Part 1
Transcribed from the 1860 J. Bumpus edition by David Price, email [email protected]
She hath done what she could.
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A DISCOURSE ADDRESSED TO THE RATEPAYERS OF ST. MARYLEBONE, URGING THE ADOPTION OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARIES ACT, 1855.
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BY MATTHEW FEILDE, ST. DAVID’S COLLEGE.
Late Member of the Committee of the Newspaper Press Association, for obtaining the Repeal of the Paper Duty.
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_But it is to Free Libraries and News Rooms_, and NOT to high-priced Institutes, that you must look for the spread of knowledge and intellectual culture. It may be argued that 1_s._ 6_d._ a quarter, or 6_s._ a year, is not much to pay to a Working Man’s Association. I contend _it is exactly_ 4_s._ 4_d._ _too much_, as a halfpenny rate in the pound on a £40 house would amount to only 1_s._ 8_d._ a year.
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LONDON: J. BUMPUS, 158, OXFORD STREET. 1860.
_Price Sixpence_.
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“She hath done what she could.”
TO THE RATEPAYERS OF ST. MARYLEBONE.
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
THE FIELD OF BATTLE is in sight at last! The St. Marylebone Mental Light Columns, escorted by Troops of Progress in bright armour, with Advancement in Knowledge Rifle Corps, fair women, and brave men, are in marching order, and eager for the fray with the Mental Darkness Brigade, the cruel and relentless enemies of Improvement. The Obstructive Forces for the defence of IGNORANCE, with a great flourish of trumpets, proclaiming themselves friends of the poor par excellence, are marching in defile, and scenting the battle afar off.
These bitter and unscrupulous foes, who care as much for the Poor, as their pretended and hollow friend, Judas Iscariot, who when he cried aloud for the public, meant only himself, of whom it was said, “not that he cared for the poor, but because he carried the bag,” who murmured at the waste of costly ointment of spikenard with which Mary had anointed the feet of JESUS, and treacherously asked “why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence and given to the poor?”
These determined opponents of Progress—Parish Magnates—who dread the light of intelligence, and whose excessive desire to guard the ratepayers’ pockets is suspicious, and reminds me of Judas’ anxiety to trade on the distress of the poor. This Ignorant Phalanx, officered by pompous little great men, or loud little foolish men,—small vanities and pomposities, whose cry is “more taxation,” and who seem to say, “I am the Parish,” and “when I speak let no dog bark;” all these small politicians and miserable DO-NOTHINGS are making ready for the field.
A motley group are these specious Antagonists! Frantic about the Ballot, clinging to some Utopian impracticable reform, these sciolists and pedagogues presume to snarl at the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and denounce him as a financial jobber, wishing to float every stranding newspaper with public money, and who speak of our foremost Statesman and his Bill for the repeal of the Paper Duty, “as a sop to that _Cerberus_, the Press, to get the support of the newspapers of the country.” What skimbleskamble stuff! Consistent only in its inconsistency, true to its base, diabolical instincts, the _Times_ with the malice of Disraeli, and the hypocrisy of the Tempter, so far from supporting, positively revels in slandering this CONSCIENTIOUS Minister. Yes, the veering, versatile, infamous _Times_ faithful to one principle only—unprincipled wickedness exerts every nerve to retain this obnoxious tax. It has assailed the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and vilified his policy with a vindictiveness which _Shylock_ might have envied, and which even cheap journalism disdained. Parish officials who ought to know better, prose about the danger of innovation. Not too fast. Slow and sure. No complaints; no mischief has yet taken place; stay till it has taken place! _Wait a little this is not the time_! With pretended friends of Progress the right time will never arrive;—_to-day_ is the plea, _exclusion_ the object. I admit your “Poor rate is enormous,” but I rest my case on this fact, as a strong argument for adopting this humanizing Act of Parliament.
All these insidious foes either ignore or misrepresent the objects and purposes of the PUBLIC LIBRARIES’ ACT. Miserable economists in the guise of friends of poor-rate defaulters, (whose talk about the Lisson Grove Sunday nuisance is vain and hypocritical, while opposing Lord Chelmsford’s Bill, who have not the courage to say, “We don’t believe in the education of those who have to work,”) make use of the ratepayers to pare down necessary Parochial expenditure, and to cry down the wisest outlay of the Public money, in order to place themselves in office, and who on the utterly fallacious plea that a half-penny Library Rate is a compulsory and oppressive tax, would artfully dissuade you from supporting the News Rooms Act on its own merits. Know Nothings, and Dreamers, whose emblem is,
“Man never IS, but always TO BE, blest.”
