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diff --git a/old/43738-8.txt b/old/43738-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 520e562..0000000 --- a/old/43738-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6810 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Quiver, 11/1899, by Anonymous - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Quiver, 11/1899 - -Author: Anonymous - -Release Date: September 15, 2013 [EBook #43738] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE QUIVER, 11/1899 *** - - - - -Produced by Delphine Lettau, Julia Neufeld and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - -Transcriber's note: - -Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - -Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). - -Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. - -The carat character (^) indicates that the following letter is -superscripted (example: y^e). - - * * * * * - - - - -The Quiver 11/1899 - - -[Illustration: MOTHERHOOD. - -_After the Picture by_ MISS IDA LOVERING.] - - - - -LADY DOCTORS IN HEATHEN LANDS - -By the Author of "The Child Wives and Widows of India," Etc. - - -A garrison of snow-capped mountains; a valley smiling in Oriental -luxuriance; the gorgeous, romantic loveliness described in -"Lalla Rookh"--such are the general impressions of the land of -Kashmir. Dirt, disease, and degradation summed up its prevailing -characteristics in the eyes of an Englishman, who, in October, 1872, -toiled wearily over the Pir Panjal, 11,900 feet above the level of -the sea. - -This was Dr. Elmslie's last journey. He hardly realised, as he -dragged his weary limbs over rough but familiar paths, that one -object for which he had struggled for years was practically -accomplished. He sank from exhaustion on the way, and the day -after his death Government granted permission for missionaries to -spend the winter in the Valley of Kashmir. Still farther was he -from knowing of another result of his labours. He had appealed to -Englishwomen to bring the gifts of healing to suffering and secluded -inmates of zenanas. Dr. Elmslie had found a direct way to the hearts -of prejudiced heathen men. The sick came to him for healing, and -learnt the meaning of his self-denying life. - -[Illustration: (_Photo: Elliott and Fry._) - -THE LATE DR. FANNY BUTLER. - -(_At the time she went to India._)] - -"Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life," -are ancient words of wisdom; but this rule has exceptions. To Hindu -women, at least, caste is dearer than life. It would be as easy -to restore the down to a bruised butterfly's wing as to give back -self-respect, and with it all that makes life worth living, to a -zenana lady who has been exposed to the gaze or touch of a man other -than a near relation. Custom of the country debars a respectable -woman from receiving ministry to body, soul, or mind, unless it -comes from one of her own sex. Dr. Elmslie's appeal resulted in Miss -Fanny Butler's offer of service to the Indian Female Normal School -and Instruction Society. She was the first enrolled student of the -London School of Medicine, which had just been transferred from -Edinburgh, and passed second out of one hundred and twenty-three -candidates, one hundred and nineteen of whom were men, in the -Preliminary Arts Examination. She went to India in October, 1880, -the first fully qualified medical missionary to women. - -Seventeen years after Dr. Elmslie's death Dr. Fanny Butler obtained -another concession for Kashmir, the permission for missionaries to -live within the city of Srinagar. She saw the foundations of a new -hospital for women begun within the city, and fourteen days after -she also laid down what, an hour before her death, she described -as a "good long life," in the service of Kashmiri people. The age -of thirty-nine, she said to the friends who surrounded her, and -who felt that she of all others could not be spared, was "not so -very young to die," and she sent an earnest plea to the Church of -England Zenana Society, the division of the old society to which -she belonged, to send someone quickly to take her place. The new -hospital was the gift of Mrs. Bishop (Miss Isabella Bird) in memory -of her husband. She had seen the dirty crowd of suffering women at -the dispensary door overpower two men, and the earliest arrivals -precipitated head foremost by the rush from behind, whilst numbers -were turned away in misery and disappointment. - -Hospitals and dispensaries have rapidly increased since the day -of pioneers. Absolute necessity has forced medical work on many -missionaries in the field. The most elementary knowledge of nursing -and hygiene appears miraculous to women sunk in utter ignorance. A -white woman too modest to give them remedies for every ailment is -usually regarded as unkind. A neglected missionary dispensary is -practically unknown. - -[Illustration: (_Photo supplied by the Church of England Zenana -Missionary Society._) - -OUTSIDE THE VERANDAH OF THE WOMEN'S HOSPITAL AT TARN TARAN. - -(_Showing some of the patients placed out to spend the hot night in -the open._)] - -At the time when the Countess Dufferin started her admirable -scheme for providing medical aid for Indian women a well-known -Anglo-Indian surgeon stated publicly that, whatever other -qualification was required in a candidate, two were absolutely -necessary: she must be a lady in the highest sense of the word, -and she must be a Christian, and he proceeded to give good reasons -for what he said. The experience of every woman who has taken up -this work would bear out his sentiments. Without courtesy and -ready intuition of the feelings of others it would be hard to -get an entrance into zenanas, and nothing but love and devotion -to her Master would enable a woman to persevere in spending her -life amongst sick heathen women, in spite of sights, scenes, and -vexations beyond conception in England. - -[Illustration: (_From a Photograph._) - -THE DUCHESS OF CONNAUGHT'S HOSPITAL, PESHAWUR.] - -The greatest difficulties are probably met in high-caste zenanas. -There, in the midst of unhealthy surroundings, the friends and -neighbours have grand opportunities of undoing any good that may -have been accomplished. It is grievous to a medical missionary to -find her fever patient dying from a douche of cold water, because -the white woman has defiled her high caste by feeling her pulse. -It is enough to make her give up a case in despair if, after she -has explained that quiet is absolutely necessary, the friends and -neighbours decide that the evil spirit supposed to be in possession -must be driven out by the music of tom-toms. A Hindu man is said -to "sin religiously," and a Hindu woman excels him in devotion to -her creed. A fever patient in the Punjab refused to drink milk--the -one thing of all others that her medical woman ordered her--because -she said, if it were the last thing she swallowed, her soul would -pass into the body of a cobra. One medical missionary found a -woman, who was in a critical state, lying on a mat, whilst an old -woman, supposed to be learned in sickness, stood on her body, or -patrolled up and down like a sentinel, as far as the length would -admit. This was kindly meant. Another found one suffering seriously -from the effect of a linseed poultice. She had carefully explained -the mysteries of making and applying it, but in her absence the -patient's friends had spread dry linseed over her chest and poured -boiling water over it. - -[Illustration: (_Photo: Baness Bros._) - -WAITING THEIR TURN. - -(_Patients outside the Tarn Taran Hospital Dispensary._)] - -Happily, all the women in India are not secluded in zenanas. By -far the largest proportion live in the villages, but their notions -of propriety are very strict. The hard-working field-women will hide -themselves on the suspicion of a _sahib_ being within reach. When -once they are satisfied that the visitor belongs to their own sex -and is harmless, crowds beset the missionary encampments. Many tales -of suffering are poured into sympathising ears. - -"I am blind from crying for my only son" is not an infrequent -complaint. Nothing can be done in this case. - -"There is no god or goddess to love a Hindu woman. Whatever -offerings we make her, the goddess of small-pox smites us, and then -the men say the women have not offered enough, and are angry." This -was the reply of a Punjabi woman, who spoke for her friends and -neighbours. - -One Bengali woman told a missionary of the death of a precious baby -boy. There did not seem much the matter, but the _hakim_ (a native -quack) first gave him something burning to swallow, and then applied -a red-hot iron to each side in turn; and the child only drew one or -two breaths after this treatment. This also, one hopes, was kindly -meant. The Hindus are by no means wanting in humanity, but ignorance -is often as fatal as cruelty. - -Many patients find an excuse for coming again and again to the -dispensaries. There they hear of blessings in this world and the -next which they say seem too good to be true. They see love shining -in the earnest faces, and feel it in the touch of hands that will -not shrink from dressing repulsive sores. - -The majority of cases in dispensaries are ordinary fevers or skin -diseases resulting from dirt, and other scourges that follow -defiance of elementary rules of health. - -Patients discharged as cured often return. "Tell me again that Name -that I can say when I pray," one of them asked, to explain the -reappearance of her shrivelled old face; "I forget so soon." And she -went on her way repeating the Name that even some of the heathen -realise must be exalted above all others. - -"I know that your Jesus must reign over our land," a Punjabi woman -said to a lady who had opened a dispensary at Tarn Taran, a sacred -city of the Sikhs; "I know it, because your religion is full of -love and ours has none at all." - -The mission hospital at this city, with the name which literally -means "The Place of Salvation," and the dispensary seen in the -illustration, came mainly into being through the determination -of the inhabitants. A suffering baby might claim a share in its -existence. This infant's mother brought it to a missionary whose -training as a nurse had made her a friend in sickness. The child's -sight was hopelessly gone. The mother said that the _hakim_ had told -her alum was good for sore eyes, so she had put it under the lids. - -"You have used it in such a way as to blind your baby," the -missionary said; "and I could have told you what to do." - -"How should I know?" the woman replied, using a common phrase to -express helplessness or lethargy; but she told the story to her -friends, and other mothers, whose babies' eyes were suffering, soon -proved that the white woman had made no empty boast. Ophthalmia -is terribly common in India, and its marvellous cures began to be -famous. - -One day a family party carried an invalid into the verandah of the -Tarn Taran mission house. The missionary looked inside the _doolie_; -she was not a doctor, and declined to undertake such a serious case, -and told the men to take their invalid to the Amritsar Hospital. -They were determined to take no such trouble. To show that she was -equally determined to make them, she went inside the house and shut -the doors and blinds. Who would hold out the longest? The result was -a foregone conclusion. The Punjabis, armed with a greater disregard -for a woman's life, gained the victory by the simple method of -beating a retreat, leaving the helpless woman behind them. In common -humanity she could not be left to die. In a few days her family -returned to inquire, and were gratified to find her progressing -towards recovery. The white woman's celebrity was now secured, and -to her consternation and embarrassment she found her verandah full -of patients, and, from overwork, was soon herself added to the -number. The people of Tarn Taran afterwards gave the building for a -Women's Mission Hospital, and a new one is now in the charge of a -fully qualified lady doctor. - -Hospitals are by far the most satisfactory part of medical -missions. In zenanas and dispensaries it is one thing to prescribe -and give advice, and another for orders to be obeyed, especially -if they are contrary to rules of caste or custom. It is well known -that a Hindu soldier, who will follow his British officer into the -fiercest _mêlée_, and, if necessary, die for him, if true to his own -creed, will not receive a cup of water at his hands. When wounded -his parched lips will close tightly, lest his caste should suffer. -The same principle debars his womenfolk from accepting physic in -a liquid form from Englishwomen. They may, however, take powders. -Written directions are generally useless, and verbal ones often -misunderstood. It is little wonder if dispensary patients make slow -progress. - -"Are you sure you took the medicine I gave you?" inquired a medical -missionary of one who made no advance at all. - -"Quite sure, Miss Sahiba." - -"How did you take it?" - -"I ate the paper and threw away the dust." - -This mistake was not astonishing under the circumstances. One -Mohammedan specific is to swallow a paper pellet with the name of -God written in Arabic; another, for the _mullah_ to write an Arabic -inscription on a plate, and for the water that washes it off to be -the dose. - -[Illustration: A GROUP OF WORKERS AT THE DUCHESS OF CONNAUGHT'S -HOSPITAL. - -(_Dr. Wheeler stands at the left-hand side of group._)] - -It is well when superstition and misconception stop short at -swallowing paper and inky water. A woman, seriously injured from -an accident, was carried into the Duchess of Connaught Hospital, -Peshawur. Her husband accompanied her, and saw the medical -missionary in charge carefully attend to fractures and bruises. Rest -and sleep and quiet were doing their work, and the man was left to -watch. A sudden crash startled the ward. The husband had turned -the bedstead over on its side, and flung his wife down. He fancied -she was dying, and said it would imperil her soul if it departed -whilst she lay on anything but the floor. He had the satisfaction -of knowing that she died where he placed her. This was a case -of a Hindu "sinning religiously." It would be harder to forgive -the frequent sacrifice of life to superstition, if there were no -ennobling element underlying it of honest desire for some vague -spiritual good. - -The Duchess of Connaught Hospital is a permanent memorial of her -Royal Highness's kind interest in the women of India. Whilst on the -North-Western Frontier she went through the Dispensary and Nursing -Home which represented the first effort to bring medical aid to the -Afghan women, and allowed it to be called after her name. A new and -much larger building, of which a drawing has been reproduced, has -taken the place of the native quarters, where Mohammedan bigotry -was by slow degrees overcome. For years the ladies of the Church of -England Zenana Missionary Society, who had charge of this hospital, -were the only Europeans living within the walls of Peshawur. -Every night the great city gates closed them in, and separated -them from other missionaries and from Government servants. They -chose to be in the midst of their work, and though outbreaks of -Mohammedan fanaticism repeatedly checked teaching in schools and -zenanas, ministry to the sick continued, and never lost the friendly -confidence of Peshawuris. - -[Illustration: (_Photo supplied by the Church of England Zenana -Missionary Society._) - -STAFF AND PATIENTS OF ST. CATHERINE'S HOSPITAL, AMRITSAR.] - -In its early and humbler days, the fame of this hospital reached -far-away Khorassan. A lady of that country who was suffering -terribly, caused herself to be carried the fifteen days' journey to -Peshawur. Miss Mitcheson, who opened the first dispensary, and is -now the head of the hospital, saw that her case was critical and -required an operation of a far more serious kind than she had ever -attempted, and begged her to allow the civil surgeon to see her. - -"I would rather die," the patient answered. The combined forces of -suffering, fear of death, and persuasion, were powerless to move -her. The Englishwoman, of whose powers she had heard in her own -country, might do what she liked with her, but no man should come -near her. Happily Miss Mitcheson successfully accomplished what was -necessary, and the Khorassan lady made a good recovery. When the -time came for parting from her new friends, she promised to use in -her own country the knowledge she had gained in Peshawur. She kept -her word, as more visitors from Khorassan testified, and they said -she had not forgotten the benefits she had received in the mission -hospital. - -[Illustration: (_Photo supplied by the Church Missionary Society._) - -BACK VIEW OF NEW WOMEN'S HOSPITAL, HANGCHOW.] - -During Miss Mitcheson's absence in England Dr. Charlotte Wheeler, -who with her fellow-workers, in the illustration on p. 102, stands -in the verandah of the old building, superintended the medical work. -On Miss Mitcheson's return, Miss Wheeler opened a medical mission -amongst the women in Quetta. This work extended rapidly on and -beyond the frontier, so that in November, 1896, when it was a year -old, eight different languages were spoken on the same day in the -dispensary waiting room. - -Institutions for training Christian girls of India as doctors or -nurses have come into existence as the number of candidates has -increased and the necessity has arisen. The North India School -of Medicine has been established at Ludhiana with this object. -Many of the mission hospitals also have training classes. St. -Catherine's Hospital, Amritsar, under the superintendence of Miss -Hewlett, who has had nineteen years' experience, has provided very -valuable assistant medical missionaries for stations in the Punjab -and