I LIBRARY I I UNtVBtSITY OF j LIBRARY SCHOOL 16 jH-^Ud^ SfnjZKJUUJ x /c^A/^^y^yfj^^yUA^^uyJ . John Bellows LETTERS AND MEMOIR EDITED BY HIS WIFE WITH PORTRAITS, MAP, AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO. LTD. DRYDEN HOUSE, GERRARD STREET, W. 1904 SCHOOt TO MY DEAR CHILDREN AND TO THE BELOVED MEMORY OF MY HUSBAND THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED 849 PREFACE IN THE following pages I have given a selection of such of my husband's letters as were available for publication : leaving them, as far as possible, to tell their own story, and supplementing them with a slight sketch of his life. For the sake of brevity, I have been obliged to omit many letters of considerable interest ; whilst others, for the same reason, have been curtailed. Chronological order has been adhered to in the correspondence, except in a few instances where subject order has appeared preferable. My task in editing this volume would have been more difficult but for the advice and assistance of my friend Miss Stephen, of Cambridge, to whom I offer my grateful thanks. Her fine critical faculty and literary taste have been of exceptional value to me in the selection of the letters. My thanks are also due to Dr Thomas Hodgkin for his help on certain archaeological subjects : to the many friends who have placed letters at my disposal for pub- lication : and to my son William for the valuable assistance he has given me in the work. The frontispiece is a reproduction from a photograph taken in 1891 by Mr H. W. Watson, of Gloucester. The portrait facing page 357 is from the painting by Percy Bigland, exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1902, and now in my possession. A replica of this painting has recently been presented to the City of Gloucester by my husband's friends, and placed in the Guildhall. The out- line illustrations — excepting those on pp. 22 and 78 — are facsimiles of my husband's own sketches in his letters. ELIZABETH BELLOWS. Upton Knoll, Gloucester. Aprily igo4. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. PAGE Parentage — Early Life— Settles in Gloucester — Religious Con- victions —Marriage — Max Mtiller — Cornish Antiquities — Outline Dictionary i CHAPTER II. Work at Metz — Views on War — French Dictionary — Discovery of the Roman Wall of Gloucester — Roman Antiquities ... 15 CHAPTER III. Cornish Friends— Death of his Parents — ^Religious Corre- spondence — Vals and the Auvergne — Loss of a Child— 'Upton Haoll' built 33 CHAPTER IV. The Home Rule Struggle 61 CHAPTER V. Travel — Home Life — Archaeology — Tithe— J. A. Froude ... 70 CHAPTER VI. Joseph Neave— Journey to Russia — Minden — St. Petersburg . . 100 CHAPTER VII. Journey to South Russia — Count Tolstoi — Vladikafkas— Through the Mountains — Magnificent Scenery — Arrival at Tiflis . . . 117 CHAPTER VIII. Incidents of Stay at Tiflis 136 CHAPTER IX. Visit to the Kedabek Mines — Doukhobor Village — Caucasian Scenery— Elizabethpol—Udzharri 155 CHAPTER X. Tartar Caravanserai— Brigandage— Shusha— Armenian Villages — Gerusi— Ali Akber— Funeral Scene — Evelach Station- Return to Tiflis 176 CHAPTER XL Visit to Bashketchet 212 CHAPTER XII. Kutais — Poti— Farewell to Tiflis— Flowers— On the Black Sea- Sevastopol— Little Russia— St. Petersburg again— At Count Tolstoi's — Return to England 221 CONTENTS— continued. CHAPTER XIII. Oliver Wendell Holmes— Senator Hoar— American Antiquarian Society — Paignton— Letters on Religious Subjects — Latin v. Saxon — Archaeology— Tolstoi — Khama — Chelsea 246 CHAPTER XIV. Relief-work in Bulgaria and Constantinople 273 CHAPTER XV. Quakerism — Ancient Rights — Peace — The Hague Conference — Forest of Dean — Seeds from Borneo — Transvaal War — Letter on Peace 290 CHAPTER XVI. The Doukhobors— Second Journey to Russia 318 CHAPTER XVII. Visit to the United States — Philadelphia— Worcester — Boston — Plymouth — Concord — Harvard University 338 CHAPTER XVni. Trials of Faith— Tolstoi's 'Resurrection' — Lake District — Cor- respondence with Senator Hoar — The Divinity of Christ . . 357 CHAPTER XIX. Traits and Characteristics — Conclusion 375 APPENDIX. A List of John Bellows' writings. INDEX. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PORTRAIT OF JOHN BELLOWS, Aged 6o, from A Photograph Frontispiece REPRODUCTION OF A PORTION OF FRENCH DICTIONARY MS facing page 24 UPTON KNOLL 11 50 MAP OF THE TRANS-CAUCASUS 1. 117 PORTRAIT OF JOHN BELLOWS, Aged 70, from THE Painting bv Percy Bigland n 357 HANDLOW HOUSE, CHURCHAM ... Page 22 BIRTHPLACE AT LISKEARD ... „ 78 OUTLINE ILLUSTRATIONS FROM JOHN BELLOWS' OWN SKETCHES APPEAR ON pp. 30, 31, 45, 88, 179, 183, 188, 191, 193, 19s, 197, 198, 199, 203, 214, 216, 217 and 278. CHAPTER I. PARENTAGE— EARLY LIFE-SETTLES IN GLOUCESTER— RELIGIOUS CONVICTIONS - MARRIAGE — CORNISH ANTIQUITIES -OUTLINE DICTIONARY. JOHN BELLOWS was the elder son of William Lamb and Hannah Bellows, and was born at Liskeard, Cornwall, on January i8, 1831. William Bellows was a native of Bere Regis, Dorset- shire, and came of a Nonconformist stock. His maternal ancestor, Philip Lamb, was vicar of Bere Regis in 1662, and was one of the clergymen who were ejected from their livings after the passing of the Act of Uniformit5\ From the Bellows and the Lamb families several Inde- pendent ministers sprang; two notable ones being John Angell James, who, half a century ago, was a well-known figure in Birmingham ; and Robert Halley, William Bellows' first cousin, who was Principal of New College, London, and who died in 1876. Hannah Bellows' maiden name was Stickland, and her father, John Stickland, was, from boyhood to old age, in the service of the Bond family, as bailiff and steward of East Holme, their estate near Wareham. After their marriage William and Hannah Bellows resided at Liskeard, where their two children were born. Subsequently they removed to Wallis, a hamlet near Liskeard ; and, later, to Tavistock, in Devonshire. It is not now known what William Bellows' occupation was at this time, though, later, he found in the profession of a schoolmaster work that was entirely congenial