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27 Apr 62 John Halifax Mother ______________________________________________________________________________________________
Halifax, Nova Scotia
April 27th /62
My dear Mother
I am still in doubt whether I shall not be with you as soon as this letter, or whether my return may be postponed, for an indefinite period. Now that I have had my trip to the States & that there is really nothing to do here (or rather that there are people to do, in a sort of a way) what little there is to be done. I would rather go home. I hate making shifts, when doing public work & that I fear would be the case here, as there is no possibility, thanks to the deficiency in money, of doing the thing well.
If I were to have all the work put into my own hands, it would be well enough, but there are men here already who have planned what is to be done & I, the senior, am to help them to carry out their views. Of course, if I am here to stay, I shall do it with a good grace, but I would sooner get home and as the next mail will surely bring me word, I am hoping that Lord Mugrave’s request may be refused. Any how, it is only until November that I am likely to be wanted and then I hope to be with you again.
My projected visit to the States & Canada was my principal object in proposing to stay and that managed, as I see that neither pay, promotion or credit are to be got for staying, I may as well get back to England as soon as I can. Pending the decision, I have moved into lodgings which I have pretty cheap and comfortable. Porter is with me, seems very happy and promises to make good and useful servant, altho’ he is very anxious to see his horses. Those I have not invested in until I find out whether I am to stay or not, so that I am still merely vegetating and doing nothing. I try reading for
two or three hours every day and have domesticated myself at the Artillery Mess, which is pleasant enough, as there are a good number of field officers and old Captains there. Instead of the preponderance of subalterns which form to me, in my present mood, an objection to the regimental messes. I am not yet a man-hater, but have got the length of being a boy and – would-be man – hater.
There is a very nice fellow here just now, a Capt. Ellison of the 47th, A.D.C. to Gnl Rumley, who was sent here to command in Gnl Doyle’s * absence. Ellison and I parade for a walk almost every day, and we are generally joined by Nugent, the Q.M.Gl and Stokes, the Brigade Major. We ‘gold lace cap’ men hang together and being all men who have seen a good deal, pull well together. About three or four days after I wrote my last, you letters of 15th and 29th March, and one of my Father’s of the 29th turned up together. You have only written every fortnight . That is well enough, but unfortunately you have selected just the wrong Saturdays, and neither by the steamer that comes to New York & not by the one that comes here, so that my letters are delayed somewhere in the States, or in New Brunswick, waiting for a chance to get across the Bay of Fundy. In addition to this, my Father’s letter only has a penny head on it which might have been saved as it was of no use, whilst I had to pay double postage. One of yours had no stamp at all on and on this I had to pay double postage. I think a sixpenny stamp will bring the letters by the Boston & Halifax steamer. Out here, that is the postage from here to England.
I hope Helen has quite got over the teething and has recovered her wanted healthy appearance. Perhaps I may be in town to ride with her in Rotten Row yet this season.
So Julius will not come home & go in for the Staff College. That is stupid of him as, in addition to pushing him up well in his profession & really the only means now, it would be very pleasant for us to be there together and see more of each other than the service has yet permitted. I don’t think we should quarrel. We are so similar and yet dissimilar. It is rubbish for him to say he could not do it.
What he might have learnt at Sandhurst has very little to do with the College. German and Hindustani would bring him very forward for the work. They have changes the regulations there and thrown me back considerably. Up to now, the men who came out highest were those who knew a little of everything, and I came rather under that head. But now they only allow a certain number of subjects to be taken up and we must be thoroughly masters of the subjects we choose. This is a nuisance, but it just drives me into certain grooves instead of opening out generally. Perhaps it is better, but I doubt it.
What is Peter doing. In the volunteers yet. Commercially, how is he standing. What about his property at Tientsin. *
Arthur, I am sorry to hear is so stout & not grown tall. I did hope that we should have stood six feet all round. I expected to have been the shortest & as yet hold my head higher than any. So far, at any rate, they must all look up to me.
Alfred of course is deep in his books. When is he to be relieved by Frank. I would sooner keep him a few months longer than bring him away too soon, as two or three months make all the difference between superficial and well grounded knowledge. All this I may have the opportunity of repeating shortly to you.
I hate uncertainty and wish I knew the decision that the high & mighty of the land have come to.
May 1st
Still no mail in. Cunard’s people, knowing there is no competition have taken to running their slowest (therefore cheapest) steamers to Halifax, and instead of getting our letters in 9 or, at most, 10 days, do not see them much under 15. There is no chance, even if my remaining here is refused, as I hope it will be, of my getting away by tonight’s steamer. So that I shall be doomed for another fortnight here anyhow, and lose the pleasantest month of the year in England.
In the matter of the man calling to be paid 10/ for a saddle cloth, don’t pay him, as I was only to pay him if I used it and he left it for me to find out whether it was the right or wrong pattern. As I found it was the wrong pattern, I did not use it. Voila. Simply don’t pay.
We have such a lovely May Day here. I only wish I were in England with such weather. With no employment & no companions & the uncertainty, it is difficult to enjoy, but such a day as this makes one feel in good spirits. Fancy my surprise just now at seeing a fusilier guardsman walk past the window. Probably a man left behind sick when the battalion put in here on its way to Canada. The soldiers who have, up to today, been rolled up in fur caps, great coats & long boots, have come out like butterflies today in the old familiar red. Which makes one fonder than ever of our uniform. So well the red coat looks.
6½ p.m.
I have just heard from Lord Mulgrave that I am to be kept – nominally for a year, but probably I shall get away in November. I am sorry for this, but it is decided, so there is no use in repining . It may be for my own good. So I must make up my mind to like it. Any how, I feel thankful that I know what I am about & that something is settled about me.
I had my passage all ready, order signed etc. and was full of hope that I might be with you in a fortnight from this time, but it is not to be, so I must submit. I shall want a lot of things out & must write a long list, but am too late for this mail. So get a box made & be ready to send off everything I write for, by return steamer.
My kind love to all
Believe me ever
Your affectionate Son
J Wimburn Laurie
* Gnl Doyle – Sir Charles Hastings Doyle (1804-1883). After steady, but unexceptional progress as an army officer, he had arrived in Halifax in 1861 to assume command of the British troops in the Atlantic area, which included the Maritime colonies, Newfoundland, and Bermuda. His energy, tact, and impartiality were said to have greatly facilitated the acceptance by Nova Scotia of Canadian Confederation in 1867
* Tientsin – now Tianjin, between Bejing and the sea, with 12.5 million inhabitants