THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 RIVERSIDE 
 
 Ex Libris 
 C. K. OGDEN
 
 ./ U f. / 
 
 S
 
 THE LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 SAMUEL MOELEY. 
 
 EDWIN HODDEK, 
 
 1/ I 
 
 AUTHOR OF "THE LIFE AND WOKK OF THE SEVENTH EARL OF SHAFTESBURY, K.G. 
 
 WITH ETCHED PORTRAIT BY MANESSE. 
 
 THIED EDITION. 
 
 ITonbon 
 HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 
 
 27, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 MDCCCLXXXVII. 
 
 \_All rights reserved.']
 
 lit i 
 
 UNWIN EEOTHEES, THE GEESHAM PRESS, CHILWORTH AND LONDON.
 
 PKEFACE. 
 
 Eaely in the present year I was honoured by the 
 family of the late Mr. Samuel Morley with the 
 request that I would undertake the responsible task 
 of preparing an account of his life for publication. 
 Having consented, I was entrusted, on the 8th of 
 February, when on a visit to Hall Place, with a 
 mass of correspondence — the accumulation of a life- 
 time. 
 
 Large as the amount of material was, there was 
 comparatively little of the kind that a biographer 
 most prizes. There were no journals or diaries, 
 save a very brief record of some of his early travels, 
 and note-books of engagements. He was not a 
 voluminous correspondent, and there was scarcely a 
 document that gave a glimpse into his inner life and 
 thoughts. I found that his name was not indissolubly 
 linked with any great historic movement ; that in his 
 private life there were no striking incidents or sur- 
 prises ; and that some of the elements generally 
 deemed essential in biography were almost, if not 
 altogether, wanting.
 
 iv PBEFACE. 
 
 My task was, therefore, one of unusual difficulty. 
 Nevertheless, there was an open course before me. 
 Mr. Morley occupied a unique position as a man of 
 business, as an organizer and leader in religious and 
 philanthropic movements, and as a politician, who 
 exercised an altogether exceptional influence upon 
 public opinion, especially in Nonconformist circles. 
 
 Although his life does not present any strongly- 
 marked divisions, I have endeavoured to follow it on 
 the lines I have indicated. My single aim has been 
 to present a faithful portrait of the man as he was, 
 and, without varnish or exaggeration, to show the 
 place he occupied and the power he wielded. 
 
 I have preferred to illustrate by extract, whenever 
 this was j^ossible, rather than by analysis. I have 
 acquainted myself with all the accessible details of 
 his life, and no restraint has been laid upon me as to 
 the use I have made of the information I have been 
 able to obtain. 
 
 To all the members of Mr. Morley's family I am 
 under the deepest obligation for placing in my hands 
 unreservedly whatever material they considered 
 would be of help to me. To his son, Mr. Ai'nold 
 Morley, M.P., however, my thanks are more espe- 
 cially due, as h'om the first he has assisted me with 
 information, supplying the defects of my own know- 
 ledge, and has rendered invaluable aid in reading 
 and revising the manuscript and proofs. 
 
 In order to make the record of Mr. Morley's life as 
 completeas possible, I put myself in communication
 
 PBEFACE. V 
 
 with his personal friends, his co-workers, his business 
 associates, the Secretaries of Societies with which he 
 was connected, and many others, all of whom have 
 rendered me most willing and efficient service. In 
 some instances I have quoted their contributions in 
 extenso ; in others, when they went over ground 
 already trodden, I have given extracts only ; in a 
 few cases, where I may seem not to have availed 
 myself of their help, I have equally valued their 
 kindness. 
 
 My special thanks are due to Mr. Henry Eichard, 
 M.P., the Eevs. J. C. Harrison, Dr. J. H. Wilson, 
 Dr. J. B. Paton, Dr. Stoughton, Canon Brereton, 
 H. R. Collum, and Joseph Hargrove ; Mr. J. R. 
 Eobinson, Mr. Sawell, Miss Cons, and Mr. J. W. 
 Graham, Mr. Morley's private secretary. 
 
 EDWIN HODDEE. 
 
 21, Craven Park, Willesden, N.W. 
 November 1st, 1887.
 
 " A machine in the hand of a single individual can often do a hundred- 
 fold more work than an individual can do by the direct application of his 
 ovpn hands. He who makes the machine, then, is more productively 
 employed than he who, without it, engages immediately in the work. To 
 produce a steam-engine that sets a hundred looms agoing, is a far larger 
 contribution to the goods of the country than to work at a single loom. 
 This principle, obvious enough in manufactures, is sadly overlooked in 
 the business of human society. The man who spends so much time in 
 the services of a philanthropic institution is not so productively employed 
 as he who excites the principle which prompts those services in the breasts 
 of a liundred men. He who does the work is not so productively em- 
 ployed as he who multiplies the doers." — Life of Dr. Chalmers.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 1809—1825. 
 
 TAGE 
 
 Sneinton — The Hermitage — Three Graves — The Morley Family — " I. and 
 E. Morley " — Character of Eichard Morley of Nottingham — Trade 
 History of Nottingham — Stocking Making — John Derrick — The End 
 of a Family — John Morley in London — Eussia Eow and Wood Street 
 — Early Successes — Homerton — Hackney as it Was and Is — Well 
 Street — The Family of John Morley — Samuel goes to School at 
 Melbourn — Mr. Carver and his Son — Mr. BuUer's School, Southamp- 
 ton — School Life and Character — Holidays at Home — A Model Mother 
 — Home Influences 1 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 1825—1832. 
 
 Goes to Business — Wood Street — " Poor Susan " — Home Attractions — Mr. 
 John Morley, Senior — A Nonconformist and a Liberal — Musical 
 Evenings — Early Habits — Dr. John Pye Smith— Eev. John Clayton— 
 Dr. Burder — Eev. James Parsons — A Memorable Sunday . . .18 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 1832—1835. 
 
 In the Counting-house — Joshua Harrison — Business Characteristics — Early 
 Habits — Principles in Business — Work and Best — A Summer Tour — 
 In Edinburgh — From Oban to Mull — St. Kilda — Staffa and lona — A 
 Sunday in Glasgow— In the Trossachs — Sir Walter Scott — "One 
 Macnab" — A Scotch Fast — Abbotsford and Dryburgh Abbey . . 32
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 RELIGIOUS STATE OF THE TIMES. 
 
 1800—1835. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Hackney, a Centre of Nonconformity — The First Quarter of the Century — 
 The Toleration Act — Church and Dissent — Evangelicals — A Transition 
 Period — Dawn of the Oxford Movement — Independency — Church 
 Bates — The King's Weigh House — The Eev. Thomas Binney . . iJO 
 
 CHAPTEE Y. 
 
 1835—1843. 
 
 Continental Tour — Imprisonment for Conscience Sake — Lord John 
 Russell and National Education — Mr. Morley, sen., retires from Busi- 
 ness — The Wilsons of Highbury — The Hopes of Liverpool — Marriage 
 — Bride and Bridegroom — Rev. William Jay, of Bath — A Quaint Text 
 — Five Houses, Lower Clapton — The Firstborn — Nonconformist News- 
 paper — Anti-Corn Law League — A City Election — The Disruption in 
 Scotland — Sir James Graham's Factories Education Bill — The "British 
 Anti-State Church Association " Founded — Dissenting Colleges . . 65 
 
 CHAPTEE A^I. 
 1844— 184G. 
 
 A Driving Tour in Scotland — Sunday Habits — Friendships — Dr. Pye Smith's 
 Second Marriage — Melbourn — Mr. Binney in America — Chastisement 
 — An Idea of Life — Paternal Tenderness — The Office of Deacon — 
 Correspondence with Mr. Binney thereon — An Urgent Appeal— Office 
 of Deacon declined — Living too Fast — Mr. Benjamin Morley . . 81 
 
 CHAPTEE YII. 
 
 184G— 1847. 
 
 A Mass of Correspondence — The Rev. Richard Knill — Germs of Future 
 Things — -Magazine Literature — Unsatisfactory Political Position of 
 Dissenters — Lord John Rassell's Education Scheme — Dissenters' Par- 
 liamentary Committee — Nonconformist Members of Parliament — An 
 Appeal — Leading Dissenters — Gpneral Election — Address to Noncon- 
 formist Electors — Results ......... 94
 
 CONTENTS. xi 
 
 CHAPTEE VIII. 
 
 1847—1855. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Increasing Eesponsibilities — Chartism — Death of Mr. John Morley, Sen.— 
 The Ancient Merchants' Lecture — Testimonials — Public Discussion. 
 Christianity versus Secularism — Fair Play — Mr. G. 3. Holyoake and 
 Eev. Brewin Grant — Craven Lodge, Stamford Hill — Mr. John Morley 
 retires from Business 107 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 1855—1857. 
 
 Mismanagement in the Crimea — Administrative Keform Association — Letter 
 from Mr. S. Laing, M.P. — A Possible Contingency — The Civil Service 
 Commission — Great Meeting in Drury Lane Theatre — A Multitude 
 of Cares — Missionary Organizations — The Congregational Home Mis- 
 sionary Society^The Eev. J. H. Wilson — Visits to County Associa- 
 tions — How to raise Money — Congregational Colleges — Eev. John Augell 
 James and Spring Hill College — The " Drink Evil" — Becomes a Total 
 Abstainer 121 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 1857— 18G3. 
 
 Mr. Eichard Cobden — Lord John Eussell — Correspondence — Special Eeli- 
 gious Services in Theatres — Mr. Charles Sawell — Overwork — Mr. Locke 
 King and County Franchise — Mr. Edward Baines and Borough Fran- 
 chise — The Bank Act and Currency Eeform Committee — At Eichard 
 Cobden's Funeral — A Tribute to his Memory — The Drinking Usages of 
 the Commercial Eoom — The Bicentenary of Nonconformity — Memorial 
 Fund — Chapel Building — The Theological Institute, Nottirgham — A 
 Lay Minister — A Widening Sphere 141 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 HOME LIFE. 
 
 Primary Claims — Family — Letters to his Children — Fatherly Advice — Con- 
 fidences — Sympathy with Young Life — EecoUections of Boyhood — 
 Garibaldi — Thoroughness — A Birthday Letter — Works of Fiction— No 
 Sportsman — Dancing and Dancing Parties — Not Easily Disturbed — 
 Fire in V/ood Street — Idleness — The IJlack Bag — Travels — A Sbooting 
 Lodge — Visitors — The Studv — Music — An Ideal Home . . . 1G4
 
 xii CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 IN BUSINESS. 
 
 FACE 
 
 18, Wood street — Nottingham — Framework Knitters — Annuities — The 
 Factories — Mr. Arthur Morley — Mr. Thomas Hill — A Disastrous Fire — 
 Cai^ital and Labour — Sternness — ImiJatience — General Characteristics 
 — A Training School for Business Men — An Opening Career — The 
 Household Arrangements — Holidays — Young Men's Missionary Associa- 
 tion — Brackley Street Hall — Influence ....... 186 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 18G5— 1866. • 
 
 Consents to stand for Nottingham — The Election Fight — A Eeign of Terror 
 — Letter from Eev. W. Brock — "The Church in Danger" — Political 
 Creed — Returned Head of the Poll — Enters Parliament — Maiden Sjjeech 
 — Church Eates Abolition Bill — Letter from Eev. Newman Hall — Tests 
 Abolition Bill — Unseated on Petition — Letter from Mr. Gladstone — 
 Letter to Nottingham Electors — A Sorrow and its Lessons — The Women 
 of Fletcher Gate — At Cambridge with his Sons — The Eev. Joseph 
 Hargrove ............ 208 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 1864—1868. 
 
 Correspondence with Lord Shaftesbury — Mr. Spurgeon — The Formularies 
 of the Church of England — The Free Church of Scotland — Letter from 
 Dr. Guthrie — Bunhill Fields Burial Ground — The Education Question — 
 The Morning Star and the Daily News — A Narrow Escape — Allegiance 
 to Mr. Gladstone — Eailway Companies and Nonconformists — Mr. 
 Ernest Jones — Capital and Labour — Letter to the Pall Mall Gazeiie . 234 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 1868. 
 
 Nottingham and Bristol — Consents to stand for Bristol — Goes to South of 
 France — A Wail from Nottingham — Address to Electors — The Bristol 
 Operatives' Liberal Association — A Telling Speech — Defeated at the 
 Election — Hope revives in Nottingham — A Final Decision — Mr. Miles 
 Unseated- -Unfair Proceedings — Mr. Goldwin Smith — Aid to Liberal 
 Candidates — The Eeform League — Marriage with a Deceased Wile's 
 Sister — The General Election— Again Contests Bristol — An American
 
 CONTENTS. xiii 
 
 PAGE 
 
 View of Nomination Day — Raturned M.P. for Bristol — Congratulations 
 - — " Mr. Morley's Defection " — Correspondence with Canon Girdlestone 
 — Correspondence with the Liberation Society — Letter to Mr. Arnold 
 Morley 252 
 
 CHAPTEK XVI 
 
 THE BUSINESS OF PHILANTHROPY. 
 
 Wealth — Supposed Effects of Business on Character — Particular Providence 
 — ^Rev. W. Pennefather — Miss Marsh — Sympathy — Catholicity — The 
 Hartog Scholarship — Wales — Mr. Henry Richard, M.P. — -Education 
 Agitation in Wales — -University College, Aberystwith — Encroachment 
 of the English Language— South Wales English Congregational Society 
 — Memorial College, Brecon — ^Welsh Political Obligations — South Wales 
 Registration Society — Evictions — Congregational College, Bala — 
 Occasional Magnificent Donations — Scarcity of Givers— Humility — The 
 Title of "Founder " — Financial Reform Association — Inspiring Others 
 to Give — Refusals — Beggars^Defaulters — Poor Literary Men — George 
 Cruikshank — Poor Ministers— " Nameless Unremembered Acts " . 285 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 18G9— 1871. 
 
 The Irish Church Question — Bankruptcy Bill — Speech thereon — The Need 
 of the Trading Classes — Debts to Laudlords^Overtrading — Settle- 
 ments — Customs and Inland Revenue Bill — National Education — 
 Change of Attitude — A Review of Voluntaryism — British Schools — 
 National Schools — Mr, Forster's Elementary Education Bill — Speech 
 thereon — The " Religious Dif3Bculty " — The Metropolitan School Board 
 — The " Compromise " — Bible Revision — Alleged Employment of 
 Foreigners — Parliamentary Session of 1871 — Seconds Address to the 
 Crown — America — University Tests — Licensing Laws — Parliamentary 
 Waste of Time 324 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 1871—1876. 
 
 Trade Questions — Mat-making in Prisons — Mai-riage with a Deceased Wife's 
 Sister — University Tests Bill — Burials Bill — Letter from Archdeacon 
 Allen — Strikes and Lock-outs — The National Agricultural Labourers' 
 Union — The Lock-out in Lincolnshire — Farmers' Defence Association — 
 The Agricultural Labourer "a Commodity " — Letter to the Daily Neics 
 — Boards of Conciliation — Cottage Accommodation — Letters from Sir
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 W. V. Harcourt, the Bishop of Manchester, and Lord Shaftesbury — 
 Death of Dr.Binney — Funeral — Letter to his Second Daughter — Com- 
 pletion of the Memorial Hall in Farringdon Street — Presentation of 
 Portrait — The Holyoake Testimonial Fund — " Tory Calumniators " — 
 Warnings and Encouragements — Ketires from London School Board . 348 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 AT HALL PLACE. 
 
 1870—1886. 
 
 Hall Place — The Village of Leigh — Improvements — Temporal and Spiritual 
 Wants — An " Undenominational Chapel " — Plymouth Brethreuism — 
 " Think and let Think "—The Squire of the Parish— The Eev. Hugh 
 Collum — School Committees — Benevolent Projects — Bible Society 
 Meetings — A New Vicarage House — Lectures — The Clergy — Church 
 and Dissent — A Christian Man — Marriage of Miss Morley — Her Early 
 Death— Duties at Leigh— The Eev. Dr. Moffat 372 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 1871—1881. 
 
 The Artizans', Labourers', and General Dwellings Company — A Timely 
 Interposition — James Parsons, of York — Retirement from Bristol con- 
 templated — The Secret of Strength — The Paris Exhibition — Trades 
 Unions — Mistaken Identity — Curious Appeals — Home Rule — Middle 
 Class Education — Cavendish College — Letter from Eev. Canon Brereton 
 — Attachment to Mr. Gladstone — Letter from Mr. Gladstone — Letter 
 from Earl Granville — Seventieth Birthday — The "Hasty Telegram " — 
 Mr. Bradlaugh and Northampton — A Great Sorrow— International 
 Conference of Young Men's Christian Associations — Delegates at Hall 
 Place — A Tour in America — Notes thereon ... ... 391 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 1881—1884. 
 
 Accumulation of Letters — The Bankruptcy Laws — Payment of Wages in 
 Public-houses — Mr. Bradlaugh — Mr. Gladstone's Ecclesiastical Appoint- 
 ments — National Liberal Club — Dons the Blue Eibbon — Temperance 
 Legislation — Licensing Laws — Eoyal Commissions — Pocket-book 
 Entries — Threatened Eetirement from Parliament — Visitors at Wood 
 Street — A Serious Warning — At Cannes — Letters to Mr. Arnold Morley 
 ■ — Franchise and Redistribution Bills — Ideas of Eecreation — The Eoj-al 
 Victoria Hall — Miss Cons — Working Men's Clubs — Christmas and the 
 Poor 415
 
 CONTENTS. XV 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 NOTES OF SPEECHES. 
 
 The Art of Speaking — Voice — Manner — Methods — Sir James Graham's 
 " Revolvers " — Dr. Arnold — Half-sheets of Paper — Political Subjects — ■ 
 The House of Commons and the House of Lords — Quotations — Parlia- 
 mentary Waste of Time— Mr. Gladstone — Education — A Word to Boys 
 — Thrift — Sunday Labour — England's Greatness — " Texts "for Speeches 
 — Temperance — Speeches on Eeligious Questions — Congregationalism 
 — Church and State — Missionary Work— To Young Men — Apt Illustra- 
 tions — Allusions and Quotations — Foreign Missions — The Bible — 
 Religious Difticulties . 139 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 1885— 188G. 
 
 Failing Health — Correspondence with Lady Spencer — Offer of the Peerage — 
 Declined — The Criminal Law Amendment Bill — Letter to Miss Marsh — 
 Death of the Earl of Shaftesbury — A Farewell Letter — Resigns his Seat 
 for Bristol — The General Election of 1885 — Anxiety — Letter to Rev. 
 J. C. Harrison — Last Visit to Nottingham — Mr. Arnold Morley ap- 
 pointed Patronage Secretary — Correspondence with Mr. Gladstone — 
 Unwonted Tenderness — Letter from Mr. Mundella— Young Men's 
 Christian Association — Last Public Meetings — Illness — Home Rule — 
 Hopes and Fears — Last Days — Death — At Abney Park — "A Servant of 
 Jesus Christ" — Conclusion 400 
 
 APPENDIX 499 
 
 INDEX 503
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 1809—1825. 
 
 Sneinton — The Hermitage — Three Graves— The Morley Family — " I. and K. 
 Morley" — Character of Richard Morley of Nottingham — Trade History of 
 Nottingham— Stocking Making — John Derrick — The End of a Family — 
 John Morley in London — Russia Row and AVood Street — Early Successes — 
 Homerton — Hackney as it Was and Is — Well Street— The Family of 
 John Morley— Samuel goes to School at Melbourn — Mr. Carver and his 
 Son — Mr. Buller's School, Southampton — School Life and Character — 
 Holidays at Home — A Model Mother — Home Influences. 
 
 In Thorotoii's History of Nottingham, "repub- 
 lished by Mr. John Tlirosby in 1797," Sneinton, at 
 that time a subm-b of Nottingham, is thus quaintly 
 described : — " The rock which constitutes the hamlet, 
 or rather its site, is congenial with that of Notting- 
 ham, a soft sandy stone which extends in a line 
 nearly parallel with the Trent, several miles, as you 
 pass towards Gedling. Some of the inhabitants here 
 dwell, as it were, in dens and caves of the earth 
 called the Hermitage. This romantic scene, if it 
 lay in regions seldom explored, would afford a wonder- 
 ful scope for fanciful relation." * 
 
 Since Thoroton's History was written, Sneinton 
 has undergone many changes. Incorporated in 1877 
 with the Municipal and Parliamentary borough, it 
 
 -■= Vol. ii. p. 101. 
 2
 
 2 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. I. 
 
 now forms, "by the operation of the Borough Boundaries 
 Act, an important parish of Nottingham. But the 
 Hermitage, a range of perpendicular rocks, witli 
 houses built in the craggy front of the caves, still 
 remains. These rock-hewn dwellings are supposed 
 to be the vestiges of an ancient British settlement, 
 and Sneinton, or Snottengaton as it was once called, 
 is claimed by some as the original Nottingham (or 
 Snotingeham, according to the Saxon name, meaning 
 " a dwelling among the rocks "). 
 
 Two centuries ago it was a pretty rural village, 
 with a church and vicarage, a manor house (the home 
 of the Morleys), a few scattered farms and dwellings, 
 and the curious line of habitations known as the Her- 
 mitage. Besides the Morleys of the Manor House, 
 there were three other families of the same name, 
 but in no way related to the ancestors of the subject 
 of this biography. 
 
 In the churchyard at Sneinton there are three 
 graves side by side, and on the slabs of slate covering 
 them are inscriptions in memory of — 
 
 Samuel Morley, who died November 21, 1750, 
 aged 73 years. Also Ann, his wife, who died 
 October 8, 1792, aged 83 years. 
 
 Samuel Morley, who died January 6, 1776, aged 
 46 years. Also Mary, his wife, died March 3, 1798, 
 aged 65 years. 
 
 Samuel Morley, son of Samuel and Mary Morley, 
 who departed this hfe July 21, 1797, aged 33 years. 
 
 These were the ancestors of the Samuel Morley with
 
 1809—1825.] THE MOBLEY FAMILY. 3 
 
 whom we are concerned in tliese pages. They were 
 members of an old Nottingham family, simple, sub- 
 stantial, God-fearing people, themselves descended 
 from a stock of traders of whom no memorials are 
 left. 
 
 The Samuel Moiiey who died in 1776, at the coin- 
 j)arativel3^ early age of forty-six years, was the father 
 of three sons, Samuel, John, and Richard. They 
 were born at the Manor House (the property of 
 Earl Manvers), which is still standing — a rambling, 
 red-brick, gabled house, of the old style, with 
 pleasant gardens and grounds, and a large farm 
 attached. There they led an easy life in the quiet 
 household, and in course of time won for themselves 
 a good name wherever they were known, but espe- 
 cially in the town of Nottingham, where two of them 
 were in business. 
 
 In 1797, one of the brothers, Samuel, died at the 
 age of thirty- three. In March of the following year, 
 the mother died, and a few months later, namely, on 
 the 18th of October, 1798, John Morley w^as married 
 to Sarah Poulton, of Maidenhead. 
 
 John and Richard Morley were both of them 
 shrewd men of business, as well as men of consider- 
 able capacity in other respects. Hitherto they had 
 carried on the farm at Sneinton, and at the same 
 time had been engaged in hosiery business in 
 Nottingham. But with the changes that had come 
 over their family life, there came changes also in 
 their business relations. To meet the requirements
 
 4 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. I. 
 
 of an increasing trade, it was mutually resolved that 
 John should leave the old associations at Sneinton 
 and Nottingham, and found a hnsiness in London ; 
 while Eichard should carry on the farm, and at the 
 same time extend the manufacturing business. The 
 arrangement was, that while the London and Not- 
 tingham branches should be quite distinct as regarded 
 the management, all accounts should be dealt with 
 in London, and in both, places the style and title of 
 the firm should be " L and E. Morley." 
 
 Before we follow the fortunes of John Morley, 
 with whom we are more particularly concerned, we 
 must linger awhile with Eichard in Nottingham. 
 He was a plain, straightforward, reliable man, every 
 inch an Englishman, without a particle of pride, but 
 with plenty of honest ambition — a man of simple 
 tastes and habits, honoured and respected by all who 
 knew him. He came of a good old Puritan stock, 
 and kept up the family traditions in his life and 
 character. But, although a staunch, he was not a 
 narrow, Nonconformist, and was often to be found in 
 the Morley pew in the old parish church. 
 
 He took a keen interest in the town of Nottingham 
 and in the development of its trade. The town is 
 beautiful for situation, and has a history reaching 
 back to a period long prior to the Norman Conquest. 
 The castle was visited by Eichard L, and was one 
 of the strongholds of King John ; it was the prison 
 of David IL of Scotland, and of Owen Glendower, 
 and it witnessed the beginning of the long struggle
 
 1809—1825.] NOTTINGHAM TRADE. 5 
 
 between King and Parliament when, on tlie eA^e of 
 the Civil War, Charles I. set up his standard there. 
 
 In addition to its historical interest, Nottingham 
 has for many centuries been famous as a manufac- 
 turing town. There, by a Parliament held in the 
 reign of Edward III., a law was passed for "prohibiting 
 the exportation of English wool, and for encouraging 
 foreign manufacturers to settle in the Kingdom." 
 There, the once celebrated Lincoln-green cloth was 
 manufactured, and there, from time to time, various 
 industries — the making of implements of husbandry, 
 saddlery, and numerous articles in leather — have 
 successively found a home. From the middle of 
 the sixteenth century, however, Nottingham has 
 been principally known in connection with the 
 manufacture of lace and hosiery. Up to the present 
 time the original stocking-frame — one of the oldest 
 machines in existence applicable to textile fabrics — 
 is still in use, but is being replaced by machinery 
 worked by steam power. 
 
 The opposition of the knitters to the introduction 
 of the new machinery need not be dwelt upon here. 
 Hitherto, with the old frame, only one stocking 
 could be made at a time by a single workman, while 
 with the new machinery twelve stockings, or more, 
 could be made at once, under the superintendence of 
 only one man and a boy. 
 
 There was great distress throughout the manufac- 
 turing population in the early part of the century, 
 and the workmen, believing that it arose from the
 
 6 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. I. 
 
 introduction of the new machinery, grew riotous. 
 In 1811-12, there were serious disturbances ]3rovoked 
 by the Luddites, when much damage was done to 
 property ; and later riots, originating with the frame- 
 work knitters, occasioned the passing of the Act of 
 tiie 57th of Geo. III. on the subject. 
 
 In this contest the sympathies of Eichard 
 Morley were enhsted on the conservative side, and 
 he did his utmost in defence of the old hand-frames 
 by producing on them work of a quality far superior 
 to anything that the new machinery could effect. 
 
 In the meantime, John had gone to London, and 
 the business of the firm had greatly increased in 
 consequence. To assist in the Nottingham branch, 
 Eichard took into partnership Mr. William Wilson, 
 who soon entered into a closer connection with the 
 brothers by marrying one of their sisters. 
 
 At first, the firm onty dealt in goods of their own 
 making, and those chiefly stockings. It was their 
 pride to produce the best that could be made, and to 
 ensure this result was the special work of Eichard. 
 An excellent judge of work and of material, of texture, 
 quality, and every technical detail, he was eminently 
 suited for this department, and he made it a point 
 to examine personally every article that was received 
 into the warehouse. He liked his work, and never 
 spared himself in its performance, plodding on not 
 un frequently from eight in the morning until ten at 
 night. 
 
 As a result of the assiduous toil of the brothers,
 
 1809—1825.] FBAMEWOBK KNITTEBS. 7 
 
 the fame of Morley's stockings spread far and wide 
 over the country, and at length over the world. 
 
 It was a matter of principle with " I. and R. 
 Moiiey " that their customers should be able to 
 obtain exactly the same class and quality of goods 
 at any time, and that there should never be the 
 slightest ground for complaint of any deterioration 
 or alteration in any respect. The skill and vigilance 
 of Richard Morley enabled them to ensure this, 
 and, it may be observed here, the early traditions 
 have been perpetuated to the 23resent day. It is a 
 curious fact that it is possible to obtain the identical 
 Idnd of article made and sold fifty years ago, thread 
 for t lire ad. 
 
 There is at the present time in the employ of the 
 Nottingham house an old man named John Derrick, 
 a silk framework knitter, who made the Queen's stock- 
 ings for her Coronation, and, at the age of eighty-four, 
 made stockings of an absolutely identical description 
 for her Jubilee. During the whole of that long 
 interval an order for the Queen has always been 
 on the books of the establishment. Incidentally, 
 this shows that the work of silk framework knitters 
 is very healthy, even when that work, as in the 
 instance quoted, is of the very finest description ; 
 8iid it is proverbial that workers in this branch of 
 industry are unusually long-lived. There is, however, 
 a comparatively small trade done now in hand-made 
 goods, every year developing the capability of 
 machinery to supersede it.
 
 8 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. I. 
 
 In the course of this narrative we shall have to 
 refer on many occasions to Mr. Eichard Morley and 
 his family, and also to the Nottingham hranch of the 
 business ; hut, in this place, we will anticipate the 
 history. In 1835, on the occasion of the first elec- 
 tion under the Municipal Corporation Act, Mr. 
 Eichard Morley was elected a member of the Town 
 Council for St. Mary's Ward ; in 1836, he was made 
 a magistrate, and in that same year, and again in 
 1841, he held the ofiBce of Mayor. He died in 1855, 
 in the eightieth year of his age, and three years after 
 the death of his wife. He left five sons, three of 
 whom, Benjamin, James, and Arthur, took their 
 share in their father's business, but within five years 
 of his death two of them had passed away. Now 
 the Eichard Morley family, at one time the most 
 influential in Sneinton, and one of the best known 
 in Nottingham, has become extinct, no son or 
 grandson being left to perpetuate it. The Morley 
 pew remains in the restored parish church ; the 
 Morley graves exist in the churchyard ; but the old 
 Manor House is in the possession of strangers, and 
 the Morley name a memory. 
 
 When John Morley left Sneinton and came to 
 London to found a business, leaving his brother 
 Eichard in charge at Nottingham, he was by no 
 means a wealthy man. But he had a strong consti- 
 tution, an unsullied character, a good reputation, a 
 cultivated mind, and withal that peculiar faculty 
 which marks a man out as "a splendid man of
 
 1809—1825.] "J. AND JR. MOELEY." 9 
 
 business." Prudence led him to take one step at a 
 time in commencing his new enterprise, and each 
 step was a wise one. Content with smah beginnings, 
 he engaged part of a house in Bussia Bow, Milk 
 Street, Cheapside, immediately opposite to the spot 
 where, until quite recently, stood the City of London 
 School. Instead of setting up a large domestic 
 establishment in the suburbs, as many would have 
 done, he lived on the premises ; and when, in course 
 of time, business increased, he moved to larger and 
 better quarters in Wood Street. 
 
 There was never a time in the history of the firm 
 of "I. and B. Morley " when the business was not 
 23rogressive. With the untiring diligence of Bichard 
 Morley in Nottingham in selecting the right kind of 
 material to send to London, and the shrewd common 
 sense and tact of John Morley in introducing it to 
 notice, it was soon evident that the two brothers 
 would command an increasing trade. From the 
 earliest days, hardly a month ever passed that did 
 not see an extension in the business, and conse- 
 quently in the premises, the staff, and the stock. 
 
 When it was demonstrated to a moral certainty 
 that success was ensured, and not till then, John 
 Morley took a house in Homerton, where most of 
 his children were born ; and when, in the course 
 of a few years, the continued prosperity of the busi- 
 ness justified the step, he removed to a much larger 
 house in Well Street, Hackney, where he lived till 
 the end of his long life.
 
 10 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. I. 
 
 It was in the house in Homerton that, on Octo- 
 ber 15, 1809, Samuel Moiiey was born, the last of a 
 family of six children, consisting of three girls and 
 three boys. 
 
 At the commencement of the present century. 
 Hackney — or Hacquenye as it was once styled — was 
 a large village consisting chiefly of four streets — 
 Church Street, Mare (or Meare) Street, Grove 
 Street, and Well Street. These were surrounded by 
 shady roads, nursery grounds, and market gardens, 
 with here and there churches and chapels, hand- 
 some mansions and public philanthropic institu- 
 tions. "In former times," says Dr. Eobinson in his 
 "History and Antiquities of Hackney," "many 
 noblemen, gentlemen, and others of the first rank 
 and consequence, had their country seats in this 
 village on account of its pleasant and healthy situa- 
 tion ; " and the " Ambulator," in 1774, describes the 
 village as large and populous, and adds, "it is in- 
 habited by such numbers of merchants and wealth}^ 
 persons that it is said there are near a hundred 
 coaches kept." 
 
 Although there is still an old-fashioned air about 
 some parts of Hackne}^, so rapid has been its growth, 
 and so vast its increase of population, that it is 
 difficult to realize the transformation it has under- 
 gone since Mr. John Morley took up his abode there. 
 
 The house in which he lived still stands. It is a 
 pleasant detached mansion about half-way down 
 Well Street, with two eagles graven in stone on the
 
 1809—1825.] WELL ST BEET, HACKNEY. 11 
 
 pilasters of the gateway, from which the house now" 
 takes its name of " The Eagles." * 
 
 As seen from the road, it is a plain, snhstantial old 
 mansion of twenty rooms ; essentially a cosy, homely 
 house, and its arrangements suggest comfortable 
 family life. Entering the hall, the dining-room is to 
 the left and the drawing-room to the right ; while 
 be3^ond the latter, and overlooking the garden, is a 
 delightful little breakfast-room. It was here that 
 John Morley received the visits of all the leading 
 Nonconformists, who were accustomed to discuss 
 with him the movements of the day. 
 
 The glory of the Well Street house was its garden, 
 occupying nearly three acres of ground. There were 
 noble old trees, and here and there, standing out in 
 relief, a drooping ash or a weeping wych-elm ; and 
 in a shady corner, an old summer-house, thatched 
 with reeds and decorated with devices in hazel w^ood. 
 A thicket of trees, wdtli winding, shady paths, entirely 
 hid the kitchen garden, and led to, what was a curio- 
 sity in that day, a Dutch garden, where, in the 
 early spring, there was ahvays a bright show of 
 crocuses and snowdrops, tulips and hyacinths. On 
 a level with the house stood the conservatory, wiiich 
 in Mr. Morley's time was well filled with camellias 
 — one of his favourite fiowers. 
 
 Although shops and houses, streets and terraces, 
 tramways and omnibus routes now environ what was 
 
 * The house is, at the tiuie of going to press, in process of reeoiistruclion 
 for the " Hackney Eeform Ch;b."
 
 12 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. I. 
 
 once the country lionse of John Morley, the garden 
 is still heantiful and secluded. Blackbirds and 
 thrushes build in the trees and sing among the 
 branches, and are as tame as the pigeons in the 
 Piazza San Marco at Venice. 
 
 When Samuel was a boy, the business had reached 
 an established position, and his parents were in 
 possession of a comparatively good fortune. So that, 
 from his earliest years, he was familiar with the 
 associations of wealth. 
 
 He had three sisters, Sarah, Mary, and Elizabeth, 
 and two brothers, John and William, with little 
 disparity between their ages, the whole family of six 
 having been born within the years 1802 and 1809. 
 
 No childhood could have been happier than his. 
 His mother — a daughter of Mr. E. Poulton, of 
 Maidenhead — was a woman of character, of sweet 
 and tender disposition, of intense affection, and of 
 beautiful, unpretentious piety. His father was a 
 man universally beloved, whose name stood well in 
 the city, who was respected in a wide circle of 
 religious and philanthropic workers ; in London, one 
 of the best-known Nonconformist laymen, and in 
 his own home, always bright and genial. 
 
 When Samuel was about seven years of age he 
 was sent, with his brother William, to a boarding- 
 school at Melbourn, in Cambridgeshire, where their 
 brother John was already a pupil. It was a Noncon- 
 formist school, conducted by Mr. Carver, a Congre- 
 gational minister, who preached in the village chapel,
 
 1809—1825.] SCHOOL LIFE. 13 
 
 where the attendance of his pupils was compulsory. 
 Many sons of well-known Nonconformists were 
 among the ninety scholars whom Samuel found 
 there ; and whenever any well-known minister — 
 such as the Eev. John Clayton, of the Poultry Chapel 
 — visited the school, he would be acquainted with 
 the families of half Mr. Carver's boys. 
 
 It was an excellent school in every respect ; the 
 best of its kind in the country. Mr. Carver prided 
 himself upon being able to turn out gentlemen as 
 well as scholars, and spared no pains to train the 
 boys in good and useful habits ; while his son, Mr. 
 William Carver, who assisted him, was a successful 
 classical tutor. 
 
 There are not many incidents to relate of Samuel's 
 school life. He was a bright, lively boy, full of 
 fun, and on good terms with everybody, especially 
 with one of the masters, who took a great fancy 
 to him, and treated him Avith exceptional kind- 
 ness. It is the testimony of all who knew him in his 
 young days, that while he was light-hearted and 
 high-spirited as a boy could be, with a keen relish for 
 a little harmless mischief or a practical joke, he was 
 singularly straightforward, honest, and truthful ; and 
 that, without being in the least degree priggish, he 
 was always to be found on the side of the pure and 
 the good — which is more than can be said for the 
 majority of schoolboys. 
 
 On leaving Mel bo urn, Samuel was sent to Mr. 
 BuUer's school at Southampton, where he made fair
 
 14 SAMUEL MOBLET. [Chap. I. 
 
 progress, was a great favourite with liis masters, 
 and gained the honourahle distinction of being an 
 orderly and well-conducted scholar, who conformed 
 to the rules and customs of the school, and never 
 flinched fi'om work. It is on record that his masters 
 predicted " he would either he a minister of the 
 gospel or a Member of Parliament ! " As a matter 
 of fact he became both, although never an " ordained " 
 minister. 
 
 Samuel was by no means a "serious" boy: he 
 had no precocious piety. But he had a high sense 
 of what was a boy's duty; he was never known 
 to be idle ; what he did he did thoroughly ; and, 
 aware that as soon as he left school he would 
 have to go into the business at Wood Street, as 
 his brother John had done before him, and that 
 there would be few chances then of continuing his 
 studies, he applied himself to his school work reso- 
 lutely, and made the best use of his opportunities. 
 At the same time he was every inch a boy, and 
 threw himself heart and soul into all wholesome 
 sports. He could handle a bat, throw a ball, run, 
 jump, wrestle, or hold his own at football or in a 
 bolster light with any boy in the school. 
 
 In many things the boy was father to the man. 
 He was earnest in what he did. If he raced, he 
 raced as for his life ; and if he took his place in a 
 tug of war, he pulled as if success or failure depended 
 upon himself alone. 
 
 His holidays were always spent at Hackney, except
 
 1809—1825.] HOME INFLUENCES. 15 
 
 when an occasional visit was made with, liis family to 
 the seaside. And happy holidays they were. There 
 was the grand old garden, and the large paddock with 
 a pony to ride, and the companionship of brothers 
 and sisters, and every encouragement from his parents 
 to indulge in all healthy and manly recreation. 
 
 Samuel loved his father and mother passionately, 
 loved the home influences, and never associated the 
 least notion of constraint with the family roof. It 
 would be hard to say which exercised the greater 
 influence over him, his father or his mother. In 
 after life he used often to say, " I am what my 
 mother made me ; " at the same time his father's 
 influence was a most important factor in the forma- 
 tion of his character ; and no one who knew him can 
 forget his constant reference to his father's opinions 
 and sayings in such words as these, with which he 
 would often commence or finish a sentence : "As 
 my dear father used to say." 
 
 The Kev. Thomas Binney — of whom we shall have 
 more to tell hereafter — once said (and it is more than 
 probable that he had Samuel Morley's mother in his 
 mind's eye when he said it, for she was one of his 
 *' ideal women ") : " It is of vast advantage to be born 
 ■of healthy and virtuous parents ; it is a further advan- 
 tage to be the children of those whose intellect has 
 been thoroughly disciplined and developed ; and 
 further still to be surrounded in infancy and early 
 childhood with sucli guiding and elevating home 
 influences as tend to inspire pure tastes and high
 
 IG SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. I. 
 
 aspirations, and to create or strengthen repngnance 
 to whatever is low, sensual, or false ; and, last of all, 
 it is a blessing and an advantage, utterly incalculable, 
 to have for a mother a woman of sense, superiority, 
 and goodness, with force of character, with talents 
 and cleverness ; of solid information, with tact, 
 temper, patience, and skill, fitted to train and mould 
 the mind, to implant principles and awaken a lofty 
 and laudable ambition : and all this presided over and 
 purified by religious faith, deep piety, and earnest 
 devotion. These are the mothers that the church 
 and the world alike want." 
 
 Such a mother had Samuel Morley ; and as was 
 the mother, so was the father. He was, as we 
 have seen, a man of unblemished character, of culti- 
 vated mind," intensely in sympathy with everything 
 that interested his children, and never weary in his 
 endeavours to make home the most attractive place 
 in the world to them. 
 
 The foundation of the home was laid in love — love 
 to God, love to man, and love to one another. The 
 influence of the parents was all-prevailing. They 
 instilled into the minds of their children high prin- 
 ciples ; they set before them, in all things, good 
 examples, and they directed their studies, their 
 amusements, and their very thoughts. One who 
 knew what that home was like * writes : " I always 
 love what is said about his (Samuel Morley's) early 
 home, and thank God that I remember it — before tlie 
 
 * Mrs. Kalley, daughter of Samuel Morley's eldest sister, Mrs. "Wilson.
 
 1809—1825.] GOES TO BUSINESS. 17 
 
 old house at Hackney was altered, and while all 
 lived together there. Though it is a child's memory, 
 it is very sweet. Surely there never were such roses 
 as in the ' long walk ' of the old garden — nor such 
 an atmosphere of warm genial love as in the old 
 home where father and mother were really and 
 manifestly the enthroned king and queen." 
 
 The piety of the home was very beautiful. In the 
 creed of the parents there was none of the cold, hard, 
 dry theology which was unfortunately so rife in those 
 days. The children were taught to look upon God 
 as their heavenly Father, in whose love they might 
 rest with perfect confidence. God was " speaking 
 unto them as unto children." 
 
 Thus they grew up into the belief that He was in 
 their home as really as their earthly father was, and 
 so it came to pass that very early in life their hearts 
 inclined towards Him. 
 
 At the age of sixteen, Samuel Morley, having made 
 satisfactory progress in his studies, and given promise 
 of distinction in private life, left school and went 
 straight into his father's business in Wood Street.
 
 CHAP TEE II. 
 
 1825—1832. 
 
 Goes to Business— Wood Street—" Poor Susan " — Home Attractions— Mr. John 
 Morley, Senior — A Nonconformist and a Liberal — Musical Evenings — Early 
 Habits — Dr. John Pye Smith — Eev. John Clayton — Dr. Burder — Eev. James 
 Parsons — A Memorable Sunday. 
 
 There was nothing more natural than that Samuel 
 Morley should wish to follow in his father's prosperous 
 footsteps. At a very early age he had shown business 
 capacity, and, as Mr. John Morley thought that 
 young men not designed for professions had better 
 finish their education in the school of experience, 
 Samuel, soon after he had turned sixteen, made his 
 start in Wood Street. 
 
 Everybody who knows the City of London knows 
 Wood Street. At the Cheapside end of it, there 
 stands a venerable and beautiful plane-tree, marking 
 the site of the Church of St. Peter in Chepe, de- 
 stroyed in the great fire of 1666. The houses adjacent 
 are only two storeys high, the terms of their leases 
 forbidding the erection of an additional storey, lest 
 injury should be done to the tree. 
 
 ' When Samuel first went to Wood Street there were 
 rooks in its branches, and as late as 1845 they built
 
 1825—1832.] WOOD STBEET. 19 
 
 two fresh nests, one of which remained for a long- 
 time after the birds had retired from city hfe, and 
 resigned their vested interests in the tree to pert 
 sparrows. Not long before Samuel Morley went 
 there, Wordsworth had immortalized Wood Street and 
 its famous tree in his charming little poem, " The 
 Eeverie of Poor Susan." It runs thus : — 
 
 At the corner of Wood Street, when dayhght appears, 
 There's a thrush that sings loud, it has sung for three years ; 
 Poor Susan has passed by the spot, and has heard 
 In the silence of morning the song of the bird. 
 
 'Tis a note of enchantment ; what ails her ? She sees 
 A mountain ascending, a vision of trees ; 
 Bright volumes of vapour through Lothbury glide. 
 And a river flows on through the vale of Cheapside. 
 
 Green pastures she views in the midst of the dale 
 Down which she so often has tripped with her pail ; 
 And a single small cottage, a nest like a dove's, 
 The only one dwelhng on earth that she loves. 
 
 She looks, and her heart is in heaven ; but they fade, 
 The mist and the river, the hill and the shade ; 
 The stream will not flow, and the hill will not rise, 
 And the colours have all passed away from her eyes. 
 
 Had Samuel been a youth of a less practical 
 turn of mind there were plenty of associations in 
 Wood Street to have fired his fancy. Traditions 
 gather round it thick as blackberries : one tells of the 
 head of James lY. of Scotland, who fell at Flodden, 
 having been buried in the Church of St. Michael,
 
 20 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. IT. 
 
 which was rebuilt by Wren after the fire ; and another, 
 that Athelstane, the victorious Saxon king, had his 
 palace at the end of the street. 
 
 But Samuel w^as not imaginative, and when he took 
 his seat at a desk on the first floor of the limited 
 Wood Street premises, opposite to his brother John, 
 who had already been some years in the business, he 
 only saw the work immediately before him, and at 
 once addressed himself to its performance. He went 
 straight into the counting-house, and in the counting- 
 house he remained for seven years. 
 
 We do not propose', in this place, to follow minutely 
 the daily routine of those seven years, but rather to 
 trace such other influences as, at this important 
 period of his life, w^ere tending to the formation of 
 his character. 
 
 After Samuel had started in business life, he did not 
 continue his studies systematically. There was not 
 much opportunity for that. He was in the habit of 
 w^alking with his father from Hackney, and arriving 
 at Wood Street soon after nine. In a very short 
 time he made himself so useful that his services 
 were required until seven o'clock in the evening or 
 later, according to circumstances. He and his 
 brother dined with their father on the premises, 
 and, when the day's work was done, they would 
 make their way, as fast as they could, back to their 
 rural home. 
 
 This home, as we know, had for all of them the 
 greatest possible attractions ; none of the family ever
 
 1825—1832.] HOME LIFE AND OPINION. 21 
 
 cared to seek their amusements or their society 
 elsewhere. There was a spirit of playfulness and 
 cheerfulness in their own circle that was especially 
 refreshing to those who had heen engaged all day in 
 husiness. 
 
 Mr. Morley shared in the amusements of his chil- 
 dren, and never felt it to he beneath his dignity to 
 romp with them, if romping happened to he the mood 
 of the hour. His strongest role, however, was that 
 of president of the tea-table, when his conversa- 
 tional powers, which were great, showed to the best 
 advantage. There was much to exercise them, for he 
 took a deep interest in the times in which he lived — 
 and stirring times they were. He was a keen poli- 
 tician, and a great friend of Joseph Hume ; he worked 
 hard for the return of Liberal Members for the City 
 of London and Nottingham, and was Chairman and 
 Manager of the London Committee of the Notting- 
 ham Liberal Association. He was also actively 
 engaged in much religious and ^philanthropic work, in 
 which the sympathies of his children were heartily 
 enlisted. There was a manliness in his speech and 
 action, as well as great sweetness of disposition, that 
 won the admiration of all with whom he was asso- 
 ciated ; and, although at the tea-table conferences he 
 always expressed his own opinions with great explicit- 
 ness, he was never dogmatic. 
 
 A thoroughgoing Liberal and an out-and-out Non- 
 conformist, he never urged the adoption of his own 
 views by his children. On the contrary, he would
 
 22 _ SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. II, 
 
 often say to them : "I will tell yon wliy I am a 
 Nonconformist and why I am a Liberal, and, if yon 
 think I am right, yon can be as I am and do as I do, 
 bnt yon are perfectly free to form yonr o'wn conclu- 
 sions." With this spirit prevalent, it was possible to 
 discuss freely the pohtical and religious questions of 
 the day, and many an evening in Well Street was 
 thus enlivened. 
 
 From his boyhood, Samuel had a taste for music, 
 and there was nothing that made him hasten home 
 from business more quickly than the prospect of 
 getting a good long evening for practice. He, with 
 his brothers and two sisters, used to sing quartettes 
 and glees, and, his sisters being proficient at the piano, 
 he loved to hear them play. Bnt the "maintop 
 gallant glory" — as Tom Hood used to call a crowning 
 pleasure — of those musical evenings Avas when he, on 
 the violin, and his two brothers on the flute, would 
 discourse sweet music to the accompaniment of the 
 piano. The music at those chamber concerts was 
 not perhaps of the highest type. It culminated in 
 "Home, Sweet Home" and the National Anthem, 
 with, occasionally, the introduction of variations that 
 did not appear in the score, and were never contem- 
 plated by the composers ; but those evenings were 
 very pleasant, and they helped to form a taste which, 
 in the pressure of Samuel Morley's later years, often 
 beguiled him into rest, and caused him to speak 
 with much feeling of what he owed to his sisters' 
 sympathy in his love of music.
 
 1825—1832.] EABLY HABITS. 23 
 
 Even in these days of liis youth, Samuel had de- 
 veloped some of those characteristics which were to 
 distinguish him in after life. He was very methodical 
 in his hahits, and "had a place for everything, and 
 everything in its place." 
 
 He recognized the value of time, and every hour 
 had its prearranged occupation. If he had made an 
 appointment, he would keep it as the clock struck 
 the hour, and he was inclined to be a Uttle severe 
 upon those who were slothful or neglectful of the 
 ordinary engagements and duties of life. He gives 
 a glimpse into this phase of his character in a letter 
 he wrote to a friend in 1882 : " I was accustomed 
 when a boy," he says (and no doubt the narration 
 was intended to convey a hint to his correspondent), 
 '''■ to paste into my books a paper on which were the 
 words you will find on the other side." 
 
 The words were those time-honoured lines with 
 which the grandfathers of this generation were 
 familiar : — 
 
 This book belongs to Samuel Morlej'. 
 
 If thou art borrowed by a friend 
 
 Right welcome shall he be 
 To read, to study, not to lend, 
 
 But to return to me ; 
 Not that imparted knowledge doth 
 
 Diminish learning's store, 
 But books, I find, if often lent 
 Eeturn to me no more. 
 Bead slowly, pause frequently, return duly, with the corners of the leaves 
 Bot turned down. 
 
 But if Samuel developed these minor characteristics
 
 24 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. IL 
 
 in early life, mach more did he also exhibit those 
 higher traits which marked his future career. There 
 was never a time in his life when he did not take 
 a profound interest in religious and philanthropic 
 subjects. The pure bracing atmosphere of healthy 
 piety in his home had its effect. He had drunk in 
 good impressions and moral influences with every 
 breath, and his intellectual and spiritual life grew as 
 steadily and as surely as his physical life. 
 
 In describing the house in Well Street, we have 
 stated that there was one room where " the leaders of 
 Nonconformity were wont to meet." Mr. and Mrs. 
 Morley were celebrated for their hospitality, and 
 among their visitors were all the prominent men of 
 the day belonging to Nonconformist circles, where 
 Mr. Morley exercised, perhaps, a greater influence than 
 any other layman of his time. It is difficult to know 
 where to begin in an attempt to enumerate these 
 visitors, and it will be safest, perhaps, to confine 
 ourselves to the most intimate, whose society, in 
 greater or less degree, assisted in moulding Samuel's 
 character. 
 
 The ministry of the learned Dr. John Pye Smith, 
 the pastor of a church at the Gravel Pits, between 
 Hackney and Homerton, was the flrst which Samuel 
 Morley attended. Dr. Pye Smith was classical tutor 
 at the Homerton Theological Academy, and after- 
 wards divinity tutor in the same Institution. He 
 was eminent as a Hebrew and Greek scholar, and was 
 familiar with every branch of German theological
 
 1825—1832.] THE CLAYTONS. 25 
 
 literature ; he was a devotee of science, especially of 
 geology ; and, at a time wlien it was considered 
 heterodox to question the length of the days of 
 creation and the universality of the flood, he fear- 
 lessly expressed his views in a work on " The Mosaic 
 Account of the Creation and the Deluge," and another 
 on the " Relation hetween the Holy Scriptures and 
 some parts of Geological Science." He did not con- 
 fine his literary labours to scientific matters, however, 
 and his great works were on theological subjects, 
 especially " The Scripture Testimony to the Messiah," 
 a work of great erudition, from which Dr. Liddon has 
 largely quoted in his Bampton Lectures. 
 
 Mr. Morley was treasurer of Homerton College, 
 where Dr. Pye Smith was tutor, and he was also a 
 member of Dr. Pye Smith's church — and these cir- 
 cumstances, apart from other considerations, formed 
 a bond of intimacy. 
 
 Another frequent visitor at Well Street was the 
 Rev. John Clayton the elder, for many years the 
 pastor at the King's Weigh House, in Eastcheap, 
 whose ministry Mr. Morley occasionally attended. 
 
 Old John Clayton was an influential man in his 
 day, and so were his sons John and George, who both 
 took a leading position as Independent ministers, one 
 in the Poultry, and the other in Walworth — of whom 
 the sire was wont quaintly to say that "one had 
 the best stock of goods, and the other the best shop 
 window." 
 
 Samuel Morley's sister Sarah, of whom he some-
 
 2G SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. II, 
 
 times spoke as " liis wonderful sister," inasmucli as 
 she liad tlie art of endearing herself to everyhody, 
 and of being almost ubiquitous in her errands of kind- 
 ness and affection to all who had need, was a member 
 of old John Clayton's church, and was so great a 
 favourite with him that it w^as understood in the 
 household that, although his visits were ostensibly 
 to Mr. Morley, they were really paid to her. Never- 
 theless, all felt it was good to be brought into contact 
 with such a man — a model of gentlemanly deport- 
 ment, a master of ornate sentences, and a pattern of 
 conventional propriety. 
 
 At the time that Mr. and Mrs. Morley used to 
 attend his ministry, there was an apprentice in the 
 Wood Street business who also joined the church 
 at the Weigh House, and was in the habit of 
 accompanying them to the services. That young 
 man was Henry Forster Burder (son of the Eev. 
 George Burder, author of the once well-known 
 " Village Sermons "), who, after leaving Wood Street, 
 became a student at Hoxton College, took his degree 
 of M.A., became one of the tutors at Wymondley, and 
 eventually succeeded the Eev. Samuel Palmer in the 
 pastorate of St. Thomas's Square Chapel, Hackney. 
 
 It was then that Mr. Morley left Dr. Tje Smith's 
 chapel, and not only attended the ministry of his 
 former apprentice, but became one of his deacons. 
 In a short time. Dr. Burder raised his congregation 
 from insignificance until it became one of the largest 
 and most influential in the north of London.
 
 1825—1832.] JAMES PARSONS, OF YORK. 27 
 
 Samuel Morley became a constant attendant, and 
 interested himself in many matters connected with 
 the chm-ch. But, although Dr. Bm'der was a very 
 refined as well as a scholarly man, and although 
 Samuel Morley enjoyed his society as a frequent 
 visitor at Well Street, he could not hut regard him 
 as a very dry preacher, and longed for the time when 
 he might find a man after his own heart. 
 
 That time soon came. There was one visitor to 
 Mr. Morley's house whose arrival was always greeted 
 by every member of the family with delight, and 
 by none more than by Samuel — the Eev. James 
 Parsons, of York. He was the most popular 
 preacher of the day, and was regarded as the " chief 
 representative of the oratory of Index^endency. ' ' There 
 was a constant demand for his services in London, and 
 whenever he visited the metropolis he always made 
 the Well Street house his home. Samuel loved to 
 be in the company of this celebrated preacher, who 
 carried sunshine with him wherever he went, and 
 would never miss an hour of his society, if he could help 
 it, while he was in the house. And not then only ; he 
 would accompany him to the Surrey Chapel, the King's 
 Weigh House, the old Tabernacle in Moorfields, 
 Tottenham Court Eoad Chapel, or wherever he was 
 about to preach, and would listen spell-bound to his 
 powerful appeals. The popularity of Mr. Parsons 
 was extraordinary: "About the year 1828, congrega- 
 tions willingly waited for an hour beforehand to hear 
 the tall, slim preacher open his lips. By sounds
 
 28 SAMUEL MOB LEY. [Chap. II. 
 
 whicli at first scarcely rose above a whisper, he 
 caught attention and inspired curiosity, his audience 
 being convinced that something would presently 
 come worth hearing : people would sit in breathless 
 silence, panting for the end of sentences, which they 
 caught gradually with more and more distinctness, 
 until a pause in the shrill, clear voice gave them an 
 opportunity to relieve themselves by a slight cough 
 or a change of posture. Then, by a fresh effort, 
 every face would be turned towards him, and, with 
 a hand behind the ear, many a one would drink in 
 the inspiration of his arguments and appeals. Over 
 and above the interest of the truths he uttered, the 
 force of his imagination, and the felicity of his dic- 
 tion, there went forth from him a sort of mesmeiic 
 influence — a kind of electric shock, which, as an old 
 friend told me, made him feel as if he must grasp the 
 pew with all his might to prevent being carried away 
 by such a storm of eloquence. The earnestness of 
 his appeals was such as to make one think them 
 irresistible, only that ' the great refusal ' — if I may 
 use Dante's words in reference to another subject — is 
 so common amongst men when they hear Heaven's 
 message of mercy. His exquisite facetiousness led 
 captive many a company, and one wondered some- 
 times how he could pass as he did from grave to gay: 
 yet, looking into the depths of human nature, we see 
 how opposite qualities are connected, how indeed one 
 involves another." * 
 
 - " Eeligiou in England." By Dr. Stougliton.
 
 1825—1832.] A PRINCE OF TALKERS. 29 
 
 It was not ill the pulpit only that the power of 
 James Parsons was felt. He was a prince of talkers, 
 with a fund of sparkling wit and humour that burst 
 forth in the most unexpected ways and places ; and 
 many a time the house in Well Street has rung with 
 laughter as he has related, with exquisite drollery, 
 anecdotes in connection with his own experiences. 
 This genial pleasantry, which shone through all his 
 conversation in social life, was only one side of the 
 man, but it was a side that was especially attractive 
 to Samuel Moiiey, who, from boyhood to old age, 
 heartily enjoyed a good, humorous, laughter-moving 
 story. 
 
 This was not, however, the tie that bound him to 
 James Parsons ; he loved the character of the man ; 
 he saw in him one who, whatever he took in hand, 
 grasped it ; he saw a man who was not a mere pro- 
 fessional preacher, but intensely in earnest, to whom 
 religion was a reality, absorbing his whole heart and 
 his whole mind; a pioneer of a better order of things 
 than the dull, cold, respectable formalism which was 
 sapping the life out of so many of the churches. 
 
 One Sunday morning, Mr. Parsons was preaching 
 in the old Weigh House Chapel, and young Morley, 
 as usual, was among his hearers. What the particular 
 subject of his discourse was there is no record, but 
 that it was upon something essentially practical is 
 certain, for it made an impression on Samuel's mind 
 which was never effaced. There was borne in upon 
 him the thought that if the life he was to lead was to
 
 30 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. II. 
 
 answer its true end, it could only be by the surrender 
 of himself, without reservation, to the pursuit of 
 those things which should bring glory to God, good 
 to man, and real abiding happiness to himself. It was 
 characteristic of him, then and always, to act with 
 promptness; and he said to himself, "If this is to 
 be done, it should be done at once." And, from 
 that day forth, he had a definite plan and ]3urpose 
 in life. 
 
 Keferring to this critical period in the life of 
 Samuel Morley, the Rev. J. C. Harrison, his intimate 
 friend, says : — 
 
 In the case of Mr. Morley there was no sudden or abrupt transition 
 from a life of thoughtlessness and worldly pleasure to one of religious 
 decision. He was, as a j'oung man, fond of his home, devoted to his 
 father and mother, whom he both reverenced and loved, and bent on 
 keeping to the path in which they were anxious to lead him. When I first 
 knew him, though he had not taken his stand as a professedly Christian 
 man, he was evidently swayed by Christian principle, and. had great 
 tenderness of conscience — a strong conviction that he ought to be wholly 
 on the Lord's side. As to the gaieties of society, or fashionable amuse- 
 ments, such as races, theatres, balls, &c., he was either persuaded that 
 they were wrong, and therefore would have nothing to do with them, or 
 he had no taste for them. At any rate, he kept quite aloof from them. 
 He was most regular in his attendance on Divine worship, and listened 
 to the sermons which he heard with interest and discrimination. I 
 believe it was during the first years of my intimacy with him that the 
 ripening process was in a good measure completed, and that he felt 
 constrained to take his place among those who ' wholly followed the 
 Lord.' 
 
 In writing of the ministrations of the Eev. James 
 Parsons, Mr. Harrison continues : —
 
 1825—1832.] A ME MOB ABLE SUNDAY. 31 
 
 Again aucl again did my friend and myself talk over what we had 
 lieard on such occasions. His heart was sometimes fall even to over- 
 ilowing, and he would exi^ress his wonder that any could resist the truth 
 when presented with such power and mtensity. He would take up 
 certain arguments and appeals and repeat them in his own words, as 
 they affected his own mind, and say, ' Oh, Harrison, we ought to yield 
 ourselves more fully to such thoughts as these. We ought to be not 
 almost, but altogether Christians.' It was mainly through Mr. Parsons' 
 influence that he was brought to the open avowal and confession of his 
 faith as a Christian man, though I cannot recall the exact year. I have 
 little doubt that the intensity with which Mr. Parsons pressed home the 
 very sentiments that he had been taught by his parents, burnt them into 
 his heart, and caused him to hold with the utmost tenacity, even to the 
 end, all the leading doctrines of the Evangelical faith. They were in very 
 deed the life of his hfe. 
 
 From that memorable Smiday morning to which 
 we have referred, Samuel Morley's life received a 
 fresh impetus and took a more definite shape ; he 
 became fixed and happy in the persuasion that his 
 enjoyment of the Divine favour was a real and last- 
 ing possession ; and, as long as he lived, he looked 
 back to the helpful ministrations of James Parsons, 
 of York, with gratitude and affection.
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 1832—1835. 
 
 In the Counting-house — Joshua Harrison — Business Characteristics — Early 
 Habits — Principles in Business — Work and Rest — A Summer Tour — In 
 Edinburgh — From Oban to Mull — St. Kilda— Staffa and lona— A Sunday 
 in Glasgow — In the Trossachs — Sir Walter Scott — " One Macnab " — A 
 Scotch Fast — Abbotsford and Dryburgh Abbey. 
 
 "When Samuel Moiiey went into tlie business he took 
 up his position, as we have said, in the counting- 
 house, and there he remained for seven years, his 
 brother John working during the same period in the 
 w^arehouse, and Wilham finding employment in 
 various departments. 
 
 In 1831, tliere entered the business a young man, 
 the son of an Independent minister at Wooburn, in 
 Buckinghamshire, who gave great promise of making 
 his mark. Within a few weeks of his joining, he 
 was called to pass through the bitterest experience 
 that can befall a young man just starting in life — he 
 lost both his father and mother within a fortnight of 
 each other. Mr. and Mrs. Morley showed him 
 almost parental kindness, the three brothers gave 
 him the warmest and profoundest sym]3athy, and 
 there grew up between them the closest intimacy. 
 To Samuel especially his heart went out ; their
 
 1832—1835.] CHABACTEBISTICS. 33 
 
 fiiendship ripened into affection, and tliey became 
 almost as brothers. 
 
 That young man was Joshua Clarkson Harrison, 
 whose praise is in all the churches. 
 
 In response to a request from the present writer 
 for some account of Samuel Moiiey on his introduc- 
 tion to the business in AVood Street, and of his own 
 connection with him there, the Eev. J. C. Harrison 
 writes : — 
 
 I cauuot say exactly at what age lie entered the warehouse. I joined 
 Inm in 1831, when he was nearly twenty-two. He had by that time 
 mastered all the details of the business, and had become a proficient in 
 every department. At that time he was lithe and active in body, quick 
 in his perceptions, and in his movements too, kind and genial in his spirit 
 towards all who were under him, and courteous and gentlemanly in his 
 bearing to the outside world. He had a pleasant face, though not so 
 liaudsome as it became in after life, when his mind and character were 
 more matured. He was a great favourite with both his employes and 
 Jiis customers, for he was singularly frank and open, cordial and even 
 affectionate ; no one suspected him of being insincere, or of keeping back 
 anything which, if revealed, would give a different tone or meaning to 
 what he said. Nevertheless, he was firm in maintaining discipline, very 
 decided in keeping every one he dealt with up to the mark. He would 
 tolerate no in'egularities, and quickly closed the account of those who 
 appeared to him to be untrustworthy. Trickery of all kinds he abhorred, 
 and took the earliest opportunity of shaking off those whom he found to 
 be guilty of it. At the time I entered the establishment it was flourishing, 
 and steadily increasing. Still it was small compared with what it after- 
 wards became. Mr. Morley, his father, the senior partner, was there 
 every day, and, though he took small part in the routine work, was in- 
 valuable as a counsellor, in consequence of the soundness of his judgment, 
 and a remarkable sweetness of disposition which composed all differences. 
 His three sons, John, William, and Samuel, were at their posts with un- 
 varying regularit3\ They worked with as much dihgence as any of their 
 young men, and thereby kept every one up to his duty. In spite of 
 
 4
 
 34 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. III. 
 
 passing breezes short and swift, the brothers were the best of friends, and 
 always acted in concert. 
 
 I was thrown mnch more witli Samuel than with the other two, partly 
 because I was in the sanae department as himself — finance — and partly 
 because, as my handwriting and stjde of expression at that time closely 
 resembled his own, I wrote a great number of letters for him which he 
 merely signed. Beside managing the finances, he had his own depart- 
 ment in the warehouse, and with all that belonged to it he was intimately 
 acquainted. 
 
 But though he held himself in a very special degree responsible for his 
 own department, he kept his eye on every department, and knew the real 
 state of each. Indeed, as it rested with him to be prepared for all pay- 
 ments when they became due, he was obliged to keep himself well 
 informed as to what was doing, and what was needed in every part of the 
 concern. This led him, as years w^ent on and the business rapidly grew, 
 to drop the special superintendence of one particular branch, and to give 
 his strength to the general oversight. I think, indeed, he prided himself 
 on his great skill in finance. He knew how to turn the capital of the firm 
 to the best account, never keeping larger balances than were absolutely 
 needful lying idle, and taking advantage of every favourable change in the 
 money market to gain by his discomits. His father, who was old-fashioned 
 in his notions, and would rather have a quite unnecessary sum lying at 
 rest than be in the least ' short ' on settling days, used at first to beg hiiu 
 to be cautious ; but he soon found that his son knew exactly what he was 
 doing, and was certain not to endanger the credit of the house. 
 
 Besides these more general statements, I may add the following 
 particular remarks : — 
 
 He was remarkable for his diligence. As soon as he arrived in the 
 morning, he was at work, and never flagged till he had finished what he 
 had to do. He was a very rapid, and at the same time a very careful 
 worker, and therefore got through a great deal in the day, with singular 
 accuracy. In every kind of work he was proficient. He wrote a clear 
 and beautiful hand ; he was remarkably quick in calculations, he could 
 tie ixp goods and parcels with any one, and was never above lending a 
 hand if, in any case, additional help was needed^ He knew in a moment 
 if a man was bungling at his work, and would tell him how to do it as it 
 ought to be done. This alone gave him great power ; he was a thorough 
 master of business, and all in the house saw it. 
 
 Then [he would have everything done in the very best style. He
 
 1832— 1835.J EVEB LEARNING. 35 
 
 woiilil not tolerate second-class work. The ledgers, as soon as he niled 
 in the counting-house, became pictures of neatness and beauty of j)en- 
 inanship. Even now I can remember the dismay he felt when, on opening 
 ii ledger, he found that his dear father had, during an hour in which all 
 the clerks chanced to be absent, taken his well-used qiiill pen and posted 
 up several items from the cash book, in a rough-and-ready manner, with 
 a coarse line above and below the results, and a large £ before the pounds. 
 The page was hopelessly disfigured, but I must own that, whenever I 
 happened upon it, I felt a pleasant amusement at the contrast between 
 the old style and the new. The old style closed for ever with those entries. 
 
 Another thing I noticed in him — ^he was quick to see any weak point 
 in the establishment, and equally ready to discover any error or mistake 
 which the assistants might make. It was quite a saying among them, 
 * nothing escapes him,' and with him to see was to rectify. I need not 
 add that I am referring now to the early days when I knew the house, 
 and cannot say to what extent it held good in later years. 
 
 Further : he was ever learning. If he passed through the streets, or 
 called at any other large house, or conversed with men of business, he 
 kept his eyes and ears open. Should he hear of any plans which were in 
 advance of his own, he studied them, and as soon as he had satisfied 
 himself that they were sound, he adopted them. He never was content 
 as long as anything better could be attained. He wished his house, in 
 style and mode of transacting business, to be second to none. 
 
 I believe that he introduced new kinds of goods and created new 
 departments because he saw that the new would feed and strengthen the 
 old ; and that if he did not save his customers the trouble of going else- 
 where for these, they would go elsewhere for the old also ; and thus he 
 would begin to lose ground which he had already won. Still, when a 
 man has great capacity he is seldom without a lai-ge measure of ambition, 
 and, as long as greater success seems possible, he cannot rest till this is 
 attained. I do not supx^ose for a moment that Samuel Morley was an 
 exception to this rule. 
 
 He was naturally generous and open-hearted, and Christian principle 
 made him still more so. He was indeed a strict disciplinarian, and I have 
 heard of some who complained that for only once violating a particular 
 law, they were summarily dismissed; but, as nothing of this kind occurred 
 when I was in the house, I ca?i imagine that the one offence was only an 
 instance of generally unsatisfactory conduct, and was not the whole 
 reason for the dismissal.
 
 36 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. III. 
 
 "Wbeu I was in the lionse there was a great deal of esprit de corps. 
 "We could not bear tlie thought of being left behind in the race. We com- 
 pared the weekly sales with those of corresjiouding weeks in the preceding 
 year, and when they were largely in excess we were full of exultation. 
 We never grudged work, or complained if a rush of business kept us far 
 beyond the usual hour of closing. We did not take as our ruotto, ' As 
 little toil and as much pleasure as possible,' for we felt the greatest 
 pleasure in our toil. I fancy that loyalty to our chiefs had very much to 
 do with this enthusiasm, as well as with the desire to equal or outstrip 
 any other house in the street. 
 
 Had you asked me for reminiscences of ' the house ' rather than of Mr. 
 Samuel Morley, I should have referred to the judgment and high character 
 and assiduous labours of his elder brother, Mr. John Morley, whose 
 counsels and co-operation were main elements in the sxiccess of the 
 business. 
 
 At the expiration of the seven years, that is to 
 say, in the year 1832, a flannel department, under 
 Samuel's management, was added to the business, 
 which had hitherto consisted of hosiery only. But 
 after a comparatively short experience, it was found 
 that his special a^^titude for business could not find 
 its scope in buying, half so well as in managing the 
 accounts, and therefore he returned to the counting- 
 house, where his services were invaluable to his 
 father. 
 
 The sagacity and enterprise of John and Eichard 
 Morley, and the zeal and activity of their sons, were 
 year by year bearing fruit. The business grew and 
 spread itself in all directions ; opportunities arose to 
 take advantage of the changed and more favourable 
 conditions of commerce, and the " House of Morley '^ 
 was fast becoming one of the best-known and most 
 respected in the trade.
 
 1832—1835.] THE MOJRLEYS IN BUSINESS. 37 
 
 The prosperity of the firm was due to the principles 
 upon which the husiness was coucluctecl. Of Mr. 
 Eichard Moiiey's painstaking conscientiousness we 
 have abeady spoken, and when his sons joined him 
 in the manufacturing branch at Nottingham, they 
 accepted the traditions of the house, and continued 
 what their father had begun. So also in the London 
 house, the three sons, John, William, and Samuel, 
 were in complete and thorough harmony with the 
 views of their father and of each other, and im- 
 pressed the stamp of their own characters upon the 
 business. 
 
 They were all men of high principle and inflexible 
 integrity, and those with whom they dealt soon found 
 that no mean or disingenuous action, no trick or 
 artifice, would be tolerated by them. Their word 
 was as good as their bond, and on their credit the 
 whole trade could invariably place unlimited con- 
 fidence. 
 
 Moreover, men knew that Mr. Morley was a " God- 
 fearing " man, and that his sons were like unto him, 
 and, whatever some men may say to the contrary, 
 when this fact is known, and it is known also that 
 practice and profession are equal, it commands re- 
 spect. Men knew that amid all the fluctuations of 
 trade, amid its ever-vaiying temj^tations to falsify 
 goods, to make the worse appear the better article, 
 they would hold fast their integrity. No one ever 
 heard in any trade transaction an untrue word from 
 a Morley ; no one ever feared that an undue ad-
 
 38 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. III. 
 
 vantage would be taken of him in any mercantile 
 arrangement ; no one ever doubted, when he pur- 
 chased h'om that house, either that he had exactly 
 the quality of article it professed to be, or that it was 
 the best of its kind, or that it was value for money. 
 
 Although they were men of consequence in busi- 
 ness, and were making money fast, they did not 
 relax their efforts or relegate to others anything they 
 could do themselves, but worked hard from morning 
 till night. There were periods of relaxation, however, 
 especially for Samuel, who assisted his father in 
 various political and philanthropic matters, to which 
 we shall refer more particularly later on, and when 
 work was slack in the counting-house, he would slip 
 out to put in an appearance at a meeting, either 
 accompanying or representing his father. 
 
 But the great relaxation of the year was the annual 
 summer holiday, when John and Samuel used often 
 to take long walking tours together. Often in after 
 life Samuel would refer to what he gained by these 
 active expeditions as contrasted with the more ener- 
 vating influences of a seaside resort, where most of 
 his friends were then accustomed to take their holi- 
 days. 
 
 Character comes out in travel more than in any- 
 thing else, and in this aspect of him we can let 
 Samuel Morley be his own biographer. He was 
 never in the habit of writing much ; he never kej^t a 
 diary, and never took notes of passing events, or 
 attempted to pose as an essayist — or, if he did, no
 
 1832—1835.] A TOUB IN SCOTLAND. m- 
 
 record of liis efforts have been preserved. But on 
 liis tours lie did, on one or two occasions, jot down 
 wliat lie liad seen and done — rarely what he had 
 thought or heard — in the course of each day. These 
 matter-of-fact journals are highly characteristic, and, 
 without note or comment, we append extracts from 
 one, narrating his experiences during a tour made in 
 the year 1835 : — ■ 
 
 Memoranda of a Tour to the Highlands and Western Islands of 
 Scotland, taken in July, 1835. 
 
 At about half-past nine in the evening of the 1st July, I left Hackney- 
 to go to Blackwall to take my berth on board the Monarch steamship, 
 which was intending to leave very early the following morning for 
 Edinburgh. AVilliam,"''- accompanied by Han-ison,t met me on board from 
 Wood Street, in order to see the vessel and bid me good-bye. . . . 
 
 July 2nd. — . . . Nothing of any moment occurred until we reached 
 the Fearn Islands, when a very thick Scotch mist came on, and we got 
 aground in j)assing through two ledges of rock, and were obliged, as the 
 captain was ignorant of our exact position, to send two men in a boat 
 to find a buoy which the captain knew was somewhere near uf . After 
 some delay this was discovered, and we proceeded slowly till we had 
 passed Holy Island, which is the most difficult part of the whole passage. 
 I was much pleased with the Bass Eock, a large, picturesque rock-island 
 situated near the entrance of the Firth of Forth. It is inhabited only by 
 solan-geese, with which it is nearly covered. The sail up the Firth of 
 Forth, containing as it does several islands, very much iaterested me, 
 but my attention was soon arrested and engrossed by the appearance of 
 Edinburgh standing on its two or three hills. Its appearance is truly 
 striking. ... At Edinburgh I took up my quarters at the Black Bull, 
 where I found Mr. Walter Langton, with whom I had arranged to take 
 this trip into Scotland. . . . 
 
 July 4th, Saturday.— . . . We went to the Parliament House, and 
 
 ■'• His brother. f Now the Eev. Joshua Harrison.
 
 40 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. III. 
 
 foiiml all the courts of law open ; in the large hall I saw Lord'" 
 Jeffery, who is now one of the judges, formerly Lord-Advocate, and 
 a distinguished critic and writer in the Edinburgh Beview. We then 
 Avent to the University, whicli we were surprised to find contains more 
 than 1,700 stiidents. Ascended Calton Hill, and were again delighted 
 with the splendid view. We next proceeded by the High School to the 
 Palace of Holyrood. , . . The inspection of Queen Mary's apartments 
 very much pleased us. There are so many articles, both of furniture and 
 ornament, which without doubt belonged to that unfortunate queen. We 
 returned from Holyrood Palace through the Cannon Gate, a street con- 
 nected with much of the olden time. One of the houses in this street is 
 distinguished as having been the residence of John Knox, and is orna- 
 naented, in one coi'ner of the house, with a representation of the great 
 Reformer in a pulpit. . . . 
 
 Jiily 5th, Glasgow. — I went in the morniug, according to instructions 
 received from C. Trueman, to St. George's Church, where I heard a 
 capital sermon from Dr. Smith ; went again to church in afternoon, 
 where I heard and still more admired Dr. Smith. After church I went 
 in Mr. W. Houldsworth's carriage to Belvedere, his residence, about two 
 miles from Glasgow ; and a very charming place it is, delightfully situated 
 on the banks of the Clyde. ... I dined with them at half-past five — 
 much too late, as I thought, for comfort or convenience. . . . 
 
 July 6th, Monday. — Proceeded down the Clyde to Greenock, . . . 
 then to Campbeltown, in Cantire (a peninsula forming part of Argyle- 
 shire) ; . . . then our course lay across to Larue, in Ireland. . . . 
 
 Jul}' 7th. — We arrived at Oban at about four o'clock. Here we landed, 
 and were allowed half an hour, Avhich we occupied in goiug to see the 
 ruins of Dunolly Castle, which are situated on a commanding eminence 
 on the north side of the bay, and we found ourselves amply repaid by the 
 prospect it afforded. I had by this time become in some degree 
 acquainted with my fellow-x^assengers, and found them, almost without 
 exception, very pleasant and very respectable. This opinion was con- 
 firmed by the increased acquaintance of six days. ... At Oban we 
 received a pleasing addition to our party in the persons of Mark Stewart, 
 Esq., his wife, and Mrs. Stewart's two sisters. His estate is in Dumfries- 
 shire, but he has taken, for the summer, a place called Oakfield, delightfully 
 
 * The courtesy title of Scotch judges. He had been appointed to his 
 judgeship in the previous year.
 
 1832—1835.] AT SEA. 41 
 
 Bituated at Locbgilplieatl. . . . "We had previously had only four ladies ; 
 the present addition to the number was therefore peculiarly agreeable. 
 After leaving Oban, we proceeded by the Island of Lismore, and through 
 the Sound of Mull, to Tobermorj-. in the Isle of Mull. The scenery from 
 Oban to IMull is extremely fine, and I was much delighted to trace the 
 accuracy of Sir Walter Scott's description of this scenery in his ' Lord of 
 the Islos,' one or two scenes in which poem are laid at Ardtornish 
 Castle, in the district called Morveru, opposite Mull. . . . "When we 
 awoke on the morning of July 8th, found that we were rapidly approach- 
 ing the Sound of Harris, the navigation of which is extremely dangerous, 
 owing to the number of rocks. It is necessary to take a pilot, which we 
 did when we reached the Island of Harris. . . . "We soon became 
 familiar with the names of most of the islands, so that we recognized 
 them on our return. This was a day long to be remembered. When we 
 had passed through the Sound of Harris, we found ourselves in the wide 
 Atlantic, without an island to break the force of the waves, which came 
 i'olling on in fearful rapidity and overwhelming force. To add to our difli- 
 culty, the wind set in dead agaiust us, which impeded our progress so much 
 that we made only six knots per hour. I certainly never saw such a sea. It 
 is needless to say it soon made me feel rather queer, and ultimately, for 
 the space of half an hour, caused me to remam quite in the vicinity of 
 the side of the vessel. This mortified me a great deal, as I had fancied 
 befoi-e this that I was somewhat of a sailor. However, there were 
 probably not more than half a dozen of the passengers who were not 
 similarly affected. In consequence of the oj)position of the wind, we did 
 iiot reach St. Kilda till half-past eight o'clock at night, instead of eleven 
 o'clock in the morning, as was expected. . . . The passengers soon began 
 to distribute various articles which they had brought with them— children's 
 clothing, &c., &c. The language of the natives (Gaelic) was, of course, 
 quite unintelligible to me, but I was sorry to see how avariciously they 
 looked for money or presents, and in the sale of sundry brooches, &c., 
 which they had about them, they made exevy attempt to get as high a 
 price as jiossible. They live in miserable mud huts, surrounded by every 
 kind of filth. They seem to have no idea of cleanliness. I must say I 
 was much pleased to have had an opportunity of witnessing the mode of 
 life of this half-savage peoj)le, and I left the island astonished at the 
 devotion to a good work which could enable Mr. Mackenzie, the minister, 
 to make the sacrifice he does, and I trust also with a feeling of gratitude 
 that my lot is not the same as theirs. . . .
 
 42 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. III. 
 
 July 9tli, Tliursday. — In consequence of the winds and waves being 
 against us, ... it was determined that we should make for the Island of 
 Canna, a small island which lies about fifteen miles to the south-west 
 of Skye. It contains a capital harbour, and it was thought advisable 
 that we should lie by for the night and proceed next morning. At Canna, 
 . . . perambulated the island, and found the inhabitants much more 
 civilized than those of St. Kilda. They live in somewhat similar houses, 
 but they are much cleaner and better arranged, and we were, on the 
 whole, much j)leased with their behaviour, forming quite a contrast to the 
 others. "We saw here also Mr. Maclean, Laird of Canna, who to great 
 poA'erty adds all the pride of a lord. . . . Just before our return to the 
 boat, two or three of us witnessed some of the natives dancing, in which 
 amusement we also joined with them. . . , 
 
 July 10th, Friday. — We were called at half-past four, having arrived at 
 the Cuchullin Hills in Skye. "We were soon ready to land, and, although 
 a considerable quantity of rain fell while we were on shore, still the 
 ladies of our party did not flinch in the least, but were equal to the best 
 of us. It is quite impossible to do justice to this truly magnificent scenery. 
 For my own part, instead of the two hours we were allowed, I should have 
 been glad to have roamed about these hills for two days. "We next pro- 
 ceeded to Loch Staftin, in which is situated the Spar Cave. . . . We 
 found the landing dif&cult, and were obliged to be carried ashore, which 
 occasioned a good deal of merriment. We were amused, though annoyed 
 at the time, by the attempt at extortion made by the boatmen who 
 came to land us. . . . The walls of the cavern are covered with the 
 most elegant incrustations, and its roof with sparry icicles. There is a 
 large basin of water at the bottom. The scenery in the neighbour- 
 hood of this cave is in the highest degree subhme. . . . Arrived at 
 Staffa, we walked round to the far-famed Fingal's Cave. It far sur- 
 passed any idea I had ever formed of it. . . . At lona, distant 
 about six miles, we were unable, in consequence of the crowd 
 and the chattering of two troublesome, empty - headed guides, to 
 enjoy the scene so much as we should alone and with plenty of time. 
 . . . Thus closed one of the most interesting days in my life, a day in 
 which the weather had been very fine, the company well pleased with 
 each other and with all they saw, and such an impression was made on 
 my mind as I think will never be effaced. On leaving lona, we pro- 
 ceeded along the east coast of Colonsay, through the Sound of Islay to 
 the Giant's Causeway. . . .
 
 1832-1835.] A SCOTCH FAST. 43 
 
 Jul}' lltli, Satiu'day. — Ou leaving Glenarm we proceeded direct to 
 Cami)l)eltown, in Cautire. . . . The harbour is capital, but I saw nothing 
 in the town to interest me exce^^t a stone cross from loua, in a state 
 of excellent preservation. Ou leaving Campbeltown, it was proposed and 
 carried that, as on the first day of our excursion we had dined together, 
 so on this the last day we should do so also. This was accordingly done, 
 and much we all enjoyed it. There seemed to be but one feeliug of 
 regret, that we should be obliged to part so soon, just as we were beginning 
 to know, and I may say to like, each other. I am sure I had met two or 
 three, in intercourse with whom I had experienced very much pleasm-e. 
 Three had given me their cards, making me promise to call on them in 
 Glasgow on my return from the north, and another, Mr. Paul Baillie, of 
 Glasgow, gave me his card in order that I might enjoy a day's shooting 
 or fishing at the house of his brother-in-law in the Braes of Balquhidder, 
 between Killin and Loch Earnhead. The reflection could not but force 
 itself on the minds of all, and indeed was given utterance to, that the 
 same party could hardlj- ever hope to meet again in this world, and it 
 !.eemed to throw an additional degree of warmth into the last hour of 
 our social and friendly intercourse. AVe proceeded from Campbeltown, 
 through the beautiful Kyles of Bute, to Eothsay, where we lost several 
 passengers, and amongst them the three ladies of Mr. Stewart's party, 
 and we then proceeded dnect to Greenock. 
 
 July 12th, Sunday, Glasgow. — . . . Took a walk to the cathedral, which 
 is a fine large building in which there are two services jJerformed at the 
 same time. Formerly there were three services performed at the same 
 time, but one has been discontinued since the building of a new church 
 in the neighbourhood. We then strolled for half an hour in the new 
 cemetery, which has been very tastefully laid out on a hill near the 
 cathedral, on the top of which is a monument to John Knox, the great 
 Scotch Reformer. . . . We went in the afternoon to hear Dr. Wardlaw, 
 the subject of whose sermon was the fast day appointed by the Church of 
 Scotland, and was appointed to be held on Thursday, July 3()th, ou 
 account of the depressed state of the church. The doctor was strongly 
 opposed to the observance of a fast appointed by a church from which he 
 conscientiously dissented, and, while he expressed a strong desire that 
 all his congregation should take the same view of the question as him- 
 self, he wished it to be the result of their own deliberate consideration of 
 the subject, and he particularly impressed on his hearers the extreme 
 desirableness and importance, provided they were of the same opinion as
 
 44 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. III. 
 
 himself, of guarding against the doing anything which might have 
 the appearance of a marked objection to the observance of the day. I 
 was much pleased with the sermon, and must confess I quite acquiesced 
 in all the objections stated by the learned doctor. . . . 
 
 From Glasgow, the traveller proceeded to Locli 
 Lomoud ''witli all its immense assemblage of 
 magnificent mountains," and expressed himself as 
 "perfectly enchanted — and that nothing he had seen 
 in Scotland or in England surpassed it." At Tarbet 
 he again fell in with companions. 
 
 July 14th, Tuesday. — A gentleman, who proved to he a Cambridge man 
 studying for the church, who was travelling with his sister, and who had 
 determined, as I had done yesterday, to defer his trip to Loch Katrine 
 till to-day, proposed that I should join them, and that we should all go 
 together, to which proposition I most cheerfully assented, and found them 
 very agreeable companions. . . . We went to Rob Eoy's Cave, a dismal 
 place, the retreat of the notorious outlaw, and the hiding-place of the 
 illustrious Bruce after a battle in which he suffered defeat. . . . 
 Reached Loch Katrine and engaged a boat for ten shiUiugs to take us to 
 the Trossachs. I was now approaching the classic ground of the ' Lady 
 of the Lake,' and was quite prepared, both by the glowing descriptions I 
 had heard of this scenery from other travellers, and also by the interest 
 excited by the poem above referred to, to be much pleased. My expecta- 
 tions were, perhaps, more raised respecting the Trossachs than any other 
 part of Scotland. I must, however, confess that my feeling, when for the 
 first time I beheld the lake, and indeed till we had proceeded about five 
 miles, was one of decided disappointment — disappointment that was the 
 greater in proportion as my expectations had been the more raised. 
 But when I approached the western end of the lake and first saw Ellen's 
 Isle, with the Trossachs as a background, and the mountains Ben A'an 
 and Ben Venue, one on each side, I was quite enraptured. .There is a 
 clanger, in writmg a jom-nal, of speaking too strongly. One is often led 
 into exaggeration by a fear of not expressing with sufficient force the 
 impression produced bj' a particular scene. I can, however, say with 
 perfect truth that, though I have, during the five or six days that have
 
 1832—1835.] IN THE TBOSSACHS. 45 
 
 elapsed between seeing this fairy scene and writing this account of it, 
 enjoyed some of the finest views of which Scotland can boast, I have 
 seen nothing which, within the same space, exhibits so much of grandeur 
 and real beauty. After admiring for some time the lovely scene by which 
 we were surrounded, we landed at the island called, in compliment to 
 Sir "Walter Scott, Ellen's Isle. On this island, which appears like a lovely 
 grove, Lord Willoughby D'Eresby had erected a rustic grotto, in which 
 was a collection of ancient armour, skins of wild animals, elk horns, 
 &c. This grotto, which was delightfully situated on the highest point of 
 the island, was much frequented by parties from the Trossachs, who 
 often dined there. It, however, unfortunately happened that the evening 
 before we visited it, a party had dined there, and the guide omitted to 
 extinguish the fire, and in consequence of the dryness of the wood, and 
 probably the escape of some sparks, the whole fabric was burnt to the 
 ground. It was smoking when we were there. . . . We next proceeded 
 to Coir-nan- Uriskin, or the Goblin's Cave, which is a vast circular hollow 
 in the mountain Ben Venue. It is enclosed on all sides by steep rocks, 
 and is difficult of access from the immense masses of stone which have 
 fallen from the cliffs. This scene is thought by some to surpass the 
 Trossachs, but I must confess I differ in oi)iniou. It is in this cave that 
 Walter Scott makes Douglas conceal his daughter, when he removed, her 
 from Eoderic Dhu's Island. I was much amused with the aptness with 
 which our boatman referred to the tale of the ' Ladv of the Lake.* 
 'There, sir,' said one of them, pointing to a gloomy ravine, 'is where 
 Fitz-James lost his gallant steed, sir, and that is the bough,' pointing to 
 an old tree on the island, ' where Ellen fastened her boat.' They alsa 
 professed to be well acquainted with the spot where Fitz-James had his 
 first interview with Ellen. 
 
 In the Trossachs, Samuel Moiiey parted with his 
 two companions and proceeded to the picturesque 
 Loch Ardj where the following incident occurred : — 
 
 I found a very small inn called the Macnab Inn, kept by one Macnab. 
 It was nine o'clock, and I was very tired, and therefore had no option 
 but to stop, though the appearance of the house was anything but pre- 
 possessing. I remembered when I saw the house that it was of this inn 
 I had received anything but a llattering account. I ordered tea when I
 
 46 SAMUEL MOBLEY. | Chap. III. 
 
 went in, and was much amused by old Macnab, who came np scratching 
 bis head to say that as they only received bread once a week from Stirhng 
 and did not have visitors very often, they had no bread in the house, but 
 they had plenty of oat cakes. Having a good appetite, I managed to 
 make a hearty meal of boiled eggs and fresh milk. When I proposed to 
 Maenab that he should be my guide up Ben Lomond at five o'clock next 
 morning, he said, as he had no watch perhaps I would lend him mine. 
 I must confess I looked narrowly at the man when he made the 
 request, but I could see nothing but downright honesty in his coun- 
 tenance, and willingly handed my watch over to him. He left me with 
 the understanding that he should have some light refreshment ready 
 for me at the time named, and at an early hour I retired to rest ; but 
 when I woke at half-past four on the morning of Wednesday, July 
 15th, I found it raining hard, and, of course, turned myself round 
 and had another snooze. ... At half-past ten, the rain hadqtiite ceased, 
 but the mountains were so completelj^ enveloped in mist, and so much 
 rain had fallen in the night, which would render walking bad, that it 
 was judged quite unadvisable to attempt the intended ascent. Having, 
 therefore, laid in some provisions, we started on our way. . . . lu 
 consequence of the swollen state of the mountain streams, I found 
 it advisable to be carried across three of them on the back of old 
 Maenab, for he said, ' I am sure to be wet, and it will not be any better 
 for me that you should be wet too.' After putting me on the road from 
 Loch Katrine to Inversnaid, Maenab bade me good-bye, and I cordially 
 shook hands with one who had proved himself a very agreeable com- 
 panion. 
 
 The joiTi'iiey was continued by Inverary to Oban, 
 Port Augustus, and the Falls of Foyers, where he 
 picked up tlie following anecdote : — 
 
 Before the j)resent bridge at the i;pper cataract was built, the only 
 passage over the toi-reut was by an old crazy bridge, made of loose 
 sticks, covered with turf. A story is told of a neighbouring farmer, who, 
 having spent the evening with some friends at the ' General's HiTt ' (a 
 small inn, so called from its having been the abode of General Wade, 
 when he was superintending the making of the military road from Fort 
 Augustus to Fort George), during a heavy fall of snow determined on
 
 1832—1835.] NATURE AND ART. 47 
 
 returning home before tlie stonu had subsided. He had frequently 
 passed the bridge on foot, and he now actually spurred his horse across 
 it. Having some faint recollection next morning of his daring adventure, 
 but suspecting it to be a dream, he went to the spot to convince himself, 
 and when he perceived the tracks of his horse's feet in the snow, he 
 suddenly fell ill from fright, and died in consequence. 
 
 The narrative runs pleasantly on, with descriptions 
 of Inverness, Blair Athole, Killiecrankie, and the 
 Falls of the Braan, as seen through the mirrors in 
 Ossian's Hall, concerning which our traveller says : 
 ^' The fall is very good, but I do not think that the 
 beauties of Nature ever owe much additional beauty 
 to the assistance of art." At the inn at Aberfeldy, he 
 was " much amused with the landlord, a good Whig 
 and a staunch supporter of Fox Maule * at the last 
 election." At Stirling he makes the following entry 
 in his note-book : — 
 
 July 23rd, Thursday. — Tliis was the day appointed by the General 
 Assembly for a fast, and I was much amused at the answers I received 
 from sevei'al of whom I asked the reason why the fast was appointed. 
 The only reason I could get from the majority was, ' that they did not 
 rightly ken, but it was ordered by the General Assembly.' Thus are they 
 priest-ridden even in Scotland, where it was clear, after a little investiga- 
 tion, that the cause was the spread of Dissent, or, as they {i.e., the General 
 Assembly) chose to express it, ' the prevalence of infidelity and dis- 
 affection to the Church.' I can only say that, so far from its being a fast 
 day to me, or what I suppose is meant by the term, a day of penance, 
 this was one of the brightest days I enjoyed in Scotland. . . .' 
 
 Proceeding by way of Dundee, where he parted 
 with Mr. Langton, his travelling companion, ho 
 journeyed on to Melrose and Dryburgh Abbey, where, 
 
 * "Afterwards Lord raumure.
 
 48 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chaf. IIL 
 
 three years before (September 21, 1832), Sir Walter 
 Scott had been buried. 
 
 July2Gtli, Sunday. — Arrived at Melrose in time to have nay breakfast and 
 liear a sermon at the Secession Chapel, with which I cannot say I was 
 much pleased. On leaving the chapel, after service, I proceeded to the 
 kirk, and found a very great number assembled, it being the day for 
 the sacrament, which is only administered here twice a year. I must 
 confess I was much struck with the mode of conducting the service. 
 There were two very long tables, from the jiulpit to the door, each 
 capable of seating about eighty persons. To this number the sacrament 
 was administered, and when it was concluded they moved out at one 
 end, and their seats were taken by the same number, who entered 
 at the other end. The greatest inconvenience would arise from the 
 clergyman having to repeat the service so many limes. I was told he 
 would be so occupied till four o'clock. The town was quite in a bustle, 
 and there were a great many carriages at the inn, many persons having 
 come a great distance. ... In the evening I walked over to Abbotsford, 
 the residence of the late Sir "Walter Scott. It is beautifully situated in 
 the midst of most extensive plantations, the walks through which are 
 very pleasing. . . . The entrance hall is filled with armour of all descrip- 
 tions, and there is another room also filled with firearms, to each of v/hich 
 a ticket is attached convejdng some anecdote or information of interest. 
 The library is a fine large room, containing 20,000 volumes, some of them 
 very rare and valuable. Beyond is the ' Sanctum Sanctorum,' filled 
 with relics of all SQrts, some of his choicest books, &c. In this room 
 were written most of those works which command the admii-ation of man- 
 kind. I sat on the old easy-chair in which he sat, and lingered through 
 the rooms, in which everj'thiug is left precisely as he left them, with 
 feelings I shall never forget. In a small closet or room in this inner 
 apartment, there were hung the clothes he last wore before he died. Every 
 article of his dress was there, and I was surprised to observe how very 
 nuich thicker the heel of one shoe was than the other, owing to the 
 greater length of one leg than the other. In the kitchen I was struck by 
 observing the words, ' Waste not, want not,' carved in large letters on the 
 stone, just over the fire. I was delightfully engaged in wandering 
 through this interesting house more than three hours, and could have 
 remained much longer, but I was reminded by the closing of the evening 
 that I had four miles to walk. I called to mind the anecdote I once
 
 1832—1835.] SIB WALTEB SCOTT. 49 
 
 Iieard of Sir Walter, and could not help wishing that I had heen so 
 favoured. A gentleman and his lady having reached Melrose, were 
 anxious to visit Abbotsford, and to have an interview with its illustrious 
 owner. He accordingly wrote a note to the following purport: — ' Mr. 
 and Mi's. — — present their compliments to Sir Walter Scott, and being 
 anxious to see the great Lion of the North, request the honour of an 
 interview.' To which Sir Walter returned the following answer : — ' Sir 
 
 Walter Scott presents his compliments to Mr. and Mrs. -, and as the 
 
 Lion is seen to most advantage at feeding hours, requests the pleasure of 
 their company at dinner.' 
 
 July 27th, Monday. — I left Melrose with a sigh, not, however, before I 
 had taken a farewell of the splendid Abbey, and had purchased some 
 correct engravings from the old man who has the keys of the Abbey, and 
 who was a great favourite with Sir Walter Scott.
 
 CHAPTEE lY. 
 
 EELIGIOUS STATE OF THE TIMES. 
 1800—1835. 
 
 Hackney, a Centre of Nonconformity — The First Quarter of the Century — The 
 Toleration Act — Church and Dissent — Evangelicals — A Transition Period 
 — Dawn of the Oxford Movement — Independency — Church Eates— The 
 King's Weigh House — The Eev. Thomas Binney. 
 
 Samuel Moeley's early manhood was passed in times 
 which w^ere full of incident, and it was his dehght 
 to take a part, however humble, in public movements. 
 He was born and bred a Liberal, and his convictions 
 and sympathies lay entirely in that direction. Of 
 his own choice, too, he had cast in his lot with the 
 Nonconformists, and his first public labours were in 
 Liberal and Nonconformist fields. At a comparatively 
 early age, he was in the habit of attending public 
 meetings on political, social, and religious subjects, 
 and not unfrequently he w^ould be called upon to 
 take the chair, or to address the meeting. In those 
 days he was not a remarkably good speaker ; he had 
 a pleasant, gentlemanly manner, his name was a 
 " tower of strength," but his utterances were not
 
 1800—1835.] NONCONFORMIST HACKNEY. 51 
 
 strong, and were delivered with some hesitancy and 
 lack of style, and it was only hy dint of unflagging 
 perseverance that he overcame these difficulties. 
 
 What he lacked in this respect, however, was more 
 than compensated for, by the energy with which he 
 threw himself into any cause that he espoused, and 
 the heartiness with which he carried it to a successful 
 issue. 
 
 Hackney was in those days renowned as a centre 
 of Nonconformity. Its traditions went hack to such 
 men as Dr. Bates, Matthew Henry, and Robert 
 Fleming among its earlier preachers ; the fame of 
 its present ministers was in all the churches ; its 
 college, in Well Street, founded in 1803, and its 
 college at Homerton, were training young men for 
 the Dissenting ministry ; and many of its wealthiest 
 inhabitants took a promiuent part in movements 
 specially interesting to Nonconformists. 
 
 It is difficult for the new generation to realize 
 what was the religious state of the country in the 
 first quarter of this century. A rapid glance at 
 certain aspects of it may help to explain some of the 
 movements which had a special interest for Samuel 
 Morley, whose first public efforts were made in the 
 stormy times which preceded the passing of the 
 Beform Bill of 1832-— times, too, when the religious 
 life of the people was entering upon as distinctly a 
 fresh stage as was its political life. 
 
 When the century dawned, it dawned upon a sleep- 
 ing Church. There was little or no enthusiasm
 
 52 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. IV. 
 
 anywhere, and co-operation for great and good ends 
 was only just beginning. Between the Church of 
 England and the Dissenters a great gulf was too 
 often fixed : the former was commonly associated 
 with all that was high and dry, cold and orthodox ; 
 the latter with vulgarity and ignorance. On the one 
 hand, it " was deemed a meritorious thing to hate 
 Dissenters ; " on the other, it was usual to vindicate 
 Nonconformity, and to criticize the Establishment 
 with a vehemence unknown to the Henrys, the 
 Owens, and the Howes. 
 
 No one will gainsay the fact that a deep sleep had 
 fallen upon the clergy and laity, the ministers and 
 people of England. The cathedrals were little better 
 than show places, in which perfunctory services were 
 performed before scant congregations ; Westminster 
 Abbey and St. Paul's were never thronged with eager 
 listeners to stirring appeals. None of the great 
 religious edifices of the land were filled, except on the 
 occasion of some great funeral or other public func- 
 tion. The old parish churches were frequently not 
 much better. Too many of them were cold and 
 cheerless, and the gospel proclaimed from the desk 
 but seldom found a Venn, a Berridge, a Fletcher, a 
 Bomaine, or a Newton to echo it from the pulpit.. 
 There was a corresponding torpor among the Dis- 
 senters, exemplified by the fact that, almost without 
 exception, the Presbyterian congregations of England 
 had all lapsed into the most frigid Arianism. 
 
 " None of the men of might had found their hands."'
 
 1800—1835.] HOSTILITY AND PERSECUTION.] 53 
 
 The spiritual life of England was only just beginning 
 to awaken from nearly a century of sleep. Teaching 
 and preaching the gospel by laymen was undreamed 
 of, except among the followers of Wesley. 
 
 Until the year 1812, Dissenters were obliged, 
 for their own protection, to take certain prescribed 
 oaths under the Toleration Act, as it was styled, to 
 enable them to carry on their agencies with safety. 
 In many parishes there was bitter hostility between 
 church and chapel, and it is impossible to take up 
 a book dealing with these times, and written from a 
 Nonconformist point of view, without coming across 
 passages of which the following may be taken as a 
 specimen : — 
 
 " Those Nonconformist ministers who began their 
 work early in this century, had to struggle against 
 hostility and persecutions of which we know nothing. 
 When they went out into country villages to preach 
 the gosjoel, they were not unfrequently assaulted by 
 brutal mobs, who knew that the clergy and the 
 magistrates were looking on with scarcely concealed 
 delight, and that the Methodist would appeal for 
 protection in vain to the local preservers of the 
 peace. Erom the very tower of the church, stones 
 and rotten eggs were sometimes hurled on the 
 itinerant evangelist as he passed beneath it to the 
 village chapel. Among the clergy there were very 
 many whose immoralities made the church an object 
 of disgust and abhorrence to their parishioners ; and 
 the earnest and devout, instead of being numbered
 
 54 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. IV, 
 
 by thousands, as now, were bright and rare exceptions 
 to a prevailmg indolence and worldliness."* 
 
 In proportion as Dissent asserted itself, hostility 
 increased. In 1811, the formation of the Protestant 
 Society for the Protection of Eeligious Liberty, and 
 for " endeavouring to obtain the repeal of every law 
 which prevented the complete enjoyment of religious 
 liberty," was the signal for the renewal of controversy. 
 The Test and Corporation Acts was another bone of 
 contention, until, in 1828, the speeches of Lord John 
 Enssell in Parliament, and of the Duke of Sussex in 
 public assemblies, succeeded in obtaining their repeal. 
 Many other ecclesiastical movements, with some of 
 which Samuel Morley was, later on, immediately con- 
 nected, took their rise at this time, but will be referred 
 to hereafter. It must, however, be borne in mind that 
 throughout this period the ecclesiastical strife was 
 embittered by habitual political antagonism. During 
 that long struggle for the extension of political 
 freedom, which triumphed in 1832, the vast majority 
 of the Dissenters were the eager friends of Eeform, 
 while the clergy were its most uncompromising and 
 formidable o^^ponents. 
 
 Through all these storm-clouds, however, there 
 were streaks of light. The Evangelical section of 
 the Church of England was an immense and increas- 
 ing power for good. In the last year of the eighteenth 
 century, the Eeligious Tract Society was founded; 
 
 -■- " Life and Letters of the Rev. John Angell James." By Eev. E. W. 
 Dale.
 
 1800—1835.] THE OXFORD MOVEMENT, 55 
 
 Evangelical Chnrchmen and Dissenters were united in 
 the movement, and cheap religious literature was put 
 into circulation. Auxiliary Societies were formed, col- 
 porteurs were employed, and tract distribution became 
 one of the means of reviving religious activity. In 
 1804, on a still broader foundation, the British and 
 Foreign Bible Society was established ; in 1812, the 
 Sunday School Union came into being, and, step b}' 
 step, aggressive religious movements were inaugu- 
 rated. 
 
 In process of time the clergy, as a body, began to 
 awaken from their sleep. Many important changes 
 took place. Churches were cleaned, renovated, re- 
 stored, and, between the years 1801 and 1831, but 
 more particularly during the latter portion of that 
 period, five hundred churches were built at an expense 
 of three millions of money. * Preaching revived ; music, 
 which had been grievously neglected, was gradually 
 becoming an attractive feature in the Church Service, 
 and, in divers other ways, improvements were effected, 
 though in some instances the revulsion from indif- 
 ference assumed an anti - Protestant aspect. All 
 classes and conditions of men being thus stirred, 
 in 1827, Keble pubhshed his " Christian Year." In 
 1829, Eichard Hurrell Froude, his pupil, was openly 
 professing his admiration of the Church of Kome, 
 his abhorrence of the Reformers, and his belief that 
 " tradition was the main instrument of religious 
 teacliing." In 1830, John Henry Newman threw off 
 
 '■■ " May's Parliamentary Historj'," vol. iii. j). 215.
 
 56 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. IV. 
 
 the Evangelical influences in wliich he had been 
 trained, proclaimed his devotion to the Blessed 
 Virgin, and recorded his belief in the Real Presence. 
 
 It was when this new order of things was coming 
 into existence, that Samuel Morley began to take a 
 share in public affairs. Great changes were taking 
 place in the religious denomination to which he 
 belonged. Independents were beginning to be styled 
 Congregationalists, which was in itself significant. 
 Morning and evening, instead of morning and after- 
 noon, services were becoming general ; the long 
 prayers, which must have taxed the patience of the 
 most devout, were giving place to prayers of reason- 
 able length, and the dry doctrinal sermons, with their 
 " fourthly, fifthly, lastly, finally, and a few words in 
 conclusion," were being superseded by discourses of 
 a more practical nature and a more cultivated style. 
 Sunday-schools were being organized throughout the 
 land, and, although few churches had proper accom- 
 modation, and the teaching was far below its later 
 standards, the prospects of good being done were to 
 be observed on every hand. Missionary zeal was 
 awakening, and in every family circle connected with 
 the Independents, reports of the exploits of Morrison 
 in China, and the stirring adventures of John 
 Williams in Polynesia, were read and discussed with 
 intense interest. 
 
 The distinctive feature in Independency — a feature 
 which claimed the advocacy of Samuel Morley 
 throughout his life — has been thus described : —
 
 1800—1835.] CONGBEGATIONALISM. 57 
 
 " In connection with a fervent love for evangelical 
 doctrines, ecclesiastical conservatism, in many in- 
 stances, developed itself in strong attachment to 
 the following principles : that a complete power of 
 government and action exists in every Congregational 
 Church, and that the pastor, the deacons, and the 
 private members make up a corporate ecclesiastical 
 body, not only capable of entirely managing its own 
 affairs, but hoinid to watch against whatever might 
 imperil its integrity. This policy was not maintained 
 on grounds of expediency, it was not based chiefly on 
 a principle of freedom, but a jus divinum, a Divine 
 right, was claimed for this constitution of social 
 spiritual life. No admission was made to the effect 
 that the New Testament leaves Church polity an 
 open question ; on the contrary, the contention was 
 that Christ and His apostles laid down principles 
 and supplied precedents h'om which may be satisfac- 
 torily drawn an outline of discipline and worship. 
 No bishop could be more decided in maintaining 
 the Divine origin of Episcopacy ; no Presbyterian, 
 of Commonwealth times, could be more sure of the 
 Divine origin of ruling synods, than were these Non- 
 conformist fathers in reference to the Divine origin 
 of their Independency." * 
 
 While quite a young man, Samuel Moiiey held very 
 decided views on ecclesiastical matters, and, although 
 Independency did not at that time assert itself on 
 questions of popular rights, nor identify itself with 
 
 ■■' " Tlie Chi;rcli of the Nineteentli Century." By Dr. Stoughtou.
 
 58 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. IV. 
 
 Liberalism, or form itself into a political as well as a 
 religious power to the extent it has since done, he 
 was in advance of his time, and took a special interest 
 in that aspect of Dissent with which his name, in 
 later years, was closely identified. Everything that 
 affected religions freedom had a claim upon him.* 
 Eegarding the Holy Scriptures as the only authorita- 
 tive rule of faith, he felt it to be the inalienable right 
 of every one to worship God according to his indi- 
 vidual conviction of what was the Divine will, as 
 expressed in that Book. He felt it to be an injustice 
 that any one should be compelled to support religious 
 rites, of which he disapproved, or ministers from 
 whose principles and ^^ractices he dissented, and it 
 followed, therefore, that he could not look with com- 
 placency upon a State Establishment, selected as the 
 object of political favour and patronage, and having 
 its clergy invested with exclusive rights and secular 
 pre-eminence. 
 
 One of the collateral subjects in which he took a 
 special interest, was the payment of Church rates ; 
 and when, in 1834, a Church Eate Abolition Bill was 
 introduced into the House of Commons, there were 
 few young men of his time who exerted themselves 
 more than he did, to excite public feeling in its favour. 
 The Bill was withdrawn on the assurance being given 
 by Lord John Russell that the matter would be taken 
 
 ■■'• One of Mr. Morley's most treasured possessions in after years was a 
 medal, struck in 1828, in commemoration of the repeal of the Test and 
 Corporation Acts.
 
 1800— 1835.J THE KING'S WEIGH HOUSE. 59 
 
 lip by the Government, but many years were to elapse 
 before the battle would be fairly fought and a decisive 
 victory gained. 
 
 It was at a critical period of his career, when great 
 prosperity was crowning his labours in business, wlie:! 
 his opinions on social, political, and religious ques- 
 tions were settling into shape, that he w^as brought 
 into contact with a man who exercised a marked 
 influence over his future life. 
 
 It sometimes happened that Samuel Morley had 
 occasion to remain in town until Sunday morning, 
 when he would avail himself of the opportunity of 
 going to the King's Weigh House Chapel to hear 
 the minister, the Rev. Thomas Binney, who was at 
 that time beginning to become popular in London. 
 