Bengal. At the last census a hundred Christian women--counting -missionaries, assistants, patients, nurses and students--were within -its walls. An illustration shows the inmates mustering before going -to church. - -One student in St. Catherine's Hospital, who had gained a -scholarship, gave promise of a brilliant career. Before the time -of study in which she delighted was over, the lady superintendent -became suspicious of what this young girl described as broken -chilblains on her fingers. A doctor was called in, and confirmed -her impression that it was leprosy. An Eastern girl knows, what in -Europe is only faintly imagined, of the horrors of this loathsome -disease. One cry of anguish only escaped her when she was told -the verdict. Then she rose above the trial, and resigned herself -cheerfully to the will of God. She was prepared to start the next -day for the Leper Settlement near Calcutta without meeting her -friends or fellow-students for a word of farewell. - -"What comforts me," she said to the Clerical Secretary of the Church -of England Zenana Missionary Society, who was in Amritsar at the -time, "is that I may go as a missionary rather than as a patient." - -She went to that place of death and banishment, to live out the rest -of her days in ministry for others. In her case the days lingered -into years, and the disease took a severe form, but her devotion -and courage never failed. When death came to her as a friend, and -her work was done, the memory of the "superior girl," who had lived -among the afflicted people as a missionary rather than a patient, -remained. Perhaps her fellowship in suffering gave her the final -qualification to be a missionary to lepers. - -India is the land which above all others cries out for lady medical -missionaries; but other Eastern countries have also a claim. -Wherever Islam has planted its iron heel, women are jealously -guarded in harems, and it is very unusual for a man to be allowed -entrance on any pretext. In China, also, women of superior class are -hidden within the high walls that surround their houses. Those free -to go out gain little but suffering from the barbarous attentions of -native surgeons. In the East the knowledge which brings relief from -pain is a power to overcome obstacles to Christianity that resist -every other force. - -The Church of England Zenana Missionary Society has sent out a -qualified lady doctor to Foochow, and in 1894 the Church Missionary -Society opened a hospital for women in Hangchow with one large -and six smaller wards. One patient who was brought into this -building--of which two views are given--suffering from diseased -bones, has gone out to devote her recovered health and new knowledge -to the service of God and her own countrywomen. - -[Illustration: (_Photo supplied by the Church Missionary Society._) - -INTERIOR OF NEW WOMEN'S HOSPITAL, HANGCHOW] - -There is scarcely a mission hospital or dispensary that cannot -tell of similar results of the double ministry to body and soul. -Each year justifies the increased number of women with medical -qualifications sent into the mission field. Some, like Mrs. -Russell Watson, of the Baptist Mission at Chefu, are the wives of -missionaries, others have been sent out by various missions, such -as the Zenana Bible and Medical Mission, or by the women's branches -(added during the close of the present century), to the more -venerable societies. - -Dr. Henry Martyn Clark, of Amritsar, once asked a friendly Hindu -what department of foreign missions his people considered most -dangerous. - -"Why should I reveal our secrets to the enemy?" the Hindu responded. -But he yielded to persuasion. "We do not very much fear your -preaching," he said, "for we need not listen; nor your schools, for -we need not send our children; nor your books, for we need not read -them. But we do fear your women, for they are gaining our homes; and -we very much fear your medical missions, for they are gaining our -hearts. Hearts and homes gone, what shall we have left?" - -What may be expected when medical and women's missions are combined? -According to the friendly Hindu, the very citadels of idolatry and -superstition might tremble at the advance of this double force to -rescue the captives. - - D. L. WOOLMER. - -[Illustration: OUR ROLL OF HEROIC DEEDS] - -This month we devote our space to a pictorial representation of an -heroic act by James Williamson, a fisherman of Whalsay, Shetland. -During a heavy storm he waded out to the succour of two companions, -who had been pinned on the rocks by their capsized boat and were -in imminent danger of drowning. Williamson was at first carried -away by a heavy sea, but was returned by the next. Then with an -extraordinary effort he lifted the side of the boat, seized the men, -and, with one under each arm, fought his way through the boiling -surf to dry land. For this conspicuous act of bravery Williamson was -awarded the Silver Medal of THE QUIVER Heroes Fund.] - - - - -[Illustration: PLEDGED] - -PLEDGED - -By Katharine Tynan, Author of "A Daughter of Erin," Etc. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -YOUTH AT THE PROW. - - -"And then, old fellow," went on Sir Anthony's letter to Jack Leslie, -of the Blues, his particular chum, "I stood staring, with my eyes -watering and a little scratch on my nose bleeding where the old -rooster--for a rooster it was--struck me with his spurs as he flew. -He might have knocked out my eye, the brute! The second missile (an -invention they call a sun-bonnet, I believe, made of pink calico and -horribly stiffened) lay crumpled at my feet. And there in front of -me stood the culprit herself, looking half-ashamed and half-inclined -to follow the example of the other sun-bonnet which had buried -itself in a big chair at the end of the room, and made scarcely a -pretence of stifling its peals of laughter. I felt no end of a ninny -I can tell you, especially as the owner of the first sun-bonnet was -by long chalks the most beautiful creature I'd ever seen. - -"I'm no good at describing a girl's charms, but even at the first -glance her beautiful violet eyes struck me. Blue eyes and black -lashes and eyebrows--it is a thing happens over here sometimes, -they tell me. Then, though she'd been rushing about after the -ancient barnyard fowl who was to have graced the table in my honour, -she had no more colour than a white rose; and yet she looked the -picture of health and life--so different from fine ladies. This was -Miss Pamela--Pam for short--as I discovered later. To finish her -description, her charming head is covered with a mass of short black -curls. She had a very shabby frock on, which didn't take a bit from -her loveliness. I couldn't help wondering what the mater would have -thought if she could have seen her. She would surely have called her -'a young woman,' with that superb contempt of hers. - -"However, the breeding tells. Nothing could have been finer than the -little air with which she pulled herself together, and said, as if -it were an every-day thing to blind and maim your visitors: - -"'You must be Sir Anthony Trevithick. I am so sorry. That wretched -fowl flew in through the open window, and we've been three-quarters -of an hour chasing him round. It was so unfortunate his flying out -just at that moment, and still more unfortunate that I should have -flung my bonnet after him. But you've no idea how he had aggravated -us.' - -"I assure you the mater couldn't have done it better, if one could -conceivably imagine the mater under such circumstances. - -"I could think of nothing to do but to pick up the bonnet and hand -it to her, muttering some idiocy about it not mattering a bit. While -this was going on the laughter in the chair was dying off in sobs of -enjoyment. - -"But before we could get any further Mr. Graydon himself made his -appearance. I suppose something about my looks struck him--for a -cucumber wasn't in it for coolness with Miss Pam--because he said, -'Why, bless me, Sir Anthony! what's the matter? What's the matter, -Pam? Why, Sir Anthony, your nose is bleeding!' - -[Illustration: "The old rooster struck me with his spurs."--_p._ -107.] - -"'Why, so it is!' said Miss Pam, calmly. 'Sir Anthony was trying -to catch the red cock, papa, with a view to his dinner, but he's -escaped, I'm sorry to say, and the dinner with him. It will be -days before he comes home after the alarm we've given him. I'm -so sorry you're wounded, Sir Anthony. Can I get you a little -sticking-plaster?' - -"'I never know where I shall find the fowls in this house,' said -Mr. Graydon, a little irascibly, I thought; 'but the drawing-room -at least ought to be kept free from them. Why, Sylvia, what are you -doing there, child? Come here, and speak to Sir Anthony.' - -"I expected a small child to come out of the big chair in answer to -the summons; but, lo and behold! out of the sun-bonnet there looked -another satin-cheeked damsel, almost as beautiful as the first. She -made her bow demurely, and, I assure you, there wasn't a feather out -of her after her fits of laughter at my expense. She had rather an -ecstatic look, and her eyes were a bit moist--that was all. I can -tell you I never felt so small in my life as when I stood up before -those impudent girls, for I could see that the pair of them were -hugely delighted at the whole affair. - -"'Get some tea for Sir Anthony, girls,' said the father, 'and see -that he has hot water taken to his room; he's had a long journey. -Sit down, my lad--that is, if there's a chair in the room without a -dog on it. Here, Mark Antony, you lazy animal, come off that sofa.' -This to the fattest bulldog I ever saw--with such a jowl. He's Miss -Sylvia's, and an amiable dog, despite his looks. - -"Then the eldest daughter came in--not a patch on the others for -beauty, but a Madonna of a creature, with a beautiful voice and a -rather sad expression. She was greatly concerned about my scratched -nose. But all the time she was talking I noticed that she looked at -her father steadily reproachful. At last he noticed it too, for he -suddenly blurted out: - -"'Why, bless my soul! Molly, I forgot all about it,' and then he -stopped and laughed. Miss Pamela has told me since that they had -instructed their father to keep me on the way as long as possible. - -"You'll gather that it is a rather rummy place. It is. The windows -in my bedroom are mended with brown paper, and there are holes in -the floor you could put your foot through. Not that my father's son -need mind little hardships. But I am amused to think of what the -mater would say, with her notions of things. - -"By the way, if you're in Brook Street any time, don't repeat -what I've told you. The mater hated my coming here. She has some -extraordinary prejudice against Graydon, though he scarcely seems -to remember her. But as I've given up my desire for soldiering to -please her, it's my turn now to please myself by reading for this -Foreign Office grind with my father's old friend. - -"A word more and I am done. You'll think me as long-winded as -some of those old women at the clubs. But their ways here are too -delicious. The establishment is managed by one old woman--Bridget, -who seems mistress, maid, and man rolled, in one. Well, the morning -after I came, when I rang for my shaving water there was no -response. At last I heard a foot go by my door, and I looked out -cautiously. It was Bridget, and to her I made my request. 'Why, -bless the boy!' she said, staring at me, 'You haven't been pullin' -that old bell that's never rung in the memory of man?' I assured her -I had. 'Well, then,' she said, 'goodness help your little wit! An' -so ye want shavin' water, do ye? Sure, I thought ye wor a bit of a -boy, that never wanted shavin' at all, at all!' However, she brought -me the water obligingly, in an extraordinary piece of kitchen -crockery. 'I suppose you're used to valetin',' she said. ''Twas -Misther Mick spoiled me entirely for other young gentlemen. He'd -dart down for his shavin' water--aye, many a time before I had the -kitchen fire lit.' Mr. Mick was apparently a former pupil; I often -hear of him. - -"There's any amount of sport here, but I won't tantalise you. I like -Graydon better every day; he's a dear old boy, and though he's in -the clouds half the time when he's supposed to be coaching me, I can -see that he knows more than half the tutors in London put together. -He's a delightful companion out of doors, a good sportsman, and as -young as the youngest. - -"It's a mystery his being buried here. But I've no time to try to -unriddle it now, and you'll never get as far as this, I expect. -Good-bye, old fellow--I'm extremely well satisfied with my present -quarters, and pity you in Knightsbridge. I suppose town is getting -empty." - - * * * * * - -When this enormous epistle was finished and sealed, the young -gentleman put it in his pocket and went downstairs. His pace was -hastened by the fact that he could hear the joyful yelping of dogs -in the hall, from which he gathered that someone besides himself was -bent on outdoor exercise. Indeed, as he reached the hall and caught -his hat from one of the dusty antlers, he saw the two younger Miss -Graydons setting out amid their leaping and yelping escorts. He -hurried after and overtook them. - -"May I come with you?" he asked eagerly. "I've a very important -letter to post, and if you're going to the village you might perhaps -point out the post-office. I'm such a duffer at finding out things -for myself." - -"But we're turning our backs on the village," said Miss Sylvia, -"going in exactly the opposite direction." - -"Oh, well, then, it doesn't matter; the letter can wait till another -time." - -"Though it is so important. Oh, but you must post it. We'll put you -on the way for the village. You turn to the right and we to the left -when we reach the gate; then you'll walk straight into the arms of -the post-office." - -Pamela, who had not yet spoken, turned her heavenly-coloured eyes -on her sister, but without speaking. Something in the look made the -young fellow's heart throb suddenly. - -"Ah, Miss Sylvia," he said imploringly, "don't put difficulties in -my way. I want to come for a walk, if you will have me, and the -letter can wait. I'm not contemplative enough to enjoy a country -walk alone; and it will be a pleasure to walk with you and your -sister." - -"And the dogs?" - -"And the dogs. The joys of a country walk are doubled in the society -of dogs." - -"I hope you'll think so when you have the felicity of fishing them -out of a bog-hole. They will chase every beast they see; and our -neighbour, Jack Malone's black cow, Polly, always leads them such a -dance, ending up deservedly in a bog-hole." - -"I'll try to endure even that, Miss Sylvia." - -"Then if Mark Antony gets a thorn in his paw, as he almost -invariably does, you'll have to carry him home." - -"He must weigh three stone, Miss Sylvia." - -"About that, Sir Anthony." - -"Then it is better I should carry him than you." - -"Oh, if you're bent on it, Sir Anthony." - -"If you're not bent against it, Miss Sylvia." - -"Well, come along then, for this is the parting of the ways." - -They had arrived at the gate by this time. - -"Sylvia should have told you, Sir Anthony, that though we turn our -backs on the village, yet we pass a wall letter-box, which the -postman empties on his way to Lettergort." - -It was Pamela speaking for the first time, and in this less -hoydenish mood of hers she had a likeness to her gentle elder sister. - -"I'm not surprised to hear it, Miss Pamela. I guessed Miss Sylvia -was only piling up the difficulties to tease me. But I was not to be -put off." - -"You are really a most persistent person, Sir Anthony." - -"I know when I want a thing and mean to get it, Miss Sylvia." - -"Did you ever see anything more beautiful than the rose-light on -that mountain, Sir Anthony?" - -"I have seen more beautiful things, Miss Pamela." - -He spoke with the utmost simplicity, but the girl blushed -nevertheless, and was furious with herself for blushing. - -"See how rosy the peak is," she went on in some confusion, "but the -woods are purple at the base. If we were over there where the road -winds round the hill-foot, we should hear nothing but the singing of -little streams. They are chattering through the bracken everywhere, -and spilling into the road, where they make little channels for -themselves, clear as amber." - -"They make your boots very wet and your skirt draggle-tailed," -remarked Sylvia. - -"I see chimneys rising above the wood," said Sir Anthony. "Is there -a house there, then?" - -"There is, but it is empty at present. It belongs to Lord Glengall, -who is away just now. It has a queer story attached to it." - -"Indeed?" - -"Yes. Lord Glengall went to Australia as a boy, and was unheard -of for years. His mother lived there, with one old servant, in -the bitterest poverty. She was so proud no one dared to interfere, -until, it having been noticed that the chimneys were smokeless -for days, the house was entered by force, and mistress and maid -were found dying of starvation side by side. The house was full of -valuables--lace and plate, and all kinds of lovely things--but they -were heirlooms, and the old lady would rather starve than sell them, -and the old servant was quite of the same mind." - -"What happened then?" - -"They were taken off to the Rectory by old Mr. Rogers, who died last -year. And in the nick of time Lord Glengall, whom everyone said was -dead, turned up safe and sound to nurse his old mother. 'I kept the -things together for you, my boy,' she said as soon as she recognised -him. - -"And the next thing she said," went on Sylvia, taking up the tale, -"was, 'Where's that cat?' The faithfulness of animals, Sir Anthony! -Old Tib, with whom they had shared all their short-commons, had, it -seems, stolen the very last drop of milk that stood between them and -starvation, and had then escaped through a window into the woods. 