1 files changed, 4305 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/23070.txt b/23070.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..671e45a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/23070.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,4305 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Clara Maynard, by W.H.G. Kingston
+
+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: Clara Maynard
+       The True and the False - A Tale of the Times
+
+Author: W.H.G. Kingston
+
+Release Date: October 17, 2007 [EBook #23070]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLARA MAYNARD ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+
+
+
+Clara Maynard; The True and the False--A Tale of the Times, By W.H.G.
+Kingston.
+
+________________________________________________________________________
+This is a short book, about a quarter of the length of a typical
+Kingston novel.  Clara is the daughter of a retired Royal Navy Captain,
+who owns a large yacht, a cutter.  She can take a large number of guests
+to sea, even more than the cutter in Marryat's "The Three Cutters".
+They use the yacht as a means of getting to a picnic spot on a beach,
+where they are met by even more people, including the new incumbent of
+the local parish, the family who own the presentation to the living, and
+a couple of Roman priests who are staying with them.
+
+In chapter two Clara's father dies after a series of strokes.  Her
+betrothed young man, who had been at the picnic, returns on Army service
+to India, and she falls under the influence of the new vicar of the
+parish, who persuades her to enter a nunnery.  This is an absolute
+disaster, as the cruelty and lack of goodness and charity of what went
+on in that nunnery is quite intolerable.
+
+Eventually she breaks free, and is reunited with her fa
+ily.  Her betrothed comes back, she marries him and all is well.
+________________________________________________________________________
+
+CLARA MAYNARD; THE TRUE AND THE FALSE--A TALE OF THE TIMES, BY W.H.G.
+KINGSTON.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER ONE.
+
+The blue waters of the British Channel sparkled brightly in the rays of
+the sun, shining forth from a cloudless sky, as a light breeze from the
+northward filled the sails of a small yacht which glided smoothly along
+the southern coast of England.  At the helm of the little vessel stood
+her owner, Captain Maynard, a retired naval officer.  Next to his fair
+young daughter, Clara, the old sailor looked upon his yacht as one of
+the most beautiful things in existence.  Though her crew consisted but
+of two men and a boy, and she measured scarcely five-and-twenty tons, he
+declared that if it were necessary he would sail round the world in her
+without the slightest hesitation.
+
+"Flatten in the jib, and take a pull at the main-sheet, my lads, and we
+shall run into the bay without a tack, if the wind holds as it does
+now," he sang out.
+
+The men, as they came aft to execute the latter order, had to disturb
+some of the passengers, of whom there were several, seated on cloaks
+round the skylight, or standing up holding on to the weather rigging, or
+leaning against the main-boom.  Clara Maynard, accustomed to yachting,
+promptly moved to windward, aided by Harry Caulfield, a young military
+officer, who had ridden over that morning to Luton, for the pleasure of
+making a trip on board the yacht; but her aunt, Miss Sarah Pemberton,
+looked somewhat annoyed at being asked to shift her seat.  Harry,
+however, came to her assistance, and placed a camp-stool for her against
+the weather bulwarks.
+
+"I am sorry, Sarah, to inconvenience you," said the captain,
+good-naturedly, "but we haven't as much room on board the _Ariadne_ as
+on the deck of a line-of-battle ship."
+
+The captain had called his yacht after the first ship in which he went
+to sea.
+
+The cutter having rounded a lofty point, a small and beautiful bay
+opened out ahead; and the wind remaining steady, without making another
+tack, she stood in directly for it.
+
+"We could not have chosen a more lovely spot for our picnic," exclaimed
+Clara.  "See, Aunt Sarah--I am sure you will be pleased when you get
+there.  Watch those picturesque cliffs, ever changing in shape as we
+sail along--and see those breezy downs above them, and the fine yellow
+sands below, and that pretty valley with the old fisherman's cottage on
+one side, and the clear stream running down its centre, and leaping over
+the rocks in a tiny cascade."
+
+"I shall be very glad to get safe on shore," answered Miss Pemberton,
+who had been persuaded, much against her will, to venture for the first
+time on board the little _Ariadne_.
+
+She had been invited, on the death of Clara's mother, her younger
+sister, to take up her abode with her widowed brother-in-law, and had
+only lately accepted his frequently repeated offer.  Whatever good
+qualities she might have possessed, she was certainly not attractive in
+appearance, being tall and thin, with a cold and forbidding manner.
+Clara treated her aunt with due respect, and did all she could to win
+her affections, though she tried in vain to bestow that love she would
+willingly have given.  Miss Pemberton presented a strong contrast to her
+niece, who was generally admired.  Clara was very fair, of moderate
+height, and of a slight and elegant figure, with regular features and a
+pleasing smile; though a physiognomist might have suspected that she
+wanted the valuable quality of firmness, which in her position was
+especially necessary; for she already possessed a good fortune, and
+would inherit a considerable one.  Her father, although a sailor of the
+old school, was not destitute of discernment, and thoroughly
+understanding her character, earnestly wished to see her married to a
+sensible, upright man, who would protect her and take good care of her
+property.  He had therefore given every encouragement to Harry
+Caulfield, son of his old and esteemed friend, General Caulfield.  He
+had known and liked Harry from his boyhood, and fully believed that he
+possessed those sterling qualities which would tend to secure his
+daughter's happiness.  Harry had met her when staying with some friends
+at Cheltenham, and admired her before he knew that she possessed a
+fortune.  He had thus the satisfaction of feeling that his love was
+purely disinterested.  Of this she was aware, and it had greatly
+influenced her in returning his affection.  When Clara wrote to her
+father, from whom she had no concealments, to tell him of the attention
+she was receiving from Captain Caulfield, his reply was, "I am very glad
+indeed to hear it; nothing could give me greater pleasure.  Tell him to
+come down to Luton, and that I shall be delighted to see him."
+
+Clara shortly afterwards returned home with her Aunt Sarah, and Harry of
+course followed, accompanied by his father, the general, who, finding a
+house in the neighbourhood vacant, engaged it for the sake of being near
+Captain Maynard, and thus enabling the young people to be together
+without depriving himself of his son's society.  Harry's regiment was in
+India, and he was under orders to rejoin it.  Though fond of his
+profession, in which he had gained distinction, and had every prospect
+of rising, he at first thought of selling out; but to this his father
+objected, and even Captain Maynard agreed that, as Clara was very young,
+they might wait a couple of years till he had obtained another step in
+rank, and that he would then consent to her accompanying him back, if
+necessary, to India.  The course of true love in this instance appeared
+to run smoothly enough.  Harry was most devoted in his attentions, and
+admired Clara more and more every day he spent with her--while she was
+satisfied that it would be impossible for her to love any one more; and
+had not she felt that it was her duty to remain with her father, she
+would willingly have married at once, and gone out to India.  She saw
+clearly, however, that her Aunt Sarah was not suited to take her place
+or attend to her father, as she had observed of late that his health was
+failing, so that even for Harry's sake she could not bring herself to
+quit him.  She had therefore consented to Harry's leaving her, though
+not without a severe struggle.  It was the first shadow which had come
+over her young and hitherto happy life since the loss of her beloved
+mother.  She was convinced that Harry was in every way worthy of her
+affections.  He was a fine, handsome fellow, with frank agreeable
+manners, and a large amount of good sense and judgment.  He had managed
+even to win the good opinion of Miss Sarah Pemberton, who was not in
+general inclined to think well of young men especially of officers in
+the army, whom she designated generally as an impudent, profligate set,
+with fluent tongues and insinuating manners, whose chief occupation in
+life was to break the hearts of young girls foolish enough to trust
+them.
+
+Among the rest of the company on board the yacht was Mary Lennard, a
+girl of about fourteen years old, a sweet young creature, and a great
+favourite of Clara's.  She was the daughter of the Reverend John
+Lennard, who had been for some years vicar of the parish of
+Luton-cum-Crosham, but only as _locum tenens_, he having been requested
+to take charge of it by the patron, Sir Richard Bygrave, who had
+promised to bestow it on his young relative, Dick Rushworth, as soon as
+Dick was of an age to take orders.  The said Dick Rushworth, however,
+having lately unexpectedly come into a fortune, had quitted the
+university, and declined becoming a clergyman; and Sir Reginald,
+influenced by his wife, had bestowed the living on her cousin, the
+Reverend Ambrose Lerew, who had graduated at Oxford, and had been for
+some time a curate in that diocese.  He had lately married a lady
+somewhat older than himself, possessed of a fair fortune, who had been
+considered a belle during two or three London seasons, but had failed to
+secure such a matrimonial alliance as she and her friends considered
+that she ought to make when she first came out.  At length, awakening to
+the fact that her youth was passing away and her beauty fading, she had
+consented to give her hand, and as much of a heart as she possessed, to
+the fashionable-looking and well-connected young curate, an especial
+favourite of her friend, Lady Bygrave.
+
+Mr Lennard had held the living longer than he had expected, and to the
+best of his ability had done his duty to his parishioners.  He was a
+genial, warm-hearted man, of good presence; his manners urbane and
+courteous; fond of a joke, hospitable and kind, being consequently a
+favourite with all classes.  The more wealthy liked him for his pleasant
+conversation and readiness to enter into all their gaieties and
+amusements, and the poorer for the kind way in which he spoke to them,
+and the assistance he afforded on all occasions when they were in
+distress.  He had lost his wife two or three years after he became vicar
+of Luton-cum-Crosham.  She had left two children, his dear little Mary,
+and a son, Alfred, a tall, pale-faced youth, who was now on board the
+yacht.  The young gentleman had been with a tutor, and was about to go
+up to Oxford.  He was considered very well-behaved; but as he seldom
+gave expression to his opinions, no one could ascertain much about his
+character, or how he was likely to turn out.  His father always spoke of
+him as his good boy, who had never given him any trouble, and he fully
+believed never would cause him a moments' anxiety.  His tutor had sent
+him home with a high character for diligence in his studies, and
+attention to his religious duties, which consisted in a regular
+attendance at church and at the morning and evening prayers of the
+family; and his father was happy in the belief that he would do very
+well in the world as a clergyman, or at the bar, or in any other
+profession he might select.  Still, Mary was undoubtedly his favourite,
+and on her he bestowed the full affection of a father's heart.  She was
+indeed a most loveable little creature.  Clara was especially fond of
+her.  Mary was so clever and sensible, that she was always a welcome
+guest at Luton.  Besides the persons already mentioned on board the
+yacht, there was Lieutenant Sims, of the coastguard, with his wife and
+daughter; a Mrs and Miss Prentiss, the latter young and pretty; Tom
+Wesby, a friend of Alfred Lennard's, very like him in appearance and
+manner; and an artist engaged in sketching in the neighbourhood, who had
+brought a letter of introduction to Captain Maynard.
+
+As the cutter rounded the headland before spoken of, most of the party
+evinced their admiration of the scenery by expressions of delight, and
+the artist exhibited his skill by making a faithful sketch in a few
+minutes.  The wind freshening, the cutter made rapid progress towards
+the bay.  Harry had taken the telescope, and was directing it towards
+the shore.
+
+"Some of our party are there already," he exclaimed; "I see my father
+and Mr Lennard, and I conclude that the other people must be the new
+vicar and his wife, from the unmistakable cut of the gentleman's coat,
+and the lady's irreproachable costume.  There are several more, though I
+cannot exactly make out who they are; I see, however, that the servants
+are bringing down the baskets of provisions, so we need have no fear of
+starving."
+
+"I did not expect that they would arrive so soon.  The wind has been
+light, and we have had the tide against us," observed Captain Maynard.
+"It will run long enough, however, to take us home again, if you young
+people are on board in good time.  I must trust to you, Harry, to
+collect all our passengers; or, should the wind drop, we may find
+ourselves drifting down Channel for the best part of the night."
+
+"Oh! that will be capital fun," cried Mrs Sims.  "Mary, you'd like it
+amazingly.  We can sit on deck, and look at the stars, and sing songs,
+and have our tea, and listen to the sailors' yarns--"
+
+"And have the chance of being run down and sunk by one of those big
+blundering iron steam-kettles," growled the lieutenant, who had the
+antipathy long felt by old sailors to all the modern innovations, as he
+considered them, in the navy.
+
+As the cutter glided up towards the shore, the party standing on the
+beach waved their handkerchiefs, and the ladies on board waved theirs.
+The jib was taken in, the foresail hauled down, and the yacht rounding
+to, the anchor was let drop at a short distance from the beach.
+
+"Haul the boat up alongside, Tom," said Captain Maynard.  "Now, Mr
+Sims, I must get you to take charge of the first party for the shore."
+
+"With the greatest pleasure in the world; I am always at the service of
+the ladies," answered the lieutenant, bowing round to them, "but my
+difficulty is to know who is to go first, unless I select by seniority.
+Miss Sarah Pemberton, suppose I ask you--age before honesty, you know."
+
+"You do not wish to insult me, Mr Sims?" answered the lady, bridling
+up.
+
+"Come, come, Sally, Sims never thought of such a thing; he was only
+joking, or rather, let the words slip out of his mouth without knowing
+what he was saying," said Captain Maynard.
+
+"I am not fond of joking," replied Miss Sarah; "but if you wish me to go
+first, I shall be very glad to get on shore, I assure you."
+
+"Pardon me, madam," said the lieutenant, looking very penitent, and
+offering his hand.  "I wouldn't say a word to ruffle your sensitive
+feelings, I do assure you."  Miss Pemberton, being appeased, gave her
+hand to the lieutenant, and though she at first showed some signs of
+trepidation, stepped without difficulty into the sternsheets of the
+boat.  She was followed by Mrs and Miss Sims.
+
+"Come, young Lennard, you get into the bows, and help to trim the boat,"
+said Mr Sims; and shoving off, they pulled for the shore.
+
+The boat soon reached the beach, when Mr Alfred, jumping out, wetted
+his shoes, greatly to his annoyance, and went running off without
+stopping to offer his assistance to the ladies.  Some of the rest of the
+party, however, came down to welcome them, and Mrs and Miss Sims,
+being, accustomed to boating, having jumped out, the lieutenant was able
+to aid Miss Pemberton in performing that, to her, hazardous operation.
+
+"Trust to me, my good lady," he said in an encouraging tone; "now step
+on this thwart--now on the next--now on the gunwale."
+
+"What's that?" asked Miss Pemberton.
+
+"The side of the boat, I should have said," answered the lieutenant.
+"Now spring with all the agility you possess."  At which the lady gave a
+bound which nearly overset the gallant officer, and would have ended by
+bringing her down on the sand, had not General Caulfield caught her in
+his arms.
+
+"I hope you are not hurt, my dear madam!" he exclaimed.
+
+"I have nearly dislocated my ankle, I believe," answered Miss Pemberton.
+"It is the first time I have ventured on board a yacht, and I intend
+that it shall be the last, with my own good pleasure."
+
+On this the Reverend Mr Lerew stepped forward and expressed his
+sympathy to Miss Pemberton, offering her his arm to conduct her up to a
+rock under the cliff, where she could sit and rest her injured foot.
+
+"I feel grieved for you, my dear madam, that what was intended to be a
+party of pleasure should commence with so untoward an event," he said.
+"Do allow my wife to examine your injured ankle--she is all tenderness
+and sympathy, and a gentle rubbing may perhaps restore it to its wonted
+elasticity."
+
+"I hope that I shall recover after a little rest, without giving Mrs
+Lerew the trouble," answered Miss Pemberton, touched with the interest
+exhibited by the new vicar.  "I am deeply grateful to you.  But those
+sea-officers, though well-intentioned, including my poor dear
+brother-in-law, are dreadfully rough and unmannerly, and have not ceased
+to alarm and annoy me since I got on board that horrible little vessel,
+misnamed a pleasure yacht."
+
+"True charity would make me wish to gloss over their faults--though I
+must confess I agree with you, my dear lady; but we must consider it the
+result of their early education, or rather, want of education," observed
+Mr Lerew, in a soft voice; "I fear, too, that their religious training
+is as defective as their manners--we must, however, use our best
+endeavours to correct the former, though it may be hopeless to attempt
+an improvement in the latter--indeed, it is of so infinitely less
+consequence, that provided we are successful in imparting the true
+faith, we must rest satisfied."
+
+"Oh, yes, I daresay I do," answered Miss Pemberton, who was thinking
+more about her ankle than of what Mr Lerew was saying to her; catching
+one of his words, she added, "but I don't accuse my brother-in-law of
+being irreligious; I assure you, he reads prayers every morning as the
+clock strikes half-past eight, and every evening at ten, with a chapter
+from the Old and New Testaments, with Ryle's expositions."
+
+"Pray, what prayers does he use?" asked Mr Lerew, in a tone which
+showed that he considered the matter of great importance.
+
+"He generally uses Bickersteth's prayers," answered Miss Pemberton.
+
+"Sad! sad!" exclaimed Mr Lerew, in a tone of horror, "thus to neglect
+the Prayer-Book and submit to the teaching of men the most deadly
+enemies of the catholic faith.  Do let me entreat you to beg that he
+will banish Ryle and Bickersteth from his library, or rather, commit
+them--I should say their works--to the flames at once, lest they should
+fall into the hands of other ignorant people."
+
+"I never thought there was any harm in them," answered Miss Pemberton,
+somewhat astonished at the vehemence with which the new vicar condemned
+his two brother divines, whom she had hitherto considered sound,
+trustworthy teachers.  "I will mention what you say to my
+brother-in-law, but I suspect that he will not be easily induced to do
+as you advise.  I know that he considers Canon Ryle a very sensible and
+pious man, and I have often heard him say that he could understand his
+writings better than those of any one else he ever met with."
+
+"Blind leaders of the blind," said Mr Lerew.  "The pernicious
+principles of such men are calculated to produce the overthrow of our
+Holy Church, and to undermine all catholic doctrines."
+
+"Dear me, Mr Lerew, I always thought Ryle and Bickersteth very sound
+churchmen and firm advocates of the truth," said Miss Pemberton.
+
+"Alas! alas! my dear lady; I fear there are many wolves in sheep's
+clothing who have long beguiled their flocks by teaching them to rely on
+their own judgment, instead of seeking for counsel and advice from those
+pastors who, knowing themselves to be duly appointed from on high to
+administer the holy sacraments, and grant absolution to humble
+penitents, feel the importance of their sacred office," replied Mr
+Lerew.
+
+Miss Pemberton did not quite understand Mr Lerew's meaning; but as he
+exhibited so much feeling and sympathy for her sprained ankle, she sat
+and listened, and thought that, though he was less agreeable than Mr
+Lennard, he at all events must be a very pious and excellent young
+clergyman, and that since the vicar, who had been so generally liked,
+was compelled to resign his office, it was fortunate for the
+parishioners that they had obtained so _superior_ a _minister_.
+
+In the meantime the boat had returned to the yacht for another freight,
+Captain Maynard, with Harry, Clara, and Mary, being the last to land.
+By this time most of the party had collected on the beach to welcome
+them.  General Caulfield, after shaking hands with the captain, led off
+Clara, for the sake, as he said, of having a little talk with her.  He
+was very fond of his future daughter-in-law, who was exactly the girl he
+desired as a wife for his son.  While they were absent, the captain
+chose a shady spot under the cliff for spreading the tablecloth.  The
+younger members of the party, under the superintendence of Mrs Sims,
+were busily engaged in unpacking the hampers and baskets, and arranging
+their contents.
+
+"Alfred, ahoy! bear a hand, and place the knives and forks alongside the
+plates; I like to see young men making themselves useful, instead of
+throwing all the work upon the ladies," exclaimed Captain Maynard, as he
+saw young Lennard sauntering off by himself, to avoid the trouble of
+speaking to any one.  Thus summoned, Alfred was compelled to return,
+when Mary, with a merry laugh, put a bundle of knives and forks into his
+hands, and told him to go and arrange some on the opposite side of the
+cloth.  The picnic had been got up by some of the principal people in
+the parish, as a compliment to their former vicar, as also for the
+purpose of enabling his successor to become acquainted with them in an
+easy and pleasant way.  Sir Reginald and Lady Bygrave had been invited,
+but had not yet arrived, and it would, of course, have been uncourteous
+to commence luncheon, hungry as everybody was, till they appeared.  The
+party had, in the meantime, to amuse themselves according to their
+tastes; some of the ladies had brought their sketch-books, others their
+work--though the greater number preferred doing nothing.
+
+The ever busy Lieutenant Sims had sent off to the yacht for an iron pot,
+which he filled up with potatoes and salt water, and having called some
+of the young gentlemen to assist him in collecting a quantity of dry
+wood which was seen scattered along the beach, he made a large fire, and
+put on the pot to boil.  "Now, by boys, take a lesson from an old tar,"
+he observed.  "Whenever you want to cook potatoes to perfection, boil
+them in salt water if you can get it, or if not, put in plenty of salt,
+and let them remain till the water has evaporated.  You will then have
+them come out like lumps of meal, as these will, you'll see, before
+long."
+
+Harry had soon stolen off, and joined Clara and his father.  The latter
+shortly after left the young people to themselves, while he went back to
+meet Captain Maynard and Mr Lennard, who were strolling along the
+beach.
+
+"I feel perfectly satisfied with my successor, as far as I am able at
+present to judge," observed Mr Lennard.  "He is a wonderfully zealous
+and earnest man.  He shows an evident desire to make himself popular,
+and to win the affections of the people; and I cannot blame him if he
+seems surprised that I have not introduced some of the more modern
+improvements in churches."
+
+"For my part, I hope that what he calls improvements will not follow the
+direction of the changes which have been made in some parishes,"
+observed General Caulfield.  "There are many who would object to them,
+as I should myself, and they can produce no real good."
+
+"New brooms sweep clean," said Mr Lennard.  "He naturally wishes to be
+doing something, and I shall not be jealous.  It is all-important to
+have peace and good-will in the parish."
+
+"It may be bought at too dear a price," said General Caulfield, "but we
+will hope for the best.  Here comes Mrs Lerew; she was, I understand, a
+good deal in London society, and is an elegant and fashionable-looking
+person, though she is somewhat older than Lerew, I suspect."
+
+"She may not make the worse wife for that," observed Captain Maynard.
+
+Harry and Clara had wandered away from the rest of the party, and were
+seated on a rock, at some distance off.  She had brought her
+sketch-book, and was endeavouring to make a drawing of the bay, with the
+headland to the eastward, round which they had come, and the little
+yacht at anchor off the beach; but anxious as she was to produce a
+satisfactory sketch, a duplicate of which Harry had begged her to give
+to him, her hand trembled, and her heart felt very sad.  It was the last
+day they were to be together, and she thought of the long, long months
+which must elapse before he was to return.
+
+"My memory will often fly back to this spot when I am far away," said
+Harry; "and though leagues of land and ocean divide us, we shall here
+meet in spirit and talk to each other, shall we not, dearest?"
+
+"I am sure of it," said Clara, looking into his handsome, honest
+countenance.  "I wish that I could make a better sketch, but I will try
+to improve it at home."
+
+"Oh! no, no! leave it just as it is; I wish to think of you as you are
+now," said Harry, "my own dear girl; and I would rather see every line
+as you have traced it on the paper before my eyes."
+
+"Well, then, I will keep the copy for myself," said Clara; "or I can
+come here with papa in the yacht, and take it over again."
+
+The sketch was finished, and seeing their friends assembling, and Mrs
+Sims beckoning vehemently to them, they rose to return.
+
+"I hope that my father will remain at Updown till I come back," said
+Harry.  "You will always trust to him, Clara, as to one who loves you as
+his daughter; and it will be a happiness to me to know that he will be
+near you, should Captain Maynard's health fail."
+
+Clara sighed.  "I much fear that is likely to happen--indeed, I have
+been unable to conceal from myself that he has greatly altered lately."
+
+Harry, wishing to avoid melancholy thoughts, changed the subject.
