caused Day to relax from his stoical stubbornness. And now with all her wit and vivacity she upheld her aristocratic tastes, while the melancholy savage eloquently attacked them. Before company the lady prevailed; before Edgeworth as audience, Day was victorious. Beneath this contest was coming about an understanding between the two. Margaret realized the force of Day's character, his reasoning power, his generous disposition. Day appreciated her taste for the beauties of nature, for literature, and for conversation. Besides, was she not the favorite sister of his friend? and strikingly like him physically and mentally? The young man who went about with dreams of his future "Edgeworth, Mrs. [F. A.], A Memoir oj Maria Edgeworth, Selection from her Letters, London, J. Masters, 1867, I, 18.

with

a

TRAVELS W I T H E D G E W O R T H

45

mate was ready to fall in love. It could not have been with Delia in Merton Walks, but with Margaret in "this secure retreat unvisited by kings" it was quite possible. In three months' time he was her avowed admirer. And Edgeworth, who as a child had played and fought with this sister, who had all his life been most tenderly attached to her, acted as Day's ally and ambassador. She "was prevailed upon to acknowledge, that, if the gentleman continued for a year in the same mind, and could in that time make his appearance becoming a man of his situation in life, she might be induced to give him her hand." 6 Margaret had after her brother's hasty marriage reconciled his father to him by her tears and supplications. It was now Edgeworth's turn as mediator. The father was astonished at Margaret's descent in taste, but as he could find no fault either with Day's morals or with his fortune, he gave a reluctant consent to the engagement. It all sounds like a comedy direct from the Emile, a book that D a y valued next to the Bible.7 How accurately the three main actors played their parts! Day as the hardy, unspoiled Emile; Margaret as the feminine, dainty, tactful Sophy 8 ; Edgeworth as the tutor who was both confidant and friend. Emile, preserved thus far from youthful vice by the ideal of his mate, has travelled widely in search of her. At last under the guidance of his friend he comes to this secluded place. Sophy is revealed to him, and all his ideals envelop her as a splendid garment. T h e friend now serves as a confidant to both lovers. With Sophy he pleads for her lover; with Sophy's father he brings about an understanding. Emile becomes Sophy's acknowledged lover. They walk together, oftentimes with their confidant; they discuss their ideals of life. And Emile begins to teach her many of those studies in which he is proficient; he even argues and "Edgeworth, I, 203. ' S e e Day's letter from Avignon in 1769. Edgeworth, I, 226. * An interesting coincidence is that Margaret Edgeworth named her daughter Sophy.

46

TRAVELS WITH

EDGEWORTH

discusses philosophy with her. Differences m a y occur, but are soon smoothed over. N o w occurs a phase of love delightful to them both: Sophy assumes command of her lover, and he obeys her every wish. H i s only desire is to marry her and retire to rural solitude. But the warning voice of Jean-Jacques 9 breaks into the idyll: During your infatuation time has passed unheeded. Summer is over, winter is at hand. . . . You wish to marry Sophy and you have only known her five months! You wish to marry her, not because she is a fit wife for you, but because she pleases you. . . . Is four months of liking a sufficient pledge for the rest of your life? A couple of months hence you may have forgotten her; as soon as you are gone another may efface your image in her heart; on your return you may find her as indifferent as you have hitherto found her affectionate. . . . . . . If you want to know how to bring up children, you should at least wait till you yourselves are children no longer. . . . Emile, you must leave Sophy, . . . you must leave her in order to return worthy of her. Do not be vain enough to think yourself already worthy. How much remains to be done! Come and fulfill this splendid task; come and learn to submit to absence; come and earn the prize of fidelity, so that when you return you may indeed deserve some honour, and may ask her hand not as a favour but as a reward. 10 It w a s this Rousseauistic romance which Margaret and D a y had been consciously or unconsciously living. Their parting was in the fall; she was left at home, not reading the Spectator, as Sophy had done for Emile, but studying metaphysics as D a y had recommended, "and he, in hopes of pleasing her went to London to study the graces." 11 What matter if he were abandoning his fight against fashion, dress, etiquette? Margaret was virtuous and charming—and even Rousseau counselled submission to the wishes of the betrothed. Did not Rousseau make two statements which exactly fitted his case? "In the same w a y •The passages quoted are from Emile, Everyman's Edition, pp. 411, 412. 11 "Emile, p. 412. Edgeworth, I, 204.

TRAVELS WITH EDGEWORTH

47

plunge a young man of twenty into society; under good guidance, in a year's time, he will be more charming and more truly polite than one brought up in society from childhood."12 And the warning followed close behind: "On the other hand, it is quite true that we must not wait too long. Any one who has spent the whole of his youth far from the great world is all his life long awkward, constrained, out of place; his manners will be heavy and clumsy, no amount of practice will get rid of this, and he will only make himself more ridiculous by trying to do so." Day must be up and doing. He had not become a tame slave to fashion. He had begun a year of endurance and fidelity, of performance of a splendid task that he might "ask her hand not as a favour but as a reward." The condition of their union was not mere feminine caprice, for the greatest teacher of the age had sanctioned it. Emile left Sophy not merely to prove his fidelity during a long absence; he must study governments, especially his own, he must decide where he was going to live, what he was going to do. Day undertook about this time a somewhat similar course. London, selected for a study of the graces, was also an ideal place for studying English government. Even if Day had made no such attempt, the deplorable condition of the government must have been forced upon him: a Parliament elected by a handful was bought by the King to do his will. This corrupt Parliament made its laws in a populous city which was granted only a negligible number of representatives. The city's champion and idol became the reckless, profligate, profane Wilkes, who had so vigorously attacked the King. He was imprisoned for libel; the County of Middlesex elected him to the House of Commons. The House refused to accept him and even ordered the Middlesex return changed. In the Public Advertiser "Junius" was attacking bitterly the King and the King's friends. An asu

Emile, p. 292.

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EDGEWORTH

sociation called the Society of the Supporters of the Bill of Rights was formed. It proposed that candidates at election should agree to support a full and equal representation of the people, annual parliaments, exclusion from the House of Commons of every member who accepted an emolument of any kind from the King, and a restoration of the sole right of self-taxation to America. These principles Day was absorbing, and within the next twelve years he reiterated them in poems and speeches. Even in the present state of affairs D a y could not be silent. He composed a speech to deliver before the Westminster electors at the hustings. John Bicknell, his old friend of Charterhouse days but now a lawyer, was living with him, and listened with interest as the eloquent D a y prepared his appeal. Before the multitude he delivered the harangue with tolerable facility and was much applauded—evidence enough that his declamatory artillery was levelled against the King and a corrupt Parliament. Day's success led Edgeworth a short while later to make his maiden speech. He had claimed that on a fairly popular subject he could make an audience laugh at him, hiss him, and applaud him. Before a debating society at Coachmakers' Hall he demonstrated his ability: by stuttering he caused roars of laughter; by telling unpleasant truths he brought hisses; finally by telling the audience what it wanted to believe, he obtained applause. And all of this comical lesson in "swaying the multitude" should have taught Day that he could never be a successful demagogue. In the second of Emile's great tasks, the selection of a profession, Day was much influenced by his friends. Of these Dr. William Small 13 was most important. Small, an excellent scien" Dr. William Small was born in 1734 at Carmylie, County of Angus, Scotland, where his father was a minister. H e practiced medicine for a time in America, and for some years held the professorship mentioned above.

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49

tist who had been professor of mathematics and natural philosophy at William and Mary College, Virginia, had recently settled in Birmingham as a physician. In America he numbered Franklin and Jefferson among his friends; in England he became the center of a group of scientists, manufacturers, and writers, such as Boulton and Watt, Darwin and Wedgwood. Edgeworth, a frequent visitor to the group, had introduced Day to Dr. Small and had thus been instrumental in starting a friendship, "the closest and most affectionate" 14 that Day ever felt. The doctor was thirteen years older than he, a scientific reasoner who refused to be dazzled by any rosy imaginings. He considered that the greatest service he could render his young friend would be to curb his enthusiasm and correct his views. Now when Day thought of studying medicine that he might give his services to the poor, he consulted Dr. Small upon the project. This pessimistic friend vigorously opposed the idea. The rules of medicine had not yet been reduced to certainty, he said; the knowledge and observation collected were indeed difficult to apply to particular cases; a sagacity founded on native genius, developed by long experience, was necessary for successful practice. Day could not say that he was fitted for such a difficult profession, and the idea that he might at some time involuntarily injure a fellow creature kept him from entering it. In May, 1765, Benjamin Franklin (who was well acquainted with the group of scientific men at Birmingham) wrote to Boulton, introducing his friend Dr. Small to him as an "ingenious philosopher and a most worthy honest man." Even after settling in England, Small continued his friendship with prominent Americans and was another source whence Day might receive information and opinions concerning American affairs. Small practiced medicine in Birmingham now, and became one of the chief members of the Lunar Society. He was an accomplished physician, chemist, and machinist. Boulton and Watt wished him to take a share in the business of making steam engines, but Small's health induced him to decline. "Kippis, p. 22.

SO

TRAVELS WITH EDGEWORTH

As Day reasoned about the physical evils of men which he had wished to cure by medicine, he came to believe that they were largely caused by poor morals, which in their turn were caused by defective laws. He therefore resolved to study English law that he might be fitted to improve it and to disentangle it from feudal and other absurdities. The character he aspired to was that of defender of the rights of mankind. And these rights now seemed miserably trampled. So Day took up the law. His young friends Jones, Edgeworth, and Bicknell were all interested in its study. His bent toward reasoning led him to a profession that gave it free play. The misery of the people, the corruption of the government, all pointed toward the need of reform. And Day began to fit himself to take a part in the people's cause. During the winter of 1768-69 Day began keeping terms at the Middle Temple. Here he had a wonderful opportunity to become acquainted with another cause, that of the American colonists; for more American lawyers were members of the Middle Temple than of any other of the Inns of Court, and from the Middle Temple were to come many of the leaders in the American Revolution.18 These keen, intense colonists gathered at the Carolina Coffee House and gave full expression to their views on the injustice of taxing the Americans without allowing them to be represented. Day, like many other liberal Englishmen of the time, felt much sympathy for his colonial brothers. The English were ruled by a corrupt parliament which did not rep" G . H. Cunningham, London, London, Dent, 1927, p. 709. The Middle Temple is sometimes called the "Alma Mater of American Law." Some 196 Americans are said to have been members of it, among the number five signers of the Declaration of Independence: Edward Routledge, Thomas Heyward, Thomas McKean, Thomas Lynch, and Arthur Middleton. Other prominent members were John Routledge, William Livingstone, Peyton Randolph (President of the Continental Congress at Philadelphia), John Dickinson, Arthur Lee, Jared Ingersoll, John Blair, and William Byrd.

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resent them; the Americans were taxed by it without a pretence of representation. I t was well that Day's mind was occupied by many ideas this winter of 1768, for his love affair was not prospering. There were other things beside the Irish Sea that intervened between D a y and Margaret Edgeworth—a memory of his plain face and uncouth manners, the silent disapproval of her meticulous father, her longing for social gaiety. She needed Day's personal eloquence to keep her love alive; she received his long philosophical letters, reminders of an unpolished stoic. D a y certainly viewed unwillingly the cooling of Margaret's feeling for him. His Elegy probably records the desperation felt at this time. 16 After painting again the beautiful summer in which he and "Laura" have enjoyed their love he concludes thus: Illusive visions! 0 , not here,—not here, Does spring eternal hold her placid reign. Already Boreas chills the altering year, And blasts the purple daughters of the plain. So fade my promised joys!—fair scenes of bliss, Ideal scenes, too long believed in vain, Plunged down and swallow'd deep in Time's abyss! So veering Chance, and ruthless Fates ordain. Thee, Laura, thee, by fount, or mazy stream, Or thicket rude, unpress'd by human feet, I sigh, unheeded, to the moon's pale beam; Thee, Laura, thee, the echoing hills repeat. " S e w a r d ( D a r w i n , p. 29) says: "That mind [Day's] had also been wounded by the caprice of a young lady, w h o 'claimed the triumph of a lettered heart,' without knowing how to value and retain her prize. Before the proofs of her fickleness became indisputable, he wrote the following beautiful elegy." The time referred to here is apparently that of Miss Seward's acquaintance with D a y in 1770, a time which would point to Margaret as the Laura of the poem. Internal evidence also, the fact that the lover tries to paint again the summer which he has spent with Laura, supports this hypothesis.

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TRAVELS WITH EDGEWORTH Oh! long of billows wild, and winds the sport, Seize, seize the safe asylum that remains! Here Truth, Love, Freedom, Innocence resort, And offer long oblivion to thy pains. When panting, gasping, breathless, on the strand T h e shipwreck'd mariner reclines his breast, Say, shall he scorn the hospitable hand T h a t points to safety, liberty, and rest? But thou, too soon forgetful of past woe, Again would'st tempt the winds, and treacherous sea! Ah! shall the raging blast forget to blow, Shall every wintry storm be hush'd for thee? Not so! I dread the elemental war, Too soon, too soon the calm, deceitful, flies; I hear the blast come whistling from afar, I see the tempest gathering in the skies. Yet, let the tempest roar!—love scorns all harms, I plunge amid the storm, resolved to save; This hour, at least, I clasp thee in my arms, The next let ruin join us in the grave.

In all of this declamation the youthful lover was quite sincere. Margaret was at the mercy of all the errors of a luxurious, cultured, fashion-loving world. He was ready to rescue her. If she accepted his scheme of marriage and rural simplicity, she would indeed have a safe asylum, where "Truth, Love, Freedom, Innocence resort." But Margaret did not feel the need of being rescued by Day for life in an asylum peopled by such inmates. Before the winter was over, she had given him her final decision, that the engagement must be broken. Stricken in heart and pride, Day saw all his "promised joys . . . Plunged down and swallow'd deep in Time's abyss."

CHAPTER

III

T H E ADVENTURE IN FEMALE EDUCATION In June of 1769 Day was diverted from disappointment in love by the arrival of his twenty-first birthday. According to the terms of his father's will, his estate was now absolutely under his control. He could have indulged expensively the desire for foreign travel which his trustees had opposed. He could have insulted and left the step-father who had antagonized him. He could have rebounded from youthful love to youthful dissipation. But the virtuous Day was held fast by duties, the first of which was to his mother. She had often complained of her small jointure and of the danger which her husband ran of losing at her death all means of support. The danger was indeed great, for Mrs. Day had been given only a life interest in her son's estate. Her death would leave Phillips an impoverished old man. Again Day had an opponent at his mercy, and again he gave him a helping hand. He not only increased the jointure of his mother, but made the further provision that Phillips should have a comfortable annuity after her death. 1 With his mother's mind made easy concerning her financial future, Day considered very seriously another duty—that of marriage. The glamorous expectation of finding in some secluded nook a mate who should embody the virtues and lack the frivolities of life had faded. Margaret Edgeworth had been guilty of caprice. And for this Day blamed not Margaret but female education, which placed emphasis on external appear1

This account is based upon that in Seward (Darwin, p. 28) and upon the provisions in Day's will of 1780.

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ance rather than on inner worth. Not even the best of women escaped the taint of this false training. But the mother of his hardy and virtuous brood should be simple as a mountain girl in diet, dress, and manners; she should be as hardy and intrepid as a Spartan wife or Roman heroine; she should have a taste for literature and science, for moral and patriotic philosophy. Now such a creature he had not been able to find. Therefore, the severely logical Day concluded, he must himself educate her. So far he had been educating himself in accord with the Rousseauistic system. Why should he not adapt the system to the education of his future wife? For a long time now he had been revolving a scheme in his mind made u p "here a little and there a little" from the inspired Emile. When Emile met Sophy, he began with boyish eagerness to teach her everything he knew; he gave her "lessons in philosophy, physics, mathematics, history, and everything else." But Day had already attempted to teach one young lady, with very disappointing results. Ah, that was because she had been trained as a "young lady." He should have chosen an unspoiled girl at the age of twelve. " I t is the most precious time in his life," says Rousseau of his pupil —a time when the child's strength exceeds his wants, and therefore a time for work, instruction, and inquiry. A rejected scheme of Rousseau's must have made an addition to the idea: " I meant to train a helpmeet for Emile, from the very first, and to educate them for each other and with each other." 2 Day could adapt this scheme by rearing two girls as companions for each other, educating them, studying them; by the time they reached womanhood, he could decide which one was better fitted to be his wife. All very well, but where in this corrupted world was he to find genteel parents who would submit their daughters to such a scheme? He could not find such para

Entile, p. 368.

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ents and would not. He despised the distinctions of birth, rank, and wealth. Nay, it was preferable in his case to marry a woman of lower rank, for thus he would procure docility in the course of life he had planned; whereas .marriage to a woman of aristocratic tastes probably meant his enslavement. The fundamental matter was that her nature should be congenial with his; it made no difference "were she born in a bad home, were she even the hangman's daughter." 3 After all, human beings were by nature good. If he could get girls as yet unspoiled by their life, he could give them a natural education which would make them ideal women. And from two such women he could select an ideal mate and mother. Thomas Day decided to take these girls from foundling hospitals. What did it matter that they were the illegitimate children of immoral parents? They had inherited a general human nature, which was good; they had not inherited the vices implanted in their parents by society. Having been reared as poor children, they would not have been spoiled by luxury or humoring. And there would be no servile or tyrannic parents to interfere with his system, the system of nature. At this time Day was living with his barrister friend, John Bicknell. He not only made Bicknell a confidant of his plans, but took him as companion and adviser in the task of selecting a child from the hospital for foundling girls at Shrewsbury.4 Certainly the conditions here were such as Day would have heartily approved. The big four-story brick house, bordered on either side by a line of trees, looked over an extensive lawn to the Severn. In general the surroundings gave the impression of space and health. The little group of children from which he was to make his selection were simply clad; they lived on a very * Ibid., p. 369. 4 For an account of this hospital, see Hugh Owen's Some Account of the Ancient and Present State of Shrewsbury, Shrewsbury, P. Sanford, 1808, pp. 333-43.

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plain fare—broth, milk porridge, a little meat, greens, and bread. They were now working in a woollen manufactory, and they expected soon to be apprenticed to some useful trade. No fashion, no luxury, just human nature preparing itself to be useful. Excellent! The young men proceeded with their selection. There was little difference in the clothing of these girls, no display of ornament to disgust Day. They were merely a group of curious children wondering to whom and for what they were to be apprenticed. A brunette "of remarkably promising appearance" caught the visitors' attention: beautiful auburn hair, soft dark eyes fringed by long lashes—an altogether engaging face. When they questioned her she replied in a melodious voice. The stoical Day might have neglected this girl, for he wished to consider himself proof against the darts of beauty; but John Bicknell decided in her favor. Apparently Day had no difficulty in meeting the conditions necessary for obtaining this child. He was probably a governor6 in the London Foundling Hospital, of which this was a branch —a fact sufficient to recommend him; and he was able and willing to make all necessary financial guarantees for the future of his ward. She must be bound apprentice to some married man; and for this position Day named Edgeworth. Day named this girl Sabrina Sidney-—Sabrina after the Severn, and Sidney after a favorite hero, Algernon Sidney. He proceeded immediately to London and introduced Sabrina to Edgeworth, who learned for the first time that this twelve-yearold girl was his apprentice but Day's pupil. Edgeworth had perfect confidence in his friend, and made no objection to an arrangement in which the average man of the world would have 6 Lockwood, M. in Thomas Day, an article in Nineteenth Century, 42: 79, says that the books of the Foundling Hospital, London, show no traces of Day's taking a child, but do show that a certain T. Day became a governor in 1769 by giving fifty pounds.

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seen scandal and trouble. He became Sabrina's friend and kept up a warm interest in her affairs till the end of his life. A few days later the educator went to the Foundling Hospital in London and there selected a blonde of eleven years. This flaxen-haired orphan he named Lucretia.® He placed her and Sabrina in a widow's house near Chancery Lane, and began their education. With the children themselves Day had an agreeable time. They were good-tempered, and his kindness soon won them to conduct themselves according to his orders. These orders were not very complicated or difficult. He did not wish his pupils to learn a great deal at first,—certainly not from books. It was far better to delay this learning than to give a mass of theoretical knowledge without practice. By slow degrees he taught them to read and write. He wished them to be simple, innocent, affectionate. His principal concern was to inculcate in them a hatred for dress, luxury, fine people, fashion, and titles. Though these ideas had a Rousseauistic foundation, they were impressed in ways forbidden by Rousseau—continual talk, abstruse reasoning, and ridicule. 'Miss Seward's account (Darwin, pp. 36, 37) of the selection of the foundlings has some differences from and additions to Edgeworth's account. According to Seward, Day took with him to Shrewsbury not only Bicknell but credentials of his own moral probity. Here he selected both Sabrina and Lucretia, twelve-year-old girls; and it was by Bicknell's suretyship for his upright intentions that he was permitted to take them away. There were several conditions: twelve months after taking the girls, he should give one up to a tradeswoman with one hundred pounds to bind her apprentice, and should give her four hundred pounds more when she married or entered business. He was to educate the other girl for his wife, to preserve her innocence, and, if the matrimonial plan were renounced, to maintain her decently in a creditable family till her marriage, on which event he was to give her five hundred pounds as dowry (see Day's will of 1780). Although Day did these things, it is doubtful whether he promised all of them. For instance, Edgcworth says that it was Day's intention to bring up the two girls as companions.

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A London lodging, however, proved neither a convenient nor agreeable scene for his plan. Too many acquaintances badgered him with their inquiries and curiosity. France seemed the best place for his purposes. Though he had no love for the French, his pupils had no knowledge of that language. They accordingly would be shut off from a knowledge of the world and would be open only to the ideas which he wished to instill. Accordingly Day removed his charges from London, and shortly sailed to France. If he had intended to use this journey to harden his Spartan virgins, Sabrina and Lucretia, he had abundant opportunity. With these hardships and adventures Day's own spirits and health improved, and he went at travelling with considerable zest. The first letter to Edgeworth gives forcibly enough his impressions of France and the French. Avignon, November, 1769 Behold me at Avignon, full six hundred and fifty miles, three quarters, and one furlong, from Barehill, (N. B. by the well known rules of addition and subtraction, you may by this means calculate my distance from London, Reading, &c.) and yet, by heavens! I am alive! and what is more, tolerably well; vivitf—imo vero etiam in senatum venit! Were I to relate the stagecoaches I have travelled in, the post-boys I have talked big to, (nay, I have gone so far as to say sacre Dieu!) the inns I have lain at, the rivers I have passed, with no more than a three-quarters of an inch plank between me and destruction, I should make you shudder! Happy, 0 terque quaterque beate, are you whom fate permits to lead an easy, safe, and inglorious life, far from the toils, the dangers, of us who travel to see the wonders of the world. Thus much I thought proper to observe en passant. And yet, my friend, Providence, that impartial distributor of good and evil, to every station of life allots its peculiar pleasures, as well as its peculiar pains. Had I staid at home, perhaps at this moment I might be in a warm comfortable room, calculating the vibrations of your wooden horse's legs; but should I, my friend, should I have been what I now am,—the traveller, the polite scholar, and the fine gentleman? Should I have worn a laced coat? Should

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I have seen a governor, or an i n t e n d a n t , or who knows what is yet reserved f o r me by d e s t i n y ? There is indubitably a m o n g t h e F r e n c h a greater spirit of dissipation t h a n among t h e English: t h e y are accustomed t o no kind of employment, to no kind of a t t e n t i o n ; their mornings are spent in dress and in sauntering a b o u t , and their a f t e r n o o n s in visits. If true happiness consists in p e r f e c t vacuity, they certainly have t h e advantage of us. I have been introduced into all the polite assemblies — I know something of their m a n n e r of life, at least the outward and visible signs. In t h e i r visiting rooms, you see a n u m b e r of beings lolling, walking, standing, yawning, talking of the same trifling subjects, which you would hear discussed in England with the same indifference, till t h e h a p p y m o m e n t arrives, which sets them down to the gaming table ; . . . If you go into their coffee-houses, you find a n u m b e r of idle people playing a t dice, sitting round a stove doing nothing, gaping, yawning, getting up, and sitting down again . . . . there is a m o r e general spirit of politeness among t h e French than among us, t h a t is, a m a n runs less hazard of being a f f r o n t e d , or meeting with a n y kind of incivility or positive rudeness; no wonder, f o r the consequence is d e a t h or i n f a m y , b o t h to the aggressor a n d the i n j u r e d ; b u t were I t o settle, I think no m a n of common sense would hesitate a m o m e n t between the two countries ; in England one e n j o y s all t h e c o m f o r t s , all the real advantages, all the connexions of life, let m e add all the conveniences, to a much greater a d v a n t a g e than here. I am settled chez M. Frédéric, vis à vis la Madeleine, Avignon. I hope you will write to m e as soon as you c a n : in y o u r letter let me hear of nothing b u t y o u r boy, y o u r wooden horse, and other domestic occurrences—to m e they will be the most agreeable subjects in n a t u r e . Every thing belonging t o m e goes on well, give m y love to D i c k , and m y best respects t o your wife. H a v e you got a house y e t ? — h a v e you got a p a t e n t ? — a title?—a f o r t u n e ? — a child? — a m e d a l ? — a new chaise? Vale, THOMAS

DAY.'

A t first t h e p e o p l e of A v i g n o n w e r e m u c h s u r p r i s e d a t D a y ' s m o d e of l i f e a n d o p i n i o n s . T h e y h a d k n o w n m a d * Edgeworth, I, 219-22.

Englishmen,

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snobbish Englishmen, dissipated Englishmen; but an English youth with plenty of money who despised dress and titles, did without a servant, devoted himself to a pair of foundlings— well, such an Englishman was incredible. But as the winter went on they became convinced of his sincerity. The simplicity of his conduct, his strict morality, his great generosity, all increased the popular esteem. And the principal people of Avignon treated him and his pupils with kindness and civility. Despite this favorable attitude toward him, D a y did not enjoy his residence in France. His health was not good, but this indisposition he bore stoically; he must submit to necessity, and think as little as possible of his infirmities. Dr. Small had wished his melancholy friend to come here for the sake of engaging and amusing his mind. But instead of giving himself up to dissipation, D a y pursued his reading and thinking more intensely than ever. Among the French he found 110 conversational topics or interests which could take him away from this life of the solitary intellectual. Politics, such a constant source of interest to him, was unknown to the French. They lacked the interest of the English country gentlemen in agriculture. They could not talk about the weather, for it was uniformly good. Even the nobility with whom he attempted conversation knew so little about science as to seem illiterate. For the character of the French, D a y had only the harshest censure. In his letters to Edgeworth he declaimed against both men and women: Attached entirely to exteriors, enslaved by their king and by women, manliness of sentiment and strength of reason appear to be entirely unknown in this country; to dress, to dance, to sing, to "tend the Fair," are the occupations of a Frenchman's life; their prejudices, which make them consider their inferiors less as men than beasts of burthen,8 make them entirely indifferent to their wants, "Edgeworth (I, 314) gives an incident which illustrates this treatment of inferiors. While out riding with a lady near Lyons, he met a carter,

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their miseries; a profusion in dress, in equipage, usurps the place of love and of generosity. The women, brought up in convents, or formed under the care of gouvernantes and servants, when they enter into the world, bring prejudice, extravagance, and coquetry to their husbands: no laws, nor the force of the religion they are bigoted to, can restrain them; the feeble ties of modesty, decorum, or shame, are unknown—a universal infidelity prevails; the men can feel nothing but indifference for their nominal wives; hence all the ties of nature are broken through, all the sweet connexions of domestic life unknown—husband, wife, father, son, and brother, are words without meaning, Vox et preterea nihil. But the most disgusting sight of all is to see that sex, whose weakness of body, and imbecility of mind, can only entitle them to our compassion and indulgence, assuming an unnatural dominion, and regulating the customs, the manners, the lives and opinions of the other sex, by their own caprices, weakness, and ignorance. 9 F r o m this dissipated a n d frivolous society D a y turned with determination to his educational scheme. " I have allotted myself a kind of task in life," he wrote in the same letter, "till the performance of which, without t h e last necessity, I will not retire to rest." T h e great guide in the task was to be Rousseau. Were all the books in the world to be destroyed [he continued] except scientific books (which I except, not to affront you) the second book I should wish to save, after the Bible, would be Rousseau's Emilius. It is indeed a most extraordinary work— the more I read, the more I admire—Rousseau alone, with a perspicuity more than mortal, has been able at once to look through the human heart, and discover the secret sources and combinations who did not give way immediately. Edgeworth called to him. He made some indecent answer. Edgeworth struck him with a whip. As the carter felt in his pocket for a knife, Edgeworth knocked him down and left him. Later in the day Edgeworth noticed considerable coolness on the part of his acquaintances. He found by inquiring that he should have killed the carter. However in consideration of his ignorance of the French code of honor, he was restored to public favor. • Edgeworth, I, 223, 224.

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of the passions. Every page is big with important truth. In respect to your child, I know of only one danger, which is, that you may enlarge his ideas too fast. To yield without murmuring to necessity, to exert properly the faculties of nature, to be unbiassed by prejudice, are the simple foundations of everything that is great, good, sublime—"Excellent Rousseau!" first of human-kind! Behold a system, which, preserving to man all the faculties, and the excellences, and the liberty of his nature, preserves a medium, between the brutality and ignorance of a savage, and the corruptions of society! Remember, it will never be too late to enlighten the understanding ; but that a single error, like a drop of poison, contaminates the whole. Never trouble yourself about Dick's reading and writing, he will learn it, sooner or later, if you let him alone; and there is no danger, except that the people of Henley may call him a dunce. Certainly during the first part of his residence in France, Day was much pleased with the progress of his pupils' education, which was proceeding in the course laid down for Emile at the age of twelve. "Teach your scholar to observe the phenomena of nature," said Rousseau; and then he proceeded to show his method of teaching (or rather of prodding Emile's curiosity to the point of learning) the cause of sunrise and sunset, of winter and summer. 10 To his fellow Rousseauist, Edgeworth, Day reported a similar procedure: You inquire after my pupils: I am not disappointed in any one respect. I am more attached to, and more convinced of the truths of my principles than ever. I am very sure the company of these children has preserved me from a great many melancholy hours. I have made them, in respect to temper, two such girls, as, I may perhaps say without vanity, you have never seen at the same age. They have never given me a moment's trouble throughout the voyage, are always contented, and think nothing so agreeable as waiting upon me (no moderate convenience for a lazy man): perhaps it may divert you to see an original letter from Miss Sabrina Sydney, word for word dictated by herself: "Dear Mr. Edgeworth, I am glad to hear you are well, and your little boy—I love Mr. Day dearly, and Lucretia—I am learning to write—I do not like France 10

Emile, pp. 131-33.

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so well as England—the people are very brown, they dress very oddly—the climate is very good here. I hope I shall have more sense against I come to England—I know how to make a circle and an equilateral triangle—I know the cause of night and day, winter and summer. I love Mr. D a y best in the world, Mr. Bicknell next, and you next."—All this is, I believe, a faithful display of her heart and head. 11 H o w e v e r m u c h D a y m i g h t be interested in t h e e d u c a t i o n of his f u t u r e wife, t h e r e was still twinges of m e m o r y connected w i t h M a r g a r e t ' s rejection of h i m . C e r t a i n l y he w a s conscious t h a t n e w s of h i m would r e a c h M a r g a r e t through her b r o t h e r . Accordingly h e took a n occasional slash a t the polite m a n f o r w h o m M a r g a r e t h a d so aristocratically argued, or i n t i m a t e d t h a t h e h a d a c q u i r e d s o m e of those graces for the l a c k of which s h e h a d once despised h i m : But, after all, I think it will be of some advantage to me to have been in France: I flatter myself, that by going into company here, and a little observation, I have so well matured the instructions I received first from you, that I shall have upon my return (or at least know how to assume) sufficient impertinence, loquacity, vanity, and fine clothes, to set up with some degree of success for the character of a polite man. Apropos I have bought a fine gold waistcoat for you. Faites mes complimens d Madame votre femme—Mademoiselle voire soeur, &c. Oh, my dear friend, you'd be quite surprised to see me now: Oh Lord! I am quite another thing to what I was—I talks French like anything; I wears a velvet coat, and a fine waistcoat, all over gold, and dresses quite comme il jaut: and trips about with my hat under my arm, and "Serviteur Monsieur!" and "J'ai I'honneur Madame," &c. Oh dear, it's charming upon m y soul—good night—my paper's out, and I must dress for the concert. I pity you poor country puts, that see nothing of the world, and, when I return, will try to teach you how to behave. _ _ ,, 7 THOMAS DAY."

" Edgeworth, I, 225. ° See Edgeworth, I, 224 and 227.

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The latter part of Day's residence in France was not so pleasurable, nor were his reports 13 of it so triumphant as those of his arrival. The angelic conduct of Sabrina and Lucretia had not continued. In fact, they betrayed the very human traits of children—they squabbled together, they teased their protector. Nature herself, who was to assist Day in their upbringing, allowed them to take smallpox. All during their sickness they chained Day to their bedside, for they screamed if they were left with any one who did not speak English. When our stoic sat up at night with these girls and performed for them the most menial services, he must have thought regretfully of the English servant that he refused to bring. Apparently the disease attacked Day's wards in a mild form, for they recovered from it without loss of beauty. He continued now their "natural" education, a part of which was to harden them physically and render them fearless. Soon after their recovery, he attempted to cross the Rhone with these girls on a stormy day. The boat turned over. Excellent swimmer though he was he saved the children only with great difficulty and danger. Another incident which probably belongs to this period indicates the seriousness with which Day took his educational responsibility. Hearing that a young officer had spoken to his pupils with too much freedom, he immediately picked up a brace of pistols and sought out the Satan who had invaded his Eden. He called the officer to account, and, pointing to the pistols, said that he stood ready to defend his pupils' minds, as he would their bodies, from insult. The officer declared he "These come from Seward, pp. 37, 38. Miss Seward had a very good opportunity to learn at first hand of Day's adventures in France. Since she was representing the failure of his educational scheme, however, she only included (for the purpose of emphasis) his misadventures.

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bad no intention to offend, and our youthful champion of womanhood escaped a second time from a duel with immoral man. By the spring of 1770 Day had enough of France and of Lucretia. He found her invincibly stupid and not disposed to follow the course laid down for her. Accordingly he returned to London, resolved to part with her. The procedure that he followed was one very familiar to him in his Charterhouse life. There the governors had divided the senior scholars into two groups, "those fit for learning" and "those not fit for learning." The former were given scholarships (or exhibitions) at Oxford or Cambridge; the latter were given money to equip themselves and were apprenticed. Lucretia had shown herself "not fit for learning." He therefore placed her with a chamber milliner, and provided for her benefit a fund of three or four hundred pounds. She behaved well in her new situation. The money soon procured her a husband, a linen-draper; and she led with him a contented life. More varied fortunes were in store for Sabrina. She had become the favorite with Day, and he was fully determined to proceed with her education. London had not proved a convenient place for such a scheme. The home at Barehill, even if Mr. and Mrs. Phillips consented to receive him, would not be suitable; for having had authority over him, they would still try to exert it and would probably interfere with his system of training Sabrina. Then, too, Edgeworth would have brought Margaret back with him to Hare Hatch. She had quite recently married an officer, John Ruxton. The prospect of having his first love, now anchored in the port of matrimony, watching quizzically his attempts to steer a second vessel into the same port would fluster somewhat even the survivor of trials by water, smallpox, and combat. While he was arranging his affairs

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at Barehill,14 Day left Sabrina with Bicknell's mother in a country village.15 As the place of his future residence with her, he selected Lichfield. Edgeworth had been there frequently, attracted by the scientists of that neighborhood. Day's friend Darwin lived there, and in adjacent Birmingham was Dr. Small. The place promised freedom, friends, and intellectual discourse.

w Miss Seward speaks in several places as though Day owned Barehill and obtained from the estate there his principal income. (See Seward, p. 39.) The will of Day's father, which is very detailed, does not mention Barehill. It seems reasonable to suppose that this was bought or rented by Mr. and Mrs. Phillips. " Seward, p. 38.

CHAPTER I V

T H E L I C H F I E L D GROUP In the summer of 1770 Day moved with Sabrina into a fine Georgian building at Stowhill, "a gentle eminence adjoining to Lichfield." Stowe House, as it is called, faces west on a beautiful scene. In the foreground are stately trees, many of them cedars; beyond that is Stow-pool mirroring the gray walls and towering spires of the Cathedral that make such a splendid background. On the right appear the red brick walls and gray stone tower of St. Chad's Church. A pleasant house, Edgeworth called Day's new residence; more than this, it was a house for an idealist. Perhaps during his hours of solitary thought at Avignon facing the Madeleine, Day had acquired a love for lofty spires. Now the window in the center of his house allowed him to look directly through the opening in the central spire of the Cathedral. There was a garden and a pleasure-ground, where Sabrina might get some of that outdoor life which Day considered so necessary for a woman. In the lofty house, with its high ceilings, stained-glass windows, glistening mirrors, there was a sanctum for Day, a little library. It was an inviting room for a student: its fireplace surmounted by a chimney-piece of dancing figures and garlands, its walls lined with book-shelves. Not far from Stowe House was the Bishop's Palace, occupied by the resident canon of the Cathedral, Thomas Seward. It was the literary center of Lichfield, and, accordingly, much visited by Day. Seward, a man of some scholarship, had been coeditor many years previous of Beaumont and Fletcher's works.

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Hospitable, good-natured, fond of conversation, he endeared himself to his associates by his tolerance and naiveté. Though his wife was handsome and agreeable, his daughter, Anna Seward, far outshone her and the other members of the family. She was tall and had, in eighteenth-century parlance, an elegant figure. Her auburn hair and regular features gave an impression of great beauty; this was much heightened by her eyes, also auburn, which seemed to darken and flash fire as she spoke. She was an eloquent and brilliant conversationalist and loved to use her melodious voice in reading and reciting. The occasional pieces of verse which she wrote and the enthusiasm which she possessed for various authors, made her Lichfield's foremost literary lady. And from this height she proceeded triumphantly to sentimentalize and moralize her life. How she had enjoyed warning her friend Emma against the attentions of a libertine lover! How she had lingered over the sweet sorrow of parting forever from her youthful lovers, Cornet V— and Mr. T — ! The death of her sister Sarah had provided her with a subject for elegiac verse. Apparently all the feelings which she once had for a dashing officer lover and a sister were concentrated upon Honora Sneyd, a young orphan living in the Seward family. And upon Honora's education, delicate health, and love affairs, Miss Seward was sentimentalizing now with all the ardent vocabulary of a devotee of Ossian, Richardson, and Rousseau. Day was soon introduced into the Seward family. They approved of his lofty sentiments and recognized his literary ability. His munificence to the poor of both the upper and lower classes won everybody's respect. Even the fact of his rearing a young girl in his house without any woman to act as chaperon excited no scandal; it was taken as quite natural. Sabrina was received very tenderly by the Sewards, and became a strong link between them and Day. To the sentimental Anna, Day presented a peculiar but rather attractive figure. Eight years before, amid her youthful Puritan-

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ism, she might have loved him. "Were I a parent," she wrote at the age of fifteen, "I would infinitely rather that my son's talents were buried in obscurity with a breeding wife and a scanty fortune, dead to wealth and fame, but alive, in every nerve, to domestic comfort and affection, than see him in an elegant drawing room, yawning under the ennui of exhausted pleasures, and in the (at best to him) insipid society of a rich wife, whose (perhaps) amiable qualities not having previously seized his heart, and warmed his imagination, want power to inspirit his attention or awaken his tenderness." 1 But now Miss Seward was fast becoming the literary queen of Lichfield. She loved to dazzle her court with sprightly conversation, with occasional verse, with expression of noble and emphatic sentiments. Delighted to add Day to the court as an interesting character, she would have drawn back aghast at the idea of deserting her throne for his rural retirement. Day's appearance made a striking impression upon her: Mr. D a y looked the philosopher. Powder and fine ciothes were, at that time, the appendages of gentlemen. Mr. D a y wore not either. H e was tall and stooped in the shoulders, full made, but not corpulent; and in his meditative and melancholy air a degree of awkwardness and dignity were blended. We found his features interesting and agreeable amidst the traces of a severe small-pox. There was a sort of weight upon the lids of his large hazel eyes; yet when he declaimed, Of good and evil, Passion, and apathy, and glory, and shame, very expressive were the energies gleaming from them beneath the shade of sable hair, which, Adam-like, curled about his brows. 2

A picture of Day painted by Joseph Wright of Derby in the summer of 1770 agrees substantially with Miss Seward's description given above. How Day could ever have been pre1 The Poetical Works of Anna Seward; with extracts jrom her literary correspondence. Edited by Walter Scott, Esq., Edinburgh, Vol. I, p. L. ' Seward's Darwin, p. 18.

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vailed upon to spend as much as forty guineas 3 for a full-length picture of himself is a question. His friend Erasmus Darwin was Wright's personal physician, however, and was having a picture of himself painted at this time. 4 Perhaps, too, Day really had some idea of making this picture preach a sermon on simplicity of attire and democracy in political ideals.® The picture shows a meditative Day leaning his right arm against a column. A dark cloak falls over his left arm; a dark cloud with light edges forms a background for his shoulders and head. The sobercolored waistcoat, the plain cuffs, the shirt collar left carelessly open, indicate clearly enough his indifference to ornament. His black "Adamlike" locks curl in uncombed profusion about a rather heavy, melancholy face. The heavy chin, full lips, large long nose, arched eyebrow, heavy-lidded eyes—all give the impression of decision, of immovability even. His is the face of a grave judge who, having once made up his mind, would not change it. He is gazing away, apparently meditating on some passage in the book which he holds open in his dropped left hand. The whole impression is that of a powerful character held temporarily from action by melancholy meditation and physical sluggishness. 6 * See Smith, S. C. K. and Bemrose, H. C., Wright of Derby, N e w York, Stokes, 1922, p. 11. 'Other acquaintances of Day's at Lichfield had their portraits painted by Wright: T h o m a s Seward and John Whitehurst. ' M i s s Seward (p. 20) gives the following imaginative and inaccurate description of the portrait: "Drawn as in the open air, the surrounding sky is tempestuous, lurid, and dark. H e stands leaning his left arm against a column inscribed to Hampden. Mr. D a y looks upward, as enthusiastically meditating on the contents of a book, held in his dropped right hand. The open leaf is the oration of that virtuous patriot in the senate, against the grant of ship-money, demanded by King Charles, the first. A flash of lightning plays in Mr. Day's hair, and illuminates the contents of the volume." ' T h i s picture, once the possession of R. L. Edgeworth, was owned in 1930 by one of his descendants, Mrs. C. F. Montagu of Edgeworthstown, County Longford, Ireland.

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The ideas of Day made a yet deeper impression upon Miss Seward than his physical appearance. Indifferent to all the miseries brought by refinement and the softer affections, scornful of the "vapours," he was touched and generous in the presence of real want. Along with this generosity went the highest ideal of disinterested virtue. No action was virtuous which was performed in hope of a reward here or hereafter; and as a supplement to this he had some scepticism toward revealed religion. He abstained "from the most innocent pleasures" and expressed a contempt for polished society and all the graces, adornments, and refinements which were supposed to prepare one for it. For the accepted plans of female education he had an aversion, attributing to them the caprice which had so recently stung him. Sabrina's training, he was firmly resolved, should be simple and hardy that she might be a fit mother for the family which he considered it a duty to rear. In addition to Miss Seward there were many other notables in the vicinity of Lichfield with whom Day became acquainted. The group of men with whom he was most intimately associated were decidedly mature, from twelve to twenty years older than he: Boulton, the Birmingham manufacturer, and James Watt, his partner, the inventor of the new steam engine; Dr. Small, a Birmingham physician, eminent as chemist and mechanic, the man having the greatest influence over the members of the group; Captain James Keir, a chemist of Birmingham; and Dr. Darwin of Lichfield. They had all achieved reputations, and now. drawn together by common scientific interest, had formed a club called the Lunar Society. Originally founded about 1760, it continued to flourish in Birmingham for the next forty years. The members, never numbering above eight or ten at any time, met at each other's houses in turn on the Monday nearest the full moon, "in order," as Priestley, a later member explained, "to have the benefit of its light in returning home." The meetings began with dinner at two, and lasted for six hours. The

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talk was of literature, science, and art. If a member had made or heard of a scientific discovery, he announced it. If an eminent scientist was visiting Birmingham at the time, he was a guest who had full liberty to ask questions or expound his own discoveries. A foreign scientist of note was honored by a meeting extraordinary. So came at one time or another many celebrities: Adam Afzelius, the Swedish botanist, Jean André de Luc, Swiss physicist and geologist, Dr. Pieter Camper, Dutch naturalist and anatomist, John Smeaton, builder of the Eddystone Lighthouse, Sir Joseph Banks, and Sir William Herschel. In the absence of scientific journals the meetings served as a general exchange for scientific information and ideas. And through this club scientists at a distance announced discoveries which they had made. Perhaps the best account of the informal and stimulating Lunar meeting comes in a letter from Darwin to Boulton, April S, 1778: Dear Boulton, I am sorry the infernal divinities who visit mankind with diseases, and are therefore at perpetual war with doctors, should have prevented my seeing all your great men at Soho to-day. Lord! what inventions, what wit, what rhetoric, metaphysical, mechanical, and pyrotechnical will be on the wing, bandied like a shuttlecock from one to another of your troup of philosophers, while poor I, I by myself, I, imprisoned in a post-chaise, am joggl'd, and bump'd, and bruised along the king's highroad to make war upon a stomach-ache or a fever. . . . „ _ Erasmus Darwin.7 The leading spirits of the Lunar Society in 1770 were Darwin, Boulton, Keir, and Small. Darwin was perhaps the most picturesque. The worn, mud-spattered sulky in which he made his all-day journeys bore eloquent testimony to his active mind ' F o r this letter and other information o n the Lunar Society see Bolton, H . C., The Scientific Correspondence of Joseph Priestley, N e w York, 1892, pp. 195-219.

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and fleshly body. For that vast and massive body he carried in one side of the carriage a hamper of fruit and sweetmeats, cream and sugar; in the front of this carriage was a receptacle for knife, fork and spoon, for writing paper and pencils. On the other side, rising from the floor to the window, was a pile of books. Above him was a skylight, equipped with a shade which he could withdraw when he wished additional light for reading or writing. So the Doctor in his days of fame read, wrote, and ate. When this traveling library arrived at its destination, the Doctor's huge figure emerged, his head almost buried between his shoulders and surmounted by a scratch-wig tied up in a bob-tail. As a climax to all this physical awkwardness, came Darwin's stammered greeting. But after the first minutes his audience was likely to forget all about his awkwardness. His sagacious eye and benevolent expression, his flow of wit made him a welcome companion. His original ideas and theories were a constant source of stimulation to the Lunar group. Edgeworth, closely connected with this society during his stays in England, had invented a new kind of carriage on a model suggested by Darwin. For Josiah Wedgwood, also closely associated with the Lunar Society, he designed and completed a horizontal windmill to grind flints. One day he mentioned a new scheme to the Lunar members. " I have formed an idea," he said, "of a duplex pen, a pen with two quills by help of which one may write two copies of anything; which will thus, at a single operation produce both the original and the transcript of a letter." " I believe I can find a better way of solving the problem," said Watt; " I shall think over it tonight, and communicate my ideas to you tomorrow." 8 And by the next day, Watt had invented the copying press. Darwin also invented a speaking machine which could pronounce p, b, * Arago, M., Historical Eloge of James Walt, translated by J. P. Muirhead, London, Murray, 1839, p. 03.

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m, and a. With him Matthew Boulton entered into an agreement, partly perhaps as a joke, which was witnessed by two Lunar members. " I promise to pay to Dr. Darwin of Lichfield one thousand pounds upon his delivering to me (within 2 years from date hereof) an Instrument called an organ that is capable of pronouncing the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and Ten Commandments in the Vulgar Tongue, and his ceding to me, and me only, the property of the said invention with all the advantages thereunto appertaining. M. Boulton Soho Sep. 3rd 1877 Witness, James Keir Witness, W. Small" 9 In medicine, chemistry, and mechanics, Darwin was an enthusiastic experimenter and theorizer. He says in his Apology prefixed to The Botanic Garden: "It may be proper here to apologize for many of the subsequent conjectures on some articles of natural philosophy, as not being supported by accurate investigation, or conclusive experiments. Extravagant theories, however, in those parts of philosophy, where our knowledge is yet imperfect, are not without their use; as they encourage the execution of laborious experiments, or the investigation of ingenious deductions to confirm or refute them." His letters to Lunar members are full of such theories, and he left "a huge commonplace book full of sketches and suggestions about machines." There was a knitting machine, a canal lock, a flying bird to be propelled by gunpowder or compressed air. He completed practically none of these, but his suggestions must have added wonderfully to that atmosphere of scientific enthusiasm which helped to bring the ideas of a Priestley or a Watt before *C. Darwin, Preliminary Notice, In Erasmus Darwin by Krause, E. L., trans, from the German by W. S. Dallas, London, Murray, 1879, p. 121. T h e date, unless 1877 w a s inserted as a joke, w a s probably 1767.

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the world. And Darwin himself in his didactic poem The Botanic Garden gave poetic expression to the scientific knowledge and theories of his friends. Boulton was the attractive host of the Lunar Society in his house at Soho. A noble figure and a handsome face, a lofty but receding forehead, with bright grey eyes under his well-arched eyebrows, a grace and dignity of manner which made him an especial favourite with all women and especially young men, a large general knowledge of books, a strange and almost unpleasant power of penetrating character and motive at a glance; a frank, honest, cheerful face; a love of music and of poetry too; a knowledge of the world . . . made Matthew Boulton one of the most irresistible of men. . . . If to this sketch we add the little details of the day, the grey peruke, the embroidered coat, with its bright steel cut buttons, and lace, the portly vest of the period, the tasteful small clothes, the silk stockings and the diamond buckles on the faultless shoes—we have a striking portrait of a Birmingham button maker, a master artist, a genuine commercial "gentleman" of the good old days. 10

In a remarkable way Boulton combined the character of merchant prince and affable host. With bold enterprise and imagination he had erected upon the barren heath at Soho, near Birmingham, workshops costing nine thousand pounds and occupied in 1770 by eight hundred workmen. In those shops he made trinkets and ornaments of steel, silver plate, ormolu clocks. He secured Flaxman and other artists to help in this work— and paid them well. To his other workers he was a generous and efficient master. He preferred to take poor boys rather than gentlemen apprentices. With his own men he practised division of labor, and made each one a skilled workman. His ambition that Soho should be the largest hardware manufactory in the world was beginning to be realized. 10 T i m m i n s , S a m . Mr. Sam Timmins on Matthew Boulton. In ham and Midland Institute, Archaeological Section, Transactions, sions and Reports for the Year 1871, p. 25.

BirmingExcur-

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Inevitably the scientists, the captains of commerce, the men with ideas gravitated to Boulton. Dr. William Small, leaving America for England on account of ill health, bore a letter of introduction to Boulton from Franklin. Edgeworth, on a visit to Darwin, met Boulton, was entertained by him and carried on a tour through Birmingham factories. At Soho House, Boulton entertained with princely hospitality. Here James Watt, the poor Scotch engineer, came for the first time in the autumn of 1768 and stayed for a fortnight, discussing with Boulton plans for a steam engine and meeting members of the Lunar Society, Captain James Keir, Dr. Darwin, and Dr. Small.11 Dr. Small visited Soho House with young Day and was largely responsible for the friendship between him and Boulton. During many years the letters between Day and Boulton bore ample testimony to their affectionate relationship. Day felt a perfect freedom with this friend. He used him as his banker, as his agent to collect interest on Birmingham bonds or to sell them. "I will not thank you," he says after one such transaction, " for the trouble you have had & the punctuality with which you have executed the many commissions I have given you, because you say you are in my debt for some trifling favours; but by placing them on the creditor side of your account you will soon in the Merchant's phrase have a balance on your side."12 He even felt free enough with his friend to compliment him: "there are two others [sciences] for which he [Erasmus Darwin, Jr.] could not possibly find an abler master than yourself, the knowledge of the world, and the art of do" There were many other famous visitors: Benjamin Franklin, Withering the botanist, Baskerville the printer, Priestley the chemist, Wedgwood the potter, Banks, Herschel, and Smeaton. See Birmingham and Midland Institute, 1872, p. 26. " B o u l t o n MS. (in Assay Office, Birmingham, England). Letter, D a y to Boulton, Jan. 22, 1778.

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ing and saying handsome things." 13 Nor did the advantage of twenty years in age relieve Boulton from Day's lectures: give me leave [he later wrote from a country retreat] with the real interest of a sincere friend, to express my wish, that now at last, when a splendid fortune is certainly within your power, you will contract that extensive wide sphere of business, in which your ingenuity has so long kept you engaged, & which has prevented you hitherto, if I may believe the words of one of your sincerest friends, poor Dr. Small, from acquiring that independence which you ought to have had long ago. . . . You are my dear Sir, not of an age to sport any longer with fortune, & you ought to determine now at last to retain that perfect independence, which has so long been owing to your genius & merit—14 But whether thanking Boulton for transacting some business or for the invitation to visit Soho House, whether expressing solicitude for Boulton's health or his financial independence, through most of the correspondence goes a friendship which enables Day to conclude a letter with "most affectionately yours, Thomas Day." The relationship between the Lunar members and their friends was very close. Not only was there a community of ideas; there was also financial cooperation. As early as 1767 Darwin was discussing with Watt plans for a steam engine. T h e other members knew the plans and talked them over long before the partnership of Boulton and Watt was consummated. Indeed both Small and Keir had abundant opportunities for entering this business had they so desired; and Keir for a time took charge of certain departments of Boulton's work, and managed the office during Boulton's absence. I t was only natural then that Day should have some financial connection with a man so closely united with his intimate friends. It seems evident that during the business depression of 1772 D a y made to "Ibid.,

letter, D a y to Boulton, Oct. 29, 1780.

" Ibid.,

letter of Sept. 8, 1781.

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Boulton a loan of £2,200, which by 1776 had been increased to £3,000. About this loan D a y said, " I cannot consent to the proposed addition of interest because I think 4 pr. Cent enough, & have no means of making more of my money with equal security." 1 5 There were loans to other members of the Lunar group. On Dr. Small's request Day lent £400 to Joseph Barker, a surgeon of Birmingham. D a y received through Keir much of the money repaid by Boulton and lent to him certain sums which, by his will of 1780, he was prone to dispose of thus: " I t e m . I remit unto James Keir now living at Winson Green near Birmingham Esq. all such sums of money as he may be indebted to me at the day of my death together with all the interest which may be due thereon whether such sums of money be due on the security of bond, notes, or otherwise." A generous creditor, we must admit. D a y sympathized strongly with the Lunar members in their interest in the useful, the humane, the politically liberal, and the experimental. A first principle of Day's educational system was teaching the useful. It was not mere chance that years later D a y represented the hero of Little Jack as making his fortune by working in an iron foundry. T h e essential usefulness of the Soho factories and the many hundreds of men engaged there in productive labor had appealed strongly to him. T h e usefulness of the medical profession which Darwin and Small practised had so attracted him that only with great difficulty was the pessimistic Small able to keep him out of it; and years later he was to try his medical skill upon the people of his rural community. Even the chemistry and mechanics with which his Lunar friends were occupied and toward which he had no natural inclination, shared in Day's attention; he equipped his library with chemical books and made a collection of mathematical instruments. T h e humane feelings of the group were constantly in evidence. Ibid.,

x

letter of Jan. 22, 1778.

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When Edgeworth first met the benevolent Darwin, this Good Samaritan was bringing into his house an unknown drunken man whom he had picked up beside the road. 1 6 In his writings Darwin attacked the slave trade and praised Howard, the reformer of prisons; the extremes to which he carried humanitarian theories are shown by his representing plants as having the feelings of men. Boulton at Soho had a house for fatherless children, parish apprentices, and hospital boys—not merely an orphanage, but a training school. T h e kindly, approachable Watt in the days of his fame devoted much time and money to conducting the Pneumatic Institution for the treatment of consumption and other pulmonary troubles. Closely united to humanitarianism was the political liberalism of the Lunar members. This was a matter of individuals, however, rather than of a whole organization. And Joseph Priestley, himself a liberal and a friend of Shelburne, says of the society a few years later: " W e had nothing to do with the religious or political principles of each other, we were united by a common love of Science, which we thought sufficient to bring together persons of all distinctions, Christians, Jews, Mahometans and Heathens, Monarchists and Republicans." 1 7 T h e Lunar Tories were W a t t and Boulton, men whose business depended upon the good will of the government; and D a y delighted in his letters to take a fling at Boulton's "friends" who were ruining the country by a prosecution of the American War. D a y ' s most intimate friends, however, Darwin, Keir, Small, and Edgeworth, were decided liberals. T h e first two were strong sympathizers with the American and French republics; and Small, on account of his close connection with Franklin and Jefferson, 1 8 " T h i s man proved to be Mrs. Darwin's brother. 17 Bolton, H. C., Scientific Correspondence of Joseph Priestley, p. 195. " N o t e letter of May 7, 1775, from Jefferson to Small telling of three conflicts between the king's troops and "our brethren of Boston." Boulton MSS.

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could not only sympathize with the Americans, but bring Day into close touch with their cause. Perhaps the most significant feature of the Lunar Society for Day was experimentation. With no risk of hurting his friends, Darwin defined a fool as "a man who never tried an experiment in his life." All of the Lunar members were experimenting with much success in some direction. New methods were being tried, new results obtained. If industry and science might be revolutionized by new methods, why might not education? It could, thought Day; and Rousseau had invented the methods. "To yield without murmuring to necessity, to exert properly the faculties of nature, to be unbiassed by prejudice, are the simple foundations of everything that is great, good, sublime—'Excellent Rousseau 1 ' first of humankind ! " " This genius had explained the system which might allow man to cleanse himself. Like Edgeworth, Day had assumed the task of educating a child in the new system. The atmosphere of enthusiastic experiment which he now breathed would encourage him in his course, and his stoicism would render him indifferent to adverse comment. Poor Sabrina! Her beauty had attracted Bicknell's notice and thus caused her selection. Her docility had caused Day to keep her as his pupil. Now she must go through the régime which he laid down. Seemingly it had been successful thus far. Her very appearance was expressive of sweetness and naturalness —fine auburn hair, minus the usual powder and pomatum, hung in natural ringlets on her neck; long eyelashes veiled her soft eyes; and her voice was uncommonly melodious. If a sweet docility had been all Day required of his pupil, he would have been ideally suited. But she must have other and sterner qualities. She must despise pleasure and ornament. She must have rugged health; she must be loyal and brave. Ultimately she " Edgeworth, I, 226.

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must be a fit intellectual companion for him. Poor, pretty, sweet Sabrina! Sixteen years later D a y in Sandford and Merton gave an account of a woman educated according to his ideas; the ideas of 1786 were, if anything, milder than those of 1770. This young lady's name was Simmons; . . . the care of her had devolved upon an uncle, who was a man of sense and benevolence, but a very great humourist. This gentleman had such peculiar ideas of female character, that he waged war with most of the polite and modern accomplishments. As one of the first blessings of life, according to his notions, was health, he endeavoured to prevent that sickly delicacy, which is considered as so great an ornament in fashionable life, by a more robust and hardy education. His niece was accustomed from her earliest years to plunge into the cold bath at every season of the year, to rise by candlelight in winter, to ride a dozen miles upon a trotting horse, or to walk as many even with the hazard of being splashed or soiling her clothes. By this mode of education Miss Sukey—for so she had the misfortune to be named —acquired an excellent character, accompanied, however, with some dispositions which disqualified her . . . for fashionable life. She was acquainted with all the best authors in our own language, nor was she ignorant of those in French, although she could not speak a word of the language. Her uncle, who was a man of sense and knowledge, had besides instructed her in several parts of knowledge which rarely fall to the lot of ladies, such as the established laws of nature, and a small degree of geometry. She was, besides, brought up to every species of household employment, which is now exploded by ladies in every rank and station as mean and vulgar, and taught to believe that domestic economy is a point of the utmost consequence to every woman that intends to be a wife or mother. As to music, though Miss Simmons had a very agreeable voice, and could sing several simple songs in a very pleasing manner, she was entirely ignorant of it; her uncle used to say that human life is not long enough to throw away so much time upon the science of making a noise. Nor would he permit her to learn French, although he understood it himself; women, he thought, are not birds of passage, that are to be eternally changing their place of abode. I have never seen any good, would he say, from the importation of foreign manners; . . . to what purpose . . . should I labour to take

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off the difficulty of conversing with foreigners, and to promote her intercourse with barbers, valets, dancing-masters, and adventurers of every description, that are continually doing us the honour to come amongst us? 20 Certainly D a y paid no attention to giving Sabrina the accomplishments. H e ascribed to this kind of education the fickleness of Margaret Edgeworth. And to the very end of his life he lashed it unmercifully. If women are in general feeble both in body and mind [he wrote then], it arises less from nature than from education. We encourage a vicious indolence and inactivity, which we falsely call delicacy; instead of hardening their minds by the severer principle of reason and philosophy, we breed them to useless arts, which terminate in vanity and sensuality. In most of the countries which I had visited, they are taught nothing of a higher nature than a few modulations of the voice, or useless postures of the body; their time is consumed in sloth or trifles, and trifles become the only pursuits capable of interesting them. We seem to forget that it is upon the qualities of the female sex that our own domestic comforts, and the education of our children, must depend. And what are the comforts, or the education, which a race of beings, corrupted from their infancy, and unacquainted with all the duties of life, are fitted to bestow? To touch a musical instrument with useless skill, to exhibit their natural and affected graces to the eyes of indolent and debauched young men, to dissipate their husbands' patrimony in riotous and unnecessary expenses: these are the only arts cultivated by women in most of the polished nations I had seen. And the consequences are uniformly such as may be expected to proceed from such polluted forces—private misery and public servitude. 21 The measures that D a y took to render Sabrina hardy seem extreme, but it was characteristic of his educational theory and practise that he applied to girls certain methods mentioned by w

Sandjord and Merton. The Original Edition Unabridged. London, Griffith, Farran, Browne and Co., [1890], pp. 238-39. "These are the words of Chares, Sandford and Merton, p. 371.

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Rousseau with respect to boys. 22 In order that she might become fearless, he fired pistols, minus the balls, close to her ear. That she might not be a slave to pain, he dropped melted sealing wax upon her arms. A terrible test for any girl's fortitude, a greater test for her affection. Though Sabrina may have shrunk from the ordeals, she had a strong love for their originator. And Day continued his régime of the useful and the hardy till the first part of 1771. 23 Sabrina was not left entirely to the mercies of her young pedagogue. William Seward was attracted to Lichfield by the Darwinian group and spent some time as Day's guest. Witty, full of ingenious allusions to various noted men, he added much to the literary life of the place, though Miss Seward considered him a sarcastic conversationalist and a dry writer.24 The lively Edgeworth, for whom Sabrina had such a strong affection, was a visitor at Christmas and mingled with the circle of Day's most intimate friends. "Emile (pp. 30-31) gives Rousseau's methods of gradually accustoming a child to the sound of firearms. In another place (p. SS) Rousseau mentions how young savages in their sports accustom themselves to bums. Following this is a statement that man should not be the slave of pain. " Miss Seward (pp. 39-40) says that Sabrina failed to endure heroically the sealing wax and pistol (fired, according to Miss Seward, at the girl's petticoats), that she failed to keep secrets entrusted to her, that she was averse to the study of books, that she had more fear than affection for her protector, and that she therefore lacked motive for enduring the ordeals imposed. After a year's fruitless trial of these tests at Lichfield, says Miss Seward, Day gave up the attempt to educate Sabrina and sent her to a boarding school. On the contrary, Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck says that Miss De Luc reports Sabrina, a lodger at the same house with her, as having endured heroically the tests of the sealing wax and pistol. See Schimmelpenninck, M. A., Life of Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck, London, Longman, Brown, 1858, I, 12, 35. " S e w a r d , pp. 21-22. Miss Seward was perhaps influenced in this judgment by the fact that Seward was a companion of Dr. Johnson, whom she heartily disliked.

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By this time Day had begun to see that Sabrina was too old to stay in his house without a protectress. Accordingly he sent her to a reputable boarding school only a few miles away at Sutton-Coldfield. Here she was to study reading, writing, arithmetic, and the useful accomplishments; she was not to be trained in either music or dancing. With Sabrina gone, the enthusiastic Edgeworth directed Day to a new interest. This was Anna Seward's eighteen-year-old pupil, Honora Sneyd. Edgeworth, unhappy at home with his complaining wife, found himself "too happy elsewhere." Particularly was he finding this true now in the society of Honora. Her "just sentiments . . . delivered with blushing modesty," her "graceful person," her beautiful expressive features wrought sad havoc with him—"for the first time in my life," says Edgeworth, "I saw a woman that equalled the picture of perfection, which existed in my imagination." 23 Small, Darwin, and Keir were all unanimous in their approval. Day alone set up a stout resistance to her charms. She danced too well, he argued; her dress and manners were too fashionable; her arms were not round and white. Then, too, Honora was in delicate health; that very autumn she had gone to Bath with all the signs of consumption, and, to add to the crime of ill health, had become a reigning toast of the place. No, Day would not see her charms. While Edgeworth was succumbing to, and Day was resisting Honora, John André was paying her a farewell visit. The love affair between Honora and André had begun in the summer of 1769, when he was living with his family near Lichfield. He was then a slender handsome lad of eighteen, with brown hair, dark complexion, dark eyes—eyes full of serious and tender expression. Skilled in languages, music, dancing, drawing, he had all the accomplishments that Day despised, and, in addition, vivacity and sincerity of feeling. The gifted youngster fell " Edgeworth, I, 241.

