After London; Or, Wild England

by Richard Jefferies

  CHAPTER IV

  THE INVADERS

  Those who live by agriculture or in towns, and are descended from theremnant of the ancients, are divided, as I have previously said, intonumerous provinces, kingdoms, and republics. In the middle part of thecountry the cities are almost all upon the shores of the Lake, or withina short distance of the water, and there is therefore more traffic andcommunication between them by means of vessels than is the case withinland towns, whose trade must be carried on by caravans and waggons.These not only move slowly, but are subject to be interrupted by theRomany and by the banditti, or persons who, for moral or politicalcrimes, have been banished from their homes.

  It is in the cities that cluster around the great central lake that allthe life and civilization of our day are found; but there also beginthose wars and social convulsions which cause so much suffering. Whenwas the Peninsula at peace? and when was there not some mischief andchange brewing in the republics? When was there not a danger from thenorthern mainland?

  Until recent years there was little knowledge of, and scarcely anydirect commerce or intercourse between, the central part and thedistricts either of the extreme west or the north, and it is only nowthat the north and east are becoming open to us; for at the back of thenarrow circle or cultivated land, the belt about the Lake, there extendimmense forests in every direction, through which, till very lately, nopracticable way had been cut. Even in the more civilized central part itis not to this day easy to travel, for at the barriers, as you approachthe territories of every prince, they demand your business and yourpapers; nor even if you establish the fact that you are innocent ofdesigns against the State, shall you hardly enter without satisfying thegreed of the officials.

  A fine is thus exacted at the gate of every province and kingdom, andagain at the gateways of the towns. The difference of the coinage, suchas it is, causes also great loss and trouble, for the money of onekingdom (though passing current by command in that territory) is notreceived at its nominal value in the next on account of the alloy itcontains. It is, indeed, in many kingdoms impossible to obtain sterlingmoney. Gold there is little or none anywhere, but silver is the standardof exchange, and copper, bronze, and brass, sometimes tin, are themetals with which the greater number of the people transact theirbusiness.

  Justice is corrupt, for where there is a king or a prince it depends onthe caprice of a tyrant, and where there is a republic upon the shout ofthe crowd, so that many, if they think they may be put on trial, ratherthan face the risk at once escape into the woods. The League, thoughbased ostensibly on principles the most exalted and beneficial tohumanity, is known to be perverted. The members sworn to honour and thehighest virtue are swayed by vile motives, political hatreds, andprivate passions, and even by money.

  Men for ever trample upon men, each pushing to the front; nor is theresafety in remaining in retirement, since such are accused of bidingtheir time and of occult designs. Though the population of these citiesall counted together is not equal to the population that once dwelt in asingle second-rate city of the ancients, yet how much greater are thebitterness and the struggle!

  Yet not content with the bloodshed they themselves cause, the tyrantshave called in the aid of mercenary soldiers to assist them. And, tocomplete the disgrace, those republics which proclaim themselves thevery home of patriotic virtues, have resorted to the same means. Thus wesee English cities kept in awe by troops of Welshmen, Irish, and eventhe western Scots, who swarm in the council-chambers of the republics,and, opening the doors of the houses, help themselves to what they will.This, too, in the face of the notorious fact that these nations havesworn to be avenged upon us, that their vessels sail about the Lakecommitting direful acts of piracy, and that twice already vast armieshave swept along threatening to entirely overwhelm the wholecommonwealth.

  What infatuation to admit bands of these same men into the verystrongholds and the heart of the land! As if upon the approach of theircountrymen they would remain true to the oaths they have sworn for pay,and not rather admit them with open arms. No blame can, upon a justconsideration, be attributed to either of these nations that endeavourto oppress us. For, as they point out, the ancients from whom we aredescended held them in subjection many hundred years, and took from themall their liberties.

  Thus the Welsh, or, as they call themselves, the Cymry, say that thewhole island was once theirs, and is theirs still by right ofinheritance. They were the original people who possessed it ages beforethe arrival of those whom we call the ancients. Though they were driveninto the mountains of the far distant west, they never forgot theirlanguage, ceased their customs, or gave up their aspirations to recovertheir own. This is now their aim, and until recently it seemed as ifthey were about to accomplish it. For they held all that countryanciently called Cornwall, having crossed over the Severn, and marcheddown the southern shore. The rich land of Devon, part of Dorset (all,indeed, that is inhabited), and the most part of Somerset, acknowledgedtheir rule. Worcester and Hereford and Gloucester were theirs; I mean,of course, those parts that are not forest.

  Their outposts were pushed forward to the centre of Leicestershire, andcame down towards Oxford. But thereabouts they met with the forces ofwhich I will shortly speak. Then their vessels every summer sailing fromthe Severn, came into the Lake, and, landing wherever there was anopportunity, they destroyed all things and carried off the spoil. Is itnecessary to say more to demonstrate the madness which possesses thoseprinces and republics which, in order to support their own tyranny, haveinvited bands of these men into their very palaces and forts?

