THE judge had a fleet of ships of his own trading to nearly every corner of the globe, and in the months of September and October several vessels returned from the Newfoundland fishery, laden with codfish, whalebone, sperm oil, and seal, beaver, fox, and other skins. He made me a sort of deputy-clerk, and I had to note down every article with its number and weight. This I did so much to his satisfaction that at Christmas he actually gave me a sovereign as a present over and above my wages; and a few kind and complimentary words that he spoke made me feel as if I had suddenly grown an inch taller. Now I began to feel very pleased and glad I was born.
I began to think myself surpassingly rich, for I had three good suits of clothes, and six golden sovereigns in my pocket, and I thought of poor Jim the ploughman, who used to go to bed early on Saturday night to give his mother the opportunity to wash his one and only ragged shirt, so that he might have it clean on Sunday morning. All this time I had thought greatly about my poor mother, for she had not the slightest idea of what had become of me. I had been away from April until Christmas.I had never up to that time any idea of writing a letter as I had never been to a week-day school, but somehow or other I had acquired the art of writing. Of course I could not realize how very deep her grief must have been, being only a male. We as men love our children, but our love at best cannot be measured or weighed against the deep and constant love of a mother for her child. Now I thought how pleased she would be if I could only just put these six sovereigns into her hands. I thought whether I could manage to go for a week to see her, and return again; but on second thoughts I decided that would not do at all. So at last I wrote a letter, and told my mother that I was well and flourishing, but could not come to see her. If she would come and see me, however, I would send her the funds to pay her passage. She answered my letter by return of post to say that she would come, and so in the course of a few weeks I had the pleasure of meeting her on the pier, as she landed from theAtlantic. The judge gave me as many holidays as I wanted, and so I was able to show my mother about the Island.
The first thing that surprised her was to see the French women wheeling heavy barrows of luggage about, while their lords and masters were swelling about with their gold-laced caps, gingham blouses, patent leather boots, and the everlasting pipe in their mouths.
Mother would gaze at the women in the street, and say, "Well, I have worked hard in my time, but I am very glad I am not a Frenchwoman." She was not surprised, she said, that the Duke of Wellington was able with ahandful of Englishmen to go over and thrash them Frenchmen on their own ground.
I thoroughly enjoyed myself during the five weeks mother stayed with me. Father had given her four weeks, but I must confess to playing a trick on her so that she could stay with me another week. On the day that she was to leave I went down to the steamship office to ascertain at what time the packet started, and found it was timed to start at nine o'clock in the evening. But my mother did not trust quite to that, for she went herself to learn the hour of departure, so it was no fault of her own that she was left behind. Well, we had high tea at six o'clock, and got a few friends together just to talk away the hours until nine o'clock. So while the ladies were thus employed, and helping my mother put her things together, I put the clock back three-quarters of an hour. No one noticed it, as the clock was in another room, and it turned out exactly as I desired. We went off, my mother and I, she shaking hands and bidding her friends good-bye and I laughing up my sleeve, knowing full well that the steam-packet would have left. When we arrived at the pier and she found it had gone without her she could scarcely believe her own senses. I knew that she had never been away from her home for twenty-four hours before, and I also knew that my father would be dreadfully vexed, especially as he would have to walk a long way to the Foxwell turnpike to meet the Weymouth coach. I ought to have been put in the stocks for practising such a joke, but somehow I felt it might be years before I should see her again.
I took her over to Elizabeth Castle, and she stood close by the great gun when it was fired off, bearing the deafening noise and the vibration under our feet like a real old soldier; and then we went to Gorée Castle and saw the oyster fishing; and she was very much amused to see the oysters as they lay in heaps upon their shells, and to watch the mice, that swarmed around trying to get a nibble from the open oysters, which would close up their shells upon them. Then I took her down to St. Clement's Bay, where her grandfather, a sergeant-major in one of the English regiments, landed when he was sent to the island to clear out the French. At the death of Major Peirson in the Royal Square the command fell upon my great-grandfather, who drove the French out of the town at the point of the bayonet literally into the sea, and at the time of our visit the guns which were used in that fight were stuck into the ground along the beach as a memorial of the occasion.
At the time of my sojourn in Jersey from 1839 to 1847 it contained twelve parishes. The capital town of St. Heliers contained six or seven churches besides two Roman Catholic chapels, and several Dissenting places of worship. There was a fine theatre, and a Court-house in the Royal Square. This house did duty as the House of Commons, Guildhall, assize hall, and I know not what besides. I have seen great doings there when a new judge was being elected. I have also seen prisoners tried for various offences, but whether the prisoners were French or English or of any other nation, the whole of the business was carried on in the French language.If the prisoner at the Bar did not happen to understand that language so much the worse for him. There was no such person as an interpreter, and I often heard sentence passed upon a prisoner who was quite ignorant of the nature of the trial or sentence until some kind friend who could speak both languages would tell him what he was to expect.
Mr. Charles Carus Wilson, a man over seven feet in height and a member of the English Bar, on one occasion stood up and told the judge that the prisoner had not had a fair trial, that he protested against it, and that he would report the circumstances to Lord Denman, the Lord Chief Justice. The judge thereupon told Mr. Wilson that he had insulted the court and must pay a penalty of £10, and apologise to the court for such an insult. "Indeed, I shall do neither one nor the other," replied Mr. Wilson. "Then," said the judge, "you must go to prison during Her Majesty's pleasure." "Very well," replied Mr. Wilson, "here's off to jail." So he walked through the streets in charge of a constable, his head and shoulders towering above the heads of the crowd which had gathered round. In prison they had to put two bedsteads and beds together to make it long enough for him to lie down.