 The "King's Weigh House," in Cornhill, was 
 originated for the purpose of preventing fraud by 
 weighing merchandise fi"om abroad upon the "king's 
 beam." After the Great Fire of London, it was 
 removed to Eastcheap. In a loft over the warehouses 
 and ofiices was a chapel, in which a little company 
 of Nonconformists met for worship, the first three 
 pastors, Samuel Slater, Richard Kentish, and John 
 Knowles, being ejected ministers, beneficed clergymen 
 of the Church of England. In course of time the 
 Church threw off its connection with the Presby- 
 terians and became a Congregational Church. During 
 the pastorate of " old John Clayton," a new building 
 was erected, still over the warehouses, and it was in 
 this building that Thomas Binney first preached in
 
 60 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. IV. 
 
 London. It was unsuited to its purpose, and in 1833, 
 at a cost of £'16,000, a new building was erected — 
 the King's Weigh. House Chapel, on Fish Street Hill. 
 
 In those days the city presented a totally different 
 aspect to that which it presents to-day : there were 
 no railways or omnibuses ; the suburbs, as we know 
 them, had hardly come into existence as residences 
 for the trading classes, and, within the city, there 
 was a large resident population composed chiefly of 
 the middle class — the backbone of Dissent — besides 
 young men, clerks, assistants, and shopkeepers, who 
 lived " on the premises " of their employers. 
 
 Mr. Binney had a hold upon business men h'om the 
 fact that in his earlier days he had himself been en- 
 gaged in commerce, and had acquired a knowledge of 
 the world which too many ministers lack. For nine 
 years he had worked at a bookseller's, his hours of 
 labour never averaging less than twelve a day ; but 
 from the time when, at a very early age, he left 
 school, he had determined to improve himself, and, 
 notwithstanding his cruel business hours, he did not 
 shrink from the systematic study of Latin, Greek, 
 and English composition, after the toils of the day 
 were over. In 1823, at the age of twenty-five, he 
 was ordained to the pastoral office, and, after labouring 
 in Bedford and in the Isle of Wight, was appointed 
 to the Weigh House in 1829, in succession to the 
 Bev. John Clayton. 
 
 When the Weigh House Chapel, on Fish Street Hill, 
 was opened in 1834, a career of prosperity, at that
 
 1800—1835.] THOMAS BINNEY. 61 
 
 time almost unparalleled, commenced. Mr. Binney 
 was the man of all men to win the sympathies of 
 young men ; he knew how to fire their imaginations, 
 to stir up their best ambitions, to build them up in 
 robust manly faith, and it soon followed that his con- 
 gregation comprised more young men than probably 
 any other congregation in London. They saw in him 
 a man intensely in earnest, whose one object was to 
 implant in them a zeal for truth, uprightness, and 
 purity ; a man deeply impressed with the sense of 
 the boundless possibilities in every life ; a man too 
 much in earnest in his mission to talk to them of dry 
 theology, or to tickle their ears with fanciful essays, 
 but who would reason with them of duty and of 
 righteousness and of responsibility. 
 
 He made religion attractive by revealing the beau- 
 tiful and the natural, as well as the spiritual and 
 practical, in it. His constant exhortation to young 
 men was, to follow after whatsoever things are just, 
 pure, true, honest, lovely, and of good report. He 
 was wont to say that "innocence is better than 
 repentance — an unsullied life better than pardon;" 
 and that " God's preventing goodness is greater than 
 His pardoning mercy, for it is better not to sin than 
 to be saved from sin." 
 
 Moreover, he made the order of service in the 
 Weigh House attractive. Instead of allowing the 
 old monotonous psalmody to be droned by the congre- 
 gation, as had been the case up to that time in nearly 
 all Nonconformist places of worship, he introduced a
 
 62 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. IV. 
 
 book of "Congregational Church Music"; he lectured 
 upon the duty of rendering the " Service of Song in 
 the House of the Lord " as effective as possible; he 
 organized classes, under professional instructors, for 
 the study and practice of harmony, and, in course of 
 time, the musical part of the service at the Weigh 
 House was altogether exceptional in its excellence ; 
 part-singing became general, Gregorian and other 
 chants, anthems, and German chorales were intro- 
 duced into the ordinary services ; and the example 
 thus set gave an impetus to reform in music in all 
 Nonconformist congregations. 
 
 Again, it was objected in that day, as it is in this, 
 that the prayers in Dissenting chapels w^ere only the 
 utterances of the preacher. It may be hoped that 
 the time is not far distant when Dissenters will 
 recognize the suitability of adopting a liturgy wdiich 
 shall contain in it the inspiration and the aspiration 
 of the generations which have passed away, instead 
 of confining their public prayers to the chance in- 
 spiration of an extempore speaker. Be this as it 
 may, Mr. Binney was keenly alive to this point, and, 
 although he did not introduce a liturgy, he invariably 
 took as much pains with the devotional part of the 
 service as he did with the didactic, introducing in 
 each service appropriate supplications, intercessions, 
 and thanksgivings, and concluding the worship, as 
 in the Church of England, with the Benediction. 
 
 Mr. Binney was, moreover, essentially a practical 
 man, and believed in a practical Christianity. He
 
 1800—1835.] INFLUENCE OF THOMAS BINNEY. 63 
 
 did not invariably take as his models men ^Yllo had 
 lived a millennium ago, if he could draw from a model 
 in contemporaneous history ; he did not invariably 
 go to Bible times for a text to warrant his assertion 
 that God was guiding the destiny of men and of 
 nations, if he could find that the Almighty was still 
 acting in the world on identical principles. Many 
 of his sermons, therefore, had reference to the times 
 then present, and the lessons of current events were 
 judiciously noticed and applied in his discourses. 
 
 Although not what has since been termed a 
 ^' political dissenter," Mr. Binney never shunned 
 a reference to great questions of national interest 
 when, by so doing, he could enforce truths and 
 principles whic lie scattered throughout the Sacred 
 Volume, and are as applicable to one age as to 
 another. 
 
 Such was the man, such the teaching, and such 
 the Church, which were to exercise a most im- 
 portant influence on the life of Samuel Morley. If 
 he was spiritually the son of James Parsons, of 
 York, he was mentally the son of Thomas Binney, 
 of the Weigh House. His robust, manly Chris- 
 tianity, his steadfast adherence to the principles 
 of Dissent, his utter abhorrence of canting, pseudo- 
 religiousness, his willingness to accept good, from 
 whatever quarter it came, his dislike to conventional 
 forms, his breadth and large-heartedness and his genial 
 social qualities, all combined to win for him the ad- 
 miration and allegiance of Samuel Morley. There
 
 G4 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. IV. 
 
 sprang up a strong personal friendship between the 
 popular preacher and the popular young merchant, 
 and, each in his sphere, was to he the helper of the 
 other. "We have dwelt at some length on the cha- 
 racteristics of Mr. Binney because they had an 
 important influence in moulding the character and 
 shaping the career of Samuel Morley. There were 
 few men in the world whom he loved more than 
 Mr. Parsons ; there was probably no man whom he 
 admired more than Mr. Binney. 
 
 Like seeks like, and the two men gravitated to- 
 wards each other. In many points their characters 
 were singularly alike, although in mental attainment 
 they were wide apart. For instance, the Rev. Josiah 
 Yiney, a brother-in-law of Mr. Binney, wrote of him 
 thus : "In the best sense, he was a man of the 
 world ; looked beyond his study and his books to 
 men and things ; had his eyes and ears open to what 
 was transpiring around; felt himself a citizen of 
 earth as well as of heaven, and endeavoured to 
 utilize as well as to elevate life. Withal he was very 
 manly ; meanness, littleness, double-dealing, untruth- 
 fulness, prevarication, shuffling, trick, whether in 
 business or Church life, he loathed and scorned, and 
 would not hesitate to show it." These words were 
 as apphcable to Samuel Morley as to Thomas Binney, 
 and it may surely be said that what Samuel Morley 
 was in his business in Wood Street, Thomas Binney 
 was in his business in the Weigh House.
 
 CHAPTEE Y. 
 
 1835—1843. 
 
 A Cjntinental Tour — Imprisonment for Conscience Sake — Lord John Russell 
 and National Education — Mr. Morley, sen., retires from Business — The 
 Wilsons of Highbury — ^The Hopes of Liverpool — Marriage — Bride and 
 Bridegroom — Rev. William Jay, of Bath — A Quaint Text — Five Houses, 
 Lower Clapton— The Firstborn — No)iconformist Newspaper — Anti-Corn Law 
 League — A CityElection — -The Disruption in Scotland — Sir James Graham's 
 Factories Education Bill — The " British Anti-State Church Association " 
 Founded — Dissenting Colleges. 
 
 In the manuscript book of travels from whicli we have 
 ah'eady quoted, there are " Memoranda of a Tour 
 through Belgium and Switzerland {via the Rhine) in 
 the Summer of 1836," giving an account of a pleasant 
 journey taken by Samuel Morley in company with his 
 brother John. He narrates the fact that at Ghent 
 they " went to the convent of the Beguins to hear 
 the vespers, and were very much delighted with the 
 service " ; he attended a " splendid service " in the 
 Church of St. Charles Borromeo, in Antw^erp, and 
 considered the scenic display at the Church of the 
 Dominicans " a very interesting representation of 
 Calvary." In visiting the citadel, he saw "the cell 
 where General Chasse hid himself, secure from harm, 
 while his soldiers were being killed by hundreds and 
 the citadel destroyed, without the slightest chance 
 of successfully holding out — a species of infamous 
 
 6
 
 66 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. V. 
 
 obstinacy falsely called courage." On the road to 
 Cologne lie dined, and "had an infinite variety of 
 dishes and a bottle of wine for two francs." 
 
 Under the date of Sunday, July 31st, he writes 
 thus concerning Baden-Baden : — 
 
 We bad been mncb grieved ou Saturday evening to witness tbe extent 
 to wbicb gaming is carried ou, but we found a much larger party around 
 the tables to-night. It was indeed a painful sight as we saw two or three 
 instances in which either a wife was gently, but unsuccessfully, endeavour- 
 ing to persuade her husband to leave the table, or, as in one painful instance, 
 a wife successful in persuading her husband to part with his money 
 that she might gi'atify her awful appetite for play. It was this scene that 
 almost counteracted the pleasure we derived from our visit to Baden; and 
 although the situation and the scenery around are all that is most lovely, 
 yet, when we considered how so much lovehness is polluted by such 
 practices (scenes) — and that, too, by so many of our own countrymen and 
 countryivonien — it produced such an impression that I have never thought 
 of Baden-Baden without a sigh. 
 
 Like most travellers' diaries, the entries become 
 fewer as the journey proceeds, until at last they are 
 mere lists of the places visited. 
 
 It is only by his words and actions in later years 
 that any clue can be obtained to the current of his 
 thoughts during the period now under consideration; 
 but, from that source, it is known that he watched 
 with intense interest the movements of the times, 
 and, as opportunity offered, took his share in ad- 
 vancing those in which his sympathies were enlisted. 
 The Church Bate question received an impetus from 
 the fact that Mr. AVilliam Baines, well known in all 
 Nonconformist circles, was a prisoner in Leicester
 
 1835—1843.] COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL ON EDUCATION. G7 
 
 County Gaol for refusing, on conscientious grounds, 
 to pay the rate ; and Samuel Morley took an active 
 part in promoting resolutions at public meetings, 
 which not only expressed sympathy and admiration, 
 but appealed to all Dissenters to rouse themselves to 
 action, and " put down for ever these vexatious and 
 unjust imposts." 
 
 The position of the Established Church seemed 
 increasingly anomalous to all who watched public 
 events from a Nonconformist point of view, and cir- 
 cumstances were ripening which, in the near future,, 
 were to develope many kinds of united action on the 
 part of Dissenters. One particular question demand- 
 ing' attention at this period, in wliich he was to take 
 a more prominent part hereafter, was that of national 
 education. In February, 1839, Lord John Russell 
 announced the intention of the Government "to 
 constitute a Board of Education, consisting of five 
 Privy Councillors, and to place at its disposal from 
 ^20,000 to i'30,000 per annum for aid to schools." 
 The scheme called forth the opposition of various 
 religious bodies ; the old difficulty about teaching 
 the Church of England catechism to the children 
 of Dissenters was revived; and, in addition, a "No 
 popery" cry was raised, inasmuch as it was proposed 
 that the grant, instead of being confined to Church 
 of England or Protestant schools, should be extended 
 to those in which the Roman Catholic version of the 
 Bible was read. This was denounced on Protestant 
 platforms as "a State recognition of popery and
 
 68 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. V- 
 
 heresy." We do not propose to enter into the 
 history of the movement which led to the appoint- 
 ment of the Committee of Council on Education, 
 hy which our system of public instruction has ever 
 since been managed, but simply to record the fact 
 that, in his spare moments, Samuel Morley took his 
 l^art in the controversy. 
 
 In illustration of the variety of opinions that were 
 entertained among Dissenters on the subject of the 
 Government measure of 1839, the following letter 
 may be cited : — 
 
 Dr. J. Pyc Smith to Mr. Samuel Motley. 
 
 HoMERTON, June 7, 1839. 
 My dear Sir, — What a distressing affair is the Education Bill ! Last 
 Sunday morning I read to my congregation the draft of a petition in 
 favour of the Government measure, and invited my friends to a meeting 
 for consultation before the prayer-meeting. But I found that the diffi- 
 culties were very great. The meeting was adjourned, and the abandon- 
 ment of the Bill has superseded the intended second meeting. My own 
 opinion is decidedly m favour of a national measure of purely secular 
 education, which millions would cry down as infidel and atheistic. But 
 I aiu persuaded that it would draw after it religious exertions of a kind 
 which would have holy life in them ; whereas those proposed in the Bill 
 would, I fear, have turned out to be generally formal, pharisaical, anti- 
 Christian, and ' having a name to hve, but being dead ' as to any truly 
 Si^iritual and evangelical effect. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 J. Pye Smith. 
 
 The " spare moments " of Samuel Morley were 
 few and far between. Business was all-absorbing, 
 and every year saw advances which almost baffled 
 calculation to provide for. As the years went on,
 
 1835—1843.] AN INTRODUCTION. 69 
 
 his father took a less active share in commerce, and 
 a greater interest in rehgious and philanthropic 
 movements ; and thus the burden of the business 
 was thrown more and more upon the brothers John 
 and Samuel, who worked together harmoniously, and 
 with an energy and enthusiasm that never flagged. 
 
 The year 1840 was a memorable one in Samuel 
 Morley's history. On the 29th of October, his beloved 
 mother, for whom he had the most tender affection, 
 died, in t]iQ seventy-first year of her age, and was laid 
 to rest in the family grave at Bunhill Fields. In 
 that same year, Mr. Morley, sen., virtually retired 
 from the business, which then entered upon a new 
 era of its existence, under the management of John 
 and Samuel, to whose enterprise its marvellous success 
 in subsequent years is to be attributed. Mr. William 
 Morley retired in 1842. 
 
 In addition to business, there were other matters 
 of a still more absorbing nature that were pressing 
 upon Samuel Morley. He had for some years 
 assisted his father in philanthropic labours, especially 
 in matters relating to Homerton College, of which 
 Mr. Morley was treasurer. One day he desired his 
 son to call upon Mr. Thomas Wilson, of Highbury, 
 who was treasurer of Highbury College, and ask him 
 for his subscription to Homerton. Mr. Wilson took 
 a great fancy to the young man, and drew him out 
 freely in conversation. When he rose to leave, Mr. 
 Wilson said, " Before you go, I must introduce you 
 to my two nieces, the Misses Hope, of Liverpool."
 
 70 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. Y. 
 
 He was introduced ; the interview was long and de- 
 lightful ; and, in 1841, one of those young ladies. Miss 
 Eebekah Maria Hope, became Mrs. Samuel Morley. 
 
 That visit won him not his wife only, hut also one 
 of his most intimate friends — Joshua Wilson, the 
 son of Mr. Thomas Wilson. 
 
 When it became known that Samuel Morley was 
 engaged to be married, very hearty were the con- 
 gratulations that poured in upon him from all 
 quarters ; and one of the first to write to him was 
 his friend and pastor, Thomas Binney : — 
 
 I don't wonder at your feeling as if your heart had wings, and was as 
 h'ght as a bird. There is everything before yon to make it so. Yon very 
 natm-ally at present worship Hojie — most young men do, though they 
 have not got her so substantially embodied as you have. When the 
 goddess changes her name, and becomes certainty, they are often dis- 
 appointed—this, I feel confident, will not be j'^our case when your goddess 
 changes hers. . . . May you live long, my dear friend, with the wife of 
 your choice. May you ever fulfil the beautiful picture drawn bj' St. Peter : 
 ' walking, as heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not 
 hindered.' May you both find the anticipated association to be as pro- 
 ductive, mutually, of spiritual advantage as it seems full of promise in 
 everjr other respect ! 
 
 Miss Hope was the daughter of Mr. Samuel Hope, 
 a banker in Liverpool, and a man universally beloved 
 and respected. What manner of man he was, and 
 what his home-life must have been, may be gathered 
 from letters written by liim in 1834 and 1836 (he 
 died in 1837), in which he expressed what, in the 
 event of his decease, were to be regarded as his last 
 wishes. After referring to the provisions of his w411.
 
 1835—1843.] MB. SAMUEL HOPE. 71 
 
 wliicli he trusts his " dear wife will consider amply 
 sufficient to render her comfortable, and to enable 
 her to maintain, without any difficulty or abridgment, 
 the rank she now holds in society ; and that it will, 
 further, afford her the means of gratifying, as I would 
 recommend her to do, her naturally kind and benevo- 
 lent disposition," — he calls upon his children, " on 
 all occasions, to consult her wishes and act on them, 
 so far as they may consist with their own deliberate 
 judgment, recollecting that I have always found her 
 advice marked by prudence, and by an affectionate 
 desire to promote, to the utmost, the welfare both of 
 myself and of my children. I wish to enjoin it upon 
 my children, as they regard the blessing of a father 
 who has loved them tenderly, to consult the wishes, 
 and labour to promote the comfort and happiness, 
 of their mother. Without this, they can never justly 
 expect the blessing of the Most High Grod. I charge 
 it upon them, too, as they have any respect for the 
 memory of their father, to seek each other's welfare ; 
 to bear with each other's failings ; kindly and never 
 hastily, to check each other's errors; to aid each other 
 diligently in beginning and carrying on business, and 
 in the choice of prudent, amiable, and pious partners 
 for life ; and, finally, to live in love and in peace w^ith 
 each other especially, and with all around them, that 
 tlie God of love and peace may be with them and 
 may bless them." 
 
 Mr. Hope was a wealthy man, and, in directing 
 that a large sum of money should be set apart
 
 72 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. V. 
 
 " to works of beneficence and mercy," lie wrote : " I 
 have been greatly blessed as to my outward estate, 
 and have often been of opinion that any material 
 further increase of my property would be more likely 
 to be injurious to my children than otherwise, inas- 
 much as the prospect of their inheriting an inde- 
 pendent fortune most frequently engenders pride, 
 vanity, and indolence." 
 
 It was in the month of May, 1841, that Samuel 
 Morley was married to Miss Hope, in Lady Glen- 
 orchy's Chapel, Matlock, not far from Middleton 
 Hall, in Derbyshire, the residence of her grand- 
 father, where she was staying at the time. The 
 chapel is at the Cromford end of Matlock, in one 
 of the loveliest situations of that lovely neighbour- 
 hood. The river, the Derwent, runs through the 
 valley a few yards off, and across the river the 
 sylvan slopes rise green, with here and there sheer 
 precipices of limestone, made beautiful with ivy and 
 yew; while, on the level, "lovers' walks" lead 
 towards the High Tor and the Heights of Abraham, 
 which dominate the gorge between Matlock and 
 Cromford. 
 
 The chapel — now under the ministerial care of the 
 Eev. W. Bellamy — -is altered and improved, but it is 
 still the selfsame chapel, although there are now low- 
 backed, sloping pews, with aisles on either side, and 
 an open platform pulpit ; whereas, on Samuel Mor- 
 ley's wedding day, the pews were high and straight- 
 backed, and one broad aisle in the centre led to the
 
 1835—1843.] MABBIAGE. 73 
 
 Communion table at the foot of tlie tall box which 
 was then called a pulpit. 
 
 There was not a happier man in England, on that 
 bright May morning, than Samuel Moiiey — and 
 well he might be. It was a love-match pure and 
 simple, and it was love built upon the strongest 
 foundation — mutual confidence and sympathy in 
 heart and purpose. 
 
 This was a step in life on which all his future 
 depended, and it was a step well taken ; he had made 
 choice of one who was to be his friend, companion, 
 and helper in every part of his life ; one, who, while 
 he should be fighting battles abroad, would be able 
 to bear rule at home, and whose zeal for the good of 
 mankind would enable her to make sacrifices in the 
 loss of his companionship ; one, who, in his public as 
 well as his private life, would be able to render him 
 important services. 
 
 Those who knew her as a bride have recorded how 
 she was endowed with singular personal beauty, and 
 with great simplicity and charm of manner ; and one 
 of the number, who loved her well, writing in 1886, 
 describes her as "a lovely young wife — one of the 
 sweetest pictures of my own young days." 
 
 And Samuel Moiiey was as fine a specimen of true 
 manhood as could be easily met wdth. A bright, 
 sunny face, a clear complexion, a broad brow, bright 
 blue eyes, erect carriage, a well-set head, a good 
 figure — such was the outer man ; and countenance 
 indexed character. He lacked, it may be, great
 
 74 SAMUEL MORLEY. |Chap. V, 
 
 genius and creative imagination; l)ut he was a man 
 of sterling common-sense, of vigorous understanding, 
 firm of pur])ose, clear in liead, large in heart, pure 
 in habit, simple in taste, and withal full of tenderness 
 and love. 
 
 Never had a young couple better right to look 
 forward to a future of material prosperity, home 
 happiness, and useful service, than Samuel and 
 Eebekah Morley. 
 
 After the wedding, they spent some weeks in 
 Devonshire, resting at Bude, Tintagel, and Clovelly. 
 
 One little incident of the honeymoon must be 
 recorded here. It was characteristic of the taste 
 of both of them, that they had arranged to spend 
 their first Sunday in Bath, for the express purpose 
 of hearing the celebrated Eev. William Jay preach in 
 Argyle Chapel. 
 
 Fifty years of preaching had not injured that 
 wonderful voice of his — sonorous, but not loud, 
 strong, yet soft, musical, and flexible — the very in- 
 strument to convey the tender, pathetic, and solemn 
 utterances which were eulogized by such men as 
 "Wilberforce, Beckford, Sir William Knighton, Eobert 
 Hall, Chalmers, and Foster ; and, if tradition errs not, 
 had drawn tears from the eyes of the Duke of Sussex. 
 
 Wherever and whenever Mr. Jay preached, crowds 
 flocked to hear him. Churchmen, Dissenters, the 
 learned and the illiterate, the rich and the poor, the 
 pious and the thoughtless, all joined in regarding him 
 as a prince of preachers.
 
 1835—1843.] BEV. WILLIAM JAY, OF BATH. 75 
 
 Ou the particular occasion to which we refer, 
 Argyle Chapel was crowded, and Samuel and Rehekah 
 Morley, so recently "joined together," were some- 
 what unceremoniously "put asunder," Samuel being 
 placed in a pew in the rear of his wife — his where- 
 abouts being unknown to her. 
 
 Mr. Jay was remarkably ingenious in the selection 
 of quaint texts and quaint subjects. On this day, he 
 briefly announced that his discourse would be upon 
 ^'The History of Isaac and Rehekah." When he 
 came to the words in the narrative, " And they called 
 Eebekah and said unto her. Wilt thou go with this 
 man ? And she said, I will go," he remarked, 
 " There is many a Rehekah who has said, too hastily, 
 ^ I will go with the man ! ' " 
 
 Scarcely were the words spoken, than a hand was 
 laid upon Mrs. Moiiey's shoulder, and she was aware 
 of the proximity of her husband ! 
 
 On their return to London, Samuel Morley and 
 his young wife lived temporarily in Upper Bedford 
 Place, where their first child, a daughter, was born. 
 In 1842, they settled down in their new home in 
 Lower Clapton, called Five Houses (although they 
 really only occupied one). It was an old-fashioned, 
 red-brick house, remarkable for its fine old oak stair- 
 case, its quaint rooms, and its large garden, in which 
 stood a grand old mulberry tree. In this house six 
 of their eight children were born. 
 
 Among those who congratulated Mr. Morley, in 
 1842, upon the birth of his first child, was Mr. Binney.
 
 76 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. V. 
 
 May tins crowning mercy be accompanied witli every circumstance that 
 can render it a perpetual source of domestic joy ! It will increase your 
 love to each other — if that could be increased — and if not, it will yet 
 infuse a new element into it, that will give it a freshness, tenderness, 
 and depth which you did not know before. . , . Your responsibilities are 
 greatly enlarged, but the Divine promise always enlarges with human 
 obligation. No duty can rest on us for which there does not exist a 
 corresponding grace in God, ready to be bestowed. . . . 
 
 The first few years of Samuel Morley's married 
 life were crowded with occupation. The business in 
 Wood Street demanded increased vigilance now that 
 his father had virtually retired from it ; in the home 
 circle, Five Houses was rapidly becoming what Well 
 Street had been, a rendezvous foi- ministers, philan- 
 thropists, and politicians ; while, in the world at 
 large, the times were hastening on towards those 
 changes and upheavals which marked the close of 
 the first half of the century. We will only briefly 
 indicate what some of these were, and confine our- 
 selves to those which immediately affected Samuel 
 Moiiey. 
 
 In April, 1841, the first number of the Noncon- 
 forinist newspaper was published, under the editor- 
 ship of Mr. Edward Miall, who boldly announced, in 
 his introductory address, that the primary object of 
 the paper was "to show that a National Establish- 
 ment of religion is essentially vicious in its consti- 
 tution, philosophically, politically, and religiously." 
 It at once took up the subject of Church rates, 
 and, week by week, drew attention to the case of 
 Mr. William Baines, until his release from Leicester
 
 1835—1843.] THE ANTI-CORN LAW LEAGUE. 77 
 
 Gaol in June of that year. To the Anti-Corn 
 Law movement, the Nonconformist lent its aid con- 
 tinuously, and in this movement Mr. Samuel Moiiey 
 took an important part. 
 
 In 1843, a vacancy occurred in the representation 
 of the City of London by the death of Sir M. 
 "Wood, and the An ti- Corn Law League worked with 
 great earnestness to secure the return of Mr. 
 Pattison, one of their own men, against Mr. F. 
 T. Baring. It was a very exciting contest, and 
 the tide in favour of the Anti-Corn Law candidate 
 was turned by the adhesion of Mr. Samuel Jones 
 Loyd to the League, both in its general capacity 
 and as a great election agency. Mr. Pattison 
 was returned by a good majority, and, flushed with 
 victory, the Anti-Corn Law League commenced a 
 course of agitation beyond all former precedent. 
 
 Leading Nonconformists from all parts of the 
 country wrote to Samuel Morley to urge him on 
 in his labours to secure Mr. Pattison's return. Thus 
 Mr. George Hadfield, of Manchester, wrote : — 
 
 I assure you tliat I deem the Loudon election to be of most momentqus 
 importance. I cannot doubt that London will be London still, and 
 strangle the accursed power of taxing, for the benefit of the rich and 
 great, the bread of the widow and orphan. The eyes of the world are on 
 you. Quit you like men ! I cheer you on, but I do not doubt you. 
 
 When the victory was announced, Mr. Hadfield 
 wrote a letter of congratulation, which we quote, as 
 it shows how this question was looked at from a 
 religious point of view : —
 
 78 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. Y. 
 
 Mr. George Hadfield to Mr. Samuel Morley. 
 
 Manchester, Oct. 23, 1843. 
 
 My dear Sir, — The triumph of London is truly the triumph ot 
 humanity : and London is London still. The blessings of the widow, 
 the fatherless, and the friendless be on the G,535 men of principle and 
 intelligence who have prostrated the foul spirit that crushed them. You 
 are right in saying that few of vis, at a distance from the scene of conflict, 
 can appreciate the agencies employed against yon. I expected, from the 
 prints, that you would have had a majority of 1,000 ; but the more 
 severe the strife, so much more is the gratification in the result. Wliat 
 a deliverance ! This, permit me to say, I can appreciate and understand, 
 in a measure at least. Its influence will affect the world. A new spirit 
 has now gone forth to bless and refresh the world. The spirit of the- 
 gospel is one of mutual intercourse and active good-will. The sublime 
 philosoiihy of our Lord's doctrine is leading us in the right way, and I 
 am full of hope that ' good-will to men ' and ' glory to God in the 
 highest ' will be extended to the remotest corner of the earth. Men of 
 the world may confine themselves to principles of political economy, but 
 let us look at these things in a Christian light, and we shall soon see who 
 it is that sits at the helm, and is the great Governor over the hearts of 
 men ; and who will, by His own power, bring to pass His own purposes. 
 If we live a little longer, we shall see greater things than even these. And 
 I will venture to add that your next majority will be more than 201. It 
 is singular enough that I should send you the odd one in such a very odd 
 way ; and it is worthy of remark that j'our majority is about the same by 
 which we first returned Poulett Thomson,* in a constituency of nearly 
 the same amount, but which majority was afterwards increased to 1,800. 
 
 You will now have time enough to present our kind regards to Mrs. 
 Morley and your excellent father. 
 
 I remain, my dear Sir, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 Geo. Hadfield. 
 
 P.S. — It would be a very extraordinary thing if another vacancy should 
 o?cur. Another contest would be easier, and another defeat of the 
 Treasury would be tremendous. I hope, in case of need, you will be in 
 the field at once with a candidate. One hour's delay might ruin you. 
 
 * Afterwards Lord Sydenham.
 
 1835—1843.] THE FACTORIES EDUCATION BILL. 79 
 
 The year 1843 bronglit more public work to Samuel 
 Moiiey than any previous year of his life. The 
 secession of more than five hundred ministers of the 
 Established Church of Scotland, under the leadership 
 of Dr. Chalmers and Dr. Candlish, and the formation 
 of the Free Church of Scotland, aroused the enthu- 
 siasm of Dissenters, and gave an impetus to their 
 activities, which was in nothing more displayed 
 than the zeal with which they united to resist Sir 
 James Graham's Factories Education Bill, designed 
 to provide for the compulsory secular and religious 
 education of all children employed in factories. 
 Never was the spirit of Dissent more thoroughly 
 roused; the Bill was denounced as '' an attempt to 
 create an educational establishment in wdiich the 
 State schoolmaster was to do the work which the 
 State priest was unable to effect." Everywhere 
 meetings were held, and petitions drawn up, con- 
 demning the measure, and calling upon the Govern- 
 ment to abandon it. Upwards of 24,000 petitions, 
 containing 4,000,000 signatures, were sent in, and 
 victory was ensured — the Bill was abandoned. 
 
 This was a triumph the Nonconformists were not 
 slow to turn to account, and they determined hence- 
 forth to continue a permanent aggressive warfare 
 against the Established Church system. In April, 
 1844, a General Convention on the State Church 
 question was held, the sittings extending over three 
 days, and resulting in the establishment of " The 
 British Anti- State Church Association," which, later
 
 80 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. V. 
 
 on (1853), became known as "The Liberation 
 Society." 
 
 The Association was based upon this principle : 
 that in matters of rehgion man is responsible to God 
 alone ; that all secular government in affairs of 
 religion is an encroachment upon the rights of man, 
 and an invasion of the prerogative of God ; and that 
 the application, by law, of the resources of the State 
 to the maintenance of any form or forms of religious 
 worship and instruction, is contrary to reason, liostile 
 to liberty, and directly opposed to the genius of 
 Christianity. 
 
 One other important matter, in 1843, must be 
 referred to, as it made heavy demands upon Samuel 
 Morley's time. There were in existence, in com- 
 paratively close proximity to one another, three 
 Dissenting colleges, namely Coward, Homerton, and 
 Highbury, each acting independently of the other, 
 although all tending to the same end. A proposition 
 was made that this waste of power and money should 
 cease, and that the three colleges should be united. 
 Many conferences were held, and Samuel Morley's 
 father being at that time in somewhat feeble health, 
 the burden of much of the work in connection with 
 this matter, fell to his son, whose name was, even 
 then, known and honoured by the whole Congrega- 
 tional body.
 
 CHAPTEK VI. 
 
 1844—1846. 
 
 A Driving Tour in Scotland — Sunday Habits — Friendships — Dr. Pye Smith's 
 Second Marriage — Melbourn— Mr. Binney in America — Chastisement 
 — An Idea of Life — Paternal Tenderness — The Office of Deacon — 
 Correspondence with Mr. Binney thereon — An Urgent Appeal — Office of 
 Deacon declined — Living too Fast — Mr. Benjamin Morley. 
 
 In 1844, Mr. Morley took Ms young wife for a 
 driving tour in Scotland to visit, with her, some of 
 the places that had charmed him in his youth. For 
 the last time in his life he made notes of his 
 journey, and those for the first half of his trip only, 
 the remainder having been written by his wife. 
 The Journal commences thus : — 
 
 "We (my own dear wife and I) left Clapton, accompanied by Augusta 
 Hope, on the 1st of July. It cost us a pang, which we shall not soon 
 forget, to leave our precious children ; but our anxieties were very greatly 
 lessened by the thought that our nurse is a person entitled to every 
 confidence, and that our dear sister Mary has promised to see the sweet 
 treasures every day. I trust we felt also conscious that we had com- 
 mitted them to the guardian care of our Heavenly Father, who has 
 hitherto blessed us, and them, in a measure that entitles Him to our 
 everlasting gratitude, and will, I hope, lead us, with more determination 
 than we have ever evinced, to consecrate ourselves to His service. 
 
 Before commencing the Scotch tour, visits were 
 made to Mr. Bateman at Middleton Hall — " to 
 
 7
 
 82 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. VL 
 
 wander through many scenes associated with a very 
 important and happy period of our hves " — and to 
 Mr. George Hadfield, in Manchester. 
 
 The first Sunday in Scotland was spent in Inverary, 
 and as the following extract gives an insight into 
 the Sunday habits of the travellers, we quote it m 
 extenso : — 
 
 A lovely day the sun shining brightly, and everything around looking 
 most peaceful. After breakfasting and reading a few chapters in tlie 
 Bible, we set off to worship in the little Independent Cliapel, first walking 
 through a very beautiful avenue of fine old trees — where there is what 
 is called the ' Marriage Tree,' from tlie circumstance of its trunk sepa- 
 rating a few feet above the ground and again uniting twenty feet higher, 
 and the union seems so complete, that it is impossible to say from which 
 the minor branch has sprung, or which has made the advance, but the 
 growing attacliment gives strong signs of durability. We had a very 
 good sermon from Dr. Eitchie, of Edinbro', and tlie little chapel was full, 
 the congregation very attentive and respectable. We had wished to join 
 in the service of the ' Free Church,' but found they were preaching (in 
 a barn, the new place of worship not being quite completed) in Gaelic 
 in the morning, and their afternoon service came so immediately after 
 that in the former part of the day,- — the one congregation making place 
 for the second in the same building, — tliat we were obliged to give it up, 
 and retui'ned, after distributing a few tracts, to dine at our hotel. In 
 the evening we attended the Established Church, where there were about 
 twenty persons besides ourselves — a poor, cold sermon, and a heartless 
 service indeed. We took a ramble up tlie Dalmally Road, giving away 
 a few tracts which were thankfully received, and, after reading together 
 a very interesting sermon by the Eev. James Hamilton, of Loudon, 
 we retired for the night, having passed our first sabbath in Scotland, 
 and enjoyed a quiet and, I hope, a profitable day. 
 
 One entry in the Journal is curious, as showing 
 the ignorance of the times in relation to the treat- 
 ment of lunatics. It is as follows : —
 
 1844— 184G.] FRIENDS. 83 
 
 Started for Loch Tay. About two miles from Tyuclrmu we passed, on 
 tlie road, St. Fillan's Clim'ch. Here there is a turn in the river called 
 St. Fillan's Pool, in which a considerable number of lunatics are annually 
 immersed and then bound hand and foot, and laid all night in the 
 churchyard in expectation of effecting a cure. 
 
 The holiday in Scotland only lasted a mouthy 
 and immediately upon its conclusion we find him 
 again immersed in innumerable engagements. 
 
 In addition to the public movements in which 
 he was interested, and the absorbing claims of busi- 
 ness (which still occupied him from nine in the 
 morning until seven at night, with the exception 
 of such odd moments as he could spare to " attend 
 a meeting"), Samuel Morley's house was the centre 
 of a very wide circle of influence and of innumerable 
 visitors. 
 
 He was one who had more friends than most 
 i:)eople have acquaintances. It is no exaggeration 
 to say that half the Congregational ministers of 
 London knew him personally, and were entertained 
 by him either at Wood Street or in his own house ; 
 and it is no exaggeration to add. that half the 
 schemes of usefulness in which the denomination 
 was engaged were discussed at those interviews. 
 Not only did his friends frequently visit hinj, but 
 they wrote to him — and letters to busy men are 
 not always sources of comfort and gratification, 
 A huge bundle of those letters lies before the 
 present writer. Here is one from Josiali Conder, 
 acknowledging a loan of .050. Here is one from
 
 84 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. VI. 
 
 Dr. Pye Smith, written six months after his second 
 marriage, testifying that he has found in his wife 
 " the invahiable blessing of a bosom friend, so 
 intellectual, accomplished, aifectionate, and pious, 
 that rarely have felicitations been so highly justi- 
 fied." Here is one from an old schoolfellow, telling 
 him news of the little town where their school-days 
 were spent : — 
 
 " The deputation from the Borough Road went 
 yesterday to the British School at Melbourn, and, 
 to let you know what we are doing here, we held 
 a meeting at Melbourn in the evening and appointed 
 a deputation, to London, to oppose the Maynooth 
 Endowment ! " 
 
 Here are letters from young men, who liaA^e since 
 made their mark, acknowledging pecuniary assist- 
 ance in their start in life ; and many others showing 
 confidence in his ready sympathy. 
 
 With Thomas Binney, his pastor, he conferred on 
 almost every subject, either by word of mouth or by 
 letter, and each felt sure of sympathy and help from 
 the other. 
 
 Mr. Binney lived his life at full tension, and, as 
 action and reaction are equal, there were times 
 when all the machinery relaxed and he suffered from 
 great mental exhaustion, nervous irritation, and de- 
 pression of spirits. "When this mood was upon him, 
 it was impossible for him to continue his absorbing 
 duties, and he would seek retirement and change as 
 far away from the scene of his labours as possible.
 
 1844—1846.] MB. BINNEY IN AMEBIC A. 85 
 
 One of the darkest of these visitations occurred 
 in 1846, when he fled, overwrought with labour and 
 excitement, to America. From thence he wrote 
 frequently to Samuel Morley, who was one of the 
 very few to whom he ever did write in the times 
 of his depression. It was a comfort to him to open 
 his heart wide to the confidence of his friend, to 
 tell him everything that related to his own personal 
 trouble, to his hopes and fears with regard to the 
 future, and to his anxieties respecting the work of 
 the congregation left behind. He could not write 
 to the Church, so great was his depression, but he 
 poured out his heart to his friend unreservedly. 
 The following extracts fi'om a long letter will 
 indicate the style of the correspondence : — 
 
 The Bev. Thomas Binney to Mr. Samuel Morleij. 
 
 Toronto, July 29, 1845. 
 
 My dear Friend, — ... It is now twelve weeks since I parted with 
 you at Liverpool ; two were spent at sea, three at Boston, one at New 
 York, one at Niagara Falls, and five have been consumed in this province. 
 I have not enjoyed, in any respect, this protracted experiment. Company, 
 solitude, travelling, sights, scenery, and even of late, work and business, 
 have all done nothing for mc. I fear I must retui'n just as I left — return 
 however, I must, for it is no use remaining here, though I have had 
 much to attempt in this region, and much yet remains to be accomplished 
 for which many wish to protract my stay. . . . Though I have been much 
 about, I have been obliged to avoid generally public duty, from a most 
 oppressive and painful incapacity to attempt or discharge it. I have 
 taken a service usually once a Sunday — that is, reading a sermon, for I 
 feel as (if not more) unequal to the calm freedom of speech which 
 preaching requires, as I experienced before I left home. . . . 
 
 How does the poor Weigh House look on a Smiday ? I ivy to fancy 
 it, and wonder who may be in the pews and who in the puli)it. The
 
 86 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. VI. 
 
 contiuiied painful state of mind it lias been my lot to experience, has 
 robbed me of all power to address to the Church and congregation such a 
 letter, or letters, as I had hoped and proposed to forward : I greatly 
 lament this, but it has been inevitable. It is with the utmost labour I 
 get through this, and such as this, miserable communication. ... I hope 
 you and Mrs. Morley are well — ' walking together as heirs of the grace 
 of life, nothing hindering your prayers,' and with hearts bent at once on 
 yoiu' own mutual advancement in goodness, and the training of your 
 children in the same. You have the means of as much happiness about 
 you as should fall to the lot of mortals — but the greatest element in it, 
 and that which will purify and preserve everything else, is that disposi- 
 tion of mind and heart which leads you to the culture of religion in 
 yourselves and your offspring, and those pure habits of mind and 
 behaviour in which you have both been trained and formed, and which, 
 fixed and settled, render, by God's help and grace, goodness a recreation 
 and a necessity. Train your children so that they may never need to be 
 converted. I hope your father and sister are well. I must now begin 
 another day of perplexing interviews and perplexing business. 
 
 Very truly, my dear Sir, 
 
 Yours, 
 
 T. BiNNEY. 
 
 Mr. Binney's robust views on theological and 
 religious questions were helpful to Mr. Morley, not 
 only at this period, but throughout his life. Who 
 would have thought that 'Samuel Morley needed 
 such pastoral advice as this ? — 
 
 My dear friend, don't for a moment give way to that notion of yours 
 about chastisement as a necessary proof of God's paternal regard. Of 
 course it is, if you so sin as to deserve it ; but yoit would not beat your 
 child without a cause. Now I think the Aiiostle means, that if a man 
 sins and does not smart for it, he may conclude God does not care about 
 him — ^just as you would pass a little reprobate in the streets and take no 
 notice of him, though he might be saying or doing things which, if you 
 saw or heard in your own child, would till you with horror and arm j-ou 
 with the rod.
 
 1844— 18-4G.] PATERNAL TENDERNESS. 87 
 
 Or, who would have thought ' of Samuel Moiiey 
 shrinking from suffering and trial, and dreading, in 
 those early days, the inevitahle troubles of family 
 life, such as sickness and the loss of children ? 
 Yet it was so, and the "pastor" applies balm to his 
 heart in words which were singularly prophetic of 
 the future career of his friend : — 
 
 My own opinion streugtliens every day that God's idea of our life is, 
 tliat it should be calm and happy ; and that wisdom and virtue will 
 generally make it so. Great suffering generally flows from folly and sin ; 
 the well-trained, early decided, and uniformly consistent, upright, good 
 and wise man — his coiu-se is like the light of the morning shining more 
 and more unto the perfect day. The 128th Psalm is as true as the 
 twelfth of Hebrews. 
 
 Samuel Morley was tenderly solicitous for his 
 children, and their little illnesses were to him great 
 anxieties. His father, writing to him on one occasion 
 (August 28, 1845), says : " You have proved your- 
 self, if proof were wanting, that you are a first-rate 
 nurse. Few mothers could do it better." 
 
 He inherited his father's paternal tenderness. 
 While he was pleased for his little ones to be much 
 with their grand^^arents, their absence from the shelter 
 of his own roof was always a source of uneasiness, 
 if not of positive anxiety, to him. This was a feel- 
 ing thoroughly understood by Mr. John Morley, who 
 wrote constantly to his son concerning the welfare of 
 the little ones, letters full of singular fatherliness 
 and friendliness. The following extracts from oue 
 may be taken as a specimen : —
 
 88 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. VI. 
 
 10, Augusta Place, Oct. 16, 1846. 
 My dearest Samuel, — It will give yourself and dear Eebekali 
 pleasure to hear of tlie dear children being so well, and so very sweet ; 
 nobody would think we had any child in the house except for a shout of 
 joy now and then. Nothing can exceed their good behaviour and in- 
 teresting prattle. Your son is at present without a fault ; we are upon 
 the best and most intimate terms ; little Eebekali often puts me in mind 
 of your dear sisters, Sarah and Maiy, when children. She is very 
 affectionate and sensible. You have cause for gratitude that you 
 have such children. I have no fear for them, but much grateful 
 hope. I don't think you should indulge quite so much anxious care 
 or fear about your children. I have no doubt that all proper means 
 will be used, and a blessing from above attend those means, and 
 then we should feel confidence in the suj^erintendence of a gracious 
 Providence. While we love the dear treasures we must guard against 
 unduly loving them, or feeling too much our own importance to them. 
 I feel persuaded proper training will be owned and blessed by our, and 
 their. Father in heaven. 
 
 I am, my dear Son, 
 
 Ever yours affectionately, 
 
 John Morley. 
 
 During the year 1846, there was almost constant 
 correspondence between Mr. Binney, on his return 
 from America, and Samuel Morley, relating to a 
 variety of topics in which they were mutually 
 interested. There was one subject, however, which, 
 more than any other, was dwelt upon by Mr. Binney. 
 It was his earnest desire that Samuel Morley, one 
 of the most influential members of his Church, and 
 one of the most intimate of his friends, should 
 allow himself to be proposed to fill a vacancy in the 
 diaconate of the Weigh House. 
 
 So strongly did Mr. Binney feel with regard to his 
 acceptance, that he wrote : —
 
 1844— 184G.] THE OFFICE OF DEACON. 89 
 
 I should, I believe, feel ouce more hope and faith in myself and the 
 future, take a fresh start, and expect and look for the Divine blessing upon 
 us, to revive all that is ready to die, and refresh what has faded. 
 
 Comparatively unimporfcant as the office of a deacon 
 may be esteemed by those who are not famihar with 
 the life of Nonconformist churches, to the initiated 
 it means a great deal, and, while the question was 
 pending, it was a time of great anxiety to Samuel 
 Morley. It was the highest honour to which a lay- 
 man could aspire, the liighest office a Church could 
 confer upon one of its lay members — and Mr. Binney's 
 Church had among its members many of the leading- 
 Nonconformists of the day. From all quarters he 
 was strongly urged to accept the office, and Mr. 
 Binney was most urgent in his solicitations. 
 
 I could not but feel happy and j)roud (in a good sense) in seeing and 
 hearing j'oti at the Congregational Union, and the wish strongly rose 
 that you could see that your being a deacon with us would at once give 
 some additional weight to you in such a body, and such a position as 
 yours in it, and serve its by your representing us on such occasions. This 
 would be your public duty and service for the Church, and a great and 
 good one, too, would it be. Then, your trying to get an hour with us now 
 and then, and being with us as often as you could at our services, and the 
 consciousness of j^our relationship to us, v/ould, I ain persuaded, be very 
 salutary and useful, in the highest and best sense, to one like yourself so 
 full of business, and yet so sincerely wishing, as I am sure you do, to keep 
 the heart right, in spite of, and in the midst of, the pressure and fever of 
 the world. 
 
 But Samuel Morley was obdurate ; he had made 
 up his mind that he would never enter into engage- 
 ments that he could not fulfil, and already he had
 
 90 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. VI. 
 
 undertaken more than it seemed prudent to attempt. 
 Mr. Binney, on the other hand, was a man equally 
 firm of purpose, and would not accept a refusal with- 
 out a struggle. Accordingly, he wrote to his fiiend 
 as follows : — 
 
 The Bev. Thomas Binney to Mr. Samuel Morley. 
 
 71, MORNINGTON EOAD, 
 
 Camden Town, April 15, 1846. 
 My dear Friend, — Out of respect and delicacy to one like you, who, 
 having once considered and resolved, is not easily to be moved to an 
 opposite purpose, I abstained on Sunday, intentionally, from any length- 
 ened allusion to the subject that had been put before you. Nor do I write 
 now to persuade or remonstrate ; for, much as my heart has been set 
 upon the matter, I should not deem it right to obtain your acquiescence 
 (if it could be so obtained) by either overcoming your reluctance through 
 the force of importunity, or on the ground of reasons personal to myself. 
 Certainly there are grounds of the latter kind. I should like to have 
 about me, to manage affau-s, some of them delicate as relates to me, men 
 of gentlemanly feeling, liberal minds, with attachments towards myself 
 personally, and, from intimacy and friendship, knowing and regarding 
 the sort of nature deacons have to deal with in me ; I should like this, 
 rather than to have the chance of being fixed with any narrow, vulgar 
 soul or forward upstart : still, if I made that the one great considei'ation, 
 it would be selfish and wicked, and I should expect ' the Master ' to punish 
 me by suffering joxx to turn out less of a comfort than I had anticipated. 
 I can truly say, therefore, that I look at the matter — I do not say not in 
 the above light at all — but also, and miich more strongly, in others, 
 which have respect to the good of the Church, and your own duty and 
 iisefulness. Your natural talents and gifts are good ; your strength, 
 decision, and force of character eminent ; your influence and weight in 
 the world, and, in consequence, in any society to which you belong, from 
 your standing, the reputation of j'our firm and your father, and your 
 known substance, I might say wealth, very great. Now, for all this to be 
 so placed that it shall be, in some degree, consecrated to Christ and His 
 cause ; for it to be made to bear on the character and movements of a 
 portion of His Church, and thus, while it adorns you as to the present
 
 1844—1846.] COBRESPONDENCE WITH MB. BINNEY. 91 
 
 "world, benefits aud blesses others in relation to the next — I do think this 
 is deserving of your serious consideration, and it is for you to be very 
 clear, in declining it, that you are not putting away a call of God to great 
 and honourable service. You ' have not all the qualifications you think 
 necessary or wish you possessed ' — be it so ; all qualifications, I main- 
 tain, are not necessary to meet in the person of each deacon, any more 
 than that all ministerial qualifications should meet ia every minister : 
 you have some qualifications which others have not, and which may be 
 of essential use: you can add to faith, force; you have i^ower ; you 
 have strength of will and character which might greatly affect a body of 
 people — and your wealth gives you immense influence — and that influence 
 should be used for Him who has ' given ' to you and your fathers ' the 
 power to get wealth.' . . . Now, my dear friend, I could say much more 
 than I have above, but I will not. Look at the subject again, consult 
 your good wife, who is as much concerned for your usefulness and 
 honour (and far more so) than for your worldly good, and, as you are 
 something of a son to me in the faith, I will conclude by saying with Paul 
 to Timothy : ' Consider what I say, and the Lord give you understanding 
 in all things.' 
 
 Your affectionate friend, 
 
 T. BiNNEY. 
 
 Samuel Morley knew, perhaps even better than 
 Mr. Bmney, what would be mvolved in accepting the 
 •office of deacon. His father had held that office in 
 Dr. Burder's Church for many years, and it had been 
 no sinecure. It was with no little regret, however, 
 that he penned the following reply to the appeal of 
 liis pastor : — 
 
 Mr. Samuel Morley to the Bev. Thomas Blnncy. 
 
 Wood Street, A^n-il 17, 184G. 
 
 My dear Friend, — I have read your kind letter very attentively, and 
 
 I speak the truth when I assure you that I have tried hard to convince 
 
 myself that it is my duty to accede to the proposal which has been made 
 
 by yourself and the deacons. I should consider it a privilege and a
 
 92 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. VI. 
 
 sonrce of happiness to find myself in closer co-operation with you than I 
 can possibly be as a mere member of the Church, in many inatters that 
 are, and ought to be, in operation with the view of increasing our strength 
 and extending our influence. I subscribe fuUy to the opinions which you 
 have so kindly but too partially put before me, and I feel that if I were 
 differently circumstanced I should most readily join the band who are, 
 I trust, for many years to be your more immediate coadjutors and helpers. 
 But I cannot do this while I am in business. I am placed here in a very 
 important position, a position the importance of which is estimated by 
 the attention which it is supposed, more or less correctly, I pay to the 
 various matters I have to attend to. This attention involves an immense 
 amount of time, an amount which involves serious injustice to my family. 
 (You will recollect my hour of returning horae while you were with us.) 
 Any modification I may be able to make (and I certainly shall be able to 
 make more satisfactory arrangements shortly) will only be of such extent 
 as to enable me to see a little more of my wife and children, but will not 
 give me leisure for other engagements. Now it would be a fatal mistake 
 for any one to enter on the engagement in question with the idea that 
 it involves merely regular attendance on the Tuesday evenings, and 
 meeting you at five o'clock on the evening of the Church meeting. I 
 have a very different notion of the matter, that is, if you are to be sup- 
 ported as you ought to be ; and therefore, while I shall consider it a 
 duty and a pleasure to be in close and intimate connection with you 
 whenever you may think I can be useful, in fact to he the thing without 
 the name, I stUl retain the conviction that it is not my duty to accept the 
 invitation which has been given to me. I will only add that every 
 motive of a x^ersonal nature as regards yourself would have led to a 
 different decision, and that I am, with sincere esteem, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 S. MORLEY. 
 
 Notwithstanding this refusal, at a special Clinrcli 
 meeting, held soon afterwards, the congregation 
 proceeded to unanimously elect Mr. Morley to the 
 diaconate, whereupon a further correspondence arose, 
 which need not be quoted. Suffice it to say, he re- 
 mained firm to his resolution, and, until the end of
 
 1844— 184G.] LIFE AT HIGH PBESSUBE. 93 
 
 his life, lie never " held office " in any church. It 
 was a wise resokition ; a wider sphere of usefulness 
 than his friends at the Weigh House foresaw, was 
 opening up to him, and his efforts would have been 
 cramped and trammelled by the acceptance of an office 
 which any good man, with ordinary abilities, could 
 have adorned. 
 
 Life was being lived by Mr. Morley at very high 
 pressure at this time, and there were occasional in- 
 dications of failing health. There were not a few to 
 whom this was a cause of considerable anxiety, and 
 from time to time he received warning words from 
 friends and relations. Thus his cousin, Mr. Benjamin 
 Morley, who was engaged in the Nottingham branch 
 of the business, wrote : — 
 
 Yon have sometimes said that j^ou tliink we Nottingham i)eople take 
 things too easily and quietly, and it has more than once struck us that 
 2/ott Londoners are living in a state of far too great excitement, either for 
 your own personal good or that of the business. The daily excitement 
 arising fi-om so large a concern as ours is enough of itself; but think 
 what you are adding to that by your engagements of other sorts. I am 
 not going to say that you, or any one else, should live only for self, 
 or for your own family even, but there is a limit to every man's 
 j)0wers of body and mind, and I do think, as I have said before, that 
 you at this time are suffering from undue excitement. This may sound 
 cold doctrine to you, but it may be quite true, for all that.
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 1846—1847. 
 
 A Mass of Correspondence — The Eev. Eichard Knill — Germs of Future Things — 
 Magazine Literature — Unsatisfactory Political Position of Dissenters — Lord 
 John Eussell's Education Scheme — Dissenters' Parliamentary Committee — 
 Nonconformist Members of Parliament — An Appeal — Leading Dissenters — 
 General Election — Address to Nonconformist Electors — Eesults. 
 
 One of the greatest trials in the hfe of every popular 
 man, is the mass of correspondence inflicted, on him. 
 Samuel Morley had to experience this. His large 
 heart, his long purse, and his intense earnestness to 
 do good, made it customary in certain circles, even 
 in these comparatively early days of his puhlic career, 
 for any man consulted by another how to raise 
 money, at once to answer, "Try Samuel Morley." 
 
 There was not an appeal made to him that he did not 
 carefully consider, and, if able to respond, he did so 
 cheerfully and liberally. The replies were all in his 
 own hand, he being, as yet, without the services of 
 a secretary. Much of this correspondence, how- 
 ever, was a source of lasting pleasure, as it brought 
 him letters, which he never destroyed, from men 
 who were doing good and honest work for the 
 world's welfare. 
 
 The Rev. Richard Knill, one of the most useful
 
 184G— 1847.] BEV. BICHARD KNILL. 95 
 
 ministers of his day, was one of Mr. Morley's corre- 
 spondents at this time. Mr. Knill's interpretation 
 of the meaning of life was "usefulness"; and he 
 exemplified it in his own career. His labours in 
 Eussia and in India, his missionary tours in Great 
 Britain, his theatre-preaching, his unceasing activity, 
 even to old age, all testified to his devotion and 
 usefulness. 
 
 In 1842, Mr. Knill commenced his ministry at 
 Wotton-under-Edge, and formed there a centre of 
 spiritual influence.* His methods were those that 
 Mr. Morley most cordially approved, especially as 
 regarded the institution of a band of rural evangelists 
 to carry the gospel into places where its welcome 
 sound was rarely heard. 
 
 It was to ask for help in carrying on this work that 
 in 1846 he thus wrote to Mr. Morley : — 
 
 Earl Ducie gave us a piece of land last Thursday on wliicli to build 
 a chapel, also stones from one of his quarries, and will help with 
 some money too. The cause began with one of the converts. He opened 
 a Sunday-school ; then began to preach. Souls have already' been con- 
 verted. Congregation inside and outside. The house is too small. We 
 hope to open the place for two hundred hearers in September. I wish, 
 dear friend, you would give us £5. Oh, do, for this village congregation ; 
 
 '•' It was while Richard Knill was residing at Wotton-under-Edge that 
 he visited the Rev. James Spurgeon, of Stambourne, Essex, and, walking 
 in the garden with the grandson of his host, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, 
 a boy about ten years old, put his hands on his head and prayed for him. 
 At the close, he told the lad he believed " he would love Jesus Christ, 
 aud preach His gospel in the largest chapel in the world ; " — a curious 
 prediction, and one to whic'.i Mr. Spurgeon has often referred as having 
 made a strong iinpresfion upon liim.
 
 96 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. VII. 
 
 and then, as soon as we begin another, I will ask you again to help your 
 
 grateful 
 
 EiCHARD Knill. 
 
 By return of post, Mr. Morley sent liini double the 
 amount asked for, and its receipt was acknowledged 
 in the following characteristic letter : — 
 
 The Bev. Bicliarcl Knill to Mr. Samuel Morley. 
 
 Wotton-under-Edge, May 19, 1846. 
 My dear Sir, — . . . Your favour came this morning, enclosing i;10 
 for the chapel at Charfield. I could have wept a tea-cup full of tears, 
 not at the £10, though I was grateful for that, but at the spirit which God 
 has given you, and which is expressed in the letter. Oh, it does make my 
 heart rejoice to see you, now in the very prime of life, with your head 
 and heart and purse all working for God. I have many thoughts, and 
 hopes, and wishes, and visions about it. I trust you are to be a mighty 
 instrument in the hand of God for helpmg forward His work. What an 
 honour ! what moral dignity ! what elevation ! to be a worker together 
 with God ! And I am more and more persuaded that it is a special gift 
 of Ood to have this feeling. Let only a score of our leading men, — men 
 moving just in your own sphere,— feel as you do, aud a new spirit will go 
 forth in our churches. Others will be awakened, as from a dream, to 
 share the privileges, while some will be shamed out of their previous 
 coldness. Dear sir, what a Master Christ is ! Oh, how richly He can 
 reward service done for Him ! His smile on our own souls, His salvation 
 given to our children, His converting power following our endeavours, 
 and at last the 'Well done, good aud faithful servant.' W^hy, there is 
 
 heaven in the very thought of it. But ! But is it possible that our 
 
 poi^ulation increases 1,000 per diem, aud Liverpool, and Manchestei-, and 
 Ashton-under-Lyne, and Birmingham, and London, and Bath continue 
 with the same nuixiber of chapels ? Surely a spirit of slumber must have 
 come over our popular ministers and our pious and opulent disciples ! 
 * Oh, that Thou wouldst rend the heaven and come down, that the 
 mountains might flow down at Thy presence ! ' — Amen. 
 
 Your very grateful servant, 
 
 EicHAED Knill.
 
 184C— 1847.] DISSENTEBS IN PARLIAMENT. 97 
 
 lu the actions of Samuel Morley during the years 
 1846 and 1847, we may trace the germs of all his 
 future career. His character was fixed and settled, 
 his influence had taken root, his way in life lay open 
 before him, and what he was then, he was till the 
 end of the journey was reached. The generous action 
 which called forth the gratitude of the "Apostolic 
 Eichard Knill " was typical of ten thousand that 
 were to follow ; and other matters in which he 
 was concerned were all in the bent of his future 
 labours. Thus, as early as 1846, his thoughts were 
 running in the direction of influencing the world's 
 opinion, and forming its tastes, by means of periodical 
 literature. In that year he had in contemplation the 
 establishment of a magazine and review for young 
 men, which, without calling itself a religious periodi- 
 cal, should uphold the cause of truth and holiness. 
 It does not appear that the scheme was carried into 
 effect, although some correspondence took place as 
 to the choice of an editor. 
 
 One of the principal subjects that engrossed his 
 time and thought at this period was the inadequate 
 representation of Dissenters in the House of Com- 
 mons. When any question arose affecting their 
 interests, they had not the satisfaction of seeing 
 their parliamentary battles well fought. Few mem- 
 bers had any knowledge of their " peculiar views," 
 or sympathy with their feelings, while many set them 
 down as narrow-minded and impracticable. Samuel 
 Morley was desirous that Dissenters should now 
 
 8
 
 98 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. VII. 
 
 "take their proper place," as composing a very 
 large proportion of the electoral body, their ranks 
 comprising, as they undoubtedly did, a considerable 
 number of the best class of borough voters. 
 
 How to effect this object, was the w^eighty problem 
 that he sought to solve. It absorbed him night and 
 day ; it led him to seek counsel of all on whose 
 judgment he could rely ; it involved him in enor- 
 mous correspondence. At length he concluded 
 that to concentrate effort on the return of some 
 of the ablest and most reliable members of their 
 own body, would be the best means of placing their 
 sentiments before Parliament and the Government. 
 
 The occasion for giving effect to this conviction 
 soon arose. On the 19th of April, 1847, Lord John 
 Bussell submitted to Parliament the details of his 
 plan for the education of the people, based upon the 
 grant of .£100,000, to be asked for during the session. 
 Eoman Catholics were to be excluded from the 
 grant, but their case would be afterwards taken up 
 separately. He expressed his opinion that the pro- 
 posal for making the education given by the State 
 purely secular, was opposed to the opinion of Parlia- 
 ment. Amendments were proposed, but were nega- 
 tived by large majorities. 
 
 The proposals were viewed by certain sections of 
 the Nonconformist body with great consternation, 
 and there was much angry strife both in and out of 
 Parliament. Mr. John Bright, in the adjourned 
 debate, upheld the cause of the Dissenters, and
 
 184G— 1847.] PBIMABY EDUCATION. 99 
 
 commenced one of his most able speeches by saying 
 that " he rose to defend principles that were not very 
 pleasing in that assembly, but, nevertheless, being 
 himself one of the Nonconformist body in this 
 country, and being by birth, education, observation, 
 conviction, and feeling established in the principles 
 he held on the question, he felt bound, though in 
 opposition to a Government sitting on the same side 
 of the House as himself, to protest against the policy 
 and principles which they were now offering for the 
 adoption of Parliament." 
 
 Out of doors, there was continued excitement. 
 Long before Lord John's plan was actually sub- 
 mitted, meetings had been held in all parts of the 
 country to oppose the principle on which the 
 scheme was based. The following extract from a 
 letter written on the 10th of March to Mr. Joshua 
 Wilson, one of Samuel Morley's most intimate 
 friends and coadjutors, indicates his activity : — 
 
 I hope the Plymouth Committee will meet after all. It is proposed that we 
 assemble at Birmingham on Tuesday, the 23rd instant. I want to procure 
 the opinion of a few men such as Drs. Bedford, "Wardlaw, Alexander, &c., 
 as to the best mode of dealing with the question of future operations, 
 and I want you to help me. I am very anxious that we should not meet 
 merely to look at each other and to discuss our own crude opinions ou 
 the subject, but should be thankful to have the views of some of our 
 best men, who have been looking on at a distance, brought before us for 
 discussion. 
 
 Our interview with Lord John impressed us with the idea that the 
 withdrawal of the education scheme will only be the result of a liard 
 light. Its enormity becomes more apparent with every fresh investi- 
 gation.
 
 100 SAMUEL MOIiLEY. [Chap. VII. 
 
 Despite the efforts that were made, the new 
 scheme of education was carried by a majority of 
 345, forty-seven only voting against it. 
 
 At the outset of the movement an organization 
 had been formed, called the "Dissenters' Parlia- 
 mentary Committee," of which Mr. Samuel Moiiey 
 was appointed chairman. Its object was two-fold : 
 first, to op230se Lord John Russell's education 
 scheme ; and second, to promote the return of 
 Nonconformists to Parliament. Having failed in 
 the first object, it addressed itself vigorously to the 
 accomplishment of the second. 
 
 One step immediately taken was, to send to a 
 certain number of gentlemen, whose names were 
 carefully selected and considered by the Committee, 
 a letter, of which the following is a copy : — 
 
 London, May 25, 1847. 
 To . 
 
 Dear Sir, — A Committee of gentlemen, formed on tlie recommenda- 
 tion of tbe conference convened at Crosby Hall, to oppose the Government 
 scheme of education, are taking steps to promote the return to Parliament, 
 at the approaching General Election, of as many representatives as 
 possible, well acquainted with Nonconformist principles, and eai-nestly 
 interested in their progress and success. 
 
 In the prosecution of the undertaking entrusted to them, they venture 
 to address you, dear sir, on a subject equally delicate and important. 
 
 The most serious disadvantage under which the Dissenters suffer, in 
 reference to the representation of their principles, is the extreme fewness 
 of suitable candidates among themselves, disposed to take upon them the 
 onerous duties of parliamentary service. The fact might perhaps be easily 
 accounted for, but it is of far more importance, at the present moment, to 
 aim at supplying the deficiency. This the Committee are attempting to 
 do, and with this view they have unanimously agreed to request that
 
 1846— 47.J DISSENTEBS' PARLIAMENT ABY COMMITTEE. 101 
 
 you, with several other gentlemen, would permit your name to stand on 
 the list of those to whom they may look with hope, in case a favourahle 
 opportunity should occur, for contesting, on our principles, a seat in the 
 House of Commons. 
 
 The Committee are not insensible to the sacrifices of various kinds 
 which compliance with such a request would necessarily involve ; nor 
 can they venture to estimate them so accurately and fully as each 
 individual whom they address will probably do for himself. But the 
 arguments by which they have been emboldened to intrude upon you will 
 not, they are persuaded, be less powerful in swaying your decision. 
 
 It will probably strike you, dear sir, as it does the Committee, that one 
 of the largest and noblest services which can be rendered to religion in 
 the present day, would be to resist in the Legislature those insidious 
 encroachments of the State, which, by degrading Christianity into a mere 
 political element, destroy, to an alarming extent, its moral beauty and 
 its spiritual power. It is the obvious design of all our leading statesmen, 
 applauded therein by then* several parliamentary supporters, to subsidize 
 the religious teachers of all sects, with a view to make the religious senti- 
 ments of the i)eople subserve the purposes of civil government. This 
 design can be met and frustrated only by a firm enunciation of our 
 principles in the House of Commons. The great battle of the age, in 
 which tlie hopes of Christ's Church ai'e involved, and with the issue of 
 which, hvmianly speaking, its sj)irituality and extension are identified, 
 must be fought there. The question occurs, ' "Who will consecrate them- 
 selves to such an engagement ? ' Where Divine Providence has bestowed 
 the requisite qualifications, do not love and duty demand that they shall 
 not have been bestowed in vain ? Here is a great work to be done ! At 
 present there is but an individual here and there capable of performing 
 it. Ought they to refuse ? And would not the benefit which the Church 
 of Christ would derive from their fidelity, their consciousness of serving 
 the best of Masters in the highest of earthly spheres, and the manifest 
 co-operation with them of His all-wise providence, be ample compensa- 
 tion for the heavy sacrifices which such a com'se of duty would entail ? 
 The times seem to demand from the class to which you belong, a 
 Christian heroism worthy of former days, when senators, having made 
 their wills and settled all their worldly affairs, calmly went up to the 
 House of Commons to brave, for the gospel's sake, imprisonment and 
 death. . . . 
 
 [Then followed an appeal that the person addressed would allow him-
 
 102 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. VII. 
 
 self to become a caudiilate, if possible, at the next General Election, if a 
 suitable constituency could be found.] 
 
 We are, dear Sir, 
 
 Your obedient servants, 
 
 S. MORLEY, 
 
 Edw. Baines, Jux., 
 Thomas Eussell. 
 
 This letter was lithograplied from an original in 
 Mr. Morley's handwriting, and hears evidence of 
 his authorship — with additions from another hand. 
 The replies were addressed to him and were care- 
 fully preserved, and in the bnndle in which they 
 were found after his decease, there is a paper, in 
 his own handwriting, containing the names of 
 those to whom the circular letter was sent. That 
 list may now he regarded as an historical docu- 
 ment of some value, as it contains the names of the 
 men who were regarded by the leading Dissenters of 
 London as being the best fitted in the whole country 
 to represent in Parliament the views of the Noncon- 
 formists. We therefore append it exactly as it was 
 written, and it will be seen that many on the list 
 subsequently became Members of Parliament: — 
 
 G. W. Alexander, Lombard Street. Nathaniel Griffin. 
 
 S. Bowley, Gloucester. E. Miall. 
 
 Alderman Kershaw, Manchester. Dr. Thomas Price. 
 
 S. Morley, London. G. Harrison, Wakefield. 
 
 E. Baines, Juu., Leeds. E. Dawson, Aldcliff Hall. 
 
 Tice, Sopley, Christchurch. T. Thompsim, Poundsford Park, 
 
 S. M. Peto, Russell Square. Taunton. 
 
 James Cripps, Leicester. E. Peek, Hazel wood, Devon. 
 
 J. E. Mills, Stamford Hill. D. W. Wire, London.
 
 184G— 1847.] 
 
 LEADING DISSENTEB8. 
 
 103 
 
 George Leemau, Yoi-k. 
 C. Robertson, Liverpool. 
 
 B. BootliLy, G, Sergeant's Inn, 
 Fleet Street. 
 
 C. Fox, Derby. 
 
 C. Gilpin, Bisliopsgate Street. 
 Apsley Pellatt. 
 George Thomas, Bristol. 
 Ebenezer Clark, Walthamstow. 
 .To3. Tritton, Lombard Street. 
 Henry Kelsall, Eoclidale. 
 G. Foster, Subden, near Black- 
 burn. 
 
 E. Foster, Cambridge. 
 
 F. Schwann, Huddersfield. 
 R. Milligan, Bradford. 
 
 W. Ackroj'd, Otley, near Bradford. 
 Jacob Bright, Juu., Rochdale. 
 Edw. Baxter, Dundee. 
 John Hamilton, Glasgow. 
 BailUe James Anderson, Glasgow. 
 
 Sir Culling Eardley Smith, Bed well 
 
 Park, Hatfield. 
 JolinSte2)liens, Solicitor, Maidstoae. 
 R. Hardy, Worcester. 
 G. Hadfield, Manchester. 
 John Copland, Chelmsford. 
 Lawrence Hey worth, Liverpool. 
 Couzens Hardy, LeatheringseLt, 
 
 near Yarmouth. 
 Robert Charlton, Bristol. 
 John Barker, Wolverhampton. 
 Sir John Williams, Wem, Salop. 
 Stamford Raffles, London. 
 Henry Ashworth, Teuton, near 
 
 Bolton. 
 Edmund Ashworth, Teuton, near 
 
 Bolton. 
 R. D. Alexander, Ipswich. 
 W. P. Paton, Glasgow. 
 W. Burd, Jun., Manchester. 
 Thomas Blackburn, Liverpool. 
 
 In view of the approacliiug General Election, an 
 appeal was sent forth in June by the Dissenters' 
 Parliamentary Committee, signed by Samuel Morley 
 as Chairman, addressed " To the Nonconformist 
 Electors of Great Britain." It was circulated freely 
 in every constituency throughout the country, and 
 produced a storm of criticism. 
 
 The following extracts will give some idea of its 
 general tenor : — 
 
 Upon the Nonconformists of Great Britain — upon those of them 
 especially who possess the elective franchise — the px'ovidence of God seems 
 to devolve, at the present juncture, a peculiarly solemn responsibilitj'. 
 The vitality of Christian institutions is threatened. The princix^les of
 
 104 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. VII. 
 
 State policj^, repeatedly and recently avowed by our statesmen of all 
 parties, and covertly sanctioned by the Minutes of Council on Education, 
 will, if consistently carried out, degrade God's appointed instrumentality 
 for the regeneration of the world, into a mere system of police. Rehgious 
 sentiment, in all the outward forms it may assume, will be subordinate 
 to the purposes of Civil Governors. 
 
 Referring to tlie " present professions of statesmen," 
 the address continued : — 
 
 The principles they enunciate, the arguments they use, the continental 
 examples to which they refer with approbation, and the tentative plans 
 which they have resolutely embodied in legislative acts, afford surer 
 presages of what they ^uill do, if permitted, than can any statement of 
 their intentions wrung from them at the hustings. . . . "With their policy 
 set in the direction it has lately taken, they cannot be long before they 
 arrive at the payment, by the State, of all religious teachers. 
 
 Without attempting to prescribe the precise mode 
 in which the protest was to be made, electors were 
 urged to let it be thoroughly intelligible and to " bear 
 upon its front the stamp of earnestness." The address 
 concluded : — 
 
 At present you may not have it in your power to send more than a very 
 few Members into the House likely to give expression to your distinctive 
 views — and wherever this caii be done, we doubt not you will do it — but 
 you can, if you will, convince the Legislature that there exists a large body 
 of constituents, numerous 'enough to turn the balance of parties, with 
 whose interests it is unsafe to tamper — who have suificient self-respect to 
 resent gratuitous insult ; attachment enough to their principles to stand 
 by them against any and exevy political confederacy ; and resolution 
 enough to cast off allies who have thought fit to betray them. 
 
 Accompanying this appeal was a printed letter 
 referring to the address which Lord John Russell had 
 just issued, seeking re-election. It set forth the con-
 
 184G— 1847.J LOUD JOHN BUSSELL. 105 
 
 victiou that the ^^rinciples of civil and rehgions 
 hberty had grievously suffered at the hands of the 
 noble lord, and urged that no support should he 
 directly or indirectly afforded to him by Dissenters 
 at the coming election, or to any candidate holding 
 his views on ecclesiastical questions. It called upon 
 all friends of religious liberty, in the event of no 
 candidate coming forward prepared to adopt and 
 carry out their principles, to withhold their votes 
 altogether, and not in any way to interfere with 
 the election, as Lord John could never be the 
 representative of the Dissenters of London after the 
 crowning proof he had given of "his readiness to 
 sacrifice principles, which they held dear, upon the 
 altar of supposed political expediency." 
 
 Whether the methods pursued at this time were 
 the most judicious that could have been adopted, 
 is open to question. Those who were immediately 
 concerned in promoting them had no doubt upon the 
 subject, and worked vigorously and harmoniously 
 together. 
 
 The result of the election for the City of London 
 was, that Lord John Eussell received the largest num- 
 ber of votes, and was returned with two Liberals, 
 Pattison and Kothschild,* and one Conservative, 
 Masterman. The final result of the elections was a 
 Ministerial majority of 25 to 30 in a fair party division. 
 
 * The first Jew ever returned to the House of Commons. He was unable, 
 however, to take his seat, the question of Jewish Disabilities not having 
 then been settled.
 
 106 SAMUEL MOJRLEY. [Chap. VII. 
 
 Althoiigli the immediate results were contrary to 
 the anticipations of some of the members of the 
 Dissenters' Parliamentary Committee, their efforts 
 did not end in failure. At the next General Election 
 (1852), thirty-eight Protestant Free Churchmen of 
 various denominations were returned, " representing 
 constituencies comprising an electorate of 228,057, 
 and a population of 4,290,905. The entire electorate 
 of England, Wales, and Scotland was at that time 
 somewhat over 1,000,000, and the population, in 
 round numbers, 20,000,000. It was evident, there- 
 fore, that in large and populous constituencies 
 great j)i'ogress had been made by the advocates of 
 Free Church principles." * 
 
 - " Life of Edward Miall," p. 181.
 
 CHAPTEE YIII. 
 
 1847—1855. 
 
 Increasing Responsibilities — Cliartism — Death of Mr. Jolin Morley, Sen. — 
 The Ancient Merchants' Lecture — Testimonials — Public Discussion. 
 Christianity versus Secularism — Fair Play — Mr. G. J. Holyoake and Rev. 
 Brewin Grant — Craven Lodge, Stamford Hill — Mr. John Morley retires 
 from Business. 
 
 Me. Morley's daily life exemplified the truth of the 
 old axiom, " True greatness is shown by care for 
 little things." Those who knew him best had con- 
 tinued opportunity to observe not only the true 
 generosity of character which others recognized in 
 deeds of munificence, but, what is rarer and more 
 beautiful, that which triumphs over the continual 
 temptations to neglect minor moralities, common to 
 all who are engrossed w^ith great concerns. 
 
 The increase of public business did not diminish 
 his commercial activity, or cause him to abandon 
 constant communication with his friends. But it led 
 him to acquire the habit of working and thinking 
 with greater rapidity, of economizing every moment, 
 and of allowing himself less frequent leisure, rest, 
 and recreation. 
 
 Mr. Morley's family w^as increasing rapidly, and in
 
 108 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 November, 1847, he received many congratulations, 
 Mr. Binney being among the first, upon the birth of his 
 fifth child. He wrote: "When God sends mouths, 
 He sends meat : this is the comfort of the poor. 
 But how much more favoured those who feel that He 
 sent the meat first ! A large family is a blessing. 
 The fruitful vine and the olive plants (bless them both 
 and all !), may they long flourish, and be to you an 
 increasing joy ! " 
 
 Not less affectionate were the greetings of Dr. 
 Thomas Eaffles, who, in the midst of " trying to 
 collect my poor scattered, bewildered thoughts for 
 one sermon to-morrow," could not withhold from 
 his " dear friend a word of congratulation and a 
 prayer that the mother might long be spared to 
 bless her affectionate husband and rising family 
 with her maternal tenderness and care." 
 
 The year 1848 was one of the most memorable in 
 the century. Wars and rumours of wars abroad, 
 distress and disaffection at home, caused men's hearts 
 to fail them for fear. Chartism threatened to bring 
 the country to the verge of revolution, and all 
 London was thrown into a panic by preparations for 
 a " Monster Demonstration" on Kennington Common. 
 A quarter of a million citizens were enrolled as 
 special constables, and the Duke of Wellington 
 assumed the milittiry defence of the Metropolis. 
 It ended in a fiasco, as far as the demonstration was 
 concerned, but it bore fruit afterwards in a better 
 understanding among all classes as regarded the
 
 1847— 1855.J DEATH OF FATHER. 109 
 
 principal point in the People's Charter — the exteu- 
 sion of the suffrage. On the eve of the threatened 
 riot (April 9th), Mr. Morley wrote to his hiend 
 Joshua Wilson as follows : — 
 
 Do not be needlessly alarmed at tlie present aspect of events. While 
 everything tending to a breach of the peace must be put down, and the 
 violence of misguided men must be met by force, depend upon it the 
 aristocracy will never give up the prey on which they have always been 
 disposed to fatten, till their fears are excited. I am far removed from 
 being a Chartist, but I have the deepest sympathy with the working 
 classes, who are suffering an amount of misery which deserves more con- 
 sideration than it has met with at the hands of the Government or the 
 House of Commons. 
 
 The early part of the year was not only full of 
 trouble in the outer world, there was a special trouble 
 in the home circle of Samuel Morley. His father, 
 for whom he entertained the deepest possible affection, 
 who had been to him companion and friend for so 
 many years, upon whose life and character he sought 
 to model his own, was called to his rest on the 10th 
 of May, at the good old age of eighty. He was a 
 man greatly beloved, and when he was laid to rest 
 beside his wife in the Bunhill Fields burial-ground 
 — the " Campo Santo of Nonconformity," where 
 many who suffered for righteousness' sake, and who 
 fought valiantly for civil and religious liberty, repose 
 — there were not a few among the great crowd of 
 mourners who felt that they, too, had lost a father. 
 From pulpit and press tbe story of his life-work was 
 told, and it was said of him, as was said of Jehoiada,
 
 110 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 " He liad clone good in Israel, both toward God and 
 toward his house." It was no Uttle gratification to 
 him in his last days to know that his mantle would 
 fall upon his son Samuel, Eind that the good works 
 he had begun would be faithfully continued. In his 
 care for the Nonconformist colleges ; in his thought- 
 ful regard, in their old age, for those who had been 
 his father's friends ; in his advocacy of those prin- 
 ciples for wdiose extension his father had always 
 been solicitous, Samuel Morley showed how deep- 
 rooted was his love for the parent he had lost, and in 
 how sacred a regard his memory was cherished. 
 
 Many new engagements were undertaken by Mr. 
 Morley about this period. One of them was the 
 acceptance of the treasurership of the " Ancient 
 Merchants' Lecture." In 1672, tw^elve years after 
 the Eestoration, Independents and Presbyterians 
 united in taking advantage of the king's celebrated 
 " Declaration of Indulgence," and, in order to diffuse 
 the principles of the Eeforination, founded in London 
 a weekly lecture for business men. Kt first the 
 meetings were held in the old Pinners Hall in 
 Broad Street, and the list of early lecturers contains 
 the honoured names of William Bates, Thomas 
 Manton, John Owen, Richard Baxter, William 
 Jenkyn, John Collins, John Howe, and Daniel 
 Williams, the munificent founder of the library which 
 still bears his name. 
 
 The Presbyterians withdrew towards the end of 
 the seventeenth century, but the original lecture
 
 1847—1855.] DB. JOHN PYE SMITH. Ill 
 
 has continued to the present day. The bead-roll 
 of lecturers contains the names of all the leaders 
 of Independency in London, among them being the 
 Claytons, the Burders, John Pye Smith, Joseph 
 Fletcher, Eobert Yaughan, Samuel Martin, James 
 Sherman, and Thomas Binney, who held the office 
 for thirty-nine years. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Morley became the treasurer in 1849 
 (at which time the lectures w"ere delivered in the 
 Poultry Chapel), and continued to fill that position 
 for thirty years, namely, until 1879, when he resigned 
 "in favour of younger men." But he still took a 
 warm interest in the lecture, and, whenever he could, 
 he took advantage of the object it j)i'omoted, namely, 
 " a pause in the midst of busy avocations, in order 
 to consecrate an hour to purposes of spiritual rest, 
 refreshment, and instruction." 
 
 Mr. Morley always remained true to his old friends, 
 and never spared himself if he could render them a 
 service. Thus, when Dr. John Pye Smith retired 
 from Homerton College, after labouring there for half 
 a century, Samuel Morley presided, in November, 
 1849, at a meeting to organize a public subscription, 
 the interest of which should be available for Dr. Pye 
 Smith's benefit during his lifetime, and at his death 
 be appropriated to the foundation of Divinity ScJ^olar- 
 ships bearing his name, in the New College at St. 
 John's Wood. When the subscription, amounting 
 to J£2,600, was raised, Mr. Morley also presided at 
 the public presentation. The reply to the address
 
 112 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 delivered by the Eev. Joshua Harrison, was com- 
 posed by Dr. Pye Smith, and read by his son. It 
 contained the following passage, referring to an early 
 decade of the century : — 
 
 To 3'ou, my friend, Mr. Samuel Morley, then indeed an infant, I turn, 
 as at that time the friendship of your honoured father, Mr. John Morlej^, 
 fixed itself on me with an original sympathy of judgment upon all the 
 practical questions of evangelical truth and national morality. He 
 yielded, at great sacrifices, to the request of another memorable friend, 
 whom declining health compelled to retire, and accepted the onerous 
 office of Treasurer of the Homertou College Society. From the anxieties 
 and labours inseparable from such a method as Mr. Hale and he pursued, 
 in fulfilling the duties of the office, he did not shrink, but maintained the 
 toil with ardour, till he had the happiness of transferring them into your 
 hands. Then he had the rare satisfaction of seeing the evidences in his 
 son, of maturity of judgment, decision of principle, and devotedness to the 
 most enlarged application of Christian truth. In so many and so well- 
 known lines of activity we have witnessed your pursuit of the best public 
 objects, that it would be superfluous and absurd in me to enlarge upon 
 them. But to me personally, your father's and your own universal kind- 
 ness and extraordinary hberality, through the long period of our connection, 
 have been a testimony that gospel love never faileth. 
 
 In services of this kind Mr, Morley was often 
 engaged, but probably on few occasions with greater 
 personal pleasure than when, in 1851, his old and 
 valued friend, James Parsons, of York, fell ill, and 
 the following communication was sent to him. The 
 "copy" manuscript letter is in Mr. Morley's own 
 handwriting, and it is characteristic of him that the 
 sum, presented to Mr. Parsons to enable him to 
 procure " entire relaxation and freedom h'om care," 
 is left blank : —
 
 1847—1855.] LETTEB TO JAMES PARSONS. 113 
 
 To the Rev. James Parsons. 
 
 York, March 1, 1851. 
 
 Dear and honoured Sir, — A few of your sincere fi-iends, whose names 
 are nndersigned, feel anxious to express the deep concern and sorrow with 
 which they learn that your serious illness still continues. We know, 
 indeed, that the Hand which has so long and severely afflicted you, is 
 able to administer strength and comfort in the hours of weariness and 
 depression, and we cannot doiibt tliat the promises, of which you have 
 reminded others, have recurred with peculiar force and sweetness to your 
 own mind. Yet still the season of adversity is the season when the 
 sympathies of friendship are most needed and welcome, and often enable 
 the sufferer to ' thank God and take courage.' 
 
 Although we are aware of the aversion you have always felt to any 
 eulogium on your character and labours, we believe that you will not 
 deem it unseasonable at the present moment to be assured that many hold 
 you in affectionate remembrance, and ' esteem you very highly in love fcr 
 your work's sake.' During a long course of almost unexampled popu- 
 laritj', we rejoice to think that you have been enabled to preserve that 
 Christian simplicity and consistency which give weight and influence to 
 ministerial character, and recommend the truths which are publicly 
 preached. We have watched with deep interest and hearty appreciation 
 the numerous and important services which you have rendered to the 
 Churches of Christ, and the willingness with which you have devoted 
 yourself to the advancement of every work which promised to strengthen 
 the cause of education, humanity, and truth. Your occasional visits to the 
 churches with which we are connected have been to many of us seasons 
 never to be forgotten, nor can we fully describe the deep and hallowed im- 
 pressions which those visits have left on our minds. And now that you 
 are laid aside from yoiir chosen employment, and are constrained for a 
 time to retire into solitude, we desire to express our true sympathj^ with 
 yourself and j'our beloved family in your protracted trial, and to assure 
 you of our earnest prayers that you may again be made strong for labour, 
 and more than ever useful in j-our great and holy work. For the attain- 
 ment of complete i^ecovery we are convinced that entire relaxation ami 
 freedom from care are absolutely needful ; and, therefore, at once tc 
 secure this perfect repose, and to prove our sincere affection and esteem, 
 we feel great pleasure in placing at your disposal the enclosed sum of 
 £ , which you will do us tlie favour to accept.
 
 114 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 Earnestly prayiug that your seclusion may be only temporary, that it 
 may be a season of real profit to yoivr family, your flock, and your own 
 spirit, aud that you may come forth from it purified, instructed, and 
 strengthened. 
 
 We are, dear and honoured Sir, 
 
 Yours very faithfully, 
 
 Thomas Barnes, Falmouth. James Kershaw, Manchester. 
 
 James Carlton, Manchester. John Morley, London. 
 
 John Crossley, Halifax. S. Morley, London. 
 
 James Crossley, Halifax. W. W. Morley, London. 
 
 F. Crossley, Halifax. T. Salt, Bradford. 
 
 Roger Cunliffe, London. Eccles Shorrock, Darwen. 
 
 James Cunliffe, London. James Spicer, London. 
 
 James East, London. W. D. Wills, Bristol. 
 
 W. Flanders, London. H. 0. Wills, Bristol. 
 
 Samuel Fletcher, Manchester. Joshua Wilson, London. 
 
 Robert Forman, Derby. James Watts, Manchester. 
 
 George Hadfield, Manchester.' 
 
 Between thirty and forty years ago, public plat- 
 form discussions on Christianity versus Secularism 
 were not uncommon. Whether that was a desirable 
 mode of ventilating opinion is open to much question, 
 but it must be remembered that, in those days, the 
 press had not the power it now has ; periodical 
 literature had not assumed anything like its present 
 wide-reaching aspects, and the modern popular taste 
 for religious controversy was yet in its infancy. 
 
 On six successive Thursday evenings, commencing 
 January 20th, and terminating February 24, 1853, a 
 public discussion took place in the Eoyal British 
 Institution, Cowper Street, London, between the 
 Rev. Brewin Grant, Editor of The Bible arid the 
 Peojple, and Mr. George Jacob Holyoake, the Editor
 
 1847—1855.] CHBISTIANITY v. SECULARISM. 115 
 
 of the Heasoner, on the question — " What advan- 
 tages would accrue to mankind generally, and the 
 working classes in particular, by the removal of 
 Christianity, and the substitution of Secularism in 
 its place ? " 
 
 The Rev. Ebenezer Syme acted as chairman for 
 Mr. Holyoake, and Mr. Samuel Moiiey as chairman 
 for Mr. G-rant, the Rev. Howard Hinton being nomi- 
 nated as umpire. In opening the proceedings, Mr. 
 Syme expressed the hope that Mr. Grant would be 
 as ready to see the truth there is in Secularism as he 
 was sure Mr. Holyoake would be ready to see the 
 truth there is in Christianity, and that both would 
 hear in mind throughout, that they were " to bring 
 their respective tenets before the audience on the 
 ground of reason, and not to fall back upon authority." 
 
 Just before Mr. Syme called upon Mr. Holyoake 
 to commence, Mr. Moiiey rose and said : — 
 
 Will you allow me for one moment, before Mr. Syme introduces Mr. 
 Holyoake, to assui'e you that I have associated myself with Mr. Syme 
 precisely in the spirit which he has indicated in the remarks he has made 
 to you. I hope we are met to-night to listen to a straightforward, manly 
 appeal to our reason. And, in connection with that, I have to make one 
 request, both to the gentlemen who are about to address us, and to yo u 
 who are the audience this evening. It is this — that the friends who are 
 about to address us should abstain, as far as possible, from anything that 
 can approach to personal feeling or reference, and thrii in any expression 
 of coincidence of opinion, which it would be absurd to suppose you will 
 not from time to time manifest, that also should be kept within the range 
 of good feeling and good fellowship, in order to prevent irritation, and 
 consequently, pei'haps, loss of temper. I am sure jou will excuse the 
 suggestion, as I hope it will tend to promote the great object we have in 
 view — the arrival at truth, and not at more victory.
 
 IIG SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. YIII. 
 
 It is not necessary to indicate the scope of the 
 discussion, ^Yhich occupies 264 closely-printed pages 
 of a volume. One or two incidents may, however, he 
 mentioned here. On the second Thursdaj^ some con- 
 troversy arose as to the w^ording of the proposition, 
 when Mr. Morley promptly rose and said : "I am 
 anxious for one minute to set myself right with Mr. 
 Holyoake. I was a party, as one of the chairmen last 
 week, to the reading of the following sentence : 
 * What advantages w^ould accrue to mankind gener- 
 ally, and the working classes in particular, hy the 
 removal of Christianity, and the substitution of 
 Secularism in its place ? ' Now, on my honour, I 
 would he no party, if I knew^ it, to any proceeding in 
 connection with this discussion that was not per- 
 fectly fair and perfectly straightforward. I under- 
 stand Mr. Holyoake to say that this sentence is 
 Mr. Grant's, and not his. Now I was present at a 
 meeting at which Mr. Syme (Mr. Holyoake's chair- 
 man) and Mr. Holyoake's brother were present, and 
 I distinctly understood that the phrase, as it was read, 
 was adopted by Mr. Holyoake. I wish to have that 
 made perfectly straight and clear, otherwise I have 
 been a party to misrepresentation. I beg to insist 
 on an answer to this. Mr. Holyoake's brother wall 
 do me the justice to say whether I am right or wTong 
 in what I have said." 
 
 "It is my place to answer that question," replied 
 Mr. Holyoake. " I accepted the ^proposition ; I said 
 so in the words I used. I said : ' Why I accepted
 
 1847—1855.] MR. G. J. HOLYOAKE. 117 
 
 the proposition Mr. Grant drew up was, because lio 
 told me it meant, in other words, " Wherein consists 
 the superiority of our gospel, or views, over the 
 gospel of Jesus Christ ? " ' I thought it was in that 
 sense he would use them, and that he would not 
 make me responsible for the extravagant element in 
 them — that of wishing to remove the whole of 
 Christianity." 
 
 To which Mr. Morley answered : "I am bound to 
 say I recognize those words as having been used by 
 Mr. Holyoake. I say it frankly." 
 
 Mr. Morley's task as chairman on the successive 
 evenings was not a very difficult one, for, with the 
 exception of an occasional appeal to the audience to 
 avoid the "senseless and irritating" forms of dis- 
 apj)roval in which they indulged, and especially 
 "that contemptible sound, a hiss," he had nothing 
 to say. But the discussion made a deej) impression 
 on his mind, and the respect tliat he had ah-eady for 
 the personal character and ability of Mr. Holyoake 
 was greatly strengthened ; nor did he ever hesita.te 
 to give it as his opinion that for " fairness in argu- 
 ment, for courtesy in bearing, and for earnestness to 
 arrive at truth rather than at mere victory, the 
 balance was altogether in favour of the Secularist.' 
 
 In 1854, Mr. Morley left his home in Lower 
 Clapton, and removed to Craven Lodge, on Stam- 
 ford Hill, where he lived until 1870. The neigh 
 bourhood, when Mr. Morley lirst went to it, was still
 
 118 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 unspoiled; handsome old mansions stood in the midst 
 of spacious, pleasant gardens, and charming country 
 spread itself around. 
 
 Craven Lodge lay back from the road, and stood 
 in about seventy acres of ground, singularly well- 
 timbered, with distant views over Epping Forest 
 and the river Lea. 
 
 The mansion itself was comfortable as well as 
 handsome. A special feature of it was a large room 
 known as the Saloon, where, in addition to home 
 gatherings, religious meetings and other assemblies 
 were held. 
 
 For a glimpse into the happy home life at Craven 
 Lodge we shall reserve a special chapter. The re- 
 moval to that house was an important event in the 
 domestic life of Mr. Moiiey. A change of much 
 greater importance, however, took place about this 
 time in his business relations. In 1855, his brother, 
 Mr. John Morley, retired from the firm of I. ?md K. 
 Morley, after a connection with it of thirty-two years. 
 
 For many years prior to the withdrawal of John 
 Moiiey h'om the business, Samuel had confined his 
 attention exclusively to the counting-house. He 
 did not interfere wdth the conduct of the various 
 departments. As a matter of fact his technical know- 
 ledge of goods was not very extensive, and it was not 
 necessary that it should be. Mr. John Morley was 
 at the head of all the arrangements in the ware- 
 house, and he had under him assistants who, in 
 their particular departments, were specialists.
 
 1847—1855.] MR. JOHN MORLEY. 119 
 
 While the counting-house was, of course, the great 
 engine whereby the whole concern was worked, and 
 the daily returns from the several departments, both 
 in London and Nottingham, the barometer indicating 
 the rise and fall of sales, it was due to the fact that 
 the warehouse was so admirably managed that there 
 was so much work in the counting-house. 
 
 Year by year there had been progress. Notwith- 
 standing trade depressions, and other causes which 
 would sometimes make the wheels of the vast 
 machinery run slowly, there would come a " leap 
 year," when, with a bound, the lessened rate of 
 progress of past years would be more than couuter- 
 balanced, and the proceeds of the year of revival, 
 spread over the preceding years, would bring up the 
 average to show steady advance fi'om the beginning. 
 Then extra efforts would be made, fresh articles 
 introduced, new modes and methods adopted, tlie 
 shipping department developed, fresh travellers em- 
 ployed, and the current of prosperity would again 
 run on. 
 
 Up to this point in the history of the business, its 
 success was due to the efforts of John Morley quite 
 as much as to those of Samuel. When the brothers 
 came to it, they came to a business that had already 
 made a name. From first to last they worked together 
 harmoniously ; they equally felt the responsibility of 
 their respective positions, and each had done his best 
 to ensure success. Mr. John Morley had amassed a 
 fortune, and, having no children, he felt there was no
 
 120 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. VIII. 
 
 longer any necessity for him to continue in business, 
 while there were wide fields of Christian usefulness 
 into which he longed for leisure to roam. His in- 
 iluence over the young men in the house had always 
 been very great, as the nature of his duties brought 
 him immediately in contact with them, and through- 
 out the establishment he was not only much resj^ected, 
 but. among the large majority, he was regarded with 
 affection. But so it was ; the partnership was dis- 
 solved, and Samuel Morley was left sole head of the 
 concern.
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 1855—1857. 
 
 Mismanagement in the Crimea — Administrative Reform Association — Letter 
 from Mr. S. Laing, M.P. — A Possible Contingency — The Civil Service Com- 
 mission — -Great Meeting in Drury Lane Theatre — A Multitude of Cares — 
 Missionary Organizations — The Congregational Home Missionary Society 
 — The Rev. J. H. Wilson — Visits to County Associations — How to raise 
 Money — Congregational Colleges — Rev. John Angell James and Spring 
 Hill College — The " Drink Evil " — Becomes a Total Abstainer. 
 
 In the winter of 1854, aud the early part of 
 1855, the grievous calamities that befell our 
 countrymen in the Crimea, owing to the malad- 
 ministration of the Commissariat Department in 
 particular, called forth expressions of indignation 
 from all classes. "The noblest army England ever 
 sent from these shores," said the Times, " has been 
 sacrificed to the grossest mismanagement. In- 
 competency, lethargy, aristocratic hauteur, official 
 indifference, favour, routine, perverseness and stu- 
 pidity, reign, revel, and riot in the camp before 
 Sebastopol, in the harbour of Balaklava, in the 
 hospitals of Scutari, and how much nearer home we 
 do not venture to say." 
 
 Day by day, the newspapers were full of harrowing 
 details of om' gallant soldiers perishing miserably of
 
 122 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. IX. 
 
 disease, cold, and liunger, while plentiful supplies of 
 medical stores, food, and clothing were close at hand 
 hut unavailable. When Parliament re-assembled, 
 after the Christmas recess, public indignation in 
 England was at fever heat. 
 
 We do not propose to enter into the history of that 
 troublous time, but rather to refer to a public move- 
 ment which grew out of it, and in which Mr. Samuel 
 Morley was largely concerned. The whole question 
 of public appointments was under discussion, and it 
 was deemed advisable to take steps towards obtaining 
 a reform of the alleged abuses in connection with such 
 appointments. To this end a meeting was held at the 
 London Tavern on the 5th of May, under the presi- 
 dency of Mr. Samuel Morley, when the " Administra- 
 tive Reform Association " was organized. It was a 
 thoroughly representative and influential meeting of 
 1,500 persons, and the bases of the proposed opera- 
 tions of the iVssociation agreed upon were, '' to secure 
 unmistakable responsibility in every department of 
 the State ; " "to shut all the back doors which lead 
 to public employment ; " "to throw the public service 
 open to all England ; " "to obtain the recognition of 
 merit everywhere ; " "to put an end to all kinds of 
 promotion by favour or purchase." 
 
 The matter became the subject of the day, and 
 Mr. Layard at once gave notice of motion to 
 bring it under the consideration of Parliament. 
 Apropos of this, Mr. Morley received the following 
 letter : —
 
 1855—1857.] ADMINISTEATIVE REFOBM ASSOCIATION. 123 
 
 Mr. S. Laing, M.P., to Mr. Samuel Morley. 
 
 House of Commons, May 19, 1855. 
 
 Dear Sir, — The present positiou of jjublic affairs makes it most desii-- 
 able that tlie friends of Administrative Eeform, both in and out of 
 Parliament, should act in concert. I am induced, therefore, to address 
 you, as Chairman of the City Committee, with a view to a thorough 
 understanding of the course which it may be desirable to adopt with 
 reference to Mr. Layard's motion. In common, I believe, with a majority 
 of Independent Liberal Members of the House of Commons, I heartily 
 concur in the policy to which his resolution gives expression. At the same 
 time, Members of Parliament are bound to look at the practical conse- 
 quences of every step they take, and not to give a vote on an important 
 question without well weighing and deliberately accepting the responsi- 
 bilities which it may involve. In the present case, it is evident that the 
 practical result of a majority in favour of any resolution implying censure 
 on the Government, must be its overthrow, in which case Lord Derby 
 might not improbably be charged with the formation of a new Ministry. 
 The evils of a prolonged Ministerial crisis, or of the formation of a weak 
 and unpopular Government, are so obvious as to make it possible that, in 
 such an event. Lord Derby might appeal to men of the different sections of 
 opinion who had united in defeating Lord Palmerston's Government, to 
 join him in constructing a new Government on principles satisfactorj- to 
 the friends of Administrative Eeform. It is obvious that support could 
 not be given, either in or out of office, to a Government formed by Lord 
 Derbj', by any Independent Liberals, without exposing their motives to 
 great misconstruction. On the other hand, if they support a motion of 
 censure on the present Administration without being prepared to accept 
 the necessary results, they may find themselves in the position of making 
 any vigorous and efficient Government, at a crisis of great national danger, 
 well-nigh impossible. Feeling as I do very strongly the importance of 
 preserving unanimity, if possible, among those who advocate the cause of 
 Administrative Eeform, I am desirous, for the guidance of myself and my 
 political friends, to ascertain, before coming to a final decision as to our 
 coi;rse of action, the views of the City Committee on the following 
 points : — 
 
 First. Is it your opinion that any resolution asserting the principle of 
 Administrative Eeform ' should be supported irrespective of its ])ossible 
 effect on the present Government ? 
 
 Second. If so, are you prepared to accept the results of such a step.
 
 124 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. IX. 
 
 although it shonld lead to the substitntion of a ' Derbj'ite ' for a so-called 
 ' Liberal ' Ministry ? 
 
 Third. In the possible contingency of Lord Derby, on the one hand, 
 offering to form his Governruent on the principle of a decided advance 
 towards Administrative Eeform, and, on the other hand, being unable to 
 form any Government equal to the present crisis, without the support of 
 a certain number of independent Members, are you of opinion that such 
 support might be given with advantage to the common cause, and without 
 exposing such members to the imputation of sacrificing their principles ? 
 
 I beg you will understand these questions as being put to meet a pos- 
 sible contingency, and not a state of things actually existing. No move- 
 ment has yet been made in such a direction, but it is better to be prepared 
 by frank explanations for any eventuality, than to find ourselves obliged 
 hastily to take important decisions without knowing the feelings of those 
 with whom we should wish to co-oj)erate. 
 
 Believe me, dear Sir, 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 S. Laing. 
 
 The '' possible contingency " foreshadowed by Mr. 
 Laing did not, as we shall presently see, arise. But 
 on the 21st of May, two days after his letter was 
 written, or sixteen days after the Administrative 
 Beform Association was organized, an Order in 
 Council was issued appointing a Commission to 
 examine candidates for the Civil Service. 
 
 This did not satisfy the Administrative Reformers, 
 one of whom, Mr. W. S. Lindsay, M.P., in a letter 
 to Mr. Morley, as Chairman of the Association, 
 published as a pamphlet, wrote : — 
 
 The Ministerial idea was, doubtless, that this appointment of Examiners 
 would be eagerly hailed as an Administrative Reform triumph, and 
 trumpeted as a proof that Government were in earnest on this great 
 question of the day. The Administrative Eeformers, however, were quite
 
 1855—1857.] A MONSTER MEETING. 125 
 
 silent about this mighty Board. It was too palpably a thrown bone ; for 
 all the notice they took of it, it nii^'ht as well never have been named. 
 
 Administrative Reform required open and competitive examination. 
 This was individual and private. 
 
 Administrative Pieform held it essential that merit should lead to ap- 
 pointment. This Board was to test the merit of those already appointed. 
 
 Administrative Reform proclaimed an end to the corruptions of Par- 
 liament by patronage. This Board was to pass to the service the nomi- 
 nees of parliamentary patrons. 
 
 Administrative Reform required Examinei's ret^ponsible to the public. 
 This Boai'd must be responsible to the seei'et influences of the Treasury. 
 
 Administrative Reform required a standard of examination, not in 
 proof of ' cram ' or mere glibness in answering questions, but in proof of 
 the solid points of knowledge — the capacity to supply infoi'ination and 
 acquire fitness. The Government Board — or thei'e would be no use in 
 the patronage, and it is clear Government intend to keep it for use if 
 they can — must pass the favoured nominees at first, or teach them how 
 to pass at last. 
 
 lu order to set these, and similar views, clearly 
 before the public, and to obtain an unmistakable ex- 
 pression of opinion, a monster meeting was held in 
 Drury Lane Theatre on the 13th of June, with Mr. 
 Morley in the chair. Admission was by ticket only, 
 but shortly after the doors were open, every part of 
 the house was "full to overflowing." Thirty-three 
 Members of Parliament were present, besides many 
 other distinguished and w^ell-known men. 
 
 In opening the proceedings, Mr. Morley said that 
 the object of their meeting w^as to listen to addresses 
 that would be delivered ; but, as no resolutions would 
 be put, no amendments could be moved, nor would 
 there be any other speakers in addition to those whose 
 names were advertised, as the meeting would close at 
 ten o'clock.
 
 12G SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. IX. 
 
 Then, adverting to the subject that had broiight 
 them together, he said it was in the power of the 
 ■peoijle to remedy the evils which distressed the nation. 
 What the Administrative Reform Association intended 
 to do, was not to enter upon an elaborate agitation, 
 but to expose abuses, to lay open to the public gaze 
 every department of the State, to be the depository 
 of all information, when if, having seen the evil 
 pointed out, the people continued indifferent, the 
 members of the Association would again retire into 
 privacy. He said that the necessity for this Reform 
 existed long before the war began, and it would be 
 as urgent after the war was over. In his opinion the 
 only true theory of Reform was this — to seek to have 
 less rather than more government, and, in dealing 
 with departmental reform, to see how the departments 
 could be lessened instead of increased. He desired 
 to see the offices of the State thrown open to public 
 competition, believing that every man possessed of 
 talent was responsible for its employment for the 
 benefit of his fellow-men, and any barrier placed in 
 the way of his so doing, either by the Legislature or 
 custom, was unnatural and impious. Referring, in 
 his concluding remarks, to the House of Commons, 
 he said it was a mere sham to call it the House of the 
 People, as neither the independence, the wealth, nor 
 the intelligence of the country were represented, and 
 it was the duty of every man to lend his assistance to 
 this Society in order that a change might be effected. 
 The other speakers were Mr. Layard, M.P., Mr.
 
 1855—1857.] CHARLES DICKENS. 127 
 
 Lindsay, M.P., Mr. Tite, M.P., Mr. Otway, and Sir 
 C. Napier. 
 
 Charles Dickens was to have taken a prominent 
 ]3ai-t in the meeting, hut a letter was read expressing 
 his inability to he present, whereupon Thackeray, 
 who was among the audience, sent up a note to Mr. 
 Morley stating that he would be glad to have the op- 
 portunity of speaking. Unfortunately the terms of 
 the meeting, announced by the Chairman in his open- 
 ing remarks, that "there would not be any other 
 speakers in addition to those whose names were 
 advertised," rendered this impossible. 
 
 Although not present on this occasion, Charles 
 Dickens rendered important service to the Associa- 
 tion. To use his own words, he "flung himself 
 rather hotly with the Administrative Eeformers," of 
 whom and their work he wrote as follows : " I have 
 hope of Mr. Morley, whom one cannot see with- 
 out knowing to be a straightforward, earnest man. 
 Travers, too, I think a man of the Anti-Corn Law 
 League order. I also think Higgins will materially 
 help them. Generally, I quite agree with you that 
 they hardly know what to be at, but it is an im- 
 mensely difficult subject to start, and they must have 
 every allowance. At any rate, it is not by leaving 
 them alone and giving them no helj) that they can 
 be urged on to success." * 
 
 He helped them a little later on, when, from the 
 chair of the General Theatrical Fund, he gave ex- 
 
 '•• Forster's "Life of Dickens," vol. iii. p. 60.
 
 128 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. IX. 
 
 pressionto his political dissatisfaction, and, as he said, 
 " the Government hit took immensely." 
 
 Two days after the Drury Lane meeting, Mr. 
 Layard submitted his motion to the House of 
 Commons in these words : " That this House views 
 with deep 'and increasing concern the state of the 
 nation, and is of opinion that the manner in which 
 merit and efficiency have been sacrificed in public 
 appointments to party and family influences, and to 
 a blind adherence to routine, has given rise to great 
 misfortunes, and threatens to ])ring discredit upon 
 the national character, and to involve the country 
 in grave disasters." The debate extended over 
 two nights, man}^ of the evils complained of were 
 admitted, but, on a division, the resolution w^as 
 negatived by a large majority. 
 
 A few days later (June 22nd), Mr. Eoebuck gave 
 notice of motion : " That this House, deeply lament- 
 ing the sufferings of our army during the winter 
 campaign in the Crimea, and coinciding with the 
 resolution of their Committee that the conduct of the 
 Administration was the first and chief cause of those 
 misfortunes, hereby visits with its severe reprehension 
 every member of the Cabinet whose counsels led to 
 such disastrous results." Although this notice was 
 given for the 3rd of July, the debate did not take 
 place until the 17th. Meantime Sir E. B. Lytton 
 had given notice of a motion : " That the conduct of 
 the Minister charged with the negotiations at Vienna, 
 and his continuance in office as a responsible Minister
 
 1855—1857.] CIVIL SEBVICE EXAMINATIONS. 129 
 
 of the Crown, have shaken the confidence which the 
 country should place in those to whom the adminis- 
 tration of public affairs is entrusted." Escape from 
 parliamentary censure appearing to be impossible, 
 Lord John Eussell, on the 16th of July, gave in his 
 resignation, and SirE. B. Lytton's motion was with- 
 drawn. On the 17th, the debate on Mr. Koebuck's 
 resolution commenced, and, after extending over two 
 nights, the " previous (juestion " was carried by 289 
 to 182 votes. 
 
 Throughout this period of agitation and excite- 
 ment, the strain upon Mr. Morley, as leader of the 
 Administrative Eeform Association, was very severe, 
 but he did not for a moment flinch from his task. 
 Although there was little fruit to be seen as an 
 immediate result — although, for example, fifteen 
 years were to pass before the Order in Council was 
 issued directing the principle of open competition 
 to be applied to appointments in the Civil Service, 
 and one year more before the Eoyal Warrant was 
 issued embodying the new regulations respecting 
 promotion and appointments in the army, rendered 
 necessary by the abolition of purchase — a stone was 
 set rolling which was to strike down and sweep away 
 a long line of old systems, and it was the hand of 
 Samuel Morley that materially assisted in setting 
 that stone in motion. 
 
