It is generally admitted that the Weights and Measures is a well-conducted public office; indeed, to such a degree of efficiency has it been brought by its present very excellent secretary, the two very worthy10 assistant-secretaries, and especially by its late most respectable chief clerk, that it may be said to stand quite alone as a high model for all other public offices whatever. It is exactly antipodistic of the Circumlocution11 Office, and as such is always referred to in the House of Commons by the gentleman representing the Government when any attack on the Civil Service, generally, is being made.
And when it is remembered how great are the interests entrusted12 to the care of this board, and of these secretaries and of that chief clerk, it must be admitted that nothing short of superlative excellence13 ought to suffice the nation. All material intercourse14 between man and man must be regulated, either justly or unjustly, by weights and measures; and as we of all people depend most on such material intercourse, our weights and measures should to us be a source of never-ending concern. And then that question of the decimal coinage! is it not in these days of paramount16 importance? Are we not disgraced by the twelve pennies in our shilling, by the four farthings in our penny? One of the worthy assistant-secretaries, the worthier17 probably of the two, has already grown pale beneath the weight of this question. But he has sworn within himself, with all the heroism18 of a Nelson, that he will either do or die. He will destroy the shilling or the shilling shall destroy him. In his more ardent19 moods he thinks that he hears the noise of battle booming round him, and talks to his wife of Westminster Abbey or a peerage. Then what statistical20 work of the present age has shown half the erudition contained in that essay lately published by the secretary on The Market Price of Coined Metals? What other living man could have compiled that chronological21 table which is appended to it, showing the comparative value of the metallic22 currency for the last three hundred years? Compile it indeed! What other secretary or assistant-secretary belonging to any public office of the present day, could even read it and live? It completely silenced Mr. Muntz for a session, and even The Times was afraid to review it.
Such a state of official excellence has not, however, been obtained without its drawbacks, at any rate in the eyes of the unambitious tyros23 and unfledged novitiates of the establishment. It is a very fine thing to be pointed24 out by envying fathers as a promising25 clerk in the Weights and Measures, and to receive civil speeches from mammas with marriageable daughters. But a clerk in the Weights and Measures is soon made to understand that it is not for him to—
Sport with Amaryllis in the shade.
It behoves him that his life should be grave and his pursuits laborious26, if he intends to live up to the tone of those around him. And as, sitting there at his early desk, his eyes already dim with figures, he sees a jaunty27 dandy saunter round the opposite corner to the Council Office at eleven o'clock, he cannot but yearn28 after the pleasures of idleness.
Were it not better done, as others use?
he says or sighs. But then comes Phoebus in the guise29 of the chief clerk, and touches his trembling ears—
As he pronounces lastly on each deed,
Of so much fame, in Downing Street—expect the meed.
And so the high tone of the office is maintained.
Such is the character of the Weights and Measures at this present period of which we are now treating. The exoteric crowd of the Civil Service, that is, the great body of clerks attached to other offices, regard their brethren of the Weights as prigs and pedants30, and look on them much as a master's favourite is apt to be regarded by other boys at school. But this judgement is an unfair one. Prigs and pedants, and hypocrites too, there are among them, no doubt—but there are also among them many stirred by an honourable31 ambition to do well for their country and themselves, and to two such men the reader is now requested to permit himself to be introduced.
Henry Norman, the senior of the two, is the second son of a gentleman of small property in the north of England. He was educated at a public school, and thence sent to Oxford32; but before he had finished his first year at Brasenose his father was obliged to withdraw him from it, finding himself unable to bear the expense of a university education for his two sons. His elder son at Cambridge was extravagant33; and as, at the critical moment when decision became necessary, a nomination9 in the Weights and Measures was placed at his disposal, old Mr. Norman committed the not uncommon34 injustice35 of preferring the interests of his elder but faulty son to those of the younger with whom no fault had been found, and deprived his child of the chance of combining the glories and happiness of a double first, a fellow, a college tutor, and a don.
Whether Harry36 Norman gained or lost most by the change we need not now consider, but at the age of nineteen he left Oxford and entered on his new duties. It must not, however, be supposed that this was a step which he took without difficulty and without pause. It is true that the grand modern scheme for competitive examinations had not as yet been composed. Had this been done, and had it been carried out, how awful must have been the cramming37 necessary to get a lad into the Weights and Measures! But, even as things were then, it was no easy matter for a young man to convince the chief clerk that he had all the acquirements necessary for the high position to which he aspired38.
