Harriet Martineau
Wendell Phillips, in the case of the last-named it was his
final speech, for he, too, six weeks after, was numbered
amongst those who are at rest. "The audience sat in silence
for a moment as the white vision was unveiled; then went up
such applause as stirred the echoes of the historic interior
in which the ceremony took place."
In the latter part of the year 1862, Harriet Martineau wrote a paper
on "Our Convict System," which appeared in the following January
number of the _Edinburgh_. It will be noted that she never wrote on
the politics of the day--the action of the Government and Opposition
of the moment--in this _Review_; her political principles were too
democratic for the great Whig organ.
In _Once a Week_, however, her articles became more decisively
political year by year. Some of her best political papers are in that
magazine for 1863. The most noteworthy feature in them are their
basis of principles and not of party, and their practical wisdom.
When I speak of her devotion to principles, in politics, I half fear
that I may be misunderstood--for so shockingly does Cant spawn its
loathsomeness over every holy phrase, that such expressions come to
us "defamed by every charlatan," and doubtful in their use. But she
was neither doctrinaire, nor blind, nor pig-headed, nor pharisaic,
nor jealous, nor scheming; but wise, brave, truthful, upright, and
independent. Love of justice and truthfulness of speech were as much
to her in public affairs as they are to any high-minded person in
private. Her desire in her thoughts and utterances on politics was
simply to secure "the greatest happiness for the greatest number"
of the people; and the spirit in which she worked was correctly
appraised by the then editor of the _Daily News_, William Weir, when
he wrote to her in these terms, in 1856:--
I have never before met--I do not hope again to meet--one so
earnest (as you) to promote progress, so practical in the means by
which to arrive at it. My aim in life is to be able to say, when
it is closing, "I, too, have done somewhat, though little, to
benefit my kind;" and there are so few who do not regard this as
Quixotism or hypocrisy, that I shrink even from confessing it.
He so well recognized that as truly _her_ aim also that he did not
fear to utter to her his high aspiration. It is in this spirit that
her political articles are written, and the result of the constant
reference to principles is that her essays are almost as instructive
reading now as they were when first published; _then_, their interest
and their importance were both incalculable.
Of such articles Harriet Martineau wrote in the _Daily News_, from
first to last, _sixteen hundred and forty-two_: besides the great
number that I have referred to, which appeared in other journals. I
wonder how many of the men who have presumed to say that the women are
"incapable of understanding politics," or of "sympathizing in great
causes," received a large part of their political education, and of
rousing stimulus to public-spirited action, from those journalistic
writings by Harriet Martineau?
An instructive article on "The Progress of the Negro Race" was
prepared for the _Edinburgh_ of January, 1864. Only a few weeks after
the appearance of this, there fell upon her the greatest blow of her
old age. Her beloved niece Maria, who had for so long filled the place
of a daughter to her, was taken ill with typhoid fever, and died after
a three weeks' illness. Maria Martineau's active disposition, and her
intellectual power (which was far above the average) had made her an
ideal companion for her aunt, and the blow to _her_ was a terrible
one. Ill and suffering as she was before, this shock completed the
wreck of Harriet Martineau's health. She had a dreary time of illness
immediately after her niece's death; and although she went on writing
for some time longer, it was always with the feeling that the end of
her long life's industry was near at hand.
She was not left alone; for Maria's youngest sister, Jane, presently
offered voluntarily to fill, as far as she could, the vacant place at
"The Knoll." The family from which these sisters came was one in which
kindliness and generosity were (and are to this day, with its younger
members who remain) distinguishing features. It was no light matter for
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Martineau to part with a second daughter to their
sister; but, as it was Jane's own wish to try to be to that beloved and
honored relative what Maria had been, the parents would not refuse
their permission. Harriet wrote of this to Mr. Reeve with her heart
full; telling him how "humbly grateful" she felt for what was so
generously offered to her, and with what thankfulness she accepted the
blessing. Even in such circumstances, she could note what a delight it
was to find that Maria's own spirit of devotedness prevailed amongst
them all--for nothing could be nobler and sweeter than the conduct of
everyone.
By June of that same year, 1864, Mrs. Martineau was ready to undertake
another article on a topic which pressed upon her mind, "Co-operative
Societies," which was published in the _Edinburgh_ for October
following.
She went on writing for the _Daily News_, through that year and the
next, though the effort came to be constantly more and more laborious.
Her interest in public affairs did not flag; nor is there the least
sign of failure of power in her letters; but she became increasingly
conscious that it was a strain upon her to write under the
responsibility of addressing the public.
Early in 1865 she wrote some articles on "The Scarcity of Nurses,"
"poked up to do it," as she said, by Florence Nightingale. In the
April of the same year was prepared an article on "Female Convicts,"
which was published in the _Edinburgh_ for October. In sending this
she intimated to the editor that it would be her last contribution,
as she felt the strain of such writing too great for her strength.
