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THE VICTORIAN AGE

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS C. F. CLAY, MANAGER LONDON: FETTER LANE, E.C. 4

NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO.

BOMBAY } CALCUTTA } MACMILLAN AND CO., LTD. MADRAS }

TORONTO: THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.

TOKYO: MARUZEN-KABUSHIKI-KAISHA

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

THE VICTORIAN AGE

The Rede Lecture for 1922

Cambridge At the University Press 1922

THE VICTORIAN AGE

Each generation takes a special pleasure in removing the household gods of its parents from their pedestals, and consigning them to the cupboard. The prophet or pioneer, after being at first declared to be unintelligible or absurd, has a brief spell of popularity, after which he is said to be conventional, and then antiquated. We may find more than one reason for this. A movement has more to fear from its disciples than from its critics. The great man is linked to his age by his weakest side; and his epigoni, who are not great men, caricature his message and make it ridiculous. Besides, every movement is a reaction, and generates counter-reactions. The pendulum swings backwards and forwards. Every institution not only carries within it the seeds of its own dissolution, but prepares the way for its most hated rival.

The German Von Eicken found, in this tendency of all human movements to provoke violent reactions, the master key of history. Every idea or institution passes into its opposite. For instance, Roman imperialism, which was created by an intense national consciousness, ended by destroying the nationality of rulers and subjects alike. The fanatical nationalism of the Jews left them a people without a country. The Catholic Church began by renouncing the world, and became the heir of the defunct Roman empire. In political philosophy, the law of the swinging pendulum may act as a salutary cold douche. Universal suffrage, says Sybel, has always heralded the end of parliamentary government. Tocqueville caps this by saying that the more successful a democracy is in levelling a population, the less will be the resistance which the next despotism will encounter.

But there can be no question that the river of civilisation reached a stretch of rapids towards the end of the eighteenth century. For instance, in locomotion the riding-horse and pack-horse had hardly given place to the coach and waggon before the railway superseded road traffic; the fast sailing clippers had a short lease of life before steam was used for crossing the seas. Industrial changes came too quickly for the government to make the necessary readjustments, at a time when the nation was fighting for its life and then recovering from its exhaustion. The greatest sufferings caused by the revolution in the life of the people were in the first half of the century; the latter half was a time of readjustment and reform. One great interest of the Victorian Age is that it was the time when a new social order was being built up, and entirely new problems were being solved. The nineteenth century has been called the age of hope; and perhaps only a superstitious belief in the automatic progress of humanity could have carried our fathers and grandfathers through the tremendous difficulties which the rush through the rapids imposed upon them.

Let us spend five minutes in picturing to ourselves the English nation in a condition of stable equilibrium, as it was in the eighteenth century. Before the Industrial Revolution, the country was on the whole prosperous and contented. The masses had no voice in the government, but most of them had a stake in the country. There were no large towns, and the typical unit was the self-contained village, which included craftsmen as well as agriculturists, and especially workers in wool, the staple national industry. The aim of village agriculture was to provide subsistence for the parishioners, not to feed the towns. The typical village was a street of cottages, each with a small garden, and an open field round it, divided up like a modern allotments area. The roads between villages were mere tracks across the common, often so bad that carts were driven by preference through the fields, as they still are in Greece. So each parish provided for its own needs. The population was sparse, and increased very slowly, in spite of the enormous birthrate, because the majority of the children died. Families like that of Dean Colet, who was one of twenty-two children, among whom he was the only one to grow up, remained common till the middle of the eighteenth century. Then, for reasons which have never, I think, been fully explained, the deathrate rapidly declined, at the very time when economic conditions demanded a larger population. This is the more remarkable, when we remember the manner in which young children were treated before the Factory Acts.

Political power was in the hands of a genuine aristocracy, who did more to deserve their privileges than any other aristocracy of modern times. They were, as a class, highly cultivated men, who had travelled much on the Continent, and mixed in society there. In 1785 Gibbon was told that 40,000 English were either travelling or living abroad at one time. They were enlightened patrons of literature and art, and made the collections of masterpieces which were the pride of England, and which are now being dispersed to the winds. Their libraries were well stocked, and many of them were accomplished classical scholars. They were not content, like their successors to-day, to load their tables with magazines and newspapers. Lastly, they fought Napoleon to a finish, and never showed the white feather. Those who have studied the family portraits in a great house, or the wonderful portrait gallery in the Provost's Lodge at Eton, will see on the faces not only the pride and self-satisfaction of a privileged class, but the power to lead the nation whether in the arts of war or of peace.

