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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/11319-0.txt b/11319-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..579a626 --- /dev/null +++ b/11319-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4030 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11319 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 11319-h.htm or 11319-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/3/1/11319/11319-h/11319-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/3/1/11319/11319-h.zip) + + Images of the original pages are available through the Florida + Board of Education, Division of Colleges and Universities, + PALMM Project, 2001. (Preservation and Access for American and + British Children's Literature, 1850-1869.) See + http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/dl/UF00001801.jpg + or + http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/dl/UF00001801.pdf + + + + + +THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS AND OTHER TALES. + +BY MRS. ALFRED GATTY. + +1851. + + + + + + +[Illustration: HERMIONE SKETCHING.] + + + +Col miele, e non coll' aceto si piglian le mosche. + +_Italian Proverb_. + + + + +To My Children + +These tales are most affectionately dedicated. They were written in +hours of sickness, but are intended to be read by the healthy and +joyous young: and to illustrate some favourite and long cherished +convictions. + +Margaret Gatty. + +Ecclesfield Vicarage, +27th March, 1851. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +The Fairy Godmothers + +Joachim the Mimic + +Darkness and Light + +The Love of God + + + +The design for the Frontispiece which adorns this volume is by the +pencil of the writer's kind and highly gifted friend, Miss Lucette E. +Barker. + + + + +THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS. + + +In one of the beautiful bays on the coast of Fairy Land, a party of +Fairies was assembled on a lovely evening in July. There are many +beautiful bays on the coast of England, and there is one especially, +my dear little readers, which you and I know of, where a long line of +grand old rocks stretches far into the sea on the left-hand extremity, +while in the distance to the right a warning lighthouse with its +changing lights gives an almost solemn beauty to the scene; for one +cannot help thinking, at the sight of it, of the poor storm-driven +mariner, whom even that friendly light may fail to save from a sad and +sudden death. But beautiful as this little bay is, of which I speak, +and fond as we are of it, it is nothing, I do assure you, compared to +the bays in Fairy Land! There, there are no light-houses reminding one +painfully of danger and destruction near, but all is loveliness and +peace; and even the rocks would be turned into soft pillows by the +good-natured Fairies who inhabit the country, should any strange +accident drive a mortal ship on that shore. + +Also the bays in Fairy Land face to the west, which is a great +advantage, for in an evening there you may sit and watch the golden +sun dipping behind the waves; and the rich red tints he sends out upon +the rocks before he sets, are beyond measure beautiful and attractive. +Especially, I believe, the Fairies enjoy this time of day, for they +are odd little creatures, rather conceited, and fond of everything +pretty; consequently they like to be floating about the rocks in their +white dresses when the crimson and golden hues of sunset shine on +them, knowing very well they look like so many bright flowers on the +occasion. + +The day I speak of however had been very hot, and at the time I speak +of, the Fairies felt a little lazy and were reclining on some rocks +covered with sea-weed and amusing themselves by talking. In general +the conversation of these little creatures is rather light and +frivolous and gay; but it is really a fact that they were just then +all serious together and all were engaged in a very profound +conversation on human happiness. + +I am sorry to have so many explanations to give, but I think it quite +necessary to tell you the reason of so uncommon an event as a party +of Fairies being serious. Well then, there were going to be, very +shortly, several extremely gay christenings in the world, and some of +the Fairies had been invited to attend at them as Godmothers, in order +that they might bestow Fairy gifts on the different infants. + +Four or five of the christenings were to take place the next day, and +the Fairies who were going were discussing with each other what gifts +they should bestow, and as their only object was to ensure the +happiness of the children for whom they were interested, they +naturally fell into a discourse as to what gifts were most likely to +have so charming an effect. "Your Godchild is a girl too, I believe," +said Euphrosyne to Ianthe [Fairies are privileged, you know, to have +romantic names] "what do you think of bestowing upon her?" "Why," +answered Ianthe, "the old story, I suppose--BEAUTY: at least such +was my intention, but if you can any of you show me I am wrong in +supposing it a cause of happiness to the mortal race, why, I suppose +I must give her ugliness instead." + +"Sister, I hope you will do no such thing," murmured a young Fairy who +lay near twining seaweeds into a wreath. "I never until this evening +heard a doubt upon the subject, and to tell you the truth the only +time I ever envy a mortal is when I see a regular beauty enter a large +assembly. Oh, the triumph of that moment! Every eye turned upon her; +murmurs of admiration, not unmixed with envy, greeting her as she +sweeps along; everyone courting her acquaintance; a word, a smile of +hers more valued than a pearl or a ruby. A sort of queen of Nature's +own making, reigning royally in undisputed sway, let her circumstances +of life be what they may! Look how mean the richest woman who is ugly +looks by the side of her! No no, dear Ianthe, make your little lady +handsome, and you have done the best that Fairy can do for her. I +declare I envy her beforehand! Here where we are all so beautiful +together there is no interest or excitement about it--it is quite +flat." And so saying the young fairy Leila laid herself down to her +wreath again. "Why, Leila, you are absolutely eloquent!" observed +Ianthe, "Beauty it certainly must be." + +"Oh, I declare," pursued Ianthe, rousing up again, "I have sometimes +really wished myself ugly, that I might some day have the pleasure of +suddenly finding myself beautiful!" + +"Oh, but then," said a Fairy from behind, "is there no danger of your +regular beauty, as you call her, getting as tired of being beautiful +as you are, and wishing herself ugly too?" + +"Certainly, not," answered Ianthe, "for, for an earthly beauty there +would always be the excitement of being envied." + +"Come, come," persisted the former speaker, "then the gift of being +envied would be the best thing to bestow, at all events a necessary +addition." + +"Oh," cried Leila, stopping her ears, "I can't argue, I never could--I +can't hear any more, I am quite satisfied that I am right; you can't +argue away the pleasure of being a beauty in a ball-room. Ask any of +them themselves." + +"Well," said Ianthe, "we need pursue the subject no further. I am +resolved. My baby is to be beautiful, beautiful as the dawn of the +morning; they shall call her Aurora!" + +"I shall not follow your example," observed Euphrosyne, "I don't at +all like that notion of the necessity of _envy_ to make the beauty's +joy complete. Besides, I'm not at all sure beauty is not much more +charming in idea than in possession. Nobody spend their lives in +entering a ball-room, and one gets sadly tired of one's own face. I'm +sure _I_ do, beautiful as it is;" and as she spoke the Fairy stooped +over a clear tide pool which mirrored her lovely countenance; "and yet +look what a nose I have! It is absolutely exquisite! And this hair!" +and she held up her long silken curling tresses and looked at them +reflected in the water as she spoke. A musical laugh rang through the +fairy group. Euphrosyne resumed her seat. "There isn't a mortal damsel +in the world who would not go into raptures to resemble me," pursued +she, "and yet--but, oh dear, I am getting quite prosy, and it is quite +useless, for Ianthe has decided. I, on the contrary, am thinking of +something far less romantic and interesting, but I suspect far more +necessary to the happiness of mortals than beauty--I mean RICHES." + +"Men are horribly fond of them, certainly," observed the Fairy from +behind, whose name was Ambrosia. "I can't endure men on that very +account. Look at the grubby wretched lives they lead in +counting-houses and banks, and dreadful dingy holes and corners of +great towns, where we wouldn't set the soles of our feet, and this for +forty or fifty years, perhaps, in order that in the fifty-first, or +perhaps later still, they may turn into butterflies for the little bit +of life that is left to them. And such butterflies, too! not knowing +what to do with their gay coats and fine wings when they get them at +last." + +"I think you are putting an extreme case," observed Euphrosyne. +"Though the grubs themselves may not thoroughly enjoy the riches they +have so laboriously acquired, their children or grandchildren may, and +live at ease and enjoy them. I should not think of bestowing great +riches on uneducated paupers. But it is another matter to give them to +people whom education has refined, and who would know how to enjoy and +employ them." + +"I wonder," suggested a very little Fairy, scarcely grown to her full +size, "why you don't just give your Godchildren moderate good health, +and enough money to make them quite comfortable without puzzling +them?" + +"You are a complete Solomon," observed Euphrosyne, "but you must know, +my dear, that moderate good health and a mere comfortable competency +would hardly be considered Fairy gifts by our friends in the lower +world. These things are, as it were, the absolute _necessities_ of a +happy life; they are the beef and mutton (to borrow an earthly simile) +of the entertainment. Fairy gifts form the somewhat unnecessary (and +questionably wholesome) second course, the sweets, the bonbons, the +luscious luxuries of the repast. + +"Very few, by comparison, get them. Very few infants you know have +Fairy Godmothers, but we make it a rule that those who have, shall +always be distinguished from the crowd. Other-wise our power would not +be believed in. No, my little Aglaia, all our Godchildren start from +the point you spoke of--'caeteris paribus,' as those dingy black +lawyers say--all other things being equal--it is a question now of +bestowing extra superfine Fairy gifts." + +Aglaia tittered--"I know Sister Euphrosyne is thinking of the +christening suppers, and the whipped creams, and the syllabubs!" and +away she tripped to the other end of the bay, lest the older Fairies +should scold her for impertinence. + +"Certainly," pursued Euphrosyne, "I have a great contempt for riches +myself. Bah! the idea of all the troublesome as well as wicked things +men do in order that they may be able to keep a lumbering thing they +call a carriage, to drive them round a dirty town. Just think of that +one thing alone! It is hardly credible." And Euphrosyne laid her head +by the side of Leila's, and looked up into the deep blue sky. + +"Remember," said Ambrosia, from behind, "it is a choice with poor +mortals between heavy foot-walking, and the lumbering vehicles you +talk of. Perhaps when their legs ache terribly, the carriages are not +such bad things. We can hardly judge dispassionately in such a matter, +we who can float and fly!" and the delicate Ambrosia, springing up, +floated softly round the bay, and then returned smiling to her +companions. "It made me almost ill to think of aching legs," observed +she, "how I do pity the mortal race!" + +"How pretty you looked as the sun shone golden upon your white robe," +exclaimed Leila, "It was a sight for a mortal painter to die of!" + +"A genius for painting would be a grand Fairy gift," observed Ianthe. + +"Too doubtful of success," answered Euphrosyne, "and the Musician's +power the same; besides musicians always die young and with exhausted +minds. The art is too much for mortal nerves." + +"Their atmosphere is too thick," said Leila. "How tired I am of your +discussions! Let us sing! Whatever music may be to them, it is food to +us." + +Then all those beautiful Fairies arose and joining hands on the rocks +they sang to the now dying Sun a chorus of Fairy Land! Now and then +these ravishing melodies are permitted to reach to mortal ears: +chiefly in dreams to the sick and sorrowful, for Fairies have great +compassion on such, and allow them a distant taste of this, the most +exquisite of their enjoyments. + +There was no more discussion that night, nor did they argue much the +next morning. There was the rising sun to welcome from the sleeping +caves on the eastern side of their country, and the bath to be +enjoyed, and their wings to plume, and sweet odours to gather from the +early flowers; and the time passed so quickly, they only met to take a +hurried leave. "We must understand each other however, before we +separate," said Euphrosyne. + +"Dear Ianthe, your Gift is Beauty?" "It is." "And mine is Riches," +said Euphrosyne. "All the pleasures of life shall be at my Godchild's +feet," said another Fairy, laughing. "If that will not ensure +happiness, I know not what will." Ambrosia held back--"Your choice, +dear Sister?" asked Euphrosyne. + +"Come! we have no time to lose." + +"It must remain a secret," was the reply. "Our discourse yesterday +evening was so thoughtful, so sad, I could not sleep. I arose hours +before you this morning, ere daylight streaked the sky. Dear Sisters, +how shocked you will be to hear I wept; but now I have determined. If +my gift succeed I will tell you all about it, or you shall guess it +yourselves; for I now propose that our Fairy Gifts this year shall be +a sort of experiment on human happiness. Let us from time to time +visit in company our young charges, and let the result--that is, which +of our Gifts is proved to confer the greatest amount of happiness, be +written in the archives of our kingdom for the future benefit of the +mortal race." + +A murmur of approbation rose, sweet as the vibration of a harp-chord +through the assembly. + +There was no time for enquiry about the other gifts: the travelling +Fairies arose and beat their gauzy wings upon the western breeze. A +melodious rushing was just audible; the distant murmurs of the earthly +sea the most resemble that sweet dream of sound. In a few moments the +departing sisters became invisible, and those who remained returned to +float by the sea shore, or make sweet music in the bowers of their +enchanted land. + + * * * * * + +Time is a very odd sort of thing, dear readers. We neither know whence +it comes nor whither it goes;--nay we know nothing about it in fact +except that there is one little moment of it called the present, which +we have as it were in our hands to make use of--but beyond this we can +give no account of, even that little moment. It is ours to use, but +not to understand. There is one thing in the world, however, quite as +wonderful, and quite as common, and that is, _the Wind_. Did it never +strike you how strange it was that the strongest thing in the world +should be _invisible_? The nice breezes we feel in summer and the +roughest blasts we feel in winter in England are not so extremely +strong you will say: but I am speaking, besides these, of the winds +called hurricanes that arise in the West Indian Islands, and in other +places in the world. These dreadful hurricanes have at times done as +much mischief as earthquakes and lightning. They tear down the +strongest trees, overthrow the firmest houses and spread ruin and +desolation around, and yet this terrible power, so tremendous, and +against which the cleverest contrivances can provide no defence, is as +invisible as the great Maker of Heaven and Earth. How unbelieving many +people would look if you told them of a dreadful creature that was +coming to the world, which could be heard to roar, be felt to knock +down every thing in its path--men, women and children, houses, +churches, towers, castles, cities, and trees the most firmly +rooted--and yet which you could never catch the faintest glimpse of, +for it was always invisible, even when it roared the loudest! As +invisible then, as when in its mildest moods, it, as it were, purred +softly over the country like a cat. How the good people would laugh, +and tell you you were very silly to believe in such a thing. Yet I +think this is not at all an incorrect description of the great +invisible Power WIND. Now the lesson we may learn from this is to be +humble-minded; for since we live in the constant presence of a Power +we cannot see, we ought to feel it is equally possible other Powers +may exist of which our other senses cannot take cognizance. There is +an old proverb--"Seeing is believing"--but you perceive, dear readers, +we are forced to believe in the wind though we never see him at all. + +To return to Time who is travelling fast on while I am rambling after +the wind, he has puzzled the artists a good deal I should say, for +with all their skill at representation they have never hit upon any +better idea of him than an old Man with wings. An old man with wings! +Can you fancy anything so unnatural! One can quite understand +beautiful young Angels with wings. Youth and power and swiftness +belong to them. Also Fairies with wings are quite comprehensible +creatures; for one fancies them so light and airy and transparent, +living upon honey dew and ambrosia, that wings wherewith to fly seem +their natural appendages. But the decrepitude of old age and the wings +of youth and power are a strange mixture:--a bald head, and a Fairy's +swiftness!--how ridiculous it seems, and so I think I may well say +Time is a very odd sort of thing. + +Among those who have to deal with Time, few are more puzzled how to +manage him than we story-tellers. In my first chapter, for instance, I +gave you a half-hour's conversation among some Fairies, but I think +you would be very angry with me were I to give you as exactly every +half-hour that passed over the heads of the little girls with Fairy +Godmothers, till they grew up. How you would scold, dear little +readers, if I were to enter into a particular description of each +child's Nurse, and tell whether Miss Aurora, Miss Julia, Miss +Hermione, &c. &c. &c. were brought up on baked flour, groat-gruel, +rusks, tops and bottoms, or revalenta food! Whether they took more +castor-oil, or rhubarb and magnesia; whether they squalled on those +occasions or were very good. When they cut their teeth and how, +together with all the &c. and ups and downs of Nursery life which +large families, such as you and I belong to, go through daily. + +Well then, suppose I altogether pass over a period of ten years, and +enter into no minute particulars respecting that portion of Time. You +must know that the Fairies had agreed that all the children should +have the same (and rather a large) amount of intellect, or what you +would call cleverness: that is to say, they were all equally capable +of learning anything they chose to learn: also they had all fair +health, plenty to eat and drink, and all the so called "necessary" +comforts of life. + +Now then to our story. + +At the end of ten years the Fairies agreed to go and have a peep how +their charges were going on. They quite knew that nothing decisive +could be found out, till the children had come to years of discretion +and were their own mistresses. Still they thought it would amuse them +just to go and see how the charms were working, as it were; so, away +they went. + +Now picture to yourselves a nice large nursery, much such a one as +your own, in which several children are playing. The eldest, a girl of +ten, you may see yonder lounging--gracefully perhaps--but still +_lounging_ in a rocking chair which she is swinging backwards and +forwards, having set it in motion by the action of her foot on the +floor. What a lovely face! I do not think you ever saw one so handsome +except in a print in one of Mamma's best picture books. All the +features are perfectly good and in proportion, and the dark blue eyes +are fringed by the longest eyelashes ever seen. The hair of this +little girl too--look at it, as the soft chestnut ringlets wave about +on her shoulders as she swings, and show the round richness of the +curls. + +Now if you ask about the expression on her face, I must tell you it +was rather languid and "_pensieroso_." Pensieroso is an Italian word +really meaning thoughtful--but this little girl was not _thinking_, +for then the expression of her face would have been much stronger and +firmer and less languid; but the word has got to be used for a sort of +awake-dreamy state when one lets thoughts float lazily along without +having any energy to dwell upon them, and see whether they are good or +bad. + +The thought that was passing through this little girl's head at the +time I mention and which made her look so languid and pensieroso, was + + "I wish it was 6 o'clock." + +Now here you are ready to laugh, I know, for there was nothing to look +so languid about, in "I wish it was six o'clock!" but the fact was +this: at half-past six the little girl's Mamma was expecting a large +party to dinner and the little girl was to dress at six and be ready +to go down and see the company:--I might add _and to be seen by them_; +for the little girl was, as you will have guessed, the beautiful +Aurora herself, and there had been plenty of foolish people, though +her good Mamma was not one of them, to tell her how pretty she was and +how much people admired her. + +It is a very pleasant thing to be admired, both for children and grown +up people. "The love of approbation," as it is called, i.e. the wish +to be approved of and admired is a feeling which is very strong in +most people; not in quite all, perhaps, but in _most_ people +certainly. But like all other powers of the mind considered apart from +the influence of the heart and conscience, it is capable of being used +to a very bad or a very good purpose. Thus you may remember what our +Saviour says of the Pharisees who stood praying at the corners of the +streets that they might be seen of men: Verily, they had their +reward--viz: that men admired them: whereas those who do good deeds +and pray privately, i.e. unseen and unadmired by men, should verily +have their reward in that day when God who seeth in secret himself +shall reward them openly. + +Here you see is the same strong feeling,--love of approbation, +exercised in a wrong and a right direction. The Pharisees wish for the +approbation of men, good people wish for the approbation of God. + +Now, love of approbation exists about much smaller matters than I have +just been mentioning. But I would warn my young readers, that, to be +always thinking, and bothering yourselves as to what other people are +thinking about you, is one of the most uncomfortable and injurious +habits a person can get into. It makes them so selfish and +egotistical. And here was one of Aurora's dangers. Because she knew +she was pretty, she was always wondering what other people were +thinking about her, a habit which so far from contributing to what the +good Fairy had wished, viz. her happiness, was constantly spoiling her +comfort from hour to hour. And here, at ten years old, was this little +lady swinging languidly and idly on the rocking chair, wishing it was +six o'clock, instead of enjoying, as she might so well have done, that +small portion of time, time present, which is, as I told you before, +the only bit of him we can ever lay hold of, as it were. Of time +present, just then, she thought nothing. She would have said, (had she +been asked), that the old gentleman moved very slowly in spite of his +wings, for her eye was fixed on that delightful time future, six +o'clock. Well! at last the clock struck, and Aurora sprang from her +chair,--her whole face altered in a moment. "Now, Nurse, I may dress, +may I not?" she exclaimed, radiant with animation, and all the languor +and dreaminess gone over like a cloud from before the sun. And it is +true that just then Aurora was happy. It was a pleasant task to her to +arrange and smooth that curling hair, and to put on the simple white +dress she knew set off her beauty so well. But alas! for the happiness +caused by thoughts of _one's self_! The toilet over, she ran down to +her Mamma, and was welcomed with a smile of fondness and approbation. +Indeed, when she was happy, a sweeter face could not be seen, for she +was not a naughty child, and if it had not been for the Fairy gift, I +do think she would have been a very nice one. + +The Fairies who invisibly had witnessed all I have described to you, +were not so loud in their admiration of Aurora as you or I might have +been. They are so handsome themselves, they think but little of +earthly beauty, and even Ianthe could not conscientiously say, "What a +_happy_ looking little girl she is." That was just the one thing that +was wanting: ay, and it continued wanting even after the room was +filled with company, and she was petted, and caressed, and praised on +every side. Her spirits became very high, however, and she enjoyed +herself much; and it is perhaps only very very critical folk, bent on +spying out a fault, that could have detected the little clouds of +anxiety that now and then shot across her face. A thought of whether +her curls were all right, or her dress untumbled, &c. just now and +then disturbed the charm, and prevented her forgetting herself +sufficiently to allow her to be quite at ease and happy, and she would +glance at herself in the mirror, and put back the hair from her brow, +lest Mrs. I-know-not-who, who was just then entering the room, should +not think her quite as lovely as Mrs. Somebody-else did, who had very +foolishly been saying so rather in a loud tone to her Mamma. + +At last the fatal time arrived to go to bed. Aurora was much too +sensible to cry, or be cross, you must know, but as she closed the +door of the drawing-room and left the gay company, a sigh very heavy +for so young a heart to have breathed, escaped her, and it was slowly +she retraced her steps up stairs. She was in reality tired, for it was +later than her usual bed-time, and when she went into her room she +threw herself on the chair and yawned. The young Nurse who attended to +undress her, asked her if she had enjoyed herself. "Oh yes!" was her +ready answer. "All is so bright, and gay, and entertaining among those +ladies, and they are so good-natured to me,"--(another sigh coupled +with the recollection of, and _how much they admire me!_)--"But I do +so hate being a little girl, and having to go to bed. I wish the time +would come quicker for me to be grown up, and be down stairs +altogether, and talk, and enjoy myself all the evening!" Oh, Aurora, +Aurora, with that dissatisfied face where is your beauty? with that +discontented mind where is your happiness? + +"Your charm is not working perfectly, Sister," observed Euphrosyne to +Ianthe. + +"Her's is not the age for perfect happiness and enjoyment as a beauty, +remember," replied Ianthe, "and she feels this herself." + +"Man never is but always _to be_ blest," cried Ambrosia laughing. "You +see I can quote their own poets against them." + +"You are prejudging now, Ambrosia, wait till another ten years is +over; but we must see our little beauty through the twenty-four +hours." Ianthe now waved a tiny wand in a circle around Aurora's +head,--the long eyelashes sank over her eyes, and the beautiful child +fell into a sweet and placid sleep. + +Morning, which awakens all young creatures to life, enjoyment, and +action, awoke Aurora among the rest, and she arose in health and +strength, and the full glow of animal spirits. "_This is_ happiness, +however," exclaimed Ianthe to her companions, as the young girl sprang +about, carolling to herself the while. And so it was, for at that +moment no forecastings into futurity disturbed the comfort of present +pleasure: but an accidental glimpse of her face caught in a +looking-glass as she passed, recalled Aurora to the recollection of +HERSELF! and the admiration she had obtained the evening before. At +first some pleasure attended the remembrance, and she gazed with a +childish triumph at her pretty face in the glass. In a few minutes, +however, the voice of her Governess calling her to lessons disturbed +the egotistical amusement, and the charming Aurora frowned--yes, +_frowned!_ and looked cross at the looking-glass before she quitted +the apartment. + +And now, dear little readers, let me remind you that Aurora was a +clever little girl, for the Fairy had taken care of that. She had +every faculty for learning, and no real dislike to it; but this +unlucky Fairy gift was in the way of every thing she did, for it took +away her interest in every thing but herself; and so, though she got +through her lessons respectably, it was with many yawns, and not a few +sighs, and wonderings what Mamma was doing; and did the Governess +think there would soon be another dinner party? and didn't the +Governess, when _she_ was a little girl, wish very much she was a +grown up woman? and, finally, she wished she had been able to talk +when she was a baby at her christening, because then me would have +begged the Fairy Godmother to give her the gift of growing up to be a +young lady very quick indeed, and of learning every thing without any +trouble at all! And so saying, Aurora yawned and laid down her book, +and the poor Governess could hardly keep her temper at such repeated +interruptions to the subject in hand. + +"My dear," she exclaimed, "Fairies have no power to counteract what +God, has ordained, and he has ordained that we enjoy but little what +we get at without labour and trouble." + +"Ah taisez-vous donc ma chère!" cried Aurora, flopping her ears with +her hands, and running round the room shaking her long curls +furiously. "Vous me faites absolument frémir! Excuse my French, but I +am certain you are the eldest daughter of the old woman in the wood, +and you are just now dropping vipers, toads, newts, and efts from your +mouth at every word you utter!" + +The good-natured Governess laughed heartily at the joke, for they had +just been reading the old French fairy tale of "Les deux Fées," and +the application amused her; but she shook her head gravely at Aurora +afterwards, and reminded her that no serious truth was well answered +by a joke, however droll. + +A bell rings, a carriage is at the door. Miss Aurora is wanted. +Visiters! Ah! here is happiness again! But it lasts but a short time, +and the reaction is the same as before--drooping eyes, languid +eyelids, and a sigh. + +Books, drawing, music, work, even domestic recreations, all deprived +of their charm through this idolatry of self! + +The curtain closed over this scene. + +"A charming child, Ianthe, but for your Fairy Gift, which is spoiling +her." + +"I repeat to you we are no judges yet. Now for riches, Euphrosyne!" + + * * * * * + +At the same hour of evening, and under the same circumstances, of a +party about to assemble, let me introduce you to a beautiful little +boudoir or up-stairs sitting-room adjoining an equally pretty sleeping +apartment in a magnificent house in a town. The passages are carpeted +all over, and so are the boudoir and the sleeping-room, and they are +furnished with sofas, easy chairs, and every description of luxurious +comfort; and all this for the accommodation of a little girl of ten +years old, who in one of the easy chairs is lying back in front of the +fire, with her tiny feet on a bright brass fender. She has a gold +watch in her hand, which is suspended round her neck by a chain of the +same material, and she is playing with it, and with the seals, and +pretty ornaments hung to it, that jingle as she moves her hand. Ever +and anon she glances at the face of the watch. + +But life is very easy to her, and the chair is very soft, and her feet +are very warm. At last, however, she gets up and rings a silver bell +that is on the mantel-piece. A servant answers the summons. "It is +time for me to dress, I believe, Annette; the company are expected +to-day at half past six. Has my new frock come home?" + +"Yes, Miss." + +"Let me look at it." + +A delicate blue satin, trimmed with the finest lace, is produced from +a band-box. + +"It is very pretty, I think, Annette." + +"It is downright beautiful, Miss." + +"And so expensive," pursued the little girl whose name was Julia, +"that I don't think any one else I know is likely to imitate it, which +is my greatest comfort!" + +And so saying, the rich Miss Julia ---- (an only daughter), whose +comfort seemed to depend on no one else being as comfortable as +herself, commenced her toilet, i.e. her maid both commenced and +finished it for her, for those who can command the unlimited +assistance of servants are apt to be very idle in helping themselves. + +"Your Julia looks self-satisfied enough," observed Ianthe, "but I do +not see that this is more like real happiness than my Aurora's face +before the party." + +"Perhaps," returned Euphrosyne, "the same remark applies to her as to +Aurora--the age for thoroughly enjoying riches is hardly arrived. You +smile, Ambrosia! Well, we do not yet know your experiment, and you +yourself do not know how it has answered. Take care that our turn for +laughing at you does not soon come!" + +Julia was dressed at the end of the half-hour, but not sooner. Her +toilet occupied more time than Aurora's. She could not decide what +ornaments she would wear, and at last getting out of humour with the +"embarras des richesses" she fixed on a necklace which, though +extremely handsome, was scarcely fit for a child. She was neither +pretty nor otherwise, but when good humoured and happy her face, like +that of all other creatures of her innocent time of life, was +attractive and pleasant to behold. Oh, that children did but know +wherein the secret of being loveable and beloved lies! In holding fast +the innocence and simplicity of their infant years; in the cheerful +spirit, the universal kindheartedness, the open honesty, the sweet +teachableness and readiness of belief, which are the real +characteristics of childhood and which we so love to trace in their +faces. It was these things our Saviour called upon grown-up people to +imitate, and so to receive the kingdom of Heaven as little children. +And oh, that grown-up people would imitate these things; for if they +would become in these respects as little children, the sweet cast of +mind would be reflected in _their_ faces too, and the ugly looks given +by envious discontent, deceitful thoughts, unkind intention and +restless want of faith and hope would all be washed out of the world. + +But now, my dear readers, can you call that the best of Fairy gifts, +which had so great a tendency to bring the naughty passions of +grown-up life into the heart, and therefore on to the face, of a +little girl? Well, but riches _have_ a tendency that way; and though +Julia was not a very naughty girl she was being led into very sad +feelings by the Fairy gift. When she went down to the company, her +secret anxiety was to examine all the dresses of her Mamma's friends +and resolve some day to surpass them all. Even as it was she received +much pleasure from knowing that her own dress was far beyond the reach +of ordinary folk. She thought too of her necklace with secret +satisfaction, when the ladies were talking to her, for she perceived +their eyes frequently attracted by its brilliancy and beauty. Then her +mind rambled into futurity, to the day when she would astonish these +very ladies far more than now by the richness of her costume. Ah, dear +readers, would our Saviour if present have called _this_ little child +to him, and said, "Of _such_ is the kingdom of Heaven?" But all these +selfish thoughts made her conversation less pleasant and cheerful than +it would otherwise have been; for you may be sure she was not +listening with any interest to what was said to her, while she was +thus planning silly schemes about herself. + +And not having listened with any interest to what was said to her, you +may guess that her answers were dull and stupid; for when people are +talking of one thing and thinking of another they become very flat +companions. At times when she could forget herself she became natural +and then was both pleasant and pleased, and asked some ladies to let +their children come and see her next day, to which they consented. But +now came a sad drawback. One of the ladies told her that her little +girl should bring to shew her a most beautiful gold fillagree work-box +set with precious stones, which one of the maids of honour about +court, who was her godmother, had given her a few days before. This +lady had saved a few of the queen's hairs very carefully, and had had +them placed in a little circle of crystal in the middle of the box, +and they were set round with the most beautiful rubies. It was a +present worthy of a Fairy Godmother, and certainly the donor was the +daughter of a duchess, which perhaps is the nearest thing to being a +fairy. + +You will be shocked, my dear readers, to hear that the account of this +box was as disagreeable as a dose of physic to poor Julia. Nay it was +_worse_ than physic, for a peppermint-drop can take the taste of that +away in a minute. But not all the peppermint-drops in a chymist's shop +could take away the taste of the fillagree-box from Julia. She had +been thinking before of showing all the treasures of her boudoir to +her little friends next day; but this horrid box was like a great +cloud closing over her sunshine. She knew she was naughty, but she was +so in the habit of being selfish she could not conquer her peevish +vexation. Annette wondered what could be the matter, and her Governess +sighed as she perceived her face clouded, even when she was repeating +her evening prayer; but no questioning could extract from her what was +amiss. + +Oh, what a condition for a child to go to sleep in! Euphrosyne was +greatly annoyed. "They are not correcting her evil dispositions," +cried she. "I do not allow that this has anything to do _necessarily_ +with being very rich." + +Ah, good Fairies, you do not know "How hardly shall they that have +riches enter into the kingdom of Heaven." + +Look now at that young face, asleep on a downy pillow, in a bed richly +hung with crimson drapery, in a room filled with luxuries, glowing +with warmth and comfort. You are shocked that the heart within should +be disturbed by nasty little envyings, that made the good things she +possessed of no value to her. 'Tis well; but remember we are all rich +by comparison. Go to the poor frost-bitten wayside beggar-child, my +little readers; bring him into your comfortable drawing-room, which +you sit in every day and think nothing about, and he will fancy he has +got into Paradise. It is a luxurious palace to him. Take him to your +snug bed and let him sleep there, and it will be to him what a state +apartment in Windsor Castle would be to you. Do not then let you and +me scold too much at Julia, but let us keep on the watch to drive away +from ourselves the discontented grumbling thoughts that are apt to +make us all ungrateful to God. Julia did not sleep well. The fillagree +box was a fort of night-mare to her. She dreamt of its growing up into +a great giant, and thumping her on the head, and calling out that she +ought to be ashamed of herself. Do you know, I think this dream was +owing to her Godmother, Euphrosyne, for she lingered behind the other +Fairies as they vanished, and shook, not waved, her wand over the +sleeping child, with a very angry face. + +In the morning Julia, like Aurora, awoke in a temporary forgetfulness +of her troubles. The morning air is so refreshing and sleep does one +so much good, and the sun shining through the windows looks so gay, +and all things speak of hope so loudly in a morning, who can be +sullen? Certainly not little girls full of life and expectation. But +the thought of the fillagree box by degrees took possession of her +mind and rankled there as before. She too had a Governess, and many +lessons to learn and much to do, and she did them; but neither English +history nor French fairy tales could quite drive away the fillagree +box. Indeed it introduced its horrid face before her into the midst of +a multiplication sum, and Mademoiselle thought she was bewitched to +have grown so stupid over her arithmetic all at once. She spent a half +hour over that one sum, and when it was done she was so much tired she +gave up lessons for the day. Besides, she had to prepare for her +friends. She went into her boudoir, opened her cabinets and unfolded +her treasures of various sorts--oh I can't tell you what beautiful +things! besides interesting collections of foreign and English shells, +and stuffed humming birds, which you and I should be charmed to +possess. And Julia was in general most happy when she was looking +over her property, but rather more because she possessed valuable +curiosities than because she cared about them, I fear. For my part, +I wonder very much that the humming birds and shells did not teach +her to be more humble-minded; for no art or jewellery can imitate or +come up to their glorious beauty. Well, she amused herself tolerably +in spite of the visions of the fillagree box and the queen's hair, +which now and then came between her and her usual feeling of +self-satisfaction. + +Presently her young friends came--several little girls of various +ages, and now nature once more revived in poor Julia. The children +felt and expressed such hearty pleasure at the sight of her treasures. +There were such joyous exclamations; such bursts of delight; such +springing and jumping about, that Julia became infected with the +general pleasure, and was a happy child herself. Yes! even though the +fillagree box had been shown off and admired. But what do children in +general know about the _value_ of things and how much they cost? Ah, +much more just in their judgments than we elders are apt to be, a bird +of Paradise such as adorned the top of Julia's cabinet, or a peacock's +tail, such as she had in a drawer, is to their unprejudiced eyes more +desirable than the gold of Ophir itself! + +So now you see this triumph of simplicity over art, despoiled the +fillagree box of all its horrors, for the innocent children admired +her shells yet more--unsophisticated, and insensible to the long story +about the value of the rubies, the maid of honour, and even the +queen's hairs. + +Still the Fairies felt and saw that it was not Euphrosyne's gift, but +rather the forgetfulness of it which caused these hours of happiness +to Julia, and somewhat puzzled as to the result they left the votary +of riches, not quite without a sensation that little Aglaia's proposal +of moderate health and enough riches to be "comfortable without being +puzzled," was about the best thing after all, though not much of a +Fairy gift. And now, my little readers, I am beginning to get rather +tired of my story, and to feel that you may do so too. I think I am +getting rather prosy, so I must try and cut the matter short. Four out +of the five Fairy gifts were like beauty and riches, worldly +advantages. For instance, there was the little girl who was to have +every earthly pleasure at her feet--i.e. she was to have every thing +she wished for--why she was fifty times worse off than either Aurora +or Julia, for I will tell you whom she was like. She was like the +fisherman's wife in Grimm's German popular fairy tales, who had every +thing she wished, and so at last wished to be king of the sun and +moon. I doubt not you remember her well, and how she was in +consequence sent back to her mud cottage. I think, therefore, I need +not describe the young lady who had _that_ Fairy gift. + +There was another who was to be _loved_ wherever she went; but nothing +is worth having that is had so easily, and this child got so sick of +being kissed and fondled and loved, that it was the greatest nuisance +to her possible, for disagreeable people loved her just as much as +nice ones, and for her part she hated them all alike. It was a very +silly Fairy gift. + +Come with me then to Ambrosia's God-daughter, whom they visited last, +and whose Fairy gift the other Fairies were to guess at! + +Neither you nor I, my dears, ever heard a fairy-laugh. Doubtless it is +a sweet and musical sound. You can perhaps fancy it? Well then, do +fancy it, and how it rang in silver peals when our fairy friends, on +entering the last nursery they had to visit, found Ambrosia's protégée +in a flood of angry tears, stamping her foot on the ground in a +passion! "You naughty naughty girl!" exclaimed the old Nurse, "you'll +wake the baby and make your own eyes so red you won't be fit to be +seen to night by the company!" + +"I don't care about my eyes being red, tho' I don't want to wake the +poor baby," sobbed the little girl, slightly softening her wrath: "but +the cat has unravelled all the stocking I have been knitting at for so +many days, and I had nearly just finished it, and now it's all +spoilt;" and she roared with vexation. "Miss Hermione, if you go on so +I shall certainly send for your Mamma, and the baby will be quite +poorly, he will! and we shall know who made him so," added Nurse +triumphantly. "I can't make the baby poorly with crying, Nurse, so +that's nonsense you know," observed Hermione; "but I didn't mean to +disturb him; only my stocking is gone, and I don't know what to do." +And here she sobbed afresh. + +"Do! why ain't you going down to the ladies, and can't you be brushing +your hair and washing your face and getting ready?" "But it isn't +time." "Well, but can't you get ready _before_ the time a little? and +then, when you're dressed and look so clean and nice and pretty, you +can sit in the chair and we can look at you!" and here the good old +Nurse gave a knowing smile and nodded her head. + +Hermione caught sight of the comical coaxing glance, and, in spite of +her misfortune, burst into a fit of laughter. "Hum, hum, hum! now +you'll wake the poor thing by laughing, Miss Hermione. I do wish you'd +be quiet:" and here the Nurse rocked the child on her knee more +vigorously than ever. + +"Then why don't you tell me what I am to do with my stocking," cried +Hermione. "Oh well, I know what I will do--something quite as quiet as +a mouse. I will wind up my poor worsted." Hereupon the little girl +picked up the puckered remains of her luckless grey stocking which a +facetious young cat had spent at least a quarter of an hour in +ingeniously unravelling with his claws. It was a tiresome tedious job +we must admit, and required a strong effort of patient perseverance, +but Hermione soon became engrossed in its difficulties and a dead +silence ensued. At last Nurse who had while rocking the sleeping baby +on her knee, been watching the child's proceedings, suddenly +exclaimed, "Well to be sure, Miss Hermione, you have such patience as +I never before did see." + +[The Fairies exchanged glances. + +"It is _Patience_, Ambrosia." + +"What a hurry you are in!" was the reply.] + +"No I haven't, Nurse, indeed," answered Hermione. "I had no patience +at all when I was in a passion with the cat just now." + +"Well, I suppose there are two or three sorts of Patiences, Miss, +then," persisted Nurse, "for I'm certain you have _some_ sorts. But, +dear me, its ever so much past six o'clock, and you have to be dressed +by half-past. Do put away the worsted and get yourself ready, Miss, +and call Jane to help you." + +Here the Nurse and Hermione nearly had a scuffle over the worsted. +Hermione declared the cat had spoilt her stocking; and the only +comfort left to her now was to roll it comfortably up into a ball. +Nurse on the contrary insisted that it didn't signify a bit what +became of the worsted; she must dress and go down. The dispute ended +by Hermione running off with the half finished ball and its untidy +remains, and cramming the whole concern into the pocket of her best +frock. "The people will soon be tired of talking to me," muttered she +to herself, "and then I can finish my ball quietly in the corner +behind Mamma's chair." + +The thought of this ingenious plan for her private amusement down +stairs so tickled Hermione's fancy that she was on the giggle the +whole time she was being dressed. "If Nurse did but know what was in +the pocket of my best frock and how fat it is! how she would scold, +and what a fight we should have." And she could hardly refrain from +loud laughter at the thought. When she had got her frock on she sat +down, and laying her arm over the fat pocket asked Jane to touch up +her curls: and while this operation was going on she began to talk to +the nurse. + +"Nurse, should you think it a very nice thing to go to a dinner party +and sit in chairs all round a large room, where the coloured covers +are taken away and everything looks very gay, and so tidy, nobody is +allowed to do anything but smile, and talk, and wear white kid +gloves?" + +"Very nice, Miss, it's so like a lady," was the Nurse's ready reply. + +"Well then, I don't think it's nice at all, Nurse--I think it's very +nasty and stupid." + +"Dear, Miss Hermione, how you do talk; I hope you won't tell the +ladies so when you get down stairs." + +"Oh dear no, that would be rude, and it's wrong to be rude, but to +tell you the truth I don't know what I shall do when I grow up if I am +obliged to be so dull as that is, very often." + +"Goodness, Miss Hermione, to hear you talk one would think you'd +better be a housemaid at once, instead of a lady with nothing to do." + +"Nurse, I should see no objection to be a housemaid at all, only that +I am learning so many things that wouldn't suit a housemaid; but +without being a housemaid there are many pleasanter things to do than +to sit in that stupid sort of way. I like the room when all Papa's +books and papers are about, and when he is scribbling away so busy, +and when Mamma has got her microscope out looking at seaweeds or +curiosities. I have a chance then myself. I don't like ladies who say +nothing but 'Pretty little dear, what a nice colour she has,' just to +please Mamma." + +What Nurse in England could be expected to enter into so philosophical +an investigation of the habits of society? + +Hermione's did nothing but assure her it was time to be off, and she +only hoped she would sit still and talk prettily, and never trouble +her head whether it was stupid or not. + +When Hermione got into the drawing room and saw the company seated as +she had described to her Nurse, she felt very much disposed to laugh +again, but made an effort and composed herself. Still her face was +beaming with mirth and fun, and when some ladies said "What a happy +looking little girl," they were quite sincere. That sort of face too +worked wonders, and her Mamma's friends liked her much and talked +pleasantly to her, and she was pleased and happy and quite forgot the +ball of worsted, as well as the ladies' white kid gloves. A young lady +however who had her arm round Hermione's waist and was playing with +her, suddenly felt the round protuberance in her pocket. "Ah you +little rogue, what have you here?" "Its a secret," cried Hermione. "I +think I can unravel your mysterious secret, little girl, you are a +favourite with the housekeeper," added she, whispering in Hermione's +ear, "and she has just given you an orange." + +"You are a very bad guesser of secrets," whispered Hermione in +return. "It's no such thing!"--"Then it's an apple." "No, nor an +apple."--"Then it's a peach, and your new frock will be spoilt." "No +it isn't a peach either, and it's a secret." The young lady loved fun, +and a playful struggle ensued between her and Hermione; in the course +of which the large grey worsted ball and its long ravelled tail were +drawn from the little pocket. + +Hermione had now to tell the history of the ball, which she did +naturally and honestly, but when she added, quite seriously, that she +intended, when they had done talking to her, to go behind her Mamma's +chair and finish winding it up, you may guess how they laughed. + +"Come here, my little dear, and let me look at you," cried an elderly +lady in spectacles, putting out her hand and laying hold of +Hermione's. "Why what an industrious little soul you must be! a +perfect pattern! There now! you may go behind my chair and finish your +ball of worsted; nobody wants to talk to you any longer." + +This old lady was rather crabbed, and had not quite believed Hermione +sincere, so she did this to try her, and expected to see her pout and +refuse. To her surprize, Hermione only said "Oh thank you, ma'am," +with a quite smiling face, and going behind the chair, sat down on the +floor to her worsted. For a few moments the old lady kept thinking "It +won't last long: she'll soon be glad of an excuse to come out:" but no +such thing happened; and just what Hermione expected did happen. The +ladies fell to talking among themselves, and in a very short time the +presence of the little girl was quite forgotten, even by the old lady, +who was handed out to dinner, without once remembering whom she had +left behind her chair. + +Hermione stayed in the room till her task was over, and then rushed up +stairs to the nursery, and stopping at the door, half opened it and +rolled the great grey worsted ball so cleverly in, that it hit the old +Nurse's foot as she sat (once more rocking the baby) over the fire. +"Goodness, bless me! what ever is that?" Then, spying a laughing face +at the door, "Oh dear heart, it's you I declare, Miss Hermione! will +you never leave off waking the baby? I thought a great black dog was +laying hold of my foot." + +"Nurse," said Hermione, "your baby is always and always going to +sleep; why doesn't he go, and then I could have a bit of fun? You +don't know where I finished winding the worsted ball!" + +"Why goodness me, Miss Hermione, where?" + +"Down in the drawing-room among all the fine ladies; so good night!" +and off she ran to avoid further explanation. A few words with her +Governess; a sober time of evening prayer; and the happy child laid +her head on her pillow, and needed no Fairy wand to lull her to sleep. +She had been some time with her Governess in the morning before her +Mamma coming to her there, heard a loud discussion going on within. +The voices, however, were those of good-humour. "Hermione," said her +Mother, "I am come to say that your Governess told me yesterday you +had been so very good for a long time over all that you have had to +do, that I have arranged for your having a holiday and a treat to-day, +and several of your young friends are coming to see you. Among them is +Aurora, the granddaughter of the old lady in spectacles, who, just +before she was going away at night, recollected you, and began to look +for you behind her chair." + +"Oh what a goose, Mamma!" "No, not a goose, my dear--only an oddity, +but a very kind one too--for she desired me to find out whether you +really did roll up the whole of the ravelled worsted last night; and +_if_ you really persevered till it was finished, I have something to +give you from her, but not otherwise. How was it?" "Oh, it's finished, +Mamma; ask Nurse; for when I rolled it against her foot last night, +she took it for a great black dog." "Well then, I suppose this is +yours, Hermione; but, I must say, I never knew a gold thimble earned +so easily." Yes, dear little readers, it was a pretty gold thimble, +and round the bottom of it there was a rim of white enamel, and on the +enamel were gold letters. + + "L'industrie ajoute à la beauté." + +"Mamma," said Hermione, looking at it in delight, as she found it +exactly fitted her finger, "it's lovely; but, do you know, I think the +old lady ought to have given it to her granddaughter, Aurora, with +such a motto." "My dear, she has had it, she told me, some months in +her pocket secretly, for the purpose you mention, but she cannot ever +satisfy herself that Aurora has got the spirit of real industry in +her, and to bribe her to _earn_ the thimble is not her object, so you +see it has accidentally fallen to your share." + +And as she said this, Hermione's mother turned round to leave the +room; but before she had reached the door, her little girl stopped +her--"Mamma, do turn back." + +"What is the matter, Hermione?" + +"I've something I want to say to you." + +"I am all attention, my dear, particularly as your face looks so +unusually grave." + +"Why, you and my Governess are always calling me _good_ for doing my +lessons well, and now you are rewarding me for being _good_ and all +that, and I don't see that I am good at all." + +"Upon my word this is a very serious matter, Hermione; who or what has +put this into your head?" + +"I read in a serious book lately, that nobody could be good without +practising self-denial; and that, to be really good, one must either +do something that one does _not_ like, or give up something that one +_does_; so that I am quite sure I cannot be good and deserve a reward +when I do French and music and drawing and work well, because I am so +very fond of doing every thing I do do, that every thing is a pleasure +to me. And there is no struggle to do what is tiresome and no other +wish to give up. The only time when I have to try to be good at all, +is when I have to leave off one thing and go to another. That is +always a little disagreeable at first, but unfortunately the +disagreeableness goes off in a very few minutes, and I like the new +employment as well as the last. This is what I was talking about to my +Governess when you came, and she laughed so loud I felt quite vexed." + +"My dear Hermione," said her Mamma, "you have quite misapplied what +you have read in the book. Self-denial is always required of us, when +we feel inclined to do any thing that is wrong, but it does not apply +to any aptitude you may have for enjoying the occupations I require of +you. That is only a piece of good fortune for you; for to many little +girls, doing lessons is a very great act of self-denial, as they want +to be doing something else. But now, as you are so lucky in liking +every thing you do, you must practise your self-denial in some other +way." + +"How, Mamma?" + +"In not being vexed when your Governess laughs, and in not being in a +passion with the cat next time he unravels your stocking." + +Hermione blushed. "Oh, Mamma, I understand the difference now." + +"But this is not all, Hermione." + +"Well, Mamma?" + +"Why, as you are so fortunate as to be always happy when employed, and +as therefore there is no _goodness_ strictly speaking, in your doing +your business so cheerfully and well, you must do this, you must spend +some portion of time every day in making your energy of use to other +people, and then you will be doing active good if not practising +self-denial." + +"Oh, Mamma, what a nice idea! Perhaps you will give me some needlework +to do for the poor women you give money to; and, besides, just now I +can do something actively useful and still a little really +disagreeable,--really it is, Mamma,--what makes you laugh?" + +"Your resolution to do something you don't like. What is it, +Hermione?" + +"To knit up again the stocking the cat pulled out. I quite dislike the +idea." + +"Then set to work by all means, Hermione. You will at least have the +comfort of 'beginning by a little aversion;' but I warn you +beforehand, not to set your heart upon the disagreeableness lasting +very long, and if you find yourself shortly, as happy as ever over the +stocking, do not be puzzled and vexed any more, but thank God as I do, +that, so far at least, you are spared one of the troubles of life. The +trouble of an indolent, discontented mind." + +An affectionate embrace was exchanged between Mother and Daughter; and +the latter, with the assistance of her Governess, recommenced the +unlucky grey stocking, and was working assiduously at it when her +young friends arrived. + +It was a curious sight to the Fairies to see two of their +god-daughters together, as they now did. But the conviction was forced +upon them, that, for the present at least, Hermione had the balance of +happiness in her favour. Whatever their amusements were,--whether +looking over curiosities, playing with dolls, or any of the numerous +games invented for the entertainment of the young, Hermione's whole +heart and attention were in the matter, and she was as much engrossed +as over learning at other times, and quite happy. With poor Aurora it +was not so; the childishness of the play every now and then annoyed +her; there was no food for her vanity, in playing with children; they +cared nothing about her beauty; the gayest and most good-natured face +has always the most charms for them, and this did not suit Aurora at +all, and ever and anon her thoughts wandered, and her wishes too. + +For ever straining into the future! + +"I cannot make out your Fairy gift at all, Ambrosia," said Euphrosyne, +"and I begin to suspect you have not given her one." + +"We are all growing philosophical, I perceive," said Ambrosia, +smiling. "Who could think you would have guessed that my happy child +has had no Fairy gift at all. But she has, I assure you. What do you +say to the Philosopher's Stone? It is quite clear that me has got +something which TURNS EVERY THING SHE TOUCHES INTO GOLD." + + * * * * * + +What _is_ the Philosopher's Stone? I hear my little readers exclaim. +There is no such thing, my dears, nor ever was; but the chymists in +old times, who were very ignorant, and yet knew that many wonderful +things had been done by the mixture of minerals and metals, and the +curious effects some had upon others, guessed that yet more wonderful +things might be found out by searching, and they got into their heads +that it might be possible to find, or make, a stone that would have +the power of turning every thing it touched into gold. In the same +manner, the doctors of those times fancied there might be such a thing +made as a draught that would turn old people into young ones again. +This was called "The Elixir of Life." But I do assure you these old +fellows never did discover either a Philosopher's Stone, or an Elixir +of Life. + +So this was only a joke of Ambrosia's. + +Now to go on and finish my story. It was ten years more before the +Fairies revisited their Godchildren in the lower world, and this time +they were to decide who had given the best Fairy gift. + +And I dare say you expect me to give you as long an account of their +visits to the young ladies of twenty, as I did of their peeps at the +little girls of ten. But I really do not think it worth while. I would +do so indeed in a minute if there were anything quite fresh and new to +describe. But on the faith of a story-teller I assure you, it would be +"the old story over again," only on an enlarged scale. + +Did you ever look at any interesting object first with your natural +eyes, and then through a microscope or magnifying glass? If so, you +will remember that through the magnifying glass you saw the same thing +again, only much bigger. + +In the same manner the ten years acted as a sort of magnifying glass +over Aurora, Julia, and Hermione. Everything was the same, but +increased in size and made clearer and plainer. + +Aurora's triumphant joy as she entered the ball-room as a beauty, was +much greater certainly than her pleasure at her Mamma's dinner party. +But the weariness and anxiety afterwards were increased also. She was +still getting away from our friend Time present, and forecasting into +some future delight. "The good time _coming_, Boys," was her, as well +as many other people's bugbear. She never could feel that (with God's +blessing) _the good time_ is always _come_. + +The only time she ever thoroughly enjoyed was the moment of being +excessively admired. But judge for yourselves how long that can last. +Could you sit and look at a pretty picture for an hour together? No, I +know you could not. You cannot think how short a time it takes to say +"Dear me, what a beautiful girl!" and then, perhaps, up comes somebody +who addresses the admiring gazer on the subject of Lord John Russel's +last speech, and the "beautiful girl," so all important in her own +eyes, is as entirely forgotten as if she had never been seen. And +then, to let you into another secret, Aurora was by no means a very +entertaining companion: nobody _can_ be, with their heads full of +themselves: and she had often the mortification, even in that scene of +her triumph, a ball-room, of feeing her admirers drop off, to amuse +themselves with other people; less handsome perhaps, but more +interesting than herself. + +And so the Fairies, having accompanied her through a day of Triumphs, +mixed with mortifications, followed by languors, unsettled by hopes of +future joy, clouded with anxieties that all but spoilt those +hopes:--came one and all to the conclusion that Aurora could not be +considered as a model of human happiness. + +Nor could they say much more for Julia. Perhaps, indeed, there is more +equanimity in the pleasures of a very rich person, than in those of a +very beautiful one: but, oh dear, they are of such a mean sort! Still, +there is a good deal of impertinent comfort in money I do admit. Life +rolls on, upon such well oiled hinges! The rich say, "Do this," to +people around them; and the people, "do it." But the Fairies had no +sympathy with such an _unnatural_ fault as the pride of wealth. They +saw Julia reclining in one of those "lumbering things" they so much +despised: and driving round the "dirty town" they so much disliked: +and along a park a great deal too smoky for their taste: and they +could not understand the haughty glance of self-satisfaction with +which she looked out upon the walking crowds she passed, or the +affected graciousness with which she smiled upon the few whom she +condescended to recognize as acquaintances. They thought her very +naughty and very absurd for being conceited about such matters. They +followed her to her Milliner's too, and there I assure you they had +nearly betrayed their presence by the uncontrollable fits of laughter +they fell into when she was trying on, or talking about, bonnets, head +dresses, gowns, &c. with the affected Frenchwoman who showed them off. +Julia cared for nothing because it was pretty or tasteful, but chose +every thing by its costliness and magnificence. Of course the milliner +assured her that every thing she took a fancy to from its rarity, was +becoming; and then, oh dear! how the Fairies were amused! for poor +Julia looked downright ugly in some of the things she selected, and +still went away as self satisfied as ever, on the old grounds that the +costume was so expensive that none of her acquaintance could get one +like it. This was still her chief comfort! Euphrosyne actually shook +her fist at her as she was going away, and she had the toothache for +the rest of the day, and was extremely cross to her husband in +consequence. For, by the way, Julia had married--and married a +nobleman--a man somewhat older than herself; but he and she had had a +sort of mutual conviction that riches and rank go very well together, +and so they married; and suited very well in this respect, that as +their heads were full of other things they neither claimed nor +required from each other a great amount of affection. + +Still, was Julia happy? The Fairies shook their heads. She had +gardens, hot-houses, magnificent collections of curiosities, treasures +that might have softened and opened her heart, if she had made a right +use of them. But riches have a very hardening tendency, and she never +struggled against it. + +Then, too, she could get every thing she wanted so easily, that she +cared very little about anything. Life becomes very stale when your +hands are full and you have nothing to ask for. + +Her greatest pleasure was to create astonishment and envy among her +associates: but, besides the naughtiness of the feeling, this is a +triumph of very short duration; for most people, when they cannot get +at what they envy, amuse themselves with something else; and then, +what a mortification to see them do this! + +"Besides," said the Fairies, "we must follow her into her solitude, to +see if she is happy." + +Ah! there, lying back once more in the easy chair, in a dress which-- + + "China's gayest art had dyed," + +do you think that self-satisfied, but still uncheerful looking face +tells of happiness? + +No! She too, like Aurora, was unoccupied, and forecasting into +futurity for the "good time coming," which so many spend their lives +in craving after and expecting, but which the proud, the selfish and +the idle never reach to. + +The Fairies turned from her sorrowful and angry. + + * * * * * + +In the outskirts of a forest, just where its intricacy had broken away +into picturesque openings, leaving visible some strange old trees with +knotted trunks and mysteriously twisted branches, sat a young girl +sketching. She was intently engaged, but as her eyes were ever and +anon raised from her paper to the opening glade, and one of the old +trees, the Fairies had no difficulty in recognizing their protégée, +Hermione. The laughing face of childhood had become sobered and +refined by sentiment and strength, but contentment and even enjoyment +beamed in her eyes as she thoughtfully and earnestly pursued her +beautiful art. The little beings who hovered around her in that sweet +spot, almost forgot they were not in Fairy land; the air was so full +of sweet odours from ferns and mosses, and the many other delicious +scents you find so constantly in woods. + +Besides which, it amused the good souls to watch Hermione's skilful +hand tracing the scene before her; and they felt an admiring delight +when they saw the old tree of the forest reappear on the paper, with +all the shadows and lights the sun just then threw upon it, and they +wondered not a little at the skill with which she gave distance and +perspective to the glade beyond. They felt, too, that though the +drawing they saw rising under the sketcher's hand was not made +powerful by brilliant effects or striking contrasts, it was +nevertheless overflowing with the truth and sentiment of nature. It +was the impression of the scene itself, viewed through the poetry of +the artist's mind; and as the delicate creatures who hung over the +picture, looked at it, they almost longed for it, slight as it was, +that they might carry it away, and hang it up in their fairy palace as +a faithful representation of one of the loveliest spots of earth, the +outskirts of an ancient English forest. + +It is impossible to say how long they might not have staid watching +Hermione, but that after a time the sketch was finished, and the young +lady after writing beneath it Schiller's well known line in +Wallenstein, arose. "Das ist das Loos des Schönen auf der Erde."[1] + +[1] "Such is the lot of the beautiful upon earth." + +The poor tree was marked for felling! Ambrosia was almost affected to +tears, once more. The scene was so beautiful, and the allusion so +touching, and there seemed to her such a charm over her God-daughter +Hermione; she was herself so glad, too, to feel sure that success had +crowned her gift, that, altogether, her Fairy heart grew quite soft. +"You may do as you like about observing Hermione further," cried she. +"But, for my part, I am now satisfied. She is enjoying life to the +uttermost; all its beauties of sight and sound; its outward +loveliness; its inward mysteries. She will never marry but from love, +and one whose heart can sympathise with hers. Ah, Ianthe, what more +has life to give? You will say, she is not beautiful; perhaps not for +a marble statue; but the grace of poetical feeling is in her every +look and action. Ah, she will walk by the side of manhood, turning +even the hard realities of life into beauty by that living well-spring +of sweet thoughts and fancies that I see beaming from her eyes. Look +at her now, Ianthe, and confess that surely that countenance breathes +more beauty than chiselled features can give." And certainly, whether +some mesmeric influence from her enthusiastic Fairy Godmother was +working on Hermione's brain, or whether her own quotation upon the +doomed tree had stirred up other poetical recollections, I know not; +but as she was retracing her steps homewards, she repeated to herself +softly but with much pathos, Coleridge's lines:[2] + + "O lady, we receive but what we give, + And in our life alone does nature live: + Ours is her wedding-garment, ours her shroud! + And would we aught behold, of higher worth, + Than that inanimate cold world allowed + To the poor loveless ever anxious crowd, + Ah! from the soul itself must issue forth + A light, a glory, a fair luminous cloud + Enveloping the earth-- + And from the soul itself must there be sent + A sweet and potent voice, of its own birth, + Of all sweet sounds the life and element!" + +[2] Coleridge's "Dejection: an Ode." + +And, turning through the little handgate at the extremity of the wood, +she pursued the train of thought with heightened colour in her +cheeks-- + + "I may not hope from outward forms to win + The passion and the life, whose fountains are within." + +And thus Hermione reached her home, her countenance lighted up by the +pleasure of success, and the sweet and healthy musings of her solitary +walk. + +She entered the library of a beautiful country house by the low window +that opened on to the lawn, and found her mother reading. + +"I cannot tell you how lovely the day is, Mamma, every thing is so +fresh, and the shadows and lights are so good! I have immortalized our +poor old friend the oak, before they cut him down," added she, +smiling, as she placed the drawing in her mother's hands. "I wish the +forest belonged to some one who had not this cruel taste for turning +knotted oak trees into fancy work-tables. It is as bad as what Charles +Lamb said of the firs, 'which look so romantic alive, and die into +desks.'--Die into desks!" repeated Hermione musingly, as she seated +herself on the sofa, and took up a book that was before her on the +table; mechanically removing her bonnet from her head, and laying it +down by her side as she spoke. + +And here for some time there was a silence, during which Hermione's +mother ceased reading, and, lifting up her eyes, looked at her +daughter with mingled love, admiration, and interest. "I wish I had +her picture so," dreamt the poor lady, as she gazed; "so earnest, and +understanding, and yet so simple, and kind!--There is but one +difficulty for her in life," was the next thought; "with such keen +enjoyment of this world, such appreciation of the beauties, and +wonders, and delights of God's creations on earth--to keep the eye of +faith firmly fixed on the 'better and more enduring inheritance,' to +which both she and I, but I trust she, far behind, are hastening. Yet, +by God's blessing, and with Christian training, and the habit of +active charity, and the vicissitudes of life, I have few or no fears. +But such capability of happiness in this world is a great temptation, +and I sometimes fancy must therefore have been a Fairy gift." And here +the no longer young Mother of Hermione fell into a reverie, and a long +pause ensued, during which Ambrosia felt very sad, for it grieved her +to think that the good and reasonable Mother should be so much afraid +of Fairy gifts, even when the result had been so favourable. + +A note at length interrupted the prolonged silence. It was from Aurora +the Beauty, whose Father possessed a large estate in the +neighbourhood, and who had just then come into the country for a few +weeks. Aurora earnestly requested Hermione and her Mother to visit +her. + +"I will do as you wish," said Hermione, looking rather grave; "but +really a visit to Aurora is a sort of small misfortune." + +"I hope you are not envious of her beauty, Hermione? Take care." + +"Nay, you are cruel, Mamma, now. I should like to be handsome, but not +at the expense of being so very dull in spirits as poor Aurora often +is. But really, unless you have ever spent an hour alone with her, you +can form no idea of how tired one gets." + +"What of, Hermione? of her face?" + +"Oh no, not of her face; it is charming, and by the way you have just +put into my head how I may escape from being tired, even if I am left +alone with her for hours!" + +"Nay, now you really puzzle me, my dear; I suggested nothing but +looking at her face." + +"Ah, but as she is really and truly such a model of beauty, what do +you think of offering to make a likeness of her, Mamma? It will +delight her to sit and be looked at, even by me, in the country, and I +shall be so much pleased to have such a pleasant occupation. I am +quite reconciled to the idea of going." + +And a note was written, and despatched accordingly. + +"But," persisted Hermione, rising to sit near her Mother, "you do not +above half know Aurora. One would think she had been born in what is +called a 'four warnt way,' with nothing but cross roads about her. +Nothing is ever right. She is always either exhausted with the heat of +the sun, or frozen with cold, or the evening is so tedious, she wants +it to be bedtime, or if there is any unusual gaiety going on, she +quarrels with the same length of evening, because it is so intolerably +short; and, in short, she is never truly happy but when she is +surrounded by admirers, whether men or women. And this seems to me to +be a sad way of '_getting her time over_,' as the poor women say of +life. Ah, Mamma, it goes but too quickly." + +"Aurora is indeed foolish," musingly ejaculated the Mother. + +"Not altogether either, my dear Mother. She knows much; but the fault +is, she cares for nothing. She has got the carcase, as it were, of +knowledge and accomplishments; but the vivifying spirit is wanting. +You know yourself how well she plays and sings occasionally, if there +is a question of charming a room full of company. Yet there can be no +sentiment about her music after all, or it would be an equal pleasure +to her at other times. But really it almost makes me as discontented +with life as herself to hear her talk in unexcited hours. Turning over +my books one day, she said, 'You can never be either a poet or a +painter, or a Mozart or a philosopher, Hermione? what is the use of +all your labour and poking?' What could I say? I felt myself colour +up, and I laughed out, 'Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is +vanity!' Yet certainly God has set before us the things of earth in +order that we may admire and find them out; and that is the answer to +all such foolish questions!" And Hermione was turning to leave the +room, but she came back and said--"Do you know, Mamma, though you will +laugh at the idea, I do think Aurora would be a very nice girl, and +very happy, if she either could grow very ugly all at once, or if any +thing in the world could make her forget her beauty.--And," added she, +in a half whisper, "if there is any thing in Fairy lore, I could +almost fancy some cruel Fairy had owed her family a grudge, and had +given her this gift of excessive beauty on purpose to be the plague +and misfortune of her life." + + * * * * * + +"Enough, enough, and too much," cried Euphrosyne impatiently. "The +matter is now, I think, concluded. Ianthe and I have failed, and +though you are successful, Ambrosia, even you have not come off +without a rebuff. Now, farewell to earth. I am weary of it. I do not +know your gift, and I am sick of listening to conversations I cannot +understand. Let us begone. If we de delay, they will begin again. Ah, +my sisters, my spirit yearns for our fairer clime!" + +And they arose; but yet awhile they lingered on the velvet lawn before +that country-house, for as they were preparing for flight, the sounds +they loved so well, of harmonious music, greeted their ears. + +"Ah, there is the artist's hand again," cried Ambrosia. "I see the +lovely sketch before me once more!" + +And so it was, that it, and the peaceful forest scene, and the +interesting face of Hermione, seemed to reappear before them all as +they listened to her music. Tender, and full of sentiment were the +sounds at first, as if the musician were acting the scene of the opera +whence they came. + +"Lieder ohne Worte,"[3] murmured Ambrosia. + +[3] Songs without Words.--Mendelssohn. + +But it was to the swelling sounds of a farewell chorus that they arose +into the air, and took their leave of earth. + +And now, dear Readers, there is but one thing more to do. To ask if +you have guessed the Fairy gift? + +The Fairies, you see, had not. What Euphrosyne had said was true. They +had listened to such a quantity of conversation they could not +understand, and they were so unused to _think_ much about any thing, +or to hear much beyond their own pretty light talk and sweet songs, +that their poor little brains had got quite muddled. + +Perhaps remaining so long in the Earth's atmosphere helped to cloud +their intelligence. Certain it is, they returned very pensive, very +cross, and rather dusty to Fairy Land. + +They arrived at the beautiful bay I first described, and floated to a +large party of their sisters, who were dancing on the sands. + +There was a clapping of tiny hands, and shouts of joy as they +approached; and "What news? what news?" cried many voices. + +"Ah, what news, Sister Euphrosyne!" cried little Aglaia, floating +forward, "from the smudgy old earth; Is it beauty, riches, or what?" + +"I cannot answer your question," said Euphrosyne, pushing forward. + +A circle was now formed round the travellers, and the details I have +given you were made by Ianthe. And she wound up by saying, "And what +Ambrosia's gift to Hermione has been, we cannot make out." + +"Then I will tell you!" cried little Aglaia, springing lightly high +into the air, and descending gently on a huge shell at her feet; "_She +likes every thing she does, and she likes to be always doing +something_. You can't put the meaning into one word, as you can Beauty +and Riches; but still it _is_ something. Can't you think of some way +of saying what I have told you? Dear me, how stupid you are all grown. +And _liking_ isn't the right word: it is something stronger than +common _liking_." + +"Love, perhaps," murmured Leila. + +"An excellent idea," cried Euphrosyne; "dear me, this delicious air is +clearing my poor head. Sisters, I will express it for you, and +Ambrosia shall say if I am right. It is THE LOVE OF EMPLOYMENT." + +Ambrosia laughed assent; but a low murmur of discontent resounded +through the Fairy group. + +"Intolerable!" cried Leila, shrugging her shoulders like a French +woman. + +"It is no Fairy gift at all," exclaimed others; "it is downright +plodding and working." + +"If the human race can be made happy by nothing but labour," cried +another; "I propose we leave them to themselves, and give them no more +Fairy gifts at all." + +"Remember," cried Ambrosia, now coming forward, "this is our first +experiment upon human happiness. Hitherto we have given Fairy gifts, +and never enquired how they have acted. And I feel sure we have always +forgotten one thing, viz. that poor men and women living in Time, and +only having in their power the small bit of it which is present, +cannot be happy unless they make Time present happy. And there is but +one plan for that; I use Aglaia's words: '_To like every thing you do, +and like to be always doing something_.'" + +Ambrosia ceased speaking, and the circled group were silent too. They +were not satisfied, however; but those sweet, airy people take nothing +to heart for long. For a short time they wandered about in little +knots of two and three, talking, and then joined together in a dance +and song, ere night surrounded them. There was from that time, +however, a general understanding among them that the human race was +too coarse and common to have much sympathy with Fairies, and even the +Godmothers agreed to this, for they were sadly tired with the unusual +quantity of thinking and observing they had had to undergo. So if you +ever wonder, dear Readers, that Fairy Gifts and Fairy Godmothers have +gone out of fashion; you may conclude that the adventure of Ambrosia +and Hermione is the reason. + + * * * * * + +The story is ended; and if any enquiring child should say, "There are +no more Fairy gifts, and we can no more give ourselves love of +employment than beauty or riches;" let me correct this dangerous +error! Wiser heads than mine have shown that every thing we do becomes +by HABIT, not only _easy_, but actually _agreeable_.[4] + +[4] Abercrombie. Moral Feelings. + +Dear Children! encourage a habit of _attention_ to whatever you +undertake, and you may make that habit not only easy, but agreeable; +and then, I will venture to promise you, you will _like_ and even +_love_ your occupations. And thus, though you may not have so many +talents as Hermione, you may call all those you do possess, into play, +and make them the solace, pleasure and resources of your earthly +career. + +If you do this, I think you will not feel disposed to quarrel, as the +Fairies did, with Ambrosia's gift; for increased knowledge of the +world, and your own happy experience, will convince you more and more +that no Fairy Gift is so well worth having, as, + +THE LOVE OF EMPLOYMENT. + + + + +JOACHIM THE MIMIC. + + +There was, once upon a time, a little boy, who, living in the time +when Genies and Fairies used now and then to appear, had all the +advantage of occasionally seeing wonderful sights, and all the +_dis_advantage of being occasionally dreadfully frightened. This +little boy was one day walking alone by the sea side, for he lived in +a fishing town, and as he was watching the tide, he perceived a bottle +driven ashore by one of the big waves. He rushed forward to catch it +before the wave sucked it back again, and succeeded. Now then he was +quite delighted, but he could not get the cork out, for it was +fastened down with rosin, and there was a seal on the top. So being +very impatient, he took a stone and knocked the neck of the bottle +off. + +What was his surprize to find himself instantly suffocated with a +smoke that made his eyes smart and his nose sneeze, just as much as if +a quantity of Scotch snuff had been thrown over him! He jumped about +and puffed a good deal, and was just beginning to cry, as a matter of +course for a little boy when he is annoyed; when lo! and behold! he +saw before him such an immense Genie, with black eyes and a long +beard, that he forgot all about crying and began to shake with fear. + +The Genie told him he need not be afraid, and desired him not to +shake; for, said he, "You have been of great use to me; a Genie, +stronger than myself, had fastened me up in yonder bottle in a fit of +ill humour, and as he had put his seal at the top, nobody could draw +the cork. Luckily for me, you broke the neck of the bottle, and I am +free. Tell me therefore, good little boy, what shall I do for you to +show my gratitude?" + +But now, before I go on with this, I must tell you that the day before +the little boy's adventure with the bottle and the Genie, the King of +that country had come to the fishing town I spoke of, in a gold +chariot drawn by twelve beautiful jet black horses, and attended by a +large train of officers and followers. A herald went before announcing +that the King was visiting the towns of his dominions, for the sole +purpose of doing justice and exercising acts of charity and kindness. +And all people in trouble and distress were invited to come and lay +their complaints before him. And accordingly they did so, and the good +King, though quite a youth, devoted the whole day to the benevolent +purpose he proposed; and it is impossible to describe the amount of +good he accomplished in that short time. Among others who benefited +was our little boy's Mother, a widow who had been much injured and +oppressed. He redressed her grievances, and in addition to this, +bestowed valuable and useful presents upon her. "Look what an example +the young King sets," was the cry on every side! "Oh, my son, imitate +him!" exclaimed our poor Widow, as in a transport of joy and emotion, +she threw her arms around her boy's neck. "I wish I _could_ imitate +him and be like him!" murmured little Joachim: (such was the child's +name). "My boy," cried the Widow, "imitate every thing that is good, +and noble, and virtuous, and you _will_ be like him!" Joachim looked +earnestly in her face, but was silent. He understood a good deal that +his Mother meant; he knew he was to try to do every thing that was +good, and so be like the young King; but, as he was but a little boy, +I am not quite sure that he had not got a sort of vague notion of the +gold chariot and the twelve jet black horses, mixed up with his idea +of imitating all that was good and noble and virtuous, and being like +the young King. I may be wrong; but, at seven years old, you will +excuse him if his head did get a little confused, and if he could not +quite separate his ideas of excessive virtue and goodness from all the +splendour in which the pattern he was to imitate appeared before his +eyes. + +However that may be, his Mother's words made a profound impression +upon him. He thought of nothing else, and if he had been in the silly +habit of telling his dreams, I dare say he would have told his mother +next morning that he had been dreaming of them. Certainly they came +into his head the first thing in the morning; and they were still in +his head when he walked along by the sea-shore, as has been described; +so much so, that even his adventure did not make him forget them; and +therefore, when this Genie, as I told you before, offered to do any +thing he wanted, little Joachim said, "Genie, I want to imitate every +thing that is good, and noble, and virtuous, so you must make me +able!" + +The Genie looked very much surprized, and rather confused; he expected +to have been asked for toys, or money, or a new horse, or something +nice of that sort; but Joachim looked very grave, so the Genie saw he +was in earnest, and he did a most wonderful thing for a Genie; he +actually sat down beside the little boy to talk to him. I don't +recollect that a single Genie in the Arabian Nights, ever did such a +thing before; but this Genie did: What is more, he stroked his beard, +and spoke very softly, as follows: + +"My dear little boy, you have asked a great thing. I can do part of +what you wish, but not all; for you have asked what concerns the heart +and conscience, and we Genies, cannot influence these, for the great +Ruler of all things alone has them under his control. He allows us, +however, power over the intellect--ah! now I see you cannot understand +me, little boy!--Well! I mean this;--I can make your head clever, but +I cannot make your heart good: I can give you the power of imitation, +but as to _what_ you imitate, that must depend upon yourself, and the +great Being I dare not name!" + +After saying this, the Genie laid his immense forefingers on each side +of Joachim's head just above his forehead, and then disappeared. + +Joachim felt no pain, but when he got up and put on his cap to go +home, his head seemed almost too large for it. + +Perhaps he wanted a new cap, but the phrenologists would tell you he +had got the organ of Imitation. + +He did not thoroughly understand what the Genie said, but he was +convinced that something had been done towards making him like to the +young King. As he was dawdling home, his eye was struck by the sight +of a beautiful because picturesque dark fishing-boat, which he saw +very plainly, because the red sun was setting behind it. Joachim felt +a strange wish to make something like it; and, taking up a bit of +white chalk he saw at his feet, he drew a picture of the boat on the +tarred side of another that was near him. While he was so engaged, an +old fisherman came up very angrily. He thought the child was +disfiguring his boat; but, to his surprise, he saw that the little +fellow's drawing was so capital, he wished he could do as much +himself. + +"Why, who taught you to do that, young Master?" said he. + +Joachim was no great talker at any time, and he now merely said, +"Nobody," and smiled. + +"Well, you must draw my boat some day, for me to hang up; and now +here's a luck penny for you, for you certainly are a capital hand for +such a youngster." + +Joachim was greatly pleased with the penny, for it was a curious old +one, with a hole through it; and he told his Mother all about it; but +though it may seem strange, he never mentioned the bottle and the +Genie to her at all. That appeared to him to be a quite private affair +of his own. + +He altered very much, however, by degrees. He had been till then +rather a dull, silent boy: now he talked much more, was more amusing, +was always endeavouring to draw, and after being at church would try +to read the prayers like the parson. His Mother was delighted. She +began to think her son would grow up a good scholar after all, and +being now well off, owing to the King's kindness, she resolved on +sending little Joachim to school. + +To school, accordingly, he went; and here, my little readers, there +was a great change for him. Hitherto he had lived very much alone with +his Mother, and being quiet, and somewhat dull by nature, he had never +till quite lately had many acquaintances of his own age. + +Now, however, he found himself among great numbers of youths, of all +ages, and all characters. At first he was shy and observant, but this +soon wore off, and he became a favourite. Nobody was more liked at any +time, and he was completely unrivalled in the play-ground. He could +set all the boys in a roar of laughter, when, hid behind a bush, he +would bark so like a dog that the unhappy wights who were not in the +secret expected to see a vicious hound spring out upon them, and took +to their heels in fright. He was first in every attempt at acting, +which the boys got up; and there was not a cat nor a pig in the +neighbourhood whose mew and squeak he could not give with the utmost +exactness. If you ask how he got on at lessons, I must say--well, but +not _very_ well. His powers of entertaining his companions were so +great, that I fear he found their easily-acquired praise more tempting +than the rewards of laborious learning. He could learn easily enough, +it is true; but while his steadier neighbours were working hard, he +was devising some new scheme for fun when lessons should be over, or +making some odd drawing on his slate to induce his companions to an +outburst of laughter. + +There were many excuses to be made for little Joachim; and it is +always so pleasant to please, that I do not much wonder at his being +led astray by possessing the power. + +Time went on, meanwhile; and Joachim became aware at last that he +possessed a larger share than common of the power of imitation. When +he first clearly felt this, he thought of the Genie and his two +forefingers, I believe;--but his school life, and his funny ways, and +the constant diversion of his mind, quite prevented his thinking of +all the serious things the Genie had spoken. Nay, even his Mother's +words had nearly faded from his mind, and he had forgotten the young +King, and his own wishes to be like him. It was a pity it was so; but +so it was! Poor Joachim! he was a very good fellow, and kind also in +reality; but first the pleasure of making his companions laugh, and +then the pleasure of being a sort of little great man among them, were +fast misleading him. For instance, though at first he amused them by +imitating dogs, and cats, and pigs, he next tried his powers at +imitating any thing queer and odd in the boys themselves, and, for a +time, this was most entertaining. When he mimicked the awkward walk of +one boy, and the bad drawl of another, and the loutish carriage of a +third, the school resounded with shouts of laughter, which seemed to +our Hero a great triumph,--something like the cheers which had greeted +the good young King as he left the fishing-town. But certainly the +cause was a very different one! By degrees, however, it must be +admitted, that Joachim's popularity began a little to decrease; for, +though a boy has no objection to see his neighbour laughed at, he does +not like quite so well to be laughed at himself, and there are very +few who can bear it with good humour. And now Joachim had given such +way to the pastime, that he was always hunting up absurdities in his +friends and neighbours, and _no one felt safe_. + +It was a long time before Joachim found out the change that was taking +place, for there were still plenty of loud laughers on his side; but +once or twice he had a feeling that all was not right: for instance, +one day when he mimicked the awkward walker to the boy who spoke badly +and stuttered, and then in the afternoon imitated the stutterer to the +awkward boy, he had a twinge of conscience, for it whispered to him +that he was a sneak, and deceitful; particularly, as both these boys +had often helped him in doing his sums and lessons when he was too +idle and _too funny_ to labour at them himself. In fact, he had been +so much helped that he was sadly behind hand in his books, for all the +school had been willing to assist "that good fellow '_Joke him_,'" as +they called him. + +At last a crisis came. A new boy arrived at the school; very big for +his age, and rather surly tempered, but a hard working, persevering +lad, who was striving hard to learn and get on. He had one defect. He +lisped very much, which certainly is an ugly trick, and sounded silly +in a great stout boy, nearly five feet high: but he had this excuse; +--his mother had died when he was very little, and his good Father had +more important business on hand in supporting his family, of which +this boy was the eldest, than in teaching him to pronounce his S's +better. It is perhaps only Mothers who attend to these little matters. +Well;--this great big boy was two or three days at the school before +Joachim went near him. There was something serious, stern, and unfunny +in his face, and when Joachim was making the other boys laugh, the +great big boy never even smiled, but fixed his eyes in a rather +unpleasant manner upon Joachim as he raised them from his books. Still +he was an irresistible subject for the Mimic; for, though he learnt +his lessons without a mistake, and always obtained the Master's +praise, he read them with so strong a lisp, and this was rendered so +remarkable by his loud, deep voice, that it fairly upset what little +prudence Joachim possessed; and, as he returned one day to his seat, +after repeating a copy of verses in the manner I have described, +Joachim, who was not far off, echoed the last two lines with such +accuracy of imitation, that it startled even the Master, who was at +that moment leaving the school-room. + +But no laugh followed as usual, for all eyes were suddenly turned on +the big boy, who, crimson with indignation, and yet quite +self-possessed in manner, walked up to Joachim and deliberately +knocked him down on the floor. Great was Joachim's amazement, you may +be sure, and severe was the blow that had levelled him; but still more +severe were the words that followed. "Young rascal," exclaimed the big +boy, "who has put _you_ in authority over your elders, that you are to +be correcting our faults and failings, instead of attending to your +own. You are beholden to any lad in the school who will do your sums, +and write your exercises for you, and then you take upon yourself to +ridicule us if we cannot pronounce our well learnt lessons to your +fancy! You saucy imp, who don't know what labour and good conduct are, +and who have nothing to boast of, but the powers which a monkey +possesses to a greater extent than yourself!" Fancy Joachim's rage! +_He_, the admired wit! the popular boy! nothing better than a monkey! +He sprang up and struck his fist into the face of his antagonist with +such fury, that the big boy, though evidently unwilling to fight one +less than himself, was obliged to bestow several sharp blows before he +could rid himself of Joachim's passion. + +At last, however, other boys separated them; but Joachim, who was +quite unused to fighting, and who had received a very severe shock +when he first fell, became so sick and ill that he was obliged to go +home. His Mother asked what was the matter. "He had been quizzing a +great big boy who lisped, and the boy knocked him down, and they had +fought." His Mother sighed; but she saw he was too poorly for talking, +so she put him to bed and nursed him carefully. + +Now, you may say, what had this Mother been about, not to have found +out and corrected Joachim's fault before? First, he was very little at +home, and as owing to the help of others, his idleness had not become +notorious, she had heard no complaints from the Masters, and thinking +he did his lessons well, she felt averse to stopping his fun and +amusements in holiday hours. Still, she had latterly begun to have +misgivings which this event confirmed. In a few days Joachim was +better, and came down stairs, and his Aunt and two or three Cousins +called to enquire after him. Their presence revived Joachim's flagging +spirits, and all the boys got together to talk and laugh. Soon their +voices echoed through the house. Joachim was at his old tricks again, +and the Schoolboys, the Ushers and the Master all furnished food for +mirth. His Cousins roared with delight. "Clever child!" exclaimed his +Aunt, "what a treasure you are in a house! one could never be dull +where _you_ are!" "Sister, Sister!" cried Joachim's Mother, "do not +say so!" "My dear," said the Aunt, "are you dull enough to be unable +to appreciate your own child's wit; oh, I wish you would give him to +me. Come here, my dear Joachim, and do the boy that walks so badly +once more for me; it's enough to kill one to see you take him off!" +Joachim's spirits rose above all control. Excited by his Aunt's +praise and the sense of superior ability, he surpassed himself. He +gave the bad walker to perfection; then imitated a lad who had +commenced singing lessons, and whose voice was at present broken and +bad. He even gave the big boy's lisp once more, and followed on with a +series of pantomimic exhibitions. + +All at once, he cast his eyes on his Mother's face--that face so full +of intelligence and the mild sorrow of years of widowhood, borne with +resigned patience. Her eyes were full of tears, and there was not a +smile on her countenance. Joachim's conscience--he knew not +why--twinged him terribly. He stopped suddenly; "Mother!" + +"Come here, Joachim!" He came. + +"Is that boy whom you have been imitating--your Aunt says so +cleverly--the _best_ walker of all the boys in your school?" + +"The _best_, Mother?" and the puzzled Joachim could not suppress a +smile. His Cousins grinned. + +"Dear Mother, of course not," continued Joachim, "on the contrary, he +is the very worst!" + +"Oh--well, have you no _good_ walkers at your school?" + +"Oh yes, several; indeed one especially; his father was a soldier, he +walks beautifully." + +"Does he, Joachim? Let me see you walk like him, my dear." + +Joachim stepped boldly enough into the middle of the room, and drew +himself up; but a sudden consciousness of his extreme inferiority to +the soldier's son, both in figure, manner and mode of walking, made +him feel quite sheepish. There was a pause of expectation. + +"Now then!" said Joachim's Mother. + +"I cannot walk like _him_, Mother," said Joachim. + +"Why not?" + +"Because he walks so _very well_!" + +"Oh,"--said Joachim's Mother. + +There was another pause. + +"Come, Joachim," continued the Widow, "I am very anxious to admire you +as much as your Aunt does. You are not tired; let us have some more +exhibitions. You gave us a song just now horribly out of tune, and +with the screeching voice of a bagpipe." + +"I was singing like Tom Smith," interrupted Joachim. + +"Is he your best singer?" enquired the Mother. Another laugh followed. + +"Nay, Mother, no one sings so badly." + +"Indeed! How does the Singing Master sing, Joachim?" + +"Oh, Mother," cried Joachim, "so beautifully, it would make the tears +come into your eyes with pleasure, to listen to him." + +"Well, but as I cannot listen to him, let me, at all events, have the +pleasure of hearing my clever son imitate him," was the reply. + +Joachim was mute. He had a voice, though not a remarkable one, but he +had shirked the labour of trying to improve it by practice. He made +one effort to sing like the Master, but overpowered by a sense of +incapacity, his voice failed, and he felt disposed to cry. + +"Why, Joachim, I thought you were such a clever creature you could +imitate any thing," cried the Mother. + +No answer fell from the abashed boy, till a sudden thought revived +him. + +"But I _can_ imitate the singing-master, Mother." + +"Let me hear you, my dear child." + +"Why it isn't exactly what you can hear," observed Joachim +murmuringly; "but when he sings, you have no idea what horrible faces +he makes. Nay, it's true, indeed, he turns up his eyes, shuts them, +distorts his mouth, and swings about on the stool like the pendulum of +a clock!" + +And Joachim performed all the grimaces and contortions to perfection, +till his Aunt and Cousins were convulsed with laughter. + +"Well done," cried his Mother. "Now you are indeed like the cat in the +German fable, Joachim! who voted himself like the bear, because he +could lick his paws after the same fashion, though he could not +imitate either his courage or his strength. Now let me look a little +further into your education. Bring me your drawing-book." It came, and +there was page after page of odd and ugly faces, strange noses, +stranger eyes, squinting out of the book in hideous array. + +"I suppose you will laugh again if I ask you if these are the +_beauties_ of your school, Joachim;--but tell me seriously, are there +no good, pleasant, or handsome faces among your schoolfellows?" + +"Plenty, Mother; one or two the Master calls models, and who often sit +to him to be drawn from." + +"Draw one of those faces for me, my dear; I am fond of beauty." And +the Mother placed the book in his hands, pointing to a blank page. + +Joachim took a pencil, and sat down. _Now_ he thought he should be +able to please his Mother; but, alas, he found to his surprise, that +the fine faces he tried to recall had not left that vivid impression +on his brain which enabled him to represent them. On the contrary, he +was tormented and baffled by visions of the odd forms and grotesque +countenances he had so often pictured. He seized the Indian-rubber and +rubbed out nose after nose to no purpose, for he never could replace +them with a better. Drawing was his favourite amusement; and this +disappointment, where he expected success, broke down his already +depressed heart. He threw the book from him, and burst into a flood of +tears. + +"Joachim! have you drawn him? What makes you cry?" + +"I cannot draw him, Mother," sobbed the distressed boy. + +"And why not? Just look here; here is an admirable likeness of +squinting Joe, as you have named him. Why cannot you draw the handsome +boy?" + +"Because his face is so handsome!" answered Joachim, still sobbing. + +"My son," said his Mother gravely, "you have now a sad lesson to +learn, but a necessary and a wholesome one. Get up, desist from +crying, and listen to me." + +Poor Joachim, who loved his mother dearly, obeyed. + +"Joachim! your Aunt, and your Cousins, and your schoolfellows have all +called you clever. In what does your cleverness consist? I will tell +you. In the Reproduction of Deformity, Defects, Failings, and +Misfortunes of every sort, that fall under your observation. A worthy +employment truly! A noble ambition! But I will now tell you the truth +about yourself. You never heard it before, and I feel sure you will +benefit now. A good or an evil Genie, I know not which, has bestowed +upon you a great power; and you have misused it. Do you know what that +power is?" + +Joachim shook his head, though he trembled all over, for he felt as if +awaking from along dream, to the recollection of the Genie. + +"It is the power of Imitation, Joachim; I call it a great power, for +it is essential to many great and useful things. It is essential to +the orator, the linguist, the artist, and the musician. Nature herself +teaches us the charm of _imitation_, when in the smooth and clear lake +you see the lovely landscape around mirrored and _repeated_.[5] What a +lesson may we not read in this sight! The commonest pond even that +reflects the foliage of the tree that hangs over it, is calling out to +us to reproduce for the solace and ornament of life, the beautiful +works of God. But oh, my son, my dear son, you have abused this gift +of Imitation, which might be such a blessing and pleasure to you." + +[5] Schiller.--"Der Künstler." + +"You might, if you chose, _imitate every thing that is good, and +noble, and virtuous, and beautiful_; and you are, instead of that, +reproducing every aspect of deformity that crosses your path, until +your brain is so stamped with images of defects, ugliness, and +uncouthness, that your hand and head refuse their office, when I call +upon you to reproduce the beauties with which the world is graced." + +I doubt if Joachim heard the latter part of his Mother's speech. At +the recurrence to the old sentence, a gleam of lightning seemed to +shoot across his brain. Latent memories were aroused as keenly as if +the events had but just occurred, and he sank at his Mother's feet. + +When she ceased to speak, he arose. + +"Mother," said he, "I have been living in a cloud. I have been very +wrong. Besides which, I have a secret to tell you. Nay, my Aunt may +hear. It has been a secret, and then it has been forgotten; but now I +remember all, and understand far more than I once did." + +Here Joachim recounted to his Mother the whole story of her words to +him, and his adventure with the Genie and the bottle; and then, very +slowly, and interrupted by many tears of repentance, he repeated what +the Genie had said about giving him _the power_ of imitation, adding +that the use he made of it must depend on himself and the great Ruler +of the heart and conscience. + +There was a great fuss among the Cousins at the notion of Joachim +having talked to a Genie; and, to tell you the truth, this was all +they thought about, and soon after took their leave. The heart of +Joachim's Mother was at rest, however: for though she knew how hard +her son would find it to alter what had become a habit of life, she +knew that he was a good and pious boy, and she saw that he was fully +alive to his error. + +"Oh Mother," said he, during the course of that evening, "how plain I +see it all now! The boy that stutters is a model of obedience and +tenderness; I ought to have dwelt upon and imitated that, and, oh! I +thought only of his stuttering. The boy that walks so clumsily, as +well as the great fellow that lisps, are such industrious lads, and so +advanced in learning, that the master thinks both will be +distinguished hereafter; and I, who--(oh, my poor mother, I must +confess to you)--hated to labour at any thing, and have got the boys +to do my lessons for me;--I, instead of imitating their industry, lost +all my time in ridiculing their defects.--What shall--what shall I +do!" + +The next morning poor Joachim said his prayers more humbly than he had +ever before done in his life; and, kissing his mother, went to school. +The first thing he did on arriving was to go up to the big boy, who +had beaten him, and beg him to shake hands. + +The big boy was pleased, and a grim smile lightened up his face. "But, +old fellow," said he, laying his hand on Joachim's shoulder, "take a +friend's advice. There is good in all of us, depend upon it. Look out +for all that's good, and let the bad points take care of themselves. +_You_ won't get any handsomer, by squinting like poor Joe; nor speak +any pleasanter for lisping like me; nor walk any better for apeing +hobbling. But the ugliest of us have some good about us. Look out for +_that_, my little lad; I do, or I should not be talking to you! I see +that you are honest and forgiving, though you _are_ a monkey! There +now, I must go on with my lessons! You do yours!" + +Never was better advice given, and Joachim took it well, and bore it +bravely; but, oh, how hard it was to his mind, accustomed for so long +to wander away and seek amusement at wrong times, to settle down +resolutely and laboriously to study. He made a strong effort, however; +and though he had often to recall his thoughts, he in a measure +succeeded. + +After school-hours he begged the big boy to come and sit by him, and +then he requested his old friends and companions to listen to a story +he had to tell them. They expected something funny, and many a broad +grin was seen; but poor Joachim's eyes were yet red with weeping, and +his gay voice was so subdued, the party soon became grave and +wondering, and then Joachim told them every thing. They were delighted +to hear about the Genie, and were also pleased to find themselves safe +from Joachim's ridicule. It could not be expected they should all +understand the story, but the big boy did, and became Joachim's +greatest friend and adviser. + +That evening our little friend, exhausted with the efforts and +excitement of his almost first day of repentance, strolled out in a +somewhat pensive mood to his favourite haunt, the sea shore. A stormy +sunset greeted his arrival on the beach, but the tide was ebbing, and +he wandered on till he reached some caverns among the cliffs. And +there, as had often been his wont, he sat down to gaze out upon the +waste of waters safe and protected from harm. It is very probable that +he fell asleep--but the point could never be clearly known, for he +always said it was no sleep and no dream he had then, but that, whilst +sitting in the inmost recesses of the cave, he saw once more his old +friend the Genie, who after reproaching him with the bad use he had +made of his precious gift, gave him a world of good advice and +instruction. + +There is no doubt that after that time, Joachim was seen daily +struggling against his bad habits; and that by degrees he became able +to exercise his mind in following after the good and beautiful instead +of after the bad and ugly. It was a hard task to him for many a long +day to fix his flighty thoughts down to the business in hand, and to +dismiss from before his eyes the ridiculous images that often +presented themselves. But his Mother's wishes, or the Genie's advice, +or something better still, prevailed. And you cannot think, of what +wonderful use the Genie's gift was to him then. Once turned in a right +direction and towards worthy objects, he found it like a sort of +friend at his right hand, helping him forward in some of the most +interesting pursuits of life. Ah! all the energy he had once bestowed +on imitating lisps and stuttering, was now engaged in catching the +sounds of foreign tongues, and thus taking one step towards the +citizenship of the world. And instead of wasting time in gazing at the +singing master's face, that he might ape its unnatural distortions--it +was now the sweet tones of skilful harmony to which he bent his +attention, and which he strove, and not in vain, to reproduce. + +The portfolio which he brought home to his Mother at the end of +another half-year, was crowded with laborious and careful copies from +the best models of beauty and grace. And not with those only, for many +a face could be found on its pages in which the Mother recognized some +of her son's old companions. Portraits, not of the mere formation of +mouths and noses, which in so many cases, viewed merely as forms, are +defective and unattractive, but portraits of the same faces, upon +which the character of the inward mind and heart was so stamped that +it threw the mere shape of the features far into the background. + +Thus with the pursuit of his favourite art, Joachim combined "that +most excellent gift of charity;" for it was now his pride and pleasure +to make the charm of expression from "_the good points_" his old +friend had talked about, triumph over any physical defects. The very +spirit and soul of the best sort of portrait painting. And here, my +dear young readers, I would fain call your attention to the fact of +how one right habit produces another. The more Joachim laboured over +seizing the good expression of the faces he drew from, the more he was +led to seek after and find out the good points themselves whence the +expression arose; and thus at last it became a _Habit_ with him to try +and discover every thing that was excellent and commendable in the +characters of those he met; a very different plan from that pursued by +many of us, who in our intercourse with each other, are but too apt to +fasten with eagle-eye accuracy on failings and faults. Which is a very +grave error, and a very misleading one, for if it does nothing else, +it deprives us of all the good we should get by a daily habit of +contemplating what is worthy our regard and remembrance. And so +strongly did Joachim's mother feel this, and so earnestly did she wish +her son to understand that a power which seems bestowed for worldly +ends, may be turned to spiritual advantage also, that when his +birthday came round she presented to him among other gifts, a little +book, called "The Imitation of Jesus Christ." It was the work of an +old fellow called Thomas à Kempis, and though more practical books of +piety have since been written, the idea contained in the title +suggests a great lesson, and held up before Joachim's eyes, Him whom +one of our own divines has since called "The Great Exemplar." + +This part of our little hero's 'Lesson of Life,' we can all take to +ourselves, and go and do likewise. And so I hope his story may be +profitable, though we have not all of us a large Genie-gift of +Imitation as he had. With him the excess of this power took a very +natural turn, for though he possessed through its aid, considerable +facilities for music and the study of languages also, the course of +events led him irresistibly to what is usually called "the fine arts." +And if the old dream of the royal chariot and the twelve jet black +horses was never realized to him, a higher happiness by far was his, +when some years after, he and his Mother stood in the council house of +his native town; she looking up with affectionate pride while he +showed her a portrait of the good young King which had a few hours +before been hung up upon its walls. It was the work of Joachim +himself. + + + + +DARKNESS AND LIGHT. + +_The darkness and the light to Thee are both alike_. + + +Far away to the west, on the borders of the Sea, there lived a lady +and gentleman in a beautiful old house built something like a castle. +They had several children, nice little boys and girls, who were far +fonder of their Sea Castle, as they called it, than of a very pleasant +house which they had in a great town at some distance off. Still they +used to go and be very merry in the Town House in the winter time when +the hail and snow fell, and the winds blew so cold that nobody could +bear to walk out by the wild sea shore. + +But in summer weather the case was quite altered. Indeed, as soon as +ever the sun began to get a little power, and to warm the panes of +glass in the nursery windows of the Town House, there was a hue and +cry among all the children to be off to their Sea Castle home, and +many a time had Papa and Mamma to send them angrily out of the room, +because they would do nothing but beg to "set off directly." They were +always "sure that the weather was getting quite hot," and "it _must_ +be summer, for they heard the sparrows chirping every morning the +first thing," and they "thought they had seen a swallow," and "the +windows got so warm with the sunshine, Nurse declared they were enough +to burn one's fingers:" and so the poor little things teazed +themselves and everybody else, every year, in their hurry to get back +to their western home. But I dare say you have heard the old proverb, +"One swallow does not make a summer;" and so it was proved very often +to our friends. For the Spring season is so changeable, there are +often some soft mild days, and then a cruel frost comes again, and +perhaps snow as well; and people who have boasted about fine weather +and put off their winter clothes, look very foolish. + +Still Time passes on; and when May was half over, the Town House used +to echo with shouts of noisy delight, and boxes were banged down in +the passages, and there was a great calling out for cords, and much +scolding about broken keys and padlocks, and the poor Carpenter who +came to mend the trunks and find new keys to old locks, was at his +wits' end and his patience' end too. + +But at last the time came when all this bustle was succeeded by +silence in the Town House, for carriages had rolled away with the +happy party, and nobody was left behind but two or three women +servants to clean out the deserted rooms. + +And now then, my little readers, who are, I hope, wondering what is +coming next, you must fancy to yourselves the old Sea Castle Home. It +had two large turrets; and winding staircases led from the passages +and kitchens underneath the sitting rooms, up to the top of the +turrets, and so out upon the leads of the house, from which there was +the most beautiful view of the Ocean you ever saw; and, as the top of +the house was battlemented, like the top of your church tower, people +could walk about quite safely and comfortably, without any fear of +falling over. Then, though it is a very unusual thing near the Sea, +there were delightful gardens at the place, and a few very fine old +elm trees near the house, in which a party of rooks built their nests +every year; and the children had gardens of their own, in which they +could dig up their flowers to see if the roots were growing, to their +heart's content, and perform other equally ingenious feats, such as +watering a plant two or three times a day, or after a shower of rain, +and then wondering that, with such tender care, the poor thing should +rot away and die. + +But I almost think the children liked the sands on the shore as well +as the gardens, though they loved both. Not that there was any +amusement astir by the water side there, as you have seen in other +places where there are boats and fishermen and nets, and great coils +of ropes, and an endless variety of entertaining sights connected with +the seafaring business going on. Nay, in some places where there is +not a very good shore for landing, it is an amusement of itself to see +each boat or fishing yawl come in. There is such a contrast between +the dark tarred wood and the white surf that dashes up all round it; +and the fishermen are so clever in watching the favourable moment for +a wave to carry them over their difficulties; that I think this is one +of the prettiest sights one can see. But no such thing was ever seen +on the shore by the old Sea Castle, for there was no fishing there. +People thought the sea was too rough and the landing too difficult, +and so no fishing village had ever been built, and no boats ever +attempted to come within many miles of the place. + +Nobody cared to ask further, or try to account for the wildness of the +sea on that coast; but I can tell you all about it, although it must +be in a sort of half whisper--_The place was on the borders of Fairy +Land!_ that is to say, many many unknown numbers of miles out at sea, +right opposite to the Castle, there was a Fairy Island, and it was the +Fairies who kept the sea so rough all round them, for fear some +adventurous sailor should approach the island, or get near enough to +fish up some of the pearls and precious stones they kept in a crystal +palace underneath the water. + +So now you know the reason why the sea was so rough, and there was no +fishing going on at the Sea Castle Home. + +If you want to know whether any body ever saw the Fairy Island, I must +say, yes; but very seldom. And never but in the evening when the sun +was setting, and that under particular circumstances--namely, when he +went down into a dark red bank of clouds, or when there was a lurid +crimson hue over the sky just above the horizon. Then occasionally you +might see the dim hazy outline as of a beautiful mountainous island +against the clouds, or the deep-coloured sky. There is an island +sometimes seen from our western coast, under similar circumstances, +but which you strain your eyes in vain to discern by the brighter +light of day.[6] + +[6] Isle of Man from Blackpool. + +It is a very ticklish thing to live on the borders of Fairy Land; for +though you cannot get to the Fairies, they can get to you, and it is +not altogether a pleasant thing to have your private affairs overseen +and interfered with by such beings as they are, though sometimes it +may be most useful and agreeable. Besides which, there was a +Fairy-secret connected with the family that lived at the Sea Castle. +An Ancestress of the present Mistress had been a Fairy herself, and +though she had accommodated herself to mortal manners, and lived with +her husband quite quietly as well as happily, and so her origin had +been in a great measure forgotten, it was not unknown to her +descendant, the Lady Madeline, who now lived in the place. And, in +fact, soon after Lady Madeline first came there, a Fairy named Eudora +had appeared to her, declaring herself to be a sort of distant cousin, +and offering and promising friendship and assistance, whenever asked +or even wished for. In return, she only begged to be allowed to visit, +and ramble at will about the old place which she had known for so many +many long years, and had once had the unlimited run of; and she +protested with tears that the family should never in any way be +disturbed by her. Lady Madeline could not well refuse the request, but +I cannot say she gave her fairy acquaintance any encouragement; and so +poor Eudora never showed herself to them again. And Madeline never +thought much about her, except now and then accidentally, when, if +they were walking on the sands, some extraordinarily rare and +beautiful shells would be thrown ashore by a wave at the children's +feet, as if tossed up especially for their amusement. And it was only +in some such kind little way as this they were ever reminded of the +Fairy's existence. + +Lady Madeline's eldest son, Roderick, always seemed most favoured by +the Fairy in the pretty things she sent ashore, and certainly he was a +very nice boy, and a very good one on the whole--cheerful and honest +as the daylight, and very intelligent; but I cannot tell you, dear +readers, that he had _no_ faults, for that was not at all likely, and +you would not believe it if I said so, even although he is to be the +Hero of my tale. + +Now I do not want to make you laugh at him, but the story requires +that I should reveal to you one of his weak points. Well then, +although he was six years old, he was afraid of being alone in the +dark! Sometimes when he was in the large dining room with his Father +and Mother at dinner time, she would perhaps ask him to fetch +something for her from the drawing room which was close by; but, do +you know, if there were no candles in the room, he would look very +silly and refuse to go, even though there were a fire sufficient to +see by. He was too honest to make any false excuses, so he used just +to say that the room was so dark he could not go! + +Poor Madeline was very sorry, for she wanted her little boy to be +brave, but somehow or other he had got very silly about his fears of +being in the dark, and she could not succeed in curing him of his +folly. + +"My dear Roderick," she would say sometimes, "if I send in some +candles, will you go into the drawing room?" + +"O yes, Mamma." + +"Then do you really mean to say you think _the Candles take care of +you_?" + +"No, Mamma." + +"Then why won't you go into the room without; you know there is a +fire? + +"Because it is so dark, Mamma." + +Here was a difficulty indeed; for you see he _would_ come back to the +old point, and would not listen to reason. + +One day some conversation of this sort having passed between them, +Madeline, as she was wont to do, asked him if God could not take care +of him by night as well as by day; in the dark as well as in light, +for "the darkness and light are both alike to him." + +"Oh yes," cried poor Roderick, with great animation, "and I can tell +you a story about that. There was, once upon a time, a little Boy and +a Nurse who went out walking, and they walked so long they got +benighted in a very dark wood, and because it was so dark the Nurse +screamed and was very much frightened; and the little boy said, +'Nurse, why are you frightened? Don't be frightened; I am not +frightened. God can take care of us in the dark as well as in the +light,'" + +"Oh Roderick! what a pretty story," cried his Mamma. + +And so thought Roderick; for his eye glistened and his cheek flushed +as he came to the conclusion. + +And here, dear readers, was the worst difficulty of all; for though +Roderick's reason was quite convinced that God could take care of him +in the dark, he still could not bear to be in the dark without the +help of candles besides, though he quite knew they could not take care +of him at all. So you see by this that Reason, though it may convince +a person he is wrong, cannot put him right. There wants some other +help for that. And here let me just stop a moment to beg you to beware +of _bad habits_; for you see they become at last more powerful than +reason itself. + +I do not know how Roderick first got into his foolish habit, and it +does not much matter. I know he at one time had a fancy there was +something unpleasant about the pipes that carried the water about the +house, and he would not for a long time go by the pipes alone. Now, +how you laugh! well, but he got out of that nonsense; and I hope to be +able to tell you that he got out of the other too: but at the time I +speak of, he made his Mamma full of sorrow for his want of sense and +courage. + +It must be admitted that there were one or two excuses to be made for +the child. There was a great contrast between the Town House and the +Sea Castle. The Town House was full of lights. All the sitting rooms +were generally lighted, for a great deal of company came there, and +there were always lights along the passages; and the nursery windows +looked into a square, and the square was lighted up by lamps every +night; and it was one of Roderick's greatest pleasures to watch the +lamplighter running quickly up the tall ladder to the lamps to light +them, and then popping down again equally hurriedly, and running along +(ladder and all) to the next lamp post, and so on, till the square was +brilliant all round; and very often, as Roderick lay in his little bed +watching the glimmering thrown by these pretty lamps on the nursery +wall, he used to think and think of his friend the nimble lamplighter, +till he dropped fast asleep. You see, therefore, he had very little to +try his courage in the Town House, and there was seldom or never any +fuss about his fears till the move to the Sea Castle took place; and +then there were no more lamps and lamplighters, and no more +comfortable glimmerings from his bright pets the lamps after he went +to bed; and he used to get silly directly, and declare that he saw +bears whenever he shut his eyes; and he seemed to expect to find lions +and tigers under the sofas, by the fuss he made when he was asked to +go into the rooms. Certainly there was a grand old fashioned lamp in +the hall of the Sea Castle; but the hall itself was so big, and went +up so high, that the light in one part only seemed to make the shadow +and darkness of the other part look blacker still; so that I must +confess there was something gloomy about the house. Then, too, there +were those two turrets with the winding staircases, and as Roderick +had never dared to do any thing more than peep in at the low entrance +doors below, where he saw nothing but four or five steps going up into +complete blackness, he had got a sort of notion there must be +something horrid about them. + +Well; it was soon after this little boy's sixth birthday, that the +family arrived at the Sea-Castle, and it so happened, that, on the day +after their arrival, there was some very stormy and dismal weather. +The wind howled very loudly, and there was a good deal of rain; and +Lady Madeline wished they had waited a week or two longer. The sky was +so charged and heavy, too, that they found the house very dark, even +by day-light; and Roderick, who was a little tired with his journey +the day before, began to fancy all kinds of nonsense; talked more +about seeing bears than ever; and finally cried tremendously at going +to bed, declaring he was sure there was a tiger in the coal-pan. Now +you know, my dears, this was a bit of great nonsense; for Roderick +knew quite well that there are no wild beasts in England but what are +kept in very strong cages; and that the men who take wild-beast shows +round the country can by no means afford to let their tigers sleep in +nursery coal-pans! + +Poor Madeline never liked to see any of her children go to bed in +tears. And Roderick was so gay and merry generally, it seemed quite +unnatural in him; but though at last he left off crying, she could not +persuade him to be cheerful, and smile; for he declared that as soon +as ever she took her candle away, he could not help seeing those +unlucky bears. Was there ever any thing so silly before! She reasoned +with him, but to no purpose. He always said he quite believed in God's +presence, and His being able to take care of him; but, as I said +before, his bad habit had got the better of his good sense, and he +finished off every thing that could be said, by seeing bears, and +dreading a tiger in the coal-pan. + +"What are we to do with that child?" cried Madeline to her husband, as +they were going to bed. "He is beginning as foolishly as ever this +year, in spite of being a year older. I really shall at last be +inclined to think that in spite of all her fair promises of friendship +and assistance, and of never injuring the family, the Fairy Eudora +must secretly frighten the child in some way we don't know of." + +"No such thing, my dear Madeline; I cannot for a moment believe it;" +said her husband. "I have a better opinion of your relations, the +Fairies, than you have yourself. I am sure Eudora would not break her +word for the world; and there is no mystery about Roderick's folly. He +is full of fancies of all sorts,--some pretty, and some silly ones; +and we must do every thing we can to cure him of the silly ones. It +certainly is a very hard matter to accomplish, for I perceive he +admits the truth of every thing you say, and yet is as silly as ever +at the end. I heartily wish the Fairy Eudora _would_ interfere to cure +him of his nonsense!" + +"And so do I, if she could, and would," sighed Madeline; "but she has +quite deserted us. Besides, if she were to come, I don't see how she +could possibly do any good. Fairies cannot change little boys' hearts; +and I must confess I never yet got any good myself from having a Fairy +ancestress, and I have no confidence in them.--Still," pursued the +good lady, as she laid her head on her pillow, "I am not able, it +appears, to convince Roderick myself; and therefore I feel, with you, +that I wish the Fairy would come and try." + +"I fear it is in vain to say so now, Madeline. We have wished the poor +creature out of the way so often for the last ten years, that it is +not very likely a single wish the other way will bring her to us." + +"No, indeed," murmured the Fairy Eudora, who at that moment was +standing on the shore of the Fairy Island; "you are a pretty pair, you +two, to think of such a thing! I begged to be allowed to come about +the place years ago, and you didn't refuse; but you always kept me +away by _wishing_ I mightn't come; and now, because you are puzzled to +know what to do with your silly child, you want me with you for the +first time these ten years! Oh, you selfish people, don't fancy I'll +come near you!" And the justly angry Fairy stamped her foot in +indignation, and retired into private apartments in the palace. + +Do not be surprised at what you have just heard, my dear children; for +though you may have never thought about the power and importance of +_wishes_, there is, I assure you, a great deal of both one and the +other belonging to them. Some people talk, indeed, of "mere wishes," +as if they were trifles light as air; but it is not so. To prove this, +first think what importance is attached to them in the Scriptures. +Wishes are a sort of porch or doorway to actions. In the Tenth +Commandment we are forbidden to _wish_ for what belongs to our +neighbour;--for who is so likely to break the Eighth Commandment, and +steal, as the man who breaks the Tenth, and wishes for any thing that +is not his? + +And so, all the evil in the world begins by _wishing_ something wrong; +and if you can cure yourself of wishing wrongly, you will very seldom +_do_ wrong. + +Now you see, I am sure, how important wishes are for evil; but they +are equally strong for good. For, if you wish well to any one, you +have opened the first door to doing him a kindness. And if you +heartily wish to be good, you have opened the first gate on the road +of becoming so. Of course, wishes will not do every thing; but they do +a great deal. + +And there is another thing. They never fall to the ground unnoticed. +Though you and I cannot look into each other's hearts, or hear the +wishes breathed there, there is One who hears them all. Good wishes, +my dear children, all ascend upwards to the throne of Grace, like +sweet perfume. They are all accepted and remembered; and, I fear I +must add, that bad wishes go up too, and are noted in His book who +takes account of all we do. + +Be sure, therefore, that you encourage your hearts in a habit of good, +and kind, and charitable wishes; and if ever the bad ones come into +your head, pray against them, and drive them away. + +Meanwhile do not be surprized that in Fairy tales, Fairies are +supposed to hear wishes concerning themselves. And so Eudora heard +those about her coming and curing the child of his folly; and as I +have told you, she was very indignant at the selfishness of both Lady +Madeline and her husband. + +A few days after the family had taken up their residence in the Sea +Castle, the weather began to improve; and, though the wind lasted, the +sun came out; and all the children and the nurses went walking on the +sands. As it was the first time that year, you may guess what shouting +and delight there was; how the little spades dug away at holes for the +sea-water to come up in, and how the children caught at the sea-weeds +that were scattered on the lands to carry home to their Mamma; how +they picked up shells, and gambolled about in all directions, +declaring that they had never known the Sea Castle Home so delightful +before. By degrees they had strayed to a considerable distance along +the sands, with the nurses, when, alas! the latter perceived that a +storm was coming on, and it caught them long before they reached home. +A strong wind blew off the sea, and they had difficulty in keeping +their feet, and at last two or three of the children were almost +hidden in a cloud of sand, which a violent gust suddenly drove against +them. All the little party cried lustily, because the sand had blown +into their eyes, and made them smart, and sad work there was in +getting them home again. But they reached home at last, dripping with +wet from hailstones, and their eyes all red and disfigured by the sand +and wind. None, however, were so bad as those I have mentioned, who +had been so covered over by the sand that it had even got down their +necks, and made them uncomfortable all over. Among these was Roderick, +who cried a great deal more than he ought to have done, as the nurses +thought, and did not stop and declare himself comfortable as the rest +did, after the sand had been washed out of his eyes with rose water. +In fact he kept crying more or less all the afternoon, saying his eyes +hurt him so, and at last he could get no relief but by holding them +shut. + +Now it is just possible you may have heard of a complaint of the eyes +called Ophthalmia, which comes on sometimes in very hot countries, +India for instance; and sometimes in travelling across the deserts of +Arabia, where the sand gets into the eyes, and irritates them very +much; it can very often be cured, but not always, and when it cannot, +it ends in blindness. Lady Madeline knew all about the complaint; and, +therefore, you will not be surprised to hear that when she found her +little boy's eyes did not get better, and that he persisted in keeping +them shut, because they then became easy, she thought it right to send +to some miles' distance for a doctor, who accordingly arrived at the +Sea Castle before nightfall. But when he came he shook his head very +much, for he could not understand what was the matter; and when he +persuaded Roderick to lift up his eyelids, to let him see his eyes, he +could perceive nothing amiss but a little redness, which the wind and +sand quite accounted for. Still the child was uneasy, and would keep +his eyes shut; so the Doctor thought he must try something, and he +used some lotions common in such cases; but, as they did no good, the +kind old gentleman, at Madeline's request, consented to sit by the +little boy's bedside at night; when, all at once, as he was carefully +dabbing his eyes with rosewater, he perceived that the child was fast +asleep. + +The Doctor was delighted, and went to his mother, who was then with +her husband, and said that as Roderick had gone to sleep so nicely, he +had no doubt that his eyes would be well when he awoke in the morning, +and so he took his leave, for he had other patients to visit. + +It was then between twelve and one o'clock, and Lady Madeline, much +comforted in heart, went to bed. At an early hour next morning, +however, she went to Roderick's bedside, and perceived he was just +waking. + +To the question of "How are you, my darling?" his cheerful joyous +voice made answer, "Oh, quite well, Mamma, and I've such a funny dream +to tell you, and my eyes don't hurt me a bit, not a bit! but I'm +afraid to open them for fear they should. I can tell you something so +funny the Doctor said last night, Mamma." "Never mind about the +doctor, you rogue," cried Madeline, "I see you are all right, only +just open your dear old eyes, that I may tell Papa I have seen them +when I go back to dress." + +"Then I will, Mamma, to please you!" and up sat the pretty child in +his bed, and opened wide his blue eyes. There was no redness--it was +all gone--but + +"Mamma! where are you," cried Roderick, "I have opened my eyes, and +they don't hurt--but it is quite dark: _isn't the night over_?..." + +Oh, my dear readers! there was a stream of sunshine on the lovely face +and bright hair of little Roderick as he spoke, and the poor blue eyes +were turned up to his mother, looking vainly for her face. You cannot +wonder if I add that she sank down fainting on the bed; and when +Roderick's scream of terror brought the nurses to them, she was +carried away insensible from the room. + +Her darling was utterly blind. + + * * * * * + +And now imagine to yourselves how the afflicted parents sent for the +best doctors the country afforded, and how one thing after another was +tried--but, alas! every thing in vain, for the medical men were all +quite puzzled. Still some people gave them hopes, and in spite of many +disappointments, they went on trying to hope for several months. At +last they settled to leave the sea castle and go to the great town +sooner than usual, thinking some of the doctors there might be +cleverer than the country ones. But they had no better success. +Perhaps now you would like to know how Roderick behaved. When his +Mamma fell on his bed, at first he thought she was dead, and it was +with the greatest difficulty he could be made to believe any thing +else, and he cried, and cried, and was very sad till his Mamma was +well enough for him to be taken to her, and then do you know, poor +fellow, he was so much pleased to hear her speak, and be kissed by +her, that he still had no time to think about himself. Only he begged +to sit close to her, and have hold either of her hand or gown, and +make her say something to him every now and then. And so it was that +the fright and shock he had had about thinking she was dead, had made +so strong an impression on him that for several days the making +himself sure she was alive was a constant occupation and interest; and +so much did he think about it that it was considered best for his +little bed to be brought into the room where his Mamma slept, and put +near hers, so that he could talk to her when he awoke and got +frightened about her again. And thus passed many days in which every +body thought a great deal more about his eyes than he did himself. +Besides from the cheerful things they said to him he quite expected to +be better some day; and so weeks and months passed, and by the time +the hope of recovering his sight began to fade away, and nobody any +longer dared to say they expected it, he was beginning to get used to +his condition, and to find out amusements in new ways. Thus mercifully +does a kind Providence temper people's minds to the afflictions He +sends. They are often more dreadful to think of than to bear; for God +can give patience and cheerfulness and comfort to those that do not +grumble and repine. + +Madeline only exacted one promise from her husband, namely, that he +would not allow the doctors to use any very severe and violent +measures with her little boy, and this being settled, she struggled to +bear the trouble with resignation. After the first alternations of +hopes and fears were over, the Mother's mind took a new turn. "It is +our chief duty now," she said, "to make our child's life as happy as +it is possible to be with blindness, and therefore," added she to the +elder children, "we must try our best to teach him to do all the nice +things he can without seeing." That day she asked him to come and hold +worsted for her to wind, and he was quite delighted to find that with +some blunders, and once or twice slipping it off his fingers, he could +manage it very well. Then the children undertook to teach him how to +play at ball, and you cannot think how clever he became. At first +certainly they had always to pick up his ball for him when it fell, +and who was not glad to do it for poor brother Roderick? but by +degrees he could judge by the sound in what direction it had tumbled, +and he would often succeed in finding it before any one could come up +to it. Then there was laughing and scrambling without end. Reading +aloud to him was the easiest thing of all, but the little folks were +not satisfied with that alone. They made a sort of pet of the blind +brother, and were as proud of teaching him to do any thing fresh, as +you would be of teaching your dog to sit up and shake hands, or +perform any wonderful feat. It was their constant amusement; and by +degrees Roderick could play at all sorts of games with them, ay, and +run after them, and catch them too as well as you could do, for he +soon got to remember how the furniture in the great hall and all the +rooms stood, and he could run about without hurting himself in a +wonderful manner. And when it was evening and grew dark, he got on +better than they did, for, if they couldn't see, they were clumsy, +whereas he was learning to do without seeing at all. + +Such of my readers as have seen one of those excellent institutions +called "blind schools," will not wonder at any thing I have said, but +on the contrary, will know that I have not told half or a quarter of +what may be done to teach blind children a variety of employments. At +those schools you may see children making beautiful baskets of +various-coloured strips of osier arranged in patterns; and they never +forget on which side of them the different colours are laid, and this +work they can go on with quite fast, even while you stand talking to +them--and they learn to do many many other nice things also besides +basket making. + +Of late years too they have begun to read in books made on purpose for +them, with the letters raised above the rest of the paper, so that +they can _feel_ the shapes with their fingers. Is not this wonderful? +And they can be taught all these things much more easily than you +would imagine, for it is really true that when one of the senses has +been taken away, the others by having all the exercise thrown upon +them, become so sharp and acute, they do twice their usual work, if I +may so express it. This is a merciful dispensation of Providence, +which renders the loss of the one that is gone much less hard to bear. +And does it not teach us also, what a valuable thing constant practice +is? Neither you nor I can feel or hear half so clearly as blind people +can, who practise feeling and hearing on so many occasions where we +save ourselves the trouble, by using sight instead. + +To return to Roderick. You perhaps expected to hear that he fretted +and petted very much after he was first blind, but really it was not +so; and though occasionally he may have grumbled a little, it was only +when he was slightly peevish, as children will sometimes be, and I +believe he would have found something to grumble about then, even if +he had seen as well as you do. + +Besides, as I said before, the knowledge of his misfortune came upon +him by degrees; and after he had got used to it, he did not think much +about it. When the family moved to the great town, Roderick had as it +were to begin his blind lessons over again, for he had to learn to +remember all about the rooms and the furniture there; but with a kind +little brother or sister always at hand to help him he soon became +expert in the town house too, and could run up and down the long +flights of stairs with the nimblest of them. I believe the only +melancholy wish he ever uttered was heard on the first day he reached +the town house. When his Mamma came to see him in the nursery that +evening, she found him kneeling in a chair against one of the +windows--and on going up to him he threw his arms round her neck and +said, "Oh, Mamma, if I could but see the lamplighters!" Do not laugh, +dear readers, if I add that the tears trickled over his cheeks as he +spoke. His mother was much distressed, as she always was when she saw +him thinking of his affliction, but she sat down and said, "Never +mind, dear Roderick, I will tell you all they do to-night." And so she +did, and she made her account so droll, of how the lamplighter ran, +and how he seized his ladder in such a hurry, and all the whole +business, that by the time she got to the end, and said, "and now he +has come to the last lamp-post,--ah, he's up before I can tell you! +and pop! the lamp is lit, and down he runs, and off with his ladder to +the next street--and now the lamps are shining bright all round the +square, and I must go to dinner,"--Roderick was clapping his hands and +laughing as merrily as ever, and he got down from the chair quite +satisfied. Still for a few weeks he used always to get one of the +children to tell him of the lamps lighting, and this was the only sad +little fancy the poor child ever indulged in. + +The great town gave him various new amusements. His Parents used every +now and then to take him to some fine conservatory, where flowers are +shown even in winter, and where he could smell various new and rare +ones, and be told all about their beautiful colours. Then sometimes in +the parks and gardens there was a band playing, which was a great +delight. And besides that, they took him occasionally to morning +concerts for an hour or so; for though it is not usual to take +children to those places, he was deprived of so many enjoyments, they +let him have all they could: and especially musical ones, for it is a +very common thing for blind people to become very fond of music, and +Roderick was so, and among other employments learnt to play. I cannot, +however, I am sorry to say, add that the great doctors in the town +were able to do him any good, though they tried very much, and some of +them were so much charmed and interested by his cheerful manner and +sweet disposition, that they got quite fond of him, and would often +have him come and see them, and play with their children, who were +instructed to amuse him in every possible way, and as children are +naturally kindhearted, this was generally a pleasant task, and many of +them quite looked forward to the visits of the little blind boy. + +And so passed on a long and rather severe winter, and presently +Roderick's birthday came round, and there was great wondering as to +what Mamma could do to keep it. And when the time came it turned out +that she had got a band of musicians to come and play--and the +children danced, and Roderick among them, for some sister was always +ready to take him under her especial charge. And then some older +children acted a little play, which he could hear and understand, and +his Mamma described to him who came in and went out, and in this +manner he enjoyed it nearly as much as the others. + +Well, the spring-time came once more, and with it the season for +returning to the old Sea Castle, and the children went through their +usual round of impatience, and I cannot say that Roderick at all +forbore, for his Papa had promised to teach him to climb a ladder like +the lamplighter when he got back, and he was by that means to go up +one of the very old elm trees, and get on to a great branch there was, +which was curled into a sort of easy chair, and there he was to sit +and play at being judge, and hold trials, and I know not what. There +were besides so many schemes for his instruction and amusement, and +among other things, there was to be a band established in the +neighbouring village, which should come and play to them in the old +Sea Castle--that the child was more wild with hurry and impatience +than ever, and said more absurd things than the rest, for he used +every day to declare the _flies_ were becoming so numerous and +troublesome he was plagued out of his life by their walking over his +face and nose! But as none of his brothers and sisters ever saw the +flies, we are obliged to conclude the tickling he talked of was only +an effect of his excited imagination. + +At last, however, they went, and in compliment to Roderick's wishes it +was a week or two sooner than usual. The return to the Sea Castle home +rather oppressed poor Lady Madeline's spirits. The doctors in the +great town had failed--it was now clear that nothing could be done, +and in spite of all her sincere endeavours to be resigned, she could +not help feeling this coming back to the original scene of her +misfortune very much. One day--it was the anniversary of the day on +which her poor child became blind, the Lady Madeline was working in +her sitting-room that faced the Sea,--Mothers' memories are very acute +about anniversaries, and days, and even hours marked by particular +events. They may not talk much about them perhaps, but they recollect +times and circumstances connected with their children very keenly, and +therefore it is not surprizing that on this day the poor lady was +sitting in her room working, or trying to work, but thinking of +nothing in the world but of that day year and her blind child. It was +a beautiful evening, and the window was thrown wide open, and the +fresh but soft breeze from the Sea blew pleasantly on her face as she +sat at her work-table by the casement--but lovely as the scene outside +was, she seldom lifted up her eyes to look at it. She had been all her +life a great admirer of beautiful scenes, and of all the varieties the +changes of day and night produce--but now the sight of any thing +particularly lovely brought so painfully before her mind the fact that +her child's eyes were closed to all these things, that she often +forbore to look again, and so spared herself a repetition of the pang. +Madeline's eyes therefore remained upon her work, or on her knee when +she ceased working,--for ever and anon there was a burst of noise and +merriment about the old house, which startled her from her painful +thoughts. It was, however, the happy voices of her children, and again +and again she sank into her melancholy mood, and so continued till the +red hue of a very red sunset burst as it were suddenly into the room, +and lighted up the portrait of Roderick, which hung over the +mantel-piece. Involuntarily Madeline's eyes glanced from the lovely +countenance of her then bright-eyed boy, thus illuminated, to the sun +beyond the Sea. She was too late, however. He had just descended +behind the waves in a perfect flood of crimson glory, but as she +gazed, (for she could not withdraw-her eyes,) a haze--yes, the softest +and most etherial cloud-like haze, showing the outline of a beautiful +mountainous island, rose in the far off distance, just on the verge of +the horizon. It was the Fairy Island. It recalled to the mother's +remembrance the existence of her Fairy cousin once more. "Cruel, cruel +Eudora," she exclaimed, "you offered me friendship and assistance, and +in the hour of trouble and affliction you have never been near to help +or even to comfort me." + +And Madeline, in the bitterness of her heart, closed the window +hastily and angrily, and sat down. Soon, however, the noises she had +several times heard of the children playing, became louder and louder, +and the whole party burst at last into the room. "Mamma, Mamma," they +cried, scarcely able to speak, "guess where Roderick has been." "I +cannot." "Oh, but do, dear Mamma!" cried a little thing with fairy +curls, "do guess." "I cannot." "I'll tell Mamma," cried a stout sturdy +fellow, a little older; "Mamma! he's been up the winding staircase of +one turret, and all along the leads and down the winding staircase of +the other turret, and he has done it three times, and he has seen to +do it better than I can." + +Here there was a burst of laughter and a violent clapping of hands at +the little fellow's _Irish_ account. + +"But why don't you do it as well?" asked an elder girl, "you that are +going to be a soldier too!" + +"Yes; I know I'm going to be a soldier; and I'll try and do it as well +as Roderick;" and off ran the eager child, followed by the rest of the +party, all but Roderick. He lingered behind, and edging his way easily +and quietly as usual to his Mother, having asked her where she was, he +sat down on a footstool at her feet. The slight answer she had +occasion to make, revealed by its tone, to the now acute blind child, +that his Mother's mood was serious, and therefore he did not talk and +laugh of what he had accomplished, as he otherwise might have done. +There was a silence of some minutes: at last, "Mamma," said Roderick +gravely, "a light has broken in upon me to-day." + +Lady Madeline started, and with difficulty suppressed a groan. +Roderick felt the start: "Oh Mamma, Mamma," cried he more cheerfully, +"you must not do that! I wasn't thinking about earthly light in the +least, but of a light which I know, when you come to hear of it, you +will say is a great deal better." + +"Indeed! dear Roderick," said Lady Madeline, trying to seem +interested. + +"Yes _indeed_. Mamma. Why, do _you_ remember, (_I_ had never thought +about it till it came into my head to-day;) but do _you_ remember the +silly time when I wouldn't fetch you any thing from the drawing room, +unless there were candles in the room?" + +"I recollect something about it," said his Mother. + +"Oh, I'm so glad you do; because now you can laugh with me over the +nonsense I used to talk and feel then: I remember I used to tell you I +saw _Bears_ when I shut my eyes, and wouldn't go by the pipes in the +passage, and more such foolish stuff! How odd it seems that I should +never have thought about this before, but I never did, and it never +came into my head distinctly till to-day." And here Roderick fell into +a kind of dream for a few minutes, but he soon began again. "You know +what I have done to-day, Mamma. They told you quite right; but they +forgot to tell you I have been practising walking across the leads for +two or three days, that I might be able to go the great round to-day +on purpose to tell you of it; because I thought you would be so much +pleased to know I could go alone all over the house on the day year +when I was first blind. So now, Mamma, if ever, when I am grown up to +be a man, an enemy comes and attacks the old Sea Castle, I shall be +able to run about and give the alarm, for you know I could hear them, +if I could do nothing else." + +There was another pause, for Madeline could not speak: the often +restrained tears for her son's misfortune had this day burst forth, +and could not be kept back; but Roderick did not know, and went on. + +"Certainly those old foolish fears were very wrong, Mamma. And I can't +think how it was, for you used to remind me always that God could take +care of us by night as well as by day, in darkness as well as in +light; and still somehow, though I knew it was true, I didn't believe +it,--at least, not so as not to be afraid in the dark: how very wrong +it was! Still I had quite forgotten all about it till this evening. +But, as I was going the last of the three rounds, I sat down on the +leads for a few minutes to enjoy the air. The sun was just setting, I +am sure, for it felt so fresh and cool; and it was, as I sat there, +that it came into my head how strange it was that, since the day I was +first blind, I had never thought any more about being afraid in the +dark! or by night any more than by day! Indeed it has been quite a +play to me ever since to do different things, and find my way about in +all the rooms and all over the house, without seeing; and I have only +known night from day by getting up and going to bed. So that you see, +Mamma, being always in the dark, has quite cured me of being afraid of +it: and is not this a very good thing indeed?" + +"Very," murmured Madeline. + +"I knew you would say so! But that isn't all I have got to say. A +great deal more than that came into my head when I was out upon the +leads." + +And Roderick nestled closer to his Mother, and laid his arms across +her lap. + +"Something to comfort you still more, Mamma." + +She could not speak. + +"Mamma, you are crying! I feel your tears on my hand. Do not cry about +me." + +"Go on, dear Roderick." + +"Don't you think," continued the child, "that people who wont listen +to what is told them, and wont be cured of being foolish and wicked, +are very like the old Jews you told us about yesterday, who had God +among them, and Moses teaching them what God wished them to do, and +still were as disobedient as ever?" + +"It is true, Roderick, we are all apt to resemble the Jews in their +journey through the wilderness." + +"Yes, Mamma; and particularly people who can't trust in God, though +they know He is everywhere. The Jews knew He was in the cloud and the +pillar, and still were always afraid He couldn't take care of them. +And what came into my head was, that I used to be as bad as those old +Jews once; knowing that God was present everywhere to take care of me, +and still not _feeling_ it so as really to believe it, and not be +afraid. But the blindness has quite cured me, and is it not very +likely that it came on purpose to do so, and to make me trust in God; +for I have done so more and more, dear Mamma, as I groped about this +year, for I have all along hoped He would take care of me, and keep me +from falling; and, therefore, I think the blindness has done me a +great deal of good, and I hope I shall never be like the naughty old +Jews again! This is what I had to say; and I hope you will be as glad +as I am." + +"I will try, my darling," cried poor Madeline. + +The tenderest love, the bitterest grief, mixed with earnest struggles +for resignation to the will of Heaven, contended in the Mother's +bosom, as she clasped her innocent child to her heart. He was almost +frightened. She lifted him on to her knees, and buried her face on his +shoulder. He put his young arms round her neck, and almost wondered +why she sobbed so bitterly; but he felt he must not speak. + +There was a painful pause. Suddenly, however, a strange faint light +began to creep into the room, which had hitherto been gradually +darkening in the twilight. It was a mysterious gleam, like nothing +that is ever seen. It increased in strength and brilliancy, till at +length the whole place became illuminated. + +Roderick's head was against his Mother's breast; and, besides, _he_ +could not see. + +She, however, suddenly started up; the light had become so powerful, +it had forced her from her grief. She sprung up in terror, and a faint +shriek burst from her lips. + +"Mamma, what is the matter?" cried Roderick, holding her fast. + +"Oh, the light--the light, my child! there is such a light!" answered +Madeline. + +"Mother, you are not afraid of _Light_!" exclaimed the bewildered +Roderick. + +"Oh, but _this_ light! it is like no other;--it is awful!" + +"Mother,--it is not the light of _Fire_, is it," cried poor Roderick, +now at last turning pale. "But even if it is, remember that I can help +you _now_; I can go everywhere,--all over, and fear nothing. I can go +and fetch my brothers and sisters, one by one! Oh, send me; send me, +Mamma! I shall be less afraid than any of you, for I cannot see the +horrid light that frightens you!" + +As he finished, a gentle, prolonged "Hush!" resounded through the +room; like the soothing, quieting sound of lullaby to an infant. And +in the midst of the beaming light, the form of the long-forgotten +Fairy Eudora appeared before the eyes of the astonished Madeline. + +"The Sea Castle is not on Fire, you dear, brave child," cried the +Fairy; "and your Mother has no cause for fear. I am a friend." + +"Cousin!" cried the bewildered Madeline, "why are you here?" and a +terrible suspicion flashed through her mind: and she pointed to her +boy, and added, trembling with agony-- + +"Is that _your_ doing?" + +"What if I say it _is_, Cousin Madeline. There is a long story about +that, but we shall have time for it hereafter.--Dear little Cousin +Roderick," pursued the Fairy, seating herself, and drawing Roderick to +her. "You have been a good boy, and got _light out of darkness_. Mind +you hold it fast. You did not use the light well, though, when you had +it, Cousin Roderick." + +"I know I didn't," was his answer. + +"If you could live the light time over again, you would be wiser, +Roderick." + +"I hope I should indeed," he murmured fervently; "but it is not likely +I shall ever see the light again." + +"Little boys shouldn't say things are not likely, when they don't know +any thing about them," cried the Fairy gaily, to cheer them up. + +"I dare say, if I were to ask you, you would tell me it was a bit of +sand that got into your eyes last year, that made you blind; but it +was no such thing, clever Master Roderick. Your naughty Cousin Eudora +had something to do with that; but, luckily, she can put her own work +straight again. Cousin Madeline, what do you think of my pretty +light?" + +"Eudora, it is dreadful." + +"Then shut your eyes, poor thing, we don't want to blind you. But +Roderick and I have not done talking yet. Come, little boy, lift up +your face towards me, and open those pretty eyes wide, that I may see +if I can't do them some good. Why, they are as blue as the water round +our island! There, now, they are looking at my face. Mind you tell me +if you think me pretty." + +"Eudora!" exclaimed Madeline. + +"Sit down, sit down, and shut your eyes, good woman. Now, Roderick, +wont even my Fairy light break through your darkness?" + +"I think it will," sighed Roderick; "there is a white light all round +me, as if I had gone up into a bright white cloud. You frighten me, +Fairy! Take away the light, and put me back into the darkness again." + +"Not so, my pretty Roderick; but I will soften it a little;" and she +waved her wand, and the brilliancy subsided. + +"Fairy, I see you now," screamed Roderick, springing up, for he was +sitting at her feet; "and oh, how beautiful you are!" + +"Roderick!" cried a voice from behind him. He turned; and Mother and +Son were locked in each other's arms. + +Surely I need say no more about this? though perhaps nobody but a +Mother can quite know how happy and thankful Lady Madeline was. And as +to Roderick, he was delighted too! Not but what he had been very happy +and contented before; but sight was a new pleasure to him now; a sort +of treat, like a birthday or Christmas present, which puts every one +into high spirits. It was so charming to him, poor fellow, (for he was +very affectionate), to actually _see_ his Mamma again; and this put +something else into his head, and off he ran out of the room. + +"Eudora," Madeline began, "how am I to thank you! Can you ever forgive +my old unkindness?" + +"Cousin Madeline," replied the Fairy, "I bear no malice to any one, +least of all to you, who come of a race I love, and of a family I +consider my own. No, no, good soul. I have never borne you ill-will, +though my kindness has been severe. Look! I know you love me _now_. +Love me always, Cousin Madeline, and let me ramble undisturbed about +your earthly home; but, mind! no more unkind wishes, however slight. +They come like evil winds to our Fairy island. You kept me away long +enough by those; and when you wished me with you, to get your child +out of his folly, I was very angry, and thought I wouldn't come; but +your, and your husband's wish was so strong and earnest, it haunted me +day and night; and I had no comfort till I had resolved to help you. +And here, Madeline, you have something to forgive _me_. My remedy has +been a harsh, a very harsh one for so slight a fault; but at first I +intended it to last only a few days. Afterwards, however, seeing how +it was acting upon him, and upon you all, for good, I let it work its +full effect: and I think it has been greatly blessed! Now, farewell! +Time is flying, and I must begone." + +And thus the Fairy and Madeline walked to the window, which the latter +reopened, and there was the full moon sailing in the cloudless sky, +and lighting up the lovely, and, this evening, calm and unruffled sea. + +The cousins embraced; and in a few minutes the Fairy had disappeared +in the distance. Madeline lingered awhile at the casement, thinking +tenderly of the gentle-hearted Fairy, and watching the horizon. At +last the outline of the Fairy's home appeared clear and bright against +the dark blue heaven, and then subsided gently by degrees. And +Madeline closed the window, grateful and happy, and went after her +boy. But she had not far to go; for he was coming along the passages +with all his brothers and sisters, wild with delight. And oh, how +Roderick chattered and talked about all their faces, and how he loved +to see the fat cheeks of one near his own age, and how some had grown, +and their noses improved, and what beautiful curls another had! In +short, if he had gone on long they would all have got quite conceited +and fancy, and fancied themselves a set of downright beauties. But you +see it was _love_ that made poor Roderick admire them all so much; +and, above all, he was charmed when they smiled. Ah, how little do +brothers and sisters know how tender their recollections of each +others' faces would become, were a separation to take place among +them! Then all the sweet smiles and pretty looks would be recalled, +that in every day life are seen with such indifference. "Little +children, love one another," during the happy days when you live +together in health and comfort. + +Can you guess, dear readers, what a joyous evening it was, that day at +the Sea Castle Home? How the poor Father rejoiced, and how the old +Hall was lighted up for the Servants, to share in the joy by a merry +dance; and how all the children danced too; and how a barrel of good +ale was tapped, for every one to drink to the health and happiness of +Master Roderick, and all the family. But you never _can_ guess how +Roderick teased all his brothers and sisters that evening, by +constantly kissing them. In the midst of a country dance he would run +right across to the ladies, when he ought to be standing still and +polite, and kiss two or three of his sisters as they were waiting to +dance in their turn, and tell them how nice they looked! Or he would +actually run right away from his place, to his Papa and Mamma;--jump +on their knees, and hug them very hard, and then run back again, +perhaps, into the middle of the dance, and put every thing into +confusion. But the happiest scene of all was, when the Father and +Mother thanked God that night for the blessing that had returned to +their little boy. + +And do not ask me, I beg, if he ever was afraid of being in the dark +again. No, dear Readers, his temporary misfortune had taught him the +best of all lessons;--A LIVING FAITH AND TRUST IN THE PROTECTING +OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD. + + + + +THE LOVE OF GOD. + +PREAMBLE (FROM LIFE.) + +_Van Artevelde_. These are but words. +_Elena_. My lord, they're full of meaning! + _Van Artevelde_. + + +Grace had been said, and Mamma was busy carving for the large party of +youngsters who sat around the comfortable dinner-table, when a little +voice from among them called out, + +"Mamma, do you think a giant could see a carraway seed?" + +Now there was no sweet loaf on the table, nor even on the +sideboard--neither had there been any plum cake in the house for some +time--nor were there any carraway seeds in the biscuits just then. +--In short, there was nothing which could be supposed to have +suggested the idea of carraway seeds to the little boy who made the +enquiry. Still he did make it, and though he went on quietly with his +dinner, he expected to receive an answer. + +Had the good Lady at the head of the table not been the mother of a +large family, she might possibly have dropt the carving knife and +fork, in sheer astonishment at the unaccountableness of the question, +but as it was, she had heard so many other odd ones before, that she +did not by outward sign demonstrate the amusement she felt at this, +but simply said,--"_Perhaps he could_"--for she knew that it was out +of her power to speak positively as to whether a Giant could see a +carraway seed or not. + +Now dear little readers, what do _you_ think about this very important +affair? Do you think a Giant could see a carraway seed or not?--"Oh +yes," you all cry,--"_of course he could!_" + +Nay, my dears, there is no "of course" at all in the matter! Can any +of you, for example, see the creatures that float about and fight in a +drop of water from the Serpentine River? No, certainly not! except +through a microscope. Well, but _why_ not?--you do not know. That I +can easily believe! But then you must never again say that "_of +course_" a Giant could see a carraway seed. + +It is entirely a question of _relative proportion_: so now you feel +quite small, and admit your total ignorance, I hope. Yes! it all +depends upon whether the giant is as much bigger than the carraway +seed, as you are bigger than the curious little insects that float +about and fight in the drop of water from the Serpentine river--for if +he is, we may conclude from analogy that a giant could _not_ see a +carraway seed except through a microscope. You see it is a sort of +rule of three sum, but as I cannot work it out, I tell you honestly +that neither do I know whether a giant could see so small an object or +not, and I advise you all to be as modest as I am myself, and never +speak positively on so difficult a point. + +But enough of this! Turn we now to another point, about which I _can_ +speak positively--namely, that in _one_ sense the world is full of +Giants who cannot see Carraway seeds. + +"It must be in the sense of _Non_sense I should think then!" observes +somewhat scornfully the young lady who is reading this story +aloud--"as if we could believe in there being giants now!" + +Very wittily remarked! my dear young lady, for your age.--I take you +to be about seventeen, and I see by the compression of your pretty +mouth that you consider yourself quite a judge and an authority. Only +take care you don't grow up into one of those Giants yourself! There +is something very suspicious to me in the glance of your eye. +"Ridiculous!" murmurs the fair damsel in question. + +Not at all so: only you travel too fast; by which I mean you speak too +hastily. You learn Italian, I dare say? Oh yes, of course, for you +sing. Well then, _Ombra adorata_ that is "beloved shadow;" _aspetta_ +that is, "wait"--"wait, my beloved shadow" (of a charming young lady), +give me breathing time, and I will explain myself. As you are an +Italian student, I presume you have heard of the great Italian poet +Dante. Now Dante in his _Convito_ or "Banquet" tells his readers that +writings may be understood, and therefore ought to be explained in +four different senses or meanings. There is first the literal sense; +secondly, the allegorical; thirdly, the moral; and fourthly, the +_anagorical_. Now I know you can't explain this last word to me, for I +would wager a large sum that you never tasted of Dante's Banquet--no, +not so much as the smallest crumb from it; and therefore how _should_ +you know what he means by the anagorical sense? Give me leave to have +the honour of enlightening you, then. The anagorical is what the +dictionaries call the _anagogical_ sense. A sense beyond this world; a +sense above the senses; a spiritual sense making common things divine. +It is hard to be arrived at and difficult of comprehension. Now in the +matter of the nice little boy's question about the Giant and the +carraway seed, (for none but a nice little boy could have excogitated +any thing so comical), I have set my heart upon talking to you about +it in the four above mentioned senses. And having already descanted on +the _literal_ sense, I had just made an assertion which appertained to +the _allegorical_ sense, when you so inopportunely interrupted me, My +Ombra Adorata, with your sharp observation about _non_sense: so now we +will go on in peace and quietness, if you please. + +In an allegorical sense the world is full of giants who cannot see +carraway seeds. + +For what are Giants but great men and great women? and the world +abounds with people who consider themselves as belonging to that +class. And a great many of them--Giants of Cleverness, Giants of +Riches, Giants of Rank--Giants of I know not how many things besides, +who are walking about the world every day, very often feel themselves +to be quite raised above the point of attending to trifles; so that +you see I may (in an allegorical sense) say strictly of them that they +cannot see carraway seeds. Oh my dears, however elevated you may be, +or may become; however great or rich or learned, beware, I pray you, +of being a Giant who cannot see a carraway seed! + +For, as my explanation of the _moral_ sense now goes on to show you; +it is so far from being, as these Giants suppose, a proof of their +_superiority_ that they cannot see or notice things they consider +beneath them--that it is, in fact, an evidence of some imperfection or +defect in either their moral or intellectual structure. Just as it is +a proof of our eyes being imperfect, that we cannot see the little +water insects as well as a great big elephant. I am sure you will +allow there is nothing _to boast of_ in this, and so if the +contemplation of great things makes you incapable of attending to +small ones, do remember that _'tis nothing to boast about or be proud +of_. And take very great care you make no mistakes as to what is great +and what is insignificant. With which warning I close my remarks on +the moral lesson, and proceed to that _anagogical_ or spiritual +meaning, which will I hope be my justification for dwelling so long on +the subject, and my best introduction to a story of a serious though +not of a melancholy character. But first, my dear little readers, let +me call upon you in the words which you hear in church: + + "Lift up your hearts!" + +and I would have you answer, + + "We lift them up unto the Lord." + +For it is indeed of Him--the Lord of all Lords, that I now wish to +speak to you. He made the Sun and Stars and the great mountains of our +earth; but He made also the smallest insects that crowd the air and +water, and which are invisible to our imperfect eyes. + +He rules the nations by His word, and "binds kings in chains, and +nobles with links of iron," as the psalm expresses it; but also not a +sparrow falls to the ground without His knowledge and consent. Angels +and Archangels worship around His throne, but His ears are equally +open to the prayer of the youngest child who lifts up its little heart +to Him! + +The universe is at His feet, but the smallest events of our lives are +under His especial superintendence and care. Yes! nothing, however +small and insignificant, that is connected with the present or future +welfare of the smallest and most insignificant of his creatures, is +_beneath the notice of God_! + +Ah! here is indeed a lesson for the fancied Giants of the world!--For, +in this picture of Almighty greatness combined with infinite +condescension, we see that real Perfection requires no Pride to +elevate it. + +But I said this anagogical sense was hard to be attained to and +difficult of comprehension. + +And is it not so? Is it not very difficult to believe thoroughly that +the great God whom we hear about, really and truly cares how we behave +and what we do--really and truly listens to our prayers--really and +truly takes as much interest in us as our earthly Fathers and Mothers +do? + +Ah, I am sure it must be very difficult, because so few people do it, +although we should all be both better and happier if we did. We should +say our prayers so much more earnestly, try to keep out of sin and +naughtiness so much more heartily, and, above all, always be contented +with whatever happened; for who could be anxious, and discontented +about their condition or circumstances, if they _quite_ believed that +every thing that happened to them was watched over and arranged for +their good, by the wisest, kindest, and most powerful of Beings? If +you, my dear children, who have been reading the fairy tales in this +book, were to be told that a most wise, most kind, and most powerful +Fairy had suddenly taken you for life under her particular care, and +that she would never lose sight of you by night or by day, how +delighted you would be! + +Yet just so are you under the particular care and watchful concern of +Almighty God! + +But now, say you, you begin to feel the difficulty of believing it +possible that the great God of the Universe takes this tender interest +in such insignificant and sinful creatures as men and women. + +Consider, then, that we are told that "God is Love;" and if He loves +us, there is no difficulty in believing that He feels all this +interest in us. Do not judge Him by earthly Kings and Potentates. +These are Giants who cannot see carraway seeds. We do not blame them, +for it is impossible they should be interested for every body. But +very very different is both the power and the feeling of the King of +Kings! + +Still we have not got over the difficulty yet, for of all the +wonderful truths we are commanded to believe, no one is so wonderful +and so incomprehensible as _the Love of God_ to the sinful human race. + +And yet it is a truth, and of all truths the most important and most +comfortable; and therefore it is much to be desired that we should +thoroughly believe it: and _I think_ I can make you understand that it +is possible, _by something which you feel in your own hearts_. I think +God has placed even in our own hearts a witness of the possibility of +this great Truth. + +My idea is this. We _know_ that God has been merciful to us--(His very +creation of man was an act of mercy), and _therefore_ we know that He +loves us. _He loves us because He has been merciful to us_. If you +cannot see why this should be, I refer you to the following story, and +advise you to _try for yourselves_. Only be kind to any living +creature, whether a human being, or an irrational animal, and see if +you can keep your heart from _loving_ it! Certainly it does not become +us to try to search out the unsearchable mind of God, but I think it +is permitted us to hope, that the remarkable fast of _Kindness +engendering Love_, which we experience in our own hearts, is intended +to lead us upwards as by a holy guiding thread, to some comprehension +of the Love of that God, who in Christ Jesus actually _gave Himself +for us_. + + +THE TALE. + +Lift up the curtain! + +In a baronial hall, not of the size and grandeur of that at Warwick +Castle, which those who have never seen should try to see before they +die: but still in a hall as antique and interesting in style, fits a +young man reading. + +It is evening, though the sun has not yet set, but it is evening, and +the young man is sitting at a small oak table in a recess in one of +the ancient windows, and before him lies open a book, and on the book, +which he touches not with his hands, but on which his eyes, blinded by +tears, are fixed, there lies a faded primrose. + +The book is the Bible, and the faded primrose lies on that verse in +the Psalm, "Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for his +goodness, and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of +men!" and some hand had placed a slight pencil mark before these +words. + +This scene brings before you a story of distress, and yet this young +man is the possessor of a large estate;--the baronial hall and house +are his own, and he is young and amiable, and till within the last few +months had led a life of almost uninterrupted comfort and prosperity +from his cradle upwards. Two years ago he became the betrothed lover +of a young lady no less interesting than himself, and as no obstacle +prevented their union, both had for these two years looked forward to +it, as the one certain and sure event of their lives. The young man's +parents had died when he was very young; but, in compliance with the +wishes of his Guardians, he deferred his marriage till he should have +come of age. + +Meanwhile, as the time of probation drew near its close, it had been +his delight to sit up the old place in such a manner as should become +his bride, and the alterations had, in many cases, been made under her +eye and according to her wishes, for she was already by anticipation, +and in the heart of its owner, the mistress of the place. + +At last the wedding day was fixed; but a few weeks before the time +came, one of those sad diseases which steal mysteriously into the +vitals of the young and wear away life long before its natural period, +fell upon her:--and _now_, nothing remained to him, who had hoped to +have her as his companion through life, but the Bible she had used +during her sickness, and which was found on the table by her couch +after her death, open and marked at the very place I have told you +about; together with the faded primrose which he had gathered for her +on the last morning of her life. + +This was a very sad event for those who were left behind to lament the +loss of one whom they had loved so dearly. The Mother indeed, who had +known other trials of life, bent her head submissively to this one, +and cherishing sweet recollections of her daughter's piety and +goodness, looked forward to a time of reunion in a happier world. But +the poor young man, whose name was Theodore, never having known a care +or a sorrow before, was stupefied and overpowered by this sudden +destruction of all his hopes and happiness. Seeing, however, that +_her_ last thought had been the mercy and goodness of God, he tried to +make it _his_ thought too; and he would sit for hours looking at the +verse which she had marked in the Bible. + +But unfortunately he made no effort besides, and having no kind +relatives or friends near him to rouse him from his melancholy stupor +to some of the active duties of life, he spent many many weeks in +listless sorrow, not caring much what became either of himself, his +dependents, or his property. And though he had become, by degrees, so +far resigned as to believe that every thing was for the best--even +_her_ death--he now took up a strange and dismal fancy, that though +the Almighty was a God of goodness and justice, it was quite +impossible that He should _love_ any beings so sinful and ungrateful +as the human race. This vain distinction of a morbid imagination was +the result of that solitude, inactivity, and the constantly dwelling +upon himself and his own troubles, to which he had unfortunately given +himself up, and which had brought his mind into such an unhealthy +state, that he could neither reason nor think properly. + +In this condition of feeling, having one day wandered to a +considerable distance from home, he sat down on the greensward to +rest; when lo! after he had remained there for some little time +musing, as usual, he saw approaching him two shining creatures, who +looked like spirits or angels, and as they came up to him they looked +at him very earnestly, and one said to the other, + +"He is doubting the goodness of God!?" + +Then Theodore shuddered, and said, "I am not! once perhaps I did, but +not now: all things happen for the best." Yet the Spirit repeated, "He +is doubting the goodness of God!" Theodore shuddered again, and cried +out "I am _not!