in the prosperous year of 1856, incomes of between a hundred and a hundred and fifty pounds were chargeable with a tax of elevenpence halfpenny in the pound: persons who enjoyed a revenue of a hundred and fifty or more had the honour of paying one and fourpence. abatements there were none, and families supporting life on two pounds a week might in some cases, perchance, be reconciled to the mulct by considering how equitably its incidence was graduated.
some, on the other hand, were less philosophical; for instance, the household consisting of nicholas peak, his wife, their three-year-old daughter, their newly-born son, and a blind sister of nicholas, dependent upon him for sustenance. mr. peak, aged thirty and now four years wedded, had a small cottage on the outskirts of greenwich. he was employed as dispenser, at a salary of thirty-five shillings a week, by a medical man with a large practice. his income, therefore, fell considerably within the hundred pound limit; and, all things considered, it was not unreasonable that he should be allowed to expend the whole of this sum on domestic necessities. but it came to pass that nicholas, in his greed of wealth, obtained supplementary employment, which benefited him to the extent of a yearly ten pounds. called upon to render his statement to the surveyor of income-tax, he declared himself in possession of a hundred and one pounds per annum; consequently, he stood indebted to the exchequer in the sum of four pounds, sixteen shillings, and ninepence. his countenance darkened, as also did that of mrs. peak.
‘this is wrong and cruel—dreadfully cruel!’ cried the latter, with tears in her eyes.
‘it is; but that’s no new thing,’ was the bitter reply.
‘i think it’s wrong of you, nicholas. what need is there to say anything about that ten pounds? it’s taking the food out of our mouths.’
knowing only the letter of the law, mr. peak answered sternly:
‘my income is a hundred and one pounds. i can’t sign my name to a lie.’
picture the man. tall, gaunt, with sharp intellectual features, and eyes of singular beauty, the face of an enthusiast—under given circumstances, of a hero. poorly clad, of course, but with rigorous self-respect; his boots polished, propria manu, to the point of perfection; his linen washed and ironed by the indefatigable wife. of simplest tastes, of most frugal habits, a few books the only luxury which he deemed indispensable; yet a most difficult man to live with, for to him applied precisely the description which robert burns gave of his own father; he was ‘of stubborn, ungainly integrity and headlong irascibility’.
ungainly, for his strong impulses towards culture were powerless to obliterate the traces of his rude origin. born in a london alley, the son of a labourer burdened with a large family, he had made his way by sheer force of character to a position which would have seemed proud success but for the difficulty with which he kept himself alive. his parents were dead. of his brothers, two had disappeared in the abyss, and one, andrew, earned a hard livelihood as a journeyman baker; the elder of his sisters had married poorly, and the younger was his blind pensioner. nicholas had found a wife of better birth than his own, a young woman with country kindred in decent circumstances, though she herself served as nursemaid in the house of the medical man who employed her future husband. he had taught himself the english language, so far as grammar went, but could not cast off the london accent; mrs. peak was fortunate enough to speak with nothing worse than the note of the midlands.
his bent led him to the study of history, politics, economics, and in that time of military outbreak he was frenzied by the conflict of his ideals with the state of things about him. a book frequently in his hands was godwin’s political justice, and when a son had been born to him he decided to name the child after that favourite author. in this way, at all events, he could find some expression for his hot defiance of iniquity.
he paid his income-tax, and felt a savage joy in the privation thus imposed upon his family. mrs. peak could not forgive her husband, and in this case, though she had but dim appreciation of the point of honour involved, her censures doubtless fell on nicholas’s vulnerable spot; it was the perversity of arrogance, at least as much as honesty, that impelled him to incur taxation. his wife’s perseverance in complaint drove him to stern impatience, and for a long time the peace of the household suffered.
when the boy godwin was five years old, the death of his blind aunt came as a relief to means which were in every sense overtaxed. twelve months later, a piece of unprecedented good fortune seemed to place the peaks beyond fear of want, and at the same time to supply nicholas with a fulfilment of hopeless desires. by the death of mrs peak’s brother, they came into possession of a freehold house and about nine hundred pounds. the property was situated some twelve miles from the midland town of twybridge, and thither they at once removed. at twybridge lived mrs. peak’s elder sister, miss cadman; but between this lady and her nearest kinsfolk there had been but slight correspondence—the deceased cadman left her only a couple of hundred pounds. with capital at command, nicholas peak took a lease of certain fields near his house, and turned farmer. the study of chemistry had given a special bent to his economic speculations; he fancied himself endowed with exceptional aptitude for agriculture, and the scent of the furrow brought all his energies into feverish activity—activity which soon impoverished him: that was in the order of things. ‘ungainly integrity’ and ‘headlong irascibility’ wrought the same results for the exdispenser as for the ayrshire husbandman. his farming came to a chaotic end; and when the struggling man died, worn out at forty-three, his wife and children (there was now a younger boy, oliver, named after the protector) had no very bright prospects.
