The Tin Princess, Page 26

  She saw a young man on a horse, his arm in a sling, ride up a forest road. She saw a giant with scarred hands and a swarthy moustache pass his field-glasses to a comrade and point down through pine-trees to a little fort quiet under the snow. She saw a cave in the mountains, a fire blazing, rifles stacked against a rock, an ancient flag catching the gleams of red light.

  But they were only dreams. When a passing doctor spotted the open door of the laboratory, he found the strangest sight: a woman dead, with her head in the lap of a girl who was fast asleep.

  Note from the Author

  Otto von Bismarck and Gerson von Bleichroder, the dastardly political schemers at the heart of The Tin Princess, were real-life figures in German history...

  Prince von Bismarck (1815 - 1898) was one of the most prominent European statesmen of the nineteenth century. As Minister-President of Prussia he engineered the unification of the numerous states of Germany, and following the declaration of the German Empire in 1871, Bismarck served as its first Chancellor.

  Gerson von Bleichroder (1822 - 1893) was a Jewish Banker who filled a vital role behind the scenes of Bismarck's public life, carrying out his private banking transactions while also looking after financial matters on behalf of the Prussian state and the German Reich. In later life he suffered from glaucoma, an eye disease which caused his sight to gradually worsen. Bleichroder and his family were made Prussian nobles in 1872.

  In writing The Tin Princess, I was greatly helped by Gold and Iron by Fritz Stern (Penguin, 1987), which tells the story of Bleichroder's life and activities in a vivid and fascinating way. Of course, there never was a Razkavia, so he never really did the things I show him doing in this story; but it's too late for him to sue me now. I just liked the thought of this blind man sitting at the centre of a web of intrigue and helping his master Bismarck to determine the future of Europe.

  I also find it interesting that since Bismarck's time Europe has been characterized by states becoming bigger and more centralised, but that now, with the European Union getting bigger and bigger, the smaller regions are demanding more autonomy and independence from the big states that contain them: Scotland to Britain, the Basque region from Spain, and so on. Perhaps it won't be long before a Member of the European Parliament from an obscure corner of central Europe will make a passionate speech demanding independence for Razkavia, and the Eagle will fly again.

  PHILIP PULLMAN

  Extracts from

  DICKENS'S DICTIONARY

  OF

  LONDON,

  1879.

  AN UNCONVENTIONAL HANDBOOK.

  During the 1870s the son of Charles Dickens, who was also called Charles, compiled a fascinating guide to Victorian London, which Philip Pullman found invaluable when writing the Sally Lockhart Quartet.

  Balloon Ascents. - Balloon ascents frequently take place from the grounds of the Crystal and Alexandra Palaces. Any one who desires to try the effect of a flight into upper air should seek out the advertisement of the ascent in a daily paper and apply to the aeronaught in charge. The solution of the great problem of aerial navigation still occupies the attention of enthusiasts, who have formed themselves into a society for the exhibition of models, &c., and who are understood to be prepared liberally to reward any successful inventor.

  Bicycling, the youngest of the athletic sports which occupy so much of the time and thoughts of junior London, has assumed, in a very few years, extraordinary proportions, and that notwithstanding the ridicule which has been so lavishly showered upon its disciples, and the actual persecution which they have in some quarters undergone. A great city is, perhaps, not the most favourable arena for the bicyclist, but if he be careful and considerate in the streets, and does not put on the pace until he gets to the open country roads, there is no good reason why he should not be left to enjoy himself in peace.

  Black Eye. - Should any reader of the DICTIONARY be afflicted with an accidental black eye, and find himself at the same time obliged to go into society, he may be recommended to apply to Mr. George Paul, 47, James-street, Oxford-street, who describes himself as an "artist in black eye", and the resources of whose art are supposed to be equal to concealing the most aggravated case at a cost of 2s.6d., and 5s. if the patient has to be visited at home. Mr. Clarkson, 45, Wellington-street, the well-known theatrical perruquier, may also be relied upon for assistance under similar circumstances, and at about the same charges.

