Heart of Stone

I have a notebook filled with clippings from The Times. These clippings consist of news articles, birth, marriage and death announcements and advertisements. They are not arranged in chronological order of when they were written, but only in the order in which I found them. As I flip through pages of my notebook, the years jump from 1795 to 1864 and back again. I have been quite disorganized and random in my search for interesting treasures. So, when I find pieces that are connected, it feels like a blessed bit of serendipity.  One of my favourite series of clippings is an example of this type of fortunate find.

This advertisement was posted in The Times on September 9, 1859:

The Times Friday, Sep 09, 1859; pg. 1; Issue 23407; col B

It reads:

To the HEART of STONE.—Why torture the victim longer? Bright prospects shine if you meet on the instant. He has been ruined over and over in screening you. It is the last attempt. If you oppose him now, a few days will put it out of his power to do all he desires for you - this is more than can be told. He forgives from his heart, and will never allude to the past. If he has offended, he hopes, alas, to be forgiven. Let him see the child and kiss it. The nurse shall bear the note fixing the time and place. Let it be where you now are.

Parts of this advertisement are cryptic, but a few things are clear. There is a child involved, a man who has been advocating for Heart of Stone and is now being advocated for by the writer, and this man is being kept from the child. I could not find any more references to Heart of Stone until this advertisement was posted on October  3, 1865, over 6 years later:

 The Times Tuesday, Oct 03, 1865; pg. 1; Issue 25306; col B

It reads:

THE HEART of STONE.—Why torture the victim longer? Bright prospects shine if you meet at once. Present conduct very suspicions to him who knows all; indicates also desire to delude, and exhibits all the past professions to have been for the same purpose. The “Martyr” can no longer endure such ungenerous, petty insult; it out-Herods all. Address, as before, under cover, to Mr. Pollaky, private inquiry office, 13, Paddington-green, W.

Six years have passed and the conflict continues. A few days later, this advertisement is posted. It seems to have been written by the Heart of Stone:

The Times Thursday, Oct 12, 1865; pg. 1; Issue 25314; col B

It reads:

THE HEART of STONE. – Fifteen years of gloomiest depression and long, sad hours of pain and sorrow have made me what I am; but the idol of our mutual affection having now passed into a better life, “Heart of Stone” will relent if “Martyr,” with meekness and submission befitting her self-adopted title, consents to the conditions stated in a former communication to Mr. Pollaky, private inquiry office, 13, Paddington-green; until then, no meeting can, or shall take place.

This advertisement provides a new perspective to this story. It seems that Heart of Stone has a heart that is made of anything but stone, as it has been filled with “pain and sorrow” and the “gloomiest depression.” We also hear that the “idol”, who I presume is the man referred to in the first posting, has died. This next advertisement is written again by Martyr, the author of the first two postings:

The Times Wednesday, Oct 18, 1865; pg. 1; Issue 25319; col B

This advertisement reads:

MARTYR to HEART of STONE. – I accept all your conditions, with the exception of that part of clause 5 which refers to “Corca.” I have left all the necessary documents with Mr. Pollaky, at 13, Paddington-green, W.

It appears that this is a conflict that is further complicated by legal matters. This final advertisement, written by the “Heart of Stone” suggests some resolution, and a promise of meeting:

The Times Tuesday, Oct 24, 1865; pg. 1; Issue 25324; col B

It reads:

HEART of STONE to “MARTYR.” – After so many years of lacerating agony what are riches to me! And, now that our idol is no more, I do not press further your acceptance of Clause 5. Let our meeting take place on the approaching anniversary of an event so indelibly impressed on the memory of us both; and may the solemnity of our reconciliation at the hour of our reunion not be profaned by the faintest suspicion of parsimony. I will communicate to Mr. Pollaky the exact time and place of meeting.

 I find the mention of the “approaching anniversary of an event so indelibly impressed on the memory of us both” to be quite haunting. What was this event that begins such a long period of suffering? What happened to the child? Who was the Martyr and the Heart of Stone? How did they find themselves to be woven in this complicated story?