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desperately in love and lavished all his heart upon Honora. They became engaged, but at this point Honora's father and André's mother interfered, and decided that the lovers should wait two years before marriage. Along with this went separation. André, though he preferred army life, went back to his father's counting house in London, hoping thus to secure a competence which would enable him to marry Honora. Anna Seward through all the affair had a glorious time acting as confidante. During the first separation of André and Honora in the autumn of 1769, he showered letters upon his dear Julia, as he called Miss Seward, making her his means of communication with Honora. A few excerpts reveal his character and tell his story: Clapton, October 3, 1769. How happy must you have been at Shrewsbury! only that you tell me, alas ! that dear Honora was not so well as you wished during your stay there.—I always bope the best. My impatient spirit rejects every obtruding idea, which I have not fortitude to support —Dr. Darwin's skill, and your tender care will remove that sad pain in her side, which makes writing troublesome and injurious to her; which robs her poor Cher Jean of those precious pages, with which he flatters himself, she would otherwise have indulged him. . . . The least scrap of a letter will be received with greatest joy—write therefore, though it were only to give us the comfort of having a piece of paper which has recently passed through your hands; Honora will put in a little postscript, were it only to tell me that she is my very sincere friend, who will neither give me love nor comfort—very short indeed, Honora, was thy last postscript!—But I am too presumptuous;—I will not scratch out, but I unsay—From the little there was I received more joy than I deserve. This Cher Jean is an impertinent fellow, but he will grow discreet in time— London, October 19, 1769. It is seven o'clock—You and Honora, with two or three more select friends, are probably encircling your dressing-room fire-place. —What would I not give to enlarge that circle ! The idea of a clean

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h e a r t h , a n d a snug circle r o u n d it, f o r m e d b y a few sincere f r i e n d s , t r a n s p o r t s me. Y o u seem c o m b i n e d t o g e t h e r against t h e i n c l e m e n c y of t h e w e a t h e r , t h e h u r r y , bustle, c e r e m o n y , censoriousness, a n d e n v y of t h e world. T h e p u r i t y , t h e w a r m t h , t h e k i n d l y influence of fire, t o all f o r w h o m it is k i n d l e d , is a good e m b l e m of the f r i e n d ship of such amiable m i n d s as J u l i a ' s and h e r H o n o r a ' s . . . . P r a y k e e p m e a p l a c e ; — l e t t h e p o k e r , tongs, o r shovel r e p r e s e n t m e ; — B u t you h a v e D u t c h - t i l e s , w h i c h a r e infinitely b e t t e r ; — S o let M o s e s , or Aaron, or B a l a a m ' s ass b e m y r e p r e s e n t a t i v e . Thursday. . . . A p r o p o s of verses, y o u desire m e to recollect m y r a n d o m description of t h e engaging a p p e a r a n c e of the c h a r m i n g M r s . — H e r e it is a t y o u r s e r v i c e T h e n rustling and b u s t l i n g t h e lady comes down, W i t h a flaming red f a c e , a n d a broad-yellow gown, And a hobbling o u t - o f - b r e a t h gait, a n d a f r o w n . C l a p t o n , N o v e m b e r 1, 1769. . . . J u l i a , m y d e a r J u l i a , gild t h e m w i t h tiding of our b e l o v e d H o n o r a ! — O h t h a t y o u m a y be enabled to tell m e t h a t she r e g a i n s her health, and her charming vivacity!—Your sympathizing heart p a r t a k e s all the joys a n d p a i n s of y o u r f r i e n d s . — N e v e r can I f o r g e t its kind offices, which were of such m o m e n t t o m y p e a c e ! — [ T h e n c o m e s this account of his r e c e n t visit to L i c h f i e l d ] . . . . W i t h w h a t delight m y eager eyes d r a n k t h e i r first view of t h e d e a r s p i r e s ! — W h a t r a p t u r e did I not feel on entering y o u r g a t e s ! — i n flying u p t h e hall s t e p s ! — i n rushing i n t o t h e d i n i n g - r o o m — i n m e e t i n g t h e g l a d d e n e d eyes of d e a r J u l i a a n d h e r enchanting f r i e n d ! — T h a t ins t a n t convinced m e of t h e t r u t h of R o u s s e a u ' s o b s e r v a t i o n , " t h a t t h e r e are m o m e n t s w o r t h a g e s . " Shall not those m o m e n t s r e t u r n ? . . . G o d f o r b i d I should e v e r love w h a t I a m t o m a k e t h e o b j e c t of m y a t t e n t i o n ! — t h a t vile t r a s h , which I care not f o r , b u t o n l y as it m a y be the f u t u r e m e a n s of p r o c u r i n g t h e blessing of m y s o u l — T h u s all m y m e r c a n t i l e calculations go to t h e t u n e of d e a r H o n o r a . — W h e n a n i m p e r t i n e n t consciousness whispers in m y ear, t h a t I a m n o t of t h e right stuff f o r a m e r c h a n t , I d r a w m y H o n o r a ' s pict u r e f r o m m y b o s o m , and t h e sight of t h a t d e a r t a l i s m a n so inspirits m y i n d u s t r y , t h a t no toil a p p e a r s oppressive. 2 6 " F o r these letters see Seward, Poetical Works, II, 8Q-102.

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But by the first part of 1771 at least, the engagement between André and the girl who had so dazzled him came to an end; and on March 4, 1771, André received his commission. Miss Seward, however, never forgot this love affair nor permitted her world to forget it.27 André always tenderly remembered Honora and carried with him to the end of his life a miniature which he had painted of her in that idyllic first summer of their love. During his capture by the Americans at the beginning of the war he wrote to a friend: "I have been taken prisoner, and stript of every thing except the picture of Honora, which I concealed in my mouth. Preserving that, I yet think myself fortunate."28 Honora, however, was victoriously secure in her eighteenthcentury common sense. For André she had felt gratitude, esteem, admiration, but her feelings had never reached the tempo of a grand passion. And when parental authority decreed that the engagement should be broken, she acquiesced. Meanwhile Day's interest in Honora was being increased by Edgeworth, who himself was proceeding very rapidly to fall in r

After the tragic death of André, Miss Seward wrote a monody on him in the notes of which she played u p his affair with Honora. Years later she lapsed in her letters into luxuriously sentimental reminiscences of André and Honora. She must have enjoyed that letter to Mr. Saville from Buxton, J u n e IS, 1793: "Often amid the gleam of watery sunshine, I steal out alone into the grove and gardens belonging to the Old Hall, now seldom frequented, though, till of late years, the mall of Buxton. It is there that my meditations are uninterrupted; that I may devote them 'to the days of other years.' Justly does the dear old Bard of the north observe, that their recollection is 'like the calm dew of the morning, on the green hill, when the sun is faint on its side, and the lake is settled and blue in the vale.' It is there that the images of my father, my Honora, her since unfortunate André, his pleasing sisters, and yourself, rise, like an exhalation, in my memory. Again do I seem surrounded by that happy party, as in the long-vanished period which formed the ill-starred love of André and Honora. There it is that tender sighs and starting tears pay, in mournful luxury, the tribute of remembrance." Seward, Letters, I I I , 260. " Seward, Poetical Works, II, 80, notes.

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love with her and was continually expressing surprise that Day also did not share his admiration. At last even the resistance of Day wavered; his philosophical determination to educate his own wife began to weaken. Ever honorable, he first learned from a friend of Honora (probably Miss Seward) that she was not engaged; then he commenced the courtship. The people of Lichfield entered even more sympathetically into Day's wooing a wife than they had into his educating one. He and Honora were invited for many months to every party at Lichfield, were continually thrown together, were permitted all possible opportunities to become acquainted. To Edgeworth at Hare Hatch, Day wrote the history of his feelings. He commenced philosophically by appreciating "the strength of her understanding"; then he relaxed his stoicism sufficiently "to feel the power of her charms." Just as Day seemed to be making favorable progress in his suit, a troublesome idea occurred to him: he and his friend were in love with the same woman. What in the world should he do? Ask Edgeworth about his feelings, of course. "He wrote me," said Edgeworth, "one of the most eloquent letters that I ever read, to point out to me the folly and meanness of indulging a hopeless passion for any woman, let her merit be what it might; declaring, at the same time, that he 'never would marry so as to divide himself from his chosen friend.' 'Tell me,' said he, 'have you sufficient strength of mind, totally to subdue love, that cannot be indulged compatibly with peace, or honour, or virtue?' " " Edgeworth did not know, but having conducted experiments in education and mechanics, he was not averse to trying one in love. He therefore wrote his friend that nothing but trial would inform him how far he might control love by reason; accordingly he would bring his family with him to Lichfield, " Edgeworth, I, 246-47.

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where he might constantly see this attractive creature. And so the Edgeworths came on a visit to Day which lasted a great part of 1771. T h e combined forces of reason and friendship were such that the ardent Edgeworth surveyed the course of Day's wooing with equanimity, nay with exultation. Through several months Day had made his approaches to Honora and conducted long conversations with her. It was now summer. All their Lichfield friends expected a match between the rich young man and the charming but dowerless maid. Any doubts which she expressed as to the successful conclusion of the wooing were laughed aside by Edgeworth, again the confidant of Day and his beloved. Apparently all that was needed was a proposal, and this Day proceeded to make. Honest Thomas Day! If you had only forgotten the things you required of a wife, and remembered how much you loved this girl! If you had only gone to her in a frenzy and made all of those rash, false promises which lovers make! No, Thomas Day came to Edgeworth one summer morning with a packet full of some sheets of paper, his proposal to Honora. It contains [he said], the sum of many conversations that have passed between us. I am satisfied that, if the plan of life I have here laid down meets her approbation, we shall be perfectly happy. Honora Sneyd is so reasonable, so perfectly sincere, and so much to be relied on, that, if once she resolves to live a calm, secluded life, she will never wish to return to more gay or splendid scenes. If she once turn away from public admiration, she will never look back again with regret.30 And Edgeworth, who knew women, who knew Honora, who desired this proposed marriage, walked off to deliver the manuscript without a single protest! All during the twenty-four hours which Honora took to consider the proposal and to prepare her answer, Day was in a terrible state of anxiety—a feeling which was not soothed by "Ibid., I, 249.

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the letter that Edgeworth brought from Honora. Left by himself, Day opened and read the message. It answered his arguments for the rights of men and gave a calm decided exposition of the rights of women. Mutual confidence, she thought, could best be founded upon equality, and she would not allow a husband to have absolute control over her actions. Seclusion from the world of society was not the only way "to preserve female virtue" or to secure a happy family life. Mr. Day, however, had declared with great determination that he was going to live in such seclusion; she must declare just as decidedly that she was satisfied with her present mode of life and would not change it "for any dark and untried system." When Edgeworth returned he found Day in a fever. The disappointed lover remained ill for several days. Apparently the idea never occurred to him that Honora had simply rejected his system but not himself, and that all he needed to do was to renounce the system and propose again. Day was too hardheaded and too honest, too much in love with his Fair Lady of the West to make terms with a belle of Lichfield. When Dr. Darwin was called in to his friend, he prescribed the universal remedy of his time, bleeding. He then "administered, wisely, to that part of him which was most diseased—his mind." With the help of those two counter-irritants, loss of blood and Darwin's salty wit, Day proceeded to recover. What right had he to expect happiness in a world of misery? He must yield to necessity without a murmur. And so his stoicism and health returned.

CHAPTER V

OBTAINING T H E ACCOMPLISHMENTS When Day had regained his health after this severe love attack, he did not sever his relations with the Sewards and their charge. There still remained between him and Honora a strong mutual admiration. The refusal had not been of him, but of his system; and it had been given with real reluctance. Accordingly when Mr. Edward Sneyd, Honora's father, decided to assemble his daughters and live with them at Lichfield, Day was given a favorable introduction to the newcomers. Elizabeth Sneyd, the daughter that especially impressed Day, made her first appearance in Lichfield at an archery match instituted on a bowling green by that indefatigable organizer, Edgeworth. Besides archery there were other gentlemanly sports, such as fencing, leaping, and vaulting. The ladies were present as spectators and took part in the music and dancing. In the midst of the amusement, Edward Sneyd arrived with Elizabeth ; and Honora with characteristically quick decision introduced this younger sister to Edgeworth that thus she might not be exposed to dancing with undesirables. Day observed the stranger with complacent attention. She was handsome, yes handsomer than Honora. The clear brown of her complexion indicated good health. Her appearance was somewhat fashionable, true; but her dancing was mediocre, and she seemed to take no pleasure in it. Evidently not a fine lady, thought Day, and he was immediately interested. A closer acquaintance with Elizabeth increased Day's interest. She had more wit, humor, and vivacity than Honora, more

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knowledge of literature. At the same time she was artless and impressible; she talked playfully but never disputed; and she was a good listener. Day had abundant opportunity to give her his opinions at length. Instead of puncturing his novel theories with sharp reasoning, as Honora might have done, she admired them, an admiration which her expressive eyes showed only too plainly. To this seventeen-year-old girl, eloquent Thomas Day was "the most extraordinary and romantic person in the world." And Day began to think that he had at last found a woman with the requisite health, simplicity, and docility to make a good wife. The affair was for Day a headlong one; in three weeks Elizabeth had made more impression on him than Honora had in twelve months. The enthusiasm with which she received his theories was wonderfully attractive. He explained to her his plan to educate a young girl for his wife; he gave full vent to his scorn for wealth and titles—and Elizabeth admired his sentiments. Even his romantic notions about love (notions that Honora had so decidedly rejected), "that where it was mutual and genuine, the rest of the world vanished, and lovers became all in all to each other," 1 she accepted enthusiastically. If such a man could love her "with truth and violence," she could give up the whole world for him. There was only one subject of disagreement between Elizabeth and Day—the gentlemanly accomplishments. He professed a profound contempt for bowing, dancing, fencing, dressing. Now these acquirements Elizabeth considered frivolous, oftentimes absurd; nevertheless she could not be satisfied with the contempt which he expressed for graces that he had never obtained. The reasonableness of her attitude appealed to him. How could he with any consistency or effectiveness abuse talents which he had never acquired? The obvious answer to any such attack 1

Edgeworth, I, 2S4.

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on his part would be to say that he was trying to depreciate the value of the graces because he lacked them, that he was merely envious. He yielded to Elizabeth's sweet reasonableness. Meanwhile, now that Day was no longer in pursuit of Honora, Edgeworth's passion for her returned. For many months he had conversed freely with her and had won her confidence. Despite the splendor of Anna Seward which threatened to dim the lesser lights of her circle, Edgeworth had discovered Honora. And she felt that he "was the first person who had seen the full value of her character." His growing ardor and Honora's trust in him made an increasingly difficult and dangerous situation. Day rushed to relieve it. Encased in the breastplate of righteousness, he placed in rest the lance of his eloquence and charged the dragon of immoral love which had laid hold upon his friend. With all rhetorical earnestness he represented to Edgeworth the criminality of the attachment. Edgeworth was convinced of his danger and resolved to flee. Day determined to accompany his friend to France and to devote himself there to acquiring the graces. Elizabeth, for her part, agreed not to visit London, Bath, or any other place of fashionable amusement during his absence; also she readily promised to carry on a course of reading which they had selected. Now all of this sounds much like a repetition of the Rousseauistic comedy which Day had played with Margaret Edgeworth: Emile teaching Sophy, Emile separating himself from Sophy for a period of testing. Why did he go through the play again? Because there was a new and very different leading lady. With the aristocratic Margaret, Day had carried on the initial affair that every young man should have with a woman older than himself. Now impressible Elizabeth, at least five years his junior, made a much more convincing Sophy. Like Emile, Day had yielded quickly to her charms; like Emile, he was now going away to make himself worthy of her.

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Edgeworth on the eve of his departure was occupied with the task of making certain that he had not wrecked Honora's heart and future marital career. " I took every opportunity," he says, "of declaring my intention of settling in Ireland, whenever I should return from France; and, in various incidental conversations, I endeavored to convince her, that young women, who had not large fortunes, should not disdain to marry, even though the romantic notions of finding heroes, or prodigies of men, might not be entirely gratified." 2 Honora listened patiently to Mr. Worldly Wiseman; she assented without allowing her pride to take one mocking fling at his egotism; and he left with the entirely comfortable feeling of having acted nobly. Besides his friend, Edgeworth took with him his son Richard and his son's tutor. They visited Rousseau at Paris, and he, at Edgeworth's request, closely observed Richard's manners and conversation. He took the boy on a two hours' walk and then made a report to the father. This child, he thought, had abilities which had been well trained; his answers to questions on history were very impressive and tended to show that, notwithstanding the opinion expressed in Emile, this subject might be learned by children "if it be taught reasonably and not by rote." There was one fault, however: " I remark in your son," said Rousseau, "a propensity to party prejudice, which will be a great blemish in his character." During their walk the boy had claimed as English everything that seemed especially fine, whether it was a horse and carriage or a shoe buckle. "This sort of party prejudice," continued Rousseau, "if suffered to become a ruling motive in his mind, will lead to a thousand evils: for not only will his own country, his own village, or club, or even a knot of his private acquaintances, be the object of his exclusive admiration; but he will be governed by his companions, whatever they may be, and they will become the arbiters ' Ibid., I, 256.

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of his destiny." 3 In later years the father found this analysis and prophecy only too true. T h e travellers spent but two days in Paris; Edgeworth was more interested in people than in art, and D a y paid little attention to objects commonly visited by sightseers. He was impatient to fulfill the pledge given to Elizabeth. And so the group travelled without delay to Lyons, where excellent masters in the accomplishments were to be had. There Edgeworth proceeded with his usual gayhearted facility to fit into the life of the place; he boarded with M. Charpentier, head of the Military Academy, and soon learned to speak French; he attended the social functions and gamed a little, up to his predetermined limit; he made visits to his newly won friends throughout the territory. The great object of his attentions, however, one giving vent to his love for mechanics and management, was the superintendence of a part of the work being done to change the course of the Rhone and make space for the expansion of the city. While Edgeworth was thus triumphantly engaged, Day had given himself into the hands of those torturers extraordinary, the masters of dancing and fencing. For seven or eight hours out of each twenty-four, he followed every method which they might devise to make his solid English limbs dance and fence and manage the great horse. He "practised the military gait, the fashionable bow, minuets, and cotillions" 4 with an energy and perseverance exceeded only by his contempt for them. He even tried under M. Huise's directions to give a more fashionable shape to his legs. This grave young man with the judge-like face underwent the very kind of regimen prescribed for school children in England. 5 His feet were placed in stocks, his legs between two boards reaching higher than the knees and ad1

Ibid., I. 258. ' Seward, p. 43. " See Erasmus Darwin's Plan for the Conduct of Female Derby, 1797, pp. 78-79.

Education,

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justed with screws so as barely to permit him to rise u p a n d sink down. 8 T h u s M . Huise tried to force D a y ' s knees outward. For hours at a time he stood thus, "his feet in the stocks, a book in his hand, and contempt in his heart." 7 All in vain; t h e system tortured him but failed to change his original conformation. It was impossible to make the judge's form resemble the dancer's. T h e discomfort that D a y underwent in performance of his vow to Elizabeth was not altogether physical; there was the humiliation of being under the direction of men whose personality and profession he despised. T h e fencing master, snobbishly secure in his knowledge of bows, steps, and the minutiae of dress, was not always careful to conceal his disdain of the awkward Englishman who was ignorant of all the elegances. One morning in Edgeworth's presence he h a d a dispute with D a y about a pair of shoe buckles. D a y , not even then having a very ready grasp of French, failed to understand fully the impertinence of the coxcomb's speech and coolly repeated his own remarks. T h e fencing master became infuriated, gave an insolent answer, and put his hand upon his sword. H e r e the hot-tempered Edgeworth rushed into the fray, seized and broke the sword, a n d kicked the master down the steps. For this cavalierlike action h e received much applause in Lyons. Meanwhile the m a n apologized and D a y bought him a new sword. Sixteen years later D a y wrote into Little Jack a satire on his experiences in obtaining the graces. Little Jack, a servant at this point of the story, h a d incurred by his poor birth the ill will of his master's visitor, an elegant young gentleman educated in F r a n c e and London. T h i s youth had a great taste for finery, a great contempt for the useful; he spent much time in dressing a n d in strutting about, h a t under arm, sword at side. Now by " Miss Seward says that he "stood daily an hour or two in frames, to screw back his shoulders, and point his feet." Seward, p. 43. ' Edgeworth, I, 261.

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chance Jack bought from a showman a monkey which had been taught to perform many tricks. One of these was to rise upon his hind legs at the word of command and to bow very politely to the company. Jack proceeded to make the monkey a caricature of the snobbish young visitor; he powdered his pet's head with flour, fixed a bag on for a wig, put a hat under his arm, tied a skewer in place of a sword. The boy then led him about, jabbered bits of French at him, and called on him to hold up his head like a man of fashion. Of course the young gentlemen discovered the joke that was being perpetrated; he became infuriated and ran the monkey through with his sword. Enraged at the death of his friend the monkey, Jack flew upon the young elegant, broke his sword to pieces, tumbled him into the mire, and totally ruined the nice arrangement of his dress. Xow in all of this incident the similarity to Day's training in the accomplishments and Edgeworth's punishment of the fencing master is too close for mere accident. Day was evidently referring here to a time when he, like a trained monkey, had been made to bow politely, to hold up his head, to wear a wig and a sword. A fit occupation for a monkey, he had always thought, but not for a man. 8 There were other interests for Day during his year of residence at Lyons. Dick Edgeworth was now a hardy, vivacious boy of eight; and during his father's preoccupation with the engineering scheme, Day gave a great deal of attention to him. In fact, Day was one of the few friends who, over a course of years, had encouraged the Rousseauistic education of the boy. And now the system seemed to have proved successful: Dick was healthy, strong, agile; his mind and senses were unusually alert; his generosity, bravery, and good nature made him very attractive. The one difficulty in his character was an * D a y probably got some hints for this incident in Little Fanny Burney's Evelina. See Everyman's Edition, pp. 504-6.

Jack

from

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extreme spirit of independence, a trait which had certainly been encouraged by his education. T h e forceful Day, however, seemed to have no difficulty with the boy; and to the end of his life preserved a strong affection for him. There was another, but more pitiful member of the family to whom Day showed considerable kindness, Dick's mother. She had come with her sister to Lyons after Edgeworth had interested himself in the engineering scheme; now at the beginning of the winter of 1772 she desired to return to England for her approaching confinement. And Day, who, despite her dislike for him, had turned loose all the guns of his eloquent virtue to warn her husband from the shoal of marital infidelity, was now asked to care for the lady on her return voyage. T h e approaching departure of Day was much deplored by the poorer class, to whom he had been extraordinarily generous. A large body of those he had relieved now assembled and pathetically bewailed the loss of him and of his bounty. What would they do without his continued help? They urged him strongly to leave behind a sum of money which might supply their future needs. But Day's thoughts had eagerly turned to Elizabeth Sneyd. He had undergone a year of torment and learned all that his various torturers could teach him; he was eager to claim Elizabeth as his reward. All through that tedious journey alluring visions of her came to him: her merry laugh . . . the beautiful healthy tan of her face . . . the handsome ripening girl's figure . . . her fascinating air of deference. Elizabeth . . . marriage . . . a country estate . . . children. A year of purgatory was small price for such a heaven. The Elizabeth and Thomas, however, that met at Lichfield were hardly the same characters who had been so powerfully attracted to each other a year before. The impressible, romantic Elizabeth had learned much through her social life meanwhile;

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and she had not lost her sense of humor. T h e Thomas D a y she had known was now obscured by a would-be man of fashion. His showy clothes, his studied bow, his awkward assumption of attitude—all of these were unnatural and ungraceful; they provoked the laughter of the Lichfield ladies. Poor Elizabeth reproached her ingratitude, but "confessed that Thomas Day, blackguard, as he used jestingly to style himself, less displeased her eye than Thomas Day, fine gentleman,"9 Again Day's conscientiousness proved an impediment to his marriage; his new character, so earnestly acquired, was unacceptable; Elizabeth admired his "qualities," but could not love him. He was deeply hurt by her refusal. Again he must recover his stoicism and learn not to expect much of life. At least now he could drop the part of a monkey and assume that of a man. So departed forever "Thomas Day, fine gentleman." He returned to France, where he bore Edgeworth sad news of Honora; she had a disease in her eyes which it was feared would cause the loss of her sight. As for himself, Day reported "an indifference to all human affairs, an aversion to restraint, and engagement, and embarrassment." 1 0 If he had only been able to maintain the indifference! During the winter spent in Paris, however, D a y again was overpowered by the urge to mate. He met and was attracted by Mile. Panckoucke, young, charming, brilliant, and (very pleasing to Day) dowerless. "Though she has no dot," said Mme. Geoffrin later, "she is worth more than the most tranquil celibacy or the richest marriage." 11 So Day must have considered her, for he paid his court. Again he was unsuccessful, again he 10

' S e w a r d , p. 44. " C o n s t a n c e Hill, Maria Buonaparte

and Bourbon,

Aides' Madame

Geoffrin,

E d g e w o r t h , I, 329.

Edge-worth

and

her

Circle

in

the

Days

of

L o n d o n , Lane, 1910, p. 15. Quoted from Janet her Salon

and her Times,

M e t h u e n a n d Co.

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became despondent and indifferent, and again started his wanderings over the face of the earth. 12 Now the thought naturally springs to our minds at the conclusion of this fifth love affair: After all, was Day merely a love butterfly, fluttering from flower to flower? How can we think of him as really feeling a deep love, or a desolation at the refusal of that love? Our difficulty here is that we have a literary ideal of a man's reserving his love forces until his ideal mate arrives, then lavishing them upon her—one affair and that the final mating; Day's affairs offend that ideal, and we call him butterfly. We forget the poignant sincerity and frequency of a man's struggles to achieve an ideal mate, the heartburning and despondency that follow each effort, the period of dissatisfaction, the awakening to the influence of a new woman who is to fulfill the ideal. Day was at the mating period, possessed of an ideal which demanded marriage for its fulfillment. In all sincerity of heart he approached the woman who attracted him, always a woman of personal charm and fine character, and at her refusal was deeply hurt. His love affairs were more sincere than those of the average man, but no more frequent. It simply happened that through all of the mating period he revealed unreservedly to Edgeworth all of his affairs; and Edgeworth as his biographer revealed them to the world. It is a proof of the perfect confi° A letter from R. L. Edgeworth at Paris to Miss Charlotte Sneyd, dated November 18, 1802, has this account of Mme. Suard, formerly Mile. Panckoucke: "We [Edgeworth and Maria] met M. and Madame Suard: he is accounted one of the most refined critics of Paris, and has for many years been at the head of newspapers of different denominations; at present . . . head of 'La Publiciste'. . . . Madame Suard has the remains of much beauty, a belle esprit, and aims at singularity and independence of sentiment. Would you believe it, Mr. D a y paid his court to her thirty years ago? She is very civil to us and we go to their house once a week: literati frequent it, and to each of them she has something to say." F. A. Edgeworth, A Memoir of Maria Edgeworth, I, 132.

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dence existing between Day and his friend, but not of Day's shallowness of feeling. Meanwhile Edgeworth's love affair with Honora was revived. In March, 1773, Mrs. Edgeworth had borne a daughter, and died soon afterwards. Edgeworth with Richard now hastened to England; at London he received a letter in which Day promised to come from some distant part of England to meet him. Woodstock was appointed as the place. " H a v e you heard any thing of Honora Sneyd?" were Day's first words. No, Edgeworth said, only what Day had told him about her eye disease, but he was resolved to propose to her even if she had lost her sight. " M y dear friend," he said, "while virtue and honor forbade you to think of her, I did every thing in my power to separate you; but now that you are both at liberty, I have used the utmost expedition to reach you on your arrival in England, that I might be the first to tell you, that Honora is in perfect health and beauty; improved in person and in mind, and, though surrounded by lovers, still her own mistress." 13 And Day had come hundreds of miles to deliver this message at the very time when for some cause he thought he had a right to complain of Edgeworth's neglecting him. Edgeworth took this opportunity to be the reward of his virtue in abstaining from communication with Honora. He set out immediately for Lichfield. There he wasted no time in philosophical disquisitions to his beloved, in long conversations on the terms of their union, in compiling a document which contained the proposal, and in engaging a friend to act as intermediary. It had taken Day six months to achieve an unsuccessful proposal to Honora. In six weeks Edgeworth had wooed and wed her; and they were on their way to Ireland. u

Edgeworth, I, 324.

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About the time when Edgeworth commenced his wooing, Day was in London engaged upon a task which gave full vent to his own feelings of disappointment and misery, and to his sympathy for the misery of others. At the beginning of June he and his schoolfellow Bicknell noticed a news article: "A Black, who a few days before ran away from his master, and got himself christened, with intent to marry his fellow-servant, a white woman, being taken, and sent on board the Captain's ship in the Thames; took an opportunity of shooting himself through the head." 14 Much moved by the fate of this poor wretch, Day proceeded to add his declamatory indignation at slavery and his idealization of the black savage to the lines composed by Bicknell. The resulting poem was entitled The Dying Negro | A | Poetical Epistle | Supposed to be written by | A Black, | (who lately shot himself on board a vessel in the river | Thames;) to his intended Wife. The Negro on the grave's tremendous brink pours forth his feelings to his beloved in nineteen quarto pages of eighteenthcentury poetic diction. Joy, Pleasure, Pride, Hope, dark Oblivion, and proud Oppression stalk through the discourse. His body is always a "frame," his heart a "bosom"; the ocean is the "main," the wind is the "gale." He amplifies a sailing announcement into "Tomorrow's sun shall see our ships explore | These deeps," or his lady's tears into "The trick'ling drops of liquid chrystal stole | Down thy fair cheek." In giving specifications for 14 Blackman (p. 47) says Bicknell sent D a y this sketch with a few words on the subject and suggested the poem. I see no original source for this statement. However if w e observe closely the parts written by Bicknell (see Timaeus, J. J. C., Thomas Day, Esqr. Das Leben eines der Edelsten Männer unsers Jahrhunderts, Leipzig [1798], p. 221; and Kippis, p. 25), it does seem probable that he wrote a poem on the subject and sent it to Day, w h o interspersed and added a good part suggested by Bicknell's lines. In the 1773 edition Bicknell wrote 161, D a y 146 lines.

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his tomb he shows an uncanny knowledge of the prevailing graveyard poetry: A long farewell!—I ask no vernal bloom— No pageant wreaths to deck an outcast's tomb. —Let serpents hiss and night-shade blacken there. To mark the friendless victim of despair! And yet throughout this conventional diction appear some lines of sharp feeling and delicate phrasing: his speech to slumbering slaves, Sleep on! dear, lost companions in despair, or his description of awaking as a captive aboard the slave ship, Rouz'd by the murmurs of the dashing deep. B u t let us hear the story which emerges from the passionate surgings of the slave's reminiscences. T h e black had lived in Gambia, a natural, nobie man, member of a majestic race which was mentally and physically alert. T r u e , he and his countrymen lacked rose-and-white complexions and silken curls; yet they were honorable, valiant, and (most important of all) easily roused to pity. He had led an idyllic life, watching the exchange of love vows between youths and maidens at the festivals, straying beside the streams of Gambia, or climbing its mountains. B r a v e and vigorous, he had roused and killed the lion and tiger, unaware of the existence of '"human beasts" crueler than these; and for his exploits in war and the chase he had received the "Conqueror's laurel meed." One day this noble-savage existence was interrupted by the arrival of Europeans. At sight of their banners the black chieftain called his '"warriors from the mountain's steep." T h e i r martial courage roused, they rushed to engage the invaders; but the white leader, with golden hair playing round his ruddy face, lifted up his hand in sign of peace; he begged these heroes to

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extend their hospitality to him and his sailors, who were flying from a storm. We melt with pity, and unbend the bow; With lib'ral hand our choicest gifts we bring. For nine days the kindly blacks feasted their guests; on the tenth, the day of departure, they were invited aboard ship to a banquet. They accepted with fatal eagerness, only to find themselves deprived of all their natural strength by wine, the product of a civilized world. Vainly the chieftain on waking called upon the Gods of Africa for justice. No lightnings flash'd, and I became a slave. He and his fellow slaves were now dragged over the Atlantic "To groan beneath some dastard planter's chain." Roused before dawn by the lash, they felt only shame and anguish at the arrival of another day, and hopelessly began their toil. At night they returned to miserable stalls and worse fare, thanked Heaven one more day was past, and sank to sleep, hoping to wake no more. Yet in all the hell of misery there was an angel, a white servant, gentle and beautiful. In the presence of such a Desdemona, this fiery Othello was calmed; he told her the story of his woes and drew from her sighs and tears. Under the sweet influence of her pity he abandoned hate, absolved Heaven, forgot his friends and country, and surrendered to love. But his dream of happiness was soon blasted. He had wished to be christened (this would free him from slavery in England) and to marry his fellow servant; instead he finds himself in chains. He curses his master, whose impious avarice and pride have ruined his plans. He concludes with a sarcastic appeal to the Christian God, who has failed to protect him or give him justice; he resigns all hope of blessings and only asks for a swift revenge upon his tyrants. May their ship sink, And while they spread their sinking arms to thee Then let their fainting souls remember me!

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After which declamatory valedictory he is supposed to blow out his brains. Day, however, could not let him die there, but in later editions made him add a prophetic postscript in which the spirit of Afric roused herself, lashed the ocean, and destroyed Europe. When Day was most virtuous he was most violent. The poem is really developed by a series of contrasts: the idyllic past of the Negro contrasted with his present miserable slavery; his love for his mistress, with his hate for a tyrannical owner; his generosity and pity in his native country, with his desire for revenge in a country of civilization and slavery; his natural nobility, with his master's civilized baseness. The savage is brave, generous, full of pity; the European master is treacherous, avaricious, cruel. The savage feels most keenly the misery and humiliation of slavery, the exultation of love; his pallid tyrant, incapable of such warm feelings,15 is possessed by pride. And pride it is which has caused this whole tragedy. "Proud oppression" crossed the sea to trick him into slavery; his master, a "son of pride," had kept him in slavery; his master's "pride" denied him the privilege of being christened and " I n the 1773 edition Bicknell has the negro say, Beneath such wrongs [slavery] let pallid Christians live, Such they can perpetrate, and may forgive. In the 1787 edition D a y expands these lines: N o pangs like these m y pallid tyrants know, Not

such

their

transports,

and

not

such

their

Their softer frames a feeble soul conceal, A soul unus'd to pity or t o feel; D a m p ' d by base lucre, and repell'd by fear, E a c h nobler passion faintly blazes here. N o t such the mortals burning Afric breeds, Mother of virtues and heroic deeds! Descended from yon radiant orb, they claim Sublimer courage, and a

fiercer

flame.

Nature has there, unchill'd by art, imprest H e r awful majesty on ev'ry breast.

woe.

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claiming the rights of a man; the blood he intends to shed will "glut pride's insatiate eye!" Now a careful examination of the verses written by Day and Bicknell in 177316 shows the relatively small part of the former. Bicknell's lines, forming approximately the first half of The Dying Negro, are practically a complete poem. In this part the Negro with some real poignancy gives an account of his love for his intended bride, and of European incursions into Africa; he concludes with a curse upon his proud master. Day's lines look very much like expansions or illustrations of what Bicknell has already said; 17 he oftentimes begins with the repetition of a word from Bicknell.18 In these additions the Negro expatiates upon his martial courage and gives the incident in which the Europeans treacherously captured him; he gives the melting of his revengeful nature beneath his beloved's pity; he concludes with a sarcastic appeal that the Christian God who has failed to give justice, may give revenge. Curiously enough the lines which most strongly attack pride or most feelingly express disappointed love, were written, not by the Rousseauistic Day, but by Bicknell. There are, however, many interesting indications of Day's 16

See Timaeus, J. J. C., Thomas Day, p. 221, and Kippis, p. 25, for lines written respectively by Day and Bicknell. 11 In the 1773 edition, p. IS, the softening of the black by Desdemona's pity might easily be an expansion of —Ah! where is now the voice which lull'd my woes? That Angel-face, which sooth'd me to repose? (lines 1-2, p. 16). " F o r instance (1773 ed., p. 8, lines 5-6) Bicknell's lines And pity melts the sympathizing breast, Ah fatal virtue!—for the brave distrest. are followed by Day's My tortur'd breast, O sad remembrance spare. Cf. also p. 17, line 4 (Bicknell's), "Come, lovely maid, and gild the dreary way!" with line 5 (Day's), "Come, wildly rushing with disorder'd charms."

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feelings and point of view in the poem. Some of Bicknell's lines, which would inevitably be applied to Day when the authorship of the poem became known, were changed or omitted in later versions. Thus 0 thou whom late I called too fondly mine,

became O m y loved b r i d e ! — f o r I have call'd thee mine.

Part of the curse on the cruel master, And see thy fair-one, to a rival's arms, Obdurate to thy vows, resign her charms

was made inapplicable to D a y and Edgeworth thus: Then to complete the horror of thy doom, A favour'd rival smile upon thy tomb!

Perhaps these changes were mere accidents. An intentional addition, however, made later by Day gives an African version of his retirement idea: the Negro wishes to burst his fetters and carry his beloved to a wild distant land; there he would courageously protect her from all the dangers of weather, man, and beast; from this retreat he would scorn the treasures and glories of a civilized world. N o t these should win thy lover from thy arms, Or tempt a moment's absence from thy charms; Indignant would I fly these guilty climes, And scorn their glories as I hate their crimes!

Here Bicknell takes up the poem and gives a slight stroke, in passing, at his friend's pet scheme of marital happiness: B u t whither does m y wandering fancy rove? Hence ye wild wishes of desponding love!

There are lines, however, by Day in the 1773 edition directly applicable to his thwarted love:

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Perhaps of more importance than the reminiscences of Day on a disappointed love, was his attitude toward the Negro and the savage life. The notes which he made to the poem in 1773 show his acquaintance with at least three accounts of travellers in Africa; 1 9 but the African that he represents would have been recognized by none of these. The superstition, laziness, thievery, drunkenness, and adultery described in these books have dropped away; an Othello is left, warlike yet hospitable and unsuspecting. And all of the wild passions that stirred in him were caused by the pride and avarice of white men who treacherously entrapped him and cruelly kept him enslaved. Africa, a place of great danger and hardship, had produced a race of heroes superior in real manliness to the proud civilized men who were enslaving them. Now it is possible to take the books of travel which D a y used, and select from them passages which give a very tenuous foundation for his noble savage. The same books would much more easily afford foundation for the view of the 18

Quotations are given from the following books: ( 1 ) Adanson, M f i c h e l ] , A Voyage to Senegal, the Isle of Goree, and the River Gambia. Trans, from the French. London, 1759, pp. 654 (Dying Negro, p. 7), 612, 609, 613 (D. N., p. 11). In the note on p. 11 D a y gives as one continuous quotation selections from pp. 612, 609, 613, Adanson. This selection of favorable bits to make a whole is typical of the poem. (2) Barbot, John, A description of the Coasts of North and SouthGuinea and of Ethiopia Inferior [etc.], Paris, 1732, p. 110 quoted. (3) Smith, Wm., A New Voyage to Guinea, 2nd Ed., London, 1745, pp. I l l , 104 quoted.

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African as a decidedly weak character. For the scene in which he advances with martial ardor against the European invader, can be substituted the comic scene from Smith's Voyage—a white man revived by a good drink of punch, springs to his feet and frightens away a whole throng of armed natives. 20 For the dignified greeting of the noble savage to the white leader, can be substituted the receiving of tribute by a childlike native king and the drunkenness of this same chief from imbibing too freely of the white man's brandy. 21 For the treacherous surprise of the blacks by Europeans, can be given the surprise of one native village by another and the sale of the captives to the slave dealers.22 No, the black in Day's reading was oftentimes a kindly creature with many shortcomings, which we might charitably excuse because of the enervating climate and luxuriant country in which he lived. In Day's writings he was a hero, to whose noble character the hardships of his country and the absence of civilized luxury had largely contributed. Little notice was taken of The Dying Negro in the magazines. The Monthly Review for July, however, was very liberal in its praise; 23 and the numerous editions of the poem show its considerable popularity. In 1788 the English Review while speaking of Hannah More's poem Slavery said that Day's poem was "much the best which we have seen on the occasion"24 [subject], 10

Smith, pp. 18-19. " Barbot, p. 79. Smith, p. 207; Barbot, p. 47. "Monthly Review, July, 1773, 49:63. " . . . a generous son of Apollo, has paid 'the tribute of humanity,' and feelingly lamented the misery of a fellow creature, in strains which are truly pathetic and harmonious. H e expresses the highest sense of human liberty, and vigorously asserts the natural and universal rights of mankind. . . . The fiery passion, and desperate resolution, which so strongly mark the negro's general character, arc well expressed in this epistle; the spirit and the numbers of which equally manifest the philanthropy, and the poetical abilities, of the Writer." B

"English

Review,

April, 1788, 11:276.

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Hannah More admired it; 2 5 Anna Seward in her letters called it "admirable," "noble," "sublime"; 2 6 and Maria Edgeworth went to the extent of having a West Indian character (Vincent in Belinda) charm a social group by reading The Dying Negro and then "admire in this poem the manly energetic spirit of virtue which it breathes." 27 A few months after the first biography of D a y appeared, his continued influence upon anti-slavery poetry was shown by the appearance of The Dying African,28 very similar in general situation, language and ideas to The Dying Negro. But let us return from the poem to the author. In August, 1773, the disappointed Day had stopped from his wanderings long enough to visit Dr. Small at Birmingham. For this congenially pessimistic and virtuous friend he felt a deep affection; Small's superiority "in knowledge of the world, in experience, true philosophy, and suavity of manners" 29 had gained over him an influence stronger than that of any other man. A letter from Edgeworth to Small which Day had been shown reminded him afresh of his duty to a friend; and despite his personal unhappiness he then wrote Edgeworth a very generous and affectionate congratulation: I am afraid, my dear friend, you have thought that my congratulations were slow on their journey to Ireland; and that I might, long ere this, have sent you an epithalamium in heroics; but excuse my indolence, an indolence I pardon myself, because I had nothing particular to say, and have been in continual motion. I now send you the sincerest wishes, that you may, in this marriage, continue to find every good and comfort you expect; and this is as much as friendship 26

Miss Thackeray (Mrs. Richmond Ritchie), A Book

of Sibyls,

London,

1883, p. 78. 26

See Seward, Letters,

II, 31, VI, 72; Seward, Poetical

Works,

note. 37 28 28

Edgeworth, Maria, Belinda, London, Dent, 1893, II, 139. Gentleman's Magazine, N o v . , 1791, L X I , Part II, 1046-47. Edgeworth, I, 336.

II, 341,

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can wish, and more than, according to the common fate of men, will be your share. Be happy, my dear friend, since you possess every thing, which your own mind suggests to you as a means of happiness: more you cannot have. . . . Whatever my friendship may be able to contribute to your happiness, you know you may command. I am arrived at that period of life, when, in a reflective mind, its sentiments are not easily changed; and if my present aversion to all engagements, which gradually involve the mind in low pursuits, continue[s], still more may it be presumed, that nothing will ever happen to destroy the strong desire I feel, both from reason and nature, to discharge with propriety all the duties of a man. But you must consider, that, though our affection remain as strong as ever, our habitual intercourse must necessarily be diminished. When you experienced vexations, you sought a comforter in me, and I hope sometimes succeeded: to me you entrusted your uneasiness, your hopes, your fears, your passions. Young and inexperienced in the world, I was capable of being of little use to you, except by fidelity and discretion. T o you, when my hopes were more active, and life a novelty, I entrusted all the fantastic emotions of my own heart—schemes of happiness, which a young man conceives with enthusiasm, pursues with ardor, and sees dissipated for ever, as he advances. You heard me with kindness—sometimes repressed, sometimes excited me: in general advised me well and never deceived my expectations or my confidence. . . . You must perceive, t h a t the tendency I have to stoicism, joined with the change of your circumstances, and your acquisition of an amiable friend in a wife, must necessarily make us of less active importance to each other. You two will be settled in one spot, while I am roving about the habitable earth, not in pursuit of happiness, but to avoid ennui. . . . . . . if I may judge from my own h e a r t . . . there is a certain stable, dispassionate affection, which may subsist even in years of absence— a tender remembrance of those we have loved, even had we lost the hope of ever seeing them again: an attention to their happiness, were we assured they could never be informed of it . . . and this is that affection which I hope you will retain for me, and which I shall, if I can speak of any f u t u r e event with certainty, always be sensible of f o r you. As I know not your present scheme of life, and only know of my own. that I do not at present intend to settle any where, I think it may be some time before we meet again. Whenever we

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meet, I can receive no greater pleasure, than to see you happy in your wife, your children, and, above all, in yourself. . . . there is great probability I am marked out by fate for an old bachelor, and an humourist, destined, perhaps, to become very old, because I am very indifferent about the matter, and buy hobbyhorses for your grandchildren; and, perhaps, as an old friend to the family, admitted to mediate for some of the future Miss Edgeworths, when they run away with a tall ensign in the guards, or their dancing master! Doctor Small, with whom I now am, has shewn me part of a letter that he has received from you, which gives me real pleasure; nor have I any doubt that the lady, with whom you are now connected, will never give you more uneasiness, should her health continue good, than she has done this first month of your connexion. From her I expect to see how a sensible and affectionate woman should behave to her husband, her husband's children, and her own (no easy task); as in you I hope to find the example of a husband's discretion with a lover's tenderness. With what pleasure shall I, when I meet you again, contemplate that happiness, which you say you so fully possess! such sights are sometimes necessary to reconcile me to the mass of misery I see around me. Pray, to Mrs. Edgeworth say from me everything, that may best express the real friendship and esteem I have for her, and the conviction, that, so far from being any obstacle to our future friendship, she will always entertain for me such sentiments, as I deserve from my behaviour to her husband. Adieu. T. D. 30

30

Edgeworth, I, 326-29.

CHAPTER

LIFE IN THE

VI

TEMPLE

Now Christ-Church left, and fixt at Lincoln's Inn, Th' important studies of the Law begin. Now groan the shelves beneath th' unusual charge Of records, statutes, and reports at large. Each classick author seeks his peaceful nook, And modest Vergil yields his place to Coke. So wrote George Colman of the eighteenth-century transition f r o m Oxford m a n to law student. I n 1768 D a y h a d already begun this transition by keeping terms at the Middle T e m p l e ; he probably kept a few terms in the intervals of his travels, and during 1773 attended with some regularity. I t was not a very exacting life; the prospective lawyer h a d only to keep four terms a year, and in three years' time he was admitted to the bar. H e might perform this d u t y by occasional visits from the University or from his home in the country. On such occasions he donned his black gown a n d attended the T e m ple routine of which Colman also gives a glimpse: 'Tis not enough each morn, on Term's approach, To club your legal three-pence for a coach; Then at the Hall to take your silent stand, With ink-horn and long note-book in your hand. Marking grave serjeants cite each wise report And noting down sage dictums from the Court, With overwhelming brow, and law-learn'd face, The Index of your book of Common-Place. At the end of such a d a y a student must dine in Hall. H e was summoned solemnly to this occasion by a uniformed panyer man

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LIFE IN T H E TEMPLE

who walked through all the courts blowing a silver-mounted oxhom. He floated along with the stream of black gowns through Middle Temple Hall, past the magnificent Renaissance screen, past the windows blazoned with heraldry and the wainscoted walls inscribed with the names of Readers. Overhead the Elizabethan hammer-beam roof with its dark wooden stalactites hung over the throng taking seats at the tables: the benchers, noblemen, judges, and serjeants at the upper table on the dais, the barristers at the second and third tables, and the students at the last one. Here truly "a man may sit down, and fancy that he joins in a meal of the seventeenth century." 1 But with this small routine over, the Templar might do as he pleased; and many of them pleased to become wits, poets, dramatic critics, men of fashion—anything, in short, rather than learned lawyers. Such diligence, alas! is seldom found In the brisk heir to forty thousand pound. Wealth, that excuses folly, sloth creates; F e w w h o can spend, e'er learn to get estates. W h a t is to him dry case, or dull report, W h o studies fashions at the Inns of Court, And proves that thing of emptiness and show. That mungrel, half form'd thing, a Temple-Beau? Observe him daily sauntring up and down, In purple slippers, and in silken gown, Last night's debauch, his morning conversation, T h e coming, all his evening preparation. 2

Day scorned such Temple beaux. He was too strenuous and virtuous to sympathize with the would-be critic who harangued the throng at George's coffee house on style, with the would-be genius who varnished "folly with the name of parts," even with 1

Thackeray's Pendcnnis, Everyman's Edition, I, 298. 'This and the two preceding verse quotations come from George Colman's The Law Student in Prose on Several Occasions, London, T. Cadel, 1787, II, 284 ff.

LIFE IN T H E TEMPLE

US

the would-be poet who "wander'd devious in the pleasing road" strewed "with attick flowers and classic wreaths." True, his friend Bicknell, who read and wrote poetry but neglected to prepare briefs, was rather a literary dilettante, but he was also a thoroughgoing Rousseauist and humanitarian—and for such Day had a great deal of charity. In the midst of this motley throng of fops and dabblers, earnest students and efficient lawyers, Day had assumed the role of a defender of mankind; to prepare himself for the task he was studying law. However "he never appears to have entertained any positive ideals of entering seriously into the business of his profession." Though he became "well acquainted with the general principles of English law, he . . . never acquired that knowledge of the forms and drudgery of it, which would have enabled him to be successful in any branch of legal practice." 3 The lodgings which Day had in the Temple now proved ideal headquarters for him. There he might study law in his own library and discuss politics with William Jones. Thence he might make short visits to his mother's home at Barehill or depart for longer stays on the continent. It was to Birmingham, however, that a great many excursions now took him; Dr. Small and Boulton were there, and not far away in a boarding school was his former pupil Sabrina Sidney. Sabrina was at this time a young lady of sixteen, "feminine, elegant and amiable." While Day had been absent on his continental tours, she had been left to dream of him and to get a boarding-school education. Now he saw, not his young pupil, but a beautiful woman. Her childish affection for him had changed into something more mysterious, which caused her cheek to flush in his presence, her hand to tremble at his touch. The romanticisings of sweet sixteen clustered about this rich young man who had rescued her from the Foundling Hospital and came back to s

Kippis, p. 22.

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LIFE IN T H E TEMPLE

her now with such tales of his travels. He talked of a life in the country, far away from corrupt civilization. Would he marry her and take her there? Sabrina hoped so. This hope, becoming stronger as Day's interest increased, added a spirit and vivacity to her manner which made her yet more attractive. Three years at boarding school had removed some of her ignorance; altogether she seemed a much different person, feminine, alluring. For the first time in his life Day fell in love with her. How anxious Sabrina was to please him! Once more he had become her teacher, a teacher of whom she had written four years before, " I love Mr. Day best in the world." She loved him best in the world now, with the awakening dreams and ardors of young womanhood. The pains that he took "to cultivate her understanding, and still more to mould her mind and disposition to his own views and pursuits" 4 were not prosaic sermons to her, but the commands of her prince. When he denounced feminine ornaments and asked her to part with them, she willingly threw a box of finery into the flames. It seemed to Day that he had at last found the simple unspoiled woman of his dreams. 5 Never had he met one more physically attractive, and her sweet devotion to his wishes promised that she would make an ideal partner in his life of rural retirement and philanthropy. T o Edgeworth, Sabrina's guardian and his confidant, he wrote letters "full of little anecdotes of her progress, temper, and conduct." 6 In only a short time, it was Edgeworth, I, 337. * Belinda, II, 162. Maria Edgeworth says of Clarence Hervey and Vir1

ginia, of whom Day and Sabrina were prototypes: "Her simplicity, sensibility, and, perhaps, more than he was aware, her beauty had pleased and touched him extremely. The idea of attaching a perfectly pure, disinterested, unpractised heart, was delightful to his imagination: the cultivation of her understanding, he thought, would be an easy and pleasing task: all difficulties vanished before his sanguine hopes." •Edgeworth, I, 337.

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apparent by the warmth of these letters, Day intended to marry her. Poor Sabrina! She was in a predicament which Day's friends had seen for a good while but which her youth and artlessness kept her from realizing. If she became Day's wife, she must live in perfect retirement, surrender her tastes, be indifferent to the luxuries and comforts of life. These sacrifices she might make, for she was devoted to him. But how was she "to discuss every subject of every day's occurrence with logical accuracy"? 7 Day had always emphasized simplicity, innocence, and docility in a woman; his friends, however, understood very well that his wife must not only have these qualities, but be a philosopher as well. And Sabrina's past life and education, for which Day was largely responsible, had not given her the philosophic mind which he unconsciously demanded." 8 And if she failed to marry him? A tremendous jolt to her life. Clarence Hervey in Belinda (the plot of which Maria Edgeworth based largely upon Day's affair with Sabrina) expressed only too well this catastrophe: "I have taken her out of a situation in which she might have spent her life usefully and happily; I have excited false hopes in her mind, and now she is a wretched and useless being. I have won her affections; her happiness depends totally upon me; and can I forsake her? . . . here's a girl . . . whose affections have all been concentrated, who has lived in solitude, whose imagination has dwelt, for a length of time, upon a certain set of ideas, who has but one object of hope." 9 And finally there would be those scandalous whispers about Sabrina's character.10 By Day's ' Ibid., 338. "In Belinda

(II, 175) Maria Edgeworth allows Hervey to realize (as Day had not consciously done with Sabrina) Virginia's defects as a companion : "he perceived that a large proportion of his intellectual powers, and of his knowledge, was absolutely useless to him in her company. . . ."

•Ibid., II, 191, 192. "Ibid., II, 200. Mrs.

Ormond, Virginia's companion, says to Hervey:

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friends Sabrina would continue to be received as a virtuous young lady; others might think of her as his cast-off mistress. Unconscious of the dilemma in which she was placed, the artless Sabrina blundered heavily into one of Day's prejudices. She had been left at the house of his friend under strict injunctions as to the kind of clothing she should wear. There were some long sleeves and a handkerchief which she was to wear or not to wear (the details were so unimportant that Edgeworth could not remember t h e m ) ; and the simple child failed to appear in the prescribed uniform of the day. Again Desdemona might bewail the fatal handkerchief! Day took the affair as a proof of Sabrina's lack of attachment and strength of mind. He left her for ever. Of course, he felt that he had done no injustice to Sabrina and failed to see the predicament in which she had been placed. He immediately wrote Edgeworth a letter explaining the feelings and reasonings that had led him to give up his scheme of marriage, which after four long years and many disappointments was so near completion. His friend realized that this severance of relations was best for Day's happiness; "but I felt." he said, "that, in the same situation, I could not have acted as he had done.'" 1 Sabrina now took up a fifty-pound-a-year boardinghouse existence, never to see Day again except in the presence of others, never to receive any letter from him whose tone was not strictly parental. And he went again to his travels. Later he was to speak of his whole scheme for educating a wife as "the extravagancies of a warm heart, and of a strong imagination." 12 In the summer of 1774 he was on the continent. A letter "I tell y o u her reputation is injured—fatally injured. It is whispered, and more than whispered everywhere, that she is your mistress. . . . I have made inquiries and am sure, too sure . . . that nothing but your marriage with Virginia can save her reputation. . . ." 11 Edgeworth, I, 340. u Keir, p. 29.

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written from the Hague, August 10, describes a three weeks' tour taken through Holland with a Dutch family: . . . I have been at Amsterdam, which is a very large and wellbuilt city, as it ought to be, t o receive the extensive commerce it enjoys. T h e streets are broad and regular, divided in the middle by straight canals, and bordered by rows of trees. T h e country about it is, like every other part of the province of Holland, flat and marshy, and disagreeable. The water one is obliged to drink is extremely bad. I have been at several of the Dutch country-houses, which I find detestable, though they are wonderfully well adapted to the taste of their masters. You see nothing but d i p t hedges, straight walks, and canals of stagnating waters; so that I think nothing is wanting to complete the dismality of the prospect, except half-a-dozen malefactors, to be hung in chains at the entrance of the alleys. T h e travelling is in this country generally performed by water, which is tolerably reasonable and convenient; but I cannot say I admire the D u t c h carriages either for ease or dispatch. You generally travel in a kind of covered cart, drawn sometimes by three, sometimes by four horses. T h e family I was with had never in their lives been f a r t h e r than the Province of Holland, so that the first corn-fields and hedges we saw quite delighted them ; and I was every minute called upon to admire the prospect. Every hill of the size of Knowl Hill, or not half so big, appeared a mountain, and frightened the ladies out of their wits. During our journey we were invited to dine at a gentleman's countryhouse, and I could hardly help laughing at being received by the master, with his gun and dog, in a shooting dress. H e had been skulking about the straight rows and d i p t hedges of his plantations to shoot sparrows and wagtails: he told us very gravely, that his chasse n'avoit point été heureuse ce matin, that he had not been lucky in his chase this morning, for that he had only killed one sparrow and a tom-tit. The D u t c h ladies are to my taste not a little disagreeable: they are so intolerably nasty and gluttonous, stuffing themselves all day with bread and b u t t e r and tea. . . . Yet, upon the whole. I like the Dutch very well, as they seem to be an honest, good-natured, simple, undesigning people, when they are not possest by the fury of imitating the French, which is very frequently the case, and makes the most astonishing contrast imaginable, as they are naturally extremely cold, phlegmatic, and perhaps stupid. I intend to spend the summer here, but shall return to England the be-

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ginning of October, at which time I hope to find every body at Barehill in perfect health. I remain, with my affectionate compliments to Mr. Phillips and Mrs. James, Your's, THOMAS DAY."

A fesw days before, he had written to Bicknell with reference to the second edition of The Dying Negro now to be printed. Bicknell had raised two questions: Should The Dying Negro be printed for their account or Flexney's? Should they accept a kind of premium which had been raised by the admirers of the poem for its anonymous authors? On both matters D a y took high grounds. T h e y should continue to have the poem printed for their own account; then they could control the advertisement of it and make any alterations necessary. Neither did he believe they should take the premium: The first duty of every man who professes the difficult and glorious task of enlightening his fellow-creatures should be to prove himself in every instance which occurs, disinterested: it is this which gives the greatest possible force to his writings, and the greatest influence among beings who naturally recur from his doctrine to his life. . . . . . I freely confess, I could not reconcile myself to the idea— after I have talked of stoicism and Jean Jacques Rousseau, of the worth of human nature and public disinterestedness,—to thank any number of persons, if they make a present of a hundred guineas to truth, virtue, humanity, and Jean Jacques Rousseau.15 If D a y returned to England in the autumn of 1774, it was not for a very long stay. In the winter he was at Brussels, and there received some sad news: Dr. Small, his best friend, was ill with fever. He travelled with anxious haste to Birmingham, only to arrive a few hours after Small's death, February 25, 177S. It was indeed a blow for D a y ; this sensible, sardonic, humane man "Lowndes, Thomas, Tracts in Prose and Verse, London, 1827, II, 4-6. "Blackman, p. 179. "Timaeus, p. 18S.

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had attained a strong grip on his life. In all sincerity of heart he wrote his elegy: 1« Oh, gentle bosom! Oh, unsullied mind! Oh, friend to truth, to virtue, and mankind! Thy dear remains we trust to this sad shrine, Secure to feel no second loss like thine! " T h e epitaph is too exclamatory," comments Anna Seward; "and to assert that no second loss, so deplorable, can be sustained, is infinitely too much for one, who, however endowed and adomed, left the world at large no written testimony of that imputed superiority." 17 A part of her criticism is doubtless just, but she failed to see that Dr. Small had had a large part in creating the atmosphere of scientific discovery in which Watt, Boulton, and Priestley were to flourish. As Francis Galton remarks, here was " a man of whom nothing more than the name now remains, but who had apparently very great influence on the thoughts of his contemporaries." 18 Day was to feel the influence till the end of his life. From Birmingham, Day went to his mother's home at Barehill. A letter thence to Boulton concluded with advice which shows a desperate attempt to throw off misery: " I n the mean time, divert yourself with Business & with dissipation, give a sigh to the dead, but think not too often about it. Our life is too short, & too miserable, to permit a long indulgence of sorrow. Steal from disagreeable reflexions by whatever means fortune suggests. Rochefoucault says 'The sun & death cannot be steadily view'd': Death certainly may, but the Loss of our Friends, cannot I am sure." 1 9 In an attempt to lose his sorrow amid busier scenes, Day re" Keir, p. 93. F o r the first six lines of the elegy, see p. 311. 17 Seward, p. 25. " G a l t o n , Francis, Hereditary Genius, London, 1892, p. 18S. " D a t e d March 17, 1775. Boulton MS.

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turned to his life in the Middle Temple. On May 14, 17 7 5, 2 0 he was called to the bar. And yet, as stated before, he had not acquired a knowledge of legal detail, and had little idea of practising law. His attitude toward the law is rather well illustrated by his statement about a business matter which he asked Boulton to settle: "Anything in Short rather than be involv'd in accursed litigation." 21 Later he would sometimes jestingly say that if he spent his fortune he would practice law to keep himself from want. But in truth he appears not to have had enough legal knowledge to transact his own affairs without mistake. Of himself he had conceived as an attorney for the rights of mankind in general, and for such a position he thought only a general legal knowledge necessary. Curiously enough, Day spent more time in the Temple after his admission to the bar than before. His interest in foreign travel had now been satisfied. The friends who held liberal political views in common with him were here. And the struggle for American independence, so intensely interesting to him, had here many Americans to represent it. X o more suitable place for this philosophical bachelor could be found; he bought chambers in the Temple and lived in them a large part of the next three years. 22 Of all Day's legal friends none came nearer than William Jones to holding similar views on politics. He held that the power of government resided with the people, and that to them " J o h n H u t c h i n s o n , Catalogue

of Notable

Middle

Templars,

1 9 0 2 , p. 70.

" B o u l t o n M S . , M a r c h 17, 1 7 7 5 . 25

W h e n E d g e w o r t h resided in E n g l a n d ( 1 7 7 6 ) ,

c h a m b e r s in t h e T e m p l e .

(Edge.,

I,

335.)

It

r o o m s w i t h J o n e s (see B e l l o t , H . H . L . , The pp. 3 0 5 - 6 ) till M a r c h 29, (Records

of the

Honorable

Inner

and

1 7 7 6 . T h e n he w a s a d m i t t e d Society

of Lincoln's

these

D a y had b o u g h t

is possible t h a t

Inn,

Middle

Day

had

Temple,

to Lincoln's Inn

18P6, I , 4 8 3 ) ,

and

m a y h a v e p u r c h a s e d t h e c h a m b e r s a t 10 F u r n i v a l ' s I n n ( a n inn c o n n e c t e d w i t h L i n c o l n ' s I n n ) w h i c h in 1 7 8 1 he h a d h a d for s o m e time. ( S e e B r i t . M u s . A d d . M S . 3 5 6 5 5 , fol. 1 2 3 . )

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the elected rulers must be strictly accountable; he early took the part of the American colonists; and he opposed the slave trade. Best of all in Day's opinion must have been Jones's political independence. " I solemnly declare," he wrote, "that I will not enlist under the banners of a party—a declaration which is, I believe, useless; because no party would receive a man, determined as I am, to think for himself." 23 Day was strongly attached to Jones, and may even have had chambers with him for two years. 24 At any rate the scene of the following anecdote was laid in the rooms of this friend. While Jones was removing a dusty volume from a shelf, a large black spider was dislodged and fell to the floor. " D a y , " cried Jones hastily, "kill that spider, kill that spider." " N o , " replied Day with his habitual coolness, " I will not kill that spider. I do not know that I have a right to kill it. Suppose when you are going in your coach to Westminster Hall, a superior being, who, perhaps, may have as much power over you as you have over that spider, should say to his companion, 'Kill that lawyer, kill that lawyer'; how should you like that, Jones? And, I am sure to most people, a lawyer is a more noxious animal than a spider." 25 The anecdote may indicate not so much Day's kindness to insects as his opinion of lawyers. Among the young Americans Day was particularly drawn to John Laurens, the son of Henry Laurens of South Carolina. Fresh from his school at Geneva (his father considered England too corrupt for a lad), filled with high ardor for the American cause, young Laurens spent two impatient years at the Middle Temple. He was ready to die for his country; instead he must go through the routine of wearing his black gown at the Temple, eating in Hall, and attending "the court of King's Bench," where Jones's Letters, London, 1821, I, 142. Bellot, H. H. L., The Temple, p. 304. " Blackman, p. 29. 23 M

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he "heard nothing of Consequence."26 Perhaps Day accompanied his young friend at night to "a Nursery of Orators at the Devil Tavern—where the Middle Templars meet and harangue upon different subjects." 27 Through John Laurens, at any rate, he came into close touch with two problems: American independence and African slavery. Henry Laurens, high in the ranks of American patriots, kept this son closely informed of the progress of their cause; and of his determination to free all his £20,000 worth of slaves. "I shall [beg] leave," said John Laurens in a letter to his father, dated October 26, 1776, ". . . to make you hearty Congratulations on the success of our gallant Countrymen—to tell you with rapture that your desire of restoring the Rights of Men to those wretched Mortals who have been so unjustly deprived of them, coincides exactly with my Feelings upon that Subject —and above all to thank you for the permission which you have given me to return to my Native Country—" 28 No wonder Day idolized young Laurens. The generous nature of this boy which compelled him to marry Martha Manning after having an illicit affair with her, which made him rejoice in the prospective loss of thousands of pounds when his father's slaves were freed, which even made him exult in the idea of dying for America,—this nature endeared him to Day. And underneath the formal language which he later used to catalogue Laurens' virtues—-"his clear discerning mind that united the solid powers of the understanding with inflexible integrity . . . noblest and most useful citizen . . . disinterested patron" 29 —flows the strongest affection. This affection for Laurens, however, did not prevent the logical Day from seeing the inconsistency of Laurens' countrymen "S C. Historical and Genealogical Magazine, V, 198. " Ibid., V, 200. * ibid., V, 205. " D a y ' s Fragment of a Letter on the Slavery of the Negroes, note, p. 11.