Mr. Wilson, however, took it very quietly and courteously and reported the whole matter to Lord Denman, who sent over a writ of habeas corpus. Of course I wondered whatever that could be, but the steam packet arrived on a Sunday morning, covered with flags and banners, and thousands of people went down to seethe sight and wondered what was going to happen next. I do not know if the judges knew the meaning of it, but they were nearly frightened out of their wits. Messengers were sent all over the island to call all the judges together. On Monday morning they met and consulted, and the result of their deliberations was that they went themselves and opened the prison doors and asked Mr. Wilson if he would please to walk out. Charles Carus Wilson, however, did not please to walk out. He merely replied, "You have sent me here for I know not what, and I do not feel disposed to be sent to prison and taken out again just as it suits your whims."
So the upshot of it all was that they had to pay Mr. Wilson's fare and their own to London, and all had to appear before a judge of the Queen's Bench, and the Jersey judges were fined £100 each, and the poor woman, whose trial and sentence of seven years' transportation for stealing a hen and chicken had caused all the trouble, was freed.
My employer had often told me that if I had been a few years older, he would have sent me to Newfoundland to superintend his business there. As I was too young to fill such a responsible position, he proposed that I should join theAnchor, a fine bark of 600 tons. The captain, he said, was a "very nice gentleman," and on that vessel I should have an opportunity of learning the art of navigation, so that eventually I should be able to take charge of any ship belonging to the merchant service. I thought this was exceedingly kind, especially as he said he would provide me withan outfit, and I then and there closed with the bargain. TheAnchorwas in the harbour and I went on board and assisted in putting in a stock of provisions, ready for the voyage to the Brazils. She was to sail in a fortnight, and I was rather glad that I was born, to fall in luck's way in the manner I had. There now appeared a prospect of my being placed in a position worth struggling for, which I knew was not usually the lot of one such as I. So I looked forward daily and hourly for the kind-hearted judge to supply me with the outfit. When, lo and behold, one morning, a day or two before theAnchorwas ready to start, the judge told me that he intended to place Jim Drake in my place, because his father was dead, and he was a poor, friendless lad. "Just as if I were not a poor, friendless lad," thought I. I don't think I wished Jim Drake dead, but I did wish that he had never been born. That he should step in and just open his mouth and catch the blessing that was intended for me was almost more than I could bear.
So I had the mortification of seeing Jim Drake go off in theAnchor, and I felt more disgusted than I can tell, especially as the skipper was a "very nice gentleman." But I afterwards found out that after all this happened for the best. The judge offered me more than one good situation. He had several other vessels, besides theAnchor, but to all his offers I turned a deaf ear. If he had ill-used me, or kicked me and boxed my ears, I should have forgiven him; but he had deceived me, and for that offence I could not respect him. So I left him and sought other employment.
I found work in a large blacksmith's shop, and here I had to work very hard indeed. I stayed for a time, and then engaged myself to another merchant. I went on board his vessel, which was a small sloop trading between France and the Channel Islands and occasionally visiting some English port, Plymouth, Poole or Southampton. Now this old merchant used to go over to Havre or Granville, proceed a few miles into the country, buy cows at from £5 to £8 each, and send them on board theMedora, ordering them to be taken to St. Aubin, Jersey, while he himself went on before in the steam packet.
TheMedorain due course ran into harbour, and there would be the old sinner waiting to order the cows to Poole, and at the next tide we would set sail for Poole, where he again would be waiting to meet us, and the cattle would be unloaded and he would take them to the market or drive them round to the farmers and sell them for pure Jersey cows, thereby gaining an enormous profit.
One Saturday afternoon when the wind was blowing a hurricane and the sea rolling and seething in all its majestic fury, as we were scudding along somewhere between Guernsey and the Isle of Wight, we saw a fine bark in the distance, and on nearer approach we found it was theAnchor, returning from the West Indies laden with sugar. We got near enough to speaktoeach other, and I looked to see if I could make out Jim Drake, but I failed to do so. The vessel had encountered some very bad weather for nearly all the bulwarks were gone, and almost everything that is usually carried on deckhad been washed away. The men were, like ourselves, tied fast with a rope's end to prevent their being washed overboard. After two or three days and nights in the Channel, we at last found ourselves in Weymouth harbour. We had been soaking wet and had had no sleep or food, nor did we seem to require any, but I went to an inn and got to bed and slept for ten hours. On arriving back in Jersey the first thing I heard was that Jim Drake, who had just returned in theAnchor, had summoned his skipper for cruelly ill-using him while at sea. It appeared that theAnchorwas no sooner out of Jersey than poor Jim Drake began to be sea-sick. So this skipper, the "very nice gentleman," took a rope, and the chief mate took another, and between them they belaboured poor Jim, one hitting on one side and one on the other. So this nice pair seem to have taken a delight in ill-using the poor lad during the whole of the voyage.