'I -should like to give him a good hiding before I die.' That was the -second speech of the indomitable old lady." - -"What a chance for the novelist this country of yours presents!" -said Sir Anthony. - -"But that fortunately he never comes our way," replied Pamela. - -"Your father promised me you would take me fishing one day." He -spoke to Sylvia, but his eyes turned from her to Pamela. - -"So we shall," said Sylvia readily. - -"The river runs quite close to the house?" - -"Yes, but if you want the pleasantest fishing, you must climb for -it. Up there in the hills are little golden-brown trout-streams -running through the valleys under the shadow of woods, and they are -full of trout spoiling to be caught." - -"You know the best places, Miss Sylvia." - -"Don't let her guide you, Sir Anthony. I'll tell you a story about -her. She was always tantalising Mick St. Leger, an old pupil of -papa's, who is in India now, with stories of a wonderful pike which -inhabited one of the big holes in the Moyle. Well, poor Mick used -to sit and fish for hours, now and then catching a little fish by -accident, for his heart wasn't in it for thinking of Sylvia's big -pike. And Sylvia used to sit by watching him, apparently full of -sympathy. One day he was fishing the big hole as usual, when he -gave a long whistle. 'What is it, Mick?' Sylvia cried, running to -him. 'It feels like a twenty-pounder,' said poor Mick, very red in -the face. 'Oh, Mick, do let me help!' cried Sylvia. And then, with -an immense deal of carefulness, and poor Mick holding on like grim -death, they reeled up an old tin can full of stones, in the handle -of which Mick's line was caught." - -"Mick would never have known," said Sylvia dispassionately, "if -little Patsy Murray hadn't come running after me a week later, -calling out, 'Where's that apple ye promised me for sinkin' me -mother's ould can in the river?' Mick never believed in me as an -honest angler afterwards." - -"No wonder! But to think your father should have suggested you as my -guide, Miss Sylvia!" - -"Pam's just as bad, Sir Anthony. I generally do the things, but Pam -encourages me." - -Pamela again turned those eyes of heaven's own colour in mute -reproach upon her sister. - -"I'll have faith in you, Miss Pam," said Sir Anthony impulsively, -"no matter what your sister says to the contrary." - -And he meant his rash promise. - -[Illustration: "The letter can wait till another time."--_p._ 109.] - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -THE WISHING WELL. - - -"My friends generally call me Tony," said a voice, the youthful -growl of which was subdued to all possible softness. - -"We have known each other such a little while," replied Pamela, -looking down at the ground, which had begun to cover itself in the -flying gold of the autumn woods. - -"As the calendar counts; but we--'we count time by -heart-throbs'--doesn't somebody say that?" - -A colour, like a pink rose-leaf, warmed in Pamela's clear cheek. - -"We have become very good friends," she said, "seeing that it is -only six--or is it seven?--weeks ago since we met." - -"It is eight," said the youth. "I came in mid-July, and now it is -mid-September. But it sometimes seems to me that I have always been -here, and that my life elsewhere was but a dream." - -[Illustration: "Tell me what you wished for?"] - -"If that were so," she said demurely--and for a moment the violet -eyes looked up at him under their shadow of night--"if that were so, -then I might really call you by your name, Sir Anthony. But it is -too soon." - -"Then you will one day, Miss Pamela? How many days must go by first? -You called that other man--St. Leger--by his name. It is 'Mick' with -all of you." - -"Ah," said Pamela, again with the bewildering glance; "but Mick was -Mick, you see." - -A sudden irrational anger kindled in the young man's eye, and his -expression stiffened. - -"Oh, I see," he said. "This paragon had special privileges which no -one else may hope to share." - -"He certainly had," said Pamela. "For no one else would endure them, -poor dear!" - -"Now, what do you mean by that?" he said doubtfully. "Do you mean -the privilege of being called by his name?" - -"No, but the privilege of my society and Sylvia's." - -"He must have been jolly hard to please." - -"He wasn't, then. He was as easily pleased as a child. I should -like to have seen you in some of the situations in which Mick -distinguished himself." - -"I daresay I'd be very undistinguished. I make no pretence of being -a paragon." - -"It would be useless to, Sir Anthony." - -"I don't dispute it, Miss Pamela. I suppose we'd better be making -for home?" - -He turned and walked sulkily along the forest path with the girl by -his side. For a second there was silence; then Pamela broke it by -saying softly: - -"I often have thought that one reason why Molly fell in love with -Mick was because she pitied him so much. He came to the wall in all -our escapades. Of course, he was always in love with Molly, but I -believe it was in protecting him from us that she became so fond of -him." - -"He is your sister's lover, then?" incredulously. - -"Why, _of course_ he is. Whose did you suppose he was?" - -"Yours, Miss Pamela." - -"Mine! why, he'd never look at me when Molly was by. Besides, you -don't know how horribly we ill-used the poor dear fellow." - -"Miss Pam, I wish you'd ill-use me." - -"You wouldn't like it at all, Sir Anthony." - -"Yes, I should, Miss Pamela. So Mick is engaged to your sister. What -an ass I have been!" - -"Yes, poor dears, they are engaged, without the remotest prospect -of ever being married that I can see. Mick's a subaltern in a line -regiment, with just his pay--he got in through the Militia--and -Molly, needless to say, hasn't a penny." - -"He's a lucky fellow, all the same. And now, Miss Pamela, what have -we been quarrelling about?" - -"I'm sure I don't know, Sir Anthony. Have we been quarrelling?" - -"_I_ have." - -"But I haven't. I did think you were a little cross about something. -But here is the Wishing Well that I told you about." - -They had come on a little glade of the forest, in the midst of which -was a brier heavy with blackberries. The bush hooded a little space, -and, looking underneath, one saw, as in a cup, a still depth of -water over pebbles of gold and silver. - -"You are to drink, Sir Anthony, without spilling a drop, and think -on your wish at the same time." - -"Drink from what, Miss Pamela?" - -"Why, from your hands, of course." - -"I couldn't; the water would all run away." - -"No, it wouldn't. See how I manage it." - -The girl scooped the water into her rosy palms and drank it slowly. -Then she looked at him, and again the wave of rose flowed in her -cheek. - -"I never could manage it; I'm such a duffer at things. Miss Pamela, -would you let me drink from your hands? _Do!_" - -Without a word she stooped and lifted the water and held it to him. -He drank from the rosy cup to the last drop. Then he suddenly caught -the hands that had served him, and pressed them to his lips. For a -moment they were yielded to him, and then the girl drew back. He -thought she trembled a little, and the ardour in his gaze grew. - -"I am sorry," he said, "but I couldn't help it. You are not angry, -Miss Pamela?" - -"I am going home, Sir Anthony," she said. - -"Not till you tell me one thing----" - -He barred her way, putting himself in front of her. "Tell me what -you wished for." - -Her eyes fell before his, and as she stood with her hands clasped, -and her head bent, she was a different creature from the wild Pamela -of a few short weeks ago. The sunlight through the thinned branches -fell on her short curls, for her hat--which she had been swinging by -a ribbon--had fallen to her feet. - -"Look at me," he said; "I want to see what is in your eyes." - -She lifted them obediently, and then let them fall again. - -"Ah, that is enough," he said, with exultation in his voice. "You -have answered me, Pam. That is enough just for the present. Some day -I shall tell you what I wished for, and we shall see if our wishes -come true. A double wish should have double force to induce its -fulfilment. Isn't it so, Pam?" - -She said nothing, and he looked at her with triumph shining in his -eyes. Blent with it was the tenderness of a lover when he knows he -is loved, and just a shade of shamefacedness as well. - -"We must be wise, little beautiful Pamela," he said presently, in a -low voice. "We must be wise and wait. I mustn't ask yet all I would -ask, but I will one day--one good day, Pamela. You will trust me, -won't you?" - -"Yes," said Pamela, hardly knowing what she was asked. - -"It will not be for long. Indeed, I could not endure it for long. -Shall we be friends for a little while longer, Pamela darling?" - -"Yes," said Pamela, forgetting to rebuke him. - -"After to-day I will not call you darling till I have the right -before all the world. After to-day. I meant to have held my tongue, -but you bewildered me, Pamela. You are not angry with me?" - -"No," came almost in a whisper. - -"Lift up your eyes to me and say it. That is right. How beautiful -your eyes are, Pamela! Say 'Tony,' now." - -"Tony!" - -"Dear Tony." - -"Dear Tony!" - -"How sweetly you say it! It is like silver in your voice. But, come -now, we will go home. I have to be wise, you know. Ah, Pamela, -Pamela! why did you bring me to the Wishing Well?" - -"You wanted to go." - -"Yes, I know; but it was an accident that we were alone, or it was -Fate--yes, it was surely Fate that sent Miss Spencer's carriage for -your sister at the last moment, so that we had to take our walk -without her. Shall we go now, and talk no more about love to-day?" - -Pamela hesitated, and then said: - -"Poor Sylvia! She has spent this lovely afternoon shut up with an -old lady and a dog." - -"She wouldn't mind the dog, I fancy, Pam." - -"Nor the old lady. Sylvia is fond of Miss Spencer, strange as it may -seem." - -"Why is it strange, Pam? I can't help using the sweet little name." - -He had taken her hand by this time, and they were walking like -children down the aisle of golden trees. - -"You haven't seen Miss Spencer. She is a little mad and a little -grotesque to most people. But she is devoted to Sylvia, and Sylvia -to her. She is not mad to Sylvia." - -"How does it come that I haven't seen Miss Spencer?" - -"She has been abroad. You'll see her one of these days, I expect. -She was crossed in love in her youth, and it seems to have made her -strange in ways. She's immensely wealthy, and gives a good deal in -charity, but mostly among single women. She seems to think that -those who have husbands and children don't need pity." - -"She's quite safe for your sister to be with?" - -"Oh, quite. She has all her senses, only that she's a trifle -peculiar. She's a splendid business woman, everyone says." - -"It is a curious friendship. I should never have supposed it of Miss -Sylvia." - -"No. One funny thing is that Miss Spencer's full of sentiment--wait -till you hear her sing 'She wore a Wreath of Roses'--whereas -Sylvia's quite without sentiment, and laughs at everything -sentimental." - -"I feel sorry for the poor old thing," said Sir Anthony, with a -half-ashamed laugh, "because she was crossed in love. I shouldn't -like to be crossed in love myself, Pamela." - -"It was cruel," said Pamela simply. "The man made her love him, and -then went away and never came back. She was poor then. She inherited -Dovercourt quite unexpectedly." - -"What a sweep he must have been!" - -[Illustration: "Come along, Trevithick," he cried, rushing away.] - -"Poor Miss Spencer always thinks he will come back, though people -say he married abroad and died there. I tell you all this so that -you won't be the least bit in the world inclined to laugh when you -see her. I daresay it's funny enough to see a pink silk coal-scuttle -bonnet on top of a grey head; but then, you know, you don't feel -like laughing." - -"No, indeed, darling." - -"Sylvia says it's made a man-hater of her. That's how she excuses -herself for treating her admirers so outrageously." - -"I'd have fallen in love with Sylvia myself, only for you, Pamela." - -"It's lucky you didn't, Tony." The name came with soft hesitation. - -"Why, Pam?" - -"She'd have laughed in your face." - -"I'd rather have your way, Pam." - -"My way?" - -"Though it made me behave worse than I intended. But never mind. A -little time will unravel the tangled skein. Now we are nearly out of -the wood. Ah, Pamela! kiss me once--I shall not ask you again till I -have the full right." - -Without a word the girl lifted her face to meet his kiss. To her it -was the kiss of betrothal. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -"I WILL COME AGAIN, MY DEAR." - - -"I wish my friend, Glengall, were at home," said Mr. Graydon, -leaning back in the chair by the study fire. "He'd give you a mount -while you were waiting for Johnny Maher's little mare. The hounds -meet at Lettergort to-day." - -He looked wistfully through the bare trees on the lawn, as though -he saw in imagination the scarlet horsemen pounding away after the -streaming line of hounds. - -His pupil thrust into a book a sketch of Pamela which he had been -making absent-mindedly. - -"Why don't you hunt, sir?" he asked, with sympathy. - -"So I do, my lad, when I can. But I can't afford to keep a horse, -and there aren't many mounts to be had here. Glengall is going to -set up stables when he comes back, and I'll have the run of them, I -suppose. He's a good fellow--one wouldn't mind being obliged to him." - -"The mare'll be a good one when she's broken," said the young man. - -"The best in the world for Irish fences, if she does look a bit -roughish." - -"You'll ride her for me, when I am away at Christmas, to get her -mouth in?" - -"Thank you, my lad; I should like to." Mr. Graydon's eye kindled -with pleasure. "But I didn't know you were going. It seems a longish -way to go home for Christmas." - -"My mother would like to see me." - -"To be sure, to be sure. I quite understand, and, of course, there -are friends in London you naturally want to see." - -"No one very particularly, sir." - -"Ah, well! it will be a holiday from this dull place." - -"No, I assure you, sir. It is partly because I have some--some -business I want to settle. It is really true that there is no one -I go to see whom I regard more than the friends I shall be leaving -behind." - -Sir Anthony blushed hotly over this avowal, but his unsuspicious -host only saw in it the shamefacedness with which a man, and -especially a young man, makes a display of his feelings. - -"Now, that is kind of you," he said, looking at his pupil -benignantly. "I am sure our Christmas will be dull without you. Do -the girls know you are going? They won't like it, eh? And they will -be disappointed that you will not be here for the Vandaleur affair." - -"I am coming back for that, sir." - -"I am glad. It is really the children's first outing. It is a dull -enough affair for young people, but then they will wear their pretty -frocks and see strange faces. We are such quiet people, Trevithick, -that even Vandaleur's big dinner and reception, which comes off -regularly whenever there is a general election in sight"--Mr. -Graydon broke off to laugh and rub his hands--"is an event for us. -But we are forgetting our Tacitus, my boy. Let us get back to the -old fellow." - -At that moment there was the sound of a horn, and, with the shout of -a boy, Mr. Graydon was up. - -"Come along, Trevithick," he cried, rushing away, hatless and -coatless. "We shall get a glimpse of them. What a day for a scent! -They are sure to find at Larry's Spinney." - -His words came back to his pupil, who was getting under weigh more -leisurely. - -"Dear old boy!" he muttered to himself. "It's not surprising my -father never forgot him. I wonder why the mater regards him with so -deadly a hatred, though?" - -At lunch Mr. Graydon announced that Sir Anthony was going home for -Christmas. There was a shrill expostulation from Sylvia, and even a -mild protest from Mary, but Pamela said nothing. Perhaps it was not -news to Pamela. - -"You will not be here for the skating," said Sylvia aggrievedly; -"that is, if there's going to be any. And I've promised them at -the Rectory that you'd recite at their penny reading and give away -the presents at the Christmas-tree, besides managing the magic -lantern. And, oh!"