 It is a peculiarity of all great workers that the 
 more they have to do, the more they are able to ac- 
 complish. The sole responsibility of the enormous 
 
 10
 
 130 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. IX. 
 
 business in Wood Street was now resting on the 
 shoulders of Mr. Morley; poHtical affairs, as we 
 have seen, were absorbing time and thought ; engage- 
 ments in connection with rehgious movements were 
 multiplying daily ; home was setting up more attrac- 
 tive claims than ever, as his children were growing 
 companionable ; wealth was increasing rapidty, and 
 with it the " business of philanthropy." Notwith- 
 standing this, we find him not only continuing his 
 connection with all the old movements to which he 
 had pledged himself, but constantly allying himself 
 with fresh ones, to some of which we shall now refer. 
 
 One result of the religious awakening in the early 
 part of the present century, was the establishment 
 of great missionary organizations to extend the 
 knowledge of the gospel at home and abroad. In 
 1819, the Congregational Home Missionary Society 
 was founded, on the simple basis of '' leaving the 
 ' stated ' labourer to guard his own sheep in the fold, 
 and seek out the perishing wanderers in the wilder- 
 ness." Mr. Thomas Thompson, one of the original 
 members of the Sunday School Union, a man of 
 simple, earnest piety, was the prime mover in the 
 formation of the Society, and he became its first 
 treasurer — an office he retained for nearly forty years. 
 
 The object of the Society was to strengthen district 
 and county associations and Sunday School unions, 
 and, where necessary, to employ its own lay agents 
 for the " evangelization of the country," and in other 
 ways to "promote the spread of Divine truth,"
 
 1855—1857.] HOME MISSIONARY SOCIETY. 131 
 
 and awaken the intellectual and moral life of the 
 peoj)le. 
 
 Great success attended the operations of this 
 Society in its early years ; it was well supported by 
 the leading Congregational ministers ; its annual 
 meetings in May, when its claims were ably advocated, 
 were largely attended; its income rose from c£i4,000 
 in its second year, to .£6,600 in its fourth, and 
 new centres of labour were constantly being added. 
 In course of time the Home Missionary Magazine 
 was published, and a fresh interest was thereby 
 created : new methods of action were introduced, and 
 clothing clubs, widows' funds, and other auxiliaries 
 were organized. Notwithstanding various fluctua- 
 tions, owing to trade depressions and other causes, 
 the Society made steady progress, and when the 
 twenty-first annual report was published it showed 
 an income of £8,063, with £1,000 balance in hand, a 
 staff of 120 missionaries, and a constituency of 60,000 
 hearers. 
 
 In 1832, the Congregational Union was founded, 
 and in 1839, the Home Missionary Society became 
 affiliated with the Union. The connection ceased, 
 however, in 1857. 
 
 It was in 1858, at a somewhat critical period in 
 the history of the Society, that Mr. Morley accepted 
 the office of treasurer. There could not have been a 
 better man for the work, and there could not have 
 been any work more thoroughly congenial to the 
 man. He was intensely interested in any efforts
 
 132 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. IX. 
 
 tending to elevate the character and improve the 
 circumstances of the working classes, and he had no 
 douht whatever that the hest means to ensure this, 
 was to imbue them with the grand but simple prac- 
 tical truths of the gospel. 
 
 He knew very well that it was no sinecure office 
 he was acce^Dting. He had long felt that the opera- 
 tions of the Society needed revival and extension, and 
 these were the objects at which he aimed. 
 
 Some time previously he had received a visit from 
 the EeA^ J. H. Wilson, who was zealously worldng 
 the Albion Street Mission in Aberdeen, and who 
 applied to him for a subscription. Mr. Morley was 
 interested in Mr. Wilson and his work, and invited 
 him to spend an evening at Craven Lodge. A census 
 had recently been taken, and the startling figures and 
 statements made in Mr. Horace Mann's report, as to 
 the spiritual destitution of London, being the subject 
 uppermost in Mr. Morley's mind, he at once suggested 
 to Mr. Wilson whether some aggressive work could 
 not be set on foot to reclaim the lapsed masses. He 
 spoke of Dr. Chalmers' w^ork in Glasgow, and his 
 "territorial mission" in Edinburgh, and of various 
 agencies in existence in London, and eventually de- • 
 clared his intention to call together a few earnest 
 ministers and laymen to consider what could best be 
 done. "The remedy lies here," he said to Mr. 
 Wilson, " lue must go to the people.'' The conference 
 was held, and Mr. Morley strongly urged that what 
 was most wanted was to get every Church awakened
 
 1855—1857.] A BOUND OF CONFERENCES. 133 
 
 to a proper sense of its duty, to hold itself responsible 
 for the evangelization of its own neighbourhood, and 
 of all who were within reach of its influence. " This 
 view prevailed," says Mr. Wilson in a newspaper 
 article; "district conferences were called, most of 
 which he attended, and being held under tbe auspices 
 of the Christian Instruction Society, with the late 
 Eev. Eobert Ashton as secretary, Baptists and Inde- 
 pendents were conjoined in the work ; and this may 
 be said to have been the beginning of a new era in 
 the history of home evangelization, the outcome of 
 which is seen in the aggressive work of every 
 denomination in London." 
 
 It was at the instigation of Mr. Morley that the 
 services of the Eev. J. H. Wilson were secured as 
 secretary to the Home Missionary Society. He was 
 just the man for the post, able and energetic, and 
 thoroughly in sympathy with Mr. Morley on more 
 points than those which had immediately brought 
 them together, for he had been associated with 
 Cobden and Bright in the great free-trade struggle, 
 and with the benevolent activities of Joseph Sturge. 
 
 Having obtained accurate information respecting 
 the work of the Society, and being under the con- 
 viction that it should work through the county asso- 
 ciations, and not independently of them, and that 
 the sphere of its operations should be widened, Mr. 
 Morley determined to visit, in company with Mr. 
 Wilson, the various stations ; hold conferences with 
 the county unions, and, generally, endeavour to
 
 134 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. IX. 
 
 infuse into the Society a more zealous spirit. It 
 was a difficult and delicate undertaking, and, seeing 
 that Mr. Morley already had more claims upon his 
 time and thought than at any previous period of 
 his life, it was to a certain extent perilous. But 
 it was his nature never to shrink from a duty when 
 once he was clearly convinced that it was his duty, 
 and therefore he went. 
 
 He visited most of the counties in England and 
 Wales ; night after night he held conferences and 
 meetings, and everywhere introduced his favourite 
 order of agency — lay evangelists and colporteurs — to 
 visit the poor and the sick, to hold cottage meetings, 
 to promote the sale of good and healthy literature, 
 and generally to ascertain, and minister to, the wants 
 and needs of those who were uncared for. Wherever 
 he went, by acting upon this principle, and offering 
 substantial encouragement, he greatly stimulated the 
 county associations, and effected an immense good, 
 which increased as the years went on. At the con- 
 ferences he was in the habit of challenging the 
 audience to more liberal giving on behalf of the cause, 
 by offering to supplement the additional contributions 
 of individuals and of the unions, by subscriptions 
 extending over a few years ; and in this way he did 
 much to improve the funds. 
 
 In illustration of the manner in which he went to 
 work, it may be stated that when a conference was to 
 be held at Worcester he asked the minister of the 
 chapel in which they were to meet, whether he thought
 
 1855—1857.] BEV. J. H. WILSON. 135 
 
 that five gentlemen in the neighbourhood could he 
 induced to give ^100 each for lay evangelical work. 
 The minister thought it was wholly improbable. Not 
 so did Mr. Moiiey ; he spent the best part of the day 
 in privately canvassing those who would be present, 
 and could, if they would, afford to subscribe liberally, 
 and the result was that he laid on the table a list of 
 subscriptions amounting to i£l, 850 from nine persons! 
 
 Beferring to his connection with Mr. Morley at 
 this time. Dr. Wilson says : — 
 
 " As a rule, Mr. Morley gave help according to the 
 merits of the case; but when he had reason to believe 
 that a challenge would stimulate latent thought and 
 feehng, he was always ready with it, and never once 
 failed in the results. In this way the Society became 
 a central power of great influence, and the united 
 incomes for home mission work rose from j£l 0,000 in 
 1860, to £18,000 in 1870, and £25,000 in 1878, when 
 the new organization was established,* the income 
 of which is now £37,000." 
 
 Dr. Wilson, who was associated with Mr. Morley 
 in Christian work for thirty years, and in labours for 
 the Home Missionary Society for nineteen years, has 
 given, in a letter to the present writer, some interest- 
 ing reminiscences of Mr. Morley with regard to the 
 latter work. He says : — ■ 
 
 ■ In attending all tliese meetings Mr. Morley not only paid liis own 
 expenses, but the expenses of many ministers and delegates, who, but for 
 
 ■■'• The Church Aid and Home Missionary Society.
 
 13G SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. IX. 
 
 Lis considerate liberality, would not have been able to attend the con- 
 ferences, or even the annual meetings of the Association, which he also 
 generally attended. He was also careful to note the circumstances in 
 which many of the poorer ministers were placed, and in the most unob- 
 trusive way would send them help. 
 
 As valuable adjuncts to these meetings, Mr. Morley usually invited 
 ministers and delegates to breakfast with him in his hotel, and then 
 such free and full discussions of points and subjects took place as 
 would have been somewhat irrelevant at the public meetings which 
 followed. There was one subject he was very desirous to see discussed — 
 that of life insurance for ministers and evangelists. He had many con- 
 sultations with able actuaiies on this question, and spent a good deal of 
 money in formulating schemes, but with one exception (that of the ' Pro- 
 testant Union,' which is a valuable institution in the interest of pastors), 
 he did not succeed in accomplishing the extent of his hopes and expecta- 
 tions. The work done at the piiblic meetings afforded but little indication 
 of the extent of Mr. Morley's labours for the Home Mission enierprise. 
 Night after night have we sat together, reading letters, projecting schemes, 
 and special prayer was often offered up for Divine direction. His life was 
 a practical commentary on the Scripture : ' Show me your faith without 
 your works, and I will show you my faith by my works,' and yet no man 
 could say that he sought ostentation. 
 
 In the course of our visits, some incidents occurred worth reproducing. 
 One day, for example, we were walking with an able and learned minister, 
 who complained of being rather annoyed by the Primitive Methodists in 
 his neighbourhood. 'In what way?' inquired Mr. Morley. ' They are 
 so rough and irreverent,' he replied. ' Did you ever hear any of their 
 preachers ? ' 'I did,' he said ; ' I heard one preaching in the open air, at one 
 of these villages, from the text, " I am the way, the truth, and the life ; no 
 man cometh to the Father but by me." ' ' How did he handle that ? ' ' In 
 this way : " Brothers, attention. I am going to speak to you about the 
 way to heaven, and will speak about the length onH, the breadth 07i't, 
 the strength on't, and how to tvalk ont. First, the length on't. Top 
 in heaven, bottom on earth, Jacob's ladder, rungs all the way up : Jesus 
 Christ brings heaven to man. Second, the breadth on't. So broad would 
 take on all the world, but there's a wicket to get through, the strait gate, 
 and there we must wriggle through — the hardest work of the way. Third, 
 the strength on't. So strong would take on all the world. Millions have 
 gone over it, and it never once bent, let alone breaking. Don't be afeared,
 
 1855—1857.] CONGBEGATIONAL COLLEGES. 137 
 
 brothers, it will take you all. And, lastly, as to liow to walk on't. I say to 
 those who are climbing. Go ahead, make room for others ; those who are 
 not on it, wriggle through the wicket and get on the first rung directly. 
 Amen." Did you ever hear such stuff?' Mr. Morley replied, 'Stuff! 
 it's the gospel put in a way which these people can understand, and, 
 crude though the analogy be, it will do its work.' 
 
 In nothing were the Congregationalists more active 
 about the middle of the century, than in the improve- 
 ment of their colleges, and in almost every fresh de- 
 velopment Mr. Morley took an important share. In 
 1851, the New College in St. John's Wood was 
 opened. Dr. Harris, previously of Cheshunt College, 
 was selected as Principal, and, contrary to all former 
 usage, the students were non-resident, certified board- 
 ing-houses being secured for their accommodation. 
 In 1856, Spring Hill College, at Moseley, near Bir- 
 mingham, was opened, mainly owing to the exertions 
 of the Eev. John Angell James, the well-known 
 minister of the Carr's Lane Chapel, who acknow- 
 ledged his indebtedness to Mr. Morley in the following 
 letter : — 
 
 The Bev. J. A. James to Mr. Samuel Morlcrj. 
 
 Edgbaston, Oct. 21, 1855. 
 My dear Sir, — I shonld indeed be ungrateful for yoiir munificent 
 promise to the building fund of Spring Hill College, and for the truly kind 
 and courteous terms in which it is expressed in your note, if I did not take 
 a very early opportunity to acknowledge it. Many words of thankfulness 
 would but offend a mind which seeks its best reward in its own con- 
 sciousness of doing right by serving God and His cause, and I shall 
 therefore simply say we are your debtors, and debtors also to Him 
 who has bestowed this grace iipon you. God has set you in the slippery 
 places of distinction by wealth, influence, and gifts for public usefulness,
 
 138 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. IX. 
 
 au(T it is the joy and thanksgiving of many, that He makes His grace so 
 
 to abound toward you, that you walk steadily and uprightly before the 
 
 church and the world. May He preserve you in all honour to the end of 
 
 a long and eminently serviceable life ! 
 
 I have sufficient acquaintance with Mrs. Morley to authorize me to 
 
 present my Christian compliments. 
 
 Yours faithful!}', 
 
 J. A. James. 
 
 The efforts for college improvements did not cease 
 with the two instances we have mentioned. In 1861 , 
 a new college for the West of England was opened 
 at Plymouth ; Cheshunt College was considerably 
 enlarged in 1871, and Lancashire College in 1876 ; 
 new colleges were reared at Eotherham and Airedale 
 in 1876 and 1877 respectively, and two institutes for 
 training young men devoted to home missionary 
 work were established, one at Nottingham and the 
 other at Bristol, in all of which Mr. Morley's assist- 
 ance was more or less given. 
 
 His opinion of the value of work of this kind is 
 expressed in the following letter : — 
 
 Mr. Samuel Morley to Mr. Joshua Wilson. 
 
 London, Seiit. 14, 1857. 
 My dear Friend, — We need i'OOO to put us right at Homerton College. 
 "While fully agreeing with you that it is only by a combination of agencies 
 that we can hope to produce those great moral results which intelligent 
 people generally are, I think, more anxious to promote at the present day 
 than at any former period in the history of this century, I yet believe that 
 the training of efficient religious teachers will be found amongst the most 
 valuable. This work we have been doing with great success, and it is 
 for it, in common with chapel building, &c., &c., &c., that we every now 
 and then specially plead, with this aggravation of our difficulty, that all 
 our friends are not, as we think they should be, sufficiently impressed with
 
 1855—1857.] THE " DBINK EVIL." I39 
 
 its importauce. I merely add, that some few of our mimber are abovit to 
 
 repeat our foi-mer donations, and we shall be very much obliged by help 
 
 from yoiu'self. Your offer to us was £'100 if we succeeded in clearing away 
 
 our debt. I may say that that will be done before Christmas, and at any 
 
 time we shall be gratified by your assistance. What is to be done with 
 
 the drinJc evil ? It is the monster grievance of the present day. It seems 
 
 to me something like infatuation to be building and supporting, at great 
 
 cost, reformatoi'ies and other institutions, while this huge cancer remains 
 
 unremoved. Let us think and pray and strive against it. I shall be 
 
 delighted to talk with you on the. subject. With kindest regards to Mrs. 
 
 Wilson, 
 
 Believe ine, 
 
 Yours most truly, 
 
 S. MORLEY. 
 
 The reference in the above letter to the '' drink evil " 
 is the first on that subject in all the correspondence 
 found among Mr. Moiiey's papers after his decease. 
 It was henceforth to claim his most zealous advocacy. 
 It is not to be understood that up to this period he 
 had not been alive to the importance of the question; 
 on the contrary, he had always regarded intemper- 
 ance as an unmitigated evil, and, from his youth up, 
 had never lost an opportunity of recommending not 
 only temperance, but total abstinence, especially to 
 working men. About this time, however, he was 
 brought face to face with a practical point which 
 tended to give him a largely increased interest in the 
 whole question. 
 
 He was addressing a large meeting of Avorking men, 
 and was pressing upon them the importance of being 
 total abstainers, when a labouring man rose up, and, 
 inteiTuj)ting him in his speech, said, " Do you go with- 
 out yourself? I dare say, if the truth's known, you
 
 140 SAMUEL MOB LEY. [Chap. IX. 
 
 take your glass or two of wine after dinner and think 
 no barm of it. Now, sir, do yon go without your- 
 self?" 
 
 " This rather shut me up for an instant," said Mr. 
 Morley, when telling the story, " but when I looked 
 round at those poor fellows whom I had been asking 
 to give up what they regarded — no matter how 
 erroneously — as their only luxury, I had my answer 
 ready pretty quickly. ' No,' I said, ' but I will go 
 without from this hour.' " And ho did. Erom that 
 time forth he never touched wdne or any other in- 
 toxicating beverage again, except for a short period 
 after an illness, and under imperative orders from his 
 physician. 
 
 As a matter of fact, Mr. Morley had never been in 
 the habit of taking " his glass or two of wine after 
 dinner," but an occasional glass with his meals he 
 enjoyed, and was under the impression that it did him 
 good. He w^as rejoiced at the step he had taken, not 
 because of its self-denial, but because of the immense 
 powder it would give him henceforth in speaking to 
 others and influencing them. He was surprised that 
 he had never seen it in that light before, and, with 
 his simple straightforwardness, he set to work at 
 once to try and open the eyes of others.
 
 CHAPTER. X. 
 
 1857—1863. 
 
 Mr. Richard Cobden — Lord John Russell — -Correspondence — -Special Religious 
 Services in Theatres — Mr. Charles Sawell — Overwork — Mr. Locke King and 
 County Franchise — Mr. Edward Baines and Borough Franchise — The Bank 
 Act and Currency Reform Committee — At Richard Cobden's Funeral — A 
 Tribute to his Memory — The Drinking Usages of the Commercial Room — 
 The Bicentenary of Nonconformity — Memorial Fund — Chapel Building — 
 The Theological Institute, Nottingham — A Lay Minister — A "Widening 
 Sphere. 
 
 On the 31st of March, 1857, Mr. Richard Cobden 
 defeated the Government on questions relating to 
 Chinese affairs. Lord Pahnerston determined to 
 dissolve Parliament, and, before the end of the 
 month, the country was in the heat and turmoil 
 of a General Election. Mr. Morley was urged by 
 many to go into Parliament, and by none more per- 
 sistently than by his friend, Mr. Richard Cobden. 
 For the present, however, Mr. Morley felt that he 
 could do better work as an outsider, and, having 
 arrived at that decision, those who knew him best 
 felt that it was useless to urge him further. 
 
 Without entering into the history of the parlia- 
 mentary struggle, we insert here two letters received 
 by him during that eventful month, principally to 
 show the unique position he had made for himself,
 
 142 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. X. 
 
 and the estimation in wliicli he was held by two of 
 the leading men of the day : — 
 
 Bichard Cobclen to Samuel Morley. 
 
 38, Grosyenor Street, March 7, 18o7. 
 
 My dear Sir, — Altliougli you caunot be induced to go to Paiiiameut, 
 surely you will do sometliing to prevent those who are to be returned at 
 the election from being surrounded with a greater number of shams, 
 impostors, and runaways in the next House than even in the last. 
 
 What is wanted is a large public meeting in London, at which you your- 
 self should take the lead, to call upon the country to return earnest men 
 who can be relied on to fulfil their pledges. Unless something of this 
 sort be done, the ground is left wholly to the Eeform Club runners, and 
 the London press, which is to a large extent under the management of 
 Palmerston. I could tell you a good deal about this, which must be soon 
 made a matter of public exposure and discussion. Now, I don't ask j'ou 
 to call a meeting to denounce Palmerston or his Government, or to take 
 any part upon the subject of the Chinese war, but your position as the 
 head at once of the Administrative Reformers and the Dissenting politicians, 
 places you in the front rank on the present occasion whether you will or 
 no, and, if you do not move, nobody else can. You would be well sup- 
 ported, I am sure, in the Metropolis at such a meeting, and it would give 
 the tone, and afford support, to the honest Liberals throughout the whole 
 country. Unless something be done, and that right early, the next House 
 will be worse than the present. 
 
 Believe me, 
 
 Very truly yours, 
 
 Richard Cobden. 
 
 P.S. — There is no other way of reaching the public ear but through a 
 large public meeting, for, owing to the state of the newspaper press, the 
 people can have no other unbiassed expression of opinion. 
 
 I know there is a smouldering feeling of discontent in the Metropolis at 
 the present state of the political world. I attended a meeting at the King's 
 Arms, Palace Yard, a few days ago, to receive a deputation from Scotland 
 upon the forty shilling freehold movement. There were some speakers 
 on that occasion from Marylebone, and elsewhere in the Metropolis, who 
 could hardly be kept to the question by the Chairman, they were so eager
 
 1857— 18G3.] COBDEN AND RUSSELL. 143 
 
 to denounce the present state of the Liberal X)arty, or ' imposture,' as it 
 was called. 
 
 Mr. Cobden was beaten in the election, and so also 
 was Mr. Bright, who wrote to him : "In the sudden 
 break-up of the ' School,' of which we have been the 
 chief professors, we may learn how far we have been, 
 and are, ahead of the public opinion of our time. 
 We j)ropose not to make a trade of politics, and not 
 to use, as may best suit us, the ignorance and the 
 prejudices of our countrymen for our own advantage, 
 but rather to try to square the policy of the country 
 with the maxims of common sense and of a plain 
 morality. The country is not yet ripe for this." * 
 
 The second letter was from Lord John Eussell, 
 whose attitude towards the party, represented by 
 Mr. Morley, had materially altered, and who had 
 sup23orted Mr. Cobden's motion condemning Lord 
 Palmerston's Government on account of the hostile 
 proceedings in Canton. 
 
 Lord John Russell to Mr. Samuel Morley. 
 
 House of Commons, March 17, 1857. 
 Sir, — It is of the utmost importance that some one should take the 
 chair at the meeting which I have advertised for Thursday who would 
 have sufficient influence and authority to maintain order and regularity in 
 the proceedings. Hearing of the able speech you made to-day in favour 
 of my re-election, and knowing your high character, I venture to ask you 
 to take the chair on Thursday at the meeting I have summoned, and hope 
 to have a favourable answer. 
 
 I remain, 
 
 Your faithful servant, 
 J. Eussell. 
 
 * " Life of Eichard Cobden," vol. ii. p. 1U4. By John Morley.
 
 144 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. X. 
 
 Lord John was again returned for London, this 
 time in company with three other Liberals, Baron 
 Eothschild, Sir James Duke, and Mr. R. W. 
 Crawford. 
 
 However much Mr. Morley may have desired to 
 originate and carry through some great political 
 or philanthropic work, to do so himself would have 
 been impossible. Letters, similar to those we have 
 quoted, were perpetually pouring in, asking his aid 
 on every conceivable subject. The result was, that 
 his time was completely broken up in furthering the 
 labours of others. 
 
 To some of his minor efforts we shall now refer, 
 before passing on to the consideration of those which 
 constituted the great w^ork of his life. 
 
 In 1859, the religious condition of the working 
 classes in London engaged his serious attention, and 
 he took an active part in organizing, for their benefit, 
 special religious services in theatres. This was no 
 new idea to him. In 1836 and 1852, Mr. Eichard 
 Knill had been engaged in theatre-preaching, and 
 Mr. Morley had assisted him with funds. The 
 origin of the later movement is communicated to 
 us by Mr. Charles M. Sawell, one of the District 
 Secretaries of the London City Mission, from whose 
 letter we make the following extracts : — 
 
 How to assemble the i)oor in any building during the winter months 
 aad preach Christ to them, was the problem before the Christian Church. 
 ' The church,' or ' the chapel,' was the regular orthodox building for 
 saving ' the people,' and, if thej' would not attend these, and, of course,
 
 1857—1863.] THEATRE SEBVICES. 145 
 
 be content with ' corners ' and ' back seats,' they must be left to perish ! 
 The clergy, and Nonconformist ministers also, to a large extent, at that 
 l^eriod regarded ' lay preaching ' with suspicion and jealousy, and the 
 opening of St. James's Hall, Kegeut Street, for Sunday afternoon and 
 evening services for the people, occasioned great excitement. Under the 
 influence of views which had settled down into convictions, Mr. Morley 
 headed the noble band of Christian ministers and laymen, now mostly 
 gone to their rest, who gave a shock, which has happily ended in a fall, to 
 many 'pious opinions,' by this opening of St. James's Hall for the 
 preaching of the gospel. From that day there has been a movement 
 forward all along the ecclesiastical hne. The Exeter Hall Sunday 
 evening services soon followed those at St. James's Hall. But what 
 were two halls for a population of three millions ? They were like the 
 two small fishes to feed the multitude. That the people could be met 
 with on the Sunday had been fully proved. If in a liall, why not in a 
 theatre, where the poor were still more wont to assemble ? With such 
 thoughts revolving in my mind I went to Mr. Morley in "Wood Street. 
 His past endeavours appeared to justif}^ my expectations of sympathy. 
 After unfolding my x^lan of calhng a conference on the question of 
 oj)ening as many theatres on the Sunday as could be obtained, and 
 inviting clergymen and Nonconformist mmisters to unite in preaching 
 Christ to the people, what was my surprise to find that his own mind 
 had been moving on similar lines, and that already some steps had 
 been taken.''' He recommended my proceeding with my idea of calling 
 a conference. Out of the meeting a united committee of Churchmen 
 and Nonconformists was formed, which, after several meetings and 
 various inquiries as to the possibility of getting less ' wicked places than 
 theatres,' at last mustered corn-age to authorize me to engage some four 
 or five of the people's theatres. It would take too long to state Mr. 
 Morley's reasons for eventually forming his own committee to do the 
 same kind of work. He certainly was in advance of many members 
 of our committee in securing the help of such laymen as Mr. Browulow 
 North, and others, to aid him in the work of preaching the gospel to 
 the people. Subsequently the two committees became one, and I may 
 
 ■'• Three or four years previously Mr. Morley had startled and shocked 
 a meeting of the Congregational Union by expressing the hope that he 
 might Uve to see the day when there would be preaching on Sundaj s m 
 the theatres of London. 
 
 11
 
 14G SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. X. 
 
 briefly sum ii^^ by saying tliat I alwaj's regarded Mr. Morley as a father 
 in Iprael, and that I somehow ever felt that if by wise or unwise zeal I 
 got into financial or other trouble, he was the man to give me his 
 sympathy and to open his pi;rse. 
 
 "I belieA'e," said Mr. Morley on one occasion, 
 referring to this work, "in the use of a7iy building. 
 My own notion of consecration means the work done 
 in the building, and whether it be a theatre, a garret, 
 a cellar, or anywhere, if you can get the people to 
 come, there, I say, earnest Christian people should 
 be found trying with five, fifty, or five hundred, as 
 the case may be, to lift them up to the higher life." 
 
 In applying to his ever-willing friend, Joshua 
 Wilson, to aid him in this new undertaldng, he 
 wrote : — 
 
 I think j'ou said you would give ^25 towards the Special Services for 
 the working classes. AVe shall want, this winter, ,£1,000 or more if we 
 are to carry out our plans. I refer now to what I suppose I must call 
 the ' Dissenting ' movement, which has originated preaching in St. 
 James's Hall and the Britannia Theatre. Both are most successful, and 
 ive should at once open a second theatre ; but a committee has been 
 formed, with Mr. Bevan and Kinnaird at the head, and they are engaging 
 so many theatres at once as (I fear) to imperil the whole movement. Ou7' 
 course seems to me to be clear — namely, to go on quietly working with 
 our best men as suitable openings present themselves. I cannot help 
 hoping that there is a deepening impression for the need for aggression 
 on the part of individuals and churches. 
 
 One evil effect of this movement, as regarded 
 Mr. Morley individually, was, that he threw himself 
 with so much interest into the Special Sunday 
 Services, that he frequently came to town to take
 
 1857— 18G3.] BEFOEM 147 
 
 part in them as a visitor, and this broke into the 
 quiet of his Sunday rest. Early in 1860, he wrote 
 to Joshua Wilson : — 
 
 I am more busy thau ever, and seem little able to lessen the pressure 
 of engagements. I really hope soon to secure a secretary — ^a help I 
 greatly need, though I do not know how it will work. There is so much 
 one does not like to delegate to another, that I have misgivings about 
 it. However, it is so physically impossible to do all I have to do, that 
 I am driven to try the experiment. 
 
 Two months later, he wrote to a friend : — ■ 
 
 My now constitutional tendency to postpone, led me to delay calling 
 upon you till I found yon were gone. ... I have lately been obliged to 
 consult Dr. Kidd, who urges me to do less, and I mean really to act on 
 his advice. 
 
 Excellent as were Mr. Morley's intentions, "cir- 
 cumstances over which he had no control" urged 
 him on, and the correspondence relating to this 
 period does not show any diminution of labour. 
 
 Any honest attempt to promote reform in the 
 franchise was sure to meet with sympathy and 
 encouragement from him. Early in 18G1, two 
 measures were before Parhameut — one introduced 
 by Mr. Locke King, for lowering the County Fran- 
 chise to a <£10 qualification, and another, promoted 
 by Mr. Edward Baines, to reduce the Borougli 
 Franchise to £6. To the latter Mr. Morley gave 
 warm support, not merely because Mr. Baines was 
 his personal friend, but because he had come to the
 
 148 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. X. 
 
 couclusion tliat, in^tlie absence of any great and 
 comprehensive scheme, Eeform must he carried, 
 point by point, and Mr. Baines stood pledged to 
 confine himself to the single issue of a .£6 quah- 
 fication. 
 
 The request contained in the following letter seems 
 little, hut it meant much : — 
 
 Mr. Edward Baines, M.B., to Mr. Samuel Morley. 
 
 32, St. Mary's Eoad, Canonbury, Feh. 25, 1861. 
 
 My dear Mr. Morley, — I cannot but think that you would render 
 important service to the Eeform cause in its present position, by sending 
 a letter to your Liberal correspondents in various parts of the country 
 (lithographed, not printed), strongly urging them to support my Borough 
 Francjiise Bill and Mr. Locke King's County Franchise Bill, by meetings, 
 petitions, and letters to their Members. If you would prepare such a 
 letter, declaring your belief that the cause is in honest hands v?hich will 
 not flinch, and recommending the people to back lis up; and if you would 
 bring it to the House this evening (when you would hear another debate 
 on the Bankruptcy Bill), you might easily obtain (in addition to j-our own) 
 the signatures of several M.P.'s, if you wished. 
 
 The people of Leeds are responding beyond my expectation. . . . The 
 altered circumstances of trade, the provoking abandonment of the cause 
 by Ministers, and the simple, practical, and safe forms in which the two 
 f^reat branches of suffrage extension are now put, may rouse the dormant 
 feelino- and allay the scruples of reformers. At all events, it seems clearly 
 our duty to do what we can to this end. I will do my best to make out a 
 full vindication for our move before the House of Commons. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 Edward Baines. 
 
 Mr. Morley had at his command "machinery" 
 which he could at once put into action to obtain 
 petitions, to stir up the towns, to rally the disunited, 
 and to place himself in correspondence with the
 
 1857—1863.] THE CUBRENCY QUESTION. 149 
 
 country. This macliinery was vigoroiTsly employed ; 
 but the time for Eeform was not yet, although the 
 action taken on this occasion brought it nearer. Mr, 
 Locke King's motion was defeated, on the 13th of 
 March, by a majority of 248 to 229 ; and, on the 
 10th of April, Mr. Baines' j)roposal w^as negatived by 
 a majority voting for " the previous question." 
 
 In the same year (1861), Mr. Morley was engaged 
 in the discussion of questions relating to the national 
 currency. The constantly recurring alterations in 
 the rate of discount, the consequent injury inflicted 
 on trade, the feverish anxiety of bank directors 
 whenever a foreign demand set in for gold, the 
 possibility that such a demand might be used as a 
 political weapon to the injury of the country ; these, 
 and many allied questions, were forced upon the 
 public notice, and a number of commercial men 
 thereupon took up the subject warmly, formed them- 
 selves into " The Bank Act and Currency Reform 
 Committee," and unanimously elected Mr. Morley as 
 their permanent chairman. Ever since the passing 
 of the Bank Charter Act, in 1844, he had closely 
 studied the matters under discussion ; he had, uj) 
 to this period, witnessed the agony of uncertainty 
 through which traders had passed on the occasion 
 of three historical panics ; and, believing that the 
 financial crises and monetary panics which, at pro- 
 gressively shorter intervals, were afflicting trade and 
 spreading distress and ruin among all classes of the 
 people were attributable, in a material degree, to a
 
 150 S AMU-EL MOBLEY. [Chap. X. 
 
 vicious state of tlie national currency, lie nsed every 
 effort in liis power to bring about its thorough re- 
 vision. 
 
 One of his principal contentions was, that the 
 regulations which suited a comparatively small range 
 of operations in 1(S44, when the bankers' and dis- 
 count brokers' balances, or deposits, were about 
 i^l50,000,000, could not be applicable, or adequate, 
 when those operations reached, as they did then, 
 ^850,000,000. He maintained that a currency margin, 
 sufficient for the mercantile movement represented 
 by the first figures, was altogether too narrow for that 
 represented by the latter, especially when so unelastic 
 as it was made by the Act. 
 
 He illustrated his position by describing the mis- 
 chief involved in the withdrawal of a few millions 
 of gold, doubling the trading price of all those 
 hundreds of millions of trading capital, thus : " We 
 do not see, and we cannot discover, why the demand 
 for five or even ten millions of gold for Germany, 
 should double the value (or interest rate) of the 
 5^850,000,000 of loanable capital on which the com- 
 merce of this country depends. We think ' our 
 system' ought to enable us to meet any such demand 
 without interfering at all, or at all events without 
 interfering to such an extent, with the value or price 
 of the money ; and we think that any system must 
 be defective which exposes the commerce of the 
 whole country, involving hundreds of millions, to 
 crises and panics, because of demands for other
 
 1857—1863.] LETTEB FROM BICHABD COBDEN. 151 
 
 countries of such insignificant sums as five or ten 
 millions of gold." 
 
 Tlie subject is an extremely difficult one, and, even 
 if made clear, would not interest the general reader. 
 It is enough for our present purpose to say that, for 
 many years, it involved Mr. Moiiey in a great deal of 
 correspondence with Chambers of Commerce at home 
 and abroad ; it necessitated his attendance at many 
 meetings, and it landed him in that most trying of all 
 positions — newspaper controversy. 
 
 In the midst of his difficulties, he wrote to Richard 
 Cobden, from whom he received the following 
 reply :— 
 
 BicJiard Cohden to Samuel Morley. 
 
 MiDHURST, Nov. 8, 1861. 
 My dear Sir, — It will give me great pleasure to meet you. But I will 
 not say so mucli of the topic which you propose to discuss. I have a 
 vow against discussing the Currency Question, if by the words he meant 
 the abstract theories about money. My faith in such matters is so very 
 simple that I do not want five minutes to express it. And if I decline 
 discussing other people's theories any more, it is not that I am afraid 
 of novelties, but because there is really nothing afloat on the subject that 
 I have not entertained and, to the best of my poor abilities, examined 
 twenty-five years ago. If, however, the question relates to the taw regu- 
 lating the Bank of England, it is a fair subject for politicians. But I do 
 not think it the question of the moment so much as another to which, 
 when we meet, I shall call your attention. I think the time very oppor- 
 tune for fixing the attention of country and Parliament on the barbarous 
 International Code, more suited to the Middle Ages than these free-trade 
 times, by which, in time of war, between two belligerents, the commerce 
 of the world is to be deranged by blockades and the capture of private 
 property at sea. It requires but the assent of our Government to put an 
 end to this state of things, and the time is now at hand when I think, 
 with a judicious effort, we may compel om' feudal rulers to take one
 
 152 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. X. 
 
 more step in the path of rational progress. I shall have more to say 
 to you about this when we meet. I hope to be able to come to London 
 soon. 
 
 I have had an increase to my family. It is odd, in one's old age, to be 
 suri'ounded again with baby-linen and cradles. I am happy to say that 
 my wife and child are doiug well. 
 
 Believe me. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 PiICHAED COBDEX. 
 
 That was the last loug letter from Eicliard Cobden^ 
 found among Mr. Moiiey's papers. A fe^Y years later 
 (April, 1865), Mr. Morley took part in that wonderful 
 procession to West Lavington Church, when all that 
 was mortal of Cohden was carried to its final resting- 
 place. Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Bright were among 
 the pall-bearers, and leaders of every movement for 
 which "the x^eople " cared, were there as mourners. 
 
 Some years afterwards, at an anniversary gathering 
 to do honour to his memory, Mr. Morley said : — 
 
 I regard it as among some of the brightest memories of the past, in 
 connection with public work, that I was occasional^ brought into asso- 
 ciation with him, and above all that I enjoyed, in some degree, the 
 friendship of that distinguished man. He possessed, in a high degree, 
 qualities of character which Englishmen admire. He was so simple, so 
 truthful, so devoid of trick ov finesse. He was eminently straightforward 
 — I never knew a man who could more successfully appeal for service, 
 either pecuniary or personal ; there was no resisting him. Many here 
 who knew him more intimately than I did, will, I am sm'e, confimi 
 my conviction that those of us who have sat at his feet, in close personal 
 intercourse, have been, and are, the stronger for that intercourse. But 
 the great points of his character are brought out if we consider the 
 political morality of the present day. Political life is being treated as a 
 game in which one move is as good as another, provided only it succeeds. 
 There is great danger of mere cleverness being made an idol, with
 
 1857— 18G3.J RICHABD COBDEN. 153 
 
 indifference as to whethei- success has been won by honourable and 
 consistent, or by doubtful or tricky, courses. In all this, Cobden presented 
 a perfect contrast ; he never valued success for its own sake. He never 
 made principle the football of circumstances. His most striking teaching 
 was not in the exciting public meeting, or even in Parliament, but in 
 the privacy of almost domestic life. It is right once a year to recall the 
 lessons his life taught us. 
 
 Simple-hearted as Samuel Morley was, it never 
 crossed his mind that, in depicting the character of 
 Richard Cobden, he had accurately described his 
 own. Wide apart as their spheres of action were, 
 the two men were essentially alike. It was said, in 
 eulogy of Cobden, " He cared for principle, not to 
 serve his own ends, but the ends of the people. A 
 cause might be despised, obscure, or poor; he not 
 only helped it all the same, he helped it all the 
 more." That was equally true of Samuel Morley. 
 
 For many years a bronze statuette of Richard 
 Cobden stood upon the mantelshelf in Mr. Morley' s 
 library. It was there up to the time of his death, 
 and it remains there now. Often, when a visitor 
 referred to the man it represented, Mr. Morley would 
 say, " He was as pure, unselfish, patriotic, and incor- 
 ruptible as any being that ever lived." 
 
 Cobden was a strictly temperate man, and believed, 
 as Mr. Morley did, at the time of which we write, 
 ''that the Temperance cause lay at the root of all 
 social and political progress in this country." Every 
 year saw Mr. Morley taking an increasingly active 
 part as a Temperance reformer, and one of his first 
 notable efforts in this direction was, to read a paper
 
 154 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap, X. 
 
 at a Temperance Conference, held in Exeter Hall on 
 the 6th of August, 1862. His subject was, " The 
 Drinking Usages of the Commercial Eoom." Many 
 of those usages have now, happily, been abandoned. 
 Mr. Morley cited facts that had come under his 
 own observation in confirmation of his statements, 
 and appealed to commercial men to free themselves 
 from the tyranny of custom ; to tradesmen, to re- 
 frain from expecting and accepting hospitality from 
 travellers in the form of wines and spirits : and to 
 employers, to sustain the credit of their houses by 
 encouraging arrangements which would leave their 
 travellers free to maintain and practise habits of 
 sobriety. The remed}^ for the existing practices would 
 be found in the creation and maintenance of a healthy 
 and vigilant public opinion which should effectually 
 discouracre and forbid them. He concluded thus : — 
 
 o 
 
 Public opiuion ou this subject, if it can be fairly aroused, will, we are 
 convinced, require the readjustment of the tariff of the commercial room, 
 and the advocates of Temperance will gladly welcome arrangements which 
 do not make the profits of the landlord dependent on the intoxicating 
 drinks which are consumed, but on the cleanliness, comfort, order, and 
 accommodation furnished by his house. 
 
 The year 1862 is memorable in the annals of Non- 
 conformity. It was determined, after much considera- 
 tion, to form a Committee consisting of Independents, 
 Baptists, and Presbyterians, to make arrangements 
 for celebrating the Bicentenary of Nonconformity. 
 Two hundred years had passed since the ejectment 
 from the Church of Eughmd of the two thousand
 
 1857—1803.] BICENTENARY OF NONCONFORMITY. 155 
 
 clergymen who, for conscience' sake, declined to accept 
 the provisions of the Act of Uniformity — that con- 
 spicuous example of the bad faith of Charles II. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to refer at length to the 
 history of those troublous times. How, by the famous 
 declaration given at Breda in 1660, the Puritans were 
 buoyed u]) by the hope that they were free to worship) 
 Ood according to the dictates of their consciences, 
 seeing that the royal declaration ran thus : " We do 
 declare a liberty to tender consciences, and that no 
 man shall be disquieted, or called in question, who 
 does not disturb the peace of the kingdom ; and that 
 we shall be lesidj to consent to such an Act of Parlia- 
 ment as, upon mature deliberation, shall be offered to 
 us for the full granting that indulgence;" or how^ 
 this promise was violated by the passing of the Act 
 of Uniformity, involving the expulsion of the Puritan 
 clergy, and then by the Conventicle and Pive Mile 
 Acts. 
 
 Whether it was wdse to recall this tyranny and per- 
 secution, w^as a subject of great discussion when the 
 Bicentenary commemoration was in contemplation. 
 There were many who said, " Let bygones be by- 
 gones," but there v/ere more who said, " Nay, but let 
 the story be told everywhere, that it may inspire like 
 fidelity to conscience ; " and this was the counsel that 
 prevailed. 
 
 From the first, Mr. Morley gave the movement his 
 cordial support. He was a sturdy Nonconformist, who 
 reverenced historic Nonconformity, and had no syni-
 
 156 SAMUEL MOB LEY. [Chap. X. 
 
 patliy with those who would seek to hide its hght 
 under a husheh It was, in his opinion, an oppor- 
 tunity for making known the princii)les for which 
 Nonconformists were contending ; an opportunity for 
 doing honour to the heroes who had suffered for what 
 they hekl to he the truth ; and an opportunity to 
 define, more clearly than had ever heen done before, 
 the present attitude of Dissenters towards the Estab- 
 lished Church. 
 
 Among the first efforts was the issue of almost 
 innumerable books, pamphlets, tracts, newspaper and 
 magazine articles, bearing upon the subject generally, 
 and setting forth the fundamental truths of English 
 Protestant Nonconformity particularly. This pro- 
 duced a storm of controversy — not always carried on 
 in the kindly spirit that the promoters of the move- 
 ment would have wished. Then followed essays, 
 lectures, sermons, and, on August 24th — St. Bartho- 
 lomew's Day — a great celebration of the Bicentenary 
 was held throughout the country and the Colonies. 
 
 In the establishment of the " Bicentenary Memorial 
 Fund " Mr. Morley took a very active part. Writing 
 to his friend, Joshua Wilson, he said : — 
 
 I am very anxious that sucli measures should be adopted as will leave 
 us, as a denomination, stronger for our great work at the end of the year 
 or two during which we shall be specially engaged, not only in spreading 
 information, but in wisely expending money which will, I trust, be raised 
 as an expression of gratitude for the service rendered by the heroes of 
 1GG2 to the cause of freedom of thought. I therefore rejoice that each 
 is to be at liberty to direct the appropriation of his own money. One 
 district will feel that new chapels are their great want, another that some
 
 1857—1863.] THE MEMOBIAL HALL. 157 
 
 largely increased agency in connection with their churches, is their special 
 need. I anticipate great results from the effort. Dr. Yaughan is pre- 
 paring an address to be sent by the Bicentenary Committee to the churches 
 of onr faith and order throughout the land. 
 
 Kesnlts followed. A great impetus was given to 
 Dissent, chapel-building went forward apace, new 
 organizations of various kinds were originated, a 
 valuable literature sprang up, men were better able 
 to give a reasonable explanation of the grounds of 
 their convictions ; and, in course of time, the 
 Memorial Hall in Farringdon Street was erected, " to 
 commemorate the fidelity to conscience shown by 
 the two thousand ejected ministers in 1662." 
 
 Towards the erection of the Memorial Hall, Mr. 
 Morley contributed no less a sum than i;6,000, but 
 this was the least part of his contribution, for he gave 
 the Committee the benefit of his business experience, 
 and when delays and obstacles arose with regard to a 
 site — the one selected being required for the Metro- 
 politan District Eailway Company — his shrewdness 
 turned the seeming misfortune into success. Not 
 only was a better site secured — that of the old Fleet 
 Prison, where many of the early Nonconformists had 
 to suffer the loss of all things — but the '^ compensa- 
 tion " aided the funds very substantially. It was not 
 till 1875 that the Memorial Hall was opened, and we 
 shall refer to it again. Meanwhile, a succession of 
 kindred enterprises were pressing their claims upou 
 Mr. Morley. 
 
 For a long while he had been dissatisfied with the
 
 158 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. X. 
 
 state of chapel accoiumodation in the Metropolis. 
 He wanted to see more siglitly, substantial, com- 
 modious, and cheerful edifices springing up in the new 
 centres of population, and, especially, chapels for the 
 working classes. 
 
 Dr. J. H. Wilson — with whom he was still asso- 
 ciated in the Home Mission work — was consulted, 
 and he has given the following account of what was 
 done : — 
 
 In keepinjj with all his labours and zeal in the Master's work, was the 
 way in which he brought the week's labours to a close. At the time we 
 were most closely associated, he liA'ed at Craven Lodge, Stamford Hill, 
 and as we resided close by, Saturday evenings were spent reviewing the 
 work done, the work doing, and considering the work yet to do. Here, 
 for instance, one evening, when thinking of the subject of chapel building, 
 and regretting that so much money was sometimes spent, as he thought, 
 on useless ornament, he said, ' I should like to see a cheaper order of 
 chapels built, and would give a challenge to encourage oi;r friends to build 
 them if I knew how to make it tell. Try and launch it.' I did so at our 
 annual meeting of the Chapel Building Society. His offer of five 
 hundred pounds for each new chapel, provided in each case the 
 necessary amount was raised, was accepted, and twenty-four, at an 
 average cost of between four and five thovisand pounds, were ultimately 
 built, where new churches have been gathered, and are all self-sustaining. 
 He had great faith in chapel building, both in town and country, but his 
 constant plea was for more spiritual life in the churches, ever and anon 
 contending that this was the greatest want of the day. 
 
 During the six years from 1864 to 1870, Mr. Morley 
 contributed in this direction alone no less a sum than 
 ^14,400 ! 
 
 Although he expended so much time and money in 
 endeavouring to sustain the " regular ministry " of
 
 1857—1863.] LAY AGENCY. 159 
 
 tlie cliurclies, he did not for a moment rekix liis 
 energies in sending forth the new order of agency, 
 consisting of evangelists and colporteurs, laymen, or 
 local preachers, who should be able to fulfil duties 
 which would not interfere with the work of the 
 stated ministers. 
 
 In order that the lay agency might be the best pro- 
 curable, a Theological Institute was founded at Not- 
 tingham, in 1863, for the purpose of training young 
 men for the work of Home Missionaries and Evange- 
 lists, a class of men greatly needed. Apropos of the 
 opening of the Theological Institute, he wrote to 
 Joshua Wilson, to whom he confided his views on 
 almost every religious movement in which he was 
 engaged : — 
 
 Nov. 23, 1803. — I have been two or three days of this week at Not- 
 tingham, attending the very interesting meetings connected with the 
 opening of tlie Theological Institute, respecting which I feel very hopeful 
 indeed. I very much incline to hope that it is one of the best under- 
 takings we have ever entered upon. I hope Mr. Paton will prove the right 
 man. He is very eai'nest about it at present, and has doubtless much of 
 the power so peculiarly needed for such an enterprise. 
 
 An incident occurred about this time, which enables 
 us to give precisely Mr. Morley's views as to what 
 constituted a " minister." In a certain village a good 
 man, A. B., had been working for twenty- three years 
 among the poor, and when, at the end of that time, 
 sufficient money had been raised to build a chapel, 
 the people unanimously invited him to become their
 
 IGO SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. X. 
 
 minister, and lie accepted the office without fee or 
 reward. A neighbouring minister, duly ordained and 
 styled " Eeverend," himself drew up the handbill 
 announcing the opening service, in which it was 
 stated: "In the afternoon a service will beheld to 
 recognize the election of Mr. A. B. as the lay-minister 
 of the Church. The Eev. CD." (the ordained neigh- 
 bouring minister) " to preside." 
 
 A. B. did not like this, and in a very modest but 
 earnest letter, he asked Mr. Morley " whether he 
 considered that this distinction was warranted by 
 God's Word," and begged him, if he could, to be 
 present at the service. 
 
 Mr. Morley replied as follow^s : — 
 
 My dear Sir, — I am sorry that my numerous responsibilities here will 
 not permit me to comply with yom- wish that I should be present at your 
 service. I am very much of your opinion that the bill, as drawn up by 
 Mr. C. D., ' makes a distinction which God's Word does not support.' In 
 the New Testament there are mentioned officers who are chosen to preside 
 and teach, and the brethren, the general body of believers ; but there is 
 no particular class of men, separate, as a caste, from others, who are to 
 be considered as ministers. As I understand, the congregation to whom 
 you have been preaching have invited jow to become their pastor. The 
 invitation of the Church, accepted by you, makes you a minister, and you 
 are thereby as real a minister, in the Bible sense, as any pastor of an In- 
 dependent congregation, or as the Archbishop of Canterbury. 'What is 
 meant by a ' lay minister,' as apx^lied to one who becomes pastor of a 
 congregation, I am quite at a loss to conceive. I should advise you to 
 ask Mr. C. D. to leave out the word ' lay.' If the ministers of the neigh- 
 bouring churches will not come to the meeting, do all yoi; can to over- 
 come their reluctance ; but if they persist in refusing, you must go on in 
 a meek and quiet spirit without them. Do not let the meeting be an 
 occasion of offence to any. You can easily make it a meeting for prayer
 
 1857— 18G3.] THE AMERICAN WAR. 161 
 
 along with your own people. Do all the good you can, and I hope yon 
 will find, in tho blessing that comes, the best assurance of your ordination, 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 S. MORLEY. 
 
 In 1863, the Britisli and Foreign Anti- Slavery 
 Society, at an important crisis of the American 
 Civil War, arranged to hold a meeting at the London 
 Tavern, to "reiterate and to vindicate the great 
 principle of the Anti- Slavery movement, and to 
 adopt a resolution expressing satisfaction at the 
 prospective extinction of slavery in the United 
 States." Mr. Morley was invited to co-operate, but 
 he declined upon the grounds shown in the following- 
 letter : — 
 
 To Mr. L. A. Clmmcrovzow, Secretary of the British and Foreign 
 Anti- Slavery Society. 
 
 18, Wood Street, E.G., Jan. 22, 1863. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I am diily in receipt of your letter and regret that the 
 views which I entertain on the subject of the American war, will not 
 allow me to co-operate with the committee of the Anti-Slavery Society 
 in the meeting which it is proposed to hold at the London Tavern on 
 February 10th. 
 
 In the papers which you have been good enough to send me, there is a 
 tone of partizanship with the North with which I do not sympathize ; 
 while the rebuke administered to those who are engaged in this fratricidal 
 war, is far too mild to suit my taste and judgment. 
 
 I regard the whole system of slavery with detestation, and while tlie 
 South disgusts me by its shameless advocacy of its ' peculiar institution ' 
 as 'the corner-stone' of its government, I cannot sympathize with the 
 North, for it is, I fear, abolitionist in policy — only through foiTo of circum- 
 stances — and not from any conviction of the inherent immorality in 
 slaveiy, or humane consideration for the welfare of the slaves. 
 
 12
 
 162 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. X. 
 
 I have never committed myself to the extreme principle which wonld 
 condemn every kind of war as unjustifiable, but I am at a loss to perceive 
 how an armed intervention in favour of slave emancii^ation, adopted 
 as an extreme military expedient in a crisis of international strife, 
 is an event to call forth the loud and cordial congratulations of philan- 
 thropists. 
 
 The motives of such a proceeding are so complicated, and the issues of 
 it are so uncertain, and fraught with so many dangers, that I confess it 
 fails to stir my heart with any lively emotions of joy. Amidst the varied 
 features and perplexities of this American struggle, I am most deeply 
 affected by the terrific expenditure of human blood and treasure in the 
 endeavoiu" which the North is making to retain undivided dominion over 
 a j)eople who prefer an independent Government. 
 
 Admitting the North to have been constitutionally in the right at the 
 commencement of the strife, I think she would have done wisely to have 
 permitted the South to secede, with the biu^den and sin of slavery resting 
 on her, rather than to have sought to compel her continuance in the 
 Union by force of arms. 
 
 Subsequent events convince me that the cost, by which alone the 
 conquest of the South can possibly be achieved and maintained, is so 
 great, that the North should at once be wUling to recognize the inde- 
 pendence of the South. 
 
 We, as Englishmen, it appears to me, must act with strict neutrality 
 towards the belhgerents ; and, notwithstanding our abhoiTence of 
 slavery, we should not encourage the North to prolong the contest, but, 
 in the name of om' common humanity and religion, earnestly appeal to 
 both parties that the war may be stayed. 
 
 How far my difference of opinion with the committee may lead me in 
 the course I should take at a meeting convened to express an opinion 
 from the city, I cannot at present determine, but it is in vain for your 
 committee to look to me for co-operation. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 S. MORLEY. 
 
 Such are brief specimens of the public work that 
 was occupying the time and thought of Samuel 
 Morley in these years. But a wider and more in-
 
 1857—1863.] A WIDENING SPHERE. 163 
 
 fiuential sphere of usefulness was opening up to him. 
 For a long time he had been urged by a large circle 
 of friends to allow himself to be proposed as a candi- 
 date for Parliament, and arguments, similar to those 
 which Mr. Morley had himself employed when call- 
 ing upon certain leading Nonconformists to do the 
 same, were pressed upon him. On the other hand, 
 certain of his h'iends, as well as of his own house- 
 hold, maintained that he could only enter Parliament 
 at an enormous sacrifice of time and strength, and 
 the surrender of the paramount service he was ren- 
 dering, in divers ways, to the world and the church ; 
 and as for honour, they contended that to be at the 
 head of the whole body of Nonconformist laymen, 
 was honour enough to satisfy the ambition of any 
 Christian patriot. 
 
 It was not a question of honour or expediency, of 
 like or of dishke, with Samuel Morley. " Necessity 
 was laid upon him " by the dictates of his own con- 
 science, and he consented to stand for Nottingham, 
 the old town of his ancestors. 
 
 Before we follow him in his parliamentary career, 
 we must pause to see him in his home at Craven 
 Lodge, and in his business in Wood Street.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 HOME LIFE. 
 
 Primary Claims — Family — Letters to his Children — Fatherly Advice — Con- 
 fidences — Sympathy with Young Life — Kecollections of Boyhood — 
 Garibaldi — Thoroughness — A Birthday Letter — Works of Fiction — No 
 Sportsman — Dancing and Dancing Parties — Not Easily Disturbed — Fire 
 in Wood Street — Idleness — The Black Bag — Travels — A Shooting-Lodge — 
 — Visitors — The Study — Music — An Ideal Home. 
 
 Feom what has heen said in the preceding chapters, 
 of the manifold labours in which Mr. Morley was 
 engaged in addition to the pressing claims of busi- 
 ness, it may be thought that he would have little 
 time to devote to the pleasures of home life, Snch, 
 however, w^as not the case. He was a strictly con- 
 scientious man, and as he w^ould never have made 
 use of money belonging to others, neither would he 
 make use of time on which others had a just claim. 
 He never allowed any public duties to come between 
 himself and his family. For him, indeed, there was 
 a time for everything, but that time was regulated by 
 the claims of home. It was this that kept him back 
 from taking his place in the political life of the 
 country, to which he had been so often solicited ; it 
 was this, as a leading motive, that made him decline 
 many honours, civic and otherwise, that would have
 
 FAMILY LIFE. 1G5 
 
 been conferred upon him. He was an intense lover 
 of home, and, while his children were of an age to 
 require his immediate help and guidance, he felt that 
 his chief duty was with them. Thus it was, that not 
 until comparatively late in life did he come before the 
 general public in a prominent position. 
 
 We have seen how anxiously solicitous he was 
 for the welfare of his children in their infancy — 
 drawing upon himself the rebuke of his father and 
 his friend Thomas Binney in consequence. But 
 they utterly failed to cure him ; on the contrary, as 
 the children grew, his carefulness for them grew 
 also. He was an anxious father, who hardly ad- 
 mitted to himself his anxiety, although it was patent 
 to everybody else in the carefulness with which he 
 watched the studies of his children, pondered their 
 doings and their goings, and sought to mould their 
 characters. 
 
 His family of eight children — consisting of five 
 sons, Samuel Hope, Howard, Charles, Arnold, and 
 Henry, and three daughters, Rebekah, Augusta, and 
 Mary — were all brought up, as he had been, in a 
 religious atmosphere, and according to the usages of 
 Nonconformists. Six were baptized in the drawing- 
 room of the house by Mr. Binney — who shone in 
 such family gatherings as much as he did in the 
 pulpit — and two in the Weigh House Chapel. Each, 
 as he grew up, was taught his individual respon- 
 sibility to live in accordance with the dictates of 
 the Holy Scriptures and of his own conscience.
 
 166 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XI. 
 
 Whenever any of liis children were away from 
 home, Mr. Morley would frequently write to them 
 simple letters, "easily understanded " and full of 
 yearning anxiety for their highest welfare. As 
 illustration is clearer than analysis, and as a few 
 lines written by an individual generally reveal more 
 than pages of description, we shall insert here 
 some passages from his correspondence with his 
 children. 
 
 The following are selected from a large bundle 
 of letters to his second daughter. They show what, 
 for want of a better expression, we may describe as 
 a loving intimacy, which was very striking, and was 
 maintained to the end of his life : — 
 
 Jail/ 14, 185G. 
 It is a pleasui'e to me to toll you how very dear you are to me, how 
 sincerely I wish for you the best of blessings, how I desire that you may 
 constantly seek for the guidance of our loving Father in heaven in every 
 step of life, and that you may feel how much there is you can do as an 
 example to those dear ones at home who are younger than you are, and 
 who are keen observers of all that is going on around them. 
 
 Written at Folkestone, just before going on board 
 the boat, to start upon a foreign tour : — 
 
 Maij 31, 1858. 
 Dear love to all the dear ones we have left behind. AVe pray that God 
 will bless and preserve you while we are absent ; that you may be happy 
 and loving among yourselves. Remember, dear, the responsible position 
 you occupy amongst those who are younger than you are, and do what 
 you can, dear, to set an example, and to promote love one towards 
 another.
 
 LETTERS TO HIS CHILDREN. 167 
 
 From Craven Lodge, when left there alone, he 
 writes : — 
 
 Sept. 9, 1859. 
 I am very lonely here with ail absent, and am sm'prisetl to see how 
 indifferent one may become to even the beauties of a place in the absence 
 of those with whom one is accustomed to share them. 
 
 The following was written in prospect of Christmas, 
 the great home festival of the year : — 
 
 Craven Lodge, Dec. 18, 18G0. 
 I do trust we shall spend a very hapi^y holiday. Let us each try to 
 make it so. I should be very glad if we could hit upon some plan which 
 should pleasantly and profitably occupy some portion of the time. I 
 never wish to forget that we naturally look for hoHday time to be a time 
 of enjoyment and pleasure, but that pleasm-e is always, in the long run, 
 greater, when there is combined with it some attention to what is elevating 
 and improving. 
 
 The next extract relates to Mr. Morley's eldest 
 daughter, who, at a very early period in her life, 
 was led to consecrate herself in a remarkable manner 
 to religious duties : — 
 
 Give my dear love to Eebekah, and tell her I am thinking a good deal 
 about her. I am sure she is feeling, too, the great change which is just 
 taking place. I pray that the dear girl may be guided and guarded in her 
 future course, that she may come home fully impressed with the convic- 
 tion that she has a work to do, a life of holy, consistent conduct to live, 
 and that she may be led constantly to hve in the sphit of that sermon I 
 heard by Dr. Guthrie, a copy of which, I think, I sent her, the text of 
 which was, ' Lord, what wilt Thou have lac to do ? ' 
 
 March 20, 1861. 
 I pray, dear Gussie, that you may be led lo look constantly and in- 
 creasingly to that only source of guidance and btrength which is open
 
 168 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XI. 
 
 aud free to all ibr counsel and support iu tlie little or great difficulties 
 wliicb will cross the path of all. 
 
 Nov. 27, 18G1. 
 I fancy we are looking forward to the holidays as much as our chil- 
 dren. . , , 
 All matters at home are progressing in the usual orderly way. 
 
 Ajrril 19, 18G3. 
 You must not forget, dear, that you are an invahd, and piay do not 
 attempt too much. Pleasant, gentle exercise and no exposure to evening 
 air should be the rule. How pleasant and happy it is to think that we 
 can trust each other to the care of Him who has, during these many 
 years, so cared for us ! Oh that we were living more constantly under a 
 sense of His claim to our best affections and service ! If it were so really, 
 what a different aspect the world would wear, and how much more anxious 
 we should feel, to be and do just what He would have us be and do ! 
 
 There is great tenderness iu some of Mr. Moiiey's 
 letters to his children when they were very young. 
 The following is a specimen of many : — 
 
 Nov. 2G, 1851. 
 My very dear Charlie, — Aud so your bii-thday is come at last, aud 
 yoa are really fom- years old. I am sorry, dear boy, that I shall not be at 
 home in the morning to tell you how dearly I love you, aud how I wish 
 that you may have many happy returns of the day, and that each re- 
 turning birthday may find you not only a stronger, taller boy, but a 
 oetter, and therefore a happier boy. Dear Charlie knows how often all 
 are tempted to be naughty, and I hope my dear little son wUl try very 
 hard dming all next year to be very good. I would have him detei-mine 
 to-morrow that every day next year, till he is five years old, he will try 
 very hard not to be naughty once. And then you know, dear, that Jesus 
 Christ, who loves Uttle children, will help you to be good, if you really 
 wish to be so and pi'ay to Him. I quite hoj)e to see you to-morrow after- 
 noon, so that I may be able to tell you how glad I am that God has sj)ared 
 your hfe, and that He has given you dear brothers and sisters who love 
 you, and whom you love. Oh that you would all recollect those beautiful
 
 CONFIDENCES. 169 
 
 worda wlaicli dear Howie rej)eats every morning : ' We will love one 
 auotlier, for love is of God ' ! Then how happy we should all be ! 
 
 Good-bye, dear boy. Give a very hearty kiss to dear mamma, Missie, 
 Gussie, Hope, and the rest. 
 
 I am, yom* affectionate Papa, 
 
 S. MOKLEV. 
 
 Mr. Moiiey preserved all the letters that were 
 written to him by his children, even from then- 
 earliest days. In glancing through them, it is 
 interesting to observe the absolute confidence they 
 all had in his judgment, and the unreservedness with 
 which they told hiin everything, feehng sure that in 
 him they would find the sympathy and help they 
 needed. They told of their failures no less than of 
 their successes ; their play as well as their work. 
 One tells him with glee of having been elected into 
 the "first eleven," while other letters record the 
 accumulation of 240 marbles in combination with 
 another boy ; of the " sad fate " of two pups ; and 
 so on. 
 
 In all the letters there is to be discovered the 
 " perfect love that casteth out fear." There is no 
 hesitation on the part of the boys in telling their 
 father freely of any little matter in which they may 
 have made mistakes, of the subjects in which they 
 were deficient no less than of those in which they 
 were well up, and they state their opinions of their 
 schools and schoolmasters, as on all other topics, 
 with perfect candour. 
 
 Thus his son Howard, pining for release from 
 "tutor guardianship," and wishing to be sent to
 
 170 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. XI. 
 
 school, writes : " Please, dear papa, tliiuk how yon 
 would like to be here, if you were a boy, that loved 
 life and animation and larks, and everything else of 
 that sort. Please don't say anything about what 
 I tell you in this letter to anybody." 
 
 Again, lonely and away from home, Howard 
 writes to his father : " It is my only comfort writing 
 to you. Please keep this letter very private, and 
 don't show it, and write me a sympathizing one in 
 return very soon." 
 
 In Mr. Morley's letters to his sons there are many 
 interesting little touches which show how thoroughly 
 he was in sympathy with young life. He refers fre- 
 quently to their sports, asks who is to be "hare "in the 
 paper chase, and, characteristically — for he abhorred 
 waste in anything — finds fault with some one whose 
 track he had crossed, and who " spilt a great deal of 
 paper more than was necessary," He notes that 
 "the Southgate Eleven were beaten last Saturday 
 by the Mill Hill Eleven. Howard scored 29." He 
 sends word that " when the stack was being thrashed, 
 170 rats were killed. None escaped." In telling of 
 his own movements, he frequently recalls to their 
 memory, places that they have visited with him ; 
 while, in writing of what immediately concerns them, 
 there are pleasant references to "gingerbread," and 
 the hope is exj)ressed that "a cake will not be un- 
 acceptable." He was interested in all that interested 
 them, and encloses stamps "as a small contribution 
 to the Ibrthcoming supper," which he hopes will be
 
 LETTERS TO HIS SON ARNOLD. 171 
 
 ' ' sober and simple ' ' ; and forwards from time to 
 time crests and postage stamps for their collections. 
 We aj)pend some extracts from Mr. Moiiey's letters 
 to his son Arnold, which may be taken as specimens 
 of the style of his communications to his children 
 generally. In the following letter, written just after 
 his son had, for the first time, left home for school, 
 the reader will not fail to observe how the moral of 
 the lesson is enforced, not in Mr. Moiiey's own 
 words, but in those of another of his sons. This 
 was a peculiar trait in Mr. Moiiey's dealings with his 
 children, and is worthy of all imitation ; the art of 
 seeing the good in each, and holding it up in a strong 
 light for the admiration and help of all : — 
 
 Stamford Hill, Sejd. 17, 18G0. 
 My dear Boy, — . . . I do not wonder at yovir feeling the change from home 
 to school. All boys do, especially when they have a happy home such as 
 you have, where all love you and desire to sec you happy ; but you will 
 soon, I hope, become accustomed to the change. When I was a school- 
 boy, I found at the end of the first week I began to know the boys, and to 
 join in their games, and, while I did not forget home, I did not think so 
 much about it, and the uuhappiuess wore away. I wish you would try, 
 whenever you feel dull, to remember that you are sent to school for a 
 great and good purpose, namely, to prepare for the future, that by educa- 
 tion and discipline you may be enabled to do your duty in future life, 
 and it will be your duty noiv to bear the little troubles which will always 
 come in a schoolboy's hfe; but cheer up imder them, and do your best 
 to bear them manfully, liomcmber dear Howard's letter to Charlie 
 which I read to you, and try, dear boy, to act on the advice he gives. 
 This is an extract : ' You will be liked better by the boys and masters if 
 you show that you are to be trusted;' and then he says, 'While I 
 hope you will play well in play-hours, let there bo no idling in school, 
 nor laughing, talking, throwing bits of paper, and cheating.' He says, 
 ' If you avoid all these things fi'om the first, boys will see that you arc
 
 172 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XI. 
 
 uot to be led astray; mintl, begiu from the first' I copy this because it 
 is excellent advice, aud I hope iny dear Arnold will try very hard to 
 follow it. llemenibcr you are now laying the foundation of your future 
 character. God bless you, uiy boy, and I pray that He will ijreserve 
 you from evil, aud make you an honourable, upright boy aud man. 
 
 Ever your dear Pai^a, 
 
 S. MORLEY. 
 
 Oct. 18, 1862. 
 1 attended a meeting yesterday about Garibaldi, to express sympathy 
 with him, and the hoxje that he will soon recover. Opinions differ about 
 him, but I beheve most thinking men believe, as I do, that he is a truly noble 
 man, and that his great wish is to see his fellow-countrymen free and happy. 
 ... I am glad to hear that you are working hard — this is good news, and 
 will make us, I am sure, enjoy the Christmas hohdays when we meet. 
 You know my anxiety for my boys that they should be thoroughly well- 
 educated men, and, in order to that, they must be hard workers at 
 school. 
 
 Dec. 6, 1862. ' 
 I wish you to remember that I do not exjiect impossibilities at the 
 exams., therefore do not attempt them. What I do wish, is that my boys 
 should fairly keep their proper ^jlaces. I therefore shall be glad to know 
 the ages of the boys in the various divisions or classes in the exams., so 
 that we may just compare notes together. 
 
 JiDie lo, 180o. 
 I enclose you a report of a game in which a club, in which I feel some 
 interest, occupies a good position.* I hope you are doing your duty, 
 dear Arnold. I remember your telling me that it is difficult to read in 
 play-hom-s because the boys will laugh at you. Now I want you all to 
 feel that you have your own duty to perform, whatever others may do, 
 aud I very much wish you to show the moral courage which will lead you 
 to do what is right, and let who will laugh. Thmk of this, dear boys. I 
 want you to care nothing about any one laughing or jeering, if only you 
 feel siu'e what you do is right. 
 
 ■•'- The allusion is to a cricket club in which some of Mr. Morley's 
 other sons were distinguishing themselves.
 
 LETTERS TO HIS SON ARNOLD. 173 
 
 Sejit. 19, 1863. 
 My letter would have been sent earlier, bnt I was in the city only for a 
 short time this morning, as I came home to dine with Hope and yonng 
 Colqiihoun, who rode over from Soiithgate. Hope seems to be very happy, 
 and to have the prospect of plenty of work. Mr. Bradley seems to bo 
 cheerful and strict. I think I told Charlie in my letter that I was going 
 to Brighton. Well, I went on Tlnu'sday, travelling with Mr. and Mrs. 
 Binney ; the former preached at the opening of a new chapel, and I pre- 
 sided at a meeting in the evening. I saw a good deal of Henry, who 
 spent Thursday and Friday with me. I hope you are working well, dear 
 Arnold. Remember what I said about doing your best. Whatever may 
 be your position at the examinations, I hope you will aim to deserve a 
 good place. Be on your guard too, dear boy, in reference to any intimacies 
 with boys about whom you may have a doubtful opinion. It is often 
 difi&cnlt to free j'onrself from such an intimacy when it has reached a 
 cei'tain point. 
 
 Feb. 14, 1863. 
 We were much pleased with our visit to the Fishmongers' Hall, and 
 especially with the Prince of Wales. He behaved admirably. He did, 
 what I wish my boys woxald do, read very distinctly. 
 
 Fch. n, 1864. 
 I rather incline to send a j)romisod plum cake if it is rea ly. I requested 
 Mr. Blest to order it yesterday. I hope it will be acceptable. How are 
 you going on, dear Arnold ? Are you in earnest, determined to do every- 
 thing you do, thoroughly ? And are you constantly remembering your 
 responsibility to God as well as man? This is a solemn question, dear 
 boy. Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth. How much 
 you owe to Him ! Life, health, friends, a thoxisand comforts and enjoy- 
 ments surround you every day, and the return which is due to Him is to 
 strive to live in hourly obedience to His laws, praying that Ho would 
 strengthen yoii in the effort to avoid whatever He hates, and to do what 
 would be pleasing in His sight. Never forget, my son, to ask that loving 
 Father every day to be near you, and to care for you. Dear love to 
 Charlie from his and your loving father. 
 
 Feb. 17, 1864. 
 Many hai>py returns to you. May each day find you growing in favour 
 with God and man ! It is well that on our birthdays each one should ask
 
 174 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XI. 
 
 himself, How am I getting ou ? Am I trying manfully to do what I 
 know to be my tluty, working, as well as plajdng, well, and, above all, 
 endeavouring to avoid that which is ' evil,' and striving earnestly to do 
 that which is right and pure and true ? Oh, my son, I wish very sincei'ely 
 that my boys may be real, true men, not shams in any respect. But I 
 will not enlarge on this. You will understand what your father means. 
 I will only assure you that I have observed with pleasure, evidence of 
 serious thought, and what I hope is a desire on your part to get on in 
 your studies, and genei'ally to do 3'our duty. Go on, and may our Heavenly 
 Fatlicr vouchsafe His blessing ! 
 
 April 9, 1804. 
 I am going on Tuesday to Carlisle, returning on Thursday. I shall thus 
 lose the pleasure of meeting Garibaldi at the Duke of Sutherland's on 
 Wednesday, which I much regret. Eemember my motto, ' Look up,' 
 keep your head (that is, yoiir understanding and your mind) above every- 
 thing that conscience says is wrong. 
 
 Dec. G, 18G4. 
 I expect to ti'avel by a train which stops at the Wimbledon station at 
 4.5 to-morrow afternoon. Now, if there is no match, or other engagement 
 on, I should not much mind shaking liands with two dear fellows of mine ; 
 but do not disappoint any one by running away from duty. Dear love to 
 old Charlie. 
 
 Nov. 4, 18G5. 
 What books are you reading, Arnold ? I do hope you will not be satisfied 
 with merely reading what is called light literature. It is, much of it, 
 very light, and will be of little service when you come to take your part 
 in the future battle of life. I do not object to a little of it, but it should 
 only be regarded as relaxation, and not as the stamina with which the 
 mind is to be stored. 
 
 Although, in his letters to his sons, he makes con- 
 stant reference to their sports, he very rarely took any 
 part in them. In one of Howard's letters, written 
 in very early days, his son says, with just a tinge 
 of reproachfulness, '' My dearest father, I would just
 
 AN EXCELLENT WHIP. 175 
 
 add that I should so Hke for yon to take an interest 
 in the noble game of cricket ! " 
 
 But it was not in the nature of Mr. Morley to 
 take an interest in any game, however " noble." 
 He never had any amusement as a "hobby" in the 
 whole course of his life ; there was no gun, rod 
 bat, or boat that he looked upon with affection ; 
 he did not excel, because he never attempted to 
 excel, in any sports of any kind, if driving be 
 excepted. He was an excellent whip, and he could 
 drive his phaeton skilfully, with a steady hand and 
 a quick eye, through the crowded streets of London 
 no less than in the quiet lanes of the country, 
 
 " I suppose," said a reviewer, in an article on Mr. 
 Morley, written many years later than the time 
 of which we now write, " the only human weakness 
 of which Mr. Morley was ever guilty, was the very 
 harmless love of horseflesh. Standing in Palace 
 Yard between half-past three and half-past four, when 
 the House is sitting, you see a curious assortment 
 of vehicles dashing over the stones to the Members' 
 entrance ; but you would never see a more perfect 
 turn-out than the mail phaeton which Mr. Morley 
 himself drove, and drove well." 
 
 Although not addicted to any particular form of 
 amusement himself, he gave plenty of scope to his 
 children. But he '' drew the line " at certain 
 things. For example, he had a strong objection 
 to dancing. It had been altogether discountenanced 
 and disapproved in the home circle of his younger
 
 176 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XI. 
 
 days, and he kept up the traditions of his family. 
 But some of the young people of his household, 
 living in a different and a less strict generation, 
 could not see "eye to eye" with him in his objec- 
 tion, and would urge him to let them indulge in 
 this form of amusement. He was no lover of hard 
 and fast lines, or of dogmatic refusals. He preferred 
 that, if they abstained from dancing as a pastime, 
 they should do so on intelligible grounds and as 
 the result of their own choosing — and therefore 
 he took pains to explain to them his views on the 
 subject. They were expressed so exactly in a letter 
 written by Mr. Stevenson Blackwood,* to a friend 
 of his, Mr. R. Howard, that Mr. Morley was in the 
 habit of quoting it whenever the discussion of the 
 question arose ; and he would generally conclude 
 by saying, " There, that tells you what I think and 
 feel about the matter, and you know what my 
 wishes are." 
 
 Opinion has changed much in the last twenty 
 years on the whole question of amusements, and 
 Mr. Morley modified his considerably in later 
 life. It may interest some to know what were then 
 regarded as reasonable objections to dancing : — 
 
 . . . "Of course dancing, per se," wrote Mr. 
 Blackwood, "is as unobjectionable as walking or 
 jumping, and I have great pleasure in having a 
 hearty dance with our little ones by way of a 
 romp ; but against ' dances ' and ' dancing,' as 
 
 ■■'• Now Sir Arthur Blackwood.
 
 " WORLDLY AMUSEMENTS." 177 
 
 one generally understands the words, I have the 
 strongest objection. I do not know of a place where 
 the ' lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the 
 pride of life ' have more complete sway than in 
 a ball-room. ... I cannot remember one of which 
 one would not be obliged to say, ' This is not 
 of the Father, but is of the world.' The whole 
 tone of the thing — the extravagance, and often the 
 indecency, of dress, the vanity and envy it fosters, 
 the senseless gossiping and idle talking, the late 
 hours, the intense excitement, the unfitness for 
 everything serious or sacred afterwards, stamps it, 
 to my mind, as an unprofitable and dangerous 
 thing." 
 
 A little incident may be recorded here, as it brings 
 out Mr. Morley's views on "worldly amusements in 
 Christian households,'' and shows how zealously 
 affected he was in all that concerned the spiritual 
 welfare of his children. They had been invited to 
 a party at the house of a neighbouring minister, 
 where charades and dancing were the order of the 
 evening, and, instead of returning home at the 
 time they were expected (there were orthodox 
 hours for evening parties in orthodox Clapton), they 
 did not return until one or two in the morning. 
 On hearing a report of the proceedings, which Mr. 
 Morley considered were inconsistent in the house 
 of a minister, whatever they might have been else- 
 where, he expressed himself to his reverend friend 
 in these terms : — 
 
 13
 
 178 SAMVML MOBLEY. [Chap. XI. 
 
 You and I, I have no doubt, are agreed that the precepts of the New 
 Testament prescribe a behaviour for the followers of Jesus Christ which 
 distinguishes tiiem from the general mass of society. Their expenditure 
 of time and property is to be regulated by the highest principles of their 
 calling, and forms a branch of that consecration to the service of God 
 which is to extend over all that a man has and is. There is a position, 
 it appears to me, to be sustained between a rigid asceticism and morose- 
 ness on the one hand, and laxity and negligence on the other ; but, 
 without going into details, I am sure that at the present time, and 
 especially in the suburbs of London, the danger lies in the direction of 
 the forgetfulness of this ruling principle of consecration, and consequently 
 of imdue approach to worldly maxims and ways. 
 
 It was, therefore, with I'egret that I received a report of what tran- 
 spired on the occasion to wliich your letter refers, because I thought tlie 
 inevitable tendency of such proceedings would be to make it more 
 difficult for some of us to keep back our children from ways and halrits 
 of life which, I am convinced, are injurious to their bodily and spiritual 
 health. 
 
 I do not condemn recreation, it is needful for us all ; but late hours, 
 dancing, theatricals, entertainments in which families vie with each 
 other in luxury and expenditure, are not to my taste, and I am very 
 anxious that they should not be promoted and multiplied by your 
 influence as a Christian minister among us. It is not without reason, 
 I think, that we look to you to check, rather than to stimulate, such 
 tendencies in our circle. . . . 
 
 Within certain limits, as we have said, he gave 
 his chihlren plenty of scope. There might be as 
 much fan and nonsense, as much romping and mirth, 
 as they pleased, and if, as happens in such cases, 
 any little accident or misadventure occurred, it did 
 not affect him. He was not easily disturbed, even 
 about great things. On one occasion (December, 
 1863) a messenger came, late at night, with the 
 startling intelligence that the premises in Wood 
 Street were on fire. Mr. Morley quietly waited for
 
 AT HOME. 110 
 
 farther information, and having in course of time 
 learnt that the fire was being rapidly subdued, and 
 that no life had been injured, with a ''thank God," 
 turned over on his pillow and slept again ! A day or 
 two afterwards he wrote to Mr. Joshua Wilson : — 
 
 Dec. 28, 1863. 
 The fii'e, though very near us, was not permitted to touch our main 
 buildings. It consumed a warehouse occupied by us in an adjoining 
 court, which was, however, fully insured. 
 
 It is not to be inferred that because Mr. Morley 
 was not easily disturbed, he was indifferent ; or that, 
 if anything went wrong in the household, he would 
 let it pass without observation. He was far too 
 simple and single-eyed to affect a blindness to any- 
 thing, but he always looked upon the best side 
 of a case, and dealt with it in a kindly and good- 
 natured fashion. There was no divided rule in the 
 household ; he always acted in conjunction with 
 Mrs. Morley, supporting her administration in every- 
 thing, and always following out the principle laid 
 down in a letter to one of his daughters : " The 
 public opinion of Craven Lodge has long since 
 settled the question that 'Mamma knows best.'" 
 
 Mr. Morley was not one man in business and 
 another at home. He was one and indivisible, and 
 the characteristics exhibited in Wood Street were 
 exhibited at Craven. Lodge. Thus, he could not 
 tolerate idleness in anybody, and it is no exaggeration 
 to say that few things worried him more than to find 
 any one of his household listlessly wondering what
 
 180 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XI. 
 
 to do. And uofc only would he insist that no time 
 should he wasted, hut that everything done should he 
 done well, and not merely well, as far as it went, hut 
 well and thoroughly thi-oughout. And he practised 
 what he preached. 
 
 Although essentially a lover of home, he had no 
 distinctively home - occupations or interests, hut 
 always hrought political and philanthropic cares 
 and work with him, which he never really laid 
 aside. It was his hahit to take with him, wherever 
 he went, a black morocco leather hag, in which he 
 would carry bundles of unanswered letters, notes of 
 speeches, cuttings from newspapers, pamphlets, until 
 it was full to overflowing, and then its contents would 
 be lessened by the removal to one of the cupboards of 
 the library of letters and papers for future use, to be 
 sorted and arranged in the leisure which never came. 
 The black bag w^as a standing joke in the household ; 
 it was ever with him, at home and abroad, and there 
 was always in it more than enough to occupy him in 
 the evening at home, while his children pursued their 
 occupations. 
 
 Mr. Morley often took opportunities to travel 
 with his family, sometimes short journeys, with 
 "meetings" and "chairs" in view; sometimes 
 longer ones, for rest and recreation. Here is an 
 epitome of one of the latter journeys, given in a 
 letter to Joshua Wilson : — 
 
 Se2)t., 1866. 
 Wo have had a very pleasant journey, with six of our children, through 
 some of the most striking scenery in Scotland — visiting our two elder
 
 THE BLACK BAG, 181 
 
 sons, who were reading with some college friemls near Inverness. 
 Thus our entire family (ten in number) spent an evening together 
 nearly six hundred miles from London. We spent ten days with the 
 greatest enjoyment at Braemar, in the midst of the finest mountain 
 scenery. 
 
 In the shorter journeys to which we have referred, 
 he would often he accompanied hy his sons. Excel- 
 lent as Mr. Morley's company was, he was apt at 
 times to be a little impatient. Active and energetic 
 himself, he could not brook delay. If the train 
 chanced to be five minutes behind time, he would, if 
 he were within earshot of the guard, put his head out 
 of the carriage window, and freely expostulate with 
 him, sometimes to the annoyance of his travelling- 
 companions. Failing this, he would communicate 
 with him at the next halting-place. 
 
 Arrived at their destination, the '' boys " could 
 go where they pleased, but he must set to work. 
 While dinner was getting ready, he would turn 
 up the corner of the cloth, spread out some of the 
 contents of the black bag, and commence his 
 correspondence. His first visit, at every place he 
 went to, was the post-office, and so extremely 
 particular was he with regard to the instructions 
 he gave as to his letters that, throughout the long 
 years of his active life, his arrangements for receiving 
 them were never known to fail. 
 
 In the evening, whether at home or travelling, 
 he would still be writing or reading, while the buzz 
 of conversation was going on, looking up every
 
 182 SAMUEL MOBLEY. • [Chap. XI. 
 
 now and then to throw in his observations on the 
 topic under discussion. 
 
 It was with a humorous reference to these habits 
 that one of his daughters, when staying with one of 
 her brothers at a shooting-lodge which he had taken 
 in the neighbourhood of Pitlochrie, in Scotland, 
 urged him to join them there : "I feel sure you 
 would like the place, it is so essentially Scotch 
 in every respect — but the Lodge is so comfortable ; 
 you would have your writing-table all to yourself — 
 plenty of room for papers ! — the Times and Daily 
 News by the middle of the next day, and posts 
 going out and coming in with the greatest regularity. 
 What greater charm could I suggest for a shooting- 
 lodge?!!" 
 
 Mr. Morley was a kind and genial host. His 
 attraction, however, was rather to his study than 
 to the drawing-room, especially when his guest 
 happened to be a man — like Dr. Wilson, to wit — 
 who could set before him, in a clear and practical 
 fashion, some new scheme of public usefulness. He 
 was not very social in the ordinary sense of the 
 word. He very often asked people to "have a chop 
 with him" in Wood Street at one o'clock; but, in 
 the days prior to his entry into Parliament, he 
 rarely gave dinner-parties at home. The " pleasures 
 of the table" had no charms for him. He was simple 
 in his tastes, never seemed to care for what is called 
 "good living," and scrupulously avoided all habits of 
 self-indulgence. He was, through life, exceedingly
 
 BOOKSHELVES. 183 
 
 moderate in his food ; when he took wme he only 
 took it in very small quantities, and for some years 
 before the time of which we are now writing, he had 
 abstained from it, as we have seen, altogether. It is 
 hardly necessary to say that, although not caring for 
 these things himself, he did not force his opinions on 
 others. 
 
 Referring to those who were in the habit of 
 joining his family circle, one of his daughters wrote : 
 " To his friends he often used to speak of his family 
 as ' a republic,' to which we, as children, were inclined 
 to add, sotto voce, ' with a dictator at the head.' " 
 
 Although Mr. Morley had a good library, his 
 shelves were filled with such a curiously miscel- 
 laneous collection of books, that no one could have 
 formed any estimate, either of the collector or his 
 tastes, by the contents of the shelves. He might 
 have been a theologian, a lawyer, a political agitator, 
 or all combined, judging from his books. But he had 
 no pronounced literary tastes ; in fact, his time was 
 so much occupied with practical work that he rarely 
 found leisure to read a book through. One who know 
 him well * writes : — 
 
 He was not, indeed, a great reader. In the days when I hrst knew 
 liim, he set himself to become a jn'ofieient in business, and, there- 
 fore, liad no time for any systeniatic course of study. He acqviiretl 
 knowledge with unusual rapidity, took in the main points of any sul)ject 
 at a glance, and, had he pleased, could have shone in the fields of scholar- 
 shij). liut ho chose another patli, and tlici'efore was obliged to gain the 
 
 Rev. J. C. Harrison.
 
 184 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XI. 
 
 information wliicli lie needed, at vavions times, from conversation, or 
 brief treatises, or any source which might be accessible to him. On most 
 public questions ho was a well-informod man, but ho never was a student. 
 The same may be said as to his theological opinions. He did not 
 master the standard works of the greatest authors. He was content 
 with what ho gained from the Bible and liis own private thinking, from 
 the penisal of the best condensed compendiums, from the expositions of 
 the pulpit, and the conversations of thoughtful men. Whatever he saw, 
 indeed, ho saw clearly, and held tenaciously, but he never professed to bo 
 a divine. 
 
 One of the greatest of Mr. Morley's home 
 pleasuY-es was music. He never wearied in hearing 
 his children phxy and sing, and he dearly loved to 
 sing duets with his eldest daughter. He sang well, 
 in a clear, mellow voice, and he kept up his singing 
 initil quite late in life. 
 
 While neither understanding nor caring much for 
 classical music, he greatly enjoyed a good ballad 
 concert ; but he would compare Braham and Clara 
 Novello with the singers of the present day, rather 
 to the detriment of the latter. 
 
 We have only glanced at some of the elements 
 in the beautiful home-life of Samuel Morley. That 
 which welded all into harmony cannot be described 
 here — the affectionate reverence in which both 
 mother and father were held, their undeviating 
 consistency, their cheerful and lovable piety, and 
 their utter confidence in one another. Nor can we 
 speak of the sons and daughters with their diverse 
 characters and attainments, each seeking to promote
 
 ''AN IDEAL HOME.'' 185 
 
 the happiness of the others, and all reserving their 
 hest for the hours when they would share eacli 
 other's company. Not to its inmates only, hut to 
 many whose privilege it was to be visitors, Samuel 
 Morley's was regarded as "an ideal home."
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 IN BUSINESS. 
 
 18, Wood Street — Nottingham — Framework Knitters — Annuities — The Factories 
 — Mr. Arthur JNlorley — Mr. Tliomas Hill — A Disastrous Fire — Capital and 
 Labour — Sternness — Impatience — General Ch araetcristics — A Training 
 School for Business Men— An Opening Cai'eer — The Household Arrange- 
 ments — Holidays —Young Men's Missionary Association — Brackley Street 
 Hall — Influence. 
 
 The prosperity of the business, which had been con- 
 tinuous up to the time when Mr. Morley became sole 
 head of the firm, had, since that time, been more 
 prosperous than ever, and that growing prosperity 
 continued to the end. 
 
 We have seen Samuel Morley as a young man and 
 a partner in the house in Wood Street ; we shall now 
 see him with the burden of the whole concern upon 
 his shoulders. 
 
 From time to time there had been alterations and 
 enlargements of the premises in Wood Street, and 
 these continued at intervals, until, in 1847, the 
 present solid block forming No. 18 was reared — one 
 of the best of the structures in this quarter of the 
 City devoted to the interests of the textile industry. 
 The block occupies an important position at the
 
 THE FACTORIES. 1B7 
 
 corner of Wood Street and Gresliam Street, and 
 extends for some distance in each direction. 
 
 There is nothing remarkable in the architecture 
 of the building, nor as a visitor, uninitiated in the 
 mysteries of the trade, wanders among the endless 
 lines of goods, and travels on and on among busy and 
 bustling men, does he gain any very distinct im- 
 pression except that it is a vast concern, devoted 
 almost exclusively to one branch of trade, the only 
 exception to the hosiery business being adjuncts 
 proper thereto. But it must be remembered that 
 Wood Street alone conveys no idea of the business 
 of " I. and R. Morley." He who would estimate its 
 extent must go to Nottingham, and the towns and 
 villages round about, and see the factories there ; and 
 then, to estimate what manner of man Mr. Samuel 
 Morley was in business enterprise, he must bear in 
 mind that the whole of the series of gigantic factories 
 were established when he was sole head of the firm. 
 
 In the early days, nearly all the work now done in 
 the factories was done in the houses of the people. 
 One man might employ ten to twenty or fifty frames, 
 and a "middle man" would bring the produce to 
 " I. and R. Morley." So long as the firm remained 
 conservative in business principles, this system was 
 perpetuated, and Mr. John Morley always opposed 
 the introduction of cheap goods, however excellent 
 they might be for their price. Mr. Samuel Morley 
 not only lived abreast of the times, but in advance of 
 them ; liis views were broad and liberal, and so it was
 
 188 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XII. 
 
 that, under liis management, the old order changed. 
 But he still continued to employ a considerable 
 number of framework knitters, and thus kept alive 
 a venerable handicraft. " At Selston, in Nottingham- 
 shire, and other villages round about, the long shrill 
 whirr of the stocking h^ame may still be heard from 
 morning to night, and the good ' stockin'ers ' contrive 
 to make a decent livelihood by their industry. In 
 other parts of the district, however, signs of the 
 decadence of the craft are visible everywhere. 
 Almost every household has a frame-shed belonging 
 to it, but it is only in isolated instances that it is 
 used for the purpose for which it was built." 
 
 For the benefit of the workpeople, a most bene- 
 ficent system of annuities was instituted. It is an 
 open secret that Mr. Morley's treatment of old and 
 faithful employes, in the way of pension and allow- 
 ance, was altogether unprecedented in the annals of 
 commercial houses, and these dispossessed hand- 
 knitters were the people who had the first con- 
 sideration as annuitants. The pension scheme was 
 suggested by Mr. Samuel Morley, and for many years 
 he w^ent down and paid the first instalments of gifts 
 and pensions to the old hands. The cost of this was 
 borne by the firm, and the amount paid in any one 
 year was never less than =£2,000. The system still 
 remains in force. 
 
 There are seven factories in the Midland counties 
 belonging to the firm of "I. and E. Morley." They 
 are situated at Man vers Street and Handel Street,
 
 MB. THOMAS HILL. 189 
 
 Nottingham ; Loughborougli aud Leicester ; Heanor, 
 iu Derbyshire; Daybrook, and Sutton-iu-Ashfield, the 
 last two being in the centre of the old hand-wrought 
 work. With the exception of the Leicester factory, 
 which is in direct communication with Wood Street, 
 all these factories send their goods to the large central 
 warehouse in Fletcher Gate, Nottingham, for dis- 
 tribution. 
 
 The number of hands directly employed in these 
 factories by '' I. and R. Morley," is about three thou- 
 sand, but a far greater number is indirectly employed. 
 For example, a man makes the hose, his wife sews it, 
 and the children have a share in minor branches 
 of the work. Thus, although only the man would be 
 recognized as an employe of the firm, each member 
 of his family would be exclusively engaged upon the 
 work, and it is estimated that not fewer than eight 
 thousand persons arc so employed. 
 
 On the 7th of January, 1860, Mr. Arthur Morley, 
 the last son of old Mr. Richard Morley who had any 
 connection with the business, died, beloved and re- 
 spected by rich and poor. Mr. Morley then became 
 sole head of the Nottingham business, as he was of 
 that in London. He went down at once to decide 
 how, in the future, the concern should be conducted, 
 and it was determined that Mr. Thomas Hill, who 
 knew every detail connected with the manufactory, 
 and had the unlimited confidence of all connected 
 with the house, should be appointed manager. In 
 1870, Mr. Hill was taken into partnership.
 
 190 SAMUEL MOBLBY. [Chap. XII. 
 
 Mr. Morley never interfered in any way with the 
 details of management at Nottingham. He received 
 day by day an exact statement of acconnts, and this 
 was enough. Although he was h-equently at Fletcher 
 Gate, he rarely went into particulars regarding in- 
 ternal arrangements, but confined his inquiries almost 
 exclusively to the welfare of the people employed, the 
 state of their health, and so forth. 
 
 There was only one occurrence to break the mono- 
 tony of success at Nottingham. The first factory 
 established was in Manvers Street ; it had cost 
 X'27,000. Here, in August, 1874, occurred the most 
 disastrous fire ever known in Nottingham. In the short 
 space of three hours seventy-six new machines, each 
 costing between .£300 and ^£400, were totally de- 
 stroyed, as well as an almost fabulous amount of 
 stock, the fire having happened at a time when they 
 had on hand about double the quantity usually re- 
 tained ; and the insurance was altogether inadequate 
 to cover the loss. Mr. Morley was abroad when the 
 news of the calamity reached him. He hastened at 
 once to Nottingham, and his first words were, '' Hill, 
 we ought to have been better insured ! " Happily 
 no lives were lost, no damage was done to any save 
 to the firm, and Mr. Morley was not the man to weep 
 over spoiled machinery. "With his usual promptitude 
 he saw that it was the occasion to introduce still 
 newer and more efi'ective machinery, to rebuild upon 
 lines that should be more advantageous to the hands, 
 and at once he cheerfully set to work. One charac-
 
 WORKMEN AND WAGES. 191 
 
 teristic incident occurred. A circular was immedi- 
 ately prepared by Mr. Hill, to the effect that " all 
 orders would be executed and business carried on as 
 usual." This was contrary to Mr. Morley's judgment, 
 and he deprecated it strongly, but it was too late to 
 recall it. He did not think it was possible to perform 
 the promise, and he said, "I would rather have a 
 dozen fires, than make a pledge and not fulfil it to 
 the letter." But the pledge was fulfilled, and the 
 London house never suffered in the least degree. 
 
 '' Morley's factories" were the best in the North 
 Midlands ; special attention was given to cleanliness, 
 light, and ventilation ; and, above all, the fullest and 
 freest fraternity was established between capital aiid 
 labour, between master and workmen, merchant and 
 clerks. 
 
 He always sought to make the interest of his work- 
 people identical with his own. He paid the "top 
 price " for labour, and on all articles was invariably 
 the first to give an advance and the last to take it 
 off. In addition, the workmen were paid in current 
 coin of the realm, and not, as was the case in so many 
 factories, on the truck system. 
 
 Of course it would happen that charges would now 
 and then be brought against liim of dealing unjustly 
 with his workpeople. This was especially the case 
 during the election in 18G5, when he stood for 
 Nottingham. A particular charge, which may be 
 taken as a fair specimen of all, was investigated by 
 the general secretary to the trade, who wrote : "I
 
 192 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. XII. 
 
 can only say that Mr. Moiiey has more than four 
 hundred workmen in the district of Sutton-in-Ash- 
 field, who have received sixpence a dozen more for 
 their work than the majority of manufacturers were 
 paying for the same kinds of work. Tiiese four 
 hundred men make, on an average, one tliousand 
 dozen of hose a week, and during the last four years 
 Mr. Morley might thus, had he been so inclined, have 
 put the sum of i^5,200 in his pocket ; but instead of 
 that he came over to Sutton during the distress to 
 sympathize with us ; and not only that, he left us 
 i^lOO to be given to the poor of the place." 
 
 We need not concern ourselves farther with the 
 factories ; our object is to see what manner of man 
 Mr. Morley was in the midst of the business 
 generally. 
 
 He stood at the head of the greatest concern of its 
 class in the United Kingdom. His position in con- 
 tinental and home opinion was defined in a saying by 
 M. Taine, " Nothing can shake the house of Morley." 
 His influence was such as to raise the whole moral 
 tone of commercial life in the city ; his wealth was 
 that of a king among merchant princes. 
 
 Shrewd, sagacious, acute, he understood the art of 
 utilizing all the resources at his command, and fitting 
 every part of the machinery to work towards one 
 common end. He knew the stern conditions under 
 which alone success was possible, and he compelled 
 others, as well as himself, to conform to them. He 
 would not tolerate bad work, or indifferent work, or
 
 BUSINESS CHABACTEBISTICS. 193 
 
 half-hearted service ; he would have no waste aii}"- 
 wdiere or in anything; he would have around him 
 ■competent men, and only competent men ; he would 
 have everything fair and square, and CA^ery trans- 
 action clear as noontide. 
 
 It was almost a necessary consequence that the 
 man who could and would ensure all this must be a 
 thorough, and a somewhat stern, disciplinarian. Mr. 
 Morley v^^as undoubtedly stern, but it was the stern- 
 ness that belongs to all despotic government, the 
 sternness that is essential to all military discipline. 
 AVhen he gave the word of command he gave it in 
 the tone of command ; when he said a certain course 
 ■should be pursued, woe to the man who said to him 
 ''Nay." 
 
 It was perhaps inevitable in the circumstances 
 that Mr. Morley should be sometimes impatient. 
 Naturally quick and keen himself, he could not brook 
 hesitancy or bungling in others ; prompt to decide 
 and rapid in seeing things, he did not make allow- 
 ances for men who were dull and slow. It happened, 
 therefore, that irritability, accompanied occasionally 
 by little explosions of temper, was not altogether 
 unknovvTi to him, although anger had no abiding-place 
 in his bosom. He could forgive generously, without 
 parade, manifesting in manner rather than in his 
 speech that he had done so. 
 
 On one occasion, when he had given way to strong 
 and hasty words to one with whom he was associated 
 in business, and, on reflection, had satisfied himself 
 
 14
 
 194 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XII. 
 
 that tlie ex]3ressions lie had used were uncalled for, 
 he adopted the simple expedient of sending forthwith 
 an envelope addressed to the man he had wronged, 
 with the simple words, written in the flap, " With 
 hind regards." That was all, hut Samuel Morley was 
 not the man to send kind regards unless he felt them, 
 and his corres^^ondent understood what he meant as 
 well as if he had written half a dozen sides of note- 
 paper. 
 
 Every man has his faults, and it would he ahsurd 
 to claim for Mr. Morley a total exemption. His 
 best friends acknowledge that he was sometimes 
 stern to a fault ; and Mr. Morley himself averred that 
 "he had been all his life trying to conquer his 
 besetting sin of impatience." 
 
 We may sum up in a paragraph those business 
 characteristics which have not alread}^ been men- 
 tioned. He was no sj^eculator, no adventurer, but 
 there was no one who ever felt a keener delight in a 
 bargain, or was quicker to perceive a business oppor- 
 tunity than he, and naturally he appreciated these 
 qualities in others. He was, as Mr. Euskin said of 
 his own father, " an entirely honest merchant." No 
 man ever doubted his absolute integrity in everything. 
 Therefore it was that his opinion on any trade question 
 was highly esteemed throughout the country, and that 
 city men confided to him their most secret and varied 
 business troubles, convinced that he would not take 
 advantage of any revelation, but would give honest, 
 truthful, and practical advice. He never entrusted to
 
 COBRESPONDENCE. 195 
 
 other hands the work that could be done by himself. 
 Although, by a system of junior partnerships, he had 
 gathered immediately around him the most zealous 
 and faithful of his employes, and given them a share 
 in the success to which they contributed— a share of 
 honour as well as of gain — Mr. Morley was always 
 "the firm," it was his hand that guided and con- 
 trolled everything, his eye that watched day by day 
 the progress, or otherwise, of each department. 
 
 The correspondence of the firm was enormous. At 
 one time the average number of letters received in 
 Wood Street by the first post was 2,000 per diem, and 
 from 60 to 100 by every succeeding post throughout 
 the day — the largest number of letters, according to 
 the statement of the Post Office authorities, received 
 by any private firm in London, and second only to 
 the number received by the Prudential Assurance 
 Company. 
 
 Mr. Morley' s private correspondence was altogether 
 exceptional, and, as he invariably gave to it his per- 
 sonal attention, he could never, as the Scotch say, 
 " overtake it." It happened, therefore, that his work 
 was never done ; wherever he went his work went 
 with him. " Every day, when we were out together 
 on Home Missionary work," wrote Dr. Wilson, " he 
 received a statement of what was done in Wood 
 Street, answered letters, and sometimes showed me 
 how, by system, and through the heads of de- 
 partments, he could tell the exact position of 
 affairs. ' I have never had much difficulty in
 
 19G SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. XIT. 
 
 making money, he once said to me, ' but have 
 often been at a loss to know how best to spend 
 it.' Every night, also, he would bring out his hand- 
 bag, so full of letters at times that I often wondered 
 how he could get through them ; but, after consulta- 
 tion about some of them, he put aside for immediate 
 reply the most pressing, and seldom failed to make 
 the work keep pace with the duties of the day. 
 Towards the end of our engagements in this kind of 
 Christian service, he was greatly relieved by an able 
 secretary, and as his three sons, now in the business, 
 €ame to take an active part, he found his cares 
 lessening. All through life he was a practical 
 embodiment of the Scripture, ' Not slothful in 
 business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.'" 
 
 The "house of Morley " was a training-school for 
 high-class business men, and those who were in 
 earnest never spoke a word against the rigid discipline, 
 but regarded it as a wise form of commercial train- 
 ing. They knew that there would be a generous 
 recognition of all efficient service, and this created 
 an es^wit de corps among all those who really co- 
 operated with him. By many thoughtful arrange- 
 ments he proved, what he was always ready to acknow- 
 ledge by word of mouth, that he regarded his own 
 interests and those of his employes as one, and that 
 his responsibility to them did not cease when he had 
 paid them their salaries. 
 
 " To get into Mr. Morley' s house " was the aspira- 
 tion of tJiousands of young men, but none stood a
 
 YOUNG MEN AT MOBLETS. 197 
 
 better chance than those who had poverty in then- 
 homes. Many strngghng widows, many " decayed 
 gentlemen," many poor ministers, found the door 
 opened to their sons which was closed to others ; the 
 only conditions in ever}^ case being good capacity 
 and good character in the son. Many an anxious 
 mother mentioned 18, Wood Street, in her prayers, 
 dreamed of Wood Street in her dreams, and saw 
 Wood Street in her visions of the future ; and when 
 a short note was received — " Dear Madam, — If your 
 son will call upon me here on Wednesday next I 
 shall bo glad to see him. Yours truly, S. Moeley " — 
 she has read the words through tears of joy, and has 
 felt it to be God's answer to her petitions. Many 
 instances might be quoted in proof of this. Let one 
 suffice. The following letter is in reply to a much 
 longer epistle than the one quoted above : — 
 
 Dear Mr. Morley, — Accept my most cordial tlianks for youi- very 
 kind note. It was i^eculiai'ly precious to me from tlie state of feeling 
 wliicli it met, aud which compelled me to receive it as from a higher 
 source, as well as from your kind and considerate pen. I quite agree 
 with you that many a blessing is lost, many a prayer hindered, because it 
 reaches heaven with the wrong stamp, 'doubt' instead of loving, con- 
 fident ' trust.' 
 
 My boy comes to you encased in a motlier's prayers, which have been 
 commenced in babyhood and deeply breathed to the present hour, and I 
 believe tliey will be answered. No very decided Christian profession or 
 expression has been given as yet — that is to say, not in the mode which 
 * some think so much of, but which I am not at all anxious about ; but all 
 the indications of character and feeling are in the right direction, and, as 
 yet, I believe him to be as pure as boy can be. 
 
 I feel that I am now launching him on a great unknown sea, where 
 rocks and quicksands and pirates abound, but I will trust, as you say, and
 
 19? SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XII. 
 
 not fear ; iLere is also many a liglitliouse, and he is not without chart 
 or hehn. 
 
 I hope I am not making too free by writing thus at length to you. 
 did not intend it, but your fatherly heart will make some allowance when 
 I tell you that parting with this boy is a conflict I was not prepared for ; 
 it is a terrible wrench at the last. But we are all most thankful for this 
 opening in God's providence, and your great kindness. 
 
 Our son coines to jon with bright hopes and with fall purpose to do his 
 very best, and all will be well, I feel sure. He leaves by nine o'clock 
 train to-morrow morning, and will be in Wood Street about twelve. 
 "When you have had time to form some opinion of him, I need not say a 
 single line f]-om your pen, just once, will be a great favour. 
 
 I am, 
 
 Ever most gratefully yours, 
 
 Mr. Moiiey watched over the hves entrusted to his 
 oare ^\ith great faithfnhiess. If he saw aptitude 
 combined with integrity, he wouki find occasion 
 to give a word of praise and encouragement, and 
 it woukl be couched in terms that would fasten 
 themselves on the memory. In like manner, if he 
 found a man idle, shifty, or half-hearted, he would 
 administer a reproof which would never be forgotten. 
 
 The current of one life was turned by these words: 
 " I have lost faith in your ability to carry out a pur- 
 pose resolutely." 
 
 The effect of training in Wood Street was soon 
 shown. Let us, for example, see the effect on one 
 individual, the same one from whose mother we have 
 just quoted. She shall be again the narrator : — - 
 
 Deab Mr. Morley,— . . . Many thanks or this little holiday to my 
 son ; it is a mutual gratification to us to meet. He seems to have 
 adopted Wood Street heart and soul ; it is quite amusing to see his
 
 CARE FOB EMPLOYES. 199 
 
 evident interest in his work, and while enjoying home and the country 
 this day or two, not one word of dishke to London cr hard work escapes 
 him — he rather seems to glory in the press of business, &c. Besides the 
 good that he will in time, we hope, gain from you, I do hope and believe 
 you will find a faithful servant in him. You would be amused at the way 
 in which he shows his interest in ' our house.' 
 
 I am so glad to see his whole heart wedded to his daily work, it is the 
 secret of all success. The way in which your name has grown into him 
 from childhood as a household word is a great security for an abiding 
 interest, and I earnestly hope and believe that he will do his very very 
 best to serve you. 
 
 He will return to-morrow more ready for work for this timely aad 
 pleasant little change. . . . 
 
 I am, dear Mr. Morley, 
 
 Yours ever gratefully, 
 
 There were few, if any, "business houses in the City 
 of London where the employes were so well cared for 
 in every respect as in Morley's. In the domestic 
 arrangements every provision was made for comfort 
 and rational enjoyment, while the resom'ces of the 
 house for intellectual and moral improvement were 
 not only ample, but unexampled in the privileges 
 they offered. 
 
 The chiefs of the household arrangements, under 
 whose supervision the young men lived in Wood 
 Street, were persons of decidedly Christian cha- 
 racter ; and business aptitude, apart from this higher 
 qualification, was not allowed to weigh in their selec- 
 tion. 
 
 In taking young men into his house, the chief 
 inquiries made were, whether they were men of 
 sterling moral character as well as of business
 
 200 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XII. 
 
 qualifications. Tliere was uo question raised as to 
 whether tbey made profession of Christianity — nor 
 would the fact of their being Eoman Cathohcs have 
 stood as a bar to their admission to the house, pro- 
 vided they possessed the necessary fitness. Neither 
 did Mr. Morley make teetotahsm a test of any kind. 
 • — on the contrary, there was provided for those 
 who were not of his way of thinkiug, the best 
 beer that could be obtained. In short, they were 
 treated in every particular with respect and con- 
 sideration. 
 
 Many a man who has done, and is doing, good 
 work in Christian enterprise, and many who are now 
 masters in large concerns of their own, attribute all 
 their success in life, and all the force of their cha- 
 racters, to the training they received in Mr. Morley'& 
 house. 
 
 " I have heard hard-ground strivers in other great 
 houses declare," said the Eev. Ai'thur Mursell, in a 
 paper written in 1886, " that a berth in Morley's 
 meant self-respect, honour, and emolument, such as 
 no other place in England gave to faithful service." 
 
 He narrates a personal incident which may be 
 recorded here : — 
 
 "Early in life, while a burden on my father's 
 hands, I almost became one of Mr. Morley's. aj)pren- 
 tices. I remember, as if it were the other day^ 
 being taken to his room, and, when the errand was 
 explained, he asked to see my writing, which was an 
 awful ' fist ' of twisted illegibility. How I blushed
 
 BEV. ABTHUB MUBSELL. 2.(M 
 
 when the cohweh of spicier-legs, wliich I was pleased 
 to call my 'handwriting,' was handed to liim ! He 
 was not a man of hmnonr, so he onty smiled, and 
 did not langh outright ; he was not a man of banter^ 
 so he did not ' chaff' me. But the prospect of having 
 his book defaced by such a clerk caused him to say, 
 with a reassuring smile, that I should have a private 
 set of books to practise on till I got more master of 
 my pen. I forget why the negotiations fell through, 
 but I know it was from no fault of his ; and I some- 
 times wish I had spun yarns in Samuel Morley's 
 service, rather than lost my way among the pulpit 
 3^arns with which, for so many years, I have bewildered 
 both my neighbour and myself! " 
 
 Although there was in Mr. Morley's manner a 
 certain amount of austerity, and there were times 
 when an act of carelessness or wrong-doing would 
 draw from him a flash of indignation which the 
 delinquent would remember as long as he lived, there 
 were few in the house who did not know that beneath 
 the somewhat stern exterior there dwelt a generously 
 kind and loving heart. If any man in the house 
 were in trouble, he could go and tell it to Mr. 
 Morley, feeling perfectly confident that he would 
 receive kind and even fatherly treatment ; if altera- 
 tions or improvements suggested themselves, either 
 as regarded matters connected with the business 
 itself, or of the home-life of the young men who 
 lived on the premises, no one who really knew Mr. 
 Morley would refrain from laying the matter before
 
 202 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XII 
 
 him, or doubt for a moment tliat liis request, if realty 
 feasible, would meet with his approval and support ; 
 and no one ever had to complain of not receiving 
 from him the most just treatment. 
 
