Tracks Of A Rolling Stone by Henry J. Coke (free e reader txt) 📖

Lies.  Will They Cease To Listen To Her

Maddening Whispers:  'Unissez-Vous,  Multipliez,  Il N'est

D'autre Loi,  D'autre But,  Que L'amour?'  What Care They For

Her Aside - 'Et Durez Apres,  Si Vous Le Pouvez; Cela Ne Me

Regarde Plus'?  It Doesn't Regard Them Either.

 

The Infallible Panacea,  So The 'Progressive' Tell Us,  Is

Education - Lessons On The Piano,  Perhaps?  Doctor Malthus

Would Be More To The Purpose; But How Shall We Administer His

Prescriptions?  One Thing We Might Try To Teach To Advantage, 

And That Is The Elementary Principles Of Hygiene.  I Am Heart

And Soul With The Progressive As To The Ultimate Remedial

Powers Of Education.  Moral Advancement Depends Absolutely On

The Humanising Influences Of Intellectual Advancement.  The

Foreseeing Of Consequences Is A Question Of Intelligence. 

And The Appreciation Of Consequences Which Follow Is The

Basis Of Morality.  But We Must Not Begin At The Wrong End. 

The True Foundation And Condition Of Intellectual And Moral

Progress Postulates Material And Physical Improvement.  The

Growth Of Artificial Wants Is As Much The Cause As The Effect

Of Civilisation:  They Proceed Pari Passu.  A Taste Of

Comfort Begets A Love Of Comfort.  And This Kind Of Love

Militates,  Not Impotently,  Against The Other; For Self-

Interest Is A Persuasive Counsellor,  And Gets A Hearing When

The Blood Is Cool.  Life Must Be More Than Possible,  It Must

Be Endurable; Man Must Have Some Leisure,  Some Repose,  Before

His Brain-Needs Have A Chance With Those Of His Belly.  He

Must Have A Coat To His Back Before He Can Stick A Rose In

Its Button-Hole.  The Worst Of It Is,  He Begins - In Bethnal

Green At Least - With The Rose-Bud; And Indulges,  Poor Devil!

In A Luxury Which Is Just The Most Expensive,  And - In Our

Bethnal Greens - The Most Suicidal He Could Resort To.

 

Chapter 45 Pg 246

There Was One Method I Adopted With A Show Of Temporary

Success Now And Then.  It Frequently Happens That A Man

Succumbs To Difficulties For Which He Is Not Responsible,  And

Which Timely Aid May Enable Him To Overcome.  An Artisan May

Have To Pawn Or Sell The Tools By Which He Earns His Living. 

The Redemption Of These,  If The Man Is Good For Anything, 

Will Often Set Him On His Legs.  Thus,  For Example,  I Found A

Cobbler One Day Surrounded By A Starving Family.  His Story

Was Common Enough,  Severe Illness Being The Burden Of It.  He

Was An Intelligent Little Fellow,  And,  As Far As One Could

Judge,  Full Of Good Intentions.  His Wife Seemed Devoted To

Him,  And This Was The Best Of Vouchers.  'If He Had But A

Shilling Or Two To Redeem His Tools,  And Buy Two Or Three Old

Cast-Off Shoes In The Rag-Market Which He Could Patch Up And

Sell,  He Wouldn't Ask Anyone For A Copper.'

 

We Went Together To The Pawnbroker's,  Then To The Rag-Market, 

And The Little Man Trotted Home With An Armful Of Old Boots

And Shoes,  Some Without Soles,  Some Without Uppers; All,  As I

Should Have Thought,  Picked Out Of Dust-Bins And Rubbish

Heaps,  His Sunken Eyes Sparkling With Eagerness And Renovated

Hope.  I Looked In Upon Him About Three Weeks Later.  The

Family Were Sitting Round A Well Provided Tea-Table,  Close To

A Glowing Fire,  The Cheeks Of The Children Smeared With Jam, 

And The Little Cobbler Hammering Away At His Last,  Too Busy

To Partake Of The Bowl Of Hot Tea Which His Wife Had Placed

Beside Him.

 

The Same Sort Of Treatment Was Sometimes Very Successful With

A Skilful Workman - Like A Carpenter,  For Instance.  Here A

Double Purpose Might Be Served.  Nothing More Common In

Bethnal Green Than Broken Looms,  And Consequent Disaster. 

There You Had The Ready-Made Job For The Reinstated

Carpenter; And Good Could Be Done In A Small Way,  At Very

Little Cost.  Of Coarse Much Discretion Is Needed; Still,  The

Scripture Readers Or The Relieving Officers Would Know The

Characters Of The Destitute,  And The Visitor Himself Would

Soon Learn To Discriminate.

 

A System Similar To This Was The Basis Of The Aid Rendered By

The Royal Society For The Assistance Of Discharged Prisoners, 

Which Was Started By My Friend,  Mr. Whitbread,  The Present

Owner Of Southill,  And Which I Joined In Its Early Days At

His Instigation.  The Earnings Of The Prisoner Were Handed

Over By The Gaols To The Society,  And The Society Employed

Them For His Advantage - Always,  In The Case Of An Artisan, 

By Supplying Him With The Needful Implements Of His Trade. 

But Relief In Which The Pauper Has No Productive Share,  Of

Which He Is But A Mere Consumer,  Is Of No Avail.

 

One Cannot But Think That If Instead Of The Selfish

Principles Which Govern Our Trades-Unions,  And Which Are

Driving Their Industries Out Of The Country,  Trade-Schools

Could Be Provided - Such,  For Instance,  As The Cheap Carving 

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Schools To Be Met With In Many Parts Of Germany And The Tyrol

- Much Might Be Done To Help The Bread-Earners.  Why Could

Not Schools Be Organised For The Instruction Of Shoemakers, 

Tailors,  Carpenters,  Smiths Of All Kinds,  And The Scores Of

Other Trades Which In Former Days Were Learnt By Compulsory

Apprenticeship?  Under Our Present System Of Education The

Greater Part Of What The Poor Man's Children Learn Is Clean

Forgotten In A Few Years; And If Not,  Serves Mainly To Create

And Foster Discontent,  Which Vents Itself In A Passion For

Mass-Meetings And The Fuliginous Oratory Of Our Hyde Parks.

 

The Emigration Scheme For Poor-Law Children As Advocated By

Mrs. Close Is The Most Promising,  In Its Way,  Yet Brought

Before The Public,  And Is Deserving Of Every Support.

 

In The Absence Of Any Such Projects As These,  The

Hopelessness Of The Task,  And The Depressing Effect Of The

Contact With Much Wretchedness,  Wore Me Out.  I Had A Nursery

Of My Own,  And Was Not Justified In Risking Infectious

Diseases.  A Saint Would Have Been More Heroic,  And Could

Besides Have Promised That Sweetest Of Consolations To

Suffering Millions - The Compensation Of Eternal Happiness. 

I Could Not Give Them Even Hope,  For I Had None To Spare. 

The Root-Evil I Felt To Be The Overcrowding Due To The

Reckless Intercourse Of The Sexes; And What Had Providence To

Do With A Law Of Nature,  Obedience To Which Entailed

Unspeakable Misery?

 

 

Chapter 46 Pg 248

 

In The Autumn Following The End Of The Franco-German War,  Dr.

Bird And I Visited All The Principal Battlefields.  In

England The Impression Was That The Bloodiest Battle Was

Fought At Gravelotte.  The Error Was Due,  I Believe,  To Our

Having No War Correspondent On The Spot.  Compared With That

On The Plains Between St. Marie And St. Privat,  Gravelotte

Was But A Cavalry Skirmish.  We Were Fortunate Enough To Meet

A German Artillery Officer At St. Marie Who Had Been In The

Action,  And Who Kindly Explained The Distribution Of The

Forces.  Large Square Mounds Were Scattered About The Plain

Where The German Dead Were Buried,  Little Wooden Crosses

Being Stuck Into Them To Denote The Regiment They Had

Belonged To.  At Gravelotte We Saw The Dogs Unearthing The

Bodies From The Shallow Graves.  The Officer Told Us He Did 

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Not Think There Was A Family In Germany Unrepresented In The

Plains Of St. Privat.

 

It Was Interesting So Soon After The Event,  To Sit Quietly In

The Little Summer-House Of The Chateau De Bellevue, 

Commanding A View Of Sedan,  Where Bismarck And Moltke And

General De Wimpfen Held Their Memorable Council.  'Un

Terrible Homme,' Says The Story Of The 'Debacle,' 'Ce General

De Moltke,  Qui Gagnait Des Batailles Du Fond De Son Cabinet A

Coups D'algebre.'

 

We Afterwards Made A Walking Tour Through The Tyrol,  And Down

To Venice.  On Our Way Home,  While Staying At Lucerne,  We

Went Up The Rigi.  Soon After Leaving The Kulm,  On Our

Descent To The Railway,  Which Was Then Uncompleted,  We Lost

Each Other In The Mist.  I Did Not Get To Vitznau Till Late

At Night,  But Luckily Found A Steamer Just Starting For

Lucerne.  The Cabin Was Crammed With German Students,  Each

One Smoking His Pipe And Roaring Choruses To Alternate

Singers.  All Of A Sudden,  Those Who Were On Their Legs Were

Knocked Off Them.  The Panic Was Instantaneous,  For Every One

Of Us Knew It Was A Collision.  But The Immediate Peril Was

In The Rush For The Deck.  Violent With Terror,  Rough By

Nature,  And Full Of Beer,  These Wild Young Savages Were

Formidable To Themselves And Others.  Having Arrived Late,  I

Had Not Got Further Than The Cabin Door,  And Was Up The

Companion Ladder At A Bound.  It Was Pitch Dark,  And Piteous

Screams Came Up From The Surrounding Waters.  At First It Was

Impossible To Guess What Had Happened.  Were We Rammed,  Or

Were We Rammers?  I Pulled Off My Coats Ready For A Swim. 

But It Soon Became Apparent That We Had Run Into And Sunk

Another Boat.

 

The Next Morning The Doctor And I Went On To England.  A Week

After I Took Up The 'Illustrated News.'  There Was An Account

Of The Accident,  With An Illustration Of The Cabin Of The

Sunken Boat.  The Bodies Of Passengers Were Depicted As The

Divers Had Found Them.

 

On The Very Day The Peace Was Signed I Chanced To Call On Sir

Anthony Rothschild In New Court.  He Took Me Across The Court

To See His Brother Lionel,  The Head Of The Firm.  Sir Anthony

Bowed Before Him As Though The Great Man Were Plutus Himself.  

He Sat At A Table Alone,  Not In His Own Room,  But In The

Immense Counting-Room,  Surrounded By A Brigade Of Clerks. 

This Was My First Introduction To Him.  He Took No Notice Of

His Brother,  But Received Me As Napoleon Received The

Emperors And Kings At Erfurt - In Other Words,  As He