  Boxing. - Professional pugilism has died out, as much choked by the malpractices of its followers as strangled by the public opinion; and the public-houses kept by such men as Ben Caunt, Nat Langham, or Jem Ward, are no longer among the attractions London life has to offer to the Corinthian Toms or Jerry Hawthorns of the day, whose manner of enjoying themselves would indeed somewhat astonish their prototypes. The "noble art of self-defence" is not, however, altogether neglected, but finds its place among the athletic sports, and the clubs by which it is encouraged may be congratulated on keeping alive one of the oldest institutions, in the way of manly exercise, on record.

  Chimney on Fire. - Newcomers from the country will do well to bear in mind that it is not safe in London to clean a kitchen chimney by "burning out". Apart from all question of danger and damage, the maximum penalty for a "chimney on fire" in London is 20s.

  Cisterns. - The water supplied to London householders is so bad in itself, even when it is first turned on, that it is a pity to run any risk of having it made even worse than it is. All cisterns should be thoroughly cleaned out about once a month, and the careful housekeeper will not only order the job to be done, but will himself see that his orders are executed. The family medical man and the family chemist would make smaller incomes than they do now, if all cisterns were regularly seen to.

  Coffee Taverns. - Five years ago a company, of which Lord Shaftesbury was president, made the first attempt on a large scale to give the lower section of the inhabitants of London a chance of escape from the public-house. The object of this company was to establish attractive places of refreshment in the "more densely peopled parts of London, and elsewhere, to serve as a counter-attraction to the public-house and gin palace". In 1877 the Coffee Public House Association was organised under the presidency of the Duke of Westminster. To quote Mr. Hepple Hall, "adequate provision for the wants of the population of London alone requires that coffee public-houses should be numbered, not by tens or scores, but by hundreds." That some such organisation was a necessity of the times, may be gathered from the fact that in the United Kingdom the number of houses now open for this business is nearly 3,000, under the control of nearly 80 companies.

  Cricket. - The famous grounds of "Lord's", and "TheOval", with the more recently established "Prince's", are the principal cricket grounds of London. "Lord's" is the headquarters of the Marylebone Club, and there some of the "sensational" cricket of the year is played. Oxford and Cambridge, and Eton and Harrow, especially the latter, attract society to an almost ridiculous extent, and are among the sights of London. The cricket lover will, however, find many matches more to his taste than these, and as hardly a week goes by in the season from May till September without a first-class match, will have no difficulty in finding a suitable occasion for a visit to the celebrated old place.

  Drainage. - Notwithstanding all the boasted advance of sanitary science, the sewage of London, with the exception of a not inconsiderable quantity which leaks through defective pipes and joints into the soil and renders basements damp and unhealthy, is still discharged into the River Thames. The gigantic work of sewerage was undertaken by the Metropolitan Board of Works and carried into effect at immense cost. As the outfall is now near the mouth of the river, the danger to health of the residents in the metropolis is considerably less than when the sewage was discharged at many points in the upper part of the stream; but it is still carried by the tide far up the river, and, while that is the case, the sanitary condition of London can never be considered satisfactory.

  Drinking Fountains. - Unt
il the last few years London was ill-provided with public drinking fountains and cattle troughs. This matter is now well looked after by the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association.

  Fish Dinners. - The typical fish dinner of London is the extraordinary entertainment offered at Greenwich - perhaps the most curious repast ever invented by the ingenuity of the most imaginative hotel-keeper. Many courses of fish prepared in every conceivable way, followed by ducks and peas, beans and bacon, cutlets, and other viands, so arranged as to stimulate a pleasing, if somewhat expensive thirst, are washed down at these Gargantuan feeds by the choicest brands at the highest prices known to civilisation. The effect at the moment in eminently delightful. The sensation produced when the bill is produced is not so pleasurable, and it has been said that there is no "next morning headache" like that which follows a Greenwich dinner. But there is no doubt that a Greenwich dinner is a very excellent thing in its way - especially if you happen to be invited to dine by a liberal friend, who knows how to order it, and pay for it.