 Even those who did not love Mr. Morley, admired 
 and respected him for his extraordinary practical 
 ability, for the purity of his principles, and for the 
 application of those principles to the every-day 
 routine of business life. If they had not personally 
 received special favours at his hands, the warehouse 
 was full of witnesses who had, and no man in Wood 
 Street dared to say a word against their chief ; it would 
 have been high treason, and would have been treated 
 as such. At the same time, they all knew exactly 
 the position in which they stood in that house ; they 
 knew, as we have said, that falsehood, misrepresenta- 
 tion, dishonesty, idleness, or inefficiency, would bring 
 ujDon them the most condign punishment ; they knew 
 that, if no employes were to be discharged during 
 the time when trade was slack, they must be 
 prepared to work late in the busy seasons and in 
 times of exceptional pressure, with this advantage — 
 that, in the winter months, they would be able to 
 leave the warehouse, month after month, at not later 
 than five o'clock ; they knew, in short, the exact con- 
 ditions of their service, and that those conditions 
 were equally binding on employer and employed. 
 
 But employment in the house of Morley was a 
 ofreat deal more than a mere matter of contract. 
 Holidays were liberal ; the arrangements of the
 
 YOUNG MEN'S MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION. 203 
 
 '' hoiiseliold," with its library and reading-room, 
 parlours and dining-room, combined many of the 
 conveniences of a club-house with the comfort of 
 home. Moreover, for those who, by failure of 
 health, or accident, were incapacitated, there was 
 a system of pensions, not for warehousemen and 
 clerks only, but for the porters also. 
 
 For many years, in fact until about 1865, Mr. 
 Moiiey was in the habit of paying the salaries to his 
 young men, thus giving himself an opportunity of 
 being brought into personal contact with each, and 
 of hearing from them any matters that they might 
 wish to bring before him. 
 
 Those matters would relate to an infinite variety 
 of interests, apart from those of business. There 
 were at 18, Wood Street, several flourishing institu- 
 tions, in whose prosperity master and men were 
 equally concerned. For example, in 1851: a meeting 
 was held in one of the rooms, to take into con- 
 sideration the best means of increasing and sustain- 
 ing a missionary spirit in the establishment, and 
 the result of that meeting was the formation of a 
 Young Men's Missionary Association. It started 
 with the laudable resolve to divide its funds among 
 the various Nonconformist societies, unless any 
 member should prefer to give his subscription to 
 any other society, in which case it would be appro- 
 priated as desired. 
 
 Permission was given by the firm to hold the 
 quarterly meetings on the premises, and to invite
 
 204 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XII. 
 
 ministers aucl others to address the memhers of the 
 association on these occasions. A considerahk- 
 amount of interest was excited in this way, and at 
 the first annual meeting there were seventy members, 
 present. 
 
 The Association grew, and the interest was well 
 sustained; nor could it be otherwise, seeing that it 
 was taken up with so much spirit, and was well 
 supported by Mr. Samuel Morley, who, after the first 
 year, almost invariably presided at the annual meet- 
 ings, at which many of the leading ministers of the 
 day took part. Among them, either as speakers or 
 lecturers, were' the Rev. W. Arthur, Dr. Binney, the 
 Hon. and Rev. Baptist Noel, the Revs. F. Greeves, 
 William Brock, Samuel Martin, J. C. Harrison^ 
 Robert Maguire, Alexander Raleigh, Morley Pun- 
 shon, Charles Stovel, Luke Wiseman, and many 
 others. 
 
 In 1866, a fresh impetus was given to the Young- 
 Men's Missionary Association by the issue of tickets 
 of admission to friends ; and at the twelfth annual 
 meeting, a hundred and fifty strangers w^ere present, 
 in addition to the members. 
 
 On that occasion the Rev. C. H. SjDurgeon was the 
 principal speaker, and he chose for his theme the ad- 
 vantage and importance of Avork near home. Two 
 months later, a lecture was delivered by the Rev. G. 
 W. McCree, on "Day and Night in St. Giles's;" and, 
 at the conclusion of the lecture, it was stated that 
 several of the young men had expressed a strong
 
 BBACKLEY STREET HALL. 205 
 
 feelins^ that some Home Mission work of a definite 
 kind might he done by the house, and tliat a favour- 
 able opening for commencing it presented itself in 
 the district around Golden Lane, Barbican. 
 
 A meeting was held fortliwith to discuss the matter, 
 a committee was formed, and in a short time a Mission 
 Hall was hired in Brackley Street, Golden Lane ; a 
 missionary was selected and appointed at a salary 
 of <£120 per annum, and preparations were made for a 
 start. Success attended the effort, and in a short 
 time arrangements were made for penny readings, 
 penny banks, temperance meetings, evening classes, 
 sale of cheap and pure literature, and a day-school, 
 besides the formation of various committees for the 
 distribution of old clothes, for visiting the sick, and 
 for many other good and useful purposes. 
 
 All these arrangements were made by the young 
 men themselves, and then, when everything was in 
 working order, Mr. Morley was invited to take the 
 •chair at a general meeting of subscribers. The whole 
 report of the proceedings met wath his cordial appro- 
 bation, and in an earnest and impressive speech he 
 dwelt upon the responsibility the young men had 
 taken upon themselves in having committed the 
 house to such a great and important work, and 
 urged them to do their utmost to make the mission 
 a success, at the same time promising to help in 
 €very way in his power. 
 
 Steady progress was made, good men of all de- 
 nominations rallied round the uiovement, and fresh
 
 20G SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. XII. 
 
 organizations were from time to time inaugurated. 
 Mr. Moiiey purchased the Brackley Street Hall, 
 placed it at the disposal of the association rent free, 
 and, year by j^ear, liberally contributed to the funds 
 of the mission. Till the time of his death, he took 
 an unabated pleasure in watching the progress of the 
 Young Men's Missionary Society ; and it was no 
 small reward to him, for his share in the movement, 
 to knoAv that it was not only accomplishing a vast 
 amount of good among the suffering poor, but that it 
 was the means of training young men for work in 
 that vast harvest-field where still, in comparison with 
 the need, the "labourers are few." 
 
 The influence of Mr. Morley as a man of business 
 was felt, not only throughout the city, but throughout 
 the country. His immovable integrity, his great 
 capacity and clear-headedness, his absolute sincerity, 
 his gift of seeing into men and things, his enormous 
 success, and, above all, the high tone of his prin- 
 ciples, made him stand out in all commercial circles 
 as the typical man of business. 
 
 The late Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton once said : 
 " The longer I live, the more I am certain that the 
 great difference between men, between the feeble 
 and the powerful, the great and the insignificant, is 
 energy — invincible determination, a pui-pose once 
 fixed, and then, death or victory. That quality 
 will do anything that can be done in this world ; 
 and no talents, no circumstances, no opportunities,
 
 COMMERCIAL MORALITY. 207 
 
 will make a two-legged creature a Man without 
 it." 
 
 That quality, guided and governed hy Christian 
 principle, had made Mr. Morley what he was. He 
 stood in the most dangerous and trying position in 
 which any man could stand ; he had protested against 
 every form of commercial immorality, and had proved 
 the possibility of carrying on business to an unprece- 
 dented success, in accordance with the letter, as well 
 as the s^mit, of the Gospel.
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 1865— 18GG. 
 
 Consents to stand for Nottingham — The Election Fight — A Eeign of Terror — 
 Letter from Eev. W. Brock — " The Church in Danger " — PoUtical Creed — 
 Eeturned Head of the Poll — Enters Parliament — Maiden Speech — Church 
 Rates Abolition Bill — Letter from Rev. Newman Hall — Tests Abolition Bill 
 — Unseated on Petition — Letter from Mr. Gladstone— Letter to Nottingham 
 Electors — A Sorrow and its Lessons — The Women of Fletcher Gate — At 
 Cambridge with his Sons — The Rev. Joseph Hargrove. 
 
 ^' We must liave a firm enmiciation of our principles 
 in the House of Commons. The great battle of the 
 age, in which the hopes of Christ's Church are in- 
 volved, and with the issue of w^hich, humanly speak- 
 ing, its spirituality and extension are identified, must 
 he fought there. The question is — ' Who will con- 
 secrate themselves to such an engagement ? ' Where 
 Divine Providence has bestowed the requisite quali- 
 fications, do not love and duty demand that they 
 shall not have been bestowed in vain ? Ought they 
 to refuse ? And would not the benefit which the 
 Church of Christ w^ould derive fi'om their fidelity, 
 their consciousness of serving the best of Masters in 
 the highest of earthly spheres, and the manifest co- 
 operation with them of His all-wise providence, be 
 ample compensation for the heavy sacrifices wdiich 
 such a course of duty would entail ? "
 
 18G5— 18GG.] STANDS FOB NOTTINGHAM. 209 
 
 Such, it will be remembered, were the words that 
 Samuel Moiiey, as Chairman of the Dissenters' Par- 
 liamentary Committee, wrote in 1847 to leading- 
 Nonconformists throughout the country. Constantly 
 he had been urged to come forward and represent his 
 principles in Parliament, but, from motives to which 
 allusion has been made, " he had been let hitherto." 
 Now, many of the difficulties that had stood in his 
 way were removed, and at the earnest solicitations 
 ■of a wide circle of friends he allowed himself, at 
 the General Election of 1865, to be nominated as 
 a candidate for the representation of Nottingham, 
 the old town that was endeared to him by countless 
 memories. 
 
 He was brought forward by the Liberal party as 
 a colleague to Mr. Charles Paget, a personal friend, 
 for whom he had a very high esteem. Mr. Paget 
 had in this jeRV nominated Mr. Morley as a member 
 of the Beform Club, and in writing to him upon 
 the subject, he said: "It will be a very interesting 
 Session. I hope that Gladstone's responsibility 
 will call up corresponding discretion ; he is a man 
 in whose honesty I have always had the utmost 
 confidence ; perhaps we may watch his course 
 together ! " 
 
 The two Liberal candidates were opposed by Sir 
 Bobert Clifton, who came before the electors as an 
 Independent, and by Mr. A. G. Martin, a Conser- 
 vative of the orthodox type. The election fight was 
 the most sharp and bitter of any throughout the 
 
 15
 
 210 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XIII. 
 
 country. Tlie Nottingham "lambs" rallied round 
 Sir Eobert Clifton, who had acquired among them 
 a local popularity, and they hooted and assaulted 
 the advocates of a wider extension of the franchise. 
 The borough had a dire notoriety in former times 
 for lawlessness, and during this election the old 
 spirit broke out afresh. There were riots of a very 
 serious character; the town seemed given over to 
 the mob, and the mob seemed given over to Sir 
 Bobert Clifton. On one occasion the magistrates sat, 
 as though paralysed, in the Exchange Buildings, with 
 the entire body of the borough police gathered round 
 them to shelter their retreat, and a reserve body 
 from Derby shut u]) in another building, while, under 
 their eyes, the yelling crowd w^as engaged in its 
 infuriate play, with stones and bludgeons and fagots. 
 The crowd pressed on to the hotel where Mr. Morley 
 was staying, and so fierce was the shower of stones 
 assailing him, that he and his secretary, Mr. E. 
 S. Prj^ce, had to remain hidden until the storm 
 swept by. As the Sdturdaij lleview observed, 
 in its own st3'le, " The faith in universal suffrage 
 which survives a shower of brickbats must be very 
 tenacious ! " 
 
 One of those who induced Mr. Morley to contest 
 Nottingham, was his friend Mr. A. J. Mundella, who, 
 writing to him in the following year to express his 
 " shame and grief that a good man should have been 
 dragged into such a wretched contest, and into such 
 loathsome contact," said: "During your election I
 
 1865— 186G.] ELECTION BIOTS. 211 
 
 spoke three times only to our own meetings, wlien 
 our own Mends were admitted by ticket ; but it cost 
 me weeks of the most shameful persecution. My 
 liberties, and those of your friends, were circum- 
 scribed and invaded in a manner that I should have 
 believed impossible in the Queen's dominions. The 
 Committee can never know, and never believe, half 
 the wickedness and barbarity of our opponents. It 
 would be dangerous to tell it, for it would be simply 
 incredible that such things should have occurred in 
 England ; and it would be dangerous in another sense, 
 as it would direct the thoughts of the poor misguided 
 people to crimes which, happily, have not yet been 
 perpetrated. Besides an attack on my house at mid- 
 night, which placed in jeopardy the lives of those 
 dearest to me on earth, I was warned that my 
 property was in danger of being fired. I had to 
 employ men nightly to guard it. I increased in- 
 surances enormously. Many of your friends, I believe, 
 have done the same." 
 
 Throughout the election, terrorism triumphed. 
 Old inhabitants of Nottingham expressed the hope 
 that they might be deprived, for a time, of the rights 
 of representation, and declared that " everything may 
 be bought too dearly, and the sacrifice an honest 
 elector is called upon to make is altogether too great 
 for the privilege enjoyed." 
 
 How anxiously the contest was watched by " the 
 churches," may be gathered from the following- 
 letter: —
 
 212 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XIII. 
 
 The Bcv. William BrocTx to Mr. Samuel Morley. 
 
 24, GowER Street, W.C, Juh/ 9, 18G5. 
 My dear Mr. Morlsy, — I was moved this morning to make mention 
 of the claim whicli such men as yourself have upon us just now. At our 
 Lord's Supper service — weekly with us at Bloomsbury — I referred to 
 yourself expressly, and solicited the prayers of the Brothei'hood on your 
 behalf. 
 
 I prayed for you by name, and all the j)eople responded by an 'Amen ' 
 that would have sent gladness into your heart. 
 
 To have you sheltered under the shadow of the Divine wing now ; to 
 have you kept iu perfect peace now ; to have j-ou circumspect now ; to 
 have you with a conscience void of offence, both toward God and toward 
 man, now, will be more than thousands of gold and silver. Assure j-our- 
 self of the Christian sympathy of one body of Christian brethren. Your 
 anxieties are ours, and your responsibilities are ours. We bid you God 
 speed. Accept the pledge of unfeigned fraternal fellowship viuder your 
 present trial. 
 
 Yours most truly, 
 
 William Brock. 
 
 The tiiiie-lionoured cry of " The Church in danger ! " 
 was raised on the hustings and in the tavern-hars hy 
 the rahbh^ that ralhed round the Conservative party. 
 It had its influence, as it has had before and since. 
 No doubt the placards that adorned the walls of 
 Nottingham — " Mr. Morley wants to pull down the 
 Church!" — filled the hearts of some poor waverers 
 with terror and remorse. Not a few, it is said, inter- 
 preted the placard literally, and kept anxious eyes on 
 that solid ecclesiastical structure on the High Pave- 
 ment, and on the stalwart man who was cheered and 
 hooted wherever he went. 
 
 Mr. Morley's trumpet gave no uncertain sound as 
 to the course he should pursue in relation to matters
 
 1865—1866.] " THE CHUBCH IN DANGER ! " 213 
 
 of religions freedom and equality, in the event of his 
 being returned to Parliament. In his sj^eeches and 
 in the press he gave his creed, in respect of the 
 Church of England, in terms plain and unmistakable. 
 Briefly they may be summed up as follows : (1) That 
 those who enjoy the use of parish churches for reli- 
 gious worship should j)ay for the necessary repairs 
 and requisites of worship of those churches, but that 
 Nonconformists, who pay for the erection and repair 
 of their own churches, and the requisites of their 
 worship, should not, in addition, be taxed to assist 
 wealthier Churchmen to provide for themselves these 
 religious privileges. (2) That no Nonconformist 
 youth should, because of his religious conscien- 
 tiousness, be debarred fi-om the Universities of the 
 country, and suffer the loss of University culture 
 and honours. Beligion should entail no loss of 
 position or character on any man in free England. 
 (3) That, so long as he was held by law to be a 
 member of the Church of England, he would en- 
 deavour to secure a fairer distribution of the revenues 
 of that Church, so that the working clergy should 
 not be starving upon miserable pittances. (4) That 
 every endowment and bequest to the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church of these realms should be re- 
 ligiously and inviolably secured to that Church. 
 (5) That the Church of England be restored to its 
 proper integrity and independence, and exercise 
 free action wdthin itself in the election of its own 
 officers, and the determination of its own formularies.
 
 214 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XIII. 
 
 (G) That, as the gi'ound on which the civil power 
 based its right to elect the officers and frame the 
 doctrine and ritual of the Church, lay in the national 
 property it had given to the Church, it were better 
 for the Church to dispense with this State subsidy, 
 and trust to the willing service of its own members. 
 He would never consent to the secularization of this 
 national property, but would urge that it should be 
 devoted to the highest interests of the national 
 civilization in some form that should not cramp the 
 free thought of England by State interference. If 
 no other way could be found to give freedom and 
 independence to the Church, he would consent to the 
 unconditional surrender to it of all the endowments 
 then held by the Church.* 
 
 With regard to political reform, the fundamental 
 principle affirmed by Mr. Morley was, that in our 
 representative system, electoral rights should be based, 
 not upon property, but upon manhood. He did not 
 by this say, or intend to say, that he would advocate 
 what is termed "manhood suffrage," but that the 
 principle of the suffrage should be manhood and not 
 property. It might be guarded by any qualiiications 
 — as, for example, manhood and citizenshijj , as ad- 
 vocated by Frederick Maurice — but it should be 
 granted in some form so as to bring at once a million 
 more persons within the pale of the electoral con- 
 stituency of the country. 
 
 There was nothing extreme in these views. Many 
 
 - " The Patriot."
 
 18G5— 186G.] RETUIINED HEAD OF THE POLL. 215 
 
 Chnrchmen would have gone as far, and some, had 
 tliey dared, would have gone farther ; hut the ex- 
 pression of these sentiments stirred up the wrath of 
 the Tories of Nottingham. A candid and an honest 
 friend of Mr. Morley's, a man of high position and 
 influence, wrote to him, apropos of this, and said, 
 " What is the key to all this ? In the main I helieve 
 it is the intense hatred that the Tories entertain of 
 j^ou personally. If 3'ou had possessed less character, 
 less influence, and less sincerity, they would have 
 been more easily reconciled. But your known energy, 
 your position, and your frankly avowed principles, 
 have elicited their utmost hate. I have heard 
 brother Churchmen, who go to the same communion 
 table, avow (with shame I say it) they would ' vote 
 for the Devil to keep out Morley,' and this is their 
 real and genuine feeling." 
 
 The election resulted in the return of Mr. Morley 
 at the head of the poll, with Sir Kobert Clifton as his 
 colleague ! The poll was as follows : — 
 
 Morley, 2,393. 
 
 Clifton, 2,352. 
 
 Paget, 2,327. 
 
 Martin, 2,242. 
 Shortly afterwards, he wrote to his second 
 daughter: — 
 
 Cravkn Lodge, Ang. 3, 18G5. 
 . . . You cannot think what a painful recollection I have of tlie events 
 of the late election, for though I am thankful to feel quite sure that not 
 an act that was either illegal or dishonourable was committed to secure 
 my election, there was so much personality and violence that the pleasure 
 is lessened one-half, especially as I am not associated with Mr. Paget.
 
 216 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XIII, 
 
 On the 1st of February, 1866, the new Parliament 
 commenced its labours by electing Mr. Evelyn Deni- 
 son to the office of Speaker, and by "swearing in" 
 the new Members, two hundred of whom had never 
 before sat in the House. On the 6tli of that month, 
 Parliament was formally opened by the Queen herself, 
 coming forth from a long sorrow to take part, for the 
 first time since she had been a widow, in the great 
 Constitutional ceremonial. It will help to fix the 
 position of certain aspects of public affairs, if we record 
 here that the address was agreed to without a division 
 in the House of Lords, but that when The O'Donoghue 
 sought, in the House of Commons, to insert a para- 
 graph calling upon Ministers to examine into and 
 remove the disaffection in Ireland, it was defeated on 
 a division, by 346 to 25 votes. 
 
 Mr. Morley's early impressions of Parliament were 
 not very favourable. His consolation was that he 
 hoped to find a way of doing good, and, like Joseph 
 Hume, who said that "it was his knowledge of the 
 fact that when he spoke in the House, even to all but 
 empty benches, he was speaking to millions outside 
 through the j^ress," he was content to make sacrifices 
 for the sake of the publicity that would be given to 
 the principles he had entered that House expressly 
 to advocate. 
 
 Mr. Morley made his maiden speech in the House 
 of Commons on the 7th of March, the occasion being 
 the second reading of the Church Pates Abolition 
 Bill. It was a memorable night. The new Parlia-
 
 1865— 18GG.] MAIDEN SPEECH IN HOUSE OE COMMONS. 217 
 
 ment was more favourable than any whicli had ever 
 met, to the princii^le of rehgious equahty ; the most 
 strenuous exertions had been made on both sides 
 of the House to bring up Members to take part in the 
 division. Mr. Gladstone was, for the first time, to 
 vote in support of the measure. The debate was 
 full of interest from beginning to end ; the scene was 
 brilliant, the strangers' and speakers' galleries were 
 filled with eager faces, and under the gallery, in the 
 places generally allotted to visitors, were several lead- 
 ing Nonconformists. The second reading was moved 
 by Mr. Hardcastle and seconded by Mr. Gilpin ; the 
 opposition was led by Mr. Walpole, who contended 
 that, although the religious objection to Church rates 
 should be respected, the opposition to the rates was 
 mainly a political one, and he made a strong point of 
 the answers given by Mr. Morley before the Com- 
 mittee of the House of Lords in 1859. When the 
 motion and amendment were formally stated by the 
 Speaker, a dozen Members started to their feet ; but 
 all gave way to Mr. Gladstone, who, in a brief but 
 powerful speech, removed the question out of the 
 arena of mere party politics and set it in the straight 
 path for settlement. The debate was continued by 
 Mr. Beresford Hope, Mr. Bright, and Mr. Gathorne 
 Hardy, and then the House began to get impatient. 
 When Sir Thomas Lloyd attempted to speak, every 
 word he uttered was drowned in shouts of " Divide ! 
 Divide ! " 
 
 It was at this apparently inauspicious moment
 
 218 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XIII. 
 
 that Mr. Moiiey rose. He was not a man to be 
 shouted down ; lie stood calm and unmoved in the 
 midst of the uproar, and had not uttered half a dozen 
 words before the House quietly settled down to listen. 
 After explaining the circumstances, so often alluded 
 to in the debate, under which he had given the 
 evidence before the House of Lords (when the 
 Bishop of London had cross-examined him about a 
 matter quite foreign to the pur^^ose of the Committee, 
 namely, the aims of the Liberation Society), he 
 continued : — 
 
 A great number of tlie Dissenters of tliis country regard, as I do, the 
 property of the Church as the property of the nation — property with which 
 the House is entitled to deal ; but I do not beUeve that one Dissenter in a 
 thousand desires to touch a shilhng of the Church property. The question 
 that not only Dissenters are asking, but others too, with an emphasis 
 which cannot long remain unanswered, is, How, with a Church confessedly 
 the richest in the world, millions of our population are living beyond the 
 influence of religion ? I am glad to acknowledge that at no former 
 period in the history of the English Church had she among her clergy so 
 many true-hearted and earnest men as are now preaching her doctrines 
 and ministering to the spiritual and religious welfare of the people. But 
 such men, for the most part, know little, and care less, about Church 
 rates ; they are men who love the flock more than the fleece, whose sole 
 aim is to preach the gospel and attend to the religious instruction and 
 guidance of the people, and who, in furtherance of that object, have, by 
 invoking the co-operation of the laity, resorted to organizations which 
 may almost be regarded as non-ecclesiastical. Dissenters would be de- 
 lighted to see the Established Church taking the lead in efforts for pro- 
 moting the spiritual good of the people. Eeligion has been marred in 
 this country by the interference of the civil power, and it is a great 
 question that is being discussed by the public, whether the Church is 
 to continue her work through organizations, the outgrowth of her own 
 religious life, or through organizations provided for her hy the civil 
 power.
 
 1865—1866.] LETTER FROM REV. NEWMAN HALL. 219 
 
 Tlie House grew noisy again, and Mr. Moiiey, 
 expressing the hope that the ohve-branch held out 
 might be accepted, and his conviction that Noncon- 
 formists throughout the country would hail with 
 pleasure such a settlement as that proposed by the 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Gladstone), sat 
 down amid warm applause. 
 
 The impression produced by Mr. Morley's first 
 speech in the House is well told in the following 
 letter from a personal friend who was present : — 
 
 Rev. Neivmmi Hall to Mr. Morleij. 
 
 28, New Finchley Eoad, 
 Hampstead, N.W., March 7, 1866. 
 My dear Mr. Morley, — I cannot let the day pass without expressing 
 my cleh'ght and thankfulness at the most successful effort you made to-day. 
 Though you are a Member, and I am not, I, perhaps, have had more ex- 
 perience of what the House of Commons is, and I think no one could 
 have risen to speak under more unfavourable circumstances. The House 
 was impatient for the division. The preceding speaker had been shouted 
 down. When I saw you rise, I trembled for the result. The attempt to 
 stop you at first might have unnerved almost any one. But with great 
 calmness yet earnestness you put the case firmly yet courteously, and so 
 that the bitterest foes must feel that you, and those j'ou represent, have 
 a deep religious consideration in what they do. What you said was most 
 apposite and good. But more than this, I value the evident effect and 
 impression produced as regards yourself, so that there is no doubt you 
 will always obtain a hearing in future. I hope you know I could not 
 flatter you. I respect both myself and yourself too much, but I do thank 
 God that you were enabled, in such a manner, to advocate a cause so dear 
 to my heart, and that you have won aiidience for yoixrself in future before 
 the most influential assembly of the world. 
 
 Believe me, 
 
 Very faithfully yours, 
 
 Newmax Hall.
 
 2-20 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XIII. 
 
 A fortniglit later (March 21st), Mr, Moiiey spoke 
 again in the House on the Tests Abohtion Bilh He 
 said : — 
 
 The question had been treated a? though the Universities of Oxford 
 and Cambridge were oi'iginally instituted in direct connection with the 
 Established Church, whereas most of the colleges were founded before the 
 Eeformation. No declaration of belief was required before that period^ 
 and the institutions were in the highest and strictest sense national 
 establishments. This was not simply a Dissenter's question, as large 
 bodies of Churchmen called for the relief prayed for. . . . He asked 
 the House to deal with this question in a generous spirit. It was to the 
 interest of the country that the question should be settled in a broad and 
 generous spirit, and he hoped that, after tlie second reading of the Bill, 
 means might be found for meeting some of the difldculties which had 
 been referred to by the opponents of the measure, and that a way would 
 be found for meeting the views of all parties. 
 
 That was the last speech Mr. Moiiey made in the 
 House as Member for Nottingham. In the following 
 month he was unseated on petition. 
 
 It was a blow that, for a time, sorely wounded him ; 
 it was the greatest grief and trouble he had ever 
 known in his public and political life. The measure 
 of his offence was that he had not been sufficiently 
 suspicious of his friends. On himself no shadow 
 of a stain, no word of reproach, rested. For resist- 
 ing the terrorism and violence of the election, and 
 for securing the safety of their supporters in going 
 to the polling-booths, Mr. Morley, and his colleague 
 Mr. Paget, had sanctioned the employment of paid 
 non-electors ; but some few of the agents took ad- 
 vantage of this and gave colourable employment to a
 
 18G5— 186G.] UNSEATED ON PETITION. 221 
 
 number of voters who neitber did, nor were capable 
 of domg, any nnportant service to tbeir party except 
 the service of voting. 
 
 For the indiscretion of tbese agents Mr. Morley 
 bad to pay tbe severest penalty — the loss of bis seat, 
 and all tbe distress, disappointment, and mortification 
 it involved. Tbere was one tbing tbat made tbe 
 position bearable to bim — bis own conscious integrity. 
 He stated, in regard to tbe election, tbat " be never 
 said a word be wisbed unsaid, or did a deed be wished 
 undone." One great alleviation of the trouble was the 
 wealth of genuine hearty sympathy tbat was poured 
 upon bim. There lie before the present writer a mass 
 of letters all breathing the warmest regard and tbe 
 utmost astonishment at the result of the petition. 
 Yery touching are some of tbese, especially from 
 bis OAvn kith and kin, from his old friends, such 
 as Parsons and Binney, from his comrades in man}^ 
 a battle for religious liberty, such as Miall, Baines, 
 Cliarles Reed, and Henry Richard, and from his own 
 warehousemen, clerks, and porters. Not less interest- 
 ing are others from Members of Parliament, of all 
 shades of opinion ; from clergymen and ministers, 
 from rich and poor. The burden of these letters 
 was to urge him not to be discouraged by bis un- 
 pleasant experience, but, in tbe interests of reform, 
 peace, temperance, human progress generally, to 
 again offer himself as a candidate for Parliti- 
 nient. 
 
 One of the first to write to bim after the decision
 
 2-22 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XIII. 
 
 of the Election Committee was made known, was 
 Mr. Gladstone : — 
 
 The liiglit Hon. W. E. Gladstone to Mr. Samuel Marie]/. 
 
 11, Carlton House Terrace, April 21, 1866. 
 
 Dear Mr. Morley, — I cannot refrain from writing to you a line to 
 express the unfeigned and deep concern with which I learn that you have 
 ceased, for the moment, to be a Member of the House of Commons. 
 
 I might sufficiently found this assurance on the personal respect and 
 regard whicli I share with all who know you. 
 
 But it has a wider scope. The questions relating to what we term 
 religious liberty, still open to contest among us, are questions requiring 
 not only firm, but conciliatory treatment ; and that spirit of candid con- 
 sideration for antagonists, which is now, perhaps, the very first of all 
 requisites for their solution, is a sph-it of which, during the few weeks of 
 the session, you have already given the most striking and conclusive 
 marks. Such marks, when conjoined with your well-known possession 
 of the fullest confidence of a very large and powerful body of your fellow- 
 countrymen, had made me more sanguine, than at any former period, of 
 our speedily achieving some further progress. Great, then, on public as 
 well as on private grounds, is the disappointment. But I earnestly hope 
 tliat it will not discourage you from a painful but most useful purpose, 
 and that we may soon, very soon, again see you on our benches. 
 Believe me, dear Mr. Morley, 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 W. E. Gladstone. 
 
 It was not by private letter only that Mr. Glad- 
 stone bore testimony to the man whom he delighted 
 to honour. On the 8th of May, in the course of a 
 speech on the Church Rates Bill, he said : — 
 
 I communicated with another lion. Member whose absence from the 
 House I deplore alilve on personal and on general grounds, Mr. Morley 
 in whose removal I think we have experienced a very serious loss, not 
 only on account of the respect in whicli that gentleman was held for his 
 talents and his intelligence, but on account of the singular manner in
 
 18G5— 18GG.] LETTER FROM MR. GLADSTONE. 223 
 
 whicli it was given to liim to unite tleciiled and pronounced opinions on 
 those questions that most of all interest Dissenters, with a character and 
 mode of treatment that was essentially conciliating, and a disposition 
 never to come to issue, or to enter into controversy, except for some real 
 and vital object. 
 
 In thus speaking he carried the House with him. 
 
 Many Members took up the same strain, both in 
 and out of ParKament. Mr. Bright, who was not 
 wont to deal in eulogies, bore a noble testimony 
 to the "high qualities of Mr. Morley," considering 
 "that a more upright, genial, and every way ad- 
 mirable man, never entered the House of Commons." 
 
 These kindly expressions, taken up and re-echoed 
 tlu'oughout the newspaper press, irrespective of 
 party or creed, greatly stimulated Mr. Morley, who 
 wrote to Mr. Grladstone : — 
 
 Mr. Samuel Morleij to the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone. 
 
 Craven Lodge, Maij 10, 1866. 
 Dear Mr. Gladstone, — I have been called lately to pass through a 
 period of rather severe discipline, owing to circumstances with which, 
 however properly held responsible for them, I had reall}' nothing to do. 
 
 My friends have manifested towards me an amount of sympathy which 
 has both sui'prised and gratified me, but I trust I shall not be considered 
 intrusive in saying that I never shall forget the few kind, generous words 
 yau uttered in the Church Bate debate on Tuesday evening last. If any- 
 thing could do so, they will add to the pleasure I shall feel in finding 
 myself once more among your hearty and earnest supporters. 
 
 I am, dear Mr. Gladstone, 
 
 Yours very faithfully, 
 
 S. MORLEY. 
 
 To the electors of the borough of Nottingham 
 Mr. Morley wrote almost immediately after the
 
 224 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XIII. 
 
 verdict of the Committee of Inquiry had been 
 given : — 
 
 London, April 24, 18GG. 
 
 Gentlemen, — The decision of a Committee of the House of Commous 
 has deprived me of a seat in Parliament, and dissolved the connection 
 between us. 
 
 Conscious of a sincere desire, throughout this struggle, that nothing dis- 
 honourahle should be done or said, by myself or my supporters, I forbear 
 to reproach those, few in number, by whose weakness or fault my name 
 has been associated with practices which I regard with the utmost 
 ■detestation. 
 
 It would ill become me, however, not cordially to acknowledge the 
 many tokens of respect and kindness which I have received, notwitli- 
 :standing all the bitterness of this contest, and the earnestness and devo- 
 tion which have been shown on my behalf. 
 
 In the honourable and consistent endeavours of my friends to maintain 
 the cause of law and order, and of the liberty of English citizens, in the 
 face of difficulties, which, I think, have not been fully appreciated, you 
 have had my warmest sympathj-, and will ever be entitled to my grateful 
 remembrance. 
 
 I venture, in bidding you farewell, to express the hope that our painful 
 recollections of the past may, at no distant day, give place to congratula- 
 tion that violence and corruption have ceased in Nottingham elections, 
 and that the stream of legislation and freedom is no longer poisoned at 
 the fountain head. 
 
 This result alone can, in any measure, compensate for the toil, annoy- 
 .ance, and humiliation to which we have been subjected. 
 
 I am, Gentlemen, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 Samuel Morley. 
 
 Although the particular form of mental suffering 
 that this Nottingham affair brought to Mr. Morley 
 was about the most acute that a man, who had always 
 borne the "white flower of a blameless life," could 
 experience, there were compensations, as there are 
 to all human sorrows. It checked for a moment
 
 1865— 18GG.] THE WOMEN OF FLETCHER GATE. 225 
 
 that continuous flow of success that had hitherto 
 attended him in everything ; it was a disciphne 
 that was perhaps needed to prevent what is ahnost 
 inevitable when prosperity has no hindrance — -the 
 thought that one's " own right hand hath gotten 
 all these victories;" but, more than this, it altered 
 liis relations with the people. Hitherto he had been 
 admired and respected, but now that a trouble had 
 fallen upon him, exquisitely galling to a man of his 
 temperament, the effect was to bring out the strongest 
 expression of sympathy, and sympathy begat affection. 
 Mr. Morley w^as never so much loved by the people as 
 at this time. 
 
 One little incident, which touched him deeply, 
 may be recorded here. The women employed in the 
 warehouse at Fletcher Gate, Nottingham, precluded 
 h'om taking any public action, joined together in 
 giving expression to their feelings. They subscribed 
 for, and purchased, a handsome Bible ; worked a num- 
 ber of book-marks, bearing upon them encouraging 
 and stimulating passages h'om Holy Scripture, and 
 sent them to Mr. Morley with the following note : — 
 
 Fletcher Gate, ^jjr/Z 27, ISGfi. 
 Dear Sir, — The females ia your employ would ask your acceptance of 
 this present as a token of their great esteem. We deeply sympathize 
 with you in the trouble, anxiety, and disappointment which it has beeu 
 yours to endure. To show the great love and respect we feel towards you, 
 we present you with a copy of the Holy Scriptures, which have been the 
 comfort of many pilgrims while passing through this wilderness world ; 
 the Book, which we believe you value as a pearl of great price, containing 
 promises which have been your comfort, and precepts which have been 
 
 10
 
 226 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. XIII, 
 
 your guide. "We trust you will kindly accept this Book as a faint expres- 
 sion of what we feel. 
 
 With our best wishes for your health and happiness, 
 
 We remain, 
 
 Yours sincerely. 
 
 There were no signatures to the document. Mr. 
 Morley rephed to it as follows : — 
 
 My dear Friends, — It would be difficult for me to express to you in 
 words the gratification and pleasure which I felt on the receipt of your 
 beautiful and invaluable gift. The Book in itself, I, and I believe many 
 of you, have long felt to be ' the Book of books,' and as such to stand far 
 above any other in value. The binding, too, and the markers with their 
 well-chosen mottoes, are most chaste and handsome. 
 
 But that which has the highest value in my eyes, and which will make 
 the Book a treasured remembrance to myself, and an heirloom iu my 
 family, is the sympathy and interest on your part of which it speaks. I 
 believe you used no mere words when you spoke of these, and be assured 
 that, if anything could lessen the trial and annoyance of the past few 
 weeks, the assurance of such feeling on yoi;r part, and that of others, 
 would tend to do so. That it has been a time of trial, you are I'ight in 
 supposing, but seeing in it all the hand of our Father in heaven, I trust 
 I can use the words of one of your mottoes, and say, ' None of these 
 things move me.' 
 
 Again thanking you most warmly for the sentiments you have expressed 
 towards myself, as well as for your very beautiful gift, and wishing you 
 all every spiritual and temporal blessing, 
 
 I remain, 
 
 Yoiir faithful friend, 
 
 S. Morley. 
 
 In the home circle the chains of love were riveted 
 more strongly than ever. Each member vied with 
 the other to take Mr. Morley' s thoughts away h'oni 
 the subjects which galled him, and to give him proofs 
 of personal attachment. They knew, infinitely better
 
 1865— 18G6.] AT CAMBBIDGE. 227 
 
 than those outside, the extent of the trouble, and 
 they knew, better than any others, how to minister 
 comfort. 
 
 There was nothing that gave Mr. Morley greater 
 satisfaction at this time, than to run down to Cam- 
 bridge and visit his sons, Hope and Howard, who 
 were at Trinity, where, in course of time, his two 
 other sons, Charles and Arnold, followed. The soli- 
 citude of Mr. Morley for his children ripened with 
 their years. As they grew into manhood, those little 
 confidences which he had been wont to repose in 
 them as children, and they in him, instead of being 
 dropped, as too often happens, widened and deepened. 
 When they went on their Continental travels their 
 letters are full of fresh, wholesome life, telling him, 
 without a shadow of restraint, of all they saw, and 
 heard, and did. 
 
 And when he went to see his sons at Cambridge, 
 he entered, heart and soul, into all that concerned 
 them. Nothing pleased him better than to stroll 
 round the colleges, exploring curious nooks and 
 corners, and listening to quaint stories of old worthies, 
 whose footfalls still echo in court or cloister. He 
 loved to wander along the quiet glades and lawns of 
 the "backs," or to pause while the deep-toned bell 
 of Great St. Mary's broke the stillness of the summer 
 evening with its curfew toll, recalling laws and 
 customs of ages long passed away. He was always 
 ready to make one of a party for the Boat Races, 
 and took as keen an interest in the probability of
 
 228 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XIII, 
 
 First Trinity making a "Lump," especially when, as 
 was often tlie case, one of his sons was rowing in 
 the boat, as if he were himself an old Trinity man. 
 College phi'ases and customs had a charm for him ; he 
 liked to hf^ invited to take another "inch of butter" 
 at breakfast, and, staunch teetotaler as he was, he 
 read with interest the story of aquatic or athletic 
 triumphs blazoned on a "pewter," and apj^reciated 
 the conn'adeship signified in the old custom of passing 
 it round the table from hand to hand, though he liked 
 far best to see it filled with home-brewed lemonade. 
 But perhaps his greatest enjoyment was found in 
 meeting a party of his sons' friends at their rooms^ 
 or entertaining a few of them at the "Bull," wdiere 
 he was a w^ell-known visitor. He liked to hear the 
 men expressing h'eely their aims and views, with 
 assurance and confidence, such as young men often 
 exhibit in perfection ; and his well-known toleration 
 and charity never shone brighter than when he was 
 listening to the crude opinions of undergraduates on 
 various questions of tlie day, sometimes checking by 
 a good-humoured protest or opportune suggestion, 
 l)ut content to hear what all had to say — Tories and 
 Kadicals, Churchmen and Nonconformists — if only 
 he believed that they were actuated by some earnest- 
 ness of purpose. 
 
 So often did he visit Cambridge during the time 
 that -his sons were at college, that their private 
 tutor,* or "coach," once said to him, "Why, Mr. 
 
 ■'■ The Eev. Joseph Hargrove, who was at Clare.
 
 1805—1830.] VISITS TO CAMBRIDGE. 220 
 
 Morley, if yon could only keep one term more, we 
 would get the Yice-Cliancellor to give you a degree!" 
 — a joke which Mr. Morley greatly relished. The fact 
 was that he greatly admired the University system, 
 and had a ver}^ high opinion of the advantages of a 
 college course ; and he liked to see men proud of 
 their college, and making a good use of the unique 
 and splendid opportunities which Alma Mater affords 
 to her sons during their three years' sojourn under her 
 fosteriug care. Sometimes, indeed, he would enter a 
 humorous protest when men spoke of going "up" 
 to Cambridge. " Come now, you must allow that 
 London is a place of some little importance, what- 
 ever you have got to say for Cambridge." But when 
 he was told in reply: "Oh, certainly, but you know 
 Cambridge is the metropolis of learning," he was fain 
 to give in, and would perhaps even be heard to use 
 the phrase himself. 
 
 It will not be supposed by any who knew his 
 religious principles, that he admired or approved 
 every part of the University system. He was, as we 
 have seen, veuy strongly opposed to tests, which were 
 then in force, and almost as much so to celibate 
 fellowships, and some people wondered that, holding 
 such views as he did, he should send his sons to 
 Cambridge ; but these did not know him. One who 
 did know him, and knew him well, for whom Mr. 
 Morley had a very great regard, and with whom, 
 moreover, he loved to indulge in pleasant, good- 
 natured banter, was the Eev. Joseph Hargrove.
 
 230 SAMUEL MOB LEY. [Chap. XIII. 
 
 In a letter to the present writer, Mr. Hargrove 
 gives some insight into Mr. Morley's character, and 
 confirms, in a striking manner, the sentiments with 
 regard to the Estahhshed Church he had expressed in 
 his addresses to the electors of Nottingham, and in 
 his speech on Church rates in the House of Commons. 
 Mr. Hargrove says : — 
 
 Among many noble features of cliaractei', none perhaps was more con- 
 spicuous than his ready and ungrudging toleration of people and institu- 
 tions widely differing from principles which he held sincerely, and 
 consistently professei"!. The fact was that his natural generosity always 
 led him to recognize whatever of good was to be found in any institution, 
 while his hatred of anything like corruption or indolence made him 
 zealous for reform. An excellent example of this was his attitude towards 
 the Church of England. ' These vicarages are a great ornament to our 
 land,' he once said to me, as we were approaching a clergyman's house, 
 about to call there. So he loved to visit churches notable for their 
 antiquity or architectural beauty. He was always ready to acknowledge 
 the merits of the parochial system, while by no raeans blind to its 
 defects, and he paid imstinted tribute of praise to the Church for her 
 exertions in the work of education previous to Mr. Forster's Act. But 
 the more good he saw, the more earnestly he desired and counselled 
 reform. ' Why don't you get rid of these abuses ? ' he would say ; ' j'ou 
 would find that many who now keep separate from you would unite with 
 you, if only you would reform abuses ; ' adding, with a smile, ' I am 
 too old to be brought back, but others, younger than me, might be 
 gained.' I may here quote some words from a letter of his, dated 
 March 31, 18G5 : — ' I met some distinguished men lately, and was amazed 
 to hear one of them speak of the Church as part of the Civil Service. 
 That was no other than Lord Houghton. I listened with the utmost 
 surprise, and, having been taught by Mr. Stevens, in an article in Eraser, 
 that evenj person in the country belongs, whether he likes it or no, to the 
 Church of England, I could not help thinking, as I listened, that I am a 
 better Ciiurchman, after all, than some of these professed sons of the 
 Church.' 
 
 But while he freely criticized the Church, he gave most practical
 
 18G5— 1860.] LET TEE FROM BEV. JOSEPH HABGROVE. 231 
 
 evitlence of his admiration for, and sympathy with, good work, by whom- 
 soever done. One example of this was the parish of Gedhng, near Not- 
 tingham, of which Canon (now Lord) Forester became rector in 18G7. 
 He was an old friend of my father (the late Rev. Charles Hargrove), and 
 he took an early opportunity of introducing him to Mr. Morley, and from 
 that time he was always ready to help, with counsel, with money, or by 
 his presence, in the various good works which Canon Forester was con- 
 stantly setting on foot. The parish had been much neglected in former 
 years, but instead of lampnting or reproaching the sloth and indifference 
 of former generations, he looked rather at the duty of the hour. "Writing 
 to me on June 6, 187"2, in reply to some complaint as to the difficulty of 
 the work (I was then curate of Gedling), he says : ' Don't be discouraged, 
 but fight on valiantly. The difficulty to which you refer is the result of 
 the neglect of years — neglect of employers, clergymen, ministers, and 
 Christians of all classes. When the rectory or vicarage is ready for you 
 (wherever that may be), you will be all the fitter for the future conflict, 
 owing to the present discipline, with all its pressure and disappointment.' 
 The first necessary work was building a large school, to which he sub- 
 scribed liberally ; not long after this, it was seen to be very important to 
 make the parish church more comfortable and suitable for Divine service, 
 and I was deputed to mention this to him. I well remember the smile 
 and pretended remonstrance : ' You don't expect an old Dissenter like 
 me to help to restore churches ! ' But his cheque soon came, and many 
 more followed for other good works. 
 
 The fact was, that he had intense sympathy with ' the people ' (a feeling 
 which, indeed, he once told me, when I was speaking of ordination, he 
 considered to be the true motive which should influence a man in entering 
 the ministry), and when he saw any one, like Canon Forester, earnestly 
 anxious to alleviate the condition of the poor, he was ready to help 
 heartily, without staying to inquire too particularly into their methods, 
 or expecting exact conformity with his own views. His sympathy was 
 quickly roused, whenever he fancied there was wrong done of any kind, 
 but it was also deep and lasting. Ho was, indeed, often apt to speak and 
 act upon impulse, which laid him open to imposture, though it imparted 
 a delightful freshness to his conversation, in bright contrast to some who 
 are constant recipients of appeals for help, and seeru to be always on their 
 guard. I remember an amusing instance of this, which took place in my own 
 rooms at Cambridge. We were discussing some religious or ecclesiastical 
 question, when he took up a Prayer Book, and finding it open at the
 
 232 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. XIII. 
 
 25th Article, lie began reading at the top of the page : ' Those five com- 
 monly called sacraments, that is to say, Confirmation, Penance ,' 
 
 ivhen, throwing down the book, he exclaimed : ' Why, Hargrove, what 
 Lave you got to do with penance ? And where do you find five sacra- 
 ments in the Bible ? ' ' Read on a few words more, if you please,' I 
 replied ; and so he did : ' Those five commonly called sacraments, that 
 is to say. Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, and Extreme 
 Unction, are not to be counted for sacraments of the Gospel,'' when he 
 again laid down the book, and joined in a hearty laugh at the hasty 
 judgment which he had been about to pass upon the doctrine of the 
 Church of England. This story was characteristic of him in more ways 
 than one, for he always enjoyed a joke, and cared little whether the 
 laugh was for or against himself and his friends. He could see the 
 humorous side of questions on which he felt and spoke seriously, and was 
 never averse to relieving weighty discussion by listening to a good story, 
 »r giving or receiving a thrust pointed with wit. 
 
 Mr. Moiiey's humour exhibited itself in as great a 
 variety of ways and on as unexpected occasions as 
 ■\yonkl have satisfied the quaint old writer, Barrow, 
 who says : " Sometimes it lieth in pat allusions to 
 a well-known story, or in seasonable application of a 
 trivial saying, or in forging an apposite tale ; some- 
 times it playeth in words and phrases, taking advan- 
 tage fi-om the ambiguity of their sense, or the affinity 
 of their sound ; sometimes it is wrapped in a dress 
 of humorous expression ; sometimes it lurketh under 
 an odd similitude ; sometimes it is lodged in a sly 
 question, in a smart answer, in a quirkish reason, in 
 a shrewd imitation, in cunningly diverting, or cleverly 
 retorting, an objection ; sometimes it is couched in a 
 bold scheme of speech, in a startling metaphor, in 
 a plausible reconciling of contradictions, or in acute 
 nonsense ; and often it consisteth in one knows
 
 1SG5— 18GG.] HUMOUR. 233 
 
 not what, and springetli np one can hardly tell 
 how." 
 
 An example of Mr. Moiiey's humour may he given 
 here, although it relates to a later period. One of 
 his sons having hegun to drive four horses, Mr. 
 Morley cut out of a newspaper an advertisement, 
 and sent it in a letter as a playful remonstrance. 
 The advertisement ran : — 
 
 Coaching. — Wanted, a gentleman with a thousand at commaucl for 
 extension in a well-appointed, old-established four-horse Coaching Busi- 
 ness in a healthy seaside town. Money secured in stock, &c. A good 
 chance for a gentleman wishing to learn how to drive. Address 
 
 The letter accompanying the ahove advertisement 
 was as follows : — 
 
 Hall Place, Tonbridge. 
 
 Dear , You will, I am sure, believe in my sincere desire for your 
 
 success in any undertaking on which, in the exercise of a sound judg- 
 ment, you may be disposed to enter. Without pronouncing a judgment 
 on the venture to which the enclosed advertisement refers, it has an 
 attraction to certain minds, and certainly has an educational aspect 
 which may be of value, and I have therefore thought it well to send it 
 for your perusal, sincerely hoping that you may make a wise decision 
 in reference to it. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 S. MORLEY.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 1864— 18G8. 
 
 Correspondence with Lord Shaftesbury — Mr. Spurgeon — The Formularies of 
 the Church of England — The Free Church of Scotland — Letter from Dr. 
 Guthrie — Bunhill Fields Burial Ground — The Education Question — The 
 Morning Star and the Daily Neivs — A Narrow Escape — Allegiance to Mr. 
 Gladstone — Railway Companies and Nonconformists — Mr. Ernest Jones — 
 Cai^ital and Labour — Letter to the Fall Mall Gazette. 
 
 Within the years 1864 and 1866, there was consider- 
 able correspondence between Mr. Moiiey and the 
 Earl of Shaftesbury upon a variety of subjects. These 
 two men stood in the forefront of all the religious and 
 philanthropic movements of their times, and while 
 each, politically, was the representative of a totally 
 distinct set of issues from the other, the two were 
 working together with mutual cordiality and esteem 
 towards one common end — the welfare of man. 
 What Lord Shaftesbury was among the Evangelicals 
 of the Church of England, Mr. Morley was among all 
 the Evangelical Churches of the Nonconformists. 
 Neither of them., however, was sectarian, and there 
 were innumerable occasions when they worked 
 together for the common good, without any reference 
 to Church or Dissent. Each had profound respect 
 for the other, and each was zealous to help the other 
 in every good word and work.
 
 1864— 18C8.] LOBD SHAFTESBURY AND ME. SPUBGEON. 235 
 
 Both Samuel Morley and Lord Shaftesbury were 
 Mends and admirers of Mr. Spurgeon, and both 
 watched his Avidening sphere of influence with eager- 
 ness. Mr. Spurgeon had from his childhood known 
 the merchant philanthropist, and loved him all 
 through his life. When Mr. Spurgeon was a boy of 
 ten, he competed for a prize to be given by Mr. Morley 
 for the best essay " On Popery." He was not suc- 
 cessful in the competition, but his essay was so good 
 that Mr. Morley awarded him an " extra " prize of 
 .£3 — a little fortune in the estimation of the boy. 
 
 Mr. Spurgeon' s Protestantism came out strongly 
 at the age of ten, but more strongly still, when, as 
 a young man, he w^as sailing on the high tide of 
 popularity. 
 
 In those days, before experience had rij^ened his 
 judgment and mellowed his views, he was apt some- 
 times to deal hard blows at the Church of England. 
 . One attack of special violence called forth the follow- 
 ing protest from Lord Sliaftesbury : — 
 
 Loi-d Shaftcshury to Mr. Samuel Morley. 
 
 Stresa, Lago Maggiore, Sept. 16, 1864. 
 
 My dear Mr. Morley,- — Is there no hope of staying — I do not say of 
 reconciUng— this sad controversy raised by Mr. Spnrgeon ? 
 
 I have been endeavouring, during a good part of my hfe, to bring on a 
 friendly feeling and a spirit of co-operation between Nonconformists and 
 the Established Church. But this unhappy outbreak will undo a large 
 part of what has been done, and introduce bitterness and antagonism. 
 
 For myself, I dislike the Popish doctrine as much as Mr. Spurgeon 
 does, but I deny that it is taught by our Church. The one or two 
 ambiguous expressions of the Prayer Book are explained by the other
 
 23G SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XIV. 
 
 formularies ; aDtl so is one text of Scripture by another ; and this is, in 
 fairness, the only way of arriving at a true judgment. Surely enough 
 has been said in attack and defence. Let the discussion cease, and the 
 contending parties try to be in good humour again. 
 
 I have been seeking health in a residence on the top of a mountain 
 Ci.OOO feet above the level of the sea. It was wonderful to find an Italian 
 sky among the eagles and glaciers. Yet so it was ; and I hope to derive 
 from it all the benefit the doctors promised me. 
 
 I trust, God willing, to be in Loudon very soon, and enter on a new 
 ■campaign. It is terrible to see what is yet to be done. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Shaftesbury. 
 
 To this letter Mr. Moiiey sent the following reply, 
 probably one of the longest private letters he ever 
 wrote : — 
 
 Mr. S. Morlcy to Lord Shaftcsburij. 
 
 London, Oct. 7, 1864. 
 
 My dear Lord Shaftesbury, — I am glad to find that you have been 
 recruiting your health and spirits in the high lands of Europe, and I 
 sincerely hope that you will lay by strength for many a labour of love 
 •during the months to come. Your reference to Mr. Spurgeon, and his 
 recent sturdy and rough assault on the Evangelical section of the Church 
 of England, encourages me to try and place before you, in as brief a form 
 as I can, a view of the position with which I, rather than your Lordship, 
 may be supposed to be familiar. 
 
 From the time of the Reformation, and during the period that the 
 formularies of the Church of England were in a transition state, there was 
 a compromise going on in their construction between the Protestant and 
 High Church, or Romanizing parties, in this country, which terminated 
 in the victory of the latter, and the ejectment from the Church, of the 
 Puritans, or thorough Protestants, by the cruel Act of Uniformitj'. B3' 
 that Act the formularies were stereotyped in their present form, and the 
 controversy still is earned on, both within and without the Establish- 
 ment, as to whether Protestant or Romanizing tendencies shall be upper- 
 most in the realm of England. We have by no means arrived at the 
 end of this controversy yet. Your Lordship, within the Church, sympa-
 
 1864—1868.] LETTER TO LORD SHAFTESBURY. 237 
 
 tliizes strongly with the Protestant i)arty. I, who am without, 
 sympathize with them also, but our respective positions, as within and 
 without, ai'e very different. To me it appears that the situation is more 
 critical now than it has been for manj^ years. There is a general 
 awakening, throughout the land, of the spirit of religious inquiry : almost 
 every opinion is examined, and has its competent advocates. Within the 
 Church, the Romanizing party (with then* astute and accomplished leader, 
 the Bishop of Oxford) has gained strength — numerically, I fear, but 
 certainly in intensity and development ; and without, the followers of the 
 Pope are building, teaching, and preaching with no slight hopes of un- 
 Protestantizing the nation. Now many of us believe that all this 
 Romanizing movement finds its main support in, to say the least, the 
 ambiguous language of the Church formularies, which sanction a Romanist 
 doctrine, and, by keeping the people in ignorance and superstition, prepare 
 them for Romanist teachers. We are concerned — I hope ver}^ seriously 
 concerned — to know what is going on in the towns and villages of our 
 counti-y under the sanction and with the supj)ort of the State, that is, of 
 us, the English people. We must speak, we must denounce the error, for 
 we cannot bear that such things should be said and done luider our 
 sanction as citizens. How can we keep silence '? 
 
 Again, my Lord, it seems to us that within the Church itself there is a 
 deadly weakness both of judgment and practice which is most alarming. 
 The Evangelical section of the Church, when I was a younger man, 
 were known for their vigorous and united protest against Romanist 
 error, whether within or without the Church. Now, I fear, the effect of 
 the judgments of the Courts, which affirm that different doctrines inay 
 be held and taught in the same Church, has been to paralyze the 
 Evangelical jiarty. The men are silent and quiescent whose ecclesi- 
 astical and spiritual fathers were most loud and earnest in the denun- 
 ciation of these errors, and I am afraid that, Imving been frequently 
 reminded of the formularies to which they have given assent and 
 consent, they have felt bound to defend them, and have adopted the 
 words until they have slid into a partial belief, at least, of the 
 erroneous doctrines which these formularies ' grammatically and 
 naturally ' express. You yourself, my Lord, I am sorry to find, do not 
 feel the force of the objection to the words of the Prayer Book, and 
 many others adopt your Lordship's views. The effect of all this is, 
 that we have, in the maintenance and defence of Evangelical truth > 
 unbelief, hesitancy, and all sorts of apologetic explanations within the
 
 238 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XIV. 
 
 Churcli, wliicli greatly perplex tlie common people, at a time when tlie 
 need is greatest for a simple, vigorous, and distinct utterance ; and 
 can you wonder that such a man as Mr. Spurgeon, seeing this thing 
 from a point of view in which he is untrammelled by any Church ties 
 and clerical subscriptions, should be ' zealously affected,' and even 
 angry, at the magnitude of the evils to which he thinks it gives rise ? 
 
 If your Lordship asks me what is to be done, I would answer, pray 
 employ all the influence you have in favour of a vigorous teaching, 
 within the Church itself, of the docti'ine of salvation by Christ alone, and 
 not by saci'aments and priestly power, and in favour of a Chi-istian con- 
 sistency and fearless truthfulness in this teacliing, whatever becomes of 
 the old formularies. And then, in reference to these formularies, let us 
 all endeavour to sweep away from them everything that encourages 
 Popery, and be willing to leave Christian men freer than they are now to 
 serve Christ, and to teach the truth as they receive it from Him and His 
 apostles. Do not let us be satisfied with the formularies as they are now. 
 Tliey are a dreadful snare and stumbling-block to many consciences. I 
 am deeply concerned to find your Lordship regarding them as requiring 
 no alterations. 
 
 I fear your Lordship will think I have forwarded you a homily, but I 
 hope you will excuse the length of this letter, and that out of this con- 
 troversy in connection with Mr. Spurgeon's sermon, not evil but good 
 may come. 
 
 I am, my dear Lord Shaftesbury, 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 S. MORLEY. 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury to Mr. Samuel Morley. 
 
 St. Giles's House, Nov. 3, 1864. 
 
 Dear Mr. Morley, — Pray be assured that your letter was a ' homily ' 
 in a good and useful sense, and one which, if publicly delivered, might 
 instruct some, and assuage the angry feeling of others. 
 
 I did not condemn Mr. Spurgeon for bis opinions, or for his expression 
 of them. The right of private judgment, and the principle of religious 
 liberty, allow, and almost cull for, the utmost independence of thought 
 and action. I blamed him, in mj' letter to you, for his coarse language, 
 coarse imputation of the worst motives, and utter disregard of all justice 
 and charity in refusing to admit that men of the present day might be as
 
 1864— 18G8.] LETTER FBOM LORD SHAFTESBURY. 239 
 
 true and conscientious in their interpretation of the formulai-ies, as men 
 of a former day, whose orthodoxy not even Mr. Spurgeon would call in 
 question. I condemned all this in fear that much of the union, which for 
 a long time has so beneficially existed among Churchmen and Noncon- 
 formists, would be lost, and the progress of vital religion proportionately 
 suffer. 
 
 Of the peculiar and dangerous character of the times there can be little 
 doubt. Perhaps a time of perilous activity is better than one of poisonous 
 stagnation. But danger there is to the present generation, though it may, 
 in God's mercy, be overruled to the benefit of the next. 
 
 Neology and Tractarianism, apparently antagonistic, are, in fact, con- 
 verging to the same end — ' the Eomish tyranny.' No one will, even- 
 tually, gain from these terrible extremes but the Jesuits, and all the 
 Church of Eome, ' Omues in servitium ruere,' as Tacitus said of the old 
 fawners upon power. The Church of England, betrayed by its leaders, 
 will sink the first, in the mire of division, Ritualism, sacramental systems, 
 and sacerdotal assumptions. The Nonconformists will soon follow, 
 caught in the very same snare, but by a different bait — the bait of 
 Rationalism and self-confidence. 
 
 Surely all this is foretold, and is a sign of the ' latter days.' 
 You will see how much I concur with a great deal that you have said. 
 Do you think the Liturgical Reform would avert, or mitigate, the evil ? 
 I trow not. 
 
 The truth is that the country — a few leaders of both kinds excluded — is 
 not what it was in respect of Evangelical and Protestant teaching, of 
 Evangelical and Protestant feeluig. I am astonished and alarmed at the 
 daily increase in the majority of educated lay people of the do-nothing, 
 care-nothing spirit. The ' love of many is waxing cold,' and you see in 
 this another proof of the latter days. 
 
 But while there is language let us protest. While there is life let 
 us work. While there is a Bible let us proclaim it, and stick, by God's 
 grace, more and more to the one simple thing needful, for Dives and 
 Lazarus, for Solomon and the street-sweeper — ' Jesus Christ and Him 
 
 CRUCIFIED.' 
 
 May God prosper j'ou ! 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Shaftesbury. 
 
 Mr. Moiiey's catholicity was wider than most men
 
 240 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XIV. 
 
 believed. In his own home there was the utmost 
 freedom to each member to think and act in accor- 
 dance with the dictates of his own conscience and 
 his own tastes, and one of his daughters had abeady 
 shown attachment to the Church of England by 
 joining her communion. Every year his sympathy 
 with other branches of tlie one Church broadened and 
 deepened. 
 
 In Avhatever way good could be done, Mr. Morley 
 strove to further it, either by old methods or new. 
 Thus, wdien he was about to give a sum of ^5,000 to 
 the establishment of new chapels, principally for 
 Mission work, he was anxious to see wdiether the 
 system in operation in the Free Church of Scotland 
 could not be successfully applied to these new 
 chapels. 
 
 This brought him into much correspondence with 
 Dr. Gutlnie, wdth whom he was on the most cordial 
 terras, and fi'om one of whose letters we quote here : — 
 
 Dr. TJios. Guthrie to Mr. Morley. 
 
 Jan. 26, 1866. 
 My dear Mr. Morley, — I inteuded to have called on you last time I 
 was iu London, but I made a mere run through it on nay return from 
 Southampton. I would like to have a crack (apply to Mr. Wilson, if 
 necessary, for an English translation) on the important matter you have 
 in hand. . . . Our Free Church has enjoyed a great advantage in possessing 
 the order both of elders and deacons. The latter office is a good traming, 
 in some respects, for the first. Some, who are admirably adapted for the 
 first, would not accept the second, while some remain, and are exceed- 
 ingly useful, in the office of deacon, who do not possess the higher 
 qualifications necessary for the eldership. "We used to have some thirty 
 deacons and nearly the same number of elders in St. John's, and together
 
 18G4— 18G8.] BUNHILL FIELDS BUEIAL GBOUND. 241 
 
 they formed a most efficient staff of field officers. In fact we woiild have 
 been comparatively powerless without them. We had the city and its 
 environs divided into a large number of districts, having one elder and 
 one deacon at least in each, and these districts, each containing such a 
 number connected with the congregation as made the elders' and deacons 
 duties rather a pleasure than in any shape a burden. In collecting sub- 
 scriptions to our schemes, the deacons ai'e in many instances assisted by 
 lady collectors ; although we think it better when the deacon himself can 
 afford time for the work. I should like to see us make a nearer approach 
 to the class system of the Methodists ; this far at least, that the elder had 
 stated meetings for religious exercises with those of the congregation who 
 reside in his district. This keeps the fire b^lrning bright. A Chui'ch with 
 such machinery is best able, having selected a heathenish district, to 
 summon to its aid the worth and wealth of a Christian congregation, 
 and thereby, through its men and women of zeal and piety, set up a 
 territorial Church. . . . 
 
 I quite sj'mpathize with you in your views dreading Rationalism much 
 more than Puseyism. Whatever may be the case with the Church of 
 England, the Nonconformist bodies have much more to fear from the first 
 than the second. The presence of a common enemy will be attended 
 with this good result at least — it will force the lovers of sound doctrine 
 into closer contact, and promote ultimate union. The Lord hasten it in 
 His own time. May the Lord yet more and more bless you and make 
 you a blessing, and so answer the prayers of thousands ! With the 
 liighest esteem and affectionate regards, 
 
 Yours ever, 
 
 Thomas Guthrie. 
 P.S. — I intended to have sent along with these an account of a Children's 
 Church, but I find my daughter, who is a worker of that scheme, had 
 sent it to yon yesterday. 
 
 In 1865, there was a great fear lest Bimhill Fields 
 Burial Ground — one of the holiest shrines of the 
 Nonconformists — should pass into the hands of the 
 Ecclesiastical Commissioners. Mr. Charles Eeed 
 took up the question warmly, and Mr. Morley sup- 
 ported his efforts in a variety of useful and influential 
 
 17
 
 242 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XIV. 
 
 ways. It was when the controversy was m a some- 
 what heated state that the followhig correspondence 
 took place : — 
 
 Lord Sliaftesh^iry to Mr. Samuel Morlcy. 
 
 St. Gilks's House, Jan. 12, 18G6. 
 My dear Mr. Morley, — Can I, as a member of the Church of 
 England, be of any service in asserting the rights of the Nonconformists 
 to the preservation of Bunhill Fields ? I feel the matter very warmly. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 Shaftesbury. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Morlcy to Lord Sliaftcshury. 
 
 London, Jan. IG, 1866. 
 Dear Lord Shaftesbury, — I am much obliged by your letter and your 
 kind offer of help. It is, I think, possible that we have misunderstood 
 the intention of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, although a friend told 
 me that he had seen a plan of the Bunhill Fields Ground which had been 
 prepared for letting the land for building. 
 
 The concession of the land, to be preserved in perpetuity as one of 
 England's sacred enclosures, is the only settlement that can meet the 
 public feeling on the subject. There is still a considerable amount of 
 excitement and anxiety as to the result, and if, through any member of 
 the Commission, you can expedite a settlement, it will tend to allay 
 uncomfortable controversy and irritation. 
 
 It seems to me to afford a very suitable opportunity for the manifesta- 
 tion of friendly consideration towards the Nonconfoi'mists, the issue of 
 which may be most important in our national history. "We ought not, 
 and cannot afford, to be at strife. 
 
 Believe me, 
 
 Yours very faithfully, 
 
 S. Morley. 
 
 Eventually a short Act of Parliament was passed, 
 and the ground was secured to the Nonconformists in 
 pel•petuit3^
 
 1864—1868.] THE "MOBNING STAB." 243 
 
 It was, without doubt, a great disappointment 
 to Mr. Moiiey to be out of Parliament in 1867, 
 during the passing of tlie lieform Bill ; but, although 
 overtures had been made to him from several con- 
 stituencies, for the 25i"esent he felt constrained to 
 wait. Questions wxre arising upon a variety of 
 subjects, which demanded all his spare time and 
 thought ; the Education Question in particular was 
 assuming new aspects, and he was here, there, and 
 everywhere attending committees, conferences, and 
 ^lublic meetings to discuss it ; so that, as he said, 
 ' ' he had been nearly solving the problem of per- 
 petual motion." Moreover, the party cries raised 
 at the Nottingham election had had their effect, 
 and Mr. Morley was engaged in much correspondence 
 as to his exact attitude with regard to many ques- 
 tions, especially those relating to Church and State. 
 The time was at hand when, on all these matters, 
 he would give explicit public statements, and w,e 
 shall not, therefore, enter upon them here. 
 
 Meanwhile, there were still other matters of 
 importance claiming his attention, and notably the 
 necessity for a better channel than then existed, for 
 the dissemination, by the press, of Liberal principles. 
 
 The Morning Star had been started and carried 
 on as the organ of the extreme Eadical party, 
 represented by Cobden and Bright. The leading 
 idea of the " Manchester School," as it was termed, 
 was, or appeared to be, that in most foreign relations, 
 England was in the wrong. The Star harped con-
 
 244 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XIV. 
 
 stantly upon this string, and varied it only by tlie 
 stoutest denunciations of Palmerston. The result 
 was, that the readers grew weary of its monotony, 
 and, although it had the advantage of the remission 
 of the paper duty — which made penny papers 
 possible — the circulation fell off, and the paper 
 did not pay. There were able men in connection 
 mth it, however : Mr. John Morley (afterwards 
 Chief Secretary for Ireland) was the editor, Mr. 
 Justin McCarthy was on the staff, and Mr. Henry 
 Kawson was the chief proprietor. Mr. Samuel 
 Morley was only connected with it as a compara- 
 tively small proprietor. The stock and plant were 
 the property of Mr. Eawson. 
 
 The Daily Neivs was started in 1846, with Charles 
 Dickens as its first editor, and Mr. Charles Went- 
 worth Dilke, the grandfather of the late Member 
 for Chelsea, as its manager. Among its early con- 
 tributors were John Forster, Harriet Martineau, and 
 McCullagh Torrens. Charles Dickens did not long 
 remain editor, and the chair he vacated was filled 
 by John Forster. 
 
 Heavy losses resulted as the experience of the 
 first few years, and successive experiments were tried 
 to make it a commercial as well as a literary success ; 
 but its continuous career of prosperity only began 
 when Mr. Morley became one of the chief proprietors. 
 
 On June 8, 1868, the price of the Daily Neivs, 
 which had hitherto been threepence, was, mainly 
 owing to the exertions of Mr. Morley, reduced to
 
 1864—1868.] THE ''DAILY NEWS." 245 
 
 one penny. With this new departure, the sale of 
 the Morning Star, ah'eady on the dechne. went 
 down rapidly. For the Daily News, though equally 
 Radical in its politics, did not confine itself to those 
 of the (now almost defunct) Manchester School, 
 but worked upon broader lines. For example, the 
 Star had distinguished itself by supporting the 
 North in the American War ; so also did the Daili/ 
 Neias, but in the former paper the readers were 
 irritated by the incessant attacks upon our own 
 Foreign Policy, whereas in the Daily News a fairer 
 and more patriotic view was taken. With the 
 exception of the Spectator, there was no other 
 paper of influence in London that adopted this 
 view. 
 
 On July 20, 1868, Mr. Morley attended a meeting 
 to discuss the position of affairs in relation to the 
 two daily papers, and it was arranged that in 
 September the Star should become the property 
 of the proprietors of the Daily News. 
 
 This was accordingly done ; the Star published 
 a statement to the effect that as the price of the 
 Daily News was now reduced to one penny, and was 
 thus placed within the reach of the uniltituaL-, the 
 issue of the Star would be stopped. Part of the 
 contract was, that Mr. Eawson should influence all 
 who had been associated with the Star, either 
 as contributors or readers, to transfer their support 
 in favour of the Daily News ; and the effect of this 
 was that most of the readers of the Star were
 
 246 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Cukv. XIV. 
 
 brought over to the new penny paper, and the 
 scheme received an impetus which was the beginning 
 of its success. In September, 1868, the Monmig 
 Star ceased to exist. 
 
 It should be stated, that under the editorship of 
 Mr. John Morley the narrowness of the Star had 
 not been so marked as formerly, but it was identi- 
 fied with a style and with purposes which had ceased 
 to command any sympathy ; and it is a curious fact 
 in the history of English political journals that, when 
 the Star died, it left no successor. 
 
 The editor of the Daily Netus, Mr. Thomas Walker, 
 was a man greatly respected by Mr. Samuel Morley, 
 and although, in 1869, he left that paper on receiving 
 from Mr. Gladstone an appointment as editor of 
 the London Gazette, Mr. Morley never ceased to 
 cherish a high regard for him, or failed to consult 
 him on important occasions when his advice would 
 be of special value. Mr. Walker was succeeded in 
 the editorship by Mr. Hill, wdio retained the office 
 until 1886. 
 
 Tln'oughout his long connection with the Daily 
 Neivs, Mr. Morley never swerved for a moment fr'om 
 his allegiance to Mr. Gladstone, and was equally 
 loyal, whether the question of the day was the 
 Bulgarian atrocities or any other. It is true that, 
 at one period, Mr. Gladstone did not go far enough 
 in his politics to suit Mr. Morley's taste ; but he 
 was steadfast to him, " because he always looked 
 at the moral side of things." It was a source of
 
 1864—1868.] THE ''DAILY NEWS." 247 
 
 vexation to Mr. Moiiey when, on certain questions, 
 the Daily Neius appeared to go in opposition to Mr. 
 Gladstone. As, however, he took no part whatever 
 in the Hterary department of the paper, he could 
 not interfere in any controversy that might be in 
 23rogress, but on more than one occasion he 
 threatened, in the event of a line of opposition to 
 Mr. Gladstone being persevered in, that he would 
 discontinue his connection with the paper. 
 
 At the quarterly meetings of the proprietors the 
 accounts were examined and financial matters dis- 
 cussed ; but Mr. Moiiey rarely attended these 
 meetings. The profits on the concern were con- 
 siderable, but he cared very little for that. On 
 more than one occasion, when informed of excep- 
 tionally large dividends, he has said, "I am almost 
 disaj^pointed. I went into the Dailij News not to 
 make money, but to advocate principles," and it 
 is no figure of speech to say that if the j^aper had 
 only paid its expenses, he would not have been 
 dissatisfied. It is not to be inferred that, because 
 Mr. Moiiey did not attend many of the quarterly 
 meetings of the proprietors, he neglected his busi- 
 ness, for this would have been in opposition to the 
 principles which regulated all his life. During the 
 whole period of his connection with the paper, Mr. 
 J. E. Eobinson was its able and indefatigable 
 manager, and in his judgment and discretion Mr. 
 Moiiey reposed the fullest confidence. Whenever, 
 therefore, anything occurred which appeared to him
 
 248 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XIV. 
 
 to require consideration, he would invite Mr. 
 Robinson to lunch with him at Wood Street to 
 talk over affairs, and those who can remember w^hat 
 those little luncheons were, know how the business 
 of half a dozen committee meetings could be com- 
 pressed into an hour's pleasant chat. 
 
 The last meeting of proprietors that Mr. Morley 
 attended was on April 19, 1886. On October 18th, 
 in that year, the following resolution w^as passed : — 
 
 "At their first meeting after the decease of Mr. 
 Samuel Morley, the proprietors of the Daily News 
 desire to express their w^arm sympathy with Mrs. 
 Morley and the family, and to unite themselves 
 with the great body of the community in witnessing 
 to his manifold claims to esteem and respect. It 
 was mainly through Mr. Morley's exertions that the 
 arrangements were successfully carried out in 1868, 
 wdiich placed the Dailjj Neius before a larger con- 
 stituency ; and his constant and kindly co-operation 
 materially contributed to render the paper a powerful 
 promotive of the Liberal cause." 
 
 There was no man living who rendered so many 
 and [such important services to Nonconformity as. 
 Mr. Morley, or in such a variety of ways. He 
 stood up for the rights of his co-religionists in things. 
 small as w^ell as great ; it galled him to think that 
 petty distinctions should be made which tended to 
 embitter men one against the other. 
 
 The following incident, trifling in itself, may be
 
 1864—1868.] AN INVIDIOUS DISTINCTION. 249 
 
 taken as a type of many others, which it would he 
 tedious to narrate in detail. 
 
 In the course of a week, two meetings were held — 
 one in Manchester, of the Church Congress, the 
 other in Liverpool, of the Congregational Union of 
 England and Wales, both of which were largely 
 attended by gentlemen from all parts of the country. 
 For the meeting of the Church Congress, the London 
 and North- Western Kailway Company and the 
 Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company issued 
 return tickets at a single fare to all w^ho attended 
 the Congress, whereas, when application was made 
 to these Companies for the same facilities to be 
 offered to persons attending the meeting of the 
 Congregational Union, the application was declined 
 in both cases, without assigning any reason for the 
 refusal. 
 
 Mr. Moiiey immediately took the matter up, and 
 wrote to the chairmen of the respective Companies, 
 to ask if the contrast between the arrangements had 
 been made inadvertently, or if it was ''the deliberate 
 decision of the directors not to offer equal facilities 
 in travelling to gentlemen of all religious persua- 
 sions." 
 
 The result was that the obnoxious distinction was 
 withdrawn, and equal facilities in travelling were 
 afforded to Churchmen and Nonconformists. 
 
 Mr. Morley not unfrequently laid himself open to 
 criticism fi-om fiiends and foes for the sake of the
 
 250 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XIV. 
 
 ''comiiion people." Thus, in 18G7, lie presided at a 
 lecture on Capital and Labour, given in St. James's 
 Hall by the notorious Mr. Ernest Jones, of Chartist 
 fame, who, on a charge of sedition, had been 
 sentenced to two years' imprisonment after the 
 Chartist fiasco of 1848. He was a man of high 
 culture, and a poet of no mean order ; but he was 
 a leper — socially, notwithstanding the fact that Mr. 
 John Bright was an enthusiastic admirer of him 
 as an orator. 
 
 The Times, the Pall Mall Gazette, and other 
 journals criticised, severely or facetiously according 
 to their bent, the appearance of Mr. Morley on the 
 platform of St. James's Hall in company with Mr. 
 Ernest Jones. 
 
 In reply to the Pall Mall Gazette, Mr. Morley 
 wrote : — 
 
 To the Editor of the 'Fall Mall Gazette: 
 
 18, Wood Street, E.G., Nov. 19, 18G7. 
 Sir, — ^Vill you permit me, wlio, unintentionally on my part, occupied 
 some space in your paper of Saturday last, briefly to state why I 
 presided at Mr. Ernest Jones's lecture at St. James's Hall ? Mr. Jones 
 is undoubtedly sincere and clever ; he is trusted and believed in by 
 many thousands of his fellow-countrymen, who are desirous that his 
 opinions should receive attention. I am brought into contact directly 
 and indirectly with working men, have ojiportuuities of observing the 
 condition of the people, and am overwhelmed by a fear, not that com- 
 munism, will proceed to universal confiscation (I have no fear of this), 
 but lest wealthy, and perhaps you will allow me to add educated, 
 Englishmen may not promptly and faithfully devote themselves to solve 
 the problem how the poverty, disease, and vice of so many of oiu- own 
 flesh and blood can be diminished and removed. It is my serious and
 
 18G4— 1868.J MB. EBNEST JONES. 251 
 
 imperative couviction that this cau be best accomplished by improvement 
 in our laws, which from their continuous and universal influence form 
 the character of the people. If we can succeed in maintaining legisla- 
 tion on right principles, we shall, I believe, overtake, and in the end 
 master and destroy, some of those enormous evils which are now only 
 l)artial]y alleviated by j)ublic and private charity. As chairman of the 
 meeting, I do not admit that I am responsible for the logical consistency 
 of the lecturer. My province was to secure for him fair and orderly 
 attention. In my judgment it is better that large employers of labour 
 should be willing to hear all that can be said by the advocates of the 
 working class, rather than, from over-sensitiveness as to their reputation, 
 or indifference as to the condition of the people, or even fear of ' un- 
 conscious irony,' shut themselves within their own circle. I do not 
 deem it a part of my duty, then, publicly to weigh and measure the 
 value of Mr. Jones's opinions, but to remit them to the judgment, among 
 other tribunals, of the public press ; and I have to thank the Pall Mall 
 Gazette for having done its part in exposing some of the extravagancies 
 of the lecturer. 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 S. MORLEY.
 
 CHAPTEE Xy. 
 
 1868. 
 
 Nottingham and Bristol — Consents to stand for Bristol — Goes to South of 
 France — A Wail from Nottingham — Address to Electors — The Bristol Opera- 
 tives' Liberal Association — A Telling Speech — Defeated at the Election — 
 Hope revives in Nottingham— A Final Decision — Mr. Miles Unseated — Un- 
 fair Proceedings — Mr. Goldwin Smith — Aid to Liberal Candidates — The 
 Eeform League — Marriage with a Deceased Wife's Sister — The General 
 Election — Again Contests Bristol — An American View of Nomination Day 
 — Returned M.P. for Bristol — Congratulations — "Mr. Morley's Defection" 
 —Correspondence with Canon Girdlestone — Correspondence with the Libera- 
 tion Society — Letter to Mr. Arnold Morley. 
 
 Immediately after the unsuccessful issue of tlie Not- 
 tingham election, there was a deep and general 
 desire expressed, w4iich formed itself, even then, into 
 a purpose, to return Mr. Morley at the very first 
 opportunity as one of the Members of Parliament for 
 that borough. That sentiment became stronger and 
 more manifest ; it was enthusiastically expressed 
 h'om time to time at public meetings, until in March , 
 1868, it w^as officially announced to Mr. Morley that 
 it w^as the desire of the Liberal party to unite at the 
 next General Election in supporting him as one of the 
 Liberal candidates, to undertake the whole expenses 
 of his election, and to combine their best efforts to 
 secure his return without soliciting his presence or 
 aid. In this manner it was hoped that the borough
 
 18G8.] BRISTOL. 253 
 
 would make some atonement to him for the past, 
 and retrieve, as far as it was then possible, its own 
 political reputation. 
 
 Meanwhile a movement had been going forward in 
 Bristol, which exercised a powerful influence upon 
 Mr. Morley. Sir Morton Peto, one of the Members 
 for that city, and a leading Nonconformist, was about 
 to vacate his seat, on which the Liberals of Bristol 
 had put themselves in communication with Mr. 
 Morley, promising him their hearty support in the 
 event of his being willing to contest the seat. He 
 had no personal claims u^^on Bristol as he had upon 
 Nottingham, but it was felt by Bristol Liberals that 
 no man had better qualifications for representing their 
 city than Mr. Samuel Morley. 
 
 Bristol being a stronghold of Nonconformity, it 
 seemed suitable that it should be represented in 
 Parliament by one of the most prominent Dissenters 
 of the time. Bristol was famous for its charitable 
 iind philanthropic institutions ; there w^as no one who 
 would act in more thorough harmony with the tradi- 
 tions of the past, and the wide-reaching liberality of 
 the present, than the man who was recognized every- 
 where as one of the greatest philanthropists of his 
 time. Bristol was noted for its spirit of enterprise ; 
 it was essential that its representative in Parliament 
 should be an advocate of progress and reform. 
 Bristol was a trading and commercial city ; its manu- 
 factures for export trade, though limited, were making 
 progress, and plans for ocean-dock accommodation
 
 254 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XV. 
 
 were then under consideration. It was advantageous, 
 therefore, that one who stood at the head of one of 
 the largest trading estabhshnients in the metropohs, 
 and whose connection with commerce was world-wide, 
 should guard their interests in the national councils. 
 
 An influential committee of the Liberals of Bristol, 
 including Messrs. W. H. and H. 0. Wills, Mr. Handel 
 Cossham, Mr. George Thomas, Mr. Christopher J. 
 Thomas, and others, met early in the year, and opened 
 U23 negotiations with Mr. Morley, while many private 
 fi'iends urged him to comply. He hesitated for some 
 time whether to accept the offer. His health was just 
 then not good ; without parliamentary engagements 
 he had more work than he knew how to get through ; 
 some of his household were very averse to his enter- 
 ing Parliament, and used every inducement to dis- 
 suade him. Once or twice he declined, but finally he 
 consented, on condition that the electors would wait 
 until he had recruited his health. 
 
 Immediately he had given his consent, he set off 
 for the South of France for change of scene and rest. 
 Ceaselessly, for many months, he had been working 
 without allowing himself time for any leisure or 
 repose other than was barely sufficient to sustain 
 energy ; the result was that the state of his health 
 was such as to give great anxiety to his hiends. 
 
 In consideration of this state of things, the Execu- 
 tive Committee agreed to delay the contest until after 
 Easter, and to urge Sir Morton Peto not to vacate 
 his seat until then.
 
 1868.] STANDS FOB BBISTOL. 255 
 
 Mr. George Thomas, the chamnan of Mr. Morley's 
 committee, was a man who had all his life been a 
 noble champion of every good cause, and was an 
 experienced and A^eteran reformer. Associated with 
 him were men, good and true, who would carefully 
 guard Mr. Morley's character, and jealously protect 
 him from everything which might give uneasiness 
 in the retrospect. 
 
 Throughout the whole of his candidature for 
 Bristol (as, indeed, for that of Nottingham also), Mr. 
 Morley was greatly indebted to his private secretary, 
 Mr. E. S. Pryce, for his indefatigable services, and 
 for his skill and talent in acting for him during 
 the whole time of his absence abroad, no less 
 than when he was in the heat of the contest. 
 
 Mr. Morley gave the most positive instructions to 
 the committee as to expenditure, and stated that 
 rather than spend one farthing in bribery of any sort, 
 he would prefer to lose the election. He appointed 
 a gentleman in whom he had confidence (Mr. W. 
 Sommerville), a private friend, to remain at Bristol 
 during the v/hole time the election was pending, in 
 order to discountenance and prevent any action, on 
 committees or elsewhere, that could by any possibility 
 be regarded as unjustifiable, and, in the event of dis- 
 covering anything of the kind, to report at once to 
 Mr. Morley. 
 
 Mr. Morley's address to the electors was written 
 while he was at Nice, and was sent to Mr. Pryce to 
 place in the hands of the committee when any sudden
 
 256 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XV. 
 
 or unlooked-for event should render its publication 
 necessary. 
 
 As soon as it became known that Mr. Morley had 
 promised to stand for Bristol whenever a vacancy 
 should occur, great regret was expressed by the 
 Liberals of Nottingham, and every inducement 'was 
 urged upon him to reverse his decision, or to serve 
 only during the continuance of the Parliament then 
 sitting, and to hold himself free to accept his return 
 for Nottingham at the General Election. 
 
 "We see, now that there is a possibility of losing 
 you," wrote one, "that we have been too delicate; 
 but we did not wish to say anything to you until we 
 had won the seat, and had the pride of offering it for 
 your acceptance." 
 
 Letters poured in upon him from old friends and 
 from total strangers, some urging him to abandon all 
 thought of Bristol, some pleading, for their own 
 honour and the honour of their town, that he would 
 still think favourably of Nottingham. Among his 
 correspondents was Mr. Mundella, who wrote : — 
 
 I must tell you — and I feel the deep responsibility of what I ana saying 
 — that I believe Nottingham would return jou most honourably and 
 triumphantly at the nest General Election. I have never met with a 
 single dissentient in the Liberal ranks to this opinion, and I beheve some 
 Conservatives will undoubtedly vote for you. That there is a general and 
 enthusiastic desire in Nottingham to return you to Parliament, I can 
 vouch without resei-ve or hesitation. 
 
 Dr. Baton wrote : —
 
 1808.] ADDEESS TO ELECTORS. 257 
 
 This resolve is not tlie sentiment of the Radical section of the Liberal 
 party, but of the whole party. . . . There is a most earnest spirit at work 
 amongst the people generally in this matter, a spontaneous enthusiasm 
 breaking out on all sides. There is a chivalry in the feeling which is 
 really noble. Meetings in the various wards have been, and are being, 
 held, which will be speedily followed by a monster meeting in the Exhi- 
 bition Building, in which the whole Liberal i^arty will publicly pronounce 
 and iiledge itself. Mox-e practical work is being done. The new popular 
 constituency is being canvassed. "Working men are raising subscriptions 
 among themselves to contribute to the expenses of your election, some 
 giving threepence, and others sixpence a week. . . . 
 
 But it was impossible that Mr. Moiiey could retrace 
 the steps he had taken, even had he wished to do so ; 
 and, in the meantime, Bristol was preparing for the 
 coming conflict. 
 
 In his address to the electors, Mr. Morley ex- 
 pressed his views clearly and emphatically on some 
 of the great questions of the time. He said : — 
 
 I accept the Eeform Bill of 18G7 as a wise concession of the franchise 
 to large numbers of our fellow-countrymen, from whom it had been too 
 long withheld, and I do not so distrust the character of Englishmen as to 
 fear that they will employ their newly acquired privileges for selfish and 
 unworthy purposes. I desire to abolish the vexatious and useless rate- 
 paying clauses, to obtain an enlarged scheme of redistribution of seats in 
 correspondence with the just demands of our population ; and now, more 
 than ever, to prevent the intimidation and corruption of the electors by 
 the protection of the ballot. 
 
 I am in favour of entire freedom in religious conviction and worship. 
 I believe that dependence on the State is a source of weakness to religious 
 men, and a hindrance and obstruction to their efforts for the good of 
 others, which efforts, of whatever denomination, I would desire to see 
 strengthened and largely increased. The abolition of comi)ulsory Church 
 rates, and the complete opening to the entire nation of all endowments, 
 which can be proved to be national, in connection with our universities 
 and public schools, are measures that I would heartily support. 
 
 18
 
 258 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. XV, 
 
 Ou the subject of education, it aj)pear3 necessary that our present 
 sj'stem should be supplemented, especially in certain districts, by the 
 establishment of schools, in which secular instruction should be given ; 
 and, without resort to compulsion, increased facilities and inducements be 
 presented for the education of the children of the poorest and neglected 
 classes. 
 
 I am deeply interested in the amendment of the laws of bankruptcy, in 
 accordance with the recommendations of the Chambers of Commerce 
 throughout the kingdom ; and to any legislation on this subject I would 
 endeavour to bring the advantage of a long and extensive experience in 
 commerce. 
 
 On Tuesday, April 16tli, Mr. Moiiey introduced 
 himself to the electors, by attending the inaugural 
 meeting of the Bristol Operatives' Liberal Associa- 
 tion. 
 
 A large deputation of the Liberal Association met 
 him at the station, and, in an open carriage, escorted 
 by an imposing procession of members of the twelve 
 district branches of the Operatives' Association, mem- 
 bers of trade societies, and others, and accompanied 
 by bands of music, he proceeded, amid loud cheers all 
 along the route, to Colston Hall, where between five 
 and six thousand persons gave him an enthusiastic 
 reception, renewed wdth tenfold vehemence when he 
 rose to speak. 
 
 He said that he stood there as the representative 
 of active allegiance to Liberal principles ; that he 
 had not the slightest personal ambition to become 
 a Member of Parliament ; and that if there was in 
 the mind of any one in the room the slightest con- 
 ception that any other name than his own would 
 more thoroughly unite them, he would just as gladly
 
 1868.] A TELLING SPEECH. 259 
 
 to-moiTOW join their ranks. His ambition was to 
 help them to defeat Toryism. He had been born 
 and bred in the atmosphere of Liberal principles, 
 and his conscience and his judgment had settled into 
 deep convictions what were at first mere impressions. 
 He undertook to prove, that during a period as long 
 as the oldest man in the room could recollect, the 
 Tory party had been the steady opponents of the 
 rights of the people ; and he ran over a list of some 
 of the great movements in support of his statement. 
 He instanced particularly the Slave Trade Abolition, 
 the Test and Corporation Acts, Jewish Disabilities, 
 Eoman Catholic Disabilities, the Corn Laws, Penny 
 Postage, the Abolition of the Newspaper Stamp and 
 the Paper Duty, all of which w^ere persistently 
 opposed by the Tories. 
 
 In speaking of himself, he said : — 
 
 I have been all my life eonuectetl with trade. I was introcliiced at a 
 very early i^eriod into business, and I have, for the last thirty or thirtj'- 
 five years, been, I may say without exaggeration, largely connected with 
 the trade of this country. I hope I am not disposed unduly to magnify 
 my office, but I believe you will find in the perseverance, the industrj-, 
 the intelligence, and, I add unhesitatingly, the integrity which, for the 
 most pai't, distinguishes the trading and mercantile classes of England, 
 not only the true secret of England's greatness, but the best guarantee 
 for the security and extension of our liberties. 
 
 Referring to the coming contest, he said his life 
 had been essentially a domestic life, and it would be 
 a great sacrifice to him to gain a seat in Parliament, 
 though he would say with equal distinctness that he 
 should consider it an honour and a privilege to be
 
 260 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XV. 
 
 sent to the House of Commons by the city of Bristol. 
 He trusted that the contest would be one between 
 what he held to be Liberal as o^^posed to Tory and 
 Conservative principles, and that it would be a fair 
 stand-np fight between the two. 
 
 One part of his speech gave rise to a great deal of 
 controversy afterwards, among certain of the Dis- 
 senters. Referring to the position he held in connec- 
 tion with the Liberation Society, he said " he believed 
 he was charged with being an enemy to religion be- 
 cause he happened to be a Nonconformist. He did 
 not yield to any Churchman in Bristol in his desire 
 to see the people religious. But he had no faith in 
 attempting, by favour on the one hand, or by pains 
 and penalties on the other, to force religion upon the 
 people. So far h'om being an enemy to any organiza- 
 tion that, in the sight of God and with a pure motive ^ 
 was trying to lead the people up to a better life, there 
 was not a man in Bristol more anxious, more ready, 
 or more accustomed to render hel^^, whatever the 
 denomination was, than he. He did not mean ever 
 to be sent into the House of Commons merely as a 
 Dissenter. If he w^ent, it w^ould be as an English 
 citizen wdio sympathized with every measure that 
 would bear, not on the happiness of a class, but on 
 the happiness and well-being of the people. It was 
 an utter misrepresentation to suppose that, because 
 he had decided views as to the right province of the 
 civil government in matters of religion, that, therefore, 
 he would lift up a finger to injure any institution that
 
 18G8.J SIB MORTON PETO. 2G1 
 
 "svas of right principles and had an earnest aim, and 
 that 2:)roved itself to he a hlessing to the people." 
 
 In the course of his speech he made a graceful 
 allusion to Sir Morton Peto. He expressed his deep 
 regret at the necessity for the election, and added : 
 " It was nothing hut a testimony to the respect and 
 affection which he felt for an old and valued friend, 
 when he sa.id he deeply regretted that England 
 should lose such services as his." 
 
 One who would have gladly taken a leading part 
 in that day's proceedings, Mr. Henry 0. Wills, had 
 just heen stricken down with sudden and alarming 
 illness. In deploring his ahsence, Mr. Moiiey spoke 
 of him as " a man whom he had known since he was 
 a child ; a man whom he had honoured and loved for 
 his sincerity, his true principles, and his unflinching 
 integrity on all public matters." 
 
 Loud and prolonged applause followed the conclu- 
 sion of Mr. Morley's speech. He had made an 
 impression uj^on the Liberals of Bristol, and espe- 
 cially upon the working men, that was to bear fi'uit. 
 Perhaps there w^as never a more simple, honest, and 
 straightforward speech made in all the annals of 
 electioneering. He went straight to each point, and 
 was earnest in all that he said, quite regardless of 
 what effect his words might have. 
 
 On the 21st of April, Sir Morton Peto resigned his 
 seat by accepting the Stewardship of tbe Manor of 
 Northstead, and a new writ was ordered in the 
 House of Commons on the following evening. As
 
 262 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. XV. 
 
 soon as the vacancy was actually announced, Bristol 
 was thrown into a fever of excitement. The nomi- 
 nation was fixed for the 28th, and the intervening 
 days were full of labour. The candidates addressed 
 their supporters in three or four different quarters of 
 the city, in the course of each day. The walls and 
 hoardings were insufficient to hold the posters that 
 teemed from the press. 
 
 The day of the nomination was one of unusual 
 uproar and excitement. Early in the morning, the 
 holders of tickets took their seats upon the "leads " 
 of the Exchange, despite a drizzling rain, and when 
 the doors were open, those on the leads cried, "Here 
 comes Bristol ! " and in rushed a foaming, roaring, 
 leaping torrent of humanity. 
 
 When the candidates appeared on the hustings, 
 the scene was indescribable. The nomination was 
 carried out in dumb show, amid roaring and yelling, 
 the reckless throwing of rotten eggs and oranges, 
 and the scattering of coloured powders. 
 
 The show of hands was declared in favour of Mr. 
 Morley, whereupon a poll was demanded by Mr. 
 Miles, his opponent, and on the following morning 
 the polling commenced. 
 
 Hour by hour, from nine till four, the ]Dolling 
 showed, according to Liberal as well as Conserva- 
 tive statements, a majority for Mr. Miles, and, at 
 the close of the poll, the numbers stood : For Mr. 
 Miles, 5,173 ; for Mr. Morley, 4,977. Majority for 
 Mr. Miles, 196.
 
 1868.] A DISAPPOINTMENT. 263 
 
 It was a grievous disappoiiitinent, no less to the 
 Liberals of Bristol than to Mr. Moiiey personally. 
 Nevertheless, much had been gained. His frankness 
 of speech, his absolute fearlessness, his upright and 
 manly bearing throughout, had won for him not only 
 the esteem of his party, but of many outside the 
 Liberal constituency. 
 
 From the mass of correspondence which followed 
 the loss of the election, we append two brief extracts. 
 Mr. David Thomas, of Gotham, wrote : — 
 
 You can hardly be fully awai'e how bitterly we felt our disappointment, 
 from personal feeHng for you, as well as on political grounds. In hundreds 
 of Christian homes in this city there was a grief felt as of bereavement. 
 
 Dr. Gotch, on behalf of the Baptist ministers of 
 Bristol, wrote : — • 
 
 Jane 2, 18G8. 
 One good result has been gained. . . . Improper expenditure of money 
 has received a check ; and in that particular the whole Liberal party here 
 is under great obligation to you. 
 
 In thanking, by means of a lithographed letter, the 
 4,977 electors who had recorded their votes in his 
 favour, Mr. Morley expressed the hope that the gross 
 and illegal acts of his opponents might be exposed, in 
 order that something might be done to check prac- 
 tices utterly subversive of fair play, and which, if 
 submitted to, would render all appeal to intelligence, 
 conviction, or political principle, utterly futile. He 
 reminded them that the principles on behalf of 
 which they had been banded together, were eternal,
 
 2G4 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. XV. 
 
 and that the best reward for contmued fidehty to 
 them would be in then' ultimate triumph, which he 
 felt satisfied could not be long delayed. 
 
 With the defeat at Bristol, the hopes of the electors 
 at Nottingham revived, and on the 11th of May, a 
 great meeting was held in the Exhibition Building, 
 when it was resolved to nominate Mr. Samuel Morley 
 as one of the candidates to 'represent Nottingham in 
 Parliament at the next General Election. Thousands 
 were present, and the meeting was unanimous with 
 the exception of one voice. 
 
 Meanwhile the hope that Mr. Morley had ex- 
 pressed to the electors of Bristol, that "the gross 
 and illegal acts of his opponents might be exposed," 
 was in course of fulfilment. In June, Mr. Miles was 
 unseated on petition, and Mr. Morley again appeared 
 as a candidate for the suffrages of the men of Bristol. 
 Immediately on the decision of the election com- 
 mittee becoming known, the Liberals of Nottingham 
 renewed their entreaties to Mr. Morley to stand for 
 that town. His final decision was given in these 
 words : — 
 
 Mr. Samuel Morley to Mr. Thomas Worth. 
 
 London, June 29, 18G8, 
 Dear Sir, — The time has arrived when it seems absokitely necessary 
 that I should communicate with you, as the chairman of the committee 
 which has been formed to promote my return as a Member of ParHament 
 for Nottingham. 
 
 You are fully aware that this committee has originated without any 
 suggestion, directly or indirectly, from myself, and I have abstained 
 hitherto from any definite communication respecting it, from a desire not
 
 1868.] DECLINES TO STAXD FOB NOTTINGHAM. 205 
 
 prematurely, ami, therefore, imuecessarily, to grieve the minds and dis- 
 com-age the political earnestness of those who were giving me such 
 unmistakable tokens of then- confidence and esteem. It would be wrong, 
 however, for me longer to maintain a silence which is, in many waj's, 
 embarrassing and may jirove detrimental to the success of Liberal prin- 
 ciples. I am compelled, therefore, to say, distinctly and openly, what I 
 have already intimated as probable to some private friends, that, while 
 I shall always be bound bj' many ties of personal and commercial asso- 
 ciation to the town of Nottingham, and shall ever take the liveliest 
 interest in its prosperitj-, it is impossible that I could consent to I'epre- 
 seut it in ParHament. 
 
 My doing so would be certain to revive recollections, and would, in all 
 probabiUty, lead to a repetition of scenes through which I passed three 
 years ago, which (while I am conscious of my own integrity) are the 
 most painful experiences of my political life ; and I desire to be free 
 from the tui'bulent associations of party politics in my future intercourse 
 with the good old town. 
 
 As this is my final and absolute determination, and is not dependent 
 on the result of the contest at Bristol, on which I am entering, I ask you 
 to communicate the contents of this letter to the members of the com- 
 mittee and their sui^porters, and to beg of them to abstain from any 
 farther efforts on my behalf. 
 
 It has cost me, I assure you, no little pain, and is the result of a long 
 conflict between feeling and judgment, to make this communication, 
 from the sincere respect I entertain for those to whom it is made. 
 I am, dear Su*, 
 
 Yours very faithfully, 
 
 Samuel Morley. 
 
 Mr. Morley's popnlarit}^ in Bristol, especially among 
 the working classes, was so extraordinary that it is 
 charitable to assume it was misunderstood by his 
 opponents. Whether this were so or not, they re- 
 sorted to measures which were highly discreditable 
 in order to blast his fair fame and damage his per- 
 sonal reputation. These efforts, instead of having the
 
 2G6 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XV. 
 
 effect they were designed to produce, acted altogether 
 in the opposite direction. 
 
 One incident may be recorded here : "In presenting 
 himself to the electors, Mr. Morley, in the com'se of 
 his speech, introduced the name of a well-known 
 official of the opposite party in Bristol, and connected 
 it with a very ugly disclosure. The person men- 
 tioned had written to Sir Robert Clifton's agent at 
 Nottingham asking, not what were the views of Mr. 
 Morley, the policy he advocated, and so forth, in 
 order that, as intelligent men, they might discuss 
 them ; but ' Can you tell me anything damaging to 
 Morley' s character, that we may make use of at the 
 approaching election ? ' This letter met the fate it 
 merited. Disdaining to treat it as confidential, or 
 in any way privileged, the gentleman to whom it was 
 addressed took it straightway to Mr. Morley, politi- 
 cally opposed though they were, and, having shown 
 it to him, offered to go to Bristol and to tell the 
 people there what was his answer. Mr. Morley 
 assured the Nottingham agent that such trouble on 
 his part would be unnecessary, and he therefore 
 declined the ofi'er with thanks ; but he mentioned 
 the facts publicly, in order, as he said, ' to show the 
 infamous method resorted to, to damage him in the 
 estimation of the Bristol public.'" 
 
 Mr. Morley 's candidature was prematurely closed 
 — partly in consequence of the intensely excited state 
 of public feeling in Bristol, but more particularly 
 owi]2g to the fact that the rapidly expiring Parliament
 
 1868.J LETTEB FEOM MB. GOLDWIN SMITH. 267 
 
 would be followed by a General Election after the 
 recess, and then, in conjunction with the veteran 
 Member, the Hon. F. H. F. Berkeley, Mr. Morley 
 determined to renew operations. 
 
 In the meantime he was concerned, not so much 
 about his own election, as in turning the recent ex- 
 tension of the suffrage to good account throughout 
 the country. He felt that " if only a dozen men, 
 competent, and instructed in political thought, know- 
 ing what it was that they wanted, and honestly 
 believing every word they said, could be got into the 
 House, it would improve its temper, and would 
 increase, by far more than tenfold, its efficiency as a 
 criticizing and deliberative body." 
 
 It was this that made him spare neither time nor 
 money to promote the return of men in whom he had 
 confidence. 
 
 One instance of the way in which he went to work 
 may be cited here : — 
 
 Mr. Goldwin Smith to Mr. Samuel Morley. 
 
 Beading, June 20, 18G8. 
 My dear Mr. Morley, — Since oiu- last meeting I have been informed, 
 through a channel which I have no doubt is authentic, that one object of 
 yoiu- visit to Oxford was to ascertain, by inquiry among my friends there, 
 whether the prospect of being returned to Parliament, without incurring 
 the usual expenses, would induce me to remain in this country and be- 
 come a candidate for a seat in the House of Commons ; and that, in that 
 case, you declared yourself ready to afford assistance to a most luimificent 
 extent. This information at once explains, and is confirmed, by, a 
 passage in the letter which you wrote to Rogers,'''- and which he handed on 
 
 Prof. J. E. Thorold Eogers, M.P.
 
 2G8 , SAMUEL MOIiLEY. [Chap. XV. 
 
 to 1118, though the passage was couched in terms of such studious dehcacy 
 that I felt doubtful of your meauing at the tiiue. You now know mj' 
 position, and are aware that I should not feci at liberty to take advantage 
 of your generosity. I am untrained, and, as I believe, unfitted for par- 
 liamentary life ; I should be a mute in the House of Commons, and it 
 would be wrong to allow a seat, at the command of the decided Liberal 
 party, to be wasted on me at such a crisis as this. But your public spirit 
 demands, not only the tribute of my admiration and gratitude, but the 
 best practical response which it is in my power to make. I propose, 
 therefore, to defer my departure from this country till after the elections, 
 which it now seems certain will take place before the end of this j'ear, 
 and, in the meantime, to lend the aid of my pen — the only aid which a 
 mere student can lend — to you and the rest of my friends in preparing 
 for the impending struggle. When that struggle is over, I shall feel at 
 liberty to carry into effect my plan of going to America — a plan formed 
 long ago, though academical and domestic ties have hitherto precluded 
 its execution, and formed, I hope, not without reference to a student's 
 duty. 
 
 Believe me, 
 
 Very sincerely and gratefully yours, 
 
 GoLDWiN Smith. 
 
 To many Liberal candidates, who could not other- 
 wise have borne the cost of contested elections, Mr. 
 Morley gave the most generous assistance. He was 
 especially anxious to see a number of representative 
 working men in Parliament, and in a great many 
 instances he, at his own personal charges and by his 
 own personal influence, enabled labour candidates to 
 go to the poll. Moreover, he contributed largely to 
 the Reform League, and a receipt for .£1,900 signed, 
 in December, 1868, by Mr. George Howell, the able 
 and zealous secretary, lies before the present writer 
 as one of the witnesses to his liberality. He gave his 
 money to the League, as he distinctly said, " specifi-
 
 18C8.] A BAILWAY ACCIDENT. 269 
 
 cally to win a number of seats from the Tories ; " and 
 it may be mentioned here that, ]3artly as a result of 
 the deputations of two each to eighty-five boroughs, 
 covering England and Wales, of the constant service 
 of twenty-seven lecturers and speakers, of the 240 
 public meetings held, and printed matter circu- 
 lated, no fewer than thirty Conservatives were dis- 
 lodged from their old strongholds at the General 
 Election. 
 
 In a journey to Scotland, in August of this year, 
 Mr. Morley escaped a terrible accident. He thus 
 refers to it in a letter to Dr. J. H. Wilson, written 
 at Loch Inver, where three of his sons, with Mr. 
 Hargrove, were with a vacation reading party. He 
 says : — ■ 
 
 I had travelled to Chester on the Thursday, by the next train 
 following the Irish mail on the day of the terrible accident. I had had 
 some thought of travelling by it, but the early hour prevented. How 
 deeply grievous to think of the sad fate of probably thirty persons, 
 luuTied in an instant into eternity, and yet what mercy in the conviction, 
 now I hope proved to be correct, that death was probably instantaneous ! 
 I believe it is now ascertained to be the fact that no sound was heard — 
 not a cry of any kind ! And there was I, dining the same day, with 
 several friends, at my brother-ia-law's, near Chester, rejoicing over my 
 preservation, as I have so often done before — for, in truth, I have never 
 experienced any approach to accident that I have been aware of, and, at 
 the same time — the same moment — thirty bodies lay in an unrecognizable 
 form, who left their homes that morning as full of life and anticipation as 
 myself. How true it is that ' in the midst of life we are in death ' ! I was, 
 indeed, glad to see my boys yesterday, after a terrible passage from 
 Glasgow. I never encountered anything like the passage round the Mull 
 of Cantire, with the full swell of the Atlantic down upon us. The boat, 
 the Clydesdale, did her duty nobly, and the captain is, I believe, a good
 
 270 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XV. 
 
 sailor; but we felt as if we were, indeed, going on with our lives in oui* 
 Lands. From eiglit to eleven on Monday niglit, I quite believe there was 
 in the mind of each one of the small number of jiassengers, a feeling of 
 anxiety, which found great and most welcome relief when we found our- 
 selves under shelter of the islands of Islay and Jura. There had been on 
 the previous two days, at Liverpool and elsewhere, a heavy storm, which 
 had involved sad loss of life. Again we have to sing of goodness and 
 mercy. I found my sons in excellent health and spirits — their work for 
 the present over, and the party of ten breaking up. The last detachment 
 left by the m.ail this morning at seven, and we are left alone. 
 
 When the time di-ew near for the election struggle to 
 commence (for Mr. Miles, his old opponent, who ^Yas 
 eligible to contest the seat in the new Parliament, 
 was again in the field), Mr. Morley, accompanied by 
 his son iVrnold, who was with him throughout this and 
 all his subsequent elections, went down to Bristol, 
 and, night after night, at the Colston Hall, addressed 
 thousands of his constituents on the questions of the 
 day, the chief of which was the Disestablishment of 
 the Irish Church. He regarded that measure, he said, 
 as necessary for the government of Ireland, and was 
 convinced that Protestantism would be strengthened 
 by the removal of that which was, in his opinion, a 
 memorial of past aggression and a menace to the 
 Irish nation. 
 
 Not even during election time did Mr. Morley lay 
 aside altogether his customary duties, and we find 
 him filling up the odd moments, wliich were not 
 dcA'oted to the public at large, in correspondence with 
 individuals. Many inquiries were addressed to him 
 by letter, and to each inquirer he sent liis usual short,
 
 1868.J LETTER TO HIS DAUGHTER. 271. 
 
 prompt, and explicit reply. Here is one, as a 
 specimen, relating to marriage with a deceased wife's 
 sister : — 
 
 Dear Sir, — I slioiiIcT support a Bill to legalize marriage with a deceased 
 wife's sister, not because I wish to ^ee such marriages increased, but 
 because I have no doubt that existing restrictions have led to much 
 immorality, especially among the poorer classes, and because I believe 
 marriage to be a civil contract, and therefore, though, individually, I 
 would wish to see it associated with a religious service, I am opposed to 
 any ecclesiastical interference with the freedom of those who hold a 
 different opinion. 
 