to A 2 PARENTS AND SCHOOL him. He was a man of unusual mental ability and force of character, and had had the benefit of a good education. He knew Hebrew well enough to be able to give lessons in it ; and the study of that language was always a great delight to him, even to the end of life. During the early years of their married life the young couple made the acquaintance of William and Anna Forster, the parents of William Edward Forster, the statesman, who was then a child ; and they were frequent visitors, with their children, at their home at Bradpole, near Bridport. In later life John Bellows used to tell of William Edward Forster's toys — the carefully kept toys of an only child who had outgrown their use — being brought out on these occasions for his entertainment. The younger son of William and Hannah Bellows was named Forster after this family. The strong influence exercised by these friends on the religious opinions of William and Hannah Bellows led to their leaving the Wesleyan body, and joining the Society of Friends, of which Society the Forsters were not only members, but also ministers. In 1839 William Bellows was appointed master of the Friends' School at Lisburn, in Ireland, and removed there in the summer of the same year, with his wife and chil- dren. They remained at Lisburn two years, and then returned to England, settling at Camborne, in Cornwall. There were many Friends living at Camborne at this time, and William Bellows started a school amongst them with some prospect of success. His own sons were taughi by him in the school as they had been at Lisburn, and, in fact, his son John never had any other schoolmaster. William Bellows was a strict disciplinarian in an age when the rod was not spared, and so anxious was he not to show any partiality to his own children, that he was often more severe with them than the occasion warranted. In spite, though, of his stern rule, an old APPRENTICESHIP 3 pupil, still living, speaks of him with much tenderness, and even veneration. At a time when there was no talk of " Nature Study," he used to make country walks pleasant to his pupils, and always had something interesting to tell them about the things they saw. It was his aim to make his pupils observant, and to help them to think. When John Bellows was fourteen years old he was apprenticed to Llewellyn Newton, a printer at Camborne, who also kept a lending library. John Bellows* employer was a leading Methodist in the town, and was always spoken of by his new apprentice as conscientiously living up to his religious profession. He was very considerate to his new boy, and allowed him to take from the library any book that he liked, when, as frequently happened, he was sent long distances into the country, on errands. That his employer might not lose anything by granting him this permission, John Bellows trained himself to walk very rapidly while reading, and as Llewellyn Newton never withdrew the privilege, we may infer that it was not abused. Among the books which he read on these walks were Scott's novels and poems ; but a conscientious objection to reading fiction grew with him, and he subsequently gave it up entirely. So keen was his memory at this time that, after reading "Marmion" only once, he could repeat a couple of pages of it by heart. The chief intellectual help for the young men of Cam- borne was to be found at the Mechanics' Institute, with its library and lectures ; and of these John Bellows made great use. Some of the essays he wrote then are still in existence. Before the end of his apprenticeship he brought himself into some notoriety by a poem which he had written on a Roman Catholic movement in Camborne, that was attract- ing attention there. A2 4 SETTLES IN GLOUCESTER The noise his little satire made in the neighbourhood brought him the notice of a Roman Catholic lady living in the town, and she invited him to dine at her house. In after years he could not remember if his father knew of this invitation, but his mother did, and it was with many misgivings that she let him accept it. The boy's curiosity was roused, and, naturally, he wished to go, though he would have given way at once if his mother had objected. He found a number of guests present, but no one made any mark on his memory except his hostess, and a foreign priest who spoke English imperfectly. These two tried to flatter the lad with the vision of what he might become if he had the education that it was in their power to procure for him ; but their advances were in vain. At the close of his apprenticeship, John Bellows went to London to get work. After six months at Harrisons', the Queen's Printers, his health broke down, and he returned to Camborne. He was not long idle, however, for, on the offer being made to him of a position as fore- man of a small printing business, in the low-lying part of Gloucester known as " The Island," he accepted it, and removed there at once. This was in the summer of 185 1. John Bellows had not been in the practice of beginning work so early in the day as was the custom at Gloucester, and it was his duty here to open the office for the work- people every morning at six o'clock. When he undertook his new duties he was determined always to be punctual, and, though it was the middle of summer, he went to bed every night at eight o'clock, to be ready for rising in time in the morning. When he had become accustomed to his new environment he relaxed this rule ; but he was never once late in unlocking the office door for the first twelve months in his new situation. The flood at Gloucester in 1852 was a remarkable one, and he was young enough to enjoy it. "The Island" NOMINAL QUAKERISM 5 became accessible only by boat, and the needs of its in- habitants were the care of the Corporation, who supplied them. At this time John Bellows was living in lodgings a little removed from the flood, but, so long as it lasted, he had to remain in the printing office. He used to tell with glee of having helped to supply the wants of his next neighbour, whose distress was keener than his own, by fastening