One day Jim committed the awful crime of whistling. No one was allowed to whistle on board except the commander, and he only under extraordinary circumstances, such as when there was a dead calm he might whistle for a breeze. Superstition ran so high on board that if a man whistled he was considered an evil genius; storm and tempest, fire and famine, aye, the devil himself would visit that ship, and from the moment Jim Drake whistled every man on board became his enemy. The skipper cursed, and the mate swore, and poor Jim cried for mercy and said he did not know he was committing an offence. But they tied him to the mast and both took a rope and hammered away as if the subject they wereoperating upon had been a piece of cast-iron or a block of granite; and at last one took a handspike and gave Jim a blow which broke his arm, and as there was no surgeon the limb was never set. This was the complaint brought before the court, and when I saw Jim there I cried for pity as the poor lad stood there with his hand twisted round, the back being towards his thigh, the palm outwards, and the whole dangling useless by his side. Now Jim was an English lad, and the skipper a Jerseyman, and all the business of the court was carried on in French. Jim stated his evidence, but there was not a man amongst that crew who would corroborate it, and the skipper and the mate were two very respectable men. Moreover the skipper was such a kind-hearted gentleman that he had actually given his men a double allowance of grog on their homeward voyage; so of course, as in duty bound, they all to a man spoke of his kind and generous conduct. So poor Jim's complaint fell to the ground. And not only that, but the skipper took proceedings against him for trying to defame his fair character, and poor Jim was sent to prison for three weeks. I cried with anguish for Jim, yet thanked my lucky stars that I did not go on board theAnchor.
I HAD now been in Jersey eight years and things began to get rather dead there. Work was scarce and wages very low, and if any one wanted a small job done, there were always about a dozen men ready to do it for almost nothing; and what made it so was the number of Irish pensioners. They had their pensions, and of course they would do any kind of work for less wages than any other man who had to live entirely by his labour. In fact, things were in a state of stagnation everywhere. I went across to France, and the people there were quarrelling with King Louis Philippe and casting all the blame of their poverty upon his shoulders, and saying how much better they should get on if they could only have a Napoleon to rule over them. They were chalkingVive Napoléonupon the pavements and walls.
I went back to England and found things were not much better there. Thousands of poor people were half-starved and half-clothed, and when they asked for work and wages to buy bread for themselves andtheir little ones, the Commander-in-Chief was ready to fire a volley of grape shot down the street. England and some of the continental nations were at very low water in 1846-7, and I think at their very lowest ebb in 1848. Some monarchs were obliged to abdicate, and in London in April of that year riot and rebellion were rampant. Several thousand people paraded the streets starving. In the House of Commons some one declared that it would be a wholesome proceeding to hang a few rebels. Up jumped Fergus O'Connor, and cried, "Whenever you hang a rebel you should make a point of hanging a tyrant too, and rebellion would soon die a natural death." Soldiers were placed in every town in England, lest the owners of hungry stomachs should show too much anxiety to fill them with bread. At the same time it was said that millions of quarters of foreign grain were brought within sight of the shores of England, but were thrown into the sea by order of rich merchants rather than that corn should be brought in to reduce the price. Such is the greed of man.
The only work that I could get after I left Jersey was in a canvas manufactory in Somersetshire at eight shillings a week, and this was considered very good wages then. Here I found poverty and wretchedness and oppression supreme. There were about four hundred people employed in the various departments of this business; old men and women, nearing four score, and little boys and girls from five years of age and upwards. Some worked in the factory, and some who had hand-looms took their work to their homes. Several of them had towalk four miles carrying their woof with them, where they had handlooms; and so these poor toilers worked from early dawn until ten o'clock at night weaving their woof into sail-cloth or canvas. When these poor slaves came to the factory for their work, the foreman would weigh out to each person so many pounds of chain and as many of woof to each person. The weaver had to take it home on his back and produce exactly forty-six yards length of canvas two feet wide. Now if he happened to put a little too much energy or muscular strength into the work, all the woof would be used up before forty-six yards were made. Consequently he would have to send to the factory for a few ounces more woof to finish the pieces, and the cloth therefore would be a trifle too stout, and consequently the weaver would be fined to the tune of any amount, according to the greed and temper of the master, from sixpence up to five shillings and sixpence, which was the wage due for weaving the whole piece. On the other hand if the weaver happened to be weakly and unable to use the strength required, he would come to his forty-six yards' length before he had shot in all his woof. The cloth therefore would not be quite stout enough, and the poor weaver would be fined. Any frivolous pretext was resorted to to fine the workers.
Many a time have I seen poor men or women after toiling hard all the week coming to the pay office for their wages, but instead of receiving any being cursed at and told that it was a very great favour on their employers'part to give them work at all. And so these poor slaves would have to do without the "weaver's ox" (red herring) for their Sunday dinner. A red herring was the greatest luxury these poor people could indulge in, and thrice blest was he who could afford three red herrings a week. There were many other pretexts for fining the weaver besides those mentioned. Another was what was called in weaving a "gout"; that is, in the course of weaving there were some thick and gouty parts in the woof, where the thread was twice or thrice as thick as it should be. If the weaver was not careful, and allowed one of these thick gouty threads into the texture of the cloth, he was heavily fined. The cloth was also examined under a magnifying glass, and if found pin-holey or spotted, the weaver was fined. All these were certainly very superficial excuses for fining the people, for the masters themselves would throw the canvas down on the floor and walk over it. The cottages where these poor people had to live and do this weaving were shocking hovels.
This firm was carried on by a man and his three sons. Each of the sons took up a certain department. One superintended the spinning department, another the bleaching, and the third the weaving. On a certain Whit Monday at the village club festival an old farmer, in an after-dinner speech, took the liberty to tell the three young men that it was very shabby and mean of them to fine these poor weavers in the manner they did, and he thought it amounted to little less than downright robbery. Then the young man from the spinning departmentjumped up, and with an oath cried, "They," meaning his brothers, "do not half fine them here. You should come over to my place and see my books." In less than a week this man was seized with a fit and fell dead; and the poor people, in their simplicity, said it was a judgment sent from Heaven. The owners of the firm evidently did not think so, for they continued to fine the people as usual.