 Yery anxiously were Mr. Moiiey's letters to tlie 
 home circle awaited at Craven Lodge. The following 
 was written to his second daughter : — 
 
 Clifton, Oct. 30, 18G8. 
 
 Many thanks for your welcome notes ; they are always refreshing. 
 "What a blessed thing it is that, amidst all the turmoil and excitement 
 of the world, we can fall back on the love and affection of those who are 
 near and dear to us ! I remember once hearing a man I knew, refer to the 
 joy he felt when, under much suspicion of having done wrong in some 
 matter connected, I think, with his business, in the thought that he had 
 at home hearts that beat with love towards him, and entire confidence 
 in his integrity. 
 
 I am engaged here in an arduous conflict which is most honom'able, and 
 surrounded by circumstances which may be called flattering, but it is of 
 course exciting, andouv opponents are, of course, unscrupulous; but let us 
 be thankful they cannot touch character. AVe are really going on swim- 
 mingly, but, with old recollections, we are aiming not to be over-confident. 
 The returns are capital. Dear love to the dear ones at C. L. 
 
 Ever your loving father, 
 
 S. MORLEY, 
 
 On the 17th of Novemher, that useless and mis- 
 chievous ceremonial, satirised by pen and pencil 
 from Hogarth to Dickens, of nominating candidates
 
 272 SAMUEL MOB LEY. [Chap. XV. 
 
 publicly, by speeches at tlie liustings, was gone 
 through at the Bristol Exchange. An American 
 journalist, who chanced to pass that way, has thus 
 described the scene :— 
 
 " Monday morning (November 17th), at eight o'clock, 
 the rising sun struggling with a November fog, I went 
 past the Exchange, and found its whole front occupied 
 about ten deep with Tory roughs, each with a blue 
 card on his cap, in high good-humour at being first 
 on the ground, and ready to rush into the central 
 court, where the nominations were to be made, as 
 soon as the great doors were thrown oj^en. An im- 
 patient street full of annoyed Radicals was behind 
 them ; and the prospect of getting in or out, with a 
 whole coat, was not encouraging. Examining the 
 position, I judged it might be flanked, and soon dis- 
 covered a narrow side-passage, and, by paying a 
 shilling, I was allowed to go upon the roof overlooking 
 the hustings, a high staging of boards built up on one 
 side of the court, full of committeemen, officials, 
 reporters, candidates, and their hiends. The clock 
 struck nine ; the doors were opened, and there rushed 
 in a yelling, howling mob of 8,000 or 10,000 roughs — 
 so very rough that it was a perfect marvel wdiere they 
 could have come h'om. Three times as many blocked 
 up the streets outside. Then commenced one of 
 those extraordinary disj^lays of popular sovereignty, 
 majesty of the people, British Constitution, and so 
 on, of wdiich no other country can boast. The Sheriff 
 of the county read the proclamation and the writ.
 
 1868.] NOMINATION DAY. 273 
 
 He might as well have given them a passage out of 
 ^'Bobinson Crusoe." Gentlemen nominated candi- 
 dates and seconded them. They might have been 
 making bets on the next Derby. Reporters stood up 
 heroically, note-book in hand, leaning round the 
 pillars, and the speakers shouted into their ears, and 
 they guessed what was said or intended. Not one 
 single word was heard, one yard from the mouth of the 
 speaker. It was all one deafening confusion of roar, 
 howl, screech, yell, cat-calls, dog-whistles, every con- 
 ceivable sound, inside, mingled with rotten oranges, 
 raw potatoes, and other missiles, which hit several 
 of the speakers. Mr. Morley spoke, or was sup^^osed 
 to be speaking, behind a brown umbrella, held up to 
 shield him from the heavy fire. Mr. Miles stood up 
 and risked the shots, but was no more heard than 
 Mr. Morley. The Sheriff called for a show of hands 
 — or was suj^posed to do so — for the time had come 
 for that ceremony, and the Blues held up their hands 
 with the Blue committee, and the Reds with the Red 
 committee. As the Reds had the most roughs within 
 the enclosure, in spite of the Blues getting the start 
 of them, it was decided that the show of hands was 
 for the Liberals, and a poll was demanded for the 
 Tory candidate. This wonderful proceeding lasted 
 half an hour. It could have been sj)ent, with more 
 advantage, in the roar of Niagara. It was of no more 
 use than if each man had yelped, groaned, hissed, or 
 hurrahed in his own private domicile, but as they did 
 this sort of thing in the days of the Tudors, and, for 
 
 19
 
 274 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XV. 
 
 aiight I know, in the days of the Druids, they will 
 have to keep doing so. An advertisement in the 
 newspapers would have answered every purpose, but 
 even that was needless. Everybody knew there 
 would be an election on Tuesday. Why, then, get 
 together for a general yell, a big row, a pelting of the 
 candidates and each other, on Monday ? Yet this 
 stupid, farcical, red tape ceremony, — useless, expen- 
 sive, and dangerous as it was, — had to be carried out 
 all over the country." 
 
 " Nomination Day," with all its absurdities and 
 evils, was swept away by the Ballot Bill, three years 
 later, together with a great deal of bribery, corrup- 
 tion, intimidation, and other of the monstrous wrongs 
 that had prevailed during the continuance of the 
 open voting system. 
 
 In consequence of the illness of Mr. Berkeley, the 
 Liberal candidature had to be worked single-handed, 
 and arduous work it was. Tuesday, the 18th of 
 November, will be fresh in the memory of many a 
 Bristolian. At nine o'clock the polling began, and 
 with it the constitutional reign of terror. The streets 
 were gay with banners and mottoes ; pink ribbons, 
 stamped in gold, with the city arms, and " Berkeley 
 and Morley for ever ! " adorned the bonnets of women, 
 wdiile cards with the Union Jack in startling colours, 
 and the device — "Vote for Morley, the Champion 
 of Liberty, the Promoter of Commerce, the Sup- 
 porter of Charity, the Friend of the people," were 
 stuck in the hats of the men. Cartoons, repre-
 
 1868.] BETUBNED M.P. FOB BBISTOL. 275 
 
 senting Morley's workmen smiling at ^£2 10s. a week, 
 and Miles' s workmen starving at 9s. a week, were 
 scattered freely in the shape of handbills. The old 
 and once familiar scenes, of gangs of roughs parading 
 the streets ; of raids upon taverns ; of free fights ; of 
 broken windows and broken heads, need not be told 
 again. In the midst of the uproar, a stone was flung 
 at Mr. Morley, and narrowly missed its mark, or the 
 consequences would have been serious. This was the 
 signal for the Eeds to show their valour, and had it 
 been necessary to carry the election by physical force 
 alone, they were equal to the occasion. 
 
 But the polling went steadily on, with the result 
 that Mr. Morley defeated his old opponent, Mr. Miles, 
 by more than two thousand votes, the figures at the 
 closing of the poll being : Berkeley, 8,759 ; Morley, 
 8,714; Miles, 6,694. 
 
 Hurray ! Hoorah ! ! (wrote Dr. Binney on the evening of tlie same day). 
 All right. More than two thousand ahead. Glorious ! I ! We have had 
 three telegrams, each more and more encouraging. We waited anxiously 
 for the last. It has just come, and we are so glad. All possible congratu- 
 lations. This day twenty-two years ago you were down at Brighton 
 and Hove seeing us mamed ! We have been spending a Darby and 
 Joan anniversary together, and now we drink to the Member for Bristol^ 
 and shall go up and see his wife. 
 
 Ever, my dear friend, 
 
 Yours affectionately, 
 
 T. Binney. 
 
 The voting that day placed Mr. Morley in a posi- 
 tion unprecedented in relation to the Bristol consti- 
 tuency, and for seventeen years afterwards he was the
 
 276 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XV. 
 
 faithful representative in Parliament of the ancient 
 city. 
 
 Among the many who congratulated him was Mr. 
 Berkeley, who wrote : — " I think you have a right to 
 be proud of your new constituency. I know them 
 well. More good feeling and intelligence is not to he 
 met with in any city of England ; " and Mr, Goldwin 
 Smith, who said : — " I most heartily wish you joy, and 
 heartily rejoice myself that in that plutocratic as- 
 sembly— and it is just as plutocratic as ever — there 
 will be at least one rich man who has ke23t his heart 
 above his wealth." 
 
 When, in 1865, Mr. Morley was contesting Kot- 
 tingham, and again in 1868 at Bristol, he had made 
 certain statements and explanations with regard to 
 his views on the separation of Church and State, and 
 of his connection with the Liberation Society, which 
 gave some offence to out-and-out Liberationists, 
 among whom were many of his most intimate 
 friends. Some of his utterances in 1865 we have 
 already noticed. We must turn now to those of 
 1868. 
 
 While the election w^as pending, the following cor- 
 respondence took place : — • 
 
 Tlic Bev. Canon Glrdlcstone to Mr. Samuel Morley. 
 
 Canons House, Bristol, Oct. 2G, 1868. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I was obliged by your call at Canons House last Friday. 
 
 The explanations which you were then kind enough to give me, relieved 
 
 me from some doubt and difficulty as to the disi^osal of my vote at the 
 
 approaching election for Bristol, and enabled me, with satisfaction to my-
 
 1868.] LETTER FROM REV. CANON GIRDLESTONE. 277 
 
 self, to support, as I wislied, tlie Liberal cause in your person as well as 
 in that of Mr. Berkeley. 
 
 You are, I know, aware, from a letter of mine to the editor of the 
 Daily News, that I consider Mr. Gladstone's Irish Church policy as no 
 more than that which justice to Ireland demands, and as likely to 
 strengthen rather than endanger the Church of England, and that it was, 
 therefore, not on that account that I had doubts about my vote as regards 
 yourself. But I was aware that you are a member of the Liberation 
 Society. I therefore thought it not unlikely that you might be under the 
 influence of that active and, under all circumstances, unmitigated 
 hostility to the Church of England which has often been expressed by 
 members of that society. You have assured me, however, that this 
 neither is, nor ever has been, the case with you. If I understand you 
 rightly, you explained that, though in your judgment Establishment is not 
 conducive to the spread of true religion, and though public opinion is, as 
 you think, gradually coming over to this view, yet you have no wish to 
 see any attack made upon, or any scheme originated for, the Disestabhsh- 
 ment and Disendowment of the Clu;rch of England, which, equally with 
 myself, you believe has more to fear from within, and nothing from with- 
 out as long as it remains zealous, active, and true to its Protestant prin- 
 ciples, and so, by the blessing of God, retains its hold upon the affections 
 of the nation. 
 
 I shall give you my vote, then, in the full belief that if returned to the 
 House of Commons, you will promote all wise — both political and social — 
 reforms, specially those connected with the working classes, in whose 
 welfare and improvement I am deeply interested, and at the same time, 
 instead of uniting with any who are banded against the Church of Eng- 
 land, simply because it is established and endowed, will rather have 
 sympathy with those who would enable it to free itself from everything 
 which may impair its influence as a witness for the truth, or weaken its 
 hold on the love of the people. I have always held that the Church of 
 England has much more in common with most Protestant Dissenters, 
 than with either the Roman or Eastern Churches, iinion with which is, at 
 the present time, by some Churchmen so much desired. The Church of 
 England has, in my opinion, nothing to fear from Dissenters like j^our- 
 self ; much, on the other hand, from those of its own communion, who are 
 prepared to endow the Church of Rome in Ireland, and to promote, or 
 connive at, the mtroduction into the Church of England of Romish 
 doctrine and practice, and a poor imitation of Romish ritual.
 
 278 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XV. 
 
 If, in tliis note, I have put a wrong interpretation upon your conversa- 
 tion with me, you will, I am sure, be kind enough to undeceive me. If, 
 on the other hand, I have understood you correctly, you are at liberty to 
 make any use you please of this note. 
 
 Your faithful servant, 
 
 Edward Girdlestone. 
 
 Mr. Samuel Morley to the Bev. Canon Girdlestone. 
 
 Clifton Down Hotel, Oct. 29, 18G8. 
 Dear Sir, — The statements which you have been good enough to 
 place in writing, correctly describe my sentiments towards the Church of 
 Englaiid. They are not now newly adopted, but (as my friends know) I 
 have held them for many years. With respect to the Liberation Society, 
 my name has been on its committee, and I have contributed to its funds, 
 but I have not attended the meetings of the committee, nor do I take any 
 active part in the management. I belong to the society, because I think 
 that by directing public attention to the spiritual nature of the Church of 
 Christ, and its independence of all Acts of Parliament, the society has 
 done, and is doing, good service to the nation generally, and, not least, to 
 the Church of England itself, which I believe would be the better, and 
 not the worse, if released from its connection with the State. I have 
 thought many times that my want of concurrence in some of ' the 
 objects ' of the society, as defined in the prospectus, and my dislike of 
 extreme statements made by some of its supporters, render it doubtful if 
 I ought to belong to the society at all, but I am not accustomed to be 
 over-scrupulous in helping societies which, in the main, are doing good. I 
 am pleased to be assured that among my friends you, at least, will not 
 misunderstand me, and will favourably interpret what may appear to 
 some a formal inconsistency. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 Samuel Morley. 
 
 The publication of this correspondence produced a 
 great outcry, but it was drowned in the excitement 
 of the General Election. Shortly after that event, 
 and as an almost necessary sequel to his letter to
 
 1868.] THE LIBERATION SOCIETY. 279 
 
 Canon Girdlestone, Mr. Moiiey resigned his seat on 
 the Executive Committee of the Liberation Society. 
 His resignation was couched in the following terms : — • 
 
 Mr. Samuel Morleij to Mr. William Edwards, Treasurer of the Society 
 for ths Liberation of Beligion. 
 
 Wood Street, Dec. 3, 1868. 
 
 Dear Sir, — It will scarcely surprise you and some others of my friendg 
 who have noticed the proceedings connected with the Bristol election, 
 and the comments upon them by the public press, that I have arrived at 
 the conclusion that my name ought not any longer to appear on the list 
 of the Executive Committee of your society, and I must therefore ask 
 you to be good enough to withdraw it. 
 
 In doing so, permit me to assure you of my undiminished respect for 
 yourself and the other officers of the society, and my continued sense of 
 the value of the work in which the society is engaged, in indoctrinating 
 the public mind with sound views as to the true and separate functions of 
 the Church and the State, upholding the spiritual nature of the Church 
 of Christ, and promoting and stimulating the growth of a public opinion 
 which renders inevitable great changes in the relation of civil government 
 to the religious communities of the country. I am conscious, notwith- 
 standing some anonymous repi'esentations to the contrary, that I am, as 
 I have ever been, most deeply and sincerely anxious that we should 
 arrive at a time in the history of this country when the Churches of 
 Christ shall become disentangled from their injurious associations with 
 the State, and be free to carry on the good work of instructing and 
 directing the people. 
 
 It has been, however, a matter of difficulty with nie for a long time 
 past, as to how far I can accejit the third branch of the object of the 
 society, respecting the secularization of all national property held in trust 
 by the churches. It is not part of my ' object,' in supporting the societj', 
 to effect this secularization of property, and, althougli it may seem a 
 necessary condition of the ultimate separation of the Church and the 
 State that the property should be secularized, I am not prepared to pledge 
 myself to accept no settlement which does not involve secularization. I 
 have found, practically, that this proposal of secularization, while it is one 
 which I do not accept, is an offence to many who would otherwise be
 
 280 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XV, 
 
 disposed to entertain favourably the idea of separation, and becomes an 
 abundant source of misrepresentation which no explanations are 
 sufficient to avert. Hence I have been compelled, among those bj' whom 
 it was incumbent on me that I should not be misunderstood, to disclaim 
 bj-mpathy, in part, with the societ}', and have thus exposed myself to the 
 charge of inconsistency. 
 
 While in no degree disowning my principle as a conscientious Noncon- 
 formist, it has never been as a ' Nonconformist champion or authority,' 
 but as a staunch supporter of the party now led by Mr. Gladstone, and as 
 connected with commerce, that I have sought to enter Parliament ; and, 
 in representing the city of Bristol, I am constrained to regard questions 
 of religious liberty and equalitj', not from a limited or a denominational 
 standpoint, but in connection with a national policy and the widest 
 interest of the commonwealth. At iwesent, the work to do is to dis- 
 establish and disendow the Church of Ireland, and a scheme to accomplish 
 this is before Pai-liament and the country, which will receive my heartiest 
 support. I have no wish to see a similar scheme originated for the dis- 
 establishment and disendowment of the Church of England. The cir- 
 cumstances and conditions of the two are entirely different, and it is most 
 unwise to originate schemes which ai'e practically useless. It is my con- 
 viction that changes are impending, but they will come from within 
 rather than from without — from the awakened intelligence and conviction 
 of those whose religious life will no longer bear restraint and hindrance, 
 and who will demand changes, beneficial to themselves and to the nation. 
 It was so in the great disruption of the Church of Scotland ; it is so in 
 reference to the Church of Ireland. 
 
 The advocates of Establishments, themselves require, in the interest of 
 national policy and justice, that the Establishment in Ireland shall 
 cease ; and, to meet this exigency, they modify their theory of 
 Establishments. For us jirematurely to force on other changes, and 
 to define rigidly what they shall be and how they shall eventuate, appears 
 to me likely to retard the i)rogress of truth and right, which is dearer 
 than any increase of Dissent, and I am anxious to place myself in an 
 attitude, not of antagonism, but of friendship, with all truly devout 
 men by whose co-operation the religious future of England may be 
 determined. 
 
 The Societj' for the Liberation of Eeligion has been most successful, 
 by moderation of tone and earnestness, to appeal to the conscientious 
 judgment of our fellow-countrj'men in favour of the principles it
 
 1868.] LETTER FROM MR. J. CARVELL WILLIAMS. 281 
 
 advocates, and by assisting, rather than originating, scliemes for tlieir 
 application in Parliament ; and in this educational labour I hope to con- 
 tinue to give it my cordial support. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Youi-s very faithfullj', 
 
 S. MORLEY. 
 
 Mr. Moiiey's letter was submitted to the Executive 
 Committee, who repHed to the points he had raised 
 in relation to their policy, in the following letter : — 
 
 Mr. J. Carvell Williams to Mr. Samuel Morleij. 
 
 2, Sergeant's Inn, Fleet Street, Dec. 7, 18G8. 
 
 Dear Sir, — Your letter to the societj^'s treasurer, asking that your 
 name may be "withdrawn from the list of the Execiitive Committee, has 
 been submitted to the committee, who have accepted your resignation, 
 though not without surprise and regret at the occurrence which has 
 rendered it necessary. The committee do not feel called upon to offer 
 any remark on the view taken by yourself of your duty as a Member of 
 the House of Commons, except to disavow, as strongly as you do, any 
 desire to occupy a ' denominational standpoint,' or to act otherwise than 
 ' in connection with a national policy, and the widest interest of the 
 commonwealth.' 
 
 Neither is it, in their judgment, necessary to comment on the fact that, 
 w^hile heai'tily supporting the proposal to disendow the Irish Church, and 
 to seciilarize its revenues, you have no wish to see the same principle 
 applied in England. 
 
 They, however, feel it to be their duty to endeavour to remove the 
 erroneous impression respecting the society's proceedings which your 
 letter is calculated to produce. 
 
 They have no knowledge of the schemes for the disestablishment of the 
 English Church, to which you object as unwise and practically useless. 
 They have taken no step, and do not contemplate any step, which can 
 be described as prematurely forcing on other changes than that which 
 now chiefly engages public attention, or as being likely to retard the pro- 
 gress of truth and right. Their policy is, at this moment, what it has 
 been during the many years of your connection with the society. All the 
 parliamentary measures which they have hitherto sought to carry, whether
 
 282 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XV. 
 
 originated by themselves or by others, have, they beheve, had your con- 
 currence, and they venture to anticipate that future measures of the same 
 character will equally receive your support. In regard even to the future 
 disposal of Church property, the society has prepared no rigidly defined 
 or, indeed, any scheme. It has simply affirmed what is believed to be a 
 sound principle — a principle which it holds in common with the ablest 
 statesmen and writers who have devoted attention to the subject. 
 
 The committee have no intention of relaxing those strictly educational 
 efforts, the moderation and the success of which you acknowledge ; but the 
 fundamental purpose for which the society exists would be frustrated were 
 it to confine itself to the advocacy of its principles to the exclusion of 
 measures for the application of those principles in the work of practical 
 legislation. 
 
 They are, therefore, unable to concur in your suggestion that proposals 
 for legislative changes, in regard to the Established Churches, should 
 emanate from the members of those churches, whose views are necessarily 
 affected by the merely sectional requirements and feelings of the bodies 
 to which they belong. The responsibility involved in such changes is 
 shared by the whole community, and the advocates of voluntaryism 
 would not be acting either wisely or patriotically were they to waive the 
 right to participate in a work in which every citizen has a deep 
 interest. 
 
 The awakened intelligence and conviction to which you advert, as the 
 cause of the dissatisfaction existing within the English Establishment, 
 has, the committee believe, resulted in no small degree from the political 
 action, as well as the teaching, of those who are without, and there is 
 nothing in the character of passing events to indicate that they may with 
 safety abandon the idea of assisting to extricate both the Church and the 
 State from the accumulated difficulties resulting from their alUance. 
 
 In compliance with your request, publicity will be given to your letter, 
 and it will be accompanied by a copy of this repl}'. 
 
 On behalf of the committee, I am, dear Sir, 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 J. Carvell Williams. 
 
 Under the heading of "Mr. Morley's Defection," 
 this correspondence was threshed out in most of 
 the so-called "religious" newspapers, and, in many
 
 1868.] ''ME. MOBLETS defection:' 283 
 
 instances, with the bitterness that characterizes 
 some of those papers. Mr. Peter Bayne, in the 
 Chridian World, charged him with repudiating the 
 principle of a free Church in a free State, and 
 added : '' He repudiates this principle at a critical 
 moment — a moment when the signs of the times, 
 written by God's finger in facts and events as clearly 
 as when the lightnings of His presence flashed from 
 the smoke enveloping the Mount of Fire, impel men 
 to decide either for this principle or its opposite." 
 
 Under the heading of " Fainting Standard 
 Bearers," the Freeman pathetically mourned over 
 the loss of one of the leaders among voluntaries : 
 "A standard bearer who falls," it said, "may arouse 
 the anger of his troops to victory, but when he faints, 
 gives ground, yields more or less to the foe, all hearts 
 are but too apt to sink." 
 
 On the other hand, the Guardian, an influential 
 Church of England journal, pointed to the occurrence 
 as one which showed " the sobering effect of practical 
 life, and its responsibilities on broad and ambitious 
 views;" and, after stating that "the Society and 
 its friends are naturally not well pleased with 
 Mr. Morley," it added, "It is rather hard when one 
 of your leading committeemen gets into Parliament 
 for a great city like Bristol, to have him turn round 
 on you, and tell you that the connection with you 
 will not suit him any longer, and that, in fact, he 
 has thought you wrong in your chief practical end 
 for a long while."
 
 284 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. XV. 
 
 Other of the newspapers urged that, under the m- 
 fluence of a desire to conciUate, amiable in itself but 
 mischievous when it jeopardizes principle, Mr. Morley 
 had publicly taken a step which he would as openly 
 recall. But these writers did not know Samuel 
 Morley, and he was wise enough not to attempt to 
 enlighten them in a warfare of words. 
 
 In a letter to his son Arnold, he sets forth, in a 
 word, in the midst of other matters of private and 
 public interest, what his true position was, and 
 why he had sought to define it at this " critical 
 moment." 
 
 To Mr. Arnold Morley. 
 
 Craven Lodge, Dec. 13, 1868. 
 Dearest Arnold,— I expected that next week would be given Tip to the 
 debate whicli was to precede tlie rejection of tlie Ministry. But by Disraeli 
 at once acting on the verdict of the country, he has saved a great delay of 
 valuable time, and has entitled himself to the hearty acknowledgments 
 of the Liberal jiartj^ He really has some good points about him. I don't 
 know whether you have seen a correspondence between myself and the 
 Liberation Society. I refer to it only to add, that I have not in the least 
 degree changed my opinions, which are precisely what they were when I 
 joined the society ; but, in the prospect of taking part in the debates in 
 the House, I have felt it best to set myself right on a point connected 
 with the property of the Church which, except in the event of its becom- 
 ing as effete as the Irish Church, I maintain should be held as belonging 
 to the Church. I shall be glad to explain further when we meet. Much 
 love to the brothers and yourself. 
 
 Your loving father, 
 
 S. Morley.
 
 CHAPTEE XVI. 
 
 THE BUSINESS OF PHILANTHROPY. 
 
 Wealth — Supposed Effects of Business on Character — Particular Providence — 
 Eev. W. Pennefather — Miss Marsh — Sympathy — Catholicity — The Hartog 
 Scholarship — Wales — Mr. Henry llichard, M.P. — Education Agitation in 
 Wales — University College, Aberystwith — Encroachment of the Eugli«li 
 Language — South Wales English Congregational Society — Memorial College, 
 Brecon — Welsh Political Obligations — South Wales Registration Society — 
 Evictions — Congregational College, Bala — Occasional Magnificent Donations 
 —Scarcity of Givers — Humility — The Title of " Founder " — Financial 
 Reform Association — Inspiring Others to Give — Refusals — Beggars — De- 
 faulters — Poor Literary Men — George Cruikshank — Poor Ministers — " Name- 
 less Unremembered Acts." 
 
 Wealth, iu itself, has no moral attribute. It is not 
 money, but the love of money, which is the root of 
 all evil. The essential thing is, the relation between 
 wealth and the mind and character of its possessor. 
 To Mr. Morley, wealth was only a means to an end ; 
 he valued it only as it could be employed for noble 
 purposes ; he held it in trust for the good of others ; 
 he felt that it laid upon him the most binding obli- 
 gations, and that he was accountable not only for 
 making a right use of it, but the best use possible. 
 
 The distribution of his money was therefore the 
 main business of his life. It was a great responsi- 
 bility to have the management of such a business
 
 286 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 as his ; it was a far greater responsibility to have 
 the money that business brought him. 
 
 To accumulate it for its own sake was utterly 
 foreign to his thought and feeling ; to amass it for the 
 highest ends, and be neglectful as to its wise distri- 
 bution, was, in his view, worse than folly; to shirk the 
 responsibility, and make others the almoners of his 
 munificence, he regarded as being unfaithful to the 
 trust reposed in him by the One " who giveth power 
 to get wealth." 
 
 Mere giving, however enormous the amount be- 
 stowed, is, in itself, nothing, and may be worse than 
 nothing. It may be done selfishly, simply to gratify 
 an impulse ; it may be done j)ompously, simply to 
 gratify pride. As Lavater says, " The manner of 
 giving shows the character of the giver more than the 
 gift itself." 
 
 Therefore, when Mr. Morley found riches to increase, 
 he felt it to be a religious duty to make the disposal 
 of his money a matter of earnest and most careful 
 solicitude. There was placed in his hands a mighty 
 power for good or for evil, and he felt himself under 
 obligation to God and man to spare no jDains in using 
 it to the best advantage for the Church and the 
 world. 
 
 The Bev. Baldwin Brown wrote many things con- 
 cerning money-making and the influence of business 
 on character. In one of his books or sermons he 
 wrote : — 
 
 " The business of life has, without doubt, a harden-
 
 COBBESPONDENCE. 287 
 
 ing influence. The selfishness, the meanness, the 
 wickedness, which men have to encounter in their 
 daily round of duties, the pure worldliness which 
 reigns in the sphere where much of their life-task 
 lies, tend terrihly to mould round the spirit a thick 
 shell of indifference, through which the whispers of 
 light celestial voices and the touches of light celestial 
 fingers can find no way. Tell me, busy men, is the 
 ear as keen as it once was to the appeals of misery ? 
 Is the touch as fine to the maimed and bruised ones 
 who press by you in the throng, feeling feebly for the 
 virtue which once went forth from you, and took joy 
 in the effort to heal and to save ? Does life grow 
 larger, freer, nobler, more full of promise, more rich 
 in hope ? Or, does the wheel drag more wearily and 
 the spirit cleave closer to the dust ? " 
 
 Neither contact with the business of city life, nor 
 contact with the business of philanthropy, ever pro- 
 duced these effects on Mr. Morley. On the contrary, 
 it was proverbial among all who knew him well, that, 
 as the years went on, his character mellowed and 
 softened, his ear was keener, his touch was finer, his 
 life grew larger, as the boundaries of his life-task 
 widened. 
 
 The business of a philanthropist can only be per- 
 formed satisfactorily when it is done in a business-like 
 fashion. 
 
 Among the correspondence of Mr. Morley there is 
 a mass of letters, some hundreds in number yearly, 
 the burden of each being a cry for help. In course
 
 288 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. XYI. 
 
 of time it became possible for him to detect, almost 
 at a glance, the appeals that were likely to arouse 
 his sympathy, and, to a certain extent, the genuine- 
 ness of the need. 
 
 It is interesting to look tlii'ough these letters : they 
 are full of strange stories of thwarted lives, of ruined 
 fortunes, of conflict and failure in the battle of life ; 
 or of hope and aspiration, of a bright and successful 
 future, all hanging upon the question of a little im- 
 mediate help. 
 
 There lies before the present writer a packet of 
 such appeals ; each one was evidently read carefully 
 by Mr. Morley, and each bears in the left-hand to^^ 
 corner a note in his handwriting, brief and business- 
 like. The large majority bear the simple word " Yes," 
 indicating that a ready response has been given to 
 the appeal ; others are marked " litho," which means 
 that a lithograph letter of refusal should be sent ; 
 while on many there is an emphatic " No." On some 
 of the letters the words, " Inquire further," " Impos- 
 sible," " Sorry," " Unable," " Acknowledge," " Don't 
 know," "Apologise for delay," are indications to 
 his secretary how to reply ; others show the amounts 
 which have been sent in response to appeals for 
 money, the figures ^10, ^100, &c., standing as the 
 sole memorandum of the affair. It is not difficult to 
 conjure up some interesting scenes fi"om merely turn- 
 ing over this correspondence. There is a letter, for 
 instance, with a note in the corner in Mr. Morley's 
 handwriting: "Correct this. Meant entirely as a
 
 PABTIGULAB PBOVIDENCE. 289 
 
 personal gift." It is a letter from a poor minister 
 who has been calling Mr. Morley's attention to the 
 spiritual need of a neglected neighbourhood, and who 
 has only incidentally mentioned his own struggle with 
 grinding poverty. The response has been princely, 
 and it has been acknowledged with profound grati- 
 tude ; , but it is evident that it has never entered into 
 the thought of the poor minister that it was a habit of 
 Mr. Morley to attend first to the need of the labourer, 
 and then to inquire into his work. There is the outline 
 of a story worth the telling, as one imagines the joy in 
 the household, when the letter arrives, written h-om 
 Mr. Morley's brief instructions, " Meant entirely as a 
 personal gift." 
 
 Mr. Morley was often the means of confirming 
 the belief of his correspondents in the doctrine of a 
 particular Providence. He might have said, in the 
 language of the Patriarch Job, " The cause that I 
 knew not, I searched out," and when, as the result of 
 that search, he found good work languishing for want 
 of means, he would, unsolicited, send a contribution 
 adequate to meet the need. Over and over again, the 
 recipients of his bounty, receiving it just at the 
 moment when their want was deepest, have attri- 
 buted his "searching out of their cause " to the direct 
 interposition of the Almighty. 
 
 The following letters, from the well-known Mr. 
 and Mrs. Pennefather, of St. Jude's, in Islington, 
 taken almost at random fi'om a bundle, will serve as 
 illustrations : — 
 
 20
 
 290 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 The Rev. W. Pennc father to Mr. Samuel Morle/j. 
 
 Ridge House, Barnet, J^dy 10, 1867. 
 My dear Mr. Morley, — My dear wife and I bad been praying to tbo 
 Lord for belp, wben your kind letter, and its mnnificent donation, readied 
 11 f!. I bave not words wberewitb to tbank you, my beart is too fulb But 
 I can pray for you, and, wbile doing so, I can also bless my beavenly 
 Fatber, wbo, having seen our great need, bas sent us belp tbrougb your 
 willing bands. For twelve years we bave been led to care for ' the 
 fatherless,' and for seven years we bave souglit to train women for posts 
 of usefulness in the Cburcb of Christ. Some of tlieso agents are now 
 labouring in Syria and China in connection with Mrs. Thompson and 
 Mr. Taylor. Some are employed at home, and others are at work in 
 Africa. These institutions are not much known, though the Lord has 
 been pleased to put the mark of His approbation upon them. My wife 
 and I bave not means (by ourselves) to carry them on, but God bas given 
 ITS reason to trust Him, and though there are times when we are tempted 
 to be over-anxious, He has never failed us. As we do not confine our 
 female agents to work exclusively in connection with the Church of 
 England, our ' French Mission House ' does not receive much help from 
 members of the Church of England ; and, as I am a minister of the 
 Church of England, it is not to be expected that I should be largely aided 
 by Nonconformists. I ixiention these facts, because they account (in some 
 degree) for the great straits we are sometimes brought into. Just now 
 we are specially needing succour ; and your timely help has brought us 
 to our knees in thanksgiving to our gracious God and heavenly Father. 
 I feel sure, my dear Mr. Morley, that if you could see our daily schools 
 (where upwards of 700 children are taught the simple truths of the 
 Bible) your heart would rejoice. Many of these children are gathered 
 out of peculiarly neglected streets in the neighbourhood of ' Kingslaud 
 Gate.' The congregation attending St. Jude's Church are mostly 
 persons of very humble means, and in the Iron Room we have, tbank 
 God, a goodly company of the poor, wbo have ' nothing to pay ' for 
 their sittings. I know you would bless God for drawing such to bear of 
 a Saviom''s love. I am here for a few days, wbile moving into a new 
 home (70, Mildmay Park), not far from my old one. With our united 
 kindest regards to Mrs. Morley and your daughter, 
 Ever, with warmest gratitude, 
 
 Yours affectionately and obliged, 
 
 William Pennefather.
 
 LETTER FBOM MISS MARSH. 291 
 
 Mrs. Pennefather to Mr. Samuel Morley. 
 
 July 10, 18G7. 
 My dear Sir, — I am sure yon will allow me to <i(ltl a line of grateful 
 thanks to my husbaml's letter. Could you know how often we have been 
 on our knees to ask for this money, and how distinctly it has come at the 
 moment of urgent need, you would surely thank God that you have been 
 His chosen instrument to answer the cry of His poor children. Oh, how 
 we shall j)raise Him by and by, that He gave us a little ministry of love 
 to exercise, for His navie's salce, in this sorrowful world! (2 Cor. ix. 12.) 
 Believe me, my dear Sir, 
 
 Yours very gratefully, 
 
 C. Pennefather. 
 
 In tlie same strain is the following letter from Miss 
 Marsh : — 
 
 Miss Marsh to Mr. Samuel Morley. 
 
 Feltwell Eectory, Brandon, Norfolk. 
 My dear Mr. Morley, — How shall I ever thank you for your wonder- 
 ful goodness and kindness ? But indeed you must take back a part of 
 yom- princely promise, if it should press you, when the time comes. I 
 cannot say how your sympathy, as well as your noblest kindness, has 
 cheered and comforted me tipon my sick bed. It came like a voice from 
 heaven, our Father's voice, saying, ' Fear thou not, for I am with thee ; 
 . . . yea, I will keep thee (through one of My dearest, most honom-ed 
 servants).' Ever praying God to bless you a thousand-fold in that 
 generous heart and inu'se, as well as in your home and life and health 
 and, first and most of all, with yet more and more of the light of the 
 countenance of the altogether lovely One — our Saviour, our Kin", our 
 Friend — 
 
 Ever yoiu's most gratefully, 
 
 Catherine Marsh. 
 
 Mr. Morley' s benefactions partook of that higher 
 ministry, of giving Jdmself with his money. If lie 
 gave to societies,, he personally acquainted himself
 
 292 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 with their work, and stirred them up to greater diH- 
 gence ; if he assisted churches, he generally visited 
 those churches to express his personal interest in 
 their labours ; if he put his name upon a subscription 
 list, it was that he might stimulate the liberality of 
 others. He could not see evil without being moved 
 to check it ; he could not see suffering without seek- 
 ing to relieve it ; he could not see ignorance without 
 seeking to impart knowledge. The mere giving of 
 money was the least part of what he did. He spent 
 upon every cause he took up heartily — and that is 
 tantamount to saying he spent upon almost every 
 cause — time, thought, energy, and all those capa- 
 cities which make the real value of gifts. He took 
 infinite pains to select the right recipients of his 
 beneficence. He liked nothing better than to cheer 
 the heart and sweeten the life of some struggling 
 minister of religion, burdened with the sense of a 
 great duty solemnly imdertaken. He had a special 
 aptitude for discerning the societies most needing 
 assistance, and was often able to carry out ideas of 
 his own by means of agencies which others had 
 established. 
 
 He had a heart so large that it could not bear a 
 sense of unrelieved suffering, or permit struggling 
 merit to go unrewarded, or refuse help to men who 
 were doing any good work in the world, by whatever 
 name they chose to call themselves. 
 
 He was munificent to the Church as well as to Dis- 
 sent, and ecclesiastical dignitaries spoke as highly
 
 MAGNIFICENT DONATIONS. 293 
 
 of him as the humbler men he had helped in small 
 villages and cottage missions. 
 
 When the Hartog Scholarship was established, to 
 commemorate the early fame and brilliant scholastic 
 achievements of the Jewish Senior Wrangler, Mr. 
 Morley was among the first and most munificent 
 contributors, following in the steps of Sir Francis 
 Goldsmid and Baron Lionel de Eothschild. Hartog 
 was a contemporary at Cambridge with two of Mr. 
 Morley' s sons, and the object of the Scholarship is to 
 enable poor boys to proceed from the public elemen- 
 tary schools to the highest educational advantages in 
 the country. 
 
 Mr. Morley occasionally made magnificent dona- 
 tions, unprecedented in the history of philanthropy. 
 Thus, as we have seen, he aided the Home Mis- 
 sionary Society; he gave j£6,000 towards the Bicen- 
 tenary Memorial Hall, and .£5,000 towards the 
 purchase of Exeter Hall for the Young Men's 
 Christian Association. 
 
 One more of the series of large gifts may be 
 recorded here, and the story cannot be told better 
 than in the words of Mr. Henry Richard, M.P., who 
 was asked by the present writer kindly to furnish 
 an account of Mr. Morley's munificence to the insti- 
 tutions of Wales, and of Mr. Richard's personal 
 intimacy with him. The following narrative illus- 
 trates not only the tenacity with which Mr. Morley 
 clung to old hiendships, and confided in old and 
 trusty co-workers, l)ut also the persistency with
 
 294 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Cuap. XVI. 
 
 wliich he persevered in aiding any cause, or people, 
 wliose need he recognized : — 
 
 Mj^ acquaintance with Mr. Morley (says Mr. Piicliard) extended over 
 a period of about fifty years. I first met him at the Committee of the 
 Congregational Union. I have a distinct remembrance of travelhng with 
 him outside the coach — for there was no railway at that time — to attend 
 the autumnal meeting of the Union at Bristol in the year ISiO. Since 
 then I have been associated with him on many occasions, antl for many 
 objects, religious, educational, political, and philanthropic. But so, of 
 course, have many others. Any specialty that may attach to my re- 
 membrances of him wiU be in connection with his deep interest in, and 
 abounding hberality towards, my own country of Wales. 
 
 When I first came to London, fifty-seven years ago, Wales was prac- 
 tically much fiu-ther fi-om England than it is now. There was very little 
 intercom'se or active sympathy even between the Nonconformists of the 
 two countries. In the year 1844, 1 formed one of a deputation, sent by 
 the Congi-egational Union, to visit South Wales, to try to bring my 
 countrymen of the same faith and order in that part of the' Principality, 
 into nearer relation with their brethren in England. As one result of 
 that mission, I read a jpaper at the autumnal meeting of the Union, which 
 was held that year at Norwich, on the religious, poUtical, and social con- 
 dition of Wales, which was very kindly received, and which did some- 
 thing, I have reason to know, to engage the attention and enlist the 
 sympathies of Mr. Morley on behalf of my fatherland. Much personal 
 intercom'se with him on the same subject tended to deepen this friendly 
 impression, and, from that time to the day of his death, his heart never 
 cooled and his hberahty never was stinted, towards my countrymen. 
 Often after that, it was my pleasure and privilege to accompany him on 
 various visits of beneficence to Wales. 
 
 Indeed, there was a time when his friendly partiality to me led him to 
 attach an exaggerated value to my co-operation, and he fvould scarcely 
 consenc o go without me. In one of his letters to me, on which I dwell 
 now with melancholy pleasure, referring apparently to some suggestion 
 I had made that the j)resence of another gentleman would suj)ersede 
 the necessity of mine, he says : — ' My going to Brecon and Cardiff, &c., 
 
 depends on your also going. I shall be most glad to meet Mr. , but 
 
 I hold it to be very imi)ortant that you should be with us. I have
 
 MB. HENEY BICHABD, M.P. 2!)5 
 
 accepted each invitation on tlie understanding that you were to be with 
 me. I leave all arrangements to you, only trusting tliat we may do good 
 sei'vice by our visit.' 
 
 The first of these visits I can remember was in or about the year 1853. As 
 one fruit of the Nonconformist educational agitation, in which Mr. Morley 
 bore a very conspicuous part, arising out of Sh James Graham's Bill, an 
 important conference had been held at Llandovery, in South Wales, which 
 led to the formation of a ' South Wales Committee on Education,' and to 
 tlie establishment of a Normal College, first at Brecon, and then at Swan- 
 sea—a work in which ho had actively co-operated. This had given rise to 
 a considerable movement in favour of education in that part of the Princi- 
 pality. But it was thought that a new impulse might be given to the 
 movement if a visit were paid to some important places in Wales by 
 gentlemen known to be connected with the same work in England. 
 Accordingly a deputation, consisting of Mr. Morley, Mr. (now Sir) Edward 
 Baines, Mr. G. W. Alexander (a member of the Society of Friends, then a 
 very active and generous friend of education), and myself, held meetings 
 in different parts, to confer with Welsh friends as to the best mode of ex- 
 tending the work of education. The one I most distinctly remember was 
 a conference at Merthyr, which was well attended by a considerable 
 number of influential persons in that district, and which, I believe, ren- 
 dered valuable service to the cause it was sought to promote. 
 
 A few years later, there sjn'ang up an agitation in favom* of a college, 
 or university, for Wales. Dr. Nicholas, who was then the secretary and 
 active agent in that agitation, came to me, and begged me to accompany 
 him to Mr. Morley, with whom, it was supposed, I had some influence on 
 all matters relating to Wales. I consented with some reluctance, as my 
 own mind was at that time rather inclined in favour of a system of inter- 
 mediate education as the necessary prehminary to a collegiate institution. 
 But we went, and laid our case before Mr. Morley, and, after some careful 
 inciuiries on his part, he gladdened our licarts by promising to contribute 
 11,000 towards the enterprise. This was not all, for ho afterwards 
 gave divers sums to the University College at Aberystwith, 'amounting 
 altogether to another =£1,000. 
 
 In 18G0, 1 accompanied Mr. Morley to Wales in connection with another 
 important matter. The friends of religion in the Principality, especially 
 those connected with the voluntary churches, had begun to look with 
 some anxiety on the gradual encroachment which the English language 
 was making, especially in some of the largo towns and along the border-
 
 29G SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 laud botween the two couuLries. Many of my couutiymen, whose 
 attachment to their native tongue is a passion, looked with no complacency 
 upon this rolling foreign tide which threatened to swamp them. Some 
 of the older men, even among the ministers, were unwilling to recognize 
 the unwelcome fact, by providing religious services in the English lan- 
 guage for those invading Saxons. There were others, however, who felt 
 that there were interests higher than poetic patriotism, and that if they 
 did not make some efforts to Christianize the immigrants, tlicij might, in 
 process of time, if left uncared for, tend to paganize their own people. 
 
 A Conference was therefore called at Cardiff, in 1860, to which I had 
 the pleasure of accompanying Mr. Morley, to consider this whole question. 
 It was attended also by Mr. Wills of Bristol, Mr. Jupe of Mere, and 
 other English friends interested in the Principality. 
 
 Mr. Morley presided at this Conference, the issue of which was the 
 formation of a society which ultimately came to be called ' The South 
 Wales English Congregational Society.' For some years it diligently 
 pursued the work it was established to promote. But Mr. Morley, who 
 had taken the matter warmly to heart, was not satisfied with the rate at 
 which the work was proceeding. Therefore, in 18G7, he made the muni- 
 ficent offer to contribute £5,000 within the next three years towards the 
 erection of English chapels in those districts of South Wales where the 
 necessity for them most pressingly prevailed. But, as was his wont, the 
 offer was made subject to certain conditions calculated to stimulate local 
 effort. 
 
 The result was reported at the annual meeting of the Society, held at 
 Cardiff m 1870, which was to this effect — that in three years twenty-one 
 chapels had been built in six different counties with accommodation for 
 nearly 10,000 persons. For many years afterwards, Mr. Morley sub- 
 scribed ^50 to the Society ; altogether, as the fruit of the Cardiff Con- 
 ference in 18G0, upwards of fifty churches were formed, many of which 
 are still powerful centres of Christian labour. 
 
 But Mr. Morley did not confine his generous aid to South Wales. In 
 187G, a Conference was held at Chester to promote a similar movement in 
 North Wales, where the need of English places of worship was beginning 
 to be seriously felt. He entered into this project also with fervid interest. 
 He presided over the first annual meeting of the Congregational Union 
 for North Wales, and announced his intention to contribute .£1,000 to 
 the object in four annual instalments, and, at the expiration of that 
 time, he generously renewed his x)romise for the subsequent five years.
 
 NONCONFORMITY IN WALES. 297 
 
 He took part iu various meetiugs of tlie Uniou at Mokl, Chester, New- 
 town, and, Ehyl. 
 
 Tlie next occasion on which I went with Mr. Morley to Wales, was on 
 the laying of the foundation-stone of the Congregational Memorial 
 College at Brecon, in June, 1867 ; a ceremony which was performed by 
 him, while I had the honour of delivering one of the addresses on the 
 occasion, Mr. Morley contributed ^1,000 towards the building. Two 
 years later, I accompanied him again to the opening of the same insti- 
 tution. He presided at the inaugural meeting, which was attended 
 by loading Congregationalists from all parts of Wales, and to his pre- 
 vious liberal contribution to the college added ,£250 towards laying out 
 the grounds and furnishing residences for the Professors. This was not 
 all the service he rendered to Brecon College. When the Rev. John 
 Davies of Cardiff, and the Eev. John Thomas of Liverpool, undertook to 
 canvass London, and some of the larger towns in England, for pecimiary 
 aid towards the object, he wrote with his own hand a number of letters to 
 leading Nonconformists, earnestly commending the Welsh case to their 
 friendly consideration, which no doubt greatly contributed to the success 
 of their enterprise. 
 
 But this expedition of 18G9 was not confined to the opening of Brecon 
 College. We had a meeting also at Cardiff, iu connection with a new 
 English chapel about to be erected there, promoted by a most excellent 
 and energetic man, the Eev. John Davies, who had done much by his 
 indefatigable activity to give effect to Mr. Morley's offer of i'5,000 
 already described. I believe it was also on the same journey that I had 
 the pleasure of assisting him at the laying of the foundation-stone of a 
 new chapel at Mountaui Ash, a portion of what became afterwards my 
 own constituency. On both these occasions, as was his wont, he opened 
 largely his generous purse. But apart altogether from his pecuniary 
 contributions, his very presence, and the cordial and cheering words he 
 uttered, were felt to be an inspiration and an impulse. 
 
 I must refer to one other service which Mr. Morley helped to render to 
 Wales, in which I had the pleasure of co-operating with him. About 
 twenty-fivo years ago, some of us became a little dissatisfied with the 
 political apathy which, at that time, prevailed in the Principality. 
 Though the Welsh had become, in a large measure, a nation of Non- 
 conformists, they were represented in the House of Commons wholly by 
 Churchmen, many of them Tories of a very pronoimccd character, and 
 others rather weak-kneed and halting Liberals, so that, in all the conflicts
 
 298 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 going ou in Parliament on questions of religious freedom, the Welsli vote 
 was almost always predominantly adverse. 
 
 In the year 1862, an important Conference was held at Swansea, 
 attended by Mr. Miall, Mr. Carvell Williams, and myself, with a view to 
 stir up the Welsh people to a fuller sense of their political obligations. 
 Two or three years later, similar Conferences, attended by the same 
 deputation, were held in Cardiganshire and in various leading towns of 
 North Wales. At all these meetings, county committees were formed, to 
 prepare for future political action. These operations had done a good deal 
 to stimulate right feeling and to create something like a public spirit among 
 my countrymen. But we found, on inquiry, that much remained to be 
 done in the way of organization and practical activity. It was determined, 
 therefore, to call into existence an agency in South Wales to give form 
 and permanence to the salutary sentiment awakened. But there was con- 
 siderable difficulty in finding the means to accomplish this, as the wealthy 
 classes in Wales belonged, for the most part, to the opposite j)arty. In 
 this emergency, I turned again to Mr. Morley. He entered heartily into 
 our design and gave us almost carte hlanclw to draw upon his piu'se. 
 But what was, m some respects, of more importance, he attended, with 
 Mr. Edward Miall and myself, a Conference which was held at Carmarthen 
 to launch our movement, at which a South Wales Registration Society 
 was formed, and all arrangements were made for an active, practical 
 campaign. The effect of these measures became apparent at the next 
 election in 18G8, when the Welsh people generally arose, it might almost be 
 said for the first time, to assert their political independence, and returned a 
 larger number of Liberals to Parliament than they had ever done before, 
 including several Nonconformists. But some of them had to pay dearly 
 for it. That election was conducted by open voting, for the Ballot Act 
 was not yet passed. The defeated and exasperated Tory landlords 
 wreaked their vengeance on the people by turning scores of tenants, 
 farmers and others, from their holdings. I had the satisfaction of 
 dragging these culprits before the House of Commons and the country, 
 and to aid in raismg a considerable fund to succour the sufferers, to which 
 Mr. Morley was, as usual, one of the most generous contributors. Ho 
 was, indeed, deeply moved with indignation at such wanton abuse of 
 power, and at the meeting at Brecon, to which I have already referred, 
 he gave utterance to his feelings in the following language : — ' He felt 
 it to be a great privilege to take part in those i^roceedings, and to 
 meet Welshmen, and especially to meet them at the present time.
 
 COLLEGES IN WALES. 299 
 
 He did not want to obtrude subjects tliat were foreign to their great 
 object, but he wished to express sympathy with large numbers of Dis- 
 senters in Wales, wlio were suffering because they happened to have a 
 I)olitical conscience, and, what was more than that, because they chose to 
 act upon that conscience. Tliere were men being discharged from their 
 holdings, and exposed to danger in their worldly circumstances, because 
 they had chosen to trust the greatest leader the Liberals ever had, and had 
 voted as their consciences dictated. He should be forgiven making 
 reference to those men, because they were not there. But they were 
 suffering, and it would be pleasant for them to feel that there were men, 
 not connected with Wales, who sympathized with them. He referred to 
 the matter, also, because that was largely a representative meeting, and he 
 wanted to say to them, "If you will help yourselves, we will help you." If 
 tliese landlords were to be taught that property had its responsibilities as 
 well as its rights, they must all learn to speak out. He was j)repared to say 
 they could not do that more effectually than by every congregation making 
 a small collection. If a small collection were made in every congregation 
 in Wales on a certain day, they would raise a substantial sum, which 
 would justify an appeal to friends in England who had means and sym- 
 pathy. Those men would then be recouped the expenses that would be 
 utterly ignored by their landlords, and it would lead to stemming the 
 sinrit whicli would try to ride roughshod over the country. He hoped 
 every word he said wou.ld be reported, in order that the public outside 
 might know that men who lived hundreds of miles away could not hear 
 these things without holding out brotherly hands and saying, " We are 
 insulted in the insult offered to you." ' 
 
 I must refer to one other generous act of Mr. Morley towards my 
 countrymen. A year or two before his death, ho sent a communication 
 to the Committee of the Congregational College at Bala, suggesting that 
 they should remove their institution to Bangor and afliliate it with the 
 University College in that city. In his letter he said : ' Would it not be 
 advisable that you should move your college to Bangor, where your 
 students could have their secular education in the National College ? 
 Sincu the Universities of England are open to Nonconformists, and the 
 national colleges in Wales are established, I feel it to be of the first im- 
 portance to us, as Nonconformists, to have our denominational colleges 
 in closer union with them, and especially would I advocate this union in 
 your case. In case this were done,' he added, ' I propose to contribute 
 the sum of tl,500 towards the object.' This has accordingly been done.
 
 300 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 I feel I have given a very imperfect record of what Mr. Morley has 
 done for Wales. Among my correspondence, I have many letters 
 relating to the liberal help he rendered for several years towards the 
 establishment of a Welsh newsjiaper for the advocacy of sound poli- 
 tical and ecclesiastical principles. Another fact lives freshly in my 
 memory, which I believe is only a sample of innumerable private 
 benefactions of the same kind, known only to himself and the recipients. 
 There was an excellent man of the name of Griifiths, better known in 
 Wales by his nom de pluvie ' Goheloydd,' who was a very able contributor 
 to the Welsh press. Mr. Morley had met him occasionally at Welsh 
 meetings, and had learned the value of his services as a writer. He was 
 a man of delicate health, suffering severely from a chronic asthma. One 
 day he received a letter from Mr. Morley askuag to see him. When he 
 went, he put a cheque for i'lOO in his hand, and said, 'You cannot well 
 encounter the coming winter in this country. Take this and go for a few 
 months to Mentoue.' And it proved a most timely and accex)table 
 service. 
 
 Most of the facts just mentioned came within my personal knowledge. 
 But there are others well worthy of record which have been communi- 
 cated to mu by Welsh friends. The Eev. Dr. Thomas, of Liverpool, 
 who was in intimate relation with him on matters relating to the Princi- 
 pality, has reported to me several instances of his munificence to my 
 countrymen. In lbG4, he intimated to Dr. Thomas that he was prepared 
 to give jg 1,000 to some fifteen or twenty places in North Wales that 
 mostly needed help in reducing their debts, in sums of not less than ^50 
 and not more than A' 100. A list of such cases was submitted to him, and 
 the whole of the j)romised sum was forthwith expended. As I have 
 already said, he generally prescribed certain conditions by way of elicit- 
 ing the liberality of the congregations which he befriended. In this 
 instance Dr. Thomas says : ' To my certain knowledge, that jfil,000 called 
 forth at least .£5,000 more.' When the amount he first specified was 
 exhausted, it was found that there were three or four other cases, well 
 worthy of help, which were not covered by the £1,000. Dr. Thomas 
 made a special appeal on behalf of these, and received an additional i;2()0. 
 Again, in 1866, a number of churches in Denbighshire and Flintshire 
 were heavily burdened with debt. Their case was brought to the know- 
 ledge of Mr. Morley. He promised a sum equal to the interest of the 
 whole debt for two years, if the churches themselves made an effort to 
 cancel or reduce their debts. Towards this operation he contributed
 
 GBEAT GIVEES. 301 
 
 some £G00, and, as a consequence of bis challenge, £4,000 of the debts 
 were cleared. 
 
 The fame of bis liberality brought upon him, of course, numliorless 
 applications, not onlj'' of a public, but of a private and personal, character, 
 which must have often sorely tried his patience. He seldom turned 
 a deaf ear to such appeals, especially when they came from Christian 
 ministers. But be took pains, before giving relief, to ascertain something 
 as to the worthiness of the applicants. He frequently sent such applica- 
 tions to me, and a Welsh fi-iend writes to me : ' I am certain I should 
 be within the mark in saying that he has consulted me on a hundred 
 cases of individuals who applied to him for help in their difficulties. But 
 in every case, if I said it was deserving, he would send relief in siuns 
 varying from £o to .£25, and I have no doubt, in the com\se of the twenty- 
 five years that I knew him, the whole of such private benefactions 
 would amount to at least £2,000.' It was natural, of course, that he 
 should give most to those of his own denomination. But his liberality 
 was far from being confined to that body. He gave largely to churches 
 and persons of other communions. Cases have come within my know- 
 ledge where he has contributed generous donations towards objects 
 connected with the Chm'ch of England. 
 
 Mr. Moiiey's " occasional magnificent donations," 
 as we have called them, do not represent the best 
 aspects of his philanthropy. Neither do his endless 
 contributions to the funds of charitable institutions. 
 
 Lord Shaftesbury was wont to say that the great 
 givers of London could be enumerated on the fingers 
 of both hands, and that every subscription list was a 
 repetition of another. The secretary of one of the 
 largest distributing organizations in England once 
 declared that " the disappearance of two thousand 
 families fi-om the world would stop, or suspend, all 
 charitable work throughout Great Britain." Both of 
 these views are probably exaggerated, but it is a fact, 
 established beyond dispute, that the main burden of
 
 302 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 all charities is sustained, not by the general public, 
 but by a limited number of contributors, the great 
 proportion of them being far from wealthy ; and it is 
 equally a fact that among the millionaires, the chief 
 burden-bearer was Samuel Morley. 
 
 If the money that he expended in these occasional 
 large gifts, and in the innumerable subscription lists, 
 alone, had been concentrated on one object, it would 
 have defi'ayed the cost of some immortal monument, 
 that would have surpassed the princely gifts of Guy 
 and Alleyn, Bass and Crossley, Peabody and Hollo- 
 way. But it was never an ambition of his that any 
 one institution should be connected with his name 
 He felt that the great work of the world's ameliora- 
 tion and redemption must proceed from every di- 
 rection, and under every form of organization, and he 
 chose rather to help forward the schemes already in 
 progress than to originate one of his own. Nor was 
 it an ambition of his to be the "chief" of any 
 organizations, or to covet the highest places in them. 
 It was a matter of total indifference to him what 
 position he held in connection with the societies to 
 which he contributed — whether he were president, 
 vice-president, treasurer, or merely subscriber. He 
 would not give to a society until he had satisfied him- 
 self that it was worth supporting, and, once having 
 pledged himself to its support, he took equal interest 
 in it, whether he held office under its constitution 
 or not. 
 
 Nor did he attach the least importance to the title
 
 MB. MOBLEY AND LOBD SHAFTESBURY. 303 
 
 of " Founder." As a matter of fact he tuas tli(^ 
 founder of many important institutions, still flourish- 
 ing and likely to floinrish, which would not have come 
 into existence hut for his bountiful monetary help, 
 and the suj^port of his name and influence. But 
 others have claimed the honour of the foundership, 
 and Mr. Morley was far too single-minded to care. 
 No one knew this better than Lord Shaftesbury, 
 who on one occasion said to the present writer, when 
 spealdng upon the vanity that sometimes accompanies 
 really good Christian work, " There is that dear man, 
 Samuel Morley, content to be anything or nothing 
 so that good is being done. No one has ever trans- 
 gressed against him as I have, and I could tell you of 
 a hundred instances in which he did all the work and 
 I had all the honour." It was a perfectly true state- 
 ment, and, were it worth while, it could be shown 
 how often Mr. Morley pioneered Lord Shaftesbury's 
 labours and successes. Lord Shaftesbury felt that he 
 was perfectly safe in giving his name and influence to 
 any philanthropic cause in which Mr. Morley was 
 taking the initiative, or to which he was in any way 
 pledged. This position is exactly, although unin- 
 tentionally, defined by Miss Marsh in a letter urging 
 Mr. Morley to continue his trusteeship to a certain 
 fund : — " We cannot," she says, " do without you as 
 a trustee, dear and honoured hiend. You are the 
 sheet-anchor of it all. It was you who, God-taught, 
 first proposed the trust, and that is of vital im- 
 portance. Besides, I allured Lord Shaftesbury into
 
 304 . SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 it, by saying that I hoped and beheved that yon wonld 
 consent to be one of the trnstees, and perhaps yon do 
 not know what an exceeding regard and admiration 
 he has for yon." 
 
 This modesty, or diffidence, or contentment to be 
 in the backgronnd, ran throngh all he said and did. 
 To have heard him speak at the annnal meetings of 
 the Mission at the Lambeth Baths, no one would ever 
 have dreamed that that institution, by which hundreds 
 of working men benefited spiritually and temporarily, 
 for many years owed its entire support to himself. 
 No one, at the meetings over which he presided in 
 the month of May, at Exeter Hall and elsewhere, 
 would ever have guessed, from the way in which 
 he made light of his own share in the movements 
 they were met to discuss, and the honour he gave 
 to every other worker in the cause, that he was 
 the mainspring of the whole. Hundreds of poor 
 ministers and students have received some useful 
 volume which has aided them in their work, but have 
 never known to this day that it was the forethought 
 and liberality of Mr. Morley that caused them to 
 receive the gift for which, in all probability, they 
 have thanked the publishers. Everybody has heard 
 of the wonderful little penny copy of the New 
 Testament, published by the British and Foreign 
 Bible Society, but few people knew that it was pub- 
 lished at Mr. Morley's suggestion, and how liberally 
 he contributed to the funds. 
 
 His fidelity to any cause he espoused could always
 
 MILTON MOUNT COLLEGE. 305 
 
 be relied upon, and this greatly augmented the value 
 of his gifts. Fitful and spasmodic giving, sometimes 
 does more harm than good, hut he was not a man to 
 help a cause and leave it. If it were not deserving 
 of support he would not help it at all, hut if it were 
 deserving, and he helped it, he would stand by it and 
 see that it did not languish for want of assistance. 
 
 Many cases might be cited, let the following 
 suffice : — 
 
 " Now tell me about your scheme for our ministers' 
 daughters," said Mr. Morley one day to the Eev. 
 "William Guest, w^ho had conceived the idea of found- 
 ing a school for the education of the daughters of 
 Congregational ministers. Mr. Guest spoke of the 
 dying out of girls' local seminaries through the 
 growth of School Boards, just then established, and of 
 the inability of most pastors to make their daughters 
 independent, or to obtain for them the advantage of 
 educational certificates, wdiich would open their way 
 to good positions, but which might be won by the 
 recently introduced University Examinations. "With 
 that intense heartiness of acquiescence," says Mr. 
 Guest, " which many will recall, when a scheme met 
 his view, he assured me that the movement should 
 have his countenance, and, as far as possible, his 
 support." How that support was given, and how 
 Milton Mount College, the handsome and imposing 
 structure which crowns Milton-next-Gravesend, was 
 built upon the flank of its highest hill, is thus told 
 by Mr. Guest :—
 
 306 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 On my sending him a paper of proposed arrangements for the institu- 
 tion, Mr. Morley invited me to talk with him over the subject in Wood 
 Street, and in the end gave ^61,000 to the building fund, and ^200 a year, 
 as a start, to the maintenance account. ' Keep the matter in your own 
 hands,' was at first his advice, but he subsequently aided me in calling 
 together gentlemen who would co-operate in advancing the scheme, 
 assisted with his counsel in the choice of a healthy site, and concurred 
 in the justness of the principle that public support should be followed by 
 public control. 
 
 In order to help the scheme yet further, Mr. Morley sent out an appeal, 
 which bore his name and that of Mr. Joshua Wilson, of Tunbridge Wells, 
 and which was written to accompany the papers I was then widely 
 circulating. This appeal contributed towards the success which ulti- 
 mately secured i'20,000, so as to complete a building which should 
 provide accommodation (according to the original intention) for 150 
 pupils, and also in obtaining goodly promises to meet the annual 
 expenditure. 
 
 The foundation-stone, which was laid by Mr. Morley, October 5, 1871, 
 bears his single name. He afterwards contributed some hundreds of 
 pounds, which encouraged generous-minded men to erect a place of 
 worship, which should be within easy distance of the college, and which 
 is convenient for its now upwards of 180 students. There is, however, 
 little need to dwell on his munificence, for a church-building object such 
 as this was usual with him ; but the foregoing facts in relation to the 
 origin of a well-known educational establishment are due to his memory. 
 
 For more than thirty years Mr. Morley gave the 
 Financial Eeform Association his confidence. He 
 thought its objects were good, and its literature 
 admirable. ''What I like about your publications," 
 he said to one of the officers, " is the giit in them." 
 Whenever he could say a good word for the Associa- 
 tion he did, whether in public or private, flinching 
 least in times of special attack, when weaker men 
 would have framed excuses for retirement. 
 
 From the first he contributed liberally to the funds^
 
 FINANCIAL REFORM ASSOCIATION. 307 
 
 and on one occasion he said, " I am so satisfied with 
 the very moderate investment I have made in the 
 Association, that I am ready to act in any substantial 
 scheme it may set on foot." Like most other societies, 
 it had varying fortunes, and in one critical year its 
 income fell short by about .£800, and fears were enter- 
 tained whether it w^ould be possible to weather the 
 storm of adversity. The work was flagging, and the 
 energy of the Council di'ooped, but when Mr. Morley 
 appeared upon the scene at once the aspect of affairs 
 was altered. " Money must be forthcoming, upon 
 broad public grounds," he said, ''to maintain your 
 Association and your Almanack. Dissolution would 
 be a permanent disgrace to the Liberal j)arty." 
 Forthwith he called some hiends together in the 
 House of Commons, and raised a four years' guarantee 
 fund of several hundred pounds, which was largely 
 supplemented from his own purse, with the result 
 that the Association soon regained a prominent place 
 in public usefulness, and enjoyed a greater increase 
 of support than it had ever done before. 
 
 Convinced that a too lavish distribution of money 
 sometimes tended rather to check than to stimulate 
 the zeal of less wealthy persons in giving, Mr. Morley 
 rarely promised a donation until he had satisfied him- 
 self that it would be the means of drawing out the 
 liberality of others. One favourite method of his, 
 was to say to struggling Churches and societies, where 
 there was not much wealth among them, " Whatever
 
 308 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 you can raise among yourselves, I will make it double ; 
 that is to say, if you can raise <£50 this year, I will 
 give another ^50, and. if you can increase this sum 
 next year to ,£100, I will make my donation ^100." 
 By this means he aroused the spirit of giving, and 
 brought home to each member of a Church or a 
 society that much-neglected lesson, that it is the 
 duty of every man to give to Christian work and 
 service a proportionate amount of his income. 
 
 It is a mistake to suppose that Mr. Morley gave 
 away money indiscriminately, or that he never refused 
 a personal application made to him if it were pre- 
 ferred by any one in whom he had confidence. The 
 principle that governed him was that the object, on 
 behalf of which the application was made, should 
 commend itself to his judgment. For example, in 
 one of the neighbourhoods where he dwelt, he was 
 urged to assist in enlarging and beautifying a 
 church where some of the members of his family 
 attended. But the poor of the place first demanded 
 his care, and he sent the following reply to the 
 appeal : — 
 
 Dear Mr. , I regret that I am unable to offer you any co-operation 
 
 in the proposed step of enlarging the church. We have had much con- 
 versation here on the subject, and the chief ground of objection which 
 has weighed with us is, that there is at present room for at least one- 
 fourth more persons than now attend the chm-ch, and when the chancel 
 is repewed the available accommodation will be considerably increased. 
 I might add, as a reason why there should be at least postponement, 
 that a considerable addition must be made immediately to the school- 
 room (especially for the infant classes), in consequence of the gi-eatly
 
 SOMETIMES DECEIVED. 309 
 
 increased number of cliiklren now in daily attendance. This will involve 
 a large outlay, and we shall not find it very easy, I fear, to raise the 
 money. 
 
 Nor must it be supposed that Mr. Moiiey was 
 always in such an amiable humour that he re- 
 ceived every applicant for money with smiles and 
 welcomes, and at once handed over the required 
 cheque. Such was certainly not the experience of 
 a nervous divine, who would insist upon seeing him 
 in business hours, notwithstanding the fact that he 
 had been told that Mr. Morley was much occupied. 
 Ushered into the room at Wood Street he stood face 
 to face with Mr. Morley. " Now, sir, tell me what 
 you have to say in five minutes, if you please." The 
 nervous divine began a pompous statement, but 
 broke down as he caught the austere glance of Mr. 
 Morley, who reminded him, in the midst of his 
 stuttering and stammering, that the five minutes had 
 elapsed. Without having come to the point, he beat 
 a hasty retreat, exclaiming, as he left the house, "he 
 had never been treated so abruptly before!" 
 
 Nor must it be supposed that Mr. Morley was 
 never "taken in." He was deceived over and over 
 again, and it could not be otherwise. "It is better 
 to help a drone than to let a bee perish," he would 
 say, and let the matter pass. Many a time he has 
 made the remark, "I would rather help a large 
 number, and find I had been taken in once in ten 
 times, than qlose my purse altogether because I 
 am sometimes deceived."
 
 310 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 Mr. Morley made the "business of philanthropy" 
 as distinctly a business as that in Wood Street. His 
 correspondence on philanthropic matters was as ex- 
 tensive as that on commercial affairs, and he gave to 
 every communication his personal attention. He 
 seemed, as a rule, to know intuitively which were 
 the cases of real distress and which were the appeals 
 of mere idlers or ne'er-do-wells ; yet, while bountiful 
 as the harvest, he w^as as just as Equity herself. A 
 friend saw him one day with a pile of correspon- 
 dence before him. "I know them all," he said; 
 "they are all beggars, but I shall look into their 
 cases. I feel it is my duty to do so, and then I act 
 according to what I feel is right." 
 
 If he had to refuse a request — and of course he had 
 to do so many times daily — his standing instructions 
 to his secretary were, " Eeply in such a way that 
 their feelings cannot be hurt ; make them feel almost 
 as well satisfied, if you can, that their application has 
 been refused as if it had been granted!" 
 
 Prompt as he was in dealing with the cases brought 
 before him, he not unfrequently altered or reversed 
 the decision at which he had at first arrived. Thus, 
 on some of the letters endorsed by him for rej^ly, 
 the "No" originally written on the application is 
 run through, and "Inquire further," or "Send .£10," 
 is written above it. 
 
 The heart of the largest giver would become 
 narrow, perfiinctory, and hard, if he did nothing else 
 but give ; and day by day, week by week, year by
 
 A TALE OF WOE. 311 
 
 year, Samuel Morley was quietly, regularly, diligently, 
 systematically giving. But, as we liave said, with, 
 every gift he gave himself. He was a man of deep 
 feeling and of intense sympathy. Those who 
 merely saw in him a cold, husiness-like man, saw 
 only one side, and that not the truest side, of him. 
 It was said of him, " Some people feel for the 
 poor fi'om the bottom of their hearts, Morley feels 
 for them from the bottom of his pocket." The dis- 
 tinction was not true ; he felt for them from his 
 heart, and he showed his sympathy practically by his 
 purse. 
 
 More than this, he was an extremely tender- 
 hearted man. A tale of woe, told with the true 
 emphasis of real need, touched him to the quick, 
 and notwithstanding the fact that thousands of 
 appeals for help passed through his hands, when 
 there occurred a case in which the cry came 
 straight to him from some breaking heart, the tears 
 w^ould gather in his eyes, and he was impatient 
 and restless till the supplies which he could furnish 
 were safely in the hands of the suppliant. 
 
 It is difficult, if not impossible, 
 
 to gather up 
 That noblest portion of a good man's life ; 
 His Uttle nameless, unremembered acts 
 Of kindness and of love ; 
 
 but a few specimens, out of hundreds that might be 
 quoted, shall be given here.
 
 312 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 A minister (one of his almoners) writes to him : — 
 
 Mrs. is sinking fast. It was most affecting to see her. Her mint! 
 
 is in perfect peace, but ob, it was saddening to look into ber emaciated 
 countenance and bave to feel that ber life bad become a sacrifice to tbe 
 cruel oppression and neglect of tbe elder sons and relatives of ber late 
 husband. I told ber tbat I bad seen you last nigbt, and tbat you bad 
 kindly said tbat everytbing sbould be done tbat sbe required, when sbe 
 looked up, and witb a feeble voice, but a beavenly smile, said, ' Ob, bow 
 kind ! wbat a friend be bas been to me ! Give bim my last tbanks, and say 
 tbat I bave bad no sucb friend in the world.' I could not stand it, and 
 feel as if I shall never forget tbe scene. 
 
 The following, written by a mother, a member of 
 the Society of Friends, is an acknowledgment of 
 kindness shown to her son who had got into 
 trouble : — 
 
 May tbe Lord bless thee, my dear, good, kin J, and true friend. Thee 
 have done beautifully, far beyond all I dared ask or think or hope. I won't 
 try to thank thee — I cannot ; and all common phrases of thanking are 
 such feeble rushlights for illuminating the text I desire to unfold. I am 
 deeply, lastingly obliged to thee, not only for thy true kindness, but for 
 the singular tact and skilful way in which thee bave so thoroughly and 
 admirably carried out my wishes in every particular. 
 
 When poor came home, be poured forth bis feelings of gratitude, 
 
 and then added, witb a voice choked by emotion, ' Thee would bave 
 loved Samuel Morley if thee had beard bow he pleaded for thy boy ; 
 why, be said some of tbe very things thee bave so many times laboured 
 to lay befoi'e me, and I would not listen to thee.' 
 
 So thee see, my dear frientl, thee bave proved thj'self a skilful general, 
 and oh, such a good and true friend ! Again I thank thee for all thy 
 generous, noble heart bas done for my darling child. 
 
 "It is no use half doing a thing," was a frequent 
 saying of Mr. Morley. He never left a case, if he 
 could help it, until he had carried it through. He
 
 MEN WHO FAILED. 313 
 
 would not throw a plank to a drowning man and 
 leave him struggling in the water if there was the 
 least chance of pulling him to shore. A trader had 
 got into difficulties, and had sunk again and again in 
 a sea of adversity. Again and again Mr. Morley had 
 helped him, but the man could not fi'ee himself, and 
 had given up in despair, determined never to appeal 
 to Mr. Morley again. But a common friend took up 
 his case, and wrote : — 
 
 I have a note from this morning, in which he states it is of the 
 
 utmost consequence that he should be prepared to make a heavy pay- 
 ment on Monday morning. I thought it only right you should know 
 this. Poor fellow, he is overwhelmed with gratitude for your great 
 kindness, such as he finds it easier to express by teai's than by words. 
 It is an act of kindness which I feel sure you will not regret. 
 
 The heavy payment was met, and the act of kind- 
 ness was never regretted. 
 
 Mr. Morley was not, as many rich men are, a 
 worshipper of success. He had a very tender 
 sympathy for men who failed, and the cases are 
 innumerable in which they received from him sub- 
 stantial assistance and practical encouragement. 
 Two instances may be taken as specimens of many 
 more . 
 
 A young man in a manufacturing town started in 
 business, and was on the high road to success when, 
 from no fault of his own, his trade was swept away 
 from him. He had to compound with his creditors, 
 among the largest being the firm of " I. and R. 
 Morley." He came up to London with his cheque;
 
 314 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 Mr. Morley saw him and had compassion on him, 
 found out that he was a man of considerable abiUty, 
 and, moreover, that he was a member of a church 
 under the care of a minister he greatly respected. 
 Inquiries were instituted, and on all hands the 
 reports as to the character and conduct of the man 
 were most satisfactory. Immediately, therefore, 
 Mr. Morley not only returned to him the value of 
 his cheque, but assisted to place him in the way to 
 pay his creditors in full, and attain even a higher 
 position than he had occupied before his failure. 
 
 Another, who had failed, sent in his composition — 
 a cheque for .£90. It came into Mr. Morley' s hands ; 
 he recognized in the sender one wdth whom he had 
 been associated long before in Christian work, and 
 at once sent back his own cheque for the amount, 
 with a letter of brotherly sympathy. 
 
 Another class for whom Mr. Morley had un- 
 bounded compassion, was that of men wdio were doing 
 good w^ork in the world — men of talent in literature 
 or art, who had to struggle with poverty. Fre- 
 quently when he went to see Mr. Kobinson, the 
 manager of the Daily Neios, he would ask him if he 
 could not tell him of some reahy necessitous literary 
 people. " I wish you would bring such cases to me," 
 he would say; "it would give me genuine pleasure to 
 help them." As a matter of fact few cases were 
 brought to him from that quarter, but those that 
 were, he helped. 
 
 His great interest in the circulation of healthy
 
 LITERARY MARTYRS. 315 
 
 literature induced him to enter into business rela- 
 tions, which involved him in all sorts of complica- 
 tions, on which it is not necessary to dwell in this 
 narrative. It resulted not only in very considerable 
 financial loss to himself, but in annoyance and 
 anxiety arising especially from the fact that the 
 use of his name had been the means of inducing 
 others to take part in the undertaking, and so 
 incur what might be to them serious loss. One 
 of the literary creditors went to Mr, Morley 
 jDcrsonally and made an angry appeal to him for 
 payment. "I will leave the question of justice," 
 he said, "to any one you like to decide — to Mr. 
 Spurgeon, or to Mr. Kobinson of the Daily Neivs.'' 
 Mr. Eobinson looked into the matter, and found that 
 Mr. Morley had been paying ten shillings in the 
 pound to all trade creditors. " I will do just what 
 you think right in the matter," said Mr. Morley. 
 "Well," said Mr. Robinson, "you are not legally 
 bound to pay a single farthing to anybody, but, if 
 you pay at all, it matters little to large trading- 
 firms, but it is life or death to poor literary men, 
 and they should have the first claim " — a decision 
 in which Mr. Morley heartily concurred. 
 
 A journalist, a man clever and refined, whose 
 articles were read and admired by tens of thousands, 
 •died, as so many journalists do, a m-artyr to his 
 work. His wife and family were left quite desti- 
 tute ; some of the children, through the kindness 
 of friends, were placed in Orphan Asylums, and
 
 316 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 the widow struggled on, barely able to support her 
 young family and herself. One day a letter came 
 from a relative in a far-off Colony offering her 
 and her children a home and a start in life, but 
 expressing regret that it would be impossible to pay 
 the cost of emigration. Mr. Morley heard of the 
 case casually, but at once made the fullest inquiries. 
 It was just the kind of case he loved to ferret out 
 and to help. He forthwith took away the children 
 from the asylums and restored them to their mother ; 
 he supplied the whole family with new and ample 
 outfits, he paid the passages of all to the distant 
 Colony, and he caused to be handed to the mother 
 a handsome sum of money, " so that she should not 
 be dependent when arriving at her destination." 
 The sequel is soon told. Haj^piness and prosperity 
 followed, and there dwells to-day, across the seas, 
 a united, thriving family, whose gratitude has been 
 expressed in letters which are full of the tenderest 
 pathos. 
 
 In the year 1865, George Cruikshank, the inimit- 
 able artist, w^as in great financial difficulties. Mr. 
 Morley v as appealed to on his behalf, but, instead of 
 giving a contribution and then letting the matter 
 drop, he took up the case into his own hands, 
 organized a subscription, to wdiich he appended his- 
 own name for a large sum, and sent out the list, with 
 autograph letters, to men on wdiose assistance he 
 thought he could count with safety. Among those 
 who responded at once to the appeal w^as Mr. Kuskin,
 
 CHABACTEBISTIC INCIDENTS. 317 
 
 then living at Denmark Hill, who replied that he 
 ''had heard with sincere regret of the embarrassment 
 of this great artist and good man," and enclosed 
 a cheque, with the promise of another for the 
 same amomit if it was required. It is needless to 
 say that Mr. Morley did not desist until he had 
 accomplished his object and relieved George Cruik- 
 shank from his embarrassments. 
 
 We have alluded to the thoughtful kindness of 
 Mr. Morley in seeking out cases, and his sympathetic 
 manner of relieving them. One or two examples 
 may be furnished here. 
 
 Dr. Allon, writing in 1886, says, " Not very long 
 ago, in a heavy rain, I saw him get out of his carriage 
 in the Green Lanes. When I saw him, I asked if I 
 could direct him. He had heard that a lady whom 
 he had known thirty years ago in better circum- 
 stances, was reduced to comparative poverty. Not 
 even knowing her exact address, he had, that rainy 
 afternoon, driven from Grosvenor Street on the 
 chance of finding her, that he might proffer her 
 some assistance. This little incident was character- 
 istic of the man. He might have sent a servant." 
 
 A friend once appealed to him on behalf of a poor 
 woman whose husband had died suddenly, and named 
 a certain sum for a subscription. Spontaneously 
 Mr. Morley doubled the amount for which he had 
 been asked, and sent, in addition, a letter expressing 
 his warm and deep sympathy, with a request that 
 he might be kept informed how she was going on.
 
 318 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVL 
 
 Poor ministers and teachers — in multitndes — were 
 constantly writing to him. 
 
 Many letters hegin in this manner : — 
 
 My deab Sir, — I remember hearing yon say, upon 
 one or two occasions when attending meetings of 
 teachers at Homerton, that if any of the students or 
 teachers should at any time be in trouble, you would 
 be glad to assist them in any way in your power, 
 simply because they had passed through Homerton 
 
 Training Institution. I, sir, am in trouble " 
 
 and here follow the details. On all such letters 
 there is, in the corner of the letter, the significant 
 " £5," " ^10," " Je20," or whatever the amount might 
 be, the sum sent always showing a pro^^ortion to the 
 necessity of the case. 
 
 Nothing touched Mr. Morley more than a narra- 
 tive of privation and suffering in the home of a poor 
 minister, especially if the sufferer were his w^ife. He 
 sympathized with the straits in which the husband 
 would be placed with the strain of the burden of his 
 pastoral work, and the addition of domestic affliction, 
 and he not only never refused any application for 
 help in such cases, but generally gave far more 
 abundantly than they asked. Very often, too, 
 he devised means for their assistance, of which 
 they knew nothing ; and it would amuse him, when 
 receiving their acknowledgments for what he had 
 done, to hear also of the kindness of some unknown 
 benefactor ! 
 
 Another form of generosity, was to make their
 
 NOT COUNTING THE COST. 319 
 
 homes comfortable. He could not bear to see a 
 minister, especially if he were married, in miserable 
 lodgings or in a comfortless house. One writes to 
 him thus : — " Our house is at last furnished, and I 
 cannot reh'ain from writing to tell you how comfort- 
 able it is made through j^our generous gift and 
 thought of us ; and now that we are settled, and I 
 look upon all the comforts surrounding us, my heart 
 is full of gratitude." 
 
 It is amusing to notice the variety of ways in which 
 Mr. Morley interested himself on behalf of ministers. 
 It is well known that, as a rule, they are the most 
 unbusiness-like of men, and in their troubles, arising 
 from lack of knowledge, or skill, in this respect, there 
 was no one to whom they could appeal with such 
 confidence as to Mr. Morley. 
 
 One good man conceived the idea of building a new 
 chapel, and the further idea of writing to various 
 architects " to furnish plans, elevations, sections, and 
 specifications," being under the impression that these 
 would be as free of charge as estimates fi'om a local 
 builder for erecting an outhouse. The surprise of the 
 poor minister may be imagined when, the scheme of 
 building having fallen through, the architects' bills 
 came pouring in, each claiming two and a half per 
 cent, on the estimated cost of the building ! — the 
 whole amounting to a sum total which would have 
 utterly ruined the unfortunate minister, had not Mr. 
 Morley taken the matter out of his hands and settled 
 it for him.
 
 320 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 There was one position in which ministers were 
 sometimes placed which commanded the deepest 
 sympathy of Mr, Morley — namely, when, it might be 
 after years of labom*, they had been forced to the 
 painful conclusion that they had mistaken their 
 vocation. He was brought sometimes into contact 
 with men who, in their early life, before they knew 
 themselves or the world, and perhaps before they 
 had ever thoroughly realized the vital truths of 
 the Christian faith, had believed that they were 
 called to the ministry, and who, after years of 
 labour, crushed with the responsibilities of their 
 work, and disheartened at its want of success, had 
 come to the conclusion that they had made a 
 grievous mistake. 
 
 With such men, when they gave him their con- 
 fidence, Mr. Morley dealt very tenderly. It was hard 
 for them, after a long collegiate course designed to 
 prepare them for a certain sphere of duty, and after 
 settling down into the habits which belong to a con- 
 templative life, to start afresh in the world under 
 totally different circumstances ; but Mr. Morley never 
 hesitated to say that, if their minds were fully made 
 up, and they were convinced that they were not 
 fitted for the Christian ministry, it was their duty to 
 give up, and it would be dishonourable for them to 
 remain. With this advice he would, if it were in 
 his power — and it generally was — give them the 
 opportunity they sought, either to emigrate, to find 
 a tutorship, or to enter upon trade.
 
 USEFUL LITEBATUBE. 321 
 
 Dr. J. H. Wilson says, in a letter to the present 
 writer : — 
 
 The amount of Mr. Morley's gifts will never be known. One or 
 two instances may be given here. About forty years ago a very earnest 
 minister, in preaching at St. Thomas's Square Chapel, so impressed 
 Mr. Morley with a sense of his responsibihty as a Christian, that he 
 urged him to use his gifts in seeking for the conversion of souls, 
 without ' carefulness,' and gave him a hundred a year in addition to 
 what he received from the churches and societies by whom he was 
 employed. This was continued until his death last year in America, 
 where he had to spend his last days from family reasons, and then 
 he spent fifty pounds to bury him and put a stone on his grave. 
 Three cases of ministers' families in distress were relieved by gifts of ^£50 
 to each, and in all our intercourse he never refused to recognize any 
 recommendation which we put before him. 
 
 Mr. Morley was liberal also in encouraging the publication of useful 
 literature. The late Dr. Waddington was more indebted to him than anj' 
 other author we had any knowledge of as coming within the lines of his 
 encouragements. But for the liberal gifts of Mr. Morley, those volumes 
 of ' Congregational History ' which he brought out would never have 
 seen the light. When the last one was in a somewhat uncertain stage of 
 its preparation, Dr. Waddington, after being at Wood Street, called on 
 us, and, holding a cheque for ^100 in his hand, said, ' That will do it, 
 and this will end my literary work.' It did end it, for not long after this 
 be died. 
 
 We have but glanced in the most cursory manner 
 at some aspects of the great business of philanthropy 
 which occupied so much of the thought and energy 
 of Mr. Morley. Time would fail to tell of the 
 thousand schemes, practical and otherwise, which 
 were submitted to him for approval and encourage- 
 ment ; of the instances in which he brought obscure 
 but promising ministers to London and introduced 
 them to spheres of widening influence.; of the care he 
 
 22
 
 322 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. XVI. 
 
 took for old chapels he had known in younger days ; 
 of the prizes he offered for essays and lectures ; of the 
 time he spent in selecting, and the money he spent in 
 distributing, literature that should improve the habits, 
 and brighten the homes, of the working classes ; 
 of the " testimonials " he devised for old and faithful 
 servants in the cause of religion and politics ; of the 
 help he gave to poor schoolmasters, who, by changes 
 in the system of public education, found their de- 
 nominational schools being killed before their eyes ; 
 of his efforts to obtain employment for deserving 
 men ; of the endless pains he took to rescue young- 
 men from situations of misery into which they had 
 drifted, and where all the spiritual life in them was 
 being crushed out by their surroundings ; * of his 
 readiness to accept public and even private responsi- 
 bilities, when he found they were being shirked by 
 others ; of his willingness to arbitrate in matters 
 which, for want of thorough investigation and ex- 
 planation, were separating men and families ; of his 
 interest in men, or their connections, with whom he 
 had done business in former years ; of his defence of 
 young girls who had been wronged ; of his symjoathy 
 with the sick and the overworked, and the countless 
 times in which he furnished the means to such 
 
 ■■'■ Oue case was that of a young man who had lost a situation and had 
 drilted until, in despair, lie was obliged, although a Christian man, to 
 accept a place in a hotel in the Haymarket. Here his soul was vexed 
 from day to day; he saw vice in its native ugliness, and loathed it. Mr. 
 Morley heard of the case, found him thoroughly repentant, and rescued 
 him from his position, providing for his maintenance until he could find 
 suitable employment.
 
 A NEW CABEER. 323 
 
 sufferers to obtain rest and recreation at the seaside, 
 and of a thousand other labours included in "the 
 business of philanthi'opy." But we have shown 
 enough to indicate that Mr. Morley w^as no ordinary- 
 philanthropist, and that he was no ordinary worker ; 
 for, side by side with these benevolent labours, there 
 was ever going on, and ever increasing, the business 
 in Wood Street, and, in addition, there was opening 
 up to him, as we shall now see, an influential and 
 absorbing parliamentary career.
 
 CHAPTEE XVII. 
 
 1869—1871. 
 
 The Irish Church Question — Bankruptcy Bill — Speech thereon — The Need of 
 the Trading Classes — Debts to Landlords — Overtrading — Settlements — 
 Ciistoms and Inland Revenue Bill — National Education • — Change of 
 Attitude — A Eeview of Voluntaryism — British Schools — National Schools 
 — Mr. Forster's Elementary Education Bill — Speech thereon — The 
 " Eeligious Difficulty " — The Metropolitan School Board — The "Com- 
 promise " — Bible Revision — Alleged Employment of Foreigners — Parlia- 
 mentary Session of 1871 — Seconds Address to the Crown — America — 
 University Tests — Licensing Laws — Parliamentary Waste of Time. 
 
 On the 16th of February, 1869, the new Parhament 
 was opened by commission, and on the 1st of March, 
 Mr. Gladstone obtained leave to introduce a Bill " to 
 put an end to the Established Church in Ireland, to 
 make provision in respect of the temporalities thereof, 
 and of the Eoyal College of Maynooth." It was inti- 
 mated in the Eoyal Speech, that "the legislation 
 which would be necessary in order to the final ad- 
 justment " of these arrangements "would make the 
 largest demands on the wdsdom of Parliament." 
 
 Mr. Moiiey took no part in the protracted debates 
 on the Irish Church question in Parliament, although, 
 out of doors, he was much engaged in influencing 
 public opinion on the matter. They w^ere stormy 
 times, and the wdldest excitement prevailed among the
 
 1869—1871.] THE IRISH CHURCH. 325 
 
 defenders of the Established Church. Denunciations 
 were hurled at Mr. Gladstone from pulpit and plat- 
 form, and he was stigmatized, at a great meeting in 
 Exeter Hall, as " a traitor to the Queen, his country, 
 and his God ; " while the Government was branded 
 as " a cabinet of brigands." 
 
 Mr. Moiiey stood up for his chief, for whom he had 
 the most profound admiration both as a politician 
 and a man, and not only supported the measure 
 with his vote, but used every endeavour to influence 
 public opinion in its favour. 
 
 The Irish Church question did not monopolize the 
 whole of the session, and many measures of public 
 utility were introduced. One, in which Mr, Moiiey 
 was particularly interested, was Sir Bobert Collier's 
 Bankruptcy Bill. Bankruptcy legislation professed 
 three distinct objects — first, the distribution of the 
 banki'upt's estate equitably among his creditors ; 
 second, to give an insolvent debtor, when it was 
 shown that he had acted honestly, a discharge from 
 his liabilities as a sort of counterpoise to the policy 
 of imprisonment for debt ; and, third, to punish 
 fraudulent debtors. 
 
 Sir Eobert Collier's was a Consolidation Bill, the 
 main principle of which he stated to be " to collect 
 the bankrupt's estate and distribute it among the 
 creditors as fairly, cheaply, and speedily as possible." 
 
 In the course of the debate on the second reading 
 (April 5th) Mr. Morley spoke, and his practical 
 commercial experience enabled him to speak with
 
 326 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVII. 
 
 authority. Eeferring to the preamble of the Bill, 
 he said : — 
 
 The preamble of the measure might run somewhat in this way : if the 
 creditor class of England desire to secure for themselves promptitude and 
 economy in the realization and distribution of assets, they must mind 
 their own business ; in other words, the time for the employment of 
 officials had gone by. He was thankful that the lion, and learned 
 gentleman [the Attorney-General] had decided upon sweeping away 
 the officials in Basinghall Street, and saying to the trading class for the 
 future, ' You must meet and conduct your own business for yourselves. 
 We have tried to help you by messengers, by brokers, by official assignees, 
 by all conceivable agencies, which have involved an enormous outlay of 
 money ; henceforth, if your business is to be condiicted expensively, it 
 will be your own fault.' 
 
 After criticising some of the provisions of the Bill, 
 he proceeded to show what was the great need of the 
 trading classes in a new Banla'uptcy Bill : — 
 
 The trading classes wanted no favour, but they desired that, in the 
 arrangements of the Court, every proper facility should l>e given them in 
 dealing with bankrupts. They contended that if protection against 
 vindictive treatment on the part of his creditors were extended to the 
 insolvent debtor, then every facility should be given to the creditors to 
 secure possession of property, which they alleged belonged to them, and 
 not to any one else. . . . He saw an increasing need of a public prose- 
 cutor. They had no guarantee, at present, for the'prosecution of a fraudu- 
 lent trader. Action in that matter was made to depend upon the will of 
 the creditors ; and he (Mr. Morley) was enabled to state, from many 
 years' experience of these matters, that when a body of creditors met to 
 consider a bankrupt's state, they were unwilling, very frequentlj', to add 
 to the heavy loss which might already have been incurred, the enormous 
 expense which would be entailed by the prosecution of a fraudulent 
 trader. He had known, hov/ever,'^ cases in which a small number of 
 creditors, unassisted by the general body, had undertaken to bear the 
 expense of such a prosecution rather than allow the trader to go free. If
 
 18G9— 1871.] BANKRUPTCY BILL. 327 
 
 such agency could be devised, irrespective of the creditors, for prosecuting 
 fraudulent traders, it would be an immense improvement. 
 
 The Bill was read a second time, but witli the 
 understanding that several matters of principle 
 should be open to discussion on going into Com- 
 mittee ; and Mr. Morley took a prominent part in 
 those discussions. The subject is not one of general 
 interest, and we shall therefore only briefly indicate 
 some of his arguments, by one or two extracts from 
 his speeches. 
 
 On debts to landlords and debts to ordinary trades- 
 men — 
 
 He moved, in page 15, line 3 (Bankruptcy Bill), after ' one ' insert 
 ' half,' the object being to enable the landlord to claim full payment in 
 respect only of half a year's rent, instead of a whole year. He had never 
 been able to understand why a landlord should be placed in a better 
 l^osition with regard to his rent, than the ordinary tradesman with refer- 
 ence to the debts that were due to him. He proposed the amendment on 
 this further ground — that landlords, in allowing their rent to run into 
 arrear for twelve months, often prejudiced the estate. 
 
 On " overtrading," he said :— 
 
 In general, the remark of ' overtrading ' did not apply to the trade of 
 England. The great staple trades of the country were based upon capital, 
 and a majority of the traders who were brought down, are more the 
 objects of sympathy than of punishment. . . . The cases were constant 
 and numerous in which kindly treatment, instead of a hard judicial 
 bearing, was the best course to adopt. 
 
 On paying "ten shillings in the pound" — 
 
 He beHeved that he spoke the sentiments of the Chambers of Commerce 
 throughout the country, except Liverpool, when he objected to this ten-
 
 328 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. XVII. 
 
 shillings line. They saw no virtue in ten shillings as a guide to the 
 integrity of a man in his dealiugs. Many of the Chamhers recommended 
 six shillings and eightpence, but generally thej' objected to have any si;m 
 stated. A man who was in difdculties might be below the ten-shillings 
 line, and might go into the market and buy goods in order to place his 
 assets above this line. 
 
 On ''giving fresh power to discharge a hankrupt," 
 he said : — 
 
 He had given notice of his intention to move amendments that the 
 majority of the creditors should have power to discharge the bankrupt, 
 without any reason except through sympathy with him ; that the judge, 
 when satisfied that the bankrupt's faihu'e arose from unavoidable misfor- 
 tune, should have power to discharge him ; and that, in the absence of 
 either of these conditions, the Court should be able to assess his future- 
 acquired property to such an extent as the justice of the case niight 
 require. If they were to draw a line, five shillings might be ample in 
 one case, and fifteen shillings not too much in another. Therefore he 
 pi'oposed to leave it to the Court to say what amount of the future- 
 acquired property should be appropriated in discharge of the liabilities of 
 the bankrupt. 
 
 On the subject of "settlements" — 
 
 He expressed his belief that, if the existence of settlements were better 
 known, tradesmen would not give so much credit. He had that morning 
 received a letter from Bristol, illustrating the wi'ong that was sometimes 
 perpetrated with these settlements. A solicitor and colliery proprietor in 
 Wales, made, previous to marriage, a settlement binding himself to trustees 
 to pay to them i'500 on the birth of each child. He had six children 
 (i'BjOOO worth !), and, subsequently becoming bankrupt, the trustees 
 stepped in, proved for .£3,000, and cut out all the other creditors. 
 
 The Bill became law, and at a meeting of the 
 London Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Moiiey took the 
 opportunity of stating his belief that it was the best 
 measme that had been secured during the life-time
 
 18G9— 1871.] CUSTOMS AND INLAND EE VENUE BILL. 329 
 
 of any trader in this country, and that the thanks 
 of the whole trading community were due to the 
 Government for the manner in which it had hstened 
 to the representations of the Chamhers of Commerce 
 on the question. 
 
 Whenever any question affecting the trade of the 
 country was under discussion in the House, Mr. 
 Morley's opinion always carried considerable weight. 
 Sometimes he broached theories from a point of view 
 with which the House was wholly unfamiliar. Thus, 
 on the 27th of May, when the Customs and Inland 
 Eevenue Bill was being debated, he introduced one 
 of his favourite topics — the necessity of modifying 
 the Bank system in accordance with the needs of 
 commerce. In the course of his speech he said: — 
 
 The Bank of England was nothing more than a very large and admir- 
 able joint-stock company, its object being to provide for its proprietors 
 their regular half-yearly dividend. On behalf, not of the banking interest, 
 but of the trading interest, he ventured to express the opinion that the 
 trade of the country was exposed, by the present system, to such oscilla- 
 tions and variations, not only of the rate of discount, but in the pressure 
 of the money market, as to deserve the attention of the House. Sir John 
 Lubbock, the honorary secretary of the London Bankers' Association, 
 inserted in the Times of the 8th of May a letter in which he stated that 
 the amount which passed through the clearing-house during the year 
 ending in that week, was i;3, 534,000,000 sterhng. Again, Lord Overstone 
 had stated that we were adding ^150,000,000 to our capital every year. 
 Yet we are told by lion. Members that the withholding or withdrawal of a 
 very few mUlions from the Bank of England by the Government, would 
 put the trade of the country into a state of j)araljT-is. Ilis hon. friend the 
 Member for Cambridge (Mr. W. Fowler) had stated, that on the 7th of 
 May, Consols could not be sold in the market. Money on that day was 
 nearly double the price it was a month or six weeks before, and orders 
 were cancelled by post, owing, he believed, to the fear of impending panic
 
 330 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVII. 
 
 wliicli led to thousands of operatives being placed ou shoi't work. No 
 commodity, in fact, changed in value more rapidly than money, Lut, 
 althougli the Bank of France had discounted to the extent of ^7,000,000 
 in a single week, no confusion had, as a consequence, been created in the 
 money market. He felt sure, however, his hon. friend the Member for 
 Loudon [Mr. Crawford] would admit, that if a demand for i'7,000,000 
 were made on the Bank of England, a rise in the rate of discount, pro- 
 bably to the extent of 1 or 2 per cent., would be the immediate result, to 
 the great embarrassment of the trading and manufacturing classes. The 
 subject was, in his opinion, a far larger one than was indicated by the 
 speech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Our present monetary system 
 was, he believed, the laughing-stock of every money market in Europe, 
 and ought to be grappled with. As one who had for years watched the 
 course of trade in this country, he must say that he looked upon the whole 
 tendency of oi;r money sj'stem as being to throw trade into fewer hands. 
 The small traders were every j^ear being absorbed, and he was glad that 
 attention had been directed to the subject, because he felt satisfied that, 
 in the existing state of things, there was something essentially wrong. 
 He would, if he might be allowed to do so, advise the Chancellor of the 
 Exchequer to look to the general money market, and not to the Bank of 
 England only, when he might have occasion to borroAV. 
 
 Several other matters of trade-interef.t were taken 
 up by Mr. Morley dnring the Session, which are 
 not of sufficient general interest to justify special 
 reference. It may be mentioned, however, that, 
 in 1870, he brought forward a motion to inquire 
 into the operation of the Commercial Treaty with 
 France. The motion, which was defeated, gave 
 an opportunity to one of the younger Members of 
 the Administration, Mr. Shaw-Lefevre, to distinguish 
 himself by a striking and comprehensive speech. 
 
 The legislation of 1868-70, during Mr. Gladstone's 
 first Administration, comprised a number of measures 
 of Keform, unparalleled in the history of England.
 
 1869—1871.] NATIONAL EDUCATION. 331 
 
 One of the most important, and one in which Mr. 
 Morley took the deepest possible interest, was the 
 introduction of a scheme of National Education. 
 For many years educational controversies had been 
 raging between the advocates of different views ; 
 much time, money, and temper had been wasted; and 
 the result was that England remained behind every 
 other great country in the world, in the matter of the 
 education of the poor. More than two-thirds of the 
 children of Great Britain were left entirely without 
 instruction — a state of things unknown in Germany, 
 America, and other countries. There had long been 
 an idea prevalent, that it was not the function of 
 the Government to interfere in promoting education, 
 and that to allow such interference would be to act in 
 a manner unworthy of the sturdy independence of the 
 British character. Such had been Mr. Morley's view, 
 and for twenty-five years he had been contending 
 earnestly against Government action in this respect. 
 He had clung to the belief that the people — using 
 that term in its broadest sense — the working classes 
 on the one side, and their influential and wealthy 
 friends on the other, co-operating in a spirit of 
 hearty sympathy, might have educated themselves. 
 Latterly, however, his opinions had undergone a 
 change ; he saw that the voluntary system could 
 not grapple with the need of the nation, and he 
 felt it to be a necessity, as the only remedy for 
 existing evils, that there should be Government 
 action, and that on a large scale, in order to secure
 
 332 SAMVEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVII. 
 
 the result, that every child in the kingdom should 
 receive a good education. In any action that he 
 might take to assist in hringing this ahout, he 
 determined not to take his stand upon Noncon- 
 formist grounds only. As he said, "We want a 
 measure for all England. It will be my object to 
 secure, or help to secure, a measure which, giving 
 to the people the best popular secular education, 
 shall yet leave reasonable freedom for religious 
 teaching." 
 
 In order to account for Mr. Morley's change of 
 attitude towards this great question, we must glance 
 rapidly at some of the previous movements in the 
 history of primary education. 
 
 The theory of the English Church Establishment 
 supposes that the youth of the country are directly, 
 or indirectly, under the care of the clergy, for the 
 purposes of education ; and there was a period in 
 which none but the clergy were engaged in the 
 business of instruction. In course of time, as 
 population increased and Dissent asserted itself, it 
 became obvious that this state of things could not 
 continue. Towards the end of last century, the 
 difficulty was faced, and, as a result, a series of 
 efforts were originated. The first that marks an 
 epoch, was the foundation, in 1808, of the British 
 and Foreign School Society. In 1797, Andi'ew Bell, 
 a chaplain in Madras, published a pamphlet entitled 
 " An Experiment made at the Male Asylum at 
 Madi'as, suggesting a System by which a School,.
 
 1869—1871.] BBITISH AND FOBEIGN SCHOOL SOCIETY. 333 
 
 or Family, may teach itself under the superinten- 
 dence of the Master or Parent." A copy of this 
 pamphlet fell into the hands of Joseph Lancaster, 
 a member of the Society of Friends, who opened 
 a school in Soiithwark for poor children, on Bell's 
 monitorial system. He was eminently successful ; 
 the Duke of Bedford of that day was attracted to 
 him, and even George III. gave him audience, and 
 said, " I wish that every poor child in my dominions 
 may be able to read his Bible" — a remark which, 
 being freely repeated, carried great weight. Joseph 
 Lancaster, declining, on conscientious grounds, 
 various overtures of worldly advantages wdiich could 
 be enjoyed only by his joining the Established 
 Church, spent some years in lecturing, and thus gave 
 a great impulse to elementary education. It was out 
 of his labours that the British and Foreign School 
 Society sprang, and the " Lancasterian Schools," 
 as they were called, came under its patronage. In 
 these schools, the Bible was read and explained by 
 the teacher, but no denominational formularies were 
 allowed. 
 
 It was not in the nature of things that the 
 Church party could look on the success attending 
 this movement with approbation, and, in 1811, the 
 National School Society was established, with the 
 object of educating the children of the poor and 
 instructing them in the distinctive doctrines of the 
 Church of England. 
 
 Side by side, these two great societies lived and
 
 334 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. XVII. 
 
 flourished, both based upon rehgious instruction 
 as an essential element of education, but viewed 
 from altogether different standpoints ; and when, in 
 1833, building grants, amounting to ^20,000 a year, 
 were made by the Government, they were divided 
 equally between these two societies. 
 
 There was, however, on the part of many Non- 
 conformists, a feeling that State assistance should not 
 be accepted — a feeling that grew stronger in 1839, 
 when the Committee of Council on Education was 
 appointed, and offers of aid for school maintenance 
 were made. To accept such subsidy, it was argued 
 by some, would fetter the independence of the 
 voluntary principle ; while others maintained that 
 State aid, in so far as secular education was con- 
 cerned, was indispensable. On the other hand, 
 certain sections of the Church party held that 
 public money ought not to be in any way diverted 
 from schools in connection with the Church of 
 England. 
 
 Thus the controversy raged, not only between 
 Church and Dissent, but between various sec- 
 tions of Dissenters ; and although union was 
 effected amongst the latter in resisting Sir James 
 Graham's Bill of 1843, and the Minutes of 1846, 
 tlie old differences soon afterwards revived. It 
 became obvious that, with the growing demand for 
 education, the voluntary system could not last long. 
 It had done its work well, and it had prepared the 
 way for a large scheme of national education, which;
 
 18(39—1871.] THE "CONSCIENCE clause:' 335 
 
 however, could never be carried unless the principle 
 of unsectarian religious instruction were recognized. 
 
 When Mr. Forster introduced his Bill on the 
 17th of February, 1870, " to provide for public 
 elementary education in England and Wales," it 
 was received, at first, with greater favour than 
 could have been expected. But not many days 
 elapsed before the general harmony was broken by 
 the " religious difficulty," as it was called. To meet 
 it, tbe Government proposed a "conscience clause," 
 by means of which the religious convictions of 
 parents and children should be scrupulously regarded 
 in the instruction given during the regular school 
 hours. This was the great bone of contention. 
 The mass of the Nonconformists laid it down as 
 a principle that no State aid whatever should be 
 given to any schools, save those which were con- 
 ducted on strictly secular and undenominational 
 principles, and that the duty of teaching religion 
 should be left to the ministers of religion and the 
 parents of the children. 
 
 Expression w^as given to these views by Mr. Henry 
 Richard, who, on the 19th of June, moved in the 
 House of Commons, " That in any national system, 
 the religious instruction should be supplied by 
 voluntary effort, and not out of public funds." 
 
 This was not the view taken by Mr. Moiiey, and 
 in the debate which followed the motion of his old 
 friend and coadjutor, he explained the reasons which 
 would compel him to vote against the motion, and
 
 336 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVII. 
 
 which placed him in opposition to so many of his 
 old friends and associates. 
 He said : — 
 
 No doubt they had reached a great crisis, and, unless they were wilHng 
 to make luutual concessions of their extreme views, they might prevent 
 the accojnphshment of what the majority desired to see reahzed — the 
 passing o. a measure greatly extending the education of the people. 
 Their difficulties arose, in a great degree, from the determination with 
 which Englishmen of all creeds held by their own denominational and 
 ecclesiastical preferences. He did not deny that, in some places, there 
 might he a need for secular schools, but such schools ought to be left 
 to spring up where there was a call for them on the part of the people. 
 His own belief was, that the people were generally opposed to secular 
 schools, and his own expei-ience, as the treasurer of a training college, 
 and as one who had been brought largely into contact with schools, was 
 that the parents did not object to the Bible in the hands of an honest 
 teacher. What they objected to was, to their children being made use 
 of to swell the mimber of this or that denomination, whether Established 
 or Dissenting. He himself could not be a party to any general system 
 which would wither up all that was fresh and \dtal in our rehgious 
 communities, while, at the same time, he would ©impose any attempt 
 to enforce a particular religious teaching on those who were unwilling 
 to receive it. . . . He confessed he had a dread that, unless they saw 
 their way to some common ground of action, there would be no alterna- 
 tive before them but a choice between a seci;lar system and a denomi- 
 national one. If it had not been for the religious men, he would like 
 to know where the education of England would be ? Let them drive forth 
 religion in all its forms from the schools, and where would religion or 
 education be fifty j^ears hence ? because then they would detach from 
 the work of education what he regarded as of inestimable value, the 
 religious earnestness of those engaged m it. Out of 15,000 or 20,000 
 schools m England, there were not 500 secular schools ; he doubted 
 whether there were 50 ; and he took that to be a proof that the secular 
 system of schools had not been called for by those who were the best 
 judges of what they wanted — the parents of the children. The amendment 
 of the hon. Member for Merthyr suggested that the ministers of religion 
 should be brought into the schools to give religious instruction at other
 
 1869- 1871.1 BELIGION IN SCHOOLS. 337 
 
 tliau scliool-liours. His own opinion was that such a plan would work 
 
 most disastrously. He protested, on Nonconformist grounds, against the 
 
 exclusion, by legislative action, of religion from the schools. Tliej" had 
 
 heard of late a great deal about Nonconformist principles, but his opinion 
 
 was that those principles would be as much outraged by the exclusion of 
 
 religion by legislative enactment as by its enforcement. Take the case 
 
 of a Baptist teacher, one who knew nothmg of catechisms or formularies. 
 
 What he wanted was, that such a teacher should be told that the 
 
 principle on which the school should be conducted was that the best 
 
 secular instruction should be imparted, that the Holy Scriptures should 
 
 be read and explained, that the school should be pervaded by a religious 
 
 spii'it, biit that there should be an absence of any attempt at spreading 
 
 anything like denominational t3aching. ... In a report made by Mr. 
 
 Matthew Ai'nold with respect to Homerton College, of which he (Mr. 
 
 Morlej^) had been treasurer twenty-five years, it was stated that such 
 
 schools were better suited to become the schools of the future than either 
 
 the National or Wesleyan on the one hand, or the British or secular on 
 
 the other. The shrewdest Member of that House might spend several 
 
 liours in examining these schools, and in not one instance could he 
 
 discover to what denomination the school belonged. He confessed he 
 
 sympathized very much with his right hon. friend who had charge of 
 
 the Bill, on account of the way in which he had been assailed during 
 
 the past few weeks, as if he were not true to the principles which he had 
 
 so often enunciated. But no one who was not aware of the undoubted 
 
 right which the Church had to be considered in this matter, could 
 
 understand the difiieulties of his right hon. friend's position. His own 
 
 earnest desire was, that in order to prevent the country from being 
 
 divided into two hostile camps during the coming autumn, they should 
 
 try to pass a measure this Session, and, with that view, he promised to 
 
 give his right hon. friend the best assistance he could render. 
 
 We shall not here discuss the further history of 
 the Bill. During the whole of the time that it was 
 in progress, and long afterwards, the strain upon 
 Mr. Moiiey was enormous. He had placed himself 
 in opposition to the views of the large majority 
 of Nonconformists ; and in Parliament, on the 
 
 23
 
 338 SAMUEL MOIiLEY. [Chap. XYII. 
 
 platform, and in the ^^ress, he had to vmdicate his 
 position. 
 