things went better with them than might have been anticipated. to mrs. peak her husband’s death was not an occasion of unmingled mourning. for the last few years she had suffered severely from domestic discord, and when left at peace by bereavement she turned with a sense of liberation to the task of caring for her children’s future. godwin was just thirteen, oliver was eleven; both had been well schooled, and with the help of friends they might soon be put in the way of self-support. the daughter, charlotte, sixteen years of age, had accomplishments which would perhaps be profitable. the widow decided to make a home in twybridge, where miss cadman kept a millinery shop. by means of this connection, charlotte presently found employment for her skill in fine needlework. mrs. peak was incapable of earning money, but the experiences of her early married life enabled her to make more than the most of the pittance at her disposal.
miss cadman was a woman of active mind, something of a busy-body—dogmatic, punctilious in her claims to respect, proud of the acknowledgment by her acquaintances that she was not as other tradespeople; her chief weakness was a fanatical ecclesiasticism, the common blight of english womanhood. circumstances had allowed her a better education than generally falls to women of that standing, and in spite of her shop she succeeded in retaining the friendship of certain ladies long ago her schoolfellows. among these were the misses lumb—middle-aged sisters, who lived at twybridge on a small independence, their time chiefly devoted to the support of the anglican church. an eldest miss lumb had been fortunate enough to marry that growing potentate of the midlands, mr. job whitelaw. now lady whitelaw, she dwelt at kingsmill, but her sisters frequently enjoyed the honour of entertaining her, and even miss cadman the milliner occasionally held converse with the baronet’s wife. in this way it came to pass that the widow peak and her children were brought under the notice of persons who sooner or later might be of assistance to them.
abounding in emphatic advice, miss cadman easily persuaded her sister that godwin must go to school for at least two years longer. the boys had been at a boarding-school twenty miles away from their country home; it would be better for them now to be put under the care of some twybridge teacher—such an one as miss cadman’s acquaintances could recommend. for her own credit, the milliner was anxious that these nephews of hers should not be running about the town as errand-boys or the like, and with prudence there was no necessity for such degradation. an uncommon lad like godwin (she imagined him named after the historic earl) must not be robbed of his fair chance in life; she would gladly spare a little money for his benefit; he was a boy to repay such expenditure.
indeed it seemed probable. godwin devoured books, and had a remarkable faculty for gaining solid information on any subject that took his fancy. what might be the special bent of his mind one could not yet discover. he read poetry with precocious gusto, but at the same time his aptitude for scientific pursuits was strongly marked. in botany, chemistry, physics, he made progress which the people about him, including his schoolmaster, were incapable of appreciating; and already the collection of books left by his father, most of them out of date, failed to satisfy his curiosity. it might be feared that tastes so discursive would be disadvantageous to a lad who must needs pursue some definite bread-study, and the strain of self-consciousness which grew strong in him was again a matter for concern. he cared nothing for boyish games and companionship; in the society of strangers especially of females—he behaved with an excessive shyness which was easily mistaken for a surly temper. reproof, correction, he could not endure, and it was fortunate that the decorum of his habits made remonstrance seldom needful.
ludicrous as the project would have appeared to any unbiassed observer of character, miss cadman conceived a hope that godwin might become a clergyman. from her point of view it was natural to assume that uncommon talents must be devoted to the service of the church, and she would have gladly done her utmost for the practical furthering of such an end. mrs. peak, though well aware that her son had imbibed the paternal prejudices, was disposed to entertain the same hope, despite solid obstacles. for several years she had nourished a secret antagonism to her husband’s spirit of political, social, and religious rebellion, and in her widowhood she speedily became a pattern of the conservative female. it would have gratified her to discern any possibility of godwin’s assuming the priestly garb. and not alone on the ground of conscience. long ago she had repented the marriage which connected her with such a family as that of the peaks, and she ardently desired that the children, now exclusively her own, might enter life on a plane superior to their father’s.
‘godwin, how would you like to go to college and be a clergyman?’ she asked one sunday afternoon, when an hour or two of congenial reading seemed to have put the boy into a gentle humour.
‘to go to college’ was all very well (diplomacy had prompted this preface), but the words that followed fell so alarmingly on godwin’s ear that he looked up with a resentful expression, unable to reply otherwise.
‘you never thought of it, i suppose?’ his mother faltered; for she often stood in awe of her son, who, though yet but fourteen, had much of his father’s commanding severity.
‘i don’t want to be a parson,’ came at length, bluntly.
‘don’t use that word, godwin.’
‘why not? it’s quite a proper word. it comes from the latin persona.’
the mother had enough discretion to keep silence, and godwin, after in vain trying to settle to his book again, left the room with disturbed countenance.
he had now been attending the day-school for about a year, and was distinctly ahead of his coevals. a christmas examination was on the point of being held, and it happened that a singular test of the lad’s moral character coincided with the proof of his intellectual progress. in a neighbouring house lived an old man named rawmarsh, kindly but rather eccentric; he had once done a good business as a printer, and now supported himself by such chance typographic work of a small kind as friends might put in his way. he conceived an affection for godwin; often had the boy to talk with him of an evening. on one such occasion, mr. rawmarsh opened a desk, took forth a packet of newly printed leaves, and with a mysterious air silently spread them before the boy’s eyes. in an instant godwin became aware that he was looking at the examination papers which a day or two hence would be set before him at school; he saw and recognised a passage from the book of virgil which his class had been reading.