+
+"I am not quite satisfied with your new vicar," he observed; "I am
+afraid that he belongs to a school of which I have the utmost possible
+dread.  Believe me, dearest, I was most thankful to find, when I first
+came down to Luton, that Captain Maynard held the opinions I do, and
+that your parish was free from any of the ritualistic practices of the
+day.  Much as all must like Mr Lennard for his pleasant manners and
+kind heart, he is not exactly what I should wish a clergyman to be, but
+he is at all events thoroughly sound in practice.  Believe me, Clara,
+that however much I might admire a girl, and be inclined to love her, I
+would not risk my domestic happiness by marrying, should I find that she
+was enslaved by those plotting the overthrow of the Protestant
+principles of our Church.  You know, dearest, how strongly I feel on the
+subject, and I trust that you will, for your own sake, as well as mine,
+withstand all the allurements and artifices which either lay or clerical
+ritualists may use to induce you to support or take a part in their
+practices."
+
+"I hope so," said Clara, "though Lady Bygrave, when last she called on
+us, told me that there are many true and devoted men who are called
+ritualists; and I cannot say that I see any objection to good music and
+elegantly built churches, which it is their chief aim to introduce for
+the purpose of forwarding the cause of religion and devotion.  Many
+people are dissatisfied with the untrained attempts at harmony in our
+too often unsightly churches."
+
+Harry was going to reply, but he found that the last remark had been
+made unintentionally in the hearing of Mr Lerew.  That gentleman
+watched his opportunity, and while Harry had left Clara's side for a
+moment, he observed in a low, soft voice, "I see, Miss Maynard, that you
+are a young lady of good taste, and above the vulgar prejudices of the
+Calvinistic school, who stubbornly refuse to dedicate the best of their
+substance and talents to God, and rest satisfied with offering to Him
+the ugliest buildings their imaginations can devise, and the refuse of
+their possessions."
+
+He stopped on seeing Harry, who quickly rejoined Clara.
+
+"Here they come! here they come!" exclaimed several of the most hungry
+of the party, as a tall gentleman and lady, accompanied by two sombre,
+well-dressed persons, were seen descending the hill.  "Who can those
+people be with Sir Reginald and Lady Bygrave, I wonder?" cried Mrs
+Sims; "they look to me for all the world like Jesuit priests."
+
+Mr Lerew's countenance brightened, and Master Alfred Lennard showed
+more interest than he had hitherto exhibited in any of the proceedings
+of the day.
+
+"So I fear they are," observed General Caulfield.  "What can have
+induced Sir Reginald and his wife to bring them here?"
+
+Mr Lerew, however, with several other persons, hurried up the pathway,
+to greet the chief people of that part of their county.  Lady Bygrave,
+escorted by one of the priests, who gave her his hand at the steeper
+parts of the path, came first, and at once introduced their friend
+Monsieur l'Abbe Henon, who with his companion, Father Lascelles, had
+arrived only that morning, and had begged leave to accompany them.  They
+had come to see Sir Reginald on the subject of forming a new settlement
+in South America, as it was well known he was deeply interested in the
+subject of colonisation, and they hoped to obtain his influence and
+support.
+
+"They are most delightful people," whispered Lady Bygrave to Miss
+Pemberton, who met her ladyship at the bottom of the descent; "everybody
+will be pleased with them, they are so full of information, and so free
+from prejudices--they will disabuse all our minds of the vulgar notion
+that Catholic priests can talk of nothing but masses and penances; and
+they are so noble-minded and philanthropic."
+
+The abbe, who overheard what was said, smiled blandly, and addressed
+himself to Miss Pemberton.  He spoke English perfectly, with only a
+slight foreign accent, in a melodious voice, attractive and soothing to
+his hearers.  He and Father Lascelles bowed politely as they were
+introduced to the company, and at once made themselves at home, uttering
+not a word to which even the most prejudiced could object.
+
+Lady Bygrave was still young, with a decidedly aristocratic appearance,
+and very pleasant manners when she had to be condescending.  Sir
+Reginald was a tall, good-looking man, who seldom expressed an opinion,
+his florid countenance not exhibiting any large amount of intellect; but
+as he was considered straightforward and honest, he was generally liked.
+
+With as little delay as possible, not to show the last comers too much
+that they had been waited for, the party assembled round the ample
+repast; and while the older gentlemen were employed in carving, the
+younger ones, aided by Mrs Sims, busied themselves in carrying round
+the plates.  The usual conversation at picnics then became general.  The
+abbe and his companion, having glanced round the company, and carefully
+noted each person present, were soon enabled to take part in it.  They
+said nothing very remarkable, but managed, notwithstanding, to draw out
+the opinions of most of those to whom they addressed themselves.  The
+abbe was especially attentive to Mr and Mrs Lerew, and both seemed
+highly flattered with what he said.  He fixed his glance on Master
+Alfred, and having ascertained who he was, spoke to him in a gentle,
+encouraging tone.  Mr Lennard himself seemed pleased with Sir
+Reginald's visitors, and remarked to General Caulfield that he had
+seldom met more agreeable foreigners.  "I don't trust them," answered
+the general; "the more pleasant and insinuating they are, the more
+necessary it is to avoid them.  I would never allow such men to enter my
+house or become intimate with any of my family."
+
+Captain Maynard entertained much the same feeling as his friend.
+Lieutenant Sims never did care about foreigners, and thought the idea of
+getting Englishmen to emigrate to such a country as they talked of was
+all humbug.  The abbe and his friends might have heard many of the
+observations made; but whether complimentary or not, they did not allow
+a muscle of their countenances to change.  Lady Bygrave happened to
+upset her wineglass, and soon afterwards the abbe did exactly the same
+thing; on which he turned with a bow to her ladyship, observing, "I am
+sure whatever Lady Bygrave does is the right thing, and cannot therefore
+be reproved."
+
+"I am thankful, Monsieur l'Abbe," said Lady Bygrave, smiling.  "I am
+sure that I can always rely upon you for support."
+
+"Ah, yes, madam, in spiritual matters as in temporal," whispered the
+abbe.
+
+The conversation was, however, generally of a lively character, and all
+agreed that the picnic was a success, and that they had enjoyed
+themselves amazingly.  Captain Maynard, however, looking at his watch,
+declared that those who intended to return in the yacht must come on
+board without delay.  Miss Pemberton declined, if she could possibly get
+a conveyance, and Lady Bygrave offered to take her in her carriage;
+Father Lascelles begging leave to return in a pony-carriage which had
+brought the hampers, if some one who knew the way would drive him--on
+which Alfred Lennard requested to be allowed the honour of doing so.
+Harry and Clara of course went back in the yacht, as did the rest of the
+party who had come in her.
+
+"Mr Lennard must take care that that Jesuit priest does not get hold of
+his son," observed Harry to Clara; "you might get Mary to speak to her
+father and warn him, for he seemed as much pleased with the strangers as
+Sir Reginald and Lady Bygrave.  I hold with my father about them; and I
+would as soon trust a couple of serpents within my doors."
+
+"Are you not rather severe on the poor men?" asked Clara.
+
+"Knowing their principles and their great object--to bring under
+subjection the minds of their fellow-creatures, and thus to amass wealth
+for the purpose of raising their order above all the ruling powers on
+earth--I cannot say anything too severe.  To attain their ends they will
+allow nothing to stand in their way; they will hesitate at no crime, no
+deceit; they will assume any character which suits them, and will
+undertake the lowest offices, and will employ the vilest means, or will
+pretend to the most exalted piety."
+
+"Surely, Harry, the men we saw to-day could not be guilty of such
+conduct," said Clara.
+
+"Every Jesuit is trained in the same school, and I therefore make no
+exceptions," answered Harry.  "We shall find that even those gentlemen,
+fascinating as they appeared, had some object in visiting Sir Reginald,
+ulterior to that of presenting him with a scheme of colonisation.  He is
+wealthy; and depend on it, they were informed of the proclivities of
+Lady Bygrave."
+
+Clara was not quite convinced.  It was not likely, however, that the
+abbe and his companion would pay a visit to Luton.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER TWO.
+
+Harry had gone.  Clara felt very sad; her eye was constantly at the
+telescope in the drawing-room, looking out for the steamer which was
+conveying him to Alexandria.  She at length caught sight of a long white
+line and a puff of grey smoke above it, which she believed must belong
+to the ship.  She was still watching it as it was growing less and less
+distinct, when her aunt, entering the room, said, "I am afraid that your
+father is very ill.  I went into his study just now; when I spoke to
+him, he was unable to answer me."
+
+Clara flew to the study, and found her father seated in his arm-chair.
+There was a pained expression in his eyes, and he was speechless.  He
+had been seized with a paralytic stroke.  The servant was immediately
+despatched to bring the doctor, who was found not far off, and quickly
+came.  He pronounced the captain to be in considerable danger.  Clara,
+ever dutiful and affectionate, was constant in her attendance on her
+father.  Even Miss Pemberton's manner softened, and she did her best to
+comfort her niece.  In the course of two or three days, Captain Maynard
+had somewhat recovered, and was able to speak without much difficulty.
+General Caulfield, who had heard of his illness, came over to see him.
+The brave sailor believed himself to be dying.
+
+"It is a knock at my door to which I am bound to attend, General," he
+said.
+
+"I have no fear for myself, for I trust in One `mighty to save;' but I
+am anxious about my gentle Clara, so ill able to battle with the
+troubles of life.  I wish that we had not let Harry go; I could have
+left her with confidence in his care.  Would that he could be recalled!"
+
+"His ship is across the bay by this time.  We acted for the best, and
+must trust to Him who ever cares for the orphan and widow.  While I
+live, I will be a father to your child, and assist her aunt in watching
+over her," answered the general; "but cheer up, my friend, I do not
+speak to one ignorant of the truth, and therefore I can say that God may
+still preserve your life for her sake, though you will undoubtedly be
+the gainer by going hence, as all are who die in the Lord.  We can pray
+to Him to protect her."  And the gallant old soldier knelt down by the
+side of his friend, as by that of a beloved brother, and together they
+lifted up their voices to Him in whom they trusted.  Though Captain
+Maynard could but faintly repeat the words uttered by the general, his
+heart spoke with the fervency of a true Christian who expects soon to be
+in the presence of his Saviour.  He pressed the general's hand.  "And
+whatever happens, my dear friend, I feel confident that you will fulfil
+your promise," he said.
+
+Before the general left the house, he spoke for some time to Miss
+Pemberton, who was fully convinced that her brother-in-law had not many
+hours to live.  The captain, however, the next day had greatly
+recovered; and while Miss Pemberton was seated in the drawing-room,
+Clara being with her father, Mr and Mrs Lerew were announced.  Mrs
+Lerew advancing, took Miss Pemberton's hand, and sank into a seat, her
+husband following with the most obsequious of bows and blandest of
+smiles.
+
+"My dear lady, I rejoice to find you within," he said, "as I am anxious
+to have some earnest conversation with you, while perhaps, if I may
+venture to make the request, your niece will show the garden to Mrs
+Lerew."
+
+"Clara is with her father, who is still, I regret to say, very ill,"
+answered Miss Pemberton; "but I will summon her, that she may have the
+pleasure of seeing Mrs Lerew."
+
+"Not for the world," answered the vicar: "the present opportunity is
+propitious.  I was aware of Captain Maynard's serious illness; indeed, I
+am most desirous to speak to him on the subject of his soul's welfare.
+From what his medical attendant tells me, I fear that his days are
+numbered; and you will pardon me when I say it, I grieve to hear that he
+has been sadly neglectful of his religious duties."
+
+"I hope you are mistaken," answered Miss Pemberton, somewhat astonished
+at the remark; "though I have not resided long with him, I have always
+understood that he was specially attentive to them."
+
+"Not to some of the most important," said Mr Lerew: "he has not once
+been to the celebration of the Holy Eucharist since I became vicar of
+the parish, nor has he attended matin-song or even-song, which I have
+performed daily; and I regret to observe that neither you nor your niece
+have been present."
+
+"My brother-in-law has not been in the habit of attending any but Sunday
+services, nor have I, I confess," said Miss Pemberton; "but I shall be
+very happy, if he gets better, to drive over with my niece, should you
+think it right."
+
+"Right!" exclaimed Mr Lerew in a tone of amazement; "I consider it a
+great sin to neglect such means of grace, and by neglecting them you
+encourage others to do so likewise; whereas if people of position set a
+good example, it will be followed by their inferiors.  But, my dear
+lady, I fear that I have said what may sound harsh in your ears.  One of
+my great objects to-day is to see your brother-in-law alone, and I must
+ask you to enable me to do so while Mrs Lerew is paying her respects to
+your niece."
+
+Miss Pemberton, seeing no objection to this, undertook to send Clara
+down, and to beg Captain Maynard to receive the vicar.  She went
+upstairs for this purpose.  Of course the sick man could not decline the
+vicar's visit, and Clara having very unwillingly left her father, Mr
+Lerew was ushered into his room.  The new vicar spoke softly and gently,
+and expressed his sorrow to hear of the captain's serious illness.  He
+then went on to speak of the importance of being prepared for death.
+
+"I would urge you, therefore, my dear sir, to confess your sins to me,
+that I may absolve you from them, as I have authority from my office."
+
+"Yes, sir, I have many sins to confess, and I have already with hearty
+repentance done so to my God," answered the captain, sitting up in bed.
+"I am very sure, too, that they are all washed away in the blood of
+Jesus Christ."
+
+The vicar gave a suppressed hem.  He at once saw that he must drop the
+point of confession.  "Then, my dear sir," he added, "I should have no
+hesitation in administering to you the Holy Eucharist, which, knowing
+your dangerous state, I reserved for you on Sunday last, and have now
+brought in my pocket."
+
+"I do not exactly understand you, sir," answered the captain, wondering
+what his visitor could mean.
+
+"You would surely wish to enjoy the benefit of that Holy Sacrament,"
+said the vicar, "and I have brought the consecrated elements with me,
+the wafer and the wine mingled with water, which latter it is lawful in
+the Anglican Church to administer."
+
+"I understand you now, and am much obliged to you for your kind
+intentions," said the captain, "but the truth is, I should prefer taking
+the sacrament with my old friends, Mr Lennard and General Caulfield,
+with my daughter, and sister-in-law, and the members of my household.
+We have always an ample supply of bread and wine for the purpose."
+
+"Of my predecessor I say nothing, and hope that he will be brought ere
+long to the knowledge and practice of the truth," exclaimed Mr Lerew.
+"General Caulfield--pardon me for saying it--is, I understand, a
+schismatic with whom we are bound to hold no communion.  He has for
+several Sundays attended a dissenting conventicle, and actually takes
+upon himself to preach and to attempt to teach his ignorant
+fellow-creatures; for ignorant and benighted those must be who listen to
+him.  It will be at the peril of your soul, I am bound to tell you,
+Captain Maynard, should you invite him to be present at the awful
+ceremony you propose to hold."
+
+"I will be responsible for the risk I may run," answered Captain
+Maynard, the spirit of the old sailor rising within him.  "I cannot
+allow my dearest friend, in whose truly religious character I have
+unbounded confidence, to be so spoken of without protest.  In my state,
+especially, I would quarrel with no man.  You made a mistake, Mr Lerew,
+in thus speaking of that excellent man."
+
+"I deeply regret it," said the vicar.  "I must not longer intrude on
+you, but I am bound to tell you, Captain Maynard, that I consider your
+soul in imminent danger, and I earnestly pray that another day, ere it
+be too late, a benign influence may induce you more willingly to receive
+my ministrations.  Farewell."  And Mr Lerew, rising with a frowning
+brow, walked to the door, while the captain, sinking back on his pillow,
+rang his bell.  Soon after Mr Lerew had returned to the drawing-room,
+the servant entered to say that the captain wished to see Miss Clara,
+and she, without even stopping to say good-bye to her guests, hurried
+upstairs.  The vicar's manner was calm as usual.  Miss Pemberton had
+scarcely time to ask whether he had had a satisfactory interview with
+her brother-in-law, when Lieutenant and Mrs Sims entered the room.
+Miss Pemberton was compelled to shake hands with them, as the lieutenant
+advanced in his usual hearty fashion, but she showed that their arrival
+caused her no great satisfaction.  Mr Lerew and his wife received them
+in a stiff manner, and the former held out two fingers, which Sims
+nearly dislocated as he grasped them in his rough palm.  The lieutenant,
+having enquired after Captain Maynard, and being informed by Miss
+Pemberton that he was as well as she could hope, found himself compelled
+to relapse into silence, as Mr Lerew, giving a hint to his wife to
+attend to Mrs Sims, requested a few moments conversation with Miss
+Pemberton in the bay window.  Leading the lady to it, he spoke in so low
+a voice, that even Mrs Sims, much as she might have wished to do so,
+could not catch a word--while the honest lieutenant, who did not trouble
+himself about the matter, endeavoured to make amends for the somewhat
+unintelligible replies which his wife gave to Mrs Lerew.
+
+The first portion of the vicar's conversation had reference to Clara; he
+then continued in the same suppressed tone, "The General, also, is not a
+man on whose religious opinions you should place reliance, my dear
+madam, and I would especially urge you to prevent him, by every means in
+your power, from coming here.  He can only lead your poor brother-in-law
+from the right path, and may induce him to refrain from taking advantage
+of the sacred offices I am so anxious to render."
+
+In a few minutes Mr Lerew and Miss Pemberton returned to their seats,
+the former observing in a voice which he intended should be heard,
+"General Caulfield may be a very worthy soldier, but I unhesitatingly
+say, and I wish it to be known, that I consider any person, whatever his
+rank, is to be greatly blamed who enters a dissenting chapel, and
+without authority pretends to preach to the ignorant populace."
+
+"But, sir, I can say I once listened to as good a sermon preached by the
+general as I ever heard from parson or bishop, begging your pardon,"
+exclaimed Mr Sims, the colour mounting to his honest cheeks as he
+spoke; "he preaches simply from the Bible, and just says what the Bible
+says; and that, I hold, is the best test of a good sermon."
+
+"The Bible, Mr Sims, is a very dangerous book, if read by the laity,
+without the proper interpretation of those deputed by Holy Church to
+explain its meaning," emphatically replied Mr Lerew.
+
+The lieutenant gave an involuntary whew.  "Then I suppose that you mean
+the Bible should not be read by us laity," he exclaimed.
+
+"Certainly, not without the written or verbal explanation of the priests
+of our Church," answered Mr Lerew.
+
+"And that is your opinion?" asked the lieutenant, resolving then and
+there that he would never allow the vicar an opportunity of explaining
+the Bible to him or any of his family according to his interpretation;
+"and you wish this to be known in the parish, Mr Lerew?"
+
+"Certainly, I do not desire to conceal my opinions--I speak with
+authority," answered the vicar.
+
+"But, my dear, the people may misunderstand you," observed Mrs Lerew,
+who reflected that her husband had made an acknowledgment which some of
+his parishioners might take up, and perhaps cause him annoyance; but the
+vicar was not a man to be withheld from expressing his opinion by any
+such fears.  He was aware that he would be supported by Sir Reginald and
+Lady Bygrave, and he secretly held such persons as Lieutenant Sims and
+the rest of his parishioners of inferior rank in the utmost contempt.
+
+"I will take good care that your opinion is known, though I do not agree
+with it, I can tell you, Mr Lerew," exclaimed the lieutenant, rising.
+"I am sorry, Miss Pemberton, that I cannot see my excellent friend this
+morning.  I served under him six years or more--there is no man I more
+esteem, and I know what his opinion is of General Caulfield.  Give him
+my love and respects, and say I hope to have a talk with him another day
+when he is better.  Come, my dear, it is time we should be jogging
+home."
+
+This was said to his wife; and the two rising, took their departure,
+receiving the most freezing of looks from the vicar and the two ladies.
+At that instant a servant girl entered, to beg that Miss Pemberton would
+come up immediately into her master's room.
+
+"We didn't like to interrupt you, marm, but I am afraid the captain's in
+a bad way," she said, "I will attend you," exclaimed Mr Lerew: "a
+priest is ever in his proper place beside the bed of the dying."
+
+Without waiting for permission, he followed Miss Pemberton into Captain
+Maynard's room.  Clara was at her father's bedside, holding his hand.
+She had found him, when she returned from the drawing-room after his
+interview with the vicar, speechless.  He had endeavoured to say
+something to her, but his tongue refused its office; his mind was,
+however, it was evident, unimpaired.  He looked up with a pained
+expression, and tried to show that he wished to write; but when a slate
+was brought him, his fingers were unable to hold the pencil Clara had
+immediately sent off for the doctor, and was now endeavouring, by
+chafing her father's hands, to restore their power.
+
+On seeing the vicar in the doorway a peculiar expression passed over
+Captain Maynard's countenance, and he made another desperate effort to
+utter a few words in his daughter's ear, but in vain--no articulate
+sounds proceeded from his lips.
+
+"I feel the deepest sympathy and compassion for you, my dear young
+lady," said the vicar in a gentle tone.  "We will pray for the soul of
+the departing--join me, I beseech you--induce your niece to kneel with
+us," he whispered to Miss Pemberton, who nodded, and placing a chair by
+the bedside, almost compelled Clara to kneel on it, while she continued
+the act of filial affection in which she had been engaged.  The vicar
+then taking from his pocket a book, read a service, of which poor Clara,
+agitated as she was, did not comprehend a word.  Captain Maynard all the
+time was looking into her fair face with the same pained expression in
+his eyes which they had assumed on the entrance of the vicar.  Doctor
+Brown, a worthy and excellent man, arrived just as the vicar had
+concluded; and exercising his authority, requested him and Miss
+Pemberton to leave the room, observing that perfect quiet was necessary
+for his patient.
+
+"You may stay," he whispered to Miss Maynard, as he felt the captain's
+pulse.  "The captain has had another attack--very slight, I assure you--
+he'll rally from it, I hope, but we must allow nothing to agitate him.
+There, there, he understands what we say.  Don't be cast down, Captain;
+God will take care of her, and she has many true friends.  It is about
+you, my dear, he is thinking--I know it by the way his eyes turn towards
+you."
+
+Clara could no longer restrain her tears, though she tried to conceal
+them from her father.  The doctor's predictions were in part verified:
+Captain Maynard again rallied sufficiently to make signs for everything
+he wanted, and showed that his intellect was perfectly clear.  With the
+doctor's permission he received several visits from General Caulfield,
+though no one else was allowed to see him.  Mr Lerew called frequently.
+On each occasion he had an interview with Miss Pemberton, and twice he
+saw Clara, when she was not in attendance on her father.  He did his
+best, as he well knew how, to ingratiate himself with both ladies.  He
+was making way with Miss Pemberton, and hoped that he was gradually
+winning over Clara.  He took good care in her presence to say nothing
+harsh of General Caulfield, though what he did say was calculated to
+undermine him in her opinion, but he so cautiously expressed himself
+that she had no suspicion of the object of his remarks.  He managed also
+never to call when the general was likely to be at the house, as he
+especially wished to avoid meeting him in the presence of Clara or her
+aunt.  The vicar on three occasions ventured to speak much more openly
+to Miss Pemberton than he did to Clara.
+
+"What a blessed thing it is, my dear lady, that our Holy Church
+possesses divinely appointed priests who can unerringly guide and direct
+their flock; who can rightly administer all the sacraments and interpret
+the Scriptures! and how sad it is that any should obstinately refuse to
+take full advantage of all these spiritual blessings!" he remarked.
+"You and your sweet niece will, I trust, not be among those who thus
+risk the loss of their souls."
+
+"I hope not," answered Miss Pemberton, becoming somewhat alarmed.  "I am
+sure that I wish to do everything which religion requires."
+
+"There is one great omission of which you have been guilty," continued
+Mr Lerew.  "I wish to speak with all love and gentleness.  You have
+never yet come to confession."
+
+"Is that necessary?" asked Miss Pemberton, feeling more than ever
+uneasy, "I did not know that it was required by the Church of England."
+
+"You have read your Prayer-Book to little purpose, if you think so,"
+said Mr Lerew, with more sternness than he had hitherto shown.  "Only
+think of the unspeakable comfort obtained through priestly absolution,
+which will be thus afforded you.  You will then know that your sins are
+put away.  You will feel so holy, and clean, and pure.  Let me, with all
+loving earnestness, urge you and your sweet niece to come without delay
+to that holy ordinance, too long ignored and neglected in our Church;
+and let me assure you that I believe every true daughter of that Church,
+were she aware of the blessed advantages to be gained, would avail
+herself of the opportunities now being offered throughout the kingdom."