 After the Bill had become law, Mr. Morley ex- 
 pressed his opinion upon it to his constituents at 
 a soiree given in the Colston Hall to the two 
 Liberal Members. When he rose to speak, the 
 whole of the assembly stood, cheering again and 
 again so vociferously that some minutes elapsed 
 before he could commence. In the course of his 
 remarks he said : — • 
 
 He believed the Government measure to be the best Bill ever passed, 
 looking at the character and opinions of the people at large. It would 
 have been au injustice, even if it had been possible, to force upon England 
 a Bill in all respects carrying out mere Nonconformist views. There were 
 Churchmen as well as Dissenters in the country ; and therefore, whilst 
 protecting the consciences of everj^ parent — and he was prepared to say 
 the Bill did that — he was anxious to secure secular teaching for the whole 
 of oiir population. There was nothing to prevent their having as many 
 secular schools as they liked, but the Bill did not compel every one to 
 have secular schools ; and he urged the working classes to have their 
 children placed under the secular teaching of Christian men. He 
 protested against the exclusion of both the Bible and every kind of 
 religious teaching from schools, and he observed that if his friends 
 at Bristol were in any sense unanimous on that point, he would at 
 once admit himself, in that respect at all events, an unfit Member for 
 them. 
 
 Parliament enacted that School Boards should be 
 elected, and the novel and peculiar principle of the 
 cumulative vote was tested for the first time in those 
 elections. Four seats on the Metropolitan School 
 Board were allotted to the City of London, and Mr. 
 Morley, yielding to the wishes of many whose friend-
 
 18G9— 1871.J THE METROPOLITAN SCHOOL BOAliD. 339 
 
 ship and judgment he highly vahied, was one of the 
 candidates. Personally, he slii'ank from this new 
 responsibility, but having taken up the position he 
 had done in the recent controversies, he could not 
 draw back. In his address to the ratepayers, he said 
 it would be his aim, if elected, to administer the Act 
 in the same spirit of impartiality in which it had 
 been h^amed. 
 
 Mr. Morley was elected, and he was faithful to his 
 trust. He approached his duties in a religious spirit, 
 joining heartily in the proposal that came before the 
 first meeting of the Board, that the proceedings 
 should be opened with prayer. The proposal was 
 not carried, but a compromise was effected ; a room 
 was set apart for the purpose, where those who were 
 like-minded could gather for this devotional exercise ; 
 and Mr. Morley w^as always found among the 
 number. 
 
 The " religious difficulty " soon cropped up in the 
 meetings of the Board, and a resolution was proposed 
 which it was hoped would solve it. It was, " That 
 in the schools provided by the Board, the Bible shall 
 be read, and there shall be given such explanations 
 and such instruction therefrom in the j)i"inciples of 
 morality and religion as are suited to the capacity of 
 children ; provided always that, in such explanations 
 and instruction, the provisions of the Act in Sections 
 YII. and XIV. be strictly observed, and that no 
 attempt be made in any such schools to attach 
 children to any particular denomination."
 
 340 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XYII. 
 
 This resolution was warmly supported by Mr. 
 Morley and his friend and ally, Mr. (afterwards Sir) 
 Charles Eeed, with the result that it was carried 
 with only three dissentients. 
 
 Thus it came to pass that all for which Mr. Morley 
 had contended was realized. Most of the School 
 Boards throughout the country adopted "the compro- 
 mise," as it was called, and the "religious difficulty" 
 was practically solved. Year by year, the reports of 
 the inspectors coincided with that of Mr. Noble's, 
 given in 1876 : "I am convinced," he said, "that, as 
 a body, our teachers are faithful men and women, 
 imbued with a high sense of the importance of the 
 relation in which they stand to their Scripture 
 teaching ; they earnestly inculcate those great truths 
 as essential to the moral and religious well-being of 
 the children." 
 
 Before we pass on to consider further actions of 
 Mr. Morley in connection with the reforms that 
 marked the first iVdministration of Mr. Gladstone, 
 we must glance at a few other matters in which he 
 was interested. 
 
 On the 10th of February, 1870, the Bishop of 
 Winchester, in the Upper House of Convocation, 
 carried a resolution for the appointment of a Com- 
 mittee to report upon the desirableness of a revision 
 of the iVuthorized Version of the Old and New Testa- 
 ments. 
 
 Four days afterwards, Lord Shaftesbury wrote to 
 Mr. Morley :—
 
 1869—1871.] BIBLE BE VISION. 341 
 
 How will you and your friends be affected towards a new translation 
 of our (at j)resent, God be praised !) common Bible ? 
 
 I dashed at once into the conflict, not having had time to consult any 
 one. 
 
 To the question asked by Lord Shaftesbury, Mr. 
 Moiiey sent the following reply : — 
 
 My impression is, that my friends are more anxious about the integrity 
 and efficiency of the translators, than as to the mere fact of a new trans- 
 lation. The late Dr. Pye Smith, one of our most distinguished Noncon- 
 formist ministers, felt that something ought to be done, but done with 
 care and with a general concuri'euce among scholars of every school. 
 My feeling about the matter is this. I believe the Bible to contain a 
 revelation from God to man. If He has si:>oken to man by His Spirit — if 
 He has given us a revelation — then it is of supreme importance that the 
 l^eople should know j^reciseli/ what He has said ; and if, in anj^ case, our 
 version says what God has not said, it so far ruisrepresents God's words, 
 and for us to persist in giving that to the people as Divine, which every 
 scholar agrees not to be, is, in reality, dishonest. 
 
 I feel great difficulty in the way of asking the Government to authorize 
 any version. I don't think that it is the business of the Government. 
 
 Mr. Morley took no very active part in the con- 
 troversy that arose on the question of the Revision, 
 but he never altered the views he expressed in the 
 foregoing letter. 
 
 About this time, his visits to Bristol and Nottina'- 
 ham were very frequent. He was concerned in 
 everything that affected the welfare of the two 
 towns, and had in j^i'ogress a series of schemes for 
 their benefit, especially as regarded the working 
 classes. It was in relation to Mr. Morley's dealings 
 with the latter town that, as Dr. Paton said in an
 
 342 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVII. 
 
 article in the Contemporary Bevietv, '' that ' grace,' 
 which is recognized to be the peculiar and richest 
 fruit of Christian culture, shone radiantly in Mr. 
 Morley's conduct." It was at Nottingham he had 
 received the injury that had bitterly wounded his 
 s^oirit, "and the revenge he sought," continues Dr. 
 Paton, " wherewith to comfort himself, and repay 
 the wrong done to him, was this : he asked the Eev. 
 Canon Morse of Nottingham, and another, to confer 
 with him, and advise him in what ways he could do 
 most for the good of a town where this great wrong 
 had been done him." 
 
 It often happened, in the heat of electioneering 
 controversies in Bristol, that Mr. Morley's large 
 business in Nottingham was referred to, and that 
 charges were made against him with regard to it. 
 Thus, in 1870, at a meeting in the Colston Hall in 
 support of the candidature of Mr. Hodgson for the 
 vacancy caused by the death of Mr. Berkeley, Mr. 
 Morley took occasion to refer to a statement, made 
 by an old opponent of his, that "he employed a 
 large number of foreigners, because he could get 
 labour from them cheaper than from English 
 workmen." Mr. Morley said " he referred to it 
 simply to say that it was an unmitigated falsehood. 
 The firm paid seven thousand people their wages 
 every week, and there was not a single foreigner in 
 their service. He did not attempt to discuss his 
 right to employ a foreigner if he chose, but he 
 held that a good English workman was worth a
 
 1869—1871.] LEAVES CRAVEN LODGE. 313 
 
 foreigner and a half any day. Therefore, as a 
 matter of his own interest, to say nothing of the 
 fact that he had a large body of men who had worked 
 for their firm almost as long as he had lived, and to 
 whom he looked as personal friends, he dismissed 
 the statement with an absolute denial." 
 
 The greatest event in the private life of Mr. Morley 
 in this year, was his removal from Craven Lodge, 
 Stamford Hill, to the beautiful mansion at Hall 
 Place, Tonbridge. It was a neighbourhood for which 
 he had long had an affection, and ten years before, in 
 a letter to Mr. Joshua Wilson, he had expressed the 
 hope that some day he might make his home there. 
 In another chapter we shall see something of his 
 country life. In the meantime w^e must follow him 
 awhile in his public career. 
 
 The Parliamentary Session of 1871 w^as oj^ened on 
 the 9th of February by the Queen in person, and the 
 Speech from the Throne was of unusual length. On 
 the 18th of the previous month, Mr. Gladstone had 
 written to Mr. Morley asking him to second the 
 motion for an address to the Crown — " a duty," he 
 said, " with which I am sure the whole House will 
 be glad to see you charged." To this request Mr. 
 Morley acceded, and, before a brilliant House, made 
 one of his best and longest speeches in that 
 assembly. 
 
 The times were critical and interesting ; abroad, a 
 renewal of war between Prance and Germany was
 
 344 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. XVII. 
 
 pending ; the King of Prussia had just accepted the 
 title of Emperor of Grermany ; our relations with the 
 United States were gravely complicated ; at home^ 
 the marriage of the Princess Louise and the Marquis, 
 of Lome was approaching. Bills had been promised 
 for the better regulation of the Army and Auxiliary 
 Land Forces, on Eeligious Tests in Universities, 
 Ecclesiastical Titles, Disabilities of Trade, Combi- 
 nations, Courts of Justice and Appeal, Adjustment of 
 Local Boundaries, Licensing, Secret Voting, and 
 Primary Education in Scotland. Allusion to all 
 these subjects was made in the Speech from the 
 Throne. 
 
 On most of them Mr. Morley touched in his speech. 
 Li one felicitous sentence he said, " he regarded it 
 as a matter of national congratulation that Her 
 Majesty should, by sanctioning the marriage between 
 a daughter of the Royal House and one of her dis- 
 tinguished subjects, have cast aside a custom more 
 honoured in the breach than in the observance, and 
 that Her Majesty, by approving a marriage dictated 
 by the heart's affections rather than by reasons of 
 State expediency, should add another example in the 
 Eoyal Family, of domestic happiness and virtue." 
 
 Eeferring to the unfortunate misunderstandings- 
 bet ween this country and America, he considered 
 that mistakes had been made on both sides, and that' 
 it was due to ourselves, as well as to our Transatlantic 
 kinsmen, that we should show a disposition to make 
 amends for any injury we may have done them, if
 
 1869— 1871. J SECONDS ADDBESS TO THE CROWN. 345 
 
 any such could be shown to have arisen h-orn 
 intention or fi'om default. He added : — ■ 
 
 Can uotliiug be done to lead to tlae establishment of some international 
 tribunal to which might be referred misunderstandings between one 
 country and another, which, although serious in their results, are generally 
 trifling in their oi'igin ? I should be glad to know, too, whether we cannot 
 do something that might lead to a system of general disarmament, by 
 Avhich a constant source of danger would be at once removed, so that we 
 might all breathe more freely, and not be continually exposed to the 
 danger of witnessing, or being engaged in, conflicts and slaughter against 
 which our civilization so strongly revolts. Our commerce, our civilization , 
 and above all our Christianity, alike protest against the enormous wicked- 
 ness and inhumanity of war. It may be Utopian, in face of the war now 
 raging on the Continent, to hope that the common sense of the world will 
 ever be strong enough to adopt sucli a plan of scttHng the disx)utes of 
 nations ; but I speak under the influence of the agony and desolation to 
 which the people of France have lately been subjected, and I cannot help 
 pressing the subject on the attention of the Leaders on both sides of the 
 House, and I believe all will agree that some attempt at least should be 
 made in this direction. 
 
 On the proposed Bill for the Abolition of Univer- 
 sity Tests, he said : — 
 
 I will now venture, with all earnestness, to appeal to Members on the 
 other side of the House, to assist in a settlement of the long-vexed question 
 with regard to University Tests. There has never been less bitterness 
 with reference to this controversy than now, and the moment is, there- 
 fore, in my belief, one peculiarly suitable for ari-iving, once and for ever, 
 at a final settlement of the question. The Tests are most felt among the 
 great middle class of the country. The middle class, in which the great 
 strength of Dissent lies, has been rising in wealth and social influence for 
 years past, and they appeal confidently to the Legislature to give them, 
 on fair and equal terms, that higher cultivation which they feel they need, 
 and which they know well enough how to employ, if the opportunity for 
 its acquirement were afforded them. It is only recently that I witnessed 
 the reception given in the Senate House of Cambridge to Mr. IIopkinson>
 
 34G SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVII. 
 
 the Senior "Wrangler, who has since become Smith's Prizeman, and who, 
 because he has a conscience, is nuable to avail himself of the prizes which 
 are invariably offered by his University to those who secure his position. 
 What the Dissenters desire, are terms of equality, and it is with these 
 terms alone that they will be satisfied. The fountain is large enough both 
 for those who are now receiving from it and those who desire to receive ; 
 it is large enough for the whole nation. . . . University Tests once 
 abolished, and a fair Burials Bill agreed to, the House will have disposed 
 of the two last of a number of measui'es which used to be spoken of as 
 * Dissenters' grievances.' As matters stand, a Nonconformist, who is also 
 a Master of Arts, is prevented from voting for a Member of Parliament 
 for his own University — the only case, I believe, in which religious 
 opinion is still a barrier to the exercise of the franchise in this country. 
 
 On the proposed amendment of the Licensing 
 Laws, Mr. Morley spoke vigorously, and urged the 
 Government to deal with the question with a bold 
 hand, and place some restriction on the extension of 
 public-houses, by giving to the inhabitants of a 
 district a power of veto upon the granting of ncAV 
 licenses — some large and courageous measure not too 
 much in advance of public 02Jinion to endanger its 
 acceptance by the House. 
 
 Perhaps there were few Members of Parliament who 
 felt more strongly than Mr. Morley the urgent need 
 for the introduction of the Ballot. Referring to the 
 proposed legislation on the subject, he said : — • 
 
 There will be wide-spread satisfaction at the mention, for the first time 
 in a speech from the Throne, of the Ballot Bill, and if I may presume to 
 offer advice to the Government, it will be to let the Bill be one which will 
 really secure secret voting. No other measure will satisfy the country, 
 or accomplish — -what is so much desired — the securing to every voter, 
 however humble, an opportunity of voting in accordance with his con- 
 victions. No other measure, again, will put a stop to the practice of can-
 
 18G9— 1871.] A SUCCESSFUL SPEECH. 347 
 
 vassiug, aud to those scenes ou tlie day of election wliicli have made our 
 electoral sj-stem a scandal aud a reproach. 
 
 Even so far off as 1871, tliere was one subject on 
 which Mr. Morley felt strongly, and the clays were 
 coming when the feeling would grow still stronger — 
 the terrible waste of time in parliamentary discus- 
 sion. He concluded his speech with a reference to 
 this : — ■ 
 
 Desiring, as I do earnestly, to see all these measures carried, I ventm-e, 
 young though I be in parliamentary experience, to suggest that in order 
 to accomplish the work we must husband our time. I vie with the most 
 earnest Member of the extremest section, in my desire to see measures 
 passed to reform abuses, and to remove hindrances that impede the 
 material and social progress of the people ; but it is clear that to pass 
 more Bills in the same space of time, we must discover some method of 
 using our time more economically, and with larger practical results. In 
 saying this, I know that I am trenching upon ground which, as a young 
 Member, I have no right to occupy ; but I belong to the large class of 
 what naay be called comparatively silent Members, who have opportunities 
 of listening at times to what appear rather profitless discussions, and who, 
 accordingly, are anxious that arrangements may be made, while there is 
 yet time, to facilitate the i^assing, if not of the whole, at least of the 
 greater portion of the promised measures. 
 
 Mr. Morley' s speech — characterized in the press as 
 that of " a sound political thinker and an experienced 
 man of business " — was eminently successful, and 
 repeatedly called forth cheers fi'om both sides of the 
 House. Mr. Disraeli, who followed, ixiade frequent 
 allusion to it in his review of the state of affairs, and 
 especially approved of Mr. Morley's remarks on 
 religious equality.
 
 CHAPTEE XVIII. 
 
 1871—1876. 
 
 Trade Questions — Mat-making in Prisons — Marriage with a Deceased Wife's 
 Sister — University Tests Bill — Burials Bill — Letter from Archdeacon Allen 
 — Strikes and Lock-outs — The National Agricultural Labourers' Union — 
 The Lock-out in Lincolnshire — Farmers' Defence Association — The 
 Agricultural Labourer " a Commodity " — Letter to ihe Daily Neics — Boards 
 of Conciliation — Cottage Accommodation — Letters from Sir W. Y. Harcourt, 
 the Bishop of Manchester, and Lord Shaftesbury — Death of Dr. Binney — 
 Funeral — Letter to his Second Daughter — Completion of the Memorial 
 Hall in Farringdon Street — Presentation of Portrait — The Holyoake Tes- 
 timonial Fund — Tory Calumniators — Warnings and Encouragements — 
 Eetires from London School Board. 
 
 Although Mr. Morley, in his speech seconding the 
 ad(h-ess to the Crow^i on the oj)ening of tiie Session 
 in 1871, described himself as " a silent Member," his 
 voice was nevertheless very h-equently heard in the 
 coujicils of tlie nation. Upon all questions of trade, 
 he w^as regarded, on both sides of the House, as an 
 authority, and there were few Members upon wdiom 
 greater demands w^ere made h'om all quarters, and 
 on all trade subjects, than on him. Thoroughness 
 characterized everything he undertook, and it is only 
 by a careful examination of his correspondence that 
 an estimate can be formed of the pains with which 
 he investigated every subject for which his help was 
 solicited. For example, he would not ask a question
 
 1871—1870.] MAT-MAKING IN PBISONS. 349 
 
 in the House until he had ascertained all available 
 facts in connection with it. Thus, in 1871, 
 there was dissatisfaction loudly expressed in many 
 quarters at the manufacture of mats as a part of 
 prison labour. Several of the Metropolitan prisons 
 were selling their mats at prices less than that for 
 which the manufacturers could produce them, and 
 it was felt to be an injustice that the manufacture 
 of mats and matting, which gave employment to 
 about 3,000 honest workmen, should be monopo- 
 lized by 2,000 prison rogues. Mr. Morley was 
 urged to ask a question on this subject in the 
 House. He would not, however, take any action 
 in the matter until he had written to many of the 
 governors of the chief prisons in the country for 
 exact information as to the number of prisoners 
 employed in mat-making, and had placed himself in 
 communication with the Howard Association, which 
 was instituted to promote the best methods of prison 
 discipline, penal treatment, and crime prevention. 
 The result was, that the Mat-weavers' Association, 
 and others who had solicited his aid, obtained what 
 they sought for — namely, the cessation of the selling, 
 under cost price, the produce of convict labour. 
 
 It was not as a speaker in the House of Commons 
 that Mr. Morley's greatest influence w^as felt, al- 
 though he took infinite pains to acquaint himself 
 with the bearings of every subject upon which he 
 spoke. It was because his character commanded 
 the respect of all, and because his influence wai
 
 350 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XAIII. 
 
 felt to be a force not in the House only, but in the 
 country, that whenever he spoke he was listened to 
 with attention and respect. It was known, too, that 
 though on many questions he represented the senti- 
 ments of intolerant people, he himself would be 
 tolerant. When, in the early part of Mr. Glad- 
 stone's first Administration, many subjects were 
 discussed in Parliament of vital interest to Noncon- 
 formists, there was not, on any one occasion, a word 
 spoken in the House of Commons l)y Mr. Morley 
 that could give offence ; for, while faithful to his own 
 special views, he would not assert them in a way 
 that should give pain to those who differed from him. 
 He sought, moreover, on every question in which 
 the Avorking classes w^ere concerned, to represent 
 faithfully their opinions. 
 
 Thus, on February 15, 1871, in the debate on the 
 second reading of Mr. Chambers's Bill for legalising 
 Marriage with a Deceased "Wife's Sister, he said : — 
 
 He was quite iu a position to state, from his knowledge of tlie working 
 classes, that, in consequence of the restriction imposed by the existing law, 
 concubinage was extending amongst them, and that they were losing 
 their regard for the sacredness of the law of marriage. Some mode of 
 settling the question should be discovered, for the present law led to bad 
 results. The ecclesiastical authorities had given up the Bible argument 
 against the proposed change. A large number of bishops, the clergy of 
 the Established Church, the Eoman hierarchy, and the Jewish Eabbis 
 had given expression to their conviction that these marriages were not 
 contrary to the law of God, and it was a fact that they were sanctioned in 
 every country in the world except Great Britain, and two or three of the 
 Colonies. The House of Commons had repeatedly passed the Bill, and 
 he trusted it would now give its usual imprimatur in favour of an altera-
 
 1871— 187G.] THE BUBIALS BILL. 351 
 
 tioii of the law. He slionkl at all events join tbe hon. and learned gentle- 
 man in sending the Bill to ' another place ' in the hope that it would 
 at last I'eceive there the only treatment it ought to receive. 
 
 The University Tests Bill was watched by Mr. 
 Morley with keen interest, and as his influence out 
 of doors would, he was convinced, be more emphatic 
 than within the House, he made it the subject of 
 many of his platform speeches in order to move not 
 only his audiences, but the public through the j)ress. 
 Nor did he desist until it was declared that the 
 Universities " shall be freely accessible to the nation." 
 
 Mr. Morley took part in the debate on the second 
 reading of the Burials Bill in 1872. One by one he 
 had seen the " Dissenters' grievances," as they were 
 called, removed, and civil and religious inequalities, 
 that had pressed on the consciences of Nonconformists, 
 rectified. One, however, remained, and that was the 
 question of burial. It was claimed, on the one hand, 
 that Englishmen only had the right of burial in their 
 parish churchyards when there was no public cemetery 
 in the district, and no other means of interment. 
 Mr. Morley, on the other hand, urged that inasmuch 
 as the churchyards of England belonged to the English 
 people, the people ought not only to have a right of 
 burial in those churchyards, but the right to exercise, 
 under fair and reasonable limits, their own religious 
 observances at their respective funerals. ''When 
 this point should be conceded," he said, "it 
 seemed to him that the question of the continuance 
 or otherwise of the Established Church ceased to be
 
 352 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVIII. 
 
 a Dissenting question ; it became then, in the strictest 
 and broadest sense, a national question, and he 
 should henceforth decline to regard the matter as 
 one with which he, more than his Church neighbour, 
 had to do, although willing and anxious to enter with 
 him into a calm, earnest, thoughtful, and fiiendly 
 discussion upon that question." 
 
 Upon the Burials question generally, Mr. Morley 
 made many inquiries, and amassed considerable 
 information, h'om correspondents at home and 
 abroad, and placed himself in communication with 
 many clergymen, in order that he might be 
 thoroughly acquainted with all the grounds of their 
 objections. Thus, one of his old friends. Archdeacon 
 Allen, wrote to him, and, in setting forth his own 
 views, expressed the sentiments of a vast number of 
 the more liberal clergy —views in which Mr. Morley 
 heartily concurred : — 
 
 Archdeacon Allen to Mr. Samuel Morley. 
 
 Peees Vicarage, Shrewsbury, Nov. 29, 1875. 
 Dear Mr. Morley, — . . . As to tlie Burials Bill, I have done what I 
 could to set before my bishop and my brethren in this archdeaconry my 
 convictions. (1) There is a natural desire to lay our dead with those who 
 have gone before. (2) Some of our parishioners may have a kind of 
 special property in part of our churchyards. Some of the soil of our 
 churchyards represents what was once the kindred flesh and blood of 
 those who are now living. (3) If a sick person be ministered to by a 
 Nonconformist minister up to the time of death, may not the relatives be 
 excused for desii-ing to have that minister speaking to them at the grave ? 
 (4) It is possible to conceive the case of an incumbent, by his own ill- 
 conduct, making himself displeasing to the sorrowing survivors. (5) 
 There is a sanitary necessity for burying a dead body. If I have not
 
 1871—1876.] STEIKES AND LOCK-OUTS. 353 
 
 been able to draw the living man to worship in the chxirch, why should 
 I fasten on the dead bodjs and enforce niy claini to read the service over 
 it ? (6) We must treat the dead bodies of Christians with reverence ; 
 those bodies have been the temples of the Holy Ghost, and we shall see 
 them reanimated. (7) It seems to me dishonourable to our Master that 
 I should claim to read the burial service to unwilling hearers. (8) I 
 w^it to be excused from burying dogs with a form of religion sadly in- 
 applicable. By dogs I do not mean Nonconformists, but those who in 
 Holy Scripture are called dogs. (9) As for security against a disorderly 
 service in oiu' churchyards, provision might be made for that requirement, 
 peaking generally, we must all feel that the Nonconformists as a body 
 are as desirous of having an orderly service as Church people can be. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 John Allen. 
 
 The sequel is a matter of history. In 1880, an Act 
 was passed permitting burial in churchyards, either 
 " without any religious service, or with such Christian 
 and orderly service " at the grave as the person 
 responsible might think fit ; and the principle was 
 established that churchyards belong to the nation, 
 and not to any particular denomination. 
 
 In 1874, strikes and lock-outs were of frequent 
 occurrence, especially in Norfolk and Suffolk, or East 
 Anglia, properly so called, and chiefly among agri- 
 cultural labourers. Wages were very low ; for the 
 previous twenty years they had not exceeded 9s. 
 a week, with fourpence or sixpence a day for a child 
 of the family to act as " scare-crow." Machinery had 
 displaced the old hand-sickle, and the gleaning of the 
 corn, which was calculated as enough to pay the 
 rental of a cottage — that rent ranging from ^3 to £5 
 
 24
 
 354 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XYIII. 
 
 ■ — was no longer available, the horse-reaper, or horse- 
 rake, gathering up what was formerly the perquisite 
 of the labourer. Moreover, the rate of wages was 
 unequal, a difference of some shillings a week 
 existing in parishes only a few miles apart. 
 
 To diminish these inequalities ; to raise the status 
 of the agricultural labourer in view of the extension 
 of the electoral franchise ; to relieve him from the 
 thraldom in which, for generations past, he had lived ; 
 and, generally, to make his condition that of a man 
 rather than a serf, a movement was organized in 
 1872, which Mr. Morley cordially supported. 
 
 Its origin may, perhaps, be ascribed to Canon 
 Girdlestone, who, in 1868, at a meeting of the 
 British Association held in Norwich, urged that 
 combination was absolutely necessary to effect any 
 permanent improvement in the condition of the 
 peasantry. This gave rise to considerable discussion, 
 and Mr. Joseph Ai'ch became conspicuous in the ad- 
 vocacy of what was called the Labour Movement. 
 In 1872, the National Agricultural Labourers' Union 
 was established, its object being to improve the 
 general condition of agricultural labourers in the 
 United Kingdom ; to encourage the formation ot 
 branch and district unions, and to ^^I'omote co-opera- 
 tion and communication between unions already in 
 existence. Mr. Jesse Ceilings and Mr. Edward 
 Jenkins were among the trustees ; Mr. Joseph 
 Arch was the president of the Executive Committee, 
 and three Members of Parliament — Mr. Samuel
 
 1871—1876.] THE AGBICVLTUBAL LABOURERS' UNION. 355 
 
 Moiiey, Mr. George Dixon, and Mr. Edward Jenkins 
 — were amono- the Conuiltino^ Committee. The 
 Labourers Viiioii Chronicle was at once issued, and 
 ■circulated among the peasantry. 
 
 Strikes and lock-outs followed, as a necessary con- 
 •sequence. The rules of the Lincolnshire Labour 
 League, for example, specified that the minimum rate 
 of wages should be 18s. weekly, and this inspired the 
 labourers in neighbouring counties to make a like 
 demand. Hitherto the position of the labourer had 
 been what the employer chose to make it ; for gene- 
 Tations past he had been virtually tied to the soil, 
 without any actual freedom of contract. Now, he 
 •could dictate terms, and the result was — a series of 
 lock-outs. They began in Norfolk and Suffolk, and 
 extended to other parts of the country, particularly 
 to Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire. Farmers' De- 
 fence Associations were organized, and then the 
 •elements of war were complete. 
 
 The lock-out in Lincolnshire had lasted some 
 months, when Mr. Moiiey, in conjunction with Mr. 
 Dixon, intervened to bring about a better under- 
 standing. They were successful in their mission ; 
 the farmers came to terms with their men, and con- 
 .sented to recognize the existence of Labourers' 
 Unions, provided that any rules prescribing a 
 minimum rate of wages should be abolished, and 
 that the notice to be given of a strike should be de- 
 termined by the custom of hiring prevailing in the 
 ■district.
 
 356 SAMUEL MOIiLEY. [Chap. XYIir_ 
 
 An arrangement was made, that on a certain clay 
 (May 23, 1874) the agricultural labourers' strike and 
 the farmers' lock-out for the county of Lincoln 
 should he withdrawn simultaneously, and that work 
 should be resumed on the following day. A notifi- 
 cation of this was signed by Mr. Morley and Mr. 
 Dixon, and it cleared the way to the solution of 
 kindred difficulties throughout the country. 
 
 It is needless to say that Mr. Morley had a much 
 higher end in view than merely to arbitrate in 
 difi'erences between employers and employed. He^ 
 was anxious to see agricultural labourers treated as. 
 men, and not as mere machines ; he wanted to see 
 Boards of Conciliation established to settle disputes, 
 between masters and men ; he wanted to have the 
 whole of the relations between farmers and labourers, 
 put f upon a better footing. Further still, he wished, 
 to excite interest in the hardships of a large class^ 
 of men, thousands of whom were living in miser- 
 able hovels on the estates where they w^orked ;. 
 while others, to secure decent dwellings, lived miles 
 away from the scene of their labours, and spent 
 their strength for nought in journeying to and fr'o. 
 He sought to secure for every labourer a fair rate of 
 wages, and a cottage with a garden. 
 
 And to a large extent he succeeded. In the face 
 of a Labourers' Union, influentially supported, farmers 
 could never again retain the labourers in their former 
 subjection ; nor would the men be any longer treated 
 as children. They became different men as soon as ever
 
 1871— 187G.] PLOUGHS AND PLOUGHMEN. 357 
 
 they had struggled with their masters. Hitherto they 
 had never dreamed of disputing the master's terms ; 
 henceforth they could not only dispute them, but, 
 with an organization to fall back upon, they could, 
 if necessary, dispute them for weeks, perhaps for a 
 whole season. 
 
 It was a necessity of those reforming times that 
 action should be taken on their behalf, and Mr. 
 Morley threw himself heartily into the advocacy of 
 their cause, and in the press, as well as in public 
 meetings and conferences of the Union, he stood 
 forth as one of their champions. 
 
 An able political economist wrote of the agricul- 
 tural labourer, in one of the leading newspapers, as a 
 commodity. "No man," he said, "is bound to give 
 more for a commodity than it is worth, be that com- 
 modity ploughs or ploughmen." To this, Mr. Morley 
 replied in a letter occupying a column of the Daily 
 News : — • 
 
 It may be perfectly true that when the supply of ploughs, or of plough- 
 men, exceeds the demand in any given market, their price or value in 
 that market will fall ; but it does not follow, therefore, that there is no 
 difference between ploughs and ploughmen, or that the same principle in 
 liolitical economy can be rigidly applied to both, without any modifica- 
 tion. Tiie plough, as a commodity, is a manufactured implement, as 
 simple in its structure as in its relations to surrounding objects. The 
 ploughman is a being of flesh and blood, with flesh and blood or family 
 relations, which the plough is not ; he is a mental and moral being, 
 ■capable of much good or evil, according to his circumstances and con- 
 dition, which the plough is not ; and he is a social being, a member of a 
 community composed of other mental, moral, and social beings, to which 
 the good and the evil of which he is capable, may become matters oi
 
 358 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. XVIir_ 
 
 vital importance, -nhicli the ploxigli is not. Ploiiglis and iiloughmen, im- 
 plements and labourers, may alike be deemed commodities of marketable- 
 value, but is it possible to maintain that the same law or principle is 
 alike applicable to both ? I think not. If the supply of ploughs be in^ 
 excess of the demand for them in any given market, the owners can' 
 send or export them to other markets, where the demand is greater 
 and the supply less. But if the supply of ploughmen or labourers be- 
 in excess of the demand in any given market or locality, what is tO' 
 be done with them, or what are they to do for themselves ? The- 
 excess will be indicated, as it is now being indicated in the eastern- 
 counties, by low wages ; and by the time that indication appears, the in- 
 dividual labourer will have become so impoverished as to be incapable of 
 migrating or emigrating to another and better market, even if he, or the- 
 better educated employers of labour, have any notion of such a remedy.. 
 If he remains, he reduces the wages of himself and of all the other labourers- 
 in that locality ; and if the reduced wages are iusuflficient to procm-e for 
 him an adequate supply of wholesome food to sustain his physical 
 strength, he will become incapable of doing a strong man's daily work,, 
 or of earning more than the reduced wages he has been compelled to- 
 accept. And in such case his health, or the health of his family, may" 
 suffer, and, as a deficiency of wholescme fcod frequently leads to the- 
 craving for stimulating drink, he may become an utterly demoralized! 
 drunkard, and he and his family may rapidly sink into pauperism, or 
 even into crime. And in any of these cases, the man and his family 
 may become either a burden or a curse, or both, to the community itt 
 which they ' live and move and have their being.' Has that com- 
 munity no interest in preventing all this ? I maintain that it has ; and^ 
 if it be the interest of the community, it becomes its duty to do all that- 
 can be done to prevent it. 
 
 What can the labourers themselves do, and what ought they to do,, 
 when they find that the supjily of labour in their market or locality 
 exceeds the demand for it ? Individually, the5' must be. except in very 
 exceptional cases, incapable of doing anything to help themselves, and 
 the most natural, obvious, and rational thingfor them to do is to combine- 
 and organize themselves in union for the purpose of helping each other.. 
 That is precisely what the agricultural labourers have done, and that i& 
 precisely what the farmers and their friends are denouncing theru for 
 doing. They have organized a Union, the main objects of which arc to- 
 ascertain where labourers are in excess of the demand for them, and the
 
 1871—1876.] CAPITAL AND LABOUR. 359 
 
 wages consequently depressed, and to relieve those localities of the surplus 
 hands by migration or emigration, so that those who remain may obtain 
 better wages. 
 
 And this wise and provident policy on the part of these poor men, the 
 farmers — and, I am sorry to see, in many cases their landlords — resent, 
 and have enrolled themselves in an association for the avowed purpose of 
 stamping out the Union. But surely, if it be lawful and right for the 
 farmers and employers of labour to combine for the jirotection of their 
 capital and interests, it cannot be unlawful or wrong for the labourers to 
 combine for the protection of their labour, which is their capital and their 
 interests. And if they are guilty of no wrong in so doing, I would ask. 
 Is it a just, or an honourable, or a manly thing for a great body of 
 capitalist farmers and landowning noblemen and gentlemen, to band 
 themselves together for the avowed purpose of punishing them for so 
 doing by a general lock-out ? That, I believe, is the true statement of 
 the case. Only some 300 men in the village of Exning struck for a 
 rise of Is., from 13s. to 14s. per week, and, because those 300 men struck, 
 the farmers have locked out some 3,000 or 4,000 men ! Now I care 
 not whether 13s. a week be an ' equitable wage ' or a ' marketable 
 wage,' but I cannot reproach the labourers of Exning if they deemed 
 it an ' insufficient wage,' and endeavoured b.y a strike to obtain 14s. 
 a week. And I think the Labourers' Union was i^erfectly justified ui 
 supporting these men in their strike, and the men who have been 
 ' locked out ' in consequence of it, and I hope and trust that the 
 public opinion of the country will aj)prove and support the Union. 
 
 Holding these views, Mr. Morley expressed his 
 deteiiiiination to stand by the labourers so long as 
 they continued to act with moderation ; and he was 
 faithful to his word. For many years he strove to 
 increase the number of Boards of Conciliation and 
 Arbitration, to adjust the differences that might 
 arise between capital and labour, and to check the 
 evil and misery which necessarily arose horn lock- 
 outs and strikes. 
 
 In 1875, he brought in a Bill " to enable the Public
 
 3G0 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVIII. 
 
 Works Loan Commissioners to make advances to 
 the limited o^Yne^s of entailed estates and other 
 landowners, for the building, rebuilding, and im- 
 provement of labourers' cottages in rural districts, 
 repayable by a rent-charge upon the inheritance, and 
 to amend the Improvement of Land Act, 1864." 
 The Bill was backed by Mr. Whitwell and Mr. 
 Stanhope. 
 
 It was a glaring evil that the cottage accommoda- 
 tion for agricultural labourers and their families, in 
 the rural districts, w^as greatly deficient in quantity 
 and defective in quality, especially as regarded those 
 sanitary conditions necessary for the moral and social 
 well-being of the occupants. The provisions on the 
 subject, made by the Improvement of Land Act, 
 1864, had been found to be almost inoperative. 
 
 Some of the objects sought to be obtained by Mr. 
 Morley's measure, and the methods for obtaining 
 them, will be seen from the following extracts fi'om 
 letters in acknowledgment of the receipt of draft 
 copies of the Bill. 
 
 Sir W. Y. Harcourt WTote : — 
 
 I will consider your Bill and get a conveyancer's opinion upon it. I 
 have always been foi' the entire abrogation of the power of entail and 
 against the creation of ' limited owners.' The more closely we can get 
 the powers of limited owners assimilated to tliose of an owner in fee, the 
 better it will be for tliis country ! 
 
 The Bishop of Manchester (Dr. Eraser) wrote : — 
 
 I am glad to be assured that any remarks of mine, in the Report to 
 which you refer, Iiave given this direction to your thoughts for the well-
 
 1871—1876.] LABOUBEBS' COTTAGES. 361 
 
 Sjeing of the people. There is no subject more urgently requiring atten- 
 tion, and upon wliicli the pressure of strong pubhc oiiinion needs to be 
 more directly brought. Only to-day I heard of a large estate, of one of 
 our wealthiest Lancashire noblemen, on which the cottages are described 
 to me by the clergyman of the parish as ' in a disgraceful state.' I 
 l)elieve that the owner has never seen them. 
 
 I rejoice to think with you that there are subjects on which our 
 religious differences need not keep us asunder. I only wish there were 
 more. 
 
 The Earl of Shaftesbury described, without identi- 
 fying them, the cottages upon his own estate at St. 
 Giles's, which stood in marked contrast to many on 
 the Dorsetshire estates : — 
 
 Your Bill, if you can put the Commissioners under some kind of 
 restriction as to the construction of the cottages — to the extent, I mean, 
 of not insisting upon too much in the way of accommodation — may be of 
 real service. 
 
 A pair of cottages with three bedrooms, back and front kitchen, 
 pigsties, and other appurtenances, may now be built, in many 
 localities, for £oOO the pair. That sum, by your arrangement of 4 per 
 cent, and forty years, would amouat to .£180, the fall burden on the 
 •estate. . . . 
 
 But the Commissioners are, in general, very absolute and very 
 priggish. 
 
 Although highly approved by many, the proposed 
 Bill was threatened by strong opposition. Exception 
 was taken by some to the provision that advances 
 should be made by the Public Works Loan Com- 
 missioners, while others considered the Bill was not 
 required, inasmuch as owners could effect all that 
 was needed by the agency of the Land Improvement 
 Oompany, working under the control of the Enclosure 
 Commissioners.
 
 3C2 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. XVIII. 
 
 Moreover, other and wider schemes were m con- 
 templation, and as there was no probability that the 
 Bill would be passed that Session, it was deemed 
 advisable to let it drop. Mr. Morley did good service^ 
 however, in calling attention to the subject, and in 
 paving the way for larger measures. 
 
 On the 24th of February, 1874, Mr. Binney, who 
 had retired from the pastorate of the Weigh House 
 in 1869, died, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. 
 Mr. Morley keenly felt his loss. It was through the 
 instrumentality of his old fi'iend and pastor that his 
 spirit had been moulded to a finer temper, to broader 
 sympathies, to higher aims, and to greater capabili- 
 ties of service. He had admired him as a man, a 
 teacher, a personal and intimate hiend, and he had 
 looked up to him as the patriarch of Nonconformity 
 in his day. 
 
 And truly Mr. Binney had done more for Dissent 
 than a whole generation of men who had preceded 
 him. He had shown that it could be raised above 
 all narrowness and vulgarity ; that it need not of 
 necessity stand in an attitude of antagonism to 
 the Established Church ; that its form of worship 
 could be full of beauty and culture, and that it was. 
 capable of indefinite growth. 
 
 Referring to Mr. Binney and his influence on 
 Samuel Morley, the Eev. Joshua Harrison says, in 
 a letter to the present writer, fi'om which quotations, 
 have already been made : —
 
 1B71— 1876.] DEATH OF THOMAS BINNEY. 305 
 
 Mr. Biuney has so recently passed away, that many can recall Lis tall 
 figure, liis massive Lead, Lis keen eye, Lis comroandiug presence, and 
 his marvellous intellectual power. He drew around Liui crowds of 
 young men, wLo, as tliey listened to Lis clear, manly, imconventional 
 sermons, felt tLat a new pro])Let Lad risen among tliem. Samuel 
 Morlej^ attacLed Limself to tLis great preacLer, the strong-Leaded,. 
 large-Learted man, and became not only Lis devoted Learer, but Li& 
 warm friend. Mr. Binney Lad tLe rare art of getting to tLe very core of 
 the Scriptures, seizing on just wLat tLey taugLt, and tlien presenting it 
 witL such luminous distinctness, tLat, witliout argument, it was felt to 
 be the truth of God. But he was not satisfied with this. He made 
 himself acquainted witL every form of scepticism, every new objection to- 
 the CLristian faith, saw just wliere its power of mischief lay, and then^ 
 instead of adroitly giving it the go-by, met it fairly, ably, convincingly, 
 and thereby checked doubt at the very beginning. Then, further, while- 
 skilfully expounding the Evangelical faith, and iising it as the great 
 instrument of converting the soul, he dwelt largely on its intended 
 influence on character and action. He strove to make noble, manly 
 Christian lives. He did his best to stir up young men to think for them- 
 selves, whilst he excited in them at the same time such veneration for 
 the word of God, that they never felt safe if they had reason to fear that 
 they had not this on their side. My friend often told me that Mr. 
 Binney had marvellously helped him to aim at independence of cha- 
 racter, to take large views of life, to form definite purposes as to the way 
 of using life, to attempt great and generous things in life. I cannot say 
 to what extent such teaching struck in with the latent instincts and 
 aptitudes of his own mind, but I know that naturally he abhorred 
 littleness, stinginess, and self-seeking, and had a certain largeness. 
 of feeling and aim which saved hina from all that was narrow 
 and contracted. In fact, I believe that the seed fell on good and 
 very congenial soil, and therefore yielded so rich and abundant a 
 harvest. 
 
 On the 9tli of March, Mr. Binney was home to the 
 grave in Abney Park Cemetery. Earely had such a 
 funeral been seen. The carriage procession was a 
 third of a mile in length ; and, among the mourners,.
 
 364 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVIII. 
 
 Churchmen mingled with Dissenters in a common 
 sorrow and a common esteem. When the coffin was 
 borne up the aisle of the Stamford Hill Congrega- 
 tional Church, it was preceded by the Eev. J. C. 
 Harrison and Dr. Halley, two veteran friends ; while 
 immediately behind were Dean Stanley, the Rev. Dr. 
 Stoughton, and the Earl of Shaftesbury. Probably 
 there was no one there who mourned the loss of a 
 hiend more deej^ly than Samuel Morley, who, with 
 the venerable Dr. Moffat, Sir Charles Reed, and a 
 host of others, stood around the bier. 
 
 In August of the same year, Mr. Morley lost his 
 old and Avell-beloved hiend, Joshua Wilson, with 
 whom, for over thirty years, he had been associated 
 in every kind of Christian and philanthropic work. 
 Mr. Wilson was a man of a singularly retiring dispo- 
 sition and of secluded habits, and yet, by his counsel 
 and his unstinted liberality, he was known and revered 
 in all the churches of the Congregationalists. A 
 gentleman, a scholar, and a Christian, Mr. Morley 
 found pleasure in his companionship, and rarely 
 •entered upon any great religious enterprise without 
 taking counsel with him. When Mr. Morley stood 
 beside his open grave at Abney Park, he must have 
 felt that one of the strong links that bound him to 
 the past had broken, and that there was henceforth a 
 .blank which no new hiend could ever fill. 
 
 The following letter to his second daughter refers 
 to the events of this period, some of which have 
 been already mentioned : —
 
 1371—1870.] LETTER TO HIS DAUGHTER. 365 
 
 Hall Place, Sunday Morning, August, 1874. 
 My own dear Child, — I tliiuk I must just send you a few lines in answer 
 to your inquiries. My holiday, thus far, has been a somewliat chequered 
 one, and, as I have long felt that my children have always been interestecl 
 in what goes on at home, I therefore like giving details. You know I 
 went with oiir dear child* and Gracie to the yacht, a noble vessel, 
 at Cowes, and certainly our first experience was rather trying ; too much 
 wind to be pleasant. I came home to attend the funeral of Mr. Joshua, 
 Wilson, who has left me one of his executors. I returned to the yacht at 
 Dartmouth on Thursday, and on Friday we had a glorious sail across the 
 Channel to Brest, which we reached mid-day on Saturday, but we had to- 
 'lay to' during the night, as the captain had never entered the harbour. 
 On Sunday, after service at the Protestant Church, we found two telegrams 
 telling me of the destruction of our noble factory at Nottingham, and I 
 at once determined to leave by the mail train next day (last Monday). I 
 left at two o'clock, and reached London at six on Tuesday (710 miles). 
 I had a capital bath in Paris very early on Tuesday, and really felt very 
 little fatigue. I went to Nottingham early on Wednesdaj^ and was 
 greatly pained at what I found. I spent three days there, returning 
 home yesterday. The entire factory is destroyed. It was very perfect 
 and full of very valuable machinery. Our insurance does not nearly 
 cover the loss, but I do not care so much about that, although it is 
 mortifying to lose through our own neglect. The property of all kinds- 
 in the factory has been increasing each year — new machinery, new 
 material, new goods — and we had not increased the insurance. I have 
 endeavoured to meet the difficulty about the workpeople by telling them, 
 we shall pay them two-thirds of the wages they earned for a month, within 
 which time I shall expect to find they have found work elsewhere. 
 They fully recognized the desire to meet the case fairly. I had also a 
 meeting with all the young men in the warehouse, who evinced a nice 
 spirit. My great grief is that I fear the fire was caused by some outside 
 agency. There is no doubt a feeling of jealousy about the machinery. 
 It has been a trying time, but we have been cheered by very much land 
 sympathy. All the dear ones well here, and especially our precious 
 Eebekah has been most mercifully dealt with, and we have each this 
 morning a note in her handwriting inviting us to a drawing-room party 
 
 ■-'■ He always spoke to his daughter Augusta of Lis youngest daughter 
 Mary as "our dear child."
 
 :3GG SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. XVIII. 
 
 ou Saturday next. I felt at Brest that, if the telegram had contained a 
 doubtful word about her, I should have felt it more than if the loss had 
 been double. Dear mamma is just ready to go with me to our morning 
 service. I now close, having accomplished what I wished^to give you a 
 <;lear account. The yaehters were to leave Brest on Wednesday, and 
 would probably reach you on Friday. 
 
 Ever your loving father, 
 
 Samuel Morley. 
 
 P.S. — I was indeed glad to get back to this lovely spot. 
 
 In 1875, the Memorial Hall to commemorate the 
 Bicentenary of Nonconformity was opened, £70,000 
 having been expended on its erection, and on the 
 15th of May, Mr. Samuel Morley and Mr. John 
 Hemington Mills were entertained at a public break- 
 fast in the Hall, to receive a presentation of their 
 portraits painted in life-size by Mr. Wells, R.A. It 
 was a large and thoroughly representative gathering, 
 about three hundred well-known Nonconformists 
 heing present, including a goodly array of the more 
 eminent of their ministers. 
 
 The duty of presenting to Mr. Morley his portrait 
 devolved upon Mr. William Spicer, on behalf of the 
 Home Missionary Society. " When it became known," 
 he said, "that the Society had requested Mr. Morley 
 to allow his portrait to be painted, so many friends in 
 connection with the Society expressed a desire to co- 
 operate, it was found necessary, to enable them to do 
 so, to limit the amount contributed by each, and it 
 was now given to him to express the affectionate 
 regard in which he was held by the various churches
 
 1871—1876.] PRESENTATION OF POBTBAIT. 367 
 
 of the denomination, and to fulfil their desire that 
 not only they, hut their children in time to come, 
 might be able to look upon a well-executed memorial 
 of one who had attracted to himself, in a greater 
 degree than most men, the sincere admiration and 
 attachment of a large portion of the Church of 
 Christ." 
 
 In a few graceful words, Mr. Morley acknowledged 
 the compliment paid to him, and in the course of his 
 remarks referred to "men who had passed away, with 
 whom in his early youth he took sweet counsel, and 
 whose words and example were at once a stimulus 
 and an encouragement." 
 
 " Time would fail," he said, " and it would be an 
 invidious task, to allude individually to such men. 
 I may, however, mention the name of one of the 
 earliest friends of my youth, the late Dr. Pye Smith, 
 to whom I refer not only with the highest possible 
 admiration, but with a most loving respect ; and I 
 may add the name of one of the oldest of those 
 Mends — •! mean the late Thomas Binney, with whom 
 I was on terms of the most intimate friendship 
 through the whole of his life in London. I trace 
 to his teaching, influences which have moulded my 
 23ublic religious life ; and I trust, if God spares me, 
 I shall see, in this day, a further stimulus to the 
 work in which I have interested myself, and shoulder 
 to shoulder shall unite with those who fight, those 
 who work, and those who think, against the common 
 enemies — ignorance and sin."
 
 368 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XVIIL 
 
 The portrait still hangs in the library of the 
 Memorial Hall. 
 
 An incident occurred in 1875, insignificant in itself^ 
 but interesting as an illustration of the breadth of 
 Mr. Moiiey's practical Christianity. 
 
 Mr. George Jacob Holyoake was stricken down by 
 illness and blindness, and a Testimonial Fund was 
 raised on his behalf, to which Mr. Moiiey, in com- 
 pany with other Members of Parliament, literary and 
 scientific men of eminence, and persons of many 
 shades of opinion in politics and religion, including 
 Conservatives, Churchmen, and clergymen, contri- 
 buted. 
 
 This was made the occasion of some severe and 
 scurrilous attacks upon Mr. Morley by " Tory calum- 
 niators." For over thirty years — that is, throughout 
 the whole of his political life — he had known Mr. 
 Holyoake "as the constant, disinterested, and judi- 
 cious friend of the working classes." When they were 
 going wrong he had, on many occasions, with a moral 
 courage and an authority which won Mr. Moiiey'& 
 admiration, stepped forward and put them right. 
 He had contributed largely to the abolition of the- 
 taxes on knowledge and the establishment of the 
 penny press, and had for many years been an earnest 
 teacher on political and economical questions. 
 "Withal, Mr. Morley knew him to be a man of U]3- 
 rightness, refinement, and irreproachable life. And 
 yet, in subscribing to a fund to aid him in afiliction,
 
 1871— 187G.] A GEE AT VOCATION. S69 
 
 Mr. Moiiey was censured for aiding a man " ^Yllo 
 was not a believer in Christianity." 
 
 His position was simple and intelligible. " Much 
 as he might deplore that Mr. Holyoake was not a be- 
 liever in Christianity, and impossible as it was that 
 he could have any sympathy with him in that unbe- 
 lief, he was not absolved thereby from the connnon 
 obligations of humanity." He sympathized with the 
 man who had laboured hard and well for the working 
 classes, and, in the spirit of the parable of the Good 
 Samaritan and of the Sermon on the Mount, he 
 went forth willingly and gladly to his aid. 
 
 No man, having taken the stand that Mr. Morley 
 had taken, ever had the whole of his career watched 
 with keener scrutiny. There were those who " eyed 
 him curiously," waiting for his fall; there were others 
 who, believing that he had a great vocation in the 
 world, which, in its faithful fulfilment, would have a 
 marked influence upon society in general, as well as 
 upon the Church in particular, followed all his move- 
 ments with anxiety, knowing that, if he fell, the fall 
 would be great. There were others, and they were 
 many, who felt for him the liveliest feelings of con- 
 fidence and regard, and who were persuaded that he 
 would not touch a subject, or follow a cause, that 
 was unworthy of him, or which would detract from 
 the reputation which he had so deservedly acquired. 
 
 Among these classes were many who gave expres- 
 sion to their views fi'om time to time, both publicly 
 and in private, and especially when Mr. Moiiey was
 
 hlO SAMUEL MOB LEY. [Chap. XVIII. 
 
 engaged more prominently than usual in public 
 work. 
 
 From the ^^osition Mr. Moiiey had taken up during 
 the passage of the Elementary Education Bill, he had 
 felt it incumbent upon him to give way to the pressure 
 brought to bear upon him, and to offer himself as a 
 candidate for a seat on the London School Board. It 
 had never been his intention to remain long in that 
 position, as, in the nature of things, it would be im- 
 possible for him to devote the time that was necessary 
 to deal wdth the enormous amount of work it in- 
 volved. In 187G, therefore, he retired from the Board, 
 and in doing so he issued to the ratepayers of the 
 City of London an address in wdiich the following 
 passages occurred : — 
 
 I am unwilling to retire from the position on the School Board for 
 London, to which I was elected six years ago, without bearing my testi- 
 mony to the ability, high integrity, and wonderful devotion of the 
 members generally of the Board, and offering my most hearty thanks for 
 the great honour which your confidence has conferred on me, of in some 
 degree sharing in its wise and great work. 
 
 The Board has conceived its duty to be, to provide a school place for 
 every child of school age, and to see that every child of school age is in 
 a school place. Of the magnitude and manifold difficulties of such a 
 work, none of us, at its outset, had any true idea. To this work the 
 Boax'd has given six years of almost ceaseless labour, of which, as a 
 citizen, I cannot speak with sufficient admiration and gratitude. I 
 believe that it has been done with the greatest consideration for the 
 jiarents of neglected children, and with every regard to rational economy; 
 for I hold that the economy which would have forborne from necessary 
 measures of compiilsion, which would have provided unsubstantial 
 buildings, or an impoverished teaching, would have been irrationa'. 
 economy. . . .
 
 1871—1876.] THE LONDON SCHOOL BOARD. 371 
 
 As to the education which the Board provides, it is plain, sound, and 
 thorough. Its religious instruction is simple Bible teaching, which, I am 
 scarcely surprised to see, is by certain religious leaders called ' colourless.' 
 Let me take the liberty of warning — as I do with all my heart — ratepayers 
 against this ' colouring ' party. I cannot conceal my fear that it is pre- 
 pared, in the interest of its o'svu personal sectarianism, to go any lengths 
 which the mere letter of the law will iiermit. 
 
 Nothing would more serve the cause of those who would put religious 
 ■teaching out of the school altogether, than the triumph of such a party. 
 
 The educational condition of our scholars, it is said, is inferior, after all 
 ■ our expenditure, to that of denominational schools. I rejoice in the fact. 
 Our children are in the lowest standards. Our schools are mainly filled 
 with the most neglected, far too long neglected, classes of children. The 
 sneer is too soon. It will be deserved when the Board is found guilty 
 of leaving them as it found them — a result which Her Majesty's 
 Insj)ectors' Eeports are giving little reason to fear.
 
 CHAPTEE XIX. 
 
 AT HALL PLACE. 
 1870—1886. 
 
 Hall Place — The Village of Leigh— Improvements — Temporal and Spirituaf 
 Wants — An " Undenominational Chapel" — Plymouth Brethrenism — " Think 
 and let Think" — The Squire of the Parish — The Eev. Hugh Collum — 
 School Committees — Benevolent Projects — Bible Society Meetings — A New 
 Vicarage House — Lectures — The Clergy — Church and Dissent — A Christian 
 Man — Marriage of Miss Morlej — Her Early Death — Duties at Leigh — The 
 Rev. Dr. Moffat. 
 
 We must leave the narrative of Mr. Morley's more 
 public life, and go back to the year 1870, when he 
 left Craven Lodge and took up his abode at Hall 
 Place, Leigh, near Tonbridge. 
 
 Leigh, originally sjDclt and still pronounced Lyghe, 
 is a parish about a mile and a half from Hilden- 
 borough Station on the South-Eastern Eailway, four 
 miles west h'om Tonbridge, and six miles south from 
 Sevenoaks. 
 
 Approaching Hall Place from Hildenborough, the 
 entrance is situated close by the parish church of" 
 Leigh, a building of flint and stone, in the Early 
 English style ; and then a drive, gradually rising- 
 thi'ough the park, and beside a broad sheet of water,, 
 leads to the house.
 
 1870— 188G.] WOBK AT LEIGH. 373 
 
 Hall Place is a handsome Elizabethan mansion of 
 red brick and stone, standing in a wooded park of 
 nearly two hmidred acres. The house is covered 
 with ivy, save where the pm-ple clematis and other 
 creepers throw their clustering flowers. 
 
 xA.n old house, part of which dated back to the 
 reign of Elizabeth, stood near to the present site, and 
 •constituted one of the principal attractions in in- 
 ducing Mr. Morley to purchase the property. The 
 house had, however, been very badly built, and re- 
 quired considerable alteration to meet modern re- 
 quirements. Finding at length that it could not be 
 adapted, Mr. Morley, after careful consideration, 
 decided to have it pulled down and an entirely new 
 building erected. But the ivy covering it has grown 
 so rapidly, it is difficult to realize that the present 
 Hall Place only dates fi'om 1870. 
 
 When Mr. Morley went to Leigh, he found there 
 was much work to be done. He did not, however, 
 proceed at once to bring about certain changes 
 which he thought would be of benefit to the 
 neighbourhood, but gradually, and in the course of 
 several years, he effected one improvement after 
 another, until he wrought a transformation in the 
 village. We may summarize here the beneficial 
 work accomplished at Leigh during Mr. Morley' s 
 residence there. The drainage of the village was 
 very imperfect : he had it put in a state of thorough 
 efficiency, almost entirely at his own expense. The 
 water was not good or abundant : he had a well dug,
 
 374 SAMUEL MOB LEY. [Chap. XIX., 
 
 and machinery erected to pump and filter the water- 
 into a reservoir holding 13,000 gallons ; he caused 
 four fountains to be placed in the village, so that 
 pure and good Avater could be within the reach of 
 all, and a plentiful supply in a granite trough for 
 dogs and horses. He found that there was no proper 
 recreation ground for the villagers : he caused one to^ 
 be made and planted with trees, with a good road 
 round it, and paths across it. The cottages needed 
 radical improvement : he had some reconstructed, and 
 new ones built of a model type. The villagers had no 
 ground to cultivate as gardens : he set aside a j)lot of 
 land for the purpose, cut it up into sections, and let 
 them at a low rate. Cottage gardening was at a 
 discount : he offered prizes for the best kept gardens, 
 and plants, and gave his gardener carte blanche to 
 supply, free of charge, trees and slu'ubs to ornament, 
 the cottage gardens. In short, he found it a neglected 
 village, and, as the gradual work of years, he trans- 
 formed it into one of the neatest and prettiest in the 
 country. 
 
 But if the temporal wants of the village folk of 
 Leigh needed relief, much more so, to his thinking,. 
 did their spiritual necessities. The vicar of the 
 parish was a man of considerable age, who had filled 
 the post for nearly half a century, and who prided 
 himself in having only on three occasions been 
 absent from his pulpit on Sunday during that period. 
 There was only one other place of worship — in a 
 small room, where the Associated Methodists met
 
 1870— 1886.J- MISS MOBLEY. 375 
 
 for religious services, but they had not constitnted 
 themselves into a church. 
 
 Among these people, Mr. Morley's eldest daughter 
 cast in her lot, and nourished the little cause with 
 help such as it had never had before. . In all her 
 efforts she had the sympathy and support of her 
 father, with whom her influence was very great. 
 
 She had long devoted herself to Christian work, 
 and at Stamford Hill, and elsewhere, her labours 
 had been attended with remarkable success. She 
 had the rare gift of speaking straight to the hearts of 
 people in simple but stirring language, and winning 
 them into paths of righteousness. Moreover, she 
 had considerable literary skill, and carried on an 
 important "ministry" by means of her pen. One 
 of the first steps to arouse the religious interest of 
 the people at Leigh was to invite Mr. Hurditch, a 
 popular evangelist, to hold a series of mission 
 services in a tent — a proceeding which raised grave 
 doubts in the mind of the good vicar. 
 
 One of those who took part in the meetings was 
 Mr. Maxted. He, more than any other of the 
 "evangelists" who visited Leigh, seemed to be the 
 right man to work among the neglected poor of that 
 neighbourhood, and his services were, tberefore, 
 permanently retained. In course of time, as S2)iritual 
 interest was aroused, and the gospel was accepted, 
 those who professed to have become Christians 
 naturally asked, " What are we to do for the future ? 
 and what ordinances are we to have ? " These were
 
 37G SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. XIX. 
 
 difficult questions, but the first step towards an 
 
 answer was to build a chapel. 
 
 This Mr. Morley did. A substantial l)uilding was 
 
 erected on an excellent site in the village as an 
 
 " undenominational chapel," and behind it a red- 
 brick cottage was added, in which were rooms for 
 Sunday-school purposes. Chapel, schoolhouse, and 
 grounds were made not only attractive, but really 
 beautiiid, and soon the buildings were adorned 
 with ivy and climbing plants, and surrounded by 
 flowering shrubs. 
 
 Into this new movement Miss Morley tlii'ew her- 
 self heart and soul, and success attended it increas- 
 ingly. But it was impossible for matters to remain 
 as they were ; the question of sacraments had to be 
 settled. 
 
 Mr. Morley was in profound sympathy with his 
 daughter, whose influence was so powerful for good ; 
 her views on religious questions, if not entirely 
 identical, were very nearly in accordance with those 
 held by the religious community known as Plymouth 
 Bretlu'en, and, although he had the greatest interest 
 in the work which his daughter was carrying on, he 
 totally disagreed with the opinions of many branches 
 of the religious connnunity with which she was con- 
 nected. 
 
 Mr. Maxted was not an ordained minister, and pro- 
 fessed to be unsectarian, or, in other words, was in 
 full sympathy with those known as "Open Brethren." 
 Mr. Morley saw that he was doing a good work, and,
 
 1870— 1S8G.] LEIGH CHAPEL. ^11 
 
 although m doiiht " wheremito this would tend," he 
 •did not feel himself fi"ee to alter a system of things 
 which satisfied the peo^^le, and was leading them 
 into a higher and better life. Under these influences, 
 and seeing that there was no intention of " founding 
 a Church," he consented that the Sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper should be celebrated from time to 
 time, but in the schoolroom, not in the chapel. 
 -Later on, a discussion arose as to wdiat is termed 
 Believers' Baptism, and, yielding to the wush of the 
 people, Mr. Morley erected a baptistery at his own 
 •expense. And so it came to pass that, although, 
 to all intents and purposes, the chapel w^as unde- 
 nominational, the Sacraments were administered in fi 
 manner identical with those of the " Open Brethren." 
 But Mr. Morley was not in any sense or degree an 
 Open or a Plymouth Brother. He never swerved for 
 -a moment from his earliest belief on the question 
 of Infant Baptism ; he loved the orderly and usual 
 method of administering the Lord's Supper; and he 
 remained, what he had always been, a Congrega- 
 tionalist. 
 
 He nevertheless attended the ordinary services 
 :at the chapel, and, occasionally, the Connnunion. 
 When asked why he did so, he would reply, "Why ? 
 because I like the simplicity of the meeting, that 
 is all." 
 
 " Think and let think " had ever been his motto with 
 regard to the religious tendencies of his children, and 
 some of them were Nonconformists, and some were
 
 378 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XIX. 
 
 members of the Established Chmx-h. He had never 
 been anxious that they should be Dissenters, still 
 less that they should esj^ouse any particular form of 
 Dissent. He had pursued in his own family the 
 policy that his father had pursued in the early home 
 in Well Street. He set before them his own life, 
 and, when asked to do so, his own views, but he 
 never by one word urged them to be either Noncon- 
 formists or Conformists. " Be real, be true ; follow 
 out the dictates of your own conscience as in the 
 sight of God." This was the sum of his exhortations. 
 On the other hand, he said many a time how great 
 his delight had been, and what a source of gratifica- 
 tion it was to him to be brought into contact with 
 the Church of England through his own children. 
 And man}' a time he declared that if the lifting up of 
 his finger would have led them back to None on- 
 formity, he would not have done it. In the selection 
 of a minister his principal thought was for the poor 
 — his family were now grown up, and could care for 
 themselves. 
 
 To many men it ^\'ould have been a matter of thfr 
 utmost difficulty, as the Squire of a parish, to have 
 taken up the position that Mr. Morley assumed. To 
 him, however, it presented no difficulty whatever. 
 Although not agTeeing in some things with Mr.. 
 Maxted, and looking at the majority of religious 
 questions from a totally different standpoint, he yet 
 worked harmoniously with the village evangelist^ 
 always yielding to him in spiritual things, and thus-
 
 1870— 188G.] LETTER FBOM BEV. HUGH COLLVM. 37t^ 
 
 acting in sympathy with one portion of his family 
 circle. 
 
 Opposed as he was to the Church Estahlishment^. 
 and caring very little for Church ritual, he was never- 
 theless on the most cordial and friendly terms with 
 the old vicar of the parish, and entered into schemes 
 of usefulness originated by the new vicar with the 
 utmost liberality, thus acting in sympathy with 
 another portion of his family circle. 
 
 The following extracts from a long letter to the 
 present writer, from the Eev. Hugh Collum, Yicar of 
 Leigh, will be read with interest, as it not onl}^ gives 
 a good insight into Mr. Morley's relations with him^ 
 but also into some of the useful w^ork carried on in 
 the parish : — 
 
 I ' read myself in,' as Vicar of Leigli, on Sunday, March 12, 187G. 
 
 On the following day, anxious to lose no time in making the acquaint- 
 ance of all my parishioners, beginning Avith my somewhat formidable (as 
 I supposed) Nonconformist Squire, I set out for Hall Place. 
 
 In the avenue I met Mr. Morley, on his way to town for the Parlia- 
 mentary Session. In a few well-chosen and incisive words, he expressed 
 regret that he was on the point of leaving home ; hoped, however, shortly 
 to have the opportunity of becoming better acquainted with me. On that 
 occasion I could, of course, form no opinion of the character and disposition 
 of one who was to be so near a neighbour, and, as the event proved, so 
 true a friend ; with whom it rested, to some extent, wdiether my position 
 as vicar of a parish, largely Nonconformist, should be as comfortable as. 
 circumstances might admit, or whether it should be one of continual 
 friction. 
 
 My next interview with ]\Ir. Morley was on March 30, lS7ri. at a School 
 Committee meeting at Hall Place, when, in the room of the ex-vicar, I 
 was elected Chairman. On that, as on everj^ other subsequent occasion,. 
 I was treated \>y Mr. Morley with studied deference {'nd courtesy. He-
 
 380 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. XIX. 
 
 availed liiinsolf, however, of the opportunity to express his personal 
 preference for a thoroughly uusectariau school system. At the same 
 time, he gave his ready adhesion to the compromise, which had already 
 been arrived at in the case of Leigh School, that the Conscience Clause 
 should he loyally and fully carried out, and no attempt made by the 
 clergyman to impose distinctive Church teaching on the children of those 
 parents who might be conscientiously opposed to it. This modus vivcndl 
 being perfectly in accord with law, reason, and conscience, I expressed 
 myself as fully satisfied with. And here I may perhaps be permitted to 
 mention that, during the ten years in which I was so closely associated 
 with Mr. Morley in the management of the Leigh Schools, though from 
 time to time questions of difficulty and delicacy arose, owing to the eccle- 
 siastically divided condition of the parish — -questions requiring in their 
 solution tact, judgment, and good temper — I invariably received from my 
 lamented friend the most loyal and generous support. Over and over 
 again he expressed himself as being perfectly satisfied with the impartial 
 manner iu which matters were conducted. Though an admirer and 
 supporter of the Board School system, he said there was ' no need for its 
 introduction into Leigh parish.' 
 
 As some evidence of his increasing confidence in the management of 
 our village school, Mr. Morley built, entirely at his own expense, a new 
 infant department, costing upwards of i;oOO. And one of the last public 
 acts of his fruitful and benevolent life was, in conjunction with Mr. Hills 
 of Eedleaf, a generous member of our committee, to build an admirable 
 play-room for the use of the children. He was fall of the idea of estab- 
 lishing penny dinners for the benefit of the children coming from out- 
 lying districts. 
 
 The annual autumnal school treat, which he generously gave at Hall 
 Place to all the school-children, and as many of their teachers and friends 
 as chose to attend, was an occasion which he speciallij enjoyed, and in 
 which his genial, sunny character showed to the greatest advantage. 
 He had a shake of the hand, a friendly greeting, a kindly look for all. 
 When distributing the prizes to the eager and expectant children, he 
 had always something practical and interesting to say, and well deserving 
 of attention. ... On the occasion of these pleasant gatherings, he was 
 ready to welcome any one, whether Clmrchman or Nonconformist, and 
 to give them an opportunity of addressing the children. . . . 
 
 On Tuesday evening, the 28rd of May, in the same year, we held our 
 iirst meeting in the schoolroom, since my induction, on behalf of the
 
 1870—1880.] SQUIRE OF THE PAFISH. 381 
 
 British and Foreign Bible Society. Mr. Morley, accompanied by his son 
 Henry, came down expressly from town in order to be present, returning 
 by the last train. It was surelj^ characteristic of the thoroughness, in- 
 defatigable energy, and ardent zeal of the man, now no longer young, full 
 of pubhc and parliamentary' business, undertaking the fatigue of a con- 
 siderable journey in order to support by his presence a simple village 
 meeting. ... 
 
 With one, or perhaps two, exceptions, Mr. Morley never failed to attend 
 these annual Bible Society meetings, which were specially interesting, 
 during the too brief residence among us of the revered and venerable 
 African missionary, the late Dr. Moffat. It was most touching to see, as 
 on Friday, November 21, 187'.), side by side, two such grand old men as 
 Moffat and Morley witnessing for the truth and power of those Holy 
 Scriptiu'es which are able to make wise iinto salvation. 
 
 One of the many subjects engaging my attention on becoming A'icar, 
 was the raising of the necessary funds to build a new vicarage house — the 
 old one, by reason of progressive decay, having been condemned by the 
 Diocesan surveyor. It became, accordingly, my not very congenial dutj-, 
 to apply to some twentj^-three owners of property in the parish, and Mr. 
 Morley was one of the few who promptly and generously responded to 
 my appeal. 
 
 On Monday, the 5th of March, 1877, Mr. Morley, as Squire of the parish 
 and the largest contributor to the building fund, laid the foundation-stone 
 of the new vicarage house, in presence of a large and rej^resentative 
 gathering of about three hundred parishioners and neighbours, besides 
 some two hundred school-children. He touched upon the typical character 
 and charm of English homes, and their influence upon the life and tone 
 of the nation. 
 
 The Archdeacon of Maidstone, who was also present, offered a few 
 appropriate observations, and closed the proceedings with the bene- 
 diction. . . . 
 
 On the 16th of April, 1879, being Wednesday in Easter Week, our new 
 organ, to which Mr. Morley had liberally contributed, was oj)ened by a 
 festival service in the church, the preacher being the Archdeacon of Maid- 
 stone. Divine worship was followed by a luncheon laid for about sixty, 
 in a tent pitched in front of the vicarage house. At my request, the 
 chair was taken by the Archdeacon, who, after the usual loyal toasts, 
 proposed the Houses of Lords and Commons, coupling with the former 
 the name of Lord De L'Isle, and witli the latter, that of Mr. Morley.
 
 .-382 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XIX. 
 
 Mr. Morley made au excellent speech, touehiug on the somewhat 
 delicate question of the nautual Constitutional relations between the two 
 Houses. He was glad, he said, to be able to bear testimony to tlie 
 thorough and careful way in which some important questions were 
 debated and revised by the Upper House. 
 
 When Mr. Morley happened to be at home in the autumn, and dis- 
 engaged, he iTiade a point of being present at our bright and thronged 
 Harvest Thanksgiving Festivals — and thoroughlj- entered into the spirit 
 of them — contributing liberally to the offertory. ... In our numerous 
 penny readings, improving lectures, Church and schoolroom mission 
 services, and temperance meetings, Mr. Morley took a lively interest, 
 and was a most generous supporter wdtli his purse, and likewise with 
 his presence, when he could make it possible to attend. 
 
 I have frequently known him, after a hard and harassing day's work iu 
 town or elsewhere, sitting out a sometimes b}^ no means lively lecture, 
 and never complaining or regarding himself as a martyr of circumstances. 
 
 Some of our lectures had a useful and practical outcome — that on the 
 management of bees, in several of the villagers becoming possessors of 
 hives ; that on fires and firemen, iu the starting of an excellent, well- 
 equipped, and well-drilled fire brigade. 
 
 I must not omit to make special mention of the cookerj' classes, started 
 after a lecture by Mr. Buckmaster, and a vegetarian supper, attended by 
 probably a couple of hundred people, given and presided over by Mr. 
 Morley, under the auspices of the London Vegetarian Society. 
 
 The dramage and water supply of the village, involving an outlay of 
 many thousands of pounds, the school penny bank and library, 
 numbering nearly four hundred volumes, are schemes with which Mr. 
 Morley's name will ever be gratefully and honourably associated. 
 
 At the beginning of each new year, Mr. Morlej^ was wont to give a 
 substantial tea to the workmen in his employ at Leigh, and their famiUes, 
 to the number of some 150, after which he presented, with friendly and 
 api^ropriate words, a present, consisting of some useful articles, to each one 
 who worked on the estate. He was always kind enough to wish that I 
 should be present on these interesting occasions and say a few words to the 
 people. He himself was never wearj' of dilating on the overwhelming evil of 
 intemperance as productive of pauperism, domestic strife and misery, and 
 national waste and injury ; of the advantages of total abstinence ; of the 
 happiness of honest and conscientious toil. He was wont, on such 
 occasions, to say, that he himself worked harder and more constantly than
 
 1870— 18SG.] THE CLERGY. 380 
 
 auy of those whom he adJi-esseil, though in work of a different kind to 
 theirs, and that his, unlike their work, was never finished. He said he 
 wished the connection between them to be not a mere matter of work 
 ^and wages — that he desired that they should regard him as their friend 
 and counsellor, to whom they could freely come for advice and help in any 
 difficulty, . . . 
 
 Speaking of the clergy of the Church of England to me one day, he 
 said, ' You have some magnificent men among you ; superior to ours.' 
 On the other hand, he had a strong impression that there were those 
 among us who had entirely mistaken their vocation, and were a source of 
 vv'eakness rather than of strength to the Church. To which I rejoined, 
 that it was impossible to find a sufficient supply of men of the highest 
 qualifications ; that, even as it was, there was a lamentable deficiency of 
 labourers ; that, in the present imperfect condition of civilized and religious 
 life, you must work with such tools as may be forthcoming. To which 
 Mr. Morley sternly and energetically rephed, that it would be far better 
 that many of the pulpit? should be entirely empty, than filled with some 
 of those who now occupy them. . . . 
 
 There were certain anomalies involved in the existing union between 
 -Ohurch and State of which he disapproved and could not reconcile with 
 the New Testament — e.g., the nomination of bishops by the Prime Minister 
 of the daj^, who might be a man of no belief or any belief — the con(je 
 (Vflire, the retrograde or negative action, as he considered, of the 
 bishops in the House of Lords on questions of liberal policy and social 
 amelioration and j)rogress. He was an admirer of Archbishop Tait, as 
 also of individual bishops and dignitaries of the Church with v/hom he 
 had been brought in contact in i)ublic and private life. He had a great 
 regard for Canon Basil "Wilberforce in his capacity, more especially, as a 
 great temperance promoter and orator. He invited him to address a 
 meeting of his employes at Wood Street, at which I was present. He 
 also contributed liberally to the building of the Canon's new chui'ch in 
 Southampton, and, with my hearty concurrence, invited him to preach in 
 Leigh Church, which, much to my regret, he was unable to do. 
 
 He had, as might be supposed, a great admii-ation for the services 
 rendered to civil and religious libert\^ and the evangelization of the people 
 by the Nonconformists. He once asked ine, ' Where would Christianity 
 have been in Cornwall if it had not been for the Methodists ? ' At the 
 same time, he was painfully conscious that both the Church and the 
 Nonconformists had signally failed in touching and getting a hold of
 
 384 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XIX.. 
 
 inultitacles of peoxile who were leatliug practically heathen lives. He 
 more than once spoke to me about the utter insufficiency of church and 
 chapel accommodation if all who might attend some place of worship were 
 suddenly to make up their minds to do so. He was deeply impressed by 
 the serious character of the times. 
 
 Mr. Morley has, I am well aware, been censured by Churchmen 
 for introducing and maintaining in their parishes, Nonconformist 
 machinery and agencies. His justification was, that, on coming ta 
 reside in this part of Kent, he did not find what he considered to be 
 adequate machinexy of a modern kind on the part of the Church for 
 evangelizing and elevating the people — that there were ' dark ' places 
 where there ought to be abundant light ; that there was abundant 
 room for all workers. He once said to me, when I ventured to touch 
 upon the evils of religious divisions, the waste of euei-gj^ &c., ' Let any 
 imi^artial and competent person (I care not who) who knew the past and 
 present condition of certain parishes, honestly declare his opinion, and he 
 will be constrained to admit that a considerable improvement in a variety 
 of ways has taken place. Let it be explained how you will, say, if j'ou 
 please, it has been brought about by some system of hocus-pocus, never- 
 theless the fact remains.' Mr. Morley's idea evidently was, that so long 
 as the people are reached by personal sympathy and friendly contact, 
 rescued from sin and won to Christianity, it mattered comparatively little 
 by what particular ecclesiastical agency or means the result was obtained. 
 He was accordingly thankful if church or chapel, lay or female agency, 
 free lance or delegate of some recognized body, succeeded in this. Hence 
 he highly approved of, and liberally supported, such remarkable move- 
 ments as that of Moody and Sankey, and the Salvation Army in its 
 earlier and purer stage. 
 
 Not having made a special study of ecclesiastical history, he did not seem 
 to appreciate, or attach any special importance to, what Churchmen would 
 call the Divine origin, historic character, and claims of the Chiu'ch of 
 England, as a true and living branch of the Catholic and Apostolic 
 Church. ' You know,' he was wont to say to me, ' I am a thorough Non- 
 conformist.' He once said to me, ' All my life long I have stoutly j)ro- 
 tested against the claims of authority in matters of religion as against the 
 Divine right of j^rivate judgment and conscience. I am a firm believer in 
 personal character and personal influence. I am ready to yield all due 
 deference to that, but am not prepared to 3'ield to ecclesiastical authority 
 as such.' . , .
 
 1870—1886.] JOYS AND SOBBOWS. 385 
 
 He was a born leader of ineu. What liis reason and conscience dictated, 
 that he was prepared to carry through, in spite of all difficulties and ob- 
 stacles. He was, at the same time, a humble and simple-minded Christian ; 
 happily for himself, unruffled and undisturbed by those terrible waves of 
 destructive criticism and philosophic scepticism which mercilessly lash 
 and upheave from their inmost depths many great and noble minds 
 differently constituted from his. While strongly feeling the importance 
 of supporting such bulwarks of the faith as the Christian Evidence Society, 
 in the face of the varied and highly aggressive forms of modern thought 
 antagonistic to the Divine claims of Christianity, he himself was not 
 personally moved. He could say with the apostle of old, ' I know whom 
 I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I 
 have committed unto Him against that day.' 
 
 We must now glance briefly at some of the "joys 
 and sorrows, the labour and repose," of life at Leigh. 
 
 Mr. Morley's sons and daughters were taking, or 
 had taken, their places in life, and still there was the 
 old strong affection, the same mutual love, the same 
 home tenderness. Just as pleasurably as he had 
 watched their school and college careers, he followed 
 them in their travels and their avocations. 
 
 In 1872, two of his sons, Howard and Arnold, 
 made a tour in America, and it was with no little 
 interest he received fii'om them long filial letters, 
 telling him, as frankly as in days of yore, all that 
 they had seen and done and heard. 
 
 These little partial separations did but add to the 
 family union. There was a separation of another kind, 
 however, which took place in this year. His oldest 
 daughter was engaged to be married to Mr. Herbert 
 Wilbraham Taylor. Eeferring to this in a letter to 
 his daughter Augusta, Mr. Moiiey said : — 
 
 26
 
 38G SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. XIX. 
 
 Wood Street, March 29, 1872. 
 I cannot think at present about her leaving us without a feehng of 
 desolation, which I can hardly describe, but I am sure will yield to 
 further thought, and especially as I see so clearly her Heavenly Father's 
 hand guiding in the most important step. I feel thankful in the conviction 
 that there will be a union of service as well as of affection. 
 
 On the 16th of May m that year, the marriage took 
 
 place, and Mr. and Mrs. Moiiey and all their children 
 
 were present at the ceremony. It proved to be a 
 
 union of affection as well as of service, and in all 
 
 parts of the country there were those who traced the 
 
 beginning of new life to her loving ministrations. 
 
 But the period of work in her new sphere was limited, 
 
 and in November, 1877, shortly after the birth of her 
 
 fourth child, her life-task was done. Hardly any 
 
 sorrow has more pathos in it than for a young wife 
 
 and mother to be suddenly taken away from the love 
 
 that cherished her, and from those duties which only 
 
 she could fulfil to her family. To Mr. Morley, with 
 
 his warm home-affections, no loss, save one, could 
 
 have been more severe. It was the first gap — and 
 
 happily the only one — in that united domestic circle, 
 
 and none knew the strength of the ties which bound 
 
 them together until that cord was broken. 
 
 It was their joy to believe that for her " to depart 
 was far better," but the very strength of this belief 
 made those who were left behind more painfully 
 conscious of their loss. The fact that she was so 
 ripe for heaven, made the survivors all the more 
 desirous to have detained her awhile longer on the 
 earth.
 
 1870— 188G.] DEATH OF A DAUGHTER. 387 
 
 Very toncliing and beautiful were the letters from 
 every place in which she had dwelt or visited, telling 
 of the extent of her activities, the gracefulness of 
 her charities, and the depth of her devotion. '' We 
 remember with such joy her beauty in the Lord," 
 wrote one, "as we saw it when she was with us, and 
 many women among us got great blessing through 
 her marvellous ministrations." 
 
 And not then only. Long after she had entered 
 upon the higher ministry, her influence lived ; she 
 still spoke tenderly by her memory and by her 
 written words.* 
 
 Mr. Morley wrote many letters at this sorrowful 
 time. We select two. The first is to his daughter 
 Auii^usta : — • 
 
 Hall Place, Nov. 11, 1877. 
 Think of our never hearing again her voice, or taking sweet counsel 
 together ; and yet I can ah-eacly realize much mercy. She is at rest ; she 
 is realizing what she has often pictured to others. She is seeing her Lord 
 ' face to face.' Oh, let us pray that great blessing may come to us all out 
 of what looks at present so dark and inysterious. 
 
 The next letter was written, to his neighbour, the 
 Eev. Hugh Oollum : — 
 
 Hall Place, Nov. 23, 1877. 
 My dear Sir, — Let me assure you of our grateful appreciation of your 
 kind sympathy with us in our present deep sorrow. The kindness of our 
 iViends has been most comforting, but the gap remains unfilled, and, 
 while I can truly say our faith in the love, as well as the wisdom, of 
 our Heavenly Father, remains unshaken, we have impressions as to the 
 
 - " The Desert Path and the Heavenly Hope."^ By Mrs. Herbert W. 
 Taylor. " Letters of Mrs. H. W. Taylor." Edited by her Husband.
 
 388 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. XIX. 
 
 mystery of His dealings -with us, whicli we tlispose of by a thorough con- 
 viction, as you most truly remind us, that all will one day be made plain, 
 and ' what we know not now we shall know hereafter.' 
 
 In the meautiine we are thankful to call to mind the pure, unselfish, 
 active life which was lent to us ' for a while.' 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 S. MOELEY. 
 
 There was great heart - sadness in the httle 
 meeting-house at Leigh, where she was so well 
 known and loved, and where her rich and beautiful 
 voice had so often led the singing. This endeared 
 the " undenominational chapel" yet more and more 
 to Mr. Morley, who engaged actively in establishing 
 similar organizations in other villages near Leigh, 
 where he felt a need existed. 
 
 In every way in which Mr. Morley could advance 
 the interests of the neighbourhood in wdiich he dwelt, 
 he did it heartily. He accepted the Commission of 
 the Peace ; he performed all the duties of the Squire 
 of the parish ; he rendered valuable assistance to the 
 Liberal cause in that part of the county of Kent, and 
 on the alteration of the parliamentary divisions, 
 brought about by the Eedistribution Bill, he took a 
 most active share in the reorganization of the Liberal 
 party in the Tonbridge Division, besides assisting 
 the candidates who sought the suffrages of the 
 electorate. 
 
 In the letter h'om Mr. Collum, quoted in this 
 chapter, reference was made to the Kev. Dr. Moflfat. 
 It was in 1879 that the venerable missionary took up
 
 1870— 188G.] THE BEV. DB. MOFFAT. 389 
 
 his abode in the village of Leigh, in a picturesque 
 little house known as Park Cottage, embosomed in 
 shrubs and evergreens. 
 
 . On his arrival, a warm welcome awaited him from 
 Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Morley, whose tenant he had 
 become, and their thoughtful attention to the com- 
 fort of the grand old hero never wavered from that 
 day until he had " finished his course." He attended 
 the chapel regularly every Sunday morning, and 
 often in the afternoon, and was always glad to help 
 in the services. It was curious to see, in that 
 remote little village meeting-house, two such men as 
 Samuel Morley and Eobert Moffat — men whose names 
 were of world-wide reputation. 
 
 Those years at Leigh formed a calm and happy 
 time for the aged missionary. " He was so pleased," 
 says his biogi^apher,* "to show his visitors Mr. 
 Morley's beautiful grounds, upon the charms of 
 which he would expatiate with all the zest of a 
 connoisseur." It was not for long, however, that 
 he was to tany in this world. One day in May, 
 1883, Mr. and Mrs. Morley being at Hall Place for 
 a day or two, he went up to see them. He had gone 
 there intending to stay for half an hour, but fully two 
 hours they spent together, and it was the last visit 
 he paid to Hall Place. 
 
 Then came a day, a few months later, when the 
 venerable missionary la}^ dying. " He was very 
 
 - •' The Lives of Eobert and Mary Moffat," p. 409. By their Son, John 
 S. Moffat.
 
 390 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. XIX. 
 
 pleased to receive a visit from Mr. Morley, whom 
 he truly loved, and thanked him warmly for sparing 
 time from his many engagements. He talked with 
 wonderfril vigour of the mysteriousness of Providence, 
 and was evidently clinging to the hope of the restitu- 
 tion of all things, hut wound up with the words, ' It 
 is all a mystery. Will not the Judge of all the earth 
 do right?'" 
 
 A few days later, Mr. Morley stood heside the 
 grave, at Norwood Cemetery, of his friend and neigh- 
 bour, the great Apostle of South Africa.
 
 CHAPTEE XX. 
 
 1871—1881. 
 
 The Artizans', Labourers', auJ General Dwellings Company — A Timely Inter- 
 position — James Parsons, of York — Retirement from Bristol contemplated 
 — The Secret of Strength — The Paris Exhibition — Trades Unions — Mistaken 
 Identity — Curious Appeals — Home Rule — Middle Class Education — Caven- 
 dish College — Letter from Rev. Canon Brereton — Attachment to Mr. Glad- 
 stone — Letter from Mr. Gladstone — Letter from Earl Granville — Seventieth 
 Birthday — The " Hasty Telegram " — Mr. Bradlaugh and Northampton — A 
 Great Sorrow — International Conference of Young Men's Christian Associa- 
 tions — Delegates at Hall Place — A Tour in America — Notes thereon. 
 
 In 1871, Mr. Moiiey became a small shareholder in 
 the Artizans', Labom-ers', and General Dwellings 
 Company. It was at an early stage of its history, 
 when its capital was only about £18,000, that he 
 joined the Company, not by way of investment, but 
 to show his interest in the woi'k of providing im- 
 proved dwellings for the w^orking classes at low rent, 
 a work which also commanded the influence of Lord 
 Shaftesbury. It was largely by the use of such 
 names as these, and by reason of the warm interest 
 these, and some other distinguished men, took in 
 the enterprise, that, up to the year 1886, about a 
 million and a half of capital had been invested in 
 erecting some 4,400 dwellings at Shaftesbury Park, 
 Queen's Park, and Noel Park, in the suburbs of the
 
 392 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XX. 
 
 Metropolis. In the year 1877, there was reason to 
 fear that the Company was bemg dishonestly ad- 
 ministered. Strong representations to this effect were 
 made to Mr. Morley, and with the utmost impar- 
 tiality, hoping rather to disprove the truth of what 
 v/as then only unsupported rumour, he readily con- 
 sented to join a Committee of Investigation, of which 
 the Hon. Evelyn Ashley was Chairman. This Com- 
 mittee brought to light nefarious practices on a large 
 scale, which led to the criminal prosecution and 
 conviction of three persons, including the Chairman 
 and Secretary of the Company. This calamity 
 created a panic amongst the shareholders, many of 
 whom were clergymen, ladies of limited means, and 
 others, to whom the dividends received from the 
 Company were of great importance ; and it was 
 mainly by the confidence created by Mr. Morley, Mr. 
 Ashley, and other responsible gentlemen becoming 
 active Directors, that the Company was at that time 
 saved fi'om ruin. The Queen's Park Estate, upon 
 the Harrow Koad, now housing some 15,000 resi- 
 dents, was then in course of erection, and its progress 
 depended upon the continuous applications for new 
 shares, which at once ceased upon the disclosures of 
 fraud. In order to prevent even a single week's 
 break in the building operations, which would have 
 been calamitous to many hundreds of workpeople, and 
 would have damaged the credit of the Company, Mr. 
 Morley and Mr. F. D. Mocatta joined in giving their 
 personal guarantee to the London and Westminster
 
 1871—1881.] JAMES PABSONS, OF YOBK. 393 
 
 Bank for a large loan pending subsequent financial 
 arrangements. Mr. Morley remained a Director of the 
 Company, without remuneration, until a deficiency 
 of some .£70,000 was transformed into a surplus. 
 After some years' service as a Director,* and upon his 
 being satisfied that the Company had recovered its 
 lost ground, and was working upon a substantial and 
 prosperous basis, he retired from its active manage- 
 ment ; but his counsel and co-operation were always 
 at the disposal of his former colleagues, and only a 
 few months before his death, at his request, he was 
 taken by Mr. Farrant, the Managing Director of the 
 Company, to see Morley Avenue, Noel Park, which 
 was named after him to perpetuate his connection 
 with the Company. 
 
 On the 20th of July, 1877, Mr. Morley received a 
 letter from Mr. (now Sir) Edward Baines, in which 
 he said : — 
 
 You will lieai', witli interest, that our dear friend, James Parsons, who 
 has been very dangerously ill of heart disease, is considerably better. I 
 went to see him yesterday, and was allowed to have an interview. He 
 seemed comfortable, and was as calm, cheerful, and even playful, as 
 usual. But he knows that he must never preach again, and he looks back 
 with solemn thankfulness on the long period of his ministry, honoured 
 by such unsurpassed usefulness. 
 
 A few months later, Mr. Morley's old fiiend, coun- 
 sellor, and "spiritual father," James Parsons, of York, 
 
 - This is one of the few, if not the only instance of Mr. Morley's 
 consenting to be a Director of a Pubhc Company, and then only as the 
 best way of saving it from ruin.
 
 394 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XX. 
 
 passed away, fiill of years and full of honour, and 
 longing, as he said, "to he utterly at rest." 
 
 In 1878, Mr. Morley completed ten years of service 
 as Member of Parliament for Bristol. He was 
 beginning to feel, not so much the weight of years 
 as the need of rest fi'om the constant strain of public 
 business in London, as well as the cares of a large 
 constituency. It leaked out that, in the event of a 
 dissolution, he would not offer himself for re-election. 
 Then came from Bristol such an expression of feeling 
 that could not be other than intensely gratifying ; 
 private fiiends and public societies appealing to him 
 not to let this be a final decision. In reply to a 
 memorial on behalf of the Bristol Operatives' Liberal 
 Association, he wTote : — 
 
 The experience I have had, during the ten years of my pohtical con- 
 nection with Bristol, of the inteUigence, independence, and exceeding 
 personal kindness and confidence of the great hody of working men, has 
 not only endeared them to me, hut has led me to determine that, what- 
 ever my position may he, I shall consider it a privilege, as well as a duty, 
 to co-operate in every effort that may promote their personal and social 
 welfare. I dare not trust myself to refer to the termination of our 
 political relations, further than to say that reasons connected with my 
 health, my famity, and other claims, compel me to retire from a position 
 which I feel I cannot longer fill satisfactorily. 
 
 But Mr. Morley soon found that retirement from 
 Parliament was for him almost an impossibility. 
 Nottingham again sought to open up negotiations 
 with him, Cardiff was ready with a hearty invitation, 
 and other constituencies were waiting for him. To all
 
 1871—1881.] THE 8ECBET OF STBENGTH. 395 
 
 these Mr. Morley turned a deaf ear, but he could not 
 jesist the appeal of Bristol, and in the end he yielded, 
 determining to find a respite from one strain of 
 work by placing his business arrangements more 
 completely under the control of his sons, while, for 
 a little longer, he continued his representation of 
 Bristol. 
 
 It would perhaps have been wise had Mr. Morley 
 determined not to continue his parliamentary career. 
 Every year the business of philanthropy was in- 
 creasing, and the demands made upon him were 
 incessant, not for money in particular, but for the 
 influence of his personal assistance. Time had not 
 dulled the ardour with which he threw himself into 
 every new enterprise, nor had it made him grow 
 weary in sustaining the old ones. The increase of 
 wealth and influence and position had not in the 
 least degree altered the simplicity of his life, or the 
 tendencies of his character. The secret of his 
 strength may, perhaps, be found in the following- 
 extract from a note to his daughter, with whom he 
 had one day been present at a meeting at Mildmay 
 Conference Hall before proceeding to the House of 
 Commons. It is dated 4th of March, 1878 : — 
 
 The subject of discussion was a glorious one, and I felt refi-eshed as I 
 ■wended my way to the House to a very different scene, but with strong 
 desire that in every act, and on all occasions, we may have in our constant 
 recollection the fact that we belong to a better country, and that we 
 should make that to be felt, not by our much speaking, but by our holy 
 lives and conversation.
 
 396 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XX. 
 
 It is impossible, from this time forward, to follow 
 Mr. Morley's career step by step. There was scarcely 
 a movement of the times, whether relating to the 
 political, social, or religions life of the people, in 
 which he did not, in greater or less degree, take a 
 part. Nor were his labours confined exclusively to 
 this country. He was one of the Eoyal Com- 
 missioners of the Paris Universal Exhibition of 1878, 
 and, in addition to the services he rendered in 
 connection with that Commission, he sought to do 
 good in other spheres. He gave largely to the 
 support of the Congregational Chapel in the Eue 
 Royale, Paris, under the charge of the Eev. T. Baron 
 Hart, whom he greatly cheered and encouraged. He 
 became one of the guarantors for the establishment 
 of a Coffee Palace in the neighbourhood of the 
 Exhibition; Mr. Thomas Cook, the well-known and 
 philanthropic tourist agent, being the Treasurer. At 
 the close of the Exhibition there was a considerable 
 debt, and, when the Treasurer called upon Mr. Morley, 
 he settled the matter, as he did so many others, in 
 this way : " Now, Mr. Cook, don't let us worry our- 
 selves about the debt ; join me — you pay half, and 
 I'll pay half; the thing will be done, and Vv^e shall 
 both be saved from endless controversy." 
 
 Controversy, Mr. Morley was continually seeking 
 to avoid, but not always successfully. A speech, de- 
 livered by him in Bristol in 1878, having been 
 incorrectly reported, he became involved in a tedious 
 discussion with Trades Unionists.
 
 1871—1881.] TRADES UNIONS. 397 
 
 His views on this question are given in the 
 following letter to the Secretary of Trades Councils : — • 
 
 . . . While I believe Trades Unions have done good service in bringing 
 workpeople to act unitedly, so that in many districts they have ceased to 
 be ' a rope of sand,' and have thus been able to ensure better and more 
 just consideration from their employers, they have, by transferring all 
 negotiations as to wages and conditions of work to middle men, who 
 have often no connection with the work generally, none whatever almost 
 always with the particular emploj^er, altered materially the character of 
 the relationship between the two classes — there is, I fear, ceasing to be 
 the intimacy between masters and men which existed sonie years ago. 
 Sx^eaking for my own manufactory, we know scarcely anything of men 
 who have come into our service of late years, because strangers negotiate 
 most of the arrangements which are made. I believe this is a misfortune 
 for both parties. Then, as to the lessened number of hours for work, I 
 am clearly of opinion that unless some different arrangements are made, 
 involving some concessions, the demand for English manufactures will 
 gradually diminish. Unhappily, in spite of Mr. Brassey and others, we 
 know, to our cost, that some markets, or certain classes of goods, are 
 gradually closing to us ; and while this is perhaps to be expected, I feel 
 anxious, before it is too late, to try whether I can induce representatives 
 of both sides who have influence, to meet and consider whether some 
 amendments in our methods of conducting these negotiations, and other 
 points seriously affecting the interests of the men, could not be brought 
 into action. English manufactures cannot be consumed in England 
 alone, and I confess I tremble for the future of large masses of English 
 woi'kmen, unless some changes are made. 
 
 I hope, before long, to have more leisure, and I know of no subject to 
 which I would more gladly devote time and thought and influence, than 
 the one I have thus bi'iefly indicated. I have not the slightest hostility to 
 Trades Unions. I never had, and could easily specify points in which 
 employers have been benefited by their existence. I have written very 
 hastily, and have not time to read what I have written, but I know that 
 you hold a meeting to-morrow. I should gladly, at some convenient 
 time, meet you and your friends on the subject. 
 
 Controversy arose sometimes in unexpected quarters
 
 398 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XX, 
 
 and from unexpected causes. In the course of his 
 pubhc hfe, Mr. Morley was, on more than one 
 occasion, the victim of mistaken identity. It was 
 reported in the papers that at a meeting of agricul- 
 turahsts he had sj^oken of the ignorance prevaiHng 
 among agricultural labourers, and had attributed the 
 guilt of this to the clergy and squires. 
 
 Indignant letters were written in disavowal of the 
 charge, and the discussion was waxing warm when 
 Mr. Morley wrote to say that he was not present at 
 the meeting in question, and of course, therefore, did 
 not use the expressions attributed to him. He had 
 been mistaken, not for the first or last time, for Mr. 
 John Morley, the Editor of the Fortniglitly Bevieiu ! 
 
 Year by year, the demands upon time, thought, 
 energy, and purse increased. In turning over a 
 bundle of coiTespondence in an}^ month of his later 
 years, it is surprising to find the endless variety of 
 causes he was asked to assist. Now it was an 
 appeal to help a fr-esh chapel-building scheme, a 
 home missionary crusade, or some literary venture 
 that should " supply a need." Sometimes the appli- 
 cations are of an amusing character. One writes : 
 " We have just at this time (1879), opportunity by 
 which we could bring thousands of the coloured 
 people of America to join our Total Abstinence 
 Society if we had command of money." Another : 
 "I have invented a scheme that will make any 
 passage of Scripture quite plain to every reader at 
 a glance, but," it was added, " it would require a
 
 1871—1881.] CUBIOUS APPLICATIONS FOR HELP. 399 
 
 large sum to start the scheme effectually ! " One, 
 on the ground of the interest Mr. Moiiey took in 
 " the employed," begs him "■ to decide a dispute 
 between my employer and myself." Another urges 
 him to "induce the Government to take over all 
 the Institutions called Life Insurance Companies, 
 with their Eeserve Fund of one hundred and twenty 
 millions, and form one Grand National Insurance 
 Scheme, and thus wipe off the National Debt in 
 fifty years, reduce all rates, and effect insurance on 
 lessened terms. This," adds the correspondent, 
 " will beat anything we are likely to get out of 
 Cyprus or the Suez Canal ! " 
 
 Whether Mr. Morley ever took, as security, the 
 policies of insurance that were offered to him by 
 those who asked him to lend money upon them, we 
 do not know, but, if he did, he must have had as 
 vast a collection as any insurance office in London. 
 Among the coolest of the demands is that of a writer, 
 who, "knowing Mr. Morley 's desire to thoroughly 
 understand the various j^hases of working men's 
 thoughts, ventures to send him the MS. of a book, 
 which it is hoped is of an instructive and amusing 
 character ; which he will, perhaps, kindly peruse and 
 pass an opinion upon its merits." Another request 
 is, that as a certain hospital had refused to take in 
 a patient who, as it turned out, did not belong to the 
 particular class of invalids treated there, the appli- 
 cant " would be much obliged if, with his known 
 impartiality, he would investigate the case."
 
 400 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XX. 
 
 One of the most amusing letters is from a lady, 
 who, " having heen struck hy an expression in a 
 speech recently delivered hy Mr. Morley, in which 
 he had said that ' he hoped a hridge would be formed 
 to connect class with class more immediately,' begged 
 to invite him to take tea with her at five o'clock on 
 Wednesday next, to meet a few friends of the lower 
 orders, who were entirely dependent upon charity for 
 their support ! " 
 
 Electors not unfrequently wrote to him to ask his 
 opinion on current political questions. We insert 
 a letter written by him in reply to one relating to 
 Home Rule — a subject on which his views, a few 
 years later, considerably changed : — 
 
 16, Upper Beook Street, W., Jidij 16, 1878. 
 Dear Sir, — I can send j-ouno other answer than the one I have ah-eady 
 given you with respect to the claims of our Irish fellow-subjects. I would 
 support any resolution for a specific inqiiiry into any alleged grievances, 
 but I cannot support a motion which points directly or indirectly to 
 separation, which is another name for Home Eiile. If the motion were, 
 that the principle of local government should be applied to every county 
 in the three kingdoms, I would support it with all my heart, because I 
 believe an immense amount of work is done at the House of Commons, 
 in a manner which involves loss of time, enormous expense, and incom- 
 parably less efficiency than would be the result if such work were done 
 in the districts immediately interested in the proposed legislation. 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 S. MoRLEY. 
 
 It was in this year that Mr. Morley secured the 
 able services of Mr. J, W. Graham as his private 
 secretary — an office he filled with great ability until 
 Mr. Moiiey's death.
 
 1871—1881.] CAVENDISH COLLEGE. 401 
 
 One subject in which he took a deep interest was 
 the higlier education of the middle classes ; and one 
 of the schemes for accomplishing this was, to put 
 a university degree, with the implied training and 
 associations of a three years' residence, within the 
 reach of those who, as a rule, cannot afford to pro- 
 tract the period of academic education beyond the 
 age of nineteen or twenty. The proposed scheme for 
 founding Cavendish College, Cambridge, seemed to 
 offer what was required, and the following letter, 
 kindly sent by the Rev. Canon Brereton at the re- 
 quest of the present writer, very lucidly explains the 
 project in which Mr. Moiiey was so closely associated 
 with him : — 
 
 Kectoky, Little Massingham, Aug. 17, 1887. 
 
 Dkak Sir, — You have asked me to give you some aecouut of the part 
 which the late Mr. Samuel Morley took iu the fouudatiou of Cavenilish 
 College at Cambridge. 
 
 As it is still a question vi^hether that college vsrill survive the difficulties 
 it has encountered, and against which Mr. Morley was one of its most 
 strenuous and powerful supporters, I think I shall but do justice to 
 Mr. Morley by endeavouring to explain the nature of these difficulties. 
 
 The public education of the middle class in England has been utterly 
 neglected, while that of the upper class in connection with the endowed 
 schools and the universities, and that of the lower classes in connection 
 with the State and the denominations, have received very great national 
 encouragement, and have flourished accordingly. 
 
 A serious attempt was made, abou.t thirty years ago, to find a basis for 
 the foundiiLion of public schools for the middle classes in connection with 
 the ' County,' as a common and honourable local area within which 
 Clnu'chmen and Nonconformists might co- operate in building up schools 
 that would satisfy the best wishes of the average English parent. It was 
 resolved that such schools must bo self-supporting, dependent, that is, 
 ujjon the i^arents' payments. 
 
 27
 
 402 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XX. 
 
 The capital necessary to establish aud support them was, therefore, to 
 be raised ou commercial principles. The intention and prospect of 
 earning a dividend was publicly announced. It was recognized, however, 
 that, in the case of public schools, this commercial principle should be 
 limited and subordinated to the educational object. 
 
 More than one successful ' County School ' on this basis was established, 
 aud attained su.ccess. But it was evident from the first, to those who 
 were undertaking this experiment, and became more evident as they 
 proceeded, that the public character of separate provincial schools could 
 not be sustained without a connection, more or less direct, with some higher 
 educational isystem or authority. In attempting to find the best support 
 against which to lean the ladder as it rose, the promoters of the cotmty 
 schools were led, both by circumstances aud by deliberation, to think that 
 a college for junior students in one of the old universities might supply 
 the want which had been foreseen, and was beginning to be felt. Boys 
 who had risen to the top of the County Schools, had still a year or two to 
 spend for education, even though it was essential that they should enter 
 upon their practical or professional pursuits much earlier than had become 
 customary for graduates of Oxford and Cambridge. 
 
 A rough plan of a County College for Junior University students was 
 issued, on the responsibility of one person, in 1873. This aroused 
 sufficient attention in the University of Cambridge to lead to a memorial 
 being addressed to the Duke of Devonshire as Chancellor, and to other 
 practical steps for trying the experiment. It was, I think, in 1875, after 
 the County College Association had been fully formed, and the first block 
 of buildings erected, aud on the occasion of the Duke of Devonshire laying 
 the foundation-stone of a lecture hall, that Mr. Morley first appeared 
 among those who were interested observers and attentive listeners, but no 
 more. 
 
 From that day, however, till the last year of his life, Mr. Morley took 
 a very strong personal interest in the college. To say that he became a 
 most liberal contributor of money, is perhaps only to say that in this, as 
 in all matters which seemed to him to deserve his support, his liberality 
 was unstinted. But what most uiipressed me in all the many conversa- 
 tions that, as Chairman of the County College Association, I had with 
 Mr. Morley, and in all the matters, personal or piiblic, that gi-ew out of 
 these communications, was the simplicity of his purpose to be at once 
 generous and right. 
 I am convinced that ho was deeply impressed with the educational
 
 1871—1881.] CAVENDISH COLLEGE. 403 
 
 deficieucics wliicli lower tho toue and lessen the usefulness oi' the com- 
 mercial middle class. He seemed, to me, to think himself called to be 
 their chamijion in this cause, even though they might not feel the want 
 themselves as he felt it for them. He w^as disai^pointed that his personal 
 friends, to whom he appealed to help him in raising the capital required 
 for Cavendish College, responded rather to please him personally than as 
 showing their sense of the importance of the work. Since his death the 
 support of the public has languished, and Cavendish College has been 
 going back. 
 
 But no other public institution has yet been projected to take its place. 
 There it stands, on the skirts of the University of Cambridge, an un- 
 finished, but striking, experiment. 
 
 Its name, ' Cavendish College,' testifies to the interest which the much- 
 honoured Chancellor of the University has taken, and still takes, in its 
 object. 
 
 With the Duke of Devonshire, Mr. Samuel Morley worked, and spent, 
 and risked much, to found a new college for the sons of the middle classes 
 of England, who would not otherwise have obtained a residential con- 
 nection with that great University. 
 
 But the Duke of Devonshire and Mr. Morley wisely ai)pealed to the 
 middle class itself to take part in the foundation. That appeal has yet 
 to bo responded to. It was made with a large heart and an earnest 
 sincerity. There was no political or sectarian object aimed at. The one 
 purpose that Mr. Morley had in contributing, and in asking others to 
 contribute, to Cavendish College, was to bring more and more of the 
 youth of England, and especially those who were to be eugiiged in com- 
 mercial pursuits, into a real and living connection with the best educa- 
 tional inlluences of their time. 
 
 He said to me once, ' Perhaps, Mr. Brerutou, if there had been u 
 Cavendish College when I was a youtli, Samuel Morley might have been 
 able to do more for his country than he has done.' 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 J. L. BUKKETON. 
 
 Witli the gi'owing ycctrs, Mr. Morley's attachment 
 to his great pohtical chief grew and deepened. He 
 entertained an unbounded admiration ibr the pertsonal
 
 404 SAMUEL MOliLEY. [Chap. XX. 
 
 character and public services of JNIr. Gladstone 
 which was difficult to distinguish from hero-worship. 
 Although he would not aver that his illustrious chief 
 could never go wrong, he was clearly under the im- 
 l)ression that in nineteen times out of twenty he was 
 right. 
 
 In 1879, Mr. Gladstone attained his seventieth year, 
 and Mr. Morley was anxious that it should be cele- 
 brated in a manner that should mark the high esteem 
 in which he was .held. The following correspondence 
 relates to this subject : — 
 
 The Eight Hon. W. E. Glachiunc to Mr. Saiiiacl Moiicij. 
 
 73, Harley Street, Oct. 28, 1879. 
 
 My dear Mr. Mori.ey, — I reached London on Saturday, and I liave 
 since been laid np by a severe cold, which has not entu'ely left me, so 
 that I must write more hastily than I could wish. But I think it 
 necessary to address you, without delay, in reference to a plan, most 
 gratifying to my feelings, on which you were the first to speak to me in 
 the spring of this year. The design of honouring me with a banquet on 
 the anticipated completion of my seventieth year is so flattei-ing to me 
 that I am naturally reluctant to withhold my assent from it. Had cir- 
 cumstances permitted me to remain in that degree of political quietude 
 which I was able to maintain in 1874 and 1875, I should thaukfally have 
 accepted the proposal, without fear of its being misunderstood. 
 
 But the necessities of the period from 1876 onwards, have forced mc 
 into a constant activity ; while I remain as desirous as heretofore to do 
 uothmg which could a^jpear to compromise, or tend to alter, my position 
 as a private member of the Liberal party. 
 
 The prospect of a General Election has led to my undertaking, in the 
 county of Midlothian, a full share of the labour and excitement of the 
 crisis, but this appears to render it especially needful that I should not, 
 at such a period, be the object of a public demonstration elsewhere, 
 whether in the form of a banquet or otherwise. 
 
 I hold it to be. at this time, a daty of special obligation, for every
 
 1871—1881.] LETTER FROM EABL GBANVILLE. 405 
 
 inember of the party iudividnally, to avoid whatever luight tend to distnili 
 its orgauization under its excellent leaders, or to weaken its action in 
 pursuit of tlie greatest and most urgent national aims which have for 
 many years been presented to it. I therefore respectfully and gratefully 
 ask you to convey to those who have thus far been engaged in the design, 
 my request, on public grounds, that it may not be further, prosecuted. 
 I remain, my dear Mr. Morley, 
 
 Very faithfully yours, 
 
 W. E. Gladstone, 
 
 The lit'/Jif Hon. Earl Granville to Mr. Samuel Morlcij. 
 