_" for he felt as if it was a heavy accusation. +Whereupon the Spirit continued, "To disbelieve the love of God is to +doubt His goodness." + +"No, no," exclaimed Theodore eagerly, "it is not! I do not doubt His +goodness--His compassion even for the wretched creatures whom He +formed out of dust. But I--thoughtless in my youth; self-confident in +prosperity; ungrateful and rebellious under affliction; how can such a +wretch as _I_ have been, believe in the _love_ of God to me! God is +good and just, but do not talk to me of His Love to man, as if it were +possible He could feel for them the tenderness of kind affection! Who +are you?" + +Without noticing this question, the Spirit repeated, in emphatic +tones, "To disbelieve the Love of God is to doubt His goodness, and +deny the perfection of His nature!" + +"I tell you, No!" shouted Theodore, wildly: "It is _because_ of His +goodness and _because_ of the perfection of His nature, that I +disbelieve the possibility of His Love to the wretched race of man!" + +"Judge by your own heart!" exclaimed the Spirit who had not yet +spoken. + +But when Theodore raised his eyes to look upon her, both had +disappeared. He felt grieved, he knew not why. "_My own heart!_" he +murmured; "ah! my own heart has been the witness against me. It has +taught me the dreadful truth." + +"Truth never yet was found of him who leads a life of selfish misery," +whispered a soft voice receding into the distance; "Theodore! Judge by +your own heart. Even it may teach you better things!" + +Theodore started up and looked hastily around. He felt as if he could +have followed that soft receding voice into eternity. But there was no +one near. That sound, however, had been like an echo from hopes buried +in the grave; and the poor youth sank to the ground on his knees, and, +hiding his face in his hands, wept bitterly. Suddenly one thought took +possession of him out of what had been said. And it was one (as usual) +of self-reproach. The Spirit had reproached him with leading a life of +selfish misery! Vividly impressed by this idea, he started off +hurriedly for his home, crying aloud--"Oh, the wasted time; the lost +hours; the precious moments that might have been employed in +usefulness!" And thus he pursued his way till he had left the outer +country behind him, and had entered the gates that bounded his +extensive domain when, all at once, his course was stopped by +something he struck against as he was walking quickly along. + +Looking down, he perceived that a sickly, hungry-looking child was +stretched across the road asleep, and that by its side sat a woman, +the picture of misery and want. Theodore felt a strong sensation of +compassion seize him as he gazed at the child, and he stooped and +lifted it from the ground. + +The woman observed Theodore's eye, and said, "Ay, without help we +shall neither of us be here long!" + +"I will help you," said Theodore, "tell me what I can do!" + +"What can you or any one do, for a dying woman and a half-starved +child?" groaned the poor creature. "Food, food! medicine and help!" +These words burst from her in broken accents--I am dying!" + +"Are you so _very_ ill?" asked Theodore, turning deadly pale; and he +murmured to himself--"Death again! I dare not see it again so soon! +Here!" continued he, thrusting gold into her hand, "now you see that I +will help you! Look, I will send you food, and you shall be brought +to the house: but let me take the child, he cannot do you good, and I +will see to him." "He must not see her die;" was Theodore's inward +thought. + +"Ay, take him," muttered the woman gloomily, "and send me cordials. No +one wants to go even an hour before their time!" + +Theodore obeyed almost mechanically, and lifting up the little boy, he +made a shift to carry him to the house. On arriving there, he called +for his housekeeper and desired her to take food and wine to the woman +he had left, and to bring her to the house. Then he sent another +servant for a doctor, and afterwards undertook himself the care of the +forlorn child. He placed him on a sofa in his study and sat down by +him. + +"Are you ill?" was his first question. + +"I don't know," was the answer. + +"Are you hungry?" + +"Very!" + +Here Theodore got up and went to the next room, where preparations +were being made for dinner, and fetched bread and gave it to the boy, +who ate it greedily, without once lifting up his eyes. "Poor child," +thought Theodore, "life has no _mental_ troubles for him!" + +"Are you sorry your mother is so ill?" was his next inquiry. + +"She's not my mother," muttered the boy. + +Theodore started--"What do you mean? Are you not that woman's +_child_?" + +"No! She told me I wasn't." + +"Who are you, then?" + +"I don't know. She told me she had stolen me to beg for her." + +"And do you remember nothing about it?" + +"No, its too long ago." + +Theodore now fetched him more bread, but whilst he was eating it he no +longer sat by him, but walked up and down the room. Every now and then +as he stopped and looked at the thin, sickly looking object he had +brought into the house, he was overtaken by a strong feeling of pity +for his miserable condition. + +This child was as desolate as himself, only in another way. Stolen +from his parents to beg for the strange woman, he had lived with her +so long that he had forgotten his real home altogether! Bound by no +ties of kindred and comfort to this world. "He is more desolate than I +am myself!" repeated Theodore, again and again. + +After a time he approached the boy again. + +"The woman will say you are her child, and make you go back and beg +for her if she gets better, will she not?" + +"She doesn't want me now." + +"How so?" + +"She says, I'm too hungry, and eat all the bread away from her, and +don't get enough for us both." + +A curious expression passed across Theodore's face as he turned away +and sat down in his chair once more. It looked like a gleam of +satisfaction. The boy, meanwhile, sat quite still, looking round the +room. He had a grave and somewhat interesting face, but that the dark +eyes looked a little too keen and restless to be quite pleasant. +Still, when he smiled, and he had smiled brightly when he first saw +the bread, his countenance improved; and there was, besides, something +about his open forehead which redeemed the covert expression of his +eye. He was about seven years old, and precocious in quickness of a +particular kind, as is very often the case with vagrant children. + +Theodore's reverie was broken at last by the arrival of his good old +housekeeper, who came in, flurried and indignant, to inform him that +the woman she had been in search of was no where to be found. She had +been, "she was sure," up and down all the carriage roads, and made +enquiries at all the lodges, and finally discovered that a beggar +woman had passed out at one of them upwards of an hour before, very +hurriedly, and indeed almost at a running pace. + +Theodore glanced at the child, but his countenance never changed. Only +he sat eying the housekeeper as she spoke, apparently indifferent to +the result. The housekeeper now began to ejaculate in broken +sentences, "The base creature! To think that you should have taken all +this trouble, Sir! and had the child actually into the house! +and--gracious me," added she in a half whisper, "hadn't I better call +the butler, Sir; hadn't he" (nodding significantly towards the child) +"better be taken to the workhouse at once, Sir?" + +"I think not," answered Theodore slowly--"not yet, I think. The truth +is, I find he's not her own child, but has been stolen; and--and--in +fact, we can send him to the workhouse to-morrow. Perhaps, after all, +the woman may come here for him. But, at any rate, there is time +enough. You see this is an odd affair; and, as the boy is not _hers_, +we don't know who he may not turn out to be some day." And, as +Theodore thus concluded his sentence, he got up and looked at the old +housekeeper with a smile--a melancholy one it is true, but still it +was a smile--the first that had been seen on his face since his +terrible bereavement. + +And the faithful servant was so much pleased that she forgot every +thing else in a desire to keep up the interest that had lured her +young master so unaccountably from his misery. + +"Well, to be sure, Sir, what you say's quite right, and we can make +the poor thing comfortable for to-night, and then you can do as you +please to-morrow. Shall I take him with me, Sir, and make him clean, +while you dine? I can borrow some tidy clothes from the bailiff's +wife, I dare say; and after he's made respectable, you can see him +again, Sir, if you think proper." + +This proposition was more grateful to Theodore's mind than he cared to +acknowledge to himself. Indeed he had no clear ideas of his feelings +about the little accident that had interrupted the dismal course of +his life; and he studiously avoided questioning himself too closely. +Only there came across him, every now and then, a sensation that there +was some special providence about it all, and that there was some +mysterious connection between this adventure and the words of the +apparitions who had spoken to him in the morning. + +But "let be, let us see what will happen," was the ruling feeling, and +as he felt less miserable than usual, he did not wish to disturb the +pleasing dream by enquiries, why? + +After his solitary dinner, as he was seated alone in his arm chair, he +was relapsing fast into his usual unhappy state of mind, for this was +at all times the most trying part of the day to him, when a knock at +the door aroused him. + +Ah, it was the good old housekeeper again! She who, with the acute +instinct of sorrow-soothing which women so eminently possess, had +purposely come at this the young master's "dark hour," to try if it +could be kept back by the charm she had seen working a short time +before. "The little fellow is quite fit to come in now, Sir, if you'd +wish to see him before he's put to bed." And her efforts were rewarded +by seeing a look of interest light up poor Theodore's eye. The boy was +now ushered in, and his improved appearance and cleanliness were very +striking. Theodore took hold of his hand--"There, you need not be +afraid; you may sit down upon that chair. Are you comfortable?" "Yes." +"Have you had plenty to eat?" "Yes, plenty." And the child laughed a +little. + +"I hope you are a good boy." + +He looked stupid. "Can you say your prayers?" + +"What's that?" + +"Ah! I was afraid not. You never heard about God?" "Yes; but the woman +used to keep that to herself." "Keep what?" + +"Why," _for God's sake_, when she begged. She didn't let me say it, but +she always said it herself; and then, when people wouldn't give us any +thing, she used to say--" + +"No, no! I will not hear about that;" interrupted Theodore, "but I +hope some day you will learn about God." + +"In the begging? must I say it in the begging next time?" + +"No, I don't mean that; not in begging bread of people in the road, +but in praying." + +"What's that?" "Begging." "Then I am to beg?" "No, not on the road, +but of a great good Being, who will never refuse what you ask." + +"Is that _you_?" + +"No, my poor boy; not me, but the great Being, called God, who lives +in the sky. You must beg all you want of Him." + +"I don't know Him." + +"No; but you will learn to know Him when you have listened to me and +prayed to Him." + +"I don't know praying; I know begging." + +"Well, then, when you have begged Him--" + +"What am I to say?" + +"First, you must say, 'Our Father--'" + +"Father's dead," interrupted the boy; + +"Ah, but I do not mean _that_ father," answered Theodore; "and how do +you know even that _that_ father is dead?" + +"The woman said so. One day she told me Father and Mother were both +dead, and there was nobody left to love me, so I must mind her." + +"The woman was wrong," cried Theodore compassionately. "You have +another Father, who never dies, and who loves you always!--" + +A knock at the door interrupted Theodore's _lesson on the Love of +God_. + +"It's about time the poor thing was put to bed," suggested the +housekeeper, looking in. "I dare say he's tired." + +"I dare say he is," said Theodore mechanically. "Good night, little +boy. What used they to call you?" + +"Reuben." + +"Good night, little Reuben." And he was taken away. + +_You have another Father who never dies and who loves you always_! +founded like an echo through the room. Theodore arose and looked +around, but there was no one there. He resumed his feat, and wondered +how he had got involved in teaching the beggar boy religion. He +lamented his awkwardness and unfitness for the talk; but still he +thought he had done right. As to his last assertion, how else could he +make the child comprehend God at all? Besides, how cruel it would be +to infect him with his own miserable convictions. They would come time +enough, perhaps! + +Such was the current of his thoughts. The next morning he told the old +housekeeper of the boy's ignorance and his difficulty with him, and +engaged her to help him in his talk, which she readily undertook. + +It is not my intention to describe the many endeavours Theodore made +to impress the first great truths of Christianity upon Reuben's mind; +but I can assure you he felt all the better for them himself. How it +was that he never sent the little boy to the workhouse you can guess. +For the first few days he kept him to see (as he said), if the woman +would come back for him. Then he wished him to stay till he and the +housekeeper had sufficiently impressed him by their lessons. And +then--why then--by degrees, all mention of the workhouse ceased, and +better clothes were bought for him; and the housekeeper, who was one +of the by-gone generation of warm-hearted old family servants, became, +for her master's sake, a perfect mother to him; and to Theodore he +involuntarily proved an object of daily increasing interest, and +finally, of strong personal affection. + +And thus nearly a year passed over, during which time Theodore's +health and activity in a measure returned; but the cheerfulness of a +happy mind was still wanting. Reuben often lured him temporarily into +it, but he would again relapse, and had never given up his unhappy +theory, though now he dwelt upon it much less frequently than of old. +At the end of the year, however, Theodore was much distressed by +fancying that he detected Reuben in lying; and he was, besides, by no +means sure that little trifles were not taken from him by the child +for his own use and amusement. He communicated his suspicions to the +housekeeper, and alas! found his worst fears confirmed. The pain and +sorrow he felt at this discovery were of a kind totally new to him. +But the strongest feeling of all was, that he would not give up the +boy to vicious habits without a struggle (cost what it might) to save +him! The housekeeper told him, with tears, that she had observed +Reuben's habit of petty lying and taking any thing he fancied, very +soon after his admission to the house; but she confessed that she had +not had the heart to inform her young Master, lest he should send the +boy away who had seemed to take him so out of his trouble! This was +what she most thought about. So she had tried to correct the child +herself, but not with the success she had desired. "How little she +knows the heart," thought Theodore, "his evil propensities would have +been an additional claim upon my kindness!" + +I will pass over all that Theodore said to the boy himself. No father +could have been more earnest, more solemn in his warnings, or more +kind in his expostulations. Reuben, by this time, could understand all +he said, and shame and repentance burnt in his face during a painful +interview. It is right to remind you, dear children, of the many +excuses that were to be made for him. He had been brought up, till +seven years old, in total ignorance of God, and without ever having +heard one duty commanded or one sin forbidden. The woman lied daily +and hourly in his sight, and made him do the same; and she took all +she could lay hold of in any way, and beat him if he did not follow +her example; and although Theodore's instructions had opened a new +world on the child's mind, the _evil_ HABITS were not so soon got rid +of. So there the mischief was; and now the great difficulty Theodore +felt, was to know what to do for the best. And, after much +consideration, he decided to send him to school, as the likeliest +means of eradicating the bad habits the boy had acquired. I say +_habits_, rather than dispositions, for there was indeed nothing mean +or sneaking about his character. On the contrary, he was both +courageous and generous in the turn of his mind, and, after his health +improved, his manners partook of the same freedom and candour. + +To school therefore poor Reuben went; and Theodore was almost +astonished himself at the blank which his absence created. + +But having desired that continued reports should be sent to him of his +conduct, he meanwhile began seriously to think what was to become of +him hereafter. At last it occurred to him that he might employ him in +some way or other about his property; and with a view to this, +Theodore himself began to take more interest in his estate than he had +had the energy to bestow before, and made himself more intimately +acquainted with the wants and modes of life of those under his +control. + +Thus another year passed away in quiet but constant occupation; and +the many opportunities Theodore now had of doing good, softened and +cheered his mind. But he was not quite cured. For of all things in the +world whims are the very hardest to cure, because, reason as you will, +people still stick to their whims. Reuben was not allowed to return +once during that year to the old hall. During the last few months, +however, his progress had been most satisfactory, and the Master +considered that the evil was overcome; and so, at the end of the year, +Theodore wrote word to Reuben that he wished him to come "home" for +his holidays. Poor Reuben cried bitterly again when he read the +letter; for, as he said to the Master, "It is _not_ my home, though he +has been very good to me. I have no home!" + +Theodore's heart overflowed with pleasure and almost pride when he saw +the boy again. Every turn in the expression of his face was improved; +and when Theodore first took his hand, the lad bent his face over it +and sobbed out an entreaty for pardon for his dreadful wickedness. +"Reuben," cried Theodore, "never say that again. All is forgotten +since your conduct is changed. Forget the past as soon as possible. It +will never be remembered by me." + +Time went on during the holidays very happily on the whole. In fact +there was no drawback; but that now and then Theodore, who would often +sit looking at his adopted child's face, noticed a painful expression +which he could not account for. His conduct was irreproachable and his +respect for Theodore seemed, if possible, increased; but he would not +be frank with him, and no encouragement beguiled him into the ease of +trusted affection. Theodore did not choose to notice this for some +weeks, but, as the time of Reuben's return to school drew near, he was +unwilling to let him go without some expostulation. + +"Reuben," said he one day, "you are going back to school. Your conduct +has quite satisfied me: but tell me, before you go, why you so often +look unhappy? It is a poor return (though I now touch on this subject +for the first time in my life), it is a poor return for the interest I +have taken in you; and for the real love you know I feel towards you!" + +For a moment Reuben's large dark eyes glanced up at Theodore's face; +but they sank again as quickly: his cheeks grew crimson, and tears +rolled over them which he could not conceal. + +"What is the matter, Reuben; what is the meaning of this? Am I loving +one who does not love me in return?" + +"You _cannot_ love me, Sir!" ejaculated the boy so earnestly that it +quite startled his companion. + +"Reuben, what _can_ you mean? Have you forgotten how I have taken you +and acted by you as if I had been your Father. I _cannot love_ you? +What else but _love_ for you has made me do what I have done?" + +"That was all your goodness and the kindness of your heart, Sir. You +couldn't love me when you picked me up in the road. It was pity and +kindness, and it has been the same ever since; not _Love_--" and the +tears again struggled to his eyes. + +Theodore rushed suddenly from the room and into his private apartment, +and falling on his knees, spread his hands over his head in prayer. +"My Lord and my God!" cried he solemnly, "what means this echo from my +own heart? Am I awake, or do I dream?" A profound silence was around +him; but, as he arose and opened his eyes, he beheld before him, +though fading rapidly from his sight, the angelic visions he had seen +two years before. + + * * * * * + +He returned to Reuben, who was sitting at the table, his face buried +in his arms. + +Theodore laid his hand upon him. "Reuben, look up! You are under a +great mistake. You are but a boy, and must not fancy you know the ins +and outs of the human heart. Reuben, I do love you, and have always +loved you." + +"You cannot, Sir!" + +"Again? and why not?" + +"You are too much above me; I am an outcast, and was a beggar. It +wasn't likely you could _love_ me at any time. Besides, there has been +something since." + +"What?" + +"You told me to forget it, Sir, but I cannot. After all your kindness +and goodness, and trying to make me happy and do me every good, I was +all along (during the first year), doing what was wrong, deceiving you +and injuring you. I am not only an outcast, but I have been wicked and +ungrateful, and made you unhappy by my misconduct. Indeed I cannot +bear to think of it; but I dare not deceive myself about your _Love_, +Sir! I know you _cannot_ love me; but I am so grateful to you for your +goodness, I hope you will not be angry with me for speaking the truth: +only, though I am grateful and try to be contented, I cannot be as +_happy_ as if you _did_ love me." + +As Theodore gazed on poor Reuben's face, he saw standing behind him +the beautiful visions once more. + +"Now judge by your own heart!" murmured the Spirits, as smiling they +disappeared. + +And Theodore did so. Going up to Reuben, he put his arms around him, +and wept over him tears of love and gratitude for the blessing which +he felt stealing into his own mind. "Reuben," cried he, "my child +Reuben! There have been but two human beings in the world on whom I +have bestowed my love; for, like you, I lost my parents young. These +two were--her I lost and yourself!" + +"If I thought you _loved_ me, I would die for you!" cried Reuben, +springing up and gazing earnestly on Theodore's face. + +"My God!" murmured Theodore, "may I be able to feel this to Thee!" + + * * * * * + +I think more words are unnecessary. You cannot doubt that Theodore +soon convinced Reuben of his love, nor that Theodore took the lesson +to himself, and now saw that God had placed in the human heart a +witness of the possibility of His love to man. Yes, the clinging +affection we feel for those we have been kind to; our own power of +forgiving _any_ thing to them; is an instinct which has been +mercifully implanted in our hearts to teach us to believe in that Love +of God, which is otherwise so incredible to human reason. + +If you care to know what became of Theodore and Reuben, you must in +fancy pass over a few years. Reuben soon had so strong a wish to go to +sea, that he entered the merchant service; and by the time he became +Master of his own vessel and revisited the hall when he came ashore, +Theodore was to be found there with a kind and gentle wife by his +side; and frolicking about the ancient hall were a parcel of noisy +children, to whom the arrival from sea of him whom they always +unaccountably would call "Uncle Reuben," was ever a gala treat. Dear +readers, Farewell! + +BENEDICITE. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11319 *** diff --git a/11319-8.txt b/11319-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4b6c415 --- /dev/null +++ b/11319-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4458 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Fairy Godmothers and Other Tales, by Mrs. +Alfred Gatty, Illustrated by Lucette E. Barker + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Fairy Godmothers and Other Tales + +Author: Mrs. Alfred Gatty + +Release Date: February 26, 2004 [eBook #11319] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: iso-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS AND OTHER +TALES*** + + +E-text prepared by Internet Archive; University of Florida; and Beth +Trapaga and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 11319-h.htm or 11319-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/3/1/11319/11319-h/11319-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/3/1/11319/11319-h.zip) + + Images of the original pages are available through the Florida + Board of Education, Division of Colleges and Universities, + PALMM Project, 2001. (Preservation and Access for American and + British Children's Literature, 1850-1869.) See + http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/dl/UF00001801.jpg + or + http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/dl/UF00001801.pdf + + + + + +THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS AND OTHER TALES. + +BY MRS. ALFRED GATTY. + +1851. + + + + + + +[Illustration: HERMIONE SKETCHING.] + + + +Col miele, e non coll' aceto si piglian le mosche. + +_Italian Proverb_. + + + + +To My Children + +These tales are most affectionately dedicated. They were written in +hours of sickness, but are intended to be read by the healthy and +joyous young: and to illustrate some favourite and long cherished +convictions. + +Margaret Gatty. + +Ecclesfield Vicarage, +27th March, 1851. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +The Fairy Godmothers + +Joachim the Mimic + +Darkness and Light + +The Love of God + + + +The design for the Frontispiece which adorns this volume is by the +pencil of the writer's kind and highly gifted friend, Miss Lucette E. +Barker. + + + + +THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS. + + +In one of the beautiful bays on the coast of Fairy Land, a party of +Fairies was assembled on a lovely evening in July. There are many +beautiful bays on the coast of England, and there is one especially, +my dear little readers, which you and I know of, where a long line of +grand old rocks stretches far into the sea on the left-hand extremity, +while in the distance to the right a warning lighthouse with its +changing lights gives an almost solemn beauty to the scene; for one +cannot help thinking, at the sight of it, of the poor storm-driven +mariner, whom even that friendly light may fail to save from a sad and +sudden death. But beautiful as this little bay is, of which I speak, +and fond as we are of it, it is nothing, I do assure you, compared to +the bays in Fairy Land! There, there are no light-houses reminding one +painfully of danger and destruction near, but all is loveliness and +peace; and even the rocks would be turned into soft pillows by the +good-natured Fairies who inhabit the country, should any strange +accident drive a mortal ship on that shore. + +Also the bays in Fairy Land face to the west, which is a great +advantage, for in an evening there you may sit and watch the golden +sun dipping behind the waves; and the rich red tints he sends out upon +the rocks before he sets, are beyond measure beautiful and attractive. +Especially, I believe, the Fairies enjoy this time of day, for they +are odd little creatures, rather conceited, and fond of everything +pretty; consequently they like to be floating about the rocks in their +white dresses when the crimson and golden hues of sunset shine on +them, knowing very well they look like so many bright flowers on the +occasion. + +The day I speak of however had been very hot, and at the time I speak +of, the Fairies felt a little lazy and were reclining on some rocks +covered with sea-weed and amusing themselves by talking. In general +the conversation of these little creatures is rather light and +frivolous and gay; but it is really a fact that they were just then +all serious together and all were engaged in a very profound +conversation on human happiness. + +I am sorry to have so many explanations to give, but I think it quite +necessary to tell you the reason of so uncommon an event as a party +of Fairies being serious. Well then, there were going to be, very +shortly, several extremely gay christenings in the world, and some of +the Fairies had been invited to attend at them as Godmothers, in order +that they might bestow Fairy gifts on the different infants. + +Four or five of the christenings were to take place the next day, and +the Fairies who were going were discussing with each other what gifts +they should bestow, and as their only object was to ensure the +happiness of the children for whom they were interested, they +naturally fell into a discourse as to what gifts were most likely to +have so charming an effect. "Your Godchild is a girl too, I believe," +said Euphrosyne to Ianthe [Fairies are privileged, you know, to have +romantic names] "what do you think of bestowing upon her?" "Why," +answered Ianthe, "the old story, I suppose--BEAUTY: at least such +was my intention, but if you can any of you show me I am wrong in +supposing it a cause of happiness to the mortal race, why, I suppose +I must give her ugliness instead." + +"Sister, I hope you will do no such thing," murmured a young Fairy who +lay near twining seaweeds into a wreath. "I never until this evening +heard a doubt upon the subject, and to tell you the truth the only +time I ever envy a mortal is when I see a regular beauty enter a large +assembly. Oh, the triumph of that moment! Every eye turned upon her; +murmurs of admiration, not unmixed with envy, greeting her as she +sweeps along; everyone courting her acquaintance; a word, a smile of +hers more valued than a pearl or a ruby. A sort of queen of Nature's +own making, reigning royally in undisputed sway, let her circumstances +of life be what they may! Look how mean the richest woman who is ugly +looks by the side of her! No no, dear Ianthe, make your little lady +handsome, and you have done the best that Fairy can do for her. I +declare I envy her beforehand! Here where we are all so beautiful +together there is no interest or excitement about it--it is quite +flat." And so saying the young fairy Leila laid herself down to her +wreath again. "Why, Leila, you are absolutely eloquent!" observed +Ianthe, "Beauty it certainly must be." + +"Oh, I declare," pursued Ianthe, rousing up again, "I have sometimes +really wished myself ugly, that I might some day have the pleasure of +suddenly finding myself beautiful!" + +"Oh, but then," said a Fairy from behind, "is there no danger of your +regular beauty, as you call her, getting as tired of being beautiful +as you are, and wishing herself ugly too?" + +"Certainly, not," answered Ianthe, "for, for an earthly beauty there +would always be the excitement of being envied." + +"Come, come," persisted the former speaker, "then the gift of being +envied would be the best thing to bestow, at all events a necessary +addition." + +"Oh," cried Leila, stopping her ears, "I can't argue, I never could--I +can't hear any more, I am quite satisfied that I am right; you can't +argue away the pleasure of being a beauty in a ball-room. Ask any of +them themselves." + +"Well," said Ianthe, "we need pursue the subject no further. I am +resolved. My baby is to be beautiful, beautiful as the dawn of the +morning; they shall call her Aurora!" + +"I shall not follow your example," observed Euphrosyne, "I don't at +all like that notion of the necessity of _envy_ to make the beauty's +joy complete. Besides, I'm not at all sure beauty is not much more +charming in idea than in possession. Nobody spend their lives in +entering a ball-room, and one gets sadly tired of one's own face. I'm +sure _I_ do, beautiful as it is;" and as she spoke the Fairy stooped +over a clear tide pool which mirrored her lovely countenance; "and yet +look what a nose I have! It is absolutely exquisite! And this hair!" +and she held up her long silken curling tresses and looked at them +reflected in the water as she spoke. A musical laugh rang through the +fairy group. Euphrosyne resumed her seat. "There isn't a mortal damsel +in the world who would not go into raptures to resemble me," pursued +she, "and yet--but, oh dear, I am getting quite prosy, and it is quite +useless, for Ianthe has decided. I, on the contrary, am thinking of +something far less romantic and interesting, but I suspect far more +necessary to the happiness of mortals than beauty--I mean RICHES." + +"Men are horribly fond of them, certainly," observed the Fairy from +behind, whose name was Ambrosia. "I can't endure men on that very +account. Look at the grubby wretched lives they lead in +counting-houses and banks, and dreadful dingy holes and corners of +great towns, where we wouldn't set the soles of our feet, and this for +forty or fifty years, perhaps, in order that in the fifty-first, or +perhaps later still, they may turn into butterflies for the little bit +of life that is left to them. And such butterflies, too! not knowing +what to do with their gay coats and fine wings when they get them at +last." + +"I think you are putting an extreme case," observed Euphrosyne. +"Though the grubs themselves may not thoroughly enjoy the riches they +have so laboriously acquired, their children or grandchildren may, and +live at ease and enjoy them. I should not think of bestowing great +riches on uneducated paupers. But it is another matter to give them to +people whom education has refined, and who would know how to enjoy and +employ them." + +"I wonder," suggested a very little Fairy, scarcely grown to her full +size, "why you don't just give your Godchildren moderate good health, +and enough money to make them quite comfortable without puzzling +them?" + +"You are a complete Solomon," observed Euphrosyne, "but you must know, +my dear, that moderate good health and a mere comfortable competency +would hardly be considered Fairy gifts by our friends in the lower +world. These things are, as it were, the absolute _necessities_ of a +happy life; they are the beef and mutton (to borrow an earthly simile) +of the entertainment. Fairy gifts form the somewhat unnecessary (and +questionably wholesome) second course, the sweets, the bonbons, the +luscious luxuries of the repast. + +"Very few, by comparison, get them. Very few infants you know have +Fairy Godmothers, but we make it a rule that those who have, shall +always be distinguished from the crowd. Other-wise our power would not +be believed in. No, my little Aglaia, all our Godchildren start from +the point you spoke of--'caeteris paribus,' as those dingy black +lawyers say--all other things being equal--it is a question now of +bestowing extra superfine Fairy gifts." + +Aglaia tittered--"I know Sister Euphrosyne is thinking of the +christening suppers, and the whipped creams, and the syllabubs!" and +away she tripped to the other end of the bay, lest the older Fairies +should scold her for impertinence. + +"Certainly," pursued Euphrosyne, "I have a great contempt for riches +myself. Bah! the idea of all the troublesome as well as wicked things +men do in order that they may be able to keep a lumbering thing they +call a carriage, to drive them round a dirty town. Just think of that +one thing alone! It is hardly credible." And Euphrosyne laid her head +by the side of Leila's, and looked up into the deep blue sky. + +"Remember," said Ambrosia, from behind, "it is a choice with poor +mortals between heavy foot-walking, and the lumbering vehicles you +talk of. Perhaps when their legs ache terribly, the carriages are not +such bad things. We can hardly judge dispassionately in such a matter, +we who can float and fly!" and the delicate Ambrosia, springing up, +floated softly round the bay, and then returned smiling to her +companions. "It made me almost ill to think of aching legs," observed +she, "how I do pity the mortal race!" + +"How pretty you looked as the sun shone golden upon your white robe," +exclaimed Leila, "It was a sight for a mortal painter to die of!" + +"A genius for painting would be a grand Fairy gift," observed Ianthe. + +"Too doubtful of success," answered Euphrosyne, "and the Musician's +power the same; besides musicians always die young and with exhausted +minds. The art is too much for mortal nerves." + +"Their atmosphere is too thick," said Leila. "How tired I am of your +discussions! Let us sing! Whatever music may be to them, it is food to +us." + +Then all those beautiful Fairies arose and joining hands on the rocks +they sang to the now dying Sun a chorus of Fairy Land! Now and then +these ravishing melodies are permitted to reach to mortal ears: +chiefly in dreams to the sick and sorrowful, for Fairies have great +compassion on such, and allow them a distant taste of this, the most +exquisite of their enjoyments. + +There was no more discussion that night, nor did they argue much the +next morning. There was the rising sun to welcome from the sleeping +caves on the eastern side of their country, and the bath to be +enjoyed, and their wings to plume, and sweet odours to gather from the +early flowers; and the time passed so quickly, they only met to take a +hurried leave. "We must understand each other however, before we +separate," said Euphrosyne. + +"Dear Ianthe, your Gift is Beauty?" "It is." "And mine is Riches," +said Euphrosyne. "All the pleasures of life shall be at my Godchild's +feet," said another Fairy, laughing. "If that will not ensure +happiness, I know not what will." Ambrosia held back--"Your choice, +dear Sister?" asked Euphrosyne. + +"Come! we have no time to lose." + +"It must remain a secret," was the reply. "Our discourse yesterday +evening was so thoughtful, so sad, I could not sleep. I arose hours +before you this morning, ere daylight streaked the sky. Dear Sisters, +how shocked you will be to hear I wept; but now I have determined. If +my gift succeed I will tell you all about it, or you shall guess it +yourselves; for I now propose that our Fairy Gifts this year shall be +a sort of experiment on human happiness. Let us from time to time +visit in company our young charges, and let the result--that is, which +of our Gifts is proved to confer the greatest amount of happiness, be +written in the archives of our kingdom for the future benefit of the +mortal race." + +A murmur of approbation rose, sweet as the vibration of a harp-chord +through the assembly. + +There was no time for enquiry about the other gifts: the travelling +Fairies arose and beat their gauzy wings upon the western breeze. A +melodious rushing was just audible; the distant murmurs of the earthly +sea the most resemble that sweet dream of sound. In a few moments the +departing sisters became invisible, and those who remained returned to +float by the sea shore, or make sweet music in the bowers of their +enchanted land. + + * * * * * + +Time is a very odd sort of thing, dear readers. We neither know whence +it comes nor whither it goes;--nay we know nothing about it in fact +except that there is one little moment of it called the present, which +we have as it were in our hands to make use of--but beyond this we can +give no account of, even that little moment. It is ours to use, but +not to understand. There is one thing in the world, however, quite as +wonderful, and quite as common, and that is, _the Wind_. Did it never +strike you how strange it was that the strongest thing in the world +should be _invisible_? The nice breezes we feel in summer and the +roughest blasts we feel in winter in England are not so extremely +strong you will say: but I am speaking, besides these, of the winds +called hurricanes that arise in the West Indian Islands, and in other +places in the world. These dreadful hurricanes have at times done as +much mischief as earthquakes and lightning. They tear down the +strongest trees, overthrow the firmest houses and spread ruin and +desolation around, and yet this terrible power, so tremendous, and +against which the cleverest contrivances can provide no defence, is as +invisible as the great Maker of Heaven and Earth. How unbelieving many +people would look if you told them of a dreadful creature that was +coming to the world, which could be heard to roar, be felt to knock +down every thing in its path--men, women and children, houses, +churches, towers, castles, cities, and trees the most firmly +rooted--and yet which you could never catch the faintest glimpse of, +for it was always invisible, even when it roared the loudest! As +invisible then, as when in its mildest moods, it, as it were, purred +softly over the country like a cat. How the good people would laugh, +and tell you you were very silly to believe in such a thing. Yet I +think this is not at all an incorrect description of the great +invisible Power WIND. Now the lesson we may learn from this is to be +humble-minded; for since we live in the constant presence of a Power +we cannot see, we ought to feel it is equally possible other Powers +may exist of which our other senses cannot take cognizance. There is +an old proverb--"Seeing is believing"--but you perceive, dear readers, +we are forced to believe in the wind though we never see him at all. + +To return to Time who is travelling fast on while I am rambling after +the wind, he has puzzled the artists a good deal I should say, for +with all their skill at representation they have never hit upon any +better idea of him than an old Man with wings. An old man with wings! +Can you fancy anything so unnatural! One can quite understand +beautiful young Angels with wings. Youth and power and swiftness +belong to them. Also Fairies with wings are quite comprehensible +creatures; for one fancies them so light and airy and transparent, +living upon honey dew and ambrosia, that wings wherewith to fly seem +their natural appendages. But the decrepitude of old age and the wings +of youth and power are a strange mixture:--a bald head, and a Fairy's +swiftness!--how ridiculous it seems, and so I think I may well say +Time is a very odd sort of thing. + +Among those who have to deal with Time, few are more puzzled how to +manage him than we story-tellers. In my first chapter, for instance, I +gave you a half-hour's conversation among some Fairies, but I think +you would be very angry with me were I to give you as exactly every +half-hour that passed over the heads of the little girls with Fairy +Godmothers, till they grew up. How you would scold, dear little +readers, if I were to enter into a particular description of each +child's Nurse, and tell whether Miss Aurora, Miss Julia, Miss +Hermione, &c. &c. &c. were brought up on baked flour, groat-gruel, +rusks, tops and bottoms, or revalenta food! Whether they took more +castor-oil, or rhubarb and magnesia; whether they squalled on those +occasions or were very good. When they cut their teeth and how, +together with all the &c. and ups and downs of Nursery life which +large families, such as you and I belong to, go through daily. + +Well then, suppose I altogether pass over a period of ten years, and +enter into no minute particulars respecting that portion of Time. You +must know that the Fairies had agreed that all the children should +have the same (and rather a large) amount of intellect, or what you +would call cleverness: that is to say, they were all equally capable +of learning anything they chose to learn: also they had all fair +health, plenty to eat and drink, and all the so called "necessary" +comforts of life. + +Now then to our story. + +At the end of ten years the Fairies agreed to go and have a peep how +their charges were going on. They quite knew that nothing decisive +could be found out, till the children had come to years of discretion +and were their own mistresses. Still they thought it would amuse them +just to go and see how the charms were working, as it were; so, away +they went. + +Now picture to yourselves a nice large nursery, much such a one as +your own, in which several children are playing. The eldest, a girl of +ten, you may see yonder lounging--gracefully perhaps--but still +_lounging_ in a rocking chair which she is swinging backwards and +forwards, having set it in motion by the action of her foot on the +floor. What a lovely face! I do not think you ever saw one so handsome +except in a print in one of Mamma's best picture books. All the +features are perfectly good and in proportion, and the dark blue eyes +are fringed by the longest eyelashes ever seen. The hair of this +little girl too--look at it, as the soft chestnut ringlets wave about +on her shoulders as she swings, and show the round richness of the +curls. + +Now if you ask about the expression on her face, I must tell you it +was rather languid and "_pensieroso_." Pensieroso is an Italian word +really meaning thoughtful--but this little girl was not _thinking_, +for then the expression of her face would have been much stronger and +firmer and less languid; but the word has got to be used for a sort of +awake-dreamy state when one lets thoughts float lazily along without +having any energy to dwell upon them, and see whether they are good or +bad. + +The thought that was passing through this little girl's head at the +time I mention and which made her look so languid and pensieroso, was + + "I wish it was 6 o'clock." + +Now here you are ready to laugh, I know, for there was nothing to look +so languid about, in "I wish it was six o'clock!" but the fact was +this: at half-past six the little girl's Mamma was expecting a large +party to dinner and the little girl was to dress at six and be ready +to go down and see the company:--I might add _and to be seen by them_; +for the little girl was, as you will have guessed, the beautiful +Aurora herself, and there had been plenty of foolish people, though +her good Mamma was not one of them, to tell her how pretty she was and +how much people admired her. + +It is a very pleasant thing to be admired, both for children and grown +up people. "The love of approbation," as it is called, i.e. the wish +to be approved of and admired is a feeling which is very strong in +most people; not in quite all, perhaps, but in _most_ people +certainly. But like all other powers of the mind considered apart from +the influence of the heart and conscience, it is capable of being used +to a very bad or a very good purpose. Thus you may remember what our +Saviour says of the Pharisees who stood praying at the corners of the +streets that they might be seen of men: Verily, they had their +reward--viz: that men admired them: whereas those who do good deeds +and pray privately, i.e. unseen and unadmired by men, should verily +have their reward in that day when God who seeth in secret himself +shall reward them openly. + +Here you see is the same strong feeling,--love of approbation, +exercised in a wrong and a right direction. The Pharisees wish for the +approbation of men, good people wish for the approbation of God. + +Now, love of approbation exists about much smaller matters than I have +just been mentioning. But I would warn my young readers, that, to be +always thinking, and bothering yourselves as to what other people are +thinking about you, is one of the most uncomfortable and injurious +habits a person can get into. It makes them so selfish and +egotistical. And here was one of Aurora's dangers. Because she knew +she was pretty, she was always wondering what other people were +thinking about her, a habit which so far from contributing to what the +good Fairy had wished, viz. her happiness, was constantly spoiling her +comfort from hour to hour. And here, at ten years old, was this little +lady swinging languidly and idly on the rocking chair, wishing it was +six o'clock, instead of enjoying, as she might so well have done, that +small portion of time, time present, which is, as I told you before, +the only bit of him we can ever lay hold of, as it were. Of time +present, just then, she thought nothing. She would have said, (had she +been asked), that the old gentleman moved very slowly in spite of his +wings, for her eye was fixed on that delightful time future, six +o'clock. Well! at last the clock struck, and Aurora sprang from her +chair,--her whole face altered in a moment. "Now, Nurse, I may dress, +may I not?" she exclaimed, radiant with animation, and all the languor +and dreaminess gone over like a cloud from before the sun. And it is +true that just then Aurora was happy. It was a pleasant task to her to +arrange and smooth that curling hair, and to put on the simple white +dress she knew set off her beauty so well. But alas! for the happiness +caused by thoughts of _one's self_! The toilet over, she ran down to +her Mamma, and was welcomed with a smile of fondness and approbation. +Indeed, when she was happy, a sweeter face could not be seen, for she +was not a naughty child, and if it had not been for the Fairy gift, I +do think she would have been a very nice one. + +The Fairies who invisibly had witnessed all I have described to you, +were not so loud in their admiration of Aurora as you or I might have +been. They are so handsome themselves, they think but little of +earthly beauty, and even Ianthe could not conscientiously say, "What a +_happy_ looking little girl she is." That was just the one thing that +was wanting: ay, and it continued wanting even after the room was +filled with company, and she was petted, and caressed, and praised on +every side. Her spirits became very high, however, and she enjoyed +herself much; and it is perhaps only very very critical folk, bent on +spying out a fault, that could have detected the little clouds of +anxiety that now and then shot across her face. A thought of whether +her curls were all right, or her dress untumbled, &c. just now and +then disturbed the charm, and prevented her forgetting herself +sufficiently to allow her to be quite at ease and happy, and she would +glance at herself in the mirror, and put back the hair from her brow, +lest Mrs. I-know-not-who, who was just then entering the room, should +not think her quite as lovely as Mrs. Somebody-else did, who had very +foolishly been saying so rather in a loud tone to her Mamma. + +At last the fatal time arrived to go to bed. Aurora was much too +sensible to cry, or be cross, you must know, but as she closed the +door of the drawing-room and left the gay company, a sigh very heavy +for so young a heart to have breathed, escaped her, and it was slowly +she retraced her steps up stairs. She was in reality tired, for it was +later than her usual bed-time, and when she went into her room she +threw herself on the chair and yawned. The young Nurse who attended to +undress her, asked her if she had enjoyed herself. "Oh yes!" was her +ready answer. "All is so bright, and gay, and entertaining among those +ladies, and they are so good-natured to me,"--(another sigh coupled +with the recollection of, and _how much they admire me!_)--"But I do +so hate being a little girl, and having to go to bed. I wish the time +would come quicker for me to be grown up, and be down stairs +altogether, and talk, and enjoy myself all the evening!" Oh, Aurora, +Aurora, with that dissatisfied face where is your beauty? with that +discontented mind where is your happiness? + +"Your charm is not working perfectly, Sister," observed Euphrosyne to +Ianthe. + +"Her's is not the age for perfect happiness and enjoyment as a beauty, +remember," replied Ianthe, "and she feels this herself." + +"Man never is but always _to be_ blest," cried Ambrosia laughing. "You +see I can quote their own poets against them." + +"You are prejudging now, Ambrosia, wait till another ten years is +over; but we must see our little beauty through the twenty-four +hours." Ianthe now waved a tiny wand in a circle around Aurora's +head,--the long eyelashes sank over her eyes, and the beautiful child +fell into a sweet and placid sleep. + +Morning, which awakens all young creatures to life, enjoyment, and +action, awoke Aurora among the rest, and she arose in health and +strength, and the full glow of animal spirits. "_This is_ happiness, +however," exclaimed Ianthe to her companions, as the young girl sprang +about, carolling to herself the while. And so it was, for at that +moment no forecastings into futurity disturbed the comfort of present +pleasure: but an accidental glimpse of her face caught in a +looking-glass as she passed, recalled Aurora to the recollection of +HERSELF! and the admiration she had obtained the evening before. At +first some pleasure attended the remembrance, and she gazed with a +childish triumph at her pretty face in the glass. In a few minutes, +however, the voice of her Governess calling her to lessons disturbed +the egotistical amusement, and the charming Aurora frowned--yes, +_frowned!_ and looked cross at the looking-glass before she quitted +the apartment. + +And now, dear little readers, let me remind you that Aurora was a +clever little girl, for the Fairy had taken care of that. She had +every faculty for learning, and no real dislike to it; but this +unlucky Fairy gift was in the way of every thing she did, for it took +away her interest in every thing but herself; and so, though she got +through her lessons respectably, it was with many yawns, and not a few +sighs, and wonderings what Mamma was doing; and did the Governess +think there would soon be another dinner party? and didn't the +Governess, when _she_ was a little girl, wish very much she was a +grown up woman? and, finally, she wished she had been able to talk +when she was a baby at her christening, because then me would have +begged the Fairy Godmother to give her the gift of growing up to be a +young lady very quick indeed, and of learning every thing without any +trouble at all! And so saying, Aurora yawned and laid down her book, +and the poor Governess could hardly keep her temper at such repeated +interruptions to the subject in hand. + +"My dear," she exclaimed, "Fairies have no power to counteract what +God, has ordained, and he has ordained that we enjoy but little what +we get at without labour and trouble." + +"Ah taisez-vous donc ma chère!" cried Aurora, flopping her ears with +her hands, and running round the room shaking her long curls +furiously. "Vous me faites absolument frémir! Excuse my French, but I +am certain you are the eldest daughter of the old woman in the wood, +and you are just now dropping vipers, toads, newts, and efts from your +mouth at every word you utter!" + +The good-natured Governess laughed heartily at the joke, for they had +just been reading the old French fairy tale of "Les deux Fées," and +the application amused her; but she shook her head gravely at Aurora +afterwards, and reminded her that no serious truth was well answered +by a joke, however droll. + +A bell rings, a carriage is at the door. Miss Aurora is wanted. +Visiters! Ah! here is happiness again! But it lasts but a short time, +and the reaction is the same as before--drooping eyes, languid +eyelids, and a sigh. + +Books, drawing, music, work, even domestic recreations, all deprived +of their charm through this idolatry of self! + +The curtain closed over this scene. + +"A charming child, Ianthe, but for your Fairy Gift, which is spoiling +her." + +"I repeat to you we are no judges yet. Now for riches, Euphrosyne!" + + * * * * * + +At the same hour of evening, and under the same circumstances, of a +party about to assemble, let me introduce you to a beautiful little +boudoir or up-stairs sitting-room adjoining an equally pretty sleeping +apartment in a magnificent house in a town. The passages are carpeted +all over, and so are the boudoir and the sleeping-room, and they are +furnished with sofas, easy chairs, and every description of luxurious +comfort; and all this for the accommodation of a little girl of ten +years old, who in one of the easy chairs is lying back in front of the +fire, with her tiny feet on a bright brass fender. She has a gold +watch in her hand, which is suspended round her neck by a chain of the +same material, and she is playing with it, and with the seals, and +pretty ornaments hung to it, that jingle as she moves her hand. Ever +and anon she glances at the face of the watch. + +But life is very easy to her, and the chair is very soft, and her feet +are very warm. At last, however, she gets up and rings a silver bell +that is on the mantel-piece. A servant answers the summons. "It is +time for me to dress, I believe, Annette; the company are expected +to-day at half past six. Has my new frock come home?" + +"Yes, Miss." + +"Let me look at it." + +A delicate blue satin, trimmed with the finest lace, is produced from +a band-box. + +"It is very pretty, I think, Annette." + +"It is downright beautiful, Miss." + +"And so expensive," pursued the little girl whose name was Julia, +"that I don't think any one else I know is likely to imitate it, which +is my greatest comfort!" + +And so saying, the rich Miss Julia ---- (an only daughter), whose +comfort seemed to depend on no one else being as comfortable as +herself, commenced her toilet, i.e. her maid both commenced and +finished it for her, for those who can command the unlimited +assistance of servants are apt to be very idle in helping themselves. + +"Your Julia looks self-satisfied enough," observed Ianthe, "but I do +not see that this is more like real happiness than my Aurora's face +before the party." + +"Perhaps," returned Euphrosyne, "the same remark applies to her as to +Aurora--the age for thoroughly enjoying riches is hardly arrived. You +smile, Ambrosia! Well, we do not yet know your experiment, and you +yourself do not know how it has answered. Take care that our turn for +laughing at you does not soon come!" + +Julia was dressed at the end of the half-hour, but not sooner. Her +toilet occupied more time than Aurora's. She could not decide what +ornaments she would wear, and at last getting out of humour with the +"embarras des richesses" she fixed on a necklace which, though +extremely handsome, was scarcely fit for a child. She was neither +pretty nor otherwise, but when good humoured and happy her face, like +that of all other creatures of her innocent time of life, was +attractive and pleasant to behold. Oh, that children did but know +wherein the secret of being loveable and beloved lies! In holding fast +the innocence and simplicity of their infant years; in the cheerful +spirit, the universal kindheartedness, the open honesty, the sweet +teachableness and readiness of belief, which are the real +characteristics of childhood and which we so love to trace in their +faces. It was these things our Saviour called upon grown-up people to +imitate, and so to receive the kingdom of Heaven as little children. +And oh, that grown-up people would imitate these things; for if they +would become in these respects as little children, the sweet cast of +mind would be reflected in _their_ faces too, and the ugly looks given +by envious discontent, deceitful thoughts, unkind intention and +restless want of faith and hope would all be washed out of the world. + +But now, my dear readers, can you call that the best of Fairy gifts, +which had so great a tendency to bring the naughty passions of +grown-up life into the heart, and therefore on to the face, of a +little girl? Well, but riches _have_ a tendency that way; and though +Julia was not a very naughty girl she was being led into very sad +feelings by the Fairy gift. When she went down to the company, her +secret anxiety was to examine all the dresses of her Mamma's friends +and resolve some day to surpass them all. Even as it was she received +much pleasure from knowing that her own dress was far beyond the reach +of ordinary folk. She thought too of her necklace with secret +satisfaction, when the ladies were talking to her, for she perceived +their eyes frequently attracted by its brilliancy and beauty. Then her +mind rambled into futurity, to the day when she would astonish these +very ladies far more than now by the richness of her costume. Ah, dear +readers, would our Saviour if present have called _this_ little child +to him, and said, "Of _such_ is the kingdom of Heaven?" But all these +selfish thoughts made her conversation less pleasant and cheerful than +it would otherwise have been; for you may be sure she was not +listening with any interest to what was said to her, while she was +thus planning silly schemes about herself. + +And not having listened with any interest to what was said to her, you +may guess that her answers were dull and stupid; for when people are +talking of one thing and thinking of another they become very flat +companions. At times when she could forget herself she became natural +and then was both pleasant and pleased, and asked some ladies to let +their children come and see her next day, to which they consented. But +now came a sad drawback. One of the ladies told her that her little +girl should bring to shew her a most beautiful gold fillagree work-box +set with precious stones, which one of the maids of honour about +court, who was her godmother, had given her a few days before. This +lady had saved a few of the queen's hairs very carefully, and had had +them placed in a little circle of crystal in the middle of the box, +and they were set round with the most beautiful rubies. It was a +present worthy of a Fairy Godmother, and certainly the donor was the +daughter of a duchess, which perhaps is the nearest thing to being a +fairy. + +You will be shocked, my dear readers, to hear that the account of this +box was as disagreeable as a dose of physic to poor Julia. Nay it was +_worse_ than physic, for a peppermint-drop can take the taste of that +away in a minute. But not all the peppermint-drops in a chymist's shop +could take away the taste of the fillagree-box from Julia. She had +been thinking before of showing all the treasures of her boudoir to +her little friends next day; but this horrid box was like a great +cloud closing over her sunshine. She knew she was naughty, but she was +so in the habit of being selfish she could not conquer her peevish +vexation. Annette wondered what could be the matter, and her Governess +sighed as she perceived her face clouded, even when she was repeating +her evening prayer; but no questioning could extract from her what was +amiss. + +Oh, what a condition for a child to go to sleep in! Euphrosyne was +greatly annoyed. "They are not correcting her evil dispositions," +cried she. "I do not allow that this has anything to do _necessarily_ +with being very rich." + +Ah, good Fairies, you do not know "How hardly shall they that have +riches enter into the kingdom of Heaven." + +Look now at that young face, asleep on a downy pillow, in a bed richly +hung with crimson drapery, in a room filled with luxuries, glowing +with warmth and comfort. You are shocked that the heart within should +be disturbed by nasty little envyings, that made the good things she +possessed of no value to her. 'Tis well; but remember we are all rich +by comparison. Go to the poor frost-bitten wayside beggar-child, my +little readers; bring him into your comfortable drawing-room, which +you sit in every day and think nothing about, and he will fancy he has +got into Paradise. It is a luxurious palace to him. Take him to your +snug bed and let him sleep there, and it will be to him what a state +apartment in Windsor Castle would be to you. Do not then let you and +me scold too much at Julia, but let us keep on the watch to drive away +from ourselves the discontented grumbling thoughts that are apt to +make us all ungrateful to God. Julia did not sleep well. The fillagree +box was a fort of night-mare to her. She dreamt of its growing up into +a great giant, and thumping her on the head, and calling out that she +ought to be ashamed of herself. Do you know, I think this dream was +owing to her Godmother, Euphrosyne, for she lingered behind the other +Fairies as they vanished, and shook, not waved, her wand over the +sleeping child, with a very angry face. + +In the morning Julia, like Aurora, awoke in a temporary forgetfulness +of her troubles. The morning air is so refreshing and sleep does one +so much good, and the sun shining through the windows looks so gay, +and all things speak of hope so loudly in a morning, who can be +sullen? Certainly not little girls full of life and expectation. But +the thought of the fillagree box by degrees took possession of her +mind and rankled there as before. She too had a Governess, and many +lessons to learn and much to do, and she did them; but neither English +history nor French fairy tales could quite drive away the fillagree +box. Indeed it introduced its horrid face before her into the midst of +a multiplication sum, and Mademoiselle thought she was bewitched to +have grown so stupid over her arithmetic all at once. She spent a half +hour over that one sum, and when it was done she was so much tired she +gave up lessons for the day. Besides, she had to prepare for her +friends. She went into her boudoir, opened her cabinets and unfolded +her treasures of various sorts--oh I can't tell you what beautiful +things! besides interesting collections of foreign and English shells, +and stuffed humming birds, which you and I should be charmed to +possess. And Julia was in general most happy when she was looking +over her property, but rather more because she possessed valuable +curiosities than because she cared about them, I fear. For my part, +I wonder very much that the humming birds and shells did not teach +her to be more humble-minded; for no art or jewellery can imitate or +come up to their glorious beauty. Well, she amused herself tolerably +in spite of the visions of the fillagree box and the queen's hair, +which now and then came between her and her usual feeling of +self-satisfaction. + +Presently her young friends came--several little girls of various +ages, and now nature once more revived in poor Julia. The children +felt and expressed such hearty pleasure at the sight of her treasures. +There were such joyous exclamations; such bursts of delight; such +springing and jumping about, that Julia became infected with the +general pleasure, and was a happy child herself. Yes! even though the +fillagree box had been shown off and admired. But what do children in +general know about the _value_ of things and how much they cost? Ah, +much more just in their judgments than we elders are apt to be, a bird +of Paradise such as adorned the top of Julia's cabinet, or a peacock's +tail, such as she had in a drawer, is to their unprejudiced eyes more +desirable than the gold of Ophir itself! + +So now you see this triumph of simplicity over art, despoiled the +fillagree box of all its horrors, for the innocent children admired +her shells yet more--unsophisticated, and insensible to the long story +about the value of the rubies, the maid of honour, and even the +queen's hairs. + +Still the Fairies felt and saw that it was not Euphrosyne's gift, but +rather the forgetfulness of it which caused these hours of happiness +to Julia, and somewhat puzzled as to the result they left the votary +of riches, not quite without a sensation that little Aglaia's proposal +of moderate health and enough riches to be "comfortable without being +puzzled," was about the best thing after all, though not much of a +Fairy gift. And now, my little readers, I am beginning to get rather +tired of my story, and to feel that you may do so too. I think I am +getting rather prosy, so I must try and cut the matter short. Four out +of the five Fairy gifts were like beauty and riches, worldly +advantages. For instance, there was the little girl who was to have +every earthly pleasure at her feet--i.e. she was to have every thing +she wished for--why she was fifty times worse off than either Aurora +or Julia, for I will tell you whom she was like. She was like the +fisherman's wife in Grimm's German popular fairy tales, who had every +thing she wished, and so at last wished to be king of the sun and +moon. I doubt not you remember her well, and how she was in +consequence sent back to her mud cottage. I think, therefore, I need +not describe the young lady who had _that_ Fairy gift. + +There was another who was to be _loved_ wherever she went; but nothing +is worth having that is had so easily, and this child got so sick of +being kissed and fondled and loved, that it was the greatest nuisance +to her possible, for disagreeable people loved her just as much as +nice ones, and for her part she hated them all alike. It was a very +silly Fairy gift. + +Come with me then to Ambrosia's God-daughter, whom they visited last, +and whose Fairy gift the other Fairies were to guess at! + +Neither you nor I, my dears, ever heard a fairy-laugh. Doubtless it is +a sweet and musical sound. You can perhaps fancy it? Well then, do +fancy it, and how it rang in silver peals when our fairy friends, on +entering the last nursery they had to visit, found Ambrosia's protégée +in a flood of angry tears, stamping her foot on the ground in a +passion! "You naughty naughty girl!" exclaimed the old Nurse, "you'll +wake the baby and make your own eyes so red you won't be fit to be +seen to night by the company!" + +"I don't care about my eyes being red, tho' I don't want to wake the +poor baby," sobbed the little girl, slightly softening her wrath: "but +the cat has unravelled all the stocking I have been knitting at for so +many days, and I had nearly just finished it, and now it's all +spoilt;" and she roared with vexation. "Miss Hermione, if you go on so +I shall certainly send for your Mamma, and the baby will be quite +poorly, he will! and we shall know who made him so," added Nurse +triumphantly. "I can't make the baby poorly with crying, Nurse, so +that's nonsense you know," observed Hermione; "but I didn't mean to +disturb him; only my stocking is gone, and I don't know what to do." +And here she sobbed afresh. + +"Do! why ain't you going down to the ladies, and can't you be brushing +your hair and washing your face and getting ready?" "But it isn't +time." "Well, but can't you get ready _before_ the time a little? and +then, when you're dressed and look so clean and nice and pretty, you +can sit in the chair and we can look at you!" and here the good old +Nurse gave a knowing smile and nodded her head. + +Hermione caught sight of the comical coaxing glance, and, in spite of +her misfortune, burst into a fit of laughter. "Hum, hum, hum! now +you'll wake the poor thing by laughing, Miss Hermione. I do wish you'd +be quiet:" and here the Nurse rocked the child on her knee more +vigorously than ever. + +"Then why don't you tell me what I am to do with my stocking," cried +Hermione. "Oh well, I know what I will do--something quite as quiet as +a mouse. I will wind up my poor worsted." Hereupon the little girl +picked up the puckered remains of her luckless grey stocking which a +facetious young cat had spent at least a quarter of an hour in +ingeniously unravelling with his claws. It was a tiresome tedious job +we must admit, and required a strong effort of patient perseverance, +but Hermione soon became engrossed in its difficulties and a dead +silence ensued. At last Nurse who had while rocking the sleeping baby +on her knee, been watching the child's proceedings, suddenly +exclaimed, "Well to be sure, Miss Hermione, you have such patience as +I never before did see." + +[The Fairies exchanged glances. + +"It is _Patience_, Ambrosia." + +"What a hurry you are in!" was the reply.] + +"No I haven't, Nurse, indeed," answered Hermione. "I had no patience +at all when I was in a passion with the cat just now." + +"Well, I suppose there are two or three sorts of Patiences, Miss, +then," persisted Nurse, "for I'm certain you have _some_ sorts. But, +dear me, its ever so much past six o'clock, and you have to be dressed +by half-past. Do put away the worsted and get yourself ready, Miss, +and call Jane to help you." + +Here the Nurse and Hermione nearly had a scuffle over the worsted. +Hermione declared the cat had spoilt her stocking; and the only +comfort left to her now was to roll it comfortably up into a ball. +Nurse on the contrary insisted that it didn't signify a bit what +became of the worsted; she must dress and go down. The dispute ended +by Hermione running off with the half finished ball and its untidy +remains, and cramming the whole concern into the pocket of her best +frock. "The people will soon be tired of talking to me," muttered she +to herself, "and then I can finish my ball quietly in the corner +behind Mamma's chair." + +The thought of this ingenious plan for her private amusement down +stairs so tickled Hermione's fancy that she was on the giggle the +whole time she was being dressed. "If Nurse did but know what was in +the pocket of my best frock and how fat it is! how she would scold, +and what a fight we should have." And she could hardly refrain from +loud laughter at the thought. When she had got her frock on she sat +down, and laying her arm over the fat pocket asked Jane to touch up +her curls: and while this operation was going on she began to talk to +the nurse. + +"Nurse, should you think it a very nice thing to go to a dinner party +and sit in chairs all round a large room, where the coloured covers +are taken away and everything looks very gay, and so tidy, nobody is +allowed to do anything but smile, and talk, and wear white kid +gloves?" + +"Very nice, Miss, it's so like a lady," was the Nurse's ready reply. + +"Well then, I don't think it's nice at all, Nurse--I think it's very +nasty and stupid." + +"Dear, Miss Hermione, how you do talk; I hope you won't tell the +ladies so when you get down stairs." + +"Oh dear no, that would be rude, and it's wrong to be rude, but to +tell you the truth I don't know what I shall do when I grow up if I am +obliged to be so dull as that is, very often." + +"Goodness, Miss Hermione, to hear you talk one would think you'd +better be a housemaid at once, instead of a lady with nothing to do." + +"Nurse, I should see no objection to be a housemaid at all, only that +I am learning so many things that wouldn't suit a housemaid; but +without being a housemaid there are many pleasanter things to do than +to sit in that stupid sort of way. I like the room when all Papa's +books and papers are about, and when he is scribbling away so busy, +and when Mamma has got her microscope out looking at seaweeds or +curiosities. I have a chance then myself. I don't like ladies who say +nothing but 'Pretty little dear, what a nice colour she has,' just to +please Mamma." + +What Nurse in England could be expected to enter into so philosophical +an investigation of the habits of society? + +Hermione's did nothing but assure her it was time to be off, and she +only hoped she would sit still and talk prettily, and never trouble +her head whether it was stupid or not. + +When Hermione got into the drawing room and saw the company seated as +she had described to her Nurse, she felt very much disposed to laugh +again, but made an effort and composed herself. Still her face was +beaming with mirth and fun, and when some ladies said "What a happy +looking little girl," they were quite sincere. That sort of face too +worked wonders, and her Mamma's friends liked her much and talked +pleasantly to her, and she was pleased and happy and quite forgot the +ball of worsted, as well as the ladies' white kid gloves. A young lady +however who had her arm round Hermione's waist and was playing with +her, suddenly felt the round protuberance in her pocket. "Ah you +little rogue, what have you here?" "Its a secret," cried Hermione. "I +think I can unravel your mysterious secret, little girl, you are a +favourite with the housekeeper," added she, whispering in Hermione's +ear, "and she has just given you an orange." + +"You are a very bad guesser of secrets," whispered Hermione in +return. "It's no such thing!"--"Then it's an apple." "No, nor an +apple."--"Then it's a peach, and your new frock will be spoilt." "No +it isn't a peach either, and it's a secret." The young lady loved fun, +and a playful struggle ensued between her and Hermione; in the course +of which the large grey worsted ball and its long ravelled tail were +drawn from the little pocket. + +Hermione had now to tell the history of the ball, which she did +naturally and honestly, but when she added, quite seriously, that she +intended, when they had done talking to her, to go behind her Mamma's +chair and finish winding it up, you may guess how they laughed. + +"Come here, my little dear, and let me look at you," cried an elderly +lady in spectacles, putting out her hand and laying hold of +Hermione's. "Why what an industrious little soul you must be! a +perfect pattern! There now! you may go behind my chair and finish your +ball of worsted; nobody wants to talk to you any longer." + +This old lady was rather crabbed, and had not quite believed Hermione +sincere, so she did this to try her, and expected to see her pout and +refuse. To her surprize, Hermione only said "Oh thank you, ma'am," +with a quite smiling face, and going behind the chair, sat down on the +floor to her worsted. For a few moments the old lady kept thinking "It +won't last long: she'll soon be glad of an excuse to come out:" but no +such thing happened; and just what Hermione expected did happen. The +ladies fell to talking among themselves, and in a very short time the +presence of the little girl was quite forgotten, even by the old lady, +who was handed out to dinner, without once remembering whom she had +left behind her chair. + +Hermione stayed in the room till her task was over, and then rushed up +stairs to the nursery, and stopping at the door, half opened it and +rolled the great grey worsted ball so cleverly in, that it hit the old +Nurse's foot as she sat (once more rocking the baby) over the fire. +"Goodness, bless me! what ever is that?" Then, spying a laughing face +at the door, "Oh dear heart, it's you I declare, Miss Hermione! will +you never leave off waking the baby? I thought a great black dog was +laying hold of my foot." + +"Nurse," said Hermione, "your baby is always and always going to +sleep; why doesn't he go, and then I could have a bit of fun? You +don't know where I finished winding the worsted ball!" + +"Why goodness me, Miss Hermione, where?" + +"Down in the drawing-room among all the fine ladies; so good night!" +and off she ran to avoid further explanation. A few words with her +Governess; a sober time of evening prayer; and the happy child laid +her head on her pillow, and needed no Fairy wand to lull her to sleep. +She had been some time with her Governess in the morning before her +Mamma coming to her there, heard a loud discussion going on within. +The voices, however, were those of good-humour. "Hermione," said her +Mother, "I am come to say that your Governess told me yesterday you +had been so very good for a long time over all that you have had to +do, that I have arranged for your having a holiday and a treat to-day, +and several of your young friends are coming to see you. Among them is +Aurora, the granddaughter of the old lady in spectacles, who, just +before she was going away at night, recollected you, and began to look +for you behind her chair." + +"Oh what a goose, Mamma!" "No, not a goose, my dear--only an oddity, +but a very kind one too--for she desired me to find out whether you +really did roll up the whole of the ravelled worsted last night; and +_if_ you really persevered till it was finished, I have something to +give you from her, but not otherwise. How was it?" "Oh, it's finished, +Mamma; ask Nurse; for when I rolled it against her foot last night, +she took it for a great black dog." "Well then, I suppose this is +yours, Hermione; but, I must say, I never knew a gold thimble earned +so easily." Yes, dear little readers, it was a pretty gold thimble, +and round the bottom of it there was a rim of white enamel, and on the +enamel were gold letters. + + "L'industrie ajoute à la beauté." + +"Mamma," said Hermione, looking at it in delight, as she found it +exactly fitted her finger, "it's lovely; but, do you know, I think the +old lady ought to have given it to her granddaughter, Aurora, with +such a motto." "My dear, she has had it, she told me, some months in +her pocket secretly, for the purpose you mention, but she cannot ever +satisfy herself that Aurora has got the spirit of real industry in +her, and to bribe her to _earn_ the thimble is not her object, so you +see it has accidentally fallen to your share." + +And as she said this, Hermione's mother turned round to leave the +room; but before she had reached the door, her little girl stopped +her--"Mamma, do turn back." + +"What is the matter, Hermione?" + +"I've something I want to say to you." + +"I am all attention, my dear, particularly as your face looks so +unusually grave." + +"Why, you and my Governess are always calling me _good_ for doing my +lessons well, and now you are rewarding me for being _good_ and all +that, and I don't see that I am good at all." + +"Upon my word this is a very serious matter, Hermione; who or what has +put this into your head?" + +"I read in a serious book lately, that nobody could be good without +practising self-denial; and that, to be really good, one must either +do something that one does _not_ like, or give up something that one +_does_; so that I am quite sure I cannot be good and deserve a reward +when I do French and music and drawing and work well, because I am so +very fond of doing every thing I do do, that every thing is a pleasure +to me. And there is no struggle to do what is tiresome and no other +wish to give up. The only time when I have to try to be good at all, +is when I have to leave off one thing and go to another. That is +always a little disagreeable at first, but unfortunately the +disagreeableness goes off in a very few minutes, and I like the new +employment as well as the last. This is what I was talking about to my +Governess when you came, and she laughed so loud I felt quite vexed." + +"My dear Hermione," said her Mamma, "you have quite misapplied what +you have read in the book. Self-denial is always required of us, when +we feel inclined to do any thing that is wrong, but it does not apply +to any aptitude you may have for enjoying the occupations I require of +you. That is only a piece of good fortune for you; for to many little +girls, doing lessons is a very great act of self-denial, as they want +to be doing something else. But now, as you are so lucky in liking +every thing you do, you must practise your self-denial in some other +way." + +"How, Mamma?" + +"In not being vexed when your Governess laughs, and in not being in a +passion with the cat next time he unravels your stocking." + +Hermione blushed. "Oh, Mamma, I understand the difference now." + +"But this is not all, Hermione." + +"Well, Mamma?" + +"Why, as you are so fortunate as to be always happy when employed, and +as therefore there is no _goodness_ strictly speaking, in your doing +your business so cheerfully and well, you must do this, you must spend +some portion of time every day in making your energy of use to other +people, and then you will be doing active good if not practising +self-denial." + +"Oh, Mamma, what a nice idea! Perhaps you will give me some needlework +to do for the poor women you give money to; and, besides, just now I +can do something actively useful and still a little really +disagreeable,--really it is, Mamma,--what makes you laugh?" + +"Your resolution to do something you don't like. What is it, +Hermione?" + +"To knit up again the stocking the cat pulled out. I quite dislike the +idea." + +"Then set to work by all means, Hermione. You will at least have the +comfort of 'beginning by a little aversion;' but I warn you +beforehand, not to set your heart upon the disagreeableness lasting +very long, and if you find yourself shortly, as happy as ever over the +stocking, do not be puzzled and vexed any more, but thank God as I do, +that, so far at least, you are spared one of the troubles of life. The +trouble of an indolent, discontented mind." + +An affectionate embrace was exchanged between Mother and Daughter; and +the latter, with the assistance of her Governess, recommenced the +unlucky grey stocking, and was working assiduously at it when her +young friends arrived. + +It was a curious sight to the Fairies to see two of their +god-daughters together, as they now did. But the conviction was forced +upon them, that, for the present at least, Hermione had the balance of +happiness in her favour. Whatever their amusements were,--whether +looking over curiosities, playing with dolls, or any of the numerous +games invented for the entertainment of the young, Hermione's whole +heart and attention were in the matter, and she was as much engrossed +as over learning at other times, and quite happy. With poor Aurora it +was not so; the childishness of the play every now and then annoyed +her; there was no food for her vanity, in playing with children; they +cared nothing about her beauty; the gayest and most good-natured face +has always the most charms for them, and this did not suit Aurora at +all, and ever and anon her thoughts wandered, and her wishes too. + +For ever straining into the future! + +"I cannot make out your Fairy gift at all, Ambrosia," said Euphrosyne, +"and I begin to suspect you have not given her one." + +"We are all growing philosophical, I perceive," said Ambrosia, +smiling. "Who could think you would have guessed that my happy child +has had no Fairy gift at all. But she has, I assure you. What do you +say to the Philosopher's Stone? It is quite clear that me has got +something which TURNS EVERY THING SHE TOUCHES INTO GOLD." + + * * * * * + +What _is_ the Philosopher's Stone? I hear my little readers exclaim. +There is no such thing, my dears, nor ever was; but the chymists in +old times, who were very ignorant, and yet knew that many wonderful +things had been done by the mixture of minerals and metals, and the +curious effects some had upon others, guessed that yet more wonderful +things might be found out by searching, and they got into their heads +that it might be possible to find, or make, a stone that would have +the power of turning every thing it touched into gold. In the same +manner, the doctors of those times fancied there might be such a thing +made as a draught that would turn old people into young ones again. +This was called "The Elixir of Life." But I do assure you these old +fellows never did discover either a Philosopher's Stone, or an Elixir +of Life. + +So this was only a joke of Ambrosia's. + +Now to go on and finish my story. It was ten years more before the +Fairies revisited their Godchildren in the lower world, and this time +they were to decide who had given the best Fairy gift. + +And I dare say you expect me to give you as long an account of their +visits to the young ladies of twenty, as I did of their peeps at the +little girls of ten. But I really do not think it worth while. I would +do so indeed in a minute if there were anything quite fresh and new to +describe. But on the faith of a story-teller I assure you, it would be +"the old story over again," only on an enlarged scale. + +Did you ever look at any interesting object first with your natural +eyes, and then through a microscope or magnifying glass? If so, you +will remember that through the magnifying glass you saw the same thing +again, only much bigger. + +In the same manner the ten years acted as a sort of magnifying glass +over Aurora, Julia, and Hermione. Everything was the same, but +increased in size and made clearer and plainer. + +Aurora's triumphant joy as she entered the ball-room as a beauty, was +much greater certainly than her pleasure at her Mamma's dinner party. +But the weariness and anxiety afterwards were increased also. She was +still getting away from our friend Time present, and forecasting into +some future delight. "The good time _coming_, Boys," was her, as well +as many other people's bugbear. She never could feel that (with God's +blessing) _the good time_ is always _come_. + +The only time she ever thoroughly enjoyed was the moment of being +excessively admired. But judge for yourselves how long that can last. +Could you sit and look at a pretty picture for an hour together? No, I +know you could not. You cannot think how short a time it takes to say +"Dear me, what a beautiful girl!" and then, perhaps, up comes somebody +who addresses the admiring gazer on the subject of Lord John Russel's +last speech, and the "beautiful girl," so all important in her own +eyes, is as entirely forgotten as if she had never been seen. And +then, to let you into another secret, Aurora was by no means a very +entertaining companion: nobody _can_ be, with their heads full of +themselves: and she had often the mortification, even in that scene of +her triumph, a ball-room, of feeing her admirers drop off, to amuse +themselves with other people; less handsome perhaps, but more +interesting than herself. + +And so the Fairies, having accompanied her through a day of Triumphs, +mixed with mortifications, followed by languors, unsettled by hopes of +future joy, clouded with anxieties that all but spoilt those +hopes:--came one and all to the conclusion that Aurora could not be +considered as a model of human happiness. + +Nor could they say much more for Julia. Perhaps, indeed, there is more +equanimity in the pleasures of a very rich person, than in those of a +very beautiful one: but, oh dear, they are of such a mean sort! Still, +there is a good deal of impertinent comfort in money I do admit. Life +rolls on, upon such well oiled hinges! The rich say, "Do this," to +people around them; and the people, "do it." But the Fairies had no +sympathy with such an _unnatural_ fault as the pride of wealth. They +saw Julia reclining in one of those "lumbering things" they so much +despised: and driving round the "dirty town" they so much disliked: +and along a park a great deal too smoky for their taste: and they +could not understand the haughty glance of self-satisfaction with +which she looked out upon the walking crowds she passed, or the +affected graciousness with which she smiled upon the few whom she +condescended to recognize as acquaintances. They thought her very +naughty and very absurd for being conceited about such matters. They +followed her to her Milliner's too, and there I assure you they had +nearly betrayed their presence by the uncontrollable fits of laughter +they fell into when she was trying on, or talking about, bonnets, head +dresses, gowns, &c. with the affected Frenchwoman who showed them off. +Julia cared for nothing because it was pretty or tasteful, but chose +every thing by its costliness and magnificence. Of course the milliner +assured her that every thing she took a fancy to from its rarity, was +becoming; and then, oh dear! how the Fairies were amused! for poor +Julia looked downright ugly in some of the things she selected, and +still went away as self satisfied as ever, on the old grounds that the +costume was so expensive that none of her acquaintance could get one +like it. This was still her chief comfort! Euphrosyne actually shook +her fist at her as she was going away, and she had the toothache for +the rest of the day, and was extremely cross to her husband in +consequence. For, by the way, Julia had married--and married a +nobleman--a man somewhat older than herself; but he and she had had a +sort of mutual conviction that riches and rank go very well together, +and so they married; and suited very well in this respect, that as +their heads were full of other things they neither claimed nor +required from each other a great amount of affection. + +Still, was Julia happy? The Fairies shook their heads. She had +gardens, hot-houses, magnificent collections of curiosities, treasures +that might have softened and opened her heart, if she had made a right +use of them. But riches have a very hardening tendency, and she never +struggled against it. + +Then, too, she could get every thing she wanted so easily, that she +cared very little about anything. Life becomes very stale when your +hands are full and you have nothing to ask for. + +Her greatest pleasure was to create astonishment and envy among her +associates: but, besides the naughtiness of the feeling, this is a +triumph of very short duration; for most people, when they cannot get +at what they envy, amuse themselves with something else; and then, +what a mortification to see them do this! + +"Besides," said the Fairies, "we must follow her into her solitude, to +see if she is happy." + +Ah! there, lying back once more in the easy chair, in a dress which-- + + "China's gayest art had dyed," + +do you think that self-satisfied, but still uncheerful looking face +tells of happiness? + +No! She too, like Aurora, was unoccupied, and forecasting into +futurity for the "good time coming," which so many spend their lives +in craving after and expecting, but which the proud, the selfish and +the idle never reach to. + +The Fairies turned from her sorrowful and angry. + + * * * * * + +In the outskirts of a forest, just where its intricacy had broken away +into picturesque openings, leaving visible some strange old trees with +knotted trunks and mysteriously twisted branches, sat a young girl +sketching. She was intently engaged, but as her eyes were ever and +anon raised from her paper to the opening glade, and one of the old +trees, the Fairies had no difficulty in recognizing their protégée, +Hermione. The laughing face of childhood had become sobered and +refined by sentiment and strength, but contentment and even enjoyment +beamed in her eyes as she thoughtfully and earnestly pursued her +beautiful art. The little beings who hovered around her in that sweet +spot, almost forgot they were not in Fairy land; the air was so full +of sweet odours from ferns and mosses, and the many other delicious +scents you find so constantly in woods. + +Besides which, it amused the good souls to watch Hermione's skilful +hand tracing the scene before her; and they felt an admiring delight +when they saw the old tree of the forest reappear on the paper, with +all the shadows and lights the sun just then threw upon it, and they +wondered not a little at the skill with which she gave distance and +perspective to the glade beyond. They felt, too, that though the +drawing they saw rising under the sketcher's hand was not made +powerful by brilliant effects or striking contrasts, it was +nevertheless overflowing with the truth and sentiment of nature. It +was the impression of the scene itself, viewed through the poetry of +the artist's mind; and as the delicate creatures who hung over the +picture, looked at it, they almost longed for it, slight as it was, +that they might carry it away, and hang it up in their fairy palace as +a faithful representation of one of the loveliest spots of earth, the +outskirts of an ancient English forest. + +It is impossible to say how long they might not have staid watching +Hermione, but that after a time the sketch was finished, and the young +lady after writing beneath it Schiller's well known line in +Wallenstein, arose. "Das ist das Loos des Schönen auf der Erde."[1] + +[1] "Such is the lot of the beautiful upon earth." + +The poor tree was marked for felling! Ambrosia was almost affected to +tears, once more. The scene was so beautiful, and the allusion so +touching, and there seemed to her such a charm over her God-daughter +Hermione; she was herself so glad, too, to feel sure that success had +crowned her gift, that, altogether, her Fairy heart grew quite soft. +"You may do as you like about observing Hermione further," cried she. +"But, for my part, I am now satisfied. She is enjoying life to the +uttermost; all its beauties of sight and sound; its outward +loveliness; its inward mysteries. She will never marry but from love, +and one whose heart can sympathise with hers. Ah, Ianthe, what more +has life to give? You will say, she is not beautiful; perhaps not for +a marble statue; but the grace of poetical feeling is in her every +look and action. Ah, she will walk by the side of manhood, turning +even the hard realities of life into beauty by that living well-spring +of sweet thoughts and fancies that I see beaming from her eyes. Look +at her now, Ianthe, and confess that surely that countenance breathes +more beauty than chiselled features can give." And certainly, whether +some mesmeric influence from her enthusiastic Fairy Godmother was +working on Hermione's brain, or whether her own quotation upon the +doomed tree had stirred up other poetical recollections, I know not; +but as she was retracing her steps homewards, she repeated to herself +softly but with much pathos, Coleridge's lines:[2] + + "O lady, we receive but what we give, + And in our life alone does nature live: + Ours is her wedding-garment, ours her shroud! + And would we aught behold, of higher worth, + Than that inanimate cold world allowed + To the poor loveless ever anxious crowd, + Ah! from the soul itself must issue forth + A light, a glory, a fair luminous cloud + Enveloping the earth-- + And from the soul itself must there be sent + A sweet and potent voice, of its own birth, + Of all sweet sounds the life and element!" + +[2] Coleridge's "Dejection: an Ode." + +And, turning through the little handgate at the extremity of the wood, +she pursued the train of thought with heightened colour in her +cheeks-- + + "I may not hope from outward forms to win + The passion and the life, whose fountains are within." + +And thus Hermione reached her home, her countenance lighted up by the +pleasure of success, and the sweet and healthy musings of her solitary +walk. + +She entered the library of a beautiful country house by the low window +that opened on to the lawn, and found her mother reading. + +"I cannot tell you how lovely the day is, Mamma, every thing is so +fresh, and the shadows and lights are so good! I have immortalized our +poor old friend the oak, before they cut him down," added she, +smiling, as she placed the drawing in her mother's hands. "I wish the +forest belonged to some one who had not this cruel taste for turning +knotted oak trees into fancy work-tables. It is as bad as what Charles +Lamb said of the firs, 'which look so romantic alive, and die into +desks.'--Die into desks!" repeated Hermione musingly, as she seated +herself on the sofa, and took up a book that was before her on the +table; mechanically removing her bonnet from her head, and laying it +down by her side as she spoke. + +And here for some time there was a silence, during which Hermione's +mother ceased reading, and, lifting up her eyes, looked at her +daughter with mingled love, admiration, and interest. "I wish I had +her picture so," dreamt the poor lady, as she gazed; "so earnest, and +understanding, and yet so simple, and kind!--There is but one +difficulty for her in life," was the next thought; "with such keen +enjoyment of this world, such appreciation of the beauties, and +wonders, and delights of God's creations on earth--to keep the eye of +faith firmly fixed on the 'better and more enduring inheritance,' to +which both she and I, but I trust she, far behind, are hastening. Yet, +by God's blessing, and with Christian training, and the habit of +active charity, and the vicissitudes of life, I have few or no fears. +But such capability of happiness in this world is a great temptation, +and I sometimes fancy must therefore have been a Fairy gift." And here +the no longer young Mother of Hermione fell into a reverie, and a long +pause ensued, during which Ambrosia felt very sad, for it grieved her +to think that the good and reasonable Mother should be so much afraid +of Fairy gifts, even when the result had been so favourable. + +A note at length interrupted the prolonged silence. It was from Aurora +the Beauty, whose Father possessed a large estate in the +neighbourhood, and who had just then come into the country for a few +weeks. Aurora earnestly requested Hermione and her Mother to visit +her. + +"I will do as you wish," said Hermione, looking rather grave; "but +really a visit to Aurora is a sort of small misfortune." + +"I hope you are not envious of her beauty, Hermione? Take care." + +"Nay, you are cruel, Mamma, now. I should like to be handsome, but not +at the expense of being so very dull in spirits as poor Aurora often +is. But really, unless you have ever spent an hour alone with her, you +can form no idea of how tired one gets." + +"What of, Hermione? of her face?" + +"Oh no, not of her face; it is charming, and by the way you have just +put into my head how I may escape from being tired, even if I am left +alone with her for hours!" + +"Nay, now you really puzzle me, my dear; I suggested nothing but +looking at her face." + +"Ah, but as she is really and truly such a model of beauty, what do +you think of offering to make a likeness of her, Mamma? It will +delight her to sit and be looked at, even by me, in the country, and I +shall be so much pleased to have such a pleasant occupation. I am +quite reconciled to the idea of going." + +And a note was written, and despatched accordingly. + +"But," persisted Hermione, rising to sit near her Mother, "you do not +above half know Aurora. One would think she had been born in what is +called a 'four warnt way,' with nothing but cross roads about her. +Nothing is ever right. She is always either exhausted with the heat of +the sun, or frozen with cold, or the evening is so tedious, she wants +it to be bedtime, or if there is any unusual gaiety going on, she +quarrels with the same length of evening, because it is so intolerably +short; and, in short, she is never truly happy but when she is +surrounded by admirers, whether men or women. And this seems to me to +be a sad way of '_getting her time over_,' as the poor women say of +life. Ah, Mamma, it goes but too quickly." + +"Aurora is indeed foolish," musingly ejaculated the Mother. + +"Not altogether either, my dear Mother. She knows much; but the fault +is, she cares for nothing. She has got the carcase, as it were, of +knowledge and accomplishments; but the vivifying spirit is wanting. +You know yourself how well she plays and sings occasionally, if there +is a question of charming a room full of company. Yet there can be no +sentiment about her music after all, or it would be an equal pleasure +to her at other times. But really it almost makes me as discontented +with life as herself to hear her talk in unexcited hours. Turning over +my books one day, she said, 'You can never be either a poet or a +painter, or a Mozart or a philosopher, Hermione? what is the use of +all your labour and poking?' What could I say? I felt myself colour +up, and I laughed out, 'Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is +vanity!' Yet certainly God has set before us the things of earth in +order that we may admire and find them out; and that is the answer to +all such foolish questions!" And Hermione was turning to leave the +room, but she came back and said--"Do you know, Mamma, though you will +laugh at the idea, I do think Aurora would be a very nice girl, and +very happy, if she either could grow very ugly all at once, or if any +thing in the world could make her forget her beauty.--And," added she, +in a half whisper, "if there is any thing in Fairy lore, I could +almost fancy some cruel Fairy had owed her family a grudge, and had +given her this gift of excessive beauty on purpose to be the plague +and misfortune of her life." + + * * * * * + +"Enough, enough, and too much," cried Euphrosyne impatiently. "The +matter is now, I think, concluded. Ianthe and I have failed, and +though you are successful, Ambrosia, even you have not come off +without a rebuff. Now, farewell to earth. I am weary of it. I do not +know your gift, and I am sick of listening to conversations I cannot +understand. Let us begone. If we de delay, they will begin again. Ah, +my sisters, my spirit yearns for our fairer clime!" + +And they arose; but yet awhile they lingered on the velvet lawn before +that country-house, for as they were preparing for flight, the sounds +they loved so well, of harmonious music, greeted their ears. + +"Ah, there is the artist's hand again," cried Ambrosia. "I see the +lovely sketch before me once more!" + +And so it was, that it, and the peaceful forest scene, and the +interesting face of Hermione, seemed to reappear before them all as +they listened to her music. Tender, and full of sentiment were the +sounds at first, as if the musician were acting the scene of the opera +whence they came. + +"Lieder ohne Worte,"[3] murmured Ambrosia. + +[3] Songs without Words.--Mendelssohn. + +But it was to the swelling sounds of a farewell chorus that they arose +into the air, and took their leave of earth. + +And now, dear Readers, there is but one thing more to do. To ask if +you have guessed the Fairy gift? + +The Fairies, you see, had not. What Euphrosyne had said was true. They +had listened to such a quantity of conversation they could not +understand, and they were so unused to _think_ much about any thing, +or to hear much beyond their own pretty light talk and sweet songs, +that their poor little brains had got quite muddled. + +Perhaps remaining so long in the Earth's atmosphere helped to cloud +their intelligence. Certain it is, they returned very pensive, very +cross, and rather dusty to Fairy Land. + +They arrived at the beautiful bay I first described, and floated to a +large party of their sisters, who were dancing on the sands. + +There was a clapping of tiny hands, and shouts of joy as they +approached; and "What news? what news?" cried many voices. + +"Ah, what news, Sister Euphrosyne!" cried little Aglaia, floating +forward, "from the smudgy old earth; Is it beauty, riches, or what?" + +"I cannot answer your question," said Euphrosyne, pushing forward. + +A circle was now formed round the travellers, and the details I have +given you were made by Ianthe. And she wound up by saying, "And what +Ambrosia's gift to Hermione has been, we cannot make out." + +"Then I will tell you!" cried little Aglaia, springing lightly high +into the air, and descending gently on a huge shell at her feet; "_She +likes every thing she does, and she likes to be always doing +something_. You can't put the meaning into one word, as you can Beauty +and Riches; but still it _is_ something. Can't you think of some way +of saying what I have told you? Dear me, how stupid you are all grown. +And _liking_ isn't the right word: it is something stronger than +common _liking_." + +"Love, perhaps," murmured Leila. + +"An excellent idea," cried Euphrosyne; "dear me, this delicious air is +clearing my poor head. Sisters, I will express it for you, and +Ambrosia shall say if I am right. It is THE LOVE OF EMPLOYMENT." + +Ambrosia laughed assent; but a low murmur of discontent resounded +through the Fairy group. + +"Intolerable!" cried Leila, shrugging her shoulders like a French +woman. + +"It is no Fairy gift at all," exclaimed others; "it is downright +plodding and working." + +"If the human race can be made happy by nothing but labour," cried +another; "I propose we leave them to themselves, and give them no more +Fairy gifts at all." + +"Remember," cried Ambrosia, now coming forward, "this is our first +experiment upon human happiness. Hitherto we have given Fairy gifts, +and never enquired how they have acted. And I feel sure we have always +forgotten one thing, viz. that poor men and women living in Time, and +only having in their power the small bit of it which is present, +cannot be happy unless they make Time present happy. And there is but +one plan for that; I use Aglaia's words: '_To like every thing you do, +and like to be always doing something_.'" + +Ambrosia ceased speaking, and the circled group were silent too. They +were not satisfied, however; but those sweet, airy people take nothing +to heart for long. For a short time they wandered about in little +knots of two and three, talking, and then joined together in a dance +and song, ere night surrounded them. There was from that time, +however, a general understanding among them that the human race was +too coarse and common to have much sympathy with Fairies, and even the +Godmothers agreed to this, for they were sadly tired with the unusual +quantity of thinking and observing they had had to undergo. So if you +ever wonder, dear Readers, that Fairy Gifts and Fairy Godmothers have +gone out of fashion; you may conclude that the adventure of Ambrosia +and Hermione is the reason. + + * * * * * + +The story is ended; and if any enquiring child should say, "There are +no more Fairy gifts, and we can no more give ourselves love of +employment than beauty or riches;" let me correct this dangerous +error! Wiser heads than mine have shown that every thing we do becomes +by HABIT, not only _easy_, but actually _agreeable_.[4] + +[4] Abercrombie. Moral Feelings. + +Dear Children! encourage a habit of _attention_ to whatever you +undertake, and you may make that habit not only easy, but agreeable; +and then, I will venture to promise you, you will _like_ and even +_love_ your occupations. And thus, though you may not have so many +talents as Hermione, you may call all those you do possess, into play, +and make them the solace, pleasure and resources of your earthly +career. + +If you do this, I think you will not feel disposed to quarrel, as the +Fairies did, with Ambrosia's gift; for increased knowledge of the +world, and your own happy experience, will convince you more and more +that no Fairy Gift is so well worth having, as, + +THE LOVE OF EMPLOYMENT. + + + + +JOACHIM THE MIMIC. + + +There was, once upon a time, a little boy, who, living in the time +when Genies and Fairies used now and then to appear, had all the +advantage of occasionally seeing wonderful sights, and all the +_dis_advantage of being occasionally dreadfully frightened. This +little boy was one day walking alone by the sea side, for he lived in +a fishing town, and as he was watching the tide, he perceived a bottle +driven ashore by one of the big waves. He rushed forward to catch it +before the wave sucked it back again, and succeeded. Now then he was +quite delighted, but he could not get the cork out, for it was +fastened down with rosin, and there was a seal on the top. So being +very impatient, he took a stone and knocked the neck of the bottle +off. + +What was his surprize to find himself instantly suffocated with a +smoke that made his eyes smart and his nose sneeze, just as much as if +a quantity of Scotch snuff had been thrown over him! He jumped about +and puffed a good deal, and was just beginning to cry, as a matter of +course for a little boy when he is annoyed; when lo! and behold! he +saw before him such an immense Genie, with black eyes and a long +beard, that he forgot all about crying and began to shake with fear. + +The Genie told him he need not be afraid, and desired him not to +shake; for, said he, "You have been of great use to me; a Genie, +stronger than myself, had fastened me up in yonder bottle in a fit of +ill humour, and as he had put his seal at the top, nobody could draw +the cork. Luckily for me, you broke the neck of the bottle, and I am +free. Tell me therefore, good little boy, what shall I do for you to +show my gratitude?" + +But now, before I go on with this, I must tell you that the day before +the little boy's adventure with the bottle and the Genie, the King of +that country had come to the fishing town I spoke of, in a gold +chariot drawn by twelve beautiful jet black horses, and attended by a +large train of officers and followers. A herald went before announcing +that the King was visiting the towns of his dominions, for the sole +purpose of doing justice and exercising acts of charity and kindness. +And all people in trouble and distress were invited to come and lay +their complaints before him. And accordingly they did so, and the good +King, though quite a youth, devoted the whole day to the benevolent +purpose he proposed; and it is impossible to describe the amount of +good he accomplished in that short time. Among others who benefited +was our little boy's Mother, a widow who had been much injured and +oppressed. He redressed her grievances, and in addition to this, +bestowed valuable and useful presents upon her. "Look what an example +the young King sets," was the cry on every side! "Oh, my son, imitate +him!" exclaimed our poor Widow, as in a transport of joy and emotion, +she threw her arms around her boy's neck. "I wish I _could_ imitate +him and be like him!" murmured little Joachim: (such was the child's +name). "My boy," cried the Widow, "imitate every thing that is good, +and noble, and virtuous, and you _will_ be like him!" Joachim looked +earnestly in her face, but was silent. He understood a good deal that +his Mother meant; he knew he was to try to do every thing that was +good, and so be like the young King; but, as he was but a little boy, +I am not quite sure that he had not got a sort of vague notion of the +gold chariot and the twelve jet black horses, mixed up with his idea +of imitating all that was good and noble and virtuous, and being like +the young King. I may be wrong; but, at seven years old, you will +excuse him if his head did get a little confused, and if he could not +quite separate his ideas of excessive virtue and goodness from all the +splendour in which the pattern he was to imitate appeared before his +eyes. + +However that may be, his Mother's words made a profound impression +upon him. He thought of nothing else, and if he had been in the silly +habit of telling his dreams, I dare say he would have told his mother +next morning that he had been dreaming of them. Certainly they came +into his head the first thing in the morning; and they were still in +his head when he walked along by the sea-shore, as has been described; +so much so, that even his adventure did not make him forget them; and +therefore, when this Genie, as I told you before, offered to do any +thing he wanted, little Joachim said, "Genie, I want to imitate every +thing that is good, and noble, and virtuous, so you must make me +able!" + +The Genie looked very much surprized, and rather confused; he expected +to have been asked for toys, or money, or a new horse, or something +nice of that sort; but Joachim looked very grave, so the Genie saw he +was in earnest, and he did a most wonderful thing for a Genie; he +actually sat down beside the little boy to talk to him. I don't +recollect that a single Genie in the Arabian Nights, ever did such a +thing before; but this Genie did: What is more, he stroked his beard, +and spoke very softly, as follows: + +"My dear little boy, you have asked a great thing. I can do part of +what you wish, but not all; for you have asked what concerns the heart +and conscience, and we Genies, cannot influence these, for the great +Ruler of all things alone has them under his control. He allows us, +however, power over the intellect--ah! now I see you cannot understand +me, little boy!--Well! I mean this;--I can make your head clever, but +I cannot make your heart good: I can give you the power of imitation, +but as to _what_ you imitate, that must depend upon yourself, and the +great Being I dare not name!" + +After saying this, the Genie laid his immense forefingers on each side +of Joachim's head just above his forehead, and then disappeared. + +Joachim felt no pain, but when he got up and put on his cap to go +home, his head seemed almost too large for it. + +Perhaps he wanted a new cap, but the phrenologists would tell you he +had got the organ of Imitation. + +He did not thoroughly understand what the Genie said, but he was +convinced that something had been done towards making him like to the +young King. As he was dawdling home, his eye was struck by the sight +of a beautiful because picturesque dark fishing-boat, which he saw +very plainly, because the red sun was setting behind it. Joachim felt +a strange wish to make something like it; and, taking up a bit of +white chalk he saw at his feet, he drew a picture of the boat on the +tarred side of another that was near him. While he was so engaged, an +old fisherman came up very angrily. He thought the child was +disfiguring his boat; but, to his surprise, he saw that the little +fellow's drawing was so capital, he wished he could do as much +himself. + +"Why, who taught you to do that, young Master?" said he. + +Joachim was no great talker at any time, and he now merely said, +"Nobody," and smiled. + +"Well, you must draw my boat some day, for me to hang up; and now +here's a luck penny for you, for you certainly are a capital hand for +such a youngster." + +Joachim was greatly pleased with the penny, for it was a curious old +one, with a hole through it; and he told his Mother all about it; but +though it may seem strange, he never mentioned the bottle and the +Genie to her at all. That appeared to him to be a quite private affair +of his own. + +He altered very much, however, by degrees. He had been till then +rather a dull, silent boy: now he talked much more, was more amusing, +was always endeavouring to draw, and after being at church would try +to read the prayers like the parson. His Mother was delighted. She +began to think her son would grow up a good scholar after all, and +being now well off, owing to the King's kindness, she resolved on +sending little Joachim to school. + +To school, accordingly, he went; and here, my little readers, there +was a great change for him. Hitherto he had lived very much alone with +his Mother, and being quiet, and somewhat dull by nature, he had never +till quite lately had many acquaintances of his own age. + +Now, however, he found himself among great numbers of youths, of all +ages, and all characters. At first he was shy and observant, but this +soon wore off, and he became a favourite. Nobody was more liked at any +time, and he was completely unrivalled in the play-ground. He could +set all the boys in a roar of laughter, when, hid behind a bush, he +would bark so like a dog that the unhappy wights who were not in the +secret expected to see a vicious hound spring out upon them, and took +to their heels in fright. He was first in every attempt at acting, +which the boys got up; and there was not a cat nor a pig in the +neighbourhood whose mew and squeak he could not give with the utmost +exactness. If you ask how he got on at lessons, I must say--well, but +not _very_ well. His powers of entertaining his companions were so +great, that I fear he found their easily-acquired praise more tempting +than the rewards of laborious learning. He could learn easily enough, +it is true; but while his steadier neighbours were working hard, he +was devising some new scheme for fun when lessons should be over, or +making some odd drawing on his slate to induce his companions to an +outburst of laughter. + +There were many excuses to be made for little Joachim; and it is +always so pleasant to please, that I do not much wonder at his being +led astray by possessing the power. + +Time went on, meanwhile; and Joachim became aware at last that he +possessed a larger share than common of the power of imitation. When +he first clearly felt this, he thought of the Genie and his two +forefingers, I believe;--but his school life, and his funny ways, and +the constant diversion of his mind, quite prevented his thinking of +all the serious things the Genie had spoken. Nay, even his Mother's +words had nearly faded from his mind, and he had forgotten the young +King, and his own wishes to be like him. It was a pity it was so; but +so it was! Poor Joachim! he was a very good fellow, and kind also in +reality; but first the pleasure of making his companions laugh, and +then the pleasure of being a sort of little great man among them, were +fast misleading him. For instance, though at first he amused them by +imitating dogs, and cats, and pigs, he next tried his powers at +imitating any thing queer and odd in the boys themselves, and, for a +time, this was most entertaining. When he mimicked the awkward walk of +one boy, and the bad drawl of another, and the loutish carriage of a +third, the school resounded with shouts of laughter, which seemed to +our Hero a great triumph,--something like the cheers which had greeted +the good young King as he left the fishing-town. But certainly the +cause was a very different one! By degrees, however, it must be +admitted, that Joachim's popularity began a little to decrease; for, +though a boy has no objection to see his neighbour laughed at, he does +not like quite so well to be laughed at himself, and there are very +few who can bear it with good humour. And now Joachim had given such +way to the pastime, that he was always hunting up absurdities in his +friends and neighbours, and _no one felt safe_. + +It was a long time before Joachim found out the change that was taking +place, for there were still plenty of loud laughers on his side; but +once or twice he had a feeling that all was not right: for instance, +one day when he mimicked the awkward walker to the boy who spoke badly +and stuttered, and then in the afternoon imitated the stutterer to the +awkward boy, he had a twinge of conscience, for it whispered to him +that he was a sneak, and deceitful; particularly, as both these boys +had often helped him in doing his sums and lessons when he was too +idle and _too funny_ to labour at them himself. In fact, he had been +so much helped that he was sadly behind hand in his books, for all the +school had been willing to assist "that good fellow '_Joke him_,'" as +they called him. + +At last a crisis came. A new boy arrived at the school; very big for +his age, and rather surly tempered, but a hard working, persevering +lad, who was striving hard to learn and get on. He had one defect. He +lisped very much, which certainly is an ugly trick, and sounded silly +in a great stout boy, nearly five feet high: but he had this excuse; +--his mother had died when he was very little, and his good Father had +more important business on hand in supporting his family, of which +this boy was the eldest, than in teaching him to pronounce his S's +better. It is perhaps only Mothers who attend to these little matters. +Well;--this great big boy was two or three days at the school before +Joachim went near him. There was something serious, stern, and unfunny +in his face, and when Joachim was making the other boys laugh, the +great big boy never even smiled, but fixed his eyes in a rather +unpleasant manner upon Joachim as he raised them from his books. Still +he was an irresistible subject for the Mimic; for, though he learnt +his lessons without a mistake, and always obtained the Master's +praise, he read them with so strong a lisp, and this was rendered so +remarkable by his loud, deep voice, that it fairly upset what little +prudence Joachim possessed; and, as he returned one day to his seat, +after repeating a copy of verses in the manner I have described, +Joachim, who was not far off, echoed the last two lines with such +accuracy of imitation, that it startled even the Master, who was at +that moment leaving the school-room. + +But no laugh followed as usual, for all eyes were suddenly turned on +the big boy, who, crimson with indignation, and yet quite +self-possessed in manner, walked up to Joachim and deliberately +knocked him down on the floor. Great was Joachim's amazement, you may +be sure, and severe was the blow that had levelled him; but still more +severe were the words that followed. "Young rascal," exclaimed the big +boy, "who has put _you_ in authority over your elders, that you are to +be correcting our faults and failings, instead of attending to your +own. You are beholden to any lad in the school who will do your sums, +and write your exercises for you, and then you take upon yourself to +ridicule us if we cannot pronounce our well learnt lessons to your +fancy! You saucy imp, who don't know what labour and good conduct are, +and who have nothing to boast of, but the powers which a monkey +possesses to a greater extent than yourself!" Fancy Joachim's rage! +_He_, the admired wit! the popular boy! nothing better than a monkey! +He sprang up and struck his fist into the face of his antagonist with +such fury, that the big boy, though evidently unwilling to fight one +less than himself, was obliged to bestow several sharp blows before he +could rid himself of Joachim's passion. + +At last, however, other boys separated them; but Joachim, who was +quite unused to fighting, and who had received a very severe shock +when he first fell, became so sick and ill that he was obliged to go +home. His Mother asked what was the matter. "He had been quizzing a +great big boy who lisped, and the boy knocked him down, and they had +fought." His Mother sighed; but she saw he was too poorly for talking, +so she put him to bed and nursed him carefully. + +Now, you may say, what had this Mother been about, not to have found +out and corrected Joachim's fault before? First, he was very little at +home, and as owing to the help of others, his idleness had not become +notorious, she had heard no complaints from the Masters, and thinking +he did his lessons well, she felt averse to stopping his fun and +amusements in holiday hours. Still, she had latterly begun to have +misgivings which this event confirmed. In a few days Joachim was +better, and came down stairs, and his Aunt and two or three Cousins +called to enquire after him. Their presence revived Joachim's flagging +spirits, and all the boys got together to talk and laugh. Soon their +voices echoed through the house. Joachim was at his old tricks again, +and the Schoolboys, the Ushers and the Master all furnished food for +mirth. His Cousins roared with delight. "Clever child!" exclaimed his +Aunt, "what a treasure you are in a house! one could never be dull +where _you_ are!" "Sister, Sister!" cried Joachim's Mother, "do not +say so!" "My dear," said the Aunt, "are you dull enough to be unable +to appreciate your own child's wit; oh, I wish you would give him to +me. Come here, my dear Joachim, and do the boy that walks so badly +once more for me; it's enough to kill one to see you take him off!" +Joachim's spirits rose above all control. Excited by his Aunt's +praise and the sense of superior ability, he surpassed himself. He +gave the bad walker to perfection; then imitated a lad who had +commenced singing lessons, and whose voice was at present broken and +bad. He even gave the big boy's lisp once more, and followed on with a +series of pantomimic exhibitions. + +All at once, he cast his eyes on his Mother's face--that face so full +of intelligence and the mild sorrow of years of widowhood, borne with +resigned patience. Her eyes were full of tears, and there was not a +smile on her countenance. Joachim's conscience--he knew not +why--twinged him terribly. He stopped suddenly; "Mother!" + +"Come here, Joachim!" He came. + +"Is that boy whom you have been imitating--your Aunt says so +cleverly--the _best_ walker of all the boys in your school?" + +"The _best_, Mother?" and the puzzled Joachim could not suppress a +smile. His Cousins grinned. + +"Dear Mother, of course not," continued Joachim, "on the contrary, he +is the very worst!" + +"Oh--well, have you no _good_ walkers at your school?" + +"Oh yes, several; indeed one especially; his father was a soldier, he +walks beautifully." + +"Does he, Joachim? Let me see you walk like him, my dear." + +Joachim stepped boldly enough into the middle of the room, and drew +himself up; but a sudden consciousness of his extreme inferiority to +the soldier's son, both in figure, manner and mode of walking, made +him feel quite sheepish. There was a pause of expectation. + +"Now then!" said Joachim's Mother. + +"I cannot walk like _him_, Mother," said Joachim. + +"Why not?" + +"Because he walks so _very well_!" + +"Oh,"--said Joachim's Mother. + +There was another pause. + +"Come, Joachim," continued the Widow, "I am very anxious to admire you +as much as your Aunt does. You are not tired; let us have some more +exhibitions. You gave us a song just now horribly out of tune, and +with the screeching voice of a bagpipe." + +"I was singing like Tom Smith," interrupted Joachim. + +"Is he your best singer?" enquired the Mother. Another laugh followed. + +"Nay, Mother, no one sings so badly." + +"Indeed! How does the Singing Master sing, Joachim?" + +"Oh, Mother," cried Joachim, "so beautifully, it would make the tears +come into your eyes with pleasure, to listen to him." + +"Well, but as I cannot listen to him, let me, at all events, have the +pleasure of hearing my clever son imitate him," was the reply. + +Joachim was mute. He had a voice, though not a remarkable one, but he +had shirked the labour of trying to improve it by practice. He made +one effort to sing like the Master, but overpowered by a sense of +incapacity, his voice failed, and he felt disposed to cry. + +"Why, Joachim, I thought you were such a clever creature you could +imitate any thing," cried the Mother. + +No answer fell from the abashed boy, till a sudden thought revived +him. + +"But I _can_ imitate the singing-master, Mother." + +"Let me hear you, my dear child." + +"Why it isn't exactly what you can hear," observed Joachim +murmuringly; "but when he sings, you have no idea what horrible faces +he makes. Nay, it's true, indeed, he turns up his eyes, shuts them, +distorts his mouth, and swings about on the stool like the pendulum of +a clock!" + +And Joachim performed all the grimaces and contortions to perfection, +till his Aunt and Cousins were convulsed with laughter. + +"Well done," cried his Mother. "Now you are indeed like the cat in the +German fable, Joachim! who voted himself like the bear, because he +could lick his paws after the same fashion, though he could not +imitate either his courage or his strength. Now let me look a little +further into your education. Bring me your drawing-book." It came, and +there was page after page of odd and ugly faces, strange noses, +stranger eyes, squinting out of the book in hideous array. + +"I suppose you will laugh again if I ask you if these are the +_beauties_ of your school, Joachim;--but tell me seriously, are there +no good, pleasant, or handsome faces among your schoolfellows?" + +"Plenty, Mother; one or two the Master calls models, and who often sit +to him to be drawn from." + +"Draw one of those faces for me, my dear; I am fond of beauty." And +the Mother placed the book in his hands, pointing to a blank page. + +Joachim took a pencil, and sat down. _Now_ he thought he should be +able to please his Mother; but, alas, he found to his surprise, that +the fine faces he tried to recall had not left that vivid impression +on his brain which enabled him to represent them. On the contrary, he +was tormented and baffled by visions of the odd forms and grotesque +countenances he had so often pictured. He seized the Indian-rubber and +rubbed out nose after nose to no purpose, for he never could replace +them with a better. Drawing was his favourite amusement; and this +disappointment, where he expected success, broke down his already +depressed heart. He threw the book from him, and burst into a flood of +tears. + +"Joachim! have you drawn him? What makes you cry?" + +"I cannot draw him, Mother," sobbed the distressed boy. + +"And why not? Just look here; here is an admirable likeness of +squinting Joe, as you have named him. Why cannot you draw the handsome +boy?" + +"Because his face is so handsome!" answered Joachim, still sobbing. + +"My son," said his Mother gravely, "you have now a sad lesson to +learn, but a necessary and a wholesome one. Get up, desist from +crying, and listen to me." + +Poor Joachim, who loved his mother dearly, obeyed. + +"Joachim! your Aunt, and your Cousins, and your schoolfellows have all +called you clever. In what does your cleverness consist? I will tell +you. In the Reproduction of Deformity, Defects, Failings, and +Misfortunes of every sort, that fall under your observation. A worthy +employment truly! A noble ambition! But I will now tell you the truth +about yourself. You never heard it before, and I feel sure you will +benefit now. A good or an evil Genie, I know not which, has bestowed +upon you a great power; and you have misused it. Do you know what that +power is?" + +Joachim shook his head, though he trembled all over, for he felt as if +awaking from along dream, to the recollection of the Genie. + +"It is the power of Imitation, Joachim; I call it a great power, for +it is essential to many great and useful things. It is essential to +the orator, the linguist, the artist, and the musician. Nature herself +teaches us the charm of _imitation_, when in the smooth and clear lake +you see the lovely landscape around mirrored and _repeated_.[5] What a +lesson may we not read in this sight! The commonest pond even that +reflects the foliage of the tree that hangs over it, is calling out to +us to reproduce for the solace and ornament of life, the beautiful +works of God. But oh, my son, my dear son, you have abused this gift +of Imitation, which might be such a blessing and pleasure to you." + +[5] Schiller.--"Der Künstler." + +"You might, if you chose, _imitate every thing that is good, and +noble, and virtuous, and beautiful_; and you are, instead of that, +reproducing every aspect of deformity that crosses your path, until +your brain is so stamped with images of defects, ugliness, and +uncouthness, that your hand and head refuse their office, when I call +upon you to reproduce the beauties with which the world is graced." + +I doubt if Joachim heard the latter part of his Mother's speech. At +the recurrence to the old sentence, a gleam of lightning seemed to +shoot across his brain. Latent memories were aroused as keenly as if +the events had but just occurred, and he sank at his Mother's feet. + +When she ceased to speak, he arose. + +"Mother," said he, "I have been living in a cloud. I have been very +wrong. Besides which, I have a secret to tell you. Nay, my Aunt may +hear. It has been a secret, and then it has been forgotten; but now I +remember all, and understand far more than I once did." + +Here Joachim recounted to his Mother the whole story of her words to +him, and his adventure with the Genie and the bottle; and then, very +slowly, and interrupted by many tears of repentance, he repeated what +the Genie had said about giving him _the power_ of imitation, adding +that the use he made of it must depend on himself and the great Ruler +of the heart and conscience. + +There was a great fuss among the Cousins at the notion of Joachim +having talked to a Genie; and, to tell you the truth, this was all +they thought about, and soon after took their leave. The heart of +Joachim's Mother was at rest, however: for though she knew how hard +her son would find it to alter what had become a habit of life, she +knew that he was a good and pious boy, and she saw that he was fully +alive to his error. + +"Oh Mother," said he, during the course of that evening, "how plain I +see it all now! The boy that stutters is a model of obedience and +tenderness; I ought to have dwelt upon and imitated that, and, oh! I +thought only of his stuttering. The boy that walks so clumsily, as +well as the great fellow that lisps, are such industrious lads, and so +advanced in learning, that the master thinks both will be +distinguished hereafter; and I, who--(oh, my poor mother, I must +confess to you)--hated to labour at any thing, and have got the boys +to do my lessons for me;--I, instead of imitating their industry, lost +all my time in ridiculing their defects.--What shall--what shall I +do!" + +The next morning poor Joachim said his prayers more humbly than he had +ever before done in his life; and, kissing his mother, went to school. +The first thing he did on arriving was to go up to the big boy, who +had beaten him, and beg him to shake hands. + +The big boy was pleased, and a grim smile lightened up his face. "But, +old fellow," said he, laying his hand on Joachim's shoulder, "take a +friend's advice. There is good in all of us, depend upon it. Look out +for all that's good, and let the bad points take care of themselves. +_You_ won't get any handsomer, by squinting like poor Joe; nor speak +any pleasanter for lisping like me; nor walk any better for apeing +hobbling. But the ugliest of us have some good about us. Look out for +_that_, my little lad; I do, or I should not be talking to you! I see +that you are honest and forgiving, though you _are_ a monkey! There +now, I must go on with my lessons! You do yours!" + +Never was better advice given, and Joachim took it well, and bore it +bravely; but, oh, how hard it was to his mind, accustomed for so long +to wander away and seek amusement at wrong times, to settle down +resolutely and laboriously to study. He made a strong effort, however; +and though he had often to recall his thoughts, he in a measure +succeeded. + +After school-hours he begged the big boy to come and sit by him, and +then he requested his old friends and companions to listen to a story +he had to tell them. They expected something funny, and many a broad +grin was seen; but poor Joachim's eyes were yet red with weeping, and +his gay voice was so subdued, the party soon became grave and +wondering, and then Joachim told them every thing. They were delighted +to hear about the Genie, and were also pleased to find themselves safe +from Joachim's ridicule. It could not be expected they should all +understand the story, but the big boy did, and became Joachim's +greatest friend and adviser. + +That evening our little friend, exhausted with the efforts and +excitement of his almost first day of repentance, strolled out in a +somewhat pensive mood to his favourite haunt, the sea shore. A stormy +sunset greeted his arrival on the beach, but the tide was ebbing, and +he wandered on till he reached some caverns among the cliffs. And +there, as had often been his wont, he sat down to gaze out upon the +waste of waters safe and protected from harm. It is very probable that +he fell asleep--but the point could never be clearly known, for he +always said it was no sleep and no dream he had then, but that, whilst +sitting in the inmost recesses of the cave, he saw once more his old +friend the Genie, who after reproaching him with the bad use he had +made of his precious gift, gave him a world of good advice and +instruction. + +There is no doubt that after that time, Joachim was seen daily +struggling against his bad habits; and that by degrees he became able +to exercise his mind in following after the good and beautiful instead +of after the bad and ugly. It was a hard task to him for many a long +day to fix his flighty thoughts down to the business in hand, and to +dismiss from before his eyes the ridiculous images that often +presented themselves. But his Mother's wishes, or the Genie's advice, +or something better still, prevailed. And you cannot think, of what +wonderful use the Genie's gift was to him then. Once turned in a right +direction and towards worthy objects, he found it like a sort of +friend at his right hand, helping him forward in some of the most +interesting pursuits of life. Ah! all the energy he had once bestowed +on imitating lisps and stuttering, was now engaged in catching the +sounds of foreign tongues, and thus taking one step towards the +citizenship of the world. And instead of wasting time in gazing at the +singing master's face, that he might ape its unnatural distortions--it +was now the sweet tones of skilful harmony to which he bent his +attention, and which he strove, and not in vain, to reproduce. + +The portfolio which he brought home to his Mother at the end of +another half-year, was crowded with laborious and careful copies from +the best models of beauty and grace. And not with those only, for many +a face could be found on its pages in which the Mother recognized some +of her son's old companions. Portraits, not of the mere formation of +mouths and noses, which in so many cases, viewed merely as forms, are +defective and unattractive, but portraits of the same faces, upon +which the character of the inward mind and heart was so stamped that +it threw the mere shape of the features far into the background. + +Thus with the pursuit of his favourite art, Joachim combined "that +most excellent gift of charity;" for it was now his pride and pleasure +to make the charm of expression from "_the good points_" his old +friend had talked about, triumph over any physical defects. The very +spirit and soul of the best sort of portrait painting. And here, my +dear young readers, I would fain call your attention to the fact of +how one right habit produces another. The more Joachim laboured over +seizing the good expression of the faces he drew from, the more he was +led to seek after and find out the good points themselves whence the +expression arose; and thus at last it became a _Habit_ with him to try +and discover every thing that was excellent and commendable in the +characters of those he met; a very different plan from that pursued by +many of us, who in our intercourse with each other, are but too apt to +fasten with eagle-eye accuracy on failings and faults. Which is a very +grave error, and a very misleading one, for if it does nothing else, +it deprives us of all the good we should get by a daily habit of +contemplating what is worthy our regard and remembrance. And so +strongly did Joachim's mother feel this, and so earnestly did she wish +her son to understand that a power which seems bestowed for worldly +ends, may be turned to spiritual advantage also, that when his +birthday came round she presented to him among other gifts, a little +book, called "The Imitation of Jesus Christ." It was the work of an +old fellow called Thomas à Kempis, and though more practical books of +piety have since been written, the idea contained in the title +suggests a great lesson, and held up before Joachim's eyes, Him whom +one of our own divines has since called "The Great Exemplar." + +This part of our little hero's 'Lesson of Life,' we can all take to +ourselves, and go and do likewise. And so I hope his story may be +profitable, though we have not all of us a large Genie-gift of +Imitation as he had. With him the excess of this power took a very +natural turn, for though he possessed through its aid, considerable +facilities for music and the study of languages also, the course of +events led him irresistibly to what is usually called "the fine arts." +And if the old dream of the royal chariot and the twelve jet black +horses was never realized to him, a higher happiness by far was his, +when some years after, he and his Mother stood in the council house of +his native town; she looking up with affectionate pride while he +showed her a portrait of the good young King which had a few hours +before been hung up upon its walls. It was the work of Joachim +himself. + + + + +DARKNESS AND LIGHT. + +_The darkness and the light to Thee are both alike_. + + +Far away to the west, on the borders of the Sea, there lived a lady +and gentleman in a beautiful old house built something like a castle. +They had several children, nice little boys and girls, who were far +fonder of their Sea Castle, as they called it, than of a very pleasant +house which they had in a great town at some distance off. Still they +used to go and be very merry in the Town House in the winter time when +the hail and snow fell, and the winds blew so cold that nobody could +bear to walk out by the wild sea shore. + +But in summer weather the case was quite altered. Indeed, as soon as +ever the sun began to get a little power, and to warm the panes of +glass in the nursery windows of the Town House, there was a hue and +cry among all the children to be off to their Sea Castle home, and +many a time had Papa and Mamma to send them angrily out of the room, +because they would do nothing but beg to "set off directly." They were +always "sure that the weather was getting quite hot," and "it _must_ +be summer, for they heard the sparrows chirping every morning the +first thing," and they "thought they had seen a swallow," and "the +windows got so warm with the sunshine, Nurse declared they were enough +to burn one's fingers:" and so the poor little things teazed +themselves and everybody else, every year, in their hurry to get back +to their western home. But I dare say you have heard the old proverb, +"One swallow does not make a summer;" and so it was proved very often +to our friends. For the Spring season is so changeable, there are +often some soft mild days, and then a cruel frost comes again, and +perhaps snow as well; and people who have boasted about fine weather +and put off their winter clothes, look very foolish. + +Still Time passes on; and when May was half over, the Town House used +to echo with shouts of noisy delight, and boxes were banged down in +the passages, and there was a great calling out for cords, and much +scolding about broken keys and padlocks, and the poor Carpenter who +came to mend the trunks and find new keys to old locks, was at his +wits' end and his patience' end too. + +But at last the time came when all this bustle was succeeded by +silence in the Town House, for carriages had rolled away with the +happy party, and nobody was left behind but two or three women +servants to clean out the deserted rooms. + +And now then, my little readers, who are, I hope, wondering what is +coming next, you must fancy to yourselves the old Sea Castle Home. It +had two large turrets; and winding staircases led from the passages +and kitchens underneath the sitting rooms, up to the top of the +turrets, and so out upon the leads of the house, from which there was +the most beautiful view of the Ocean you ever saw; and, as the top of +the house was battlemented, like the top of your church tower, people +could walk about quite safely and comfortably, without any fear of +falling over. Then, though it is a very unusual thing near the Sea, +there were delightful gardens at the place, and a few very fine old +elm trees near the house, in which a party of rooks built their nests +every year; and the children had gardens of their own, in which they +could dig up their flowers to see if the roots were growing, to their +heart's content, and perform other equally ingenious feats, such as +watering a plant two or three times a day, or after a shower of rain, +and then wondering that, with such tender care, the poor thing should +rot away and die. + +But I almost think the children liked the sands on the shore as well +as the gardens, though they loved both. Not that there was any +amusement astir by the water side there, as you have seen in other +places where there are boats and fishermen and nets, and great coils +of ropes, and an endless variety of entertaining sights connected with +the seafaring business going on. Nay, in some places where there is +not a very good shore for landing, it is an amusement of itself to see +each boat or fishing yawl come in. There is such a contrast between +the dark tarred wood and the white surf that dashes up all round it; +and the fishermen are so clever in watching the favourable moment for +a wave to carry them over their difficulties; that I think this is one +of the prettiest sights one can see. But no such thing was ever seen +on the shore by the old Sea Castle, for there was no fishing there. +People thought the sea was too rough and the landing too difficult, +and so no fishing village had ever been built, and no boats ever +attempted to come within many miles of the place. + +Nobody cared to ask further, or try to account for the wildness of the +sea on that coast; but I can tell you all about it, although it must +be in a sort of half whisper--_The place was on the borders of Fairy +Land!_ that is to say, many many unknown numbers of miles out at sea, +right opposite to the Castle, there was a Fairy Island, and it was the +Fairies who kept the sea so rough all round them, for fear some +adventurous sailor should approach the island, or get near enough to +fish up some of the pearls and precious stones they kept in a crystal +palace underneath the water. + +So now you know the reason why the sea was so rough, and there was no +fishing going on at the Sea Castle Home. + +If you want to know whether any body ever saw the Fairy Island, I must +say, yes; but very seldom. And never but in the evening when the sun +was setting, and that under particular circumstances--namely, when he +went down into a dark red bank of clouds, or when there was a lurid +crimson hue over the sky just above the horizon. Then occasionally you +might see the dim hazy outline as of a beautiful mountainous island +against the clouds, or the deep-coloured sky. There is an island +sometimes seen from our western coast, under similar circumstances, +but which you strain your eyes in vain to discern by the brighter +light of day.[6] + +[6] Isle of Man from Blackpool. + +It is a very ticklish thing to live on the borders of Fairy Land; for +though you cannot get to the Fairies, they can get to you, and it is +not altogether a pleasant thing to have your private affairs overseen +and interfered with by such beings as they are, though sometimes it +may be most useful and agreeable. Besides which, there was a +Fairy-secret connected with the family that lived at the Sea Castle. +An Ancestress of the present Mistress had been a Fairy herself, and +though she had accommodated herself to mortal manners, and lived with +her husband quite quietly as well as happily, and so her origin had +been in a great measure forgotten, it was not unknown to her +descendant, the Lady Madeline, who now lived in the place. And, in +fact, soon after Lady Madeline first came there, a Fairy named Eudora +had appeared to her, declaring herself to be a sort of distant cousin, +and offering and promising friendship and assistance, whenever asked +or even wished for. In return, she only begged to be allowed to visit, +and ramble at will about the old place which she had known for so many +many long years, and had once had the unlimited run of; and she +protested with tears that the family should never in any way be +disturbed by her. Lady Madeline could not well refuse the request, but +I cannot say she gave her fairy acquaintance any encouragement; and so +poor Eudora never showed herself to them again. And Madeline never +thought much about her, except now and then accidentally, when, if +they were walking on the sands, some extraordinarily rare and +beautiful shells would be thrown ashore by a wave at the children's +feet, as if tossed up especially for their amusement. And it was only +in some such kind little way as this they were ever reminded of the +Fairy's existence. + +Lady Madeline's eldest son, Roderick, always seemed most favoured by +the Fairy in the pretty things she sent ashore, and certainly he was a +very nice boy, and a very good one on the whole--cheerful and honest +as the daylight, and very intelligent; but I cannot tell you, dear +readers, that he had _no_ faults, for that was not at all likely, and +you would not believe it if I said so, even although he is to be the +Hero of my tale. + +Now I do not want to make you laugh at him, but the story requires +that I should reveal to you one of his weak points. Well then, +although he was six years old, he was afraid of being alone in the +dark! Sometimes when he was in the large dining room with his Father +and Mother at dinner time, she would perhaps ask him to fetch +something for her from the drawing room which was close by; but, do +you know, if there were no candles in the room, he would look very +silly and refuse to go, even though there were a fire sufficient to +see by. He was too honest to make any false excuses, so he used just +to say that the room was so dark he could not go! + +Poor Madeline was very sorry, for she wanted her little boy to be +brave, but somehow or other he had got very silly about his fears of +being in the dark, and she could not succeed in curing him of his +folly. + +"My dear Roderick," she would say sometimes, "if I send in some +candles, will you go into the drawing room?" + +"O yes, Mamma." + +"Then do you really mean to say you think _the Candles take care of +you_?" + +"No, Mamma." + +"Then why won't you go into the room without; you know there is a +fire? + +"Because it is so dark, Mamma." + +Here was a difficulty indeed; for you see he _would_ come back to the +old point, and would not listen to reason. + +One day some conversation of this sort having passed between them, +Madeline, as she was wont to do, asked him if God could not take care +of him by night as well as by day; in the dark as well as in light, +for "the darkness and light are both alike to him." + +"Oh yes," cried poor Roderick, with great animation, "and I can tell +you a story about that. There was, once upon a time, a little Boy and +a Nurse who went out walking, and they walked so long they got +benighted in a very dark wood, and because it was so dark the Nurse +screamed and was very much frightened; and the little boy said, +'Nurse, why are you frightened? Don't be frightened; I am not +frightened. God can take care of us in the dark as well as in the +light,'" + +"Oh Roderick! what a pretty story," cried his Mamma. + +And so thought Roderick; for his eye glistened and his cheek flushed +as he came to the conclusion. + +And here, dear readers, was the worst difficulty of all; for though +Roderick's reason was quite convinced that God could take care of him +in the dark, he still could not bear to be in the dark without the +help of candles besides, though he quite knew they could not take care +of him at all. So you see by this that Reason, though it may convince +a person he is wrong, cannot put him right. There wants some other +help for that. And here let me just stop a moment to beg you to beware +of _bad habits_; for you see they become at last more powerful than +reason itself. + +I do not know how Roderick first got into his foolish habit, and it +does not much matter. I know he at one time had a fancy there was +something unpleasant about the pipes that carried the water about the +house, and he would not for a long time go by the pipes alone. Now, +how you laugh! well, but he got out of that nonsense; and I hope to be +able to tell you that he got out of the other too: but at the time I +speak of, he made his Mamma full of sorrow for his want of sense and +courage. + +It must be admitted that there were one or two excuses to be made for +the child. There was a great contrast between the Town House and the +Sea Castle. The Town House was full of lights. All the sitting rooms +were generally lighted, for a great deal of company came there, and +there were always lights along the passages; and the nursery windows +looked into a square, and the square was lighted up by lamps every +night; and it was one of Roderick's greatest pleasures to watch the +lamplighter running quickly up the tall ladder to the lamps to light +them, and then popping down again equally hurriedly, and running along +(ladder and all) to the next lamp post, and so on, till the square was +brilliant all round; and very often, as Roderick lay in his little bed +watching the glimmering thrown by these pretty lamps on the nursery +wall, he used to think and think of his friend the nimble lamplighter, +till he dropped fast asleep. You see, therefore, he had very little to +try his courage in the Town House, and there was seldom or never any +fuss about his fears till the move to the Sea Castle took place; and +then there were no more lamps and lamplighters, and no more +comfortable glimmerings from his bright pets the lamps after he went +to bed; and he used to get silly directly, and declare that he saw +bears whenever he shut his eyes; and he seemed to expect to find lions +and tigers under the sofas, by the fuss he made when he was asked to +go into the rooms. Certainly there was a grand old fashioned lamp in +the hall of the Sea Castle; but the hall itself was so big, and went +up so high, that the light in one part only seemed to make the shadow +and darkness of the other part look blacker still; so that I must +confess there was something gloomy about the house. Then, too, there +were those two turrets with the winding staircases, and as Roderick +had never dared to do any thing more than peep in at the low entrance +doors below, where he saw nothing but four or five steps going up into +complete blackness, he had got a sort of notion there must be +something horrid about them. + +Well; it was soon after this little boy's sixth birthday, that the +family arrived at the Sea-Castle, and it so happened, that, on the day +after their arrival, there was some very stormy and dismal weather. +The wind howled very loudly, and there was a good deal of rain; and +Lady Madeline wished they had waited a week or two longer. The sky was +so charged and heavy, too, that they found the house very dark, even +by day-light; and Roderick, who was a little tired with his journey +the day before, began to fancy all kinds of nonsense; talked more +about seeing bears than ever; and finally cried tremendously at going +to bed, declaring he was sure there was a tiger in the coal-pan. Now +you know, my dears, this was a bit of great nonsense; for Roderick +knew quite well that there are no wild beasts in England but what are +kept in very strong cages; and that the men who take wild-beast shows +round the country can by no means afford to let their tigers sleep in +nursery coal-pans! + +Poor Madeline never liked to see any of her children go to bed in +tears. And Roderick was so gay and merry generally, it seemed quite +unnatural in him; but though at last he left off crying, she could not +persuade him to be cheerful, and smile; for he declared that as soon +as ever she took her candle away, he could not help seeing those +unlucky bears. Was there ever any thing so silly before! She reasoned +with him, but to no purpose. He always said he quite believed in God's +presence, and His being able to take care of him; but, as I said +before, his bad habit had got the better of his good sense, and he +finished off every thing that could be said, by seeing bears, and +dreading a tiger in the coal-pan. + +"What are we to do with that child?" cried Madeline to her husband, as +they were going to bed. "He is beginning as foolishly as ever this +year, in spite of being a year older. I really shall at last be +inclined to think that in spite of all her fair promises of friendship +and assistance, and of never injuring the family, the Fairy Eudora +must secretly frighten the child in some way we don't know of." + +"No such thing, my dear Madeline; I cannot for a moment believe it;" +said her husband. "I have a better opinion of your relations, the +Fairies, than you have yourself. I am sure Eudora would not break her +word for the world; and there is no mystery about Roderick's folly. He +is full of fancies of all sorts,--some pretty, and some silly ones; +and we must do every thing we can to cure him of the silly ones. It +certainly is a very hard matter to accomplish, for I perceive he +admits the truth of every thing you say, and yet is as silly as ever +at the end. I heartily wish the Fairy Eudora _would_ interfere to cure +him of his nonsense!" + +"And so do I, if she could, and would," sighed Madeline; "but she has +quite deserted us. Besides, if she were to come, I don't see how she +could possibly do any good. Fairies cannot change little boys' hearts; +and I must confess I never yet got any good myself from having a Fairy +ancestress, and I have no confidence in them.--Still," pursued the +good lady, as she laid her head on her pillow, "I am not able, it +appears, to convince Roderick myself; and therefore I feel, with you, +that I wish the Fairy would come and try." + +"I fear it is in vain to say so now, Madeline. We have wished the poor +creature out of the way so often for the last ten years, that it is +not very likely a single wish the other way will bring her to us." + +"No, indeed," murmured the Fairy Eudora, who at that moment was +standing on the shore of the Fairy Island; "you are a pretty pair, you +two, to think of such a thing! I begged to be allowed to come about +the place years ago, and you didn't refuse; but you always kept me +away by _wishing_ I mightn't come; and now, because you are puzzled to +know what to do with your silly child, you want me with you for the +first time these ten years! Oh, you selfish people, don't fancy I'll +come near you!" And the justly angry Fairy stamped her foot in +indignation, and retired into private apartments in the palace. + +Do not be surprised at what you have just heard, my dear children; for +though you may have never thought about the power and importance of +_wishes_, there is, I assure you, a great deal of both one and the +other belonging to them. Some people talk, indeed, of "mere wishes," +as if they were trifles light as air; but it is not so. To prove this, +first think what importance is attached to them in the Scriptures. +Wishes are a sort of porch or doorway to actions. In the Tenth +Commandment we are forbidden to _wish_ for what belongs to our +neighbour;--for who is so likely to break the Eighth Commandment, and +steal, as the man who breaks the Tenth, and wishes for any thing that +is not his? + +And so, all the evil in the world begins by _wishing_ something wrong; +and if you can cure yourself of wishing wrongly, you will very seldom +_do_ wrong. + +Now you see, I am sure, how important wishes are for evil; but they +are equally strong for good. For, if you wish well to any one, you +have opened the first door to doing him a kindness. And if you +heartily wish to be good, you have opened the first gate on the road +of becoming so. Of course, wishes will not do every thing; but they do +a great deal. + +And there is another thing. They never fall to the ground unnoticed. +Though you and I cannot look into each other's hearts, or hear the +wishes breathed there, there is One who hears them all. Good wishes, +my dear children, all ascend upwards to the throne of Grace, like +sweet perfume. They are all accepted and remembered; and, I fear I +must add, that bad wishes go up too, and are noted in His book who +takes account of all we do. + +Be sure, therefore, that you encourage your hearts in a habit of good, +and kind, and charitable wishes; and if ever the bad ones come into +your head, pray against them, and drive them away. + +Meanwhile do not be surprized that in Fairy tales, Fairies are +supposed to hear wishes concerning themselves. And so Eudora heard +those about her coming and curing the child of his folly; and as I +have told you, she was very indignant at the selfishness of both Lady +Madeline and her husband. + +A few days after the family had taken up their residence in the Sea +Castle, the weather began to improve; and, though the wind lasted, the +sun came out; and all the children and the nurses went walking on the +sands. As it was the first time that year, you may guess what shouting +and delight there was; how the little spades dug away at holes for the +sea-water to come up in, and how the children caught at the sea-weeds +that were scattered on the lands to carry home to their Mamma; how +they picked up shells, and gambolled about in all directions, +declaring that they had never known the Sea Castle Home so delightful +before. By degrees they had strayed to a considerable distance along +the sands, with the nurses, when, alas! the latter perceived that a +storm was coming on, and it caught them long before they reached home. +A strong wind blew off the sea, and they had difficulty in keeping +their feet, and at last two or three of the children were almost +hidden in a cloud of sand, which a violent gust suddenly drove against +them. All the little party cried lustily, because the sand had blown +into their eyes, and made them smart, and sad work there was in +getting them home again. But they reached home at last, dripping with +wet from hailstones, and their eyes all red and disfigured by the sand +and wind. None, however, were so bad as those I have mentioned, who +had been so covered over by the sand that it had even got down their +necks, and made them uncomfortable all over. Among these was Roderick, +who cried a great deal more than he ought to have done, as the nurses +thought, and did not stop and declare himself comfortable as the rest +did, after the sand had been washed out of his eyes with rose water. +In fact he kept crying more or less all the afternoon, saying his eyes +hurt him so, and at last he could get no relief but by holding them +shut. + +Now it is just possible you may have heard of a complaint of the eyes +called Ophthalmia, which comes on sometimes in very hot countries, +India for instance; and sometimes in travelling across the deserts of +Arabia, where the sand gets into the eyes, and irritates them very +much; it can very often be cured, but not always, and when it cannot, +it ends in blindness. Lady Madeline knew all about the complaint; and, +therefore, you will not be surprised to hear that when she found her +little boy's eyes did not get better, and that he persisted in keeping +them shut, because they then became easy, she thought it right to send +to some miles' distance for a doctor, who accordingly arrived at the +Sea Castle before nightfall. But when he came he shook his head very +much, for he could not understand what was the matter; and when he +persuaded Roderick to lift up his eyelids, to let him see his eyes, he +could perceive nothing amiss but a little redness, which the wind and +sand quite accounted for. Still the child was uneasy, and would keep +his eyes shut; so the Doctor thought he must try something, and he +used some lotions common in such cases; but, as they did no good, the +kind old gentleman, at Madeline's request, consented to sit by the +little boy's bedside at night; when, all at once, as he was carefully +dabbing his eyes with rosewater, he perceived that the child was fast +asleep. + +The Doctor was delighted, and went to his mother, who was then with +her husband, and said that as Roderick had gone to sleep so nicely, he +had no doubt that his eyes would be well when he awoke in the morning, +and so he took his leave, for he had other patients to visit. + +It was then between twelve and one o'clock, and Lady Madeline, much +comforted in heart, went to bed. At an early hour next morning, +however, she went to Roderick's bedside, and perceived he was just +waking. + +To the question of "How are you, my darling?" his cheerful joyous +voice made answer, "Oh, quite well, Mamma, and I've such a funny dream +to tell you, and my eyes don't hurt me a bit, not a bit! but I'm +afraid to open them for fear they should. I can tell you something so +funny the Doctor said last night, Mamma." "Never mind about the +doctor, you rogue," cried Madeline, "I see you are all right, only +just open your dear old eyes, that I may tell Papa I have seen them +when I go back to dress." + +"Then I will, Mamma, to please you!" and up sat the pretty child in +his bed, and opened wide his blue eyes. There was no redness--it was +all gone--but + +"Mamma! where are you," cried Roderick, "I have opened my eyes, and +they don't hurt--but it is quite dark: _isn't the night over_?..." + +Oh, my dear readers! there was a stream of sunshine on the lovely face +and bright hair of little Roderick as he spoke, and the poor blue eyes +were turned up to his mother, looking vainly for her face. You cannot +wonder if I add that she sank down fainting on the bed; and when +Roderick's scream of terror brought the nurses to them, she was +carried away insensible from the room. + +Her darling was utterly blind. + + * * * * * + +And now imagine to yourselves how the afflicted parents sent for the +best doctors the country afforded, and how one thing after another was +tried--but, alas! every thing in vain, for the medical men were all +quite puzzled. Still some people gave them hopes, and in spite of many +disappointments, they went on trying to hope for several months. At +last they settled to leave the sea castle and go to the great town +sooner than usual, thinking some of the doctors there might be +cleverer than the country ones. But they had no better success. +Perhaps now you would like to know how Roderick behaved. When his +Mamma fell on his bed, at first he thought she was dead, and it was +with the greatest difficulty he could be made to believe any thing +else, and he cried, and cried, and was very sad till his Mamma was +well enough for him to be taken to her, and then do you know, poor +fellow, he was so much pleased to hear her speak, and be kissed by +her, that he still had no time to think about himself. Only he begged +to sit close to her, and have hold either of her hand or gown, and +make her say something to him every now and then. And so it was that +the fright and shock he had had about thinking she was dead, had made +so strong an impression on him that for several days the making +himself sure she was alive was a constant occupation and interest; and +so much did he think about it that it was considered best for his +little bed to be brought into the room where his Mamma slept, and put +near hers, so that he could talk to her when he awoke and got +frightened about her again. And thus passed many days in which every +body thought a great deal more about his eyes than he did himself. +Besides from the cheerful things they said to him he quite expected to +be better some day; and so weeks and months passed, and by the time +the hope of recovering his sight began to fade away, and nobody any +longer dared to say they expected it, he was beginning to get used to +his condition, and to find out amusements in new ways. Thus mercifully +does a kind Providence temper people's minds to the afflictions He +sends. They are often more dreadful to think of than to bear; for God +can give patience and cheerfulness and comfort to those that do not +grumble and repine. + +Madeline only exacted one promise from her husband, namely, that he +would not allow the doctors to use any very severe and violent +measures with her little boy, and this being settled, she struggled to +bear the trouble with resignation. After the first alternations of +hopes and fears were over, the Mother's mind took a new turn. "It is +our chief duty now," she said, "to make our child's life as happy as +it is possible to be with blindness, and therefore," added she to the +elder children, "we must try our best to teach him to do all the nice +things he can without seeing." That day she asked him to come and hold +worsted for her to wind, and he was quite delighted to find that with +some blunders, and once or twice slipping it off his fingers, he could +manage it very well. Then the children undertook to teach him how to +play at ball, and you cannot think how clever he became. At first +certainly they had always to pick up his ball for him when it fell, +and who was not glad to do it for poor brother Roderick? but by +degrees he could judge by the sound in what direction it had tumbled, +and he would often succeed in finding it before any one could come up +to it. Then there was laughing and scrambling without end. Reading +aloud to him was the easiest thing of all, but the little folks were +not satisfied with that alone. They made a sort of pet of the blind +brother, and were as proud of teaching him to do any thing fresh, as +you would be of teaching your dog to sit up and shake hands, or +perform any wonderful feat. It was their constant amusement; and by +degrees Roderick could play at all sorts of games with them, ay, and +run after them, and catch them too as well as you could do, for he +soon got to remember how the furniture in the great hall and all the +rooms stood, and he could run about without hurting himself in a +wonderful manner. And when it was evening and grew dark, he got on +better than they did, for, if they couldn't see, they were clumsy, +whereas he was learning to do without seeing at all. + +Such of my readers as have seen one of those excellent institutions +called "blind schools," will not wonder at any thing I have said, but +on the contrary, will know that I have not told half or a quarter of +what may be done to teach blind children a variety of employments. At +those schools you may see children making beautiful baskets of +various-coloured strips of osier arranged in patterns; and they never +forget on which side of them the different colours are laid, and this +work they can go on with quite fast, even while you stand talking to +them--and they learn to do many many other nice things also besides +basket making. + +Of late years too they have begun to read in books made on purpose for +them, with the letters raised above the rest of the paper, so that +they can _feel_ the shapes with their fingers. Is not this wonderful? +And they can be taught all these things much more easily than you +would imagine, for it is really true that when one of the senses has +been taken away, the others by having all the exercise thrown upon +them, become so sharp and acute, they do twice their usual work, if I +may so express it. This is a merciful dispensation of Providence, +which renders the loss of the one that is gone much less hard to bear. +And does it not teach us also, what a valuable thing constant practice +is? Neither you nor I can feel or hear half so clearly as blind people +can, who practise feeling and hearing on so many occasions where we +save ourselves the trouble, by using sight instead. + +To return to Roderick. You perhaps expected to hear that he fretted +and petted very much after he was first blind, but really it was not +so; and though occasionally he may have grumbled a little, it was only +when he was slightly peevish, as children will sometimes be, and I +believe he would have found something to grumble about then, even if +he had seen as well as you do. + +Besides, as I said before, the knowledge of his misfortune came upon +him by degrees; and after he had got used to it, he did not think much +about it. When the family moved to the great town, Roderick had as it +were to begin his blind lessons over again, for he had to learn to +remember all about the rooms and the furniture there; but with a kind +little brother or sister always at hand to help him he soon became +expert in the town house too, and could run up and down the long +flights of stairs with the nimblest of them. I believe the only +melancholy wish he ever uttered was heard on the first day he reached +the town house. When his Mamma came to see him in the nursery that +evening, she found him kneeling in a chair against one of the +windows--and on going up to him he threw his arms round her neck and +said, "Oh, Mamma, if I could but see the lamplighters!" Do not laugh, +dear readers, if I add that the tears trickled over his cheeks as he +spoke. His mother was much distressed, as she always was when she saw +him thinking of his affliction, but she sat down and said, "Never +mind, dear Roderick, I will tell you all they do to-night." And so she +did, and she made her account so droll, of how the lamplighter ran, +and how he seized his ladder in such a hurry, and all the whole +business, that by the time she got to the end, and said, "and now he +has come to the last lamp-post,--ah, he's up before I can tell you! +and pop! the lamp is lit, and down he runs, and off with his ladder to +the next street--and now the lamps are shining bright all round the +square, and I must go to dinner,"--Roderick was clapping his hands and +laughing as merrily as ever, and he got down from the chair quite +satisfied. Still for a few weeks he used always to get one of the +children to tell him of the lamps lighting, and this was the only sad +little fancy the poor child ever indulged in. + +The great town gave him various new amusements. His Parents used every +now and then to take him to some fine conservatory, where flowers are +shown even in winter, and where he could smell various new and rare +ones, and be told all about their beautiful colours. Then sometimes in +the parks and gardens there was a band playing, which was a great +delight. And besides that, they took him occasionally to morning +concerts for an hour or so; for though it is not usual to take +children to those places, he was deprived of so many enjoyments, they +let him have all they could: and especially musical ones, for it is a +very common thing for blind people to become very fond of music, and +Roderick was so, and among other employments learnt to play. I cannot, +however, I am sorry to say, add that the great doctors in the town +were able to do him any good, though they tried very much, and some of +them were so much charmed and interested by his cheerful manner and +sweet disposition, that they got quite fond of him, and would often +have him come and see them, and play with their children, who were +instructed to amuse him in every possible way, and as children are +naturally kindhearted, this was generally a pleasant task, and many of +them quite looked forward to the visits of the little blind boy. + +And so passed on a long and rather severe winter, and presently +Roderick's birthday came round, and there was great wondering as to +what Mamma could do to keep it. And when the time came it turned out +that she had got a band of musicians to come and play--and the +children danced, and Roderick among them, for some sister was always +ready to take him under her especial charge. And then some older +children acted a little play, which he could hear and understand, and +his Mamma described to him who came in and went out, and in this +manner he enjoyed it nearly as much as the others. + +Well, the spring-time came once more, and with it the season for +returning to the old Sea Castle, and the children went through their +usual round of impatience, and I cannot say that Roderick at all +forbore, for his Papa had promised to teach him to climb a ladder like +the lamplighter when he got back, and he was by that means to go up +one of the very old elm trees, and get on to a great branch there was, +which was curled into a sort of easy chair, and there he was to sit +and play at being judge, and hold trials, and I know not what. There +were besides so many schemes for his instruction and amusement, and +among other things, there was to be a band established in the +neighbouring village, which should come and play to them in the old +Sea Castle--that the child was more wild with hurry and impatience +than ever, and said more absurd things than the rest, for he used +every day to declare the _flies_ were becoming so numerous and +troublesome he was plagued out of his life by their walking over his +face and nose! But as none of his brothers and sisters ever saw the +flies, we are obliged to conclude the tickling he talked of was only +an effect of his excited imagination. + +At last, however, they went, and in compliment to Roderick's wishes it +was a week or two sooner than usual. The return to the Sea Castle home +rather oppressed poor Lady Madeline's spirits. The doctors in the +great town had failed--it was now clear that nothing could be done, +and in spite of all her sincere endeavours to be resigned, she could +not help feeling this coming back to the original scene of her +misfortune very much. One day--it was the anniversary of the day on +which her poor child became blind, the Lady Madeline was working in +her sitting-room that faced the Sea,--Mothers' memories are very acute +about anniversaries, and days, and even hours marked by particular +events. They may not talk much about them perhaps, but they recollect +times and circumstances connected with their children very keenly, and +therefore it is not surprizing that on this day the poor lady was +sitting in her room working, or trying to work, but thinking of +nothing in the world but of that day year and her blind child. It was +a beautiful evening, and the window was thrown wide open, and the +fresh but soft breeze from the Sea blew pleasantly on her face as she +sat at her work-table by the casement--but lovely as the scene outside +was, she seldom lifted up her eyes to look at it. She had been all her +life a great admirer of beautiful scenes, and of all the varieties the +changes of day and night produce--but now the sight of any thing +particularly lovely brought so painfully before her mind the fact that +her child's eyes were closed to all these things, that she often +forbore to look again, and so spared herself a repetition of the pang. +Madeline's eyes therefore remained upon her work, or on her knee when +she ceased working,--for ever and anon there was a burst of noise and +merriment about the old house, which startled her from her painful +thoughts. It was, however, the happy voices of her children, and again +and again she sank into her melancholy mood, and so continued till the +red hue of a very red sunset burst as it were suddenly into the room, +and lighted up the portrait of Roderick, which hung over the +mantel-piece. Involuntarily Madeline's eyes glanced from the lovely +countenance of her then bright-eyed boy, thus illuminated, to the sun +beyond the Sea. She was too late, however. He had just descended +behind the waves in a perfect flood of crimson glory, but as she +gazed, (for she could not withdraw-her eyes,) a haze--yes, the softest +and most etherial cloud-like haze, showing the outline of a beautiful +mountainous island, rose in the far off distance, just on the verge of +the horizon. It was the Fairy Island. It recalled to the mother's +remembrance the existence of her Fairy cousin once more. "Cruel, cruel +Eudora," she exclaimed, "you offered me friendship and assistance, and +in the hour of trouble and affliction you have never been near to help +or even to comfort me." + +And Madeline, in the bitterness of her heart, closed the window +hastily and angrily, and sat down. Soon, however, the noises she had +several times heard of the children playing, became louder and louder, +and the whole party burst at last into the room. "Mamma, Mamma," they +cried, scarcely able to speak, "guess where Roderick has been." "I +cannot." "Oh, but do, dear Mamma!" cried a little thing with fairy +curls, "do guess." "I cannot." "I'll tell Mamma," cried a stout sturdy +fellow, a little older; "Mamma! he's been up the winding staircase of +one turret, and all along the leads and down the winding staircase of +the other turret, and he has done it three times, and he has seen to +do it better than I can." + +Here there was a burst of laughter and a violent clapping of hands at +the little fellow's _Irish_ account. + +"But why don't you do it as well?" asked an elder girl, "you that are +going to be a soldier too!" + +"Yes; I know I'm going to be a soldier; and I'll try and do it as well +as Roderick;" and off ran the eager child, followed by the rest of the +party, all but Roderick. He lingered behind, and edging his way easily +and quietly as usual to his Mother, having asked her where she was, he +sat down on a footstool at her feet. The slight answer she had +occasion to make, revealed by its tone, to the now acute blind child, +that his Mother's mood was serious, and therefore he did not talk and +laugh of what he had accomplished, as he otherwise might have done. +There was a silence of some minutes: at last, "Mamma," said Roderick +gravely, "a light has broken in upon me to-day." + +Lady Madeline started, and with difficulty suppressed a groan. +Roderick felt the start: "Oh Mamma, Mamma," cried he more cheerfully, +"you must not do that! I wasn't thinking about earthly light in the +least, but of a light which I know, when you come to hear of it, you +will say is a great deal better." + +"Indeed! dear Roderick," said Lady Madeline, trying to seem +interested. + +"Yes _indeed_. Mamma. Why, do _you_ remember, (_I_ had never thought +about it till it came into my head to-day;) but do _you_ remember the +silly time when I wouldn't fetch you any thing from the drawing room, +unless there were candles in the room?" + +"I recollect something about it," said his Mother. + +"Oh, I'm so glad you do; because now you can laugh with me over the +nonsense I used to talk and feel then: I remember I used to tell you I +saw _Bears_ when I shut my eyes, and wouldn't go by the pipes in the +passage, and more such foolish stuff! How odd it seems that I should +never have thought about this before, but I never did, and it never +came into my head distinctly till to-day." And here Roderick fell into +a kind of dream for a few minutes, but he soon began again. "You know +what I have done to-day, Mamma. They told you quite right; but they +forgot to tell you I have been practising walking across the leads for +two or three days, that I might be able to go the great round to-day +on purpose to tell you of it; because I thought you would be so much +pleased to know I could go alone all over the house on the day year +when I was first blind. So now, Mamma, if ever, when I am grown up to +be a man, an enemy comes and attacks the old Sea Castle, I shall be +able to run about and give the alarm, for you know I could hear them, +if I could do nothing else." + +There was another pause, for Madeline could not speak: the often +restrained tears for her son's misfortune had this day burst forth, +and could not be kept back; but Roderick did not know, and went on. + +"Certainly those old foolish fears were very wrong, Mamma. And I can't +think how it was, for you used to remind me always that God could take +care of us by night as well as by day, in darkness as well as in +light; and still somehow, though I knew it was true, I didn't believe +it,--at least, not so as not to be afraid in the dark: how very wrong +it was! Still I had quite forgotten all about it till this evening. +But, as I was going the last of the three rounds, I sat down on the +leads for a few minutes to enjoy the air. The sun was just setting, I +am sure, for it felt so fresh and cool; and it was, as I sat there, +that it came into my head how strange it was that, since the day I was +first blind, I had never thought any more about being afraid in the +dark! or by night any more than by day! Indeed it has been quite a +play to me ever since to do different things, and find my way about in +all the rooms and all over the house, without seeing; and I have only +known night from day by getting up and going to bed. So that you see, +Mamma, being always in the dark, has quite cured me of being afraid of +it: and is not this a very good thing indeed?" + +"Very," murmured Madeline. + +"I knew you would say so! But that isn't all I have got to say. A +great deal more than that came into my head when I was out upon the +leads." + +And Roderick nestled closer to his Mother, and laid his arms across +her lap. + +"Something to comfort you still more, Mamma." + +She could not speak. + +"Mamma, you are crying! I feel your tears on my hand. Do not cry about +me." + +"Go on, dear Roderick." + +"Don't you think," continued the child, "that people who wont listen +to what is told them, and wont be cured of being foolish and wicked, +are very like the old Jews you told us about yesterday, who had God +among them, and Moses teaching them what God wished them to do, and +still were as disobedient as ever?" + +"It is true, Roderick, we are all apt to resemble the Jews in their +journey through the wilderness." + +"Yes, Mamma; and particularly people who can't trust in God, though +they know He is everywhere. The Jews knew He was in the cloud and the +pillar, and still were always afraid He couldn't take care of them. +And what came into my head was, that I used to be as bad as those old +Jews once; knowing that God was present everywhere to take care of me, +and still not _feeling_ it so as really to believe it, and not be +afraid. But the blindness has quite cured me, and is it not very +likely that it came on purpose to do so, and to make me trust in God; +for I have done so more and more, dear Mamma, as I groped about this +year, for I have all along hoped He would take care of me, and keep me +from falling; and, therefore, I think the blindness has done me a +great deal of good, and I hope I shall never be like the naughty old +Jews again! This is what I had to say; and I hope you will be as glad +as I am." + +"I will try, my darling," cried poor Madeline. + +The tenderest love, the bitterest grief, mixed with earnest struggles +for resignation to the will of Heaven, contended in the Mother's +bosom, as she clasped her innocent child to her heart. He was almost +frightened. She lifted him on to her knees, and buried her face on his +shoulder. He put his young arms round her neck, and almost wondered +why she sobbed so bitterly; but he felt he must not speak. + +There was a painful pause. Suddenly, however, a strange faint light +began to creep into the room, which had hitherto been gradually +darkening in the twilight. It was a mysterious gleam, like nothing +that is ever seen. It increased in strength and brilliancy, till at +length the whole place became illuminated. + +Roderick's head was against his Mother's breast; and, besides, _he_ +could not see. + +She, however, suddenly started up; the light had become so powerful, +it had forced her from her grief. She sprung up in terror, and a faint +shriek burst from her lips. + +"Mamma, what is the matter?" cried Roderick, holding her fast. + +"Oh, the light--the light, my child! there is such a light!" answered +Madeline. + +"Mother, you are not afraid of _Light_!" exclaimed the bewildered +Roderick. + +"Oh, but _this_ light! it is like no other;--it is awful!" + +"Mother,--it is not the light of _Fire_, is it," cried poor Roderick, +now at last turning pale. "But even if it is, remember that I can help +you _now_; I can go everywhere,--all over, and fear nothing. I can go +and fetch my brothers and sisters, one by one! Oh, send me; send me, +Mamma! I shall be less afraid than any of you, for I cannot see the +horrid light that frightens you!" + +As he finished, a gentle, prolonged "Hush!" resounded through the +room; like the soothing, quieting sound of lullaby to an infant. And +in the midst of the beaming light, the form of the long-forgotten +Fairy Eudora appeared before the eyes of the astonished Madeline. + +"The Sea Castle is not on Fire, you dear, brave child," cried the +Fairy; "and your Mother has no cause for fear. I am a friend." + +"Cousin!" cried the bewildered Madeline, "why are you here?" and a +terrible suspicion flashed through her mind: and she pointed to her +boy, and added, trembling with agony-- + +"Is that _your_ doing?" + +"What if I say it _is_, Cousin Madeline. There is a long story about +that, but we shall have time for it hereafter.