My Ways and My Days

ROBERT ROBERTS BORN 1839 —DIED 1898 AUTOBIOGRAPHY with an APPENDIX by ( C C. WALKER Former Editor of "The Christadelphian" 0 n "** . I ROBERT ROBERTS (From a photograph taken in 189S) Printed and bound in Great Britain by R. J. Acford, Chichester, Sussex. J D PREFACE D HE first thirty-six chapters of this book consist T of an autobiography, under the heading of "My Days and My Ways," that originally appeared in a little monthly magazine called Good Company (1890-1894). The volumes of this have long been out of print. The remaining seven chapters of the book consist of An Appendix concerning " His Days and His Ways," from 1871 to 1898, when he died. This part of the story is of necessity told very briefly, and with some scruples concerning a few left in the land of the living The writer hopes he may be pardoned if anything is thought to be amiss. He aims only at a truthful record, without " malice aforethought " to any living soul. The portrait is from an excellent photograph taken at Malvern in 1895. Q- CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I.—BIRTH AND BOYHOOD .. .. .. 1 II.—" CONVERSION "—Elpis Israel .. .. 7 III.—BAPTISM .. .. .. .. 12 IV.—WRITES TO DR. THOMAS .. .. .. 17 V.—BECOMES A REPORTER .. .. .. 21 VI.—HUDDERSFIELD AND HALIFAX , . 28 VII.—WORKING WITH DR. THOMAS .. .. 34 VIII.—DEWSBURY .. .. .. ..43 IX.—MARRIAGE .. .. .. .. 45 X.—DIETETICS ! .. .. .. .. 53 XI.—INTRODUCING THE TRUTH (HUDDERSFIELD) .. 59 XII.—PUBLIC EFFORT AT HUDDERSFIELD .. 64 XIII.—A BRUSH WITH ATHFISM .. .. 69 XIV.—LEEDS : FOWLER AND WELLS .. .. 74 XV.—BIRMINGHAM : THE FOWLER AND WELLS COMPANY .. .. .. .. 80 XVI.—BIRMINGHAM, LEICESTER, NOTTINGHAM, DERBY .. .. .. .. 84 XVII.—RETURNS TO NEWSPAPER AT HUDDERS- FIELD .. .. .. .. 90 XVIII.—ORIGIN OF "TWELVE LECTURES" .. 95 XIX.—DR. THOMAS'S VISIT IN 1862 .. .101 a XX.—DR THOMAS AT WORK .. .. .. 106 XXI—STRAINED RELATIONS WITH DR THOMAS . 112 XXII.—DR THOMAS AND THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR —ADVISES BIRMINGHAM 118 y CHAPTER PAGK XXIII.—REMOVAL TO BIRMINGHAM .. .. 124 MY DAYS AND MY WAYS XXIV.—" THE BIRMINGHAM DAILY POST " .. 131 XXV —- THE AMBASSADOR " (1864) .. .. 137 AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY. XXVI —POLEMICS : DAVID KING .. .. 144 XXVII.—" EUREKA," Vol. II. .. .. .. 151 CHAPTER I. XXVIII —" A TOWN HALL EFFORT " .. .. 169 BIRTH AND BOYHOOD. XXIX—THE BANKRUPTCY COURT—THE NAME HAVE frequently been asked to write an account " CHRISTADELPHIAN " .. .. .. 165 of my life. I have never felt sufficiently interested I to make the attempt. My life has seemed so common XXX —AFTER THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR—LETTER as to be devoid of interest ; and I have a feeling that FROM DR THOMAS .. .. .. 173 all human life, as it now is, is so intrinsically weak and XXXI —" THE ATHEN^OM " . .. ..182 imperfect as to fail in affording the requisite enthusiasm for literary effort. Men as they are, and not as they XXXII —BREAK WITH " DOWIEISM " .. .. 191 appear in the atmosphere of narrative, are best described XXXIII —CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH .. .. 200 in the sober and literal words of the scriptures which XXXIV—THE " DECLARATION " (1867) .. .. 210 tell us that rich men are a lie, and poor men vanity, and all the glory of man as the flower of the field. While XXXV.—" EUREKA," VOL. Ill —DR THOMAS'S DAST they live they are full of shortcoming and trouble—a VISIT .. .. ..216 fragile, organization of corruption in the best state, and XXXVI —DEATH OF DR THOMAS—" THE CHRISTA- in a generation, disappear one and all in native dust. DELPHIAN .. 223 Strongly sharing this feeling, I have hitherto refrained from the least record of a biographical character. If I make a beginning now, it is because I yield to the wishes APPENDIX of those I love, from whom I will pass away in due course of time. XXXVII —AFTER DR THOMAS' DEATH : " RENUNCIA- I was born in the city of Aberdeen, in Aberdeenshire, TIONISM " (1873) . .. .. 234 Scotland, on the 8th of April, 1839; so the evidence XXXWII—THE BRADLADGH DEBATE (1876), AND THE goes to prove I believe the house is still standing in Link Street where the (for me as yet) unhappy event INSPIRATION CONTROVERSY (1885) . 241 occurred. There is no affectation in my use of Jeremiah's XXXIX—"THE SUGAR DISASTER" (1889) .. 251 words : " Wherefore came I forth out of the womb to XL —" RiSURRECTIOVU, RESPONSIBILITY " (1894) 255 see labour and sorrow, that my days should be consumed with shame ? " (20 : 18) ; " Woe is me, my mother, that XLI — ROL\D THE WORLD (1895-6) .. 