--the magnitude of the misfortune coming full upon -her--"you're not surely going to miss the Vandaleur dinner?" - -"No, Miss Sylvia, I shall be here for it certainly. I wouldn't -miss it for anything; but I object to your engagements for me with -the Rectory people. I'd rather be shot than recite, and--the other -things are beyond me," laughing. - -"Never mind, then," said the young lady airily. "Lord Glengall will -do just as well. I shall like to see him distributing the articles. -Besides, he will please the people better than a 'baronite,' and be -of the rale ould blood, too." - -"Sylvia!" said her father, with a rebuke in his voice. - -"Never mind, papa dear. Sir Anthony understands all about his being -only a 'baronite.' Bridget told him the other day that if the master -had his rights 'tisn't teaching a 'Sir' he'd be." - -"So she did," said Sir Anthony. - -Mr. Graydon laughed. - -"Ah, well, my boy! you mustn't tell your mother what odd people -you've found among the wild Irish--will you?" - -"She wouldn't understand a bit, but I'll tell her what dear friends -I have found and made at Carrickmoyle." - -He blushed again, and Mr. Graydon thought how well his modesty -became him. - -"Ah, well!" he said, "I suppose we must make up our minds to spend -Christmas without you. What are you going to do this afternoon?" - -"I'm going to Maher's to see the mare, and put her through her -paces. I'd like to have her stabled here as soon as possible. If -she's ready, she can come at once." - -"To be sure. There's stabling for twenty horses here, though the -stalls are bare--worse luck! But we won't let Sheila starve. Shall -we, girls? I'll go bail these children will make a fine pet of her, -Trevithick." - -"I shall be all the fonder of her, sir, though I'm well pleased with -her at present." - -"She's a sweet little bit of horseflesh," assented Mr. Graydon. "I -think I shall come with you, if you don't object to my company. I've -a bit of business with Johnny myself." - -When they returned in time for the afternoon cup of tea, they found -an old yellow barouche standing before the door. - -"Ah, Miss Spencer is here," said Mr. Graydon. "She's rather an -oddity, my boy, so prepare to meet one." - -"I heard her story from Miss Pamela. It is very sad." - -"When I was a boy of thirteen or fourteen I remember her a -brilliantly lovely young woman. That was before that scoundrel came -in her way." - -When they entered the drawing-room Miss Spencer was sitting with her -back to them, almost hidden in a deep armchair. The three girls were -sitting or standing about her, all evidently much interested. - -"Here is papa, and our guest with him, Miss Spencer," said Mary. - -The little old woman came out of her chair with a sudden darting -movement like that of a bird. Her gaze went from Mr. Graydon to the -younger man. - -"Oh!" she cried. "Whom did you say?" - -She looked at the stranger for a moment with an agony of expectation -in her yet bright eyes, while she fumbled nervously for the -long-handled glasses at her side. When she had found them she peered -at him through them; then dropped them, the expression of her face -changing to indifference. - -"I beg your pardon, sir," she said. "I am expecting a friend, and -for a moment I thought you were he." - -"How do you do, Miss Spencer?" broke in Mr. Graydon. "I see you have -Stella under the barouche again. I'm glad she has recovered from her -lameness." - -"The foot has come all right, thank you," said Miss Spencer, -assuming quite an ordinary manner. "You weren't hunting to-day?" - -"No; I must wait till Glengall sets up his stables." - -"Ah, Glengall is coming home soon?" - -"He expects to reach Plymouth on the eighteenth. He will be at home -for Christmas." - -"There'll be nothing in order for him in that old barrack of his." - -"He'll stay here while he's getting things straight. He is going -to make a grand place of Glengall. He has plenty of money, and the -heart to spend it, and the practical wit to direct it." - -"What will he do with it then? He has neither chick nor child." - -"There is always time, Miss Spencer." - -The slightly mad, brooding look came back to the little wizened -white face. - -"Yes, of course, there is time," she said, dreamily. "I remember -someone--who was it?--who knew Glengall when she was a young woman -and he was a little boy. Glengall can't be old, of course, and any -day people may return--mayn't they?" - -"Why, to be sure they may. Glengall did, though he was twenty years -out of the reach of civilisation." - -"Oh, I wasn't thinking of Glengall. It was of someone much younger, -someone about the age of that young gentleman there." - -Trevithick stood in the background and watched her with honest eyes -of wonder and pity. She was smoothing the pink silk of her gown, -while her eyes watched the fire as if she saw something very happy -in it. Her skin was waxen white, and her features sharpened, but the -brilliant eyes kept their beauty, and her little old hands, covered -with rings, were delicately shaped. Her hair was half-white through -the original black, and very oddly her pink bonnet, with its wreath -of roses inside, sat on the streaked hair and over the white face. -She had thrown off a large sable cloak on to the back of her chair. - -[Illustration: Trevithick watched her with wonder and pity.] - -Sylvia now broke in on Miss Spencer's half-mad mood. She touched one -of the hands tenderly. Trevithick, as he noticed it, thought that -it was the first time he had seen Sylvia's face really soft; and -wonderfully the new expression completed the girl's beauty. So she -will look, he thought, some day, when she is in love, like--like -Pamela. But Pamela's serious face was hidden from him now with a -fire-screen she held in her hand. He had noticed of late that she -seldom looked at him, nor was he displeased. He knew the secret she -was afraid to reveal. - -"We are all going to the Vandaleur affair, Miss Spencer," Sylvia -was saying. "It will be on the thirtieth. There are to be great -doings--acres of marquees for the diners, and the winter garden lit -by electricity, and I don't know what besides." - -Miss Spencer came back to every-day life with a start. - -"To the Vandaleur affair, child! Why, who is going to take you?" - -"Papa, of course. He loves a little outing, though he won't admit -it. He says he'd rather stay at home and have a quiet night's work -at his book, and get some hot tea ready for us by the time we come -home." - -"Why shouldn't I take you?" said the old lady. "I'm hardly old -enough for a chaperon, of course, still I've the carriage, and -I'd enjoy the function. I haven't been at one since the time Tom -Charteris was master of the hounds. How long ago is that?" - -Mr. Graydon, to whom she spoke, answered her without looking at her. - -"A goodish few years ago." - -"It can't be," said the old lady; "not more than four or five at the -outside. I wore white satin and pearls. That reminds me: what are -you going to wear, minx?" - -This to Sylvia, at the same time softly pulling her ear. - -"We've got pattern-books of silk stuffs from Dublin. They're -dirt-cheap; but the dressmaking will be the bother. However, I -daresay we'll manage. Mrs. Collins' Nancy, who is a lady's-maid, is -expected home for Christmas. She'll cut the frocks out, and we'll -sew them ourselves. She'll know the fashions." - -[Illustration: "I must go, to unravel a tangled skein."] - -"Stuff and nonsense, child! Your first public appearance, too." - -"It's Pam's also. But you'll see we'll look very nice. I shouldn't -be surprised if the prince fell in love with me." - -"What prince? Oh, I see, Cinderella's. But Cinderella went -magnificently to her evening party--not in cheap and nasty stuffs -cobbled up anyhow." - -"The prince wouldn't see that. He'd be disconsolate when I -disappeared at twelve o'clock, and he'd send all over the country to -find the fit of my glass slipper, and Molly and Pam would cry tears -of rage because it wouldn't even fit on their toes." - -"You're not ball-going, minx." - -"It will be just as good. There'll be a beautiful dinner, and -everyone in the county there, and afterwards there will be acres of -beautiful things to see. It is a thousand pities Mr. Vandaleur is an -absentee." - -"If he wasn't, he wouldn't have to remind you of his existence now," -said the old lady cynically. "But am I to be chaperon?" - -"Well, I'll tell you what, Miss Spencer," said Mr. Graydon. "If -you'd take charge of these children, I'd be greatly obliged to -you. The fact is that I've to attend a sort of unofficial meeting -of Vandaleur's supporters in the afternoon, and he has hospitably -offered me a bed. So I thought I'd take my bag over and dress there -after the meeting." - -"And stay all night? I knew it," cried Sylvia. "Papa pretended it -was such a bother, and all the time he was longing to be in for -every bit of it. Only he didn't know what to do with us." - -Mr. Graydon laughed. - -"Maybe you wouldn't like it yourself. I shall be button-holed by -Musgrave and Frost and Clitheroe, and every man in the county who -thinks he has a head for politics and wants a patient listener." - -"And you will go at it hammer and tongs with the best of them, and -forget you have daughters. I don't suppose you'll even remember at -dinner-time to see whether anyone is asking us if we've an appetite." - -"The young fellows will do that. Every boy in the county will be -there, including the 300th from Dangan Barracks." - -"I daresay," said Sylvia: "you're always ready to shift your -responsibilities. Never mind, Miss Spencer; I daresay we shall be -able to find someone who will look after us, if it's only a waiter." - -"Oh, indeed, you'll find someone to befriend you, never fear. And so -will Pam. And so shall I. But what about Molly?" - -"Never mind me, Miss Spencer," said Mary. "It would never do to have -you chaperoning three girls, and I shouldn't enjoy it a bit. I shall -stay up and have tea for you after your cold drive." - -"I don't know what girls are coming to," said Miss Spencer; "I -shouldn't like to have to stay at home myself." - -"We don't mind Molly," cried her sisters; "she really likes to stay -at home and write her perpetual letters." - -"I shouldn't mind having the three of you," went on Miss Spencer; -"we'd pass for four sisters." - -"We should never look as lovely as you in that white satin and -pearls," said Sylvia, fondly. - -"I was much admired," said Miss Spencer, complacently. "But now I -must be going. I've letters to write before dinner: I don't want to -lose my beauty-sleep sitting up to write them." - -When Sir Anthony came into the drawing-room before dinner, he found -only Pamela stretching her hands to the wood fire in the low grate. - -The lover stooped down and kissed them. - -"Have you been out?" he asked in a whisper. - -"Only to the stables with Sylvia. Your Sheila has come. She is a -dear thing." - -"You like her, Pam?" - -"Who could help it? She looks so wild and shy, and she is so gentle -at the same time." - -"Do you like her because she is mine, Pam? Do you, just a little -because of that? Say you do, Pam." - -"Just a little," whispered Pam. - -"Why, if you like, she shall be yours, when--when everything has -come right. I think she would carry a lady beautifully. What do you -say, Pam? Would you like her, _then_?" - -"Yes," said Pamela, with her eyes very bright. - -"You didn't seem to mind my going away at Christmas, Pam. You were -the only one who didn't protest." - -"I know you wouldn't go if you could help it." - -"Wise little woman. I must go, darling--to unravel a tangled skein. -Afterwards it will be paradise, Pam. I will come back as soon--as -soon as ever I can. I shall be in a fury of impatience till I come -back." - -"And I," said Pam, lifting her eyes to her lover, and flooding him -with their light. - -"Sweetheart! you were a coquette when I knew you first, Pam. Now you -don't try me as many girls try their lovers." - -"I have only love for you now. Ah! what should I do if you did not -come back?" - -"I will come back, 'though 'twere ten thousand mile.' I shall be -here for your great function. Do you think I would have you go -without me?" - -"I shouldn't care for it without you." - -"There will be other men there, Pamela, to see how beautiful you -are. I must be there to guard my own." - -"There is no need for that." - -"I believe you, my love, you are as much mine as if you were my -wife. And I am as much yours." - -"Love can only mean that." - -"Ah, my darling! how sweet you are! You wouldn't care for the -admiration of other men, Pam?" - -"Only for one." - -"It is hard to be wise, Pam, when I am with you. You are too sweet. -It is fortunate I am going." - -"When you come back it will be different." - -"Yes; you will have to make up to me for my prudence all these -months. I have been good, Pam; I have never asked you for a kiss." - -"Yes, you have been good." - -"And you, you are a girl in ten thousand. You have never asked me -what stood between us--a shadowy barrier, Pam, but even that must go -before I claim you, my queen. When I come back, Pam! Ah, when I come -back!" - -"Here is Molly," said Pam, in a low voice, as her sister entered the -room. - - END OF CHAPTER SIX. - - - - -[Illustration: GREAT ANNIVERSARIES] - -GREAT ANNIVERSARIES - -_IN DECEMBER._ - -By the Rev. A. R. Buckland, M.A., Morning Preacher at the Foundling -Hospital. - - -December is a month of great names. On December 21st, 1117, -according to some authorities, there was born, in a house that stood -on the site of the Mercers' Chapel in Cheapside, Thomas à Becket. -Whether men side with Church or State, and are for or against -Becket, they will hardly deny him the right to be remembered as an -outstanding figure in our history. On the last day of the month died -another great Englishman; like Becket, an Oxford man, and a potent -factor in the religious development of our nation. On December 31st -there passed away at Lutterworth John Wycliffe. His bones, thirteen -years after burial, were dragged from their resting-place and cast -into the River Swift. Thomas Fuller turns that shameful act of -ecclesiastical malice to good use. "Thus," he says, "this brook did -convey his ashes into the Avon, the Avon into the Severn, the Severn -into the narrow sea, and this into the wide ocean. And so the ashes -of Wycliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, which is now dispersed -all the world over." On the 13th of the month, many generations -later, there came into the world Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, an -ecclesiastic of still another type. No modern dean ever identified -himself with his cathedral as Stanley did with Westminster Abbey. -Its national character was always present to his mind. His simple -piety, his good works, his sympathy with Nonconformists, all helped -to make the Dean himself rather a national possession than merely an -ecclesiastic. He died in 1881. - -[Illustration: JOHN WYCLIFFE. - -(_From the Portrait at King's College._)] - -We have had the Church, let us come to the State. It is a rich -month that claims the birth both of William Ewart Gladstone -(December 29th) and of his great rival, Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of -Beaconsfield (December 20th). They began their careers under very -different auspices. Eton and Oxford prepared the one for immediate -entry, under favouring circumstances, into Parliamentary life. The -other was educated privately, designed for the law, and first caught -the public eye as an author when he burst upon the world with the -novel, "Vivian Grey." Mr. Gladstone survived his rival seventeen -years. - -[Illustration: DEAN STANLEY. - -(_Photo: The London Stereoscopic Co._)] - -There died on December 14th one whom the British nation can only -number amongst its own worthies by adoption. The death of the Prince -Consort in the prime of life, and just when his very considerable -powers and great devotion were beginning to be understood by those -who at first regarded him with doubt because he was a foreigner, -plunged our Queen into sorrow which long darkened the life of the -Court and was felt by the whole nation. The pure, unblemished life -of the Prince Consort, his sincere desire to advance the welfare of -the people, his ready promotion of the arts and sciences, as well -as his tender devotion to the Queen, have long been understood and -valued by the nation which he served. - -[Illustration: JOHN MILTON. - -(_From the Miniature by Samuel Cooper._)] - -To come to other fields: there was born in London on December 9th, -1608, John Milton. Educated at Cambridge, he early gave free play to -the powers which in their issue have made his name familiar wherever -the English language is spoken. Few remember him as a writer of -polemical treatises on affairs of the State and the Church, or even -as Latin Secretary to Cromwell; but he was an old man and blind when -he gave the world "Paradise Lost." - -On the 12th there died Robert Browning, a poet who spoke to his -age as few men have ever done, and spoke of God and the soul, of -the here and the hereafter, with a clearness of faith which was as -distinct as the robust manliness of his character. - -[Illustration: SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN - -(_From the Portrait by Sir Godfrey Kneller._)] - -December 28th is given as the date upon which Westminster Abbey was -consecrated in 1065; and on December 2nd that other minster, St. -Paul's Cathedral, was opened in 1697. Legend says that the same -King Sebert who founded the original St. Paul's also founded the -Abbey at Westminster, whilst another story invokes the aid of King -Offa. There is, however, clear testimony to the establishment of -a Benedictine abbey at Westminster in the time of Edgar; that is -antiquity respectable enough to satisfy most of us. A cathedral -on this site is mentioned by the Venerable Bede as early as 604; -but the actual fabric of St. Paul's has, according to Mr. Loftie, -undergone greater vicissitudes than that of any other cathedral in -England. The present St. Paul's was begun in 1675 and finished in -1710. Its cost was £736,752. Sir Christopher Wren, its architect, -received for his services £200 a year. What were then called "the -new ball and cross" on the cathedral were completed in this same -month in 1821. - -[Illustration: ROBERT BROWNING. - -(_Photo: Cameron and Smith, Mortimer Street, W._)] - -An old calendar assures me that on the 15th of this month, in the -year 1802, "societies for abolishing the common method of sweeping -chimneys" were instituted. - -On the 20th of this month, in the year 1814, Samuel Marsden landed -in New Zealand--a missionary anniversary worth recalling. - -[Illustration: W. E. GLADSTONE - -Photo: Samuel Walker. - -THE EARL of BEACONSFIELD. - -Photo: Hughes-Mullins, Ryde. I.W. - -TWO EMINENT STATESMEN BORN IN DECEMBER.] - - - - -[Illustration: The Limits of Human Genius] - -The Limits of Human Genius - -_Pulpit at Gloucester Cathedral._ - -A Sermon Preached by the Very Rev. H. Donald M. Spence, D.D., Dean -of Gloucester, at the Opening Service of the September (1898) -Meeting of the Three-Choirs Festival in Gloucester Cathedral. - - "As for Wisdom, what she is, and how she came up, I will tell - you, and will not hide mysteries from you, but will seek her - out from the beginning of her nativity, and bring the knowledge - of her into