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 BASICS ANIMATION 02

Andrew Chong

Digital Animation
adj. involving or n. the technique of filming
relating to successive drawings
the use of or positions of models
computer to create an illusion of
technology movement when the film
is shown as a sequence
 Andrew Chong

Digital Animation
adj. involving or n. the technique of filming
relating to successive drawings
the use of or positions of models
computer to create an illusion of
technology movement when the film
is shown as a sequence
An AVA Book
Published by AVA Publishing SA

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title
U2 Vertigo Tour

Cover image: animator

Pocoyo/Pocoyo™ © 2005 Zinkia Entertainment S.L. Onedotzero Industries
Contents

6 Introduction
12 How to get the most out of this book

14 Foundations 30 Pioneers 52 Development

< 1960 1960–1980 1980–1990
16 Early mechanical 32 Experimental 54 The first digital games
developments animators
56 The animator’s role
20 The first animated 36 Early special effects
62 CGI aesthetics
films
38 The birth of
66 Character animation
28 The foundation of computer games
modern computing 70 Computers for
42 First CGI in cinema
everyone
44 GUIs and SIMs
72 Digitally animated
shorts
74 Digital animation
in fine arts
76 Photorealism
 78 Maturity 104 Integration 146 Predictions
1990–2000 2000–2007 2007 >
80 The Internet and 106 Digital tools for all 148 Machinima
animation
110 Digital feature films 152 Return to core values
84 Digital animation
112 Digital auteurism 156 Digital auteurism
in cinema
revisited
118 Media crossover
90 Digital animation
in television 122 Aesthetic confidence
94 Traditional skills 134 Beyond cinema
in CGI and television
100 Digital worlds and
digital actors

160 Glossary
164 A timeline of digital animation
168 Conclusion
170 References and bibliography
172 Further resources
175 Acknowledgements
176 Picture credits
 Introduction

Digital technology is the conduit for resurgence

in animated features and animation in general.
Technology’s increasing power and spread into
all areas of modern life give the opportunity
for animation to be used in a wide range of
technologies and contexts. Personal computers
and digital media devices have made the medium
more accessible than at any other time.
Marc Craste, Animation Director at Studio AKA,
has suggested that: ‘For a while, at least, the
limitations of all but the very highest end
computer graphics seemed to outweigh its
potential. But for those of us not particularly
interested in pursuing photorealism, or unable to
even if we were interested, these limitations could
sometimes work to our advantage.’ Craste’s
remark is important for three reasons, which are
fundamental to anyone seeking to engage with
digital animation, theoretically or in practice:

▶ New technologies may often offer new

opportunities for expression, but the animator or
creator, not the software, must determine the
nature of the work.

▶ Technical dexterity is not always required to be

very creative with technology, which appears
to offer an extraordinary range of choices, tools
or applications.

▶ Embracing new technology and its potential does

not mean abandoning previous core skills and
knowledge. The old and new must always be
brought together to achieve the most persuasive
and original developments in the form.
 6|7

The following pages will discuss how

digitisation, new technologies and
animation all combine to produce the
end products which we know as
digital animation.

Digitisation
Complex and heterogeneous media can By increasing the number of light bulbs at
be integrated because the foundation of your disposal, the amount of information
most digital systems is binary. In simple you can store and display increases
terms binary, otherwise known as ‘Base 2’, exponentially. With two lights you may
is a counting method based on values achieve four states: both off, off and on, on
that can only exist in two states: 1 or 0. and off, both on. This may be expressed
Computers are programmed and operated thus: 00, 01, 10, 11. Hence, two lights allow
using binary languages. Hence, for you a 4-bit system.
information to be handled by computers it
Eight bits in set is called a byte. The byte is
must first be expressed or converted to a
the basic packet of information that
digital form.
computers deal with.
In simpler terms, a computer is a machine
The power and sophistication of the
that can count to 1.
machines available to the untrained, non-
For a computer to deal with data it must technical user means that we never usually
be translated into a form that can be see anything in a binary form; the closest we
measured in 1s and 0s. This process is get is when a device crashes and text
termed digitisation. warnings appear, or if we are adventurous
enough to program a website and step into
Consider a light bulb. It has two states: on or
the world of HTML. These are examples of
off. This represents the smallest measure of
codes that let humans talk to computers.
information a system can hold: on or off,
0 or 1. This is known as ‘bit’. A light bulb can It is important for the digital animator to have
be used as a 1-bit information store, and knowledge of the fundamentals of digital
because it is obvious when the state is on or technology so as to better harness the
off, you could also say it has a simple visual potential of digital tools and media.
display built in.

▶
title
The Painter
creator
Hewlett-Packard
Development Company LP/
422 South
 Introduction

Animation
The basic principle of animation can
be defined as a process that creates the
illusion of movement to an audience by
the presentation of sequential images in
rapid succession.
An absolute definition of animation is not
as straightforward as some texts may
portray. On a practical basis, whether you
work with pencils, clay, or pixels, the creation
of movement is a form of magic – the
techniques of which have been developed
by the pioneers of film and are in a constant
process of evolution and refinement by
subsequent generations of animators.
The physiology of the human eye has
evolved to facilitate a wide range of
requirements. Human vision has its highest
resolution in the centre of its field of vision. A
concentration of the colour-detecting nerves
(cone cells) means you see well what you are
▲
looking at directly. The less receptive
expanse of the retina remains sensitive to title
movement, and even in environments of Machinima Island 2006
poor ambient light human sight is very animators
sensitive to movement. Ricard Gras, Gareth Howell
The development of visual illusion and and Alex Lucas
moving images has held a particular
fascination for audiences and film-makers
alike. Even in our media-rich, image-
saturated world, the first experiments in
animation, such as flip books, still have
the power to capture the maker and
viewer alike.
Animation technique has some fundamental
elements, which are unchanging despite the
sophistication of the technology used to
make it.
Digital animation
 8|9

Computers
Even before the computer first appeared, In an era of ubiquitous digital technology it is
expectations and assumptions of such a difficult to imagine a time when computers
machine’s capabilities and design had were the stuff of dreams and science fiction.
existed. In the hundred years since The iconic image of a screen with a
Charles Babbage built his arithmetic keyboard and mouse atop a box with slots
calculating engine in 1822, moving and lights is only applicable since the mid
pictures had developed from curios like 1970s. The historical facts of computer
the phenakistoscope and zoetrope into a technology are at odds with public
global industry and new art form. perception.
Through the portrayal of the imagined The fundamentally screen-centric notion of
future worlds in films such as Metropolis computers conflicts with the truth that with
(1927) by Fritz Lang and Things to Come few exceptions, computers were
(1936) by William Cameron Menzies, a programmed and used with an interface
global public were offered a vision of based on rows of switches and lights
machines with visual displays that could requiring laborious and expert effort to
store and deliver information and control perform any task. However, the portrayal of
mechanical processes. computer technology in cinema and popular
fiction has always presented an image of
The very aesthetic of electric or
computer technology with assets and
electromechanical devices – comprising
capabilities beyond reality.
keyboards, dials, switches, screens and
the ability to perform multiple operations – This predictive power of film proves a
was unlike anything that had come before. constant and recurring theme in the
Fantasy and science fiction were responsible development of digital animation.
for the foundation of video and computer-
based moving images.

Introduction > How to get the most out of this book

 Introduction

Despite an increasingly well-informed

and media-literate audience, the actuality
of creating digital animation is often
misunderstood. By examining different and
perhaps some less popularly celebrated
examples, Basics Animation: Digital
Animation will reveal some of the
complexities and variations within digital
animation production.
This book aims to demonstrate the
relationship of core animation skills to
the modern technologies, showing the
similarities between the pioneers of
animation and the evolution of computer-
based practice. It will also show the
continuing development of the language
of animation.

▶
Digital animation

title
Things to Come
director
William Cameron Menzies
 10 | 11

Foundations
This section studies the roots of digital animation. Early
mechanical developments are explored and the first
animated films are looked at in more detail. The chapter
will also discuss the beginnings of modern computing.

Pioneers
This chapter explores the convergence of computing and
cinema and how the two media influenced each other. It also
looks at early animators and the techniques they used.

Development
The influence of computer development is discussed
along with the initial key advancements in computer
technology, which made the medium more accessible
to the general public.

Maturity
Explores the ways in which digital animation has become
available to media professionals, allowing for bigger
projects without the necessity for budgets of a Hollywood,
multinational or governmental scale.

Integration
Looks at how various media are used within one project and
how digital animation allows for cross overs and cohesion. Introduction > How to get the most out of this book

Predictions
This section provides forecasts on future possibilities and
projects as digital animation becomes more accessible
to everyone.
 How to get the most out of this book

This book serves as an introduction to digital

animation – for those entering the field or
working in related practices. The range of
the content establishes the position of
digital animation in the wider context of
film-making and animation, including
historical perspective and the development
of the practice. Examples of current digital
animation practice illustrate the diversity
of those who use digital tools, and the
constantly evolving nature of the technology.
Chapter openers
introduce the key Page numbers
information to are located on the
be discussed in top right corner of
each chapter. each spread.

Integration 2000–2007 104 | 105

The impact of digital technology at the beginning

of the twenty-first century has made the
production and delivery of animation easier than
ever before. A general adherence to Moore’s Law
means the tools available to animators are
increasingly sophisticated and powerful,
producing spectacular and extraordinary imagery.
Concurrently, embedded technology and
standardisation allow novice animators a simple
path into the field. Digitisation has democratised
the making of media; digital cameras, digital
music and the Internet mean the tools of
production are now available at a domestic level.
With the complexity of computer systems
discreetly embedded behind simple graphic user
interfaces and friendly control panels, digital
animation can be an intuitive process that is
accessible to the non-technical and even the
non-animator. Digitisation in diverse fields also
means diversification for animation – from
flashing LEDs on a microwave oven to a surgical
training simulator. Digital animation is not only
reaching new peaks of achievement, but
broadening in its application.
Maturity > Integration > Predictions

◀
title
MirrorMask
director
Dave McKean

Chapter navigation
highlights the current
Digital animation

chapter unit and lists

the previous and
following sections.
 12 | 13

Section headings
each section has a
clear strapline to allow
readers to quickly
locate areas of interest.

Subheadings
elaborate on the Images
principles discussed in various works in
the section headings digital animation bring
and provide relevant to life and support
and useful examples. the main text.