--Dear little Cousin +Roderick," pursued the Fairy, seating herself, and drawing Roderick to +her. "You have been a good boy, and got _light out of darkness_. Mind +you hold it fast. You did not use the light well, though, when you had +it, Cousin Roderick." + +"I know I didn't," was his answer. + +"If you could live the light time over again, you would be wiser, +Roderick." + +"I hope I should indeed," he murmured fervently; "but it is not likely +I shall ever see the light again." + +"Little boys shouldn't say things are not likely, when they don't know +any thing about them," cried the Fairy gaily, to cheer them up. + +"I dare say, if I were to ask you, you would tell me it was a bit of +sand that got into your eyes last year, that made you blind; but it +was no such thing, clever Master Roderick. Your naughty Cousin Eudora +had something to do with that; but, luckily, she can put her own work +straight again. Cousin Madeline, what do you think of my pretty +light?" + +"Eudora, it is dreadful." + +"Then shut your eyes, poor thing, we don't want to blind you. But +Roderick and I have not done talking yet. Come, little boy, lift up +your face towards me, and open those pretty eyes wide, that I may see +if I can't do them some good. Why, they are as blue as the water round +our island! There, now, they are looking at my face. Mind you tell me +if you think me pretty." + +"Eudora!" exclaimed Madeline. + +"Sit down, sit down, and shut your eyes, good woman. Now, Roderick, +wont even my Fairy light break through your darkness?" + +"I think it will," sighed Roderick; "there is a white light all round +me, as if I had gone up into a bright white cloud. You frighten me, +Fairy! Take away the light, and put me back into the darkness again." + +"Not so, my pretty Roderick; but I will soften it a little;" and she +waved her wand, and the brilliancy subsided. + +"Fairy, I see you now," screamed Roderick, springing up, for he was +sitting at her feet; "and oh, how beautiful you are!" + +"Roderick!" cried a voice from behind him. He turned; and Mother and +Son were locked in each other's arms. + +Surely I need say no more about this? though perhaps nobody but a +Mother can quite know how happy and thankful Lady Madeline was. And as +to Roderick, he was delighted too! Not but what he had been very happy +and contented before; but sight was a new pleasure to him now; a sort +of treat, like a birthday or Christmas present, which puts every one +into high spirits. It was so charming to him, poor fellow, (for he was +very affectionate), to actually _see_ his Mamma again; and this put +something else into his head, and off he ran out of the room. + +"Eudora," Madeline began, "how am I to thank you! Can you ever forgive +my old unkindness?" + +"Cousin Madeline," replied the Fairy, "I bear no malice to any one, +least of all to you, who come of a race I love, and of a family I +consider my own. No, no, good soul. I have never borne you ill-will, +though my kindness has been severe. Look! I know you love me _now_. +Love me always, Cousin Madeline, and let me ramble undisturbed about +your earthly home; but, mind! no more unkind wishes, however slight. +They come like evil winds to our Fairy island. You kept me away long +enough by those; and when you wished me with you, to get your child +out of his folly, I was very angry, and thought I wouldn't come; but +your, and your husband's wish was so strong and earnest, it haunted me +day and night; and I had no comfort till I had resolved to help you. +And here, Madeline, you have something to forgive _me_. My remedy has +been a harsh, a very harsh one for so slight a fault; but at first I +intended it to last only a few days. Afterwards, however, seeing how +it was acting upon him, and upon you all, for good, I let it work its +full effect: and I think it has been greatly blessed! Now, farewell! +Time is flying, and I must begone." + +And thus the Fairy and Madeline walked to the window, which the latter +reopened, and there was the full moon sailing in the cloudless sky, +and lighting up the lovely, and, this evening, calm and unruffled sea. + +The cousins embraced; and in a few minutes the Fairy had disappeared +in the distance. Madeline lingered awhile at the casement, thinking +tenderly of the gentle-hearted Fairy, and watching the horizon. At +last the outline of the Fairy's home appeared clear and bright against +the dark blue heaven, and then subsided gently by degrees. And +Madeline closed the window, grateful and happy, and went after her +boy. But she had not far to go; for he was coming along the passages +with all his brothers and sisters, wild with delight. And oh, how +Roderick chattered and talked about all their faces, and how he loved +to see the fat cheeks of one near his own age, and how some had grown, +and their noses improved, and what beautiful curls another had! In +short, if he had gone on long they would all have got quite conceited +and fancy, and fancied themselves a set of downright beauties. But you +see it was _love_ that made poor Roderick admire them all so much; +and, above all, he was charmed when they smiled. Ah, how little do +brothers and sisters know how tender their recollections of each +others' faces would become, were a separation to take place among +them! Then all the sweet smiles and pretty looks would be recalled, +that in every day life are seen with such indifference. "Little +children, love one another," during the happy days when you live +together in health and comfort. + +Can you guess, dear readers, what a joyous evening it was, that day at +the Sea Castle Home? How the poor Father rejoiced, and how the old +Hall was lighted up for the Servants, to share in the joy by a merry +dance; and how all the children danced too; and how a barrel of good +ale was tapped, for every one to drink to the health and happiness of +Master Roderick, and all the family. But you never _can_ guess how +Roderick teased all his brothers and sisters that evening, by +constantly kissing them. In the midst of a country dance he would run +right across to the ladies, when he ought to be standing still and +polite, and kiss two or three of his sisters as they were waiting to +dance in their turn, and tell them how nice they looked! Or he would +actually run right away from his place, to his Papa and Mamma;--jump +on their knees, and hug them very hard, and then run back again, +perhaps, into the middle of the dance, and put every thing into +confusion. But the happiest scene of all was, when the Father and +Mother thanked God that night for the blessing that had returned to +their little boy. + +And do not ask me, I beg, if he ever was afraid of being in the dark +again. No, dear Readers, his temporary misfortune had taught him the +best of all lessons;--A LIVING FAITH AND TRUST IN THE PROTECTING +OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD. + + + + +THE LOVE OF GOD. + +PREAMBLE (FROM LIFE.) + +_Van Artevelde_. These are but words. +_Elena_. My lord, they're full of meaning! + _Van Artevelde_. + + +Grace had been said, and Mamma was busy carving for the large party of +youngsters who sat around the comfortable dinner-table, when a little +voice from among them called out, + +"Mamma, do you think a giant could see a carraway seed?" + +Now there was no sweet loaf on the table, nor even on the +sideboard--neither had there been any plum cake in the house for some +time--nor were there any carraway seeds in the biscuits just then. +--In short, there was nothing which could be supposed to have +suggested the idea of carraway seeds to the little boy who made the +enquiry. Still he did make it, and though he went on quietly with his +dinner, he expected to receive an answer. + +Had the good Lady at the head of the table not been the mother of a +large family, she might possibly have dropt the carving knife and +fork, in sheer astonishment at the unaccountableness of the question, +but as it was, she had heard so many other odd ones before, that she +did not by outward sign demonstrate the amusement she felt at this, +but simply said,--"_Perhaps he could_"--for she knew that it was out +of her power to speak positively as to whether a Giant could see a +carraway seed or not. + +Now dear little readers, what do _you_ think about this very important +affair? Do you think a Giant could see a carraway seed or not?--"Oh +yes," you all cry,--"_of course he could!_" + +Nay, my dears, there is no "of course" at all in the matter! Can any +of you, for example, see the creatures that float about and fight in a +drop of water from the Serpentine River? No, certainly not! except +through a microscope. Well, but _why_ not?--you do not know. That I +can easily believe! But then you must never again say that "_of +course_" a Giant could see a carraway seed. + +It is entirely a question of _relative proportion_: so now you feel +quite small, and admit your total ignorance, I hope. Yes! it all +depends upon whether the giant is as much bigger than the carraway +seed, as you are bigger than the curious little insects that float +about and fight in the drop of water from the Serpentine river--for if +he is, we may conclude from analogy that a giant could _not_ see a +carraway seed except through a microscope. You see it is a sort of +rule of three sum, but as I cannot work it out, I tell you honestly +that neither do I know whether a giant could see so small an object or +not, and I advise you all to be as modest as I am myself, and never +speak positively on so difficult a point. + +But enough of this! Turn we now to another point, about which I _can_ +speak positively--namely, that in _one_ sense the world is full of +Giants who cannot see Carraway seeds. + +"It must be in the sense of _Non_sense I should think then!" observes +somewhat scornfully the young lady who is reading this story +aloud--"as if we could believe in there being giants now!" + +Very wittily remarked! my dear young lady, for your age.--I take you +to be about seventeen, and I see by the compression of your pretty +mouth that you consider yourself quite a judge and an authority. Only +take care you don't grow up into one of those Giants yourself! There +is something very suspicious to me in the glance of your eye. +"Ridiculous!" murmurs the fair damsel in question. + +Not at all so: only you travel too fast; by which I mean you speak too +hastily. You learn Italian, I dare say? Oh yes, of course, for you +sing. Well then, _Ombra adorata_ that is "beloved shadow;" _aspetta_ +that is, "wait"--"wait, my beloved shadow" (of a charming young lady), +give me breathing time, and I will explain myself. As you are an +Italian student, I presume you have heard of the great Italian poet +Dante. Now Dante in his _Convito_ or "Banquet" tells his readers that +writings may be understood, and therefore ought to be explained in +four different senses or meanings. There is first the literal sense; +secondly, the allegorical; thirdly, the moral; and fourthly, the +_anagorical_. Now I know you can't explain this last word to me, for I +would wager a large sum that you never tasted of Dante's Banquet--no, +not so much as the smallest crumb from it; and therefore how _should_ +you know what he means by the anagorical sense? Give me leave to have +the honour of enlightening you, then. The anagorical is what the +dictionaries call the _anagogical_ sense. A sense beyond this world; a +sense above the senses; a spiritual sense making common things divine. +It is hard to be arrived at and difficult of comprehension. Now in the +matter of the nice little boy's question about the Giant and the +carraway seed, (for none but a nice little boy could have excogitated +any thing so comical), I have set my heart upon talking to you about +it in the four above mentioned senses. And having already descanted on +the _literal_ sense, I had just made an assertion which appertained to +the _allegorical_ sense, when you so inopportunely interrupted me, My +Ombra Adorata, with your sharp observation about _non_sense: so now we +will go on in peace and quietness, if you please. + +In an allegorical sense the world is full of giants who cannot see +carraway seeds. + +For what are Giants but great men and great women? and the world +abounds with people who consider themselves as belonging to that +class. And a great many of them--Giants of Cleverness, Giants of +Riches, Giants of Rank--Giants of I know not how many things besides, +who are walking about the world every day, very often feel themselves +to be quite raised above the point of attending to trifles; so that +you see I may (in an allegorical sense) say strictly of them that they +cannot see carraway seeds. Oh my dears, however elevated you may be, +or may become; however great or rich or learned, beware, I pray you, +of being a Giant who cannot see a carraway seed! + +For, as my explanation of the _moral_ sense now goes on to show you; +it is so far from being, as these Giants suppose, a proof of their +_superiority_ that they cannot see or notice things they consider +beneath them--that it is, in fact, an evidence of some imperfection or +defect in either their moral or intellectual structure. Just as it is +a proof of our eyes being imperfect, that we cannot see the little +water insects as well as a great big elephant. I am sure you will +allow there is nothing _to boast of_ in this, and so if the +contemplation of great things makes you incapable of attending to +small ones, do remember that _'tis nothing to boast about or be proud +of_. And take very great care you make no mistakes as to what is great +and what is insignificant. With which warning I close my remarks on +the moral lesson, and proceed to that _anagogical_ or spiritual +meaning, which will I hope be my justification for dwelling so long on +the subject, and my best introduction to a story of a serious though +not of a melancholy character. But first, my dear little readers, let +me call upon you in the words which you hear in church: + + "Lift up your hearts!" + +and I would have you answer, + + "We lift them up unto the Lord." + +For it is indeed of Him--the Lord of all Lords, that I now wish to +speak to you. He made the Sun and Stars and the great mountains of our +earth; but He made also the smallest insects that crowd the air and +water, and which are invisible to our imperfect eyes. + +He rules the nations by His word, and "binds kings in chains, and +nobles with links of iron," as the psalm expresses it; but also not a +sparrow falls to the ground without His knowledge and consent. Angels +and Archangels worship around His throne, but His ears are equally +open to the prayer of the youngest child who lifts up its little heart +to Him! + +The universe is at His feet, but the smallest events of our lives are +under His especial superintendence and care. Yes! nothing, however +small and insignificant, that is connected with the present or future +welfare of the smallest and most insignificant of his creatures, is +_beneath the notice of God_! + +Ah! here is indeed a lesson for the fancied Giants of the world!--For, +in this picture of Almighty greatness combined with infinite +condescension, we see that real Perfection requires no Pride to +elevate it. + +But I said this anagogical sense was hard to be attained to and +difficult of comprehension. + +And is it not so? Is it not very difficult to believe thoroughly that +the great God whom we hear about, really and truly cares how we behave +and what we do--really and truly listens to our prayers--really and +truly takes as much interest in us as our earthly Fathers and Mothers +do? + +Ah, I am sure it must be very difficult, because so few people do it, +although we should all be both better and happier if we did. We should +say our prayers so much more earnestly, try to keep out of sin and +naughtiness so much more heartily, and, above all, always be contented +with whatever happened; for who could be anxious, and discontented +about their condition or circumstances, if they _quite_ believed that +every thing that happened to them was watched over and arranged for +their good, by the wisest, kindest, and most powerful of Beings? If +you, my dear children, who have been reading the fairy tales in this +book, were to be told that a most wise, most kind, and most powerful +Fairy had suddenly taken you for life under her particular care, and +that she would never lose sight of you by night or by day, how +delighted you would be! + +Yet just so are you under the particular care and watchful concern of +Almighty God! + +But now, say you, you begin to feel the difficulty of believing it +possible that the great God of the Universe takes this tender interest +in such insignificant and sinful creatures as men and women. + +Consider, then, that we are told that "God is Love;" and if He loves +us, there is no difficulty in believing that He feels all this +interest in us. Do not judge Him by earthly Kings and Potentates. +These are Giants who cannot see carraway seeds. We do not blame them, +for it is impossible they should be interested for every body. But +very very different is both the power and the feeling of the King of +Kings! + +Still we have not got over the difficulty yet, for of all the +wonderful truths we are commanded to believe, no one is so wonderful +and so incomprehensible as _the Love of God_ to the sinful human race. + +And yet it is a truth, and of all truths the most important and most +comfortable; and therefore it is much to be desired that we should +thoroughly believe it: and _I think_ I can make you understand that it +is possible, _by something which you feel in your own hearts_. I think +God has placed even in our own hearts a witness of the possibility of +this great Truth. + +My idea is this. We _know_ that God has been merciful to us--(His very +creation of man was an act of mercy), and _therefore_ we know that He +loves us. _He loves us because He has been merciful to us_. If you +cannot see why this should be, I refer you to the following story, and +advise you to _try for yourselves_. Only be kind to any living +creature, whether a human being, or an irrational animal, and see if +you can keep your heart from _loving_ it! Certainly it does not become +us to try to search out the unsearchable mind of God, but I think it +is permitted us to hope, that the remarkable fast of _Kindness +engendering Love_, which we experience in our own hearts, is intended +to lead us upwards as by a holy guiding thread, to some comprehension +of the Love of that God, who in Christ Jesus actually _gave Himself +for us_. + + +THE TALE. + +Lift up the curtain! + +In a baronial hall, not of the size and grandeur of that at Warwick +Castle, which those who have never seen should try to see before they +die: but still in a hall as antique and interesting in style, fits a +young man reading. + +It is evening, though the sun has not yet set, but it is evening, and +the young man is sitting at a small oak table in a recess in one of +the ancient windows, and before him lies open a book, and on the book, +which he touches not with his hands, but on which his eyes, blinded by +tears, are fixed, there lies a faded primrose. + +The book is the Bible, and the faded primrose lies on that verse in +the Psalm, "Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for his +goodness, and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of +men!" and some hand had placed a slight pencil mark before these +words. + +This scene brings before you a story of distress, and yet this young +man is the possessor of a large estate;--the baronial hall and house +are his own, and he is young and amiable, and till within the last few +months had led a life of almost uninterrupted comfort and prosperity +from his cradle upwards. Two years ago he became the betrothed lover +of a young lady no less interesting than himself, and as no obstacle +prevented their union, both had for these two years looked forward to +it, as the one certain and sure event of their lives. The young man's +parents had died when he was very young; but, in compliance with the +wishes of his Guardians, he deferred his marriage till he should have +come of age. + +Meanwhile, as the time of probation drew near its close, it had been +his delight to sit up the old place in such a manner as should become +his bride, and the alterations had, in many cases, been made under her +eye and according to her wishes, for she was already by anticipation, +and in the heart of its owner, the mistress of the place. + +At last the wedding day was fixed; but a few weeks before the time +came, one of those sad diseases which steal mysteriously into the +vitals of the young and wear away life long before its natural period, +fell upon her:--and _now_, nothing remained to him, who had hoped to +have her as his companion through life, but the Bible she had used +during her sickness, and which was found on the table by her couch +after her death, open and marked at the very place I have told you +about; together with the faded primrose which he had gathered for her +on the last morning of her life. + +This was a very sad event for those who were left behind to lament the +loss of one whom they had loved so dearly. The Mother indeed, who had +known other trials of life, bent her head submissively to this one, +and cherishing sweet recollections of her daughter's piety and +goodness, looked forward to a time of reunion in a happier world. But +the poor young man, whose name was Theodore, never having known a care +or a sorrow before, was stupefied and overpowered by this sudden +destruction of all his hopes and happiness. Seeing, however, that +_her_ last thought had been the mercy and goodness of God, he tried to +make it _his_ thought too; and he would sit for hours looking at the +verse which she had marked in the Bible. + +But unfortunately he made no effort besides, and having no kind +relatives or friends near him to rouse him from his melancholy stupor +to some of the active duties of life, he spent many many weeks in +listless sorrow, not caring much what became either of himself, his +dependents, or his property. And though he had become, by degrees, so +far resigned as to believe that every thing was for the best--even +_her_ death--he now took up a strange and dismal fancy, that though +the Almighty was a God of goodness and justice, it was quite +impossible that He should _love_ any beings so sinful and ungrateful +as the human race. This vain distinction of a morbid imagination was +the result of that solitude, inactivity, and the constantly dwelling +upon himself and his own troubles, to which he had unfortunately given +himself up, and which had brought his mind into such an unhealthy +state, that he could neither reason nor think properly. + +In this condition of feeling, having one day wandered to a +considerable distance from home, he sat down on the greensward to +rest; when lo! after he had remained there for some little time +musing, as usual, he saw approaching him two shining creatures, who +looked like spirits or angels, and as they came up to him they looked +at him very earnestly, and one said to the other, + +"He is doubting the goodness of God!?" + +Then Theodore shuddered, and said, "I am not! once perhaps I did, but +not now: all things happen for the best." Yet the Spirit repeated, "He +is doubting the goodness of God!" Theodore shuddered again, and cried +out "I am _not!_" for he felt as if it was a heavy accusation. +Whereupon the Spirit continued, "To disbelieve the love of God is to +doubt His goodness." + +"No, no," exclaimed Theodore eagerly, "it is not! I do not doubt His +goodness--His compassion even for the wretched creatures whom He +formed out of dust. But I--thoughtless in my youth; self-confident in +prosperity; ungrateful and rebellious under affliction; how can such a +wretch as _I_ have been, believe in the _love_ of God to me! God is +good and just, but do not talk to me of His Love to man, as if it were +possible He could feel for them the tenderness of kind affection! Who +are you?" + +Without noticing this question, the Spirit repeated, in emphatic +tones, "To disbelieve the Love of God is to doubt His goodness, and +deny the perfection of His nature!" + +"I tell you, No!" shouted Theodore, wildly: "It is _because_ of His +goodness and _because_ of the perfection of His nature, that I +disbelieve the possibility of His Love to the wretched race of man!" + +"Judge by your own heart!" exclaimed the Spirit who had not yet +spoken. + +But when Theodore raised his eyes to look upon her, both had +disappeared. He felt grieved, he knew not why. "_My own heart!_" he +murmured; "ah! my own heart has been the witness against me. It has +taught me the dreadful truth." + +"Truth never yet was found of him who leads a life of selfish misery," +whispered a soft voice receding into the distance; "Theodore! Judge by +your own heart. Even it may teach you better things!" + +Theodore started up and looked hastily around. He felt as if he could +have followed that soft receding voice into eternity. But there was no +one near. That sound, however, had been like an echo from hopes buried +in the grave; and the poor youth sank to the ground on his knees, and, +hiding his face in his hands, wept bitterly. Suddenly one thought took +possession of him out of what had been said. And it was one (as usual) +of self-reproach. The Spirit had reproached him with leading a life of +selfish misery! Vividly impressed by this idea, he started off +hurriedly for his home, crying aloud--"Oh, the wasted time; the lost +hours; the precious moments that might have been employed in +usefulness!" And thus he pursued his way till he had left the outer +country behind him, and had entered the gates that bounded his +extensive domain when, all at once, his course was stopped by +something he struck against as he was walking quickly along. + +Looking down, he perceived that a sickly, hungry-looking child was +stretched across the road asleep, and that by its side sat a woman, +the picture of misery and want. Theodore felt a strong sensation of +compassion seize him as he gazed at the child, and he stooped and +lifted it from the ground. + +The woman observed Theodore's eye, and said, "Ay, without help we +shall neither of us be here long!" + +"I will help you," said Theodore, "tell me what I can do!" + +"What can you or any one do, for a dying woman and a half-starved +child?" groaned the poor creature. "Food, food! medicine and help!" +These words burst from her in broken accents--I am dying!" + +"Are you so _very_ ill?" asked Theodore, turning deadly pale; and he +murmured to himself--"Death again! I dare not see it again so soon! +Here!" continued he, thrusting gold into her hand, "now you see that I +will help you! Look, I will send you food, and you shall be brought +to the house: but let me take the child, he cannot do you good, and I +will see to him." "He must not see her die;" was Theodore's inward +thought. + +"Ay, take him," muttered the woman gloomily, "and send me cordials. No +one wants to go even an hour before their time!" + +Theodore obeyed almost mechanically, and lifting up the little boy, he +made a shift to carry him to the house. On arriving there, he called +for his housekeeper and desired her to take food and wine to the woman +he had left, and to bring her to the house. Then he sent another +servant for a doctor, and afterwards undertook himself the care of the +forlorn child. He placed him on a sofa in his study and sat down by +him. + +"Are you ill?" was his first question. + +"I don't know," was the answer. + +"Are you hungry?" + +"Very!" + +Here Theodore got up and went to the next room, where preparations +were being made for dinner, and fetched bread and gave it to the boy, +who ate it greedily, without once lifting up his eyes. "Poor child," +thought Theodore, "life has no _mental_ troubles for him!" + +"Are you sorry your mother is so ill?" was his next inquiry. + +"She's not my mother," muttered the boy. + +Theodore started--"What do you mean? Are you not that woman's +_child_?" + +"No! She told me I wasn't." + +"Who are you, then?" + +"I don't know. She told me she had stolen me to beg for her." + +"And do you remember nothing about it?" + +"No, its too long ago." + +Theodore now fetched him more bread, but whilst he was eating it he no +longer sat by him, but walked up and down the room. Every now and then +as he stopped and looked at the thin, sickly looking object he had +brought into the house, he was overtaken by a strong feeling of pity +for his miserable condition. + +This child was as desolate as himself, only in another way. Stolen +from his parents to beg for the strange woman, he had lived with her +so long that he had forgotten his real home altogether! Bound by no +ties of kindred and comfort to this world. "He is more desolate than I +am myself!" repeated Theodore, again and again. + +After a time he approached the boy again. + +"The woman will say you are her child, and make you go back and beg +for her if she gets better, will she not?" + +"She doesn't want me now." + +"How so?" + +"She says, I'm too hungry, and eat all the bread away from her, and +don't get enough for us both." + +A curious expression passed across Theodore's face as he turned away +and sat down in his chair once more. It looked like a gleam of +satisfaction. The boy, meanwhile, sat quite still, looking round the +room. He had a grave and somewhat interesting face, but that the dark +eyes looked a little too keen and restless to be quite pleasant. +Still, when he smiled, and he had smiled brightly when he first saw +the bread, his countenance improved; and there was, besides, something +about his open forehead which redeemed the covert expression of his +eye. He was about seven years old, and precocious in quickness of a +particular kind, as is very often the case with vagrant children. + +Theodore's reverie was broken at last by the arrival of his good old +housekeeper, who came in, flurried and indignant, to inform him that +the woman she had been in search of was no where to be found. She had +been, "she was sure," up and down all the carriage roads, and made +enquiries at all the lodges, and finally discovered that a beggar +woman had passed out at one of them upwards of an hour before, very +hurriedly, and indeed almost at a running pace. + +Theodore glanced at the child, but his countenance never changed. Only +he sat eying the housekeeper as she spoke, apparently indifferent to +the result. The housekeeper now began to ejaculate in broken +sentences, "The base creature! To think that you should have taken all +this trouble, Sir! and had the child actually into the house! +and--gracious me," added she in a half whisper, "hadn't I better call +the butler, Sir; hadn't he" (nodding significantly towards the child) +"better be taken to the workhouse at once, Sir?" + +"I think not," answered Theodore slowly--"not yet, I think. The truth +is, I find he's not her own child, but has been stolen; and--and--in +fact, we can send him to the workhouse to-morrow. Perhaps, after all, +the woman may come here for him. But, at any rate, there is time +enough. You see this is an odd affair; and, as the boy is not _hers_, +we don't know who he may not turn out to be some day." And, as +Theodore thus concluded his sentence, he got up and looked at the old +housekeeper with a smile--a melancholy one it is true, but still it +was a smile--the first that had been seen on his face since his +terrible bereavement. + +And the faithful servant was so much pleased that she forgot every +thing else in a desire to keep up the interest that had lured her +young master so unaccountably from his misery. + +"Well, to be sure, Sir, what you say's quite right, and we can make +the poor thing comfortable for to-night, and then you can do as you +please to-morrow. Shall I take him with me, Sir, and make him clean, +while you dine? I can borrow some tidy clothes from the bailiff's +wife, I dare say; and after he's made respectable, you can see him +again, Sir, if you think proper." + +This proposition was more grateful to Theodore's mind than he cared to +acknowledge to himself. Indeed he had no clear ideas of his feelings +about the little accident that had interrupted the dismal course of +his life; and he studiously avoided questioning himself too closely. +Only there came across him, every now and then, a sensation that there +was some special providence about it all, and that there was some +mysterious connection between this adventure and the words of the +apparitions who had spoken to him in the morning. + +But "let be, let us see what will happen," was the ruling feeling, and +as he felt less miserable than usual, he did not wish to disturb the +pleasing dream by enquiries, why? + +After his solitary dinner, as he was seated alone in his arm chair, he +was relapsing fast into his usual unhappy state of mind, for this was +at all times the most trying part of the day to him, when a knock at +the door aroused him. + +Ah, it was the good old housekeeper again! She who, with the acute +instinct of sorrow-soothing which women so eminently possess, had +purposely come at this the young master's "dark hour," to try if it +could be kept back by the charm she had seen working a short time +before. "The little fellow is quite fit to come in now, Sir, if you'd +wish to see him before he's put to bed." And her efforts were rewarded +by seeing a look of interest light up poor Theodore's eye. The boy was +now ushered in, and his improved appearance and cleanliness were very +striking. Theodore took hold of his hand--"There, you need not be +afraid; you may sit down upon that chair. Are you comfortable?" "Yes." +"Have you had plenty to eat?" "Yes, plenty." And the child laughed a +little. + +"I hope you are a good boy." + +He looked stupid. "Can you say your prayers?" + +"What's that?" + +"Ah! I was afraid not. You never heard about God?" "Yes; but the woman +used to keep that to herself." "Keep what?" + +"Why," _for God's sake_, when she begged. She didn't let me say it, but +she always said it herself; and then, when people wouldn't give us any +thing, she used to say--" + +"No, no! I will not hear about that;" interrupted Theodore, "but I +hope some day you will learn about God." + +"In the begging? must I say it in the begging next time?" + +"No, I don't mean that; not in begging bread of people in the road, +but in praying." + +"What's that?" "Begging." "Then I am to beg?" "No, not on the road, +but of a great good Being, who will never refuse what you ask." + +"Is that _you_?" + +"No, my poor boy; not me, but the great Being, called God, who lives +in the sky. You must beg all you want of Him." + +"I don't know Him." + +"No; but you will learn to know Him when you have listened to me and +prayed to Him." + +"I don't know praying; I know begging." + +"Well, then, when you have begged Him--" + +"What am I to say?" + +"First, you must say, 'Our Father--'" + +"Father's dead," interrupted the boy; + +"Ah, but I do not mean _that_ father," answered Theodore; "and how do +you know even that _that_ father is dead?" + +"The woman said so. One day she told me Father and Mother were both +dead, and there was nobody left to love me, so I must mind her." + +"The woman was wrong," cried Theodore compassionately. "You have +another Father, who never dies, and who loves you always!--" + +A knock at the door interrupted Theodore's _lesson on the Love of +God_. + +"It's about time the poor thing was put to bed," suggested the +housekeeper, looking in. "I dare say he's tired." + +"I dare say he is," said Theodore mechanically. "Good night, little +boy. What used they to call you?" + +"Reuben." + +"Good night, little Reuben." And he was taken away. + +_You have another Father who never dies and who loves you always_! +founded like an echo through the room. Theodore arose and looked +around, but there was no one there. He resumed his feat, and wondered +how he had got involved in teaching the beggar boy religion. He +lamented his awkwardness and unfitness for the talk; but still he +thought he had done right. As to his last assertion, how else could he +make the child comprehend God at all? Besides, how cruel it would be +to infect him with his own miserable convictions. They would come time +enough, perhaps! + +Such was the current of his thoughts. The next morning he told the old +housekeeper of the boy's ignorance and his difficulty with him, and +engaged her to help him in his talk, which she readily undertook. + +It is not my intention to describe the many endeavours Theodore made +to impress the first great truths of Christianity upon Reuben's mind; +but I can assure you he felt all the better for them himself. How it +was that he never sent the little boy to the workhouse you can guess. +For the first few days he kept him to see (as he said), if the woman +would come back for him. Then he wished him to stay till he and the +housekeeper had sufficiently impressed him by their lessons. And +then--why then--by degrees, all mention of the workhouse ceased, and +better clothes were bought for him; and the housekeeper, who was one +of the by-gone generation of warm-hearted old family servants, became, +for her master's sake, a perfect mother to him; and to Theodore he +involuntarily proved an object of daily increasing interest, and +finally, of strong personal affection. + +And thus nearly a year passed over, during which time Theodore's +health and activity in a measure returned; but the cheerfulness of a +happy mind was still wanting. Reuben often lured him temporarily into +it, but he would again relapse, and had never given up his unhappy +theory, though now he dwelt upon it much less frequently than of old. +At the end of the year, however, Theodore was much distressed by +fancying that he detected Reuben in lying; and he was, besides, by no +means sure that little trifles were not taken from him by the child +for his own use and amusement. He communicated his suspicions to the +housekeeper, and alas! found his worst fears confirmed. The pain and +sorrow he felt at this discovery were of a kind totally new to him. +But the strongest feeling of all was, that he would not give up the +boy to vicious habits without a struggle (cost what it might) to save +him! The housekeeper told him, with tears, that she had observed +Reuben's habit of petty lying and taking any thing he fancied, very +soon after his admission to the house; but she confessed that she had +not had the heart to inform her young Master, lest he should send the +boy away who had seemed to take him so out of his trouble! This was +what she most thought about. So she had tried to correct the child +herself, but not with the success she had desired. "How little she +knows the heart," thought Theodore, "his evil propensities would have +been an additional claim upon my kindness!" + +I will pass over all that Theodore said to the boy himself. No father +could have been more earnest, more solemn in his warnings, or more +kind in his expostulations. Reuben, by this time, could understand all +he said, and shame and repentance burnt in his face during a painful +interview. It is right to remind you, dear children, of the many +excuses that were to be made for him. He had been brought up, till +seven years old, in total ignorance of God, and without ever having +heard one duty commanded or one sin forbidden. The woman lied daily +and hourly in his sight, and made him do the same; and she took all +she could lay hold of in any way, and beat him if he did not follow +her example; and although Theodore's instructions had opened a new +world on the child's mind, the _evil_ HABITS were not so soon got rid +of. So there the mischief was; and now the great difficulty Theodore +felt, was to know what to do for the best. And, after much +consideration, he decided to send him to school, as the likeliest +means of eradicating the bad habits the boy had acquired. I say +_habits_, rather than dispositions, for there was indeed nothing mean +or sneaking about his character. On the contrary, he was both +courageous and generous in the turn of his mind, and, after his health +improved, his manners partook of the same freedom and candour. + +To school therefore poor Reuben went; and Theodore was almost +astonished himself at the blank which his absence created. + +But having desired that continued reports should be sent to him of his +conduct, he meanwhile began seriously to think what was to become of +him hereafter. At last it occurred to him that he might employ him in +some way or other about his property; and with a view to this, +Theodore himself began to take more interest in his estate than he had +had the energy to bestow before, and made himself more intimately +acquainted with the wants and modes of life of those under his +control. + +Thus another year passed away in quiet but constant occupation; and +the many opportunities Theodore now had of doing good, softened and +cheered his mind. But he was not quite cured. For of all things in the +world whims are the very hardest to cure, because, reason as you will, +people still stick to their whims. Reuben was not allowed to return +once during that year to the old hall. During the last few months, +however, his progress had been most satisfactory, and the Master +considered that the evil was overcome; and so, at the end of the year, +Theodore wrote word to Reuben that he wished him to come "home" for +his holidays. Poor Reuben cried bitterly again when he read the +letter; for, as he said to the Master, "It is _not_ my home, though he +has been very good to me. I have no home!" + +Theodore's heart overflowed with pleasure and almost pride when he saw +the boy again. Every turn in the expression of his face was improved; +and when Theodore first took his hand, the lad bent his face over it +and sobbed out an entreaty for pardon for his dreadful wickedness. +"Reuben," cried Theodore, "never say that again. All is forgotten +since your conduct is changed. Forget the past as soon as possible. It +will never be remembered by me." + +Time went on during the holidays very happily on the whole. In fact +there was no drawback; but that now and then Theodore, who would often +sit looking at his adopted child's face, noticed a painful expression +which he could not account for. His conduct was irreproachable and his +respect for Theodore seemed, if possible, increased; but he would not +be frank with him, and no encouragement beguiled him into the ease of +trusted affection. Theodore did not choose to notice this for some +weeks, but, as the time of Reuben's return to school drew near, he was +unwilling to let him go without some expostulation. + +"Reuben," said he one day, "you are going back to school. Your conduct +has quite satisfied me: but tell me, before you go, why you so often +look unhappy? It is a poor return (though I now touch on this subject +for the first time in my life), it is a poor return for the interest I +have taken in you; and for the real love you know I feel towards you!" + +For a moment Reuben's large dark eyes glanced up at Theodore's face; +but they sank again as quickly: his cheeks grew crimson, and tears +rolled over them which he could not conceal. + +"What is the matter, Reuben; what is the meaning of this? Am I loving +one who does not love me in return?" + +"You _cannot_ love me, Sir!" ejaculated the boy so earnestly that it +quite startled his companion. + +"Reuben, what _can_ you mean? Have you forgotten how I have taken you +and acted by you as if I had been your Father. I _cannot love_ you? +What else but _love_ for you has made me do what I have done?" + +"That was all your goodness and the kindness of your heart, Sir. You +couldn't love me when you picked me up in the road. It was pity and +kindness, and it has been the same ever since; not _Love_--" and the +tears again struggled to his eyes. + +Theodore rushed suddenly from the room and into his private apartment, +and falling on his knees, spread his hands over his head in prayer. +"My Lord and my God!" cried he solemnly, "what means this echo from my +own heart? Am I awake, or do I dream?" A profound silence was around +him; but, as he arose and opened his eyes, he beheld before him, +though fading rapidly from his sight, the angelic visions he had seen +two years before. + + * * * * * + +He returned to Reuben, who was sitting at the table, his face buried +in his arms. + +Theodore laid his hand upon him. "Reuben, look up! You are under a +great mistake. You are but a boy, and must not fancy you know the ins +and outs of the human heart. Reuben, I do love you, and have always +loved you." + +"You cannot, Sir!" + +"Again? and why not?" + +"You are too much above me; I am an outcast, and was a beggar. It +wasn't likely you could _love_ me at any time. Besides, there has been +something since." + +"What?" + +"You told me to forget it, Sir, but I cannot. After all your kindness +and goodness, and trying to make me happy and do me every good, I was +all along (during the first year), doing what was wrong, deceiving you +and injuring you. I am not only an outcast, but I have been wicked and +ungrateful, and made you unhappy by my misconduct. Indeed I cannot +bear to think of it; but I dare not deceive myself about your _Love_, +Sir! I know you _cannot_ love me; but I am so grateful to you for your +goodness, I hope you will not be angry with me for speaking the truth: +only, though I am grateful and try to be contented, I cannot be as +_happy_ as if you _did_ love me." + +As Theodore gazed on poor Reuben's face, he saw standing behind him +the beautiful visions once more. + +"Now judge by your own heart!" murmured the Spirits, as smiling they +disappeared. + +And Theodore did so. Going up to Reuben, he put his arms around him, +and wept over him tears of love and gratitude for the blessing which +he felt stealing into his own mind. "Reuben," cried he, "my child +Reuben! There have been but two human beings in the world on whom I +have bestowed my love; for, like you, I lost my parents young. These +two were--her I lost and yourself!" + +"If I thought you _loved_ me, I would die for you!" cried Reuben, +springing up and gazing earnestly on Theodore's face. + +"My God!" murmured Theodore, "may I be able to feel this to Thee!" + + * * * * * + +I think more words are unnecessary. You cannot doubt that Theodore +soon convinced Reuben of his love, nor that Theodore took the lesson +to himself, and now saw that God had placed in the human heart a +witness of the possibility of His love to man. Yes, the clinging +affection we feel for those we have been kind to; our own power of +forgiving _any_ thing to them; is an instinct which has been +mercifully implanted in our hearts to teach us to believe in that Love +of God, which is otherwise so incredible to human reason. + +If you care to know what became of Theodore and Reuben, you must in +fancy pass over a few years. Reuben soon had so strong a wish to go to +sea, that he entered the merchant service; and by the time he became +Master of his own vessel and revisited the hall when he came ashore, +Theodore was to be found there with a kind and gentle wife by his +side; and frolicking about the ancient hall were a parcel of noisy +children, to whom the arrival from sea of him whom they always +unaccountably would call "Uncle Reuben," was ever a gala treat. Dear +readers, Farewell! + +BENEDICITE. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS AND OTHER +TALES*** + + +******* This file should be named 11319-8.txt or 11319-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/3/1/11319 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Barker</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: The Fairy Godmothers and Other Tales</p> +<p>Author: Mrs. Alfred Gatty</p> +<p>Release Date: February 26, 2004 [eBook #11319]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: iso-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS AND OTHER TALES***</p> +<br> +<br> +<center><b>E-text prepared by Internet Archive;<br> + University of Florida;<br> + and Beth Trapaga and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team</b></center> +<br> +<br> +<table border=0 bgcolor="ccccff" cellpadding=10> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through the Florida + Board of Education, Division of Colleges and Universities, + PALMM Project, 2001. (Preservation and Access for American and + British Children's Literature, 1850-1869.) See<br> + <a href="http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/dl/UF00001801.jpg"> + http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/dl/UF00001801.jpg</a> + <br> + or<br> + <a href="http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/dl/UF00001801.pdf"> + http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/dl/UF00001801.pdf</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<br> +<br> +<hr> +<br> + +<center> +<img src="Images/Hermione.jpg" alt="Hermione Sketching" width="222" height="358" +hspace="4" vspace="8" border="1"> +</center> + +<br> +<h1> +THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS +</h1> + +<h2> +AND OTHER TALES. +</h2> +<br> + +<h3> +BY MRS. ALFRED GATTY. +</h3> + + +<p class="note"> +Col miele, e non coll' aceto si piglian le mosche. +</p> +<p class="att"> +<i>Italian Proverb</i>. +</p> +<p> </p> +<p class="note"> +London:<br> +George Bell, 186, Fleet Street. +<br><br> +1851. +</p> + +<hr align="center" size="2" width="50%"> + +<center><img src="Images/Deco1.jpg" alt="Decoration" +width="234" height="56" hspace="4" +vspace="8"></center> + +<p class="left"> +To My Children<br><br> + +These tales are most affectionately dedicated. They were written +in hours of sickness, but are intended to be read by the healthy and +joyous young: and to illustrate some favourite and long cherished +convictions.<br> +<br> +Margaret Gatty.<br> +<br> +Ecclesfield Vicarage,<br> +27th March, 1851. +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr align="center" size="2" width="50%"> + +<h3>CONTENTS.</h3> + +<p class="note"> + +<a href="#Fairy"> +The Fairy Godmothers</a><br><br> + +<a href="#Joachim"> +Joachim the Mimic</a><br><br> + +<a href="#Darkness"> +Darkness and Light</a><br><br> + +<a href="#Love"> +The Love of God</a><br><br> +</p> + +<p class="note"> +<small> +The design for the Frontispiece which adorns this volume is by the +pencil of the writer's <br>kind and highly gifted friend, Miss Lucette E. +Barker. +</small> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr align="center" size="2" width="80%"> + +<center> +<img src="Images/Deco2.jpg" alt="Decoration 2" width="234" height="59" +hspace="4" vspace="8"> +</center> + +<a name="Fairy"></a> + +<h3> +THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS. +</h3> + + +<p> +<img src ="Images/LetterI.jpg" alt="Ornate I" +width="67" height="62"> + +In one of the beautiful bays on the coast of Fairy Land, a party of +Fairies was assembled on a lovely evening in July. There are many +beautiful bays on the coast of England, and there is one especially, +my dear little readers, which you and I know of, where a long line of +grand old rocks stretches far into the sea on the left-hand extremity, +while in the distance to the right a warning lighthouse with its +changing lights gives an almost solemn beauty to the scene; for one +cannot help thinking, at the sight of it, of the poor storm-driven +mariner, whom even that friendly light may fail to save from a sad and +sudden death. But beautiful as this little bay is, of which I speak, +and fond as we are of it, it is nothing, I do assure you, compared to +the bays in Fairy Land! There, there are no light-houses reminding one +painfully of danger and destruction near, but all is loveliness and +peace; and even the rocks would be turned into soft pillows by the +good-natured Fairies who inhabit the country, should any strange +accident drive a mortal ship on that shore. +</p> + +<p> +Also the bays in Fairy Land face to the west, which is a great +advantage, for in an evening there you may sit and watch the golden +sun dipping behind the waves; and the rich red tints he sends out upon +the rocks before he sets, are beyond measure beautiful and attractive. +Especially, I believe, the Fairies enjoy this time of day, for they +are odd little creatures, rather conceited, and fond of everything +pretty; consequently they like to be floating about the rocks in their +white dresses when the crimson and golden hues of sunset shine on +them, knowing very well they look like so many bright flowers on the +occasion. +</p> + +<p> +The day I speak of however had been very hot, and at the time I speak +of, the Fairies felt a little lazy and were reclining on some rocks +covered with sea-weed and amusing themselves by talking. In general +the conversation of these little creatures is rather light and +frivolous and gay; but it is really a fact that they were just then +all serious together and all were engaged in a very profound +conversation on human happiness. +</p> + +<p> +I am sorry to have so many explanations to give, but I think it quite +necessary to tell you the reason of so uncommon an event as a party +of Fairies being serious. Well then, there were going to be, very +shortly, several extremely gay christenings in the world, and some of +the Fairies had been invited to attend at them as Godmothers, in order +that they might bestow Fairy gifts on the different infants. +</p> + +<p> +Four or five of the christenings were to take place the next day, and +the Fairies who were going were discussing with each other what gifts +they should bestow, and as their only object was to ensure the +happiness of the children for whom they were interested, they +naturally fell into a discourse as to what gifts were most likely to +have so charming an effect. "Your Godchild is a girl too, I believe," +said Euphrosyne to Ianthe [Fairies are privileged, you know, to have +romantic names] "what do you think of bestowing upon her?" "Why," +answered Ianthe, "the old story, I suppose—BEAUTY: at least such +was my intention, but if you can any of you show me I am wrong in +supposing it a cause of happiness to the mortal race, why, I suppose +I must give her ugliness instead." +</p> + +<p> +"Sister, I hope you will do no such thing," murmured a young Fairy who +lay near twining seaweeds into a wreath. "I never until this evening +heard a doubt upon the subject, and to tell you the truth the only +time I ever envy a mortal is when I see a regular beauty enter a large +assembly. Oh, the triumph of that moment! Every eye turned upon her; +murmurs of admiration, not unmixed with envy, greeting her as she +sweeps along; everyone courting her acquaintance; a word, a smile of +hers more valued than a pearl or a ruby. A sort of queen of Nature's +own making, reigning royally in undisputed sway, let her circumstances +of life be what they may! Look how mean the richest woman who is ugly +looks by the side of her! No no, dear Ianthe, make your little lady +handsome, and you have done the best that Fairy can do for her. I +declare I envy her beforehand! Here where we are all so beautiful +together there is no interest or excitement about it—it is quite +flat." And so saying the young fairy Leila laid herself down to her +wreath again. "Why, Leila, you are absolutely eloquent!" observed +Ianthe, "Beauty it certainly must be." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, I declare," pursued Ianthe, rousing up again, "I have sometimes +really wished myself ugly, that I might some day have the pleasure of +suddenly finding myself beautiful!" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, but then," said a Fairy from behind, "is there no danger of your +regular beauty, as you call her, getting as tired of being beautiful +as you are, and wishing herself ugly too?" +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly, not," answered Ianthe, "for, for an earthly beauty there +would always be the excitement of being envied." +</p> + +<p> +"Come, come," persisted the former speaker, "then the gift of being +envied would be the best thing to bestow, at all events a necessary +addition." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh," cried Leila, stopping her ears, "I can't argue, I never could—I +can't hear any more, I am quite satisfied that I am right; you can't +argue away the pleasure of being a beauty in a ball-room. Ask any of +them themselves." +</p> + +<p> +"Well," said Ianthe, "we need pursue the subject no further. I am +resolved. My baby is to be beautiful, beautiful as the dawn of the +morning; they shall call her Aurora!" +</p> + +<p> +"I shall not follow your example," observed Euphrosyne, "I don't at +all like that notion of the necessity of <i>envy</i> to make the beauty's +joy complete. Besides, I'm not at all sure beauty is not much more +charming in idea than in possession. Nobody spend their lives in +entering a ball-room, and one gets sadly tired of one's own face. I'm +sure <i>I</i> do, beautiful as it is;" and as she spoke the Fairy stooped +over a clear tide pool which mirrored her lovely countenance; "and yet +look what a nose I have! It is absolutely exquisite! And this hair!" +and she held up her long silken curling tresses and looked at them +reflected in the water as she spoke. A musical laugh rang through the +fairy group. Euphrosyne resumed her seat. "There isn't a mortal damsel +in the world who would not go into raptures to resemble me," pursued +she, "and yet—but, oh dear, I am getting quite prosy, and it is quite +useless, for Ianthe has decided. I, on the contrary, am thinking of +something far less romantic and interesting, but I suspect far more +necessary to the happiness of mortals than beauty—I mean RICHES." +</p> + +<p> +"Men are horribly fond of them, certainly," observed the Fairy from +behind, whose name was Ambrosia. "I can't endure men on that very +account. Look at the grubby wretched lives they lead in +counting-houses and banks, and dreadful dingy holes and corners of +great towns, where we wouldn't set the soles of our feet, and this for +forty or fifty years, perhaps, in order that in the fifty-first, or +perhaps later still, they may turn into butterflies for the little bit +of life that is left to them. And such butterflies, too! not knowing +what to do with their gay coats and fine wings when they get them at +last." +</p> + +<p> +"I think you are putting an extreme case," observed Euphrosyne. +"Though the grubs themselves may not thoroughly enjoy the riches they +have so laboriously acquired, their children or grandchildren may, and +live at ease and enjoy them. I should not think of bestowing great +riches on uneducated paupers. But it is another matter to give them to +people whom education has refined, and who would know how to enjoy and +employ them." +</p> + +<p> +"I wonder," suggested a very little Fairy, scarcely grown to her full +size, "why you don't just give your Godchildren moderate good health, +and enough money to make them quite comfortable without puzzling +them?" +</p> + +<p> +"You are a complete Solomon," observed Euphrosyne, "but you must know, +my dear, that moderate good health and a mere comfortable competency +would hardly be considered Fairy gifts by our friends in the lower +world. These things are, as it were, the absolute <i>necessities</i> of a +happy life; they are the beef and mutton (to borrow an earthly simile) +of the entertainment. Fairy gifts form the somewhat unnecessary (and +questionably wholesome) second course, the sweets, the bonbons, the +luscious luxuries of the repast. +</p> + +<p> +"Very few, by comparison, get them. Very few infants you know have +Fairy Godmothers, but we make it a rule that those who have, shall +always be distinguished from the crowd. Other-wise our power would not +be believed in. No, my little Aglaia, all our Godchildren start from +the point you spoke of—'caeteris paribus,' as those dingy black +lawyers say—all other things being equal—it is a question now of +bestowing extra superfine Fairy gifts." +</p> + +<p> +Aglaia tittered—"I know Sister Euphrosyne is thinking of the +christening suppers, and the whipped creams, and the syllabubs!" and +away she tripped to the other end of the bay, lest the older Fairies +should scold her for impertinence. +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly," pursued Euphrosyne, "I have a great contempt for riches +myself. Bah! the idea of all the troublesome as well as wicked things +men do in order that they may be able to keep a lumbering thing they +call a carriage, to drive them round a dirty town. Just think of that +one thing alone! It is hardly credible." And Euphrosyne laid her head +by the side of Leila's, and looked up into the deep blue sky. +</p> + +<p> +"Remember," said Ambrosia, from behind, "it is a choice with poor +mortals between heavy foot-walking, and the lumbering vehicles you +talk of. Perhaps when their legs ache terribly, the carriages are not +such bad things. We can hardly judge dispassionately in such a matter, +we who can float and fly!" and the delicate Ambrosia, springing up, +floated softly round the bay, and then returned smiling to her +companions. "It made me almost ill to think of aching legs," observed +she, "how I do pity the mortal race!" +</p> + +<p> +"How pretty you looked as the sun shone golden upon your white robe," +exclaimed Leila, "It was a sight for a mortal painter to die of!" +</p> + +<p> +"A genius for painting would be a grand Fairy gift," observed Ianthe. +</p> + +<p> +"Too doubtful of success," answered Euphrosyne, "and the Musician's +power the same; besides musicians always die young and with exhausted +minds. The art is too much for mortal nerves." +</p> + +<p> +"Their atmosphere is too thick," said Leila. "How tired I am of your +discussions! Let us sing! Whatever music may be to them, it is food to +us." +</p> + +<p> +Then all those beautiful Fairies arose and joining hands on the rocks +they sang to the now dying Sun a chorus of Fairy Land! Now and then +these ravishing melodies are permitted to reach to mortal ears: +chiefly in dreams to the sick and sorrowful, for Fairies have great +compassion on such, and allow them a distant taste of this, the most +exquisite of their enjoyments. +</p> + +<p> +There was no more discussion that night, nor did they argue much the +next morning. There was the rising sun to welcome from the sleeping +caves on the eastern side of their country, and the bath to be +enjoyed, and their wings to plume, and sweet odours to gather from the +early flowers; and the time passed so quickly, they only met to take a +hurried leave. "We must understand each other however, before we +separate," said Euphrosyne. +</p> + +<p> +"Dear Ianthe, your Gift is Beauty?" "It is." "And mine is Riches," +said Euphrosyne. "All the pleasures of life shall be at my Godchild's +feet," said another Fairy, laughing. "If that will not ensure +happiness, I know not what will." Ambrosia held back—"Your choice, +dear Sister?" asked Euphrosyne. +</p> + +<p> +"Come! we have no time to lose." +</p> + +<p> +"It must remain a secret," was the reply. "Our discourse yesterday +evening was so thoughtful, so sad, I could not sleep. I arose hours +before you this morning, ere daylight streaked the sky. Dear Sisters, +how shocked you will be to hear I wept; but now I have determined. If +my gift succeed I will tell you all about it, or you shall guess it +yourselves; for I now propose that our Fairy Gifts this year shall be +a sort of experiment on human happiness. Let us from time to time +visit in company our young charges, and let the result—that is, which +of our Gifts is proved to confer the greatest amount of happiness, be +written in the archives of our kingdom for the future benefit of the +mortal race." +</p> + +<p> +A murmur of approbation rose, sweet as the vibration of a harp-chord +through the assembly. +</p> + +<p> +There was no time for enquiry about the other gifts: the travelling +Fairies arose and beat their gauzy wings upon the western breeze. A +melodious rushing was just audible; the distant murmurs of the earthly +sea the most resemble that sweet dream of sound. In a few moments the +departing sisters became invisible, and those who remained returned to +float by the sea shore, or make sweet music in the bowers of their +enchanted land. +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="40%"> + +<p> +Time is a very odd sort of thing, dear readers. We neither know whence +it comes nor whither it goes;—nay we know nothing about it in fact +except that there is one little moment of it called the present, which +we have as it were in our hands to make use of—but beyond this we can +give no account of, even that little moment. It is ours to use, but +not to understand. There is one thing in the world, however, quite as +wonderful, and quite as common, and that is, <i>the Wind</i>. Did it never +strike you how strange it was that the strongest thing in the world +should be <i>invisible</i>? The nice breezes we feel in summer and the +roughest blasts we feel in winter in England are not so extremely +strong you will say: but I am speaking, besides these, of the winds +called hurricanes that arise in the West Indian Islands, and in other +places in the world. These dreadful hurricanes have at times done as +much mischief as earthquakes and lightning. They tear down the +strongest trees, overthrow the firmest houses and spread ruin and +desolation around, and yet this terrible power, so tremendous, and +against which the cleverest contrivances can provide no defence, is as +invisible as the great Maker of Heaven and Earth. How unbelieving many +people would look if you told them of a dreadful creature that was +coming to the world, which could be heard to roar, be felt to knock +down every thing in its path—men, women and children, houses, +churches, towers, castles, cities, and trees the most firmly +rooted—and yet which you could never catch the faintest glimpse of, +for it was always invisible, even when it roared the loudest! As +invisible then, as when in its mildest moods, it, as it were, purred +softly over the country like a cat. How the good people would laugh, +and tell you you were very silly to believe in such a thing. Yet I +think this is not at all an incorrect description of the great +invisible Power WIND. Now the lesson we may learn from this is to be +humble-minded; for since we live in the constant presence of a Power +we cannot see, we ought to feel it is equally possible other Powers +may exist of which our other senses cannot take cognizance. There is +an old proverb—"Seeing is believing"—but you perceive, dear readers, +we are forced to believe in the wind though we never see him at all. +</p> + +<p> +To return to Time who is travelling fast on while I am rambling after +the wind, he has puzzled the artists a good deal I should say, for +with all their skill at representation they have never hit upon any +better idea of him than an old Man with wings. An old man with wings! +Can you fancy anything so unnatural! One can quite understand +beautiful young Angels with wings. Youth and power and swiftness +belong to them. Also Fairies with wings are quite comprehensible +creatures; for one fancies them so light and airy and transparent, +living upon honey dew and ambrosia, that wings wherewith to fly seem +their natural appendages. But the decrepitude of old age and the wings +of youth and power are a strange mixture:—a bald head, and a Fairy's +swiftness!—how ridiculous it seems, and so I think I may well say +Time is a very odd sort of thing. +</p> + +<p> +Among those who have to deal with Time, few are more puzzled how to +manage him than we story-tellers. In my first chapter, for instance, I +gave you a half-hour's conversation among some Fairies, but I think +you would be very angry with me were I to give you as exactly every +half-hour that passed over the heads of the little girls with Fairy +Godmothers, till they grew up. How you would scold, dear little +readers, if I were to enter into a particular description of each +child's Nurse, and tell whether Miss Aurora, Miss Julia, Miss +Hermione, &c. &c. &c. were brought up on baked flour, groat-gruel, +rusks, tops and bottoms, or revalenta food! Whether they took more +castor-oil, or rhubarb and magnesia; whether they squalled on those +occasions or were very good. When they cut their teeth and how, +together with all the &c. and ups and downs of Nursery life which +large families, such as you and I belong to, go through daily. +</p> + +<p> +Well then, suppose I altogether pass over a period of ten years, and +enter into no minute particulars respecting that portion of Time. You +must know that the Fairies had agreed that all the children should +have the same (and rather a large) amount of intellect, or what you +would call cleverness: that is to say, they were all equally capable +of learning anything they chose to learn: also they had all fair +health, plenty to eat and drink, and all the so called "necessary" +comforts of life. +</p> + +<p> +Now then to our story. +</p> + +<p> +At the end of ten years the Fairies agreed to go and have a peep how +their charges were going on. They quite knew that nothing decisive +could be found out, till the children had come to years of discretion +and were their own mistresses. Still they thought it would amuse them +just to go and see how the charms were working, as it were; so, away +they went. +</p> + +<p> +Now picture to yourselves a nice large nursery, much such a one as +your own, in which several children are playing. The eldest, a girl of +ten, you may see yonder lounging—gracefully perhaps—but still +<i>lounging</i> in a rocking chair which she is swinging backwards and +forwards, having set it in motion by the action of her foot on the +floor. What a lovely face! I do not think you ever saw one so handsome +except in a print in one of Mamma's best picture books. All the +features are perfectly good and in proportion, and the dark blue eyes +are fringed by the longest eyelashes ever seen. The hair of this +little girl too—look at it, as the soft chestnut ringlets wave about +on her shoulders as she swings, and show the round richness of the +curls. +</p> + +<p> +Now if you ask about the expression on her face, I must tell you it +was rather languid and "<i>pensieroso</i>." Pensieroso is an Italian word +really meaning thoughtful—but this little girl was not <i>thinking</i>, +for then the expression of her face would have been much stronger and +firmer and less languid; but the word has got to be used for a sort of +awake-dreamy state when one lets thoughts float lazily along without +having any energy to dwell upon them, and see whether they are good or +bad. +</p> + +<p> +The thought that was passing through this little girl's head at the +time I mention and which made her look so languid and pensieroso, was +</p> + +<p class="block"> +"I wish it was 6 o'clock." +</p> + +<p> +Now here you are ready to laugh, I know, for there was nothing to look +so languid about, in "I wish it was six o'clock!" but the fact was +this: at half-past six the little girl's Mamma was expecting a large +party to dinner and the little girl was to dress at six and be ready +to go down and see the company:—I might add <i>and to be seen by them</i>; +for the little girl was, as you will have guessed, the beautiful +Aurora herself, and there had been plenty of foolish people, though +her good Mamma was not one of them, to tell her how pretty she was and +how much people admired her. +</p> + +<p> +It is a very pleasant thing to be admired, both for children and grown +up people. "The love of approbation," as it is called, i.e. the wish +to be approved of and admired is a feeling which is very strong in +most people; not in quite all, perhaps, but in <i>most</i> people +certainly. But like all other powers of the mind considered apart from +the influence of the heart and conscience, it is capable of being used +to a very bad or a very good purpose. Thus you may remember what our +Saviour says of the Pharisees who stood praying at the corners of the +streets that they might be seen of men: Verily, they had their +reward—viz: that men admired them: whereas those who do good deeds +and pray privately, i.e. unseen and unadmired by men, should verily +have their reward in that day when God who seeth in secret himself +shall reward them openly. +</p> + +<p> +Here you see is the same strong feeling,—love of approbation, +exercised in a wrong and a right direction. The Pharisees wish for the +approbation of men, good people wish for the approbation of God. +</p> + +<p> +Now, love of approbation exists about much smaller matters than I have +just been mentioning. But I would warn my young readers, that, to be +always thinking, and bothering yourselves as to what other people are +thinking about you, is one of the most uncomfortable and injurious +habits a person can get into. It makes them so selfish and +egotistical. And here was one of Aurora's dangers. Because she knew +she was pretty, she was always wondering what other people were +thinking about her, a habit which so far from contributing to what the +good Fairy had wished, viz. her happiness, was constantly spoiling her +comfort from hour to hour. And here, at ten years old, was this little +lady swinging languidly and idly on the rocking chair, wishing it was +six o'clock, instead of enjoying, as she might so well have done, that +small portion of time, time present, which is, as I told you before, +the only bit of him we can ever lay hold of, as it were. Of time +present, just then, she thought nothing. She would have said, (had she +been asked), that the old gentleman moved very slowly in spite of his +wings, for her eye was fixed on that delightful time future, six +o'clock. Well! at last the clock struck, and Aurora sprang from her +chair,—her whole face altered in a moment. "Now, Nurse, I may dress, +may I not?" she exclaimed, radiant with animation, and all the languor +and dreaminess gone over like a cloud from before the sun. And it is +true that just then Aurora was happy. It was a pleasant task to her to +arrange and smooth that curling hair, and to put on the simple white +dress she knew set off her beauty so well. But alas! for the happiness +caused by thoughts of <i>one's self</i>! The toilet over, she ran down to +her Mamma, and was welcomed with a smile of fondness and approbation. +Indeed, when she was happy, a sweeter face could not be seen, for she +was not a naughty child, and if it had not been for the Fairy gift, I +do think she would have been a very nice one. +</p> + +<p> +The Fairies who invisibly had witnessed all I have described to you, +were not so loud in their admiration of Aurora as you or I might have +been. They are so handsome themselves, they think but little of +earthly beauty, and even Ianthe could not conscientiously say, "What a +<i>happy</i> looking little girl she is." That was just the one thing that +was wanting: ay, and it continued wanting even after the room was +filled with company, and she was petted, and caressed, and praised on +every side. Her spirits became very high, however, and she enjoyed +herself much; and it is perhaps only very very critical folk, bent on +spying out a fault, that could have detected the little clouds of +anxiety that now and then shot across her face. A thought of whether +her curls were all right, or her dress untumbled, &c. just now and +then disturbed the charm, and prevented her forgetting herself +sufficiently to allow her to be quite at ease and happy, and she would +glance at herself in the mirror, and put back the hair from her brow, +lest Mrs. I-know-not-who, who was just then entering the room, should +not think her quite as lovely as Mrs. Somebody-else did, who had very +foolishly been saying so rather in a loud tone to her Mamma. +</p> + +<p> +At last the fatal time arrived to go to bed. Aurora was much too +sensible to cry, or be cross, you must know, but as she closed the +door of the drawing-room and left the gay company, a sigh very heavy +for so young a heart to have breathed, escaped her, and it was slowly +she retraced her steps up stairs. She was in reality tired, for it was +later than her usual bed-time, and when she went into her room she +threw herself on the chair and yawned. The young Nurse who attended to +undress her, asked her if she had enjoyed herself. "Oh yes!" was her +ready answer. "All is so bright, and gay, and entertaining among those +ladies, and they are so good-natured to me,"—(another sigh coupled +with the recollection of, and <i>how much they admire me!</i>)—"But I do +so hate being a little girl, and having to go to bed. I wish the time +would come quicker for me to be grown up, and be down stairs +altogether, and talk, and enjoy myself all the evening!" Oh, Aurora, +Aurora, with that dissatisfied face where is your beauty? with that +discontented mind where is your happiness? +</p> + +<p> +"Your charm is not working perfectly, Sister," observed Euphrosyne to +Ianthe. +</p> + +<p> +"Her's is not the age for perfect happiness and enjoyment as a beauty, +remember," replied Ianthe, "and she feels this herself." +</p> + +<p> +"Man never is but always <i>to be</i> blest," cried Ambrosia laughing. "You +see I can quote their own poets against them." +</p> + +<p> +"You are prejudging now, Ambrosia, wait till another ten years is +over; but we must see our little beauty through the twenty-four +hours." Ianthe now waved a tiny wand in a circle around Aurora's +head,—the long eyelashes sank over her eyes, and the beautiful child +fell into a sweet and placid sleep. +</p> + +<p> +Morning, which awakens all young creatures to life, enjoyment, and +action, awoke Aurora among the rest, and she arose in health and +strength, and the full glow of animal spirits. "<i>This is</i> happiness, +however," exclaimed Ianthe to her companions, as the young girl sprang +about, carolling to herself the while. And so it was, for at that +moment no forecastings into futurity disturbed the comfort of present +pleasure: but an accidental glimpse of her face caught in a +looking-glass as she passed, recalled Aurora to the recollection of +HERSELF! and the admiration she had obtained the evening before. At +first some pleasure attended the remembrance, and she gazed with a +childish triumph at her pretty face in the glass. In a few minutes, +however, the voice of her Governess calling her to lessons disturbed +the egotistical amusement, and the charming Aurora frowned—yes, +<i>frowned!</i> and looked cross at the looking-glass before she quitted +the apartment. +</p> + +<p> +And now, dear little readers, let me remind you that Aurora was a +clever little girl, for the Fairy had taken care of that. She had +every faculty for learning, and no real dislike to it; but this +unlucky Fairy gift was in the way of every thing she did, for it took +away her interest in every thing but herself; and so, though she got +through her lessons respectably, it was with many yawns, and not a few +sighs, and wonderings what Mamma was doing; and did the Governess +think there would soon be another dinner party? and didn't the +Governess, when <i>she</i> was a little girl, wish very much she was a +grown up woman? and, finally, she wished she had been able to talk +when she was a baby at her christening, because then me would have +begged the Fairy Godmother to give her the gift of growing up to be a +young lady very quick indeed, and of learning every thing without any +trouble at all! And so saying, Aurora yawned and laid down her book, +and the poor Governess could hardly keep her temper at such repeated +interruptions to the subject in hand. +</p> + +<p> +"My dear," she exclaimed, "Fairies have no power to counteract what +God, has ordained, and he has ordained that we enjoy but little what +we get at without labour and trouble." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah taisez-vous donc ma cherè!" cried Aurora, flopping her ears with +her hands, and running round the room shaking her long curls +furiously. "Vous me faites absolument frémir! Excuse my French, but I +am certain you are the eldest daughter of the old woman in the wood, +and you are just now dropping vipers, toads, newts, and efts from your +mouth at every word you utter!" +</p> + +<p> +The good-natured Governess laughed heartily at the joke, for they had +just been reading the old French fairy tale of "Les deux Fées," and +the application amused her; but she shook her head gravely at Aurora +afterwards, and reminded her that no serious truth was well answered +by a joke, however droll. +</p> + +<p> +A bell rings, a carriage is at the door. Miss Aurora is wanted. +Visiters! Ah! here is happiness again! But it lasts but a short time, +and the reaction is the same as before—drooping eyes, languid +eyelids, and a sigh. +</p> + +<p> +Books, drawing, music, work, even domestic recreations, all deprived +of their charm through this idolatry of self! +</p> + +<p> +The curtain closed over this scene. +</p> + +<p> +"A charming child, Ianthe, but for your Fairy Gift, which is spoiling +her." +</p> + +<p> +"I repeat to you we are no judges yet. Now for riches, Euphrosyne!" +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="40%"> + +<p> +At the same hour of evening, and under the same circumstances, of a +party about to assemble, let me introduce you to a beautiful little +boudoir or up-stairs sitting-room adjoining an equally pretty sleeping +apartment in a magnificent house in a town. The passages are carpeted +all over, and so are the boudoir and the sleeping-room, and they are +furnished with sofas, easy chairs, and every description of luxurious +comfort; and all this for the accommodation of a little girl of ten +years old, who in one of the easy chairs is lying back in front of the +fire, with her tiny feet on a bright brass fender. She has a gold +watch in her hand, which is suspended round her neck by a chain of the +same material, and she is playing with it, and with the seals, and +pretty ornaments hung to it, that jingle as she moves her hand. Ever +and anon she glances at the face of the watch. +</p> + +<p> +But life is very easy to her, and the chair is very soft, and her feet +are very warm. At last, however, she gets up and rings a silver bell +that is on the mantel-piece. A servant answers the summons. "It is +time for me to dress, I believe, Annette; the company are expected +to-day at half past six. Has my new frock come home?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, Miss." +</p> + +<p> +"Let me look at it." +</p> + +<p> +A delicate blue satin, trimmed with the finest lace, is produced from +a band-box. +</p> + +<p> +"It is very pretty, I think, Annette." +</p> + +<p> +"It is downright beautiful, Miss." +</p> + +<p> +"And so expensive," pursued the little girl whose name was Julia, +"that I don't think any one else I know is likely to imitate it, which +is my greatest comfort!" +</p> + +<p> +And so saying, the rich Miss Julia ---- (an only daughter), whose +comfort seemed to depend on no one else being as comfortable as +herself, commenced her toilet, i.e. her maid both commenced and +finished it for her, for those who can command the unlimited +assistance of servants are apt to be very idle in helping themselves. +</p> + +<p> +"Your Julia looks self-satisfied enough," observed Ianthe, "but I do +not see that this is more like real happiness than my Aurora's face +before the party." +</p> + +<p> +"Perhaps," returned Euphrosyne, "the same remark applies to her as to +Aurora—the age for thoroughly enjoying riches is hardly arrived. You +smile, Ambrosia! Well, we do not yet know your experiment, and you +yourself do not know how it has answered. Take care that our turn for +laughing at you does not soon come!" +</p> + +<p> +Julia was dressed at the end of the half-hour, but not sooner. Her +toilet occupied more time than Aurora's. She could not decide what +ornaments she would wear, and at last getting out of humour with the +"embarras des richesses" she fixed on a necklace which, though +extremely handsome, was scarcely fit for a child. She was neither +pretty nor otherwise, but when good humoured and happy her face, like +that of all other creatures of her innocent time of life, was +attractive and pleasant to behold. Oh, that children did but know +wherein the secret of being loveable and beloved lies! In holding fast +the innocence and simplicity of their infant years; in the cheerful +spirit, the universal kindheartedness, the open honesty, the sweet +teachableness and readiness of belief, which are the real +characteristics of childhood and which we so love to trace in their +faces. It was these things our Saviour called upon grown-up people to +imitate, and so to receive the kingdom of Heaven as little children. +And oh, that grown-up people would imitate these things; for if they +would become in these respects as little children, the sweet cast of +mind would be reflected in <i>their</i> faces too, and the ugly looks given +by envious discontent, deceitful thoughts, unkind intention and +restless want of faith and hope would all be washed out of the world. +</p> + +<p> +But now, my dear readers, can you call that the best of Fairy gifts, +which had so great a tendency to bring the naughty passions of +grown-up life into the heart, and therefore on to the face, of a +little girl? Well, but riches <i>have</i> a tendency that way; and though +Julia was not a very naughty girl she was being led into very sad +feelings by the Fairy gift. When she went down to the company, her +secret anxiety was to examine all the dresses of her Mamma's friends +and resolve some day to surpass them all. Even as it was she received +much pleasure from knowing that her own dress was far beyond the reach +of ordinary folk. She thought too of her necklace with secret +satisfaction, when the ladies were talking to her, for she perceived +their eyes frequently attracted by its brilliancy and beauty. Then her +mind rambled into futurity, to the day when she would astonish these +very ladies far more than now by the richness of her costume. Ah, dear +readers, would our Saviour if present have called <i>this</i> little child +to him, and said, "Of <i>such</i> is the kingdom of Heaven?" But all these +selfish thoughts made her conversation less pleasant and cheerful than +it would otherwise have been; for you may be sure she was not +listening with any interest to what was said to her, while she was +thus planning silly schemes about herself. +</p> + +<p> +And not having listened with any interest to what was said to her, you +may guess that her answers were dull and stupid; for when people are +talking of one thing and thinking of another they become very flat +companions. At times when she could forget herself she became natural +and then was both pleasant and pleased, and asked some ladies to let +their children come and see her next day, to which they consented. But +now came a sad drawback. One of the ladies told her that her little +girl should bring to shew her a most beautiful gold fillagree work-box +set with precious stones, which one of the maids of honour about +court, who was her godmother, had given her a few days before. This +lady had saved a few of the queen's hairs very carefully, and had had +them placed in a little circle of crystal in the middle of the box, +and they were set round with the most beautiful rubies. It was a +present worthy of a Fairy Godmother, and certainly the donor was the +daughter of a duchess, which perhaps is the nearest thing to being a +fairy. +</p> + +<p> +You will be shocked, my dear readers, to hear that the account of this +box was as disagreeable as a dose of physic to poor Julia. Nay it was +<i>worse</i> than physic, for a peppermint-drop can take the taste of that +away in a minute. But not all the peppermint-drops in a chymist's shop +could take away the taste of the fillagree-box from Julia. She had +been thinking before of showing all the treasures of her boudoir to +her little friends next day; but this horrid box was like a great +cloud closing over her sunshine. She knew she was naughty, but she was +so in the habit of being selfish she could not conquer her peevish +vexation. Annette wondered what could be the matter, and her Governess +sighed as she perceived her face clouded, even when she was repeating +her evening prayer; but no questioning could extract from her what was +amiss. +</p> + +<p> +Oh, what a condition for a child to go to sleep in! Euphrosyne was +greatly annoyed. "They are not correcting her evil dispositions," +cried she. "I do not allow that this has anything to do <i>necessarily</i> +with being very rich." +</p> + +<p> +Ah, good Fairies, you do not know "How hardly shall they that have +riches enter into the kingdom of Heaven." +</p> + +<p> +Look now at that young face, asleep on a downy pillow, in a bed richly +hung with crimson drapery, in a room filled with luxuries, glowing +with warmth and comfort. You are shocked that the heart within should +be disturbed by nasty little envyings, that made the good things she +possessed of no value to her. 'Tis well; but remember we are all rich +by comparison. Go to the poor frost-bitten wayside beggar-child, my +little readers; bring him into your comfortable drawing-room, which +you sit in every day and think nothing about, and he will fancy he has +got into Paradise. It is a luxurious palace to him. Take him to your +snug bed and let him sleep there, and it will be to him what a state +apartment in Windsor Castle would be to you. Do not then let you and +me scold too much at Julia, but let us keep on the watch to drive away +from ourselves the discontented grumbling thoughts that are apt to +make us all ungrateful to God. Julia did not sleep well. The fillagree +box was a fort of night-mare to her. She dreamt of its growing up into +a great giant, and thumping her on the head, and calling out that she +ought to be ashamed of herself. Do you know, I think this dream was +owing to her Godmother, Euphrosyne, for she lingered behind the other +Fairies as they vanished, and shook, not waved, her wand over the +sleeping child, with a very angry face. +</p> + +<p> +In the morning Julia, like Aurora, awoke in a temporary forgetfulness +of her troubles. The morning air is so refreshing and sleep does one +so much good, and the sun shining through the windows looks so gay, +and all things speak of hope so loudly in a morning, who can be +sullen? Certainly not little girls full of life and expectation. But +the thought of the fillagree box by degrees took possession of her +mind and rankled there as before. She too had a Governess, and many +lessons to learn and much to do, and she did them; but neither English +history nor French fairy tales could quite drive away the fillagree +box. Indeed it introduced its horrid face before her into the midst of +a multiplication sum, and Mademoiselle thought she was bewitched to +have grown so stupid over her arithmetic all at once. She spent a half +hour over that one sum, and when it was done she was so much tired she +gave up lessons for the day. Besides, she had to prepare for her +friends. She went into her boudoir, opened her cabinets and unfolded +her treasures of various sorts—oh I can't tell you what beautiful +things! besides interesting collections of foreign and English shells, +and stuffed humming birds, which you and I should be charmed to +possess. And Julia was in general most happy when she was looking +over her property, but rather more because she possessed valuable +curiosities than because she cared about them, I fear. For my part, +I wonder very much that the humming birds and shells did not teach +her to be more humble-minded; for no art or jewellery can imitate or +come up to their glorious beauty. Well, she amused herself tolerably +in spite of the visions of the fillagree box and the queen's hair, +which now and then came between her and her usual feeling of +self-satisfaction. +</p> + +<p> +Presently her young friends came—several little girls of various +ages, and now nature once more revived in poor Julia. The children +felt and expressed such hearty pleasure at the sight of her treasures. +There were such joyous exclamations; such bursts of delight; such +springing and jumping about, that Julia became infected with the +general pleasure, and was a happy child herself. Yes! even though the +fillagree box had been shown off and admired. But what do children in +general know about the <i>value</i> of things and how much they cost? Ah, +much more just in their judgments than we elders are apt to be, a bird +of Paradise such as adorned the top of Julia's cabinet, or a peacock's +tail, such as she had in a drawer, is to their unprejudiced eyes more +desirable than the gold of Ophir itself! +</p> + +<p> +So now you see this triumph of simplicity over art, despoiled the +fillagree box of all its horrors, for the innocent children admired +her shells yet more—unsophisticated, and insensible to the long story +about the value of the rubies, the maid of honour, and even the +queen's hairs. +</p> + +<p> +Still the Fairies felt and saw that it was not Euphrosyne's gift, but +rather the forgetfulness of it which caused these hours of happiness +to Julia, and somewhat puzzled as to the result they left the votary +of riches, not quite without a sensation that little Aglaia's proposal +of moderate health and enough riches to be "comfortable without being +puzzled," was about the best thing after all, though not much of a +Fairy gift. And now, my little readers, I am beginning to get rather +tired of my story, and to feel that you may do so too. I think I am +getting rather prosy, so I must try and cut the matter short. Four out +of the five Fairy gifts were like beauty and riches, worldly +advantages. For instance, there was the little girl who was to have +every earthly pleasure at her feet—i.e. she was to have every thing +she wished for—why she was fifty times worse off than either Aurora +or Julia, for I will tell you whom she was like. She was like the +fisherman's wife in Grimm's German popular fairy tales, who had every +thing she wished, and so at last wished to be king of the sun and +moon. I doubt not you remember her well, and how she was in +consequence sent back to her mud cottage. I think, therefore, I need +not describe the young lady who had <i>that</i> Fairy gift. +</p> + +<p> +There was another who was to be <i>loved</i> wherever she went; but nothing +is worth having that is had so easily, and this child got so sick of +being kissed and fondled and loved, that it was the greatest nuisance +to her possible, for disagreeable people loved her just as much as +nice ones, and for her part she hated them all alike. It was a very +silly Fairy gift. +</p> + +<p> +Come with me then to Ambrosia's God-daughter, whom they visited last, +and whose Fairy gift the other Fairies were to guess at! +</p> + +<p> +Neither you nor I, my dears, ever heard a fairy-laugh. Doubtless it is +a sweet and musical sound. You can perhaps fancy it? Well then, do +fancy it, and how it rang in silver peals when our fairy friends, on +entering the last nursery they had to visit, found Ambrosia's protégée +in a flood of angry tears, stamping her foot on the ground in a +passion! "You naughty naughty girl!" exclaimed the old Nurse, "you'll +wake the baby and make your own eyes so red you won't be fit to be +seen to night by the company!" +</p> + +<p> +"I don't care about my eyes being red, tho' I don't want to wake the +poor baby," sobbed the little girl, slightly softening her wrath: "but +the cat has unravelled all the stocking I have been knitting at for so +many days, and I had nearly just finished it, and now it's all +spoilt;" and she roared with vexation. "Miss Hermione, if you go on so +I shall certainly send for your Mamma, and the baby will be quite +poorly, he will! and we shall know who made him so," added Nurse +triumphantly. "I can't make the baby poorly with crying, Nurse, so +that's nonsense you know," observed Hermione; "but I didn't mean to +disturb him; only my stocking is gone, and I don't know what to do." +And here she sobbed afresh. +</p> + +<p> +"Do! why ain't you going down to the ladies, and can't you be brushing +your hair and washing your face and getting ready?" "But it isn't +time." "Well, but can't you get ready <i>before</i> the time a little? and +then, when you're dressed and look so clean and nice and pretty, you +can sit in the chair and we can look at you!" and here the good old +Nurse gave a knowing smile and nodded her head. +</p> + +<p> +Hermione caught sight of the comical coaxing glance, and, in spite of +her misfortune, burst into a fit of laughter. "Hum, hum, hum! now +you'll wake the poor thing by laughing, Miss Hermione. I do wish you'd +be quiet:" and here the Nurse rocked the child on her knee more +vigorously than ever. +</p> + +<p> +"Then why don't you tell me what I am to do with my stocking," cried +Hermione. "Oh well, I know what I will do—something quite as quiet as +a mouse. I will wind up my poor worsted." Hereupon the little girl +picked up the puckered remains of her luckless grey stocking which a +facetious young cat had spent at least a quarter of an hour in +ingeniously unravelling with his claws. It was a tiresome tedious job +we must admit, and required a strong effort of patient perseverance, +but Hermione soon became engrossed in its difficulties and a dead +silence ensued. At last Nurse who had while rocking the sleeping baby +on her knee, been watching the child's proceedings, suddenly +exclaimed, "Well to be sure, Miss Hermione, you have such patience as +I never before did see." +</p> + +<p> +[The Fairies exchanged glances. +</p> + +<p> +"It is <i>Patience</i>, Ambrosia." +</p> + +<p> +"What a hurry you are in!" was the reply.] +</p> + +<p> +"No I haven't, Nurse, indeed," answered Hermione. "I had no patience +at all when I was in a passion with the cat just now." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, I suppose there are two or three sorts of Patiences, Miss, +then," persisted Nurse, "for I'm certain you have <i>some</i> sorts. But, +dear me, its ever so much past six o'clock, and you have to be dressed +by half-past. Do put away the worsted and get yourself ready, Miss, +and call Jane to help you." +</p> + +<p> +Here the Nurse and Hermione nearly had a scuffle over the worsted. +Hermione declared the cat had spoilt her stocking; and the only +comfort left to her now was to roll it comfortably up into a ball. +Nurse on the contrary insisted that it didn't signify a bit what +became of the worsted; she must dress and go down. The dispute ended +by Hermione running off with the half finished ball and its untidy +remains, and cramming the whole concern into the pocket of her best +frock. "The people will soon be tired of talking to me," muttered she +to herself, "and then I can finish my ball quietly in the corner +behind Mamma's chair." +</p> + +<p> +The thought of this ingenious plan for her private amusement down +stairs so tickled Hermione's fancy that she was on the giggle the +whole time she was being dressed. "If Nurse did but know what was in +the pocket of my best frock and how fat it is! how she would scold, +and what a fight we should have." And she could hardly refrain from +loud laughter at the thought. When she had got her frock on she sat +down, and laying her arm over the fat pocket asked Jane to touch up +her curls: and while this operation was going on she began to talk to +the nurse. +</p> + +<p> +"Nurse, should you think it a very nice thing to go to a dinner party +and sit in chairs all round a large room, where the coloured covers +are taken away and everything looks very gay, and so tidy, nobody is +allowed to do anything but smile, and talk, and wear white kid +gloves?" +</p> + +<p> +"Very nice, Miss, it's so like a lady," was the Nurse's ready reply. +</p> + +<p> +"Well then, I don't think it's nice at all, Nurse—I think it's very +nasty and stupid." +</p> + +<p> +"Dear, Miss Hermione, how you do talk; I hope you won't tell the +ladies so when you get down stairs." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh dear no, that would be rude, and it's wrong to be rude, but to +tell you the truth I don't know what I shall do when I grow up if I am +obliged to be so dull as that is, very often." +</p> + +<p> +"Goodness, Miss Hermione, to hear you talk one would think you'd +better be a housemaid at once, instead of a lady with nothing to do." +</p> + +<p> +"Nurse, I should see no objection to be a housemaid at all, only that +I am learning so many things that wouldn't suit a housemaid; but +without being a housemaid there are many pleasanter things to do than +to sit in that stupid sort of way. I like the room when all Papa's +books and papers are about, and when he is scribbling away so busy, +and when Mamma has got her microscope out looking at seaweeds or +curiosities. I have a chance then myself. I don't like ladies who say +nothing but 'Pretty little dear, what a nice colour she has,' just to +please Mamma." +</p> + +<p> +What Nurse in England could be expected to enter into so philosophical +an investigation of the habits of society? +</p> + +<p> +Hermione's did nothing but assure her it was time to be off, and she +only hoped she would sit still and talk prettily, and never trouble +her head whether it was stupid or not. +</p> + +<p> +When Hermione got into the drawing room and saw the company seated as +she had described to her Nurse, she felt very much disposed to laugh +again, but made an effort and composed herself. Still her face was +beaming with mirth and fun, and when some ladies said "What a happy +looking little girl," they were quite sincere. That sort of face too +worked wonders, and her Mamma's friends liked her much and talked +pleasantly to her, and she was pleased and happy and quite forgot the +ball of worsted, as well as the ladies' white kid gloves. A young lady +however who had her arm round Hermione's waist and was playing with +her, suddenly felt the round protuberance in her pocket. "Ah you +little rogue, what have you here?" "Its a secret," cried Hermione. "I +think I can unravel your mysterious secret, little girl, you are a +favourite with the housekeeper," added she, whispering in Hermione's +ear, "and she has just given you an orange." +</p> + +<p> +"You are a very bad guesser of secrets," whispered Hermione in +return. "It's no such thing!"—"Then it's an apple." "No, nor an +apple."—"Then it's a peach, and your new frock will be spoilt." "No +it isn't a peach either, and it's a secret." The young lady loved fun, +and a playful struggle ensued between her and Hermione; in the course +of which the large grey worsted ball and its long ravelled tail were +drawn from the little pocket. +</p> + +<p> +Hermione had now to tell the history of the ball, which she did +naturally and honestly, but when she added, quite seriously, that she +intended, when they had done talking to her, to go behind her Mamma's +chair and finish winding it up, you may guess how they laughed. +</p> + +<p> +"Come here, my little dear, and let me look at you," cried an elderly +lady in spectacles, putting out her hand and laying hold of +Hermione's. "Why what an industrious little soul you must be! a +perfect pattern! There now! you may go behind my chair and finish your +ball of worsted; nobody wants to talk to you any longer." +</p> + +<p> +This old lady was rather crabbed, and had not quite believed Hermione +sincere, so she did this to try her, and expected to see her pout and +refuse. To her surprize, Hermione only said "Oh thank you, ma'am," +with a quite smiling face, and going behind the chair, sat down on the +floor to her worsted. For a few moments the old lady kept thinking "It +won't last long: she'll soon be glad of an excuse to come out:" but no +such thing happened; and just what Hermione expected did happen. The +ladies fell to talking among themselves, and in a very short time the +presence of the little girl was quite forgotten, even by the old lady, +who was handed out to dinner, without once remembering whom she had +left behind her chair. +</p> + +<p> +Hermione stayed in the room till her task was over, and then rushed up +stairs to the nursery, and stopping at the door, half opened it and +rolled the great grey worsted ball so cleverly in, that it hit the old +Nurse's foot as she sat (once more rocking the baby) over the fire. +"Goodness, bless me! what ever is that?" Then, spying a laughing face +at the door, "Oh dear heart, it's you I declare, Miss Hermione! will +you never leave off waking the baby? I thought a great black dog was +laying hold of my foot." +</p> + +<p> +"Nurse," said Hermione, "your baby is always and always going to +sleep; why doesn't he go, and then I could have a bit of fun? You +don't know where I finished winding the worsted ball!" +</p> + +<p> +"Why goodness me, Miss Hermione, where?" +</p> + +<p> +"Down in the drawing-room among all the fine ladies; so good night!" +and off she ran to avoid further explanation. A few words with her +Governess; a sober time of evening prayer; and the happy child laid +her head on her pillow, and needed no Fairy wand to lull her to sleep. +She had been some time with her Governess in the morning before her +Mamma coming to her there, heard a loud discussion going on within. +The voices, however, were those of good-humour. "Hermione," said her +Mother, "I am come to say that your Governess told me yesterday you +had been so very good for a long time over all that you have had to +do, that I have arranged for your having a holiday and a treat to-day, +and several of your young friends are coming to see you. Among them is +Aurora, the granddaughter of the old lady in spectacles, who, just +before she was going away at night, recollected you, and began to look +for you behind her chair." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh what a goose, Mamma!" "No, not a goose, my dear—only an oddity, +but a very kind one too—for she desired me to find out whether you +really did roll up the whole of the ravelled worsted last night; and +<i>if</i> you really persevered till it was finished, I have something to +give you from her, but not otherwise. How was it?" "Oh, it's finished, +Mamma; ask Nurse; for when I rolled it against her foot last night, +she took it for a great black dog." "Well then, I suppose this is +yours, Hermione; but, I must say, I never knew a gold thimble earned +so easily." Yes, dear little readers, it was a pretty gold thimble, +and round the bottom of it there was a rim of white enamel, and on the +enamel were gold letters. +</p> + +<p class="block"> +"L'industrie ajoute à la beauté." +</p> + +<p> +"Mamma," said Hermione, looking at it in delight, as she found it +exactly fitted her finger, "it's lovely; but, do you know, I think the +old lady ought to have given it to her granddaughter, Aurora, with +such a motto." "My dear, she has had it, she told me, some months in +her pocket secretly, for the purpose you mention, but she cannot ever +satisfy herself that Aurora has got the spirit of real industry in +her, and to bribe her to <i>earn</i> the thimble is not her object, so you +see it has accidentally fallen to your share." +</p> + +<p> +And as she said this, Hermione's mother turned round to leave the +room; but before she had reached the door, her little girl stopped +her—"Mamma, do turn back." +</p> + +<p> +"What is the matter, Hermione?" +</p> + +<p> +"I've something I want to say to you." +</p> + +<p> +"I am all attention, my dear, particularly as your face looks so +unusually grave." +</p> + +<p> +"Why, you and my Governess are always calling me <i>good</i> for doing my +lessons well, and now you are rewarding me for being <i>good</i> and all +that, and I don't see that I am good at all." +</p> + +<p> +"Upon my word this is a very serious matter, Hermione; who or what has +put this into your head?" +</p> + +<p> +"I read in a serious book lately, that nobody could be good without +practising self-denial; and that, to be really good, one must either +do something that one does <i>not</i> like, or give up something that one +<i>does</i>; so that I am quite sure I cannot be good and deserve a reward +when I do French and music and drawing and work well, because I am so +very fond of doing every thing I do do, that every thing is a pleasure +to me. And there is no struggle to do what is tiresome and no other +wish to give up. The only time when I have to try to be good at all, +is when I have to leave off one thing and go to another. That is +always a little disagreeable at first, but unfortunately the +disagreeableness goes off in a very few minutes, and I like the new +employment as well as the last. This is what I was talking about to my +Governess when you came, and she laughed so loud I felt quite vexed." +</p> + +<p> +"My dear Hermione," said her Mamma, "you have quite misapplied what +you have read in the book. Self-denial is always required of us, when +we feel inclined to do any thing that is wrong, but it does not apply +to any aptitude you may have for enjoying the occupations I require of +you. That is only a piece of good fortune for you; for to many little +girls, doing lessons is a very great act of self-denial, as they want +to be doing something else. But now, as you are so lucky in liking +every thing you do, you must practise your self-denial in some other +way." +</p> + +<p> +"How, Mamma?" +</p> + +<p> +"In not being vexed when your Governess laughs, and in not being in a +passion with the cat next time he unravels your stocking." +</p> + +<p> +Hermione blushed. "Oh, Mamma, I understand the difference now." +</p> + +<p> +"But this is not all, Hermione." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, Mamma?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, as you are so fortunate as to be always happy when employed, and +as therefore there is no <i>goodness</i> strictly speaking, in your doing +your business so cheerfully and well, you must do this, you must spend +some portion of time every day in making your energy of use to other +people, and then you will be doing active good if not practising +self-denial." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, Mamma, what a nice idea! Perhaps you will give me some needlework +to do for the poor women you give money to; and, besides, just now I +can do something actively useful and still a little really +disagreeable,—really it is, Mamma,—what makes you laugh?" +</p> + +<p> +"Your resolution to do something you don't like. What is it, +Hermione?" +</p> + +<p> +"To knit up again the stocking the cat pulled out. I quite dislike the +idea." +</p> + +<p> +"Then set to work by all means, Hermione. You will at least have the +comfort of 'beginning by a little aversion;' but I warn you +beforehand, not to set your heart upon the disagreeableness lasting +very long, and if you find yourself shortly, as happy as ever over the +stocking, do not be puzzled and vexed any more, but thank God as I do, +that, so far at least, you are spared one of the troubles of life. The +trouble of an indolent, discontented mind." +</p> + +<p> +An affectionate embrace was exchanged between Mother and Daughter; and +the latter, with the assistance of her Governess, recommenced the +unlucky grey stocking, and was working assiduously at it when her +young friends arrived. +</p> + +<p> +It was a curious sight to the Fairies to see two of their +god-daughters together, as they now did. But the conviction was forced +upon them, that, for the present at least, Hermione had the balance of +happiness in her favour. Whatever their amusements were,—whether +looking over curiosities, playing with dolls, or any of the numerous +games invented for the entertainment of the young, Hermione's whole +heart and attention were in the matter, and she was as much engrossed +as over learning at other times, and quite happy. With poor Aurora it +was not so; the childishness of the play every now and then annoyed +her; there was no food for her vanity, in playing with children; they +cared nothing about her beauty; the gayest and most good-natured face +has always the most charms for them, and this did not suit Aurora at +all, and ever and anon her thoughts wandered, and her wishes too. +</p> + +<p> +For ever straining into the future! +</p> + +<p> +"I cannot make out your Fairy gift at all, Ambrosia," said Euphrosyne, +"and I begin to suspect you have not given her one." +</p> + +<p> +"We are all growing philosophical, I perceive," said Ambrosia, +smiling. "Who could think you would have guessed that my happy child +has had no Fairy gift at all. But she has, I assure you. What do you +say to the Philosopher's Stone? It is quite clear that me has got +something which TURNS EVERY THING SHE TOUCHES INTO GOLD." +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="40%"> + +<p> +What <i>is</i> the Philosopher's Stone? I hear my little readers exclaim. +There is no such thing, my dears, nor ever was; but the chymists in +old times, who were very ignorant, and yet knew that many wonderful +things had been done by the mixture of minerals and metals, and the +curious effects some had upon others, guessed that yet more wonderful +things might be found out by searching, and they got into their heads +that it might be possible to find, or make, a stone that would have +the power of turning every thing it touched into gold. In the same +manner, the doctors of those times fancied there might be such a thing +made as a draught that would turn old people into young ones again. +This was called "The Elixir of Life." But I do assure you these old +fellows never did discover either a Philosopher's Stone, or an Elixir +of Life. +</p> + +<p> +So this was only a joke of Ambrosia's. +</p> + +<p> +Now to go on and finish my story. It was ten years more before the +Fairies revisited their Godchildren in the lower world, and this time +they were to decide who had given the best Fairy gift. +</p> + +<p> +And I dare say you expect me to give you as long an account of their +visits to the young ladies of twenty, as I did of their peeps at the +little girls of ten. But I really do not think it worth while. I would +do so indeed in a minute if there were anything quite fresh and new to +describe. But on the faith of a story-teller I assure you, it would be +"the old story over again," only on an enlarged scale. +</p> + +<p> +Did you ever look at any interesting object first with your natural +eyes, and then through a microscope or magnifying glass? If so, you +will remember that through the magnifying glass you saw the same thing +again, only much bigger. +</p> + +<p> +In the same manner the ten years acted as a sort of magnifying glass +over Aurora, Julia, and Hermione. Everything was the same, but +increased in size and made clearer and plainer. +</p> + +<p> +Aurora's triumphant joy as she entered the ball-room as a beauty, was +much greater certainly than her pleasure at her Mamma's dinner party. +But the weariness and anxiety afterwards were increased also. She was +still getting away from our friend Time present, and forecasting into +some future delight. "The good time <i>coming</i>, Boys," was her, as well +as many other people's bugbear. She never could feel that (with God's +blessing) <i>the good time</i> is always <i>come</i>. +</p> + +<p> +The only time she ever thoroughly enjoyed was the moment of being +excessively admired. But judge for yourselves how long that can last. +Could you sit and look at a pretty picture for an hour together? No, I +know you could not. You cannot think how short a time it takes to say +"Dear me, what a beautiful girl!" and then, perhaps, up comes somebody +who addresses the admiring gazer on the subject of Lord John Russel's +last speech, and the "beautiful girl," so all important in her own +eyes, is as entirely forgotten as if she had never been seen. And +then, to let you into another secret, Aurora was by no means a very +entertaining companion: nobody <i>can</i> be, with their heads full of +themselves: and she had often the mortification, even in that scene of +her triumph, a ball-room, of feeing her admirers drop off, to amuse +themselves with other people; less handsome perhaps, but more +interesting than herself. +</p> + +<p> +And so the Fairies, having accompanied her through a day of Triumphs, +mixed with mortifications, followed by languors, unsettled by hopes of +future joy, clouded with anxieties that all but spoilt those +hopes:—came one and all to the conclusion that Aurora could not be +considered as a model of human happiness. +</p> + +<p> +Nor could they say much more for Julia. Perhaps, indeed, there is more +equanimity in the pleasures of a very rich person, than in those of a +very beautiful one: but, oh dear, they are of such a mean sort! Still, +there is a good deal of impertinent comfort in money I do admit. Life +rolls on, upon such well oiled hinges! The rich say, "Do this," to +people around them; and the people, "do it." But the Fairies had no +sympathy with such an <i>unnatural</i> fault as the pride of wealth. They +saw Julia reclining in one of those "lumbering things" they so much +despised: and driving round the "dirty town" they so much disliked: +and along a park a great deal too smoky for their taste: and they +could not understand the haughty glance of self-satisfaction with +which she looked out upon the walking crowds she passed, or the +affected graciousness with which she smiled upon the few whom she +condescended to recognize as acquaintances. They thought her very +naughty and very absurd for being conceited about such matters. They +followed her to her Milliner's too, and there I assure you they had +nearly betrayed their presence by the uncontrollable fits of laughter +they fell into when she was trying on, or talking about, bonnets, head +dresses, gowns, &c. with the affected Frenchwoman who showed them off. +Julia cared for nothing because it was pretty or tasteful, but chose +every thing by its costliness and magnificence. Of course the milliner +assured her that every thing she took a fancy to from its rarity, was +becoming; and then, oh dear! how the Fairies were amused! for poor +Julia looked downright ugly in some of the things she selected, and +still went away as self satisfied as ever, on the old grounds that the +costume was so expensive that none of her acquaintance could get one +like it. This was still her chief comfort! Euphrosyne actually shook +her fist at her as she was going away, and she had the toothache for +the rest of the day, and was extremely cross to her husband in +consequence. For, by the way, Julia had married—and married a +nobleman—a man somewhat older than herself; but he and she had had a +sort of mutual conviction that riches and rank go very well together, +and so they married; and suited very well in this respect, that as +their heads were full of other things they neither claimed nor +required from each other a great amount of affection. +</p> + +<p> +Still, was Julia happy? The Fairies shook their heads. She had +gardens, hot-houses, magnificent collections of curiosities, treasures +that might have softened and opened her heart, if she had made a right +use of them. But riches have a very hardening tendency, and she never +struggled against it. +</p> + +<p> +Then, too, she could get every thing she wanted so easily, that she +cared very little about anything. Life becomes very stale when your +hands are full and you have nothing to ask for. +</p> + +<p> +Her greatest pleasure was to create astonishment and envy among her +associates: but, besides the naughtiness of the feeling, this is a +triumph of very short duration; for most people, when they cannot get +at what they envy, amuse themselves with something else; and then, +what a mortification to see them do this! +</p> + +<p> +"Besides," said the Fairies, "we must follow her into her solitude, to +see if she is happy." +</p> + +<p> +Ah! there, lying back once more in the easy chair, in a dress which— +</p> + + +<p class="block"> +"China's gayest art had +dyed," +</p> + + +<p class="left"> +do you think that self-satisfied, but still uncheerful looking face +tells of happiness? +</p> + +<p> +No! She too, like Aurora, was unoccupied, and forecasting into +futurity for the "good time coming," which so many spend their lives +in craving after and expecting, but which the proud, the selfish and +the idle never reach to. +</p> + +<p> +The Fairies turned from her sorrowful and angry. +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="40%"> + +<p> +In the outskirts of a forest, just where its intricacy had broken away +into picturesque openings, leaving visible some strange old trees with +knotted trunks and mysteriously twisted branches, sat a young girl +sketching. She was intently engaged, but as her eyes were ever and +anon raised from her paper to the opening glade, and one of the old +trees, the Fairies had no difficulty in recognizing their protégée, +Hermione. The laughing face of childhood had become sobered and +refined by sentiment and strength, but contentment and even enjoyment +beamed in her eyes as she thoughtfully and earnestly pursued her +beautiful art. The little beings who hovered around her in that sweet +spot, almost forgot they were not in Fairy land; the air was so full +of sweet odours from ferns and mosses, and the many other delicious +scents you find so constantly in woods. +</p> + +<p> +Besides which, it amused the good souls to watch Hermione's skilful +hand tracing the scene before her; and they felt an admiring delight +when they saw the old tree of the forest reappear on the paper, with +all the shadows and lights the sun just then threw upon it, and they +wondered not a little at the skill with which she gave distance and +perspective to the glade beyond. They felt, too, that though the +drawing they saw rising under the sketcher's hand was not made +powerful by brilliant effects or striking contrasts, it was +nevertheless overflowing with the truth and sentiment of nature. It +was the impression of the scene itself, viewed through the poetry of +the artist's mind; and as the delicate creatures who hung over the +picture, looked at it, they almost longed for it, slight as it was, +that they might carry it away, and hang it up in their fairy palace as +a faithful representation of one of the loveliest spots of earth, the +outskirts of an ancient English forest. +</p> + +<p> +It is impossible to say how long they might not have staid watching +Hermione, but that after a time the sketch was finished, and the young +lady after writing beneath it Schiller's well known line in +Wallenstein, arose. "Das ist das Loos des Schönen auf der +Erde."<a href="#FN1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="left"> +<a name="FN1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> "Such is the lot of the beautiful upon earth." +</p> + +<p> +The poor tree was marked for felling! Ambrosia was almost affected to +tears, once more. The scene was so beautiful, and the allusion so +touching, and there seemed to her such a charm over her God-daughter +Hermione; she was herself so glad, too, to feel sure that success had +crowned her gift, that, altogether, her Fairy heart grew quite soft. +"You may do as you like about observing Hermione further," +cried she. "But, for my part, I am now satisfied. She is enjoying +life to the uttermost; all its beauties of sight and sound; its +outward loveliness; its inward mysteries. She will never marry but +from love, and one whose heart can sympathise with hers. Ah, Ianthe, +what more has life to give? You will say, she is not beautiful; +perhaps not for a marble statue; but the grace of poetical feeling is +in her every look and action. Ah, she will walk by the side of +manhood, turning even the hard realities of life into beauty by that +living well-spring of sweet thoughts and fancies that I see beaming +from her eyes. Look at her now, Ianthe, and confess that surely that +countenance breathes more beauty than chiselled features can +give." And certainly, whether some mesmeric influence from her +enthusiastic Fairy Godmother was working on Hermione's brain, or +whether her own quotation upon the doomed tree had stirred up other +poetical recollections, I know not; but as she was retracing her steps +homewards, she repeated to herself softly but with much pathos, +Coleridge's lines:<a href="#FN2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +</p> + + +<p class="block"> + "O lady, we receive but what we give,<br> + And in our life alone does nature live:<br> +Ours is her wedding-garment, ours her shroud!<br> +And would we aught behold, of higher worth,<br> +Than that inanimate cold world allowed<br> +To the poor loveless ever anxious crowd,<br> +Ah! from the soul itself must issue forth<br> +A light, a glory, a fair luminous cloud<br> + Enveloping the earth—<br> +And from the soul itself must there be sent<br> +A sweet and potent voice, of its own birth,<br> +Of all sweet sounds the life and element!"<br> +</p> + + +<p class="left"> +<a name="FN2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> Coleridge's "Dejection: an Ode." +</p> + +<p> +And, turning through the little handgate at the extremity of the wood, +she pursued the train of thought with heightened colour in her +cheeks— +</p> + +<p class="block"> +"I may not hope from outward forms to win<br> +The passion and the life, whose fountains are within." +</p> + +<p> +And thus Hermione reached her home, her countenance lighted up by the +pleasure of success, and the sweet and healthy musings of her solitary +walk. +</p> + +<p> +She entered the library of a beautiful country house by the low window +that opened on to the lawn, and found her mother reading. +</p> + +<p> +"I cannot tell you how lovely the day is, Mamma, every thing is so +fresh, and the shadows and lights are so good! I have immortalized our +poor old friend the oak, before they cut him down," added she, +smiling, as she placed the drawing in her mother's hands. "I wish the +forest belonged to some one who had not this cruel taste for turning +knotted oak trees into fancy work-tables. It is as bad as what Charles +Lamb said of the firs, 'which look so romantic alive, and die into +desks.'—Die into desks!" repeated Hermione musingly, as she seated +herself on the sofa, and took up a book that was before her on the +table; mechanically removing her bonnet from her head, and laying it +down by her side as she spoke. +</p> + +<p> +And here for some time there was a silence, during which Hermione's +mother ceased reading, and, lifting up her eyes, looked at her +daughter with mingled love, admiration, and interest. "I wish I had +her picture so," dreamt the poor lady, as she gazed; "so earnest, and +understanding, and yet so simple, and kind!—There is but one +difficulty for her in life," was the next thought; "with such keen +enjoyment of this world, such appreciation of the beauties, and +wonders, and delights of God's creations on earth—to keep the eye of +faith firmly fixed on the 'better and more enduring inheritance,' to +which both she and I, but I trust she, far behind, are hastening. Yet, +by God's blessing, and with Christian training, and the habit of +active charity, and the vicissitudes of life, I have few or no fears. +But such capability of happiness in this world is a great temptation, +and I sometimes fancy must therefore have been a Fairy gift." And here +the no longer young Mother of Hermione fell into a reverie, and a long +pause ensued, during which Ambrosia felt very sad, for it grieved her +to think that the good and reasonable Mother should be so much afraid +of Fairy gifts, even when the result had been so favourable. +</p> + +<p> +A note at length interrupted the prolonged silence. It was from Aurora +the Beauty, whose Father possessed a large estate in the +neighbourhood, and who had just then come into the country for a few +weeks. Aurora earnestly requested Hermione and her Mother to visit +her. +</p> + +<p> +"I will do as you wish," said Hermione, looking rather grave; "but +really a visit to Aurora is a sort of small misfortune." +</p> + +<p> +"I hope you are not envious of her beauty, Hermione? Take care." +</p> + +<p> +"Nay, you are cruel, Mamma, now. I should like to be handsome, but not +at the expense of being so very dull in spirits as poor Aurora often +is. But really, unless you have ever spent an hour alone with her, you +can form no idea of how tired one gets." +</p> + +<p> +"What of, Hermione? of her face?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh no, not of her face; it is charming, and by the way you have just +put into my head how I may escape from being tired, even if I am left +alone with her for hours!" +</p> + +<p> +"Nay, now you really puzzle me, my dear; I suggested nothing but +looking at her face." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, but as she is really and truly such a model of beauty, what do +you think of offering to make a likeness of her, Mamma? It will +delight her to sit and be looked at, even by me, in the country, and I +shall be so much pleased to have such a pleasant occupation. I am +quite reconciled to the idea of going." +</p> + +<p> +And a note was written, and despatched accordingly. +</p> + +<p> +"But," persisted Hermione, rising to sit near her Mother, "you do not +above half know Aurora. One would think she had been born in what is +called a 'four warnt way,' with nothing but cross roads about her. +Nothing is ever right. She is always either exhausted with the heat of +the sun, or frozen with cold, or the evening is so tedious, she wants +it to be bedtime, or if there is any unusual gaiety going on, she +quarrels with the same length of evening, because it is so intolerably +short; and, in short, she is never truly happy but when she is +surrounded by admirers, whether men or women. And this seems to me to +be a sad way of '<i>getting her time over</i>,' as the poor women say of +life. Ah, Mamma, it goes but too quickly." +</p> + +<p> +"Aurora is indeed foolish," musingly ejaculated the Mother. +</p> + +<p> +"Not altogether either, my dear Mother. She knows much; but the fault +is, she cares for nothing. She has got the carcase, as it were, of +knowledge and accomplishments; but the vivifying spirit is wanting. +You know yourself how well she plays and sings occasionally, if there +is a question of charming a room full of company. Yet there can be no +sentiment about her music after all, or it would be an equal pleasure +to her at other times. But really it almost makes me as discontented +with life as herself to hear her talk in unexcited hours. Turning over +my books one day, she said, 'You can never be either a poet or a +painter, or a Mozart or a philosopher, Hermione? what is the use of +all your labour and poking?' What could I say? I felt myself colour +up, and I laughed out, 'Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is +vanity!' Yet certainly God has set before us the things of earth in +order that we may admire and find them out; and that is the answer to +all such foolish questions!" And Hermione was turning to leave the +room, but she came back and said—"Do you know, Mamma, though you will +laugh at the idea, I do think Aurora would be a very nice girl, and +very happy, if she either could grow very ugly all at once, or if any +thing in the world could make her forget her beauty.—And," added she, +in a half whisper, "if there is any thing in Fairy lore, I could +almost fancy some cruel Fairy had owed her family a grudge, and had +given her this gift of excessive beauty on purpose to be the plague +and misfortune of her life." +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="40%"> + +<p> +"Enough, enough, and too much," cried Euphrosyne impatiently. "The +matter is now, I think, concluded. Ianthe and I have failed, and +though you are successful, Ambrosia, even you have not come off +without a rebuff. Now, farewell to earth. I am weary of it. I do not +know your gift, and I am sick of listening to conversations I cannot +understand. Let us begone. If we de delay, they will begin again. Ah, +my sisters, my spirit yearns for our fairer clime!" +</p> + +<p> +And they arose; but yet awhile they lingered on the velvet lawn before +that country-house, for as they were preparing for flight, the sounds +they loved so well, of harmonious music, greeted their ears. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, there is the artist's hand again," cried Ambrosia. "I see the +lovely sketch before me once more!" +</p> + +<p> +And so it was, that it, and the peaceful forest scene, and the +interesting face of Hermione, seemed to reappear before them all as +they listened to her music. Tender, and full of sentiment were the +sounds at first, as if the musician were acting the scene of the opera +whence they came. +</p> + +<p> +"Lieder ohne Worte,"<a href="#FN3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> murmured Ambrosia. +</p> + +<p class="left"> +<a name="FN3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> Songs without +Words.—Mendelssohn. +</p> + +<p> +But it was to the swelling sounds of a farewell chorus that they arose +into the air, and took their leave of earth. +</p> + +<p> +And now, dear Readers, there is but one thing more to do. To ask if +you have guessed the Fairy gift? +</p> + +<p> +The Fairies, you see, had not. What Euphrosyne had said was true. They +had listened to such a quantity of conversation they could not +understand, and they were so unused to <i>think</i> much about any thing, +or to hear much beyond their own pretty light talk and sweet songs, +that their poor little brains had got quite muddled. +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps remaining so long in the Earth's atmosphere helped to cloud +their intelligence. Certain it is, they returned very pensive, very +cross, and rather dusty to Fairy Land. +</p> + +<p> +They arrived at the beautiful bay I first described, and floated to a +large party of their sisters, who were dancing on the sands. +</p> + +<p> +There was a clapping of tiny hands, and shouts of joy as they +approached; and "What news? what news?" cried many voices. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, what news, Sister Euphrosyne!" cried little Aglaia, floating +forward, "from the smudgy old earth; Is it beauty, riches, or what?" +</p> + +<p> +"I cannot answer your question," said Euphrosyne, pushing forward. +</p> + +<p> +A circle was now formed round the travellers, and the details I have +given you were made by Ianthe. And she wound up by saying, "And what +Ambrosia's gift to Hermione has been, we cannot make out." +</p> + +<p> +"Then I will tell you!" cried little Aglaia, springing lightly high +into the air, and descending gently on a huge shell at her feet; "<i>She +likes every thing she does, and she likes to be always doing +something</i>. You can't put the meaning into one word, as you can Beauty +and Riches; but still it <i>is</i> something. Can't you think of some way +of saying what I have told you? Dear me, how stupid you are all grown. +And <i>liking</i> isn't the right word: it is something stronger than +common <i>liking</i>." +</p> + +<p> +"Love, perhaps," murmured Leila. +</p> + +<p> +"An excellent idea," cried Euphrosyne; "dear me, this delicious air is +clearing my poor head. Sisters, I will express it for you, and +Ambrosia shall say if I am right. It is THE LOVE OF EMPLOYMENT." +</p> + +<p> +Ambrosia laughed assent; but a low murmur of discontent resounded +through the Fairy group. +</p> + +<p> +"Intolerable!" cried Leila, shrugging her shoulders like a French +woman. +</p> + +<p> +"It is no Fairy gift at all," exclaimed others; "it is downright +plodding and working." +</p> + +<p> +"If the human race can be made happy by nothing but labour," cried +another; "I propose we leave them to themselves, and give them no more +Fairy gifts at all." +</p> + +<p> +"Remember," cried Ambrosia, now coming forward, "this is our first +experiment upon human happiness. Hitherto we have given Fairy gifts, +and never enquired how they have acted. And I feel sure we have always +forgotten one thing, viz. that poor men and women living in Time, and +only having in their power the small bit of it which is present, +cannot be happy unless they make Time present happy. And there is but +one plan for that; I use Aglaia's words: '<i>To like every thing you do, +and like to be always doing something</i>.'" +</p> + +<p> +Ambrosia ceased speaking, and the circled group were silent too. They +were not satisfied, however; but those sweet, airy people take nothing +to heart for long. For a short time they wandered about in little +knots of two and three, talking, and then joined together in a dance +and song, ere night surrounded them. There was from that time, +however, a general understanding among them that the human race was +too coarse and common to have much sympathy with Fairies, and even the +Godmothers agreed to this, for they were sadly tired with the unusual +quantity of thinking and observing they had had to undergo. So if you +ever wonder, dear Readers, that Fairy Gifts and Fairy Godmothers have +gone out of fashion; you may conclude that the adventure of Ambrosia +and Hermione is the reason. +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="40%"> + +<p> +The story is ended; and if any enquiring child should say, "There are +no more Fairy gifts, and we can no more give ourselves love of +employment than beauty or riches;" let me correct this dangerous +error! Wiser heads than mine have shown that every thing we do becomes +by HABIT, not only <i>easy</i>, but actually <i>agreeable</i>.<a href="#FN4"><sup>[4]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="left"> +<a name="FN4"><sup>[4]</sup></a> Abercrombie. Moral Feelings. +</p> + +<p> +Dear Children! encourage a habit of <i>attention</i> to whatever you +undertake, and you may make that habit not only easy, but agreeable; +and then, I will venture to promise you, you will <i>like</i> and even +<i>love</i> your occupations. And thus, though you may not have so +many talents as Hermione, you may call all those you do possess, into +play, and make them the solace, pleasure and resources of your earthly +career. +</p> + +<p> +If you do this, I think you will not feel disposed to quarrel, as the +Fairies did, with Ambrosia's gift; for increased knowledge of the +world, and your own happy experience, will convince you more and more +that no Fairy Gift is so well worth having, as, +</p> + +<p class="note"> +THE LOVE OF EMPLOYMENT. +</p> +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="80%"> + +<center> +<img src="Images/Deco2.jpg" alt="Decoration2" width="234" height="59" +hspace="4" vspace="8"> +</center> + +<p> </p> + + +<a name="Joachim"></a> + +<h3> +JOACHIM THE MIMIC. +</h3> + + +<p> +<img src="Images/LetterT.jpg" alt="Ornate T" width="57" +height="62"> + +There was, once upon a time, a little boy, who, living in the time +when Genies and Fairies used now and then to appear, had all the +advantage of occasionally seeing wonderful sights, and all the +<i>dis</i>advantage of being occasionally dreadfully frightened. This +little boy was one day walking alone by the sea side, for he lived in +a fishing town, and as he was watching the tide, he perceived a bottle +driven ashore by one of the big waves. He rushed forward to catch it +before the wave sucked it back again, and succeeded. Now then he was +quite delighted, but he could not get the cork out, for it was +fastened down with rosin, and there was a seal on the top. So being +very impatient, he took a stone and knocked the neck of the bottle +off. +</p> + +<p> +What was his surprize to find himself instantly suffocated with a +smoke that made his eyes smart and his nose sneeze, just as much as if +a quantity of Scotch snuff had been thrown over him! He jumped about +and puffed a good deal, and was just beginning to cry, as a matter of +course for a little boy when he is annoyed; when lo! and behold! he +saw before him such an immense Genie, with black eyes and a long +beard, that he forgot all about crying and began to shake with fear. +</p> + +<p> +The Genie told him he need not be afraid, and desired him not to +shake; for, said he, "You have been of great use to me; a Genie, +stronger than myself, had fastened me up in yonder bottle in a fit of +ill humour, and as he had put his seal at the top, nobody could draw +the cork. Luckily for me, you broke the neck of the bottle, and I am +free. Tell me therefore, good little boy, what shall I do for you to +show my gratitude?" +</p> + +<p> +But now, before I go on with this, I must tell you that the day before +the little boy's adventure with the bottle and the Genie, the King of +that country had come to the fishing town I spoke of, in a gold +chariot drawn by twelve beautiful jet black horses, and attended by a +large train of officers and followers. A herald went before announcing +that the King was visiting the towns of his dominions, for the sole +purpose of doing justice and exercising acts of charity and kindness. +And all people in trouble and distress were invited to come and lay +their complaints before him. And accordingly they did so, and the good +King, though quite a youth, devoted the whole day to the benevolent +purpose he proposed; and it is impossible to describe the amount of +good he accomplished in that short time. Among others who benefited +was our little boy's Mother, a widow who had been much injured and +oppressed. He redressed her grievances, and in addition to this, +bestowed valuable and useful presents upon her. "Look what an example +the young King sets," was the cry on every side! "Oh, my son, imitate +him!" exclaimed our poor Widow, as in a transport of joy and emotion, +she threw her arms around her boy's neck. "I wish I <i>could</i> imitate +him and be like him!" murmured little Joachim: (such was the child's +name). "My boy," cried the Widow, "imitate every thing that is good, +and noble, and virtuous, and you <i>will</i> be like him!" Joachim looked +earnestly in her face, but was silent. He understood a good deal that +his Mother meant; he knew he was to try to do every thing that was +good, and so be like the young King; but, as he was but a little boy, +I am not quite sure that he had not got a sort of vague notion of the +gold chariot and the twelve jet black horses, mixed up with his idea +of imitating all that was good and noble and virtuous, and being like +the young King. I may be wrong; but, at seven years old, you will +excuse him if his head did get a little confused, and if he could not +quite separate his ideas of excessive virtue and goodness from all the +splendour in which the pattern he was to imitate appeared before his +eyes. +</p> + +<p> +However that may be, his Mother's words made a profound impression +upon him. He thought of nothing else, and if he had been in the silly +habit of telling his dreams, I dare say he would have told his mother +next morning that he had been dreaming of them. Certainly they came +into his head the first thing in the morning; and they were still in +his head when he walked along by the sea-shore, as has been described; +so much so, that even his adventure did not make him forget them; and +therefore, when this Genie, as I told you before, offered to do any +thing he wanted, little Joachim said, "Genie, I want to imitate every +thing that is good, and noble, and virtuous, so you must make me +able!" +</p> + +<p> +The Genie looked very much surprized, and rather confused; he expected +to have been asked for toys, or money, or a new horse, or something +nice of that sort; but Joachim looked very grave, so the Genie saw he +was in earnest, and he did a most wonderful thing for a Genie; he +actually sat down beside the little boy to talk to him. I don't +recollect that a single Genie in the Arabian Nights, ever did such a +thing before; but this Genie did: What is more, he stroked his beard, +and spoke very softly, as follows: +</p> + +<p> +"My dear little boy, you have asked a great thing. I can do part of +what you wish, but not all; for you have asked what concerns the heart +and conscience, and we Genies, cannot influence these, for the great +Ruler of all things alone has them under his control. He allows us, +however, power over the intellect—ah! now I see you cannot understand +me, little boy!—Well! I mean this;—I can make your head clever, but +I cannot make your heart good: I can give you the power of imitation, +but as to <i>what</i> you imitate, that must depend upon yourself, and the +great Being I dare not name!" +</p> + +<p> +After saying this, the Genie laid his immense forefingers on each side +of Joachim's head just above his forehead, and then disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +Joachim felt no pain, but when he got up and put on his cap to go +home, his head seemed almost too large for it. +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps he wanted a new cap, but the phrenologists would tell you he +had got the organ of Imitation. +</p> + +<p> +He did not thoroughly understand what the Genie said, but he was +convinced that something had been done towards making him like to the +young King. As he was dawdling home, his eye was struck by the sight +of a beautiful because picturesque dark fishing-boat, which he saw +very plainly, because the red sun was setting behind it. Joachim felt +a strange wish to make something like it; and, taking up a bit of +white chalk he saw at his feet, he drew a picture of the boat on the +tarred side of another that was near him. While he was so engaged, an +old fisherman came up very angrily. He thought the child was +disfiguring his boat; but, to his surprise, he saw that the little +fellow's drawing was so capital, he wished he could do as much +himself. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, who taught you to do that, young Master?" said he. +</p> + +<p> +Joachim was no great talker at any time, and he now merely said, +"Nobody," and smiled. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, you must draw my boat some day, for me to hang up; and now +here's a luck penny for you, for you certainly are a capital hand for +such a youngster." +</p> + +<p> +Joachim was greatly pleased with the penny, for it was a curious old +one, with a hole through it; and he told his Mother all about it; but +though it may seem strange, he never mentioned the bottle and the +Genie to her at all. That appeared to him to be a quite private affair +of his own. +</p> + +<p> +He altered very much, however, by degrees. He had been till then +rather a dull, silent boy: now he talked much more, was more amusing, +was always endeavouring to draw, and after being at church would try +to read the prayers like the parson. His Mother was delighted. She +began to think her son would grow up a good scholar after all, and +being now well off, owing to the King's kindness, she resolved on +sending little Joachim to school. +</p> + +<p> +To school, accordingly, he went; and here, my little readers, there +was a great change for him. Hitherto he had lived very much alone with +his Mother, and being quiet, and somewhat dull by nature, he had never +till quite lately had many acquaintances of his own age. +</p> + +<p> +Now, however, he found himself among great numbers of youths, of all +ages, and all characters. At first he was shy and observant, but this +soon wore off, and he became a favourite. Nobody was more liked at any +time, and he was completely unrivalled in the play-ground. He could +set all the boys in a roar of laughter, when, hid behind a bush, he +would bark so like a dog that the unhappy wights who were not in the +secret expected to see a vicious hound spring out upon them, and took +to their heels in fright. He was first in every attempt at acting, +which the boys got up; and there was not a cat nor a pig in the +neighbourhood whose mew and squeak he could not give with the utmost +exactness. If you ask how he got on at lessons, I must say—well, but +not <i>very</i> well. His powers of entertaining his companions were so +great, that I fear he found their easily-acquired praise more tempting +than the rewards of laborious learning. He could learn easily enough, +it is true; but while his steadier neighbours were working hard, he +was devising some new scheme for fun when lessons should be over, or +making some odd drawing on his slate to induce his companions to an +outburst of laughter. +</p> + +<p> +There were many excuses to be made for little Joachim; and it is +always so pleasant to please, that I do not much wonder at his being +led astray by possessing the power. +</p> + +<p> +Time went on, meanwhile; and Joachim became aware at last that he +possessed a larger share than common of the power of imitation. When +he first clearly felt this, he thought of the Genie and his two +forefingers, I believe;—but his school life, and his funny ways, and +the constant diversion of his mind, quite prevented his thinking of +all the serious things the Genie had spoken. Nay, even his Mother's +words had nearly faded from his mind, and he had forgotten the young +King, and his own wishes to be like him. It was a pity it was so; but +so it was! Poor Joachim! he was a very good fellow, and kind also in +reality; but first the pleasure of making his companions laugh, and +then the pleasure of being a sort of little great man among them, were +fast misleading him. For instance, though at first he amused them by +imitating dogs, and cats, and pigs, he next tried his powers at +imitating any thing queer and odd in the boys themselves, and, for a +time, this was most entertaining. When he mimicked the awkward walk of +one boy, and the bad drawl of another, and the loutish carriage of a +third, the school resounded with shouts of laughter, which seemed to +our Hero a great triumph,—something like the cheers which had greeted +the good young King as he left the fishing-town. But certainly the +cause was a very different one! By degrees, however, it must be +admitted, that Joachim's popularity began a little to decrease; for, +though a boy has no objection to see his neighbour laughed at, he does +not like quite so well to be laughed at himself, and there are very +few who can bear it with good humour. And now Joachim had given such +way to the pastime, that he was always hunting up absurdities in his +friends and neighbours, and <i>no one felt safe</i>. +</p> + +<p> +It was a long time before Joachim found out the change that was taking +place, for there were still plenty of loud laughers on his side; but +once or twice he had a feeling that all was not right: for instance, +one day when he mimicked the awkward walker to the boy who spoke badly +and stuttered, and then in the afternoon imitated the stutterer to the +awkward boy, he had a twinge of conscience, for it whispered to him +that he was a sneak, and deceitful; particularly, as both these boys +had often helped him in doing his sums and lessons when he was too +idle and <i>too funny</i> to labour at them himself. In fact, he had been +so much helped that he was sadly behind hand in his books, for all the +school had been willing to assist "that good fellow '<i>Joke him</i>,'" as +they called him. +</p> + +<p> +At last a crisis came. A new boy arrived at the school; very big for +his age, and rather surly tempered, but a hard working, persevering +lad, who was striving hard to learn and get on. He had one defect. He +lisped very much, which certainly is an ugly trick, and sounded silly +in a great stout boy, nearly five feet high: but he had this excuse; +—his mother had died when he was very little, and his good Father had +more important business on hand in supporting his family, of which +this boy was the eldest, than in teaching him to pronounce his S's +better. It is perhaps only Mothers who attend to these little matters. +Well;—this great big boy was two or three days at the school before +Joachim went near him. There was something serious, stern, and unfunny +in his face, and when Joachim was making the other boys laugh, the +great big boy never even smiled, but fixed his eyes in a rather +unpleasant manner upon Joachim as he raised them from his books. Still +he was an irresistible subject for the Mimic; for, though he learnt +his lessons without a mistake, and always obtained the Master's +praise, he read them with so strong a lisp, and this was rendered so +remarkable by his loud, deep voice, that it fairly upset what little +prudence Joachim possessed; and, as he returned one day to his seat, +after repeating a copy of verses in the manner I have described, +Joachim, who was not far off, echoed the last two lines with such +accuracy of imitation, that it startled even the Master, who was at +that moment leaving the school-room. +</p> + +<p> +But no laugh followed as usual, for all eyes were suddenly turned on +the big boy, who, crimson with indignation, and yet quite +self-possessed in manner, walked up to Joachim and deliberately +knocked him down on the floor. Great was Joachim's amazement, you may +be sure, and severe was the blow that had levelled him; but still more +severe were the words that followed. "Young rascal," exclaimed the big +boy, "who has put <i>you</i> in authority over your elders, that you are to +be correcting our faults and failings, instead of attending to your +own. You are beholden to any lad in the school who will do your sums, +and write your exercises for you, and then you take upon yourself to +ridicule us if we cannot pronounce our well learnt lessons to your +fancy! You saucy imp, who don't know what labour and good conduct are, +and who have nothing to boast of, but the powers which a monkey +possesses to a greater extent than yourself!" Fancy Joachim's rage! +<i>He</i>, the admired wit! the popular boy! nothing better than a monkey! +He sprang up and struck his fist into the face of his antagonist with +such fury, that the big boy, though evidently unwilling to fight one +less than himself, was obliged to bestow several sharp blows before he +could rid himself of Joachim's passion. +</p> + +<p> +At last, however, other boys separated them; but Joachim, who was +quite unused to fighting, and who had received a very severe shock +when he first fell, became so sick and ill that he was obliged to go +home. His Mother asked what was the matter. "He had been quizzing a +great big boy who lisped, and the boy knocked him down, and they had +fought." His Mother sighed; but she saw he was too poorly for talking, +so she put him to bed and nursed him carefully. +</p> + +<p> +Now, you may say, what had this Mother been about, not to have found +out and corrected Joachim's fault before? First, he was very little at +home, and as owing to the help of others, his idleness had not become +notorious, she had heard no complaints from the Masters, and thinking +he did his lessons well, she felt averse to stopping his fun and +amusements in holiday hours. Still, she had latterly begun to have +misgivings which this event confirmed. In a few days Joachim was +better, and came down stairs, and his Aunt and two or three Cousins +called to enquire after him. Their presence revived Joachim's flagging +spirits, and all the boys got together to talk and laugh. Soon their +voices echoed through the house. Joachim was at his old tricks again, +and the Schoolboys, the Ushers and the Master all furnished food for +mirth. His Cousins roared with delight. "Clever child!" exclaimed his +Aunt, "what a treasure you are in a house! one could never be dull +where <i>you</i> are!" "Sister, Sister!" cried Joachim's Mother, "do not +say so!" "My dear," said the Aunt, "are you dull enough to be unable +to appreciate your own child's wit; oh, I wish you would give him to +me. Come here, my dear Joachim, and do the boy that walks so badly +once more for me; it's enough to kill one to see you take him off!" +Joachim's spirits rose above all control. Excited by his Aunt's +praise and the sense of superior ability, he surpassed himself. He +gave the bad walker to perfection; then imitated a lad who had +commenced singing lessons, and whose voice was at present broken and +bad. He even gave the big boy's lisp once more, and followed on with a +series of pantomimic exhibitions. +</p> + +<p> +All at once, he cast his eyes on his Mother's face—that face so full +of intelligence and the mild sorrow of years of widowhood, borne with +resigned patience. Her eyes were full of tears, and there was not a +smile on her countenance. Joachim's conscience—he knew not +why—twinged him terribly. He stopped suddenly; "Mother!" +</p> + +<p> +"Come here, Joachim!" He came. +</p> + +<p> +"Is that boy whom you have been imitating—your Aunt says so +cleverly—the <i>best</i> walker of all the boys in your school?" +</p> + +<p> +"The <i>best</i>, Mother?" and the puzzled Joachim could not suppress a +smile. His Cousins grinned. +</p> + +<p> +"Dear Mother, of course not," continued Joachim, "on the contrary, he +is the very worst!" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh—well, have you no <i>good</i> walkers at your school?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh yes, several; indeed one especially; his father was a soldier, he +walks beautifully." +</p> + +<p> +"Does he, Joachim? Let me see you walk like him, my dear." +</p> + +<p> +Joachim stepped boldly enough into the middle of the room, and drew +himself up; but a sudden consciousness of his extreme inferiority to +the soldier's son, both in figure, manner and mode of walking, made +him feel quite sheepish. There was a pause of expectation. +</p> + +<p> +"Now then!" said Joachim's Mother. +</p> + +<p> +"I cannot walk like <i>him</i>, Mother," said Joachim. +</p> + +<p> +"Why not?" +</p> + +<p> +"Because he walks so <i>very well</i>!" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh,"—said Joachim's Mother. +</p> + +<p> +There was another pause. +</p> + +<p> +"Come, Joachim," continued the Widow, "I am very anxious to admire you +as much as your Aunt does. You are not tired; let us have some more +exhibitions. You gave us a song just now horribly out of tune, and +with the screeching voice of a bagpipe." +</p> + +<p> +"I was singing like Tom Smith," interrupted Joachim. +</p> + +<p> +"Is he your best singer?" enquired the Mother. Another laugh followed. +</p> + +<p> +"Nay, Mother, no one sings so badly." +</p> + +<p> +"Indeed! How does the Singing Master sing, Joachim?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, Mother," cried Joachim, "so beautifully, it would make the tears +come into your eyes with pleasure, to listen to him." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, but as I cannot listen to him, let me, at all events, have the +pleasure of hearing my clever son imitate him," was the reply. +</p> + +<p> +Joachim was mute. He had a voice, though not a remarkable one, but he +had shirked the labour of trying to improve it by practice. He made +one effort to sing like the Master, but overpowered by a sense of +incapacity, his voice failed, and he felt disposed to cry. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, Joachim, I thought you were such a clever creature you could +imitate any thing," cried the Mother. +</p> + +<p> +No answer fell from the abashed boy, till a sudden thought revived +him. +</p> + +<p> +"But I <i>can</i> imitate the singing-master, Mother." +</p> + +<p> +"Let me hear you, my dear child." +</p> + +<p> +"Why it isn't exactly what you can hear," observed Joachim +murmuringly; "but when he sings, you have no idea what horrible faces +he makes. Nay, it's true, indeed, he turns up his eyes, shuts them, +distorts his mouth, and swings about on the stool like the pendulum of +a clock!" +</p> + +<p> +And Joachim performed all the grimaces and contortions to perfection, +till his Aunt and Cousins were convulsed with laughter. +</p> + +<p> +"Well done," cried his Mother. "Now you are indeed like the cat in the +German fable, Joachim! who voted himself like the bear, because he +could lick his paws after the same fashion, though he could not +imitate either his courage or his strength. Now let me look a little +further into your education. Bring me your drawing-book." It came, and +there was page after page of odd and ugly faces, strange noses, +stranger eyes, squinting out of the book in hideous array. +</p> + +<p> +"I suppose you will laugh again if I ask you if these are the +<i>beauties</i> of your school, Joachim;—but tell me seriously, are +there no good, pleasant, or handsome faces among your schoolfellows?" +</p> + +<p> +"Plenty, Mother; one or two the Master calls models, and who often sit +to him to be drawn from." +</p> + +<p> +"Draw one of those faces for me, my dear; I am fond of beauty." And +the Mother placed the book in his hands, pointing to a blank page. +</p> + +<p> +Joachim took a pencil, and sat down. <i>Now</i> he thought he should be +able to please his Mother; but, alas, he found to his surprise, that +the fine faces he tried to recall had not left that vivid impression +on his brain which enabled him to represent them. On the contrary, he +was tormented and baffled by visions of the odd forms and grotesque +countenances he had so often pictured. He seized the Indian-rubber and +rubbed out nose after nose to no purpose, for he never could replace +them with a better. Drawing was his favourite amusement; and this +disappointment, where he expected success, broke down his already +depressed heart. He threw the book from him, and burst into a flood of +tears. +</p> + +<p> +"Joachim! have you drawn him? What makes you cry?" +</p> + +<p> +"I cannot draw him, Mother," sobbed the distressed boy. +</p> + +<p> +"And why not? Just look here; here is an admirable likeness of +squinting Joe, as you have named him. Why cannot you draw the handsome +boy?" +</p> + +<p> +"Because his face is so handsome!" answered Joachim, still sobbing. +</p> + +<p> +"My son," said his Mother gravely, "you have now a sad lesson to +learn, but a necessary and a wholesome one. Get up, desist from +crying, and listen to me." +</p> + +<p> +Poor Joachim, who loved his mother dearly, obeyed. +</p> + +<p> +"Joachim! your Aunt, and your Cousins, and your schoolfellows have all +called you clever. In what does your cleverness consist? I will tell +you. In the Reproduction of Deformity, Defects, Failings, and +Misfortunes of every sort, that fall under your observation. A worthy +employment truly! A noble ambition! But I will now tell you the truth +about yourself. You never heard it before, and I feel sure you will +benefit now. A good or an evil Genie, I know not which, has bestowed +upon you a great power; and you have misused it. Do you know what that +power is?" +</p> + +<p> +Joachim shook his head, though he trembled all over, for he felt as if +awaking from along dream, to the recollection of the Genie. +</p> + +<p> +"It is the power of Imitation, Joachim; I call it a great power, for +it is essential to many great and useful things. It is essential to +the orator, the linguist, the artist, and the musician. Nature herself +teaches us the charm of <i>imitation</i>, when in the smooth and clear lake +you see the lovely landscape around mirrored and <i>repeated</i>.<a href="#FN5"><sup>[5]</sup></a> What a +lesson may we not read in this sight! The commonest pond even that +reflects the foliage of the tree that hangs over it, is calling out to +us to reproduce for the solace and ornament of life, the beautiful +works of God. But oh, my son, my dear son, you have abused this gift +of Imitation, which might be such a blessing and pleasure to you." +</p> + +<p class="left"> +<a name="FN5"><sup>[5]</sup></a> Schiller.—"Der Künstler." +</p> + +<p> +"You might, if you chose, <i>imitate every thing that is good, and +noble, and virtuous, and beautiful</i>; and you are, instead of that, +reproducing every aspect of deformity that crosses your path, until +your brain is so stamped with images of defects, ugliness, and +uncouthness, that your hand and head refuse their office, when I call +upon you to reproduce the beauties with which the world is graced." +</p> + +<p> +I doubt if Joachim heard the latter part of his Mother's speech. At +the recurrence to the old sentence, a gleam of lightning seemed to +shoot across his brain. Latent memories were aroused as keenly as if +the events had but just occurred, and he sank at his Mother's feet. +</p> + +<p> +When she ceased to speak, he arose. +</p> + +<p> +"Mother," said he, "I have been living in a cloud. I have been very +wrong. Besides which, I have a secret to tell you. Nay, my Aunt may +hear. It has been a secret, and then it has been forgotten; but now I +remember all, and understand far more than I once did." +</p> + +<p> +Here Joachim recounted to his Mother the whole story of her words to +him, and his adventure with the Genie and the bottle; and then, very +slowly, and interrupted by many tears of repentance, he repeated what +the Genie had said about giving him <i>the power</i> of imitation, adding +that the use he made of it must depend on himself and the great Ruler +of the heart and conscience. +</p> + +<p> +There was a great fuss among the Cousins at the notion of Joachim +having talked to a Genie; and, to tell you the truth, this was all +they thought about, and soon after took their leave. The heart of +Joachim's Mother was at rest, however: for though she knew how hard +her son would find it to alter what had become a habit of life, she +knew that he was a good and pious boy, and she saw that he was fully +alive to his error. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh Mother," said he, during the course of that evening, "how plain I +see it all now! The boy that stutters is a model of obedience and +tenderness; I ought to have dwelt upon and imitated that, and, oh! I +thought only of his stuttering. The boy that walks so clumsily, as +well as the great fellow that lisps, are such industrious lads, and so +advanced in learning, that the master thinks both will be +distinguished hereafter; and I, who—(oh, my poor mother, I must +confess to you)—hated to labour at any thing, and have got the boys +to do my lessons for me;—I, instead of imitating their industry, lost +all my time in ridiculing their defects.—What shall—what shall I +do!" +</p> + +<p> +The next morning poor Joachim said his prayers more humbly than he had +ever before done in his life; and, kissing his mother, went to school. +The first thing he did on arriving was to go up to the big boy, who +had beaten him, and beg him to shake hands. +</p> + +<p> +The big boy was pleased, and a grim smile lightened up his face. "But, +old fellow," said he, laying his hand on Joachim's shoulder, "take a +friend's advice. There is good in all of us, depend upon it. Look out +for all that's good, and let the bad points take care of themselves. +<i>You</i> won't get any handsomer, by squinting like poor Joe; nor speak +any pleasanter for lisping like me; nor walk any better for apeing +hobbling. But the ugliest of us have some good about us. Look out for +<i>that</i>, my little lad; I do, or I should not be talking to you! I see +that you are honest and forgiving, though you <i>are</i> a monkey! There +now, I must go on with my lessons! You do yours!" +</p> + +<p> +Never was better advice given, and Joachim took it well, and bore it +bravely; but, oh, how hard it was to his mind, accustomed for so long +to wander away and seek amusement at wrong times, to settle down +resolutely and laboriously to study. He made a strong effort, however; +and though he had often to recall his thoughts, he in a measure +succeeded. +</p> + +<p> +After school-hours he begged the big boy to come and sit by him, and +then he requested his old friends and companions to listen to a story +he had to tell them. They expected something funny, and many a broad +grin was seen; but poor Joachim's eyes were yet red with weeping, and +his gay voice was so subdued, the party soon became grave and +wondering, and then Joachim told them every thing. They were delighted +to hear about the Genie, and were also pleased to find themselves safe +from Joachim's ridicule. It could not be expected they should all +understand the story, but the big boy did, and became Joachim's +greatest friend and adviser. +</p> + +<p> +That evening our little friend, exhausted with the efforts and +excitement of his almost first day of repentance, strolled out in a +somewhat pensive mood to his favourite haunt, the sea shore. A stormy +sunset greeted his arrival on the beach, but the tide was ebbing, and +he wandered on till he reached some caverns among the cliffs. And +there, as had often been his wont, he sat down to gaze out upon the +waste of waters safe and protected from harm. It is very probable that +he fell asleep—but the point could never be clearly known, for he +always said it was no sleep and no dream he had then, but that, whilst +sitting in the inmost recesses of the cave, he saw once more his old +friend the Genie, who after reproaching him with the bad use he had +made of his precious gift, gave him a world of good advice and +instruction. +</p> + +<p> +There is no doubt that after that time, Joachim was seen daily +struggling against his bad habits; and that by degrees he became able +to exercise his mind in following after the good and beautiful instead +of after the bad and ugly. It was a hard task to him for many a long +day to fix his flighty thoughts down to the business in hand, and to +dismiss from before his eyes the ridiculous images that often +presented themselves. But his Mother's wishes, or the Genie's advice, +or something better still, prevailed. And you cannot think, of what +wonderful use the Genie's gift was to him then. Once turned in a right +direction and towards worthy objects, he found it like a sort of +friend at his right hand, helping him forward in some of the most +interesting pursuits of life. Ah! all the energy he had once bestowed +on imitating lisps and stuttering, was now engaged in catching the +sounds of foreign tongues, and thus taking one step towards the +citizenship of the world. And instead of wasting time in gazing at the +singing master's face, that he might ape its unnatural distortions—it +was now the sweet tones of skilful harmony to which he bent his +attention, and which he strove, and not in vain, to reproduce. +</p> + +<p> +The portfolio which he brought home to his Mother at the end of +another half-year, was crowded with laborious and careful copies from +the best models of beauty and grace. And not with those only, for many +a face could be found on its pages in which the Mother recognized some +of her son's old companions. Portraits, not of the mere formation of +mouths and noses, which in so many cases, viewed merely as forms, are +defective and unattractive, but portraits of the same faces, upon +which the character of the inward mind and heart was so stamped that +it threw the mere shape of the features far into the background. +</p> + +<p> +Thus with the pursuit of his favourite art, Joachim combined "that +most excellent gift of charity;" for it was now his pride and pleasure +to make the charm of expression from "<i>the good points</i>" his old +friend had talked about, triumph over any physical defects. The very +spirit and soul of the best sort of portrait painting. And here, my +dear young readers, I would fain call your attention to the fact of +how one right habit produces another. The more Joachim laboured over +seizing the good expression of the faces he drew from, the more he was +led to seek after and find out the good points themselves whence the +expression arose; and thus at last it became a <i>Habit</i> with him to try +and discover every thing that was excellent and commendable in the +characters of those he met; a very different plan from that pursued by +many of us, who in our intercourse with each other, are but too apt to +fasten with eagle-eye accuracy on failings and faults. Which is a very +grave error, and a very misleading one, for if it does nothing else, +it deprives us of all the good we should get by a daily habit of +contemplating what is worthy our regard and remembrance. And so +strongly did Joachim's mother feel this, and so earnestly did she wish +her son to understand that a power which seems bestowed for worldly +ends, may be turned to spiritual advantage also, that when his +birthday came round she presented to him among other gifts, a little +book, called "The Imitation of Jesus Christ." It was the work of an +old fellow called Thomas à Kempis, and though more practical books of +piety have since been written, the idea contained in the title +suggests a great lesson, and held up before Joachim's eyes, Him whom +one of our own divines has since called "The Great Exemplar." +</p> + +<p> +This part of our little hero's 'Lesson of Life,' we can all take to +ourselves, and go and do likewise. And so I hope his story may be +profitable, though we have not all of us a large Genie-gift of +Imitation as he had. With him the excess of this power took a very +natural turn, for though he possessed through its aid, considerable +facilities for music and the study of languages also, the course of +events led him irresistibly to what is usually called "the fine arts." +And if the old dream of the royal chariot and the twelve jet black +horses was never realized to him, a higher happiness by far was his, +when some years after, he and his Mother stood in the council house of +his native town; she looking up with affectionate pride while he +showed her a portrait of the good young King which had a few hours +before been hung up upon its walls. It was the work of Joachim +himself. +</p> +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="80%"> + + +<center> +<img src="Images/Deco2.jpg" alt="Decoration2" width="234" height="59" +hspace="4" vspace="8"> +</center> + + +<a name="Darkness"></a> + +<h3 align="center">DARKNESS AND LIGHT.</h3> + + +<p class="left"> +<i>The darkness and the light to Thee are both alike</i>. +</p> + +<p> +<img src="Images/LetterF.jpg" alt="Ornate F" width="57" +height="65"> +Far away to the west, on the borders of the Sea, there lived a lady +and gentleman in a beautiful old house built something like a castle. +They had several children, nice little boys and girls, who were far +fonder of their Sea Castle, as they called it, than of a very pleasant +house which they had in a great town at some distance off. Still they +used to go and be very merry in the Town House in the winter time when +the hail and snow fell, and the winds blew so cold that nobody could +bear to walk out by the wild sea shore. +</p> + +<p> +But in summer weather the case was quite altered. Indeed, as soon as +ever the sun began to get a little power, and to warm the panes of +glass in the nursery windows of the Town House, there was a hue and +cry among all the children to be off to their Sea Castle home, and +many a time had Papa and Mamma to send them angrily out of the room, +because they would do nothing but beg to "set off directly." They were +always "sure that the weather was getting quite hot," and "it <i>must</i> +be summer, for they heard the sparrows chirping every morning the +first thing," and they "thought they had seen a swallow," and "the +windows got so warm with the sunshine, Nurse declared they were enough +to burn one's fingers:" and so the poor little things teazed +themselves and everybody else, every year, in their hurry to get back +to their western home. But I dare say you have heard the old proverb, +"One swallow does not make a summer;" and so it was proved very often +to our friends. For the Spring season is so changeable, there are +often some soft mild days, and then a cruel frost comes again, and +perhaps snow as well; and people who have boasted about fine weather +and put off their winter clothes, look very foolish. +</p> + +<p> +Still Time passes on; and when May was half over, the Town House used +to echo with shouts of noisy delight, and boxes were banged down in +the passages, and there was a great calling out for cords, and much +scolding about broken keys and padlocks, and the poor Carpenter who +came to mend the trunks and find new keys to old locks, was at his +wits' end and his patience' end too. +</p> + +<p> +But at last the time came when all this bustle was succeeded by +silence in the Town House, for carriages had rolled away with the +happy party, and nobody was left behind but two or three women +servants to clean out the deserted rooms. +</p> + +<p> +And now then, my little readers, who are, I hope, wondering what is +coming next, you must fancy to yourselves the old Sea Castle Home. It +had two large turrets; and winding staircases led from the passages +and kitchens underneath the sitting rooms, up to the top of the +turrets, and so out upon the leads of the house, from which there was +the most beautiful view of the Ocean you ever saw; and, as the top of +the house was battlemented, like the top of your church tower, people +could walk about quite safely and comfortably, without any fear of +falling over. Then, though it is a very unusual thing near the Sea, +there were delightful gardens at the place, and a few very fine old +elm trees near the house, in which a party of rooks built their nests +every year; and the children had gardens of their own, in which they +could dig up their flowers to see if the roots were growing, to their +heart's content, and perform other equally ingenious feats, such as +watering a plant two or three times a day, or after a shower of rain, +and then wondering that, with such tender care, the poor thing should +rot away and die. +</p> + +<p> +But I almost think the children liked the sands on the shore as well +as the gardens, though they loved both. Not that there was any +amusement astir by the water side there, as you have seen in other +places where there are boats and fishermen and nets, and great coils +of ropes, and an endless variety of entertaining sights connected with +the seafaring business going on. Nay, in some places where there is +not a very good shore for landing, it is an amusement of itself to see +each boat or fishing yawl come in. There is such a contrast between +the dark tarred wood and the white surf that dashes up all round it; +and the fishermen are so clever in watching the favourable moment for +a wave to carry them over their difficulties; that I think this is one +of the prettiest sights one can see. But no such thing was ever seen +on the shore by the old Sea Castle, for there was no fishing there. +People thought the sea was too rough and the landing too difficult, +and so no fishing village had ever been built, and no boats ever +attempted to come within many miles of the place. +</p> + +<p> +Nobody cared to ask further, or try to account for the wildness of the +sea on that coast; but I can tell you all about it, although it must +be in a sort of half whisper—<i>The place was on the borders of Fairy +Land!</i> that is to say, many many unknown numbers of miles out at sea, +right opposite to the Castle, there was a Fairy Island, and it was the +Fairies who kept the sea so rough all round them, for fear some +adventurous sailor should approach the island, or get near enough to +fish up some of the pearls and precious stones they kept in a crystal +palace underneath the water. +</p> + +<p> +So now you know the reason why the sea was so rough, and there was no +fishing going on at the Sea Castle Home. +</p> + +<p> +If you want to know whether any body ever saw the Fairy Island, I must +say, yes; but very seldom. And never but in the evening when the sun +was setting, and that under particular circumstances—namely, when he +went down into a dark red bank of clouds, or when there was a lurid +crimson hue over the sky just above the horizon. Then occasionally you +might see the dim hazy outline as of a beautiful mountainous island +against the clouds, or the deep-coloured sky. There is an island +sometimes seen from our western coast, under similar circumstances, +but which you strain your eyes in vain to discern by the brighter +light of day.<a href="#FN6"><sup>[6]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="left"> +<a name="FN6"><sup>[6]</sup></a> Isle of Man from Blackpool. +</p> + +<p> +It is a very ticklish thing to live on the borders of Fairy Land; for +though you cannot get to the Fairies, they can get to you, and it is +not altogether a pleasant thing to have your private affairs overseen +and interfered with by such beings as they are, though sometimes it +may be most useful and agreeable. Besides which, there was a +Fairy-secret connected with the family that lived at the Sea Castle. +An Ancestress of the present Mistress had been a Fairy herself, and +though she had accommodated herself to mortal manners, and lived with +her husband quite quietly as well as happily, and so her origin had +been in a great measure forgotten, it was not unknown to her +descendant, the Lady Madeline, who now lived in the place. And, in +fact, soon after Lady Madeline first came there, a Fairy named Eudora +had appeared to her, declaring herself to be a sort of distant cousin, +and offering and promising friendship and assistance, whenever asked +or even wished for. In return, she only begged to be allowed to visit, +and ramble at will about the old place which she had known for so many +many long years, and had once had the unlimited run of; and she +protested with tears that the family should never in any way be +disturbed by her. Lady Madeline could not well refuse the request, but +I cannot say she gave her fairy acquaintance any encouragement; and so +poor Eudora never showed herself to them again. And Madeline never +thought much about her, except now and then accidentally, when, if +they were walking on the sands, some extraordinarily rare and +beautiful shells would be thrown ashore by a wave at the children's +feet, as if tossed up especially for their amusement. And it was only +in some such kind little way as this they were ever reminded of the +Fairy's existence. +</p> + +<p> +Lady Madeline's eldest son, Roderick, always seemed most favoured by +the Fairy in the pretty things she sent ashore, and certainly he was a +very nice boy, and a very good one on the whole—cheerful and honest +as the daylight, and very intelligent; but I cannot tell you, dear +readers, that he had <i>no</i> faults, for that was not at all likely, and +you would not believe it if I said so, even although he is to be the +Hero of my tale. +</p> + +<p> +Now I do not want to make you laugh at him, but the story requires +that I should reveal to you one of his weak points. Well then, +although he was six years old, he was afraid of being alone in the +dark! Sometimes when he was in the large dining room with his Father +and Mother at dinner time, she would perhaps ask him to fetch +something for her from the drawing room which was close by; but, do +you know, if there were no candles in the room, he would look very +silly and refuse to go, even though there were a fire sufficient to +see by. He was too honest to make any false excuses, so he used just +to say that the room was so dark he could not go! +</p> + +<p> +Poor Madeline was very sorry, for she wanted her little boy to be +brave, but somehow or other he had got very silly about his fears of +being in the dark, and she could not succeed in curing him of his +folly. +</p> + +<p> +"My dear Roderick," she would say sometimes, "if I send in some +candles, will you go into the drawing room?" +</p> + +<p> +"O yes, Mamma." +</p> + +<p> +"Then do you really mean to say you think <i>the Candles take care of +you</i>?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, Mamma." +</p> + +<p> +"Then why won't you go into the room without; you know there is a +fire? +</p> + +<p> +"Because it is so dark, Mamma." +</p> + +<p> +Here was a difficulty indeed; for you see he <i>would</i> come back to the +old point, and would not listen to reason. +</p> + +<p> +One day some conversation of this sort having passed between them, +Madeline, as she was wont to do, asked him if God could not take care +of him by night as well as by day; in the dark as well as in light, +for "the darkness and light are both alike to him." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh yes," cried poor Roderick, with great animation, "and I can tell +you a story about that. There was, once upon a time, a little Boy and +a Nurse who went out walking, and they walked so long they got +benighted in a very dark wood, and because it was so dark the Nurse +screamed and was very much frightened; and the little boy said, +'Nurse, why are you frightened? Don't be frightened; I am not +frightened. God can take care of us in the dark as well as in the +light,'" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh Roderick! what a pretty story," cried his Mamma. +</p> + +<p> +And so thought Roderick; for his eye glistened and his cheek flushed +as he came to the conclusion. +</p> + +<p> +And here, dear readers, was the worst difficulty of all; for though +Roderick's reason was quite convinced that God could take care of him +in the dark, he still could not bear to be in the dark without the +help of candles besides, though he quite knew they could not take care +of him at all. So you see by this that Reason, though it may convince +a person he is wrong, cannot put him right. There wants some other +help for that. And here let me just stop a moment to beg you to beware +of <i>bad habits</i>; for you see they become at last more powerful than +reason itself. +</p> + +<p> +I do not know how Roderick first got into his foolish habit, and it +does not much matter. I know he at one time had a fancy there was +something unpleasant about the pipes that carried the water about the +house, and he would not for a long time go by the pipes alone. Now, +how you laugh! well, but he got out of that nonsense; and I hope to be +able to tell you that he got out of the other too: but at the time I +speak of, he made his Mamma full of sorrow for his want of sense and +courage. +</p> + +<p> +It must be admitted that there were one or two excuses to be made for +the child. There was a great contrast between the Town House and the +Sea Castle. The Town House was full of lights. All the sitting rooms +were generally lighted, for a great deal of company came there, and +there were always lights along the passages; and the nursery windows +looked into a square, and the square was lighted up by lamps every +night; and it was one of Roderick's greatest pleasures to watch the +lamplighter running quickly up the tall ladder to the lamps to light +them, and then popping down again equally hurriedly, and running along +(ladder and all) to the next lamp post, and so on, till the square was +brilliant all round; and very often, as Roderick lay in his little bed +watching the glimmering thrown by these pretty lamps on the nursery +wall, he used to think and think of his friend the nimble lamplighter, +till he dropped fast asleep. You see, therefore, he had very little to +try his courage in the Town House, and there was seldom or never any +fuss about his fears till the move to the Sea Castle took place; and +then there were no more lamps and lamplighters, and no more +comfortable glimmerings from his bright pets the lamps after he went +to bed; and he used to get silly directly, and declare that he saw +bears whenever he shut his eyes; and he seemed to expect to find lions +and tigers under the sofas, by the fuss he made when he was asked to +go into the rooms. Certainly there was a grand old fashioned lamp in +the hall of the Sea Castle; but the hall itself was so big, and went +up so high, that the light in one part only seemed to make the shadow +and darkness of the other part look blacker still; so that I must +confess there was something gloomy about the house. Then, too, there +were those two turrets with the winding staircases, and as Roderick +had never dared to do any thing more than peep in at the low entrance +doors below, where he saw nothing but four or five steps going up into +complete blackness, he had got a sort of notion there must be +something horrid about them. +</p> + +<p> +Well; it was soon after this little boy's sixth birthday, that the +family arrived at the Sea-Castle, and it so happened, that, on the day +after their arrival, there was some very stormy and dismal weather. +The wind howled very loudly, and there was a good deal of rain; and +Lady Madeline wished they had waited a week or two longer. The sky was +so charged and heavy, too, that they found the house very dark, even +by day-light; and Roderick, who was a little tired with his journey +the day before, began to fancy all kinds of nonsense; talked more +about seeing bears than ever; and finally cried tremendously at going +to bed, declaring he was sure there was a tiger in the coal-pan. Now +you know, my dears, this was a bit of great nonsense; for Roderick +knew quite well that there are no wild beasts in England but what are +kept in very strong cages; and that the men who take wild-beast shows +round the country can by no means afford to let their tigers sleep in +nursery coal-pans! +</p> + +<p> +Poor Madeline never liked to see any of her children go to bed in +tears. And Roderick was so gay and merry generally, it seemed quite +unnatural in him; but though at last he left off crying, she could not +persuade him to be cheerful, and smile; for he declared that as soon +as ever she took her candle away, he could not help seeing those +unlucky bears. Was there ever any thing so silly before! She reasoned +with him, but to no purpose. He always said he quite believed in God's +presence, and His being able to take care of him; but, as I said +before, his bad habit had got the better of his good sense, and he +finished off every thing that could be said, by seeing bears, and +dreading a tiger in the coal-pan. +</p> + +<p> +"What are we to do with that child?" cried Madeline to her husband, as +they were going to bed. "He is beginning as foolishly as ever this +year, in spite of being a year older. I really shall at last be +inclined to think that in spite of all her fair promises of friendship +and assistance, and of never injuring the family, the Fairy Eudora +must secretly frighten the child in some way we don't know of." +</p> + +<p> +"No such thing, my dear Madeline; I cannot for a moment believe it;" +said her husband. "I have a better opinion of your relations, the +Fairies, than you have yourself. I am sure Eudora would not break her +word for the world; and there is no mystery about Roderick's folly. He +is full of fancies of all sorts,—some pretty, and some silly ones; +and we must do every thing we can to cure him of the silly ones. It +certainly is a very hard matter to accomplish, for I perceive he +admits the truth of every thing you say, and yet is as silly as ever +at the end. I heartily wish the Fairy Eudora <i>would</i> interfere to cure +him of his nonsense!" +</p> + +<p> +"And so do I, if she could, and would," sighed Madeline; "but she has +quite deserted us. Besides, if she were to come, I don't see how she +could possibly do any good. Fairies cannot change little boys' hearts; +and I must confess I never yet got any good myself from having a Fairy +ancestress, and I have no confidence in them.