Authors: George W. M. Reynolds,James Malcolm Rymer
NEW YEAR'S DAY
IT was the 1st of January, 1839.
The weather was cold and inclement;- Nature in nakedness
appeared to recline upon the turfless grave of summer.
The ancient river which intersects the mightiest city upon
the surface of the earth, was swollen; and in the country through which it
wound its way, ha fields were flooded in many parts.
The trees were stripped of their verdure: the singing
of birds had ceased.
Gloomy and mournful was the face of nature, sombre and
lowering the aspect of the proud city.
So pale - so faint were the beams of the mid-day sun,
that the summit of St. Paul's, which a few months back was wont to glitter as
if it were crowned with a diadem of gold, was now veiled in a murky cloud; and
the myriad pinnacles of the modern Babylon, which a few were each tipped as
with a star, pointed upwards to a sky ominous and foreboding.
Nevertheless, the ingenuity and wonderous perseverance
of man had adopted all precautions to expel the cold from the palaces of the
rich and powerful, and to surround the lordly owners of those splendid mansions
with the most delicious wines and the most luxurious food, in doors, to induce
them to forget that winter reigned without.
Soft carpets, thick curtains - satin, and velvet, and
silk, - downy beds beneath gorgeous canopies,- warm clothing, and cheerful
fires, combined to defy the approach of winter, and to render the absence of
genial summer a matter of small regret.
Then, when the occupants of these palaces went abroad,
there was no bold exertion required for them to face the nipping cold; for they
stepped from their thresholds into carriages thickly lined with wool, and supplied
with cushions, soft, luxurious, and warm.
But that cold which was thus expelled from the palaces
of the rich took refuge in the dwellings of the poor; and there it remained,
sharp as a razor, pitiless as an executioner, inexorable as a judge, and keen
as the north-western wind that blows from the ice-bound coasts of
Labrador.
No silks, nor satins, nor velvets, nor carpets, nor
canopies, nor curtains, had the dwellings of the poor to defy, or even mitigate
the freezing malignity of that chill which, engendered in the arctic regions of
eternal snow, and having swept over the frozen river and the mighty forests of
America, had come to vent its collected spite upon the islands of Europe.
Shivering, starving, in their miserable hovels, the industrious
many, by the sweat of whose brow the indolent few were supplied with their
silks, and their satins, and their velvets, wept bitter - bitter tears ever
their suffering and famished children, and nursed the day on which their little
ones were born.
For the winter was a very hard one; and bread - bread
was very dear!
Yes - bread, which thou, Almighty God! hast given to
feed those whom thou didst create after thine own image, - even bread was too
dear for the starving poor to buy!
How long, O Lord! wilt thou permit the few to wrest
every thing from the many - to monopolize, accumulate, gripe, snatch, drag
forth, cling to, the fruits of the earth, for their own behoof alone?
How long shall there exist such spells in the privilege
of birth? how long must all happiness and all misery be summed up in the words-
WEALTH | POVERTY
We said that it was New Year's Day, 1839.
In the palaces of the great were rejoicings, and music,
and festivity; and diamonds glittered - and feathers waved -and silks
rustled ;- the elastic floors bent beneath the steps of the dancers; the wine
flowed in crystal cups; and the fruits of summer were amongst the dainties
spread to tempt the appetite of the aristocracy.
Ah! there was happiness indeed, in thus welcoming the
new year; for those who there greeted its presence, were well assured that it
would teem with the joys and blandishments which had characterized the one that
bad just sunk into the grave of Time!
And how was it with the poor of this mighty metropolis
- the imperial city, to whose marts whole navies waft the commerce of the
world!
The granaries were full; the pastures had surrendered
up fat oxen to commemorate the season; the provision-shops teemed with food of
the most luxurious and of the humblest kinds alike. A stranger walking through
this great city would have wondered where the mouths were that could consume
such vast quantities of food.
And yet thousands famished for want of the merest
necessaries of Life.
The hovels of the poor echoed not to the sounds of
mirth and music - but to the wail of hunger and the cry of misery. In those sad
abodes there was no joviality to welcome a new year ;-for a new year was a
curse - a mere prolongation of the acute and poignant horrors of the one gone
by.
Alas! that New Year's Day was one of strange contrasts
in the social sphere of London.
