Part 3 (2/2)

That which the cabistrate is quite true He was always ”an arbitrary cove” As a critic, he belonged to the school of Bentley and Gifford,--ould always bray in a literary h such disagreeation But that very eagerness ood editor

Into whatever he did he put his very heart and soul During his time the _Examiner_ was almost all that a Liberal weekly paper should be

So to John Forster I went, and was shown into that room in Lincoln's Inn Fields in which, soiven that reading of which there is an illustration with portraits in the second volume of his life

At this ti with o that all such acquaintance had died out I kneho they were as far as a e fro to the guild, through ree by my own unsuccessful efforts But it was not probable that any one would admit my claim;--nor on this occasion did I make any claim I stated my name and official position, and the fact that opportunities had been givenmyself acquainted with the circumstances of the time Would a series of letters on the subject be accepted by the _Exae to me, was pleased to say that if the letters should recommend the, and if--every reader will kno on such occasions an editor will guard himself--if this and if that, they should be favourably entertained They were favourably entertained,--if printing and publication be favourable entertainment But I heard no more of them The world in Ireland did not declare that the Government had at last been adequately defended, nor did the treasurer of the _Exaht to have been a cheque I do not even yet know A le letter to a newspaper of course is not paid for it,--nor for any number of letters on some point personal to himself I have since written sets of letters to newspapers, and have been paid for theained for a price On this occasion I had hopes; but they never ran high, and I was not much disappointed I have no copy now of those letters, and could not refer to them without much trouble; nor do I remember what I said

But I know that I didthem

When my historical novel failed, as coan to ask myself whether, after all, that wasthe justice of the verdict expressed against me The idea that I was the unfortunate owner of unappreciated genius never troubled me I did not look at the books after they were published, feeling sure that they had been, as it were, daood reason

But still I was clear in my mind that I would not lay down e my hand, and to attempt a play I did attempt the play, and in 1850 I wrote a comedy, partly in blank verse, and partly in prose, called _The noble Jilt_ The plot I afterwards used in a novel called _Can You Forgive Her?_ I believe that I did give the best of my intellect to the play, and I must own that when it was completed it pleasedit here and touching it there, and then sent it to e Bartley the actor, who had when I was in London been stage-ht, for ive me the full benefit of his professional experience

I have now before me the letter which he wrote to ether condereat hopes of your production I did not think it opened draht have been remedied” I knew then that it was all over But, as my old friend warer, till led At last came the fatal blow ”As to the character of your heroine, I felt at a loss how to describe it, but you have done it for me in the last speech of Madaaret,character Play it hat skill you will, it meets but little sympathy' And this, be assured, would be its effect upon an audience So that I er, _The noble Jilt_ is not a play I could have recommended for production” This was a blow that I did feel The neglect of a book is a disagreeable fact which grows upon an author by degrees There is no specialviolence of condemnation But a piece of criticism such as this, fro an opinion, was a blow in the face! But I accepted the judgment loyally, and said not a word on the subject to any one Iospel

And as critical gospel it has since been accepted In later days I have ht The dialogue, however, I think to be good, and I doubt whether sohtest and best work I ever did

Just at this time another literary project looht months had considerable size I was introduced to Mr John Murray, and proposed to him to write a handbook for Ireland

I explained to him that I knew the country better than most other people, perhaps better than any other person, and could do it well

He asked me to make a trial of es, undertaking to give ht after he should have received my work I came back to Ireland, and for some weeks I laboured very hard I ”did” the city of Dublin, and the county of Kerry, in which lies the lake scenery of Killarney; and I ”did” the route fro nearly a quarter of the proposed volume The roll of MS was sent to Albemarle Street,--but was never opened At the expiration of nine months from the date on which it reached that time-honoured spot it was returned without a word, in answer to a very angry letter froot it I need hardly say that htest use to me In all honesty I think that had he been less dilatory, John Murray would have got a very good Irish Guide at a cheap rate

Early in 1851 I was sent upon a job of special official work, which for two years so co A plan was for the rural delivery of letters, and for adjusting the work, which up to that tiular manner A country letter-carrier would be sent in one direction in which there were but few letters to be delivered, the arrangeinated probably at the request of some influential person, while in another direction there was no letter-carrier because no influential person had exerted hiland, Ireland, and Scotland; and I quickly did the work in the Irish district to which I was attached I was then invited to do the saland, and I spent two of the happiest years of an in Devonshi+re; and visited, I think I may say, every nook in that county, in Cornwall, Soreater part of Dorsetshi+re, the Channel Islands, part of Oxfordshi+re, Wiltshi+re, Gloucestershi+re, Worcestershi+re, Herefordshi+re, Monmouthshi+re, and the six southern Welsh counties In this way I had an opportunity of seeing a considerable portion of Great Britain, with a minuteness which few have enjoyed And I did my business after a fashi+on in which no other official man has worked, at least for many years I went almost everywhere on horseback I had two hunters of my own, and here and there, where I could, I hired a third horse I had an Irish groom with me,--an old man, who has now been in my service for thirty-five years; and in this manner I saw almost every house--I think I e district