bread and meat to a broom, and passing it from his upper story window to hers ; and, also, of a case of illness in the next house, when a doctor had to be sent for who was small enough to be got through the window from a boat in the flooded street below. The first seven years of John Bellows' residence in Gloucester was, perhaps, the most momentous period in his life, and had a very marked effect in building up that character which was afterwards to make him so useful in his day and generation. The change from a nominal to an actual belief in the truths of Quakerism which he experienced at this time is best told in his own words : " Brought up in the Society by parents who had become Friends from conviction, I had taken for granted that its teachings were pure Christianity — that is, in theory — until at twenty years of age I was brought face to face with the tremendous realities which sooner or later con- front every human soul. My take-it-easy Quakerism went to pieces in the storm, and at this critical moment, under the influence of a clergyman of the Church of England, I had very nearly built up in its place a traditional belief in the opposite doctrines of the sacraments and such system of worship as fits with their observance. "It was, however, made clear to me that before making the important change this would involve, I was bound to do what I had never yet done, and that was to examine for myself, with all the light I could obtain, and with all the earnestness of one newly awakened to a consciousness 6 VITAL CHANGE of the powers of the world to come, the foundations of the doctrines held by the Society of Friends. I read Barclay's"* arguments especially, and with them the texts both of the New and of the Old Testament which he cites, till, after many anxious days and nights, the light shone on them steadily and brightly as the sunrise in a cloudless sky, and I was made as sure of the truth of what the world calls Quakerism as I was of my own existence." At this time the Friends were leaving off the character- istics that had distinguished them. These were their peculiar dress and the use of what had been called amongst them, "the plain language," which, at the time of the rise of the Society, had simply meant that they refused to follow the changing fashions in dress, and, that they observed strict truthfulness in their intercourse with their fellow men. In the case of the language it was also a protest against using to inferiors the singular pronouns ''thee" and "thou," while equals and superiors were addressed by the plural "you," which was the custom at the time of the rise of the Society. The Quakers made no such distinction, looking on all men as equal in the sight of God. The costume adopted by the Friends soon after they came into being as a Society, was simply the dress of the period, denuded of its ornaments. This dress has come down almost to our own time, with various modifications to suit individual convenience. Up to this time John Bellows had not worn the dress, nor used the language peculiar to Quakers ; but now, taking counsel of none, he was impressed with the belief that there was no escape for him from adopting both ; in this way showing plainly to his fellow-men that a vital change had taken place in his life. He never shrank from a course that he felt it right to take, because of the pain involved in it. He never chose the easier way. The change of dress was not * Barclay's Apology. GIVES UP SMOKING 7 so much of a trial to him as the change in speech ; but, having made up his mind as to his right course he never faltered, though at times the anguish of mind that he passed through was almost more than he could endure. He thought it necessary to explain to the work-girls under him the great change that had taken place in his outlook on life, and, that for the future he would have to address them in Quaker language, though he had a morbid dread of the manner in which this might be received. Those who knew him later can imagine the scene when he melted these rough girls to tears by his narrative. One of them, when he had finished, became spokeswoman for the rest, assuring him, with tears, that they hoped he would never shrink from doing and saying what he felt, in his conscience, to be right. Besides the two points that have been mentioned there was but little to alter in his outward life, except that he had acquired the habit of smoking, and he now felt very strongly that if he would save his soul he must no longer be the slave of any habit. It cost him a mighty effort to give it up, but, coming on the coach from Ross to Gloucester in the darkness of a winter night, he threw over the hedge all the paraphernalia of a smoker that he possessed, and the struggle from that moment was ended. About this time two rooms in a house which had hitherto been used as a warehouse attached to the printing office, were placed at his disposal, and furnished by him, and here he spent much of his leisure time alone, reading and studying and laying the foundation of those stores of knowledge with which in later years he was wont, in his own inimitable way, to delight his friends. In 1858 circumstances forced him to make a change in his position, his employer having announced his in- tention of giving up his printing business. Under this expectation, which, however, was not fulfilled until later, John Bellows' friends at Gloucester and elsewhere urged 8 GOES INTO BUSINESS him to go into business on his own account. He had many offers of loans of money to help him to make a start ; but he was not ambitious, and it was only with reluctance that he began to entertain the idea of having a business of his own. The counsel of his friends eventually prevailed, and he set about the preliminary arrangements in his own vigorous fashion. He took premises in Com- mercial Road, Gloucester, bought machinery and materials, and embarked on this new phase of his career. His father and mother now joined him at Gloucester, and added to his happiness by making a home for him there ; first, in rooms over the printing office