1784,

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and unmercifully flaying it. Here were men who wrote out protests and declarations of right, who took up arms at the least infringement of their liberties; yet who punished with the direst penalties a runaway slave. Day's indignation at the Americans found utterance in the dedication to Rousseau which in 1775 he prefixed to the third edition of The Dying Negro. It was representative of the anti-American feeling which had been rising in England for several years. To understand it, we must look at the beginnings of the dispute between England and her colonies. The Seven Years' War had freed the Americans from the threat of French invasion; it had saddled England with a great national debt and had shown her that she must provide a larger civil and military establishment for her colonies. It was only right, Parliament said, that America should bear a part of the expense of such an establishment. Furthermore Parliament claimed that it had sovereignty over the colonies, and therefore might lay upon them what taxes it saw fit. So had come the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, acts for the prevention of smuggling, the Townshend Revenue Act, the Tea Act, and acts for the enforcement of these acts. Against these the colonists most vigorously protested. They had reached a stage where they needed greater commercial freedom; but these laws restricted their commerce, gave England a monopoly of it, and stopped their smuggling. So came protests by resolutions, by declarations of rights, by non-importation and non-consumption agreements, by "loyal" petitions, by mob violence, finally by a resort to arms. The Americans had begun their arguments by claiming as Englishmen the constitutional right of "no taxation without representation"; Parliament replied that it represented the Americans. The colonists later urged that these laws were contrary not only to the English constitution, but also to nature, because they took away a man's property without his consent. Now Parliament considered that it had been very lenient to this

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stubborn American opposition. It had only wished America to pay part of her own expenses; when America protested, it had reduced the objectionable taxes, it had given u p practically everything except the claim to sovereignty. And what were the Americans? From the point of view of the King, of the King's majority in Parliament, and even of the majority of Englishmen, the Americans were smugglers who covered their sordid aims with talks of rights; contentious and rebellious subjects who mobbed the King's officers and ambushed the King's troops. But just let these rioters be confronted by a few regiments of British soldiers and they would run like frightened deer. D a y was a partisan, almost incapable of expressing more than one side of a question at a time. Accordingly his dedication to Rousseau attacked the Americans not only for cruelty to their slaves, but for disloyalty and ingratitude to their mother country. 3 0 After a preliminary slash at the effeminacy and frivolous politeness of the British men, Day charged the offending colonists: . . . Let us remember, there is a people who share the government and name of Britons; among whom the cruelty of Sparta is renewed without its virtue. It was some excuse for the disciples of Lycurgus, that if one man had been created by Heaven to obey another, the citizens he had formed best deserved the empire of the world. But what has America to boast? What are the graces and virtues which distinguish its inhabitants? What are their triumphs in war, or their inventions in peace? Inglorious soldiers, yet seditious citizens; sordid merchants, and indolent usurpers. Behold the men, whose avarice has been more fatal to the interests of humanity, and has more desolated the world than the ambition of its ancient conquerors! For them the Negro is dragged from his cottage, and his plantain shade; " Marks, M . A. M „ England of a Reaction,

and America

(1763

to 1783;

the

History

London, Brown, Langham, 1 9 0 7 ) , I, 34S. In Burke's speech

of March 22, 1775, we learn that there had been a proposal to "reduce the high aristocratical spirit of Virginia and the southern

colonies

by

emancipating their slaves." Cf. Dunmore's offer to free the slaves. Hunt, W m , The of England,

History

of England

. . . 1760-1801.

In The

London, Longmans, Green, 1924, X , 156.

Political

History

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by them the fury of African tyrants is stimulated by pernicious gold; the rights of nature are invaded; and European faith becomes infamous throughout the globe. Yet such is the inconsistency of mankind. These are the men whose clamours for liberty and independence are heard across the Atlantic ocean! Murmurings and rebellions are the first fruits of their gratitude, and thus America recompenses Europe for the protection she had bestowed. . . . . . . Let the wild inconsistent claims of America prevail, when they shall be unmixed with the clank of chains and the groan of anguish. Let her aim a dagger at the breast of her milder {»rent, if she can advance a step without trampling on the dead and dying carcases of her slaves; but let her remember, that it is in Britain alone, that laws are equally favorable to liberty and humanity: that in Britain the sacred rights of nature have received their most awful ratification. Could I flatter myself that I might contribute to such a cause, or interest the generous minds of my countrymen, to extend an ampler protection to the most innocent and miserable of their own species, I should congratulate myself that I had not lived in vain. In 1776 Day wrote his most forceful pamphlet, Fragment of a Letter on the Slavery of the Negroes, but by this time his sympathies were much enlisted in the American cause. Accordingly this essay was not published till a year after the conclusion of the peace between England and the United States. It was occasioned by John Laurens' introducing Day to a Southern slave owner. Some while later he received a letter from this "American gentleman, who desired to know . . . [his] sentiments upon the Slavery of the Negroes, and professed an intention of restoring all his own to liberty could he be convinced that duty required the sacrifice." Spurred by the possibility of freeing human beings from their misery, Day wrote a vivid and effective appeal. In later years the Fragment was to be published with The Dying Negro. Yet what a contrast between the two! The poem gives the despair of an imaginary black king who rants most heroically—such a character and such a language as existed only in the realm of conventional poetry; the pamphlet convincingly presents the inconsistency of the American patriots and the suffering of actual slaves. It is vivid, realistic, affecting;

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and, curiously enough, could have been largely based on those books of travels with references from which Day annotated that heroic poem, The Dying Negro. Day begins his pamphlet with contentions similar to those made by the colonists in their various declarations of rights.81 An excerpt from the Declaration of Independence summarizes the first part of his argument: We hold these truths to be self evident . . . that they [all men] are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these, are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That, to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just Powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government. . . .

And so America has the right to cast off obedience to England. But the slaves as men have the same unalienable rights as the colonists. 32 Any one attempting to justify slavery is therefore plunged into inconsistencies: H e must allow that every man has by nature a right to life, yet that every other man has a right to rob him of it; that every man has an equal right to subsistence, yet that every other man may deprive him of all the means; and that while every individual is justified by na" See Declaration of Rights by the First Continental Congress, Oct. 14, 1774. W. C. Ford, Journals of Continental Congress, I, 63-73. " Day's philippic against slavery (Fragment, p. 24) is worth reprinting: "Slavery is the absolute dependence of one man upon another; and is, therefore, as inconsistent with all ideas of justice as despotism is with the rights of nature. It is a crime so monstrous against the human species that all those who practise it deserve to be extirpated from the earth. It is no little, indirect attack upon the safety and happiness of our fellow-creatures, but one that boldly strikes at the foundations of all humanity and justice. Robbers invade the property, and murderers the life of human beings; but he that holds another man in bondage, subjects the whole sum of his existence to oppression, bereaves him of every hope, and is, therefore, more detestable than robber and assassin combined."

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ture and the Deity in pursuing his own happiness by all innocent methods, every other individual is equally justified in making him miserable—In short it is reducing to the state . . . of contest and desolation, from which right and justice are equally excluded. What, D a y asks, are the rights which an owner would claim over his slaves? The right to maltreat them wantonly? N o , the master would say that he feeds and cares for his slaves, and as a return gets their labor. Fair enough, so long as they stay voluntarily on such terms. Suppose, however, they wish to go away, will not the owner stop them, even inflict dire punishment on them? But unless he has a title to their labors, the punishments for runaway slaves are but additional outrages. How, then, does he acquire these titles? Through the infamous slave trade. A wretch, devoid of compassion and understanding, who calls himself a King of some part of Africa which suffers the calamity of being frequented by Europeans, seizes his innocent subjects, or engages in an unnecessary war to furnish himself with prisoners; these are loaded with chains, torn from all their comforts and connections and driven (like beasts to the slaughter-house) down to the sea-shore, where the mild subjects of a Christian government and a religious king are waiting to agree for the purchase, and to transport them to America. They are then thrust by hundreds into the infectious hold of a ship, in which the greater part frequently perishes by disease, while the rest are reserved to experience the candour and humanity of American p a t r i o t s . . . . I shudder at the horrors which I describe, and blush to be a human creature! . . . After the arrival of the surviving wretches in America, you well know in what manner they are transferred to their conscientious masters;—how they are brought to the market, naked, weeping, and in chains;—how one man dares to examine his fellow creatures as he would do beasts, and bargain for their persons;—how all the most sacred duties, affections, and feelings of the human heart, are violated and insulted; and thus you dare to call yourselves the masters of wretches whom you have acquired by fraud, and retain by violence! These titles then are founded upon fraud or violence, supported by injustice; "it is a contradiction to urge a purchase of what no one has a right to sell."

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And so the Americans are reduced to the dilemma of acknowledging the rights of their Negroes or of admitting that England has a right to oppress them b y violence. "If there be an object truly ridiculous in nature, it is an American patriot, signing resolutions of independency with one hand, and with the other brandishing a whip over his affrighted slaves." T h e n D a y makes an appeal to the Americans as they love liberty, to grant it to their slaves. But if they continue the abuses of slavery, they will "be monsters, worse . . . than the majority of the House of Commons and the English Ministry." T h e conclusion is a denunciation: "You, you encourage the English pirate to violate the laws of faith and hospitality, and stimulate him to new excesses by purchasing the fruits of his rapine. Your avarice is the torch of treachery and civil war, which desolates the shores of Africa, and shakes destruction on half the majestic species of m a n ! " Now we might judge from the Dedication and the Fragment that D a y had little use for either the British or the colonists. H e probably favored the latter from the very beginning of their struggle. If he was disposed to attack them on the score of slavery, his anger was mollified by the humane and reasonable attitude of certain Americans. 33 John Laurens, for instance, recognized well enough the inconsistency of his countrymen on this subject. " I think", he wrote to a friend, September 30, 1776, 34 " t h a t we Americans cannot contend with a good grace for liberty, until we shall have enfranchised our slaves." H e would have published his views about the freeing of the slaves had he " Besides Laurens, we may mention W. Pollard of Barbados (see Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 3S655) and Francis Kinloch. " T o Francis Kinloch, a fellow Carolina student. Wallace, D . D., The Life of Henry Laurens, N e w York, 1915, p. 474. N o t e that Kinloch (Records of Lincoln's Inn, I, 474) and D a y were both members of Lincoln's Inn and friends of Laurens. They would have frequent chances for a discussion of slavery.

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not seen the bad effect upon the American cause: "the Plan of Agitation," he wrote to his father on October 26, 1776, "has been for some time a favorite one of mine—and I should have written my thoughts as fully upon the Subject [freeing the slaves] as I have spoken them here to Mr. Manning and others of our Friends who have opposed me in it, but that the present State of our Affairs seem'd to require the matter to be a little postpon'd." 3 "' If such prominent Americans as John Laurens and his father opposed slavery, others might be influenced by them. Anyhow further denunciation would hardly help the slaves, and would certainly injure the Americans. It might also be argued for the colonists that they had protested against the slave trade but that England had insisted upon its continuance. Whatever the Americans had done, Day was too thoroughgoing a liberal to desire any attempt at exercising sovereignty over them. His role of disinterested patriot would tend to make him support English freedom in America rather than the King's Parliament in England. He had dreamed in his youthful verse of meeting his Gentle Lady of the West in some secure retreat unvisited by kings. His youthful ideals of heroism had been John Hampden, who had refused to pay ship money to the King and had died fighting the King's forces, and Algernon Sidney, that theoretical republican who had been executed for alleged conspiracy against Charles II. And now the same struggle had come, he thought, between a despotic king and a liberty-loving people. True, Parliament enacted the laws, but the King bought it with the innumerable appointments which he could make and with the very money which Parliament voted for his civil list. A few liberal and disinterested men remained—the Opposition. They had opposed the King's Friends in the ejection of Wilkes from the House of Commons and in the altering of the Middlesex returns; they had opposed the taxation of the Americans * S . C. Historical

and Genealogical

Magazine,

V, 206.

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without their consent; they still put forth schemes of conciliation with America. But King George was preparing to coerce the colonies by armed force. Through 1775, the British troops at Boston had been largely on the defensive. The naval raids which the British made upon the American coast, accompanied as they were by the occasional destruction of towns, only served to increase American resistance. Now the revolution was to be crushed by aggressive measures: the King had already bargained for 17,000 Hessians; Parliament at his bidding voted, for 1776, large additions to both army and navy; Lord North, the King's subservient prime minister, had a bill passed prohibiting all commerce with the Americans and providing that American ships and goods taken at sea should be forfeited. The Opposition protested in vain against these coercive measures; London and Bristol opposed them; but the King, backed by Parliament and the mass of the people, had his way. It was in circumstances such as these that Day wrote an anonymous poem, Ode jor the New Year, 1776,38 in which he took the Opposition's point of view.37 A summary of this poem shows Day now as much a sympathizer with the Americans as he was their denouncer a few months earlier in the Dedication of The Dying Negro. Then America had been aiming "a dagger at the breast of her milder " L o n d o n , J. Almon, 1776, 4to., Is. " I n the Scots Magazine (37:678-79) for Dec., 1775, appeared Ode for the New Year, Jan. 1, 1776, by the Poet Laureate, William Whitehead, and Another Ode jor the New Year 1776 signed "M." Both of them are on the American question. T h e former poem pleads with the rebellious child, America, to sheathe her sword, return to duty, and not "force unwilling vengeance from a parent's hands." The latter claims that the Americans are not rebels but merely lovers of freedom; that England should realize her prosperity comes from American commerce; that since England committed the fault, she should make reparation. Of course, D a y might have written his Ode without seeing these. T h e y are examples, however, of the popularity of the subject and ideas on which he wrote.

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parent"; now Britain "drinks her children's gore!" He is still denouncing slavery, however; it is the slavery which a corrupt Parliament has imposed on both England and America. Day describes England as deserted by her genius; she is full of corruption, discord,38 ambition, and luxury; and ruin is soon to follow. The Americans, however, inspired by the ancient spirit of England "still dare be free"; nor will that "gen'rous band" ever be divided by fraud. 39 Their cause is that of all libertyloving Englishmen.40 R e f l e c t o u r c a u s e is one;—that

F r e e d o m ' s f o e s are

OURS!

Before the present era of oppression the country had enjoyed freedom under George II. If that good monarch were to rise now, he would be driven back to his grave by a view of the furies which in their attacks upon England were spreading slavery and satisfying France's desire for revenge. In vain had Hampden fought and Sidney bled for liberty; in vain had been the triumph at Culloden over the "proud traitorous Scot," and the defeat of French tyrant power in America. In vain is the present struggle of an incorruptible Opposition in Parliament: Ah, what avails thy honour'd name, M i l d , b u t d e t e r m i n ' d ROCKINGHAM! R o m e ' s p r i s t i n e fire t h a t b e a m s f r o m RICHMOND'S e y e ! " E v e n the Opposition w a s divided. There were Pitt and such f o l lowers as Lord C a m d e n ; the Rockingham Whigs with Burke as leader; the factions of J o h n Wilkes and J o h n H o m e T o o k e . It w a s this division which enabled the King w i t h a pliant minister, Lord North, and a full purse to b u y a large enough number of King's friends to get his will. " N o t e that Lord North's offer of conciliation to the colonies, Feb. 20, 1775—that whenever any colony should signify its willingness t o provide for the British military and civil establishment there, all taxes for revenue should be r e m o v e d — w a s spurned b y the Opposition and the colonies as an attempt to divide the Americans. Cambridge History of British Empire, I, 680. " S e e Virginia Resolutions of 1765, Cambridge pire, I, 655.

History

of British

Em-

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thy glowing efforts baffled die! . . . With Tully's pow'rs, and Cato's soul, BURKE (spurning int'rest's strong controul! 0 great exemplar in a venal age!) Thy virtues disregarded shine, Lost is thy eloquence divine With CAMDEN'S lore profound, and C H A T H A M ' S gen'rous rage!'*" SAVILE,

How much happier would have been the death of Admiral Saunders, naval hero of the battle of Quebec, had it occurred before "frantic rage and Stewart pride" lost the empire won by his valor. The results of England's struggles for freedom and power have been thrown aside. Spain and France look exultingly upon this strife which is weakening England; 4 2 France, especially, notes England's loss of colonial commerce and thinks she will obtain it. But happier times will come to Britain when rage and envy are suppressed and justice can speak. Then the pious child, America, will no longer complain, but will assist her expiring parent. And justice will denounce the parricides, the perjured senators and venal lords who broke the cords of affection between America and England; she will proclaim that Englishmen shall no longer be slaves; nor try to enslave others. The thunders of justice will smite the guilty souls; and over the throngs of patriots Bright Conquest soars aloft,—and claps her wings aloud. So violent is the denunciation in this poem that, even though anonymous, a few years before it would have excited Parliamentary ire, perhaps to such a degree as to cause the arrest of " All the members of Opposition mentioned here had been prominent in upholding the part of Wilkes and the people in the Middlesex election, and in supporting American protests against the restrictions imposed by Parliament. " Chatham h a d prophesied in the H o u s e of Lords that France and Spain w o u l d attack England. T h e Opposition continued to give warnings, but the King's party w a s incredulous.

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that radical publisher Almon and of Day himself. But he was denied the pleasures of martyrdom, for the publishers and writers of London had already won their fight against the restrictions of King and Parliament upon a free press. It is significant of the radical nature of the poem, however, that it should he published by Almon. It is significant of Day's virtue that in this he should have abstained from praising two of the strongest members of Opposition: Charles James Fox, ex-Tory, macaroni, and gamester; John Wilkes, demagogue and libertine. In the early part of 177643 Day was again moved to prophetic denunciation of England's invasion of America. An expedition was soon to sail from Ireland 44 with the purpose of landing in North Carolina, uniting with the Loyalists there, and then recovering the Southern colonies for England. On the eve of this expedition Day wrote anonymously The Devoted Legions: a Poem addressed to Lord George Germaine and the Commanders of the Forces against America. Germain, a follower of Lord North, had been recently appointed Secretary of State for the Colonies that he might help Lord North in the Commons. He had violent feelings against the Americans, was favored by the King, and obtained considerable influence over him. In his hands was the conduct of the expeditions against America; accordingly he became a target for the Opposition, who attacked his measures alternately as either brutal or inefficient. Against him and his commanders Day now loosed his thunders. Other men had deliberately refused to participate in the King's coercive measures, 45 either as cabinet members or as officers in the invading army; and their unselfish examples doubtless made the " T h e Monthly Legions.

Review,

Mar., 1776, has a criticism of The

Devoted

" I t left Cork on Feb. 12, 1776, under the command of Sir Peter Parker. Wm. Hunt, Political History of England, X , 157. " T h e Duke of Grafton resigned the Privy Seal; Lord Effingham and Chatham's eldest son resigned their army commissions. Hunt, p. 1S9.

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conduct of Germain and his generals seem so much the blacker to Day. The Argument preceding the poem, which seemingly attacks the luxury, pride, and oppression of Rome, is really attacking England: The Roman Empire, like England, had extended its territory and lost its hardy virtues. The conquest of Asia brought the vices and riches of the East; Romans rushed into profligate luxury; Rome became the nurse of tyrants and slaves; her soldiers became assassins. After the triumvirate of Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus had conquered the defenders of their country's rights, Crassus was assigned the eastern provinces. Roused by the desire for plunder, he prepared an expedition against the Parthians, a people allied to the Romans. Now Atteius, a tribune of the people, was much incensed by this perfidy. After ineffectually opposing the impious war, he arrayed himself "in the vestments used in the dreadful ceremonies of the auspices . . . solemnly execrated the expedition, and devoted the army to destruction." 48 The Romans believed these execrations were never ineffectual, "but their effects were thought so fatal even to the person who pronounced them; that they were very rarely practised." The prophecy was fulfilled; Crassus was defeated and ingloriously slain. The poem proper gives Atteius's denunciation. While proud Crassus glancing through the ranks of his troops, "tastes the glories of the distant war" and sees the "Parthian trembling in his wild domains," he is confronted by Atteius, that "mournful prophet of his country's woes." Why, he asks, does Crassus quit the pleasures of Rome? To glut his pride, there are the spoils of mild Asia, bleeding Europe, and "groaning Africa." And now, lest persecuted Freedom hide Some secret eyrie from thy impious pride, Where, fenced by rocks, her chosen brood she forms, To face the sun, and mount upon the storms, "Monthly

Review,

Mar., 1776, LIV, 242.

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Thy pride impels thee on this favoured seat, To rouse her eagle in its lost retreat. Atteius proceeds to devote Crassus and his legions to death, and then predicts the downfall of Rome. Proud impious Rome! whose gilded turrets rise, Where foul corruption stains the conscious light, Where tyranny erects her hundred thrones, And deaf to nature's voice and pity's groans, Even mid the song, the dance, the lute's soft breath, Feeds her remorseless soul with deeds of death; Now burst the tempest on yon radiant spires, And wrapt in pitchy clouds and smouldering fires, The tyrant of the world, and foe to peace expires! Next comes a contrast of Crassus' army and the Parthians: What are thy troops?—A weak and servile train, Allured to deeds of death by sordid gain, Their country's shame—the pamper'd city's lees, Unnerved by indolence and foul disease, Whom neither Honour warns, nor Peace and Freedom please. Sworn slave of lawless power, and foe to right, Thy dark assassin rushes to the fight: Nor love, nor shame, his hardened bosom knows, Nor tender sympathy for human woes: Hopes thy fond soul, with bonds like these to tame The Parthian warrior's fierce and godlike flame? In native liberty secure, he fears, Nor thy bright falchions, nor thy barbed spears. The closing lines are a prediction of Crassus' destruction. As in The Dying Negro, D a y shows many signs of Rousseauistic doctrine here. England has acquired the luxuries of civilization, and with them, pride,—a pride which is now leading her to attempt the conquest of a people once her allies. But her

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soldiers, weakened by the vices and ease of civilized life, will be no match for the Americans, who have led a hardy natural life of exertion and are inspired by a love of freedom. Aside from Rousseauism, The Devoted Legions and The Dying Negro are similar also in that they both have the framework of Gray's Bard: a liberty-loving man denounces tyranny, prophesies the destruction of the tyrant, and then kills himself. T h e Negro shoots himself; Atteius has performed a ceremony fatal, not only to the person cursed, but to the curser. Perhaps D a y himself might have suffered the results of his denunciation, but Wilkes, Fox, and Chatham had deadened Parliament's ears with their vituperation, and, as we have said, the battle for a free press had been largely won. T h e Monthly Review gave a summary of the poem and praised it as "nervous, harmonious and pathetic:—but we hope," it added, "the British Atteius, though a spirited poet, will not prove . . . a true prophet." 4 7 For a time it seemed that he would. In the spring of 1776 Washington outmaneuvered Howe and forced him to retire from Boston. In June the military and naval expedition against the Carolinas was repulsed in its attempt to take Charleston; and Day rejoiced at the news of this patriot victory which young Laurens received from his father. Then became only too apparent the terrible difficulties of the American generals in opposing their undisciplined, uncontrolled troops to British veterans. Arnold's invading army was swept from Canada; Washington was defeated at Long Island, forced to withdraw from New York and New Jersey; Congress prepared to leave Philadelphia. American prospects were very black indeed. Only temporary relief was given by Washington's spirited thrust at the rear of Howe's army. The British fell back toward New York for the winter, b u t in 1777 pursued a still more vigorous campaign. Howe sailed u p the Chesapeake, de" Monthly

Review,

Mar., 1776, LIV, 242.

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feated Washington's army at Brandywine and occupied Philadelphia, the seat of the American government. Meanwhile Burgoyne had started on his campaign to occupy the line of the Hudson and sever rebellious New England from the other colonies. The Americans could not stand before him; Ticonderoga fell, other victories followed, and England rejoiced over an assured success. King George is said, after hearing the good news, to have rushed into the Queen's room crying, " I have beat them! beat all the Americans!" Unfortunately for the humane Burgoyne, his forces were made up partly of Hessians and Indians. He was not able to prevent the latter from committing atrocities, and even issued a proclamation in which he threatened to loose the Indians upon rebellious colonists. Colonel St. Leger, Burgoyne's assistant operating against Fort Stanwix, made considerable use of Indians in fighting and threatened the defenders of this fort with an Indian massacre. When the savages murdered and scalped Jennie McCrea, fiancée of a Loyalist officer, universal indignation was roused. In November, 1777, however, the King's cause still appeared very prosperous. News of Burgoyne's growing difficulties was counteracted by a report that Arnold had surrendered with 12,000 men ; two days later came an account of the fall of Philadelphia. The Americans seemed to be in a very serious situation. Chatham, always their champion, moved that his Majesty make a treaty with the Americans ; and with all the severity of his "generous rage" denounced the employment of Indians against them. 48 About this t i m e " Day wrote The Desolation of America.50 True to the pattern set by preceding poems it gives the declama" Other members of the Opposition had of Indians. See Burke's Letter to . . . John 1777, pp. 38, .39, 77. " A b o u t Dec. 1, 1777. The first review of Magazine, Dec., 1777, X L V I , 664. M Anon., London, Kearsley, 1777, 4to., Is.

made attacks upon the use Farr . . . London, Dodsley, this appears in the 6d.

London

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TEMPLE

tions of oppressed people against tyranny and cruelty. Three Americans, an aged father and mother and their daughter, have been forced to flee from their home b y British invaders. During a pause by a mountain side, the mother instead of resting gives a declamation on the woes of her family and of her country, and the cruelty of the soldiers. She reproaches these soldiers for their lack of pity, their attacks upon their brother Englishmen. She appeals to the women of America to rush to the battlefields, throw themselves before the soldiers, and beg them, as the Sabine wives begged the Romans under similar circumstances, to have mercy upon America. T o be most effective, however, these suppliants must wear extremely simple garments: Be no soft wreaths around your temples roll'd; No silken bands your tender limbs infold ; Throw every lighter ornament aside Which luxury affords to female pride. B u t no, the grovellings of women even so simply attired would be unavailing against the brutality of the soldier who walks amid the ruins of a once peaceful home, Inspires new fury to the sinking flame ; Or stabs the suppliant babe, and calls it fame! Better to fly to the wilderness, where the serpent, the wolf, and the tiger 51 lie in wait, And the fell Indian, Britain's ready aid, Wields his keen axe, and murders in the shade. There women with their babes may die from lack of food. T h e mother concludes this accumulation of woe with fears that her daughter will die from hardships, her daughter's fiancé be killed in battle. T h i s dreadful catalogue finished, the father instead of calling " Cf. the dangers to which Goldsmith exposes his colonists in The Deserted Village.

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for the family to renew their flight from the brutal soldiery, rises to give his declamation. Thrice on the dreadful scene he turned his eyes, Then thus with arms extended to the skies— He assumes the disinterested role of which Day was so fond, sees no escape for himself, but only sorrows over his country's woes. Or what avails, unhappy land! to trace The generous labours of thy patriot race? The reader's hopes are roused here; perhaps this second declaimer will not go very deeply into things. Alas! his question is merely rhetorical. He does trace all the labors of the patriot race and paints England in her t u m as a proud luxurious tyrant. The colonists had fled from tyranny in England to win freedom in America. T h e English had also become free for a time when "justice triumph'd in a Stuart slain." Not for long, however. Tyranny (pictured here with all the horrors of Milton's description of Death) once more gained sway over England, then attacked freedom in her last hold, America. All the prosperity and beauty of America are now ruined. No more the ripening harvest waves its pride, Nor yellow canes their luscious treasures hide, Nor lowing herd the winding valley fills, Nor thousand flocks sport on a thousand hills, No more at early dawn, the shepherd's voice Salutes the morn, or bids the groves rejoice; Nor breath of music floats along the glade; Nor maiden's song soft-trilling through the shade; But o'er the wasted fields and dreary plains, In silent horror desolation reigns. The cries of mothers lamenting their slaughtered children, the shrieks of ravished virgins, the mangled infant's wails receive no pity. England, unmoved by nature or pity, is attacking her own child. In vain this child had labored to provide treasures for a luxurious, pompous, proud mother country.

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LIFE IX THE TEMPLE Our industry and valour rear'd the mound, Where now she sits, and darts her rays around.

She is ungrateful, enslaved even, and now attacks America for loving freedom. In the struggle she uses unworthy weapons. Here, lost to all their former virtue, shine T h e venal legions of the servile Rhine: But far more fell, more dreadful than the rest. From his dark forest springs the savage pest, The minister of hell, and Britain's hate, Nature's abhorrence, and the scourge of fate!

Nevertheless, the father concludes, Heaven can turn this defeat to victory. Though winds threaten the vessel America, yet may her pilot remain firm and these gales serve to bring her into port. The Desolation oj America was reviewed by the Gentleman's Magazine?2 and the London MagazineThe former was very favorable; it gave a synopsis interspersed with many excerpts, and concluded thus: ''This poem paints the horrors of civil war with very striking colours, and should be read by all those who are for prolonging the miseries of it." The London Magazine assailed the partisan spirit of the poem: " T h e savage horrors of a cruel war are here described under every circumstance that can wound and afflict a sympathizing mind; but only one side of the bloody scene is presented to our view: the poet in the character of an American charges Britain with the crimes of oppression and cruelty; this may recommend his poem to one class of readers but it will as assuredly damn it in the opinion of others; which must always be the case, when false zeal transports a writer beyond the bounds of truth and cool reason." Day, like a

Gentleman's Magazine, Feb., 1778, XLVIII, 83-85. "London Magazine, Dec., 1777, XLVI, 64.

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Burke, Fox, and Chatham, was indeed transported; and, like them, made denunciations, violent but sincere. He was partisan as always when his indignation was roused by what he considered cruelty and injustice. In the midst of a struggle for English freedom, he ruffled his black mane and roared most lionlike. We can only be sorry that he lacked Burke's genius for noble expression, a genius which might have prevented this poetry from falling into declamatory rant. Just at the time when Day was complaining of an America desolated by invading monsters, when Fox was denouncing the scalping and tomahawk measures used by Germain, the news of Burgoyne's surrender reached London.54 Colonel Barré, a strong American sympathizer, forced the unhappy Germain to admit the catastrophe before the House of Commons; and the Opposition in triumphant wrath denounced this secretary for a plan, "too absurd for an Indian chief," which had brought destruction to a brave British general and his army. The prophetic denunciations of Day's Devoted Legions were now fulfilled. The concluding wishes of his recent poem that the pilot Washington might remain firm and that his ship America might reach port were realized; for it was Washington's firm resistance to Howe around Philadelphia which prevented that general from sending an adequate relief force to Burgoyne, and now America was soon to reach the port toward which she had been steered through ail these storms—an alliance with France. England had failed to govern her colonies at a distance of three thousand miles; now Secretary Germain55 had failed to conduct a successful campaign at that distance. And the American alliance with France, predicted by Chatham and implied in Day's Ode, was soon to make such a campaign impossible. "Dec.

2, 1777.

" B o t h Howe and Germain were to blame for Burgoyne's surrender. See Hunt, pp. 173, 179.

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Typical of Day's interest and exultation in the successful fight which America had made against England was the conclusion of his letter to Boulton: " I t is unnecessary for me to add anything from myself except that America is unconquer'd, the King is . . . England will be "5B

" B o u l t o n MS. 1 1777 ? Aug.?], 18. This is only one of several strokes which Day takes in his letters at Boulton's support of the King's cause.

CHAPTER V I I

0 G E N T L E LADY O F T H E WEST! 0 tell me, in what silent vale, To hail the balmy breath of May, Thy tresses floating on the gale, All simply neat thou deign'st to stray! Health's rosy bloom upon thy cheek, Eyes that with artless lustre roll, More eloquent than words to speak The genuine feelings of the soul. Such be thy form! thy noble mind By no false culture led astray; By native sense alone refin'd In Reason's plain and simple way. O gentle Lady of the West! To find thee, be my only task, When found, I'll clasp thee to my breast: No haughty birth or dower I ask.1 So D a y had written in his teens; so he felt a decade latei. Perhaps he might have been so unfortunate as to find and wed this glorified milkmaid, had it not been for the active interest which Dr. Small a few years before his death took in the matter. Understanding very well not only the wife that his friend imagined, but also the wife that he needed, the Doctor had done what he could to assist in the search. Every woman whom the Doctor considered suitable he discussed with D a y and attempted to introduce to him. While Day was yet attached to * Keir, pp. 43-44.

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Sabrina, the Doctor found in Miss Esther Milnes of Wakefield, Yorkshire, an ideal companion for him. He very craftily held her name in reserve till he became convinced, along with Day's other friends, that the affair with Sabrina was ended. Then he gradually introduced this new figure. He spoke of her unbounded charity and benevolence, known throughout Yorkshire; of the "superiority of her understanding" as shown by her letters. She was so intellectual that to distinguish her from another Miss Milnes, her relative, to whom the name Venus had been given, she was called Minerva. " B u t has she white and large arms?" asked Day, suddenly turning to the question of physical charm. "She has," said Dr. Small. "Does she wear long petticoats?" "Uncommonly long." " I hope she is tall, and strong, and healthy." "Remarkably little, and not robust.—My good friend," added Dr. Small with great deliberation, "can you possibly expect, that a woman of charming temper, benevolent mind, and cultivated understanding, with a distinguished character, with views of life congenial with your own, with an agreeable person and a large fortune, should be formed exactly according to a picture that exists in your imagination? This lady is two or three and twenty, has had twenty admirers; some of them admirers of herself, some perhaps, of her fortune; yet, in spite of all these admirers and lovers, she is disengaged. If you are not satisfied, determine at once never to marry." " M y dear Doctor," replied Day, "the only serious objection, which I have to Miss Milnes, is her large fortune. It was always my wish, to give any woman whom I married the most unequivocal proof of my attachment to herself, by despising her fortune."

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"Well, my friend," said the Doctor, "what prevents you from despising the fortune, and taking the lady?" 2 So Day saw fit to visit Yorkshire and make Miss Milnes' acquaintance. Esther Milnes differed somewhat in her antecedents from the humbly born, nature-educated, dowerless Lady of the West; she came of a wealthy family in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. There her grandfather James Milnes and her father Richard Milnes had been engaged in business over fifty years. Her father, described in a local paper as "a merchant of Chesterfield, but a very liberal and patriotic character," bestowed a large part of his wealth upon public causes.3 Apparently he had no desire to live fashionably, for his home was located very close to the sugar warehouse. Nor were the sweet odors coming therefrom any more powerful than the godly atmosphere which pervaded the family. Mrs. Milnes, if we may believe Esther's schoolgirl sketch, supplemented her husband's public spirit with all the Christian virtues: Sweet artless goodness, unalloy'd with pride, A patient mildness, from resentment free, A.Christian temper, studious to compose The jarring passions of mistaken foes; And all the gentle meekness of the dove; This groupe of moral graces, to complete, Her heart is love's, maternal friendship's seat. 4 ' Edgeworth, I, 341. ' He was almost sole mortgagee of Worksop toll road, and charged such low tolls as to reduce his fortune by 120,000. Lowndes, T., Tracts, II, 104. 'Select Miscellaneous Productions of Mrs. Day and Thomas Day, Esq. in Verse and Prose: also some detached Pieces of Poetry, by Thomas Lowndes, Esq. London, 1805, p. 39.

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From eleven to sixteen Esther attended "Mrs. Dennis's justly celebrated Female Boarding School in Queen-Square," London. The polite education for girls given here was not that which Day branded as " a species of inoculation, which effectually prevents the fair penitent from feeling any subsequent attack of shame or timidity." 5 T h e evidence given in her schoolgirl poems, essays, and letters shows that at Mrs. Dennis's, Esther was surrounded by pious companions and godly thoughts. When eleven she composed a Morntng Hymn which ascribed all good and perfect things to God. It ended thus: . . . may I extend my views Beyond the earthly, transient scene of things To that all-perfect state, where Virtue wears A bright immortal crown, where gloomy night Ne'er with her sable mantle can approach, But cheerful day for ever, ever reigns. At twelve she wrote upon a storm of thunder and lightning: The dark rob'd tempest clouds yon azure sky, And sits in gloomy majesty enthron'd; May I, if stormy ills obscure my life, Thus in the great First Cause, the King of Kings, Humbly repose, nor ever let the gloom Of dark uncertain doubt, or dire despair Overwhelm my soul: then purified by storms, My moral day will clearer, calmer shine. At fourteen she made a verse prayer: Oh! in the days of giddy, wand'ring youth, May I remember thee, great God of Truth! Reflections upon her sixteenth birthday concluded with this summary: "Grant me, great God, with rational fervent piety •Select Productions, etc. p. 113. The following references to Miss Milnes' writings come from this book. Her poetry is included within pp. 37-71, her prose within pp. 129-81.

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to Thee, and sincere diffusive benevolence toward my fellow creatures; with peaceful conscience, and unblemished reputation; with well regulated affections, and an eye calmly and invariably fixed upon immortality, to pass through this fleeting scene of things, till thou shalt claim that life which thou gavest: then may I serenely meet my inevitable destiny, free from those pangs which tear the soul that is wedded to mortality, and may my unfettered spirit be for ever happy in it's union with Thee." In all her reflections, prayers, and hymns the idea recurs: she is God's creature, placed here to do His will; that is all that matters in this fleeting scene. The will of God as Esther saw it, meant that she should display compassion and benevolence to suffering humanity, that she should develop her inner spirit. In her prayers she was asking, With sweet compassion may my bosom glow, M a y I delight to soften human w o e [ . ]

Her ideal characters were always ready to shed the sympathetic tear. Having read Tristram Shandy at sixteen, she was much provoked at the licentious wit therein, but even this she pardoned for the sweet sorrow with which Sterne portrayed "poor Le Fevre on his sick bed" and "fond Maria's tale of woe." She was not content, however, with a highly volatile sentimentality; charitable works must accompany feelings: "it is incumbent on me," she said, "to serve my fellow creatures with those means which bounteous Providence has granted me." And this duty she faithfully attempted to perform till the end of her life. The development of the inner spirit was such a serious matter that she thought it necessary to belittle that external feminine beauty which might monopolize attention. The transient beauties of a form, Soon they desert the brightest maid, And all her vain attractions fade.

ISO

O G E N T L E LADY O F T H E W E S T Then while improvement's in thy pow'r, Seek virtue, that immortal flow'r[.]

"How melancholy is it . . . to consider that so many of our sex should think of nothing but the embellishment of a body, which must soon or late moulder into its original dust, whilst they entirely neglect their nobler part which is an emanation of divinity, and will exist for ever." She was prone to espouse the cause of Minerva and berate Venus for allowing her subjects to think only of physical beauty and to . . . flutter in fantastick pride, Pleas'd with a perishing outside; Were these thy vot'ries truly wise, Vain adulation they'd despise, Treat with contempt each flatt'ring beau, And make all empty coxcombs know, They sense prefer in simplest vest, To folly in embroid'ry drest. No wonder this young lady became known in Yorkshire as Minerva Milnes! And no wonder Dr. Small thought she might be willing to overlook Day's uncouthness for the sake of his inner worth. The two great assistants in this culture of the inner spirit were reading and retirement. In books she found a solace for the gloomy thoughts of earnest fourteen, she recalled past ages, she revived the slumbering dead. She loved to read of the rise and fall of Greece and Rome; they displayed so well how transient are the "glories of this mortal state." She delighted in the moral Pope, "the elegant pathetic Thomson," and the grand gloomy Young. "Milton's sacred line" enchanted her soul: surrounded by "brightest visions," "celestial splendors," and "Seraphs shining," she soared "on rapture's plumes . . . to heav'nly day"; then "with pleasing terror" took a sudden drop with the proud angels "From Heav'n's bright mansions to the

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depths of Hell." Addison was her favorite prose writer because his Spectators "have so great a tendency to tincture the mind with general knowledge," and are "both in respect to matter and style, inimitable." All of this reading, which was to "enlarge the understanding and ennoble the sentiments," had best be done in rural retirement. Here, far remov'd from hurry, crowd, and noise, Thy friend a soft tranquillity enjoys; Here, I the noble works of genius read, And hold sweet converse with th' enlighten'd dead[.]

This kind of retreat also afforded opportunities to appreciate " t h e genuine beauties of nature"; an appreciation which Minerva Milnes increased by a study of natural philosophy (in " N a t u r e Delineated . . . indeed a very elegant philosophical work") and of "the wonderful mechanism of this well-ordered universe." She rather looked forward to a virtuous old age of retirement—"a period properly termed the evening of our days, in which the wise and good appear with peculiar dignity. . . . the peaceful eve of life, which to the virtuous, like the close of a fine summer's day is clear, temperate, and serene." Now the great enemies to this cultivation of a noble soul were pleasure, fashion, the social whirl. Esther prayed to be delivered from them, and exhorted her friends not to yield to them. " I think," she wrote to her confidante Caroline, "pleasure seems one of the greatest enemies which youth has to encounter: what numbers are led away by her enchanting influence! Indeed I reflect with the greatest compassion upon her deluded votaries, whose lives are one continual whirl of dissipation." Her moral couplets warned another friend: Nor let thy soul immortal and divine, Ignobly bend at Fashion's gaudy shrine.

And to confidante Caroline she swelled forth in a tide of virtuous and exultant pity: " Y o u and I, my Caroline, have often

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mentioned with pity, those giddy unthinking creatures, who, having no taste for moral and intellectual enjoyments, and destitute of every finer relish, are perpetually endeavouring to lose themselves in the scenes of modern dissipation . . . they treat time, that inestimable jewel, like an insignificant bauble. . . . How can they practise any acts of benevolence, relieve the indigent, succour the friendless, comfort the afflicted, when both their time and fortunes are squandered upon dress, cards, and every light expensive entertainment?" Nor had she a kind word for the politeness of these giddy beings: "The politeness . . . at present established in the world . . . is only a false gloss . . . ; and this artificial composition of unmeaning flattery and troublesome ceremony, banishes that noble simplicity of heart and manners, which is the foundation of excellence, and the characteristic of a great soul." Verily Thomas Day's affinity was at hand! "Friendship," Minerva wrote, "is not a plant that flourishes in the fashionable world: it rather blooms in the tranquil shades of retirement, remote from that destructive region of polite insincerity." This is additional explanation of her avoiding the world. Certainly the characters of her friends were such as would flourish under sheltered conditions. There was Miss A. W., a "pure exalted Soul"; Miss P. W., whose virtues were animated by religion; Mrs. J. K., who sweetly gilded "an aged parent's joyless hours"; the Reverend Mr. T., in whom Saint and Philosopher combined; and Miss W., who spent evenings rational and gay with books and converse. All of them were filled with reason and piety, friendship and pity. A very good thing that they were so equipped, otherwise they must have found the ideals and exhortations of Esther a bit burdensome. At fifteen she was vowing eternal friendship to her brother-inlaw, Robert Lowndes. She would "wipe the dewy tear" from his eye when he was afflicted and would guard his "offspring with

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maternal care." Xot satisfied with this helpfulness she had a prophetic vision in which she saw . . . thy freed spirit, wing its eagle flight, To the bright regions of eternal light; There meet enraptur'd, thy lamented wife, Once the sweet solace of her partner's life. She was always urging her friends to pursue the path which led to eternal reward. To Caroline she recommended humility, reason, virtue; and to assist in the improvement of her understanding included a reading list. She exhorted her to beware of pleasure and fashion, to be careful in the choice of intimates, and to consider inner worth as the noblest distinction. "Yes, my Caroline, if possible revere thyself too much ever to entertain a thought you would be ashamed to avow, or commit an action which if known, might raise a blush upon your cheek." However, as a general rule, she seemed rather certain that she and Caroline had secure places in Zion: ''Virtue, that sacred source of the purest enjoyments, will, I doubt not, always diffuse a certain peace and serenity through our breast." " T h e consciousness of rectitude is indeed the sweetest balm . . . in all those distresses to which the virtuous are liable." Not merely did she revel in all these common virtues; friendship itself was capable of an infinite sentimental embroidery: "Let me now introduce a softer theme, and expatiate awhile upon our mutual friendship. How many blissful moments have we passed together in this morning of our days, when the lively sensibilities of youth, and our hearts uncorrupted by a commerce with the world, have given us a zest for those pure exalted pleasures, which flow from a union of minds!" "Such a friendship as our's, founded on disinterested principles, formed too in that season of life, when the heart is most susceptible of strong and tender attachments, has surely the best chance for duration." Marriage as she conceived of it in her teens was not very

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different from this sentimental friendship. It also was to be primarily a union of minds and souls. "When two congenial minds possessed of virtue, understanding, and sensibility, are united in Hymen's bands, by the gentle tie of love, strengthened with the golden cord of friendship, I can conceive no happiness equal to what the conjugal state must afford." Against the marriage of convenience she declaimed violently; in its place she set up the ideal marriage of "kindred souls, drawn to each other by the magnetic influence of correspondent sentiments and dispositions." A very nice ideal, but just who was to furnish the kindred soul? Here, too, Esther had an ideal, a man by the name of Atticus, who stalked through her moral essays arrayed in all the virtues. "His soul is uncommonly generous, humane, and feeling; he possesses a genteel though not a splendid fortune, which conducted with economy, (the true source of liberality) enables him to gratify his benevolent inclinations. He contracts the circle of his own expenses, that he may enlarge that of his beneficence. It is the greatest pleasure of his life to diffuse happiness on all around him; to relieve the indigent, encourage the industrious, and comfort the afflicted." She liked to conceive of him in the evening of a well-spent life: "He is now gracefully retired from the gay and busy scene, to the peaceful shade of a wise and learned, yet benevolent and social privacy; there with sublime satisfaction he contemplates a life sacred to virtue and h u m a n i t y . . . . He is blest with an offspring, that promise to perpetuate his virtues when he is no more. And his most delightful employment, is to assist them in the pursuits of knowledge, and train them up to every moral excellence." For six or seven years the rich Miss Milnes had waited for this kindred soul, Atticus, to appear. She had had many suitors; not one had been virtuous enough, or disinterested enough, or intellectual enough; not one had the requisite "correspondent sentiments." But when Thomas Day came upon the scene, he found the stage all set and the audience of one ready to listen

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and applaud. She could follow his disquisitions on the rights of men, admire his manly indignation at the wrongs of America, weep over the ever-lengthening laments of The Dying Negro, admire his idea of a secluded life devoted to benevolence. Day was charmed with her. She was something of a literary lady, but not of the loud, dogmatic, mannish type which he despised. Rather he and his friends found her to correspond closely to her own ideal literary lady, Sophronia. "Her language is pure, delicate . . . and her sentiments beautiful, sublime, and just." For the sake of acquiring knowledge "she chuses often rather to sit silent than display the elegance and dignity of her own mind. But when she speaks, every sensible person is charmed with the justness of her thoughts, and the graceful propriety of her speech." It is easy to label as snob or prig a young lady who spoke such a formal language of morality. But this was the language of her age, into which not merely a Johnson but a Chesterfield might lapse. In using it she was undeterred by self-consciousness or self-analysis. She had never heard of complexes or gestures; she considered sensibility and sentiments as admirable. Living in the twentieth century, she might have been a devotee of scientific truth, might have spoken with the tongues of scientific professors a jargon of chemistry, psychology, biology, and sociology. Living in any age, she would have been a follower of what she considered a great cause. Well, Atticus, the orator for great causes, had arrived, and Sophronia was ready to be wooed and won.6 Edgeworth, who ' Y e a r s later she wrote: "It has often struck me, & I have as you may imagine mentioned it to Mr. Day, that I seemed born to love & admire him, every circumstance about him was so peculiarly pleasing to me, & I felt the impression from the first of my acquaintance with him." Esther D a y to R. L. Edgeworth, Jan. 21, 1790. Montagu MS. (Letters in the possession of Mrs. C. F. Montagu, Edgeworthstown, Ireland.)

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was certainly experienced in the ways of women, thought that the fair lady might be captured in a few months. The besieger was not so sure. To an older friend who expressed surprise (Dr. Small, doubtless; this smacks of his artifice) that Day did not pay more serious attention to her, he replied thus formally: " I know and feel her merit; and nothing but her large fortune prevents me from wishing that I had it in my power to effect such an union: for the plan of life which I have laid down for myself is too remote from common opinions, to admit of flattering myself with the expectation of so much conformity from a person of her affluent circumstances." 7 Against this formidable broadside the elderly matchmaker urged Miss Milnes' prudence, benevolence, disinterestedness—and all the host of virtues which she and Day shared. In vain; the system prevailed and the lady went unwooed. A few months later, however, he chanced to meet her again, and made the remarkable discovery "that her sentiments were more conformable to his own than those of any of her sex whom he had ever met with." 8 Ill luck in love had become such a habit with him that he could hardly conceive of success. In 1775 he was devoted but despondent. His verses to Esther Milnes 9 amount almost to the farewell of a disappointed suitor. Innocent and mildly gay. As flow'rs that deck the brow of May, Cheeks that shame the op'ning rose, And bosom where the lilly blows, Ev'ry love and ev'ry grace. Are seen in Hannah's form and face; 'Keir, p. 45. The indirect discourse in the original is here changed to direct discourse. •Keir, p. 46. ' Verses Addressed to a Young Lady, 1775, in Miscellaneous Productions, p. 25. I judge this poem was to Miss Milnes because D a y had met and been attracted by her before Dr. Small's death, February, 1775 ; because the description seems to fit her; and because Edgeworth gives no account of an intervening affair.

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But ah! what words can paint her mind, By ev'ry gentle art refin'd? Dignity with female ease, The will with all the pow'rs to please! Syren sounds that charm the ear, Wisdom that the sage might hear! Sounds where Venus did impart All her own resistless art, And tempt the good, the wise, the brave, To wear her chains, and be a slave. Pity that misfortune nigh, Melts with tears the glist'ning eye, And matchless faith untaught to range, And constancy that knows no change! 0 what happy youth shall be, Destin'd lovely maid for thee? For him the rosy pinion'd hours Shall strew life's thorny path with flow'rs; Ev'ry smiling morn shall bring Matchless blessings on its wing! And each returning ev'ning shed Content and peace, to smooth his bed! But I, alas! must sec those charms Consign'd to bless another's arms! Perhaps some more accomplish'd youth, That wants my tenderness and t r u t h ! Whose breast ne'er knew the secret pain, To love like me, and love in vain. At least t h e r e a d e r is relieved to k n o w t h a t M i n e r v a M i l n e s h a s n o t b e c o m e a sallow old m a i d w i t h a s c r a w n y n e c k ; t h a t V e n u s h a s been allowed to a d o r n the despised outside. T h i s t i m e D a y w a s n o t d o o m e d to love in vain. T h e gods, h a v i n g p r o v i d e d h i m with a suitable m a t e , were k i n d e n o u g h to give h e r an e n c o u r a g i n g a n d p a t i e n t disposition. F i n a l l y he lost h i s diffidence a n d b e g a n t h e wooing. 1 0 T h e c o u r t s h i p was " M i s s Seward (p. 4 6 ) , as usual, paints up the situation: "But, from indignant recollection of hopes so repeatedly baffled, Mr. D a y looked with distrust on female attention of however flattering semblance; nor was it till after years of her modest, yet tender devotion to his talents and

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a rather longwinded affair, but both of the participants thoroughly enjoyed it. Miss Milnes was literary and eloquent, and read poetry with much energy. Between this accomplished lady and her dialectic suitor the flow of sentiments was continuous; "few lovers," says Edgeworth, "ever conversed or corresponded more." 11 Frankness and disinterestedness required Day to go into a thousand particulars about their future mode of life; disinterested and self-sacrificing love required Miss Milnes to give a glad assent to each of the particulars. Could she for his sake resign the world's pleasures and luxuries? Could she with him use her fortune in charity? Could she live with him "sequestered in some secret glade"? These tests and many more in a formidable questionnaire of unselfishness were proposed. Unwittingly Day had chosen the very best way to win her. Renunciation was a part of her code; she had wanted to renounce the world, but her lovers heretofore had insisted upon offering it to her. Now he was asking her to do the very things which her puritanical soul had so longed to do; at the same time she was experiencing all the sentimental delights of nobility, virtue, and self-sacrifice. But Day also must . . . taste the heartfelt joy Which from the conscious self-approving mind D o t h sweetly flow;

his disinterested character her estate be settled upon tired of his system, return were not the same. The

must be maintained. He insisted that herself so that she might, if she grew to her world—as though their worlds matter was finally decided by their

merit, that he deigned to ask Miss Mills, if she could, for his sake, resign all that the world calls pleasures; all it's luxuries, all it's ostentation. If, with him, she could resolve to employ, after the ordinary comforts of life were supplied, the surplus of her affluent fortune in clothing the naked, and feeding the hungry; retire with him into the country, and shun, through remaining existence, the infectious taint of human society." " Edgeworth, I, 343.

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fortunes being settled upon the survivor,12 if they had no children. These discussions dealt not merely with their future mode of life, but with their opinions on a variety of subjects. Metaphysics and politics were favorite topics. On the latter Miss Milnes would be particularly in sympathy with him at this time; for Sir George Savile, member for her county of Yorkshire, was a strong defender of the American cause (and, incidentally, one of the few political leaders whom Day wholeheartedly admired); the Presbyterian church, to which she belonged, opposed the war; and her relative, Rawlins Lowndes,13 was a prominent patriot in Charleston, S. C. How Day enjoyed declaiming to her his poetic denunciations of pitiless British soldiery, his poetic lamentations over war-stricken Americans! The Devoted Legions and The Desolation of America were not merely war poems, but love poems; and Esther Milnes' partiality changed their violence into something rich and strange, the work of a noble genius. The interchange of correspondent sentiments between these kindred souls sometimes took a softer strain. For instance, there was the favorite eighteenth-century theme of female seduction. The writers of the time agreed that a young lady who had been the victim of a lover's perfidy should be overpowered by "her sensibility of shame" and die "of a broken heart." There was no chance for her to secure work in another city and forget about everything. There was no work, no other city; the pity and contempt of her family and community would allow no forgetting. On this favorite theme Miss Milnes had written, with the usual catastrophic conclusion, Verses to be inscribed on Delia's Tomb}* Day had heard the "gentle numbers flow/ " D a y left a few annuities also. See p. 317. " Lowndes, Tracts, I, Four Letters on Lowndes's Bay Salt, pp. 47-48. " In a part of Select Productions which has no page numbering.

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With all the artless energy of woe," and had composed a reply "To the Authoress."16 In it he praised the " S W E E T Poetess's" generosity and pity. To beautify the grave of the seduced girl he invited "fancy's mildest visions," "Returning spring," and "Flora, mistress of the milder year." To draw instructions therefrom he invited the virgin by man unbetrayed to . . . bend in silent anguish o'er the dead! She once, like thee, t o hope's g a y visions born, Shone like the lustre of the d e w y morn. One hour of guilt, one fatal hour is o'er, L o , y o u t h , and hope, and b e a u t y are no m o r e !

Now let the virgin, if she wished, return to feast and revelry, for the voice of Delia from the grave would blast "the wreath which love and pleasure twine." Not satisfied with having taken the joy out of a young girl's life, Day proceeded to lead a meditative, compassionate youth to the spot. L e t gushing tears attest t h y yielding m i n d ! Swear b y the dread avengers of the t o m b , B y all thy hopes, b y death's t r e m e n d o u s g l o o m ! T h a t ne'er by thee deceived, the tender maid Shall m o u m her easy confidence betray'd; N o r w e e p in secret thy triumphant art, W i t h bitter anguish rankling in her heart. So m a y each blessing w h i c h impartial f a t e T h r o w s on the good, but snatches f r o m the great, Adorn thy favour'd course w i t h rays divine, And H e a v ' n ' s best gift, a v i r t u o u s love, be thine!

For Day this virtuous love was strengthened not merely by an exchange of correspondent sentiments and an exultant renunciation of the world; he made strong appeals to the maternal side of his Gentle Lady. She had not known him long, before Dr. Small died. This loss threw a heavy gloom over Day's mind, To the AUTHORESS of 'Verses to be inscribed Keir, pp. 22-25; Select Productions, pp. 1-4.

on Delia's

Tomb,'

O

GENTLE

LADY

OF

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WEST

161

which was a g g r a v a t e d b y the political situation. His best friend w a s gone,

the country was

corruptly governed,

America,

last stronghold of English freedom, was severely a t t a c k e d . after

two y e a r s of

tender

devotion

was Miss

the Only

Milnes able

to

e x t r i c a t e her philosopher lover f r o m the slough of despond. T h a t was the time to get married.

B u t a v e r y real bodily

prevented. D u r i n g the spring of 1 7 7 7

an old sprain

sickness combined

with r h e u m a t i s m to cripple D a y . 1 6 I was p a r t i c u l a r l y

alarmed

[he wrote

Bicknell]

by a

sensation

of n u m b n e s s w h i c h f r e q u e n t l y i n v a d e d different p a r t s of m y b o d y , p a r t i c u l a r l y the feet a n d k n e e s , a n d g a v e m e the idea t h a t w a s s c a r c e l y a n y c i r c u l a t i o n t h r o u g h t h e part. E v e n the exercise

of a p o s t - c h a i s e

w o u l d at

one time produce

there

moderate

this

sensa-

t i o n , and I had grown a l m o s t i n c a p a b l e o f a n y o t h e r . . . . I do not t h i n k it i m p o s s i b l e b u t t h a t it might h a v e t e r m i n a t e d in the p a r a l y t i c w a y , had it n o t b e e n c h e c k e d . I t u n d o u b t e d l y origin a t e d f r o m the r h e u m a t i s m , b u t I h a d in vain tried all the s t r o n g e s t p r e s c r i p t i o n s o f h a l f the p h y s i c i a n s a n d surgeons in L o n d o n , w i t h o u t t h e least benefit. I had e v e n tried e l e c t r i c i t y f o r t h r e e m o n t h s , a n d the vapour bath

at

Knightsbridge. without

the least

amendment.

I n these c i r c u m s t a n c e s , w h i c h I m y s e l f began to t h i n k r a t h e r p e r a t e , as I had e m p l o y e d I b e l i e v e a y e a r and a h a l f in t h e s e m e d i c a l e x p e r i m e n t s , I a t l e n g t h d e t e r m i n e d t o go t o where I s t a y e d

for

several

weeks

w i t h no discernible

des-

making Bath,

advantage.

I was even a d v i s e d b y t h e m e d i c a l p e o p l e t h e r e to r e t u r n , a s I had m a d e a sufficient e x p e r i m e n t . in this i n s t a n c e

F o r t u n a t e l y , however, m y faith

s t r o n g e r t h a n m y r e a s o n , and

I persevered

was with

a m p l e success.

I t is c e r t a i n l y e x t r e m e l y d i s a g r e e a b l e in illness, not o n l y t o h a v e t h e c o m p l a i n t , b u t the different a n d i r r e c o n c i l e a b l e opinions of P h y s i cians. to struggle w i t h ;

so t h a t in o r d e r to d e t e r m i n e upon

thing. it r e q u i r e s almost as g r e a t m e d i c a l knowledge in the

any-

patient

as in the p h y s i c i a n h i m s e l f . A s f a r a s I a m able to j u d g e , t h e r e is a c e r t a i n m e d i c a l c a n t and r o u t i n e which e v e r y physician t h i n k s n e c essary. " B o u l t o n M S . D a y to Boulton, Dec. 21, 1777.

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0 GENTLE LADY OF THE WEST

After all, I may very much underrate the importance of Physicians; but it is impossible for any man to avoid being influenced by the circumstances of his own life. I have consulted, I believe, a third part of the Physicians in England, and never received the slightest benefit from their prescription, while I have derived the most ample advantage from the rules of diet and exercise. 17 During all these painful experiments with electricity, vapor baths, and doctors, Esther Milnes' feeling for her lover had only deepened. She was probably in London during a part of this illness. In June, 1778, he had gone to B a t h for treatment, his obstinate persistence in which resulted in his own cure and a permanent distrust of doctor's advice. I t is likely that Miss Milnes was present as ministering angel to add her curative influence to that of the B a t h waters. Certainly the moment was again propitious; the dialectic couple hesitated no longer, but were married here August 7, 1778. 1 8 Perhaps Day's cure was not yet complete, for they stayed on into the autumn at this fashionable resort. Marriage did not have any immediate effect upon Day's stoicism or proposed system. He still would not allow himself to expect overmuch of life, nor to be pulled away from a preparation for his scheme of retirement. On September 24 he wrote Boulton from B a t h : I am very much obliged to the kind wishes you express, which I hope & indeed trust will be realized, as far as human things permit, that any schemes for happiness should be realized. I am afraid that if we come to Birmingham, it will not be so soon as you mention. Therefore [ I ] must rest contented for the present, with the assurance of the mutual amity we feel for each other. I wish to God it were in my power to accept the offer you make me of your home 19 as I have not yet worn the marriage shackles a sufficient " Letter of Day to John Bicknell, printed in European Magazine, July, 1795, X X V I I I , 21-22. " K e i r , p. 47, says August 7 ; Kippis, p. 22, says August 10. "Apparently the offer was accepted for Day by some impostors. Keir wrote from Soho to Boulton in Cornwall, Oct. 20, 1778:

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163

length of time, to have thoroughly lost all taste for independence, & fresh air; but I fear that the matrimonial star which now reigns lord paramount in my horizon, will direct me to another quarter. We have taken an house at Hampstead for the ensuing winter, where we hope you will not forget you have a family of friends whenever your fortune leads you to London . . . give my best respects accompanied with those of my wife to Mrs. Boulton, & tell her, that she will make us both very happy if she will give us an opportunity of returning the many civilities which I have received from her. I am my dear Sir Most affectionately & sincerely Yours Thomas Day. The matrimonial star did permit Day to visit the Edgeworths. For three years after her marriage Honora had lived with Edgeworth in Ireland very much the kind of retired life which the ingenuous D a y had vainly (with hours of conversation and reams of closely written paper) attempted to persuade her to live with him. In 1776, however, they had settled at Northchurch, Hertfordshire, to cultivate their intellectual and social talents anew. From his Temple lodgings Day had made frequent visits to these friends; and now, only a short time after his marriage, he brought his wife to see them. It was indeed a triumphant occasion for him: Mrs. D a y was pretty, agreeable, eloquent. And Honora observed with much liking and some little amusement the woman who was gladly subjecting herself to a scheme of life which she, Honora, had so emphatically refused. Esther D a y expressed noble and generous sentiments, and lived them. To her husband's extended remarks and declamations she replied with sense and spirit, "in chosen language and with "Sunday Night a man and two women genteely dressed came to your house at Soho, & under pretence of being your friends gained possession of the house, & have kept it ever since, & strut about the Gardens as if all Soho belonged to them. The man calls himself Thomas Day, one of the females pretends to be his wife, and the other goes by the name of Miss Walker." Boulton MSS.

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O GENTLE LADY OF THE WEST

appropriate emphasis";

to his "unerring logic and inflexible

perseverance" she opposed an eloquence which, temporarily at least, won her audience. Edgeworth himself, despite the dryness of the political and metaphysical subjects discussed, was much instructed by his guests. He urged D a y most heartily to settle near him. But our philosopher still had his eye upon his system, and would not expose his new partner to opinions which might turn her against it. F o r this reason he objected even to living near his former friends. In fact T h o m a s D a y had again acquired a pupil, his wife. T h e lodgings that he took for the winter at Hampstead were exactly suited to his purpose of training her. T h e y were small and inconvenient, located in a community where he was not known. There, he thought, he could live unvisited by any except a chosen few; there he could accustom his mate to the hardy simple regime which they were to follow. She was delicate; she must be hardened by simple life and exercise. She was accustomed to life in a city or town; at Hampstead they could turn their backs upon corrupt London, a mere smudge upon the horizon, and lose themselves in the paths that wound over hillocks, by ponds, under magnificent beeches. It was on the heath that the Edgeworths discovered them in a mid-winter visit. T h e one-time fragile Esther was walking with her husband, a frieze cloak round her body, thick shoes on her feet; she was radiant with renewed health and proud that she had obtained it by following his advice. T h e couple seemed to Edgeworth ideally mated. " I never saw any woman," he said, "so entirely intent upon accommodating herself to the sentiments, and wishes, and will of a husband." 2 0 But this did not amount to an insipid subservience. She was an intellectual mate for him, abundantly able and willing to discuss everything " f r o m the deepest political investigation to " Edgeworth, I, 346.

0

G E N T L E L A D Y OF T H E

WEST

165

t h e m o s t f r i v o l o u s c i r c u m s t a n c e of d a i l y l i f e " ; a n d in t h i s n e v e r flagging

p e r i p a t e t i c c o n v e r s a t i o n s h e d i s p l a y e d a c h a r m i n g in-

dependence. T h o u g h D a y enjoyed that winter immensely, he n o newlyvved e x u b e r a n c e in h i s c o r r e s p o n d e n c e .

displayed

In

January,

1779, he wrote Erasmus Darwin four good quarto pages and never once mentioned

Esther's name. As an excuse

for h i s

failure to a n s w e r D a r w i n ' s t h r e e l e t t e r s h e c o u l d p l e a d t h e u n avoidable employment

which he had lately been engaged

in

relative to s e t t l i n g — b u y i n g f u r n i t u r e a n d v i e w i n g h o u s e s . B u t "I f e e l , " h e said, " a c e r t a i n s p e c i e s of h o n e s t y , w h i c h rather p r o m p t s m e t o c o n f e s s t h e truth at o n c e . . .