On the following Whit Monday more after-dinner speeches were being made when the head of the bleaching department boasted that he had six hundred pounds which he had mulcted from his workers in fines. He forthwith built a new house and furnished it in grand style, and sent me to Taunton to buy him a grand piano. The day for opening the new house was appointed, friends were invited and every preparation made for a grand feast. The day arrived, and the young boaster was riding up and down on his high-mettled white horse inspecting the arrangements when the horse, treading upon a half-rotten turnip, plunged and fell, and rolled completely over its rider, who was taken up and carried into the new house where he had never lived, a corpse. The simple-minded people also called this a judgment from above. Very soon after this a large fire occurred at this factory which threw a great number of men, women, boys and girls out of work. As for myself I soon engaged myself to a solicitor, and my duties varied between serving writs and gardening. Every time I delivered a writ I had to be put on my oath the following morning that I had so delivered, and then I used to receive three shillings andsixpence for my trouble. Sometimes I had to make three or four journeys before I could accomplish the delivery, as so many well-known gentlemen would cleverly keep out of my way. On one occasion I had to serve a writ on a gentleman who always managed to be away when I called; but my master told me that if I had reasons for believing that he was at home I should walk in. The next evening when I called and the servant told me her master had just gone out, I pushed past her, and got into the dining-room, where the gentleman was just cutting away at a piece of roast beef. I handed the document to him and, bowing politely, retired as hastily as possible. As I turned to the door I heard something whirr past my shoulder and strike the wall beyond. It was the carving knife.
Another difficult case was that of a master carpenter who lived several miles from my master's office. It was summer time, and he went away to his works as soon as it was daylight and was not at home until nine in the evening. I could never find this gentleman at home although I called several evenings in succession, and at last I grew tired of walking so many miles several times a week. As there was a porch at the door I decided to sit down there and wait until he did come home. I sat and dozed until about 3 a.m., when I heard some one moving inside the house. Presently the door opened, and out came the gentleman I wanted. He was thunderstruck to see me there. I delivered the writ into his hands, and we both said "Thank you," and went our ways.
After I had been in this situation two years it was a very disagreeable blow to me to hear that my master was retiring from business and would have no further need of my services. He and I had got on together very comfortably for two years, and he was a kind employer, so I was really very sorry.
I was now twenty-five years of age, and, like other young men, I thought it time to begin to see about "committing matrimony." I had become acquainted with Miss Anne Warner, who lived at Henley-on-Thames, and she decided that she would marry me, if I got a permanent situation either on the railway or in the post office. Accordingly, I applied for the railway, and was appointed as porter at Bristol in May, 1850. The Bristol and Exeter railway at that time was in its infancy. Amongst the articles served out to me was a wooden staff or truncheon, to be used, if necessary, for clearing the station.
In October of the same year I was married to Miss Warner at St. Mary Redcliffe's Church, Bristol. I knew that I was not to remain long at Bristol, so my wife and I took rooms for a while. I was very soon sent as signalman to Stoke Canon, a village in Devonshire, where at that time there was no station, but only a crossing. I had to leave my wife in Bristol until I could obtain a suitable home, which I did as soon as possible, as keeping two homes going was a very expensive thing to do, and my wages at that time were only 16s.a week. My only accommodation when on duty, which was twelve hours a day, or an alternate week's night duty, was asort of sentry box—a wretched affair, especially in cold weather, and for night duty.
While at Stoke Canon I made a model of the village church. The only tools I had for this work were a pocket knife and a hammer. Some time after I added a peal of bells which were set ringing by putting a penny in a slot in the roof of the church.
In 1853 our eldest daughter was born, and in the following year I was removed to Martock in Somersetshire, where a son was born. In 1857 I was removed to Durston, and in May another daughter was born. My wages were then £1 a week, a very small income on which to keep ourselves and three children and pay rent, but my wife kept a school and had several neighbours' children to teach. We were very happy together, and I was glad that I was born!
God in His WorksDost them love nature? Dost thou loveAmid her wonders oft to rove,Marking earth, sea, the heavens above,With curious eye?Read, then, that open book; see whereThe name of God, inscribed there,Urges thee on till thou declare,"My God, I see!"Yet venture not, my soul, to comeWithin fair earth's material domeWithout thy God: thou hast no homeTo compass thee.Nature's fair works must e'er be readAs penned by nature's Sovereign Head;Else were its loveliest pages dead—Without His key.But by the Polar Star of Grace,Nature assumes her proper place,And thou mayst safely lead and traceHer harmony.M. M. C.
God in His WorksDost them love nature? Dost thou loveAmid her wonders oft to rove,Marking earth, sea, the heavens above,With curious eye?
God in His Works
Read, then, that open book; see whereThe name of God, inscribed there,Urges thee on till thou declare,"My God, I see!"
Yet venture not, my soul, to comeWithin fair earth's material domeWithout thy God: thou hast no homeTo compass thee.
Nature's fair works must e'er be readAs penned by nature's Sovereign Head;Else were its loveliest pages dead—Without His key.
But by the Polar Star of Grace,Nature assumes her proper place,And thou mayst safely lead and traceHer harmony.M. M. C.