The Internet and animation 82 | 83

Development in games
In 1991, Alex Seropian and Jason Jones The production of Tomb Raider (1996) at
founded Bungie Software Products Core Design Ltd had a far greater level of
Corporation while they were students at the design in terms of plot, character and
University of Chicago. Publishing games general gameplay. Perhaps coming at a later
primarily for the Apple Macintosh, they stage in the timeline of games technology
developed the Marathon series, a meant that cinematic values influenced the
first-person shooter (FPS) considered design of the location,
to be ahead of its time by many of the central character and the supporting cast.
games cognoscenti. A strong narrative plot requires problem-
solving skills and strategy, as well as action.
At the opposite end of the FPS spectrum are
Tomb Raider has been likened to Raiders of
games that defined the genre in the 1990s.
the Lost Ark (1981) and edged the game
These effectively demonstrate the rapid
world closer to film.
evolution that can occur in the technology
underlying games and their basic design as
audiences’ expectations change and
develop.
Doom (1993) by id Software is recognised as
an early success in the FPS genre and is
representative of improved 3D technology. ▲
The premise of the game is unsophisticated title
in terms of plot and gameplay. The user Domestic production

*
Tomb Raider
plays (controls) a soldier who must fight
creator For many years, production was
through consecutive levels of demons and
Eidos Interactive Limited confined to established studios, training
zombies, which have appeared following a
establishments or university departments.
failed science experiment. An ability to depict larger and In the contemporary era, however,
more complex environments
production has become relatively cost-
with a wider range of movement
effective because hardware and software
The Internet and animation > Digital animation in cinema

Introduction > How to get the most out of this book

on the part of the user led
are available to facilitate work, and the
game production to mimic film
practice in generating specialist
World Wide Web is a bonafide exhibition
disciplines of set design, context. Think of yourself in the first
cinematography and instance as ‘a producer’. Consider what
scriptwriting as well as greater you actually need to make a piece of work,
consideration for the design and consult established practitioners,
of character movement. facilitators and wholesalers to cost a
production, and think of a process by
which the piece might be made. This
might be as little as the purchase of a
laptop, software and a requisite site
space – but even these need proper
consideration before the creative process
can start.
Marathon series a benchmark for the FPS genre of games. It was a series that shared many aspects
of film-making, with considerable attention to detail in the creation of environmental graphics, sound,
effects and character design. It had a strong narrative structure and a realistic feel.
Maturity

First-person shooter (FPS) a video game genre where the player interacts in a virtual environment
with the point of view of the active character.

Running glossary Captions Thinking points

provides the provide the title and director, offer particular thoughts,
definitions of key animator or creator of the images ideas and discussion
terms highlighted used to support the main text. Also points about the
within the main text. impart more information on the principles discussed
work being discussed. within the main text.
 Foundations < 1960 14 | 15

The roots of digital animation lie in the

experimental work of the pioneers of cinema.
The drive to make moving images at the end of
the nineteenth century not only pushed the
development of cinema technology, but is also
a forerunner for the similar quest to utilise the
computer for the same purpose decades later.
The origins of moving image technology are
worthy of consideration to the modern animator
as the mechanical crudity and limited scope of
the resultant forms lay bare the fundamental
building blocks of animation.
Animation has been a significant form throughout
the history of cinema – prompting, informing
and responding to each of the technological
innovations in production. Animation can
therefore be named as a modernist art –
constantly developing an innovative language of
expression related to other art forms, but equally,
changing the phases of culture and society.
Animation engages with and underpins
‘modernity’ in all its forms.

Foundations > Pioneers

◀
title
Metropolis
director
Fritz Lang
 Early mechanical developments

Animation shares its historical roots with

cinema. The early experiments to make
moving images used pictures created by
hand. In the early- to mid-seventeenth
century the process of photography required
exposure times of hours, hence prohibiting
its use to create image sequences for
devices such as the zoetrope. The rapid
refinement of precision engineering
processes at the end of the nineteenth
century and the adoption of standards to
accommodate the industry allowed for
developments in early moving images.
Various devices were revealed and
superseded in the quest to perfect the
discipline, with each innovation contributing
to the next stage of development. For
example, George Eastman’s flexible
photographic paper was used as recording
stock by Etienne Marey in his moving
picture camera, and this camera influenced
Thomas Edison’s development of the
kinetoscope system.
The transition to flexible recording material – ▲▶
from paper to celluloid – allowed for an title
acceleration in technological development. Le Voyage à travers
By the turn of the twentieth century l’Impossible
companies specialising in motion picture
equipment and the production of films were director
established in the USA and Europe. The new Georges Mèliés
form of cinema was developing its own Use of flat artwork for props and
language. sets are a direct transfer of
Méliès’s theatrical knowledge,
but the use of colour and
camera manipulation were the
first techniques specifically
attributable to moving images.
Foundations
 16 | 17

Trick films and the first special effects

In 1904, Georges Mèliés produced the
fantasy film Le Voyage à travers l’Impossible,
which employed many of the techniques
developed during the production of his
earlier ‘trick films’. The incorporation of
illusory effects combined with live action is
central to current feature-film special effects.
Méliès is often credited with being the
originator of special effects. A pioneer film-
maker, his contribution in the early days of
cinema was to bring a sense of theatricality
to the medium. Having performed as a
magician, he used his knowledge of staging
and narrative to produce what became
known as ‘trick films’.
Originally by accident and later by design,
Méliès manipulated the camera to produce
optical illusions. Examples of Méliès’s
techniques include stopping the camera and
replacing actors or objects (the basis of
stop-frame animation); under-cranking the
camera so that action appears speeded up;
and rewinding the camera and re-shooting
on the same piece of film – an early form of
optical compositing. Méliès even ventured
into post-production, using hand-retouching
techniques to physically colour the film.

Early mechanical developments > The first animated films

Trick films films produced by Georges Méliès using multiple exposures to give the illusion of people
and objects metamorphosing or appearing and disappearing.
Optical illusion something that deceives the eye by appearing to be other than it is.
 Early mechanical developments

Photography and sequential images

Eadweard Muybridge is claimed both by The sequences of images that Eadweard
animation and cinema as the father of the Muybridge produced are often mistaken as
forms – a legitimate claim in both cases, as frames taken from a movie. In actuality the
the techniques and goals are still relevant in images were produced using photographic
animation and cinema production. Even cameras modified by Muybridge, using a
sophisticated computer-generated animation custom-shutter system in order to achieve
goes through a process of being realised as short exposures. This necessary adaptation
a series of still images before being was required to produce unblurred,
assembled as a movie sequence. individual images.
In a quirk of history, Eadweard Muybridge To create sequential images Muybridge
carried out his original experiments in Palo arranged banks of his modified cameras
Alto, California, where a century later many perpendicular to the path of the horse and
of the advances in computer imaging would arranged cords to act as tripwires –
be made. Commissioned by a stable owner triggering the camera as the subject passed.
to analyse the movement of a champion
racehorse, Muybridge embarked on a five-
year project to study and capture the horse’s
gait photographically.

Studying movement
Look carefully at Muybridge’s sequential photographs and

* study at the dynamics of forward progressing motion.

Develop simple line drawings that echo the horse’s
movement. These drawings may be the beginning of the
development of more complex animation principles, but in
the first instance, these lines might equally anticipate the
joints and connecting principles of rigging in computer-
generated animation. Drawn artwork used on the strips
in a praxinoscope also closely resembles the way an
animated sprite is assembled in GIF or Flash form. New
processes are not so new.
Sequential artwork, cycles of movement, the relationship
of timing and even the development of film language
become clear by studying the evolution of moving image
Foundations

technology in its early forms.

 18 | 19

▴
title
Scene still
photographer
Eadweard Muybridge

Early mechanical developments > The first animated films

Often mistaken as images taken
from a movie film, Muybridge’s
intention to analyse movement
not only provided reference
material for generations of
animators, but also exposed
the fundamental mechanics of
motion picture production years
before the technology had
been invented.

Graphic interchange format (GIF) a system of compressing the information of a digital image
employing a restricted palette to reduce its file size.
Flash software released by Adobe in the mid 1990s as a vector-based animation and interactive
content package for the Internet.
 The first animated films

In the early 1900s, as the technologies

and techniques of cinema became more
available and reliable, disciplines within the
medium of film-making were already
diversifying into specialist areas including
animated film-making.
Animation, like other cinematic media, would
be industrialised along the lines of factory-
scale production, but the pioneering
experiments of individual practitioners like
Winsor McCay and Émile Cohl would
continue. Meanwhile the medium that has
its root in curiosity and fairground spectacle
would become mass entertainment in
the hands of Walt Disney and the
Fleischer Studios.
Driven by the market and artistic endeavour,
innovations in the production process,
technological refinement and invention
added to the palette of the animator; the
medium developed from simplistic line
drawings and manipulation of objects into
the sophisticated imitations of life.
Foundations

Celluloid (cel) transparent plastic made in sheets, formerly used for cinematographic film.
 20 | 21

Film and celluloid sheets (cels)

The process of assembling single images a The use of transparent plastic made
frame at a time entered the cinematic realm in sheets allowed not only for better
in 1905 when Edwin S. Porter used a consistency of line and image, but meant
modified camera for his film How Jones that production times could be shortened.
Lost His Roll – the camera had the ability Objects in a scene needed only to be drawn
to advance frames in single increments. and painted once until they were required to
This would remain the basic method of move, and backgrounds could be single
animation for most of the twentieth century. images over which the artwork of moving
characters or objects could be laid.
The use of celluloid or film impacted on the
animation process in a further important way.
Previously, the process of reproducing
images was labour-intensive and difficult to
control in terms of consistency. Animators
exploited the translucency of paper in order
to trace and develop sequences of drawings.
Registration using the system of punched
holes and pegs assisted with consistency
and continuity, and was adopted by most
animators in the burgeoning industry
by 1914.

Preparatory drawing
Paper and film cel remained the staple

*
◀ tools for drawn animation for several
title decades. With the advent of computers,
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend such processes changed, making the
‘in-betweener’ or ‘paint-and-trace’ artist
director
Edwin S. Porter
redundant. Despite the current use of
computers in drawn animation, many
Many of the complex animators and studios still produce
compositing techniques of original artwork on paper prior to digitising
current film-making practice images. Animators often use drawing as a
can be seen in nascent form in powerful exploratory device in developing
the work of pioneers such as imagery and constructing possible
Edwin S. Porter. Miniatures,
narratives, which are ultimately to be
multiple exposure, matte
played out in CGI.
paintings and replacement
techniques are all used in
Dream of a Rarebit Fiend.
 The first animated films

Animation can explain whatever the mind

of man can conceive. This facility makes it
the most versatile and explicit means of
communication yet devised for quick
mass appreciation.
Walt Disney
Foundations
 22 | 23

Realism and naturalistic movement

◀ Animation and cinema have a preoccupation
with realism. This is not merely about
title
making something realistic in a material
Gulliver’s Travels
sense, but creating authenticity, plausibility
animator and the suspension of disbelief. The realism
David Fleischer in any one narrative is not only concerned
Use of the rotoscope brought with the possibility of photorealistic
naturalistic human movement representation, but also maintaining the
into the entirely hand-crafted terms and conditions of imaginary worlds
and hand-animated space. In that have been created.
Gulliver’s Travels the resulting
Max Fleischer’s 1915 invention – the
action emphasised the fantastic
rotoscope – was reminiscent of Leon
nature of Lilliput and the
Battista Alberti’s ‘Frame’ from the fifteenth
traditionally animated Lilliputians.

Early mechanical developments > The first animated films > The foundation of modern computing
century. Technical developments such as
these have always played a significant role in
delivering realism in films. By projecting
previously filmed action on frame one at a
time and on to a screen, the movement
could be traced to cel. The resulting
movement is very naturalistic irrespective of
the drawing method. This method was
employed by the Fleischer brothers in their
adaptation of Gulliver’s Travels (1977).