—Still," pursued the +good lady, as she laid her head on her pillow, "I am not able, it +appears, to convince Roderick myself; and therefore I feel, with you, +that I wish the Fairy would come and try." +</p> + +<p> +"I fear it is in vain to say so now, Madeline. We have wished the poor +creature out of the way so often for the last ten years, that it is +not very likely a single wish the other way will bring her to us." +</p> + +<p> +"No, indeed," murmured the Fairy Eudora, who at that moment was +standing on the shore of the Fairy Island; "you are a pretty pair, you +two, to think of such a thing! I begged to be allowed to come about +the place years ago, and you didn't refuse; but you always kept me +away by <i>wishing</i> I mightn't come; and now, because you are puzzled to +know what to do with your silly child, you want me with you for the +first time these ten years! Oh, you selfish people, don't fancy I'll +come near you!" And the justly angry Fairy stamped her foot in +indignation, and retired into private apartments in the palace. +</p> + +<p> +Do not be surprised at what you have just heard, my dear children; for +though you may have never thought about the power and importance of +<i>wishes</i>, there is, I assure you, a great deal of both one and the +other belonging to them. Some people talk, indeed, of "mere wishes," +as if they were trifles light as air; but it is not so. To prove this, +first think what importance is attached to them in the Scriptures. +Wishes are a sort of porch or doorway to actions. In the Tenth +Commandment we are forbidden to <i>wish</i> for what belongs to our +neighbour;—for who is so likely to break the Eighth Commandment, and +steal, as the man who breaks the Tenth, and wishes for any thing that +is not his? +</p> + +<p> +And so, all the evil in the world begins by <i>wishing</i> something wrong; +and if you can cure yourself of wishing wrongly, you will very seldom +<i>do</i> wrong. +</p> + +<p> +Now you see, I am sure, how important wishes are for evil; but they +are equally strong for good. For, if you wish well to any one, you +have opened the first door to doing him a kindness. And if you +heartily wish to be good, you have opened the first gate on the road +of becoming so. Of course, wishes will not do every thing; but they do +a great deal. +</p> + +<p> +And there is another thing. They never fall to the ground unnoticed. +Though you and I cannot look into each other's hearts, or hear the +wishes breathed there, there is One who hears them all. Good wishes, +my dear children, all ascend upwards to the throne of Grace, like +sweet perfume. They are all accepted and remembered; and, I fear I +must add, that bad wishes go up too, and are noted in His book who +takes account of all we do. +</p> + +<p> +Be sure, therefore, that you encourage your hearts in a habit of good, +and kind, and charitable wishes; and if ever the bad ones come into +your head, pray against them, and drive them away. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile do not be surprized that in Fairy tales, Fairies are +supposed to hear wishes concerning themselves. And so Eudora heard +those about her coming and curing the child of his folly; and as I +have told you, she was very indignant at the selfishness of both Lady +Madeline and her husband. +</p> + +<p> +A few days after the family had taken up their residence in the Sea +Castle, the weather began to improve; and, though the wind lasted, the +sun came out; and all the children and the nurses went walking on the +sands. As it was the first time that year, you may guess what shouting +and delight there was; how the little spades dug away at holes for the +sea-water to come up in, and how the children caught at the sea-weeds +that were scattered on the lands to carry home to their Mamma; how +they picked up shells, and gambolled about in all directions, +declaring that they had never known the Sea Castle Home so delightful +before. By degrees they had strayed to a considerable distance along +the sands, with the nurses, when, alas! the latter perceived that a +storm was coming on, and it caught them long before they reached home. +A strong wind blew off the sea, and they had difficulty in keeping +their feet, and at last two or three of the children were almost +hidden in a cloud of sand, which a violent gust suddenly drove against +them. All the little party cried lustily, because the sand had blown +into their eyes, and made them smart, and sad work there was in +getting them home again. But they reached home at last, dripping with +wet from hailstones, and their eyes all red and disfigured by the sand +and wind. None, however, were so bad as those I have mentioned, who +had been so covered over by the sand that it had even got down their +necks, and made them uncomfortable all over. Among these was Roderick, +who cried a great deal more than he ought to have done, as the nurses +thought, and did not stop and declare himself comfortable as the rest +did, after the sand had been washed out of his eyes with rose water. +In fact he kept crying more or less all the afternoon, saying his eyes +hurt him so, and at last he could get no relief but by holding them +shut. +</p> + +<p> +Now it is just possible you may have heard of a complaint of the eyes +called Ophthalmia, which comes on sometimes in very hot countries, +India for instance; and sometimes in travelling across the deserts of +Arabia, where the sand gets into the eyes, and irritates them very +much; it can very often be cured, but not always, and when it cannot, +it ends in blindness. Lady Madeline knew all about the complaint; and, +therefore, you will not be surprised to hear that when she found her +little boy's eyes did not get better, and that he persisted in keeping +them shut, because they then became easy, she thought it right to send +to some miles' distance for a doctor, who accordingly arrived at the +Sea Castle before nightfall. But when he came he shook his head very +much, for he could not understand what was the matter; and when he +persuaded Roderick to lift up his eyelids, to let him see his eyes, he +could perceive nothing amiss but a little redness, which the wind and +sand quite accounted for. Still the child was uneasy, and would keep +his eyes shut; so the Doctor thought he must try something, and he +used some lotions common in such cases; but, as they did no good, the +kind old gentleman, at Madeline's request, consented to sit by the +little boy's bedside at night; when, all at once, as he was carefully +dabbing his eyes with rosewater, he perceived that the child was fast +asleep. +</p> + +<p> +The Doctor was delighted, and went to his mother, who was then with +her husband, and said that as Roderick had gone to sleep so nicely, he +had no doubt that his eyes would be well when he awoke in the morning, +and so he took his leave, for he had other patients to visit. +</p> + +<p> +It was then between twelve and one o'clock, and Lady Madeline, much +comforted in heart, went to bed. At an early hour next morning, +however, she went to Roderick's bedside, and perceived he was just +waking. +</p> + +<p> +To the question of "How are you, my darling?" his cheerful joyous +voice made answer, "Oh, quite well, Mamma, and I've such a funny dream +to tell you, and my eyes don't hurt me a bit, not a bit! but I'm +afraid to open them for fear they should. I can tell you something so +funny the Doctor said last night, Mamma." "Never mind about the +doctor, you rogue," cried Madeline, "I see you are all right, only +just open your dear old eyes, that I may tell Papa I have seen them +when I go back to dress." +</p> + +<p> +"Then I will, Mamma, to please you!" and up sat the pretty child in +his bed, and opened wide his blue eyes. There was no redness—it was +all gone—but +</p> + +<p> +"Mamma! where are you," cried Roderick, "I have opened my eyes, and +they don't hurt—but it is quite dark: <i>isn't the night over</i>?..." +</p> + +<p> +Oh, my dear readers! there was a stream of sunshine on the lovely face +and bright hair of little Roderick as he spoke, and the poor blue eyes +were turned up to his mother, looking vainly for her face. You cannot +wonder if I add that she sank down fainting on the bed; and when +Roderick's scream of terror brought the nurses to them, she was +carried away insensible from the room. +</p> + +<p> +Her darling was utterly blind. +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="40%"> + +<p> +And now imagine to yourselves how the afflicted parents sent for the +best doctors the country afforded, and how one thing after another was +tried—but, alas! every thing in vain, for the medical men were all +quite puzzled. Still some people gave them hopes, and in spite of many +disappointments, they went on trying to hope for several months. At +last they settled to leave the sea castle and go to the great town +sooner than usual, thinking some of the doctors there might be +cleverer than the country ones. But they had no better success. +Perhaps now you would like to know how Roderick behaved. When his +Mamma fell on his bed, at first he thought she was dead, and it was +with the greatest difficulty he could be made to believe any thing +else, and he cried, and cried, and was very sad till his Mamma was +well enough for him to be taken to her, and then do you know, poor +fellow, he was so much pleased to hear her speak, and be kissed by +her, that he still had no time to think about himself. Only he begged +to sit close to her, and have hold either of her hand or gown, and +make her say something to him every now and then. And so it was that +the fright and shock he had had about thinking she was dead, had made +so strong an impression on him that for several days the making +himself sure she was alive was a constant occupation and interest; and +so much did he think about it that it was considered best for his +little bed to be brought into the room where his Mamma slept, and put +near hers, so that he could talk to her when he awoke and got +frightened about her again. And thus passed many days in which every +body thought a great deal more about his eyes than he did himself. +Besides from the cheerful things they said to him he quite expected to +be better some day; and so weeks and months passed, and by the time +the hope of recovering his sight began to fade away, and nobody any +longer dared to say they expected it, he was beginning to get used to +his condition, and to find out amusements in new ways. Thus mercifully +does a kind Providence temper people's minds to the afflictions He +sends. They are often more dreadful to think of than to bear; for God +can give patience and cheerfulness and comfort to those that do not +grumble and repine. +</p> + +<p> +Madeline only exacted one promise from her husband, namely, that he +would not allow the doctors to use any very severe and violent +measures with her little boy, and this being settled, she struggled to +bear the trouble with resignation. After the first alternations of +hopes and fears were over, the Mother's mind took a new turn. "It is +our chief duty now," she said, "to make our child's life as happy as +it is possible to be with blindness, and therefore," added she to the +elder children, "we must try our best to teach him to do all the nice +things he can without seeing." That day she asked him to come and hold +worsted for her to wind, and he was quite delighted to find that with +some blunders, and once or twice slipping it off his fingers, he could +manage it very well. Then the children undertook to teach him how to +play at ball, and you cannot think how clever he became. At first +certainly they had always to pick up his ball for him when it fell, +and who was not glad to do it for poor brother Roderick? but by +degrees he could judge by the sound in what direction it had tumbled, +and he would often succeed in finding it before any one could come up +to it. Then there was laughing and scrambling without end. Reading +aloud to him was the easiest thing of all, but the little folks were +not satisfied with that alone. They made a sort of pet of the blind +brother, and were as proud of teaching him to do any thing fresh, as +you would be of teaching your dog to sit up and shake hands, or +perform any wonderful feat. It was their constant amusement; and by +degrees Roderick could play at all sorts of games with them, ay, and +run after them, and catch them too as well as you could do, for he +soon got to remember how the furniture in the great hall and all the +rooms stood, and he could run about without hurting himself in a +wonderful manner. And when it was evening and grew dark, he got on +better than they did, for, if they couldn't see, they were clumsy, +whereas he was learning to do without seeing at all. +</p> + +<p> +Such of my readers as have seen one of those excellent institutions +called "blind schools," will not wonder at any thing I have said, but +on the contrary, will know that I have not told half or a quarter of +what may be done to teach blind children a variety of employments. At +those schools you may see children making beautiful baskets of +various-coloured strips of osier arranged in patterns; and they never +forget on which side of them the different colours are laid, and this +work they can go on with quite fast, even while you stand talking to +them—and they learn to do many many other nice things also besides +basket making. +</p> + +<p> +Of late years too they have begun to read in books made on purpose for +them, with the letters raised above the rest of the paper, so that +they can <i>feel</i> the shapes with their fingers. Is not this wonderful? +And they can be taught all these things much more easily than you +would imagine, for it is really true that when one of the senses has +been taken away, the others by having all the exercise thrown upon +them, become so sharp and acute, they do twice their usual work, if I +may so express it. This is a merciful dispensation of Providence, +which renders the loss of the one that is gone much less hard to bear. +And does it not teach us also, what a valuable thing constant practice +is? Neither you nor I can feel or hear half so clearly as blind people +can, who practise feeling and hearing on so many occasions where we +save ourselves the trouble, by using sight instead. +</p> + +<p> +To return to Roderick. You perhaps expected to hear that he fretted +and petted very much after he was first blind, but really it was not +so; and though occasionally he may have grumbled a little, it was only +when he was slightly peevish, as children will sometimes be, and I +believe he would have found something to grumble about then, even if +he had seen as well as you do. +</p> + +<p> +Besides, as I said before, the knowledge of his misfortune came upon +him by degrees; and after he had got used to it, he did not think much +about it. When the family moved to the great town, Roderick had as it +were to begin his blind lessons over again, for he had to learn to +remember all about the rooms and the furniture there; but with a kind +little brother or sister always at hand to help him he soon became +expert in the town house too, and could run up and down the long +flights of stairs with the nimblest of them. I believe the only +melancholy wish he ever uttered was heard on the first day he reached +the town house. When his Mamma came to see him in the nursery that +evening, she found him kneeling in a chair against one of the +windows—and on going up to him he threw his arms round her neck and +said, "Oh, Mamma, if I could but see the lamplighters!" Do not laugh, +dear readers, if I add that the tears trickled over his cheeks as he +spoke. His mother was much distressed, as she always was when she saw +him thinking of his affliction, but she sat down and said, "Never +mind, dear Roderick, I will tell you all they do to-night." And so she +did, and she made her account so droll, of how the lamplighter ran, +and how he seized his ladder in such a hurry, and all the whole +business, that by the time she got to the end, and said, "and now he +has come to the last lamp-post,—ah, he's up before I can tell you! +and pop! the lamp is lit, and down he runs, and off with his ladder to +the next street—and now the lamps are shining bright all round the +square, and I must go to dinner,"—Roderick was clapping his hands and +laughing as merrily as ever, and he got down from the chair quite +satisfied. Still for a few weeks he used always to get one of the +children to tell him of the lamps lighting, and this was the only sad +little fancy the poor child ever indulged in. +</p> + +<p> +The great town gave him various new amusements. His Parents used every +now and then to take him to some fine conservatory, where flowers are +shown even in winter, and where he could smell various new and rare +ones, and be told all about their beautiful colours. Then sometimes in +the parks and gardens there was a band playing, which was a great +delight. And besides that, they took him occasionally to morning +concerts for an hour or so; for though it is not usual to take +children to those places, he was deprived of so many enjoyments, they +let him have all they could: and especially musical ones, for it is a +very common thing for blind people to become very fond of music, and +Roderick was so, and among other employments learnt to play. I cannot, +however, I am sorry to say, add that the great doctors in the town +were able to do him any good, though they tried very much, and some of +them were so much charmed and interested by his cheerful manner and +sweet disposition, that they got quite fond of him, and would often +have him come and see them, and play with their children, who were +instructed to amuse him in every possible way, and as children are +naturally kindhearted, this was generally a pleasant task, and many of +them quite looked forward to the visits of the little blind boy. +</p> + +<p> +And so passed on a long and rather severe winter, and presently +Roderick's birthday came round, and there was great wondering as to +what Mamma could do to keep it. And when the time came it turned out +that she had got a band of musicians to come and play—and the +children danced, and Roderick among them, for some sister was always +ready to take him under her especial charge. And then some older +children acted a little play, which he could hear and understand, and +his Mamma described to him who came in and went out, and in this +manner he enjoyed it nearly as much as the others. +</p> + +<p> +Well, the spring-time came once more, and with it the season for +returning to the old Sea Castle, and the children went through their +usual round of impatience, and I cannot say that Roderick at all +forbore, for his Papa had promised to teach him to climb a ladder like +the lamplighter when he got back, and he was by that means to go up +one of the very old elm trees, and get on to a great branch there was, +which was curled into a sort of easy chair, and there he was to sit +and play at being judge, and hold trials, and I know not what. There +were besides so many schemes for his instruction and amusement, and +among other things, there was to be a band established in the +neighbouring village, which should come and play to them in the old +Sea Castle—that the child was more wild with hurry and impatience +than ever, and said more absurd things than the rest, for he used +every day to declare the <i>flies</i> were becoming so numerous and +troublesome he was plagued out of his life by their walking over his +face and nose! But as none of his brothers and sisters ever saw the +flies, we are obliged to conclude the tickling he talked of was only +an effect of his excited imagination. +</p> + +<p> +At last, however, they went, and in compliment to Roderick's wishes it +was a week or two sooner than usual. The return to the Sea Castle home +rather oppressed poor Lady Madeline's spirits. The doctors in the +great town had failed—it was now clear that nothing could be done, +and in spite of all her sincere endeavours to be resigned, she could +not help feeling this coming back to the original scene of her +misfortune very much. One day—it was the anniversary of the day on +which her poor child became blind, the Lady Madeline was working in +her sitting-room that faced the Sea,—Mothers' memories are very acute +about anniversaries, and days, and even hours marked by particular +events. They may not talk much about them perhaps, but they recollect +times and circumstances connected with their children very keenly, and +therefore it is not surprizing that on this day the poor lady was +sitting in her room working, or trying to work, but thinking of +nothing in the world but of that day year and her blind child. It was +a beautiful evening, and the window was thrown wide open, and the +fresh but soft breeze from the Sea blew pleasantly on her face as she +sat at her work-table by the casement—but lovely as the scene outside +was, she seldom lifted up her eyes to look at it. She had been all her +life a great admirer of beautiful scenes, and of all the varieties the +changes of day and night produce—but now the sight of any thing +particularly lovely brought so painfully before her mind the fact that +her child's eyes were closed to all these things, that she often +forbore to look again, and so spared herself a repetition of the pang. +Madeline's eyes therefore remained upon her work, or on her knee when +she ceased working,—for ever and anon there was a burst of noise and +merriment about the old house, which startled her from her painful +thoughts. It was, however, the happy voices of her children, and again +and again she sank into her melancholy mood, and so continued till the +red hue of a very red sunset burst as it were suddenly into the room, +and lighted up the portrait of Roderick, which hung over the +mantel-piece. Involuntarily Madeline's eyes glanced from the lovely +countenance of her then bright-eyed boy, thus illuminated, to the sun +beyond the Sea. She was too late, however. He had just descended +behind the waves in a perfect flood of crimson glory, but as she +gazed, (for she could not withdraw-her eyes,) a haze—yes, the softest +and most etherial cloud-like haze, showing the outline of a beautiful +mountainous island, rose in the far off distance, just on the verge of +the horizon. It was the Fairy Island. It recalled to the mother's +remembrance the existence of her Fairy cousin once more. "Cruel, cruel +Eudora," she exclaimed, "you offered me friendship and assistance, and +in the hour of trouble and affliction you have never been near to help +or even to comfort me." +</p> + +<p> +And Madeline, in the bitterness of her heart, closed the window +hastily and angrily, and sat down. Soon, however, the noises she had +several times heard of the children playing, became louder and louder, +and the whole party burst at last into the room. "Mamma, Mamma," they +cried, scarcely able to speak, "guess where Roderick has been." "I +cannot." "Oh, but do, dear Mamma!" cried a little thing with fairy +curls, "do guess." "I cannot." "I'll tell Mamma," cried a stout sturdy +fellow, a little older; "Mamma! he's been up the winding staircase of +one turret, and all along the leads and down the winding staircase of +the other turret, and he has done it three times, and he has seen to +do it better than I can." +</p> + +<p> +Here there was a burst of laughter and a violent clapping of hands at +the little fellow's <i>Irish</i> account. +</p> + +<p> +"But why don't you do it as well?" asked an elder girl, "you that are +going to be a soldier too!" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes; I know I'm going to be a soldier; and I'll try and do it as well +as Roderick;" and off ran the eager child, followed by the rest of the +party, all but Roderick. He lingered behind, and edging his way easily +and quietly as usual to his Mother, having asked her where she was, he +sat down on a footstool at her feet. The slight answer she had +occasion to make, revealed by its tone, to the now acute blind child, +that his Mother's mood was serious, and therefore he did not talk and +laugh of what he had accomplished, as he otherwise might have done. +There was a silence of some minutes: at last, "Mamma," said Roderick +gravely, "a light has broken in upon me to-day." +</p> + +<p> +Lady Madeline started, and with difficulty suppressed a groan. +Roderick felt the start: "Oh Mamma, Mamma," cried he more cheerfully, +"you must not do that! I wasn't thinking about earthly light in the +least, but of a light which I know, when you come to hear of it, you +will say is a great deal better." +</p> + +<p> +"Indeed! dear Roderick," said Lady Madeline, trying to seem +interested. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes <i>indeed</i>. Mamma. Why, do <i>you</i> remember, (<i>I</i> had never thought +about it till it came into my head to-day;) but do <i>you</i> remember the +silly time when I wouldn't fetch you any thing from the drawing room, +unless there were candles in the room?" +</p> + +<p> +"I recollect something about it," said his Mother. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, I'm so glad you do; because now you can laugh with me over the +nonsense I used to talk and feel then: I remember I used to tell you I +saw <i>Bears</i> when I shut my eyes, and wouldn't go by the pipes in the +passage, and more such foolish stuff! How odd it seems that I should +never have thought about this before, but I never did, and it never +came into my head distinctly till to-day." And here Roderick fell into +a kind of dream for a few minutes, but he soon began again. "You know +what I have done to-day, Mamma. They told you quite right; but they +forgot to tell you I have been practising walking across the leads for +two or three days, that I might be able to go the great round to-day +on purpose to tell you of it; because I thought you would be so much +pleased to know I could go alone all over the house on the day year +when I was first blind. So now, Mamma, if ever, when I am grown up to +be a man, an enemy comes and attacks the old Sea Castle, I shall be +able to run about and give the alarm, for you know I could hear them, +if I could do nothing else." +</p> + +<p> +There was another pause, for Madeline could not speak: the often +restrained tears for her son's misfortune had this day burst forth, +and could not be kept back; but Roderick did not know, and went on. +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly those old foolish fears were very wrong, Mamma. And I can't +think how it was, for you used to remind me always that God could take +care of us by night as well as by day, in darkness as well as in +light; and still somehow, though I knew it was true, I didn't believe +it,—at least, not so as not to be afraid in the dark: how very wrong +it was! Still I had quite forgotten all about it till this evening. +But, as I was going the last of the three rounds, I sat down on the +leads for a few minutes to enjoy the air. The sun was just setting, I +am sure, for it felt so fresh and cool; and it was, as I sat there, +that it came into my head how strange it was that, since the day I was +first blind, I had never thought any more about being afraid in the +dark! or by night any more than by day! Indeed it has been quite a +play to me ever since to do different things, and find my way about in +all the rooms and all over the house, without seeing; and I have only +known night from day by getting up and going to bed. So that you see, +Mamma, being always in the dark, has quite cured me of being afraid of +it: and is not this a very good thing indeed?" +</p> + +<p> +"Very," murmured Madeline. +</p> + +<p> +"I knew you would say so! But that isn't all I have got to say. A +great deal more than that came into my head when I was out upon the +leads." +</p> + +<p> +And Roderick nestled closer to his Mother, and laid his arms across +her lap. +</p> + +<p> +"Something to comfort you still more, Mamma." +</p> + +<p> +She could not speak. +</p> + +<p> +"Mamma, you are crying! I feel your tears on my hand. Do not cry about +me." +</p> + +<p> +"Go on, dear Roderick." +</p> + +<p> +"Don't you think," continued the child, "that people who wont listen +to what is told them, and wont be cured of being foolish and wicked, +are very like the old Jews you told us about yesterday, who had God +among them, and Moses teaching them what God wished them to do, and +still were as disobedient as ever?" +</p> + +<p> +"It is true, Roderick, we are all apt to resemble the Jews in their +journey through the wilderness." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, Mamma; and particularly people who can't trust in God, though +they know He is everywhere. The Jews knew He was in the cloud and the +pillar, and still were always afraid He couldn't take care of them. +And what came into my head was, that I used to be as bad as those old +Jews once; knowing that God was present everywhere to take care of me, +and still not <i>feeling</i> it so as really to believe it, and not be +afraid. But the blindness has quite cured me, and is it not very +likely that it came on purpose to do so, and to make me trust in God; +for I have done so more and more, dear Mamma, as I groped about this +year, for I have all along hoped He would take care of me, and keep me +from falling; and, therefore, I think the blindness has done me a +great deal of good, and I hope I shall never be like the naughty old +Jews again! This is what I had to say; and I hope you will be as glad +as I am." +</p> + +<p> +"I will try, my darling," cried poor Madeline. +</p> + +<p> +The tenderest love, the bitterest grief, mixed with earnest struggles +for resignation to the will of Heaven, contended in the Mother's +bosom, as she clasped her innocent child to her heart. He was almost +frightened. She lifted him on to her knees, and buried her face on his +shoulder. He put his young arms round her neck, and almost wondered +why she sobbed so bitterly; but he felt he must not speak. +</p> + +<p> +There was a painful pause. Suddenly, however, a strange faint light +began to creep into the room, which had hitherto been gradually +darkening in the twilight. It was a mysterious gleam, like nothing +that is ever seen. It increased in strength and brilliancy, till at +length the whole place became illuminated. +</p> + +<p> +Roderick's head was against his Mother's breast; and, besides, <i>he</i> +could not see. +</p> + +<p> +She, however, suddenly started up; the light had become so powerful, +it had forced her from her grief. She sprung up in terror, and a faint +shriek burst from her lips. +</p> + +<p> +"Mamma, what is the matter?" cried Roderick, holding her fast. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, the light—the light, my child! there is such a light!" answered +Madeline. +</p> + +<p> +"Mother, you are not afraid of <i>Light</i>!" exclaimed the bewildered +Roderick. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, but <i>this</i> light! it is like no other;—it is awful!" +</p> + +<p> +"Mother,—it is not the light of <i>Fire</i>, is it," cried poor Roderick, +now at last turning pale. "But even if it is, remember that I can help +you <i>now</i>; I can go everywhere,—all over, and fear nothing. I can go +and fetch my brothers and sisters, one by one! Oh, send me; send me, +Mamma! I shall be less afraid than any of you, for I cannot see the +horrid light that frightens you!" +</p> + +<p> +As he finished, a gentle, prolonged "Hush!" resounded through the +room; like the soothing, quieting sound of lullaby to an infant. And +in the midst of the beaming light, the form of the long-forgotten +Fairy Eudora appeared before the eyes of the astonished Madeline. +</p> + +<p> +"The Sea Castle is not on Fire, you dear, brave child," cried the +Fairy; "and your Mother has no cause for fear. I am a friend." +</p> + +<p> +"Cousin!" cried the bewildered Madeline, "why are you here?" and a +terrible suspicion flashed through her mind: and she pointed to her +boy, and added, trembling with agony— +</p> + +<p> +"Is that <i>your</i> doing?" +</p> + +<p> +"What if I say it <i>is</i>, Cousin Madeline. There is a long story about +that, but we shall have time for it hereafter.—Dear little Cousin +Roderick," pursued the Fairy, seating herself, and drawing Roderick to +her. "You have been a good boy, and got <i>light out of darkness</i>. Mind +you hold it fast. You did not use the light well, though, when you had +it, Cousin Roderick." +</p> + +<p> +"I know I didn't," was his answer. +</p> + +<p> +"If you could live the light time over again, you would be wiser, +Roderick." +</p> + +<p> +"I hope I should indeed," he murmured fervently; "but it is not likely +I shall ever see the light again." +</p> + +<p> +"Little boys shouldn't say things are not likely, when they don't know +any thing about them," cried the Fairy gaily, to cheer them up. +</p> + +<p> +"I dare say, if I were to ask you, you would tell me it was a bit of +sand that got into your eyes last year, that made you blind; but it +was no such thing, clever Master Roderick. Your naughty Cousin Eudora +had something to do with that; but, luckily, she can put her own work +straight again. Cousin Madeline, what do you think of my pretty +light?" +</p> + +<p> +"Eudora, it is dreadful." +</p> + +<p> +"Then shut your eyes, poor thing, we don't want to blind you. But +Roderick and I have not done talking yet. Come, little boy, lift up +your face towards me, and open those pretty eyes wide, that I may see +if I can't do them some good. Why, they are as blue as the water round +our island! There, now, they are looking at my face. Mind you tell me +if you think me pretty." +</p> + +<p> +"Eudora!" exclaimed Madeline. +</p> + +<p> +"Sit down, sit down, and shut your eyes, good woman. Now, Roderick, +wont even my Fairy light break through your darkness?" +</p> + +<p> +"I think it will," sighed Roderick; "there is a white light all round +me, as if I had gone up into a bright white cloud. You frighten me, +Fairy! Take away the light, and put me back into the darkness again." +</p> + +<p> +"Not so, my pretty Roderick; but I will soften it a little;" and she +waved her wand, and the brilliancy subsided. +</p> + +<p> +"Fairy, I see you now," screamed Roderick, springing up, for he was +sitting at her feet; "and oh, how beautiful you are!" +</p> + +<p> +"Roderick!" cried a voice from behind him. He turned; and Mother and +Son were locked in each other's arms. +</p> + +<p> +Surely I need say no more about this? though perhaps nobody but a +Mother can quite know how happy and thankful Lady Madeline was. And as +to Roderick, he was delighted too! Not but what he had been very happy +and contented before; but sight was a new pleasure to him now; a sort +of treat, like a birthday or Christmas present, which puts every one +into high spirits. It was so charming to him, poor fellow, (for he was +very affectionate), to actually <i>see</i> his Mamma again; and this put +something else into his head, and off he ran out of the room. +</p> + +<p> +"Eudora," Madeline began, "how am I to thank you! Can you ever forgive +my old unkindness?" +</p> + +<p> +"Cousin Madeline," replied the Fairy, "I bear no malice to any one, +least of all to you, who come of a race I love, and of a family I +consider my own. No, no, good soul. I have never borne you ill-will, +though my kindness has been severe. Look! I know you love me <i>now</i>. +Love me always, Cousin Madeline, and let me ramble undisturbed about +your earthly home; but, mind! no more unkind wishes, however slight. +They come like evil winds to our Fairy island. You kept me away long +enough by those; and when you wished me with you, to get your child +out of his folly, I was very angry, and thought I wouldn't come; but +your, and your husband's wish was so strong and earnest, it haunted me +day and night; and I had no comfort till I had resolved to help you. +And here, Madeline, you have something to forgive <i>me</i>. My remedy has +been a harsh, a very harsh one for so slight a fault; but at first I +intended it to last only a few days. Afterwards, however, seeing how +it was acting upon him, and upon you all, for good, I let it work its +full effect: and I think it has been greatly blessed! Now, farewell! +Time is flying, and I must begone." +</p> + +<p> +And thus the Fairy and Madeline walked to the window, which the latter +reopened, and there was the full moon sailing in the cloudless sky, +and lighting up the lovely, and, this evening, calm and unruffled sea. +</p> + +<p> +The cousins embraced; and in a few minutes the Fairy had disappeared +in the distance. Madeline lingered awhile at the casement, thinking +tenderly of the gentle-hearted Fairy, and watching the horizon. At +last the outline of the Fairy's home appeared clear and bright against +the dark blue heaven, and then subsided gently by degrees. And +Madeline closed the window, grateful and happy, and went after her +boy. But she had not far to go; for he was coming along the passages +with all his brothers and sisters, wild with delight. And oh, how +Roderick chattered and talked about all their faces, and how he loved +to see the fat cheeks of one near his own age, and how some had grown, +and their noses improved, and what beautiful curls another had! In +short, if he had gone on long they would all have got quite conceited +and fancy, and fancied themselves a set of downright beauties. But you +see it was <i>love</i> that made poor Roderick admire them all so much; +and, above all, he was charmed when they smiled. Ah, how little do +brothers and sisters know how tender their recollections of each +others' faces would become, were a separation to take place among +them! Then all the sweet smiles and pretty looks would be recalled, +that in every day life are seen with such indifference. "Little +children, love one another," during the happy days when you live +together in health and comfort. +</p> + +<p> +Can you guess, dear readers, what a joyous evening it was, that day at +the Sea Castle Home? How the poor Father rejoiced, and how the old +Hall was lighted up for the Servants, to share in the joy by a merry +dance; and how all the children danced too; and how a barrel of good +ale was tapped, for every one to drink to the health and happiness of +Master Roderick, and all the family. But you never <i>can</i> guess how +Roderick teased all his brothers and sisters that evening, by +constantly kissing them. In the midst of a country dance he would run +right across to the ladies, when he ought to be standing still and +polite, and kiss two or three of his sisters as they were waiting to +dance in their turn, and tell them how nice they looked! Or he would +actually run right away from his place, to his Papa and Mamma;—jump +on their knees, and hug them very hard, and then run back again, +perhaps, into the middle of the dance, and put every thing into +confusion. But the happiest scene of all was, when the Father and +Mother thanked God that night for the blessing that had returned to +their little boy. +</p> + +<p> +And do not ask me, I beg, if he ever was afraid of being in the dark +again. No, dear Readers, his temporary misfortune had taught him the +best of all lessons;—A LIVING FAITH AND TRUST IN THE PROTECTING +OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<hr align="center"size="2" width="80%"> + +<center> +<img src="Images/Deco2.jpg" alt="Decoration2" width="234" height="59" +hspace="4" vspace="8"> +</center> + + +<a name="Love"></a> + +<h3> +THE LOVE OF GOD. +</h3> + + +<p class="left"> +<b>Preamble (From Life.)</b> +</p> + +<p class="left"> +<i>Van Artevelde</i>. These are but words.<br> +<i>Elena</i>. My lord, they're full of meaning! +</p> + +<p class="att"> +<i>Van Artevelde</i>. +</p> + + +<p> +<img src="Images/LetterG.jpg" alt="Ornate G" width="57" +height="62"> +Grace had been said, and Mamma was busy carving for the large party of +youngsters who sat around the comfortable dinner-table, when a little +voice from among them called out, +</p> + +<p> +"Mamma, do you think a giant could see a carraway seed?" +</p> + +<p> +Now there was no sweet loaf on the table, nor even on the +sideboard—neither had there been any plum cake in the house for some +time—nor were there any carraway seeds in the biscuits just then. +—In short, there was nothing which could be supposed to have +suggested the idea of carraway seeds to the little boy who made the +enquiry. Still he did make it, and though he went on quietly with his +dinner, he expected to receive an answer. +</p> + +<p> +Had the good Lady at the head of the table not been the mother of a +large family, she might possibly have dropt the carving knife and +fork, in sheer astonishment at the unaccountableness of the question, +but as it was, she had heard so many other odd ones before, that she +did not by outward sign demonstrate the amusement she felt at this, +but simply said,—"<i>Perhaps he could</i>"—for she knew that it was out +of her power to speak positively as to whether a Giant could see a +carraway seed or not. +</p> + +<p> +Now dear little readers, what do <i>you</i> think about this very important +affair? Do you think a Giant could see a carraway seed or not?—"Oh +yes," you all cry,—"<i>of course he could!</i>" +</p> + +<p> +Nay, my dears, there is no "of course" at all in the matter! Can any +of you, for example, see the creatures that float about and fight in a +drop of water from the Serpentine River? No, certainly not! except +through a microscope. Well, but <i>why</i> not?—you do not know. That I +can easily believe! But then you must never again say that "<i>of +course</i>" a Giant could see a carraway seed. +</p> + +<p> +It is entirely a question of <i>relative proportion</i>: so now you feel +quite small, and admit your total ignorance, I hope. Yes! it all +depends upon whether the giant is as much bigger than the carraway +seed, as you are bigger than the curious little insects that float +about and fight in the drop of water from the Serpentine river—for if +he is, we may conclude from analogy that a giant could <i>not</i> see a +carraway seed except through a microscope. You see it is a sort of +rule of three sum, but as I cannot work it out, I tell you honestly +that neither do I know whether a giant could see so small an object or +not, and I advise you all to be as modest as I am myself, and never +speak positively on so difficult a point. +</p> + +<p> +But enough of this! Turn we now to another point, about which I <i>can</i> +speak positively—namely, that in <i>one</i> sense the world is full of +Giants who cannot see Carraway seeds. +</p> + +<p> +"It must be in the sense of <i>Non</i>sense I should think then!" observes +somewhat scornfully the young lady who is reading this story +aloud—"as if we could believe in there being giants now!" +</p> + +<p> +Very wittily remarked! my dear young lady, for your age.—I take you +to be about seventeen, and I see by the compression of your pretty +mouth that you consider yourself quite a judge and an authority. Only +take care you don't grow up into one of those Giants yourself! There +is something very suspicious to me in the glance of your eye. +"Ridiculous!" murmurs the fair damsel in question. +</p> + +<p> +Not at all so: only you travel too fast; by which I mean you speak too +hastily. You learn Italian, I dare say? Oh yes, of course, for you +sing. Well then, <i>Ombra adorata</i> that is "beloved shadow;" <i>aspetta</i> +that is, "wait"—"wait, my beloved shadow" (of a charming young lady), +give me breathing time, and I will explain myself. As you are an +Italian student, I presume you have heard of the great Italian poet +Dante. Now Dante in his <i>Convito</i> or "Banquet" tells his readers that +writings may be understood, and therefore ought to be explained in +four different senses or meanings. There is first the literal sense; +secondly, the allegorical; thirdly, the moral; and fourthly, the +<i>anagorical</i>. Now I know you can't explain this last word to me, for I +would wager a large sum that you never tasted of Dante's Banquet—no, +not so much as the smallest crumb from it; and therefore how <i>should</i> +you know what he means by the anagorical sense? Give me leave to have +the honour of enlightening you, then. The anagorical is what the +dictionaries call the <i>anagogical</i> sense. A sense beyond this world; a +sense above the senses; a spiritual sense making common things divine. +It is hard to be arrived at and difficult of comprehension. Now in the +matter of the nice little boy's question about the Giant and the +carraway seed, (for none but a nice little boy could have excogitated +any thing so comical), I have set my heart upon talking to you about +it in the four above mentioned senses. And having already descanted on +the <i>literal</i> sense, I had just made an assertion which appertained to +the <i>allegorical</i> sense, when you so inopportunely interrupted me, My +Ombra Adorata, with your sharp observation about <i>non</i>sense: so now we +will go on in peace and quietness, if you please. +</p> + +<p> +In an allegorical sense the world is full of giants who cannot see +carraway seeds. +</p> + +<p> +For what are Giants but great men and great women? and the world +abounds with people who consider themselves as belonging to that +class. And a great many of them—Giants of Cleverness, Giants of +Riches, Giants of Rank—Giants of I know not how many things besides, +who are walking about the world every day, very often feel themselves +to be quite raised above the point of attending to trifles; so that +you see I may (in an allegorical sense) say strictly of them that they +cannot see carraway seeds. Oh my dears, however elevated you may be, +or may become; however great or rich or learned, beware, I pray you, +of being a Giant who cannot see a carraway seed! +</p> + +<p> +For, as my explanation of the <i>moral</i> sense now goes on to show you; +it is so far from being, as these Giants suppose, a proof of their +<i>superiority</i> that they cannot see or notice things they consider +beneath them—that it is, in fact, an evidence of some imperfection or +defect in either their moral or intellectual structure. Just as it is +a proof of our eyes being imperfect, that we cannot see the little +water insects as well as a great big elephant. I am sure you will +allow there is nothing <i>to boast of</i> in this, and so if the +contemplation of great things makes you incapable of attending to +small ones, do remember that <i>'tis nothing to boast about or be proud +of</i>. And take very great care you make no mistakes as to what is great +and what is insignificant. With which warning I close my remarks on +the moral lesson, and proceed to that <i>anagogical</i> or spiritual +meaning, which will I hope be my justification for dwelling so long on +the subject, and my best introduction to a story of a serious though +not of a melancholy character. But first, my dear little readers, let +me call upon you in the words which you hear in church: +</p> + +<p class="block"> + "Lift up your hearts!" +</p> + +<p class="left"> +and I would have you answer, +</p> + +<p class="block"> + "We lift them up unto the Lord." +</p> + +<p> +For it is indeed of Him—the Lord of all Lords, that I now wish to +speak to you. He made the Sun and Stars and the great mountains of our +earth; but He made also the smallest insects that crowd the air and +water, and which are invisible to our imperfect eyes. +</p> + +<p> +He rules the nations by His word, and "binds kings in chains, and +nobles with links of iron," as the psalm expresses it; but also not a +sparrow falls to the ground without His knowledge and consent. Angels +and Archangels worship around His throne, but His ears are equally +open to the prayer of the youngest child who lifts up its little heart +to Him! +</p> + +<p> +The universe is at His feet, but the smallest events of our lives are +under His especial superintendence and care. Yes! nothing, however +small and insignificant, that is connected with the present or future +welfare of the smallest and most insignificant of his creatures, is +<i>beneath the notice of God</i>! +</p> + +<p> +Ah! here is indeed a lesson for the fancied Giants of the world!—For, +in this picture of Almighty greatness combined with infinite +condescension, we see that real Perfection requires no Pride to +elevate it. +</p> + +<p> +But I said this anagogical sense was hard to be attained to and +difficult of comprehension. +</p> + +<p> +And is it not so? Is it not very difficult to believe thoroughly that +the great God whom we hear about, really and truly cares how we behave +and what we do—really and truly listens to our prayers—really and +truly takes as much interest in us as our earthly Fathers and Mothers +do? +</p> + +<p> +Ah, I am sure it must be very difficult, because so few people do it, +although we should all be both better and happier if we did. We should +say our prayers so much more earnestly, try to keep out of sin and +naughtiness so much more heartily, and, above all, always be contented +with whatever happened; for who could be anxious, and discontented +about their condition or circumstances, if they <i>quite</i> believed that +every thing that happened to them was watched over and arranged for +their good, by the wisest, kindest, and most powerful of Beings? If +you, my dear children, who have been reading the fairy tales in this +book, were to be told that a most wise, most kind, and most powerful +Fairy had suddenly taken you for life under her particular care, and +that she would never lose sight of you by night or by day, how +delighted you would be! +</p> + +<p> +Yet just so are you under the particular care and watchful concern of +Almighty God! +</p> + +<p> +But now, say you, you begin to feel the difficulty of believing it +possible that the great God of the Universe takes this tender interest +in such insignificant and sinful creatures as men and women. +</p> + +<p> +Consider, then, that we are told that "God is Love;" and if He loves +us, there is no difficulty in believing that He feels all this +interest in us. Do not judge Him by earthly Kings and Potentates. +These are Giants who cannot see carraway seeds. We do not blame them, +for it is impossible they should be interested for every body. But +very very different is both the power and the feeling of the King of +Kings! +</p> + +<p> +Still we have not got over the difficulty yet, for of all the +wonderful truths we are commanded to believe, no one is so wonderful +and so incomprehensible as <i>the Love of God</i> to the sinful human race. +</p> + +<p> +And yet it is a truth, and of all truths the most important and most +comfortable; and therefore it is much to be desired that we should +thoroughly believe it: and <i>I think</i> I can make you understand that it +is possible, <i>by something which you feel in your own hearts</i>. I think +God has placed even in our own hearts a witness of the possibility of +this great Truth. +</p> + +<p> +My idea is this. We <i>know</i> that God has been merciful to us—(His very +creation of man was an act of mercy), and <i>therefore</i> we know that He +loves us. <i>He loves us because He has been merciful to us</i>. If you +cannot see why this should be, I refer you to the following story, and +advise you to <i>try for yourselves</i>. Only be kind to any living +creature, whether a human being, or an irrational animal, and see if +you can keep your heart from <i>loving</i> it! Certainly it does not become +us to try to search out the unsearchable mind of God, but I think it +is permitted us to hope, that the remarkable fast of <i>Kindness +engendering Love</i>, which we experience in our own hearts, is intended +to lead us upwards as by a holy guiding thread, to some comprehension +of the Love of that God, who in Christ Jesus actually <i>gave Himself +for us</i>. +</p> + + +<p> </p> + +<p class="note"> +<b>THE TALE.</b> +</p> + +<div class="tale"> +<p> +Lift up the curtain! +</p> + +<p> +In a baronial hall, not of the size and grandeur of that at Warwick +Castle, which those who have never seen should try to see before they +die: but still in a hall as antique and interesting in style, fits a +young man reading. +</p> + +<p> +It is evening, though the sun has not yet set, but it is evening, and +the young man is sitting at a small oak table in a recess in one of +the ancient windows, and before him lies open a book, and on the book, +which he touches not with his hands, but on which his eyes, blinded by +tears, are fixed, there lies a faded primrose. +</p> + +<p> +The book is the Bible, and the faded primrose lies on that verse in +the Psalm, "Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for his +goodness, and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of +men!" and some hand had placed a slight pencil mark before these +words. +</p> + +<p> +This scene brings before you a story of distress, and yet this young +man is the possessor of a large estate;—the baronial hall and house +are his own, and he is young and amiable, and till within the last few +months had led a life of almost uninterrupted comfort and prosperity +from his cradle upwards. Two years ago he became the betrothed lover +of a young lady no less interesting than himself, and as no obstacle +prevented their union, both had for these two years looked forward to +it, as the one certain and sure event of their lives. The young man's +parents had died when he was very young; but, in compliance with the +wishes of his Guardians, he deferred his marriage till he should have +come of age. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile, as the time of probation drew near its close, it had been +his delight to sit up the old place in such a manner as should become +his bride, and the alterations had, in many cases, been made under her +eye and according to her wishes, for she was already by anticipation, +and in the heart of its owner, the mistress of the place. +</p> + +<p> +At last the wedding day was fixed; but a few weeks before the time +came, one of those sad diseases which steal mysteriously into the +vitals of the young and wear away life long before its natural period, +fell upon her:—and <i>now</i>, nothing remained to him, who had hoped to +have her as his companion through life, but the Bible she had used +during her sickness, and which was found on the table by her couch +after her death, open and marked at the very place I have told you +about; together with the faded primrose which he had gathered for her +on the last morning of her life. +</p> + +<p> +This was a very sad event for those who were left behind to lament the +loss of one whom they had loved so dearly. The Mother indeed, who had +known other trials of life, bent her head submissively to this one, +and cherishing sweet recollections of her daughter's piety and +goodness, looked forward to a time of reunion in a happier world. But +the poor young man, whose name was Theodore, never having known a care +or a sorrow before, was stupefied and overpowered by this sudden +destruction of all his hopes and happiness. Seeing, however, that +<i>her</i> last thought had been the mercy and goodness of God, he tried to +make it <i>his</i> thought too; and he would sit for hours looking at the +verse which she had marked in the Bible. +</p> + +<p> +But unfortunately he made no effort besides, and having no kind +relatives or friends near him to rouse him from his melancholy stupor +to some of the active duties of life, he spent many many weeks in +listless sorrow, not caring much what became either of himself, his +dependents, or his property. And though he had become, by degrees, so +far resigned as to believe that every thing was for the best—even +<i>her</i> death—he now took up a strange and dismal fancy, that though +the Almighty was a God of goodness and justice, it was quite +impossible that He should <i>love</i> any beings so sinful and ungrateful +as the human race. This vain distinction of a morbid imagination was +the result of that solitude, inactivity, and the constantly dwelling +upon himself and his own troubles, to which he had unfortunately given +himself up, and which had brought his mind into such an unhealthy +state, that he could neither reason nor think properly. +</p> + +<p> +In this condition of feeling, having one day wandered to a +considerable distance from home, he sat down on the greensward to +rest; when lo! after he had remained there for some little time +musing, as usual, he saw approaching him two shining creatures, who +looked like spirits or angels, and as they came up to him they looked +at him very earnestly, and one said to the other, +</p> + +<p> +"He is doubting the goodness of God!?" +</p> + +<p> +Then Theodore shuddered, and said, "I am not! once perhaps I did, but +not now: all things happen for the best." Yet the Spirit repeated, "He +is doubting the goodness of God!" Theodore shuddered again, and cried +out "I am <i>not!</i>" for he felt as if it was a heavy accusation. +Whereupon the Spirit continued, "To disbelieve the love of God is to +doubt His goodness." +</p> + +<p> +"No, no," exclaimed Theodore eagerly, "it is not! I do not doubt His +goodness—His compassion even for the wretched creatures whom He +formed out of dust. But I—thoughtless in my youth; self-confident in +prosperity; ungrateful and rebellious under affliction; how can such a +wretch as <i>I</i> have been, believe in the <i>love</i> of God to me! God is +good and just, but do not talk to me of His Love to man, as if it were +possible He could feel for them the tenderness of kind affection! Who +are you?" +</p> + +<p> +Without noticing this question, the Spirit repeated, in emphatic +tones, "To disbelieve the Love of God is to doubt His goodness, and +deny the perfection of His nature!" +</p> + +<p> +"I tell you, No!" shouted Theodore, wildly: "It is <i>because</i> of His +goodness and <i>because</i> of the perfection of His nature, that I +disbelieve the possibility of His Love to the wretched race of man!" +</p> + +<p> +"Judge by your own heart!" exclaimed the Spirit who had not yet +spoken. +</p> + +<p> +But when Theodore raised his eyes to look upon her, both had +disappeared. He felt grieved, he knew not why. "<i>My own heart!</i>" he +murmured; "ah! my own heart has been the witness against me. It has +taught me the dreadful truth." +</p> + +<p> +"Truth never yet was found of him who leads a life of selfish misery," +whispered a soft voice receding into the distance; "Theodore! Judge by +your own heart. Even it may teach you better things!" +</p> + +<p> +Theodore started up and looked hastily around. He felt as if he could +have followed that soft receding voice into eternity. But there was no +one near. That sound, however, had been like an echo from hopes buried +in the grave; and the poor youth sank to the ground on his knees, and, +hiding his face in his hands, wept bitterly. Suddenly one thought took +possession of him out of what had been said. And it was one (as usual) +of self-reproach. The Spirit had reproached him with leading a life of +selfish misery! Vividly impressed by this idea, he started off +hurriedly for his home, crying aloud—"Oh, the wasted time; the lost +hours; the precious moments that might have been employed in +usefulness!" And thus he pursued his way till he had left the outer +country behind him, and had entered the gates that bounded his +extensive domain when, all at once, his course was stopped by +something he struck against as he was walking quickly along. +</p> + +<p> +Looking down, he perceived that a sickly, hungry-looking child was +stretched across the road asleep, and that by its side sat a woman, +the picture of misery and want. Theodore felt a strong sensation of +compassion seize him as he gazed at the child, and he stooped and +lifted it from the ground. +</p> + +<p> +The woman observed Theodore's eye, and said, "Ay, without help we +shall neither of us be here long!" +</p> + +<p> +"I will help you," said Theodore, "tell me what I can do!" +</p> + +<p> +"What can you or any one do, for a dying woman and a half-starved +child?" groaned the poor creature. "Food, food! medicine and help!" +These words burst from her in broken accents—I am dying!" +</p> + +<p> +"Are you so <i>very</i> ill?" asked Theodore, turning deadly pale; and he +murmured to himself—"Death again! I dare not see it again so soon! +Here!" continued he, thrusting gold into her hand, "now you see that I +will help you! Look, I will send you food, and you shall be brought +to the house: but let me take the child, he cannot do you good, and I +will see to him." "He must not see her die;" was Theodore's inward +thought. +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, take him," muttered the woman gloomily, "and send me cordials. No +one wants to go even an hour before their time!" +</p> + +<p> +Theodore obeyed almost mechanically, and lifting up the little boy, he +made a shift to carry him to the house. On arriving there, he called +for his housekeeper and desired her to take food and wine to the woman +he had left, and to bring her to the house. Then he sent another +servant for a doctor, and afterwards undertook himself the care of the +forlorn child. He placed him on a sofa in his study and sat down by +him. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you ill?" was his first question. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't know," was the answer. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you hungry?" +</p> + +<p> +"Very!" +</p> + +<p> +Here Theodore got up and went to the next room, where preparations +were being made for dinner, and fetched bread and gave it to the boy, +who ate it greedily, without once lifting up his eyes. "Poor child," +thought Theodore, "life has no <i>mental</i> troubles for him!" +</p> + +<p> +"Are you sorry your mother is so ill?" was his next inquiry. +</p> + +<p> +"She's not my mother," muttered the boy. +</p> + +<p> +Theodore started—"What do you mean? Are you not that woman's +<i>child</i>?" +</p> + +<p> +"No! She told me I wasn't." +</p> + +<p> +"Who are you, then?" +</p> + +<p> +"I don't know. She told me she had stolen me to beg for her." +</p> + +<p> +"And do you remember nothing about it?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, its too long ago." +</p> + +<p> +Theodore now fetched him more bread, but whilst he was eating it he no +longer sat by him, but walked up and down the room. Every now and then +as he stopped and looked at the thin, sickly looking object he had +brought into the house, he was overtaken by a strong feeling of pity +for his miserable condition. +</p> + +<p> +This child was as desolate as himself, only in another way. Stolen +from his parents to beg for the strange woman, he had lived with her +so long that he had forgotten his real home altogether! Bound by no +ties of kindred and comfort to this world. "He is more desolate than I +am myself!" repeated Theodore, again and again. +</p> + +<p> +After a time he approached the boy again. +</p> + +<p> +"The woman will say you are her child, and make you go back and beg +for her if she gets better, will she not?" +</p> + +<p> +"She doesn't want me now." +</p> + +<p> +"How so?" +</p> + +<p> +"She says, I'm too hungry, and eat all the bread away from her, and +don't get enough for us both." +</p> + +<p> +A curious expression passed across Theodore's face as he turned away +and sat down in his chair once more. It looked like a gleam of +satisfaction. The boy, meanwhile, sat quite still, looking round the +room. He had a grave and somewhat interesting face, but that the dark +eyes looked a little too keen and restless to be quite pleasant. +Still, when he smiled, and he had smiled brightly when he first saw +the bread, his countenance improved; and there was, besides, something +about his open forehead which redeemed the covert expression of his +eye. He was about seven years old, and precocious in quickness of a +particular kind, as is very often the case with vagrant children. +</p> + +<p> +Theodore's reverie was broken at last by the arrival of his good old +housekeeper, who came in, flurried and indignant, to inform him that +the woman she had been in search of was no where to be found. She had +been, "she was sure," up and down all the carriage roads, and made +enquiries at all the lodges, and finally discovered that a beggar +woman had passed out at one of them upwards of an hour before, very +hurriedly, and indeed almost at a running pace. +</p> + +<p> +Theodore glanced at the child, but his countenance never changed. Only +he sat eying the housekeeper as she spoke, apparently indifferent to +the result. The housekeeper now began to ejaculate in broken +sentences, "The base creature! To think that you should have taken all +this trouble, Sir! and had the child actually into the house! +and—gracious me," added she in a half whisper, "hadn't I better call +the butler, Sir; hadn't he" (nodding significantly towards the child) +"better be taken to the workhouse at once, Sir?" +</p> + +<p> +"I think not," answered Theodore slowly—"not yet, I think. The truth +is, I find he's not her own child, but has been stolen; and—and—in +fact, we can send him to the workhouse to-morrow. Perhaps, after all, +the woman may come here for him. But, at any rate, there is time +enough. You see this is an odd affair; and, as the boy is not <i>hers</i>, +we don't know who he may not turn out to be some day." And, as +Theodore thus concluded his sentence, he got up and looked at the old +housekeeper with a smile—a melancholy one it is true, but still it +was a smile—the first that had been seen on his face since his +terrible bereavement. +</p> + +<p> +And the faithful servant was so much pleased that she forgot every +thing else in a desire to keep up the interest that had lured her +young master so unaccountably from his misery. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, to be sure, Sir, what you say's quite right, and we can make +the poor thing comfortable for to-night, and then you can do as you +please to-morrow. Shall I take him with me, Sir, and make him clean, +while you dine? I can borrow some tidy clothes from the bailiff's +wife, I dare say; and after he's made respectable, you can see him +again, Sir, if you think proper." +</p> + +<p> +This proposition was more grateful to Theodore's mind than he cared to +acknowledge to himself. Indeed he had no clear ideas of his feelings +about the little accident that had interrupted the dismal course of +his life; and he studiously avoided questioning himself too closely. +Only there came across him, every now and then, a sensation that there +was some special providence about it all, and that there was some +mysterious connection between this adventure and the words of the +apparitions who had spoken to him in the morning. +</p> + +<p> +But "let be, let us see what will happen," was the ruling feeling, and +as he felt less miserable than usual, he did not wish to disturb the +pleasing dream by enquiries, why? +</p> + +<p> +After his solitary dinner, as he was seated alone in his arm chair, he +was relapsing fast into his usual unhappy state of mind, for this was +at all times the most trying part of the day to him, when a knock at +the door aroused him. +</p> + +<p> +Ah, it was the good old housekeeper again! She who, with the acute +instinct of sorrow-soothing which women so eminently possess, had +purposely come at this the young master's "dark hour," to try if it +could be kept back by the charm she had seen working a short time +before. "The little fellow is quite fit to come in now, Sir, if you'd +wish to see him before he's put to bed." And her efforts were rewarded +by seeing a look of interest light up poor Theodore's eye. The boy was +now ushered in, and his improved appearance and cleanliness were very +striking. Theodore took hold of his hand—"There, you need not be +afraid; you may sit down upon that chair. Are you comfortable?" "Yes." +"Have you had plenty to eat?" "Yes, plenty." And the child laughed a +little. +</p> + +<p> +"I hope you are a good boy." +</p> + +<p> +He looked stupid. "Can you say your prayers?" +</p> + +<p> +"What's that?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! I was afraid not. You never heard about God?" "Yes; but the woman +used to keep that to herself." "Keep what?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why," <i>for God's sake</i>, when she begged. She didn't let me say it, but +she always said it herself; and then, when people wouldn't give us any +thing, she used to say—" +</p> + +<p> +"No, no! I will not hear about that;" interrupted Theodore, "but I +hope some day you will learn about God." +</p> + +<p> +"In the begging? must I say it in the begging next time?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, I don't mean that; not in begging bread of people in the road, +but in praying." +</p> + +<p> +"What's that?" "Begging." "Then I am to beg?" "No, not on the road, +but of a great good Being, who will never refuse what you ask." +</p> + +<p> +"Is that <i>you</i>?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, my poor boy; not me, but the great Being, called God, who lives +in the sky. You must beg all you want of Him." +</p> + +<p> +"I don't know Him." +</p> + +<p> +"No; but you will learn to know Him when you have listened to me and +prayed to Him." +</p> + +<p> +"I don't know praying; I know begging." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, then, when you have begged Him—" +</p> + +<p> +"What am I to say?" +</p> + +<p> +"First, you must say, "Our Father—'" +</p> + +<p> +"Father's dead," interrupted the boy; +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, but I do not mean <i>that</i> father," answered Theodore; "and how do +you know even that <i>that</i> father is dead?" +</p> + +<p> +"The woman said so. One day she told me Father and Mother were both +dead, and there was nobody left to love me, so I must mind her." +</p> + +<p> +"The woman was wrong," cried Theodore compassionately. "You have +another Father, who never dies, and who loves you always!—" +</p> + +<p> +A knock at the door interrupted Theodore's <i>lesson on the Love of +God</i>. +</p> + +<p> +"It's about time the poor thing was put to bed," suggested the +housekeeper, looking in. "I dare say he's tired." +</p> + +<p> +"I dare say he is," said Theodore mechanically. "Good night, little +boy. What used they to call you?" +</p> + +<p> +"Reuben." +</p> + +<p> +"Good night, little Reuben." And he was taken away. +</p> + +<p> +<i>You have another Father who never dies and who loves you always</i>! +founded like an echo through the room. Theodore arose and looked +around, but there was no one there. He resumed his feat, and wondered +how he had got involved in teaching the beggar boy religion. He +lamented his awkwardness and unfitness for the talk; but still he +thought he had done right. As to his last assertion, how else could he +make the child comprehend God at all? Besides, how cruel it would be +to infect him with his own miserable convictions. They would come time +enough, perhaps! +</p> + +<p> +Such was the current of his thoughts. The next morning he told the old +housekeeper of the boy's ignorance and his difficulty with him, and +engaged her to help him in his talk, which she readily undertook. +</p> + +<p> +It is not my intention to describe the many endeavours Theodore made +to impress the first great truths of Christianity upon Reuben's mind; +but I can assure you he felt all the better for them himself. How it +was that he never sent the little boy to the workhouse you can guess. +For the first few days he kept him to see (as he said), if the woman +would come back for him. Then he wished him to stay till he and the +housekeeper had sufficiently impressed him by their lessons. And +then—why then—by degrees, all mention of the workhouse ceased, and +better clothes were bought for him; and the housekeeper, who was one +of the by-gone generation of warm-hearted old family servants, became, +for her master's sake, a perfect mother to him; and to Theodore he +involuntarily proved an object of daily increasing interest, and +finally, of strong personal affection. +</p> + +<p> +And thus nearly a year passed over, during which time Theodore's +health and activity in a measure returned; but the cheerfulness of a +happy mind was still wanting. Reuben often lured him temporarily into +it, but he would again relapse, and had never given up his unhappy +theory, though now he dwelt upon it much less frequently than of old. +At the end of the year, however, Theodore was much distressed by +fancying that he detected Reuben in lying; and he was, besides, by no +means sure that little trifles were not taken from him by the child +for his own use and amusement. He communicated his suspicions to the +housekeeper, and alas! found his worst fears confirmed. The pain and +sorrow he felt at this discovery were of a kind totally new to him. +But the strongest feeling of all was, that he would not give up the +boy to vicious habits without a struggle (cost what it might) to save +him! The housekeeper told him, with tears, that she had observed +Reuben's habit of petty lying and taking any thing he fancied, very +soon after his admission to the house; but she confessed that she had +not had the heart to inform her young Master, lest he should send the +boy away who had seemed to take him so out of his trouble! This was +what she most thought about. So she had tried to correct the child +herself, but not with the success she had desired. "How little she +knows the heart," thought Theodore, "his evil propensities would have +been an additional claim upon my kindness!" +</p> + +<p> +I will pass over all that Theodore said to the boy himself. No father +could have been more earnest, more solemn in his warnings, or more +kind in his expostulations. Reuben, by this time, could understand all +he said, and shame and repentance burnt in his face during a painful +interview. It is right to remind you, dear children, of the many +excuses that were to be made for him. He had been brought up, till +seven years old, in total ignorance of God, and without ever having +heard one duty commanded or one sin forbidden. The woman lied daily +and hourly in his sight, and made him do the same; and she took all +she could lay hold of in any way, and beat him if he did not follow +her example; and although Theodore's instructions had opened a new +world on the child's mind, the <i>evil</i> HABITS were not so soon got rid +of. So there the mischief was; and now the great difficulty Theodore +felt, was to know what to do for the best. And, after much +consideration, he decided to send him to school, as the likeliest +means of eradicating the bad habits the boy had acquired. I say +<i>habits</i>, rather than dispositions, for there was indeed nothing mean +or sneaking about his character. On the contrary, he was both +courageous and generous in the turn of his mind, and, after his health +improved, his manners partook of the same freedom and candour. +</p> + +<p> +To school therefore poor Reuben went; and Theodore was almost +astonished himself at the blank which his absence created. +</p> + +<p> +But having desired that continued reports should be sent to him of his +conduct, he meanwhile began seriously to think what was to become of +him hereafter. At last it occurred to him that he might employ him in +some way or other about his property; and with a view to this, +Theodore himself began to take more interest in his estate than he had +had the energy to bestow before, and made himself more intimately +acquainted with the wants and modes of life of those under his +control. +</p> + +<p> +Thus another year passed away in quiet but constant occupation; and +the many opportunities Theodore now had of doing good, softened and +cheered his mind. But he was not quite cured. For of all things in the +world whims are the very hardest to cure, because, reason as you will, +people still stick to their whims. Reuben was not allowed to return +once during that year to the old hall. During the last few months, +however, his progress had been most satisfactory, and the Master +considered that the evil was overcome; and so, at the end of the year, +Theodore wrote word to Reuben that he wished him to come "home" for +his holidays. Poor Reuben cried bitterly again when he read the +letter; for, as he said to the Master, "It is <i>not</i> my home, though he +has been very good to me. I have no home!" +</p> + +<p> +Theodore's heart overflowed with pleasure and almost pride when he saw +the boy again. Every turn in the expression of his face was improved; +and when Theodore first took his hand, the lad bent his face over it +and sobbed out an entreaty for pardon for his dreadful wickedness. +"Reuben," cried Theodore, "never say that again. All is forgotten +since your conduct is changed. Forget the past as soon as possible. It +will never be remembered by me." +</p> + +<p> +Time went on during the holidays very happily on the whole. In fact +there was no drawback; but that now and then Theodore, who would often +sit looking at his adopted child's face, noticed a painful expression +which he could not account for. His conduct was irreproachable and his +respect for Theodore seemed, if possible, increased; but he would not +be frank with him, and no encouragement beguiled him into the ease of +trusted affection. Theodore did not choose to notice this for some +weeks, but, as the time of Reuben's return to school drew near, he was +unwilling to let him go without some expostulation. +</p> + +<p> +"Reuben," said he one day, "you are going back to school. Your conduct +has quite satisfied me: but tell me, before you go, why you so often +look unhappy? It is a poor return (though I now touch on this subject +for the first time in my life), it is a poor return for the interest I +have taken in you; and for the real love you know I feel towards you!" +</p> + +<p> +For a moment Reuben's large dark eyes glanced up at Theodore's face; +but they sank again as quickly: his cheeks grew crimson, and tears +rolled over them which he could not conceal. +</p> + +<p> +"What is the matter, Reuben; what is the meaning of this? Am I loving +one who does not love me in return?" +</p> + +<p> +"You <i>cannot</i> love me, Sir!" ejaculated the boy so earnestly that it +quite startled his companion. +</p> + +<p> +"Reuben, what <i>can</i> you mean? Have you forgotten how I have taken you +and acted by you as if I had been your Father. I <i>cannot love</i> you? +What else but <i>love</i> for you has made me do what I have done?" +</p> + +<p> +"That was all your goodness and the kindness of your heart, Sir. You +couldn't love me when you picked me up in the road. It was pity and +kindness, and it has been the same ever since; not <i>Love</i>—" and the +tears again struggled to his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +Theodore rushed suddenly from the room and into his private apartment, +and falling on his knees, spread his hands over his head in prayer. +"My Lord and my God!" cried he solemnly, "what means this echo from my +own heart? Am I awake, or do I dream?" A profound silence was around +him; but, as he arose and opened his eyes, he beheld before him, +though fading rapidly from his sight, the angelic visions he had seen +two years before. +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="40%"> + +<p> +He returned to Reuben, who was sitting at the table, his face buried +in his arms. +</p> + +<p> +Theodore laid his hand upon him. "Reuben, look up! You are under a +great mistake. You are but a boy, and must not fancy you know the ins +and outs of the human heart. Reuben, I do love you, and have always +loved you." +</p> + +<p> +"You cannot, Sir!" +</p> + +<p> +"Again? and why not?" +</p> + +<p> +"You are too much above me; I am an outcast, and was a beggar. It +wasn't likely you could <i>love</i> me at any time. Besides, there has been +something since." +</p> + +<p> +"What?" +</p> + +<p> +"You told me to forget it, Sir, but I cannot. After all your kindness +and goodness, and trying to make me happy and do me every good, I was +all along (during the first year), doing what was wrong, deceiving you +and injuring you. I am not only an outcast, but I have been wicked and +ungrateful, and made you unhappy by my misconduct. Indeed I cannot +bear to think of it; but I dare not deceive myself about your <i>Love</i>, +Sir! I know you <i>cannot</i> love me; but I am so grateful to you for your +goodness, I hope you will not be angry with me for speaking the truth: +only, though I am grateful and try to be contented, I cannot be as +<i>happy</i> as if you <i>did</i> love me." +</p> + +<p> +As Theodore gazed on poor Reuben's face, he saw standing behind him +the beautiful visions once more. +</p> + +<p> +"Now judge by your own heart!" murmured the Spirits, as smiling they +disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +And Theodore did so. Going up to Reuben, he put his arms around him, +and wept over him tears of love and gratitude for the blessing which +he felt stealing into his own mind. "Reuben," cried he, "my child +Reuben! There have been but two human beings in the world on whom I +have bestowed my love; for, like you, I lost my parents young. These +two were—her I lost and yourself!" +</p> + +<p> +"If I thought you <i>loved</i> me, I would die for you!" cried Reuben, +springing up and gazing earnestly on Theodore's face. +</p> + +<p> +"My God!" murmured Theodore, "may I be able to feel this to Thee!" +</p> + + +<hr size="2" width="40%"> + +<p> +I think more words are unnecessary. You cannot doubt that Theodore +soon convinced Reuben of his love, nor that Theodore took the lesson +to himself, and now saw that God had placed in the human heart a +witness of the possibility of His love to man. Yes, the clinging +affection we feel for those we have been kind to; our own power of +forgiving <i>any</i> thing to them; is an instinct which has been +mercifully implanted in our hearts to teach us to believe in that Love +of God, which is otherwise so incredible to human reason. +</p> + +<p> +If you care to know what became of Theodore and Reuben, you must in +fancy pass over a few years. Reuben soon had so strong a wish to go to +sea, that he entered the merchant service; and by the time he became +Master of his own vessel and revisited the hall when he came ashore, +Theodore was to be found there with a kind and gentle wife by his +side; and frolicking about the ancient hall were a parcel of noisy +children, to whom the arrival from sea of him whom they always +unaccountably would call "Uncle Reuben," was ever a gala treat. Dear +readers, Farewell! +</p> + +<p class="note"> +BENEDICITE +</p></div> +<p> </p> +<center> +<img src="Images/Finis.jpg" alt="Finis" width="222" height="76"> +</center> +<br> +<hr> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS AND OTHER TALES***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 11319-h.txt or 11319-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/3/1/11319">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/3/1/11319</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Barker + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Fairy Godmothers and Other Tales + +Author: Mrs. Alfred Gatty + +Release Date: February 26, 2004 [eBook #11319] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS AND OTHER +TALES*** + + +E-text prepared by Internet Archive; University of Florida; and Beth +Trapaga and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 11319-h.htm or 11319-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/3/1/11319/11319-h/11319-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/3/1/11319/11319-h.zip) + + Images of the original pages are available through the Florida + Board of Education, Division of Colleges and Universities, + PALMM Project, 2001. (Preservation and Access for American and + British Children's Literature, 1850-1869.) See + http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/dl/UF00001801.jpg + or + http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/dl/UF00001801.pdf + + + + + +THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS AND OTHER TALES. + +BY MRS. ALFRED GATTY. + +1851. + + + + + + +[Illustration: HERMIONE SKETCHING.] + + + +Col miele, e non coll' aceto si piglian le mosche. + +_Italian Proverb_. + + + + +To My Children + +These tales are most affectionately dedicated. They were written in +hours of sickness, but are intended to be read by the healthy and +joyous young: and to illustrate some favourite and long cherished +convictions. + +Margaret Gatty. + +Ecclesfield Vicarage, +27th March, 1851. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +The Fairy Godmothers + +Joachim the Mimic + +Darkness and Light + +The Love of God + + + +The design for the Frontispiece which adorns this volume is by the +pencil of the writer's kind and highly gifted friend, Miss Lucette E. +Barker. + + + + +THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS. + + +In one of the beautiful bays on the coast of Fairy Land, a party of +Fairies was assembled on a lovely evening in July. There are many +beautiful bays on the coast of England, and there is one especially, +my dear little readers, which you and I know of, where a long line of +grand old rocks stretches far into the sea on the left-hand extremity, +while in the distance to the right a warning lighthouse with its +changing lights gives an almost solemn beauty to the scene; for one +cannot help thinking, at the sight of it, of the poor storm-driven +mariner, whom even that friendly light may fail to save from a sad and +sudden death. But beautiful as this little bay is, of which I speak, +and fond as we are of it, it is nothing, I do assure you, compared to +the bays in Fairy Land! There, there are no light-houses reminding one +painfully of danger and destruction near, but all is loveliness and +peace; and even the rocks would be turned into soft pillows by the +good-natured Fairies who inhabit the country, should any strange +accident drive a mortal ship on that shore. + +Also the bays in Fairy Land face to the west, which is a great +advantage, for in an evening there you may sit and watch the golden +sun dipping behind the waves; and the rich red tints he sends out upon +the rocks before he sets, are beyond measure beautiful and attractive. +Especially, I believe, the Fairies enjoy this time of day, for they +are odd little creatures, rather conceited, and fond of everything +pretty; consequently they like to be floating about the rocks in their +white dresses when the crimson and golden hues of sunset shine on +them, knowing very well they look like so many bright flowers on the +occasion. + +The day I speak of however had been very hot, and at the time I speak +of, the Fairies felt a little lazy and were reclining on some rocks +covered with sea-weed and amusing themselves by talking. In general +the conversation of these little creatures is rather light and +frivolous and gay; but it is really a fact that they were just then +all serious together and all were engaged in a very profound +conversation on human happiness. + +I am sorry to have so many explanations to give, but I think it quite +necessary to tell you the reason of so uncommon an event as a party +of Fairies being serious. Well then, there were going to be, very +shortly, several extremely gay christenings in the world, and some of +the Fairies had been invited to attend at them as Godmothers, in order +that they might bestow Fairy gifts on the different infants. + +Four or five of the christenings were to take place the next day, and +the Fairies who were going were discussing with each other what gifts +they should bestow, and as their only object was to ensure the +happiness of the children for whom they were interested, they +naturally fell into a discourse as to what gifts were most likely to +have so charming an effect. "Your Godchild is a girl too, I believe," +said Euphrosyne to Ianthe [Fairies are privileged, you know, to have +romantic names] "what do you think of bestowing upon her?" "Why," +answered Ianthe, "the old story, I suppose--BEAUTY: at least such +was my intention, but if you can any of you show me I am wrong in +supposing it a cause of happiness to the mortal race, why, I suppose +I must give her ugliness instead." + +"Sister, I hope you will do no such thing," murmured a young Fairy who +lay near twining seaweeds into a wreath. "I never until this evening +heard a doubt upon the subject, and to tell you the truth the only +time I ever envy a mortal is when I see a regular beauty enter a large +assembly. Oh, the triumph of that moment! Every eye turned upon her; +murmurs of admiration, not unmixed with envy, greeting her as she +sweeps along; everyone courting her acquaintance; a word, a smile of +hers more valued than a pearl or a ruby. A sort of queen of Nature's +own making, reigning royally in undisputed sway, let her circumstances +of life be what they may! Look how mean the richest woman who is ugly +looks by the side of her! No no, dear Ianthe, make your little lady +handsome, and you have done the best that Fairy can do for her. I +declare I envy her beforehand! Here where we are all so beautiful +together there is no interest or excitement about it--it is quite +flat." And so saying the young fairy Leila laid herself down to her +wreath again. "Why, Leila, you are absolutely eloquent!" observed +Ianthe, "Beauty it certainly must be." + +"Oh, I declare," pursued Ianthe, rousing up again, "I have sometimes +really wished myself ugly, that I might some day have the pleasure of +suddenly finding myself beautiful!" + +"Oh, but then," said a Fairy from behind, "is there no danger of your +regular beauty, as you call her, getting as tired of being beautiful +as you are, and wishing herself ugly too?" + +"Certainly, not," answered Ianthe, "for, for an earthly beauty there +would always be the excitement of being envied." + +"Come, come," persisted the former speaker, "then the gift of being +envied would be the best thing to bestow, at all events a necessary +addition." + +"Oh," cried Leila, stopping her ears, "I can't argue, I never could--I +can't hear any more, I am quite satisfied that I am right; you can't +argue away the pleasure of being a beauty in a ball-room. Ask any of +them themselves." + +"Well," said Ianthe, "we need pursue the subject no further. I am +resolved. My baby is to be beautiful, beautiful as the dawn of the +morning; they shall call her Aurora!" + +"I shall not follow your example," observed Euphrosyne, "I don't at +all like that notion of the necessity of _envy_ to make the beauty's +joy complete. Besides, I'm not at all sure beauty is not much more +charming in idea than in possession. Nobody spend their lives in +entering a ball-room, and one gets sadly tired of one's own face. I'm +sure _I_ do, beautiful as it is;" and as she spoke the Fairy stooped +over a clear tide pool which mirrored her lovely countenance; "and yet +look what a nose I have! It is absolutely exquisite! And this hair!" +and she held up her long silken curling tresses and looked at them +reflected in the water as she spoke. A musical laugh rang through the +fairy group. Euphrosyne resumed her seat. "There isn't a mortal damsel +in the world who would not go into raptures to resemble me," pursued +she, "and yet--but, oh dear, I am getting quite prosy, and it is quite +useless, for Ianthe has decided. I, on the contrary, am thinking of +something far less romantic and interesting, but I suspect far more +necessary to the happiness of mortals than beauty--I mean RICHES." + +"Men are horribly fond of them, certainly," observed the Fairy from +behind, whose name was Ambrosia. "I can't endure men on that very +account. Look at the grubby wretched lives they lead in +counting-houses and banks, and dreadful dingy holes and corners of +great towns, where we wouldn't set the soles of our feet, and this for +forty or fifty years, perhaps, in order that in the fifty-first, or +perhaps later still, they may turn into butterflies for the little bit +of life that is left to them. And such butterflies, too! not knowing +what to do with their gay coats and fine wings when they get them at +last." + +"I think you are putting an extreme case," observed Euphrosyne. +"Though the grubs themselves may not thoroughly enjoy the riches they +have so laboriously acquired, their children or grandchildren may, and +live at ease and enjoy them. I should not think of bestowing great +riches on uneducated paupers. But it is another matter to give them to +people whom education has refined, and who would know how to enjoy and +employ them." + +"I wonder," suggested a very little Fairy, scarcely grown to her full +size, "why you don't just give your Godchildren moderate good health, +and enough money to make them quite comfortable without puzzling +them?" + +"You are a complete Solomon," observed Euphrosyne, "but you must know, +my dear, that moderate good health and a mere comfortable competency +would hardly be considered Fairy gifts by our friends in the lower +world. These things are, as it were, the absolute _necessities_ of a +happy life; they are the beef and mutton (to borrow an earthly simile) +of the entertainment. Fairy gifts form the somewhat unnecessary (and +questionably wholesome) second course, the sweets, the bonbons, the +luscious luxuries of the repast. + +"Very few, by comparison, get them. Very few infants you know have +Fairy Godmothers, but we make it a rule that those who have, shall +always be distinguished from the crowd. Other-wise our power would not +be believed in. No, my little Aglaia, all our Godchildren start from +the point you spoke of--'caeteris paribus,' as those dingy black +lawyers say--all other things being equal--it is a question now of +bestowing extra superfine Fairy gifts." + +Aglaia tittered--"I know Sister Euphrosyne is thinking of the +christening suppers, and the whipped creams, and the syllabubs!" and +away she tripped to the other end of the bay, lest the older Fairies +should scold her for impertinence. + +"Certainly," pursued Euphrosyne, "I have a great contempt for riches +myself. Bah! the idea of all the troublesome as well as wicked things +men do in order that they may be able to keep a lumbering thing they +call a carriage, to drive them round a dirty town. Just think of that +one thing alone! It is hardly credible." And Euphrosyne laid her head +by the side of Leila's, and looked up into the deep blue sky. + +"Remember," said Ambrosia, from behind, "it is a choice with poor +mortals between heavy foot-walking, and the lumbering vehicles you +talk of. Perhaps when their legs ache terribly, the carriages are not +such bad things. We can hardly judge dispassionately in such a matter, +we who can float and fly!" and the delicate Ambrosia, springing up, +floated softly round the bay, and then returned smiling to her +companions. "It made me almost ill to think of aching legs," observed +she, "how I do pity the mortal race!" + +"How pretty you looked as the sun shone golden upon your white robe," +exclaimed Leila, "It was a sight for a mortal painter to die of!" + +"A genius for painting would be a grand Fairy gift," observed Ianthe. + +"Too doubtful of success," answered Euphrosyne, "and the Musician's +power the same; besides musicians always die young and with exhausted +minds. The art is too much for mortal nerves." + +"Their atmosphere is too thick," said Leila. "How tired I am of your +discussions! Let us sing! Whatever music may be to them, it is food to +us." + +Then all those beautiful Fairies arose and joining hands on the rocks +they sang to the now dying Sun a chorus of Fairy Land! Now and then +these ravishing melodies are permitted to reach to mortal ears: +chiefly in dreams to the sick and sorrowful, for Fairies have great +compassion on such, and allow them a distant taste of this, the most +exquisite of their enjoyments. + +There was no more discussion that night, nor did they argue much the +next morning. There was the rising sun to welcome from the sleeping +caves on the eastern side of their country, and the bath to be +enjoyed, and their wings to plume, and sweet odours to gather from the +early flowers; and the time passed so quickly, they only met to take a +hurried leave. "We must understand each other however, before we +separate," said Euphrosyne. + +"Dear Ianthe, your Gift is Beauty?" "It is." "And mine is Riches," +said Euphrosyne. "All the pleasures of life shall be at my Godchild's +feet," said another Fairy, laughing. "If that will not ensure +happiness, I know not what will." Ambrosia held back--"Your choice, +dear Sister?" asked Euphrosyne. + +"Come! we have no time to lose." + +"It must remain a secret," was the reply. "Our discourse yesterday +evening was so thoughtful, so sad, I could not sleep. I arose hours +before you this morning, ere daylight streaked the sky. Dear Sisters, +how shocked you will be to hear I wept; but now I have determined. If +my gift succeed I will tell you all about it, or you shall guess it +yourselves; for I now propose that our Fairy Gifts this year shall be +a sort of experiment on human happiness. Let us from time to time +visit in company our young charges, and let the result--that is, which +of our Gifts is proved to confer the greatest amount of happiness, be +written in the archives of our kingdom for the future benefit of the +mortal race." + +A murmur of approbation rose, sweet as the vibration of a harp-chord +through the assembly. + +There was no time for enquiry about the other gifts: the travelling +Fairies arose and beat their gauzy wings upon the western breeze. A +melodious rushing was just audible; the distant murmurs of the earthly +sea the most resemble that sweet dream of sound. In a few moments the +departing sisters became invisible, and those who remained returned to +float by the sea shore, or make sweet music in the bowers of their +enchanted land. + + * * * * * + +Time is a very odd sort of thing, dear readers. We neither know whence +it comes nor whither it goes;--nay we know nothing about it in fact +except that there is one little moment of it called the present, which +we have as it were in our hands to make use of--but beyond this we can +give no account of, even that little moment. It is ours to use, but +not to understand. There is one thing in the world, however, quite as +wonderful, and quite as common, and that is, _the Wind_. Did it never +strike you how strange it was that the strongest thing in the world +should be _invisible_? The nice breezes we feel in summer and the +roughest blasts we feel in winter in England are not so extremely +strong you will say: but I am speaking, besides these, of the winds +called hurricanes that arise in the West Indian Islands, and in other +places in the world. These dreadful hurricanes have at times done as +much mischief as earthquakes and lightning. They tear down the +strongest trees, overthrow the firmest houses and spread ruin and +desolation around, and yet this terrible power, so tremendous, and +against which the cleverest contrivances can provide no defence, is as +invisible as the great Maker of Heaven and Earth. How unbelieving many +people would look if you told them of a dreadful creature that was +coming to the world, which could be heard to roar, be felt to knock +down every thing in its path--men, women and children, houses, +churches, towers, castles, cities, and trees the most firmly +rooted--and yet which you could never catch the faintest glimpse of, +for it was always invisible, even when it roared the loudest! As +invisible then, as when in its mildest moods, it, as it were, purred +softly over the country like a cat. How the good people would laugh, +and tell you you were very silly to believe in such a thing. Yet I +think this is not at all an incorrect description of the great +invisible Power WIND. Now the lesson we may learn from this is to be +humble-minded; for since we live in the constant presence of a Power +we cannot see, we ought to feel it is equally possible other Powers +may exist of which our other senses cannot take cognizance. There is +an old proverb--"Seeing is believing"--but you perceive, dear readers, +we are forced to believe in the wind though we never see him at all. + +To return to Time who is travelling fast on while I am rambling after +the wind, he has puzzled the artists a good deal I should say, for +with all their skill at representation they have never hit upon any +better idea of him than an old Man with wings. An old man with wings! +Can you fancy anything so unnatural! One can quite understand +beautiful young Angels with wings. Youth and power and swiftness +belong to them. Also Fairies with wings are quite comprehensible +creatures; for one fancies them so light and airy and transparent, +living upon honey dew and ambrosia, that wings wherewith to fly seem +their natural appendages. But the decrepitude of old age and the wings +of youth and power are a strange mixture:--a bald head, and a Fairy's +swiftness!--how ridiculous it seems, and so I think I may well say +Time is a very odd sort of thing. + +Among those who have to deal with Time, few are more puzzled how to +manage him than we story-tellers. In my first chapter, for instance, I +gave you a half-hour's conversation among some Fairies, but I think +you would be very angry with me were I to give you as exactly every +half-hour that passed over the heads of the little girls with Fairy +Godmothers, till they grew up. How you would scold, dear little +readers, if I were to enter into a particular description of each +child's Nurse, and tell whether Miss Aurora, Miss Julia, Miss +Hermione, &c. &c. &c. were brought up on baked flour, groat-gruel, +rusks, tops and bottoms, or revalenta food! Whether they took more +castor-oil, or rhubarb and magnesia; whether they squalled on those +occasions or were very good. When they cut their teeth and how, +together with all the &c. and ups and downs of Nursery life which +large families, such as you and I belong to, go through daily. + +Well then, suppose I altogether pass over a period of ten years, and +enter into no minute particulars respecting that portion of Time. You +must know that the Fairies had agreed that all the children should +have the same (and rather a large) amount of intellect, or what you +would call cleverness: that is to say, they were all equally capable +of learning anything they chose to learn: also they had all fair +health, plenty to eat and drink, and all the so called "necessary" +comforts of life. + +Now then to our story. + +At the end of ten years the Fairies agreed to go and have a peep how +their charges were going on. They quite knew that nothing decisive +could be found out, till the children had come to years of discretion +and were their own mistresses. Still they thought it would amuse them +just to go and see how the charms were working, as it were; so, away +they went. + +Now picture to yourselves a nice large nursery, much such a one as +your own, in which several children are playing. The eldest, a girl of +ten, you may see yonder lounging--gracefully perhaps--but still +_lounging_ in a rocking chair which she is swinging backwards and +forwards, having set it in motion by the action of her foot on the +floor. What a lovely face! I do not think you ever saw one so handsome +except in a print in one of Mamma's best picture books. All the +features are perfectly good and in proportion, and the dark blue eyes +are fringed by the longest eyelashes ever seen. The hair of this +little girl too--look at it, as the soft chestnut ringlets wave about +on her shoulders as she swings, and show the round richness of the +curls. + +Now if you ask about the expression on her face, I must tell you it +was rather languid and "_pensieroso_." Pensieroso is an Italian word +really meaning thoughtful--but this little girl was not _thinking_, +for then the expression of her face would have been much stronger and +firmer and less languid; but the word has got to be used for a sort of +awake-dreamy state when one lets thoughts float lazily along without +having any energy to dwell upon them, and see whether they are good or +bad. + +The thought that was passing through this little girl's head at the +time I mention and which made her look so languid and pensieroso, was + + "I wish it was 6 o'clock." + +Now here you are ready to laugh, I know, for there was nothing to look +so languid about, in "I wish it was six o'clock!" but the fact was +this: at half-past six the little girl's Mamma was expecting a large +party to dinner and the little girl was to dress at six and be ready +to go down and see the company:--I might add _and to be seen by them_; +for the little girl was, as you will have guessed, the beautiful +Aurora herself, and there had been plenty of foolish people, though +her good Mamma was not one of them, to tell her how pretty she was and +how much people admired her. + +It is a very pleasant thing to be admired, both for children and grown +up people. "The love of approbation," as it is called, i.e. the wish +to be approved of and admired is a feeling which is very strong in +most people; not in quite all, perhaps, but in _most_ people +certainly. But like all other powers of the mind considered apart from +the influence of the heart and conscience, it is capable of being used +to a very bad or a very good purpose. Thus you may remember what our +Saviour says of the Pharisees who stood praying at the corners of the +streets that they might be seen of men: Verily, they had their +reward--viz: that men admired them: whereas those who do good deeds +and pray privately, i.e. unseen and unadmired by men, should verily +have their reward in that day when God who seeth in secret himself +shall reward them openly. + +Here you see is the same strong feeling,--love of approbation, +exercised in a wrong and a right direction. The Pharisees wish for the +approbation of men, good people wish for the approbation of God. + +Now, love of approbation exists about much smaller matters than I have +just been mentioning. But I would warn my young readers, that, to be +always thinking, and bothering yourselves as to what other people are +thinking about you, is one of the most uncomfortable and injurious +habits a person can get into. It makes them so selfish and +egotistical. And here was one of Aurora's dangers. Because she knew +she was pretty, she was always wondering what other people were +thinking about her, a habit which so far from contributing to what the +good Fairy had wished, viz. her happiness, was constantly spoiling her +comfort from hour to hour. And here, at ten years old, was this little +lady swinging languidly and idly on the rocking chair, wishing it was +six o'clock, instead of enjoying, as she might so well have done, that +small portion of time, time present, which is, as I told you before, +the only bit of him we can ever lay hold of, as it were. Of time +present, just then, she thought nothing. She would have said, (had she +been asked), that the old gentleman moved very slowly in spite of his +wings, for her eye was fixed on that delightful time future, six +o'clock. Well! at last the clock struck, and Aurora sprang from her +chair,--her whole face altered in a moment. "Now, Nurse, I may dress, +may I not?" she exclaimed, radiant with animation, and all the languor +and dreaminess gone over like a cloud from before the sun. And it is +true that just then Aurora was happy. It was a pleasant task to her to +arrange and smooth that curling hair, and to put on the simple white +dress she knew set off her beauty so well. But alas! for the happiness +caused by thoughts of _one's self_! The toilet over, she ran down to +her Mamma, and was welcomed with a smile of fondness and approbation. +Indeed, when she was happy, a sweeter face could not be seen, for she +was not a naughty child, and if it had not been for the Fairy gift, I +do think she would have been a very nice one. + +The Fairies who invisibly had witnessed all I have described to you, +were not so loud in their admiration of Aurora as you or I might have +been. They are so handsome themselves, they think but little of +earthly beauty, and even Ianthe could not conscientiously say, "What a +_happy_ looking little girl she is." That was just the one thing that +was wanting: ay, and it continued wanting even after the room was +filled with company, and she was petted, and caressed, and praised on +every side. Her spirits became very high, however, and she enjoyed +herself much; and it is perhaps only very very critical folk, bent on +spying out a fault, that could have detected the little clouds of +anxiety that now and then shot across her face. A thought of whether +her curls were all right, or her dress untumbled, &c. just now and +then disturbed the charm, and prevented her forgetting herself +sufficiently to allow her to be quite at ease and happy, and she would +glance at herself in the mirror, and put back the hair from her brow, +lest Mrs. I-know-not-who, who was just then entering the room, should +not think her quite as lovely as Mrs. Somebody-else did, who had very +foolishly been saying so rather in a loud tone to her Mamma. + +At last the fatal time arrived to go to bed. Aurora was much too +sensible to cry, or be cross, you must know, but as she closed the +door of the drawing-room and left the gay company, a sigh very heavy +for so young a heart to have breathed, escaped her, and it was slowly +she retraced her steps up stairs. She was in reality tired, for it was +later than her usual bed-time, and when she went into her room she +threw herself on the chair and yawned. The young Nurse who attended to +undress her, asked her if she had enjoyed herself. "Oh yes!" was her +ready answer. "All is so bright, and gay, and entertaining among those +ladies, and they are so good-natured to me,"--(another sigh coupled +with the recollection of, and _how much they admire me!_)--"But I do +so hate being a little girl, and having to go to bed. I wish the time +would come quicker for me to be grown up, and be down stairs +altogether, and talk, and enjoy myself all the evening!" Oh, Aurora, +Aurora, with that dissatisfied face where is your beauty? with that +discontented mind where is your happiness? + +"Your charm is not working perfectly, Sister," observed Euphrosyne to +Ianthe. + +"Her's is not the age for perfect happiness and enjoyment as a beauty, +remember," replied Ianthe, "and she feels this herself." + +"Man never is but always _to be_ blest," cried Ambrosia laughing. "You +see I can quote their own poets against them." + +"You are prejudging now, Ambrosia, wait till another ten years is +over; but we must see our little beauty through the twenty-four +hours." Ianthe now waved a tiny wand in a circle around Aurora's +head,--the long eyelashes sank over her eyes, and the beautiful child +fell into a sweet and placid sleep. + +Morning, which awakens all young creatures to life, enjoyment, and +action, awoke Aurora among the rest, and she arose in health and +strength, and the full glow of animal spirits. "_This is_ happiness, +however," exclaimed Ianthe to her companions, as the young girl sprang +about, carolling to herself the while. And so it was, for at that +moment no forecastings into futurity disturbed the comfort of present +pleasure: but an accidental glimpse of her face caught in a +looking-glass as she passed, recalled Aurora to the recollection of +HERSELF! and the admiration she had obtained the evening before. At +first some pleasure attended the remembrance, and she gazed with a +childish triumph at her pretty face in the glass. In a few minutes, +however, the voice of her Governess calling her to lessons disturbed +the egotistical amusement, and the charming Aurora frowned--yes, +_frowned!_ and looked cross at the looking-glass before she quitted +the apartment. + +And now, dear little readers, let me remind you that Aurora was a +clever little girl, for the Fairy had taken care of that. She had +every faculty for learning, and no real dislike to it; but this +unlucky Fairy gift was in the way of every thing she did, for it took +away her interest in every thing but herself; and so, though she got +through her lessons respectably, it was with many yawns, and not a few +sighs, and wonderings what Mamma was doing; and did the Governess +think there would soon be another dinner party? and didn't the +Governess, when _she_ was a little girl, wish very much she was a +grown up woman? and, finally, she wished she had been able to talk +when she was a baby at her christening, because then me would have +begged the Fairy Godmother to give her the gift of growing up to be a +young lady very quick indeed, and of learning every thing without any +trouble at all! And so saying, Aurora yawned and laid down her book, +and the poor Governess could hardly keep her temper at such repeated +interruptions to the subject in hand. + +"My dear," she exclaimed, "Fairies have no power to counteract what +God, has ordained, and he has ordained that we enjoy but little what +we get at without labour and trouble." + +"Ah taisez-vous donc ma chere!" cried Aurora, flopping her ears with +her hands, and running round the room shaking her long curls +furiously. "Vous me faites absolument fremir! Excuse my French, but I +am certain you are the eldest daughter of the old woman in the wood, +and you are just now dropping vipers, toads, newts, and efts from your +mouth at every word you utter!" + +The good-natured Governess laughed heartily at the joke, for they had +just been reading the old French fairy tale of "Les deux Fees," and +the application amused her; but she shook her head gravely at Aurora +afterwards, and reminded her that no serious truth was well answered +by a joke, however droll. + +A bell rings, a carriage is at the door. Miss Aurora is wanted. +Visiters! Ah! here is happiness again! But it lasts but a short time, +and the reaction is the same as before--drooping eyes, languid +eyelids, and a sigh. + +Books, drawing, music, work, even domestic recreations, all deprived +of their charm through this idolatry of self! + +The curtain closed over this scene. + +"A charming child, Ianthe, but for your Fairy Gift, which is spoiling +her." + +"I repeat to you we are no judges yet. Now for riches, Euphrosyne!" + + * * * * * + +At the same hour of evening, and under the same circumstances, of a +party about to assemble, let me introduce you to a beautiful little +boudoir or up-stairs sitting-room adjoining an equally pretty sleeping +apartment in a magnificent house in a town. The passages are carpeted +all over, and so are the boudoir and the sleeping-room, and they are +furnished with sofas, easy chairs, and every description of luxurious +comfort; and all this for the accommodation of a little girl of ten +years old, who in one of the easy chairs is lying back in front of the +fire, with her tiny feet on a bright brass fender. She has a gold +watch in her hand, which is suspended round her neck by a chain of the +same material, and she is playing with it, and with the seals, and +pretty ornaments hung to it, that jingle as she moves her hand. Ever +and anon she glances at the face of the watch. + +But life is very easy to her, and the chair is very soft, and her feet +are very warm. At last, however, she gets up and rings a silver bell +that is on the mantel-piece. A servant answers the summons. "It is +time for me to dress, I believe, Annette; the company are expected +to-day at half past six. Has my new frock come home?" + +"Yes, Miss." + +"Let me look at it." + +A delicate blue satin, trimmed with the finest lace, is produced from +a band-box. + +"It is very pretty, I think, Annette." + +"It is downright beautiful, Miss." + +"And so expensive," pursued the little girl whose name was Julia, +"that I don't think any one else I know is likely to imitate it, which +is my greatest comfort!" + +And so saying, the rich Miss Julia ---- (an only daughter), whose +comfort seemed to depend on no one else being as comfortable as +herself, commenced her toilet, i.e. her maid both commenced and +finished it for her, for those who can command the unlimited +assistance of servants are apt to be very idle in helping themselves. + +"Your Julia looks self-satisfied enough," observed Ianthe, "but I do +not see that this is more like real happiness than my Aurora's face +before the party." + +"Perhaps," returned Euphrosyne, "the same remark applies to her as to +Aurora--the age for thoroughly enjoying riches is hardly arrived. You +smile, Ambrosia! Well, we do not yet know your experiment, and you +yourself do not know how it has answered. Take care that our turn for +laughing at you does not soon come!" + +Julia was dressed at the end of the half-hour, but not sooner. Her +toilet occupied more time than Aurora's. She could not decide what +ornaments she would wear, and at last getting out of humour with the +"embarras des richesses" she fixed on a necklace which, though +extremely handsome, was scarcely fit for a child. She was neither +pretty nor otherwise, but when good humoured and happy her face, like +that of all other creatures of her innocent time of life, was +attractive and pleasant to behold. Oh, that children did but know +wherein the secret of being loveable and beloved lies! In holding fast +the innocence and simplicity of their infant years; in the cheerful +spirit, the universal kindheartedness, the open honesty, the sweet +teachableness and readiness of belief, which are the real +characteristics of childhood and which we so love to trace in their +faces. It was these things our Saviour called upon grown-up people to +imitate, and so to receive the kingdom of Heaven as little children. +And oh, that grown-up people would imitate these things; for if they +would become in these respects as little children, the sweet cast of +mind would be reflected in _their_ faces too, and the ugly looks given +by envious discontent, deceitful thoughts, unkind intention and +restless want of faith and hope would all be washed out of the world. + +But now, my dear readers, can you call that the best of Fairy gifts, +which had so great a tendency to bring the naughty passions of +grown-up life into the heart, and therefore on to the face, of a +little girl? Well, but riches _have_ a tendency that way; and though +Julia was not a very naughty girl she was being led into very sad +feelings by the Fairy gift. When she went down to the company, her +secret anxiety was to examine all the dresses of her Mamma's friends +and resolve some day to surpass them all. Even as it was she received +much pleasure from knowing that her own dress was far beyond the reach +of ordinary folk. She thought too of her necklace with secret +satisfaction, when the ladies were talking to her, for she perceived +their eyes frequently attracted by its brilliancy and beauty. Then her +mind rambled into futurity, to the day when she would astonish these +very ladies far more than now by the richness of her costume. Ah, dear +readers, would our Saviour if present have called _this_ little child +to him, and said, "Of _such_ is the kingdom of Heaven?" But all these +selfish thoughts made her conversation less pleasant and cheerful than +it would otherwise have been; for you may be sure she was not +listening with any interest to what was said to her, while she was +thus planning silly schemes about herself. + +And not having listened with any interest to what was said to her, you +may guess that her answers were dull and stupid; for when people are +talking of one thing and thinking of another they become very flat +companions. At times when she could forget herself she became natural +and then was both pleasant and pleased, and asked some ladies to let +their children come and see her next day, to which they consented. But +now came a sad drawback. One of the ladies told her that her little +girl should bring to shew her a most beautiful gold fillagree work-box +set with precious stones, which one of the maids of honour about +court, who was her godmother, had given her a few days before. This +lady had saved a few of the queen's hairs very carefully, and had had +them placed in a little circle of crystal in the middle of the box, +and they were set round with the most beautiful rubies. It was a +present worthy of a Fairy Godmother, and certainly the donor was the +daughter of a duchess, which perhaps is the nearest thing to being a +fairy. + +You will be shocked, my dear readers, to hear that the account of this +box was as disagreeable as a dose of physic to poor Julia. Nay it was +_worse_ than physic, for a peppermint-drop can take the taste of that +away in a minute. But not all the peppermint-drops in a chymist's shop +could take away the taste of the fillagree-box from Julia. She had +been thinking before of showing all the treasures of her boudoir to +her little friends next day; but this horrid box was like a great +cloud closing over her sunshine. She knew she was naughty, but she was +so in the habit of being selfish she could not conquer her peevish +vexation. Annette wondered what could be the matter, and her Governess +sighed as she perceived her face clouded, even when she was repeating +her evening prayer; but no questioning could extract from her what was +amiss. + +Oh, what a condition for a child to go to sleep in! Euphrosyne was +greatly annoyed. "They are not correcting her evil dispositions," +cried she. "I do not allow that this has anything to do _necessarily_ +with being very rich." + +Ah, good Fairies, you do not know "How hardly shall they that have +riches enter into the kingdom of Heaven." + +Look now at that young face, asleep on a downy pillow, in a bed richly +hung with crimson drapery, in a room filled with luxuries, glowing +with warmth and comfort. You are shocked that the heart within should +be disturbed by nasty little envyings, that made the good things she +possessed of no value to her. 'Tis well; but remember we are all rich +by comparison. Go to the poor frost-bitten wayside beggar-child, my +little readers; bring him into your comfortable drawing-room, which +you sit in every day and think nothing about, and he will fancy he has +got into Paradise. It is a luxurious palace to him. Take him to your +snug bed and let him sleep there, and it will be to him what a state +apartment in Windsor Castle would be to you. Do not then let you and +me scold too much at Julia, but let us keep on the watch to drive away +from ourselves the discontented grumbling thoughts that are apt to +make us all ungrateful to God. Julia did not sleep well. The fillagree +box was a fort of night-mare to her. She dreamt of its growing up into +a great giant, and thumping her on the head, and calling out that she +ought to be ashamed of herself. Do you know, I think this dream was +owing to her Godmother, Euphrosyne, for she lingered behind the other +Fairies as they vanished, and shook, not waved, her wand over the +sleeping child, with a very angry face. + +In the morning Julia, like Aurora, awoke in a temporary forgetfulness +of her troubles. The morning air is so refreshing and sleep does one +so much good, and the sun shining through the windows looks so gay, +and all things speak of hope so loudly in a morning, who can be +sullen? Certainly not little girls full of life and expectation. But +the thought of the fillagree box by degrees took possession of her +mind and rankled there as before. She too had a Governess, and many +lessons to learn and much to do, and she did them; but neither English +history nor French fairy tales could quite drive away the fillagree +box. Indeed it introduced its horrid face before her into the midst of +a multiplication sum, and Mademoiselle thought she was bewitched to +have grown so stupid over her arithmetic all at once. She spent a half +hour over that one sum, and when it was done she was so much tired she +gave up lessons for the day. Besides, she had to prepare for her +friends. She went into her boudoir, opened her cabinets and unfolded +her treasures of various sorts--oh I can't tell you what beautiful +things! besides interesting collections of foreign and English shells, +and stuffed humming birds, which you and I should be charmed to +possess. And Julia was in general most happy when she was looking +over her property, but rather more because she possessed valuable +curiosities than because she cared about them, I fear. For my part, +I wonder very much that the humming birds and shells did not teach +her to be more humble-minded; for no art or jewellery can imitate or +come up to their glorious beauty. Well, she amused herself tolerably +in spite of the visions of the fillagree box and the queen's hair, +which now and then came between her and her usual feeling of +self-satisfaction. + +Presently her young friends came--several little girls of various +ages, and now nature once more revived in poor Julia. The children +felt and expressed such hearty pleasure at the sight of her treasures. +There were such joyous exclamations; such bursts of delight; such +springing and jumping about, that Julia became infected with the +general pleasure, and was a happy child herself. Yes! even though the +fillagree box had been shown off and admired. But what do children in +general know about the _value_ of things and how much they cost? Ah, +much more just in their judgments than we elders are apt to be, a bird +of Paradise such as adorned the top of Julia's cabinet, or a peacock's +tail, such as she had in a drawer, is to their unprejudiced eyes more +desirable than the gold of Ophir itself! + +So now you see this triumph of simplicity over art, despoiled the +fillagree box of all its horrors, for the innocent children admired +her shells yet more--unsophisticated, and insensible to the long story +about the value of the rubies, the maid of honour, and even the +queen's hairs. + +Still the Fairies felt and saw that it was not Euphrosyne's gift, but +rather the forgetfulness of it which caused these hours of happiness +to Julia, and somewhat puzzled as to the result they left the votary +of riches, not quite without a sensation that little Aglaia's proposal +of moderate health and enough riches to be "comfortable without being +puzzled," was about the best thing after all, though not much of a +Fairy gift. And now, my little readers, I am beginning to get rather +tired of my story, and to feel that you may do so too. I think I am +getting rather prosy, so I must try and cut the matter short. Four out +of the five Fairy gifts were like beauty and riches, worldly +advantages. For instance, there was the little girl who was to have +every earthly pleasure at her feet--i.e. she was to have every thing +she wished for--why she was fifty times worse off than either Aurora +or Julia, for I will tell you whom she was like. She was like the +fisherman's wife in Grimm's German popular fairy tales, who had every +thing she wished, and so at last wished to be king of the sun and +moon. I doubt not you remember her well, and how she was in +consequence sent back to her mud cottage. I think, therefore, I need +not describe the young lady who had _that_ Fairy gift. + +There was another who was to be _loved_ wherever she went; but nothing +is worth having that is had so easily, and this child got so sick of +being kissed and fondled and loved, that it was the greatest nuisance +to her possible, for disagreeable people loved her just as much as +nice ones, and for her part she hated them all alike. It was a very +silly Fairy gift. + +Come with me then to Ambrosia's God-daughter, whom they visited last, +and whose Fairy gift the other Fairies were to guess at! + +Neither you nor I, my dears, ever heard a fairy-laugh. Doubtless it is +a sweet and musical sound. You can perhaps fancy it? Well then, do +fancy it, and how it rang in silver peals when our fairy friends, on +entering the last nursery they had to visit, found Ambrosia's protegee +in a flood of angry tears, stamping her foot on the ground in a +passion! "You naughty naughty girl!" exclaimed the old Nurse, "you'll +wake the baby and make your own eyes so red you won't be fit to be +seen to night by the company!" + +"I don't care about my eyes being red, tho' I don't want to wake the +poor baby," sobbed the little girl, slightly softening her wrath: "but +the cat has unravelled all the stocking I have been knitting at for so +many days, and I had nearly just finished it, and now it's all +spoilt;" and she roared with vexation. "Miss Hermione, if you go on so +I shall certainly send for your Mamma, and the baby will be quite +poorly, he will! and we shall know who made him so," added Nurse +triumphantly. "I can't make the baby poorly with crying, Nurse, so +that's nonsense you know," observed Hermione; "but I didn't mean to +disturb him; only my stocking is gone, and I don't know what to do." +And here she sobbed afresh. + +"Do! why ain't you going down to the ladies, and can't you be brushing +your hair and washing your face and getting ready?" "But it isn't +time." "Well, but can't you get ready _before_ the time a little? and +then, when you're dressed and look so clean and nice and pretty, you +can sit in the chair and we can look at you!" and here the good old +Nurse gave a knowing smile and nodded her head. + +Hermione caught sight of the comical coaxing glance, and, in spite of +her misfortune, burst into a fit of laughter. "Hum, hum, hum! now +you'll wake the poor thing by laughing, Miss Hermione. I do wish you'd +be quiet:" and here the Nurse rocked the child on her knee more +vigorously than ever. + +"Then why don't you tell me what I am to do with my stocking," cried +Hermione. "Oh well, I know what I will do--something quite as quiet as +a mouse. I will wind up my poor worsted." Hereupon the little girl +picked up the puckered remains of her luckless grey stocking which a +facetious young cat had spent at least a quarter of an hour in +ingeniously unravelling with his claws. It was a tiresome tedious job +we must admit, and required a strong effort of patient perseverance, +but Hermione soon became engrossed in its difficulties and a dead +silence ensued. At last Nurse who had while rocking the sleeping baby +on her knee, been watching the child's proceedings, suddenly +exclaimed, "Well to be sure, Miss Hermione, you have such patience as +I never before did see." + +[The Fairies exchanged glances. + +"It is _Patience_, Ambrosia." + +"What a hurry you are in!" was the reply.] + +"No I haven't, Nurse, indeed," answered Hermione. "I had no patience +at all when I was in a passion with the cat just now." + +"Well, I suppose there are two or three sorts of Patiences, Miss, +then," persisted Nurse, "for I'm certain you have _some_ sorts. But, +dear me, its ever so much past six o'clock, and you have to be dressed +by half-past. Do put away the worsted and get yourself ready, Miss, +and call Jane to help you." + +Here the Nurse and Hermione nearly had a scuffle over the worsted. +Hermione declared the cat had spoilt her stocking; and the only +comfort left to her now was to roll it comfortably up into a ball. +Nurse on the contrary insisted that it didn't signify a bit what +became of the worsted; she must dress and go down. The dispute ended +by Hermione running off with the half finished ball and its untidy +remains, and cramming the whole concern into the pocket of her best +frock. "The people will soon be tired of talking to me," muttered she +to herself, "and then I can finish my ball quietly in the corner +behind Mamma's chair." + +The thought of this ingenious plan for her private amusement down +stairs so tickled Hermione's fancy that she was on the giggle the +whole time she was being dressed. "If Nurse did but know what was in +the pocket of my best frock and how fat it is! how she would scold, +and what a fight we should have." And she could hardly refrain from +loud laughter at the thought. When she had got her frock on she sat +down, and laying her arm over the fat pocket asked Jane to touch up +her curls: and while this operation was going on she began to talk to +the nurse. + +"Nurse, should you think it a very nice thing to go to a dinner party +and sit in chairs all round a large room, where the coloured covers +are taken away and everything looks very gay, and so tidy, nobody is +allowed to do anything but smile, and talk, and wear white kid +gloves?" + +"Very nice, Miss, it's so like a lady," was the Nurse's ready reply. + +"Well then, I don't think it's nice at all, Nurse--I think it's very +nasty and stupid." + +"Dear, Miss Hermione, how you do talk; I hope you won't tell the +ladies so when you get down stairs." + +"Oh dear no, that would be rude, and it's wrong to be rude, but to +tell you the truth I don't know what I shall do when I grow up if I am +obliged to be so dull as that is, very often." + +"Goodness, Miss Hermione, to hear you talk one would think you'd +better be a housemaid at once, instead of a lady with nothing to do." + +"Nurse, I should see no objection to be a housemaid at all, only that +I am learning so many things that wouldn't suit a housemaid; but +without being a housemaid there are many pleasanter things to do than +to sit in that stupid sort of way. I like the room when all Papa's +books and papers are about, and when he is scribbling away so busy, +and when Mamma has got her microscope out looking at seaweeds or +curiosities. I have a chance then myself. I don't like ladies who say +nothing but 'Pretty little dear, what a nice colour she has,' just to +please Mamma." + +What Nurse in England could be expected to enter into so philosophical +an investigation of the habits of society? + +Hermione's did nothing but assure her it was time to be off, and she +only hoped she would sit still and talk prettily, and never trouble +her head whether it was stupid or not. + +When Hermione got into the drawing room and saw the company seated as +she had described to her Nurse, she felt very much disposed to laugh +again, but made an effort and composed herself. Still her face was +beaming with mirth and fun, and when some ladies said "What a happy +looking little girl," they were quite sincere. That sort of face too +worked wonders, and her Mamma's friends liked her much and talked +pleasantly to her, and she was pleased and happy and quite forgot the +ball of worsted, as well as the ladies' white kid gloves. A young lady +however who had her arm round Hermione's waist and was playing with +her, suddenly felt the round protuberance in her pocket. "Ah you +little rogue, what have you here?" "Its a secret," cried Hermione. "I +think I can unravel your mysterious secret, little girl, you are a +favourite with the housekeeper," added she, whispering in Hermione's +ear, "and she has just given you an orange." + +"You are a very bad guesser of secrets," whispered Hermione in +return. "It's no such thing!"--"Then it's an apple." "No, nor an +apple."--"Then it's a peach, and your new frock will be spoilt." "No +it isn't a peach either, and it's a secret." The young lady loved fun, +and a playful struggle ensued between her and Hermione; in the course +of which the large grey worsted ball and its long ravelled tail were +drawn from the little pocket. + +Hermione had now to tell the history of the ball, which she did +naturally and honestly, but when she added, quite seriously, that she +intended, when they had done talking to her, to go behind her Mamma's +chair and finish winding it up, you may guess how they laughed. + +"Come here, my little dear, and let me look at you," cried an elderly +lady in spectacles, putting out her hand and laying hold of +Hermione's. "Why what an industrious little soul you must be! a +perfect pattern! There now! you may go behind my chair and finish your +ball of worsted; nobody wants to talk to you any longer." + +This old lady was rather crabbed, and had not quite believed Hermione +sincere, so she did this to try her, and expected to see her pout and +refuse. To her surprize, Hermione only said "Oh thank you, ma'am," +with a quite smiling face, and going behind the chair, sat down on the +floor to her worsted. For a few moments the old lady kept thinking "It +won't last long: she'll soon be glad of an excuse to come out:" but no +such thing happened; and just what Hermione expected did happen. The +ladies fell to talking among themselves, and in a very short time the +presence of the little girl was quite forgotten, even by the old lady, +who was handed out to dinner, without once remembering whom she had +left behind her chair. + +Hermione stayed in the room till her task was over, and then rushed up +stairs to the nursery, and stopping at the door, half opened it and +rolled the great grey worsted ball so cleverly in, that it hit the old +Nurse's foot as she sat (once more rocking the baby) over the fire. +"Goodness, bless me! what ever is that?" Then, spying a laughing face +at the door, "Oh dear heart, it's you I declare, Miss Hermione! will +you never leave off waking the baby? I thought a great black dog was +laying hold of my foot." + +"Nurse," said Hermione, "your baby is always and always going to +sleep; why doesn't he go, and then I could have a bit of fun? You +don't know where I finished winding the worsted ball!" + +"Why goodness me, Miss Hermione, where?" + +"Down in the drawing-room among all the fine ladies; so good night!" +and off she ran to avoid further explanation. A few words with her +Governess; a sober time of evening prayer; and the happy child laid +her head on her pillow, and needed no Fairy wand to lull her to sleep. +She had been some time with her Governess in the morning before her +Mamma coming to her there, heard a loud discussion going on within. +The voices, however, were those of good-humour. "Hermione," said her +Mother, "I am come to say that your Governess told me yesterday you +had been so very good for a long time over all that you have had to +do, that I have arranged for your having a holiday and a treat to-day, +and several of your young friends are coming to see you. Among them is +Aurora, the granddaughter of the old lady in spectacles, who, just +before she was going away at night, recollected you, and began to look +for you behind her chair." + +"Oh what a goose, Mamma!" "No, not a goose, my dear--only an oddity, +but a very kind one too--for she desired me to find out whether you +really did roll up the whole of the ravelled worsted last night; and +_if_ you really persevered till it was finished, I have something to +give you from her, but not otherwise. How was it?" "Oh, it's finished, +Mamma; ask Nurse; for when I rolled it against her foot last night, +she took it for a great black dog." "Well then, I suppose this is +yours, Hermione; but, I must say, I never knew a gold thimble earned +so easily." Yes, dear little readers, it was a pretty gold thimble, +and round the bottom of it there was a rim of white enamel, and on the +enamel were gold letters. + + "L'industrie ajoute a la beaute." + +"Mamma," said Hermione, looking at it in delight, as she found it +exactly fitted her finger, "it's lovely; but, do you know, I think the +old lady ought to have given it to her granddaughter, Aurora, with +such a motto." "My dear, she has had it, she told me, some months in +her pocket secretly, for the purpose you mention, but she cannot ever +satisfy herself that Aurora has got the spirit of real industry in +her, and to bribe her to _earn_ the thimble is not her object, so you +see it has accidentally fallen to your share." + +And as she said this, Hermione's mother turned round to leave the +room; but before she had reached the door, her little girl stopped +her--"Mamma, do turn back." + +"What is the matter, Hermione?" + +"I've something I want to say to you." + +"I am all attention, my dear, particularly as your face looks so +unusually grave." + +"Why, you and my Governess are always calling me _good_ for doing my +lessons well, and now you are rewarding me for being _good_ and all +that, and I don't see that I am good at all." + +"Upon my word this is a very serious matter, Hermione; who or what has +put this into your head?" + +"I read in a serious book lately, that nobody could be good without +practising self-denial; and that, to be really good, one must either +do something that one does _not_ like, or give up something that one +_does_; so that I am quite sure I cannot be good and deserve a reward +when I do French and music and drawing and work well, because I am so +very fond of doing every thing I do do, that every thing is a pleasure +to me. And there is no struggle to do what is tiresome and no other +wish to give up. The only time when I have to try to be good at all, +is when I have to leave off one thing and go to another. That is +always a little disagreeable at first, but unfortunately the +disagreeableness goes off in a very few minutes, and I like the new +employment as well as the last. This is what I was talking about to my +Governess when you came, and she laughed so loud I felt quite vexed." + +"My dear Hermione," said her Mamma, "you have quite misapplied what +you have read in the book. Self-denial is always required of us, when +we feel inclined to do any thing that is wrong, but it does not apply +to any aptitude you may have for enjoying the occupations I require of +you. That is only a piece of good fortune for you; for to many little +girls, doing lessons is a very great act of self-denial, as they want +to be doing something else. But now, as you are so lucky in liking +every thing you do, you must practise your self-denial in some other +way." + +"How, Mamma?" + +"In not being vexed when your Governess laughs, and in not being in a +passion with the cat next time he unravels your stocking." + +Hermione blushed. "Oh, Mamma, I understand the difference now." + +"But this is not all, Hermione." + +"Well, Mamma?" + +"Why, as you are so fortunate as to be always happy when employed, and +as therefore there is no _goodness_ strictly speaking, in your doing +your business so cheerfully and well, you must do this, you must spend +some portion of time every day in making your energy of use to other +people, and then you will be doing active good if not practising +self-denial." + +"Oh, Mamma, what a nice idea! Perhaps you will give me some needlework +to do for the poor women you give money to; and, besides, just now I +can do something actively useful and still a little really +disagreeable,--really it is, Mamma,--what makes you laugh?" + +"Your resolution to do something you don't like. What is it, +Hermione?" + +"To knit up again the stocking the cat pulled out. I quite dislike the +idea." + +"Then set to work by all means, Hermione. You will at least have the +comfort of 'beginning by a little aversion;' but I warn you +beforehand, not to set your heart upon the disagreeableness lasting +very long, and if you find yourself shortly, as happy as ever over the +stocking, do not be puzzled and vexed any more, but thank God as I do, +that, so far at least, you are spared one of the troubles of life. The +trouble of an indolent, discontented mind." + +An affectionate embrace was exchanged between Mother and Daughter; and +the latter, with the assistance of her Governess, recommenced the +unlucky grey stocking, and was working assiduously at it when her +young friends arrived. + +It was a curious sight to the Fairies to see two of their +god-daughters together, as they now did. But the conviction was forced +upon them, that, for the present at least, Hermione had the balance of +happiness in her favour. Whatever their amusements were,--whether +looking over curiosities, playing with dolls, or any of the numerous +games invented for the entertainment of the young, Hermione's whole +heart and attention were in the matter, and she was as much engrossed +as over learning at other times, and quite happy. With poor Aurora it +was not so; the childishness of the play every now and then annoyed +her; there was no food for her vanity, in playing with children; they +cared nothing about her beauty; the gayest and most good-natured face +has always the most charms for them, and this did not suit Aurora at +all, and ever and anon her thoughts wandered, and her wishes too. + +For ever straining into the future! + +"I cannot make out your Fairy gift at all, Ambrosia," said Euphrosyne, +"and I begin to suspect you have not given her one." + +"We are all growing philosophical, I perceive," said Ambrosia, +smiling. "Who could think you would have guessed that my happy child +has had no Fairy gift at all. But she has, I assure you. What do you +say to the Philosopher's Stone? It is quite clear that me has got +something which TURNS EVERY THING SHE TOUCHES INTO GOLD." + + * * * * * + +What _is_ the Philosopher's Stone? I hear my little readers exclaim. +There is no such thing, my dears, nor ever was; but the chymists in +old times, who were very ignorant, and yet knew that many wonderful +things had been done by the mixture of minerals and metals, and the +curious effects some had upon others, guessed that yet more wonderful +things might be found out by searching, and they got into their heads +that it might be possible to find, or make, a stone that would have +the power of turning every thing it touched into gold. In the same +manner, the doctors of those times fancied there might be such a thing +made as a draught that would turn old people into young ones again. +This was called "The Elixir of Life." But I do assure you these old +fellows never did discover either a Philosopher's Stone, or an Elixir +of Life. + +So this was only a joke of Ambrosia's. + +Now to go on and finish my story. It was ten years more before the +Fairies revisited their Godchildren in the lower world, and this time +they were to decide who had given the best Fairy gift. + +And I dare say you expect me to give you as long an account of their +visits to the young ladies of twenty, as I did of their peeps at the +little girls of ten. But I really do not think it worth while. I would +do so indeed in a minute if there were anything quite fresh and new to +describe. But on the faith of a story-teller I assure you, it would be +"the old story over again," only on an enlarged scale. + +Did you ever look at any interesting object first with your natural +eyes, and then through a microscope or magnifying glass? If so, you +will remember that through the magnifying glass you saw the same thing +again, only much bigger. + +In the same manner the ten years acted as a sort of magnifying glass +over Aurora, Julia, and Hermione. Everything was the same, but +increased in size and made clearer and plainer. + +Aurora's triumphant joy as she entered the ball-room as a beauty, was +much greater certainly than her pleasure at her Mamma's dinner party. +But the weariness and anxiety afterwards were increased also. She was +still getting away from our friend Time present, and forecasting into +some future delight. "The good time _coming_, Boys," was her, as well +as many other people's bugbear. She never could feel that (with God's +blessing) _the good time_ is always _come_. + +The only time she ever thoroughly enjoyed was the moment of being +excessively admired. But judge for yourselves how long that can last. +Could you sit and look at a pretty picture for an hour together? No, I +know you could not. You cannot think how short a time it takes to say +"Dear me, what a beautiful girl!" and then, perhaps, up comes somebody +who addresses the admiring gazer on the subject of Lord John Russel's +last speech, and the "beautiful girl," so all important in her own +eyes, is as entirely forgotten as if she had never been seen. And +then, to let you into another secret, Aurora was by no means a very +entertaining companion: nobody _can_ be, with their heads full of +themselves: and she had often the mortification, even in that scene of +her triumph, a ball-room, of feeing her admirers drop off, to amuse +themselves with other people; less handsome perhaps, but more +interesting than herself. + +And so the Fairies, having accompanied her through a day of Triumphs, +mixed with mortifications, followed by languors, unsettled by hopes of +future joy, clouded with anxieties that all but spoilt those +hopes:--came one and all to the conclusion that Aurora could not be +considered as a model of human happiness. + +Nor could they say much more for Julia. Perhaps, indeed, there is more +equanimity in the pleasures of a very rich person, than in those of a +very beautiful one: but, oh dear, they are of such a mean sort! Still, +there is a good deal of impertinent comfort in money I do admit. Life +rolls on, upon such well oiled hinges! The rich say, "Do this," to +people around them; and the people, "do it." But the Fairies had no +sympathy with such an _unnatural_ fault as the pride of wealth. They +saw Julia reclining in one of those "lumbering things" they so much +despised: and driving round the "dirty town" they so much disliked: +and along a park a great deal too smoky for their taste: and they +could not understand the haughty glance of self-satisfaction with +which she looked out upon the walking crowds she passed, or the +affected graciousness with which she smiled upon the few whom she +condescended to recognize as acquaintances. They thought her very +naughty and very absurd for being conceited about such matters. They +followed her to her Milliner's too, and there I assure you they had +nearly betrayed their presence by the uncontrollable fits of laughter +they fell into when she was trying on, or talking about, bonnets, head +dresses, gowns, &c. with the affected Frenchwoman who showed them off. +Julia cared for nothing because it was pretty or tasteful, but chose +every thing by its costliness and magnificence. Of course the milliner +assured her that every thing she took a fancy to from its rarity, was +becoming; and then, oh dear! how the Fairies were amused! for poor +Julia looked downright ugly in some of the things she selected, and +still went away as self satisfied as ever, on the old grounds that the +costume was so expensive that none of her acquaintance could get one +like it. This was still her chief comfort! Euphrosyne actually shook +her fist at her as she was going away, and she had the toothache for +the rest of the day, and was extremely cross to her husband in +consequence. For, by the way, Julia had married--and married a +nobleman--a man somewhat older than herself; but he and she had had a +sort of mutual conviction that riches and rank go very well together, +and so they married; and suited very well in this respect, that as +their heads were full of other things they neither claimed nor +required from each other a great amount of affection. + +Still, was Julia happy? The Fairies shook their heads. She had +gardens, hot-houses, magnificent collections of curiosities, treasures +that might have softened and opened her heart, if she had made a right +use of them. But riches have a very hardening tendency, and she never +struggled against it. + +Then, too, she could get every thing she wanted so easily, that she +cared very little about anything. Life becomes very stale when your +hands are full and you have nothing to ask for. + +Her greatest pleasure was to create astonishment and envy among her +associates: but, besides the naughtiness of the feeling, this is a +triumph of very short duration; for most people, when they cannot get +at what they envy, amuse themselves with something else; and then, +what a mortification to see them do this! + +"Besides," said the Fairies, "we must follow her into her solitude, to +see if she is happy." + +Ah! there, lying back once more in the easy chair, in a dress which-- + + "China's gayest art had dyed," + +do you think that self-satisfied, but still uncheerful looking face +tells of happiness? + +No! She too, like Aurora, was unoccupied, and forecasting into +futurity for the "good time coming," which so many spend their lives +in craving after and expecting, but which the proud, the selfish and +the idle never reach to. + +The Fairies turned from her sorrowful and angry. + + * * * * * + +In the outskirts of a forest, just where its intricacy had broken away +into picturesque openings, leaving visible some strange old trees with +knotted trunks and mysteriously twisted branches, sat a young girl +sketching. She was intently engaged, but as her eyes were ever and +anon raised from her paper to the opening glade, and one of the old +trees, the Fairies had no difficulty in recognizing their protegee, +Hermione. The laughing face of childhood had become sobered and +refined by sentiment and strength, but contentment and even enjoyment +beamed in her eyes as she thoughtfully and earnestly pursued her +beautiful art. The little beings who hovered around her in that sweet +spot, almost forgot they were not in Fairy land; the air was so full +of sweet odours from ferns and mosses, and the many other delicious +scents you find so constantly in woods. + +Besides which, it amused the good souls to watch Hermione's skilful +hand tracing the scene before her; and they felt an admiring delight +when they saw the old tree of the forest reappear on the paper, with +all the shadows and lights the sun just then threw upon it, and they +wondered not a little at the skill with which she gave distance and +perspective to the glade beyond. They felt, too, that though the +drawing they saw rising under the sketcher's hand was not made +powerful by brilliant effects or striking contrasts, it was +nevertheless overflowing with the truth and sentiment of nature. It +was the impression of the scene itself, viewed through the poetry of +the artist's mind; and as the delicate creatures who hung over the +picture, looked at it, they almost longed for it, slight as it was, +that they might carry it away, and hang it up in their fairy palace as +a faithful representation of one of the loveliest spots of earth, the +outskirts of an ancient English forest. + +It is impossible to say how long they might not have staid watching +Hermione, but that after a time the sketch was finished, and the young +lady after writing beneath it Schiller's well known line in +Wallenstein, arose. "Das ist das Loos des Schoenen auf der Erde."[1] + +[1] "Such is the lot of the beautiful upon earth." + +The poor tree was marked for felling! Ambrosia was almost affected to +tears, once more. The scene was so beautiful, and the allusion so +touching, and there seemed to her such a charm over her God-daughter +Hermione; she was herself so glad, too, to feel sure that success had +crowned her gift, that, altogether, her Fairy heart grew quite soft. +"You may do as you like about observing Hermione further," cried she. +"But, for my part, I am now satisfied. She is enjoying life to the +uttermost; all its beauties of sight and sound; its outward +loveliness; its inward mysteries. She will never marry but from love, +and one whose heart can sympathise with hers. Ah, Ianthe, what more +has life to give? You will say, she is not beautiful; perhaps not for +a marble statue; but the grace of poetical feeling is in her every +look and action. Ah, she will walk by the side of manhood, turning +even the hard realities of life into beauty by that living well-spring +of sweet thoughts and fancies that I see beaming from her eyes. Look +at her now, Ianthe, and confess that surely that countenance breathes +more beauty than chiselled features can give." And certainly, whether +some mesmeric influence from her enthusiastic Fairy Godmother was +working on Hermione's brain, or whether her own quotation upon the +doomed tree had stirred up other poetical recollections, I know not; +but as she was retracing her steps homewards, she repeated to herself +softly but with much pathos, Coleridge's lines:[2] + + "O lady, we receive but what we give, + And in our life alone does nature live: + Ours is her wedding-garment, ours her shroud! + And would we aught behold, of higher worth, + Than that inanimate cold world allowed + To the poor loveless ever anxious crowd, + Ah! from the soul itself must issue forth + A light, a glory, a fair luminous cloud + Enveloping the earth-- + And from the soul itself must there be sent + A sweet and potent voice, of its own birth, + Of all sweet sounds the life and element!" + +[2] Coleridge's "Dejection: an Ode." + +And, turning through the little handgate at the extremity of the wood, +she pursued the train of thought with heightened colour in her +cheeks-- + + "I may not hope from outward forms to win + The passion and the life, whose fountains are within." + +And thus Hermione reached her home, her countenance lighted up by the +pleasure of success, and the sweet and healthy musings of her solitary +walk. + +She entered the library of a beautiful country house by the low window +that opened on to the lawn, and found her mother reading. + +"I cannot tell you how lovely the day is, Mamma, every thing is so +fresh, and the shadows and lights are so good! I have immortalized our +poor old friend the oak, before they cut him down," added she, +smiling, as she placed the drawing in her mother's hands. "I wish the +forest belonged to some one who had not this cruel taste for turning +knotted oak trees into fancy work-tables. It is as bad as what Charles +Lamb said of the firs, 'which look so romantic alive, and die into +desks.'--Die into desks!" repeated Hermione musingly, as she seated +herself on the sofa, and took up a book that was before her on the +table; mechanically removing her bonnet from her head, and laying it +down by her side as she spoke. + +And here for some time there was a silence, during which Hermione's +mother ceased reading, and, lifting up her eyes, looked at her +daughter with mingled love, admiration, and interest. "I wish I had +her picture so," dreamt the poor lady, as she gazed; "so earnest, and +understanding, and yet so simple, and kind!--There is but one +difficulty for her in life," was the next thought; "with such keen +enjoyment of this world, such appreciation of the beauties, and +wonders, and delights of God's creations on earth--to keep the eye of +faith firmly fixed on the 'better and more enduring inheritance,' to +which both she and I, but I trust she, far behind, are hastening. Yet, +by God's blessing, and with Christian training, and the habit of +active charity, and the vicissitudes of life, I have few or no fears. +But such capability of happiness in this world is a great temptation, +and I sometimes fancy must therefore have been a Fairy gift." And here +the no longer young Mother of Hermione fell into a reverie, and a long +pause ensued, during which Ambrosia felt very sad, for it grieved her +to think that the good and reasonable Mother should be so much afraid +of Fairy gifts, even when the result had been so favourable. + +A note at length interrupted the prolonged silence. It was from Aurora +the Beauty, whose Father possessed a large estate in the +neighbourhood, and who had just then come into the country for a few +weeks. Aurora earnestly requested Hermione and her Mother to visit +her. + +"I will do as you wish," said Hermione, looking rather grave; "but +really a visit to Aurora is a sort of small misfortune." + +"I hope you are not envious of her beauty, Hermione? Take care." + +"Nay, you are cruel, Mamma, now. I should like to be handsome, but not +at the expense of being so very dull in spirits as poor Aurora often +is. But really, unless you have ever spent an hour alone with her, you +can form no idea of how tired one gets." + +"What of, Hermione? of her face?" + +"Oh no, not of her face; it is charming, and by the way you have just +put into my head how I may escape from being tired, even if I am left +alone with her for hours!" + +"Nay, now you really puzzle me, my dear; I suggested nothing but +looking at her face." + +"Ah, but as she is really and truly such a model of beauty, what do +you think of offering to make a likeness of her, Mamma? It will +delight her to sit and be looked at, even by me, in the country, and I +shall be so much pleased to have such a pleasant occupation. I am +quite reconciled to the idea of going." + +And a note was written, and despatched accordingly. + +"But," persisted Hermione, rising to sit near her Mother, "you do not +above half know Aurora. One would think she had been born in what is +called a 'four warnt way,' with nothing but cross roads about her. +Nothing is ever right. She is always either exhausted with the heat of +the sun, or frozen with cold, or the evening is so tedious, she wants +it to be bedtime, or if there is any unusual gaiety going on, she +quarrels with the same length of evening, because it is so intolerably +short; and, in short, she is never truly happy but when she is +surrounded by admirers, whether men or women. And this seems to me to +be a sad way of '_getting her time over_,' as the poor women say of +life. Ah, Mamma, it goes but too quickly." + +"Aurora is indeed foolish," musingly ejaculated the Mother. + +"Not altogether either, my dear Mother. She knows much; but the fault +is, she cares for nothing. She has got the carcase, as it were, of +knowledge and accomplishments; but the vivifying spirit is wanting. +You know yourself how well she plays and sings occasionally, if there +is a question of charming a room full of company. Yet there can be no +sentiment about her music after all, or it would be an equal pleasure +to her at other times. But really it almost makes me as discontented +with life as herself to hear her talk in unexcited hours. Turning over +my books one day, she said, 'You can never be either a poet or a +painter, or a Mozart or a philosopher, Hermione? what is the use of +all your labour and poking?' What could I say? I felt myself colour +up, and I laughed out, 'Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is +vanity!' Yet certainly God has set before us the things of earth in +order that we may admire and find them out; and that is the answer to +all such foolish questions!" And Hermione was turning to leave the +room, but she came back and said--"Do you know, Mamma, though you will +laugh at the idea, I do think Aurora would be a very nice girl, and +very happy, if she either could grow very ugly all at once, or if any +thing in the world could make her forget her beauty.--And," added she, +in a half whisper, "if there is any thing in Fairy lore, I could +almost fancy some cruel Fairy had owed her family a grudge, and had +given her this gift of excessive beauty on purpose to be the plague +and misfortune of her life." + + * * * * * + +"Enough, enough, and too much," cried Euphrosyne impatiently. "The +matter is now, I think, concluded. Ianthe and I have failed, and +though you are successful, Ambrosia, even you have not come off +without a rebuff. Now, farewell to earth. I am weary of it. I do not +know your gift, and I am sick of listening to conversations I cannot +understand. Let us begone. If we de delay, they will begin again. Ah, +my sisters, my spirit yearns for our fairer clime!" + +And they arose; but yet awhile they lingered on the velvet lawn before +that country-house, for as they were preparing for flight, the sounds +they loved so well, of harmonious music, greeted their ears. + +"Ah, there is the artist's hand again," cried Ambrosia. "I see the +lovely sketch before me once more!" + +And so it was, that it, and the peaceful forest scene, and the +interesting face of Hermione, seemed to reappear before them all as +they listened to her music. Tender, and full of sentiment were the +sounds at first, as if the musician were acting the scene of the opera +whence they came. + +"Lieder ohne Worte,"[3] murmured Ambrosia. + +[3] Songs without Words.--Mendelssohn. + +But it was to the swelling sounds of a farewell chorus that they arose +into the air, and took their leave of earth. + +And now, dear Readers, there is but one thing more to do. To ask if +you have guessed the Fairy gift? + +The Fairies, you see, had not. What Euphrosyne had said was true. They +had listened to such a quantity of conversation they could not +understand, and they were so unused to _think_ much about any thing, +or to hear much beyond their own pretty light talk and sweet songs, +that their poor little brains had got quite muddled. + +Perhaps remaining so long in the Earth's atmosphere helped to cloud +their intelligence. Certain it is, they returned very pensive, very +cross, and rather dusty to Fairy Land. + +They arrived at the beautiful bay I first described, and floated to a +large party of their sisters, who were dancing on the sands. + +There was a clapping of tiny hands, and shouts of joy as they +approached; and "What news? what news?" cried many voices. + +"Ah, what news, Sister Euphrosyne!" cried little Aglaia, floating +forward, "from the smudgy old earth; Is it beauty, riches, or what?" + +"I cannot answer your question," said Euphrosyne, pushing forward. + +A circle was now formed round the travellers, and the details I have +given you were made by Ianthe. And she wound up by saying, "And what +Ambrosia's gift to Hermione has been, we cannot make out." + +"Then I will tell you!" cried little Aglaia, springing lightly high +into the air, and descending gently on a huge shell at her feet; "_She +likes every thing she does, and she likes to be always doing +something_. You can't put the meaning into one word, as you can Beauty +and Riches; but still it _is_ something. Can't you think of some way +of saying what I have told you? Dear me, how stupid you are all grown. +And _liking_ isn't the right word: it is something stronger than +common _liking_." + +"Love, perhaps," murmured Leila. + +"An excellent idea," cried Euphrosyne; "dear me, this delicious air is +clearing my poor head. Sisters, I will express it for you, and +Ambrosia shall say if I am right. It is THE LOVE OF EMPLOYMENT." + +Ambrosia laughed assent; but a low murmur of discontent resounded +through the Fairy group. + +"Intolerable!" cried Leila, shrugging her shoulders like a French +woman. + +"It is no Fairy gift at all," exclaimed others; "it is downright +plodding and working." + +"If the human race can be made happy by nothing but labour," cried +another; "I propose we leave them to themselves, and give them no more +Fairy gifts at all." + +"Remember," cried Ambrosia, now coming forward, "this is our first +experiment upon human happiness. Hitherto we have given Fairy gifts, +and never enquired how they have acted. And I feel sure we have always +forgotten one thing, viz. that poor men and women living in Time, and +only having in their power the small bit of it which is present, +cannot be happy unless they make Time present happy. And there is but +one plan for that; I use Aglaia's words: '_To like every thing you do, +and like to be always doing something_.'" + +Ambrosia ceased speaking, and the circled group were silent too. They +were not satisfied, however; but those sweet, airy people take nothing +to heart for long. For a short time they wandered about in little +knots of two and three, talking, and then joined together in a dance +and song, ere night surrounded them. There was from that time, +however, a general understanding among them that the human race was +too coarse and common to have much sympathy with Fairies, and even the +Godmothers agreed to this, for they were sadly tired with the unusual +quantity of thinking and observing they had had to undergo. So if you +ever wonder, dear Readers, that Fairy Gifts and Fairy Godmothers have +gone out of fashion; you may conclude that the adventure of Ambrosia +and Hermione is the reason. + + * * * * * + +The story is ended; and if any enquiring child should say, "There are +no more Fairy gifts, and we can no more give ourselves love of +employment than beauty or riches;" let me correct this dangerous +error! Wiser heads than mine have shown that every thing we do becomes +by HABIT, not only _easy_, but actually _agreeable_.[4] + +[4] Abercrombie. Moral Feelings. + +Dear Children! encourage a habit of _attention_ to whatever you +undertake, and you may make that habit not only easy, but agreeable; +and then, I will venture to promise you, you will _like_ and even +_love_ your occupations. And thus, though you may not have so many +talents as Hermione, you may call all those you do possess, into play, +and make them the solace, pleasure and resources of your earthly +career. + +If you do this, I think you will not feel disposed to quarrel, as the +Fairies did, with Ambrosia's gift; for increased knowledge of the +world, and your own happy experience, will convince you more and more +that no Fairy Gift is so well worth having, as, + +THE LOVE OF EMPLOYMENT. + + + + +JOACHIM THE MIMIC. + + +There was, once upon a time, a little boy, who, living in the time +when Genies and Fairies used now and then to appear, had all the +advantage of occasionally seeing wonderful sights, and all the +_dis_advantage of being occasionally dreadfully frightened. This +little boy was one day walking alone by the sea side, for he lived in +a fishing town, and as he was watching the tide, he perceived a bottle +driven ashore by one of the big waves. He rushed forward to catch it +before the wave sucked it back again, and succeeded. Now then he was +quite delighted, but he could not get the cork out, for it was +fastened down with rosin, and there was a seal on the top. So being +very impatient, he took a stone and knocked the neck of the bottle +off. + +What was his surprize to find himself instantly suffocated with a +smoke that made his eyes smart and his nose sneeze, just as much as if +a quantity of Scotch snuff had been thrown over him! He jumped about +and puffed a good deal, and was just beginning to cry, as a matter of +course for a little boy when he is annoyed; when lo! and behold! he +saw before him such an immense Genie, with black eyes and a long +beard, that he forgot all about crying and began to shake with fear. + +The Genie told him he need not be afraid, and desired him not to +shake; for, said he, "You have been of great use to me; a Genie, +stronger than myself, had fastened me up in yonder bottle in a fit of +ill humour, and as he had put his seal at the top, nobody could draw +the cork. Luckily for me, you broke the neck of the bottle, and I am +free. Tell me therefore, good little boy, what shall I do for you to +show my gratitude?" + +But now, before I go on with this, I must tell you that the day before +the little boy's adventure with the bottle and the Genie, the King of +that country had come to the fishing town I spoke of, in a gold +chariot drawn by twelve beautiful jet black horses, and attended by a +large train of officers and followers. A herald went before announcing +that the King was visiting the towns of his dominions, for the sole +purpose of doing justice and exercising acts of charity and kindness. +And all people in trouble and distress were invited to come and lay +their complaints before him. And accordingly they did so, and the good +King, though quite a youth, devoted the whole day to the benevolent +purpose he proposed; and it is impossible to describe the amount of +good he accomplished in that short time. Among others who benefited +was our little boy's Mother, a widow who had been much injured and +oppressed. He redressed her grievances, and in addition to this, +bestowed valuable and useful presents upon her. "Look what an example +the young King sets," was the cry on every side! "Oh, my son, imitate +him!" exclaimed our poor Widow, as in a transport of joy and emotion, +she threw her arms around her boy's neck. "I wish I _could_ imitate +him and be like him!" murmured little Joachim: (such was the child's +name). "My boy," cried the Widow, "imitate every thing that is good, +and noble, and virtuous, and you _will_ be like him!" Joachim looked +earnestly in her face, but was silent. He understood a good deal that +his Mother meant; he knew he was to try to do every thing that was +good, and so be like the young King; but, as he was but a little boy, +I am not quite sure that he had not got a sort of vague notion of the +gold chariot and the twelve jet black horses, mixed up with his idea +of imitating all that was good and noble and virtuous, and being like +the young King. I may be wrong; but, at seven years old, you will +excuse him if his head did get a little confused, and if he could not +quite separate his ideas of excessive virtue and goodness from all the +splendour in which the pattern he was to imitate appeared before his +eyes. + +However that may be, his Mother's words made a profound impression +upon him. He thought of nothing else, and if he had been in the silly +habit of telling his dreams, I dare say he would have told his mother +next morning that he had been dreaming of them. Certainly they came +into his head the first thing in the morning; and they were still in +his head when he walked along by the sea-shore, as has been described; +so much so, that even his adventure did not make him forget them; and +therefore, when this Genie, as I told you before, offered to do any +thing he wanted, little Joachim said, "Genie, I want to imitate every +thing that is good, and noble, and virtuous, so you must make me +able!" + +The Genie looked very much surprized, and rather confused; he expected +to have been asked for toys, or money, or a new horse, or something +nice of that sort; but Joachim looked very grave, so the Genie saw he +was in earnest, and he did a most wonderful thing for a Genie; he +actually sat down beside the little boy to talk to him. I don't +recollect that a single Genie in the Arabian Nights, ever did such a +thing before; but this Genie did: What is more, he stroked his beard, +and spoke very softly, as follows: + +"My dear little boy, you have asked a great thing. I can do part of +what you wish, but not all; for you have asked what concerns the heart +and conscience, and we Genies, cannot influence these, for the great +Ruler of all things alone has them under his control. He allows us, +however, power over the intellect--ah! now I see you cannot understand +me, little boy!--Well! I mean this;--I can make your head clever, but +I cannot make your heart good: I can give you the power of imitation, +but as to _what_ you imitate, that must depend upon yourself, and the +great Being I dare not name!" + +After saying this, the Genie laid his immense forefingers on each side +of Joachim's head just above his forehead, and then disappeared. + +Joachim felt no pain, but when he got up and put on his cap to go +home, his head seemed almost too large for it. + +Perhaps he wanted a new cap, but the phrenologists would tell you he +had got the organ of Imitation. + +He did not thoroughly understand what the Genie said, but he was +convinced that something had been done towards making him like to the +young King. As he was dawdling home, his eye was struck by the sight +of a beautiful because picturesque dark fishing-boat, which he saw +very plainly, because the red sun was setting behind it. Joachim felt +a strange wish to make something like it; and, taking up a bit of +white chalk he saw at his feet, he drew a picture of the boat on the +tarred side of another that was near him. While he was so engaged, an +old fisherman came up very angrily. He thought the child was +disfiguring his boat; but, to his surprise, he saw that the little +fellow's drawing was so capital, he wished he could do as much +himself. + +"Why, who taught you to do that, young Master?" said he. + +Joachim was no great talker at any time, and he now merely said, +"Nobody," and smiled. + +"Well, you must draw my boat some day, for me to hang up; and now +here's a luck penny for you, for you certainly are a capital hand for +such a youngster." + +Joachim was greatly pleased with the penny, for it was a curious old +one, with a hole through it; and he told his Mother all about it; but +though it may seem strange, he never mentioned the bottle and the +Genie to her at all. That appeared to him to be a quite private affair +of his own. + +He altered very much, however, by degrees. He had been till then +rather a dull, silent boy: now he talked much more, was more amusing, +was always endeavouring to draw, and after being at church would try +to read the prayers like the parson. His Mother was delighted. She +began to think her son would grow up a good scholar after all, and +being now well off, owing to the King's kindness, she resolved on +sending little Joachim to school. + +To school, accordingly, he went; and here, my little readers, there +was a great change for him. Hitherto he had lived very much alone with +his Mother, and being quiet, and somewhat dull by nature, he had never +till quite lately had many acquaintances of his own age. + +Now, however, he found himself among great numbers of youths, of all +ages, and all characters. At first he was shy and observant, but this +soon wore off, and he became a favourite. Nobody was more liked at any +time, and he was completely unrivalled in the play-ground. He could +set all the boys in a roar of laughter, when, hid behind a bush, he +would bark so like a dog that the unhappy wights who were not in the +secret expected to see a vicious hound spring out upon them, and took +to their heels in fright. He was first in every attempt at acting, +which the boys got up; and there was not a cat nor a pig in the +neighbourhood whose mew and squeak he could not give with the utmost +exactness. If you ask how he got on at lessons, I must say--well, but +not _very_ well. His powers of entertaining his companions were so +great, that I fear he found their easily-acquired praise more tempting +than the rewards of laborious learning. He could learn easily enough, +it is true; but while his steadier neighbours were working hard, he +was devising some new scheme for fun when lessons should be over, or +making some odd drawing on his slate to induce his companions to an +outburst of laughter. + +There were many excuses to be made for little Joachim; and it is +always so pleasant to please, that I do not much wonder at his being +led astray by possessing the power. + +Time went on, meanwhile; and Joachim became aware at last that he +possessed a larger share than common of the power of imitation. When +he first clearly felt this, he thought of the Genie and his two +forefingers, I believe;--but his school life, and his funny ways, and +the constant diversion of his mind, quite prevented his thinking of +all the serious things the Genie had spoken. Nay, even his Mother's +words had nearly faded from his mind, and he had forgotten the young +King, and his own wishes to be like him. It was a pity it was so; but +so it was! Poor Joachim! he was a very good fellow, and kind also in +reality; but first the pleasure of making his companions laugh, and +then the pleasure of being a sort of little great man among them, were +fast misleading him. For instance, though at first he amused them by +imitating dogs, and cats, and pigs, he next tried his powers at +imitating any thing queer and odd in the boys themselves, and, for a +time, this was most entertaining. When he mimicked the awkward walk of +one boy, and the bad drawl of another, and the loutish carriage of a +third, the school resounded with shouts of laughter, which seemed to +our Hero a great triumph,--something like the cheers which had greeted +the good young King as he left the fishing-town. But certainly the +cause was a very different one! By degrees, however, it must be +admitted, that Joachim's popularity began a little to decrease; for, +though a boy has no objection to see his neighbour laughed at, he does +not like quite so well to be laughed at himself, and there are very +few who can bear it with good humour. And now Joachim had given such +way to the pastime, that he was always hunting up absurdities in his +friends and neighbours, and _no one felt safe_. + +It was a long time before Joachim found out the change that was taking +place, for there were still plenty of loud laughers on his side; but +once or twice he had a feeling that all was not right: for instance, +one day when he mimicked the awkward walker to the boy who spoke badly +and stuttered, and then in the afternoon imitated the stutterer to the +awkward boy, he had a twinge of conscience, for it whispered to him +that he was a sneak, and deceitful; particularly, as both these boys +had often helped him in doing his sums and lessons when he was too +idle and _too funny_ to labour at them himself. In fact, he had been +so much helped that he was sadly behind hand in his books, for all the +school had been willing to assist "that good fellow '_Joke him_,'" as +they called him. + +At last a crisis came. A new boy arrived at the school; very big for +his age, and rather surly tempered, but a hard working, persevering +lad, who was striving hard to learn and get on. He had one defect. He +lisped very much, which certainly is an ugly trick, and sounded silly +in a great stout boy, nearly five feet high: but he had this excuse; +--his mother had died when he was very little, and his good Father had +more important business on hand in supporting his family, of which +this boy was the eldest, than in teaching him to pronounce his S's +better. It is perhaps only Mothers who attend to these little matters. +Well;--this great big boy was two or three days at the school before +Joachim went near him. There was something serious, stern, and unfunny +in his face, and when Joachim was making the other boys laugh, the +great big boy never even smiled, but fixed his eyes in a rather +unpleasant manner upon Joachim as he raised them from his books. Still +he was an irresistible subject for the Mimic; for, though he learnt +his lessons without a mistake, and always obtained the Master's +praise, he read them with so strong a lisp, and this was rendered so +remarkable by his loud, deep voice, that it fairly upset what little +prudence Joachim possessed; and, as he returned one day to his seat, +after repeating a copy of verses in the manner I have described, +Joachim, who was not far off, echoed the last two lines with such +accuracy of imitation, that it startled even the Master, who was at +that moment leaving the school-room. + +But no laugh followed as usual, for all eyes were suddenly turned on +the big boy, who, crimson with indignation, and yet quite +self-possessed in manner, walked up to Joachim and deliberately +knocked him down on the floor. Great was Joachim's amazement, you may +be sure, and severe was the blow that had levelled him; but still more +severe were the words that followed. "Young rascal," exclaimed the big +boy, "who has put _you_ in authority over your elders, that you are to +be correcting our faults and failings, instead of attending to your +own. You are beholden to any lad in the school who will do your sums, +and write your exercises for you, and then you take upon yourself to +ridicule us if we cannot pronounce our well learnt lessons to your +fancy! You saucy imp, who don't know what labour and good conduct are, +and who have nothing to boast of, but the powers which a monkey +possesses to a greater extent than yourself!" Fancy Joachim's rage! +_He_, the admired wit! the popular boy! nothing better than a monkey! +He sprang up and struck his fist into the face of his antagonist with +such fury, that the big boy, though evidently unwilling to fight one +less than himself, was obliged to bestow several sharp blows before he +could rid himself of Joachim's passion. + +At last, however, other boys separated them; but Joachim, who was +quite unused to fighting, and who had received a very severe shock +when he first fell, became so sick and ill that he was obliged to go +home. His Mother asked what was the matter. "He had been quizzing a +great big boy who lisped, and the boy knocked him down, and they had +fought." His Mother sighed; but she saw he was too poorly for talking, +so she put him to bed and nursed him carefully. + +Now, you may say, what had this Mother been about, not to have found +out and corrected Joachim's fault before? First, he was very little at +home, and as owing to the help of others, his idleness had not become +notorious, she had heard no complaints from the Masters, and thinking +he did his lessons well, she felt averse to stopping his fun and +amusements in holiday hours. Still, she had latterly begun to have +misgivings which this event confirmed. In a few days Joachim was +better, and came down stairs, and his Aunt and two or three Cousins +called to enquire after him. Their presence revived Joachim's flagging +spirits, and all the boys got together to talk and laugh. Soon their +voices echoed through the house. Joachim was at his old tricks again, +and the Schoolboys, the Ushers and the Master all furnished food for +mirth. His Cousins roared with delight. "Clever child!" exclaimed his +Aunt, "what a treasure you are in a house! one could never be dull +where _you_ are!" "Sister, Sister!" cried Joachim's Mother, "do not +say so!" "My dear," said the Aunt, "are you dull enough to be unable +to appreciate your own child's wit; oh, I wish you would give him to +me. Come here, my dear Joachim, and do the boy that walks so badly +once more for me; it's enough to kill one to see you take him off!" +Joachim's spirits rose above all control. Excited by his Aunt's +praise and the sense of superior ability, he surpassed himself. He +gave the bad walker to perfection; then imitated a lad who had +commenced singing lessons, and whose voice was at present broken and +bad. He even gave the big boy's lisp once more, and followed on with a +series of pantomimic exhibitions. + +All at once, he cast his eyes on his Mother's face--that face so full +of intelligence and the mild sorrow of years of widowhood, borne with +resigned patience. Her eyes were full of tears, and there was not a +smile on her countenance. Joachim's conscience--he knew not +why--twinged him terribly. He stopped suddenly; "Mother!" + +"Come here, Joachim!" He came. + +"Is that boy whom you have been imitating--your Aunt says so +cleverly--the _best_ walker of all the boys in your school?" + +"The _best_, Mother?" and the puzzled Joachim could not suppress a +smile. His Cousins grinned. + +"Dear Mother, of course not," continued Joachim, "on the contrary, he +is the very worst!" + +"Oh--well, have you no _good_ walkers at your school?" + +"Oh yes, several; indeed one especially; his father was a soldier, he +walks beautifully." + +"Does he, Joachim? Let me see you walk like him, my dear." + +Joachim stepped boldly enough into the middle of the room, and drew +himself up; but a sudden consciousness of his extreme inferiority to +the soldier's son, both in figure, manner and mode of walking, made +him feel quite sheepish. There was a pause of expectation. + +"Now then!" said Joachim's Mother. + +"I cannot walk like _him_, Mother," said Joachim. + +"Why not?" + +"Because he walks so _very well_!" + +"Oh,"--said Joachim's Mother. + +There was another pause. + +"Come, Joachim," continued the Widow, "I am very anxious to admire you +as much as your Aunt does. You are not tired; let us have some more +exhibitions. You gave us a song just now horribly out of tune, and +with the screeching voice of a bagpipe." + +"I was singing like Tom Smith," interrupted Joachim. + +"Is he your best singer?" enquired the Mother. Another laugh followed. + +"Nay, Mother, no one sings so badly." + +"Indeed! How does the Singing Master sing, Joachim?" + +"Oh, Mother," cried Joachim, "so beautifully, it would make the tears +come into your eyes with pleasure, to listen to him." + +"Well, but as I cannot listen to him, let me, at all events, have the +pleasure of hearing my clever son imitate him," was the reply. + +Joachim was mute. He had a voice, though not a remarkable one, but he +had shirked the labour of trying to improve it by practice. He made +one effort to sing like the Master, but overpowered by a sense of +incapacity, his voice failed, and he felt disposed to cry. + +"Why, Joachim, I thought you were such a clever creature you could +imitate any thing," cried the Mother. + +No answer fell from the abashed boy, till a sudden thought revived +him. + +"But I _can_ imitate the singing-master, Mother." + +"Let me hear you, my dear child." + +"Why it isn't exactly what you can hear," observed Joachim +murmuringly; "but when he sings, you have no idea what horrible faces +he makes. Nay, it's true, indeed, he turns up his eyes, shuts them, +distorts his mouth, and swings about on the stool like the pendulum of +a clock!" + +And Joachim performed all the grimaces and contortions to perfection, +till his Aunt and Cousins were convulsed with laughter. + +"Well done," cried his Mother. "Now you are indeed like the cat in the +German fable, Joachim! who voted himself like the bear, because he +could lick his paws after the same fashion, though he could not +imitate either his courage or his strength. Now let me look a little +further into your education. Bring me your drawing-book." It came, and +there was page after page of odd and ugly faces, strange noses, +stranger eyes, squinting out of the book in hideous array. + +"I suppose you will laugh again if I ask you if these are the +_beauties_ of your school, Joachim;--but tell me seriously, are there +no good, pleasant, or handsome faces among your schoolfellows?" + +"Plenty, Mother; one or two the Master calls models, and who often sit +to him to be drawn from." + +"Draw one of those faces for me, my dear; I am fond of beauty." And +the Mother placed the book in his hands, pointing to a blank page. + +Joachim took a pencil, and sat down. _Now_ he thought he should be +able to please his Mother; but, alas, he found to his surprise, that +the fine faces he tried to recall had not left that vivid impression +on his brain which enabled him to represent them. On the contrary, he +was tormented and baffled by visions of the odd forms and grotesque +countenances he had so often pictured. He seized the Indian-rubber and +rubbed out nose after nose to no purpose, for he never could replace +them with a better. Drawing was his favourite amusement; and this +disappointment, where he expected success, broke down his already +depressed heart. He threw the book from him, and burst into a flood of +tears. + +"Joachim! have you drawn him? What makes you cry?" + +"I cannot draw him, Mother," sobbed the distressed boy. + +"And why not? Just look here; here is an admirable likeness of +squinting Joe, as you have named him. Why cannot you draw the handsome +boy?" + +"Because his face is so handsome!" answered Joachim, still sobbing. + +"My son," said his Mother gravely, "you have now a sad lesson to +learn, but a necessary and a wholesome one. Get up, desist from +crying, and listen to me." + +Poor Joachim, who loved his mother dearly, obeyed. + +"Joachim! your Aunt, and your Cousins, and your schoolfellows have all +called you clever. In what does your cleverness consist? I will tell +you. In the Reproduction of Deformity, Defects, Failings, and +Misfortunes of every sort, that fall under your observation. A worthy +employment truly! A noble ambition! But I will now tell you the truth +about yourself. You never heard it before, and I feel sure you will +benefit now. A good or an evil Genie, I know not which, has bestowed +upon you a great power; and you have misused it. Do you know what that +power is?" + +Joachim shook his head, though he trembled all over, for he felt as if +awaking from along dream, to the recollection of the Genie. + +"It is the power of Imitation, Joachim; I call it a great power, for +it is essential to many great and useful things. It is essential to +the orator, the linguist, the artist, and the musician. Nature herself +teaches us the charm of _imitation_, when in the smooth and clear lake +you see the lovely landscape around mirrored and _repeated_.