THE above chapters were written by my father Roger Langdon, and I, his daughter, Ellen, am continuing the story of his life. So I will begin by saying that the school kept by my mother was conducted in the same manner as were the church schools at that time. Everything was very orderly and we just had to mind our p's and q's.
Our parish church and school were five miles away, so it was only possible for us to go there occasionally. We usually made the journey sitting on a trolley which father pushed part of the way, and then we would clamber up the railway bank and walk on to church. But there was another church nearer, to which as soon as we were big enough father would take us on alternate Sunday mornings, when he was off duty.
We had a large front room which was used as a schoolroom, and here we, with our neighbours' children, were taught reading, writing, arithmetic, spelling, geography, sewing, and the Catechism. When father was on night duty (the duty in those days was twelve hours at a time)he would be at home in the morning, and sometimes he would take us for Scripture. In this his teaching was unorthodox and advanced, and he always gave us plenty to think about. When later on we went to a school at Taunton we found ourselves in most subjects in advance of children who had attended schools in the town.
During the eight years my parents spent at Durston three more sons were born to them; so there were now six of us, and I have often wondered since how mother managed to keep the school going with such a large family of her own. My grandmother, my mother's mother, was a frequent visitor, and would also be at work all day long. My father's father too would often come, and he used to make us stand by the harmonium and sing. I would like to say that my grandfather was one of Father Matthew's earliest converts to teetotalism, and he tried his best to get others to believe in the same thing.
At this time father made a harmonium, which proved such a success that he was able to sell it, and with the proceeds he bought material to make a second. He also made a magic-lantern, and made slides of the stars and sun and moon and comets, and at Christmas time he would invite the neighbours to see the lantern, and he would give them all the information he could on the subject. He also told us about the electricity which was some day to light up our houses and town and drive our railways and carriages. He told us about photography, and how we should live to see "living pictures." Then for us he made all sorts of mechanical toys—walking dolls,wooden horses and boats. The forms which were used in the schoolroom he also made, as well as tables, chairs, our boots, and his own, a little carriage for the smaller children, and later on a perambulator. He was able to make anything he wished, but of course it all meant labour, and never a moment's idleness. And he had to put up with a great deal of enmity on account of his being so set against the drink traffic, and never going to theRailway Hotelto spend his earnings.
While we were at Durston we had the pleasure of seeing Garibaldi. His train was crossed on to another line. We children were playing as usual on the bank above the station, and when Garibaldi's carriage stopped right in front of us of course we all screamed with delight, and our noise brought everybody out, and the men got so excited they crawled all over the top of the carriage and shouted for all they were worth.
In 1865 my father was removed to Taunton. His duty was at Norton Fitzwarren crossing, where there was no station, so he had only a small office to sit in, which, as he still had the night duty, he began to find very trying. House rent at Taunton was heavy, so mother applied for a schoolmistress's situation, and she kept this post for nearly two years. Meanwhile another son was born. But we were not very happy at Taunton, for father was often ill during the time we were there.
The school in which mother taught was next to our house, and was also used on Sundays as a Mission Chapel. When we first went there they used to chant theMagnificatandNunc Dimittis, and a hymn, to the accompanimentof an accordion. Father did not like the sound, especially when he had to sleep on Sunday before going on night duty; so he offered to lend his new harmonium if they would take care of it and could find some one to play it. The curate, the Rev. J. Jackson, was much pleased with the idea, and he persuaded a crippled lady, Miss Emma Mockeridge, to undertake the duties of organist. She used to be wheeled down on Sundays to play, and twice in the week besides she would gather the children round her in the schoolroom and teach them the hymn. So she came in all weathers from quite a long distance to do this work, and after a time she began to visit the people who attended the service, and told them that since Mr. Langdon would not accept any payment for the use of his harmonium it was their duty to provide themselves with a new one of their own. Before very long she succeeded in collecting enough money to buy one. At this time Mr. Jackson held evening classes for men and charged them a halfpenny a week. Father with some others went to him to learn Greek, and got on very well with it. He greatly enjoyed these classes, and in later life would say how grateful he was for them.
While we were at Taunton there was an election, and father had a vote. A great deal of bribery went on; indeed the Conservative member was afterwards unseated for bribery. Mr. Henry James (now Lord James) was the Liberal candidate, and he won the election. My father told us all about it, and said if any one meeting us in the town, or calling at the house, should offer to give us children anything we must on no account take anything.I do not know who the people were, but they mostly called in the evening, and would offer us groceries and other things. One evening I had been to the station to meet father, when a gentlemanly looking person came up to him, saying, "Mr. Langdon, I believe."
Father raised his hat and said, "Yes, that is my name."
"You have got a vote?"
"Yes, I have."
"Well, are you going to give it to us?"
"That is my business, not yours."
"Come now, don't be a fool," said the gentleman, "you have got a little family; what will you do it for?" at the same time holding up one finger. "I am not to be bought," father replied. The gentleman then went on holding up fingers till he had got all his ten fingers up, and father at last cried, "No, I tell you no," to which the other replied, "You thundering fool." Father raised his hat with "Thank you, and you are another," and off we went.