in Commer- cial Road ; and then, when the business grew and needed more space, at Albion Cottage, Montpellier. John Bellows' business was at first on so small a scale that he did not feel justified in having any help in it, and in these early days he often worked all night long. After a while he engaged a boy, who formed the nucleus of the little staff of workpeople that John Bellows gradually gathered about himself; but the most important change that he made in these early years was the introduction of a steam engine into his printing office : the first that had ever been used in printing in Gloucester. In 1863, Edward Power, the leading printer in the city, died ; and his executors invited John Bellows, whose reputation as a printer was growing, to purchase the business. The terms of payment were made easy for him, and he consented, thus becoming the owner of the larger concern at 6 Westgate Street, where he now went to reside. The following years were closely occupied in meeting the greater responsibilities of life. His business grew, it might almost be said, in spite of himself, and, by degrees, all the borrowed money with which he had begun business, was paid off ; but it was done by the exercise of continued and great self-denial. STUDIES FRENCH 9 His onty brother having settled at Brussels, John Bellows repeatedly had occasion for visits to the Continent, and this circumstance brought to his notice the need for dictionaries that could really be used as pocket diction- aries. He now conceived the idea of supplying this want himself. His first thought was of a Norsk dictionary, as he had felt the need of one on a journey to Norway ; and his visits to the docks at Gloucester on Sunday afternoons, at this time, with Bibles, on behalf of the Bible Society, had brought him into contact with Norwegian sailors, from whom he had picked up a fair knowledge of their language, which he had improved by study. He soon found, how- ever, that there would be no great demand for such a work, and he turned his attention to French instead. He knew very little French, yet he felt this to be no bar, but rather a help in the successful prosecution of the work, for he was thus better able to see for himself the needs of one who was to use such a dictionary. While learning the language he worked at his manuscript, and, at the same time, managed his large and growing business ; and in this manner his strenuous life went on for the next seven years. But neither the anxieties of his business life, nor the close work on his dictionary, shut his ears to the cry of distress of his fellow-men, and many were those who appealed to him for help, and not in vain. The well- being of the Society of Friends was at all times a great object of his solicitude, and some portion of his time was taken up in the earnest discharge of his duties as a member of that body. On New Year's Day, 1868, Printing Offices, for the first time, came under the operation of the Factory Acts, and, in consequence, in the early days of that year, John Bellows' establishment received an official visit from Hugh Granger Earnshaw, the Factory Inspector for the district in which Gloucester is situated. H. G. Earnshaw 10 MARRIAGE was much attracted by John Bellows when they%iet, and invited him to spend a night at his house, Springfield, near Minchinhampton. He went, and it was during this visit that he first met his future wife, Elizabeth Earnshaw, the sister of his host, and the daughter of the late Mark Earnshaw, surgeon, of Clitheroe, Lancashire. Their engagement soon followed, and in January, 1869, they were married at Clitheroe. In the previous summer John Bellows had taken Handlow House, Churcham, near Gloucester ; and while it was still his bachelor home, he had had the pleasure of welcoming his friend Professor Max Miiller to it. Their passion for philology had in the first place drawn them together, and, though their opportunities of meeting were not frequent, they kept up a friendship and a cor- respondence that lasted for life, and that was greatly valued by both ; one result of which was that John Bellows named his eldest child (a son born in June, 1870), Max, after his friend. A correspondence with Max Miiller had been begun some years before this period, but the earliest letters that have been preserved are dated 1866, and deal mainly with Cornish antiquities, in which John Bellows, being a Cornishman, took a deep interest. His friend's replies to some of these early letters are given by Mrs Max Miiller in her admirable Life of her husband. To Professor Max Miiller^ staying in Cornwall. Gloucester, 1-9-1866. cc -x- * ^ jj^g etymology of names of places is in a very loose state in the county [Cornwall.] The people are almost as quick as the Irish are at coining reasons, when they have none at hand. For instance, the old Cornish name for Falmouth was, they say, Penny-come- quick ; and they tell a most improbable story to account for it. I believe the whole compound is only a sort of CORNISH LANGUAGE ii English or ' Saxon ' pun upon Pen y cwm gwic, ' Head of the creek valley.' In like manner they have turned Bryn whella, 'Highest hill,' into Brown Willy, and Cwm tagoed, * Woodhouse valley,' into Come- to-good. This latter fits on somewhat grotesquely to a spot where there is an old meeting-house of the Friends, still occasionally used for public meetings." To the same^ at Oxford. Gloucester, 6-10-1866. ct ^ -X- ^ I (Jq j^q|- think there is any evidence of the Jews having been so numerous in Cornwall as these traditions assert. These traditions are really inventions of persons who wished to account for names, the true purport of which had been lost sight of. "A curious instance of this occurs in the term Nine Maidens. Circles and groups of upright stones are so called in various parts of Cornwall, and although several of them have nine stones, yet the name is not confined to these. The circle at Boscawen-tin is called a 'Nine Maidens,' whilst it really consisted of twenty stones. Seventeen of these are upright, two are thrown down, and a gap exists of exactly