+
+"Your remarks take me, I own, by surprise," answered Miss Pemberton.
+"None of my acquaintance, that I am aware of, have ever been in the
+habit of confessing."
+
+"`Wide is the gate and broad is the way which leadeth to destruction;
+many there be that go in thereat.'  Think of that text, Miss Pemberton;
+join the privileged few, and I shall be most thankful to receive you as
+a penitent," answered Mr Lerew.  "Endeavour, also, by all means to
+induce your niece to follow your pious example.  My dear friends, Sir
+Reginald and Lady Bygrave, and many other persons of distinction, come
+regularly to confession; and I trust that by degrees the whole of my
+flock will take advantage of the opportunity, which I shall have the
+happiness of offering them, of being absolved from sin."
+
+Miss Pemberton did not exactly say that she would go to confession, as
+she felt rather doubtful whether Clara would accompany her, but she
+promised that she would consider the matter; and the vicar on leaving
+felt satisfied with the way he had made.  As yet, however, he had not
+got so far as to set up a confessional box in his church.  He intended,
+in the first instance, to employ the vestry for that purpose.  He had
+his doubts whether Mr Lennard might not withdraw the support he was now
+affording him; still, he had made considerable progress.  His first step
+was to select a dozen of the schoolboys of the parish to form a choir,
+and to clothe them in surplices; the instruments which had hitherto led
+the parishioners in their singing being banished, an organ, presented by
+Lady Bygrave, was put up, and an organist with high ritualistic
+proclivities appointed.  The hymn-books with the good old tunes which
+all the parish knew by heart were discarded, and Hymns Ancient and
+Modern were introduced.  The communion-table was next raised and adorned
+with a richly embroidered cover, and on the following Sunday four
+magnificent branch candlesticks appeared upon it.  Mr Lennard had
+hitherto not made any remarks on the alterations going forward; but when
+he saw the candlesticks, he enquired of Mr Lerew, who was calling on
+him, what funds he possessed for the purchase of such articles, and what
+was their object, as he feared that they would not be appreciated by the
+parishioners at large.
+
+"I have ample funds for all such purposes; and ignorant as the people
+are at present, we will so educate them that by degrees they will see
+the value and significance of the improvements we are introducing,"
+answered Mr Lerew; "I contemplate having a reredos erected, which will
+add greatly to the beauty of the church; as it will be expensive, I own,
+I trust that you and other friends will contribute from your means
+towards the important work.  I wish to ornament those blank spaces along
+the aisle with appropriate pictures.  I should prefer having them
+painted on the walls, of medallion shape; but as it may be difficult to
+get an artist down here, we must be content to have them in moveable
+frames.  I purpose also having a large picture of the Crucifixion, or
+perhaps one of the Holy Virgin, put up over the altar, instead of the
+Ten Commandments, which greatly offend my eye; while I confess that I
+cannot consider the altar complete without the symbol of our faith
+placed on it.  I should have preferred a crucifix of full size, and I
+think that the cross might be so arranged that the figure can at any
+time be added; but I fear that at present some of the parishioners in
+their ignorance might raise objections which would cause us some
+trouble."
+
+"I should think, indeed, that they would object!" exclaimed Mr Lennard.
+"Are you not going on too fast?  I do not complain that your
+improvements cast some reflection on me; as being a mere _locum tenens_,
+I could not have made the alterations you propose, even had I wished to
+do so; but others might find very great fault with you."
+
+"You will come over fully to agree with me, as my kind friends Sir
+Reginald and Lady Bygrave have done," said the vicar, and with a gentle
+smile he bid his host good-bye.
+
+Scarcely had Mr Lerew gone than a note was brought to Mr Lennard, from
+Lady Bygrave, requesting him, with his son and daughter, to spend a few
+days at Swanston Hall.  Lady Bygrave was a very charming person, and
+pleasant people were generally to be met with at the Hall.  He gladly
+accepted the invitation.  Alfred was delighted; Mary would rather have
+gone back to stay with Clara.  Mr Lennard was somewhat surprised to
+find that the abbe and Father Lascelles were still there.  "The friends
+to whom they were going were unable to receive them, and Sir Reginald
+requested them to stay on as long as they found it convenient," remarked
+Lady Bygrave.  Mr Lennard was disappointed at finding no one else at
+the house, with the exception of a young lady rather older than Mary, of
+grave and sedate manners.  As she was dressed in black, Mr Lennard
+concluded that she was in mourning for a parent or some other near
+relative, which accounted for the gravity of one so young.  She,
+however, smiled very sweetly when Mary was introduced to her, and said
+in a gentle voice, "I know that we shall become good friends, so pray
+let us begin at once, and talk to each other without reserve."
+
+Mr Lennard, who had often wished that Mary could enjoy the
+companionship of a girl of her own age, was glad to find so apparently
+amiable a young lady in the house.  The abbe, on entering the room,
+expressed his pleasure at seeing Mr Lennard, and certainly did his best
+to make amends for the want of other society.  Father Lascelles,
+observing that Alfred did not know what to do with himself, proposed
+taking a turn round the grounds.  "I am not much of a sportsman," he
+said as they walked on, "but I am fond of fishing, as I dare say you
+are, and we will fish together to-morrow, if you like."  He had
+discovered that angling--an art in which he was an adept in more ways
+than one--was the only amusement which suited Alfred's tastes.
+
+The few days spent at the Hall went rapidly by.  At first the abbe
+carefully avoided any but secular subjects, and being a remarkably
+well-informed man, he made himself very agreeable.  Even when Sir
+Reginald or Lady Bygrave seemed inclined to speak on religion, he
+quickly turned the conversation, but by degrees he, with apparent
+unwillingness, entered into matters of faith.  Mr Lennard, who had
+never given any attention to the Papal system, was surprised to find how
+little, according to the abbe's showing, the Church of England differed
+from that of Rome in all matters of importance.
+
+"Ah," remarked the abbe, with a smile, "your Church is like a wandering
+child--though you have gone away from the parent, you retain all your
+main features and doctrines, and have but to own obedience to the chief
+head, and you would again be one with us.  What a happy consummation!
+Would that it were brought about!  Why should those of the same kindred
+be divided?"
+
+"It is sad that it should be so," remarked Lady Bygrave, "perhaps, if
+His Holiness, the Pope, were not so exigeant in his demands, the
+glorious union might soon be accomplished."
+
+"It is there that you are in error, my dear lady," remarked the abbe,
+blandly; "His Holiness is too loving a parent to be exigeant without
+good reason.  Think of the parable of the Prodigal Son--what a warm
+welcome! what rich treasures the father had for him, who was willing to
+return! such as all will experience who, having eaten of the husks of
+Protestantism, fly back to the bosom of the mother-Church."
+
+Mr Lennard above all things hated an argument, and would always rather
+side with a companion than oppose him; still he was not won by the
+sophisms of the abbe; but he did not, unhappily, reflect on the effect
+they might produce on Alfred and Mary.  He had studied the Thirty-nine
+Articles when he had taken his ordination vows, and he saw that the
+opinions expressed by Lady Bygrave, and occasionally by Sir Reginald,
+who was even more open than his wife, could not be reconciled to them.
+The abbe never uttered a word which showed that he considered there were
+any material differences in the two creeds, with the exception of the
+single one of want of obedience to the heads of the Church.
+
+"You have simplified your services; you have eliminated several
+doctrines which we consider of importance; but such doctrines are, I
+rejoice to see, in the course of being rapidly restored to their proper
+position, as are many of the practices and observances of our Holy
+Church," said the abbe, "and all you have now to say is, I will return,
+I will obey, and the union is complete."
+
+"You make the matter certainly very easy," said Mr Lennard; "but having
+been for forty years of my life accustomed to consider that there is a
+much wider gap between our Churches than that you have so quickly passed
+over, you must not be surprised if I hesitate to take the leap; but I
+will consider the subject."
+
+"Far be it from me to advise you to do what your conscience might
+disapprove," observed the abbe.
+
+Father Lascelles found that he could be more open with Alfred.  His
+chief aim was to impress upon the young man's mind that there was but
+one true Church, and that of Rome being the most ancient and most
+powerful, and holding out unspeakably greater advantages to its
+followers, must be that true one.  Still, Alfred was neither very
+impressive not communicative; the Jesuit priest could draw no positive
+conclusion as to the effect his remarks had produced, though he felt
+sure that, could he obtain time to play the fish he had hooked, he
+should land him safe at last.
+
+Mary's friend, Emmeline Tracy, was unexpectedly called away from the
+Hall.  Even to Mary she did not say where she was going, as she bid her
+good-bye, but she hoped, she said, ere long to see her again.  Mr
+Lennard observed that his daughter looked more thoughtful and in less
+good spirits than usual; it reminded him of his often expressed
+determination of sending her to a finishing school, that she might have
+the benefit of young companions, and form pleasant friendships.  He
+mentioned his idea to Lady Bygrave.  "By all means, Mr Lennard; it is
+what I should strongly recommend," answered her ladyship.  "It is
+curious that I was thinking of the same thing.  There is a school at
+Cheltenham exactly of the character you would wish for your daughter.
+Mrs Barnett, the mistress, is a lady of high attainments and amiable
+disposition, and she receives only girls of the first families; so that
+Mary would be certain of forming desirable acquaintances.  I shall have
+great pleasure in writing to Mrs Barnett, saying who you are, and
+requesting her to receive your daughter directly she has a vacancy."
+
+Mr Lennard returned home; and a few days afterwards Lady Bygrave sent
+him a letter from Mrs Barnett, who said, that in consequence of the
+very satisfactory account her ladyship had written of Mr Lennard and
+his daughter, she should be happy to receive the young lady as an inmate
+immediately, to fill up the only vacancy in her establishment, and which
+she regretted that she could not keep open beyond a week or so.
+
+"Let me earnestly advise you to send Mary at once," added her ladyship.
+"It would be a grievous pity to lose so favourable an opportunity of
+placing her in a satisfactory school; for good schools are, I know, rare
+enough."
+
+Mr Leonard accordingly made up his mind to take his daughter to
+Cheltenham.  Mary had only time to drive over and pay a short visit to
+Clara.
+
+"I hope you will be happy," said Clara.  "As I never was at school, I
+don't know what sort of life you will have to lead, but I should think
+with the companionship of a number of nice girls it must be very
+cheerful.  You can never for a moment feel out of spirits for want of
+society, as I do too often here, now that I am unable to converse with
+my poor father, and you know that Aunt Sarah is not the most
+entertaining of persons."
+
+Mary went away in good spirits, promising to write to Clara, and tell
+her all about the school.  Mr Lennard and his daughter arrived safely
+at Cheltenham, and reached Mrs Barnett's handsome mansion.  Everything
+about it appeared to be as he could desire; the sitting-rooms were well
+furnished, and the bedroom his daughter was to occupy with several other
+girls looked remarkably comfortable, the walls being adorned with
+pictures, of which, however, he did not take much notice, though he saw
+by a glance he gave at them that they were Scripture subjects.  As they
+were passing along a passage, the mistress hastily closed a door, but
+not until he observed at the farther end of the room a table, on which
+stood vases of flowers and candlesticks surmounted by what looked very
+like a crucifix; but he was too polite to interrogate Mrs Barnett on
+the subject, and she evidently did not intend that he should look into
+the room.  To most of his inquiries he received satisfactory answers:
+the young ladies attended church regularly, and were visited and
+catechised periodically by a clergyman in whose judgment and piety Mrs
+Barnett said she had the most perfect confidence.  Poor Mary threw her
+arms round her father's neck as he was taking his leave, and burst into
+tears.
+
+"I wish that I had not come, papa," she whispered.  "I don't know why,
+but I can't bear the thoughts of parting from you."
+
+He endeavoured to comfort her, and consoled himself that he had acted
+for the best, though it cost him much to leave his little girl in the
+hands of strangers.
+
+He had another duty to perform, less trying to his feelings, however.
+It was to take Alfred up to Oxford.  Alfred had specially requested to
+be allowed to go to--College, which, though not enjoying the fame of
+older institutions, Alfred averred that he should feel more at home at
+than in any other.  He was duly introduced to the head of his college,
+where rooms were allotted to him, and forthwith matriculating, he became
+an undergraduate.  Mr Lennard, believing that he had performed his
+duty, left his son to make his way as thousands of young men have had to
+do before him.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER THREE.
+
+Clara was seated in the drawing-room.  She had just written a long
+letter to Harry, in which she told him of the various events which had
+taken place in the neighbourhood.  She wrote unreservedly, describing,
+among other persons, Mr and Mrs Lerew, and the constant attention and
+kindness they had shown her.  She naturally spoke of the church, and of
+the various improvements, as she called them, which had been introduced.
+"Nothing can be more elegant than the reredos which our excellent vicar
+has erected at his own expense," she wrote.  "The altar, too, is
+beautifully adorned, and the music, considering the performers, is
+wonderfully good; for Mrs Lerew has taken great pains to instruct the
+choir, and we occasionally have a first-rate musician from London to
+lead them; while an air of solemnity pervades the service, both on
+Sundays and week-days, very different to anything we have before had in
+this neighbourhood."  She did not say that she went to confession, but
+she remarked that she derived great comfort from the spiritual advice of
+the vicar.  The letter was closed ready for the post, when General
+Caulfield was announced.  He came to bid her and her father a hurried
+farewell, as he had just been summoned by telegram to the north of
+England, to the bedside of a dying brother, whose executor he was, and
+he greatly feared that some time might elapse before he should be able
+to return.
+
+"I wish to suggest to you, my dear Clara, before I go," he said, "that
+it will be well, in the position in which you are placed, to avoid too
+great an intimacy with the vicar and his wife, of whose constant visits
+to you I have heard.  He may be, according to his own notions, a
+religious man, but he is not acting faithfully to the Church of which he
+is a minister.  He has already made many innovations in this parish
+which are contrary to the spirit and practice of that Protestant Church,
+and, from what I hear and observe, he intends to make others; while he
+has openly pleached several Romish doctrines, and I see his name among
+the members of the Church Union, which avowedly repudiates Protestant
+principles.  I am sure that Harry would give you the advice I do, and I
+deeply regret that I cannot remain to afford you any assistance you may
+require."
+
+A blush rose on Clara's brow.  She could not openly express any
+disagreement with the general, but she thought he was harsh and
+illiberal in the opinion he had uttered.  She replied that she had
+already written to Harry, and told him all about the church and the
+vicar, and hoped that he would not find any great fault with her.
+
+The general appeared satisfied.  He remained but a short time with his
+poor friend, whom he believed that he should never again see on earth;
+for he remarked, what Clara had failed to do, the great change in her
+father's countenance since his last visit.  He took an affectionate
+farewell of his intended daughter-in-law and, not being aware of the
+influence the vicar had already obtained over her and her aunt, he did
+not further warn her against him.  Still, he left her with some anxious
+forebodings, regretting the stern necessity which compelled him to be
+away from her at the time when his advice might be of so much
+importance.  The general's absence was felt by others in the parish; he
+was looked upon as the person best calculated, from his position and
+truly Christian character, to lead those desirous of opposing the
+ritualistic practices introduced by the new vicar, which were already
+making rapid progress.  The general had been faithfully attached to the
+establishment; he had gone, as usual, to the parish church, in spite of
+the introduction of the surpliced choir, of "Hymns Ancient and Modern,"
+the richly adorned communion-table, and several other additions which
+had been cautiously introduced; but when he heard from the lips of the
+vicar the doctrine of transubstantiation clearly and unmistakably
+enounced, and afterwards saw him habited in a robe resembling that of a
+Romish priest elevate the elements, he felt compelled to absent himself,
+and on the next Sunday to attend the service at a Congregational chapel.
+He had, in in the meantime, expostulated with Mr Lerew, both
+personally and by letter, but had received only a curt and
+unsatisfactory reply.  He had afterwards heard, from undoubted
+authority, that the doctrine of purgatory was taught to the
+schoolchildren; that prayers for the dead were offered up, as also
+prayers to the Virgin Mary; that the saints were invoked; that a font
+had been placed at the entrance of the church for the reception of holy
+water.  A considerable number of the parishioners had for some time
+withdrawn themselves from the church; Lieutenant Sims had declared that
+he would never enter it to listen to Mr Lerew, after he had heard him
+say that the Bible was a dangerous book.  Many sided with the
+lieutenant; others asserted that he must have misunderstood the vicar--
+he could not have uttered such an opinion; some even went so far as to
+say Mr Sims had through envy, hatred, and malice stated what he knew to
+be a falsehood.  The lieutenant, supported by his wife, boldly adhered
+to what he had said; the parishioners were by the ears on the subject.
+Miss Pemberton had been appealed to, but declared she could not
+understand what Mr Lerew had said, and her evidence went rather against
+Mr Sims; but when candles and flowers appeared on the altar, and a rich
+cross rose above it, and the vicar, habited in new-fangled robes, turned
+his back on the congregation, the partisans of the gallant lieutenant
+increased, and each innovation introduced by the vicar brought Mr Sims
+a fresh accession of supporters.  They talked seriously of building
+another church, and made arrangements to apply to the bishop; but it was
+found that both parties were so scattered over the two parishes, which
+were of very considerable extent, that their object was unattainable.
+While General Caulfield remained among them, he prevented the flame of
+discord from bursting forth.  He allowed no angry word to escape his
+lips, but contented himself with simply preaching the Gospel, either in
+the Congregational Chapel on a week-day evening, or in a large barn he
+had hired and fitted up for the purpose of holding meetings.  It was
+always full, and many came from the farther end of the parish.  Calm and
+calculating as Mr Lerew generally was, he became excessively indignant
+on hearing of this; but he considered the general too important a person
+to be attacked personally, though he spoke everywhere in the strongest
+terms of his unwarrantable conduct, denominating him as a schismatic of
+the worst description.  Great was his satisfaction when he heard that
+the general had gone away.  He now fancied that he could carry on his
+proceedings without opposition.  He was mistaken, however; for
+Lieutenant Sims and his party ceased not to protest against all he did;
+and petitions were sent to the bishop, who, however, if he did not
+encourage Mr Lerew's proceedings, took no steps to put a stop to them.
+Mr Lennard was appealed to, but he declined to interfere, declaring
+that he saw nothing so very objectionable in the changes which had been
+made; and as to doctrines, the vicar of the parish was more likely to
+know what was right or wrong than the parishioners whom he came to
+teach.
+
+"In my opinion, our late vicar is as bad as the present one," exclaimed
+Lieutenant Sims; "but how the poor man, whom all thought so much of, has
+been so completely bamboozled is more than I can tell."
+
+Mr Lerew had lately, by the advice of Lady Bygrave, designed a grand
+scheme.  It was the establishment of a college or school for eighty
+young ladies in the parish, for whose accommodation handsome buildings
+were to be erected; and Lady Bygrave, with other ladies of consequence
+in the county, undertook to be patronesses.  In his prospectus Mr Lerew
+dwelt especially on the importance of young ladies being carefully
+trained in religious principles, and removed from the pernicious
+influence of unauthorised instructors; whereas at Saint Agatha's they
+would be placed under the direct superintendence of their lawful
+priests, and instructed in catholic doctrine.  Lady Bygrave had already
+recommended as mother superior a lady of great piety and experience, and
+the teachers were to be sisters of the community of Saint Mary the
+Virgin, in the neighbouring town of Bansfield, who were celebrated for
+their truly religious and self-denying lives.  The young ladies, thus
+judiciously trained, would, it was hoped, become the mothers of
+England's future legislators, and materially contribute to the
+establishment of catholic principles throughout the land.  Mr Lerew
+had, however, another prospectus more generally circulated among those
+of whose principles he was uncertain, and in which he simply set forth
+that an excellent first-class school was about to be established for the
+benefit of their own and neighbouring counties, and asking for
+subscriptions and support to so desirable an institution.
+Subscriptions, however, did not come in with the same rapidity as he had
+hoped, and he saw that he must employ other means for raising the
+necessary funds.  Mrs Lerew wrote to all her more wealthy
+acquaintances, and Lady Bygrave was, as usual, most liberal.  Few of the
+parishioners would subscribe, with the exception of some of the
+principal tradesmen, who hoped to do business with the new
+establishment, Mr Rowe, an apothecary, who expected to be employed as
+medical attendant, and the solicitor who had been engaged in making the
+legal arrangements.
+
+People had begun to grow suspicious of the vicar, and even of Lady
+Bygrave, in consequence of the long stay at the Hall of the abbe and
+Father Lascelles.  Lady Bygrave did her utmost to maintain her
+popularity by incessantly driving about and visiting the houses of the
+better-to-do people and the cottages of the poor, much as she would have
+done on an electioneering canvass.  She was, of course, politely
+received by all classes; but though she won over some, a large number of
+people were too sound Protestants to be influenced by her plausible and
+attractive manners.  It would have been happy for poor Clara and her
+Aunt Sarah, had they been equally on their guard.  Miss Pemberton,
+indeed, declared that whatever so charming a person as Lady Bygrave did
+must be right, and she now not only attended all the services at the
+church on Sundays and week-days, but induced Clara to accompany her.
+Though Clara went, she often felt that it was her duty to be watching by
+the bedside of her father; she, indeed, sometimes begged on that plea to
+remain at home.
+
+"But, my dear, your duties to God and the commands of our Holy Church
+are superior to those you owe to a human parent, and you should
+therefore not allow yourself to be influenced by the natural affections
+of your heart," observed Miss Pemberton, using the argument she had
+previously learned from Mr Lerew.
+
+Clara had been absent at one of these week-day services, and the vicar
+had promised to call and have some conversation with her and her aunt,
+when on her return she observed an expression of subdued sorrow and
+alarm on the countenances of the servants.
+
+"Is my father worse?" she asked anxiously; and before any one could stop
+her, she rushed upstairs, and entered Captain Maynard's room.  She
+approached the bed.  There was no movement--his eyes were closed, and
+the nurse was standing by the bedside--her father was dead.  She knew it
+at once, and as she leant over him, she sank fainting on his inanimate
+body.  Miss Pemberton, having learned the truth, quickly followed, and
+directed that she should be carried from the room.  On the application
+of restoratives Clara revived; but scarcely had she returned to
+consciousness than Mr Lerew drove up to the door.  Though he was told
+what had happened, he insisted on seeing Miss Maynard.
+
+"As a priest, I can afford her spiritual comfort and support," he said,
+almost forcing his way in.  Miss Pemberton, not daring to decline his
+visit, ushered him into Clara's room.  He took a seat by her side.  He
+spoke softly and gently.
+
+"We must look at what has happened as a dispensation of heaven," he
+remarked; "but though, unhappily, your father to the last refused the
+ordinances of our Church, I am fain to believe that he did so under
+malign influence, and from weakness of mind induced by sickness.  It is
+a consolation to know that prayers continually offered in his behalf by
+a true votaress to the loving Mother of God can in time release him from
+the condition in which I fear he is placed.  With what thankfulness you
+should receive this glorious doctrine, my dear Miss Maynard! what calm
+should it bring to your troubled heart!  I will not fail, believe me, to
+offer the prayers of the Church for the same object; and if you did but
+consider their efficacy, you would cease to mourn as you now do."
+
+Poor Clara was too completely overwhelmed by grief to understand the
+meaning of what the vicar said, though she heard the words issuing from
+his mouth.
+
+"I will relieve you," he continued, "from all the painful arrangements
+connected with the funeral, in conjunction with your aunt, whom I will
+now join in the drawing-room."
+
+"Oh! thank you! thank you!" exclaimed Clara, between her sobs.  "I shall
+be most grateful--do whatever you think best."
+
+Mr Lerew retired; and after a conversation of some length with Miss
+Pemberton he drove away.  Clara--so absorbing was her grief--could with
+difficulty regain her power of thought.  She felt alone in the world.
+Had General Caulfield been at home, she would have had him to consult;
+but she had no confidence in her Aunt Sarah's judgment, though she had
+of late been more guided by her than she was aware of.
+
+"Our excellent vicar and I have arranged everything," said Miss
+Pemberton, on entering the room some time afterwards; "so do not further
+trouble yourself about the matter."