‘that is sub rosa, you know,’ whispered the old printer, with half averted face.
godwin shrank away, and could not resume the conversation thus interrupted. on the following day he went about with a feeling of guilt. he avoided the sight of mr. rawmarsh, for whom he had suddenly lost all respect, and suffered torments in the thought that he enjoyed an unfair advantage over his class-mates. the latin passage happened to be one which he knew thoroughly well; there was no need, even had he desired, to ‘look it up’; but in sitting down to the examination, he experienced a sense of shame and self-rebuke. so strong were the effects of this, that he voluntarily omitted the answer to a certain important question which he could have ‘done’ better than any of the other boys, thus endeavouring to adjust in his conscience the terms of competition, though in fact no such sacrifice was called for. he came out at the head of the class, but the triumph had no savour for him, and for many a year he was subject to a flush of mortification whenever this incident came back to his mind.
mr. rawmarsh was not the only intelligent man who took an interest in godwin. in a house which the boy sometimes visited with a school-fellow, lodged a notable couple named gunnery the husband about seventy, the wife five years older; they lived on a pension from a railway company. mr. gunnery was a dabbler in many sciences, but had a special enthusiasm for geology. two cabinets of stones and fossils gave evidence of his zealous travels about the british isles; he had even written a little hand-book of petrology which was for sale at certain booksellers’ in twybridge, and probably nowhere else. to him, about this time, godwin began to resort, always sure of a welcome; and in the little uncarpeted room where mr. gunnery pursued his investigations many a fateful lesson was given and received. the teacher understood the intelligence he had to deal with, and was delighted to convey, by the mode of suggested inference, sundry results of knowledge which it perhaps would not have been prudent to declare in plain, popular words.
their intercourse was not invariably placid. the geologist had an irritable temper, and in certain states of the atmosphere his rheumatic twinges made it advisable to shun argument with him. godwin, moreover, was distinguished by an instability of mood peculiarly trying to an old man’s testy humour. of a sudden, to mr gunnery’s surprise and annoyance, he would lose all interest in this or that science. thus, one day the lad declared himself unable to name two stones set before him, felspar and quartz, and when his instructor broke into angry impatience he turned sullenly away, exclaiming that he was tired of geology.
‘tired of geology?’ cried mr. gunnery, with flaming eyes. ‘then i am tired of you, master peak! be off, and don’t come again till i send for you!’
godwin retired without a word. on the second day he was summoned back again, but his resentment of the dismissal rankled in him for a long time; injury to his pride was the wrong he found it hardest to forgive.
his schoolmaster, aware of the unusual pursuits which he added to the routine of lessons, gave him as a prize the english translation of a book by figuier—the world before the deluge. strongly interested by the illustrations of the volume (fanciful scenes from the successive geologic periods), godwin at once carried it to his scientific friend. ‘deluge?’ growled mr. gunnery. ‘what deluge? which deluge?’ but he restrained himself, handed the book coldly back, and began to talk of something else. all this was highly significant to godwin, who of course began the perusal of his prize in a suspicious mood. nor was he long before he sympathised with mr gunnery’s distaste. though too young to grasp the arguments at issue, his prejudices were strongly excited by the conventional theism which pervades figuier’s work. already it was the habit of his mind to associate popular dogma with intellectual shallowness; herein, as at every other point which fell within his scope, he had begun to scorn average people, and to pride himself intensely on views which he found generally condemned. day by day he grew into a clearer understanding of the memories bequeathed to him by his father; he began to interpret remarks, details of behaviour, instances of wrath, which, though they had stamped themselves on his recollection, conveyed at the time no precise significance. the issue was that he hardened himself against the influence of his mother and his aunt, regarding them as in league against the free progress of his education.
as women, again, he despised these relatives. it is almost impossible for a bright-witted lad born in the lower middle class to escape this stage of development. the brutally healthy boy contemns the female sex because he sees it incapable of his own athletic sports, but godwin was one of those upon whose awaking intellect is forced a perception of the brain-defect so general in women when they are taught few of life’s graces and none of its serious concerns,—their paltry prepossessions, their vulgar sequaciousness, their invincible ignorance, their absorption in a petty self. and especially is this phase of thought to be expected in a boy whose heart blindly nourishes the seeds of poetical passion. it was godwin’s sincere belief that he held girls, as girls, in abhorrence. this meant that he dreaded their personal criticism, and that the spectacle of female beauty sometimes overcame him with a despair which he could not analyse. matrons and elderly unmarried women were truly the objects of his disdain; in them he saw nothing but their shortcomings. towards his mother he was conscious of no tenderness; of as little towards his sister, who often censured him with trenchant tongue; as for his aunt, whose admiration of him was modified by reticences, he could never be at ease in her company, so strong a dislike had he for her look, her voice, her ways of speech.
