T. Wemyss Reid

“ There was something that was irresistible in his candour, his enthusiasm, and his self-confidence. The Press was the greatest agency for influencing public opinion in the world. It was the true and only lever by which Thrones and Governments could be shaken and the masses of the people raised. In all this I was in strong sympathy with his opinions. But I was staggered by the audacity of the schemes for revolutionising English journalism which he poured into my ears on this the first evening on which he had ever entered a newspaper office. ”

“ My colleagues left me absolutely alone; they left me to take my own way, just as if I had been the Czar of Russia. I was attacked, as you know, both in England and Ireland, by the papers and public men of all parties. I knew I had very powerful enemies who were determined to make the worst of everything I did, and none of my own colleagues defended me. You can never know what a comfort it was to me at that time to know that I had one staunch friend in the Press, and that the dear old Leeds Mercury would always judge me fairly and try to make the public see the truth. ”

“ In other directions a few Arab farm-houses are scattered, each enclosed in its impregnable hedge of prickly pear; whilst hanging on the sharp crest of the hill to the west, which once looked down upon Carthage, is the walled Arab town of Sidi-bou-Said, now occupied by men so fanatical that the life of no European who ventured within it would be safe. It was with real regret that I turned away from this beautiful scene—so striking in itself, so interesting in all its associations—and began the long drive back to Tunis. ”

“ Next to the delight of a first appearance in print, there is nothing that brings so much joy to the heart of a young writer as the discovery that something which he has written has won the sympathy and secured for him the friendly approval of some unknown reader. It is in this that there lies, after all, the highest reward of the journalist. No honours, no money, no fame can ever satisfy him as does the knowledge that by means of his pen he is influencing the thoughts, and winning the affections, of some at least of that vast unknown public whom it is his duty to address. ”

“ Then there are the great ranges of hill, sweeping away to where the jagged peaks of the Zaghouan Mountains intercept one’s view, and the lake immediately below me dotted with the white sails of the fishermen, and in the distance the amphitheatre where once stood Carthage, and the blue waters of the Gulf. The whole scene is bathed in the brilliant sunshine of Africa. One has no wish, after feasting one’s eyes upon it, to resume one’s study of the interior of the French camp. ”

“ This was the death at Vichy of my dear old friend, Lord Houghton. No kinder friend than he man ever had. The world was inclined to laugh at his peculiarities, which lay upon the surface, and to ignore the sterling qualities that formed the basis of his character. If it is right to speak of a man as you find him, then I am entitled to say that there never lived a kinder or more generous man, or a truer friend, than Monckton Milnes. ”

“ Very soon after leaving the Marina we found ourselves involved in the midst of a labyrinth of the narrowest, the most tortuous, the most tumble-down lanes and alleys that ever represented the streets of a great town. Very often the carriage grazed the walls on both sides as it passed along. At other times we found ourselves traversing long dark vaulted passages beneath the houses, which in Tunis, as I have already said, are often built over as well as at the side of the thoroughfares. On each side of us for almost the entire distance were shops and Arab coffee-houses. ”

“ Not one writer in a thousand has stopped at a first book, and not one newspaper contributor in a million has stopped at a first letter to the editor. Like much better people, I had made the discovery that whilst my opinions regarding the Genius of Shakespeare, the Art of Fiction, and the Character of Cromwell were not wanted by anybody, there were some questions cropping up, as it were, at my own door, about which I might, if I liked, give an opinion that some persons at all events would think worth printing. ”

“ Two days ago a French soldier, tempted by the bright eyes of a Bedouin girl, ventured into this village in pursuit of her. He has never been seen since; and no one doubts that he has paid with his life for his recklessness and folly. Unfortunately, it is not only the reckless or the foolish who are in danger. At any moment an Arab fanatic—and the whole race are seething with fanaticism just now—might take it into his head to secure a short cut to Paradise by means of despatching an infidel, and woe then to the first European whom he might encounter! ”

“ Talking to me one day at that time, he said, "John Morley told me yesterday that I ought not to be able to sleep in my bed at nights for thinking of all the men who have lost their lives over this business." If at any time in my life I had been inclined to believe in government by newspapers, I should certainly have been cured of that delusion after seeing what a mess even so brilliant a journalist as Stead made of the attempt to control the policy of a nation from an editor's desk. ”

“ I say nothing of what has been done by the Englishmen of past generations to increase [310] the military and political value of Malta, though as one stands on the Barecca and surveys the splendid lines of fortification protecting the impregnable harbours in which our ironclads float in security, one cannot but feel grateful to the men who not only won this place for us, but who have guarded it since so well. Italy may feel that she has been outflanked by the seizure of Tunis; England, from the white heights of Malta, can watch the proceedings of the French with complete equanimity. ”

“ Instantly, and as it seemed instinctively, the great crowd of men formed in a semicircle around us, out of earshot, but gazing with wondering and sympathetic eyes upon the man who had escaped so cruel a fate.
I remember the first words that Forster spoke to me. "They may say what they like," he said, "but it is Mr. Parnell who has done this. He is the man who sowed the seed of which this is the fruit." And then he talked of the victims, of Lord Frederick, so gentle, kindly, honourable in all the relations of life, and of Burke, "the most loyal man," he declared, "who ever served the Crown." ”

“ The centre of the picture on which I looked from the deck of the Sicilia was the harbour of Goletta, with the broad sheet of the Lake of Tunis behind it, and in the dim distance the towers and roofs of Tunis itself. To the left were the high and precipitous ranges of the Lead Mountains, and far away I could dimly discern the sharp peaks of the blue Zaghouan Hills. How deeply one felt now regret at not having been able to explore the beautiful [238] country which lies everywhere around the city of Tunis. ”

“ We strolled up a beautiful avenue of cypress, date-palms, and cactus, to the house. It is a Moorish villa of noble architecture. Ascending a broad sweep of marble stairs in front, we found ourselves upon a splendid verandah, with screen of exquisite Moorish arches, and tiled walls and floor. This lovely covered terrace was cool and airy in spite of the intense heat of the day; and even without regarding the fine view which was to be had from it, one could understand how in the nine months’ summer of Tunis it was the favourite sitting-room and place of assembly of the family. ”

“ It is emphatically true, as Sir William Harcourt once wrote to me, that "Youth is the age of Wegotism." When I wielded that magnificent editorial "we," and was able to back up my own crude ideas with all the authority of a great daily newspaper, I felt that I, too, was somebody in the world of affairs, and that though I might live in modest lodgings and possess but narrow means, I was not without a distinct place and influence of my own in the great commonwealth. Such are the illusions of the youthful leader-writer— foolish, perhaps, but not ignoble. ”

“ The city itself, with its forts, its cathedral, and its imposing line of buildings on the quay, looks wonderfully picturesque. The straits are at this point so narrow that they look like a river; and the mainland of Italy, with hills covered with thick chestnut forests, seems but a stone’s throw from the town. There were a great many English vessels in the harbour, all engaged in taking in lemons, which are at this season the staple export of Messina. But even more welcome than the sight of these English ships, was the appearance of my old friend the Charles Quint. ”

“ Of all his qualities none was more attractive than the staunchness of his friendship. To those whom he really liked, old or young, eminent or obscure, Wemyss Reid was always the same, a champion who would brook no slight, and whose help was readiest when times were worst. A literary man, he was quite without literary jealousy, and never so happy as when giving a hand-up to a new writer or a young journalist. ”

“ It is not the fashion here for a pair of lovers, even of the humblest class, to “walk out” together. Yet, even in Tunis, and in this dark and crowded ghetto, love asserts its rights, and women are true to their inborn nature. From a hundred grated windows bright black eyes flashed down upon me as I walked through the gloomy labyrinth of filthy lanes, and many faces dusky of hue yet beautiful of feature were to be seen ”

“ Houghton said to me as we sat in the library at Fryston. I could hardly believe my own ears, and expressed my surprise at hearing such a sentiment from the lips of one of Mr. Gladstone's greatest admirers. "Don't you see," responded Houghton, "that if he dies now he will be one of the greatest figures in English history? He has just won the greatest triumph a statesman ever enjoyed. It is impossible that he can remain at this dazzling height. Now is the time for him to die." ”

“ Brilliant, indeed, it is; not only in the sunshine that lights up everything with an illumination the startling vividness of which no dweller beneath the murky skies of England can understand, but in the splendidly picturesque costumes and figures which go flitting past the house in an endless procession. There was not a single person in European costume to be seen in the street when I looked out this morning; but a hundred Arabs were going to and fro. ”

“ I trembled for him when he began his great speech, for, unlike any English orator I ever heard, he did not warm to his subject gradually, taking care to make his audience accompany him step by step, but sprang in a moment to a height of passionate and tempestuous eloquence from which it seemed inevitable that he must quickly fall to an anti-climax. But no anticlimax came. For more than an hour he continued to pour forth a torrent of burning words that seemed to keep the vast multitude before him in a state of excitement and enthusiasm hardly to be exaggerated. ”

“ It is not merely on the side of the French that curious intrigues are just now in full progress under one’s very eyes. The Bey, as I have said, is practically a prisoner in his palace at Goletta, utterly dejected and heartbroken, and so completely devoid of spirit that he has just conferred—need I say at whose bidding?—his highest decoration upon the French general commanding the troops in occupation of Tunis—an occupation which every Arab resents as an insult to his nationality and his creed. ”

“ Then Leeds claimed him, and next he settled in London, in the short-lived happiness of his early married life, returning to Yorkshire—this time as chief of the paper he had served so well. During his career as editor of the Leeds Mercury I saw comparatively little of him. We were both busy, though in different ways; but we kept up, then and always, a brisk correspondence, and his letters, all of them brimful of public interest and family affection, are before me now. The world is a different place to me now, but "memory is a fountain of perpetual youth" and nothing can rob me of its sweetness. ”