Indeed, that chief clerk was insatiable, and generally succeeded in making every candidate conceive the very lowest opinion of himself and his own capacities before the examination was over. Some, of course, were sent away at once with ignominy, as evidently incapable39. Many retired40 in the middle of it with a conviction that they must seek their fortunes at the bar, or in medical pursuits, or some other comparatively easy walk of life. Others were rejected on the fifth or sixth day as being deficient41 in conic sections, or ignorant of the exact principles of hydraulic42 pressure. And even those who were retained were so retained, as it were, by an act of grace. The Weights and Measures was, and indeed is, like heaven—no man can deserve it. No candidate can claim as his right to be admitted to the fruition of the appointment which has been given to him. Henry Norman, however, was found, at the close of his examination, to be the least undeserving of the young men then under notice, and was duly installed in his clerkship.
It need hardly be explained, that to secure so high a level of information as that required at the Weights and Measures, a scale of salaries equally exalted43 has been found necessary. Young men consequently enter at ?100 a year. We are speaking, of course, of that more respectable branch of the establishment called the Secretary's Department. At none other of our public offices do men commence with more than ?90—except, of course, at those in which political confidence is required. Political confidence is indeed as expensive as hydraulic pressure, though generally found to be less difficult of attainment44.
Henry Norman, therefore, entered on his labours under good auspices45, having ?10 per annum more for the business and pleasures of life in London than most of his young brethren of the Civil Service. Whether this would have sufficed of itself to enable him to live up to that tone of society to which he had been accustomed cannot now be surmised46, as very shortly after his appointment an aunt died, from whom he inherited some ?150 or ?200 a year. He was, therefore, placed above all want, and soon became a shining light even in that bright gallery of spiritualized stars which formed the corps47 of clerks in the Secretary's Office at the Weights and Measures.
Young Norman was a good-looking lad when he entered the public service, and in a few years he grew up to be a handsome man. He was tall and thin and dark, muscular in his proportions, and athletic48 in his habits. From the date of his first enjoyment49 of his aunt's legacy50 he had a wherry on the Thames, and was soon known as a man whom it was hard for an amateur to beat. He had a racket in a racket-court at St. John's Wood Road, and as soon as fortune and merit increased his salary by another ?100 a year, he usually had a nag15 for the season. This, however, was not attained51 till he was able to count five years' service in the Weights and Measures. He was, as a boy, somewhat shy and reserved in his manners, and as he became older he did not shake off the fault. He showed it, however, rather among men than with women, and, indeed, in spite of his love of exercise, he preferred the society of ladies to any of the bachelor gaieties of his unmarried acquaintance. He was, nevertheless, frank and confident in those he trusted, and true in his friendships, though, considering his age, too slow in making a friend. Such was Henry Norman at the time at which our tale begins. What were the faults in his character it must be the business of the tale to show.
The other young clerk in this office to whom we alluded52 is Alaric Tudor. He is a year older than Henry Norman, though he began his official career a year later, and therefore at the age of twenty-one. How it happened that he contrived53 to pass the scrutinizing54 instinct and deep powers of examination possessed55 by the chief clerk, was a great wonder to his friends, though apparently56 none at all to himself. He took the whole proceeding57 very easily; while another youth alongside of him, who for a year had been reading up for his promised nomination, was so awe-struck by the severity of the proceedings58 as to lose his powers of memory and forget the very essence of the differential calculus59.
Of hydraulic pressure and the differential calculus young Tudor knew nothing, and pretended to know nothing. He told the chief clerk that he was utterly60 ignorant of all such matters, that his only acquirements were a tolerably correct knowledge of English, French, and German, with a smattering of Latin and Greek, and such an intimacy61 with the ordinary rules of arithmetic and with the first books of Euclid, as he had been able to pick up while acting62 as a tutor, rather than a scholar, in a small German university.
The chief clerk raised his eyebrows63 and said he feared it would not do. A clerk, however, was wanting. It was very clear that the young gentleman who had only showed that he had forgotten his conic sections could not be supposed to have passed. The austerity of the last few years had deterred64 more young men from coming forward than the extra ?10 had induced to do so. One unfortunate, on the failure of all his hopes, had thrown himself into the Thames from the neighbouring boat-stairs; and though he had been hooked out uninjured by the man who always attends there with two wooden legs, the effect on his parents' minds had been distressing65. Shortly after this occurrence the chief clerk had been invited to attend the Board, and the Chairman of the Commissioners, who, on the occasion, was of course prompted by the Secretary, recommended Mr. Hardlines to be a leetle more lenient66. In doing so the quantity of butter which he poured over Mr. Hardlines' head and shoulders with the view of alleviating67 the misery68 which such a communication would be sure to inflict69, was very great. But, nevertheless, Mr. Hardlines came out from the Board a crestfallen70 and unhappy man. 'The service,' he said, 'would go to the dogs, and might do for anything he cared, and he did not mind how soon. If the Board chose to make the Weights and Measures a hospital for idiots, it might do so. He had done what little lay in his power to make the office respectable; and now, because mammas complained when their cubs71 of sons were not allowed to come in there and rob the public and destroy the office books, he was to be thwarted72 and reprimanded! He had been,' he said, 'eight-and-twenty years in office, and was still in his prime—but he should,' he thought, 'take advantage of the advice of his medical friends, and retire. He would never remain there to see the Weights and Measures become a hospital for incurables73!'