& that h o n e s t

truth is, that I h a d n o t h i n g particular t o w r i t e . " S o h e

filled

o u t h i s letter w i t h i d e a s b r o u g h t to h i s m i n d b y a b o o k w h i c h b o t h h e a n d D a r w i n h a d read, The

Memoirs

oj

Cardinal

de

Retz. . . . T h e great m i s f o r t u n e b o t h of h i m [ d e R e t z ] & his p a r t y , seems to have been t h a t t h e y scarcely k n e w w h a t t h e y were about themselves. & h a d no rational o b j e c t even a t (he very m o m e n t t h e y were taking u p a r m s . And this h a s been t h e great evil not only of the F r e n c h n a t i o n b u t of a l m o s t the whole h u m a n species, who in all their broils & c o n t e n t i o n s , in all t h e d i f f e r e n t scenes of havoc & bloodshed which h a v e so o f t e n disgraced t h e species h a v e scarcely ever h a d sense enough to fight f o r a n y o t h e r p u r p o s e t h a n the choice of a t y r a n t . . . . T h i s s t u p i d i t y & d e p r a v a t i o n in the h u m a n species seem to h a v e a l r e a d y extended so f a r , & to a d v a n c e with such gigantic steps over t h o s e few c o r n e r s of the world, which have yet m a i n t a i n e d s o m e t h i n g like their n a t u r a l rights, t h a t I think t h e r e is t h e greatest p r o b a b i l i t y t h a t in a very few centuries the whole civilized part of the species will h a v e entirely lost the idea of a public cause. T h e only resources w h i c h n a t u r e seems t o have reserved f o r t h e species consist in those savage herds scattered over different p a r t s of the globe, who h a v e preserved their i n d e p e n d e n c y & with it t h a t ferocious spirit which will always m a k e them f o r m i d a b l e to civilized & enslaved m a n . T h e n u m e r o u s little districts into which E u r o p e is at present divided constantly jealous

166

O GENTLE LADY OF T H E

WEST

of & at variance with each other, as the spirit of ambition or hatred instigates their masters, has hitherto kept up even in the midst of luxury & sensuality, a martial spirit amongst the soldiery; but it seems to be the course of nature that one nation should swallow up another, till encreasing beyond all limits, it bursts asunder with a dreadful explosion, & from its own destruction produces a thousand less. This is the course of nature as far as we are acquainted with it in history. 2 1 And such was the gloomy oracle whom E s t h e r Milnes loved and obeyed; such the philosophical disquisitions which entertained her during her early married life.

" Br. Mus. Add. MS. 29300, ff. SS, 56.

CHAPTER

VIII

CINCINNATUS L I F E AT STAPLEFORD ABBOT

"The only property I desire," Emile said, "is a little farm in some quiet corner. I will devote all my efforts after wealth to making it pay, and I will live without a care. Give me Sophy and my land, and I shall be rich." 1 So Day thought. To him, as to Rousseau, rural life was attractive because of its independence and its positive helpfulness to the nation. Here were no cringing, no political corruption; here the constructive and inoffensive part of mankind produced that real wealth which was to repair the damages of licentious cities and corrupt governments. And, dignified by useful labor, Day might be called hence to his country's help. He was ready to heed the warning giving by Rousseau: "But, dear Emile, you must not let so pleasant a life give you a distaste for sterner duties, if ever they are laid upon you; remember that the Romans sometimes left the plough to become consul. If the prince or the state calls you to the service of your country, leave all to fulfil the honourable duties of a citizen in the post assigned to you." 2 The farm where Day was to retire with his Sophy, and whence he was to be summoned to his country's aid, was Stapleford Abbot, near Abridge, Essex. This was not one of the improved estates which he had inherited or which he acquired a short time after reaching his majority. He had bought it after his marriage. 1

Entile, p. 420.

* Ibid., pp. 438-39.

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CIXCIXXATUS

T h e brick house upon it was indifferent, had but one good room, and was very poorly adapted, to the residence of a country gentleman. T h e land was worse than the house. B u t he had great plans for improvement; he would enlarge the house and would cultivate the land with the latest system of agriculture. In the summer of 1779, probably, D a y began constructing some outbuildings and a small addition to the house. Edgeworth, experienced in such matters from his work in mechanics and his management of an Irish estate, was visiting the Days. T h e self-reliant builder did not consult his friend; instead he bought Ware's Architecture

and read it assiduously for three or

four weeks before commencing his task. Once having begun the work, he rapidly tired of it. For one thing, it interrupted his daily schedule of walks, discussions, and readings with his wife; for another, the masons insisted most obstinately on calling for supplies which had never been suggested by his manual. Xeither did the operation synchronize with his plans for them; rafters, window frames, various pieces of woodwork were needed, but not ready. D a y hastily summoned a carpenter, and set him at work preparing material to keep the masons going. Meanwhile he turned his mind to the improvement of his land. Here again he took to his reading, this time of a French treatise on agriculture;

any soil, it claimed, could be made

fertile by sufficient plowing. And right at this point, success in his grasp, D a y was interrupted by the troublesome

masons.

Where would he have the window of the new room on the first floor? Edgeworth was present and offered his assistance. D a y refused it and sat immovable in his chair. Might not the wall, he asked, be built first and an opening for the window cut afterwards? " W h y , S i r — " T h e mason was staring at this strange man in the greatest astonishment. ' ' T o be sure, it is very possible; but I

CINCINNATUS

169

believe, Sir, it is more common to put in the window cases while the house is building, and not afterwards." 3 Day, however, refused to be interrupted in either his position or his reflection. Very coolly he ordered the wall built without an opening for windows. So it was, so it remained. This room, intended as a dressing room for Mrs. Day, never had a window. Whenever that obedient wife wished to use the room, she lighted candles; after several years she turned it into a lumber room. In his cultivation of land Day was much moved by altruistic motives. He wanted to participate in a helpful occupation; he wanted to assist the ignorant, poverty-stricken laborers; he wanted to increase the wealth of his country by agricultural experiment. The time gave much scope to all of these benevolent desires. During the last twenty years many changes had come in agriculture. The old system of refreshing land by allowing it to lie fallow had been replaced by rotation of crops, marling, manuring, and subsoil drainage. Improvements in breeding had resulted in doubling the weight of the average beef or sheep brought to market. The great landowners, such as Lord Rockingham, took up the new system; and Arthur Young did much for the cause in his writings. It was, however, a system favoring the large landowner; he alone was able to pay for the expenses of inclosure and of modern implements, and to survive a decided decline of prices. T h e farm laborers were in very bad state indeed; for prices were high, and the means of eking out wages had largely disappeared. T h e industrial revolution had taken away weaving and other home industries from the farm worker; and the inclosure of commons oftentimes prevented each cottager from having a garden spot, keeping a cow, and cutting his own fuel. The poor worker could only go to the workhouse, or (a few years later) receive a dole. This condition of the laborers did not prevent an increase in farm acreage; war prices * Edgcworth, I, 348.

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CINCINNATUS

encouraged this expansion, so that inclosures continued to be made and much inferior land was cultivated. Day seems to have had a knack for choosing such poor land. Stapleford Abbot was in the midst of old undrained forest; part of it was very heavy clay, part was sandy. But the owner welcomed this poor land as a chance for experiment. And his wellpaid laborers executed any strange idea which he might have. A visit which Maria Edgeworth made to her friend's old place about forty years after this shows the impression which the benevolent but impractical agriculturist left upon his community: . . . as we got to the top of the hill, the wood discovered itself below. I got out, and crossed the dirty road, in spite of a dog barking, and springing to the length of his chain. A woman and children appeared, staring as if st[r]uck through with amazement. Then a charming old grey-headed man, leaning on crutches, but with ruddy cheeks and smooth forehead, and fine dark eyes, which lighted up, and sparkled with pleasure and affection, when I mentioned the name of Day. "Day! know him? ay, sure I do, and have good reason for to do; for very good he was to me. Please to walk in," pointing with his crutch. "The house he lived in was all pulled down, every bit, except yon brick wall." We went in, and he seated himself in his elbow chair by the kitchen fire. . . . "Oh! Mr. Day was a good man, and did a power of good to the poorer sort. I was one of his day's-men at first, and then he helped me on; and when he was tired of this here place, and wanted to settle at his other place, he offered me this; but I said, Sir, I am not able for it, and he said, But, Ainsworth, if I help you a bit, you'll then be able won't you?" It was quite touching to me to hear the manner in which this worthy old man spoke of Mr. Day. I asked if he remembered the servant Mr. Day had who ploughed the sandy field sixteen times? "George Bristow! Oh, ay, I remember him; an honest, good servant he was." 4 4

Edgeworth, F. A., Memoir, I, 18-19.

CINCINNATUS

171

From this incident we may judge that Day's agricultural experiments were faithfully carried out, but that neither building nor farming resulted in the laying up of treasures on earth. The young couple in pursuit of their system necessarily led a rather Spartan existence. Day considered the age as dissipated, luxurious, effeminate; and against this softness and waste he thought he should throw what weight he could by his personal example and writings. If macaronis spent their fortune and time on dress, he should neglect his personal appearance; if in the various applications made to him for relief he saw people ruining themselves by living beyond their means, he should live with the greatest simplicity. He would not spend his money upon painting, sculpture, architecture, even upon improving the beauty of his grounds; for he considered that too much emphasis was already placed upon objects of taste (a part of the luxury of the age) and not enough upon morality. His idea, according to Mrs. Day, was like Rousseau's: "Whilst there is one of our fellow-creatures who wants the necessaries of life, what virtuous man will riot in its superfluities?" 5 So modest was his manner of living that a friend after observing it wrote him a letter in all seriousness warning him against avarice. It would have been better to warn him against indiscriminate benevolence. This simple and retired life did not entirely separate the Days from their former friends. Mrs. Day was visited by the nephews whom she had promised to tend with maternal care and by at least one of her exemplary schoolgirl companions, a Mrs. Chandler. She occasionally visited her friends in the north of England, and was sufficiently missed on at least one occasion to excite a verse tribute from her husband, who hailed her as the "dear companion" of his soul and confessed considerable anguish of heart at her absence.0 His friends also occasionally made the ' Kippis, p. 25. • K.eir, p. 8 9 ; Select

Productions,

p. 8.

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CINCIXXATUS

trip to this deserted nook. 7 Shortly after Day had settled at Stapleford Abbot, Edgeworth came with Honora on a very sad mission—to consult the London doctors about the consumption under which she was rapidly sinking. T h e consultations were in vain. After her death in the spring of 1780, D a y wrote an affectionate letter urging Edgeworth to bring his family there for a stay. The sorely stricken man did come with his daughters, Anna and Honora, but even the divine philosophy of D a y ' s discourse he received with the listlessness of suppressed sorrow, and departed uncomforted. There were other visitors, too, such as Maria Edgeworth, suffering from sore eyes, or Walter Pollard, a legal friend, suffering from debts, fever, and indecision. Always Day managed somehow to gather in his afflicted and sorrowing friends. An addition to these was his mother, who had lost her husband, T h o m a s Phillips, in November 1781. For him D a y had come to have a real regard, and to Mrs. Phillips he now paid frequent visits. He went occasionally to London. There he still had his small set of chambers at 10 Furnival's Inn, a place where he could discuss politics with his legal friends or give shelter to his indigent ones. On Christmas day, 1780, he loyally attended Edgeworth's wedding at St. Andrew's Holborn. This marriage had been urged by the dying Honora, who knew that her husband would not be "Miss Seward (p. 48) gives a highly colored, inaccurate account of Miss "Mills'" privations after she had married D a y : " N o carriage; no appointed servant about Mrs. Day's own person; no luxury of any sort. Music, in which she was a distinguished proficient, was deemed trivial. She banished her harpsichord and music-books. Frequent experiments upon her temper, and her attachment, were made by him, whom she lived but to obey and love. Over these she often wept, but never repined." In another place ( L e t t e r s , II, 330) she writes: "It had been said, and I believe with truth, that he put a total stop to all correspondence between Mrs. D a y and her lame and respectable family-connections in Yorkshire, w h o had never ceased to regret so undeserved an instance of morose deprivation. She not only sacrified her friends to gratify her husband's unsocial spleen, but all the comforts of . . . affluence. . . ."

CINCINNATUS

173

happy single, and thought Elizabeth Sneyd best suited for his wife. But many people disapproved of a man's marrying his sister-in-law; newspapers in Birmingham and other places carried on a discussion of this proposed union; the country parson who was to perform the ceremony was prevented by a threatening letter. Edgeworth then went to London and had the banns published in St. Andrew's. And here Day, moved by loyal affection for his friend, and perhaps by a certain pride in being disinterested and magnanimous, witnessed the marriage of the second Miss Sneyd whom he had wooed with such unavailing perseverance. A few months later his widower friend Dr. Darwin was married to a beautiful and attractive woman, Mrs. Sacheverel Pole. Day made a trip solely for the purpose of calling on the couple, missed them, and received as payment a letter of protest from the Doctor, indicative of the frank and affectionate friendship between the two: "Now you must know that I was angry at you for giving yourself that trouble, as I do not think anything like form is necessary between you and me. I know the general benevolence of your heart, and your friendly disposition to me from innumerable instances, and, therefore, a visit of form, as I understood your's was to me as a new married man, was by no means necessary." 8 Cincinnatus was now well established on his farm. His ploughing was being conducted with much vigor by wooden-faced, wellpaid George Bristow. It only remained that he himself should be called to lead his people in the cause of freedom. The call was not long in arriving, for the people were indeed growing impatient under the burdens of a war which had always been profitless and was now becoming dangerous. COUNTY ASSOCIATIONS

From 1778 to 1780 the struggle with America had entered upon a new phase. When France declared war in 1778, and Spain ' Lowndes, II, 322.

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CINCINNATUS

in 1779, the British people for a time enthusiastically supported their King against these ancient rivals. Money was subscribed, regiments were raised for the cause. In America itself the war shifted from the north to the south; Philadelphia was evacuated, Savannah and Charleston taken. It was in naval warfare, however, that the greatest changes were apparent, for Britain's superiority in sea power was gone. British admirals could no longer dash into an enemy fleet, smash it, and report a victory. Having inferior forces they must be content to fight an indecisive action, and part. Nor were the actions always off the French coast or in the West Indies. John Paul Jones ravaged the coast of Ireland and Scotland, and captured two British ships of war within sight of England. In August and September, 1779, a combined French and Spanish fleet appeared before inadequately fortified Plymouth; and Sir Charles Hardy, in command of a smaller British fleet, dared not risk an engagement. British naval pride was severely wounded. The Opposition in Parliament took full advantage of the situation. It abandoned its vituperation of the war's injustice, and attacked the war's mismanagement, futility, and expense. The Earl of Sandwich, it explained, in his eight years of naval administration had spent nearly twice the amount used on the navy during the Seven Years' War: the country paid for the repair of ships that were never touched, for the provisions of sailors that were never enlisted. Even the King admitted that Germain, nominally in charge of military operations in America, was "of no use in his department." The Opposition emphasized the rapidly increasing debts and taxes and attacked the King's use of large sums of this money to control Parliament. The Whigs, particularly of the Rockingham group, used the anxiety of the nation under financial burdens to demand various reforms: the exclusion of government contractors from the House of Commons, the reduction of

CINCINNATUS

175

pensions and sinecures, the rigid examination and pruning of the King's general fund (civil list), and the disfranchisement of revenue officers. This meant taking away the favors which the King could use to buy votes. And with the King's influence gone the Rockingham Whigs might hope once more to regain power. Burke figured that his bill for economical reform® would save a million pounds a year and release fifty members of Parliament from "influence." The nation was ready for any financial reform. But how could the King's majority in Parliament, bought by pensions, sinecures, bribes, be induced to vote for the elimination of these favors? The people themselves must be asked to support the measure; then their representatives, anticipating the approaching elections, might be forced to vote as they wished. For over twenty years the people had been dissatisfied with their representation in Parliament. They had felt that their champion, the elder Pitt, was excluded from office during the first part of the Seven Years' War by a political oligarchy, and that after having won the war he was kept from power by the King; they had regarded Wilkes' ejection from the House of Commons as a sign that Commons opposed the popular will. And the American claim, "no taxation without representation," kept alive among many thoughtful and some turbulent men the idea that there should be a reform of representation. Wilkes the demagogue did what he could to cherish the idea of popular representation—and of Wilkes. The Society of the Supporters of the Bill of Rights, founded in 1769 by the friends of Wilkes and Liberty, was really for the purpose of giving him moral and financial support. In 1771 it made some resolutions about par• The bill proposed the "reform of the King's civil establishment, the abolition of a crowd of court offices, a reform of certain public departments, the limitation of pensions, the sale of crown lands, and the abolition of the jurisdicitions of Wales, Cornwall, Chester, and Lancaster." Hunt, p. 204.

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CINCINNATUS

liamentary reform 1 0 very similar to those adopted by the county association of 1780. T h e Society was most important, however, in that it was an experiment in political organization, later to be perfected by the county associations. In 1780 there were several groups of reformers. Day, of course, was a member of the most radical group. It included Wilkes, Major Cartwright, Dr. Jebb, and the Duke of Richmond; it advocated universal suffrage, equal representation, annual parliaments. T h e Chathamite Whigs, including such men as Shelbume, advocated triennial parliaments and an increase in county representation. T h e Rockingham Whigs, with some notable exceptions such as Savile and Richmond, were contented with the system of representation which gave the old Whig houses many parliamentary seats, but wanted to reduce the corrupt influence of the crown. Varying as the ideas of the reformers were, there was a general feeling even among the conservative Rockinghams that no reform could be carried without a general popular support. Christopher Wyvill, a country gentleman, gave this popular weapon in his Yorkshire Association. With the support of the county magnates and independent country gentlemen, Wyvill was able to hold on December 30, 1779, a meeting of the nobility, clergy, gentlemen, and freeholders of Yorkshire. A petition carried by Sir George Savile complained of the debts and expenses of the war, of the waste of the nation's money; furthermore it asked that the Commons withhold supplies until measures were adopted to stop abuses in public expense, to reduce emoluments, to abolish sinecure places. The petition was signed by eight to nine thousand freeholders, and was presented by Sir George Savile to the Commons February 8, 1780. A com10 All candidates for Parliament were to be required to pledge themselves to shorten the duration of Parliament, to reduce the number of placemen and pensioners in Commons, to obtain a more fair and equal representation, and to promote inquiry into the cause of the discontents.

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177

mittee was appointed at the Yorkshire meeting "to carry on the necessary correspondence for effectually promoting the object of the petition and to prepare a Plan of Association." 11 The Association decided to advocate, in addition to economic reform, shorter duration of Parliament and a more equal representation; members of it refused to vote for anyone who did not pledge his support to these measures. T h e Yorkshire petition was widely imitated. Associations on the Yorkshire model also sprang up; and sent delegates at YVyvill's instance to a convention in London, March 11, 1780, which adopted as its program economic reform, shorter parliaments, additional county representatives. Significantly enough, however, even in this convention of county members there was a strong minority against reform of representation. Many people thought Parliament should represent private property, especially land, and that the nobles and great landowners who controlled Parliament would represent property better than would members elected by the moneyless and landless. This attitude the Rockingham Whigs held, and though they might attend meetings and give lip-service to the cause of parliamentary reform, they were only interested in such economic reform as would reduce the crown's influence. Skillfully enough they used the associations for this purpose, but they had no serious intention of sacrificing their rotten-borough votes for the abstract rights of abstract men to abstract representation. Virtual representation by Rockingham Whigs sufficed. Of course Day took a part in the county associations, for he now was a country gentleman. He had inherited land in Bedford, Huntingdon, and Essex; he now had estates in Essex, Surrey, and Berkshire; and his present intention was to invest what money he could raise in additional land—the thing that seemed most likely to survive this foolish and ruinous war. His " U'yvil! Papers,

I, 4-?.

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CINCINNATUS

independent means and his landed estate would make him respected in any county meeting. His political knowledge, gained through years of Temple residence, and his declamatory powers, practised on all his friends, would make him a redoubtable speaker. So he plunged into the fray. The

SPEECH of

THOMAS DAY, Esq.

as

delivered

to

the

Freeholders of Essex at CHELMSFORD12 in the first part of 1780 is typical of its author. The occasion of this county meeting was evidently to send Parliament one of the numerous petitions for economic reform in public expenditure. But Day, pedagogue and orator, was not content with taking " a very comprehensive view of the national grievances and the proposed application to the House of Commons"; he must show his audience that such a petition was constitutional, he must trace the maladministration of public affairs which made such a petition necessary, and in a final burst of rhetoric, he must exhort his audience to action. Accordingly after reminding them that the Petition of Right gave them the privilege of petition, he launched into a history of the American war from the Opposition's point of view: England's glory and prosperity at the end of the Seven Years' War, the attempt to tax the American colonies, colonial resistance to taxation, Parliament's refusal to listen to the Opposition's warnings against war, the futile campaigns of British soldiers in America, the entrance of France and Spain into the contest, the loss of British naval supremacy. . . . T h e same Palinurus, which has launched our shattered vessels amid the storm, still slumbers at the helm; there is the same negli" Included in pp. 21-32 of a pamphlet entitled: The SPEECH of the HONble CHARLES JAMES FOX; Delivered at WESTMINSTER, on Wednesday, February 2, 1780; on the Reduction of SINECURE PLACES, and UNMERITED PENSIONS. With a list of the Gentlemen chosen on the COMMITTEE. To which is added the SPEECH OF THOMAS DA Y, Esq. As delivered to the Freeholders of Essex at Chelmsford." London, J. Barker, [1780], Price 6d.

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CINCINNATUS

gence and supineness in our councils, attended with a profusion and rapacity which conquest itself could not support. Neither the successful wars of the D u k e of Marlborough, nor the yet more glorious administration of Lord Chatham, has equalled, by many millions, the expence of lo(o)sing thirteen colonies, and the sovereignty of the sea. . . . Had this pernicious war been ended last Christmas, it would have cost the nation forty-seven millions. T h e army and n a v y and other public expenses for 1779 had exceeded b y millions the most expensive year of the Seven Years' War. All items, "civil as well as military . . . were augmented . . .; a legion of monsters, consisting of places and appointments never heard of before, had started up of late." Is a war so begun and so conducted likely to end advantageously for England? If it must be continued, should its prosecution

be

entrusted

to

those

who have

shown

themselves

incapable? . . . We are reduced to the very brink of despair, nor is there a gleam of hope, except f r o m the rising spirit of the people, exasperated by an unexampled series of provocations and disgraces. . . . Are we merely sheep fattened for the profit, and slaughtered at the pleasure of our masters? Gentlemen, if we are to bear the increasing burthens of a war, begun with ambition, and carried on with every species of mismanagement, nothing can be more reasonable, than that the excessive sums levied upon the people, should be applied with the strictest integrity: nothing more just, than that those who have plunged us into this abyss, should share its calamities. W h a t ! at a time when every private Gentleman in this kingdom finds his property crumbling away beneath his grasp, when every merchant and manufacturer feels himself involved in a most inextricable distress, shall there be a privileged set of men, who riot with impunity on your spoils, and know no other care than to add to your already intolerable burthens? The object, therefore, of your petition is just as it is constitutional. . . . Allegiance to princes, obedience to governments, attachment to particular persons or families, are but subordinate streams from that vast comprehensive source [love of country], . . . Let

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CIXCIXXATUS

no inferior, no subordinate cause divert y o u from this great e n d ; let neither fear, nor interest, nor pleasure warp your attention f r o m the noble o b j e c t s which now rise b e f o r e your view. Consider this day not as the goal, but as the beginning of your career; the hour, on which, like Brutus, y o u h a v e d e v o t e d yourselves t o the s e r v i c e of your c o u n t r y ; w h i c h rouzes y o u f r o m your lethargy, and l i f t s y o u t o y o u r former rank in the creation, the auspicious hour that restores your country, by y o u r means, t o all the glories she has lost.

On March 2 5, 1780, Day attended a meeting held at Cambridge. Fortunately we are given an account of the occasion from the diary of a Tory churchman, the Reverend William Cole of Milton, 13 who represents this as a violent, irresponsible assembly. On March 9 the corporation of Cambridge formulated a petition requesting that Parliament should correct abuses in the expenditure of public money. A few days before, "a Rabble of Dissenters of various Hues & Colours," had presented a requisition to the High Sheriff asking him to call a meeting of the freeholders at the County Hall in Cambridge, Saturday, March 25, ostensibly "to agree upon a Petition to Parliament, similar to that of York, for a constitutional Redress of Grievances." The Sheriff denied the request, and his wife "greatly affronted them, by saying, that on looking over their List she could not discover 2 gentlemen among them. . . ." ("Indeed," remarks Cole, " I don't see one.") Xot discouraged by this rebuff, however, the rabble themselves had published in the Cambridge paper a request that the "nobility, Gentry, Clergy, & Free Holders of the County of Cambridge" should attend a meeting "at the Shire Hall . . . at 11 o'clock in the Forenoon" on the date mentioned. "To stem this Tide of Fanaticism & Rebellion," Sir Thomas Hatton sent an express to the Lord Lieutenant, the Earl of Hardwicke, asking him to meet the county gentlemen at the Cambridge assizes for consultation on March 14 and 15. Alas, Hardwicke seemed afraid in this crisis to rouse " T h e account is contained in Br. Mus. Add. MS. 5855, ff. 140-44.

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181

opposition to himself which might curtail his place on the E x chequer; then, too, he wanted to introduce his nephew as a candidate for the county, but this time was not convenient as the Duke of Rutland desired to introduce his brother for the same position. On the morning appointed for the meeting, both patriots and conservatives had been busy in circularizing the crowd. T o r y members of the University distributed an extract (printed in London, for the Cambridge printer was a patriot) from a sermon delivered by D r . Watson in 1769 which absolutely contradicted the radical sentiments he was to utter at the meeting. T h e patriot faction had printed and distributed many papers "on Design to inflame the People"; among them were "Robinson's Declaration of those Rights of the Commonalty of Great Britain without which they cannot be F r e e , " the Yorkshire Petition, and an extract from Fox's Speech of F e b . 2, 1780. 1 4 Certainly the meeting and its purposes had been widely advertised. Let us look at the events of this assembly through the conservative eyes of Reverend William Cole and his friends. 1 5 . . . In the Morning of Yesterday, the Duke of Manchester, Wilkes, Mr. Molineux, & a Mr. Daye, a man of some Property, lately acquired, near about Ongar in Essex, where he had distinguished himself as a busy & noisy Patriot, being a ready Speaker, who was inticed down to this Hot-Bed of Faction, the dissenting Interest in & about Cambridge, with Dr. Watson, Regius Professor of Divinity, Archdeacon of Ely, Rector of Somersham, at their Head, assembled about 11 o'clock in one of the Courts of the Town Hall, where they waited a long time for the Duke of Rutland & his Company: after long waiting for them, it was discovered that his Grace of Rutland & Co: was in the other Court. Messages were sent from the former to the D. of Rutland to desire that he would be pleased to come to them: this he refused, & said they might come " T h i s speech was printed later with one of Day's. See p. 178, note 12. " T h e first part of this was reported to Rev. W. Cole by the Master of Benet on March 26.

182

CINCINNATUS

to him: to qualify this Jarring, it was proposed by Wilkes, as no unusual measure, & which would much better answer their design to seduce the People, to adjourn to some Bowling Green, or open Space, where the greater number of people might hear their Harangues: this was agreed to, & Clare Hall Peice, & Parker's Peice were named: however, the Senate House Yard, as it was Market Day, & the Market Hill full of Stalls, was pitcht upon, as having a Flight of Steps very suitable to the orators for Display of the Talents. . . . . . . Purchas, at the Steps, with all the Confidence of a true Fanatic, opened to the Assembly the occasion of the meeting: . . . Lord Duncannon was put in the Chair, that was placed there, & read the Petition, but not to the Satisfaction of the Party, who had it bellowed out by Crisp Molineux. . . , 16 . . . the Party then desired Sir John Cotton & Sir Sampson Gideon, both present (as they thought it their D u t y ) to present it to the H o u s e : Sir John Cotton excepted to some Part of it: . . . yet, he said, he would present it. On that, Wilkes, to make himself popular, offered his Service to lay it before the House, recounting the Inconveniences that had occurred where members, who were not hearty in the Cause, had delivered these Petitions. This occasioned a Roar among the populace for Wilkes for Ever. The D u k e of Manchester made a most inflammatory Speech, addressed wholly to the People, telling them that they were the sole Origin & Fountain of Laws, & that since such as He, & Parliaments were become so corrupt, it was from them alone that Protection was to be sought. T h e Demagogues Wilkes, Molineux, & Daye got up often, & severally harrangued the M o b . . . a Mob of Dissenters of all Hues, Colours & Denominations in every part of the County, called together, not by the Sherif, but the Anabaptist Alderman Purchas, in order to draw u p a Petition of Oeconomy, Alterations in the Method of Parliament, & other wild and republican Schemes, first engendred at Mr. Robinson's Conventicle, & then recomended to the notice of the Corporation by a modest Republican, if that is compatible, Alderman Burleigh.

The ideas which that "noisy Patriot," Mr. Day, was expounding to the people from the steps of the Senate House Yard " This paragraph is from the report of Mr. and Mrs. Chettoe of Chesterton to Cole.

CINCINNATUS

183

were very similar to those expressed by the Duke of Manchester's "inflammatory Speech," such as would have antagonized any clergyman who laid stress upon government by the upper classes. For Day, going behind the purpose of the meeting, which was a petition for the reform of public expenditure, insisted upon talking about the natural rights of man. He stated as a fundamental principle that the objects of all political society were the happiness and security of the whole. These grand objects were to be obtained by means and regulations agreeable to the people. Magistrates and sovereigns were instruments of the people, derived their power from them, and deserved support only during good behavior. "But the last great revolution of our government is a decisive precedent, that subjects may alter their rulers, and that KINGS MUST EXPECT ALLEGIANCE NO LONGER 17 THAN THEY DESERVE IT." The Constitution of England was a system consonant with the natural rights, for it gave the Sovereign no discretionary power affecting life, liberty, and property. Of these rights a citizen could only be deprived by a jury of his peers. Despite this Constitution, said Day, the country had been burdened with grievances. And called on as citizens were after the waste of much blood and treasure to support their country, they might well inquire whether they had one. "For I do not call the air we breathe, nor the soil we trample upon a country, nor the scanty fare which supports you for daily toils; BUT I CALL THAT A COUNTRY, IN WHICH MEN POSSESS AN EQUAL SHARE IN THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT, AND PRIVILEGES WHICH ARE IN-

he therefore that lays before you the noble rights which are inherent in you, as Englishmen, stimulates you most effectually in their defence." Parliament had formerly been the champion of the people's rights against the crown. But Charles VIOLABLE;

" Q u o t e d from The Speech of Thomas Day, Esq., on the Necessity oj a Reform in Parliament, delivered at Cambridge, March 25, 1780. . . ." London, D. I. Eaton, n. d.

CIXCIXNATUS

184

I I ("whose name in common with that of every Stuart I det e s t " ) , followed by other kings, had used public revenues to corrupt public representatives. B y this corruption many evils had been brought upon the nation. Wars begun and waged "from the selfish views and ambitions of the Crown" had burdened the people. Various acts had abridged the people's liberty: the riot act, "like every other oppression, rendered perpetual";

"the

game laws, by which the great body of the people is disarmed"; " t h e excise, that system of public robbery"; " t h a t infamous act, by which a Parliament is now permitted to endure seven y e a r s " ; and finally, " a standing army . . . which has never failed to annihilate the liberties of every country where it was once admitted." As in the decadent Roman empire, so now in England, many rights and immunities have "been surrendered to the crown. T o the crown belongs the disposition of honours and emoluments; the immense influence arising from the army, the navy, the excise, and the civil list; the rights of peace and war, and the disposal of all the armed force in the kingdom; to us is left the task

of

PAYING

SOLDIERS

TO ENSLAVE

AND

REPRESENTATIVES

TO BETRAY; accompanied with the mournful spectacle of seeing all our rights put up to public auction, once, in seven years." T h e meeting had assembled to petition for a reform in public expenditure. A "shameful compliance with the most exorbitant demands of the crown," shameful waste, neglect, and fraud had resulted in a national debt of two hundred million. Against a petition for reform frivolous objections had been urged, " t h a t this was no time to weaken the hands of ministers . . .

no

time to deliberate about . . . grievances." B u t efficiency demanded such reform. And the people, if they wished redress, must get it in the hour of anxiety and danger, "when the weight of the people is felt in the scale of empires and ministers themselves are afraid to exasperate beyond a certain point."

CINCINNATUS

18S

For this whole matter of public grievances there were only two measures of relief: . . . shortening the duration of Parliaments, and . . . introducing a more equal representation. . . . Till then, every inferior reformation is less than nothing; IT IS S H U T T I N G T H E GATES, W H E N T H E E N E M Y ARE IN POSSESSION OF T H E WALLS, OR STOPPING A C H I N K IN THE

PUBLICK

MOUNDS,

WHEN

THE

TIDE OF S H A M E AND RUIN

POURING IN AT A THOUSAND BREACHES. IN OUR PRESENT

IS

CIRCUM-

STANCES, IT IS AN I N S U L T TO COMMON SENSE, A MOCKERY OF OUR FEELINGS, TO SAY THAT WE ARE REPRESENTED; T H E R E IS NOT A SINGLE IDEA ATTACHED TO T H E TERM, A SINGLE DEFINITION W H I C H CAN BE GIVEN IT, W H I C H IS NOT GROSSLY VIOLATED IN T H E ELECTION OF AN H O U S E OF COMMONS; NOR IS T H E R E A SINGLE ARGUMENT W H I C H CAN BE BROUGHT, TO PROVE THAT H O U S E REPRESENTS GREAT BRITAIN, BY WHICH FRANCE,

IT

MAY

SPAIN,

NOT THE

EQUALLY INDIES,

BE

PROVED,

THAT

ALL EUROPE, OR T H E

IT

REPRESENTS

WORLD

ITSELF.

It is yours [ D a y said in his final exhortation] ye free and independent citizens, ye uncorrupted remains of a wise and valiant people, to direct this tide of national zeal to its proper object, not to suffer it to be diverted into a thousand scanty streams, but to roll it full against the loftiest bulwarks of oppression; they will not resist its rage, they will be levelled with the ground, and leave you an easy victory, attended with the sublimest glory which mortals can attain, that of being the patres patriae, the saviours of your country, and the restorers of public liberty.

The conclusion of the meeting is thus given by the Reverend Wm. Cole: T h e Patriots then proposed . . . [an] Association, similar to that of York, & some other Counties: but seeing they could not accomplish their Plan: for there was not, to Appearance a Gentleman of the County with them, they adjourned, amidst the Applauses of the Mobarchy. to the Rose Tavern, where the Petition was deposited for such as chose to subscribe it. The Mobbocracy were all on their Side, as might well be expected, & the oratory & Plausibility of the Speechifiers seemed to seduce the Farmers. . . . . . . Robinson, the Anabaptist Teacher, who lives at Chesterton,

186

CINCINNATUS

set the Bells a Ringing in that Church as soon as he got Home, & made a great Supper at night for all his Party, where strong Liquors, good Cheer, & Zeal for the Cause, so far got the better of their discretion, that many of the Ebenezers were laid flat on their Back, & had Assistance to convey them to their several Habitations. Day was not merely an active speaker on this occasion, but was appointed member of " a COMMITTEE to carry on a CORRESPONDENCE t o RESTORE t h e FREEDOM of PARLIAMENT." H i s a s -

sociates were the Duke of Portland, the Duke of Richmond, the Duke of Manchester, the Duke of Rutland, Earl Spencer, Lord Bessborough, Lord Duncannon, Lord Robert Manners, Hon. William Pitt, Sir Robert Bernard, Sir Gillis Payne, John Wilkes, "and others" 1 8 —a list which contains alike the conservative Rockingham Whig, the Chathamite Whig, and the radical demagogue, all intent upon having a finger in the political pie. The jealousy between these champions of the people has been well enough illustrated by their difficulty in finding a common place of meeting. Day himself stood somewhat aloof from people of rank, fashion or fortune, and treated them very coldly if they presumed upon their advantages to exact homage. At times he carried his independence to the point of snobbery. During the associations a Duke sent a message to him that a county meeting was to be held on a certain date. But he purposely absented himself, unwilling that any one should think his public conduct could be influenced by a noble's complaisance. On April 25, 1780, Day again addressed a general meeting of the freeholders of Essex. As usual the introduction to his speech is an account of the national calamity, a calamity from which the present feeble governors seem incapable of rescuing the country. T h e only recourse for those who would do so, he asserts, is an appeal to the people—the supreme tribunal of, the " L i s t on the title page of The Speech oj Thomas Day, Esq. . . . delivered at Cambridge, March 25,1780, London, Eaton, n. d.

CINCINNATUS

187

raison d'etre of the government. "Yes, gentlemen . . . forms, and titles, and governments themselves are lighter than the summer's dust, when weighed against the general safety, or the general freedom." Now the people are asked at this meeting to promote their interest by petitioning for a reform of public expenditure. How futile such a petition would be! As well ask "a band of robbers to return those spoils which they have just hazarded their lives to acquire." To remedy public misfortunes, Day says, their origin must be pointed out. This origin is the influence of the crown. It has invaded the public rights, scorned petitions, kindled the flames of civil war. And "in the prosecution of the disastrous contest, all charters [have been] disregarded, all rights confounded, all principles of natural equity and reason subverted, as if the only object of all the orders of the state were to extinguish opposition to the will of an individual." So great has been this baneful influence that even representatives of the people have decided " 'that the influence of the crown has been encreased, is encreasing, and ought to be diminished.' " 1 B But this expression of popular opinion and some temporary successes in Parliament must not lull the people into a forgetfulness of their grievances. The fundamental grievance, from which all others come, is a lack of representation. The constitutional government is vested in the King, Lords, and Commons. But this last group does not, as formerly, represent the people. Now "the two boroughs of Old Sarum and Newton, consisting each of a single house, return as many members as the city of London, whose riches and inhabitants are innumerable; the representatives of the different boroughs of this kingdom, many of whom do not contain twenty votes, exceed the representatives of counties in propor" Part of the resolutions carried by Dunning in the House of Commons, April 10, 1780.

188

CIXCIXXATUS

tion greater than 4 to 1; and 254 members out of 558, who compose the complete representation of the kingdom, are returned by less than 6000 electors." And this decidedly limited electorate, by the Septennial Bill of 1716, has the right of choosing its representatives only once in seven years. A restoration of the constitutional rights of annual parliaments and equal representation then will allow the people to remedy their grievances. But this restoration of rights cannot be expected from a party. I t is now a c e n t u r y , at least, that the t r a d e of opposition has been carried on w i t h equal violence and a c r i m o n y ; d u r i n g this period, we h a v e r e p e a t e d l y seen honours, offices, a n d e m o l u m e n t s change hands, and the P a t r i o t of y e s t e r d a y b e c o m e t h e M i n i s t e r of t o d a y ; b u t so f a r h a v e the people been f r o m ever o b t a i n i n g redress, t h a t f r e s h outrages h a v e been heaped upon t h e m b y e v e r y new Administ r a t i o n . I t is in t h e course of this period, t h a t t h e game laws, t h e riot act, the excise, the standing a r m y , h a v e been r i v e t t e d into t h e G o v e r n m e n t ; t h a t y o u r m o s t sacred rights h a v e been violated, first b y the triennial, a f t e r w a r d s by t h e s e p t e n n i a l bill; and t h a t t w o h u n d r e d millions of national p r o p e r t y h a v e been squandered, t o d e f e n d G e r m a n Principalities, c o n q u e r A m e r i c a , and hold t h e i m a g i n a r y balance of E u r o p e ; while y o u r own scale was continually sinking w i t h the weight of p o v e r t y , slavery, a n d ruin.

And these things have been chiefly effected by the party which pretended to be the assertor of public liberty. The only means of redress is a compact with the representatives at the next election to restore annual parliaments and a more equal representation. There is, he has heard, a party [the Rockingham Whigs] composed of many great and opulent men who are opposed to all tests and engagements. G e n t l e m e n , had I come here with hopes or f e a r s f o r a n y thing b u t t h e public good, I should h a v e learned t o p r o s t r a t e myself before t h e rising s u n ; and so be as blind to the d e f e c t s of one p a r t y , as I w a s eagle-eyed to all t h e i m p e r f e c t i o n s of t h e o t h e r . — B u t consistently w i t h t h a t spirit which has h i t h e r t o inspired m e , I m u s t t h u s openly

CINCINNATUS

189

declare, that I derive the worst omens for the public cause from the unwillingness to satisfy the public apprehensions.—Does it then become a set of men, who have been reviling the established Government for years, under the plausible pretext of zeal for the rights and liberties of the people, to refuse that very people the just and trivial satisfaction they demand?—Are heaven, and earth, and hell to be moved; . . . not that the great causes of all our miseries may be removed . . . but that one garrison may evacuate the place, and another march in; while we, like the wretched inhabitants of contested territories, gain nothing by battles, sieges, and defeats, but a change of masters? Candidates have urged against tests various objections: a sense of delicacy, parliamentary independence, and finally the inadequacy of the tests proposed. These are but flimsy pretexts. A sense of delicacy does not keep a man from taking the oath of office, nor from humbly begging for votes. Parliamentary independence does not prevent representatives from voting away the rights of the people; whereas the House of Commons should be "the organ of the people's voice" and express the people's will. Granted that the tests are weak and inadequate, yet they are the only restraints the people can impose. A candidate who refuses to subscribe to them will be an untrustworthy representative. After all, says Day of the Whig nobles, some of whom opposed taking tests, "I have never yet heard of an aristocracy, from ancient Rome to modern Venice, that was not the universal tyrant and inquisitor of the species." . . . I consider all pretences to a reformation, which do not comprehend the restoration of the people to their fundamental rights, as calculated to amuse your hopes, but not to remove your miseries. And I look upon every party, whatever may be their pretences to public zeal, which will not boldly and publicly subscribe to the necessity of shortening the duration of Parliament, and correcting the abuses of representation, as unworthy of your confidence. N o satire is intended on the Opposition and the nobility, for there are many of them distinguished by public spirit as well as

190

CINCINNATUS

rank; but the people are warned that they must support their own interests and not merely trust them to some party. For himself Day protests the utmost sincerity. He has always shown a contempt "for the pageantry of the world." He now publicly declares that he will not solicit favor from any party, nor accept wages from his country. He does not fear, even amid the ruin of his nation, that he will lack a competence; and with this he may go to "an asylum now opened in the west, which will gather together the brave, the wise, the good from all the winds of Heaven." But his countrymen, if they allow another House of Commons to be elected without a stipulation for their liberties, will be enslaved. And therefore he concludes with two motions: first, that the meeting proclaim annual parliaments and equal representation as the constitutional rights of Englishmen; second, that the meeting refuse to support any candidate who does not accept these rights as constitutional and pledge himself to restore them. In April, 1780, the Society for Promoting Constitutional Information was founded by Capel Lofft, Major John Cartwright, and Dr. John Jebb. The object of the society was "to diffuse throughout the kingdom . . . a knowledge of the great principles of constitutional freedom," to publish gratis essays and constitutional tracts suitable for this purpose, and to advocate in particular "short parliaments and a more equal representation of the people."20 Day became a member along with other independent gentlemen, reform leaders, and members of Parliament. Indeed it had a list of tides and names which must have given it prestige: eight English or Scotch peers, fifteen members of Parliament, and several London magistrates.21 William Jones, 30

Disney, J., The

the Author, 11

A

few

Works

of John

Jebb,

with

Memoirs

of the Life

of

L o n d o n , 1787, I, 1S5-S6. of

its m e m b e r s indicate

clearly enough

its character and

principles: Cartwright, strenuous advocate of American independence and

CINCINNATUS

191

now a rising young lawyer, and Dr. John Jebb were the two members who were closest to D a y in friendship and principles, but there was no group which came nearer to sympathizing with all his ideas than did this. D a y ' s exposition in speeches of the constitutional rights of Englishmen, particularly with respect to short parliaments and equal representation, agreed exactly with the policy of the society. Accordingly it published and distributed gratis his addresses made on March 25 and April 25, 1780. ELECTIONS OF 1780 Day now had his name before the people. And the elections in the autumn of 1780 provided an opportunity for him to enter Parliament. H e saw three methods of obtaining such a seat. 22 He might ruin his fortune by purchasing a seat from the noble holder of some pocket borough or from the independent freeholders of some small electing unit. He might flatter a noble into giving him a seat. Or, almost impossible, he might be asked to stand for election; this was the only method not repugnant to his ideals. Of the first possibility Dr. Darwin wrote jestingly to him a short time after the election: Pray, my good friend, why did not you contribute to the benevolent designs of Providence by buying a seat in Parliament? Mankind will not be served without being first pleased or tickled. They take the present pleasure of getting drunk with their candidate, as an earnest of proof that he will contribute to their future good; as some men think the goodness of the Lord to us mortals in this world . . . is a proof of his future and eternal goodness to us. Now you wrap up your talent in a napkin, and instead of speaking parliamentary reform; Duke of Richmond, exponent of equalitarian principles; R. B. Sheridan, M. P.; Christopher Wyvill, organizer of the Yorkshire association; Dr. Richard Price, American sympathizer and antislavery agitator; Aldermen Sawbridge and Hayley, veteran upholders to the liberties of London. 3 See Dialogue between a Justice of the Peace and a Farmer, London 1785, pp. 31-32.

192

CINTCIXNTATUS

in the assembly of the nation, and pleading the cause of America and Africa, you are sowing turnips, in which every farmer can equal or excel you. 2 ' Day himself described the second method: "Another very common way is, to attach yourself to some great man, or perhaps, to his favourite pimp or footman; whatever the great man does or says, though equally contrary to honesty and common sense, you must be sure to approve. If you have talents, you may speak and write for him and his party; if you have none, you may, at least bawl and canvass; impudence, baseness, and servility, are great qualifications in a public character; with these any man may hope to take his station in public life, by the time that he is fit for no other place but * * * * " 2 4 Certainly Day in 1780 had not much to expect from an organized party. H e had denounced the Tories for their prosecution of the American war, the Whig leaders for their unwillingness to support parliamentary reform. Only the third method of election appealed to him: "A gentleman of respectable character is called upon, by a majority of independent electors, to represent them; such a person is sometimes chosen without bribery or solicitation." 25 Now Day was highly enough esteemed in Southwark to be proposed as a candidate to represent that borough, he was requested several times by the popular party to stand as candidate, and Dr. Jebb urged him to do so. But his vision of Cincinnatus summoned from the plow to leadership persisted; it was not satisfied by the occasional invitations received. To Dr. Jebb's request he replied, explaining his proud indifference to riches, honors, and distinctions: With this view of things how is it possible that I should descend o the common meannesses of the bought and buying tribe, or stoop " Letter, Erasmus Darwin to Day, May 16, 1781. Lowndes, II, 322. " T h i s account is given by the Justice. Dialogue, p. 31. * Dialogue, p. 32.

CINCINNATUS

193

to solicit the suffrages of the multitude, more than I have hitherto done the patronage of the g r e a t . . . . It was not in the forum, amidst the tribe of begging, cringing, shuffling, intriguing candidates, but in their farms, and amidst their rural labours, that the Romans were obliged to seek for men, who were really animated with an holy zeal for their country's glory, and capable of preferring her interest to their own. I neither pretend to the magnanimity, nor to the abilities of those illustrious men, whom we are more inclined to admire than imitate, but I pretend to all their indifference to public fame, and to all their disinterestedness. Be assured then that these principles . . . will always be an invincible obstacle to my entering the list of public competition.26 The election of October, 1780, went very much against the cause of the people. The King by his manly determined part in ending the Gordon riots had won temporary popularity; the Opposition was laboring under the stigma of having used crowds, assemblies, meetings to forward its cause. The King spent twice his usual amount on the election; the Opposition, tired of buying seats which never gave a majority, failed to compete. So the King's party conquered, reform languished, the American war continued. The King followed his war policy despite the Opposition's exposure of governmental corruption and military inefficiency. But on November 25, 1781, the news of the surrender of Yorktown reached England. The King blustered about his intention of continuing the war, but the Opposition after three months of political skirmishing carried General Conway's motion: " T h a t the further prosecution of the offensive war in North America, to reduce the revolted colonies by force, will weaken the efforts of this country against her European enemies, and increase the mutual enmity so fatal to the interests of Great Britain and America." Thus ended active military operations. Nearly a month later Lord North was relieved of the prime ministership. Rockingham became the new minister with a cabinet composed " Keir, pp. 122-23.

194

CINCINNATUS

largely of Rockingham Whigs, and obtained a free hand in his measures: the independence of America as a basis for peace, the revival of Burke's bill for economy, the stopping of "influence" in both Commons and Lords. The party that had for seven years attacked the war was in power, and the nation expected it to conclude an early peace. Day mentions in his pamphlets many of the events which had convinced England that she must make peace or be ruined. L'or Day himself there was a decidedly personal contact with one of the American negotiators of peace, Henry Laurens of South Carolina, father of his Temple friend, John Laurens. In September, 1780, Laurens had been captured at sea. Among his papers was found a treaty of amity and commerce between America and Holland, signed by the pensionary of Amsterdam. The Dutch government disclaimed the treaty, but refused to punish Amsterdam. The conclusion of the matter was England's declaration of war. Meanwhile Laurens was taken to London, and committed to the Tower for high treason. Here he was kept closely confined for over a year, badly treated by officials, allowed very infrequently to see his son Harry or a friend. Day wrote to this son offering assistance to the father and sympathy to the family. After Laurens was released from the Tower, December 31, 1781, he and his son had frequent and friendly associations with Day and his wife. Day admired him not only for his leadership in the American Revolution (Laurens had been President of Congress), but for his willingness to abolish slavery. Significantly enough several of Day's correspondents, such as Dr. Richard Price and the Countess of Huntingdon, who were strong abolitionists, were also admirers of Laurens. Another group Laurens also came in touch with, the British ministry. Long before he was definitely appointed as a peace commissioner, he had explained to Rockingham, Richmond, and Shelbume, his views concerning a treaty. Furthermore Laurens

CINCINNATUS

195

was in close touch with John Adams, an American commissioner in Holland, and with Richard Oswald, the man whom Shelburne, Secretary of State for H o m e Affairs, was using to begin the peace negotiations with Franklin. N o w D a y as Laurens' confidential friend and travelling companion must have received a very good idea of these negotiations. The following letter, written by D a y from Portsmouth in 1782 (probably in M a y ) while on a trip with Laurens, affords a glimpse of their intimacy and a good example of the lectures with which our parliamentary reformer now edified his wife: I want to record a story, which Mr. Lawrens told me he had heard from the gentleman himself, and which I shall therefore transcribe here, as it tends to show, that all the strength of eloquence and virulence of abuse, (which can be used upon these subjects), fall infinitely below the actual practical peculations of our government. Last war, during the time that the Duke of Marlborough commanded the English troops in Germany, a complaint was sent over from the contractor there, that he could no longer continue to furnish the rations at the usual prices, fifteen pence each:—a ration is a particular quantity of meat or bread, furnished to the soldier by the contractors at a given price. This matter was canvassed at the Treasury board, and proposals were ordered to be delivered from any individual, who chose to undertake the business. Upon the next meeting, when the proposals were to be examined, there appeared one proposal for furnishing the same at eight pence each. The Duke of Newcastle, who then presided at the Treasury bench, said, that surely the proposer must be insane. Here, says he, is a commissary that cannot afford these rations at fifteen pence, and therefore flings up his contract, unless the allowance is increased, and yet here is a Mr. Oswald who will furnish the same rations for eight pence. To this a gentleman present answered, (and whose name was also Oswald,) My Lord, I know this Mr. Oswald, he is a man of character, and a distant relation of mine; and whatever he engages to do, I have no doubt of his performing. Upon this, it became necessary to call this Mr. Oswald before the board. How is it possible, Sir, (says the Duke,) that you can furnish for eight pence, what another

196

CINCINNATUS

m a n is i n c a p a b l e o f d o i n g f o r fifteen pence?

" M y Lord, I have noth-

ing t o d o w i t h o t h e r m e n ; b u t I a m r e a d y to m a k e g o o d m y

own

p r o p o s a l s , if y o u r l o r d s h i p c h u s e s to g i v e m e the c o n t r a c t . " T h e w o r t h y gentlemen, w h o presided at the T r e a s u r y board, were here t h r o w n i n t o s o m e e m b a r r a s s m e n t ;

t h e y had i n t e n d e d

nothing

m o r e , b y all t h e s e m a n o e u v r e s , t h a n t o i n c r e a s e t h e p r i c e s of

the

ration t o t h e

re-

contractor, who probably

( f r o m the v e r y great

d u c t i o n w h i c h w a s m a d e o u t of h i s p r o f i t s b y his e m p l o y e r s ) did not t h i n k t h e p u b l i c p i l l a g e sufficiently

ample.

B u t it w a s not possible

to r e f u s e s u c h a n o f f e r m a d e in so p u b l i c a m a n n e r , a n d t h e r e f o r e M r . O s w a l d w a s t o l d t h a t he m i g h t h a v e the c o n t r a c t , p r o v i d e d the D u k e in G e r m a n y h a d n o t m a d e an a g r e e m e n t w i t h a n y o t h e r person. M r . O s w a l d a c c e p t e d the c o n d i t i o n s , w e n t h o m e a n d t o l d his w i f e , that h e m u s t i n s t a n t l y set off f o r G e r m a n y . B y

great accident

or

a d d r e s s , h e f o u n d o u t t h e v e r y m e s s e n g e r , w h o had b e e n d i s p a t c h e d to the D u k e b y t h e E n g l i s h m i n i s t r y , t o tell h i m t h a t he m u s t imm e d i a t e l y a g r e e w i t h the old c o n t r a c t o r . H e t r a v e l l e d w i t h this m a n , till w i t h i n a d a y ' s j o u r n e y of t h e a r m y , w i t h o u t i n f o r m i n g h i m of his o w n b u s i n e s s , s u p p e d

with him at

n i g h t , and b a d e h i m

good

n i g h t , a s if r e t i r i n g t o b e d . B u t , as s o o n as the m e s s e n g e r himself w a s in b e d , h e o r d e r e d h o r s e s , t r a v e l l e d all night, a n d a r r i v e d

at

the E n g l i s h a r m y b y m o r n i n g . H e d i r e c t l y w a i t e d u p o n the D u k e of M a r l b o r o u g h , w h o m he t o o k c a r e to s p e a k to in the p r e s e n c e s e v e r a l of his o w n officers, t o l d h i m his business, a n d a s k e d if he h a d m a d e a n y o t h e r a g r e e m e n t . O s w a l d , w e h a v e no e n g a g e m e n t ; angel;

"No,"

you

are

s a y s his g r a c e , c o m e as o u r

of him

"Mr.

guardian

a n d if y o u w i l l w a i t u p o n m e t o m o r r o w m o r n i n g , y o u shall

b e i n f o r m e d of all the p a r t i c u l a r s of y o u r e m p l o y m e n t . " M r . Oswald b o w e d , and retired. T o w a r d s morning the messenger a r r i v e s , d e l i v e r s t h e l e t t e r s of the E n g l i s h m i n i s t r y , a n d t h r o w s t h e D u k e i n t o t h e g r e a t e s t d e g r e e of e m b a r r a s s m e n t . A c c o r d i n g l y , w h e n Mr. the

Oswald usual

called

meander

the of

should be v e r y h a p p y of

previous

next great

day, men)

the

commander-in-chief

told him. that

t o be

(with sure

he

to e m p l o y h i m , b u t t h a t t h e r e w a s a kind

engagement

which

he h a d

forgotten before;

that

he

had the h i g h e s t o p i n i o n of M r . O s w a l d , b u t that. . . . M r . O s w a l d , w i t h g r e a t p o l i t e n e s s , said, his g r a c e w a s the best j u d g e ; he should not r e p i n e a t w h a t e v e r he d e t e r m i n e d ; kind of public

capacity,

b u t t h a t , as he c a m e in a

by order of the government,

it w a s n e c e s s a r y

CINCINNATUS

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his grace should give his determination in his own hand-writing. The Duke was too much a man of honour to give a lie under his hand, humm'd and ha'd, and told him that was unnecessary. But Mr. Oswald still adhered to his point, and that in the hearing of the very officers, who the night before had heard his grace assert that the business was entirely open, so that at length the Duke, finding no subterfuge left, said plainly, "Well, Oswald, I think you must have the contract." Mr. Oswald accordingly attended the army during their stay in Germany, behaved in so liberal a manner, that he was called the honest contractor, and yet, at eight pence a ration, found means to clear between three and four hundred thousand pounds, although his honest predecessors had been obliged to fling the contract up at fifteen pence. B y this authentic story, which Mr. Lawrens asserts upon the evidence of Mr. Oswald himself, some idea may be formed of the conscientious management of the public money. 2 7

Meanwhile the Rockingham administration was conducting peace negotiations through Oswald, and was carrying various measures for reducing the King's influence: the disqualification of contractors for seats in Parliament, the disfranchisement of revenue officers, Burke's bill for economic reform, and the legislative independence of Ireland. Even Pitt's motion for an inquiry into the state of representation, though defeated by the abstention of Whig aristocrats, came within twenty votes of being carried. Accordingly Day held a very favorable attitude toward the administration. " I am not willing," he wrote, "to lose that happy moment, which may, perhaps, never return, when I find my own sentiments in perfect unison with those of the established government." 28 What a glorious time he would have had in thundering those sentiments to the House of Commons! But his chance to buy a seat there was gone, and the county association no longer afforded a numerous audience. He, therefore, hastened to write in favor of the policy which he thought the administration would adopt toward American independence. 21

Lowndes, II, 65-69.

M

Reflections,

Sth ed., London, 1783, p. 21.

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In this writing he upheld practically all the ideas which Laurens had been urging on the British ministry: a prompt termination of the war, no peace separate from France, absolute independence of the colonies.29 The nature of this pamphlet is well indicated by its title, Reflections upon the Present State oj England and the Independence oj America. It begins with all oratorical gloom to paint the depths to which the once-proud England has been brought by "the wild ambition of one part of the nation, assisted by the vanity, blindness, and supineness of the rest." 3 " Her commerce has been almost annihilated, her agriculture impaired, her best blood wasted, her debts tremendously increased. "The final emancipation of America, the degradation of our naval honour, the loss of almost all our European and Western possessions, is the moderate price which this nation has already paid for the implicit confidence which the Sovereign has reposed in his faithful and experienced servants." 31 What, Day asked, are the measures most likely to secure safety amid these distresses? Stopping the war, an offensive war from its very beginning. And this means acknowledging the absolute independence of America, which has been the great cause contended for, and making a general peace with the allied nations. The great difficulty in the way of such a solution lies in a continuation of the false hopes and opinions with which the English have been deceived for seven years. They have thought "that a few regiments would complete the reduction of that immense continent; that a majority of the Americans were attached to the British government; . . . that the French would never assist the Americans; . . . that Lord Cornwallis with an army of about ten thousand could . . . subdue the Southern " L a u r e n s ' fourth idea, no American compensation for loyalists, was left unmentioned here. Day defends this later in Letters oj Marius. Reflections,

K

p. 2.

" Ibid., p. S.

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CINCINNATUS

provinces. . . . " M Perhaps even now the late naval successes have encouraged the English to think of renewing the war. The prejudice most to be dreaded is that America will make peace without including her allies and without obtaining her independence. But the articles of alliance between France and America forbid a separate peace, or a peace which does not secure American independence. A knowledge of the American point of view shows that American independence is indispensable. From the Declaration of Independence, 1776, through the vicissitudes of a weary war, the colonists have clung tenaciously to the idea. Furthermore the accumulated resentment of a war-ravaged nation would prevent any connection with their enemies: "They have seen . . . their country desolated . . .; every insult has been offered to their women, every degree of scom and inhumanity to . . . prisoners, and every . . . barbarity to those who resisted: even the savage tribes . . . were not judged unworthy of the alliance of singing, fiddling, Frenchified Britain." 3 3 Even if such resentment be allayed, what advantages can England offer to bring her emancipated children again under parental authority? " . . . the blessings of our . . . constitution . . . the splendour of a civil list . . . the economy . . . [of] our finances . . . the blessings of bishops and hereditary nobles . . . the intricate magnificence of our Gothic tenures . . . a clergy to decimate their agriculture . . . a navigation act to improve their commerce . . . virtual representation to secure their freedom"? 34 No, England must admit that there is little in her situation or the American temper that can bring any kind of union. Nor can England obtain by negotiation what she has failed to secure by arms.The very able commission of five, including Franklin, Adams, and Laurens, have expressed a wish for a quick peace, but they have not given the least intimation of * Ibid., p. 12.

" Ibid., p. 25.

lbid., p. 27.

M

200

CINCINNATUS

American dependence. On the contrary, Day has reason to believe, the commissioners consulted on the matter contended that England had compelled the colonies to protect their rights by arms, that England by oppression broke the ties with the colonies and that they had already won independence and did not need to ask it. American subjection can be brought only by a ruinous war, not by negotiation. The choice is left to England—a firm and profitable peace accompanicd by the acknowledgment of independence, or a war of hatred and revenge to reduce the Americans to servitude or perish in the attempt. From the English point of view American dependence would be disadvantageous. It would be bought by the continuance of a ruinous war. If the war were concluded in 1782, the annual expense of the government would be fifteen million pounds—an amount the nation could hardly stagger under. For continuing the war England needs only to add thirty million to the supplies voted, to raise fifty or a hundred thousand more troops, to add forty sail of the line. And at the end of another campaign she may have won another post. Granting that she does by force or negotiation bring America into subjection, she can keep her bound only by a standing army. And there will be other rebellions until the final liberation comes. The only course left open to England is an acknowledgment of American independence. Such an acknowledgment generously made will bring many advantages: "By this one act, England removes every cause of animosity from between herself and the American states. By this one act she places herself upon the broad foundation of equity and reason; frees herself from the necessity of garrisoning posts and cities which she cannot hold; is more collected for the defence of herself and her own undoubted rights; and ceases to appear to the rest of Europe in the formidable light of an insolent, unjust, and rapacious conqueror." 35 Thus the jealousy and enmity of Europe will be " Ibid., pp. 10-11.

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appeased. And France can cover her ambitions no longer with the pretence of being the champion of liberty. The great common purpose of the allies, American independence, once granted, will no longer serve as a bond between them; and England will be able to obtain allies against France. Internally also England will be strengthened, for the Opposition will now support public measures. Finally England will enjoy an unrestricted American commerce, which will help her to preserve political importance and to exist under the heavy burdens imposed by war. The present administration, Day thinks, has acceded or intends to accede to American independence; for during long years of opposition it advocated making peace with the colonies, it obtained before taking office a vote against offensive war with America, and it assumed the government to rescue England by a speedy peace. The only foundation of such a peace is American independence. For the present administration then to adopt a coercive war, the only other alternative to recognition of American independence, would show both folly and duplicity. "It may be asked," said Day, "why I alone, have thus stood forth, and pretended to instruct a nation . . . . the only character I can ever expect to gain by means like these, is that of a turbulent, discontented man, incapable of leaguing with any party and dangerous to all." 38 He has been one of those who opposed measures "adverse to the interest and liberties of their country" and who were "reviled with every odious epithet which slander, falsehood, and malice could invent." 37 He confesses and glories in the accusation of advocating the American cause, but such advocacy does not mean that he is an enemy of England. "England is indeed my country; there was a time when I gloried in the name; and I will presume to say that few have shewn themselves more completely English, either in principles or conduct, than " Ibid., p. 98. " Taxation No Tyranny, Day's rejoinder.

p. 86, is quoted in a note accompanied by

202

CINCINNATUS

myself. But I have never been able to cherish an exclusive partiality for any country at the expence of justice and humanity; . . . the real interest of no society ever was, or will be promoted by systems which contradict the plainest principles of morality." 38 Great schemes of national ambition have only brought national ruin. And the tendency of governments is toward despotism. "The noblest empires seem only created for the sport and riot of a few conceited families; all the productions of the earth are monopolized; the elements themselves become subject to human pride; and man, that believes himself the lord of all, is the only animal that starves amidst universal plenty."39 Therefore Day has delighted in the American opposition to this despotic tendency. He has detested prosecution of this war, for the subjugation of the colonists would have meant the severest punishments. Taxation No Tyranny shows only too well the measures advocated by the King's party: taking away the powers of colonies, repealing colonial charters, trying prisoners in England, condemning prisoners without trial, loosing Indians on the colonists, quartering soldiers free, exacting forfeiture after defeat.40 Such measures are now impracticable. Furthermore the success of the United States teaches the possessors of power the necessity of moderation. And a free America will provide a refuge for all the oppressed of Europe. Not merely from a general love of liberty and the rights of men, but from motives of private interest Day has reprobated the war; for the burning of American towns could hardly promote English commerce, and the extinction of American liberty could hardly preserve English rights at home. The conclusion of the speech is a warning, melancholy and self-righteous. If, despite the fruitless expense of the struggle, the blind nation insists on resuming the war, then he, along with " Reflections, p. 98. " Ibid., p. 103. " S e e Taxation No Tyranny, pp. 24, 28, 44, 59, 60, 84, 85, 87, 88.

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other Englishmen, will be ruined. "But amidst all the calamities which I foresee will burst upon us, it will be some consolation to me, to have discharged the duties of a virtuous citizen; and without interest or ambition, without even the wish or hope of fame, to have opposed myself to the stream of public prejudice, and enforced those salutary truths, upon which depend the safety and happiness of the people." 41 So ended The Reflections which Day had pursued with such inexorable logic through more than a hundred pages. In the course of this pamphlet he had mentioned as an example of despotism the burdens of the excise upon the people. Later editions of the pamphlet42 included Some Observations upon the Excise-Laws. Particularly did he attack in this the surveillance under which citizens were placed by these laws. Man's life and work have been subjected to degrading restrictions. Every kind of useful industry is discouraged by the "continual visits and insolence of excise-men." A long list of laws is cited dealing with every matter from the making of malt to the keeping of servants. While the law has restricted the people in useful occupations, it has encouraged them in the "most unbounded licence, as to two of the most fatal vices which can infect the morals of the lower orders, gaming and drunkenness; by the yearly lotteries43 which drain the poor . . .; and by the ale houses, which it has long been the established policy to encourage."44 As an example of the unreasonableness of many laws Day cited the provisions for the arrest of smugglers: B y 9 Geo.C.35 on information upon oath before any justice, that any person is lurking within five miles of the seacoast or a navigable river, and that there is reason to suspect that he waits with intent " Reflections,

p. 110.

" T h e third edition, 1783, and others following it. " That inveterate gamester, Charles James Fox, had the brazen courage to attack this. " Reflections, p. 12S.