258 thou hast made me a man of strife and a man, of con- XLII —REMOVES TO \USTRALIA (1897) .. 262 tention to the whole earth" (15 : 10). But there are many alleviations that make it easy for me to say, XLIII —DIES AT SAN FRANCISCO, AND IS BURIED " The will of the Lord be done." AT NEW YORK (18981 . .. ..270 MY DAYS AKD MY WAYS MY DAYS AND MY WAYS My father was a seaman, and for some years later us afterwards, though I had a rough time of it at the m life, captain of a small coasting vessel. He was a beginning in consequence of having soon to run counter quiet, kindly, truthful man, without much force of to my mother's views, which were orthodox, and which character He was much away from home, and we were she herself finally gave up. all left much to the care of our mother, who made up At ten years of age, I was taken by my mother for his defect of mental energy. There were six boys of along with my brothers to hear a Dr Thomas in a us and one girl, the eldest—all of whom grew up to man- chapel opposite the Baptist chapel in John Street, hood and womanhood There had been four others who which my mother then attended. The usual preacher died in infancy Ebenezer, the youngest of the six in that place was a Mr. Hart, an eccentric sort of man referred to, died in early manhood. William was drowned who had once been a soldier, and who made a trade of at sea John, the eldest, died at Ottawa, Canada, in " christenings " at 2s. 6d. a head—anybody welcome. middle life Mj other two brothers, Arthur and David, On this occasion, he did not appear in any way. The went to sea, and are at the present time (1890) captains, pulpit was occupied by two men—one an Aberdeen one of an emigrant vessel and the other of a trading tradesman and the other the Dr. Thomas we had come steamer to hear. Dr Thomas was a quiet, stern, firm, neatly- My mother was a superior woman of an energetic made gentleman with jet black beard. His companion and stronglv religious turn of mind. There was a mystery in the pulpit gave out the hymns and offered the prayer. about her antecedents We had no relations on her side Dr. Thomas delivered the address. I discovered from of the house If we were told the truth, which there is the remarks afterwards made as the congregation were no reason to doubt, we learnt the reason from an old dispersing that the address was regarded as something nurse of the Duke of Gordon's family, when I was 12 extraordinary, and that it was on baptism. The address vears of age, according to whom there was a bit of had not struck me at all. I was too young to receive romance in the case, which led to my mother being sent any impression. I had in fact wearied and slept under to London under the charge of her father, a London it, and was glad when it was over. The one thing that merchant My mother was educated in London, where interested me and my brothers was the speaker's beard, she remained till her father's death, when she was sent which was a novelty in those days. As we went home back to her friends to Aberdeen, and there maintained together arm in arm, we vowed we should never shave. herself as a school teacher till her marriage with my I had much occasion afterwards to know who this father Dr. Thomas was. My father's circumstances were very lowly and my About a year after this incident, I left school. mother had many difficulties to cope with in the rearing I was then eleven years of age My first experience of a large farmlv She successfully surmounted them all in responsible life was in filling my brother Arthur's in a measure She gave us all a moderate education, and place while he was either unwell or sent somewhere brought us up in strict separation from loose and else by his employers. He was clerk or keeper of a frivolous neighbours Home was, however, rather a " rope cellar " in connection with a rope factory in place of -wholesome discipline than of love's comfort, the neighbourhood of the ship-building yards of the though my mother was not wanting on that side when harbour (for Aberdeen is a seaport). My business was other things were right Looking back, I can now realise to keep a record on a slate of every article supplied to her difficulties and her worth as I could not at the time. callers. It seemed very interesting work, as all work We all received a religious bias, which was of value to does to all boys, till they get enough of it and more, MY DAYS AND MY WAYS MY DAYS AND MY WAYS and get to know what life as it now is really means— without any knowledge on my part or hers.

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