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H. R
IDER
HAGGARD
THE DAYS
OF MY LIFE
Москва, 2018
УДК 82
ББК 84
H. Rider Haggard
The Days of My Life / H. R. Haggard. – М. : T8RUGRAM /
Original, 2018. – 640 с.
ISBN 978-5-521-06638-4
An autobiography of Henry Rider Haggard, an English writer,
largely of adventure fi ction. He was also involved in agricultural
reform throughout the British Empire. His stories, situated at the
lighter end of Victorian literature, continue to be popular and
infl uential.
УДК 82
ББК 84
BIC FC
BISAC FIC000000
© T8RUGRAM, оформление, 2018
ISBN 978-5-521-06638-4 © Original, 2018
I dedicate this record of my days to my
dear Wife and to the memory of our son
whom now I seek
H. Rider Haggard
Midnight White Sunday 1912
CONTENTS
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12
CHAPTER 1. CHILDHOOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
CHAPTER 2. YOUTH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
CHAPTER 3. NATAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
CHAPTER 4. THE SPECIAL COMMISSION
TO THE TRANSVAAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .98
CHAPTER 5. THE ANNEXATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
CHAPTER 6. LIFE IN THE TRANSVAAL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
CHAPTER 7. MARRIAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
CHAPTER 8. OUR LIFE AT NEWCASTLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
CHAPTER 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
CHAPTER 10. “KING SOLOMON’S MINES”
AND “SHE”. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
CHAPTER 11. EGYPT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
CHAPTER 12. ICELAND. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
CHAPTER 13. “ERIC BRIGHTEYES”
AND “NADA THE LILY” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
CHAPTER 14. MEXICO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
5
H. RIDER HAGGARD
CHAPTER 15. ANDREW LANG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
CHAPTER 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 435
CHAPTER 17. POLITICS AND TOWN LIFE . . . . . . . . . . . . 459
CHAPTER 18. RURAL ENGLAND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485
CHAPTER 19. PSYCHICAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511
CHAPTER 20. THE ROOSEVELT LETTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 530
CHAPTER 21. REPORT ON LABOUR COLONIES. . . . . . 551
CHAPTER 22. ROYAL COMMISSION
ON COAST EROSION AND AFFORESTATION . . . . . . . . 567
CHAPTER 23. A NOTE ON RELIGION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599
APPENDIX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 627
PREFACE
Henry Rider Haggard was born on June 22, 1856, and died
on May 14, 1925. The present work covers the fi rst fi fty-six
years of his life, commencing with his earliest recollections
and ending on September 25, 1912. On that day he wrote to
me: “I have just written the last word of ‘The Days of My Life,’
and thankful I am to have done with that book. Whenever I
can fi nd time and opportunity I wish to add ‘A Note on Religion,’ which, when done, if ever, I will send to you.” This “note”
he sent me on January 24, 1913. By his wish the entire MS. was
sealed up and put away in Messrs. Longman’s safe, and was
seen no more till after his death, when it was opened by me in
the presence of one of his executors.
Rider Haggard entered on the serious business of life at
an early age. He sailed for South Africa in July 1875, when he
was only just nineteen, on the staff of Sir Henry Bulwer, the
newly appointed Governor of Natal. Eighteen months later he
was attached to the special mission to the Transvaal, led by
Sir Theophilus Shepstone, which resulted in the annexation of
the Transvaal to Great Britain on April 12, 1877. Shortly after
the annexation the Master and Registrar of the High Court at
Pretoria died, and Haggard was appointed as Acting Master
when he was barely twenty-one, an age at which his contem-
7
H. RIDER HAGGARD
poraries in England were undergraduates at college. This provisional appointment was confi rmed a year later.
It can hardly be doubted that this early initiation into affairs had an effect in moulding Rider Haggard’s character, and
that effect would not be diminished by the tragic nature of
the events which quickly followed, with which he was closely
connected – Isandlwana, Majuba, and the Retrocession of the
Transvaal.
