Edward FitzGerald and "Posh" Part 7

Spalding from Lowestoft: "You will see by the enclosed that Posh has had a little better luck than hitherto. One reason for my not going to Woodbridge is, that I think it possible that this N.E. wind may blow him hither to tan his nets. Only please G.o.d it don't tan him and his people first."

Herring are, as our East Anglian fishermen say, "ondependable" in their travels. They come south along the coast from the north of Scotland till they are in their prime (full-roed, fat fish) off Yarmouth in October.

But their arrival at the various ports along the east coast can never be fixed for a certain date. This year, for instance (1907), owing to the warm August and September they have been late in coming south from Hull.

Generally "longsh.o.r.es" are caught off Lowestoft late in August or early in September, and by the end of September the home and Scotch fleets are congesting the herring basins. This year, however, I had my first longsh.o.r.es brought me yesterday, the 1st of October, and there are not a dozen Scotch craft to be seen in the basins.

FitzGerald stayed at Lowestoft till the north-easters _did_ blow Posh home. And perhaps he would have been happier had he gone back to Woodbridge before the return of the _Meum and Tuum_. As it was, Posh had "some bare" on regatta day (very late that year), and this upset his "guv'nor." He wrote to Mr. Spalding on the 4th September (_Two Suffolk Friends_, p. 115): "I would not meddle with the Regatta. . . . And the Day ended by vexing me more than it did him [Newson]. . . . Posh drove in here the day before to tan his nets: could not help making one with some old friends in a Boat-race on the Monday, and getting very fuddled with them on the Suffolk Green (where I was) at night. After all the pains I have taken, and all the real anxiety I have had. And worst of all after the repeated promises he had made! I said there must be an end of Confidence between us, so far as _that_ was concerned, and I would so far trouble myself about him no more. But when I came to reflect that this was but an outbreak among old friends, on an old occasion, after (I do believe) months of sobriety; that there was no concealment about it; and that though obstinate at first as to how little drunk, etc., he was very repentant afterwards--I cannot let this one flaw weigh against the general good of the man. I cannot if I would: what then is the use of trying? But my confidence in that respect must be so far shaken, and it vexes me to think that I can never be sure of his not being overtaken so.

I declare that it makes me feel ashamed very much to play the judge on one who stands immeasurably above me in the scale, whose faults are better than so many virtues. Was not this very outbreak that of a great genial Boy among his old Fellows? True, a Promise was broken. Yes, but if the Whole Man be of the Royal Blood of Humanity, and do Justice in the Main, what are _the people_ to say? _He_ thought, if he thought at all, that he kept his promise in the main. But there is no use talking, unless I part company wholly, I suppose I must take the evil with the good. . . ."

FitzGerald probably got to the very heart of the misunderstanding between himself and Posh as to the merits and demerits of "bare" when he wrote that Posh was a little obstinate as to "how little drunk," etc. Moreover he understood the nature of the man--"a great genial boy"--but he did not understand that these "great genial boys" have all the mischievous tendencies, and all the irresponsibility of real boys. He was kind and forbearing enough, G.o.d knows. But he had set up his Posh on such a pinnacle of pre-eminence over all his fellow-men that it is possible that his bitterness in discovering that after all his protege was merely a well-built, handsome, ordinary longsh.o.r.eman caused a greater revulsion than would have occurred had his first estimate of Posh's character been less exalted.

It is to the credit of the great heart of the man that he never lost his love of Posh (Posh is certain about this), though he undoubtedly did lose his confidence in and respect for him.

And Posh did not give way to his "guv'nor" as he might have done. That fine old East Anglian spirit of independence (which is so generally admirable) was in this particular instance sheer brutal ingrat.i.tude when shown by Posh to FitzGerald. No one has a greater admiration than I for this magnificent claim of a MAN to be MAN'S equal. It kept the race of Norfolk and Suffolk longsh.o.r.emen worthy of their traditions until the c.o.c.kney visitors, with their tips and their hunger for longsh.o.r.e lies, ruined the nature of many of our beach folk. But with FitzGerald, that kind, solicitous gentleman who never a.s.serted the claims of his station in life before an inferior, the obtrusive display of this spirit of independence was as unnecessary as it was cruel. And I think Posh understands this now. He certainly never meant to hurt the feelings of his old governor. But he chafed at the care which his friend took of him. He said to me the other day that he wished his old master were alive now to take such care. "Ah!" he said, "he'd take hold o' me like this here" (and here, as I have described on a previous page, Posh pinched up his blue knitted jersey), "and say, 'Oh, my dear Poshy! Oh dear! Oh dear! To think you should be like this! Oh dear! Oh dear!'"