the double space, for the twentieth. I found the missing stone not twenty yards off. A farmer had removed it and made it into a gate- post. He had cut a road through the circle, and in such a manner that he was obliged to remove this offending rock to keep it straight. Fortunately the present proprietress is a lady of taste, and she has surrounded the circle with a good hedge to prevent further vandalisms. "The Cornish folk will tell a stranger, in reply to an enquiry why they call the stones nine maidens, that ' Nine yoimg women danced there on a Sunday, and were turned into stone for a warning to others.' If this be true, the warning must have had very little effect— for a good many other damsels have undergone petrifaction on the same 12 'NINE MAIDENS' account, especially in the western part of the county. They must have been incorrigible dancers ! I think I can trace the origin of this myth. " The word medn is the latest or most corrupt form of min, a stone. The last stage of the language was marked by this thickening of the nasals — as pedn for pen (in Pedn-an-drea, etc.) Now the true sound of men is like the Enghsh 'main,' which, plus this d, gives maiden precisely. ''Nod in old Cornish was 'mark' or 'token.' This passed afterwards to nos and nos. Nod-m,en meant Stone- mark or token. When it got corrupted to noB (during the later period of the Cornish language, but before the introduction of the English) it became confounded with naw^ 'nine' — making the compound 'nine-stones.'' The tradition still lingering, about the custom of erecting a ' nine-stones ' to mark something memorable, they would continue to erect them, confining themselves to nine pieces. This would account for many of the circles actually being in nines ^ whilst others, bearing the same name, are com- posed of a larger number. But should this be so, it would make the latter the move ancient circles ? They are also called in Cornish Dawns-men^ ' Stone-dance ' — and hence the modern tradition about the ' dancing on a Sunday.' If the original was No<^<^/is-men, the first part of the word would be a regularly-formed abstract substantive for ' memorial ' or ' remembrance,' corresponding with dew- hellaw5, atonement ; cregyaws, belief, etc." To the same. Gloucester, 9-10- 1866. " There are several spots not mentioned in the County History, or in the guide-books, which ought to be re- corded, and carefully watched by the Penzance club ; or they will be stripped of their stones to make way for farm improvements. We came upon one (at no great VANDALISM 13 distance from Boscawen-Gn) by accident, in missing our way in the fields. It appeared to be the remains of a strong fortification facing the slope of a hill to the west. Some of the stones had been used for building a cottage close by ; but enough was left to show an immense amount of work. In another field, not far off, was part of a ' nine maidens'— perhaps the third of the circle ; the rest of the stones being dragged out and placed against the hedge, to make room for the plough. This spot is between the recently discovered Beehive hut and the Boscawen-(in Circle, but out of the public road. " I heard of some farmers in Meneage (the Lizard district) who dragged down an ancient Gothic well and rebuilt it. When called to task for it they said : ' The ould thing was got so shakey that a was'n fit to be seen ; so we thought we'd putten to rights and build 'un up fitty.^ I need not add that a Cornish farmer's notion of ' fitty ,' in restoring Gothic architecture, was something like this To the same. Gloucester. " When at Penzance the other day, I got hold of a bit of superstition that shows a satisfactory fear of meddling with ancient monuments. A farmer told one of my friends that he had a neighbour who ' haeled down a lot of stoans called the Roundago, and sold 'em for building the docks at Penzance. But not a penny of the money he got for 'em ever prospered — and there wasn't wan of the bosses that haeled 'em that lived out the twelvemonth : and they DO say ' (added the farmer with great emphasis) ' that some of the stoans do weep blood, but I don't believe that ! ' " In this same year, 1866, John Bellows put before his friend a plan for a skeleton dictionary " in which travellers and missionaries might record the vocabulary of any 14 OUTLINE DICTIONARY particular language, or dialect, they wished to study." Professor Max Miiller entered warmly into the scheme, compiling a key alphabet, and writing an introduction for the book. At the time of getting ready for press, John Bellows had the offer of some paper that had been made purposely for Confederate bank-notes during the American War ; but it had failed to get through the blockade, and was left on the maker's hands. As it was tough and thin, and exactly suited the work, he used it for the Outline Dictionary. The whole edition sold, but John Bellows became too busy ever to reprint it. CHAPTER II. WORK AT METZ-VIEWS ON WAR— FRENCH DICTIONARY- DISCOVERY OF THE ROMAN WALL OF GLOUCESTER- ROMAN ANTIQUITIES. UPON the outbreak of the Franco-German War in 1870, the Society of Friends raised a large sum of money, not only from its own members, but from others, for the purpose of assisting the non-combatant peasantry who were suffering in consequence. Members of the Society were invited to offer their services to go abroad to distribute food and clothing to these starving people, to meet the pressing wants of the moment. These volunteers were expected, if possible, to pay their own expenses ; but if not, they were met out of a private fund belonging to the Society, so that every penny subscribed should be used, without any deductions, for the purpose for which it was asked. John Bellows was one of these volimteers, or commis- sioners as they were named, and he left home for Metz, one of the chief centres of distress, for four weeks' absence, in November, 1870, five months after the birth of his eldest child. Most of the Friends who gave their help in this cause were, like himself, business men who could not spare more than a month away from their