Light, and will not pass over Truth." - - -The surroundings of a custodian of a mediæval cathedral, beautiful -though they are, at the same time are unutterably pathetic. They -tell him, do the pages of the old solemn Book of Stone he is never -weary of turning over and of pondering upon, that the genius of -man has its limits, which it may never pass; that the story of -human progress to higher and ever higher levels is often a delusive -one; that in past ages his forefathers were perhaps as noble and -chivalrous--aye, nobler, more chivalrous than the men of his own -generation--that their imagination was more brilliant and their -hands more cunning; that if in some respects progress is visible, in -others the movement is retrograde. - -Again, a great mediæval cathedral like our own glorious Gloucester, -inimitable in its fadeless beauty and matchless strength, surely -deals a very heavy blow to human pride, and it teaches humility to -the most competent and ablest of our number, for it is a conception -belonging to a past age. A great gathering, however, like the -present, numbering some six or seven thousand persons, is for varied -reasons an inspiring one and bids us be trustful--even hopeful. - -Dwell we a brief while first on our surroundings. Of all works -devised by human ingenuity and carried on by human skill, the -triumphs of architecture are among the most enduring, afford the -most genuine and purest delight to the greater number of men and -women, are confessedly the most attractive, perhaps the most -instructive, as they are among the most enduring of human creations. -The glories of Luxor and Karnak, which for several thousand years -have been mirrored in the grey-green Nile; the white and gleaming -shrines of Athens the bright and happy, the mighty ruins of Eternal -Rome, are splendid instances. - -But perhaps the conspicuous examples of this architecture, the -most loved of human arts and crafts, are, after all, the mediæval -cathedrals. The first object of interest for the modern traveller in -search of health or rest is a cathedral. All sorts and conditions -of men find delight in its contemplation. The delight, of course, -is varied, but the strange and witching beauty appeals to them all. -This appeal to the higher and devotional side of our nature speaks -to every soul, to the unlearned as to the learned, to the mill-hand -as to the scholar. The wanderer from the New World beyond the seas -at once seeks them out, conscious that in them he will find a -beauty and a joy such as he will never see or feel outside their -charmed walls. - -I have said that to the custodian of such a cathedral the -surroundings are, if not sad, at least pathetic, for these -magnificent and loved creations of human genius belong to a somewhat -remote past, and, as far as these exquisite buildings are concerned, -save for purposes of necessary repair--repair simply to arrest the -ravages of time--for nearly four hundred years the clink of trowel -and pickaxe has been hushed. - -It is scarcely an exaggerated statement which speaks of -architecture, in its noblest sense, as a lost art. Very significant -are the words of one of the greatest of modern architects, who, -after dwelling on the decadence of his loved art, tells us how "It -is a somewhat saddening reflection--but there is no escaping from -the conclusion--that the art which created the glorious abbeys and -minsters, the beautiful parish churches so plentifully dotted over -our country--abbeys, minsters, and churches which the churchmen of -the second half of the nineteenth century so reverently and wisely -restore and seek to copy stone by stone, arch by arch, window by -window, down to the smallest bit of ornament--is a lost art! Men -have come sorrowfully to see that mediæval architecture is the -last link--perhaps the most beautiful as well as the last link--of -that long chain of architectural styles, 'commencing in far-back -ages in Egypt and passing on in continuous course through Assyria, -Persia, Greece, Rome, and Byzantium, and thence taken up by the -infant nations of modern Europe, and by them prolonged through -successive ages of continuous progress till it terminated in the -beautiful thirteenth-and fourteenth-century Gothic, and has never -since produced a link of its own.... Alas! it is the last link -of that mighty chain which had stretched unbroken through nearly -four thousand years--the glorious termination of the history of -original and genuine architecture.'" Well may men love it and seek -to preserve the examples they possess of it, and aim at copying it -as well as they can. These remarkable and melancholy words above -quoted were deliberately spoken by Sir Gilbert Scott, R.A., LL.D., -in his first lecture on Mediæval Architecture delivered at the Royal -Academy some years ago. - -So much for my note of sadness. Now let me strike a different chord. - -Such a gathering as the present, I repeat, is an inspiring one, for -it tells me that if one great art dies, He who loves us and has -redeemed us at so great a price, gives His children something in its -place. Now it is strange that amidst all the gorgeous and striking -ceremonial of the mediæval services, with their wealth of colour -and ornament, with all their touching and elaborate symbolism, -music, as it is now understood, was unknown and comparatively -neglected. In the noblest cathedral of the Middle Ages, in the -stateliest Benedictine or Cistercian abbey, while the eye was filled -with sights of solemnity and beauty, each sight containing its -special and peculiar teaching, the ear was comparatively uncared -for. Strangely monotonous and even harsh would chaunt and psalm -and hymn, as rendered in the mighty abbeys of Westminster, Durham, -or Gloucester in the days of the great Plantagenets, of the White -Rose or Red Rose kings, sound to the musically trained ears of the -worshippers of the second half of the nineteenth century. Indeed, -music as a great science was unknown in pre-Reformation times. The -most complete anthem-book may be searched through by the curious -scholar, but scarcely a musical composer of any note will be found -in these collections of a date earlier than the reign of Queen -Elizabeth. It would seem as though, when architecture ceased in the -sixteenth century to be a living craft, a new art was discovered and -worked at by men. - -A new art! I say these words, strange to some, with emphasis. -One who has indeed a right to speak of music[1] thus voices my -assertion. While telling us that certain grand forms of music loom -out of the darkness of the earlier centuries of our era, the famous -musician to whom I refer adds that little of what we understand of -music existed before the later years of the fifteenth century. It -was no mere renaissance, for that which had never been born could -not be born again. - -[1] Professor Hullah, in his "Lectures on the History of Modern -Music," delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, -published 1884. See, too, Professor Hullah's Royal Institution -Lecture on the Transition Period of Musical History (1876). - -In case some should think that too strong expressions are here -used, it may be well to quote some of Professor Hullah's own -words, which he used in the above-mentioned lecture at the Royal -Institution:--"Music is a new art.... What we now call music ... -what answers to our definition of music, has come into being only -within comparatively few years; almost within the memory of men -living." "I should say that in the scholastic music there was no -art, and in the popular music no science; whence it is that the -former has ceased to please, and the latter has for the most part -perished utterly." - -It was a new art which charmed and delighted men as they listened to -the magic of the sounds evoked by the majesty of the compositions -of Palestrina, or by the sweetness of the music of Marenzio. It is -true, as I said, that certain grand forms of music loom out of the -darkness of the remote past--shadowy forms--and the rare composers -and writers of the music of the past are, as far as music is -concerned, but the shadow of names now. I allude, as famous examples -of these shadows of names, to names such as Gregory and Isidore, -Hucbald and the eleventh-century _maestro_, Guido Aretino. - -With extraordinary rapidity developed the new craft. To give here -some familiar landmarks-- - -Henry VIII. was reigning before Josquin Deprès, whom all musicians -revere as one of the earliest, certainly the most renowned, of the -pioneers of modern music, became generally known in Europe. Josquin -Deprès was born somewhere about the year 1466, dying about 1515, -some ten or fifteen years before Palestrina was born. Luther said of -him, "Other musicians do what they can with notes; Josquin does what -he likes with them." The Abbate Baini alludes to him as "the idol of -Europe"; and again writes, "Nothing is beautiful unless it be the -work of Josquin." - -The famous Roman School of music only dates from 1540. The oratorio, -even in its more simple forms, made its appearance some seventy -years later. - -Not until the last years of our Queen Elizabeth were the names of -Palestrina and Marenzio, those great early composers, conspicuous, -and the Queen so loved of Englishmen had long fallen asleep before -Carissimi, the earliest master of the sacred cantata in its many -forms, gave his mighty impulse to the new-born art; while the works -of his world-famed pupil Scarlatti, and of our own English Purcell, -belong to the art-records of the days of William and Mary and Queen -Anne. See how the whole of the marvellous story of music--as we -understand music--belongs to quite recent days! - -All through the eighteenth century, when the Georges reigned, -architecture slept its well-nigh dreamless sleep. But the new art of -music grew with each succeeding year, while the men whose names will -never die lived and wrote. - -It was this eighteenth century which saw a Beethoven, a Handel, a -Bach, a Haydn, and a Mozart. As masters of the new-born craft none -can be conceived greater. - -The century now closing boasts, however, a long line of true -followers and worthy disciples of those great ones, men whose names -are household words in every European city. - -But my brief record, necessarily dry and bald, of a momentous -change in the teaching of the world would be incomplete without one -word on the glorious instrument--the voice, so to speak--of these -masters of a new art, the organ. The first organ known in Western -Europe traditionally was sent to Pepin in France by the Emperor of -Constantinople in 759, but Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherborne, in his poem -on Virginity, some half a century earlier, apparently describes -what appears to have been the organ. Elphege, Abbot of Winchester -in the tenth century, is said to have caused a very large organ to -be constructed; but, with this solitary exception, all the mediæval -organs seem to have been small and comparatively unimportant -instruments. The oldest organ-cases preserved do not date back -further than the last years of the fifteenth century, and these by -the side of modern organs are insignificant in size. Viollet le Duc, -in his great work, gives us a picture of the Perpignan organ, one of -the earliest (early in the sixteenth century). From this date the -size rapidly increased. - -In the "Rites of Durham," where a great mediæval church is described -at the period of the Dissolution (1530-40), there were three organs -in use in the abbey church, the principal one being only used at -"principall Feasts," the pipes being "very faire and partly gilded." -"Only two organs in England," says the "Rites," "of the same -makinge, one in Yorke and another in Paules." - -[Illustration: LISTENERS AT THE THREE-CHOIR FESTIVAL.] - -The most magnificent organ-case in Europe is the one in St. -Janskirk at Bois le Duc, and, like the vast majority of the great -organ-cases, is Renaissance in style. Viollet le Duc sums up the -question in the following sentence:-- - -"It does not appear that great organs were in use before the -fifteenth century, and it was only towards the close of the -fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth centuries that the idea of -building organs of dimensions hitherto unknown was first conceived." - -The organ, as we now know it, was born among us at the same date -when architecture died. Like the music of the Middle Ages, in the -days when these vast and peerless buildings arose, it is true the -organ was not unknown; but, like mediæval music, it was a small, -poor thing compared with the stupendous instrument we know and love. -There was no great organ before the last years of the fifteenth -century, when the Tudors reigned. The sixteenth and seventeenth -centuries witnessed its development, and acknowledged its surpassing -grandeur, and recognised its fitness as one of the chief handmaids -of the new great art. - -Now the secret of the men who built this lordly abbey is lost; never -again will such a triumph of, alas! a dead art arise to charm and -to delight, to instruct and inspire the children of men. But we -may still preserve and reverently use this rare and noble legacy -of a vanished age as a shrine and a peerless teaching-home--a -prayer-home, in which are taught the great evangelical truths -by which Christian men live and breathe and have their being, -the saving knowledge of the work of the Precious Blood, the glad -Redemption-story, the story loved of men; the story which never -ages, never palls, but which, like dew, descends on each succeeding -generation of believers, and gives them new stores of faith and hope -and love. This--these things--we try to do, and not without success, -for as God's bright glory-cloud once brooded over the sacred -desert-tent and the holy Jerusalem Temple, so now upon our beloved -and ancient cathedral, with its almost countless services of praise -and prayer and teaching, God's blessing surely rests. - -"It sleeps," does our cathedral, as one has lately said in words -beautiful as true--"it sleeps with its splendid dreams upon its -lifted face." But it has, too, its many wakeful working hours. Not -the least memorable of these will strike this week, when the charmed -strains of Handel and Haydn, Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Beethoven, and -of the great Englishmen, Gibbons and Boyce and Walmisley and Wesley, -and last, but not least, of Hubert Parry, peal through these fretted -vaults, "lingering and wandering on" among these wondrous chambers -of inspired imagery; while the almost prophetic words of that truest -English song-man Wordsworth become history:-- - - "Give all thou canst; high heaven rejects the lore - Of nicely calculated less or more; - So deem'd the man who fashion'd for the sense - These lofty pillars, spread that branching roof - Self-poised, and scoop'd into ten thousand cells, - Where light and shade repose, where music dwells - Lingering and wandering on as loth to die-- - Like thoughts whose very sweetness yieldeth proof - That they were born for immortality." - -[Illustration: Decorative] - - - - -[Illustration: A Hero in Disguise] - -A HERO IN DISGUISE - -A Complete Story. By M. Westrup. - - -The girl was little, slender, insignificant--only her love made her -heroic. The man was big, broad, one to be noticed in a crowd, and -his love made him as helpless as a little child. - -They stood opposite each other in the poor, shabby little room. His -eyes devoured her face wildly, incredulously, but her eyes were -fixed on a great hole in the faded carpet. - -Her mind was chaotic, for with his eager words of love rang others, -bewildering her. Side by side with his passionate outpouring of his -love for her, his longing to have her for his own, to live for her -and work for her, were other words--words of ambition and great -aspirations, words of intending travel into far-away countries, of -hardships and discomforts to be borne for the sake of the book that -was to be written--the book that was to bring fame and satisfaction -to the writer of it. - -And these words rang with a deep note of earnestness and strength, -and overpowered those eager, present tones that were pleading to her -so wildly. - -"I called you Kathleen Mavourneen last night, you remember, and you -smiled and blushed!" he protested, roughly. "Why did you do it? -Kathleen, you _do_ love me, you do! Why don't you speak to me? I -tell you, I have seen it in your eyes. Why do you deny it now?" - -She shook her head, and her heart cried in agony, "How long? How -long?" - -"Won't you try, then?" with a humbleness that was not natural to -him. "Oh, Kitty, little Kitty, I cannot live without you!" - -He held out his arms to her despairingly. - -"I have a singing lesson to give at one o'clock," she said. - -His arms fell to his sides. The sun streamed in on to the pretty, -pale, downbent face of the girl, and on to the white, haggard face -of the man who stood opposite. - -There were no shadows in the little room--it was all glare and -shabbiness. - -"I will go," he said, and then his eyes caught fire; "but you are -a flirt! Do you hear, a paltry, heartless flirt! You have led me -on--played with me. You have made your eyes soft, your lips sweet, -to amuse yourself at my expense! How do you do it?" with a little -cynical laugh. "It's really clever--of its kind--you know----" - -He moved towards the door. - -"I beg your pardon," he said icily. "I should not have spoken so to -a woman. Good-bye." - -"You will begin your travels now?" she said. - -He laughed. - -"Why keep up the pretence?" he said; "it's rather late now to -pretend any interest in my life." - -She was silent. - -At the door he paused. - -He was a proud man, and he had an iron will. - -But his love made him helpless and weak as a little child. - -"Kathleen," he breathed, "you are sure?" - -A moment she stood still and rigid as a statue. - -"Little one, I love you so----" His voice was soft and caressing; -but her love made her heroic. She raised her head. "I am sure," she -said steadily. - - * * * * * - -The girl sat in a corner of the warm, gorgeous drawing-room, and -wished vaguely that people would not nod and stare at her so -energetically. She was used to it now, and tired of it. - -She had never liked it, but fame brings notoriety in its train, and -notoriety brings nods and whispers and stares. - -She was dressed beautifully. She had always liked pretty things, and -now she could have as many as she wanted. - -The man stood over in a doorway and watched her with cynical eyes. - -He had not seen her for five years, and as he stood there another -man lounged up and spoke to him. - -"Looking at _la belle Philomèle_?" he said; "she's quite the rage, -you know. Ever heard her sing? You're only just back from the wilds, -aren't you? Oh, well, of course you'll go to St. James's Hall -to-morrow? She's going to sing, you know. Her voice is splendid. I -never go to hear her myself--makes me feel I'm a miserable sinner -somehow--does, 'pon my word. I've heard her twice, and then I -dropped it. Don't like feeling small, you know." - -He lounged away again, and the man with the cynical eyes still -watched her. - -Her head was turned away from him--only a soft, fair cheek and -little ear nestling in a soft mass of hair, a white throat, and a -lot of pale chiffon and silk, could he see. And suddenly the cheek -and even neck were flooded with a red blush, and then they looked -whiter than before. He wondered, and smiled bitterly as he did so. - -And the girl's eyes remained fixed, eager, fascinated, on the long -looking-glass before her. - -But she was not looking at herself. - -Afterwards he sought her. - -"You were wise," he said mockingly, and her eyes grew dark with pain. - -He took the seat beside her and played with the costly fan he had -picked up. - -[Illustration: "You were wise," he said, mockingly.] - -"I must congratulate you," he said indifferently. "This"--with -a comprehensive wave towards her dress and the diamonds at her -throat--"is better than the old days." - -"Yes." - -"But perhaps you have forgotten so long as--what is it?