[5] What a +lesson may we not read in this sight! The commonest pond even that +reflects the foliage of the tree that hangs over it, is calling out to +us to reproduce for the solace and ornament of life, the beautiful +works of God. But oh, my son, my dear son, you have abused this gift +of Imitation, which might be such a blessing and pleasure to you." + +[5] Schiller.--"Der Kuenstler." + +"You might, if you chose, _imitate every thing that is good, and +noble, and virtuous, and beautiful_; and you are, instead of that, +reproducing every aspect of deformity that crosses your path, until +your brain is so stamped with images of defects, ugliness, and +uncouthness, that your hand and head refuse their office, when I call +upon you to reproduce the beauties with which the world is graced." + +I doubt if Joachim heard the latter part of his Mother's speech. At +the recurrence to the old sentence, a gleam of lightning seemed to +shoot across his brain. Latent memories were aroused as keenly as if +the events had but just occurred, and he sank at his Mother's feet. + +When she ceased to speak, he arose. + +"Mother," said he, "I have been living in a cloud. I have been very +wrong. Besides which, I have a secret to tell you. Nay, my Aunt may +hear. It has been a secret, and then it has been forgotten; but now I +remember all, and understand far more than I once did." + +Here Joachim recounted to his Mother the whole story of her words to +him, and his adventure with the Genie and the bottle; and then, very +slowly, and interrupted by many tears of repentance, he repeated what +the Genie had said about giving him _the power_ of imitation, adding +that the use he made of it must depend on himself and the great Ruler +of the heart and conscience. + +There was a great fuss among the Cousins at the notion of Joachim +having talked to a Genie; and, to tell you the truth, this was all +they thought about, and soon after took their leave. The heart of +Joachim's Mother was at rest, however: for though she knew how hard +her son would find it to alter what had become a habit of life, she +knew that he was a good and pious boy, and she saw that he was fully +alive to his error. + +"Oh Mother," said he, during the course of that evening, "how plain I +see it all now! The boy that stutters is a model of obedience and +tenderness; I ought to have dwelt upon and imitated that, and, oh! I +thought only of his stuttering. The boy that walks so clumsily, as +well as the great fellow that lisps, are such industrious lads, and so +advanced in learning, that the master thinks both will be +distinguished hereafter; and I, who--(oh, my poor mother, I must +confess to you)--hated to labour at any thing, and have got the boys +to do my lessons for me;--I, instead of imitating their industry, lost +all my time in ridiculing their defects.--What shall--what shall I +do!" + +The next morning poor Joachim said his prayers more humbly than he had +ever before done in his life; and, kissing his mother, went to school. +The first thing he did on arriving was to go up to the big boy, who +had beaten him, and beg him to shake hands. + +The big boy was pleased, and a grim smile lightened up his face. "But, +old fellow," said he, laying his hand on Joachim's shoulder, "take a +friend's advice. There is good in all of us, depend upon it. Look out +for all that's good, and let the bad points take care of themselves. +_You_ won't get any handsomer, by squinting like poor Joe; nor speak +any pleasanter for lisping like me; nor walk any better for apeing +hobbling. But the ugliest of us have some good about us. Look out for +_that_, my little lad; I do, or I should not be talking to you! I see +that you are honest and forgiving, though you _are_ a monkey! There +now, I must go on with my lessons! You do yours!" + +Never was better advice given, and Joachim took it well, and bore it +bravely; but, oh, how hard it was to his mind, accustomed for so long +to wander away and seek amusement at wrong times, to settle down +resolutely and laboriously to study. He made a strong effort, however; +and though he had often to recall his thoughts, he in a measure +succeeded. + +After school-hours he begged the big boy to come and sit by him, and +then he requested his old friends and companions to listen to a story +he had to tell them. They expected something funny, and many a broad +grin was seen; but poor Joachim's eyes were yet red with weeping, and +his gay voice was so subdued, the party soon became grave and +wondering, and then Joachim told them every thing. They were delighted +to hear about the Genie, and were also pleased to find themselves safe +from Joachim's ridicule. It could not be expected they should all +understand the story, but the big boy did, and became Joachim's +greatest friend and adviser. + +That evening our little friend, exhausted with the efforts and +excitement of his almost first day of repentance, strolled out in a +somewhat pensive mood to his favourite haunt, the sea shore. A stormy +sunset greeted his arrival on the beach, but the tide was ebbing, and +he wandered on till he reached some caverns among the cliffs. And +there, as had often been his wont, he sat down to gaze out upon the +waste of waters safe and protected from harm. It is very probable that +he fell asleep--but the point could never be clearly known, for he +always said it was no sleep and no dream he had then, but that, whilst +sitting in the inmost recesses of the cave, he saw once more his old +friend the Genie, who after reproaching him with the bad use he had +made of his precious gift, gave him a world of good advice and +instruction. + +There is no doubt that after that time, Joachim was seen daily +struggling against his bad habits; and that by degrees he became able +to exercise his mind in following after the good and beautiful instead +of after the bad and ugly. It was a hard task to him for many a long +day to fix his flighty thoughts down to the business in hand, and to +dismiss from before his eyes the ridiculous images that often +presented themselves. But his Mother's wishes, or the Genie's advice, +or something better still, prevailed. And you cannot think, of what +wonderful use the Genie's gift was to him then. Once turned in a right +direction and towards worthy objects, he found it like a sort of +friend at his right hand, helping him forward in some of the most +interesting pursuits of life. Ah! all the energy he had once bestowed +on imitating lisps and stuttering, was now engaged in catching the +sounds of foreign tongues, and thus taking one step towards the +citizenship of the world. And instead of wasting time in gazing at the +singing master's face, that he might ape its unnatural distortions--it +was now the sweet tones of skilful harmony to which he bent his +attention, and which he strove, and not in vain, to reproduce. + +The portfolio which he brought home to his Mother at the end of +another half-year, was crowded with laborious and careful copies from +the best models of beauty and grace. And not with those only, for many +a face could be found on its pages in which the Mother recognized some +of her son's old companions. Portraits, not of the mere formation of +mouths and noses, which in so many cases, viewed merely as forms, are +defective and unattractive, but portraits of the same faces, upon +which the character of the inward mind and heart was so stamped that +it threw the mere shape of the features far into the background. + +Thus with the pursuit of his favourite art, Joachim combined "that +most excellent gift of charity;" for it was now his pride and pleasure +to make the charm of expression from "_the good points_" his old +friend had talked about, triumph over any physical defects. The very +spirit and soul of the best sort of portrait painting. And here, my +dear young readers, I would fain call your attention to the fact of +how one right habit produces another. The more Joachim laboured over +seizing the good expression of the faces he drew from, the more he was +led to seek after and find out the good points themselves whence the +expression arose; and thus at last it became a _Habit_ with him to try +and discover every thing that was excellent and commendable in the +characters of those he met; a very different plan from that pursued by +many of us, who in our intercourse with each other, are but too apt to +fasten with eagle-eye accuracy on failings and faults. Which is a very +grave error, and a very misleading one, for if it does nothing else, +it deprives us of all the good we should get by a daily habit of +contemplating what is worthy our regard and remembrance. And so +strongly did Joachim's mother feel this, and so earnestly did she wish +her son to understand that a power which seems bestowed for worldly +ends, may be turned to spiritual advantage also, that when his +birthday came round she presented to him among other gifts, a little +book, called "The Imitation of Jesus Christ." It was the work of an +old fellow called Thomas a Kempis, and though more practical books of +piety have since been written, the idea contained in the title +suggests a great lesson, and held up before Joachim's eyes, Him whom +one of our own divines has since called "The Great Exemplar." + +This part of our little hero's 'Lesson of Life,' we can all take to +ourselves, and go and do likewise. And so I hope his story may be +profitable, though we have not all of us a large Genie-gift of +Imitation as he had. With him the excess of this power took a very +natural turn, for though he possessed through its aid, considerable +facilities for music and the study of languages also, the course of +events led him irresistibly to what is usually called "the fine arts." +And if the old dream of the royal chariot and the twelve jet black +horses was never realized to him, a higher happiness by far was his, +when some years after, he and his Mother stood in the council house of +his native town; she looking up with affectionate pride while he +showed her a portrait of the good young King which had a few hours +before been hung up upon its walls. It was the work of Joachim +himself. + + + + +DARKNESS AND LIGHT. + +_The darkness and the light to Thee are both alike_. + + +Far away to the west, on the borders of the Sea, there lived a lady +and gentleman in a beautiful old house built something like a castle. +They had several children, nice little boys and girls, who were far +fonder of their Sea Castle, as they called it, than of a very pleasant +house which they had in a great town at some distance off. Still they +used to go and be very merry in the Town House in the winter time when +the hail and snow fell, and the winds blew so cold that nobody could +bear to walk out by the wild sea shore. + +But in summer weather the case was quite altered. Indeed, as soon as +ever the sun began to get a little power, and to warm the panes of +glass in the nursery windows of the Town House, there was a hue and +cry among all the children to be off to their Sea Castle home, and +many a time had Papa and Mamma to send them angrily out of the room, +because they would do nothing but beg to "set off directly." They were +always "sure that the weather was getting quite hot," and "it _must_ +be summer, for they heard the sparrows chirping every morning the +first thing," and they "thought they had seen a swallow," and "the +windows got so warm with the sunshine, Nurse declared they were enough +to burn one's fingers:" and so the poor little things teazed +themselves and everybody else, every year, in their hurry to get back +to their western home. But I dare say you have heard the old proverb, +"One swallow does not make a summer;" and so it was proved very often +to our friends. For the Spring season is so changeable, there are +often some soft mild days, and then a cruel frost comes again, and +perhaps snow as well; and people who have boasted about fine weather +and put off their winter clothes, look very foolish. + +Still Time passes on; and when May was half over, the Town House used +to echo with shouts of noisy delight, and boxes were banged down in +the passages, and there was a great calling out for cords, and much +scolding about broken keys and padlocks, and the poor Carpenter who +came to mend the trunks and find new keys to old locks, was at his +wits' end and his patience' end too. + +But at last the time came when all this bustle was succeeded by +silence in the Town House, for carriages had rolled away with the +happy party, and nobody was left behind but two or three women +servants to clean out the deserted rooms. + +And now then, my little readers, who are, I hope, wondering what is +coming next, you must fancy to yourselves the old Sea Castle Home. It +had two large turrets; and winding staircases led from the passages +and kitchens underneath the sitting rooms, up to the top of the +turrets, and so out upon the leads of the house, from which there was +the most beautiful view of the Ocean you ever saw; and, as the top of +the house was battlemented, like the top of your church tower, people +could walk about quite safely and comfortably, without any fear of +falling over. Then, though it is a very unusual thing near the Sea, +there were delightful gardens at the place, and a few very fine old +elm trees near the house, in which a party of rooks built their nests +every year; and the children had gardens of their own, in which they +could dig up their flowers to see if the roots were growing, to their +heart's content, and perform other equally ingenious feats, such as +watering a plant two or three times a day, or after a shower of rain, +and then wondering that, with such tender care, the poor thing should +rot away and die. + +But I almost think the children liked the sands on the shore as well +as the gardens, though they loved both. Not that there was any +amusement astir by the water side there, as you have seen in other +places where there are boats and fishermen and nets, and great coils +of ropes, and an endless variety of entertaining sights connected with +the seafaring business going on. Nay, in some places where there is +not a very good shore for landing, it is an amusement of itself to see +each boat or fishing yawl come in. There is such a contrast between +the dark tarred wood and the white surf that dashes up all round it; +and the fishermen are so clever in watching the favourable moment for +a wave to carry them over their difficulties; that I think this is one +of the prettiest sights one can see. But no such thing was ever seen +on the shore by the old Sea Castle, for there was no fishing there. +People thought the sea was too rough and the landing too difficult, +and so no fishing village had ever been built, and no boats ever +attempted to come within many miles of the place. + +Nobody cared to ask further, or try to account for the wildness of the +sea on that coast; but I can tell you all about it, although it must +be in a sort of half whisper--_The place was on the borders of Fairy +Land!_ that is to say, many many unknown numbers of miles out at sea, +right opposite to the Castle, there was a Fairy Island, and it was the +Fairies who kept the sea so rough all round them, for fear some +adventurous sailor should approach the island, or get near enough to +fish up some of the pearls and precious stones they kept in a crystal +palace underneath the water. + +So now you know the reason why the sea was so rough, and there was no +fishing going on at the Sea Castle Home. + +If you want to know whether any body ever saw the Fairy Island, I must +say, yes; but very seldom. And never but in the evening when the sun +was setting, and that under particular circumstances--namely, when he +went down into a dark red bank of clouds, or when there was a lurid +crimson hue over the sky just above the horizon. Then occasionally you +might see the dim hazy outline as of a beautiful mountainous island +against the clouds, or the deep-coloured sky. There is an island +sometimes seen from our western coast, under similar circumstances, +but which you strain your eyes in vain to discern by the brighter +light of day.[6] + +[6] Isle of Man from Blackpool. + +It is a very ticklish thing to live on the borders of Fairy Land; for +though you cannot get to the Fairies, they can get to you, and it is +not altogether a pleasant thing to have your private affairs overseen +and interfered with by such beings as they are, though sometimes it +may be most useful and agreeable. Besides which, there was a +Fairy-secret connected with the family that lived at the Sea Castle. +An Ancestress of the present Mistress had been a Fairy herself, and +though she had accommodated herself to mortal manners, and lived with +her husband quite quietly as well as happily, and so her origin had +been in a great measure forgotten, it was not unknown to her +descendant, the Lady Madeline, who now lived in the place. And, in +fact, soon after Lady Madeline first came there, a Fairy named Eudora +had appeared to her, declaring herself to be a sort of distant cousin, +and offering and promising friendship and assistance, whenever asked +or even wished for. In return, she only begged to be allowed to visit, +and ramble at will about the old place which she had known for so many +many long years, and had once had the unlimited run of; and she +protested with tears that the family should never in any way be +disturbed by her. Lady Madeline could not well refuse the request, but +I cannot say she gave her fairy acquaintance any encouragement; and so +poor Eudora never showed herself to them again. And Madeline never +thought much about her, except now and then accidentally, when, if +they were walking on the sands, some extraordinarily rare and +beautiful shells would be thrown ashore by a wave at the children's +feet, as if tossed up especially for their amusement. And it was only +in some such kind little way as this they were ever reminded of the +Fairy's existence. + +Lady Madeline's eldest son, Roderick, always seemed most favoured by +the Fairy in the pretty things she sent ashore, and certainly he was a +very nice boy, and a very good one on the whole--cheerful and honest +as the daylight, and very intelligent; but I cannot tell you, dear +readers, that he had _no_ faults, for that was not at all likely, and +you would not believe it if I said so, even although he is to be the +Hero of my tale. + +Now I do not want to make you laugh at him, but the story requires +that I should reveal to you one of his weak points. Well then, +although he was six years old, he was afraid of being alone in the +dark! Sometimes when he was in the large dining room with his Father +and Mother at dinner time, she would perhaps ask him to fetch +something for her from the drawing room which was close by; but, do +you know, if there were no candles in the room, he would look very +silly and refuse to go, even though there were a fire sufficient to +see by. He was too honest to make any false excuses, so he used just +to say that the room was so dark he could not go! + +Poor Madeline was very sorry, for she wanted her little boy to be +brave, but somehow or other he had got very silly about his fears of +being in the dark, and she could not succeed in curing him of his +folly. + +"My dear Roderick," she would say sometimes, "if I send in some +candles, will you go into the drawing room?" + +"O yes, Mamma." + +"Then do you really mean to say you think _the Candles take care of +you_?" + +"No, Mamma." + +"Then why won't you go into the room without; you know there is a +fire? + +"Because it is so dark, Mamma." + +Here was a difficulty indeed; for you see he _would_ come back to the +old point, and would not listen to reason. + +One day some conversation of this sort having passed between them, +Madeline, as she was wont to do, asked him if God could not take care +of him by night as well as by day; in the dark as well as in light, +for "the darkness and light are both alike to him." + +"Oh yes," cried poor Roderick, with great animation, "and I can tell +you a story about that. There was, once upon a time, a little Boy and +a Nurse who went out walking, and they walked so long they got +benighted in a very dark wood, and because it was so dark the Nurse +screamed and was very much frightened; and the little boy said, +'Nurse, why are you frightened? Don't be frightened; I am not +frightened. God can take care of us in the dark as well as in the +light,'" + +"Oh Roderick! what a pretty story," cried his Mamma. + +And so thought Roderick; for his eye glistened and his cheek flushed +as he came to the conclusion. + +And here, dear readers, was the worst difficulty of all; for though +Roderick's reason was quite convinced that God could take care of him +in the dark, he still could not bear to be in the dark without the +help of candles besides, though he quite knew they could not take care +of him at all. So you see by this that Reason, though it may convince +a person he is wrong, cannot put him right. There wants some other +help for that. And here let me just stop a moment to beg you to beware +of _bad habits_; for you see they become at last more powerful than +reason itself. + +I do not know how Roderick first got into his foolish habit, and it +does not much matter. I know he at one time had a fancy there was +something unpleasant about the pipes that carried the water about the +house, and he would not for a long time go by the pipes alone. Now, +how you laugh! well, but he got out of that nonsense; and I hope to be +able to tell you that he got out of the other too: but at the time I +speak of, he made his Mamma full of sorrow for his want of sense and +courage. + +It must be admitted that there were one or two excuses to be made for +the child. There was a great contrast between the Town House and the +Sea Castle. The Town House was full of lights. All the sitting rooms +were generally lighted, for a great deal of company came there, and +there were always lights along the passages; and the nursery windows +looked into a square, and the square was lighted up by lamps every +night; and it was one of Roderick's greatest pleasures to watch the +lamplighter running quickly up the tall ladder to the lamps to light +them, and then popping down again equally hurriedly, and running along +(ladder and all) to the next lamp post, and so on, till the square was +brilliant all round; and very often, as Roderick lay in his little bed +watching the glimmering thrown by these pretty lamps on the nursery +wall, he used to think and think of his friend the nimble lamplighter, +till he dropped fast asleep. You see, therefore, he had very little to +try his courage in the Town House, and there was seldom or never any +fuss about his fears till the move to the Sea Castle took place; and +then there were no more lamps and lamplighters, and no more +comfortable glimmerings from his bright pets the lamps after he went +to bed; and he used to get silly directly, and declare that he saw +bears whenever he shut his eyes; and he seemed to expect to find lions +and tigers under the sofas, by the fuss he made when he was asked to +go into the rooms. Certainly there was a grand old fashioned lamp in +the hall of the Sea Castle; but the hall itself was so big, and went +up so high, that the light in one part only seemed to make the shadow +and darkness of the other part look blacker still; so that I must +confess there was something gloomy about the house. Then, too, there +were those two turrets with the winding staircases, and as Roderick +had never dared to do any thing more than peep in at the low entrance +doors below, where he saw nothing but four or five steps going up into +complete blackness, he had got a sort of notion there must be +something horrid about them. + +Well; it was soon after this little boy's sixth birthday, that the +family arrived at the Sea-Castle, and it so happened, that, on the day +after their arrival, there was some very stormy and dismal weather. +The wind howled very loudly, and there was a good deal of rain; and +Lady Madeline wished they had waited a week or two longer. The sky was +so charged and heavy, too, that they found the house very dark, even +by day-light; and Roderick, who was a little tired with his journey +the day before, began to fancy all kinds of nonsense; talked more +about seeing bears than ever; and finally cried tremendously at going +to bed, declaring he was sure there was a tiger in the coal-pan. Now +you know, my dears, this was a bit of great nonsense; for Roderick +knew quite well that there are no wild beasts in England but what are +kept in very strong cages; and that the men who take wild-beast shows +round the country can by no means afford to let their tigers sleep in +nursery coal-pans! + +Poor Madeline never liked to see any of her children go to bed in +tears. And Roderick was so gay and merry generally, it seemed quite +unnatural in him; but though at last he left off crying, she could not +persuade him to be cheerful, and smile; for he declared that as soon +as ever she took her candle away, he could not help seeing those +unlucky bears. Was there ever any thing so silly before! She reasoned +with him, but to no purpose. He always said he quite believed in God's +presence, and His being able to take care of him; but, as I said +before, his bad habit had got the better of his good sense, and he +finished off every thing that could be said, by seeing bears, and +dreading a tiger in the coal-pan. + +"What are we to do with that child?" cried Madeline to her husband, as +they were going to bed. "He is beginning as foolishly as ever this +year, in spite of being a year older. I really shall at last be +inclined to think that in spite of all her fair promises of friendship +and assistance, and of never injuring the family, the Fairy Eudora +must secretly frighten the child in some way we don't know of." + +"No such thing, my dear Madeline; I cannot for a moment believe it;" +said her husband. "I have a better opinion of your relations, the +Fairies, than you have yourself. I am sure Eudora would not break her +word for the world; and there is no mystery about Roderick's folly. He +is full of fancies of all sorts,--some pretty, and some silly ones; +and we must do every thing we can to cure him of the silly ones. It +certainly is a very hard matter to accomplish, for I perceive he +admits the truth of every thing you say, and yet is as silly as ever +at the end. I heartily wish the Fairy Eudora _would_ interfere to cure +him of his nonsense!" + +"And so do I, if she could, and would," sighed Madeline; "but she has +quite deserted us. Besides, if she were to come, I don't see how she +could possibly do any good. Fairies cannot change little boys' hearts; +and I must confess I never yet got any good myself from having a Fairy +ancestress, and I have no confidence in them.--Still," pursued the +good lady, as she laid her head on her pillow, "I am not able, it +appears, to convince Roderick myself; and therefore I feel, with you, +that I wish the Fairy would come and try." + +"I fear it is in vain to say so now, Madeline. We have wished the poor +creature out of the way so often for the last ten years, that it is +not very likely a single wish the other way will bring her to us." + +"No, indeed," murmured the Fairy Eudora, who at that moment was +standing on the shore of the Fairy Island; "you are a pretty pair, you +two, to think of such a thing! I begged to be allowed to come about +the place years ago, and you didn't refuse; but you always kept me +away by _wishing_ I mightn't come; and now, because you are puzzled to +know what to do with your silly child, you want me with you for the +first time these ten years! Oh, you selfish people, don't fancy I'll +come near you!" And the justly angry Fairy stamped her foot in +indignation, and retired into private apartments in the palace. + +Do not be surprised at what you have just heard, my dear children; for +though you may have never thought about the power and importance of +_wishes_, there is, I assure you, a great deal of both one and the +other belonging to them. Some people talk, indeed, of "mere wishes," +as if they were trifles light as air; but it is not so. To prove this, +first think what importance is attached to them in the Scriptures. +Wishes are a sort of porch or doorway to actions. In the Tenth +Commandment we are forbidden to _wish_ for what belongs to our +neighbour;--for who is so likely to break the Eighth Commandment, and +steal, as the man who breaks the Tenth, and wishes for any thing that +is not his? + +And so, all the evil in the world begins by _wishing_ something wrong; +and if you can cure yourself of wishing wrongly, you will very seldom +_do_ wrong. + +Now you see, I am sure, how important wishes are for evil; but they +are equally strong for good. For, if you wish well to any one, you +have opened the first door to doing him a kindness. And if you +heartily wish to be good, you have opened the first gate on the road +of becoming so. Of course, wishes will not do every thing; but they do +a great deal. + +And there is another thing. They never fall to the ground unnoticed. +Though you and I cannot look into each other's hearts, or hear the +wishes breathed there, there is One who hears them all. Good wishes, +my dear children, all ascend upwards to the throne of Grace, like +sweet perfume. They are all accepted and remembered; and, I fear I +must add, that bad wishes go up too, and are noted in His book who +takes account of all we do. + +Be sure, therefore, that you encourage your hearts in a habit of good, +and kind, and charitable wishes; and if ever the bad ones come into +your head, pray against them, and drive them away. + +Meanwhile do not be surprized that in Fairy tales, Fairies are +supposed to hear wishes concerning themselves. And so Eudora heard +those about her coming and curing the child of his folly; and as I +have told you, she was very indignant at the selfishness of both Lady +Madeline and her husband. + +A few days after the family had taken up their residence in the Sea +Castle, the weather began to improve; and, though the wind lasted, the +sun came out; and all the children and the nurses went walking on the +sands. As it was the first time that year, you may guess what shouting +and delight there was; how the little spades dug away at holes for the +sea-water to come up in, and how the children caught at the sea-weeds +that were scattered on the lands to carry home to their Mamma; how +they picked up shells, and gambolled about in all directions, +declaring that they had never known the Sea Castle Home so delightful +before. By degrees they had strayed to a considerable distance along +the sands, with the nurses, when, alas! the latter perceived that a +storm was coming on, and it caught them long before they reached home. +A strong wind blew off the sea, and they had difficulty in keeping +their feet, and at last two or three of the children were almost +hidden in a cloud of sand, which a violent gust suddenly drove against +them. All the little party cried lustily, because the sand had blown +into their eyes, and made them smart, and sad work there was in +getting them home again. But they reached home at last, dripping with +wet from hailstones, and their eyes all red and disfigured by the sand +and wind. None, however, were so bad as those I have mentioned, who +had been so covered over by the sand that it had even got down their +necks, and made them uncomfortable all over. Among these was Roderick, +who cried a great deal more than he ought to have done, as the nurses +thought, and did not stop and declare himself comfortable as the rest +did, after the sand had been washed out of his eyes with rose water. +In fact he kept crying more or less all the afternoon, saying his eyes +hurt him so, and at last he could get no relief but by holding them +shut. + +Now it is just possible you may have heard of a complaint of the eyes +called Ophthalmia, which comes on sometimes in very hot countries, +India for instance; and sometimes in travelling across the deserts of +Arabia, where the sand gets into the eyes, and irritates them very +much; it can very often be cured, but not always, and when it cannot, +it ends in blindness. Lady Madeline knew all about the complaint; and, +therefore, you will not be surprised to hear that when she found her +little boy's eyes did not get better, and that he persisted in keeping +them shut, because they then became easy, she thought it right to send +to some miles' distance for a doctor, who accordingly arrived at the +Sea Castle before nightfall. But when he came he shook his head very +much, for he could not understand what was the matter; and when he +persuaded Roderick to lift up his eyelids, to let him see his eyes, he +could perceive nothing amiss but a little redness, which the wind and +sand quite accounted for. Still the child was uneasy, and would keep +his eyes shut; so the Doctor thought he must try something, and he +used some lotions common in such cases; but, as they did no good, the +kind old gentleman, at Madeline's request, consented to sit by the +little boy's bedside at night; when, all at once, as he was carefully +dabbing his eyes with rosewater, he perceived that the child was fast +asleep. + +The Doctor was delighted, and went to his mother, who was then with +her husband, and said that as Roderick had gone to sleep so nicely, he +had no doubt that his eyes would be well when he awoke in the morning, +and so he took his leave, for he had other patients to visit. + +It was then between twelve and one o'clock, and Lady Madeline, much +comforted in heart, went to bed. At an early hour next morning, +however, she went to Roderick's bedside, and perceived he was just +waking. + +To the question of "How are you, my darling?" his cheerful joyous +voice made answer, "Oh, quite well, Mamma, and I've such a funny dream +to tell you, and my eyes don't hurt me a bit, not a bit! but I'm +afraid to open them for fear they should. I can tell you something so +funny the Doctor said last night, Mamma." "Never mind about the +doctor, you rogue," cried Madeline, "I see you are all right, only +just open your dear old eyes, that I may tell Papa I have seen them +when I go back to dress." + +"Then I will, Mamma, to please you!" and up sat the pretty child in +his bed, and opened wide his blue eyes. There was no redness--it was +all gone--but + +"Mamma! where are you," cried Roderick, "I have opened my eyes, and +they don't hurt--but it is quite dark: _isn't the night over_?..." + +Oh, my dear readers! there was a stream of sunshine on the lovely face +and bright hair of little Roderick as he spoke, and the poor blue eyes +were turned up to his mother, looking vainly for her face. You cannot +wonder if I add that she sank down fainting on the bed; and when +Roderick's scream of terror brought the nurses to them, she was +carried away insensible from the room. + +Her darling was utterly blind. + + * * * * * + +And now imagine to yourselves how the afflicted parents sent for the +best doctors the country afforded, and how one thing after another was +tried--but, alas! every thing in vain, for the medical men were all +quite puzzled. Still some people gave them hopes, and in spite of many +disappointments, they went on trying to hope for several months. At +last they settled to leave the sea castle and go to the great town +sooner than usual, thinking some of the doctors there might be +cleverer than the country ones. But they had no better success. +Perhaps now you would like to know how Roderick behaved. When his +Mamma fell on his bed, at first he thought she was dead, and it was +with the greatest difficulty he could be made to believe any thing +else, and he cried, and cried, and was very sad till his Mamma was +well enough for him to be taken to her, and then do you know, poor +fellow, he was so much pleased to hear her speak, and be kissed by +her, that he still had no time to think about himself. Only he begged +to sit close to her, and have hold either of her hand or gown, and +make her say something to him every now and then. And so it was that +the fright and shock he had had about thinking she was dead, had made +so strong an impression on him that for several days the making +himself sure she was alive was a constant occupation and interest; and +so much did he think about it that it was considered best for his +little bed to be brought into the room where his Mamma slept, and put +near hers, so that he could talk to her when he awoke and got +frightened about her again. And thus passed many days in which every +body thought a great deal more about his eyes than he did himself. +Besides from the cheerful things they said to him he quite expected to +be better some day; and so weeks and months passed, and by the time +the hope of recovering his sight began to fade away, and nobody any +longer dared to say they expected it, he was beginning to get used to +his condition, and to find out amusements in new ways. Thus mercifully +does a kind Providence temper people's minds to the afflictions He +sends. They are often more dreadful to think of than to bear; for God +can give patience and cheerfulness and comfort to those that do not +grumble and repine. + +Madeline only exacted one promise from her husband, namely, that he +would not allow the doctors to use any very severe and violent +measures with her little boy, and this being settled, she struggled to +bear the trouble with resignation. After the first alternations of +hopes and fears were over, the Mother's mind took a new turn. "It is +our chief duty now," she said, "to make our child's life as happy as +it is possible to be with blindness, and therefore," added she to the +elder children, "we must try our best to teach him to do all the nice +things he can without seeing." That day she asked him to come and hold +worsted for her to wind, and he was quite delighted to find that with +some blunders, and once or twice slipping it off his fingers, he could +manage it very well. Then the children undertook to teach him how to +play at ball, and you cannot think how clever he became. At first +certainly they had always to pick up his ball for him when it fell, +and who was not glad to do it for poor brother Roderick? but by +degrees he could judge by the sound in what direction it had tumbled, +and he would often succeed in finding it before any one could come up +to it. Then there was laughing and scrambling without end. Reading +aloud to him was the easiest thing of all, but the little folks were +not satisfied with that alone. They made a sort of pet of the blind +brother, and were as proud of teaching him to do any thing fresh, as +you would be of teaching your dog to sit up and shake hands, or +perform any wonderful feat. It was their constant amusement; and by +degrees Roderick could play at all sorts of games with them, ay, and +run after them, and catch them too as well as you could do, for he +soon got to remember how the furniture in the great hall and all the +rooms stood, and he could run about without hurting himself in a +wonderful manner. And when it was evening and grew dark, he got on +better than they did, for, if they couldn't see, they were clumsy, +whereas he was learning to do without seeing at all. + +Such of my readers as have seen one of those excellent institutions +called "blind schools," will not wonder at any thing I have said, but +on the contrary, will know that I have not told half or a quarter of +what may be done to teach blind children a variety of employments. At +those schools you may see children making beautiful baskets of +various-coloured strips of osier arranged in patterns; and they never +forget on which side of them the different colours are laid, and this +work they can go on with quite fast, even while you stand talking to +them--and they learn to do many many other nice things also besides +basket making. + +Of late years too they have begun to read in books made on purpose for +them, with the letters raised above the rest of the paper, so that +they can _feel_ the shapes with their fingers. Is not this wonderful? +And they can be taught all these things much more easily than you +would imagine, for it is really true that when one of the senses has +been taken away, the others by having all the exercise thrown upon +them, become so sharp and acute, they do twice their usual work, if I +may so express it. This is a merciful dispensation of Providence, +which renders the loss of the one that is gone much less hard to bear. +And does it not teach us also, what a valuable thing constant practice +is? Neither you nor I can feel or hear half so clearly as blind people +can, who practise feeling and hearing on so many occasions where we +save ourselves the trouble, by using sight instead. + +To return to Roderick. You perhaps expected to hear that he fretted +and petted very much after he was first blind, but really it was not +so; and though occasionally he may have grumbled a little, it was only +when he was slightly peevish, as children will sometimes be, and I +believe he would have found something to grumble about then, even if +he had seen as well as you do. + +Besides, as I said before, the knowledge of his misfortune came upon +him by degrees; and after he had got used to it, he did not think much +about it. When the family moved to the great town, Roderick had as it +were to begin his blind lessons over again, for he had to learn to +remember all about the rooms and the furniture there; but with a kind +little brother or sister always at hand to help him he soon became +expert in the town house too, and could run up and down the long +flights of stairs with the nimblest of them. I believe the only +melancholy wish he ever uttered was heard on the first day he reached +the town house. When his Mamma came to see him in the nursery that +evening, she found him kneeling in a chair against one of the +windows--and on going up to him he threw his arms round her neck and +said, "Oh, Mamma, if I could but see the lamplighters!" Do not laugh, +dear readers, if I add that the tears trickled over his cheeks as he +spoke. His mother was much distressed, as she always was when she saw +him thinking of his affliction, but she sat down and said, "Never +mind, dear Roderick, I will tell you all they do to-night." And so she +did, and she made her account so droll, of how the lamplighter ran, +and how he seized his ladder in such a hurry, and all the whole +business, that by the time she got to the end, and said, "and now he +has come to the last lamp-post,--ah, he's up before I can tell you! +and pop! the lamp is lit, and down he runs, and off with his ladder to +the next street--and now the lamps are shining bright all round the +square, and I must go to dinner,"--Roderick was clapping his hands and +laughing as merrily as ever, and he got down from the chair quite +satisfied. Still for a few weeks he used always to get one of the +children to tell him of the lamps lighting, and this was the only sad +little fancy the poor child ever indulged in. + +The great town gave him various new amusements. His Parents used every +now and then to take him to some fine conservatory, where flowers are +shown even in winter, and where he could smell various new and rare +ones, and be told all about their beautiful colours. Then sometimes in +the parks and gardens there was a band playing, which was a great +delight. And besides that, they took him occasionally to morning +concerts for an hour or so; for though it is not usual to take +children to those places, he was deprived of so many enjoyments, they +let him have all they could: and especially musical ones, for it is a +very common thing for blind people to become very fond of music, and +Roderick was so, and among other employments learnt to play. I cannot, +however, I am sorry to say, add that the great doctors in the town +were able to do him any good, though they tried very much, and some of +them were so much charmed and interested by his cheerful manner and +sweet disposition, that they got quite fond of him, and would often +have him come and see them, and play with their children, who were +instructed to amuse him in every possible way, and as children are +naturally kindhearted, this was generally a pleasant task, and many of +them quite looked forward to the visits of the little blind boy. + +And so passed on a long and rather severe winter, and presently +Roderick's birthday came round, and there was great wondering as to +what Mamma could do to keep it. And when the time came it turned out +that she had got a band of musicians to come and play--and the +children danced, and Roderick among them, for some sister was always +ready to take him under her especial charge. And then some older +children acted a little play, which he could hear and understand, and +his Mamma described to him who came in and went out, and in this +manner he enjoyed it nearly as much as the others. + +Well, the spring-time came once more, and with it the season for +returning to the old Sea Castle, and the children went through their +usual round of impatience, and I cannot say that Roderick at all +forbore, for his Papa had promised to teach him to climb a ladder like +the lamplighter when he got back, and he was by that means to go up +one of the very old elm trees, and get on to a great branch there was, +which was curled into a sort of easy chair, and there he was to sit +and play at being judge, and hold trials, and I know not what. There +were besides so many schemes for his instruction and amusement, and +among other things, there was to be a band established in the +neighbouring village, which should come and play to them in the old +Sea Castle--that the child was more wild with hurry and impatience +than ever, and said more absurd things than the rest, for he used +every day to declare the _flies_ were becoming so numerous and +troublesome he was plagued out of his life by their walking over his +face and nose! But as none of his brothers and sisters ever saw the +flies, we are obliged to conclude the tickling he talked of was only +an effect of his excited imagination. + +At last, however, they went, and in compliment to Roderick's wishes it +was a week or two sooner than usual. The return to the Sea Castle home +rather oppressed poor Lady Madeline's spirits. The doctors in the +great town had failed--it was now clear that nothing could be done, +and in spite of all her sincere endeavours to be resigned, she could +not help feeling this coming back to the original scene of her +misfortune very much. One day--it was the anniversary of the day on +which her poor child became blind, the Lady Madeline was working in +her sitting-room that faced the Sea,--Mothers' memories are very acute +about anniversaries, and days, and even hours marked by particular +events. They may not talk much about them perhaps, but they recollect +times and circumstances connected with their children very keenly, and +therefore it is not surprizing that on this day the poor lady was +sitting in her room working, or trying to work, but thinking of +nothing in the world but of that day year and her blind child. It was +a beautiful evening, and the window was thrown wide open, and the +fresh but soft breeze from the Sea blew pleasantly on her face as she +sat at her work-table by the casement--but lovely as the scene outside +was, she seldom lifted up her eyes to look at it. She had been all her +life a great admirer of beautiful scenes, and of all the varieties the +changes of day and night produce--but now the sight of any thing +particularly lovely brought so painfully before her mind the fact that +her child's eyes were closed to all these things, that she often +forbore to look again, and so spared herself a repetition of the pang. +Madeline's eyes therefore remained upon her work, or on her knee when +she ceased working,--for ever and anon there was a burst of noise and +merriment about the old house, which startled her from her painful +thoughts. It was, however, the happy voices of her children, and again +and again she sank into her melancholy mood, and so continued till the +red hue of a very red sunset burst as it were suddenly into the room, +and lighted up the portrait of Roderick, which hung over the +mantel-piece. Involuntarily Madeline's eyes glanced from the lovely +countenance of her then bright-eyed boy, thus illuminated, to the sun +beyond the Sea. She was too late, however. He had just descended +behind the waves in a perfect flood of crimson glory, but as she +gazed, (for she could not withdraw-her eyes,) a haze--yes, the softest +and most etherial cloud-like haze, showing the outline of a beautiful +mountainous island, rose in the far off distance, just on the verge of +the horizon. It was the Fairy Island. It recalled to the mother's +remembrance the existence of her Fairy cousin once more. "Cruel, cruel +Eudora," she exclaimed, "you offered me friendship and assistance, and +in the hour of trouble and affliction you have never been near to help +or even to comfort me." + +And Madeline, in the bitterness of her heart, closed the window +hastily and angrily, and sat down. Soon, however, the noises she had +several times heard of the children playing, became louder and louder, +and the whole party burst at last into the room. "Mamma, Mamma," they +cried, scarcely able to speak, "guess where Roderick has been." "I +cannot." "Oh, but do, dear Mamma!" cried a little thing with fairy +curls, "do guess." "I cannot." "I'll tell Mamma," cried a stout sturdy +fellow, a little older; "Mamma! he's been up the winding staircase of +one turret, and all along the leads and down the winding staircase of +the other turret, and he has done it three times, and he has seen to +do it better than I can." + +Here there was a burst of laughter and a violent clapping of hands at +the little fellow's _Irish_ account. + +"But why don't you do it as well?" asked an elder girl, "you that are +going to be a soldier too!" + +"Yes; I know I'm going to be a soldier; and I'll try and do it as well +as Roderick;" and off ran the eager child, followed by the rest of the +party, all but Roderick. He lingered behind, and edging his way easily +and quietly as usual to his Mother, having asked her where she was, he +sat down on a footstool at her feet. The slight answer she had +occasion to make, revealed by its tone, to the now acute blind child, +that his Mother's mood was serious, and therefore he did not talk and +laugh of what he had accomplished, as he otherwise might have done. +There was a silence of some minutes: at last, "Mamma," said Roderick +gravely, "a light has broken in upon me to-day." + +Lady Madeline started, and with difficulty suppressed a groan. +Roderick felt the start: "Oh Mamma, Mamma," cried he more cheerfully, +"you must not do that! I wasn't thinking about earthly light in the +least, but of a light which I know, when you come to hear of it, you +will say is a great deal better." + +"Indeed! dear Roderick," said Lady Madeline, trying to seem +interested. + +"Yes _indeed_. Mamma. Why, do _you_ remember, (_I_ had never thought +about it till it came into my head to-day;) but do _you_ remember the +silly time when I wouldn't fetch you any thing from the drawing room, +unless there were candles in the room?" + +"I recollect something about it," said his Mother. + +"Oh, I'm so glad you do; because now you can laugh with me over the +nonsense I used to talk and feel then: I remember I used to tell you I +saw _Bears_ when I shut my eyes, and wouldn't go by the pipes in the +passage, and more such foolish stuff! How odd it seems that I should +never have thought about this before, but I never did, and it never +came into my head distinctly till to-day." And here Roderick fell into +a kind of dream for a few minutes, but he soon began again. "You know +what I have done to-day, Mamma. They told you quite right; but they +forgot to tell you I have been practising walking across the leads for +two or three days, that I might be able to go the great round to-day +on purpose to tell you of it; because I thought you would be so much +pleased to know I could go alone all over the house on the day year +when I was first blind. So now, Mamma, if ever, when I am grown up to +be a man, an enemy comes and attacks the old Sea Castle, I shall be +able to run about and give the alarm, for you know I could hear them, +if I could do nothing else." + +There was another pause, for Madeline could not speak: the often +restrained tears for her son's misfortune had this day burst forth, +and could not be kept back; but Roderick did not know, and went on. + +"Certainly those old foolish fears were very wrong, Mamma. And I can't +think how it was, for you used to remind me always that God could take +care of us by night as well as by day, in darkness as well as in +light; and still somehow, though I knew it was true, I didn't believe +it,--at least, not so as not to be afraid in the dark: how very wrong +it was! Still I had quite forgotten all about it till this evening. +But, as I was going the last of the three rounds, I sat down on the +leads for a few minutes to enjoy the air. The sun was just setting, I +am sure, for it felt so fresh and cool; and it was, as I sat there, +that it came into my head how strange it was that, since the day I was +first blind, I had never thought any more about being afraid in the +dark! or by night any more than by day! Indeed it has been quite a +play to me ever since to do different things, and find my way about in +all the rooms and all over the house, without seeing; and I have only +known night from day by getting up and going to bed. So that you see, +Mamma, being always in the dark, has quite cured me of being afraid of +it: and is not this a very good thing indeed?" + +"Very," murmured Madeline. + +"I knew you would say so! But that isn't all I have got to say. A +great deal more than that came into my head when I was out upon the +leads." + +And Roderick nestled closer to his Mother, and laid his arms across +her lap. + +"Something to comfort you still more, Mamma." + +She could not speak. + +"Mamma, you are crying! I feel your tears on my hand. Do not cry about +me." + +"Go on, dear Roderick." + +"Don't you think," continued the child, "that people who wont listen +to what is told them, and wont be cured of being foolish and wicked, +are very like the old Jews you told us about yesterday, who had God +among them, and Moses teaching them what God wished them to do, and +still were as disobedient as ever?" + +"It is true, Roderick, we are all apt to resemble the Jews in their +journey through the wilderness." + +"Yes, Mamma; and particularly people who can't trust in God, though +they know He is everywhere. The Jews knew He was in the cloud and the +pillar, and still were always afraid He couldn't take care of them. +And what came into my head was, that I used to be as bad as those old +Jews once; knowing that God was present everywhere to take care of me, +and still not _feeling_ it so as really to believe it, and not be +afraid. But the blindness has quite cured me, and is it not very +likely that it came on purpose to do so, and to make me trust in God; +for I have done so more and more, dear Mamma, as I groped about this +year, for I have all along hoped He would take care of me, and keep me +from falling; and, therefore, I think the blindness has done me a +great deal of good, and I hope I shall never be like the naughty old +Jews again! This is what I had to say; and I hope you will be as glad +as I am." + +"I will try, my darling," cried poor Madeline. + +The tenderest love, the bitterest grief, mixed with earnest struggles +for resignation to the will of Heaven, contended in the Mother's +bosom, as she clasped her innocent child to her heart. He was almost +frightened. She lifted him on to her knees, and buried her face on his +shoulder. He put his young arms round her neck, and almost wondered +why she sobbed so bitterly; but he felt he must not speak. + +There was a painful pause. Suddenly, however, a strange faint light +began to creep into the room, which had hitherto been gradually +darkening in the twilight. It was a mysterious gleam, like nothing +that is ever seen. It increased in strength and brilliancy, till at +length the whole place became illuminated. + +Roderick's head was against his Mother's breast; and, besides, _he_ +could not see. + +She, however, suddenly started up; the light had become so powerful, +it had forced her from her grief. She sprung up in terror, and a faint +shriek burst from her lips. + +"Mamma, what is the matter?" cried Roderick, holding her fast. + +"Oh, the light--the light, my child! there is such a light!" answered +Madeline. + +"Mother, you are not afraid of _Light_!" exclaimed the bewildered +Roderick. + +"Oh, but _this_ light! it is like no other;--it is awful!" + +"Mother,--it is not the light of _Fire_, is it," cried poor Roderick, +now at last turning pale. "But even if it is, remember that I can help +you _now_; I can go everywhere,--all over, and fear nothing. I can go +and fetch my brothers and sisters, one by one! Oh, send me; send me, +Mamma! I shall be less afraid than any of you, for I cannot see the +horrid light that frightens you!" + +As he finished, a gentle, prolonged "Hush!" resounded through the +room; like the soothing, quieting sound of lullaby to an infant. And +in the midst of the beaming light, the form of the long-forgotten +Fairy Eudora appeared before the eyes of the astonished Madeline. + +"The Sea Castle is not on Fire, you dear, brave child," cried the +Fairy; "and your Mother has no cause for fear. I am a friend." + +"Cousin!" cried the bewildered Madeline, "why are you here?" and a +terrible suspicion flashed through her mind: and she pointed to her +boy, and added, trembling with agony-- + +"Is that _your_ doing?" + +"What if I say it _is_, Cousin Madeline. There is a long story about +that, but we shall have time for it hereafter.--Dear little Cousin +Roderick," pursued the Fairy, seating herself, and drawing Roderick to +her. "You have been a good boy, and got _light out of darkness_. Mind +you hold it fast. You did not use the light well, though, when you had +it, Cousin Roderick." + +"I know I didn't," was his answer. + +"If you could live the light time over again, you would be wiser, +Roderick." + +"I hope I should indeed," he murmured fervently; "but it is not likely +I shall ever see the light again." + +"Little boys shouldn't say things are not likely, when they don't know +any thing about them," cried the Fairy gaily, to cheer them up. + +"I dare say, if I were to ask you, you would tell me it was a bit of +sand that got into your eyes last year, that made you blind; but it +was no such thing, clever Master Roderick. Your naughty Cousin Eudora +had something to do with that; but, luckily, she can put her own work +straight again. Cousin Madeline, what do you think of my pretty +light?" + +"Eudora, it is dreadful." + +"Then shut your eyes, poor thing, we don't want to blind you. But +Roderick and I have not done talking yet. Come, little boy, lift up +your face towards me, and open those pretty eyes wide, that I may see +if I can't do them some good. Why, they are as blue as the water round +our island! There, now, they are looking at my face. Mind you tell me +if you think me pretty." + +"Eudora!" exclaimed Madeline. + +"Sit down, sit down, and shut your eyes, good woman. Now, Roderick, +wont even my Fairy light break through your darkness?" + +"I think it will," sighed Roderick; "there is a white light all round +me, as if I had gone up into a bright white cloud. You frighten me, +Fairy! Take away the light, and put me back into the darkness again." + +"Not so, my pretty Roderick; but I will soften it a little;" and she +waved her wand, and the brilliancy subsided. + +"Fairy, I see you now," screamed Roderick, springing up, for he was +sitting at her feet; "and oh, how beautiful you are!" + +"Roderick!" cried a voice from behind him. He turned; and Mother and +Son were locked in each other's arms. + +Surely I need say no more about this? though perhaps nobody but a +Mother can quite know how happy and thankful Lady Madeline was. And as +to Roderick, he was delighted too! Not but what he had been very happy +and contented before; but sight was a new pleasure to him now; a sort +of treat, like a birthday or Christmas present, which puts every one +into high spirits. It was so charming to him, poor fellow, (for he was +very affectionate), to actually _see_ his Mamma again; and this put +something else into his head, and off he ran out of the room. + +"Eudora," Madeline began, "how am I to thank you! Can you ever forgive +my old unkindness?" + +"Cousin Madeline," replied the Fairy, "I bear no malice to any one, +least of all to you, who come of a race I love, and of a family I +consider my own. No, no, good soul. I have never borne you ill-will, +though my kindness has been severe. Look! I know you love me _now_. +Love me always, Cousin Madeline, and let me ramble undisturbed about +your earthly home; but, mind! no more unkind wishes, however slight. +They come like evil winds to our Fairy island. You kept me away long +enough by those; and when you wished me with you, to get your child +out of his folly, I was very angry, and thought I wouldn't come; but +your, and your husband's wish was so strong and earnest, it haunted me +day and night; and I had no comfort till I had resolved to help you. +And here, Madeline, you have something to forgive _me_. My remedy has +been a harsh, a very harsh one for so slight a fault; but at first I +intended it to last only a few days. Afterwards, however, seeing how +it was acting upon him, and upon you all, for good, I let it work its +full effect: and I think it has been greatly blessed! Now, farewell! +Time is flying, and I must begone." + +And thus the Fairy and Madeline walked to the window, which the latter +reopened, and there was the full moon sailing in the cloudless sky, +and lighting up the lovely, and, this evening, calm and unruffled sea. + +The cousins embraced; and in a few minutes the Fairy had disappeared +in the distance. Madeline lingered awhile at the casement, thinking +tenderly of the gentle-hearted Fairy, and watching the horizon. At +last the outline of the Fairy's home appeared clear and bright against +the dark blue heaven, and then subsided gently by degrees. And +Madeline closed the window, grateful and happy, and went after her +boy. But she had not far to go; for he was coming along the passages +with all his brothers and sisters, wild with delight. And oh, how +Roderick chattered and talked about all their faces, and how he loved +to see the fat cheeks of one near his own age, and how some had grown, +and their noses improved, and what beautiful curls another had! In +short, if he had gone on long they would all have got quite conceited +and fancy, and fancied themselves a set of downright beauties. But you +see it was _love_ that made poor Roderick admire them all so much; +and, above all, he was charmed when they smiled. Ah, how little do +brothers and sisters know how tender their recollections of each +others' faces would become, were a separation to take place among +them! Then all the sweet smiles and pretty looks would be recalled, +that in every day life are seen with such indifference. "Little +children, love one another," during the happy days when you live +together in health and comfort. + +Can you guess, dear readers, what a joyous evening it was, that day at +the Sea Castle Home? How the poor Father rejoiced, and how the old +Hall was lighted up for the Servants, to share in the joy by a merry +dance; and how all the children danced too; and how a barrel of good +ale was tapped, for every one to drink to the health and happiness of +Master Roderick, and all the family. But you never _can_ guess how +Roderick teased all his brothers and sisters that evening, by +constantly kissing them. In the midst of a country dance he would run +right across to the ladies, when he ought to be standing still and +polite, and kiss two or three of his sisters as they were waiting to +dance in their turn, and tell them how nice they looked! Or he would +actually run right away from his place, to his Papa and Mamma;--jump +on their knees, and hug them very hard, and then run back again, +perhaps, into the middle of the dance, and put every thing into +confusion. But the happiest scene of all was, when the Father and +Mother thanked God that night for the blessing that had returned to +their little boy. + +And do not ask me, I beg, if he ever was afraid of being in the dark +again. No, dear Readers, his temporary misfortune had taught him the +best of all lessons;--A LIVING FAITH AND TRUST IN THE PROTECTING +OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD. + + + + +THE LOVE OF GOD. + +PREAMBLE (FROM LIFE.) + +_Van Artevelde_. These are but words. +_Elena_. My lord, they're full of meaning! + _Van Artevelde_. + + +Grace had been said, and Mamma was busy carving for the large party of +youngsters who sat around the comfortable dinner-table, when a little +voice from among them called out, + +"Mamma, do you think a giant could see a carraway seed?" + +Now there was no sweet loaf on the table, nor even on the +sideboard--neither had there been any plum cake in the house for some +time--nor were there any carraway seeds in the biscuits just then. +--In short, there was nothing which could be supposed to have +suggested the idea of carraway seeds to the little boy who made the +enquiry. Still he did make it, and though he went on quietly with his +dinner, he expected to receive an answer. + +Had the good Lady at the head of the table not been the mother of a +large family, she might possibly have dropt the carving knife and +fork, in sheer astonishment at the unaccountableness of the question, +but as it was, she had heard so many other odd ones before, that she +did not by outward sign demonstrate the amusement she felt at this, +but simply said,--"_Perhaps he could_"--for she knew that it was out +of her power to speak positively as to whether a Giant could see a +carraway seed or not. + +Now dear little readers, what do _you_ think about this very important +affair? Do you think a Giant could see a carraway seed or not?--"Oh +yes," you all cry,--"_of course he could!_" + +Nay, my dears, there is no "of course" at all in the matter! Can any +of you, for example, see the creatures that float about and fight in a +drop of water from the Serpentine River? No, certainly not! except +through a microscope. Well, but _why_ not?--you do not know. That I +can easily believe! But then you must never again say that "_of +course_" a Giant could see a carraway seed. + +It is entirely a question of _relative proportion_: so now you feel +quite small, and admit your total ignorance, I hope. Yes! it all +depends upon whether the giant is as much bigger than the carraway +seed, as you are bigger than the curious little insects that float +about and fight in the drop of water from the Serpentine river--for if +he is, we may conclude from analogy that a giant could _not_ see a +carraway seed except through a microscope. You see it is a sort of +rule of three sum, but as I cannot work it out, I tell you honestly +that neither do I know whether a giant could see so small an object or +not, and I advise you all to be as modest as I am myself, and never +speak positively on so difficult a point. + +But enough of this! Turn we now to another point, about which I _can_ +speak positively--namely, that in _one_ sense the world is full of +Giants who cannot see Carraway seeds. + +"It must be in the sense of _Non_sense I should think then!" observes +somewhat scornfully the young lady who is reading this story +aloud--"as if we could believe in there being giants now!" + +Very wittily remarked! my dear young lady, for your age.--I take you +to be about seventeen, and I see by the compression of your pretty +mouth that you consider yourself quite a judge and an authority. Only +take care you don't grow up into one of those Giants yourself! There +is something very suspicious to me in the glance of your eye. +"Ridiculous!" murmurs the fair damsel in question. + +Not at all so: only you travel too fast; by which I mean you speak too +hastily. You learn Italian, I dare say? Oh yes, of course, for you +sing. Well then, _Ombra adorata_ that is "beloved shadow;" _aspetta_ +that is, "wait"--"wait, my beloved shadow" (of a charming young lady), +give me breathing time, and I will explain myself. As you are an +Italian student, I presume you have heard of the great Italian poet +Dante. Now Dante in his _Convito_ or "Banquet" tells his readers that +writings may be understood, and therefore ought to be explained in +four different senses or meanings. There is first the literal sense; +secondly, the allegorical; thirdly, the moral; and fourthly, the +_anagorical_. Now I know you can't explain this last word to me, for I +would wager a large sum that you never tasted of Dante's Banquet--no, +not so much as the smallest crumb from it; and therefore how _should_ +you know what he means by the anagorical sense? Give me leave to have +the honour of enlightening you, then. The anagorical is what the +dictionaries call the _anagogical_ sense. A sense beyond this world; a +sense above the senses; a spiritual sense making common things divine. +It is hard to be arrived at and difficult of comprehension. Now in the +matter of the nice little boy's question about the Giant and the +carraway seed, (for none but a nice little boy could have excogitated +any thing so comical), I have set my heart upon talking to you about +it in the four above mentioned senses. And having already descanted on +the _literal_ sense, I had just made an assertion which appertained to +the _allegorical_ sense, when you so inopportunely interrupted me, My +Ombra Adorata, with your sharp observation about _non_sense: so now we +will go on in peace and quietness, if you please. + +In an allegorical sense the world is full of giants who cannot see +carraway seeds. + +For what are Giants but great men and great women? and the world +abounds with people who consider themselves as belonging to that +class. And a great many of them--Giants of Cleverness, Giants of +Riches, Giants of Rank--Giants of I know not how many things besides, +who are walking about the world every day, very often feel themselves +to be quite raised above the point of attending to trifles; so that +you see I may (in an allegorical sense) say strictly of them that they +cannot see carraway seeds. Oh my dears, however elevated you may be, +or may become; however great or rich or learned, beware, I pray you, +of being a Giant who cannot see a carraway seed! + +For, as my explanation of the _moral_ sense now goes on to show you; +it is so far from being, as these Giants suppose, a proof of their +_superiority_ that they cannot see or notice things they consider +beneath them--that it is, in fact, an evidence of some imperfection or +defect in either their moral or intellectual structure. Just as it is +a proof of our eyes being imperfect, that we cannot see the little +water insects as well as a great big elephant. I am sure you will +allow there is nothing _to boast of_ in this, and so if the +contemplation of great things makes you incapable of attending to +small ones, do remember that _'tis nothing to boast about or be proud +of_. And take very great care you make no mistakes as to what is great +and what is insignificant. With which warning I close my remarks on +the moral lesson, and proceed to that _anagogical_ or spiritual +meaning, which will I hope be my justification for dwelling so long on +the subject, and my best introduction to a story of a serious though +not of a melancholy character. But first, my dear little readers, let +me call upon you in the words which you hear in church: + + "Lift up your hearts!" + +and I would have you answer, + + "We lift them up unto the Lord." + +For it is indeed of Him--the Lord of all Lords, that I now wish to +speak to you. He made the Sun and Stars and the great mountains of our +earth; but He made also the smallest insects that crowd the air and +water, and which are invisible to our imperfect eyes. + +He rules the nations by His word, and "binds kings in chains, and +nobles with links of iron," as the psalm expresses it; but also not a +sparrow falls to the ground without His knowledge and consent. Angels +and Archangels worship around His throne, but His ears are equally +open to the prayer of the youngest child who lifts up its little heart +to Him! + +The universe is at His feet, but the smallest events of our lives are +under His especial superintendence and care. Yes! nothing, however +small and insignificant, that is connected with the present or future +welfare of the smallest and most insignificant of his creatures, is +_beneath the notice of God_! + +Ah! here is indeed a lesson for the fancied Giants of the world!--For, +in this picture of Almighty greatness combined with infinite +condescension, we see that real Perfection requires no Pride to +elevate it. + +But I said this anagogical sense was hard to be attained to and +difficult of comprehension. + +And is it not so? Is it not very difficult to believe thoroughly that +the great God whom we hear about, really and truly cares how we behave +and what we do--really and truly listens to our prayers--really and +truly takes as much interest in us as our earthly Fathers and Mothers +do? + +Ah, I am sure it must be very difficult, because so few people do it, +although we should all be both better and happier if we did. We should +say our prayers so much more earnestly, try to keep out of sin and +naughtiness so much more heartily, and, above all, always be contented +with whatever happened; for who could be anxious, and discontented +about their condition or circumstances, if they _quite_ believed that +every thing that happened to them was watched over and arranged for +their good, by the wisest, kindest, and most powerful of Beings? If +you, my dear children, who have been reading the fairy tales in this +book, were to be told that a most wise, most kind, and most powerful +Fairy had suddenly taken you for life under her particular care, and +that she would never lose sight of you by night or by day, how +delighted you would be! + +Yet just so are you under the particular care and watchful concern of +Almighty God! + +But now, say you, you begin to feel the difficulty of believing it +possible that the great God of the Universe takes this tender interest +in such insignificant and sinful creatures as men and women. + +Consider, then, that we are told that "God is Love;" and if He loves +us, there is no difficulty in believing that He feels all this +interest in us. Do not judge Him by earthly Kings and Potentates. +These are Giants who cannot see carraway seeds. We do not blame them, +for it is impossible they should be interested for every body. But +very very different is both the power and the feeling of the King of +Kings! + +Still we have not got over the difficulty yet, for of all the +wonderful truths we are commanded to believe, no one is so wonderful +and so incomprehensible as _the Love of God_ to the sinful human race. + +And yet it is a truth, and of all truths the most important and most +comfortable; and therefore it is much to be desired that we should +thoroughly believe it: and _I think_ I can make you understand that it +is possible, _by something which you feel in your own hearts_. I think +God has placed even in our own hearts a witness of the possibility of +this great Truth. + +My idea is this. We _know_ that God has been merciful to us--(His very +creation of man was an act of mercy), and _therefore_ we know that He +loves us. _He loves us because He has been merciful to us_. If you +cannot see why this should be, I refer you to the following story, and +advise you to _try for yourselves_. Only be kind to any living +creature, whether a human being, or an irrational animal, and see if +you can keep your heart from _loving_ it! Certainly it does not become +us to try to search out the unsearchable mind of God, but I think it +is permitted us to hope, that the remarkable fast of _Kindness +engendering Love_, which we experience in our own hearts, is intended +to lead us upwards as by a holy guiding thread, to some comprehension +of the Love of that God, who in Christ Jesus actually _gave Himself +for us_. + + +THE TALE. + +Lift up the curtain! + +In a baronial hall, not of the size and grandeur of that at Warwick +Castle, which those who have never seen should try to see before they +die: but still in a hall as antique and interesting in style, fits a +young man reading. + +It is evening, though the sun has not yet set, but it is evening, and +the young man is sitting at a small oak table in a recess in one of +the ancient windows, and before him lies open a book, and on the book, +which he touches not with his hands, but on which his eyes, blinded by +tears, are fixed, there lies a faded primrose. + +The book is the Bible, and the faded primrose lies on that verse in +the Psalm, "Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for his +goodness, and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of +men!" and some hand had placed a slight pencil mark before these +words. + +This scene brings before you a story of distress, and yet this young +man is the possessor of a large estate;--the baronial hall and house +are his own, and he is young and amiable, and till within the last few +months had led a life of almost uninterrupted comfort and prosperity +from his cradle upwards. Two years ago he became the betrothed lover +of a young lady no less interesting than himself, and as no obstacle +prevented their union, both had for these two years looked forward to +it, as the one certain and sure event of their lives. The young man's +parents had died when he was very young; but, in compliance with the +wishes of his Guardians, he deferred his marriage till he should have +come of age. + +Meanwhile, as the time of probation drew near its close, it had been +his delight to sit up the old place in such a manner as should become +his bride, and the alterations had, in many cases, been made under her +eye and according to her wishes, for she was already by anticipation, +and in the heart of its owner, the mistress of the place. + +At last the wedding day was fixed; but a few weeks before the time +came, one of those sad diseases which steal mysteriously into the +vitals of the young and wear away life long before its natural period, +fell upon her:--and _now_, nothing remained to him, who had hoped to +have her as his companion through life, but the Bible she had used +during her sickness, and which was found on the table by her couch +after her death, open and marked at the very place I have told you +about; together with the faded primrose which he had gathered for her +on the last morning of her life. + +This was a very sad event for those who were left behind to lament the +loss of one whom they had loved so dearly. The Mother indeed, who had +known other trials of life, bent her head submissively to this one, +and cherishing sweet recollections of her daughter's piety and +goodness, looked forward to a time of reunion in a happier world. But +the poor young man, whose name was Theodore, never having known a care +or a sorrow before, was stupefied and overpowered by this sudden +destruction of all his hopes and happiness. Seeing, however, that +_her_ last thought had been the mercy and goodness of God, he tried to +make it _his_ thought too; and he would sit for hours looking at the +verse which she had marked in the Bible. + +But unfortunately he made no effort besides, and having no kind +relatives or friends near him to rouse him from his melancholy stupor +to some of the active duties of life, he spent many many weeks in +listless sorrow, not caring much what became either of himself, his +dependents, or his property. And though he had become, by degrees, so +far resigned as to believe that every thing was for the best--even +_her_ death--he now took up a strange and dismal fancy, that though +the Almighty was a God of goodness and justice, it was quite +impossible that He should _love_ any beings so sinful and ungrateful +as the human race. This vain distinction of a morbid imagination was +the result of that solitude, inactivity, and the constantly dwelling +upon himself and his own troubles, to which he had unfortunately given +himself up, and which had brought his mind into such an unhealthy +state, that he could neither reason nor think properly. + +In this condition of feeling, having one day wandered to a +considerable distance from home, he sat down on the greensward to +rest; when lo! after he had remained there for some little time +musing, as usual, he saw approaching him two shining creatures, who +looked like spirits or angels, and as they came up to him they looked +at him very earnestly, and one said to the other, + +"He is doubting the goodness of God!?" + +Then Theodore shuddered, and said, "I am not! once perhaps I did, but +not now: all things happen for the best." Yet the Spirit repeated, "He +is doubting the goodness of God!" Theodore shuddered again, and cried +out "I am _not!_" for he felt as if it was a heavy accusation. +Whereupon the Spirit continued, "To disbelieve the love of God is to +doubt His goodness." + +"No, no," exclaimed Theodore eagerly, "it is not! I do not doubt His +goodness--His compassion even for the wretched creatures whom He +formed out of dust. But I--thoughtless in my youth; self-confident in +prosperity; ungrateful and rebellious under affliction; how can such a +wretch as _I_ have been, believe in the _love_ of God to me! God is +good and just, but do not talk to me of His Love to man, as if it were +possible He could feel for them the tenderness of kind affection! Who +are you?" + +Without noticing this question, the Spirit repeated, in emphatic +tones, "To disbelieve the Love of God is to doubt His goodness, and +deny the perfection of His nature!" + +"I tell you, No!" shouted Theodore, wildly: "It is _because_ of His +goodness and _because_ of the perfection of His nature, that I +disbelieve the possibility of His Love to the wretched race of man!" + +"Judge by your own heart!" exclaimed the Spirit who had not yet +spoken. + +But when Theodore raised his eyes to look upon her, both had +disappeared. He felt grieved, he knew not why. "_My own heart!_" he +murmured; "ah! my own heart has been the witness against me. It has +taught me the dreadful truth." + +"Truth never yet was found of him who leads a life of selfish misery," +whispered a soft voice receding into the distance; "Theodore! Judge by +your own heart. Even it may teach you better things!" + +Theodore started up and looked hastily around. He felt as if he could +have followed that soft receding voice into eternity. But there was no +one near. That sound, however, had been like an echo from hopes buried +in the grave; and the poor youth sank to the ground on his knees, and, +hiding his face in his hands, wept bitterly. Suddenly one thought took +possession of him out of what had been said. And it was one (as usual) +of self-reproach. The Spirit had reproached him with leading a life of +selfish misery! Vividly impressed by this idea, he started off +hurriedly for his home, crying aloud--"Oh, the wasted time; the lost +hours; the precious moments that might have been employed in +usefulness!" And thus he pursued his way till he had left the outer +country behind him, and had entered the gates that bounded his +extensive domain when, all at once, his course was stopped by +something he struck against as he was walking quickly along. + +Looking down, he perceived that a sickly, hungry-looking child was +stretched across the road asleep, and that by its side sat a woman, +the picture of misery and want. Theodore felt a strong sensation of +compassion seize him as he gazed at the child, and he stooped and +lifted it from the ground. + +The woman observed Theodore's eye, and said, "Ay, without help we +shall neither of us be here long!" + +"I will help you," said Theodore, "tell me what I can do!" + +"What can you or any one do, for a dying woman and a half-starved +child?" groaned the poor creature. "Food, food! medicine and help!" +These words burst from her in broken accents--I am dying!" + +"Are you so _very_ ill?" asked Theodore, turning deadly pale; and he +murmured to himself--"Death again! I dare not see it again so soon! +Here!" continued he, thrusting gold into her hand, "now you see that I +will help you! Look, I will send you food, and you shall be brought +to the house: but let me take the child, he cannot do you good, and I +will see to him." "He must not see her die;" was Theodore's inward +thought. + +"Ay, take him," muttered the woman gloomily, "and send me cordials. No +one wants to go even an hour before their time!" + +Theodore obeyed almost mechanically, and lifting up the little boy, he +made a shift to carry him to the house. On arriving there, he called +for his housekeeper and desired her to take food and wine to the woman +he had left, and to bring her to the house. Then he sent another +servant for a doctor, and afterwards undertook himself the care of the +forlorn child. He placed him on a sofa in his study and sat down by +him. + +"Are you ill?" was his first question. + +"I don't know," was the answer. + +"Are you hungry?" + +"Very!" + +Here Theodore got up and went to the next room, where preparations +were being made for dinner, and fetched bread and gave it to the boy, +who ate it greedily, without once lifting up his eyes. "Poor child," +thought Theodore, "life has no _mental_ troubles for him!" + +"Are you sorry your mother is so ill?" was his next inquiry. + +"She's not my mother," muttered the boy. + +Theodore started--"What do you mean? Are you not that woman's +_child_?" + +"No! She told me I wasn't." + +"Who are you, then?" + +"I don't know. She told me she had stolen me to beg for her." + +"And do you remember nothing about it?" + +"No, its too long ago." + +Theodore now fetched him more bread, but whilst he was eating it he no +longer sat by him, but walked up and down the room. Every now and then +as he stopped and looked at the thin, sickly looking object he had +brought into the house, he was overtaken by a strong feeling of pity +for his miserable condition. + +This child was as desolate as himself, only in another way. Stolen +from his parents to beg for the strange woman, he had lived with her +so long that he had forgotten his real home altogether! Bound by no +ties of kindred and comfort to this world. "He is more desolate than I +am myself!" repeated Theodore, again and again. + +After a time he approached the boy again. + +"The woman will say you are her child, and make you go back and beg +for her if she gets better, will she not?" + +"She doesn't want me now." + +"How so?" + +"She says, I'm too hungry, and eat all the bread away from her, and +don't get enough for us both." + +A curious expression passed across Theodore's face as he turned away +and sat down in his chair once more. It looked like a gleam of +satisfaction. The boy, meanwhile, sat quite still, looking round the +room. He had a grave and somewhat interesting face, but that the dark +eyes looked a little too keen and restless to be quite pleasant. +Still, when he smiled, and he had smiled brightly when he first saw +the bread, his countenance improved; and there was, besides, something +about his open forehead which redeemed the covert expression of his +eye. He was about seven years old, and precocious in quickness of a +particular kind, as is very often the case with vagrant children. + +Theodore's reverie was broken at last by the arrival of his good old +housekeeper, who came in, flurried and indignant, to inform him that +the woman she had been in search of was no where to be found. She had +been, "she was sure," up and down all the carriage roads, and made +enquiries at all the lodges, and finally discovered that a beggar +woman had passed out at one of them upwards of an hour before, very +hurriedly, and indeed almost at a running pace. + +Theodore glanced at the child, but his countenance never changed. Only +he sat eying the housekeeper as she spoke, apparently indifferent to +the result. The housekeeper now began to ejaculate in broken +sentences, "The base creature! To think that you should have taken all +this trouble, Sir! and had the child actually into the house! +and--gracious me," added she in a half whisper, "hadn't I better call +the butler, Sir; hadn't he" (nodding significantly towards the child) +"better be taken to the workhouse at once, Sir?" + +"I think not," answered Theodore slowly--"not yet, I think. The truth +is, I find he's not her own child, but has been stolen; and--and--in +fact, we can send him to the workhouse to-morrow. Perhaps, after all, +the woman may come here for him. But, at any rate, there is time +enough. You see this is an odd affair; and, as the boy is not _hers_, +we don't know who he may not turn out to be some day." And, as +Theodore thus concluded his sentence, he got up and looked at the old +housekeeper with a smile--a melancholy one it is true, but still it +was a smile--the first that had been seen on his face since his +terrible bereavement. + +And the faithful servant was so much pleased that she forgot every +thing else in a desire to keep up the interest that had lured her +young master so unaccountably from his misery. + +"Well, to be sure, Sir, what you say's quite right, and we can make +the poor thing comfortable for to-night, and then you can do as you +please to-morrow. Shall I take him with me, Sir, and make him clean, +while you dine? I can borrow some tidy clothes from the bailiff's +wife, I dare say; and after he's made respectable, you can see him +again, Sir, if you think proper." + +This proposition was more grateful to Theodore's mind than he cared to +acknowledge to himself. Indeed he had no clear ideas of his feelings +about the little accident that had interrupted the dismal course of +his life; and he studiously avoided questioning himself too closely. +Only there came across him, every now and then, a sensation that there +was some special providence about it all, and that there was some +mysterious connection between this adventure and the words of the +apparitions who had spoken to him in the morning. + +But "let be, let us see what will happen," was the ruling feeling, and +as he felt less miserable than usual, he did not wish to disturb the +pleasing dream by enquiries, why? + +After his solitary dinner, as he was seated alone in his arm chair, he +was relapsing fast into his usual unhappy state of mind, for this was +at all times the most trying part of the day to him, when a knock at +the door aroused him. + +Ah, it was the good old housekeeper again! She who, with the acute +instinct of sorrow-soothing which women so eminently possess, had +purposely come at this the young master's "dark hour," to try if it +could be kept back by the charm she had seen working a short time +before. "The little fellow is quite fit to come in now, Sir, if you'd +wish to see him before he's put to bed." And her efforts were rewarded +by seeing a look of interest light up poor Theodore's eye. The boy was +now ushered in, and his improved appearance and cleanliness were very +striking. Theodore took hold of his hand--"There, you need not be +afraid; you may sit down upon that chair. Are you comfortable?" "Yes." +"Have you had plenty to eat?" "Yes, plenty." And the child laughed a +little. + +"I hope you are a good boy." + +He looked stupid. "Can you say your prayers?" + +"What's that?" + +"Ah! I was afraid not. You never heard about God?" "Yes; but the woman +used to keep that to herself." "Keep what?" + +"Why," _for God's sake_, when she begged. She didn't let me say it, but +she always said it herself; and then, when people wouldn't give us any +thing, she used to say--" + +"No, no! I will not hear about that;" interrupted Theodore, "but I +hope some day you will learn about God." + +"In the begging? must I say it in the begging next time?" + +"No, I don't mean that; not in begging bread of people in the road, +but in praying." + +"What's that?" "Begging." "Then I am to beg?" "No, not on the road, +but of a great good Being, who will never refuse what you ask." + +"Is that _you_?" + +"No, my poor boy; not me, but the great Being, called God, who lives +in the sky. You must beg all you want of Him." + +"I don't know Him." + +"No; but you will learn to know Him when you have listened to me and +prayed to Him." + +"I don't know praying; I know begging." + +"Well, then, when you have begged Him--" + +"What am I to say?" + +"First, you must say, 'Our Father--'" + +"Father's dead," interrupted the boy; + +"Ah, but I do not mean _that_ father," answered Theodore; "and how do +you know even that _that_ father is dead?" + +"The woman said so. One day she told me Father and Mother were both +dead, and there was nobody left to love me, so I must mind her." + +"The woman was wrong," cried Theodore compassionately. "You have +another Father, who never dies, and who loves you always!--" + +A knock at the door interrupted Theodore's _lesson on the Love of +God_. + +"It's about time the poor thing was put to bed," suggested the +housekeeper, looking in. "I dare say he's tired." + +"I dare say he is," said Theodore mechanically. "Good night, little +boy. What used they to call you?" + +"Reuben." + +"Good night, little Reuben." And he was taken away. + +_You have another Father who never dies and who loves you always_! +founded like an echo through the room. Theodore arose and looked +around, but there was no one there. He resumed his feat, and wondered +how he had got involved in teaching the beggar boy religion. He +lamented his awkwardness and unfitness for the talk; but still he +thought he had done right. As to his last assertion, how else could he +make the child comprehend God at all? Besides, how cruel it would be +to infect him with his own miserable convictions. They would come time +enough, perhaps! + +Such was the current of his thoughts. The next morning he told the old +housekeeper of the boy's ignorance and his difficulty with him, and +engaged her to help him in his talk, which she readily undertook. + +It is not my intention to describe the many endeavours Theodore made +to impress the first great truths of Christianity upon Reuben's mind; +but I can assure you he felt all the better for them himself. How it +was that he never sent the little boy to the workhouse you can guess. +For the first few days he kept him to see (as he said), if the woman +would come back for him. Then he wished him to stay till he and the +housekeeper had sufficiently impressed him by their lessons. And +then--why then--by degrees, all mention of the workhouse ceased, and +better clothes were bought for him; and the housekeeper, who was one +of the by-gone generation of warm-hearted old family servants, became, +for her master's sake, a perfect mother to him; and to Theodore he +involuntarily proved an object of daily increasing interest, and +finally, of strong personal affection. + +And thus nearly a year passed over, during which time Theodore's +health and activity in a measure returned; but the cheerfulness of a +happy mind was still wanting. Reuben often lured him temporarily into +it, but he would again relapse, and had never given up his unhappy +theory, though now he dwelt upon it much less frequently than of old. +At the end of the year, however, Theodore was much distressed by +fancying that he detected Reuben in lying; and he was, besides, by no +means sure that little trifles were not taken from him by the child +for his own use and amusement. He communicated his suspicions to the +housekeeper, and alas! found his worst fears confirmed. The pain and +sorrow he felt at this discovery were of a kind totally new to him. +But the strongest feeling of all was, that he would not give up the +boy to vicious habits without a struggle (cost what it might) to save +him! The housekeeper told him, with tears, that she had observed +Reuben's habit of petty lying and taking any thing he fancied, very +soon after his admission to the house; but she confessed that she had +not had the heart to inform her young Master, lest he should send the +boy away who had seemed to take him so out of his trouble! This was +what she most thought about. So she had tried to correct the child +herself, but not with the success she had desired. "How little she +knows the heart," thought Theodore, "his evil propensities would have +been an additional claim upon my kindness!" + +I will pass over all that Theodore said to the boy himself. No father +could have been more earnest, more solemn in his warnings, or more +kind in his expostulations. Reuben, by this time, could understand all +he said, and shame and repentance burnt in his face during a painful +interview. It is right to remind you, dear children, of the many +excuses that were to be made for him. He had been brought up, till +seven years old, in total ignorance of God, and without ever having +heard one duty commanded or one sin forbidden. The woman lied daily +and hourly in his sight, and made him do the same; and she took all +she could lay hold of in any way, and beat him if he did not follow +her example; and although Theodore's instructions had opened a new +world on the child's mind, the _evil_ HABITS were not so soon got rid +of. So there the mischief was; and now the great difficulty Theodore +felt, was to know what to do for the best. And, after much +consideration, he decided to send him to school, as the likeliest +means of eradicating the bad habits the boy had acquired. I say +_habits_, rather than dispositions, for there was indeed nothing mean +or sneaking about his character. On the contrary, he was both +courageous and generous in the turn of his mind, and, after his health +improved, his manners partook of the same freedom and candour. + +To school therefore poor Reuben went; and Theodore was almost +astonished himself at the blank which his absence created. + +But having desired that continued reports should be sent to him of his +conduct, he meanwhile began seriously to think what was to become of +him hereafter. At last it occurred to him that he might employ him in +some way or other about his property; and with a view to this, +Theodore himself began to take more interest in his estate than he had +had the energy to bestow before, and made himself more intimately +acquainted with the wants and modes of life of those under his +control. + +Thus another year passed away in quiet but constant occupation; and +the many opportunities Theodore now had of doing good, softened and +cheered his mind. But he was not quite cured. For of all things in the +world whims are the very hardest to cure, because, reason as you will, +people still stick to their whims. Reuben was not allowed to return +once during that year to the old hall. During the last few months, +however, his progress had been most satisfactory, and the Master +considered that the evil was overcome; and so, at the end of the year, +Theodore wrote word to Reuben that he wished him to come "home" for +his holidays. Poor Reuben cried bitterly again when he read the +letter; for, as he said to the Master, "It is _not_ my home, though he +has been very good to me. I have no home!" + +Theodore's heart overflowed with pleasure and almost pride when he saw +the boy again. Every turn in the expression of his face was improved; +and when Theodore first took his hand, the lad bent his face over it +and sobbed out an entreaty for pardon for his dreadful wickedness. +"Reuben," cried Theodore, "never say that again. All is forgotten +since your conduct is changed. Forget the past as soon as possible. It +will never be remembered by me." + +Time went on during the holidays very happily on the whole. In fact +there was no drawback; but that now and then Theodore, who would often +sit looking at his adopted child's face, noticed a painful expression +which he could not account for. His conduct was irreproachable and his +respect for Theodore seemed, if possible, increased; but he would not +be frank with him, and no encouragement beguiled him into the ease of +trusted affection. Theodore did not choose to notice this for some +weeks, but, as the time of Reuben's return to school drew near, he was +unwilling to let him go without some expostulation. + +"Reuben," said he one day, "you are going back to school. Your conduct +has quite satisfied me: but tell me, before you go, why you so often +look unhappy? It is a poor return (though I now touch on this subject +for the first time in my life), it is a poor return for the interest I +have taken in you; and for the real love you know I feel towards you!" + +For a moment Reuben's large dark eyes glanced up at Theodore's face; +but they sank again as quickly: his cheeks grew crimson, and tears +rolled over them which he could not conceal. + +"What is the matter, Reuben; what is the meaning of this? Am I loving +one who does not love me in return?" + +"You _cannot_ love me, Sir!" ejaculated the boy so earnestly that it +quite startled his companion. + +"Reuben, what _can_ you mean? Have you forgotten how I have taken you +and acted by you as if I had been your Father. I _cannot love_ you? +What else but _love_ for you has made me do what I have done?" + +"That was all your goodness and the kindness of your heart, Sir. You +couldn't love me when you picked me up in the road. It was pity and +kindness, and it has been the same ever since; not _Love_--" and the +tears again struggled to his eyes. + +Theodore rushed suddenly from the room and into his private apartment, +and falling on his knees, spread his hands over his head in prayer. +"My Lord and my God!" cried he solemnly, "what means this echo from my +own heart? Am I awake, or do I dream?" A profound silence was around +him; but, as he arose and opened his eyes, he beheld before him, +though fading rapidly from his sight, the angelic visions he had seen +two years before. + + * * * * * + +He returned to Reuben, who was sitting at the table, his face buried +in his arms. + +Theodore laid his hand upon him. "Reuben, look up! You are under a +great mistake. You are but a boy, and must not fancy you know the ins +and outs of the human heart. Reuben, I do love you, and have always +loved you." + +"You cannot, Sir!" + +"Again? and why not?" + +"You are too much above me; I am an outcast, and was a beggar. It +wasn't likely you could _love_ me at any time. Besides, there has been +something since." + +"What?" + +"You told me to forget it, Sir, but I cannot. After all your kindness +and goodness, and trying to make me happy and do me every good, I was +all along (during the first year), doing what was wrong, deceiving you +and injuring you. I am not only an outcast, but I have been wicked and +ungrateful, and made you unhappy by my misconduct. Indeed I cannot +bear to think of it; but I dare not deceive myself about your _Love_, +Sir! I know you _cannot_ love me; but I am so grateful to you for your +goodness, I hope you will not be angry with me for speaking the truth: +only, though I am grateful and try to be contented, I cannot be as +_happy_ as if you _did_ love me." + +As Theodore gazed on poor Reuben's face, he saw standing behind him +the beautiful visions once more. + +"Now judge by your own heart!" murmured the Spirits, as smiling they +disappeared. + +And Theodore did so. Going up to Reuben, he put his arms around him, +and wept over him tears of love and gratitude for the blessing which +he felt stealing into his own mind. "Reuben," cried he, "my child +Reuben! There have been but two human beings in the world on whom I +have bestowed my love; for, like you, I lost my parents young. These +two were--her I lost and yourself!" + +"If I thought you _loved_ me, I would die for you!" cried Reuben, +springing up and gazing earnestly on Theodore's face. + +"My God!" murmured Theodore, "may I be able to feel this to Thee!" + + * * * * * + +I think more words are unnecessary. You cannot doubt that Theodore +soon convinced Reuben of his love, nor that Theodore took the lesson +to himself, and now saw that God had placed in the human heart a +witness of the possibility of His love to man. Yes, the clinging +affection we feel for those we have been kind to; our own power of +forgiving _any_ thing to them; is an instinct which has been +mercifully implanted in our hearts to teach us to believe in that Love +of God, which is otherwise so incredible to human reason. + +If you care to know what became of Theodore and Reuben, you must in +fancy pass over a few years. Reuben soon had so strong a wish to go to +sea, that he entered the merchant service; and by the time he became +Master of his own vessel and revisited the hall when he came ashore, +Theodore was to be found there with a kind and gentle wife by his +side; and frolicking about the ancient hall were a parcel of noisy +children, to whom the arrival from sea of him whom they always +unaccountably would call "Uncle Reuben," was ever a gala treat. Dear +readers, Farewell! + +BENEDICITE. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS AND OTHER +TALES*** + + +******* This file should be named 11319.txt or 11319.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/3/1/11319 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Fairy Godmothers and Other Tales + +Author: Mrs. Alfred Gatty + +Release Date: February 26, 2004 [eBook #11319] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: iso-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS AND OTHER +TALES*** + + +E-text prepared by Internet Archive; University of Florida; and Beth +Trapaga and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 11319-h.htm or 11319-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/3/1/11319/11319-h/11319-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/3/1/11319/11319-h.zip) + + Images of the original pages are available through the Florida + Board of Education, Division of Colleges and Universities, + PALMM Project, 2001. (Preservation and Access for American and + British Children's Literature, 1850-1869.) See + http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/dl/UF00001801.jpg + or + http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/dl/UF00001801.pdf + + + + + +THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS AND OTHER TALES. + +BY MRS. ALFRED GATTY. + +1851. + + + + + + +[Illustration: HERMIONE SKETCHING.] + + + +Col miele, e non coll' aceto si piglian le mosche. + +_Italian Proverb_. + + + + +To My Children + +These tales are most affectionately dedicated. They were written in +hours of sickness, but are intended to be read by the healthy and +joyous young: and to illustrate some favourite and long cherished +convictions. + +Margaret Gatty. + +Ecclesfield Vicarage, +27th March, 1851. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +The Fairy Godmothers + +Joachim the Mimic + +Darkness and Light + +The Love of God + + + +The design for the Frontispiece which adorns this volume is by the +pencil of the writer's kind and highly gifted friend, Miss Lucette E. +Barker. + + + + +THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS. + + +In one of the beautiful bays on the coast of Fairy Land, a party of +Fairies was assembled on a lovely evening in July. There are many +beautiful bays on the coast of England, and there is one especially, +my dear little readers, which you and I know of, where a long line of +grand old rocks stretches far into the sea on the left-hand extremity, +while in the distance to the right a warning lighthouse with its +changing lights gives an almost solemn beauty to the scene; for one +cannot help thinking, at the sight of it, of the poor storm-driven +mariner, whom even that friendly light may fail to save from a sad and +sudden death. But beautiful as this little bay is, of which I speak, +and fond as we are of it, it is nothing, I do assure you, compared to +the bays in Fairy Land! There, there are no light-houses reminding one +painfully of danger and destruction near, but all is loveliness and +peace; and even the rocks would be turned into soft pillows by the +good-natured Fairies who inhabit the country, should any strange +accident drive a mortal ship on that shore. + +Also the bays in Fairy Land face to the west, which is a great +advantage, for in an evening there you may sit and watch the golden +sun dipping behind the waves; and the rich red tints he sends out upon +the rocks before he sets, are beyond measure beautiful and attractive. +Especially, I believe, the Fairies enjoy this time of day, for they +are odd little creatures, rather conceited, and fond of everything +pretty; consequently they like to be floating about the rocks in their +white dresses when the crimson and golden hues of sunset shine on +them, knowing very well they look like so many bright flowers on the +occasion. + +The day I speak of however had been very hot, and at the time I speak +of, the Fairies felt a little lazy and were reclining on some rocks +covered with sea-weed and amusing themselves by talking. In general +the conversation of these little creatures is rather light and +frivolous and gay; but it is really a fact that they were just then +all serious together and all were engaged in a very profound +conversation on human happiness. + +I am sorry to have so many explanations to give, but I think it quite +necessary to tell you the reason of so uncommon an event as a party +of Fairies being serious. Well then, there were going to be, very +shortly, several extremely gay christenings in the world, and some of +the Fairies had been invited to attend at them as Godmothers, in order +that they might bestow Fairy gifts on the different infants. + +Four or five of the christenings were to take place the next day, and +the Fairies who were going were discussing with each other what gifts +they should bestow, and as their only object was to ensure the +happiness of the children for whom they were interested, they +naturally fell into a discourse as to what gifts were most likely to +have so charming an effect. "Your Godchild is a girl too, I believe," +said Euphrosyne to Ianthe [Fairies are privileged, you know, to have +romantic names] "what do you think of bestowing upon her?" "Why," +answered Ianthe, "the old story, I suppose--BEAUTY: at least such +was my intention, but if you can any of you show me I am wrong in +supposing it a cause of happiness to the mortal race, why, I suppose +I must give her ugliness instead." + +"Sister, I hope you will do no such thing," murmured a young Fairy who +lay near twining seaweeds into a wreath. "I never until this evening +heard a doubt upon the subject, and to tell you the truth the only +time I ever envy a mortal is when I see a regular beauty enter a large +assembly. Oh, the triumph of that moment! Every eye turned upon her; +murmurs of admiration, not unmixed with envy, greeting her as she +sweeps along; everyone courting her acquaintance; a word, a smile of +hers more valued than a pearl or a ruby. A sort of queen of Nature's +own making, reigning royally in undisputed sway, let her circumstances +of life be what they may! Look how mean the richest woman who is ugly +looks by the side of her! No no, dear Ianthe, make your little lady +handsome, and you have done the best that Fairy can do for her. I +declare I envy her beforehand! Here where we are all so beautiful +together there is no interest or excitement about it--it is quite +flat." And so saying the young fairy Leila laid herself down to her +wreath again. "Why, Leila, you are absolutely eloquent!" observed +Ianthe, "Beauty it certainly must be." + +"Oh, I declare," pursued Ianthe, rousing up again, "I have sometimes +really wished myself ugly, that I might some day have the pleasure of +suddenly finding myself beautiful!" + +"Oh, but then," said a Fairy from behind, "is there no danger of your +regular beauty, as you call her, getting as tired of being beautiful +as you are, and wishing herself ugly too?" + +"Certainly, not," answered Ianthe, "for, for an earthly beauty there +would always be the excitement of being envied." + +"Come, come," persisted the former speaker, "then the gift of being +envied would be the best thing to bestow, at all events a necessary +addition." + +"Oh," cried Leila, stopping her ears, "I can't argue, I never could--I +can't hear any more, I am quite satisfied that I am right; you can't +argue away the pleasure of being a beauty in a ball-room. Ask any of +them themselves." + +"Well," said Ianthe, "we need pursue the subject no further. I am +resolved. My baby is to be beautiful, beautiful as the dawn of the +morning; they shall call her Aurora!" + +"I shall not follow your example," observed Euphrosyne, "I don't at +all like that notion of the necessity of _envy_ to make the beauty's +joy complete. Besides, I'm not at all sure beauty is not much more +charming in idea than in possession. Nobody spend their lives in +entering a ball-room, and one gets sadly tired of one's own face. I'm +sure _I_ do, beautiful as it is;" and as she spoke the Fairy stooped +over a clear tide pool which mirrored her lovely countenance; "and yet +look what a nose I have! It is absolutely exquisite! And this hair!" +and she held up her long silken curling tresses and looked at them +reflected in the water as she spoke. A musical laugh rang through the +fairy group. Euphrosyne resumed her seat. "There isn't a mortal damsel +in the world who would not go into raptures to resemble me," pursued +she, "and yet--but, oh dear, I am getting quite prosy, and it is quite +useless, for Ianthe has decided. I, on the contrary, am thinking of +something far less romantic and interesting, but I suspect far more +necessary to the happiness of mortals than beauty--I mean RICHES." + +"Men are horribly fond of them, certainly," observed the Fairy from +behind, whose name was Ambrosia. "I can't endure men on that very +account. Look at the grubby wretched lives they lead in +counting-houses and banks, and dreadful dingy holes and corners of +great towns, where we wouldn't set the soles of our feet, and this for +forty or fifty years, perhaps, in order that in the fifty-first, or +perhaps later still, they may turn into butterflies for the little bit +of life that is left to them. And such butterflies, too! not knowing +what to do with their gay coats and fine wings when they get them at +last." + +"I think you are putting an extreme case," observed Euphrosyne. +"Though the grubs themselves may not thoroughly enjoy the riches they +have so laboriously acquired, their children or grandchildren may, and +live at ease and enjoy them. I should not think of bestowing great +riches on uneducated paupers. But it is another matter to give them to +people whom education has refined, and who would know how to enjoy and +employ them." + +"I wonder," suggested a very little Fairy, scarcely grown to her full +size, "why you don't just give your Godchildren moderate good health, +and enough money to make them quite comfortable without puzzling +them?" + +"You are a complete Solomon," observed Euphrosyne, "but you must know, +my dear, that moderate good health and a mere comfortable competency +would hardly be considered Fairy gifts by our friends in the lower +world. These things are, as it were, the absolute _necessities_ of a +happy life; they are the beef and mutton (to borrow an earthly simile) +of the entertainment. Fairy gifts form the somewhat unnecessary (and +questionably wholesome) second course, the sweets, the bonbons, the +luscious luxuries of the repast. + +"Very few, by comparison, get them. Very few infants you know have +Fairy Godmothers, but we make it a rule that those who have, shall +always be distinguished from the crowd. Other-wise our power would not +be believed in. No, my little Aglaia, all our Godchildren start from +the point you spoke of--'caeteris paribus,' as those dingy black +lawyers say--all other things being equal--it is a question now of +bestowing extra superfine Fairy gifts." + +Aglaia tittered--"I know Sister Euphrosyne is thinking of the +christening suppers, and the whipped creams, and the syllabubs!" and +away she tripped to the other end of the bay, lest the older Fairies +should scold her for impertinence. + +"Certainly," pursued Euphrosyne, "I have a great contempt for riches +myself. Bah! the idea of all the troublesome as well as wicked things +men do in order that they may be able to keep a lumbering thing they +call a carriage, to drive them round a dirty town. Just think of that +one thing alone! It is hardly credible." And Euphrosyne laid her head +by the side of Leila's, and looked up into the deep blue sky. + +"Remember," said Ambrosia, from behind, "it is a choice with poor +mortals between heavy foot-walking, and the lumbering vehicles you +talk of. Perhaps when their legs ache terribly, the carriages are not +such bad things. We can hardly judge dispassionately in such a matter, +we who can float and fly!" and the delicate Ambrosia, springing up, +floated softly round the bay, and then returned smiling to her +companions. "It made me almost ill to think of aching legs," observed +she, "how I do pity the mortal race!" + +"How pretty you looked as the sun shone golden upon your white robe," +exclaimed Leila, "It was a sight for a mortal painter to die of!" + +"A genius for painting would be a grand Fairy gift," observed Ianthe. + +"Too doubtful of success," answered Euphrosyne, "and the Musician's +power the same; besides musicians always die young and with exhausted +minds. The art is too much for mortal nerves." + +"Their atmosphere is too thick," said Leila. "How tired I am of your +discussions! Let us sing! Whatever music may be to them, it is food to +us." + +Then all those beautiful Fairies arose and joining hands on the rocks +they sang to the now dying Sun a chorus of Fairy Land! Now and then +these ravishing melodies are permitted to reach to mortal ears: +chiefly in dreams to the sick and sorrowful, for Fairies have great +compassion on such, and allow them a distant taste of this, the most +exquisite of their enjoyments. + +There was no more discussion that night, nor did they argue much the +next morning. There was the rising sun to welcome from the sleeping +caves on the eastern side of their country, and the bath to be +enjoyed, and their wings to plume, and sweet odours to gather from the +early flowers; and the time passed so quickly, they only met to take a +hurried leave. "We must understand each other however, before we +separate," said Euphrosyne. + +"Dear Ianthe, your Gift is Beauty?" "It is." "And mine is Riches," +said Euphrosyne. "All the pleasures of life shall be at my Godchild's +feet," said another Fairy, laughing. "If that will not ensure +happiness, I know not what will." Ambrosia held back--"Your choice, +dear Sister?" asked Euphrosyne. + +"Come! we have no time to lose." + +"It must remain a secret," was the reply. "Our discourse yesterday +evening was so thoughtful, so sad, I could not sleep. I arose hours +before you this morning, ere daylight streaked the sky. Dear Sisters, +how shocked you will be to hear I wept; but now I have determined. If +my gift succeed I will tell you all about it, or you shall guess it +yourselves; for I now propose that our Fairy Gifts this year shall be +a sort of experiment on human happiness. Let us from time to time +visit in company our young charges, and let the result--that is, which +of our Gifts is proved to confer the greatest amount of happiness, be +written in the archives of our kingdom for the future benefit of the +mortal race." + +A murmur of approbation rose, sweet as the vibration of a harp-chord +through the assembly. + +There was no time for enquiry about the other gifts: the travelling +Fairies arose and beat their gauzy wings upon the western breeze. A +melodious rushing was just audible; the distant murmurs of the earthly +sea the most resemble that sweet dream of sound. In a few moments the +departing sisters became invisible, and those who remained returned to +float by the sea shore, or make sweet music in the bowers of their +enchanted land. + + * * * * * + +Time is a very odd sort of thing, dear readers. We neither know whence +it comes nor whither it goes;--nay we know nothing about it in fact +except that there is one little moment of it called the present, which +we have as it were in our hands to make use of--but beyond this we can +give no account of, even that little moment. It is ours to use, but +not to understand. There is one thing in the world, however, quite as +wonderful, and quite as common, and that is, _the Wind_. Did it never +strike you how strange it was that the strongest thing in the world +should be _invisible_? The nice breezes we feel in summer and the +roughest blasts we feel in winter in England are not so extremely +strong you will say: but I am speaking, besides these, of the winds +called hurricanes that arise in the West Indian Islands, and in other +places in the world. These dreadful hurricanes have at times done as +much mischief as earthquakes and lightning. They tear down the +strongest trees, overthrow the firmest houses and spread ruin and +desolation around, and yet this terrible power, so tremendous, and +against which the cleverest contrivances can provide no defence, is as +invisible as the great Maker of Heaven and Earth. How unbelieving many +people would look if you told them of a dreadful creature that was +coming to the world, which could be heard to roar, be felt to knock +down every thing in its path--men, women and children, houses, +churches, towers, castles, cities, and trees the most firmly +rooted--and yet which you could never catch the faintest glimpse of, +for it was always invisible, even when it roared the loudest! As +invisible then, as when in its mildest moods, it, as it were, purred +softly over the country like a cat. How the good people would laugh, +and tell you you were very silly to believe in such a thing. Yet I +think this is not at all an incorrect description of the great +invisible Power WIND. Now the lesson we may learn from this is to be +humble-minded; for since we live in the constant presence of a Power +we cannot see, we ought to feel it is equally possible other Powers +may exist of which our other senses cannot take cognizance. There is +an old proverb--"Seeing is believing"--but you perceive, dear readers, +we are forced to believe in the wind though we never see him at all. + +To return to Time who is travelling fast on while I am rambling after +the wind, he has puzzled the artists a good deal I should say, for +with all their skill at representation they have never hit upon any +better idea of him than an old Man with wings. An old man with wings! +Can you fancy anything so unnatural! One can quite understand +beautiful young Angels with wings. Youth and power and swiftness +belong to them. Also Fairies with wings are quite comprehensible +creatures; for one fancies them so light and airy and transparent, +living upon honey dew and ambrosia, that wings wherewith to fly seem +their natural appendages. But the decrepitude of old age and the wings +of youth and power are a strange mixture:--a bald head, and a Fairy's +swiftness!--how ridiculous it seems, and so I think I may well say +Time is a very odd sort of thing. + +Among those who have to deal with Time, few are more puzzled how to +manage him than we story-tellers. In my first chapter, for instance, I +gave you a half-hour's conversation among some Fairies, but I think +you would be very angry with me were I to give you as exactly every +half-hour that passed over the heads of the little girls with Fairy +Godmothers, till they grew up. How you would scold, dear little +readers, if I were to enter into a particular description of each +child's Nurse, and tell whether Miss Aurora, Miss Julia, Miss +Hermione, &c. &c. &c. were brought up on baked flour, groat-gruel, +rusks, tops and bottoms, or revalenta food! Whether they took more +castor-oil, or rhubarb and magnesia; whether they squalled on those +occasions or were very good. When they cut their teeth and how, +together with all the &c. and ups and downs of Nursery life which +large families, such as you and I belong to, go through daily. + +Well then, suppose I altogether pass over a period of ten years, and +enter into no minute particulars respecting that portion of Time. You +must know that the Fairies had agreed that all the children should +have the same (and rather a large) amount of intellect, or what you +would call cleverness: that is to say, they were all equally capable +of learning anything they chose to learn: also they had all fair +health, plenty to eat and drink, and all the so called "necessary" +comforts of life. + +Now then to our story. + +At the end of ten years the Fairies agreed to go and have a peep how +their charges were going on. They quite knew that nothing decisive +could be found out, till the children had come to years of discretion +and were their own mistresses. Still they thought it would amuse them +just to go and see how the charms were working, as it were; so, away +they went. + +Now picture to yourselves a nice large nursery, much such a one as +your own, in which several children are playing. The eldest, a girl of +ten, you may see yonder lounging--gracefully perhaps--but still +_lounging_ in a rocking chair which she is swinging backwards and +forwards, having set it in motion by the action of her foot on the +floor. What a lovely face! I do not think you ever saw one so handsome +except in a print in one of Mamma's best picture books. All the +features are perfectly good and in proportion, and the dark blue eyes +are fringed by the longest eyelashes ever seen. The hair of this +little girl too--look at it, as the soft chestnut ringlets wave about +on her shoulders as she swings, and show the round richness of the +curls. + +Now if you ask about the expression on her face, I must tell you it +was rather languid and "_pensieroso_." Pensieroso is an Italian word +really meaning thoughtful--but this little girl was not _thinking_, +for then the expression of her face would have been much stronger and +firmer and less languid; but the word has got to be used for a sort of +awake-dreamy state when one lets thoughts float lazily along without +having any energy to dwell upon them, and see whether they are good or +bad. + +The thought that was passing through this little girl's head at the +time I mention and which made her look so languid and pensieroso, was + + "I wish it was 6 o'clock." + +Now here you are ready to laugh, I know, for there was nothing to look +so languid about, in "I wish it was six o'clock!" but the fact was +this: at half-past six the little girl's Mamma was expecting a large +party to dinner and the little girl was to dress at six and be ready +to go down and see the company:--I might add _and to be seen by them_; +for the little girl was, as you will have guessed, the beautiful +Aurora herself, and there had been plenty of foolish people, though +her good Mamma was not one of them, to tell her how pretty she was and +how much people admired her. + +It is a very pleasant thing to be admired, both for children and grown +up people. "The love of approbation," as it is called, i.e. the wish +to be approved of and admired is a feeling which is very strong in +most people; not in quite all, perhaps, but in _most_ people +certainly. But like all other powers of the mind considered apart from +the influence of the heart and conscience, it is capable of being used +to a very bad or a very good purpose. Thus you may remember what our +Saviour says of the Pharisees who stood praying at the corners of the +streets that they might be seen of men: Verily, they had their +reward--viz: that men admired them: whereas those who do good deeds +and pray privately, i.e. unseen and unadmired by men, should verily +have their reward in that day when God who seeth in secret himself +shall reward them openly. + +Here you see is the same strong feeling,--love of approbation, +exercised in a wrong and a right direction. The Pharisees wish for the +approbation of men, good people wish for the approbation of God. + +Now, love of approbation exists about much smaller matters than I have +just been mentioning. But I would warn my young readers, that, to be +always thinking, and bothering yourselves as to what other people are +thinking about you, is one of the most uncomfortable and injurious +habits a person can get into. It makes them so selfish and +egotistical. And here was one of Aurora's dangers. Because she knew +she was pretty, she was always wondering what other people were +thinking about her, a habit which so far from contributing to what the +good Fairy had wished, viz. her happiness, was constantly spoiling her +comfort from hour to hour. And here, at ten years old, was this little +lady swinging languidly and idly on the rocking chair, wishing it was +six o'clock, instead of enjoying, as she might so well have done, that +small portion of time, time present, which is, as I told you before, +the only bit of him we can ever lay hold of, as it were. Of time +present, just then, she thought nothing. She would have said, (had she +been asked), that the old gentleman moved very slowly in spite of his +wings, for her eye was fixed on that delightful time future, six +o'clock. Well! at last the clock struck, and Aurora sprang from her +chair,--her whole face altered in a moment. "Now, Nurse, I may dress, +may I not?" she exclaimed, radiant with animation, and all the languor +and dreaminess gone over like a cloud from before the sun. And it is +true that just then Aurora was happy. It was a pleasant task to her to +arrange and smooth that curling hair, and to put on the simple white +dress she knew set off her beauty so well. But alas! for the happiness +caused by thoughts of _one's self_! The toilet over, she ran down to +her Mamma, and was welcomed with a smile of fondness and approbation. +Indeed, when she was happy, a sweeter face could not be seen, for she +was not a naughty child, and if it had not been for the Fairy gift, I +do think she would have been a very nice one. + +The Fairies who invisibly had witnessed all I have described to you, +were not so loud in their admiration of Aurora as you or I might have +been. They are so handsome themselves, they think but little of +earthly beauty, and even Ianthe could not conscientiously say, "What a +_happy_ looking little girl she is." That was just the one thing that +was wanting: ay, and it continued wanting even after the room was +filled with company, and she was petted, and caressed, and praised on +every side. Her spirits became very high, however, and she enjoyed +herself much; and it is perhaps only very very critical folk, bent on +spying out a fault, that could have detected the little clouds of +anxiety that now and then shot across her face. A thought of whether +her curls were all right, or her dress untumbled, &c. just now and +then disturbed the charm, and prevented her forgetting herself +sufficiently to allow her to be quite at ease and happy, and she would +glance at herself in the mirror, and put back the hair from her brow, +lest Mrs. I-know-not-who, who was just then entering the room, should +not think her quite as lovely as Mrs. Somebody-else did, who had very +foolishly been saying so rather in a loud tone to her Mamma. + +At last the fatal time arrived to go to bed. Aurora was much too +sensible to cry, or be cross, you must know, but as she closed the +door of the drawing-room and left the gay company, a sigh very heavy +for so young a heart to have breathed, escaped her, and it was slowly +she retraced her steps up stairs. She was in reality tired, for it was +later than her usual bed-time, and when she went into her room she +threw herself on the chair and yawned. The young Nurse who attended to +undress her, asked her if she had enjoyed herself. "Oh yes!" was her +ready answer. "All is so bright, and gay, and entertaining among those +ladies, and they are so good-natured to me,"--(another sigh coupled +with the recollection of, and _how much they admire me!_)--"But I do +so hate being a little girl, and having to go to bed. I wish the time +would come quicker for me to be grown up, and be down stairs +altogether, and talk, and enjoy myself all the evening!" Oh, Aurora, +Aurora, with that dissatisfied face where is your beauty? with that +discontented mind where is your happiness? + +"Your charm is not working perfectly, Sister," observed Euphrosyne to +Ianthe. + +"Her's is not the age for perfect happiness and enjoyment as a beauty, +remember," replied Ianthe, "and she feels this herself." + +"Man never is but always _to be_ blest," cried Ambrosia laughing. "You +see I can quote their own poets against them." + +"You are prejudging now, Ambrosia, wait till another ten years is +over; but we must see our little beauty through the twenty-four +hours." Ianthe now waved a tiny wand in a circle around Aurora's +head,--the long eyelashes sank over her eyes, and the beautiful child +fell into a sweet and placid sleep. + +Morning, which awakens all young creatures to life, enjoyment, and +action, awoke Aurora among the rest, and she arose in health and +strength, and the full glow of animal spirits. "_This is_ happiness, +however," exclaimed Ianthe to her companions, as the young girl sprang +about, carolling to herself the while. And so it was, for at that +moment no forecastings into futurity disturbed the comfort of present +pleasure: but an accidental glimpse of her face caught in a +looking-glass as she passed, recalled Aurora to the recollection of +HERSELF! and the admiration she had obtained the evening before. At +first some pleasure attended the remembrance, and she gazed with a +childish triumph at her pretty face in the glass. In a few minutes, +however, the voice of her Governess calling her to lessons disturbed +the egotistical amusement, and the charming Aurora frowned--yes, +_frowned!_ and looked cross at the looking-glass before she quitted +the apartment. + +And now, dear little readers, let me remind you that Aurora was a +clever little girl, for the Fairy had taken care of that. She had +every faculty for learning, and no real dislike to it; but this +unlucky Fairy gift was in the way of every thing she did, for it took +away her interest in every thing but herself; and so, though she got +through her lessons respectably, it was with many yawns, and not a few +sighs, and wonderings what Mamma was doing; and did the Governess +think there would soon be another dinner party? and didn't the +Governess, when _she_ was a little girl, wish very much she was a +grown up woman? and, finally, she wished she had been able to talk +when she was a baby at her christening, because then me would have +begged the Fairy Godmother to give her the gift of growing up to be a +young lady very quick indeed, and of learning every thing without any +trouble at all! And so saying, Aurora yawned and laid down her book, +and the poor Governess could hardly keep her temper at such repeated +interruptions to the subject in hand. + +"My dear," she exclaimed, "Fairies have no power to counteract what +God, has ordained, and he has ordained that we enjoy but little what +we get at without labour and trouble." + +"Ah taisez-vous donc ma chère!" cried Aurora, flopping her ears with +her hands, and running round the room shaking her long curls +furiously. "Vous me faites absolument frémir! Excuse my French, but I +am certain you are the eldest daughter of the old woman in the wood, +and you are just now dropping vipers, toads, newts, and efts from your +mouth at every word you utter!" + +The good-natured Governess laughed heartily at the joke, for they had +just been reading the old French fairy tale of "Les deux Fées," and +the application amused her; but she shook her head gravely at Aurora +afterwards, and reminded her that no serious truth was well answered +by a joke, however droll. + +A bell rings, a carriage is at the door. Miss Aurora is wanted. +Visiters! Ah! here is happiness again! But it lasts but a short time, +and the reaction is the same as before--drooping eyes, languid +eyelids, and a sigh. + +Books, drawing, music, work, even domestic recreations, all deprived +of their charm through this idolatry of self! + +The curtain closed over this scene. + +"A charming child, Ianthe, but for your Fairy Gift, which is spoiling +her." + +"I repeat to you we are no judges yet. Now for riches, Euphrosyne!" + + * * * * * + +At the same hour of evening, and under the same circumstances, of a +party about to assemble, let me introduce you to a beautiful little +boudoir or up-stairs sitting-room adjoining an equally pretty sleeping +apartment in a magnificent house in a town. The passages are carpeted +all over, and so are the boudoir and the sleeping-room, and they are +furnished with sofas, easy chairs, and every description of luxurious +comfort; and all this for the accommodation of a little girl of ten +years old, who in one of the easy chairs is lying back in front of the +fire, with her tiny feet on a bright brass fender. She has a gold +watch in her hand, which is suspended round her neck by a chain of the +same material, and she is playing with it, and with the seals, and +pretty ornaments hung to it, that jingle as she moves her hand. Ever +and anon she glances at the face of the watch. + +But life is very easy to her, and the chair is very soft, and her feet +are very warm. At last, however, she gets up and rings a silver bell +that is on the mantel-piece. A servant answers the summons. "It is +time for me to dress, I believe, Annette; the company are expected +to-day at half past six. Has my new frock come home?" + +"Yes, Miss." + +"Let me look at it." + +A delicate blue satin, trimmed with the finest lace, is produced from +a band-box. + +"It is very pretty, I think, Annette." + +"It is downright beautiful, Miss." + +"And so expensive," pursued the little girl whose name was Julia, +"that I don't think any one else I know is likely to imitate it, which +is my greatest comfort!" + +And so saying, the rich Miss Julia ---- (an only daughter), whose +comfort seemed to depend on no one else being as comfortable as +herself, commenced her toilet, i.e. her maid both commenced and +finished it for her, for those who can command the unlimited +assistance of servants are apt to be very idle in helping themselves. + +"Your Julia looks self-satisfied enough," observed Ianthe, "but I do +not see that this is more like real happiness than my Aurora's face +before the party." + +"Perhaps," returned Euphrosyne, "the same remark applies to her as to +Aurora--the age for thoroughly enjoying riches is hardly arrived. You +smile, Ambrosia! Well, we do not yet know your experiment, and you +yourself do not know how it has answered. Take care that our turn for +laughing at you does not soon come!" + +Julia was dressed at the end of the half-hour, but not sooner. Her +toilet occupied more time than Aurora's. She could not decide what +ornaments she would wear, and at last getting out of humour with the +"embarras des richesses" she fixed on a necklace which, though +extremely handsome, was scarcely fit for a child. She was neither +pretty nor otherwise, but when good humoured and happy her face, like +that of all other creatures of her innocent time of life, was +attractive and pleasant to behold. Oh, that children did but know +wherein the secret of being loveable and beloved lies! In holding fast +the innocence and simplicity of their infant years; in the cheerful +spirit, the universal kindheartedness, the open honesty, the sweet +teachableness and readiness of belief, which are the real +characteristics of childhood and which we so love to trace in their +faces. It was these things our Saviour called upon grown-up people to +imitate, and so to receive the kingdom of Heaven as little children. +And oh, that grown-up people would imitate these things; for if they +would become in these respects as little children, the sweet cast of +mind would be reflected in _their_ faces too, and the ugly looks given +by envious discontent, deceitful thoughts, unkind intention and +restless want of faith and hope would all be washed out of the world. + +But now, my dear readers, can you call that the best of Fairy gifts, +which had so great a tendency to bring the naughty passions of +grown-up life into the heart, and therefore on to the face, of a +little girl? Well, but riches _have_ a tendency that way; and though +Julia was not a very naughty girl she was being led into very sad +feelings by the Fairy gift. When she went down to the company, her +secret anxiety was to examine all the dresses of her Mamma's friends +and resolve some day to surpass them all. Even as it was she received +much pleasure from knowing that her own dress was far beyond the reach +of ordinary folk. She thought too of her necklace with secret +satisfaction, when the ladies were talking to her, for she perceived +their eyes frequently attracted by its brilliancy and beauty. Then her +mind rambled into futurity, to the day when she would astonish these +very ladies far more than now by the richness of her costume. Ah, dear +readers, would our Saviour if present have called _this_ little child +to him, and said, "Of _such_ is the kingdom of Heaven?" But all these +selfish thoughts made her conversation less pleasant and cheerful than +it would otherwise have been; for you may be sure she was not +listening with any interest to what was said to her, while she was +thus planning silly schemes about herself. + +And not having listened with any interest to what was said to her, you +may guess that her answers were dull and stupid; for when people are +talking of one thing and thinking of another they become very flat +companions. At times when she could forget herself she became natural +and then was both pleasant and pleased, and asked some ladies to let +their children come and see her next day, to which they consented. But +now came a sad drawback. One of the ladies told her that her little +girl should bring to shew her a most beautiful gold fillagree work-box +set with precious stones, which one of the maids of honour about +court, who was her godmother, had given her a few days before. This +lady had saved a few of the queen's hairs very carefully, and had had +them placed in a little circle of crystal in the middle of the box, +and they were set round with the most beautiful rubies. It was a +present worthy of a Fairy Godmother, and certainly the donor was the +daughter of a duchess, which perhaps is the nearest thing to being a +fairy. + +You will be shocked, my dear readers, to hear that the account of this +box was as disagreeable as a dose of physic to poor Julia. Nay it was +_worse_ than physic, for a peppermint-drop can take the taste of that +away in a minute. But not all the peppermint-drops in a chymist's shop +could take away the taste of the fillagree-box from Julia. She had +been thinking before of showing all the treasures of her boudoir to +her little friends next day; but this horrid box was like a great +cloud closing over her sunshine. She knew she was naughty, but she was +so in the habit of being selfish she could not conquer her peevish +vexation. Annette wondered what could be the matter, and her Governess +sighed as she perceived her face clouded, even when she was repeating +her evening prayer; but no questioning could extract from her what was +amiss. + +Oh, what a condition for a child to go to sleep in! Euphrosyne was +greatly annoyed. "They are not correcting her evil dispositions," +cried she. "I do not allow that this has anything to do _necessarily_ +with being very rich." + +Ah, good Fairies, you do not know "How hardly shall they that have +riches enter into the kingdom of Heaven." + +Look now at that young face, asleep on a downy pillow, in a bed richly +hung with crimson drapery, in a room filled with luxuries, glowing +with warmth and comfort. You are shocked that the heart within should +be disturbed by nasty little envyings, that made the good things she +possessed of no value to her. 'Tis well; but remember we are all rich +by comparison. Go to the poor frost-bitten wayside beggar-child, my +little readers; bring him into your comfortable drawing-room, which +you sit in every day and think nothing about, and he will fancy he has +got into Paradise. It is a luxurious palace to him. Take him to your +snug bed and let him sleep there, and it will be to him what a state +apartment in Windsor Castle would be to you. Do not then let you and +me scold too much at Julia, but let us keep on the watch to drive away +from ourselves the discontented grumbling thoughts that are apt to +make us all ungrateful to God. Julia did not sleep well. The fillagree +box was a fort of night-mare to her. She dreamt of its growing up into +a great giant, and thumping her on the head, and calling out that she +ought to be ashamed of herself. Do you know, I think this dream was +owing to her Godmother, Euphrosyne, for she lingered behind the other +Fairies as they vanished, and shook, not waved, her wand over the +sleeping child, with a very angry face. + +In the morning Julia, like Aurora, awoke in a temporary forgetfulness +of her troubles. The morning air is so refreshing and sleep does one +so much good, and the sun shining through the windows looks so gay, +and all things speak of hope so loudly in a morning, who can be +sullen? Certainly not little girls full of life and expectation. But +the thought of the fillagree box by degrees took possession of her +mind and rankled there as before. She too had a Governess, and many +lessons to learn and much to do, and she did them; but neither English +history nor French fairy tales could quite drive away the fillagree +box. Indeed it introduced its horrid face before her into the midst of +a multiplication sum, and Mademoiselle thought she was bewitched to +have grown so stupid over her arithmetic all at once. She spent a half +hour over that one sum, and when it was done she was so much tired she +gave up lessons for the day. Besides, she had to prepare for her +friends. She went into her boudoir, opened her cabinets and unfolded +her treasures of various sorts--oh I can't tell you what beautiful +things! besides interesting collections of foreign and English shells, +and stuffed humming birds, which you and I should be charmed to +possess. And Julia was in general most happy when she was looking +over her property, but rather more because she possessed valuable +curiosities than because she cared about them, I fear. For my part, +I wonder very much that the humming birds and shells did not teach +her to be more humble-minded; for no art or jewellery can imitate or +come up to their glorious beauty. Well, she amused herself tolerably +in spite of the visions of the fillagree box and the queen's hair, +which now and then came between her and her usual feeling of +self-satisfaction. + +Presently her young friends came--several little girls of various +ages, and now nature once more revived in poor Julia. The children +felt and expressed such hearty pleasure at the sight of her treasures. +There were such joyous exclamations; such bursts of delight; such +springing and jumping about, that Julia became infected with the +general pleasure, and was a happy child herself. Yes! even though the +fillagree box had been shown off and admired. But what do children in +general know about the _value_ of things and how much they cost? Ah, +much more just in their judgments than we elders are apt to be, a bird +of Paradise such as adorned the top of Julia's cabinet, or a peacock's +tail, such as she had in a drawer, is to their unprejudiced eyes more +desirable than the gold of Ophir itself! + +So now you see this triumph of simplicity over art, despoiled the +fillagree box of all its horrors, for the innocent children admired +her shells yet more--unsophisticated, and insensible to the long story +about the value of the rubies, the maid of honour, and even the +queen's hairs. + +Still the Fairies felt and saw that it was not Euphrosyne's gift, but +rather the forgetfulness of it which caused these hours of happiness +to Julia, and somewhat puzzled as to the result they left the votary +of riches, not quite without a sensation that little Aglaia's proposal +of moderate health and enough riches to be "comfortable without being +puzzled," was about the best thing after all, though not much of a +Fairy gift. And now, my little readers, I am beginning to get rather +tired of my story, and to feel that you may do so too. I think I am +getting rather prosy, so I must try and cut the matter short. Four out +of the five Fairy gifts were like beauty and riches, worldly +advantages. For instance, there was the little girl who was to have +every earthly pleasure at her feet--i.e. she was to have every thing +she wished for--why she was fifty times worse off than either Aurora +or Julia, for I will tell you whom she was like. She was like the +fisherman's wife in Grimm's German popular fairy tales, who had every +thing she wished, and so at last wished to be king of the sun and +moon. I doubt not you remember her well, and how she was in +consequence sent back to her mud cottage. I think, therefore, I need +not describe the young lady who had _that_ Fairy gift. + +There was another who was to be _loved_ wherever she went; but nothing +is worth having that is had so easily, and this child got so sick of +being kissed and fondled and loved, that it was the greatest nuisance +to her possible, for disagreeable people loved her just as much as +nice ones, and for her part she hated them all alike. It was a very +silly Fairy gift. + +Come with me then to Ambrosia's God-daughter, whom they visited last, +and whose Fairy gift the other Fairies were to guess at! + +Neither you nor I, my dears, ever heard a fairy-laugh. Doubtless it is +a sweet and musical sound. You can perhaps fancy it? Well then, do +fancy it, and how it rang in silver peals when our fairy friends, on +entering the last nursery they had to visit, found Ambrosia's protégée +in a flood of angry tears, stamping her foot on the ground in a +passion! "You naughty naughty girl!" exclaimed the old Nurse, "you'll +wake the baby and make your own eyes so red you won't be fit to be +seen to night by the company!" + +"I don't care about my eyes being red, tho' I don't want to wake the +poor baby," sobbed the little girl, slightly softening her wrath: "but +the cat has unravelled all the stocking I have been knitting at for so +many days, and I had nearly just finished it, and now it's all +spoilt;" and she roared with vexation. "Miss Hermione, if you go on so +I shall certainly send for your Mamma, and the baby will be quite +poorly, he will! and we shall know who made him so," added Nurse +triumphantly. "I can't make the baby poorly with crying, Nurse, so +that's nonsense you know," observed Hermione; "but I didn't mean to +disturb him; only my stocking is gone, and I don't know what to do." +And here she sobbed afresh. + +"Do! why ain't you going down to the ladies, and can't you be brushing +your hair and washing your face and getting ready?" "But it isn't +time." "Well, but can't you get ready _before_ the time a little? and +then, when you're dressed and look so clean and nice and pretty, you +can sit in the chair and we can look at you!" and here the good old +Nurse gave a knowing smile and nodded her head. + +Hermione caught sight of the comical coaxing glance, and, in spite of +her misfortune, burst into a fit of laughter. "Hum, hum, hum! now +you'll wake the poor thing by laughing, Miss Hermione. I do wish you'd +be quiet:" and here the Nurse rocked the child on her knee more +vigorously than ever. + +"Then why don't you tell me what I am to do with my stocking," cried +Hermione. "Oh well, I know what I will do--something quite as quiet as +a mouse. I will wind up my poor worsted." Hereupon the little girl +picked up the puckered remains of her luckless grey stocking which a +facetious young cat had spent at least a quarter of an hour in +ingeniously unravelling with his claws. It was a tiresome tedious job +we must admit, and required a strong effort of patient perseverance, +but Hermione soon became engrossed in its difficulties and a dead +silence ensued. At last Nurse who had while rocking the sleeping baby +on her knee, been watching the child's proceedings, suddenly +exclaimed, "Well to be sure, Miss Hermione, you have such patience as +I never before did see." + +[The Fairies exchanged glances. + +"It is _Patience_, Ambrosia." + +"What a hurry you are in!" was the reply.] + +"No I haven't, Nurse, indeed," answered Hermione. "I had no patience +at all when I was in a passion with the cat just now." + +"Well, I suppose there are two or three sorts of Patiences, Miss, +then," persisted Nurse, "for I'm certain you have _some_ sorts. But, +dear me, its ever so much past six o'clock, and you have to be dressed +by half-past. Do put away the worsted and get yourself ready, Miss, +and call Jane to help you." + +Here the Nurse and Hermione nearly had a scuffle over the worsted. +Hermione declared the cat had spoilt her stocking; and the only +comfort left to her now was to roll it comfortably up into a ball. +Nurse on the contrary insisted that it didn't signify a bit what +became of the worsted; she must dress and go down. The dispute ended +by Hermione running off with the half finished ball and its untidy +remains, and cramming the whole concern into the pocket of her best +frock. "The people will soon be tired of talking to me," muttered she +to herself, "and then I can finish my ball quietly in the corner +behind Mamma's chair." + +The thought of this ingenious plan for her private amusement down +stairs so tickled Hermione's fancy that she was on the giggle the +whole time she was being dressed. "If Nurse did but know what was in +the pocket of my best frock and how fat it is! how she would scold, +and what a fight we should have." And she could hardly refrain from +loud laughter at the thought. When she had got her frock on she sat +down, and laying her arm over the fat pocket asked Jane to touch up +her curls: and while this operation was going on she began to talk to +the nurse. + +"Nurse, should you think it a very nice thing to go to a dinner party +and sit in chairs all round a large room, where the coloured covers +are taken away and everything looks very gay, and so tidy, nobody is +allowed to do anything but smile, and talk, and wear white kid +gloves?" + +"Very nice, Miss, it's so like a lady," was the Nurse's ready reply. + +"Well then, I don't think it's nice at all, Nurse--I think it's very +nasty and stupid." + +"Dear, Miss Hermione, how you do talk; I hope you won't tell the +ladies so when you get down stairs." + +"Oh dear no, that would be rude, and it's wrong to be rude, but to +tell you the truth I don't know what I shall do when I grow up if I am +obliged to be so dull as that is, very often." + +"Goodness, Miss Hermione, to hear you talk one would think you'd +better be a housemaid at once, instead of a lady with nothing to do." + +"Nurse, I should see no objection to be a housemaid at all, only that +I am learning so many things that wouldn't suit a housemaid; but +without being a housemaid there are many pleasanter things to do than +to sit in that stupid sort of way. I like the room when all Papa's +books and papers are about, and when he is scribbling away so busy, +and when Mamma has got her microscope out looking at seaweeds or +curiosities. I have a chance then myself. I don't like ladies who say +nothing but 'Pretty little dear, what a nice colour she has,' just to +please Mamma." + +What Nurse in England could be expected to enter into so philosophical +an investigation of the habits of society? + +Hermione's did nothing but assure her it was time to be off, and she +only hoped she would sit still and talk prettily, and never trouble +her head whether it was stupid or not. + +When Hermione got into the drawing room and saw the company seated as +she had described to her Nurse, she felt very much disposed to laugh +again, but made an effort and composed herself. Still her face was +beaming with mirth and fun, and when some ladies said "What a happy +looking little girl," they were quite sincere. That sort of face too +worked wonders, and her Mamma's friends liked her much and talked +pleasantly to her, and she was pleased and happy and quite forgot the +ball of worsted, as well as the ladies' white kid gloves. A young lady +however who had her arm round Hermione's waist and was playing with +her, suddenly felt the round protuberance in her pocket. "Ah you +little rogue, what have you here?" "Its a secret," cried Hermione. "I +think I can unravel your mysterious secret, little girl, you are a +favourite with the housekeeper," added she, whispering in Hermione's +ear, "and she has just given you an orange." + +"You are a very bad guesser of secrets," whispered Hermione in +return. "It's no such thing!"--"Then it's an apple." "No, nor an +apple."--"Then it's a peach, and your new frock will be spoilt." "No +it isn't a peach either, and it's a secret." The young lady loved fun, +and a playful struggle ensued between her and Hermione; in the course +of which the large grey worsted ball and its long ravelled tail were +drawn from the little pocket. + +Hermione had now to tell the history of the ball, which she did +naturally and honestly, but when she added, quite seriously, that she +intended, when they had done talking to her, to go behind her Mamma's +chair and finish winding it up, you may guess how they laughed. + +"Come here, my little dear, and let me look at you," cried an elderly +lady in spectacles, putting out her hand and laying hold of +Hermione's. "Why what an industrious little soul you must be! a +perfect pattern! There now! you may go behind my chair and finish your +ball of worsted; nobody wants to talk to you any longer." + +This old lady was rather crabbed, and had not quite believed Hermione +sincere, so she did this to try her, and expected to see her pout and +refuse. To her surprize, Hermione only said "Oh thank you, ma'am," +with a quite smiling face, and going behind the chair, sat down on the +floor to her worsted. For a few moments the old lady kept thinking "It +won't last long: she'll soon be glad of an excuse to come out:" but no +such thing happened; and just what Hermione expected did happen. The +ladies fell to talking among themselves, and in a very short time the +presence of the little girl was quite forgotten, even by the old lady, +who was handed out to dinner, without once remembering whom she had +left behind her chair. + +Hermione stayed in the room till her task was over, and then rushed up +stairs to the nursery, and stopping at the door, half opened it and +rolled the great grey worsted ball so cleverly in, that it hit the old +Nurse's foot as she sat (once more rocking the baby) over the fire. +"Goodness, bless me! what ever is that?" Then, spying a laughing face +at the door, "Oh dear heart, it's you I declare, Miss Hermione! will +you never leave off waking the baby? I thought a great black dog was +laying hold of my foot." + +"Nurse," said Hermione, "your baby is always and always going to +sleep; why doesn't he go, and then I could have a bit of fun? You +don't know where I finished winding the worsted ball!" + +"Why goodness me, Miss Hermione, where?" + +"Down in the drawing-room among all the fine ladies; so good night!" +and off she ran to avoid further explanation. A few words with her +Governess; a sober time of evening prayer; and the happy child laid +her head on her pillow, and needed no Fairy wand to lull her to sleep. +She had been some time with her Governess in the morning before her +Mamma coming to her there, heard a loud discussion going on within. +The voices, however, were those of good-humour. "Hermione," said her +Mother, "I am come to say that your Governess told me yesterday you +had been so very good for a long time over all that you have had to +do, that I have arranged for your having a holiday and a treat to-day, +and several of your young friends are coming to see you. Among them is +Aurora, the granddaughter of the old lady in spectacles, who, just +before she was going away at night, recollected you, and began to look +for you behind her chair." + +"Oh what a goose, Mamma!" "No, not a goose, my dear--only an oddity, +but a very kind one too--for she desired me to find out whether you +really did roll up the whole of the ravelled worsted last night; and +_if_ you really persevered till it was finished, I have something to +give you from her, but not otherwise. How was it?" "Oh, it's finished, +Mamma; ask Nurse; for when I rolled it against her foot last night, +she took it for a great black dog." "Well then, I suppose this is +yours, Hermione; but, I must say, I never knew a gold thimble earned +so easily." Yes, dear little readers, it was a pretty gold thimble, +and round the bottom of it there was a rim of white enamel, and on the +enamel were gold letters. + + "L'industrie ajoute à la beauté." + +"Mamma," said Hermione, looking at it in delight, as she found it +exactly fitted her finger, "it's lovely; but, do you know, I think the +old lady ought to have given it to her granddaughter, Aurora, with +such a motto." "My dear, she has had it, she told me, some months in +her pocket secretly, for the purpose you mention, but she cannot ever +satisfy herself that Aurora has got the spirit of real industry in +her, and to bribe her to _earn_ the thimble is not her object, so you +see it has accidentally fallen to your share." + +And as she said this, Hermione's mother turned round to leave the +room; but before she had reached the door, her little girl stopped +her--"Mamma, do turn back." + +"What is the matter, Hermione?" + +"I've something I want to say to you." + +"I am all attention, my dear, particularly as your face looks so +unusually grave." + +"Why, you and my Governess are always calling me _good_ for doing my +lessons well, and now you are rewarding me for being _good_ and all +that, and I don't see that I am good at all." + +"Upon my word this is a very serious matter, Hermione; who or what has +put this into your head?" + +"I read in a serious book lately, that nobody could be good without +practising self-denial; and that, to be really good, one must either +do something that one does _not_ like, or give up something that one +_does_; so that I am quite sure I cannot be good and deserve a reward +when I do French and music and drawing and work well, because I am so +very fond of doing every thing I do do, that every thing is a pleasure +to me. And there is no struggle to do what is tiresome and no other +wish to give up. The only time when I have to try to be good at all, +is when I have to leave off one thing and go to another. That is +always a little disagreeable at first, but unfortunately the +disagreeableness goes off in a very few minutes, and I like the new +employment as well as the last. This is what I was talking about to my +Governess when you came, and she laughed so loud I felt quite vexed." + +"My dear Hermione," said her Mamma, "you have quite misapplied what +you have read in the book. Self-denial is always required of us, when +we feel inclined to do any thing that is wrong, but it does not apply +to any aptitude you may have for enjoying the occupations I require of +you. That is only a piece of good fortune for you; for to many little +girls, doing lessons is a very great act of self-denial, as they want +to be doing something else. But now, as you are so lucky in liking +every thing you do, you must practise your self-denial in some other +way." + +"How, Mamma?" + +"In not being vexed when your Governess laughs, and in not being in a +passion with the cat next time he unravels your stocking." + +Hermione blushed. "Oh, Mamma, I understand the difference now." + +"But this is not all, Hermione." + +"Well, Mamma?" + +"Why, as you are so fortunate as to be always happy when employed, and +as therefore there is no _goodness_ strictly speaking, in your doing +your business so cheerfully and well, you must do this, you must spend +some portion of time every day in making your energy of use to other +people, and then you will be doing active good if not practising +self-denial." + +"Oh, Mamma, what a nice idea! Perhaps you will give me some needlework +to do for the poor women you give money to; and, besides, just now I +can do something actively useful and still a little really +disagreeable,--really it is, Mamma,--what makes you laugh?" + +"Your resolution to do something you don't like. What is it, +Hermione?" + +"To knit up again the stocking the cat pulled out. I quite dislike the +idea." + +"Then set to work by all means, Hermione. You will at least have the +comfort of 'beginning by a little aversion;' but I warn you +beforehand, not to set your heart upon the disagreeableness lasting +very long, and if you find yourself shortly, as happy as ever over the +stocking, do not be puzzled and vexed any more, but thank God as I do, +that, so far at least, you are spared one of the troubles of life. The +trouble of an indolent, discontented mind." + +An affectionate embrace was exchanged between Mother and Daughter; and +the latter, with the assistance of her Governess, recommenced the +unlucky grey stocking, and was working assiduously at it when her +young friends arrived. + +It was a curious sight to the Fairies to see two of their +god-daughters together, as they now did. But the conviction was forced +upon them, that, for the present at least, Hermione had the balance of +happiness in her favour. Whatever their amusements were,--whether +looking over curiosities, playing with dolls, or any of the numerous +games invented for the entertainment of the young, Hermione's whole +heart and attention were in the matter, and she was as much engrossed +as over learning at other times, and quite happy. With poor Aurora it +was not so; the childishness of the play every now and then annoyed +her; there was no food for her vanity, in playing with children; they +cared nothing about her beauty; the gayest and most good-natured face +has always the most charms for them, and this did not suit Aurora at +all, and ever and anon her thoughts wandered, and her wishes too. + +For ever straining into the future! + +"I cannot make out your Fairy gift at all, Ambrosia," said Euphrosyne, +"and I begin to suspect you have not given her one." + +"We are all growing philosophical, I perceive," said Ambrosia, +smiling. "Who could think you would have guessed that my happy child +has had no Fairy gift at all. But she has, I assure you. What do you +say to the Philosopher's Stone? It is quite clear that me has got +something which TURNS EVERY THING SHE TOUCHES INTO GOLD." + + * * * * * + +What _is_ the Philosopher's Stone? I hear my little readers exclaim. +There is no such thing, my dears, nor ever was; but the chymists in +old times, who were very ignorant, and yet knew that many wonderful +things had been done by the mixture of minerals and metals, and the +curious effects some had upon others, guessed that yet more wonderful +things might be found out by searching, and they got into their heads +that it might be possible to find, or make, a stone that would have +the power of turning every thing it touched into gold. In the same +manner, the doctors of those times fancied there might be such a thing +made as a draught that would turn old people into young ones again. +This was called "The Elixir of Life." But I do assure you these old +fellows never did discover either a Philosopher's Stone, or an Elixir +of Life. + +So this was only a joke of Ambrosia's. + +Now to go on and finish my story. It was ten years more before the +Fairies revisited their Godchildren in the lower world, and this time +they were to decide who had given the best Fairy gift. + +And I dare say you expect me to give you as long an account of their +visits to the young ladies of twenty, as I did of their peeps at the +little girls of ten. But I really do not think it worth while. I would +do so indeed in a minute if there were anything quite fresh and new to +describe. But on the faith of a story-teller I assure you, it would be +"the old story over again," only on an enlarged scale. + +Did you ever look at any interesting object first with your natural +eyes, and then through a microscope or magnifying glass? If so, you +will remember that through the magnifying glass you saw the same thing +again, only much bigger. + +In the same manner the ten years acted as a sort of magnifying glass +over Aurora, Julia, and Hermione. Everything was the same, but +increased in size and made clearer and plainer. + +Aurora's triumphant joy as she entered the ball-room as a beauty, was +much greater certainly than her pleasure at her Mamma's dinner party. +But the weariness and anxiety afterwards were increased also. She was +still getting away from our friend Time present, and forecasting into +some future delight. "The good time _coming_, Boys," was her, as well +as many other people's bugbear. She never could feel that (with God's +blessing) _the good time_ is always _come_. + +The only time she ever thoroughly enjoyed was the moment of being +excessively admired. But judge for yourselves how long that can last. +Could you sit and look at a pretty picture for an hour together? No, I +know you could not. You cannot think how short a time it takes to say +"Dear me, what a beautiful girl!" and then, perhaps, up comes somebody +who addresses the admiring gazer on the subject of Lord John Russel's +last speech, and the "beautiful girl," so all important in her own +eyes, is as entirely forgotten as if she had never been seen. And +then, to let you into another secret, Aurora was by no means a very +entertaining companion: nobody _can_ be, with their heads full of +themselves: and she had often the mortification, even in that scene of +her triumph, a ball-room, of feeing her admirers drop off, to amuse +themselves with other people; less handsome perhaps, but more +interesting than herself. + +And so the Fairies, having accompanied her through a day of Triumphs, +mixed with mortifications, followed by languors, unsettled by hopes of +future joy, clouded with anxieties that all but spoilt those +hopes:--came one and all to the conclusion that Aurora could not be +considered as a model of human happiness. + +Nor could they say much more for Julia. Perhaps, indeed, there is more +equanimity in the pleasures of a very rich person, than in those of a +very beautiful one: but, oh dear, they are of such a mean sort! Still, +there is a good deal of impertinent comfort in money I do admit. Life +rolls on, upon such well oiled hinges! The rich say, "Do this," to +people around them; and the people, "do it." But the Fairies had no +sympathy with such an _unnatural_ fault as the pride of wealth. They +saw Julia reclining in one of those "lumbering things" they so much +despised: and driving round the "dirty town" they so much disliked: +and along a park a great deal too smoky for their taste: and they +could not understand the haughty glance of self-satisfaction with +which she looked out upon the walking crowds she passed, or the +affected graciousness with which she smiled upon the few whom she +condescended to recognize as acquaintances. They thought her very +naughty and very absurd for being conceited about such matters. They +followed her to her Milliner's too, and there I assure you they had +nearly betrayed their presence by the uncontrollable fits of laughter +they fell into when she was trying on, or talking about, bonnets, head +dresses, gowns, &c. with the affected Frenchwoman who showed them off. +Julia cared for nothing because it was pretty or tasteful, but chose +every thing by its costliness and magnificence. Of course the milliner +assured her that every thing she took a fancy to from its rarity, was +becoming; and then, oh dear! how the Fairies were amused! for poor +Julia looked downright ugly in some of the things she selected, and +still went away as self satisfied as ever, on the old grounds that the +costume was so expensive that none of her acquaintance could get one +like it. This was still her chief comfort! Euphrosyne actually shook +her fist at her as she was going away, and she had the toothache for +the rest of the day, and was extremely cross to her husband in +consequence. For, by the way, Julia had married--and married a +nobleman--a man somewhat older than herself; but he and she had had a +sort of mutual conviction that riches and rank go very well together, +and so they married; and suited very well in this respect, that as +their heads were full of other things they neither claimed nor +required from each other a great amount of affection. + +Still, was Julia happy? The Fairies shook their heads. She had +gardens, hot-houses, magnificent collections of curiosities, treasures +that might have softened and opened her heart, if she had made a right +use of them. But riches have a very hardening tendency, and she never +struggled against it. + +Then, too, she could get every thing she wanted so easily, that she +cared very little about anything. Life becomes very stale when your +hands are full and you have nothing to ask for. + +Her greatest pleasure was to create astonishment and envy among her +associates: but, besides the naughtiness of the feeling, this is a +triumph of very short duration; for most people, when they cannot get +at what they envy, amuse themselves with something else; and then, +what a mortification to see them do this! + +"Besides," said the Fairies, "we must follow her into her solitude, to +see if she is happy." + +Ah! there, lying back once more in the easy chair, in a dress which-- + + "China's gayest art had dyed," + +do you think that self-satisfied, but still uncheerful looking face +tells of happiness? + +No! She too, like Aurora, was unoccupied, and forecasting into +futurity for the "good time coming," which so many spend their lives +in craving after and expecting, but which the proud, the selfish and +the idle never reach to. + +The Fairies turned from her sorrowful and angry. + + * * * * * + +In the outskirts of a forest, just where its intricacy had broken away +into picturesque openings, leaving visible some strange old trees with +knotted trunks and mysteriously twisted branches, sat a young girl +sketching. She was intently engaged, but as her eyes were ever and +anon raised from her paper to the opening glade, and one of the old +trees, the Fairies had no difficulty in recognizing their protégée, +Hermione. The laughing face of childhood had become sobered and +refined by sentiment and strength, but contentment and even enjoyment +beamed in her eyes as she thoughtfully and earnestly pursued her +beautiful art. The little beings who hovered around her in that sweet +spot, almost forgot they were not in Fairy land; the air was so full +of sweet odours from ferns and mosses, and the many other delicious +scents you find so constantly in woods. + +Besides which, it amused the good souls to watch Hermione's skilful +hand tracing the scene before her; and they felt an admiring delight +when they saw the old tree of the forest reappear on the paper, with +all the shadows and lights the sun just then threw upon it, and they +wondered not a little at the skill with which she gave distance and +perspective to the glade beyond. They felt, too, that though the +drawing they saw rising under the sketcher's hand was not made +powerful by brilliant effects or striking contrasts, it was +nevertheless overflowing with the truth and sentiment of nature. It +was the impression of the scene itself, viewed through the poetry of +the artist's mind; and as the delicate creatures who hung over the +picture, looked at it, they almost longed for it, slight as it was, +that they might carry it away, and hang it up in their fairy palace as +a faithful representation of one of the loveliest spots of earth, the +outskirts of an ancient English forest. + +It is impossible to say how long they might not have staid watching +Hermione, but that after a time the sketch was finished, and the young +lady after writing beneath it Schiller's well known line in +Wallenstein, arose. "Das ist das Loos des Schönen auf der Erde."[1] + +[1] "Such is the lot of the beautiful upon earth." + +The poor tree was marked for felling! Ambrosia was almost affected to +tears, once more. The scene was so beautiful, and the allusion so +touching, and there seemed to her such a charm over her God-daughter +Hermione; she was herself so glad, too, to feel sure that success had +crowned her gift, that, altogether, her Fairy heart grew quite soft. +"You may do as you like about observing Hermione further," cried she. +"But, for my part, I am now satisfied. She is enjoying life to the +uttermost; all its beauties of sight and sound; its outward +loveliness; its inward mysteries. She will never marry but from love, +and one whose heart can sympathise with hers. Ah, Ianthe, what more +has life to give? You will say, she is not beautiful; perhaps not for +a marble statue; but the grace of poetical feeling is in her every +look and action. Ah, she will walk by the side of manhood, turning +even the hard realities of life into beauty by that living well-spring +of sweet thoughts and fancies that I see beaming from her eyes. Look +at her now, Ianthe, and confess that surely that countenance breathes +more beauty than chiselled features can give." And certainly, whether +some mesmeric influence from her enthusiastic Fairy Godmother was +working on Hermione's brain, or whether her own quotation upon the +doomed tree had stirred up other poetical recollections, I know not; +but as she was retracing her steps homewards, she repeated to herself +softly but with much pathos, Coleridge's lines:[2] + + "O lady, we receive but what we give, + And in our life alone does nature live: + Ours is her wedding-garment, ours her shroud! + And would we aught behold, of higher worth, + Than that inanimate cold world allowed + To the poor loveless ever anxious crowd, + Ah! from the soul itself must issue forth + A light, a glory, a fair luminous cloud + Enveloping the earth-- + And from the soul itself must there be sent + A sweet and potent voice, of its own birth, + Of all sweet sounds the life and element!" + +[2] Coleridge's "Dejection: an Ode." + +And, turning through the little handgate at the extremity of the wood, +she pursued the train of thought with heightened colour in her +cheeks-- + + "I may not hope from outward forms to win + The passion and the life, whose fountains are within." + +And thus Hermione reached her home, her countenance lighted up by the +pleasure of success, and the sweet and healthy musings of her solitary +walk. + +She entered the library of a beautiful country house by the low window +that opened on to the lawn, and found her mother reading. + +"I cannot tell you how lovely the day is, Mamma, every thing is so +fresh, and the shadows and lights are so good! I have immortalized our +poor old friend the oak, before they cut him down," added she, +smiling, as she placed the drawing in her mother's hands. "I wish the +forest belonged to some one who had not this cruel taste for turning +knotted oak trees into fancy work-tables. It is as bad as what Charles +Lamb said of the firs, 'which look so romantic alive, and die into +desks.'--Die into desks!" repeated Hermione musingly, as she seated +herself on the sofa, and took up a book that was before her on the +table; mechanically removing her bonnet from her head, and laying it +down by her side as she spoke. + +And here for some time there was a silence, during which Hermione's +mother ceased reading, and, lifting up her eyes, looked at her +daughter with mingled love, admiration, and interest. "I wish I had +her picture so," dreamt the poor lady, as she gazed; "so earnest, and +understanding, and yet so simple, and kind!--There is but one +difficulty for her in life," was the next thought; "with such keen +enjoyment of this world, such appreciation of the beauties, and +wonders, and delights of God's creations on earth--to keep the eye of +faith firmly fixed on the 'better and more enduring inheritance,' to +which both she and I, but I trust she, far behind, are hastening. Yet, +by God's blessing, and with Christian training, and the habit of +active charity, and the vicissitudes of life, I have few or no fears. +But such capability of happiness in this world is a great temptation, +and I sometimes fancy must therefore have been a Fairy gift." And here +the no longer young Mother of Hermione fell into a reverie, and a long +pause ensued, during which Ambrosia felt very sad, for it grieved her +to think that the good and reasonable Mother should be so much afraid +of Fairy gifts, even when the result had been so favourable. + +A note at length interrupted the prolonged silence. It was from Aurora +the Beauty, whose Father possessed a large estate in the +neighbourhood, and who had just then come into the country for a few +weeks. Aurora earnestly requested Hermione and her Mother to visit +her. + +"I will do as you wish," said Hermione, looking rather grave; "but +really a visit to Aurora is a sort of small misfortune." + +"I hope you are not envious of her beauty, Hermione? Take care." + +"Nay, you are cruel, Mamma, now. I should like to be handsome, but not +at the expense of being so very dull in spirits as poor Aurora often +is. But really, unless you have ever spent an hour alone with her, you +can form no idea of how tired one gets." + +"What of, Hermione? of her face?" + +"Oh no, not of her face; it is charming, and by the way you have just +put into my head how I may escape from being tired, even if I am left +alone with her for hours!" + +"Nay, now you really puzzle me, my dear; I suggested nothing but +looking at her face." + +"Ah, but as she is really and truly such a model of beauty, what do +you think of offering to make a likeness of her, Mamma? It will +delight her to sit and be looked at, even by me, in the country, and I +shall be so much pleased to have such a pleasant occupation. I am +quite reconciled to the idea of going." + +And a note was written, and despatched accordingly. + +"But," persisted Hermione, rising to sit near her Mother, "you do not +above half know Aurora. One would think she had been born in what is +called a 'four warnt way,' with nothing but cross roads about her. +Nothing is ever right. She is always either exhausted with the heat of +the sun, or frozen with cold, or the evening is so tedious, she wants +it to be bedtime, or if there is any unusual gaiety going on, she +quarrels with the same length of evening, because it is so intolerably +short; and, in short, she is never truly happy but when she is +surrounded by admirers, whether men or women. And this seems to me to +be a sad way of '_getting her time over_,' as the poor women say of +life. Ah, Mamma, it goes but too quickly." + +"Aurora is indeed foolish," musingly ejaculated the Mother. + +"Not altogether either, my dear Mother. She knows much; but the fault +is, she cares for nothing. She has got the carcase, as it were, of +knowledge and accomplishments; but the vivifying spirit is wanting. +You know yourself how well she plays and sings occasionally, if there +is a question of charming a room full of company. Yet there can be no +sentiment about her music after all, or it would be an equal pleasure +to her at other times. But really it almost makes me as discontented +with life as herself to hear her talk in unexcited hours. Turning over +my books one day, she said, 'You can never be either a poet or a +painter, or a Mozart or a philosopher, Hermione? what is the use of +all your labour and poking?' What could I say? I felt myself colour +up, and I laughed out, 'Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is +vanity!' Yet certainly God has set before us the things of earth in +order that we may admire and find them out; and that is the answer to +all such foolish questions!" And Hermione was turning to leave the +room, but she came back and said--"Do you know, Mamma, though you will +laugh at the idea, I do think Aurora would be a very nice girl, and +very happy, if she either could grow very ugly all at once, or if any +thing in the world could make her forget her beauty.--And," added she, +in a half whisper, "if there is any thing in Fairy lore, I could +almost fancy some cruel Fairy had owed her family a grudge, and had +given her this gift of excessive beauty on purpose to be the plague +and misfortune of her life." + + * * * * * + +"Enough, enough, and too much," cried Euphrosyne impatiently. "The +matter is now, I think, concluded. Ianthe and I have failed, and +though you are successful, Ambrosia, even you have not come off +without a rebuff. Now, farewell to earth. I am weary of it. I do not +know your gift, and I am sick of listening to conversations I cannot +understand. Let us begone. If we de delay, they will begin again. Ah, +my sisters, my spirit yearns for our fairer clime!" + +And they arose; but yet awhile they lingered on the velvet lawn before +that country-house, for as they were preparing for flight, the sounds +they loved so well, of harmonious music, greeted their ears. + +"Ah, there is the artist's hand again," cried Ambrosia. "I see the +lovely sketch before me once more!" + +And so it was, that it, and the peaceful forest scene, and the +interesting face of Hermione, seemed to reappear before them all as +they listened to her music. Tender, and full of sentiment were the +sounds at first, as if the musician were acting the scene of the opera +whence they came. + +"Lieder ohne Worte,"[3] murmured Ambrosia. + +[3] Songs without Words.--Mendelssohn. + +But it was to the swelling sounds of a farewell chorus that they arose +into the air, and took their leave of earth. + +And now, dear Readers, there is but one thing more to do. To ask if +you have guessed the Fairy gift? + +The Fairies, you see, had not. What Euphrosyne had said was true. They +had listened to such a quantity of conversation they could not +understand, and they were so unused to _think_ much about any thing, +or to hear much beyond their own pretty light talk and sweet songs, +that their poor little brains had got quite muddled. + +Perhaps remaining so long in the Earth's atmosphere helped to cloud +their intelligence. Certain it is, they returned very pensive, very +cross, and rather dusty to Fairy Land. + +They arrived at the beautiful bay I first described, and floated to a +large party of their sisters, who were dancing on the sands. + +There was a clapping of tiny hands, and shouts of joy as they +approached; and "What news? what news?" cried many voices. + +"Ah, what news, Sister Euphrosyne!" cried little Aglaia, floating +forward, "from the smudgy old earth; Is it beauty, riches, or what?" + +"I cannot answer your question," said Euphrosyne, pushing forward. + +A circle was now formed round the travellers, and the details I have +given you were made by Ianthe. And she wound up by saying, "And what +Ambrosia's gift to Hermione has been, we cannot make out." + +"Then I will tell you!" cried little Aglaia, springing lightly high +into the air, and descending gently on a huge shell at her feet; "_She +likes every thing she does, and she likes to be always doing +something_. You can't put the meaning into one word, as you can Beauty +and Riches; but still it _is_ something. Can't you think of some way +of saying what I have told you? Dear me, how stupid you are all grown. +And _liking_ isn't the right word: it is something stronger than +common _liking_." + +"Love, perhaps," murmured Leila. + +"An excellent idea," cried Euphrosyne; "dear me, this delicious air is +clearing my poor head. Sisters, I will express it for you, and +Ambrosia shall say if I am right. It is THE LOVE OF EMPLOYMENT." + +Ambrosia laughed assent; but a low murmur of discontent resounded +through the Fairy group. + +"Intolerable!" cried Leila, shrugging her shoulders like a French +woman. + +"It is no Fairy gift at all," exclaimed others; "it is downright +plodding and working." + +"If the human race can be made happy by nothing but labour," cried +another; "I propose we leave them to themselves, and give them no more +Fairy gifts at all." + +"Remember," cried Ambrosia, now coming forward, "this is our first +experiment upon human happiness. Hitherto we have given Fairy gifts, +and never enquired how they have acted. And I feel sure we have always +forgotten one thing, viz. that poor men and women living in Time, and +only having in their power the small bit of it which is present, +cannot be happy unless they make Time present happy. And there is but +one plan for that; I use Aglaia's words: '_To like every thing you do, +and like to be always doing something_.'" + +Ambrosia ceased speaking, and the circled group were silent too. They +were not satisfied, however; but those sweet, airy people take nothing +to heart for long. For a short time they wandered about in little +knots of two and three, talking, and then joined together in a dance +and song, ere night surrounded them. There was from that time, +however, a general understanding among them that the human race was +too coarse and common to have much sympathy with Fairies, and even the +Godmothers agreed to this, for they were sadly tired with the unusual +quantity of thinking and observing they had had to undergo. So if you +ever wonder, dear Readers, that Fairy Gifts and Fairy Godmothers have +gone out of fashion; you may conclude that the adventure of Ambrosia +and Hermione is the reason. + + * * * * * + +The story is ended; and if any enquiring child should say, "There are +no more Fairy gifts, and we can no more give ourselves love of +employment than beauty or riches;" let me correct this dangerous +error! Wiser heads than mine have shown that every thing we do becomes +by HABIT, not only _easy_, but actually _agreeable_.