My father was deeply interested in astronomy, which he had studied a great deal with the help of books, and he had bought celestial and terrestrial globes. Now he wanted a telescope. Mr. Nicholetts, a dear old gentleman who lived at Petherton, had a telescope; and he often invited father to his house to look through it, and this gave father great pleasure and increased his ambition to possess one of his own. So for a few shillings he bought some second-hand lenses, and soon succeeded in making a small telescope, with a 1-1/2-inch reflector mountedon a wooden stand and swivel. This small instrument only whetted his desire for something better; so he sold it for 7s.6d.and with the money obtained materials for another. After many difficulties and disappointments, which by sheer luck and hard work he surmounted, this second telescope was at last completed. This one had a four-inch reflector, and with its aid the ring and some of the satellites of the planet Saturn could be seen. The crescent form of Venus and some of the nebulæ were also plainly visible. And when father first saw the moon through it he said he was fairly astonished, for up to that time he had no idea how much of the physical features of the moon could be seen.
In 1867 father was appointed station-master at Silverton in Devonshire. It was at the end of 1868 that we left Taunton and took up our abode in our new home; and thus began what father always described as the happiest time of his life. For one thing he had from this time forward no more night duty, and his health improved considerably in consequence, so that he became stronger than he had been for many years. He greatly rejoiced, too, that there was no drinking bar at this station. Another great advantage was that we were now within reach of Exeter where there was a good school to which the younger children could be sent daily by train. In March 1870 my youngest sister was born; so now there were eight of us. But the following year my eldest brother was killed by an accident at the station. This was a terrible blow to both my parents, and the trouble turned father's auburn hair as white as snow. At Silvertonfather made many friends, amongst them Sir Thomas Acland and our good rector, Rev. H. Fox Strangways and his lady.
In 1870 my father became acquainted through theEnglish Mechanicwith Dr. Blacklock, and this gentleman gave him advice regarding the building of his telescopes; but it was all done by letter, for they never met, and it was wonderful how Dr. Blacklock found time with all his work to write so many letters as he did. Father also received letters from Mr. Nasmyth, the inventor of the steam-hammer, on the same subject. Mr. Nasmyth took great interest in him and would write two or three sheets at a time, pointing out the difficulties and explaining how they might be overcome, and drawing diagrams of the tools he would need. After father had made the speculum, which he found exceedingly difficult, it had to be silvered on the front surface; and on this point Dr. Blacklock gave him valuable information which enabled father to do it successfully at the very first attempt.
In 1874 father made a model in plaster of Paris of the visible hemisphere of the moon, showing five hundred principal objects, hollows, craters, and mountains. This model he afterwards presented to the Devon and Exeter Institute. Mr. C. R. Collins of Teignmouth once wrote an article describing the discovery of a new crater on the moon by Dr. Hermann J. Klein of Cologne. Going to his observatory father was able to show on this model of the moon, as the result of his own observations, this very crater.
Father had now made two telescopes, but he hoped to make another and still better one; so he set to work, and it was in the making of this that he received so much valuable advice from Mr. Nasmyth and Dr. Blacklock.
This third telescope was a beautiful instrument. It had a six-inch speculum with a five foot focal length. With this he was enabled to detect certain markings upon the planet Venus. In 1871 he read a paper before the Royal Astronomical Society in London upon this subject. He said afterwards that he never was so nervous in his life as on this occasion, and he wished the earth would open and swallow him up. But his paper was very well received, and commended.[1]He also made over a thousand drawings and photographs of the moon's surface.
[1]Webb quotes from this paper in his bookCelestial Objects for Common Telescopes. My father's observations are also mentioned in Clarke'sHistory of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century.
[1]Webb quotes from this paper in his bookCelestial Objects for Common Telescopes. My father's observations are also mentioned in Clarke'sHistory of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century.
Much as father had accomplished, he was still bitten with the idea that his telescope was not so good as he would like, although it was a splendid one, and had cost him many weary hours' hard work to make. So he sold it for £10, and in the year 1875 set about making his fourth telescope—a very noble instrument, for which he had to build an observatory. He describes it thus: "An 8-1/4-inch silver-on-glass reflector mounted in a stout zinc tube, which turns in a cast-iron cradle on its own axis. The focal length is seven feet. There is a diagonal place for viewing the stars and a specially prepared glass wedge for observing the sun. The whole is mounted as an equatorialupon a strong cast-iron stand. It had two stout brass right ascension circles divided to 10 seconds, and declination circles divided to 5 minutes of arc. The telescope is furnished with a driving clock which keeps the celestial object in the field of view. The observatory is a circular iron building with conical-shaped revolving roof, two swing flaps of which give the required opening to the sky."
This telescope took a long time to make, and night after night through many a weary month, when station duty was done, father would work at it for hours together in his home-made work-shop. But, as usual, the want of funds hampered him a good deal, and he found many difficulties to overcome; but he worked away with intense enthusiasm, and with the advice of Dr. Blacklock and Mr. Nasmyth, he at last completed this Newtonian equatorial reflecting telescope fitted with a finder with Ramsden eye-piece. He added to it a trap for taking photographs, the invention of his own brain, and in visiting Greenwich Observatory some years later he was pleased to find that the apparatus in use there for the same purpose was almost identical with his own. With this telescope my father photographed the transit of Venus and took also several pictures of the sun and of the moon.
To make his first telescope in 1865 he bought some second-hand lenses for a few shillings, and by means of a turning lathe he turned a stick upon which to roll the tin case, according to the size of the lens.
The second telescope was a much more difficult undertaking for one whose acquaintance with mechanical processes was entirely self-acquired. He was as a mangroping in the darkness. To obtain the special glass necessary for the speculum; to grind it to the most delicately accurate shape and density; to polish and silver the speculum; to make the metal tube to the requisite size and scale; to mount it with the necessary adjustments and accuracy; all these were so many enigmas which only his intense enthusiasm and perseverance enabled him to solve.
