# The Personal Life of David Livingstone/CHAPTER XVII

CHAPTER XVII.
SECOND VISIT HOME.
A.D. 1864-65.
Dr. Livingstone and Sir R. Murchison--At Lady Palmerston's reception--at other places in London--Sad news of his son Robert--His early death--Dr. Livingstone goes to Scotland--Pays visits--Consultation with Professor Syme as to operation--Visit to Duke of Argyll--to Ulva--He meets Dr. Duff--At launch of a Turkish frigate--At Hamilton--Goes to Bath to British Association--Delivers an Address--Dr. Colenso--At funeral of Captain Speke--Bath speech offends the Portuguese--Charges of Lacerda--He visits Mr. and Mrs. Webb-at Newstead--Their great hospitality--The Livingstone room--He spends eight months there writing his book--He regains elasticity and playfulness--His book--Charles Livingstone's share--He uses his influence for Dr. Kirk--Delivers a lecture At Mansfield--Proposal made to him by Sir R. Murchison to return to Africa--Letter from Sir Roderick--His reply--He will not cease to be a missionary--Letter to Mr. James Young--Overtures from Foreign Office--Livingstone displeased--At dinner of Royal Academy--His speech not reported--President Lincoln's assassination--Examination by Committee of House of Commons--His opinion on the capacity of the negro--He goes down to Scotland--_Tom Brown's School Days_--His mother very ill--She rallies--He goes to Oxford--Hears of his mother's death--Returns--He attends examination of Oswell's school--His speech--Goes to London, preparing to leave--Parts from Mr. and Mrs. Webb--Stays with Dr. and Mrs. Hamilton--Last days in England.
On reaching London, Dr. Livingstone took tip his quarters at the Tavistock Hotel; but he had hardly swallowed dinner, when he was off to call on Sir Roderick and Lady Murchison.
"Sir Roderick took me off with him, just as I was, to Lady Palmerston's reception. My lady very gracious--gave me tea herself. Lord Palmerston looking well. Had two conversations with him about slave-trade. Sir Roderick says that he is more intent on maintaining his policy on that than on any other thing. And so is she--wonderfully fine, matronly lady. Her daughters are grown up. Lady Shaftesbury like her mother in beauty and grace. Saw and spoke to Sir Charles Wood about India, 'his Eastern Empire,' as he laughingly called it. Spoke to Duke and Duchess of Somerset. All say very polite things, and all wonderfully considerate."
An invitation to dine with Lord Palmerston on the 29th detained him for a few days from going down to Scotland.
"_Monday,_ 25_th July_.--Went to Foreign Office.... Got a dress suit at Nicol & Co.'s, and dined with Lord and Lady Dunmore. Very clever and intelligent man, and lady very sprightly. Thence to Duchess of Wellington's reception. A grand company--magnificent rooms. Met Lord and Lady Colchester, Mrs. F. Peel, Lady Emily Peel, Lady de Redcliffe, Lord Broughton, Lord Houghton, and many more whose names escaped me. Ladies wonderfully beautiful--rich and rare were the gems they wore.
"26_th July.--Go_ to Wimbledon with Mr. Murray, and see Sir Bartle Frere's children.... See Lord Russell--his manner is very cold, as all the Russells are. Saw Mr. Layard too; he is warm and frank. Received an invitation from the Lord Mayor to dine with Her Majesty's Ministers.
"27_th July_.--Hear the sad news that Robert is In the American army.... Went to Lord Mayor Lawrence's to dinner...."
With reference to the "sad news" of Robert, which made his father very heavy-hearted during the first part of his visit home, it is right to state a few particulars, as the painful subject found its way into print, and was not always recorded accurately. Robert had some promising qualities, and those who knew and understood him had good hopes of his turning out well. But he was extremely restless, as if, to use Livingstone's phrase, he had got "a deal of the vagabond nature from his father;" and school-life was very irksome to him. With the view of joining his father, he was sent to Natal, but he found no opportunity of getting thence to the Zambesi. Leaving Natal, he found his way to America, and at Boston he enlisted in the Federal army. The service was as hot as could be. In one battle, two men were killed close to him by shrapnel shell, a rifle bullet passed close to his head, and killed a man behind him; other two were wounded close by him. His letters to his sister expressed his regret at the course of his life, and confessed that his troubles were due to his disobedience. So far was he from desiring to trade on his father's name, that in enlisting he assumed another, nor did any one in the army know whose son it was that was fighting for the freedom of the slave. Meeting the risks of battle with dauntless courage, he purposely abstained, even in the heat of a charge, from destroying life. Not long after, Dr. Livingstone learned that in one of his battles he was wounded and taken prisoner; then came a letter from a hospital, in which he again expressed his intense desire to travel. But his career had come to its close. He died in his nineteenth year. His body lies in the great national cemetery of Gettysburg, in Pennsylvania, in opening which Lincoln uttered one of those speeches that made his name dear to Livingstone. Whatever degree of comfort or hope his father might derive from Robert's last letters, he felt saddened by his unsatisfactory career. Writing to his friend Moore (5th August) he says: "I hope your eldest son will do well in the distant land to which he has gone. My son is in the Federal army in America, and no comfort. The secret ballast is often applied by a kind hand above, when to outsiders we appear to be sailing gloriously with the wind."
Dr. Livingstone's relation to Mr. Young's family was very close and cordial. Hardly one of the many notes and letters he wrote to his friend fails to send greetings to "Ma-James," as he liked to call Mrs. Young, after the African fashion. It is not only the playful ease of his letters that shows how much he felt at home with Mr. Young,--the same thing appears from the frequency with which he sought his counsel in matters of business, and the value which he set upon it.
The next few days were spent with his family, and in visits to the neighborhood. He had a consultation with Professor Syme as to a surgical operation recommended for an ailment that had troubled him ever since his first great journey; he was strongly urged to have the operation performed, and probably it would have been better if he had; but he finally declined, partly because an old medical friend was against it, but chiefly, as he told Sir* Roderick, because the matter would get into the newspapers, and he did not like the public to be speaking of his infirmities. On the 17th he went to Inveraray to visit the Duke of Argyll. He was greatly pleased with his reception, and his Journal records the most trifling details. What especially charmed him was the considerate forethought in making him feel at his ease. "On Monday morning I had the honor of planting two trees beside those planted by Sir John Lawrence and the Marquis of Lansdowne, and by the Princess of Prussia and the Crown Prince. The coach came at twelve o'clock, and I finished the most delightful visit I ever made."
Next day he went to Oban, and the day after by steamer to Iona and Staffa, and thereafter to Aros, in Mull. Next day Captain Greenhill took him in his yacht to Ulva.
"In 1848 the kelp and potatoes failed, and the proprietor, a writer from Stirling, reduced the population from six hundred to one hundred. None of my family remain. The minister, Mr. Fraser, had made inquiries some years ago, and found an old woman who remembered my grandfather living at Uamh, or the Cave. It is a sheltered spot, with basaltic rocks jutting out of the ground below the cave; the walls of the house remain, and the corn and potato patches are green, but no one lives there...."
Returning to Oban on the 24th August, "... I then came to the Crinan Canal, and at Glasgow end thereof met that famous missionary, Dr. Duff, from India A fine, tall, noble-looking man, with a white beard and a twitch in his muscles which shows that the Indian climate has done its work on him.... Home to Hamilton."
The Highlanders everywhere claimed him; "they cheered me," he writes to Sir Roderick, "as a man and a brother."
The British Association was to meet at Bath this autumn, and Livingstone was to give a lecture on Africa. It was a dreadful thought. "Worked at my Bath speech. A cold shiver comes over me when I think of it. Ugh!" Then he went with his daughter Agnes to see a beautiful sight, the launching of a Turkish frigate from Mr. Napier's yard--"8000 tons weight plunged into the Clyde, and sent a wave of its dirty water over to the other side." The Turkish Ambassador, Musurus Pasha, was one of the party at Shandon, and he and Livingstone traveled in the same carriage At one of the stations they were greatly cheered by the Volunteers. "The cheers are for you," Livingstone said to the Ambassador, with a smile. "No," said the Turk "I am only what my master made me; you are what you made yourself." When the party reached the Queen's Hotel, a working man rushed across the road, seized Livingstone's hand, saying, "I must shake your hand," clapped him on the back, and rushed back again. "You'll not deny now," said the Ambassador, "that that's for you."
Returning to Hamilton, he notes, on 4th September: "Church in the forenoon to hear a stranger, in the afternoon to hear Mr. Buchan give an excellent sermon." On 5th, 6th, 7th, he is at the speech. On 8th he receives a most kind invitation from Mr. and Mrs. Webb of Newstead Abbey, to make their house his home. Mr. Webb was a very old friend, a great hunter, who had seen Livingstone at Kolobeng, and formed an attachment to him which continued as warm as ever to the last day of Livingstone's life. Livingstone and his daughter Agnes reach Bath on the 15th, and become the guests of Dr. and Miss Watson, of both of whom he writes in the highest terms.
"On Sunday, heard a good sermon from Mr. Fleming Bishop Colenso called on me. He was very much cheered by many people; it is evident that they admire his pluck, and consider him a persecuted man. Went to the theatre on Monday, 19th, to deliver my address. When in the green-room, a loud cheering was made for Bishop Colenso, and some hisses. It was a pity that he came to the British Association, as it looks like taking sides. Sir Charles Lyell cheered and clapped his hands in a most vigorous way. Got over the address nicely. People very kind and indulgent--2500 persons present, but it is a place easily spoken in."
When Bishop Colenso moved the vote of thanks to Dr. Livingstone for his address, occasion was taken by some narrow and not very scrupulous journals to raise a prejudice against him. He was represented as sharing the Bishop's theological views. For this charge there was no foundation, and the preceding extract from his Journal will show that he felt the Bishop's presence to be somewhat embarrassing. Dr. Livingstone was eminently capable of appreciating Dr. Colenso's chivalrous backing of native races in Africa, while he differed _toto coelo_ from his theological views. In an entry in his Journal a few days later he refers to an African traveler who had got a high reputation without deserving it, for "he sank to the low estate of the natives, and rather admired _Essays and Reviews_"
The next passage we give from his Journal refers to the melancholy end of another brother-traveler, of whom he always spoke with respect:
"23d _Sept_.--Went to the funeral of poor Captain Speke, who, when out shooting on the 15th, the day I arrived at Bath, was killed by the accidental discharge of his gun. It was a sad shock to me, for, having corresponded with him, I anticipated the pleasure of meeting him, and the first news Dr. Watson gave me was that of his death. He was buried at Dowlish, a village where his family have a vault. Captain Grant, a fine fellow, put a wreath or immortelle upon the coffin as it passed us in church. It was composed of mignonette and wild violets."
The Bath speech gave desperate offense to the Portuguese. Livingstone thought it a good sign, wrote playfully to Mr. Webb that they were "cussin' and swearin' dreadful," and wondered if they would keep their senses when the book came out. In a postscript to the preface to _The Zambesi and its Tributaries_, he says, "Senhor Lacerda has endeavored to extinguish the facts adduced by me at Bath by a series of papers in the Portuguese official journal; and their Minister for Foreign Affairs has since devoted some of the funds of his Government to the translation and circulation of Senhor Lacerda's articles in the form of an English tract." He replies to the allegations of the pamphlet on the main points. But he was too magnanimous to make allusion to the shameless indecency of the personal charges against himself. "It is manifest," said Lacerda, "without the least reason to doubt, that Dr. Livingstone, under the pretext of propagating the Word of God (this being the least in which he employed himself) and the advancement of geographical and natural science, made all his steps and exertions subservient to the idea of ... eventually causing the loss to Portugal of the advantages of the rich commerce of the interior, and in the end, when a favorable occasion arose that of the very territory itself." Lacerda then quoted the bitter letter of Mr. Rowley in illustration of Livingstone's plans and methods, and urged remonstrance as a duty of the Portuguese Government. "Nor," he continued, "ought the Government o£ Portugal to stop here. It ought, as we have said, to go further; because from what his countrymen say of Livingstone--and to which he only answers by a mere vain negation,--from what he unhesitatingly declares of himself and his intentions, and from what must be known to the Government by private information from, their delegates, it is obvious that such men as Livingstone may become extremely prejudicial to the interests of Portugal, especially when resident in a public capacity in our African possessions, if not efficiently watched, if their audacious and mischievous actions are not restrained. If steps are not taken in a proper and effective manner, so that they may be permitted only to do good, if indeed good can come from such," etc.
In a letter to Sir Thomas Maclear he speaks of the poet as one of those who, like many others--some of them travelers who abused missionaries,--considered it a fine thing to be thought awfully bad fellows.
When first invited to reside at Newstead Abbey, Dr. Livingstone declined, on the ground that he was to be busy writing a book, and that he wished to have some of his children with him, and in the case of Agnes, to let her have music lessons. His kind friends, however, were resolved that these reasons should not stand in the way, and arrangements were made by them accordingly. Dr. Livingstone continued to be their guest for eight months, and received from them all manner of assistance. Sometimes Mr. and Mrs. Webb, Mrs. Goodlake (Mrs. Webb's mother), and his daughter Agnes would all be busy copying his journals. The "Livingstone room," as it is called, in the Sussex tower, is likely to be associated with his name while the building lasts. It was his habit to rise early and work at his book, to return to his task after breakfast and continue till luncheon and in the afternoon have a long walk with Mr. Webb. It is only when the book is approaching its close that we find him working "till two in the morning." One of his chief recreations was in the field of natural history, watching experiments with the spawning of trout. He endeared himself to all, high and low; was a special favorite with the children, and did not lose opportunities to commend, in the way he thought best, those high views of life and duty which had been so signally exemplified in his own career. The playfulness of his nature found full and constant scope at Newstead; he regained an almost boyish flow of animal spirits, reveled in fun and frolic in his short notes to friends like Mr. Young, or Mr. Webb when he happened to be absent; wrote in the style of Mr. Punch, and called his opponents by ludicrous names; yet never forgot the stern duty that loomed before him, or allowed the enjoyment and _abandon_ of the moment to divert him from the death-struggle on behalf of Africa in which he had yet to engage.