+
+Clara expressed her thanks to her aunt.  Completely prostrate, she
+remained in bed.  Workmen sent by the vicar came to the house, and were
+employed for some time in her father's room.  She dared not inquire what
+they were about.  At length she arose and dressed.  She felt a longing
+desire once more to gaze on those dear features.  She inquired whether
+she might go to the room.
+
+"Oh, yes, miss," was the answer.  "It's all done up on purpose, and
+looks so grand."
+
+She hurried on, and, entering, what was her astonishment to find the
+room draped in black, the windows closed, and several long wax candles
+arranged round the bed on which her father's body lay, dressed in his
+naval uniform.  She approached, and leant over the bed, on which, after
+standing gazing at his features for some minutes, she sank down with her
+arms extended, almost fainting.  At that instant the vicar appeared at
+the doorway.
+
+"What a lovely picture!" he whispered, as if to himself; "can anything
+surpass it?"
+
+Clara heard him, and had still strength sufficient to rise.
+
+"We have done what we can to do honour to your father," he said,
+advancing and taking her hand.  "Had General Caulfield been present, we
+should have been prevented from making these arrangements; and I lay all
+the blame of Captain Maynard's neglect of the sacred ordinances on him,
+as I am sure it will be laid at the day of judgment; therefore, my sweet
+young lady, I would urge you to mourn not as those without hope.  I come
+to console and sympathise with you.  Let me lead you from the room, as
+others are anxious to pay their last respects to your parent; it will be
+trying to your feelings to receive them."
+
+Clara submitted, and was led by the vicar into the drawing-room, where
+she found her aunt.  Mr Lerew now became more cheerful in his
+conversation, and spoke of his new college, and of a society of Anglican
+sisters of mercy, in which he was deeply interested.  He enlarged on
+their pious, self-denying labours, so admirably adapted to distract the
+minds of the sorrowing from worldly cares and the thoughts of the past,
+and the charming qualities of the lady superior, and of the calm
+happiness enjoyed by all under her rule.
+
+"You will find subjects for consideration in these volumes," said Mr
+Lerew, taking two books from his pocket; "the one describes fully the
+joys of a religious life, and the other points out to you rules for your
+daily government.  Your aunt has already several works I left with her
+some time ago, to which I would also draw your attention; and may they
+prove a blessing to your soul."
+
+Saying this, the vicar took his leave.  In the meantime several persons
+had come to the house; and scarcely had the vicar left the room than the
+voice of Mr Sims was heard exclaiming, "By whose authority, I should
+like to know, has the death-bed of my poor friend been surrounded by
+those popish play-acting mummeries which I witnessed just now?  He was
+one of the last men on earth who would have sanctioned such
+proceedings."
+
+"Sir, sir!" exclaimed Mr Lerew in an angry tone, "I scarcely understand
+your meaning; but if you allude to the arrangements in the chamber of
+death above, I have to inform you that they were made by those who had
+ample authority for doing as they thought right; and I have to add that
+I consider your remarks indecorous and highly impertinent."
+
+"I differ with you on that point," answered the lieutenant, restraining
+his anger; "and I only hope my poor friend's daughter has had nothing to
+do with the matter.  It signifies very little to him, or I believe he'd
+get up and capsize all the candles, and cut down the black cloth rigged
+round his bed.  Why, I'm as sure as I am of my own existence that he
+died like a true Christian, and is now in the glorious realms of the
+blest, or I don't know what the Gospel means.  What does he want with
+all that black stuff round him?  It's just robbing the orphan to put
+money in the pockets of the undertakers.  And now you've got my opinion,
+I'll wish you good morning;" and Mr Sims walked out of the house,
+leaving the vicar fuming and boiling with unwonted rage.
+
+Mr Sims had intended leaving a message expressive of his and his wife's
+sympathy for poor Clara; but his indignation at what he had witnessed
+very naturally threw everything else out of his head.  He
+notwithstanding attended Captain Maynard's funeral, which was conducted
+with more ceremonies than had ever yet taken place in the parish.
+Numerous carriages followed the hearse, and the procession formed in the
+church walked after the coffin, the individuals forming it surrounding
+the grave, chanting a requiem as the coffin was committed to its last
+resting-place.
+
+The vicar had kept secret the last interview he had had with Captain
+Maynard, who, he let it be supposed, had gone through all the required
+ordinances of the Church before the last seizure, which had deprived him
+of the power of speech.  Those who knew the captain best averred that he
+would never have consented to the performance in his presence of any
+Romish ceremony, and that the vicar had some object in view in allowing
+the idea to get abroad.  The parish became more divided than ever, but
+the original cause of dispute held its ground, and those who sided with
+the vicar would no longer visit or speak to those who believed that he
+had declared the Bible to be a dangerous book.
+
+Clara's grief for the loss of her father was sincere and deep.  Her
+nature was one requiring such consolation as a sympathising friend could
+afford.  Her aunt was never sympathising or gentle, and she had become
+still less so since she had attended the frequent services of the
+Church.  Early rising did not suit her constitution; but though she
+thoroughly disliked it, she considered it her duty to induce her niece
+to accompany her.
+
+Thus time went on at Luton.  General Caulfield was detained in the
+North; he wrote frequently to Clara.  Not aware of the influences to
+which she was exposed, he did not mention the vicar, and failed to
+caution her, as he otherwise would have done.  She, knowing his
+opinions, did not venture to tell him all that was occurring, though he
+saw by the tone of her letters that she was unhappy and ill at ease from
+some cause or other, besides the natural grief she felt for the loss of
+her father, and her anxiety about Harry.  She had heard of his arrival,
+and that his regiment was ordered up the country, but she had received
+no answer to the letter she wrote, describing the services at the
+church, and the various changes introduced by the vicar.  Her aunt had,
+in the meantime, become less agreeable and communicative even than
+before.  She was constantly absorbed in the books lent her by Mr Lerew,
+and she very frequently drove over to the Vicarage to see him.  Clara
+had at first felt but little interest in the two works he had presented
+to her; she had glanced over their pages, and was somewhat startled at
+the language used and the advice given in them, so different to that to
+which she had been accustomed.  On one of his visits he inquired whether
+she had studied them, and she had to confess the truth.  He then
+entreated her not to risk her spiritual welfare by any longer neglecting
+to read the works so calculated to advance it.  She promised to follow
+his advice.  Had Clara known more of the world, and possessed more
+self-reliance, her eyes might have been opened by what she read; but she
+wanted some one to lean on, and on her aunt's judgment she had no
+reliance.  The vicar appeared, from his position and serious manner, to
+be the person in whom she ought to confide.  Had the general been at
+Luton, she would have gone to him; but she could not write what she
+might have spoken; and she finally gave herself up to the guidance of
+Mr Lerew, as her aunt had long since done.
+
+The following Sunday the communion was to be held, or, as the vicar
+expressed it, the Holy Eucharist was to be celebrated; "But," he added,
+"I have made it a rule that I will administer it to none who have not
+made confession and received that absolution I am authorised to grant."
+
+"I was not aware of that," said Clara; "how long has that rule existed?"
+
+"I have only lately made it," he replied, "and from it I cannot depart."
+
+Clara hesitated; but her aunt, who had several times gone to confession,
+assured her that there was nothing in it very terrible, and overcame her
+scruples.  Clara promised to go.  It was held in the vestry, one person
+at a time only being admitted.  The questions asked and the answers
+given cannot be repeated.  Clara, as she knelt leaning on a chair in
+front of the priest, could with difficulty support herself; her heart
+felt bursting; she was nearly fainting; the colour mounted to her cheeks
+and brow; she could not lift her eyes from the ground towards the man
+who was questioning her.  More than once she was inclined to rise and
+flee from the room rather than continue to undergo the mental torture
+she was suffering.  Never afterwards did she look the vicar in the face.
+At length the ordeal was over, the _Te absolvo_ was pronounced, and
+she, with trembling knees, hanging down her head, tottered to her pew by
+the side of her aunt, where she knelt to conceal her features, while
+uncontrollable sobs burst from her bosom.
+
+"What's the matter?" whispered Miss Pemberton.  "Take my
+smelling-bottle.  Don't let people hear you; they'll fancy there must be
+something very dreadful."
+
+The music that day was unusually good.  Several first-rate performers
+had been engaged to attend, with three or four clergymen from various
+parts of the county.  They, in their richest robes, glittering with
+embroidery, walked round the church.  There were the acolytes with
+lighted candles, the thurifer, with the cross-bearer, and others
+carrying banners; while the organ played, and the fumes of incense
+filled the church.  Clara's agitation ceased, but no peace was brought
+to her soul.  She returned home with her aunt, humbled and more wretched
+than she had ever before felt in her life.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FOUR.
+
+Monday morning brought Clara Harry's looked-for letter.  She hurried
+with it to her room.  It was full of love and tenderness, but Harry
+expressed his regret at hearing of the changes which had been made in
+the church, and still more of the ritualistic practices of the new
+vicar.
+
+"I need scarcely urge you, dearest, not to be inveigled by them," he
+continued, "as I have often said I cannot conceive a man in his senses
+marrying a girl who has submitted to the abominable confession--it must
+ultimately deprave her mind, and prevent her from placing that
+confidence in her husband which he has a right to expect; while it
+proves her ignorance of one of the most vital truths of our holy faith,
+that we have a High Priest in heaven, who knows our infirmities, and is
+touched by our sorrows, and who is more tender and loving than any human
+being, and is ever ready to receive those who come to Him.  Oh! do warn
+any girls of your acquaintance not to yield to the sophistries which
+would persuade them that Christ allows a human being to stand in His
+stead between Himself and the sinner.  It is one of the numberless
+devices of Satan to rob Him of the honour and love which are His due.
+We are told when we have offended a fellow mortal to confess our fault,
+and to ask pardon; but we are emphatically charged to confess our sins
+to God alone, trusting to the all-sufficient atonement made once for all
+for us by Christ on Calvary, and through His mediation we are assured of
+perfect forgiveness.  These impious sacerdotalists, for the sake of
+gaining influence over the minds of those they hope to deceive, step in,
+and daringly arrogate to themselves the position which our loving Lord
+desires alone to hold.  But I must not continue the subject--I know that
+it is not necessary to say this to you.  Should you ever be perplexed,
+or require assistance, I am sure that you will apply to my kind and
+excellent father, who is ever anxious to treat you as a beloved
+daughter."
+
+Clara read the letter with burning cheek.
+
+"Oh, what have I done!" she exclaimed; "I am unworthy of the confidence
+he places in me."  Directly afterwards she tried to find an excuse for
+herself.  "Perhaps he is mistaken in his ideas; and Mr Lerew says that
+the general is a schismatic, and Harry has imbibed his views.  I dare
+not refuse to obey the voice of the Church, and Mr Lerew tells me that
+that insists on confession before absolution can be granted, and without
+absolution we cannot partake of the Holy Eucharist."
+
+Such was her line of thought, and she determined to try and persuade
+Harry to agree with her.  She sat down and wrote to him, quoting several
+passages from the books lent to her by the vicar.  She implored him
+seriously to consider the matter, and not to imperil his soul by
+refusing obedience to the Church.  So eager did she become as she warmed
+in her subject, that she forgot to put in those affectionate expressions
+which her previous letter had contained.  No sooner had the epistle been
+despatched than she began to regret having said some things in it and
+omitted others.  She tried to think over its contents; as she did so she
+became more and more dissatisfied.  At last she resolved to write
+another, to confess that she was sorry she had written the first, to
+tell Harry of her difficulties, and to ask his advice.  Her aunt came in
+just as she had closed it, and offered to post it for her.  That letter
+never reached its destination.
+
+Poor Clara, agitated by conflicting emotions, and all her previous
+opinions upset, at last thought of writing to General Caulfield, telling
+him of all her doubts and troubles, that perhaps he might see things in
+the light in which the vicar presented them.  Miss Pemberton found the
+letter on the hall table, and suspecting its contents, took it to the
+vicar, who advised that it should not be forwarded.  Clara in vain
+waited for a reply; no letters reached her from the general, and she
+ultimately came to the conclusion that he was so much offended with her
+for what she had said, that he would write no more.
+
+Week after week passed by, and no letter came from Harry.
+
+"Can he have cast me off because I show an anxiety about my spiritual
+welfare?" she exclaimed, somewhat bitterly to herself.  "Mr Lerew must
+be right when he speaks of the bigotry of the Evangelical party."
+
+Mr Lerew called the next day, and spoke pathetically of the trials to
+which the true sons and daughters of the Church must expect to be
+exposed; and left some tracts, which especially pointed out the holy
+delights of a convent life; one, indeed, declared that the only sure way
+by which a woman could avoid the trials and troubles of the present evil
+world and gain eternal happiness was by entering a convent and devoting
+herself to the service of religion.  Clara read them over and over, and
+sighed often.  Miss Pemberton expressed her high approval of them.
+
+"I am, indeed, my dear niece, contemplating myself becoming a Sister of
+Charity, and only regret that I was not led in early life to do so--how
+many wasted days of idleness and frivolity I might have avoided."  Miss
+Pemberton did not like to speak of years.
+
+The vicar, who had now become an almost daily visitor, just then
+appeared.  He held forth eloquently on the subject of which the ladies
+had been speaking; a friend of his, a most charming, delightful person,
+was the Lady Superior of one of the oldest and most devoted sisterhoods
+which had been established in England since, as he expressed it, true
+Catholic principles had been revived in the Church, He was sure that no
+lady could do otherwise than rejoice to the end of her days, who should
+become a member of her community.  The Sisters were employed in numerous
+meritorious works of charity; he had hoped that Miss Maynard would take
+an active part in Saint Agatha's College; but some time must probably
+elapse before more than a very limited number of teachers could find
+occupation, and he besides doubted whether she would find the duties of
+an instructress suited to her taste.
+
+"I should not, I fear, find my powers equal to them," answered Clara,
+humbly; "and yet I have a longing for some occupation in the service of
+the Church.  Such means as I possess, however, I would gladly devote to
+the establishment of Saint Agatha's."
+
+"Ah, my dear young lady, I rejoice to hear you say that," exclaimed Mr
+Lerew.  "Whatever you give, you give to the Church, remember, and she
+has promised to repay you a hundredfold."
+
+Mrs Lerew frequently called on Clara, as also did Lady Bygrave.  Both
+spoke enthusiastically of the holy and happy life of Sisters of Mercy,
+and still more so of those nuns who gave themselves up to religious
+meditation.  Lady Bygrave, especially, warmly pressed the subject on
+Clara's consideration.
+
+"Were I young, I should certainly devote myself to a religious life; but
+as I am married, my husband might raise objections," she remarked.
+
+Clara thought and thought on all she heard, and became more and more
+interested in the books her advisers put into her hands.  She resolved,
+however, to wait before deciding till she received a letter from Harry.
+She could not easily give him up; and she hoped, when she should be his
+wife, to win him over to support the cause of the Church, which she
+persuaded herself would be as acceptable to Heaven as should she become
+a nun.
+
+While Clara had gone one day to return a visit from Lady Bygrave, Miss
+Pemberton received and opened the postbag.  It contained a letter for
+Clara from India.  She saw that it was from Harry.  She turned it over
+several times.
+
+"I must obey my spiritual adviser," she said to herself; "it can do the
+child no harm."
+
+Replacing several other letters for Clara, she took this one up into her
+own room.  She had been instructed how carefully to open letters by the
+vicar, for he had been at an English school, and having been taught in
+his boyhood to consider breaking the seal of another person's letter a
+disgraceful act, was glad to escape it.  After a little time she
+succeeded in reaching the enclosure.  She glanced over the first
+portion.
+
+"A part of your letter, dearest one, though I delight in hearing from
+you, gave me great pain.  I had hoped and believed that you were better
+grounded in the fundamental truths of the Gospel than to express
+yourself as you have done.  You speak of Holy Church as if there were
+one visible establishment on earth which all are bound to obey, when
+Christ founded only one spiritual Church, on the great truth enunciated
+by Peter, that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God.  From that
+time forward, throughout the whole of the New Testament, no other Church
+is spoken of.  Churches or assemblies existed, founded by the apostles,
+but they were independent of each other, and were solely united by
+having one faith and one allegiance to one great head, Jesus Christ; but
+in such simple forms as were introduced for the convenience of public
+worship they materially differed from each other.  Under the new
+covenant no material temple or worldly sanctuary exists; the old
+covenant had ordinances of divine service and of worldly sanctuary, but
+these, the apostle tells us, have waxed old and vanished away, Christ
+being come, the High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and
+more perfect tabernacle not made with hands; and he assures us that the
+only temple now existing is the spiritual Church of the living God.
+`Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God
+dwelleth in you? ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual
+house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices to God by
+Jesus Christ, whose house are ye, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief
+cornerstone;' and our Lord Himself tells us that where two or three are
+gathered together, even there is He in their midst.  The priest, the
+sacrifice, the altar, and the temple of the old covenant were only types
+of the good things to come under the Gospel.  When Christ ascended on
+high, all human priesthood was abolished; our only priestly mediator or
+intercessor is Jesus Christ, the one Mediator between God and men, who
+is the one righteous Advocate, the one ever-living Intercessor, and His
+glory will He not give to another, He who has once suffered for sinners,
+the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.  The apostles
+themselves never assumed the character of priests; they pointed to the
+Great High Priest, Jesus Christ the righteous, and would have looked
+upon it as blasphemy for any man to presume to act as such.  To our
+Great High Priest alone must we confess our sins; He is faithful and
+just to forgive all those their sins, who put faith in the all-cleansing
+power of His blood to absolve them.  He, too, is One who knows our
+infirmities, and can sympathise with us, having been tempted as we are.
+With the Scriptures in our hands, we need no mortal man to declare this
+glorious truth to us; and knowing it, we can come boldly to the throne
+of grace, and He is ever ready to receive all who come to Him.  All the
+forms and ceremonies, the embellishments which you describe, are but
+imitations of those of the Church of Rome, which are themselves taken
+from the ceremonies of the old heathen temples, with large admixtures
+from those of the Jews.  From the earliest times, Satan has induced men
+to assume the character of priests, for the purpose of deceiving their
+fellow-creatures.  The same spirit exists at the present day; and as he
+can become an angel of light in appearance, so may those men who thus
+blasphemously take the name of priests appear pure and holy in the sight
+of those whom they deceive.  Let me entreat you, my beloved Clara, to
+break from the chains which have been thrown around you.  Seek for grace
+and strength from above, and consult my kind father.  Tell him frankly
+all that the vicar has endeavoured to teach you to believe, and I feel
+assured that he will thoroughly satisfy your mind."
+
+Harry said more to the same effect.
+
+"It will never do for Clara to see this letter," thought Miss Pemberton;
+"I must take it to Mr Lerew, and ascertain what he thinks."
+
+She set off at once, that she might get to the vicarage and back before
+Clara's return.  The vicar read it with knitted brow.
+
+"You did right, my dear sister," he said; "it might defeat all our
+plans.  Far better commit it to the flames.  Let me think--will you
+permit me to take possession of the letter? good may result from it; the
+end, as you know, my dear lady, sanctifies the means."
+
+"Whatever you consider right, I of course will do," said Miss Pemberton,
+giving the letter, which with the envelope the vicar put into his desk;
+and the lady hastened home.
+
+"It is the aunt's doing, not mine," he muttered to himself; "but were
+the poor girl to receive this abominable production, it might destroy
+the result of all the training I have given her.  No priest! no
+sacrifice! no confession! no power of absolution!  What would become of
+the Church--what of us--if such principles were to regain their
+ascendancy over the minds of the people?  These abominable evangelical
+notions must be crushed by every means in our power, or the efforts
+which for years we have made to introduce Catholic doctrine would be
+utterly lost.  We must get the girl without delay to enter a convent,
+and the sooner she is induced to do so the better."
+
+Mr Lerew waited for some days before he paid Clara another visit.  She
+had discovered that the Indian post had come in, and had brought her, as
+she supposed, no letter from Harry.  She began to imagine all sorts of
+things; she saw that there were accounts of engagements with the
+hill-tribes--could he have gone up the country with a detachment of his
+regiment? or perhaps her letter had so offended him that he would not
+again write.  Mr Lerew, when he called, perceived that she was very
+unhappy, and having drawn from her the cause of her grief, he assured
+her that there was but one way by which she could regain peace of mind,
+and insinuated that so bigoted a person as Captain Caulfield would in
+all probability discard her when he found that she was anxious to serve
+the Church.  "It will prove a great trial to you, my dear sister," he
+said; "but for such you must be prepared; and I would urge you to seek
+in the duties of a religious life that comfort and consolation you are
+sure to find."
+
+Several weeks more went by, during which the vicar's influence over poor
+Clara increased.  No letter came from Harry or from his father.
+
+"He has discarded me," exclaimed Clara.  "I must seek for that peace and
+rest where alone, Mr Lerew assures me, I can find it, or I shall die."
+
+The very next day, accompanied by Mr Lerew and his wife, Clara set off
+to the town of --, in the neighbourhood of which was situated Saint
+Barbara's, as the convent was called.  It had originally been a
+religious house, as the term is, and was encircled by a high wall, which
+enclosed the garden and outhouses.  It was a dark, red brick, sombre
+pile, and the additions lately made to it had given it a thoroughly
+conventual appearance.  The carriage drove under an archway in front of
+the entrance, closed on the outside, Mr Lerew got out and tugged at a
+large iron bell-pull, when a slide in the door was pulled back, and the
+face of a female, who narrowly scrutinised the visitors, appeared at the
+opening.  Mr Lerew quickly explained their object; no further words
+were exchanged, and after a short delay the bars and bolts were
+withdrawn, and the door was opened sufficiently to allow him and his
+wife and Clara to pass through into a small hall, where they were left
+standing, while the portress by signs summoned two serving Sisters
+dressed in dark blue, with brass crosses at their necks, to bring in
+Clara's luggage.  The same person then beckoning the visitors to follow,
+led them into a waiting-room on one side.  All the time she had kept her
+eyes fixed on the ground, not once looking at the vicar's countenance.
+Having by signs desired them to be seated on some antique-looking
+chairs, which with a table and writing materials were the sole furniture
+of the room, she retired.  Poor Clara felt dreadfully oppressed, and
+very much inclined to beg that her trunks might be put back again into
+the carriage, as she wished to return home; but pride, not unmixed with
+fear of the remarks Mr Lerew would make, prevented her.  She sat with
+her hand on her sinking heart, wondering whether all the members of the
+sisterhood would be expected to keep a perpetual silence.
+
+"This reminds me much of the convents I have visited in France and
+Belgium," observed Mr Lerew, turning to his wife.  "Our young friend
+will soon learn the rules of the house, and see how suitable they are,
+and calculated to advance the religious feelings."
+
+He spoke in a low tone, as if afraid of disturbing the solemn silence
+which reigned in the building.  Some time passed away, when the door
+slowly opened, and a lady habited in grey, with a large cross inlaid
+with ivory on her breast, glided into the room.  She was of commanding
+figure, and, in spite of her unbecoming head-dress and the white band
+across her brow, she had evidently once been handsome.  She smiled
+benignantly as she glanced at Mrs Lerew and Clara, and advancing to the
+vicar, bowed gracefully to him, and taking his hand, raised it to her
+lips; then retiring without further noticing her other guests, sank into
+a seat.  "I have come with my wife to introduce a young friend who is
+desirous of commencing, and I trust continuing, the life of a
+_religieuse_," said Mr Lerew; "and from my knowledge of your admirable
+sisterhood, I feel confident that she will here obtain all she desires."
+
+The Lady Superior now turned a piercing glance on Clara, which made her
+involuntarily shrink and cast down her eyes on the ground.  The former
+did not speak till she had finished her scrutiny; she then said slowly--
+
+"If you truly desire to embrace our holy calling, you will be gladly
+received, understanding that you must conform to the rules of our order
+in all respects.  You will in the first instance enter as a postulant
+for a short time, during which you will wear your secular habit; after
+which you will become a probationer, and then, as I trust, we shall
+receive you as a confirmed Sister on your vowing obedience to the three
+fundamental rules of our order.  Are you prepared to remain with us at
+once?"