he would soon be fifteen years old. mrs. peak was growing anxious, for she could no longer consent to draw upon her sister for a portion of the school fees, and no pertinent suggestion for the lad’s future was made by any of the people who admired his cleverness. miss cadman still clung in a fitful way to the idea of making her nephew a cleric; she had often talked it over with the misses lumb, who of course held that ‘any sacrifice’ was justifiable with such a motive, and who suggested a hope that, by the instrumentality of lady whitelaw, a curacy might easily be obtained as soon as godwin was old enough. but several years must pass before that levitical stage could be reached; and then, after all, perhaps the younger boy, oliver, placid of temper and notably pliant in mind, was better suited for the dignity of orders. it was lamentable that godwin should have become so intimate with that earth-burrowing mr. gunnery, who certainly never attended either church or chapel, and who seemed to have imbued his pupil with immoral theories concerning the date of creation. godwin held more decidedly aloof from his aunt, and had been heard by charlotte to speak very disrespectfully of the misses lumb. in short, there was no choice but to discover an opening for him in some secular pursuit. could he, perhaps, become an assistant teacher? or must he ‘go into an office’?
no common lad. a youth whose brain glowed like a furnace, whose heart throbbed with tumult of high ambitions, of inchoate desires; endowed with knowledge altogether exceptional for his years; a nature essentially militant, displaying itself in innumerable forms of callow intolerance—apt, assuredly, for some vigorous part in life, but as likely as not to rush headlong on traverse roads if no judicious mind assumed control of him. what is to be done with the boy?
all very well, if the question signified, in what way to provide for the healthy development of his manhood. of course it meant nothing of the sort, but merely: what work can be found for him whereby he may earn his daily bread? we—his kinsfolk even, not to think of the world at large—can have no concern with his growth as an intellectual being; we are hard pressed to supply our own mouths with food; and now that we have done our recognised duty by him, it is high time that he learnt to fight for his own share of provender. happily, he is of the robust sex; he can hit out right and left, and make standing-room. we have armed him with serviceable weapons, and now he must use them against the enemy—that is to say, against all mankind, who will quickly enough deprive him of sustenance if he fail in the conflict. we neither know, nor in great measure care, for what employment he is naturally marked. obviously he cannot heave coals or sell dogs’ meat, but with negative certainty not much else can be resolved, seeing how desperate is the competition for minimum salaries. he has been born, and he must eat. by what licensed channel may he procure the necessary viands?
paternal relatives godwin had as good as none. in quitting london, nicholas peak had ceased to hold communication with any of his own stock save the younger brother andrew. with him he occasionally exchanged a letter, but andrew’s share in the correspondence was limited to ungrammatical and often unintelligible hints of numerous projects for money-making. just after the removal of the bereaved family to twybridge, they were surprised by a visit from andrew, in answer to one of whose letters mrs. peak had sent news of her husband’s death. though her dislike of the man amounted to loathing, the widow could not refuse him hospitality; she did her best, however, to prevent his coming in contact with anyone she knew. andrew declared that he was at length prospering; he had started a coffee-shop at dalston, in north-east london, and positively urged a proposal (well-meant, beyond doubt) that godwin should be allowed to come to him and learn the business. since then the londoner had once again visited twybridge, towards the end of godwin’s last school-year. this time he spoke of himself less hopefully, and declared a wish to transfer his business to some provincial town, where he thought his metropolitan experience might be of great value, in the absence of serious competition. it was not difficult to discover a family likeness between andrew’s instability and the idealism which had proved the ruin of nicholas.
on this second occasion godwin tried to escape a meeting with his uncle. unable to do so, he sat mute, replying to questions monosyllabically. mrs. peak’s shame and annoyance, in face of this london-branded vulgarian, were but feeble emotions compared with those of her son. godwin hated the man, and was in dread lest any school-fellow should come to know of such a connection. yet delicacy prevented his uttering a word on the subject to his mother. mrs peak’s silence after andrew’s departure made it uncertain how she regarded the obligation of kindred, and in any such matter as this the boy was far too sensitive to risk giving pain. but to his brother oliver he spoke.
‘what is the brute to us? when i’m a man, let him venture to come near me, and see what sort of a reception he’ll get! i hate low, uneducated people! i hate them worse than the filthiest vermin!—don’t you?’
oliver, aged but thirteen, assented, as he habitually did to any question which seemed to await an affirmative.
‘they ought to be swept off the face of the earth!’ pursued godwin, sitting up in bed—for the dialogue took place about eleven o’clock at night. ‘all the grown-up creatures, who can’t speak proper english and don’t know how to behave themselves, i’d transport them to the falkland islands,’—this geographic precision was a note of the boy’s mind,—‘and let them die off as soon as possible. the children should be sent to school and purified, if possible; if not, they too should be got rid of.’
‘you’re an aristocrat, godwin,’ remarked oliver, simply; for the elder brother had of late been telling him fearful stories from the french revolution, with something of an anti-popular bias.