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CINCINNATUS

to be assisting in the running of goods, such justice may grant a warrant for apprehending him; when, on his not giving a satisfactory account of himself, he shall be committed to the house of correction, there to be whipped and kept to hard labour not exceeding one month. Here is a new crime created . . . that of being within five miles of a navigable river or the sea. Had the makers of this law been apprehended and brought before an honest justice of the peace, is it probable they would all have been able to give a satisfactory account of themselves?45 And who does receive any benefit from laws that "plague, torment, and oppress the most useful and industrious part of mankind"? 4 6 The stock-jobber or contractor, 47 a "citizen, who without either trouble or ingenuity clears from twenty to an hundred thousand pounds by every loan." Seeing "at home, the modest plenty of thirty or forty dishes to his dinner, [he] is apt to forget that every ragout he eats, may have deprived an hundred of his fellow creatures of their daily bread." 48 The Observations conclude with warnings to the rulers and advice to the ruled. The pretended representatives of the people have granted two hundred million of the public money without redressing public grievances; they have been abetted by the acquiescence of country gentlemen. But they should not forget that the late power of the nation was due to the general spirit, industry, and ingenuity of the people, not to the government; they should note that taxation has reached its limit, and that the laboring classes, if made too miserable, will emigrate to freer countries, such as America. To the ruled he advises: " T h a t if the people are to have no redress in respect to the mutilated state of their representation, it might be of considerable service to institute public examinations for members of parliament before they take their seats. . . . "Ibid., p. 114.

"Ibid., p. 122.

Fox and Rockingham had declaimed against such favorites of the North administration who made as high as ten per cent upon a government loan.

" Reflections, p. 123.

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"And lastly, that if the people of England expect redress of their wrongs . . . they must take the trouble of attending to their own affairs; and not expect that either ministers or representatives will be wiser and honester than themselves."49 The Monthly Review gave a digest of the thought of the article and many key passages.50 The discussion is filled with admiration for Day's "power of argument," "solid reasoning," "ingenuity," "spirit." "In our opinion," it says, "his reasonings are close, his manner keen without indiscretion, and his language forcible." The greatest compliment paid is to the disinterestedness and courage of Day in signing his name to the article.51 Apparently the people did notice the pamphlet which discussed their most vital interest. In little more than a year it had gone through four editions. The eagerness with which it was received and the high opinion of it entertained by such friends as Keir encouraged its author to publish more on the same subject. Temporarily, however, his energies were devoted to a book for children which was to be printed in 1783. When the provisional treaty between England and America was signed, Day was in close touch with Laurens, then at Paris with the other commissioners. His sympathies were much drawn "Ibid., M 31

p. 129.

Monthly

Review,

N o v . , 1782, L X V I I , 321-28.

"The corruption of Ministers has, of late years, been so great that they have bribed almost every man of letters into their service, and have discovered an extreme solicitude to deceive the Public by their venal publications. Hence it has naturally followed, that anonymous pamphlets have sunk into so much discredit, that they are seldom read, and that no faith or trust is reposed in them. Unlike to such writers, and unawed by the terrors of power, the Author, whose reflections are n o w before us, gives his name to the world; and stands forward to avow the sentiments he has published. It were to be wished, that all political writers would imitate his disinterestedness. The liberty of the press would then appear in its brightest glory. . . . The fervour of the people would be kept alive; they would be exactly informed of their due and proper importance, and be able to sound those alarms which give instruction to Kings.''

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to this man, who heard on November 12, 1783, that his son John Laurens had been killed six weeks before in an obscure skirmish. Mr. Laurens [Day wrote to a friend] . . . has lately lost a son that was everything the fondest and the vainest parent could wish in a child. Brave, generous, humane, affectionate. . . . He lost him when he had least reason to expect or fear such an incident; in a foolish and ignoble skirmish which absolutely concluded the American business. . . . If anything could overpower the spirit of a man, surely this might be expected to have such an effect, more especially falling upon the head of a man already bended with disease and calamity, far from his own country and connections. But did he act in that supine and pusillanimous manner? No, he directly wrote me an account of his loss, desired me to come to him, give him the feeble support of my company: and although he felt I am sure as deeply as man could do, he never suffered that just regret to interrupt the discharge either of public or private duties. 52 D a y did not visit Laurens in France; but his friendly solicitude continued. On December 23, 1782, Laurens wrote " M y Very Dear Friend" his thanks for a letter which D a y had put in the Courant branding as forgery a discreditable letter published as Laurens' in the Morning Herald: Altho' you are not my Secretary, or if you are, I pay no Salary, the World is witness you have been writing for me, or . . . rather . . . for the love of humanity and of truth. . . . I had without the least emotion read that spurious letter in Herald; the idea of its falsehood had probably operated against an effect which particular parts might have extorted, & held me in a kind of Apathy; I felt no more than barely excited, [but had] this inward reflexion . . . An abominable abuse and maliciously designed, but 'tis the Morning Herald . . . has the worst of the Bargain. I uttered not a Word to Harry, who was sitting by me, 'till " Lady Dorothea Charnwood, A Habitation's Memories. In Cornhiil Magazine, 378:671-72. The original of this letter, in the possession of Lady Charnwood, is here quoted with her permission and that of the Cornhiil

Magazine.

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after perusing in the Courant your Manly Letter; then said, "Look here," & the Eyes betrayed the Heart. But we'll say no more of it, 'tis the Herald, who doeth whatsoever seemeth to him Wicked. You know I thank you, but 'tis not in my power to express how much. . . . The remainder of the letter is made up of friendly chat about Laurens' health, "better this very morning than it has been since the 12 th of Novem r . a day . . . which robbed me of health of Mind & Body"; about "my Man John's good behaveour"; about Count Vergennes' "holiday visage," which seems to promise an early peace. Best news of all to Day was an abstract of the provisional articles of peace agreed to by the British and American commissioners, also a full-length copy of the articles made for him by his young friend, Harry Laurens. The very first article contained what he had been so strenuously urging: "The King of G. B. in the most ample terms acknowledges the independence of the U. S., relinquishes all Claim to the Government, propriety and territorial Rights, for himself, his Heirs and Successors." "Possibly," wrote Laurens, "you may receive this slender abstract before your ministers shall think it necessary to publish— make what good use you please of it, but as time will not permit me to deal so largely to some other friends you will keep a proper reserve lest offence should be taken by some whom I love." 53 Day now had rather definite information about the status of peace. The ministers would not announce the terms until a treaty with France, of which this was to be a part, had been made; and the people generally knew nothing of the American provisions except that the King had offered to declare the colonies independent. It was an opportunity for Day, with his information, to make large profits by investing in the public funds. Convinced as he had been that England was headed for " H e n r y Laurens' Letter Book No. 14 (p. 37), in the archives of the S. C. Historical Society, Charleston, S.C. Punctuation has been altered or inserted occasionally for clearness.

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CINCINNATUS

ruin and a national bankruptcy, he had withdrawn his money from the public funds and from such loans as that to Boulton. Part of this he had invested in lands, which he considered least likely to depreciate in value; part he had buried under the floor of the study at Barehill. But he would not reinvest his available money, estimated by some as high as £20,000 5 4 in government loans, nor buy them on time, for this he thought would be using confidential information for personal gain—a conduct highly dishonorable. Only after the peace did he place his money again in the national loan. PENSIONER POLLARD

Closely connected with the political and social life of Day at the time was one of his pensioners, Walter Pollard. This man had an unusual equipment for the profession of genteel beggar. A Cambridge man, he had a taste for literature; a student in the Temple, he delighted in political discussion. His sensibility and noble sentiments recommended him to many notables, such as Sir William Jones, Phillip Yorke, and Dr. Jebb. To Day he particularly appealed with his enthusiasm for the American cause and his antipathy to slavery. His many afflictions found a too ready listener in our philanthropist. And the decade of their correspondence was largely occupied with a history of misfortunes: his frequent attacks of fever and biliousness, his brother's death, his father's weakness and threatened blindness, his sister's lung trouble. For six years Pollard went back and forth between England and his home in Barbados, undecided what to do for an occupation. Then the hurricane of 1780 wrecked his family estates in Barbados, and he became dependent on his neglected legal profession. This distress was increased by a stepmother whom he suspected of trying to oust him from all part in the remaining estate. In 1781 the unfortunate reM

Lowndes, II, 62.

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209

turned again to England, resolved to pursue the study of law, and immediately wrote Day of his arrival. At this time, November, Day was with his mother at Barehill, trying to give her what comfort he could after the sudden death of his stepfather, Thomas Phillips. But at the earliest opportunity he visited Pollard and placed him in his own chambers at 10 Furnival's Inn. When the steward objected to the arrangement, Day loosed his declamatory thunders against this new tyrant in a message which Pollard was to deliver: It is something extraordinary that there should be so much trouble in inhabiting one of these small beggarly Inns . . . I have repeatedly inhabited the rooms of others and lent m y own. . . . At present I belong to the bar, I inhabit my own rooms, I pay the dues of the society whenever called upon. . . . In other Inns, many gentlemen have families, many kept mistresses; but I never heard that either were called upon to be entered at the Inns. . . . no one is more quiet & orderly & peaceable than myself, as my behaviour since I have been a member of that Inn, may prove, but I am not a man that will suffer any one to interfere with me in things that relate to m y s e l f — I neither regard trouble, nor expense, I am myself called to the bar; if they would hinder me from doing as I will at my own chambers, it must be by a suit there— 5 5

Apparently this volley stopped the encroachments of despotism. Pollard continued for the next six months to inhabit the small set of chambers "up one flight of stairs," to read in his friend's library, to visit his friend in the country, to confide in him many family sorrows. His hold upon Day was very strong —it was one of sickness and misfortune. For favors shown, the pensioner displayed a most delicate gratitude; for Day's character, a strong admiration: "his liberality, his benevolence," Pollard wrote, "had at an early period of life, excited a regard in me & an almost implicit devotion to his virtues." 56 Day listened to the tales of woe, and prescribed stoicism. "You are " B r . Mus. Add. MS. 35655, ff. 123, 124. "Ibid., f. 318.

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CINCINNATUS

rather young to have so many domestic troubles heaped upon your head," he commented, "but amidst all the miseries they occasion to a feeling mind, there is this good, that they give you early a true knowledge of life, wean you from its frivolous interests and passions, and give you that equanimity which is equally necessary in either fortune. . . ,"57 For two years Day continued his friendly intercourse with this indigent sentimentalist. Sometimes he came from the country for a few days and in the old Temple surroundings discussed a new book or current politics with Pollard; frequently be brought Pollard back to Anningsley or Stapleford Abbot. He shared with him his reforming, pro-American friends, Dr. Jebb and William Jones, and introduced him to Laurens. He talked with him about a new pamphlet which he was to publish on the peace, including an attack on the Coalition; and Pollard strongly advised an inclusion in it of a commendation of that young reformer Pitt. For Pollard had known Pitt at Cambridge, and during one of his expeditions in search of health to Brighton had talked intimately with him about American independence. Concerning America and the Americans, Pollard was always talking; and Day, who had gloried in their defense of the inalienable rights and had spoken of their land as one of opportunity and of freedom, as a refuge for the oppressed, took quite seriously all of Pollard's effusions on the subject. A crisis now came in Pollard's life which illustrates excellently Day's positive, benevolent personality. Thomas Pollard, the aged father, decided to sell his possessions in hurricane-wrecked Barbados, and bring his sickly family to Bath, where he could practice medicine. But the son amid his little paradise of borrowed chambers and hundred-pound loans was much alarmed. His sensibility was wounded. His father, he felt, could not support himself, and his family was expecting favors from his (W. Pol" Ibid., f. 131.

CINCINNATUS

211

lard's) friends. In vain he opposed the ruinous plans (dictated, he believed, by a wicked stepmother) to return to England. And now [he wrote of his difficulty] the departure of my devoted family was announced. I was summoned to decide; destitute in England . . . in America, I stood the next heir of a feeble relation, a first cousin, to a very good Estate, the professions were there said to be open to all men of Education, who, in a short time, might advance themselves,—these motives very forcibly struck the mind of Mr. Day my friend & fatal adviser on that occasion—But I told him, some difficulties lay in the way of myself & the Americans. The most obvious method seemed to be resorting myself to Passy. He generously furnished me with whatever was necessary for the journey, & the payment of every debt of honor & justice. 58 Pollard proceeded on his visit to Franklin, who, he thought, acted like a ruffian towards him. D a y then wrote Laurens on his way to Passy, asking him to ascertain the cause of this cold reception. Franklin said Pollard lacked steadiness, but laid no charge against him. And D a y urged him to go to America. But as my fortune was hard [continued Pollard] it was still harder by the dire necessity of leaning on the counsils of one, whose character was "peculiarly tempered," a man, whom I revered as one of the most disinterested men on earth . . . but hard & cursed is the fate of that man who is pledged to submit to the dictates of another's wisdom & virtue; from that moment, all his own soul is plunged in darkness & submission: he stifles the most useful faculty, reason: he is languid, debased, & stupified:—he cannot think, he cannot act; adieu the voice of reason, the eye of wisdom, the hand of fortitude!— . . . I was bound & gagged & delivered over to my ruin, so strong was that influence, & such was my fate in submitting to it: the friend was benevolent, but the monitor was harsh: He could not brooke that a Man well educated should exist in such a place as London, without ostensible means of exertion: his austere system of life dispised and suspected all such Characters. He charged, & recharged me with weakness & procrastination—indignant & impetuous, when I once resolved to go, he left me no respite, no pause; & in short, he made it a point of honor with me "Ibid.,

i. 317.

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to proceed without delay. . . . "Your Father, Sir, says he, either cannot or will not assist y o u : You are no longer the center of his happiness: H e m a y wish to retain You within the circle of his happiness: but he & you will be ruined together, for his ruin is inevitable."—I felt the force of this o b s e r v a t i o n ] . But another o b s e r v a t i o n ] fell f r o m him, when D r . F [ r a n k l i n ] ' s behaviour was related.—"Mr. P. as I live in the country, I cannot warrant all your habits & connections in London; I have believed you f r o m your manners & conversation to be a M a n of honor, & as such have described you to M r . Lf aurens]."—this observation was to me decisive, & . . . fixt m y resolution. . . . I took m y passage. . . . Ottley advised me to stay or try the W [ e s t ] I [ n d i e s ] . . . . But Mr. D. . . . still advised me to proceed. . . . I obeyed. . . . I will not, I cannot describe to You the tumult of my soul when I beheld the sea,—& heard the sullen sound of the waves beating on the shores of E n g l a n d — I shrank back with horror. I left the Ship & returned to the sight of London. But here a reflux of resolution occurred. I stopt—& considered, "what I was d o i n g ? " — M r . D . strenuous & rigid in his principles, might thus deem himself mocked & outraged, he might even suspect m y sincerity, & dissolve our friendship.—I saw my family ruined . . . these images drove me back again. . . . I reached Gravesend, the ship was gone. . . , 5 9 I threw myself into a Boat, & reached it more dead than alive. 6 0 T h u s poor, fever-stricken, sensitive Pollard f o u n d himself literally shoved off again into a sea of uncertainty. THE COALITION At the beginning of 1783 D a y was satisfied with the general policy of the ministry. T h r o u g h the latter part of 1782, Shelb u m e and his cabinet had pushed on the peace negotiations begun under R o c k i n g h a m . D e s p i t e the secession of Fox, Burke, and other R o c k i n g h a m W h i g s , preliminary articles of peace had been arranged with the hostile n a t i o n s b y January 2 0 , 1 7 8 3 . And then the leaders outside the administration m a d e a united attack. Fox, Burke, N o r t h , "Ibid.,

each gave the peace a broadside.

ff. 3 1 8 - 2 0 .

" Ibid.,

f. 204.

Shelbume,

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213

despite strong hints, refused to buy votes to support it. The united forces of a new Opposition succeeded in getting a vote of censure against it and in forcing the minister's resignation. From February 24 to April 2 there was no ministry. The King, because of his hatred for Fox, was loath to allow him and North to form a cabinet. Pitt and other influential leaders who lacked a majority in the House refused to take the ministry. The people in general favored the peace and disliked the unnatural coalition of men who for eight years had made the House of Commons ring with personal and political attacks upon one another. The situation was an excellent illustration of the selfish grasping for power by pretended friends of the people which Day had several times mentioned. He was much roused and began with the help of Pollard to collect material for another pamphlet. It was to appeal to people outside London and inform them of the situation of affairs which made peace imperative; and therefore it was to be dedicated to the Yorkshire gentlemen. Its general theme was to be a defense of the peace which Shelbume had made, and an attack upon the Coalition which had censured it. A respectful attitude was to be maintained toward the King while the Coalition was to be assailed as a faction which had neither preserved English freedom nor displayed due deference to the first executive. In contrast to the Coalition, Day was to draw a picture of a proper Opposition. His main idea, however, was his praise of the peace because it dissolved a combination of four powers against England. But this pamphlet was not published in 1783, despite all the advice, digests of parliamentary speeches, and London news which Pollard forwarded to his friend. The Fox-North ministry, with the Duke of Portland as its nominal head, assumed the government in April. Notwithstanding some activity of county associations in which Day took a part," 1 the cause of parliamentary reform did not flourish; n Cartwright, (Miss) F. D., The Life and Correspondence Cartwright, London, Colburn, 1826, I, 155.

of

Major

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Pitt's resolutions for adding at least a hundred county and metropolitan members, and for providing a committee to disfranchise rotten boroughs, were lost by 293 to 149. Perhaps Day was disgusted and thought the time unpropitious for his attack on the Coalition ministry. At any rate the children's book which he was to bring out in the autumn occupied his attention to the exclusion of political subjects. In the latter part of 1783 the political situation seemed less gloomy to Day. The definitive treaty of peace was signed September 3; Fox's India Bills, which Day, along with Pitt and other members of the Opposition, regarded as simply a means for the present ministry to obtain a control of Indian affairs, were defeated; and Pitt, the strong supporter of Shelburne's peace and of parliamentary reform, accepted the responsibility of forming a new ministry. ELECTIONS OF 1 7 8 4

Now that the nation had stopped a ruinous and unjust war, Day offered his services to it gratis—or as he later said, "I should not have refused a seat in parliament had I been disinterestedly invited by my countrymen." 62 But his countrymen still expected him to reward their independent votes with substantial election suppers and guinea tips. There was a much surer way than popular election of securing a seat had he so desired. Pitt, whose character and measures Day approved, was influenced by the popularity of his Reflections to offer him a subordinate place in the administration. 63 For this purpose he was to be brought into Parliament from a government borough. There was much in the fight of this young minister against a coalition majority which appealed to Day; and apparently he gave the offer serious consideration.64 But he was not a party 83 " Keir, p. 63. Lowndes, II, 193. **Letters of Marius, 4th ed., London, Stockdale, 1784, p. 17.

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man, and prided himself upon his independence. If he accepted the offer, he must support the ministers right or wrong. He declined. To his wife he remarked on the occasion, "I now see the man who puts his hand to the plough, and looks back, is not only unfit for the kingdom of heaven, but is also unfit for a British administration." 65 Though Day would not pledge himself to any party or administration, he was perfectly willing in his own way to attack the Coalition. The North faction he despised for its support of the American war, the Rockingham faction for its desertion of parliamentary reform and of the peace. He had been writing a series of letters on these subjects which he intended to publish in the papers under the signature of Marius. But his plan was changed by the necessity of publishing his material quickly if it was to be timely. The King had dissolved Parliament in April, 1784, and called for a new election, with the hope that the Coalition would be defeated and Pitt would receive a majority. At this time, then, Day hoped his Letters of Marius might have some influence. Not taking time to put the letters into continuous essay form, he added three more to the five already written, and published them as a pamphlet. The Letters of Marius, or Reflections upon the Peace, the East India Bill, and the present Crisis, contain a history of English politics as viewed by a reformer from 1779 through 1783. " Lowndes, II, 194. Lowndes is probably mistaken in saying this offer was made in 1783, for Pitt did not become minister till Dec. 17, 1783, and the election which routed his opponents was in April and May of 1784. Maria Edgeworth's original sketch of Belinda (F. A. Edgeworth's Memoir, III, 276) also refers to this offer. Hervey, the character for whom Day was the original, is "an eccentric young man . . . who with great abilities will not make them useful to himself or any of his connections: he has . . . refused the most advantageous offer from ministry upon the old fashioned romantic notion of never acting or speaking contrary to his conscience."

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The letters, addressed to various political figures, all manage to attack directly or indirectly the Coalition and its measures. Appropriately enough the first three are addressed to Dr. Jebb, for hardly any reformer held so many opinions which coincided with Day's. He had opposed the American war and advocated the peace; he had urged a parliamentary reform which included annual parliaments, universal suffrage, and equal representation ; he attacked the Coalition and its East India bill; he upheld the right of juries to hand in a general verdict; and he opposed the slave trade. Finally he was a political independent. The addresses to Jebb discuss the parliamentary reform of which he was so strong an advocate. The very first one praises Jebb for the purity and disinterestedness of his intentions, which contrast with those of the licentious politician counterfeiting zeal for the public cause. The associations of 1779 afforded good examples of this betrayal. "Wearied out at the time with the absurd conduct of an unjust war," the people listened eagerly to leaders who promised them relief. Desertion of those leaders caused failure. A few disinterested men such as Jebb had stated the situation: a corrupted constitution; the people's rights destroyed ; a minister protected from impeachment for his misconduct by a parliamentary majority; a servile parliament, which attacked the people's rights in the Middlesex election and invaded American rights. As a remedy for these evils the reformers had urged that the people must demand their own rights and defend their own liberty. The second letter presents the arguments which men used in 1779 in favor of correcting the representation. The essence of these is the fact that in every free government there is a public and legal method for the people to express their ideas. But "divines and politicians . . . begin by teaching you to distrust yourself, and address themselves . . . to the hypochondriacism of human nature. When their representations have succeeded to a

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certain degree, they give you to understand that the only cure for all your evils is to adopt their particular system either of faith or government." The last address to Jebb continues the argument for popular representation. The tendency of government, it claims, is toward tyranny. An example is the Christian Church. "The immediate successors of fishermen and mechanics consent to be cloathed in purple and scarlet, to wallow in all the sensualities of the most abandoned age and country, and to disgrace the simplicity of the most spiritual religion, by the rites and ceremonies of the grossest." Governing bodies always abuse trusts unless they are acted upon by external force, and this external force is lamentably lacking in Parliament. The English people, since the present House of Commons does not represent them, have no constitutional method of effectually dealing with public measures. Why do not they, alive as they are to the rights of sovereigns and ministers, have a regard for their own? "No one," says Day in his parting compliment to Jebb, "has exerted himself more strenuously, more disinterestedly, more uniformly. While Mr. — [Fox] appeared the champion of the people and their rights, you reverenced him with a zeal which I never thought his conduct deserved. But it is the clearest proof of your own integrity, that you have been able to relinquish those habitual delusions the instant you could be convinced they were misplaced." The next two letters are to John, Earl of Stair, from whom Day had already liberally borrowed both facts and arguments for his Reflections.C€ But jealously watchful of public men, especially if they claimed to be friends of the people, he has observed some harmful ideas and tendencies in Stair's recent pamphlets. One is the wish that the means of painlessly killing "See John, Earl of Stair, Facts and their Consequences, 1782, pp. 11, 34, 38.

Stockdale,

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the English constitution may be a mild despotism. To this he replies that it is better to reform parliamentary representation than to substitute a despotism for it. And then he attacks the tendency which Stair shows to approach Lord North. 67 This gives him a chance for a summary of Lord North's administration: "That wise procrastination of events in their own nature inevitable; that judicious mixture of precipitance and delay, of firmness and pliability; so constantly misapplied that it is scarcely possible to attribute it wholly to the common principles of ministerial dulness. . . ." But Stair has also expressed solicitude for the King out of whose civil list come the pensions: "The King is forced to take the very bread from his children's mouths, and even to run in debt to gratify a set of people whom neither he nor anybody else knows or cares much about." 88 This looks much as though Stair may abandon the Opposition for the sake of preferment. If he must display pity, why not let it be for the King's victims? for ravaged provinces, wounded soldiers? for "a nation like the English, which is, with all its faults, one of the most gallant, generous, and deserving in the universe, reduced to universal beggary by a contest which never was national, in a dispute which never interested the public?" After this raid upon a hesitating patriot, he proceeds to give the gist of the article he contemplated a year before upon the peace. It is addressed to Shelburne, the minister who conducted the negotiations. "Nor can you," says the blatantly independent Day, "be more surprised at this address, which you certainly have never paid for, than I am, to find a single action in a minister worthy of unbought applause. But it appears to me an unpardonable weakness to be more afraid of commending merit than of censuring vice. I therefore seize the moment, when I find myself able to approve the conduct of a minister, lest it should " Ibid., p. 26. "Stair's An Argument to Prove etc., London, 1783, p. 12.

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not return." This approval brings a review of the Rockingham and Shelburne ministries, accompanied by an attack upon the Coalition Whigs. At the time of the dissolution of the North ministry, a ten years bitter abstinence from all the sweets of power and emolument had taught their opponents [the Whigs] the necessity of condescending to cajole the people. Hence arose those meetings and associations throughout England; popular dinners and popular harangues; fervent professions and unsubstantial promises: with all the trains of amorous lies and perjuries, by which our unsuccessful statesmen are accustomed to ensnare a fond, believing multitude. And so thoroughly were they deceived, that they had entirely forgotten that almost invariable law of nature, by which a minister is compelled to contradict all that he had ever promised when out of place. When the Whigs under Rockingham formed an administration in 1782, the people had eager expectations. Day did not share these, for he believed that the aim of public men is self-interest, and foresaw that the reform would simply end in appropriation of honors and emoluments to the reformers. He did expect that they would make peace, regain American commerce, and render the additional burdens as light as possible. But even these moderate expectations were disappointed when the death of Rockingham loosed the hostile factions (the Chathamite Whigs, such as Shelburne, and the Rockingham Whigs, such as Burke and Fox) upon each other. Shelburne formed the new Whig ministry, which was weakened by the secession of many Rockinghams. Whatever credit I might give to the understandings of the two honorable gentlemen [Fox and Burke] who set the example of resignation, I did not think that conduct afforded a very favourable specimen of either their heads or hearts. I could not conceive that a real friend to any interest of his country would take that opportunity of wreaking his personal spite, at the expense of the public. Unanimity I had heard echoed by the party. . . . Was it then a time . . .

220

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to perplex the public councils with the low interests and cabals of faction . . . ? [But the councils were perplexed, the peace was attacked.] In spite, however, of virulence, scurrility, and opposition, the peace was ratified by the same honorable gentlemen whose conscience would not suffer them to approve it. [But this] the only salutary measure which England had witnessed for twenty years was condemned in order to remove the minister. There were m a n y sound reasons for making peace, none for continuing war. T h e war was offensive, and, therefore, unjustifiable. T h e purpose of it, the subjugation of the colonies, was found impossible of attainment. Shelbume's peace had shattered the league against E n g l a n d ; it h a d given England time to repair finances with Burke's bill of economic reform and to regain the friendship of the colonies b y acknowledging their independence. Reasons given for continuing the war are illogical. T h e cause of the loyalists was u r g e d ; but whereas America could not be conquered for them, a peace would assuage the American animosity against them, t h u s making their return possible, and would help to save the a m o u n t necessary to compensate them. T h e charge of national disgrace h a d been brought against the peace. But the honour of a nation is not to be rated by the chimerical standard of its being singly able to stand against the world in arms, or by a ruinous obstinacy in pursuing impracticable projects. It is to be rated by the opinion of its wisdom and justice, joined with such a degree of power as renders it secure from every probable attack: and all these objects were more obtainable by peace, than by the bloodiest continuance of the war. Our wisdom can never be impeached by putting an end to a ruinous contest, which had no longer an object; our justice, by desisting from injuring the Americans and the Dutch; or our power by ceasing to lavish our blood and treasures as unprofitably as we had hitherto done. T h e last two letters, addressed to E d m u n d Burke, are a reply to his speech of December 1, 1783, on Fox's India bill. I n 1781 the East India Company's charter h a d been renewed by Parlia-

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ment for a consideration of £400,OCX). Committees appointed by the House then to inquire into the Company's administration had reported unfavorably; under Rockingham the House voted for the recall of Warren Hastings, the governor-general. T h e East India directors agreed to this, but after Rockingham's death the proprietors refused their assent. Hastings had during the period of the American war preserved the empire in India, given order to the administration, and gained the confidence of the natives and of the civil and military branches of the company. Unfortunately in this time of stress, he had occasionally adopted high-handed measures. On one of the investigating committees Burke had been much roused by tales of oppression, and he collected evidence against Hastings, which he exaggerated. Fox's India bills, then, were largely prepared by Burke, who in his speech of December 1 explained why they should be adopted. T h e first bill vested the control of the East India Company for four years in seven commissioners, who were to have power of appointing and dismissing officials. At the end of that time the King was to appoint the commissioners. The second bill abolished Indian monopolies, forbade the acceptance of presents, and made the estates of native landlords hereditary. The first bill was the one most bitterly attacked. The common objections were that it violated a charter, and, since all seven commissioners were Foxites, vested the patronage of India in the ruling ministry. A caricature represented Fox as Carlo Khan, seated on an elephant having North's face, which was being led by Burke. Burke's speech attempts to meet the objections. It is true, he says, that the East India Company has a charter which gives it political power and commercial monopoly. But these privileges being a derogation from the natural equality of men should be exercised for their benefit; these are a trust given on condition that they are not to be misused. Once an abuse of these political powers and commercial privileges is proved, the contract is made

222

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void, and Parliament resumes control of Indian affairs. Abuses which would justify Parliament in assuming control of the East Indian Company must be great and habitual, they must be utterly incurable in the company as it now stands. Such the abuses are; for the company has sold every prince, state, or potentate with which it had contact; it has broken all treaties with them; it has utterly ruined those who trusted it. The "government of the East India Company is absolutely incorrigible"; for it has rewarded bad officials and dismissed good ones, and it has refused to obey Parliament by recalling Hastings. To the objection that the bill would further the influence of the minister and his party, it must be said that he is obliged to name commissioners who are in sympathy with the bill and are capable of carrying out its provisions. Would an advantage to a party be a disadvantage to the object of the bill? Certainly parties enter into all government, and if any party is to receive benefit from Indian reform it should be the party that believes in it. With a eulogy on Fox, the maker of the bill, Burke closes his speech. Nine years before, Day had called Burke a "great exemplar in a venal age." But at that time Burke had been a champion of the American cause. Since then he had attacked the peace made by Shelburne, had become a member of the Coalition, and had shown himself an opponent of parliamentary reform. Day was an independent; Burke was a party man, a member of "the Rockingham party . . . always distinguished . . . by . . . [its] inveterate opposition to every parliamentary reform." 69 Disapproving of Burke's conduct and ideas, Day was ready to attack him vigorously. His eagerness for the fray was increased by a belief that the bill was simply another attempt on the part of government to increase its power—an attempt made by the so-called friends of the people, who, having obtained office, do "Marius,

p. 7S.

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not lay aside the usurpations of their predecessors, but "improve upon all that has been perpetrated . . . and severely realize the foolish vaunts of a foolish King: '. . . my father chastized you with whips, but I will chastize you with scorpions.' " Thus fortified against despotism, Day fails even to mention the King's unconstitutional and arbitrary means of defeating the bill; 70 he dismisses as unauthenticated Burke's catalogue of crimes committed by Indian officials; he even refuses to consider arguments about the natural rights of men. Finally in the violence and exaggeration of his statements he out-Burkes Burke. At the beginning of his address Day ridicules Burke's methods of exciting his audience by the recital of a long list of crimes and horrors, then carrying it to the desired conclusion: "And when," he says, "you sum up all, by complimenting the house upon their virtue and independency, it was as impossible they should resist, as an ugly woman who hears for the first time commendations upon her beauty." But laying aside jest, he proceeds to review the contracts which the government had repeatedly made with the India Company. How can a majority of the House which renewed the charter in 1781, now talk of revoking that charter? The crimes of which the company is accused are alleged to have been committed prior to 1781. Surely the Commons acquitted the Company of its crimes up to that date, or, impossible in such a virtuous body, intended to swindle it out of the amount given for a renewal of the contract. There is no justice in Parliament's sitting in judgment upon engagements which it has made with the company and repeatedly ratified. An impartial tribunal is needed for such action. But even if the guilt of the East India Company is clearly proved, is the proposed bill adapted to remove the evil? In order to make this n The King "gave Temple a card authorising him to say that whoever voted for the bill 'would be considered by him as an enemy.'" Despite the censure of this action by the Commons, the Lords rejected the bill. Hunt, p. 251.

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seem necessary, Burke speaks of the Company's government, which he would replace with his seven party commissioners, as incorrigible. Yet one of the main facts adduced to support this contention, the refusal to recall Hastings, merely shows that the Indian proprietors had intelligence and independence. The socalled incorrigible body is composed, like the Bank or any other company, of a number of individuals; many come from the gentry, many are opulent merchants. Can such a group be absolutely corrupted? And does not the might of the Company show its right? W h a t e v e r m a y be now advanced, b y interest or malevolence, about the crimes and incapacity of its servants, is a m p l y c o n f u t e d even b y the unexaggerated detail of e v e n t s . W h a t stronger evidence can be given of the solid basis upon w h i c h a n y h u m a n power is founded than its capacity to resist and triumph over the mightiest attacks? T h i s , e v e n exclusively, is the boast of the English East-India Company. . . . It has u n d o u b t e d l y produced warriors of intrepid minds and heroes of immortal f a m e ; . . . it can boast of characters that w o u l d do honor t o any n a t i o n ; the f o r e m o s t of w h o m is that very culprit, that s e e m s singly, like an electric rod u p o n a noble edifice, t o h a v e protected the building beneath, while he attracts the fury of the t e m p e s t upon himself.

Assuming that Burke's charges are true (they have not been authenticated), the only inference would be that the Indian officials have misbehaved and the proprietors have shown disrespect to the Commons. Such misconduct would not necessarily continue, for governing bodies are often reformed. Only look at the House of Commons which Burke and his party for twenty years declaimed against as full of venality and secret influence. "This house, which formerly was a den of thieves, is now become the temple of the Lord; 'an independent house of commons; an house of commons which has by its own virtue, destroyed the influence of parliamentary subserviency.' " 7 1 No, the " Marius, pp. 104, 105; Burke's Speech on Dec. 1, 1783, on Fox's India Bill, p. Q7.

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governing body of the E a s t India Company, like any other body is changed by circumstances. And will the Commons confess its own weakness by saying that it has suffered the Company to commit such a catalogue of crimes, and is even now incapable of reforming it? W h y should a government which regulates, n a y invades, the private lives of men confess its inability to deal with the India proprietors? But pardon me, sir, if I tell you that the whole scheme is such a chaos of absurdity, bad reasoning, and oppression, as never before disgraced a government. . . . When once a government is thoroughly corrupted, wealth and prosperity are crimes against the state and the name of private right or franchise becomes rebellion. The spirit of despotism is blind as it is intolerant, and the noblest trees of the forest must fall, to save the trouble of gathering the fruit. This, and not the desire of reformation, has, I fear, guided all the invasions which have been made upon the company's rights; from the first famous bill which prevented their sending over supervisors 72 to examine and correct the state of their affairs, down to the present, which punishes them for the omission by the confiscation of all their property. T o distract their counsels, and embarrass their affairs; to continue every abuse, but frustrate every plan of reformation, till loaded with a weight of public odium and private distresses, they might sink for ever into the bottomless gulf of ministerial influence; has this, sir, been, or has it not, the uniform, undeviating policy of government?—While you pause upon this important question, I will take my leave of you for the present, with the intention of renewing our correspondence. The

Letters

oj Marius

were criticized by the reviews as be-

low the standard set by D a y ' s former work. T h e Monthly view13

Re-

in a six-page article gave numerous excerpts. Though it

found the " r e m a r k s . .

. generally ingenious and pertinent,"

it disapproved of the style for a lack of finish and clearness. Its highest praise was for D a y ' s political journalism:

"Among

the political writers of the present time there are few who have " In 1772. [The note is in the original.—G.W.G.] "Monthly Review, June, 1784, L X X , 435-40.

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been more successful than the Author of this pamphlet, who generally commands attention by his choice of subjects, and by the energy of his language." The English Review7< in a very brief article found that his "sanguine . . . sentiments . . . are . . . inconsistent with the experience of the world" and that his "bold diction . . . excells the chastity of just taste." But despite its lack of plan, its exaggeration of statement, its headlong rhetoric, The Letters of Marius enjoyed considerable popularity; at least four editions were printed in 1784. A few weeks after The Letters of Marius appeared, Day published his Fragment of an Original Letter on the Slavery of the Negroes, written in the year 1776P The advertisement (almost it may be called an advertisement of Day's virtues) tells of his refraining from publishing this letter till after peace; of the dangers he may incur as an author; of his desire to establish the sincerity of his heart and restore human beings to happiness; of his intrepidity, after asserting the cause of the American colonists, in now asserting the cause of their slaves; of his respect for truth which makes him publish the letter as it was originally written in 1776 rather than "piece it with additions in 1784." In this case praised be self-righteousness which prevented additions! The pamphlet, Day's best, is also one of his shortest. The long train of reasoning, the elaborate documentation, the historical review, which usually accompany Day's discussions, are much reduced. The letter has force, logic, appeal. Of it the English Review76 says, "Mr. Day has given to the common arguments against slavery . . . spirit and manliness." And Dr. Richard Price in his Observations on the Importance of the American Revolution calls it "a remonstrance full of energy directed to the United States . . . by a very warm and able "English Review, Nov., 1784, IV, 396. " See pp. 127 £f. for a review of this. "Eng. Rev., June, 1784, III, 470.

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friend to the rights of mankind."" In America, too, the Fragment received some notice. Pollard wrote to Day of the enthusiasm of abolitionists for it; and it was published in 1784 both at Philadelphia and at New York.78 DEFENDING THE FARMER

Day's last pamphlet for many a year in defense of the rights of men was A Dialogue

between

a Justice of the Peace and a

Farmer, published near the end of 178 4.79 Throughout it are continual attacks on current pamphlets which opposed government by consent of the people.80 There are few ideas which Day has not given before; but certain neat satirical turns, bits of coarse hearty humor, and occasional quick reversals of arguments sustain the interest. The opening situation shows a farmer brought before a justice of the peace for the violation of an excise law. " Observations (London, 1785), p. 83, note. " By Francis Bailey, at Yorick's head, Philadelphia; and by S. Loudon at New York. See Library of Congress Catalogue. " T h i s pamphlet, actually published by Stockdale in 1784, was dated 1785 on the title page. Keir, p. 143, Kippis, p. 30. 10 Day upheld here William Jones's idea of government as a kind of voluntary society or club ([Jones, William], The Principles of Government in a dialogue between a Scholar and a Peasant. Written by a Member of the Society for Constitutional Information. London, 1782). D a y attacked Josiah Tucker, Dean of Gloucester, who had opposed (1) Jones's idea ([Tucker, Josiah] A Sequel to Sir William Jones's Pamphlet on the principles of Government in a dialogue between a Freeholder in the county of Denbigh and the Dean of Glocester. Gloucester, Raikes, 1784) and (2) Locke's idea of government by consent of the governed (Tucker, A Treatise Concerning Civil Government, in three parts. London, Cadell, 1781). D a y also attacked Soame Jenyns for his contentions (1) that people were incapable of governing themselves ([Jenyns, Soame], Disquisitions on Several Subjects. London, Dodsley, 1782), and (2) that parliamentary r e f o r m could not be obtained by universal suffrage and annual elections ( [Jenyns, Soame] Thoughts on a Parliamentary Reform. 2nd Ed., L o n d o n , Dodsley, 1784).

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FARMER: SO then, I am subject to a penalty of twenty pounds, merely because I rode Old Ball, the blind mare, along with a sack of bran, from the mill. JUSTICE: Indubitably. You ought to have entered her within twenty days. And then the argument begins. First the farmer attacks the excise laws for their vagueness, their oppressiveness, their multiplicity. No government sanctioning such legislation can be good. I t has prohibited by taxes the beer so necessary to the English and has permitted cheap tea, which makes them a race of monkeys. With the duty on bricks and tiles it has discouraged building. I t has been guilty of "diabolical tyranny" in its tax on laborer's dogs. " W e cannot breathe," says the oft-quoted M r . Homespun, "we cannot ride, we cannot eat, we cannot shelter ourselves from the weather . . . without the intervention of an exciseman." 8 1 And the money raised by such burdensome taxes is wasted by the government. T h e minister's friends make a profit of one tenth on the public loans which they finance. T h e money " i s paid away to contractors of all sorts," says the justice, " f o r the army, the navy, the ordnance; to send a fleet, perhaps, three hundred leagues off, in order to pick up cockle shells, or make the fortune of an admiral; 8 2 to send a couple of thousand of brave fellows to catch the rot, and die like sheep in foreign ditches, or, perhaps, to maintain ten thousand more abroad for several years, doing nothing but playing at all fours or acting farces." "And is this the reason," asks the farmer, "why I am to have my waggons and my horses, and even the hat upon my head, taxed?"83 S1

Dialogue,

a

A hit a t the T o r y a d m i r a l R o d n e y , w h o m a d e indiscriminate

p. 16.

fiscations after St. E u s t a t i u s w a s taken f r o m the D u t c h . m

Dialogue,

p. 2 1 .

con-

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The remedy for oppressive legislation and wastefulness in government expenditure is a reform of the representation. At present the members of the Commons are elected only once in seven years; a majority of them are chosen by only six thousand electors. Bribery, influence, flattery84 are used upon this small electorate; while the great masses of people in counties and large cities have practically no representation. T h e election of representatives should be by all the people. But the upper classes say that the laboring classes are easily corrupted and should therefore not be allowed to vote. Then it is the gentlemen that corrupt them by giving bribes at elections and by affording them vices to imitate. Though a few individuals may be corrupt, the spirit of the whole people is not. Another objection to universal suffrage is that it would bring great mobs to the polls and cause much disorder, but this could be obviated by a use of the ballot. Again it is said that the present Parliament virtually represents every Englishman, whether or not he has a vote. Not so, it represents "insignificant boroughs and deserted farmhouses." A truly representative Parliament would have greatness and power; it would inspire the people with confidence. But for reforms in ParliaIbid., p. 30. ''JUSTICE : . . . A gentleman out of power finds it necessary to make great professions about his o w n honesty and integrity; whatever is the spirit of the people he humours; whatever are their inclinations he conforms t o ; if there are associations, such as you remember within these few years, he encourages them, vindicates them, harangues in them till he is hoarse. Every honest farmer is an ally in the glorious cause of reformation: every common labourer carries with him. even to the alehouse, the unalienable rights of nature and the dignity of the English constitution." "FAR : Yes, I remember all these things. Our Squire himself turned orator, and read a speech out of his hat, to persuade all the freeholders that they ought to associate and reform the government; but, about a month after that, the parson and he posted about all the country to advise them to stay at home, and associate no longer, because the government wanted no reform at all."

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ment, for a support of their rights, the people must trust themselves. They certainly have "that right which all mankind inherit of rectifying abuses in their government, or changing it when it becomes too corrupt to be endured." 85 The next topic for argument is the nature of government. The justice begins it with a satirical definition: "A government signifies a certain set of men, that whenever they please may hang up all their neighbours, burn their houses, eat their victuals without paying, and kick their breech to warm themselves in cold weather." 86 The farmer upholds the idea of government by consent. Thrusting aside the conceptions of natural inequality, divine right of kings, government by compulsion, he compares a free government to "a club . . . founded by a set of men that are naturally equal, that wish to live together upon good terms, that contribute jointly to their common expence, that make laws by common consent to bind their own members."87 A just government exists where there is a compact governing the relations between rulers and ruled. "And after all, that State must ever be allowed to be the freest, and that government most just, where this great, eternal, social compact is best understood, most universally allowed, and engrossed in the jairest characters."6* The last subject of discussion is trial by jury, a right of the people which the farmer very much fears is being encroached upon. Now a jury is expected, nay often charged, to judge merely of fact, while the judge himself decides on the law applicable to the case. If the farmer is ever placed on a jury he will judge not only of the fact but of the law, and will render a general verdict. Suppose [he argues] a poacher is brought before your worship, wires found upon him, others in the hedge, and a brace of hares "Ibid., p. 71. "Ibid., pp. 78-79. " Ibid., p. 94. See Jones's Principles of Government, p. 7. " Dialogue, p. 109.

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peeping out of his pocket, will it avail him to say, that he understood what snaring a hare was, because that is a matter of fact; but he did not know it was any crime, because that is a matter of law? Did it avail me any thing in the case of Old Ball, for which your worship has fined me twenty pounds, to say I had never read the act; or will :t now avail me any thing to say, I know what a blind mare is, but I cannot pretend to judge whether I am to enter her or not, because that is a matter of law?89 Since, then, every man is required to judge both law and fact for himself, should not a jury be able to do so for the accused? The farmer thinks that trial by jury should preserve a man from being punished "for anything which is not intelligible to a common understanding." Particularly in libel cases the jury should preserve its rights, for the law of libels allows very "distant reflections upon the conduct of public men" to "be wrested into a crime." And the liberty of an Englishman consists in publishing what he pleases, assured that he cannot be punished except by the judgment of his peers. The Dialogue excited one comment, interesting because of its general judgment. "Mr. Day," says the English Review,90 "is a strenuous assertor of liberty. . . . On some occasions, however . . . he is intoxicated by the demon of faction. . . . We respect very much the sincerity and patrotism of Mr. Day; and we must commend the spirit which induces him to give his name to his publications." The Dialogue is often turbulent and factious; Day, roused to a championship of the people, lashed their revilers under cover of the farmer's bluntness or the justice's satire. The two characters, forming such a convenient excuse for exaggeration, are not consistent, nor well maintained. The justice who provides much satirical information on government and laws, and presents without conviction the statements reviling the people, is merely a target for the farmer's attack. "Ibid., pp. 117-18. "English Review, Feb., 178S, V, 146-47.

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T h e farmer lapses often from his simplicity, commonsense, and directness into a philosophical, legal, and declamatory Day. Altogether the pamphlet illustrates admirably the author's sympathy for the poorer classes and his inability, except in flashes, to have his characters speak dramatically. A

F A R E W E L L TO P O L I T I C S

In April, 1785, Day, along with other champions of the people, had his attention fixed on Pitt's move for parliamentary reform. The assurance that the young minister would make such a move had won him generally the support of the reformers. His triumph over the Coalition at the polls had created strong hopes that he would, with his following, be able to carry this measure. It was a very moderate plan: seventytwo seats of thirty-six rotten boroughs were to be purchased by the government and given to the counties and Westminster and London; provision was made for the disfranchising of others which fell below a standard fixed by Parliament; altogether a hundred members would be released for open constituencies, £1,000,000 would be used for compensation, and 99,000 new voters would be added. But the King, though silenced by Pitt, disliked the reform; Burke, Fox, and North attacked it; the associations had relaxed their activity; and the minister had not as yet a well-disciplined following. Leave to bring in the bill was refused 248 to 174. And Pitt made no more attempts to reform parliamentary representation. Day for five years had attempted by thunderous speeches and indignant pamphlets to rouse the English to the necessity of asserting their rights; he had warned them against the hypocrisy and self-interest of their leaders. Now, his prophetic fears realized, he wrote an indignant farewell to political life. When faithless senates venally betray; When each degenerate noble is a slave;

CINCINNATUS When Britain falls an unresisting prey; What part befits the generous and the brave? If vain the task to rouse my country's ire, And imp once more the storks dejected wings, T o solitude indignant I retire, And leave the world to parasites and kings; Not like the deer, whom wearied in the race Each leaf astonishes, each breeze appals; But like the lion, when he turns the chace Back on his hunters, and the valiant falls. Then let untam'd oppression rage aloof, And rule o'er men who ask not to be freed; To Liberty I vow this humble roof; And he that violates its shade, shall bleed. 91

' Keir, p. 60; European

Magazine,

June, 1791, X I X , 473.

CHAPTER

IX

T H E WRITER OF CHILDREN'S BOOKS From 1780 through 1782 Day lived alternately at Stapleford Abbot, Essex, and another estate, Anningsley, near Chertsey, Surrey. 1 But since his first estate was very damp and not large enough for his purposes, he made Anningsley his permanent residence about the beginning of 1783. He had considered well the purchase of this place, and though it was one of the most unprofitable in England, decided to buy it because he could thus get a large amount of land for a small price—some advantage perhaps to an altruistic experimenter in agriculture. Stapleford Abbot was in the midst of old undrained forest lands, fifteen miles northeast of London. Anningsley, to the eyes of Day's contemporaries, was even farther from civilization—past Richmond and Hampton and Chertsey, over twenty miles southwest of London, in the midst of deserted farmland and uncultivated common. From Chertsey the road to Anningsley went for two miles under magnificent beech trees, past Botley's Park to Ottershaw, an old Saxon village with its quaint brick inn The Otter, and its group of thatched whitewashed laborers' huts. Half a mile farther, on the side of Timber Hill, was the tumbledown hamlet of Brox, inhabited by the poorly paid farm workers whom Day was to employ. From this the 1 Correspondence with Boulton (Boulton MS.) and Pollard (Br. Mus. Add. MS. 35655) shows that in Oct., 1780, he was at Anningsley; in 1781 he was at Stapleford Abbot, May, June and July, and at Anningsley after August; in 1782 he was at Anningsley for January, but spent the spring and part of the autumn at Stapleford Abbot.

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road wound past the lodge and gate, through the meadows and plowed fields of the two-hundred-acre farm, till with a wide curve through a grove of trees it came to the house. " I t was a pleasant spot," said Day of the farm, "situated upon the gentle declivity of a hill, at the foot of which winded along a swift and clear little stream." 2 The house, looking down from a little knoll upon meadowland and stream, hardly had a pleasant appearance. A rectangular, two-story Georgian building, 3 from the corner of which descended a series of Elizabethan rooms, it gave the impression both of austerity and of carelessness. Across the Bourne was Horsell Common—thousands of acres of gray soil clad with prickly furze. The singular retirement of Anningsley appealed strongly to Day. Situated in this little valley of a sparsely settled district, it seemed wild and deserted to his city friends. But the owner considered it a retreat from the vanities and vices of civilized society. 4 And the heath, contrasting with his cultivated farm, gave a flattering proof that he at least was doing something useful in the world. There was little incentive for Day to leave his secure retreat now. He had made his protests by speeches and pamphlets against the invasion of popular rights by the government. But the people had proved supine, their leaders selfish and treacherous. And distrusting Fox 6 and the other Whigs, Day was in' A description of Mr. Sandford's farm. Sandjord and Merton, p. 361. ' F o r pictures and descriptions of this house see (1) W. C. B. and T . J . Rfawlings], The Handbook of Chertsey, Chertsey, [1870], p. 7 7 ; ( 2 ) the Art Journal, V, 8 4 - 8 5 ; (3) (Mrs.) S. C. Hall, Pilgrimages to English Shrines, New York, 1854, pp. 556-57. ' M i s s Seward (Letters, II, 330) gives her usual extreme statement: " . . . asked by one of his friends why he chose the lonely and unpleasant situation . . . [ D a y ] replied that the sole reason of that choice was, its being out of the stink of human society." ' D a y had received a letter from Jebb, July 25, 1785, denouncing Fox as the enemy of parliamentary reform. See Lowndes, T., A Letter

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clined to a c c e p t P i t t ' s a d m i n i s t r a t i o n as t h e best t h a t c o u l d b e h o p e d for u n d e r t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s . I n t h e a u t u m n of 1 7 8 5 h e w r o t e f r o m Anningsley t o a f r i e n d of P i t t ' s w h o h a d a s k e d for an interview:6 . . . I own that I am and shall remain favourable to the present Ministry till I shall be convinced by their conduct that it will be a less evil to the country to be under the dominion of the old set than to continue its present government. . . . If Mr. Pitt . . . wishes to put the almost exhausted resources of the country into some order, to make provision for the payment of public debts, and to ease the people of some of those burthens, which if they are not taken off will infallibly crush all commerce and industry; if he will endeavour by steadily pursuing these objects to merit the approbation of the virtuous, he will certainly meet with it, and it is their duty to assist him, each according to his ability. As to the reform of parliament, I think Mr. Pitt has discharged his promise, and the very reasons which have provoked some of my brother reformers, are with me the strongest motives for admitting his sincerity—To expect that the minister of a great, and above all a corrupted state like this, should calmly and deliberately demolish the whole frame of government for the sake of making an experiment, is betraying a lamentable ignorance of human nature. I am not myself such a child as either to expect or wish that all government should stand still in such a wonderfully complicated system of society as our own, in order that two or three reformers may try their skill in greasing the wheels. But what I think may be fairly required of the present ministryis, that they should pursue national objects by fair and honourable m e a n s ; that if they are not devoid either of interest or ambition, addressed to the Wide-Spreading John Bull Family on the Accomplishments of Our Late Enlightened Monarch George the Fourth, London, 1833, p. 53. "Keir, pp. 61-69, a letter dated Sept. 5, 1785. This correspondence was brought on by Day's friend S— [probably William Seward] to w h o m he had written a letter favoring the Pitt administration. With Day's permission S— showed the letter to Pitt's friend, who then wrote Day.

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these passions should be worked u p with public good and not predominate in the piece; and t h a t they should never be so entirely engrossed with the dirty ideas of preserving their places as to sacrifice t r u t h , consistency, and public interest, and p r i v a t e integrity. Y o u , Sir, m u s t be the best judge of the ends and principles of the gentlemen with w h o m you act. If they are such as I have described, you m a y at any time command all the assistance that so u n i m p o r t a n t an individual as myself can give, b u t you m a y depend u p o n it that I should become your most determined enemy, were I ever convinced that your designs were of a contrary nature. . . . H o w e v e r little you m a y conceive t h a t a n y man can approach the treasury either with pure hands or a pure h e a r t ; I cannot help endeavouring to m a k e you believe in such a miracle; and t h e r e f o r e whether our correspondence should finish here or be extended any f a r t h e r , I must, in the most unequivocal language, a b j u r e all views of profit, interest or patronage, and give it under m y own hand t h a t if I am ever detected in deviating f r o m these principles, I consent to be called a fool, a rascal, and an hypocrite.—• I have taken the liberty of giving you every explanation I am able of m y views and sentiments. If the sample does not suit, you will owe m e no apology f o r not giving yourself any f a r t h e r trouble upon m y account, and be assured that I shall be as little inclined to become an enemy b y want of notice as I should be made a friend to a n y administration, by any attentions they should shew. I am sufficiently acquainted with h u m a n things to desire nothing f a r t h e r than what I already e n j o y : it is t h e r e f o r e I m u s t ingenuously confess with great reluctance that I find myself even honoured in the m a n n e r I a m at p r e s e n t ; b u t if consistently w i t h the principles I have laid down you think I can be of a n y use, I will wave the point of ceremony and wait upon you when I come to town.

Cincinnatus was not taken into the Pitt administration. However he appeared to continue his approval of it.7 Experience had shown him the great difficulty of reform, and he became much more favorable to men in power for the little good that they could do. He discontinued his attendance on the county asso7 Pitt's Irish policy of 1785 seemed to meet his approval. Lowndes, II, 56.

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ciations, and allowed his enthusiasm for annual parliaments and universal suffrage to wane.8 In America he was much disappointed. The country which was to illustrate the virtues of a free nation and a representative democracy, which was to provide an asylum for the oppressed Englishman, was split by strife. " I hear from all quarters," he wrote to Pollard, "that their [the Americans'] situation is most alarming, & their governments without power: the people divided, factious, agitated, & mutually hostile to each other. . . . Should you confirm . . . reports . . . I shall . . . groan in silence over the miseries of human nature, which seems like the Roman people to be incapable of either perfect liberty or servitude; though I fear, much more verging to the last than the first—"9 Thus Day had become separated from the old political life in which he urged the cause of America and the need of parliamentary reform. A disappointment in his friendships just as great as that in his political ideals was taking place now. And he lacked the particular kind of experience which would have prevented such disappointment, or, at least, enabled him to bear it with tolerant humor. An heir to wealth, he had not the shrewdness and caution of the "self-made" man which might make him wise in well-doing; neither had he experienced the desperate need for money which caused a business man like Boulton or a gentlemanly parasite like Pollard to put off his creditors. Time and money he had in plenty, and a conscience which made him use them for the scrupulous fulfilling of all " Lowndes, I, "Letter to Coke, Curwan and Company," p. 146. According to Lowndes, Day in his later years considered annual parliaments and universal suffrage politically unwise, and said "that the Human Race were too wicked and too corrupt for Universal Suffrage, though it might answer very well for a nation of Angels." •Letter of Aug. 1, 1785, Br. Mus. Add. MS. 35655, £f. 252-53. Another Day letter, Mar. 4, 1786 (Ibid., ff. 279-80) expresses a similar idea.

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engagements. He expected a similar conscientiousness from friends or protégés—and, of course, was disappointed. During a period of financial depression Day bad lent his friend Matthew Boulton three thousand pounds, a sum which was later reduced to a thousand. By 1781 the generous creditor, who had already extended the time of the loan for Boulton's convenience, became anxious to call it for reinvestment in lands. From the success of the "fire-engine scheme," he judged Boulton amply able to pay. But Boulton confessed with much humiliation of spirit that he was in great straits. He enclosed in the letter of April 24, 1782, a bill reducing his debt to five hundred pounds, for which he requested "further indulgence." "I . . . assure you," he wrote, "it was my intention to have paid you before this time the whole . . . ; but vexations, disappointments & misfortunes have crouded upon me within the last 5 months in a manner that is oppressive. . . . I know you may with truth say you have already granted me much indulgence. I am accutely sensible of it, & have scarcely courage to ask for more but necessity has no law."10 To this Day generously replied, as he did through most of the transaction, that he wished to accommodate himself to Boulton's convenience. Necessity during the next two years did not loose its hold on Boulton; he was not even able to pay the interest on the money, and, naturally enough, failed to answer letters on the subject. "Permitt me to assure you," he finally wrote, "that it was not from forgetfullness or a due sense of your indulgence that I have so long delayd paying you the money I owe you. But from a succession of disapointments & melancholy events I became too dispirited to write you any further excuses & too much inconvenienced to pay the money." 11 Day was willing to grant time to a debt-burdened creditor, but he had no patience with the procrastinations arising from humiliation of spirit. The tone 10

Boulton MS., Apr. 24, 1782.

"Ibid.,

Jan. 27, 1784.

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of his letters grew sharper. In April, 1785, he wrote, "You cannot I think complain of my want of patience, since I have waited for the letter you promised me, with the same patient expectation that the Jews do for their promised Messiah." 12 And this letter having failed to obtain a reply, he wrote two months later: "Did I not believe that you either are, or might be, in much better circumstances than myself, I would not give you this repeated trouble. But after having so long considered your convenience, I would wish you to consider, whether justice does not in your turn require that you should pay some little attention to mine, & enable me to pay debts which I have absolutely contracted, while I have been employed in the unentertaining ceremonial of soliciting for near three years what it appears to me I have so good a right to." 13 Boulton of course paid the debt immediately. The friendship was gone. Several intimate friends failed to write to Day after their departure from England. Sir William Jones, sent out to India as a judge in 1783, was too busy in compiling Indian laws and giving (as he said) "some degree of security and comfort to ten millions of inoffensive men," 14 to write his English friends. Stoically enough Day told Pollard: " I never expected, in the multiplicity of his affairs, that he would find room for idle correspondence. And it is a lesson, which I fear I need not give to you, that all the real, disinterested friendship in the world may be compressed into a surprizingly small compass." 15 The compass of such friendship was still further decreased by the departure of the Laurens family from England. Henry Laurens did call upon Day's protégé Pollard at Trenton, N.J. ; but no letters from him or his family ever reached the Days. 16 12

13 Ibid., Apr. 14, 1785. Ibid., June 8, 1785. "Letter, Jones to W. Pollard, Br. Mus. Add. MS. 35656, f. 21. M B r . Mus. Add. MS. 35655, f. 279. " E s t h e r D a y wrote Pollard, "The neglect that your lamented Friend experienced from the Laurens family after their return to their Native

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Even our hardened philanthropist was astonished at such conduct. The hesitating Pollard, driven by visions of his sternly virtuous friend, had at least stayed on the ship which he boarded with so much despair at Gravesend. Of course he was very seasick, and after the voyage to Charleston, S.C., had to nurse himself again into tolerable health. He thought of practicing law at Camden, S.C., but decided that he must go north for the summer. Once in Philadelphia, he decided to practice law in Pennsylvania rather than in South Carolina, where Day had thought Laurens might assist him. "I cannot help beseeching you," he wrote after reproaching Pollard for leaving South Carolina, "to oppose that spirit of rambling forth from one thing & from one place to another, & to concentrate the whole force of your industry & abilities in some one point, and that point worthy of them." 17 And the disinterested man who had stood aloof from Esther Milnes because of her fortune, suggested to his friend "that a young man of your person & address might in such a country as America, settle in marriage, both to his happiness & his interest"! But no American, heiress was willing to marry the frail sentimentalist. For several years longer he led an aimless life in Philadelphia, supported perhaps by the sale of his interest in some Virginia lands; but he came to consider himself oppressed by Franklin and the French faction. He began to dislike America, drifted back to Barbados, and thence, with the aid of Phillip Yorke, to England. In the last three years of his wanderings Pollard apparently allowed the correspondence with Day to lapse; and when he returned in 1789 had not the spirit to face him. It was the kind of conCountry, was matter of astonishment even to him, who had before known enough of the ingratitude of the human race—" Br. Mus. Add. MS. 35656. f. 82. " B r . Mus. Add. MS. 35655, f. 252.

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duct which Day characterized as "not only inconsistent with all friendship or kindness, but even with the common civility of a gentleman." 18 At the very time when the sensitive Pollard ceased to write to his strenuous monitor, he described him thus: "He is one of the most benevolent men. Has gone into garrets and cellars to relieve want! Let me respect him! if ever he errs it is in extreme virtue. Others have treated him with ingratitude: I will not. . . ." 19 "He is firm & decided, but he is a humane man: he hates from principle all sorts of laziness—has been duped by adventurers." 20 The description explains rather well his suspicious caution with respect to another protégé, his pupil Sabrina Sidney. Day, it is true, fulfilled with her all engagements. For years he maintained her in respectable boarding houses near Birmingham and at Newport, Shropshire. By his will of 1780, of which Esther Day was executrix, he provided an annuity of fifty pounds till the time of Sabrina's marriage, when she was to receive a dower of five hundred pounds. But despite this scrupulous care for her interest, despite the solicitude which he showed by his letters and occasional visits, he did not approve the results of his venture in female education. The scheme of educating a foundling for his wife had simply resulted in adding one more lady to an already large and useless group and opposing the eternal law of nature. " . . . If we choose to make a lady out of what fortune has intended for a serving wench," he wrote to Edgeworth, who proposed taking a child from a lower class to educate for a higher rank, "or a gentleman out of the materials of a blacksmith, we certainly have a very good right; but we err extremely if we imagine we are either promoting the order of nature or the good of society; for there will in every country be more "Br. Mus. Add. MS. 35655, f. 279. "Ibid., f. 307. " I b i d . , f. 326.

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than a sufficient crop of gentlemen and ladies, growing up like thistles among the com." 21 And then there was the feeling that Sabrina had excessive expectations. "That child," he wrote Edgeworth, "from the moment it begins to reflect, will consider you as doomed to supply all its wants, and will infallibly proportion his expectations, not to any standard of justice or reason, but to the objects that are presented to his eyes." 22 Poor Sabrina! She had been devoted to Day. Perhaps after his parting with her she had made some pitiful little attempt at reconciliation, had given a timid reminder of the marriage she expected. Her suspicious master guarded against excessive claims by this clause in his will: And I understand and propose that this annuity of fifty pounds to the said Sabrina Sidney during the term that she shall continue unmarried and the sum of five hundred pounds to be paid her upon the day of marriage shall be accepted by her as perfect requittal of every promise, engagement, or contract which I have made with her or in her behalf. And in case she shall make any other claim in consideration of any promise, engagement, or contract by writing or other ways, then this legacy to her bequeathed is not to take place.23 Sabrina continued her boarding-house existence with a lady in the country, till Day's friend John Bicknell decided to get married. For years he had carried on his Temple life of literature, pleasure, and a smattering of law practice. He wrote political articles for the Public Advertiser, upheld Sir John Fielding in opposing the production of The Beggar's Opera, collaborated in the satirical novel The Travels oj Joel Collier, and conducted a spirited correspondence. Despite brilliant prospects, he failed to prosper as a lawyer; he detested legal drudgery and kept briefs a long time unnoticed. If attorneys com11

Edgeworth, II, 96. " Will of Thomas Day. original.

" Ibid. None of the punctuation here was in the

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plained, he consoled himself with wit, literature, and pleasure. But when his health began to fail, he resolved to change his mode of life; in fact, to get married, that he might provide himself with a companion and nurse. Then for the first time in many years he thought of the little auburn-haired girl whom he had helped Day select from the Foundling Hospital. He had been unable to understand Day's infatuation for her; " 'he could not, for his part,' " he had told Edgeworth, " 'see anything extraordinary about the girl, one way or the other.' " 2 i When his friend married Miss Milnes, Bicknell rejoiced at his escape from a mésalliance. But now he asked about Sabrina and heard she had been leading a retired, genteel life. He visited her, found her beautiful and attractive, fell violently in love, and proposed. Sabrina, even when courted by another man, remained Day's docile pupil. She accepted Bicknell conditionally; for Day was to be consulted about the matter. He saw at least two very strong objections, Bicknell's failing health and lack of application. But Edgeworth, as optimistic as Day was pessimistic, saw no insuperable objection; Bicknell, he thought, would be given an incentive to exertion, and anyhow, people had better seize what present happiness they could. Despite the fact that the match was generally considered advantageous, Day very reluctantly agreed to it. "I do not refuse my consent to your marriage of Mr. Bicknell," he said; "but remember you have not asked my advice."2' And so Sabrina, now nearing thirty, took the opportunity which would rescue her from a very retired life on fifty pounds a year with a lady in the country. "More from prudential, than impassioned impulse, did she accept his addresses." 26 They were married, the dower was duly " Edgeworth, II, " S e w a r d , p. 52. worth substantiates been in rather close

"Ibid.