+
+"Certainly, certainly," exclaimed Mr Lerew; "Miss Maynard has come with
+that especial object in view.  He who puts his hand to the plough must
+not turn back, nor would she, I am sure, wish to do so."
+
+"What I would urge upon you," said the Lady Superior, "is complete
+self-surrender, and strict observance of the rule of holy obedience;
+without that you cannot expect to enjoy spiritual life, nor can the
+affairs of the community be properly carried on."
+
+"I will endeavour to the best of my power to observe the rules of the
+order," said Clara, in a trembling voice.
+
+"Of course she will, of course," observed Mr Lerew; "it will be her
+glory and pride to do so.  Oh what a beneficent arrangement is that by
+which a poor frail woman or layman can, by opening his or her heart to
+the priest, obtain all the instruction or advice for which their souls
+yearn!"
+
+"You will soon be accustomed to the quiet life we lead within these
+walls," observed the Lady Superior, turning to Clara, without noticing
+Mr Lerew's remark; "and I will invite you now to accompany me, when I
+will make you known to the Deane, who will initiate you into the rules
+and observances to which you will at once conform; and you may now bid
+farewell to your friends, for they will excuse me, as my official duties
+require my attention."
+
+Clara rose, and put out her hand to take that of Mr Lerew.  Instead, he
+bade her kneel, and placing his hands above her head, uttered a
+benediction.  She felt inclined to embrace Mrs Lerew--not that she had
+any great affection for her, but it seemed as if Mrs Lerew was the only
+link between her and the world she was leaving; at that moment, however,
+the Lady Superior, taking her hand, led her towards the door.
+
+"May I request an interview with Dr Catton, should he be now living
+here?" asked Mr Lerew.
+
+"Our spiritual adviser is at present in residence," answered the Lady
+Superior, "and I will mention your wish to see him, should you be able
+to remain till he is at leisure."
+
+"Oh, certainly, certainly.  I must not hurry Dr Catton; but as it is a
+matter of much importance, I much wish to consult him.  I will wait his
+pleasure," said Mr Lerew.
+
+Without having shown any act of courtesy to Mrs Lerew, the Lady
+Superior left the room, still holding fast to Clara's hand.
+
+"Had I expected to be so treated, I should not have come," exclaimed
+Mrs Lerew, as the door closed.  "If these are conventual manners, I
+hope that Clara may not adopt them.  What caused the Lady Superior to
+act as she did?"
+
+"If you insist on knowing, you must understand that she probably
+considers priests ought to be celibates, and therefore looks upon you in
+no favourable light," answered the vicar, with some acerbity in his
+tone.
+
+Mrs Lerew was about to retort, when the door opened, and the spiritual
+adviser of the establishment, Dr Catton, entered.  He was a small thin
+man, with sallow complexion, and that peculiar pucker about the mouth
+which seems a characteristic of those who hold his views.  The two
+gentlemen were well known to each other.
+
+"I am anxious, my dear Doctor, to obtain your further advice regarding
+my new female college," said Mr Lerew, "as I hope in a short time it
+will be in a sufficient state of advancement to receive pupils."
+
+"I would gladly afford you my assistance in so holy a work," answered
+Dr Catton, "as I consider it will tend greatly to the advancement of
+the Church; but--" and he looked at Mrs Lerew.
+
+"She is discreet, and takes a deep interest in the institution," said
+the vicar.
+
+Dr Catton looked as if he considered women were better out of the way
+when any matter of importance was to be discussed.  However, as the
+vicar did not tell his wife to retire, he entered into the subject,
+speaking more cautiously perhaps than he otherwise would have done.
+Mrs Lerew sat on, her countenance expressing her dissatisfaction at the
+want of confidence the Doctor placed in her.  The rules and regulations
+of the new college were discussed, as well as the means for obtaining
+the necessary funds.  "You will understand that the young lady who is
+about to enter into this institution has a considerable fortune at her
+disposal, with which I have every hope she will endow our college.  It
+must be a point of honour between us that she does not bestow it on the
+convent, and I beg that you will impress that on the mind of the Lady
+Superior.  You will remember that I induced her to come here for that
+important object, for she will not be of age for upwards of two years,
+and she might in the meantime, were she to remain in the world, change
+her mind and marry, and her property would be lost to the Church."
+
+"Of course," said Dr Catton, "I am equally interested with you in the
+college, which I look upon as the nursing mother of those who will do
+much to forward the great cause."
+
+After some further conversation on the subject, Mr and Mrs Lerew took
+their departure, Dr Catton again promising that Clara's fortune should
+be appropriated as her father confessor desired.  Clara had, in the
+meantime, been introduced to the Mother Eldress, a pleasant, fair lady
+of about forty, who took her round the establishment.  The chapel was
+first visited.  Over the high altar stood the crucifix, with paintings
+of the Virgin Mary on one side, and that of Saint John on the other, and
+on it were the usual candlesticks with large wax candles and vases of
+flowers; while the walls were adorned with other paintings illustrating
+the lives of various saints, in which monks and nuns frequently
+appeared.  The Mother Eldress drew aside a curtain which hung across a
+small side-chapel, when Clara saw, with considerable astonishment, the
+figure of the Virgin, richly dressed, standing on a small altar with
+candles burning on it, and also vases of flowers, with which the whole
+of the chapel was decked.  The Mother Eldress bowed and crossed herself.
+
+"You should do as I do," she said, turning to Clara; "the Blessed Virgin
+demands our most devoted love and adoration; we can never do her honour
+enough."
+
+"I thought," observed Clara, "that as Protestants we did not worship the
+Virgin."
+
+"Let me entreat you, my child, never to utter that odious word
+Protestant," exclaimed the Mother Eldress.  "We are Catholics of the
+Anglican Church; we do not worship the Virgin either; but we love to do
+her honour."
+
+Clara was puzzled; but thought it better just then to ask no further
+questions.  The refectory and other public rooms were next visited; they
+were neat and scrupulously clean, but were destitute of every article of
+luxury, or which might conduce to comfort--no sofas, no easy arm-chairs
+were found in them.
+
+"You will now like to see the cells," said the Mother Eldress, as she
+led the way upstairs.  Passing along a gallery, she opened a door, and
+exhibited a long narrow room containing a camp-bedstead, covered by a
+white quilt, a small table and a chair, and in one corner a desk with a
+Bible and a few books of devotion on it, as also a lamp, and above it a
+picture of the crucifixion.  It was lighted by a small, deep, oriel
+window, with a broad sill, on which were arranged some flower-pots,
+sweet-scented flowers growing in them.  No carpet covered the floor; but
+it was brightly polished, as was all the woodwork in the room.
+
+"Such will be your dormitory," observed the Mother Eldress.
+
+"Is there no fireplace?" asked Clara.
+
+"There are in some of the cells; but such are not allowed to novices,"
+was the answer.
+
+Clara, who had been accustomed to a fire in winter all her life,
+shuddered; for even now, in the height of summer, the room felt cold.
+
+"I will now show you the rules," said the Mother Eldress, producing a
+book in manuscript.  "No letters must be written or received by the
+Sisters of Saint Barbara, and any presents that may be made must be
+given to the Mother Superior for the use of the community.  Sisters are
+always, whether by night or day, to enter the chapel with all alacrity,
+and in a perfect spirit of recollection, in order to prepare their souls
+for prayer.  No Sister must be absent from the chapel without leave, and
+all must recite the offices.  You see how well our time is divided,"
+continued the lady; "we rise at three a.m.; there are primer,
+meditation, etcetera, until seven, when we enjoy the Holy Communion.
+After this we have prayers and self-examination until nine, and from
+that hour till ten we work.  At ten we dine, which is the first meal we
+partake of in the day.  We then take an hour for recreation, and another
+till twelve for meditation.  From one till four we work, when we attend
+vespers, and from half-past four to half-past five we take tea and
+listen to spiritual reading.  From half-past five to six we have again
+recreation, from six to seven prayers, at which hour we retire for the
+night; but we rise for prayer during one hour of the night, and at
+midnight on Thursdays we rise to spend an additional hour in prayer.
+Thus, you see, every moment of the day is portioned out.  During the
+hours of work we tend the sick and visit the dying; we also are employed
+in other good undertakings, and we hope before long to establish fresh
+ones.  So you see, my dear, that we work out our own salvation, though
+those who have a vocation to a purely religious life can enter our
+contemplative order, and devote themselves entirely to prayer and
+meditation.  You will be able to judge by-and-by to which you would wish
+to belong, though you will, of course, be guided by the advice of the
+Mother Superior."
+
+"Alas!" said Clara, "I do not feel myself fitted for either at present;
+but I believe that I should prefer attempting to teach the young--at
+least, the very young, for I should never manage big boys and girls.  I
+used to teach some of the cottagers' little children in our
+neighbourhood, till I had entirely to devote myself to my dying father."
+
+"You will learn by experience," said the Mother Eldress.  "I will
+mention your wish to the Mother Superior, and she will probably appoint
+you to the duty you select.  She has great discernment, and will
+perceive for which you are best fitted."
+
+Clara thought that she herself could judge best of what she could do.
+She expressed as much to the Mother Eldress, who smiled, and reminded
+her of the rule of obedience.  Altogether, Clara was tolerably well
+contented with the prospect before her.  She was afterwards introduced
+to a number of the Sisters during their hour of recreation; but she
+could not help remarking that whenever one addressed another, a nun, who
+she was told was the Deane, instantly interfered, and reminded the
+speaker that private conversation was against the rule.  She discovered
+that there were to be no private intimacies, and that any conversation
+must be general.
+
+"Can I not associate with any one whom I like?" asked Clara afterwards
+of the Mother Eldress.
+
+"It is against the rule," was the answer; "private friendships would
+destroy the harmony which must exist in our sisterhood."
+
+"But cannot I express my sorrow or anxiety to a sympathising friend?"
+asked Clara, ingenuously.
+
+"Such must be poured into the ear alone of the Mother Superior or of
+your father confessor," said the Mother Eldress in a stern tone;
+"discipline could not be otherwise maintained."
+
+Clara felt unusually hungry at teatime, as she had had but a slight
+luncheon; but as it was Friday--dry bread alone was allowed during the
+meal.  One of the Eldresses read an allegorical work, the meaning of
+which Clara did not exactly comprehend, and from it therefore she did
+not gain much spiritual advantage.  Another half-hour was spent in
+conversation, which was anything but spiritual, and then the nuns
+adjourned to the chapel, where they joined in reciting prayers, the same
+being repeated over and over again; and at seven they retired to their
+cells.  Clara, unaccustomed to go to bed at so early an hour, could not
+sleep: the past would recur to her.  Against all rule she thought of
+Harry and the way she had treated him; then she remembered all must be
+given up for the sake of following Christ--but was she following Him by
+entering a convent?  The conflict was severe; she burst into tears, and
+sobbed as if her heart would break.  Hour after hour went by, sleep
+refusing to visit her eyelids, till, long after midnight, thoroughly
+worn out, she sobbed herself into forgetfulness.
+
+The convent clock was striking three when a Sister entered her cell and
+summoned her to rise and repair to the chapel.  Hastily dressing, she
+followed her conductress, who had remained to assist her.  She there
+found all the nuns assembled, and for four hours they remained repeating
+prayers and chanting alternately, till Dr Catton entered, and after
+going through a service, administered the Holy Communion, giving the
+wafer instead of bread, and wine mixed with water.  Faint and weary, for
+nearly two hours more Clara remained, while the nuns repeated the
+prayers, or sat silent, engaged in self-examination.  Some of them who
+had undertaken the duty of teachers then went into the schoolroom, where
+some fifty children were assembled.  Clara begged leave to accompany
+them, and gladly took charge of three or four of the youngest, though by
+this time she felt so exhausted that she could with difficulty speak.
+The school over, the nuns hurried to the refectory, where a frugal
+dinner was placed on the table by the serving Sisters.  In silence the
+nuns took their places; in silence they ate the portions served to them.
+Clara, sick from hunger, had the greatest difficulty in swallowing the
+coarse and unpalatable food.  It notwithstanding restored her strength,
+and she went through her duties in the schoolroom with rather more
+spirit than in the morning.
+
+The following day was passed much as the first.  Clara saw but little of
+the Mother Superior, who kept herself much aloof from the community, in
+her own apartments, which were furnished very differently to those of
+the nuns.
+
+Several weeks passed by.  Though Clara got accustomed to the ways of the
+establishment, and strictly followed the rules, she did not find herself
+more at home than at first, nor was she at all more intimate with the
+Sisters; yet, girl as she was, she possessed an indomitable spirit.
+Although the false religious fervour which had induced her to consent to
+enter a nunnery had vanished, she was determined not to give in on
+account of the disagreeables she experienced.  Her aunt Sarah had
+promised to write to her, and she herself had written several times; but
+she received no letters, and dared not ask whether any had come for her.
+She remembered that till she wrote her aunt would not know her address,
+unless Mr Lerew had given it.
+
+The short time that it was necessary to remain as a postulant had
+expired, and in a formal service in the chapel she was received as a
+probationer, and assumed the dress of the order.  Scarcely a day had
+passed before she found herself exposed to annoyances which she had not
+hitherto experienced.  During the hours of recreation the Deane, whose
+duty it was to keep the Sisters in order, was continually rebuking her
+for some transgression of rules, either for laughing or talking too
+much, or addressing a Sister in a voice which the rest could not hear;
+and she had to undergo in consequence all sorts of penalties.  She
+submitted, as she considered that she was in duty bound to do, though
+she felt that they were far severer than the faults demanded.  She could
+discover none of the religious fervour which she had expected to find
+among the Sisters, or of love or sympathy.  Her own spirit, though not
+broken, was kept under a thraldom, against which her judgment rebelled.
+It appeared to her that the system was far better adapted to keep in
+subjection a household of people out of their minds than a collection of
+ladies in their right senses, who wished to serve God and do their duty
+to their fellow-creatures.  No Sister was allowed to visit another in
+her cell, and sometimes for days and weeks together Clara did not see
+some of the Sisters whom she had met on her first arrival.  Where they
+had gone, or what they were about, she could not learn.  Little
+attention was paid to those who were ill, and no sympathy was expressed.
+A young Sister who had been sent out on a begging expedition for the
+order, and had to trudge through the wet day after day, caught cold, and
+was obliged to return.  She grew pale and thin, and the ominous red spot
+appeared on her cheek.  She coughed incessantly, but still went through
+her duties.  At night she suffered most; and to prevent the sound from
+disturbing others, she was ordered to move to a distant cell, without a
+stove by which it could be warmed.  Clara determined, against the rules,
+to speak to her, and offered to come and sit by her; but she shook her
+head, replying, "It must not be--you are wrong;" at the same time the
+countenance of the dying girl expressed her gratitude.  Clara's
+infraction of the rules being discovered, she was ordered to remain
+during the hours of recreation in solitude in her own cell.
+
+The invalid Sister had crawled into the chapel one morning, and
+contrived with tottering steps to find her way back to her cell.  The
+next morning she did not appear at matins, and when the Eldress went to
+see what had become of her, she was found stretched on her bed, dead,
+her pillow and sheets stained with blood, which had flowed from her
+mouth.  She was not the only one whose life was thus sacrificed during
+Clara's novitiate.
+
+One day there was great commotion in the convent; the father of a novice
+had appeared at the gate, armed with legal powers which the Lady
+Superior dared not disobey, insisting on taking away his daughter.  The
+young lady was told that she might go, with a warning that by so doing
+she was risking her soul's welfare.  She had to take her departure in
+the dress of the order, leaving behind every article she had brought in,
+her own clothes having been sold for the benefit of the community.  The
+dreadful fate to which she was doomed, and the fearful crime of her
+father, were daily expatiated on.
+
+Some months passed by, when her father died, and Dr Catton immediately
+wrote, urging her to return, and stating that if she did not do so, he
+could no longer remain her spiritual director, and thus she would lose
+the benefit of absolution.  Letter after letter was sent to the same
+effect, and at length the poor girl, terrified by the consequences to
+which, as she supposed, her conduct had exposed her, came back to the
+convent.  She was received in a stern manner by the Mother Superior, in
+the presence of the community, being told that it was through love for
+her soul that she had been readmitted; but that she must for a whole
+year hold no intercourse with the other novices, and must remain in
+solitude during the time allowed each day for recreation; while she was
+pointed to as a warning to the rest.  This discipline preyed greatly on
+her mind, and Clara, whose cell was next to hers, heard her weeping
+night after night.  When she appeared in public, she hung down her head,
+and scarcely tasted any of the meagre fare placed before her; taught to
+suppose that fasting was a virtue, or else weary of the life she was
+doomed to lead, she was starving herself to death.
+
+Notwithstanding all the vigilance exercised, the novices did contrive at
+times to hold communication with each other, and one young girl, who
+looked very sad, and was evidently dangerously ill, confessed to Clara
+that she had escaped from her home to join the convent against the
+express wishes of her father, whom notwithstanding she asserted that she
+loved dearly.  She had ever been among the most obedient to the commands
+of the Lady Superior, and the strictest in complying with the rules of
+the order.  Her illness increased; she at last received the news of the
+death of that parent whose wishes she had disobeyed.  The thought that
+her disobedience had deeply grieved him whom she was bound to love
+preyed on her mind, and tended much to aggravate her disease; the
+arguments brought forward by the Lady Superior, and Mother Eldress, and
+her father confessor, that God had the first claims on her, failed to
+assuage her sorrow, or to persuade her that she had acted rightly.
+Clara, observing that she looked more than usually ill when they parted
+in the evening, could not refrain from going into her cell.  She found
+her on her bed, gasping for breath.
+
+"Thank you for coming," whispered the poor girl; "it would have been
+hard to die all alone.  My poor father! my poor father!" she murmured;
+"would that I could have been with him!"
+
+She could utter no more.  Clara, to her horror, while bending over her,
+found that the poor sufferer had breathed her last.  She hurried to the
+apartment of the Mother Eldress, who came somewhat agitated to the dead
+Sister's cell; but instead of expressing any grief at the occurrence,
+she sternly rebuked Clara for breaking the rules, and ordered her back
+to her own cell.  The Sisters assembled at the usual hour in the chapel;
+but not a word was said of the occurrence of the night.  The nun was
+buried with ceremonies resembling those of Rome, and things went on as
+usual.
+
+The Mother Eldress, who was looked upon as a very saintly person, was at
+length taken ill, and Clara was ordered to attend on her.  The medical
+adviser of the sisterhood was sent for, and prescribed certain remedies
+which Clara had to administer.  A small spoon had been provided for
+giving some powders in preserve; Clara used it daily for some time, till
+the Mother Eldress recovered, when the Lady Superior took possession of
+it.  She had been in the habit of late of sending for Clara to impart
+religious instruction, which, she observed, she much required; not
+failing at times, however, to lecture her severely.  The day after the
+Mother Eldress had recovered from her illness the Lady Superior
+addressed Clara in a more serious tone even than usual.
+
+"You will observe, my daughter," she said, "that miracles have not
+ceased; but that some communions, alas! have not faith to perceive them.
+We, holding the Catholic doctrine in its purity, have been more
+favoured.  Let me ask of what metal you conceive that the spoon with
+which you used to administer the medicine to our beloved Mother Eldress
+is composed."
+
+"It was, I should say, of silver, or rather plated," answered Clara.
+
+"Originally it might have been; but see here, it is turned to gold,"
+answered the Lady Superior, producing the spoon, which had now evidently
+a yellow tinge.
+
+"I observed that before," said Clara, "and believed that it was produced
+by the nature of the medicine."
+
+"Oh, hard of heart, and slow to believe!" exclaimed the Lady Superior;
+"can you not now perceive that it is gold, pure gold?  By what other
+than by miraculous power could this change have been wrought?  Let the
+glorious fact be known among the Sisters, and all who desire may come
+and witness it."
+
+Clara was not convinced; she went away wondering whether the Lady
+Superior was deceived herself, or desired to deceive others.  Many of
+the nuns were highly delighted at hearing of the miracle, which tended
+so much to prove that their establishment was under the especial
+protection of Heaven.  The Mother Eldress crossed her hands on her
+bosom, while she meekly bowed her head, and expressed her gratitude that
+she should have been so remarkably favoured.  It was evident, however,
+to Clara, that some of the Sisters were sceptical on the subject.
+
+Clara found the life she was doomed to lead more and more irksome; but
+when she compared it with that of the Sisters who belonged to the order
+of the Sacred Heart, the true nuns, who were even more strictly enclosed
+(as the term is) than were she and her associates, she felt that she had
+no right to complain.  The nuns of the Sacred Heart, or as they were
+frequently called, of the order of the Love of Jesus, were supposed to
+spend their time in perpetual prayer for the living or the dead.  The
+whole of the twenty-four hours, Clara learned, are divided into what are
+denominated watches; the night watches being kept by the nuns in the
+following manner.  The Sisters retire at seven o'clock, with the
+exception of one who remains watching till eight.  She then summons
+another Sister, who rises and watches till nine, the latter again
+summoning a fresh watcher, and thus they continue till three o'clock,
+when all assemble in the chapel for matins.  They also join in prayer
+seven times in the day, at fixed periods, though they may be separated.
+To the order of the Love of Jesus are attached companions who may mix in
+the world, and whose real duties are to obtain proselytes.  They are
+expected to join in prayer at stated hours, wherever they may be, and on
+every Thursday night, from midnight till one o'clock, the companions
+unite in prayer.  The Lady Superior in one of her more confidential
+moods invited Clara to join the order.
+
+"My dear child," she observed, "it is a glorious thing to be thus
+constantly engaged in prayer when you may; in every service and homage
+you render, call to your aid the choirs of angelic spirits, and unite
+yourself to them in spiritual companionship, in order that they may
+supply your deficiencies."
+
+Clara had never before heard that it was necessary to obtain the aid of
+angels for offering up prayer to God, and was somewhat startled at the
+novelty of the notion; but she knew perfectly well that it would not do
+to state her objections to so determined a person as her spiritual
+mother.  She did not, either, feel inclined to become one of the order
+of the Sacred Heart, not having formed the very highest opinion of the
+nuns belonging to it whom she had met.  They appeared to her generally
+weak-minded enthusiasts, and she still retained a belief that God is
+best served by those who, in imitation of our blessed Lord and Master,
+engage in the duties of active benevolence.  On her declining,
+therefore, the Lady Superior dismissed her in a stern manner, reminding
+her that those who put their hands to the plough, and look back, are not
+worthy of the kingdom of heaven.
+
+Clara, without uttering a word, left the room, and hoped to devote
+herself with more zeal than ever to the duties she had actually
+undertaken.  With this feeling, she repaired at the appointed hour to
+the schoolroom, where she took her class of children.  They were, as it
+happened, inclined to be less attentive and more unruly than was their
+wont; some of them had only lately been induced to attend the school,
+and were unaccustomed to the rules and regulations.  A biggish boy was
+trying to see how far he could proceed in impudence and lead on the
+others, when Clara, finding that appealing to him was useless, gave him
+a box on the ear.  The Deane, at that moment entering, observed the act.
+
+"Sister Clare," she exclaimed, "I must take your class; retire to your
+cell."
+
+Clara, not believing that she had done anything wrong, got up and obeyed
+the order.  Had she remained, she would have seen that the Deane's
+temper was tried as much as hers had been.  On reaching her cell she sat
+down, wondering whether any further notice would be taken of her
+conduct.  Scarcely had the convent clock announced that school was over,
+than the Deane appeared, and ordered her to go to the Lady Superior.
+She was met with a frowning brow.
+
+"You have given way to temper--you require humbling, my daughter,"
+exclaimed the lady; "I must take means to lower that proud and haughty
+spirit of yours.  Return to your cell, and wait till the Mother Eldress
+comes for you."
+
+Clara bowed and obeyed.  After she had waited for some minutes, the
+Mother Eldress appeared, and taking her hand, led her along the gallery
+to an empty room, which, not having been used for many months, the floor
+was covered with dust.
+
+"Enter there," she said, "and show your contrition by kneeling on your
+knees, and licking with your tongue the form of the Blessed Cross on the
+ground."
+
+Clara stood aghast.
