The room was half filled with thirty or forty people, mostly young, though there were some elderly men. Among them Elsie remarked, without surprise, the decayed Barrister of Gray"s Inn. Perhaps he was attracted as much by the loaves as by the sermon. Three-quarters of them were young men. Elsie noticed that they were young men of a curious type--their faces keen, their eyes hard, their manner aggressive. They belonged to a Church Militant. They longed to be fighting. On the appearance of their preacher they flocked about him, shaking hands and inquiring after his health. At least, therefore, he had the affection of his followers.
"My friends," said the Prophet, "I bring you a new Disciple. She comes to us from the very stronghold of Property. Her friends"--yet he had shown no sign of recognition--"are either those who pillage the producer, or those who rob the possessor on pretence of defending him.
She is at present only a recruit. She comes to listen and to learn. She will go home to remember and to meditate. She is a recruit now who will be hereafter a Leader."
The people received her with curiosity. They were not of the higher cla.s.ses, to put it mildly, and they had never had a young lady among them before. Two or three girls who were present--girls from the dressmaker"s workrooms--looked at her frock with envy, and at her bonnet and her gloves with a yearning, helpless, heart-sinking admiration. To the young men she seemed a G.o.ddess, unapproachable. They stood at a distance: men of the rank above them would have worshipped. These young men only gaped. Such a girl had nothing to do with their lives.
Apparently they had been waiting for the Master, for at the moment a stout woman and a girl appeared bearing trays with teapots and jugs of hot water, which they placed upon the board. Mr. Edmund Gray took the chair. Elsie began to feel like Alice in Wonderland. She came to see a "Place": she expected to hear a sermon or a lecture; and behold a Tea!
"Sit beside me," said the Master. "We begin our evening on Sunday with a simple feast, which I provide. It is a sign of brotherhood. Every Sunday we begin with this renewal of fraternity. Those who break bread together are brothers and sisters. In the good time to come every meal shall be in common, and every evening meal shall be a Feast. Eat and drink with us, my daughter. So you will understand that you belong to a Brotherhood."
"Try some shrimps, Miss," said her neighbour on the right, an elderly man, who was a builder"s foreman.
History does not concern itself with what Elsie took. She found the meal very much to the purpose after a long afternoon of talk, argument, and emotion. She was young and she was hungry. The tea was good: the things to eat were good: the cake and toast were admirable. Elsie ate and drank and wondered what was coming next.
After a little, she began to look round her and to watch the company.
There were now, she counted, forty-five of them--forty-five disciples of Mr. Edmund Gray. What had he to teach them? The destruction of Property.
Out of the four millions of London, forty-five were found who wanted to destroy Property--only forty-five. But perhaps all who advocated that step were not present. Her ancient prejudices whispered that this was a rea.s.suring fact, considering that the Preacher had preached his doctrine for nine long years. Only forty-five. Next to her the foreman began to talk to her of Fourier and Owen, and a dozen half-forgotten leaders in the old experiments. He had been a Chartist in the Forties: he was a Socialist in these, the Nineties: but he confessed that before any real reform was attempted, Property must first be destroyed.
"It"s the selfishness," he whispered earnestly, "that"s got to be torn out by the roots. Take that away, and there"s a chance for the world. It never can be taken away till a man finds that he can"t work no longer for himself, and that he must work for all, whether he likes it or lumps it. Don"t give him the choice nor the chance, I say. Take away Property, and there"s neither choice nor chance left. You hear Mr. Gray upon that. Oh, he"s powerful! What do they say? Naked we came into the world.
Naked we enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. There"s a wonderful lot of fine things hangin" to that. You must wait till you hear Mr. Gray upon that theme.--Kingdom of Heaven! To hear the parsons talk, it"s away above the clouds. Not so. It"s here--close beside us--on this earth. All we"ve got to do is to put out our hands and reach it."
"You may put out your hands as much as you like," said one of the younger men; "but you won"t reach it, all the same. Property stands between."