The book was at first to be a little one,--a blast of the trumpet against the monstrous slave-trade of the Portuguese; but it swelled to a goodly octavo, and embraced the history of the Zambesi Expedition. Charles Livingstone had written a full diary, and in order that his name might be on the title-page, and he might have the profits of the American edition, his journal was made use of in the writing of the book; but the arrangement was awkward; sometimes Livingstone forgot the understanding of joint-authorship, and he found that he could more easily have written the whole from the foundation, At first it was designed that the book should appear early in the summer of 1865, but when the printing was finished the map was not ready; and the publication had to be delayed till the usual season in autumn.
The entries in his Journal are brief, and of little general interest during the time the book was getting ready. Most of them have reference to the affairs of other people. As he finds that Dr. Kirk is unable to undertake a work on the botany and natural history of the Expedition, unless he should hold some permanent situation, he exerts himself to procure a Government appointment for him, recommending him strongly to Sir R. Murchison and others, and is particularly gratified by a reply to his application from the Earl of Dalhousie, who wrote that he regarded his request as a command. He is pleased to learn that, through the kind efforts of Sir Roderick, his brother Charles has been appointed Consul at Fernando Po. He sees the American Minister, who promises to do all he can for Robert, but almost immediately after, the report comes that poor Robert has died in a hospital in Salisbury, North Carolina. He delivers a lecture at the Mechanics' Institute at Mansfield, but the very idea of a speech always makes him ill, and in this case it brings on an attack of Hæmorrhoids, with which he had not been troubled for long. He goes to London to a meeting of the Geographical Society, and hears a paper of Burton's--a gentleman from whose geographical views he dissents, as he does from his views on subjects more important. In regard to his book he says very little; four days, he tells us, were spent in writing the description of the Victoria Falls; and on the 15th April, 1865, he summons his daughter Agnes to take his pen and write FINIS at the end of his manuscript. On leaving Newstead on the 25th, he writes, "Parted with our good friends the Webbs. And may God Almighty bless and reward them and their family!"
Some time before this, a proposal was made to him by Sir Roderick Murchison which in the end gave a new direction to the remaining part of his life. It was brought before him in the following letter:
Livingstone begins his answer by assuring Sir Roderick that he never contemplated settling down quietly in England; it would be time enough for that when he was in his dotage. "I should like the exploration you propose very much, and had already made up my mind to go up the Rovuma, pass by the head of Lake Nyassa, and away west or northwest as might be found practicable." He would have been at this ere now, but his book chained him, and he feared that he could not take back the "Lady Nyassa" to Africa, with the monsoon against him, so that be must get a boat to explore the Rovuma.
In Livingstone's Journal, 7th January, 1865, we find this entry: "Answered Sir Roderick about going out. Said I could only feel in the way of duty by working as a missionary." The answer is very noteworthy in the view of what has so often been said against Livingstone--that he dropped the missionary to become an explorer. To understand the precise bearing of the proposal, and of Livingstone's reply, it is necessary to say that Sir Roderick had a conviction, which he never concealed, that the missionary enterprise encumbered and impeded the geographical. He had a special objection to an Episcopal mission, holding that the planting of a Bishop and staff on territory dominated by the Portuguese was an additional irritant, rousing ecclesiastical jealousy, and bringing it to the aid of commercial and political apprehensions as to the tendency of the English enterprise. Neither mission nor colony could succeed in the present state of the country; they could only be a trouble to the geographical explorer. On this point Livingstone held his own views. He could only feel in the line of duty as a missionary. Whatever he might or might not be able to do in that capacity, he would never abandon it, and, in particular, he would never come under an obligation to the Geographical Society that he would serve them "unshackled by other avocations than those of the geographical explorer."