Realism an artistic or literary movement or style characterised by the representation of people or things
as they actually are.
Rotoscope the device invented by Max Fleischer, which allowed pre-filmed movement to be traced.
Consisting of a projector that could be advanced one frame at a time, action could be displayed from
below the frosted glass surface of a drawing board or animation disc, allowing the animator to use it as
direct reference.
 The first animated films

▲
Hyper-realism and planes of action title
Snow White and
There are many similarities between the

*
the Seven Dwarfs
development of Disney’s animated films in
producer
the period between Snow White and the Walt Disney
Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Bambi (1941),
and the Pixar Animation Studio between Disney’s use of human
Toy Story (1995) and Monsters Inc (2001). movement for reference
Watch these films and see how both captures subtlety and elegance
studios use their storytelling skills and during scenes, such as the
deployment of technology to achieve ever dance sequence and the above,
and enhances the disquieting
greater degrees of realism – later dubbed
characteristics of the witch and
‘hyper-realism’ because of its self-evident
mirror – a foreshadowing of what
artifice. The films become less like
games and CGI animators call
cartoons and more like live action. the Uncanny Valley.
Foundations
 24 | 25

The Disney era

The advent of Snow White and the Seven The friction between human movement and
Dwarfs in 1937 marked the beginning of key-framed animation lives on in the use of
what is widely regarded as Disney’s motion capture. By recording human
domination of the medium. Although the movement digitally and applying it to digital
Disney studio system adhered rigidly to its characters, it is possible to dispense with
own conventions of character animation, many of the laborious and expensive
it is significant that Oskar Fischinger’s techniques of traditional animation. In
rotoscope technique was used for many successful uses of motion capture, the final
of the sequences depicting the most animation is a blend of acting and animation.
human characters, namely Snow White
Patented by Disney in 1937, the multiplane
and the Prince.
rostrum camera allowed the filming of
The use of ‘real’ human movement in several layers of still and animated artwork
animation through rotoscoping has often simultaneously. Each plane of artwork could

Early mechanical developments > The first animated films > The foundation of modern computing
been contentious as the natural physically be manipulated independently in three
correct movement is recognisable when dimensions, which allowed a greater sense
juxtaposed with classical and other forms of of depth and a method of developing a far
animation. Even when humans are used as more detailed environment. The use of
subjects in the case of pixilation, the stop- planes in the digital era is commonplace
frame technique creates an unnatural and is an essential tool for animators, editors
movement, which places the action in a and effects designers. Planes are now
particular theatrical context. also known as layers or tracks, and exist
on an on-screen timeline rather than
under a camera.

Pixilation a form of stop-frame animation that uses people and actors as puppets or props.
Stop-frame technique animation made by filming objects one frame at a time. Incremental changes of
subject or camera between sequential shots resulting in an illusion of movement.
Key-frame the point of significant change in an animated sequence.
Multiplane rostrum a camera invented by the Disney Studios; it is mounted above several layers of
artwork, which can be manipulated independently to enhance the illusion of three-dimensional space.
 The first animated films

▲
title
Kreise (Circles), 1933
animator
Oskar Fischinger

Animation and modern art Using geometry and colour,

Fischinger’s brand of animation
There have always been a number of

*
was closer to the art of painting
affiliations between animated film and than film.
modern art, mainly in the arena of
experimental animation where many artists
create exploratory non-linear, non-
objective, abstract works. All animated
films can exhibit modernist credentials,
but such films show an ambition to create
innovative, progressive, personal work,
based on the interrogation of the formal
principles of line, shape, form and colour.
Most significantly, they demonstrate how
they engage with the fine arts.
Foundations
 26 | 27

Abstract films
Animation outside of the commercial Fischinger’s painterly approach to animation
sphere would continue to be innovative was what attracted Disney to recruit him to
and experimental. Despite having worked create a sequence for Fantasia (1940),
in commercial cinema during the Disney illustrating the Bach section. The same
years, Oskar Fischinger produced animation artistic temperament made it a fleeting
of such an abstract and stylised nature association as Fischinger was unhappy to
that they could be mistaken for work within the constraints and ethos of the
computer graphics. Disney system. His adherence to abstraction
resulted in work comparable to futurist and
The geometry and colour in Fischinger’s
expressionist paintings, and his belief that
animations were closer to the art of painting
animation could be a visual equivalent to
than film. Fischinger’s work exemplified a
music predicted and resonated with the
leaning towards the fine arts rather than
work of John Whitney Sr.
commercial cinema, which was far more

Early mechanical developments > The first animated films > The foundation of modern computing
apparent in Europe. Experimental pieces
such as Night on Bald Mountain (1933) by
Alexander Alexeieff employed a pin screen
to create images, while Hell Unlimited (1936)
by Norman McLaren demonstrated an early
use of multiple media, which predates
digital compositions by half a century. Both
films were also created with artistic and
political motivation.

What’s most important in animation is the

emotions and the ideas being portrayed.
I’m a great believer of energy and emotion.
Ralph Bakshi

Abstract relating to or denoting art that does not attempt to represent external reality, but rather seeks
to achieve its effect using shapes, colours and textures.
Expressionist a style in which the artist seeks to express the inner world of emotion rather than
external reality.
 The foundation of modern computing

The 1960s saw the arrival of a generation

of machines that resembled what Integrated circuits
contemporary viewers may recognise as
The integrated circuit (IC) solved several
modern computers. With Alan Turing’s
problems related to electronic engineering.
model of multifunctional, programmable
The simplification of the component meant it
hardware adopted as standard, computers
could be fabricated more cheaply on
were no longer bespoke designs, but
an industrial scale. The use of fewer
produced in numbers and sold to a range
components also meant an increase in
of end users, with specificity of purpose
reliability in the component itself, hence the
only occurring when the machine
device or application in which it was used.
was programmed.
The miniaturisation of transistors within
In the previous decade, a single computer
each IC added to the efficiency of the
would occupy a room, often having to be
component as each switch required less
assembled on site and requiring the
energy to operate; this in turn allowed for
constant supervision of support staff to
larger, more complex assemblies and less
maintain it. A reduction in size following
energy consumption.
the replacement of vacuum valves with
transistors – then followed by transistors Developments such as the incorporation of
with integrated circuits – led to a class of a screen added to the computer’s flexibility
moveable, if not portable, mini computers: and provided the opportunity to experiment
general purpose, affordable machines (in with graphic images for the first time.
comparison to a mainframe), which could Examples of such developments are the first
be operated by a single person. computer game – Spacewar – and the first
graphic interface – Sketchpad. Sketchpad
The evolution from the transistor as the
was a stylus-based screen controller devised
fundamental building block of electronic
by Ivan Sutherland in 1963.
equipment was a major accelerating factor
in the development of digital tools at the
beginning of the 1960s. Pioneering research
by Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce at the
laboratories of Texas Instruments in the
USA produced the first integrated circuit –
a single component with the functionality
of multiple transistors.
Foundations

Integrated circuit (IC) an electronic circuit formed on a small piece of semiconducting material, which
performs the same function as a larger circuit made from discrete components.
 28 | 29

▲
Colossus computer
courtesy of Moore’s Law
The Art Archive

*
In 1965 Gordon Moore postulated an
Colossus was the first analogue observation on the relationship between
programmable computer, which the unit cost of producing an integrated
helped the Allies to decipher circuit, the number of transistors in that
German encryption during circuit and development over time, which

The first animated films > The foundation of modern computing

The Second World War. was published by Electronics Magazine.
Moore’s observation was made by
empirical study of the computational
potential of early mechanical computers
from the 1930s to the point in 1965 when
he was working at Intel. This observation
was termed a law in later years by
Professor Carver Mead at the California
Institute of Technology. By extrapolation,
Moore predicted the doubling in number
of transistors in an integrated circuit every
eighteen months, until at least 1975. In
actuality, this prediction has held true for
three further decades and is expected to
do so until the 2020s.
 Pioneers 1960–1980 30 | 31

The history of digital animation is formed by the

convergence of cinema and computing. The
relationship between the disciplines has formed
the language and influenced the development of
both. As with the evolution of film language and
technology, computing has often been
progressed by the invention of pioneering
individuals and specific breakthroughs.
Historical documentation of the early days of
moving pictures refers to the recognised pioneers
and landmark technological developments that
advanced the medium. Similarly, there are some
familiar names at the beginning of digital
animation, such as John Whitney Sr, Edwin
Catmull and Douglas Trumbull, who all
contributed to the initial adoption of computers
in the film industry.
Also resonant with early cinema is the impact of
individual developers and enthusiasts working
with technology at consumer level. Bill Gates and
Paul Allen’s creation of the Microsoft Basic
computer programming language for the Altair
computer brought computers a step closer
to the general public; Steve Wozniak’s design
of the Apple II delivered that promise and
Andy Hertzfeld’s graphic user interface opened
the door for the rest of the world to use
computer technology. Foundations > Pioneers > Development

◀
title
2001: A Space Odyssey
director
Stanley Kubrick
 Experimental animators

At a time when computers were

programmed using punch-cards and dials, Early computer animation
and the results of their calculations delivered
John Whitney Sr was one of the first to use
on vernier scales or illuminated valves, it was
computers in order to create animation. His
with considerable investment of time and
early work is indicative of the dissemination
effort that the earliest artists attempted to
of technology and its appropriation for
access computer technology to make
artistic use. Whitney’s foundation in
moving images.
traditional animation, both commercial and
Like the pioneers of cinema technology, the experimental, enabled him to adapt the
early computer experimenters were mainly computerised targeting mechanism from
individuals motivated by personal interest to an anti-aircraft gun in order to control the
develop existing work with new tools. The movement of a camera, producing
spirit of exploration required considerable geometric patterns of light and shade.
patience and investment owing to the limited He collaborated with Saul Bass, a graphic
accessibility of early computers to novice or designer of repute, who began building
untrained users. a famous career for film title sequence
design in the mid 1950s.
Although much of the imagery then may
seem crude or simplistic by modern John Whitney Sr was able to pursue
standards, the achievements of the abstract animation with digital computers
animators who made the first steps with when he was made artist-in-residence at
computers is made more remarkable IBM in 1966. Recognised equally by arts
when one considers the unfriendliness of institutions and commercial enterprises, his
computer technology, which still used efforts and motivation are prophetic of the
ticker tape as a standard output. drive to use the technology for creative
expression, and also to bring the form to
public attention.
Pioneers
 32 | 33

◀
title
Vertigo film promotion
animator
John Whitney Sr
The films of geometry, light and
colour produced by John
Whitney Sr were some of the
earliest computer animations
made. The production method
involved a significant amount of
traditional photochemical
processing – the initial output
medium being monochrome
film, which would be optically
printed to create colour, multiple
images and other effects.

Experimental animators > Early special effects

In the animation world, people who understand pencils

and paper usually aren’t computer people, and the
computer people usually aren’t the artistic people, so
they always stand on opposite sides of the line.
Don Bluth
 Experimental animators
Pioneers
 34 | 35

◀
title
Animal Farm
animator
Halas & Batchelor Studio
John Halas and Joy Batchelor
were two of the first and most
influential British animators. Their
studio created the first full-length
British animated feature, Animal
Farm – an adaptation of George
Orwell’s fable based on the
Russian Revolution.