“candid friends,” coarse but not witty, seeking in every possible way to disparage this beneficent project, in short, PRETENDED AND HOLLOW friends of the poor, who, like the arch traitor in the text CARE NOT ONE STRAW FOR THE GOOD OF THE PEOPLE, are going on to meet the armed men, the soldiers of victory, thrice armed as having their cause, or _casus belli_ just.
But unlike other encounters, in this Engagement there will be no gathering tears and tremblings of distress. The heroic women of St. Marylebone especially, will take comfort in the thought that fortune favours the brave, and that although the race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, they have, come what may, _deserved_ success, for they have done what they could to win the battle.
Clad in the armour of Righteousness you will know no fear; you will mock at fear and not be affrighted; you will meet the treacherous foe with self-approving smiles; Conscience will whisper in your ears the memorable words of the SAVIOUR to Mary, “SHE HATH DONE WHAT SHE COULD” to secure the victory.
I have said this Public Library movement—this precious boon of Reading for All is especially a WOMAN’S QUESTION, and I hope the Meeting will be graced by many Ladies to attest its truth and do honour to this great occasion. With such powerful allies I for one have no fear of the result.
“From woman’s eyes this doctrine I derive, They sparkle still the true Promethean fire; They are the books, the arts, the academies That show, contain and nourish all the world.”
I have briefly alluded to the economic aspect of this question, and shewn how pauperism would be diminished by the advance of the people in Knowledge. You may depend upon it nothing is so expensive to this Parish, so burdensome on the rates as IGNORANCE and INEBRIETY. I have designated the Public Libraries Act as a scheme for reducing the rates by improving the condition of the people. Let me for one moment turn from the £ _s._ _d._ point of view, to the social. What power in BOOKS! What various knowledge in those great Public Instructors, NEWSPAPERS! GOD be thanked for Books!
No matter how poor I am, no matter if the rich will not enter my obscure dwelling. If the oldest and most precious of all books, the BIBLE, with its unparalleled wisdom, with its unrivalled English, and its unequalled and incomparable Poetry is my companion and familiar friend,—if SHAKESPEARE, the first of uninspired writers, still enchants me with his presence, and the witty SYDNEY SMITH, (whom bigots, with their little learning but enormous arrogance, stigmatize “irreligious”) preaches to me with his practical wisdom; though languid perhaps with toil I shall not pine for want of intellectual associates, and I may become lettered, though entirely excluded from other companionship. What humanizing tendencies in Books, and how imperceptibly they influence the habits and tastes of the Public! Do what you can then to satisfy this increasing thirst for intelligence, and the cultivation of the intellect, and you will enlarge the field of remunerative employment, you will open up the avenues to honourable and congenial occupation to young women, whom the narrow existing labour market fails to find bread, let alone the means of support. But, remember it will be an uphill fight, for there must be two to one in favour of this _permissive_, and not compulsory Act, and no poll can be demanded.
To the best of my ability I have set it forward; and to you I now remit this WOMAN’S question, believing as I do that despite conventional frowns or sneers, you will, like the youthful David, valorously shoot down this giant ignorance that is desolating our land, and that with the shield of BELLEW, TOUT D’EN HAUT (All from on High, from Above, from the Father of Lights,) you will triumph in a cause second to none in its economic and social bearings.
I use no unmeaning phrase when I again assure the Ladies of St. Marylebone that in inviting them to take part in this conflict, on the issue of which so much depends, in asking them to come out and separate themselves from the vain, and frivolous, and heartless, I invite them to no unfeminine or unbecoming action. Believe me the time has come when you must throw off indecorous reserve and squeamishness, that is if you really desire to do good and raise yourselves on the social ladder, if you really desire to be released from the terrible bondage of GOVERNESSING, or the cruel servitude of DRESS MAKING. You are NOT called upon to lead Troops, or to Preach, or to make public speeches about Woman’s rights, but YOU ARE earnestly entreated to SAVE YOURSELVES, to agitate this subject started by a distinguished political writer, viz.: “WHAT WILL THE WOMEN DO NEXT?” Take fast hold then of this Public Library question, agitate it with nothing but your humanities about you, and the time is not distant when the field of profitable employment for young women shall be considerably widened. That civilization must be very imperfect, extremely smooth and artificial, which selfishly permits and tyrannically decrees that the kitchen, and the nursery, the workroom and the factory shall entirely absorb energies which might be much more usefully directed. Mr. John Bennett, so honourably identified with the cause of progress and social reform, urges the importance of National Instruction as a _sine quâ non_, without which it is vain to expect English women to compete with the Swiss in watchwork, and discloses the humiliating fact that the number of uneducated women in England, as ascertained by the signing of the marriage register was, one-third greater than that of men, and that out of nearly 80,000 women who were married, 68,175 _could not write their names_, but had to sign the register thus, + “her cross.” Surely this is not a state of things to be proud of, there is no ground here for boasting and glorification, and the condition of England, as a _Nation_, wholly uneducated, is in strong contrast to that of the Swiss population, where all the means and appliances of education of the highest character are to be found even in the remotest village.
