The Ivory Gate, a new edition

CHAPTER XXXV

THE LAST

Mr. Dering left his office, went back to Gray's Inn, and sat down again before the Ivory Gate. Those who have once sat for an hour or two in this place return to it again and again and never leave it. It is, to begin with, the most beautiful gate ever erected. The brain and wit and fancy of man could never conceive such a gate, could never execute such a conception. It is all of pure ivory, carved with flowers such as never grew; curving and flowing lines leading nowhere; figures of maidens lovely beyond all dreams; philosophers whose wisdom reaches unto the Heavens; statesmen who discern the gathering forces and control the destinies of a nation; inventors who conquer nature; physicians who prolong life; ecclesiastics who convert the Carthusian cell into a bower of delight; poets who here find their fantasies divine; men and women in a work-a-day dress who wear the faces of the heavenly host.

All the dreamers lie here, not asleep, but dreaming. Their eyes are open, but they do not see each other; they see these dreams. Those of the young who are also generous come here and dream until they grow older and are chained to their work and can dream no more. Men of all conditions come here – even the little shop-boy – even the maiden who cleans the knives and polishes the boots – all are here. The young Prince is here: the little charity boy is here: the lad whose loftiest ambition is that he may one day stand in the pulpit of the little Baptist village chapel is here: here is the undergraduate who was Captain of Eton and will be Senior Classic and Member of Parliament and Minister – even Prime Minister – and will belong to History. The poet is here, and the painter, and sometimes hither comes the novelist, and, but more rarely, the dramatist. Hither comes the musician to lift up his soul with thoughts that only music can give; and the singer, so that he sings more than is apparent from the words; and the actor, so that he puts things into the play never dreamed by him who wrote it. Great is the power, great the gifts, of this noble Gate of Ivory.

Sitting before that gate, such a dreamer as Edmund Gray receives strange visions. He sees clearly and near at hand the things which might be, yet are not, and never can be until man lays down his garb of selfishness and puts on the white robes of Charity. To that dreamer the Kingdom of Heaven, which seems to some so far off and to others impossible, so that they deride the name of it, is actually close at hand – with us – easy to enter if we only choose. He exhorts his fellows to enter with him. And they would follow, but they cannot because they are held back by custom and necessity. They must obey the laws of the multitude, and so they stay where they are. And when the dreamer passes away, his memory is quickly lost, and the brightness quickly leaves those dimly-lighted lives. Yet other dreamers come – every day there arises an Edmund Gray.

Now when Edmund Gray takes the place of Edward Dering, in which guise does the soul, in the end, leave the earth? Are the dreams of Edmund Gray perhaps the logical development of the doctrines held by Edward Dering? Is the present stage of Individual Property – where every man works for himself and his household – one through which the world must pass before it can reach the higher level of working each for all? First men and women hunt, separate: they live apart in hollow trees and caves. Then they live together, and the man hunts for his wife and children. Next, they live in communities, which grow into towns and tribes and nations. Then men rely upon the protection of the law, and work for themselves again. That is our present stage: it has lasted long – very long. Perhaps it will break up some day: perhaps sooner than we think. Who knows? All things are possible – even the crash and wreck of a civilisation which has taken thousands of years to build up. And upon it may come – one knows not – that other stage which now belongs to the dreamer before the Ivory Gate.

The wedding was held then, as Elsie said it should be, shorn of none of its splendours, and relieved of the cloud which had hung over them so long and threatened them so gloomily. Athelstan the Exile – Athelstan the Ne'er-do-well – Athelstan the Profligate – Athelstan the Resident of Camberwell – Athelstan the Smirched and Soiled – stood beside the altar, tall and gallant, and gave away the bride for all the world to see – nobody in the least ashamed of him. There was not any breath of scandal left. Here he was, returned from his travels, a tall and proper man, dressed in broadcloth, perhaps with money in purse, prosperous and successful in the sight of all. His mother gazed upon him when she should have been looking at the bride or into her Prayer Book. Her eyes were red, but then a mother is allowed a tear or two when her daughter leaves the nest. And as to those who had whispered words about family jars, quarrels and estrangements, or had spoken against the fair fame of the groom, they were now as mute as mice.

All the richer members of the House of Arundel – the City Arundels – were present. One of them – chief partner in a leading firm of accountants – afterwards computed, for the greater increase of the family glory, how many hundreds of thousands of pounds were gathered together at one moment beneath that sacred roof. He counted the members, and made that little addition, during the performance of the ceremony. Those of the Austins who were not disgracefully poor – there are some branches of the family, I believe, pretty low down – were also present. And the company went to Pembridge Square after the service, gazed admiringly at the wedding presents, and drank the health of the bride and bridegroom, and gathered with cousinly curiosity round the returned Prodigal. But they knew nothing – mind you – of his connection with Camberwell. And nothing about his supposed complicity in the Edmund Gray business. There had been, happily, no scandal.