A letter to Mr. James Young throws light on the feelings with which he regarded Sir Roderick's proposal:
It was at this time that Mr. Hayward, Q.C., while on a visit to Newstead, brought an informal message from Lord Palmerston, who wished to know what he could do for Livingstone. Had Livingstone been a vain man, wishing a handle to his name, or had he even been bent on getting what would be reasonable in the way of salary for himself, or of allowance for his children, now was his chance of accomplishing his object. But so single-hearted was he in his philanthropy that such thoughts did not so much as enter his mind; there was one thing, and one only, which he wished Lord Palmerston to secure--free access to the highlands, by the Zambesi and Shiré, to be made good by a treaty with Portugal. It is satisfactory to record that the Foreign Office has at last made arrangements to this effect.
While the proposal on the part of the President of the Geographical Society was undergoing consideration, certain overtures were made to Dr. Livingstone by the Foreign Office. On the 11th of March he called at the office, at the request of Mr. Layard, who propounded a scheme that he should have a commission giving him authority over the chiefs, from the Portuguese boundary to Abyssinia and Egypt; the office to carry no salary. When a formal proposal to this effect was submitted to him, with the additional proviso that he was to be entitled to no pension, he could not conceal his irritation. For himself he was just as willing as ever to work as before, without hope of earthly recompense, and to depend on the petition, "Give us this day our daily bread;" but he thought it ungenerous to take advantage of his well-known interest in Africa to deprive him of the honorarium which the most insignificant servant of Her Majesty enjoyed. He did not like to be treated like a charwoman. As for the pension, he had never asked it, and counted it offensive to be treated as if he had shown a greed which required to be repressed. It came out, subsequently, that the letter had been written by an underling, but when Earl Russell was appealed to, he would only promise a salary when Dr. Livingstone should have settled somewhere! The whole transaction had a very ungracious aspect.
Before publishing his book, Dr. Livingstone had asked Sir Roderick Murchison's advice as to the wisdom of speaking his mind on two somewhat delicate points. In reply, Sir Roderick wrote: "If you think you have been too hard as to the Bishop or the Portuguese, you can modify the phrases. But I think that the truth ought to be known, if only in vindication of your own conduct, and to account for the little success attending your last mission."
We continue our extracts from his Journal:
In a letter to Mr. Webb, he writes _à propos_ of this examination:
Dr. Livingstone was asked at this time to attend a public meeting on behalf of American freedom. It was not in his power to go, but, in apologizing, he was at pains to express his opinion on the capacity of the negro, in connection with what was going on in the United States:
Wherever slavery prevailed, or the effects of slavery were found, Dr. Livingstone's testimony against it was clear and emphatic. Neither personal friendship nor any other consideration under the sun could repress it. When his friends Sir Roderick and Mr. Webb afterward expressed their sympathy with Governor Eyre, of Jamaica, he did not scruple to tell them how different an estimate he had formed of the Governor's conduct.
We continue our extracts from his Journal and letters:
The last thing we find him doing in Scotland is attending the examination of Oswell's school, with Anna Mary, and seeing him receive prizes. Dr. London, of Hamilton, the medical attendant and much-valued friend of the Livingstones, furnishes us with a reminiscence of this occasion. He had great difficulty in persuading Livingstone to go. The awful bugbear was that he would be asked to make a speech. Being assured that it would be thought strange if, in a gathering of the children's parents, he were absent, he agreed to go. And of course he had to speak. What he said was pointed and practical, and in winding up, he said he had just two things to say to them--"FEAR GOD, AND WORK HARD." These appear to have been Livingstone's last public words in his native Scotland.
His Journal is continued in London:
Dr. Livingstone's last weeks in England were passed under the roof of the late Rev. Dr. Hamilton, author of _Life in Earnest_, and could hardly have been passed in a more congenial home. Natives of the same part of Scotland, nearly of an age, and resembling each other much in taste and character, the two men drew greatly to each other. The same Puritan faith lay at the basis of their religious character, with all its stability and firmness. But above all, they had put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. In Natural History, too, they had an equal enthusiasm. In Dr. Hamilton, Livingstone found what he missed in many orthodox men. On the evening of his last Sunday, he was prevailed on to give an address in Dr. Hamilton's church, after having in the morning received the Communion with the congregation. In his address he vindicated his character as a missionary, and declared that it was as much as ever his great object to proclaim the love of Christ, which they had been commemorating that day. His prayers made a deep impression; they were like the communings of a child with his father. At the railway station, the last Scotch hands grasped by him were those of Dr. and Mrs. Hamilton. The news of Dr. Hamilton's death was received by Livingstone a few years after, in the heart of Africa, with no small emotion. Their next meeting was in the better land.