To grind the speculum of the third telescope a special and very curious tool was necessary, and here Mr. Nasmyth gave father valuable information and sent a drawing of the tool. After making this tool according to Mr. Nasmyth's pattern, father found it applicable to metal specula only, and unsuitable to glass inasmuch as it would not parabolize, or work in the figure of a parabola. This was a great blow. However he eventually surmounted it by using Ross's machine, a description of which he came across; after considerable inquiry. This grinding completed, he succeeded in polishing his speculum with a disc of pitch squares, an apparatus which gave him much thought and trouble. Then came the silvering, and then the rolling and soldering of the tube, which was accomplished by means of a circular block of wood turned in the lathe to the required size. Here another difficulty presented itself, for when it was done, the wood was found immovably fixed inside the tube, and it became necessary to procure a steel augur to bore it out.
However, this taught father something, for in making the next telescope he used a number of laths fixed together and turned in the lathe. One of them was cutthrough diagonally so that the two parts when separated formed wedge-shaped sections, which could be readily knocked out when the case had been fixed; and thus the whole circular bundle could be easily removed. I know that the building of these telescopes was real hard work, and the difficulties and disappointments they involved were numerous, and were only overcome by sheer hard work and indomitable perseverance. The fourth telescope he had reason to be proud of. He was assisted with the adjustment of this as well as in making the pitch plate with which to polish the speculum by Mr. Newton, a gentleman from Taunton. This was the telescope for which father built the observatory, and it has been described as a real triumph of skill.
Many a time after his day's work was done he would take his magic-lantern and give a lantern lecture on astronomy. He also wrote a paper, "A Letter from the Man in the Moon," which was published in theExe Valley Magazine. Another paper, "A Journey with Coggia's Comet," appeared inHome Words. Some of his mechanical toys, Stoke Canon Church with its peal of bells, ships rocking on the ocean, and others, have often been shown at church sales of work, and so helped the funds.
ON several occasions during the early years at Silverton, my father had trouble with drunken passengers. On one occasion a certain book salesman came to the station and called for a ticket to Exeter, for which he tendered 5d.The parliamentary fare being 7d., my father asked him for the other 2d.The man began to abuse him and got on to the line, and would have been killed by an express, but father jumped down and dragged him back just in time to save both their lives. The man then struck father in the face with his umbrella and swore tremendously. After some trouble father succeeded in placing him outside the station gate and locked him out. The man finally paid 7d.for his ticket, and then threatened to kill father. Of course he was summoned and had to pay heavy fines. Father wrote regarding this case: "If I had caused the death of this man, I should have had to do at least twelve months' hard labour in one of Her Majesty's country mansions, and there would have been two and a half columns inThe Times,The Standard, andThe Daily Telegraph, expatiating on the carelessness of railway officials; but having saved his life at greatrisk of my own, I received as complete and satisfactory a blackguarding as it is possible to conceive."
On another occasion father was not so fortunate in averting disaster. In 1879 a lady came to the station in her carriage to meet some friends who were going to spend Easter with her. It was the day before Good Friday, and the trains were very late. The friends were coming in the down train from London, and she also wanted to see her son-in-law who was passing in the up train. While waiting she constantly crossed the line, first to the down platform, then to the up. A down train was signalled and off she went to the down platform. She was a very genial person and had been chatting pleasantly to every waiting passenger. This train was an express, and as soon as it passed by she saw an up train approaching. She immediately attempted to cross the line, probably thinking it was the stopping train, instead of which it was an express. Father rushed out to warn her, but it was too late, for the engine was upon her, and she was instantly killed. The shock was very great to both of my parents and they could not sleep for weeks.
Up to 1874 father was single-handed, and used often to be on duty from 6 a.m. till 2 o'clock the following morning waiting for a coal train which used to come at any time in those days. Afterwards a signalman was appointed, and then father's duty hours were 6 a.m. till 10 p.m. There are several people still living, both rich and poor, who could record the great courtesy they received at Silverton station. Many a time he would help some poor person along the lanes with her babies orher bundles, or show the way with his lamp to some benighted place perhaps two or three miles distant.
In the autumn of 1875 father was very ill, and when he got better he was ordered away for a change of air, and I had the pleasure of going with him. We visited some relations and went on to London. If we had gone to the dullest place in the world I should have been quite happy so long as father was with me, for on all occasions he was just the same age as his children. But as it was we went to all the interesting places, and I don't know which of us enjoyed things the most.