  Fogs are, no doubt, not peculiar to London. Even Paris itself can occasionally turn out very respectable work in this way, and the American visitor to England will very probably think, in passing the banks of Newfoundland, that he has very little to learn on the subject of fog. But what Mr. Guppy called "a London particular" and what is more usually known to the natives as "a pea-souper", will very speedily dispel any little hallucination of this sort. As the east wind brings up the exhalations of the Essex and Kentish marshes, and as the damp-laden winter air prevents the dispersion of the partly consumed carbon from hundreds of thousands of chimneys, the strangest atmospheric compound know to science fills the valley of the Thames. At such times almost all the senses have their share of trouble. Not only does a strange and worse than Cimmerian darkness hide familiar landmarks from the sight, but the taste and sense of smell are offended by an unhallowed compound of flavours and all things become greasy and clammy to the touch. During the continuance of a real London fog - which may be black, or grey, or more probably orange-coloured - the happiest man is he who can stay at home. But if business - there is no such thing as out-door pleasure during the continuance of a London fog - should compel a sally into the streets, one caution should be carefully observed. Mr. Caitlin, well known for his connection with the Indian tribes of North America, once promulgated in print a theory, that a royal road to long life was, sleeping or waking, to keep the mouth closed as much as possible. This advice, whatever its value may be generally, should always be followed when a London fog has to be encountered. Nothing could be more deleterious to the lungs and the air-passages than the wholesale inhalation of the foul air and floating carbon, which, combined, form a London fog. It is almost unnecessary to add that the dangers of the streets, great at all times, are immeasurably increased in foggy weather; and that the advantages of being able to dive into the unnatural darkness after successful robbery, are thoroughly appreciated by the predatory classes.

  Football is by far the most popular out-door game of the winter months, and there are few open spaces in or near London where matches may not be seen in progress on any open Saturday afternoon, between the beginning of October and the end of March. The most important scenes of action are Kennington Oval - where the international matches are played in February and March - Battersea-park, Blackheath, Richmond, Wimbledon, Wormwood Scrubbs, and Woolwich. Both the Rugby Football Union and the Football Association have their headquarters in London. The Union is the stronger body, and under its laws, which permit the ball being carried, quite five times as many matches are played as under the Association laws, which do not allow of the ball being run with. The principal matches played under the auspices of the two societies are - Union: North v. South, played in alternate years in London and Manchester; England v. Scotland, for the Calcutta Challenge Cup, in London and Edinburgh; and England v. Ireland, in London and Dublin. Association: England v. Scotland, played alternately in Glasgow and London; London v. Sheffield; and the matches for the Association Challenge Cup, competed for by Association clubs. The Association matches have 11 players, the Union 15 players on each side. The dash and pluck necessary to earn distinction at both games render football matches very popular with Londoners, and as many as 4,000 spectators have been seen at the Oval on the occasion of an international match.

  Horses and Carriages. - Readers of the DICTIONARY may possibly find themselves in the position of wanting to hire horses, harness, &c. This is a matter as to which it is most difficult to advise. Prices vary so greatly during the few months of the season and the rest of the year, and in various quarters of the town, that this is emphatically a business in which "circumstances alter cases". But it may roughly be said that at the best West-end houses a one-horse carriage (victoria or brougham) will cost about 30 guineas a month; a two-horse carriage, such as a landau, about 45 guineas a month. These prices, of course, include horses, carriage, harness, coachman, stabling, and forage. Horses alone, during the same months, may be hired at about 7/12 guineas each a month, including forage and stabling; but in this case harness will be an extra charge, and the coachman's wages will have to be paid. In ordinary jobbing work a one-horse brougham during the day-time costs about 7s.6d. for two hours' hiring; theatre and ball work cost from 10s.6d. to 27s.6d., according to circumstances and locality. It should be borne in mind that unless the carriage be jobbed for a lengthened period the coach man invariably expects a gratuity. The above prices, it be noted, refer to the best West-end establishments. In every district in town there are job-masters who will supply horses and carriages on considerably easier terms. As these vary so much with situation and circumstance, it is impossible to give even an approximate list of charges.