And Posh's old eyes will water. Indeed, I have noticed a likeness between the thoughts of Posh in reference to FitzGerald and the remorse of the son of a loving father who had tried his sire hard in lifetime and understood that he had done so after his father's death. Even now, this old man of sixty-nine leans, metaphorically, on the recollection of the man who loved him so. Even now he says, "Ah! that would ha' upset him if he'd known I should ha' come to this!"

But in 1869 Posh thought that he was a very fine fellow indeed, and was not going to be "put upon" by any "guv'nor," no matter how kind the "guv'nor" had been to him. He was half owner of a fine drifter and skipper as well, to say nothing of having designed the boat. He would a.s.sert himself.

He did.

CHAPTER XI POSH SHOWS TEMPER

Posh says that there "were lots o' breezes" between him and his "guv'nor," and when the reader of this study (who should have got to know something of FitzGerald's att.i.tude by now) realises this he will be able to appreciate the long-suffering generosity of this cultured scholar whom fools have painted as a mere eccentric hermit. Posh, now that he was well started by the aid of his governor, began to yearn for independence.

Possibly he had some reason to complain that his sleeping partner interfered in matters of which he was ignorant. On September 21st, 1869, FitzGerald wrote to Mr. Spalding (_Two Suffolk Friends_, p. 118):--

"Posh came up with his Lugger last Friday, with a lot of torn nets, and went off again on Sunday. I thought he was wrong to come up, and not to transmit his nets by Rail, as is often done at 6d. a net. But I did not say so to him--it is no unamiable point in him to love _home_: but I think he won't make a fortune by it. However, I may be very wrong in thinking he had better _not_ have come. He has made about the average fis.h.i.+ng, I believe: about 250 pounds. Some boats have 600 pounds, I hear; and some few not enough to pay their way.

"He came up with a very bad cold and hoa.r.s.eness; and so went off, poor fellow: he never will be long well, I do think."

Probably Posh knew all about the best way of making a profit out of herring drifters, and FitzGerald may have been wrong in fearing that he did not. FitzGerald, with his superb culture, may not (I do not say he did not) have understood that Posh, on his native North Sea, may have been more than a match for all the culture in the world. For what I know of the old longsh.o.r.eman, I am convinced that if he brought his nets home in his lugger he did so because he thought it was the most profitable way of bringing them back. But FitzGerald grew anxious, and his anxiety was not understood by the natural child of the beach, and caused friction and mutual irritation.

But this did not break out till the north voyage was over and the _Meum and Tuum_ had been on the home fis.h.i.+ng for more than a month. Then Posh began to have the fingering of a good deal of money, and FitzGerald had already had reason to doubt his abilities to keep his credit and debit sides of account in proper order. Moreover, the usual autumn gales had been bringing the stormy and dark nights which are as profitable as they are dangerous to the drifters. On Monday, November 1st, 1869 (one of the few letters of FitzGerald's which I have seen completely dated), the sleeping partner wrote on a sheet of paper headed by a monogram which is "S.W. & B." so far as I can make out. To make up for the fullness of the date there is no address.

"I cannot lay blame to myself, Posh, in this matter, though I may not have known you were so busy with the boat as you tell me. Hearing of great disasters by last week's gale, I was, as usual, anxious about you. Hearing nothing from you, I telegram'd on Thursday Afternoon to Mr. Bradbeer: his answer reached me at 5 p.m. that you had come in on Tuesday, and were then safe in harbour. Being then afraid lest you should put off paying away the money, which, as I told you, was a positive _danger_ to Wife and Children, I directly telegram'd to _you_ to do what I had desired you to do the week before. Busy as you were, five minutes spent in writing me a line would have spared all this trouble and all this vexation on both sides.