Graphic design and motion graphics

In the contemporary era, it is possible to
encounter various design idioms –
sometimes in motion – alongside each
other, but graphic design as a discipline
was for many years an entirely separate
one from animation. John Whitney Sr and
Saul Bass anticipated the advent of
* Experimental animators > Early special effects

screen-based, motion graphics, which

combine traditional design concerns:
the use of type, aesthetic distinctiveness,
effective communicative signifiers and the
ability of forms to move and transform.
Moving graphic designs – dubbed ‘motion
graphics’ – have become the staple of
many commercials and independent
animation shorts.
 Early special effects

The 1960s was an era of divided public

attitudes to all things scientific. At the height The illusion of space travel
of Cold War anxiety President Kennedy had
Stanley Kubrick was one of the first directors
announced America’s intention to put a man
to successfully deliver the illusion of space
on the moon, while in Europe the Soviets
travel on the big screen. However, his vision
erected the wall to divide Berlin. Depiction of
of the future was at odds with the technology
computers reflected the range of sensibilities
employed to produce it.
from optimism – in the case of the original
television series of Star Trek (1966) – to the Kubrick’s famous perfectionism and
darkly satirical in Dr Strangelove (1964). With uncompromising directing style was
an increased understanding and awareness matched by a screenplay founded on the
of computer technology through new, technical expertise and scientific knowledge
popular science journals and an increase in of Arthur C. Clarke (author of the original
science fiction, the public perception of the novel 2001: A Space Odyssey). The
computer and computer graphics were successful illusion of space travel and
shaped by their presence in popular culture. exploration in 2001 was achieved through
design based on Clarke’s best predictions
Science fiction’s predicted image of
with reference to the NASA space program,
screen-orientated computers in cinema
combined with convincing visual effects by
and television did not reflect the state of the
Douglas Trumbull.
technology at the time. Jean-Luc Godard’s
Alphaville (1965) featured a real mainframe The countless computer displays, video
computer, which was a direct contrast to monitors and instrument panels were
Stanley Kubrick’s HAL 9000, in 2001: simulations created by film projectors hidden
A Space Odyssey (1968). within each set. The text and graphics
displayed on the screens were created by
The reality for the animators tasked with
photographing physical artwork, which were
creating the screen graphics for the
then animated using mechanical techniques
simulated computer screens would have
based around an Oxberry rostrum camera.
been using punch-card programs to operate
their rostrum cameras and animation stands The environment presented, which was
in order to achieve smooth movement. Yet embedded with discreet technology, and the
the final images permanently shaped popular portrayal of a computer as the central
perception of computer imagery. character, were created with such convincing
attention to detail that they impacted on the
design aesthetic of not only subsequent
science fiction films, but also the design of
the technology they were simulating – from
the physical objects to the graphic treatment
of visual display units.
Pioneers
 36 | 37

▲
title Special effects
2001: A Space Odyssey Animation was traditionally a ‘hidden’
director
Stanley Kubrick
special effect in live-action cinema, added
in post-production; in the contemporary
era it seems to be a major part of every
*
Experimental animators > Early special effects > The birth of computer games
In an era of public antipathy to
feature film. A number of animation and
science, Kubrick offered a
new media critics have now suggested,
convincing vision of the future in
therefore, that all cinema is animation, and
which screen-based technology
and computers pervade all
not merely a subset of it.
aspects of life using traditional Look carefully at a range of films and
film techniques and analogue identify the following elements: explicit
computer technology. and obvious ‘animation’ (e.g. The Hulk
(2003), flight scenes in Spiderman (2002));
possible animation made invisible by its
context (e.g. crowd scenes in Titanic
(1997)) and scenes which seem free of
animation or other kinds of digital
intervention (e.g. sequences without
effects or manipulation, based on actors
working in real locations).
Thinking in this way will enable viewers to
deconstruct cinema in a spirit of talking
about its meanings and effects, and also
encourage investment in knowing about
practical techniques and applications.
 The birth of computer games

Prior to the arrival of computer games in

arcades and as consoles, computer
technology was restricted to the work place
and usually only operated by trained staff.
Video games brought computer technology
into the public domain and the home, and
repositioned it as entertainment. Although
rudimentary, the screen graphics also
presented a real example of computer-
generated imagery.
Games consoles established a route for
computers to be used in the home. Since
they utilised a television screen to display the
actual video game, the subtle but important
association was made between the familiar ▲▼
and benign technology of television. This
was the first stage of the domestication of Atari 2600
computer technology. creator
Arcade games and consoles changed the Atari
relationship between the public and Atari was one of the first video
computer technology by being embedded games consoles manufacturer,
inside what was effectively a toy. The launching a console version of
computer had introduced itself to a wider the video game PONG. Both
world, delivered the first training sessions in PONG and Atari have been
human-computer interaction, and influential in the development of
established a new set of aesthetic values in video and digital games.
the language of computer-generated
imagery.
Pioneers
 38 | 39

The first video games

Despite limited graphic capacity and Tomohiro Nishikado designed the game,
simplistic design, computer games were assembled the hardware and wrote the code
immediately popular when they appeared as for Space Invaders, a title which, for a spell
consumer products. Early video game in the early 1980s, became synonymous
consoles and kiosks were the foundations with subsequent video games. A key feature
for an industry that would expand on a of the gameplay was the computer-
global scale. generated enemy. The interactivity was
with a simulated opponent – one that had
PONG represents year zero in the computer
motivation and intent, and one that could
video games industry. It has been referred to
return fire.
as a simple tennis simulator, with its three
interacting rectangles and a dotted line. Novelty is only a small element of what
PONG’s arrival as a coin-operated game in Space Invaders offered. Games up to
kiosk and tabletop form in 1972 was an that point embodied a test of dexterity,
instant success; within a year Atari launched electronic puzzles or a contest between
a console version, which could be played at players. Space Invaders pitted the player
home through a television. against a simulated enemy that had a single
purpose: the invasion of Earth.
The simplicity of the game belies the impact
The objective of the game was to delay
of its arrival. Games arcades up to that point
ranked alien forces from landing on earth
had comprised of pinball, air hockey and
by shooting them down with a sliding
‘one-arm bandits’. To have control over the
gun turret, simultaneously avoiding the
function of a digital device (even if only to
enemy fire, which eroded the player’s

Early special effects > The birth of computer games > First CGI in cinema
move a block up or down) was not just
defensive barricades.
novel, it was science fiction come true.
Games development had mostly taken place
in the USA, but it was a Japanese game
manufacturer, Taito, that would provide a
breakthrough product, which included
elements for a new genre of computer
games. The launch of Space Invaders in
1978 had major repercussions in the
nascent games industry – the elements of
interactivity and the beginning of a narrative
structure had been established.
 The birth of computer games

Activity and interactivity

Games and gaming have prompted a

* new form of spectatorship – one in which

the audience watches and participates
simultaneously. The concept of interactivity
in any form is predicated on the
relationship between understanding the
terms and conditions of participation,
and the technical dexterity to execute
intervention. Think about what is animated
and who is animating. How is action
motivated? How does narrative function in
a game? This will enable the game player
to think about how games are constructed
and how they relate to traditional forms of
animation and storytelling.
Pioneers
 40 | 41

Early special effects > The birth of computer games > First CGI in cinema
▲◀
title
Space Invaders
animator
Tomohiro Nishikado/Taito
The Space Invaders game is
still seductive and addictive,
evidenced by the fact that a
licensed version of it was
included in a release for
Xbox in 2005.
 First CGI in cinema

The complexity involved in creating

computer-generated images meant the
expertise lay in the hands of engineers,
scientists and researchers with only a
handful of artists working with the direct
intention of producing animation in an art
and entertainment context. Until the arrival of
establishments such as Industrial Light and
Magic (ILM) or Pacific Data Images, any
requirement of CGI for a feature film
necessitated a relationship with an
appropriate computer company or research
laboratory.
Compared to what had been predicted by
simulations of computer imagery, real CGI
was limited in what it could provide for
cinema. But for the early cases of digital
animation in cinema the limited resolution
was actually the required ingredient. ▲
The crude aesthetic was a genuine feature
of CGI in the 1970s, and was a mark title
of authenticity. Westworld
director
The legacy of early computer graphics
Michael Crichton
in feature films is a lingering audience
perception of CGI as being primitive and The aesthetic of the computer-
plastic, with a community of CGI developers generated images in Westworld
striving for ultimate realism to escape that depicted the limited visual
public perception. capacity of the technology
portrayed in the film. Current
audiences could easily interpret
this prediction as an effect of
encoding – a degredation
produced by heavy compression
of the video source, known to
any cel phone videographer.

Computer-generated imagery (CGI) images that are originated within the digital environment.
Pioneers

Diegetic components of a film that exist in the narrative or created environment. For example, the
sound of actors’ voices are diegetic while a narrator’s voice-over is non-diegetic.
 42 | 43

CGI and diegesis

Computer-generated imagery was used Futureworld (1976), the sequel to Westworld,
diegetically for the first time in Westworld saw the first use of three-dimensional
(1973). By processing individual frames of computer-generated imagery in a feature
previously shot live action, John Whitney Jr, film. The visualisation of 3D objects was
son of the pioneering animator, was able to beginning to produce imagery that was
replace the full image with a representation good enough to be considered for inclusion
of a robot’s point of view: that of a in more than the technical visualisation it
computerised compound eye. Although an had largely been developed for.
effect rather than animation, the procedure is
During the making of Futureworld, Ed
similar to the rotoscope invented by Max
Catmul, a computer science and physics
Fleischer for drawn animation.
graduate, designed an animated sequence
Despite improvements in resolution, the use depicting the construction of a robot
of digitally created animation required a facsimile for the central character played by
context for inclusion in the plot. The crudity Peter Fonda. Although primitive by current
of imagery and mechanical motion meant standards, the use of 3D CGI was a defining
that CGI was restricted to an effect rather moment in film history.
than being an integral part of the live action.
Feature film-makers still required the
services of specialists recruited from
universities and specialist technology
companies to provide access to computer-
generated imagery.

▶
title
WarGames
director
John Badham
Rather than simulating computer
video displays, personal
computers became fast
enough to deliver graphics and
animation in real time, allowing
directors to utilise actual
computers in the diegesis.
For WarGames, Apple II
computers were used to provide
graphics for the simulated
NORAD computer.
 GUIs and SIMs

Without any other points of reference,

traditional portrayals of computer interfaces Alien
and screen graphics persisted throughout
Despite the presence of a technologically
the 1970s with the reiteration of green
enthusiastic visual effects supervisor in the
wireframes and command line operation.
guise of Douglas Trumbull, the deployment
Even with an increased presence of
of CGI was restricted to the role of set
computer technology, the shorthand for
design in Ridley Scott’s seminal science
computer screens was the predominant
fiction film Alien (1979). The reality of
monochromatic, geometry-based visual
computer graphics at the time of the film’s
displays. While the first real graphic user
production meant Scott required the
interface (GUI) would arrive in 1979, the
services of a computer software specialist
schizophrenic appearance of computer
to produce interfaces for the screens,
interfaces alternated between the solidly
computer terminals and flight controls on
traditional code-orientated screens to
the film sets.
voice-controlled servants.
System Simulation in London was a
Public familiarity with technology was
software engineering company specialising
increasing and with it a new expectation of
in information systems and multimedia,
what computers should look like. The arrival
creating information handling applications for
of computer games, affordable domestic
mass data, text and image files. In order to
video recorders and the incorporation of
create simulations and motion graphics for
liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and light
the film, System Simulation were required to
emitting diodes (LEDs) into consumer
write code in order to build software, which
electronics all made contributions to the
would result in graphic output.
visual vocabulary of actual technology, thus
affecting how audiences received computer Informed by the computer aesthetic of the
simulation and portrayal in film. time, various screens appeared in the film
including a bank of flight controls echoed by
command line interface and radar screens.
Even a specialist computer company dealing
with user interface design, having strong
links to academic research into computers
and art, did not have a graphic toolkit to
make computer graphics then.
Pioneers
 44 | 45

▲
title
Still from Alien
animator
Flight control simulation
created by Brian Wyvil
The influence of simulations
such as those in Alien can be
traced to the more sophisticated
graphic interfaces of modern
flight controls, vehicle satellite
navigators and applications,
such as Google Earth.
First CGI in cinema > GUIs and SIMs

Graphic user interface (GUI) the system of interaction with technology based on images and icons
as opposed to text or code.
 GUIs and SIMs

Star Wars
By the mid 1970s computer imagery Unlike the holographic Death Star and
and animation had come to wider public countdown monitor in Star Wars: A New
awareness through science-fiction films, Hope (1977), the many and varied computer
television and the arrival of the first home- readouts in the film were produced using
and coin-operated video games. The limited traditional, optical methods of animation.
palettes and crude graphics were not yet Although the aesthetic rules of block
capable of producing imagery and animation graphics, wireframe and flat colour gave the
for inclusion within the narrative of a live- impression of computer-generated imagery,
action film or traditionally made animation actual artwork was created physically and
without having the context of a technological filmed with Oxberry rostrum cameras.
framing, as was the case in Westworld
The use of motion control and optical
and Futureworld.
compositing had not been used in such an
A major impediment was that many intensive way for a decade since Kubrick’s
computers, even the most advanced ones, benchmark feature 2001: A Space Odyssey.
were still based on an analogue foundation,
with the final output limited to filming a
video screen. But a precedent had been
set by the quality of imagery in the public
domain. Whereas previous depiction of
computer displays in film had been pure
speculation, the simulation of computer
graphics within the diegesis would have to
consider the audience’s knowledge of actual
CGI aesthetics.