"At our place," said a girl sitting opposite--a girl of intelligent face, pale and thin,--"we work from eight till eight, and sometimes longer, for twelve shillings a week. I know what things cost and what they sell for. I could produce enough to keep me--ah! a good deal better than I live now--if I could sell what I made myself--for four hours"
work a day. So I work eight hours a day, not counting the dinner hour, just to keep the boss and to make Property for him. My Property it is--well--I know--in here, we say, _our_ Property: outside we say, _my_ Property. Where"s your Kingdom of Heaven, then, if you reach out your hand ever so far, so long as I"ve got to work to make somebody else rich? Let"s destroy Property, and then we shall see."
A desire--a foolish concealed desire, born of prejudice, seized Elsie to argue. For she perceived in the girl"s reasoning certain confusions and intricacies. But she had the courage to suppress the inclination: she refrained. She was a disciple. She must listen.
"I am a slave, like all the rest of us," another young man remarked cheerfully. "My Master owns me. He can sell me if he likes, only he calls it by another name; he can"t take a whip and lash me, though he"d like to, because, if he did, I"d break every bone in his body for him, but he can cut down the work and the money. I do editing and reporting for a local paper. Thirty shillings a week. The proprietor makes ten pounds a week out of it. And I"m not allowed to tell the truth for fear of advertisers." He added a few words not commonly heard in a place that looks like a chapel on a Sunday evening.
Elsie observed that their faces showed two variations of expression--only two. The majority of the company had the eyes of the dreamer, the theorist, the enthusiast. They are soft eyes, and in repose are heavy, and they look through stone walls into s.p.a.ce, far away--s.p.a.ce where their dreams are realised and men and women live according to their theories. In moments of enthusiasm and pa.s.sion they become flaming fires. These eyes belonged to most of those present. The rest--the minority--were those who are angry and restless and eager for the practical application of the doctrine. These want revolution: they are impatient: they feel for themselves the injustices and impressions which enthusiasts feel for others: these are always resentful: the others are always hopeful: these want to convert the world at once with bludgeon and with gun: the others are certain that before long the world will be converted by reason. The one despairs of anything but force: the other will have no force: the one hates his enemy: he would kill him if he could: he has no words too bad for him: the enthusiast, on the other hand, regards his enemy with pity, and would at any moment welcome him, forgive him, and--well--invite him to a Fraternal Tea if he would only desert his ranks and come over. And these are the two divisions in every party, and such is the nature of man that there must always be these two divisions.
The Fraternal Tea finished, the company cleared the tables, everybody lending a hand, perhaps as another sign or pledge of fraternity. It was then nearly seven o"clock, the hour appointed for the address. The door was thrown wide open for the admission of the world; but there was no sign that the world took the least interest in the subject of Property.
No one came at all. Elsie learned afterwards that the world outside the Hall had long since grown tired of the subject on which Mr. Gray had been preaching for nine years. Those who came to the Tea were the inner circle of believers or disciples, a small but faithful company, to whose members there was rarely any addition.
At seven Mr. Edmund Gray rose to commence his address, standing at the head of the table, so that it was like an after-dinner speech. Outside, the sun was hot and bright and the air clear. Within the Hall, there were the mingled odours and steams of long-protracted and hearty Fraternal Tea: the air was heavy and the room dark. When the Master began to speak, a young man--one of the ardent and wrathful kind--drew out a note-book and took everything down: all listened with respect, some with rapt interest. Some nodded--some groaned--some said "Hear"
softly--to encourage the preacher and to show their adhesion to principle.
Elsie sat at the right hand of the speaker. His discourses moved her much less in this public place than in his chambers. The persuasive voice was there, but it did not persuade her--moreover, she could not meet his eyes. Their magnetism failed to touch her. So much the better, because she could listen with cold judgment and watch the people.