When doctors disagree I will not presume to decide as to the necessity of granting medical diplomas to women, but why not “Women and Watch-work?” Is the Swiss girl more naturally artistic than the English? Is she more capable? Certainly not. It is instruction alone which constitutes her superiority. Let a woman be employed in that branch of industry for which she is adapted. Why there are parts of a watch which a woman can finish far better than the best workman. Talk of negro slavery, the tyranny of the workshop is more odious, more hateful in every respect. But I rejoice to perceive the dawn of a brighter day when a truer and higher civilization will threw open the doors of _Watch Manufactories_ and _Printing Offices_ to English women.
Ladies of St. Marylebone, I invite you to attend the Public Library Meeting at the Literary Institution, 17, Edwards Street, Portman Square, at 12 o’clock at noon, on Monday 18th June, 1860.
On this vital question I counsel you to throw off the absurd trammels and customs of fashion. The law allows you to vote for the Libraries Act, and I warn you that if you persist in clinging to delusion, if you permit yourselves to be overcome by indifference and listlessness,—if you “likes to be despised,” and prefer being tied and bound by the chains of fashion,—the day will come when you will bitterly repent such fastidious and disdainful behaviour. Read ANNA JAMESON’S “Communion of Labour.” Prisons, Reformatories, Schools, Hospitals, Workhouses, all engaged the attention of this noble person. Like Florence Nightingale she was in every sense a model woman. Yet those eyes, beaming with intelligence, have now lost their lustre, and are for ever closed, and the hand that wrote that admirable pamphlet is mouldering in its shroud. But though dead, she still speaks to you in terms more eloquent than any I can use. ANNA JAMESON would say to you, “Be true to yourselves and naught shall make you rue.” Believe me the custom of confining women to mean, or trifling pursuits is
“A custom More honour’d in the breach, than the observance.”
You who may be so powerful in society, why should you remain powerless? Why not _do what you can_ to slay this Demon Ignorance in St. Marylebone? Why should Central Africa and other far off Missions engross your FIRST attention? I exhort you to attend this Library Meeting, and _take your part in this good work_.
Yes, vote for an Act which will bring silent, yet most interesting companions, BOOKS to your Homes! But do not too curiously and haughtily enquire, as is the wont of some, “Who is the chief Promoter of this movement?” “NON QUO, SED QUO MODO, _Not who_, _but how_,” must be your battle cry. Be swayed by _arguments_, rather than by authority. Consider _what is said_, _not who says it_; never mind whether he has, or has not a bank account.
“O what a world of vile ill-favour’d faults Looks handsome in six hundred pounds a year!”
Yes, hold up your hands for the adoption of the Libraries Act, and in the hour of death, when the world and its allurements are receding from your view, when alone and deserted by your so-called friends, how it will console you in that solemn moment to be sensible that you have obeyed the voice of HIM who spake as never man spoke, that you gladly took the advice of your ASCENDED LORD to “make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness.” Ah! think of eyes so young, obscured, and darkened by tears, that you will thus make clear and glad! On your vote the question may be determined, and the hour has struck when you should be leaders, and not the slaves, of opinion.
It is meet and right that you should LEAD in a cause which promotes EARLY CLOSING, and which would confer in other ways a real and enduring benefit on your Parish. Hear the fine thoughts of Festus and treasure them in your memories.
“Grant this we pray Thee, and that all who read, Or utter noble thoughts may make them theirs, And thank God for them, to the betterment Of their succeeding life;—that all who lead The general sense and taste, too apt, perchance, To be led, keep in mind the mighty good They may achieve, and are in conscience, bound, And duty, to attempt unceasingly, To compass. Grant us, all-maintaining Sire! That all the great mechanic aids to toil Man’s skill hath formed, found, rendered,—whether used In multiplying works of mind, or aught To obviate the thousand wants of life, May much avail the human welfare now, And in all ages henceforth, and for ever. Let their effect be, Lord! to LIGHTEN LABOUR, And give more room to mind, and leave the Poor Some time for SELF-IMPROVEMENT. Let them not Be forced to grind the bones out of their arms For bread, but have some space to think and feel Like moral and immortal creatures. Look Thou with pity on all lesser crimes, Thrust on men almost when devoured by want, Wretchedness, ignorance and outcast life! Have mercy on the rich, too, who pass by The means they have at hand to fill their minds With serviceable knowledge for themselves, And fellows, and support not the good cause Of the world’s better future! May Peace, and Industry, and Commerce weld Into one Land all Nations of the World, Rewedding those the Deluge once divorced. Oh! may all help each other in good things, Mentally, morally, and bodily. Vouchsafe, kind God! Thy blessing to this Isle, Specially. May ENGLAND _ever lead_ THE WORLD, for She is worthiest; and may all Profit by her example, and adopt Her course, wherever great, or free, or just.”