[4] + +[4] Abercrombie. Moral Feelings. + +Dear Children! encourage a habit of _attention_ to whatever you +undertake, and you may make that habit not only easy, but agreeable; +and then, I will venture to promise you, you will _like_ and even +_love_ your occupations. And thus, though you may not have so many +talents as Hermione, you may call all those you do possess, into play, +and make them the solace, pleasure and resources of your earthly +career. + +If you do this, I think you will not feel disposed to quarrel, as the +Fairies did, with Ambrosia's gift; for increased knowledge of the +world, and your own happy experience, will convince you more and more +that no Fairy Gift is so well worth having, as, + +THE LOVE OF EMPLOYMENT. + + + + +JOACHIM THE MIMIC. + + +There was, once upon a time, a little boy, who, living in the time +when Genies and Fairies used now and then to appear, had all the +advantage of occasionally seeing wonderful sights, and all the +_dis_advantage of being occasionally dreadfully frightened. This +little boy was one day walking alone by the sea side, for he lived in +a fishing town, and as he was watching the tide, he perceived a bottle +driven ashore by one of the big waves. He rushed forward to catch it +before the wave sucked it back again, and succeeded. Now then he was +quite delighted, but he could not get the cork out, for it was +fastened down with rosin, and there was a seal on the top. So being +very impatient, he took a stone and knocked the neck of the bottle +off. + +What was his surprize to find himself instantly suffocated with a +smoke that made his eyes smart and his nose sneeze, just as much as if +a quantity of Scotch snuff had been thrown over him! He jumped about +and puffed a good deal, and was just beginning to cry, as a matter of +course for a little boy when he is annoyed; when lo! and behold! he +saw before him such an immense Genie, with black eyes and a long +beard, that he forgot all about crying and began to shake with fear. + +The Genie told him he need not be afraid, and desired him not to +shake; for, said he, "You have been of great use to me; a Genie, +stronger than myself, had fastened me up in yonder bottle in a fit of +ill humour, and as he had put his seal at the top, nobody could draw +the cork. Luckily for me, you broke the neck of the bottle, and I am +free. Tell me therefore, good little boy, what shall I do for you to +show my gratitude?" + +But now, before I go on with this, I must tell you that the day before +the little boy's adventure with the bottle and the Genie, the King of +that country had come to the fishing town I spoke of, in a gold +chariot drawn by twelve beautiful jet black horses, and attended by a +large train of officers and followers. A herald went before announcing +that the King was visiting the towns of his dominions, for the sole +purpose of doing justice and exercising acts of charity and kindness. +And all people in trouble and distress were invited to come and lay +their complaints before him. And accordingly they did so, and the good +King, though quite a youth, devoted the whole day to the benevolent +purpose he proposed; and it is impossible to describe the amount of +good he accomplished in that short time. Among others who benefited +was our little boy's Mother, a widow who had been much injured and +oppressed. He redressed her grievances, and in addition to this, +bestowed valuable and useful presents upon her. "Look what an example +the young King sets," was the cry on every side! "Oh, my son, imitate +him!" exclaimed our poor Widow, as in a transport of joy and emotion, +she threw her arms around her boy's neck. "I wish I _could_ imitate +him and be like him!" murmured little Joachim: (such was the child's +name). "My boy," cried the Widow, "imitate every thing that is good, +and noble, and virtuous, and you _will_ be like him!" Joachim looked +earnestly in her face, but was silent. He understood a good deal that +his Mother meant; he knew he was to try to do every thing that was +good, and so be like the young King; but, as he was but a little boy, +I am not quite sure that he had not got a sort of vague notion of the +gold chariot and the twelve jet black horses, mixed up with his idea +of imitating all that was good and noble and virtuous, and being like +the young King. I may be wrong; but, at seven years old, you will +excuse him if his head did get a little confused, and if he could not +quite separate his ideas of excessive virtue and goodness from all the +splendour in which the pattern he was to imitate appeared before his +eyes. + +However that may be, his Mother's words made a profound impression +upon him. He thought of nothing else, and if he had been in the silly +habit of telling his dreams, I dare say he would have told his mother +next morning that he had been dreaming of them. Certainly they came +into his head the first thing in the morning; and they were still in +his head when he walked along by the sea-shore, as has been described; +so much so, that even his adventure did not make him forget them; and +therefore, when this Genie, as I told you before, offered to do any +thing he wanted, little Joachim said, "Genie, I want to imitate every +thing that is good, and noble, and virtuous, so you must make me +able!" + +The Genie looked very much surprized, and rather confused; he expected +to have been asked for toys, or money, or a new horse, or something +nice of that sort; but Joachim looked very grave, so the Genie saw he +was in earnest, and he did a most wonderful thing for a Genie; he +actually sat down beside the little boy to talk to him. I don't +recollect that a single Genie in the Arabian Nights, ever did such a +thing before; but this Genie did: What is more, he stroked his beard, +and spoke very softly, as follows: + +"My dear little boy, you have asked a great thing. I can do part of +what you wish, but not all; for you have asked what concerns the heart +and conscience, and we Genies, cannot influence these, for the great +Ruler of all things alone has them under his control. He allows us, +however, power over the intellect--ah! now I see you cannot understand +me, little boy!--Well! I mean this;--I can make your head clever, but +I cannot make your heart good: I can give you the power of imitation, +but as to _what_ you imitate, that must depend upon yourself, and the +great Being I dare not name!" + +After saying this, the Genie laid his immense forefingers on each side +of Joachim's head just above his forehead, and then disappeared. + +Joachim felt no pain, but when he got up and put on his cap to go +home, his head seemed almost too large for it. + +Perhaps he wanted a new cap, but the phrenologists would tell you he +had got the organ of Imitation. + +He did not thoroughly understand what the Genie said, but he was +convinced that something had been done towards making him like to the +young King. As he was dawdling home, his eye was struck by the sight +of a beautiful because picturesque dark fishing-boat, which he saw +very plainly, because the red sun was setting behind it. Joachim felt +a strange wish to make something like it; and, taking up a bit of +white chalk he saw at his feet, he drew a picture of the boat on the +tarred side of another that was near him. While he was so engaged, an +old fisherman came up very angrily. He thought the child was +disfiguring his boat; but, to his surprise, he saw that the little +fellow's drawing was so capital, he wished he could do as much +himself. + +"Why, who taught you to do that, young Master?" said he. + +Joachim was no great talker at any time, and he now merely said, +"Nobody," and smiled. + +"Well, you must draw my boat some day, for me to hang up; and now +here's a luck penny for you, for you certainly are a capital hand for +such a youngster." + +Joachim was greatly pleased with the penny, for it was a curious old +one, with a hole through it; and he told his Mother all about it; but +though it may seem strange, he never mentioned the bottle and the +Genie to her at all. That appeared to him to be a quite private affair +of his own. + +He altered very much, however, by degrees. He had been till then +rather a dull, silent boy: now he talked much more, was more amusing, +was always endeavouring to draw, and after being at church would try +to read the prayers like the parson. His Mother was delighted. She +began to think her son would grow up a good scholar after all, and +being now well off, owing to the King's kindness, she resolved on +sending little Joachim to school. + +To school, accordingly, he went; and here, my little readers, there +was a great change for him. Hitherto he had lived very much alone with +his Mother, and being quiet, and somewhat dull by nature, he had never +till quite lately had many acquaintances of his own age. + +Now, however, he found himself among great numbers of youths, of all +ages, and all characters. At first he was shy and observant, but this +soon wore off, and he became a favourite. Nobody was more liked at any +time, and he was completely unrivalled in the play-ground. He could +set all the boys in a roar of laughter, when, hid behind a bush, he +would bark so like a dog that the unhappy wights who were not in the +secret expected to see a vicious hound spring out upon them, and took +to their heels in fright. He was first in every attempt at acting, +which the boys got up; and there was not a cat nor a pig in the +neighbourhood whose mew and squeak he could not give with the utmost +exactness. If you ask how he got on at lessons, I must say--well, but +not _very_ well. His powers of entertaining his companions were so +great, that I fear he found their easily-acquired praise more tempting +than the rewards of laborious learning. He could learn easily enough, +it is true; but while his steadier neighbours were working hard, he +was devising some new scheme for fun when lessons should be over, or +making some odd drawing on his slate to induce his companions to an +outburst of laughter. + +There were many excuses to be made for little Joachim; and it is +always so pleasant to please, that I do not much wonder at his being +led astray by possessing the power. + +Time went on, meanwhile; and Joachim became aware at last that he +possessed a larger share than common of the power of imitation. When +he first clearly felt this, he thought of the Genie and his two +forefingers, I believe;--but his school life, and his funny ways, and +the constant diversion of his mind, quite prevented his thinking of +all the serious things the Genie had spoken. Nay, even his Mother's +words had nearly faded from his mind, and he had forgotten the young +King, and his own wishes to be like him. It was a pity it was so; but +so it was! Poor Joachim! he was a very good fellow, and kind also in +reality; but first the pleasure of making his companions laugh, and +then the pleasure of being a sort of little great man among them, were +fast misleading him. For instance, though at first he amused them by +imitating dogs, and cats, and pigs, he next tried his powers at +imitating any thing queer and odd in the boys themselves, and, for a +time, this was most entertaining. When he mimicked the awkward walk of +one boy, and the bad drawl of another, and the loutish carriage of a +third, the school resounded with shouts of laughter, which seemed to +our Hero a great triumph,--something like the cheers which had greeted +the good young King as he left the fishing-town. But certainly the +cause was a very different one! By degrees, however, it must be +admitted, that Joachim's popularity began a little to decrease; for, +though a boy has no objection to see his neighbour laughed at, he does +not like quite so well to be laughed at himself, and there are very +few who can bear it with good humour. And now Joachim had given such +way to the pastime, that he was always hunting up absurdities in his +friends and neighbours, and _no one felt safe_. + +It was a long time before Joachim found out the change that was taking +place, for there were still plenty of loud laughers on his side; but +once or twice he had a feeling that all was not right: for instance, +one day when he mimicked the awkward walker to the boy who spoke badly +and stuttered, and then in the afternoon imitated the stutterer to the +awkward boy, he had a twinge of conscience, for it whispered to him +that he was a sneak, and deceitful; particularly, as both these boys +had often helped him in doing his sums and lessons when he was too +idle and _too funny_ to labour at them himself. In fact, he had been +so much helped that he was sadly behind hand in his books, for all the +school had been willing to assist "that good fellow '_Joke him_,'" as +they called him. + +At last a crisis came. A new boy arrived at the school; very big for +his age, and rather surly tempered, but a hard working, persevering +lad, who was striving hard to learn and get on. He had one defect. He +lisped very much, which certainly is an ugly trick, and sounded silly +in a great stout boy, nearly five feet high: but he had this excuse; +--his mother had died when he was very little, and his good Father had +more important business on hand in supporting his family, of which +this boy was the eldest, than in teaching him to pronounce his S's +better. It is perhaps only Mothers who attend to these little matters. +Well;--this great big boy was two or three days at the school before +Joachim went near him. There was something serious, stern, and unfunny +in his face, and when Joachim was making the other boys laugh, the +great big boy never even smiled, but fixed his eyes in a rather +unpleasant manner upon Joachim as he raised them from his books. Still +he was an irresistible subject for the Mimic; for, though he learnt +his lessons without a mistake, and always obtained the Master's +praise, he read them with so strong a lisp, and this was rendered so +remarkable by his loud, deep voice, that it fairly upset what little +prudence Joachim possessed; and, as he returned one day to his seat, +after repeating a copy of verses in the manner I have described, +Joachim, who was not far off, echoed the last two lines with such +accuracy of imitation, that it startled even the Master, who was at +that moment leaving the school-room. + +But no laugh followed as usual, for all eyes were suddenly turned on +the big boy, who, crimson with indignation, and yet quite +self-possessed in manner, walked up to Joachim and deliberately +knocked him down on the floor. Great was Joachim's amazement, you may +be sure, and severe was the blow that had levelled him; but still more +severe were the words that followed. "Young rascal," exclaimed the big +boy, "who has put _you_ in authority over your elders, that you are to +be correcting our faults and failings, instead of attending to your +own. You are beholden to any lad in the school who will do your sums, +and write your exercises for you, and then you take upon yourself to +ridicule us if we cannot pronounce our well learnt lessons to your +fancy! You saucy imp, who don't know what labour and good conduct are, +and who have nothing to boast of, but the powers which a monkey +possesses to a greater extent than yourself!" Fancy Joachim's rage! +_He_, the admired wit! the popular boy! nothing better than a monkey! +He sprang up and struck his fist into the face of his antagonist with +such fury, that the big boy, though evidently unwilling to fight one +less than himself, was obliged to bestow several sharp blows before he +could rid himself of Joachim's passion. + +At last, however, other boys separated them; but Joachim, who was +quite unused to fighting, and who had received a very severe shock +when he first fell, became so sick and ill that he was obliged to go +home. His Mother asked what was the matter. "He had been quizzing a +great big boy who lisped, and the boy knocked him down, and they had +fought." His Mother sighed; but she saw he was too poorly for talking, +so she put him to bed and nursed him carefully. + +Now, you may say, what had this Mother been about, not to have found +out and corrected Joachim's fault before? First, he was very little at +home, and as owing to the help of others, his idleness had not become +notorious, she had heard no complaints from the Masters, and thinking +he did his lessons well, she felt averse to stopping his fun and +amusements in holiday hours. Still, she had latterly begun to have +misgivings which this event confirmed. In a few days Joachim was +better, and came down stairs, and his Aunt and two or three Cousins +called to enquire after him. Their presence revived Joachim's flagging +spirits, and all the boys got together to talk and laugh. Soon their +voices echoed through the house. Joachim was at his old tricks again, +and the Schoolboys, the Ushers and the Master all furnished food for +mirth. His Cousins roared with delight. "Clever child!" exclaimed his +Aunt, "what a treasure you are in a house! one could never be dull +where _you_ are!" "Sister, Sister!" cried Joachim's Mother, "do not +say so!" "My dear," said the Aunt, "are you dull enough to be unable +to appreciate your own child's wit; oh, I wish you would give him to +me. Come here, my dear Joachim, and do the boy that walks so badly +once more for me; it's enough to kill one to see you take him off!" +Joachim's spirits rose above all control. Excited by his Aunt's +praise and the sense of superior ability, he surpassed himself. He +gave the bad walker to perfection; then imitated a lad who had +commenced singing lessons, and whose voice was at present broken and +bad. He even gave the big boy's lisp once more, and followed on with a +series of pantomimic exhibitions. + +All at once, he cast his eyes on his Mother's face--that face so full +of intelligence and the mild sorrow of years of widowhood, borne with +resigned patience. Her eyes were full of tears, and there was not a +smile on her countenance. Joachim's conscience--he knew not +why--twinged him terribly. He stopped suddenly; "Mother!" + +"Come here, Joachim!" He came. + +"Is that boy whom you have been imitating--your Aunt says so +cleverly--the _best_ walker of all the boys in your school?" + +"The _best_, Mother?" and the puzzled Joachim could not suppress a +smile. His Cousins grinned. + +"Dear Mother, of course not," continued Joachim, "on the contrary, he +is the very worst!" + +"Oh--well, have you no _good_ walkers at your school?" + +"Oh yes, several; indeed one especially; his father was a soldier, he +walks beautifully." + +"Does he, Joachim? Let me see you walk like him, my dear." + +Joachim stepped boldly enough into the middle of the room, and drew +himself up; but a sudden consciousness of his extreme inferiority to +the soldier's son, both in figure, manner and mode of walking, made +him feel quite sheepish. There was a pause of expectation. + +"Now then!" said Joachim's Mother. + +"I cannot walk like _him_, Mother," said Joachim. + +"Why not?" + +"Because he walks so _very well_!" + +"Oh,"--said Joachim's Mother. + +There was another pause. + +"Come, Joachim," continued the Widow, "I am very anxious to admire you +as much as your Aunt does. You are not tired; let us have some more +exhibitions. You gave us a song just now horribly out of tune, and +with the screeching voice of a bagpipe." + +"I was singing like Tom Smith," interrupted Joachim. + +"Is he your best singer?" enquired the Mother. Another laugh followed. + +"Nay, Mother, no one sings so badly." + +"Indeed! How does the Singing Master sing, Joachim?" + +"Oh, Mother," cried Joachim, "so beautifully, it would make the tears +come into your eyes with pleasure, to listen to him." + +"Well, but as I cannot listen to him, let me, at all events, have the +pleasure of hearing my clever son imitate him," was the reply. + +Joachim was mute. He had a voice, though not a remarkable one, but he +had shirked the labour of trying to improve it by practice. He made +one effort to sing like the Master, but overpowered by a sense of +incapacity, his voice failed, and he felt disposed to cry. + +"Why, Joachim, I thought you were such a clever creature you could +imitate any thing," cried the Mother. + +No answer fell from the abashed boy, till a sudden thought revived +him. + +"But I _can_ imitate the singing-master, Mother." + +"Let me hear you, my dear child." + +"Why it isn't exactly what you can hear," observed Joachim +murmuringly; "but when he sings, you have no idea what horrible faces +he makes. Nay, it's true, indeed, he turns up his eyes, shuts them, +distorts his mouth, and swings about on the stool like the pendulum of +a clock!" + +And Joachim performed all the grimaces and contortions to perfection, +till his Aunt and Cousins were convulsed with laughter. + +"Well done," cried his Mother. "Now you are indeed like the cat in the +German fable, Joachim! who voted himself like the bear, because he +could lick his paws after the same fashion, though he could not +imitate either his courage or his strength. Now let me look a little +further into your education. Bring me your drawing-book." It came, and +there was page after page of odd and ugly faces, strange noses, +stranger eyes, squinting out of the book in hideous array. + +"I suppose you will laugh again if I ask you if these are the +_beauties_ of your school, Joachim;--but tell me seriously, are there +no good, pleasant, or handsome faces among your schoolfellows?" + +"Plenty, Mother; one or two the Master calls models, and who often sit +to him to be drawn from." + +"Draw one of those faces for me, my dear; I am fond of beauty." And +the Mother placed the book in his hands, pointing to a blank page. + +Joachim took a pencil, and sat down. _Now_ he thought he should be +able to please his Mother; but, alas, he found to his surprise, that +the fine faces he tried to recall had not left that vivid impression +on his brain which enabled him to represent them. On the contrary, he +was tormented and baffled by visions of the odd forms and grotesque +countenances he had so often pictured. He seized the Indian-rubber and +rubbed out nose after nose to no purpose, for he never could replace +them with a better. Drawing was his favourite amusement; and this +disappointment, where he expected success, broke down his already +depressed heart. He threw the book from him, and burst into a flood of +tears. + +"Joachim! have you drawn him? What makes you cry?" + +"I cannot draw him, Mother," sobbed the distressed boy. + +"And why not? Just look here; here is an admirable likeness of +squinting Joe, as you have named him. Why cannot you draw the handsome +boy?" + +"Because his face is so handsome!" answered Joachim, still sobbing. + +"My son," said his Mother gravely, "you have now a sad lesson to +learn, but a necessary and a wholesome one. Get up, desist from +crying, and listen to me." + +Poor Joachim, who loved his mother dearly, obeyed. + +"Joachim! your Aunt, and your Cousins, and your schoolfellows have all +called you clever. In what does your cleverness consist? I will tell +you. In the Reproduction of Deformity, Defects, Failings, and +Misfortunes of every sort, that fall under your observation. A worthy +employment truly! A noble ambition! But I will now tell you the truth +about yourself. You never heard it before, and I feel sure you will +benefit now. A good or an evil Genie, I know not which, has bestowed +upon you a great power; and you have misused it. Do you know what that +power is?" + +Joachim shook his head, though he trembled all over, for he felt as if +awaking from along dream, to the recollection of the Genie. + +"It is the power of Imitation, Joachim; I call it a great power, for +it is essential to many great and useful things. It is essential to +the orator, the linguist, the artist, and the musician. Nature herself +teaches us the charm of _imitation_, when in the smooth and clear lake +you see the lovely landscape around mirrored and _repeated_.[5] What a +lesson may we not read in this sight! The commonest pond even that +reflects the foliage of the tree that hangs over it, is calling out to +us to reproduce for the solace and ornament of life, the beautiful +works of God. But oh, my son, my dear son, you have abused this gift +of Imitation, which might be such a blessing and pleasure to you." + +[5] Schiller.--"Der Künstler." + +"You might, if you chose, _imitate every thing that is good, and +noble, and virtuous, and beautiful_; and you are, instead of that, +reproducing every aspect of deformity that crosses your path, until +your brain is so stamped with images of defects, ugliness, and +uncouthness, that your hand and head refuse their office, when I call +upon you to reproduce the beauties with which the world is graced." + +I doubt if Joachim heard the latter part of his Mother's speech. At +the recurrence to the old sentence, a gleam of lightning seemed to +shoot across his brain. Latent memories were aroused as keenly as if +the events had but just occurred, and he sank at his Mother's feet. + +When she ceased to speak, he arose. + +"Mother," said he, "I have been living in a cloud. I have been very +wrong. Besides which, I have a secret to tell you. Nay, my Aunt may +hear. It has been a secret, and then it has been forgotten; but now I +remember all, and understand far more than I once did." + +Here Joachim recounted to his Mother the whole story of her words to +him, and his adventure with the Genie and the bottle; and then, very +slowly, and interrupted by many tears of repentance, he repeated what +the Genie had said about giving him _the power_ of imitation, adding +that the use he made of it must depend on himself and the great Ruler +of the heart and conscience. + +There was a great fuss among the Cousins at the notion of Joachim +having talked to a Genie; and, to tell you the truth, this was all +they thought about, and soon after took their leave. The heart of +Joachim's Mother was at rest, however: for though she knew how hard +her son would find it to alter what had become a habit of life, she +knew that he was a good and pious boy, and she saw that he was fully +alive to his error. + +"Oh Mother," said he, during the course of that evening, "how plain I +see it all now! The boy that stutters is a model of obedience and +tenderness; I ought to have dwelt upon and imitated that, and, oh! I +thought only of his stuttering. The boy that walks so clumsily, as +well as the great fellow that lisps, are such industrious lads, and so +advanced in learning, that the master thinks both will be +distinguished hereafter; and I, who--(oh, my poor mother, I must +confess to you)--hated to labour at any thing, and have got the boys +to do my lessons for me;--I, instead of imitating their industry, lost +all my time in ridiculing their defects.--What shall--what shall I +do!" + +The next morning poor Joachim said his prayers more humbly than he had +ever before done in his life; and, kissing his mother, went to school. +The first thing he did on arriving was to go up to the big boy, who +had beaten him, and beg him to shake hands. + +The big boy was pleased, and a grim smile lightened up his face. "But, +old fellow," said he, laying his hand on Joachim's shoulder, "take a +friend's advice. There is good in all of us, depend upon it. Look out +for all that's good, and let the bad points take care of themselves. +_You_ won't get any handsomer, by squinting like poor Joe; nor speak +any pleasanter for lisping like me; nor walk any better for apeing +hobbling. But the ugliest of us have some good about us. Look out for +_that_, my little lad; I do, or I should not be talking to you! I see +that you are honest and forgiving, though you _are_ a monkey! There +now, I must go on with my lessons! You do yours!" + +Never was better advice given, and Joachim took it well, and bore it +bravely; but, oh, how hard it was to his mind, accustomed for so long +to wander away and seek amusement at wrong times, to settle down +resolutely and laboriously to study. He made a strong effort, however; +and though he had often to recall his thoughts, he in a measure +succeeded. + +After school-hours he begged the big boy to come and sit by him, and +then he requested his old friends and companions to listen to a story +he had to tell them. They expected something funny, and many a broad +grin was seen; but poor Joachim's eyes were yet red with weeping, and +his gay voice was so subdued, the party soon became grave and +wondering, and then Joachim told them every thing. They were delighted +to hear about the Genie, and were also pleased to find themselves safe +from Joachim's ridicule. It could not be expected they should all +understand the story, but the big boy did, and became Joachim's +greatest friend and adviser. + +That evening our little friend, exhausted with the efforts and +excitement of his almost first day of repentance, strolled out in a +somewhat pensive mood to his favourite haunt, the sea shore. A stormy +sunset greeted his arrival on the beach, but the tide was ebbing, and +he wandered on till he reached some caverns among the cliffs. And +there, as had often been his wont, he sat down to gaze out upon the +waste of waters safe and protected from harm. It is very probable that +he fell asleep--but the point could never be clearly known, for he +always said it was no sleep and no dream he had then, but that, whilst +sitting in the inmost recesses of the cave, he saw once more his old +friend the Genie, who after reproaching him with the bad use he had +made of his precious gift, gave him a world of good advice and +instruction. + +There is no doubt that after that time, Joachim was seen daily +struggling against his bad habits; and that by degrees he became able +to exercise his mind in following after the good and beautiful instead +of after the bad and ugly. It was a hard task to him for many a long +day to fix his flighty thoughts down to the business in hand, and to +dismiss from before his eyes the ridiculous images that often +presented themselves. But his Mother's wishes, or the Genie's advice, +or something better still, prevailed. And you cannot think, of what +wonderful use the Genie's gift was to him then. Once turned in a right +direction and towards worthy objects, he found it like a sort of +friend at his right hand, helping him forward in some of the most +interesting pursuits of life. Ah! all the energy he had once bestowed +on imitating lisps and stuttering, was now engaged in catching the +sounds of foreign tongues, and thus taking one step towards the +citizenship of the world. And instead of wasting time in gazing at the +singing master's face, that he might ape its unnatural distortions--it +was now the sweet tones of skilful harmony to which he bent his +attention, and which he strove, and not in vain, to reproduce. + +The portfolio which he brought home to his Mother at the end of +another half-year, was crowded with laborious and careful copies from +the best models of beauty and grace. And not with those only, for many +a face could be found on its pages in which the Mother recognized some +of her son's old companions. Portraits, not of the mere formation of +mouths and noses, which in so many cases, viewed merely as forms, are +defective and unattractive, but portraits of the same faces, upon +which the character of the inward mind and heart was so stamped that +it threw the mere shape of the features far into the background. + +Thus with the pursuit of his favourite art, Joachim combined "that +most excellent gift of charity;" for it was now his pride and pleasure +to make the charm of expression from "_the good points_" his old +friend had talked about, triumph over any physical defects. The very +spirit and soul of the best sort of portrait painting. And here, my +dear young readers, I would fain call your attention to the fact of +how one right habit produces another. The more Joachim laboured over +seizing the good expression of the faces he drew from, the more he was +led to seek after and find out the good points themselves whence the +expression arose; and thus at last it became a _Habit_ with him to try +and discover every thing that was excellent and commendable in the +characters of those he met; a very different plan from that pursued by +many of us, who in our intercourse with each other, are but too apt to +fasten with eagle-eye accuracy on failings and faults. Which is a very +grave error, and a very misleading one, for if it does nothing else, +it deprives us of all the good we should get by a daily habit of +contemplating what is worthy our regard and remembrance. And so +strongly did Joachim's mother feel this, and so earnestly did she wish +her son to understand that a power which seems bestowed for worldly +ends, may be turned to spiritual advantage also, that when his +birthday came round she presented to him among other gifts, a little +book, called "The Imitation of Jesus Christ." It was the work of an +old fellow called Thomas à Kempis, and though more practical books of +piety have since been written, the idea contained in the title +suggests a great lesson, and held up before Joachim's eyes, Him whom +one of our own divines has since called "The Great Exemplar." + +This part of our little hero's 'Lesson of Life,' we can all take to +ourselves, and go and do likewise. And so I hope his story may be +profitable, though we have not all of us a large Genie-gift of +Imitation as he had. With him the excess of this power took a very +natural turn, for though he possessed through its aid, considerable +facilities for music and the study of languages also, the course of +events led him irresistibly to what is usually called "the fine arts." +And if the old dream of the royal chariot and the twelve jet black +horses was never realized to him, a higher happiness by far was his, +when some years after, he and his Mother stood in the council house of +his native town; she looking up with affectionate pride while he +showed her a portrait of the good young King which had a few hours +before been hung up upon its walls. It was the work of Joachim +himself. + + + + +DARKNESS AND LIGHT. + +_The darkness and the light to Thee are both alike_. + + +Far away to the west, on the borders of the Sea, there lived a lady +and gentleman in a beautiful old house built something like a castle. +They had several children, nice little boys and girls, who were far +fonder of their Sea Castle, as they called it, than of a very pleasant +house which they had in a great town at some distance off. Still they +used to go and be very merry in the Town House in the winter time when +the hail and snow fell, and the winds blew so cold that nobody could +bear to walk out by the wild sea shore. + +But in summer weather the case was quite altered. Indeed, as soon as +ever the sun began to get a little power, and to warm the panes of +glass in the nursery windows of the Town House, there was a hue and +cry among all the children to be off to their Sea Castle home, and +many a time had Papa and Mamma to send them angrily out of the room, +because they would do nothing but beg to "set off directly." They were +always "sure that the weather was getting quite hot," and "it _must_ +be summer, for they heard the sparrows chirping every morning the +first thing," and they "thought they had seen a swallow," and "the +windows got so warm with the sunshine, Nurse declared they were enough +to burn one's fingers:" and so the poor little things teazed +themselves and everybody else, every year, in their hurry to get back +to their western home. But I dare say you have heard the old proverb, +"One swallow does not make a summer;" and so it was proved very often +to our friends. For the Spring season is so changeable, there are +often some soft mild days, and then a cruel frost comes again, and +perhaps snow as well; and people who have boasted about fine weather +and put off their winter clothes, look very foolish. + +Still Time passes on; and when May was half over, the Town House used +to echo with shouts of noisy delight, and boxes were banged down in +the passages, and there was a great calling out for cords, and much +scolding about broken keys and padlocks, and the poor Carpenter who +came to mend the trunks and find new keys to old locks, was at his +wits' end and his patience' end too. + +But at last the time came when all this bustle was succeeded by +silence in the Town House, for carriages had rolled away with the +happy party, and nobody was left behind but two or three women +servants to clean out the deserted rooms. + +And now then, my little readers, who are, I hope, wondering what is +coming next, you must fancy to yourselves the old Sea Castle Home. It +had two large turrets; and winding staircases led from the passages +and kitchens underneath the sitting rooms, up to the top of the +turrets, and so out upon the leads of the house, from which there was +the most beautiful view of the Ocean you ever saw; and, as the top of +the house was battlemented, like the top of your church tower, people +could walk about quite safely and comfortably, without any fear of +falling over. Then, though it is a very unusual thing near the Sea, +there were delightful gardens at the place, and a few very fine old +elm trees near the house, in which a party of rooks built their nests +every year; and the children had gardens of their own, in which they +could dig up their flowers to see if the roots were growing, to their +heart's content, and perform other equally ingenious feats, such as +watering a plant two or three times a day, or after a shower of rain, +and then wondering that, with such tender care, the poor thing should +rot away and die. + +But I almost think the children liked the sands on the shore as well +as the gardens, though they loved both. Not that there was any +amusement astir by the water side there, as you have seen in other +places where there are boats and fishermen and nets, and great coils +of ropes, and an endless variety of entertaining sights connected with +the seafaring business going on. Nay, in some places where there is +not a very good shore for landing, it is an amusement of itself to see +each boat or fishing yawl come in. There is such a contrast between +the dark tarred wood and the white surf that dashes up all round it; +and the fishermen are so clever in watching the favourable moment for +a wave to carry them over their difficulties; that I think this is one +of the prettiest sights one can see. But no such thing was ever seen +on the shore by the old Sea Castle, for there was no fishing there. +People thought the sea was too rough and the landing too difficult, +and so no fishing village had ever been built, and no boats ever +attempted to come within many miles of the place. + +Nobody cared to ask further, or try to account for the wildness of the +sea on that coast; but I can tell you all about it, although it must +be in a sort of half whisper--_The place was on the borders of Fairy +Land!_ that is to say, many many unknown numbers of miles out at sea, +right opposite to the Castle, there was a Fairy Island, and it was the +Fairies who kept the sea so rough all round them, for fear some +adventurous sailor should approach the island, or get near enough to +fish up some of the pearls and precious stones they kept in a crystal +palace underneath the water. + +So now you know the reason why the sea was so rough, and there was no +fishing going on at the Sea Castle Home. + +If you want to know whether any body ever saw the Fairy Island, I must +say, yes; but very seldom. And never but in the evening when the sun +was setting, and that under particular circumstances--namely, when he +went down into a dark red bank of clouds, or when there was a lurid +crimson hue over the sky just above the horizon. Then occasionally you +might see the dim hazy outline as of a beautiful mountainous island +against the clouds, or the deep-coloured sky. There is an island +sometimes seen from our western coast, under similar circumstances, +but which you strain your eyes in vain to discern by the brighter +light of day.[6] + +[6] Isle of Man from Blackpool. + +It is a very ticklish thing to live on the borders of Fairy Land; for +though you cannot get to the Fairies, they can get to you, and it is +not altogether a pleasant thing to have your private affairs overseen +and interfered with by such beings as they are, though sometimes it +may be most useful and agreeable. Besides which, there was a +Fairy-secret connected with the family that lived at the Sea Castle. +An Ancestress of the present Mistress had been a Fairy herself, and +though she had accommodated herself to mortal manners, and lived with +her husband quite quietly as well as happily, and so her origin had +been in a great measure forgotten, it was not unknown to her +descendant, the Lady Madeline, who now lived in the place. And, in +fact, soon after Lady Madeline first came there, a Fairy named Eudora +had appeared to her, declaring herself to be a sort of distant cousin, +and offering and promising friendship and assistance, whenever asked +or even wished for. In return, she only begged to be allowed to visit, +and ramble at will about the old place which she had known for so many +many long years, and had once had the unlimited run of; and she +protested with tears that the family should never in any way be +disturbed by her. Lady Madeline could not well refuse the request, but +I cannot say she gave her fairy acquaintance any encouragement; and so +poor Eudora never showed herself to them again. And Madeline never +thought much about her, except now and then accidentally, when, if +they were walking on the sands, some extraordinarily rare and +beautiful shells would be thrown ashore by a wave at the children's +feet, as if tossed up especially for their amusement. And it was only +in some such kind little way as this they were ever reminded of the +Fairy's existence. + +Lady Madeline's eldest son, Roderick, always seemed most favoured by +the Fairy in the pretty things she sent ashore, and certainly he was a +very nice boy, and a very good one on the whole--cheerful and honest +as the daylight, and very intelligent; but I cannot tell you, dear +readers, that he had _no_ faults, for that was not at all likely, and +you would not believe it if I said so, even although he is to be the +Hero of my tale. + +Now I do not want to make you laugh at him, but the story requires +that I should reveal to you one of his weak points. Well then, +although he was six years old, he was afraid of being alone in the +dark! Sometimes when he was in the large dining room with his Father +and Mother at dinner time, she would perhaps ask him to fetch +something for her from the drawing room which was close by; but, do +you know, if there were no candles in the room, he would look very +silly and refuse to go, even though there were a fire sufficient to +see by. He was too honest to make any false excuses, so he used just +to say that the room was so dark he could not go! + +Poor Madeline was very sorry, for she wanted her little boy to be +brave, but somehow or other he had got very silly about his fears of +being in the dark, and she could not succeed in curing him of his +folly. + +"My dear Roderick," she would say sometimes, "if I send in some +candles, will you go into the drawing room?" + +"O yes, Mamma." + +"Then do you really mean to say you think _the Candles take care of +you_?" + +"No, Mamma." + +"Then why won't you go into the room without; you know there is a +fire? + +"Because it is so dark, Mamma." + +Here was a difficulty indeed; for you see he _would_ come back to the +old point, and would not listen to reason. + +One day some conversation of this sort having passed between them, +Madeline, as she was wont to do, asked him if God could not take care +of him by night as well as by day; in the dark as well as in light, +for "the darkness and light are both alike to him." + +"Oh yes," cried poor Roderick, with great animation, "and I can tell +you a story about that. There was, once upon a time, a little Boy and +a Nurse who went out walking, and they walked so long they got +benighted in a very dark wood, and because it was so dark the Nurse +screamed and was very much frightened; and the little boy said, +'Nurse, why are you frightened? Don't be frightened; I am not +frightened. God can take care of us in the dark as well as in the +light,'" + +"Oh Roderick! what a pretty story," cried his Mamma. + +And so thought Roderick; for his eye glistened and his cheek flushed +as he came to the conclusion. + +And here, dear readers, was the worst difficulty of all; for though +Roderick's reason was quite convinced that God could take care of him +in the dark, he still could not bear to be in the dark without the +help of candles besides, though he quite knew they could not take care +of him at all. So you see by this that Reason, though it may convince +a person he is wrong, cannot put him right. There wants some other +help for that. And here let me just stop a moment to beg you to beware +of _bad habits_; for you see they become at last more powerful than +reason itself. + +I do not know how Roderick first got into his foolish habit, and it +does not much matter. I know he at one time had a fancy there was +something unpleasant about the pipes that carried the water about the +house, and he would not for a long time go by the pipes alone. Now, +how you laugh! well, but he got out of that nonsense; and I hope to be +able to tell you that he got out of the other too: but at the time I +speak of, he made his Mamma full of sorrow for his want of sense and +courage. + +It must be admitted that there were one or two excuses to be made for +the child. There was a great contrast between the Town House and the +Sea Castle. The Town House was full of lights. All the sitting rooms +were generally lighted, for a great deal of company came there, and +there were always lights along the passages; and the nursery windows +looked into a square, and the square was lighted up by lamps every +night; and it was one of Roderick's greatest pleasures to watch the +lamplighter running quickly up the tall ladder to the lamps to light +them, and then popping down again equally hurriedly, and running along +(ladder and all) to the next lamp post, and so on, till the square was +brilliant all round; and very often, as Roderick lay in his little bed +watching the glimmering thrown by these pretty lamps on the nursery +wall, he used to think and think of his friend the nimble lamplighter, +till he dropped fast asleep. You see, therefore, he had very little to +try his courage in the Town House, and there was seldom or never any +fuss about his fears till the move to the Sea Castle took place; and +then there were no more lamps and lamplighters, and no more +comfortable glimmerings from his bright pets the lamps after he went +to bed; and he used to get silly directly, and declare that he saw +bears whenever he shut his eyes; and he seemed to expect to find lions +and tigers under the sofas, by the fuss he made when he was asked to +go into the rooms. Certainly there was a grand old fashioned lamp in +the hall of the Sea Castle; but the hall itself was so big, and went +up so high, that the light in one part only seemed to make the shadow +and darkness of the other part look blacker still; so that I must +confess there was something gloomy about the house. Then, too, there +were those two turrets with the winding staircases, and as Roderick +had never dared to do any thing more than peep in at the low entrance +doors below, where he saw nothing but four or five steps going up into +complete blackness, he had got a sort of notion there must be +something horrid about them. + +Well; it was soon after this little boy's sixth birthday, that the +family arrived at the Sea-Castle, and it so happened, that, on the day +after their arrival, there was some very stormy and dismal weather. +The wind howled very loudly, and there was a good deal of rain; and +Lady Madeline wished they had waited a week or two longer. The sky was +so charged and heavy, too, that they found the house very dark, even +by day-light; and Roderick, who was a little tired with his journey +the day before, began to fancy all kinds of nonsense; talked more +about seeing bears than ever; and finally cried tremendously at going +to bed, declaring he was sure there was a tiger in the coal-pan. Now +you know, my dears, this was a bit of great nonsense; for Roderick +knew quite well that there are no wild beasts in England but what are +kept in very strong cages; and that the men who take wild-beast shows +round the country can by no means afford to let their tigers sleep in +nursery coal-pans! + +Poor Madeline never liked to see any of her children go to bed in +tears. And Roderick was so gay and merry generally, it seemed quite +unnatural in him; but though at last he left off crying, she could not +persuade him to be cheerful, and smile; for he declared that as soon +as ever she took her candle away, he could not help seeing those +unlucky bears. Was there ever any thing so silly before! She reasoned +with him, but to no purpose. He always said he quite believed in God's +presence, and His being able to take care of him; but, as I said +before, his bad habit had got the better of his good sense, and he +finished off every thing that could be said, by seeing bears, and +dreading a tiger in the coal-pan. + +"What are we to do with that child?" cried Madeline to her husband, as +they were going to bed. "He is beginning as foolishly as ever this +year, in spite of being a year older. I really shall at last be +inclined to think that in spite of all her fair promises of friendship +and assistance, and of never injuring the family, the Fairy Eudora +must secretly frighten the child in some way we don't know of." + +"No such thing, my dear Madeline; I cannot for a moment believe it;" +said her husband. "I have a better opinion of your relations, the +Fairies, than you have yourself. I am sure Eudora would not break her +word for the world; and there is no mystery about Roderick's folly. He +is full of fancies of all sorts,--some pretty, and some silly ones; +and we must do every thing we can to cure him of the silly ones. It +certainly is a very hard matter to accomplish, for I perceive he +admits the truth of every thing you say, and yet is as silly as ever +at the end. I heartily wish the Fairy Eudora _would_ interfere to cure +him of his nonsense!" + +"And so do I, if she could, and would," sighed Madeline; "but she has +quite deserted us. Besides, if she were to come, I don't see how she +could possibly do any good. Fairies cannot change little boys' hearts; +and I must confess I never yet got any good myself from having a Fairy +ancestress, and I have no confidence in them.--Still," pursued the +good lady, as she laid her head on her pillow, "I am not able, it +appears, to convince Roderick myself; and therefore I feel, with you, +that I wish the Fairy would come and try." + +"I fear it is in vain to say so now, Madeline. We have wished the poor +creature out of the way so often for the last ten years, that it is +not very likely a single wish the other way will bring her to us." + +"No, indeed," murmured the Fairy Eudora, who at that moment was +standing on the shore of the Fairy Island; "you are a pretty pair, you +two, to think of such a thing! I begged to be allowed to come about +the place years ago, and you didn't refuse; but you always kept me +away by _wishing_ I mightn't come; and now, because you are puzzled to +know what to do with your silly child, you want me with you for the +first time these ten years! Oh, you selfish people, don't fancy I'll +come near you!" And the justly angry Fairy stamped her foot in +indignation, and retired into private apartments in the palace. + +Do not be surprised at what you have just heard, my dear children; for +though you may have never thought about the power and importance of +_wishes_, there is, I assure you, a great deal of both one and the +other belonging to them. Some people talk, indeed, of "mere wishes," +as if they were trifles light as air; but it is not so. To prove this, +first think what importance is attached to them in the Scriptures. +Wishes are a sort of porch or doorway to actions. In the Tenth +Commandment we are forbidden to _wish_ for what belongs to our +neighbour;--for who is so likely to break the Eighth Commandment, and +steal, as the man who breaks the Tenth, and wishes for any thing that +is not his? + +And so, all the evil in the world begins by _wishing_ something wrong; +and if you can cure yourself of wishing wrongly, you will very seldom +_do_ wrong. + +Now you see, I am sure, how important wishes are for evil; but they +are equally strong for good. For, if you wish well to any one, you +have opened the first door to doing him a kindness. And if you +heartily wish to be good, you have opened the first gate on the road +of becoming so. Of course, wishes will not do every thing; but they do +a great deal. + +And there is another thing. They never fall to the ground unnoticed. +Though you and I cannot look into each other's hearts, or hear the +wishes breathed there, there is One who hears them all. Good wishes, +my dear children, all ascend upwards to the throne of Grace, like +sweet perfume. They are all accepted and remembered; and, I fear I +must add, that bad wishes go up too, and are noted in His book who +takes account of all we do. + +Be sure, therefore, that you encourage your hearts in a habit of good, +and kind, and charitable wishes; and if ever the bad ones come into +your head, pray against them, and drive them away. + +Meanwhile do not be surprized that in Fairy tales, Fairies are +supposed to hear wishes concerning themselves. And so Eudora heard +those about her coming and curing the child of his folly; and as I +have told you, she was very indignant at the selfishness of both Lady +Madeline and her husband. + +A few days after the family had taken up their residence in the Sea +Castle, the weather began to improve; and, though the wind lasted, the +sun came out; and all the children and the nurses went walking on the +sands. As it was the first time that year, you may guess what shouting +and delight there was; how the little spades dug away at holes for the +sea-water to come up in, and how the children caught at the sea-weeds +that were scattered on the lands to carry home to their Mamma; how +they picked up shells, and gambolled about in all directions, +declaring that they had never known the Sea Castle Home so delightful +before. By degrees they had strayed to a considerable distance along +the sands, with the nurses, when, alas! the latter perceived that a +storm was coming on, and it caught them long before they reached home. +A strong wind blew off the sea, and they had difficulty in keeping +their feet, and at last two or three of the children were almost +hidden in a cloud of sand, which a violent gust suddenly drove against +them. All the little party cried lustily, because the sand had blown +into their eyes, and made them smart, and sad work there was in +getting them home again. But they reached home at last, dripping with +wet from hailstones, and their eyes all red and disfigured by the sand +and wind. None, however, were so bad as those I have mentioned, who +had been so covered over by the sand that it had even got down their +necks, and made them uncomfortable all over. Among these was Roderick, +who cried a great deal more than he ought to have done, as the nurses +thought, and did not stop and declare himself comfortable as the rest +did, after the sand had been washed out of his eyes with rose water. +In fact he kept crying more or less all the afternoon, saying his eyes +hurt him so, and at last he could get no relief but by holding them +shut. + +Now it is just possible you may have heard of a complaint of the eyes +called Ophthalmia, which comes on sometimes in very hot countries, +India for instance; and sometimes in travelling across the deserts of +Arabia, where the sand gets into the eyes, and irritates them very +much; it can very often be cured, but not always, and when it cannot, +it ends in blindness. Lady Madeline knew all about the complaint; and, +therefore, you will not be surprised to hear that when she found her +little boy's eyes did not get better, and that he persisted in keeping +them shut, because they then became easy, she thought it right to send +to some miles' distance for a doctor, who accordingly arrived at the +Sea Castle before nightfall. But when he came he shook his head very +much, for he could not understand what was the matter; and when he +persuaded Roderick to lift up his eyelids, to let him see his eyes, he +could perceive nothing amiss but a little redness, which the wind and +sand quite accounted for. Still the child was uneasy, and would keep +his eyes shut; so the Doctor thought he must try something, and he +used some lotions common in such cases; but, as they did no good, the +kind old gentleman, at Madeline's request, consented to sit by the +little boy's bedside at night; when, all at once, as he was carefully +dabbing his eyes with rosewater, he perceived that the child was fast +asleep. + +The Doctor was delighted, and went to his mother, who was then with +her husband, and said that as Roderick had gone to sleep so nicely, he +had no doubt that his eyes would be well when he awoke in the morning, +and so he took his leave, for he had other patients to visit. + +It was then between twelve and one o'clock, and Lady Madeline, much +comforted in heart, went to bed. At an early hour next morning, +however, she went to Roderick's bedside, and perceived he was just +waking. + +To the question of "How are you, my darling?" his cheerful joyous +voice made answer, "Oh, quite well, Mamma, and I've such a funny dream +to tell you, and my eyes don't hurt me a bit, not a bit! but I'm +afraid to open them for fear they should. I can tell you something so +funny the Doctor said last night, Mamma." "Never mind about the +doctor, you rogue," cried Madeline, "I see you are all right, only +just open your dear old eyes, that I may tell Papa I have seen them +when I go back to dress." + +"Then I will, Mamma, to please you!" and up sat the pretty child in +his bed, and opened wide his blue eyes. There was no redness--it was +all gone--but + +"Mamma! where are you," cried Roderick, "I have opened my eyes, and +they don't hurt--but it is quite dark: _isn't the night over_?..." + +Oh, my dear readers! there was a stream of sunshine on the lovely face +and bright hair of little Roderick as he spoke, and the poor blue eyes +were turned up to his mother, looking vainly for her face. You cannot +wonder if I add that she sank down fainting on the bed; and when +Roderick's scream of terror brought the nurses to them, she was +carried away insensible from the room. + +Her darling was utterly blind. + + * * * * * + +And now imagine to yourselves how the afflicted parents sent for the +best doctors the country afforded, and how one thing after another was +tried--but, alas! every thing in vain, for the medical men were all +quite puzzled. Still some people gave them hopes, and in spite of many +disappointments, they went on trying to hope for several months. At +last they settled to leave the sea castle and go to the great town +sooner than usual, thinking some of the doctors there might be +cleverer than the country ones. But they had no better success. +Perhaps now you would like to know how Roderick behaved. When his +Mamma fell on his bed, at first he thought she was dead, and it was +with the greatest difficulty he could be made to believe any thing +else, and he cried, and cried, and was very sad till his Mamma was +well enough for him to be taken to her, and then do you know, poor +fellow, he was so much pleased to hear her speak, and be kissed by +her, that he still had no time to think about himself. Only he begged +to sit close to her, and have hold either of her hand or gown, and +make her say something to him every now and then. And so it was that +the fright and shock he had had about thinking she was dead, had made +so strong an impression on him that for several days the making +himself sure she was alive was a constant occupation and interest; and +so much did he think about it that it was considered best for his +little bed to be brought into the room where his Mamma slept, and put +near hers, so that he could talk to her when he awoke and got +frightened about her again. And thus passed many days in which every +body thought a great deal more about his eyes than he did himself. +Besides from the cheerful things they said to him he quite expected to +be better some day; and so weeks and months passed, and by the time +the hope of recovering his sight began to fade away, and nobody any +longer dared to say they expected it, he was beginning to get used to +his condition, and to find out amusements in new ways. Thus mercifully +does a kind Providence temper people's minds to the afflictions He +sends. They are often more dreadful to think of than to bear; for God +can give patience and cheerfulness and comfort to those that do not +grumble and repine. + +Madeline only exacted one promise from her husband, namely, that he +would not allow the doctors to use any very severe and violent +measures with her little boy, and this being settled, she struggled to +bear the trouble with resignation. After the first alternations of +hopes and fears were over, the Mother's mind took a new turn. "It is +our chief duty now," she said, "to make our child's life as happy as +it is possible to be with blindness, and therefore," added she to the +elder children, "we must try our best to teach him to do all the nice +things he can without seeing." That day she asked him to come and hold +worsted for her to wind, and he was quite delighted to find that with +some blunders, and once or twice slipping it off his fingers, he could +manage it very well. Then the children undertook to teach him how to +play at ball, and you cannot think how clever he became. At first +certainly they had always to pick up his ball for him when it fell, +and who was not glad to do it for poor brother Roderick? but by +degrees he could judge by the sound in what direction it had tumbled, +and he would often succeed in finding it before any one could come up +to it. Then there was laughing and scrambling without end. Reading +aloud to him was the easiest thing of all, but the little folks were +not satisfied with that alone. They made a sort of pet of the blind +brother, and were as proud of teaching him to do any thing fresh, as +you would be of teaching your dog to sit up and shake hands, or +perform any wonderful feat. It was their constant amusement; and by +degrees Roderick could play at all sorts of games with them, ay, and +run after them, and catch them too as well as you could do, for he +soon got to remember how the furniture in the great hall and all the +rooms stood, and he could run about without hurting himself in a +wonderful manner. And when it was evening and grew dark, he got on +better than they did, for, if they couldn't see, they were clumsy, +whereas he was learning to do without seeing at all. + +Such of my readers as have seen one of those excellent institutions +called "blind schools," will not wonder at any thing I have said, but +on the contrary, will know that I have not told half or a quarter of +what may be done to teach blind children a variety of employments. At +those schools you may see children making beautiful baskets of +various-coloured strips of osier arranged in patterns; and they never +forget on which side of them the different colours are laid, and this +work they can go on with quite fast, even while you stand talking to +them--and they learn to do many many other nice things also besides +basket making. + +Of late years too they have begun to read in books made on purpose for +them, with the letters raised above the rest of the paper, so that +they can _feel_ the shapes with their fingers. Is not this wonderful? +And they can be taught all these things much more easily than you +would imagine, for it is really true that when one of the senses has +been taken away, the others by having all the exercise thrown upon +them, become so sharp and acute, they do twice their usual work, if I +may so express it. This is a merciful dispensation of Providence, +which renders the loss of the one that is gone much less hard to bear. +And does it not teach us also, what a valuable thing constant practice +is? Neither you nor I can feel or hear half so clearly as blind people +can, who practise feeling and hearing on so many occasions where we +save ourselves the trouble, by using sight instead. + +To return to Roderick. You perhaps expected to hear that he fretted +and petted very much after he was first blind, but really it was not +so; and though occasionally he may have grumbled a little, it was only +when he was slightly peevish, as children will sometimes be, and I +believe he would have found something to grumble about then, even if +he had seen as well as you do. + +Besides, as I said before, the knowledge of his misfortune came upon +him by degrees; and after he had got used to it, he did not think much +about it. When the family moved to the great town, Roderick had as it +were to begin his blind lessons over again, for he had to learn to +remember all about the rooms and the furniture there; but with a kind +little brother or sister always at hand to help him he soon became +expert in the town house too, and could run up and down the long +flights of stairs with the nimblest of them. I believe the only +melancholy wish he ever uttered was heard on the first day he reached +the town house. When his Mamma came to see him in the nursery that +evening, she found him kneeling in a chair against one of the +windows--and on going up to him he threw his arms round her neck and +said, "Oh, Mamma, if I could but see the lamplighters!" Do not laugh, +dear readers, if I add that the tears trickled over his cheeks as he +spoke. His mother was much distressed, as she always was when she saw +him thinking of his affliction, but she sat down and said, "Never +mind, dear Roderick, I will tell you all they do to-night." And so she +did, and she made her account so droll, of how the lamplighter ran, +and how he seized his ladder in such a hurry, and all the whole +business, that by the time she got to the end, and said, "and now he +has come to the last lamp-post,--ah, he's up before I can tell you! +and pop! the lamp is lit, and down he runs, and off with his ladder to +the next street--and now the lamps are shining bright all round the +square, and I must go to dinner,"--Roderick was clapping his hands and +laughing as merrily as ever, and he got down from the chair quite +satisfied. Still for a few weeks he used always to get one of the +children to tell him of the lamps lighting, and this was the only sad +little fancy the poor child ever indulged in. + +The great town gave him various new amusements. His Parents used every +now and then to take him to some fine conservatory, where flowers are +shown even in winter, and where he could smell various new and rare +ones, and be told all about their beautiful colours. Then sometimes in +the parks and gardens there was a band playing, which was a great +delight. And besides that, they took him occasionally to morning +concerts for an hour or so; for though it is not usual to take +children to those places, he was deprived of so many enjoyments, they +let him have all they could: and especially musical ones, for it is a +very common thing for blind people to become very fond of music, and +Roderick was so, and among other employments learnt to play. I cannot, +however, I am sorry to say, add that the great doctors in the town +were able to do him any good, though they tried very much, and some of +them were so much charmed and interested by his cheerful manner and +sweet disposition, that they got quite fond of him, and would often +have him come and see them, and play with their children, who were +instructed to amuse him in every possible way, and as children are +naturally kindhearted, this was generally a pleasant task, and many of +them quite looked forward to the visits of the little blind boy. + +And so passed on a long and rather severe winter, and presently +Roderick's birthday came round, and there was great wondering as to +what Mamma could do to keep it. And when the time came it turned out +that she had got a band of musicians to come and play--and the +children danced, and Roderick among them, for some sister was always +ready to take him under her especial charge. And then some older +children acted a little play, which he could hear and understand, and +his Mamma described to him who came in and went out, and in this +manner he enjoyed it nearly as much as the others. + +Well, the spring-time came once more, and with it the season for +returning to the old Sea Castle, and the children went through their +usual round of impatience, and I cannot say that Roderick at all +forbore, for his Papa had promised to teach him to climb a ladder like +the lamplighter when he got back, and he was by that means to go up +one of the very old elm trees, and get on to a great branch there was, +which was curled into a sort of easy chair, and there he was to sit +and play at being judge, and hold trials, and I know not what. There +were besides so many schemes for his instruction and amusement, and +among other things, there was to be a band established in the +neighbouring village, which should come and play to them in the old +Sea Castle--that the child was more wild with hurry and impatience +than ever, and said more absurd things than the rest, for he used +every day to declare the _flies_ were becoming so numerous and +troublesome he was plagued out of his life by their walking over his +face and nose! But as none of his brothers and sisters ever saw the +flies, we are obliged to conclude the tickling he talked of was only +an effect of his excited imagination. + +At last, however, they went, and in compliment to Roderick's wishes it +was a week or two sooner than usual. The return to the Sea Castle home +rather oppressed poor Lady Madeline's spirits. The doctors in the +great town had failed--it was now clear that nothing could be done, +and in spite of all her sincere endeavours to be resigned, she could +not help feeling this coming back to the original scene of her +misfortune very much. One day--it was the anniversary of the day on +which her poor child became blind, the Lady Madeline was working in +her sitting-room that faced the Sea,--Mothers' memories are very acute +about anniversaries, and days, and even hours marked by particular +events. They may not talk much about them perhaps, but they recollect +times and circumstances connected with their children very keenly, and +therefore it is not surprizing that on this day the poor lady was +sitting in her room working, or trying to work, but thinking of +nothing in the world but of that day year and her blind child. It was +a beautiful evening, and the window was thrown wide open, and the +fresh but soft breeze from the Sea blew pleasantly on her face as she +sat at her work-table by the casement--but lovely as the scene outside +was, she seldom lifted up her eyes to look at it. She had been all her +life a great admirer of beautiful scenes, and of all the varieties the +changes of day and night produce--but now the sight of any thing +particularly lovely brought so painfully before her mind the fact that +her child's eyes were closed to all these things, that she often +forbore to look again, and so spared herself a repetition of the pang. +Madeline's eyes therefore remained upon her work, or on her knee when +she ceased working,--for ever and anon there was a burst of noise and +merriment about the old house, which startled her from her painful +thoughts. It was, however, the happy voices of her children, and again +and again she sank into her melancholy mood, and so continued till the +red hue of a very red sunset burst as it were suddenly into the room, +and lighted up the portrait of Roderick, which hung over the +mantel-piece. Involuntarily Madeline's eyes glanced from the lovely +countenance of her then bright-eyed boy, thus illuminated, to the sun +beyond the Sea. She was too late, however. He had just descended +behind the waves in a perfect flood of crimson glory, but as she +gazed, (for she could not withdraw-her eyes,) a haze--yes, the softest +and most etherial cloud-like haze, showing the outline of a beautiful +mountainous island, rose in the far off distance, just on the verge of +the horizon. It was the Fairy Island. It recalled to the mother's +remembrance the existence of her Fairy cousin once more. "Cruel, cruel +Eudora," she exclaimed, "you offered me friendship and assistance, and +in the hour of trouble and affliction you have never been near to help +or even to comfort me." + +And Madeline, in the bitterness of her heart, closed the window +hastily and angrily, and sat down. Soon, however, the noises she had +several times heard of the children playing, became louder and louder, +and the whole party burst at last into the room. "Mamma, Mamma," they +cried, scarcely able to speak, "guess where Roderick has been." "I +cannot." "Oh, but do, dear Mamma!" cried a little thing with fairy +curls, "do guess." "I cannot." "I'll tell Mamma," cried a stout sturdy +fellow, a little older; "Mamma! he's been up the winding staircase of +one turret, and all along the leads and down the winding staircase of +the other turret, and he has done it three times, and he has seen to +do it better than I can." + +Here there was a burst of laughter and a violent clapping of hands at +the little fellow's _Irish_ account. + +"But why don't you do it as well?" asked an elder girl, "you that are +going to be a soldier too!" + +"Yes; I know I'm going to be a soldier; and I'll try and do it as well +as Roderick;" and off ran the eager child, followed by the rest of the +party, all but Roderick. He lingered behind, and edging his way easily +and quietly as usual to his Mother, having asked her where she was, he +sat down on a footstool at her feet. The slight answer she had +occasion to make, revealed by its tone, to the now acute blind child, +that his Mother's mood was serious, and therefore he did not talk and +laugh of what he had accomplished, as he otherwise might have done. +There was a silence of some minutes: at last, "Mamma," said Roderick +gravely, "a light has broken in upon me to-day." + +Lady Madeline started, and with difficulty suppressed a groan. +Roderick felt the start: "Oh Mamma, Mamma," cried he more cheerfully, +"you must not do that! I wasn't thinking about earthly light in the +least, but of a light which I know, when you come to hear of it, you +will say is a great deal better." + +"Indeed! dear Roderick," said Lady Madeline, trying to seem +interested. + +"Yes _indeed_. Mamma. Why, do _you_ remember, (_I_ had never thought +about it till it came into my head to-day;) but do _you_ remember the +silly time when I wouldn't fetch you any thing from the drawing room, +unless there were candles in the room?" + +"I recollect something about it," said his Mother. + +"Oh, I'm so glad you do; because now you can laugh with me over the +nonsense I used to talk and feel then: I remember I used to tell you I +saw _Bears_ when I shut my eyes, and wouldn't go by the pipes in the +passage, and more such foolish stuff! How odd it seems that I should +never have thought about this before, but I never did, and it never +came into my head distinctly till to-day." And here Roderick fell into +a kind of dream for a few minutes, but he soon began again. "You know +what I have done to-day, Mamma. They told you quite right; but they +forgot to tell you I have been practising walking across the leads for +two or three days, that I might be able to go the great round to-day +on purpose to tell you of it; because I thought you would be so much +pleased to know I could go alone all over the house on the day year +when I was first blind. So now, Mamma, if ever, when I am grown up to +be a man, an enemy comes and attacks the old Sea Castle, I shall be +able to run about and give the alarm, for you know I could hear them, +if I could do nothing else." + +There was another pause, for Madeline could not speak: the often +restrained tears for her son's misfortune had this day burst forth, +and could not be kept back; but Roderick did not know, and went on. + +"Certainly those old foolish fears were very wrong, Mamma. And I can't +think how it was, for you used to remind me always that God could take +care of us by night as well as by day, in darkness as well as in +light; and still somehow, though I knew it was true, I didn't believe +it,--at least, not so as not to be afraid in the dark: how very wrong +it was! Still I had quite forgotten all about it till this evening. +But, as I was going the last of the three rounds, I sat down on the +leads for a few minutes to enjoy the air. The sun was just setting, I +am sure, for it felt so fresh and cool; and it was, as I sat there, +that it came into my head how strange it was that, since the day I was +first blind, I had never thought any more about being afraid in the +dark! or by night any more than by day! Indeed it has been quite a +play to me ever since to do different things, and find my way about in +all the rooms and all over the house, without seeing; and I have only +known night from day by getting up and going to bed. So that you see, +Mamma, being always in the dark, has quite cured me of being afraid of +it: and is not this a very good thing indeed?" + +"Very," murmured Madeline. + +"I knew you would say so! But that isn't all I have got to say. A +great deal more than that came into my head when I was out upon the +leads." + +And Roderick nestled closer to his Mother, and laid his arms across +her lap. + +"Something to comfort you still more, Mamma." + +She could not speak. + +"Mamma, you are crying! I feel your tears on my hand. Do not cry about +me." + +"Go on, dear Roderick." + +"Don't you think," continued the child, "that people who wont listen +to what is told them, and wont be cured of being foolish and wicked, +are very like the old Jews you told us about yesterday, who had God +among them, and Moses teaching them what God wished them to do, and +still were as disobedient as ever?" + +"It is true, Roderick, we are all apt to resemble the Jews in their +journey through the wilderness." + +"Yes, Mamma; and particularly people who can't trust in God, though +they know He is everywhere. The Jews knew He was in the cloud and the +pillar, and still were always afraid He couldn't take care of them. +And what came into my head was, that I used to be as bad as those old +Jews once; knowing that God was present everywhere to take care of me, +and still not _feeling_ it so as really to believe it, and not be +afraid. But the blindness has quite cured me, and is it not very +likely that it came on purpose to do so, and to make me trust in God; +for I have done so more and more, dear Mamma, as I groped about this +year, for I have all along hoped He would take care of me, and keep me +from falling; and, therefore, I think the blindness has done me a +great deal of good, and I hope I shall never be like the naughty old +Jews again! This is what I had to say; and I hope you will be as glad +as I am." + +"I will try, my darling," cried poor Madeline. + +The tenderest love, the bitterest grief, mixed with earnest struggles +for resignation to the will of Heaven, contended in the Mother's +bosom, as she clasped her innocent child to her heart. He was almost +frightened. She lifted him on to her knees, and buried her face on his +shoulder. He put his young arms round her neck, and almost wondered +why she sobbed so bitterly; but he felt he must not speak. + +There was a painful pause. Suddenly, however, a strange faint light +began to creep into the room, which had hitherto been gradually +darkening in the twilight. It was a mysterious gleam, like nothing +that is ever seen. It increased in strength and brilliancy, till at +length the whole place became illuminated. + +Roderick's head was against his Mother's breast; and, besides, _he_ +could not see. + +She, however, suddenly started up; the light had become so powerful, +it had forced her from her grief. She sprung up in terror, and a faint +shriek burst from her lips. + +"Mamma, what is the matter?" cried Roderick, holding her fast. + +"Oh, the light--the light, my child! there is such a light!" answered +Madeline. + +"Mother, you are not afraid of _Light_!" exclaimed the bewildered +Roderick. + +"Oh, but _this_ light! it is like no other;--it is awful!" + +"Mother,--it is not the light of _Fire_, is it," cried poor Roderick, +now at last turning pale. "But even if it is, remember that I can help +you _now_; I can go everywhere,--all over, and fear nothing. I can go +and fetch my brothers and sisters, one by one! Oh, send me; send me, +Mamma! I shall be less afraid than any of you, for I cannot see the +horrid light that frightens you!" + +As he finished, a gentle, prolonged "Hush!" resounded through the +room; like the soothing, quieting sound of lullaby to an infant. And +in the midst of the beaming light, the form of the long-forgotten +Fairy Eudora appeared before the eyes of the astonished Madeline. + +"The Sea Castle is not on Fire, you dear, brave child," cried the +Fairy; "and your Mother has no cause for fear. I am a friend." + +"Cousin!" cried the bewildered Madeline, "why are you here?" and a +terrible suspicion flashed through her mind: and she pointed to her +boy, and added, trembling with agony-- + +"Is that _your_ doing?" + +"What if I say it _is_, Cousin Madeline. There is a long story about +that, but we shall have time for it hereafter.--Dear little Cousin +Roderick," pursued the Fairy, seating herself, and drawing Roderick to +her. "You have been a good boy, and got _light out of darkness_. Mind +you hold it fast. You did not use the light well, though, when you had +it, Cousin Roderick." + +"I know I didn't," was his answer. + +"If you could live the light time over again, you would be wiser, +Roderick." + +"I hope I should indeed," he murmured fervently; "but it is not likely +I shall ever see the light again." + +"Little boys shouldn't say things are not likely, when they don't know +any thing about them," cried the Fairy gaily, to cheer them up. + +"I dare say, if I were to ask you, you would tell me it was a bit of +sand that got into your eyes last year, that made you blind; but it +was no such thing, clever Master Roderick. Your naughty Cousin Eudora +had something to do with that; but, luckily, she can put her own work +straight again. Cousin Madeline, what do you think of my pretty +light?" + +"Eudora, it is dreadful." + +"Then shut your eyes, poor thing, we don't want to blind you. But +Roderick and I have not done talking yet. Come, little boy, lift up +your face towards me, and open those pretty eyes wide, that I may see +if I can't do them some good. Why, they are as blue as the water round +our island! There, now, they are looking at my face. Mind you tell me +if you think me pretty." + +"Eudora!" exclaimed Madeline. + +"Sit down, sit down, and shut your eyes, good woman. Now, Roderick, +wont even my Fairy light break through your darkness?" + +"I think it will," sighed Roderick; "there is a white light all round +me, as if I had gone up into a bright white cloud. You frighten me, +Fairy! Take away the light, and put me back into the darkness again." + +"Not so, my pretty Roderick; but I will soften it a little;" and she +waved her wand, and the brilliancy subsided. + +"Fairy, I see you now," screamed Roderick, springing up, for he was +sitting at her feet; "and oh, how beautiful you are!" + +"Roderick!" cried a voice from behind him. He turned; and Mother and +Son were locked in each other's arms. + +Surely I need say no more about this? though perhaps nobody but a +Mother can quite know how happy and thankful Lady Madeline was. And as +to Roderick, he was delighted too! Not but what he had been very happy +and contented before; but sight was a new pleasure to him now; a sort +of treat, like a birthday or Christmas present, which puts every one +into high spirits. It was so charming to him, poor fellow, (for he was +very affectionate), to actually _see_ his Mamma again; and this put +something else into his head, and off he ran out of the room. + +"Eudora," Madeline began, "how am I to thank you! Can you ever forgive +my old unkindness?" + +"Cousin Madeline," replied the Fairy, "I bear no malice to any one, +least of all to you, who come of a race I love, and of a family I +consider my own. No, no, good soul. I have never borne you ill-will, +though my kindness has been severe. Look! I know you love me _now_. +Love me always, Cousin Madeline, and let me ramble undisturbed about +your earthly home; but, mind! no more unkind wishes, however slight. +They come like evil winds to our Fairy island. You kept me away long +enough by those; and when you wished me with you, to get your child +out of his folly, I was very angry, and thought I wouldn't come; but +your, and your husband's wish was so strong and earnest, it haunted me +day and night; and I had no comfort till I had resolved to help you. +And here, Madeline, you have something to forgive _me_. My remedy has +been a harsh, a very harsh one for so slight a fault; but at first I +intended it to last only a few days. Afterwards, however, seeing how +it was acting upon him, and upon you all, for good, I let it work its +full effect: and I think it has been greatly blessed! Now, farewell! +Time is flying, and I must begone." + +And thus the Fairy and Madeline walked to the window, which the latter +reopened, and there was the full moon sailing in the cloudless sky, +and lighting up the lovely, and, this evening, calm and unruffled sea. + +The cousins embraced; and in a few minutes the Fairy had disappeared +in the distance. Madeline lingered awhile at the casement, thinking +tenderly of the gentle-hearted Fairy, and watching the horizon. At +last the outline of the Fairy's home appeared clear and bright against +the dark blue heaven, and then subsided gently by degrees. And +Madeline closed the window, grateful and happy, and went after her +boy. But she had not far to go; for he was coming along the passages +with all his brothers and sisters, wild with delight. And oh, how +Roderick chattered and talked about all their faces, and how he loved +to see the fat cheeks of one near his own age, and how some had grown, +and their noses improved, and what beautiful curls another had! In +short, if he had gone on long they would all have got quite conceited +and fancy, and fancied themselves a set of downright beauties. But you +see it was _love_ that made poor Roderick admire them all so much; +and, above all, he was charmed when they smiled. Ah, how little do +brothers and sisters know how tender their recollections of each +others' faces would become, were a separation to take place among +them! Then all the sweet smiles and pretty looks would be recalled, +that in every day life are seen with such indifference. "Little +children, love one another," during the happy days when you live +together in health and comfort. + +Can you guess, dear readers, what a joyous evening it was, that day at +the Sea Castle Home? How the poor Father rejoiced, and how the old +Hall was lighted up for the Servants, to share in the joy by a merry +dance; and how all the children danced too; and how a barrel of good +ale was tapped, for every one to drink to the health and happiness of +Master Roderick, and all the family. But you never _can_ guess how +Roderick teased all his brothers and sisters that evening, by +constantly kissing them. In the midst of a country dance he would run +right across to the ladies, when he ought to be standing still and +polite, and kiss two or three of his sisters as they were waiting to +dance in their turn, and tell them how nice they looked! Or he would +actually run right away from his place, to his Papa and Mamma;--jump +on their knees, and hug them very hard, and then run back again, +perhaps, into the middle of the dance, and put every thing into +confusion. But the happiest scene of all was, when the Father and +Mother thanked God that night for the blessing that had returned to +their little boy. + +And do not ask me, I beg, if he ever was afraid of being in the dark +again. No, dear Readers, his temporary misfortune had taught him the +best of all lessons;--A LIVING FAITH AND TRUST IN THE PROTECTING +OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD. + + + + +THE LOVE OF GOD. + +PREAMBLE (FROM LIFE.) + +_Van Artevelde_. These are but words. +_Elena_. My lord, they're full of meaning! + _Van Artevelde_. + + +Grace had been said, and Mamma was busy carving for the large party of +youngsters who sat around the comfortable dinner-table, when a little +voice from among them called out, + +"Mamma, do you think a giant could see a carraway seed?" + +Now there was no sweet loaf on the table, nor even on the +sideboard--neither had there been any plum cake in the house for some +time--nor were there any carraway seeds in the biscuits just then. +--In short, there was nothing which could be supposed to have +suggested the idea of carraway seeds to the little boy who made the +enquiry. Still he did make it, and though he went on quietly with his +dinner, he expected to receive an answer. + +Had the good Lady at the head of the table not been the mother of a +large family, she might possibly have dropt the carving knife and +fork, in sheer astonishment at the unaccountableness of the question, +but as it was, she had heard so many other odd ones before, that she +did not by outward sign demonstrate the amusement she felt at this, +but simply said,--"_Perhaps he could_"--for she knew that it was out +of her power to speak positively as to whether a Giant could see a +carraway seed or not. + +Now dear little readers, what do _you_ think about this very important +affair? Do you think a Giant could see a carraway seed or not?--"Oh +yes," you all cry,--"_of course he could!_" + +Nay, my dears, there is no "of course" at all in the matter! Can any +of you, for example, see the creatures that float about and fight in a +drop of water from the Serpentine River? No, certainly not! except +through a microscope. Well, but _why_ not?--you do not know. That I +can easily believe! But then you must never again say that "_of +course_" a Giant could see a carraway seed. + +It is entirely a question of _relative proportion_: so now you feel +quite small, and admit your total ignorance, I hope. Yes! it all +depends upon whether the giant is as much bigger than the carraway +seed, as you are bigger than the curious little insects that float +about and fight in the drop of water from the Serpentine river--for if +he is, we may conclude from analogy that a giant could _not_ see a +carraway seed except through a microscope. You see it is a sort of +rule of three sum, but as I cannot work it out, I tell you honestly +that neither do I know whether a giant could see so small an object or +not, and I advise you all to be as modest as I am myself, and never +speak positively on so difficult a point. + +But enough of this! Turn we now to another point, about which I _can_ +speak positively--namely, that in _one_ sense the world is full of +Giants who cannot see Carraway seeds. + +"It must be in the sense of _Non_sense I should think then!" observes +somewhat scornfully the young lady who is reading this story +aloud--"as if we could believe in there being giants now!" + +Very wittily remarked! my dear young lady, for your age.--I take you +to be about seventeen, and I see by the compression of your pretty +mouth that you consider yourself quite a judge and an authority. Only +take care you don't grow up into one of those Giants yourself! There +is something very suspicious to me in the glance of your eye. +"Ridiculous!" murmurs the fair damsel in question. + +Not at all so: only you travel too fast; by which I mean you speak too +hastily. You learn Italian, I dare say? Oh yes, of course, for you +sing. Well then, _Ombra adorata_ that is "beloved shadow;" _aspetta_ +that is, "wait"--"wait, my beloved shadow" (of a charming young lady), +give me breathing time, and I will explain myself. As you are an +Italian student, I presume you have heard of the great Italian poet +Dante. Now Dante in his _Convito_ or "Banquet" tells his readers that +writings may be understood, and therefore ought to be explained in +four different senses or meanings. There is first the literal sense; +secondly, the allegorical; thirdly, the moral; and fourthly, the +_anagorical_. Now I know you can't explain this last word to me, for I +would wager a large sum that you never tasted of Dante's Banquet--no, +not so much as the smallest crumb from it; and therefore how _should_ +you know what he means by the anagorical sense? Give me leave to have +the honour of enlightening you, then. The anagorical is what the +dictionaries call the _anagogical_ sense. A sense beyond this world; a +sense above the senses; a spiritual sense making common things divine. +It is hard to be arrived at and difficult of comprehension. Now in the +matter of the nice little boy's question about the Giant and the +carraway seed, (for none but a nice little boy could have excogitated +any thing so comical), I have set my heart upon talking to you about +it in the four above mentioned senses. And having already descanted on +the _literal_ sense, I had just made an assertion which appertained to +the _allegorical_ sense, when you so inopportunely interrupted me, My +Ombra Adorata, with your sharp observation about _non_sense: so now we +will go on in peace and quietness, if you please. + +In an allegorical sense the world is full of giants who cannot see +carraway seeds. + +For what are Giants but great men and great women? and the world +abounds with people who consider themselves as belonging to that +class. And a great many of them--Giants of Cleverness, Giants of +Riches, Giants of Rank--Giants of I know not how many things besides, +who are walking about the world every day, very often feel themselves +to be quite raised above the point of attending to trifles; so that +you see I may (in an allegorical sense) say strictly of them that they +cannot see carraway seeds. Oh my dears, however elevated you may be, +or may become; however great or rich or learned, beware, I pray you, +of being a Giant who cannot see a carraway seed! + +For, as my explanation of the _moral_ sense now goes on to show you; +it is so far from being, as these Giants suppose, a proof of their +_superiority_ that they cannot see or notice things they consider +beneath them--that it is, in fact, an evidence of some imperfection or +defect in either their moral or intellectual structure. Just as it is +a proof of our eyes being imperfect, that we cannot see the little +water insects as well as a great big elephant. I am sure you will +allow there is nothing _to boast of_ in this, and so if the +contemplation of great things makes you incapable of attending to +small ones, do remember that _'tis nothing to boast about or be proud +of_. And take very great care you make no mistakes as to what is great +and what is insignificant. With which warning I close my remarks on +the moral lesson, and proceed to that _anagogical_ or spiritual +meaning, which will I hope be my justification for dwelling so long on +the subject, and my best introduction to a story of a serious though +not of a melancholy character. But first, my dear little readers, let +me call upon you in the words which you hear in church: + + "Lift up your hearts!" + +and I would have you answer, + + "We lift them up unto the Lord." + +For it is indeed of Him--the Lord of all Lords, that I now wish to +speak to you. He made the Sun and Stars and the great mountains of our +earth; but He made also the smallest insects that crowd the air and +water, and which are invisible to our imperfect eyes. + +He rules the nations by His word, and "binds kings in chains, and +nobles with links of iron," as the psalm expresses it; but also not a +sparrow falls to the ground without His knowledge and consent. Angels +and Archangels worship around His throne, but His ears are equally +open to the prayer of the youngest child who lifts up its little heart +to Him! + +The universe is at His feet, but the smallest events of our lives are +under His especial superintendence and care. Yes! nothing, however +small and insignificant, that is connected with the present or future +welfare of the smallest and most insignificant of his creatures, is +_beneath the notice of God_! + +Ah! here is indeed a lesson for the fancied Giants of the world!--For, +in this picture of Almighty greatness combined with infinite +condescension, we see that real Perfection requires no Pride to +elevate it. + +But I said this anagogical sense was hard to be attained to and +difficult of comprehension. + +And is it not so? Is it not very difficult to believe thoroughly that +the great God whom we hear about, really and truly cares how we behave +and what we do--really and truly listens to our prayers--really and +truly takes as much interest in us as our earthly Fathers and Mothers +do? + +Ah, I am sure it must be very difficult, because so few people do it, +although we should all be both better and happier if we did. We should +say our prayers so much more earnestly, try to keep out of sin and +naughtiness so much more heartily, and, above all, always be contented +with whatever happened; for who could be anxious, and discontented +about their condition or circumstances, if they _quite_ believed that +every thing that happened to them was watched over and arranged for +their good, by the wisest, kindest, and most powerful of Beings? If +you, my dear children, who have been reading the fairy tales in this +book, were to be told that a most wise, most kind, and most powerful +Fairy had suddenly taken you for life under her particular care, and +that she would never lose sight of you by night or by day, how +delighted you would be! + +Yet just so are you under the particular care and watchful concern of +Almighty God! + +But now, say you, you begin to feel the difficulty of believing it +possible that the great God of the Universe takes this tender interest +in such insignificant and sinful creatures as men and women. + +Consider, then, that we are told that "God is Love;" and if He loves +us, there is no difficulty in believing that He feels all this +interest in us. Do not judge Him by earthly Kings and Potentates. +These are Giants who cannot see carraway seeds. We do not blame them, +for it is impossible they should be interested for every body. But +very very different is both the power and the feeling of the King of +Kings! + +Still we have not got over the difficulty yet, for of all the +wonderful truths we are commanded to believe, no one is so wonderful +and so incomprehensible as _the Love of God_ to the sinful human race. + +And yet it is a truth, and of all truths the most important and most +comfortable; and therefore it is much to be desired that we should +thoroughly believe it: and _I think_ I can make you understand that it +is possible, _by something which you feel in your own hearts_. I think +God has placed even in our own hearts a witness of the possibility of +this great Truth. + +My idea is this. We _know_ that God has been merciful to us--(His very +creation of man was an act of mercy), and _therefore_ we know that He +loves us. _He loves us because He has been merciful to us_. If you +cannot see why this should be, I refer you to the following story, and +advise you to _try for yourselves_. Only be kind to any living +creature, whether a human being, or an irrational animal, and see if +you can keep your heart from _loving_ it! Certainly it does not become +us to try to search out the unsearchable mind of God, but I think it +is permitted us to hope, that the remarkable fast of _Kindness +engendering Love_, which we experience in our own hearts, is intended +to lead us upwards as by a holy guiding thread, to some comprehension +of the Love of that God, who in Christ Jesus actually _gave Himself +for us_. + + +THE TALE. + +Lift up the curtain! + +In a baronial hall, not of the size and grandeur of that at Warwick +Castle, which those who have never seen should try to see before they +die: but still in a hall as antique and interesting in style, fits a +young man reading. + +It is evening, though the sun has not yet set, but it is evening, and +the young man is sitting at a small oak table in a recess in one of +the ancient windows, and before him lies open a book, and on the book, +which he touches not with his hands, but on which his eyes, blinded by +tears, are fixed, there lies a faded primrose. + +The book is the Bible, and the faded primrose lies on that verse in +the Psalm, "Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for his +goodness, and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of +men!" and some hand had placed a slight pencil mark before these +words. + +This scene brings before you a story of distress, and yet this young +man is the possessor of a large estate;--the baronial hall and house +are his own, and he is young and amiable, and till within the last few +months had led a life of almost uninterrupted comfort and prosperity +from his cradle upwards. Two years ago he became the betrothed lover +of a young lady no less interesting than himself, and as no obstacle +prevented their union, both had for these two years looked forward to +it, as the one certain and sure event of their lives. The young man's +parents had died when he was very young; but, in compliance with the +wishes of his Guardians, he deferred his marriage till he should have +come of age. + +Meanwhile, as the time of probation drew near its close, it had been +his delight to sit up the old place in such a manner as should become +his bride, and the alterations had, in many cases, been made under her +eye and according to her wishes, for she was already by anticipation, +and in the heart of its owner, the mistress of the place. + +At last the wedding day was fixed; but a few weeks before the time +came, one of those sad diseases which steal mysteriously into the +vitals of the young and wear away life long before its natural period, +fell upon her:--and _now_, nothing remained to him, who had hoped to +have her as his companion through life, but the Bible she had used +during her sickness, and which was found on the table by her couch +after her death, open and marked at the very place I have told you +about; together with the faded primrose which he had gathered for her +on the last morning of her life. + +This was a very sad event for those who were left behind to lament the +loss of one whom they had loved so dearly. The Mother indeed, who had +known other trials of life, bent her head submissively to this one, +and cherishing sweet recollections of her daughter's piety and +goodness, looked forward to a time of reunion in a happier world. But +the poor young man, whose name was Theodore, never having known a care +or a sorrow before, was stupefied and overpowered by this sudden +destruction of all his hopes and happiness. Seeing, however, that +_her_ last thought had been the mercy and goodness of God, he tried to +make it _his_ thought too; and he would sit for hours looking at the +verse which she had marked in the Bible. + +But unfortunately he made no effort besides, and having no kind +relatives or friends near him to rouse him from his melancholy stupor +to some of the active duties of life, he spent many many weeks in +listless sorrow, not caring much what became either of himself, his +dependents, or his property. And though he had become, by degrees, so +far resigned as to believe that every thing was for the best--even +_her_ death--he now took up a strange and dismal fancy, that though +the Almighty was a God of goodness and justice, it was quite +impossible that He should _love_ any beings so sinful and ungrateful +as the human race. This vain distinction of a morbid imagination was +the result of that solitude, inactivity, and the constantly dwelling +upon himself and his own troubles, to which he had unfortunately given +himself up, and which had brought his mind into such an unhealthy +state, that he could neither reason nor think properly. + +In this condition of feeling, having one day wandered to a +considerable distance from home, he sat down on the greensward to +rest; when lo! after he had remained there for some little time +musing, as usual, he saw approaching him two shining creatures, who +looked like spirits or angels, and as they came up to him they looked +at him very earnestly, and one said to the other, + +"He is doubting the goodness of God!?" + +Then Theodore shuddered, and said, "I am not! once perhaps I did, but +not now: all things happen for the best." Yet the Spirit repeated, "He +is doubting the goodness of God!" Theodore shuddered again, and cried +out "I am _not!_" for he felt as if it was a heavy accusation. +Whereupon the Spirit continued, "To disbelieve the love of God is to +doubt His goodness." + +"No, no," exclaimed Theodore eagerly, "it is not! I do not doubt His +goodness--His compassion even for the wretched creatures whom He +formed out of dust. But I--thoughtless in my youth; self-confident in +prosperity; ungrateful and rebellious under affliction; how can such a +wretch as _I_ have been, believe in the _love_ of God to me! God is +good and just, but do not talk to me of His Love to man, as if it were +possible He could feel for them the tenderness of kind affection! Who +are you?" + +Without noticing this question, the Spirit repeated, in emphatic +tones, "To disbelieve the Love of God is to doubt His goodness, and +deny the perfection of His nature!" + +"I tell you, No!" shouted Theodore, wildly: "It is _because_ of His +goodness and _because_ of the perfection of His nature, that I +disbelieve the possibility of His Love to the wretched race of man!" + +"Judge by your own heart!" exclaimed the Spirit who had not yet +spoken. + +But when Theodore raised his eyes to look upon her, both had +disappeared. He felt grieved, he knew not why. "_My own heart!_" he +murmured; "ah! my own heart has been the witness against me. It has +taught me the dreadful truth." + +"Truth never yet was found of him who leads a life of selfish misery," +whispered a soft voice receding into the distance; "Theodore! Judge by +your own heart. Even it may teach you better things!" + +Theodore started up and looked hastily around. He felt as if he could +have followed that soft receding voice into eternity. But there was no +one near. That sound, however, had been like an echo from hopes buried +in the grave; and the poor youth sank to the ground on his knees, and, +hiding his face in his hands, wept bitterly. Suddenly one thought took +possession of him out of what had been said. And it was one (as usual) +of self-reproach. The Spirit had reproached him with leading a life of +selfish misery! Vividly impressed by this idea, he started off +hurriedly for his home, crying aloud--"Oh, the wasted time; the lost +hours; the precious moments that might have been employed in +usefulness!" And thus he pursued his way till he had left the outer +country behind him, and had entered the gates that bounded his +extensive domain when, all at once, his course was stopped by +something he struck against as he was walking quickly along. + +Looking down, he perceived that a sickly, hungry-looking child was +stretched across the road asleep, and that by its side sat a woman, +the picture of misery and want. Theodore felt a strong sensation of +compassion seize him as he gazed at the child, and he stooped and +lifted it from the ground. + +The woman observed Theodore's eye, and said, "Ay, without help we +shall neither of us be here long!" + +"I will help you," said Theodore, "tell me what I can do!" + +"What can you or any one do, for a dying woman and a half-starved +child?" groaned the poor creature. "Food, food! medicine and help!" +These words burst from her in broken accents--I am dying!" + +"Are you so _very_ ill?" asked Theodore, turning deadly pale; and he +murmured to himself--"Death again! I dare not see it again so soon! +Here!" continued he, thrusting gold into her hand, "now you see that I +will help you! Look, I will send you food, and you shall be brought +to the house: but let me take the child, he cannot do you good, and I +will see to him." "He must not see her die;" was Theodore's inward +thought. + +"Ay, take him," muttered the woman gloomily, "and send me cordials. No +one wants to go even an hour before their time!" + +Theodore obeyed almost mechanically, and lifting up the little boy, he +made a shift to carry him to the house. On arriving there, he called +for his housekeeper and desired her to take food and wine to the woman +he had left, and to bring her to the house. Then he sent another +servant for a doctor, and afterwards undertook himself the care of the +forlorn child. He placed him on a sofa in his study and sat down by +him. + +"Are you ill?" was his first question. + +"I don't know," was the answer. + +"Are you hungry?" + +"Very!" + +Here Theodore got up and went to the next room, where preparations +were being made for dinner, and fetched bread and gave it to the boy, +who ate it greedily, without once lifting up his eyes. "Poor child," +thought Theodore, "life has no _mental_ troubles for him!" + +"Are you sorry your mother is so ill?" was his next inquiry. + +"She's not my mother," muttered the boy. + +Theodore started--"What do you mean? Are you not that woman's +_child_?" + +"No! She told me I wasn't." + +"Who are you, then?" + +"I don't know. She told me she had stolen me to beg for her." + +"And do you remember nothing about it?" + +"No, its too long ago." + +Theodore now fetched him more bread, but whilst he was eating it he no +longer sat by him, but walked up and down the room. Every now and then +as he stopped and looked at the thin, sickly looking object he had +brought into the house, he was overtaken by a strong feeling of pity +for his miserable condition. + +This child was as desolate as himself, only in another way. Stolen +from his parents to beg for the strange woman, he had lived with her +so long that he had forgotten his real home altogether! Bound by no +ties of kindred and comfort to this world. "He is more desolate than I +am myself!" repeated Theodore, again and again. + +After a time he approached the boy again. + +"The woman will say you are her child, and make you go back and beg +for her if she gets better, will she not?" + +"She doesn't want me now." + +"How so?" + +"She says, I'm too hungry, and eat all the bread away from her, and +don't get enough for us both." + +A curious expression passed across Theodore's face as he turned away +and sat down in his chair once more. It looked like a gleam of +satisfaction. The boy, meanwhile, sat quite still, looking round the +room. He had a grave and somewhat interesting face, but that the dark +eyes looked a little too keen and restless to be quite pleasant. +Still, when he smiled, and he had smiled brightly when he first saw +the bread, his countenance improved; and there was, besides, something +about his open forehead which redeemed the covert expression of his +eye. He was about seven years old, and precocious in quickness of a +particular kind, as is very often the case with vagrant children. + +Theodore's reverie was broken at last by the arrival of his good old +housekeeper, who came in, flurried and indignant, to inform him that +the woman she had been in search of was no where to be found. She had +been, "she was sure," up and down all the carriage roads, and made +enquiries at all the lodges, and finally discovered that a beggar +woman had passed out at one of them upwards of an hour before, very +hurriedly, and indeed almost at a running pace. + +Theodore glanced at the child, but his countenance never changed. Only +he sat eying the housekeeper as she spoke, apparently indifferent to +the result. The housekeeper now began to ejaculate in broken +sentences, "The base creature! To think that you should have taken all +this trouble, Sir! and had the child actually into the house! +and--gracious me," added she in a half whisper, "hadn't I better call +the butler, Sir; hadn't he" (nodding significantly towards the child) +"better be taken to the workhouse at once, Sir?" + +"I think not," answered Theodore slowly--"not yet, I think. The truth +is, I find he's not her own child, but has been stolen; and--and--in +fact, we can send him to the workhouse to-morrow. Perhaps, after all, +the woman may come here for him. But, at any rate, there is time +enough. You see this is an odd affair; and, as the boy is not _hers_, +we don't know who he may not turn out to be some day." And, as +Theodore thus concluded his sentence, he got up and looked at the old +housekeeper with a smile--a melancholy one it is true, but still it +was a smile--the first that had been seen on his face since his +terrible bereavement. + +And the faithful servant was so much pleased that she forgot every +thing else in a desire to keep up the interest that had lured her +young master so unaccountably from his misery. + +"Well, to be sure, Sir, what you say's quite right, and we can make +the poor thing comfortable for to-night, and then you can do as you +please to-morrow. Shall I take him with me, Sir, and make him clean, +while you dine? I can borrow some tidy clothes from the bailiff's +wife, I dare say; and after he's made respectable, you can see him +again, Sir, if you think proper." + +This proposition was more grateful to Theodore's mind than he cared to +acknowledge to himself. Indeed he had no clear ideas of his feelings +about the little accident that had interrupted the dismal course of +his life; and he studiously avoided questioning himself too closely. +Only there came across him, every now and then, a sensation that there +was some special providence about it all, and that there was some +mysterious connection between this adventure and the words of the +apparitions who had spoken to him in the morning. + +But "let be, let us see what will happen," was the ruling feeling, and +as he felt less miserable than usual, he did not wish to disturb the +pleasing dream by enquiries, why? + +After his solitary dinner, as he was seated alone in his arm chair, he +was relapsing fast into his usual unhappy state of mind, for this was +at all times the most trying part of the day to him, when a knock at +the door aroused him. + +Ah, it was the good old housekeeper again! She who, with the acute +instinct of sorrow-soothing which women so eminently possess, had +purposely come at this the young master's "dark hour," to try if it +could be kept back by the charm she had seen working a short time +before. "The little fellow is quite fit to come in now, Sir, if you'd +wish to see him before he's put to bed." And her efforts were rewarded +by seeing a look of interest light up poor Theodore's eye. The boy was +now ushered in, and his improved appearance and cleanliness were very +striking. Theodore took hold of his hand--"There, you need not be +afraid; you may sit down upon that chair. Are you comfortable?" "Yes." +"Have you had plenty to eat?" "Yes, plenty." And the child laughed a +little. + +"I hope you are a good boy." + +He looked stupid. "Can you say your prayers?" + +"What's that?" + +"Ah! I was afraid not. You never heard about God?" "Yes; but the woman +used to keep that to herself." "Keep what?" + +"Why," _for God's sake_, when she begged. She didn't let me say it, but +she always said it herself; and then, when people wouldn't give us any +thing, she used to say--" + +"No, no! I will not hear about that;" interrupted Theodore, "but I +hope some day you will learn about God." + +"In the begging? must I say it in the begging next time?" + +"No, I don't mean that; not in begging bread of people in the road, +but in praying." + +"What's that?" "Begging." "Then I am to beg?" "No, not on the road, +but of a great good Being, who will never refuse what you ask." + +"Is that _you_?" + +"No, my poor boy; not me, but the great Being, called God, who lives +in the sky. You must beg all you want of Him." + +"I don't know Him." + +"No; but you will learn to know Him when you have listened to me and +prayed to Him." + +"I don't know praying; I know begging." + +"Well, then, when you have begged Him--" + +"What am I to say?" + +"First, you must say, 'Our Father--'" + +"Father's dead," interrupted the boy; + +"Ah, but I do not mean _that_ father," answered Theodore; "and how do +you know even that _that_ father is dead?" + +"The woman said so. One day she told me Father and Mother were both +dead, and there was nobody left to love me, so I must mind her." + +"The woman was wrong," cried Theodore compassionately. "You have +another Father, who never dies, and who loves you always!--" + +A knock at the door interrupted Theodore's _lesson on the Love of +God_. + +"It's about time the poor thing was put to bed," suggested the +housekeeper, looking in. "I dare say he's tired." + +"I dare say he is," said Theodore mechanically. "Good night, little +boy. What used they to call you?" + +"Reuben." + +"Good night, little Reuben." And he was taken away. + +_You have another Father who never dies and who loves you always_! +founded like an echo through the room. Theodore arose and looked +around, but there was no one there. He resumed his feat, and wondered +how he had got involved in teaching the beggar boy religion. He +lamented his awkwardness and unfitness for the talk; but still he +thought he had done right. As to his last assertion, how else could he +make the child comprehend God at all? Besides, how cruel it would be +to infect him with his own miserable convictions. They would come time +enough, perhaps! + +Such was the current of his thoughts. The next morning he told the old +housekeeper of the boy's ignorance and his difficulty with him, and +engaged her to help him in his talk, which she readily undertook. + +It is not my intention to describe the many endeavours Theodore made +to impress the first great truths of Christianity upon Reuben's mind; +but I can assure you he felt all the better for them himself. How it +was that he never sent the little boy to the workhouse you can guess. +For the first few days he kept him to see (as he said), if the woman +would come back for him. Then he wished him to stay till he and the +housekeeper had sufficiently impressed him by their lessons. And +then--why then--by degrees, all mention of the workhouse ceased, and +better clothes were bought for him; and the housekeeper, who was one +of the by-gone generation of warm-hearted old family servants, became, +for her master's sake, a perfect mother to him; and to Theodore he +involuntarily proved an object of daily increasing interest, and +finally, of strong personal affection. + +And thus nearly a year passed over, during which time Theodore's +health and activity in a measure returned; but the cheerfulness of a +happy mind was still wanting. Reuben often lured him temporarily into +it, but he would again relapse, and had never given up his unhappy +theory, though now he dwelt upon it much less frequently than of old. +At the end of the year, however, Theodore was much distressed by +fancying that he detected Reuben in lying; and he was, besides, by no +means sure that little trifles were not taken from him by the child +for his own use and amusement. He communicated his suspicions to the +housekeeper, and alas! found his worst fears confirmed. The pain and +sorrow he felt at this discovery were of a kind totally new to him. +But the strongest feeling of all was, that he would not give up the +boy to vicious habits without a struggle (cost what it might) to save +him! The housekeeper told him, with tears, that she had observed +Reuben's habit of petty lying and taking any thing he fancied, very +soon after his admission to the house; but she confessed that she had +not had the heart to inform her young Master, lest he should send the +boy away who had seemed to take him so out of his trouble! This was +what she most thought about. So she had tried to correct the child +herself, but not with the success she had desired. "How little she +knows the heart," thought Theodore, "his evil propensities would have +been an additional claim upon my kindness!" + +I will pass over all that Theodore said to the boy himself. No father +could have been more earnest, more solemn in his warnings, or more +kind in his expostulations. Reuben, by this time, could understand all +he said, and shame and repentance burnt in his face during a painful +interview. It is right to remind you, dear children, of the many +excuses that were to be made for him. He had been brought up, till +seven years old, in total ignorance of God, and without ever having +heard one duty commanded or one sin forbidden. The woman lied daily +and hourly in his sight, and made him do the same; and she took all +she could lay hold of in any way, and beat him if he did not follow +her example; and although Theodore's instructions had opened a new +world on the child's mind, the _evil_ HABITS were not so soon got rid +of. So there the mischief was; and now the great difficulty Theodore +felt, was to know what to do for the best. And, after much +consideration, he decided to send him to school, as the likeliest +means of eradicating the bad habits the boy had acquired. I say +_habits_, rather than dispositions, for there was indeed nothing mean +or sneaking about his character. On the contrary, he was both +courageous and generous in the turn of his mind, and, after his health +improved, his manners partook of the same freedom and candour. + +To school therefore poor Reuben went; and Theodore was almost +astonished himself at the blank which his absence created. + +But having desired that continued reports should be sent to him of his +conduct, he meanwhile began seriously to think what was to become of +him hereafter. At last it occurred to him that he might employ him in +some way or other about his property; and with a view to this, +Theodore himself began to take more interest in his estate than he had +had the energy to bestow before, and made himself more intimately +acquainted with the wants and modes of life of those under his +control. + +Thus another year passed away in quiet but constant occupation; and +the many opportunities Theodore now had of doing good, softened and +cheered his mind. But he was not quite cured. For of all things in the +world whims are the very hardest to cure, because, reason as you will, +people still stick to their whims. Reuben was not allowed to return +once during that year to the old hall. During the last few months, +however, his progress had been most satisfactory, and the Master +considered that the evil was overcome; and so, at the end of the year, +Theodore wrote word to Reuben that he wished him to come "home" for +his holidays. Poor Reuben cried bitterly again when he read the +letter; for, as he said to the Master, "It is _not_ my home, though he +has been very good to me. I have no home!" + +Theodore's heart overflowed with pleasure and almost pride when he saw +the boy again. Every turn in the expression of his face was improved; +and when Theodore first took his hand, the lad bent his face over it +and sobbed out an entreaty for pardon for his dreadful wickedness. +"Reuben," cried Theodore, "never say that again. All is forgotten +since your conduct is changed. Forget the past as soon as possible. It +will never be remembered by me." + +Time went on during the holidays very happily on the whole. In fact +there was no drawback; but that now and then Theodore, who would often +sit looking at his adopted child's face, noticed a painful expression +which he could not account for. His conduct was irreproachable and his +respect for Theodore seemed, if possible, increased; but he would not +be frank with him, and no encouragement beguiled him into the ease of +trusted affection. Theodore did not choose to notice this for some +weeks, but, as the time of Reuben's return to school drew near, he was +unwilling to let him go without some expostulation. + +"Reuben," said he one day, "you are going back to school. Your conduct +has quite satisfied me: but tell me, before you go, why you so often +look unhappy? It is a poor return (though I now touch on this subject +for the first time in my life), it is a poor return for the interest I +have taken in you; and for the real love you know I feel towards you!" + +For a moment Reuben's large dark eyes glanced up at Theodore's face; +but they sank again as quickly: his cheeks grew crimson, and tears +rolled over them which he could not conceal. + +"What is the matter, Reuben; what is the meaning of this? Am I loving +one who does not love me in return?" + +"You _cannot_ love me, Sir!" ejaculated the boy so earnestly that it +quite startled his companion. + +"Reuben, what _can_ you mean? Have you forgotten how I have taken you +and acted by you as if I had been your Father. I _cannot love_ you? +What else but _love_ for you has made me do what I have done?" + +"That was all your goodness and the kindness of your heart, Sir. You +couldn't love me when you picked me up in the road. It was pity and +kindness, and it has been the same ever since; not _Love_--" and the +tears again struggled to his eyes. + +Theodore rushed suddenly from the room and into his private apartment, +and falling on his knees, spread his hands over his head in prayer. +"My Lord and my God!" cried he solemnly, "what means this echo from my +own heart? Am I awake, or do I dream?" A profound silence was around +him; but, as he arose and opened his eyes, he beheld before him, +though fading rapidly from his sight, the angelic visions he had seen +two years before. + + * * * * * + +He returned to Reuben, who was sitting at the table, his face buried +in his arms. + +Theodore laid his hand upon him. "Reuben, look up! You are under a +great mistake. You are but a boy, and must not fancy you know the ins +and outs of the human heart. Reuben, I do love you, and have always +loved you." + +"You cannot, Sir!" + +"Again? and why not?" + +"You are too much above me; I am an outcast, and was a beggar. It +wasn't likely you could _love_ me at any time. Besides, there has been +something since." + +"What?" + +"You told me to forget it, Sir, but I cannot. After all your kindness +and goodness, and trying to make me happy and do me every good, I was +all along (during the first year), doing what was wrong, deceiving you +and injuring you. I am not only an outcast, but I have been wicked and +ungrateful, and made you unhappy by my misconduct. Indeed I cannot +bear to think of it; but I dare not deceive myself about your _Love_, +Sir! I know you _cannot_ love me; but I am so grateful to you for your +goodness, I hope you will not be angry with me for speaking the truth: +only, though I am grateful and try to be contented, I cannot be as +_happy_ as if you _did_ love me." + +As Theodore gazed on poor Reuben's face, he saw standing behind him +the beautiful visions once more. + +"Now judge by your own heart!" murmured the Spirits, as smiling they +disappeared. + +And Theodore did so. Going up to Reuben, he put his arms around him, +and wept over him tears of love and gratitude for the blessing which +he felt stealing into his own mind. "Reuben," cried he, "my child +Reuben! There have been but two human beings in the world on whom I +have bestowed my love; for, like you, I lost my parents young. These +two were--her I lost and yourself!" + +"If I thought you _loved_ me, I would die for you!" cried Reuben, +springing up and gazing earnestly on Theodore's face. + +"My God!" murmured Theodore, "may I be able to feel this to Thee!" + + * * * * * + +I think more words are unnecessary. You cannot doubt that Theodore +soon convinced Reuben of his love, nor that Theodore took the lesson +to himself, and now saw that God had placed in the human heart a +witness of the possibility of His love to man. Yes, the clinging +affection we feel for those we have been kind to; our own power of +forgiving _any_ thing to them; is an instinct which has been +mercifully implanted in our hearts to teach us to believe in that Love +of God, which is otherwise so incredible to human reason. + +If you care to know what became of Theodore and Reuben, you must in +fancy pass over a few years. Reuben soon had so strong a wish to go to +sea, that he entered the merchant service; and by the time he became +Master of his own vessel and revisited the hall when he came ashore, +Theodore was to be found there with a kind and gentle wife by his +side; and frolicking about the ancient hall were a parcel of noisy +children, to whom the arrival from sea of him whom they always +unaccountably would call "Uncle Reuben," was ever a gala treat. Dear +readers, Farewell! + +BENEDICITE. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS AND OTHER +TALES*** + + +******* This file should be named 11319-8.txt or 11319-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/3/1/11319 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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Barker</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: The Fairy Godmothers and Other Tales</p> +<p>Author: Mrs. Alfred Gatty</p> +<p>Release Date: February 26, 2004 [eBook #11319]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: iso-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS AND OTHER TALES***</p> +<br> +<br> +<center><b>E-text prepared by Internet Archive;<br> + University of Florida;<br> + and Beth Trapaga and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team</b></center> +<br> +<br> +<table border=0 bgcolor="ccccff" cellpadding=10> + <tr> + <td valign="top"> + Note: + </td> + <td> + Images of the original pages are available through the Florida + Board of Education, Division of Colleges and Universities, + PALMM Project, 2001. (Preservation and Access for American and + British Children's Literature, 1850-1869.) See<br> + <a href="http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/dl/UF00001801.jpg"> + http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/dl/UF00001801.jpg</a> + <br> + or<br> + <a href="http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/dl/UF00001801.pdf"> + http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/dl/UF00001801.pdf</a> + </td> + </tr> +</table> +<br> +<br> +<hr> +<br> + +<center> +<img src="Images/Hermione.jpg" alt="Hermione Sketching" width="222" height="358" +hspace="4" vspace="8" border="1"> +</center> + +<br> +<h1> +THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS +</h1> + +<h2> +AND OTHER TALES. +</h2> +<br> + +<h3> +BY MRS. ALFRED GATTY. +</h3> + + +<p class="note"> +Col miele, e non coll' aceto si piglian le mosche. +</p> +<p class="att"> +<i>Italian Proverb</i>. +</p> +<p> </p> +<p class="note"> +London:<br> +George Bell, 186, Fleet Street. +<br><br> +1851. +</p> + +<hr align="center" size="2" width="50%"> + +<center><img src="Images/Deco1.jpg" alt="Decoration" +width="234" height="56" hspace="4" +vspace="8"></center> + +<p class="left"> +To My Children<br><br> + +These tales are most affectionately dedicated. They were written +in hours of sickness, but are intended to be read by the healthy and +joyous young: and to illustrate some favourite and long cherished +convictions.<br> +<br> +Margaret Gatty.<br> +<br> +Ecclesfield Vicarage,<br> +27th March, 1851. +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr align="center" size="2" width="50%"> + +<h3>CONTENTS.</h3> + +<p class="note"> + +<a href="#Fairy"> +The Fairy Godmothers</a><br><br> + +<a href="#Joachim"> +Joachim the Mimic</a><br><br> + +<a href="#Darkness"> +Darkness and Light</a><br><br> + +<a href="#Love"> +The Love of God</a><br><br> +</p> + +<p class="note"> +<small> +The design for the Frontispiece which adorns this volume is by the +pencil of the writer's <br>kind and highly gifted friend, Miss Lucette E. +Barker. +</small> +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr align="center" size="2" width="80%"> + +<center> +<img src="Images/Deco2.jpg" alt="Decoration 2" width="234" height="59" +hspace="4" vspace="8"> +</center> + +<a name="Fairy"></a> + +<h3> +THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS. +</h3> + + +<p> +<img src ="Images/LetterI.jpg" alt="Ornate I" +width="67" height="62"> + +In one of the beautiful bays on the coast of Fairy Land, a party of +Fairies was assembled on a lovely evening in July. There are many +beautiful bays on the coast of England, and there is one especially, +my dear little readers, which you and I know of, where a long line of +grand old rocks stretches far into the sea on the left-hand extremity, +while in the distance to the right a warning lighthouse with its +changing lights gives an almost solemn beauty to the scene; for one +cannot help thinking, at the sight of it, of the poor storm-driven +mariner, whom even that friendly light may fail to save from a sad and +sudden death. But beautiful as this little bay is, of which I speak, +and fond as we are of it, it is nothing, I do assure you, compared to +the bays in Fairy Land! There, there are no light-houses reminding one +painfully of danger and destruction near, but all is loveliness and +peace; and even the rocks would be turned into soft pillows by the +good-natured Fairies who inhabit the country, should any strange +accident drive a mortal ship on that shore. +</p> + +<p> +Also the bays in Fairy Land face to the west, which is a great +advantage, for in an evening there you may sit and watch the golden +sun dipping behind the waves; and the rich red tints he sends out upon +the rocks before he sets, are beyond measure beautiful and attractive. +Especially, I believe, the Fairies enjoy this time of day, for they +are odd little creatures, rather conceited, and fond of everything +pretty; consequently they like to be floating about the rocks in their +white dresses when the crimson and golden hues of sunset shine on +them, knowing very well they look like so many bright flowers on the +occasion. +</p> + +<p> +The day I speak of however had been very hot, and at the time I speak +of, the Fairies felt a little lazy and were reclining on some rocks +covered with sea-weed and amusing themselves by talking. In general +the conversation of these little creatures is rather light and +frivolous and gay; but it is really a fact that they were just then +all serious together and all were engaged in a very profound +conversation on human happiness. +</p> + +<p> +I am sorry to have so many explanations to give, but I think it quite +necessary to tell you the reason of so uncommon an event as a party +of Fairies being serious. Well then, there were going to be, very +shortly, several extremely gay christenings in the world, and some of +the Fairies had been invited to attend at them as Godmothers, in order +that they might bestow Fairy gifts on the different infants. +</p> + +<p> +Four or five of the christenings were to take place the next day, and +the Fairies who were going were discussing with each other what gifts +they should bestow, and as their only object was to ensure the +happiness of the children for whom they were interested, they +naturally fell into a discourse as to what gifts were most likely to +have so charming an effect. "Your Godchild is a girl too, I believe," +said Euphrosyne to Ianthe [Fairies are privileged, you know, to have +romantic names] "what do you think of bestowing upon her?" "Why," +answered Ianthe, "the old story, I suppose—BEAUTY: at least such +was my intention, but if you can any of you show me I am wrong in +supposing it a cause of happiness to the mortal race, why, I suppose +I must give her ugliness instead." +</p> + +<p> +"Sister, I hope you will do no such thing," murmured a young Fairy who +lay near twining seaweeds into a wreath. "I never until this evening +heard a doubt upon the subject, and to tell you the truth the only +time I ever envy a mortal is when I see a regular beauty enter a large +assembly. Oh, the triumph of that moment! Every eye turned upon her; +murmurs of admiration, not unmixed with envy, greeting her as she +sweeps along; everyone courting her acquaintance; a word, a smile of +hers more valued than a pearl or a ruby. A sort of queen of Nature's +own making, reigning royally in undisputed sway, let her circumstances +of life be what they may! Look how mean the richest woman who is ugly +looks by the side of her! No no, dear Ianthe, make your little lady +handsome, and you have done the best that Fairy can do for her. I +declare I envy her beforehand! Here where we are all so beautiful +together there is no interest or excitement about it—it is quite +flat." And so saying the young fairy Leila laid herself down to her +wreath again. "Why, Leila, you are absolutely eloquent!" observed +Ianthe, "Beauty it certainly must be." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, I declare," pursued Ianthe, rousing up again, "I have sometimes +really wished myself ugly, that I might some day have the pleasure of +suddenly finding myself beautiful!" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, but then," said a Fairy from behind, "is there no danger of your +regular beauty, as you call her, getting as tired of being beautiful +as you are, and wishing herself ugly too?" +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly, not," answered Ianthe, "for, for an earthly beauty there +would always be the excitement of being envied." +</p> + +<p> +"Come, come," persisted the former speaker, "then the gift of being +envied would be the best thing to bestow, at all events a necessary +addition." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh," cried Leila, stopping her ears, "I can't argue, I never could—I +can't hear any more, I am quite satisfied that I am right; you can't +argue away the pleasure of being a beauty in a ball-room. Ask any of +them themselves." +</p> + +<p> +"Well," said Ianthe, "we need pursue the subject no further. I am +resolved. My baby is to be beautiful, beautiful as the dawn of the +morning; they shall call her Aurora!" +</p> + +<p> +"I shall not follow your example," observed Euphrosyne, "I don't at +all like that notion of the necessity of <i>envy</i> to make the beauty's +joy complete. Besides, I'm not at all sure beauty is not much more +charming in idea than in possession. Nobody spend their lives in +entering a ball-room, and one gets sadly tired of one's own face. I'm +sure <i>I</i> do, beautiful as it is;" and as she spoke the Fairy stooped +over a clear tide pool which mirrored her lovely countenance; "and yet +look what a nose I have! It is absolutely exquisite! And this hair!" +and she held up her long silken curling tresses and looked at them +reflected in the water as she spoke. A musical laugh rang through the +fairy group. Euphrosyne resumed her seat. "There isn't a mortal damsel +in the world who would not go into raptures to resemble me," pursued +she, "and yet—but, oh dear, I am getting quite prosy, and it is quite +useless, for Ianthe has decided. I, on the contrary, am thinking of +something far less romantic and interesting, but I suspect far more +necessary to the happiness of mortals than beauty—I mean RICHES." +</p> + +<p> +"Men are horribly fond of them, certainly," observed the Fairy from +behind, whose name was Ambrosia. "I can't endure men on that very +account. Look at the grubby wretched lives they lead in +counting-houses and banks, and dreadful dingy holes and corners of +great towns, where we wouldn't set the soles of our feet, and this for +forty or fifty years, perhaps, in order that in the fifty-first, or +perhaps later still, they may turn into butterflies for the little bit +of life that is left to them. And such butterflies, too! not knowing +what to do with their gay coats and fine wings when they get them at +last." +</p> + +<p> +"I think you are putting an extreme case," observed Euphrosyne. +"Though the grubs themselves may not thoroughly enjoy the riches they +have so laboriously acquired, their children or grandchildren may, and +live at ease and enjoy them. I should not think of bestowing great +riches on uneducated paupers. But it is another matter to give them to +people whom education has refined, and who would know how to enjoy and +employ them." +</p> + +<p> +"I wonder," suggested a very little Fairy, scarcely grown to her full +size, "why you don't just give your Godchildren moderate good health, +and enough money to make them quite comfortable without puzzling +them?" +</p> + +<p> +"You are a complete Solomon," observed Euphrosyne, "but you must know, +my dear, that moderate good health and a mere comfortable competency +would hardly be considered Fairy gifts by our friends in the lower +world. These things are, as it were, the absolute <i>necessities</i> of a +happy life; they are the beef and mutton (to borrow an earthly simile) +of the entertainment. Fairy gifts form the somewhat unnecessary (and +questionably wholesome) second course, the sweets, the bonbons, the +luscious luxuries of the repast. +</p> + +<p> +"Very few, by comparison, get them. Very few infants you know have +Fairy Godmothers, but we make it a rule that those who have, shall +always be distinguished from the crowd. Other-wise our power would not +be believed in. No, my little Aglaia, all our Godchildren start from +the point you spoke of—'caeteris paribus,' as those dingy black +lawyers say—all other things being equal—it is a question now of +bestowing extra superfine Fairy gifts." +</p> + +<p> +Aglaia tittered—"I know Sister Euphrosyne is thinking of the +christening suppers, and the whipped creams, and the syllabubs!" and +away she tripped to the other end of the bay, lest the older Fairies +should scold her for impertinence. +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly," pursued Euphrosyne, "I have a great contempt for riches +myself. Bah! the idea of all the troublesome as well as wicked things +men do in order that they may be able to keep a lumbering thing they +call a carriage, to drive them round a dirty town. Just think of that +one thing alone! It is hardly credible." And Euphrosyne laid her head +by the side of Leila's, and looked up into the deep blue sky. +</p> + +<p> +"Remember," said Ambrosia, from behind, "it is a choice with poor +mortals between heavy foot-walking, and the lumbering vehicles you +talk of. Perhaps when their legs ache terribly, the carriages are not +such bad things. We can hardly judge dispassionately in such a matter, +we who can float and fly!" and the delicate Ambrosia, springing up, +floated softly round the bay, and then returned smiling to her +companions. "It made me almost ill to think of aching legs," observed +she, "how I do pity the mortal race!" +</p> + +<p> +"How pretty you looked as the sun shone golden upon your white robe," +exclaimed Leila, "It was a sight for a mortal painter to die of!" +</p> + +<p> +"A genius for painting would be a grand Fairy gift," observed Ianthe. +</p> + +<p> +"Too doubtful of success," answered Euphrosyne, "and the Musician's +power the same; besides musicians always die young and with exhausted +minds. The art is too much for mortal nerves." +</p> + +<p> +"Their atmosphere is too thick," said Leila. "How tired I am of your +discussions! Let us sing! Whatever music may be to them, it is food to +us." +</p> + +<p> +Then all those beautiful Fairies arose and joining hands on the rocks +they sang to the now dying Sun a chorus of Fairy Land! Now and then +these ravishing melodies are permitted to reach to mortal ears: +chiefly in dreams to the sick and sorrowful, for Fairies have great +compassion on such, and allow them a distant taste of this, the most +exquisite of their enjoyments. +</p> + +<p> +There was no more discussion that night, nor did they argue much the +next morning. There was the rising sun to welcome from the sleeping +caves on the eastern side of their country, and the bath to be +enjoyed, and their wings to plume, and sweet odours to gather from the +early flowers; and the time passed so quickly, they only met to take a +hurried leave. "We must understand each other however, before we +separate," said Euphrosyne. +</p> + +<p> +"Dear Ianthe, your Gift is Beauty?" "It is." "And mine is Riches," +said Euphrosyne. "All the pleasures of life shall be at my Godchild's +feet," said another Fairy, laughing. "If that will not ensure +happiness, I know not what will." Ambrosia held back—"Your choice, +dear Sister?" asked Euphrosyne. +</p> + +<p> +"Come! we have no time to lose." +</p> + +<p> +"It must remain a secret," was the reply. "Our discourse yesterday +evening was so thoughtful, so sad, I could not sleep. I arose hours +before you this morning, ere daylight streaked the sky. Dear Sisters, +how shocked you will be to hear I wept; but now I have determined. If +my gift succeed I will tell you all about it, or you shall guess it +yourselves; for I now propose that our Fairy Gifts this year shall be +a sort of experiment on human happiness. Let us from time to time +visit in company our young charges, and let the result—that is, which +of our Gifts is proved to confer the greatest amount of happiness, be +written in the archives of our kingdom for the future benefit of the +mortal race." +</p> + +<p> +A murmur of approbation rose, sweet as the vibration of a harp-chord +through the assembly. +</p> + +<p> +There was no time for enquiry about the other gifts: the travelling +Fairies arose and beat their gauzy wings upon the western breeze. A +melodious rushing was just audible; the distant murmurs of the earthly +sea the most resemble that sweet dream of sound. In a few moments the +departing sisters became invisible, and those who remained returned to +float by the sea shore, or make sweet music in the bowers of their +enchanted land. +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="40%"> + +<p> +Time is a very odd sort of thing, dear readers. We neither know whence +it comes nor whither it goes;—nay we know nothing about it in fact +except that there is one little moment of it called the present, which +we have as it were in our hands to make use of—but beyond this we can +give no account of, even that little moment. It is ours to use, but +not to understand. There is one thing in the world, however, quite as +wonderful, and quite as common, and that is, <i>the Wind</i>. Did it never +strike you how strange it was that the strongest thing in the world +should be <i>invisible</i>? The nice breezes we feel in summer and the +roughest blasts we feel in winter in England are not so extremely +strong you will say: but I am speaking, besides these, of the winds +called hurricanes that arise in the West Indian Islands, and in other +places in the world. These dreadful hurricanes have at times done as +much mischief as earthquakes and lightning. They tear down the +strongest trees, overthrow the firmest houses and spread ruin and +desolation around, and yet this terrible power, so tremendous, and +against which the cleverest contrivances can provide no defence, is as +invisible as the great Maker of Heaven and Earth. How unbelieving many +people would look if you told them of a dreadful creature that was +coming to the world, which could be heard to roar, be felt to knock +down every thing in its path—men, women and children, houses, +churches, towers, castles, cities, and trees the most firmly +rooted—and yet which you could never catch the faintest glimpse of, +for it was always invisible, even when it roared the loudest! As +invisible then, as when in its mildest moods, it, as it were, purred +softly over the country like a cat. How the good people would laugh, +and tell you you were very silly to believe in such a thing. Yet I +think this is not at all an incorrect description of the great +invisible Power WIND. Now the lesson we may learn from this is to be +humble-minded; for since we live in the constant presence of a Power +we cannot see, we ought to feel it is equally possible other Powers +may exist of which our other senses cannot take cognizance. There is +an old proverb—"Seeing is believing"—but you perceive, dear readers, +we are forced to believe in the wind though we never see him at all. +</p> + +<p> +To return to Time who is travelling fast on while I am rambling after +the wind, he has puzzled the artists a good deal I should say, for +with all their skill at representation they have never hit upon any +better idea of him than an old Man with wings. An old man with wings! +Can you fancy anything so unnatural! One can quite understand +beautiful young Angels with wings. Youth and power and swiftness +belong to them. Also Fairies with wings are quite comprehensible +creatures; for one fancies them so light and airy and transparent, +living upon honey dew and ambrosia, that wings wherewith to fly seem +their natural appendages. But the decrepitude of old age and the wings +of youth and power are a strange mixture:—a bald head, and a Fairy's +swiftness!—how ridiculous it seems, and so I think I may well say +Time is a very odd sort of thing. +</p> + +<p> +Among those who have to deal with Time, few are more puzzled how to +manage him than we story-tellers. In my first chapter, for instance, I +gave you a half-hour's conversation among some Fairies, but I think +you would be very angry with me were I to give you as exactly every +half-hour that passed over the heads of the little girls with Fairy +Godmothers, till they grew up. How you would scold, dear little +readers, if I were to enter into a particular description of each +child's Nurse, and tell whether Miss Aurora, Miss Julia, Miss +Hermione, &c. &c. &c. were brought up on baked flour, groat-gruel, +rusks, tops and bottoms, or revalenta food! Whether they took more +castor-oil, or rhubarb and magnesia; whether they squalled on those +occasions or were very good. When they cut their teeth and how, +together with all the &c. and ups and downs of Nursery life which +large families, such as you and I belong to, go through daily. +</p> + +<p> +Well then, suppose I altogether pass over a period of ten years, and +enter into no minute particulars respecting that portion of Time. You +must know that the Fairies had agreed that all the children should +have the same (and rather a large) amount of intellect, or what you +would call cleverness: that is to say, they were all equally capable +of learning anything they chose to learn: also they had all fair +health, plenty to eat and drink, and all the so called "necessary" +comforts of life. +</p> + +<p> +Now then to our story. +</p> + +<p> +At the end of ten years the Fairies agreed to go and have a peep how +their charges were going on. They quite knew that nothing decisive +could be found out, till the children had come to years of discretion +and were their own mistresses. Still they thought it would amuse them +just to go and see how the charms were working, as it were; so, away +they went. +</p> + +<p> +Now picture to yourselves a nice large nursery, much such a one as +your own, in which several children are playing. The eldest, a girl of +ten, you may see yonder lounging—gracefully perhaps—but still +<i>lounging</i> in a rocking chair which she is swinging backwards and +forwards, having set it in motion by the action of her foot on the +floor. What a lovely face! I do not think you ever saw one so handsome +except in a print in one of Mamma's best picture books. All the +features are perfectly good and in proportion, and the dark blue eyes +are fringed by the longest eyelashes ever seen. The hair of this +little girl too—look at it, as the soft chestnut ringlets wave about +on her shoulders as she swings, and show the round richness of the +curls. +</p> + +<p> +Now if you ask about the expression on her face, I must tell you it +was rather languid and "<i>pensieroso</i>." Pensieroso is an Italian word +really meaning thoughtful—but this little girl was not <i>thinking</i>, +for then the expression of her face would have been much stronger and +firmer and less languid; but the word has got to be used for a sort of +awake-dreamy state when one lets thoughts float lazily along without +having any energy to dwell upon them, and see whether they are good or +bad. +</p> + +<p> +The thought that was passing through this little girl's head at the +time I mention and which made her look so languid and pensieroso, was +</p> + +<p class="block"> +"I wish it was 6 o'clock." +</p> + +<p> +Now here you are ready to laugh, I know, for there was nothing to look +so languid about, in "I wish it was six o'clock!" but the fact was +this: at half-past six the little girl's Mamma was expecting a large +party to dinner and the little girl was to dress at six and be ready +to go down and see the company:—I might add <i>and to be seen by them</i>; +for the little girl was, as you will have guessed, the beautiful +Aurora herself, and there had been plenty of foolish people, though +her good Mamma was not one of them, to tell her how pretty she was and +how much people admired her. +</p> + +<p> +It is a very pleasant thing to be admired, both for children and grown +up people. "The love of approbation," as it is called, i.e. the wish +to be approved of and admired is a feeling which is very strong in +most people; not in quite all, perhaps, but in <i>most</i> people +certainly. But like all other powers of the mind considered apart from +the influence of the heart and conscience, it is capable of being used +to a very bad or a very good purpose. Thus you may remember what our +Saviour says of the Pharisees who stood praying at the corners of the +streets that they might be seen of men: Verily, they had their +reward—viz: that men admired them: whereas those who do good deeds +and pray privately, i.e. unseen and unadmired by men, should verily +have their reward in that day when God who seeth in secret himself +shall reward them openly. +</p> + +<p> +Here you see is the same strong feeling,—love of approbation, +exercised in a wrong and a right direction. The Pharisees wish for the +approbation of men, good people wish for the approbation of God. +</p> + +<p> +Now, love of approbation exists about much smaller matters than I have +just been mentioning. But I would warn my young readers, that, to be +always thinking, and bothering yourselves as to what other people are +thinking about you, is one of the most uncomfortable and injurious +habits a person can get into. It makes them so selfish and +egotistical. And here was one of Aurora's dangers. Because she knew +she was pretty, she was always wondering what other people were +thinking about her, a habit which so far from contributing to what the +good Fairy had wished, viz. her happiness, was constantly spoiling her +comfort from hour to hour. And here, at ten years old, was this little +lady swinging languidly and idly on the rocking chair, wishing it was +six o'clock, instead of enjoying, as she might so well have done, that +small portion of time, time present, which is, as I told you before, +the only bit of him we can ever lay hold of, as it were. Of time +present, just then, she thought nothing. She would have said, (had she +been asked), that the old gentleman moved very slowly in spite of his +wings, for her eye was fixed on that delightful time future, six +o'clock. Well! at last the clock struck, and Aurora sprang from her +chair,—her whole face altered in a moment. "Now, Nurse, I may dress, +may I not?" she exclaimed, radiant with animation, and all the languor +and dreaminess gone over like a cloud from before the sun. And it is +true that just then Aurora was happy. It was a pleasant task to her to +arrange and smooth that curling hair, and to put on the simple white +dress she knew set off her beauty so well. But alas! for the happiness +caused by thoughts of <i>one's self</i>! The toilet over, she ran down to +her Mamma, and was welcomed with a smile of fondness and approbation. +Indeed, when she was happy, a sweeter face could not be seen, for she +was not a naughty child, and if it had not been for the Fairy gift, I +do think she would have been a very nice one. +</p> + +<p> +The Fairies who invisibly had witnessed all I have described to you, +were not so loud in their admiration of Aurora as you or I might have +been. They are so handsome themselves, they think but little of +earthly beauty, and even Ianthe could not conscientiously say, "What a +<i>happy</i> looking little girl she is." That was just the one thing that +was wanting: ay, and it continued wanting even after the room was +filled with company, and she was petted, and caressed, and praised on +every side. Her spirits became very high, however, and she enjoyed +herself much; and it is perhaps only very very critical folk, bent on +spying out a fault, that could have detected the little clouds of +anxiety that now and then shot across her face. A thought of whether +her curls were all right, or her dress untumbled, &c. just now and +then disturbed the charm, and prevented her forgetting herself +sufficiently to allow her to be quite at ease and happy, and she would +glance at herself in the mirror, and put back the hair from her brow, +lest Mrs. I-know-not-who, who was just then entering the room, should +not think her quite as lovely as Mrs. Somebody-else did, who had very +foolishly been saying so rather in a loud tone to her Mamma. +</p> + +<p> +At last the fatal time arrived to go to bed. Aurora was much too +sensible to cry, or be cross, you must know, but as she closed the +door of the drawing-room and left the gay company, a sigh very heavy +for so young a heart to have breathed, escaped her, and it was slowly +she retraced her steps up stairs. She was in reality tired, for it was +later than her usual bed-time, and when she went into her room she +threw herself on the chair and yawned. The young Nurse who attended to +undress her, asked her if she had enjoyed herself. "Oh yes!" was her +ready answer. "All is so bright, and gay, and entertaining among those +ladies, and they are so good-natured to me,"—(another sigh coupled +with the recollection of, and <i>how much they admire me!</i>)—"But I do +so hate being a little girl, and having to go to bed. I wish the time +would come quicker for me to be grown up, and be down stairs +altogether, and talk, and enjoy myself all the evening!" Oh, Aurora, +Aurora, with that dissatisfied face where is your beauty? with that +discontented mind where is your happiness? +</p> + +<p> +"Your charm is not working perfectly, Sister," observed Euphrosyne to +Ianthe. +</p> + +<p> +"Her's is not the age for perfect happiness and enjoyment as a beauty, +remember," replied Ianthe, "and she feels this herself." +</p> + +<p> +"Man never is but always <i>to be</i> blest," cried Ambrosia laughing. "You +see I can quote their own poets against them." +</p> + +<p> +"You are prejudging now, Ambrosia, wait till another ten years is +over; but we must see our little beauty through the twenty-four +hours." Ianthe now waved a tiny wand in a circle around Aurora's +head,—the long eyelashes sank over her eyes, and the beautiful child +fell into a sweet and placid sleep. +</p> + +<p> +Morning, which awakens all young creatures to life, enjoyment, and +action, awoke Aurora among the rest, and she arose in health and +strength, and the full glow of animal spirits. "<i>This is</i> happiness, +however," exclaimed Ianthe to her companions, as the young girl sprang +about, carolling to herself the while. And so it was, for at that +moment no forecastings into futurity disturbed the comfort of present +pleasure: but an accidental glimpse of her face caught in a +looking-glass as she passed, recalled Aurora to the recollection of +HERSELF! and the admiration she had obtained the evening before. At +first some pleasure attended the remembrance, and she gazed with a +childish triumph at her pretty face in the glass. In a few minutes, +however, the voice of her Governess calling her to lessons disturbed +the egotistical amusement, and the charming Aurora frowned—yes, +<i>frowned!</i> and looked cross at the looking-glass before she quitted +the apartment. +</p> + +<p> +And now, dear little readers, let me remind you that Aurora was a +clever little girl, for the Fairy had taken care of that. She had +every faculty for learning, and no real dislike to it; but this +unlucky Fairy gift was in the way of every thing she did, for it took +away her interest in every thing but herself; and so, though she got +through her lessons respectably, it was with many yawns, and not a few +sighs, and wonderings what Mamma was doing; and did the Governess +think there would soon be another dinner party? and didn't the +Governess, when <i>she</i> was a little girl, wish very much she was a +grown up woman? and, finally, she wished she had been able to talk +when she was a baby at her christening, because then me would have +begged the Fairy Godmother to give her the gift of growing up to be a +young lady very quick indeed, and of learning every thing without any +trouble at all! And so saying, Aurora yawned and laid down her book, +and the poor Governess could hardly keep her temper at such repeated +interruptions to the subject in hand. +</p> + +<p> +"My dear," she exclaimed, "Fairies have no power to counteract what +God, has ordained, and he has ordained that we enjoy but little what +we get at without labour and trouble." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah taisez-vous donc ma cherè!" cried Aurora, flopping her ears with +her hands, and running round the room shaking her long curls +furiously. "Vous me faites absolument frémir! Excuse my French, but I +am certain you are the eldest daughter of the old woman in the wood, +and you are just now dropping vipers, toads, newts, and efts from your +mouth at every word you utter!" +</p> + +<p> +The good-natured Governess laughed heartily at the joke, for they had +just been reading the old French fairy tale of "Les deux Fées," and +the application amused her; but she shook her head gravely at Aurora +afterwards, and reminded her that no serious truth was well answered +by a joke, however droll. +</p> + +<p> +A bell rings, a carriage is at the door. Miss Aurora is wanted. +Visiters! Ah! here is happiness again! But it lasts but a short time, +and the reaction is the same as before—drooping eyes, languid +eyelids, and a sigh. +</p> + +<p> +Books, drawing, music, work, even domestic recreations, all deprived +of their charm through this idolatry of self! +</p> + +<p> +The curtain closed over this scene. +</p> + +<p> +"A charming child, Ianthe, but for your Fairy Gift, which is spoiling +her." +</p> + +<p> +"I repeat to you we are no judges yet. Now for riches, Euphrosyne!" +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="40%"> + +<p> +At the same hour of evening, and under the same circumstances, of a +party about to assemble, let me introduce you to a beautiful little +boudoir or up-stairs sitting-room adjoining an equally pretty sleeping +apartment in a magnificent house in a town. The passages are carpeted +all over, and so are the boudoir and the sleeping-room, and they are +furnished with sofas, easy chairs, and every description of luxurious +comfort; and all this for the accommodation of a little girl of ten +years old, who in one of the easy chairs is lying back in front of the +fire, with her tiny feet on a bright brass fender. She has a gold +watch in her hand, which is suspended round her neck by a chain of the +same material, and she is playing with it, and with the seals, and +pretty ornaments hung to it, that jingle as she moves her hand. Ever +and anon she glances at the face of the watch. +</p> + +<p> +But life is very easy to her, and the chair is very soft, and her feet +are very warm. At last, however, she gets up and rings a silver bell +that is on the mantel-piece. A servant answers the summons. "It is +time for me to dress, I believe, Annette; the company are expected +to-day at half past six. Has my new frock come home?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, Miss." +</p> + +<p> +"Let me look at it." +</p> + +<p> +A delicate blue satin, trimmed with the finest lace, is produced from +a band-box. +</p> + +<p> +"It is very pretty, I think, Annette." +</p> + +<p> +"It is downright beautiful, Miss." +</p> + +<p> +"And so expensive," pursued the little girl whose name was Julia, +"that I don't think any one else I know is likely to imitate it, which +is my greatest comfort!" +</p> + +<p> +And so saying, the rich Miss Julia ---- (an only daughter), whose +comfort seemed to depend on no one else being as comfortable as +herself, commenced her toilet, i.e. her maid both commenced and +finished it for her, for those who can command the unlimited +assistance of servants are apt to be very idle in helping themselves. +</p> + +<p> +"Your Julia looks self-satisfied enough," observed Ianthe, "but I do +not see that this is more like real happiness than my Aurora's face +before the party." +</p> + +<p> +"Perhaps," returned Euphrosyne, "the same remark applies to her as to +Aurora—the age for thoroughly enjoying riches is hardly arrived. You +smile, Ambrosia! Well, we do not yet know your experiment, and you +yourself do not know how it has answered. Take care that our turn for +laughing at you does not soon come!" +</p> + +<p> +Julia was dressed at the end of the half-hour, but not sooner. Her +toilet occupied more time than Aurora's. She could not decide what +ornaments she would wear, and at last getting out of humour with the +"embarras des richesses" she fixed on a necklace which, though +extremely handsome, was scarcely fit for a child. She was neither +pretty nor otherwise, but when good humoured and happy her face, like +that of all other creatures of her innocent time of life, was +attractive and pleasant to behold. Oh, that children did but know +wherein the secret of being loveable and beloved lies! In holding fast +the innocence and simplicity of their infant years; in the cheerful +spirit, the universal kindheartedness, the open honesty, the sweet +teachableness and readiness of belief, which are the real +characteristics of childhood and which we so love to trace in their +faces. It was these things our Saviour called upon grown-up people to +imitate, and so to receive the kingdom of Heaven as little children. +And oh, that grown-up people would imitate these things; for if they +would become in these respects as little children, the sweet cast of +mind would be reflected in <i>their</i> faces too, and the ugly looks given +by envious discontent, deceitful thoughts, unkind intention and +restless want of faith and hope would all be washed out of the world. +</p> + +<p> +But now, my dear readers, can you call that the best of Fairy gifts, +which had so great a tendency to bring the naughty passions of +grown-up life into the heart, and therefore on to the face, of a +little girl? Well, but riches <i>have</i> a tendency that way; and though +Julia was not a very naughty girl she was being led into very sad +feelings by the Fairy gift. When she went down to the company, her +secret anxiety was to examine all the dresses of her Mamma's friends +and resolve some day to surpass them all. Even as it was she received +much pleasure from knowing that her own dress was far beyond the reach +of ordinary folk. She thought too of her necklace with secret +satisfaction, when the ladies were talking to her, for she perceived +their eyes frequently attracted by its brilliancy and beauty. Then her +mind rambled into futurity, to the day when she would astonish these +very ladies far more than now by the richness of her costume. Ah, dear +readers, would our Saviour if present have called <i>this</i> little child +to him, and said, "Of <i>such</i> is the kingdom of Heaven?" But all these +selfish thoughts made her conversation less pleasant and cheerful than +it would otherwise have been; for you may be sure she was not +listening with any interest to what was said to her, while she was +thus planning silly schemes about herself. +</p> + +<p> +And not having listened with any interest to what was said to her, you +may guess that her answers were dull and stupid; for when people are +talking of one thing and thinking of another they become very flat +companions. At times when she could forget herself she became natural +and then was both pleasant and pleased, and asked some ladies to let +their children come and see her next day, to which they consented. But +now came a sad drawback. One of the ladies told her that her little +girl should bring to shew her a most beautiful gold fillagree work-box +set with precious stones, which one of the maids of honour about +court, who was her godmother, had given her a few days before. This +lady had saved a few of the queen's hairs very carefully, and had had +them placed in a little circle of crystal in the middle of the box, +and they were set round with the most beautiful rubies. It was a +present worthy of a Fairy Godmother, and certainly the donor was the +daughter of a duchess, which perhaps is the nearest thing to being a +fairy. +</p> + +<p> +You will be shocked, my dear readers, to hear that the account of this +box was as disagreeable as a dose of physic to poor Julia. Nay it was +<i>worse</i> than physic, for a peppermint-drop can take the taste of that +away in a minute. But not all the peppermint-drops in a chymist's shop +could take away the taste of the fillagree-box from Julia. She had +been thinking before of showing all the treasures of her boudoir to +her little friends next day; but this horrid box was like a great +cloud closing over her sunshine. She knew she was naughty, but she was +so in the habit of being selfish she could not conquer her peevish +vexation. Annette wondered what could be the matter, and her Governess +sighed as she perceived her face clouded, even when she was repeating +her evening prayer; but no questioning could extract from her what was +amiss. +</p> + +<p> +Oh, what a condition for a child to go to sleep in! Euphrosyne was +greatly annoyed. "They are not correcting her evil dispositions," +cried she. "I do not allow that this has anything to do <i>necessarily</i> +with being very rich." +</p> + +<p> +Ah, good Fairies, you do not know "How hardly shall they that have +riches enter into the kingdom of Heaven." +</p> + +<p> +Look now at that young face, asleep on a downy pillow, in a bed richly +hung with crimson drapery, in a room filled with luxuries, glowing +with warmth and comfort. You are shocked that the heart within should +be disturbed by nasty little envyings, that made the good things she +possessed of no value to her. 'Tis well; but remember we are all rich +by comparison. Go to the poor frost-bitten wayside beggar-child, my +little readers; bring him into your comfortable drawing-room, which +you sit in every day and think nothing about, and he will fancy he has +got into Paradise. It is a luxurious palace to him. Take him to your +snug bed and let him sleep there, and it will be to him what a state +apartment in Windsor Castle would be to you. Do not then let you and +me scold too much at Julia, but let us keep on the watch to drive away +from ourselves the discontented grumbling thoughts that are apt to +make us all ungrateful to God. Julia did not sleep well. The fillagree +box was a fort of night-mare to her. She dreamt of its growing up into +a great giant, and thumping her on the head, and calling out that she +ought to be ashamed of herself. Do you know, I think this dream was +owing to her Godmother, Euphrosyne, for she lingered behind the other +Fairies as they vanished, and shook, not waved, her wand over the +sleeping child, with a very angry face. +</p> + +<p> +In the morning Julia, like Aurora, awoke in a temporary forgetfulness +of her troubles. The morning air is so refreshing and sleep does one +so much good, and the sun shining through the windows looks so gay, +and all things speak of hope so loudly in a morning, who can be +sullen? Certainly not little girls full of life and expectation. But +the thought of the fillagree box by degrees took possession of her +mind and rankled there as before. She too had a Governess, and many +lessons to learn and much to do, and she did them; but neither English +history nor French fairy tales could quite drive away the fillagree +box. Indeed it introduced its horrid face before her into the midst of +a multiplication sum, and Mademoiselle thought she was bewitched to +have grown so stupid over her arithmetic all at once. She spent a half +hour over that one sum, and when it was done she was so much tired she +gave up lessons for the day. Besides, she had to prepare for her +friends. She went into her boudoir, opened her cabinets and unfolded +her treasures of various sorts—oh I can't tell you what beautiful +things! besides interesting collections of foreign and English shells, +and stuffed humming birds, which you and I should be charmed to +possess. And Julia was in general most happy when she was looking +over her property, but rather more because she possessed valuable +curiosities than because she cared about them, I fear. For my part, +I wonder very much that the humming birds and shells did not teach +her to be more humble-minded; for no art or jewellery can imitate or +come up to their glorious beauty. Well, she amused herself tolerably +in spite of the visions of the fillagree box and the queen's hair, +which now and then came between her and her usual feeling of +self-satisfaction. +</p> + +<p> +Presently her young friends came—several little girls of various +ages, and now nature once more revived in poor Julia. The children +felt and expressed such hearty pleasure at the sight of her treasures. +There were such joyous exclamations; such bursts of delight; such +springing and jumping about, that Julia became infected with the +general pleasure, and was a happy child herself. Yes! even though the +fillagree box had been shown off and admired. But what do children in +general know about the <i>value</i> of things and how much they cost? Ah, +much more just in their judgments than we elders are apt to be, a bird +of Paradise such as adorned the top of Julia's cabinet, or a peacock's +tail, such as she had in a drawer, is to their unprejudiced eyes more +desirable than the gold of Ophir itself! +</p> + +<p> +So now you see this triumph of simplicity over art, despoiled the +fillagree box of all its horrors, for the innocent children admired +her shells yet more—unsophisticated, and insensible to the long story +about the value of the rubies, the maid of honour, and even the +queen's hairs. +</p> + +<p> +Still the Fairies felt and saw that it was not Euphrosyne's gift, but +rather the forgetfulness of it which caused these hours of happiness +to Julia, and somewhat puzzled as to the result they left the votary +of riches, not quite without a sensation that little Aglaia's proposal +of moderate health and enough riches to be "comfortable without being +puzzled," was about the best thing after all, though not much of a +Fairy gift. And now, my little readers, I am beginning to get rather +tired of my story, and to feel that you may do so too. I think I am +getting rather prosy, so I must try and cut the matter short. Four out +of the five Fairy gifts were like beauty and riches, worldly +advantages. For instance, there was the little girl who was to have +every earthly pleasure at her feet—i.e. she was to have every thing +she wished for—why she was fifty times worse off than either Aurora +or Julia, for I will tell you whom she was like. She was like the +fisherman's wife in Grimm's German popular fairy tales, who had every +thing she wished, and so at last wished to be king of the sun and +moon. I doubt not you remember her well, and how she was in +consequence sent back to her mud cottage. I think, therefore, I need +not describe the young lady who had <i>that</i> Fairy gift. +</p> + +<p> +There was another who was to be <i>loved</i> wherever she went; but nothing +is worth having that is had so easily, and this child got so sick of +being kissed and fondled and loved, that it was the greatest nuisance +to her possible, for disagreeable people loved her just as much as +nice ones, and for her part she hated them all alike. It was a very +silly Fairy gift. +</p> + +<p> +Come with me then to Ambrosia's God-daughter, whom they visited last, +and whose Fairy gift the other Fairies were to guess at! +</p> + +<p> +Neither you nor I, my dears, ever heard a fairy-laugh. Doubtless it is +a sweet and musical sound. You can perhaps fancy it? Well then, do +fancy it, and how it rang in silver peals when our fairy friends, on +entering the last nursery they had to visit, found Ambrosia's protégée +in a flood of angry tears, stamping her foot on the ground in a +passion! "You naughty naughty girl!" exclaimed the old Nurse, "you'll +wake the baby and make your own eyes so red you won't be fit to be +seen to night by the company!" +</p> + +<p> +"I don't care about my eyes being red, tho' I don't want to wake the +poor baby," sobbed the little girl, slightly softening her wrath: "but +the cat has unravelled all the stocking I have been knitting at for so +many days, and I had nearly just finished it, and now it's all +spoilt;" and she roared with vexation. "Miss Hermione, if you go on so +I shall certainly send for your Mamma, and the baby will be quite +poorly, he will! and we shall know who made him so," added Nurse +triumphantly. "I can't make the baby poorly with crying, Nurse, so +that's nonsense you know," observed Hermione; "but I didn't mean to +disturb him; only my stocking is gone, and I don't know what to do." +And here she sobbed afresh. +</p> + +<p> +"Do! why ain't you going down to the ladies, and can't you be brushing +your hair and washing your face and getting ready?" "But it isn't +time." "Well, but can't you get ready <i>before</i> the time a little? and +then, when you're dressed and look so clean and nice and pretty, you +can sit in the chair and we can look at you!" and here the good old +Nurse gave a knowing smile and nodded her head. +</p> + +<p> +Hermione caught sight of the comical coaxing glance, and, in spite of +her misfortune, burst into a fit of laughter. "Hum, hum, hum! now +you'll wake the poor thing by laughing, Miss Hermione. I do wish you'd +be quiet:" and here the Nurse rocked the child on her knee more +vigorously than ever. +</p> + +<p> +"Then why don't you tell me what I am to do with my stocking," cried +Hermione. "Oh well, I know what I will do—something quite as quiet as +a mouse. I will wind up my poor worsted." Hereupon the little girl +picked up the puckered remains of her luckless grey stocking which a +facetious young cat had spent at least a quarter of an hour in +ingeniously unravelling with his claws. It was a tiresome tedious job +we must admit, and required a strong effort of patient perseverance, +but Hermione soon became engrossed in its difficulties and a dead +silence ensued. At last Nurse who had while rocking the sleeping baby +on her knee, been watching the child's proceedings, suddenly +exclaimed, "Well to be sure, Miss Hermione, you have such patience as +I never before did see." +</p> + +<p> +[The Fairies exchanged glances. +</p> + +<p> +"It is <i>Patience</i>, Ambrosia." +</p> + +<p> +"What a hurry you are in!" was the reply.] +</p> + +<p> +"No I haven't, Nurse, indeed," answered Hermione. "I had no patience +at all when I was in a passion with the cat just now." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, I suppose there are two or three sorts of Patiences, Miss, +then," persisted Nurse, "for I'm certain you have <i>some</i> sorts. But, +dear me, its ever so much past six o'clock, and you have to be dressed +by half-past. Do put away the worsted and get yourself ready, Miss, +and call Jane to help you." +</p> + +<p> +Here the Nurse and Hermione nearly had a scuffle over the worsted. +Hermione declared the cat had spoilt her stocking; and the only +comfort left to her now was to roll it comfortably up into a ball. +Nurse on the contrary insisted that it didn't signify a bit what +became of the worsted; she must dress and go down. The dispute ended +by Hermione running off with the half finished ball and its untidy +remains, and cramming the whole concern into the pocket of her best +frock. "The people will soon be tired of talking to me," muttered she +to herself, "and then I can finish my ball quietly in the corner +behind Mamma's chair." +</p> + +<p> +The thought of this ingenious plan for her private amusement down +stairs so tickled Hermione's fancy that she was on the giggle the +whole time she was being dressed. "If Nurse did but know what was in +the pocket of my best frock and how fat it is! how she would scold, +and what a fight we should have." And she could hardly refrain from +loud laughter at the thought. When she had got her frock on she sat +down, and laying her arm over the fat pocket asked Jane to touch up +her curls: and while this operation was going on she began to talk to +the nurse. +</p> + +<p> +"Nurse, should you think it a very nice thing to go to a dinner party +and sit in chairs all round a large room, where the coloured covers +are taken away and everything looks very gay, and so tidy, nobody is +allowed to do anything but smile, and talk, and wear white kid +gloves?" +</p> + +<p> +"Very nice, Miss, it's so like a lady," was the Nurse's ready reply. +</p> + +<p> +"Well then, I don't think it's nice at all, Nurse—I think it's very +nasty and stupid." +</p> + +<p> +"Dear, Miss Hermione, how you do talk; I hope you won't tell the +ladies so when you get down stairs." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh dear no, that would be rude, and it's wrong to be rude, but to +tell you the truth I don't know what I shall do when I grow up if I am +obliged to be so dull as that is, very often." +</p> + +<p> +"Goodness, Miss Hermione, to hear you talk one would think you'd +better be a housemaid at once, instead of a lady with nothing to do." +</p> + +<p> +"Nurse, I should see no objection to be a housemaid at all, only that +I am learning so many things that wouldn't suit a housemaid; but +without being a housemaid there are many pleasanter things to do than +to sit in that stupid sort of way. I like the room when all Papa's +books and papers are about, and when he is scribbling away so busy, +and when Mamma has got her microscope out looking at seaweeds or +curiosities. I have a chance then myself. I don't like ladies who say +nothing but 'Pretty little dear, what a nice colour she has,' just to +please Mamma." +</p> + +<p> +What Nurse in England could be expected to enter into so philosophical +an investigation of the habits of society? +</p> + +<p> +Hermione's did nothing but assure her it was time to be off, and she +only hoped she would sit still and talk prettily, and never trouble +her head whether it was stupid or not. +</p> + +<p> +When Hermione got into the drawing room and saw the company seated as +she had described to her Nurse, she felt very much disposed to laugh +again, but made an effort and composed herself. Still her face was +beaming with mirth and fun, and when some ladies said "What a happy +looking little girl," they were quite sincere. That sort of face too +worked wonders, and her Mamma's friends liked her much and talked +pleasantly to her, and she was pleased and happy and quite forgot the +ball of worsted, as well as the ladies' white kid gloves. A young lady +however who had her arm round Hermione's waist and was playing with +her, suddenly felt the round protuberance in her pocket. "Ah you +little rogue, what have you here?" "Its a secret," cried Hermione. "I +think I can unravel your mysterious secret, little girl, you are a +favourite with the housekeeper," added she, whispering in Hermione's +ear, "and she has just given you an orange." +</p> + +<p> +"You are a very bad guesser of secrets," whispered Hermione in +return. "It's no such thing!"—"Then it's an apple." "No, nor an +apple."—"Then it's a peach, and your new frock will be spoilt." "No +it isn't a peach either, and it's a secret." The young lady loved fun, +and a playful struggle ensued between her and Hermione; in the course +of which the large grey worsted ball and its long ravelled tail were +drawn from the little pocket. +</p> + +<p> +Hermione had now to tell the history of the ball, which she did +naturally and honestly, but when she added, quite seriously, that she +intended, when they had done talking to her, to go behind her Mamma's +chair and finish winding it up, you may guess how they laughed. +</p> + +<p> +"Come here, my little dear, and let me look at you," cried an elderly +lady in spectacles, putting out her hand and laying hold of +Hermione's. "Why what an industrious little soul you must be! a +perfect pattern! There now! you may go behind my chair and finish your +ball of worsted; nobody wants to talk to you any longer." +</p> + +<p> +This old lady was rather crabbed, and had not quite believed Hermione +sincere, so she did this to try her, and expected to see her pout and +refuse. To her surprize, Hermione only said "Oh thank you, ma'am," +with a quite smiling face, and going behind the chair, sat down on the +floor to her worsted. For a few moments the old lady kept thinking "It +won't last long: she'll soon be glad of an excuse to come out:" but no +such thing happened; and just what Hermione expected did happen. The +ladies fell to talking among themselves, and in a very short time the +presence of the little girl was quite forgotten, even by the old lady, +who was handed out to dinner, without once remembering whom she had +left behind her chair. +</p> + +<p> +Hermione stayed in the room till her task was over, and then rushed up +stairs to the nursery, and stopping at the door, half opened it and +rolled the great grey worsted ball so cleverly in, that it hit the old +Nurse's foot as she sat (once more rocking the baby) over the fire. +"Goodness, bless me! what ever is that?" Then, spying a laughing face +at the door, "Oh dear heart, it's you I declare, Miss Hermione! will +you never leave off waking the baby? I thought a great black dog was +laying hold of my foot." +</p> + +<p> +"Nurse," said Hermione, "your baby is always and always going to +sleep; why doesn't he go, and then I could have a bit of fun? You +don't know where I finished winding the worsted ball!" +</p> + +<p> +"Why goodness me, Miss Hermione, where?" +</p> + +<p> +"Down in the drawing-room among all the fine ladies; so good night!" +and off she ran to avoid further explanation. A few words with her +Governess; a sober time of evening prayer; and the happy child laid +her head on her pillow, and needed no Fairy wand to lull her to sleep. +She had been some time with her Governess in the morning before her +Mamma coming to her there, heard a loud discussion going on within. +The voices, however, were those of good-humour. "Hermione," said her +Mother, "I am come to say that your Governess told me yesterday you +had been so very good for a long time over all that you have had to +do, that I have arranged for your having a holiday and a treat to-day, +and several of your young friends are coming to see you. Among them is +Aurora, the granddaughter of the old lady in spectacles, who, just +before she was going away at night, recollected you, and began to look +for you behind her chair." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh what a goose, Mamma!" "No, not a goose, my dear—only an oddity, +but a very kind one too—for she desired me to find out whether you +really did roll up the whole of the ravelled worsted last night; and +<i>if</i> you really persevered till it was finished, I have something to +give you from her, but not otherwise. How was it?" "Oh, it's finished, +Mamma; ask Nurse; for when I rolled it against her foot last night, +she took it for a great black dog." "Well then, I suppose this is +yours, Hermione; but, I must say, I never knew a gold thimble earned +so easily." Yes, dear little readers, it was a pretty gold thimble, +and round the bottom of it there was a rim of white enamel, and on the +enamel were gold letters. +</p> + +<p class="block"> +"L'industrie ajoute à la beauté." +</p> + +<p> +"Mamma," said Hermione, looking at it in delight, as she found it +exactly fitted her finger, "it's lovely; but, do you know, I think the +old lady ought to have given it to her granddaughter, Aurora, with +such a motto." "My dear, she has had it, she told me, some months in +her pocket secretly, for the purpose you mention, but she cannot ever +satisfy herself that Aurora has got the spirit of real industry in +her, and to bribe her to <i>earn</i> the thimble is not her object, so you +see it has accidentally fallen to your share." +</p> + +<p> +And as she said this, Hermione's mother turned round to leave the +room; but before she had reached the door, her little girl stopped +her—"Mamma, do turn back." +</p> + +<p> +"What is the matter, Hermione?" +</p> + +<p> +"I've something I want to say to you." +</p> + +<p> +"I am all attention, my dear, particularly as your face looks so +unusually grave." +</p> + +<p> +"Why, you and my Governess are always calling me <i>good</i> for doing my +lessons well, and now you are rewarding me for being <i>good</i> and all +that, and I don't see that I am good at all." +</p> + +<p> +"Upon my word this is a very serious matter, Hermione; who or what has +put this into your head?" +</p> + +<p> +"I read in a serious book lately, that nobody could be good without +practising self-denial; and that, to be really good, one must either +do something that one does <i>not</i> like, or give up something that one +<i>does</i>; so that I am quite sure I cannot be good and deserve a reward +when I do French and music and drawing and work well, because I am so +very fond of doing every thing I do do, that every thing is a pleasure +to me. And there is no struggle to do what is tiresome and no other +wish to give up. The only time when I have to try to be good at all, +is when I have to leave off one thing and go to another. That is +always a little disagreeable at first, but unfortunately the +disagreeableness goes off in a very few minutes, and I like the new +employment as well as the last. This is what I was talking about to my +Governess when you came, and she laughed so loud I felt quite vexed." +</p> + +<p> +"My dear Hermione," said her Mamma, "you have quite misapplied what +you have read in the book. Self-denial is always required of us, when +we feel inclined to do any thing that is wrong, but it does not apply +to any aptitude you may have for enjoying the occupations I require of +you. That is only a piece of good fortune for you; for to many little +girls, doing lessons is a very great act of self-denial, as they want +to be doing something else. But now, as you are so lucky in liking +every thing you do, you must practise your self-denial in some other +way." +</p> + +<p> +"How, Mamma?" +</p> + +<p> +"In not being vexed when your Governess laughs, and in not being in a +passion with the cat next time he unravels your stocking." +</p> + +<p> +Hermione blushed. "Oh, Mamma, I understand the difference now." +</p> + +<p> +"But this is not all, Hermione." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, Mamma?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why, as you are so fortunate as to be always happy when employed, and +as therefore there is no <i>goodness</i> strictly speaking, in your doing +your business so cheerfully and well, you must do this, you must spend +some portion of time every day in making your energy of use to other +people, and then you will be doing active good if not practising +self-denial." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, Mamma, what a nice idea! Perhaps you will give me some needlework +to do for the poor women you give money to; and, besides, just now I +can do something actively useful and still a little really +disagreeable,—really it is, Mamma,—what makes you laugh?" +</p> + +<p> +"Your resolution to do something you don't like. What is it, +Hermione?" +</p> + +<p> +"To knit up again the stocking the cat pulled out. I quite dislike the +idea." +</p> + +<p> +"Then set to work by all means, Hermione. You will at least have the +comfort of 'beginning by a little aversion;' but I warn you +beforehand, not to set your heart upon the disagreeableness lasting +very long, and if you find yourself shortly, as happy as ever over the +stocking, do not be puzzled and vexed any more, but thank God as I do, +that, so far at least, you are spared one of the troubles of life. The +trouble of an indolent, discontented mind." +</p> + +<p> +An affectionate embrace was exchanged between Mother and Daughter; and +the latter, with the assistance of her Governess, recommenced the +unlucky grey stocking, and was working assiduously at it when her +young friends arrived. +</p> + +<p> +It was a curious sight to the Fairies to see two of their +god-daughters together, as they now did. But the conviction was forced +upon them, that, for the present at least, Hermione had the balance of +happiness in her favour. Whatever their amusements were,—whether +looking over curiosities, playing with dolls, or any of the numerous +games invented for the entertainment of the young, Hermione's whole +heart and attention were in the matter, and she was as much engrossed +as over learning at other times, and quite happy. With poor Aurora it +was not so; the childishness of the play every now and then annoyed +her; there was no food for her vanity, in playing with children; they +cared nothing about her beauty; the gayest and most good-natured face +has always the most charms for them, and this did not suit Aurora at +all, and ever and anon her thoughts wandered, and her wishes too. +</p> + +<p> +For ever straining into the future! +</p> + +<p> +"I cannot make out your Fairy gift at all, Ambrosia," said Euphrosyne, +"and I begin to suspect you have not given her one." +</p> + +<p> +"We are all growing philosophical, I perceive," said Ambrosia, +smiling. "Who could think you would have guessed that my happy child +has had no Fairy gift at all. But she has, I assure you. What do you +say to the Philosopher's Stone? It is quite clear that me has got +something which TURNS EVERY THING SHE TOUCHES INTO GOLD." +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="40%"> + +<p> +What <i>is</i> the Philosopher's Stone? I hear my little readers exclaim. +There is no such thing, my dears, nor ever was; but the chymists in +old times, who were very ignorant, and yet knew that many wonderful +things had been done by the mixture of minerals and metals, and the +curious effects some had upon others, guessed that yet more wonderful +things might be found out by searching, and they got into their heads +that it might be possible to find, or make, a stone that would have +the power of turning every thing it touched into gold. In the same +manner, the doctors of those times fancied there might be such a thing +made as a draught that would turn old people into young ones again. +This was called "The Elixir of Life." But I do assure you these old +fellows never did discover either a Philosopher's Stone, or an Elixir +of Life. +</p> + +<p> +So this was only a joke of Ambrosia's. +</p> + +<p> +Now to go on and finish my story. It was ten years more before the +Fairies revisited their Godchildren in the lower world, and this time +they were to decide who had given the best Fairy gift. +</p> + +<p> +And I dare say you expect me to give you as long an account of their +visits to the young ladies of twenty, as I did of their peeps at the +little girls of ten. But I really do not think it worth while. I would +do so indeed in a minute if there were anything quite fresh and new to +describe. But on the faith of a story-teller I assure you, it would be +"the old story over again," only on an enlarged scale. +</p> + +<p> +Did you ever look at any interesting object first with your natural +eyes, and then through a microscope or magnifying glass? If so, you +will remember that through the magnifying glass you saw the same thing +again, only much bigger. +</p> + +<p> +In the same manner the ten years acted as a sort of magnifying glass +over Aurora, Julia, and Hermione. Everything was the same, but +increased in size and made clearer and plainer. +</p> + +<p> +Aurora's triumphant joy as she entered the ball-room as a beauty, was +much greater certainly than her pleasure at her Mamma's dinner party. +But the weariness and anxiety afterwards were increased also. She was +still getting away from our friend Time present, and forecasting into +some future delight. "The good time <i>coming</i>, Boys," was her, as well +as many other people's bugbear. She never could feel that (with God's +blessing) <i>the good time</i> is always <i>come</i>. +</p> + +<p> +The only time she ever thoroughly enjoyed was the moment of being +excessively admired. But judge for yourselves how long that can last. +Could you sit and look at a pretty picture for an hour together? No, I +know you could not. You cannot think how short a time it takes to say +"Dear me, what a beautiful girl!" and then, perhaps, up comes somebody +who addresses the admiring gazer on the subject of Lord John Russel's +last speech, and the "beautiful girl," so all important in her own +eyes, is as entirely forgotten as if she had never been seen. And +then, to let you into another secret, Aurora was by no means a very +entertaining companion: nobody <i>can</i> be, with their heads full of +themselves: and she had often the mortification, even in that scene of +her triumph, a ball-room, of feeing her admirers drop off, to amuse +themselves with other people; less handsome perhaps, but more +interesting than herself. +</p> + +<p> +And so the Fairies, having accompanied her through a day of Triumphs, +mixed with mortifications, followed by languors, unsettled by hopes of +future joy, clouded with anxieties that all but spoilt those +hopes:—came one and all to the conclusion that Aurora could not be +considered as a model of human happiness. +</p> + +<p> +Nor could they say much more for Julia. Perhaps, indeed, there is more +equanimity in the pleasures of a very rich person, than in those of a +very beautiful one: but, oh dear, they are of such a mean sort! Still, +there is a good deal of impertinent comfort in money I do admit. Life +rolls on, upon such well oiled hinges! The rich say, "Do this," to +people around them; and the people, "do it." But the Fairies had no +sympathy with such an <i>unnatural</i> fault as the pride of wealth. They +saw Julia reclining in one of those "lumbering things" they so much +despised: and driving round the "dirty town" they so much disliked: +and along a park a great deal too smoky for their taste: and they +could not understand the haughty glance of self-satisfaction with +which she looked out upon the walking crowds she passed, or the +affected graciousness with which she smiled upon the few whom she +condescended to recognize as acquaintances. They thought her very +naughty and very absurd for being conceited about such matters. They +followed her to her Milliner's too, and there I assure you they had +nearly betrayed their presence by the uncontrollable fits of laughter +they fell into when she was trying on, or talking about, bonnets, head +dresses, gowns, &c. with the affected Frenchwoman who showed them off. +Julia cared for nothing because it was pretty or tasteful, but chose +every thing by its costliness and magnificence. Of course the milliner +assured her that every thing she took a fancy to from its rarity, was +becoming; and then, oh dear! how the Fairies were amused! for poor +Julia looked downright ugly in some of the things she selected, and +still went away as self satisfied as ever, on the old grounds that the +costume was so expensive that none of her acquaintance could get one +like it. This was still her chief comfort! Euphrosyne actually shook +her fist at her as she was going away, and she had the toothache for +the rest of the day, and was extremely cross to her husband in +consequence. For, by the way, Julia had married—and married a +nobleman—a man somewhat older than herself; but he and she had had a +sort of mutual conviction that riches and rank go very well together, +and so they married; and suited very well in this respect, that as +their heads were full of other things they neither claimed nor +required from each other a great amount of affection. +</p> + +<p> +Still, was Julia happy? The Fairies shook their heads. She had +gardens, hot-houses, magnificent collections of curiosities, treasures +that might have softened and opened her heart, if she had made a right +use of them. But riches have a very hardening tendency, and she never +struggled against it. +</p> + +<p> +Then, too, she could get every thing she wanted so easily, that she +cared very little about anything. Life becomes very stale when your +hands are full and you have nothing to ask for. +</p> + +<p> +Her greatest pleasure was to create astonishment and envy among her +associates: but, besides the naughtiness of the feeling, this is a +triumph of very short duration; for most people, when they cannot get +at what they envy, amuse themselves with something else; and then, +what a mortification to see them do this! +</p> + +<p> +"Besides," said the Fairies, "we must follow her into her solitude, to +see if she is happy." +</p> + +<p> +Ah! there, lying back once more in the easy chair, in a dress which— +</p> + + +<p class="block"> +"China's gayest art had +dyed," +</p> + + +<p class="left"> +do you think that self-satisfied, but still uncheerful looking face +tells of happiness? +</p> + +<p> +No! She too, like Aurora, was unoccupied, and forecasting into +futurity for the "good time coming," which so many spend their lives +in craving after and expecting, but which the proud, the selfish and +the idle never reach to. +</p> + +<p> +The Fairies turned from her sorrowful and angry. +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="40%"> + +<p> +In the outskirts of a forest, just where its intricacy had broken away +into picturesque openings, leaving visible some strange old trees with +knotted trunks and mysteriously twisted branches, sat a young girl +sketching. She was intently engaged, but as her eyes were ever and +anon raised from her paper to the opening glade, and one of the old +trees, the Fairies had no difficulty in recognizing their protégée, +Hermione. The laughing face of childhood had become sobered and +refined by sentiment and strength, but contentment and even enjoyment +beamed in her eyes as she thoughtfully and earnestly pursued her +beautiful art. The little beings who hovered around her in that sweet +spot, almost forgot they were not in Fairy land; the air was so full +of sweet odours from ferns and mosses, and the many other delicious +scents you find so constantly in woods. +</p> + +<p> +Besides which, it amused the good souls to watch Hermione's skilful +hand tracing the scene before her; and they felt an admiring delight +when they saw the old tree of the forest reappear on the paper, with +all the shadows and lights the sun just then threw upon it, and they +wondered not a little at the skill with which she gave distance and +perspective to the glade beyond. They felt, too, that though the +drawing they saw rising under the sketcher's hand was not made +powerful by brilliant effects or striking contrasts, it was +nevertheless overflowing with the truth and sentiment of nature. It +was the impression of the scene itself, viewed through the poetry of +the artist's mind; and as the delicate creatures who hung over the +picture, looked at it, they almost longed for it, slight as it was, +that they might carry it away, and hang it up in their fairy palace as +a faithful representation of one of the loveliest spots of earth, the +outskirts of an ancient English forest. +</p> + +<p> +It is impossible to say how long they might not have staid watching +Hermione, but that after a time the sketch was finished, and the young +lady after writing beneath it Schiller's well known line in +Wallenstein, arose. "Das ist das Loos des Schönen auf der +Erde."<a href="#FN1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="left"> +<a name="FN1"><sup>[1]</sup></a> "Such is the lot of the beautiful upon earth." +</p> + +<p> +The poor tree was marked for felling! Ambrosia was almost affected to +tears, once more. The scene was so beautiful, and the allusion so +touching, and there seemed to her such a charm over her God-daughter +Hermione; she was herself so glad, too, to feel sure that success had +crowned her gift, that, altogether, her Fairy heart grew quite soft. +"You may do as you like about observing Hermione further," +cried she. "But, for my part, I am now satisfied. She is enjoying +life to the uttermost; all its beauties of sight and sound; its +outward loveliness; its inward mysteries. She will never marry but +from love, and one whose heart can sympathise with hers. Ah, Ianthe, +what more has life to give? You will say, she is not beautiful; +perhaps not for a marble statue; but the grace of poetical feeling is +in her every look and action. Ah, she will walk by the side of +manhood, turning even the hard realities of life into beauty by that +living well-spring of sweet thoughts and fancies that I see beaming +from her eyes. Look at her now, Ianthe, and confess that surely that +countenance breathes more beauty than chiselled features can +give." And certainly, whether some mesmeric influence from her +enthusiastic Fairy Godmother was working on Hermione's brain, or +whether her own quotation upon the doomed tree had stirred up other +poetical recollections, I know not; but as she was retracing her steps +homewards, she repeated to herself softly but with much pathos, +Coleridge's lines:<a href="#FN2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> +</p> + + +<p class="block"> + "O lady, we receive but what we give,<br> + And in our life alone does nature live:<br> +Ours is her wedding-garment, ours her shroud!<br> +And would we aught behold, of higher worth,<br> +Than that inanimate cold world allowed<br> +To the poor loveless ever anxious crowd,<br> +Ah! from the soul itself must issue forth<br> +A light, a glory, a fair luminous cloud<br> + Enveloping the earth—<br> +And from the soul itself must there be sent<br> +A sweet and potent voice, of its own birth,<br> +Of all sweet sounds the life and element!"<br> +</p> + + +<p class="left"> +<a name="FN2"><sup>[2]</sup></a> Coleridge's "Dejection: an Ode." +</p> + +<p> +And, turning through the little handgate at the extremity of the wood, +she pursued the train of thought with heightened colour in her +cheeks— +</p> + +<p class="block"> +"I may not hope from outward forms to win<br> +The passion and the life, whose fountains are within." +</p> + +<p> +And thus Hermione reached her home, her countenance lighted up by the +pleasure of success, and the sweet and healthy musings of her solitary +walk. +</p> + +<p> +She entered the library of a beautiful country house by the low window +that opened on to the lawn, and found her mother reading. +</p> + +<p> +"I cannot tell you how lovely the day is, Mamma, every thing is so +fresh, and the shadows and lights are so good! I have immortalized our +poor old friend the oak, before they cut him down," added she, +smiling, as she placed the drawing in her mother's hands. "I wish the +forest belonged to some one who had not this cruel taste for turning +knotted oak trees into fancy work-tables. It is as bad as what Charles +Lamb said of the firs, 'which look so romantic alive, and die into +desks.'—Die into desks!" repeated Hermione musingly, as she seated +herself on the sofa, and took up a book that was before her on the +table; mechanically removing her bonnet from her head, and laying it +down by her side as she spoke. +</p> + +<p> +And here for some time there was a silence, during which Hermione's +mother ceased reading, and, lifting up her eyes, looked at her +daughter with mingled love, admiration, and interest. "I wish I had +her picture so," dreamt the poor lady, as she gazed; "so earnest, and +understanding, and yet so simple, and kind!—There is but one +difficulty for her in life," was the next thought; "with such keen +enjoyment of this world, such appreciation of the beauties, and +wonders, and delights of God's creations on earth—to keep the eye of +faith firmly fixed on the 'better and more enduring inheritance,' to +which both she and I, but I trust she, far behind, are hastening. Yet, +by God's blessing, and with Christian training, and the habit of +active charity, and the vicissitudes of life, I have few or no fears. +But such capability of happiness in this world is a great temptation, +and I sometimes fancy must therefore have been a Fairy gift." And here +the no longer young Mother of Hermione fell into a reverie, and a long +pause ensued, during which Ambrosia felt very sad, for it grieved her +to think that the good and reasonable Mother should be so much afraid +of Fairy gifts, even when the result had been so favourable. +</p> + +<p> +A note at length interrupted the prolonged silence. It was from Aurora +the Beauty, whose Father possessed a large estate in the +neighbourhood, and who had just then come into the country for a few +weeks. Aurora earnestly requested Hermione and her Mother to visit +her. +</p> + +<p> +"I will do as you wish," said Hermione, looking rather grave; "but +really a visit to Aurora is a sort of small misfortune." +</p> + +<p> +"I hope you are not envious of her beauty, Hermione? Take care." +</p> + +<p> +"Nay, you are cruel, Mamma, now. I should like to be handsome, but not +at the expense of being so very dull in spirits as poor Aurora often +is. But really, unless you have ever spent an hour alone with her, you +can form no idea of how tired one gets." +</p> + +<p> +"What of, Hermione? of her face?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh no, not of her face; it is charming, and by the way you have just +put into my head how I may escape from being tired, even if I am left +alone with her for hours!" +</p> + +<p> +"Nay, now you really puzzle me, my dear; I suggested nothing but +looking at her face." +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, but as she is really and truly such a model of beauty, what do +you think of offering to make a likeness of her, Mamma? It will +delight her to sit and be looked at, even by me, in the country, and I +shall be so much pleased to have such a pleasant occupation. I am +quite reconciled to the idea of going." +</p> + +<p> +And a note was written, and despatched accordingly. +</p> + +<p> +"But," persisted Hermione, rising to sit near her Mother, "you do not +above half know Aurora. One would think she had been born in what is +called a 'four warnt way,' with nothing but cross roads about her. +Nothing is ever right. She is always either exhausted with the heat of +the sun, or frozen with cold, or the evening is so tedious, she wants +it to be bedtime, or if there is any unusual gaiety going on, she +quarrels with the same length of evening, because it is so intolerably +short; and, in short, she is never truly happy but when she is +surrounded by admirers, whether men or women. And this seems to me to +be a sad way of '<i>getting her time over</i>,' as the poor women say of +life. Ah, Mamma, it goes but too quickly." +</p> + +<p> +"Aurora is indeed foolish," musingly ejaculated the Mother. +</p> + +<p> +"Not altogether either, my dear Mother. She knows much; but the fault +is, she cares for nothing. She has got the carcase, as it were, of +knowledge and accomplishments; but the vivifying spirit is wanting. +You know yourself how well she plays and sings occasionally, if there +is a question of charming a room full of company. Yet there can be no +sentiment about her music after all, or it would be an equal pleasure +to her at other times. But really it almost makes me as discontented +with life as herself to hear her talk in unexcited hours. Turning over +my books one day, she said, 'You can never be either a poet or a +painter, or a Mozart or a philosopher, Hermione? what is the use of +all your labour and poking?' What could I say? I felt myself colour +up, and I laughed out, 'Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is +vanity!' Yet certainly God has set before us the things of earth in +order that we may admire and find them out; and that is the answer to +all such foolish questions!" And Hermione was turning to leave the +room, but she came back and said—"Do you know, Mamma, though you will +laugh at the idea, I do think Aurora would be a very nice girl, and +very happy, if she either could grow very ugly all at once, or if any +thing in the world could make her forget her beauty.—And," added she, +in a half whisper, "if there is any thing in Fairy lore, I could +almost fancy some cruel Fairy had owed her family a grudge, and had +given her this gift of excessive beauty on purpose to be the plague +and misfortune of her life." +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="40%"> + +<p> +"Enough, enough, and too much," cried Euphrosyne impatiently. "The +matter is now, I think, concluded. Ianthe and I have failed, and +though you are successful, Ambrosia, even you have not come off +without a rebuff. Now, farewell to earth. I am weary of it. I do not +know your gift, and I am sick of listening to conversations I cannot +understand. Let us begone. If we de delay, they will begin again. Ah, +my sisters, my spirit yearns for our fairer clime!" +</p> + +<p> +And they arose; but yet awhile they lingered on the velvet lawn before +that country-house, for as they were preparing for flight, the sounds +they loved so well, of harmonious music, greeted their ears. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, there is the artist's hand again," cried Ambrosia. "I see the +lovely sketch before me once more!" +</p> + +<p> +And so it was, that it, and the peaceful forest scene, and the +interesting face of Hermione, seemed to reappear before them all as +they listened to her music. Tender, and full of sentiment were the +sounds at first, as if the musician were acting the scene of the opera +whence they came. +</p> + +<p> +"Lieder ohne Worte,"<a href="#FN3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> murmured Ambrosia. +</p> + +<p class="left"> +<a name="FN3"><sup>[3]</sup></a> Songs without +Words.—Mendelssohn. +</p> + +<p> +But it was to the swelling sounds of a farewell chorus that they arose +into the air, and took their leave of earth. +</p> + +<p> +And now, dear Readers, there is but one thing more to do. To ask if +you have guessed the Fairy gift? +</p> + +<p> +The Fairies, you see, had not. What Euphrosyne had said was true. They +had listened to such a quantity of conversation they could not +understand, and they were so unused to <i>think</i> much about any thing, +or to hear much beyond their own pretty light talk and sweet songs, +that their poor little brains had got quite muddled. +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps remaining so long in the Earth's atmosphere helped to cloud +their intelligence. Certain it is, they returned very pensive, very +cross, and rather dusty to Fairy Land. +</p> + +<p> +They arrived at the beautiful bay I first described, and floated to a +large party of their sisters, who were dancing on the sands. +</p> + +<p> +There was a clapping of tiny hands, and shouts of joy as they +approached; and "What news? what news?" cried many voices. +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, what news, Sister Euphrosyne!" cried little Aglaia, floating +forward, "from the smudgy old earth; Is it beauty, riches, or what?" +</p> + +<p> +"I cannot answer your question," said Euphrosyne, pushing forward. +</p> + +<p> +A circle was now formed round the travellers, and the details I have +given you were made by Ianthe. And she wound up by saying, "And what +Ambrosia's gift to Hermione has been, we cannot make out." +</p> + +<p> +"Then I will tell you!" cried little Aglaia, springing lightly high +into the air, and descending gently on a huge shell at her feet; "<i>She +likes every thing she does, and she likes to be always doing +something</i>. You can't put the meaning into one word, as you can Beauty +and Riches; but still it <i>is</i> something. Can't you think of some way +of saying what I have told you? Dear me, how stupid you are all grown. +And <i>liking</i> isn't the right word: it is something stronger than +common <i>liking</i>." +</p> + +<p> +"Love, perhaps," murmured Leila. +</p> + +<p> +"An excellent idea," cried Euphrosyne; "dear me, this delicious air is +clearing my poor head. Sisters, I will express it for you, and +Ambrosia shall say if I am right. It is THE LOVE OF EMPLOYMENT." +</p> + +<p> +Ambrosia laughed assent; but a low murmur of discontent resounded +through the Fairy group. +</p> + +<p> +"Intolerable!" cried Leila, shrugging her shoulders like a French +woman. +</p> + +<p> +"It is no Fairy gift at all," exclaimed others; "it is downright +plodding and working." +</p> + +<p> +"If the human race can be made happy by nothing but labour," cried +another; "I propose we leave them to themselves, and give them no more +Fairy gifts at all." +</p> + +<p> +"Remember," cried Ambrosia, now coming forward, "this is our first +experiment upon human happiness. Hitherto we have given Fairy gifts, +and never enquired how they have acted. And I feel sure we have always +forgotten one thing, viz. that poor men and women living in Time, and +only having in their power the small bit of it which is present, +cannot be happy unless they make Time present happy. And there is but +one plan for that; I use Aglaia's words: '<i>To like every thing you do, +and like to be always doing something</i>.'" +</p> + +<p> +Ambrosia ceased speaking, and the circled group were silent too. They +were not satisfied, however; but those sweet, airy people take nothing +to heart for long. For a short time they wandered about in little +knots of two and three, talking, and then joined together in a dance +and song, ere night surrounded them. There was from that time, +however, a general understanding among them that the human race was +too coarse and common to have much sympathy with Fairies, and even the +Godmothers agreed to this, for they were sadly tired with the unusual +quantity of thinking and observing they had had to undergo. So if you +ever wonder, dear Readers, that Fairy Gifts and Fairy Godmothers have +gone out of fashion; you may conclude that the adventure of Ambrosia +and Hermione is the reason. +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="40%"> + +<p> +The story is ended; and if any enquiring child should say, "There are +no more Fairy gifts, and we can no more give ourselves love of +employment than beauty or riches;" let me correct this dangerous +error! Wiser heads than mine have shown that every thing we do becomes +by HABIT, not only <i>easy</i>, but actually <i>agreeable</i>.<a href="#FN4"><sup>[4]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="left"> +<a name="FN4"><sup>[4]</sup></a> Abercrombie. Moral Feelings. +</p> + +<p> +Dear Children! encourage a habit of <i>attention</i> to whatever you +undertake, and you may make that habit not only easy, but agreeable; +and then, I will venture to promise you, you will <i>like</i> and even +<i>love</i> your occupations. And thus, though you may not have so +many talents as Hermione, you may call all those you do possess, into +play, and make them the solace, pleasure and resources of your earthly +career. +</p> + +<p> +If you do this, I think you will not feel disposed to quarrel, as the +Fairies did, with Ambrosia's gift; for increased knowledge of the +world, and your own happy experience, will convince you more and more +that no Fairy Gift is so well worth having, as, +</p> + +<p class="note"> +THE LOVE OF EMPLOYMENT. +</p> +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="80%"> + +<center> +<img src="Images/Deco2.jpg" alt="Decoration2" width="234" height="59" +hspace="4" vspace="8"> +</center> + +<p> </p> + + +<a name="Joachim"></a> + +<h3> +JOACHIM THE MIMIC. +</h3> + + +<p> +<img src="Images/LetterT.jpg" alt="Ornate T" width="57" +height="62"> + +There was, once upon a time, a little boy, who, living in the time +when Genies and Fairies used now and then to appear, had all the +advantage of occasionally seeing wonderful sights, and all the +<i>dis</i>advantage of being occasionally dreadfully frightened. This +little boy was one day walking alone by the sea side, for he lived in +a fishing town, and as he was watching the tide, he perceived a bottle +driven ashore by one of the big waves. He rushed forward to catch it +before the wave sucked it back again, and succeeded. Now then he was +quite delighted, but he could not get the cork out, for it was +fastened down with rosin, and there was a seal on the top. So being +very impatient, he took a stone and knocked the neck of the bottle +off. +</p> + +<p> +What was his surprize to find himself instantly suffocated with a +smoke that made his eyes smart and his nose sneeze, just as much as if +a quantity of Scotch snuff had been thrown over him! He jumped about +and puffed a good deal, and was just beginning to cry, as a matter of +course for a little boy when he is annoyed; when lo! and behold! he +saw before him such an immense Genie, with black eyes and a long +beard, that he forgot all about crying and began to shake with fear. +</p> + +<p> +The Genie told him he need not be afraid, and desired him not to +shake; for, said he, "You have been of great use to me; a Genie, +stronger than myself, had fastened me up in yonder bottle in a fit of +ill humour, and as he had put his seal at the top, nobody could draw +the cork. Luckily for me, you broke the neck of the bottle, and I am +free. Tell me therefore, good little boy, what shall I do for you to +show my gratitude?" +</p> + +<p> +But now, before I go on with this, I must tell you that the day before +the little boy's adventure with the bottle and the Genie, the King of +that country had come to the fishing town I spoke of, in a gold +chariot drawn by twelve beautiful jet black horses, and attended by a +large train of officers and followers. A herald went before announcing +that the King was visiting the towns of his dominions, for the sole +purpose of doing justice and exercising acts of charity and kindness. +And all people in trouble and distress were invited to come and lay +their complaints before him. And accordingly they did so, and the good +King, though quite a youth, devoted the whole day to the benevolent +purpose he proposed; and it is impossible to describe the amount of +good he accomplished in that short time. Among others who benefited +was our little boy's Mother, a widow who had been much injured and +oppressed. He redressed her grievances, and in addition to this, +bestowed valuable and useful presents upon her. "Look what an example +the young King sets," was the cry on every side! "Oh, my son, imitate +him!" exclaimed our poor Widow, as in a transport of joy and emotion, +she threw her arms around her boy's neck. "I wish I <i>could</i> imitate +him and be like him!" murmured little Joachim: (such was the child's +name). "My boy," cried the Widow, "imitate every thing that is good, +and noble, and virtuous, and you <i>will</i> be like him!" Joachim looked +earnestly in her face, but was silent. He understood a good deal that +his Mother meant; he knew he was to try to do every thing that was +good, and so be like the young King; but, as he was but a little boy, +I am not quite sure that he had not got a sort of vague notion of the +gold chariot and the twelve jet black horses, mixed up with his idea +of imitating all that was good and noble and virtuous, and being like +the young King. I may be wrong; but, at seven years old, you will +excuse him if his head did get a little confused, and if he could not +quite separate his ideas of excessive virtue and goodness from all the +splendour in which the pattern he was to imitate appeared before his +eyes. +</p> + +<p> +However that may be, his Mother's words made a profound impression +upon him. He thought of nothing else, and if he had been in the silly +habit of telling his dreams, I dare say he would have told his mother +next morning that he had been dreaming of them. Certainly they came +into his head the first thing in the morning; and they were still in +his head when he walked along by the sea-shore, as has been described; +so much so, that even his adventure did not make him forget them; and +therefore, when this Genie, as I told you before, offered to do any +thing he wanted, little Joachim said, "Genie, I want to imitate every +thing that is good, and noble, and virtuous, so you must make me +able!" +</p> + +<p> +The Genie looked very much surprized, and rather confused; he expected +to have been asked for toys, or money, or a new horse, or something +nice of that sort; but Joachim looked very grave, so the Genie saw he +was in earnest, and he did a most wonderful thing for a Genie; he +actually sat down beside the little boy to talk to him. I don't +recollect that a single Genie in the Arabian Nights, ever did such a +thing before; but this Genie did: What is more, he stroked his beard, +and spoke very softly, as follows: +</p> + +<p> +"My dear little boy, you have asked a great thing. I can do part of +what you wish, but not all; for you have asked what concerns the heart +and conscience, and we Genies, cannot influence these, for the great +Ruler of all things alone has them under his control. He allows us, +however, power over the intellect—ah! now I see you cannot understand +me, little boy!—Well! I mean this;—I can make your head clever, but +I cannot make your heart good: I can give you the power of imitation, +but as to <i>what</i> you imitate, that must depend upon yourself, and the +great Being I dare not name!" +</p> + +<p> +After saying this, the Genie laid his immense forefingers on each side +of Joachim's head just above his forehead, and then disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +Joachim felt no pain, but when he got up and put on his cap to go +home, his head seemed almost too large for it. +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps he wanted a new cap, but the phrenologists would tell you he +had got the organ of Imitation. +</p> + +<p> +He did not thoroughly understand what the Genie said, but he was +convinced that something had been done towards making him like to the +young King. As he was dawdling home, his eye was struck by the sight +of a beautiful because picturesque dark fishing-boat, which he saw +very plainly, because the red sun was setting behind it. Joachim felt +a strange wish to make something like it; and, taking up a bit of +white chalk he saw at his feet, he drew a picture of the boat on the +tarred side of another that was near him. While he was so engaged, an +old fisherman came up very angrily. He thought the child was +disfiguring his boat; but, to his surprise, he saw that the little +fellow's drawing was so capital, he wished he could do as much +himself. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, who taught you to do that, young Master?" said he. +</p> + +<p> +Joachim was no great talker at any time, and he now merely said, +"Nobody," and smiled. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, you must draw my boat some day, for me to hang up; and now +here's a luck penny for you, for you certainly are a capital hand for +such a youngster." +</p> + +<p> +Joachim was greatly pleased with the penny, for it was a curious old +one, with a hole through it; and he told his Mother all about it; but +though it may seem strange, he never mentioned the bottle and the +Genie to her at all. That appeared to him to be a quite private affair +of his own. +</p> + +<p> +He altered very much, however, by degrees. He had been till then +rather a dull, silent boy: now he talked much more, was more amusing, +was always endeavouring to draw, and after being at church would try +to read the prayers like the parson. His Mother was delighted. She +began to think her son would grow up a good scholar after all, and +being now well off, owing to the King's kindness, she resolved on +sending little Joachim to school. +</p> + +<p> +To school, accordingly, he went; and here, my little readers, there +was a great change for him. Hitherto he had lived very much alone with +his Mother, and being quiet, and somewhat dull by nature, he had never +till quite lately had many acquaintances of his own age. +</p> + +<p> +Now, however, he found himself among great numbers of youths, of all +ages, and all characters. At first he was shy and observant, but this +soon wore off, and he became a favourite. Nobody was more liked at any +time, and he was completely unrivalled in the play-ground. He could +set all the boys in a roar of laughter, when, hid behind a bush, he +would bark so like a dog that the unhappy wights who were not in the +secret expected to see a vicious hound spring out upon them, and took +to their heels in fright. He was first in every attempt at acting, +which the boys got up; and there was not a cat nor a pig in the +neighbourhood whose mew and squeak he could not give with the utmost +exactness. If you ask how he got on at lessons, I must say—well, but +not <i>very</i> well. His powers of entertaining his companions were so +great, that I fear he found their easily-acquired praise more tempting +than the rewards of laborious learning. He could learn easily enough, +it is true; but while his steadier neighbours were working hard, he +was devising some new scheme for fun when lessons should be over, or +making some odd drawing on his slate to induce his companions to an +outburst of laughter. +</p> + +<p> +There were many excuses to be made for little Joachim; and it is +always so pleasant to please, that I do not much wonder at his being +led astray by possessing the power. +</p> + +<p> +Time went on, meanwhile; and Joachim became aware at last that he +possessed a larger share than common of the power of imitation. When +he first clearly felt this, he thought of the Genie and his two +forefingers, I believe;—but his school life, and his funny ways, and +the constant diversion of his mind, quite prevented his thinking of +all the serious things the Genie had spoken. Nay, even his Mother's +words had nearly faded from his mind, and he had forgotten the young +King, and his own wishes to be like him. It was a pity it was so; but +so it was! Poor Joachim! he was a very good fellow, and kind also in +reality; but first the pleasure of making his companions laugh, and +then the pleasure of being a sort of little great man among them, were +fast misleading him. For instance, though at first he amused them by +imitating dogs, and cats, and pigs, he next tried his powers at +imitating any thing queer and odd in the boys themselves, and, for a +time, this was most entertaining. When he mimicked the awkward walk of +one boy, and the bad drawl of another, and the loutish carriage of a +third, the school resounded with shouts of laughter, which seemed to +our Hero a great triumph,—something like the cheers which had greeted +the good young King as he left the fishing-town. But certainly the +cause was a very different one! By degrees, however, it must be +admitted, that Joachim's popularity began a little to decrease; for, +though a boy has no objection to see his neighbour laughed at, he does +not like quite so well to be laughed at himself, and there are very +few who can bear it with good humour. And now Joachim had given such +way to the pastime, that he was always hunting up absurdities in his +friends and neighbours, and <i>no one felt safe</i>. +</p> + +<p> +It was a long time before Joachim found out the change that was taking +place, for there were still plenty of loud laughers on his side; but +once or twice he had a feeling that all was not right: for instance, +one day when he mimicked the awkward walker to the boy who spoke badly +and stuttered, and then in the afternoon imitated the stutterer to the +awkward boy, he had a twinge of conscience, for it whispered to him +that he was a sneak, and deceitful; particularly, as both these boys +had often helped him in doing his sums and lessons when he was too +idle and <i>too funny</i> to labour at them himself. In fact, he had been +so much helped that he was sadly behind hand in his books, for all the +school had been willing to assist "that good fellow '<i>Joke him</i>,'" as +they called him. +</p> + +<p> +At last a crisis came. A new boy arrived at the school; very big for +his age, and rather surly tempered, but a hard working, persevering +lad, who was striving hard to learn and get on. He had one defect. He +lisped very much, which certainly is an ugly trick, and sounded silly +in a great stout boy, nearly five feet high: but he had this excuse; +—his mother had died when he was very little, and his good Father had +more important business on hand in supporting his family, of which +this boy was the eldest, than in teaching him to pronounce his S's +better. It is perhaps only Mothers who attend to these little matters. +Well;—this great big boy was two or three days at the school before +Joachim went near him. There was something serious, stern, and unfunny +in his face, and when Joachim was making the other boys laugh, the +great big boy never even smiled, but fixed his eyes in a rather +unpleasant manner upon Joachim as he raised them from his books. Still +he was an irresistible subject for the Mimic; for, though he learnt +his lessons without a mistake, and always obtained the Master's +praise, he read them with so strong a lisp, and this was rendered so +remarkable by his loud, deep voice, that it fairly upset what little +prudence Joachim possessed; and, as he returned one day to his seat, +after repeating a copy of verses in the manner I have described, +Joachim, who was not far off, echoed the last two lines with such +accuracy of imitation, that it startled even the Master, who was at +that moment leaving the school-room. +</p> + +<p> +But no laugh followed as usual, for all eyes were suddenly turned on +the big boy, who, crimson with indignation, and yet quite +self-possessed in manner, walked up to Joachim and deliberately +knocked him down on the floor. Great was Joachim's amazement, you may +be sure, and severe was the blow that had levelled him; but still more +severe were the words that followed. "Young rascal," exclaimed the big +boy, "who has put <i>you</i> in authority over your elders, that you are to +be correcting our faults and failings, instead of attending to your +own. You are beholden to any lad in the school who will do your sums, +and write your exercises for you, and then you take upon yourself to +ridicule us if we cannot pronounce our well learnt lessons to your +fancy! You saucy imp, who don't know what labour and good conduct are, +and who have nothing to boast of, but the powers which a monkey +possesses to a greater extent than yourself!" Fancy Joachim's rage! +<i>He</i>, the admired wit! the popular boy! nothing better than a monkey! +He sprang up and struck his fist into the face of his antagonist with +such fury, that the big boy, though evidently unwilling to fight one +less than himself, was obliged to bestow several sharp blows before he +could rid himself of Joachim's passion. +</p> + +<p> +At last, however, other boys separated them; but Joachim, who was +quite unused to fighting, and who had received a very severe shock +when he first fell, became so sick and ill that he was obliged to go +home. His Mother asked what was the matter. "He had been quizzing a +great big boy who lisped, and the boy knocked him down, and they had +fought." His Mother sighed; but she saw he was too poorly for talking, +so she put him to bed and nursed him carefully. +</p> + +<p> +Now, you may say, what had this Mother been about, not to have found +out and corrected Joachim's fault before? First, he was very little at +home, and as owing to the help of others, his idleness had not become +notorious, she had heard no complaints from the Masters, and thinking +he did his lessons well, she felt averse to stopping his fun and +amusements in holiday hours. Still, she had latterly begun to have +misgivings which this event confirmed. In a few days Joachim was +better, and came down stairs, and his Aunt and two or three Cousins +called to enquire after him. Their presence revived Joachim's flagging +spirits, and all the boys got together to talk and laugh. Soon their +voices echoed through the house. Joachim was at his old tricks again, +and the Schoolboys, the Ushers and the Master all furnished food for +mirth. His Cousins roared with delight. "Clever child!" exclaimed his +Aunt, "what a treasure you are in a house! one could never be dull +where <i>you</i> are!" "Sister, Sister!" cried Joachim's Mother, "do not +say so!" "My dear," said the Aunt, "are you dull enough to be unable +to appreciate your own child's wit; oh, I wish you would give him to +me. Come here, my dear Joachim, and do the boy that walks so badly +once more for me; it's enough to kill one to see you take him off!" +Joachim's spirits rose above all control. Excited by his Aunt's +praise and the sense of superior ability, he surpassed himself. He +gave the bad walker to perfection; then imitated a lad who had +commenced singing lessons, and whose voice was at present broken and +bad. He even gave the big boy's lisp once more, and followed on with a +series of pantomimic exhibitions. +</p> + +<p> +All at once, he cast his eyes on his Mother's face—that face so full +of intelligence and the mild sorrow of years of widowhood, borne with +resigned patience. Her eyes were full of tears, and there was not a +smile on her countenance. Joachim's conscience—he knew not +why—twinged him terribly. He stopped suddenly; "Mother!" +</p> + +<p> +"Come here, Joachim!" He came. +</p> + +<p> +"Is that boy whom you have been imitating—your Aunt says so +cleverly—the <i>best</i> walker of all the boys in your school?" +</p> + +<p> +"The <i>best</i>, Mother?" and the puzzled Joachim could not suppress a +smile. His Cousins grinned. +</p> + +<p> +"Dear Mother, of course not," continued Joachim, "on the contrary, he +is the very worst!" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh—well, have you no <i>good</i> walkers at your school?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh yes, several; indeed one especially; his father was a soldier, he +walks beautifully." +</p> + +<p> +"Does he, Joachim? Let me see you walk like him, my dear." +</p> + +<p> +Joachim stepped boldly enough into the middle of the room, and drew +himself up; but a sudden consciousness of his extreme inferiority to +the soldier's son, both in figure, manner and mode of walking, made +him feel quite sheepish. There was a pause of expectation. +</p> + +<p> +"Now then!" said Joachim's Mother. +</p> + +<p> +"I cannot walk like <i>him</i>, Mother," said Joachim. +</p> + +<p> +"Why not?" +</p> + +<p> +"Because he walks so <i>very well</i>!" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh,"—said Joachim's Mother. +</p> + +<p> +There was another pause. +</p> + +<p> +"Come, Joachim," continued the Widow, "I am very anxious to admire you +as much as your Aunt does. You are not tired; let us have some more +exhibitions. You gave us a song just now horribly out of tune, and +with the screeching voice of a bagpipe." +</p> + +<p> +"I was singing like Tom Smith," interrupted Joachim. +</p> + +<p> +"Is he your best singer?" enquired the Mother. Another laugh followed. +</p> + +<p> +"Nay, Mother, no one sings so badly." +</p> + +<p> +"Indeed! How does the Singing Master sing, Joachim?" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, Mother," cried Joachim, "so beautifully, it would make the tears +come into your eyes with pleasure, to listen to him." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, but as I cannot listen to him, let me, at all events, have the +pleasure of hearing my clever son imitate him," was the reply. +</p> + +<p> +Joachim was mute. He had a voice, though not a remarkable one, but he +had shirked the labour of trying to improve it by practice. He made +one effort to sing like the Master, but overpowered by a sense of +incapacity, his voice failed, and he felt disposed to cry. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, Joachim, I thought you were such a clever creature you could +imitate any thing," cried the Mother. +</p> + +<p> +No answer fell from the abashed boy, till a sudden thought revived +him. +</p> + +<p> +"But I <i>can</i> imitate the singing-master, Mother." +</p> + +<p> +"Let me hear you, my dear child." +</p> + +<p> +"Why it isn't exactly what you can hear," observed Joachim +murmuringly; "but when he sings, you have no idea what horrible faces +he makes. Nay, it's true, indeed, he turns up his eyes, shuts them, +distorts his mouth, and swings about on the stool like the pendulum of +a clock!" +</p> + +<p> +And Joachim performed all the grimaces and contortions to perfection, +till his Aunt and Cousins were convulsed with laughter. +</p> + +<p> +"Well done," cried his Mother. "Now you are indeed like the cat in the +German fable, Joachim! who voted himself like the bear, because he +could lick his paws after the same fashion, though he could not +imitate either his courage or his strength. Now let me look a little +further into your education. Bring me your drawing-book." It came, and +there was page after page of odd and ugly faces, strange noses, +stranger eyes, squinting out of the book in hideous array. +</p> + +<p> +"I suppose you will laugh again if I ask you if these are the +<i>beauties</i> of your school, Joachim;—but tell me seriously, are +there no good, pleasant, or handsome faces among your schoolfellows?" +</p> + +<p> +"Plenty, Mother; one or two the Master calls models, and who often sit +to him to be drawn from." +</p> + +<p> +"Draw one of those faces for me, my dear; I am fond of beauty." And +the Mother placed the book in his hands, pointing to a blank page. +</p> + +<p> +Joachim took a pencil, and sat down. <i>Now</i> he thought he should be +able to please his Mother; but, alas, he found to his surprise, that +the fine faces he tried to recall had not left that vivid impression +on his brain which enabled him to represent them. On the contrary, he +was tormented and baffled by visions of the odd forms and grotesque +countenances he had so often pictured. He seized the Indian-rubber and +rubbed out nose after nose to no purpose, for he never could replace +them with a better. Drawing was his favourite amusement; and this +disappointment, where he expected success, broke down his already +depressed heart. He threw the book from him, and burst into a flood of +tears. +</p> + +<p> +"Joachim! have you drawn him? What makes you cry?" +</p> + +<p> +"I cannot draw him, Mother," sobbed the distressed boy. +</p> + +<p> +"And why not? Just look here; here is an admirable likeness of +squinting Joe, as you have named him. Why cannot you draw the handsome +boy?" +</p> + +<p> +"Because his face is so handsome!" answered Joachim, still sobbing. +</p> + +<p> +"My son," said his Mother gravely, "you have now a sad lesson to +learn, but a necessary and a wholesome one. Get up, desist from +crying, and listen to me." +</p> + +<p> +Poor Joachim, who loved his mother dearly, obeyed. +</p> + +<p> +"Joachim! your Aunt, and your Cousins, and your schoolfellows have all +called you clever. In what does your cleverness consist? I will tell +you. In the Reproduction of Deformity, Defects, Failings, and +Misfortunes of every sort, that fall under your observation. A worthy +employment truly! A noble ambition! But I will now tell you the truth +about yourself. You never heard it before, and I feel sure you will +benefit now. A good or an evil Genie, I know not which, has bestowed +upon you a great power; and you have misused it. Do you know what that +power is?" +</p> + +<p> +Joachim shook his head, though he trembled all over, for he felt as if +awaking from along dream, to the recollection of the Genie. +</p> + +<p> +"It is the power of Imitation, Joachim; I call it a great power, for +it is essential to many great and useful things. It is essential to +the orator, the linguist, the artist, and the musician. Nature herself +teaches us the charm of <i>imitation</i>, when in the smooth and clear lake +you see the lovely landscape around mirrored and <i>repeated</i>.<a href="#FN5"><sup>[5]</sup></a> What a +lesson may we not read in this sight! The commonest pond even that +reflects the foliage of the tree that hangs over it, is calling out to +us to reproduce for the solace and ornament of life, the beautiful +works of God. But oh, my son, my dear son, you have abused this gift +of Imitation, which might be such a blessing and pleasure to you." +</p> + +<p class="left"> +<a name="FN5"><sup>[5]</sup></a> Schiller.—"Der Künstler." +</p> + +<p> +"You might, if you chose, <i>imitate every thing that is good, and +noble, and virtuous, and beautiful</i>; and you are, instead of that, +reproducing every aspect of deformity that crosses your path, until +your brain is so stamped with images of defects, ugliness, and +uncouthness, that your hand and head refuse their office, when I call +upon you to reproduce the beauties with which the world is graced." +</p> + +<p> +I doubt if Joachim heard the latter part of his Mother's speech. At +the recurrence to the old sentence, a gleam of lightning seemed to +shoot across his brain. Latent memories were aroused as keenly as if +the events had but just occurred, and he sank at his Mother's feet. +</p> + +<p> +When she ceased to speak, he arose. +</p> + +<p> +"Mother," said he, "I have been living in a cloud. I have been very +wrong. Besides which, I have a secret to tell you. Nay, my Aunt may +hear. It has been a secret, and then it has been forgotten; but now I +remember all, and understand far more than I once did." +</p> + +<p> +Here Joachim recounted to his Mother the whole story of her words to +him, and his adventure with the Genie and the bottle; and then, very +slowly, and interrupted by many tears of repentance, he repeated what +the Genie had said about giving him <i>the power</i> of imitation, adding +that the use he made of it must depend on himself and the great Ruler +of the heart and conscience. +</p> + +<p> +There was a great fuss among the Cousins at the notion of Joachim +having talked to a Genie; and, to tell you the truth, this was all +they thought about, and soon after took their leave. The heart of +Joachim's Mother was at rest, however: for though she knew how hard +her son would find it to alter what had become a habit of life, she +knew that he was a good and pious boy, and she saw that he was fully +alive to his error. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh Mother," said he, during the course of that evening, "how plain I +see it all now! The boy that stutters is a model of obedience and +tenderness; I ought to have dwelt upon and imitated that, and, oh! I +thought only of his stuttering. The boy that walks so clumsily, as +well as the great fellow that lisps, are such industrious lads, and so +advanced in learning, that the master thinks both will be +distinguished hereafter; and I, who—(oh, my poor mother, I must +confess to you)—hated to labour at any thing, and have got the boys +to do my lessons for me;—I, instead of imitating their industry, lost +all my time in ridiculing their defects.—What shall—what shall I +do!" +</p> + +<p> +The next morning poor Joachim said his prayers more humbly than he had +ever before done in his life; and, kissing his mother, went to school. +The first thing he did on arriving was to go up to the big boy, who +had beaten him, and beg him to shake hands. +</p> + +<p> +The big boy was pleased, and a grim smile lightened up his face. "But, +old fellow," said he, laying his hand on Joachim's shoulder, "take a +friend's advice. There is good in all of us, depend upon it. Look out +for all that's good, and let the bad points take care of themselves. +<i>You</i> won't get any handsomer, by squinting like poor Joe; nor speak +any pleasanter for lisping like me; nor walk any better for apeing +hobbling. But the ugliest of us have some good about us. Look out for +<i>that</i>, my little lad; I do, or I should not be talking to you! I see +that you are honest and forgiving, though you <i>are</i> a monkey! There +now, I must go on with my lessons! You do yours!" +</p> + +<p> +Never was better advice given, and Joachim took it well, and bore it +bravely; but, oh, how hard it was to his mind, accustomed for so long +to wander away and seek amusement at wrong times, to settle down +resolutely and laboriously to study. He made a strong effort, however; +and though he had often to recall his thoughts, he in a measure +succeeded. +</p> + +<p> +After school-hours he begged the big boy to come and sit by him, and +then he requested his old friends and companions to listen to a story +he had to tell them. They expected something funny, and many a broad +grin was seen; but poor Joachim's eyes were yet red with weeping, and +his gay voice was so subdued, the party soon became grave and +wondering, and then Joachim told them every thing. They were delighted +to hear about the Genie, and were also pleased to find themselves safe +from Joachim's ridicule. It could not be expected they should all +understand the story, but the big boy did, and became Joachim's +greatest friend and adviser. +</p> + +<p> +That evening our little friend, exhausted with the efforts and +excitement of his almost first day of repentance, strolled out in a +somewhat pensive mood to his favourite haunt, the sea shore. A stormy +sunset greeted his arrival on the beach, but the tide was ebbing, and +he wandered on till he reached some caverns among the cliffs. And +there, as had often been his wont, he sat down to gaze out upon the +waste of waters safe and protected from harm. It is very probable that +he fell asleep—but the point could never be clearly known, for he +always said it was no sleep and no dream he had then, but that, whilst +sitting in the inmost recesses of the cave, he saw once more his old +friend the Genie, who after reproaching him with the bad use he had +made of his precious gift, gave him a world of good advice and +instruction. +</p> + +<p> +There is no doubt that after that time, Joachim was seen daily +struggling against his bad habits; and that by degrees he became able +to exercise his mind in following after the good and beautiful instead +of after the bad and ugly. It was a hard task to him for many a long +day to fix his flighty thoughts down to the business in hand, and to +dismiss from before his eyes the ridiculous images that often +presented themselves. But his Mother's wishes, or the Genie's advice, +or something better still, prevailed. And you cannot think, of what +wonderful use the Genie's gift was to him then. Once turned in a right +direction and towards worthy objects, he found it like a sort of +friend at his right hand, helping him forward in some of the most +interesting pursuits of life. Ah! all the energy he had once bestowed +on imitating lisps and stuttering, was now engaged in catching the +sounds of foreign tongues, and thus taking one step towards the +citizenship of the world. And instead of wasting time in gazing at the +singing master's face, that he might ape its unnatural distortions—it +was now the sweet tones of skilful harmony to which he bent his +attention, and which he strove, and not in vain, to reproduce. +</p> + +<p> +The portfolio which he brought home to his Mother at the end of +another half-year, was crowded with laborious and careful copies from +the best models of beauty and grace. And not with those only, for many +a face could be found on its pages in which the Mother recognized some +of her son's old companions. Portraits, not of the mere formation of +mouths and noses, which in so many cases, viewed merely as forms, are +defective and unattractive, but portraits of the same faces, upon +which the character of the inward mind and heart was so stamped that +it threw the mere shape of the features far into the background. +</p> + +<p> +Thus with the pursuit of his favourite art, Joachim combined "that +most excellent gift of charity;" for it was now his pride and pleasure +to make the charm of expression from "<i>the good points</i>" his old +friend had talked about, triumph over any physical defects. The very +spirit and soul of the best sort of portrait painting. And here, my +dear young readers, I would fain call your attention to the fact of +how one right habit produces another. The more Joachim laboured over +seizing the good expression of the faces he drew from, the more he was +led to seek after and find out the good points themselves whence the +expression arose; and thus at last it became a <i>Habit</i> with him to try +and discover every thing that was excellent and commendable in the +characters of those he met; a very different plan from that pursued by +many of us, who in our intercourse with each other, are but too apt to +fasten with eagle-eye accuracy on failings and faults. Which is a very +grave error, and a very misleading one, for if it does nothing else, +it deprives us of all the good we should get by a daily habit of +contemplating what is worthy our regard and remembrance. And so +strongly did Joachim's mother feel this, and so earnestly did she wish +her son to understand that a power which seems bestowed for worldly +ends, may be turned to spiritual advantage also, that when his +birthday came round she presented to him among other gifts, a little +book, called "The Imitation of Jesus Christ." It was the work of an +old fellow called Thomas à Kempis, and though more practical books of +piety have since been written, the idea contained in the title +suggests a great lesson, and held up before Joachim's eyes, Him whom +one of our own divines has since called "The Great Exemplar." +</p> + +<p> +This part of our little hero's 'Lesson of Life,' we can all take to +ourselves, and go and do likewise. And so I hope his story may be +profitable, though we have not all of us a large Genie-gift of +Imitation as he had. With him the excess of this power took a very +natural turn, for though he possessed through its aid, considerable +facilities for music and the study of languages also, the course of +events led him irresistibly to what is usually called "the fine arts." +And if the old dream of the royal chariot and the twelve jet black +horses was never realized to him, a higher happiness by far was his, +when some years after, he and his Mother stood in the council house of +his native town; she looking up with affectionate pride while he +showed her a portrait of the good young King which had a few hours +before been hung up upon its walls. It was the work of Joachim +himself. +</p> +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="80%"> + + +<center> +<img src="Images/Deco2.jpg" alt="Decoration2" width="234" height="59" +hspace="4" vspace="8"> +</center> + + +<a name="Darkness"></a> + +<h3 align="center">DARKNESS AND LIGHT.</h3> + + +<p class="left"> +<i>The darkness and the light to Thee are both alike</i>. +</p> + +<p> +<img src="Images/LetterF.jpg" alt="Ornate F" width="57" +height="65"> +Far away to the west, on the borders of the Sea, there lived a lady +and gentleman in a beautiful old house built something like a castle. +They had several children, nice little boys and girls, who were far +fonder of their Sea Castle, as they called it, than of a very pleasant +house which they had in a great town at some distance off. Still they +used to go and be very merry in the Town House in the winter time when +the hail and snow fell, and the winds blew so cold that nobody could +bear to walk out by the wild sea shore. +</p> + +<p> +But in summer weather the case was quite altered. Indeed, as soon as +ever the sun began to get a little power, and to warm the panes of +glass in the nursery windows of the Town House, there was a hue and +cry among all the children to be off to their Sea Castle home, and +many a time had Papa and Mamma to send them angrily out of the room, +because they would do nothing but beg to "set off directly." They were +always "sure that the weather was getting quite hot," and "it <i>must</i> +be summer, for they heard the sparrows chirping every morning the +first thing," and they "thought they had seen a swallow," and "the +windows got so warm with the sunshine, Nurse declared they were enough +to burn one's fingers:" and so the poor little things teazed +themselves and everybody else, every year, in their hurry to get back +to their western home. But I dare say you have heard the old proverb, +"One swallow does not make a summer;" and so it was proved very often +to our friends. For the Spring season is so changeable, there are +often some soft mild days, and then a cruel frost comes again, and +perhaps snow as well; and people who have boasted about fine weather +and put off their winter clothes, look very foolish. +</p> + +<p> +Still Time passes on; and when May was half over, the Town House used +to echo with shouts of noisy delight, and boxes were banged down in +the passages, and there was a great calling out for cords, and much +scolding about broken keys and padlocks, and the poor Carpenter who +came to mend the trunks and find new keys to old locks, was at his +wits' end and his patience' end too. +</p> + +<p> +But at last the time came when all this bustle was succeeded by +silence in the Town House, for carriages had rolled away with the +happy party, and nobody was left behind but two or three women +servants to clean out the deserted rooms. +</p> + +<p> +And now then, my little readers, who are, I hope, wondering what is +coming next, you must fancy to yourselves the old Sea Castle Home. It +had two large turrets; and winding staircases led from the passages +and kitchens underneath the sitting rooms, up to the top of the +turrets, and so out upon the leads of the house, from which there was +the most beautiful view of the Ocean you ever saw; and, as the top of +the house was battlemented, like the top of your church tower, people +could walk about quite safely and comfortably, without any fear of +falling over. Then, though it is a very unusual thing near the Sea, +there were delightful gardens at the place, and a few very fine old +elm trees near the house, in which a party of rooks built their nests +every year; and the children had gardens of their own, in which they +could dig up their flowers to see if the roots were growing, to their +heart's content, and perform other equally ingenious feats, such as +watering a plant two or three times a day, or after a shower of rain, +and then wondering that, with such tender care, the poor thing should +rot away and die. +</p> + +<p> +But I almost think the children liked the sands on the shore as well +as the gardens, though they loved both. Not that there was any +amusement astir by the water side there, as you have seen in other +places where there are boats and fishermen and nets, and great coils +of ropes, and an endless variety of entertaining sights connected with +the seafaring business going on. Nay, in some places where there is +not a very good shore for landing, it is an amusement of itself to see +each boat or fishing yawl come in. There is such a contrast between +the dark tarred wood and the white surf that dashes up all round it; +and the fishermen are so clever in watching the favourable moment for +a wave to carry them over their difficulties; that I think this is one +of the prettiest sights one can see. But no such thing was ever seen +on the shore by the old Sea Castle, for there was no fishing there. +People thought the sea was too rough and the landing too difficult, +and so no fishing village had ever been built, and no boats ever +attempted to come within many miles of the place. +</p> + +<p> +Nobody cared to ask further, or try to account for the wildness of the +sea on that coast; but I can tell you all about it, although it must +be in a sort of half whisper—<i>The place was on the borders of Fairy +Land!</i> that is to say, many many unknown numbers of miles out at sea, +right opposite to the Castle, there was a Fairy Island, and it was the +Fairies who kept the sea so rough all round them, for fear some +adventurous sailor should approach the island, or get near enough to +fish up some of the pearls and precious stones they kept in a crystal +palace underneath the water. +</p> + +<p> +So now you know the reason why the sea was so rough, and there was no +fishing going on at the Sea Castle Home. +</p> + +<p> +If you want to know whether any body ever saw the Fairy Island, I must +say, yes; but very seldom. And never but in the evening when the sun +was setting, and that under particular circumstances—namely, when he +went down into a dark red bank of clouds, or when there was a lurid +crimson hue over the sky just above the horizon. Then occasionally you +might see the dim hazy outline as of a beautiful mountainous island +against the clouds, or the deep-coloured sky. There is an island +sometimes seen from our western coast, under similar circumstances, +but which you strain your eyes in vain to discern by the brighter +light of day.<a href="#FN6"><sup>[6]</sup></a> +</p> + +<p class="left"> +<a name="FN6"><sup>[6]</sup></a> Isle of Man from Blackpool. +</p> + +<p> +It is a very ticklish thing to live on the borders of Fairy Land; for +though you cannot get to the Fairies, they can get to you, and it is +not altogether a pleasant thing to have your private affairs overseen +and interfered with by such beings as they are, though sometimes it +may be most useful and agreeable. Besides which, there was a +Fairy-secret connected with the family that lived at the Sea Castle. +An Ancestress of the present Mistress had been a Fairy herself, and +though she had accommodated herself to mortal manners, and lived with +her husband quite quietly as well as happily, and so her origin had +been in a great measure forgotten, it was not unknown to her +descendant, the Lady Madeline, who now lived in the place. And, in +fact, soon after Lady Madeline first came there, a Fairy named Eudora +had appeared to her, declaring herself to be a sort of distant cousin, +and offering and promising friendship and assistance, whenever asked +or even wished for. In return, she only begged to be allowed to visit, +and ramble at will about the old place which she had known for so many +many long years, and had once had the unlimited run of; and she +protested with tears that the family should never in any way be +disturbed by her. Lady Madeline could not well refuse the request, but +I cannot say she gave her fairy acquaintance any encouragement; and so +poor Eudora never showed herself to them again. And Madeline never +thought much about her, except now and then accidentally, when, if +they were walking on the sands, some extraordinarily rare and +beautiful shells would be thrown ashore by a wave at the children's +feet, as if tossed up especially for their amusement. And it was only +in some such kind little way as this they were ever reminded of the +Fairy's existence. +</p> + +<p> +Lady Madeline's eldest son, Roderick, always seemed most favoured by +the Fairy in the pretty things she sent ashore, and certainly he was a +very nice boy, and a very good one on the whole—cheerful and honest +as the daylight, and very intelligent; but I cannot tell you, dear +readers, that he had <i>no</i> faults, for that was not at all likely, and +you would not believe it if I said so, even although he is to be the +Hero of my tale. +</p> + +<p> +Now I do not want to make you laugh at him, but the story requires +that I should reveal to you one of his weak points. Well then, +although he was six years old, he was afraid of being alone in the +dark! Sometimes when he was in the large dining room with his Father +and Mother at dinner time, she would perhaps ask him to fetch +something for her from the drawing room which was close by; but, do +you know, if there were no candles in the room, he would look very +silly and refuse to go, even though there were a fire sufficient to +see by. He was too honest to make any false excuses, so he used just +to say that the room was so dark he could not go! +</p> + +<p> +Poor Madeline was very sorry, for she wanted her little boy to be +brave, but somehow or other he had got very silly about his fears of +being in the dark, and she could not succeed in curing him of his +folly. +</p> + +<p> +"My dear Roderick," she would say sometimes, "if I send in some +candles, will you go into the drawing room?" +</p> + +<p> +"O yes, Mamma." +</p> + +<p> +"Then do you really mean to say you think <i>the Candles take care of +you</i>?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, Mamma." +</p> + +<p> +"Then why won't you go into the room without; you know there is a +fire? +</p> + +<p> +"Because it is so dark, Mamma." +</p> + +<p> +Here was a difficulty indeed; for you see he <i>would</i> come back to the +old point, and would not listen to reason. +</p> + +<p> +One day some conversation of this sort having passed between them, +Madeline, as she was wont to do, asked him if God could not take care +of him by night as well as by day; in the dark as well as in light, +for "the darkness and light are both alike to him." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh yes," cried poor Roderick, with great animation, "and I can tell +you a story about that. There was, once upon a time, a little Boy and +a Nurse who went out walking, and they walked so long they got +benighted in a very dark wood, and because it was so dark the Nurse +screamed and was very much frightened; and the little boy said, +'Nurse, why are you frightened? Don't be frightened; I am not +frightened. God can take care of us in the dark as well as in the +light,'" +</p> + +<p> +"Oh Roderick! what a pretty story," cried his Mamma. +</p> + +<p> +And so thought Roderick; for his eye glistened and his cheek flushed +as he came to the conclusion. +</p> + +<p> +And here, dear readers, was the worst difficulty of all; for though +Roderick's reason was quite convinced that God could take care of him +in the dark, he still could not bear to be in the dark without the +help of candles besides, though he quite knew they could not take care +of him at all. So you see by this that Reason, though it may convince +a person he is wrong, cannot put him right. There wants some other +help for that. And here let me just stop a moment to beg you to beware +of <i>bad habits</i>; for you see they become at last more powerful than +reason itself. +</p> + +<p> +I do not know how Roderick first got into his foolish habit, and it +does not much matter. I know he at one time had a fancy there was +something unpleasant about the pipes that carried the water about the +house, and he would not for a long time go by the pipes alone. Now, +how you laugh! well, but he got out of that nonsense; and I hope to be +able to tell you that he got out of the other too: but at the time I +speak of, he made his Mamma full of sorrow for his want of sense and +courage. +</p> + +<p> +It must be admitted that there were one or two excuses to be made for +the child. There was a great contrast between the Town House and the +Sea Castle. The Town House was full of lights. All the sitting rooms +were generally lighted, for a great deal of company came there, and +there were always lights along the passages; and the nursery windows +looked into a square, and the square was lighted up by lamps every +night; and it was one of Roderick's greatest pleasures to watch the +lamplighter running quickly up the tall ladder to the lamps to light +them, and then popping down again equally hurriedly, and running along +(ladder and all) to the next lamp post, and so on, till the square was +brilliant all round; and very often, as Roderick lay in his little bed +watching the glimmering thrown by these pretty lamps on the nursery +wall, he used to think and think of his friend the nimble lamplighter, +till he dropped fast asleep. You see, therefore, he had very little to +try his courage in the Town House, and there was seldom or never any +fuss about his fears till the move to the Sea Castle took place; and +then there were no more lamps and lamplighters, and no more +comfortable glimmerings from his bright pets the lamps after he went +to bed; and he used to get silly directly, and declare that he saw +bears whenever he shut his eyes; and he seemed to expect to find lions +and tigers under the sofas, by the fuss he made when he was asked to +go into the rooms. Certainly there was a grand old fashioned lamp in +the hall of the Sea Castle; but the hall itself was so big, and went +up so high, that the light in one part only seemed to make the shadow +and darkness of the other part look blacker still; so that I must +confess there was something gloomy about the house. Then, too, there +were those two turrets with the winding staircases, and as Roderick +had never dared to do any thing more than peep in at the low entrance +doors below, where he saw nothing but four or five steps going up into +complete blackness, he had got a sort of notion there must be +something horrid about them. +</p> + +<p> +Well; it was soon after this little boy's sixth birthday, that the +family arrived at the Sea-Castle, and it so happened, that, on the day +after their arrival, there was some very stormy and dismal weather. +The wind howled very loudly, and there was a good deal of rain; and +Lady Madeline wished they had waited a week or two longer. The sky was +so charged and heavy, too, that they found the house very dark, even +by day-light; and Roderick, who was a little tired with his journey +the day before, began to fancy all kinds of nonsense; talked more +about seeing bears than ever; and finally cried tremendously at going +to bed, declaring he was sure there was a tiger in the coal-pan. Now +you know, my dears, this was a bit of great nonsense; for Roderick +knew quite well that there are no wild beasts in England but what are +kept in very strong cages; and that the men who take wild-beast shows +round the country can by no means afford to let their tigers sleep in +nursery coal-pans! +</p> + +<p> +Poor Madeline never liked to see any of her children go to bed in +tears. And Roderick was so gay and merry generally, it seemed quite +unnatural in him; but though at last he left off crying, she could not +persuade him to be cheerful, and smile; for he declared that as soon +as ever she took her candle away, he could not help seeing those +unlucky bears. Was there ever any thing so silly before! She reasoned +with him, but to no purpose. He always said he quite believed in God's +presence, and His being able to take care of him; but, as I said +before, his bad habit had got the better of his good sense, and he +finished off every thing that could be said, by seeing bears, and +dreading a tiger in the coal-pan. +</p> + +<p> +"What are we to do with that child?" cried Madeline to her husband, as +they were going to bed. "He is beginning as foolishly as ever this +year, in spite of being a year older. I really shall at last be +inclined to think that in spite of all her fair promises of friendship +and assistance, and of never injuring the family, the Fairy Eudora +must secretly frighten the child in some way we don't know of." +</p> + +<p> +"No such thing, my dear Madeline; I cannot for a moment believe it;" +said her husband. "I have a better opinion of your relations, the +Fairies, than you have yourself. I am sure Eudora would not break her +word for the world; and there is no mystery about Roderick's folly. He +is full of fancies of all sorts,—some pretty, and some silly ones; +and we must do every thing we can to cure him of the silly ones. It +certainly is a very hard matter to accomplish, for I perceive he +admits the truth of every thing you say, and yet is as silly as ever +at the end. I heartily wish the Fairy Eudora <i>would</i> interfere to cure +him of his nonsense!" +</p> + +<p> +"And so do I, if she could, and would," sighed Madeline; "but she has +quite deserted us. Besides, if she were to come, I don't see how she +could possibly do any good. Fairies cannot change little boys' hearts; +and I must confess I never yet got any good myself from having a Fairy +ancestress, and I have no confidence in them.—Still," pursued the +good lady, as she laid her head on her pillow, "I am not able, it +appears, to convince Roderick myself; and therefore I feel, with you, +that I wish the Fairy would come and try." +</p> + +<p> +"I fear it is in vain to say so now, Madeline. We have wished the poor +creature out of the way so often for the last ten years, that it is +not very likely a single wish the other way will bring her to us." +</p> + +<p> +"No, indeed," murmured the Fairy Eudora, who at that moment was +standing on the shore of the Fairy Island; "you are a pretty pair, you +two, to think of such a thing! I begged to be allowed to come about +the place years ago, and you didn't refuse; but you always kept me +away by <i>wishing</i> I mightn't come; and now, because you are puzzled to +know what to do with your silly child, you want me with you for the +first time these ten years! Oh, you selfish people, don't fancy I'll +come near you!" And the justly angry Fairy stamped her foot in +indignation, and retired into private apartments in the palace. +</p> + +<p> +Do not be surprised at what you have just heard, my dear children; for +though you may have never thought about the power and importance of +<i>wishes</i>, there is, I assure you, a great deal of both one and the +other belonging to them. Some people talk, indeed, of "mere wishes," +as if they were trifles light as air; but it is not so. To prove this, +first think what importance is attached to them in the Scriptures. +Wishes are a sort of porch or doorway to actions. In the Tenth +Commandment we are forbidden to <i>wish</i> for what belongs to our +neighbour;—for who is so likely to break the Eighth Commandment, and +steal, as the man who breaks the Tenth, and wishes for any thing that +is not his? +</p> + +<p> +And so, all the evil in the world begins by <i>wishing</i> something wrong; +and if you can cure yourself of wishing wrongly, you will very seldom +<i>do</i> wrong. +</p> + +<p> +Now you see, I am sure, how important wishes are for evil; but they +are equally strong for good. For, if you wish well to any one, you +have opened the first door to doing him a kindness. And if you +heartily wish to be good, you have opened the first gate on the road +of becoming so. Of course, wishes will not do every thing; but they do +a great deal. +</p> + +<p> +And there is another thing. They never fall to the ground unnoticed. +Though you and I cannot look into each other's hearts, or hear the +wishes breathed there, there is One who hears them all. Good wishes, +my dear children, all ascend upwards to the throne of Grace, like +sweet perfume. They are all accepted and remembered; and, I fear I +must add, that bad wishes go up too, and are noted in His book who +takes account of all we do. +</p> + +<p> +Be sure, therefore, that you encourage your hearts in a habit of good, +and kind, and charitable wishes; and if ever the bad ones come into +your head, pray against them, and drive them away. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile do not be surprized that in Fairy tales, Fairies are +supposed to hear wishes concerning themselves. And so Eudora heard +those about her coming and curing the child of his folly; and as I +have told you, she was very indignant at the selfishness of both Lady +Madeline and her husband. +</p> + +<p> +A few days after the family had taken up their residence in the Sea +Castle, the weather began to improve; and, though the wind lasted, the +sun came out; and all the children and the nurses went walking on the +sands. As it was the first time that year, you may guess what shouting +and delight there was; how the little spades dug away at holes for the +sea-water to come up in, and how the children caught at the sea-weeds +that were scattered on the lands to carry home to their Mamma; how +they picked up shells, and gambolled about in all directions, +declaring that they had never known the Sea Castle Home so delightful +before. By degrees they had strayed to a considerable distance along +the sands, with the nurses, when, alas! the latter perceived that a +storm was coming on, and it caught them long before they reached home. +A strong wind blew off the sea, and they had difficulty in keeping +their feet, and at last two or three of the children were almost +hidden in a cloud of sand, which a violent gust suddenly drove against +them. All the little party cried lustily, because the sand had blown +into their eyes, and made them smart, and sad work there was in +getting them home again. But they reached home at last, dripping with +wet from hailstones, and their eyes all red and disfigured by the sand +and wind. None, however, were so bad as those I have mentioned, who +had been so covered over by the sand that it had even got down their +necks, and made them uncomfortable all over. Among these was Roderick, +who cried a great deal more than he ought to have done, as the nurses +thought, and did not stop and declare himself comfortable as the rest +did, after the sand had been washed out of his eyes with rose water. +In fact he kept crying more or less all the afternoon, saying his eyes +hurt him so, and at last he could get no relief but by holding them +shut. +</p> + +<p> +Now it is just possible you may have heard of a complaint of the eyes +called Ophthalmia, which comes on sometimes in very hot countries, +India for instance; and sometimes in travelling across the deserts of +Arabia, where the sand gets into the eyes, and irritates them very +much; it can very often be cured, but not always, and when it cannot, +it ends in blindness. Lady Madeline knew all about the complaint; and, +therefore, you will not be surprised to hear that when she found her +little boy's eyes did not get better, and that he persisted in keeping +them shut, because they then became easy, she thought it right to send +to some miles' distance for a doctor, who accordingly arrived at the +Sea Castle before nightfall. But when he came he shook his head very +much, for he could not understand what was the matter; and when he +persuaded Roderick to lift up his eyelids, to let him see his eyes, he +could perceive nothing amiss but a little redness, which the wind and +sand quite accounted for. Still the child was uneasy, and would keep +his eyes shut; so the Doctor thought he must try something, and he +used some lotions common in such cases; but, as they did no good, the +kind old gentleman, at Madeline's request, consented to sit by the +little boy's bedside at night; when, all at once, as he was carefully +dabbing his eyes with rosewater, he perceived that the child was fast +asleep. +</p> + +<p> +The Doctor was delighted, and went to his mother, who was then with +her husband, and said that as Roderick had gone to sleep so nicely, he +had no doubt that his eyes would be well when he awoke in the morning, +and so he took his leave, for he had other patients to visit. +</p> + +<p> +It was then between twelve and one o'clock, and Lady Madeline, much +comforted in heart, went to bed. At an early hour next morning, +however, she went to Roderick's bedside, and perceived he was just +waking. +</p> + +<p> +To the question of "How are you, my darling?" his cheerful joyous +voice made answer, "Oh, quite well, Mamma, and I've such a funny dream +to tell you, and my eyes don't hurt me a bit, not a bit! but I'm +afraid to open them for fear they should. I can tell you something so +funny the Doctor said last night, Mamma." "Never mind about the +doctor, you rogue," cried Madeline, "I see you are all right, only +just open your dear old eyes, that I may tell Papa I have seen them +when I go back to dress." +</p> + +<p> +"Then I will, Mamma, to please you!" and up sat the pretty child in +his bed, and opened wide his blue eyes. There was no redness—it was +all gone—but +</p> + +<p> +"Mamma! where are you," cried Roderick, "I have opened my eyes, and +they don't hurt—but it is quite dark: <i>isn't the night over</i>?..." +</p> + +<p> +Oh, my dear readers! there was a stream of sunshine on the lovely face +and bright hair of little Roderick as he spoke, and the poor blue eyes +were turned up to his mother, looking vainly for her face. You cannot +wonder if I add that she sank down fainting on the bed; and when +Roderick's scream of terror brought the nurses to them, she was +carried away insensible from the room. +</p> + +<p> +Her darling was utterly blind. +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="40%"> + +<p> +And now imagine to yourselves how the afflicted parents sent for the +best doctors the country afforded, and how one thing after another was +tried—but, alas! every thing in vain, for the medical men were all +quite puzzled. Still some people gave them hopes, and in spite of many +disappointments, they went on trying to hope for several months. At +last they settled to leave the sea castle and go to the great town +sooner than usual, thinking some of the doctors there might be +cleverer than the country ones. But they had no better success. +Perhaps now you would like to know how Roderick behaved. When his +Mamma fell on his bed, at first he thought she was dead, and it was +with the greatest difficulty he could be made to believe any thing +else, and he cried, and cried, and was very sad till his Mamma was +well enough for him to be taken to her, and then do you know, poor +fellow, he was so much pleased to hear her speak, and be kissed by +her, that he still had no time to think about himself. Only he begged +to sit close to her, and have hold either of her hand or gown, and +make her say something to him every now and then. And so it was that +the fright and shock he had had about thinking she was dead, had made +so strong an impression on him that for several days the making +himself sure she was alive was a constant occupation and interest; and +so much did he think about it that it was considered best for his +little bed to be brought into the room where his Mamma slept, and put +near hers, so that he could talk to her when he awoke and got +frightened about her again. And thus passed many days in which every +body thought a great deal more about his eyes than he did himself. +Besides from the cheerful things they said to him he quite expected to +be better some day; and so weeks and months passed, and by the time +the hope of recovering his sight began to fade away, and nobody any +longer dared to say they expected it, he was beginning to get used to +his condition, and to find out amusements in new ways. Thus mercifully +does a kind Providence temper people's minds to the afflictions He +sends. They are often more dreadful to think of than to bear; for God +can give patience and cheerfulness and comfort to those that do not +grumble and repine. +</p> + +<p> +Madeline only exacted one promise from her husband, namely, that he +would not allow the doctors to use any very severe and violent +measures with her little boy, and this being settled, she struggled to +bear the trouble with resignation. After the first alternations of +hopes and fears were over, the Mother's mind took a new turn. "It is +our chief duty now," she said, "to make our child's life as happy as +it is possible to be with blindness, and therefore," added she to the +elder children, "we must try our best to teach him to do all the nice +things he can without seeing." That day she asked him to come and hold +worsted for her to wind, and he was quite delighted to find that with +some blunders, and once or twice slipping it off his fingers, he could +manage it very well. Then the children undertook to teach him how to +play at ball, and you cannot think how clever he became. At first +certainly they had always to pick up his ball for him when it fell, +and who was not glad to do it for poor brother Roderick? but by +degrees he could judge by the sound in what direction it had tumbled, +and he would often succeed in finding it before any one could come up +to it. Then there was laughing and scrambling without end. Reading +aloud to him was the easiest thing of all, but the little folks were +not satisfied with that alone. They made a sort of pet of the blind +brother, and were as proud of teaching him to do any thing fresh, as +you would be of teaching your dog to sit up and shake hands, or +perform any wonderful feat. It was their constant amusement; and by +degrees Roderick could play at all sorts of games with them, ay, and +run after them, and catch them too as well as you could do, for he +soon got to remember how the furniture in the great hall and all the +rooms stood, and he could run about without hurting himself in a +wonderful manner. And when it was evening and grew dark, he got on +better than they did, for, if they couldn't see, they were clumsy, +whereas he was learning to do without seeing at all. +</p> + +<p> +Such of my readers as have seen one of those excellent institutions +called "blind schools," will not wonder at any thing I have said, but +on the contrary, will know that I have not told half or a quarter of +what may be done to teach blind children a variety of employments. At +those schools you may see children making beautiful baskets of +various-coloured strips of osier arranged in patterns; and they never +forget on which side of them the different colours are laid, and this +work they can go on with quite fast, even while you stand talking to +them—and they learn to do many many other nice things also besides +basket making. +</p> + +<p> +Of late years too they have begun to read in books made on purpose for +them, with the letters raised above the rest of the paper, so that +they can <i>feel</i> the shapes with their fingers. Is not this wonderful? +And they can be taught all these things much more easily than you +would imagine, for it is really true that when one of the senses has +been taken away, the others by having all the exercise thrown upon +them, become so sharp and acute, they do twice their usual work, if I +may so express it. This is a merciful dispensation of Providence, +which renders the loss of the one that is gone much less hard to bear. +And does it not teach us also, what a valuable thing constant practice +is? Neither you nor I can feel or hear half so clearly as blind people +can, who practise feeling and hearing on so many occasions where we +save ourselves the trouble, by using sight instead. +</p> + +<p> +To return to Roderick. You perhaps expected to hear that he fretted +and petted very much after he was first blind, but really it was not +so; and though occasionally he may have grumbled a little, it was only +when he was slightly peevish, as children will sometimes be, and I +believe he would have found something to grumble about then, even if +he had seen as well as you do. +</p> + +<p> +Besides, as I said before, the knowledge of his misfortune came upon +him by degrees; and after he had got used to it, he did not think much +about it. When the family moved to the great town, Roderick had as it +were to begin his blind lessons over again, for he had to learn to +remember all about the rooms and the furniture there; but with a kind +little brother or sister always at hand to help him he soon became +expert in the town house too, and could run up and down the long +flights of stairs with the nimblest of them. I believe the only +melancholy wish he ever uttered was heard on the first day he reached +the town house. When his Mamma came to see him in the nursery that +evening, she found him kneeling in a chair against one of the +windows—and on going up to him he threw his arms round her neck and +said, "Oh, Mamma, if I could but see the lamplighters!" Do not laugh, +dear readers, if I add that the tears trickled over his cheeks as he +spoke. His mother was much distressed, as she always was when she saw +him thinking of his affliction, but she sat down and said, "Never +mind, dear Roderick, I will tell you all they do to-night." And so she +did, and she made her account so droll, of how the lamplighter ran, +and how he seized his ladder in such a hurry, and all the whole +business, that by the time she got to the end, and said, "and now he +has come to the last lamp-post,—ah, he's up before I can tell you! +and pop! the lamp is lit, and down he runs, and off with his ladder to +the next street—and now the lamps are shining bright all round the +square, and I must go to dinner,"—Roderick was clapping his hands and +laughing as merrily as ever, and he got down from the chair quite +satisfied. Still for a few weeks he used always to get one of the +children to tell him of the lamps lighting, and this was the only sad +little fancy the poor child ever indulged in. +</p> + +<p> +The great town gave him various new amusements. His Parents used every +now and then to take him to some fine conservatory, where flowers are +shown even in winter, and where he could smell various new and rare +ones, and be told all about their beautiful colours. Then sometimes in +the parks and gardens there was a band playing, which was a great +delight. And besides that, they took him occasionally to morning +concerts for an hour or so; for though it is not usual to take +children to those places, he was deprived of so many enjoyments, they +let him have all they could: and especially musical ones, for it is a +very common thing for blind people to become very fond of music, and +Roderick was so, and among other employments learnt to play. I cannot, +however, I am sorry to say, add that the great doctors in the town +were able to do him any good, though they tried very much, and some of +them were so much charmed and interested by his cheerful manner and +sweet disposition, that they got quite fond of him, and would often +have him come and see them, and play with their children, who were +instructed to amuse him in every possible way, and as children are +naturally kindhearted, this was generally a pleasant task, and many of +them quite looked forward to the visits of the little blind boy. +</p> + +<p> +And so passed on a long and rather severe winter, and presently +Roderick's birthday came round, and there was great wondering as to +what Mamma could do to keep it. And when the time came it turned out +that she had got a band of musicians to come and play—and the +children danced, and Roderick among them, for some sister was always +ready to take him under her especial charge. And then some older +children acted a little play, which he could hear and understand, and +his Mamma described to him who came in and went out, and in this +manner he enjoyed it nearly as much as the others. +</p> + +<p> +Well, the spring-time came once more, and with it the season for +returning to the old Sea Castle, and the children went through their +usual round of impatience, and I cannot say that Roderick at all +forbore, for his Papa had promised to teach him to climb a ladder like +the lamplighter when he got back, and he was by that means to go up +one of the very old elm trees, and get on to a great branch there was, +which was curled into a sort of easy chair, and there he was to sit +and play at being judge, and hold trials, and I know not what. There +were besides so many schemes for his instruction and amusement, and +among other things, there was to be a band established in the +neighbouring village, which should come and play to them in the old +Sea Castle—that the child was more wild with hurry and impatience +than ever, and said more absurd things than the rest, for he used +every day to declare the <i>flies</i> were becoming so numerous and +troublesome he was plagued out of his life by their walking over his +face and nose! But as none of his brothers and sisters ever saw the +flies, we are obliged to conclude the tickling he talked of was only +an effect of his excited imagination. +</p> + +<p> +At last, however, they went, and in compliment to Roderick's wishes it +was a week or two sooner than usual. The return to the Sea Castle home +rather oppressed poor Lady Madeline's spirits. The doctors in the +great town had failed—it was now clear that nothing could be done, +and in spite of all her sincere endeavours to be resigned, she could +not help feeling this coming back to the original scene of her +misfortune very much. One day—it was the anniversary of the day on +which her poor child became blind, the Lady Madeline was working in +her sitting-room that faced the Sea,—Mothers' memories are very acute +about anniversaries, and days, and even hours marked by particular +events. They may not talk much about them perhaps, but they recollect +times and circumstances connected with their children very keenly, and +therefore it is not surprizing that on this day the poor lady was +sitting in her room working, or trying to work, but thinking of +nothing in the world but of that day year and her blind child. It was +a beautiful evening, and the window was thrown wide open, and the +fresh but soft breeze from the Sea blew pleasantly on her face as she +sat at her work-table by the casement—but lovely as the scene outside +was, she seldom lifted up her eyes to look at it. She had been all her +life a great admirer of beautiful scenes, and of all the varieties the +changes of day and night produce—but now the sight of any thing +particularly lovely brought so painfully before her mind the fact that +her child's eyes were closed to all these things, that she often +forbore to look again, and so spared herself a repetition of the pang. +Madeline's eyes therefore remained upon her work, or on her knee when +she ceased working,—for ever and anon there was a burst of noise and +merriment about the old house, which startled her from her painful +thoughts. It was, however, the happy voices of her children, and again +and again she sank into her melancholy mood, and so continued till the +red hue of a very red sunset burst as it were suddenly into the room, +and lighted up the portrait of Roderick, which hung over the +mantel-piece. Involuntarily Madeline's eyes glanced from the lovely +countenance of her then bright-eyed boy, thus illuminated, to the sun +beyond the Sea. She was too late, however. He had just descended +behind the waves in a perfect flood of crimson glory, but as she +gazed, (for she could not withdraw-her eyes,) a haze—yes, the softest +and most etherial cloud-like haze, showing the outline of a beautiful +mountainous island, rose in the far off distance, just on the verge of +the horizon. It was the Fairy Island. It recalled to the mother's +remembrance the existence of her Fairy cousin once more. "Cruel, cruel +Eudora," she exclaimed, "you offered me friendship and assistance, and +in the hour of trouble and affliction you have never been near to help +or even to comfort me." +</p> + +<p> +And Madeline, in the bitterness of her heart, closed the window +hastily and angrily, and sat down. Soon, however, the noises she had +several times heard of the children playing, became louder and louder, +and the whole party burst at last into the room. "Mamma, Mamma," they +cried, scarcely able to speak, "guess where Roderick has been." "I +cannot." "Oh, but do, dear Mamma!" cried a little thing with fairy +curls, "do guess." "I cannot." "I'll tell Mamma," cried a stout sturdy +fellow, a little older; "Mamma! he's been up the winding staircase of +one turret, and all along the leads and down the winding staircase of +the other turret, and he has done it three times, and he has seen to +do it better than I can." +</p> + +<p> +Here there was a burst of laughter and a violent clapping of hands at +the little fellow's <i>Irish</i> account. +</p> + +<p> +"But why don't you do it as well?" asked an elder girl, "you that are +going to be a soldier too!" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes; I know I'm going to be a soldier; and I'll try and do it as well +as Roderick;" and off ran the eager child, followed by the rest of the +party, all but Roderick. He lingered behind, and edging his way easily +and quietly as usual to his Mother, having asked her where she was, he +sat down on a footstool at her feet. The slight answer she had +occasion to make, revealed by its tone, to the now acute blind child, +that his Mother's mood was serious, and therefore he did not talk and +laugh of what he had accomplished, as he otherwise might have done. +There was a silence of some minutes: at last, "Mamma," said Roderick +gravely, "a light has broken in upon me to-day." +</p> + +<p> +Lady Madeline started, and with difficulty suppressed a groan. +Roderick felt the start: "Oh Mamma, Mamma," cried he more cheerfully, +"you must not do that! I wasn't thinking about earthly light in the +least, but of a light which I know, when you come to hear of it, you +will say is a great deal better." +</p> + +<p> +"Indeed! dear Roderick," said Lady Madeline, trying to seem +interested. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes <i>indeed</i>. Mamma. Why, do <i>you</i> remember, (<i>I</i> had never thought +about it till it came into my head to-day;) but do <i>you</i> remember the +silly time when I wouldn't fetch you any thing from the drawing room, +unless there were candles in the room?" +</p> + +<p> +"I recollect something about it," said his Mother. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, I'm so glad you do; because now you can laugh with me over the +nonsense I used to talk and feel then: I remember I used to tell you I +saw <i>Bears</i> when I shut my eyes, and wouldn't go by the pipes in the +passage, and more such foolish stuff! How odd it seems that I should +never have thought about this before, but I never did, and it never +came into my head distinctly till to-day." And here Roderick fell into +a kind of dream for a few minutes, but he soon began again. "You know +what I have done to-day, Mamma. They told you quite right; but they +forgot to tell you I have been practising walking across the leads for +two or three days, that I might be able to go the great round to-day +on purpose to tell you of it; because I thought you would be so much +pleased to know I could go alone all over the house on the day year +when I was first blind. So now, Mamma, if ever, when I am grown up to +be a man, an enemy comes and attacks the old Sea Castle, I shall be +able to run about and give the alarm, for you know I could hear them, +if I could do nothing else." +</p> + +<p> +There was another pause, for Madeline could not speak: the often +restrained tears for her son's misfortune had this day burst forth, +and could not be kept back; but Roderick did not know, and went on. +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly those old foolish fears were very wrong, Mamma. And I can't +think how it was, for you used to remind me always that God could take +care of us by night as well as by day, in darkness as well as in +light; and still somehow, though I knew it was true, I didn't believe +it,—at least, not so as not to be afraid in the dark: how very wrong +it was! Still I had quite forgotten all about it till this evening. +But, as I was going the last of the three rounds, I sat down on the +leads for a few minutes to enjoy the air. The sun was just setting, I +am sure, for it felt so fresh and cool; and it was, as I sat there, +that it came into my head how strange it was that, since the day I was +first blind, I had never thought any more about being afraid in the +dark! or by night any more than by day! Indeed it has been quite a +play to me ever since to do different things, and find my way about in +all the rooms and all over the house, without seeing; and I have only +known night from day by getting up and going to bed. So that you see, +Mamma, being always in the dark, has quite cured me of being afraid of +it: and is not this a very good thing indeed?" +</p> + +<p> +"Very," murmured Madeline. +</p> + +<p> +"I knew you would say so! But that isn't all I have got to say. A +great deal more than that came into my head when I was out upon the +leads." +</p> + +<p> +And Roderick nestled closer to his Mother, and laid his arms across +her lap. +</p> + +<p> +"Something to comfort you still more, Mamma." +</p> + +<p> +She could not speak. +</p> + +<p> +"Mamma, you are crying! I feel your tears on my hand. Do not cry about +me." +</p> + +<p> +"Go on, dear Roderick." +</p> + +<p> +"Don't you think," continued the child, "that people who wont listen +to what is told them, and wont be cured of being foolish and wicked, +are very like the old Jews you told us about yesterday, who had God +among them, and Moses teaching them what God wished them to do, and +still were as disobedient as ever?" +</p> + +<p> +"It is true, Roderick, we are all apt to resemble the Jews in their +journey through the wilderness." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, Mamma; and particularly people who can't trust in God, though +they know He is everywhere. The Jews knew He was in the cloud and the +pillar, and still were always afraid He couldn't take care of them. +And what came into my head was, that I used to be as bad as those old +Jews once; knowing that God was present everywhere to take care of me, +and still not <i>feeling</i> it so as really to believe it, and not be +afraid. But the blindness has quite cured me, and is it not very +likely that it came on purpose to do so, and to make me trust in God; +for I have done so more and more, dear Mamma, as I groped about this +year, for I have all along hoped He would take care of me, and keep me +from falling; and, therefore, I think the blindness has done me a +great deal of good, and I hope I shall never be like the naughty old +Jews again! This is what I had to say; and I hope you will be as glad +as I am." +</p> + +<p> +"I will try, my darling," cried poor Madeline. +</p> + +<p> +The tenderest love, the bitterest grief, mixed with earnest struggles +for resignation to the will of Heaven, contended in the Mother's +bosom, as she clasped her innocent child to her heart. He was almost +frightened. She lifted him on to her knees, and buried her face on his +shoulder. He put his young arms round her neck, and almost wondered +why she sobbed so bitterly; but he felt he must not speak. +</p> + +<p> +There was a painful pause. Suddenly, however, a strange faint light +began to creep into the room, which had hitherto been gradually +darkening in the twilight. It was a mysterious gleam, like nothing +that is ever seen. It increased in strength and brilliancy, till at +length the whole place became illuminated. +</p> + +<p> +Roderick's head was against his Mother's breast; and, besides, <i>he</i> +could not see. +</p> + +<p> +She, however, suddenly started up; the light had become so powerful, +it had forced her from her grief. She sprung up in terror, and a faint +shriek burst from her lips. +</p> + +<p> +"Mamma, what is the matter?" cried Roderick, holding her fast. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, the light—the light, my child! there is such a light!" answered +Madeline. +</p> + +<p> +"Mother, you are not afraid of <i>Light</i>!" exclaimed the bewildered +Roderick. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, but <i>this</i> light! it is like no other;—it is awful!" +</p> + +<p> +"Mother,—it is not the light of <i>Fire</i>, is it," cried poor Roderick, +now at last turning pale. "But even if it is, remember that I can help +you <i>now</i>; I can go everywhere,—all over, and fear nothing. I can go +and fetch my brothers and sisters, one by one! Oh, send me; send me, +Mamma! I shall be less afraid than any of you, for I cannot see the +horrid light that frightens you!" +</p> + +<p> +As he finished, a gentle, prolonged "Hush!" resounded through the +room; like the soothing, quieting sound of lullaby to an infant. And +in the midst of the beaming light, the form of the long-forgotten +Fairy Eudora appeared before the eyes of the astonished Madeline. +</p> + +<p> +"The Sea Castle is not on Fire, you dear, brave child," cried the +Fairy; "and your Mother has no cause for fear. I am a friend." +</p> + +<p> +"Cousin!" cried the bewildered Madeline, "why are you here?" and a +terrible suspicion flashed through her mind: and she pointed to her +boy, and added, trembling with agony— +</p> + +<p> +"Is that <i>your</i> doing?" +</p> + +<p> +"What if I say it <i>is</i>, Cousin Madeline. There is a long story about +that, but we shall have time for it hereafter.—Dear little Cousin +Roderick," pursued the Fairy, seating herself, and drawing Roderick to +her. "You have been a good boy, and got <i>light out of darkness</i>. Mind +you hold it fast. You did not use the light well, though, when you had +it, Cousin Roderick." +</p> + +<p> +"I know I didn't," was his answer. +</p> + +<p> +"If you could live the light time over again, you would be wiser, +Roderick." +</p> + +<p> +"I hope I should indeed," he murmured fervently; "but it is not likely +I shall ever see the light again." +</p> + +<p> +"Little boys shouldn't say things are not likely, when they don't know +any thing about them," cried the Fairy gaily, to cheer them up. +</p> + +<p> +"I dare say, if I were to ask you, you would tell me it was a bit of +sand that got into your eyes last year, that made you blind; but it +was no such thing, clever Master Roderick. Your naughty Cousin Eudora +had something to do with that; but, luckily, she can put her own work +straight again. Cousin Madeline, what do you think of my pretty +light?" +</p> + +<p> +"Eudora, it is dreadful." +</p> + +<p> +"Then shut your eyes, poor thing, we don't want to blind you. But +Roderick and I have not done talking yet. Come, little boy, lift up +your face towards me, and open those pretty eyes wide, that I may see +if I can't do them some good. Why, they are as blue as the water round +our island! There, now, they are looking at my face. Mind you tell me +if you think me pretty." +</p> + +<p> +"Eudora!" exclaimed Madeline. +</p> + +<p> +"Sit down, sit down, and shut your eyes, good woman. Now, Roderick, +wont even my Fairy light break through your darkness?" +</p> + +<p> +"I think it will," sighed Roderick; "there is a white light all round +me, as if I had gone up into a bright white cloud. You frighten me, +Fairy! Take away the light, and put me back into the darkness again." +</p> + +<p> +"Not so, my pretty Roderick; but I will soften it a little;" and she +waved her wand, and the brilliancy subsided. +</p> + +<p> +"Fairy, I see you now," screamed Roderick, springing up, for he was +sitting at her feet; "and oh, how beautiful you are!" +</p> + +<p> +"Roderick!" cried a voice from behind him. He turned; and Mother and +Son were locked in each other's arms. +</p> + +<p> +Surely I need say no more about this? though perhaps nobody but a +Mother can quite know how happy and thankful Lady Madeline was. And as +to Roderick, he was delighted too! Not but what he had been very happy +and contented before; but sight was a new pleasure to him now; a sort +of treat, like a birthday or Christmas present, which puts every one +into high spirits. It was so charming to him, poor fellow, (for he was +very affectionate), to actually <i>see</i> his Mamma again; and this put +something else into his head, and off he ran out of the room. +</p> + +<p> +"Eudora," Madeline began, "how am I to thank you! Can you ever forgive +my old unkindness?" +</p> + +<p> +"Cousin Madeline," replied the Fairy, "I bear no malice to any one, +least of all to you, who come of a race I love, and of a family I +consider my own. No, no, good soul. I have never borne you ill-will, +though my kindness has been severe. Look! I know you love me <i>now</i>. +Love me always, Cousin Madeline, and let me ramble undisturbed about +your earthly home; but, mind! no more unkind wishes, however slight. +They come like evil winds to our Fairy island. You kept me away long +enough by those; and when you wished me with you, to get your child +out of his folly, I was very angry, and thought I wouldn't come; but +your, and your husband's wish was so strong and earnest, it haunted me +day and night; and I had no comfort till I had resolved to help you. +And here, Madeline, you have something to forgive <i>me</i>. My remedy has +been a harsh, a very harsh one for so slight a fault; but at first I +intended it to last only a few days. Afterwards, however, seeing how +it was acting upon him, and upon you all, for good, I let it work its +full effect: and I think it has been greatly blessed! Now, farewell! +Time is flying, and I must begone." +</p> + +<p> +And thus the Fairy and Madeline walked to the window, which the latter +reopened, and there was the full moon sailing in the cloudless sky, +and lighting up the lovely, and, this evening, calm and unruffled sea. +</p> + +<p> +The cousins embraced; and in a few minutes the Fairy had disappeared +in the distance. Madeline lingered awhile at the casement, thinking +tenderly of the gentle-hearted Fairy, and watching the horizon. At +last the outline of the Fairy's home appeared clear and bright against +the dark blue heaven, and then subsided gently by degrees. And +Madeline closed the window, grateful and happy, and went after her +boy. But she had not far to go; for he was coming along the passages +with all his brothers and sisters, wild with delight. And oh, how +Roderick chattered and talked about all their faces, and how he loved +to see the fat cheeks of one near his own age, and how some had grown, +and their noses improved, and what beautiful curls another had! In +short, if he had gone on long they would all have got quite conceited +and fancy, and fancied themselves a set of downright beauties. But you +see it was <i>love</i> that made poor Roderick admire them all so much; +and, above all, he was charmed when they smiled. Ah, how little do +brothers and sisters know how tender their recollections of each +others' faces would become, were a separation to take place among +them! Then all the sweet smiles and pretty looks would be recalled, +that in every day life are seen with such indifference. "Little +children, love one another," during the happy days when you live +together in health and comfort. +</p> + +<p> +Can you guess, dear readers, what a joyous evening it was, that day at +the Sea Castle Home? How the poor Father rejoiced, and how the old +Hall was lighted up for the Servants, to share in the joy by a merry +dance; and how all the children danced too; and how a barrel of good +ale was tapped, for every one to drink to the health and happiness of +Master Roderick, and all the family. But you never <i>can</i> guess how +Roderick teased all his brothers and sisters that evening, by +constantly kissing them. In the midst of a country dance he would run +right across to the ladies, when he ought to be standing still and +polite, and kiss two or three of his sisters as they were waiting to +dance in their turn, and tell them how nice they looked! Or he would +actually run right away from his place, to his Papa and Mamma;—jump +on their knees, and hug them very hard, and then run back again, +perhaps, into the middle of the dance, and put every thing into +confusion. But the happiest scene of all was, when the Father and +Mother thanked God that night for the blessing that had returned to +their little boy. +</p> + +<p> +And do not ask me, I beg, if he ever was afraid of being in the dark +again. No, dear Readers, his temporary misfortune had taught him the +best of all lessons;—A LIVING FAITH AND TRUST IN THE PROTECTING +OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD. +</p> + +<p> </p> +<hr align="center"size="2" width="80%"> + +<center> +<img src="Images/Deco2.jpg" alt="Decoration2" width="234" height="59" +hspace="4" vspace="8"> +</center> + + +<a name="Love"></a> + +<h3> +THE LOVE OF GOD. +</h3> + + +<p class="left"> +<b>Preamble (From Life.)</b> +</p> + +<p class="left"> +<i>Van Artevelde</i>. These are but words.<br> +<i>Elena</i>. My lord, they're full of meaning! +</p> + +<p class="att"> +<i>Van Artevelde</i>. +</p> + + +<p> +<img src="Images/LetterG.jpg" alt="Ornate G" width="57" +height="62"> +Grace had been said, and Mamma was busy carving for the large party of +youngsters who sat around the comfortable dinner-table, when a little +voice from among them called out, +</p> + +<p> +"Mamma, do you think a giant could see a carraway seed?" +</p> + +<p> +Now there was no sweet loaf on the table, nor even on the +sideboard—neither had there been any plum cake in the house for some +time—nor were there any carraway seeds in the biscuits just then. +—In short, there was nothing which could be supposed to have +suggested the idea of carraway seeds to the little boy who made the +enquiry. Still he did make it, and though he went on quietly with his +dinner, he expected to receive an answer. +</p> + +<p> +Had the good Lady at the head of the table not been the mother of a +large family, she might possibly have dropt the carving knife and +fork, in sheer astonishment at the unaccountableness of the question, +but as it was, she had heard so many other odd ones before, that she +did not by outward sign demonstrate the amusement she felt at this, +but simply said,—"<i>Perhaps he could</i>"—for she knew that it was out +of her power to speak positively as to whether a Giant could see a +carraway seed or not. +</p> + +<p> +Now dear little readers, what do <i>you</i> think about this very important +affair? Do you think a Giant could see a carraway seed or not?—"Oh +yes," you all cry,—"<i>of course he could!</i>" +</p> + +<p> +Nay, my dears, there is no "of course" at all in the matter! Can any +of you, for example, see the creatures that float about and fight in a +drop of water from the Serpentine River? No, certainly not! except +through a microscope. Well, but <i>why</i> not?—you do not know. That I +can easily believe! But then you must never again say that "<i>of +course</i>" a Giant could see a carraway seed. +</p> + +<p> +It is entirely a question of <i>relative proportion</i>: so now you feel +quite small, and admit your total ignorance, I hope. Yes! it all +depends upon whether the giant is as much bigger than the carraway +seed, as you are bigger than the curious little insects that float +about and fight in the drop of water from the Serpentine river—for if +he is, we may conclude from analogy that a giant could <i>not</i> see a +carraway seed except through a microscope. You see it is a sort of +rule of three sum, but as I cannot work it out, I tell you honestly +that neither do I know whether a giant could see so small an object or +not, and I advise you all to be as modest as I am myself, and never +speak positively on so difficult a point. +</p> + +<p> +But enough of this! Turn we now to another point, about which I <i>can</i> +speak positively—namely, that in <i>one</i> sense the world is full of +Giants who cannot see Carraway seeds. +</p> + +<p> +"It must be in the sense of <i>Non</i>sense I should think then!" observes +somewhat scornfully the young lady who is reading this story +aloud—"as if we could believe in there being giants now!" +</p> + +<p> +Very wittily remarked! my dear young lady, for your age.—I take you +to be about seventeen, and I see by the compression of your pretty +mouth that you consider yourself quite a judge and an authority. Only +take care you don't grow up into one of those Giants yourself! There +is something very suspicious to me in the glance of your eye. +"Ridiculous!" murmurs the fair damsel in question. +</p> + +<p> +Not at all so: only you travel too fast; by which I mean you speak too +hastily. You learn Italian, I dare say? Oh yes, of course, for you +sing. Well then, <i>Ombra adorata</i> that is "beloved shadow;" <i>aspetta</i> +that is, "wait"—"wait, my beloved shadow" (of a charming young lady), +give me breathing time, and I will explain myself. As you are an +Italian student, I presume you have heard of the great Italian poet +Dante. Now Dante in his <i>Convito</i> or "Banquet" tells his readers that +writings may be understood, and therefore ought to be explained in +four different senses or meanings. There is first the literal sense; +secondly, the allegorical; thirdly, the moral; and fourthly, the +<i>anagorical</i>. Now I know you can't explain this last word to me, for I +would wager a large sum that you never tasted of Dante's Banquet—no, +not so much as the smallest crumb from it; and therefore how <i>should</i> +you know what he means by the anagorical sense? Give me leave to have +the honour of enlightening you, then. The anagorical is what the +dictionaries call the <i>anagogical</i> sense. A sense beyond this world; a +sense above the senses; a spiritual sense making common things divine. +It is hard to be arrived at and difficult of comprehension. Now in the +matter of the nice little boy's question about the Giant and the +carraway seed, (for none but a nice little boy could have excogitated +any thing so comical), I have set my heart upon talking to you about +it in the four above mentioned senses. And having already descanted on +the <i>literal</i> sense, I had just made an assertion which appertained to +the <i>allegorical</i> sense, when you so inopportunely interrupted me, My +Ombra Adorata, with your sharp observation about <i>non</i>sense: so now we +will go on in peace and quietness, if you please. +</p> + +<p> +In an allegorical sense the world is full of giants who cannot see +carraway seeds. +</p> + +<p> +For what are Giants but great men and great women? and the world +abounds with people who consider themselves as belonging to that +class. And a great many of them—Giants of Cleverness, Giants of +Riches, Giants of Rank—Giants of I know not how many things besides, +who are walking about the world every day, very often feel themselves +to be quite raised above the point of attending to trifles; so that +you see I may (in an allegorical sense) say strictly of them that they +cannot see carraway seeds. Oh my dears, however elevated you may be, +or may become; however great or rich or learned, beware, I pray you, +of being a Giant who cannot see a carraway seed! +</p> + +<p> +For, as my explanation of the <i>moral</i> sense now goes on to show you; +it is so far from being, as these Giants suppose, a proof of their +<i>superiority</i> that they cannot see or notice things they consider +beneath them—that it is, in fact, an evidence of some imperfection or +defect in either their moral or intellectual structure. Just as it is +a proof of our eyes being imperfect, that we cannot see the little +water insects as well as a great big elephant. I am sure you will +allow there is nothing <i>to boast of</i> in this, and so if the +contemplation of great things makes you incapable of attending to +small ones, do remember that <i>'tis nothing to boast about or be proud +of</i>. And take very great care you make no mistakes as to what is great +and what is insignificant. With which warning I close my remarks on +the moral lesson, and proceed to that <i>anagogical</i> or spiritual +meaning, which will I hope be my justification for dwelling so long on +the subject, and my best introduction to a story of a serious though +not of a melancholy character. But first, my dear little readers, let +me call upon you in the words which you hear in church: +</p> + +<p class="block"> + "Lift up your hearts!" +</p> + +<p class="left"> +and I would have you answer, +</p> + +<p class="block"> + "We lift them up unto the Lord." +</p> + +<p> +For it is indeed of Him—the Lord of all Lords, that I now wish to +speak to you. He made the Sun and Stars and the great mountains of our +earth; but He made also the smallest insects that crowd the air and +water, and which are invisible to our imperfect eyes. +</p> + +<p> +He rules the nations by His word, and "binds kings in chains, and +nobles with links of iron," as the psalm expresses it; but also not a +sparrow falls to the ground without His knowledge and consent. Angels +and Archangels worship around His throne, but His ears are equally +open to the prayer of the youngest child who lifts up its little heart +to Him! +</p> + +<p> +The universe is at His feet, but the smallest events of our lives are +under His especial superintendence and care. Yes! nothing, however +small and insignificant, that is connected with the present or future +welfare of the smallest and most insignificant of his creatures, is +<i>beneath the notice of God</i>! +</p> + +<p> +Ah! here is indeed a lesson for the fancied Giants of the world!—For, +in this picture of Almighty greatness combined with infinite +condescension, we see that real Perfection requires no Pride to +elevate it. +</p> + +<p> +But I said this anagogical sense was hard to be attained to and +difficult of comprehension. +</p> + +<p> +And is it not so? Is it not very difficult to believe thoroughly that +the great God whom we hear about, really and truly cares how we behave +and what we do—really and truly listens to our prayers—really and +truly takes as much interest in us as our earthly Fathers and Mothers +do? +</p> + +<p> +Ah, I am sure it must be very difficult, because so few people do it, +although we should all be both better and happier if we did. We should +say our prayers so much more earnestly, try to keep out of sin and +naughtiness so much more heartily, and, above all, always be contented +with whatever happened; for who could be anxious, and discontented +about their condition or circumstances, if they <i>quite</i> believed that +every thing that happened to them was watched over and arranged for +their good, by the wisest, kindest, and most powerful of Beings? If +you, my dear children, who have been reading the fairy tales in this +book, were to be told that a most wise, most kind, and most powerful +Fairy had suddenly taken you for life under her particular care, and +that she would never lose sight of you by night or by day, how +delighted you would be! +</p> + +<p> +Yet just so are you under the particular care and watchful concern of +Almighty God! +</p> + +<p> +But now, say you, you begin to feel the difficulty of believing it +possible that the great God of the Universe takes this tender interest +in such insignificant and sinful creatures as men and women. +</p> + +<p> +Consider, then, that we are told that "God is Love;" and if He loves +us, there is no difficulty in believing that He feels all this +interest in us. Do not judge Him by earthly Kings and Potentates. +These are Giants who cannot see carraway seeds. We do not blame them, +for it is impossible they should be interested for every body. But +very very different is both the power and the feeling of the King of +Kings! +</p> + +<p> +Still we have not got over the difficulty yet, for of all the +wonderful truths we are commanded to believe, no one is so wonderful +and so incomprehensible as <i>the Love of God</i> to the sinful human race. +</p> + +<p> +And yet it is a truth, and of all truths the most important and most +comfortable; and therefore it is much to be desired that we should +thoroughly believe it: and <i>I think</i> I can make you understand that it +is possible, <i>by something which you feel in your own hearts</i>. I think +God has placed even in our own hearts a witness of the possibility of +this great Truth. +</p> + +<p> +My idea is this. We <i>know</i> that God has been merciful to us—(His very +creation of man was an act of mercy), and <i>therefore</i> we know that He +loves us. <i>He loves us because He has been merciful to us</i>. If you +cannot see why this should be, I refer you to the following story, and +advise you to <i>try for yourselves</i>. Only be kind to any living +creature, whether a human being, or an irrational animal, and see if +you can keep your heart from <i>loving</i> it! Certainly it does not become +us to try to search out the unsearchable mind of God, but I think it +is permitted us to hope, that the remarkable fast of <i>Kindness +engendering Love</i>, which we experience in our own hearts, is intended +to lead us upwards as by a holy guiding thread, to some comprehension +of the Love of that God, who in Christ Jesus actually <i>gave Himself +for us</i>. +</p> + + +<p> </p> + +<p class="note"> +<b>THE TALE.</b> +</p> + +<div class="tale"> +<p> +Lift up the curtain! +</p> + +<p> +In a baronial hall, not of the size and grandeur of that at Warwick +Castle, which those who have never seen should try to see before they +die: but still in a hall as antique and interesting in style, fits a +young man reading. +</p> + +<p> +It is evening, though the sun has not yet set, but it is evening, and +the young man is sitting at a small oak table in a recess in one of +the ancient windows, and before him lies open a book, and on the book, +which he touches not with his hands, but on which his eyes, blinded by +tears, are fixed, there lies a faded primrose. +</p> + +<p> +The book is the Bible, and the faded primrose lies on that verse in +the Psalm, "Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for his +goodness, and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of +men!" and some hand had placed a slight pencil mark before these +words. +</p> + +<p> +This scene brings before you a story of distress, and yet this young +man is the possessor of a large estate;—the baronial hall and house +are his own, and he is young and amiable, and till within the last few +months had led a life of almost uninterrupted comfort and prosperity +from his cradle upwards. Two years ago he became the betrothed lover +of a young lady no less interesting than himself, and as no obstacle +prevented their union, both had for these two years looked forward to +it, as the one certain and sure event of their lives. The young man's +parents had died when he was very young; but, in compliance with the +wishes of his Guardians, he deferred his marriage till he should have +come of age. +</p> + +<p> +Meanwhile, as the time of probation drew near its close, it had been +his delight to sit up the old place in such a manner as should become +his bride, and the alterations had, in many cases, been made under her +eye and according to her wishes, for she was already by anticipation, +and in the heart of its owner, the mistress of the place. +</p> + +<p> +At last the wedding day was fixed; but a few weeks before the time +came, one of those sad diseases which steal mysteriously into the +vitals of the young and wear away life long before its natural period, +fell upon her:—and <i>now</i>, nothing remained to him, who had hoped to +have her as his companion through life, but the Bible she had used +during her sickness, and which was found on the table by her couch +after her death, open and marked at the very place I have told you +about; together with the faded primrose which he had gathered for her +on the last morning of her life. +</p> + +<p> +This was a very sad event for those who were left behind to lament the +loss of one whom they had loved so dearly. The Mother indeed, who had +known other trials of life, bent her head submissively to this one, +and cherishing sweet recollections of her daughter's piety and +goodness, looked forward to a time of reunion in a happier world. But +the poor young man, whose name was Theodore, never having known a care +or a sorrow before, was stupefied and overpowered by this sudden +destruction of all his hopes and happiness. Seeing, however, that +<i>her</i> last thought had been the mercy and goodness of God, he tried to +make it <i>his</i> thought too; and he would sit for hours looking at the +verse which she had marked in the Bible. +</p> + +<p> +But unfortunately he made no effort besides, and having no kind +relatives or friends near him to rouse him from his melancholy stupor +to some of the active duties of life, he spent many many weeks in +listless sorrow, not caring much what became either of himself, his +dependents, or his property. And though he had become, by degrees, so +far resigned as to believe that every thing was for the best—even +<i>her</i> death—he now took up a strange and dismal fancy, that though +the Almighty was a God of goodness and justice, it was quite +impossible that He should <i>love</i> any beings so sinful and ungrateful +as the human race. This vain distinction of a morbid imagination was +the result of that solitude, inactivity, and the constantly dwelling +upon himself and his own troubles, to which he had unfortunately given +himself up, and which had brought his mind into such an unhealthy +state, that he could neither reason nor think properly. +</p> + +<p> +In this condition of feeling, having one day wandered to a +considerable distance from home, he sat down on the greensward to +rest; when lo! after he had remained there for some little time +musing, as usual, he saw approaching him two shining creatures, who +looked like spirits or angels, and as they came up to him they looked +at him very earnestly, and one said to the other, +</p> + +<p> +"He is doubting the goodness of God!?" +</p> + +<p> +Then Theodore shuddered, and said, "I am not! once perhaps I did, but +not now: all things happen for the best." Yet the Spirit repeated, "He +is doubting the goodness of God!" Theodore shuddered again, and cried +out "I am <i>not!</i>" for he felt as if it was a heavy accusation. +Whereupon the Spirit continued, "To disbelieve the love of God is to +doubt His goodness." +</p> + +<p> +"No, no," exclaimed Theodore eagerly, "it is not! I do not doubt His +goodness—His compassion even for the wretched creatures whom He +formed out of dust. But I—thoughtless in my youth; self-confident in +prosperity; ungrateful and rebellious under affliction; how can such a +wretch as <i>I</i> have been, believe in the <i>love</i> of God to me! God is +good and just, but do not talk to me of His Love to man, as if it were +possible He could feel for them the tenderness of kind affection! Who +are you?" +</p> + +<p> +Without noticing this question, the Spirit repeated, in emphatic +tones, "To disbelieve the Love of God is to doubt His goodness, and +deny the perfection of His nature!" +</p> + +<p> +"I tell you, No!" shouted Theodore, wildly: "It is <i>because</i> of His +goodness and <i>because</i> of the perfection of His nature, that I +disbelieve the possibility of His Love to the wretched race of man!" +</p> + +<p> +"Judge by your own heart!" exclaimed the Spirit who had not yet +spoken. +</p> + +<p> +But when Theodore raised his eyes to look upon her, both had +disappeared. He felt grieved, he knew not why. "<i>My own heart!</i>" he +murmured; "ah! my own heart has been the witness against me. It has +taught me the dreadful truth." +</p> + +<p> +"Truth never yet was found of him who leads a life of selfish misery," +whispered a soft voice receding into the distance; "Theodore! Judge by +your own heart. Even it may teach you better things!" +</p> + +<p> +Theodore started up and looked hastily around. He felt as if he could +have followed that soft receding voice into eternity. But there was no +one near. That sound, however, had been like an echo from hopes buried +in the grave; and the poor youth sank to the ground on his knees, and, +hiding his face in his hands, wept bitterly. Suddenly one thought took +possession of him out of what had been said. And it was one (as usual) +of self-reproach. The Spirit had reproached him with leading a life of +selfish misery! Vividly impressed by this idea, he started off +hurriedly for his home, crying aloud—"Oh, the wasted time; the lost +hours; the precious moments that might have been employed in +usefulness!" And thus he pursued his way till he had left the outer +country behind him, and had entered the gates that bounded his +extensive domain when, all at once, his course was stopped by +something he struck against as he was walking quickly along. +</p> + +<p> +Looking down, he perceived that a sickly, hungry-looking child was +stretched across the road asleep, and that by its side sat a woman, +the picture of misery and want. Theodore felt a strong sensation of +compassion seize him as he gazed at the child, and he stooped and +lifted it from the ground. +</p> + +<p> +The woman observed Theodore's eye, and said, "Ay, without help we +shall neither of us be here long!" +</p> + +<p> +"I will help you," said Theodore, "tell me what I can do!" +</p> + +<p> +"What can you or any one do, for a dying woman and a half-starved +child?" groaned the poor creature. "Food, food! medicine and help!" +These words burst from her in broken accents—I am dying!" +</p> + +<p> +"Are you so <i>very</i> ill?" asked Theodore, turning deadly pale; and he +murmured to himself—"Death again! I dare not see it again so soon! +Here!" continued he, thrusting gold into her hand, "now you see that I +will help you! Look, I will send you food, and you shall be brought +to the house: but let me take the child, he cannot do you good, and I +will see to him." "He must not see her die;" was Theodore's inward +thought. +</p> + +<p> +"Ay, take him," muttered the woman gloomily, "and send me cordials. No +one wants to go even an hour before their time!" +</p> + +<p> +Theodore obeyed almost mechanically, and lifting up the little boy, he +made a shift to carry him to the house. On arriving there, he called +for his housekeeper and desired her to take food and wine to the woman +he had left, and to bring her to the house. Then he sent another +servant for a doctor, and afterwards undertook himself the care of the +forlorn child. He placed him on a sofa in his study and sat down by +him. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you ill?" was his first question. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't know," was the answer. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you hungry?" +</p> + +<p> +"Very!" +</p> + +<p> +Here Theodore got up and went to the next room, where preparations +were being made for dinner, and fetched bread and gave it to the boy, +who ate it greedily, without once lifting up his eyes. "Poor child," +thought Theodore, "life has no <i>mental</i> troubles for him!" +</p> + +<p> +"Are you sorry your mother is so ill?" was his next inquiry. +</p> + +<p> +"She's not my mother," muttered the boy. +</p> + +<p> +Theodore started—"What do you mean? Are you not that woman's +<i>child</i>?" +</p> + +<p> +"No! She told me I wasn't." +</p> + +<p> +"Who are you, then?" +</p> + +<p> +"I don't know. She told me she had stolen me to beg for her." +</p> + +<p> +"And do you remember nothing about it?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, its too long ago." +</p> + +<p> +Theodore now fetched him more bread, but whilst he was eating it he no +longer sat by him, but walked up and down the room. Every now and then +as he stopped and looked at the thin, sickly looking object he had +brought into the house, he was overtaken by a strong feeling of pity +for his miserable condition. +</p> + +<p> +This child was as desolate as himself, only in another way. Stolen +from his parents to beg for the strange woman, he had lived with her +so long that he had forgotten his real home altogether! Bound by no +ties of kindred and comfort to this world. "He is more desolate than I +am myself!" repeated Theodore, again and again. +</p> + +<p> +After a time he approached the boy again. +</p> + +<p> +"The woman will say you are her child, and make you go back and beg +for her if she gets better, will she not?" +</p> + +<p> +"She doesn't want me now." +</p> + +<p> +"How so?" +</p> + +<p> +"She says, I'm too hungry, and eat all the bread away from her, and +don't get enough for us both." +</p> + +<p> +A curious expression passed across Theodore's face as he turned away +and sat down in his chair once more. It looked like a gleam of +satisfaction. The boy, meanwhile, sat quite still, looking round the +room. He had a grave and somewhat interesting face, but that the dark +eyes looked a little too keen and restless to be quite pleasant. +Still, when he smiled, and he had smiled brightly when he first saw +the bread, his countenance improved; and there was, besides, something +about his open forehead which redeemed the covert expression of his +eye. He was about seven years old, and precocious in quickness of a +particular kind, as is very often the case with vagrant children. +</p> + +<p> +Theodore's reverie was broken at last by the arrival of his good old +housekeeper, who came in, flurried and indignant, to inform him that +the woman she had been in search of was no where to be found. She had +been, "she was sure," up and down all the carriage roads, and made +enquiries at all the lodges, and finally discovered that a beggar +woman had passed out at one of them upwards of an hour before, very +hurriedly, and indeed almost at a running pace. +</p> + +<p> +Theodore glanced at the child, but his countenance never changed. Only +he sat eying the housekeeper as she spoke, apparently indifferent to +the result. The housekeeper now began to ejaculate in broken +sentences, "The base creature! To think that you should have taken all +this trouble, Sir! and had the child actually into the house! +and—gracious me," added she in a half whisper, "hadn't I better call +the butler, Sir; hadn't he" (nodding significantly towards the child) +"better be taken to the workhouse at once, Sir?" +</p> + +<p> +"I think not," answered Theodore slowly—"not yet, I think. The truth +is, I find he's not her own child, but has been stolen; and—and—in +fact, we can send him to the workhouse to-morrow. Perhaps, after all, +the woman may come here for him. But, at any rate, there is time +enough. You see this is an odd affair; and, as the boy is not <i>hers</i>, +we don't know who he may not turn out to be some day." And, as +Theodore thus concluded his sentence, he got up and looked at the old +housekeeper with a smile—a melancholy one it is true, but still it +was a smile—the first that had been seen on his face since his +terrible bereavement. +</p> + +<p> +And the faithful servant was so much pleased that she forgot every +thing else in a desire to keep up the interest that had lured her +young master so unaccountably from his misery. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, to be sure, Sir, what you say's quite right, and we can make +the poor thing comfortable for to-night, and then you can do as you +please to-morrow. Shall I take him with me, Sir, and make him clean, +while you dine? I can borrow some tidy clothes from the bailiff's +wife, I dare say; and after he's made respectable, you can see him +again, Sir, if you think proper." +</p> + +<p> +This proposition was more grateful to Theodore's mind than he cared to +acknowledge to himself. Indeed he had no clear ideas of his feelings +about the little accident that had interrupted the dismal course of +his life; and he studiously avoided questioning himself too closely. +Only there came across him, every now and then, a sensation that there +was some special providence about it all, and that there was some +mysterious connection between this adventure and the words of the +apparitions who had spoken to him in the morning. +</p> + +<p> +But "let be, let us see what will happen," was the ruling feeling, and +as he felt less miserable than usual, he did not wish to disturb the +pleasing dream by enquiries, why? +</p> + +<p> +After his solitary dinner, as he was seated alone in his arm chair, he +was relapsing fast into his usual unhappy state of mind, for this was +at all times the most trying part of the day to him, when a knock at +the door aroused him. +</p> + +<p> +Ah, it was the good old housekeeper again! She who, with the acute +instinct of sorrow-soothing which women so eminently possess, had +purposely come at this the young master's "dark hour," to try if it +could be kept back by the charm she had seen working a short time +before. "The little fellow is quite fit to come in now, Sir, if you'd +wish to see him before he's put to bed." And her efforts were rewarded +by seeing a look of interest light up poor Theodore's eye. The boy was +now ushered in, and his improved appearance and cleanliness were very +striking. Theodore took hold of his hand—"There, you need not be +afraid; you may sit down upon that chair. Are you comfortable?" "Yes." +"Have you had plenty to eat?" "Yes, plenty." And the child laughed a +little. +</p> + +<p> +"I hope you are a good boy." +</p> + +<p> +He looked stupid. "Can you say your prayers?" +</p> + +<p> +"What's that?" +</p> + +<p> +"Ah! I was afraid not. You never heard about God?" "Yes; but the woman +used to keep that to herself." "Keep what?" +</p> + +<p> +"Why," <i>for God's sake</i>, when she begged. She didn't let me say it, but +she always said it herself; and then, when people wouldn't give us any +thing, she used to say—" +</p> + +<p> +"No, no! I will not hear about that;" interrupted Theodore, "but I +hope some day you will learn about God." +</p> + +<p> +"In the begging? must I say it in the begging next time?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, I don't mean that; not in begging bread of people in the road, +but in praying." +</p> + +<p> +"What's that?" "Begging." "Then I am to beg?" "No, not on the road, +but of a great good Being, who will never refuse what you ask." +</p> + +<p> +"Is that <i>you</i>?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, my poor boy; not me, but the great Being, called God, who lives +in the sky. You must beg all you want of Him." +</p> + +<p> +"I don't know Him." +</p> + +<p> +"No; but you will learn to know Him when you have listened to me and +prayed to Him." +</p> + +<p> +"I don't know praying; I know begging." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, then, when you have begged Him—" +</p> + +<p> +"What am I to say?" +</p> + +<p> +"First, you must say, "Our Father—'" +</p> + +<p> +"Father's dead," interrupted the boy; +</p> + +<p> +"Ah, but I do not mean <i>that</i> father," answered Theodore; "and how do +you know even that <i>that</i> father is dead?" +</p> + +<p> +"The woman said so. One day she told me Father and Mother were both +dead, and there was nobody left to love me, so I must mind her." +</p> + +<p> +"The woman was wrong," cried Theodore compassionately. "You have +another Father, who never dies, and who loves you always!—" +</p> + +<p> +A knock at the door interrupted Theodore's <i>lesson on the Love of +God</i>. +</p> + +<p> +"It's about time the poor thing was put to bed," suggested the +housekeeper, looking in. "I dare say he's tired." +</p> + +<p> +"I dare say he is," said Theodore mechanically. "Good night, little +boy. What used they to call you?" +</p> + +<p> +"Reuben." +</p> + +<p> +"Good night, little Reuben." And he was taken away. +</p> + +<p> +<i>You have another Father who never dies and who loves you always</i>! +founded like an echo through the room. Theodore arose and looked +around, but there was no one there. He resumed his feat, and wondered +how he had got involved in teaching the beggar boy religion. He +lamented his awkwardness and unfitness for the talk; but still he +thought he had done right. As to his last assertion, how else could he +make the child comprehend God at all? Besides, how cruel it would be +to infect him with his own miserable convictions. They would come time +enough, perhaps! +</p> + +<p> +Such was the current of his thoughts. The next morning he told the old +housekeeper of the boy's ignorance and his difficulty with him, and +engaged her to help him in his talk, which she readily undertook. +</p> + +<p> +It is not my intention to describe the many endeavours Theodore made +to impress the first great truths of Christianity upon Reuben's mind; +but I can assure you he felt all the better for them himself. How it +was that he never sent the little boy to the workhouse you can guess. +For the first few days he kept him to see (as he said), if the woman +would come back for him. Then he wished him to stay till he and the +housekeeper had sufficiently impressed him by their lessons. And +then—why then—by degrees, all mention of the workhouse ceased, and +better clothes were bought for him; and the housekeeper, who was one +of the by-gone generation of warm-hearted old family servants, became, +for her master's sake, a perfect mother to him; and to Theodore he +involuntarily proved an object of daily increasing interest, and +finally, of strong personal affection. +</p> + +<p> +And thus nearly a year passed over, during which time Theodore's +health and activity in a measure returned; but the cheerfulness of a +happy mind was still wanting. Reuben often lured him temporarily into +it, but he would again relapse, and had never given up his unhappy +theory, though now he dwelt upon it much less frequently than of old. +At the end of the year, however, Theodore was much distressed by +fancying that he detected Reuben in lying; and he was, besides, by no +means sure that little trifles were not taken from him by the child +for his own use and amusement. He communicated his suspicions to the +housekeeper, and alas! found his worst fears confirmed. The pain and +sorrow he felt at this discovery were of a kind totally new to him. +But the strongest feeling of all was, that he would not give up the +boy to vicious habits without a struggle (cost what it might) to save +him! The housekeeper told him, with tears, that she had observed +Reuben's habit of petty lying and taking any thing he fancied, very +soon after his admission to the house; but she confessed that she had +not had the heart to inform her young Master, lest he should send the +boy away who had seemed to take him so out of his trouble! This was +what she most thought about. So she had tried to correct the child +herself, but not with the success she had desired. "How little she +knows the heart," thought Theodore, "his evil propensities would have +been an additional claim upon my kindness!" +</p> + +<p> +I will pass over all that Theodore said to the boy himself. No father +could have been more earnest, more solemn in his warnings, or more +kind in his expostulations. Reuben, by this time, could understand all +he said, and shame and repentance burnt in his face during a painful +interview. It is right to remind you, dear children, of the many +excuses that were to be made for him. He had been brought up, till +seven years old, in total ignorance of God, and without ever having +heard one duty commanded or one sin forbidden. The woman lied daily +and hourly in his sight, and made him do the same; and she took all +she could lay hold of in any way, and beat him if he did not follow +her example; and although Theodore's instructions had opened a new +world on the child's mind, the <i>evil</i> HABITS were not so soon got rid +of. So there the mischief was; and now the great difficulty Theodore +felt, was to know what to do for the best. And, after much +consideration, he decided to send him to school, as the likeliest +means of eradicating the bad habits the boy had acquired. I say +<i>habits</i>, rather than dispositions, for there was indeed nothing mean +or sneaking about his character. On the contrary, he was both +courageous and generous in the turn of his mind, and, after his health +improved, his manners partook of the same freedom and candour. +</p> + +<p> +To school therefore poor Reuben went; and Theodore was almost +astonished himself at the blank which his absence created. +</p> + +<p> +But having desired that continued reports should be sent to him of his +conduct, he meanwhile began seriously to think what was to become of +him hereafter. At last it occurred to him that he might employ him in +some way or other about his property; and with a view to this, +Theodore himself began to take more interest in his estate than he had +had the energy to bestow before, and made himself more intimately +acquainted with the wants and modes of life of those under his +control. +</p> + +<p> +Thus another year passed away in quiet but constant occupation; and +the many opportunities Theodore now had of doing good, softened and +cheered his mind. But he was not quite cured. For of all things in the +world whims are the very hardest to cure, because, reason as you will, +people still stick to their whims. Reuben was not allowed to return +once during that year to the old hall. During the last few months, +however, his progress had been most satisfactory, and the Master +considered that the evil was overcome; and so, at the end of the year, +Theodore wrote word to Reuben that he wished him to come "home" for +his holidays. Poor Reuben cried bitterly again when he read the +letter; for, as he said to the Master, "It is <i>not</i> my home, though he +has been very good to me. I have no home!" +</p> + +<p> +Theodore's heart overflowed with pleasure and almost pride when he saw +the boy again. Every turn in the expression of his face was improved; +and when Theodore first took his hand, the lad bent his face over it +and sobbed out an entreaty for pardon for his dreadful wickedness. +"Reuben," cried Theodore, "never say that again. All is forgotten +since your conduct is changed. Forget the past as soon as possible. It +will never be remembered by me." +</p> + +<p> +Time went on during the holidays very happily on the whole. In fact +there was no drawback; but that now and then Theodore, who would often +sit looking at his adopted child's face, noticed a painful expression +which he could not account for. His conduct was irreproachable and his +respect for Theodore seemed, if possible, increased; but he would not +be frank with him, and no encouragement beguiled him into the ease of +trusted affection. Theodore did not choose to notice this for some +weeks, but, as the time of Reuben's return to school drew near, he was +unwilling to let him go without some expostulation. +</p> + +<p> +"Reuben," said he one day, "you are going back to school. Your conduct +has quite satisfied me: but tell me, before you go, why you so often +look unhappy? It is a poor return (though I now touch on this subject +for the first time in my life), it is a poor return for the interest I +have taken in you; and for the real love you know I feel towards you!" +</p> + +<p> +For a moment Reuben's large dark eyes glanced up at Theodore's face; +but they sank again as quickly: his cheeks grew crimson, and tears +rolled over them which he could not conceal. +</p> + +<p> +"What is the matter, Reuben; what is the meaning of this? Am I loving +one who does not love me in return?" +</p> + +<p> +"You <i>cannot</i> love me, Sir!" ejaculated the boy so earnestly that it +quite startled his companion. +</p> + +<p> +"Reuben, what <i>can</i> you mean? Have you forgotten how I have taken you +and acted by you as if I had been your Father. I <i>cannot love</i> you? +What else but <i>love</i> for you has made me do what I have done?" +</p> + +<p> +"That was all your goodness and the kindness of your heart, Sir. You +couldn't love me when you picked me up in the road. It was pity and +kindness, and it has been the same ever since; not <i>Love</i>—" and the +tears again struggled to his eyes. +</p> + +<p> +Theodore rushed suddenly from the room and into his private apartment, +and falling on his knees, spread his hands over his head in prayer. +"My Lord and my God!" cried he solemnly, "what means this echo from my +own heart? Am I awake, or do I dream?" A profound silence was around +him; but, as he arose and opened his eyes, he beheld before him, +though fading rapidly from his sight, the angelic visions he had seen +two years before. +</p> + +<p> </p> + +<hr size="2" width="40%"> + +<p> +He returned to Reuben, who was sitting at the table, his face buried +in his arms. +</p> + +<p> +Theodore laid his hand upon him. "Reuben, look up! You are under a +great mistake. You are but a boy, and must not fancy you know the ins +and outs of the human heart. Reuben, I do love you, and have always +loved you." +</p> + +<p> +"You cannot, Sir!" +</p> + +<p> +"Again? and why not?" +</p> + +<p> +"You are too much above me; I am an outcast, and was a beggar. It +wasn't likely you could <i>love</i> me at any time. Besides, there has been +something since." +</p> + +<p> +"What?" +</p> + +<p> +"You told me to forget it, Sir, but I cannot. After all your kindness +and goodness, and trying to make me happy and do me every good, I was +all along (during the first year), doing what was wrong, deceiving you +and injuring you. I am not only an outcast, but I have been wicked and +ungrateful, and made you unhappy by my misconduct. Indeed I cannot +bear to think of it; but I dare not deceive myself about your <i>Love</i>, +Sir! I know you <i>cannot</i> love me; but I am so grateful to you for your +goodness, I hope you will not be angry with me for speaking the truth: +only, though I am grateful and try to be contented, I cannot be as +<i>happy</i> as if you <i>did</i> love me." +</p> + +<p> +As Theodore gazed on poor Reuben's face, he saw standing behind him +the beautiful visions once more. +</p> + +<p> +"Now judge by your own heart!" murmured the Spirits, as smiling they +disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +And Theodore did so. Going up to Reuben, he put his arms around him, +and wept over him tears of love and gratitude for the blessing which +he felt stealing into his own mind. "Reuben," cried he, "my child +Reuben! There have been but two human beings in the world on whom I +have bestowed my love; for, like you, I lost my parents young. These +two were—her I lost and yourself!" +</p> + +<p> +"If I thought you <i>loved</i> me, I would die for you!" cried Reuben, +springing up and gazing earnestly on Theodore's face. +</p> + +<p> +"My God!" murmured Theodore, "may I be able to feel this to Thee!" +</p> + + +<hr size="2" width="40%"> + +<p> +I think more words are unnecessary. You cannot doubt that Theodore +soon convinced Reuben of his love, nor that Theodore took the lesson +to himself, and now saw that God had placed in the human heart a +witness of the possibility of His love to man. Yes, the clinging +affection we feel for those we have been kind to; our own power of +forgiving <i>any</i> thing to them; is an instinct which has been +mercifully implanted in our hearts to teach us to believe in that Love +of God, which is otherwise so incredible to human reason. +</p> + +<p> +If you care to know what became of Theodore and Reuben, you must in +fancy pass over a few years. Reuben soon had so strong a wish to go to +sea, that he entered the merchant service; and by the time he became +Master of his own vessel and revisited the hall when he came ashore, +Theodore was to be found there with a kind and gentle wife by his +side; and frolicking about the ancient hall were a parcel of noisy +children, to whom the arrival from sea of him whom they always +unaccountably would call "Uncle Reuben," was ever a gala treat. Dear +readers, Farewell! +</p> + +<p class="note"> +BENEDICITE +</p></div> +<p> </p> +<center> +<img src="Images/Finis.jpg" alt="Finis" width="222" height="76"> +</center> +<br> +<hr> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS AND OTHER TALES***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 11319-h.txt or 11319-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/3/1/11319">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/3/1/11319</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Barker + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Fairy Godmothers and Other Tales + +Author: Mrs. Alfred Gatty + +Release Date: February 26, 2004 [eBook #11319] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS AND OTHER +TALES*** + + +E-text prepared by Internet Archive; University of Florida; and Beth +Trapaga and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 11319-h.htm or 11319-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/3/1/11319/11319-h/11319-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/3/1/11319/11319-h.zip) + + Images of the original pages are available through the Florida + Board of Education, Division of Colleges and Universities, + PALMM Project, 2001. (Preservation and Access for American and + British Children's Literature, 1850-1869.) See + http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/dl/UF00001801.jpg + or + http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/dl/UF00001801.pdf + + + + + +THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS AND OTHER TALES. + +BY MRS. ALFRED GATTY. + +1851. + + + + + + +[Illustration: HERMIONE SKETCHING.] + + + +Col miele, e non coll' aceto si piglian le mosche. + +_Italian Proverb_. + + + + +To My Children + +These tales are most affectionately dedicated. They were written in +hours of sickness, but are intended to be read by the healthy and +joyous young: and to illustrate some favourite and long cherished +convictions. + +Margaret Gatty. + +Ecclesfield Vicarage, +27th March, 1851. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +The Fairy Godmothers + +Joachim the Mimic + +Darkness and Light + +The Love of God + + + +The design for the Frontispiece which adorns this volume is by the +pencil of the writer's kind and highly gifted friend, Miss Lucette E. +Barker. + + + + +THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS. + + +In one of the beautiful bays on the coast of Fairy Land, a party of +Fairies was assembled on a lovely evening in July. There are many +beautiful bays on the coast of England, and there is one especially, +my dear little readers, which you and I know of, where a long line of +grand old rocks stretches far into the sea on the left-hand extremity, +while in the distance to the right a warning lighthouse with its +changing lights gives an almost solemn beauty to the scene; for one +cannot help thinking, at the sight of it, of the poor storm-driven +mariner, whom even that friendly light may fail to save from a sad and +sudden death. But beautiful as this little bay is, of which I speak, +and fond as we are of it, it is nothing, I do assure you, compared to +the bays in Fairy Land! There, there are no light-houses reminding one +painfully of danger and destruction near, but all is loveliness and +peace; and even the rocks would be turned into soft pillows by the +good-natured Fairies who inhabit the country, should any strange +accident drive a mortal ship on that shore. + +Also the bays in Fairy Land face to the west, which is a great +advantage, for in an evening there you may sit and watch the golden +sun dipping behind the waves; and the rich red tints he sends out upon +the rocks before he sets, are beyond measure beautiful and attractive. +Especially, I believe, the Fairies enjoy this time of day, for they +are odd little creatures, rather conceited, and fond of everything +pretty; consequently they like to be floating about the rocks in their +white dresses when the crimson and golden hues of sunset shine on +them, knowing very well they look like so many bright flowers on the +occasion. + +The day I speak of however had been very hot, and at the time I speak +of, the Fairies felt a little lazy and were reclining on some rocks +covered with sea-weed and amusing themselves by talking. In general +the conversation of these little creatures is rather light and +frivolous and gay; but it is really a fact that they were just then +all serious together and all were engaged in a very profound +conversation on human happiness. + +I am sorry to have so many explanations to give, but I think it quite +necessary to tell you the reason of so uncommon an event as a party +of Fairies being serious. Well then, there were going to be, very +shortly, several extremely gay christenings in the world, and some of +the Fairies had been invited to attend at them as Godmothers, in order +that they might bestow Fairy gifts on the different infants. + +Four or five of the christenings were to take place the next day, and +the Fairies who were going were discussing with each other what gifts +they should bestow, and as their only object was to ensure the +happiness of the children for whom they were interested, they +naturally fell into a discourse as to what gifts were most likely to +have so charming an effect. "Your Godchild is a girl too, I believe," +said Euphrosyne to Ianthe [Fairies are privileged, you know, to have +romantic names] "what do you think of bestowing upon her?" "Why," +answered Ianthe, "the old story, I suppose--BEAUTY: at least such +was my intention, but if you can any of you show me I am wrong in +supposing it a cause of happiness to the mortal race, why, I suppose +I must give her ugliness instead." + +"Sister, I hope you will do no such thing," murmured a young Fairy who +lay near twining seaweeds into a wreath. "I never until this evening +heard a doubt upon the subject, and to tell you the truth the only +time I ever envy a mortal is when I see a regular beauty enter a large +assembly. Oh, the triumph of that moment! Every eye turned upon her; +murmurs of admiration, not unmixed with envy, greeting her as she +sweeps along; everyone courting her acquaintance; a word, a smile of +hers more valued than a pearl or a ruby. A sort of queen of Nature's +own making, reigning royally in undisputed sway, let her circumstances +of life be what they may! Look how mean the richest woman who is ugly +looks by the side of her! No no, dear Ianthe, make your little lady +handsome, and you have done the best that Fairy can do for her. I +declare I envy her beforehand! Here where we are all so beautiful +together there is no interest or excitement about it--it is quite +flat." And so saying the young fairy Leila laid herself down to her +wreath again. "Why, Leila, you are absolutely eloquent!" observed +Ianthe, "Beauty it certainly must be." + +"Oh, I declare," pursued Ianthe, rousing up again, "I have sometimes +really wished myself ugly, that I might some day have the pleasure of +suddenly finding myself beautiful!" + +"Oh, but then," said a Fairy from behind, "is there no danger of your +regular beauty, as you call her, getting as tired of being beautiful +as you are, and wishing herself ugly too?" + +"Certainly, not," answered Ianthe, "for, for an earthly beauty there +would always be the excitement of being envied." + +"Come, come," persisted the former speaker, "then the gift of being +envied would be the best thing to bestow, at all events a necessary +addition." + +"Oh," cried Leila, stopping her ears, "I can't argue, I never could--I +can't hear any more, I am quite satisfied that I am right; you can't +argue away the pleasure of being a beauty in a ball-room. Ask any of +them themselves." + +"Well," said Ianthe, "we need pursue the subject no further. I am +resolved. My baby is to be beautiful, beautiful as the dawn of the +morning; they shall call her Aurora!" + +"I shall not follow your example," observed Euphrosyne, "I don't at +all like that notion of the necessity of _envy_ to make the beauty's +joy complete. Besides, I'm not at all sure beauty is not much more +charming in idea than in possession. Nobody spend their lives in +entering a ball-room, and one gets sadly tired of one's own face. I'm +sure _I_ do, beautiful as it is;" and as she spoke the Fairy stooped +over a clear tide pool which mirrored her lovely countenance; "and yet +look what a nose I have! It is absolutely exquisite! And this hair!" +and she held up her long silken curling tresses and looked at them +reflected in the water as she spoke. A musical laugh rang through the +fairy group. Euphrosyne resumed her seat. "There isn't a mortal damsel +in the world who would not go into raptures to resemble me," pursued +she, "and yet--but, oh dear, I am getting quite prosy, and it is quite +useless, for Ianthe has decided. I, on the contrary, am thinking of +something far less romantic and interesting, but I suspect far more +necessary to the happiness of mortals than beauty--I mean RICHES." + +"Men are horribly fond of them, certainly," observed the Fairy from +behind, whose name was Ambrosia. "I can't endure men on that very +account. Look at the grubby wretched lives they lead in +counting-houses and banks, and dreadful dingy holes and corners of +great towns, where we wouldn't set the soles of our feet, and this for +forty or fifty years, perhaps, in order that in the fifty-first, or +perhaps later still, they may turn into butterflies for the little bit +of life that is left to them. And such butterflies, too! not knowing +what to do with their gay coats and fine wings when they get them at +last." + +"I think you are putting an extreme case," observed Euphrosyne. +"Though the grubs themselves may not thoroughly enjoy the riches they +have so laboriously acquired, their children or grandchildren may, and +live at ease and enjoy them. I should not think of bestowing great +riches on uneducated paupers. But it is another matter to give them to +people whom education has refined, and who would know how to enjoy and +employ them." + +"I wonder," suggested a very little Fairy, scarcely grown to her full +size, "why you don't just give your Godchildren moderate good health, +and enough money to make them quite comfortable without puzzling +them?" + +"You are a complete Solomon," observed Euphrosyne, "but you must know, +my dear, that moderate good health and a mere comfortable competency +would hardly be considered Fairy gifts by our friends in the lower +world. These things are, as it were, the absolute _necessities_ of a +happy life; they are the beef and mutton (to borrow an earthly simile) +of the entertainment. Fairy gifts form the somewhat unnecessary (and +questionably wholesome) second course, the sweets, the bonbons, the +luscious luxuries of the repast. + +"Very few, by comparison, get them. Very few infants you know have +Fairy Godmothers, but we make it a rule that those who have, shall +always be distinguished from the crowd. Other-wise our power would not +be believed in. No, my little Aglaia, all our Godchildren start from +the point you spoke of--'caeteris paribus,' as those dingy black +lawyers say--all other things being equal--it is a question now of +bestowing extra superfine Fairy gifts." + +Aglaia tittered--"I know Sister Euphrosyne is thinking of the +christening suppers, and the whipped creams, and the syllabubs!" and +away she tripped to the other end of the bay, lest the older Fairies +should scold her for impertinence. + +"Certainly," pursued Euphrosyne, "I have a great contempt for riches +myself. Bah! the idea of all the troublesome as well as wicked things +men do in order that they may be able to keep a lumbering thing they +call a carriage, to drive them round a dirty town. Just think of that +one thing alone! It is hardly credible." And Euphrosyne laid her head +by the side of Leila's, and looked up into the deep blue sky. + +"Remember," said Ambrosia, from behind, "it is a choice with poor +mortals between heavy foot-walking, and the lumbering vehicles you +talk of. Perhaps when their legs ache terribly, the carriages are not +such bad things. We can hardly judge dispassionately in such a matter, +we who can float and fly!" and the delicate Ambrosia, springing up, +floated softly round the bay, and then returned smiling to her +companions. "It made me almost ill to think of aching legs," observed +she, "how I do pity the mortal race!" + +"How pretty you looked as the sun shone golden upon your white robe," +exclaimed Leila, "It was a sight for a mortal painter to die of!" + +"A genius for painting would be a grand Fairy gift," observed Ianthe. + +"Too doubtful of success," answered Euphrosyne, "and the Musician's +power the same; besides musicians always die young and with exhausted +minds. The art is too much for mortal nerves." + +"Their atmosphere is too thick," said Leila. "How tired I am of your +discussions! Let us sing! Whatever music may be to them, it is food to +us." + +Then all those beautiful Fairies arose and joining hands on the rocks +they sang to the now dying Sun a chorus of Fairy Land! Now and then +these ravishing melodies are permitted to reach to mortal ears: +chiefly in dreams to the sick and sorrowful, for Fairies have great +compassion on such, and allow them a distant taste of this, the most +exquisite of their enjoyments. + +There was no more discussion that night, nor did they argue much the +next morning. There was the rising sun to welcome from the sleeping +caves on the eastern side of their country, and the bath to be +enjoyed, and their wings to plume, and sweet odours to gather from the +early flowers; and the time passed so quickly, they only met to take a +hurried leave. "We must understand each other however, before we +separate," said Euphrosyne. + +"Dear Ianthe, your Gift is Beauty?" "It is." "And mine is Riches," +said Euphrosyne. "All the pleasures of life shall be at my Godchild's +feet," said another Fairy, laughing. "If that will not ensure +happiness, I know not what will." Ambrosia held back--"Your choice, +dear Sister?" asked Euphrosyne. + +"Come! we have no time to lose." + +"It must remain a secret," was the reply. "Our discourse yesterday +evening was so thoughtful, so sad, I could not sleep. I arose hours +before you this morning, ere daylight streaked the sky. Dear Sisters, +how shocked you will be to hear I wept; but now I have determined. If +my gift succeed I will tell you all about it, or you shall guess it +yourselves; for I now propose that our Fairy Gifts this year shall be +a sort of experiment on human happiness. Let us from time to time +visit in company our young charges, and let the result--that is, which +of our Gifts is proved to confer the greatest amount of happiness, be +written in the archives of our kingdom for the future benefit of the +mortal race." + +A murmur of approbation rose, sweet as the vibration of a harp-chord +through the assembly. + +There was no time for enquiry about the other gifts: the travelling +Fairies arose and beat their gauzy wings upon the western breeze. A +melodious rushing was just audible; the distant murmurs of the earthly +sea the most resemble that sweet dream of sound. In a few moments the +departing sisters became invisible, and those who remained returned to +float by the sea shore, or make sweet music in the bowers of their +enchanted land. + + * * * * * + +Time is a very odd sort of thing, dear readers. We neither know whence +it comes nor whither it goes;--nay we know nothing about it in fact +except that there is one little moment of it called the present, which +we have as it were in our hands to make use of--but beyond this we can +give no account of, even that little moment. It is ours to use, but +not to understand. There is one thing in the world, however, quite as +wonderful, and quite as common, and that is, _the Wind_. Did it never +strike you how strange it was that the strongest thing in the world +should be _invisible_? The nice breezes we feel in summer and the +roughest blasts we feel in winter in England are not so extremely +strong you will say: but I am speaking, besides these, of the winds +called hurricanes that arise in the West Indian Islands, and in other +places in the world. These dreadful hurricanes have at times done as +much mischief as earthquakes and lightning. They tear down the +strongest trees, overthrow the firmest houses and spread ruin and +desolation around, and yet this terrible power, so tremendous, and +against which the cleverest contrivances can provide no defence, is as +invisible as the great Maker of Heaven and Earth. How unbelieving many +people would look if you told them of a dreadful creature that was +coming to the world, which could be heard to roar, be felt to knock +down every thing in its path--men, women and children, houses, +churches, towers, castles, cities, and trees the most firmly +rooted--and yet which you could never catch the faintest glimpse of, +for it was always invisible, even when it roared the loudest! As +invisible then, as when in its mildest moods, it, as it were, purred +softly over the country like a cat. How the good people would laugh, +and tell you you were very silly to believe in such a thing. Yet I +think this is not at all an incorrect description of the great +invisible Power WIND. Now the lesson we may learn from this is to be +humble-minded; for since we live in the constant presence of a Power +we cannot see, we ought to feel it is equally possible other Powers +may exist of which our other senses cannot take cognizance. There is +an old proverb--"Seeing is believing"--but you perceive, dear readers, +we are forced to believe in the wind though we never see him at all. + +To return to Time who is travelling fast on while I am rambling after +the wind, he has puzzled the artists a good deal I should say, for +with all their skill at representation they have never hit upon any +better idea of him than an old Man with wings. An old man with wings! +Can you fancy anything so unnatural! One can quite understand +beautiful young Angels with wings. Youth and power and swiftness +belong to them. Also Fairies with wings are quite comprehensible +creatures; for one fancies them so light and airy and transparent, +living upon honey dew and ambrosia, that wings wherewith to fly seem +their natural appendages. But the decrepitude of old age and the wings +of youth and power are a strange mixture:--a bald head, and a Fairy's +swiftness!--how ridiculous it seems, and so I think I may well say +Time is a very odd sort of thing. + +Among those who have to deal with Time, few are more puzzled how to +manage him than we story-tellers. In my first chapter, for instance, I +gave you a half-hour's conversation among some Fairies, but I think +you would be very angry with me were I to give you as exactly every +half-hour that passed over the heads of the little girls with Fairy +Godmothers, till they grew up. How you would scold, dear little +readers, if I were to enter into a particular description of each +child's Nurse, and tell whether Miss Aurora, Miss Julia, Miss +Hermione, &c. &c. &c. were brought up on baked flour, groat-gruel, +rusks, tops and bottoms, or revalenta food! Whether they took more +castor-oil, or rhubarb and magnesia; whether they squalled on those +occasions or were very good. When they cut their teeth and how, +together with all the &c. and ups and downs of Nursery life which +large families, such as you and I belong to, go through daily. + +Well then, suppose I altogether pass over a period of ten years, and +enter into no minute particulars respecting that portion of Time. You +must know that the Fairies had agreed that all the children should +have the same (and rather a large) amount of intellect, or what you +would call cleverness: that is to say, they were all equally capable +of learning anything they chose to learn: also they had all fair +health, plenty to eat and drink, and all the so called "necessary" +comforts of life. + +Now then to our story. + +At the end of ten years the Fairies agreed to go and have a peep how +their charges were going on. They quite knew that nothing decisive +could be found out, till the children had come to years of discretion +and were their own mistresses. Still they thought it would amuse them +just to go and see how the charms were working, as it were; so, away +they went. + +Now picture to yourselves a nice large nursery, much such a one as +your own, in which several children are playing. The eldest, a girl of +ten, you may see yonder lounging--gracefully perhaps--but still +_lounging_ in a rocking chair which she is swinging backwards and +forwards, having set it in motion by the action of her foot on the +floor. What a lovely face! I do not think you ever saw one so handsome +except in a print in one of Mamma's best picture books. All the +features are perfectly good and in proportion, and the dark blue eyes +are fringed by the longest eyelashes ever seen. The hair of this +little girl too--look at it, as the soft chestnut ringlets wave about +on her shoulders as she swings, and show the round richness of the +curls. + +Now if you ask about the expression on her face, I must tell you it +was rather languid and "_pensieroso_." Pensieroso is an Italian word +really meaning thoughtful--but this little girl was not _thinking_, +for then the expression of her face would have been much stronger and +firmer and less languid; but the word has got to be used for a sort of +awake-dreamy state when one lets thoughts float lazily along without +having any energy to dwell upon them, and see whether they are good or +bad. + +The thought that was passing through this little girl's head at the +time I mention and which made her look so languid and pensieroso, was + + "I wish it was 6 o'clock." + +Now here you are ready to laugh, I know, for there was nothing to look +so languid about, in "I wish it was six o'clock!" but the fact was +this: at half-past six the little girl's Mamma was expecting a large +party to dinner and the little girl was to dress at six and be ready +to go down and see the company:--I might add _and to be seen by them_; +for the little girl was, as you will have guessed, the beautiful +Aurora herself, and there had been plenty of foolish people, though +her good Mamma was not one of them, to tell her how pretty she was and +how much people admired her. + +It is a very pleasant thing to be admired, both for children and grown +up people. "The love of approbation," as it is called, i.e. the wish +to be approved of and admired is a feeling which is very strong in +most people; not in quite all, perhaps, but in _most_ people +certainly. But like all other powers of the mind considered apart from +the influence of the heart and conscience, it is capable of being used +to a very bad or a very good purpose. Thus you may remember what our +Saviour says of the Pharisees who stood praying at the corners of the +streets that they might be seen of men: Verily, they had their +reward--viz: that men admired them: whereas those who do good deeds +and pray privately, i.e. unseen and unadmired by men, should verily +have their reward in that day when God who seeth in secret himself +shall reward them openly. + +Here you see is the same strong feeling,--love of approbation, +exercised in a wrong and a right direction. The Pharisees wish for the +approbation of men, good people wish for the approbation of God. + +Now, love of approbation exists about much smaller matters than I have +just been mentioning. But I would warn my young readers, that, to be +always thinking, and bothering yourselves as to what other people are +thinking about you, is one of the most uncomfortable and injurious +habits a person can get into. It makes them so selfish and +egotistical. And here was one of Aurora's dangers. Because she knew +she was pretty, she was always wondering what other people were +thinking about her, a habit which so far from contributing to what the +good Fairy had wished, viz. her happiness, was constantly spoiling her +comfort from hour to hour. And here, at ten years old, was this little +lady swinging languidly and idly on the rocking chair, wishing it was +six o'clock, instead of enjoying, as she might so well have done, that +small portion of time, time present, which is, as I told you before, +the only bit of him we can ever lay hold of, as it were. Of time +present, just then, she thought nothing. She would have said, (had she +been asked), that the old gentleman moved very slowly in spite of his +wings, for her eye was fixed on that delightful time future, six +o'clock. Well! at last the clock struck, and Aurora sprang from her +chair,--her whole face altered in a moment. "Now, Nurse, I may dress, +may I not?" she exclaimed, radiant with animation, and all the languor +and dreaminess gone over like a cloud from before the sun. And it is +true that just then Aurora was happy. It was a pleasant task to her to +arrange and smooth that curling hair, and to put on the simple white +dress she knew set off her beauty so well. But alas! for the happiness +caused by thoughts of _one's self_! The toilet over, she ran down to +her Mamma, and was welcomed with a smile of fondness and approbation. +Indeed, when she was happy, a sweeter face could not be seen, for she +was not a naughty child, and if it had not been for the Fairy gift, I +do think she would have been a very nice one. + +The Fairies who invisibly had witnessed all I have described to you, +were not so loud in their admiration of Aurora as you or I might have +been. They are so handsome themselves, they think but little of +earthly beauty, and even Ianthe could not conscientiously say, "What a +_happy_ looking little girl she is." That was just the one thing that +was wanting: ay, and it continued wanting even after the room was +filled with company, and she was petted, and caressed, and praised on +every side. Her spirits became very high, however, and she enjoyed +herself much; and it is perhaps only very very critical folk, bent on +spying out a fault, that could have detected the little clouds of +anxiety that now and then shot across her face. A thought of whether +her curls were all right, or her dress untumbled, &c. just now and +then disturbed the charm, and prevented her forgetting herself +sufficiently to allow her to be quite at ease and happy, and she would +glance at herself in the mirror, and put back the hair from her brow, +lest Mrs. I-know-not-who, who was just then entering the room, should +not think her quite as lovely as Mrs. Somebody-else did, who had very +foolishly been saying so rather in a loud tone to her Mamma. + +At last the fatal time arrived to go to bed. Aurora was much too +sensible to cry, or be cross, you must know, but as she closed the +door of the drawing-room and left the gay company, a sigh very heavy +for so young a heart to have breathed, escaped her, and it was slowly +she retraced her steps up stairs. She was in reality tired, for it was +later than her usual bed-time, and when she went into her room she +threw herself on the chair and yawned. The young Nurse who attended to +undress her, asked her if she had enjoyed herself. "Oh yes!" was her +ready answer. "All is so bright, and gay, and entertaining among those +ladies, and they are so good-natured to me,"--(another sigh coupled +with the recollection of, and _how much they admire me!