110. As usual Miss Seward is attacking D a y , but Edgeher to some extent here, and she appears to have touch with Sabrina before and after the marriage.

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paid. She became a good wife and Bicknell an industrious lawyer. But the contingency Day feared soon took place. The chronic ailment, a kind of palsy apparently, attacked Bicknell severely after his marriage. Day, who had kept up a friendly correspondence, advised him to try the waters at Bath." But the ailment was not checked; in the spring of 1787, three years after his marriage, he was killed by a paralytic stroke. Sabrina and her two boys were left without an estate, and again Day saw one of his dismal prophecies fulfilled. But friends were very kind to the widow. Her husband's legal associates raised eight hundred pounds as a trust fund; and Edgeworth remained her adviser and gave her considerable financial aid.28 Though Day justly considered that he had fulfilled all engagements, he allowed her thirty pounds a year to assist in the efforts which he expected her to make for the support of her family. By 1785 a great gap had sprung up between Day and many former friends. He was living quietly at Anningsley; they had drifted away. Two years later he wrote Edgeworth: . . . After all I must confess, that my experience for some years past has made me look with great concern upon the perishable nature of human friendships. With by much the greater part of mankind the name means absolutely nothing; a traffic of interest or vanity; a league of knaves and fools—of sharpers and bubbles; a party of pleasure, made in the morning, and broken off, with disgust, at night; an agreement to travel in a post-chaise dissolved at the first inn by a squabble about the reckoning; a theatrical exhibition; where the two heroes strut about, and mouth their parts, and then retire to undress and abuse each other in the green-room. But the worst is, that even men of more ingenuous minds and liberal characters are not entirely exempt from these general laws. . . . For this defect of human nature I absolutely know no remedy. "Eur.

Mag., X X V I I I , 21.

" A letter from Edgeworth to Sabrina, dated Aug. 28, 1808, mentions thirty pounds as his usual remittance to her in July. Cornhill Mag., C C C L X X V I I I , 676.

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All that my reason furnishes me with upon the subject is, to contract the circle of my own wants and cares, and to trouble others as little as possible for anything but strict justice; and even this is a commodity not easily to be had. In respect to those who honor me with their friendship, I study to make myself worthy of it, by such a kind of conduct as will never render their connexions with me a subject of disgrace or repentance. 29

To those he considered real disinterested friends he clung tenaciously. The list was not a long one: Edgeworth, Dr. Darwin, and Keir. Perhaps to it may be added his old Charterhouse friend, William Seward, and Richard Warburton Lytton, a gentleman of Northchurch, Hertfordshire. They were all of the same general class and fortune; their friendship was not subjected to the strain of great favors received but not returned. Edgeworth, many years before, in a lane near Hare Hatch had prophesied to his friend that their attachment would continue because they would never be in very different stations of life— a prophecy literally fulfilled with respect not only to Edgeworth, but also the remaining faithful few. The continual ingratitude which he received from protégés often caused him to make bitter, violent statements. 30 Generosity, he claimed, more often proved injurious than beneficial both to the giver and to the receiver. Although he remained desirious of helping mankind, he was disgusted with the expectations of his pensioners and resolved to make promises to nobody. "What then," he asked, "is the proper employment of benevolence below? In my opinion to rectify as far as we are able (and that is very little indeed) the evils, which proceed from the unequal distribution of property—by relieving those, first, * Edgeworth, II, 85. " P e r h a p s Miss Seward was not exaggerating when she said D a y frequently declared "his conviction, that there were few in the large number he fed, w h o would not cut his throat the next hour, if their interest could prompt the act, and their lives be safe in its commission." Seward's Letters, II, 330.

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who are in absolute want of the common necessaries of life, and particularly those who want them without their own fault." 31 The place in which Day was to relieve the actual physical wants of mankind was the farm. Here most of his financial and benevolent interests were now centered. After his marriage he had become convinced that the nation would be ruined by the American war. Accordingly he had adopted the policy of taking his money out of business enterprises, such as loans to Boulton or stock in the Birmingham Navigation Company, and of investing it "in land, which is most likely to remain secure, amidst the wrecks of all other property." 32 So had come the purchase of Stapleford Abbot, and Anningsley, of a large estate in Hertfordshire 33 and of Vatchery Farm, near Cranley, Surrey.3* For the farmers to whom he rented his lands, and for the farm laborers whom he employed at Anningsley, he had a warm sympathy amounting to partisanship. They seemed to him the useful and the oppressed; and he was prone to contrast their hardy virtues with the luxurious frivolousness of the wealthy classes. "In summer," said one of Day's characters, 35 "they [farm laborers] rise at three, four, or five o'clock; in winter at six, or earlier. They then go out, in the worst weather, to hedge, or ditch, or plough, or cut wood; they generally dine upon bread and cheese and water, beer being too costly an article at the present price of malt; they earn from fourteen to eighteen " Edgeworth, II, 95-96. ** Boulton MS. Letter, Day to Boulton, Sept. 8, 1781. "Ibid. (Day to Boulton, May 3, 1782). Costing between 3 and 4,000 pounds, bought Apr. 16, 1782. " A tract of 294 acres, including some woodland; total cost over f2.000; bought Apr. 1, 1783. Br. Mus. Add. MS. 2651, ff. 212-13. " Justice of the peace in Dialogue, pp. 43-44.

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pence a day, out of which they frequently have to maintain six or seven children." B u t the rich in town rise at eleven, twelve, or one; saunter about all the morning, or, perhaps, ride a few miles to get an appetite against dinner. Their dinners are composed of everything most costly, rare, and stimulative to the palate; the produce of earth, air, water; of every country and of every sea; they drink the most exquisite wines, and waste as much at one meal as would maintain a parish for a fortnight, and probably damn the bill of fare at last. In the evenings, the female part proceed, regularly, to public diversions, such as operas, plays, Ranelagh, the dancing dogs, or the puppet show; for all in t u m have been the admiration of the most refined part of this country; while the men are either employed in the same manner or else in public business; that is, giving their votes for or against questions which they have never considered, and frequently, which they have not taken the trouble of hearing debated. These . . . with a few other items of running horses, intrigues, divorces, gaming and other employments equally innocent, constitute the life of a considerable number of rich in this country. N o t only were the idle rich in town supported b y the industrious poor on the farm; the wealthy manufacturer wished to monopolize the products of the farmer's toil. D a y ' s only pamphlet after the farewell to political life, A Letter to Arthur Young,34 attacked vigorously a bill pending in Parliament to "A Letter to Arthur Young, Esq. on the Bill now depending in Parliament to prevent the Exportation of Wool. London, John Stockdale, 1788. Is. This letter, appearing in the spring of 1788, received a fair amount of favorable criticism. The Gentleman's Magazine (May, 1788, LVIII, Pt. I, 440) praised it as the production of an author of merit who was trying to avert the danger with which the rights and liberties of part of the community were threatened. However, the very next issue Gent. Mag., (June, 1788, LVIII, Pt. I, 506-8) contained a letter from "Mercator" in Hampshire, which attacked vigorously both Day's Letter and its inspirer, Arthur Young. The Monthly Review (June, 1788, LXXVIII, 516-18) highly approved of "'Mr. Day's well written pamphlet." Such absurd laws as the Wool Bill, it thought, would be repealed before

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prevent the exportation of wool. Under the existing law, said Day, the export duties on wool deprive the farmer of three million pounds a year and benefit the manufacturer to that extent. And now because only one-sixtieth of the wool is being smuggled, the manufacturer (afraid that the farmer will achieve a small share of national prosperity) demands that the farmer be enslaved by a host of burdensome, unintelligible restrictions governing the raising, shearing, packing, and marketing of wool. The real way to prevent smuggling is not to put the people under degrading surveillance, but to allow them to sell their wool without restriction. Against this plan the farmers' oppressors urge that France, England's commercial rival, should be impeded by having her wool supply curtailed. But if France cannot obtain wool from England, she herself will begin to raise it, thus lessening English production of wool and strengthening her own resources. No, at the bottom of the manufacturer's petitions for the Wool Bill is a narrow jealousy: The extraordinary prosperity of the woollen trade has raised the price of wool, and enabled the selfish farmer to share in those profits which the liberal manufacturer would wish to retain to himself. He, perhaps, ascends the lofty battlements of his mansion, and beholds the neighboring rustic white-washing his cottage: amid the delights of a table which exhibits the collected dainties of twenty climates, he hears of a farmer's consuming his own goose at Christmas, or indulging in a pint of ale at the next market-town: such instances of undeserved prosperity pierce him to the soul, and they affected the constitution, for "the good sense of a Mr. Day" would influence the legislation; the real danger of the law was that it might ruin the wool trade before repeal was obtained. On Jan. 25, 1791, James Keir wrote to Arthur Young (Br. Mus. Add. MS. 35127, ft. 82-83) asking whether the effects of the Wool Bill were such as had been expected. Y o u n g replied (Keir, pp. 141-42) that they were: the woolen manufacture had flourished, but raw wool had increased very little in price, the monopoly of w o o l which the manufacturer enjoyed amounting to four million pounds a year.

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stimulate him t o new enterprizes. Should such corruption be endured, w h o can tell how f a r the contagion m a y r e a c h ? 3 7 A n d t h e j e a l o u s y of the m a n u f a c t u r e r i s s u p p o r t e d b y t h a t of L o n d o n citizens: T h e y have proved b y irrefragable a r g u m e n t , t h a t a nation can never e n j o y plenty, or a metropolis be f e d , while a single cultivator is allowed to fix a value upon his own productions. L i b e r t y and prosperity . . . are the exclusive claim of t h e citizens of London. T h e miserable peasants, who toil all t h e year to supply the luxury of grocers, mercers, and haberdashers, no more than the slaves of S p a r t a must dare to repeat the sounds a p p r o p r i a t e d to their mast e r s : . . . their b a m s , their granaries, their yards, their f a t t e n i n g pens, should be always open to the inspection of a c o m m i t t e e of citizens, invested with absolute power to fix the price of every comm o d i t y by the rules of their own caprice. 3 8 I n general, then, D a y t h o u g h t that the w e a l t h i e r classes n o t o n l y received the farmer's produce, b u t tried t o k e e p h i m in p o v e r t y . E v e n t h o s e w h o visited their c o u n t r y e s t a t e s failed utterly in a n y feeling of responsibility to their tenants. If the poor are ignorant [declaims D a y ' s F a r m e r , in the Dialogide, to t h e genteel classes who are sneering a t the l a b o r e r s ] why do you not instruct t h e m ? If they are profligate, w h y do you not r e f o r m t h e m b y y o u r example? Instead of t h a t you content yourselves with railing a t us, f o r the v e r y vices with which you are infected to an hundred times greater degree. If you come into the country, it is only to rack y o u r tenants, display y o u r lean, inhospitable finery t o the neighborhood, and, probably, set an example of y o u r u t t e r contempt of all laws, h u m a n and divine. T h e v e r y clergy t h a t receive the t e n t h p a r t of the produce of t h e earth, in order to r e f o r m and instruct us, are contented with shearing their flocks once a year, and then hurrying back to town to preach against the beasts of the people. 3 9 H i s example, D a y d e t e r m i n e d , s h o u l d b e e x a c t l y

opposite

to that of the callous a b s e n t e e landlord. H e c o n d u c t e d h i s f a r m "Letter,

pp. 17-18.

" Ibid., pp. 19-20.

~Dialogue, p. 50.

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largely for the benefit of the laborers. From the rough peasantry living on Horsell Common or in the tumbledown hamlet of Brox, he selected those that were out of work, and frequently had trouble to persuade them that their employment was only temporary. During the winter months when the stingy farmers of the neighborhood discharged men whom they could not profitably use, he employed as many as applied.40 So numerous was the band in hard times that he could scarcely find a shadow of employment for them on his two-hundred acre farm or about his house. He was fond of showing a personal interest in all his laborers, and as he walked about his farm he often talked with them. They did not understand some of his conversation; for, as they said, Mr. Day talked like a book. But they willingly answered his questions about their families, and received the comforts which he sent them—blankets, corn, and meat. Esther Day, who was not a very good needle woman, assisted in the work of clothing the needy by employing her poor neighbors to make stockings, which were distributed among the laborers. To the sick, Day was especially attentive.'' 1 Many years before he had thought of becoming a doctor, and his interest in the profession had continued. During his year or more of trouble with sciatica he had experienced the futility of medical advice and had been cured by following his own ideas about treatment. And now, fortified by such experience, he proceeded to doctor his retainers. He gave little medicine, but much nourishing food. At times he brought the sick into his own kitchen to have their meals with his servants; occasionally he even took them into service at the house, for no other reason than that they were ill and needed attention. In a day when bleeding was the "Blackman (p. 102) says Day also gave workers higher wages in the winter because they needed more supplies then. Entile, pp. 398-99, shows its hero ministering to the wants of poor farmers and curing their illness by good food.

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panacea, his system of no-doctor-but-good-food seems to have worked well. Sometimes he got medical advice from London for his patients, but usually he was quite content with his own diagnosis. I doubt [wrote James Keir, the chemist, concerning a woman whom Day had recently treated] whether there is another man living that would have carried his friendship as far as you did, not only in the most unremitting attention and attendance, but particularly in encountering the censure of the world in following your own reason in opposition to the faculty [i.e. doctors], which censure would have been inevitable if the patient had not been cured. I doubt whether many of the faculty themselves, armed as they are with the prerogatives of life and death, would have ventured so decisively, and consequently so effectually, in pursuing their judgment. From what you mention, I think it not improbable that the father had come to you with prejudices received f r o m his physician at h o m e ; but he certainly changed his opinion, for he expressed clearly when he was here that his daughter's recovery was owing to your management. 4 2

Not content with setting an example for selfish absentee landlords, Day performed duties neglected by the absentee clergy. Finding that the distance from the parish church at Horsell prevented many of his neighbors from attending Sunday services, he invited them to his house, where he read prayers to them and his family and gave lectures on the moral principles set forth in the gospels. His democratic desire to instruct and uplift the people and his admiration for the simplicity and hardiness of the first Christians made such action in him consistent. In his own rhetorical manner he was taking a small " Letter, Keir to Day, Sept. 29, 1789. Molliet, J. K., Sketch of the Life of James Keir, Esq. F.R.S., London, [1860], pp. 102-8. Edgeworth w a s probably referring to the same matter: "your young lady is the oddest animal I ever heard of, why do y o u plague yourself with such exotics?" Letter, Edgeworth to Day, Sept. 19, 1789. In possession of Mrs. H . J. Butler, Oxford, Eng.

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part in the Methodist movement by bringing religion to the masses.43 Farming operations by such a benevolent landlord were hardly profitable. To the ever-successful Edgeworth, who had been able to increase greatly the value of his lands and the income from them, Day wrote after half a dozen years at Anningsley: In the first place then, I am out of pocket every year about 300 pounds by the farm I keep. The soil I have taken in hand, I am convinced, is one of the most completely barren in England. The estate is certainly improved in value by what I have done; but were it to be let, I do not imagine that it would pay 2 per cent for all that I have laid out, probably not above one. You may perhaps wonder, I should persevere in such a losing trade; and, to avoid future explanation, I will give it you now. I am particularly pleased with the study of agriculture; and the constant business, which so large a farm creates, gives me the most agreeable interest in the world.—It gives me a continual object in going out; and the necessary trouble of governing so many men, and providing for so many animals, keeps my mind from stagnating in solitude. By these means I am enabled to live happily, with a perfect independence of my fellow creatures; for the succession of employments is such, that my whole life is taken up, without fatigue, or ennui. Were I to give up farming, I should have less care, but I should also become more sedentary; and the very absence of that care, which now never rises to anything like uneasiness, would expose me infinitely more to hypochondriacism, which I am now totally free from. I have besides another very material reason, which is, that it enables me to employ the poor; and the result of all my speculations about humanity is, that the only way of benefiting mankind is to give them employment, and make them earn their money. . . . I take care to live within my income, and while I spend large sums in employing the poor, they are not entirely lost. I am continually improving the quality of my lands, and the conveniences of my estate. Buildings, planting, every kind of improvement, -

Mr. and Mrs. Day esteemed congregational meetings of dissenters and Quakers as best. Lowndes, II, 176.

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I choose to pay for out of my income. I consider the pleasure of everything to lie in the pursuit; and therefore, while I am contented with the conveniences I enjoy, it is a matter of indifference whether I am five or twenty years in completing my intended plans. This scheme also is connected with my own particular temper; for doing nothing with relation to the opinions of others, and every thing from a thorough knowledge of my own tastes and feelings, I do nothing that does not permanently please me. . . . I have purchased about 500 acres of indifferent land in the neighbourhood, the greater part of which I am covering with plantations. Most of the farmers, indeed all, are by particular circumstances extremely dependent upon me. I have lost something by the acquisition of this dependence, for you may easily conjecture, that the price of it has been uncommon forbearance in respect to their rents. But I do not know, that I have lost more than I should have done by turning them out of their farms. Some of them are honest, industrious men, who pay their rents well, but are near the expiration of their leases. These I continue upon their farm without any addition to their rent—with the condition only of letting me yearly plant a small quantity of their farms. By these means, I have not a farm, whose value will not in time be doubled or trebled. I have purchased all these within the last six years, and have taken care to make purchases, where I could have a large extent of land for little money; by all these precautions the general value of my property is increasing yearly. 4 4 T h e peasants and farmers whom D a y tried so hard to benefit often failed in gratitude. Although reserved to people of rank and fashion, he tried to t r e a t farmers with affability. H e invited them to his table and talked freely with them. B u t sometimes h e found these men merely drawn to him b y his position as a country gentleman. Often they failed to appreciate his innovations; they ridiculed his keeping laborers in the winter when h e did not need them, and they objected to the trees which h e planted on some of their farms. At least one man, Samuel Cobbett, proprietor of Fowler's Well F a r m near Chobham, did not have this rural distrust of reformer D a y . A practical farmer 44

Edgeworth, II, 92-94.

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with some knowledge of literature, he helped Day in his farming operations, and proved a sympathetic friend. In the life at Anningsley, Day fell into a routine, which, after the cessation of his political activities, was not much interrupted. He rose about eight, and after breakfast walked over his fields, talking with his laborers and "confirming them in their duties." A good deal of the morning and afternoon he spent in literary conversation or among his books. When visited by friends he particularly delighted in an exposition of his political and religious sentiments, in comments on men and manners. He still had a jealous eye upon the encroachments of government; he considered that the English people had become dissipated and trifling and were on the road to a ruin which could only be averted by good advice and example. Gloomy as his opinions might be, he displayed toward his friends cordiality and even affection. Living apart from people of rank and fashion, with a sympathetic family and acquiescent retainers, he experienced little opposition. Accordingly he relaxed somewhat his rhetorical bitterness and his minute dissection of affairs. His family life pleased him so much that he changed the sitting room at Anningsley into a library, where he might read while his wife and relatives talked. An essential part of his routine was hardiness and simplicity. He travelled inexpensively, ate simple food, dressed plainly. For Esther Day's delicate health he prescribed exercise, with surprisingly good results. When he became affected in winter with a bad cough which he feared would turn into an incurable asthma or consumption, he disdained both medicine and physicians, and cured himself by living on a spare diet from which were excluded meat and and wine, and by riding horseback for several hours a day. For this purpose he built a large riding house which enabled him to ride a brisker and more even pace in inclement weather. He was fond of another exercise, shooting,

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but for many years considered it so cruel that he abandoned it; he later resumed it because of the damage done by game to the crops. Such was the rural life which was to form much of the background for his children's book, Sandford and Mertort. With children themselves Day had a long and intimate association. His youthful dreams of a happy marriage had included many children to be given a hardy education in the country. Disappointed in this ideal, he yet managed to bring his friends' sons and daughters to Anningsley. His real fondness for them and desire to please them, and even a gaiety of temper which he showed in their company, attached them to him. Despite his full-dress speech and long-winded instructions they loved the man. Most ardent of his young admirers was his nephew Thomas, one of the brood whom Esther Milnes, with all the parental rashness of sweet fifteen, had promised her brother-in-law, Robert Lowndes, to care for: May I each kind, parental office share, And guard thy offspring with Maternal care. Oh, with what nameless joy shall I behold Gradual, their tender, infant minds unfold! Whils't thou do'st nurse their intellectual seeds, And train them up to moral, manly, deeds, Illume their souls with wisdom's heav'nly ray, And guide their steps to Virtue's sacred way. 4 5

About the time Robert Lowndes's son Thomas reached the age at which Esther wrote this sentimental verse, she and Day seem literally to have fulfilled the promise. He was living with Day as pupil, friend, and adopted son, and absorbing from him a jargon of virtuous sentiments: he was to oppose all kinds of cruelty, such as offensive war upon America, slavery of the Negroes, the seduction of females; he was to be hardy and * Select Productions, pp. 47-48.

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active, to disdain "luxurious fashion's proud career," to avoid the enervating scenes of pleasure; he was to be a patriot, revering the rights of man and constitutional government. Above all things he was to be independent and disinterested. Now Tommy Lowndes really adored the rhetorical uncle who thundered so fiercely about the rights of men at county meetings, and who wrote pamphlets telling the country what it had to do to be saved, who played with him so heartily, and gave him so many stories to read. He was fully persuaded that his uncle was a very great man. Mentally lazy 46 and proud, Tommy accepted all the noble sentiments of his tutor, and then thanked the Lord that he was not as other boys were. There were other youths with whom Day was in close touch: Milnes Lowndes, who was taking his degree at Oxford while Thomas was still undergoing instruction in the virtues at Anningsley, and Erasmus Darwin, Jr., son of the famous doctor. The quiet, retiring Erasmus travelled with Day and paid him long visits. In Dick Edgeworth also Day had kept up an interest. Since the time when Day had played with him and instructed him at Lyons, Dick had proved a somewhat unruly school boy, had followed a sailor's life for a few years, then settled near Georgetown, South Carolina. In 1787, when Edgeworth decided to disinherit his son on account of foolish and extravagant conduct, Day still made a plea for him, suggesting that a clause be put into the will which would annul the disinheritance should Dick return to Ireland. But the father, wishing to avoid the possibility of family disputes, contented himself with leaving his son an annuity of £300 if he returned. In the autumn of 1781, Dick's sister, Maria Edgeworth, visited the Days at Anningsley. This timid fourteen-year-old " I t is interesting to note that Thomas Lowndes, under Day's leisurely instruction, did not enter Oxford till he was twenty-one, an age at which his brother Milnes was graduating.

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girl had just been attending Mrs. Davis's fashionable boarding school in Upper Wimpole Street, London, where she was supposed to acquire all feminine accomplishments, including an elegant carriage and a tall figure. Patiently Maria had endured the calisthenic agonies of dumb bells, back boards, and iron collars; she even submitted to an extreme measure for feminine elongation, being swung by the neck. But the process of making a tall fine lady out of retiring little Maria had been halted temporarily by an inflammation of her eyes. The eminent doctor consulted placed her between his knees, examined her eyes, then tactfully announced, "She will lose her sight." Of course Day, who was always bringing the afflicted into his home, invited Maria to visit him. She came, and found herself in the midst of an austerely simple life differing radically from the boarding school in which it was a "sacred duty to be fine."47 Day proposed to cure her eyes and improve her mind. For the former he prescribed that odious discovery of a famous prelate, Bishop Berkeley's tar-water. Every morning he appeared before the shrinking girl with a glassful of the vile black compound. She dreaded that invariable command, "Now Miss Maria, drink this," but the sympathy on his pock-marked face, the compelling sternness of his voice made her drain the bitter cup. Later in the day there were mental exercises for her quite different from the easy French lessons at Mrs. Davis's, or the stories she used to improvise at night for her school-girl friends, such as that about "an adventurer who had a mask made of the dried skin taken from a dead man's face, which he put on when he wished to be disguised, and kept buried at the foot of a tree." 48 Thomas Day indulged in metaphysical inquiries and eloquent discussions which she was supposed to follow. True, he opened his excellent library with its histories, travels, and biographies to her, but she could hardly lose herself, as she had at school, in " Edgeworth, F. A., Memoir, I, 11.

48

Ibid., I, 10.

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a book that struck her fancy; for the raven-haired philosopher was there to direct her studies and question her about them. She was irked by the thoughtful answers he required, by the perfect accuracy in words he expected, by his own severe reasoning on points discussed. But somehow, the real affection of the man, his real liking for young people, and the common interest which he and Maria had in the moral, the useful, and the reasonable, brought them together. She came to like and admire him. Most wonderful of all, her eyes, under this treatment of tarwater, reading, and reasoning, gradually lost their inflammation ; and her general health improved. Dr. Day had one more cure to his credit. Naturally enough Day, from his attempts to educate children, acquired an interest in writing books for them, and when Edgeworth and Honora in 1778 discussed a reading book for their four-year-old child which was to follow Mrs. Barbauld's Early Lessons, Day desired to have a part in the work. There were several kinds of eighteenth-century juvenile books which the Edgeworths might have selected from or imitated. The hell-fire tale, such as Thomas White's A Little Book for Little Children, was still popular. And Isaac Watts' Divine and Moral Songs, a children's classic, though containing the grandeur of " I sing the almighty pow'r of God" and the tender beauty of "A Cradle Hymn," smell powerfully of fire and brimstone. Various hymns are devoted to inculcating reverence, truthfulness, good temper, industry, obedience and honesty. The easy melody and naïveté of them are delightful, but always comes the recurrent warning: There is a dreadful hell, And everlasting pains, Here sinners must with devils dwell In darkness, fire, and chains. 4 9 " The Works by the Late Reverend and Learned Isaac Watts, London, Longman, 1753. Vol. IV, Divine Songs, Hymn XI, "Heaven and Hell."

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A milder climate was offered to the imagination of the child by the chapbooks which, for prices ranging from a penny to sixpence, regaled him with stories of Bevis and Jack the Giant Killer, Robinson Crusoe and (his later edition) Philip Quarll, Red Riding Hood and Blue Beard. Should the parent relax his sentiments sufficiently to allow his two-year-old a moral and mental holiday, he might read jingles to him from The Top Book oj All, or Mother Goose. The child of reading age, left to his own devices, was likely to pay his shilling and sixpence for one of Newbery's gilded books and therein read stories by Mrs. Lovechild, Tommy Trip, or Giles Gingerbread, illustrated with gaily colored plates. Through all the children's books went the opposing elements, the moral tale and the fairy tale. Mrs. Barbauld's Early Lessons, a book intended to be read by children of three or four years, naturally followed the trend of the useful and moral. It tried to give the child a good knowledge of the physical world in which he lived and to teach him the moral principles governing this world. Two characters, Charles and his mother, go through the various parts of the book. The first part is largely occupied with conversation about simple household incidents and objects—stroking the cat, playing hide and seek, learning colors, eating, going to bed. Then comes a series of expositions, incidents, and stories more closely connected, dealing more extensively with various subjects and principles. The child is taught the months of the year and the natural phenomena which occur in each; he is promised a garden in which he can grow things for himself; he is shown bread, the wheat from which it comes, and the mill in which the flour is ground; his attention is called to the differences between his physical apparatus and that of the animals, and a fair number of natural histories are given him. Much of this natural knowledge comes on little walks; a grand finale to these is the long

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trip across the country to the sea, followed by a voyage to France. Charles, encouraged to treat animals kindly, feeds a robin in midwinter; he sees a bird which has been shot by a hunter and hears a pitiful account of a rabbit chased and killed by the hounds. The stories which inculcate the virtues into this four-year-old are very simple in the relation of cause and effect, oftentimes catastrophic in conclusion: Greedy Harry eats all his cake in a short time and is sick; Billy gives some of his to an old blind fiddler and enjoys good digestion and a virtuous glow. A naughty boy treats a robin cruelly; he is deserted by his parents, refused succor by the neighbors, and finally eaten by bears. A cowardly little boy runs away from a dog and falls into a ditch. A disobedient lamb stays outside of the fold, gets lost, and is eaten by wolves. In most of the stories nature or one of her children is always close at hand to punish the naughty, disobedient boy. Such was the thought content of the book for which the Edgeworths were planning a successor. Richard Lovell desired to write an interesting story (or history it was then called) of Harry and Lucy. This story was to carry the brother and sister through all the stages of childhood and was to contain the principles of morality and the elements of science and literature— taught informally as a part of each day's life, "without wearying the pupil's attention."50 The first part of Harry and Lucy, written by Honora and Edgeworth, follows the plan for two days of the children's lives. A docile Lucy and a rather independent Harry are required, before eating breakfast, to make their beds. Food must be deserved. Then they separate for the morning of observant activity. Lucy, under her mother's care spends an hour at sewing; then she (literally) uses all of her senses in the dairy room to learn the difference between milk and cream; finally she exer" Edgeworth, II, 335.

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rises her benevolence by rescuing from a pool the bee that has stung her, and promises to be more cautious in the future. The mother commends her. Meanwhile Harry and his father have gone for a walk instructive. At a brickyard the boy asks questions about brickmaking. After ruining a pile of unburnt brick, he is taught property rights by being required to take responsibility for the damage. Further on at a blacksmith shop the observant Harry helps to find a horseshoe, then sees the smith shoe the horse. The roaring bellows, hot coals, hammer strokes— all sensory impressions are emphasized. The eager boy asks why the horse is not hurt by being shod; he is told of the similarity between his nails and the horse's hoof, and is allowed to handle a piece cut from it. Throughout the morning's excursion Harry is encouraged to observe natural phenomena and ask questions. Once his curiosity is roused, his father helps him to satisfy it. When Harry and Lucy meet again, they tell each other their experiences of the morning and then deride to apply their knowledge by making a brick house in the garden. This project involves them in all kinds of difficulties, which they surmount by memory, observation, and experiment. Thus they learn the kind of clay to use, the size of the brick mould, the method of using the mould, and the necessity of burning the brick. On the second day the children read stories after breakfast; Harry, one from Mrs. Barbauld about the little boy who gave some cake to an old blind fiddler; Lucy, a kind of version of the Good Samaritan in which the benefactor is himself saved from drowning by the man he had rescued. So ended Harry and Lucy, part one. Mrs. Barbauld's Lessons and Edgeworth's Harry and Lucy were the progenitors of Day's History of Sandjord and Merlon. He had begun this as a short story to be inserted in Harry and Lucy. But when Honora died in 1778, Edgeworth left his children's reader unfinished. Meanwhile Day carried on his story till it became a book. Naturally enough it owes much to Bar-

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bauld and Edgeworth in its framework, methods, and incidents. Two boys live with their tutor in natural surroundings. Their senses are given free range, their curiosity is excited by the phenomena about them; their education comes in finding, with the help of the tutor, an explanation for these phenomena and in learning morality very largely from a series of stories. Day's purpose was to provide a suitable reading book for young children which would form and interest their minds. The title emphasizes this purpose: The History of Sandjord and Merton, A Work Intended ¡or the Use o) Children. He hoped very much that it would please them: "from their applause alone I shall estimate my success."51 He hoped by it to instill into them all the hardy virtues which a luxurious and effeminate older generation lacked.52 Now in selecting stories he was much influenced by his own tastes and philosophy. His interest in classical history, in stern stoical patriots, led him to Plutarch's Lives. Xenophon's Cyropaedia had much that he admired: Cyrus in his youthful philosophizing, hardiness, and generosity contributed not a little to the character of Harry Sandford; but he also indulged in hunting and offensive warfare, and worst of all, after assuming the kingship, dressed himself in fine raiment. Day, along with Rousseau, strongly admired Robinson Crusoe, and worked its general situation into the philosophy of his book. A man never knows, the tutor was continually telling soft Tommy Merton, what accident may leave him in some wild place dependent upon his own resources; therefore he should obtain hardihood and useful knowledge which would enable him to be an efficient Crusoe. A work which approached closely Day's ideas was Dr. Thomas Percival's book: A F A T H E R ' S INSTRUC" Preface to Sandford and Merton. a Day's estimate of his times is much like that of John Brown in An Estimate of the Manners and Principles of the Times, 6th Ed., London, 1757. Brown finds the prevailing manners of his times to be of a "vain, luxurious, and selfish EFFEMINACY." p. 29.

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adapted, to different periods of life, from youth to maturity: and designed to promote T H E LOVE OF V I R T U E ; a Taste for Knowledge; and attentive observation of T H E W O R K S OF NATURE.53 T h e title describes the book. A father, acting as the tutor of his two sons and two daughters, moralizes at length upon incidents from their lives, upon experiments in physics, chemistry, and biology, and upon many stories. Many of its teachings, such as kindness to animals, racial tolerance, superiority of the laborer to the idle rich, necessity of the hardy virtues and useful knowledge, exactly agreed with Day's. But the book's method he considered defective, for "the objects would overwhelm the tender mind of a child by their variety and number, instead of being introduced according to that natural order of association which we ought never to overlook in early education. 54 TIONS,

The book above all others which appealed to Day was Henry Brooke's Fool of Quality.55 From it he obtained much of his general story and most of his characters. But the Fool of Quality was only a novelized Emile; and to Rousseau, D a y owes not only many incidents, but also the educational philosophy of his book. Let us now examine Sandford and Merton itself. Tommy Merton, the six-year-old son of a rich Jamaica planter, had been brought to England by his parents for an education. Thus far he had been spoiled by his fond mother till his naturally good nature had become tyrannical, and his " B o o k s I and II of this, published in 1775 and 1778 respectively, probably had some influence upon Sandford. and Merton. See The Works, Literary, Moral, Philosophical, and Medical of Thomas Percival, M.D., London, J. Johnson, 1807. " Preface, Sandford and Merton, p. 8. "Published in parts from 1766-70. Edition used: The Fool of Quality or the History of Henry Earl of Moreland, Introduction by W. P. Strickland, Preface by Charles Kingsley. 2 vols., N e w York, Derby and Jackson, 1860.

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body very delicate; his understanding, naturally good, also had been left unimproved. Now in this same district of western England lived a farmer's son, Harry Sandford. Active life on a farm had rendered him both hardy and humane. Nor had his understanding been neglected, for Mr. Barlow, the clergyman, had taken him as a pupil.5® One day as the spoiled Tommy was walking with his nurse, a snake suddenly coiled itself around his leg. Harry, happening to be present, as heroes always are on such occasions, coolly seized the snake by the neck and flung it to a distance from the terrified boy. And so began the acquaintance of Sandford and Merton. Harry, taken to Mr. Merton's home, manifested a most philosophical indifference to all the luxury about him. He refused the present of a silver cup, because the drinking hom at home was just as useful, and didn't require much care; 57 he refused a glass of wine, because he was not thirsty and did not wish to get a liking for things hard to obtain; finally he gave an account of the simple, hardy lives of Christ and his apostles. Mr. Merton was so much impressed with the virtues of our young hero that he asked his tutor, Mr. Barlow, to take Tommy as a pupil. But Mr. Barlow, burdened with as many scruples as Day had about assuming political office, conducted a long talk (monologue almost) with Mr. Merton in which he maintained that poverty rather than wealth produced the virtues and that he was totally unfit to equip a young man for the world " Amaud Berquin's L'Ami des Enfonts (issued in French in London 1782, translated in 1783) has a story, Narcissus and Hippolytus, which portrays two characters very much like Sandford and Merton. The Fool of Quality (I, 51) gives in the education of Richard and Henry, the elder and younger sons of the Earl of Moreland, exactly the situation described here. Merton and Sandford respectively are copies of these. In The Fool Henry's tutor is a Mr. Fenton, who inculcates the same virtues that Mr. Barlow does. " H e n r y in The Fool (I, 51-S5) displays indifference to ornament.

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of fashion.58 To all of this Mr. Merton assented, and therefore asked him to undertake his son's education. Mr. Barlow agreed on condition that he was to receive no money for his work, but was to be considered by Tommy and his family as a friend rather than a schoolmaster. In his new life Tommy found that he had two teachers, Harry and Mr. Barlow. His first lesson was in the necessity of work.59 Since he refused to forget his pride and take a part in the gardening, he was given no cherries,00 and, later on, no dinner. After receiving a share from the kindly Harry, he was further humiliated by Mr. Barlow's ridicule. But no one minded his distress, and next moming at work time he asked for a hoe. So Tommy learned to labor. Curiously enough the stories which Mr. Barlow and Harry read at the time all related to the necessity and usefulness of work; more curious still, Tommy seemed to relish them and during Harry's visit home, to miss them. Thus came the incentive for learning how to read. When his friend returned, the story-hungry Tommy took lessons from him. At the first one he learned his alphabet, and in two months' time was able to read to his astonished tutor The History of the Two Dogs, which concludes thus: " I now see . . . that it is in vain to expect courage in those who live a life of indolence and repose; and that constant exercise and proper discipline are " T h e r e are many such discussions, often on the nature of the true gentleman (a favorite theme in Sandford and Merton), in the Fool of Quality; Percival's Father's Instructions, Part II, pp. 164-66, also deals with the matter. Day has expressed this in a letter to Edgeworth: "Says nature, 'Dig, plough, grub, fish, hunt, build, and you will be rewarded for your pains'—'No,' say the French, the English or some other refined people, 'we chuse to be idle and sentimental.'—'Then starve,' says nature—-'this is my eternal, immutable decision, of which neither plays, nor poetry, nor oratory, nor sentiment, will ever change one tittle.'" Edgeworth, II, 95. "Entile, p. 332. Rousseau mentions giving cherries to a little girl only after she has done her arithmetical exercises.

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frequently able to change contemptible characters into good ones." 41 He learned many other moral and useful things, some of them by sad experience, some by stories, some by tutorial conversation. He found that he could get nothing by commanding. Jacky Smithers, whom he ordered peremptorily to fetch his ball, ignored him; 62 and Tommy in his haste to punish this insolent peasant, fell into a ditch and ruined his fine attire.®3 Jacky rescued the young aristocrat who had incurred natural punishment; 64 and Mr. Barlow, by lengthy reasoning, tried to show Tommy that a gentleman had no right to command others. Even when he did a good deed, such as giving clothes and a loaf of bread to Jacky, his pride was rebuked. Mr. Barlow reproached Tommy for bestowing bread that did not belong to him, and Jacky returned the fine clothes which had caused his companions to call him a Frenchman. A real benevolence was shown Jacky's poor family under Mr. Barlow's direction by sending them food and suitable clothes.65 In showing kindness to animals, a part of his education emphasized by both teachers, he suffered from pride and inexperience. The pig which he tried to feed, involved him in difficulties with a mud puddle, a sow and a gander, and left him disillusioned and indignant. Harry in his kindness to animals was much more heroic. He " Sandford and Merton, p. 45. This story is very similar to Berquin's Caesar and Pompey, which concerns a brave happy dog and a sullen one. " I n The Fool (I, 117), a poor boy defies young Lord Richard, who has ordered him to give up some nuts obtained on his lordship's estate. " The Silk Dress (L'Ami des Enjants) pictures a situation in which Day was constantly placing Tommy: that is, humiliation of pride by allowing "nature" to spoil his fine clothes. " Cf. Mrs. Barbauld's story of the cowardly boy who ran from a dog, fell into a ditch, and was rescued by the dog's bringing servants to the spot. Mrs. Barbauld's Lessons for Children in Four Parts. Philadelphia, B. Warner, 1818, p. 71. " In The Fool Mr. Fenton keeps a room full of clothing for Henry to dispense to the needy.

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had protested to "a little naughty boy that used a poor jackass very ill indeed." The boy had then used his stick on our hero, who with all the strength of muscular Christianity had knocked him down and made him promise not to beat the jackass any more.86 (We strongly suspect the terms of the capitulation were broken in the very next lane.) Even the proud, passionate Squire Chace was humbled by him. When Harry refused to tell this hunter where a hare was hiding,67 because, as he said, "I don't choose to betray the unfortunate," he stoically received a severe beating. But the Squire was soon punished, as were all evildoers in the book; when he was thrown and dragged with his foot in the stirrup, Harry had the satisfaction of stopping his horse and then of proudly refusing a guinea tip from him.68 Of course Tommy's teachers turned his attention toward the useful. He learned that bread was made of wheat, saw the windmill in which the wheat was ground, and then prepared the patch of ground which was to furnish wheat for his own use.69 The stories read showed men put in wild countries where they were able to live only by their industry and knowledge of the useful. In The Two Brothers, Alonzo and Pizarro went to the Spanish Main; Pizarro got gold, but would have starved had not Alonzo procured food by tilling the soil. In A Narrative of Four Russian Sailors—Cast Away on East Spitzbergen these men from a useful occupation were able to endure years of hardship. Only one man, because of his indolence, died of the scurvy. " I n Percival's Father's Instructions (Part II, pp. 141-45) Jacobus saw an ass beaten, and bought peace for the animal with some half pennies. *' Barbauld's Lessons (pp. 95-97) has a description of a hare in hiding and of her destruction by hounds. m In The Fool (I, 157), Vindex, the brutal schoolmaster, gives Henry a severe beating because he will not inform against his schoolmate. Harry later rescues Vindex from a debtor's prison. Vol. II, Chap. II. "Barbauld's Lessons (p. 57) describes the making of bread. Charles (p. 42) is hired to work in a garden and is promised one of his own.

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From all of these stories and from Mr. Barlow's arguments, Tommy was led to the desired conclusion "that a man should know how to do everything in this world." What would Harry Sandford and Tommy Merton do if they were thrown upon a desert island? Build a house, said Harry. And so they commenced their project. Tommy threw himself so wholeheartedly into the business that he forgot he was a gentleman. Mr. Barlow merely assisted them in doing the work for which they were not strong enough. The boys themselves made their plans and improved them from experience. Poles were cut, thrust into the ground, and then interwoven with branches to make the house walls. When a storm blew down the flimsy structure, Harry had Mr. Barlow drive the poles deeper; then the walls were rebuilt. To stop the thatched roof from leaking, the builders increased its pitch; to keep out the wind, they daubed the walls with clay. Finally the house was completed. Now Tommy noticed the rapid growth of his wheat, and believed that he had everything necessary for his life upon a desert isle. As a final touch he and Harry planted fruit trees near the house and irrigated them by diverting a rill to the spot. During the months that Tommy had spent under Mr. Barlow's tutelage his pride had decreased because it was not fed, and his naturally good nature had become more evident. Kindness, he was taught, receives an immediate reward; ill nature brings misfortune. The stories of The Good-Natured Boy and The IU-Natured Boy made the matter quite plain. A good boy on his day's excursion fed a hungry dog and a starving horse, assisted a blind man from a pool of water, and gave his remaining food to a legless sailor.70 Reward soon came to him from all " T h i s has traces of Mrs. Barbauld's Story of the Old Blind Fiddler (Lessons, pp. 81-82). Here Billy gives the fiddler a piece of cake, and is rewarded by a feeling of virtue. A good many suggestions for The GoodNatured Boy and The IU-Natured Boy may be traced to one of Henry's days of good deeds in The Fool (Part II, chap. I I ) .

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these: when he was lost in the wood at night, the dog brought him a handkerchief full of food, the horse allowed him to ride out of the wood on its back; when he was attacked by robbers, the dog bit one, and the sailor, mounted on the blind man's shoulders, yelled so terribly that he scared them away. How different was the fate of the ill-natured boy! His bad disposition was largely due to an ill-tempered father who failed to give his children good instruction or good example. One day the bad boy went with his equally bad dog Tiger on a predatory expedition. He set Tiger on a flock of sheep; but a stout old ram routed Tiger, and the shepherd hit the boy in the head with a stone. He made a little girl cry by turning over her milk jug. He pushed some boys into a muddy ditch. He tied thorns to a jackass and had Tiger to chase him, with the result that the ass kicked the dog and killed it. He caused a blind man to sit in a dung pile and was bitten by him. Finally he tripped up a lame beggar on the road. But retribution was hot on his trail: a dog bit him as he was trying to climb an orchard fence, a farmer beat him for frightening the sheep, the lame beggar added his bit of cudgelling, and the boys he had pushed into the ditch pinched him cruelly. To escape their persecution he jumped upon the jackass; but this animal must also take his part in the punishment by running away with him and throwing him with such force as to break his leg. Then the little girl of the milk jug episode pitied him and had him laid upon a bed where he might "reflect upon his own bad behavior which in one day's time had exposed him to such a variety of misfortunes." "Tommy said it was surprising to see how differently the two little boys had fared." Xo less surprising was The Story oj the Grateful Turk. Hamet, a Turkish slave, freed by a Venetian, saved his benefactor's son from a burning building; years later when the Venetian and his son were captured, they were bought

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in the slave market of Tunis by their old friend Hamet, now a Turkish bashaw. 71 One of Tommy's expeditions also served to illustrate the idea that " a good turn is never lost." He and Harry on a long walk had become tired and hungry. They were given bread and milk by a kindly fanner's wife. While they were eating it, two bailiffs came to seize all the household goods for a debt. Then came Farmer Tosset, who, grasping an old sword, threatened somewhat in the manner of Day's farewell to politics to make those men bleed who violated the shade of his humble roof. The tears of his family and of Harry and Tommy softened him, however. And Tommy, leaving this scene of suffering so often depicted in eighteenth-century novels, went home, procured the needed forty pounds from his father, and with it returned to relieve the family's distress and elicit still more sentimental tears." So Tommy learned to be humane. He had already learned to work. Now he was to show that he had acquired both courage and endurance. On a walk with Mr. Barlow, the boys saw some Savoyards displaying bears and monkeys. 73 One of the bears terrified the crowd by breaking loose, but was soon caught by the intrepid Mr. Barlow, who, relying upon the bear's education, struck him several blows, scolded him severely, and thus rendered him quiet. Tommy, inspired by this heroism, seized a monkey which had escaped, and though the animal bit him " Probably based on an account in M . Adanson's Voyage (p. 599) of how M . de la Brue, director of the factory at Senegal, redeemed shipwrecked Europeans from their Moorish captors. ™ In The Fool Henry and his tutor release 95 men from paying their debts with only ¿500 (Vol. I I , chap. I I ) . Scenes gratitude are, of course, common in this and other sentimental the period. The bailiffs appeared very frequently in The Fool, in the story of Clement (Vol. I, Chap. I I ) .

prison by of tearful novels of especially

" T h i s evoked from Mr. Barlow a story of a polar bear's love for her cubs. Practically the same story appears in Percival, Part I, p. 18.

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severely, he threshed it into submission.74 Tommy had exemplified the moral of The Two Dogs; his contemptible character had been changed by exercise and discipline into a good one. The second volume of Sandjord and Merton had upon its title page a quotation from Lord Monboddo: "But I do not know that there is upon the face of the earth a more useless, more contemptible, and more miserable animal than a wealthy, luxurious man, without business or profession, arts, sciences, or exercises." That Tommy might not become this kind of animal, his teachers exerted all their resources to make him hardy, humane, and useful. He listened to a story about a miserable, over-fed fat man whom the doctor cured of gout by strict dieting; to an account of some people who lived for weeks buried under an Alpine snowslide; to the histories of the Spartan Kings Agesilaus and Leonidas, whose hardy lives enabled them to resist so strongly the luxurious Persians. There were accounts, too, of the natives of Lapland, Greenland, and Kamtschatka, who showed by their strength, freedom, and good-nature the influence of a training amid natural hardships. Tommy was so much attracted by the accounts of Kamtschatkan sledgedriving that he tried to drive the Newfoundland dog Caesar harnessed to a kitchen chair; 75 but his pride of accomplishment was much hurt when Caesar responded to the whiplash by promptly depositing him in the horsepond. Again Nature had scored. When the bedraggled charioteer heard his audience of farm boys laugh at him, he became more enraged and charged them with his whip; and next day Mr. Barlow humbled his pride by saying that the good-natured Greenlanders would disdain such outbreaks of rage. Tommy received a practical experience in hardships that " This scene is dog. The Fool, II, " This incident his father's house.

reminiscent of Harry's rescue of his father from a mad 272. is a little similar to that of Henry's riding the dog in The Fool, I, SI.

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winter when he and Harry were lost in a wood. They took refuge in a hollow tree from a snowstorm, and Harry tried unavailingly to kindle a fire with flint and steel. Tommy, in contrast with the brave, resourceful Harry, was quite mastered by hunger, cold, and fear.7® Fortunately, they found the embers of a fire, which they built up and managed to warm themselves by. As half-frozen Tommy commented on the difference that a few dried sticks made in his comfort, Harry seized the opportunity for instruction: "Ah! . . . Master Tommy, you have been brought up in such a manner that you never knew what it was to want anything; but that is not the case with thousands and millions of people. I have seen hundreds of poor children that have neither bread to eat, fire to warm, nor clothes to cover them. Only think, then, what a disagreeable situation they must be in; yet they are so accustomed to hardship, that they do not cry in a twelvemonth as much as you have done within this quarter of an hour." 77 Tommy was somewhat disconcerted at this observation, and engaged in a discussion with his preceptor which only served to bring out the fact that gentlemen were not as well provided by training to withstand the hardships of life, as were farmers' sons.78 But let us not forget that virtue is always rewarded. At this juncture Jacky Smithers, to whom Tommy had given clothes, came along and guided the lost boys to his home, where Tommy enjoyed hugely the coarse fare of the poor. Tommy learned humanity largely from the example of Mr. " Day is apparently much indebted here to Berquin's Vanity Punished (L'Ami des Enfants). This tells of a soft young aristocrat lost in a wood. A little country boy finds him, takes care of him and brings him back saicly. Thus he is redeemed from pride. " S. and M., p. 162 " T h e constant discussion of, and satire on the gentleman in Sandjord and Merton has many parallels in The Fool. One of the most striking is Vol. I, p. 28S.

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Barlow. This good man from the very first had told him stories of large fierce animals that had been softened and tamed by kindness. In the winter Tommy followed his teaching by taming a robin.78 Alas! the cat ate it up; and Mr. Barlow had then to educate the cat—by letting him burn himself on a hot gridiron placed near a caged bird—to leave robins alone. When the hares ate the bark off Tommy's trees, he protested to his teacher that they should be killed. But Mr. Barlow said he should have fenced his trees; and then took him to look at his own turnip patch, where the larks were welcome to eat as much as they would. In the spring, of course, the agreeable songs of these birds would reward him. At the home of farmer Smithers, Tommy learned still more of his tutor's goodness to the deserving poor. The account is reminiscent of Day's own ministrations: Yes, master [said Smithers] M r . Barlow is a worthy servant and follower of Jesus Christ himself. H e is the friend of all the poor in the neighborhood. He gives us food and medicine when we are ill; he employs us when we can find no work. But what we are even more obliged to him f o r than the giving us food and raiment, and life itself, he instructs us in our duty, and makes us ashamed of our faults, and teaches us how we may be happy not only here but in another world. I was once an idle, abandoned man myself, given u p to swearing and drinking, neglecting my family. . . . But since Mr. Barlow has taught me better things, and made me acquainted with the blessed book [the Bible], my life and manners, I hope, are much amended, and I do my duty better to my poor family. T h a t indeed you do, Robin, answered the woman; there is not now a better and kinder husband in the world; you have not wasted an idle penny or a moment's time these two years.

™ Barbauld's Lessons (p. 49) shows Charles feeding a robin. Percival (Father's Instructions, Pt. I, p. 14) takes very much the same attitude that Mr. Barlow does here; that is, the cat has been driven by hunger to eat the bird.

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Now he has been assisted through his fever by Mr. Barlow; he earns six shillings a week, his wife adds eighteen pence to that by her spinning; and with this they are content. Tommy.—That makes seven shillings and sixpence a week. Why, I have known my mother to give more than that to go to a place where outlandish father

people sing.

gives half-a-guinea

a

. . . And I know time

to

a

a little miss

little Frenchman

that

whose teaches

her to jump and caper about the room. Master, replied the man smiling, these are great gentle-folks that you are talking about; they are very rich, and have a right to do what they please with their own. It is the duty of us poor folks to labour hard, take what we can get, and thank the great and wise God that our condition is no worse.80 At least Mr. Barlow taught no socialism to his poor parishioners. On the wealthy he urged the duty of helping the poor, not only by giving needed supplies, but by encouraging industry, virtue, and religion. As he rode around the country, he remarked the magnificent stables provided by the wealthy for their horses, "their ice-houses, temples, hermitages, grottoes, and all the apparatus of modern vanity." 8 1 This, he would say, is proof that the rich man loves himself; what proof has he given that he loves his fellow being? If anyone urged that the poor were ungrateful, he assented; "for they were men in common with their superiors, and therefore must share in some of their vices, but if the interests of humanity were half as dear to us as the smallest article that pleases our palate or flatters our vanity we should not so easily abandon them in disgust." 82 The distinctions of rank, he admitted, might be necessary for government in a populous country, but a good man would insist upon them no more than was necessary for the benefit of the whole. And so Mr. Barlow mingled freely with the poor, invited them to his home, and held for them an annual dinner. Tommy had 10

S. and M.,

p. 166.

" Ibid., p. 230.

" Ibid.

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managed to lose some of his West Indian pride, and following his tutor's example, showed a real friendship and solicitude for these needy guests.83 A knowledge of the useful was given to Tommy by incidental rather than formal instruction. On the night walk back from Smithers' house with Harry and Mr. Barlow, Tommy commented on the number of stars. Harry then showed him Charles's wain, Mr. Barlow pointed out the pole star, and Tommy resolved to make a map of the constellations. "But what use is it of," he asked, "to know the stars?" 84 And this Rousseauistic question Harry answered by telling how the pole star enabled him to find his way home one night over the moor. Another practical piece of information was gained when Harry demonstrated the use of the lever by moving with sticks a snowball which Tommy thought was already as large as they could make it. When the sticks broke, they found they could not budge the ball with the short pieces which they had left. "This is very curious, indeed, said Tommy; I find that only long sticks are of any use. That, said Harry, I could have told you before; but I had a mind you should find it out for yourself." 85 And so with a combination of direct instruction, demonstration, and experiment, Tommy was taught about many things: the wedge, the windlass, the compass,86 and the telescope.87 Always he was incited to learn a thing by being shown its usefulness. " Mr. Fenton invited the heads of poor families to dinner every Sunday. He and Henry served them. The Fool, I, 142. " 5 . and M., p. 170. "Ibid., p. 184. " Here Rousseau's trick of allowing the boy to see a toy swan with needle inside attracted to a piece of bread containing a magnet, was used. (See Emile, p. 209.) Harry puzzled out the cause of the swan's following the bread, but, as usual, Day failed to give his hero's pride of accomplishment the check which Rousseau gave Emile's. " T h e effect of the glass prism upon sight was explained to a certain extent by showing the refractive power of water. Rousseau has an explanation of this in Emile.

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When he had become interested in machinery, Mr. Barlow told him that arithmetic would assist him much in learning it. Then followed the story of a man who agreed to pay for a horse either two hundred pounds, or one farthing for the first nail in his shoe, two for the second, four for the third and so on through the entire twenty-four nails. Tommy was struck with the wonders of arithmetic when he learned that this geometrical progression amounted to almost eighteen thousand pounds. " I am determined," he said, "to learn arithmetic, that I may not be imposed upon in this manner; for I think a gentleman must look very silly in such a situation." 88 And so during the winter evenings Tommy and his teachers diverted themselves with little questions relating to numbers; in a short time he had learned to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Tommy's future estate was secure from dishonest stewards. But let us turn from Mr. Barlow's home of the hardy, useful, and humane, to Mr. Merton's luxurious mansion. There Harry accompanied Tommy to a houseparty composed of the little gentry of the neighborhood: Master Compton, an emaciated lad, equipped with a tremendous pair of shoe buckles and all the vices of a public-school education; Master Mash, also a public-school product, whose great passion in life was betting on horse-races; and Miss Matilda, representative of the young ladies' seminary, who talked French better than English, drew such figures as the naked gladiator, and sang Italian airs that put poor Harry to sleep. Out of the whole group, Miss Sukey Simmons was the only person, besides Harry, who had been properly educated.8® She was inured to cold baths and long walks; she was acquainted with the best authors in French and English and had some knowledge of natural philosophy and geometry; and she had been fully instructed in domestic science though not in music, "the science of making a noise." K

S.

and M., p. 192.

"'See p. 81 preceding.

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Among these young gentlemen and ladies the educations which Tommy and Harry had received were severely tested. Tommy was flattered by the company; Harry was abused. Instead of being contradicted or obliged to give reasons for his statements, Master Merton was accepted as a wit. His companions, Mash and Compton, introduced him to many ideas for the entertainment of young gentlemen; such as, robbing orchards, insulting passengers, rebelling against teachers, disturbing an audience at a playhouse. Under the new tutors Tommy lost his regard for Harry and Mr. Barlow, and even delighted in seeing Mash, the mimic, take off the parson giving a sermon. Harry, remonstrating with his friend, was told by Mash "that he was a tremendous bore." Neither was he regarded at the play when Harry and the other little gentlemen decided to show their displeasure at the poor acting by kicking up a riot; a farmer had finally to rebuke Mash and, literally, tread him underfoot to instill a little decency into the group. With Harry the house party was something to be endured rather than enjoyed. All the elaborate ceremony of dining made him envy like a prodigal son his father's laborers, sitting under a hedge and eating "without plates, table-cloths, or compliments." 80 In the play which he had witnessed, there was neither morality nor usefulness. He did not care for cards, which so inflamed the others with the desire of winning money, and having been inveigled into a game in which he won the stakes, he gave them to a deserving young woman who was trying to support her aged parents. Soon after, he roused the ire of his companions by refusing to contribute to a gift for a popular actor; for he would rather give to the poor, he said. All the young gentry seemed to think about was dress and appearance; " 5 . and M., p. 241. At his father's house Henry (in The Fool, I, 71-72) agonizes over the elegance of table manners and shows a great ignorance of the games played by the young gentry. He shows a similar ignorance in his visit to Lord Bottom's house. The Fool, Vol. II, chap. II.

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and Tommy had forgotten the virtues and thought only of fashion. How would these young masters fare in the army of Leónidas? or these young ladies on a desert isle? he asked Tommy. Apparently the only young lady who would have acquitted herself well was Miss Sukey Simmons of the hardy education. She and Harry were much drawn together now by their common sense and benevolence; but alas! the difference of their noble sentiments from those of the company seemed only to mark them out for ridicule. At the ball, prepared for with so much trouble by the dancing masters, dressmakers, and hair dressers, Harry was tricked by the mischievous Compton into attempting to dance the minuet with Miss Simmons; they could only retire from the floor and moralize about the true politeness which their tormentors lacked. But when Mash contributed to the fun by causing Harry to spill lemonade on Miss Simmons,91 he retorted by dashing his glassful in the tormentor's face. A fight ensued which was only stopped with difficulty by Mr. Merton after both lemonade and blood had flowed freely.82 This incident concluded, the company went back to their diversions till after midnight; but Harry retired to a sleep which was to equip him for a very strenuous morrow. Next day Harry incurred still further displeasure from the group of boys by urging them not to attend a bull-baiting. What! answered Master Lyddal, can't you say, [if you are asked where we've been] that we have been walking along the road, or across the common, without mentioning anything farther? No, said Harry, that would not be speaking the truth; besides, bull-baiting is a very cruel and dangerous diversion, and therefore none of us should go to see it, particularly Master Merton, whose mother loves " Berquin's Little

Fidler

(L'Atni)

has an incident much like this in

w h i c h the mischievous Charles spills tea on a girl's dress. "This

fight,

w i t h its occasion a n d its referee, M r . Merton, is v e r y

similar t o one b e t w e e n H e n r y and the usual larger b o y in The 72-73.

Fool,

I,

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him so much, and is so careful about him. This speech was not received with much approbation by those to whom it was addressed. A pretty fellow, said one, to give himself these airs and pretend to be wiser than everyone else! 93 And then the group began to torment him. Tommy himself took a part, and when the virtuously indignant Harry implied that he was not acting the part of a gentleman, struck him on the face. "Master Tommy, Master Tommy," he sobbed, " I never should have thought it possible you could have treated me in this unworthy manner." But his tears were short-lived, for the little company, presuming upon his patience, began to badger him. Mash was the most forward of all, and with him Harry had the fight which constitutes, perhaps, the best known scene in the book. The larger and stronger Mash furiously attacked Harry and hurled him to the ground time after time; "but Harry possessed a body hardened to support pain and hardship; a greater degree of activity, a cool, unyielding courage which nothing would disturb or daunt." The poorly conditioned Mash exhausted himself, and Harry then knocked him down. "He, however, when he found his antagonist no longer capable of resistance, kindly assisted him to rise, and told him he was very sorry for what had happened." 94 T h e little company, considerably more favorable towards Harry now, continued to the place of the bull-baiting. There the bull, plagued by dogs, was showing much the same cool deliberate courage that Harry had. During the diversion a poor black came up soliciting alms, but the little gentry had not been educated to feel the distress of others, and jested about his black color and foreign accent. Tommy, still having some generosity, " 5. and M., p. 268. " C o m p a r e this incident (5. and M., pp. 270-72) with Day's fight at Charterhouse. In The Fool the fights between Henry and Skinker (I, 72) and Henry and Tom (I, 119) show the smaller boy victorious over the larger, but very generous to him in his defeat.

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would have given money, had he not already wasted it. Harry gave the Negro his last sixpence and a kind word. Just at that moment pandemonium was loosed. As usual in Day's stories the evildoers were to be punished by having all their wickedness react against them. So here, the bull, infuriated by the dogs which had been cheered on by the spectators, broke his rope and "rushed like lightning over the plain, trampling some, goring others, and taking ample vengeance for the injuries he had received." He rushed toward Tommy and his associates, who had so recently despised Harry's good advice. Harry leaped nimbly aside, but Tommy fell right in the path of the enraged animal. Then Harry, the cool and ever watchful, seizing a pitchfork just as his friend was about to be gored, wounded the bull in the flank. Around the creature wheeled and made for Harry, now in imminent danger of paying with his life for his assistance to a friend. (Beware, Mr. Day, beware! your system of virtue rewarded is trembling on the brink.) "But in that instant the grateful black rushed like lightning to assist him, and assailing the bull with a weighty stick which he held in his hand, compelled him to turn his rage upon a new object." 85 The negro then caught the bull by the tail, belabored him with the cudgel, and did not desist till the animal became so tired that he permitted the spectators to rope him. So had been saved Mr. Day's system, and an additional proof given of the virtues of hardily educated men. Harry with his new friend now left the aristocratic weaklings to their sins and took his way home.96 Luxury had been discredited; hardiness had conquered. The third volume has this Spartan advice on its title-page: Let not, O generous youth! thy mind recoil At transitory pain, or manly toil! " S . and M., p. 27S. M I n The Fool (Vol. I, chap. V ) Henry, because the maid had mistreated his beggar protégé Ned, took him and went to his foster father's house.

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Such was the strenuous ideal of education which Harry had followed. But Tommy had faltered. Mr. Merton, when he discovered all the details of the fight and the bull-baiting, reported to Mr. Barlow that his son was "radically corrupted, and insensible of every principle but pride." 97 Mr. Barlow, however, had much faith in his pupil's natural goodness, and he represented to the father the bad example which his son had just received in the society of young gentry, and the extreme difficulties of being armed against the prejudices of the world. Tommy was not to be despaired of. Mr. Barlow told a story about Polemo, a dissipated Athenian youth, who was won to virtue by Xenocrates' giving an oration on the glories of hardy manhood. "Thus," he added, "you see how little reason there is to despair of youth, even in the most disadvantageous circumstances." 98 T h e circumstances conducive to virtue were now much improved by the departure of most of the little gentry and their flattering parents; Sukey Simmons, Mr. Barlow, and Mr. Merton were left to remove pride and prejudice from the repentant Tommy. Now the story that was to work a large part of this reformation upon him—almost as great as that of Xenocrates' oration upon Polemo—was Sophron and Tigranes." Two shepherd boys, brought u p together on Mt. Lebanon, were entirely different in character. Sophron was strong and sympathetic; Tigranes was fierce and "possessed by a restless spirit of commanding all his 08 "S. and M., p. 280. Ibid.., p. 285. " The name Sophron appears often in Percival's Father's Tigranes apparently came from Xenophon's Cyropaedia.

Instructions;

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equals." Their characters caused them to clash; Tigranes attacked his former friend, but was conquered and then humiliated by being spared. Soon the two separated; ambitious Tigranes entered the army and by his fierce courage rose to command; but Sophron led the simple contented life of the shepherd. While Tigranes killed for spoil and glory, his former companion would not even slaughter a sheep for food. I will not bereave him of his little life [he said], nor stop his harmless gambols on the green, to gratify a guilty sensuality. It is surely enough that the stately heifer affords us copious streams of pure and wholesome food; I will not arm my hand against her innocent existence; I will not pollute myself with her blood, nor tear her warm and panting flesh with a cruelty that we abhor even in savage beasts. More wholesome, more adapted to human life, are the spontaneous fruits which liberal nature produces for the sustenance of man, or which the earth affords to recompense his labours. 1 0 0

Tommy must have been in a very repentant mood, for he was so much affected by this redundant speech of the virtuous vegetarian that he burst into tears. "Alas!" he said, "it reminds me of poor Harry Sandford; just such another good young man will he be, when he is as old as Sophron; and I, and I . . . a m just such another worthless, ungrateful . . . wretch as Tigranes." 101 Tommy always fell into the traps laid for him. But let us continue the story. Sophron in chasing a marauding wolf became lost, and in his wandering came upon a band of soldiers with two captives, an old man and his beautiful daughter. The resourceful hero resolved to rescue them. In so doing he used his excellent knowledge of natural phenomena; 100

S. and M., 298. This is very similar to the teaching of Rousseau's Emile. Sophron not only abstains from animal food but rescues a Iamb from a wolf, and again from marauding soldiers. Cf. Henry's rescue of his pet cock in The Fool, Vol. I, chap. II. S. and M., p. 299.