My Lords and Gentlemen, I contend that it is a discredit, that, in the largest and richest Parish in the Metropolis, and in the United Kingdom, there is not only not a vestige of a free public News Room, but that St. Marylebone lags behind the poor Parish of St. John’s Westminster, where for upwards of three years, the NEWS ROOM has been a source of great attraction. Should you visit this News Room, in Great Smith Street, the silence, order, and evident interest of some two hundred readers, must strike you. The conduct of the frequenters of this Reading Room is very praiseworthy. I was told of one who came from Highgate, and open as it is to all comers, in all grades of life, it is pleasant to notice the influence of the judicious instruction to the librarian, which Mr. Stuart Dalton first introduced at Liverpool, viz., “That all persons, however ill-dressed or poor, who are cleanly, shall be treated as gentlemen.” Yet the good ship “Westminster,” is in danger of being cast away, of splitting on the dangerous rock, parsimony; she is on a lea-shore with breakers ahead; signals of distress are flying, and St. Marylebone will come to the rescue. Yes! this great and important parish will make an effort to preserve so admirable a vessel. Let her not founder, when _you could save_, let her not go down when you could prevent. I drop the figure and tell you plainly, that the force of your example in adopting Mr. Ewart’s Act, is _much needed_ by the Smith Street Institution, which looks to you for encouragement and sympathy. And not only St. Margaret, but other Metropolitan Parishes will follow the lead of St. Marylebone. London, too, will wake from its long lethargic slumber, and, undismayed by the defeat of 1855, will anxiously watch how you deal with this question. Lord Mayor Carter will not imitate his predecessors in frustrating the intentions of the Legislature; {11} and although an enthusiast in Rifle Brigades will find time to summon a meeting as to the policy of firing a shot at Ignorance, directly St. Marylebone carries the Act, and affirms that
KNOWLEDGE SHOULD BE THE PORTION OF ALL!
The working of the Libraries Act in Manchester, has given great satisfaction. Artists, authors, surgeons, chemists, lawyers, clerks in, and out of orders, and artizans frequent the Reading Room. So in Marylebone the Public Library would benefit not one alone, but ALL classes. Such an Institution would do something to diminish that ISOLATION of class, which the dying TALFOURD rightly said was the bane of England.
Gentlemen, it is miserable policy in this free country to allow a dangerous class, utterly uninformed, to grow up in your very midst:
“A savage Horde, among the civilized, A SERVILE BAND among the LORDLY FREE.”
is a perilous experiment. If you do not look after them, rely on it they will look after you, and when it is “too late,” you will deeply regret your ruinous economy, and short-sightedness, in not doing what you could to soften their manners, and make them less brutal, and also to qualify them for the Suffrage by wisely proffering these young Mohawks and Ojibbeways of Lisson Grove especially, INTELLECTUAL IMPLEMENTS AND TOOLS.
In 1858 the rental of the Parish of St. Marylebone, assessed to the poor rate, was valued at £911,570; this sum at _one halfpenny in the pound_, produces £1,899 2_s._ 1_d._ To speak of an education-rate like this as an infliction, to describe such an impost as a heavy tax, is mere rant, and to talk about the _thin end of the wedge_, or the “last feather,” &c., is a mischievous abuse of language. The inestimable good of PUBLIC NEWS ROOMS and LENDING LIBRARIES, will, despite heavy platitudes and dreary sophistries, win their way. Take honest pride in being able to say: I helped by my vote to secure to St. Marylebone this incalculable benefit, which would be confined to no one class exclusively, but which would be every man’s possession and every man’s right. That will be a Waterloo day in the social annals of St. Marylebone, when guided by this magnificent idea, you wisely determine to establish so excellent an Institution. To such societies as the Workman’s Institute, 209, Euston Road, and the All Souls’ Mutual Improvement, Great Portland Street, and to the “Patrons” of Sir Benjamin Hall’s Pet, rickety bantling, in Gloucester Place, now happily defunct, to which I refer, on account of the confusion it caused as a sham of the first class, To friends of Progress, like Lord Shaftesbury, {13a} Lord Overstone, Mr. Robert Hanbury, and Mr. J. Payne, it is fit a few words of remonstrance should be addressed. Why, year after year repudiate,—why perversely ignore the Public Libraries Act? Why disquiet yourselves in vain? Why set up your puny wisdom against that of Parliament? Why seek to bolster up ill managed, cliquish, moribund Institutes? Why this morbid, excessive anxiety to PATRONIZE? That Patron system so fatal to self-respect, produces sycophants, not men.