It was thus that Mr. Hardlines, the chief clerk, expressed himself. He did not, however, send in a medical certificate, nor apply for a pension; and the first apparent effect of the little lecture which he had received from the Chairman, was the admission into the service of Alaric Tudor. Mr. Hardlines was soon forced to admit that the appointment was not a bad one, as before his second year was over, young Tudor had produced a very smart paper on the merits—or demerits—of the strike bushel.
Alaric Tudor when he entered the office was by no means so handsome a youth as Harry Norman; but yet there was that in his face which was more expressive74, and perhaps more attractive. He was a much slighter man, though equally tall. He could boast no adventitious75 capillary76 graces, whereas young Norman had a pair of black curling whiskers, which almost surrounded his face, and had been the delight and wonder of the maidservants in his mother's house, when he returned home for his first official holiday. Tudor wore no whiskers, and his light-brown hair was usually cut so short as to give him something of the appearance of a clean Puritan. But in manners he was no Puritan; nor yet in his mode of life. He was fond of society, and at an early period of his age strove hard to shine in it. He was ambitious; and lived with the steady aim of making the most of such advantages as fate and fortune had put in his way. Tudor was perhaps not superior to Norman in point of intellect; but he was infinitely77 his superior in having early acquired a knowledge how best to use such intellect as he had.
His education had been very miscellaneous, and disturbed by many causes, but yet not ineffective or deficient. His father had been an officer in a cavalry78 regiment79, with a fair fortune, which he had nearly squandered80 in early life. He had taken Alaric when little more than an infant, and a daughter, his only other child, to reside in Brussels. Mrs. Tudor was then dead, and the remainder of the household had consisted of a French governess, a bonne, and a man-cook. Here Alaric remained till he had perfectly81 acquired the French pronunciation, and very nearly as perfectly forgotten the English. He was then sent to a private school in England, where he remained till he was sixteen, returning home to Brussels but once during those years, when he was invited to be present at his sister's marriage with a Belgian banker. At the age of sixteen he lost his father, who, on dying, did not leave behind him enough of the world's wealth to pay for his own burial. His half-pay of course died with him, and young Tudor was literally82 destitute83.
His brother-in-law, the banker, paid for his half-year's schooling84 in England, and then removed him to a German academy, at which it was bargained that he should teach English without remuneration, and learn German without expense. Whether he taught much English may be doubtful, but he did learn German thoroughly85; and in that, as in most other transactions of his early life, certainly got the best of the bargain which had been made for him.
At the age of twenty he was taken to the Brussels bank as a clerk; but here he soon gave visible signs of disliking the drudgery86 which was exacted from him. Not that he disliked banking87. He would gladly have been a partner with ever so small a share, and would have trusted to himself to increase his stake. But there is a limit to the good nature of brothers-in-law, even in Belgium; and Alaric was quite aware that no such good luck as this could befall him, at any rate until he had gone through many years of servile labour. His sister also, though sisterly enough in her disposition89 to him, did not quite like having a brother employed as a clerk in her husband's office. They therefore put their heads together, and, as the Tudors had good family connexions in England, a nomination in the Weights and Measures was procured90.
The nomination was procured; but when it was ascertained91 how very short a way this went towards the attainment of the desired object, and how much more difficult it was to obtain Mr. Hardlines' approval than the Board's favour, young Tudor's friends despaired, and recommended him to abandon the idea, as, should he throw himself into the Thames, he might perhaps fall beyond the reach of the waterman's hook. Alaric himself, however, had no such fears. He could not bring himself to conceive that he could fail in being fit for a clerkship in a public office, and the result of his examination proved at any rate that he had been right to try.
The close of his first year's life in London found him living in lodgings92 with Henry Norman. At that time Norman's income was nearly three times as good as his own. To say that Tudor selected his companion because of his income would be to ascribe unjustly to him vile88 motives93 and a mean instinct. He had not done so. The two young men had been thrown together by circumstances. They worked at the same desk, liked each other's society, and each being alone in the world, thereby94 not unnaturally95 came together. But it may probably be said that had Norman been as poor as Tudor, Tudor might probably have shrunk from rowing in the same boat with him.