  As they approached near what was once Oxford and is now Sypolis, thearmies of the Cymry came into collision with another of our invaders,and thus their forward course to the south was checked. The Irish, whohad hitherto abetted them, turned round to defend their own usurpations.They, too, say that in conquering and despoiling my countrymen they arefulfilling a divine vengeance. Their land of Ireland had been forcenturies ground down with an iron tyranny by our ancestors, who closedtheir lips with a muzzle, and led them about with a bridle, as theirpoets say. But now the hateful Saxons (for thus both they and the Welshdesignate us) are broken, and delivered over to them for their spoil.

  It is not possible to deny many of the statements that they make, butthat should not prevent us from battling with might and main against thethreatened subjection. What crime can be greater than the admission ofsuch foreigners as the guards of our cities? Now the Irish have theirprincipal rendezvous and capital near to the ancient city of Chester,which is upon the ocean, and at the very top and angle of Wales. This istheir great settlement, their magazine and rallying-place, and thencetheir expeditions have proceeded. It is a convenient port, and wellopposite their native land, from which reinforcements continuallyarrive, but the Welsh have ever looked upon their possession of it withjealousy.

  At the period when the Cymry had nearly penetrated to Sypolis or Oxford,the Irish, on their part, had overrun all the cultivated and inhabitedcountry in a south and south-easterly line from Chester, through Rutlandto Norfolk and Suffolk, and even as far as Luton. They would have spreadto the north, but in that direction they were met by the Scots, who hadall Northumbria. When the Welsh came near Sypolis, the Irish awoke tothe position of affairs.

  Sypolis is the largest and most important city upon the northern shoreof the Lake, and it is situated at the entrance to the neck of land thatstretches out to the straits. If the Welsh were once well posted there,the Irish could never hope to find their way to the rich and cultivatedsouth, for it is just below Sypolis that the Lake contracts, and forms astrait in one place but a furlong wide. The two forces thus came intocollision, and while they fought and destroyed each other, Sypolis wassaved. After which, finding they were evenly matched, the Irish withdrewtwo days' march northwards, and the Cymry as far westwards.

  But now the Irish, sailing round the outside of Wales, came likewise upthrough the Red Rocks, and so into the Lake, and in their turn landing,harassed
the cities. Often Welsh and Irish vessels, intending to attackthe same place, have discerned each other approaching, and, turning fromtheir proposed action, have flown at each other's throats. The Scotshave not harassed us in the south much, being too far distant, and thosethat wander hither come for pay, taking service as guards. They are,indeed, the finest of men, and the hardiest to battle with. I hadforgotten to mention that it is possible the Irish might have pushedback the Welsh, had not the kingdom of York suddenly reviving, by meanswhich shall be related, valiantly thrust out its masters, and fell upontheir rear.

  But still these nations are always upon the verge and margin of ourworld, and wait but an opportunity to rush in upon it. Our countrymengroan under their yoke, and I say again that infamy should be theportion of those rulers among us who have filled their fortified placeswith mercenaries derived from such sources.

  The land, too, is weak, because of the multitude of bondsmen. In theprovinces and kingdoms round about the Lake there is hardly a town wherethe slaves do not outnumber the free as ten to one. The laws are framedfor the object of reducing the greater part of the people to servitude.For every offence the punishment is slavery, and the offences are dailyartificially increased, that the wealth of the few in human beings maygrow with them. If a man in his hunger steal a loaf, he becomes a slave;that is, it is proclaimed he must make good to the State the injury hehas done it, and must work out his trespass. This is not assessed as thevalue of the loaf, nor supposed to be confined to the individual fromwhom it was taken.

  The theft is said to damage the State at large, because it corrupts themorality of the commonwealth; it is as if the thief had stolen a loaf,not from one, but from every member of the State. Restitution must,therefore, be made to all, and the value of the loaf returned in laboura thousandfold. The thief is the bondsman of the State. But as the Statecannot employ him, he is leased out to those who will pay into thetreasury of the prince the money equivalent to the labour he is capableof performing. Thus, under cover of the highest morality, the greatestiniquity is perpetrated. For the theft of a loaf, the man is reduced toa slave; then his wife and children, unable to support themselves,become a charge to the State, that is, they beg in the public ways.

  This, too, forsooth, corrupts morality, and they likewise are seized andleased out to any who like to take them. Nor can he or they ever becomefree again, for they must repay to their proprietor the sum he gave forthem, and how can that be done, since they receive no wages? Forstriking another, a man may be in the same way, as they term it,forfeited to the State, and be sold to the highest bidder. A stout brasswire is then twisted around his left wrist loosely, and the endssoldered together. Then a bar of iron being put through, a half turn isgiven to it, which forces the wire sharply against the arm, causing itto fit tightly, often painfully, and forms a smaller ring at theoutside. By this smaller ring a score of bondsmen may be seen strungtogether with a rope.

  To speak disrespectfully of the prince or his council, or of the nobles,or of religion, to go out of the precincts without permission, to tradewithout license, to omit to salute the great, all these and a thousandothers are crimes deserving of the brazen bracelet. Were a man to studyall day what he must do, and what he must not do, to escape servitude,it would not be possible for him to stir one step without becomingforfeit! And yet they hypocritically say that these things are done forthe sake of public morality, and that there are not slaves (notpermitting the word to be used), and no man was ever sold.