_)--"But I do +so hate being a little girl, and having to go to bed. I wish the time +would come quicker for me to be grown up, and be down stairs +altogether, and talk, and enjoy myself all the evening!" Oh, Aurora, +Aurora, with that dissatisfied face where is your beauty? with that +discontented mind where is your happiness? + +"Your charm is not working perfectly, Sister," observed Euphrosyne to +Ianthe. + +"Her's is not the age for perfect happiness and enjoyment as a beauty, +remember," replied Ianthe, "and she feels this herself." + +"Man never is but always _to be_ blest," cried Ambrosia laughing. "You +see I can quote their own poets against them." + +"You are prejudging now, Ambrosia, wait till another ten years is +over; but we must see our little beauty through the twenty-four +hours." Ianthe now waved a tiny wand in a circle around Aurora's +head,--the long eyelashes sank over her eyes, and the beautiful child +fell into a sweet and placid sleep. + +Morning, which awakens all young creatures to life, enjoyment, and +action, awoke Aurora among the rest, and she arose in health and +strength, and the full glow of animal spirits. "_This is_ happiness, +however," exclaimed Ianthe to her companions, as the young girl sprang +about, carolling to herself the while. And so it was, for at that +moment no forecastings into futurity disturbed the comfort of present +pleasure: but an accidental glimpse of her face caught in a +looking-glass as she passed, recalled Aurora to the recollection of +HERSELF! and the admiration she had obtained the evening before. At +first some pleasure attended the remembrance, and she gazed with a +childish triumph at her pretty face in the glass. In a few minutes, +however, the voice of her Governess calling her to lessons disturbed +the egotistical amusement, and the charming Aurora frowned--yes, +_frowned!_ and looked cross at the looking-glass before she quitted +the apartment. + +And now, dear little readers, let me remind you that Aurora was a +clever little girl, for the Fairy had taken care of that. She had +every faculty for learning, and no real dislike to it; but this +unlucky Fairy gift was in the way of every thing she did, for it took +away her interest in every thing but herself; and so, though she got +through her lessons respectably, it was with many yawns, and not a few +sighs, and wonderings what Mamma was doing; and did the Governess +think there would soon be another dinner party? and didn't the +Governess, when _she_ was a little girl, wish very much she was a +grown up woman? and, finally, she wished she had been able to talk +when she was a baby at her christening, because then me would have +begged the Fairy Godmother to give her the gift of growing up to be a +young lady very quick indeed, and of learning every thing without any +trouble at all! And so saying, Aurora yawned and laid down her book, +and the poor Governess could hardly keep her temper at such repeated +interruptions to the subject in hand. + +"My dear," she exclaimed, "Fairies have no power to counteract what +God, has ordained, and he has ordained that we enjoy but little what +we get at without labour and trouble." + +"Ah taisez-vous donc ma chere!" cried Aurora, flopping her ears with +her hands, and running round the room shaking her long curls +furiously. "Vous me faites absolument fremir! Excuse my French, but I +am certain you are the eldest daughter of the old woman in the wood, +and you are just now dropping vipers, toads, newts, and efts from your +mouth at every word you utter!" + +The good-natured Governess laughed heartily at the joke, for they had +just been reading the old French fairy tale of "Les deux Fees," and +the application amused her; but she shook her head gravely at Aurora +afterwards, and reminded her that no serious truth was well answered +by a joke, however droll. + +A bell rings, a carriage is at the door. Miss Aurora is wanted. +Visiters! Ah! here is happiness again! But it lasts but a short time, +and the reaction is the same as before--drooping eyes, languid +eyelids, and a sigh. + +Books, drawing, music, work, even domestic recreations, all deprived +of their charm through this idolatry of self! + +The curtain closed over this scene. + +"A charming child, Ianthe, but for your Fairy Gift, which is spoiling +her." + +"I repeat to you we are no judges yet. Now for riches, Euphrosyne!" + + * * * * * + +At the same hour of evening, and under the same circumstances, of a +party about to assemble, let me introduce you to a beautiful little +boudoir or up-stairs sitting-room adjoining an equally pretty sleeping +apartment in a magnificent house in a town. The passages are carpeted +all over, and so are the boudoir and the sleeping-room, and they are +furnished with sofas, easy chairs, and every description of luxurious +comfort; and all this for the accommodation of a little girl of ten +years old, who in one of the easy chairs is lying back in front of the +fire, with her tiny feet on a bright brass fender. She has a gold +watch in her hand, which is suspended round her neck by a chain of the +same material, and she is playing with it, and with the seals, and +pretty ornaments hung to it, that jingle as she moves her hand. Ever +and anon she glances at the face of the watch. + +But life is very easy to her, and the chair is very soft, and her feet +are very warm. At last, however, she gets up and rings a silver bell +that is on the mantel-piece. A servant answers the summons. "It is +time for me to dress, I believe, Annette; the company are expected +to-day at half past six. Has my new frock come home?" + +"Yes, Miss." + +"Let me look at it." + +A delicate blue satin, trimmed with the finest lace, is produced from +a band-box. + +"It is very pretty, I think, Annette." + +"It is downright beautiful, Miss." + +"And so expensive," pursued the little girl whose name was Julia, +"that I don't think any one else I know is likely to imitate it, which +is my greatest comfort!" + +And so saying, the rich Miss Julia ---- (an only daughter), whose +comfort seemed to depend on no one else being as comfortable as +herself, commenced her toilet, i.e. her maid both commenced and +finished it for her, for those who can command the unlimited +assistance of servants are apt to be very idle in helping themselves. + +"Your Julia looks self-satisfied enough," observed Ianthe, "but I do +not see that this is more like real happiness than my Aurora's face +before the party." + +"Perhaps," returned Euphrosyne, "the same remark applies to her as to +Aurora--the age for thoroughly enjoying riches is hardly arrived. You +smile, Ambrosia! Well, we do not yet know your experiment, and you +yourself do not know how it has answered. Take care that our turn for +laughing at you does not soon come!" + +Julia was dressed at the end of the half-hour, but not sooner. Her +toilet occupied more time than Aurora's. She could not decide what +ornaments she would wear, and at last getting out of humour with the +"embarras des richesses" she fixed on a necklace which, though +extremely handsome, was scarcely fit for a child. She was neither +pretty nor otherwise, but when good humoured and happy her face, like +that of all other creatures of her innocent time of life, was +attractive and pleasant to behold. Oh, that children did but know +wherein the secret of being loveable and beloved lies! In holding fast +the innocence and simplicity of their infant years; in the cheerful +spirit, the universal kindheartedness, the open honesty, the sweet +teachableness and readiness of belief, which are the real +characteristics of childhood and which we so love to trace in their +faces. It was these things our Saviour called upon grown-up people to +imitate, and so to receive the kingdom of Heaven as little children. +And oh, that grown-up people would imitate these things; for if they +would become in these respects as little children, the sweet cast of +mind would be reflected in _their_ faces too, and the ugly looks given +by envious discontent, deceitful thoughts, unkind intention and +restless want of faith and hope would all be washed out of the world. + +But now, my dear readers, can you call that the best of Fairy gifts, +which had so great a tendency to bring the naughty passions of +grown-up life into the heart, and therefore on to the face, of a +little girl? Well, but riches _have_ a tendency that way; and though +Julia was not a very naughty girl she was being led into very sad +feelings by the Fairy gift. When she went down to the company, her +secret anxiety was to examine all the dresses of her Mamma's friends +and resolve some day to surpass them all. Even as it was she received +much pleasure from knowing that her own dress was far beyond the reach +of ordinary folk. She thought too of her necklace with secret +satisfaction, when the ladies were talking to her, for she perceived +their eyes frequently attracted by its brilliancy and beauty. Then her +mind rambled into futurity, to the day when she would astonish these +very ladies far more than now by the richness of her costume. Ah, dear +readers, would our Saviour if present have called _this_ little child +to him, and said, "Of _such_ is the kingdom of Heaven?" But all these +selfish thoughts made her conversation less pleasant and cheerful than +it would otherwise have been; for you may be sure she was not +listening with any interest to what was said to her, while she was +thus planning silly schemes about herself. + +And not having listened with any interest to what was said to her, you +may guess that her answers were dull and stupid; for when people are +talking of one thing and thinking of another they become very flat +companions. At times when she could forget herself she became natural +and then was both pleasant and pleased, and asked some ladies to let +their children come and see her next day, to which they consented. But +now came a sad drawback. One of the ladies told her that her little +girl should bring to shew her a most beautiful gold fillagree work-box +set with precious stones, which one of the maids of honour about +court, who was her godmother, had given her a few days before. This +lady had saved a few of the queen's hairs very carefully, and had had +them placed in a little circle of crystal in the middle of the box, +and they were set round with the most beautiful rubies. It was a +present worthy of a Fairy Godmother, and certainly the donor was the +daughter of a duchess, which perhaps is the nearest thing to being a +fairy. + +You will be shocked, my dear readers, to hear that the account of this +box was as disagreeable as a dose of physic to poor Julia. Nay it was +_worse_ than physic, for a peppermint-drop can take the taste of that +away in a minute. But not all the peppermint-drops in a chymist's shop +could take away the taste of the fillagree-box from Julia. She had +been thinking before of showing all the treasures of her boudoir to +her little friends next day; but this horrid box was like a great +cloud closing over her sunshine. She knew she was naughty, but she was +so in the habit of being selfish she could not conquer her peevish +vexation. Annette wondered what could be the matter, and her Governess +sighed as she perceived her face clouded, even when she was repeating +her evening prayer; but no questioning could extract from her what was +amiss. + +Oh, what a condition for a child to go to sleep in! Euphrosyne was +greatly annoyed. "They are not correcting her evil dispositions," +cried she. "I do not allow that this has anything to do _necessarily_ +with being very rich." + +Ah, good Fairies, you do not know "How hardly shall they that have +riches enter into the kingdom of Heaven." + +Look now at that young face, asleep on a downy pillow, in a bed richly +hung with crimson drapery, in a room filled with luxuries, glowing +with warmth and comfort. You are shocked that the heart within should +be disturbed by nasty little envyings, that made the good things she +possessed of no value to her. 'Tis well; but remember we are all rich +by comparison. Go to the poor frost-bitten wayside beggar-child, my +little readers; bring him into your comfortable drawing-room, which +you sit in every day and think nothing about, and he will fancy he has +got into Paradise. It is a luxurious palace to him. Take him to your +snug bed and let him sleep there, and it will be to him what a state +apartment in Windsor Castle would be to you. Do not then let you and +me scold too much at Julia, but let us keep on the watch to drive away +from ourselves the discontented grumbling thoughts that are apt to +make us all ungrateful to God. Julia did not sleep well. The fillagree +box was a fort of night-mare to her. She dreamt of its growing up into +a great giant, and thumping her on the head, and calling out that she +ought to be ashamed of herself. Do you know, I think this dream was +owing to her Godmother, Euphrosyne, for she lingered behind the other +Fairies as they vanished, and shook, not waved, her wand over the +sleeping child, with a very angry face. + +In the morning Julia, like Aurora, awoke in a temporary forgetfulness +of her troubles. The morning air is so refreshing and sleep does one +so much good, and the sun shining through the windows looks so gay, +and all things speak of hope so loudly in a morning, who can be +sullen? Certainly not little girls full of life and expectation. But +the thought of the fillagree box by degrees took possession of her +mind and rankled there as before. She too had a Governess, and many +lessons to learn and much to do, and she did them; but neither English +history nor French fairy tales could quite drive away the fillagree +box. Indeed it introduced its horrid face before her into the midst of +a multiplication sum, and Mademoiselle thought she was bewitched to +have grown so stupid over her arithmetic all at once. She spent a half +hour over that one sum, and when it was done she was so much tired she +gave up lessons for the day. Besides, she had to prepare for her +friends. She went into her boudoir, opened her cabinets and unfolded +her treasures of various sorts--oh I can't tell you what beautiful +things! besides interesting collections of foreign and English shells, +and stuffed humming birds, which you and I should be charmed to +possess. And Julia was in general most happy when she was looking +over her property, but rather more because she possessed valuable +curiosities than because she cared about them, I fear. For my part, +I wonder very much that the humming birds and shells did not teach +her to be more humble-minded; for no art or jewellery can imitate or +come up to their glorious beauty. Well, she amused herself tolerably +in spite of the visions of the fillagree box and the queen's hair, +which now and then came between her and her usual feeling of +self-satisfaction. + +Presently her young friends came--several little girls of various +ages, and now nature once more revived in poor Julia. The children +felt and expressed such hearty pleasure at the sight of her treasures. +There were such joyous exclamations; such bursts of delight; such +springing and jumping about, that Julia became infected with the +general pleasure, and was a happy child herself. Yes! even though the +fillagree box had been shown off and admired. But what do children in +general know about the _value_ of things and how much they cost? Ah, +much more just in their judgments than we elders are apt to be, a bird +of Paradise such as adorned the top of Julia's cabinet, or a peacock's +tail, such as she had in a drawer, is to their unprejudiced eyes more +desirable than the gold of Ophir itself! + +So now you see this triumph of simplicity over art, despoiled the +fillagree box of all its horrors, for the innocent children admired +her shells yet more--unsophisticated, and insensible to the long story +about the value of the rubies, the maid of honour, and even the +queen's hairs. + +Still the Fairies felt and saw that it was not Euphrosyne's gift, but +rather the forgetfulness of it which caused these hours of happiness +to Julia, and somewhat puzzled as to the result they left the votary +of riches, not quite without a sensation that little Aglaia's proposal +of moderate health and enough riches to be "comfortable without being +puzzled," was about the best thing after all, though not much of a +Fairy gift. And now, my little readers, I am beginning to get rather +tired of my story, and to feel that you may do so too. I think I am +getting rather prosy, so I must try and cut the matter short. Four out +of the five Fairy gifts were like beauty and riches, worldly +advantages. For instance, there was the little girl who was to have +every earthly pleasure at her feet--i.e. she was to have every thing +she wished for--why she was fifty times worse off than either Aurora +or Julia, for I will tell you whom she was like. She was like the +fisherman's wife in Grimm's German popular fairy tales, who had every +thing she wished, and so at last wished to be king of the sun and +moon. I doubt not you remember her well, and how she was in +consequence sent back to her mud cottage. I think, therefore, I need +not describe the young lady who had _that_ Fairy gift. + +There was another who was to be _loved_ wherever she went; but nothing +is worth having that is had so easily, and this child got so sick of +being kissed and fondled and loved, that it was the greatest nuisance +to her possible, for disagreeable people loved her just as much as +nice ones, and for her part she hated them all alike. It was a very +silly Fairy gift. + +Come with me then to Ambrosia's God-daughter, whom they visited last, +and whose Fairy gift the other Fairies were to guess at! + +Neither you nor I, my dears, ever heard a fairy-laugh. Doubtless it is +a sweet and musical sound. You can perhaps fancy it? Well then, do +fancy it, and how it rang in silver peals when our fairy friends, on +entering the last nursery they had to visit, found Ambrosia's protegee +in a flood of angry tears, stamping her foot on the ground in a +passion! "You naughty naughty girl!" exclaimed the old Nurse, "you'll +wake the baby and make your own eyes so red you won't be fit to be +seen to night by the company!" + +"I don't care about my eyes being red, tho' I don't want to wake the +poor baby," sobbed the little girl, slightly softening her wrath: "but +the cat has unravelled all the stocking I have been knitting at for so +many days, and I had nearly just finished it, and now it's all +spoilt;" and she roared with vexation. "Miss Hermione, if you go on so +I shall certainly send for your Mamma, and the baby will be quite +poorly, he will! and we shall know who made him so," added Nurse +triumphantly. "I can't make the baby poorly with crying, Nurse, so +that's nonsense you know," observed Hermione; "but I didn't mean to +disturb him; only my stocking is gone, and I don't know what to do." +And here she sobbed afresh. + +"Do! why ain't you going down to the ladies, and can't you be brushing +your hair and washing your face and getting ready?" "But it isn't +time." "Well, but can't you get ready _before_ the time a little? and +then, when you're dressed and look so clean and nice and pretty, you +can sit in the chair and we can look at you!" and here the good old +Nurse gave a knowing smile and nodded her head. + +Hermione caught sight of the comical coaxing glance, and, in spite of +her misfortune, burst into a fit of laughter. "Hum, hum, hum! now +you'll wake the poor thing by laughing, Miss Hermione. I do wish you'd +be quiet:" and here the Nurse rocked the child on her knee more +vigorously than ever. + +"Then why don't you tell me what I am to do with my stocking," cried +Hermione. "Oh well, I know what I will do--something quite as quiet as +a mouse. I will wind up my poor worsted." Hereupon the little girl +picked up the puckered remains of her luckless grey stocking which a +facetious young cat had spent at least a quarter of an hour in +ingeniously unravelling with his claws. It was a tiresome tedious job +we must admit, and required a strong effort of patient perseverance, +but Hermione soon became engrossed in its difficulties and a dead +silence ensued. At last Nurse who had while rocking the sleeping baby +on her knee, been watching the child's proceedings, suddenly +exclaimed, "Well to be sure, Miss Hermione, you have such patience as +I never before did see." + +[The Fairies exchanged glances. + +"It is _Patience_, Ambrosia." + +"What a hurry you are in!" was the reply.] + +"No I haven't, Nurse, indeed," answered Hermione. "I had no patience +at all when I was in a passion with the cat just now." + +"Well, I suppose there are two or three sorts of Patiences, Miss, +then," persisted Nurse, "for I'm certain you have _some_ sorts. But, +dear me, its ever so much past six o'clock, and you have to be dressed +by half-past. Do put away the worsted and get yourself ready, Miss, +and call Jane to help you." + +Here the Nurse and Hermione nearly had a scuffle over the worsted. +Hermione declared the cat had spoilt her stocking; and the only +comfort left to her now was to roll it comfortably up into a ball. +Nurse on the contrary insisted that it didn't signify a bit what +became of the worsted; she must dress and go down. The dispute ended +by Hermione running off with the half finished ball and its untidy +remains, and cramming the whole concern into the pocket of her best +frock. "The people will soon be tired of talking to me," muttered she +to herself, "and then I can finish my ball quietly in the corner +behind Mamma's chair." + +The thought of this ingenious plan for her private amusement down +stairs so tickled Hermione's fancy that she was on the giggle the +whole time she was being dressed. "If Nurse did but know what was in +the pocket of my best frock and how fat it is! how she would scold, +and what a fight we should have." And she could hardly refrain from +loud laughter at the thought. When she had got her frock on she sat +down, and laying her arm over the fat pocket asked Jane to touch up +her curls: and while this operation was going on she began to talk to +the nurse. + +"Nurse, should you think it a very nice thing to go to a dinner party +and sit in chairs all round a large room, where the coloured covers +are taken away and everything looks very gay, and so tidy, nobody is +allowed to do anything but smile, and talk, and wear white kid +gloves?" + +"Very nice, Miss, it's so like a lady," was the Nurse's ready reply. + +"Well then, I don't think it's nice at all, Nurse--I think it's very +nasty and stupid." + +"Dear, Miss Hermione, how you do talk; I hope you won't tell the +ladies so when you get down stairs." + +"Oh dear no, that would be rude, and it's wrong to be rude, but to +tell you the truth I don't know what I shall do when I grow up if I am +obliged to be so dull as that is, very often." + +"Goodness, Miss Hermione, to hear you talk one would think you'd +better be a housemaid at once, instead of a lady with nothing to do." + +"Nurse, I should see no objection to be a housemaid at all, only that +I am learning so many things that wouldn't suit a housemaid; but +without being a housemaid there are many pleasanter things to do than +to sit in that stupid sort of way. I like the room when all Papa's +books and papers are about, and when he is scribbling away so busy, +and when Mamma has got her microscope out looking at seaweeds or +curiosities. I have a chance then myself. I don't like ladies who say +nothing but 'Pretty little dear, what a nice colour she has,' just to +please Mamma." + +What Nurse in England could be expected to enter into so philosophical +an investigation of the habits of society? + +Hermione's did nothing but assure her it was time to be off, and she +only hoped she would sit still and talk prettily, and never trouble +her head whether it was stupid or not. + +When Hermione got into the drawing room and saw the company seated as +she had described to her Nurse, she felt very much disposed to laugh +again, but made an effort and composed herself. Still her face was +beaming with mirth and fun, and when some ladies said "What a happy +looking little girl," they were quite sincere. That sort of face too +worked wonders, and her Mamma's friends liked her much and talked +pleasantly to her, and she was pleased and happy and quite forgot the +ball of worsted, as well as the ladies' white kid gloves. A young lady +however who had her arm round Hermione's waist and was playing with +her, suddenly felt the round protuberance in her pocket. "Ah you +little rogue, what have you here?" "Its a secret," cried Hermione. "I +think I can unravel your mysterious secret, little girl, you are a +favourite with the housekeeper," added she, whispering in Hermione's +ear, "and she has just given you an orange." + +"You are a very bad guesser of secrets," whispered Hermione in +return. "It's no such thing!"--"Then it's an apple." "No, nor an +apple."--"Then it's a peach, and your new frock will be spoilt." "No +it isn't a peach either, and it's a secret." The young lady loved fun, +and a playful struggle ensued between her and Hermione; in the course +of which the large grey worsted ball and its long ravelled tail were +drawn from the little pocket. + +Hermione had now to tell the history of the ball, which she did +naturally and honestly, but when she added, quite seriously, that she +intended, when they had done talking to her, to go behind her Mamma's +chair and finish winding it up, you may guess how they laughed. + +"Come here, my little dear, and let me look at you," cried an elderly +lady in spectacles, putting out her hand and laying hold of +Hermione's. "Why what an industrious little soul you must be! a +perfect pattern! There now! you may go behind my chair and finish your +ball of worsted; nobody wants to talk to you any longer." + +This old lady was rather crabbed, and had not quite believed Hermione +sincere, so she did this to try her, and expected to see her pout and +refuse. To her surprize, Hermione only said "Oh thank you, ma'am," +with a quite smiling face, and going behind the chair, sat down on the +floor to her worsted. For a few moments the old lady kept thinking "It +won't last long: she'll soon be glad of an excuse to come out:" but no +such thing happened; and just what Hermione expected did happen. The +ladies fell to talking among themselves, and in a very short time the +presence of the little girl was quite forgotten, even by the old lady, +who was handed out to dinner, without once remembering whom she had +left behind her chair. + +Hermione stayed in the room till her task was over, and then rushed up +stairs to the nursery, and stopping at the door, half opened it and +rolled the great grey worsted ball so cleverly in, that it hit the old +Nurse's foot as she sat (once more rocking the baby) over the fire. +"Goodness, bless me! what ever is that?" Then, spying a laughing face +at the door, "Oh dear heart, it's you I declare, Miss Hermione! will +you never leave off waking the baby? I thought a great black dog was +laying hold of my foot." + +"Nurse," said Hermione, "your baby is always and always going to +sleep; why doesn't he go, and then I could have a bit of fun? You +don't know where I finished winding the worsted ball!" + +"Why goodness me, Miss Hermione, where?" + +"Down in the drawing-room among all the fine ladies; so good night!" +and off she ran to avoid further explanation. A few words with her +Governess; a sober time of evening prayer; and the happy child laid +her head on her pillow, and needed no Fairy wand to lull her to sleep. +She had been some time with her Governess in the morning before her +Mamma coming to her there, heard a loud discussion going on within. +The voices, however, were those of good-humour. "Hermione," said her +Mother, "I am come to say that your Governess told me yesterday you +had been so very good for a long time over all that you have had to +do, that I have arranged for your having a holiday and a treat to-day, +and several of your young friends are coming to see you. Among them is +Aurora, the granddaughter of the old lady in spectacles, who, just +before she was going away at night, recollected you, and began to look +for you behind her chair." + +"Oh what a goose, Mamma!" "No, not a goose, my dear--only an oddity, +but a very kind one too--for she desired me to find out whether you +really did roll up the whole of the ravelled worsted last night; and +_if_ you really persevered till it was finished, I have something to +give you from her, but not otherwise. How was it?" "Oh, it's finished, +Mamma; ask Nurse; for when I rolled it against her foot last night, +she took it for a great black dog." "Well then, I suppose this is +yours, Hermione; but, I must say, I never knew a gold thimble earned +so easily." Yes, dear little readers, it was a pretty gold thimble, +and round the bottom of it there was a rim of white enamel, and on the +enamel were gold letters. + + "L'industrie ajoute a la beaute." + +"Mamma," said Hermione, looking at it in delight, as she found it +exactly fitted her finger, "it's lovely; but, do you know, I think the +old lady ought to have given it to her granddaughter, Aurora, with +such a motto." "My dear, she has had it, she told me, some months in +her pocket secretly, for the purpose you mention, but she cannot ever +satisfy herself that Aurora has got the spirit of real industry in +her, and to bribe her to _earn_ the thimble is not her object, so you +see it has accidentally fallen to your share." + +And as she said this, Hermione's mother turned round to leave the +room; but before she had reached the door, her little girl stopped +her--"Mamma, do turn back." + +"What is the matter, Hermione?" + +"I've something I want to say to you." + +"I am all attention, my dear, particularly as your face looks so +unusually grave." + +"Why, you and my Governess are always calling me _good_ for doing my +lessons well, and now you are rewarding me for being _good_ and all +that, and I don't see that I am good at all." + +"Upon my word this is a very serious matter, Hermione; who or what has +put this into your head?" + +"I read in a serious book lately, that nobody could be good without +practising self-denial; and that, to be really good, one must either +do something that one does _not_ like, or give up something that one +_does_; so that I am quite sure I cannot be good and deserve a reward +when I do French and music and drawing and work well, because I am so +very fond of doing every thing I do do, that every thing is a pleasure +to me. And there is no struggle to do what is tiresome and no other +wish to give up. The only time when I have to try to be good at all, +is when I have to leave off one thing and go to another. That is +always a little disagreeable at first, but unfortunately the +disagreeableness goes off in a very few minutes, and I like the new +employment as well as the last. This is what I was talking about to my +Governess when you came, and she laughed so loud I felt quite vexed." + +"My dear Hermione," said her Mamma, "you have quite misapplied what +you have read in the book. Self-denial is always required of us, when +we feel inclined to do any thing that is wrong, but it does not apply +to any aptitude you may have for enjoying the occupations I require of +you. That is only a piece of good fortune for you; for to many little +girls, doing lessons is a very great act of self-denial, as they want +to be doing something else. But now, as you are so lucky in liking +every thing you do, you must practise your self-denial in some other +way." + +"How, Mamma?" + +"In not being vexed when your Governess laughs, and in not being in a +passion with the cat next time he unravels your stocking." + +Hermione blushed. "Oh, Mamma, I understand the difference now." + +"But this is not all, Hermione." + +"Well, Mamma?" + +"Why, as you are so fortunate as to be always happy when employed, and +as therefore there is no _goodness_ strictly speaking, in your doing +your business so cheerfully and well, you must do this, you must spend +some portion of time every day in making your energy of use to other +people, and then you will be doing active good if not practising +self-denial." + +"Oh, Mamma, what a nice idea! Perhaps you will give me some needlework +to do for the poor women you give money to; and, besides, just now I +can do something actively useful and still a little really +disagreeable,--really it is, Mamma,--what makes you laugh?" + +"Your resolution to do something you don't like. What is it, +Hermione?" + +"To knit up again the stocking the cat pulled out. I quite dislike the +idea." + +"Then set to work by all means, Hermione. You will at least have the +comfort of 'beginning by a little aversion;' but I warn you +beforehand, not to set your heart upon the disagreeableness lasting +very long, and if you find yourself shortly, as happy as ever over the +stocking, do not be puzzled and vexed any more, but thank God as I do, +that, so far at least, you are spared one of the troubles of life. The +trouble of an indolent, discontented mind." + +An affectionate embrace was exchanged between Mother and Daughter; and +the latter, with the assistance of her Governess, recommenced the +unlucky grey stocking, and was working assiduously at it when her +young friends arrived. + +It was a curious sight to the Fairies to see two of their +god-daughters together, as they now did. But the conviction was forced +upon them, that, for the present at least, Hermione had the balance of +happiness in her favour. Whatever their amusements were,--whether +looking over curiosities, playing with dolls, or any of the numerous +games invented for the entertainment of the young, Hermione's whole +heart and attention were in the matter, and she was as much engrossed +as over learning at other times, and quite happy. With poor Aurora it +was not so; the childishness of the play every now and then annoyed +her; there was no food for her vanity, in playing with children; they +cared nothing about her beauty; the gayest and most good-natured face +has always the most charms for them, and this did not suit Aurora at +all, and ever and anon her thoughts wandered, and her wishes too. + +For ever straining into the future! + +"I cannot make out your Fairy gift at all, Ambrosia," said Euphrosyne, +"and I begin to suspect you have not given her one." + +"We are all growing philosophical, I perceive," said Ambrosia, +smiling. "Who could think you would have guessed that my happy child +has had no Fairy gift at all. But she has, I assure you. What do you +say to the Philosopher's Stone? It is quite clear that me has got +something which TURNS EVERY THING SHE TOUCHES INTO GOLD." + + * * * * * + +What _is_ the Philosopher's Stone? I hear my little readers exclaim. +There is no such thing, my dears, nor ever was; but the chymists in +old times, who were very ignorant, and yet knew that many wonderful +things had been done by the mixture of minerals and metals, and the +curious effects some had upon others, guessed that yet more wonderful +things might be found out by searching, and they got into their heads +that it might be possible to find, or make, a stone that would have +the power of turning every thing it touched into gold. In the same +manner, the doctors of those times fancied there might be such a thing +made as a draught that would turn old people into young ones again. +This was called "The Elixir of Life." But I do assure you these old +fellows never did discover either a Philosopher's Stone, or an Elixir +of Life. + +So this was only a joke of Ambrosia's. + +Now to go on and finish my story. It was ten years more before the +Fairies revisited their Godchildren in the lower world, and this time +they were to decide who had given the best Fairy gift. + +And I dare say you expect me to give you as long an account of their +visits to the young ladies of twenty, as I did of their peeps at the +little girls of ten. But I really do not think it worth while. I would +do so indeed in a minute if there were anything quite fresh and new to +describe. But on the faith of a story-teller I assure you, it would be +"the old story over again," only on an enlarged scale. + +Did you ever look at any interesting object first with your natural +eyes, and then through a microscope or magnifying glass? If so, you +will remember that through the magnifying glass you saw the same thing +again, only much bigger. + +In the same manner the ten years acted as a sort of magnifying glass +over Aurora, Julia, and Hermione. Everything was the same, but +increased in size and made clearer and plainer. + +Aurora's triumphant joy as she entered the ball-room as a beauty, was +much greater certainly than her pleasure at her Mamma's dinner party. +But the weariness and anxiety afterwards were increased also. She was +still getting away from our friend Time present, and forecasting into +some future delight. "The good time _coming_, Boys," was her, as well +as many other people's bugbear. She never could feel that (with God's +blessing) _the good time_ is always _come_. + +The only time she ever thoroughly enjoyed was the moment of being +excessively admired. But judge for yourselves how long that can last. +Could you sit and look at a pretty picture for an hour together? No, I +know you could not. You cannot think how short a time it takes to say +"Dear me, what a beautiful girl!" and then, perhaps, up comes somebody +who addresses the admiring gazer on the subject of Lord John Russel's +last speech, and the "beautiful girl," so all important in her own +eyes, is as entirely forgotten as if she had never been seen. And +then, to let you into another secret, Aurora was by no means a very +entertaining companion: nobody _can_ be, with their heads full of +themselves: and she had often the mortification, even in that scene of +her triumph, a ball-room, of feeing her admirers drop off, to amuse +themselves with other people; less handsome perhaps, but more +interesting than herself. + +And so the Fairies, having accompanied her through a day of Triumphs, +mixed with mortifications, followed by languors, unsettled by hopes of +future joy, clouded with anxieties that all but spoilt those +hopes:--came one and all to the conclusion that Aurora could not be +considered as a model of human happiness. + +Nor could they say much more for Julia. Perhaps, indeed, there is more +equanimity in the pleasures of a very rich person, than in those of a +very beautiful one: but, oh dear, they are of such a mean sort! Still, +there is a good deal of impertinent comfort in money I do admit. Life +rolls on, upon such well oiled hinges! The rich say, "Do this," to +people around them; and the people, "do it." But the Fairies had no +sympathy with such an _unnatural_ fault as the pride of wealth. They +saw Julia reclining in one of those "lumbering things" they so much +despised: and driving round the "dirty town" they so much disliked: +and along a park a great deal too smoky for their taste: and they +could not understand the haughty glance of self-satisfaction with +which she looked out upon the walking crowds she passed, or the +affected graciousness with which she smiled upon the few whom she +condescended to recognize as acquaintances. They thought her very +naughty and very absurd for being conceited about such matters. They +followed her to her Milliner's too, and there I assure you they had +nearly betrayed their presence by the uncontrollable fits of laughter +they fell into when she was trying on, or talking about, bonnets, head +dresses, gowns, &c. with the affected Frenchwoman who showed them off. +Julia cared for nothing because it was pretty or tasteful, but chose +every thing by its costliness and magnificence. Of course the milliner +assured her that every thing she took a fancy to from its rarity, was +becoming; and then, oh dear! how the Fairies were amused! for poor +Julia looked downright ugly in some of the things she selected, and +still went away as self satisfied as ever, on the old grounds that the +costume was so expensive that none of her acquaintance could get one +like it. This was still her chief comfort! Euphrosyne actually shook +her fist at her as she was going away, and she had the toothache for +the rest of the day, and was extremely cross to her husband in +consequence. For, by the way, Julia had married--and married a +nobleman--a man somewhat older than herself; but he and she had had a +sort of mutual conviction that riches and rank go very well together, +and so they married; and suited very well in this respect, that as +their heads were full of other things they neither claimed nor +required from each other a great amount of affection. + +Still, was Julia happy? The Fairies shook their heads. She had +gardens, hot-houses, magnificent collections of curiosities, treasures +that might have softened and opened her heart, if she had made a right +use of them. But riches have a very hardening tendency, and she never +struggled against it. + +Then, too, she could get every thing she wanted so easily, that she +cared very little about anything. Life becomes very stale when your +hands are full and you have nothing to ask for. + +Her greatest pleasure was to create astonishment and envy among her +associates: but, besides the naughtiness of the feeling, this is a +triumph of very short duration; for most people, when they cannot get +at what they envy, amuse themselves with something else; and then, +what a mortification to see them do this! + +"Besides," said the Fairies, "we must follow her into her solitude, to +see if she is happy." + +Ah! there, lying back once more in the easy chair, in a dress which-- + + "China's gayest art had dyed," + +do you think that self-satisfied, but still uncheerful looking face +tells of happiness? + +No! She too, like Aurora, was unoccupied, and forecasting into +futurity for the "good time coming," which so many spend their lives +in craving after and expecting, but which the proud, the selfish and +the idle never reach to. + +The Fairies turned from her sorrowful and angry. + + * * * * * + +In the outskirts of a forest, just where its intricacy had broken away +into picturesque openings, leaving visible some strange old trees with +knotted trunks and mysteriously twisted branches, sat a young girl +sketching. She was intently engaged, but as her eyes were ever and +anon raised from her paper to the opening glade, and one of the old +trees, the Fairies had no difficulty in recognizing their protegee, +Hermione. The laughing face of childhood had become sobered and +refined by sentiment and strength, but contentment and even enjoyment +beamed in her eyes as she thoughtfully and earnestly pursued her +beautiful art. The little beings who hovered around her in that sweet +spot, almost forgot they were not in Fairy land; the air was so full +of sweet odours from ferns and mosses, and the many other delicious +scents you find so constantly in woods. + +Besides which, it amused the good souls to watch Hermione's skilful +hand tracing the scene before her; and they felt an admiring delight +when they saw the old tree of the forest reappear on the paper, with +all the shadows and lights the sun just then threw upon it, and they +wondered not a little at the skill with which she gave distance and +perspective to the glade beyond. They felt, too, that though the +drawing they saw rising under the sketcher's hand was not made +powerful by brilliant effects or striking contrasts, it was +nevertheless overflowing with the truth and sentiment of nature. It +was the impression of the scene itself, viewed through the poetry of +the artist's mind; and as the delicate creatures who hung over the +picture, looked at it, they almost longed for it, slight as it was, +that they might carry it away, and hang it up in their fairy palace as +a faithful representation of one of the loveliest spots of earth, the +outskirts of an ancient English forest. + +It is impossible to say how long they might not have staid watching +Hermione, but that after a time the sketch was finished, and the young +lady after writing beneath it Schiller's well known line in +Wallenstein, arose. "Das ist das Loos des Schoenen auf der Erde."[1] + +[1] "Such is the lot of the beautiful upon earth." + +The poor tree was marked for felling! Ambrosia was almost affected to +tears, once more. The scene was so beautiful, and the allusion so +touching, and there seemed to her such a charm over her God-daughter +Hermione; she was herself so glad, too, to feel sure that success had +crowned her gift, that, altogether, her Fairy heart grew quite soft. +"You may do as you like about observing Hermione further," cried she. +"But, for my part, I am now satisfied. She is enjoying life to the +uttermost; all its beauties of sight and sound; its outward +loveliness; its inward mysteries. She will never marry but from love, +and one whose heart can sympathise with hers. Ah, Ianthe, what more +has life to give? You will say, she is not beautiful; perhaps not for +a marble statue; but the grace of poetical feeling is in her every +look and action. Ah, she will walk by the side of manhood, turning +even the hard realities of life into beauty by that living well-spring +of sweet thoughts and fancies that I see beaming from her eyes. Look +at her now, Ianthe, and confess that surely that countenance breathes +more beauty than chiselled features can give." And certainly, whether +some mesmeric influence from her enthusiastic Fairy Godmother was +working on Hermione's brain, or whether her own quotation upon the +doomed tree had stirred up other poetical recollections, I know not; +but as she was retracing her steps homewards, she repeated to herself +softly but with much pathos, Coleridge's lines:[2] + + "O lady, we receive but what we give, + And in our life alone does nature live: + Ours is her wedding-garment, ours her shroud! + And would we aught behold, of higher worth, + Than that inanimate cold world allowed + To the poor loveless ever anxious crowd, + Ah! from the soul itself must issue forth + A light, a glory, a fair luminous cloud + Enveloping the earth-- + And from the soul itself must there be sent + A sweet and potent voice, of its own birth, + Of all sweet sounds the life and element!" + +[2] Coleridge's "Dejection: an Ode." + +And, turning through the little handgate at the extremity of the wood, +she pursued the train of thought with heightened colour in her +cheeks-- + + "I may not hope from outward forms to win + The passion and the life, whose fountains are within." + +And thus Hermione reached her home, her countenance lighted up by the +pleasure of success, and the sweet and healthy musings of her solitary +walk. + +She entered the library of a beautiful country house by the low window +that opened on to the lawn, and found her mother reading. + +"I cannot tell you how lovely the day is, Mamma, every thing is so +fresh, and the shadows and lights are so good! I have immortalized our +poor old friend the oak, before they cut him down," added she, +smiling, as she placed the drawing in her mother's hands. "I wish the +forest belonged to some one who had not this cruel taste for turning +knotted oak trees into fancy work-tables. It is as bad as what Charles +Lamb said of the firs, 'which look so romantic alive, and die into +desks.'--Die into desks!" repeated Hermione musingly, as she seated +herself on the sofa, and took up a book that was before her on the +table; mechanically removing her bonnet from her head, and laying it +down by her side as she spoke. + +And here for some time there was a silence, during which Hermione's +mother ceased reading, and, lifting up her eyes, looked at her +daughter with mingled love, admiration, and interest. "I wish I had +her picture so," dreamt the poor lady, as she gazed; "so earnest, and +understanding, and yet so simple, and kind!--There is but one +difficulty for her in life," was the next thought; "with such keen +enjoyment of this world, such appreciation of the beauties, and +wonders, and delights of God's creations on earth--to keep the eye of +faith firmly fixed on the 'better and more enduring inheritance,' to +which both she and I, but I trust she, far behind, are hastening. Yet, +by God's blessing, and with Christian training, and the habit of +active charity, and the vicissitudes of life, I have few or no fears. +But such capability of happiness in this world is a great temptation, +and I sometimes fancy must therefore have been a Fairy gift." And here +the no longer young Mother of Hermione fell into a reverie, and a long +pause ensued, during which Ambrosia felt very sad, for it grieved her +to think that the good and reasonable Mother should be so much afraid +of Fairy gifts, even when the result had been so favourable. + +A note at length interrupted the prolonged silence. It was from Aurora +the Beauty, whose Father possessed a large estate in the +neighbourhood, and who had just then come into the country for a few +weeks. Aurora earnestly requested Hermione and her Mother to visit +her. + +"I will do as you wish," said Hermione, looking rather grave; "but +really a visit to Aurora is a sort of small misfortune." + +"I hope you are not envious of her beauty, Hermione? Take care." + +"Nay, you are cruel, Mamma, now. I should like to be handsome, but not +at the expense of being so very dull in spirits as poor Aurora often +is. But really, unless you have ever spent an hour alone with her, you +can form no idea of how tired one gets." + +"What of, Hermione? of her face?" + +"Oh no, not of her face; it is charming, and by the way you have just +put into my head how I may escape from being tired, even if I am left +alone with her for hours!" + +"Nay, now you really puzzle me, my dear; I suggested nothing but +looking at her face." + +"Ah, but as she is really and truly such a model of beauty, what do +you think of offering to make a likeness of her, Mamma? It will +delight her to sit and be looked at, even by me, in the country, and I +shall be so much pleased to have such a pleasant occupation. I am +quite reconciled to the idea of going." + +And a note was written, and despatched accordingly. + +"But," persisted Hermione, rising to sit near her Mother, "you do not +above half know Aurora. One would think she had been born in what is +called a 'four warnt way,' with nothing but cross roads about her. +Nothing is ever right. She is always either exhausted with the heat of +the sun, or frozen with cold, or the evening is so tedious, she wants +it to be bedtime, or if there is any unusual gaiety going on, she +quarrels with the same length of evening, because it is so intolerably +short; and, in short, she is never truly happy but when she is +surrounded by admirers, whether men or women. And this seems to me to +be a sad way of '_getting her time over_,' as the poor women say of +life. Ah, Mamma, it goes but too quickly." + +"Aurora is indeed foolish," musingly ejaculated the Mother. + +"Not altogether either, my dear Mother. She knows much; but the fault +is, she cares for nothing. She has got the carcase, as it were, of +knowledge and accomplishments; but the vivifying spirit is wanting. +You know yourself how well she plays and sings occasionally, if there +is a question of charming a room full of company. Yet there can be no +sentiment about her music after all, or it would be an equal pleasure +to her at other times. But really it almost makes me as discontented +with life as herself to hear her talk in unexcited hours. Turning over +my books one day, she said, 'You can never be either a poet or a +painter, or a Mozart or a philosopher, Hermione? what is the use of +all your labour and poking?' What could I say? I felt myself colour +up, and I laughed out, 'Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is +vanity!' Yet certainly God has set before us the things of earth in +order that we may admire and find them out; and that is the answer to +all such foolish questions!" And Hermione was turning to leave the +room, but she came back and said--"Do you know, Mamma, though you will +laugh at the idea, I do think Aurora would be a very nice girl, and +very happy, if she either could grow very ugly all at once, or if any +thing in the world could make her forget her beauty.--And," added she, +in a half whisper, "if there is any thing in Fairy lore, I could +almost fancy some cruel Fairy had owed her family a grudge, and had +given her this gift of excessive beauty on purpose to be the plague +and misfortune of her life." + + * * * * * + +"Enough, enough, and too much," cried Euphrosyne impatiently. "The +matter is now, I think, concluded. Ianthe and I have failed, and +though you are successful, Ambrosia, even you have not come off +without a rebuff. Now, farewell to earth. I am weary of it. I do not +know your gift, and I am sick of listening to conversations I cannot +understand. Let us begone. If we de delay, they will begin again. Ah, +my sisters, my spirit yearns for our fairer clime!" + +And they arose; but yet awhile they lingered on the velvet lawn before +that country-house, for as they were preparing for flight, the sounds +they loved so well, of harmonious music, greeted their ears. + +"Ah, there is the artist's hand again," cried Ambrosia. "I see the +lovely sketch before me once more!" + +And so it was, that it, and the peaceful forest scene, and the +interesting face of Hermione, seemed to reappear before them all as +they listened to her music. Tender, and full of sentiment were the +sounds at first, as if the musician were acting the scene of the opera +whence they came. + +"Lieder ohne Worte,"[3] murmured Ambrosia. + +[3] Songs without Words.--Mendelssohn. + +But it was to the swelling sounds of a farewell chorus that they arose +into the air, and took their leave of earth. + +And now, dear Readers, there is but one thing more to do. To ask if +you have guessed the Fairy gift? + +The Fairies, you see, had not. What Euphrosyne had said was true. They +had listened to such a quantity of conversation they could not +understand, and they were so unused to _think_ much about any thing, +or to hear much beyond their own pretty light talk and sweet songs, +that their poor little brains had got quite muddled. + +Perhaps remaining so long in the Earth's atmosphere helped to cloud +their intelligence. Certain it is, they returned very pensive, very +cross, and rather dusty to Fairy Land. + +They arrived at the beautiful bay I first described, and floated to a +large party of their sisters, who were dancing on the sands. + +There was a clapping of tiny hands, and shouts of joy as they +approached; and "What news? what news?" cried many voices. + +"Ah, what news, Sister Euphrosyne!" cried little Aglaia, floating +forward, "from the smudgy old earth; Is it beauty, riches, or what?" + +"I cannot answer your question," said Euphrosyne, pushing forward. + +A circle was now formed round the travellers, and the details I have +given you were made by Ianthe. And she wound up by saying, "And what +Ambrosia's gift to Hermione has been, we cannot make out." + +"Then I will tell you!" cried little Aglaia, springing lightly high +into the air, and descending gently on a huge shell at her feet; "_She +likes every thing she does, and she likes to be always doing +something_. You can't put the meaning into one word, as you can Beauty +and Riches; but still it _is_ something. Can't you think of some way +of saying what I have told you? Dear me, how stupid you are all grown. +And _liking_ isn't the right word: it is something stronger than +common _liking_." + +"Love, perhaps," murmured Leila. + +"An excellent idea," cried Euphrosyne; "dear me, this delicious air is +clearing my poor head. Sisters, I will express it for you, and +Ambrosia shall say if I am right. It is THE LOVE OF EMPLOYMENT." + +Ambrosia laughed assent; but a low murmur of discontent resounded +through the Fairy group. + +"Intolerable!" cried Leila, shrugging her shoulders like a French +woman. + +"It is no Fairy gift at all," exclaimed others; "it is downright +plodding and working." + +"If the human race can be made happy by nothing but labour," cried +another; "I propose we leave them to themselves, and give them no more +Fairy gifts at all." + +"Remember," cried Ambrosia, now coming forward, "this is our first +experiment upon human happiness. Hitherto we have given Fairy gifts, +and never enquired how they have acted. And I feel sure we have always +forgotten one thing, viz. that poor men and women living in Time, and +only having in their power the small bit of it which is present, +cannot be happy unless they make Time present happy. And there is but +one plan for that; I use Aglaia's words: '_To like every thing you do, +and like to be always doing something_.'" + +Ambrosia ceased speaking, and the circled group were silent too. They +were not satisfied, however; but those sweet, airy people take nothing +to heart for long. For a short time they wandered about in little +knots of two and three, talking, and then joined together in a dance +and song, ere night surrounded them. There was from that time, +however, a general understanding among them that the human race was +too coarse and common to have much sympathy with Fairies, and even the +Godmothers agreed to this, for they were sadly tired with the unusual +quantity of thinking and observing they had had to undergo. So if you +ever wonder, dear Readers, that Fairy Gifts and Fairy Godmothers have +gone out of fashion; you may conclude that the adventure of Ambrosia +and Hermione is the reason. + + * * * * * + +The story is ended; and if any enquiring child should say, "There are +no more Fairy gifts, and we can no more give ourselves love of +employment than beauty or riches;" let me correct this dangerous +error! Wiser heads than mine have shown that every thing we do becomes +by HABIT, not only _easy_, but actually _agreeable_.[4] + +[4] Abercrombie. Moral Feelings. + +Dear Children! encourage a habit of _attention_ to whatever you +undertake, and you may make that habit not only easy, but agreeable; +and then, I will venture to promise you, you will _like_ and even +_love_ your occupations. And thus, though you may not have so many +talents as Hermione, you may call all those you do possess, into play, +and make them the solace, pleasure and resources of your earthly +career. + +If you do this, I think you will not feel disposed to quarrel, as the +Fairies did, with Ambrosia's gift; for increased knowledge of the +world, and your own happy experience, will convince you more and more +that no Fairy Gift is so well worth having, as, + +THE LOVE OF EMPLOYMENT. + + + + +JOACHIM THE MIMIC. + + +There was, once upon a time, a little boy, who, living in the time +when Genies and Fairies used now and then to appear, had all the +advantage of occasionally seeing wonderful sights, and all the +_dis_advantage of being occasionally dreadfully frightened. This +little boy was one day walking alone by the sea side, for he lived in +a fishing town, and as he was watching the tide, he perceived a bottle +driven ashore by one of the big waves. He rushed forward to catch it +before the wave sucked it back again, and succeeded. Now then he was +quite delighted, but he could not get the cork out, for it was +fastened down with rosin, and there was a seal on the top. So being +very impatient, he took a stone and knocked the neck of the bottle +off. + +What was his surprize to find himself instantly suffocated with a +smoke that made his eyes smart and his nose sneeze, just as much as if +a quantity of Scotch snuff had been thrown over him! He jumped about +and puffed a good deal, and was just beginning to cry, as a matter of +course for a little boy when he is annoyed; when lo! and behold! he +saw before him such an immense Genie, with black eyes and a long +beard, that he forgot all about crying and began to shake with fear. + +The Genie told him he need not be afraid, and desired him not to +shake; for, said he, "You have been of great use to me; a Genie, +stronger than myself, had fastened me up in yonder bottle in a fit of +ill humour, and as he had put his seal at the top, nobody could draw +the cork. Luckily for me, you broke the neck of the bottle, and I am +free. Tell me therefore, good little boy, what shall I do for you to +show my gratitude?" + +But now, before I go on with this, I must tell you that the day before +the little boy's adventure with the bottle and the Genie, the King of +that country had come to the fishing town I spoke of, in a gold +chariot drawn by twelve beautiful jet black horses, and attended by a +large train of officers and followers. A herald went before announcing +that the King was visiting the towns of his dominions, for the sole +purpose of doing justice and exercising acts of charity and kindness. +And all people in trouble and distress were invited to come and lay +their complaints before him. And accordingly they did so, and the good +King, though quite a youth, devoted the whole day to the benevolent +purpose he proposed; and it is impossible to describe the amount of +good he accomplished in that short time. Among others who benefited +was our little boy's Mother, a widow who had been much injured and +oppressed. He redressed her grievances, and in addition to this, +bestowed valuable and useful presents upon her. "Look what an example +the young King sets," was the cry on every side! "Oh, my son, imitate +him!" exclaimed our poor Widow, as in a transport of joy and emotion, +she threw her arms around her boy's neck. "I wish I _could_ imitate +him and be like him!" murmured little Joachim: (such was the child's +name). "My boy," cried the Widow, "imitate every thing that is good, +and noble, and virtuous, and you _will_ be like him!" Joachim looked +earnestly in her face, but was silent. He understood a good deal that +his Mother meant; he knew he was to try to do every thing that was +good, and so be like the young King; but, as he was but a little boy, +I am not quite sure that he had not got a sort of vague notion of the +gold chariot and the twelve jet black horses, mixed up with his idea +of imitating all that was good and noble and virtuous, and being like +the young King. I may be wrong; but, at seven years old, you will +excuse him if his head did get a little confused, and if he could not +quite separate his ideas of excessive virtue and goodness from all the +splendour in which the pattern he was to imitate appeared before his +eyes. + +However that may be, his Mother's words made a profound impression +upon him. He thought of nothing else, and if he had been in the silly +habit of telling his dreams, I dare say he would have told his mother +next morning that he had been dreaming of them. Certainly they came +into his head the first thing in the morning; and they were still in +his head when he walked along by the sea-shore, as has been described; +so much so, that even his adventure did not make him forget them; and +therefore, when this Genie, as I told you before, offered to do any +thing he wanted, little Joachim said, "Genie, I want to imitate every +thing that is good, and noble, and virtuous, so you must make me +able!" + +The Genie looked very much surprized, and rather confused; he expected +to have been asked for toys, or money, or a new horse, or something +nice of that sort; but Joachim looked very grave, so the Genie saw he +was in earnest, and he did a most wonderful thing for a Genie; he +actually sat down beside the little boy to talk to him. I don't +recollect that a single Genie in the Arabian Nights, ever did such a +thing before; but this Genie did: What is more, he stroked his beard, +and spoke very softly, as follows: + +"My dear little boy, you have asked a great thing. I can do part of +what you wish, but not all; for you have asked what concerns the heart +and conscience, and we Genies, cannot influence these, for the great +Ruler of all things alone has them under his control. He allows us, +however, power over the intellect--ah! now I see you cannot understand +me, little boy!--Well! I mean this;--I can make your head clever, but +I cannot make your heart good: I can give you the power of imitation, +but as to _what_ you imitate, that must depend upon yourself, and the +great Being I dare not name!" + +After saying this, the Genie laid his immense forefingers on each side +of Joachim's head just above his forehead, and then disappeared. + +Joachim felt no pain, but when he got up and put on his cap to go +home, his head seemed almost too large for it. + +Perhaps he wanted a new cap, but the phrenologists would tell you he +had got the organ of Imitation. + +He did not thoroughly understand what the Genie said, but he was +convinced that something had been done towards making him like to the +young King. As he was dawdling home, his eye was struck by the sight +of a beautiful because picturesque dark fishing-boat, which he saw +very plainly, because the red sun was setting behind it. Joachim felt +a strange wish to make something like it; and, taking up a bit of +white chalk he saw at his feet, he drew a picture of the boat on the +tarred side of another that was near him. While he was so engaged, an +old fisherman came up very angrily. He thought the child was +disfiguring his boat; but, to his surprise, he saw that the little +fellow's drawing was so capital, he wished he could do as much +himself. + +"Why, who taught you to do that, young Master?" said he. + +Joachim was no great talker at any time, and he now merely said, +"Nobody," and smiled. + +"Well, you must draw my boat some day, for me to hang up; and now +here's a luck penny for you, for you certainly are a capital hand for +such a youngster." + +Joachim was greatly pleased with the penny, for it was a curious old +one, with a hole through it; and he told his Mother all about it; but +though it may seem strange, he never mentioned the bottle and the +Genie to her at all. That appeared to him to be a quite private affair +of his own. + +He altered very much, however, by degrees. He had been till then +rather a dull, silent boy: now he talked much more, was more amusing, +was always endeavouring to draw, and after being at church would try +to read the prayers like the parson. His Mother was delighted. She +began to think her son would grow up a good scholar after all, and +being now well off, owing to the King's kindness, she resolved on +sending little Joachim to school. + +To school, accordingly, he went; and here, my little readers, there +was a great change for him. Hitherto he had lived very much alone with +his Mother, and being quiet, and somewhat dull by nature, he had never +till quite lately had many acquaintances of his own age. + +Now, however, he found himself among great numbers of youths, of all +ages, and all characters. At first he was shy and observant, but this +soon wore off, and he became a favourite. Nobody was more liked at any +time, and he was completely unrivalled in the play-ground. He could +set all the boys in a roar of laughter, when, hid behind a bush, he +would bark so like a dog that the unhappy wights who were not in the +secret expected to see a vicious hound spring out upon them, and took +to their heels in fright. He was first in every attempt at acting, +which the boys got up; and there was not a cat nor a pig in the +neighbourhood whose mew and squeak he could not give with the utmost +exactness. If you ask how he got on at lessons, I must say--well, but +not _very_ well. His powers of entertaining his companions were so +great, that I fear he found their easily-acquired praise more tempting +than the rewards of laborious learning. He could learn easily enough, +it is true; but while his steadier neighbours were working hard, he +was devising some new scheme for fun when lessons should be over, or +making some odd drawing on his slate to induce his companions to an +outburst of laughter. + +There were many excuses to be made for little Joachim; and it is +always so pleasant to please, that I do not much wonder at his being +led astray by possessing the power. + +Time went on, meanwhile; and Joachim became aware at last that he +possessed a larger share than common of the power of imitation. When +he first clearly felt this, he thought of the Genie and his two +forefingers, I believe;--but his school life, and his funny ways, and +the constant diversion of his mind, quite prevented his thinking of +all the serious things the Genie had spoken. Nay, even his Mother's +words had nearly faded from his mind, and he had forgotten the young +King, and his own wishes to be like him. It was a pity it was so; but +so it was! Poor Joachim! he was a very good fellow, and kind also in +reality; but first the pleasure of making his companions laugh, and +then the pleasure of being a sort of little great man among them, were +fast misleading him. For instance, though at first he amused them by +imitating dogs, and cats, and pigs, he next tried his powers at +imitating any thing queer and odd in the boys themselves, and, for a +time, this was most entertaining. When he mimicked the awkward walk of +one boy, and the bad drawl of another, and the loutish carriage of a +third, the school resounded with shouts of laughter, which seemed to +our Hero a great triumph,--something like the cheers which had greeted +the good young King as he left the fishing-town. But certainly the +cause was a very different one! By degrees, however, it must be +admitted, that Joachim's popularity began a little to decrease; for, +though a boy has no objection to see his neighbour laughed at, he does +not like quite so well to be laughed at himself, and there are very +few who can bear it with good humour. And now Joachim had given such +way to the pastime, that he was always hunting up absurdities in his +friends and neighbours, and _no one felt safe_. + +It was a long time before Joachim found out the change that was taking +place, for there were still plenty of loud laughers on his side; but +once or twice he had a feeling that all was not right: for instance, +one day when he mimicked the awkward walker to the boy who spoke badly +and stuttered, and then in the afternoon imitated the stutterer to the +awkward boy, he had a twinge of conscience, for it whispered to him +that he was a sneak, and deceitful; particularly, as both these boys +had often helped him in doing his sums and lessons when he was too +idle and _too funny_ to labour at them himself. In fact, he had been +so much helped that he was sadly behind hand in his books, for all the +school had been willing to assist "that good fellow '_Joke him_,'" as +they called him. + +At last a crisis came. A new boy arrived at the school; very big for +his age, and rather surly tempered, but a hard working, persevering +lad, who was striving hard to learn and get on. He had one defect. He +lisped very much, which certainly is an ugly trick, and sounded silly +in a great stout boy, nearly five feet high: but he had this excuse; +--his mother had died when he was very little, and his good Father had +more important business on hand in supporting his family, of which +this boy was the eldest, than in teaching him to pronounce his S's +better. It is perhaps only Mothers who attend to these little matters. +Well;--this great big boy was two or three days at the school before +Joachim went near him. There was something serious, stern, and unfunny +in his face, and when Joachim was making the other boys laugh, the +great big boy never even smiled, but fixed his eyes in a rather +unpleasant manner upon Joachim as he raised them from his books. Still +he was an irresistible subject for the Mimic; for, though he learnt +his lessons without a mistake, and always obtained the Master's +praise, he read them with so strong a lisp, and this was rendered so +remarkable by his loud, deep voice, that it fairly upset what little +prudence Joachim possessed; and, as he returned one day to his seat, +after repeating a copy of verses in the manner I have described, +Joachim, who was not far off, echoed the last two lines with such +accuracy of imitation, that it startled even the Master, who was at +that moment leaving the school-room. + +But no laugh followed as usual, for all eyes were suddenly turned on +the big boy, who, crimson with indignation, and yet quite +self-possessed in manner, walked up to Joachim and deliberately +knocked him down on the floor. Great was Joachim's amazement, you may +be sure, and severe was the blow that had levelled him; but still more +severe were the words that followed. "Young rascal," exclaimed the big +boy, "who has put _you_ in authority over your elders, that you are to +be correcting our faults and failings, instead of attending to your +own. You are beholden to any lad in the school who will do your sums, +and write your exercises for you, and then you take upon yourself to +ridicule us if we cannot pronounce our well learnt lessons to your +fancy! You saucy imp, who don't know what labour and good conduct are, +and who have nothing to boast of, but the powers which a monkey +possesses to a greater extent than yourself!" Fancy Joachim's rage! +_He_, the admired wit! the popular boy! nothing better than a monkey! +He sprang up and struck his fist into the face of his antagonist with +such fury, that the big boy, though evidently unwilling to fight one +less than himself, was obliged to bestow several sharp blows before he +could rid himself of Joachim's passion. + +At last, however, other boys separated them; but Joachim, who was +quite unused to fighting, and who had received a very severe shock +when he first fell, became so sick and ill that he was obliged to go +home. His Mother asked what was the matter. "He had been quizzing a +great big boy who lisped, and the boy knocked him down, and they had +fought." His Mother sighed; but she saw he was too poorly for talking, +so she put him to bed and nursed him carefully. + +Now, you may say, what had this Mother been about, not to have found +out and corrected Joachim's fault before? First, he was very little at +home, and as owing to the help of others, his idleness had not become +notorious, she had heard no complaints from the Masters, and thinking +he did his lessons well, she felt averse to stopping his fun and +amusements in holiday hours. Still, she had latterly begun to have +misgivings which this event confirmed. In a few days Joachim was +better, and came down stairs, and his Aunt and two or three Cousins +called to enquire after him. Their presence revived Joachim's flagging +spirits, and all the boys got together to talk and laugh. Soon their +voices echoed through the house. Joachim was at his old tricks again, +and the Schoolboys, the Ushers and the Master all furnished food for +mirth. His Cousins roared with delight. "Clever child!" exclaimed his +Aunt, "what a treasure you are in a house! one could never be dull +where _you_ are!" "Sister, Sister!" cried Joachim's Mother, "do not +say so!" "My dear," said the Aunt, "are you dull enough to be unable +to appreciate your own child's wit; oh, I wish you would give him to +me. Come here, my dear Joachim, and do the boy that walks so badly +once more for me; it's enough to kill one to see you take him off!" +Joachim's spirits rose above all control. Excited by his Aunt's +praise and the sense of superior ability, he surpassed himself. He +gave the bad walker to perfection; then imitated a lad who had +commenced singing lessons, and whose voice was at present broken and +bad. He even gave the big boy's lisp once more, and followed on with a +series of pantomimic exhibitions. + +All at once, he cast his eyes on his Mother's face--that face so full +of intelligence and the mild sorrow of years of widowhood, borne with +resigned patience. Her eyes were full of tears, and there was not a +smile on her countenance. Joachim's conscience--he knew not +why--twinged him terribly. He stopped suddenly; "Mother!" + +"Come here, Joachim!" He came. + +"Is that boy whom you have been imitating--your Aunt says so +cleverly--the _best_ walker of all the boys in your school?" + +"The _best_, Mother?" and the puzzled Joachim could not suppress a +smile. His Cousins grinned. + +"Dear Mother, of course not," continued Joachim, "on the contrary, he +is the very worst!" + +"Oh--well, have you no _good_ walkers at your school?" + +"Oh yes, several; indeed one especially; his father was a soldier, he +walks beautifully." + +"Does he, Joachim? Let me see you walk like him, my dear." + +Joachim stepped boldly enough into the middle of the room, and drew +himself up; but a sudden consciousness of his extreme inferiority to +the soldier's son, both in figure, manner and mode of walking, made +him feel quite sheepish. There was a pause of expectation. + +"Now then!" said Joachim's Mother. + +"I cannot walk like _him_, Mother," said Joachim. + +"Why not?" + +"Because he walks so _very well_!" + +"Oh,"--said Joachim's Mother. + +There was another pause. + +"Come, Joachim," continued the Widow, "I am very anxious to admire you +as much as your Aunt does. You are not tired; let us have some more +exhibitions. You gave us a song just now horribly out of tune, and +with the screeching voice of a bagpipe." + +"I was singing like Tom Smith," interrupted Joachim. + +"Is he your best singer?" enquired the Mother. Another laugh followed. + +"Nay, Mother, no one sings so badly." + +"Indeed! How does the Singing Master sing, Joachim?" + +"Oh, Mother," cried Joachim, "so beautifully, it would make the tears +come into your eyes with pleasure, to listen to him." + +"Well, but as I cannot listen to him, let me, at all events, have the +pleasure of hearing my clever son imitate him," was the reply. + +Joachim was mute. He had a voice, though not a remarkable one, but he +had shirked the labour of trying to improve it by practice. He made +one effort to sing like the Master, but overpowered by a sense of +incapacity, his voice failed, and he felt disposed to cry. + +"Why, Joachim, I thought you were such a clever creature you could +imitate any thing," cried the Mother. + +No answer fell from the abashed boy, till a sudden thought revived +him. + +"But I _can_ imitate the singing-master, Mother." + +"Let me hear you, my dear child." + +"Why it isn't exactly what you can hear," observed Joachim +murmuringly; "but when he sings, you have no idea what horrible faces +he makes. Nay, it's true, indeed, he turns up his eyes, shuts them, +distorts his mouth, and swings about on the stool like the pendulum of +a clock!" + +And Joachim performed all the grimaces and contortions to perfection, +till his Aunt and Cousins were convulsed with laughter. + +"Well done," cried his Mother. "Now you are indeed like the cat in the +German fable, Joachim! who voted himself like the bear, because he +could lick his paws after the same fashion, though he could not +imitate either his courage or his strength. Now let me look a little +further into your education. Bring me your drawing-book." It came, and +there was page after page of odd and ugly faces, strange noses, +stranger eyes, squinting out of the book in hideous array. + +"I suppose you will laugh again if I ask you if these are the +_beauties_ of your school, Joachim;--but tell me seriously, are there +no good, pleasant, or handsome faces among your schoolfellows?" + +"Plenty, Mother; one or two the Master calls models, and who often sit +to him to be drawn from." + +"Draw one of those faces for me, my dear; I am fond of beauty." And +the Mother placed the book in his hands, pointing to a blank page. + +Joachim took a pencil, and sat down. _Now_ he thought he should be +able to please his Mother; but, alas, he found to his surprise, that +the fine faces he tried to recall had not left that vivid impression +on his brain which enabled him to represent them. On the contrary, he +was tormented and baffled by visions of the odd forms and grotesque +countenances he had so often pictured. He seized the Indian-rubber and +rubbed out nose after nose to no purpose, for he never could replace +them with a better. Drawing was his favourite amusement; and this +disappointment, where he expected success, broke down his already +depressed heart. He threw the book from him, and burst into a flood of +tears. + +"Joachim! have you drawn him? What makes you cry?" + +"I cannot draw him, Mother," sobbed the distressed boy. + +"And why not? Just look here; here is an admirable likeness of +squinting Joe, as you have named him. Why cannot you draw the handsome +boy?" + +"Because his face is so handsome!" answered Joachim, still sobbing. + +"My son," said his Mother gravely, "you have now a sad lesson to +learn, but a necessary and a wholesome one. Get up, desist from +crying, and listen to me." + +Poor Joachim, who loved his mother dearly, obeyed. + +"Joachim! your Aunt, and your Cousins, and your schoolfellows have all +called you clever. In what does your cleverness consist? I will tell +you. In the Reproduction of Deformity, Defects, Failings, and +Misfortunes of every sort, that fall under your observation. A worthy +employment truly! A noble ambition! But I will now tell you the truth +about yourself. You never heard it before, and I feel sure you will +benefit now. A good or an evil Genie, I know not which, has bestowed +upon you a great power; and you have misused it. Do you know what that +power is?" + +Joachim shook his head, though he trembled all over, for he felt as if +awaking from along dream, to the recollection of the Genie. + +"It is the power of Imitation, Joachim; I call it a great power, for +it is essential to many great and useful things. It is essential to +the orator, the linguist, the artist, and the musician. Nature herself +teaches us the charm of _imitation_, when in the smooth and clear lake +you see the lovely landscape around mirrored and _repeated_.[5] What a +lesson may we not read in this sight! The commonest pond even that +reflects the foliage of the tree that hangs over it, is calling out to +us to reproduce for the solace and ornament of life, the beautiful +works of God. But oh, my son, my dear son, you have abused this gift +of Imitation, which might be such a blessing and pleasure to you." + +[5] Schiller.--"Der Kuenstler." + +"You might, if you chose, _imitate every thing that is good, and +noble, and virtuous, and beautiful_; and you are, instead of that, +reproducing every aspect of deformity that crosses your path, until +your brain is so stamped with images of defects, ugliness, and +uncouthness, that your hand and head refuse their office, when I call +upon you to reproduce the beauties with which the world is graced." + +I doubt if Joachim heard the latter part of his Mother's speech. At +the recurrence to the old sentence, a gleam of lightning seemed to +shoot across his brain. Latent memories were aroused as keenly as if +the events had but just occurred, and he sank at his Mother's feet. + +When she ceased to speak, he arose. + +"Mother," said he, "I have been living in a cloud. I have been very +wrong. Besides which, I have a secret to tell you. Nay, my Aunt may +hear. It has been a secret, and then it has been forgotten; but now I +remember all, and understand far more than I once did." + +Here Joachim recounted to his Mother the whole story of her words to +him, and his adventure with the Genie and the bottle; and then, very +slowly, and interrupted by many tears of repentance, he repeated what +the Genie had said about giving him _the power_ of imitation, adding +that the use he made of it must depend on himself and the great Ruler +of the heart and conscience. + +There was a great fuss among the Cousins at the notion of Joachim +having talked to a Genie; and, to tell you the truth, this was all +they thought about, and soon after took their leave. The heart of +Joachim's Mother was at rest, however: for though she knew how hard +her son would find it to alter what had become a habit of life, she +knew that he was a good and pious boy, and she saw that he was fully +alive to his error. + +"Oh Mother," said he, during the course of that evening, "how plain I +see it all now! The boy that stutters is a model of obedience and +tenderness; I ought to have dwelt upon and imitated that, and, oh! I +thought only of his stuttering. The boy that walks so clumsily, as +well as the great fellow that lisps, are such industrious lads, and so +advanced in learning, that the master thinks both will be +distinguished hereafter; and I, who--(oh, my poor mother, I must +confess to you)--hated to labour at any thing, and have got the boys +to do my lessons for me;--I, instead of imitating their industry, lost +all my time in ridiculing their defects.--What shall--what shall I +do!" + +The next morning poor Joachim said his prayers more humbly than he had +ever before done in his life; and, kissing his mother, went to school. +The first thing he did on arriving was to go up to the big boy, who +had beaten him, and beg him to shake hands. + +The big boy was pleased, and a grim smile lightened up his face. "But, +old fellow," said he, laying his hand on Joachim's shoulder, "take a +friend's advice. There is good in all of us, depend upon it. Look out +for all that's good, and let the bad points take care of themselves. +_You_ won't get any handsomer, by squinting like poor Joe; nor speak +any pleasanter for lisping like me; nor walk any better for apeing +hobbling. But the ugliest of us have some good about us. Look out for +_that_, my little lad; I do, or I should not be talking to you! I see +that you are honest and forgiving, though you _are_ a monkey! There +now, I must go on with my lessons! You do yours!" + +Never was better advice given, and Joachim took it well, and bore it +bravely; but, oh, how hard it was to his mind, accustomed for so long +to wander away and seek amusement at wrong times, to settle down +resolutely and laboriously to study. He made a strong effort, however; +and though he had often to recall his thoughts, he in a measure +succeeded. + +After school-hours he begged the big boy to come and sit by him, and +then he requested his old friends and companions to listen to a story +he had to tell them. They expected something funny, and many a broad +grin was seen; but poor Joachim's eyes were yet red with weeping, and +his gay voice was so subdued, the party soon became grave and +wondering, and then Joachim told them every thing. They were delighted +to hear about the Genie, and were also pleased to find themselves safe +from Joachim's ridicule. It could not be expected they should all +understand the story, but the big boy did, and became Joachim's +greatest friend and adviser. + +That evening our little friend, exhausted with the efforts and +excitement of his almost first day of repentance, strolled out in a +somewhat pensive mood to his favourite haunt, the sea shore. A stormy +sunset greeted his arrival on the beach, but the tide was ebbing, and +he wandered on till he reached some caverns among the cliffs. And +there, as had often been his wont, he sat down to gaze out upon the +waste of waters safe and protected from harm. It is very probable that +he fell asleep--but the point could never be clearly known, for he +always said it was no sleep and no dream he had then, but that, whilst +sitting in the inmost recesses of the cave, he saw once more his old +friend the Genie, who after reproaching him with the bad use he had +made of his precious gift, gave him a world of good advice and +instruction. + +There is no doubt that after that time, Joachim was seen daily +struggling against his bad habits; and that by degrees he became able +to exercise his mind in following after the good and beautiful instead +of after the bad and ugly. It was a hard task to him for many a long +day to fix his flighty thoughts down to the business in hand, and to +dismiss from before his eyes the ridiculous images that often +presented themselves. But his Mother's wishes, or the Genie's advice, +or something better still, prevailed. And you cannot think, of what +wonderful use the Genie's gift was to him then. Once turned in a right +direction and towards worthy objects, he found it like a sort of +friend at his right hand, helping him forward in some of the most +interesting pursuits of life. Ah! all the energy he had once bestowed +on imitating lisps and stuttering, was now engaged in catching the +sounds of foreign tongues, and thus taking one step towards the +citizenship of the world. And instead of wasting time in gazing at the +singing master's face, that he might ape its unnatural distortions--it +was now the sweet tones of skilful harmony to which he bent his +attention, and which he strove, and not in vain, to reproduce. + +The portfolio which he brought home to his Mother at the end of +another half-year, was crowded with laborious and careful copies from +the best models of beauty and grace. And not with those only, for many +a face could be found on its pages in which the Mother recognized some +of her son's old companions. Portraits, not of the mere formation of +mouths and noses, which in so many cases, viewed merely as forms, are +defective and unattractive, but portraits of the same faces, upon +which the character of the inward mind and heart was so stamped that +it threw the mere shape of the features far into the background. + +Thus with the pursuit of his favourite art, Joachim combined "that +most excellent gift of charity;" for it was now his pride and pleasure +to make the charm of expression from "_the good points_" his old +friend had talked about, triumph over any physical defects. The very +spirit and soul of the best sort of portrait painting. And here, my +dear young readers, I would fain call your attention to the fact of +how one right habit produces another. The more Joachim laboured over +seizing the good expression of the faces he drew from, the more he was +led to seek after and find out the good points themselves whence the +expression arose; and thus at last it became a _Habit_ with him to try +and discover every thing that was excellent and commendable in the +characters of those he met; a very different plan from that pursued by +many of us, who in our intercourse with each other, are but too apt to +fasten with eagle-eye accuracy on failings and faults. Which is a very +grave error, and a very misleading one, for if it does nothing else, +it deprives us of all the good we should get by a daily habit of +contemplating what is worthy our regard and remembrance. And so +strongly did Joachim's mother feel this, and so earnestly did she wish +her son to understand that a power which seems bestowed for worldly +ends, may be turned to spiritual advantage also, that when his +birthday came round she presented to him among other gifts, a little +book, called "The Imitation of Jesus Christ." It was the work of an +old fellow called Thomas a Kempis, and though more practical books of +piety have since been written, the idea contained in the title +suggests a great lesson, and held up before Joachim's eyes, Him whom +one of our own divines has since called "The Great Exemplar." + +This part of our little hero's 'Lesson of Life,' we can all take to +ourselves, and go and do likewise. And so I hope his story may be +profitable, though we have not all of us a large Genie-gift of +Imitation as he had. With him the excess of this power took a very +natural turn, for though he possessed through its aid, considerable +facilities for music and the study of languages also, the course of +events led him irresistibly to what is usually called "the fine arts." +And if the old dream of the royal chariot and the twelve jet black +horses was never realized to him, a higher happiness by far was his, +when some years after, he and his Mother stood in the council house of +his native town; she looking up with affectionate pride while he +showed her a portrait of the good young King which had a few hours +before been hung up upon its walls. It was the work of Joachim +himself. + + + + +DARKNESS AND LIGHT. + +_The darkness and the light to Thee are both alike_. + + +Far away to the west, on the borders of the Sea, there lived a lady +and gentleman in a beautiful old house built something like a castle. +They had several children, nice little boys and girls, who were far +fonder of their Sea Castle, as they called it, than of a very pleasant +house which they had in a great town at some distance off. Still they +used to go and be very merry in the Town House in the winter time when +the hail and snow fell, and the winds blew so cold that nobody could +bear to walk out by the wild sea shore. + +But in summer weather the case was quite altered. Indeed, as soon as +ever the sun began to get a little power, and to warm the panes of +glass in the nursery windows of the Town House, there was a hue and +cry among all the children to be off to their Sea Castle home, and +many a time had Papa and Mamma to send them angrily out of the room, +because they would do nothing but beg to "set off directly." They were +always "sure that the weather was getting quite hot," and "it _must_ +be summer, for they heard the sparrows chirping every morning the +first thing," and they "thought they had seen a swallow," and "the +windows got so warm with the sunshine, Nurse declared they were enough +to burn one's fingers:" and so the poor little things teazed +themselves and everybody else, every year, in their hurry to get back +to their western home. But I dare say you have heard the old proverb, +"One swallow does not make a summer;" and so it was proved very often +to our friends. For the Spring season is so changeable, there are +often some soft mild days, and then a cruel frost comes again, and +perhaps snow as well; and people who have boasted about fine weather +and put off their winter clothes, look very foolish. + +Still Time passes on; and when May was half over, the Town House used +to echo with shouts of noisy delight, and boxes were banged down in +the passages, and there was a great calling out for cords, and much +scolding about broken keys and padlocks, and the poor Carpenter who +came to mend the trunks and find new keys to old locks, was at his +wits' end and his patience' end too. + +But at last the time came when all this bustle was succeeded by +silence in the Town House, for carriages had rolled away with the +happy party, and nobody was left behind but two or three women +servants to clean out the deserted rooms. + +And now then, my little readers, who are, I hope, wondering what is +coming next, you must fancy to yourselves the old Sea Castle Home. It +had two large turrets; and winding staircases led from the passages +and kitchens underneath the sitting rooms, up to the top of the +turrets, and so out upon the leads of the house, from which there was +the most beautiful view of the Ocean you ever saw; and, as the top of +the house was battlemented, like the top of your church tower, people +could walk about quite safely and comfortably, without any fear of +falling over. Then, though it is a very unusual thing near the Sea, +there were delightful gardens at the place, and a few very fine old +elm trees near the house, in which a party of rooks built their nests +every year; and the children had gardens of their own, in which they +could dig up their flowers to see if the roots were growing, to their +heart's content, and perform other equally ingenious feats, such as +watering a plant two or three times a day, or after a shower of rain, +and then wondering that, with such tender care, the poor thing should +rot away and die. + +But I almost think the children liked the sands on the shore as well +as the gardens, though they loved both. Not that there was any +amusement astir by the water side there, as you have seen in other +places where there are boats and fishermen and nets, and great coils +of ropes, and an endless variety of entertaining sights connected with +the seafaring business going on. Nay, in some places where there is +not a very good shore for landing, it is an amusement of itself to see +each boat or fishing yawl come in. There is such a contrast between +the dark tarred wood and the white surf that dashes up all round it; +and the fishermen are so clever in watching the favourable moment for +a wave to carry them over their difficulties; that I think this is one +of the prettiest sights one can see. But no such thing was ever seen +on the shore by the old Sea Castle, for there was no fishing there. +People thought the sea was too rough and the landing too difficult, +and so no fishing village had ever been built, and no boats ever +attempted to come within many miles of the place. + +Nobody cared to ask further, or try to account for the wildness of the +sea on that coast; but I can tell you all about it, although it must +be in a sort of half whisper--_The place was on the borders of Fairy +Land!_ that is to say, many many unknown numbers of miles out at sea, +right opposite to the Castle, there was a Fairy Island, and it was the +Fairies who kept the sea so rough all round them, for fear some +adventurous sailor should approach the island, or get near enough to +fish up some of the pearls and precious stones they kept in a crystal +palace underneath the water. + +So now you know the reason why the sea was so rough, and there was no +fishing going on at the Sea Castle Home. + +If you want to know whether any body ever saw the Fairy Island, I must +say, yes; but very seldom. And never but in the evening when the sun +was setting, and that under particular circumstances--namely, when he +went down into a dark red bank of clouds, or when there was a lurid +crimson hue over the sky just above the horizon. Then occasionally you +might see the dim hazy outline as of a beautiful mountainous island +against the clouds, or the deep-coloured sky. There is an island +sometimes seen from our western coast, under similar circumstances, +but which you strain your eyes in vain to discern by the brighter +light of day.[6] + +[6] Isle of Man from Blackpool. + +It is a very ticklish thing to live on the borders of Fairy Land; for +though you cannot get to the Fairies, they can get to you, and it is +not altogether a pleasant thing to have your private affairs overseen +and interfered with by such beings as they are, though sometimes it +may be most useful and agreeable. Besides which, there was a +Fairy-secret connected with the family that lived at the Sea Castle. +An Ancestress of the present Mistress had been a Fairy herself, and +though she had accommodated herself to mortal manners, and lived with +her husband quite quietly as well as happily, and so her origin had +been in a great measure forgotten, it was not unknown to her +descendant, the Lady Madeline, who now lived in the place. And, in +fact, soon after Lady Madeline first came there, a Fairy named Eudora +had appeared to her, declaring herself to be a sort of distant cousin, +and offering and promising friendship and assistance, whenever asked +or even wished for. In return, she only begged to be allowed to visit, +and ramble at will about the old place which she had known for so many +many long years, and had once had the unlimited run of; and she +protested with tears that the family should never in any way be +disturbed by her. Lady Madeline could not well refuse the request, but +I cannot say she gave her fairy acquaintance any encouragement; and so +poor Eudora never showed herself to them again. And Madeline never +thought much about her, except now and then accidentally, when, if +they were walking on the sands, some extraordinarily rare and +beautiful shells would be thrown ashore by a wave at the children's +feet, as if tossed up especially for their amusement. And it was only +in some such kind little way as this they were ever reminded of the +Fairy's existence. + +Lady Madeline's eldest son, Roderick, always seemed most favoured by +the Fairy in the pretty things she sent ashore, and certainly he was a +very nice boy, and a very good one on the whole--cheerful and honest +as the daylight, and very intelligent; but I cannot tell you, dear +readers, that he had _no_ faults, for that was not at all likely, and +you would not believe it if I said so, even although he is to be the +Hero of my tale. + +Now I do not want to make you laugh at him, but the story requires +that I should reveal to you one of his weak points. Well then, +although he was six years old, he was afraid of being alone in the +dark! Sometimes when he was in the large dining room with his Father +and Mother at dinner time, she would perhaps ask him to fetch +something for her from the drawing room which was close by; but, do +you know, if there were no candles in the room, he would look very +silly and refuse to go, even though there were a fire sufficient to +see by. He was too honest to make any false excuses, so he used just +to say that the room was so dark he could not go! + +Poor Madeline was very sorry, for she wanted her little boy to be +brave, but somehow or other he had got very silly about his fears of +being in the dark, and she could not succeed in curing him of his +folly. + +"My dear Roderick," she would say sometimes, "if I send in some +candles, will you go into the drawing room?" + +"O yes, Mamma." + +"Then do you really mean to say you think _the Candles take care of +you_?" + +"No, Mamma." + +"Then why won't you go into the room without; you know there is a +fire? + +"Because it is so dark, Mamma." + +Here was a difficulty indeed; for you see he _would_ come back to the +old point, and would not listen to reason. + +One day some conversation of this sort having passed between them, +Madeline, as she was wont to do, asked him if God could not take care +of him by night as well as by day; in the dark as well as in light, +for "the darkness and light are both alike to him." + +"Oh yes," cried poor Roderick, with great animation, "and I can tell +you a story about that. There was, once upon a time, a little Boy and +a Nurse who went out walking, and they walked so long they got +benighted in a very dark wood, and because it was so dark the Nurse +screamed and was very much frightened; and the little boy said, +'Nurse, why are you frightened? Don't be frightened; I am not +frightened. God can take care of us in the dark as well as in the +light,'" + +"Oh Roderick! what a pretty story," cried his Mamma. + +And so thought Roderick; for his eye glistened and his cheek flushed +as he came to the conclusion. + +And here, dear readers, was the worst difficulty of all; for though +Roderick's reason was quite convinced that God could take care of him +in the dark, he still could not bear to be in the dark without the +help of candles besides, though he quite knew they could not take care +of him at all. So you see by this that Reason, though it may convince +a person he is wrong, cannot put him right. There wants some other +help for that. And here let me just stop a moment to beg you to beware +of _bad habits_; for you see they become at last more powerful than +reason itself. + +I do not know how Roderick first got into his foolish habit, and it +does not much matter. I know he at one time had a fancy there was +something unpleasant about the pipes that carried the water about the +house, and he would not for a long time go by the pipes alone. Now, +how you laugh! well, but he got out of that nonsense; and I hope to be +able to tell you that he got out of the other too: but at the time I +speak of, he made his Mamma full of sorrow for his want of sense and +courage. + +It must be admitted that there were one or two excuses to be made for +the child. There was a great contrast between the Town House and the +Sea Castle. The Town House was full of lights. All the sitting rooms +were generally lighted, for a great deal of company came there, and +there were always lights along the passages; and the nursery windows +looked into a square, and the square was lighted up by lamps every +night; and it was one of Roderick's greatest pleasures to watch the +lamplighter running quickly up the tall ladder to the lamps to light +them, and then popping down again equally hurriedly, and running along +(ladder and all) to the next lamp post, and so on, till the square was +brilliant all round; and very often, as Roderick lay in his little bed +watching the glimmering thrown by these pretty lamps on the nursery +wall, he used to think and think of his friend the nimble lamplighter, +till he dropped fast asleep. You see, therefore, he had very little to +try his courage in the Town House, and there was seldom or never any +fuss about his fears till the move to the Sea Castle took place; and +then there were no more lamps and lamplighters, and no more +comfortable glimmerings from his bright pets the lamps after he went +to bed; and he used to get silly directly, and declare that he saw +bears whenever he shut his eyes; and he seemed to expect to find lions +and tigers under the sofas, by the fuss he made when he was asked to +go into the rooms. Certainly there was a grand old fashioned lamp in +the hall of the Sea Castle; but the hall itself was so big, and went +up so high, that the light in one part only seemed to make the shadow +and darkness of the other part look blacker still; so that I must +confess there was something gloomy about the house. Then, too, there +were those two turrets with the winding staircases, and as Roderick +had never dared to do any thing more than peep in at the low entrance +doors below, where he saw nothing but four or five steps going up into +complete blackness, he had got a sort of notion there must be +something horrid about them. + +Well; it was soon after this little boy's sixth birthday, that the +family arrived at the Sea-Castle, and it so happened, that, on the day +after their arrival, there was some very stormy and dismal weather. +The wind howled very loudly, and there was a good deal of rain; and +Lady Madeline wished they had waited a week or two longer. The sky was +so charged and heavy, too, that they found the house very dark, even +by day-light; and Roderick, who was a little tired with his journey +the day before, began to fancy all kinds of nonsense; talked more +about seeing bears than ever; and finally cried tremendously at going +to bed, declaring he was sure there was a tiger in the coal-pan. Now +you know, my dears, this was a bit of great nonsense; for Roderick +knew quite well that there are no wild beasts in England but what are +kept in very strong cages; and that the men who take wild-beast shows +round the country can by no means afford to let their tigers sleep in +nursery coal-pans! + +Poor Madeline never liked to see any of her children go to bed in +tears. And Roderick was so gay and merry generally, it seemed quite +unnatural in him; but though at last he left off crying, she could not +persuade him to be cheerful, and smile; for he declared that as soon +as ever she took her candle away, he could not help seeing those +unlucky bears. Was there ever any thing so silly before! She reasoned +with him, but to no purpose. He always said he quite believed in God's +presence, and His being able to take care of him; but, as I said +before, his bad habit had got the better of his good sense, and he +finished off every thing that could be said, by seeing bears, and +dreading a tiger in the coal-pan. + +"What are we to do with that child?" cried Madeline to her husband, as +they were going to bed. "He is beginning as foolishly as ever this +year, in spite of being a year older. I really shall at last be +inclined to think that in spite of all her fair promises of friendship +and assistance, and of never injuring the family, the Fairy Eudora +must secretly frighten the child in some way we don't know of." + +"No such thing, my dear Madeline; I cannot for a moment believe it;" +said her husband. "I have a better opinion of your relations, the +Fairies, than you have yourself. I am sure Eudora would not break her +word for the world; and there is no mystery about Roderick's folly. He +is full of fancies of all sorts,--some pretty, and some silly ones; +and we must do every thing we can to cure him of the silly ones. It +certainly is a very hard matter to accomplish, for I perceive he +admits the truth of every thing you say, and yet is as silly as ever +at the end. I heartily wish the Fairy Eudora _would_ interfere to cure +him of his nonsense!" + +"And so do I, if she could, and would," sighed Madeline; "but she has +quite deserted us. Besides, if she were to come, I don't see how she +could possibly do any good. Fairies cannot change little boys' hearts; +and I must confess I never yet got any good myself from having a Fairy +ancestress, and I have no confidence in them.--Still," pursued the +good lady, as she laid her head on her pillow, "I am not able, it +appears, to convince Roderick myself; and therefore I feel, with you, +that I wish the Fairy would come and try." + +"I fear it is in vain to say so now, Madeline. We have wished the poor +creature out of the way so often for the last ten years, that it is +not very likely a single wish the other way will bring her to us." + +"No, indeed," murmured the Fairy Eudora, who at that moment was +standing on the shore of the Fairy Island; "you are a pretty pair, you +two, to think of such a thing! I begged to be allowed to come about +the place years ago, and you didn't refuse; but you always kept me +away by _wishing_ I mightn't come; and now, because you are puzzled to +know what to do with your silly child, you want me with you for the +first time these ten years! Oh, you selfish people, don't fancy I'll +come near you!" And the justly angry Fairy stamped her foot in +indignation, and retired into private apartments in the palace. + +Do not be surprised at what you have just heard, my dear children; for +though you may have never thought about the power and importance of +_wishes_, there is, I assure you, a great deal of both one and the +other belonging to them. Some people talk, indeed, of "mere wishes," +as if they were trifles light as air; but it is not so. To prove this, +first think what importance is attached to them in the Scriptures. +Wishes are a sort of porch or doorway to actions. In the Tenth +Commandment we are forbidden to _wish_ for what belongs to our +neighbour;--for who is so likely to break the Eighth Commandment, and +steal, as the man who breaks the Tenth, and wishes for any thing that +is not his? + +And so, all the evil in the world begins by _wishing_ something wrong; +and if you can cure yourself of wishing wrongly, you will very seldom +_do_ wrong. + +Now you see, I am sure, how important wishes are for evil; but they +are equally strong for good. For, if you wish well to any one, you +have opened the first door to doing him a kindness. And if you +heartily wish to be good, you have opened the first gate on the road +of becoming so. Of course, wishes will not do every thing; but they do +a great deal. + +And there is another thing. They never fall to the ground unnoticed. +Though you and I cannot look into each other's hearts, or hear the +wishes breathed there, there is One who hears them all. Good wishes, +my dear children, all ascend upwards to the throne of Grace, like +sweet perfume. They are all accepted and remembered; and, I fear I +must add, that bad wishes go up too, and are noted in His book who +takes account of all we do. + +Be sure, therefore, that you encourage your hearts in a habit of good, +and kind, and charitable wishes; and if ever the bad ones come into +your head, pray against them, and drive them away. + +Meanwhile do not be surprized that in Fairy tales, Fairies are +supposed to hear wishes concerning themselves. And so Eudora heard +those about her coming and curing the child of his folly; and as I +have told you, she was very indignant at the selfishness of both Lady +Madeline and her husband. + +A few days after the family had taken up their residence in the Sea +Castle, the weather began to improve; and, though the wind lasted, the +sun came out; and all the children and the nurses went walking on the +sands. As it was the first time that year, you may guess what shouting +and delight there was; how the little spades dug away at holes for the +sea-water to come up in, and how the children caught at the sea-weeds +that were scattered on the lands to carry home to their Mamma; how +they picked up shells, and gambolled about in all directions, +declaring that they had never known the Sea Castle Home so delightful +before. By degrees they had strayed to a considerable distance along +the sands, with the nurses, when, alas! the latter perceived that a +storm was coming on, and it caught them long before they reached home. +A strong wind blew off the sea, and they had difficulty in keeping +their feet, and at last two or three of the children were almost +hidden in a cloud of sand, which a violent gust suddenly drove against +them. All the little party cried lustily, because the sand had blown +into their eyes, and made them smart, and sad work there was in +getting them home again. But they reached home at last, dripping with +wet from hailstones, and their eyes all red and disfigured by the sand +and wind. None, however, were so bad as those I have mentioned, who +had been so covered over by the sand that it had even got down their +necks, and made them uncomfortable all over. Among these was Roderick, +who cried a great deal more than he ought to have done, as the nurses +thought, and did not stop and declare himself comfortable as the rest +did, after the sand had been washed out of his eyes with rose water. +In fact he kept crying more or less all the afternoon, saying his eyes +hurt him so, and at last he could get no relief but by holding them +shut. + +Now it is just possible you may have heard of a complaint of the eyes +called Ophthalmia, which comes on sometimes in very hot countries, +India for instance; and sometimes in travelling across the deserts of +Arabia, where the sand gets into the eyes, and irritates them very +much; it can very often be cured, but not always, and when it cannot, +it ends in blindness. Lady Madeline knew all about the complaint; and, +therefore, you will not be surprised to hear that when she found her +little boy's eyes did not get better, and that he persisted in keeping +them shut, because they then became easy, she thought it right to send +to some miles' distance for a doctor, who accordingly arrived at the +Sea Castle before nightfall. But when he came he shook his head very +much, for he could not understand what was the matter; and when he +persuaded Roderick to lift up his eyelids, to let him see his eyes, he +could perceive nothing amiss but a little redness, which the wind and +sand quite accounted for. Still the child was uneasy, and would keep +his eyes shut; so the Doctor thought he must try something, and he +used some lotions common in such cases; but, as they did no good, the +kind old gentleman, at Madeline's request, consented to sit by the +little boy's bedside at night; when, all at once, as he was carefully +dabbing his eyes with rosewater, he perceived that the child was fast +asleep. + +The Doctor was delighted, and went to his mother, who was then with +her husband, and said that as Roderick had gone to sleep so nicely, he +had no doubt that his eyes would be well when he awoke in the morning, +and so he took his leave, for he had other patients to visit. + +It was then between twelve and one o'clock, and Lady Madeline, much +comforted in heart, went to bed. At an early hour next morning, +however, she went to Roderick's bedside, and perceived he was just +waking. + +To the question of "How are you, my darling?" his cheerful joyous +voice made answer, "Oh, quite well, Mamma, and I've such a funny dream +to tell you, and my eyes don't hurt me a bit, not a bit! but I'm +afraid to open them for fear they should. I can tell you something so +funny the Doctor said last night, Mamma." "Never mind about the +doctor, you rogue," cried Madeline, "I see you are all right, only +just open your dear old eyes, that I may tell Papa I have seen them +when I go back to dress." + +"Then I will, Mamma, to please you!" and up sat the pretty child in +his bed, and opened wide his blue eyes. There was no redness--it was +all gone--but + +"Mamma! where are you," cried Roderick, "I have opened my eyes, and +they don't hurt--but it is quite dark: _isn't the night over_?..." + +Oh, my dear readers! there was a stream of sunshine on the lovely face +and bright hair of little Roderick as he spoke, and the poor blue eyes +were turned up to his mother, looking vainly for her face. You cannot +wonder if I add that she sank down fainting on the bed; and when +Roderick's scream of terror brought the nurses to them, she was +carried away insensible from the room. + +Her darling was utterly blind. + + * * * * * + +And now imagine to yourselves how the afflicted parents sent for the +best doctors the country afforded, and how one thing after another was +tried--but, alas! every thing in vain, for the medical men were all +quite puzzled. Still some people gave them hopes, and in spite of many +disappointments, they went on trying to hope for several months. At +last they settled to leave the sea castle and go to the great town +sooner than usual, thinking some of the doctors there might be +cleverer than the country ones. But they had no better success. +Perhaps now you would like to know how Roderick behaved. When his +Mamma fell on his bed, at first he thought she was dead, and it was +with the greatest difficulty he could be made to believe any thing +else, and he cried, and cried, and was very sad till his Mamma was +well enough for him to be taken to her, and then do you know, poor +fellow, he was so much pleased to hear her speak, and be kissed by +her, that he still had no time to think about himself. Only he begged +to sit close to her, and have hold either of her hand or gown, and +make her say something to him every now and then. And so it was that +the fright and shock he had had about thinking she was dead, had made +so strong an impression on him that for several days the making +himself sure she was alive was a constant occupation and interest; and +so much did he think about it that it was considered best for his +little bed to be brought into the room where his Mamma slept, and put +near hers, so that he could talk to her when he awoke and got +frightened about her again. And thus passed many days in which every +body thought a great deal more about his eyes than he did himself. +Besides from the cheerful things they said to him he quite expected to +be better some day; and so weeks and months passed, and by the time +the hope of recovering his sight began to fade away, and nobody any +longer dared to say they expected it, he was beginning to get used to +his condition, and to find out amusements in new ways. Thus mercifully +does a kind Providence temper people's minds to the afflictions He +sends. They are often more dreadful to think of than to bear; for God +can give patience and cheerfulness and comfort to those that do not +grumble and repine. + +Madeline only exacted one promise from her husband, namely, that he +would not allow the doctors to use any very severe and violent +measures with her little boy, and this being settled, she struggled to +bear the trouble with resignation. After the first alternations of +hopes and fears were over, the Mother's mind took a new turn. "It is +our chief duty now," she said, "to make our child's life as happy as +it is possible to be with blindness, and therefore," added she to the +elder children, "we must try our best to teach him to do all the nice +things he can without seeing." That day she asked him to come and hold +worsted for her to wind, and he was quite delighted to find that with +some blunders, and once or twice slipping it off his fingers, he could +manage it very well. Then the children undertook to teach him how to +play at ball, and you cannot think how clever he became. At first +certainly they had always to pick up his ball for him when it fell, +and who was not glad to do it for poor brother Roderick? but by +degrees he could judge by the sound in what direction it had tumbled, +and he would often succeed in finding it before any one could come up +to it. Then there was laughing and scrambling without end. Reading +aloud to him was the easiest thing of all, but the little folks were +not satisfied with that alone. They made a sort of pet of the blind +brother, and were as proud of teaching him to do any thing fresh, as +you would be of teaching your dog to sit up and shake hands, or +perform any wonderful feat. It was their constant amusement; and by +degrees Roderick could play at all sorts of games with them, ay, and +run after them, and catch them too as well as you could do, for he +soon got to remember how the furniture in the great hall and all the +rooms stood, and he could run about without hurting himself in a +wonderful manner. And when it was evening and grew dark, he got on +better than they did, for, if they couldn't see, they were clumsy, +whereas he was learning to do without seeing at all. + +Such of my readers as have seen one of those excellent institutions +called "blind schools," will not wonder at any thing I have said, but +on the contrary, will know that I have not told half or a quarter of +what may be done to teach blind children a variety of employments. At +those schools you may see children making beautiful baskets of +various-coloured strips of osier arranged in patterns; and they never +forget on which side of them the different colours are laid, and this +work they can go on with quite fast, even while you stand talking to +them--and they learn to do many many other nice things also besides +basket making. + +Of late years too they have begun to read in books made on purpose for +them, with the letters raised above the rest of the paper, so that +they can _feel_ the shapes with their fingers. Is not this wonderful? +And they can be taught all these things much more easily than you +would imagine, for it is really true that when one of the senses has +been taken away, the others by having all the exercise thrown upon +them, become so sharp and acute, they do twice their usual work, if I +may so express it. This is a merciful dispensation of Providence, +which renders the loss of the one that is gone much less hard to bear. +And does it not teach us also, what a valuable thing constant practice +is? Neither you nor I can feel or hear half so clearly as blind people +can, who practise feeling and hearing on so many occasions where we +save ourselves the trouble, by using sight instead. + +To return to Roderick. You perhaps expected to hear that he fretted +and petted very much after he was first blind, but really it was not +so; and though occasionally he may have grumbled a little, it was only +when he was slightly peevish, as children will sometimes be, and I +believe he would have found something to grumble about then, even if +he had seen as well as you do. + +Besides, as I said before, the knowledge of his misfortune came upon +him by degrees; and after he had got used to it, he did not think much +about it. When the family moved to the great town, Roderick had as it +were to begin his blind lessons over again, for he had to learn to +remember all about the rooms and the furniture there; but with a kind +little brother or sister always at hand to help him he soon became +expert in the town house too, and could run up and down the long +flights of stairs with the nimblest of them. I believe the only +melancholy wish he ever uttered was heard on the first day he reached +the town house. When his Mamma came to see him in the nursery that +evening, she found him kneeling in a chair against one of the +windows--and on going up to him he threw his arms round her neck and +said, "Oh, Mamma, if I could but see the lamplighters!" Do not laugh, +dear readers, if I add that the tears trickled over his cheeks as he +spoke. His mother was much distressed, as she always was when she saw +him thinking of his affliction, but she sat down and said, "Never +mind, dear Roderick, I will tell you all they do to-night." And so she +did, and she made her account so droll, of how the lamplighter ran, +and how he seized his ladder in such a hurry, and all the whole +business, that by the time she got to the end, and said, "and now he +has come to the last lamp-post,--ah, he's up before I can tell you! +and pop! the lamp is lit, and down he runs, and off with his ladder to +the next street--and now the lamps are shining bright all round the +square, and I must go to dinner,"--Roderick was clapping his hands and +laughing as merrily as ever, and he got down from the chair quite +satisfied. Still for a few weeks he used always to get one of the +children to tell him of the lamps lighting, and this was the only sad +little fancy the poor child ever indulged in. + +The great town gave him various new amusements. His Parents used every +now and then to take him to some fine conservatory, where flowers are +shown even in winter, and where he could smell various new and rare +ones, and be told all about their beautiful colours. Then sometimes in +the parks and gardens there was a band playing, which was a great +delight. And besides that, they took him occasionally to morning +concerts for an hour or so; for though it is not usual to take +children to those places, he was deprived of so many enjoyments, they +let him have all they could: and especially musical ones, for it is a +very common thing for blind people to become very fond of music, and +Roderick was so, and among other employments learnt to play. I cannot, +however, I am sorry to say, add that the great doctors in the town +were able to do him any good, though they tried very much, and some of +them were so much charmed and interested by his cheerful manner and +sweet disposition, that they got quite fond of him, and would often +have him come and see them, and play with their children, who were +instructed to amuse him in every possible way, and as children are +naturally kindhearted, this was generally a pleasant task, and many of +them quite looked forward to the visits of the little blind boy. + +And so passed on a long and rather severe winter, and presently +Roderick's birthday came round, and there was great wondering as to +what Mamma could do to keep it. And when the time came it turned out +that she had got a band of musicians to come and play--and the +children danced, and Roderick among them, for some sister was always +ready to take him under her especial charge. And then some older +children acted a little play, which he could hear and understand, and +his Mamma described to him who came in and went out, and in this +manner he enjoyed it nearly as much as the others. + +Well, the spring-time came once more, and with it the season for +returning to the old Sea Castle, and the children went through their +usual round of impatience, and I cannot say that Roderick at all +forbore, for his Papa had promised to teach him to climb a ladder like +the lamplighter when he got back, and he was by that means to go up +one of the very old elm trees, and get on to a great branch there was, +which was curled into a sort of easy chair, and there he was to sit +and play at being judge, and hold trials, and I know not what. There +were besides so many schemes for his instruction and amusement, and +among other things, there was to be a band established in the +neighbouring village, which should come and play to them in the old +Sea Castle--that the child was more wild with hurry and impatience +than ever, and said more absurd things than the rest, for he used +every day to declare the _flies_ were becoming so numerous and +troublesome he was plagued out of his life by their walking over his +face and nose! But as none of his brothers and sisters ever saw the +flies, we are obliged to conclude the tickling he talked of was only +an effect of his excited imagination. + +At last, however, they went, and in compliment to Roderick's wishes it +was a week or two sooner than usual. The return to the Sea Castle home +rather oppressed poor Lady Madeline's spirits. The doctors in the +great town had failed--it was now clear that nothing could be done, +and in spite of all her sincere endeavours to be resigned, she could +not help feeling this coming back to the original scene of her +misfortune very much. One day--it was the anniversary of the day on +which her poor child became blind, the Lady Madeline was working in +her sitting-room that faced the Sea,--Mothers' memories are very acute +about anniversaries, and days, and even hours marked by particular +events. They may not talk much about them perhaps, but they recollect +times and circumstances connected with their children very keenly, and +therefore it is not surprizing that on this day the poor lady was +sitting in her room working, or trying to work, but thinking of +nothing in the world but of that day year and her blind child. It was +a beautiful evening, and the window was thrown wide open, and the +fresh but soft breeze from the Sea blew pleasantly on her face as she +sat at her work-table by the casement--but lovely as the scene outside +was, she seldom lifted up her eyes to look at it. She had been all her +life a great admirer of beautiful scenes, and of all the varieties the +changes of day and night produce--but now the sight of any thing +particularly lovely brought so painfully before her mind the fact that +her child's eyes were closed to all these things, that she often +forbore to look again, and so spared herself a repetition of the pang. +Madeline's eyes therefore remained upon her work, or on her knee when +she ceased working,--for ever and anon there was a burst of noise and +merriment about the old house, which startled her from her painful +thoughts. It was, however, the happy voices of her children, and again +and again she sank into her melancholy mood, and so continued till the +red hue of a very red sunset burst as it were suddenly into the room, +and lighted up the portrait of Roderick, which hung over the +mantel-piece. Involuntarily Madeline's eyes glanced from the lovely +countenance of her then bright-eyed boy, thus illuminated, to the sun +beyond the Sea. She was too late, however. He had just descended +behind the waves in a perfect flood of crimson glory, but as she +gazed, (for she could not withdraw-her eyes,) a haze--yes, the softest +and most etherial cloud-like haze, showing the outline of a beautiful +mountainous island, rose in the far off distance, just on the verge of +the horizon. It was the Fairy Island. It recalled to the mother's +remembrance the existence of her Fairy cousin once more. "Cruel, cruel +Eudora," she exclaimed, "you offered me friendship and assistance, and +in the hour of trouble and affliction you have never been near to help +or even to comfort me." + +And Madeline, in the bitterness of her heart, closed the window +hastily and angrily, and sat down. Soon, however, the noises she had +several times heard of the children playing, became louder and louder, +and the whole party burst at last into the room. "Mamma, Mamma," they +cried, scarcely able to speak, "guess where Roderick has been." "I +cannot." "Oh, but do, dear Mamma!" cried a little thing with fairy +curls, "do guess." "I cannot." "I'll tell Mamma," cried a stout sturdy +fellow, a little older; "Mamma! he's been up the winding staircase of +one turret, and all along the leads and down the winding staircase of +the other turret, and he has done it three times, and he has seen to +do it better than I can." + +Here there was a burst of laughter and a violent clapping of hands at +the little fellow's _Irish_ account. + +"But why don't you do it as well?" asked an elder girl, "you that are +going to be a soldier too!" + +"Yes; I know I'm going to be a soldier; and I'll try and do it as well +as Roderick;" and off ran the eager child, followed by the rest of the +party, all but Roderick. He lingered behind, and edging his way easily +and quietly as usual to his Mother, having asked her where she was, he +sat down on a footstool at her feet. The slight answer she had +occasion to make, revealed by its tone, to the now acute blind child, +that his Mother's mood was serious, and therefore he did not talk and +laugh of what he had accomplished, as he otherwise might have done. +There was a silence of some minutes: at last, "Mamma," said Roderick +gravely, "a light has broken in upon me to-day." + +Lady Madeline started, and with difficulty suppressed a groan. +Roderick felt the start: "Oh Mamma, Mamma," cried he more cheerfully, +"you must not do that! I wasn't thinking about earthly light in the +least, but of a light which I know, when you come to hear of it, you +will say is a great deal better." + +"Indeed! dear Roderick," said Lady Madeline, trying to seem +interested. + +"Yes _indeed_. Mamma. Why, do _you_ remember, (_I_ had never thought +about it till it came into my head to-day;) but do _you_ remember the +silly time when I wouldn't fetch you any thing from the drawing room, +unless there were candles in the room?" + +"I recollect something about it," said his Mother. + +"Oh, I'm so glad you do; because now you can laugh with me over the +nonsense I used to talk and feel then: I remember I used to tell you I +saw _Bears_ when I shut my eyes, and wouldn't go by the pipes in the +passage, and more such foolish stuff! How odd it seems that I should +never have thought about this before, but I never did, and it never +came into my head distinctly till to-day." And here Roderick fell into +a kind of dream for a few minutes, but he soon began again. "You know +what I have done to-day, Mamma. They told you quite right; but they +forgot to tell you I have been practising walking across the leads for +two or three days, that I might be able to go the great round to-day +on purpose to tell you of it; because I thought you would be so much +pleased to know I could go alone all over the house on the day year +when I was first blind. So now, Mamma, if ever, when I am grown up to +be a man, an enemy comes and attacks the old Sea Castle, I shall be +able to run about and give the alarm, for you know I could hear them, +if I could do nothing else." + +There was another pause, for Madeline could not speak: the often +restrained tears for her son's misfortune had this day burst forth, +and could not be kept back; but Roderick did not know, and went on. + +"Certainly those old foolish fears were very wrong, Mamma. And I can't +think how it was, for you used to remind me always that God could take +care of us by night as well as by day, in darkness as well as in +light; and still somehow, though I knew it was true, I didn't believe +it,--at least, not so as not to be afraid in the dark: how very wrong +it was! Still I had quite forgotten all about it till this evening. +But, as I was going the last of the three rounds, I sat down on the +leads for a few minutes to enjoy the air. The sun was just setting, I +am sure, for it felt so fresh and cool; and it was, as I sat there, +that it came into my head how strange it was that, since the day I was +first blind, I had never thought any more about being afraid in the +dark! or by night any more than by day! Indeed it has been quite a +play to me ever since to do different things, and find my way about in +all the rooms and all over the house, without seeing; and I have only +known night from day by getting up and going to bed. So that you see, +Mamma, being always in the dark, has quite cured me of being afraid of +it: and is not this a very good thing indeed?" + +"Very," murmured Madeline. + +"I knew you would say so! But that isn't all I have got to say. A +great deal more than that came into my head when I was out upon the +leads." + +And Roderick nestled closer to his Mother, and laid his arms across +her lap. + +"Something to comfort you still more, Mamma." + +She could not speak. + +"Mamma, you are crying! I feel your tears on my hand. Do not cry about +me." + +"Go on, dear Roderick." + +"Don't you think," continued the child, "that people who wont listen +to what is told them, and wont be cured of being foolish and wicked, +are very like the old Jews you told us about yesterday, who had God +among them, and Moses teaching them what God wished them to do, and +still were as disobedient as ever?" + +"It is true, Roderick, we are all apt to resemble the Jews in their +journey through the wilderness." + +"Yes, Mamma; and particularly people who can't trust in God, though +they know He is everywhere. The Jews knew He was in the cloud and the +pillar, and still were always afraid He couldn't take care of them. +And what came into my head was, that I used to be as bad as those old +Jews once; knowing that God was present everywhere to take care of me, +and still not _feeling_ it so as really to believe it, and not be +afraid. But the blindness has quite cured me, and is it not very +likely that it came on purpose to do so, and to make me trust in God; +for I have done so more and more, dear Mamma, as I groped about this +year, for I have all along hoped He would take care of me, and keep me +from falling; and, therefore, I think the blindness has done me a +great deal of good, and I hope I shall never be like the naughty old +Jews again! This is what I had to say; and I hope you will be as glad +as I am." + +"I will try, my darling," cried poor Madeline. + +The tenderest love, the bitterest grief, mixed with earnest struggles +for resignation to the will of Heaven, contended in the Mother's +bosom, as she clasped her innocent child to her heart. He was almost +frightened. She lifted him on to her knees, and buried her face on his +shoulder. He put his young arms round her neck, and almost wondered +why she sobbed so bitterly; but he felt he must not speak. + +There was a painful pause. Suddenly, however, a strange faint light +began to creep into the room, which had hitherto been gradually +darkening in the twilight. It was a mysterious gleam, like nothing +that is ever seen. It increased in strength and brilliancy, till at +length the whole place became illuminated. + +Roderick's head was against his Mother's breast; and, besides, _he_ +could not see. + +She, however, suddenly started up; the light had become so powerful, +it had forced her from her grief. She sprung up in terror, and a faint +shriek burst from her lips. + +"Mamma, what is the matter?" cried Roderick, holding her fast. + +"Oh, the light--the light, my child! there is such a light!" answered +Madeline. + +"Mother, you are not afraid of _Light_!" exclaimed the bewildered +Roderick. + +"Oh, but _this_ light! it is like no other;--it is awful!" + +"Mother,--it is not the light of _Fire_, is it," cried poor Roderick, +now at last turning pale. "But even if it is, remember that I can help +you _now_; I can go everywhere,--all over, and fear nothing. I can go +and fetch my brothers and sisters, one by one! Oh, send me; send me, +Mamma! I shall be less afraid than any of you, for I cannot see the +horrid light that frightens you!" + +As he finished, a gentle, prolonged "Hush!" resounded through the +room; like the soothing, quieting sound of lullaby to an infant. And +in the midst of the beaming light, the form of the long-forgotten +Fairy Eudora appeared before the eyes of the astonished Madeline. + +"The Sea Castle is not on Fire, you dear, brave child," cried the +Fairy; "and your Mother has no cause for fear. I am a friend." + +"Cousin!" cried the bewildered Madeline, "why are you here?" and a +terrible suspicion flashed through her mind: and she pointed to her +boy, and added, trembling with agony-- + +"Is that _your_ doing?" + +"What if I say it _is_, Cousin Madeline. There is a long story about +that, but we shall have time for it hereafter.--Dear little Cousin +Roderick," pursued the Fairy, seating herself, and drawing Roderick to +her. "You have been a good boy, and got _light out of darkness_. Mind +you hold it fast. You did not use the light well, though, when you had +it, Cousin Roderick." + +"I know I didn't," was his answer. + +"If you could live the light time over again, you would be wiser, +Roderick." + +"I hope I should indeed," he murmured fervently; "but it is not likely +I shall ever see the light again." + +"Little boys shouldn't say things are not likely, when they don't know +any thing about them," cried the Fairy gaily, to cheer them up. + +"I dare say, if I were to ask you, you would tell me it was a bit of +sand that got into your eyes last year, that made you blind; but it +was no such thing, clever Master Roderick. Your naughty Cousin Eudora +had something to do with that; but, luckily, she can put her own work +straight again. Cousin Madeline, what do you think of my pretty +light?" + +"Eudora, it is dreadful." + +"Then shut your eyes, poor thing, we don't want to blind you. But +Roderick and I have not done talking yet. Come, little boy, lift up +your face towards me, and open those pretty eyes wide, that I may see +if I can't do them some good. Why, they are as blue as the water round +our island! There, now, they are looking at my face. Mind you tell me +if you think me pretty." + +"Eudora!" exclaimed Madeline. + +"Sit down, sit down, and shut your eyes, good woman. Now, Roderick, +wont even my Fairy light break through your darkness?" + +"I think it will," sighed Roderick; "there is a white light all round +me, as if I had gone up into a bright white cloud. You frighten me, +Fairy! Take away the light, and put me back into the darkness again." + +"Not so, my pretty Roderick; but I will soften it a little;" and she +waved her wand, and the brilliancy subsided. + +"Fairy, I see you now," screamed Roderick, springing up, for he was +sitting at her feet; "and oh, how beautiful you are!" + +"Roderick!" cried a voice from behind him. He turned; and Mother and +Son were locked in each other's arms. + +Surely I need say no more about this? though perhaps nobody but a +Mother can quite know how happy and thankful Lady Madeline was. And as +to Roderick, he was delighted too! Not but what he had been very happy +and contented before; but sight was a new pleasure to him now; a sort +of treat, like a birthday or Christmas present, which puts every one +into high spirits. It was so charming to him, poor fellow, (for he was +very affectionate), to actually _see_ his Mamma again; and this put +something else into his head, and off he ran out of the room. + +"Eudora," Madeline began, "how am I to thank you! Can you ever forgive +my old unkindness?" + +"Cousin Madeline," replied the Fairy, "I bear no malice to any one, +least of all to you, who come of a race I love, and of a family I +consider my own. No, no, good soul. I have never borne you ill-will, +though my kindness has been severe. Look! I know you love me _now_. +Love me always, Cousin Madeline, and let me ramble undisturbed about +your earthly home; but, mind! no more unkind wishes, however slight. +They come like evil winds to our Fairy island. You kept me away long +enough by those; and when you wished me with you, to get your child +out of his folly, I was very angry, and thought I wouldn't come; but +your, and your husband's wish was so strong and earnest, it haunted me +day and night; and I had no comfort till I had resolved to help you. +And here, Madeline, you have something to forgive _me_. My remedy has +been a harsh, a very harsh one for so slight a fault; but at first I +intended it to last only a few days. Afterwards, however, seeing how +it was acting upon him, and upon you all, for good, I let it work its +full effect: and I think it has been greatly blessed! Now, farewell! +Time is flying, and I must begone." + +And thus the Fairy and Madeline walked to the window, which the latter +reopened, and there was the full moon sailing in the cloudless sky, +and lighting up the lovely, and, this evening, calm and unruffled sea. + +The cousins embraced; and in a few minutes the Fairy had disappeared +in the distance. Madeline lingered awhile at the casement, thinking +tenderly of the gentle-hearted Fairy, and watching the horizon. At +last the outline of the Fairy's home appeared clear and bright against +the dark blue heaven, and then subsided gently by degrees. And +Madeline closed the window, grateful and happy, and went after her +boy. But she had not far to go; for he was coming along the passages +with all his brothers and sisters, wild with delight. And oh, how +Roderick chattered and talked about all their faces, and how he loved +to see the fat cheeks of one near his own age, and how some had grown, +and their noses improved, and what beautiful curls another had! In +short, if he had gone on long they would all have got quite conceited +and fancy, and fancied themselves a set of downright beauties. But you +see it was _love_ that made poor Roderick admire them all so much; +and, above all, he was charmed when they smiled. Ah, how little do +brothers and sisters know how tender their recollections of each +others' faces would become, were a separation to take place among +them! Then all the sweet smiles and pretty looks would be recalled, +that in every day life are seen with such indifference. "Little +children, love one another," during the happy days when you live +together in health and comfort. + +Can you guess, dear readers, what a joyous evening it was, that day at +the Sea Castle Home? How the poor Father rejoiced, and how the old +Hall was lighted up for the Servants, to share in the joy by a merry +dance; and how all the children danced too; and how a barrel of good +ale was tapped, for every one to drink to the health and happiness of +Master Roderick, and all the family. But you never _can_ guess how +Roderick teased all his brothers and sisters that evening, by +constantly kissing them. In the midst of a country dance he would run +right across to the ladies, when he ought to be standing still and +polite, and kiss two or three of his sisters as they were waiting to +dance in their turn, and tell them how nice they looked! Or he would +actually run right away from his place, to his Papa and Mamma;--jump +on their knees, and hug them very hard, and then run back again, +perhaps, into the middle of the dance, and put every thing into +confusion. But the happiest scene of all was, when the Father and +Mother thanked God that night for the blessing that had returned to +their little boy. + +And do not ask me, I beg, if he ever was afraid of being in the dark +again. No, dear Readers, his temporary misfortune had taught him the +best of all lessons;--A LIVING FAITH AND TRUST IN THE PROTECTING +OMNIPRESENCE OF GOD. + + + + +THE LOVE OF GOD. + +PREAMBLE (FROM LIFE.) + +_Van Artevelde_. These are but words. +_Elena_. My lord, they're full of meaning! + _Van Artevelde_. + + +Grace had been said, and Mamma was busy carving for the large party of +youngsters who sat around the comfortable dinner-table, when a little +voice from among them called out, + +"Mamma, do you think a giant could see a carraway seed?" + +Now there was no sweet loaf on the table, nor even on the +sideboard--neither had there been any plum cake in the house for some +time--nor were there any carraway seeds in the biscuits just then. +--In short, there was nothing which could be supposed to have +suggested the idea of carraway seeds to the little boy who made the +enquiry. Still he did make it, and though he went on quietly with his +dinner, he expected to receive an answer. + +Had the good Lady at the head of the table not been the mother of a +large family, she might possibly have dropt the carving knife and +fork, in sheer astonishment at the unaccountableness of the question, +but as it was, she had heard so many other odd ones before, that she +did not by outward sign demonstrate the amusement she felt at this, +but simply said,--"_Perhaps he could_"--for she knew that it was out +of her power to speak positively as to whether a Giant could see a +carraway seed or not. + +Now dear little readers, what do _you_ think about this very important +affair? Do you think a Giant could see a carraway seed or not?--"Oh +yes," you all cry,--"_of course he could!_" + +Nay, my dears, there is no "of course" at all in the matter! Can any +of you, for example, see the creatures that float about and fight in a +drop of water from the Serpentine River? No, certainly not! except +through a microscope. Well, but _why_ not?--you do not know. That I +can easily believe! But then you must never again say that "_of +course_" a Giant could see a carraway seed. + +It is entirely a question of _relative proportion_: so now you feel +quite small, and admit your total ignorance, I hope. Yes! it all +depends upon whether the giant is as much bigger than the carraway +seed, as you are bigger than the curious little insects that float +about and fight in the drop of water from the Serpentine river--for if +he is, we may conclude from analogy that a giant could _not_ see a +carraway seed except through a microscope. You see it is a sort of +rule of three sum, but as I cannot work it out, I tell you honestly +that neither do I know whether a giant could see so small an object or +not, and I advise you all to be as modest as I am myself, and never +speak positively on so difficult a point. + +But enough of this! Turn we now to another point, about which I _can_ +speak positively--namely, that in _one_ sense the world is full of +Giants who cannot see Carraway seeds. + +"It must be in the sense of _Non_sense I should think then!" observes +somewhat scornfully the young lady who is reading this story +aloud--"as if we could believe in there being giants now!" + +Very wittily remarked! my dear young lady, for your age.--I take you +to be about seventeen, and I see by the compression of your pretty +mouth that you consider yourself quite a judge and an authority. Only +take care you don't grow up into one of those Giants yourself! There +is something very suspicious to me in the glance of your eye. +"Ridiculous!" murmurs the fair damsel in question. + +Not at all so: only you travel too fast; by which I mean you speak too +hastily. You learn Italian, I dare say? Oh yes, of course, for you +sing. Well then, _Ombra adorata_ that is "beloved shadow;" _aspetta_ +that is, "wait"--"wait, my beloved shadow" (of a charming young lady), +give me breathing time, and I will explain myself. As you are an +Italian student, I presume you have heard of the great Italian poet +Dante. Now Dante in his _Convito_ or "Banquet" tells his readers that +writings may be understood, and therefore ought to be explained in +four different senses or meanings. There is first the literal sense; +secondly, the allegorical; thirdly, the moral; and fourthly, the +_anagorical_. Now I know you can't explain this last word to me, for I +would wager a large sum that you never tasted of Dante's Banquet--no, +not so much as the smallest crumb from it; and therefore how _should_ +you know what he means by the anagorical sense? Give me leave to have +the honour of enlightening you, then. The anagorical is what the +dictionaries call the _anagogical_ sense. A sense beyond this world; a +sense above the senses; a spiritual sense making common things divine. +It is hard to be arrived at and difficult of comprehension. Now in the +matter of the nice little boy's question about the Giant and the +carraway seed, (for none but a nice little boy could have excogitated +any thing so comical), I have set my heart upon talking to you about +it in the four above mentioned senses. And having already descanted on +the _literal_ sense, I had just made an assertion which appertained to +the _allegorical_ sense, when you so inopportunely interrupted me, My +Ombra Adorata, with your sharp observation about _non_sense: so now we +will go on in peace and quietness, if you please. + +In an allegorical sense the world is full of giants who cannot see +carraway seeds. + +For what are Giants but great men and great women? and the world +abounds with people who consider themselves as belonging to that +class. And a great many of them--Giants of Cleverness, Giants of +Riches, Giants of Rank--Giants of I know not how many things besides, +who are walking about the world every day, very often feel themselves +to be quite raised above the point of attending to trifles; so that +you see I may (in an allegorical sense) say strictly of them that they +cannot see carraway seeds. Oh my dears, however elevated you may be, +or may become; however great or rich or learned, beware, I pray you, +of being a Giant who cannot see a carraway seed! + +For, as my explanation of the _moral_ sense now goes on to show you; +it is so far from being, as these Giants suppose, a proof of their +_superiority_ that they cannot see or notice things they consider +beneath them--that it is, in fact, an evidence of some imperfection or +defect in either their moral or intellectual structure. Just as it is +a proof of our eyes being imperfect, that we cannot see the little +water insects as well as a great big elephant. I am sure you will +allow there is nothing _to boast of_ in this, and so if the +contemplation of great things makes you incapable of attending to +small ones, do remember that _'tis nothing to boast about or be proud +of_. And take very great care you make no mistakes as to what is great +and what is insignificant. With which warning I close my remarks on +the moral lesson, and proceed to that _anagogical_ or spiritual +meaning, which will I hope be my justification for dwelling so long on +the subject, and my best introduction to a story of a serious though +not of a melancholy character. But first, my dear little readers, let +me call upon you in the words which you hear in church: + + "Lift up your hearts!" + +and I would have you answer, + + "We lift them up unto the Lord." + +For it is indeed of Him--the Lord of all Lords, that I now wish to +speak to you. He made the Sun and Stars and the great mountains of our +earth; but He made also the smallest insects that crowd the air and +water, and which are invisible to our imperfect eyes. + +He rules the nations by His word, and "binds kings in chains, and +nobles with links of iron," as the psalm expresses it; but also not a +sparrow falls to the ground without His knowledge and consent. Angels +and Archangels worship around His throne, but His ears are equally +open to the prayer of the youngest child who lifts up its little heart +to Him! + +The universe is at His feet, but the smallest events of our lives are +under His especial superintendence and care. Yes! nothing, however +small and insignificant, that is connected with the present or future +welfare of the smallest and most insignificant of his creatures, is +_beneath the notice of God_! + +Ah! here is indeed a lesson for the fancied Giants of the world!--For, +in this picture of Almighty greatness combined with infinite +condescension, we see that real Perfection requires no Pride to +elevate it. + +But I said this anagogical sense was hard to be attained to and +difficult of comprehension. + +And is it not so? Is it not very difficult to believe thoroughly that +the great God whom we hear about, really and truly cares how we behave +and what we do--really and truly listens to our prayers--really and +truly takes as much interest in us as our earthly Fathers and Mothers +do? + +Ah, I am sure it must be very difficult, because so few people do it, +although we should all be both better and happier if we did. We should +say our prayers so much more earnestly, try to keep out of sin and +naughtiness so much more heartily, and, above all, always be contented +with whatever happened; for who could be anxious, and discontented +about their condition or circumstances, if they _quite_ believed that +every thing that happened to them was watched over and arranged for +their good, by the wisest, kindest, and most powerful of Beings? If +you, my dear children, who have been reading the fairy tales in this +book, were to be told that a most wise, most kind, and most powerful +Fairy had suddenly taken you for life under her particular care, and +that she would never lose sight of you by night or by day, how +delighted you would be! + +Yet just so are you under the particular care and watchful concern of +Almighty God! + +But now, say you, you begin to feel the difficulty of believing it +possible that the great God of the Universe takes this tender interest +in such insignificant and sinful creatures as men and women. + +Consider, then, that we are told that "God is Love;" and if He loves +us, there is no difficulty in believing that He feels all this +interest in us. Do not judge Him by earthly Kings and Potentates. +These are Giants who cannot see carraway seeds. We do not blame them, +for it is impossible they should be interested for every body. But +very very different is both the power and the feeling of the King of +Kings! + +Still we have not got over the difficulty yet, for of all the +wonderful truths we are commanded to believe, no one is so wonderful +and so incomprehensible as _the Love of God_ to the sinful human race. + +And yet it is a truth, and of all truths the most important and most +comfortable; and therefore it is much to be desired that we should +thoroughly believe it: and _I think_ I can make you understand that it +is possible, _by something which you feel in your own hearts_. I think +God has placed even in our own hearts a witness of the possibility of +this great Truth. + +My idea is this. We _know_ that God has been merciful to us--(His very +creation of man was an act of mercy), and _therefore_ we know that He +loves us. _He loves us because He has been merciful to us_. If you +cannot see why this should be, I refer you to the following story, and +advise you to _try for yourselves_. Only be kind to any living +creature, whether a human being, or an irrational animal, and see if +you can keep your heart from _loving_ it! Certainly it does not become +us to try to search out the unsearchable mind of God, but I think it +is permitted us to hope, that the remarkable fast of _Kindness +engendering Love_, which we experience in our own hearts, is intended +to lead us upwards as by a holy guiding thread, to some comprehension +of the Love of that God, who in Christ Jesus actually _gave Himself +for us_. + + +THE TALE. + +Lift up the curtain! + +In a baronial hall, not of the size and grandeur of that at Warwick +Castle, which those who have never seen should try to see before they +die: but still in a hall as antique and interesting in style, fits a +young man reading. + +It is evening, though the sun has not yet set, but it is evening, and +the young man is sitting at a small oak table in a recess in one of +the ancient windows, and before him lies open a book, and on the book, +which he touches not with his hands, but on which his eyes, blinded by +tears, are fixed, there lies a faded primrose. + +The book is the Bible, and the faded primrose lies on that verse in +the Psalm, "Oh that men would therefore praise the Lord for his +goodness, and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of +men!" and some hand had placed a slight pencil mark before these +words. + +This scene brings before you a story of distress, and yet this young +man is the possessor of a large estate;--the baronial hall and house +are his own, and he is young and amiable, and till within the last few +months had led a life of almost uninterrupted comfort and prosperity +from his cradle upwards. Two years ago he became the betrothed lover +of a young lady no less interesting than himself, and as no obstacle +prevented their union, both had for these two years looked forward to +it, as the one certain and sure event of their lives. The young man's +parents had died when he was very young; but, in compliance with the +wishes of his Guardians, he deferred his marriage till he should have +come of age. + +Meanwhile, as the time of probation drew near its close, it had been +his delight to sit up the old place in such a manner as should become +his bride, and the alterations had, in many cases, been made under her +eye and according to her wishes, for she was already by anticipation, +and in the heart of its owner, the mistress of the place. + +At last the wedding day was fixed; but a few weeks before the time +came, one of those sad diseases which steal mysteriously into the +vitals of the young and wear away life long before its natural period, +fell upon her:--and _now_, nothing remained to him, who had hoped to +have her as his companion through life, but the Bible she had used +during her sickness, and which was found on the table by her couch +after her death, open and marked at the very place I have told you +about; together with the faded primrose which he had gathered for her +on the last morning of her life. + +This was a very sad event for those who were left behind to lament the +loss of one whom they had loved so dearly. The Mother indeed, who had +known other trials of life, bent her head submissively to this one, +and cherishing sweet recollections of her daughter's piety and +goodness, looked forward to a time of reunion in a happier world. But +the poor young man, whose name was Theodore, never having known a care +or a sorrow before, was stupefied and overpowered by this sudden +destruction of all his hopes and happiness. Seeing, however, that +_her_ last thought had been the mercy and goodness of God, he tried to +make it _his_ thought too; and he would sit for hours looking at the +verse which she had marked in the Bible. + +But unfortunately he made no effort besides, and having no kind +relatives or friends near him to rouse him from his melancholy stupor +to some of the active duties of life, he spent many many weeks in +listless sorrow, not caring much what became either of himself, his +dependents, or his property. And though he had become, by degrees, so +far resigned as to believe that every thing was for the best--even +_her_ death--he now took up a strange and dismal fancy, that though +the Almighty was a God of goodness and justice, it was quite +impossible that He should _love_ any beings so sinful and ungrateful +as the human race. This vain distinction of a morbid imagination was +the result of that solitude, inactivity, and the constantly dwelling +upon himself and his own troubles, to which he had unfortunately given +himself up, and which had brought his mind into such an unhealthy +state, that he could neither reason nor think properly. + +In this condition of feeling, having one day wandered to a +considerable distance from home, he sat down on the greensward to +rest; when lo! after he had remained there for some little time +musing, as usual, he saw approaching him two shining creatures, who +looked like spirits or angels, and as they came up to him they looked +at him very earnestly, and one said to the other, + +"He is doubting the goodness of God!?" + +Then Theodore shuddered, and said, "I am not! once perhaps I did, but +not now: all things happen for the best." Yet the Spirit repeated, "He +is doubting the goodness of God!" Theodore shuddered again, and cried +out "I am _not!_" for he felt as if it was a heavy accusation. +Whereupon the Spirit continued, "To disbelieve the love of God is to +doubt His goodness." + +"No, no," exclaimed Theodore eagerly, "it is not! I do not doubt His +goodness--His compassion even for the wretched creatures whom He +formed out of dust. But I--thoughtless in my youth; self-confident in +prosperity; ungrateful and rebellious under affliction; how can such a +wretch as _I_ have been, believe in the _love_ of God to me! God is +good and just, but do not talk to me of His Love to man, as if it were +possible He could feel for them the tenderness of kind affection! Who +are you?" + +Without noticing this question, the Spirit repeated, in emphatic +tones, "To disbelieve the Love of God is to doubt His goodness, and +deny the perfection of His nature!" + +"I tell you, No!" shouted Theodore, wildly: "It is _because_ of His +goodness and _because_ of the perfection of His nature, that I +disbelieve the possibility of His Love to the wretched race of man!" + +"Judge by your own heart!" exclaimed the Spirit who had not yet +spoken. + +But when Theodore raised his eyes to look upon her, both had +disappeared. He felt grieved, he knew not why. "_My own heart!_" he +murmured; "ah! my own heart has been the witness against me. It has +taught me the dreadful truth." + +"Truth never yet was found of him who leads a life of selfish misery," +whispered a soft voice receding into the distance; "Theodore! Judge by +your own heart. Even it may teach you better things!" + +Theodore started up and looked hastily around. He felt as if he could +have followed that soft receding voice into eternity. But there was no +one near. That sound, however, had been like an echo from hopes buried +in the grave; and the poor youth sank to the ground on his knees, and, +hiding his face in his hands, wept bitterly. Suddenly one thought took +possession of him out of what had been said. And it was one (as usual) +of self-reproach. The Spirit had reproached him with leading a life of +selfish misery! Vividly impressed by this idea, he started off +hurriedly for his home, crying aloud--"Oh, the wasted time; the lost +hours; the precious moments that might have been employed in +usefulness!" And thus he pursued his way till he had left the outer +country behind him, and had entered the gates that bounded his +extensive domain when, all at once, his course was stopped by +something he struck against as he was walking quickly along. + +Looking down, he perceived that a sickly, hungry-looking child was +stretched across the road asleep, and that by its side sat a woman, +the picture of misery and want. Theodore felt a strong sensation of +compassion seize him as he gazed at the child, and he stooped and +lifted it from the ground. + +The woman observed Theodore's eye, and said, "Ay, without help we +shall neither of us be here long!" + +"I will help you," said Theodore, "tell me what I can do!" + +"What can you or any one do, for a dying woman and a half-starved +child?" groaned the poor creature. "Food, food! medicine and help!" +These words burst from her in broken accents--I am dying!" + +"Are you so _very_ ill?" asked Theodore, turning deadly pale; and he +murmured to himself--"Death again! I dare not see it again so soon! +Here!" continued he, thrusting gold into her hand, "now you see that I +will help you! Look, I will send you food, and you shall be brought +to the house: but let me take the child, he cannot do you good, and I +will see to him." "He must not see her die;" was Theodore's inward +thought. + +"Ay, take him," muttered the woman gloomily, "and send me cordials. No +one wants to go even an hour before their time!" + +Theodore obeyed almost mechanically, and lifting up the little boy, he +made a shift to carry him to the house. On arriving there, he called +for his housekeeper and desired her to take food and wine to the woman +he had left, and to bring her to the house. Then he sent another +servant for a doctor, and afterwards undertook himself the care of the +forlorn child. He placed him on a sofa in his study and sat down by +him. + +"Are you ill?" was his first question. + +"I don't know," was the answer. + +"Are you hungry?" + +"Very!" + +Here Theodore got up and went to the next room, where preparations +were being made for dinner, and fetched bread and gave it to the boy, +who ate it greedily, without once lifting up his eyes. "Poor child," +thought Theodore, "life has no _mental_ troubles for him!" + +"Are you sorry your mother is so ill?" was his next inquiry. + +"She's not my mother," muttered the boy. + +Theodore started--"What do you mean? Are you not that woman's +_child_?" + +"No! She told me I wasn't." + +"Who are you, then?" + +"I don't know. She told me she had stolen me to beg for her." + +"And do you remember nothing about it?" + +"No, its too long ago." + +Theodore now fetched him more bread, but whilst he was eating it he no +longer sat by him, but walked up and down the room. Every now and then +as he stopped and looked at the thin, sickly looking object he had +brought into the house, he was overtaken by a strong feeling of pity +for his miserable condition. + +This child was as desolate as himself, only in another way. Stolen +from his parents to beg for the strange woman, he had lived with her +so long that he had forgotten his real home altogether! Bound by no +ties of kindred and comfort to this world. "He is more desolate than I +am myself!" repeated Theodore, again and again. + +After a time he approached the boy again. + +"The woman will say you are her child, and make you go back and beg +for her if she gets better, will she not?" + +"She doesn't want me now." + +"How so?" + +"She says, I'm too hungry, and eat all the bread away from her, and +don't get enough for us both." + +A curious expression passed across Theodore's face as he turned away +and sat down in his chair once more. It looked like a gleam of +satisfaction. The boy, meanwhile, sat quite still, looking round the +room. He had a grave and somewhat interesting face, but that the dark +eyes looked a little too keen and restless to be quite pleasant. +Still, when he smiled, and he had smiled brightly when he first saw +the bread, his countenance improved; and there was, besides, something +about his open forehead which redeemed the covert expression of his +eye. He was about seven years old, and precocious in quickness of a +particular kind, as is very often the case with vagrant children. + +Theodore's reverie was broken at last by the arrival of his good old +housekeeper, who came in, flurried and indignant, to inform him that +the woman she had been in search of was no where to be found. She had +been, "she was sure," up and down all the carriage roads, and made +enquiries at all the lodges, and finally discovered that a beggar +woman had passed out at one of them upwards of an hour before, very +hurriedly, and indeed almost at a running pace. + +Theodore glanced at the child, but his countenance never changed. Only +he sat eying the housekeeper as she spoke, apparently indifferent to +the result. The housekeeper now began to ejaculate in broken +sentences, "The base creature! To think that you should have taken all +this trouble, Sir! and had the child actually into the house! +and--gracious me," added she in a half whisper, "hadn't I better call +the butler, Sir; hadn't he" (nodding significantly towards the child) +"better be taken to the workhouse at once, Sir?" + +"I think not," answered Theodore slowly--"not yet, I think. The truth +is, I find he's not her own child, but has been stolen; and--and--in +fact, we can send him to the workhouse to-morrow. Perhaps, after all, +the woman may come here for him. But, at any rate, there is time +enough. You see this is an odd affair; and, as the boy is not _hers_, +we don't know who he may not turn out to be some day." And, as +Theodore thus concluded his sentence, he got up and looked at the old +housekeeper with a smile--a melancholy one it is true, but still it +was a smile--the first that had been seen on his face since his +terrible bereavement. + +And the faithful servant was so much pleased that she forgot every +thing else in a desire to keep up the interest that had lured her +young master so unaccountably from his misery. + +"Well, to be sure, Sir, what you say's quite right, and we can make +the poor thing comfortable for to-night, and then you can do as you +please to-morrow. Shall I take him with me, Sir, and make him clean, +while you dine? I can borrow some tidy clothes from the bailiff's +wife, I dare say; and after he's made respectable, you can see him +again, Sir, if you think proper." + +This proposition was more grateful to Theodore's mind than he cared to +acknowledge to himself. Indeed he had no clear ideas of his feelings +about the little accident that had interrupted the dismal course of +his life; and he studiously avoided questioning himself too closely. +Only there came across him, every now and then, a sensation that there +was some special providence about it all, and that there was some +mysterious connection between this adventure and the words of the +apparitions who had spoken to him in the morning. + +But "let be, let us see what will happen," was the ruling feeling, and +as he felt less miserable than usual, he did not wish to disturb the +pleasing dream by enquiries, why? + +After his solitary dinner, as he was seated alone in his arm chair, he +was relapsing fast into his usual unhappy state of mind, for this was +at all times the most trying part of the day to him, when a knock at +the door aroused him. + +Ah, it was the good old housekeeper again! She who, with the acute +instinct of sorrow-soothing which women so eminently possess, had +purposely come at this the young master's "dark hour," to try if it +could be kept back by the charm she had seen working a short time +before. "The little fellow is quite fit to come in now, Sir, if you'd +wish to see him before he's put to bed." And her efforts were rewarded +by seeing a look of interest light up poor Theodore's eye. The boy was +now ushered in, and his improved appearance and cleanliness were very +striking. Theodore took hold of his hand--"There, you need not be +afraid; you may sit down upon that chair. Are you comfortable?" "Yes." +"Have you had plenty to eat?" "Yes, plenty." And the child laughed a +little. + +"I hope you are a good boy." + +He looked stupid. "Can you say your prayers?" + +"What's that?" + +"Ah! I was afraid not. You never heard about God?" "Yes; but the woman +used to keep that to herself." "Keep what?" + +"Why," _for God's sake_, when she begged. She didn't let me say it, but +she always said it herself; and then, when people wouldn't give us any +thing, she used to say--" + +"No, no! I will not hear about that;" interrupted Theodore, "but I +hope some day you will learn about God." + +"In the begging? must I say it in the begging next time?" + +"No, I don't mean that; not in begging bread of people in the road, +but in praying." + +"What's that?" "Begging." "Then I am to beg?" "No, not on the road, +but of a great good Being, who will never refuse what you ask." + +"Is that _you_?" + +"No, my poor boy; not me, but the great Being, called God, who lives +in the sky. You must beg all you want of Him." + +"I don't know Him." + +"No; but you will learn to know Him when you have listened to me and +prayed to Him." + +"I don't know praying; I know begging." + +"Well, then, when you have begged Him--" + +"What am I to say?" + +"First, you must say, 'Our Father--'" + +"Father's dead," interrupted the boy; + +"Ah, but I do not mean _that_ father," answered Theodore; "and how do +you know even that _that_ father is dead?" + +"The woman said so. One day she told me Father and Mother were both +dead, and there was nobody left to love me, so I must mind her." + +"The woman was wrong," cried Theodore compassionately. "You have +another Father, who never dies, and who loves you always!--" + +A knock at the door interrupted Theodore's _lesson on the Love of +God_. + +"It's about time the poor thing was put to bed," suggested the +housekeeper, looking in. "I dare say he's tired." + +"I dare say he is," said Theodore mechanically. "Good night, little +boy. What used they to call you?" + +"Reuben." + +"Good night, little Reuben." And he was taken away. + +_You have another Father who never dies and who loves you always_! +founded like an echo through the room. Theodore arose and looked +around, but there was no one there. He resumed his feat, and wondered +how he had got involved in teaching the beggar boy religion. He +lamented his awkwardness and unfitness for the talk; but still he +thought he had done right. As to his last assertion, how else could he +make the child comprehend God at all? Besides, how cruel it would be +to infect him with his own miserable convictions. They would come time +enough, perhaps! + +Such was the current of his thoughts. The next morning he told the old +housekeeper of the boy's ignorance and his difficulty with him, and +engaged her to help him in his talk, which she readily undertook. + +It is not my intention to describe the many endeavours Theodore made +to impress the first great truths of Christianity upon Reuben's mind; +but I can assure you he felt all the better for them himself. How it +was that he never sent the little boy to the workhouse you can guess. +For the first few days he kept him to see (as he said), if the woman +would come back for him. Then he wished him to stay till he and the +housekeeper had sufficiently impressed him by their lessons. And +then--why then--by degrees, all mention of the workhouse ceased, and +better clothes were bought for him; and the housekeeper, who was one +of the by-gone generation of warm-hearted old family servants, became, +for her master's sake, a perfect mother to him; and to Theodore he +involuntarily proved an object of daily increasing interest, and +finally, of strong personal affection. + +And thus nearly a year passed over, during which time Theodore's +health and activity in a measure returned; but the cheerfulness of a +happy mind was still wanting. Reuben often lured him temporarily into +it, but he would again relapse, and had never given up his unhappy +theory, though now he dwelt upon it much less frequently than of old. +At the end of the year, however, Theodore was much distressed by +fancying that he detected Reuben in lying; and he was, besides, by no +means sure that little trifles were not taken from him by the child +for his own use and amusement. He communicated his suspicions to the +housekeeper, and alas! found his worst fears confirmed. The pain and +sorrow he felt at this discovery were of a kind totally new to him. +But the strongest feeling of all was, that he would not give up the +boy to vicious habits without a struggle (cost what it might) to save +him! The housekeeper told him, with tears, that she had observed +Reuben's habit of petty lying and taking any thing he fancied, very +soon after his admission to the house; but she confessed that she had +not had the heart to inform her young Master, lest he should send the +boy away who had seemed to take him so out of his trouble! This was +what she most thought about. So she had tried to correct the child +herself, but not with the success she had desired. "How little she +knows the heart," thought Theodore, "his evil propensities would have +been an additional claim upon my kindness!" + +I will pass over all that Theodore said to the boy himself. No father +could have been more earnest, more solemn in his warnings, or more +kind in his expostulations. Reuben, by this time, could understand all +he said, and shame and repentance burnt in his face during a painful +interview. It is right to remind you, dear children, of the many +excuses that were to be made for him. He had been brought up, till +seven years old, in total ignorance of God, and without ever having +heard one duty commanded or one sin forbidden. The woman lied daily +and hourly in his sight, and made him do the same; and she took all +she could lay hold of in any way, and beat him if he did not follow +her example; and although Theodore's instructions had opened a new +world on the child's mind, the _evil_ HABITS were not so soon got rid +of. So there the mischief was; and now the great difficulty Theodore +felt, was to know what to do for the best. And, after much +consideration, he decided to send him to school, as the likeliest +means of eradicating the bad habits the boy had acquired. I say +_habits_, rather than dispositions, for there was indeed nothing mean +or sneaking about his character. On the contrary, he was both +courageous and generous in the turn of his mind, and, after his health +improved, his manners partook of the same freedom and candour. + +To school therefore poor Reuben went; and Theodore was almost +astonished himself at the blank which his absence created. + +But having desired that continued reports should be sent to him of his +conduct, he meanwhile began seriously to think what was to become of +him hereafter. At last it occurred to him that he might employ him in +some way or other about his property; and with a view to this, +Theodore himself began to take more interest in his estate than he had +had the energy to bestow before, and made himself more intimately +acquainted with the wants and modes of life of those under his +control. + +Thus another year passed away in quiet but constant occupation; and +the many opportunities Theodore now had of doing good, softened and +cheered his mind. But he was not quite cured. For of all things in the +world whims are the very hardest to cure, because, reason as you will, +people still stick to their whims. Reuben was not allowed to return +once during that year to the old hall. During the last few months, +however, his progress had been most satisfactory, and the Master +considered that the evil was overcome; and so, at the end of the year, +Theodore wrote word to Reuben that he wished him to come "home" for +his holidays. Poor Reuben cried bitterly again when he read the +letter; for, as he said to the Master, "It is _not_ my home, though he +has been very good to me. I have no home!" + +Theodore's heart overflowed with pleasure and almost pride when he saw +the boy again. Every turn in the expression of his face was improved; +and when Theodore first took his hand, the lad bent his face over it +and sobbed out an entreaty for pardon for his dreadful wickedness. +"Reuben," cried Theodore, "never say that again. All is forgotten +since your conduct is changed. Forget the past as soon as possible. It +will never be remembered by me." + +Time went on during the holidays very happily on the whole. In fact +there was no drawback; but that now and then Theodore, who would often +sit looking at his adopted child's face, noticed a painful expression +which he could not account for. His conduct was irreproachable and his +respect for Theodore seemed, if possible, increased; but he would not +be frank with him, and no encouragement beguiled him into the ease of +trusted affection. Theodore did not choose to notice this for some +weeks, but, as the time of Reuben's return to school drew near, he was +unwilling to let him go without some expostulation. + +"Reuben," said he one day, "you are going back to school. Your conduct +has quite satisfied me: but tell me, before you go, why you so often +look unhappy? It is a poor return (though I now touch on this subject +for the first time in my life), it is a poor return for the interest I +have taken in you; and for the real love you know I feel towards you!" + +For a moment Reuben's large dark eyes glanced up at Theodore's face; +but they sank again as quickly: his cheeks grew crimson, and tears +rolled over them which he could not conceal. + +"What is the matter, Reuben; what is the meaning of this? Am I loving +one who does not love me in return?" + +"You _cannot_ love me, Sir!" ejaculated the boy so earnestly that it +quite startled his companion. + +"Reuben, what _can_ you mean? Have you forgotten how I have taken you +and acted by you as if I had been your Father. I _cannot love_ you? +What else but _love_ for you has made me do what I have done?" + +"That was all your goodness and the kindness of your heart, Sir. You +couldn't love me when you picked me up in the road. It was pity and +kindness, and it has been the same ever since; not _Love_--" and the +tears again struggled to his eyes. + +Theodore rushed suddenly from the room and into his private apartment, +and falling on his knees, spread his hands over his head in prayer. +"My Lord and my God!" cried he solemnly, "what means this echo from my +own heart? Am I awake, or do I dream?" A profound silence was around +him; but, as he arose and opened his eyes, he beheld before him, +though fading rapidly from his sight, the angelic visions he had seen +two years before. + + * * * * * + +He returned to Reuben, who was sitting at the table, his face buried +in his arms. + +Theodore laid his hand upon him. "Reuben, look up! You are under a +great mistake. You are but a boy, and must not fancy you know the ins +and outs of the human heart. Reuben, I do love you, and have always +loved you." + +"You cannot, Sir!" + +"Again? and why not?" + +"You are too much above me; I am an outcast, and was a beggar. It +wasn't likely you could _love_ me at any time. Besides, there has been +something since." + +"What?" + +"You told me to forget it, Sir, but I cannot. After all your kindness +and goodness, and trying to make me happy and do me every good, I was +all along (during the first year), doing what was wrong, deceiving you +and injuring you. I am not only an outcast, but I have been wicked and +ungrateful, and made you unhappy by my misconduct. Indeed I cannot +bear to think of it; but I dare not deceive myself about your _Love_, +Sir! I know you _cannot_ love me; but I am so grateful to you for your +goodness, I hope you will not be angry with me for speaking the truth: +only, though I am grateful and try to be contented, I cannot be as +_happy_ as if you _did_ love me." + +As Theodore gazed on poor Reuben's face, he saw standing behind him +the beautiful visions once more. + +"Now judge by your own heart!" murmured the Spirits, as smiling they +disappeared. + +And Theodore did so. Going up to Reuben, he put his arms around him, +and wept over him tears of love and gratitude for the blessing which +he felt stealing into his own mind. "Reuben," cried he, "my child +Reuben! There have been but two human beings in the world on whom I +have bestowed my love; for, like you, I lost my parents young. These +two were--her I lost and yourself!" + +"If I thought you _loved_ me, I would die for you!" cried Reuben, +springing up and gazing earnestly on Theodore's face. + +"My God!" murmured Theodore, "may I be able to feel this to Thee!" + + * * * * * + +I think more words are unnecessary. You cannot doubt that Theodore +soon convinced Reuben of his love, nor that Theodore took the lesson +to himself, and now saw that God had placed in the human heart a +witness of the possibility of His love to man. Yes, the clinging +affection we feel for those we have been kind to; our own power of +forgiving _any_ thing to them; is an instinct which has been +mercifully implanted in our hearts to teach us to believe in that Love +of God, which is otherwise so incredible to human reason. + +If you care to know what became of Theodore and Reuben, you must in +fancy pass over a few years. Reuben soon had so strong a wish to go to +sea, that he entered the merchant service; and by the time he became +Master of his own vessel and revisited the hall when he came ashore, +Theodore was to be found there with a kind and gentle wife by his +side; and frolicking about the ancient hall were a parcel of noisy +children, to whom the arrival from sea of him whom they always +unaccountably would call "Uncle Reuben," was ever a gala treat. Dear +readers, Farewell! + +BENEDICITE. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FAIRY GODMOTHERS AND OTHER +TALES*** + + +******* This file should be named 11319.txt or 11319.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/3/1/11319 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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