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he set fire to some piles of brushwood by rubbing sticks together, and then shouted with his strong voice so that a hundred echoes reverberated from the cliff. The captors fled, Chares and his daughter were liberated, and useful knowledge had again triumphed. The old man now performed two customary deeds of all the eighteenth-century saved; he bedewed the hand of the rescuer with tears and told him his story. During his youthful travels he had observed many lands and people. In Egypt he had found a rich country, and, accordingly, a luxurious, enslaved people, who learned to dance, to sing, to dress, but had no idea "of vindicating their natural rights by arms." How different did he find the Arabians! Their country was poor; they lived simple, hardy lives, prizing freedom above everything. Since luxury had not enslaved them, they were proof against conquest by invading armies. Here Tommy interrupted the narrative with a generalization: "In all these stories which I have heard, it seems as if these nations that have little or nothing are more good-natured, and better and braver, than those that have a great deal." 102 This seemed a fair statement of Mr. Barlow's philosophy of natural virtue. But Tommy, who should have learned to be more wary of his dialectic tutor, asked this question: "Are all the poor in this country better than the rich?" Argument was joined, and Mr. Barlow, attacking with force but not always with fair logic, brought this conclusion: "the rich do nothing and produce nothing, and the poor everything that is really useful." 103 After which sage statement he sent Tommy to bed. Next day was full of varied adventures for Tommy. When, 102

Ibid., p. 314. Ibid., p. 317. A conclusion very similar to that in Berquin's The Farmer ( L ' A m i ) , where a nobleman by argument shows his son how useless he (the son) is in comparison to Farmer Martin. Percival (Part II, pp. 166-70) says practically the same thing to a young lady.

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desirous of riding like the Arabs, he used pins for spurs, 104 his pony ran away into a quagmire, and Tommy received the usual punishment for pride—bedraggled clothes. But his other adventures, inspired by sympathy, proved more heroic. He gave a shilling to a poor highlander who came walking by with three starving children. Then he attempted to rescue a lamb from a dog that was trying to kill it. As the dog turned upon him and was about to bite him, up rushed the grateful highlander and dispatched the animal with his broadsword. Rewards were immediately given to both saver and saved: the poor man and his children were entertained at Mr. Merton's; and Tommy found that he had rescued Harry's lamb—a deed which would perhaps win his friend's forgiveness. The highlander, Andrew Campbell, gave his story in somewhat bookish language. He had been reared in the north of Scotland, where education in a rugged country provided him with all the virtues. His only vice, a desire 10 distinguish himself, led him to enlist, and soon he found himself in America, a country of woods and prairies, of buffaloes and wild horses and Indians. These last were the hardiest of men, able to endure terrible pain, to swim the wildest rivers in midwinter, to take the longest marches; they disregarded money and esteemed courage; and in peace times were friendly and hospitable. Love of revenge was their only defect, and this was a prejudice due to their education. In this wild land Campbell had many adventures. On Braddock's expedition he escaped death only by his resourcefulness; he wandered then for days, subsisting on a mixed diet of berries, rattlesnake, and deer. Finally he reached a tribe of friendly Indians, helped by a marvelous stratagem to defeat an invading war party, and returned to an English settlement loaded with rich furs. Again the hardy, practically m

T o m m y , w h o has some of the mischievous ingenuity of Ned in The Fool, uses here the pins which Ned used in playing his trick on schoolmaster Vindex.

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trained man had been victorious in primitive surroundings. He came back now to his native land, married the usual virtuous and industrious young woman, and turned farmer. Strange to say for such a good-natured and hard-working man, misfortunes showered thick upon him. His crops failed and his cattle died; his parents and his wife succumbed to hardships. So acute was his unmerited distress that our author permits him to say: "I cannot accuse myself of either voluntary unthriftiness or neglect of my business; but there are some situations in which it seems impossible for human exertion to stem the torrent of misfortune."106 (Beware Mr. Day! some of your pupils may get the idea that chance plays quite a part in this life.) Resolving to go to a more fruitful land, the poor man embarked with his children for America, but they were shipwrecked and barely escaped with their lives. Not for long, however, were the virtues of the highlander left unrewarded after this narrative. Miss Simmons introduced herself to him as the niece of the Colonel whom he had served so faithfully in America. Her uncle soon arrived and settled Campbell on a small farm; Mr. Merton gave him tools and horses; and Mr. Barlow gave him a flock of 9heep and a cow, "whose milk will speedily recruit the strength of these poor children."10® The highlander went frantic with gratitude. Tommy had apparently been much impressed by all these virtuous stories and actions. In a conference with Mr. Barlow he admitted that before he was instructed by this worthy man he had a great pride in being born a gentleman and a great contempt for all of inferior situation. But Mr. Barlow's ridicule and his own observation of the superior usefulness of the poor had made him ashamed of his folly. Alas! he had been corrupted by the young gentry with their superior airs and finery. They had laughed at Harry, and Tommy had become ashamed S. and M., p. 353.

1M

Ibid., p. 366.

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of his friend. Now be admitted his ingratitude and wished Harry to forgive him. Mr. Barlow suggested that he go to Harry and beg his pardon. TOMMY.—But what would everybody say if a young gentleman like me was to go and beg pardon of a farmer's son? MR. BARLOW.—They will probably say that you have more sense and gratitude than they expected. So Tommy finally accepted the idea of humbling himself before a rustic. Let us now return to Sophron and Tigranes, the story which was to play such an important part in Tommy's reformation. Chares, we remember, was giving an account of his life. After his wanderings he had returned to his native country of Syria. " I had uniformly observed," he said, "that the miseries and crimes of mankind increased with their numbers. I therefore determined to avoid the general contagion, by fixing my abode in some sequestered spot, at a distance from the passions and pursuits of my fellow creatures." Accordingly he followed out the youthful ideal of Thomas Day: a virtuous wife, a farm, a child. In rural retirement he pursued his studies, particularly of philosophy, and came, like the Savoyard Vicar in Entile, to trace the Creator in his works. With this daughter Selene he avoided all that luxurious education which weakens women both in body and mind; 107 her mother instructed her in household duties, and he hardened her mind "by the severer principles of reason and philosophy," and her body by gardening. Such education was to prepare her for the reversal of fortune which he saw might come in a national disaster. And this reversal soon came—Chares' wife died. Then his rich country, already weakened by luxury and effeminacy, was invaded by the Scythians.108 What chance had the civilized Syrians against these bar"" See Day's declamation against this, p. 82 preceding. The cycle that a country goes through is described in The Fool, Vol. II: poverty, industry, wealth, sensuality, slavery.

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barians of the north who lived on a coarse food, knew few of the arts of life, and practised all of its hardy virtues? The country was conquered, and for a while justly governed by Arsaces, a man who lacked all the city prejudices and despised the arts which soften both body and mind. When Arsaces died, Syria was torn between various warlike chiefs, and finally Tigranes the proud became ruler. Chares and his daughter had been seized by a lawless band, from whom Sophron had delivered them. Tigranes, now intent upon obtaining universal empire, was sweeping toward Lebanon with his fierce soldiery. It seemed impossible for the freedom-loving natives to resist him. But Sophron, with a shout that reminds us of Thomas Day at the county associations, summoned them to assemble: "Arm, O ye inhabitants of Lebanon, and instantly meet in council; for a powerful invader is near, and threatens you with death or slavery! 1 0 9 The hardy freemen of Lebanon met, decided that they preferred death to slavery, and elected Sophron as their general. After the meeting, Chares, who had been impressed by the sentiments uttered, gave this warning: " D i d success, O virtuous Sophron, depend entirely upon the justice of the cause, or upon the courage and zeal of its defenders, I should have little doubt concerning the event of the present contest. . . . B u t war, unfortunately, is a trade where long experience frequently confers advantages which no intrepidity can balance." (Again beware, Mr. D a y ! you are admitting life's injustices.) Sophron was indeed alarmed. Virtue was imperiled. Not long, however, for again came the rescue. " T h e virtues of your friends," said Chares, "my own obligation to yourself, and the desire I feel to oppose the career of mad ambition, conspire to wrest from me a dreadful secret." 1 1 0 T h e secret was gunpowder! When Sophron's band had exhausted their bravest efforts against Tigranes' disciplined soldiers, they fled. Then burst forth the 'mS. and M., p. 385.

110

Ibid., p. 387.

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destructive mines and Mr. Day's rhetoric. The rocks left their solid base, the convulsed earth yawned and swallowed up whole companies of the enemy. T h e invaders fled, pursued by the Lebanon men, and left upon the field the body of Tigranes. "Unhappy man," said Sophron, "thou hast at length paid the price of ungovernable ambition!" But though the Scythians had gone, they left behind an even more insidious enemy to ruin the men of Lebanon—hangings of silver and gold, Persian carpets, exquisite drinking cups. Sophron the ever wise saw the lust of these splendid trifles growing in the hearts of his countrymen, and by his advice the spoil was burnt, "lest the simplicity of the inhabitants of Lebanon should be corrupted, and the happy equality and union which had hitherto prevailed among them interrupted." 111 And having thus saved his fellows from the most dreadful fate of all, Sophron continued his life of retirement, honored as the most virtuous and valiant man of his country. Tommy was indeed approaching "natural" regeneration, for he was able to give a moral to the story. " I now plainly perceive that a man may be of much more consequence by improving his mind in various kinds of knowledge, even though he is poor, than by all the finery and magnificence he can acquire." He wished that Mr. Barlow had read the story to the young gentry; perhaps then they wouldn't have felt such contempt for Harry, who, though he didn't wear fine clothes and powder his hair, was "better and wiser than them all." Mr. Merton made a sarcastic comment upon the little use that Tommy had made of the good instruction given him. Then came the great moment which showed that Tommy was indeed regenerate. He withdrew from the room and returned, a changed boy. " . . . He had combed the powder out of his hair, and demolished the elegance of his curls; he had divested his dress 1,1

Ibid.,

p. 301.

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of every appearance of finery; and even his massy and ponderous buckles, so long the delight of his heart, and the wonder of his female friends, were taken from his shoes, and replaced by a pair of the plainest form and appearance."112 The fond Mrs. Merton protested that he looked like a ploughboy. Mamma [answered T o m m y gravely], I am only now what I ought always to have been. Had I been contented with this dress before, I never should have imitated such a parcel of coxcombs as you have lately had at your house; nor pretended to admire Miss Matilda's music, which . . . had almost set me asleep; nor should I have exposed myself at the play and the ball; and, what is worst of all, I should have avoided all m y shameful behaviour to Harry at the bull-baiting. But, from this time, I shall apply myself to the study of nothing but reason and philosophy; and therefore I have bid adieu to dress and finery forever.

Tommy was saved. To the credit of Thomas Day be it said that Mr. Merton and Mr. Barlow had some trouble in controlling their risibles. Tommy was to receive the remainder of his education at Harry Sandford's farm. Thither he went, made his apology to a farmer's son, and for a while lived the life of a farm boy. The black who had helped to save him was there and acted as one of his instructors. He told, with all the rhetoric of a noble savage, stories about fighting bulls in South America, and about killing the lion and hippopotamus in his native Gambia. He gave accounts of the hardiness and kindness of the Negro in his native country, and attacked the pride of the parasitic rich man in England. He contrasted the natural free life of the Negro with the white's luxury, weakness, and selfishness. Under Ibid., p. 394. In The Fool (I, 83-86) Henry at his father's house was equipped with highly ornamented clothes. When his foster father warned him against finery, with the story of the Nessian shirt, he immediately stripped off all the trimmings.

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such tutelage Tommy lost all racial prejudice, " . . . h e learned to consider all men as his brethren and equals; and the foolish distinctions which pride had formerly suggested were gradually obliterated from his mind."113 Nor did Mr. Barlow desert his pupil. On frequent visits he instructed Tommy in the physical phenomena of outdoor life, praised him for his virtuous course, and held before him the example of Cincinnati^: When the Roman people, oppressed by their enemies, were looking out for a leader able to defend them, and change the fortune of the war, where did they seek for this extraordinary man? I t was neither at banquets, nor in splendid palaces, nor amid the gay, the elegant, nor the dissipated; they turned their steps toward a poor and solitary cottage, such as the meanest of your late companions would consider with contempt; there they found Cincinnatus, whose virtues and abilities were allowed to excel all the rest of his citizens, turning up the soil with a pair of oxen, and holding the plough himself.1"

The time had now come for Tommy to return to his parents. His language shows his regeneration. "I will accompany you home, sir," he said to his father, "with the greatest readiness; for I wish to see my mother, and hope to give her some satisfaction of my future behaviour. You have both had too much to complain of in the past; and I am unworthy of such affectionate parents."115 But before they went the virtuous family of Sandford must be rewarded. Mr. Merton presented to Mr. Sandford a pocketbook containing several hundred pounds, which gift the philosophic farmer promptly refused. When the donor urged that he should provide himself with the conveniences of life, this dis"* S. and M., pp. 412-13. So in The Fool (II, 345) Henry loses his prejudices against the blacks. "'Ibid., p. 403. m Ibid., p. 413. The formality of ideas and language here has a parallel in Henry's valedictory to Ned, who was returning to his parents. The Fool, II, 78.

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interested man replied that these conveniences were the ruin of the country: 116 . . . Formerly, sir, as I was saying, we were all happy and healthy, and our affairs prospered because we never thought about the conveniences of life: now, I hear of nothing else. One neighbor—for I will not mention names—brings his son up to go a shooting with gentlemen; another sends his to market upon a blood horse, with a plated bridle; and then the girls, the girls!—there is fine work, indeed; they must have their hats and feathers, and riding-habits; their heads as big as bushels, and even their hind-quarters stuck out with cork or pasteboard; but scarcely one of them can milk a cow, or churn, or bake, or do any one thing that is necessary in a family; so that, unless the government will send them all to this new settlement, which I have heard so much of, and bring us a cargo of plain honest housewives, who have never been at boarding-schools, I cannot conceive how we farmers are to get wives. 1 1 7

But even this worthy man had his amiable weakness. When Mr. Merton presented a team of "the true Suffolk sorrels, the first breed of working horses in the kingdom," when Harry reported that "they beat Farmer Knowles's all to nothing, which have long been reckoned the best team in the country," Sandford accepted. Tommy closed Sandjord and Merton with a farewell to Harry which showed that he had so closely approached the perfection of his tutor that he could give not only the moral to a story but to a whole course of instruction. "You have taught me," he said, "how much better it is to be useful than rich or fine; how much more amiable to be good than to be great. Should I be ever tempted to relapse even for an instant, into any of my former habits, I will return hither for instruction, and I hope you will again receive me." ' " A discussion in The Fool (I, 297) claims that with the arts and conveniences of life have come passions and vices. Accordingly the advance of the arts has meant the degradation of human nature. " " 5 . and M., p. 415.

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Perhaps the philosophy of Sandford and Merton cannot better be summarized than in Tommy's generalization, "those nations that have little or nothing are more good-natured, and better, and braver, than those that have a great deal,"118 and its corollary, that the poor are better than the rich. An analysis of the book gives a more detailed statement of its philosophy: the innate goodness of man acted on by hardy environment brings modesty, content, pity, religion, usefulness, self-reliance, physical strength, courage; the innate goodness of man acted on by luxurious environment brings pride, discontent, callousness, irreligion, uselessness, helplessness, physical weakness, and cowardice. The philosophy was Rousseauistic in origin, but Day, the follower, was prone to emphasize some details out of all proportion. Rousseau advocated as a part of the simple life, simple clothes; Day was a fanatic on the subject, and as we have noticed, made the climax to Tommy's conversion the scene where he raked the powder from his hair and clipped the buckles from his shoes. Educate a child hardily that he may be prepared for any changes in fortune, says Rousseau; give a child a hardy education, says Day, that he may take care of himself when he is cast upon a desert island.119 A hardy education brings virtues which conduce to a happy life, says Rousseau; a hardy education brings virtues, and virtues are always rewarded, says Day. In general the things taught and the methods used in Tommy's education were similar to those in Emile. Some exceptions must be made. Though Tommy was given that education of the senses advocated by Rousseau, his knowledge of the theoretical subjects such as geography and history 120 exceeded that allowed "'Ibid., p. 314. Rousseau docs mention allowing a child to educate himself to be a Crusoe. Emile, pp. 147-48. 1:0 But note Rousseau's admission that a young child could learn history profitably. See p. 94 preceding.

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Emile, and he learned to read about five years before Emile did. His sensibility and religious nature were cultivated at the age of six instead of sixteen. According to the time scheme actually given by Day's book, Tommy was taught between the ages of six and eight most of the things that Emile learned between six and sixteen. Looked at from the point of view of ideas and language, the first volume seems suited to a child from six to nine, the second from nine to twelve, the third from twelve to fifteen. But it was in methods that Day's character made him differ most with Rousseau. Emile was to learn very largely by experience; he was to discover things for himself, to judge facts for himself; his lessons were to be doing rather than talking; he was not to be reasoned with, to be given long explanations, to be ridiculed. Now it is true that Day, in the character of Mr. Barlow, allowed his pupil to leam many things by experience. But he was too much of a moral lecturer and dialectician to let matters stop there. He must explain to Tommy the meaning of those experiences. He must give him stories containing supposedly the experience of others with the moral neatly attached. He must reason with him on his gentlemanly prejudices and punish him for them with his ridicule. And so the truth which Tommy was to leam came largely from the mind and lips of Mr. Barlow. Day must have had a good time writing his book. It permitted him to use successfully certain theories and ideals that in his actual life had failed. He had been thrown with fashionable people and had felt their ridicule; he had wooed fashionable ladies, had felt his gawkiness in their presence, had for their sake tried to acquire the graces—and failed. No wonder if his comments now were bitter: "The ladies, too, will have their share in the improvement of his character: they will criticise the colour of his clothes, his method of making a bow, and of entering a room. They will teach him that the great object of human

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life is to please the fair; and that the only method of doing it is to acquire the graces." 121 Then he had been living in the artificial world of fashion, where Sir Fopling Flutter's pun had the better of Thomas Day's philosophy, and a dress sword was more highly esteemed than a strong right arm. Not so in the new world of Sandford and Merton. There he was to be close to nature, where real worth and hardy virtues were always victorious, where fashion and luxury were defeated. So Tommy, the gentleman, became the scapegoat; and Harry, the farmer's boy, the hero. Tommy's pride of rank, of race, of accomplishment was rebuked; Harry's self-righteousness was applauded. The little aristocrat was taken upon the farm of Anningsley and taught his weakness by a boy equipped with all the virtues of Thomas Day. And when this young Thomas Day accompanied his friend to a luxurious home and was thrown among fine little ladies and gentlemen, he made no compromises in his virtuous sentiments or simple attire. True, he suffered, and his suffering has a ring of reminiscent sincerity: What sort of a figure could a poor boy like me make at a gentleman's table, among little masters and misses that powder their hair, and wear buckles as big as our horses carry upon their harness? If I attempted to speak, I was always laughed at; or if I did anything, I was sure to hear something about clowns and rustics! And yet, I think, though they were all gentlemen and ladies, you would not much have approved of their conversation; for it was about nothing but plays, and dress, and trifles of that nature. I never heard one of them mention a single word about saying their prayers or being dutiful to their parents, or doing any good to the poor. 122

Secure in his virtue, Harry endured—and conquered. "The young ladies now forgot their former objections to his person and manners; and such is the effect of genuine virtue, all the company conspired to extol the conduct of Harry to the m

S. and M., p. 30.

m

Ibid., p. 363.

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skies." 123 At last in this new environment the hardy virtues of Thomas Day had overcome even the prejudices of fashionable ladies. And Mr. Merton, the unprejudiced, could say of him that he had "the noblest mind that ever adorned a human being." 124 The objections of our time to Sandjord and Merton are many. For a children's book it is too philosophical. Some of its ideas, such as that of the immediate reward of virtue, are misleading. Its language is declamatory, pompous, rhetorical. Its hero is a prig. Only occasionally do we get a real character, such as Farmer Sandford with his account of female vanity, or Jacky Smithers with his description of the fight.125 Tommy, who displays human pride, asks natural questions, shrinks from pain and danger, and involves himself in disastrous experiments, —Tommy appeals to our affections; but even he who had served so well as the target for Mr. Barlow's shafts, must be made over into the image of Harry Sandford. Day lived in the age of Grandison, and so only occasionally allowed his principal characters to lapse into imperfect humanity. But let us look at Sandjord and Merton as Day would have us, not as a treatise on education, but as a story intended for the use of children. The story-loving child is an unmoral creature, disposed to take the cash and let the credit go. He is not bothered by morals of doubtful truth, by long philosophizings; Ibid.,

m

p. 275.

124

Ibid., p. 361.

"And so he [Tommy] gave me these clothes here, all out of good will, and I put them on, like a fool as I was, for they are all made of silk and look so fine that all the little boys followed me, and hallooed as I went, and Jack Dawset threw a handful of dirt at me, and dirtied me all over. Oh! says I, Jacky are you at that work ? And with that I hit him a punch in the belly, and sent him roaring away. But Billy Gibson and Ned Kelly came up and said I looked like a Frenchman, and so we began fighting and I beat them till they both gave out; but I don't choose to be hallooed after wherever I go, and to look like a Frenchman, and so I have brought master his clothes again." Ibid., pp. 56-57. 138

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these are but the sermons a beggar must hear before he receives the mess of stomach-filling stew. The story is the thing! The language may be a little pompous, if only the story is clear. The hero may be a prig; if he fights well and frequently. Adventure, action, and success, not character, are the things that count. The child in his imagination delights to hunt lions in Africa, to drive a dog sledge in Kamtschatka, to build a house upon Crusoe's isle. He is fascinated with the physical phenomena about him and willing to work with them. And somehow Day, who loved children and wanted to please them, put all of these fascinating features into his book. Sandjord and Merton became one of the most successful children's books of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Though its moralizings converted few youngsters from the sin of pride, they served to assure parents that it was a sound and improving work. So the parents bought it and the children read it. The History

oj Sandford

and Merton

appeared in three duo-

decimo volumes dated respectively 1783, 1786, and 1789.128 Day attached his name to none of these, though almost from the first he was recognized as their author. 127 Like many eighteenth-century writers, he considered that a book for children would probably detract from his reputation; and he imagined that his work would be subject to "innumerable pleasantries "" The first volume ( v i i + 2 1 5 pp.) w a s probably published in the aut u m n ; it w a s reviewed in the English Review, N o v . , 1783, II, 379. The second volume (306 pp.) w a s probably published in the spring of 1786; it was reviewed in t h e European Magazine, June, 1786, I X , 427; and the frontispiece of the third edition has the date March 26, 1736. The third volume (308 pp.) w a s published, according to the date on the frontispiece, Aug. 20, 1789. m Monthly Review (Vol. L X X , Jan. to June, 1784) lists in its table of contents "Day's Hist, of Sandford and Merton." Advertisement sheet facing p. 110, Letters oj Marius, 2nd Ed., 1784, lists S. and M. among his works.

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and sneers."128 But its reception was auspicious, as the conclusion to a criticism in the English Review shows: This author deserves praise, both for the plan, and the execution of his work, which is much the best we have seen, and is adapted to the capacities of very young children. Perhaps it had been better if he could have left out the serious conversation on religion, as it happens to be beyond the understanding of those to whose use the work is dedicated. Although nearer the even than the morn of life ourselves, we read the work with pleasure. The author's motto is, Suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not: So far are we from forbidding them, that we invite parents to put this book into their children's hands, as one of those few from which the little ones may learn just and noble sentiments of integrity. 129

Only in the third volume did a critic find the stories above the capacity of a child. Of course there were some objections to the book. Most of these were to its structure. Several reviews wished that Day had eliminated the conversation between Mr. Barlow and Mr. Merton on the Christian religion; one wished that he had written a straightforward narrative without the interspersed stories; and another objected in the individual stories, such as The Good-Natured Boy, to "an artificial accumulation of incidents, which give them an air of improbability." 150 A most strenuous objection was given to the regime of manual labor for Gentleman Tommy. "If it were a common thing for men to be cast upon desert regions, it might be reasonable to provide for such disasters: but since, in the present state of society, such violent changes are exceedingly improbable, it is surely wiser to employ the precious hours of youth in qualifying the young students for usefulness in the station in which they are most likely to appear, than in preparing them for bare possibilities."181 B

" S. and M., Preface, p. 10.

'"Eng. Review, Nov., 1783, II, 379. "Mo.

Review, LXX, 129.

m

Ibid., LXX, 129.

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In general the reviewers thought Day's book excellent. The language they found elegant, but at the same time clear to children. The stories they thought well adapted to juvenile amusement and instruction. They approved of the virtues inculcated and the methods of inculcating them.132 In opposition to the view that a boy should receive only instruction for his particular rank, one review congratulated Day on having educated a man rather than a nobleman and on advocating a hardy education for women; another praised him for having taught what was of use both to the mechanic and the aristocrat. The book which Day had hesitated so long about publishing and which he had expected the critics to lash so severely, received instead their warmest praise. In 1788 this notice appeared among John Stockdale's book advertisements:133 The following Books, for the Instruction and Entertainment of Youth, are just published. 1. THE HISTORY OF LITTLE JACK; who was found by Accident, and nursed by a Goat. This D a y is published, price only One Shilling, neatly printed in a small Volume, and ornamented with twenty-two beautiful Cuts, THE HISTORY OF LITTLE JACK.

B y the Author of Sandford and Merton. See Fortune's scorn, but Nature's darling child; Rock'd by the tempest, nurtur'd on the wild! With mind unsoften'd. and an active frame, N o toils can daunt him, and no danger tame! Ibid., (Nov., 1786, LXXV, 361-64), says of Vol. II: "The sensible and ingenious Author (Mr. Day) possesses in great perfection the happy art of conveying useful information, just and manly sentiments, and important precepts, in the form of dialogue and story. Excellent lessons of hardy temperance, activity, humanity, generosity, and piety; rational views of society; and, withal, many articles of instruction in science, are, in this little volume, agreeably wrought up into the form of narration." On an advertisement sheet facing page 1 of Day's A Letter to Arthur Young, 1788.

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CHILDREN'S BOOKS T h o u g h w i n d s and w a v e s i m p e d e his daring course, H e steers right o n w a r d , and defies their f o r c e .

2. T h e Children's M i s c e l l a n y , in O n e V o l u m e , i l l u s t r a t e d w i t h a b e a u t i f u l F r o n t i s p i e c e . P r i c e 3s. 6d. b o u n d .

Little Jack appeared first in 1788 as a part of The Children's Miscellany. The preface of this collection, written by Day, 134 informs us that some gentlemen of fortune and literary abilities conceived the idea of making a selection of material "which might engage the minds of children to the improvement of their knowledge, and inspire them with an early love of virtue." The Miscellany was to take from both English and continental sources various stories, natural histories, and voyages; included were to be some pieces composed by the authors. The production was to appear in periodical numbers. But the other gentlemen were compelled to give up the plan, and the papers were intrusted to the editor. Now -whoever the editor was (and we strongly suspect Thomas Day) the Children's Miscellany that he published was infused with Day's ideas. Pride is reformed by disastrous experience.135 Love of finery is rebuked. 136 Virtue, especially generosity, is rewarded.137 A hardy, useful education is recommended.138 Some of the stories are remarkably like those in Sandjord and Merton. The Contrast, for instance, is another story about the good-natured and illn a t u r e d boys; and The History

of Emmeline

and Jenny

is

simply a female version of Sandford and Merton in which the spoiled daughter of a wealthy man is reformed by the goodnatured daughter of a poor man. But let us examine the story of which Day was the undoubted author. 134

So says Kippis (p. 31) and Timaeus (p. 134). 136 History of the Little Queen. The Nosegay. 137 History of the Three Brothers. 138 Introduction to The History of Philip Quarll. This introduction was undoubtedly written by Day. Its philosophy and language are his. The Monthly Review ( L X X I X , 173) speaks of it as his work. 135

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In Little Jack Day gave two things: the natural education of a foundling, and his consequent success both in savage countries and in industrial England. Little Jack, the baby, was left one wintry night on the moor near the hut of an honest old soldier. This man, despite the fact that he was a cripple, took the child in and cared for it. It needed nourishment. Not for long, however. The old soldier, one of Day's resourceful characters, had a she-goat, Nanny. He "called her to him, and presenting the child to the teat, was overjoyed to find, that it sucked as naturally as if it had really found a mother." And so Little Jack had; the goat was his mother, the old soldier his father. " I t was wonderful to see how this child, thus left to nature, increased in strength and vigour. Unfettered by bandages or restraints, his limbs acquired their due proportions and form; his countenance was full and florid, and gave indications of perfect health; and, at an age when other children are scarcely able to support themselves with the assistance of a nurse, this little foundling could run alone." With clothing this boy was not much bothered; he had no shoes, no stockings, no shirt, and, in the warm weather, did not feel their need. From his two foster parents he got his education. "In a short time Jack began to imitate the sounds of his papa the man, and his mamma the goat; nor was it long before he learned to speak articulately." With his mother the boy played upon the moor and thus gained a healthy body. His father soon taught him how to cook, entertained him with stories of his adventures, and before his sixth year drilled him in the manual of arms. Nor were scholarship and morality neglected. He learned his letters from drawings made in the sand, and soon could read and write. He learned that as a good soldier he must always tell the truth, and that if he were honest and dutiful in this world, Heaven was assured him in the next.

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Jack displayed an extraordinary degree of sensibility and generosity to his parents. When Nanny became sick, "he tended her with the greatest affection and assiduity." When she died he was deeply affected, and would often go to her grave in the garden, calling to her and asking her why she had left him. 13 ' A lady passing by one day heard the moaning, made inquiries, and then offered to take Jack to live with her. "No," said Jack, " I must stay with Daddy; he has taken care of me for many years, and now I must take care of him; otherwise I should like very well to go with such a sweet, good-natured lady." (Day's heroes are becoming more courtly.) The lady, well pleased, gave him a half crown, and told him to get shoes and stockings with it. But the Rousseauistically trained lad found them cumbersome, and purchased, instead, a winter coat for his daddy. One failing, we are relieved to know, Day allowed his hero; Jack was a little jealous of his honor. If anybody ridiculed his daddy or his mammy, he was on the offender like a tiger. And such a good boxer was he for his years, that he could beat any boy who was not over a head taller than he. He even attacked Dick the butcher, a boy twice his size, for calling the old soldier a beggar man; and Day relaxed his virtuerewarded rules long enough to allow him to get a good drubbing. WTien Jack was about twelve, his foster father grew mortally ill. He called the boy to his bedside for a parting talk, which was mainly taken up with the contention that a life of poverty is as happy as a life of riches. "I am now going to die," he said; " I feel it in every part; the breath will soon be out of my body; then I shall be put in the ground, and the worms will eat your poor old daddy." A rather gruesome death scene followed. Jack now became a stoical wanderer. For a time he found " " A similar incident occurs in Berquin's story of Jacquot

(L'Ami).

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work with a farmer. When that was exhausted, he tramped the country, enduring cold and storm, living on the poorest fare. Finally he obtained work in a foundry, and applied himself so well that he made a comfortable living. But the boys learned of his past life and teased him intolerably. So came many fights, the worst of which occurred while the master was showing a group of ladies all the wonders of his iron shops. Jack was hauled before the company to explain his disturbance. "Sir," said Jack, "it is Tom that has been abusing me and telling me that my father was a beggarman and my mother a nanny-goat; and when I desired him to be quiet he went baaing all about the house; and this I could not bear; for as to my poor father he was an honest soldier, and if I did suck a goat, she was the best creature in the world, and I wont hear her abused while I have any strength in my body." The audience of ladies had difficulty in not laughing; but one of them recognized Jack as the little boy whose history she had heard, and offered again to take him into her service. This time he consented. He now entered a new sphere of life. He was washed and clothed and became a smart active lad. He had already acquired the foundations of education in a sound body and a good character. As a servant he won the goodwill of all by his willingness, and incidentally, managed to learn a tremendous number of practical things: riding, farriery, horseshoeing, saddle-making, and carpentry. With young Master Willets he was in high favor, and trained his horse to be the "most gentle and docile little animal in the country." Thus Jack became the young gentleman's companion and learned with him "accounts, and writing, and geography." In this active life he was very happy. But enter the villain, a young dandy. 140 Sufficient is it to say, that the little aristocrat snubbed Jack, Jack ridiculed the aristocrat. During the al140

See p. 96 preceding.

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tercation the proud gentleman saw fit to kill our hero's pet monkey and was promptly thrown down in the mire. (How Day loved to spoil fine clothes!) Jack refused to apologize and found himself hunting for another job. The new job proved to be that of a soldier, to which he was attracted by the stories and training he had received from his foster father. He became a marine, embarked on a ship for India, and in a few weeks was well acquainted with all the duties of a sailor. A new test of his adaptability was at hand, however. While the ship stopped at one of the Comoro Islands off the coast of Africa, Jack went ashore to hunt, and got separated from his companions. "He found himself now abandoned in a strange country, without a single friend, acquaintance, or even anyone who spoke the same language." At last Day had brought his hardy, useful hero to the desert island. But "no toils can daunt him, and no danger tame!" Jack provided for his immediate wants by shooting game and roasting it over a fire made by rubbing sticks. He found a dry cavern, made a grass bed, and barricaded himself against wild animals with an abattis work of boughs. He also used for food shellfish, and berries which he saw the birds peck, and a potatolike root which he found by experiment not to be poisonous. "In this manner did Jack lead a kind of savage, but tolerably contented life, for several months; during which time he enjoyed perfect health. . . . " At last he was picked up by a ship and carried to India. There he again entered the service, acquitted himself bravely, and reached the rank of sergeant. On one expedition, the little army with which he was serving, entered some plains close to the lands of the Tartars. Now Jack, who was well acquainted with the history and habits of these people, warned his officers against exposing the force to their attacks in the plains. His warnings, like those of Harry Sandford, were not heeded. The

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inevitable followed.. The army was surrounded by Tartar horsemen and forced to surrender. But the Tartar chief proved a noble savage. He received the officers civilly, "and after having gently reproached them with their ambition, in coming so far to invade a people who had never injured them," he consented on very liberal terms to allow the army to return. A few hostages were to be left as guarantee for the performance of certain agreements. Among them was Jack, "and while all the rest seemed inconsolable, at being thus made prisoners by a barbarous nation, he alone, accustomed to all the vicissitudes of life, retained his cheerfulness, and prepared to meet every reverse of fortune with his usual firmness." An opportunity was soon provided to show his superiority to the officer hostages. The Tartars, one of those hardy races which Day was always bringing into his books from the ends of the earth, were wonderful horsemen. Now their Khan had a sick horse which he asked the European officers to doctor. They were ignorant of farriery. But Little Jack examined the animal, discovered it had fever, and bled it. Fortunately the horse recovered, and its doctor's fortune was made. Jack became the official farrier. Not content with curing horses, he showed the Tartars how by continual care and attention, rather than by violence, he could make his horse obedient to him. For the benefit of his Tartar masters he made horseshoes and saddles.141 These exertions gained him the favour and esteem both of the Khan and all the tribe; so that Jack was an universal favourite and loaded with presents, while all the rest of the officers, who had never learned to make a saddle or an horseshoe, were treated with contempt and indifference. Jack, indeed, behaved with the greatest 1U

Day bases this part of his story upon Wm. Smith's A New Voyage to Guinea, 2nd Ed., London, 1745, pp. 171-89. In Smith's account a Mr. Bulfinch Lamb, taken captive by the king of Dahomey, gained wealth during his imprisonment by pandering to the king's childish and sensual tastes.

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generosity to his countrymen, and divided with them all the mutton and venison which were given him; but he could not help sometimes observing that it was a great pity they had not learned to make an horseshoe instead of dancing and dressing hair. When at last Jack and the other hostages were sent back to the English settlements, he carried with him handsome presents of horses and skins from his friend the Khan. From these he realized a moderate sum, and then with the help of an officer secured his release and returned to England. Here he could not be idle, but hunted up his old master, who engaged him as foreman of his forge. He proved indefatigable in his duties, honest in his accounts, humane in his dealings with men. In a few years he was made a partner; after his master's death he became sole owner, and like Matthew Boulton, one of the most respectable and wealthy manufacturers in the country. The industrious apprentice had arrived at the top. In this new situation Jack showed no pride. He remembered with affection his poor old foster father, and built upon the site of his hut a small but convenient house. "Hither he would sometimes retire from business, and cultivate his garden with his own hands, for he hated idleness. "To all his poor neighbors he was kind and liberal, relieving them in their distress, and often entertaining them at his house, where he used to dine with them, with the greatest affability, and frequently relate his own story; in order to prove that it is of very little consequence how a man comes into the world, provided he behaves well, and discharges his duty when he is in it." Day had at last educated his foundling. Furthermore he had proved the essential goodness of human nature and the value of a moral, hardy training. When Edgeworth read the story he wrote Day: "We admire Little Jack very much—I see you were resolved to introduce Nurse Goat somewhere or other. . . . Pray tell us who de-

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signed the Prints." 1 4 2 The remarks are suggestive. T h e goat is a rather ludicrous feature in the story, which Day knew well enough, but refused to withdraw. Aside from this and an occasional formality of language the story is excellent 143 and shows considerable improvement over Sandford and Merton. It is a direct narrative from first to last. There are no interruptions. Instead of attacking by arguments the dandified, superior little gentleman, D a y gives the scene in which Jack humiliates one. Instead of urging on a young gentleman the theoretical necessity of acquiring a hardy useful education, he has Jack, a poor boy, acquire it; then places him on an island to use it. The space which might have been used for extended moral discussions is occupied by "twenty-two beautiful cuts." And all this in a shilling volume. D a y had at last learned how to reach children. 144 The publisher who had printed Day's political pamphlets 145 and children's books was John Stockdale. He, if we can judge him from his advertisement lists, was something of a political reformer, interested in American independence and parliamentary reform, and strongly opposed to the Coalition. Strange to say, he also had a penchant for children's books, and included in his list not only Sandjord and Merton but Berquin's famous L'Arni des Enjants. Between him and Day was a warm friendship, which, of course, meant that he must receive an occasional lecture. The following letter speaks for itself: M y dear Mr. Stockdale. If you manage your affairs with other people as ill as you sometimes do with me, I think it must tend very considerably to your Letter, Edgeworth to D a y , Sept. 19, 1789. I t is reprinted in E. V. Lucas's Old-Fashioned Tales, Frederick A. Stokes, 192S. 144 T h e Monthly Review (Aug. 1788, L X X I X , 173-74) gave a very favorable review of The Children's Miscellany and Little Jack. "It [L. ].] is entertaining and instructive." 14, W e must except from this the speeches made in 1780. lu

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own loss. I bought one of M. Dixon's voyages some time ago; not contented with this, you sent me a second; I told you of this last time you were down here & should have sent it back, had I not been unexpectedly seized with the ague. Not contented with this you have now sent me a third copy of the same dull book—As a little lesson I have taken the liberty of sending them all three back, & will now take neither of them—I have also to remind you, that you have now had my account for several months, if not for some years, & you have made no progress in settling it; which is disagreeable to me, a man of method and regularity, though an author. My second lesson, will therefore be this, that though I have finished the 3d volume ready for printing, you may depend upon it, I will not send the conclusion, until you let me know, by a letter, signed by your wife (for I will not take your word) that all our accounts are exactly balanced. I am your affect, friend. Thos. Day July 28, 1789." 8 And with this discipline administered to a publisher closes the account of Day's works.

'"Bodleian, MS. Montagu D 12, fol. 206.

CHAPTER

X

R E L I C T A N D RELICS On September 28, 1789, Day set out from Anningsley on a twenty-mile ride to rejoin his mother and wife at Barehill. T h e propects for a comfortable journey were none too good; Day had recovered only a short time from a spell of ague, and the colt he rode was not well broken. But he would not distrust his horsemanship. In the horse itself he had taken much interest. One of the principal teachings of his boys' books had been kindness to animals. "Even the fiercest beasts," he had written, "are capable of being softened by gratitude and moved by humanity." 1 To tame any animal, he taught Tommy Merton, knowledge of its nature and kindness of treatment are necessary. And so the proper method of training a colt for riding is to gain its confidence by feeding and stroking it, and then gradually to accustom it to the feel of the bridle, the saddle, and last of all, to the weight of the rider. Little Jack, we remember, when a prisoner of the Tartars, had by care and attention made his horse so docile that he was able to surprise his captors, who never controlled their steeds except by violence, with feats of horsemanship. NTow D a y himself, averse to the brutal means often taken to break horses, had tried by gentle methods to train this colt which he rode. The first part of the journey passed without mishap. Day rode along contentedly enough between hawthorn hedges, under magnificent beech trees. He was nearing Barehill now, a beautiful rolling country. Here was Waltham St. Lawrence with its 1

Sandford

and Merton,

p. 52.

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group of white-washed, thatched cottages. Only a short time and he would be riding up the elm lane to the high-gabled red brick house of his mother. Esther would be rushing to greet him. It would be good to see her again. And then the accident. His poorly broken horse, catching sight of a man winnowing corn with a vane, shied violently across the road. Day lost his balance, attempted to regain it, and thrust his spur by accident into the animal's flank. Exerting all its strength, the horse threw him head foremost on the stony road. In fifteen minutes he had died from concussion of the brain, without uttering a word, apparently without suffering much pain.' The surgeon reached the scene of the accident after the death of Day. Standing at the door of the house where Day had been carried to die, he stopped the anxious wife and mother who rushed up at the news of the fall. His troubled face, his silence, his hand waving them away told the story. On October 6 Day's body was interred in the Church of St. Mary at Wargrave, Berkshire—a beautiful but unpretentious building. The approach to the little church was through a pretty meadow bordered by planes, limes, and poplars; then came a gateway in a low flint wall, the graveyard with its green mounds and white crosses, the gray walls of the two 1 Seward (49-50) as usual gives an inaccurate and exaggerated account: "He [ D a y ] thought highly of the gratitude, generosity, and sensibility of horses; and that whenever they were disobedient, unruly, or vicious, it was owing to previous ill usage from men. H e had reared, fed, and tamed a favorite foal. When it was time it should become serviceable, disdaining to employ a horsebreaker, he would use it to the bit and burthen himself. H e w a s not a good horseman. T h e animal, disliking his new situation, heeded not the soothing voice to which he had been accustomed. H e plunged, threw his master, and then with his heels struck him on the head an instantly fatal blow." The account I have given is based on Keir, p. 97, and a letter from Thomas Lowndes to R. L. Edgeworth, Sept. 29, 1789 (Montagu M S . ) , describing the accident.

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gables, and the square red tower mantled with ivy. The body was placed in the family vault under a pew near the south aisle; on the wall above it was a plain memorial tablet containing the verses written by Day for Dr. Small. Mrs. Day considered them the best summary of her husband's character and so included them in his epitaph: I n Memory of T H O M A S D A Y , ESQ. who died, September 28th, 1789, aged 41 years. After having promoted by the energy of his writings, and encouraged by the uniformity of his example the unremitted exercise of every public and private virtue. Beyond the rage of time or fortune's power, Remain, cold stone! remain and mark the hour, When all the noblest gifts which heaven e'er gave, Were centered in a dark untimely grave. Oh! taught on reason's boldest wings to rise, And catch each glimmering of the opening skies; Oh! gentle bosom! oh, unsullied mind! Oh! friend to truth, to virtue and mankind! T h y dear remains we trust to this sad shrine, Secure to feel no second loss like thine!

With the death of her husband, Mrs. Day saw her world fall to pieces. For eleven years now she had adoringly followed the system laid down by her rhetorical prophet. She was in delicate health, and he prescribed long walks. She was accustomed to town life, and he took her to the rigid simplicity of a farm house on a common. She was an heiress, and he had her use her wealth for the poor. The system and its maker had brought her happiness and health. She had adopted his political ideas, even his conception of himself. T h e undeviating firmness, independence, and disinterestedness of M r . Day's character [she wrote] in an age of such venality, corruption, and effeminacy as the present, might surely be considered as a singular phaenomenon. As I , of all human beings, was the most

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intimately acquainted with the extraordinary and invariable simplicity of his life and manners, I do not scruple to say, that this, united to his patriotic spirit (with the opinion I entertained of his eloquence and abilities) continually reminded me of those great and virtuous characters of ancient times, who, despising the common objects of ambition, cultivated their farms, and yet were ever ready, when occasion called, to exert themselves in defense of the rights and liberties of their country. M y husband's conduct was in a great measure conformable to that sentiment of Rousseau: "Whilst there is one of our fellow creatures who wants the necessaries of life, what virtuous man will riot in its superfluities?" 3

And so there was at least one person in whose eyes Day was the perfect Cincinnatus. But Cincinnatus was dead, a departed god, and his worshipper found that her very absorption in him for over a decade left her unfitted for a life without him. " T h e situation I am in," she wrote Pollard, "can be compared only to the separation of soul & body, the entering upon a new & that a dreadful state of existence. Our having lived so much secluded from the world in a great measure confined to each others society renders the blow still more irrecoverable." 4 Under the first shock of her loss Esther Day was quite helpless. Instinctively she turned to Keir and Edgeworth, the friends whom Day trusted most implicitly. Thomas Lowndes, her nephew, wrote at her direction to inform both of these that they were Day's executors and to ask them to come immediately—only to discover that by the will of 1780 Mrs. Day herself was sole executrix. For weeks, however, she was prostrate, dependent even for correspondence upon one of her nephews or Erasmus Darwin, J r . In vain Day's friends wrote urging her to display something of his stoicism. She accused herself of feebleness of character, but was not able to attend Letter from Mrs. Day to Andrew Kippis. Kippis, p. 25. Letter Esther Day to W. Pollard [Nov. ? 1789], Br. Mus. Add. MS. 35656, f. 378. 3 1

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RELICS

313

personally to a n y of her affairs till two months h a d passed, or to travel till the spring of the following year. T h e death of D a y occasioned great pain to that small group of friends whom he had so trusted through the years. Edgeworth only a few weeks before h a d written urging him to bring Mrs. D a y on a visit to Edgeworthstown. In return, came that letter in a strange hand from Barehill with the direction, to be sent immediately, on the cover—Thomas Lowndes' letter telling of D a y ' s death and urging Edgeworth to come at once to England. M a r i a Edgeworth was never able to forget the dismay on her father's face as he read it. H e immediately wrote Lowndes: "Sir, " M y w i f e lay in last night—but nothing shall delay m e f r o m the m e l a n c h o l y d u t y t o which I have b e e n appointed by m y friend. . . . "Excuse m y haste. Affairs that m u s t be arranged & concern for the loss of the o n l y man in England whom I could call m y friend — I m e a n in the strict sense of the word, allows m e o n l y t o add m y thanks for the obliging expressions in your letter.'' 3

T h e child that had just been added to the patriarchal group, Edgeworth named T h o m a s D a y . " I hope," he wrote, "his name m a y excite him to imitate the virtues of my excellent friend." 8 N o t only Edgeworth, but Maria was painfully affected— " T h e profound influence he possessed over both their minds, a n d the large space he occupied in all their thoughts and views, was never supplied by any after friendships; there could be no second Mr. D a y . " 7 Dr. Darwin, one of the three friends from whom D a y said h e had always received constant kindness, wrote on this occasion: " I much lament the death of Mr. D a y . T h e loss of one's friends is one great evil of growing old. H e was dear to me by "Letter, Edgeworth to Thomas Lowndes, Oct. 8, 1789. Montagu MS. ' E d g e w o r t h to Lowndes, Edgeworth, II, 106.

'F. A. F.rkev.orth. Memoir of M. E., I. 16.

314

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many names (multis mihi nominibus cams), as friend, philosopher, scholar, and honest man."8 Darwin's son Erasmus, who had often visited and travelled with Day, spoke of him as a man "whose unequalled virtues gave Humanity its brightest Lustre."» Yes, in his own group of chosen friends Day was much missed. And even the public world from which he had withdrawn deigned to take some notice of his death. "It is with the greatest pain," said the liberal newspaper, the Public Advertiser, "that we announce to the public the death of one of the worthiest men . . . that this nation ever produced, Thomas Day, Esq., of Anningsley, near Chertsey; the celebrated author of that well known and justly admired work, the History of Sandford Merton, and other works . . . . the poor have lost their best advocate and friend."10 And three days later this paper continued its eulogy: a Gentleman distinguished f o r eminent abilities, which he employed as well as his affluent f o r t u n e , in such a m a n n e r as shewed t h a t he considered these advantages as having been e n t r u s t e d to him not f o r his personal gratification, b u t for the benefit of m a n k i n d ; his life having been u n i f o r m l y devoted to the p u n c t u a l discharge of every social duty, to the practise of beneficence, and to t h e exercise of public virtue, neither yielding to the passions of y o u t h nor to the impulse of personal ambition, n o r to the a l l u r e m e n t s of an effeminate age, he attained as near as is given t o h u m a n i t y , t h e s u m m i t of virtue. His literary productions are known and admired. His poems breathe the spirit of p o e t r y and f r e e d o m . His political works and speeches were not less distinguished f o r nervous eloquence than for the most disinterested patriotism, and regard to t h e rights and Iiber* P. 30, C. Darwin, Preliminary Notice to Erasmus Darwin by E. L. Krause, translated by W. S. Dallas. Murray, 1879. •Erasmus Darwin, Jr. to Pollard, Oct. 11, 1789. B. M. Add. MS. 3S6S6, f. 38. "Pub. Advertiser, Sat., Oct. 3, 1789.

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ties of mankind. He was among the first of those who exerted their efforts to emancipate the negroes from cruelty and tyranny. His latest work, the History of Sandford and Merton will remain as an instance of the successful application of genius to form the minds of youth to active and manly virtue.11 In somewhat the same terms the Gentleman's Magazine gave its more conservative estimate of Day's public and private life and character. 12 Truly there were others besides Esther Milnes who had very much the same opinion of Day that he himself had held. Cincinnatus should have rested quiet in his grave. There was perhaps only one item which would have disturbed him. The shorter notices of his death 13 showed that he was remembered not as the author of the political writings, which he considered his best, but as the author of Sandford and Merton, a children's book which he had long hesitated to publish and on whose titlepage he had never placed his name. T h e character of Day even received a eulogy from H. J . Pye, who had made a good police magistrate but was to make a poor poet laureate. ON THOMAS DAY,

ESQ.

If pensive genius ever pour'd the tear Of votive anguish o'er the Poet's bier; If drooping Britain ever knew to mourn In silent sorrow o'er the Patriot's urn, Here let them weep their Day's untimely doom, And hang their fairest garlands o'er his tomb; For never poet's hand did yet consign So pure a wreath to Virtue's holy shrine; For never Patriot tried before to raise His country's welfare on so firm a base; 11 Pub. Advert., Oct. 6, 1789. In the issue of Oct. 14, an article appeared praising Day as a political writer, and quoting extensively his defense of Hastings against Burke in Letters of Marius. " Gent. Mag., L I X , Part II, 958. "Scots Mag., Oct. 1789, LI, 517; European Mag., Oct. 1789, XVI, 3 1 1 ; Annual Register, 1789, X X X I , 226.

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RELICT AND RELICS Glory's bright form, he taught her youth to see, And bade them merit freedom to be free. No sculptur'd marble need his worth proclaim, No Herald's sounding style record his name, For long as sense and virtue fame can give. In his own works his deathless name shall live.14

B u t D a y was not to escape without adverse criticism. A certain C. L., most probably Anna Seward, in one of the newspapers represented him as a splenetic misanthrope who had retired from the scenes of social life, where alone virtue could flourish.15 And R. L. Edgeworth felt called upon to take u p the cudgels in his friend's defense. Mrs. D a y never really recovered from the shock of her husband's death. Two months elapsed before she could answer letters. " W i t h o u t the greatest care & attention to avoid all unnecessary agitation," she wrote then, " I think either my life or my reason must be the sacrifice." 1 " She did recover, however, from the kind of mental paralysis into which she had been hurled. She then attempted as best she might to fulfill the wishes of her departed prophet a n d continue the existence of his charities, his friendships, and his virtues. Her letters abound with references to this commemorative passion: "the desire of copying the virtues and perpetuating the friendships of the best oj men, as far as my poor abilities will permit, is indeed the only prevailing passion of my soul, & alone capable of allowing me to bear the burthen which existence is "•Pub. Advert.,

Oct. 13, 1789. Keir, pp. 126-27.

" T h e account of this attack as given by Keir (p. 127) exactly tallies with a letter written by Anna Seward to the Editor of the General Evening Post, Oct. 11, 17S9, reprinted in Seward's Letters (II, 329-30). One of Anna Seward's biographical hobbies was telling the best and worst about the character described. See her attempt to have Boswell state in his biography that Johnson had had an uncle hanged for horse stealing. Letters, I, 45. " B r . Mus. Add. MS. 35656, f. 52. E. D. to VV. Pollard, Dec. 2, 1789.

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now become to me;" 1 7 or again, "the only happiness left me upon earth, is to endeavor to tread in the footsteps of him who I believe as long as life remains will be forever present to my mind." 1 8 To such a devotee Day's will was of the greatest importance, particularly as she had been left sole executrix. The terms of this will of 1780 were simple: an annuity of £300 to Day's mother, Mrs. Phillips; an annuity of £200 to Mr. Phillips in the event of his wife's death; an annuity of £50 to Sabrina Sidney during her single life and a gift of £500 to her at the time of her marriage; 19 the remitting to James Keir of all the sums which he might owe Day; finally, the bestowal of the remainder of the estate on Esther Day. 2 0 The estate proved to be twenty thousand pounds less than Day had estimated to Edgeworth a few years before. This ingenious friend, knowing that Day, from fear of a national bankruptcy during the American War, had buried considerable sums under the floor of the study at Barehill, suggested to Mrs. Day that some of the money might yet be concealed, and offered to come over from Ireland for the purpose of making a search. But she replied: " a man of his liberal temper would not I think have suffered the embarrassments which I know he sometime did from the want of money, had he known where to procure it. . . . I am. . . persuaded that from his bountiful temper, his extensive farm in a most barren Country, & probably the changing one kind of property for another, he has sunk a good deal. . . . " 2 1 One of his most intimate friends

"Ibid., f. 8.3. E. D. to W. P., Mar. 17, 1790. "Ibid., I. 273. E. D. to W. P., Apr. 14, 1790. " See p. 243 preceding. " T h i s summary is based upon Day's will extracted from the Principal Registry of the Probate Divorce and Admiralty

Division of the High

Court of Justice. " E. D. to Edgeworth, Jan. 21. 1790. Montagu MS.

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assured her that Day "had given away by hundreds and thousands, to an amount which . . . 'even she, with all her knowledge of his benevolence, could scarcely imagine.' " 22 With the remnants of his estate and her own, Esther Day scrupulously fulfilled not merely the provisions of his will, but the promises he had made and the expectations he had raised. Sabrina Sidney, we remember, had already received her bequests, and Day, since the death of her husband, had been allowing her thirty pounds a year. This assistance Mrs. Day continued. It is my firm intention [she wrote Edgeworth] to do something for Mrs. John Bicknell: from considering the subject I think the best method will be to give her an annuity, not less than thirty, or more than fifty pounds a year. . . . Poor woman she has lost her friend & benefactor, & it is my duty to supply his place! Mr. Day who always considered the lasting good of others more than their present gratification, was not so lavish of his services at first, that he might lead Mrs. B— to exert herself. When I reflect that the circumstances which deprived Miss Sidney of Mr. Day's confidence, were the means of all my happiness, she appears to me doubly entitled to my pity & assistance. As to her children: it is most prudent that for the present, I should say nothing, ,& confine myself to placing her more at her ease. You will perhaps my dear Sir, think me very romantic, when I say, that I feel peculiarly interested about her from the belief that she once really loved the ever lamented Object of my fondness & veneration. 23 T o James Keir, Mrs. Day also showed the greatest kindness. She felt especially obliged to him; for he had been one of Day's best friends, had placed Day under great obligations by taking care of Sabrina, and had warmly promoted the marriage which he finally made. And "all the real felicity I ever enjoyed," said Esther Day, "was owing to that connection." 24 Keir was now, 21

Edgeworth, II, 107. " E. D . to Edgeworth, Jan. 21, 1790. Mont. MS. 11 Ibid.

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319

as his letters indicated, in poor health and spirits, and was having indifferent success in business. His life was largely centered in an only daughter, for whose future he feared he should not be able to provide. Accordingly Mrs. Day, not content with the mere remission of his debt 25 by her husband, placed in her will a provision that Keir's daughter should receive two thousand pounds; this legacy, however, she intended to revoke should the father attain financial success, for D a y had intended to revoke his own bequest under such circumstances. T o Edgeworth Mrs. Day also felt peculiarly obliged and for much the same reasons. Accordingly she took pains to explain to him that her husband had not remitted his debt of two thousand pounds, because he always thought of Edgeworth as having a larger fortune than his own. "As to the principal of your bond," she added, " I leave the payment of it entirely to yourself, & without I am in circumstances very different from which I have reason to think myself at present, I shall never demand it. Four per cent interest is all I desire, & I flatter myself you know me sufficiently to believe, that if you labor under any embarrassment . . . I shall always be much more inclined to lighten than increase them." 2 6 She inquired of Edgeworth concerning any legacy intended for him. Now before his marriage Day had promised to leave Edgeworth his library. In spite of this promise, Edgeworth generously gave up the claim because of Esther Day's feeling for her husband's books. "Indeed," she wrote, " I will ingenuously own, that of all the bequests he could have made, the leaving his whole Library from me would have mortified me the most, indeed more than if he had disposed of all his other property, & left " This debt probably amounted to several thousand pounds. The copy of Boulton's account with Day on July 27, 1778 (Boulton MS.), shows that Boulton was then turning over to Keir £2691 which he owed Day. " E . D. to Edgeworth, Dec. 23, 1789. Montagu MS.

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me only that. My ideas of him are so much associated with his books, that to part with them, would be as it were breaking some of the last ties which still connect me with so beloved an object. The being in the midst of books he has been accustomed to read, & which contain his marks and notes will still give him a sort of existence with me." 2 7 And so in place of these books Edgeworth accepted some of his friend's mathematical instruments besides some other books which Mrs. Day insisted on sending him. In settling her husband's affairs and in bestowing her own beneficences, Mrs. Day depended much upon the advice of Edgeworth, whom she considered, in adjectives caught from her husband's vocabulary, "the most purely disinterested and proudly independent of Mr. Day's friends." Her nephew, Milnes Lowndes, a young lawyer of the Middle Temple, equipped with a "very good understanding and considerable merit," acted as her attorney in collecting some accounts. 28 Erasmus Darwin, Jr., another young lawyer, who had acted as Mrs. Day's secretary during the first shock of her loss, gave her legal advice on important matters, notably her bequest to Keir's daughter. Altogether, Mrs. Day was well provided with legal advisers. One of the principal concerns of Esther Day was that those virtues of her husband which she had enjoyed in seclusion for over a decade should at last be given to the world in a biography. The intimate friends of Day conceived the same idea almost as soon as they heard of his death. Edgeworth wished to write a memoir of his life and prefix it to a collection of his letters. The introduction of this he spoke rather grandilo21

Ibid.

" Milnes Lowndes, for instance, wrote M a t t h e w

Boulton

concerning

a debt of £500 which still stood against him on D a y ' s books. Boulton, after some delay, wrote that this had been liquidated in June, 1785. I t is interesting to note in this letter the high regard which he had for D a y . Boulton to Lowndes, M a r . 6, 1790, Boulton MS.

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quently to Maria one morning as they were out riding: " I n the first emotions of grief and affection," began the orator. And the concluding statement gave his method of treatment: "Perhaps it will be thought, that, as his intimate friend, I should not trust myself with such a task; but I dare to rely upon my own impartiality; certain that I shall feel proud to produce the faithful likeness of such a man, without any temptation to correct nature, either from tenderness or presumption." 29 The resulting work was to be an intimate picture of D a y as his friend had known him. Mrs. Day was glad for Edgeworth to undertake such a life, trusted implicitly in his judgment as to what he should include, and offered to obtain letters from Day's friends for it. In a short time Edgeworth had practically completed the book. James Keir, however, was to publish the first biography. His plan was to give a eulogy of Day, interspersed with some general account of his life and works, and with a few illustrative anecdotes—a biography which would show its subject dressed fully for public admiration in a panoply of eighteenth-century virtues. Keir on hearing of the intimate anecdotal biography of Edgeworth, urged him to continue, for he thought their materials and methods would be so different as to avoid duplication. The Edgeworthian type of biography, he thought, would provide more entertainment; his own type would be "more suitable to be prefixed to his [Day's] works, fitter for the first introduction of Mr. Day's character to the public, and perhaps better adapted to the sensations of his friends on his still recent decease." 10 Mrs. Day was very strongly attracted by the biography which Keir had started; in fact had asked him to write it. Early in 1790 he sent her an extract containing a eulogy of the fortitude which Day's mother had transmitted " E d e e w o r t h . I I . 116. " K e i r to F.dpeworth. F e b . 22, 1790, Monta;;u

MS.

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to her son, and an account of how she had checked the raging bull with her eyes.31 Mrs. Phillips was much pleased with the extract; Mrs. Day, delighted with it and with the compliment given to the elder lady, would not hear to the biography's being discontinued. Edgeworth himself, on learning that Mrs. Day had asked Keir to write a biography, halted his own work, and offered to collaborate with him. But Keir did not accept the offer; his plan differed much from Edgeworth's and he did not consider that two authors separated by the sea could write in the same manner. Very wisely Edgeworth, despite his friend's urging, abstained from publishing a biography; and in 1820 when Maria published her father's memoirs, practically all the material on Day was included in them, thus giving a much more accurate and impartial picture than would have been possible during the life of Mrs. Day. For materials Keir depended on Day's family and friends. But Mrs. Day herself was easily agitated when looking over her husband's papers and was in such poor health and spirits that at first she was able to render little assistance. To Dr. Darwin and his son Erasmus, Keir appealed for anecdotes of or bon mots by Day. Edgeworth sent him a batch of letters, which he does not seem to have used, and a few anecdotes; William Seward gave him some material on Day's youth; and Dr. Darwin persuaded him to insert an account of the educational experiment with Sabrina and Lucretia. The biography in manuscript was submitted to both Edgeworth and Darwin for criticism. Finally in the spring of 1791 it appeared. Mrs. Day's recovery was very slow. She had little of her husband's fortitude, and made now a pitiful contrast with his strong-minded mother. At last, even the optimistic Edgeworth, to whom she unrestrainedly poured forth her sorrows, became alarmed lest her constitution be fatally injured by lack of exM

See p. 1 preceding.

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ertion and she should be fixed in habits of sorrow. And so he wrote a very rhetorical letter in which he held up to Mrs. Day as worthy of imitation his own fortitude under the loss of his favorite wife Honora some twelve years before and the fortitude which he would enjoin upon his sorrowing family when he was taken from them some years hence. Whether or not she was converted by this oration, Esther Day in the spring of 1790 decided to move to London. "My health is upon the whole," she wrote, "better than c[oul]d be expected considering the unabated anguish of my mind & the difficulty I find to procure any comfortable rest. . . . I am thoroughly convinced of the necessity of my chang[in]g the scene to give myself the least chance of recover [in] g any degree of chearfulness and tranquility. . . . " 32 Mr. Verdion, Day's London agent, obtained lodgings for her at 84 North Park Street, and there she had moved by June with one of her friends as a companion. Even London brought up painful memories. Devoted as Mrs. Day was to her husband's friends and determined to carry on social relations with them, the first sight of such a familiar face rendered her ill. There were several of Day's old associates whom she now saw rather frequently: William Seward, who was assisting with the details of the biography; John Stockdale, Day's publisher; Richard Warburton Lytton, a benevolent country gentleman of Northchurch, Hertfordshire; and, finally, that bilious sentimentalist, Walter Pollard. The ugly face of Day's protégé so stirred her feelings that she was unable to act naturally in his presence and felt obliged to write him an apology: "I fear you may be hurt with the apparent coldness of the reception which I have_ twice given you, but the consideration of the great intimacy which subsisted between you & my dear Husband, & the sentiments you " B r . Mus. Add. MS. 35656, f. 83. E. D. to W. P., Mar. 17, 1790.

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RELICS

mutually entertained for each other, act upon me in such a manner, that I am unable to behave as I c [ o u l ] d wish; for certainly to show respect to the beloved & distinguished Friends of that ever lamented object of my strongest & tenderest affections, is all that can reconcile me to life." 3 3 T h e relations between Walter Pollard and Mrs. D a y are worth lingering upon, for they illustrate well the way in which she continued her husband's friendships and benevolences. Pollard, after a futile six years in America, had returned to England, where alone his gentlemanly parasitism seemed to prosper. He had arrived several months before D a y ' s death, but had not dared to face D a y ' s indignation at his lack of steadfastness.

Fortunately

for

Pollard,

D a y was killed

and

the

wealthy widow was left a t the mercy of his elegant sentiments. H e hastened to write a letter of condolence, which contained a tactful explanation of his own actions: I am this moment in the deepest grief at the sad news of the Death of my lamented friend Mr. Day. I fear, the report is too true; & most sensibly do I feel & deplore the loss of one of the best of men! —What your feelings must be, I conceive; whose virtues were so formed for each others happiness.—After the various disasters of an agitated life, the loss of relations & parents, the ruin of my family, & to crown the whole, the destruction of my own health by three repeated fevers in the W. Indies, I returned some months ago into England.—Having experienced his friendship, his generous & elevated friendship, beyond my claims & I fear, at least equal to his resources, oppressed as I was with complicated evils of mind & body, & knowing his exquisite sympathy—I did not choose to exercise his virtues, & excite his condolence any further—but I waited, till I could see some reverse or some fairer prospect, before I should meet him, & relate to him all I [had] seen and suffered. I called & begged Mr. Verdyon to let him know, I loved & respected him: but I wanted the firmness or perhaps that callous feeling to distress Mr. Day with another series of misfortunes. . . . You will Ibid., f. 381.