 Walmeu Castle, Deal, Nov. 2, 1879. 
 
 My dear Mr. Morley, — Many thanks for your letter. It is onty by a 
 lucky chance that I have received it at Walmer. We have been packed 
 up for some days, and were prevented, by an accidental circumstance, from 
 starting last week. I need not s,a,y how glad I am of any excuse to gc t, 
 you under our roof, but I am Ijound to tell you that I can be of no use for the 
 ol)ject of your letter. George Howard spoke to me about it last summer. 
 I immediately sounded Gladstone, who gave me his reasons against it, of 
 which I informed Howard. I have seen Gladstone twice since his return 
 from abroad. We did not allude to the subject of the dinner, because we 
 were neither aware that it was still being entertained. But last week he 
 informed me that having heard that a circular had been printed, he 
 tliought it right at once to send a strong request that the plan might Ik; 
 dropped. I expressed my concurrence, and I know of no new circum- 
 stances which would enable me consistently to press him to change liis 
 mind. I have been right, up to this time, in totally disbelieving that tlie 
 Government would dissolve this year. There are obvious reasons wliy 
 Lord Beaconsfield should wish to delay a dissolution. 
 
 The Cabinet, generally, believe their great enemy to be the depression 
 of trade and of agriculture. They have great hopes of an improvement. 
 Our political demonstrations have been very successful ; the only danger 
 is, lest their effect may evaporate before the moment of action arrives. It 
 is, however, to be said that people's memories in the provinces are long. 
 In London everything is forgotten in ten days. 
 
 As regards the prospects of an election, the boroughs, both great and 
 small, seem to be doing well. Our weak point is in tUe want of county 
 candidates, and on this I should like much to say a few words to you 
 which I have not ventured to write. In liondon, is it speeches, of whicli
 
 406 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XX. 
 
 the Londoners read so many every morning, that are required, or is it 
 more attention to the business of organization ? I heard a Liberal voter 
 complain the other day that he got the most business-like circulars from 
 the Tories, but nothing fi'om his own side. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 Granville. 
 
 In this year, Mr. Samnel Moiiey also celebrated 
 his seventieth birthday, and many were the con- 
 gratulations he received. 
 
 In 1880, an event occurred which caused him 
 greater anxiety than any other event in the whole 
 course of his long public life. 
 
 There was no one whose influence was more 
 powerful in Liberal Nonconformist centres than 
 his, and to many constituencies, where the Non- 
 conformist element was strong, he had, at the time 
 of the General Election, been asked to send, and had 
 dispatched, telegrams calling upon the electors to 
 unite their efforts to keep out Tory candidates. 
 
 When a similar application was received from 
 Northampton, Mr. Morley was asked, " Shall we send 
 the usual telegram ? " and, without pausing to con- 
 sider what was involved in the decision, he answered, 
 ''Yes, let it go." 
 
 The telegram, similar to many others which he was 
 constantly sending, was as follows : — 
 
 I strongly urge the necessity of united effort in all sections of the 
 Liberal party, and the sinking of minor and personal questions, with 
 many of which I deeply symipathize, in order to prevent the return, in so 
 prouotmced a constituency as Northampton, of even one Conservative.
 
 1871— 1881.J NORTHAMPTON ELECTION. 407 
 
 Addressed to Nortliampton, it was a call to the 
 electors to unite in returning Mr. Bradlaugli to 
 Parliament ; it involved Mr. Morley in the apparent 
 support of atheism and impiety, and of opinions on 
 social questions which were hateful to all right- 
 minded men. 
 
 It was an inadvertence pure and simple'; but not 
 until it was too late did Mr. Morley realize it. Then, 
 he did what only an honest, upright, and Christian 
 man could do. Overwhelmed with grief that he, who 
 had devoted his whole life to maintain the Christian 
 faith, and exemplify it in the Christian life, should 
 have become a stumbling-block to his brethren, he 
 wrote, in a frank and simple way, the following letter 
 to the Becord, in which paper the circumstance had 
 been fully discussed : — 
 
 To the Editor of the ' Becord.'' 
 
 April 13, 1880. 
 
 Sir, — I have only this evening had lironght to my notice several state- 
 ments and comments which have appeared in the Record with reference 
 to the Northampton election. 
 
 I feel it is due to myself, and to many friends, that I should state what 
 actually took place. 
 
 Two or three days hefore the election at Northampton, and during the 
 height of the excitement, unusually great, of the election at Bristol, I 
 received a letter asking for an immediate reply as to whether I would 
 join with Mr. Adam in urging upon the Iviberal electors the desirableness 
 of union. In reply to that letter, in the hurry of the moment, I gave my 
 assent to a telegram being dispatched in the afhrmative. I did not 
 write a letter, as originally stated, and I did not, as a fact, write the 
 telegram, although I do not in any way seek to avoid any responsibility 
 for the transmission of the message. No feeling of pride, however, pre- 
 vents my saying that I deeply regret the step I took, wliich was really
 
 408 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. XX. 
 
 the work of a moment, and I feel assured that no one wlio knows me will 
 doubt that I view with intense repugnance the opinions which are held by 
 Mr. Bradlaugh on religious and social questions. 
 
 I am, &c., 
 
 S. MORLF.Y. 
 
 Mr. Moiiey did more than this. He did that which 
 was hard for any man to do, and especially so for one of 
 his temperam ent. In the protracted struggle and angry 
 discussions which arose out of the question whether 
 Mr. Bradlaugh was competent or entitled to take his 
 seat, Mr. Morley separated himself from his Leader 
 and fi'om his party, and voted steadily against the ad- 
 mission into the House of Commons of the man whose 
 return had been assisted by his interposition — thus, in 
 effect, confessing his regret for the action he had in- 
 advertently taken. And further still, he offered to 
 his constituents to resign his seat in Parliament 
 rather than support Mr. Bradlaugh' s claim to take his 
 seat in the House. '' If a substantial body of my 
 constituents expect me to support that claim," he 
 said, "I shall not hesitate an instant in placing the 
 seat I hold at their disposal, although I value it more 
 than anything I possess at the present moment." 
 
 Further than this, Mr. Morley took an opportunity, 
 not long afterwards, to declare explicitly his views on 
 the point in question : — 
 
 Mr. Bradlaugh (he said to the Bristol electors) is confessedly at the 
 head of a party who are seeking persistently, and I may say offensively, 
 to attack a faith which I hold more dearly than my political opinions. 
 He is disseminating opinions which are calculated to uuderniiue the
 
 1871—1881.] MB. BEADLAUGH. 409 
 
 purity of our families. Tlierefoi'e I feel indisposed to be a party to any 
 clianji^e merely for the purpose of admitting Mr. Bradlaugli. I have the 
 deepest conviction that the time has come when we should make a stand 
 as to the ground we should take as a nation, and I will not he a party hy 
 a hair's breadth in bringing about any arrangement for admitting a man 
 whose princii^les I hold in detestation. I say this frankly and distinctly, 
 and I am thankful that the question has been brought up, so that there 
 may be no mistake about it. This is the condition in which I find 
 myself, and I place the position before you in the clearest manner. 
 
 Mr. Morley did not resign his seat, and the in- 
 cident, as far as he was concerned, soon ceased to l)e 
 a matter of public discussion. But he could not so 
 soon forget the painful episode, and it is not too much 
 to say that the recollection of it remained as a bitter 
 memory as long as he lived. For himself, he cared 
 little ; for injury inadvertently done to the cause of 
 Christ and morality, he grieved as only a whole- 
 hearted Christian man can grieve. 
 
 The admission of Mr. Bradlaugli to the House of 
 Commons became, as will be remembered by most 
 readers, more than a party question, and for several 
 sessions it engrossed a great deal of parliamentary 
 time and public patience. But eventually, that is to 
 say on the opening of a new Parliament on the 18th 
 of January, 1886, having taken the usual oath, he 
 took his seat, and has, from that time, acted in the 
 capacity of a Member of Parliament. 
 
 The first Session of the new Parliament of 1880 was 
 a trying one for Mr. Morley. It continued well into 
 September, and heated and disorderly controversies 
 interfered with the debates proper to a delil^crative
 
 410 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. XX. 
 
 assembly. He was anxious to bring in a short Bill 
 relating to the Bankruptcy Laws, and ventilated the 
 question in a long letter to the Daily Neios, exposing 
 the sinister uses to which the existing system was 
 turned so as to defraud the creditor, facilitate dis- 
 honesty on the part of the debtor, and further the 
 interests of lawyers and accountants only. The 
 question was fully discussed in the papers, but Mr. 
 Morley was unable to do much with it in Par- 
 liament. 
 
 His health had been greatly shaken, but in August, 
 WTiting to his daughter Augusta, he recorded : — 
 
 I am tliaiikful to say Gladstone is very mncli bettei-, and I am 
 thorouglily myself again. You little tliouglit liow sadly your poor old 
 father was out of sorts, but that is once more a thing of the past. AVould 
 that we lived more constantly in a daily spirit of recognition of the 
 aboiinding mercy which surrounds us at every step ! 
 
 On the 12th of August, that daughter was married 
 to the Rev. Marmaduke Washington, the present 
 Vicar of St. George's, Tufnell Park. 
 
 For forty years Mr. Morley had been the fr^iend 
 and helper of the Young Men's Christian Associa- 
 tion. In August, 1881, an International Conference 
 of these Associations was held in London, and he 
 invited the delegates to spend a day at Hall Place. 
 About 350 gentlemen and a fcAV ladies, chiefly 
 Americans, accepted the invitation. A special 
 first-class train conveyed them to Hildenborough
 
 1871—1881.] IN AMEBICA. 411 
 
 Station, where carriages were ready to take those who 
 wished to drive, to Mr. Morley's house. Ahmcheon, 
 given in a large marquee, was presided over by the 
 host, who expressed his pleasure at receiving, as his 
 guests, Christian workers from all quarters of the 
 globe. 
 
 The entertainment to the Young Men's Christian 
 Association was given on the eve of Mr. Morley's 
 departure, in company with his youngest daughter 
 and his son Arnold, for a tour in America, where 
 he expected to meet another son, who had been 
 for some months in Australia. No sooner was he on 
 board the Gytliia, settled down to the enjoyment of 
 sea life, than he declared "he could hardly conceive 
 of anything so comfortable and refreshing as to find 
 himself where not a single letter could reach him." 
 This immunity from care continued throughout the 
 tour. In order to ensure this, it was arranged 
 that no correspondence, except that which it was 
 absolutely imperative he should receive, should be 
 forwarded, and this gave him a freedom to which, 
 ever since he had been in business, he was a stranger. 
 He employed a good deal of his leisure in wTiting to 
 old friends and associates, as well as to members of 
 his own family — not the sliort, terse notes which, in 
 the ordinary course of things, he could only find time 
 to write, but long friendly and descriptive letters 
 which are greatly cherished by tbosc wbo wore for- 
 tunate enough to receive them. 
 
 The reception given to Mr. Morley in the United
 
 412 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XX. 
 
 States was worthy of the liospitaHty of the American 
 people. Wherever he went, " honours " were paid to 
 him; the noAvspapers chronicled his movements; the 
 inevitable interviewers drew fi^om him an expression 
 of his " views " ; and paragraphists gave more or less 
 accurate information as to his antecedents. In most 
 of the large cities, the travellers were welcomed by 
 the leading people of the place, and the represen- 
 tatives of philanthropic and religious institutions, 
 notwithstanding the fact that, as he assured his hosts, 
 " he was not there in any representative capacity 
 whatever." 
 
 The kindness and cordiality of the people greatly 
 impressed Mr. Morley, and in every respect he was 
 pleased and gratified with liis visit. 
 
 On his return he gave to his friends and neighbours 
 at Leigh a " Talk about America," in the National 
 Schoolrooms of the village. 
 
 The following rough notes of his lecture indicate 
 the course of his travels and the things which 'most 
 interested him : — 
 
 Nciv Yorh. Great licat. Elevated railways. Wonderful network of 
 telegraph and telephone wires. IVIarvellous Telegraph Office. Safe 
 Deposit Company. 
 
 Neivport (by sea). Up the harbour. Under great Brooklyn Bridge. 
 Inside Long Island. Unique watering-place. Best New York society. 
 Each house a gem, in lovely gardens. 
 
 Boston. Head-quarters of culture and learning. University of Har- 
 vard, at Cambridge, close by. Visit to Longfellow, &c. 
 
 Saratoga. Wonderful hotel ; 1,500 people ; season over, though still 
 gay ; great sight when full. Judge Hilton, proprietor of hotel. Large 
 castle.
 
 1871— 1881. J NOTES OF TOUli IN AMERICA. 413 
 
 By Lake Gcunje — 
 
 Lake Champlniii. Ex(j[uisite sceuery, not uuliko soiuu oi' our Scolcli 
 lakes. 
 
 Muntreal. Great bridge over St. Lawrence. Lacliiue iiapids. Freucli 
 populatioD. 
 
 Qachec by uigiit boat down St. Lawrence. Saw great floating raits. 
 ' Lumber trade.' Only oue-foxn-th of the population Protestant. 
 
 By Montreal to— 
 
 Ottawa. Seat of central government. Splendid Parliament Houses. 
 ' Lumber ' yards, the trade of the country. Lucifers. Pail mauulac- 
 toi'ies. 
 
 By rail and boat down — 
 
 St. Lawrence, through the One Thousand Inlands and Lake Ontario, 
 to— 
 
 Toronto. Fine city. Good schools. Normal school. 
 
 Niagara. Indescribable grandeur. As much water goes over in an 
 hoior as is supplied to London by various companies in a week. 
 
 Cleveland. Remains of funeral ceremonies of President Garfield. 
 Flourishing town on Lake Erie. 
 
 By sleeping cars to — 
 
 Chiear/o. Wonderful commercial activity, and recovery from terrible 
 effects of several great fires. ' Pullman.' Pig -killing estaldishment. 
 Stock-yards. Field, Leiter, and Co., ' dry goods stores.' Fire Patrol 
 Company. 
 
 St. Paul and Minneapolis. Flour mills. Governor Pillsbury. Min- 
 nesota. 
 
 Lemars, Iowa. Captain Moreton. Close and Benson, 
 
 By Chicago to — 
 
 Cincinnati, Ohio. Many Germans. Musical. 
 
 Mammoth Caves, Kentucky. Enormous extent. Short route, nine 
 miles ; long route, eighteen miles. Only equalled by caves at Adclsberg, 
 in Austria. 
 
 By Louisville and Cincinnati to — 
 
 Fittshurg. Centre of coal and iron district. 
 By beautiful Horse Shoe Bend, 
 Through the Alleghany Mountains, to — 
 
 ]Vashi)ir/ton. S^dendid public buildings. Capitol, most magnilioem 
 building in the world. ' City of magnificent distances.' 
 
 Baltimore. Great hospital. Bequests. John Hopkins University.
 
 414 SAMUEL MOIiLEY. [Chap. XX. 
 
 Law of Executors iu Maryliiud. Trustees under wills, 5 per ceut. if oue 
 persou, 8 if two, 10 if three. 
 
 Flilltulelphin. Formerly Quaker city. Wauamaker ' Stores.' Girard 
 College. Teniteutiary (Dickeus). ludepeudence HaU. 
 
 New York. Coi'rupt goverumeut. Fiue streets. Fifth Aveuue. Central 
 Park. Magnificent private palaces.
 
 CHAPTEK XXI. 
 
 1881—188-1. 
 
 Accumulation of Letters — The Bankruptcy Laws — Payment of Wages in Public- 
 houses — Mr. Bradlaugh — Mr. Gladstone's Ecclesiastical Ajipointments — 
 National Liberal Club — Dons the Blue Piibbon— Temperance Legislation — 
 Licensing Laws — lioyal Commissions — Pocket-book Entries — Threatened 
 Eetirement from Parliament — Visitors at Wood Street — A Serious Warning 
 — At Cannes — Letters to Mr. Arnold Morley— Franchise and Kedistribution 
 Bills — Ideas of Eecreation — The Eoyal Victoria Hall— Miss Cons — Working 
 Men's Clubs — Christmas and the Poor. 
 
 When Mr. Moiiey returned IVoiu America, he found 
 an accumulation of 2,000 letters requiring his personal 
 attention — enough in itself to greatly diminish the 
 advantage of the recreation he had allowed himself, 
 had he not acquired a happy facility of making " short 
 work" of correspondence. 
 
 Immediately after his return, he threw himself 
 \vith renewed vigour into all his old pursuits, and 
 took up an almost endless variety of new subjects to 
 deal with. Every year his engagements multiplied, 
 insomuch that it is almost impossible to enumerate 
 them. 
 
 In Parliament, lie rendered important service in 
 calling attention to the defective working of the 
 Bankruptcy Act, and among city men he advocated
 
 41G t^AMUEL MOllLEY. [Cuap. XXI. 
 
 the duty of iissiyting to lessen fiaiiduleiit bankruptcy 
 by insisting upon good book-keeping. To one of his 
 correspondents on this subject he wrote : — 
 
 It is uuL easy to suggest a mode; by wliicli to secure this. I have 
 nearly lost all faith iu the creditor class. Their practice, for some years, 
 has heeu, ou the occurrence of a failure, at once to divest themselves of 
 all further power to interfere by executing proxies almost to the first 
 comer, by which they transfer, either to a solicitor or an accountant, a 
 power wliich has been most grossly abused to the enormous cost of 
 creditors. The history of the working of the l'25th and 12Gth Clauses 
 of the Bankruptcy Act of 1869 is a record of infamy. 
 
 I lose heart on the subject, but mean, while I remain in Parliament, to 
 do my best to lessen the power which third-rate lawyers and accountants 
 have, by a system, as I am assured, of playing into each other's hands to 
 feather their own nests. 
 
 Mr. Morley's greatest parliamentary effort during 
 fcliis session was in taking charge, in the House 
 of Commons, of Earl Stanhope's Bill "to prohibit 
 the payment of wages to workmen in public-houses 
 and certain other places." It involved him in a vast 
 amount of labour, as he sent far and wide to collect 
 information as to the existence of the custom. But 
 he was more than repaid for his efforts, inasrnuch as 
 the Bill passed into law, and a system, which had 
 wrought nothing but mischief, was swept away. 
 
 While the question as to the admission of Mr. 
 Bradlaugh to the House of Commons was being 
 warmly discussed, a clergyman in Northampton 
 wrote to Mr. Morley asking how^ he would vote if he 
 were an elector of that borough. He answered as 
 follows : —
 
 1881—1884.] ECCLESIASTICAL APPOINTMENTS. 417 
 
 My dear Sir, — I have no right to decline a reply to yom* inquiry in 
 reference to your present contest. If I were an elector of Northampton, 
 I should vote for the Conservative candidate. I should do this as an act 
 of allegiance to God and to public morality, and without the slightest 
 compromise of my attachment — never so strong as at the present moment 
 — to Liberal principles. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Yours very faithfully, 
 
 S. MORLEY. 
 
 Early in this year, Mr. Moiiey wrote to the Prime 
 Minister on the subject of an ecclesiastical appoint- 
 ment which Mr. Morley was anxious to see conferred 
 upon one whose claims, in his opinion, entitled him 
 to special consideration. 
 
 The following is an extract from Mr. Gladstone's 
 reply : — 
 
 I do not know of any new See likely to call for a nomination within 
 a limited period, except Newcastle. I look on all episcopal recom- 
 mendations as entailing on me the very highest responsibility, and the 
 ■circumstances of a new See tend even to enhance this responsibihty. 
 Moreover, I am grievously shocked, and seriously alarmed, at the sad 
 disclosures made in the large towns by the late religious censuses. They 
 are not flattering as respects the Nonconformists ; but as respects the 
 Established Church, they are (not to use a stronger word) deplorable. 
 
 Everything conduces to bind me to recommead the man who, to the 
 best of my judgment, with the best aid I can get, will give the most 
 powerful evangelical impulse to his flock. 
 
 Iq this light I should be happy to examine the claims of . 
 
 In November, a meeting was held to discuss the 
 establishment of a National Liberal Club. The 
 resolution, proposing that such a club be established, 
 was moved l)y the Marquis of Hartington, and 
 
 28
 
 418 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXI. 
 
 seconded by Mr. Moiiey, who felt strongly the neces- 
 sity of such a step, as calculated to do inestimable 
 service both to the Liberal cause and to the members 
 of the Liberal party. 
 
 But the subject that, more than any other, claimed 
 the attention of Mr. Morley this year, and indeed 
 to the end of his life, was Total Abstinence. An 
 impetus was given to his zeal by attending a meeting, 
 in January, 1882, in the Colston Hall, Bristol, of the 
 Gospel Temj^erance Mission, under the conduct of 
 Mr. E. T. Booth. " I have come," said Mr. Morley, 
 *' to enlist under the Blue Eibbon; " and when he had 
 addressed the meeting on " the greatest evil the 
 world had ever known," Mr. Booth pinned the " bit 
 of blue" — the sign of pledged teetotalism — on Mr. 
 Morley's coat amid the enthusiastic cheering of the 
 vast audience, to whom, as he left the platform, he 
 said, " his departing prayer was, that they might none 
 of them be ashamed of their colours." 
 
 Mr. Morley was never ashamed of his. He wore it 
 in the House, in the home, on all occasions, and on 
 every coat. 
 
 Up to the year 1878, he had been under the con- 
 viction that moral suasion was sufficient to cope with 
 the evil of intemperance. The speech in which he 
 announced himself to be a convert of Sir Wilfrid 
 Lawson, was delivered at a meeting of young men, in 
 the warehouse in Wood Street, early in that year. 
 He used these words — characteristic of his respect 
 for the individuality of others : —
 
 1881—1884.] THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT. 419 
 
 I have come reluctantly to the opinion that we must have legislation. I 
 do not see a chance of getting any substantial I'elief without some form 
 of legislative action, and I am in this mind, that while the subject is large, 
 and requires to be dealt with on a broad basis, I am prepared to accept 
 any form of legislation that would give me a substantial part of the 
 remedy I want. I do not desire to oppress those who differ from me, 
 and I am unconscious of ever having uttered an intemperate word upon 
 the Temperance question ; yet I should fall short of my duty if I did not 
 raise a warning voice against this great and growing evil. 
 
 The services that Mr. Morley rendered to the Tem- 
 perance cause throughout his hfe, and especially in 
 the later years of it, can never he told. He was presi- 
 dent of a large number of Temperance Societies (not 
 the least influential being the City of London Total 
 Abstainers' Union) ; he rarely made a speech without 
 introducing the subject, and he spent money h^eely 
 in causing the circulation of healthy literature on the 
 question. It was at his instance that Mr. and Mrs. 
 Gustafson prepared their great work, "The Foundation 
 of Death," some hundred copies of which Mr. Morley 
 presented to h'iends whom he thought were open to the 
 influence of its arguments and evidence. When for- 
 warding a copy to Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Morley wrote : — 
 
 May I ask for this really striking volume a perusal when, if ever, you 
 may have a spare hour or two ? Very many earnest men are engaged in 
 efforts to induce the people to be a law unto themselves, and the rapid 
 spread of the Blue Ribbon is giving encouraging evidence that we are not 
 working without results. We are not, however, sanguine enough to 
 believe that we can reach the great end at which we aim, without some 
 form of legislative action, and you will permit me to add that very many 
 of your heartiest and truest friends are indulging the hope that it may bo 
 your crowning honour to lead them to a final and victorious onslaught
 
 420 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXI. 
 
 against this greatest of all modern social evils — greatest because so dis- 
 tinctly the parent of other evils. 
 
 A sermon preached by Canon Wilberforce under the 
 dome of St. Paul's, in favour of total abstinence, 
 upon the text, " Sound an alarm," greatly pleased Mr. 
 Morley, who sent a copy of it to every Nonconformist 
 minister in England and Wales, with a note, litho- 
 graphed in fac-simile, requesting that it might be 
 read. In response to this request, the sermon was 
 read from several hundred Nonconformist pulpits. 
 
 He acquired considerable information as to the 
 licensing laws of other countries, and turned it to 
 excellent account. We append an extract fi-om 
 a letter written by an Austrian gentleman of 
 position : — 
 
 In some parts of Austria, and particularly in Trieste, there exists a 
 municipal law, which compels every proprietor of a cafe, or beer, or spirit- 
 seller, to keep an virn of pure water at the disposal of the j)ublic, and 
 any man, woman, or child can go in, help themselves, or ask for a glass 
 of water (or more) gratis, and, in case of refusal, which seldom happens, 
 the proprietor is heavily fined. Further, these establishments are com- 
 pelled to keep at the entrance-door a tub constantly filled with water for 
 the use of the dogs. The above laws are part and parcel of the Ucense 
 granted by the Municipality. Through these laws, every cafe, beer, or 
 spirit establishment in the town and environs, is converted into a drinking- 
 fountain, not only for human beings, but also for dogs. 
 
 Many institutions, societies, and movements sup- 
 ported by Mr. Morley, and apparently unconnected 
 with temperance, were made by him powerful 
 auxiliaries to that cause. He gave his aid to several of
 
 1881—1884.] BOYAL COMMISSIONS. 421 
 
 the societies for protecting tlie Sabbath. For many 
 years he was vice-president of the Working Men's 
 Lord's Day Eest Association, and warmly supported 
 Mr. Broadhnrst's opposition to the opening of 
 Museums and Galleries on Sunday. But he looked 
 at the question, to a large extent, in the light of the 
 Temperance cause. 
 
 In the same way, when he was appointed one of 
 the Eoyal Commission for Housing the Poor, his 
 office became an important auxiliary to the Tem- 
 perance movement. He had not sat long upon the 
 Commission before he publicly asserted, on the 
 strength of the evidence brought before him, " that 
 three-fourths of the misery of London was self- 
 inflicted." Later, he said, " he had consulted all the 
 relieving officers of London, and their testimony, 
 which was unvaried, w^as to the effect that at least 
 three-fourths of the people receiving parish relief, 
 attributed their condition to the results of diink." 
 His experiences and observations, in connection with 
 the Royal Commission, made him more than ever a 
 Prohibitionist ; and he declared his belief that " a 
 new party, having Prohibition for its basis and aim, 
 whose existence should be wholly bound up in the 
 success of Prohibition, was the only adequate means 
 for the abolition of the traffic." 
 
 This was not the only Eoyal Commission on which 
 Mr. Morley was placed. He was one of the members 
 of the Executive Committee of the Fisheries Ex- 
 hibition and of the Health Exhibition, and he
 
 422 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXI. 
 
 rendered important service on both, but especially on 
 the former ; he sought also to make it the occasion of 
 a reform in the fish trade, so as to place a plentiful 
 sup23ly at a cheap rate within the reach of the poorest 
 of "the people." 
 
 It was from the standpoint of "the people" that 
 Mr. Morley viewed many important subjects and 
 assisted many important institutions. The Hospital 
 Saturday Fund, for example, found in him a zealous 
 advocate and a most willing helper. " I look upon 
 the Saturday Hospital Fund as a great blessing to 
 the working classes," he said on one occasion. 
 " Trades Unions teach them to think for themselves, 
 the Saturday Fund teaches them to think for others, 
 and there true blessedness begins." 
 
 Mr. Morley was in the habit of carrying with him 
 a pocket-book, in which he kept rough notes of 
 engagements. These books were always of the same 
 kind, and contained a number of blank pages in front, 
 on which he was wont to jot down thoughts as they 
 arose, or quotations which may have struck him as 
 being of value. 
 
 In the note-book for 1883, immediately after a list 
 of promises to various benevolent objects, amounting 
 in all to .£6,195, are the following entries : — 
 
 May the new year bring witli it stronger faith, brighter hopes, and 
 enlarged capacities for usefulness, leading me to a fuller trust in Him who 
 is strength to the weak and comfort to the mourner, and a very present 
 help in the hour of our greatest need !
 
 1881-1884.] JOTTINGS FBOM A POCKET-BOOK. 423 
 
 Eemember that the Christian never can lack comfort so long as he 
 lacks not faith. ' Let not your heart be tx'oubled,' &c. 
 
 Be Thou with us in all, and give us wisdom and grace always to see 
 Thy hand, and to accept Thy decision, and to trust Thy love. 
 
 Man's wisdom is to seek 
 
 His strength in God alone 
 An angel would be weak 
 
 Who trusted in his own. 
 
 A selfish Christianity is a contradiction in terms. 
 
 Oh the power of words ! once spoken, they can never be recalled ; they 
 will vibrate through the universe for ever. Speak kindly. 
 
 Horrible ! At a meeting of Freethinkers, held in Chambers Street 
 Hall, to consider the prosecution of the Freethinker, the Chairman 
 said : ' It might be considered a bold thing to say, biat he held that the 
 liberty to worship was bondage if there was not also liberty to blaspheme.' 
 Meeting was held March 11, 1883. Eeported in Scotsman March 12, 1883, 
 ' If you have nothing to do with God,' says Baxter, 'He will quickly let 
 you know that He will have nothing to do with you.' 
 
 I think, for all of us, it must surely be good to be more to ourselves 
 as the shadows lengthen, while awaiting the dawn of the everlasting 
 day. 
 
 Foresee and prej)are ever3'thing ; trust nothing to chance ; ' the 
 chapter of accidents is found only in the Bible of fools.' 
 
 We lose what on ourselves we spend. 
 We have, as treasure without end, 
 Whatever, Lord, to Thee we lend — 
 Who givest all. 
 
 In the spring of 1883, Mr. Morley announced to 
 his constituents that, in the event of a dissohition of
 
 424 ^ SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. XXI. 
 
 Parliament, lie should not again seek re-election. 
 Many reasons combined to make it imperative that 
 he should take this stej]. He had received warnings 
 with regard to his health, which no man who had 
 passed the age of threescore years and ten could 
 neglect with impunity ; he had suffered from the 
 strain of late hours ; he longed for leisure to devote 
 himself more exclusively to works of ^philanthropy. 
 
 When he entered Parliament, his sole object was 
 to be of use to his country ; the national distinction 
 and the social advantages attaching to a seat in the 
 Legislature, never weighed with him for a moment. 
 Now, it seemed to him, he could serve his country 
 better by withdi'awing fi-om Parliament than by 
 remaining there. The results of all the strife and 
 turmoil of parliamentary life were comparatively 
 barren and transitory ; those of labour in works of 
 benevolence and piety were abundant and permanent, 
 and he chose the latter. 
 
 Conservatives as well as Liberals joined in ex- 
 pressions of regret at his decision, which was con- 
 veyed in terms that rendered it impossible to hope 
 that he would again yield to the wishes of his friends, 
 and continue to represent the great Western port in 
 the House of Commons. 
 
 It was not, however, until the General Election, 
 two years later, that he vacated his seat. It would, 
 without doubt, have been better for him, personally, 
 if he had done so at an earlier date. The strain upon 
 him of increasing toil was more than any man could
 
 1881—1884.] ILLNESS. 425 
 
 well endure. Frequently in a single day he attended 
 to most important matters in connection with his 
 own business, then spoke at meetings and worked 
 on Committees, and finally was in his place in the 
 House of Commons to support any good cause 
 that needed help. 
 
 Mr. Moiiey's public and private influence were at 
 their height. From all quarters, and on every con- 
 ceivable subject, his opinion was sought. He was in 
 constant communication with Lord Shaftesbury on 
 the great subject of Housing the Poor, Sabbath 
 Observance, and a number of other questions ; he 
 had the confidence of all the leaders of the working 
 men — Mr. Cremer, Mr. Howell, Mr. Broadhurst, and 
 others. Earl Fortescue was one of his frequent 
 visitors in Grosvenor Street, and the Duke of Devon- 
 shire was one of his correspondents. Professor Jowett 
 sometimes conferred with him, and Mr. Spurgeon 
 wrote : " Perhaps no two persons are more at one 
 upon most things, and therefore it is right pleasant 
 to be associated distinctly and formally." Men of all 
 ranks and of every shade of opinion consulted him, 
 and ungrudgingly he yielded himself, his time, his 
 talents, and his money, to the public good. 
 
 But he had reached the limit of human endurance. 
 One day, in December of this year, he was attacked 
 with faintness and giddiness while at the Beform 
 Club, but was well enough, a few minutes later, to 
 ride in a cab to 34, Grosvenor Street, his town house, 
 where he saw Dr. Harper, and, by his advice. Dr.
 
 426 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXI. 
 
 George Jolinson, who met him in consultation on the 
 following morning. 
 
 Mr. Morley was sufficiently recovered to return to 
 Hall Place on the following day, and he appeared 
 soon to regain his usual healtli, hut for some weeks 
 he complained of giddiness when walking. 
 
 It was the heginning of the end, although the only 
 indication that the time of decay and failure was at 
 hand was the occasional appearance of lassitude and 
 weariness. But those who knew him best, despite 
 his still untiring labour and his cheeriness of spirit 
 and manner, feared that the end was not very far 
 off. 
 
 Early in the new year (1884), Mr. Morley, accom- 
 panied by several of his family, visited Cannes, 
 staying at the Hotel Paradis, which had been 
 recommended to him by his brother-in-law, Mr. 
 Justice Denman, and where he made the acquaint- 
 ance of Sir Henry Keating. He enjoyed fairly good 
 health while at Cannes, frequently held conversa- 
 tions with his Mend, the late Sir John Mellor, who 
 was staying at a neighbouring hotel, and visited Lord 
 and Lady Wolverton and other friends. 
 
 iVlthough Mr. Morley had been relieved by his sons 
 for some years of all attention to details of business, 
 he did not relinquish its general oversight, and 
 during his Aasit to the South of France his interest 
 in all that concerned the business was as keen as 
 ever, and especially in that part of it which related to 
 the mterests of his employes. He had long wished
 
 1881—1884.] AT CANNES. 427 
 
 to be able to introduce a system of " profit sharing ; " 
 he took with him to Cannes, Sedley Taylor's work on 
 the subject, and read it through, and, as he said, 
 *' thought the whole matter over a hundred times, but 
 could not see his way to it." It was easy to see 
 how it would work in successful years, but not in 
 years of depression. 
 
 A few extracts ft'om the correspondence of Mr. 
 Morley at this time will indicate some of the currents 
 of his thoughts : — 
 
 Mr. Morley to his Son Arnold. 
 
 Cannes, Feb. 17, 1884. 
 My DEAR Arnold, — . . . Let me tliank you for two or three letters giving 
 me information, and during the next fortnight one or two in addition will 
 be very acceptable. I don't want the fact to be too generally known, only 
 because it may lead to demands for service, but it is our intention, all 
 being well, to put in an appearance at Hall Place on Saturday, the 1st of 
 March. I hoi^e you may be able to give us a meeting there. I am be- 
 ginning to inquire about the train being stopped at Tonbridge. I have 
 had a very pleasant, and I think beneficial, change. I think, however, I 
 have learnt that I must do less. I have had repeated chats with Mellor 
 and Keating, both capital Liberals. I am glad to hear fi'om E. Walkin, 
 who is here, that the majority will be about sixty. He intended to vote 
 against Government, but I found him a pair (Stewart). Direct for a week 
 to Poste Restante, Mentoue. My two companions unite in much love 
 with 
 
 Yours affectionately, 
 
 S. Morley. 
 
 Mr. Morley to his Son Arnold. 
 
 Mentone, Feb. 20, 1884. 
 Dear Arnold, — Your telegram to Cannes informing me of the division 
 was forwarded to Nice, where we spent part of to-day. I consider forty- 
 nine a good majority-, if the Home Piulers went with the Tories. Events
 
 428 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXI, 
 
 in the Soudan have certainly gone adverse to the Government. I tiiist 
 we shall have no more disasters ; I am anxious to see some particulars of 
 defaulters and pairs. You would kindly, at my request, see that I was 
 entered as having paired. I had not secured such an entry before ; I 
 shall hope to he at home at the time named, 1st of March. I considered 
 Dilke's request * carefully, but was somewhat hurried, as he was anxious 
 to have the list readj'. He so emiihasized the wish that I would give him 
 my name, even although I could not attend regularly, that I felt bound to 
 comply, especially as I might support him in his resistance to overmuch 
 legislation. I had observed the line he and Harcourt took, in two long 
 speeches, to a rather important deputation, and so felt safe in connecting 
 myself with the move. I don't know whether Blest has seen you about 
 presiding at a meeting of the young men in Wood Street, at the annual 
 meeting of their Missionary Society. I hope either you or Charlie will 
 consent. The subject of a dozen sentences would approi^riately be the 
 fact that men's sympathies all round are being excited by the condition 
 in which the people are living, and there is a loud call on every one who 
 has influence — and who has not ? — to exercise it for the benefit of others ; 
 and you might add, as I have often done, that you feel a pride in being 
 indirectly connected with a house where so many are giving practical 
 proof of this sympathy. I was greatly disappointed at finding the result 
 of the Northampton Election. It would have been an immense relief to 
 have had a difi'erent result. "SYith our united love, 
 
 Your affectionate father, 
 
 S. MOELEY. 
 
 Mr. Morley to his Daughter, Mrs. Marmadul-e Washington. 
 
 Paris, Feb. 28, 1884. 
 One more line of love. We are thus far on our way to dear home — 
 dearer than ever. I forget who it was, but I believe a distinguished 
 man who had travelled much, offered this testimony : ' The longer 
 I live, and the more extensive my travels and my opportunities of 
 seeing other peoples, and their customs and modes of life, the more 
 I find reason for thankfulness that I am an Englishman.' But the 
 greatest cause for thankfulness is, that heart is knit to heart, and it is that 
 
 ■•' The request referred to was that Mr. Morley would act on the Eoyal 
 Commission for Housing the ^Vorkiug Classes.
 
 1881—1884.] FBANCHISE AND BEDISTBIBUTION BILLS. 429 
 
 wliicli makes home so dear. . . . We have a most beautiful portrait ou 
 china of that very dear mother of yom's, which dear Howard has had done, 
 and of which I should like to give you a copy. It represents her as sweet 
 and attractive as she looked forty yeai's ago. There I what do you say 
 ■to that ? 
 
 Soon after his return from the South of France, 
 Mr. Morley was present at the marriage of his eldest 
 son, Hope, who, two years previously, had been 
 admitted a Director of the Bank of England, 
 
 In this year, too, Mr. Morley greatly interested 
 himself in the Eoyal College of Music, of which his 
 son Charles is the Secretary, and, j)artly in connec- 
 tion with this movement, paid a visit in November 
 to the Prince and Princess of "Wales at Sandring- 
 ham, from which place he wrote, " Nothing could 
 exceed our pleasant reception here." 
 
 In the Eoyal Speech on the opening of Parliament, 
 on the 5th of February, 1884, a measure was promised 
 *'for the enlargement of the occupation-franchise 
 in parliamentary elections throughout the United 
 Kingdom," and the same evening Mr. Gladstone 
 gave notice that " on the first available day, he would 
 move for leave to bring in the Bill." Of the pro- 
 gress of that Bill, and of the Government Eedistribu- 
 tion Bill — of the action of the Lords in setting aside, 
 in two days, the Franchise Bill, which had cost the 
 House of Commons exactly four months of labour, of 
 the excited feeling of the country, and the threatened 
 determination " to mend or end the House of Lords," 
 we have no need to write particularly, as it is a
 
 430 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. XXI. 
 
 matter of such recent history. Throughout the long 
 struggle, Mr. Morley threw all his old energy on to 
 the side of " the people," and took part in puhlic 
 meetings at Bristol and elsewhere on the subject. 
 
 As the years advanced, the sympathies of Mr. 
 Morley broadened and deepened in many ways. In 
 his earlier life he had taken somewhat narrow views 
 of recreation, and had a Puritan dread of what are 
 termed "worldly amusements." The fact was that 
 he had never felt any need of them himself; the 
 home of his childhood had been full of attraction for 
 him ; his own home had been made bright and beau- 
 tiful by all that love and wealth could bring to it, 
 and, as regarded his family, he had given them every 
 facility to find their enjoyments in what he considered 
 innocent amusements. 
 
 It was impossible, however, that with his " open 
 mind" he could view the rapid changes that were 
 taking place in general opinion on the question of 
 public amusements, and retain the exact attitude 
 towards them that he had done in his earlier years. 
 
 He had been constantly urging that " the people 
 must have recreation," and the question forced itself 
 upon him, " What shall that recreation be ? " It 
 was good for men to read, but it was no recreation 
 to many, unless, when the day's work was done, they 
 could smoke their pipes at the same time. There 
 was a smoking-room in his own family mansion, 
 a smoking-room in the young men's quarters in
 
 1881—1884.] AMUSEMENTS. 431 
 
 Wood Street — why should not men smoke in their 
 chibs and institutes and reading-rooms and coffee 
 palaces ? There was no good reason to the contrary, 
 and so Mr. Morley freely conceded the point, although 
 he retained his dislike to smoking to the last. The 
 evil of smoking was mainly in its association with 
 drink, and there he drew the line. Then came the 
 question of billiards. In his earlier days bagatelle 
 had, by some absurd distinction, been regarded as a 
 permissible game, whereas billiards had been branded 
 as a " worldly " game. If men played games of these 
 kinds at all, it was surely a sensible thing that they 
 should play the best, and those which required the 
 exercise of the greatest skill. There was a billiard- 
 room at Hall Place, where Mr. Morley often enjoyed 
 a game with his sons and their hiends — why 
 should there not be one wherever it could be 
 afforded, in club and institute and coffee palace? 
 There was no good reason to the contrary, and 
 Mr. Morley conceded this point h-eely. 
 
 It was not until quite late in life that he turned 
 his attention to the whole question of amusements. 
 Nor is this to be wondered at, for, in the first place, 
 he had been intensely engaged upon questions which 
 he had deemed to be of more vital importance ; and, 
 in the second place, it is only in quite recent years 
 that professedly Christian people have begun to look 
 into the matter in a really tolerant spirit. It seemed 
 to Mr. Morley, that as the masses would have amuse- 
 ments, and as they were increasingly in demand, it
 
 432 SAMUEL MOB LEY. [Chap. XXI. 
 
 would be wiser to seek to purify them of evils, which 
 are not of necessity their essential elements, than to 
 denounce them altogether. 
 
 One aspect of this question, when it was brought 
 before him, he faced with Christian common sense. 
 
 The Victoria Theatre, in the Waterloo Bridge Eoad 
 (formerly known as the *' Old Vic," or " Queen Vic- 
 toria's Own Theayter"), was once the resort of the 
 lowest of the low, the scum of the New Cut and its 
 miserable courts and alleys. It was the meeting- 
 place of the beggary and rascality of London, the 
 focus of every form of vice. It was, as Charles 
 Kingsley says in "Alton Locke," "a licensed pit of 
 darkness, a trap of temptation — profligacy and ruin 
 triumphantly yawning night after night." The 
 testimony of the police was unanimous, that it was 
 hardly safe for decent people even to pass by it. 
 '' Seldom a Saturday passed without seven or eight 
 police cases, sometimes thirty or forty, and on Boxing 
 nights we have had to clear the gallery." 
 
 The bloodthirsty tragedies performed on the stage, 
 with " Bravo Hicks " as the hero ; the wretched 
 di'amas of the " Jack Sheppard " and " Claude 
 Duval" type; the unlimited sale of intoxicants 
 between the acts, and the saturnalia in the streets 
 at midnight, when the performances were over — 
 combined to make the " Old Vic " a hotbed of crime. 
 
 All this was greatly changed in 1880, when, at 
 Christmas time, the " Vic " was reopened as the 
 "Victoria Temperance Music Hall," the staple at-
 
 1881—1884.] THE BOYAL VICTORIA HALL. 433 
 
 traction being a "Variety Entertainment," consisting 
 of comic songs, clog-dancing, hornpipes, acrobatic 
 performances, nigger minstrelsy, performing animals, 
 comic ballets, and such like — the ordinary entertain- 
 ment at music-halls, but cleansed from objectionable 
 matter. The movement was originated by a com- 
 pany, and it was hoped that the Hall would be self- 
 supporting, and perhaj^s yield a dividend. A short 
 time sufficed to prove that the hope was ill-founded, 
 and the company was wound up by vohmtary liqui- 
 dation. 
 
 When the Victoria Hall was first started, Mr. 
 Morley did not join the movement, on the ground 
 that the promoters did not contemplate anything 
 beyond music-hall performances, and of these he 
 strongly disapproved. There were, however, many 
 who had watched the scheme, and were convinced 
 that it had been a moral success, although a financial 
 failure. They accordingly formed themselves into a 
 committee, raised subscriptions to help them in the 
 work, and determined to reorganize the affair on a 
 different plan, namely, to improve the quality of the 
 performances, and to devote certain evenings to 
 ballad concerts, temperance meetings, and science 
 lectures, as well as to the inevitable "Variety 
 Entertainment." 
 
 Mr. Morley satisfied himself that few things were 
 more wanted for the poorer classes than a reform in 
 their amusements. He took into consideration the 
 tastes and the habits of the people to be catered for, 
 
 29
 
 434 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. XXI. 
 
 quite apart from his o^Yn tastes and habits, and when 
 he was assured that nothing would be permitted that 
 could reasonably be construed as WTong, he gave 
 in his adhesion to the movement. 
 
 On the 19th of June, 1882, he warmly advocated 
 the cause at the annual meeting, held that year at 
 the Mansion House, and, in the course of his speech, 
 told a quaint story of a Quaker who at a certain 
 meeting had said, "My friends, there is a vast 
 amount of feeling being spoken about, but I should 
 like to know how much your feelings amount to ? " 
 Mr. Morley added, " I should like to ask the same 
 question of this meeting. I feel .£100 a year for five 
 years, and I hope many others will do the same." 
 
 It was not, however, until after his return from 
 Cannes, in 1884, that he joined the Executive Com- 
 mittee, and threw himself heart and soul into the 
 movement. It was at a most important period, in 
 fact, a crisis in the history of the committee, that he 
 came forward. But for his so coming, the work would, 
 in all probability, have collapsed. The annual rent 
 was a burden that the funds could not bear ; but an 
 opportunity presented itself of buying the remainder 
 of the lease, and, if this could be done, the funds 
 would be relieved for a period of thirteen years fr'om 
 the greater part of the rent. 
 
 Towards the purchase, a lady gave the munificent 
 sum of J61,000 to Miss Cons, who fr'om the first had 
 been the mainstay of the whole movement. She 
 brought the matter before Mr. Morley, and he, without
 
 1881—1884.] THE BOYAL VICTORIA HALL. 435 
 
 a moment's liesitation, said, " I will give the same if 
 you can get the remaining £2,000 to make up the 
 required sum." The influence of his name worked 
 wonders ; the old committee, dispirited hy the long 
 continued strain of their uphill work, took fresh 
 courage, the required sum was subscribed, and the 
 Eoyal Victoria Hall started forth on a new career of 
 usefulness. He felt, however, that the cause needed 
 moral support and personal service no less than gifts 
 of money, and he determined to devote his energies 
 to the work. At first he was quite inexperienced in 
 the business, so, with his usual persistent earnestness, 
 he began at the beginning, went thoroughly into 
 every detail, made himself master of all the machinery 
 of the concern, and, as he said, ''qualified himself for 
 partnership." 
 
 Miss Cons, in a letter to the present writer, 
 says : — 
 
 He cou«;tantly expressed his determination to do his share in our 
 ' happy partnei'ship,' as he always termed our work together. And 
 indeed it was a happy partnership for us, as his clear head and warm, 
 sympathetic heart were always a tower of strength to us against worries 
 and petty troubles which fritter awaj' one's powers. His speeches aroused 
 public attention, so that money and helpers came to our aid, and I was 
 thankful not to have to claim his oft-repeated promises, ' Now, don't you 
 worry about money. I will not let this important work flag for want of 
 that. It is not fair that you workers should be troubled on that score.' 
 He took such interest in every detail that, in sj)ite of his many engage- 
 ments, he continually made little appointments to see me and consult 
 about matters rather than trust to letter discussions. Then he would run 
 into the Hall for an hour, and see what lecture or other entertainment 
 was going on, and his rare keen enjoyment was quite refreshing to us 
 who are tired out with such things. Qa other uiglits he would come to
 
 43G SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXI. 
 
 take the cliair at the Science Lectures, and encourage the men to a higher 
 life. On November 24, 1884, he came to open our then newlj-fornied 
 Working Men's Club, and gave a splendidly inspiriting address to the men. 
 His cheery, hearty way, and his grandly broad tolerance of differences of 
 creed or of politics, endeared him to all, and the men admired him so much 
 that, whenever he came to meet them, they all (over one hundred) crammed 
 into their small room, so that on his coming out he laughingly declared ' he 
 had been in a vapour bath all the evening !' Deeply as he was interested in 
 the working men and their culture, yet his pure, child-like nature enjoyed 
 greatly some of the entertainments ; and one night, when he was going 
 into the club-rooms to address the men, he ran back to laughingly beg me 
 ' not to have the boy's head cut off until he came back to see it.' This 
 referred to the performance of a conjuror we had at that time, who, 
 amongst his tricks, cleverly pretended to cut off a boy's head and put it. 
 ou again. 
 
 It will be well in this place to give Mr. Moiiey's 
 own words with regard to this subject, and we do so 
 in the hope that the perusal may induce some to con- 
 tinue and extend the sco^^e of this and kindred work. 
 It is needed not only among the poor and the outcast, 
 but to quite as great an extent among the young 
 men of our large cities, in order to place before them 
 the highest and best forms of amusement. Clerks 
 and shop assistants and others are not often attracted 
 by the entertainments provided for them by Young 
 Men's Associations, and they have no other choice 
 than to seek their amusements in the midst of the 
 pernicious surroundings that environ them. A meeting 
 for the purpose of hearing an account of the work 
 connected with the Eoyal Victoria Coffee Hall was 
 held at Grosvenor House, under the presidency of the 
 Duke of Westminster, and, in moving a resolution, 
 Mr. Morley said : —
 
 1881—1884.] AMUSEMENTS FOB THE PEOPLE. " 437 
 
 I remember hearlug of a charity sermon ia which the clergyman, 
 havmg given out his text, ' He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the 
 Lord,' instead of preaching a sermon, said, ' My friends, you have heard 
 the terms ; if you appi'ove of the objects of this charity, down witli the 
 cTust.' I may say tlieu, briefly-, tliat I honestly believe this movement to 
 deserve the utmost support we can giv^e it. I have given some proof of 
 it, by joining heartily a band who are determined to stand by Miss Cons. 
 She, and other noble ladies and gentlemen, are coming to the front, which 
 is just what is wanted in connection with the down-trodden condition of 
 our poor, and we, who are in better positions, should get into contact with 
 them, not so much by giving large sums of money as by making them 
 feel that we sympathize with them. I have been to the Victoria Hall 
 several times. I don't know that I have ever laughed so much as on 
 these occasions. I believe in good hearty laughter, it tends to health. 
 The proceedings have consisted of music, fun, and temperance addresses, 
 in whicli I believe as ardently as my friend who has just addressed you. 
 The great object of these attractive entertainments is to win people from 
 the public-house. I have seen thousands listening to good music. On 
 one occasion tumblers occupied the stage. I am not a theatre-goer, but I 
 did most heartily enjoy the real fun, absolutely divested of anything gross 
 or immoral. I feel that in our enormous London population there are 
 vast bodies of people socially depressed, and there are very many who 
 know little about what is going on below the surface. Can people con- 
 ceive what is meant when told that husband, wife, and six children are 
 living in a single room ? These peo^ile will go somewhere in the evenmg 
 to seek amusement. I hold it to be a Christian duty to give them amuse- 
 ment. I took occasion to actjuaint myself with the character of the 
 entertainments at the Victoria Hall, and the amount of work being done. 
 I cannot resist my share of responsibility in this work, and I hold that 
 those who are workers in such an enterprise are entitled to be clear of 
 financial anxiety. 
 
 Evidence is accumulating as to the conditions of filth, depression, and 
 moral ruin, in which vast masses of the population of Loudon are 
 living. At our peril we must do something to win them to a better and a 
 higher life. I believe this movement to be a legitimate mode of at least 
 doing something to forward that work. I join it heartily; and what we 
 want is an extended partnership — more partners in an enterprise which 
 involves no liability. This partnership can bring only satisfaction, because 
 the work is already proved by results which afford ample compensation
 
 438 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. XXI. 
 
 for any pecuniary ontlaj-you vaay make ; for 240,000 persons attended the 
 Victoria Hall during last year. Out of that vast number, many must have 
 been won to a better life by the kind of entertainments offered, including 
 as they do admirable lectures, which are listened to with deepest interest 
 by large audiences. 
 
 Christmas was always a liappy season in the home 
 of Mr. Morley, and he strove to make it, as far as it 
 lay in his power, a happy time also among the poor. 
 The masses of evergreen that made the Victoria Hall 
 and its club and class-rooms so beautiful at Christmas 
 time, were sent by him from his park at Leigh. 
 
 By speech, by pm-se, by personal influence, by con- 
 stant attendance at the committee meetings, and by 
 study of every detail calculated to promote the 
 interests of the cause, Mr. Morley became the 
 warmest and most active friend the work had ever 
 known, and he only relinquished his labours on its 
 behalf with his life. 
 
 Had his life been spared a few more years, a dream 
 that he had dreamed would probably have " come 
 true," and the " Old Yic." would have developed 
 into "The People's Palace for South London," not, 
 perhaps, on the giant scale on which it has been 
 attempted at the East End, but with an object as 
 comprehensive.
 
 CHAPTEE XXII. 
 
 NOTES OF SPEECHES. 
 
 The Art of Speaking— Voice — Manner — Methods— Sir James Graham's " Ee- 
 volvers " — Dr. Arnold— Half-sheets of Paper — Political Subjects— The 
 House of Commons and the House of Lords — Quotations — Parliamentary- 
 Waste of Time — Mr. Gladstone— Education — A Word to Boys — Thrift 
 — Sunday Labour — England's Greatness — "Texts" for Speeches — Tem- 
 perance — Speeches on Eehgious Questions — Congregationalism — Church 
 and State — Missionary Work — To Young Men — Apt Illustrations — Allu- 
 sions and Quotations — Foreign Missions — The Bible — Keligious Difficulties. 
 
 There w^ere few men of his generation w4io took a 
 larger share in pnbhc speaking than Mr. Samuel 
 Morley. As we have seen, he began at a very early 
 age and continued his labours on the platform till 
 the close of his long career. It is an illustration of 
 his indomitable energy that he was so good a speaker 
 as he w^as. He had many difficulties to overcome 
 before he could speak in public with ease, and these 
 difficulties increased rather than diminished as he 
 grew in popularity, and was called upon to address 
 audiences night after night upon almost every con- 
 ceivable subject. But, having convinced himself in 
 his youth that he could not serve his generation 
 unless he could express himself with ease and fluency, 
 he qualified himself for the task, and it was remark-
 
 440 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXII. 
 
 able how well he succeeded, and how each successive 
 stage in his career exhibited an increase of power 
 as a speaker — an increase, in fact, in proportion to 
 the widening of the sphere in which his influence 
 was to be exercised. 
 
 " Speak not at all in anywise," says Carlyle in one 
 of his Essays, "till you have somewhat to speak; 
 care not for the reward of your speaking, but simply, 
 and with undivided mind, for the truth of your 
 speaking." It was in the spirit of this advice that all 
 Mr. Morley's sj^eeches were conceived. They were 
 simple, straightforward, honest utterances, s^ooken 
 without the least regard for effect, never approaching 
 florid rhetoric, rarely rising to the height of what is 
 termed eloquence, but alwa^'s full of that "discretion 
 of speech" which. Lord Bacon tells us, "is more 
 than eloquence." 
 
 In his influence as a speaker he was not indebted 
 to his voice, for, although it was full and manly and 
 pleasant, it had no striking variety of tones, or rich 
 melodiousness ; nor did he owe his influence to 
 diction, for he never indulged in flights of fancy, 
 never in words of poetic tenderness that " like flakes 
 of feathered snow melted as they fell;" he rarely 
 spoke argumentatively, and never ^passionately. He 
 seldom broached a new theory, never excited an 
 audience with appeals to their imagination, never 
 sent them to their homes with minds confused with 
 manifold speculations. 
 
 And yet everybody liked to hear him speak. They
 
 ON THE PLATFOEM. 441 
 
 knew, of a certainty, tliat tliey would not hear a bril- 
 liant oration, but tliey were equally certain that they 
 would hear good common sense, expressed with clear- 
 ness and force ; they knew that whatever the subject 
 might be, he would throw into it earnestness and 
 conscientiousness, and that they would not have to 
 search for his meaning in a multitude of words ; 
 they knew it would not be one of " those cart-rope 
 speeches that are longer than the memory of man can 
 fathom," of which old Owen Feltham complained 
 generations before public speaking became a vice ; 
 they knew that, without the least particle of affecta- 
 tion in style or manner, and with a clear ringing 
 voice, he would go straight to the point under discus- 
 sion, and, in correct language and with grave and 
 dignified mien, would express only broad, generous, 
 and practical oj^inions. 
 
 Towards the latter period of his life, there is little 
 doubt that Mr. Morley's best speeches were made on 
 religious and social subjects. These filled his heart 
 and occupied almost all his thoughts, and when he 
 urged upon his hearers practical benevolence, sobriety, 
 and righteousness, there was a pleading earnestness 
 in his tones that few could resist, because they carried 
 in them so patently the strong convictions, no less 
 than the sympathy, of the whole man. Many a score 
 of young men have listened to Mr. Moiiey as they 
 never listened to any other human being, fascinated 
 with the easy flow of words which went straight to 
 their hearts, and convinced that the words were
 
 442 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXII. 
 
 intended directly for them. Into those speeches, 
 distinctively religious, the strength of conviction was 
 expressed as much in the voice, the anxious coun- 
 tenance, and the whole bearing of the man, as in the 
 paternal counsels he offered, or the views he expressed. 
 Speech at its best is, as George Eliot says, "but 
 broken light upon the depth of the unspoken," and 
 thousands can testify to the sense of relief they have 
 experienced at public meetings, where eloquence has 
 been poured into their ears by poetical, imaginative, 
 and argumentative speakers, to listen to the sober, 
 simple, sympathetic, and earnest words of Mr. 
 Morley. 
 
 It is interesting to know what were the " methods " 
 employed by men who have exercised a wide influence 
 in the world, in the preparation of their works, 
 whether of speech or pen. Among Mr. Morley's 
 papers were found innumerable pamphlets, news- 
 paper cuttings, extracts fi-om speeches of leaders of 
 men, quotations from great authors, and such like. 
 The margins of many of the pamphlets attest the 
 attention with which they had been studied, and 
 suggest the uses he intended to make of them. 
 They were to him what Sir James Graham's 
 " revolvers " were to that statesman. It is recorded 
 by his biographer that " he kept everything — letters, 
 memoranda, copies of official minutes, excerpts from 
 speeches, resolutions of public meetings, passages 
 from leading articles, comparative statistics, and 
 casual publications of innumerable kinds. He seldom
 
 DB. ABNOLD. 443 
 
 went to the House of Commons unarmed with what 
 he used playfully to call his revolvers. By these he 
 meant the envelopes in which he placed the materials 
 for defence of his opinions upon the variety of sub- 
 jects which he anticipated might arise in debate."* 
 
 Such, to a great extent, was the habit of Mr. Morley, 
 with this difference — that he did not take with him to 
 the House, or to the public platform, his " pacquets 
 of combustibles," as Sir James Graham did, but 
 carried on half-sheets of paper rough headings of 
 subjects, notes almost unintelligible to any stranger 
 into whose hands they might fall, but suggestive to 
 him of marked passages in speeches and pamphlets 
 locked up in his black bag, or lying on the table in 
 his study. 
 
 With many of the views of Dr. Arnold on social 
 and political questions, Mr. Morley was deeply 
 impressed, and among his papers there were notes 
 of Dr. Arnold's sayings, and extracts h'om his 
 letters, which were treasured up for use as occasion 
 might require. It has interested the writer to trace 
 this influence. For example, the following is an 
 extract copied by Mr. Morley from a letter written 
 by Dr. Arnold to Mr. Justice Coleridge, under the 
 date, December 16, 1835 : "I think there runs 
 through your letter, perhaps unconsciously, a constant 
 assumption that the Conservative party is the 
 orthodox one — a very natural assumption in the 
 friends of an existing system, or, as I think, in any 
 
 - " Life and Times of Sir James Graham." By W. M. Torrens, :\I.P.
 
 444 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXII. 
 
 one who lias not satisfied himself, as I have, that 
 Conservatism is always "wrong. I think Conservatism 
 far worse than Torjdsm, if by Toryism he meant a 
 fondness for Monarchical or even Despotic Govern- 
 ment, for despotism may often further the advance 
 of a nation, and a good dictatorship may he a very 
 excellent thing, as I helieve of Louis Philippe's 
 government at this moment, thinking Guizot to he a 
 great and good man, who is steadily looking forwards ; 
 but Conservatism always looks backwards, and 
 therefore, under whatever form of government, I 
 think it the enemy of all good." 
 
 There may not appear to be anything remarkably 
 suggestive to the ordinary reader in these words, but 
 they made an impression on the mind of Mr. Morley, 
 and, in rough notes of his speeches, portions of this 
 letter are on several occasions quoted, and it would 
 seem that he had committed the whole to memory. 
 
 He was in the habit of thinking over the subject 
 on which he had to speak, and then making notes of 
 some leading thoughts, and oftentimes of an appo- 
 site quotation wherewith to enforce or illustrate 
 his theme. Many of the half-sheets of paper on 
 which these notes were written were kept by him 
 as memoranda, and in the course of years they 
 accumulated into a large pile, which is now before 
 the writer. The notes are for the most part written 
 in pencil ; many of them were evidently jotted 
 down while driving, or in railway carriages ; not 
 one of them is dated, nor is the special question
 
 NOTES OF POLITICAL SPEECHES. 445 
 
 under consideration indicated in any instance by a 
 heading or title. Fragmentary as they are, they are 
 nevertheless interesting as showing the processes of 
 his thought in dealing with a subject, the methods 
 employed in presenting his views, the scope of his 
 reading, and the general bent of his mind upon a 
 variety of important matters. 
 
 Some selections are given here. They are grouped 
 only under general headings to illustrate his views on 
 political, social, and religious questions, and without 
 any reference to dates, to which, except by their 
 internal evidence, no clue is furnished in Mr. Morley's 
 handwriting : — • 
 
 EouGH Notes of Speeches on Political Subjects. 
 
 The public business of England should be the private business of every 
 Englishman. 
 
 Send men to the House of Commons who have given evidence of their 
 deep attachment to the j)rinciples which have secured the rights of the 
 many, rather than the benefit of the few. 
 
 The franchise is not aright to every man, but a trust committed by the 
 nation to each capable and qualified citizen. 
 
 I am prepared to insist, that as in matters of finance, so in questions of 
 franchise, the House of Commons, when it speaks by large and consistent 
 majorities, is entitled to the acquiescence of a House which has no repre- 
 sentative character. 
 
 The problem that exercises many minds is the possibility of reconcihng 
 free representative government with the continued existence of an irre- 
 sponsible assembly. The demand of the peers for an appeal to the people, 
 I oppose as giving to that House the means in the future of fatal obstruc- 
 tion to any measure in favour of popular rights. How long the House
 
 44C SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXII. 
 
 of Lords shall remain out of sympathy with the nation dexiends on the 
 nation itself. 
 
 It is the old question revived once more, whether a self-governed nation, 
 like Great Britain, will any longer submit to be fettered and obstructed in 
 its progress towards absolute political freedom by a House of hereditary 
 legislators, non-elected, and irresponsible to the people, and whose only 
 right to legislate is that they are the sons of their fathers. 
 
 The following are isolated passages from longer 
 notes: — 
 
 Our great object is to do away with class government and introduce 
 national government in its place. 
 
 What is the Liberal party ? A party of progress, a party whose desire is 
 to keex^ pace with the times and with the requirements of the nation — not 
 seeking change for sake of change, but for improvement; to promote the 
 nation's welfare in the broadest and best sense, consulting not the interest 
 of a class, however influential or noisy, but the happiness and well-being 
 of the whole people. As the whole is greater than a part, so the nation is 
 greater than a class. I am prepared to contend that, with the rarest 
 exceptions, this has been the rule of the Liberal party. 
 
 The waste of time in Parliament was always a 
 som'ce of vexation to the active practical Member, to 
 whom every moment of life was precious, and on 
 innumerable occas;ions there are in his notes, brief 
 but sufficiently explanatory entries to show how 
 keenly he felt upon the subject : — 
 
 Extent of playing with parliamentarj- time disgraceful. Some mode 
 of economizing time. Some curtailment of rights of private members. 
 Some independent method of deciding as to measures to be considered. 
 About 1,200 hours in a full session, less than two hours each, if we had 
 fair play. We turn niglit into daj-. A physical as well as intellectual 
 qualification required.
 
 MB. GLADSTONE. 447 
 
 On Arbitration he writes : — 
 
 The claims of property and the claims of labour are totally opposed ; 
 BO opposed that — as the present state of Paris shows — there is war to the 
 knife between them. I don't believe that the only solution is to be found 
 in bloodshed. More faith in a recent iitteranco : ' Conference is always 
 good.' ' Come, let us reason together,' was always better than ' Come, let 
 us fight each other.' 
 
 Many of the notes contain references to Mr. Glad- 
 stone : — 
 
 I regard Mr. Gladstone as the greatest, purest, and ablest Statesman of 
 the present age, and, if of the present age, of all ages or of any age. How 
 great the sympathy during his recent illness throughout the whole 
 civilized world ! With what ? Not with Gladstone as M.P. for Midlothian, 
 not with Gladstone as Premier, or Statesman, but simply with Gladstone 
 as the embodiment of the highest and purest aspirations of that patriotism 
 which desires the best of all good things for the greatest number of his 
 own fellow-countrymen, and that the countrymen of all other countries 
 may become partakers in these good things also. His life, his health, 
 his genius, his power, and influence are of more consequence to the 
 country than all or any of the most pressing questions now before Parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 A Government which acts must make enemies, and a Government 
 which moves must leave some followers behind. 
 
 For Tories to ask public suffrages in the face of Mr. Gladstone's budget, 
 is like nothing, in the history of impudence, but the story of the French 
 criminal, who, having murdered his father and mother, threw himself 
 upon the mercy of the court because he was an orphan. 
 
 Conservatives have the credit of hating progress, hindering improve- 
 ment, and being jealous of popular liberty and x)ower. The ballot would 
 never have passed if the Conservatives had been stronger. ' Conser- 
 vatism always looks backward, and therefore, under whatever form of 
 government, I think it the enemy of all good.'
 
 448 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXII. 
 
 Must regulate our forces by tlie principle on wliicli we have intercourse 
 with other nations. 
 
 Earl Eussell : ' Great commercial States have alwaj'S been hated ami 
 dreaded by great military States.' 
 
 Lord Berhy : ' Great Britain is only bound to place herself beyond all 
 reach of invasion.' 
 
 Mr. Gladstone : ' The ships that travel between this land and that, are 
 like the shuttle of the loom that is weaving a web of concord between the 
 nations.' 
 
 EouGH Notes of Speeches on Social Questions. 
 
 The following is one of the most complete set of 
 notes found among the papers of Mr. Morley. There 
 is no indication of date or place, but it is probable 
 that the " old town " referred to was^either Notting- 
 ham or Bristol : — 
 
 Invitation to preside accepted. Not qualified, but glad to keep in asso- 
 ciation with old town, and to otfer congratulations. Middle-class educa- 
 tion. Elementary schools. Strides. Middle class will do well to prepare 
 for the competition from below which is coming on. Great principle of 
 competition. Life is really a continued competitive examination. De- 
 cided unpression that the rule is, superficial training, in spite of utmost 
 care of the best masters, owing to too earl}- removal. Feeling of desire 
 to get sons into harness. Looking at number of subjects in the modern 
 courses of instruction, the time which sufficed for our schooling will not 
 do for our sons. They will have to hve in a different world from that in 
 which we have lived, and they must stand or fall as they prepare for it. 
 I supiiose a large proportion of the boys in this school are intended for 
 trade or manufactures. Thankful for my own connection with trade. 
 England owes much of her greatness to the intelligence, industry, per- 
 severance, and integrity of those connected with trade and commerce. 
 Accept the sneer of Naj^oleon that we ax'e a nation of shopkeepers. The 
 trading class has any future in this country it pleases, on one condition, 
 that we qualtf}-. What we need, as a class, is the refinemeat and power 
 which result from a ciiltivated intelligence ; no investment will bring a 
 better retm-n; no sacrifice will jJcf^ better than the lengthening the school
 
 SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLBOYS. 449 
 
 life of our sons. I woukl also remind you of those magnificent enilow- 
 ments at Cambridge and Oxford, which, originally intended for the whole 
 nation, have now been made distinctly national. I would ins^jire you 
 with an ambition for your sons that they should go up and possess the 
 land thus opened to them. I would specially ijress the point of adapta- 
 tion. ... I pray j'ou, whatever else you may secm-e for your sons, take 
 care that you secure that education which will fit for futinre duty. How 
 many parents, anxious to give their children bread, have only succeeded 
 in giving them a stone ! A fi-iend of mine was only yesterdaj-, mourning 
 over the fact that her son, who has just completed five years at Harrow, 
 knows nothing of either French or German, and he has had an a^^point- 
 ment offered, in which a knowledge of those languages is a requisite, 
 cannot press too strongly the value of composition, the ability to write a 
 good letter. Have you not seen the estimate formed of a man who can, 
 off-hand, draw up a report, or draft resolutions, who has, in fact, the 
 pen of a ready writer ? Then, good legible penmanship and a thorough 
 knowledge of arithmetic and mathematics are most important. In short, 
 whatever else is secured, make a good English education a si?ie qua non ; 
 but I would also urge the exceeding practical value of modern languages 
 — extent of valuable reading of French and German authors. Increas- 
 ing commercial relations with the Continent. Vastly greater enjoyment 
 in travelling. No intention to disparage classical training — most impor- 
 tant, absolutely essential for those who desire to extend their education ; 
 the very discij^line is most valuable ; but, keeping in mind the value of 
 adaptation, I would entreat you, while attending to the one, not to neglect 
 the other. 
 
 To the boys: Wish you happy holidays, Eeminds me of old times to 
 look at yoii. Impossible to put the experience of forty or fifty on fifteen, 
 and not desirable if we could. Biit let me press the word tliorougliness 
 on your attention. "Whatever else yoii are, be thorough. Never be 
 willing to shuffle through a lesson ; do not be satisfied not to understand 
 any lesson. My observation is that young men who have been superficial 
 in school work are imreal in performance of duty in after life. Know- 
 ledge is piower, pleasure, happiness. Be on your guard in forming 
 intimacies. Uns]3eakable mischief in a school by one or two boys of low 
 tastes and pursuits. Avoid whatever is impure or profane. Be coura- 
 geous in standing aloof. 
 
 The next notes are evidently of a speech on the 
 
 30
 
 450 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. XXII. 
 
 Opening of Museums on Sunday. They illustrate 
 Mr. Morley's habit of fortifying himself with apposite 
 quotations : — 
 
 The Earl of Beaconsfield : ' Of all Divine institutions, the most Divine 
 i s that which secures a day of rest for man. I hold it to be the most 
 valuable blessing ever conceded to man. It is the corner-stone of all 
 civilization ! ' 
 
 Count Moiitalemhert: 'There can be no religion without public worship, 
 and there can be no public worship without a Sabbath.' 
 
 An Exijerlenced Engineer (quoted m the Artizans' Reports) : ' Looked 
 at solely from a material point of view, England has been an immense 
 gainer by the habit of resting thoroughly on the one day in seven ; for 
 this reason I should view with great alarm any attempt to introdiTce the 
 Continental system of making Sunday a day of amusement. What we 
 want on Sunday, is not so much amusement as rest.' 
 
 The decision of this question is in the hands of working men. The 
 House of Commons must obey a general demand. I would gladly help 
 you. My experience leads me to warn workmg men against the inevitable 
 result of opening the door. The employment of Government servants 
 will end in increased work for all servants. 
 
 Prom a bundle of loose notes we extract a few 
 paragraphs on a variety of subjects : — 
 
 The chaplain of one of our London prisons has stated, as the result of 
 his intercoui'se with criminals, that disobedience to parents was the root 
 of the criminal life of those he had to deal with. Do not be ashamed to 
 be obedient to authority, whether of your masters, your teachers, or your 
 parents. Obedience to law is the condition of intelligent life. 
 
 Education. You are touching the higher motive when you teach a 
 child that crime is not only an offence against man, but a sin against 
 God. You may teach a man how to make a lock, but you give him at 
 the same time power to pick that lock, unless, by this appeal to his higher 
 nature, you bring in the controlling motive.
 
 •' TEXTS " FOB SPEECHES. 451 
 
 Let me remind you that attendance at places of worshii^ is still the 
 exception. More are absent than attend — i.e., not one-fourth of the popu- 
 lation. Never forget that our varioits institutions and societies are mere 
 mechanism — skeletons — unless filled and inspired with spiritual life. It 
 will be just as we are anxious to make men Christians, rather than mere 
 members of this or that sect, church, or chapel, that we shall secure 
 attentive hearing from those we desire to benefit, or receive a blessing 
 from Him whom we profess to serve.'-'- 
 
 The true secret of England's greatness, and the best guarantee for the 
 maintenance and extension of the liberties we enjoy, are found in the 
 intelHgence, the perseverance, and, above all, the integrity which, in spite 
 of hideous occasional developments, I assert is the rule in connection with 
 the great trading and mercantile transactions of the country, , , , I 
 have often regretted the existence of a feeling on the part of parents, when 
 selecting occupation for their sons, in favour of an appointment in the 
 public service or the counting-house, where the pen is the instrument to 
 be used, rather than in the more independent scene of labour — the work- 
 shop or the warehouse. 
 
 The "texts" upon which Mr. Moiiey was m the 
 habit of framing his speeches are brief and to the 
 point. Thus : — 
 
 Education is what somebody else does for us. Self-cultiu-e is what we 
 do for ourselves. Education puts tools into a man's hands ; self-cultiu-e 
 enables him to use them. 
 
 I am content to be regarded as an enthusiast, but I rely more on 
 electric telegraphs, steam navigation, cheap postage, international exhi- 
 bitions, peace congresses — anything that ferings peoples together, as dis- 
 tinguished from their rulers — than all the armies in the world. 
 
 ■■'■ A saying of Dr. Arnold was often quoted by Mr. Morley : — " I have 
 one great principle which I never lose sight of— to insist strongly on the 
 difference between Christian and non-Christian, and to sink into nothing 
 the differences between Christian and Christian."
 
 452 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXII. 
 
 Some of Mr. Morley's views on Temperance are 
 given elsewhere in this book, but a few of his rough 
 notes of speeches upon this subject may be quoted 
 here : — 
 
 I believe tliat the safety and strength of a nation may be tested by the 
 purity of its homes and the virtue of its people infinitely more than by 
 the extent of its wealth or the number of its armies. 
 
 I should be thankful to see the people a law unto themselves, but I am 
 compelled to look for legislative interference in matters in which the in- 
 terests of society are so deeply concerned. It is the duty of those who 
 govern to make it easy to do right, and difficult to do wrong. 
 
 As to causes, many people begin at the wrong end. They say people 
 drink because they Hve in bad dwellings ; I say they live in bad dwellings 
 because they drink. It makes all the difference which way you put it. 
 The first essential is not to deal with the habitation, but the habit. 
 
 In his speeches on Temperance, Mr. Morley was 
 wont, over and over again, to plead for the omni- 
 potence of example, and would often cite a saying of 
 the Bishop of London, that it made all the difference 
 in the world whether you urged people to go along or 
 to come along in a good cause. He had also a 
 selection of quotations from authorities on the Tem- 
 perance question, which he kept in reserve for use 
 when required, and these frequently figure in his 
 brief notes. The following are a few of his most 
 favourite ones : — 
 
 Mr. Gladstone : ' The calamities inflicted upon mankind by the three 
 great scourges, war, famine, and pestilence, are not so great as those 
 inflicted by intemperance.'
 
 SPEECHES ON BELIGIOUS QUESTIONS. 453 
 
 Mr. Cobden : ' The Temperance question lies at the basis of all moral 
 and all poHtical reform.' 
 
 Canon Farrar : ' If any one should ask whence comes this " bitter cry 
 of outcast London," I answer, as one who knows the whole depth of 
 misery, and say, unhesitatingly, that it comes from drink.' 
 
 Bishojp of London : ' I urge the importance of ministers of religion 
 associating themselves with the Temperance movement, and setting an 
 example of total abstinence to the hundreds of thousands who are crying 
 aloud to be helped to withstand temptation.' And again : ' Temperance 
 is the first step towards the promotion of religious life.' 
 
 Lord Coleridge : ' Persons in my position are almost tired of making 
 the statement that drunkenness is a vice which fills the gaols of England, 
 and that if we could make England sober we could do away with nine- 
 tenths of our prisons. In the large majority of cases which come before 
 a judge and jury, it is shown that they began, ended, or were in some 
 way connected with, the national sin of drunkenness. It is a duty laid 
 on all in our position, not to tln-ow the matter aside as if there were no 
 use in doing anything to check a vice which is a national disgrace, which 
 injures our character, which lets us down in the estimation of foreign 
 countries, and which, I cannot doubt, is a considerable factor in any 
 distress under which the working classes suffer.' 
 
 Bev. Pliilip Brooks (Boston) : ' If ever a cause justified fanaticism, the 
 Temperance cause does. To me there is nothing more disgusting or more 
 disheartening to the cause of humanity than the selfish, ease-loving, 
 luxurious man indulging in dissipation and denouncing Temperance 
 fanaticism.' 
 
 EouGH Notes of Speeches on Eeligious Questions. 
 
 Many of Mr. Morley's addresses were delivered at 
 the laying of foundation-stones or the opening of 
 chapels, and in his utterances on such occasions he 
 not unfrequently took the opportunity of speaking 
 upon the relations of Church and State, and the 
 present and future prospects of Nonconformity. 
 From the notes of such addresses 'the following ex- 
 tracts are taken : —
 
 454 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXII. 
 
 The erection of our cba^^els may be regarded as au act of aggression, 
 but it is not directed against other Christian brethren, who, though 
 differing from us, are yet labouring for the same end as ourselves. I 
 trust all our hostility will be reserved for the common enemy ; against the 
 evil which exists around us ; against that sinfulness which is so fatal to 
 the interests of mankind, both here and hereafter. Our object, as Protestant 
 Dissenters, is to find out and hold fast by that which is the truth, — that 
 prmciple of Christianity most consistent with the teaching of the New 
 Testament. If we can persuade the people that our principles and 
 teaching are consistent with the teaching of the Kew Testament, they 
 will learn that, just as it has risen to a position of power and influence 
 in the countrj', so will they continue to increase and flourish in the 
 estimation of the people of England. Just as when civil freedom was 
 conceded us, the stability of government was confirmed; just as when 
 commercial freedom was conceded, the most wonderful development of 
 commercial greatness known in history followed ; so, when the last 
 barrier of protection is removed by the concession of religious freedom, 
 oiu" Government shall teach the nations also the great secret of religious 
 power. Then shall there be nothing but free churches in the laud, and 
 Episcopalians, Congregationalists, Methodists, and all other Christians, 
 shall vie with each other only as common allies against a common foe. 
 
 Our mission, is to bring the world to the rule of Christ. Our authority, 
 is to preach the gospel to every creature (as binding to-day as 1800 
 years ago). Our system, is essentially democratic, and that principle 
 will alone reach the people. 
 
 Om- principles, fully carried out, furnish the surest guarantee for the 
 maintenance of the truth. We have little faith in creeds and confessions, 
 scarcely more in legal instruments and trust-deeds ; not the slightest in 
 the intervention of the civil power or any external influence for the 
 guardianship of orthodoxy, but we have great faith in the organization 
 and discipline of a church as involved in our theory. Congregationalism 
 makes the evidence of conversion the sole and indispensable term of 
 communion, and unites such as are the subject of conversion in a society 
 in whom is invested the right of choosing then- pastor, and transacting 
 their own affairs. This constitution, when honestly enforced, ensures 
 piu-ity, and in that purity there is the pledge of a scriptural choice as to 
 the ministry. "We hold that the Bible alone is the rule of faith and
 
 SPEECHES ON liELIGIOUS QUESTIONS. 455 
 
 practice, and that every man has not only the right of judging for him- 
 self as to its raeaning, but that it is his duty to exercise that right. That 
 each church should have its bishops, or pastors, or elders (synonjjmous) to 
 oversee and provide for its spiritual concei'ns, and deacons to attend to 
 the more secular concerns. That all such churches are equal, and that 
 the constitution of such churches is in perfect harmony with civil govern- 
 ment, and that the bearing of such churches on society is most 
 beneficial, tending to love, to order, and to happiness. 
 
 The whole world is moving in the direction of absolute severance 
 between the civil and ecclesiastical j)owers. The struggle of Church and 
 State for supremacy is proving the ill-assorted character of their union, 
 and it will incAdtably lead at length to a complete divorce. 
 
 I would not utter a word of antagonism to the Established Church. I 
 am a Nonconformist because I believe that the action of political parties 
 has depressed and hindered the action of that which is essentially 
 spiritual. I believe that an ounce of spontaneous action is worth more 
 than a ton of compulsion. I am prepared to contend that to i-ely on the 
 legislative enforcement of any Chin-ch system, would be to wither up all 
 that is fresh and vital in our religious communities. Believing, too, that 
 religion is the only real basis of morals, and therefore the truest safe- 
 guard of national virtue, I am quite content to submit to sundry incon- 
 veniences connected with what we call the voluntary princii^le, because 
 of the freedom, and consequent power, we thus possess. "We meet, 
 thankful for the laws so different to two hundred years ago, which we 
 have won by persistent struggles — we meet as j)eaceable and loyal 
 citizens, loving the Queen, thankful for her constitutional reign, but 
 believers in one Head of the Church, and unwilling that that Headship 
 should be shared, or set aside, by any earthly sovereign. 
 
 There is a great controversj- going on as to what shall be the principle 
 on which the Church of the future shall ultimately and exclusively 
 rest ; whether that of Christian life operating by agencies, volnntaiy 
 and free, the outgrowth of its own spirit, or. Christian life working by 
 machinerj' created by political law. 'We are endeavouring to work out 
 an answer to this inquiry. But no one, lookiug at the iireseut dis- 
 tracted condition of the Established Church, can doubt that, between
 
 456 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXII. 
 
 vatioualism on the one hand, and ritualism on the other, the future is a 
 dark one. 
 
 Among a mass of rough notes of addresses on 
 religions subjects, written on scraps of paper, the 
 following are selected almost at random : — 
 
 When I look at the state of the times and think of the religious 
 future of England, I confess I do so with disma3\ My only hope is, 
 under God's blessing, in the waking up to this conviction, ' Every 
 Christian should be a missionary.' 
 
 What is the mission of the Church of Christ ? not, surelj', the culture 
 of the life of the Church only, but the endeavour to bring the world to 
 the rule of Christ. 
 
 If we were asked, 'How much owest thou thy Lord?' we must 
 answer, ' All I am and all I have.' 
 
 The real keystone of a nation is the hearthstone. 
 
 The strength of a nation lies not in the wealth, but in the virtue, of its 
 people. Personal morality is the best safeguard of national liberty. No 
 form of political organization can secure freedom to a people who live for 
 mean aims and low passions, who despise the moral bonds which secure 
 the purity and harmony of society, and who care less for duty than for 
 pleasure. Any one who has thoughtfully considered the moral enervation 
 of France during the twenty years which preceded the Franco-Prussian 
 War, as it has been exhibited in her literature, in the amusements most 
 favoured by the people, and, perhaps, above all, in the laxity of personal 
 conduct in the private relations of life, will have seen good reason for the 
 fact that, both physically and morally, they were no match for the German 
 army. 
 
 Mr. Morley was not unfiTquently charged with 
 allowing the whole of his sympathy to be absorbed 
 in Home Missions to the exclusion of any interest in
 
 FOBEIGN MISSIONS. 457 
 
 Foreign Missions. The following notes, evidently of 
 an address on behalf of Foreign Missions, indicate 
 his views and his difficulties on the subject : — 
 
 It was most pleasant to hear of the ai-rangement, made many months 
 ago, by which the agents of the Church Missionary Society, and of our 
 Society, undertook to work in parallel lines in their joint attack — shall I 
 say ? — on the centre of Africa, so that there should be no danger of clashing 
 in the dehvery of the message: I wonder what the effect would be if 
 each party, the one going to the right, the other to the left, had been 
 composed of an equal number of Churchmen and Dissenters. We each 
 profess to have the bread of life to give to the peoi)le ; why shoiild we 
 <liffer as to the shape and size of the loaves '? I venture, treading on 
 dehcate ground, to urge that this work of preaching the gospel to the 
 heathen should be pressed on individual conscience as one of allegiance 
 to Him whom we profess to serve, rather than in the interest of any par- 
 ticular organization. I have a clear recollection that, years ago, contrast 
 used to be drawn as to the relative advance made in the respective incomes 
 of the various missionary societies. I have no doubt that we have got 
 rid of a good deal of that feeling, but I am not at all sure that the service 
 would not be greatly more prospered if men were seen going out rather 
 to tell the old, old story, than to represent the interests of any special 
 section of the Church. • . 
 
 Mr. Morley was a firm believer in "the Bible, the 
 whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible," and the 
 following extracts fi'om his rough notes of speeches 
 — some of which were delivered in advocacy of the 
 claims of the British and Foreign Bible Society — 
 give his views with regard to " the Book of God and 
 the God of books." 
 
 The Bible is the light and life of any dwelling. The home-hfe of this 
 country owes everything that is pure and true and virtuous to the Word 
 •of God. No false religion fosters the virtues of a happy fireside.
 
 458 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXII. 
 
 I believe that in piitting into a missionary's liaud tlie Bible, you give to 
 bim the one key by which the dark places of the earth may le opened 
 to the light, so that such work as that which this Society achieves is the 
 pioneer work of all missionary effort. Thus, when we meet at our various 
 missionarj- gatherings, and rejoice in the work accomplished in the dif- 
 ferent mission-fields, we are to a great extent exhibiting the trophies of 
 the British and Foreign Bible Society. "Well may we all rejoice to meet 
 on a common i:)latform to thank God for such a Society and such a work I 
 
 It has been well said that the Bible is the one mamial of duty for those 
 who preach and those who hear. ^Yhile, on the one hand, it binds the 
 preacher to faithfulness under the spell of a tremendous anathema, on 
 the other it imposes on the hearer obligations which he cannot violate 
 without sin. 
 
 "We need to stimulate the common people to believe that in God's 
 Word there is a full and complete rule of faith and practice, and that ife 
 is their right and their duty to read and judge for themselves. 
 
 The best evidence of the Divine origin of the Bible is in the life of those 
 who are living tip to its precex^ts. . . . An infidel gave this testimony, that 
 the greatest hindrance he had met with was the want of evidence that 
 Christians believed the Bible. 
 
 If ever Christian ttniou is to be a fact, it nmst be by Christians meeting 
 arotind the Bible. 
 
 The Bible will make its own way and do its own work. It is its own 
 best witness. Let us hold fast, then, by the Bible with no wavering faith, 
 but manfully stand up for it in the family, in the pulpit, and in the pew. 
 It was never more powerfitl than at the present time, never more popular 
 among the common j)eople. Faith in His "Word is what God is teaching 
 us as our first duty. Let us, then, sink otir denominational differences 
 and cleave to those good old principles which we shall the more clearly 
 recognize as the great spiritual forces of the Bible get firm hold of the 
 heart and the conscience. 
 
 I would say to any earnest struggler with difficulties who may be 
 present, Don't lose heart, my brother ; there is a good time coming, the
 
 THE BATTLE OF LIFE. 459 
 
 coming of which, so far as you ai"e conceruecl, you may greatly hasten. 
 . . . There is within your reach, and easy of comprehension, without the 
 aid of any human teacher, a safe and precious guide — God's Word. And 
 there is, too, a Saviour waiting to guide and bless you. With such help 
 you may bravely fight the battle of life, you maj- endure manfully, and 
 you will, in the end, overcome.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 1885— 188G. 
 
 Failing Health — Conespoudence with Lady Speucer — Offer of the Peerage — 
 Declined — The Criminal Law Amendment Bill — Letter to Miss Marsh — 
 Death of the Earl of Shaftesbury — A Farewell Letter — Resigns his Seat for 
 Bristol — The General Election of 1885— Anxiety— Letter to Eev. J. C. 
 Harrison — Last Visit to Nottingham — Mr. Arnold Morley appointed 
 Patronage Secretary — Correspondence with Mr, Gladstone — Unwonted 
 Tenderness — Letter from Mr. Mundella — Young Men's Christian Association 
 — Last Public Meetings — Illness — Home Eule — Hopes and Fears — Last Days 
 — Death — At Abney Park — " A Servant of Jesus Christ " — Conclusion. 
 
 In 1885, Mr. Morley, apparently recovered from his 
 indisposition, thi'ew himself into the movements of 
 the times with an energy that would have sorely 
 taxed the strength of younger and stronger men. 
 Those who met him only occasionally, saw an active, 
 hale, and hearty man, who looked ten years or more 
 younger than he actually was — a " picture of health," 
 as the saying is. Those who knew him most inti- 
 mately watched him with anxious solicitude. For 
 himself, there was borne in upon his heart the con- 
 viction that the time was short, and that he must 
 work while it was called to-day. 
 
 Before following him into the great political conflict 
 that made such heavy demands upon him in this year, 
 we must refer to one or two circumstances that 
 marked its earlier course.
 
 1885—1886.] LETTER TO LADY SPENCEB. 461 
 
 lu June, when Mr. Morley was staying with the 
 Lord-Lieiitenant, Earl Spencer, at the Vice-Kegal 
 Lodge, during a visit to Dubhn as a member of the 
 Royal Commission on the Housing of the Working 
 Classes, some hissing among the people in the streets 
 and other unhiendly demonstrations were directed 
 against Lady Spencer. Mr. Morley was a witness 
 of the scene, and on his return to London, an 
 account of the incident having been published in 
 the newspapers, he wrote to her as follows : — 
 
 Mr. Samuel Morley to Lady Spencer. 
 
 34, Grosvenoe Street, June 19, 1885. 
 
 Dear Lady Spexcer, — I cannot resist the impulse to convey to you the 
 expression of my sympathy and, I should add, vexation, which were 
 excited on reading a brief account of rudeness exhibited towards you by 
 the crowd in Dublin lately. The self-denying and generous services 
 rendered by you and Lord Spencer to Ireland during so many years, 
 and the inconvenience and, doubtless, danger to which you have exposed 
 yourselves, would, it might be thought, have rendered so unseemly an 
 exhibition of feeling impossible. 
 
 I beg you to accept this expression of my sympathy with you in re- 
 ference to the circumstance to which I refer, and of the hope that the 
 time is not far distant when, under happier influences, the Irish people 
 will remember gratefully the kindly way in which a necessarily firm rule 
 was exercised during the Viceroj-alty of Lord Spencer. 
 
 I feel sure that in thus venturing to write to you, I am only giving voice 
 to a feeling which is universal amongst those who know how to appre- 
 ciate high piiblic service ungrudgingly given. 
 Believe me, dear Lady Spencer, 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 S. Moi:ley. 
 
 In reply to this letter. Lady Spencer wTote : — 
 
 Your kind letter of sympathy in one of the small trials to which wo 
 have been subjected during our reign in Ireland, has touched me very
 
 4G2 SAMUEL MOELEY, [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 much, and it is a satisfaction to know that you ai^preciate my husband's 
 rule during these last three difficult years. , . . 
 
 In June of this year, Her Majesty conferred upon 
 Mr. Morley the distinguished honour of offering him 
 a peerage. The intimation was conveyed to him by 
 Mr. Gladstone in the following terms : — 
 
 TJic Bight Hon. W. E. Gladstone to Mr. Morley. 
 
 10, Downing Street, Whitehall, S.W., Jitne 24, 1885. 
 My dear Mr. Morley, — The Queen graciously permits me to offer you 
 the honour of a peerage, and I do not know that I have ever had a more 
 genuine pleasure in conveying a jn'oposal of this nature than now, when 
 I make it to one who has earned so many irrefragable titles to the 
 honourable regard and warm reverence of Ms countrymen. 
 Believe me always, 
 
 Most faithfully yours, 
 
 W. E. Gladstone. 
 
 Perhaps no Statesman ever proffered an honour 
 which accorded more with popular feeling than when 
 Mr. Gladstone conveyed this intimation to Mr. 
 Morley. Individuals of all shades of opinions united 
 in the declaration that few men of his time had done 
 more than Mr. Morley to deserve the honour. His 
 reply was awaited by his friends with much interest. 
 It was hoped by many that he would accept it on 
 the ground that no one so closely identified with the 
 leadership of Nonconformity, or who had maintained 
 its traditions with equal courage and independence, 
 had ever before had the opportunity of entering the 
 House of Lords. 
 
 A similar distinction had been offered to Baron de
 
 1885— 1886.J OFFER OF THE PEERAGE. . 463 
 
 Eothschild, and many wished that the great Noncon- 
 formist and the distinguished Israehte might take up 
 their honours together — a signal ihustration of the 
 late Premier's advocacy of the principles of civil and 
 religious equality. Others urged that as. Mr. Morley 
 had always advocated modifications and changes in 
 the House of Lords, and that its efficiency de- 
 pended much upon the new blood infused into it, he 
 should accept the offer of the peerage, in order 
 that, in some measure, his influence and views 
 might tend to ^^lace the Hereditary Chamber of the 
 Legislature more in harmony with the House of 
 Commons. 
 
 The rumour found its way into the newspapers that 
 Mr. Morley had accepted the honour, and at once 
 he w^as inundated with congratulations h'om Members 
 of both Houses of Parliament, hom men of the most 
 diverse views in politics and religion, as well as from 
 personal and intimate friends. 
 
 Congratulations upon his acceptance of the peerage 
 were, how^ever, premature. 
 
 Mr. Morley had no difficulty in arriving at a deci- 
 sion, and, on the next day, sent the following letter 
 to Mr. Gladstone : — 
 
 3/>-. Morley to the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone. 
 
 34, Geosvknor Street, W., June 25, 1885. 
 
 My dear Mr. Gladstone, — I have received your letter in wliicli, by tlie 
 Queen's permission, you convey to me tlie proposal that I should accept 
 the honour of a peerage. 
 
 Whilst gratefully and heartily acknowledging the very kind terms in
 
 4G4 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 vsfhich you write, aud which, used by one whom I so highly honour and 
 esteem as yourself, will always make the recollection of the event one of 
 the most pleasant of my life, I beg respectfully to ask permission to 
 decline the proposal. 
 
 I sincerely value Her Majesty's gracious kindness, and trust tliat the 
 personal grounds on which my decision is based, may not be considered 
 as manifesting any want of a dutiful sense of the Queen's favour, which I 
 do very heartily appreciate. 
 
 I am, dear Mr. Gladstone, 
 
 Yours very faithfully, 
 
 S. MORLKY. 
 
 Had public opinion been challenged as to whether 
 Mr. Morley should have declined or accepted the 
 peerage, it is probable that a large majority would 
 have favoured its acceptance. 
 
 Many, nevertheless, rejoiced at his determination, 
 and admired the discretion "which declined a dignity 
 traditionally and inevitably associated with class 
 privilege and resistance to the popular w411," while 
 many more said in effect, what an old and intimate 
 friend expressed in writing, "I cannot but admire 
 the nobility of motive which caused you to refuse 
 the title and position you so richly deserve. The 
 name Samuel Morley will be more and more dear 
 to us now, on account of the sacrifice you have 
 made to retain it. Now that you are about to 
 retire from the strife of politics I hope that name 
 may more and more shine forth in the cause of 
 Christ, as well as in that of rhankind in general." 
 
 Probably nothing could have happened to inten- 
 sify the respect and affection in which Mr. Morley 
 was held, more than the decision at which he
 
 1885— 188G.] THE PEEBAGE DECLINED. 465 
 
 arrived. Many of his political friends, knowing how 
 frequently he had declared his objection to an heredi- 
 tary and irresponsible Chamber, rejoiced that he had 
 shown the courage of his opinions. ''The people" 
 were rejoiced that he would not take a step that 
 should have even the apj)earance of removing him 
 from their midst ; his name was a household word 
 throughout the kingdom as a synonym of every quality 
 that gives nobility to character, and they would have 
 regretted that it should have been lost in some aristo- 
 cratic title. 
 
 As for Mr. Morley himself, he never hesitated for 
 live minutes as to the answer he would give. Like 
 Richard Cobden and John Bright, he preferred "to 
 dwell among his owm people," and by refusing a 
 peerage at the same time and in the same manner as 
 Mr. Gladstone, he, so far, placed himself on a level 
 with his great Leader. 
 
 There was in Mr. Morley a great deal of that moral 
 courage which constitutes the highest form of heroism, 
 and during this year a heavy demand was made upon 
 it. There had appeared in the Fall Mall Gazette a 
 series of articles purporting to give a true account of 
 the perpetration of certain crimes of a most revolting 
 nature, of which the law did not take pro2:)er cogniz- 
 ance. Mr. Morley was horrified when these revela- 
 tions were made, and the truth of them having been 
 questioned in many quarters, the Editor of the paper 
 announced that if a Committee of Investigation were 
 
 31
 
 4G6 SAMUEL MOELEY. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 appointed, incliicling the names of the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, Cardinal Manning, Lord Shaftesbury, and 
 Mr. Morley, he \YOuld place before them ample proof 
 of the truth of the statements made in his journal. 
 
 Although he slii*ank from the work with an intense 
 dislike, Mr. Morley felt it to be his duty to accept 
 the challenge. He went into the investigation of 
 the matter with an open mind, and, before a hostile 
 assembly in the House of Commons, declared '•' that 
 the evidence laid before himself and his colleagues 
 had shown that the facts stated in the newspaper in 
 question, notwithstanding their terrible character, yet 
 concealed half the extent of the horrors with which 
 they dealt." He presided over a large and enthu- 
 siastic meeting on the subject in Prince's Hall, and 
 in many other ways assisted in influencing public 
 opinion. Nor did he desist even when the Criminal 
 Law Amendment Bill became law, but sought out 
 and stimulated a variety^ of agencies for the pro- 
 tection of young and defenceless girls. 
 
 After the excitement of this agitation, Mr, Morley 
 went to Tenby for a change of air and scene. But 
 neither at Tenby, nor anywhere else, did he relin- 
 quish his engagements, or slacken his corres]3ondence. 
 There was observable in his speech and writing, and 
 in his whole bearing at this time, an unwonted 
 tenderness, which many, who knew him well, regarded 
 with mingled pleasure and anxiety. He had been 
 saddened and depressed by his recent contact with 
 sin and misery, and his heart went out in fuller
 
 1885— 188G.] LET TEE TO MISS MABSH. 467 
 
 spiritual sympathy with all who were working for the 
 world's redemption. 
 
 This spirit is breathed in a marked degree in the 
 following letter to Miss Marsh, referring to a proposal 
 he had made to contribute ^500 towards the rebuild- 
 ing of the Blacla'ock Convalescent Home : — 
 
 Mr. Samuel Morley to Miss Marsh. 
 
 Aug. 2G, 1885. 
 
 Dear Miss Marsh, — I must send yoti a few lines, which please accept 
 as a postscript to my last, though really meant as a grateful acknowledg- 
 ment of yonr reference to my proposal. I was quite in earnest in pro- 
 posing to do what I suggested, and will hope, life and health permitting, 
 to carry out my proposal. 
 
 I believe that Convalescent Homes are among the greatest, the most 
 pi-essing, wants of the times. If we consider the physical condition of 
 depression to which the poor are not unfrequently reduced, and especially 
 the fact how open they are to the kindlj^ influences of Christian sympathy 
 at such times, then, on the one condition that everything in the shape of 
 sectarian influence should be excluded, and that crcr/ything should be 
 done to exalt Him who is at once Lord and Master and Friend, there 
 is room for a very large expenditure of time, of personal service, and of 
 money, as a most legitimate mode of winning many to the rule of Christ. 
 
 I was led, dear friend, somewhat to enlarge my contribution, because I 
 knew that you were invalided, and I trust may be helped, by restored 
 health and strength, to carry through the work on which you have set 
 your heart, and which I am sure our God will bless. 
 
 Believe me, 
 
 Yours very sincerely, 
 
 S. Morley. 
 
 On the 1st of October, in this year, there passed 
 away from earth the good and noble Earl of Shaftes- 
 bury. For many years Mr. Morley had been worldng 
 side by side with him in innumerable efforts to benefit
 
 4G8 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 their fellow-men; tliey had stood together on the 
 same platform on hundi'eds of occasions, and in great 
 efforts for the common good had worked shoulder to 
 shoulder, each in his own sphere, but both towards 
 one end. 
 
 " Talk of religious difficulties ! " exclaimed Lord 
 Shaftesbury one day, when addressing Christian 
 workers, " what have we to do with religious diffi- 
 culties ? My dear, good friend Mr. Samuel Morley 
 and I have worked together for many years, and we 
 have never known anything about religious difficulties. 
 But if, in our conversations, one or other of us were 
 to plunge into discussion about Catechisms or Estab- 
 lishments, then perhaps there would be fire and fury 
 on both sides." 
 
 That defined the position of these two men, who 
 for decades had stood before the whole of Christendom 
 as the representatives of the philantlii'opy of England. 
 They laboured for souls, not for systems ; they sought, 
 by different methods, but from one motive, to raise 
 men to a higher level socially, politically, and 
 religiously. They worked side by side in the same 
 great harvest-field, under the guidance of the same 
 great Husbandman, and for the same reward — the 
 honour of being counted worthy to serve Him. 
 
 And now one was taken and the other left ; and 
 while the whole nation mourned the loss of the 
 " Good Earl," there was no one of his colleagues 
 who did so with a fuller heart than Samuel Morley. 
 
 The following touching letter was -vwitten by Lord
 
 1885—1886.] BE SIGNS HIS SEAT FOB BBISTOL. 409 
 
 Shaftesbury on the morning of the day he left 
 London for Folkestone, never to return : — 
 
 Lord Shaftcshurij to Mr. Samuel Morley. 
 
 24, Grosvenor Square, July 25, 1885. 
 
 Dear Mr. Morley, — I acknowledge, with much gratitude, j'our bounty 
 of .£50 (fifty) in aid of Groom =•' and. his institution. He will heartily 
 thank you for such a contribution, nor will he forget you in his prayers 
 to Almighty God. 
 
 I cannot describe to you half the good that this association has done 
 to the bodies and souls of thousands of poor defenceless girls. 
 
 I am, by God's very special mercy, better in essentials, though very 
 weak, as the disease has now had hold of me for a full year to-morrow 
 (2Gth). I am going, this day, to Folkestone, where I hope to recover a 
 little streugth, and so be permitted to ' die in harness.' But I fear that, 
 if I live, all my powers of effectual activity will be gone. However, 
 ■God's will be done. 
 
 I may never see you again, but I rejoice in this opportunity of saying 
 liow deeply I feel all your unwearjdng kindness, friendship, and generosity 
 towards myself in all places, and on all occasions. It is, indeed, a com- 
 fort to learn that much sj-mpathy has been expressed for me in my long 
 enforced idleness. 
 
 If we do not meet again on earth, may we meet again in the blessed 
 presence of our common Lord and Master ! 
 
 Yours \ery truly, 
 
 Shaftesbury. 
 
 The intention announced by Mr. Morley in 1883, 
 to resign his seat for Bristol at the next Dissolution 
 or General Election, was carried into effect in 
 November, 1885. In his farewell address to the 
 electors, he said : — 
 
 It would be impossible to enumerate all the measures fraught with far- 
 reaching possibilities which the past seventeen years have seen enacted. 
 
 ■•'• Mr. J. A. Groom, Honorarj' Superintendent of the " Watercress and 
 Flower Girls' Mission."
 
 470 SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 Two only, appear to me, to call for special notice — the Elementary 
 Education Act of 1S70, which I consider was the greatest achievement of 
 Mr. Gladstone's first Government, and the Acts for the Extension of the 
 Fi-anchise and Redistribution of Seats, which will always make his 
 second tenure of office memorable in the parliamentary history of the 
 United Kingdom. It will continue to be to me a source of satisfaction 
 and gratitude that, as your representative, and armed with your mandate, 
 I was permitted to share in securing these and many other measiu'es, the 
 fruit of which will be gathered by coming generations. 
 
 Mr. Moiiey had been much more than a mere 
 Member for Bristol dming the seventeen years of his 
 parhamentary career. He was a rej^resentative man 
 in the widest sense of the term; the interests of trade 
 and commerce, and of " the people " of the whole 
 country, were advocated by him ; but, more than any 
 other Member of the House of Commons, he w^as 
 regarded as the special representative of Noncon- 
 formity, and in consequence was credited with an 
 influence which few other Independent Members 
 possessed — an influence he used in the interests of 
 popular liberty, and for the advancement of the 
 welfare of the general community. 
 
 Mr. Morley's popularity in Bristol continued to the 
 end, and truly few constituencies owed more of per- 
 sonal gratitude to their representative than Bristol 
 owed to him. 
 
 It was not only his connection with trade and 
 commerce which enabled him to obtain a hold upon 
 its inhabitants, but the interest he manifested in all 
 the movements of the city, educational, philantln^opic, 
 social, and religious, at a time when Bristol was en-
 
 1885—1886.] • BRISTOL. 471 
 
 larging her borders, and vastly increasing her trade. 
 " There is not," remarked a prominent inhabitant, 
 not long after Mr. Moiiey became a representative of 
 the western city, " a congregation attached to any of 
 the numerous chapels stowed away in the city's 
 narrow old street, or challenging attention in every 
 direction along its rapidly growing suburbs, but would 
 bear witness to the fact that his name is now a 
 household word among them." 
 
 There was nothing narrow in his benefactions, he 
 helped to restore Bristol Cathedral with as hearty a 
 will as he joined in the David Thomas Memorial 
 Chapel ; he was as popular on the Executive Council 
 of the Associated Chamber of Commerce as in the 
 Young Men's Chiistian Association, whose fine hall 
 he assisted to found. He supported a local attempt 
 to popularize music by providing cheap and good 
 concerts for the people, with as much zeal as he 
 helped the Temperance missions ; he showed prac- 
 tical sympathy with all the best interests of the 
 people, moral, intellectual, and commercial ; he was 
 always willing to render service to the humblest of 
 his constituents, and he has left his good name em- 
 balmed in the annals of the city. 
 
 Of Mr. Morley's whole parliamentary career, it 
 may be said that his earnest and steadfast devotion 
 to the principles he professed won for him the grati- 
 tude, as well as the confidence, of the Liberal party. 
 While battling manfully for what he believed to 
 be right, and absolutely fearless in controversy, he
 
 472 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 never said anything to forfeit the respect of his 
 opponents, or to leave room for any one to question 
 the sincerity of his convictions. His share in the 
 pohtical affairs of the country was influential rather 
 than conspicuous ; his opinions and actions were the 
 guides to many others ; and his sentiments, on the 
 subjects with which he was intimately conversant, 
 carried weight wherever and whenever they were 
 expressed. Although he was not a frequent speaker 
 in the House of Commons, whatever he said in that 
 assembly was always marked by practical common 
 sense. He did much to raise the tone of political 
 debate, and he gained the esteem and respect of both 
 sides of the House. 
 
 Although not intending to continue a Member of 
 Parliament, the approach of the General Election of 
 1885 stirred him to the exercise of an energy almost 
 unprecedented even by him. He brought the whole 
 power of his influence to bear in that great conflict ; 
 he turned in every direction to gain allies, to secure 
 the triumph of the Liberal cause. 
 
 Among the numerous political pamphlets issued 
 under Mr. Morley's auspices, as being useful for the 
 electors, may be mentioned " Five Years of Liberal 
 Legislation, 1879 to 1884," and "A Comparison of 
 Taxation between Liberal and Tory Governments, 
 1874 to 1884." 
 
 Mr. Morley's enthusiasm and munificence during 
 this campaign were unbounded. " His whole soul,"
 
 1885— 18SG.J THE GENERAL ELECTION. 47B 
 
 says one \y1io was associated with him in electioneer- 
 ing work, " was stirred, as it had seldom been 
 stirred before, to place Mr. Gladstone not simply at 
 the head of the Government, but at the head of 
 affairs, strengthened and stimulated by a powerful 
 majority to carr}^ out popular reform, and to extend 
 the bounds of popular freedom." 
 
 To this end he used all legitimate means in his 
 power, wherever his help was needed, to assist Liberal 
 candidates to carry on the struggle to a successful 
 issue. No one ever knew, and probably no one ever 
 will know, how arduous were his labours, how 
 generous were his gifts, or how powerful was his 
 influence. 
 
 The result was a cause of great rejoicing to Mr. 
 Morley, and amply repaid him for all his labours. 
 Notwithstanding abundant Tory prophecies to the 
 contrary, the elections resulted in Mr. Gladstone 
 forming his Third Administration. 
 
 Although Mr. Morley's action in this great elec- 
 tioneering contest was watched by the majority with 
 nothing but pleasurable interest, there were others 
 who looked on with grave anxiety. Among these 
 was his son Howard, who wrote to Mrs. Morley 
 in November : " We are all much concerned about 
 the dear father's health. He was far from well 
 yesterday, and ought to have been quietly resting at 
 home, instead of moving about in the damp, foggy 
 weather. He would be surprised, if not alarmed, 
 were he to hear all that is said to me every day about
 
 474 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 him. Only on Tuesday night, Mr. , whom I met 
 
 at dinner, hegged me to get him complete rest, 
 ' although,' as he added, ' I ought not perhaps to say 
 it, seeing he is going to preside for me at a monster 
 
 meeting at ■ -.' This is only one of a number 
 
 of cases. Don't you think it would be well if all 
 engagements were to be absolutely cancelled, with 
 the promise that, should health and strength permit, 
 Mr. Morley would attend ? It is no use speaking too 
 late, or being ' wise after the event ' ; but what a pity 
 that such a good and useful life should be needlessly 
 jeopardized ! " 
 
 This was excellent advice, and it was opportunely 
 given. Under medical directions, Mr. Morley ab- 
 stained, during the whole of the ensuing winter, from 
 attendance at public meetings held in the evening, 
 and there can be little doubt that this precaution 
 tended to the prolongation of his life. 
 
 In 1886, the Congregationalists paid him the highest 
 honour in their power by electing him to the Chair- 
 manship of their Union, but he was unable to accept 
 the office. 
 
 It was evident to all who observed him narrowly, 
 that he was losing strength. He still paid his visits 
 to London, often leaving Hall Place at half-past 
 eight in the morning, and driving in his open phaeton 
 to the train ; but he confessed to a want of physical 
 power, especially to a shortness of breath, and a 
 greater tendency to rely upon the use of a stick, 
 owing to a want of steadiness in his gait.
 
 1885—1886.] LETTER TO BEV. J. C. HARBISON. 475 
 
 There was observable, too, a forgetfnlness of names 
 and places, even the most familiar ; and at times a 
 weariness, and micontrollable sleepiness, combined 
 with an indisposition to set about work that would 
 cost an effort, and a listlessness of manner, altogether 
 unusual. 
 