own affairs ; but so many volunteered that it was not difficult to keep up a succession of them for the many months that this work lasted. It was not without its dangers, for the condition of the region in and about Metz after Bazaine's surrender, just before the arrival of the Friends, was so insanitary that out of the twelve 1 6 WORK AT METZ delegates who were there when John Bellows arrived, or who came while he was there, eight were ill (five from small-pox.) One of these died, and it was John Bellows' painful duty to attend her funeral on the last day of his stay at Metz. At first the work of reUef, which was systematically conducted over districts radiating from Metz, consisted of the free distribution of food and clothing ; but, as time went on, and the future need of the sufferers was foreseen, work, where possible, for some of them, was obtained, and seed-corn and steam-ploughs were sent from England to provide for the next season's sowing, the English commissioners co-operating with a committee of French gentlemen for this purpose ; all the time receiving every possible assistance from the German authorities. Each of the Friends was furnished with a document in English, with French and German translations, which set forth their aims as follows : "The bearer of this document is sent out by the Religious " Society known in England as the Society of Friends, " commonly called Quakers, solely to give relief to the *' non-combatant sufferers through the present war. *'We, the members of the above-named Society of "Friends, believe all war to be contrary to the Will and " Spirit of our Heavenly Father, as shown in the New " Testament ; but, moved by Christian love, we desire to " alleviate, as far as may be in our power, the misery of " non-combatants, irrespective of nationality, remembering " that all are children of One Father, and that One Saviour " died for all. "We therefore entreat all to whom the bearer may " come to aid him in the fulfilment of his mission." John Bellows' letters home to his wife during this month's absence were as frequent as the circumstances would permit. He generally carried a sheet of paper in his hat, to jot down a few lines as he could, when he was on his errands of distribution. On his return home he * TRACK OF THE WAR* 17 was frequently asked to lecture on his experiences ; but the exigencies of his own business affairs, rendered more urgent by his absence, gave him no leisure to do so ; and in order to meet the wishes of his friends he arranged his letters to his wife in pamphlet form, and published them under the title of " The Track of the War around Metz." The concluding paragraph of the introduction to the little book is given here, as it shows so forcibly that he did not deceive himself into believing that he had been en- gaged in a peculiarly religious work. This paragraph shows the uncompromising honesty of his character. He says, *'Some remarks which I have repeatedly heard induce me to add a word on a common delusion with regard to what are called philanthropic movements, such as this for aiding the War Victims. Many people regard them as religious works, and inconsiderately praise those who are engaged in them as if they were engaged in some Divine mission. They even quote Scripture in support of such a notion, such as passages about visiting the widows and fatherless in their affliction, and the like. All this is but false sentimentalism, calculated to mislead those who seek after reality in the things which are of weightiest moment to all. It is lawful to aid distress by sums of money publicly raised and distributed, just as it is lawful to engage in one's own daily business ; but it is a confusion of ideas to imagine that this has anything to do with the religious and far different duty which lies between each individual soul and the Creator. It is not the silent work which hides from the left hand what the right hand doeth ; it is not in any way directly conducive to personal holiness, the attainment of which is the avowed object of every religious act we perform. So far indeed is the busy 'philanthropic' working which is now so popu- lar, from being a necessary accompaniment of a healthy religious life, either in an individual or a society, that it but too often marks a stage of decline from all that constitutes B 1 8 MEMORIES OF THE WAR real life and power, and but too often it is secretly, yet unmistakeably, leaned upon as an easy means of compro- mising for the neglect of closer and weightier duty." The little book gave graphic details of the sad scenes he had witnessed on this errand : scenes which only deepened his conviction of the iniquity of War. Its closing lines may here be given. " Often when alone these memories of Metz fill me with a gloom I cannot describe. When I used to read in news- papers, before going there, the figures giving the killed and wounded after a battle, they were mere statistics and nothing more. Now they are no longer so. Manly and sorrowful faces rise before me of some who have fallen victims in the struggle, and give a startling reality to the words — ' Whoso hateth his brother is a murderer,^ " Of the material ruin of the war no enduring effect will remain. The burnt-down houses may be rebuilt, — the devastated fields, now that England gives her help, will soon be re-sown. I only see the torment and sorrow and death it has everywhere left in its track— the poor miser- able man shrieking, writhing in a pool of his own blood— the white-haired old general at Gravelotte, bending with a broken heart over the grave of his child — the nailmaker's wife in the Thionville road, crying in a despair more bitter than death, as she turns her face to the wall when her son is mentioned— her only son, from whom she is never to hear one parting word, and never to receive even the most sombre souvenir. And when I remember that many hundred thousand homes like theirs have no more hope of happiness until all this generation has gone down to the grave, I get a dim and vague sense of a suffering to which no language can give utterance. The