--ten--no, -five years ago?" - -"No." - -He furled and unfurled the fan in silence, and wondered who had -given her the Parma violets in her hair. - -"Your--book?" she said timidly. - -He stared at her blankly. - -She reddened slowly. - -"You--you--were going to--to travel, and write about it--strange -places----" she faltered. - -"Oh, ah! yes, I believe I was--five years ago." - -Her face was white again now. - -"You _have_ travelled?" she ventured at last. - -"Oh, yes! I've done nothing else for five years. I've shot tigers, -bears--I've lived with Chinamen and negroes--chummed with cannibals -once--oh!"--with a laugh--"I've had a fine time!" - -Her eyes were wistful. - -Her hostess brought up a man to be introduced, and when she turned -again, the chair was empty. - -She did not see him again for two weeks. - -There was an added pathos in the beautiful voice. - -_La belle Philomèle_ brought tears to many thousands of eyes, but -her own were dry and restless. It was dawning on her that she had -made a mistake--five years ago. - -"Seen Hugh Hawksleigh?" she heard one man say to another. "Never -been so disappointed in a chap in my life. Years ago he promised -great things. Those articles of his on 'Foreign Ways and Doings' -made quite a sensation, you know. And there was some talk of wild -travels and a book that was going to be _the_ book of the day. The -travels are all right, but where's the book?" - -"The usual thing--a woman," drawled the other. "Didn't you know? -Some pretty coquette--the usual game--but the cost was heavier than -usual--to him. It knocked it out of him, you know. I never saw a -fellow so hard hit. That was five years ago, and he's never written -a line since. Poor fellow!" - -The knowledge that she had made a mistake five years ago was growing -plainer to her. - -At the end of the fortnight she met him and asked him to come and -see her. - -He smiled, and did not come. - -Her eyes grew too big for the small, sad face. - -She met him again, and asked him why he had not come. - -He looked down into the sweet, true eyes, and his love weakened his -will again. - -He promised he would come. He came, and stayed five minutes. He -looked at her sternly as he greeted her. - -"Why do you want me?" he said, and watched the colour come and go in -her cheeks with pitiless eyes. - -"We--used--to be--friends," she whispered. - -He laughed. - -"Never! I never felt friendship for you," he said, "nor you for -me. You forget. Five years is a long time, but I have a retentive -memory. I forget nothing." - -"Nor I," she murmured. - -"No? Then why do you ask me to come and see you?" - -She did not answer. - -He looked round the pretty shaded room. - -He laughed again. - -"There is a difference," he said, "in you too." - -She looked up quickly. - -"I am the same," she said, knowing her own heart. - -"Are you?" His eyes grew stormy. "Listen," he said, in a low, tense -voice: "I am five years wiser than I was--then. I will not be a tool -again. You have ruined my life--doesn't that content you? I would -have staked my life on your goodness and purity--once. I dare not -believe in any woman since you, with your angel's eyes, are false. -I was full of ambition and hope once; you killed both. I tried to -write--after. I could not. I shall never do anything now--never be -anything. I despise myself, and it's not a nice feeling to live -with. It makes men desperate. I love you still. Do you understand? I -have loved you all the time, and I loathe myself for it." His voice -changed. "You may triumph," he said, "but now you understand--I will -not come again." - -She stretched out her arms after him, but he was gone. And she knew -now quite clearly that she had made a mistake five years ago. - -For three weeks and a half she did not see him. - -Then she saw him when he thought he was alone. - -She studied his face with eyes that ached at what they saw. Then she -went forward and touched him gently on his arm. - -"Well?" he said. - -"Will you come," she said in a low voice, "to see me----" - -"Thanks, no." - -His eyes rested bitterly on her rich gown. - -It came across him again how wise she had been. Tied to him, she -could not have been as she was now. - -"I have something I must say to you," she said tremulously; "will -you come--just this once?" - -He looked down into the soft eyes with the beautiful light in them. - -"I would rather not," he said gently. - -The weariness in his eyes brought a sob to her throat. - -"Ah, do!" she entreated; "I will never ask you again." - -He looked at her with searching incredulity. - -Then he turned away. - -Just so had she looked five years ago. - -She laid a small, despairing hand on his. - -The iciness of it went to his heart. - -"I will come," he said gently, and went away. - - * * * * * - -When he came, he wondered at the agitation in her small white face. - -Her eyes were burning. - -He waited silently. - -She twisted her hands restlessly together, and he saw that she was -trembling. - -He drew a chair forward. - -"Won't you sit down?" he said. - -She sat down in a nest of softest cushions. - -"I--I----" she began, and put up her hand to her throat, "I want -to--to--to explain." - -His face darkened. - -She got up restlessly and faced him. - -He thought of that time when they had faced each other before--in -the shabby, glaring little room--and his face hardened. - -"When you----" she began; "I thought it was for you--I had heard you -say----" - -"Are you going back five years?" he asked. - -"Yes." - -"Then would you mind _not_?" he said. "There can be no good in it, -and to me at least it is not a pleasant subject." - -"I must!" she burst out. "Oh! cannot you help me? It is so hard!" - -She held out her hands pathetically. - -A deep colour came into his tanned face, and he stood still, looking -at her strangely. - -"I think I will go," he said; "there is no use in prolonging this." - -"Do you--love--me still?" she cried suddenly. - -He turned on her in a white passion of anger. - -"Not content yet?" he breathed. "What are you made of? Do you -want me to show you all my degradation? Why? Oh, Kitty, Kitty, be -merciful! Be true to those eyes of yours----" - -He stopped abruptly and moved over to the door. - -"Hugh, I love you!" - -It was the veriest whisper, but it stayed his steps, and brought a -great light leaping to his eyes. - -The light died down. - -"It is too late!" he said, and turned away. - -"Hugh, listen--I loved you always--five years ago. It was for your -sake----" - -He turned again. - -"Kitty?" he said uncertainly. - -She went on bravely, always heroic through her love. - -"I was poor--insignificant; you were ambitious--clever. I had heard -your longings after greatness. Hugh, how could you travel into those -wild countries with me? I knew you would give it up, and how could I -bear that? To be a drag, a hindrance to you! And in the coming years -I thought you would regret---- Hugh, you were poor, too, though not -so poor as I. I did it for you--it nearly killed me, Hugh. I was ill -after, but it was for you!" - -Her voice died away into silence. - -He stood very still, and his face was white and bloodless. - -But in his eyes there was a great reverence. - -"Forgive me!" he said. - -She smiled softly. - -"Oh, yes," she said. - -The cynicism had gone from his face, and the hardness and bitterness -too. - -[Illustration: "Oh, cannot you help me? It is so hard!"] - -She looked at him wistfully. He turned away from her eyes and hid -his face in his hands. - -"It was a mistake," he said, slowly, dully. - -"Yes." - -Still she waited. - -He looked up, and she strove to read his face in vain. - -Sad it was, and set, and yet there was a light there too. - -He took her hands gently in his. - -"Kathleen," he said earnestly, "God knows what I think of you. I can -work now. Good-bye, dear." - -She raised her eyes to his--mystified and anxious. - -He answered them, very gently, but with a firmness there was no -gainsaying. - -"You are famous," he said; "when I have made a name I will come to -you. Will you wait, Kitty?" - -"For ever, Hugh," she answered, understanding him so well that that -was all she said. - -He bent and kissed her hands. - - * * * * * - -She knelt at the side of his bed, heedless of the presence of the -nurse at the other end of the room, and her tears wetted his hand. -The right hand and arm were swathed in bandages. - -He smiled sadly as he looked at her. - -"I am a failure," he said. - -"Ah, no, no! All England is ringing with your name. Hugh"--she -raised a face all alight with a proud joy--"you are famous now!" - -A little flush rose to his white face. - -"Pshaw!" he said, "rescuing a woman and a few children from being -burnt to death. Anyone would have done it." - -"Ah, no, Hugh! Brave men shrank from that awful sea and burning -ship!" - -He was silent, looking at his bandaged hand. - -"I must learn to write with my left hand," he said. - -She bent nearer. - -"Let me write for you," she whispered; "let me finish your book, -Hugh, while you dictate it to me. I do not sing now in public, you -know." - -"Yes, I know." - -He drew her closer to him and rested his cheek against her soft hair. - -"I said I would not come to you till I had made a name," he said. "I -am a wreck now! I shall be a wreck for a long while----" - -"Ah, dear, but you are famous!" she interposed lovingly. - -He sighed. - -"I cannot do without you any longer, Kitty. I am beaten at last. -Will you take a wreck?" - -"I will take _you_, Hugh, a famous----" - -"A famous wreck," he finished with a smile. - -[Illustration: "Let me write for you," she whispered.] - - - - -[Illustration: THE PULPIT MANNER] - -THE PULPIT MANNER - -CHARACTERISTIC GESTURES OF GREAT PREACHERS. - -=By F. M. Holmes.= - - -First let us look at Dr. Joseph Parker. His sermons are constantly -attended by ministers of all denominations, including clergymen of -the Church of England; and no stronger testimony, we take it, could -be given to a man's extraordinary preaching power than that year -after year he continually attracts other preachers. - -Dr. Parker, it is almost needless to explain, is the eminent -Congregational minister of the City Temple in London, and he -occupies the unique position of having maintained for thirty years -a noonday service every Thursday in addition to his usual Sunday -services. To this Thursday service come persons from the ends of the -earth, and ministers and laymen of various religious persuasions. On -one occasion the sittings of a conference belonging to one of the -minor Methodist bodies seemed seriously imperilled because so many -of the delegates desired to go and hear Dr. Parker. - -What is the secret of his widely attractive power? The answer comes -in a word--he is intensely dramatic. We do not mean theatrical. -He chooses a clear message to deliver, and that message--that -paramount thought--is driven home to his hearers in a manner that -forces itself upon every mind, no matter how reluctant. He uses -short, pithy sentences, and heightens and emphasises their effect by -suitable modulations of voice, by deliberate or rapid utterance as -the words may require, and by vigorous and appropriate gesture. He -speaks only the very pith and point of what he has to say, and then -says it in the clearest and most suitably effective manner that he -can possibly command. It is the thing itself we hear, rather than -talk or argument all round and about it. - -[Illustration: DR. PARKER.] - -Thus, on one occasion, his theme was found in the text, "Jesus in -the midst." "Where is the midst?" he asked in a clear and striking, -sonorous voice that commanded attention at once. These were his -opening words, and after a pause he proceeded in the same manner and -in similar short, striking sentences to point to different ideas of -"the midst," and to declare that Christ was, or should be, in the -midst of the literature, science, philosophy, and business of the -day. Unless ministers preached Christ, said he, they had better be -silent. - -[ILLUSTRATION: BISHOP OF RIPON. ARCHDEACON SINCLAIR. -DEAN LEFROY. BISHOP OF STEPNEY.] - -There is nothing new in this, you will say. No doubt Dr. Parker -would tell you that he does not wish to preach anything new; but no -one can watch him critically without concluding that he constantly -studies not only what he shall say, but how he shall say it in the -most striking and effective manner. - -As a dramatic preacher, we might also instance the Rev. J. H. -Jowett, who has succeeded the late Dr. Dale at Carr's Lane -Congregational Church, Birmingham. To his Oxford scholarship Mr. -Jowett has united an assiduous cultivation of a fine voice and -vigorous yet graceful and suitable gesture, which render him a most -striking and fascinating preacher. - -But turning now to other styles, if Dr. Parker is one of the most -dramatic, Dr. Boyd Carpenter, the learned Bishop of Ripon, is one of -the most eloquent of preachers. He is also one of the most rapid. -He seems so fully charged with his subject that the words pour from -his lips like a torrent; his body turns first to one side and then -to the other, and anon leans forward in front, as though propelled -by the energy of the thought within. His hand is often held up -before him with the index finger pointing, as though to lead his -audience on to the next thought, and to prevent their interest or -attention from flagging. But, rapid and fluent as he is, it must -not be thought that he is superficial; on the contrary, there is -every evidence that the discourse is well thought out, and based -on a solid framework of reason, while the language is eloquent and -rhetorical. And it is, as it were, to mark the network of logical -deduction within the words that the index finger is brought so fully -into play. We judge that his voice is naturally somewhat thin and -poor, but by careful use and perhaps assiduous cultivation, and by -the most beautifully clear articulation, Dr. Boyd Carpenter can make -himself heard in St. Paul's with what appears to be perfect ease. -There is no straining of the voice and no shouting; but in a quiet -though forcible manner he sends his voice round the huge building. -Further, it has been pointed out to me that he will not commence his -discourse until the congregation have settled themselves down into -absolute quietness, and all the rustling of dresses, and coughing, -and fidgeting are stilled. Under these circumstances his voice -would, of course, carry far better in a large church. - -Somewhat similar in manner is Canon Barker, of Marylebone, -who, in the energetic expression of the thought with which he -seems surcharged, bends forward sometimes so deeply towards the -congregation as to give, the impression that he is about to dive out -of the pulpit. But his style is that of the special pleader, the -advocate and the debater; it is as though he desires to argue out -everything to its logical conclusion, rather than to sway or move -his audience by eloquence and emotional appeals. - -[Illustration: PREBENDARY WEBB-PEPLOE.] - -Dean Lefroy of Norwich is also a debater; perhaps, a more keen -debater than Canon Barker, and he is also a rhetorician. He delights -to preach a strongly evangelical "Gospel" sermon, and to embellish -it with rhetoric and declaim it with passionate earnestness. It is -evident he thoroughly believes in his theme, he seeks to impress it -on his audience by vigorous, earnest, passionate utterance, in which -his energetic gestures are often of the most decided character. -A curious characteristic of his preaching has been related to me -by a friend. "You cannot listen to Lefroy for five minutes," said -he, "without violently taking sides either for or