‘i hope i am. i mean to be, that’s certain. there’s nothing i hate like vulgarity. that’s why i can’t stand roper. when he beat me in mathematics last midsummer, i felt so ashamed i could hardly bear myself. i’m working like a nigger at algebra and euclid this half, just because i think it would almost kill me to be beaten again by a low cad.’
this was perhaps the first time that godwin found expression for the prejudice which affected all his thoughts and feelings. it relieved him to have spoken thus; henceforth he had become clear as to his point of view. by dubbing him aristocrat, oliver had flattered him in the subtlest way. if indeed the title were justly his, as he instantly felt it was, the inference was plain that he must be an aristocrat of nature’s own making—one of the few highly favoured beings who, in despite of circumstance, are pinnacled above mankind. in his ignorance of life, the boy visioned a triumphant career; an aristocrat de jure might possibly become one even in the common sense did he but pursue that end with sufficient zeal. and in his power of persistent endeavour he had no lack of faith.
the next day he walked with exalted head. encountering the objectionable roper, he smiled upon him contemptuously tolerant.
there being no hope of effective assistance from relatives, mrs. peak turned for counsel to a man of business, with whom her husband had made acquaintance in his farming days, and who held a position of influence at twybridge. this was mr. moxey, manufacturing chemist, famous in the midlands for his ‘sheep and cattle dressings’, and sundry other products of agricultural enterprise. his ill-scented, but lucrative, works were situated a mile out of the town; and within sight of the reeking chimneys stood a large, plain house, uncomfortably like an ‘institution’ of some kind, in which he dwelt with his five daughters. thither, one evening, mrs. peak betook herself, having learnt that mr. moxey dined at five o’clock, and that he was generally to be found digging in his garden until sunset. her reception was civil. the manufacturer—sparing of words, but with no unkindly face—requested that godwin should be sent to see him, and promised to do his best to be of use. a talk with the boy strengthened his interest. he was surprised at godwin’s knowledge of chemistry, pleased with his general intelligence, and in the end offered to make a place for him at the works, where, though for a year or two his earnings must be small, he would gain experience likely to be of substantial use to him. godwin did not find the proposal distasteful; it brought a change into his life, and the excitement of novelty; it flattered him with the show of release from pupilage. to mr. moxey’s he went.
the hours were not long, and it was understood that his theoretical studies should continue in the evening. godwin’s home was a very small house in a monotonous little street; a garret served as bedroom for the two boys, also as the elder one’s laboratory. servant mrs. peak had none. she managed everything herself, as in the old greenwich days, leaving charlotte free to work at her embroidery. godwin took turns with oliver at blacking the shoes.
as a matter of course the boys accompanied their mother each sunday morning to the parish church, and this ceremony was becoming an insufferable tax on godwin’s patience. it was not only that he hated the name of religion, and scorned with much fierceness all who came in sympathetic contact therewith; the loss of time seemed to him an oppressive injury, especially now that he began to suffer from restricted leisure. he would not refuse to obey his mother’s wish, but the sullenness of his sabbatic demeanour made the whole family uncomfortable. as often as possible he feigned illness. he tried the effect of dolorous sighs and groans; but mrs. peak could not dream of conceding a point which would have seemed to her the condonation of deadly sin. ‘when i am a man!’ muttered godwin. ‘ah! when i am a man!’
a year had gone by, and the routine to which he was bound began to have a servile flavour. his mind chafed at subjugation to commercial interests. sick of ‘sheep and cattle dressings’, he grew tired of chemistry altogether, and presently of physical science in general. his evenings were given to poetry and history; he took up the classical schoolbooks again, and found a charm in latin syntax hitherto unperceived. it was plain to him now how he had been wronged by the necessity of leaving school when his education had but just begun.
discontent becoming ripe for utterance, he unbosomed himself to mr gunnery. it happened that the old man had just returned from a visit to kingsmill, where he had spent a week in the museum, then newly enriched with geologic specimens. after listening in silence to the boy’s complaints, and pondering for a long time, he began to talk of whitelaw college.
‘does it cost much to study there?’ godwin asked, gloomily.
‘no great sum, i think. there are scholarships to be had.’
mr. gunnery threw out the suggestion carelessly. knowing the hazards of life, he could not quite justify himself in encouraging godwin’s restiveness.
‘scholarships? for free study?’
‘yes; but that wouldn’t mean free living, you know. students don’t live at the college.’
‘how do you go in for a scholarship?’
the old man replied, meditatively, ‘if you were to pass the cambridge local examination, and to get the first place in the kingsmill district, you would have three years of free study at whitelaw.’
‘three years?’ shouted godwin, springing up from his chair.