The necessary changes would have come about earlier but for the French Revolution and the war. The former caused a panic which now seems to us exaggerated. But we are accustomed to revolutions, and know that they never last more than a few years; the French Revolution was the first of its kind. Moreover, France had long been the acknowledged leader of civilisation, and a general overturn in that country terrified men like Gibbon into prophesying that a similar outbreak was likely to overwhelm law, order and property in England. They did not realise how different the conditions were in the two countries. The most modest democratic reforms were therefore impossible till Napoleon was out of the way, and till the anti-revolutionary panic had subsided.

One result of the war has not always been realised. The eighteenth century had been international; there was no Chauvinism or Jingoism anywhere till the French, fighting ostensibly under the banner of humanity, had kindled the fire of patriotism in Spain, in Germany, and even in Russia. England had always had a strong national self-consciousness; and after the war the bonds of sympathy with France were not at once renewed, so that our country, during the early part of Victoria's reign, was more isolated from the main currents of European thought than ever before or since. Men of letters who lamented this isolation now turned for inspiration rather to Germany than to France. On the other hand, the war did not interrupt the intellectual life of the country to anything like the same extent as the recent Great War. At no period since the Elizabethans was there such an output of great poetry; and it does not seem to have occurred to any young lady of that time to ask Scott, Wordsworth or Jane Austen what they were doing during the war.

Modern sociologists have drawn lurid pictures of the condition of the working class during the earlier part of the last century. It seems in truth to have been very bad. Byron in 1812 told the Lords: 'I have been in some of the most oppressed provinces of Turkey, but never under the most despotic of infidel governments did I behold such squalid wretchedness as I have seen since my return in the very heart of a Christian country.' In 1831 a member of parliament said: 'An agricultural labourer and a pauper--the words are synonymous.' Those who want details can find them in the well-known controversial books by the Hammonds, which state the case against the governing class in an exhaustive manner. There was in fact too much ground for Disraeli's statement that England at that time consisted of two nations, the rich and the poor. The poor were still largely illiterate, and so inarticulate; and the comparative absence of the large half-educated class which now dominates all public discussion made the cultivated gentry a class apart. Their own standard of culture was higher than that of the leisured class to-day; but they took little interest in the lives of the poor, until they were forced to do so. We however who have witnessed the succession of economic crises which attend and follow a great war ought not to forget the appalling difficulties with which the government was confronted. In 1795 there was actual famine, which was met by the famous system of doles out of the rates, in augmentation of wages, a most mischievous bit of legislation, like the similar expedients of the last three years. It had the double effect of pauperising the rural labourer and of putting an artificial premium on large families--the children who were carted off in waggon-loads to feed the factories. It was repealed only when the ruined farmers were abandoning their land, and the glebe-owning clergy their livings. Fluctuations in prices had much to do with the miseries of the hungry thirties and forties; but over-population, as the economists of the time pointed out with perfect justice, was one of the main causes. It was not till much later that there was food enough for all; and this was the result of the new wheat fields of America and the sheep walks of Australia, which brought in food and took away mouths. In Ireland the barbarous and illiterate peasantry multiplied till the population exceeded eight millions, when the inevitable famine illustrated nature's method of dealing with recklessness. The only error with which the economists of this time may be charged was that they did not realise that over-population is the result of a very low standard of civilisation. Families are restricted whenever the parents have social ambitions and a standard of comfort. Where i ruukussaan. Ei ole kuollut vaikka on koko kes?n siin? ulkosalla hoitamatta seissut.

"Tuokin taitaa olla teid?n kukkianne", min? kysyn saattajapojalta.

H?nen leukansa v?r?ht??. H?n k??ntyy pois.

"On!"