About this time the Great Western railway company took over what had been known as the Bristol and Exeter railway, and began to lay down narrow gauge-lines. The line near Silverton runs through a valley, picturesque but wet. The station itself is about thirty feet lower than the floor of Exeter Cathedral. For several weeks during this time there had been a great deal of rain and the valley contained more water than usual. Torrents ran down from the hills and flooded the valley of the Culm to a depth of over five feet. A culvert which drains the main part of these hills passes under the railway close to Silverton station, and this became blocked by two hurdles which had been carried down the stream and become fixed in an upright position right across the mouth of the culvert. Consequently, leaves, brushwood, thousands of apples and other rubbish got fixed on one side of the hurdles, completely staying the torrent. The railway was quickly flooded, and at 10.30 p.m., after the station was closed for the night, down came theexpress known as "Madame Neilson's train," because it conveyed her regularly from London to her Devonshire home. Owing to the work of laying down the narrow-gauge rails there were a great many timbers collected on that part of the line, and these were lifted by the sudden flood, and floated about on the water. Mother went to look at the flood just in time to see the express coming at a speed of sixty or seventy miles an hour, and she wondered if it would get safely through. The thought had scarcely entered her head when she saw the great engine rear itself up, as if it were a real live thing, then as suddenly drop down again, and she knew that it was off the line. The passengers got a shaking, but were otherwise none the worse, not even wetting their feet as they passed over planks laid across from their carriages to the platform. Madame Neilson and Madame Patti were both among the passengers, so here was a lively night for my mother and brothers. There is no railway hotel or other house near, so mother did her best to accommodate all these people, who were dreadfully hungry. They soon ate up all that was in our house, and there they had to wait for a relief train from Exeter. My two young brothers were called out of their beds, to escort two gentlemen to the village of Silverton two miles away. They started off full of excitement, and when they were about a quarter of a mile away the water was nearly up to their necks; but they all four went on, and my brothers had to try and get some bread for the hungry people. So they arrived in due course wet through and tired out, but they were none the worse the next day. Altogether itwas a most exciting night. Father traced the origin of the flood and drew up plans, and received the thanks of the railway company.
Now there are some people, especially those who live in large towns, who may think that a small country station is a very dull place to live in, but that is because they have never tried it. Apart from such occasional and exciting events as that just described, the country has interests and amusements of its own. When country people are waiting for a local train, particularly if it is a market train, and all the passengers, both rich and poor, are more or less acquainted with each other, every topic is discussed, and if the station-master has a few minutes to spare his opinion is sure to be asked. For example, when Doctor Temple was appointed Bishop of Exeter, it made such a stir that it was the talk of every one, and father's opinion was asked by every passenger. Father had read about Dr. Temple, though he had not seen him. His reply to their question was always the same: "I rejoice to know that Dr. Temple is appointed; such men are needed in the Church very much indeed. He will be the right man in the right place, and he will thoroughly do his duty, and he will be a hard worker. Moreover, he will make the clergy work, and it is a thousand pities that so many churchmen have not yet realized what a strong man they will have amongst them."
Then up spake a countryman, "Then, du yu 'old way un bein' a tay-totler, Mr. Langdon?"
"Why, of course I do," replied father. "That is the essence of the whole matter, and that is just why theExeter people are against him; but I for one am thankful, and I think it a great gain to the Church of England to have at last a bishop who holds such opinions."
"Well now to be sure, Mr. Langdon, I knowed thee was long-headed, and I knowed thee was an ole Liberal, now I knows thee beest an ole tay-totler."
Father was a broad Churchman, and wished for Church reform. He liked to hear good music and used to go regularly on Sunday evenings to Thorverton Church, as the services there were very much to his liking. He used to say that the Church was behind the times, and did not reach the people generally, chiefly because the clergy were all taken from one class, and in many cases they did not understand the poor. They were also educated over the heads of the people. In politics he was a supporter of Mr. Gladstone.
My father had now taken up photography and had made a collapsible dark room that he could carry on his back. He succeeded, after a few failures, in taking some very good pictures of the moon in 1880; and in December 1882 he took a good one of the transit of Venus. He also made an instantaneous shutter to his camera, by the help of which he was able to get some very good pictures, notably one of the old broad-gauge train known as the "Flying Dutchman." This was before dry plates were invented. The next thing he made was an excellent camera. A gentleman named Mr. Wellington gave him information both in regard to this and to photography in general, for which father was very grateful.
In the winter of 1881 there was very deep snow, and our house was snowed up to a height of several feet, so that before he could open the station father had to dig his way out. No trains ran that day, and only one up and one down on the two succeeding days. After that the line was pretty clear again.
In 1888 father and mother received another fearful blow by the death of my youngest brother, after a very short illness, at his lodgings in Exeter. After this time father never appeared to be very well, and before long his health entirely gave way.
During these years several visitors came to father's observatory, among them Mr. Clifton Lambert, son of the General Manager of the Great Western Railway. This gentleman wrote a sketch of father's life, which was published in three different papers,Wit and Wisdom, June 1889, theGreat Western Railway Magazine, September 1889, and in the summer numberWestern Weekly News, 1894, just one month before he died. Visitors would call at all hours, in the day to see the spots on the sun, and in the evening and at night to see the moon and stars.
For many a year father had been a wonder to the simple country folk. They could not understand a man devoting his spare time to the study of the heavens, for the mere love of science. They had an idea that he could "rule the planets." Father used to say that he was astonished at the amount of superstition prevailing in the minds of all sorts of people, not only the uneducated. Even well-educated people would ask him if hecould "rule their planets." He would say that he was ashamed to hear them ask such a question. People would come from long distances in the dead of night to have a look through the telescope. When asked how he had achieved so much, and brought up a large family in respectability, his answer was: "It is through the woman that the Almighty gave me; she has done the most."
It was in March 1894 that I went home to find father suffering from a complaint from which he could not hope to recover. He got gradually worse, and in July I was sent for again to come at once if I wished to see him alive. Mother had done all she could do for him, and I was very much shocked to find him suffering dreadfully. But he was very cheerful, only longing for his sufferings to end. It was a painful time, but as we all gathered around his bed, he often made us laugh by his jokes. Then there were quieter moments when he prayed the Almighty to take him. On the evening before he died, he repeated part of Psalm li. to me and some hymns, and that was the last. He passed peacefully away in the morning.
Through the kindness of Sir Thomas Acland, he was buried in the private burial ground of the Acland family, near his two sons.