Among the company in the church was Mr. Dering. He stood tall and erect, his coat buttoned, his face keen and hard, the family lawyer stamped by nature and long custom.

Presently, when the service was about half way through, a change came over him. His face relaxed: the lines curved just a little laterally, the austerity vanished, his eyes brightened. He took off his gloves furtively and opened his coat. He was Edmund Gray. In that capacity he afterwards drank to the bride and wished her happiness. And he walked all the way from Pembridge Square to South Square, Gray's Inn.

I see in the future an old man growing feeble: he leans upon the arm of a girl whom he calls his Scholar, his disciple, and his child. His face is serene: he is perfectly happy: the Advent of that Kingdom whose glories he preaches is very nigh at hand. He lives in the house of his disciple: he has forgotten the very existence of his lawyer: he goes no more to Lincoln's Inn: always he is lying, night and day, before that miracle of carven work in Ivory. There he watches – it is his Vision – the long procession of those who work and sing at their work and are happy, work they ever so hard, because they work each for all and all for each. And there is no more sorrow or crying and no more pain. What hath the Gate of Horn – through which is allowed nothing but what is true – bitterly true – absolutely true – nakedly, coldly, shiveringly true – to show in comparison with this? A crowd trampling upon each other: men who enslave and rob each other: men and women and children lying in misery – men and women and children starving. – Let us fly, my brothers – let us swiftly fly – let us hasten – to the Gate of Ivory.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON THE IVORY GATE

By WALTER BESANT

'The novel shows us throughout that Mr. Besant is one of those fortunates who find fresh material… Mr. Besant is a popular novelist, but he shows here an artist's appreciation of whimsical contrast, and an artist's skill in the delineation of character… We are inclined to think "The Ivory Gate" worthy of the past reputation of Mr. Besant, and indicative of future development.' – Speaker.

'It would be impossible to discuss at length the many and great merits of "The Ivory Gate" without telling the story, and it is certainly a story to be read, not to be told… Our interest in the story never flags for a moment. Neither in the "Golden Butterfly," nor "The Chaplain of the Fleet," are there any characters to equal the city knight, Sir Samuel Dering, and his wife Hilda, or the old clerk Checkley.' – Saturday Review.

'The writing in "The Ivory Gate" has that nameless charm which belongs to everything that comes from Mr. Besant's pen.' – National Review.

'The complications arising from the situation are cleverly worked out, with all the love of detail and the dramatic skill which always distinguishes Mr. Besant's workmanship.' – Times.

'The subject of the novel is a strong one, and it might have been made most powerful; but the dreams that come to Mr. Dering through the Ivory Gate are such happy ones, and he himself is so much more lovable dreaming than awake, that the pathos of the situation does not weigh too heavily upon the reader.' – Guardian.

'A story told in the author's happiest manner… The spirit which pervades the story is akin to that which pervades "All Sorts and Conditions of Men."… There is a good deal of the feeling of Dickens in this pleasantly interesting story.' – Sporting Life.

'The story is interesting, imaginative, abounding in matter for thought, and is in Mr. Besant's happiest style.' – Daily News.

'Mr. Besant's story is a solid boon, a fantasy in which he half escapes from the commonplace veracities of existence, and yet keeps his readers' feet on the London flagstones throughout.' – Athenæum.

'A delightful work… A charming tale, full of life and interest… As a story it is in all respects excellent. It is worked out with skill and power. There are many very fine passages. "The Ivory Gate" is charming in its originality, and in the simplicity and force with which the plot is developed.' – Scotsman.

'There is a good deal that is pleasant in "The Ivory Gate."… Both hero and heroine are admirable.' – Daily Chronicle.

'Mr. Besant has hit on rather a felicitous subject, which is very well wrought out – We venture to predict that hours spent over "The Ivory Gate" will be pleasant.' – Scottish Leader.

'Mr. Besant illustrates a very curious phase of madness; he preaches a highly poetical kind of socialism, and he gives us a clear and attractive picture of ordinary English life… The story is full of interesting characters.' – Glasgow Herald.

'The story is cleverly planned and thoroughly readable from beginning to end.' – Leeds Mercury.

'"The Ivory Gate" is a novel of considerable interest, and it is a story that is told in Mr. Besant's best style.' – Pall Mall Gazette.

'The story is cleverly told and effective.' – Morning Post.

[October, 1892]