Toisen torpan pihalla, jossa oli lasten kotikeinu piilipuun ja sein?nurkan v?lill?, n?in aivan autioksi tehdyn katottoman tuvan teljetyn oven edess? mit? liikuttavimpia pieni? kotikapineita. Torpan lapset, jotka olivat jostakin syyst? mielistyneet minuun ja seuranneet minua entist? kotiansa katsomaan, nostelivat niit? maasta, juttelivat kesken??n ja eliv?t muistoissaan. He l?ysiv?t siin? entiset pikku Maijan t?pp?setkin, joiden punaiset nauhat olivat sateissa aivan haalistuneet. Vetiv?t he esiin my?s is?n vanhan k?sisahan, jonka talteen ottamisesta nousi heid?n kesken kysymys. Tietysti on pihoilta korjattukin paljon poliisien ulos viskaamia kapineita, mutta kaikki raskaammat, kuten viljalaarit, kaapit, sohvat j.n.e. on t?ytynyt omien asuntojen puutteessa j?tt?? semmoisikseen ulkosalle. Jos niit? on koetellut asettaa vaikka ulkosein?? vasten suojaan, ovat patrullipoliisit, jotka alinomaa Laukon maita kiertelev?t, heitt?neet ne heti takasin aukealle.

Muutamissa torpissa ei oltu tyydytty tuvan kattoa maahan sortamaan, vaan oli sorrettu viel? saunan, aittojen ja kaikkien sellaisten rakennusten katot, joissa torpparit olisivat h??d?n j?lkeen voineet hakea suojaa p?ittens? yli. Er??ss? torpassa olivat pojat suurilla punamulta-kirjaimilla kirjottaneet aution tuvan ulkosein??n: "Veljeys", katottoman saunan sein??n: "Tasa-arvoisuus" ja hajotetun eloaitan sein??n: "Vapaus." Patrullipoliisit olivat t?m?n n?hty?ns? ankaran is?llisesti nuhdelleet is?nt?? h?nen poikiensa t?hden.

T?m? is?nt? oli tullut itse saattamaan minua h?vitettyyn kotiinsa, jonka joka nurkan ja salvoksen h?n, niinkuin kaikki muutkin torpparit, oli aikoinaan omin kirvein ja omin k?sin rakentanut.

"Surku tulee noitakin honkia. Ne olen itse tuohon tuulien suojaksi kasvattanut", h?n sanoi.

Paksuiksi, k?yr?oksaisiksi olivat aimo hongat enn?tt?neet h?nen aikanansa kasvaa. Ne "humisivat tuulessa ja niiden v?list? vilkkui j?rven siint?v? selk?", niinkuin lauletaan muutamassa is?nmaallisessa laulussa.

Tapaamistani henkil?ist? kiinnitti mielt?ni erikoisesti -- ehk? senvuoksi ett? h?n oli sopiva kirjallisiin tarkotuksiini -- muuan suoraluontoinen, jyrkk?sanainen, tarmokas toimenmies. H?n oli ollut aikoinaan kivity?n tekij?, varmaankin pystytt?nyt monenkin herraskartanon kivijalkoja ja muuraillut kaupunkipalatsien muureja. Mutta ajatuksissa h?nell? oli aina ollut tulevaisuuden haaveena oman torpan vuokraaminen ja asettuminen ikiajoiksi perheineen kotikontua viljelem??n. Koottuaan kolmetuhatta markkaa ja saatuaan siihen viel? pari tuhatta lis?ksi olikin h?n saanut vuokratuksi itselleen torpan. Kaikki rahat meniv?t torpan perustamispuuhiin. Nelj? vuotta h?n sitten asui onnellisena t?ss? kodissaan. Se oli mit? tavallisimmalla kummulla, jossa n?ytti olevan aukeata juuri niin paljon kuin h?n oli vuosien kuluessa maata peratuksi saanut. Kun tulin sinne h?nen itsens? saattamana oli h?nenkin tavaroitaan pihalla sateen alla turmeltumassa. Katajaisen luonteensa mukaisesti oli n?et h?nkin, oikeuden lopulliseen voittoon turvaten, heti talvih??t?jen j?lkeen muuttanut asuntoonsa takasin. "Maa meid?n on, eik? laiskain lurjusten!" Sill? seurauksella, ett? kev??n tultua t?ydellinen h?vitys kohtasi h?nen kotiaan. Uunit pantiin raunioiksi, ikkunat ly?tiin s?p?leiksi, navettakin rikottiin, lehm?t ajettiin ulos ja kaikki ulkohuoneet tehtiin mahdottomiksi asua.

"Ja kun ne sortivat muurin alas, niin soraa lensi taikinaan ja maitoastiaan", sanoi h?n n?ht?v?sti ollen enin loukkaantunut t?st? h?nen vaimoansa kohdanneesta h?v?istyksest?.