▶
title
Star Wars: A New Hope
director
George Lucas
This film set new standards in
special effects at all levels, but
contained only one scene using
digital animation. However,
this was the beginning of a
relationship between a visionary
director and a new form of
cinematic production, which
would eventually revolutionise
the industry.
Pioneers
 46 | 47

First CGI in cinema > GUIs and SIMs

 GUIs and SIMs

Blade Runner
In the film Blade Runner (1982), Ridley Scott The imagery in Blade Runner, although
depicted a computer interaction that would portrayed as ordinary and mundane,
prove to influence not just the way people reinforced the futuristic nature of the film.
perceived computer technology. It defined Ironically, the images of wireframe vectors,
an aesthetic for the portrayal of human- such as those defining the navigation paths
computer interaction, which has been of Deckard’s investigation, were produced
copied consciously and unconsciously since using analogue techniques. They were
computers have appeared in movies. actual drawings on cel, which were filmed on
an animation rostrum before being played as
The famous scene in which the lead
movies through the various display units.
character, Deckard, uses an ‘Esper’ machine
to forensically examine a 3D photograph
also offered an aesthetic for future designers
of real computer interfaces to aspire to.
Pioneers
 48 | 49

◀▲
title
Blade Runner
director
Ridley Scott
Although real-time navigational
displays and the ability to
scrutinise an image using
computers are no longer Alternative digital histories
restricted to the realm of science Inevitably, when thinking about animation
fiction, the experience and
design of the interface of such
tools comes not just from the
functional developments of
science and technology,
but from their depiction in
history, it is often the case that work
from the USA dominates analyses. It is
important to remember that there is an
alternative ‘animation history’ from nations
all over the world. This is equally true in
relation to digital animation – experiments
*
popular media.
in computer animation were taking place
in Britain, for example, from the early
First CGI in cinema > GUIs and SIMs

1970s. Make sure to find out about

computer animation in other countries
such as Canada, Japan, India, France
etc as well. How have different artists
in different cultures used available
technology?
Other documents randomly have
different content
Mr. Goodrick stole out from his seat, rushed down the passage to the
stage door, clasping his note-book, and leaped into a waiting cab.
"A sovereign if you get me to the offices of the Daily Wire, in Fleet
Street, in half an hour!" said Mr. Goodrick.
 CHAPTER XXIII
POINTS OF VIEW FROM A DUKE, A BISHOP, A
VISCOUNT, AND THE DAUGHTER OF AN EARL

The rain was pouring down and it was a horribly gloomy, depressing
morning.
The rain fell through the drab, smoke-laden air of London like leaden
spears, thrown upon the metropolis in anger by the gods who
control the weather.
The duke woke up and through the window opposite the foot of his
bed saw the rain falling. He was in the same guest-room in the
house of James Fabian Rose to which he had been carried when the
exploring party had found him in the hands of the criminals of the
West End slum. How long ago that seemed now, he thought, as he
lay there in the grey, dreary light of the London morning.
When he had fainted on the night before he had been carried into
Aubrey Flood's dressing-room, and speedily recovered
consciousness.
His swoon was nothing more than a natural protest of the nerves
against an overwhelming strain. It could hardly have been
otherwise. One does not undergo weeks of mental strain and dismay
without overtaxing the strength. One does not go through a night in
which conviction of truth comes to one, the knowledge of love, the
certainty that, in honour, that love could never be declared, the
solemn and public renunciation of almost everything is realised and
declared, without collapse.
He had found Mrs. Rose and Mary Marriott—ministering angels—by
his side when he came back to the world.
Rose had entered, and would not hear of the duke's return to the
Ritz. A messenger had been sent home for his things, and now he
woke in the old familiar room upon this grey, depressing morning.
He was feeling the inevitable reaction. He could not help but feel it.
It was eight o'clock he saw from his watch, the same watch which
had been taken from him by force on the night of the railway
accident.
The morning papers were out. One of these papers he knew would
be even now having a record sale. The Daily Wire was having a huge
boom. The general public were already learning of his renunciation.
Before mid-day all society would know of it also. His hundreds of
relations and connections would be reading the story. It would be
known at Buckingham Palace and at Marlborough House. Lord
Camborne would know of it, the news would reach Lord Hayle on his
sick-bed at Oxford. Lady Constance would know it.
Before lunch he had to go to Grosvenor Street He must keep his
appointment with his future father-in-law.
And he was fearing this interview as he had never feared anything in
this world before. What was going to happen he didn't know. But he
was certain that the meeting would be terrible. He felt frightfully
alone, and there was only one little gleam of satisfaction in the
outlook. Constance would stand by him. The beautiful girl who was
to be his wife had often expressed her sympathy with the down-
trodden and the poor. He could rely on her at least.
He did not love her. He could never love her. He loved some one else
with all his heart and soul, and believed—dared to believe—that she
loved him also.
That was a secret for her and for him for ever and ever. The thing
might not be. He had to keep his word inviolable, his honour
unstained. They both had duties to do—he and Mary! They must live
for the Cause, apart, lonely, but strong.
He was pledged to Constance Camborne, and hand in hand, good
comrades, they would work together for the common weal.
The joy of life must be found in just that—in the "stern lawgiver"
Duty. The other and divinest joy was not for him, and he must face
the fact like a man of a great race.
"So be it," he muttered to himself with a bitter smile. "Amen!" Then
he rose and plunged into the cold bath prepared for him in an alcove
of the bedroom.
He breakfasted alone with James Fabian Rose. Mary Marriott was
staying in the house but both she and Mrs. Rose were utterly
exhausted and would not be visible for many hours.
The duke was quite frank with his host. He unburdened himself of
the "perilous stuff" of weeks to him; he laid everything bare, all the
mental processes which had led to his absolute change of view. He
spoke of the future and reiterated his determination to become a
leader in the new Israel. He even told Rose of his fear and terror at
the approaching interview with Lord Camborne, but of the most real
and deep pain and distress he said never a word.
He did not mention Mary Marriott, he said nothing of Lady
Constance Camborne. Rose appeared to him then in a new light.
The apostle of Socialism, the caustic wit, the celebrated man of
literature was as gentle and tender as a child. He seemed to know
everything, to enter into the psychology of the situation with an
intuition and understanding which were as delicate and sure as
those of a woman. He said no single word to indicate it, but the
duke felt more and more certain as the meal went on that this
wonderful man had penetrated, more deeply than he could have
thought possible, to the depths of his soul.
Rose knew that he loved Mary Marriott and must marry Constance
Camborne. Twice during breakfast a swift gleam of sardonic but
utterly kindly and sympathetic amusement flashed into the dark eyes
of the pallid man. It was a gleam full of promise and understanding.
But the duke never saw it, he did not see into the immediate future
with the unerring certainty that the writer of plays and student of
human life saw it.
The duke had no hint of his own deliverance, but the elder man saw
it clear and plain, and he would say nothing. A martyr must undergo
his martyrdom before he wins his proper peace, it is the supreme
condition of self-sacrifice, and James Fabian Rose knew that very
well.
* * * * * *
The duke stood waiting in the bishop's library at Grosvenor Street.
"His lordship will be with you in a moment, your Grace," the butler
said, quietly closing the door of that noble room. It might have been
imagination, but the young man thought that he saw a curious
expression flit over the man's face, the half-compassionate, half-
contemptuous look with which callous intelligence regards a
madman.
"Ah!" he thought to himself, "I suppose that sort of look is one to
which I must become familiar in the future, it is part of the price that
I must pay for living up to the truth that is in me. Very well, let it be
so, I can keep a stiff upper lip, I believe. I must always remember
the sort of people from whom I am descended. Many of them were
robbers and scoundrels, but at least they were strong men."
It was in this temper of mind that he waited in the splendid library,
among all the hushed silence that a great collection of books seems
to give a room, until the bishop should arrive.
The duke had not long to wait.
The distinguished and commanding old man entered, closed the
door behind him, and walked straight up to him.
The bishop's face was very stern and the lines of old age seemed
more deeply cut into it than usual. But there was a real pain in the
steadfast and proud red eyes which added a pathos to his aspect
and troubled the duke.
"John," Lord Camborne began, "when I saw you last night at that
wicked and blasphemous play I trembled to think that most
disquieting news which had reached me was true."
"And what was that, my lord?"
"Suffer me to proceed in my own way, please, and bear with me if I
am prolix. I am in no happy mind. I went to that play as a public
duty, and I took my daughter that she might see for herself the truth
about the Socialists and the godless anarchy they preach. You had
made no mention of your intention to be present, and I was glad to
think that you would be quietly at Oxford. I had heard from Gerald—
than whom you have no greater friend—that you were associating
with disreputable and doubtful people, forsaking men of your own
class and living an extraordinary life."
"It was a lie," the duke answered shortly. "Gerald has been ill in bed,
he has been misinformed."
"It was not only Gerald," the old man went on, "but letters reached
me from other sources, letters full of the most disturbing details."
"Do you set spies upon my actions, Lord Camborne?"
"That is unworthy of you, John," the bishop answered gently,
"unworthy both of you and of me. You are well aware that I could
not stoop to such a thing. Do you forget that in your high position,
with all its manifold responsibilities to God, to your country, and to
yourself, your movements and dispositions are the object of the
most wise and watchful scrutiny on the part of your tutors?"
"I am sorry I spoke wrongly."
"I make allowances for you. The word was nothing, but it is a far
harder task to make allowances for you in another way. You seem to
have committed yourself irrevocably."
The old man's voice had become very stern. The duke saw at once
that he had read the Daily Wire. He said nothing.
"You have been a traitor to your order," the pitiless voice went on.
"You have publicly blasphemed against the wise ordinances of God.
A great peer of England, pledged to support the Throne, you have
cast in your lot with those who would destroy it. I say this in the full
persuasion that the report of what occurred last night is correctly set
forth in that pestilent news-sheet, the Daily Wire."
"It is perfectly true," said the duke.
"You intend to abide by it?"
"Unswervingly. My reason is convinced and my honour is pledged."
The bishop turned and strode twice up and down the library, a noble
and reverend figure as he struggled with his anger.
"I have seen Constance," he said at length, speaking with marked
difficulty. "Of course any idea of your marriage is now out of the
question."
The suddenness of the words hit the duke like a blow.
"And Constance?" he said in a faint voice; "she——"
"She is of one mind with me," Lord Camborne answered. "The blow
has been terrible for her, but she is true to her blood. An
announcement that the marriage will not take place will be sent to
the papers to-day."
"May I see her?"
"You may see her, John," the bishop said brokenly. "Oh, why have
you brought this shame and public disgrace upon us? I did not
intend to make an appeal to you, but I knew your father, I have
loved you, and there is my dear daughter. Is it too late? Cannot you
withdraw? Can it not be explained as a momentary aberration, a
freak, a joke, call it what you will? There would be talk and scandal,
of course, but it would soon blow over and be forgotten. It could be
arranged. I have great influence. Is it too late? Remember all that
you are losing, think well before you answer."
There were tears in the bishop's voice.
There were tears in the duke's eyes as he answered. "Alas!" he said,
"it is too late, I would not change even if I could, I must be true to
myself."
"God help you, preserve you, and forgive you," Lord Camborne
replied with lifted hand. "And now good-bye, in this world we shall
not meet again. I will send Constance to you. Do not keep her long.
Remember that you have an old man's blessing."
With his hand over his eyes the bishop went from the room. More
than once he stumbled in his walk. He was weeping.
It was awful to see that high and stately old man stricken, to see
that white and honourable head bowed in sorrow and farewell.
Lady Constance came into the room. She was very pale, her eyes
were swollen as if she also had been weeping.
She went straight up to the duke, tall and erect as a dart, and held
out her hand to him.
"John," she said. "I've come to say good-bye. Father has allowed me
five minutes and no more. Father is terribly shaken."
He held her hand in his for a moment. She was very beautiful, very
patrician, a true daughter of the race from which she had sprung.
"Then it is really all over, Constance?" he said with great sadness.
"It must be all over for you and me," she answered.
"Tell me this, dear. Is what you say said of your own free will, or is it
said because of your father's authority and pressure? He has been
very kind to me, kinder than from his natural point of view I can
ever deserve. But I must know. I am ready and anxious. I am
putting it horribly, but the situation is horrible. Constance, won't you
marry me still?"
"You are not putting it horribly," she said with a faint smile. "You are
putting it chivalrously and like a gentleman. Let us be absolutely
frank one with another. We come of ancient races, you and I. We
have blood in us that common people have not. We are both of us
quietly and intensely proud of that. 'Noblesse oblige' is our creed.
Very well, I will not marry you for three reasons. First of them all is
that you do not love me. No, don't start, don't protest. This is our
last real meeting, and so in God's name let's be done with shame.
You admire me, you have a true affection for me. But that is all. We
were both dazzled and overcome by circumstances and the moment.
You wanted me because I am beautiful, of your rank, because we
should get on together. I was ready to marry you because I am very
fond of you and because I know and feel that it is my destined lot in
life to make a great marriage, to lead Society, always to be near the
throne. The second reason that I won't marry you is that by your
own act you have deprived yourself of those material things that are
my right and my destiny, and the third reason is that my father
forbids it. John, I think I honour and like you more than I have ever
done before for what you are doing. You have chosen your path, find
peace and joy in it. I pray that you will ever do so, and I know that
you are going to be very happy."
"Very happy, Constance?"
"Very happy, indeed. Oh, you foolish boy, did I not see your face at
the theatre last night! Oh, foolish boy!"
She wore a little bunch of violets at her breast.
She took them and held them out to him. "Give them to her with my
love," she said.
She bent forward, kissed him upon the forehead, and left the room
without even looking back.
A noblewoman always.
 CHAPTER XXIV
"LOVE CROWNS THE DEED"