Publicly, Yet Anonymously

In today’s newspapers, the classifieds are found near the back, full of both the offering and desire for work, belongings and love.  However, in The Times during the Victorian Era, the classifieds were considered advertisements and could easily be found on the front page, immediately after the announcements of marriages, births and deaths. In this section, individuals searched for lost family and friends, misplaced or stolen belongings; they pleaded for help or money, and declared their love and affection in the public arena of the newspaper.  These advertisements take up only a few lines of print. It is a place where names are usually replaced by initials or code and messages are made simple and concise. I am often mystified by how the reader could ever be sure the message they were reading was actually intended for them.  Below are a few advertisements that have such anonymity and whimsy that I can’t help but imagine that hundreds of young women read these words and hoped and dreamed that the message was intended for them and no one else. I cannot help but be a romantic when I read these postings:

                                  The Times Thursday, Sep 18, 1879; pg. 1; Issue 29676; col B

This posting reads:   W. to J. – My very true and loving queen. You know how I worship you and feel for you. Keep a good heart; things at their worst must mend. Anxious for news. Look Oct. 1^st.

Sadly, there was nothing posted on Oct. 1^st, and nothing on the 2^nd or 3^rd. I would like to imagine that those things that were “at their worst” did indeed mend, and that J.- continued to be W.-‘s true and loving queen for their whole lives through.

                                  The Times Saturday, Aug 31, 1867; pg. 1; Issue 25904; col B

This advertisement reads:  MY STAR of HOPE WANES to WHITE. News that you are better would revive its glow. – B.

Oh, to be the one to revive the glow of a waning star!

                                The Times Wednesday, Apr 06, 1859; pg. 1; Issue 23273; col B

This reads: H.N.R. – I will not tempt you. I implicitly believe and respect you. Trust me also. I shall never change. God bless you. Good bye.

When I read this, I see a man making his last effort to communicate with the woman he has fallen in love with, even though she is committed to another. He will leave, the love will fade, and all that remains are these words.

Just a few lines and so many stories can unfold. Who were these individuals who wrote these words and sought to communicate so publicly and yet so anonymously? 

Finding The Times

It has been two years since I first found myself lost in The Times. I was on my lunch break at the library and I was searching for a name. I had been turning a story over in my head, planning it and dreaming, and I needed a name for the main character. The story was set in 18th century London and so I figured the best place to find a good old English name would be within the archives of The Times. I was not expecting to find names like Thunderbolt O'Lavery and Emily Tenderheart, but I did. It was their names that first caught my eye, but it was their story that I couldn't stop thinking about. This is what I found:

The Times, Saturday, Dec 24, 1791;

 pg. 3; Issue 2215; col B

It reads as follows:

COURT OF HONOUR

Thunderbolt O’Lavery, was indicted for the murder of Emily Tenderheart, by seducing her from a boarding-school, debauching her, and finding her fortune so was not to be had without her father’s consent, deserting her, in consequence of which she came upon the town and died of a broken heart at eighteen years of age.

Acquited, seduction of innocence being a common fashion and not a capital offence.

COURT OF JUSTICE

Thomas Tenderheart, the father of the above young Lady, was indicted for the murder of Thunderbolt O’Lavery.

It came out in evidence, that after the death of Emily, the prisoner met Thunderbolt endeavouring to seduce another of his daughters, and warmed with a just indignation, he struck the seducer on the head, fractured his skull, and of that fracture the deceased died. – Guilty, Death.

And so, sitting at the computer during my lunch break, I found myself lost in the Times. I couldn't help but jot down the questions and curiosities that came from this small excerpt.  Were these their real names or the artful creation of the author? What does it mean to "die of a broken heart"? Did the writer feel that the father was right in killing Thunderbolt, when he writes of his "just indignation"? Why would Thunderbolt try to seduce the second daughter when he knew he would not receive the father's consent to her fortune? Who is this second daughter that is seduced? What is her story? And the line: "seduction of innocence being a common fashion", how does something so horrible sound like poetry! In the end, the innocent lover, the seducer and the father are all dead. So much tragedy in just over a hundred words of print.

After a few more lunch breaks with my companion, The Times, I decided I no longer needed to write my story. Instead, I wanted to find the stories that had been hidden within a mass of words for decades and centuries. I wanted to think about those lives that were lived so long ago, those lives that have been so long forgotten. Over the past two years I have collected hundreds of stories and articles from those who have left just a glimpse of themselves within a few short lines. And now, I would like to share these whispers from the past with you.