"Red Deer" was brought out by Longmans in 1884.
In December, 1883, he offers "The Dewy Morn." The proposal came to nothing. The book was published in the following year by Messrs. Chapman and Hall. In February, 1884, he speaks of a letter written to him by Lord Ebrington, master of the Devon and Somerset staghounds, upon his "Red Deer." Certain small errors were pointed out for correction, but, as he points out with satisfaction, no serious omission or fault had been discovered.
In a letter written in March he mentions that an anonymous correspondent has been scourging him with Scripture texts on account of the "Story of My Heart." That anonymous correspondent! How he lieth in wait for everybody! how omniscient he is! how unsparing! how certain and sure of everything! The texts which this person used to belabour poor Jefferies were, however, singularly inappropriate. "O Lord," he quotes, "how glorious are Thy works! Thy thoughts are very deep. An unwise man doth not consider this, and a FOOL doth not understand it." The word "fool" was doubly underlined, so that there should be no mistake as to the practical application of the passage. The anonymous correspondent is, indeed, always very particular on this point. But Jefferies had been all his life commenting on the glory of those works, and endeavouring to apprehend and to realize, if only a little, the meaning and the depth of these thoughts. The cry of his heart all through the book is for fuller insight—for a deeper understanding.
He goes on to speak of his illness. It is not, he says, at all serious; but it will make him go to London to see a physician, and it is likely to prevent him from getting about. There is a paper (not one of these letters) among his literary remains, in which he describes the symptoms at length.
In April he writes a long letter about many things, but especially his "After London."
"I have just put the finishing touch to my new book. It is in three volumes." As published by Cassell and Co. it was in one volume, and it leaves off with the story only half told. Perhaps the author cut it down, perhaps the publishers refused to bring it out unless as a short one-volume work. "It is called," he says, "'After London,' with a second title, 'Chronicles of the House of Aquila.' The first part describes the relapse of England into barbarism; how the roads are covered with grass, how the brambles extend over the fields, and in time woods occupy the country. These woods are filled with wild animals—descendants of the dogs, cats, swine, horses, and cattle that were left, and gradually returned to their original wild nature. The rivers are choked, and a great lake forms in the centre of the island.
"Such inhabitants as remain are resident about the shores of the lake—the forest being without roads, and their only communication being by water. They have lost printing and gunpowder; they use the bow and arrow, and wear armour, but retain some traces of the arts and of civilization. At the same time, slavery exists, and moral tyranny. There are numerous petty kingdoms and republics at war with each other. Knights and barons possess fortified dwellings, and exercise unbounded power within their stockaded estates—stockaded against bushmen, forest savages, against bands of gipsies, and against wild cattle and horses.
"The Welsh issue from their mountains, claiming England as having belonged to their ancestors. They succeed in conquering a section, but are confronted by other invaders, for the Irish, thinking that now is the time for their revenge, land at Chester. These invaders to some degree neutralize each other, yet they form a standing menace to the South, and more civilized portion.
"The state of the site of London is fully described. It is, I think, an original picture.
"The second part, or 'Chronicles of the House of Aquila,' treats of the manner of life, the hunting journeys through the forest, the feasts and festivals, and, in short, the entire life of the time. Ultimately, one of them starts on a voyage round the great inland lake, and his adventures are followed. He assists at a siege, and visits the site of London.
"All these matters are purposely dealt with in minute detail so that they may appear actual realities, and the incidents stand out as if they had just happened. There is a love affair, but it is in no sense a novel; more like a romance, but no romance of a real character.
"First, you see, I have to picture the condition of the country 'After London,' and then to set my heroes to work, and fight, and travel in it."
This book was brought out, as stated above, by Cassell and Co. in 1886. The idea is indeed truly original. Had it been more of a novel, with an end, as well as a beginning, it would have proved more successful.
"You tell me," Jefferies continues, "that I write too much. To me it seems as if I wrote nothing, more especially since my illness; for this is the third year I have been so weakened. To me, I say, it seems as if I wrote nothing, for my mind teems with ideas, and my difficulty is to know what to do with them. I not only sketch out the general plan of a book almost instantaneously, but I can see every little detail of it from the first page to the last. The mere writing—the handwriting—is the only trouble; it is very wearying. At this moment I have several volumes quite complete in my mind. Scarce a day goes by but I put down a fresh thought. I have twelve note-books crammed full of ideas, plots, sketches of papers, and so on."
These are probably the note-books of which I have spoken, and from which I have quoted.
The following, dated January 29, 1885, refers to a copy of the Badminton hunting-book sent him by Mr. Longman: