Canon Barnett, warden of the first university settlement, Toynbee Hall, Whitechapel, London : his life, work and friends

Front matter

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Chapter I

Birth of Samuel Augustus Barnett—His father, mother, brother, grand- ~~father—Return of rents—Public apple tr trees—Great- -great-grandfather —Action on slave labour—S. A. Barnett’s childhood—Colour-blindness—Love of scenery—Move it into Clifton—Pleasures of the grandparents’ house—A scrap-book—Practical jokes—Mrs. T. H. Green—Education—The Rev. T. Hulme . ' ° - pp. 1-8

Chapter II

Entered Wadham College, Oxford—View fromhisrooms—W orked toohard— ~ Companions and pleasures—Rare sense of ae influence —Schools and degree—Tutored for two years—Visited America—

Took Holy Orders—Mrs. FA, aS Barnett—Mr, FA. Barnett—Indolence @ sin—Canon Rawniley’s friendship . ; c - pp. 9-17

Chapter III

Social conditions in 1866—High death-rate—Insanitary housing—Beggars —Suffering children—Inadequate doles—Charitable societies— St. Mary’s, Bryanston Square—Dean Fremantle—Rev. A.S. W. Young —Mr. Polyblank—Mr. Barnett’s work in the Church—The schools— The club—The first C.0O.8. Committee—Mrs. Bosanquet—Miss Octavia Hill—Mrs, Hill and her daughters . . pp. 18-33

Chapter IV

Miss Octavia Hill’s party—Miss H. O. Rowland—St. Mary’s parish ~ organisation—Mr, Barnett’s letters—Misleading mannerisms—Letters —Shyness of preaching—Importance of ‘‘ being ’’—Parish visiting— Mrs. Nassau Senior—An evening with the Comtists—Conflicting duties—Unstinted trustfulness—The “‘future must begood ”’ pp. 34-48 xV xvi ~ CONTENTS

Chapter V

Mr. Barnett’s letters—Exercise on the pronoun “I’”—Christ fought alone—Betrothal—Respect for plans—Holiday in Switzerland—Deep reverent joy—Roughing it—‘‘ Shocking levellers are the mists ””— The Italian Lakes—Problems of helpfulness—The organ and its message . . 5 ° . : : 3 - pp. 49-60

Chapter VI

Miss Octavia’s congratulations—Visits to picture-galleries—Mr. George Macdonald’s party—Light-hearted teasing—Letters to Nottingham— Pet dogs—Refusal of an Oxfordshire incumbency—Views on ill-health—Offer of St. Jude’s—Acceptance of the charge—Hopes for the new life . 3 2 3 ; : - pp. 61-70

Chapter VII

Wedding day—Visiting west-country cathedrals—Lodgings in Eldon Street—St, Jude’s parish—Re-opening of the Church—Parish organisations—The spirit behind the actions—One aim, many methods —Attendance at church—St. Jude’s open all day—Small congregations—Possible uses of the building—Sermons - pp. 71-80

CHAPTER VIII St, Jude’s Vicarage—A holiday in Switzerland—Visiting the parishioners

—Relief of the poor—Angry applicants—Pain of refusing their demands—Injustice of careless relief—Call for service—Offer of friendship—Mr, and Mrs. James Stuart—Mr. and Mrs, Marshall—

Pensions—Rev. Brooke Lambert—Proposal to live in Crown Court—

Mr. Barnett’s illness—Rev. Miles Atkinson . a - pp. 81-91 CHAPTER IX A Swiss walking tour—Oratorios in St. Jude’s—Generosity of musicians—

Musical services and their influence—Indignant remonstrance— Sunday concerts—Birth of the People’s Concert Society— Lectures in Church—Failure to attract congregations—Children’s religion—Mr, Edward Leonard—Gift of a policeman—Relations with the Force—Opening of the Imperial Institute—Parish machinery —Mothers’ meetings—Miss Harriet Gardiner—Girls’ night schools— Five parish agencies : : : a ae + pp. 92-103

Chapter X

Co-operation of friends—Miss Marion Paterson—Miss Pauline Townsend— Miss Kate Potter—Mr. A. G. Crowder—Rev. 8, A. Thompson Yates— Encouragement meetings —The Communicants’ Society — Subjects for meditation—Thoughts on Holy Communion—Advent Sunday services—Invitations—Advent Sunday sermons—‘“< My wife’s tea-table ”’—The depth and dignity of friendship . e pp. 104-115 i

CONTENTS xvii

Chapter XI

Rough uncontrolled girls—Pages from the ‘Girl-Book’’—Mr. Barnett’s opinion of the work—Miss Townsend joined us—The Whitechapel Branch of the M.A.B.Y.S.—Methods of meeting—Evidences of gratitude—Parish organisations for young women—Girls’ clubs— Feeble-minded girls—Harrow Cottage—Mrs. Moore ‘‘Old Nurse’’— First places—Letters from girls—Mr. Barnett’s letters about, and to girls—Emigration to Australia : areas - pp. 116-128

Chapter XII

Insanitary houses—Description of courts and alleys—Miss Octavia Hill’s letters—Purchase of a court—A tenement block built—Choice of tenants—Acquisition of bad property—Lady rent-collectors— Necessity of re-building—Press assistance—Delay of municipal action —East London Dwellings Company—Visit of the Princess Alice— Inspection by Sir Richard Cross—Our daring purchase—New dwellings erected—Co-operative housing—Students’ residences

Chapter XIII

Open spaces—The people throw stones—Baker’s Row playground— Anonymous letters—Mr. Barnett’s depression—Visits to his family—Friendship with his mother—Holidays in Scotland and Switzerland—Mr. Ernest Hart—Mrs. Alice M. Hart—Mr. B. F. C. Costelloe—Good talk—Descriptive letters . ; - pp. 141-151

Chapter XIV

Expenditure on parties justified—Parties in the Vicarage—Guests of all classes—Scanty set entertainment—Congregational parties—Religion underlies entertainment—Tenants’ parties—Difficulties—Hosts’ varied ideas—Article in The Cornhill—Danger of patronage—Value of courtesy—Invitations—Parties of the staffi—Parties in the West End—Speeches to the guests—Wooden wedding . pp. 152-163

Chapter XV

Locum tenency in Cornwall—Genesis of the Children’s Country Holiday Fund—Rapid growth of the plan—Miss Ruth Verney—Able secretaries, —Large body of workers—Miss Finlay—Conferences—Annual Meetings—Out-of-sight helpers—Children’s individuality—Miss Beatrice Chamberlain—Canon Barnett’s hopes for C.C.H.F,—Chairmanship— Resignation—Nature Study scheme—Children’s letters—Mr. F. Morris —Mrs. Harold Spender . F a ’ : - pp. 177-192 xviii CONTENTS

Chapter XVI

Fighting the ‘‘ Angel’’ public-house—St. Augustine’s, Stepney—The dust-destructor—Fighting for free publication—Against Petticoat Lane Sunday Fair—Free marriages—Aldgate slaughter-houses—Unloving theology—The Liberal Association—Corporal punishment—Faith in mankind—The best for the lowest . 2 ‘ - pp. 193-200

Chapter XVII

Abolition of out-relief—Difficulty of judging character—Bad effect of out-relief—The care of the charitable—Intimate knowledge of the poor—After twenty years’ experience—Valued friendships with applicants—Results of the abolition of out-reliei—Action much misunderstood—Young women in the workhouse—Official recognition of voluntary efforts—Unwanted babies—‘ An incorrigible pauper ’’—

Evidences of repentance—‘‘ The woman who was a sinner ”’ pp. 201-213

Chapter XVIII

Week-end visits—Dining-out—Dinner- parties at home—Monday even- ~~ ings—Mr, William Morris’s colour scheme for St. Jude’s—Pictures in church—Need of beauty—A drinking-fountain—The new organ— The Shoeblacks’ Brigade—The panel doctor plan anticipated— Flower shows—Mr. Leonard Montefiore—Rev. Brooke Lambert— Rev. and Mrs, Harry Jones—Bishop Ellicott—Holidays with friends

. —Decision to winter in Egypt ; 5 : » pp. 214-225

Chapter XIX

Six : months’ holiday—First impressions of the East—Dancing Dervishes— A Reader in the Mosque—Mr. Herbert Spencer—Hétel du Nil— The Nile—Excursions—The Arab crew—Painting the cook—The Temple of Karnak—Letters to his mother—Mr. Spencer leaves us— Returns to us—Ascent of the Cataract Friendly teasing— Athletics at Philae—Mr. Spencer in Whitechapel pp. 226-243

Chapter XX

Quiet days—Efforts to share pleasures with his mother—The Second Cataract—Aboo Simbel—Our seventh wedding anniversary—Purchasing native handicraft —The Temple of Abydos— Professor Robertson Smith—Mr, and Mrs. Ernest Hart—The Pyramids—The Sphinx—Visit to Ali’s house— Judge and Mrs, John Scott —The journey home—Co-operative educational travel - pp. 244-256

~. CONTENTS xix

Chapter XXI

Death of Mr. Barnett’s mother—Letters to and about her—lIllness of Mr. Barnett’s father—Letters—Death of Mr. Barnett’s father—Letters to friends who mourned—To one near the end—To some in difficulties —To a recluse—To a thief—About a confirmation candidate—Deep personal relations—‘‘ Took pains’’ for others—The morally deranged —The fraudulent—The dying—The religiously perplexed

Chapter XXII

A poster on ‘‘ The Buried Life ’”—Services badly attended—Reason for the Church’s failure—Bishop Walsham How—The Worship Hour— The thought underlying the services—The order of service papers— The prayers—The effect of the Worship Hour—Mr. Barnett’s letters on the services— Opinions of others — New Hymn-book—Worship Hours copied elsewhere—St. Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb 5 ; : . 3 : - pp. 272-283

Chapter XXIII

St. Jude’s school buildings—Co-education—Schoolrooms decorated with pictures—Co-operation of parents—Parents assessed their own fees— Parents elect themselves as managers—Clay-modelling and carpentering introduced—In consequence the grant withheld—Reading taught without books—Value of educational experiments—Church schools should be pioneers—Establishment of play class—Volunteers teach special subjects—Rambles—Hvening classes in the afternoon— Religious teaching — Holy Communion with teachers — Teaching the Bible—Relations with School Board—Local managers—Education Reform League—Continuation schools—Continual school session— School journeys—Interchange of visits with continental children— Monster day treats—Camps for boys—Feeding school children— Technical education A 3 j 4 4 . pp. 284-301

Chapter XXIV

Hard East London problems—Our first visit to Oxford—Friends at Oxford —Mr. Jowett—Letters about meetings—Mr. Arnold Toynbee— Oxford men visited Whitechapel—Mr. Sidney Ball—‘ Barnett House,” Oxford—Letter suggesting Settlements—Awakening of public conscience—Canon Scott Holland—Mr. Alfred Spender—The Archbishop of York—The founding of the Settlement—Decision to accept the Wardenship—Objects of the Settlement—Naming the Settlement—Succession of Residents p ; . pp. 302-313

XxX

CHAPTER XXV Purchase of premises for the Settlement—Control by the Residents

“Grand”? Committee—Talks in the Warden’s study—Some criticisms on him—Growth of various activities—Mr. Charles Booth on one week’s work—Spirit underneath the work—The weight of responsibility—Residents on their work—Toynbee Hall a social laboratory—The ‘‘go”? of Toynbee Hall—A day’s work by the Warden—A week’s work by the Warden . ; . pp. 314-325

CHAPTER XXVI Adult classes—Toynbee Residents on classes—Difficulty of accommodation

—Enthusiasm of teachers and taught—Voluntary teachers—Elementary evening classes—University Extension—Co-ordination needed— Students fixed their fees—Examinations—Democratising the local centre—Technical education—Sunday morning lectures—Numbers decline —Tutorial classes started—Government inspection — Dr. R, D. Roberts and Mr. J. E. peer ae for an East London University 3 : : . . pp. 326-341

Chapter XXVII

First pupil-teacher centre—Debates — Athletics—Mr. E. B. Sargant—

The

Scholarships for pupil teachers — Honours gained by the scholars— Girl Pupil Teachers’ Association—Twelve centres—Visits to the Universities—Tennis tournaments—The Abbey and St. Paul’s— Musical parties—The Magazine—Mr. Barnett on the L.P.T. Association —The last of its meetings—Mr. Barnett’s relations with teachers—- —Elementary school masters in Oxford—Mr. J. Murray Macdonald— The Teachers’ University Association—Toynbee Hall welcomes teachers—Canon Barnett’s religious teaching . - pp. 342-355

Chapter XXVIII

Toynbee Societies—A list—The Natural History Society—The Antiquarian Society—The Musical Societies—Self-government—Public service by the societies—The Toynbee Travellers’ Club A week in Florence—Members’ occupations—Mr. Barnett’s letter on the journey—Subsequent tours of the T.T.C.—Dissolution of the club— Workmen’s Travelling Club—Saturday and Sunday public lectures— Mr. Preece first showed Marconi’s wireless telegraphy—Smoking debates—Three typical evenings—Speakers and subjects—Students’ Union—Lord Milner at its birth—Mrs. Winkworth’s party—The Guild of Compassion—Some of its labours—The guests at the Hampstead Garden Suburb . ; ‘ : ‘ : - pp. 356-376 »

CHIEF EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF SAMUEL AUGUSTUS BARNETT, M.A., D.C.L.

BIRTH ‘ 3 : : : . February 8th, 1844.

OXFORD—-WADHAM COLLEGE : -, 1862-1865.

WINCHESTER : ; : ‘ . 1866.

VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 1867. CURATE AT ST, MARY’S, BRYANSTON SQUARE 1867-1873. MARRIAGE . ; < : ° - January 28th, 1873.

VICAR OF ST. JUDE’S, WHITECHAPEL . 1873-1894.

WARDEN OF TOYNBEE HALL ‘ . 1884-1906.

TOUR ROUND THE WORLD . . 1890-1891.

CANON OF BRISTOL . ; é - 1893-1906.

OURATE OF ST. JUDE’S, WHITECHAPEL . 1895-1898.

CANON OF WESTMINSTER . ‘ - 1906-1913.

SUB-DEAN OF WESTMINSTER ; + * 19i3; DEATH : ‘ ; > i . dune 17th, 1913.

xxi

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS VOL. I

Rev. S. A. BaRNETT WHEN HE BECAME WARDEN OF ToyNBEE Hatt . ; : : : Frontispiece

FAOING PAGE THE VIEW FROM THE WINDOW oF SAMUEL A. BARNETT’S ROOMS IN WADHAM COLLEGE, OxFORD . ; ore

Rev. 8. A. anp Mrs. BARNETT AT THE TIME OF THEIR MagrRiaGE, 1873 . : ‘ é A ; « © 62

THE WINDOWS OF THE HOMES OF FIVE FAMILIES : - 68

A COURT IN WHITECHAPEL AND SOME OF ITS CHILDREN INHABITANTS : 5 ; 5 " j 68

THE MosaiIc AND FOUNTAIN ON THE WEST WALL OF ST. JUDE’S CHURCH, COMMERCIAL STREET, E. , Pome

St. JupE’s CHURCH AND VICARAGE, COMMERCIAL §r.,

WHITECHAPEL, 1873 : < ‘ a . «ae THE DRAWING-ROOM OF ST. JUDE’s VICARAGE ‘ - 110 Harrow CottaGe, HAMPSTEAD . : ; 5 » 124 New Court, WHITECHAPEL, 1873 4 . : ~« 132 A croup oF 81. JUDE’S PARISH fons 1892. . 16

St. Jupz’s CHURCH, COMMERCIAL STREET, WHITEOHAPEL,

AFTER ITS RENOVATION - ‘ : . Ze xxiii ra, xxiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

FACING PAGE

Rev. 8. A. anp Mrs. BARNETT. . 5 : ‘ . 3804 ToYNBEE HaLL, WHITECHAPEL . é A os - 316.

THE EAST END OF THE TOYNBEE QUAD . ; - 368

THe TOYNBEE LIBRARY . ; i ‘ ; > 26s

CANON BARNETT

HIS LIFE, WORK, AND FRIENDS

CHAPTER I “ Human nature is too big for its surroundings.”

A sMALL household was very happy on February 8th, 1844, for on the morning of that day to Mr. and Mrs. Francis Augustus Barnett a little son had been born. He had been greatly desired and long waited for, and at last had come with an unusually big head and tiny hands and feet. A fidgety child with restless ways, and sweet smiles rapidly given in response to those who served or amused him. Many a time has his mother told me of her first-born child, and her fears that she would not rear him. But she did, thank God. He was christened Samuel Augustus, because for more than a hundred years there had been a Samuel Augustus in the Barnett family. He was born at 5, Portland Square, Bristol, where the first few years of his life were spent. The house, which still stands, is large and square, the windows overlooking the greenery of the central garden. The neighbourhood is now given over to business purposes, but it was then the heart of the residential quarter of the town.

The father of the baby, Mr. Francis Augustus Barnett, had started a foundry which became specially noted for iron bedstéads, he having been the first person so to use iron. He was in a large way of business, and when my duty as a member of the Departmental Committee on the Poor Law schools—1894-5—took me to workhouses and infirmaries, I often saw ‘‘ Barnett”’ on the head of the old-fashioned massive iron bedsteads. Mr. F. A. Barnett’s father, Mr. Samuel Augustus Barnett, was a timber merchant whose firm had existed for many generations. Mary, the glad mother of the baby, was the third daughter of Mr. and Mrs.

Peay

2 Ss. A. BARNETT’S GRANDFATHER

Gilmore. She had been five years married, and was thirty-five years old when my husband was born.

On July 3rd, 1846, another son was given to Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Barnett, called Francis after his father and Gilmore after his mother. From their earliest days the two brothers were bound together by the strong bonds of trust and affection, and all through their lives, until they were parted by death in March 1908, they wrote to each other every week, Saturday being the day for my husband’s letter to Frank, and Monday’s post rarely failing to bring his brother’s reply.

Mrs. Francis Barnett’s father, Mr. Gilmore, was a shipowner, his many vessels trading all over the world, but chiefly to and from Australia. He was a rare and beautiful character, and pleasant tales are told of his actions and personality. The family lived in a comfortable rambling house at the Hot Wells, Clifton, a gable of which still stands and can be seen from the balcony of Judge Ellicott’s house in Royal York Crescent. The garden was very large and was the scene of the happiest hours of Canon Barnett’s childhood. There, with the two dear old grandparents and the three maiden aunts who worshipped “‘ Mary’s boys,” in the paddock and the orchard which ran almost to the edge of the river Avon were endless joys, from that of unstinted fruit-eating, to seeing “‘ grandfather’s ships’? come up the river and through the basin into dock. The old gentleman was not only a kind large-hearted man, but evidently strong and self-contained, carrying out his own ideas before they were weakened by family discussions. More than once I have heard my husband tell how he, as a lad of nine, was present when his grandfather, entering the house, announced that he had had a most interesting afternoon. Questions as to the nature of its interest brought forth the statement that after making up the accounts of his house-property and ascertaining that he had made more than five per cent., he had determined to return all profits beyond that sum to his tenants, and had that afternoon personally undertaken the duty—an individual anticipation of co-partnership principles. Such a novel business procedure not unnaturally awakened discussion, but only one of the aunts, Aunt Anne, offered opposition as to the future adoption of the plan, for the whole family lived in an atmosphere of generosity and welcomed fresh methods of extending kindnesses. Another tale of that period depicted the family

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MR. GILMORE AND SLAVERY 3 sitting in the garden at Ambrose House, and the two boys tearing off to the orchard on hearing unusual sounds.

‘What was the matter?” asked the grandfather on their return.

““Some boys after the apples,” the lads replied.

“* Did they get any ?”

““No! we drove them away.”

“Then let us go and give them some,” said the old gentleman.

What a lesson in sharing, so simply given! I think it lay behind my husband’s understanding of the attitude of the boy who stole some apples during the fortnight’s holiday provided for him by the Children’s Country Holiday Fund, and who, on being rebuked, said he was sorry he had stolen but could he be told where the public apple-trees were to be found ?

Of my husband’s great-great-grandfather on his mother’s side it is told that he was engaged in a large and profitable carrying trade with the West Indies, but it being borne in on his conscience that slavery was wrong, he declined to benefit by the results of slave labour and refused his ships to convey the goods. He knew when he acted that his decision would not stop slavery nor prevent others from shipping the sugar, but his conscience was a matter between him and his God. So he took the step he counted right and saw the business sink and dwindle, instead of growing until it took its place among the millionaire shipping firms of great seaports, as his capital, capabilities, and integrity would have warranted. This decision is all the more interesting because it was acted on before Wilberforce had aroused the public conscience against slavery, and before Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe had—1852—in Uncle Tom’s Cabin touched the hearts of all English-speaking people by the sorrows of our coloured relations.

From their mother came all the knowledge I have of the childhood of her sons. She told how they never quarrelled, that ‘‘ Sarm,” as she usually called him, with more than a suspicion of the Somerset drawl, was delicate, retiring, and tractable, but took both pride and delight in his brother’s love of mischief and greater physical vitality. They went together to a little boys’ school, and my peaceable husband bore in his manhood’s memory his secret joy at Frank’s first school fight, and his thrilling interest in all the arrange-

= r

Ry

4 COLOUR BLINDNESS ments for the surreptitious contest. Another of their childish escapades could never be forgotten, for the depleted Worcester and Crown Derby china sets still bear witness to | a certain party afternoon when, told to be quiet, they both withdrew into an unusual and delightful “ cubby-hole ” made by the flap-table on which the tea and coffee cups had been set ready for the guests. To combine gently to push the two flaps back to the wall was a delightful game, till suddenly all the crockery fell off, and the account that ‘* Father was very angry, but Mother seemed only frightened in case we were hurt,” sums up a whole realm of childish memories, from which the enwrapping and absorbing love of ‘‘ Mother’ was never absent.

She also told me a story of having arranged that “ the boys ’”’ should meet her after her drive to go to visit some fastidious relation, and her annoyance at seeing her first-born in clothes none of which were in order or matched, from his socks to his untidy tie. She was vexed as she could not take him with her, but her rebuke brought out the fact that he was colour-blind and could not see the difference of tint or tone over which she was worried. Years of experience taught him more what to expect in colours, and that it was red in all its variations which he could not see. A regiment of scarlet-coated soldiers and the field they were crossing appeared to him all alike, and his best tribute to my healthy appearance was—

“You do look well, with lots of blue in your cheeks,”’ or—

“You are jolly to-day ; your eyes and your cheeks match,” words which conjure up a picture of a wife, to live cheerfully with whom must have required on his part much spiritual affection.

With his inability to see colour, it is strange that from his boyhood he was enthusiastic in his admiration of beautiful scenery. The family’s walks and drives, the seaside resorts, and the journeys, were all settled in accordance with what ‘‘ the boys” wanted. Frank claimed some amusement and his brother demanded scenery, and so, Tenby, Ilfracombe, Lynton, Shanklin, Jersey, became well known during the holiday weeks, and the horses took them to all the most beautiful spots round Clifton, Brockley Coombe, Portishead, Almondsbury, the woods above Weston, Dundry, and the hills and dales of the Mendips. Frank did not care for riding, for he was too near-sighted to make it safe, but my husband rode well and vigorously,

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CHILDISH RECOLLECTIONS 5 and one of the happiest memories of my engagement was the long rides we had together when he took me to see the lovely backgrounds of his boyish days.

When the boys were respectively about six and eight years old their father built two houses in Whiteladies Road, Clifton, then only a road leading into the country, now a busy tram-lined thoroughfare. These houses were called “*Samber’”’ and ‘‘ Frankau,’? and into Samber House the family moved, thus enabling the boys to enjoy, close to their own home, a real garden, the delights of which had only hitherto been known by visits to their grandfather’s house.

On March 8th, 1859, Mr. Gilmore died, aged 86, and soon after his old home was broken up. Of it one of the family wrote :

It seems as though all the childish joys and experientes were focussed in that surrounding, always a background of indulgent aunts, ‘‘ Uncle John” going to sea, “‘ Uncle George’ sending the first gold quartz from Australia, the fruit picking, the birthday treats, the early daguerreotype photographs in which are shown grandparents, aunts, and grandchildren, all give the impression of a happy and serene existence.—L. G. B.

When Mr. Barnett was Vicar of St. Jude’s, Whitechapel, he referred to these childish days :

To F.G. B—January 29th, 1881.—Last night—our wedding day—we had a Christmas tree in the schools, and we all made fools of ourselves for the children’s pleasure. It was a grand party and you never saw such a tree! I thought of our joy round the trees at grandfather’s and wondered what and why it was, and if children had the same delight now.

To F. G, B-—-SUNDERLAND, April 15th, 1883.—Yesterday morning we went over a large ship-building yard. The noise on the hill above called up days long ago when we used to play in the field above grandfather’s yard. What one would give for such days of simple pleasure now.

The influence left by this household on the lives of the two lads was not only happy, but deep and permanent. ‘It used to be so in my grandfather’s house”’ were words often on my husband’s lips in reference to some generous or quixotic suggestion, and the tales of the sea-going ships, their captains, their crews, their warmly welcomed home-coming, and their prayerful outsending were evidences of the union of heart and labour that old Mr. Gilmore infused into his business relations, and that all through their lives hy 6 - BOYISH ESCAPADES affected the attitude that both brothers adopted concerning employer and employed.

Among my valued possessions is an old scrap-book made by very small fingers and treasured by the mother. For my husband it was a rich storehouse of childish memories revived by quaint old prints of the favourite holiday haunts, ' wonderful valentines, and crude drawings. Of one bare page his mother told how it contained a picture which both the boys greatly admired. Frank frequently demanded that it should be coloured, a demand the elder brother steadily resisted, until one day when Frank was ill with some nursery complaint, the step was taken, the picture torn out, the finer shading and delicate outlines smothered in greens and reds and blues and pinks, put on in a jumble by self-sacrificing fingers guided by colour-blind eyes, and the picture carried in delight to Frank’s bedside. Here the child was father to the man; he always so enjoyed offering his sacrifices.

Another tale of their early days shows the characters of both brothers, Frank’s infectious delight in boyish pranks and his brother’s sympathetic co-operation. In one of their walks they met a donkey-cart on which sat an old marketwoman fast asleep. Quietly to turn the patient beast and to set him on the way towards his stable instead of towards the town was easily accomplished amid the hushed laughter of both. But the continuation of the tale is that the joke perpetrated and enjoyed, my husband ran after the cart and once more set the sleeping dame on the road towards the market. All his life he appreciated practical jokes and mischief-loving boys, and enjoyed repeating stories such as the above even when they had no such kindly conclusion. Among them there was one when Frank, assisted by his mother, dressed up as an elderly lady and called as a patient on a doctor friend who had lately set up a practice at Clifton, and as he, Frank, was a very good actor and mimic, both the interview and the account of it became rich veins in the family mine of laughter.

The first person whom my husband was ever conscious of admiring was Mrs. T. H. Green—then Charlotte Symonds —an admiration which continued to the end of his life. She was two or three years older than he was, and the elders had no acquaintance, but both families worshipped at the same church. Mr. Barnett has told me how he used to be allowed to stand on the seat so as to look over the high

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.' EDUCATION 7 pew and see the little girl Mrs. Green remembers those childish days, for she wrote :

The services were long, and I—the youngest of my family—used to watch those boys with great interest, and it was a pleasant surprise to me years after, in Mr. Jowett’s house at Balliol,to be introduced to Mr. Barnett and to recognise in this honoured person one of the “ boys ” I remembered seeing in Church.

That the children were ‘‘ spoilt,’ as the word is used, there can be no doubt, if to have every desire lovingly gratified is to spoil human character. The extraordinary prominence given by both parents to nice food and fruit could not have been a wholesome influence, but this was of less importance than their yielding to ‘‘the boys’ ” childish dislike of going to school. That he had not been wisely educated was my husband’s bitterest regret, and made him give much ungrudged time to consider the best means of education for individual characters. He had not even the advantage of being turned loose in a large library, for his father was mentally indolent, and though he had considerable intellectual capacity he would not exert himself either to read or select books for others to read. Thus until he was sixteen my husband lived at home, and studied intermittently under tutors. He passed the Cambridge Junior Local examination in December 1858, when he was nearly fifteen years old, and took the Senior papers two years later. He was often out of health, and being never free from doctors and the anxious care of his devoted mother, the ground was ploughed for the sowing of those seeds of nervousness which in later life we had to fight so strenuously or he would have become hypochondriacal.

It was always his intention to take Holy Orders, and though he had very definite inclinations towards business, and was not indifferent to the claims of his father’s ironworks as they grew in size and wealth, he never seriously re-considered his boyish plans.

At sixteen he went as a weekly boarder to a crammer, and of that experience he had only painful memories. His fellow-students were young men who had either been expelled from school or had failed in one way or another, and from them the sensitive lad learned of evil from which he had hitherto been protected. Gentle as he was, I have heard him speak with disgust of the boys, and indignation at the highly paid tutor for his neglect of them, at the same time