And as London is the heart of this empire, the disease
which prevails in the core is conveyed through every vein and artery over the
entire national frame.
The country that contains the greatest wealth of all
the territories of the universe, is that which also knows the greatest amount
of hideous, revolting, heart-rending misery.
In England men and women die of starvation in the
streets.
In England women murder their children to save them
from a lingering death by famine.
In England the poor commit crimes to obtain an asylum
in a gaol.
In England aged females die by their own hands, in
order to avoid the workhouse.
There is one cause of all these miseries and horrors -
one fatal scourge invented by the rich to torture the poor - one infernal
principle of mischief and of woe, which has taken root in the land - one
element of a cruelty so keen and so refined, that it outdoes the agonies
endured in the Inquisition of the olden time.
And this fertile source of misery, and murder, and suicide,
and crime, is-
THE TREATMENT OF THE WORKHOUSE.
Alas! when the bees have made the honey,
the apiarist comes and takes all away, begrudging the industrious insects even
a morsel of the wax!
Let us examine for a moment the social scale of these
realms:
The Sovereign.
....The Aristocracy.
......... The Clergy.
................... The Middle Classes.
................................The Industrious Classes
The lowest step in the ladder is
occupied by that class which is the most numerous, the most useful, and which
ought to be the most influential.
The average annual incomes of the individuals of each
class are as follows :-
The Sovereign . . . . . . £500;000.
The member of the Aristocracy . . . . . . £30,000.
The Priest . . . . . £7,500.
The member of the middle classes . . . . £300.
The member of the industrious classes . . . . £20.
Is this reasonable? is this just? Is this even
consistent with common sense?
It was New Year's Day, 1839.
The rich man sate down to a table crowded with every
luxury: the pauper in the workhouse had not enough to eat. The contrast may
thus be represented:-
Turtle, venison, turkey, hare, pheasant, | ½ lb. bread 4 oz. bacon ½ lb. potatoes 1½ pint of gruel |
And this was New Year's Day, 1839! But to
proceed.
It was five o'clock in the evening. Three persons were
conversing together on Constitution Hill, beneath the wall of the Palace
Gardens.
Two of them, who were wrapped up in warm pilot coats,
are well known to our readers: the third was a young lad of about sixteen or
seventeen, and very short in stature. He was dressed in a blue jacket, dark
waistcoat of coarse materials, and corduroy trousers. His countenance was
effeminate and by no means bad-looking; his eyes were dark and intelligent; his
teeth good. The name of this youth was Henry Holford.
"Well, my boy," said the Resurrection Man,
for he was one of the lad's companions, the other being the redoubtable
Cracksman,- "well, my boy, do you feel equal to this undertaking?"
"Quite," answered Holford in a decided
tone.
"If we succeed, you know," observed the
Cracksman, "it will be a jolly good thing for you; and if you happen to
get nabbed, why - all the beaks can do to you will be to send you for a month or
two upon the stepper. In that there case Tony and me will take care of you when
you come out - won't we, Tony?"
"Certainly," replied the Resurrection Man.-
"But if you get scented, Harry," he continued, addressing himself to
the lad, "as you approach the big house, you must have a run for it, and
we shall stay here and leave the rope over the wall for two hours. If you don't
come back by that time, we shall suppose that you ye either got into some quiet
corner of the palace, or that you're taken; and then, whichever happens of
these two events, we shan't be of any service to you.
" One thing I should like you to bear in mind,
youngster," said the Cracksman, "and that is, that if you don't pluck
up your courage well, and prepare for all kinds of dangers and difficulties,
you much better give up the thing at once. We don t want you to run neck and
heels into a business that you're afeard on."
"Afraid!" exclaimed the youth, contemptuously
: "I shall not fail for want of courage. I have made up my
mind to risk the venture; and let the result be what it will, I shall go
through with it."
"That's what I call speaking like a man,"
said the burglar, "though you are but a boy. Take a drop of brandy before
you begin."
"Not a drop," answered Holford : " I
require a clear head and quick eye, and dare not drink."
"Well, as you will," said the Cracksman; and
he took a tolerably long draught from a case-bottle which he had produced from
his pocket.
He then handed the bottle to the Resurrection Man, who
also paid his respects to it with a hearty good will.
"I am ready," said Holford; "there is no
use in delay."
