The Eulogy of Richard Jefferies

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Walter Besant. The Eulogy of Richard Jefferies

PREFACE

CHAPTER I. COATE FARM

CHAPTER II. SIXTEEN TO TWENTY

CHAPTER III. LETTERS FROM 1866 TO 1872

CHAPTER IV. GLEAMS OF LIGHT

CHAPTER V. FIRST YEARS OF SUCCESS

CHAPTER VI. FICTION, EARLY AND LATE

CHAPTER VII. IN FULL CAREER

CHAPTER VIII. THE LONGMAN LETTERS

CHAPTER IX. THE COUNTRY LIFE

CHAPTER X "THE STORY OF MY HEART."

CHAPTER XI. THE CHILD WANDERS IN THE WOOD

CHAPTER XII. CONCLUSION

APPENDIX I. LIST OF JEFFERIES' WORKS

APPENDIX II. LIST OF PAPERS STILL UNPUBLISHED

APPENDIX III. LETTER TO THE TIMES, NOVEMBER, 1872

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"Go," said the Voice which dismisses the soul on its way to inhabit an earthly frame. "Go; thy lot shall be to speak of trees, from the cedar even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall; and of beasts also, and of fowls, and of fishes. All thy ways shall be ordered for thee, so that thou shalt learn to speak of these things as no man ever spoke before. Thou shalt rise into great honour among men. Many shall love to hear thy voice above all the voices of those who speak. This is a great gift. Thou shalt also enjoy the tender love of wife and children. Yet the things which men most desire – riches, rank, independence, ease, health, and long life – these are denied to thee. Thou shalt be always poor; thou shalt live in humble places; the goad of necessity shall continually prick thee to work when thou wouldst meditate; to write when thou wouldst walk forth to observe. Thou shalt never be able to sit down to rest; thou shalt be afflicted with grievous plaguy diseases; and thou shalt die when little more than half the allotted life of man is past. Go, therefore. Be happy with what is given, and lament not over what is denied."

Richard Jefferies – christened John Richard, but he was always called by his second name – was born on November 6, 1848, at the farmhouse of Coate – you may pronounce it, if you please, in Wiltshire fashion – Caute. The house stands on the road from Swindon to Marlborough, about two miles and a half from the former place. It has now lost its old picturesqueness, because the great heavy thatch which formerly served for roof has been removed and replaced by slates. I know not whether any gain in comfort has been achieved by this change, but the effect to outward view has been to reduce what was once a beautiful old house to meanness.

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And I have before me a letter which contains the following passage concerning the elder Jefferies:

Thus, then, the boy was born; in an ancient farmhouse beautiful to look upon, with beautiful fields and gardens round it; in the midst of a most singular and interesting country, wilder than any other part of England except the Peak and Dartmoor; encouraged by his father to observe and to remember; taught by him to read the Book of Nature. What better beginning could the boy have had? There wanted but one thing to complete his happiness – a little more ease as regards money. I fear that one of the earliest things the boy could remember must have been connected with pecuniary embarrassment.

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