In consequence of the Retrocession he returned to England in the autumn of 1881. His African career was ended, he
had a young wife and child, and he still had his way to make
in the world. His six years of Africa had, however, not only
given him a knowledge of the world and a self-reliance rare
in so young a man, but had also enabled him to acquire an
intimate knowledge of the history and characteristics of the
Native Races, which he was subsequently able to turn to good
account.
From the circumstances of his early life he was thrown
much into the company of men older than himself, and he
had a singular gift of winning not only their confi dence, but
their love. The happy relations which he was able to establish
with his superiors in the Government service are an example
of this, and it was a faculty which never left him.
This autobiography deals not only with Haggard’s life in
South Africa, and with his literary career, but also with an aspect of his many activities which is less familiar to those who
knew him mainly as a writer of romances. He was always dominated by a strong sense of duty, and by an ardent patriotism,
and the direction in which he thought that he could best serve
8
THE DAYS OF MY LIFE
his country was in an attempt to arrest the rapidly growing migration of population from the country districts to the slums
of the towns. He thought that a healthy, contented, and prosperous rural population was the greatest asset that a country
could possess, and this work will show with what ardour and
energy he devoted himself to the furtherance of this object,
and to the prosperity of agriculture generally. He journeyed
through twenty-seven countries examining the condition of
agriculture, and published the results of this survey in his book
“Rural England.” This undertaking he described as “the heaviest labour of all my laborious life.” Besides this he travelled
through the United States and to Canada as a Commissioner
appointed by the Colonial Offi ce, to report to the Secretary
of State on the Labour Colonies instituted by the Salvation
Army. He also served on Royal Commissions which involved
much labour and long journeys. If to give unsparingly of one’s
time and abilities to the service of one’s fellow-men, without
hope of reward, is to be a philanthropist, surely Rider Haggard deserved that honoured name. But, like many another
man who devotes his time to work of this character, he was
much discouraged and disappointed because his labours were
not crowned by immediate results. Nevertheless, it is probable
that the causes for which he worked will, in the long run, triumph, and the work which he gave so unsparingly will not be
wasted.
I undertook the preparation of this work for the press because my friend, Rider Haggard, wished me to do so. I hope I
have not bungled or failed in the execution of this labour of
love. I wish especially to express my gratitude to Miss Hector,
9
H. RIDER HAGGARD
who acted as Sir Rider’s secretary for thirty-four years, up to
the time of his death, for reading the proofs and for her unfailing kindness and help in many ways.
My thanks are also due to various gentlemen for permission to print letters: viz. the Father Superior of Mount Saint
Bernard’s Abbey for several letters from the late Brother Basil;
Mr. E. F. Benson for an extract from a letter of Archbishop Benson; the executors of Sir Walter Besant; Mr. Bramwell Booth,
General of the Salvation Army, for letters from himself and
from General William Booth; the Earl of Carnarvon for a letter from his grandfather; the Rt. Hon. Winston Churchill for
a letter from himself, and one from Lady Leslie; Lady Clarke
for a letter from Sir Marshal Clarke; the executors of Miss Marie Corelli; Sir Douglas Dixie, Bart., for a letter from the late
Lady Florence Dixie; Lady Gwendolen Elveden for one from
the late Earl of Onslow; Sir Bartle Frere for a letter from his
father; Sir Edmund Gosse; Earl Grey for letters from his father;
the Viscountess Harcourt for letters from the late Viscount
Harcourt; Mrs. Hanbury for a letter from the late Rt. Hon. R.
W. Hanbury; the executors of the late W. E. Henley; Mr. H. C.
L. Holden for a letter from Dr. Holden; Messrs. Hutchinson
and Co., Ltd., for a letter from Messrs. Hurst and Blackett; the
executors of the late Mr. J. Cordy Jeaffreson; Mr. Rudyard Kipling; Chief Justice J. K. Kotze; Mrs. Andrew Lang for many
letters from her husband; Sir Oliver Lodge; the Hon. Mrs. A.
Lyttleton; the executors of the late Sir Melmoth Obsorn; Mr.
Lloyd Osbourne for fi ve letters and an unpublished poem
by R. L. Stevenson; Messrs. G. Routledge and Sons, Ltd., for a
letter from Mr. Trubner; the executors of the late President
10
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