"Not a bit," observed the Cracksman
"Tony and me will help you over the wall in a jiffey."
By the aid of the Resurrection Man and the burglar, the
youth sealed the wall of the Palace Gardens, and ere he dropped upon the inner
side, he said in a low but firm tone, "Good night."
Holford was now within the enclosure of the royal
demesne. The evening was very dark; but at a distance the windows of the palace
shone with effulgence.
Thitherward did he proceed, advancing cautiously along,
for he knew that there was a piece of water in the pleasure-grounds. This small
lake he soon left on his right hand; and he was shortly within fifty yards of
the back part of Buckingham Palace.
At that moment he was suddenly startled by hearing
voices close to him. He stood still, and listened. Steps approached, and he
heard a gardener issue some instructions to a subordinate. There was tuft of
trees near at hand: Holford had not a moment to lose ;- he darted into the
thicket of ever-greens, where be concealed himself.
"What was that? " said the gardener, stopping
short.
"I heard nothing," answered the man.
"Yes - there was a rustling of those trees."
"A cat, perhaps."
"Or one of the aquatic birds."
All was still, and the gardener, accompanied by his
man, proceeded on his way. The sounds of their footsteps were soon lost in the
distance; and Holford emerged from his hiding-place. Without any farther alarm
he reached the back premises of the palace.
He now became involved in a maze of out-houses and
offices, and was at a loss which direction to take. He was going captiously
along the wall of one of those buildings, when he suddenly ran against a man
who was advancing rapidly in a contrary direction.
"Holloa! who the devil is this?" cried the
man; and clutching hold of Holford's collar, he dragged him a few paces, until
he brought him beneath a window whence streamed a powerful light. "I
suppose you're the new boy that the head-gardener hired this
morning?"
"Yes, sir," answered Holford, gladly availing
himself of an excuse thus so conveniently suggested by the error of the man who
had collared him.
"Then mind which way you go in future, young broccoli
sprout," exclaimed the other; and, dismissing the youth with a slight cuff
on the head, he passed on.
Holford hastened away from the light of the window;
and, crossing a small court, reached a glass door opening into the back part of
the palace. The adventurous lad laid his hand upon the latch: the door was not
locked; and he hesitated not a moment to enter the royal abode.
He was now in a low vestibule, well lighted, and at
the extremity of which there was a staircase. In one corner of the vestibule
was a marble table, on which lay several cloaks, the skirts of which hung down
to the ground. This circumstance was particularly fortunate for the safety of
the intruder, inasmuch as he had scarcely entered the vestibule, when the sound
of footsteps, rapidly descending the staircase, fell upon his ears. He hastened
to conceal himself beneath the table, the cloaks serving effectually to veil
his person.
Two footmen in gorgeous liveries shortly made their
appearance in the vestibule.
"Where did you say her majesty is?" demanded
one.
"In the Roman drawing-room," replied the
other. "The Sculpture Gallery is to be lighted up this evening. You can
attend to that duty at once, if you will.''
"Very well," said the first speaker; and he
left the vestibule by means of a door on the right-hand side, but which door he
neglected to close behind him.
The other servant advanced straight up to the marble
table, and, sweeping off the cloaks, threw them all over his left arm.
Holford's person was now exposed to the eyes of any one who might happen to
glance beneath that table. The domestic was, however, a tall and stately
individual, and kept his head elevated. Having taken the cloaks from the table,
he slowly retraced his steps up the stairs, and disappeared from Holford's
view.
The young adventurer started from his hiding. plane.
The door, by which one of the servants had left the vestibule for the purpose
of repairing to the Sculpture Gallery, was open. It communicated with a long
passage, only feebly lighted. Holford hesitated not a moment, but proceeded in
this direction.
He advanced to the end of the passage, and entered a
narrow corridor, branching off to the right, and lighted by lamps sustained in
the hands of two tall statues. Again the sound of footsteps fell upon Holford's
ears; and he had scarcely time to slip behind one of these statues, when the
domestic whom he had before seen enter that part of the building, appeared at
the end of the corridor. The servant passed without observing him; and the
youthful intruder emerged from his lurking-place.