"My friends," he began, "my brothers and my sisters--we are all long since agreed that the root of all evil, the first form of disease, the first fatal step that was leading to so many other mischiefs, was the beginning of Property. We have proved that so often--we are all so entirely agreed upon this vital principle, that we seldom, and only on rare occasions, find it necessary to do more than a.s.sume its truth. That occasion, however, is the present, when we have among us one who comes as a stranger, yet a disciple: one who has a mind open to the influence of reason: one who is anxious to clear herself of the prejudices and absurdities in which she has been from infancy brought up. Let us, therefore, briefly, for her instruction and for the strengthening of our own faith, point out some of the arguments which support this position.
It is to us an axiom. To the world it still requires proof. And the world refuses to accept the proof, because it is given over to the Chase of the Abominable Thing."
He proceeded to parade the reasons which made his School regard Property as the root of all evil. The line which lie pursued was not new: many men have pointed out before Mr. Edmund Gray the selfishness of mankind as ill.u.s.trated by the universal game of Grab: others, with equal force, have shown that the protection of Things causes an immense expenditure and a great shrinkage in Things: others have shown that it is the continual efforts of men to get without working the Things for which others have worked, that fill our jails and keep up an army of police.
"We start with a false principle," the Master went on, "which has ruined the world and still keeps it down. If there are to be rich men, they must become rich at the expense of the rest: they must be few and the poor must be many. Therefore, the protection of Property is the robbery of the poor by law. We all know that: in this place we have agreed, so far a thousand times: the rich can only become rich by robbing the poor: they rob their land: they rob their work: they rob their whole lives--and they are permitted and encouraged by the Law. Shall we, then, change the Law? No: it would be a work too vast. Shall we change the minds of men? Not by reason: it is impossible by any argument so long as by law and custom they can still rob the producer of his work. The only way is to destroy all Property. When men can no longer by any kind of thought get richer than their neighbours, then they will cease to think for themselves, and think for the whole community. You will say--some one may object--that some are not the same in strength of mind or of body: there will be many, then, who will refuse to work at all, and become burdens on the community. We have thought of that objection. At first, there would be many such; but not for long. Because we should kill them. Yes, my friends," he added with a smile of the sweetest benevolence. "For the good of the community it will be necessary, without any sentimental considerations, to kill all those who refuse to work, all those who shirk their work, all those who persistently do scamped and bad work. They must die. So the commonwealth shall contain none but those who are vigorous, loyal, and true. For the rest--Death--if it means the death of a million who were once rich--Death is the only escape from the difficulty which is so often objected.
"It has been asked again how we differ from the Socialists. In this. We would begin with no theories, no const.i.tution, no code. Only let every man give all his strength, all his heart, all his mind, to the good of the commonwealth, without the least power of enriching himself, saving money--of course there would be no money--without the chance of getting better food and better clothes than the rest--and we may safely leave the world to take care of itself. Why--my brothers--why--my sisters--should we poor purblind creatures, unable to comprehend more than a glimpse of that glorious future which awaits the world when Property shall be destroyed--why--I say--should we dare to lay down schemes and invent systems for that glorified humanity? Let us leave them to themselves. They will be as far above us, my brothers, as we are already above the holders and the defenders of Property."
Elsie looked at the little gathering--five-and-forty--with a little smile. They were then already far above the holders and the defenders of Property, and again she thought, "What if these words were heard in Lincoln"s Inn?"
"How, then, can Property be destroyed?"
At this practical question every one sat upright, coughed, and looked interested. Their Preacher had often enough declaimed upon the evils of Property. He seldom spoke of a practical way. Perhaps the time had come.
"There are, my friends, several ways. They are already beginning to be understood and to be worked. The Irish and the politicians who wanted the Irish vote have shown the world how to destroy property in land.