"As to my telegrams telling all the world what you wish to keep secret; how did they do that? My telegrams to Mr. Bradbeer were simply to ask if you were _safe_. My telegram to you was simply to say, 'Do what I bid you'; Who should know _what_ that was, or that it had anything to do with paying the Boat's Bills? People might guess it had _something_ to do with the Boat: and don't you suppose that every one knows pretty well how things are between us? And why should they not, I say, when all is honestly done between us? The Custom House people must know (and, of course, tell others) that you are at present only Half-owner; and would suppose that _I_, the other Half, would use some Authority in the matter.

"You say truly that, when we began together, you supposed I should leave all to you, and use _no_ Authority (though you have always asked me about anything you wished done). Quite true. I never did wish to meddle; nor did I call on you for any Account, till I saw last year that you forgot a really important sum, and that you did not seem inclined to help your Memory (as every one else does) by writing it down in a Book. In two cases this year I have shown you the same forgetfulness (about your liabilities I mean) and I do not think I have been unjust, or unkind, in trying to make you bring _yourself_ to Account. You know, and ought to believe, that I have perfect confidence in _your honour_; and have told you of the one defect I observed in you as much for your sake as mine.

"_Quite as much_, yes! For the anxiety I have . . . [word illegible]

[? suffered] these two years about your eleven lives is but ill compensated by all these squalls between us two; which I declare I excuse myself of raising. If, in this last case, you really had not time to post me a line or two to say you were all safe, and that you had done what I desired you to do; I am very sorry for having written so sharply as I did to you: but I cannot _blame_ myself for the mistake. No: this I will say: I am not apt to think too much of my doings, and dealings with others. But, in my whole sixty years, I can with a clear conscience say that I have dealt with _one man_ fairly, kindly, and not ungenerously, for three good years. I may have made mistakes; but I can say I have done _my_ best as conscientiously as he can say he has done his. And I believe he _has_ done his best, though he has also made mistakes; and I remain his sincerely,

"E. FG."

Mr. Bradbeer was a herring merchant, and his family is still prominent in the fis.h.i.+ng industry of Lowestoft. Posh's letter, to which the above is a reply, must have been very characteristic of his race, to which secrecy concerning their private affairs is a first nature. The mistrust of the privacy of the "telegrams" may possibly have had some justification. Even in these days there are East Anglian villages where the contents of private telegrams are sometimes known to the village before the actual information reaches the addressee. And in 1869 Lowestoft was not much more than a village, and telegraphy was in its infancy. Possibly Posh exaggerated the importance of secretiveness, and FitzGerald the security of privacy. But apart from all questions of "the rights of the matter,"

what a letter it is! What a splendid justification for almost any action. I fear, however the matter in dispute be looked at, Posh cannot have the best of it in this case. He had fired up at an imaginary slight, wrong, whatever he chose to think it, and if he has any excuse at all, it is that, but for his unreasonableness, we should not have this letter.

One would have thought that it might have given Posh pause if even he felt disposed to show his independence again. But this "squall" between these two curious partners was not destined to be the last. For the time it blew over, and the mutual relations between Posh and his "guv'nor"

were as friendly as ever.

CHAPTER XII THE _HENRIETTA_

During the winter of 1869-70 it seems that Posh conceived the idea that the capital of the firm of FitzGerald and Fletcher justified the working partner in increasing the stock-in-trade. A boat-building company at Southwold put up some craft at auction, and among them was one which had already seen a good deal of sea service named the _Henrietta_. This Posh bought for about 100 pounds without consulting his partner. It transpired afterwards that the sale was not acceptable to all the shareholders of the company that owned the boat, especially to a Jerry Cole, one of the princ.i.p.al shareholders, and there was a good deal of bother for Posh in obtaining delivery of his purchase. It may be as well to include all the letters relating to this transaction in one chapter without regard to dates.

The first is dated February 1st--that is to say, February 1st, 1870--and was written at Woodbridge by FitzGerald to his partner. The letter, as handed to me by Posh, was incomplete, and lacked signature. No doubt the second sheet had been lost with those "sackfuls."

"WOODBRIDGE, _February_ 1_st_.

"MY DEAR POSH,

"Mr. Spalding was with me last night; and I asked him if I was justified in the scolding I gave you about buying the Lugger and Nets too; telling him the particulars. He would not go so far as to say I was _wrong_; but he thought that you were not to blame either.