After all she did prepare one more article for the _Edinburgh_,
though it was as long afterwards as 1868. This was the paper on
"Salem Witchcraft," which will be found in the number of that
_Review_ for July. It formed Harriet Martineau's last contribution of
any length to literature; and she wrote it with some reluctance,
after having suggested the subject to Mr. Reeve, and he having
replied that he could find no one suitable to undertake it but
herself.
She was very loath to cease her writing for the _Daily News_, and
continued it until the spring of 1866. It was a great trial when at
last the moment came that she felt she absolutely _must_ be freed from
the obligation and the temptation to frequent work. But the spring was
always her worst time as to health; and during this customary vernal
exacerbation of illness, in April, 1866, she found herself obliged at
last, after fourteen years' service, to send in her resignation to the
_Daily News_.
When she thus terminated her connection with the paper through whose
columns she had spoken so long, she practically concluded her literary
life. Neither her intellectual powers, nor her interest in public
affairs, were perceptibly diminished; as will presently be seen, these
continued to the end of her life all but unabated. Her regular
literary exertions were now, however, at an end; and she was ill
enough by this time, her niece tells me, to feel only relief at being
freed from the constant pressure of the duty of thought and speech.
CHAPTER XI.
THE LAST YEARS.
Harriet Martineau had never gone the right way to work to become rich
by literature. She had not chosen her subjects with a view to the mere
monetary success she might attain, and, not infrequently, she had
displayed a rare generosity in her pecuniary affairs. In April, 1867,
she was plunged into perplexity about the means of living, by the
temporary failure of the Brighton Railway to pay its dividends. After
all her work, she had but little to lose. She had from investments in
the preference stock of that railway L230 per annum, and she had only
L150 yearly from all other sources. Such was the fortune saved, after
labors such as hers, through a long life of industry and thrift. There
was a beautiful contest between the inmates of that home, when the
trouble came, as to which of them should begin to make the necessary
sacrifices involved in economizing. Miss Jane Martineau and the maid
Caroline were each ready with their offers, and the invalid mistress
of the house was with difficulty induced to continue her wine and
dinner ale, while she declared, with a brave assumption of
carelessness, that she should be rather glad than otherwise to be rid
of seeing the _Times_ daily and getting the periodic box of books from
"Mudie's." It is touching to note how she tried to lightly pass off
this sacrifice of current literature, when one knows that reading was
the chief solace of her lonely and suffering days. Her family
intervened, however, to prevent any such deprivations, and by-and-by
the company resumed payment of its dividends.
In 1868, she received a generous offer, which touched her very deeply.
Mr. J. R. Robinson, of the _Daily News_, proposed to her that there
should be a reprint of the several biographical sketches which she had
contributed to the paper during her connection with it; and he offered
to take all the trouble and responsibility of putting the volume
through the press, while leaving to her the whole of the profits. She
had not even supposed that the copyright in the biographies which she
had written for the paper from time to time, upon the occasions of the
deaths of eminent persons, remained her property. Mr. Robinson had the
satisfaction of assuring her that the proprietors held her at liberty
to reproduce these writings, and, with that comrade's generosity which
is not altogether rare among journalists, her kind friend devoted
himself to securing her a good publisher, and editing the volume,
_Biographical Sketches_, for her benefit. These vignettes well
deserved re-production. She had had more or less personal acquaintance
with nearly every one of the forty-six eminent persons of whom she
treated; and the portraits which she sketched were equally vivid and
impartial. The work was received by the public with an enthusiasm
which repaid Mr. Robinson for his generous efforts. It was reprinted
in America; and it is now in its fourth English edition.
The last occasion upon which she was to give her powers and her
influence to a difficult but great public work must now be mentioned.
It was the final effort of her career. Marked as that life had been
all through by devotedness to public duty, she never before was
engaged in a task so painful and difficult, or one which, upon mere
personal grounds, she might more strongly have desired to evade. But
at near seventy years old, and so enfeebled that she had thought her
work quite finished, she no more hesitated to come to the front under
fire when it became necessary, than she had done in those active
younger days when combat may have had its own delights.
The subject was an Act of Parliament passed in 1869, having reference
to certain police powers over women in various large towns. "In our
time, or in any other," wrote Mrs. Martineau, "there never was a
graver question." It was clear to her that if women "did not insist
upon the restoration of the most sacred liberties of half the people
of England, men alone would never do it;" and she wrote four letters
on the subject to the _Daily News_, as powerful, as sensible, as free
from cant of any kind, as clear in the appreciation of facts, and as
definite and able in the presentation of them, as anything she had