The duke stood on the pavement outside Lord Camborne's house in

Grosvenor Street.
It was still pouring heavy drops of rain, which beat a tattoo upon his
umbrella.
He glanced back at the massive green-painted door which the butler
had just closed behind him. Never again would that hospitable door
open for him! He would see none of his kind friends any more.
Gerald, who had been as a brother to him for so long, would never
shake him by the hand again—he knew Lord Hayle's temperament
too well to expect it.
Constance, beautiful, frank, and stately, had vanished from his life.
The earl, a prince of the Church and a princely old man, would never
again tell him his genial and courtly stories of the past.
The duke stood there alone. Alone!—the word tolled in his ears like
a bell, making a melancholy accompaniment to the rain.
He began to walk towards Bond Street in a shaken and melancholy
mood.
How swift and strange it all was! How a few months had altered all
his life, utterly and irrevocably! An infinitesimal time back he had not
a care in the world. He was Prince Fortunatus, enjoying every
moment of his life and position in a dignified and becoming fashion.
And what was he now?
He laughed a small, bitter laugh as he asked himself the question.
He was still the Duke of Paddington, the owner of millions, the
proprietor of huge estates, perhaps the most highly-placed young
man in England. Even now it was not too late to undo much of what
he had done. Everything would be condoned and forgiven to such a
man as he.
He could buy a great yacht, go round the world for a year with a
choice society of friends of his own standing, and when he returned
Court and Society would welcome him with open arms once more—
all this he understood very well.
He had but to say a few words and all that was now slipping away
from him would be his own once more.
Struggles against conscience and convictions are either protracted or
very short. The protracted struggle was over in his case. He had
fought out the battle long before. His public action on the night
before had been the outcome. But there was still the last after-
temptation to be faced, the final and conclusive victory to be won.
It was not far from Lord Camborne's town house to Bond Street, but
during the distance the battle within the young man's mind raged
fiercely.
He must not be blamed. The whole of his past life must be taken
into consideration. It must be remembered that he had just been
enduring a succession of shocks, and it must also be taken into
account that no one feels the same enthusiasm on a grey, wet
morning, when he is alone, as he does in a brilliant, lighted place at
midnight, surrounded by troops of friends and sympathisers.
A tiny urchin, wet and ragged, with bare feet, came pattering round
the corner. Under his arm he held a bundle of pink papers in an oil-
skin wrapper. In front of him, as a sort of soiled apron, was the limp
contents-bill of an evening paper.
The duke saw his own name upon it. He realised that by now, of
course, the early editions of all the evening papers were on the
streets, and that they had copied the news from the Daily Wire.
"Pyper, m'lord!" said the urchin, turning up a shrewd and dirty face
to the duke, who shook his head and would have passed on.
"Yer wouldn't sye no, m'lord, if yer noo the noos!" said the child.
"'Ere's a bloomin' noo hactress wot's goin' to beat the bloomin' 'ead
orf of all the other gels, just a cert she is! And there's a mad dook
wot's gone and give all is oof to the pore! P'raps I shell get a bit of it
—I don't fink!—'ave a pyper, sir?"
The impish readiness of the boy amused the duke, though his words
stung. Yes! all the world was ringing with his name. The knowledge,
or rather the realisation of what he had known before, acted as a
sudden tonic. In a swift moment he set his teeth and braced himself
up. A mad duke, was he?—au contraire, he felt particularly sane!
The past was over and done—let it be so. The future was before him
—let him welcome it and be strong. If he was indeed mad, then it
should be a fine madness—a madness of living for humanity!
He looked at the pinched and anxious face of the boy. A sudden
thought struck him. He would begin with the boy.
"Hungry?" he said.
"Not 'arf!" said the boy.
"Father and mother?"
"Old man's doin' five years, old woman's dead—Lock Orspital."
"Home?"
"Occasional, as you might sye," said the imp reflectively; "but
Hadelphi Harches as hoften as not—blarst 'em!"
"Very well," said the duke. "Now you're going to have as much as
you like to eat, good clothes, and a happy life if you come with me.
I'll see you through."
"Straight?—no bloomin' reformatory?"
"Come along with me, you little devil," said the duke genially. "Do
you think I'm going to let you in? If you do—scoot!"
"I'm on," said the child, much reassured at being called a little devil.
"Carn't be much worse off than nah, wotever 'appens."
Two cabs were found at the corner.
"Jump in that one," the duke said, pointing to the last. "Follow me,"
he said to the driver, getting into the first cab as he did so, and
giving the address of Rose's house in Westminster.
The two cabs started without comment or question.
There was something very authoritative about his Grace of
Paddington sometimes.
The two cabs drove up to the little house in Westminster just as the
rain cleared off, and a gleam of sunlight bursting through the clouds
shone on the budding trees which topped the high wall of the
Westminster sanctuary and jewelled them with prismatic fires. High
above, the towers of the Abbey seemed washed and clean, rising
into an air purged for a moment of grime and smoke, while the wet
leaden roof of the nave shone like silver.
James Fabian Rose was on the doorstep of his house, and in the act
of unlocking the door with his latchkey.
"Hallo!" he said. "So you're back, duke—home again! The ordeal is
over, then!"
"Yes, it's quite over," the duke answered.
"Who's this ruffian?" said Rose, smiling at the little newsboy.
"A recruit!" the duke said. "I'm responsible for him for the future.
And meanwhile he's confoundedly hungry."
"So I bloomin' well am," said the imp—though "blooming" was not
the precise word he used.
Rose took the urchin by the ear.
"Come along, embryo Socialist," he said; "there's lots to eat inside—
I'll take him to the kitchen, duke, and meet you in a moment in my
study. My wife's in the kitchen helping the cook. She'll see to this
youngster."
The duke paid the cabmen. As he gave half-a-crown to the second
man, the fellow leaned down from his box and said, "God bless you,
my lord. I knew you as soon as you got into my cab. It'll be many
years before you know the good you done last night. People like us
know wot you done and are goin' to do. I arst you to remember
that."
He gave a salute with his whip and clattered away.
The duke went into the house.
As the door closed behind him and he stood alone in the narrow
hall, the final revelation, the complete realisation came to him.
Mechanically he took off his wet overcoat and bowler hat, hanging
them upon the rack. He put his dripping umbrella in the stand and
went upstairs to the first floor.
Rose's study was on the first floor, facing the drawing-room.
He opened the door and went in.
The room, lined with books, a working-room, was rather dark. It did
not face the newly-arrived sun.
But a dancing fire burned upon the hearth, and in a chair by the side
of it Mary Marriott sat alone.
Her face was pale, she wore a long, flowing tea-gown, round her
feet were scattered the innumerable daily papers in which she had
been reading the extraordinary chorus of praise for her triumph of
the night before.
She was leaning back in a high-backed armchair covered in green
Spanish leather, looking like one of Sargeant's wonderful portraits
that catch up eye and heart into a sort of awe at such cunning and
splendour of presentation.
The duke stopped upon the threshold for a second—only for a
second. He had known what he had come to do directly he was in
the house—immediately he had entered the house and felt the
influence which pervaded it.
He went quickly up to her and sank on his knees beside her chair.
He took her white hands in his—things of carved ivory, with a soul
informing them. An hour ago he had held another pair of hands as
beautiful as these.
Her face flushed deeply, her eyes grew wide, her lips parted. She
tried to draw her hands away.
The words burst from her lips as if she had no power to control
them. Her soul spoke, her heart spoke; it was an absolute avowal.
But conscience, her sense of right and duty, her high thought for
him and for herself spoke also.
"No, no! It is dishonourable, you are vowed!"
He held her fast, the strong male impulse dominated her, she was
sick to death with surrender.
"But you love me, Mary?"
"Yes!—oh, what am I saying? God help me!—go, for you are a
gentleman, and must preserve our hearts unstained!"
"Darling!" he cried, "God is with us. I break no troth! All that is over
and done—I am free, I am yours."
He had her little hands in his, tight, close—ah, close!
Swift, passionate words come from his lips, fierce loving words
caught up in sobs, broken with the hot tears of happiness in that he
is so blessed and she so dear!
Her face, in its supreme loveliness, its tenderness, its joy, is turned
full to his now.
The river of his speech rushes down upon her heart, surging over
her. His words catch her up upon their flood, her will seems to her
merged in his, she swoons with love.
For her! For her—this wonder is for her! It is an echo from the love
of the august parents in the sweet garden of Eden.
Gone is the world, the world in which she has always moved. Gone
are ideals and causes, gone are art and triumph, homage and
success! Gone—vanished utterly away—while her own lover holds
her hands in his.
She bent her lovely head. No longer did she look up into her lover's
face with happy eyes. A deep flush suffused her face and the white
column of her neck.
"So you see, dearest—best, I had to tell you. This is the moment
when the love that throngs and swells over a man's heart bursts all
bonds of repression and surges out in a great flood. Oh! darling!
there has never been any one like you—there will never be any one
like you again! My love and my lady, dare I ask you to be mine? Oh,
I don't know—I can't say! I kneel before you as a man kneels before
a shrine. I wonder that I have even words to speak to you, so
peerless, so gracious, and so beautiful!"
His voice dropped and broke for a moment. He could say no more.
Mary said no word. The firelight made flickering gleams in the great
masses of dead-black hair. The wonderful face was hidden by the
white hands which she had withdrawn from his.
His own strong hands were clasped upon her knees.
They shook and trembled violently.
What was she thinking? How did she receive his words?—his winged
and fiery words. He knelt there in an agony of doubt.
Then, in one swift access of passion, his mood changed to one of
greater power.
She was a woman, and therefore to be won! The clear, strong
thought came down upon him like fire from heaven. He knew then
that he was her conqueror, the man she must have to be her mate,
her strength, her lover!
His strong arms were round her. They held her close. "Darling!" he
whispered, "my arms are the home for you. That is what the old
Roman poet said. Horace said it in the vineyards and the sun. I say
it now. See, you are mine, mine!—only mine! You shall never break
away, my own, incomparable lady and love!"
The whole world went away from her and was no more. She only
knew, in a super-sensual ecstasy, that his kisses fell upon her cheek
like a hot summer wind.
She found a little voice, a little, crushed, happy voice.
"But you are a duke, you are so much that is great! I am only Mary
Marriott, the actress!"
"You are only the supreme genius of the stage. I am the greatest
man in the world because you love me. Mary, it is just like that—and
that is all."
She kissed him. He knew the supreme moment. All life, all love, all
nature were revealed to him in one flash of joy for which there is no
name.
Both of them heard an echo of the harps that the saints were
playing in another world.
The whole heavenly orchestra was sounding an accompaniment to