The object was to create a postal nethich should catch all recipients of letters In France it was, and I suppose still is, the practice to deliver every letter Wherever the man may live to whom a letter is addressed, it is the duty of some letter-carrier to take that letter to his house, sooner or later But this, of course, ht to be worse than none at all In some places we did establish posts three times a week, and perhaps occasionally twice a week; but such halting arrangements were considered to be objectionable, and ere bound down by a salutary law as to expense, which came from our masters at the Treasury We were not allowed to establish any er's walk on which a sufficient nues, counted at a halfpenny a letter But then the counting was in our own hands, and an enterprising official uine I did not prepare false accounts; but I fear that the postmasters and clerks who absolutely had the country to do beca to watch how a passion will grow upon athose two years it was the ambition of my life to cover the country with rural letter-carriers I do not reatived by the authorities; but I fear that so too poor, or because, in my anxiety to include this house and that, I had sent the men too far afield Our laas that a man should not be required to walk more than sixteen miles a day Had the work to be done been all on a measured road, there would have been no need for doubt as to the distances But my letter-carriers went here and there across the fields It was ht to take them by all short cuts; and as I measured on horseback the short cuts which they would have to make on foot, perhaps I was sometimes a little unjust to thee forty miles a day

I was paid sixpence a mile for the distance travelled, and it was necessary that I should at any rate travel enough to pay forout of it also I have often surprised some small country post down upon hi, with a red coat and boots and breeches, and interrogating him as to the disposal of every letter which cauise I would ride up to fares, or other lone residences about the country, and ask the people how they got their letters, at what hour, and especially whether they were delivered free or at a certain charge For a habit had crept into use, which came to be, in my eyes, at that time, the one sin for which there was no pardon, in accordance hich these rural letter-carriers used to charge a penny a letter, alleging that the house was out of their beat, and that they must be paid for their extra work I think that I did stamp out that evil In all these visits I was, in truth, a beneficent angel to the public, bringing everywhere with ular delivery of letters But not unfrequently the angelic nature of my mission was iet on, and did not allow asmistress of the house, or to an open- asked so ht be considered i to his or her private affairs

”Good , sir I have just called to ask a few questions I aet your letters? As I am a little in a hurry, perhaps you can explain at once” Then I would take out my pencil and notebook, and wait for information And in fact there was no other way in which the truth could be ascertained

Unless I came down suddenly as a summer's storers would not confess the robbery, fearing the ill-will of the men It was necessary to startle them into the revelations which I required theood And I did startle thehly used to it, and soon lost my native bashfulness;--but so inhabitants of country houses I did, however, do h satisfaction

I was altogether in earnest; and I believe that ht daily to his house free of charge, who but for me would still have had to send to the post-town for theularly to his door

This work took up reat an a, that I was in fact unable to do any literary work Fro toover in ment of a plot which had occurred to me But the day did not coin another novel For, after all, what could it be but a novel? The play had failed more absolutely than the novels, for the novels had attained the honour of print The cause of this pressure of official work lay, not in the demands of the General Post Office, which more than once expressed itself as astonished by my celerity, but in the necessity which was incuh to pay for ures, and reports which such an aht with it I hly,--with no fault but an over-eagerness to extend postal arrangements far and wide

In the course of the job I visited Salisbury, and whilst wandering there oneround the purlieus of the cathedral I conceived the story of _The Warden_,--from whence came that series of novels of which Barchester, with its bishops, deans, and archdeacon, was the central site I may as well declare at once that no one at their commencement could have had less reason than ymen I have been often asked in what period ofin a cathedral city as to have become intimate with the ways of a Close I never lived in any cathedral city,--except London, never knew anything of any Close, and at that tiyman My archdeacon, who has been said to be life-like, and for whom I confess that I have all a parent's fond affection, was, I think, the simple result of an effort of my moral consciousness It was such as that, in my opinion, that an archdeacon should be,--or, at any rate, would be with such advantages as an archdeacon ht have; and lo! an archdeacon was produced, who has been declared by coround And yet, as far as I can remember, I had not then even spoken to an archdeacon I have felt the coreat

The archdeacon ca about clergyht know or pretend to know about theeneral I had been struck by two opposite evils,--or what seeht be able to expose them, or rather to describe them, both in one and the same tale The first evil was the possession by the Church of certain funds and endowments which had been intended for charitable purposes, but which had been allowed to beconitaries There had been ht to public notice at the tiious malversation of charitable purposes The second evil was its very opposite Though I had been much struck by the injustice above described, I had also often been angered by the undeserved severity of the newspapers towards the recipients of such incomes, who could hardly be considered to be the chief sinners in the matter

When a man is appointed to a place, it is natural that he should accept the income allotted to that place without much inquiry It is seldom that he will be the first to find out that his services are overpaid Though he be called upon only to look beautiful and to be dignified upon State occasions, he will think 2000 a year little enough for such beauty and dignity as he brings to the task I felt that there had been soht have been spared But I was altogether wrong in supposing that the two things could be co a cause must do so after the fashi+on of an advocate,--or his writing will be ineffective

He should take up one side and cling to that, and then he may be powerful There should be no scruples of conscience Such scruples make a man impotent for such work It was open to me to have described a bloated parson, with a red nose and all other iniquities, openly neglecting every duty required fro riotously on funds purloined fro as he did do so the ht have painted a ood, as sweet, and as , ill-paid ht have subjected him to the rancorous veno to stand on, without any true case, s the poor clergy articles But neither of these prograh it erate the vice it lashes, is not justified in creating it in order that it may be lashed Caricature may too easily become a slander, and satire a libel I believed in the existence neither of the red-nosed clerical cormorant, nor in that of the venoh want of care and the natural tendency of every class to take care of itself, yone elsewhere; and I believed also that through the equally natural propensity ofas they kno to be, certain writers of the press had allowed theood cause But the two objects should not have been coh to be aware that I was not the man to have carried out either of them