Mr. Pike, who still held a post in the Salem Custom House, had written to Hawthorne not long after his arrival in England, inquiring about the prospect of obtaining some employment in the consular service there; and Hawthorne replied, in a manner that leaves no doubt of his sagacity in perceiving the exact situation of affairs, with its bearings for both Pike and himself, nor of his determination neither to deceive himself nor to give his friend any but the real reasons why he discouraged the inquiry.
"Liverpool, September 15, 1853.
Dear Pike,—I have been intending to write to you this some time, but wished to get some tolerably clear idea of the state of things here before communicating with you. I find that I have three persons in my office: the head-clerk, or vice-consul, at £200, the second clerk at £150, and the messenger, who does some writing, at £80. They are all honest and capable men, and do their duty to perfection. No American would take either of these places for twice the sums which they receive; and no American, without some months' practice, would undertake the duty. Of the two I would rather displace the vice-consul than the second clerk, who does a great amount of labor, and has a remarkable variety of talent,—whereas the old gentleman, though perfect in his own track, is nothing outside of it. I will not part with either of these men unless compelled to do so; and I don't think Secretary Marcy can compel me.
Now as to the Manchester branch, it brings me in only about £200. There is a consular agent there, all the business being transacted here in Liverpool. The only reason for appointing an agent would be that it might shut off all attempts to get a separate consulate there. There is no danger, I presume, of such an attempt for some time to come; for Pierce made a direct promise that the place should be kept open for my benefit. Nevertheless efforts will be made to fill it, and very possibly representations may be made from the business men of Manchester that there is necessity for a consul there. In a pecuniary point of view, it would make very little difference to me whether the place were filled by an independent consul or by a vice-consul of my own appointment, for the latter would of course not be satisfied with less than the whole £200. What I should like would be to keep the place vacant and receive the proceeds as long as possible, and at last, when I could do no better, to give the office to you. No great generosity in that to be sure. Thus I have put the matter fairly before you. Do you tell me as frankly how your own affairs stand, and whether you can live any longer in that cursed old Custom House without hanging yourself. Rather than that you should do so I would let you have the place to-morrow, although it would pay you about £100 less than your present office. I suppose as a single man you might live within your income in Manchester; but judging from my own experience as a married man, it would be a very tight fit. With all the economy I could use I have already got rid of $2,000 since landing in England. Hereafter I hope to spend less and save more.
In point of emolument, my office will turn out about what I expected. If I have ordinary luck I shall bag from $5,000 to $7,000 clear per annum: but to effect this I shall have to deny myself many things which I would gladly have. Colonel Crittenden told me that it cost him $4,000 to live with only his wife at a boarding-house, including a journey to London now and then. I am determined not to spend more than this, keeping house with my wife and children. I have hired a good house furnished at £160, on the other side of the River Mersey, at Rock Park, where there is good air and play-ground for the children; and I can come over to the city by steamboat every morning. I like the situation all the better because it will render it impossible for me to go to parties, or to give parties myself, and will keep me out of a good deal of nonsense.
Liverpool is the most detestable place as a residence that ever my lot was cast in,—smoky, noisy, dirty, pestilential; and the consulate is situated in the most detestable part of the city. The streets swarm with beggars by day and by night. You never saw the like; and I pray that you may never see it in America. It is worth while coming across the sea in order to feel one's heart warm towards his own country; and I feel it all the more because it is plain to be seen that a great many of the Englishmen whom I meet here dislike us, whatever they may pretend to the contrary.
My family and myself have suffered very much from the elements; there has not been what we should call a fair day since our arrival, nor a single day when a fire would not be agreeable. I long for one of our sunny days, and one of our good hearty rains. It always threatens to rain, but seldom rains in good earnest. It never does rain, and it never don't rain; but you are pretty sure to get a sprinkling if you go out without an umbrella. Except by the fireside, I have not once been as warm as I should like to be: but the Englishmen call it a sultry day whenever the thermometer rises above 60°. There has not been heat enough in England this season to ripen an apple.
My wife and children often talk of you. Even the baby has not forgotten you. Write often, and say as much as you can about yourself, and as little as you please about A——, N——, and B——, and all the rest of those wretches of whom my soul was weary to death before I made my escape.
Your friend ever,
Nath. Hawthorne."
Writing to Bridge again, November 28, 1854, he continues, with regard to his consular prospects, by a comparison between the pay received by English consuls and that allowed by the new bill to Americans. Only $7,500 were to be paid the consul at Liverpool. "Now I employ three clerks constantly," says Hawthorne "and sometimes more. The bill provides that these clerks should be Americans; and the whole sum allowed would not do much more than pay competent Americans, whose salaries must be much higher than would content Englishmen of equal qualifications. No consul can keep the office at this rate, without engaging in business—which the bill forbids." He adds that the notion that, by the proposed measure, a fund would be gained from the larger consulates towards paying the salaries of the smaller ones, was mistaken, since "a large part of the income of this consulate arises from business which might just as well be transacted by a notary public as by a consul, and which a consul is therefore not officially bound to do. All such business as this the consul will cease to transact, the moment the avails of it go into the public treasury, instead of his own purse; and thus there will be an immediate falling off of the office to a very considerable extent."
Later on, he says: "I should really be ashamed to tell you how much my income is taxed by the assistance which I find it absolutely necessary to render to American citizens, who come to me in difficulty or distress. Every day there is some new claimant, for whom the government makes no provision, and whom the consul must assist, if at all, out of his own pocket. It is impossible (or at any rate very disagreeable) to leave a countryman to starve in the streets, or to hand him over to the charities of an English work-house; so I do my best for these poor devils. But I doubt whether they will meet with quite so good treatment after the passage of the consular bill. If the government chooses to starve the consul, a good many will starve with him."
The bill, nevertheless, was passed. Lieutenant Bridge, who was then stationed at Washington, had done all that he could to rouse an effectual opposition to its enactment; and his friend wrote to him from Liverpool (March 23, 1855) thus:—
"I thank you for your efforts against this bill; but Providence is wiser than we are, and doubtless it will all turn out for the best. All through my life, I have had occasion to observe that what seemed to be misfortunes have proved, in the end, to be the best things that could possibly have happened to me; and so it will be with this—even though the mode in which it benefits me may never be made clear to my apprehension. It would seem to be a desirable thing enough that I should have had a sufficient income to live comfortably upon for the rest of my life, without the necessity of labor; but, on the other hand, I might have sunk prematurely into intellectual sluggishness—which now there will be no danger of my doing; though with a house and land of my own, and a good little sum at interest besides, I need not be under any very great anxiety about the future. When I contrast my present situation with what it was five years ago, I see a vast deal to be thankful for; and I still hope to thrive by my legitimate instrument—the pen. One consideration which goes very far towards reconciling me to quitting the office is my wife's health, with