their story.
"Love!"
"Love!"
"Husband!"
"Wife!"
There was a knock at the door.
"Please, miss," said the housemaid, "lunch is ready. Mr. Goodrick has
come, your Grace. And the downstairs rooms are full of gentlemen
of the press. And there's men with photographic cameras, too. I've
asked the master what I am to do, but he only laughs, miss! I can't
get anything out of him. But lunch is ready!"
"Sweetheart," the duke said, "lunch is ready! There's a fact! Let's
cling to it! And if Rose is laughing, let's laugh, too, and dodge the
journalists!"
"It will be a very happy laughter, John," she said.
As the couple came into the luncheon-room—which was full of the
leaders of the socialistic movement—Mr. Goodrick cast a swift glance
at the duke and Mary, and then left the place with an unobtrusive
air.
The Daily Wire had no evening edition.
But it had an extraordinary reputation for being "first there" with
intimate news at breakfast time.
 EPILOGUE
Upon the Chelsea Embankment there is a house which, for some
months after its new occupants had taken possession of it, was an
object of considerable interest to those who passed by.
People used to point there, at that time, and tell each other that
"That's where the Socialist duke and his actress wife have gone to
live. The Duke of Paddington—you know!—gave up all his
possessions, or nearly all, to be held in trust for the Socialists. They
say that he's half mad, never recovered from being captured by
those burglars on the night of the big railway smash on the G.E.R."
"Silly Juggins!" would be the reply. "Wish I'd have had it. You
wouldn't see me giving it all up—not half!"
But for several years the house has been just like any ordinary
house and few people point to it or talk about it any more.
There have been hundreds of sensations since the duke and his wife
settled down in Chelsea.
* * * * * *
It was about one o'clock in the afternoon.
The duke sat in his library in Cheyne Walk. It was a large and
comfortable room, surrounded by books, with a picture here and
there which the discerning eye would have immediately seen to be
of unusual excellence, and, indeed, surprising in such a house as
this. A barrister earning his two thousand a year, a successful doctor
not quite in the first rank, a county court Judge or a Clerk in the
Houses of Parliament would have had just such a room—save only
for the three pictures.
The duke had changed considerably in appearance during the past
five years.
The boyishness had departed. The serenity and impassivity of a
great prince who had never known anything but a smooth seat high
upon Olympus had gone also.
The face, now strong with a new kind of strength, showed the marks
and gashes of Experience. It was the mask of a man who had done,
suffered, and learned, but it was, nevertheless, not a very happy
face.
There was, certainly, nothing of discontent in it. But there was a
persistent shadow of thought—a brooding.
Much water had flowed under the bridge since the night at the
theatre when he had made a public renunciation of almost
everything that was his.
Life had not been placid, and for many reasons. There had been the
long and terribly difficult breaking away from his own class and
order, for he had not been allowed to go into "outer darkness"
without a protracted struggle.
All the forces of the world had arrayed themselves against him. The
wisest, the most celebrated, the highest placed, had combined
together in that they might prevent this dreadful thing.
He was not as other men.
Hardly a great and stately house in England but was connected with
him by ties of kindred. His falling away was a menace to all of them
in its opening of possibilities, a real grief to many of them. There
had been terrible hours of expostulation, dreadful scenes of sorrow
and recrimination.
Compromise had assailed him on every side. His wife would have
been received everywhere—it was astonishing how Court and
Society had discovered that Mary Marriott was one of themselves
after all—a "Mem-Sahib." He could do what he liked within reason,
and still keep his place.
A prime minister had pointed out to him that no one at all would
object to his countenance of the Socialistic party. He might
announce his academic adherence to Socialism as often and as
loudly as he pleased. It would, indeed, be a good thing for
Socialism, in which—so his lordship was pleased to say—there was
indubitably a germ of economic good. All great movements had
begun slowly. These things must ripen into good and prove
themselves by their own weight. But it was economically wrong, and
subversive of all theories of progress, that a sudden and
overpowering weight should be put into one side of the scale by a
single individual.
"It will disturb everything" said the Prime Minister. "And any one
who, from an individual opinion, disturbs the balance of affairs is
doing grave, and perhaps irreparable, harm."
In short, they would have allowed him to do anything, but give up
his PROPERTY. They would have let him marry any one if he did not
give up his PROPERTY.
For all of them had won their property and sovereignty by predatory
strength throughout the centuries, or the years. Landowners of
ancient descent, millionaires of yesterday, all knew the power of
what they held and had. All loved that power and were determined
to keep it for themselves and their descendants.... And, all had sons,
young and generous of mind as yet, to whom the duke's example
might prove an incentive to a repetition of such an abnegation.
They were very shrewd and far-seeing, all these people. Collectively,
they were the most cultured, beautiful, and charming folk in
England. They were the rulers of England, and by birth, temper, and
inheritance he was one of them. The pressure put upon him had
been enormous, the strain terrible.
A resolution made in a moment of great emotion, and an enthusiasm
fostered by every incident of time and circumstance, seems a very
different thing regarded dispassionately when the blood is cool, and,
so to speak, the footlights are lowered, the curtain down, the house
empty.
Once, indeed, he had nearly given in. He had been sent for privately
to the Palace, and some wise and kindly words had been spoken to
him there by A Personage to whom he could not but listen with the
gravest and most loyal attention.
Compromise was once more suggested, he was bidden to remember
his order and his duty to it. He was again told that his opinions were
his own, that short of taking the irrevocable step he might do almost
anything.
Nor does a young man whose inherited instincts are all in fierce war
with his new convictions listen unmoved to gracious counsel such as
this from the Titular Head of all nobility, for whose ancestors his own
had bled on many a historic field.
He had stood quite alone. Mary Marriott, his wife that was to be, had
given him no help. Tender, loving, ready to marry him at any cost,
she nevertheless stood aloof from influencing his decision in the
hour of trial.
He tried hard to get help and support from her, to make her love
confirm his resolution, but he tried in vain. With the clear sanity of a
noble mind, the girl refused to throw so much as a feather-weight
into the scale of the balance, though in this she also suffered
(secretly) as much as he.
Then he went to the others, sick and sore from the buffetings he
was receiving at all hands—from his own order and from the great
public press they influenced, from the great solid middle-class of the
country which, more than anything else perhaps, preserves the level
of wise-dealing and order in England. The others were as dumb as
the girl he loved. It was true that a section of the Socialist party, the
noisy, blatant—and possibly insincere—big drum party, hailed him as
prophet, seer, martyr, and Galahad in one. But there was a furious
vulgarity about this sort of thing which was more unnerving, and
made him more wretched than anything else at all. Such people
spoke a different language from his own, a different language from
that of Fabian Rose and his friends. They said the same thing
perhaps—he was inclined to doubt even that sometimes—but the
dialect offended fastidious ears, the attitude offended one
accustomed to a certain comeliness and reticence even in the new
life and surroundings into which he had been thrown. Both the Pope
and General Booth, for example, serve One Master, and live for Our
Lord. But it is conceivable that if the Bishop of Rome could be
present at a mass meeting of the Salvation Army in the Albert Hall,
he would leave it a very puzzled and disgusted prelate indeed.
Rose and his friends avoided influencing the duke, of set purpose.
They were high-minded men and women, but they were also
psychologists, and trained deeply in the one science which can
dominate the human mind and human opinion.
They wanted the Duke of Paddington badly. They wanted the
enormous impetus to the movement that his accession would bring;
they wanted the great revenues which would provide sinews of war
for a vast campaign. But they knew that nothing would be more
disastrous than an illustrious convert who would fall away. The duke
had been left alone.
For a month after the few words he had addressed to the people at
the theatre supper, the struggle had continued. His name was in
every one's mouth. It would not be too much to say that all Europe
set itself to wonder what would be the outcome. The journals of
England and the Continent teemed with denunciation, praise, sneers.
Tolstoi sent a long message—the thing fermented furiously, and,
instructed by the journalists, even the man in the street recognised
that here was something more than even the renunciation of one
man of great possessions for an idea—that it would create—one way
or the other—a disintegrating or binding force, that a precedent
would establish itself, that vast issues were involved.
After a week of it, the duke disappeared. Only a few of his friends
knew where he was, and they were pledged not to say. He was
fighting it out alone in a little mountain village of the Riviera—
Roquebume, which hangs like a bird's nest on the Alps between
Monte Carlo and Mentone, and where the patient friendly olive
growers of the mountain steppes never knew who the quiet young
Englishman was who sat in the little auberge under the walls of the
Saracen stronghold and watched the goats and the children rolling in
the warm dusk, or stared steadfastly out over the Mediterranean far
below, to where the distant cliffs of Corsica gleamed like pearls in
the sun.
He came back to England, his decision made, his first resolve
strengthened into absolute, assured purpose. The ruffians who had
kidnapped him on the night of the railway accident had been unable
to torture him into buying his freedom. For what to him would have
been nothing—a penny to a beggar—he might have gone free. And
yet he had nearly died rather than give in. Save for the chance or
Providence which brought his rescuers to him in the very last
moment, he would have died—there is no doubt about it.
Now again, he was firm as granite. His mind was made up, nothing
could alter it nor move it. His hand had been placed upon the
plough. It was going to remain there, and he left the palms and
orange groves of the South a man doubly vowed. He had married at
once. Mary Marriott became a duchess. Several problems arose.
Should he drop his title—that was one of them. He refused to do so,
and in his refusal was strongly backed up by the real leaders of the
movement. "You were born Duke of Paddington," said Rose, "and
there is no earthly reason why you should become Mr. John
something or other. It would only be a pretence, and if you do, I
shall change my own name to James Fabian Turnip! and as I have
always told you Socialism never says that all men are equal—true
Socialism that is. It only says that all men have equal rights! At the
same time some of our noisy friends will go for you—though you
won't mind that!" They did "go for" him. Despite the fact that he had
given up everything—his friends and relatives, his order, his tastes,
there was not wanting a certain section of the baser socialistic press
which spoke of "The young man with great possessions" who would
give up much but not all; like all professional sectarians, rushing to