‘but how could you live, my boy?’
godwin sat down again, and let his head fall forward.
how to keep oneself alive during a few years of intellectual growth?—a question often asked by men of mature age, but seldom by a lad of sixteen. no matter. he resolved that he would study for this cambridge local examination, and have a try for the scholarship. his attainments were already up to the standard required for average success in such competitions. on obtaining a set of ‘papers’, he found that they looked easy enough. could he not come out first in the kingsmill district?
he worked vigorously at special subjects; aid was needless, but he wished for more leisure. not a word to any member of his household. when his mother discovered that he was reading in the bedroom till long past midnight, she made serious objection on the score of health and on that of gas bills. godwin quietly asserted that work he must, and that if necessary he would buy candles out of his pocket-money. he had unexpectedly become more grave, more restrained; he even ceased to grumble about going to church, having found that service time could be utilised for committing to memory lists of dates and the like, jotted down on a slip of paper. when the time for the examination drew near, he at length told his mother to what end he had been labouring, and asked her to grant him the assistance necessary for his journey and the sojourn at kingsmill; the small sum he had been able to save, after purchase of books, would not suffice. mrs. peak knew not whether to approve her son’s ambition or to try to repress it. she would welcome an improval in his prospects, but, granting success, how was he to live whilst profiting by a scholarship? and again, what did he propose to make of himself when he had spent three years in study?
‘in any case,’ was godwin’s reply, ‘i should be sure of a good place as a teacher. but i think i might try for something in the civil service; there are all sorts of positions to be got.’
it was idle to discuss the future whilst the first step was still speculative. mrs. peak consented to favour the attempt, and what was more, to keep it a secret until the issue should be known. it was needful to obtain leave of absence from mr. moxey, and godwin, when making the request, stated for what purpose he was going to kingsmill, though without explaining the hope which had encouraged his studies. the project seemed laudable, and his employer made no difficulties.
godwin just missed the scholarship; of candidates in the prescribed district, he came out second.
grievous was the disappointment. to come so near success exasperated his impatient temper, and for a few days his bondage at the chemical works seemed intolerable; he was ready for almost any venture that promised release and new scope for his fretting energies. but at the moment when nervous irritation was most acute, a remarkable act of kindness suddenly restored to him all the hopes he had abandoned. one saturday afternoon he was summoned from his surly retreat in the garret, to speak with a visitor. on entering the sitting-room, he found his mother in company with miss cadman and the misses lumb, and from the last-mentioned ladies, who spoke with amiable alternation, he learnt that they were commissioned by sir job whitelaw to offer for his acceptance a three-years’ studentship at whitelaw college. affected by her son’s chagrin, mrs. peak had disclosed the story to her sister, who had repeated it to the misses lumb, who in turn had made it the subject of a letter to lady whitelaw. it was an annual practice with sir job to discover some promising lad whom he could benefit by the payment of his fees for a longer or shorter period of college study. the hint from twybridge came to him just at the suitable time, and, on further inquiry, he decided to make proffer of this advantage to godwin peak. the only condition was that arrangements should be made by the student’s relatives for his support during the proposed period.
this generosity took away godwin’s breath. the expenditure it represented was trifling, but from a stranger in sir job’s position it had something which recalled to so fervent a mind the poetry of medicean patronage. for the moment no faintest doubt gave warning to his self-respect; he was eager to accept nobly a benefaction nobly intended.
miss cadman, flattered by sir job’s attention to her nephew, now came forward with an offer to contribute towards godwin’s livelihood. her supplement would eke into adequacy such slender allowance as the widow’s purse could afford. details were privately discussed, resolves were taken. mr. moxey, when it was made known to him, without explanation, that godwin was to be sent to whitelaw college, behaved with kindness; he at once released the lad, and added a present to the salary that was due. proper acknowledgment of the baronet’s kindness was made by the beneficiary himself, who wrote a letter giving truer testimony of his mental calibre than would have been offered had he expressed himself by word of mouth. a genial reply summoned him to an interview as soon as he should have found an abode in kingsmill. the lodging he had occupied during the examination was permanently secured, and a new period of godwin’s life began.
for two years, that is to say until his age drew towards nineteen, peak pursued the arts curriculum at whitelaw. his mood on entering decided his choice, which was left free to him. experience of utilitarian chemistry had for the present made his liberal tastes predominant, and neither the splendid laboratories of whitelaw nor the repute of its scientific professors tempted him to what had once seemed his natural direction. in the second year, however, he enlarged his course by the addition of one or two classes not included in sir job’s design; these were paid for out of a present made to him by mr. gunnery.
it being customary for the regular students of whitelaw to graduate at london university, peak passed his matriculation, and worked on for the preliminary test then known as first b.a. in the meanwhile he rose steadily, achieving distinction in the college. the more observant of his teachers remarked him even where he fell short of academic triumph, and among his fellow-students he had the name of a stern ‘sweater’, one not easily beaten where he had set his mind on excelling. he was not generally liked, for his mood appeared unsocial, and a repelling arrogance was sometimes felt in his talk. no doubt—said the more fortunate young men—he came from a very poor home, and suffered from the narrowness of his means. they noticed that he did not subscribe to the college union, and that he could never join in talk regarding the diversions of the town. his two or three intimates were chosen from among those contemporaries who read hard and dressed poorly.