  It is, indeed, true that no man is sold in open market, he is leasedinstead; and, by a refined hypocrisy, the owner of slaves cannot sellthem to another owner, but he can place them in the hands of the notary,presenting them with their freedom, so far as he is concerned. Thenotary, upon payment of a fine from the purchaser, transfers them tohim, and the larger part of the fine goes to the prince. Debt aloneunder their laws must crowd the land with slaves, for, as wages arescarcely known, a child from its birth is often declared to be in debt.For its nourishment is drawn from its mother, and the wretched mother isthe wife of a retainer who is fed by his lord. To such a degree is thistyranny carried! If any owe a penny, his doom is sealed; he becomes abondsman, and thus the estates of the nobles are full of men who workduring their whole lives for the profit of others. Thus, too, the woodsare filled with banditti, for those who find an opportunity never failto escape, notwithstanding the hunt that is invariably made for them,and the cruel punishment that awaits recapture. And numbers, foreseeingthat they must become bondsmen, before they are proclaimed forfeit stealaway by night, and live as they may in the forests.

  How, then, does any man remain free? Only by the favour of the nobles,and only that he may amass wealth for them. The merchants, and those whohave license to trade by land or water, are all protected by some noblehouse, to whom they pay heavily for permission to live in their ownhouses. The principal tyrant is supported by the nobles, that they intheir turn may tyrannise over the merchants, and they again over all theworkmen of their shops and bazaars.

  Over their own servants (for thus they call the slaves, that the worditself may not be used), who work upon their estates, the nobles areabsolute masters, and may even hang them upon the nearest tree. And hereI cannot but remark how strange it is, first, that any man can remain aslave rather than die; and secondly, how much stranger it is that anyother man, himself a slave, can be found to hunt down or to hang hisfellow; yet the tyrants never lack executioners. Their castles arecrowded with retainers who wreak their wills upon the defenceless. Theseretainers do not wear the brazen bracelet; they are free. Are there,then, no beggars? Yes, they sit at every corner, and about the gates ofthe cities, asking for alms.

  Though begging makes a man forfeit to the State, it is only when he hasthews and sinews, and can work. The diseased and aged, the helpless andfeeble, may break the law, and starve by the roadside, because itprofits no one to make them his slaves. And all these things are done inthe name of morality, and for the good of the human race, as theyconstantly announce in their councils and parliaments.

  There are two reasons why the mercenaries have been called in; first,because the princes found the great nobles so powerful, and can keepthem in check only by the aid of these foreigners; and secondly, becausethe number of the outlaws in the woods has become so great that thenobles themselves are afraid lest their slaves should revolt, and, withthe aid of the outlaws, overcome them.

  Now the mark of a noble is that he can read and write. When the ancientswere scattered, the remnant that was left behind was, for the most part,the ignorant and the poor. But among them there was here and there a manwho possessed some little education and force of mind. At first therewas no order; but after thirty years or so, after a generation, someorder grew up, and these men, then become aged, were naturally chosen asleaders. They had, indeed, no actual power then, no guards or armies;but the common folk, who had no knowledge, came to them for decision oftheir disputes, for advice what to do, for the pronouncement of someform of marriage, for the keeping of some note of property, and to beunited against a mutual danger.

  These men in turn taught their children to read and write, wishing thatsome part of the wisdom of the ancients might be preserved. Theythemselves wrote down what they knew, and these manuscripts, transmittedto their children, were saved with care. Some of them remain to thisday. These children, growing to manhood, took more upon them, andassumed higher authority as the past was forgotten, and the originalequality of all men lost in antiquity. The small enclosed farms of theirfathers became enlarged to estates, the estates became towns, and thus,by degrees, the order of the nobility was formed. As they intermarriedonly among themselves, they preserved a certain individuality. At thisday a noble is at once known, no matter how coarsely he may be dressed,or how brutal his habits, by his delicacy of feature, his air ofcommand, even by his softness of skin and fineness of hair.

  Still the art of reading and writing is scrupulously imparted to alltheir legitimate offspring, and scrupulously c
onfined to them alone. Itis true that they do not use it except on rare occasions when necessitydemands, being wholly given over to the chase, to war, and politics, butthey retain the knowledge. Indeed, were a noble to be known not to beable to read and write, the prince would at once degrade him, and thesentence would be upheld by the entire caste. No other but the noblesare permitted to acquire these arts; if any attempt to do so, they areenslaved and punished. But none do attempt; of what avail would it be tothem?

  All knowledge is thus retained in the possession of the nobles; they donot use it, but the physicians, for instance, who are famous, are sobecause by favour of some baron, they have learned receipts in theancient manuscripts which have been mentioned. One virtue, and one only,adorns this exclusive caste; they are courageous to the verge ofmadness. I had almost omitted to state that the merchants know how toread and write, having special license and permits to do so, withoutwhich they may not correspond. There are few books, and still fewer toread them; and these all in manuscript, for though the way to print isnot lost, it is not employed since no one wants books.