mirage that men call military glory, vanishes, and nothing is left of the war but its cold and mournful reality." Max Miiller, in thanking him for a copy of the book, had put this question, "But what would you have done LETTER TO MAX MCLLER 19 if you and your wife and child had lived at Saarbrtick, and the French had come to bombard the town?" to which John Bellows replied in the following letter : To Professor Max Muller, Oxford. Gloucester, 21-2-1871. *'I candidly admit I don't know how to answer thy question : What would I do if my wife and child lived in Saarbrtick and the French were to come and bombard the town ? I run, mentally, in a moment, over the line of argu- ment that suggests itself, and find myself at the other end of that line — bombarding the French. But, what French ? Those who came to Saarbrtick, or others who had nothing to do with that ? People call war justice on a large scale ; but the mischief is that it is only the vastness of the scale that prevents our seeing there is no justice about it. " What, for example, is the justice of killing a child in Strasburg who never heard of Saarbrtick ? I should look back all my life with regret upon such an act, if I had been led to its commission. The only way for us to get a really just view of such cases is to bring them home to ourselves, and I do so, thus : My house is attacked by a ruffian who would make * no bones ' of killing my wife and child if he could. I beat him off. He runs away to his own house and bars himself in. I say I will stop this man from repeating his attacks on me ; I'll burn his place down. So I set fire to the place. He himself may or may not be injured : I care nothing about that ; but he has a little child as innocent as my own, and I see the little thing lying in torment from a stone falling on it in con- sequence of my work. I should go back home with a feeling that would never leave me day nor night, that if there really is a Father of all, to whom all men on earth are alike dear— barring their wilful acts — He would look down on me as guilty of a very cruel deed ; and no plea B2 20 VIEWS ON WAR that I could bring that I had done it to protect my own wife and child, would alter it. I don't find fault with the individual Germans for their conduct — very far from it. I should abhor myself were I to endeavour to stir up any bitter feeling against these poor fellows, for I have a sympathy with their fate that very often when I am alone finds vent in tears. They are brave as men of steel ; but no one who does not actually come into contact with them can tell how great is the suffering entailed upon them by having to leave their homes behind, too often never to return. Where a young man does this, he has much to act as a counterbalance — the excitement, the novelty, the hope of returning as a hero. With a man of middle, or more than middle life, it is far otherwise. The intense sorrow I have seen stamped on the faces of some of these I shall never forget. It haunts me, and makes it impossible for me to look on the war from any political point whatever. That some good may arise out of such oceans of suffering and evil, can hardly be doubted ; but, whatever it may be, it is dearly bought — too dearly bought at the price of so many thousands of homes plunged into grief, so many millions of tears that will flow on for years in every corner of Germany and of France. " I am aware my letter is still no answer to thy ques- tion. The really Christian standard makes no provision whatever for such contingencies. It tells us to suffer evil, to love our enemies, to do good to them that hate us, and a variety of other things that are impossible except our actions are made to spring from a new Divine nature. Where this change into a new nature is known, I believe a man will not even feel the desire of vengeance against those who wrong him ; and where it is not known, men ought not to profess Christianity at all, since this is its very fundamental condition. "Where, on the other hand, it has begun to be felt, and yet not been perfected, there will arise a good deal of OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES 21 inconsistency in people's actions, a man sometimes making one nature his motor, and at others, the other nature. " The peace principle it seems to me depends on the spiritual state of the individual, as to its being carried out ; not at all on mere opinions, whether ' Quaker ' or political, but on the degree of a man's growth into, and acting from, the Divine nature itself. * * * " P.S. — My little Max flourishes like a green bay-tree ; but he is by no means so still as that plant." A correspondence with Dr Oliver Wendell Holmes- begun in 1867 and continued for more than five-and-twenty years until the close of his life— proved a continual source of pleasure and interest to John Bellows. The following letter is reprinted here on account of its allusion to the work at Metz. Boston, March 19TH, 187 1. " Dear Mr Bellows, '* I have received your little book 'The Track of the War around Metz,' and have just been reading it through from beginning to end. It has interested me very much, and inspired me with new respect for a Christian body which sends forth such missionaries of humanity to the suffering multitudes of a nation alien in race and language, but one with them as children of the common Father. " Your simple narrative of what you did and what you saw is worth many a showy volume in which the writer has told, for the sake of reputation, of the sights he visited from no higher motive than curiosity. I see my wife at this moment deep in its pages, and I am sure it will find sympathising readers wherever there are good men and women. " It struck me not a little to see the names of ' Fry ' and ' Barclay ' still represented among the Friends, and I could hardly forget that at the head of the Sanitary Commission in our late war, was your namesake Dr Henry W. Bellows. " Let me thank you again for the gratification your striking descriptions and indignant protests against the<^ 22 LEAVES CHURCHAM barbarisms of war have