He now pursued his way, without interruption, through
several passages and rooms, until he reached a magnificent marble hall, at the
farther extremity of which were numerous dependents of the palace, grouped
together, and conversing in a low tone. Holford instantly shrank back into the
passage by which he had reached the hall. Exactly opposite was the entrance to
the Sculpture Gallery. To retrace his steps was useless: he determined to
proceed. But how was he to cross the hall? A few moments' reflection suggested
to him an expedient. He walked boldly across the hall; and his presence excited
no suspicion, it being impossible for the dependants collected together at the
other end to observe the nature of his garb at that distance.
He now gained access to the Sculpture Gallery; but
there he found no means of concealment. He determined to explore elsewhere, and
speedily found himself in a magnificent saloon, adjoining the library, and
where he beheld sofas, with the drapery hanging down to the carpet.
It was beneath one of these downy sofas that the daring
intruder into the royal dwelling took refuge; and there, comfortably extended
at full length, he, chuckled triumphantly at the success which had, up to this
moment, attended his adventurous undertaking. We have before said that he
was of very small stature; he was moreover thin and delicate, and easily packed
away.
Some time passed, and no one appeared to interrupt the
reflections of Henry Holford. Hour after hour glided by; and at length this
palace-clock struck nine. Scarcely had the last chime died away, when the
folding doors were thrown open, and a gorgeous procession of nobles and ladies
entered the apartment. The magnificence of the dresses worn by England's
peeresses and high-born dames - the waving plumes, the glittering jewels, the
sparkling diamonds, -combined with a glorious assemblage of female loveliness,
formed a spectacle, at once awe-inspiring, ravishing, and delightful. A little
in advance of that splendid
cortege
, - conversing easily with the
ladies who walked one pace behind her on either hand, and embellished with
precious stones of regal price, - moved the sovereign of the mightiest empire
in the universe.
Upon her high and polished brow, Victoria wore a tiara
of diamonds: diamonds innumerable, and of immense value, studded her stomacher;
diamond pendants adorned her ears; and diamonds also glistened upon her wrists.
She walked with grace and dignity; and her noble bearing compensated for the
shortness of her stature.
The queen advanced to the very sofa beneath which
Holford lay concealed and seated herself upon it. The ladies and nobles of the
court, together with the guests present upon the occasion, stood at a
respectful distance from the sovereign. The splendour of the scene was enhanced
by the brilliant uniforms of several military officers of high rank, and the
court. dresses of the foreign ambassadors. The blaze of light in which the room
was bathed, was reflected front the diamonds of the ladies, and the stars and
orders which the nobles wore upon their breasts.
At that time Victoria was yet a virgin-queen. If not
strictly beautiful, her countenance was very pleasing. Her light brown hair was
worn quite plain; her blue eyes were animated with intellect; and when she
smiled, her lips revealed a set of teeth white as Oriental pearls. Her bust was
magnificent, and her figure good, in spite of the lowness of her stature. Her
manner was distinguished by somewhat of that impatience which characterised all
the family of George the Third, and which seemed to result from a slightly
nervous temperament. She appeared to require answers to her questions more
promptly than court etiquette permitted those around her to respond to her
inquiries. With regard to the condition of the humbler classes of her subjects,
she was totally ignorant: she knew that they were suffering some distress; but
the fearful amount of that misery was carefully concealed from her. She only
read the journals favourable to the ministry; and they took care to report
nothing which might offend or wound her. Thus, she who should have known every
thing relative to her people, in reality scarcely knew any thing!
Foremost amid the chiefs of foreign diplomacy was the
Ambassador from the court of Castelcicala. He was a man of advanced years; and
on his breast glittered the stars of all the principal orders of knighthood in
Europe - the Cross and Bath of England, the Legion of Honour of France, the
Golden Fleece of Spain, the Black Eagle of Prussia. the Sword of Sweden, the
Crescent of Turkey, Saint Nepomecenus of Austria, and the Lion Rampant of
Castelcicala. The Ambassadors of France and Austria were also present upon this
occasion, - Count Sebastiani, the representative of Louis-Philippe being
clad in the
splendid uniform of a General in the French army, and wearing the grand cordon
of the Legion of Honour,- and Prince Esterhazy, the Austrian Minister,
and himself the possessor of estates more extensive than many a German
principality, wearing a court dress covered with lace and glittering with
stars.