+
+"Are you serious?" she asked.  "It is the command of the Lady Superior,
+and you are bound by your vow of obedience to obey her orders--break
+them at the peril of your soul, Sister Clare," was the answer.  "Go in,
+and let me be able to report that you have exhibited sorrow for your
+fault by performing the penance which your spiritual superior in her
+wisdom has thought fit to inflict."
+
+No sooner had Clara entered the room than the door was locked on her.
+Degraded and abased in her own eyes, all her moral feelings revolting
+against the abominable indignity imposed on her, yet the threat which
+had been uttered made her tremble.  She had vowed implicit obedience.
+With loathing at her heart, with a feeling too bitter to allow her tears
+to flow, she performed the debasing act, forgetting that the marks she
+was thus making on the ground was the accepted symbol of the Christian
+faith.  Still, the words occurred to her, "Rend your hearts, and not
+your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God."  Could the God of all
+love and mercy and gentleness be pleased by such an act?  It might
+degrade her in her own sight; but could it make her heart more truly
+humble, more anxious to serve Him who said, "Come unto me, all ye that
+labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."
+
+Clara had a Bible in her pocket.  To calm her agitation, she read a
+portion, earnestly praying for instruction.  The words which brought
+conviction to Luther met her sight.  Light beamed on her troubled mind.
+The mists which the vicar's sophistries had gathered round her rolled
+away.  "From henceforth I will look to Jesus alone, to the teaching of
+His Word, the guidance of His Holy Spirit," she exclaimed.  Clara was
+free.
+
+
+
+CHAPTER FIVE.
+
+At length General Caulfield, having arranged the affairs of his brother
+who had died, returned to Luton.  He had been made very anxious and
+unhappy by the letters he received from Harry, who expressed his
+astonishment at not hearing from Clara.  The general, supposing that she
+was still at home, and fearing that she must be ill, immediately on his
+arrival set off to pay her a visit.
+
+"Miss Maynard is away; Miss Pemberton is at home, sir," said the servant
+who opened the door.
+
+Miss Pemberton received him in a stiff and freezing manner.  He
+immediately enquired for Clara.
+
+"My niece has, for some time, left home, and has not communicated her
+address to me, nor has she thought fit to write, so that I am in
+ignorance of where she is," was the unsatisfactory answer.
+
+"That is most extraordinary," cried the general; "can you not give me
+any clue by which I may discover her?"
+
+"I conclude, as she has not informed me of her abode, that she does not
+wish it to be known," answered Miss Pemberton, evasively.
+
+"Though you do not know where your niece is, is Mr Lerew, or is her
+father's old friend, Mr Lennard, acquainted with her present address?"
+asked the general.
+
+"I should think that she would have informed me rather than any one
+else," replied Miss Pemberton; and the general at length, finding that
+he could get no information out of the lady, took his leave.
+
+"I will try, at all events, to ascertain what either Lennard or Lerew
+know," said the general to himself, as he drove off.  Though he
+suspected that the vicar knew something about the matter, he decided
+first to call on Mr Lennard.  He believed him to be an honest man, but
+he had no great opinion of his sense.  Mr Lennard was at home; he
+received the general in a kindly way.  The latter observed that his
+manner was unusually subdued.  Without loss of time, the general
+mentioned Miss Maynard, and expressed his regret at not finding her at
+home.
+
+"Can you tell me where she has gone to?" he asked, "for her aunt
+declares that she does not know, though it was evident from her manner
+that she is not anxious about her."
+
+"I regret to say that I know no more than you do," answered Mr Lennard.
+"I had been for some time absent, and on my return I was greatly
+surprised to find that she had left Luton; and when I enquired of the
+Lerews, they told me that she had resolved to devote herself to works of
+charity, and was about to enter a sisterhood, but in what neighbourhood
+they did not inform me."
+
+"In other words, that she is about to become a nun, to discard my poor
+son, and to give up her property, as soon as she has the power of
+disposing of it, to the safe keeping of one of those Romish
+communities," exclaimed the general, with more vehemence than he was
+accustomed to exhibit; "what do you say to that, Mr Lennard?"
+
+"I don't suppose that Miss Maynard purposes entering a Romish convent;
+her intention, I conclude, is to join a sisterhood of the Anglican
+Church," said Mr Lennard.
+
+"The Church of England, of which I suppose you speak, recognises no such
+institutions," replied the general; "they are contrary to the spirit of
+the Reformation.  Unhappy will it be for our country if they ever gain
+ground."
+
+"I had been inclined to suppose that they would prove a great advantage,
+by enabling ladies to unite together and work under a good system in
+visiting the sick and poor, and in the instruction of the children, and
+in other beneficent labours; and I have, when requested, subscribed
+towards their support," remarked Mr Lennard.
+
+"I do not insist that ladies should not thus employ themselves,"
+observed the general; "but my objection is to the mode in which they
+unite themselves in the so-called religious system under which they are
+placed.  They may, in most instances, serve God far better by staying at
+home and doing their duty in their families, instead of assuming the
+dress and imitating the customs of the nuns of the middle ages."
+
+"I do not look at the subject in that light," observed Mr Lennard, "and
+I know that it must be a hard matter for some young ladies to be
+religious at home, where the rest of the family are worldly-minded."
+
+"Much more reason for them to stay at home and endeavour to improve the
+tone of the rest of the household," answered the general.  "Those who
+know what human nature is should see that with whatever good intentions
+these sisterhoods are begun, they must in the end lead to much that is
+objectionable.  If Miss Maynard has joined one of them, I must endeavour
+to find the means of getting her out, or of ascertaining if she was
+induced to join it, and remains of her own free will.  I fear that Lerew
+will not afford me any assistance, as from his Romish tendencies he will
+probably consider them admirable institutions, and would think that he
+had done a laudable act in inducing Clara to enter one.  I must now wish
+you good-bye.  I hope that you have good accounts of your young daughter
+Mary, and your son at Oxford."
+
+Mr Lennard shook his head.  "I received a letter to-day from my little
+girl, saying that she was very ill, and begging me to come and take her
+home; but as the mistress did not write, I do not suppose that her
+illness is serious.  However, I intend to go to-morrow to Mary, and
+ascertain how she is, and I trust that I shall not be obliged to take
+her away from school."
+
+The general considered whether he should call on Mr Lerew; but he first
+bethought himself of paying a visit to a lawyer in the neighbouring
+town, with whom he was well acquainted, and who had been a friend of
+Captain Maynard's.  He was also an earnest religious man, and strongly
+opposed to ritualism.  The general was not a person to let the grass
+grow under his feet.  He was driving rapidly along, when he met
+Lieutenant Sims, who made a sign to him to stop.  The general did so,
+and invited the lieutenant to accompany him into the town.
+
+"With all my heart, for I want to have a talk with you, general,"
+answered the lieutenant, springing in.  "I have long been wishing for
+your return.  We've had some extraordinary goings on in this place.
+What has concerned me most is the disappearance of my old friend's
+daughter, in whom you, I know, take a deep interest.  All I know is that
+she went away with the vicar and his wife, and it is my belief that they
+had an object in spiriting her off; but whether to shut her up in a
+Romish or Ritualist convent is more than I can say.  I don't think there
+is much to choose between them; the vicar might select the Ritualist, or
+the Anglican, as he would call it, as he, though a Papist at heart,
+would prefer keeping his living, while his lady would recommend the
+former; for it is said, and I believe it to be a fact, that she herself
+has turned Romanist, with her dear friend Lady Bygrave.  Haven't you
+heard that both Sir Reginald and her ladyship were received last week
+into the bosom of the Church of Rome, as the expression runs?"
+
+"Is it possible!" exclaimed the general; "but I ought not to be
+surprised when I saw the characters they admitted into their house.  I
+thought that French abbe and Father Lascelles had some other object in
+view than the establishment of a colony; but perhaps you have been
+misinformed."
+
+"I tell you, general, I haven't a doubt about the matter," answered Mr
+Sims.  "They and Mrs Lerew attended the Romish church together, and I
+am told had been baptised with all ceremony a few days before.  I know
+that two or three priests have been staying at the Hall ever since, and
+Mrs Lerew goes there regularly.  They are about to have a chapel built
+in their grounds, and an architect came down from London about it; and
+in the meantime they have got a room fitted up in the house.  What
+surprises me is that the vicar should allow his wife to turn; but that
+she has done so seems probable, for she was not at church last Sunday.
+Should Lerew object to his wife's perversion, he has only himself to
+thank for it; he has led her up to the door as carefully as a man could
+do, and cannot be surprised at her going inside.  Of course she thinks
+it safer to join what she has been taught to look upon as the true
+church, and has therefore honestly gone over to it; while whatever he
+may think, putting honesty and honour aside, he considers that it is
+more to his advantage to retain his living, and lead others in the way
+he has led his wife."
+
+"I suspect that you are right," observed the general; "too many have set
+him the example.  He, like them, has been trained in the school of the
+Jesuits, who are fully persuaded that evil may be done that good may
+come of it, and banish from their minds the principles which guide
+honest men, and which they themselves would advocate in the ordinary
+affairs of life.  I can only wish that, unless Mr Lerew's mind is
+enlightened, he would go over himself; as I am afraid, while he remains
+in the Church of England, he may lead others in the same direction."
+
+"Not much fear of that," observed the lieutenant; "except a few silly
+young people of the better classes, and the poor, who look out for the
+loaves and fishes in the shape of coals and blankets and other creature
+comforts, I don't think many are influenced by him.  He is more likely
+to empty his church, and to fill the Dissenting chapels."
+
+"Still," said the general, "he sows broadcast the germs of Romanism
+through the doctrines he preaches, while he accustoms people to the
+sight of the ceremonies and paraphernalia of Rome, keeping them in
+ignorance at the same time of the simple truths of the Gospel, at the
+bidding of those whose commands he obeys; for he and his ritualistic
+brethren are but instruments in the hands of more cunning men than
+themselves.  I have little doubt that he was carefully educated at the
+university for the part he is now playing, though he then had no idea of
+the designs of his tutor.  People laugh at the notion that a Jesuit plot
+has long existed in England for the subversion of Protestantism; but I
+have evidence, which receives daily corroboration, that Jesuits in
+disguise matriculated at the universities for the express purpose of
+perverting the minds of all whom they could bring under their influence.
+The pupils in numberless instances went over to Rome, while the tutors
+remained nominally in the Church of England, for the sake of trapping
+others.  The scheme has succeeded, and has since been greatly enlarged;
+the Jesuits have now agents in every shape--some as incumbents of
+parishes, as lay supporters, men and women, guilds and sisterhoods; they
+have encouraged works of charity, schools, hospitals, refuges for the
+fallen and destitute, _creches_, mothers' meetings, and other
+institutions, all excellent in themselves, knowing how much such would
+forward their object.  Of that object, those who take part in them are,
+I am ready to believe, in many instances utterly ignorant; they are
+influenced by the desire to obey the commands of Christ, and to make
+themselves useful to their fellow-creatures, though the idea that they
+are thereby meriting heaven, and what they call working out their own
+salvation, underlies all they do, as they misinterpret the passage.
+They ignore the glorious truth that through simple faith in the atoning
+blood of Christ salvation is gained--that it is their own, and that the
+right motive of action must be through love and obedience to Him who has
+already saved them.  All the forms and ceremonies in which they indulge
+are but will-worship, tending to obscure their view of Him, and to
+destroy their spiritual life."
+
+"General," said the lieutenant, "I have seen a good deal of Roman
+Catholic countries, where the priests have full sway, and I am very sure
+that the system these Ritualists have introduced is tending in the same
+direction.  I know from experience that true religion makes a man all
+that can be expected of him.  We had a dozen or more such men on board
+the last ship in which I served, and they were out and out the best men
+we had; they could be trusted on all occasions; and if any dangerous
+work had to be done, they were the first to volunteer.  They were
+Dissenters of some sort, I believe, and were not in favour with our
+ritualistic chaplain, who had his followers both among officers and men.
+I can't say much about those officers, and as to the men who pretended
+to agree with him, they were the most sneaking rascals in the ship.  He
+tried to bring me over to his way of thinking, but my eyes were opened.
+`No, no,' I answered; `if the ship was going down, and you had to take
+your chance in one of the boats, which would you choose, the one manned
+by those fellows you anathematise, or with the men you call obedient
+sons of the Church?'  He couldn't answer; but one day, he being left on
+shore, the heretics, as he called them, brought him off through a heavy
+surf, when no other men would venture.  So you see, thanks to our
+chaplain, when I found the new vicar working changes in the church, I
+knew pretty well what he was about."
+
+The general found Mr Franklin, his solicitor, at home.
+
+"I am very glad you have come, general," said the latter.  "Miss
+Maynard, as you are probably aware, has been induced to leave home, or,
+rather, has been entrapped by one of those conventual establishments, to
+which she will in due course, when she has the power, be persuaded to
+give up her property.  Our business must be to get her out of their
+hands before that time arrives; and yours, general, more especially to
+point out to her the errors of the system which has thrown its glamour
+over her; for, if I understand rightly, she has sacrificed an excellent
+and satisfactory marriage, as well as the independence and comforts of
+home.  It was not for a considerable time that I discovered her absence
+from Luton, when her aunt (who, no disrespect to the lady, I consider it
+a misfortune was left one of her guardians) positively declared that she
+did not know where she had gone.  I, however, took steps to find out,
+and lately ascertained that she is an inmate of Saint Barbara's, near
+Staughton, to which place I discovered that she drove on leaving the
+railway, in company with Mr and Mrs Lerew.  Convinced that Miss
+Pemberton was not likely to render any willing assistance, I awaited
+your return to take legal measures to obtain her release.  Our first
+difficulty will be to communicate with her, for the nuns are allowed to
+receive no letters till they are first seen by the Lady Superior.  It
+would be as well first to ascertain whether the young lady desires of
+her own free will to leave the convent; she has had some experience of
+it, and may by this time perhaps have repented of the step she has
+taken.  My belief is that she has been deceived and cajoled.  I know
+well of what those Ritualists are capable, influenced by what they
+believe the best of motives, and I strongly suspect that there is some
+misunderstanding between her and your son, brought about, I say without
+hesitation, by their means.  Either her letters have not been forwarded
+to him, or his have not been received by her--perhaps the entire
+correspondence has been intercepted--I will not go farther than that.  I
+say this as I wish to plead for your ward, at whose conduct you
+naturally feel deeply grieved."
+
+"Poor girl! notwithstanding all the pain and suffering she has caused my
+son, I am not angry with her," said the general; "my indignation is
+directed against the system and persons by whom she has been deceived.
+I suspect as you do with regard to the correspondence between her and my
+son, for I am very sure she would not have given him up without
+assigning any reason, or answering his letters."
+
+"Our first object must be to open a free communication with her; letters
+sent in the ordinary way are sure to be read by the Lady Superior, and
+the answers dictated by her, so that we shall not be wiser than at
+first," remarked Mr Franklin.
+
+"I must try that simple plan, however, and if it fails, resort to
+stronger measures," observed the general.  "I will go to Staughton
+myself, and write to say that, as her guardian, I wish to have a private
+interview with her on a matter of importance, and to beg that I may be
+allowed to call on her at the convent, or that she will come and see me
+at my hotel."
+
+"I am afraid that means would be taken to prevent her from seeing you
+alone," observed Mr Franklin.
+
+"What course do you then advise?" asked the general.
+
+"We must take legal proceedings, and they are very certain to have their
+due effect, as the Lady Superior would be exceedingly loth to have the
+internal arrangements of her convent made public, and she is well aware
+that if she resists she will run the risk of that being the case.  I
+have already had something to do with her ladyship, as well as with two
+or three other convents, and I know how jealous the managers are that
+the secrets of their prison-houses should be revealed.  Their aim is to
+prove they have nothing to conceal, and that all is open as noon-day;
+but the moment troublesome questions are asked, they exhibit a reticence
+as to their rules and practices which shows how conscious they are that
+outsiders will object to them."
+
+Before the general took his leave, it was arranged between him and Mr
+Franklin that they should go over together to Epsworth, and act
+according to circumstances.  As he drove home he expressed a hope to the
+honest lieutenant that he might be the means of emancipating Miss
+Maynard from her present thraldom.
+
+"She has too much sense and right feeling not to be open to conviction,"
+answered Mr Sims; "what she wants is to be freed from the evil
+influences to which she has of late been exposed, and to have the simple
+truth placed before her; only don't let her meet her aunt or Mr Lerew
+till she has thoroughly got rid of all her erroneous notions, and
+understands the simple gospel as you well know how to put it."
+
+"You may depend on my following your advice," said the general.
+
+On reaching home, the general found a note from Mr Lennard.  He wrote
+in great distress of mind.  He had received a letter from a friend at
+Oxford, telling him that his son had left the university in company with
+a Romish priest, and had declared his intention of seeking admission
+into the Church of Rome.  Mr Lennard was anxious, if possible, to find
+out his son, and prevent him from taking the fatal step, at the same
+time that he wished to be with his poor little girl at Cheltenham.
+
+"I am afraid," he continued, "that the tutor under whom I placed my boy,
+by Mr Lerew's advice, has had much to do with it.  I now hear that
+three or four of his previous pupils have become Romanists, and others,
+by all accounts, are likely to go over.  I object to my son's becoming a
+Romanist, though I consider that the Church of Rome is the mother of all
+Churches, and has the advantage of antiquity on her side."
+
+"The mother of all abominations!" exclaimed the general to himself.  "I
+must endeavour to set my friend right on that subject, if he holds that
+fundamental error."
+
+The general was a man of action.  After taking a hurried meal, he drove
+on to the house of Mr Lennard.  His journey to Cheltenham had been
+delayed, and he was now hesitating whether first to go in search of his
+son or to proceed there immediately.  The thought at once struck the
+general that should he succeed in getting Clara out of the convent, he
+might go on to Cheltenham with her, and that if Mary was fit to be
+removed from the school, it would give Clara occupation to nurse her
+friend.
+
+"I shall indeed be most grateful to you," said Mr Lennard, with the
+tears in his eyes; "I was sorely perplexed what to do, and I specially
+wish that Mary should not remain longer at the school than can be
+helped, as from her letter it is evident that she is not only ill, but
+very miserable there.
+
+"You must give me your written authority, and I will act upon it," said
+the general.  This was done.  "Now, my friend," he continued, "I wish to
+speak to you on the remark made in your letter, in which you say that
+you consider the Church of Rome the mother of all Churches, and that it
+has the advantage of antiquity.  You evidently go first on the
+assumption that our Lord instituted a visible Church on earth, and that
+that Church, though corrupted, is the Church of Rome.  Now I wish to
+draw your attention to the origin of that wonderful establishment which
+has for so long exerted a baneful influence over a large portion of the
+human race.  For three centuries true Christians, though becoming less
+and less pure in their doctrine and form of worship, existed in Rome as
+a despised and subordinate class, the purity of their faith gradually
+decreasing as their numbers, wealth, and influence increased.  At length
+the Emperor Constantine professed himself to be a Christian, which he
+did for the sake of obtaining the assistance of the Christians against
+his rival Licinius, who was supported by the idolaters.  Constantine
+being victorious, and Licinius slain, the idolaters saw that they could
+no longer hope to be predominant.  There existed in Rome from the days
+of Numa a college, or curia, the members of which, called pontiffs, had
+the entire management of all matters connected with religion.  The post
+of head pontiff, or Pontifex Maximus, had been assumed by Julius Caesar
+and his successors.  They had probably no real belief in the idolatrous
+system they supported; such secret faith as they had was centred in
+Astarte, the divinity of the ancient Babylonians, whose worship had been
+introduced at an early period into Etruria, as it had been previously
+into Egypt and Greece.  They were, in reality, the priests of Astarte,
+and from them we derive our festival of Christmas, our Lady Day, and
+many other festivals with Christian names.  It had been their principle
+from the first to admit any gods who had become popular, and thus were
+added in rapid succession the numberless gods and goddesses of the
+heathen mythology.  At length Jesus of Nazareth was added to their
+pantheon.  These pontiffs, on perceiving that Christianity, patronised
+by the Emperor, was likely to gain the day, saw that to maintain their
+power they must themselves pretend to belong to the new faith.  This
+they did, and one of their number soon managed to get himself chosen the
+Bishop of Rome, while the other pontiffs by an easy transition formed
+the College of Cardinals.  The title of Pontifex Maximus, being held by
+the Emperor, was not assumed by the bishop of Rome till the Emperor
+Gratian in 376 refused any longer to be addressed by that title.  Having
+banished some of the grosser practices of idolatry, they introduced the
+remainder under different names, so that the pagans might readily
+conform to the new worship.  The apostles took the place of the various
+gods, and the martyrs those of the inferior divinities; above them all
+was raised Astarte, who, now named Mary the Mother of God and Queen of
+Heaven, became the chief object of adoration.  In truth, the established
+worship at Rome remained as truly idolatrous as it had ever been, while
+the great aim of the pontiffs was to increase their power, amass wealth,
+and strengthen their position.  From that period they acted, as might
+have been expected, in direct opposition to all the principles of
+Christianity.  Bloody struggles often took place between rivals aiming
+at the pontificate, while they endeavoured to destroy all those who
+refused to obey them.  It was not till a somewhat later period, when the
+head pontiff set up a claim of superiority above all other bishops,
+that, to strengthen it, it was asserted that he was in direct apostolic
+succession from the apostle Peter, the pontiff who first made it being
+ignorant, probably, that the Christian Church at Rome was founded
+exclusively by Paul, and that the apostle Peter never was at Rome, he
+having been all his life employed in founding churches in the East.  `By
+their fruits ye shall know them;' and we have only to reflect on the
+lives of the popes, many of them monsters of atrocity, and the fearful
+acts of persecution which they encouraged and authorised, to be
+convinced that paganism, the invention of Satan, had usurped the name of
+Christianity, and that the Romish Church, as it is called, instead of
+being the mother of all Churches, is truly the Babylon of the
+Apocalypse; yet this is the system which ministers of the Church of
+England are endeavouring to introduce into our country, with its
+idolatrous rites and dogmas, and which you and many excellent men like
+yourself look at with a lenient eye, instead of regarding it with the
+abhorrence it deserves."
+
+"My dear friend," said Mr Lennard, greatly astonished, "I certainly had
+never regarded the Church of Rome in that light; I looked upon it as the
+ancient Church, corrupted in the course of ages."
+
+"It has no true claim to be a Christian Church at all," said the
+general; "it is like the cuckoo, which, hatched in the nest of the
+hedge-warbler, by degrees forces out the other fledglings, and usurps
+their place.  So did paganism treat Christianity; although, fostered by
+God, the latter was enabled to exist, persecuted and oppressed as it
+was, and still to exert a benign influence in the world.  On examining
+the tenets of many who are called heretics, we find that it was not the
+creed they held, but the opposition they offered to the Romish system,
+which was their crime, and brought down persecution on their heads.
+When we read of the horrible cruelties practised on the Waldenses and
+Albigenses, the followers of Huss in Bohemia, the true Protestants of
+all ages down to the time of Luther, the detestable system of the
+Inquisition, the treatment of the inhabitants of the Netherlands by Alva
+and the Spaniards, when whole hecatombs of victims were put to death at
+the instigation of the pope and his cardinals, the destruction of
+thousands and tens of thousands of Huguenots in France, the martyrdoms
+of the noble Protestants of Spain, the massacre of Saint Bartholomew,
+and the fires of Smithfield--all these diabolical acts performed with
+the concurrence and approval of the papal power--can we for a moment
+hesitate to believe that that power owes its origin, not to the Divine
+Head of the Church, but to that spirit of evil, Satan, the deadly foe of
+the human race?  Can any system founded on it, however much reformed it
+may appear, fail to partake of the evil inherent in the original itself.
+It is from not seeing this that so many are led to embrace the errors--
+I would rather say the abominations--of Rome; while others are taught to
+look at them with lenient eyes, and to believe that the system itself is
+capable of reformation.  Before true and simple faith can be established
+throughout the world the whole must be overthrown and hurled into the
+depths of the sea, as completely as have been the idols and idolatrous
+practices of the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands, where
+Christianity has been established."