the Gospels in an extremity to pick and choose a few comfortable
texts from the history of One whom they alternately held up as the
First Great Socialist, and then denied His definite claims to be the
Veritable Son of God.
The duke minded their veiled sarcasms not at all; an open attack
was never dared. But the attitude gave him pain, and much material
forethought. They were always quoting "The Christ," "The Man
Jesus." They continually pointed out—as it suited them upon
occasion—that private property, privilege, and monopoly were
attacked by Jesus, who left no doubt as to the nature of His mission.
They said, and said truly enough, that "He pictured Dives, a rich
man, plunged into torment, for nothing else than for being rich when
another was poor; while Lazarus, who had been nothing but poor
and afflicted, is comforted and consoled. For that, those Evangelical-
Nonconformists, the Pharisees, who were covetous, derided him. By
the force of His personality (it was not the scourge that did it!), He
drove the banking fraternity (who practised usury then as they do
to-day) out of their business quarters in the Temple, and named
them thieves. 'Woe to you rich, who lay up treasures, property, on
earth,' He cried. And 'Blessed are ye poor, who relinquish property
and minister to each other's needs,' He cried." And yet, in the same
breath with which they spoke of this Supreme Man they denied His
Divinity, trying to prove Him, at the same moment, an inspired
Socialist, and what is more a very practical One, and also a Dreamer
who spoke in simile of His claims to Godhead, or, and this was the
more logical conclusion of their premisses, a conscious Pretender
and Liar.
"He was," they said, "a Seer, as the ancient prophets were, as John,
Paul, Francis of Assisi, Luther, Swedenborg, Fox, and Wesley, were.
Such men, modern Spiritualists and Theosophists would call
'mediums.' So great was He in wisdom and power of the spirit, that
in His own day He was called 'the Son of God,' as well as 'the Son of
Man,'—that is, the pre-eminent, the God-like, Man."
Who need dispute over the stories of the "miracles" wrought by Him
and His disciples? To-day, no scientific person would say they were
impossible; we have learned too much of the power of "mind" over
"matter," for that, by now. There were well-attested marvels in all
ages, and in our own living day, which were not less "miraculous"
than the Gospel miracles. Therefore, they would not reject the story
of Jesus because He was affirmed to have worked many signs and
wonders.
The Sermon on the Mount, therefore, was a piece of practical politics
which was epitomised in the saying "Love one another." The clear
and definite statements which Jesus made then ought to obtain to-
day in their literal letter. The equally clear and definite statements
which Jesus made as to His own Divine Origin were the misty
utterances of a "medium"! The Incarnation was not a fact.
"Love one another" was the supreme rule of conduct—which made it
odd and bewildering that the young man who had given up
everything should be covertly assailed for holding fast to the name in
which he had been born. But the duke steeled himself. He honestly
realised that class hatred must still exist for generations and
generations. It was not the fault of one class, or the other, it was the
inevitable inheritance of blood. Yet he found himself less harsh in
spirit than most of those who forgot his sacrifices, and grudged him
his habits of speaking in decent English, of courteous manner, of
taste, of careful attention to his finger nails. To his sorrow he found
that many of them still hated him for these things—despite
everything they hated him. For his part he merely disliked, not them,
but the absence in them of these things. But from the first he found
his way was hard and that his renunciation was a renunciation
indeed. He threw himself into the whole Socialistic movement with
enormous energy, but his personal consolations were found in the
sympathy and society of people like the Roses, and their set—
cultured and brilliant men and women who were, after all was said
and done, "Gentlefolk born!"
After his marriage, months had been taken up with the legal
business, protracted and beset with every sort of difficulty, by which
he had devised his vast properties to the movement.
He was much criticised for retaining a modest sum of two thousand
pounds a year for himself and his wife—until James Fabian Rose with
a pen dipped in vitriol and a tongue like a whip of steel neatly flayed
the objectors and finished them off with a few characteristic touches
of his impish Irish wit.
Then—would he go to court?—a down-trodden working-man
couldn't go to court. If he was going to be a Socialist, let him be a
Socialist—and so on.
For this sort of thing, again, the duke did not care. The only critic
and judge of his actions was himself, his conscience. He went to
court, Mary was presented also. They were kindly received. High
minds can appreciate highmindedness, however much the point of
view may differ.
Mary was two things. First of all she was the Duchess of Paddington.
It was made quite plain to her that, though perhaps she was not the
duchess for whom many people had hoped, she was indubitably of
the rank. Gracious words were said to her as duchess. Even kinder
words were said to her upon another and more private occasion, as
one of those great artists whom Royalty has always been delighted
to honour—recognising a sovereignty quite alien to its own but still
real!
As for the duke, he had a certain privilege at the levées. It belonged
to his house. It was his right to stand a few paces behind the Lord
Chamberlain, and when any representatives of the noble family of
—— appeared before the Sovereign, to draw his court sword and
step near to the King—an old historic custom the reasons for which
were nearly forgotten, but which was still part of the pomp and
pageantry of the Royal palace.
Upon one occasion after his renunciation, he appeared at St. James's
and exercised his ancient right. There was no opposition, nothing
unkind, upon the faces of any of the great persons there. The
ceremony was gone through with all its traditional dignity, but every
one there felt that it was an assertion—and a farewell! The duke
himself knew it at the time, and as he left St. James's he may be
pardoned if, for a moment, old memories arose in him, and that his
eyes were dimmed with a mist of unshed tears as the modest
brougham drove him back to his house in Cheyne Walk. How kind
they had all been! How sympathetic in their way, how highly bred!
Yes! it was worth while to be one of them! It was worth while to live
up to the traditions which so many of them often forgot. But one
could still do that, one could still keep the old hereditary chivalry of
race secret and inviolable in the soul, and yet live for the people,
love the poor, the outcast, the noisy, the vulgar, those whom Our
Lord, who counselled tribute to reason, loved best of all!... These
things are an indication, not a history of the events of the first
eighteen months after the Duke of Paddington's marriage.
The story provides a glimpse into some of his difficulties, that is to
say, difficulties which were semi-public and patent to his intimate
circle of friends, if not, perhaps, to all the rest of the world.
Nevertheless, giving all that he had given, he found himself
confronted with yet another problem, which was certainly the worst
of all. He had married Mary, he loved her and reverenced her as he
thought no man had ever reverenced and loved a girl before. She
loved and appreciated him also. Theirs was a perfect welding and
fusion of identity and hopes. But she was an actress. Her love for
her Art had been direct and overwhelming from the very first. She
had given all her life and talent to it. For her it had all the
sacredness of a real vocation. She was, and always would be, a
woman vowed to her Art as truly and strongly as an innocent
maiden puts on the black veil and vows herself to Christ. Nor is this
a wrong comparison, because there are very many ways of doing
things to the glory of God, and God gives divers gifts to divers of his
children. And so this also had to be faced by the duke. Since the
night upon which her great opportunity had come to her, Mary had
never looked back.
Her success, then, had been supreme and overwhelming, and, apart
from all the romantic circumstances which had attended it, her
position upon the stage had grown into one which was entirely apart
from anything outside her Art.
The world now—after five years—still knew that she was a duchess
—if she chose, that was how the world put it—but the fact had little
or no significance for the public. She was just Mary Marriott—their
own Mary—and if she so often spent her genius in interpreting the
brilliant socialistic plays of James Fabian Rose—well, what of that?
They went to see her play in the plays, not, in the first instance, to
see the play itself. And even after that, Rose was always charming—
there was always a surprise and a delightfully subversive point of
view. One went home to Bayswater and West Kensington "full of
new ideas," and certainly full of enthusiasm for beautiful Mary
Marriott. "What a darling she is, mother!" ... "Charming indeed,
Gertie. And do not forget that she is, after all, the Duchess of
Paddington. Of course the duke gave up his fortune to the Socialists
some years ago, but they are still quite wealthy. Maud knows them.
Your Aunt Maud was there to an afternoon reception only last week.
Every one was there. All the leading lights! They have renounced
society, of course, but quite a lot of the best people pop in all the
same—so your Aunt Maud tells me—and, of course, all the leading
painters and actors and writers, and so on. And, of course, they can
go anywhere they like directly they give up this amusing socialistic
pose. They're even asked down to Windsor. The King tolerates the
young duke with his mad notions, and of course Miss Marriott is
received on other grounds too—like Melba and Patti and Irving, don't
you know. Nothing like real Art, Gertie! It takes you anywhere." Such
statements as these were only half true. Every one came to the
duke's house who was any one in the world of Art. But they came to
see his wife, not to see him. And despite the rumours of Bayswater
his own class left him severely alone by now. The years had passed,
his property was no longer his, he had very definitely "dropped out."
The duke did not care for "artistic" people, and he knew that they
didn't care for him. He could not understand them, and on their part
they thought him dull and uninteresting. There was no common
ground upon which they could meet. Many of the people who came
were actors and actresses, and when it had been agreed between
Mary and her husband that she was to continue her artistic career,
he had not contemplated the continual invasion and interruption of
his home life which this was to mean. He had a prodigious
admiration for Mary's talent; it had seemed, and still seemed, to him
the most wonderful thing in the world. His ideal had been from the
first a life of noble endeavour for the good of the world. He had
given up everything he held dear, and would spend the rest of his
life in active service for the cause of Socialism. Mary would devote
her supreme art to the same cause. But there would also be a
hidden, happy life of love and identity of aim which would be
perfect. They had done exactly as he had proposed. His enthusiasm
for the abstract idea of Socialism had never grown less—was
stronger than ever now. Mary's earnestness and devotion was no
less than his. In both of them the flame burned pure and brightly
still.
But the duke knew by this time that nothing had turned out as he
expected and hoped. His home life was non-existent. His work was
incessant, but the Cause seemed to be making no progress
whatever. It remained where it had stood when he had just made his
great renunciation.
The vested interests of Property were too strong. A Liberal and semi-
socialistic government had tried hard, but had somehow made a
mess of things. The House of Lords had refused its assent to half a
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