Several members of the English Cabinet were
also present. There was one whose good-tempered and handsome countenance,
gentlemanly demeanour, stout and sturdy form, and complacent smile, would
hardly have induced a stranger to believe that this was Viscount Melbourne, the
Prime Minister of England. Next was a short personage, with a refined and
intelligent, though: by no means an imposing air, - a something sharp and
cunning in the curl of the mouth, and the flash of the eye, - and a weak
disagreeable voice, frequently stammering and hesitating at a long sentence:
this was Lord John Russell, the Secretary for the Home Department. Near Lord
John Russell was a tall man of about fifty,- very good-looking, with dark
and well-curled hocks, glossy whiskers, and an elegant figure,- but excessively
foppish in his attire, and somewhat affected in manner ;- and this was Lord
Palmerston, Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Conversing with this nobleman was a
personage with pale and sallow cheeks, luxuriant and naturally-curling locks,-
dark and interesting in appearance, and in the prime of life, - whose
conversation denoted him to be a man of elegant taste, I and whose manners were
those of a finished gentleman; but who little suited the idea which a stranger
would have formed of a great viceroy or a responsible minister :- nevertheless,
this was the Marquis of Normanby, lately Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and at the
time of which we are speaking, Secretary for the Colonies.
The conversation turned upon the specimens of, art in
the gallery of sculpture, which the noble company had just visited. In
this manner an hour passed away; and at the expiration of that period, the
queen and her numerous guests repaired to the drawing-rooms on the first floor,
where arrangements had been made for a grand musical entertainment.
The entire pageantry was viewed with ease, and; the
conversation plainly beard, by the plebian intruder upon that scene of
patrician splendour, and. glory, and wealth. The musical tones of the queen's
voice had fallen upon his ears: he had listened to the words of great lords and
high-born ladies. At that moment how little, how contemptible did he feel
himself to be! Never had he entertained so humble, an opinion of his own worth
and value in society as he did at that period. He - a common pot-boy in a
public-house - had for an hour been the unseen companion of a queen and her
mightiest paladins and loveliest dames ;- and had he been discovered in his
retreat, he would have been turned ignominiously forth, like the man in
the parable who went to the marriage-feast without a wedding-garment.
For two more mortal hours did Holford remain beneath
the sofa, crampled by his recumbent and uneasy position, and already more than
half inclined to regret the adventure upon which he had so precipitately
entered.
At length the palace grew quiet, and servants entered
the room in which Holford was concealed, to extinguish the lights. The moment
that this duty was performed, and the domestics had withdrawn Holford emerged
from beneath the sofa, and seated himself upon it. He was proud to think that
he now occupied the place where royalty had so lately been. The voice of the
queen still seemed to ring in his ears; and he felt an unknown and
unaccountable species of happiness in recalling to mind and pondering upon all
that had fallen from her lips. At that moment how he envied those peers and
highborn dames who were privileged to approach the royal presence and bask
beneath the smile of the sovereign ;- how he wished that his lot had been cast
in a different sphere! But - no! it was useless to regret what could not be
remedied; and, although he was now in a palace, and seated upon the very
cushion which a few hours previously had been pressed by royalty, he was not
one atom less Henry Holford, the pot-boy!
The reverie of this extraordinary youth was long.
Visions the most wild and fantastical sustained a powerful excitement in his
imagination. At length the clock struck two. Holford awoke from his strange
meditations, and collected his scattered ideas.
He now felt the cravings of hunger, and determined to
explore the palace in search of food. He had already seen enough of its
geography to be enabled to guess the precise position of the servants' offices;
and thither he now directed his steps. He reached the great marble hall, which was
lighted by lamps: there was no one there. He crossed it, and proceeded along
those passages which he had already threaded a few hours before. After
wandering about for some time, and, to his infinite surprise and joy, without
encountering a soul, he reached the servants' offices. A short search conducted
him to a well-stored larder. Some of the dishes had evidently been put away in
a hurry, for silver spoons and forks had been left in them. Holford might have
possessed himself of property of considerable value: but such an idea never for
a moment entered his head. He moreover contented himself with the simplest food
he could find; then, remembering that four-and-twenty hours might elapse ere he
should be enabled to return to the larder, he supplied himself with a
sufficient amount of provender to last during that interval,
Having adopted this precaution, he stole back again to
the room where the friendly sofa had already afforded a secure hiding-place. He
once more crept beneath the costly drapery, extended himself upon his back, and
fell asleep.