Mit? n?en min?! J?ykk? suomalainen leuka v?r?htelee!

Mies oli vahvistunut vaan vakaumuksessaan, ett? maa kuuluu sille, joka sit? viljelee. En tied? onko kataja kyllin kovaa puunlajia, ett? h?nen luonnettaan voisi siihen verrata -- mutta h?n kylvi kuin kylvikin siemenen peltoihinsa, jotka muuten olisivat j??neet kesannoksi, pani perunan ja teki kaikki mit? kev??ll? teht?m?n pit??, sek? p??sti lehm?t hakaan, rikottuun navettaan niit? en?? ajamatta. H?n asuskeli sitten tuvan puolella, mihin laittoi muurin uuteen kuntoon, ja v?ltteli poliiseja parhaansa mukaan.

T?t? voimakasta miest?, jonka kaltaisien toimesta meid?n maamme kantaa viljelysmaan arvonime? ja jotka voisivat antaa sille enemm?n kuin mik??n muu ylpeilemisen syyt?, t?t? voimakasta miest? ahdistaa kohtalon kova koura viel? toiseltakin puolelta. H?nen vaimonsa, ollen mielelt??n uskonnollinen, ei hyv?ksy miehens? maalliseen toveruuteen ja luokkataisteluun suuntautunutta mielt?. Se seikka on j?yt?v?n? ristiriitana h?nen kodissaan, eik? se suinkaan ole voinut h?nelle kevent?? nyt t?m?n lakkotaistelun raskasta taakkaa. Kev?inen h??t?toimitus oli tehnyt t?h?n vaimoon niin j?rk?hytt?v?n vaikutuksen, ett? h?n menetti henkisen tasapainonsa. Joku toimitusmiehist? oli h??t?toimituksen kest?ess? k?skenyt ovensuussa seisovan pojan viem??n pihalle kangaspuun sivulautaa, joka oli j??nyt tuvan lattialle, sitten kuin itse kangaspuu oli viskattu ulos. Poika olikin torpan omia poikia ja vastasi siis is?ns? noudattaman passiivisen vastarinnan hengess?: Viek??t rikkurit! Toimitusmies oli t?st? suuttunut ja k?skenyt vanhempien antamaan pojalle selk??n. Silloin vaimo, tiet?m?tt? mit? teki, sieppasi h?iriintyneen? lattialta laudan ja kohottaen korkealle ilmaan aikoi ly?d? omaa poikaansa, joka onneksi enn?tti pujahtaa ovesta ulos. Is? samassa astui sis?lle ja olisi saanut iskun vastaansa, ellei lauta olisi sattunut oven p??lliseen. Seuraavana y?n? tuli vaimo mielenh?iri??n. Tapausten kauheus ja ?idin j?rkkynyt mielentila vaikutti alaik?iseen tytt?reen niin, ett? t?m?kin tuli mielivikaiseksi eik? ole siit? viel?k??n t?ysin toipunut. Kun torpan navetta rikottiin, oli elukat t?ytynyt p??st?? vapauteen. Ne olivat sen j?lkeen kulkeneet torpan vainioilla ja metsiss?, miss? niit? torpan em?nt? oli kes?ll? k?ynyt lyps?m?ss?. Mutta nyt syksyn tultua tulivat kartanon miehet ja veiv?t elukat pois, jonka j?lkeen kuuluutettiin, ett? elukat voidaan lunastaa, arvatenkin jos maksetaan se vahinko, mink? ne ovat tuottaneet sy?ty??n koko kes?n kartanon mailla. Elukat j?iv?t tietysti kartanoon, mutta sairas em?nt? uhkailee nyt menn? j?rveen.

Uutta, seudulla aivan tuntematonta v?ke? on nyt syksyn tultua asettunut siihen tuvan puoliskoon, jonka muurin entinen is?nt? oli korjannut. Koti on h?vinnyt, koko perhe on hajoomistilassa.

Niinkuin vankka tammi seisoo mies keskell? onnettomuuttansa, joka ei ole h?nen korkeata uhkamielt?ns? voinut lannistaa eik? lujaa toveruuttansa kukistaa.