against him. You -are either intensely in favour of him or find yourself becoming -almost vehemently opposed"--a testimony, we take it that the Dean -is a decided, downright, assertive and aggressive preacher rather -than persuasive and emotional. He has instituted a Nave service at -Norwich Cathedral, at which he often preaches himself, and attracts -enormous congregations. - -[Illustration: JOHN MCNEIL.] - -Still continuing to glance at those whom we may call rapid and -fluent preachers, Prebendary Webb-Peploe comes to mind. He is not -so energetic as some others, but the rapidity of his utterance, the -fluency of his expression, and his great command of language, would -rival that of almost any speaker. He and many others would probably -utter three times as many words in a given time as Dr. Parker or -Archdeacon Sinclair. - -[Illustration: IAN MACLAREN - -(_Dr. John Watson._)] - -The latter is slow, deliberate, and dignified in his utterances, -rarely using gesture and affecting a grave and somewhat sonorous -voice; but the Archdeacon's sermons are always most carefully -prepared, and indicate considerable study and research. - -Among the grave and sedate preachers we might also place Dr. John -Watson ("Ian Maclaren"), of Sefton Park Presbyterian Church, -Liverpool; his sermons are full of thought, and, as might be -expected, exhibit an excellent literary finish. - -Now, if we take Archdeacon Sinclair and Dr. John Watson as examples -of more deliberate and sedate preachers, we may regard the Rev. John -McNeil, the well-known Presbyterian minister, as an instance of the -colloquial preacher. - -Not that his voice is low-pitched, as used in conversation. Mr. -McNeil has done what few preachers could physically undertake: he -has preached twice a day for a fortnight in the Albert Hall at -Kensington, the largest hall in London, and capable of holding -about ten thousand persons; and he has repeatedly filled the huge -Agricultural Hall at Islington, numbers being turned away from -lack of room. His voice, indeed, seems capable of filling the -largest hall without effort. But his style is easy, unaffected, -conversational, though sometimes, with both arms outstretched, he -bursts forth into loud and impassioned appeals. There is no doubt a -large section of the public who like this easy and colloquial style, -especially if it come quite naturally to the speaker. - -[Illustration: DR. MCLAREN.] - -And now another celebrated figure rises on the scene, the -eminent Baptist minister, Dr. McLaren of Manchester. Refined, -scholarly, brimming over with knowledge, and a master of beautiful -illustration, there is no doubt that he takes rank as one of the -very greatest preachers of the day. Like other great speakers, he -has evidently studied the art of preaching. - -[Illustration: DR. HORTON. HUGH PRICE HUGHES. J. R. JOWETT. -SILVESTER HORNE.] - -At a meeting at the Holborn Restaurant to celebrate his ministerial -jubilee in April, 1896, he said he had determined, at the outset of -his career, to concentrate his mind on the work of the ministry and -not fritter away his energies over many minor engagements. He had -always endeavoured to make his ministry one of Gospel exposition; he -had preached Christ because he believed that men needed redemption, -and he had preached without doubts and hesitations. It was Thomas -Binney who had taught him how to preach. - -Undoubtedly Dr. McLaren has succeeded in his aim as an expositor -of the Scriptures, for that is regarded as one of his chief -characteristics. A favourite gesture of Dr. McLaren's--at all events -in his earlier days--was to squeeze up a handkerchief, no doubt -quite unconsciously, in his right hand by the nervous energy he was -putting forth in his discourse, and then suddenly his hand would -dart out to mark some emphatic passage as though he were about to -throw the handkerchief at the congregation; but needless to add the -handkerchief was never thrown. - -Like Dr. McLaren, Dr. Whyte, of Free St. George's, Edinburgh, has -a great command of beautiful and striking illustrations. "He is -the most wonderful preacher in Scotland," declared an enthusiastic -Scot to me on one occasion. "Mr. Gladstone used often to hear him, -and Lord Rosebery does now." Dr. Whyte makes great use of the -imagination in his discourses and employs frequent gestures, but -graceful, emphatic and always to suit the action to the word and -the word to the action. "One illustration," said a gentleman, "I -remember some time ago. Dr. Whyte was preaching about tribulation, -and he showed that the word came from _tribulum_, which is a Latin -name for a roller or sledge for thrashing out corn, and in the same -way tribulation sifted men as wheat." How like a platitude this may -sound when summarised down to a line; but the point is that the idea -of the beneficial purpose of tribulation had been so firmly fixed in -the hearer's mind that he remembered it, and perchance in some dark -hour it had been to him a "cup of strength in some great agony." -Is not that, after all, one of the great aims and one of the great -tests of good speaking--to fix some idea, some truth firmly in the -hearer's mind so that it is never forgotten? - -As a robust, manly preacher few, if any, we suspect, can surpass -Dean Hole of Rochester. He has a tall, commanding presence--he is -over six feet high--a bright, animated countenance, and a most -genial manner. When some years ago he held the living of Caunton, -Notts, he used to journey periodically to Liverpool, where his -midday addresses to commercial men were most successful and -exercised great influence. He does not employ much gesture, but his -fine voice, sparkling eye and manly, straightforward utterances, -based on reason and logic, always command deep attention. - -[Illustration: DR. WHYTE.] - -His appeal is rather to reason than to the emotions, and by way -of contrast we may glance at Canon Wilberforce, who is fluent and -fervent, and affords one of the best examples of the emotional -preacher. It would seem as though he set himself to arouse and stir -up all the feelings of his congregation and lead them into what -he conceives to be the right channel. Often choosing most unusual -texts, he can yet make direct and pointed appeals from the pulpit, -touching the greatest hopes and deepest trusts of human nature, -and yet can employ as illustrations the greatest events and the -newest discoveries of the day. He uses but little gesture, in this -respect being somewhat different from the eminent Wesleyan, the Rev. -Hugh Price Hughes, who might also be classed as an emotional--we -had almost said passionate--preacher. In fluency and fervour he -is probably surpassed by none. Possessed of a remarkably clear, -vibrating, and penetrating voice, which seems as though it could -thrill through any building, however large, there is no chance of -anyone dozing when he is in the pulpit. When pleading some cause or -denouncing some wrong, his feelings seem to get the better of him, -and he slashes away with his voice in a perfect hurricane of verbal -blows. - -[Illustration: DR. CLIFFORD.] - -Quite as emotional and quite as fluent is Dr. Clifford of Westbourne -Park Baptist Church. His command of language is extraordinary, -and with a mind less clear and well-regulated this great fluency -might prove a snare; but his discourses are always remarkably -well-arranged, his "points" are clear, and his meanings driven home -with remarkable emphasis. His congregations are immense, and his -hearers are devoted to him. His gestures often follow his words, -and one--probably quite unconscious--is, it must be confessed, not -graceful, even if forcible: it is a drawing back of his arms, and -then shooting them out both together as if appealing to the people. -His voice is exceptionally clear, penetrating, and resonant; and in -all very popular preachers much is due to the voice. - -[Illustration: DEAN HOLE.] - -The Bishop of Stepney, who may be described as bearing all the -characteristics of the highly cultured Oxford man, has in addition -a deeply sympathetic musical voice. He does not use much gesture, -but such as he does employ is well suited to the words, while his -illustrations are often drawn from his social and religious work in -the East End. He used frequently to preach in Victoria Park, where -he has readily acknowledged his best supporters were Nonconformists. - -[Illustration: CANON BARKER. CANON WILBERFORCE.] - -Another eminent preacher whom we may also describe as exhibiting all -the characteristics of Oxford culture is Dr. Horton of Lyndhurst -Road Congregational Church, Hampstead. Possessed, like the Bishop -of Stepney, of a remarkably sympathetic voice, he modulates and -varies it to suit the subject and the words, and his gesture, -never redundant, has lately been reduced almost to extinction. At -the sermon which he preached before the Congregational Union at -its autumnal assembly at Birmingham in 1897, his style was almost -severely quiet, but the effect of his thrilling voice and sometimes -awesome whispered tones, his polished literary language, and his -intense earnestness--as he declared that the ideal Christian must be -in constant touch with God, and yet in constant touch with men--was -very great, and appealed both to reason and emotion. Indeed, both -of these find their place in his sermons. Dr. Horton has mastered -the art of always being interesting, no matter what his theme; and -it would seem as though in his discourses he makes an effort to -really interest and to reach all sorts and conditions of men. - -Another Congregational minister who exhibits much of the Oxford -manner is the Rev. Silvester Horne, of Kensington; but, in addition, -he seems possessed of a fiery zeal and fervent enthusiasm that will, -it is feared, wear him out physically before his day is fully spent, -unless he carefully husbands his nervous energy. Already, although -a young man, he has had to take rest for a whole year because of -ill-health. That inner fire, that mental energy, that disciplined -enthusiasm, which light up his face so brilliantly and animate his -suitable and graceful gesture, are far too precious a possession to -be quenched too quickly; but there are few or none of the younger -preachers of the day who have promise of a more brilliant future. - -And now a word in conclusion for one who is perhaps the greatest -philosophical preacher of the time--Dr. Fairbairn of Mansfield -College at Oxford. His memory is marvellous, his power of choice -and accurate verbal expression is wonderful; he can speak for hours -without a note, and though sometimes a sentence should appear -involved and complicated, it will finish admirably, and, if read -in a verbatim report afterwards, will have all the finish of a -literary production wrought out in the quiet of the study. He uses -but little gesture, an occasional opening out of hands and arms, as -though to present and lay before the audience the thought which he -is uttering, seems nearly all. In fact, it would appear that he is -so absorbed in the abstract thought, the argument, the philosophy he -is working out before you, that he thinks nothing of the manner in -which he utters it. - -We do not pretend to have exhausted the list of famous preachers, or -even to have glanced at all the different types; but these will be -sufficient to indicate the variety that prevails, and to show that -there is an art of preaching which, like other arts, needs to be -assiduously cultivated, and well repays those who intelligently do -so. - - - - -A MOTHER'S BIBLE. - - A pathetic incident occurred some years ago in connection with one - of our wars abroad. A youth who had been wounded, and who died in - the field hospital, clutched in his last hours an old worn copy of - the Bible, on the flyleaf of which were inscribed these touching - lines:-- - -TO MY BOY. - - - Remember, love, who gave you this, - When other days shall come, - When she who had thy earliest kiss - Sleeps in her narrow home. - Remember! 'twas a mother gave - The gift to one she'd die to save. - - A mother sought a pledge of love, - The holiest, for her son; - And from the gift of God above - She chose a godly one-- - She chose for her beloved boy - The source of light and life and joy. - - And bade him keep the gift, that when - The parting hour should come - They might have hope, and meet again - In an eternal home: - She said his faith in that should be - Sweet incense to her memory. - - And should the scoffer in his pride - Laugh his fond faith to scorn, - And bid him cast the pledge aside - Which he from youth had borne-- - She bade him pause and ask his breast - If he or she had loved him best. - - A mother's blessing on her son - Goes with this holy thing, - The love that would retain the one - Must to the other cling. - Remember! 'tis no idle toy, - Thy mother's gift! Remember, boy! - - - - -[Illustration: ROGER PETTINGDALE] - -ROGER PETTINGDALE - -_A RUSTIC LOVE-STORY._ - -By H. A. Davies. - - -Across the fields from the church--through the clover meadow first, -into the broad wheat-field next, and thence over the pasture lands, -all yellow with the glint of buttercups--you will come to the -Pettingdale farm. A thrill and a song and an aching went through -my blood all together when I looked on the block of buildings the -other day. How sweet-and-bitter is remembrance; how musical to the -heart, and yet how sad with yearning! For the sight of that rugged -old chimney standing square and grim and familiar upon the grey -roof of the house; the red-tiled barns clustering behind, plain and -prosperous; the sweep of the waving corn-fields towards the setting -sun; caused my heart to surge with swift memories, long since buried -and forgotten beneath the stress of life. How peaceful were the old -days amidst these very fields! When the heart is young, ah! then's -the time for music; and what echoes of far-off melodies--songs -of old summers past and gone--does the scene awaken! There's the -orchard where I spent such rare hours. Here are the hedges where we -went a-nutting. Yonder is the oak-tree which we used to climb, Frank -Pettingdale and I. It is still the same sturdy tree, keeping gnarled -and knotted guard over the same creaking gateway, just as in the old -days! - -Wherever my eyes fell there were thorns and roses for the heart all -in one moment. It was in the old upland field that Clara Pettingdale -and I as children used to wander, hand in hand, amongst the -buttercups. She has long slept, poor Clara, in that corner of the -churchyard where lie generations of Pettingdales past and gone--a -long line of sturdy yeomen. - -The full light of the sun falls upon the courtyard of the farmhouse. -It has a broad frontage, long and low and quaint, with irregular -gables and overhanging eaves and deep, mullioned windows. The -house runs queerly on two sides of the courtyard, one wing being -at right angles to the other. It is beautifully clean and prim, -with its whitewashed walls, its freshly painted woodwork, and -its geraniums growing in green boxes on every window-sill. On -the third side of the yard run the granary and the cider-house; -while the fourth, save for an ivy-covered wall, which gives way to -the entrance gates in one corner, is open to the gentle vista of -countryside which stretches away before the house. What a pleasant -old courtyard it is--so cool in the summer that the panting dogs -love to throw themselves upon its stones; so sheltered in winter -that the blustering nor'-easters touch it not; so prosperous-looking -always, with its well-kept flags laid from end to end, as level and -smooth as a billiard-table, and as spotless as the floor of the -farm kitchen. How the polished milk-cans glisten and blink upon -the wall! How the white sills of the old-fashioned windows gleam -in the sunlight! The whole place seems to breathe of scouring and -buckets, and scrubbing brushes and vigorous arms. Every morning the -yard is washed down by the house-boy (it used to be Elijah in my -day, but he is now a bearded man, and labours outside, and a young -Ezra is the present knight of the bucket); every morning the cans -are scoured and the tubs are scrubbed, and the step before the door -is free-stoned, and the flowers are watered, and the house seems to -smile a glistening, watery smile, as though it had just lifted its -head from its morning dip to bid you the time of day. There was ever -a charm to me about Pettingdale and its paved courtyard. I mind me -well what a brave and romantic sound to my young ears was that of -the horse's hoofs ringing and clamping upon the stones as he was -brought up to the door on market days with the high yellow dogcart -behind him; or the clatter of the wheels across the yard as Roger -Pettingdale drove out through the broad gateway, a fine old figure -with his white hair, and his aquiline nose, and his broad, well-set -shoulders. - -[Illustration: His hair went snow-white early in life.] - -He is still outwardly the same. One could hardly detect a single -point of change in him, save that his face is more furrowed and his -eyes deeper set. His hair went snow-white early in life. Generations -of Pettingdales have been subject to the same peculiarity. Thus it -is that the long step from forty to sixty-five has wrought little -difference in Roger Pettingdale. His body is as erect, his step as -firm, his voice as sonorous as ever. He was ever a well-known figure -at all the county markets and agricultural meetings, and it might be -twenty-five years agone for all the change that one can see in him. -Among other men he was always noticeable, with his tall figure, his -white hair, his clean-shaven, well-cut face, and that wide-rimmed -silk hat which he always affected. As he moved amongst the crowd I -have heard men say, "Who is that?" and others answer, "Don't you -know him? Why, surely everybody knows _him_? He's Roger Pettingdale." - -He