+
+Mr Lennard leant his head on his hand.  "I must think deeply of what
+you say; you put the whole matter in a new light to me.  I have had no
+affection for Rome; still, I have always regarded her as a Church
+founded on the apostles and prophets."
+
+"Yet which virtually forbids its followers to study those prophets and
+apostles," remarked the general.  "But what I want you to do is to look
+into the subject for yourself.  I have merely given you a hint for your
+guidance; by referring carefully to the Scriptures, you will find more
+and more light thrown on it, till you must be convinced that the view I
+have taken is the correct one; and would that every clergyman and layman
+in England might do the same! these ritualistic practices would then
+soon be banished from the land."
+
+Never in his life had poor Mr Lennard been so perplexed and troubled.
+He was invited to reconsider opinions which he had held, in a somewhat
+lax fashion it may be granted, all his life.  He had to search for his
+son, and prevent him if possible from becoming a slave to the system he
+had just heard so strongly denounced, and he was painfully anxious about
+the health of his dear little Mary.  While he was still in this unhappy
+state of mind, the general left him to return home.  The next morning
+they both set off to their respective destinations, the general to
+Epsworth, having called for Mr Franklin on his way, and Mr Lennard to
+London.
+
+On reaching Epsworth, the general wrote a note to Clara, saying that as
+her guardian it was necessary for him to see her at once, and that he
+would either pay her a visit at the convent, or would request her to
+come to his hotel.  After waiting for some time, he received a note in a
+strange handwriting; it was from a lady, who signed herself Sister
+Agatha.  She stated that she wrote by the command of the Lady Superior,
+who was at present unwell, but would, on her recovery, reply to the
+letter General Caulfield had addressed to Sister Clare, or, as she was
+called in the world, Miss Clara Maynard.
+
+"We must give her ladyship a taste of the law," said Mr Franklin; "she
+fancies that she can play the same game with us which she has
+successfully employed with others.  You shall write a note, stating that
+your legal adviser, Mr Franklin, is with you; address it to the Lady
+Superior, and say that you insist on seeing Miss Maynard at once."
+
+As soon as the letter was despatched, Mr Franklin, observing that he
+had some business to transact, went out, leaving the general engaged in
+writing.  He had been for some time absent, when he hurriedly entered
+the room.
+
+"I thought it would be so," he observed.  "The Lady Superior is about to
+remove Miss Maynard to some other establishment, and she will then
+coolly inform you that, Sister Clare not being an inmate of the convent,
+she cannot be answerable for her.  I learnt this from one of several
+people I placed on the watch, and I find that one of the serving Sisters
+has come in to say that a conveyance is wanted immediately at the
+convent.  I have ordered our carriage, and we will follow the other; and
+you can either speak to Miss Maynard as she comes out of the convent, or
+meet her at whatever railway station she goes to."
+
+The general did not quite like this plan; he had hoped to see Clara
+alone, and be able to speak to her for as long as might be necessary, so
+as to convince her of the fearful mistake she had made, should she at
+first show an unwillingness to leave the convent; still, he had no other
+course but to follow Mr Franklin's advice.  They accordingly entered
+their carriage, and soon overtook another driving in the direction of
+the convent.  At a short distance from it, Mr Franklin ordered the
+coachman to pull up, and got out.  He and the general then walked
+leisurely towards the gate, just as they got in sight of which, they
+caught a glimpse of three muffled figures stepping into the carriage.
+
+"Now is our time," exclaimed Mr Franklin; "I've bribed the coachman not
+to move on till I have given him leave, so that should one of those
+dames prove to be the Lady Superior--and I know her very well--we shall
+have an opportunity of addressing her; and I think what I say will make
+her hesitate to use force in preventing Miss Maynard from accompanying
+you, should you desire her to do so."
+
+The next instant they were alongside the carriage, just as the Lady
+Superior--for she was one of those inside--had put her head out of the
+window, peremptorily ordering the coachman to drive on as fast as he
+could.  Though he flourished his whip, he kept his reins tight; but Mr
+Franklin, putting his hand on the door said, "Madam, my friend General
+Caulfield, whom I have the honour to introduce to you, desires to have
+some conversation on a matter of importance with Miss Maynard, and I am
+glad to see that she is here to answer for herself."
+
+As he spoke, Clara sprang up, and though the Lady Superior and the other
+Sister attempted to hold her back, she threw herself forward into the
+general's arms.
+
+"Sister Clare, remember your vow of obedience; sit quiet, I order you,"
+cried the Lady Superior, in a stern tone; but Clara paid no attention to
+the command.  With an imploring look for protection, she gazed into the
+general's countenance.
+
+"I wish to accompany you," she whispered; "take me, take me away! don't
+scold me!"
+
+The general recognised the features of the once bright and blooming
+girl, though her dress looked strange.
+
+"I have come on purpose to take you, my dear girl," he answered, holding
+her tightly.  "I am in your good father's place--trust to me."  He then,
+turning to the Lady Superior, said, "I have the right, as this young
+lady's guardian, to take her away from you, as she has expressed her
+wish to accompany me.  Mr Franklin will explain all that is necessary.
+I bid you good morning, Madam."
+
+"Sister Clare, remember your vows," again repeated the Lady Superior, in
+a solemn voice; "the anathema--"
+
+"I cannot allow such language to be uttered to my client," said Mr
+Franklin; and he went on to explain the legal rights of guardians in a
+way which was calculated to keep the Lady Superior silent.  The general,
+meantime, half leading, half carrying poor Clara, reached his carriage,
+which at a sign to the coachman approached to receive them.  Mr
+Franklin, observing that the general had handed in Clara, followed,
+having directed the coachman to drive off, leaving the Lady Superior and
+her companion in a state better imagined than described.  Looking back,
+the lawyer observed that they had re-entered the convent.
+
+Clara was no sooner seated than she burst into tears.  "I have been very
+miserable, but I have myself alone to blame," she said.  "I knew what
+you would think, while I obstinately listened to Mr and Mrs Lerew, and
+to what they had taught Aunt Sarah to say to me.  Still, I wanted to
+consult you, but as you were too angry with me to write, I could not
+have my doubts solved; and even Harry cast me off, and refused to have
+any further correspondence with me.  I don't blame him, for I knew his
+opinions, and he warned me--"
+
+"My dear Clara, do you think it possible that I should not have written
+to you, or that Harry should have neglected to do so?" interrupted the
+general.  "I wrote letter upon letter, and got no answer, and Harry told
+me that he had written over and over again, and at last had enclosed a
+letter to your aunt, but that she had returned it, saying that she did
+so at the recommendation of your spiritual adviser, who considered that
+it would be highly improper for you, who had become a bride of the
+Church, to receive a letter from a mortal lover."
+
+"Then I have been deceived and betrayed," exclaimed Clara, "entirely
+through my own folly, and I have caused Harry terrible pain and
+annoyance."
+
+"There is no doubt that you have been deceived and betrayed," said the
+general; "but we do not blame you, except that instead of seeking
+guidance and direction from the loving Father who is ever ready to
+afford it, you allowed yourself to be led by fallible human beings, who
+in this instance had, I suspect, an object in inducing you to follow the
+line they had pointed out.  You did not distinguish between the works
+which these Sisters of Charity propose undertaking and the system and
+principles by which they are guided.  The works themselves are such as
+all Christians are bound to engage in or support, whereas the system is
+idolatrous, and encourages will-worship; the works are made to support
+the system, instead of, as it should be, love and obedience to our
+heavenly Master producing the works.  Our loving Father wishes His
+children to be happy and to enjoy the good things with which He provides
+them.  No monastic rules, no peculiar dress, no vows of obedience to
+fallible mortals like ourselves, no fasts or penances are required to
+enable us to obey His laws; all we need is to seek for grace and
+strength from Him to do His will; and knowing that the blood of Jesus
+Christ cleanseth from all sin, we can go boldly to Him in prayer,
+offered up through our sole High Priest and Mediator, who ever pleads
+the efficacy of that blood."
+
+"I know you speak the truth," said Clara; "but I felt myself so
+unworthy, I fancied that God would not receive me unless I made some
+sacrifices in His service."
+
+"You dishonoured Him, my dear child, by thinking so," answered the
+general; "He will in no wise cast out those who come to Him, and He
+desires all to come just as they are, with humble and contrite spirits;
+but not under the idea that they can first put away their sins, and
+merit His love by any good deeds or penances they may perform.  Such
+acts as are pleasing in His sight must spring from loving obedience to
+Him; all He does is of free grace; we can merit nothing, because we owe
+Him everything.  When you see this clearly, you will understand more
+perfectly the wrong principles on which the whole Romish and ritualistic
+systems, and, believe me, they are identical, are founded."
+
+Through the general's remarks Clara's eyes were quickly opened; it
+appeared as if a thick veil had been thrown over them, which had
+suddenly been removed, and she wondered how she could have been so
+lamentably deceived.  She looked upon her convent life, with its rigid
+rules, its senseless silence, its hours of solitude, its meagre fare,
+the cold and suffering uselessly endured, its unnatural vigils, its
+mockeries of religious observances, the cruelties she had seen
+practised, all tending to depress the spirits and lower the physical
+powers, with just abhorrence; and then a choking sensation came into her
+throat, and the colour rose to her cheeks as she thought of the
+abominable confessional, the questions asked her, and the answers she
+had had to give.  She tried to shut them out from her thoughts.  Could
+she ever be worthy of the pure, honest-minded, open-hearted, noble
+Harry?
+
+On reaching their sitting-room at the inn, the general looked at Clara's
+costume.
+
+"I suppose, my dear child, that you would like to assume the ordinary
+dress of a young lady of the nineteenth century," he said with a smile,
+"in lieu of those garments of the dark ages."
+
+A smile almost rose to Clara's lips, though her cheeks were blushing and
+her eyes suffused with tears as she answered, "Yes, I should very much,
+and I must ask if you will be good enough to send them back to the
+convent, as they belong to the community, and I have no right to keep
+them."
+
+"With all imaginable pleasure," exclaimed Mr Franklin; "and I am happy
+to say that I can assist you in procuring a desirable costume.  I have a
+relative residing here who is much about your height and figure, and as
+she has some interest with the mantua-makers, I have no doubt that by
+to-morrow morning she will induce them to supply you with a
+travelling-dress and such other articles of apparel as you may require."
+
+Clara expressed her thankfulness, and added, "Pray let it be as simple
+as possible."
+
+"Oh yes, it shall be such as will become a quakeress if you wish it; I
+will lose no time about it," said Mr Franklin, hurrying out of the
+room.
+
+"Why, he has gone without taking anything to eat; he must be almost
+starving," observed the general.  "I know that I am; and, my dear, I am
+afraid that you must be hungry, unless you took a late luncheon."
+
+"We had dinner at ten, though I took but little," answered Clara; "but
+we are accustomed to go a long time without food."
+
+"Your looks tell me that, my dear," exclaimed the general, ringing the
+bell.  "We must take more care of you in future than you have received
+lately.  I never knew starving enable a person the better to go through
+the duties of life."
+
+The waiter entered, and the general ordered luncheon to be brought up at
+once, in a tone which showed that he intended to be obeyed, adding, "Let
+there be as many delicacies as your cook can provide off-hand."
+
+The lawyer had not returned when luncheon was placed on the table.
+"Come, my dear, I want to see you do justice to some of these nice
+things," said the general.
+
+Poor Clara hesitated; it was a fast-day in the convent--could she at
+once transgress the rule?  She was going to take simply some bread and
+preserve, but the general placed a cutlet on her plate.  "I must insist
+on your eating that, and taking a glass or two of good wine to give you
+strength for your journey to-morrow," he said.  Clara had to explain her
+difficulty.  "I know of no command of the Lord to fast," he observed,
+"though He stigmatised vain fasts and oblations.  The apostles nowhere
+command it, and the early Christians, until error crept in among them,
+did not consider fasting a religious duty.  In your case let me assure
+you that it would be a sin to fast when you require your strength
+restored.  You have had much mental trial, and will have more to go
+through.  The mind suffers with the body, and it is your duty to
+strengthen both.  Come, come, eat up the cutlet, and take this glass of
+sherry."
+
+Clara obeyed, and in a wonderfully short time began to see matters in a
+brighter light.  The general did not fail to explain that one of the
+great objects of the system from which he wished to emancipate her was
+that of weakening the minds of those it got into its toils to keep them
+in subjection.  "Such was their aim in insisting on confession, on
+fasting, and on vigils.  What is even a strong man fit for, who is
+deprived of his sleep and half-starved?  How completely does a man
+become the slave of the fellow mortal to whom he confides every secret
+of his heart! and how much more thoroughly must a weak woman become a
+slave, who is subjected to the same system!  Add to that the rule of
+obedience which you tell me is so much insisted on.  Obedience to whom?
+to a woman as full of faults and weaknesses as other human beings.  How
+sad must be the result!  It is terrible to see the name of religion
+prostituted in such a cause."
+
+Clara ate up the cutlet without any further objection, and meekly
+submitted to take some of the other delicacies the general placed before
+her.
+
+"You'll do, my dear," he said, smiling; "we shall have the roses in your
+cheeks again, I hope, in a few weeks.  What I want you to do is to
+distinguish between God's and man's religions.  You have erred from
+confounding the two.  Our loving Father wants a joyous, willing
+obedience; He allows no one to come between Him and us poor sinners, but
+our one Mediator and great High Priest, to whom we must confess our
+sins.  He invites us to come direct to Him in prayer.  Those dishonour
+Him who fancy that either ministering angels or departed saints can
+interfere with our glorious privilege.  He who said, `Rend your heart,
+and not your garments,' desires no debasing penances, no fasts, nothing
+which could weaken the powers of the mind.  When you come to look into
+the subject, you will see that all such practices were invented by the
+great enemy of souls to draw men off from their reliance on their loving
+Father, who is ever ready to give grace and help in time of need."
+
+Before luncheon was quite over Mr Franklin returned.  "You will excuse
+us for not waiting for you," said the general.  "Miss Maynard was nearly
+starving."
+
+"I am glad you did not wait, indeed," answered Mr Franklin, "for I may
+compliment Miss Maynard on looking much better than she did an hour ago.
+I have been entirely successful in my mission; my cousin and her
+milliner will be here in a few minutes.  I have a message from my aunt,
+Mrs Lawson, who begs that you and Miss Maynard will stay the night at
+her house, as she can there make the arrangements about her dress with
+far more convenience than here."
+
+The general, without stopping to consult Clara, at once accepted the
+offer.  Clara herself was thankful to move to a quiet house.  Miss
+Lawson, who was a sensible girl, understanding Clara's position and
+feelings, with much thoughtfulness made every arrangement she could
+require.  Having supplied her from her own wardrobe, she took away the
+conventual garments, which Mr Franklin with infinite satisfaction
+carefully packed up and sent with a note, couched in legal phraseology,
+to the Lady Superior, requesting that Miss Maynard's property might be
+sent back by return.  "I don't suppose we shall get it," he remarked to
+his cousin; "but it is as well to see what her ladyship has to say about
+the matter."
+
+Late in the evening a note arrived from the Lady Superior, who had to
+assure Mr Franklin that she possessed nothing belonging to Miss
+Maynard, who was well aware that any articles brought into the convent
+became the property of the community, and that all secular dresses were
+immediately disposed of as useless to those devoted to the service of
+the Church.
+
+"I call it a perfect swindle," observed Mrs Lawson, who was not an
+admirer of convents.  "Miss Maynard tells me she took two trunks full of
+summer and winter clothing.  She had not a notion before she went to the
+convent how she was to dress or what she was to do."
+
+"I am afraid, notwithstanding, that we cannot indict the Lady Superior
+as a swindler, whatever opinion we may secretly form of her," answered
+Mr Franklin, laughing.  "I daresay that Miss Maynard will soon be able
+to replace her loss.  We would rather not have her adventure made
+public, except for the sake of a warning to others."
+
+Miss Lawson, whose garments fortunately fitted Clara, begged that she
+would take such as she might require until the dressmaker could forward
+those which had been ordered.  The next morning, heartily thanking Mr
+Franklin and his relations, Clara and the general set off for
+Cheltenham.  It was not to be expected that Clara would at once recover
+her spirits and serenity of mind; but fortunately they had the carriage
+to themselves, and thus the general had an opportunity of further
+explaining the subjects he had touched on on the previous day.  As he
+never was without his Bible, he was able to refer to that, and to point
+to many texts which of late Clara had heard sadly perverted, or which
+had been carefully avoided.  He explained to her the origin of the whole
+Romish system, and showed her how identical that of the Ritualists was
+with it; the great object being to exalt and give power to a priestly
+caste, who, pretending to stand between God and the sinner, thus obtain
+power over the minds and property of their fellow-creatures.  "Such has
+been the object of certain men imbued with a desire to rule their more
+ignorant and more superstitious fellows, from the earliest ages; it was
+this spirit which influenced the priests of Egypt, Greece, and Rome; it
+exists throughout India, among the savages of America in their
+medicine--men, in the islands of the Pacific, and indeed in every region
+of the world.  It is the object of the Romish system, and is now
+exhibiting itself in a more subtle form among the ministers of the
+Church of England.  We properly apply the term sacerdotalism to any
+system the spirit of which seeks to place a human being in any
+intermediate character between God and man.  Sacerdotalism is in direct
+opposition and antagonistic to the genius of the Gospel, which
+enunciates the great truth that there is but one Mediator between God
+and man, the Man Jesus Christ; that through the atoning blood of Christ,
+man, if truly turning to Him, and heartily believing, receives directly,
+and without any other agency whatever, pardon and absolution.  He, and
+He alone, pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent, that is,
+look to Him and unfeignedly believe His holy Gospel.  Christ, and Christ
+alone, is the Way, the Truth, and the Life to seeking, travailing,
+heavy-laden man; whereas the Romanists, as do the Ritualists, assert
+that without the priestly function there is no complete remission, no
+claim to all the benefit of the Passion, no assurance of God's
+sanctifying grace.  There must be, say these people, contrition,
+confession, and satisfaction united with the sacerdotal function, a
+succession of acts, the priest being the organ of God's sanctifying
+grace."
+
+"Oh, then, of what mockery, of what sin, have I been guilty?" exclaimed
+Clara.
+
+"Turn from it, and look to Jesus, and He grants immediate forgiveness,"
+answered the general.
+
+"Would that all who are misled as I have been might receive that
+glorious truth!" cried Clara.  "Oh, general, tell it everywhere, and
+show me how I may help to open the eyes of others as mine have been
+opened."
+
+"God alone can open the eyes of the blind; but we can become active
+instruments in His hands by conveying to them the remedy for their
+blindness," said the general, taking Clara's hand.  "Your words afford
+me infinite satisfaction, and remove an anxious weight from my heart on
+your own account, and on that of one naturally still dearer to me.
+Depend on it that, with God's grace, I will not relax in my efforts to
+make known the simple Gospel, and to exhibit the sacerdotal system of
+Rome, and of the so-called ritualism of England, in its true light."
+
+
+
+CHAPTER SIX.
+
+On reaching Cheltenham, the general took Clara to the house of his
+sister-in-law, a Scotch lady, who received her with the most motherly
+kindness.
+
+"I very well know the sort of glamour which has been thrown around you,
+my dear," she said, "so that I can heartily sympathise with you; and I
+praise God that it has been removed.  You can now therefore look with
+confidence for grace and strength from Him who is the giver of all good,
+to walk forward in the enjoyment of that true happiness which God in His
+mercy affords to His creatures.  There is abundance of work for our sex,
+which can be carried out in a straightforward, Protestant, English
+fashion."
+
+"I shall be thankful to find it," said Clara.
+
+"You will not have long to wait, my dear," answered Mrs Caulfield; "but
+at present you require being nursed yourself: you must let me take you
+in hand."
+
+As soon as the general had deposited Clara with his sister-in-law, he
+set off and paid his promised visit to Mary Lennard.  On reaching Mrs
+Barnett's establishment, he was shown into a handsome drawing-room,
+where that lady soon presented herself, under the belief that he had
+come to place a daughter with her.  She bowed gracefully as she glided
+into a seat, and smilingly enquired the object of his visit.
+
+"I have come to see Miss Mary Lennard, daughter of my particular friend,
+the Reverend John Lennard," answered he.
+
+"She is too ill, I regret to say, to see visitors," answered the
+schoolmistress.  "Had her father come, I of course should not have
+objected."
+
+"I am acting in the place of her father," said the general, "and I must
+insist on seeing the young lady, who has, I understand, been made ill by
+a system of fasting and penances which all right-minded people must
+consider objectionable."
+
+"Sir, you astonish me," exclaimed Mrs Barnett.  "I should suppose that
+every clergyman would wish his daughter to fast on Fridays and other
+days ordered by the Church; and with regard to penances, such have been
+imposed by the priest to whom she has duly gone to confession."
+
+"Why, I thought this was a Protestant school," exclaimed the general,
+astonished.
+
+"That term I repudiate," answered the lady.  "I am a daughter of the
+Anglican Church, and as such I wish to bring up all my pupils."
+
+"You may act according to your conscience, but parents may differ from
+you as to whether you are right in compelling growing children to fast,
+as also in allowing them to confess to a person whom you call a priest,"
+answered the general.  "I regret having to act in any way which is
+disagreeable to you, but I must insist, madam, with the authority given
+me by Mr Lennard, on seeing his daughter alone, and judging what steps
+I shall take."
+
+The lady hesitated; the general put Mr Lennard's letter into her hand.
+She still hesitated.
+
+"Have you any reason for wishing me not to see Mary?" he asked.
+
+"She may appear worse than she really is," said Mrs Barnett.  "Our
+medical attendant has visited her daily."
+
+"That makes it more necessary for me to see her and judge for myself,"
+said the general, in a firm tone.
+
+Mrs Barnett rang the bell, and a servant appearing, she told her to
+inform Miss Lennard that a friend of her father wished to see her.
+
+"She isn't able to get up, marm, I'm afraid," was the answer.
+
+"Then show me her room," said the general, rising; and without waiting
+to hear Mrs Barnett's remarks, he followed the servant, who led the way
+upstairs to a room containing four beds.  A cough struck his ears as he
+entered.  On one of the beds lay poor Mary; her once rosy cheek was pale
+and thin, and her large eyes unusually bright.  She knew him at once,
+and stretching out both her hands, said, "I am glad to see you; but I
+thought papa would come."
+
+The general explained that Mr Lennard was prevented from doing what he
+wished.
+
+"Then, will you take me away from this?" she asked, in a whisper; "I am
+sure that papa would do so.  I am not happy here; but do not let Mrs
+Barnett know I said so."
+
+"If you can be removed without risk, I certainly will take you,"
+answered the general.
+
+"Oh, yes, yes!  I shall be well soon.  I could get up now if they will
+give me my clothes," exclaimed Mary.
+
+The day was bright and warm; and as the general felt sure that Mary
+could be removed without danger, he determined to take her to his
+sister-in-law's immediately.
+
+"Take me! take me!" said Mary; "I feel quite strong enough, and the
+doctor said that there was nothing particularly the matter with me."
+
+Her eagerness to go was still further increased when she heard that she
+was to be taken care of by Clara Maynard.
+
+"I thought that she had been shut up in a convent," she exclaimed.  "The
+girls here were saying that it is a very holy life, though I don't know
+that there are many who wish to lead it; but I was very, very sorry to
+hear of Clara's being a nun, because I thought that perhaps I might
+never see her again, and of all people I wondered that she should turn
+nun."
+
+"I trust that she has given up all intention of becoming one," said the
+general; "but you will see her soon, and she will tell you what she
+thinks about the matter."
+
+The general then told the servant to assist Miss Lennard in dressing,
+while he went out to obtain a conveyance.  On returning to the house, he
+desired again to see Mrs Barnett.  The lady was somewhat indignant, and
+warned him that he must be responsible for the consequences of removing
+Miss Lennard.
+
+"Of course I am, and I am taking her where she can be more carefully
+nursed than is possible in a school," answered the general.
+
+Mary was soon ready, and her box packed up.  The thoughts of going away
+restored her strength, and she walked downstairs without difficulty.