given me, and thank you also for your kindness in remembering me, and sending me a book which it is impossible to read without thinking worse of that organised ruffianism which we dress up and call ' War,' and better of the quiet people who have so long protested against it, and are ready to do all they can to soften the calamities it inflicts on innocent persons who are not involved in its acts, though they have to share in its sufferings. " Believe me, very truly yours "O. W. Holmes." In 1872 the lease of the premises in Westgate Street had nearly expired ; and by this time John Bellows found his business there much cramped for room. He therefore purchased Eastgate House (on the site of the ancient gate- way of the City,) which had the advantage, for his purpose, of having a large garden at its rear ; and on this he built H/INDLOW HGV5E himself a more commodious printing office. On its com- pletion, early in 1873, his business was removed to the new premises, and, in the following September, the pretty •flittle country home at Churcham, in which he had taken FRENCH DICTIONARY 23 so much delight, and where his three elder children were born, was given up, and the family removed to Eastgate House. Here his aged father and mother came imder the care, which they now needed, of their son and daughter- in-law. During the years that followed John Bellows' marriage, the work on his Dictionary had not been at a standstill. He had expected to complete it in a year from its com- mencement ; but the work expanded, and in spite of the closest application it was seven years before it was finished. His reading during that period had a special bearing on his work, and was chiefly French— current magazines and newspapers, besides more solid literature, so that he caught idioms and expressions, as it were, " on the wing." He began the work with a meagre knowledge of the language, but long before the seven years had expired he had become a thoroughly good French scholar. He was never satisfied with anything short of the very best renderings for his Dictionary, and took infinite pains to obtain them, waiting in some cases for months before he found the exact word or phrase that satisfied him. He was assisted in the work by M. Auguste Beljame, and after his death by his brother. Professor Alexandre Beljame, whose remarkable knowledge of English litera- ture specially qualified him for the task. Two other speciahsts also gave John Bellows the benefit of their advice and experience: Mr. John Sibree, M.A., London, and M. Auguste Marrot, B.A. Professor and Madame Beljame were visiting John Bellows and his wife at their home at Churcham at the moment when the news arrived of the fall of Sedan. They immediately left to reach Paris before it was invested by the Germans, M. Beljame taking with him part of the dictionary MS. The work of years was, in consequence, in great danger of being destroyed, for a shell burst, during the siege, in the very next house to their own. 24 DISCOURAGEMENTS M. Beljame said later in a letter to John Bellows : " My first thought was for the safety of my wife ; but my next was for the dictionary, and I immediately moved both to more secure quarters." The difficulties of the work were enormously increased by the novelty of its design ; by the minuteness of the type ; and the necessity for using a paper thin enough to produce a really light volume, and yet not so thin as to sacrifice clearness. So disheartening were the various obstacles, that John Bellows at one time thought of abandoning the work in toto. Writing of his many dis- couragements, he said later : — *' Of the weary months of correcting I took no note ; but at last I concluded I must make the best of it, and I must go on to the end, fighting my way through all disappointments till I compelled success, even if it half ruined me. I had fully steeled myself for the disappoint- ment of seeing it left on my hands unappreciated ; for with all due respect to the ' enlightened public,' it is such a fickle body that absolute merit, even supposing my work to possess merit in proportion to the labour bestowed on it, is not always a guarantee of success. ' Your book will never sell,' remarked the most far-seeing of my friends,— 'I have always said so; for the print is so small that no one can read it.' Another would ask me some question, and answer my reply by silence, with a look such as Job's friends probably gave him when they comforted him with the observation that he had no one but himself to thank for his trials— birthday and all. In short, if Jacob served as hard a seven years to win Rachel as I did to win my dictionary, he must have had pleasant times with his father-in-law when he found himself associated with the latter for a second term. "Professor Blackie, of Edinburgh, however, cheered me with a different forecast. ' I see by the way you set about it,' said he, ' that you have a dash of enthusiasm /^17 ,/,i/ ^ .-.^ ^.AyiC./-' TEN FRAN CAIS— ANGLAIS TEN TENEUR DE LIVRES" book-keeper : i.c- TfeNIA tenia : tape-worm Lcouutaut Toniv •'■*''o6(e 15) to hold (k, par, by, (bj, to] to get hold of : to keep : to cling (&, to] to 'stand up' (pour, for] [garder, maintenir, etc.) to keep (house, •hop, an hotel, books, ... at a distance, [prendre) to take (the helm, a »ager, etc.] ^ trop de place. To take up too much room I un lion rang. To be in a good position I corapte de. To take ... into account [com) to credit (with] _ la tite To head (the poll, etc.] [aroir) to have | Je le tiens de 6o»»e source, I have it on good authority [estimer) to take (pour, to be] to take it (that ... is..., etc.] fto aind that ! Don't let that be any objec- ion ! I II n'y a pas de raiton qui tienne, t's no use giving any reason { 11 n'a tenu rieu que je ne ..., 1 was as nearly as ould be (...ing ...] Cappartenir) to belong (a, to] to partake (of] Tout ce qui tient k cela, Evervlhing con- nected with it (ou belonging to it] [r^sulter) to lie owing to ! k quoi cela tient- il ? What's that owing to > | Cela tient it ce que c'est un parvenu. That comes of his being an upstart Cd