Uutta v?ke? on jo kaikkialla muissakin suuremmissa torpissa. N?m? uudet tulokkaat niitt?v?t ja leikkaavat paraillaan niit? viljoja, joita he eiv?t ole kylv?neet. Lakkolaiset saavat katsoa p??lt?, kuinka heid?n kylv?m??ns? viljaa vieras korjaa, kuinka kaivelee esille heid?n istuttamansa perunat ja vie ominaan kuoppiin talvivaroiksi. Mutta paitsi sit?, ett? vanhat torpparit ovat siemenviljat ja kaiken ty?ns? vaivat kadottaneet, on heit? viel? sakotettu 50 markalla siit? ett? olivat ollenkaan kylv?neet!!

Miss? ovat siis lakkolaiset nyt? Miss? nuo 80 perhett?, joiden j?senluku yhteens? tekee noin 500 henke??

Astellessani Laukon metsi? min? n?in heid?n kes?isi? tyyssijojansa. He asuskelivat metsiss?, ladoissa, riihiss?, joista heit? patrullipoliisit usein l?ysiv?t ja armotta ajoivat pois. Monet olivat saaneet v?liaikaisia asuinpaikkoja Laukon rajojen takana olevien talojen torpissa. Semmoisissa paikoissa saattoi asua kolme, nelj? perhett? jossakin pieness? tuvassa tai kamarissa. Mutta helposti on ymm?rrett?viss?, kuinka vaikea on t?mm?ist? rajatonta vieraanvaraisuutta loppumattomiin hyv?kseen k?ytt??. Jos meik?l?isen rouvan osaksi tulisi pit?? luonansa nelj?n suuren perheen j?seni? kolme kuukautta yht?mittaa, niin en luule ett? j?rk?htynytt? hermostoa voisi tasapainoon saada ilman pitemp?? virkistysmatkaa ulkomaille. Vaikea on asema sek? niille perheille, joiden vieraanvaraisuutta kysyt??n ett? niiden, jotka ovat pakotetut sit? nauttimaan.

Liikuttavaa oli minusta n?hd? noiden ihmisparkain yh? uudistuvia yrityksi? jos jollakin syyll? pysy? kiinni vanhojen kotiensa nurkissa. Miss? vaan oli joku vaari tai sairas, jota ei oltu voitu ulos h??t??, siell? koettivat muut perheen j?senet turvautua h?nen turviinsa. He eliv?t silloin tavallisesti jossakin "kamarissa" uuden tulokkaan el?ess? perheineen tuvan puolella. Sellaisessa kamarissa istuivat he kuin hiiret loukossa, joka hetki pel?ten poliisien tuloa. Kun me saattajani seurassa pyrimme sis?lle, ei meid?n kolkutukseemme vastattu.

"P??st?k?? sis?lle, jos siell? ihmisi? on!" huusi saattajani.

Ei vastausta.

Saattaja tempasi silloin oven auki.

Muori oli asettunut raamattua lukemaan, niinkuin n?kyy tavaksi tulleen poliisien astuessa sis?lle. Muut olivat liikkumattomina, kukin asentoonsa tyrmistyneen?, ukko vaari vaan ei voinut mielenkuohun vuoksi hillit? vanhojen j?seniens? hytk?htelemist?. Kaikki muu v?ki oli liikkumattomaksi j?hmettynyt.

N?in rauhattomassa el?m?ss? jokainen viikko vanhentaa ihmisen ik?? vuodella. Rauhaton on aamun valkeneminen, rauhattomat p?iv?n, hetket, ja viel? kolkompi pimenev? ilta.

Rauhaa toivotettuamme muutti odottamaton mielen kevennys heid?n kasvojensa kalpeuden hehkuvaksi punaksi.

Pienist? ikkunaruuduista katsellen min? n?in, kuinka uusi is?nt? meni v?kineen ja sirppineen eloa korjaamaan.

"Ett? se kehtaakin!" min? sanoin.

T?ss? torpassa oli kuitenkin asianlaita toinen kuin kaikkialla muualla. Uusi is?nt? oli tullut jo varhain kev??ll? ja itse tehnyt kaikki kes?iset ty?t. Sent?hden muori, hyv?ksym?tt? puhettani, kiirehti sanomaan:

"Ei, ei, joka ty?n tekee, h?n on leiv?nkin ansainnut."

Ja t?m?n t?llaisen kansan sanotaan ylenkatsovan lakia!

Er??n riihen ohi kulkiessamme pys?hytti minut uusi oppaani, avasi riihen oven ja sanoi kuiskaamalla aivan kuin viel?kin olisi poliisia vainunnut:

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