+The general carefully wrapped her up, and telling her to keep the shawl
+over her head and mouth, lifted her into the carriage.  They had but a
+short distance to go.  Clara was delighted to find that Mary was to
+remain; but on perceiving how ill the poor girl evidently was, she felt
+very sad.  Mary was, however, not at all the worse for being removed,
+and Mrs Caulfield immediately sent for her own medical man to see her.
+He looked very grave, but gave no decided opinion.  "She has been poorly
+fed, and her mind overtaxed for one so young," he remarked.  "We must
+see what proper care and nourishment will effect; but I must not
+disguise from you that I am anxious about her."
+
+Clara begged that Mary might be placed in her bed, while she occupied a
+small camp-bed at its foot.
+
+"But you will have no room to turn," observed Mrs Caulfield.
+
+"It is wider and far softer than the one to which I have been
+accustomed," she answered, smiling, "and I shall be much happier to be
+near Mary than away from her."
+
+Clara had now ample occupation in attending on her sick friend, though
+Mrs Caulfield insisted on her driving out every day, and advised her to
+receive the visits of several friends who called.  With the
+consciousness that she was of essential use to Mary, her own spirits
+returned and her health improved.  The rest of her time was spent in
+working, or reading to Mary, or playing and singing to her.  The healthy
+literature the general procured for Mary benefited Clara as much as it
+did her friend; it was an invigorating change from the monastic legends
+and similar works which were alone allowed to be perused in the convent.
+She thought it better not to say much about her own life there; but
+Mary was not so reticent with regard to her school existence.  The only
+books allowed to be read were those written by priests, ritualists, or
+Roman Catholics.  "The books were mostly very dull," said Mary; "but as
+we had no others, we were glad to get them.  Then a clergyman came, who
+told us that we were all very sinful, but that when we came to him at
+confession he would give us absolution; and as we thought that very
+nice, we did as he advised us; but I did not at all like the questions
+he put; some of them were dreadful, and I know he said the same to the
+other girls.  Still, as we were kept very strict in school, we were glad
+to get out to church as often as we could; there was the walk, which was
+pleasant in fine weather; and then we could look at the people who were
+there, and the music was often very fine, and the sermon was never very
+long; and sometimes the young gentlemen used to come and sit near us,
+and talk to the elder girls when no one was looking--at least, we
+thought they were young gentlemen, but, as it turned out, they were
+anything but such.  One of them, especially, used to give notes to one
+of the girls, and she wrote others in return, and we thought it very
+romantic, and of course no one would tell Mrs Barnett of it.  At last,
+one day, we thought that the girl had gone into confession; but instead
+of joining us she slipped out of the church at a side door, where her
+lover was waiting to receive her.  Away they went by the train to a
+distance, where they were married, and could not be found for some time.
+At last they came back, when it was discovered that the young man was
+the son of a small tradesman in the place, though he had pretended that
+he had a good fortune and excellent prospects.  Mrs Barnett was
+horrified, and tried to hush matters up, and I believe the parents of
+the girl did not like to expose her for their own sakes.  I know that I
+and the rest were very wrong in our behaviour, and I will not excuse
+myself, except to say that everything was done to make us hypocrites.
+Religion was very much talked about on Sundays and saints' days; but I
+have learnt more of the Gospel since I came here, from you and dear
+General Caulfield, than I ever knew before."
+
+Clara sighed as she thought how little she herself had known till
+lately.
+
+"You had better not talk any more about your school," she said; "let us
+speak rather about what we read, and things of real importance."
+
+Clara had become very much alarmed about Mary.  Wholesome and regular
+food, and gentle exercise in the carriage when the weather was fine,
+somewhat restored her strength; but there was the hectic spot on her
+check, and the brightness of the eyes, which too surely told of
+consumption.  Mr Lennard at length arrived; he looked much depressed,
+and was shocked at seeing the change in his daughter.  He had a most
+unsatisfactory account to give of his son, whom he had searched for for
+some time in vain.  At last he discovered that the young gentleman had
+been formally received into the Romish Church, and that his friend the
+priest was concealing him somewhere in London.  The poor father found
+out where his son was through a letter which was forwarded from Luton,
+in which the youth asked for a remittance for his support, as he had
+expended all his means, and could not longer, he observed, encroach on
+the limited stipend of his friend, Father Lascelles.  Mr Lennard, still
+hoping that it might be possible to win back the youth, wrote entreating
+him to return home, and on his declining to do this, he offered to let
+him continue his course at Oxford, that he might fit himself for
+entering one of the learned professions.  After a delay of two or three
+days, Alfred wrote saying that he had applied to his bishop, who would
+not consent to his doing so, and that as he was now under his spiritual
+guidance, he must obey him rather than a heretic father.
+
+"You will pardon me for calling you so," continued Master Alfred; "but
+while you remain severed from the one true Church, such you must be in
+the eyes of all Catholics, one of whom I have become."
+
+"I was too much grieved to laugh, as I might otherwise have done, at the
+boy's impertinence," observed Mr Lennard to the general; "but as I look
+upon him as deceived by artful men, I cannot treat him with the rigour
+he deserves.  What do you recommend, general?"
+
+"We must, if possible, get him to come home, and then put the truth
+clearly before him," remarked the general.
+
+"I am afraid that I cannot say enough to induce him to change," said Mr
+Lennard, with a deep sigh.
+
+"We must have recourse, whatever we do, to earnest prayer," observed the
+general.  "I cannot suppose that your son's mind is already so
+completely perverted as to be impregnable to the truth."
+
+"Alas, it is not for so short a time," answered Mr Lennard; "the seed
+was sown by the tutor with whom he spent a year or more, and finally
+matured by this same Father Lascelles and his tutor at college.  He is
+the very man with whom Mr Lerew read, I find.  I wonder that he was not
+the means of his older pupil's perversion."
+
+"Mr Lerew is not so honest a man as your son," answered the general;
+"Mr Lerew was about to take orders, and would prove a useful tool,
+while it was more prudent to secure your son at once, as he, it was
+supposed, would inherit your property.  I wish that I could offer you
+consolation; but I fear that you would consider me a Job's comforter at
+the best."
+
+Mr Lennard had come hoping to take Mary home; but she appeared scarcely
+able to undertake so long a journey, and Clara confessed that she
+herself was unwilling to return as yet to Luton.  Poor Mr Lennard was
+nearly heart-broken on hearing from the doctor that he thought very
+badly of Mary's case.
+
+"Could I not take her abroad, to Madeira, or the south of France?" he
+asked.
+
+"It would be, I feel confident, useless," was the melancholy answer;
+"had she strength to stand the journey, her life might possibly be
+prolonged for a few weeks; but she would probably lose more by the
+exertion of travelling than she would gain by the change.  Here she is
+under loving care, and we may alleviate her sufferings."
+
+Some more weeks wore by, and Mary grew worse.  Mr Lennard felt, what
+some parents do not, that it was his duty, though a painful one, to tell
+his daughter that her days were numbered, and at the same time to afford
+her such comfort as, according to his knowledge, he could.  He gently
+broke the subject.
+
+"I know it," she answered.  "I asked Clara if she thought I was dying,
+and she told me that the doctor said I could not recover; but, dear
+papa, I am prepared to go away to One who loves me, though I am sorry,
+very sorry, to leave you, and Clara, and the general, and those who have
+been kind to me."
+
+The tears were falling from Mr Lennard's eyes.
+
+"You have been a dear good girl, and have enjoyed the blessing of
+baptism, and have been confirmed, and have received the sacrament; you
+shall receive it again if you wish, and I hope that God will take you to
+heaven."
+
+"Oh, dear, dear papa, don't speak so," answered Mary; "I know that I am
+a wretched sinner; I have done nothing to merit God's love and mercy;
+but I know that Jesus Christ died for me, and that His blood cleanseth
+from all sin; and, trusting to Him, I am sure that He will receive me in
+the place He has gone before to prepare for those who love Him.  I have
+faith in Christ; that is my happiness, hope, and confidence.  I am not
+afraid to die, for I know that He will be with me through the shadow of
+the valley of death."
+
+Mr Lennard gazed at her, unable to speak.  He could not ask her further
+questions, but was revolving in his own mind the meaning of what she had
+said.  She had no confidence in any of the objects which he had been
+accustomed to present to the minds of the dying, if he believed them to
+be good Churchmen, and if not, he had always urged them to repent of
+their sins and to take the sacrament, in the hope that thus God might
+receive them into heaven.  Mary's remarks had brought new light to his
+soul; she trusted solely to the _all-finished work_ of Christ, to whom
+she looked as her Saviour, with full assurance that He would welcome her
+to heaven.  She thought not, she spoke not, of any of the rites and
+ceremonies in which he had trusted himself, and had taught others to
+trust, rather than to the blood of the Atonement.  She did not ask even
+him, her father, and, as he had fancied himself, a priest, to offer a
+prayer on her behalf.  No, she was resting joyfully on Christ as her
+all-sufficient Saviour.
+
+"I see it all now," he said, half aloud; "it is this of which the
+general has been speaking to me lately, but which I did not comprehend."
+
+"Yes, dear papa; Jesus did it all long ago; He saved me then, and I am
+trusting in Him; that makes me so happy, so very happy," exclaimed Mary.
+
+"I believe as you do," answered Mr Lennard; "would that I had known and
+taught your poor brother the same truth! it would have prevented him
+from falling into the toils of Rome."
+
+"We can pray for him, that he may be rescued from them," said Mary.
+
+"I wished to make him a sound Churchman, and taught him that there is
+but one true Church, and that that is the Church of England; and
+miserable has been the result," said Mr Lennard.
+
+"Alfred may be brought back.  God will hear our united prayers,"
+whispered Mary.
+
+"I cannot pray with faith that my prayer will be answered," he murmured.
+"I did my utmost to instil the belief into him, and he has ever since
+been with those who have done their utmost to forward the same notion."
+
+Mary now became her father's comforter.  She lingered with those who
+loved her for some time longer, proving an especial blessing to Clara,
+who had, as her ever-watchful nurse, constant employment and occupation
+for her thoughts and feelings.  The general remained with his sister,
+and afforded Clara that instruction and guidance she so much needed,
+while he put into her hands such books as were best calculated to
+strengthen her mind and to do away with all traces of that mysticism
+which she had imbibed both before and during her life in the convent.
+With clearer perceptions of truth than she had ever before enjoyed, she
+was now better able to perform her duties in life.  She had written to
+her aunt, saying that she hoped some day to return home, but was at
+present employed in nursing her young friend Mary Lennard, whom she
+could not at present leave; but she did not think it necessary to speak
+of her escape from the convent, or to enter into other particulars, so
+that Miss Pemberton remained in ignorance of her change of opinions.
+
+Mr Lennard had twice gone away in the hope of meeting his son and
+inducing him to attend the death-bed of his sister; but the priests, who
+were well-informed of the religious opinions of those who had taken
+charge of Mary, made him send various excuses, and poor Mary was
+deprived of the satisfaction of seeing her brother again.  When Mr
+Lennard returned, Mary had become much weaker, and she could only
+whisper, "Pray for poor Alfred; don't be angry with him--he may be
+brought back;" and her young spirit went to be with the Saviour in whom
+she trusted.  Clara aided the general in comforting their friend.
+
+The bereaved father found peace at last; but often before that, in the
+bitterness of his heart, he would exclaim, "It was that school, that
+abominable system of fasting and penance, and that accursed
+confessional, which killed her; and to have my poor weak misguided boy
+carried off and enslaved body and soul by those wolves in sheep's
+clothing, it is more than I can bear!  It was I--I alone, who in my
+blindness and ignorance and folly exposed them to the malign influences
+which have caused their destruction.  I have been the murderer of my
+children!"
+
+A few days after Mary's funeral, Clara, with the general and Mr
+Lennard, returned to Luton.  Miss Pemberton received her niece with a
+look of astonishment.
+
+"Why, I expected to see you dressed as a nun, Clara," she exclaimed;
+"have you given up your vocation?  Dear me!  Mr Lerew will be very much
+disappointed; he fully expected that you would devote your fortune to
+Saint Agatha's."
+
+"I will explain matters to you, aunt, by-and-by," answered Clara, not
+wishing on her first arrival at home to enter into any discussion.  "I
+hope that you have not felt yourself very solitary during my long
+absence."
+
+"As to that, I can't say I have been very lively, for the whole
+neighbourhood is divided, and because I go to church and confession, all
+of your father's old friends have ceased to call on me; but of late I
+have begun to think that they are not altogether wrong.  I must
+acknowledge that since Sir Reginald and Lady Bygrave, and Mrs Lerew,
+and two or three other people turned Catholics, my confidence in the
+vicar and the High Church has been a little shaken.  Mrs Lerew wanted
+me to turn too; but I was not going to do that, and even the vicar did
+not advise it, though he said he couldn't help his wife going over; for
+if so many went, people's suspicions would be aroused, and he should be
+unable to establish his college."
+
+"I am truly thankful that you did not go over," answered Clara.  "I have
+learnt a good deal about the Ritualists of late, and I am very sure that
+their tendency is towards Rome.  I have one favour to ask, that is,
+should Mr Lerew call, that you will not admit him, as it would be
+painful to me to see him again, for I cannot receive him as a friend."
+
+"Why, have you found out anything about him?" asked Miss Pemberton, her
+conscience accusing her.
+
+"There is much, aunt, to which, I object in him," answered Clara,
+firmly.
+
+"Well, I don't wish you to be annoyed, my dear, in any way," said Miss
+Pemberton; "and, in truth, I suspect that he wanted to get hold of your
+fortune for his new college.  If he finds that he has no chance of that,
+I don't think he will trouble you much."
+
+"I would rather not think about him in any way," said Clara; "and do
+pray tell me how Widow Jones and Mrs Humble and her blind daughter, and
+the poor Hobbies, with their idiot boy, are getting on.  I must go and
+see them and my other friends as soon as possible."
+
+Clara then went on to make further enquiries about her poorer
+neighbours, and was grieved to find that her aunt had not troubled
+herself about them during her absence.
+
+"It was all my fault," she said to herself; "I was placed here to help
+them, and I have neglected that very clear duty by giving way to
+delusive fancies."
+
+Clara lost no time in carrying out her intentions, and was received with
+a hearty welcome wherever she went.  Very frequently remarks were made
+which showed her that the poor had a clearer perception of the
+tendencies of the ritualistic system than she herself had previously
+possessed.
+
+"We be main glad to see you again looking so like yourself, Miss,"
+exclaimed Dame Hobby.  "They said as how the vicar had got you to go
+into a monkery that he might spend your money to pay for his fripperies
+in the church, his candles, and that smoky stuff, and his pictures and
+gold-embroidered dresses, and flags and crosses, and all they singing
+men and women, and dressing up the little boys, as if God cared for such
+things, or they could make us love Him and serve Him better, for that's
+my notion of what religion should do.  The Bible says we can go straight
+to God through Jesus Christ, and pray to Him as our Father; and all
+these things seem to me only to stand in the way; and when we want to be
+praying, we are instead looking about at the goings on, and listening to
+the music.  'Tisn't that I haven't a respect for the parson and the
+church; but when I go to church, I go to pray and to hear God's word
+read and explained from the pulpit in a way simple people can
+understand."
+
+Clara found much the same opinions expressed by all she visited.  The
+general came every day to see her, to strengthen and support her.  His
+conversation had a very good effect on Miss Pemberton, whose eyes having
+once been opened to the tendencies of the ritualistic system, she was
+enabled to see it in its true light.  She resolved to have nothing more
+to say to Mr Lerew, and to refuse to receive him, should he call.  Soon
+after Clara returned home he had started on a tour to collect funds for
+his college, and as he was absent, Clara was saved from the annoyance
+she had expected.  The general was fortunately paying a visit to Clara
+and her aunt when Mr Lerew at length came to call on Miss Pemberton to
+enquire why she had not during his absence attended church.  It was
+agreed that it would be better to admit him.  He tried to assume his
+usual unimpassioned manner as he entered the room; but the frown on his
+brow and his puckered lips showed his annoyance and anger.  He had not
+had the early training which enables the Jesuit priest effectually to
+conceal his feelings.  He had evidently heard that Clara had left the
+convent, as he showed no surprise at seeing her.  He probably would have
+behaved very differently to what he did, had not the general been
+present.  Shaking hands with all the party, he took a seat, and brushing
+his hat with his glove, cleared his throat, and then said, "I was
+afraid, Miss Pemberton, that you were ill, as you have not, I
+understand, favoured the church with your presence for the last two
+Sundays."
+
+"I had my reasons for not going," answered Miss Pemberton; "and I may as
+well tell you that I purpose in future not to attend your church, as I
+see clearly that your preaching and the system carried on there leads
+Romeward; and I have no wish to become a Romanist or to encourage others
+by my presence to run the risk of becoming so either."
+
+"Romanist!  Romanist!" exclaimed Mr Lerew; "I have no dealings with
+Rome; I don't want my people to become Romanists."
+
+"The proof of the pudding is in the eating, Mr Lerew," answered Miss
+Pemberton, dryly.  "I have expressed my resolution, and I hope to adhere
+to it."
+
+Mr Lerew was not prepared with an answer; but turning to Clara, he
+said, "I trust, Miss Maynard, that though you have thought fit to
+abandon the sacred calling to which I had hoped you would have devoted
+yourself, you will still remain faithful to the Church."
+
+"I cannot make any promise on the subject," answered Clara, being
+anxious not to say anything to irritate the vicar.  "I believe that I
+was before blinded and led away from the truth, when I was induced to
+enter the sisterhood of Saint Barbara, and I now desire to retrieve my
+error."
+
+"I understand you, ladies," exclaimed the vicar, losing command of his
+temper.  "Remember that by deserting the Church you are guilty of the
+heinous crime of schism, for which, till repented of, there is no pardon
+here or hereafter.  General Caulfield, I fear that you have much to
+answer for in having set the example in my parish; you will excuse me
+for saying so."
+
+"It is you and those who side with you who are guilty of the schism of
+which you speak," said the general, mildly.  "The Church of England
+protests clearly against the errors of Rome; and you, by adopting many,
+if not all those errors, are virtually cutting yourself off from that
+Church, although you retain a post in it.  But let me explain that the
+schism spoken of in the New Testament is the departing from the truth of
+the Gospel, and the practices it inculcates; in other words, those who
+leave Christ's spiritual Church.  My great object is to draw my
+fellow-creatures into that Church; to induce them to accept Christ as
+the Way, the Truth, and the Life; to persuade them to grasp that hand so
+lovingly stretched forth to lead them to the Father.  I ignore the
+schism of which you speak, invented by the sacerdotalists to alarm the
+uneducated.  You have my reply, Mr Lerew, and I wish you clearly to
+understand that I purpose, with God's assistance, by every means in my
+power to make known the truth of the Gospel in this parish and in every
+place where false teaching prevails."
+
+"Then I shall look upon you as a schismatic and a foe to our Church,"
+exclaimed Mr Lerew, rising.
+
+"I have already explained to you the true meaning of schism," said the
+general, quietly, "and have particularly to request that all further
+discussion on this subject may cease.  Miss Pemberton and her niece have
+expressed their sentiments, and you have long known mine.  I trust that
+none of us will change; and anything further said on the subject can
+only cause annoyance."
+
+Mr Lerew saw that he had lost his influence over Clara and her aunt,
+and not wishing to remain longer than he could help in the general's
+society, quickly took his departure.  He had not as yet seen Mr Lennard
+since his return, nor had he heard the cause of poor Mary's death; he at
+once drove over to his house.  Instead of the hearty manner Mr Lennard
+usually exhibited, he received his visitor with marked coldness.  Mr
+Lerew was puzzled.
+
+"I am sorry that my absence from home has prevented me hitherto from
+calling on you," he said; "but I rejoice to have you back, and I hope
+that you will assist at the celebrations in my church."
+
+"I come to a sad home, deprived of my young daughter by death, and my
+son by his perversion to the Church of Rome," answered Mr Lennard,
+gravely, not noticing the last remark.  "I know that my child has left
+this world for a far better; but I cannot forget that the seeds of her
+disease were produced by the system practised at the school you
+recommended, Mr Lerew, as also that my son's perversion was much owing
+to the instruction received from the tutor under whom, by your advice, I
+placed him.  The daughter of my late friend Captain Maynard has happily
+escaped from the toils you threw around her; and though I am ready
+heartily to forgive the injuries you have inflicted on me, I feel myself
+called on to expose the traitorous efforts you and others with whom you
+are associated are making to uproot the Protestant principles of the
+Church.  I believe that I am actuated by no hostile feeling towards
+yourself personally; but I will take every means in my power to put a
+stop to the practices which you pursue in your church."
+
+"You acknowledge yourself, then, an enemy to me and to the Church!"
+exclaimed Mr Lerew, who felt braver in the presence of Mr Lennard,
+whom he considered a weak man, than he had in that of General Caulfield.
+
+"I desire not to be an enemy to you personally," answered Mr Lennard,
+mildly; "but to your system, which is calculated to lead your flock
+fearfully astray, I am, and trust I shall ever remain, an inveterate
+foe."
+
+In vain did Mr Lerew endeavour to win back his former dupe.  Mr
+Lennard had clearly seen the chasm which divides the Protestant Church
+of England from the Romish system and its counterpart, Ritualism, and,
+as an honest man, he was not to be drawn over.  Again defeated, the
+vicar of Luton-cum-Crosham had to take his departure.  He still,
+however, found dupes to subscribe sufficient funds for the establishment
+of his college, and a Lady Superior of high ritualistic proclivities to
+take charge of it, and masters who, provided they got their stipends,
+cared nothing about the object of the institution.  By putting out his
+candles and omitting some of the ceremonies at his church whenever the
+bishop or rural dean came to visit it, he was able to retain his living.
+By means of a plausible prospectus, he, with other ritualistic
+brethren, induced the parents and guardians of a number of young ladies,
+tempted by the moderate expense and advantages offered, to send them to
+the college, where, with the usual superficial accomplishments they
+received, their minds were thoroughly imbued with ritualistic
+principles.  General Caulfield and Mr Lennard prevented several of
+their friends from being thus taken in.  A good many people were
+staggered when they heard that the vicar's wife and his patrons--Lady
+Bygrave and Sir Reginald--had become Romanists.  They had all three
+lately set off for Rome itself, under the escort of the Abbe Henon.
+They were there received with due honour by the Pope, and had the
+satisfaction of hearing from the infallible lips of his Holiness that
+England would, ere long, be won from the power of the infidel
+Protestants, and restored to the bosom of the Catholic Church; and
+believing themselves to be not the least important members of the
+British race, they returned home to spread the joyful intelligence among
+those who were ready to believe them.  The chapel erected in their park
+had almost as large a congregation as that of the parish church,
+especially as winter approached, and blankets and coals were liberally
+distributed among the worshippers.
+
+Clara, meantime, had pursued the even tenor of her way.  Her aunt was
+greatly changed for the better; she had become kind and considerate to
+her, and frequently accompanied her in her visits among the poor and
+suffering in the wide district she had taken under her charge.  Though
+Clara generally drove in her pony-carriage, she occasionally, when the
+distance was not too great, went on foot.  She had one day thus gone
+out, carrying a basket stored with delicacies for several sick people,
+when, as she was proceeding along a sheltered lane, overhung with trees,
+she heard a quick footstep behind her.  She turned her head and saw
+Harry.  Her first impulse was to rush towards him--then for a moment she
+stopped.  He held out his arms.
+
+"Can you forgive me for my folly, and the pain and grief I have caused
+you?" she exclaimed.
+
+"I have forgotten it all in the happiness of seeing you thus employed,
+exactly as I should wish," he answered; "never let us speak about it; my
+father has told me all.  You were ever dear to me, even when I thought
+that I had lost you.  You have learned to distinguish the true from the
+false, and I shall never for a moment, in future, have the slightest
+fear that, seeking for guidance from above, you will mistake the one for
+the other."
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Clara Maynard, by W.H.G. Kingston
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLARA MAYNARD ***
+
+***** This file should be named 23070.txt or 23070.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/3/0/7/23070/
+
+Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England
+
+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.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+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
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.