 He was fully alive to the change that was taking 
 place in himself, but in an ordinary way he referred 
 to his physical ailments only with an occasional, and 
 sometimes even a jocular, allusion. To those with 
 whom he was most intimate, however, he spoke 
 differently, as will be seen in the following letter to 
 the old h'iend of his 3^outh, for whom he entertained 
 a very lively affection : — - 
 
 Mr. Samuel Morley to the Bev. J. C. Harrison. 
 
 Jan. 21, 1886. 
 
 My dear Fpjend, — I aru truly sorry that your last most kind letter 
 should not have been acknowledged long ago. I have just destroyed the 
 beginning of a letter dated some weeks since, but alas ! put aside for some 
 more pressing duty. 
 
 I felt deeply grateful to you for your kind and pleasant thoughts in 
 reference to my leaving Parliament. I have, happily, had no misgiving 
 on the subject. I have many evidences that the shadows are lengthenmg, 
 and the stakes and the cords of the tent are loosening, and I am thankful 
 for the prospect of leisure to think of the way in which I have been led, 
 and of the daily and hourly mercies which have been vouchsafed. I am 
 conscious, too, of much sympathy with work which still needs to be done. 
 
 But my object was specially to thank you for your kind thought of 
 me, and to assure you that I look back with thankfulness on tlio friend- 
 ship which commenced in Wood Streefi, and has continued without the 
 slightest interruption to the present hour. I was much interested to 
 hear of your son, and hope he is really regaining former health. Can I 
 do anything that would promote his further recovery ?
 
 476 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 I beg my kind regards to Mrs. Harrison and your daughter if at 
 home. 
 
 Believe me, dear Friend, 
 
 Yours very affectionately, 
 
 S. MORLEY. 
 
 There was one change in Mr. Moiiey that no one 
 who knew him well could fail to notice — the some- 
 what severe expression of his face gave place to 
 one of mildness and benevolence. There was, more- 
 over, in his manner a gentleness and tenderness 
 which is reflected in all his correspondence at this 
 time. Nor in that only ; and on the occasion of his 
 last visit, in December, 1885, to Nottingham, the old 
 town- he loved so well, this was remarked by more 
 than one. 
 
 No one can tell what thoughts were in his heart as 
 he looked upon those old familiar scenes for the last 
 time ; but they should have been happy ones, for few 
 had ever done more for the welfare of the people than 
 he. It would be an impossible task to chronicle what 
 he had done for Nottingham — its people, and its 
 institutions ; we can only indicate the breadth of his 
 sympathies by referring to a few of his benefactions. 
 
 On the occasion of the opening of the University 
 College he expressed a desire to do something that 
 would show his interest in the great work undertaken 
 by the town, and the idea of a Children's Library in 
 connection with the Free Library in the new IJni- 
 versity Buildings having been suggested to him, he 
 gave a handsome donation, which was the means of 
 foundincf one of the best children's libraries in the
 
 1885—1886.] NOTTINGHAM. 477 
 
 kingdom. He offered .£2,000 to the University 
 College as an endowment, if £10,000, in all, were 
 raised; he gave over .£1,000 for a scholarship at 
 the High School ; £500 towards the erection of the 
 Congregational Institute, and £200 per annum 
 towards its funds, as well as subscribing to the 
 "Extension Fund" and the Annual Prizes ; £1,000 
 to the Castle Museum ; £500 to the Hospital when 
 he was President for the year, besides liberal sub- 
 scriptions to all kinds of institutions in the neigh- 
 bourhood — Bands of Hope, Temperance Societies, 
 orphanages, and schools of various denominations. 
 In addition to all this, he had his agents in the town 
 to inquire into the need of those who applied to him 
 for lielj:), or on whose behalf others applied. He was 
 never known to neglect any deserving case, and in 
 many instances he followed up the pecuniary assist- 
 ance with the expression of his personal sympathy, 
 thereby greatly enhancing the value of his gifts. 
 
 "I cannot tell you," says Dr. Paton, one of his 
 friends and correspondents in Nottingham, in a 
 letter to the present writer, "how much his loving- 
 gentleness, combined with wisdom and strength, won 
 me, as it did many others. He had one of the 
 sweetest natures I ever knew, veiled under those 
 firm, somewhat severe, lines of expression on his face, 
 And it was wonderful the change when his coim- 
 tenance was lit up with the light of sympathy and 
 affection. It was as if a steel visor was raised from 
 a face radiant with noble feeling."
 
 478 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 On the fall of the Salisbury Administration 
 (January 26, 1886), Mr. Gladstone was summoned 
 by the Queen to again take office, and it was a 
 source of unqualified pleasure to Mr. Morley, that 
 his son Arnold should be appointed by Mr. Gladstone 
 to so important a position as that of Patronage 
 Secretary to the Liberal Government in succession 
 to Lord Bichard Grosvenor. The appointment, 
 coming as it did when Mr. Morley felt that his own 
 career was nearing its close, gave him profound satis- 
 faction. 
 
 This feeling found expression in the following- 
 letter : — 
 
 Mr. Samuel Morleij to the Bight Hon. W. E. Gladstone. 
 
 Hall Place, Fch. 8, 1886. 
 My dear Mr. Gladstone, — Although most anxious not to increase, 
 even hy a brief note, the burden of correspondence, which has been, I am 
 sure, lieavy enough to bear, I may, I hope, be allowed, in a sentence or 
 two, to assure you of the pleasure I have felt in heariug of the ajipoint- 
 meut my son Arnold has lately accepted. My pleasure has arisen not 
 only from the fact that there lies before him an opeuiug si)here of influence, 
 which will, I hope, be increasingly attractive, but that he will be brought 
 into personal contact with a Leader who has long since secured his 
 admu-ation and confidence. I believe you will find him capable of 
 rendering reliable service, as he masters the details of his work, and I feel 
 it to be a privilege, as I am withdrawing from more active service, to see 
 him buckling on his armour under circumstances which are to me most 
 gratifying. 
 
 I am, my dear Mr. Gladstone, 
 
 Yours most faithfully, 
 
 S. Morley. 
 
 To this letter Mr. Gladstone promptly replied: —
 
 1886.] LETTEB TO MISS CONS. 479 
 
 10, Downing Street, Whitehall, Feb. 9, 1886. 
 My dear Mr. Morley, — Official association with your son woixld have 
 been highly agreeable to me on the simple ground that he is your son. 
 But it does not require a long acquaintance to appreciate him for himself; 
 and I am entirely confident that the official relations, with me, in par- 
 ticular, upon which he has entered, will be not only agreeable, but to 
 him full of honour, and to the public most advantageous. 
 
 Believe me, 
 
 Sincerely yours, 
 
 W. E. Gladstone. 
 
 If Mr. Morley had any presentiment that his time 
 for doing good was fast drawing to a close, it only very 
 occasionally betrayed itself. He relaxed none of his 
 old occupations more than was absolutely necessary, 
 and formed plans for the future as though a long- 
 term of life remained to him. One more instance 
 may be given here of the interest he continued to 
 take in philanthropic work, and of his thoughtfulness 
 for his co-workers. Miss Cons, upon whom the great 
 burden of responsibility fell in the management of 
 the Eoyal Victoria Hall, broke do^ai under the strain, 
 and he wrote : — 
 
 34, Grosvenor Street, Ajn-il 9, 1886. 
 Dear Miss Cons, — I was, I assure you, very glad to hear a slightlj' 
 improved account of you to-day at our committee meeting. But we all 
 feel that if we are soon to have the pleasure of seeing you again amongst 
 us, you must consent to transfer to others, some of the anxieties which I 
 believe have been too gi'eat for you. I have the impression that you have 
 denied yourself the ease and comfort of having a competent manager 
 because of the expense. Now, I quite agree that it is our duty, in the 
 management of tliis institution, to exercise rigid economy, but it really is 
 not economy to refuse to secure all the help you can in carrying out the 
 details of such a large business as you have on hand at the ' Vic.,' and I 
 must ask yoii to oblige me by losing no time in securing such help as is
 
 480 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 competent, at whatever cost may be necessary, in order that we all may 
 be relieved from the distress we really feel, that you have had a great 
 deal more on your hands than it has been kind in us to allow. I have 
 really thought whether, if I were to come and engage some rooms at 
 Surrey Lodge, I could do anything that would be helpful. The result of 
 my cogitations has been, that perhaps I should only be in the way. 
 Sincerelj^ hoping soon to see yoii quite j-ourself again, 
 
 I am. 
 
 Yours sincerely, 
 
 S. MOELEY. 
 
 Sympathy begets sympathy, and whenever Mr. 
 Moiiey suffered from any indisposition, the hearts of 
 liis fiiends ^Yent out to him in warm assurances of 
 regard. Thus an old ally in many a well-fought 
 fight, wrote : — 
 
 Mr. A. J. Muiiddla, M.P., to Mr. Samuel Morlcy. 
 
 Eefoem Club, Pall Mall, Jan. 29, 1880. 
 Dear Me. Moeley, — I hope you are stronger and better in health, and 
 in fuller enjoyment of the blessings and pleasures of life, from your 
 retirement from the strife and anxiety of politics. If our loss is your 
 gain, all your old friends will rejoice ; but that it is a loss to many of us 
 to miss you from your accustomed place, you may feel assured. Don't 
 forget us. You will always be loved and esteemed by those of us who 
 have enjoyed your friendship in and out of Parliament. And by none 
 more than bj- 
 
 Yours very faithfully, 
 
 A. J. Mundella. 
 
 On the 6th of April, Mr. Morley, with Mrs. and 
 Miss Morley, came to their town house at 34, 
 Grosvenor Street, as usual. On the 8th, he was 
 present in the House of Commons at that ever- 
 to-be-remembered scene when Mr. Gladstone intro-
 
 188G.] YOVNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. 481 
 
 duced the Bill for the Better Government of Ireland ; 
 and, notwithstanding the fact that it was a time of 
 great excitement and mental strain, he went — con- 
 trary to the advice of his physicians and friends — • 
 straight from that assembly to attend the annual 
 meeting of the Young Men's Christian Association 
 at the Mansion House. 
 
 Ever since the year 1845, when he supported a 
 resolution at the first annual meeting of the Associa- 
 tion emphasizing the value of the work, he had taken 
 the most lively interest in its welfare, and had proved 
 himself to be one of its staunchest friends. From 
 the commencement of its history his name had been 
 on the Executive Committee, and he had not only 
 performed his full share of labour in that capacity, 
 but had encouraged the Association in the City and 
 its numerous branches with abounding generosity, 
 besides contributing liberally to Eecreation Clubs 
 and other subsidiary efforts for the welfare of young 
 men, to whom, as he often said in his public addresses, 
 he, as a business man, felt a deep sense of indebted- 
 ness. In a variety of ways he sought to aid them. 
 Thus in seasons of commercial depression, which he 
 knew pressed heavily on unemployed young men, he 
 entrusted sums of money to the Secretary of the 
 Association to assist anonymously any specially 
 deserving case of need. 
 
 It was not, however, as a financial supporter of 
 the Association that Mr. Morley's influence was most 
 strongly felt. His whole heart went out in sympathy 
 
 32
 
 482 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 with the young men of great cities, exposed as they 
 are to innumerable temptations, and deprived, in the 
 majority of instances, of the restraints and encourage- 
 ments of home Hfe. He was never tired of urging 
 them to persevere in courses of virtue, integrity, and 
 Christian manhness, and to avail themselves of the 
 educational advantages that were open to them. He 
 was anxious that all young men who came up from 
 the country '^ with the laudable intention," as he 
 once said, " of making their way in the world, but 
 leaving behind them all the omnipotent influences of 
 home, pious parents, and various attractions that kept 
 them in the right path," should, when finding them- 
 selves alone in London, be able to cast in their lot 
 with those who would hold out the hand of fellowship 
 and make them feel that they had friends to whom 
 they could look for guidance and companionship. 
 To this end, although, as we have seen elsewhere, he 
 had contributed .£5,000 towards the purchase of 
 Exeter Hall for the purposes of the Association, he 
 had it in his heart to secure a more convenient and 
 better adapted building for the young men of the 
 City, and had made a personal offer of ^1,000 a year 
 for the remaining forty years of a lease for premises 
 adjoining the present site in Aldersgate Street. As 
 an alternative scheme, plans were prepared, by his 
 instructions, for covering an eligible site in the neigh- 
 bourhood. But his generous purposes were frustrated 
 by illness, and on the night of the 8th of April, he 
 rendered his last service to the Association he loved
 
 1886.] YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION. 483 
 
 SO well. In a clear and ringing voice, with perfect 
 calmness and concentration, notwithstanding the 
 fatigue and excitement of the day, he spoke, for the 
 last time in public, of the value of Young Men's 
 Christian Associations generally, and ^particularly of 
 the Aldersgate Street Branch, with which — as a 
 citizen — he felt himself more especially identified. 
 
 "It is the business of these Associations," he said, 
 ^' to seek out young men fresh from the influences of 
 pure home life, who find themselves desolate and 
 lonely in London, and to get the earliest possible 
 hold upon them before they form connections which 
 are deteriorating or destructive of morals and personal 
 •character. I have known those who have been ruined, 
 simply because, humanly speaking, they needed a 
 friend to guard them against the temptations of city 
 life." Eeferring to the religious character of the 
 Institution, he added : " I attach immense im23ortance 
 to the word ' Christian,' and hope it will always stand 
 dn front of the Association. Let young men have all 
 the intellectual cultivation they can secure ; let them 
 have all kinds of mental and gymnastic exercises; 
 ,but let us never forget that the religious element is 
 'Our main point, and that our aim is to gather around 
 us the religious young men of London, and then set 
 them to work." In conclusion, he said: "With all 
 my heart I wish God-speed to this Institution, and, as 
 long as I live and am connected with the City of 
 London, I shall go in for Aldersgate Street — a branch 
 that has done its work nobly in the past, is doing it
 
 484 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 nobly now, and has ample scope for doing even better 
 things in the future." 
 
 Two days later, Mr. Morley was present at the 
 closing meeting of the season at the Lambeth 
 Baths, and spoke with unusual force and earnestness 
 on the evils of intemperance. On the 12th, he 
 invited a nmnber of gentlemen to luncheon at the 
 Devonsliire Club, to promote the interests of the 
 new Mansfield College at Oxford. 
 
 These were the last public meetings he ever at- 
 tended. He could no longer disguise from himself 
 that he had not the strength of former days. He 
 soon began to remain in bed for breakfast, his sons 
 calling to see him for a few minutes' conversa- 
 tion on the way to their occupations of the day. 
 Then he would rise about half-j^ast ten, and look over 
 his immense correspondence. Formerly, he w^as very 
 particular about his letters, and was always anxious 
 to get them, but now, his interest had very much 
 lessened, and he was content to allow them to be 
 opened for him, only looking at those which seemed 
 to- need his personal attention. On the 20th of the 
 same month, he was to have attended a meeting in 
 the City in connection with the Home Eule Bills 
 then before Parliament, but he felt himself unequal 
 to the task, and wrote a letter instead, in support of 
 Mr. Gladstone's policy, which appeared in the daily 
 papers on the following morning. 
 
 A few days later, his medical man came in and 
 found him sitting at work at his table, — which was
 
 1886. J HOME BULE. 485 
 
 covered with letters and papers, — but in such a state 
 of weakness that he peremptorily ordered him to bed. 
 For many weeks he w^as confined to the house, but 
 the attack yielded to medical treatment, and on fine 
 days he was able to take a drive. With the return of 
 summer weather, there was an improvement in his 
 health, and once more he was able to attend to cor- 
 respondence, and take up some of the dropped threads 
 of his work. 
 
 He was much interested in the circulation of a 
 leaflet he had drawai up and signed, and w^as causing 
 to be delivered from house to house throughout the 
 poor neighbourhoods of London, urging parents to 
 abstain fr'om allowing their children to be sent to 
 public-houses to fetch beer and spirits, thus exposing 
 them to " familiarity with sights and sounds which 
 are certain to w^eaken the effects of all religious and 
 moral training." 
 
 He watched too, with anxiety, the course of public 
 affairs, and longed to be able to take an active part in 
 supporting the Irish Policy of Mr. Gladstone, for 
 whom he retained to the last a chivalrous attach- 
 ment, and wdiose policy he had come to regard as 
 offering the foundation of a settlement of the Irish 
 Question. He could not remain wholly silent, and 
 he wrote the following letter to one of his former 
 constituents in Bristol. It w^as published in the 
 Liberal papers, and placarded all over Bristol with 
 the address of one of the candidates for a division of 
 the city.
 
 48G SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 It was Mr. Morley's last published letter, and the 
 writing of it was his last distinctly political act : — 
 
 Mr. Morley to Mr. A. J. Stevens. 
 
 34, Grosvenor Street, June 25, 1886. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I do not think that [we have anything to fear from the 
 adoption of the poh'cy towards Ireland which Mr. Gladstone is now 
 advocating. On the contrary, I am of opinion that a measure of self- 
 government, with proper and adequate safeguards for the rights of the 
 Crown and the supremacy of the Imperial Parliaixient, if carried, will 
 prove to be the means of cementing the iinion of Great Britain and 
 Ireland in a manner of which we have hitherto had no experience. 
 Coercion has manifestly failed in the past, and we have no reason to 
 believe that a similar policy, however it may be described, will, if con- 
 tinued in the future, lead to any more favourable result. 
 
 The time is ripe for yielding to the clearly expressed wishes of the Irish 
 people, and for showing that Liberal principles, when applied to that 
 section of the United Kingdom, will produce the same beneficial effect 
 they have often produced when wisely and faithfully applied to other great 
 problems of our national life. Believing this, I need scarcely add that if 
 I had been in the late House of Commons, I should have unhesitatingly 
 supported our great Leader, and should have voted for the second reading 
 of the now defunct Bill. 
 
 No one deplores more than I do, the division which has arisen between 
 those who are, I am sure, one in the end they have in view, but I am clear 
 as to the side I should have taken. 
 
 I trust that Bristol will, at this Election, give forth no imcertaiu sound, 
 and that we are really approaching a settlement of the long pending con- 
 troversy between England and Ireland which, once dealt with, will leave 
 the way open for many other grievously needed reforms. 
 
 I am, dear Sir, 
 
 Yours faithfully, 
 
 S. Morley. 
 
 On the 2Gth of June, Mr. Morley was well enough 
 to go, accompanied by Mrs. Morley and other
 
 1886.J ILLNESS. 487 
 
 members of his family, for a visit to Coopers, 
 Chislehurst, the residence of his son Charles. He 
 spoke hopefully of restored health and of renewed 
 service. " This illness shows," he would say, " that 
 I must in the future do less." He had only been a 
 few days at Chislehurst, how^ever, before he decided 
 to return to London, appearing to wish to be near 
 his doctor. 
 
 A w^eek later, a severe attack of pneumonia set in ; 
 he was directed to keep his bed, and then began the 
 long and anxious time during which he lingered on 
 the borderland. 
 
 His last and only visitor outside the family circle 
 was the Rev. Joshua Harrison, who wrote to him a 
 few days afterwards as follows : — 
 
 July 14, 1886. 
 
 My dear Friend, — I was so thankful to be allowed to see you on 
 Tuesday, and once more to unite with you in earnest prayer to our Father 
 in heaven. I do rejoice with you, more than I can tell you, that j'ou have 
 so firm a trust in our gracious Lord, so clear a hope of the future blessed- 
 ness. This is the special grace of ' Him who has loved us, and given 
 Himself for us.' I was grieved indeed to find you so weak and exhausted 
 in body, though in no way cast down in spirit. I do indeed hope, that 
 through the fervent prayers of the many who are now pleading for you, 
 you majr still be spared to us. But this you know, that He, our loving 
 Saviour, never makes a mistake — ' our Jesus hath done all things well.' 
 You can leave yourself in His hands, and say with Eichard Baxter : 
 ' What Thou wilt, where Thou wilt, when Thou wilt.' 
 
 For, indeed, He has dealt bomitifuUy with you. He has been witli you 
 all through, from those days of youth, when you enjoyed a home of such 
 happiness and such spiritual advantage ; in the time of vigorous manhood ; 
 and up to this hour of advanced age. How happy have you been in your 
 own sweet home ; how useful in the Church and the great world around ; 
 how peaceful and confident in your own personal history ! And now
 
 488 . SAMUEL MORLEY. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 how can yoii clonbt ? No, as you said, 'with regard to our Lord, there 
 can be no doubt, not a shadow of doubt.' '■'•'• 
 
 Since I saw you, I have been recalhtDg those young days when we 
 listened with such eagerness to the wonderful appeals of James Parsons, 
 and then talked over them, and yielded our hearts fully and joyfully to 
 our all-sufficient Saviour; and when you settled under the manly, large- 
 souled preaching of Mr. Binney. And I have thanked God for those 
 times of deep feeling and final decision — thanked Him still more that He 
 has kept us both steadfast in the faith. Oh, that He, who did such great 
 things for us at the beginning, may do still greater things at the end ! 
 May He so manifest His love to Tjour heart in this time of bodily weak- 
 ness, that ' your joy may be full,' and your soul may express itself in 
 fervent praise ! 
 
 I commend you, my very dear friend, and all yo;ir dear ones, to the 
 grace of our covenant Lord, who will never cease to bless us till He has 
 given us the victory tlu'ough His Cross. Peace be with you. My best 
 love to you all. 
 
 Yours faithfully and affectionately, 
 
 J. C. Harrison. 
 
 Hope, now faint, now bright, alternated with the 
 darkest fears, as the weary weeks dragged on, and 
 thousands throughout the land watched anxiously 
 for the latest published bulletin. His son Charles 
 was his constant attendant night and day, and was 
 enabled to keep his post of privilege as well as re- 
 sponsibility to the end. 
 
 When asked if he suffered any pain, Mr. Morley 
 invariably answered that he was not conscious of 
 any. x\ll the old impatience and irritability had gone 
 for ever, and throughout that long and weary time not 
 one single murmur or complaint escaped his lips. 
 
 For weeks he lay in a state too weak and prostrate 
 
 -•■ These words were used by Mr. Morley in reply to a remark of Mr. 
 Harrison "on the preciousness of Christ as his Saviour."
 
 188G.] " THE LABOURERS TASK IS O'ER." 489 
 
 fully to realize his surroundings; conscious, but quite 
 unable to bear conversation or reading. At night, 
 when restless, he would sometimes imagine he was 
 addi-essing meetings, generally of young men, and 
 would urge them to improve their time and opportu- 
 nities ; and, whenever his mind wandered slightly, he 
 never on any one occasion referred to anything save 
 the subjects which had chiefly interested him, and 
 had constituted the work of his life. 
 
 On Saturday, the 4th of September, when Mrs. 
 Morley went into his room, he looked up, and, hold- 
 ing out both his hands, exclaimed : " How bright you 
 look ! " Then he became very drowsy, and in the 
 evening the nurse, seeing that he was in a fainting 
 condition, instantly summoned the members of his 
 family. It seemed to them that he was in a quiet 
 sleep — it was the beginning of that long sleep from 
 which he would only awake on the morning of the 
 resurrection. Soon after midnight, in the first still 
 hour of the Sabbath morning, without a struggle, or 
 any sign or sound of pain, the tired heart ceased to 
 beat, and he who had worked so hard on earth 
 entered into the eternal rest. 
 
 There was sorrow in ten thousand homes. The 
 poor had lost their friend and helper ; young men 
 had lost their pattern and their guide ; London 
 had lost her noblest merchant ; the nation had 
 lost her most munificent philanthropist. 
 
 And this sorrow found expression, a few days later.
 
 490 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 in a way that can never be forgotten by tliose who 
 saw the thousands of mourners assemble to pay then' 
 last tribute of affection and respect. More than a 
 hundred institutions — religious, social, political, and 
 philanthropic — sent their representatives, Members 
 of Parliament of both Houses and of all shades of 
 opinion, clergymen and Nonconformist ministers, 
 students and teachers, merchants and tradesmen, 
 shopmen and milliners, the poor and the friendless — 
 all met around the grave of Samuel Morley in Abney 
 Park Cemetery, sharers in a common loss and a 
 common sorrow. 
 
 Upon that grave the flower-girls of London, 
 rescued from the streets, placed the wreath of 
 flowers their own hands had woven, and little Indian 
 orphans laid their floral offering — "In sweet memory, 
 with grateful blessing and tears, for our kind and 
 noble Sahib." 
 
 A plain stone monument in Abney Park Cemetery, 
 the " family vault of the late John Morley of Hack- 
 ney," bears this inscription: — 
 
 Samuel Morley, 
 
 of Hall Place, TouLridge, 
 
 Son of the late 
 
 John Morley, 
 
 Born October 15, 1809, 
 
 Died September 5, 1880. 
 
 * A servant of Jesus Christ.' 
 
 These simple words, "a servant of Jesus Christ,"
 
 1886.] " A SEBVANT OF JESUS CHRISTY 491 
 
 furnish the chie to Samuel Morley's success, and 
 hold in them the great lesson that his life teaches. 
 From his youth he " served the Lord," and, as the 
 years went on, all that he did, he did heartily, " as 
 unto the Lord." 
 
 It was this that gave grace to his fatherliness, and 
 beauty to his home-life. His simple, genuine faith, 
 his tolerance, his humility, his sympathy, his earnest 
 desire to be doing good, his appreciation of good 
 being done by others — these were lessons that he 
 taught unconsciously day by day. The atmosphere 
 of the home always seemed purer and more bracing 
 when he was in it. He did not talk Christ, but he 
 lived Christ ; he did not sj)eak of his intercourse with 
 God, but his life and conversation showed the results 
 of that intercourse ; he was reticent upon the subject 
 of his own spiritual life, and shrank h'om those open 
 revelations of personal religious experience to which 
 some are prone. He held these as too sacred for 
 words, as things which human breath would rob 
 of their bloom. Li his conversation he was not in 
 the habit of using texts of Scripture or religious 
 phrases, but he believed, with all his soul, in the 
 spirituality of the gosj^el. When his children were 
 about him, they saw in his character and conduct 
 an example which they fain would follow as their 
 highest earthly ideal of Christian consistency. They 
 felt the potency of his prayers ; they knew that 
 his chief concern in life was to see them "cleaving 
 to that which was good."
 
 492 SAMUEL MOB LEY. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 There is a charming little picture in the following 
 extract from a letter, written to his youngest daughter 
 when a child : — 
 
 When I am away from home, I am often in the habit of picturing to 
 myself the home scene. I fancy I see dear mamma at the head of the 
 table, where I wish she would consent to see one of her de.ar daughters, and 
 so on during the day, when perhaps I am busily engaged, I fancy what is 
 going on in various parts of the house, and I very often picture to myself 
 the quiet scene in the schoolroom where my dear youngest child is, I 
 hope, storing her mind with what will be power and happiness to her by 
 and by ; and then a prayer will often rise for a blessing on her and all 
 the dear ones around her, that she and they may be the special objects of 
 God's tender oare and blessing, and that they may love and serve and 
 honour Him in their future lives. 
 
 And again, when writing about his sons to one 
 whom he tenderly loved, he says : " Oh, that their 
 minds, dear precious hoys, may open to the truth as 
 it is in Jesus, and that we may be spared to enjoy 
 together the thought that, while engaged in many 
 various ways in this world, we are citizens of the 
 better country, where we may look forward to the 
 time when we shall be united a happy family in 
 heaven." 
 
 " A servant of Jesus Christ." This was the secret 
 of his inner life, and Samuel Morley cannot be under- 
 stood unless that inner life, the key to his public 
 career and private character, is made clear. His 
 whole life was dominated by a sense of responsibility 
 to God ; he felt that necessity was laid upon him to 
 devote his time, talents, energy, and w^ealth, unre-
 
 1886. J "A SERVANT OF JESUS CHRIST." 493 
 
 servedly to his Master's service. His ^Yas that 
 simple, old-fashioned, practical Christianity which 
 the world stands in danger of losing, without gain- 
 ing anything truer or better in its place. He 
 knew very little of philosophy and speculative theo- 
 logy ; to him it was of comparatively little moment 
 what men tJiougJit, but of infinite importance what 
 men were. The artificial excitements by which 
 some seek to stimulate spiritual life, he did not seem 
 to need ; he did not feel the efficacy of those " aids 
 to faith" which many find to be essential; he was 
 content to know of the doctrine in proportion as 
 he did the ivill of God. His was the old, simple, 
 sturdy puritanism of his fathers, and, as Mr. Spur- 
 geon testified, "his heart was ever with the old, 
 old gospel." He rarely argued upon religious 
 subjects ; his best argument was the spotless and 
 irreproachable life he led. From the time when he 
 became fixed in his religious convictions, he never 
 encouraged any perplexing doubts, or suffered himself 
 to be seduced into the region of theological difiicul- 
 ties. He had faith in religious life a thousand times 
 more than in religious creed, and fi'om first to last he 
 believed as a child, prayed as a child, trusted as a 
 child. Where others groped and were in doubt, he 
 walked straight forward in the light. Being fully 
 persuaded in his own mind, neither mysticism nor 
 metaphysics, misgivings nor scepticism, ever troubled 
 him. Nevertheless, he had a strong sympathy with 
 the men who, in the open arena of controversy, met
 
 494 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 the enemy, and defended Christianity against the 
 attacks of infidehty. It was this that made him 
 take so strong an interest in the Contemporary 
 Bevieia, of which he was part proprietor. " We must 
 allow those who have an argmnent against Chris- 
 tianity to ' out with it ' in faith, sincerity, and fear- 
 lessness," he once said, "but we must find men who 
 will meet them with the sword of truth. I cannot 
 oppose infidelity myself, but you, who are qualified by 
 special education and bent, can. Go you and fight ! " 
 Mr. Morley was far too practical a man to care for, 
 or take part in, controversies between Clndstians. 
 Speaking one day to young men, he said : "If Chiist 
 be our Master, one thing only is our foe in this world. 
 It is not Dissent, or Catholicism, or Methodism, or 
 Unitarianism, or Calvinism ; in all these there may 
 be, more or less, of error, bat they who hold them 
 are our brethren, battling against the same evil 
 as we are. Our foe in this world is sin — the evil 
 nature in each one, in you and in me. It is in 
 ourselves that our foe is. Conquer that, spend half 
 the time in stamjoing that out (God helping us) which 
 is spent in religious controversy with Christians, and 
 the kingdom of God would soon be established in the 
 world." 
 
 "A servant of Jesus Christ." It was this that 
 was the motive-power of his benevolence — to give as 
 fi'eely as he had received, whereby " he endeared his 
 name to all of our countrymen, and will go down to
 
 188G.] ''A SERVANT OF JESUS CHJRIST:' 496 
 
 posterity as one of the greatest philanthropists of the 
 age." * 
 
 It was this that sustained him in his abundant 
 labours for the people, that he might, as he so often 
 said, raise them to a higher life ; it was this that 
 influenced him in his political actions, to make men 
 not political dissenters, but Christian politicians ; and 
 it was this that enabled him to preserve his child- 
 likeness and simj)licity in all things to the end. 
 Wealth, influence, position, honours, had no power 
 to corrupt or alter Samuel Morley. Of flattery he 
 had more than the common share, for no one is 
 flattered more than the possessor of great wealth. 
 But it made no imj^ression upon him ; he was, in the 
 zenith of his popularity, exactly what he was as a 
 young man, at the outset of his career. In society, 
 he was at home among princes, and yet stood on just 
 the same friendly terms with struggling country 
 ministers and with simple, illiterate village folk ; 
 popular among all classes, caressed and compli- 
 mented, he retained his whole-hearted sincerity ; 
 possessor of great wealth, he never abused it, or re- 
 linquished the unostentatious habits of his home life ; 
 credited with an almost boundless influence, he set 
 loosely b)^ worldly honour ; placed in the midst of 
 the temptations of commercial and political life, he 
 stood steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the 
 work of the Lord. 
 
 * Speech of the Prince of Wales at the Fourth Aunual Meeting of the 
 Koyal CoUege of Music, July 15, 1887.
 
 496 SAMUEL MOBLEY. [Chap. XXIII. 
 
 "A servant of Jesus Christ." This was the great 
 inspiration of his diligence in business, that he might 
 "serve the Lord;" and to this end he consecrated 
 his clear, strong common sense, his foresight, 
 promptitude, and decision, and all his well-balanced 
 faculties. He carried his religion into his business, 
 as much as into his church, quietly and unostenta- 
 tiously. Sincere and upright, he could neither say, 
 nor act, that which was untrue ; pure-hearted, he 
 could not tolerate that which was base or mean or 
 impure ; having definite convictions, he acted up to 
 them, but it was a favourite remark of his that " he 
 had no res^Dect for a man whose religion consists in 
 reading a tract behind a bale of goods." It was 
 because he was a simple Christian man, living his 
 Hfe out in the open, holding his own loyally and 
 valiantly, and carrying his head high above every- 
 thing that savoured of impurity of motive, that he 
 helped to work a revolution in the character of the 
 trade in which he came to be regarded as a patriarch, 
 whose opinion every one sought, and whose examjDle 
 has passed into a proverb. 
 
 "A servant of Jesus Christ." It is this that 
 brings Samuel Morley within the sphere of every 
 man's imitation. He was not a genius ; he was 
 not a man of great intellectual gifts ; he was not in 
 any respect an unattainable ideal. He was a man 
 faithful to the responsibilities of life ; who used all his 
 trusts and talents to the extent of his ability ; who
 
 ISSG.] CONCLUSION. 497 
 
 redeemed tlie time because the days were evil ; who 
 did small things or great with equal diligence and 
 thoroughness ; who hated littleness and meanness and 
 selfishness ; who strove to make the world purer and 
 wiser, and therefore happier ; and who lived and died 
 a simple, God-fearing man. 
 
 33
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The following is a list of religious, philanthropic, 
 and other Institutions represented by deputations 
 at the funeral of the late Mr. Samuel Morley, 
 Abney Park Cemetery, September 10, 1886, 
 with all of which he was more or less directly 
 connected : — 
 
 Baud of Hope Union. 
 
 Bangor College. 
 
 Baptist Total Abstainers' Association. 
 
 Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland. 
 
 Blue Bibbon Gospel Temperance Mission. 
 
 Brecon Memorial College. 
 
 Bristol Corporation. 
 
 Bristol Federal Liberal Association. 
 
 Bristol Liberal Operatives' Association. 
 
 Bristol Tempei'ance Society. 
 
 Bristol Young Men's Christian Association. 
 
 British and Foreign Bible Society. 
 
 British and Foreign Anti- Slavery Society. 
 
 British and Foreign School Society. 
 
 British and Foreign Sailors' Society. 
 
 Cavendish College. 
 
 Christian Colportage Association. 
 
 Christian Instruction Society. 
 
 Christian Evidence Society. 
 
 Church Aid and Home Missionary Society. 
 
 Cliri&t Church, Westminster Bridge Eoad.
 
 500 APPENDIX. 
 
 Cluu'cli of Eugland Temperance Association. 
 
 City of London Total Abstainers' Union. 
 
 Congregational Board. 
 
 Congregational Institute, Nottingham. 
 
 Colonial Missionaiy Society. 
 
 Congregational Chapel Building Society. 
 
 Congregational Pastors' Retiring Fund. 
 
 Congregational School, Caterham. 
 
 Congregational Total Abstainers' Association. 
 
 Congregational Union of England and AVales. 
 
 Dalrymple Home for Inebriates. 
 
 Deputies of Protestant Dissenters. 
 
 Earlswood Asylum. 
 
 Early Closing Association. 
 
 Evangelical Continental Societj-. 
 
 Evangelistic Mission. 
 
 English Congregational Union of North Wales. 
 
 Finsbury Eadical Association. 
 
 Gohebj'b Memorial Chapel. 
 
 Hackney College. 
 
 Hackney Juvenile Mission. 
 
 Homerton College. 
 
 Hospital Saturday Fund. 
 
 Howard Association. 
 
 International Arbitration and Peace Association. 
 
 Kent Congregational Association. 
 
 Kingsland Institute for Girls. 
 
 Lambeth Baths Committee of "Working Men. 
 
 London Congregational Union. 
 
 London City Mission. 
 
 London Chapel Building Society. 
 
 Loudon Baptist Association. 
 
 London Missionary Society. 
 
 Mansfield College, Oxford. 
 
 Mansion House Council on the Dwellings of the Poor. 
 
 ]\Iemorial Hall Trustees. 
 
 Milton Mount College. 
 
 Mutual Provident Alliance. 
 
 Naticnal Liberal Club.
 
 APPENDIX. 501 
 
 National Temperauce League. 
 
 NatioBal Vigilance Association. 
 
 New College. 
 
 Nottinghamshire Congregational Union. 
 
 Nottingham Corporation. 
 
 Nottinghamshire Band of Hope Union. 
 
 Open Air Mission. 
 
 Orphan Working School. 
 
 Peace Societj'. 
 
 Presbyterian Chnrch of England (Presb3-tery of London). 
 
 Provident Association of Warehousemen and Clerks. 
 
 Ragged School Union. 
 
 Eailway Mission. 
 
 Eeligious Tract Society. 
 
 Koyal College of Music. 
 
 Eoyal Holloway College. 
 
 Eoyal Victoria Hall Workmen's Club Temperance Society and 
 
 Band of Hope (11 Deputations). 
 St. George's (Hanover Square) Liberal Association. 
 School for the Daughters of ^Missionaries. 
 Society for the Study and Cure of Inebriety. 
 Sunday Closing Associate n. 
 Sunday School Union. 
 Sussex Congregational Association. 
 Susses Home Missionary Society. 
 St. Giles' Christian Mission. 
 Tolmers Square Congregational Church. 
 Trades Union Congress. 
 Tunbridge Wells Liberal Association. 
 University College of Wales. 
 Warehousemen and Clerks' Schools. 
 Weigh House Congregational Church. 
 Welsh Congregational Union. 
 Workmen's Peace Association. 
 Working Lads' Institute. 
 Wyclif Society. 
 
 Young Men's Christian Association (Natio]ial Council). 
 Young Women's Christian Association.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Abbotsford, 48 
 
 Abolition of Universities Tests, Bill 
 
 for, 345, 351 
 Act of Uniformity, 155 
 Administrative Reform Association, 
 
 122, 124-126 
 Allen, Archdeacon, 352 
 AUon, Dr., 317 
 American Civil War, 161 
 " Ancient Merchants' Lecture," 110 
 Arch, Mr. Joseph, 354 
 Arnold, Dr., 443 
 Arthur, Rev. W., 204 
 Artizans', Labourers', and General 
 
 Dwellings Company, 391 
 Ashley, Hon. Evelyn, 392 
 Ashton, Rev. R., 133 
 
 Bacon, Lord, 440 
 
 Baines, Mr. Edward, 147, 148, 149, 
 221, 393 
 
 Baines, Mr. William, 66, 76 
 
 Ballot, The, 346 
 
 Bank Act and Currency Reform Com- 
 mittee, The, 149 
 
 Bank Charter Act, 149 
 
 Bankruptcy Bill, 325, 415, 416 
 
 Bateman, Mr., 81 
 
 Bates, Dr., 51 
 
 Bayne, Mr. P. , 283 
 
 Bellamy, Rev. W., 72 
 
 Berkeley, Hon. F. H. F., 267, 274, 275, 
 270, 342 
 
 Bicentenary Memorial Fund, 156 
 
 Bicentenary of Nonconformity, 154, 
 
 155, 366 
 Binney, Rev. T., 15, 59, 60-63, 64, 
 
 76, 84, 85-87, 89-92, 108, 111, 165, 
 
 204, 221, 362, 363 
 Bishop of Winchester, 340 
 Blackrock Convalescent Home, 467 
 Blackwood, Mr. Stevenson, 176 
 Blue Ribbon Movement, 418, 419 
 Booth, Mr. R. T., 418 
 Borough Boundaries Act, 2 
 Borough Franchise, 147 
 Bradlaugh, Mr. C, 407, 408 
 Brereton, Rev. Canon, 401 
 Bright, Rt. Hon. J., 133, 143, 152, 
 
 217, 223, 250, 465 
 Bristol Operatives' Liberal Association, 
 
 258, 394 
 British and Foreign Anti-Slavery So- 
 ciety, 161 
 British and Foreign Bible Society, 55, 
 
 304, 381, 457, 458 
 British and Foreign School Society, 
 
 332, 333 
 Broadhurst, Mr. 421, 425 
 Brock, Rev. W., 204 
 Brown, Rev. Baldwin, 286 
 BuUer, Mr., 13 
 BunhiU Fields, 109, 241 
 Burder, Rev. H. F., 26, 27, 91 
 Burials Bill, 351 
 Buxton, Sir Thomas Fowell, 206 
 
 Caxteubdkt, Archbishop of, 466
 
 504 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Carver, Mr,, 12 
 
 Chartism, 108 
 
 Christianity r. Secularism, 111 
 
 Church and State, 212-215, 245, 270- 
 
 279 
 Chm-ch Bates, 58, 66, 77, 217, 230 
 Church Rates AboUtion Bill, 58, 216, 
 
 222 
 Clayton, Eev. George, 25 
 Clayton, Eev. John, 13, 25 
 Clayton, Rev. John, the elder, 25, 59 
 Clifton, Sir R., 209, 210, 215, 266 
 Cobden, Richard, 133, 111, 143, 151, 
 
 152, 153, 405 ■ 
 Coleridge, Mr. Justice, 443 
 Colleges- -New, 137; Spring Hill, 137; 
 
 Cheshunt, 137, 138 ; Lancashire, 
 
 138; Rotherham, 138; Airedale, 
 
 138; Homerton, 25,138; Cavendish, 
 
 401 ; Mansfield, 484 
 Collier, Sir R., 325 
 Collings, Ml'. Jesse, 354 
 Collum, Rev. Hugh, 379, 387 
 Conder, Rev. Josiah, 83 
 Congregational Home Missionary 
 
 Society, 130, 135 
 Congregational Union, 131, 249 
 Cons, Miss, 434, 435, 479 
 Conventicle and Five Mile Acts, 155 
 Cook, Mr. Thomas, 396 
 Corn Laws, 259 
 Cossham, Mr. Handel, 254 
 Council on Education, Committee of, 
 
 08, 334 
 County Franchise, 147, 429 
 CremeV, Mr., 425 
 Crimean War, 121, 122 
 Criminal Law Amendment Bill, 466 
 Cruikshank, George, 316 
 Customs and Inland Revenue Bill, 329 
 
 " Daily News " started, 244 
 David Thomas Memorial Chapel, 471 
 Deceased Wife's Sister Bill, 350 
 Denman, Mr. Justice, 426 
 Derrick, John, 7 
 Devonshire, Duke of, 425 
 Dickens, Charles, 127, 244 
 
 Dilke, Mr. C. W., 244 
 
 Dilke, Sir C, 428 
 
 DisestabUshment, 212-215, 245, 276- 
 279 
 
 Disraeli, Mr., 347 
 
 Dissenters' Parliamentary Committee, 
 100; letter of, 100-103; appeal to 
 Nonconformist electors, 103, 104, 106 
 
 Dixon, Mr. G., 355, 356 
 
 Duke, Sir James, 144 
 
 "Eagles, The," 11 
 Education, 68, 79, 331-340, 370 
 Edwards, Mr. W., 279 
 Exeter Hall, 154, 293, 325 
 
 Factokies Education Bill, Opposition 
 
 to, 79 
 Feltham, Owen, 441 
 Financial Reform Association, 300 
 Fleming, Robert, 51 
 Forster, Mr. John, 244 
 Forster, Rt. Hon. W. E., 335 
 Fortescue, Earl, 425 
 " Foundation of Death," The, 419 
 Eraser, Dr. (Bishop of Manchester), 
 
 300 
 Free Church of Scotland formed, 79 
 Froude, Richard Hurrell, 55 
 
 GiiiDLESTONE, Rev. Canon, 276, 354 
 
 Gladstone, Rt. Hon. W. E., 152, 217, 
 222, 223, 246, 324, 325, 340, 343, 
 350, 404, 405, 429, 447, 462, 405, 
 473 
 
 Goldsmid, Sir F., 293 
 
 Gotch, Dr., 263 
 
 Graham, Mr. J. W., 400 
 
 Graham's, Sir James, Factories Edu- 
 cation Bill, 79 ; his " revolvers," 
 442, 443. 
 
 Grant, Rev. Brcwin, 111 
 
 Granville, Earl, 405 
 
 Greeves, Rev. F., 204 
 
 Grosvenor, Lord R. , 478 
 
 Guest, Rev. W., 305 
 
 Guizot, M.,444
 
 INDEX. 
 
 505 
 
 Gustafson, Mr., 419 
 Guthrie, Dr., 2-iO 
 
 Hackxey, 10, 51 
 
 Hadfield, Mr. G., 77,82 
 
 Hall, Eev. Newman, 219 
 
 Halley, Dr., 364 
 
 Harcourt, Sir W. Y., 360 
 
 Hardy, Mr. Gathorne, 217 
 
 liarRrove, Eev. J., 229, 230 
 
 Harper, Dr., 425 
 
 Harris, Dr., 137 
 
 Harrison, Eev. J. C, 30, 33, 39, 111, 
 
 204, 862, 364, 475, 487 
 Hart, Eev. T. Baron, 396 
 Hartington, Marquis of, 417 
 Hartog Scholarship, 293 
 Henry, Matthew, 51 
 Hermitage, The, 2 
 Hill, Mr., Editor of Daibj Nevs, 246 
 Hill, Mr. T., 189, 191 
 Hinton, Eev. Howard, 115 
 Hodgson, Mr., 342 
 Holyoake, Mr. G. J., 114, 368, 369 
 Home Missionary Society, 131, 293, 
 
 366 
 Homerton, birthplace of Samuel 
 
 Morley, 10 
 Homerton Theological Academy, 24, 
 
 51,69, 111 
 Home Eule, 400, 484-486 
 Hope, Miss E. M. (see Mrs. Samuel 
 
 Morley) 
 Hope, Mr. Beresford, 217 
 Hope, Mr. Samuel, 70, 71 
 Hospital Saturday Fund, 422 
 Houldsworth, Mr. W., 40 
 Housing the Poor, Eoyal Commission 
 
 for, 421, 425, 428, 461 
 Howard, Mr. E., 176 
 Howell, Mr. George, 268, 425 
 Hurditch, Mr., 375 
 
 "I. AND E. Morley," 4, 7, 9, 118, 
 
 187, 188, 313 
 Irish Church Question, 324, 325 
 
 Jaiies, Eev. John AngcU, 137 
 
 Jay, Eev. William, 74, 75 
 Jeffery, Lord, 40 
 Jenkins, Mr. E., 354, 355 
 Jewish Disabilities, 259 
 Johnson, Dr., 426 
 Jones, Mr. Ernest, 250 
 Jowett, Pruf., 425 
 
 Keatixr, Sir Henry, 427 
 
 Keble, Eev. J., 55 
 
 Kingsley, Charles, 432 
 
 " King's Weigh House," 59 ; first 
 
 three pastors of, 59 
 Knill, Eev. E., 94, 95, 144 
 
 Lambeth Baths, 304 
 
 Langtou, Mr. Walter, 39, 47 
 
 Lawson, Sir Wilfrid, 418 
 
 Layard, Mr., 128 
 
 Letter from Samuel Morley to Mr. J. 
 Wilson, 99, 109, 138, 146, 147, 156, 
 159, 179, 180; A. B., 160; Mr. L. 
 A. Chamerovzow, 161 ; electors of 
 Nottingham, 224 ; the women of 
 Fletcher Gate, 226; Lord Shaftes- 
 bury, 236, 242, 341 ; Pall Mall 
 Gazette, 250; Mr. T. Worth, 264; 
 his second daughter, 271 ; Eev. 
 Canon Girdlestone, 278 ; Mr, W. 
 Edwards, 279; Mr. J. Carvell 
 Williams, 281 ; Mr. Arnold Morley, 
 284, 427 ; Daily Neics, 357, 359 ; 
 his daughter, 365 ; Eev. H. Collum, 
 387 ; his daughter Augusta, 387, 
 410 ; the Record, 407 ; a clergyman, 
 417 ; Mrs. M. Washington, 428 ; 
 Lady Spencer, 461 ; Miss Marsh, 
 467 ; Eev. J. C Harrison, 475 ; 
 Et. Hon. W. E. Gladstone, 478 ; 
 Miss Cons, 479 ; Mr. A. J. Stevens, 
 486 
 
 Letter to Samuel Morley from Dr. J. 
 Pye Smith, 68 ; Eev. T, Binney, 76, 
 85 ; Mr. G. Hadfield, 78 ; Mr. J. 
 Morley, sen., 88; Eev. E. Knill, 
 95, 96; Mr. S. Laing, 123; Mr. 
 W. S. Lindsay, 124; Eev. J. A. 
 James, 137 ; Eichard Cobden, 142,
 
 50G 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 151 ; Lord Johu Russell, 143 ; Mr. 
 E. Baines, 148, 393 ; Eev. W. 
 Brock, 212; Bev. Newman Hall, 
 219 ; Et. Hon. W. E. Gladstone, 
 222, 404, 417, 419, 462, 478 ; from 
 women of Fletcher Gate, 225 ; Lord 
 Shaftesbury, 235, 238, 242, 341 
 361, 469 ; Dr. T. Guthrie, 240 ; Mr, 
 A. J. Mundella, 256, 480 ; Dr, 
 Paton, 257 ; Mr. D. Thomas, 263 
 Dr. Gotch, 263; Mr. Goldwin Smith 
 267; Eev. Canon Girdlestone, 276 
 Eev. W. Pennefather, 290; Miss 
 Marsh, 291 : Archdeacon Allen, 352 
 Sir W. Harcourt, 360 ; Dr. Eraser 
 360; Earl Granville, 405; Eev. J 
 C. Harrison, 487 
 
 Liberation Society, The, 80, 218, 
 279 
 
 Licensing Laws, 346 
 
 Lincolnshire Labour League, 355 
 
 Locke King, Mr., 147 
 
 London Chamber of Commerce, 328 
 
 London City Mission, 144 
 
 Loudon School Board, 370 
 
 Lytton, Sir E. B., 128 
 
 Maguiee, Eev. E., 204 
 
 Mann, Mr. Horace, 132 
 
 Manning, Cardinal, 466 
 
 Manor House, 3 
 
 Marsh, Miss, 467 
 
 Martin, Mr. A. G., 209, 215 
 
 Martin, Rev. S., 204 
 
 Martineau, Miss Harriet, 244 
 
 Mat-weavers' Association, 349 
 
 Maxted, Mr., 375, 376, 378 
 
 McCarthy, Mr. Justin, 244 
 
 McCree, Eev. G. W., 204 
 
 Melbourn Boarding School, 12, 13, 84 
 
 Mellor, Sir John, 427 
 
 Melrose, 48, 49 
 
 Memorial Hall, Farringdon Street, 157, 
 
 293, 366 
 Miall, Mr. Edward, 76, 221 
 Mildmay Conference Hall, 395 
 Miles, Mr., 254, 262, 270, 273, 275 
 Mills, Mr. J. E., 366 
 
 Milton Mount College, 305 
 
 Mocatta, Mr. F. D., 392 
 
 Moffat, Dr., 364, 381, 388 
 
 Morley, Arnold, son of S. Morley, 165, 
 171, 227, 284,410, 478 
 
 Morley, Arthur, son of Eichard Morley, 
 189 
 
 Morley, Augusta, daughter of S. 
 Morley, 165 
 
 Morley, Benjamin, cousin of S. Morley, 
 93 ' 
 
 Morley, Charles, son of S. Morley, 
 165, 227, 429, 488 
 
 Morley, Howard, son of S. Morley, 
 165, 169, 170, 174, 227, 411, 473 
 
 Morley, John, the father of S. Morley, 
 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 12, 16, 21, 22, 69, 88, 
 109, 187 
 
 Morley, John, brother of S. Morley, 
 20, 32, 65, 69 ; retires from business, 
 118 
 
 Morley, Mary, daughter of S. Morley, 
 165 
 
 Morley, Mrs., wife of S. Morley, 70, 
 489 
 
 Morley, Eebekah, daughter of S. 
 Morley, 165 
 
 Morley, Mr. John, Editor of the Morn- 
 ing Star, 244, 246 ; editor of the 
 Fortnightly Revieio, 398 
 
 Morley, Eichard, uncle of S. Morley, 
 3, 4, 67 
 
 Morley, Samuel, Ancestors of, 2-10 ; 
 his birthplace, 10 ; his brothers and 
 sisters, 12 ; his parents' characters, 
 12 ; sent to boarding school, 12 • 
 school life and character, 13, 14 ; 
 holidays, 15 ; home influences, 16,17; 
 leaves school and goes into business, 
 17 ; at the desk, 20 ; home attrac- 
 tions, 22, 23; attends Dr. Pye 
 Smith's ministry, 24, 25 ; treasurer of 
 Homerton College, 25 ; acquaintance 
 with Eev. J. Clayton, 25, 26; rela- 
 tions with Eev. J. Parsons, 27-31 ; 
 Eev. J. C. Harrison's sketch of him, 
 33-36 ; business prosperity, 36, 37 ; 
 principles in business, 37; a sum-
 
 INDEX. 
 
 507 
 
 mer tour, 39-49 ; takes part in 
 public movements, 50, 51, 50 ; spe- 
 cial interest in Independency, 57, 58; 
 hears Eev. T. Binney preach, 59 ; 
 influenced by Binney and Parsons, 
 63, 04 ; journeys through Belgium 
 and Switzerland, 05, 66 ; opposed 
 to Church Bates, 67; mother dies, 
 69 ; introduced to the Misses Hope, 
 09; married to Miss E. M. Hope, 
 72 ; honeymoon, 74, 75 ; settles at 
 Lower Clapton, 75 ; helps the Anti- 
 Corn Law agitation, 77 ; works for 
 the Dissenting Colleges, 80 ; takes 
 with wife a driving tour in Scot- 
 land, 81, 82 ; his friendships, 83, 84; 
 correspondence with friends, 85-93 ; 
 declines to hold ofticein Weigh House 
 Church, 92 ; his early liberality, 94 ; 
 his concern at position of Dissenters 
 in Parliament, 97, 98 ; elected chair- 
 man of "Dissenters' Parliamentary 
 Committee," 100 ; opposition to 
 Lord John Eussell's return, 105 ; 
 increasing responsibilities, 107, 108; 
 death of his father, 109 ; accepts 
 treasurership of " Ancient Mer- 
 chants' Lecture," 110 ; testimonials 
 to Dr. Pye Smith and James Parsons, 
 111-114 ; chairman at public dis- 
 cussion on Secularism, 115-117 ; re- 
 moves to Craven Lodge, 117; his 
 brother John retires from the busi- 
 ness, 118, 119; interest in Adminis- 
 trative Eeform, 122-127; leader of 
 the movement, 129 ; accepts office of 
 treasurer to Congregational Union, 
 131 ; visiting county associations, 
 133-135 ; becomes a total abstamer, 
 140; urged to enter Parliament, 141 ; 
 encourages religious services at 
 theatres, 144, 145 ; sympathizes 
 with franchise reform, 147, 148 ; 
 engaged in national currency ques- 
 tions, 149, 151 ; connection with 
 Cobden, 151-153; increasing interest 
 in Temperance, 153, 154 ; supports 
 movement for Bicentenary of Non- 
 
 conformity, 154-157 ; help to chapel 
 building, 157, 158; his views of a 
 "minister," 159, 100; declines to 
 co-operate with British and Foreign 
 Anti-Slavery Society in 1803, 101; 
 his children, letters and advice to 
 them, 105-174 ; opinions on sports 
 and amusements, 175-180 ; at home 
 and travelling, 180-185 ; business 
 affairs, 186-190; treatment of his 
 workmen, 191 ; general character- 
 istics, 192-194 ; character of the 
 firm, 195, 196 ; treatment of young 
 men, 197, 203 ; encourages the 
 Young Men's Missionary Associa- 
 tion, 203, 207; candidate for Not- 
 tingham, 209, 214 ; elected as 
 representative to Parliament, 215 ; 
 maiden speech in House of Com- 
 mons, 216, 218; last speech as 
 Member for Nottingham, 220; un- 
 seated on petition, 220, 221; sym- 
 pathy of friends in this trial, 221, 
 223 ; his letter to Nottingham 
 electors, 224 ; presented with a 
 Bible, 225 ; with his sons at Cam- 
 bridge, 227-229 ; correspondence 
 with Lord Shaftesbury, 235-239 ; 
 interest in Bunhill Fields Burial 
 Ground, 241, 242 ; connection with 
 daily press, 244-248 ; Kailway Com- 
 panies' action, 249 ; writes to the 
 Fall Mall Gazette, 250 ; decides to 
 stand for Bristol, 254 ; goes to South 
 of France, 254; a wail from Notting- 
 ham, 256 ; address to electors, 257 ; 
 reception at Bristol, 258; his speech, 
 258-261 ; defeated at the election, 
 262; hopes revive at Nottingham, 
 264 ; popularity at Bristol, 205, 266; 
 aids Liberal candidates, 268, 209 ; 
 escapes an accident in journey to 
 Scotland, 209 ; renews contest at 
 Bristol, 270-275 ; wins the seat, 275; 
 offends his Liberation Society friends, 
 and resigns seat on Executive Com- 
 mittee, 270, 284 ; his wealth, 285 ; 
 how he dispensed it, 280-289 ;
 
 508 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 catholicit}', 2'J2, 293 ; account of his 
 generosity to Welsh institutions, 
 2'J4-301; his humility, 302, 303; 
 further characteristics, 304, 305 ; 
 support of Financial Reform, 306, 
 307; stimulating others to give, 307, 
 308; the "business of philanthropy," , 
 309, 310 ; treatment of defaulters, 
 313, 314; poor literary men, 314-316; 
 poor ministers, 318; bis gifts unre- 
 corded, 320, 323 ; supports the 
 Irish Church Question, 324, 325; 
 speech on Sir E. Collier's Bank- 
 ruptcy Bill, 326-328 ; speech on 
 Customs and Inland Eevenue Bill, 
 329, 330 ; attitude on the schemes 
 of National Education, 331-340; on 
 the Eevision of the Bible, 340, 341 ; 
 removal to Hall Place, Leigh, near 
 Tonbridge, 343 ; seconds the Address 
 to the Crown, February 9tli, 1871, 
 343; his speech, 344-347; his 
 interest in trade questions, 348, 349; 
 takes part in Burials Bill agitation, 
 351-353; also in the extension of the 
 franchise to agricultural labourers, 
 354-362 ; keenly feels loss of 
 Eev. T. Binney, 362; presented with 
 his portrait at the opening of the 
 Memorial Hall, 366, 367; connection 
 with London School Board, 370, 371; 
 at Hall Place, Leigh, 372, 373 ; 
 temporal and spiritual welfare of 
 Leigh promoted, 374, 375 ; builds 
 an "undenominational chapel," 376 ; 
 the Plymouth Brethren, 377 ; the 
 village Squire, 378, 379 ; Eev. Hugh 
 Collum's account of him, 379-385 ; 
 eldest daughter's marriage, 385 ; her 
 death, 386 ; Dr. Moffat becomes bis 
 tenant, 389; becomes shareholder in 
 Artizans', Labourers', and General 
 Dwellings ComiDany, 391 ; becomes 
 director, 392, 393 ; death of his 
 friend, Eev. J. Parsons, 394; desires 
 to give up parliamentary life, but 
 overcome, 395 ; various labours, 396 ; 
 controversy with Trades Unionists, 
 
 397 ; curious specimens of his cor- 
 respondence, 398, 400 ; middle class 
 education, 401 ; Canon Brereton's 
 letter about Cavendish College, 401- 
 403 ; attachment to Mr. Gladstone, 
 403-404 ; his hasty telegram, and his 
 opposition to the admission of Mr. 
 Bradlaugh to Parliament, 406-410 ; 
 goes to America, and reception there, 
 411-412; notes of a lecture, 412-414 ; 
 parliamentary occupations, 415-417 ; 
 dons the " Blue Eibbon," 418 ; his 
 effortsfor Temperance, 419, 420; ap- 
 pointed one of the Eoyal Commission 
 for Housing the Poor, 421 ; member 
 of the Executive Committee of the 
 Fisheries and Health Exhibitions, 
 421 ; some of his pocket-book en- 
 tries, 422, 423 ; decides to give up 
 parliamentary life, 424; his visitors 
 at Wood Street, 425 ; his health 
 breaks down, and visits the South of 
 France, 425, 426 ; visits Sandring- 
 ham, 429 ; later ideas of recreation, 
 430, 431 ; joins the Victoria Hall 
 movement, 434 ; account of its 
 work, 436, 437 ; manner, method, 
 and power as a public speaker, 
 439 ; notes of political, social, tem- 
 perance, and religious speeches, 
 445-456; interest in Foreign Mis- 
 sions, 457 ; is a firm believer in the 
 Bible, 457-459; failing health, 
 460 ; his letter to Lady Spencer, 
 and her reply, 461 ; offered a peerage 
 by Mr. Gladstone, 462 ; declines the 
 honour, 463; public opinion respect- 
 ing it, 464, 465 ; acts on Committee 
 of Investigation to inquire into Pall 
 jilall Gazette revelations, 465, 466 ; 
 his friendship with Lord Shaftes- 
 bury, 468, 469 ; resigns his seat for 
 Bristol, 469 ; farewell address to the 
 electors, 469, 470 ; his connection 
 with Bristol, 470, 471 ; the esteem 
 gained as M.P., 472 ; interest in 
 General Election of 1885, 472, 473 ; 
 grave anxiety for his health, 473,
 
 INDEX. 
 
 509 
 
 474; elected Chairman of Congrega- 
 tioual Union, 474 ; unable to accept 
 the office, 474 ; last visit to Notting- 
 ham, 476 ; last days, 476, 482 ; 
 supports Mr. Gladstone's Irish 
 policy, 484-485 ; last illness, 487- 
 489 ; death, 489 ; burial, 490 
 
 Morley, Samuel, grandfather of S. 
 Morley, 2 
 
 Morley, Samuel Hope, son of S. 
 Morley, 165, 227, 429 
 
 Morley, Sarah, sister of S. Morley, 
 25,26 
 
 Morley, William, brother of S. Morley, 
 32, 39, 69 
 
 Morning Star started, 243 
 
 Morse, Rev. Canon, 342 
 
 Mundella, Mr. A. J., 210, 256 
 
 Mursell, Rev. A., 200 
 
 Museums and Galleries, Oldening of, on 
 Sundays, 421 
 
 National Agricultural Labourers' 
 
 Union, 354 
 National School Society, 333 
 Newman, John Henry, 55 
 Newspaper Stamp and Paper Duty, 
 
 Abolition of, 259 
 Noel, Rev. Baptist, 204 
 Nonconformist established, 76 
 Nottingham, 4, 5, 6, 187 
 
 O'DoxoGHUE, The, 216 
 
 Paget, Mr. C, 209, 215 
 
 Palmer, Rev. Samuel, 26 
 
 Palmerston, Lord, 141 
 
 Paris Universal Exhibition, 396 
 
 Parsons, Rev. James, 27, 29-31, 63, 
 
 112, 113, 221, 393 
 Paton, Dr., 256, 341, 342, 477 
 Pattison, Mr., 77 
 
 Pennefather, Rev. W., 230, 231,289 
 Penny I'ostage, 259 
 People's Palace for South London, 438 
 Peto, Sir Morton, 253, 201 
 Philippe, Louis, 444 
 Plymouth Brethrenism, 37G 
 
 Poulton, Mr. R., 12 
 
 Poulton, Sarah, married to John 
 
 Morley, 3, 15, 16, 69 
 Pryce, Mr. E. S., 255 
 Public Works Loan Commissioners, 
 
 360, 361 
 Punshon, Rev. Morley, 204 
 
 Queen VicToraA, 7 
 
 Queen's Park Estate, The, 302 
 
 Raffles, Dr. T., 108 • 
 Raleigh, Rev. Alex., 204 
 Rawson, Mr. Henry, 244, 245 
 Redistribution Bill, 429 
 Reed, Mr. Charles, 221, 241, 340, 364 
 Reform Bill of 1832, 51 ; of 1867, 243 
 Religious Tract Society founded, 54 
 Revision of the Authorized Version 
 
 340 
 Richard, Mr. Henry, 221, 293, 335 
 Robiuson, Mr. J. R., 247, 314, 315 
 Roebuck, Mr., 128 
 Rogers, Prof. Thorold, 267 
 Roman Catholic Disabilities, 259 
 Rothschild, Baron, 144 
 Rothschild, Baron Lionel de. 
 Royal Victoria Coffee Hall, 436 
 Royal Victoria Hall {see Victoria 
 
 Theatre) 
 Ruskin, Mr., 194 
 Russell, Lord John, 54, 58, 67, 98, 100, 
 
 104, 129, 143, 144 
 
 Sawell, Mr. C. M., 144 
 
 School Boards, Introduction of, 338 
 
 Scott, Sir W., 48, 49 
 
 Shaftesbury, Lord, 234, 285, 236, 238, 
 
 301, 303, 340, 341, 361, 391, 425, 
 
 466, 467, 468 
 Shaw-Lefevre, Mr., 330 
 Slave Trade Abolition, 259 
 Smith, Dr. John Pye, 24, 25, 84, 111 
 Smith, Mr. Goldwin, 267, 276 
 Sneinton, 1, 2, 4, 8 
 Sommerville, Mr. W. , 255 
 Special Sunday Services, 143 
 Spencer, Earl, 161
 
 510 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Spencer, Lady, 461 
 
 Spicer, Mr. Wm., 366 
 
 Spurgeon, Eev. C. H., 95, 204, 235, 
 
 315, 425 
 Spurgeon, Rev. James, 95 
 Stanhope, Mr., 3G0 
 Stewart, Mr. Mark, 40 
 Stocking-Making, 6, 7 
 Stockings, Fame of Morley's, 7 
 Stougliton, Dr., 364 
 Stovel, Eev. C, 204 
 Strikes and Lock-outs, 353 
 Sturge, Joseph, 133 
 Sunday School Union started, 55, 130 
 Sussex, Duke of, 54 
 Syme, Eev. E. , 115 
 
 Taine, M., 192 
 
 Taylor, Mr. H. W., 385 
 
 Tests AboHtion Bill, 220 
 
 Test and Corporation Acts, 54, 58, 259 
 
 Theological Institute, Nottingham, 
 
 159 
 Thomas, Mr. David, 263 
 Thomas, Mr. G. , 254, 255 
 Thompson, Mr. T., 130 
 Three Graves, 2 
 Toleration Act, 53 
 Torrens, Mr. McCuUagh, 244 
 Total Abstainers' Union, City of 
 
 London, 419 
 Tottenham Court Eoad Chapel, 27 
 Trades Unions, 397, 422 
 
 Univeesity College, 476 
 
 Upper House of Convocation, 340 
 
 VicTOEiA Theatre ("Old Vic"), 432, 
 
 479 
 Viney, Rev. Josiah, 64 
 
 Wages, Payment of, in Public-houses, 
 Bill for preventing, 416 
 
 Wales, Prince and Princess of, 429, 495 
 
 Walker, Mr. T., 246 
 
 Wardlaw, Dr., 43 
 
 Weigh House Chapel, 27, 29 
 
 Well Street, Hackney, 9, 10, 24, 51 
 
 Wells, Mr., R.A., 366 
 
 Westminster, l)uke of, 436 
 
 Whitwell, Mr., 360 
 
 Wilherforce, Rev. Canon, 420 
 
 Wills, Messrs. W. H. and H. 0., 254 
 
 Wiseman, Eev. Luke, 204 
 
 Wilson, Dr., 132, 133, 135, 182, 195, 
 269, 321 
 
 Wilson, Mr. Joshua, 70, 99, 343, 364 
 
 Wilson, Mr. Thomas, 69 
 
 Wolverton, Lord and Lady, 427 
 
 Wood Street, 9, 18, 19, 33, 178, 186, 
 425 
 
 Working Men's Lord's Day Eest Asso- 
 ciation, 421 
 
 Young Men's Christian Association, 
 
 293, 410, 471, 481-484 
 Young Men's Missionary Association, 
 
 203, 204, 206 
 
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 I
 
 Lectures on Preaching. 
 
 By the Rtrv. JOHN KER, D.D. 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, price is. dd. 
 
 It is -with pleasure that we aiinounce 
 that the theological lectures of Dr. John 
 Kcr, of Edinburgh, have been found in a 
 condition suitable for publication, andzuill 
 be issued soon. The MS. of one course, 
 on " The History of Preaching'' is prac- 
 tically complete. This course begins ivith 
 thcNe-M Testament times, and traces, partly 
 biographically and partly critically, the 
 influence and character of preaching, first 
 in the Eastern and then in the IVestern 
 Church. There aretivo interesting lectures 
 071 " Preaching in the Dark Ages." At 
 the Reformation the course particularises 
 itself into an account of preaching in 
 Germany, special lecttires being given on 
 
 Unfinished Worlds: 
 
 A STUDY IN ASTRONOMY. 
 
 By S. H. PARKES, RR.A.S. 
 With Ten Illustrative Diagrams printed by Photomezzotype. Crown 8vo, 
 
 cloth, 5.f. 
 
 "' This is a book ivhich meets a felt watit heartily commend his book as a most 
 
 Luther, Spener, Schleiermachcr, Tholu:';,. 
 Slier, etc. The latter part of the course 
 deals exclusively ivith Germany, except for 
 a lecture on Bossuet. The lectures, as 
 might be expected, are exceedingly good, 
 bright, genial, atid accurate. They cover 
 an 'unusiially -wide field of church history, 
 and at every point they show sagacity and 
 sympathy in the selection of the salient 
 features of individuals and of epochs. 
 There is fto book of the kind in English, 
 and we have every reason to believe that 
 the work will not only be a rich feast for 
 tJie Christian reader, but a standard text- 
 book for our theological colleges. 
 
 of the day. It is the result of many years' 
 carefd study, and is zvritten witli a view 
 to counteracting the 7naterialistic tendencies 
 of 7nuch modern scientific teaching. IVe 
 
 opportune and important addition to the 
 literature which 7-efutes the godless assu7np- 
 tions of 77iany of the scientific 7nen of the 
 day." — EiNGLlSH CHURCHMAN. 
 
 Samuel Morley: 
 
 PER.SOxXAL REMINISCENCES. 
 
 By the Rev. J. C. HARRISON. 
 
 With Photograph. Neatly bound in cloth, price ^d. 
 
 " Many of the f -lends and admireis of 
 the late Mr. Samuel Morley will be glad 
 to possess themselves of the 7ieatly got-up 
 Hale book containing the Rev. J. C. Harri- 
 sons touchi7ig Perso7ial Remi7tisce77ces. 
 The fii'st-rate photograph give7i of Mr. 
 Morley is worth tnore than the price of the 
 whole.'" — Christian. 
 
 "/« this little book we have the address 
 which Mr. Harrison deliveird at the 
 fmeral of his late beloved frie7id. The 
 death of Samuel Morley inflicts a great 
 loss upon the Ciiurch and the world. These 
 perso7ial 7-eminisce7tces are admirably fitted 
 to stirusallup to aim at greater usefiluess. 
 — Presbyterian Messenger. 
 
 ^^ Mr. Ha7-7-ison, though choseti by the 
 family of Mr. Morley to give the address 
 at his funeral, is evide7itly 7to hack erdogist 
 of the pulpit, but a sevei-ely co7iscientious 
 ma7i of the old Puritan type ; and his 
 testimony is careful and discrinii7iati7ig. 
 He shows that Mr. Morley was 7'uled in 
 all his busi7iess transactions by the highest 
 pri7iciples, and that iji becomi7tg a 7nillio7t- 
 aire he did 7iot seek to escape fro!7i the duty 
 incumbc/it on the Christia7i of obse7-ving 
 the Golde/i Rule. Mr. Harriso7i shows, 
 too, that it was Mr. Morley's Christia/t 
 faith that decided the cha7-acter of his 
 political life." — North British Daily 
 Mail.
 
 THE EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE. 
 
 Edited by t!ie Rev. W. ROBERTSON NICOLL, ALA., 
 Editor of '■ The Expositor." 
 
 This Series li'ill co?isist of Expository Lectures on the Bible by the 
 foremost Preachers and Tlicologians of the dav. W/iile 7'egard will be 
 had to the latest results of Scholarship, the l^ol nines will be essentially 
 Popular. Lt is specially to be noticed that with one or two exceptions 
 all the J'olunies 7vill be absolutely neiv, not haviitg appeared in either 
 Magazijie o/- book form. 
 
 SIX VOLUMES WILL BE PUBLISHED ANNUALLY. 
 
 Ill large crown Svo, about 400 pp. each, elegantly bound in cloth. 
 
 PRICE to SUBSCRIBERS in ADVANCE, TIVENTY-FOUR SHILLIA'GS. 
 
 SEPARATE VOLUMES 7s. 6d. EACH. 
 
 'J7te /'(I/o:cii//if 7vill comprise the fist year's issue : — 
 
 ST. MARK. I!y the Very Re:: G. A. CHADIVICA', D.D., Dean of Armagh. 
 
 COLOSSI ANS AND PHILEMON. Bv the Rez: ALEXANDER MAC- 
 LA REX, D.D. 
 
 GENESIS. By the Rev. MARCUS DODS, D.D. 
 
 I & II SAMUEL. By the Rev. Professor II'. G. BLAIKIE, D.D.. LL.D. In 
 Two \'olunaes. 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS, By the Rev. Principal T. C. 
 EDWARDS, D.D. 
 
 Among other 'wo? Ics arranged for, subject to contingencies, are the foUowiiig : — - 
 
 I & II KINGS. By the Rev. MARCUS DODS. D.D. 
 
 THE BOOK OF PSALMS. V,y Xhtt Rez: A. MACI.AREN, D.D. In Three Vols. 
 
 THE BOOK OF ISAIAH, By the Rez: GEORGE ADAM SMITH. M.A., 
 Queen's Cross Free Church, Aberdeen. In Two Volumes. 
 
 THE BOOK OF EZEKIEL, By the Rev. Professor T. K. CHEYNE, D.D. 
 
 DANIEL AND THE MINOR PROPHETS, By the Rev. Professor J. M. 
 FULLER, M.A., and the Right Rez: ALFRED BARRY, D.D., Lord 
 Bishop of .Sydney. 
 
 THE GOSPEL OF ST, MATTHEW. By the Rev. J. MONRO GIBSON, D.D. 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS, By the A'^t'. H. C. G. MOULE, M.A., 
 
 Principal of Ridley Hall, Cambridge. 
 
 THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS, P>y the Rev. Prof 
 B. B. IVARIlEI.l). D.D. 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS, By the AVz-. Professor G. G. FIND- 
 LA Y, B.A.. Ileadingley College, Leeds. 
 
 THE EPISTLE TO THE PHI LI PPI ANS. By the Rez: Principal RAINY, D.D. 
 
 THE PASTORAL EPISTLES, i'.y the Rez. ALFRED PLUMMER, D.D., 
 Master <if University College. Durham. 
 
 THE EPISTLES OF ST. JOHN. J!y the Right Rez: \V. ALEXANDER, D.D., 
 
 Lord Bishop o'i Derry and Raphoe. 
 
 THE BOOK OF REVELATION, By the Rez: Professor WILLIAM MILLI- 
 GAN, D.D., University of Abenleen.
 
 The 
 
 Ancient World and Christianity. 
 
 By E. De PRESSENSE, D.D., Author of " A Study of Origins," etc. 
 Translated by Annie Harwood Holmden. 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, 9^. 
 The Author says: — "/aw about to prcssion of tJieir aspirations after the 
 publish in Novevibcr a vohiine which I unknown God in the midst of darhiess 
 think may prove the most interesting of and error. I avail myself of the results 
 all 7ny books under existing circumstances. acquired on this subject by the accumulated 
 It is intended as a sort of introduction to labours of half a century in England, 
 the latest edition of my ' History of the Germany, and France. Lastly, I treat 
 Fi7-st Three Centuries' ; but it is perfectly of the preparation of the world for the 
 distinct in itself and takes up qztite new Gospel in a short chapter on Judaism. I 
 ground, so that the translation might be have endeavoured to let the voice of con- 
 published as a separate tvork. It is entitled science be heard itself whether in the ancient 
 ''The Ancient World and Christianity,' Eastern or in the Gneco-Roman world, by 
 and it gives a complete picture, or rather giving copious extracts from their sacred 
 histoiy, of the development of conscience in hooks. 7vith comments and connecting links, 
 the old pagan world. All the old religions In this 7vay I am able to touch on questions 
 are described and characterised by their not only of past but of present interest in 
 sacred books, which are the faithful ex- the science of religion." 
 
 Modern Science in Bible Lands. 
 
 By Sir J. WILLTAM DAWSON, E.R.S., Author of "The Story 
 of the Earth and Man," " The Origin of the World," etc. 
 
 With Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 7^^. dd. 
 
 C0NTEN7S: Introductory— The Fire-Belt of Southern Europe — 
 The Haunts and Habits of Primitive Man — Early Man in Genesis 
 — Egyptian Stones and their Teaching —Egypt and Israel — The 
 Topography of the Exodus — Palestine, its Structure and History 
 — Resources and Prospects of Bible Lands. 
 
 This work is intended as a supplement fornuition obtained in his recent travels 
 
 to the Author s previous volumes, entitled in the East, and his matured conclusions 
 
 " The Story of the Earth,'" •' The Origin inspecting certain debated points not treated 
 
 of the IVbrld," and " Eossil Alen,'^ and of, or only slightly noticed, in the tvorks 
 
 more especially to bring out the new in- named above. 
 
 Bible Models. 
 
 ^^ RICHARD NEWTON, D.D., Author of "The Life of Jesus 
 
 Christ for the Young," " Rills from the Fountain of Life," etc. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, price t^s. 6J. 
 
 CONTENI'S: Abel, the Model Speaker— Enoch, the Model Walker 
 — Noah, the Model Worker — ^Job, the Model of Piety — Abraham, the 
 Model of Faith— Moses, the Model of Faithfulness — Joseph, the 
 Model Realizer of God's Presence- Samuel, the Model of Early 
 Piety David, the Model of Praise — David, the Model User of God's 
 Word Jonathan, the I^lodel Friend -Elijah, the Model Reformer — 
 Elisha, the Model Helper — Ebed-Melech, the Model of Kindness — 
 Nehemiah, the Model Man of Business - Daniel, the Model of 
 Decision — God, the Model Giver — John the Baptist, the Model of 
 Greatness -The, Apostle Paul, the Model of Earnestness — Jesus, 
 the Modtl of Perfection.
 
 The Catacombs of Rome, 
 
 and their Testimony Relative to Primitive 
 Christianity. 
 
 By Rev. W. H. WITHRO IF, M.A. 
 
 560 pp., 134 Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6^-. 
 
 "Mr. ]\'itliro7Js account of the Cata- 
 combs of Rome is an exceedingly pains- 
 taking and thorough-going zvork. and 
 whether or not the writer may be correct 
 in all his inferences, they have evidently 
 been founded tipon diligent information. 
 He could not have very much that was 
 absolutely new to tell on the subject ; but 
 as a convenient account of the most re- 
 
 markable and interesting monuments of 
 primitive Christianity, of those excavations 
 which furnished the persecuted Chicrch 
 'with refuges during life and in death, 
 'which formed her places of worship in 
 times of peril and received the remains of 
 martyrs, the present volume is perhaps 
 inferior to none of its predecessors.''^ — 
 Saturday Review. 
 
 Notes on the Books of the Bible. 
 
 A SERIES OF EXPOSITIONS. 
 
 By the late Dr. JV. P. MACK AY, of Hull, Author of " The 
 Seeking Saviour," " Grace and Truth," etc. 
 
 Crown 8vo, sewed, \s. 6d. ; cloth, 2s. 6d. 
 
 SUMMARY OF CONTENTS. 
 I. Introduction.— II. The Old Testament: (i) The Pentateuch- 
 (2) The Prophets; (3) The Psalms.— III. The New Testament; 
 (T) Tlie Historical Portion, consisting of the Gospels and the Acts; 
 '2) The Doctrinal Portion, consisting of the Epistles; (3j The Pro- 
 phetical Portion, consisting of the Book of Revelation. 
 
 The Sower and the Virgin. 
 
 By the Right Hon. LORD ROBERT MONTAGU, Author of 
 " Recent Events," etc. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, 7.^. dd. 
 
 " Roman Catholics probably take no 
 interest in the dogma of the immacidatc 
 ■conception of the Virgin Mary, beca2ise 
 J^ope Pius IX. jnade it an article of their 
 faith, and they are compelled either to 
 frofcss their belief in it, or to renounce 
 Ihe name of Roman Catholic. They feel, 
 natnra/ly enough, that it is not safe for 
 them to inquire into the groitnds of the 
 ■dogma, or even to ask themselves the mean- 
 ing of it, because it is heresv, according 
 to their notions, to entertain the faintest 
 doubt of any article of their faith. 
 
 ' ' It is of vital importance to in- 
 ■vcstigate the truth or falseliood of the 
 
 do^ma ; because it has been declared by 
 the authority of the Pope, who claims to 
 b ■ infallible : and if it can be disproved, 
 infallibility is shown to be fallible, the 
 organ oftrutli is manifested as the mouth- 
 piece of errors, the faith of Romanists is 
 rc'idently not certain, but dubious, and 
 the whole catena of the Roiiuin doctrines 
 becomes discredited. If the fundamental 
 principle, namely infallibility, is under- 
 mined, the whole edifice of the Roman 
 Church comes tumbling to the q^rottnd in 
 dreadful cataclysm, ami the 'work of cen- 
 turies is dashed into ruins'' — From THE 
 
 PKr.FACE. 
 
 5
 
 One Thousand New Illustrations 
 
 for Pulpit, Platform, and Class : 
 
 A r.OOIv FOR PREACHERS, TEACHERS, AND CHRISTIAN WORKERS. 
 
 By the Rev. B. O. MACKEY. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, ^s. 
 
 Emmanuel: 
 
 A DAILY TEXT BOOK. 
 
 AVith Sixteen Different Ilhistrations printed in Colours, and Illuminated 
 Texts and Hymns. Illustrated wrapper, is. 
 
 May also be had in roan, French morocco, and German calf, i)added. 
 
 The 
 
 Church of the Sub-Apostolic Age : 
 
 ITS LIFE, WORSHIP, AND ORGANIZATION IN THE LU;nr OF 
 "THE TEACHING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES." 
 
 By the Rev. JAMES HERON, B.A. 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. 
 
 Soul W inning. 
 
 \\y the Rev. F. CROZIER. 
 Crown Svo, cloth, is. 6d. 
 
 As Time Glides On : 
 
 PICTURES AND POEMS FOR THE MONTHS OF THE YEAR. 
 
 Elegantly printed in monotint, is. 
 May also be had in cloth, roan, and padded German calf. 
 
 "The Mystery of His Will." 
 
 A PRACTICAL EXPOSITION OF THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE EPISTLE TO 
 
 THE EPHESIANS. 
 
 By the Rev. MARCUS RAINSFORD, R.A., 
 
 Author of "No Condemnation no Separation," "Straight 
 Paths for your Fett," etc. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth. 
 6
 
 Albert, The Prince Consort 
 
 A BIOGRAPHY FOR 1 HI-: I'EOPLE. 
 
 With Numerous Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth, 2S. 6J. 
 
 The Key Words of the Bible. 
 
 ]]y ihe J?c'7'. ARTHUR T. FIERSON, D.D. 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, 2^-. 6t/. 
 
 The Life of the Rev. John Murker, 
 
 of Banff. 
 
 By the Rev. JAMES STARK. 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, y. dd. 
 
 Mr. .Sl'URGEON, in his review of this 7i'as ilic Congregational minister of Banff. 
 
 book headed " A Biography which may He had his own tvay of saying and doing 
 
 be read without Weariness," says: — tilings, and that zvay zaas vigorous, sin- 
 
 ^^ The life of fohn Murker is far too good gnlar, and occasionally eccentric. This 
 
 a book to lie dismissed udth a short notice. makes his life-story highly attractive, and 
 
 Its aicthor shall long be remembered in all the more so because the turiter of it 
 
 cur heart of hearts for writing a short has not pared down the striking points, but 
 
 biography. Discerning public, here is a has allaived John Murker to appear in all 
 
 ■book which ye can read, and will read, and his murkerishness.'' 
 Jiiay ye be the better for it ! Mr. Alurker 
 
 THE "BRITISH WEEKLY" EXTRAS. No. i. 
 
 Books which have Influenced [Me. 
 
 j;y R. LOUIS STEVENSON, JOHN R US KIN, IV. E. GLADSTONE, 
 
 H. RIDER HAGGARD, IV. T. STEAD, IV. BESANT, P. G. HAMERTON, 
 
 Professor y. S. BLACKIE, Ven. Archdeacon FARRAR, Dr. IV. C. SMITH, 
 
 Dr. MARCUS DODS, and Dr. JOSEPH PARKER. 
 
 Fcap. 8vo, IS. ; cloth, is. 6d. 
 Second Edition, completing Tenth Thousand. 
 
 THE "BRITISH WEEKLY' EXTRAS. No. 2. 
 
 The Second Advent : 
 
 Will it be before the Millennium ? 
 
 Al-FIRMATIVE, ):Y NEGATIVE, by 
 
 Rev. Canon FAUSSETT, D.D. Rev. Prof. 'JOSEPH AGAR BEET. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. H. G. , ^GUINNESS. Rtv. Principal T. C. EDWARDS, D.D. 
 
 Rev. Prof GODET, D.D. Rev. Principal BROWN, D.D. 
 
 Fcap, 8vo, \s. ; cloth, \s. 6d.
 
 I13cto Oolumes of tftc Jforcign TBitilical lil)rarp» 
 
 I. 
 
 A Manual of Introduction to the 
 
 New Testament. 
 
 By BERNHARD WEISS. Translated by Miss Davidson. 
 In 2 Vols. : Vol. I., Crown 8vo, 'js. 6d. 
 
 II. 
 THE SECOND VOLUME OF 
 
 A Commentary on the Book of 
 Psalms. 
 
 By Professor FRANZ DELITZSCH, of Leipzig. 
 Crown 8vo, yj-. dd. 
 
 The Foreign Biblical Library is in- Rcscarcli. While the scries ivill mainly 
 
 tended to provide prompt and accurate consist of Standard Commentaries iji their 
 
 translations at a jnoderate price of the latest editions, other works interesting to 
 
 best and ne-diest contribtttions of Orthodox the Biblical student -Li'ill be fvi/i time to 
 
 Foreign Scholarship to Biblical Study and time included. 
 
 NEW VOLUME OF THE CLERICAL LIBRARY. 
 
 New Outlines of Sermons on the 
 Old Testament. 
 
 By EMINENT PREACHERS. Hitherto Unpublished. 
 Crown 8vo, ds. 
 
 Is there Salvation after Death ? 
 
 By E. D. MORRIS, D.D., LI.D., Professor in Lane Theological 
 Seminary, Cincinnati. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, ds. 
 
 " The aim of this treatise is to consider tian symbolism, ancient and modern, is 
 
 in its vital aspects the important question next cited to show that the dogma has no 
 
 noiv under discussion, whether there is in true standitig among the credenda of 
 
 fact, as is alleged, a proclamation of Chi-ist historic Christianity. And fnally, the 
 
 a7id of Salvation tki'ough Him in the question is considered of the relations of 
 
 Intermediate State. the dogma to Christian Theology, and to 
 
 " The answer to this question is sought j-eligious experience. 
 first of all by an examination of the " The discussion is timely, and will 
 
 various passages of Sc7-ipture introduced command general attetttion. 'J he volume 
 
 i7i proof of this nezo dogma, and a com- contains a full index of the topics dis- 
 
 prehensive presentation of the Biblical cussed, and also of authors and works 
 
 evidence against it. The witness of Chris- refired to.'" 
 
 8
 
 The History of the Church. 
 
 By the J^cv. GEORGE P. FISHER, B.D., LL.D., Professor of 
 Ecclesiastical History in Yale University. 
 
 \\\\.\\ seven Coloured Maps. 8vo, cloth, i2.s-. 
 
 The Author says : — " There are two 
 particulars in lu/iich I have sought to make 
 the narrative specially serviceable. In the 
 first place, the attempt has bee^i made to 
 exhibit fully the relations of the history of 
 Christianity and of the Church to contem- 
 poraneous secular history. I have tried to 
 brins; out more distinctlv than is usually 
 
 7 1 2 pp. 
 
 done the interaction of events and changes 
 in the political sphere with the phenomena 
 which belong more strictly to the ecclesias- 
 tical and religious province. In the second 
 place, it has seemed to me possible to 
 present a tolerably compLte survey of the 
 history of theological doctrine.^' 
 
 Studies in the Life and Character 
 of St. Peter. 
 
 By the Rev. H. A. BfRKS, M.A. 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, 3^". (^d. 
 
 DR. PARKER'S LIFE-IVORK'. 
 
 New Volume of the People s Bible. 
 
 DISCOLRSKS UPON HOLY SCRIPTURE. FORiMIN(; A PASTORAL 
 CO.M.MENTARV. 
 
 By JOSEPH PARKER, D.D. 
 Vol. VI I. Demy 8vo, 8y. 
 
 It is not known that any Commentary 
 of exactly the same scope as this has ez'cr 
 been Jncblished, and it has the great ad- 
 vantage of representing, in a brief form, 
 all that is best in the most approved of 
 its predecessors. Homilies for men of busi- 
 ness ; short passages for the s'ck chamber ; 
 prayers suitaljle for various conditions and 
 experiences ; story and parable illustrative 
 of Scriptural doctrine, combine to give 
 general interest to the work. The Bible 
 is not regarded merely as a piece of ancient 
 literature intended for the men of a remote 
 age, but a Divine interpretation of human 
 history, and a direct appeal to every man 
 who reads it. Only in so far as tins can 
 be shown will the Bible continue to hold 
 its place, and the pulpit draw to itself the 
 confidtiice and expectation of every age. 
 A merely traditional sacredness can never 
 take the place of concurrent and available 
 energy. 
 
 I. The People's Bible is suitable for 
 HOMK reading, because of the attention 
 zvhich is paid to the nitrture and direction 
 
 of spiritual life. As the hope of all w/Je 
 and lasting c va/ii;e/isation is in the n\'hr 
 cojul/tio/i of the individual soul, so the 
 hope of the Church is in the spiritual- 
 mindcdncoS of home-life. Under this con- 
 7'iction the work ai;ns to supply instruction 
 and stimulus, apart from everything that 
 is controversial or sectarian. 
 
 2. The People's Bible has a special 
 claim Jipon the attention of all Christian 
 P K E.A.C H E R s . As a preacher h iniself the 
 author knotas by experieiice precisely %uhat 
 pieacliers require. He is not of those who 
 consider that the pulpit has had its day, 
 but of those 'who believe that the pulpit has 
 yet to realise and exert its most sacred and 
 profound influe7ice. 
 
 3. Ihe Peoples Bible assists SUNDAY- 
 SCHOOL TEACHERS in the preparation of 
 thtir lessons by the clearness oP its quoted 
 criticism and the suggestiveness of its own 
 te marks. Pn -many cases teachers arc 
 enabled to see almost at a glance hoio any 
 portion of Scripture suitable por class pur- 
 poses can be most profitably employed.
 
 The Gospel in Nature : 
 
 SCRIPTURE TRUTHS DERIVED FROM AND ILLUSTRATED BY FACTS 
 
 IN NATURE. 
 
 By HENRY C. McCOOK, D.D., Vice-President of the Academy of 
 Natural Science of Philadelphia. With an Introduction by IV. 
 CARRUTHERS, ER.S., who says :— 
 
 " JDr. McCook has been a diligent and thought in America. Hi' opens alil;e the 
 successful student of naticre ; he is. more- book of nature and the book of grace 7C'ith 
 over, one of the leaders of theological the hand of a master.'^ 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, ^s. 
 
 Tenants of an Old Farm. 
 
 LEAVES FROM THE NOTE-BOOK OF A NATURALIST. 
 
 By ffENRY C. McCOOK, D.D. With Illustrations. 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. 
 
 From the Introduction by .Sir John Lubbock, M.P., D.C.L., F.R.S. 
 
 " Dr. McCook deals with friends of be biassed by friendship,— for they have 
 mine — with insects, and particularly ants, the evidence of the xvide popularity which 
 to which I have paid special attention. I the work has already attained in America, 
 have much pleasure in bearing testi- The title setms to me very happily chosen, 
 many to the fidelity and skill lohich It refuinds us that we are not the only 
 Dr. McCook has devoted to the study of tenants of our farms — that the fields and 
 these interesting atoms ; and those who hedges, looods and waters, all aroutid us, 
 read his work may safely depend on the teem -cuiih a complex, rick, and interesting 
 accuracy of what he says. As regards life. But nature 'Mill speak only to those 
 the attractive manner in which the book who listen with love and sympathy ; and 
 is written, English readers have much of this varied existence Dr. AlcCook has 
 more concbisive testimony than any single proved himself one of the most patient ana 
 opinion, — and especially one 7vhich might loving students.''^ 
 
 New Volumes of " The Theological Educaior." 
 
 The Creeds. 
 
 By the Rev./. E. YONGE, M.A., Late Fellow of Kind's College, 
 
 Cambridge \ and Assistant Master in Eton College. 
 
 Fcap. Syo, 2s. dd. 
 
 A Manual of Church History. 
 
 By the Rev. A. C. JENNINGS, M.A , Author of '^ Ecclcsia 
 
 Anglicana," etc. 
 
 Vol. I. Fcap. Svo. 2s. 6d. 
 
 FROM THE FIRST TO THE TENTH CENTURY. 
 
 The ''^Theological £dueator" consists of are specially adapted to the needs of those 
 
 a series of A/anuals giving a solul and preparing for examinations in Theology. 
 
 trust'Morthy grounding in all branches of Wliile the Manuals are specially useful 
 
 Theological sltidy. Jt is remarkable that, to 7'heological Students, the clearness and 
 
 while suck works on literature and science simplicity of their style will, it is hoped, 
 
 abound, the field in Theology is still un- attract the 7uany laymen inter :szeei in 
 
 occupied. 'J he books are wholly unsec- these subjects ; while their freshness and 
 
 tarian, and are written by men recognised scholarship will make them interesting 
 
 as authorities on their subjects. They to proficients in Theology. 
 
 lO
 
 C6e ^tanDart Librari? of Christian Classics. 
 
 In this series the text of each volume is edited witJi the utinosi 
 care by a specially competent Editor, w/io also furnishes an Intro- 
 duction and such Azotes as are necessary. The voluines are printed 
 by R. df R. Clark, of Edinburgh, and produced in elegant style. 
 
 Grace Abounding to the Chief 
 of Sinners. 
 
 By fOHN BUNYAN. Edited with Introduction and Notes by the 
 Eev. fOHN BROWN, B.A., of Bedford, Author of "The 
 Life of Bunyan," etc. 
 
 UNIFORM WITH "THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS" AND "THE HOLY WAR." 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, price 5J". 
 
 The Expositor Third Series. 
 
 Edited by the Rev. IV. ROBERTSON NICOLL, M.A. 
 Vcl. VI., 8vo, cloth, price -js. 6d. 
 
 ]\>lHiiie /Y. zuill contain a fori rait Article's on Biblical Archceology, Bio- 
 
 of the Rev. Alexander Maclaren, D.D., graphical and Critical Studies, Sitrveys 
 
 etched by Manessc, and contributions on of Biblical Literature, etc. 
 the Revised Old Testament, Expositions, 
 
 The Foundation of Death. 
 
 By AXEL and ZADEL BARNES GUSTAESON. 
 
 With Portrair. Large crown 8vo, 5j.-. 
 
 The Minister's Pocket Diary, 
 
 AND CLERICAL VADE MECU.M FOR 1888. 
 
 Containing Pages ruled for Recording : List of Communicants 
 — Absentees — Residences —When Visited -Removals — Inquirers — 
 ^A^orke^s- Candidates — Sermons Preached Date — Place — Text — 
 Baptisms — Marriages— Funerals, etc. 
 
 Cloth Edition, with Pocket and Elastic IJand. Price 2s. 
 
 Roan Tuck, with Pockets, or in roan limp, s^ilt edges, y. 
 
 I 1
 
 A NEW AND CHEAPER EDITION OF 
 
 Natural Law in the Spiritual 
 World. 
 
 By Professor HENRY DRUMMOND, F.R.S.E., F.G.S. 
 Completing an issue of 72,000 copies. In crown 8vo, price y. 6d. 
 
 " M^e have no hesitation in saying that 
 this is one of the most able and interesting 
 books on the relations which exist bettoeen 
 natti7-al scie}?ce and spiritual life that 
 has appeared. Mr. Drnininond writes 
 perfect English ; his ideas are fresh, 
 and expressed with admirable felicity.''^ — 
 Literary Churchman. 
 
 " 'J It is is one of the most impressive 
 and suggestive books on religion that we 
 have read for a long time. Indeed, -with 
 
 the exception of Dr. Mozlefs ' University 
 Sermons,'' we can recall no book of our 
 time which shotved such a pozuer of re- 
 stating the moral and practical truths of 
 religion so as to make them take fresh 
 hold of the mind and vividly impress the 
 imagination. ' ' — S PECTATOR. 
 
 "A ronarkable book, full of deep and 
 original, though sometimes fantastic, 
 thou'^hts.'' — Guardian. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 Ireland and the Celtic Church. 
 
 a i!)islonj of trrlanti from 5t. ^atrtrU to t()f QEnglisl) (IToiiqurst in 1172. 
 
 By Rev. G. T. STOKES, M.A., Professor of Ecclesiastical History in 
 
 the University of Dublin, and Rector of All Saints', Blackrock. 
 
 In crown Svo, cloth, price <)s. 
 
 " There is about the narrative an air 
 of sobriety, zvhich to those zvho knaiv hozv 
 thickly set it is zuith controversial pitfalls, 
 ought to prove eminently satisfactory. 
 But the chief charm of the book lies in 
 its gi-aphic and picturesque descriptions, 
 wkich can only have come f-om a close 
 <jjui pcrsofial acquaintance, on the part of 
 the author, zvith the scenery of Ireland 
 
 and the zvestern isles of Scotland.'' — 
 Academy. 
 
 " A volume of zchich the /natter is as 
 ititeresting as the lessons are instructive. 
 The author never relapses into dryness. 
 and has done very viuch to clear Irish 
 histoiy from the charge of being dull."-- 
 English Churchman. 
 
 Palestine in the Time of Christ. 
 
 By EfJiMOND STAFFER, D.D., Professor in the Protestant 
 Theological Faculty of Paris. Translated by AxXNIE Harwood Holmden. 
 
 With Map. Crown Svo, 9.^. 
 
 " The author endeavours to depict 
 Jerusalem aiul the surrounding country 
 as it zvas when our Lord lived in the body. 
 He divides his zvork itito tzvo parts : the 
 social life of the yezvs, and their religious 
 life. In the for/ner part he treats of their 
 home and public life, of the administration 
 of justice, of the state of literature and 
 art ; zvhile in the latter he gives a detailed 
 exposition of the philosophy and teaching 
 of the doctors, describes the feasts kept by 
 
 the fe'C's, and dczvtes tzvo chapters to the 
 I emple itself, that mai-vel of the ancient 
 zoo7id. In conclusion, he briefly exa/nines 
 the life ami teacliing of Jesus. The 
 volume affords proof of extensive and care- 
 ful learning, and is a useful contribution 
 to the study of the times zvherein our 
 Divine Lord lived, spoke, and acted. I he 
 translator's zaork is carefully done.' — 
 Morning Post. 
 
 12
 
 (L(lUu1\0 bp C De i^ce^o'cnse, 3D.2D. ^Cdiislatcti bp ^nnic 
 
 I. 
 
 THE ANCIENT ^A^ORLD AND CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, gs. 
 
 II. 
 
 Fifth Edition. In Four Vols., js. dd. each. 
 
 THE EARLY YEARS OF CHRISTIANITY: 
 
 A Comprehensive History of the First Three Centuries of the 
 Christian Church. 
 Comprising— I. The Apostolic Age.— II. The Martyrs and Apologists. — 
 III. Heresy and Christian Doctrine. — IV. Life in the Early Church. 
 
 " The foitj- 7'ohtines of this work are a soul to read the great deeds set forth in 
 
 splendid addition to our stores of Church such stirring zvords. A fitting and worthy 
 
 histoiy. . . . IVe so highly appreciate the sequel to PressensPs '■Life of Chriit! " — 
 
 hook that we place it amongst those ivhich Rev. C. H. Spurgeon, in Sword and 
 
 every student should possess. It fires the Trowel. 
 
 III. 
 
 Eighth Edition, Unabridged. Crown 8vo, cloth, 75-. Gd. 
 
 JESUS CHRIST: 
 
 His Times, Life, and Work. 
 
 A work which has been referred to by Contemporary Review as '■^ one of the 
 Canon Liddon as "« most noble contri- most valuable additions to Christian litera- 
 btition to the cause of truth," and by the ture which the present goieration lias seen." 
 
 IV. 
 
 Second Edition. Large crown Svo, cloth, 95-. 
 A STUDY OF ORIGINS; 
 
 or, The Problems of Knowledge, of Being, and of Duty. 
 
 " He has ably summed up the 7veak various theories which are no'w ciirrent 
 
 points in all the systems which seem to regarding knoiuledge, being, and duty, 
 
 undermine the older beliefs — positivism, and to set forth what he regards as the 
 
 materialism, evolution, pessimism, and true solution of these problems. It is a 
 
 neo- Kantianism. His book may be re- weighty .task, which has tasked even his 
 
 commended as a fair and tolerably com- consummate pozuers to the uttermost. IVe 
 
 plete criticism of the anti-theological spirit. regard this zuork of De Presscnse as of 
 
 It is an honest attempt of an acute mind great importance, and as a weighty contri- 
 
 to a7iswer the question, ' IVhy should I bution to the philosophic literature of our 
 
 continue to believe the older truths ? ' "' — t^me. The style is clear, lucid, and felicit- 
 
 Athen^UM. ous, adapting itself readily to all the 
 
 " He calls his book '■A Study of Origins' sinuosities of his siibjectJ" — Spectator. 
 and his object is to examine critically the 
 
 V. 
 
 Crown Svo, cloth, is. dd. 
 CONTEMPORARY PORTRAITS: 
 
 Including Thiers from Personal Recollections; Sketches of Dupanloup. 
 Arnaud de I'Ariege, Vinet, Adolphe Monod, Verney ; Strauss 
 compared with Voltaire, etc. 
 
 " These bright biographical, literary. servation the men whom he portrays, and 
 
 and ecclesiastical papers form a pleasing in most cases he was on terms of intimacy, 
 
 contrast to those heavier 70orks of dialectic nioj-e or less, with the illustrious cluster, 
 
 skill and patristic learning by which this He exhibits a keen insight and much 
 
 distinguished writer is best known. The breadth of sympathy in the case of men 
 
 great charm of the book is that AI. de whose views are in the opposite pole to his 
 
 Pressense has zaatched zvith personal ob- o'on.'' — Whitehall Review. 
 
 I ^
 
 (Lcllorfecf lip iaet3. ^rofcse(or Si. B. Bruce, 3D,HD. 
 
 THE MIRACULOUS ELEMENT IN THE GOSPELS. 
 
 In 8vo. cloth, price 125-. 
 
 " ZJr. Bnicc once more gk'cs us a voliiiiw 
 of great value. There is 110 living 
 Apologist in zvhose /lands tlie Christian 
 faith IS so safe." — Presbyterian Mes- 
 senger. 
 
 " // displays minute aeqitaintance witJi 
 the modern liurature of the subject, ami 
 all Jorms of attack to which Christian 
 belief in tlie supernatural has been sub- 
 jected. The defence is able all 7-ound : 
 
 and the closing chapters — in zvhich the 
 miracle implied in the character of Jesus 
 is dwelt on, and lahere the defence is for a 
 moment changed into attack — are full of 
 spi7-it and fire." — METHODIST Recorder. 
 " .-/ valuable apologetic zuork, -which will 
 be a useful taeapon against rationalism, 
 and one which should be in the library 
 of every minister.^' — ECCLESIASTICAL 
 Gazette. 
 
 THE CHIEF END OF REVELATION. 
 
 Second Edition. In crown 8vo, cloth, price 6^'. 
 
 ''"Dr. Bruce has giT'cn us a contribu- 
 tion of very girat value. Like everything 
 else that has come f'om his pen, this series 
 of lectuies has the conspicuous excellence of 
 boldness, vigour, breadth, and moral eleva- 
 tion. A British Theologian of these days 
 has done better service than Dr. Bruce in 
 
 re-stating the Apologetics of Ciiristianily, 
 and in the present volume %ve have him 
 often at his best in his favourite field." — 
 Professor Salmond. 
 
 " W? very heartily commend this very 
 able and in the highest sense consen'ative 
 work." — British Quarterly Review. 
 
 THE PARABOLIC TEACHING OF CHRIST: 
 
 A Systematic and Critical Study of the Parables of our Lord. 
 
 Second Edition. 8vo, cloth, price 12^. 
 
 " Professor Bruce brings to his task the an expositor tf Scripture. His treatment 
 learning, and the liberal and finely sym- of his subject is vigorous and original 1' — 
 pathetic spirit, which are the best gifts of Spectator. 
 
 THE GALILEAN GOSPEL. 
 
 Second Eldition. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 3^. bd. 
 
 " ^Ve heartily commend this little !nind, marked by scholarly analysis, subtle 
 
 volume as giving an outline ably drawn insight, and the suggestiveness of an 
 
 of the teachings of Christ." — Spectator. original and unconventional thinker." — 
 
 '' The product of a rich, imaginative Glasgow Herald. 
 
 14
 
 1. 
 
 LAWS OF CHRIST FOR COMMON LIFE. 
 
 Fourth Thousand. Crown 8vo, price Gs. 
 
 ^' Sound sense andzoliolesonie Christian ^odly books 7oe Iiave ever read.'' — Church 
 teaching conveyed in pure, ic^iomatic, and Bei.Ls. 
 
 fo7-ciblc English.'" — Scotsman. "Some of the brai<est and truest ethical 
 
 discourses of our oivn or any age." — 
 
 " One of the most devout, spiritual, SHEFFIELD INDEPENDENT. 
 
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 A Series of Discourses on the Epistle to the Hebrews. 
 Seventh Edition. Crown 8vo, price ds. 
 
 " IVholesomer sermons than these it is moral energy and feiiour, but here this 
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 preaching has always been remarkable for EXPCSITOR. 
 
 III. 
 
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 New Edition. Crown 8vo, price t^s. 6d. 
 
 "Dr. Dale is certainly an admirable James. In this volume he appears at his 
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 the greatest living successor of the Apostle 
 
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 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 
 
 Fifth Edition. Crown Svo, price 55". 
 
 " Fidl of thought and 7'igour." — Spec- Dales expositions demands the very highest 
 TATOR. eulogy." — British Quarterly Review. 
 
 " The manly, fearless honesty of Mr. 
 
 V. 
 
 NINE LECTURES ON PREACHING. 
 
 Fifth Edition. Crown Svo, price Gs. 
 
 " Admirable lectures, brii^htly written, be as useful and suggestive to a young 
 
 earnest and practical, the work of an able preacher as any manual that has come 
 
 man." — Literary Churchman. under our notice. It is a volume of rare 
 
 " Mr. Dale's volume, conceived in the richness, manliness, and eloquence." — 
 
 light of modern requirements, and bathed British Quarterly Review. 
 in the atmosphere of modern feeling, will 
 
 \\. 
 
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 Its Doctrines and Ethics. 
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 " llie terse and vigorous style, rising be a master, gives lucid expression to 
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 15
 
 ^Hlouks lip tlje Eetj. 3Iol)ii ^toiujljron, 3D.3D. 
 
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 RELIGION IN ENGLAND DURING THE FIRST 
 
 HALF OF THE PRESENT CENTURY. 
 
 A History, with a Postscript on Subsequent Events. 
 
 In two vols., crown 8vo, I5.f. 
 
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 replete 7vith interest. Dr. Stoiighton has portance — intercstiui; in the highest degree. 
 
 at command a pure literary style — simple, Its information is fill, and its arj-angement 
 
 vivid, impressive. Our readers will not skilful ajid convenient.'' — Daily Review. 
 
 fail to derive much gratification from the "' The present hook ivill long be the 
 
 perusal of Dr. Stoiighton' s volume." — standard authority on the important 
 
 LiTERAKV Churchman. subject of 10 hie h it treats." — Academy. 
 
 ir. 
 HISTORY OF RELIGION IN ENGLAND, 
 
 From the Opening of the Long Parliament to the End of the Eighteenth 
 
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 Third Edition. In six vols., crown ^\o,£,2 ^s. 
 " .-/ history conceived and tvritten in the calmness of posterity. The result is a 
 the true historic spirit by a writer looking book which the members of all churches 
 back upon the contests and disturbances of may i-ead with equal satisfaction and 
 the past, and contemplating the battles advantage." — Daily News. 
 tipoii 'which freedom was achieved with 
 
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 AND HIS FRIENDS. 
 
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 ■' Dr. .Sloughton has never done better frshness of style, elegance of description, 
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 Academy. in this and kindred subjects.'" — Evan- 
 
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 WILLIAM PENN: The Founder of Pennsylvania. 
 
 With steel portrait, crown 8vo, Is. 6d. 
 '■'■ One of the most interesting biographies is given by Dr. Stoughton in a style sin- 
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 record of Pen n's varied and eventj'ul career Harper's Magazine. 
 
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 GOLDEN LEGENDS OF THE OLDEN TIME. 
 
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 CuNTKNTS.— The Virgin Mary— The Twelve — Female Martyrs — St. Christopher— Family 
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 — Mystic Nuns— Churches in Rome— Contrasts and Varieties. 
 
 16
 
 NEW VOLUMES OF THE SIX SHILLING SERIES OF GIFT BOOKS. 
 
 HARRY MILVAINE ; or, The Wanderings of a Way- 
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 WONDERFUL STORIES OF DARING PERIL AND 
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 boys at an English public school than are to 
 
 17
 
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 THROWN ON THE WORLD; 
 
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 " A grand book for our elder boys 
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 AND Trowei.. 
 
 " Such a delightful book ought to have 
 hosts of friends'' — Whitehall Review. 
 
 "■Stirring and exciting." — Athen^UM. 
 
 " A decidedly clever, zvell-told story, 
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 striking picture of life in Russia dnritig 
 the Nihilistic panic. The vohime is one 
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 Society. 
 
 TOSSED ON THE WAVES: 
 
 A Story of Young Life. 
 
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 by a zvriter gifted with an excellent 
 command of language, and a keen insight 
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 in their best aspects." — Standard. 
 
 THE JUNIOR CLERK: y 
 
 A Tale of City Life. 
 Fourteenth P'dition. Fcap. 8vo, cloth, 2s. 6d. 
 
 " Mr. Shipion observes that the author 
 described this tale to him as a fiction. He 
 remarks: '■ It may be so to him, but for 
 every one of its statements I could supply 
 a fact. It is not merely trite to nature, 
 as a narration of the means by which 
 young men may be — it is as ti ue a record 
 
 of the ivnys in which many have been, and 
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 little book a hearty welcome from many 
 readers. "—Christian Wor ld. 
 
 London 
 
 HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 27, Paternoster Row. 
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