  Nuisances. - A few of the desagremens to which metropolitan flesh is heir have been legally settled to be "nuisances".

  THE FOLLOWING WILL be summarily suppressed on appeal to the nearest police-constable:

  Abusive language; Advertisements, carriage of (except in the form approved; Areas left open without sufficient fence.

  Baiting animals; Betting in streets; Bonfires in streets; Books, obscene, selling in streets.

  Carpet beating; Carriage, obstruction by; Cattle, careless driving of; Coals, unloading, between prohibited hours; Cock-fighting; Crossing in streets, obstructing.

  Defacing buildings; Deposit of goods in streets; Dogs loose or mad; Doors, knocking at; Drunk and disorderly persons; Dust, removal of, between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.

  Exercising horses to annoyance of persons; Exposing goods for sale in parks.

  Firearms, discharging; Fireworks, throwing in streets; Footways, obstructions on; Furious driving; Furniture, fraudulent removal of, between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.

  Games, playing in streets.

  Indecent exposure.

  Lamps, extinguishing.

  Mat-shaking after 8 a.m.; Musicians in streets.

  Obscene singing; Offensive material, removal of, between 6 a.m. and 12 night.

  Posting bills without consent; Projections from house to cause annoyance.

  Reins, persons driving without; Ringing door bells without excuse; Rubbish lying in thoroughfare.

  Slides, making in streets; Stone-throwing.

  Unlicensed public carriage.

  Restaurants. - A very few years ago the expectant diner, who required, in the public rooms of London, something better than a cut off the joint, or a chop or steak, would have had but a limited number of tables at his command. A really good dinner was almost entirely confined to the regions of club-land, and, with one or two exceptions, respectable restaurants, to which a lady could be taken, may be said hardly to have existed at all. Artful seekers after surreptitious good dinners, who knew their London well, certainly had some foreign houses in the back settlements of Soho or of Leicester-square, to which they pinned their faith, but the restaurant, as it has been for many years understood in Paris, practically had no place in London. Time, which has changed the London which
some of us knew, as it has changed most of the habits of society, has altered all this. It is probably true that even now it is impossible to dine in public in London as well as that important ceremony can be performed in Paris. But much has been done in twenty years that those among us who are still respectably young, may look forward to the day when the glories - and the prices - of the Boulevard des Italiens may be ours. However that may be, one thing is certain; that if you know where to go, and how to arrange your campaign, you can dine as well in London, in all styles and at all prices, as any reasonable gourmet can wish.

  Prisons. - The prisons and sessions houses of London are known by the following cant names: Central Criminal Court as "The Start"; the Old Bailey as "The Gate"; Sessions House, Clerkenwell, as "X's Hall"; House of Correction, Clerkenwell, as "The Steel"; House of Detention, Clerkenwell, as "The Tench"; Surrey Sessions House as "The Slaughter House". The convict and other prisons are commonly called "Jugs".

  Sight-Seeing. - Sight-seeing, in the opinion of many experienced travellers, is best avoided altogether. It may well be, however, that this will be held to be a matter of opinion, and that sight-seeing will continue to flourish. One piece of advice to the intending sight-seer is at all events sound. Never go to see anything by yourself. If the show be a good one, you will enjoy yourself all the more in company; and the solitary contemplation of anything that is dull and tedious is one of the most depressing experiences of human life. Furthermore, an excellent principle - said to be of American origin - is never to enquire how far you may go, but to go straight on until you are told to stop.