As it was they lived together and were fast allies; not the less so that they did not agree as to many of their avocations96. Tudor, at his friend's solicitation97, had occasionally attempted to pull an oar5 from Searle's slip to Battersea bridge. But his failure in this line was so complete, and he had to encounter so much of Norman's raillery, which was endurable, and of his instruction, which was unendurable, that he very soon gave up the pursuit. He was not more successful with a racket; and keeping a horse was of course out of the question.
They had a bond of union in certain common friends whom they much loved, and with whom they much associated. At least these friends soon became common to them. The acquaintance originally belonged to Norman, and he had first cemented his friendship with Tudor by introducing him at the house of Mrs. Woodward. Since he had done so, the one young man was there nearly as much as the other.
Who and what the Woodwards were shall be told in a subsequent chapter. As they have to play as important a part in the tale about to be told as our two friends of the Weights and Measures, it would not be becoming to introduce them at the end of this.
As regards Alaric Tudor it need only be further said, by way of preface, of him as of Harry Norman, that the faults of his character must be made to declare themselves in the course of our narrative98.
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edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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chambers
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| n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅 | |
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oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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commissioners
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| n.专员( commissioner的名词复数 )；长官；委员；政府部门的长官 | |
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improper
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| adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的 | |
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denomination
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| n.命名，取名，(度量衡、货币等的)单位 | |
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nomination
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| n.提名，任命，提名权 | |
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worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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circumlocution
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| n. 绕圈子的话，迂回累赘的陈述 | |
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entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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intercourse
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| n.性交；交流，交往，交际 | |
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nag
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| v.(对…)不停地唠叨；n.爱唠叨的人 | |
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paramount
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| a.最重要的，最高权力的 | |
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worthier
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| 应得某事物( worthy的比较级 )； 值得做某事； 可尊敬的； 有（某人或事物）的典型特征 | |
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heroism
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| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
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ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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statistical
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| adj.统计的，统计学的 | |
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chronological
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| adj.按年月顺序排列的，年代学的 | |
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metallic
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| adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的 | |
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tyros
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| n.初学者，新手，生手( tyro的名词复数 ) | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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laborious
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| adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅 | |
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jaunty
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| adj．愉快的，满足的；adv.心满意足地，洋洋得意地；n.心满意足；洋洋得意 | |
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yearn
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| v.想念；怀念；渴望 | |
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guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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pedants
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| n.卖弄学问的人，学究，书呆子( pedant的名词复数 ) | |
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honourable
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| adj.可敬的；荣誉的，光荣的 | |
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Oxford
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extravagant
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uncommon
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injustice
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harry
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cramming
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| n.塞满，填鸭式的用功v.塞入( cram的现在分词 )；填塞；塞满；（为考试而）死记硬背功课 | |
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aspired
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| v.渴望，追求( aspire的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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deficient
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| adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的 | |
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hydraulic
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| adj.水力的；水压的，液压的；水力学的 | |
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exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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attainment
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auspices
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| n.资助，赞助 | |
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surmised
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corps
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athletic
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| adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的 | |
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enjoyment
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legacy
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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scrutinizing
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| v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 ) | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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calculus
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| n.微积分；结石 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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intimacy
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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deterred
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| v.阻止，制止( deter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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lenient
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| adj.宽大的，仁慈的 | |
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alleviating
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| 减轻，缓解，缓和( alleviate的现在分词 ) | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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inflict
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| vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担 | |
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crestfallen
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| adj. 挫败的，失望的，沮丧的 | |
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cubs
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| n.幼小的兽，不懂规矩的年轻人( cub的名词复数 ) | |
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thwarted
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| 阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过 | |
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73
incurables
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| 无法治愈，不可救药( incurable的名词复数 ) | |
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expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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adventitious
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| adj.偶然的 | |
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capillary
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| n.毛细血管；adj.毛细管道；毛状的 | |
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infinitely
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| adv.无限地，无穷地 | |
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cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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squandered
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| v.（指钱，财产等）浪费，乱花( squander的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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84
schooling
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| n.教育；正规学校教育 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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drudgery
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| n.苦工，重活，单调乏味的工作 | |
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banking
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| n.银行业，银行学，金融业 | |
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vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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ascertained
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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unnaturally
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| adv.违反习俗地；不自然地；勉强地；不近人情地 | |
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avocations
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| n.业余爱好，嗜好( avocation的名词复数 )；职业 | |
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solicitation
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| n.诱惑；揽货；恳切地要求；游说 | |
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narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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