Therefore I consider that I _was_ wrong; and, as I told you, I am very glad to find myself wrong, though very sorry to have been so: and I cannot let a day pa.s.s without writing to say so. You may think that I had better have said nothing to anybody about it: but I always do ask of another if I am right. If Mr. Spalding had been at Lowestoft at the time all this would not have happened: as it _has_ happened, I wish to take all the blame on myself.

"All this will make you wish the more to be quit of such a _Partner_.

I am sure, however, that I _thought_ myself right: and am glad to recant. Perhaps another Partner would not do so much: but you say you will not have another.

"Mr. Spalding thinks you would have done better to stick to _one_ Lugger, considering the double trouble of two. But he says he is not a proper judge. _I_ think the chief evil is that this new Boat will keep you ash.o.r.e in the Net-room, which I am persuaded hurts you. I told you I was sure the _Dust_ of the nets hurt you: and (oddly enough) the first thing I saw, on opening a Paper here on my return, was a Report on the influence of _Dust_ in causing Disease. I hope you have seen the Doctor and told him all--about last Summer's Illness. Let me hear what he says. I should have advised _Worthington_, but he is very expensive. One thing I am sure of: _the more you eat_, _and the less you drink_, _the better_."

Even here, when Posh had obviously gone beyond his rights and bought another boat without consultation with his capitalist partner, FitzGerald shows his anxiety and solicitude for the man.

There _is_ a good deal of dust flying about the net chambers; for the cutch and oil and thread all shred off and poison the air. "Why," said Posh the other day, "he bought me one o' them things that goo oover the mouth" (a respirator), "but lor! I should ha' been ashamed ta be seed a wearin' on it!"

Dr. Worthington referred to in the letter is one of a long line of medical pract.i.tioners, and was the Lowestoft medical attendant of FitzGerald himself. I have experienced great kindness from both this Dr.

Worthington and his son Dr. d.i.c.k Worthington. The former tells me that FitzGerald would never enter his house, but would stand on the doorstep to consult. He had no objection to the doctor entering his (FitzGerald's) lodgings, and on one occasion when Dr. Worthington called on him at 12 Marine Terrace the doctor saw all his medicine bottles unopened in a row. "You know this isn't fair to me," said the justly irritated doctor. "I do what I can for you, and you won't take my medicines." "My dear doctor," said FitzGerald, "it does me good to see you."

Dr. Aldis Wright says that this is merely an instance of FitzGerald's rule that he would never enter the house of his equal. Of course his "social" equal is inferred, for the rule would have been unnecessary if the "equal" bore another significance. His inferiors in station he would visit and charm by his manner and speech. But the house of a society equal he avoided, lest he should be compelled, for mere courtesy, to go where he would not.

I have, of course, chuckled over the opinion that Dr. Worthington senior was "very expensive." But I believe that FitzGerald was one of those (I might almost say "of us") who regarded all doctor's bills as luxuries! At all events, if FitzGerald was right, I can say that Dr. d.i.c.k Worthington is not atavistic in this particular!

Mr. Spalding's opinion inclined FitzGerald to make no difficulty about finding the money for the _Henrietta_. He lodged it at his bankers' for Posh to draw when occasion required. But Posh seems to have been a little in advance. There is no heading whatever to the following letter.

"DEAR POSH,

"I don't understand your letter. That which I had on _Friday_, enclosing Mr. Craigie's, said that you had not _drawn_ the money, your letter of _To-day_ tells me that you _had_ drawn the money, _before the Letter from Southwold_ came. Was not that letter Mr. Craigie's letter?

"Anyhow, I think you ought not (after all I have said) to have drawn the money (to keep in your house) till you wanted it. And you could have got it at the Bank _any_ morning on which you got _another_ letter from Southwold, telling you the business was to be settled.

"Moreover, I think you should have written me on _Sat.u.r.day_, in answer to my letter. You are very good in attending to any letters of mine about stores, or fish, which I don't care about. But you somehow do not attend so regularly to things which I _do_ care about, such as gales of wind in which you are out, and such directions as I have given over and over again about money matters.

"However, I don't mean to kick up another row; provided you _now_ do, and at once, what I positively desire.