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believe, that I have an active principle of gratitude which will ever be disposed to exert itself for the virtuous Lady of so good a Man." Well the "fairer prospect" had arrived in the form of Esther Day, widow. To her Pollard proposed to demonstrate his gratitude either by writing an account of the life and virtues of Day, which might be prefixed to Sandjord and Merton, or by publishing a revised edition of Day's writings. In either case he would see that Day's attacks upon England and the King were eliminated, for the Gallic faction in America used such things to stir up enmity against Britain. Of course biliousness interfered with gratitude, and the work was never done. It did not interfere, however, with the antiphonal singing of the virtues of the departed by his widow and his protégé. " I have felt," wrote Pollard to his prospective benefactress from Stanmore Priory, where he was comfortably settled with his benefactor, Lord Abercorn, "& shall feel much on this occasion; but his pure & elevated spirit is far above our concerns for him ; —if ever Mortal Man deserved happiness in the presense of the Deity, Mr. Day is & must be happy." 35 And the widow would reply: " I am sensible you entertain the most affectionate regard & highest veneration for the memory of my dear Husband. . . . How just is the concluding passage of yr last! Surely, if ever mortal deserved the sublime felicity of the celestial regions, he did, whose whole life & conduct were uniformly governed by this principle: T o think he was not for himself design'd; B u t born to be of use to all m a n k i n d . " 3 6

Of course it was not long before Pollard poured upon the afflicted but sympathetic Esther all of the sorrowful annals which he had so thoughtfully spared her more strenuous husIbid., ff. 28, 29. "Ibid., f. 34. Pollard to E. D., Oct. 8, 1789. "Ibid., ff. 272, 273. E. D. to P., Apr. 14, 1790. M

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band. Aside from his physical sufferings, he had been subjected to many persecutions. The Gallic faction in America had oppressed him, and had even gone to the extent of stopping some of his letters to Day. It was said that he had gone to America as a foe to England. His stepmother, who had most wantonly pursued his father during the life of her first husband, who had later caused his father's death by making him as an old man resume medical practice in England, -this vampire was now causing his sister to waste her estate, and was vindicating herself at Pollard's expense. To all of these woes and many others Esther listened. With agony of spirit she forced herself to look through Day's papers and select those letters which Pollard thought would explain and vindicate his conduct. She tactfully praised his noble sentiments and then tried to get him to take a more healthy attitude toward life. Futilely enough, she even urged tolerance toward the stepmother. "Would it not be more consistent with your love of justice & the natural generosity of your temper, at least to hear what she could say in her own defence?" She continued the letter by urging, as Day had done, that he rouse himself from his grief and melancholy. Then came this tactful offer: I flatter myself you will not reject any little services it may be in m y power to render you, as the only happiness left me upon earth, is to endeavor to tread in the footsteps of him who I believe as long as life remains will be forever present to my mind. But alas how little can I do with m y utmost exertions to supply his place! When added to my own unexpressible loss, I consider that which his friends and society have sustained in his superior understanding & comprehensive mind I do indeed find it difficult to restrain the wild excesses of m y grief. 37

Pollard decided to let Esther take Day's place as his benefactor. It was peculiarly fortunate that she should make the offer then, for Lord Abercorn, who had lent him much money, "Ibid., ff. 272-73, E. D. to W. P., Apr. 14, 1790.

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327

had become cold to him. And so the sentimental Pollard wrote, revised, blotted, rewrote, and accepted: " . . . I would not wave the service of a friend, willing & able to serve me. Loss of time, loss of health, & loss of spirits oblige me to lay by, & wait with all possible composure for the reparation of past evils. . . . B u t remember, Madam, that your kind offers are accepted upon the full assurance of your most entire ability. »38 The reward of his complaisance was such a note as this: Permit me to request your acceptance of the enclosed bills, & likewise that when we meet you will spare both yourself & me the embarassment of saying any thing on the subject. Naturally & profoundly indifferent as I am to money, I cannot attach much importance to pecuniary assistance, & for one of your elevated spirit to receive it from me, I consider as a proof that you are not ignorant of my character in that respect, & am consequently, flattered by it. 3B Pollard had at last met the ideal benefactor—one who gave generously and took him at his own valuation. But her benefactions did not stop with money—-there were invitations to dine, to go to Richmond for an outing, to meet friends such as Keir, to go to the theatre. Always she tried to stir him from his sluggish melancholia to a more active life. She urged him to take a part in the social world, to pay a visit to Lytton in the country; " . . . indeed my own opinion is that an attachment to some amiable deserving young woman, whom you could prudently marry, would be the most effectual cure for the evils of which you complain." 40 Fortunately for the deserving young lady, Pollard had no matrimonial ambitions at the time. "Monday, May 17 [1790], W. P. to E. D. The first draft of this, much blotted, is Br. Mus. Add. MS. 356S5, f. 203. The final draft sent to Mrs. Day ¡5 35656, f. 93. " B r . Mus. Add. MS. 35656, f. 66. "Ibid., f. 149. E. D. to W. P., Sept. 6, 1791.

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RELICS

London life did not strengthen Mrs. D a y . She suffered much from indigestion and was so weak in the mornings that she was obliged to defer even the reception of friends till the afternoon. She was extremely dependent, physically and mentally, upon her household companions. Miss Evans seems to have been her constant associate and assistant;

and Thomas and

Milnes Lowndes were frequently with her. " I find," she wrote Pollard, " t h a t till time has produced a considerable change in my feelings, I must be entirely supported by the company of my friends; for when I have long indulged my own melancholy thoughts I cannot avoid sinking into a most unhappy degree of depression." 4 1 And so the names of Miss Lelee, Mrs. Rainsford, Mrs. Richards occur frequently in her letters. There were humbler acquaintances also to whom she showed kindness: for instance, Little George, -the son of the George who had plowed, at Day's direction, the sandy field sixteen times to enrich it; or Milo, the dog whom she took on her expeditions into the country. T h e training in country life which Mrs. D a y had begun at Hampstead Heath and concluded at Anningsley had made a crowded capital as distasteful to her as it was to the youthful Day. I find by experience [she said] that the thick air of London is not more uncongenial to my constitution, than the modes of life which prevail in it, are to my taste and character. In a dissipated Capital, we can enjoy but little of the society of those we most love & esteem, when compared with a more retired situation, where there are fewer engagements to occupy their time. I am indeed but little formed for the world, as I was always averse to show & parade, & have now lost my relish for public amusement, and the company of indifferent people. How cold & uninteresting does the conversation of mere common acquaintance appear to me, who have passed so many years in the enjoyment of the highest intellectual pleasures, imparted by the dearest & tenderest of Friends! They must know little of the sensibilities of a truly affectionate heart, who can for 41

Ibid,., f. 393. E. D. to W. P.

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an instant imagine that I can be amused with the absurd trifling of the fashionable world. 4 2

Truly she was still faithful to the teachings of her prophet! Mrs. Day apparently had some trouble in securing suitable lodgings during her first year in London. Even when she had settled in a home at 22 Upper Gower Street 43 she felt compelled to make frequent trips into the country in search of rest and health. In December, 1790, she visited Richard Warburton Lytton and his family at Northchurch. In the first part of 1791 she was busy with the details of Day's biography, which was to go to press in March. A visit to Mrs. Phillips at Barehill occupied part of that summer, and in the autumn she tried to regain her health by visiting the sea resorts. W e arrived at Margate on tuesday [she wrote] "& have a house very agreeably situated with a [fin]e view of the sea which indeed affords a very grand & striking spectacle. T h e weather yesterday was uncommonly tempestuous & as the sight to me was perfectly new I thought I never beheld any thing so sublime as the agitated waves rolling one after another & dashing against the rocks. But I do not by any means think such a situation is calculated to dispel melancholy, not only as the objects it presents to the eye, tend t o impress awful & affecting images upon the mind; but the plaintive & solemn sounds of the winds & waves are too favorable to gloomy ideas. 4 4

Despite the surroundings so favorable for sentimental musings, Esther Day improved considerably in health and spirits. Again Mrs. Day tried London, again was severely indisposed. Summoning all her resolution she left the city and went with Mrs. Richards to pay a visit to her girlhood friend, Mrs. Richard Chandler at Gloucester, who from early days had been "Ibid., ff. 1SS-S6. E. D. to W. P., Nov. 15, 1791. " H e r letters with Pollard (MS. 3S6S6) and Edgeworth (Montagu MS.) indicate that she was at 84 North Park St. the summer of 1790; at 15 Upper Brook St., Grosvenor Sq. in the autumn; and from the winter of 1790-91 had her home at 22 Upper Gower St. " E . D. to W. P., Sept. 2 [1791], MS. 35656, f. 147.

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accustomed to share all of Esther Milnes' sentiments and feelings, and now was ill out of sheer sympathy with her. The sentimental communing of the two friends caused Esther's visit to be continued from late autumn to the first of the year. In March Mrs. Day was at Clifton recovering from a serious illness, a throat affection accompanied by fever. Her friends were much alarmed for her, but she recovered, at first slowly, then rather rapidly under the influence of the "fine soft" country air which she loved. Edgeworth and some of his family were there and a fat, solemn young doctor, Thomas Beddoes, 45 who out of admiration for Day had secured an introduction to his widow. Apparently she continued her stay with these friends until summer. When she departed for London, the optimistic Edgeworth bade her goodbye with no apprehension of immediate danger. In London Mrs. Day resumed her solicitude for Pollard and tried to stir him from that melancholy and illness into which she herself had sunk. I am arrived in town [she wrote him somewhat incoherently] but am so much indisposed that I hope you will excuse my see[ing] you . . . [for] some days. Yr. last letter was sent to me from Barehill. •—I am at present so poorly that I must defer enlarging upon the subject of it, but be assured to be the means of serving you, will give real satisfaction to Yr. Sincere Friend E. Day P. S. I will acquaint you when I am a little recovered.46 45 Beddoes conducted with James Watt's help the Pneumatic Institution at Clifton. Its purpose was the cure of tubercular troubles by the use of gases inhaled by the patients. One of Dr. Beddoes' experiments was allowing his patients to inhale the breath of cows which had been brought into their rooms. Needless to say there was strenuous objection to this treatment from some of the Clifton householders. Dr. Beddoes married Anna Edgeworth in 1794. Their son was Thomas Lovell Beddoes. " E . D. to W. P. [June ? 1792?] Br. Mus. Add. MS. 3S6S6, f. 399.

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Mrs. D a y did not recover. On June 12, 1792, she died quite suddenly. The account which John Stockdale gave to Keir is what we might expect: All that I can say at present is, that Mrs. Day got up and drank coffee at 10 o'clock in the moming, was taken ill, and expired immediately. I think with you that she died of a broken heart. I can say from my own knowledge that she has not enjoyed one day's comfort or health since our ever to be lamented friend's accident; I am very certain, from a long conversation that passed between her and me alone, that she wished death, preferable to life. She expressly assured me that all comforts in this life were at an end with her. She is now gone, and I trust is happy. She was one of the most amiable and sensible women that I ever had the honour to converse with. I have had many friends since I began business; the best are gone, and it appears to me as if I must lose them all.47 The obituary notice in the Gentleman's Magazine expressed the matter in terms which Mrs. D a y would have approved: "June 12 . . . Mrs. Esther Day, relict of Thomas D [ a y ] esq. of Anningsley in Surrey, author of 'Sandford and Merton,' &c. &c. This lady fell a victim to conjugal affection, never having had a day's health since the death of her husband, near three years ago." 48 During three weary years she had endeavored "to act worthy of the honourable distinction" she had "enjoyed, in being united to so elevated a character." She had succeeded, 48 and now might be interred as she wished by his side. The Parish Register of St. Mary's, Wargrave, gives the following entry: "1792, 21 June—Mrs. Esther Day, widow of Thomas Day, Esq. of Anningsley Surrey. Burd" 50 " J o h n Stockdale to James Keir, June IS, 1792. Molliet, p. 115. "•Gentleman's Mag., L X I I , Part I, 581. The European Mag. ( X X I , 488) gives: "June 12, Mrs. D a y , Relict of Thorn. Day, esq. author of Sandford and Merton." " T h e Gentleman's Mag., L X I I , Part I, 581, contains a glowing account of Mrs. Day's benevolences. 10 H. J. Reid's History of Wargrave, Berks, Reading, 1885, p. 120.

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T h e heir of Mrs. D a y was her fatuous nephew Thomas Lowndes. She described him as " a very great favourite with Mr. D a y . . . really possessed of a very good heart with a remarkably cheerful ingenuous disposition . . . deeply affected with the loss of Mr. D a y who had treated him with paternal kindness." 5 1 And this account explains why he, rather than the more industrious and capable Milnes, received the D a y estate. But in addition to a fortune, he inherited from his aunt an indiscriminate admiration for her husband, and from Day a political vocabulary with which he constantly proclaimed his own independence and patriotism. The fortune he used to frequent those places of pleasure which the Days had despised and avoided; and while he was at Bath and Hampstead, his steward, most suggestively named Job Smallpeace, pursued him with futile letters about the rents that should be collected, the repairs that should be made at Woodham, Vatchery, and Anningsley. 52 T h e steward worried, but T o m m y Lowndes wrote doggerel verse compliments to the ladies, or proclaimed his disinterestedness before the Surrey electors, or petitioned the government that he be made a baronet—because, forsooth, his great uncle Thomas Lowndes was the discoverer of Lowndes Bay Salt and his uncle Thomas D a y had rendered the country much service with his political pamphlets. His admiration for D a y he showed in various ways. First there was the publication in 1805 of Select Miscellaneous Productions of Mrs. Day and Thomas Day, Esq. in Verse and Prose: also Some Detached Pieces of Poetry, by Thomas Lowndes, Esq. consisting of the first 52 pages"—a work containing second-rate scraps of D a y ' s writings, school-girl themes of Esther Milnes, and Lowndes' doggerel light verse. T h e "Tria Juncta In U n o " inscribed on the titlepage suggests rather well M

E. D. to Edgeworth, Dec. 23, 1789. Montagu MS. Br. Mus. Add. MS. 2651, ff. 214, 215.

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the way in which Tommy Lowndes was trying to obtain some degree of fame by associating himself with the Days. In 1813 he erected a memorial tablet in Chesterfield Church, Derbyshire, which invited the reader to emulate the many virtues of Thomas and Esther Day. 5 3 In 1825 and 1827 he brought forth two volumes of tracts, inane stuff, which contained much praise of the exemplary Day (called here Lowndes' tutor and adopted father) and many references to his opinions on matters ranging from theatres to universal suffrage. The political vocabulary which Lowndes inherited he used to praise the pleasure-loving George IV and attacked the "bottle-green" Whigs. All through his poor verse and worse prose goes the desire of obtaining public notice and praise; the constant mention of his association with Day was a means to this end. Tommy Lowndes, we regret to say, proved a victim of pride, and Mr. Barlow was not present to rebuke him. There was another pupil of Day who was conscious of his influence long after he had departed this world. Maria Edgeworth at the age of fourteen, we remember, had had her sore eyes ministered to by Day with large doses of tar-water and reasoning. She recovered from the tar-water but hardly from the reasoning. "The icy strength of his system," wrote her stepmother, "came at the right moment for annealing her principles." 54 Whether she got her emphasis on the useful and reasonable from Rousseauistic Day or Rousseauistic Edgeworth, she was much influenced by the former in her writing. Scarcely two years after the tar-water episode she had, with the help of her father, translated Mme. de Genlis' Adèle et Théodore. Now Day, who had a horror of female authorship, had been shocked that Edgeworth had allowed his daughter even to translate a work. He had been prejudiced against literary women by * Lowndes, T., Letter to Coke, Curwan and Co., p. 102. In Tracts, 1825, Vol. I. "Edgeworth, F. A., Memoir, I, 12.

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some examples of their lack of discretion, and repeated often the lines said to have been quoted by Dr. Johnson to an authoress: Nor make to dangerous wit a vain pretence, But wisely rest content with sober sense; For wit, like wine, intoxicates the brain, Too strong for feeble woman to sustain; Of those that claim it, more than half have none. And half of those that have it, are undone.55 Therefore when the appearance of Holcroft's translation in 1783 prevented the publication of Maria's, Day wrote a letter congratulating Edgeworth. It contained a severe attack on female authorship, to which Edgeworth warmly replied. Day's eloquence made a great impression on Maria. Indeed Edgeworth deferred to his friend's opinions so much that he dreaded the name of authoress for his daughter; nor was anything she wrote, though she composed many tales and essays for private amusement, published till six years after his death. Significantly enough, her first publication, Letters for Literary Ladies, had as its basis the arguments of Day against and of her father in favor of female education. If we judge from these letters, D a y considered women mentally inferior to men. They had not, he claimed, excelled in the useful sciences and literature; they had not used power wisely when they had it. Their safety lay in an acquiescence to the maxims of female prudence and not in a mere trust in the understanding. On the evils of literary ladies he waxed eloquent: their desire for intellectual display, their snobbishness, their disdain of domestic duties, their love of notoriety. Intellectual superiority would prevent them from being congenial with women, and from mating with learned men. To this, Edgeworth apparently replied that he was not in favor of learned ladies, but of literary ladies, "women " Edgeworth, II, 342.

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who had cultivated their understandings, not for the purpose of parade, but with the desire to make themselves useful and agreeable."56 But though in Maria's version Edgeworth's arguments are made the more forceful and reasonable, I much doubt whether this held true in the actual correspondence. One of the most effective pieces of satire that Day ever wrote was on this subject, a posthumous essay originally intended for insertion in the Public Advertiser. With biting irony he suggested that since the women had become so forward and intellectual, and the men so effeminate, the two sexes should avoid conflict by exchange of duties: Let the ladies [he concluded] be confident, dissipated, expensive, if they please; let them spend their lives in public, and their fortunes at the gaming table, let them boast of their too successful triumphs over our unfortunate sex, and be jockies, libertines, or authors; but let the men be taught modesty, frugality, a love of retirement, and the faculty of blushing; let them above all things be debarred from pen and ink. and convinced that it is totally inconsistent with male softness and delicacy, to emerge from virtuous obscurity, to neglect the silent but important duties of his sex and family, to fill up the columns of a newspaper, and become either the wonder or ridicule of the town. 5 7

Well, Day by his arguments had prevented Maria from becoming a public author till 1795, and then had supplied her with a subject. In her first attempt at the novel proper, Belinda, in 1801, she used the Day-Sabrina episode for the complicating mystery of the story. Clarence Hervey, like Day, had been repelled by the frivolity of women and resolved to educate some unsophisticated girl as his wife. At last in the New Forest he met such a simple maid, took her under his protection, placed her with a protectress, and commenced her education. He was " M a r i a Edgeworth, Letter jrorn a Gentleman to his Friend, upon the Birth oj a Daughter; with an answer. In Tales and Novels, New York, Harper, 1839. X I I I , 201. "Select Miscellaneous Productions, p. 118.

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attracted by her simplicity and beauty, by her devotion and obedience; but he finally discovered that Virginia, for so he named her, was much his intellectual inferior, whereas Belinda Portman, the prudent, the reasonable, was his ideal companion. So intent was Maria upon keeping her audience from discovering the originals of Hervey and Virginia, that she made these characters quite different from them. Virginia is indolent and sentimental; Hervey, though extremely moral, is an erratic young fashionable. Accordingly Hervey himself is hardly convincing; neither is the Sabrina-Day episode in which he is said to take a principal part. Maria had failed to make credible fiction out of a true incident, or to make a convincing union of fiction and fact. Her interest in the personality and writings of Day was shown in another way. Vincent, an enthusiastic West Indian, was made to read and praise The Dying Negro™ Hervey then praised the author as a good man; and Lady Delacour, one of Maria's charming fine ladies, took the opportunity of testing his virtue. His visits to Virginia had brought against him the typical eighteenth-century charge of seduction. So Lady Delacour read from Keir's Lije an account of Day's detestation of female seduction and then had Hervey read in Belinda's presence some lines from To the authoress o) Verses to be Inscribed on Delia's Tomb.5* On through the poem he went without embarrassment, and Lady Delacour cast a look of triumph at Belinda. Hervey had cleared himself! In her shorter stories also Miss Edgeworth showed considerable influence from Day. The Grateful Negro, in its heroic, "noble-savage" conception of the negro, its humanitarian purpose, and its situation, apparently owed much to The Dying Negro. In Forester enters a rather good picture of the enthusi58 s

See p. 110 preceding and Belinda, II, 141. ° See p. 160 preceding.

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astic young Day who accompanied Edgeworth to Ireland in 1768: love of independence, preference for the life of a Crusoe, disdain for polished society. "He entered with dirty shoes, a threadbare coat and hair that looked as if it had never been combed. . . . A table covered with a clean table-cloth, dishes in nice order, plates, knives and forks laid at regular distances, appeared . . . absurd superfluities. . . . "G0 Yes, all we need to make the picture complete is aristocratic Margaret Edgeworth to sniff at the young savage. For a century after its publication Sandjord and Merton was a popular children's book. Edward Dowden says that it "had probably a larger number of readers than any other work of the period." 61 And certainly an examination of the various editions in the British Museum, Bodleian, and New York Public libraries would show that it had a tremendous popularity. This popularity came in three waves: from 1786 to 1798, from 1808 to 1830, and from 1850 to 1890. During its first period several important changes appeared in the publication of Sandjord and Merton, all of them tending towards its popularization. First was its publication in other countries and its translation into other languages. By 1787 it had been published in Ireland, by 1793 in America. In 1788 the first volume was translated into German; by 1789 Arnaud Berquin, famous author of L'Ami des Enfants, had translated two volumes into French. A further change was the use of illustrations. The titlepage of volume one, when printed in 1783, proclaimed it A Work Intended for the Use of Children. Immediately under this was inscribed, "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not." But there was very little in the physical appearance of the book to attract children; and it w Edgeworth, Maria. Forester. In Tales and Novels, N e w York, Harper and Bros., 1859. II, 10-11. 61 The French Revolution and English Literature, N e w York, Scribners, 1897, p. 20.

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was only in 1786 that Stockdale commenced the custom of putting a frontispiece to each volume. For twenty-five years these frontispieces remained standard in Stockdale's threevolume editions: for volume one, a picture of heroic Harry plucking the serpent from the leg of shrinking Tommy, while a maid servant holds up her hands in horror; for volume two, Tommy about to be gored by a bull, Harry about to stick the bull with a pitchfork, the negro grasping the bull by the tail; for volume three, Harry and Tommy engaged in their reconciliatory embrace. Other firms that began to publish the book after Day's death were not satisfied with mere frontispieces, but interspersed illustrations through the volume which served to play up the action and adventure. Even that austere author Thomas Day was presented to his audience in a more attractive light; a picture of him with all the elegances of high white cravat and powdered hair faced the preface page. 62 The compression of the book into a one-volume edition was another change which popularized it. As early as 179S Stockdale did this, and reduced the price from nine shillings to three shillings sixpence. Another publisher as early as 1792 abridged the work to a little over a hundred pages. His title shows most of the ways in which the work was being popularized; The History oj Sandford and Merton./ Abridged from the original./ Embellished with elegant plates./For the Amusement and Instruction oj Juvenile Minds.6S Typical of the abridgments after this time was the elimination of the preface and the long conversation on education between Mr. Barlow and Mr. Merton; but the editor was so little of a rebel that while admitting this conversation not "adapted to the comprehension of my youthful readers," he called it "interesting." And for the whole century of its popularity there is little indication in even the " Ninth Edition, London, J. Debrett, 1801. 3 vols. Br. Mus. 12804. bbblO. "London: C. Foster . . . J. & J. Fairbairn, etc., 1792.

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abridged editions that the editors found the original language of Mr. Day too learned and heavy for children. The editor of an 1809 abridgment gives us the reasons for shortening the book: the requests of his young readers who claimed that the original was too costly for their purses, and the observation that in reading a voluminous work young people skip much material and "stop not to observe, and reflect on those objects, which form the principal end of their excursion."64 And so came the abridged edition and the reduction from nine shillings to three and sixpence. During the second wave of its popularity, from 1808 to 1830, Sandjord and Merton, which had before been published largely in London by Stockdale, found many other publishers.65 The number of abridgments by these new publishers increased; over half of the editions for the period were cut, some of them below a hundred pages. And the price also went down. Amelia Sedley, whom Thackeray describes as selling her fine India shawl, a gift from Major Dobbin, that she might buy Georgy a suit of clothes and the Sandjord and Merton he longed for, might have got quite a bargain from her bookseller Darton— an abridged edition of a hundred and forty-three pages, "embellished with elegant plates:" 66 all for half a crown. But then Amelia was no bargainer where her darling's wishes were concerned. In this second period the literary reputation of Sandjord and Merton was high. A biographical sketch prefixed to an 1808 edition spoke of the condescension of eminent writers in composing "books adapted to the infant understanding; nor . . . 64 History of Sandjord and Merton abridged. 3rd Ed., Carlisle, A. Loudon, 1809. " Walker, C. & J. Rivington, Darton, Harreld, Hughes, C. & C. Whittingham. "Edition published by Darton, Harvey and Darton, London, 1818. Br. Mus. 012807 de 59.

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can we mention many that have been more generally approved, or more widely circulated, than the work" presented. The experience of readers, it claimed, had fixed the book's "reputation as an useful manual of instruction, and as one of the most entertaining books that can be added to the juvenile library. The style is happily adapted to the youthful reader, and lessons of every description are conveyed in a manner at once pleasing, striking, and intelligible."67 And very much in the same vein was an advertisement to the shortened edition of 1815 which praised Day for the adaptation of his style to his subjects and readers, and said that though a reduction in the cost of the book necessitated a reduction in size, "the narrative is given in the author's own words, without alteration." 68 In 18S0 began the third wave of popularity. About this time Mrs. S. C. Hall, in writing of a pilgrimage to Anningsley, said of Day's book: "the bright story-book of our own childhood will endure; and were it 'got up' in the modem fashion, now, and republished with a few erasures, and the illustrations it so frequently suggests, its popularity would revive, and it would be welcomed wherever the highest and best sentiments of our moral nature are cultivated." 69 This was exactly what happened. It was "got up" in modern cheap editions, coarse expressions were deleted, it was profusely illustrated, it appealed strongly to the moral sentiments of Victorian parents and proved very popular with their story-loving children. Let us glance at the number of series and cheap editions in which the book was published. In the very beginning of the period we discover an abridged edition in a pink paper cover. That cover takes us into the Victorian family circle. In the center of the cover is a picture of two girls and a boy at a table busily reading. "Life of the Author (pp. iii and vii). One-volume edition: London. Walker, Johnson etc., 1808. 03 L o n d o n : F. C. and J. Rivington etc., 1815. Advertisement, p. iii. "Pilgrimages to English Shrines, N e w York, Appleton, 1854, p. 56.

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And forming the frame for this literary group are mottoes: "Study to be worthy of your parents," "Cherish as your dearest companions your brothers and sisters," and "Oppose the first appearance of evil." 70 The very names of the series in which Sandjord and Merton appeared tell of its cheapness and its domestication: "Little Library of Choice and Select Tales," "Shilling Entertaining Library," "The Youth's Library," "Family Gift Series," "Excelsior Series," and "Routledge's Sixpenny Series." At last it had become cheap enough for even Jacky Smithers to buy a copy. With the tendency toward series went that of making it part of a collection of stories. Individual stories were included, as The History oj a Surprising Cure of the Gout in A Treasury of Tales jor Young People; or Sandjord and Merton might be placed in a large volume with other well known stories. It had illustrious company. In Every Boy's Stories, A Choice Collection of Standard Tales, Rhymes, and Allegories11 were included, besides Sandjord and Merton, selections from Maria Edgeworth, William Cowper, Joseph Addison, and Dr. Johnson. But the company that would have most delighted Day's heart came as a burst of glory when Sandjord and Merton was nearing its death; with it were placed Robinson Crusoe and The Swiss Family Robinson, the whole lightened up by a hundred and fifty illustrations. 72 Through the Victorian period the book was preserved remarkably well in its original voluminousness and formality of language. The proportion of abridgments to complete editions was somewhat reduced; and up to 1890 it was very easy to obtain an unabridged edition. Cecil Hartley, whose name appeared upon the revised editions of Routledge from 1850 to 1880, was extravagant in his praise of Day's work and careful '"The title reads: A Favourite Book with the Young/The Sandjord and Merton. London, T. B. Keble, [1853]. "London, James Hogg, 1860. "London, George Routledge and Sons, [18S21.

History

of

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to state that he had taken no impertinent liberties with the meaning and expression. Indeed he had not; Harry still wanted something of a sufficiently combustible nature to start a fire with, and repentant Tommy admitted that he was unworthy of affectionate parents. In one respect, however, the elimination of coarse expressions, Hartley showed that he was adapting the book to Victorian propriety. Perhaps the greatest change made in the language was Mary Godolphin's version of 1868, Sandford and Merton in Words of One Syllable. The esteem in which the book was held continued through a great part of the Victorian age. In 1850 Cecil Hartley said: "Of all the writings for early youth that have come from the world since the appearance of Robinson Crusoe, not one other has afforded so much amusement, conveyed so much valuable information in the humble arts of life, in science, in morals— not one other has had so elevating an influence over the mind, as the History of Sandford and Merton."11 And thirty years later a publisher announced that the popularity of the book had induced him to add it, after some very slight revisions, to his "Series of National Books." 74 But the very esteem in which the age held the book preserved its formal language, its priggish characters, its systems, and its moralizing—all of the features which were to make it such a wonderful target for F. C. Burnand. In 1782 appeared his New History of Sandford and Merton.75 The characters of the original were here, but equipped with all the human weaknesses of which Day had so carefully divested them. Tommy was spoiled but never reached a haven of moral integrity, for Harry the mischievous and hypocritical was always present to encourage him in evil. Mr. Barlow was a selfish, brutal master, "London, Routledge, 18S6, p. iv of Preface (1850). "London, Frederick Warne & Co., [1879] Preface. "London, Bradbury, Agnew & Co.

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extremely fond of wine and the whip. Mr. Sandford never refused any gifts; in fact, was rather fond of obtaining money by lawsuits or bullying. There were many satirical strokes at Day's pet ideas. The virtues of the simple, hardy Arabians were thus presented: "They arose at three in the afternoon, and before their evening meal they had often left whole villages in flames, and taken captive several barbarians, whose wives and helpless children they had previously massacred with all the gentleness of which they were capable." 79 Marriage with the usual virtuous young woman did not result in happiness: "He married a virtuous young woman, and in her society experienced a far less degree of tranquillity than generally falls to the lot of man." 77 In Bumand's version virtue met its punishment. The brave Negro, after having hooked his banjo over the irate bull's horns, and ridden him with this improvised halter, was imprisoned by the owner of the bull for interference. Mr. Barlow's formal language and methods of instruction were thus given in his preface to a whipping for the boys: " I observe that you are both slightly shivering, and as I would never lose an opportunity of combining instruction with amusement, I would have you notice the chemical change which is the essence of vital phenomena; and I trust that concerning the relation between the production of animal heat and of external motion, you will this night receive such indelible impressions as no lapse of time will be able to entirely efface."78 And so through his version Burnand made game of the foibles of the book. At last the English people were roused to the risible nature of many things in Sattdjord and Merton. By the last of the century it was about dead.79 Bumand's burlesque was better known "American Edition, Boston, Roberts Bros., [187?], p. 68. nIbid. n Ibid., p. 137. " O f course there are some exceptions to these statements. The booksellers list for 1928 shows that in America there are two versions in print: M. Godolphin's Sandford and Merton in Words of One Syllable, Burt,

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than the original, and literary historians began to speak amusingly of it as the one-time reputed delight of schoolboys. And yet, in its solemn way it had a good many of the credentials of a classic. The friends of Day did what they could to perpetuate his literary fame. William Seward, who for a decade after his friend died, carried a column entitled Drossiana in the European Magazine, must have been largely responsible for the frequent articles on Day which appeared in this periodical.80 In the first part of 1790 Seward's column was praising Day's children's books for their inculcation of the virtuous and the useful.81 Keir's Life of Day in 1791 and Kippis' account of his life and works in the Btographia Britannica of 1794 evoked appreciative biographical articles in this magazine. Erasmus Darwin, three years later in his Plan for the Conduct of Female Education, recommended Sandford and Merton for its agreeable and forceful manner of conveying instruction82 and included it (along with Mrs. Trimmer's Robins, Mrs. Barbauld's Lessons, Maria Edgeworth's Harry and Lucy, and Barbauld and Aikin's Evenings at Home) in a list of books suitable for early lessons in reading.83 Much in the same vein was Edgeworth's prefatory address to Early Lessons in 1813. Sandford and Merton and Little Jack were, he stated, among the best books for cultivating moral feelings, for creating a desire for knowledge, for amusing and interesting.84 Maria's works also frequently praised the '25; and C. Johnson's The Story of Two Boys, Am. Book Co., 1907. E. V. Lucas in Old Fashioned Tales, Stokes, 1925, has reprinted Little Jack and the stories of the Good-natured and Ill-natured Boys. " J u n e 1791, X I X , 4 2 7 ; Jan. 1794, X X V , 26-27; Dec. 1794, X X V I , 387-88; and Jan. 1795, X X V I I , 7 - 8 ; July 1795, X X V I I I , 21-22. "Ibid., XVII, 10-11. "Plan

for the Conduct,

etc., Derby, 1797, p. 33.

"Ibid., p. 119. " Early Lessons, 5th Ed., London, Hunter, 1824. Ill, pp. xiii, xvi.

RELICT AND RELICS

345

writings of Day. 85 Perhaps the friend who most strenuously tried to keep alive Day's literary reputation was John Stockdale the printer. In writing to Keir about the poor sale of the Life of Day, he mentioned the extensive advertisement given to it and questioned the financial success of another edition; "yet," he concluded, "was it my property instead of yours, it never should be out of print in one form or another while I lived."88 Six years after Day's death Stockdale was carrying in his publishing lists not only all of Day's books for children, but a new edition of The Dying Negro and a volume of political tracts on subjects over ten years old.87 Even Anna Seward, who, in her biography of Darwin made the caricature of Day so commonly accepted as true, praised Sandford and Merton and The Dying Negro. Of the latter she became quite a champion; 88 she urged strenuously that Day, not Cowper, had written the first poem against the slave trade. Much as Day's friends and associates might urge the value of his writings, most of the works were doomed from their very nature to an early death. The poems and pamphlets were occasional, political, radical. Even if they survived till the French Revolution (and few did), they would be killed then by reactionary British conservatism. Sandford and Merton and Little Jack alone endured for more than twenty years after Day's death. A better criticism of Day's work than any given by the number of editions issued or by the praise of his contemporaries is afforded by the very real way in which Sandford and Merton affected the lives of children. " A s i d e from passages already mentioned in Belinda, we may refer to Early Lessons, 9th Ed., 1824, I, 194, and to Edgeworth, II, 119. " Molliet, Life of Keir, p. 116. "Publisher's List in the back of Sandford dale, Vol. I l l , Br. Mus. 12806. C. 7. " S e e p. 110 preceding.

and Merton,

7th ed., Stock-

346

R E L I C T AND R E L I C S

Occasionally a child absorbed not merely its stories, but also its philosophy and its self-righteousness. So with Mary Anne Galton, daughter of the Quaker, Samuel John Galton. She had met Day when he attended the meetings of the Lunar Society at her father's house near Birmingham; his book with all its stoical principles had become her favorite, and upon it was grounded the instruction which her mother gave her. Mary Anne had a contempt for finery. She wished that she could be a philosopher like Sabrina Sidney, of whose education she heard. 88 When a lady wearing a smart feather headdress took tea with Mrs. Galton, Mary Anne responded to her advances by asking "what she had done," and "if she might not take off her fool's-cap]" 80 When another fashionable friend of the family called her a silly for buying and reading one of Newbery's gilded sixpenny books, and set her at work doing sums in arithmetic, the self-righteous youngster began working a very serious problem, the results of which she announced: the lady had paid six guineas for absolutely useless ornaments, a necklace and bracelets; she herself had paid only sixpence for some books which contained occasional useful pieces of information; sixpence into six guineas make two hundred and fifty-two, the number of times the lady was sillier than she. When peace had again been restored between the two, the guileless lady gave the young philosopher another opening. Would Mary Anne prefer to eat brown bread with an old woman or French delicacies with her? With the old woman, of course! "Because I had rather sup with Fabricius than Lucullus. Besides, perhaps you and the French ladies have not heard what Jesus Christ says of the unhappiness of those who wear purple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day: but I thank you very much." 91 Harry Sandford became her hero. She absorbed his philosophy " S e e p. 83 preceding. *• Schimmelpenninck, I, 10.

" Ibid., I, 35.

RELICT AND RELICS

347

and moral sentiments; she longed to express them heroically. When Squire Hoo in his brilliant scarlet coat came riding to hounds, she wished she could speak the noble words to him that Harry had used to Squire Chace. She prayed that the hare he was pursuing would escape, or that the Squire might fall from his horse into a quagmire and there repent him of his evil ways. One day she did have a chance of displaying Sandfordian heroism. The Lunar Society was meeting at her home. In the midst of dinner, the company was startled by a hissing noise and then the sight of a large black-and-yellow snake rushing about the room. The mother, who served as the omniscient Mr. Barlow here, recognized that the snake was not venomous, and ordered Mary Anne to catch it. Steeling herself with thoughts of the noble Harry, she finally accomplished the task and received from the Lunar philosophers her meed of praise. At last a girl after Day's own heart had been educated. A few years later, in the 1790's, the boy Leigh Hunt was absorbing Sandjord and Merton into his radical philosophy: "The pool of mercenary and time-serving ethics," he wrote in his autobiography, "was first blown over by the fresh country breeze of Mr. Day's Sandford and Merton, a production that I well remember and shall ever be grateful for. . . . It assisted the cheerfulness I inherited from my father; showed me that circumstances were not a check to a healthy gayety, or the most masculine self-respect; and helped to supply me with a resolution of standing by a principle, not merely as a point of lowly or lofty sacrifice, but as a matter of common sense and duty, and a simple cooperation with the elements of natural warfare."92 After the Napoleonic wars, parents could overlook the radical ideas implicit in Sandjord and Merton and buy it as Amelia " Allibone's Dictionary of English Literature and British and Authors. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1882. I, 486.

American

348

R E L I C T AND RELICS

Sedley did, secure in the thought that it was a fit gift for their sons. 93 "George Osborne a Christmas gift from his affectionate mother," Amelia had written on the flyleaf in her delicate little hand. The superscription expressed the faith of a nineteenthcentury parent in the book. Even into the mid-Victorian years it marched triumphantly. As one writer said, the first book given him was the Bible, the second, Sandjord and Merton; both of them warned him against wickedness, and he had a hazy notion that both had been written by the same author. 94 Sometimes not merely the child, but his parents also took Mr. Day's philosophy seriously. Mrs. Gaskell in her Life of Charlotte Bronte tells of the hardening process to which her aunt was subjected by adopted parents, who happened to be disciples of Mr. Day. Though they were wealthy people, they gave their adopted daughter only the simplest and rudest food and clothing. To harden her nerves, they exposed her to an ordeal of dressed-up ghosts. When she became inured to these, they tried another method. She or the favorite dog was given a ride each day in the coach. The one left at home was tossed in a blanket—a process which was much dreaded by the child and, therefore, continued by her parents. A quarter of a century after this episode, Charlotte Bronte's father was trying, probably in accordance with Day's ideas, to inculcate hardiness and simplicity into his children. In the Spartan process he sacrificed every article of apparel which seemed to him gay and luxurious, whether it happened to be his children's colored boots, which he burned, or his wife's treasured silk dress, which he cut to shreds. 95 The spirit of Thomas Day was marching on. But in the latter days of Victoria a sense of humor had its " Vanity Fair, Everyman's Edition, pp. 466-67. " The Gentle Art of Cycling, I, Sandjord. and Merton, by "An Ambler," Macmillan's Mag. Jan. 1898, L X X V I I , 205. " See E. C. GaskeU's Life of Charlotte Bronte, New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1857, I, 41-43.

RELICT AND RELICS

349

turn with the renown of Day. Bumand's burlesque version of Sandford and Merton took the place of the original; then both of them vanished. Thomas Day's spirit, with all its priggishness, benevolence, and manliness, was dead. In modern England there are few reminders of Thomas Day. His birthplace, now in the slums of London, is unmarked. The Charterhouse, scene of his youthful fights and games, is peopled only by old gentleman pensioners. In its library there is not even a copy of Sandjord and Merton. His mother's home at Barehill has been moved to another knoll behind the old elm lane down which Day used to ride. The Fumival's Inn in which he had his law chambers has been torn down more than a hundred years. The estate of Anningsley he would scarcely recognize. It no longer has seclusion. The bus from the new industrial city of Woking thunders by Anningsley over an asphalt road to Chertsey. On this road only a short space from Anningsley is a church and a school to care for the people to whom Day preached on wet Sundays. The lodge gate and house at the entrance to his grounds are much the same. Beyond that, the wood which he had planted has grown up in unkempt luxuriousness, silver birch, brown-stemmed firs, and pines with rhododendron and bracken beneath them. The modem pebble-and-tar road winds through the wood, skirts a pasture filled with sleek cows and horses (ample testimony that the present owner is also a lover of animals), and then with a final curve sweeps up to the house—not the house composed of Georgian, Queen Anne, and Elizabethan sections that Day knew, but a house entirely on the Elizabethan plan. Of the former owner only one tradition remains, that he buried somewhere about the place a sum of 25,000 pounds. The laborers yet argue as to which of the big oaks he buried it under. Even the grave of Thomas Day has vanished. The sexton at St. Mary's Church, Wargrave, once pointed out the pew

RELICT AND

350 under

which

Day

was buried

RELICS and

the tablet

which

com-

memorated his virtues, always with this illuminating comment — " ' E was thrown orf 'is 'orse." But now there is no grave, no memorial tablet, no satirical information about the manner of his death. For in 1914 another of Day's gloomy prophecies was fulfilled. T h e liberated women had become Amazons; they had abandoned the virtues of "modesty, frugality, a love of retirement," and the important duties of their sex. They spent their time in political gatherings and riots. Agitation

for woman

suffrage was at its height. And in one of their outbreaks, the suffragettes burnt the church of St. Mary's. An ironical but fitting sequel, that the man who had so strenuously preached the retired life for woman should have his tomb burned b y woman militant.

BIBLIOGRAPHY ARAGO, M., Historical Eloge of James Watt. Translated by J. P. Muirhead. London, Murray, 1839. BARBAULD, A N N A LAETITLA, Lessons for Children in Four Parts. Philadelphia, B. Warner, 1818. BELLOT, H. H. L., The Inner and Middle Temple: Legal, Literary, and Historical Associations. London, Methuen, 1902. BENTHAM, EDWARD, Advices to a Young Man of Quality, upon his coming to the University. London, C. Gay, 1760. BERQUIN, ARNAUD, The Children's Friend. Translated from the French of M. Berquin. Boston, Munroe and Francis, 1833. BESANT, SIR WALTER, London in the Eighteenth Century. London, A. and C. Black, 1903. BLACKMAN, J O H N , A Memoir of the Life and Writings of Thomas Day, Author of "Sandford and Merton." London, Leno, 1862.

BOLTON, H. C., The Scientific Correspondence of Joseph Priestley. New York, privately printed, 1892. Pp. 195-220. BOULTON, M A T T H E W , Boulton M S . Correspondence of Thomas Day with Boulton, 1772-1785. In Boulton and Watt Collection. Assay Office, Birmingham, England. BROOKE, H E N R Y , The Fool of Quality or The History of Henry Earl of Moreland. Introd. by W. P. Strickland. Preface by Chas. Kingsley. New York, Derby and Jackson, 1860. 2 vols. BUTLER, H . J . and H . E., Editors, The Black Book of Edgeworthstown and other Edgeworth Memoirs 1585-1817. London, Faber and Gwyer, 1927. CHARNVVOOD, LADY DOROTHEA, A Habitation's Memories. Cornkill Magazine. Nov., 1927, pp. 535-47; Dec., 1927, pp. 66477. COLE, WILLIAM, Diary of the Reverend William Cole of Milton. Brit. Museum Additional MS. 5855, ff. 140-44. DARWIN, CHARLES, Preliminary Notice. In Erasmus Darwin by

352

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Krause, E. L. Translated from German by W. S. Dallas. London, Murray, 1879. D A R W I N , ERASMUS, Plan for the Conduct of Female Education in Boarding Schools. Derby, J. Drewry, 1797. DAVIES, G. S., Charterhouse in London [ : ] Monaster}', Mansion, Hospital, School. London, Murray, 1921. D A Y , ESTHER, Select Miscellaneous Productions of Mrs. Day and T. Day, Esq. in Verse and Prose: also some detached pieces of Poetry by Thomas Lowndes, Esq. consisting of the first 52 pages. London, T. Jones, 1805. xiv, 52, 12, 204 pp. See also Montagu MS. and B. M. Add. MS. 35656. D A Y , THOMAS, SR., The Will of Thomas Day, Esq., June 11, 1749. Extracted from the Principal Registry of the Probate Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice, Somerset House, London. D A Y , THOMAS, The Desolation of America. London, Kearsly, 1777. [Anon.] 4to., 26 pp. , The Devoted Legions. London, Kearsly, 1776. [Anon.] 4to., 14 pp. , A Dialogue between a Justice of the Peace and a Farmer. London, Stockdale, [1784], 8vo., 154 pp. , The Dying Negro, A Poetical Epistle. London, Flexney, 1773. [Anon.] 4to., 19 pp. , Fragment of an Original Letter on the Slavery of the Negroes; Written in the Year 1776. London, Stockdale, 1784. 8vo., vi, 40 pp. , The History of Little Jack. First published in The Children's Miscellany. London, Stockdale, 1788. 12mo., vii, 330 pp. , The Children's Miscellany: in which is included The History of Little Jack. Boston, W. Spotswood, 1796. (Edition used in quotations). , The History of Sandford and Merton: a work Intended for the Use of Children. London, Stockdale. I: viii, 215 pp., 1783. II: 306 pp., 1786. I l l : 308 pp., 1789.12mo. , Sandford and Merton. The Original Edition Unabridged. London, Griffith, Farran, Browne and Co., [1890]. (Edition quoted.) , The Letters of Marius: or Reflections upon the Peace, the East-India Bill, and the Present Crisis. Fourth Edition. London, Stockdale, 1784. 8vo., 110 pp.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

353

, A Letter to Arthur Young, Esq., on the Bill now depending in Parliament to prevent the exportation of Wool. London, Stockdale, 1788. 8vo., 36 pp. , Ode for the New Year, 1776. London, J. Almon, 1776. [Anon.] 4to., 9 pp. , The Poems of Thomas Day. In The British Poets. Chiswick, C. Whittingham, 1822. LVIII, 147-93; LXXID, 237-52. , The Poetical Works of Thomas Day Collated with the best editions by Thomas Park, Esq., F. S. A. London, C. Whittingham, 1805. pp. 1-29. , Reflections upon the Present State of England and the Independence of America. Fifth Edition with additions. London, Stockdale, 1783. 8vo., 129 pp. , The Speech of Thomas Day, Esq. as delivered to the Freeholders of Essex at Chelmsford. In a pamphlet entitled The Speech of the Honble Charles James Fox; Delivered at Westminster . . . February 2, 1780; on the reduction of Sinecure Places, and Unmerited Pensions . . . To which is added the Speech of Thomas Day, Esq. London, Barker, [1780], pp. 21-32. -——, Two Speeches of Thomas Day, Esq. at the General Meetings of the Counties of Cambridge and Essex, held March 25 and April 25,1780. [Printed by the Society for Constitutional Information 1780], 8vo., 19 pp. , The Will of Thomas Day, Esq., May 26, 1780. Extracted from the Principal Registry of the Probate Divorce and Admiralty Division of the High Court of Justice, Somerset House, London. See also Day, E., Pollard, W., and Boulton, M. D O W D E N , EDWARD, The French Revolution and English Literature. New York, Scribner, 1897. EDGEWORTH, M R S . [ F . A . ] , A Memoir of Maria Edgeworth with a Selection from her letters. London, J. Masters, 1867. 3 vols. EDGEWORTH, MARIA, Belinda. London, Dent, 1893. 2 vols. , The Grateful Negro. In Tales and Novels. New York, Harper, 1834. V, 159-78. , Letter from a Gentleman to his Friend, upon the Birth of a Daughter; with an answer. In Tales and Novels. New York, Harper, 1839. XIII, 187-222.

354

BIBLIOGRAPHY

See also Edgeworth, R. L. and Maria. R. L., Harry and Lucy, Part I. In Early Lessons. Ninth Edition. London, R. Hunter, 1824. Vol. II. , Letters to T. Day, Feb. 5, 1787 and Sept. 19, 1789. In the possession of H. J. Butler, Oxford. , Montagu MS. Edgeworth's correspondence (ten letters) with Day's friends and relatives. Sept., 1789, to June, 1791. In the possession of Mrs. C. F. Montagu, Edgeworthstown, County Longford, Ireland. E D G E W O R T H , R. L. AND M A R I A , Memoirs of Richard Lovell Edgeworth, Esq. Begun by himself and concluded by his daughter, Maria Edgeworth. London, Hunter, 1820. 2 vols. F O W L E R , T H O M A S , The History of Corpus Christi College, with lists of its members. Oxford, printed for Oxford Historical Society, 1893. G R E E N , ( R E V . ) J . R . AND ROBERSON, ( R E V . ) GEORGE, Studies in Oxford History Chiefly in the Eighteenth Century. In Oxford Historical Society Publications. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1901. Vol XLI. H A L L , A. M . F. [ M R S . S. C.], Pilgrimages to English Shrines. New York, Appleton, 1854. H U N T , W I L L I A M , The History of England from the Accession of George III to the Close of Pitt's First Administration 1760-1801. In The Political History of England. London, Longmans, Green, 1924. Vol. X. H U T C H I N S O N , J O H N , A Catalogue of Notable Middle Templars with brief biographical notices. London, 1902. K E I R , J A M E S , An Account of the Life and Writings of Thomas Day, Esq. London, Stockdale, 1791. See also Montagu MS. and Molliet. K I P P I S , A N D R E W , Thomas Day, Esq. In Biographica Britannica. Second Edition, London, Nichols, etc., 1793. V, 21-32. LOCKWOOD, M., Thomas Day. Nineteenth Century. July, 1897. XLII, 74-85. LOSSING, B. J., The Two Spies. New York, Appleton, 1903. L O W N D E S , T H O M A S , A Letter Addressed to the Wide-Spreading John Bull Family. London, Hatchard, 1833. , Tracts in Prose and Verse. Vol. I, Dover, Bonython, 1825. Vol. II, London, privately printed, 1827. See also Montagu MS. and Day, E.

EDGEWORTH,

BIBLIOGRAPHY

355

J. K . , Sketch of the Life of James Keir, Esq., F . R . S. •with a selection from his correspondence. London, R. E. Taylor, [I860?]. Montagu MS. The Correspondence of R. L. Edgeworth with Day's friends and relatives. See Edgeworth, R. L. PANCOAST, H. S., A Forgotten Patriot. Atlantic Monthly. June, 1903. XCI, 758-65. PERCIVAL, D R . THOMAS, A Father's Instructions. Vol. I and II in The Works Literary, Moral, Philosophical, and Medical of Thomas Percival, M.D., London, J. Johnson, 1807. POLLARD, WALTER, The Correspondence of Walter Pollard, 1771-1820. Brit. Mus. Add. MSS. 35655 and 35656. REID, H. J., The History of Wargrave, Berks. Reading, 1885. ROUSSEAU, JEAN JACQUES, Emile or Education. Translated by Barbara Foxley. Everyman's Edition. SADLER, SIR MICHAEL, Thomas Day an English Disciple of Rousseau. Rede Lecture, 1928. Cambridge University Press, 1928. S C H I M M E L P E N N I N C K , M. A., Life of Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck. Edited by C. C. Hankin. London, Longman, Brown, 1858. Vol. I. SEWARD, A N N A , Letters of Anna Seward written between the years 1784-1807. Edinburgh, 1811. 6 vols. , Memoirs of the Life of Dr. Darwin. London, Johnson, 1804. , The Poetical Works of Anna Seward; with extracts from her literary correspondence. Edited by Walter Scott, Esq. Edinburgh, 1810. 3 vols. A Short Account of the Church of St. Mary, Wargrave, Berks, Partially destroyed by Fire on June 1st, 1914. Henley, Higgs and Co., 1914. Thomas Day. European Magazine. Dec., 1794. XXVI, 38788; Jan., 1795. XXVII, 7-8. MOLLIET,

Thomas Day. Public Advertiser. Oct. 3, 6, 13, and 14, 1789.

J. J. C., Thomas Day, Esq. Das Leben eines der edelsten Männer unsers Jahrhunderts. Leipzig, Reinicke & Hinrichs, [1798]. T I M M I N S , SAM., Matthew Boulton. Birmingham and Midland Institute, Archaeological Section, Transactions 1871. Birmingham, 1872. pp. 22-36. TIMAEUS,

356

BIBLIOGRAPHY

, James Watt, Birmingham and Midland Institute. Birmingham, 1873. pp. 90-109. VEITCH, G. S . , The Genesis of Parliamentary Reform. London, Constable, 1913. WALLACE, D. D., The Life of Henry Laurens with a sketch of the life of Lieut-Col. John Laurens. New York, Putnam, 1915. WARD, A . W . AND WALLER, A . R., Editors, Cambridge History of English Literature. New York, Putnam, 1914. Vol. XI, chap. 16. [WARTON, THOMAS,] A Companion to the Guide and a Guide to the Companion. Second Edition. London, H. Payne, [1763]. , Editor, The Oxford Sausage; or Select poetical pieces written by the most celebrated Wits of the U. of Oxford. London, 1764. WORDSWORTH, CHRISTOPHER, Social Life at the English Universities in the Eighteenth Century. 1874.

INDEX Agriculture, 60, 167-71, 227-28, 247Sl, 2S3-SS America. See Politics L'Ami des Enfants (Berquin), 307, 337, 26Sn, 267», 273n, 279», 284», 302» André, Major John, 84-87 Anningsley, 234ff., 349. See also under Day, country life Association, Yorkshire, 176-77 Associations, County, 173-90 Avignon, 58, 59-60, 67 Barbauld, Mrs. A. I,., 259, 260-61, 262, 267», 268», 269», 274», 344 Barehill, 12, 38, 65, 121, 208, 309, 349 Barlow, Mr. See Sandjord and Merlon Beddoes, Dr. Thomas, 330 Berquin, Arnaud, 307, 337. See L' Ami des Enfants Bicknell, John, 17, 48, 55, 56, 66, 102, 106, 107, 115, 120, 243-45 Blackstone, William, 31 Bonham, Jane. See Mrs. Phillips Boulton, Matthew: Lichfield group, 38; Lunar Society, 71-74; Timmins' descriptions, 74; shops, 75, 306; associates, 76-78; school at Soho, 79 ; political views, 79 ; debt to Day, 239-40, 320» Bronté, Charlotte, 348 Brooke, Henry. See Fool of Quality

Burke, Edmund, 126», 133», 134, 139», 143, 194, 197, 212ff, 219-25, 232 Bumand, C. F., 342-44, 349 Cartwright, Major John, 190, 21 in Charterhouse, 13; buildings, 14; schoolboy life, 15-17; historical figures, 14, 18-20; studies, 21, 65; today, 349 Children's Friend, The. See L'Ami des Enfants Children's Miscellany, The (Day), 300 Cole, Rev. William, 180, 181, 185 Colman, George, 113-14 Corpus Christi College. See Oxford Crusius, Dr. Lewis Eberhard, 13, 15, 16 Darwin, Dr. Erasmus: appearance and character, 42; residence, 38, 66; portrait, 70; Lunar Society, 71-72; traveling equipment, 7273; inspiration to Lunar members, 73-75; cooperation with Watt, 77; humanitarianism, 79; political party, 79; prescription for Day, 90; correspondence with Day, 165, 191; marriage, 173; comment on Day, 313; Plan for Female Education, 95n, 344; miscellaneous references, 246, 322 Darwin, Erasmus, Jr., 257, 312, 314, 320

358

INDEX

Day, Thomas, Sr., 2ff Day, Mrs. Thomas, Sr. See Mrs. Phillips Day, Thomas: early life, 3-11; inheritance from father, 5-8; mother's training, 9-11; school at Stoke Newington, 12; Charterhouse, 1322; Oxford, 22-34; residence at Barehill, 36-40; trip to Edgeworthstown, 40-47; Margaret Edgeworth, 44-51; choice of profession, 48-50; experiment with Rousseau's educational system (Sabrina and Lucretia), 54-67, 80-84, 115-18, 242-45; Lichfield, 67, 69, 71; Lunar Society, 71-80; Honora Sneyd, 84-90, 110-12; Elizabeth Sneyd, 91-99; Mile. Panckoucke, 99; Middle Temple, 113-15, 122-44; Holland and Belgium, 118-21; political views, 79, 122-23, 125, 126-28,131,176, 17880, 183-90, 191-92, 197-205, 21520, 222-32, 236-39; views on slavery, 10S, 108, 128-30, 132-33; sympathy with America, 127-28, 130-38, 139-42, 144, 238; Esther Milnes, 145-66, 167, 242; country life, 167-73, 234-38, 247-56; interest in children, 256-59, 262-97, 300-7; death 309-11; will, 31720; biographies, 320-22; grave, 349-50; works, account of, under individual titles Day, Mrs. Thomas. See Esther Milnes Desolation oj America, The (Day), 139-43 Devoted Legions, The (Day), 13538

Dialogue between a Justice . . . and a Farmer (Day), 227-32 Dying Negro, The (Day), 102-10, 120, 125 Edgeworth, Margaret, 44-47, 51-52, 53, 63, 65, 93 Edgeworth, Maria : use of Dying Negro, 110; Belinda, 116n, 117, 215n, 335 ; visit to Days, 257-59; Day's death, 313; memoirs of father, 322 ; influence of Day, 33337 ; Letters for Literary Ladies, 334-35; miscellaneous references, 341, 344, 345 Edgeworth, Richard, Sr., 43-45 Edgeworth, Richard, 39, 94, 97, 257 Edgeworth, Richard Lovell: education, 29, 36 ; association with Day at Barehill, 36-40; friends, 38, 246 ; trip to Exigeworthstown, 4047; Sabrina Sidney, 56-57, 245; political party, 79; Lichfield, 8889; Honora Sneyd, 84, 93-94, 101, 163, 172; France, 60», 94-101; Elizabeth Sneyd, 172-73; Harry and Lucy, 259, 261-62 ; assistance to Mrs. Day, 312-13, 319-20, 32223 ; biography of Day, under Day ; miscellaneous references, 306, 321, 344 Edgeworth, Mrs. R. L. (née Elers), 37, 98, 101 Edgeworth, Thomas Day, 313 Election, Irish, 42-43 Elegy (Day), 51 Emile. See Rousseau Excise-Laws, Some Observations upon the (Day), 203-5 Farmers. See Agriculture Fool of Quality (Brooke), 264, and

INDEX notes on pp. 265-69, 271-73, 276, 278-81, 283, 285, 287, 291, 292 Fox, Charles James, 135, 143, 178», 181, 203», 204«, 212ff; 217, 21922, 235 Fragment of a Letter on Slavery (Day), 127-30, 226 Franklin, Benjamin, 49, 76, 79, 195, 199, 211 Galton, Francis, 121 Galton, Mary Anne, 83», 346-47 Gaskell, Mrs. E. C., 348 Germain, Lord George, 135-36, 143 Hartley, Cecil, 341 Hastings, Warren, 221, 224 Hunt, Leigb, 347 Jebb, Dr. John, 176, 190-91, 192, 208, 216-17, 235» Jefferson, Thomas, 49, 79 Jenyns, Soame, 227n Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 34, 83n, 201«, 202», 316», 334, 341 Jones, Sir William, 30-32, 115, 12223, 190, 208, 227», 230«, 240 Keir, Captain James, 38, 71, 72, 76, 77, 78, 79, 205, 246-52, 312, 317, 318-19, 321ff, 344 Laurens, Henry: capture, 194; leadership in Revolution, 194-95; association with Day, 194-97, 2057, 240; commissioner 205; miscellaneous references, 198, 199, 211

Laurens, John: term at Middle Temple, 123; patriotism, 123-24; marriage, 124; on slavery, 13031; friendship with Day, 194; death, 206

359

Lessons. See Mrs. A. L. Barbauld Letch, Joseph, 2, 5, 31 Letter to Arthur Young (Day), 24850 Letters of Marius, The (Day), 21520, 222-26

Lichfield, 66, 67, 69, 71, 83, 89, 91 Little Jack, The History of (Day), 299-307 Lowndes, Milnes, 171, 257, 320, 328 Lowndes, Thomas, 171, 256-57, 312, 313, 328, 332-33 Lucretia, 57, 64, 65 Lunar Society, 71-80, 346, 347 Lyons, 95ff Lytton, Richard Warburton, 246, 323, 327, 329 Manchester, George Montagu, 4th duke of, 181-83, 186 Manchester, Robert Montagu, 3d duke of, 2, 6 Merton, Tommy. See Sandford and Merton Milnes, Esther: family, 147; education, 148; character and interests, 148-54; marriage to Day, 155-62; the Edgeworths, 163; renewed health, 164; retirement, 167, 169, 171, 172»; Day's death, 311-18; continuance of Day's interests, 318-31; ill health, 316, 322-24, 328-30; death, 331; heir, 332 North, Lord Frederick, 133», 193, 204», 212ff, 218 Observations, Some, upon the Excise-Laws. See Excise Laws Ode for the New Year (Day), 13234

360

INDEX

Oswald, Richard, 195, 197 Oxford: university life, 22-27; Corpus Christi, 27-29; municipal corruption, 31 Parties, political, 79, 174-76, 18083, 186, 188-89, 192, 193, 212ff, 219. See also Politics Percival, D r . Thomas, 263-64, 266», 268«, 2 7 In Phillips, Thomas, 2, 5, 11, 12, S3, 66n, 172, 209, 317 PhiUips, Mrs. Thomas, Iff, 6, 9, 11, S3, 65, 172, 317, 322, 329 Pitt, William, 1st earl of Chatham, 134, 139, 143 Pitt, William, the Younger, 186,197, 214-1S, 232, 236-37 Politics: corruption of Parliament, 47, 60; England's dispute with colonies, 125-26, 131-32, 135, 143, 173-77, 193-94, 205, 212, 214; parliamentary struggles, 181, 184, 186, 190, 197, 213-14, 219, 232; elections, 191, 193, 214-15; agricultural legislation, 229 • Pollard, Walter, 172, 208-12, 213, 238, 240-42, 323-27, 330 Press, freedom of, 135 Price, Dr. Richard, 191», 194, 226 Priestley, Joseph, 71, 76», 79 Pye, Henry James, 315 Randolph, Dr. Thomas, 28, 36 Reflections upon . . . England and . . . America (Day), 198-203 Robinson Crusoe, 263, 341, 342 Rockingham, Charles WatsonWentworth, Marquis of, 133, 169, 193, 194, 197, 204», 212, 219; party, under Parties, political Rousseau, Jean Jacques: Emile's in-

fluence on Edgeworth, 39-40, 97 ; on Day, 38, 45-47, 48, 54, 57, 61, 62 , 80, 83 , 93, 120, 137, 167, 171, 264, 293-94; Day and Edgeworth's meeting with, 94 ; dedication of Dying Negro to, 125ff. See also Day Russell, John, 29 Sandford, Harry. See Sandford and Merton Sandford and Merton, The History of ( D a y ) , 81-82, 262-99, 337-49 Schimmelpenninck, M. A. (née Galt o n ) . See M . A. Galton Sedley, Amelia, 339, 348 Seward, A n n a : appearance, 68; characteristics, 68; impression of Day, 68-71, 316; literary court, 69; confidante of André, 85-87; opinion of Day's writings, 110, 121, 345 Seward, Thomas, 67-68, 70» Seward, William, 17, 30, 83, 236», 246, 322, 323, 344 Shelburne, Sir William Petty, 2d earl of, 194, 195, 212, 218-20 Sidney, Sabrina: selection by Day, 56; education in France, 58, 62, 64; education in England, 64-67, 80-84,115-18 ; settlement by Day, 242, 317; marriage, 243-45; help from Mrs. Day, 318 Slavery, 102, 109, 125. See Fragment and Dying Negro Small, Dr. William, 38, 48, 60, 66, 71, 72, 76, 77, 78, 79, 110, 120, 121, 145-47, 156, 311 Sneyd, Elizabeth, 91-99, 173 Sneyd, Honora, 68, 84-90, 91, 99, 101, 163, 172, 259, 261-62

INDEX Society for Promoting Constitutional Information, 190-91 Speech of Thomas Day to the Freeholders of Cambridge, 180-86 Speech of Thomas Day to the Freeholders of Essex, 178-80 Speech of Thomas Day to the Freeholders of Essex (2nd), 186-90 Stair, John Dalrymple, Sth earl of, 217-18 Stapleford Abbot, 167ff, 234. See also under Day, country life Stockdale, John, 299, 307-8, 323, 331, 338, 339, 34S Sutton, Thomas, 19-20 Thackeray, W. M., 18«, 114», 339, 348»

361

Thorn barrow, George, 2, S To the Authoress of Verses (Day), 33», 160 Tucker, Josiah, 227» Watt, James, 38, 71, 73, 76, 79, 330» Watts, Isaac, 2S9 Wedgwood, Josiah, 49, 73, 76» Wilkes, John, 47, 131, 133», 134», 13S, 175-76, 18l£f, 186 Whormby, Ann, 3, 7 Whormby, John, 2, S, 7 Wright, Joseph, of Derby, 69-70 Wyvill, Christopher, 176-77, 191» Xenophon, 263, 282» Young, Arthur, 169, 248ff

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