the details of godwin’s private life were noteworthy. accustomed hitherto to a domestic circle, at kingsmill he found himself isolated, and it was not easy for him to surrender all at once the comforts of home. for a time he felt as though his ambition were a delinquency which entailed the punishment of loneliness. nor did his relations with sir job whitelaw tend to mitigate this feeling. in his first interview with the baronet, godwin showed to little advantage. a deadly bashfulness forbade him to be natural either in attitude or speech. he felt his dependence in a way he had not foreseen; the very clothes he wore, then fresh from the tailor’s, seemed to be the gift of charity, and their stiffness shamed him. a man of the world, sir job could make allowance for these defects. he understood that the truest kindness would be to leave a youth such as this to the forming influences of the college. so godwin barely had a glimpse of lady whitelaw in her husband’s study, and thereafter for many months he saw nothing of his benefactors. subsequently he was twice invited to interviews with sir job, who talked with kindness and commendation. then came the baronet’s death. godwin received an assurance that this event would be no check upon his career, but he neither saw nor heard directly from lady whitelaw.
not a house in kingsmill opened hospitable doors to the lonely student; nor was anyone to blame for this. with no family had he friendly acquaintance. when, towards the end of his second year, he grew sufficiently intimate with buckland warricombe to walk out with him to thornhaw, it could be nothing more than a scarcely welcome exception to the rule of solitude. impossible for him to cultivate the friendship of such people as the warricombes, with their large and joyous scheme of life. only at a hearth where homeliness and cordiality united to unthaw his proud reserve could godwin perchance have found the companionship he needed. many such homes existed in kingsmill, but no kindly fortune led the young man within the sphere of their warmth.
his lodgings were in a very ugly street in the ugliest outskirts of the town; he had to take a long walk through desolate districts (brick-yard, sordid pasture, degenerate village) before he could refresh his eyes with the rural scenery which was so great a joy to him as almost to be a necessity. the immediate vicinage offered nothing but monotone of grimy, lower middle-class dwellings, occasionally relieved by a public-house. he occupied two rooms, not unreasonably clean, and was seldom disturbed by the attentions of his landlady.
an impartial observer might have wondered at the negligence which left him to arrange his life as best he could, notwithstanding youth and utter inexperience. it looked indeed as if there were no one in the world who cared what became of him. yet this was merely the result of his mother’s circumstances, and of his own character. mrs peak could do no more than make her small remittances, and therewith send an occasional admonition regarding his health. she did not, in fact, conceive the state of things, imagining that the authority and supervisal of the college extended over her son’s daily existence, whereas it was possible for godwin to frequent lectures or not, to study or to waste his time, pretty much as he chose, subject only to official inquiry if his attendance became frequently irregular. his independent temper, and the seeming maturity of his mind, supplied another excuse for the imprudent confidence which left him to his own resources. yet the perils of the situation were great indeed. a youth of less concentrated purpose, more at the mercy of casual allurement, would probably have gone to wreck amid trials so exceptional.
trials not only of his moral nature. the sums of money with which he was furnished fell short of a reasonable total for bare necessities. in the calculation made by mrs. peak and her sister, outlay on books had practically been lost sight of; it was presumed that ten shillings a term would cover this item. but godwin could not consent to be at a disadvantage in his armoury for academic contest. the first month saw him compelled to contract his diet, that he might purchase books; thenceforth he rarely had enough to eat. his landlady supplied him with breakfast, tea, and supper—each repast of the very simplest kind; for dinner it was understood that he repaired to some public table, where meat and vegetables, with perchance a supplementary sweet when nature demanded it, might be had for about a shilling. that shilling was not often at his disposal. dinner as it is understood by the comfortably clad, the ‘regular meal’ which is a part of english respectability, came to be represented by a small pork-pie, or even a couple of buns, eaten at the little shop over against the college. after a long morning of mental application this was poor refreshment; the long afternoon which followed, again spent in rigorous study, could not but reduce a growing frame to ravenous hunger. tea and buttered bread were the means of appeasing it, until another four hours’ work called for reward in the shape of bread and cheese. even yet the day’s toil was not ended. godwin sometimes read long after midnight, with the result that, when at length he tried to sleep, exhaustion of mind and body kept him for a long time feverishly wakeful.
these hardships he concealed from the people at twybridge. complaint, it seemed to him, would be ungrateful, for sacrifices were already made on his behalf. his father, as he well remembered, was wont to relate, with a kind of angry satisfaction, the miseries through which he had fought his way to education and the income-tax. old enough now to reflect with compassionate understanding upon that life of conflict, godwin resolved that he too would bear the burdens inseparable from poverty, and in some moods was even glad to suffer as his father had done. fortunately he had a sound basis of health, and hunger and vigils would not easily affect his constitution. if, thus hampered, he could outstrip competitors who had every advantage of circumstance, the more glorious his triumph.
sunday was an interval of leisure. rejoicing in deliverance from sabbatarianism, he generally spent the morning in a long walk, and the rest of the day was devoted to non-collegiate reading. he had subscribed to a circulating library, and thus obtained new publications recommended to him in the literary paper which again taxed his stomach. mere class-work did not satisfy him. he was possessed with throes of spiritual desire, impelling him towards that world of unfettered speculation which he had long indistinctly imagined. it was a great thing to learn what the past could teach, to set himself on the common level of intellectual men; but he understood that college learning could not be an end in itself, that the professors to whom he listened either did not speak out all that was in their minds, or, if they did, were far from representing the advanced guard of modern thought. with eagerness he at length betook himself to the teachers of philosophy and of geology. having paid for these lectures out of his own pocket, he felt as if he had won a privilege beyond the conventional course of study, an initiation to a higher sphere of intellect. the result was disillusion. not even in these class-rooms could he hear the word for which he waited, the bold annunciation of newly discovered law, the science which had completely broken with tradition. he came away unsatisfied, and brooded upon the possibilities which would open for him when he was no longer dependent.