Believe me, that example will be followed. It was an evil day for the holders of Property when the Government interfered between the landlord and his tenant. That example will bear fruit elsewhere. We shall see everywhere the owners of the land turned out and their places taken by those who work the land. The next step is from land to houses. Why not with houses as with land? Since a beginning has been made, it must be carried on. But there is other property besides lands and houses. There are companies with shares, railways, and so forth. We have only begun to see what united labour can effect--since union of labour is, in fact, not yet begun. When it is fairly started it will pay small respect to shareholders and to dividends. When wages are paid, there will be perhaps no dividend left at all. In a single year--nay, a single week--the whole capital invested in all the companies will lose its value: it will be so much waste-paper. My friends, we need not stir hand or foot to bring about this end: it will be done for us by the working-man, and by those who follow the example of Ireland. They will do it for their own selfish ends first--but--Property once destroyed, we shall never again allow it to be created.
"Oh!"--he warmed with his subject, his voice grew more musical, his face glowed--"I see a splendid--a n.o.ble sight. I see the great houses in the country fallen to ruin and decay: their contents are stored in museums: the great palaces of the towns are pulled down: the towns themselves are decayed and shrunk: there is no Property: there is no one working for himself: the man of science works his laboratory for the community--but he has the honour of his discoveries: the medical man pursues his work with no thought of getting rich: there is plenty to go the round of everything--oh! plenty of the best. We can have what we like, do what we like, dress as we like, teach what we please--provided we work for the State. If we refuse--Death! If we give bad work--Death! It is the only Law. We shall have no lawyers--no power--no magistrates. Oh! great and glorious time--you shall see it, you who are young--yes, you shall see it--while I--I--I--who have dreamed of the time so long--I shall lie low in the grave. What matter--so the time come and so the world rises free at last to follow out the destiny of a new and glorified humanity!"
He sat down and laid his head upon his hand, as one in prayer. They remained in silence till he raised his head. Then the young man who had called attention to his slavery spoke.
"There is perhaps another way," he said, "which might do the job for us.
Suppose the chemists were to find out how to produce food--food of any kind--artificially--just as good and as nourishing as if it was butcher-meat or bread. Suppose it could be produced dirt cheap--most chemists" things cost nothing. Then no one would need to work: because he"d have his food found for him. If no one would need to work, no one could get rich any more. And if no one wanted to buy anything, n.o.body could sell. Then riches wouldn"t count, and there you are. Let"s get a chemist to take the thing up."
The conversation that followed struck out new ideas. Presently it flagged, and one by one the people stole away.
The Master and the Disciple returned in the tram as far as Gray"s Inn.
The Master fell into profound silence a quarter of an hour before the end of the journey. When they got down, Elsie observed first, that he b.u.t.toned his coat; next, that he put on gloves; thirdly, that he pulled his hat forwards: and lastly, that he ignored her presence. He drew himself erect, and walked away with firm and precise step in the direction of Bedford Row, which is on the other side of Gray"s Inn. He was once more Mr. Edward Dering.
"I wonder," said Elsie, "how much, to-morrow, he will recollect?"
CHAPTER XXIV
CAN HE REMEMBER?
It was past ten o"clock that Sunday evening when Elsie arrived home.
Athelstan and George were waiting up for her. "Again the mysterious appointment?" asked the former. "Are we to know anything yet?"--Elsie shook her head.--"Not to-night? Very good. You look tired, Elsie."
"I am tired, thank you. And--and I think I would rather not talk to-night. I will go to my own room.--Have patience, both of you, for a day or two longer. Believe me, everything is going well. The only reason why I cannot tell you what I have been doing is that it is so strange--so wonderful--that I have not been able even to shape it into words in my own mind.--What is to-day? The 1st of August."
"Only eleven days yet--eleven long days," said George, "but also eleven short days."
"I do not forget. Well--you may both of you sit down--go about your business--you need do nothing more. As for me, I think you will have to get on without me every evening this week. But be quite easy. The thing is done." And with that, nodding and laughing, she ran out of the room.
"It is done," repeated George. "The thing is done. Which thing?"
"It is done," repeated Athelstan. "What is done? How was it done? Who did it? When was it done?"
"Since Elsie says it is done, I am bound to accept her a.s.surance.
Presumably, she has caught old Checkley at South Square, in the very act. Never mind; I am quite sure that Elsie knows what she says."
In her own retreat Elsie sat down to consider.