his evening work at home was subject to a disturbance which would have led him to seek other lodgings, could he have hoped to find any so cheap as these. the landlady’s son, a lank youth of the clerk species, was wont to amuse himself from eight to ten with practice on a piano. by dint of perseverance he had learned to strum two or three hymnal melodies popularised by american evangelists; occasionally he even added the charm of his voice, which had a pietistic nasality not easily endured by an ear of any refinement. not only was godwin harassed by the recurrence of these performances; the tunes worked themselves into his brain, and sometimes throughout a whole day their burden clanged and squalled incessantly on his mental hearing. he longed to entreat forbearance from the musician, but an excess of delicacy—which always ruled his behaviour—kept him silent. certain passages in the classics, and many an elaborate mathematical formula, long retained for him an association with the cadences of revivalist hymnody.
like all proud natures condemned to solitude, he tried to convince himself that he had no need of society, that he despised its attractions, and could be self-sufficing. so far was this from the truth that he often regarded with bitter envy those of his fellow-students who had the social air, who conversed freely among their equals, and showed that the pursuits of the college were only a part of their existence. these young men were either preparing for the university, or would pass from whitelaw to business, profession, official training; in any case, a track was marked out for them by the zealous care of relatives and friends, and their efforts would always be aided, applauded, by a kindly circle. some of them godwin could not but admire, so healthful were they, so bright of intellect, and courteous in manner,—a type distinct from any he had formerly observed. others were antipathetic to him. their aggressive gentility conflicted with the wariness of his self-esteem; such a one, for instance, as bruno chilvers, the sound of whose mincing voice, as he read in the class, so irritated him that at times he had to cover his ears. yet, did it chance that one of these offensive youths addressed a civil word to him, on the instant his prejudice was disarmed, and his emotions flowed forth in a response to which he would gladly have given free expression. when he was invited to meet the relatives of buckland warricombe, shyness prepossessed him against them; but the frank kindness of his reception moved him, and on going away he was ashamed to have replied so boorishly to attentions so amiably meant. the same note of character sounded in what personal intercourse he had with the professors. though his spirit of criticism was at times busy with these gentlemen, he had for most of them a profound regard; and to be elected by one or other for a word of commendation, a little private assistance, a well-phrased inquiry as to his progress, always made his heart beat high with gratitude. they were his first exemplars of finished courtesy, of delicate culture; and he could never sufficiently regret that no one of them was aware how thankfully he recognised his debt.
in longing for the intimacy of refined people, he began to modify his sentiments with regard to the female sex. his first prize-day at whitelaw was the first occasion on which he sat in an assembly where ladies (as he understood the title) could be seen and heard. the impression he received was deep and lasting. on the seat behind him were two girls whose intermittent talk held him with irresistible charm throughout the whole ceremony. he had not imagined that girls could display such intelligence, and the sweet clearness of their intonation, the purity of their accent, the grace of their habitual phrases, were things altogether beyond his experience. this was not the english he had been wont to hear on female lips. his mother and his aunt spoke with propriety; their associates were soft-tongued; but here was something quite different from inoffensiveness of tone and diction. godwin appreciated the differentiating cause. these young ladies behind him had been trained from the cradle to speak for the delight of fastidious ears; that they should be grammatical was not enough—they must excel in the art of conversational music. of course there existed a world where only such speech was interchanged, and how inestimably happy those men to whom the sphere was native!
when the proceedings were over, he drew aside and watched the two girls as they mingled with acquaintances; he kept them in view until they left the college. an emotion such as this he had never known; for the first time in his life he was humiliated without embitterment.
the bitterness came when he had returned to his home in the back street of twybridge, and was endeavouring to spend the holidays in a hard ‘grind’. he loathed the penurious simplicity to which his life was condemned; all familiar circumstances were become petty, coarse, vulgar, in his eyes; the contrast with the idealised world of his ambition plunged him into despair: even mr. gunnery seemed an ignoble figure when compared with the professors of whitelaw, and his authority in the sciences was now subjected to doubt. however much or little might result from the three years at college, it was clear to godwin that his former existence had passed into infinite remoteness; he was no longer fit for twybridge, no longer a companion for his kindred. oliver, whose dulness as a schoolboy gave no promise of future achievements, was now learning the business of a seedsman; his brother felt ashamed when he saw him at work in the shop, and had small patience with the comrades to whom oliver dedicated his leisure. charlotte was estranged by religious differences. only for his mother did the young man show increased consideration. to his aunt he endeavoured to be grateful, but his behaviour in her presence was elaborate hypocrisy. hating the necessity for this, he laid the blame on fortune, which had decreed his birth in a social sphere where he must ever be an alien.