is elected on all the local bodies. Thus he is a guardian of the -poor, a member of the School Board, vice-chairman of the County -Council, and the people's churchwarden at the parish church. There -is no man amongst all those he meets in these capacities whose words -are listened to with more respect. That solid weight, that hallmark -of sound judgment which always attends upon sheer common-sense, is -apparent in every opinion he utters. He forms his judgments first, -and speaks afterwards. While other men are impulsively throwing -themselves into useless controversy on this or that vexed question, -Roger Pettingdale is silently weighing the _pros_ and _cons_ of -the matter in his own mind; and when he speaks there is usually -nothing more to be said. He chops no logic; he simply argues -with the sledge-hammer of common-sense, backed up by the blunt, -uncompromising sincerity of an honest and fair-dealing mind. His -tolerance, his breadth of vision, his power of seeing the other side -of the question, his scorn of all shams and pretences, have made his -name a password for integrity and sound judgment. "You will always -get a fair hearing from Roger Pettingdale," people say. "Does Roger -Pettingdale think so? Oh, then, there must be something in it." - -In his home life, in the control of his farm, in his own daily -affairs, there is the same straightforwardness, the same sincerity, -the same well-balanced judgment and acumen. "There never was a -year, as I remember, when we didn't have plenty of hay to begin -conditioning on," said one of his labourers the other day. "Now, -at the next farm they've never got enough." That is only a small -instance of the perfection of method which marks every department of -the prosperous farm. - -At home he is essentially a plain man, this sturdy farmer. There -is no nonsense about him, although he can claim blood with one of -the oldest families in the county. Yet he has a proper pride, in -a manly, direct kind of way, as you shall see. He has had four -children, two boys and two girls, in giving birth to the youngest -of whom his wife died. James, the eldest, is his right hand in the -farm management, and will some day be head of the family, as the -Pettingdales have succeeded, son to father, for generations out of -mind. Mary, the second, you shall hear more of anon. Frank, the -third, my old playmate, early in life took the fancy that he would -like to be a soldier. Roger Pettingdale has ever been a wise and a -tolerant father, studying well the nature of each of his children. -He unerringly knew Frank's proud and stubborn character. - -"You want to be a soldier?" he said. "Well, I could have wished it -otherwise, Frank. It would have been a pleasure to me to see you -settle down on the farm. But we will not argue the point. Let it -stand for twelve months, and then talk to me about it." - -Twelve months did not change Frank's resolve. When he mentioned -it again, a drawn look passed over Roger Pettingdale's face for a -moment--a look of keen pain--for he loved his children. Then he drew -himself up to his full height. - -"You are still of the same mind, Frank! Then I have nothing more to -say. I am not going to attempt to dictate to you what your calling -should be. You have to live your own life, and as you make your bed -you must lie on it. Remember that, my lad. If you decide to go as a -soldier, you shall go in a proper fashion, lad. You shall have your -commission. No son of mine shall enter the ranks." - -And have his commission Frank did. I looked at the tablet in the old -church the other day with a surging heart. It is a brass tablet, the -lettering of which has been recently renovated. - - TO THE MEMORY OF - LIEUTENANT FRANK PETTINGDALE, - WHO FELL IN ACTION IN THE - BATTLE OF TEL-EL-KEBIR. - -That was all. There was no vainglorious recounting of the brave -deed in the performance of which Frank was cut down. He fell "in -action." That was all. It was Roger Pettingdale all over--simple and -direct and manly. And were not the laconic words far more eloquent -than all the ornate elegiacs that poets might have written, just as -Roger Pettingdale's silent grief when the news reached him was far -more eloquent than all the passionate outbursts of frenzied sorrow -that one could conceive? - -The fourth child, Clara, as I have already said, sleeps in the -churchyard. She died when she was a fair-haired girl of ten--as -bright and promising a maiden as one could wish to see. But she was -ever fragile, like her mother, and suddenly she faded away, leaving -a great gap in the home life at the Pettingdale farm. - -As to Mary, the second child, she was nineteen years of age, and -newly returned from school, when Edward Leigh, the son of old Squire -Leigh, of the Hall, came home from his travels round the world. -These two, who had only distantly known each other as children, -met for the first time after many years--she a sweet-looking, -fresh-coloured girl, in the first blush of womanhood; and he a -manly, well-set young fellow with a pleasant, sincere face and -straightforward blue eyes. It was the old story! Twang goes the -bow of the roguish little archer, and to some heart or another the -world all at once becomes rose-colour. The old story! They saw each -other on a Sunday morning across the church. She, sitting in the -Pettingdale pew, mentally noted that there was a young man at the -Squire's side who could be no other than his newly returned son; and -he, from his corner underneath the dingy, ponderous coat-of-arms -of the Leigh family, looked upon her in her simple dress of white. -The sun, striking through the window to her right, glinted upon her -brown hair, which always curled so prettily about her forehead. He -thought, as he looked, that she was the sweetest, daintiest maiden -he had ever seen, and he fell in love with her. - -He made no secret of his passion. Beating about the bush was -entirely foreign to Edward Leigh. The choleric old Squire went -off into a fit of apoplectic rage when he heard how things stood. -The veins swelled in his forehead, and that pugnacious under-lip -of his stood out and drew itself over the upper lip and the teeth -with a tight grip. But Edward had all the old Leigh blood in him. -"I love her, father," he said quietly, looking the Squire straight -in the face, and the old man's heart sank within him as he met the -steady glance of those blue eyes. Fits of passion, threats, fiery -denunciations--they were all of no avail. Edward was never once -other than respectful. He would stand with shoulders squared and -head uplifted, bearing the storm in perfect calm and silence, and -then would look his father in the face and say--"Father, I love -her"; and the Squire would clench his fist and march to and fro, -furiously stamping his feet upon the floor. - -[Illustration: "Father, I love her."] - -In one culminating fit of choleric rage the Squire rode over to the -farm. He found Roger Pettingdale in the corn-field, looking at the -growing wheat. - -[Illustration: "Forgive me!"] - -"Look here, Pettingdale," he burst forth fiercely. "This nonsense -must be stopped. Are you an idiot, that you cannot see what is going -on, or are you in the scheme to entrap my----" - -Roger Pettingdale turned round upon him. - -"I beg your pardon, Squire Leigh?" he said quietly, as one who had -not heard aright. - -"Tut! Nonsense!" retorted the Squire. "Don't 'beg-your-pardon' me! -You know full well what I mean. Are you blind? I say it must be -stopped! You know full well that that precious son of mine has gone -stark mad over that chit of a girl of yours!" - -"And what of that, Squire Leigh?" replied Roger Pettingdale, drawing -himself to his full height and looking at the Squire from underneath -his heavy eyebrows. "If that precious son of yours has gone stark -mad over my daughter, what of that?" - -"Why, this," thundered the Squire: "that it must be stopped!" - -"Very well, why don't you stop it?" replied Roger Pettingdale. - -The retort, perfectly cool and natural, laid bare all the Squire's -impotence at one stroke, and drove him well-nigh to frenzy. His eyes -shot fire, and those veins in his forehead swelled as though they -would burst. - -"It is not my daughter who is coming to the Hall after your son," -Roger Pettingdale went on. "It is your son who is coming here after -my daughter. You seem to forget that point. You say it must be -stopped. And I repeat--Why don't you stop it?" - -"It is as I thought," shouted the enraged Squire. "You are all in -it--all of you. All in the scheme to entrap him! A pretty plot, -don't you call it, for a man who poses as a Christian?" - -In a blind access of fury he took a step forward and raised his -riding-whip. And then his shaking arm fell to his side, for Roger -Pettingdale had laid a hand upon his shoulder, and was confronting -him with grave, kindly, pitying eyes. - -"You are in anger, Squire Leigh," he said, with simple dignity, -"else I should take your words as an insult. Be sure that the -Pettingdales have not fallen so low, nor their womenkind either, -that they need to trap the son of Squire Leigh. But I tell you this, -as man to man: if your son truly loves my daughter, and if she -loves him in return, I will put no bar before my child's happiness; -no, not for you, nor for all the Leighs in the world. We come of -as good a stock as you, Squire! Remember that! More money and more -land maybe you have--but not more pride of family. I care naught -for your money or your land. Thank God! I have prospered beyond all -expectation. And I tell you again, straight to your face, if your -son comes to me and asks for my daughter's hand, and I find it is -for her happiness, I shall say 'Yes.'" - -"I shall disinherit him!" burst forth the Squire; "he shall not have -a penny--not a brass farthing!" - -"I shall tell him," continued Roger Pettingdale, "that if he would -win my daughter, he must first make a position for himself in the -world, independently of aught you can do for or against him; and -that shall be the test of his sincerity." - -Then he turned away, and the Squire, his face livid with passion, -marched off, savagely cutting at the wheat-ears with his -riding-whip. And when he mounted his horse at the corner of the -field, he dug his spurs so viciously into her that she bounded and -reared, and almost threw him. - -Well, the long and short of it was that Edward Leigh was not found -wanting in the test which was imposed upon him. - -"You are quite right, sir," he said to Roger Pettingdale; "the -condition is a reasonable one. I ask for nothing more than the -chance of proving that I am in earnest." - -He went to London, studied under his father's old college friend, -John Wetherell, the well-known Queen's Counsel, and in five years -was making fair headway in the courts as a barrister. And the -strange part of it was that the choleric old Squire--who has a good -heart underneath his rough exterior--seeing his son's name in the -papers from time to time, felt his paternal pride rising within him -despite his stubborn resentment. Perhaps, too, he felt lonely in his -old age. At all events, he went over to the farm one day, and asked -to see Mary. - -"I shall fight against it no longer, my dear," he said, holding -out his hand. "The lad has proved his grit, and the woman who -can call forth such steady love in a man is more than worthy of -being mistress of the Hall. I am an old man, and have no time left -for bitternesses. Forgive me, and you will find me as staunch in -friendship as you have found me frank in enmity." - -Mary is now Mary Leigh, of Leigh Hall, and a sweeter, gentler, more -winsome mistress you could not find in the whole land. You may often -see the old Squire leaning upon her shoulder--a bent, white-haired -figure--as they walk in the grounds. - - * * * * * - -Among all the seasons of the year, I think there is none that Roger -Pettingdale loves so well as the time of harvest. You may see him -standing at the gateway, looking in meditation down the long shimmer -and sheen of the golden wheat-field as the wind ripples over it. - -"I love to gaze at fields white with corn," he said to me once. -"They seem to breathe rich promises of that full fruition to which -our own lives shall come if we live them well and uprightly." - -At the last harvest thanksgiving service in the village church I was -present for the sake of old times, and from my place behind Roger -Pettingdale I saw him lost in meditation, with eyes fixed upon the -chancel window. And when he stood up to sing he was still rapt in -thought; but suddenly he joined in the sweet old hymn so lustily and -with such a full heart that it did me good to hear him. - - "The valleys stand so thick with corn - That even they are singing." - - - - -THE ART OF READING. - -By the Ven. Archdeacon Diggle, M.A. - - -Reading aloud is more commonly regarded as an accomplishment than -an art. In truth, it is both. It is an art in that it cannot be -left to its own guidance, but requires both an acquaintance with -rules and familiarity with their practice to bring it to perfection. -It is an accomplishment in that it is a means of completing our -equipment for happy social life. Good reading yields not only profit -but pleasure to others. It is one means of throwing brightness into -home-life to gather the children together and read really well to -them. And what a sweet delight it is in the ward of a hospital, or -among the inmates of a workhouse, or by the bedside of some dearly -loved invalid, to be able, by reading in soft, gentle, refreshing -tones, to charm away the monotony and the weariness, perhaps for -awhile to relieve even the pain, of the lonely and the suffering! We -might shed sunshine into the darkness of many a life if, instead of -spending our leisure hours in _ennui_ on ourselves, we devoted them -to reading aloud to others. - -Reading aloud is good for ourselves both physically and morally. It -is good morally, for if we never read anything unfit for reading -aloud we shall not be likely to read anything morally deteriorating. -And physically, reading aloud is a benignant exercise. It widens -the chest, opens the lungs, strengthens the throat, and does good -to all the breathing organs. It is a mistake to suppose that using -the voice weakens it. Abuse or misuse of the vocal organs, as of any -other organs, injures them; but by proper use and exercise they are -strengthened and improved. Speakers and preachers have bad throats -not because they use their throat too much, but because they use it -badly. They force and torment it, instead of training it to natural -action and giving it free, full play. And who shall blame them? At -school they were taught to spell and mind their stops; but how to -breathe and manage the voice when reading, they probably were not -taught a single rule. In many instances teachers themselves are -wholly ignorant of the art and therefore incapable of teaching it. -And so it comes to pass that, unless either outward circumstance -or innate common-sense turn our attention in later life to the -management of the vocal organs, we never learn to read aloud without -weariness and with pleasure. It is mainly through lack of early -training that, of all useful and delightful accomplishments, the art -of reading aloud is one of the least practised and most rare. - -[Illustration: (_Photo: Russell and Sons, Baker Street, W._) -ARCHDEACON DIGGLE.] - -Yet it is an art which, in some degree, may be acquired by the -majority of people; very many could, by a little training and -perseverance, even excel in it. Of course, the art admits of many -degrees of excellence. But without reaching the splendid summits of -the art, attainable only by the highly gifted few, ordinary persons -may learn to read sufficiently well to gratify both themselves and -others, if they will take pains to learn and practise a few simple -rules. - -The first requirement is to master the physics of the art: to learn -to breathe in through the nostrils and out through the mouth, -never to speak on an inflowing breath, quickly to fill the lungs -and slowly to empty them, never to gasp or strain after sound, not -to attempt the higher notes until the lower have been completely -mastered, to rely more on the lower than the higher notes, to teach -the lips and front portion of the mouth to do their fair share of -work equally with the larynx and the vocal cords. A moustache is an -impediment to easy and distinct reading. It hinders the air from -passing in free, full flow up the nostrils, and it troubles the -waves of sound as they issue from the mouth; causing indistinctness, -more or less flat and thick, in enunciation. - -Clearness of enunciation ranks next in importance after easy, -natural, flexible production of voice, and largely depends on it, -for there can be no clear, crisp, distinct enunciation of words, -unless the tools by which words are made, viz. the organs of voice, -are kept sharp and well burnished. Moreover, for the attainment -of limpid and finely articulated enunciation careful training is -required both in the melody and modulation of sounds. - -Precision and beauty of enunciation are much assisted by habitual -practice of the graduated series of all the tones from the keynote -to its octave. Do not sing when you are reading, but, in order to -read well, first learn to sing; otherwise your reading will be flat -and monotonous, without light and shade, instead of being fresh, -richly modulated, and melodious. - -The next requirement of good reading is to learn the relative value -of the letters, and the right handling of the syllables, of which -words are composed. - -This study is both interesting and attractive, for, as Plato -observes, letters themselves have a clear significance. The letter -_r_ is expressive of motion, the letters _d_ and _t_ of binding and -rest, the letter _l_ of smoothness, _n_ of inwardness, the letter -_e_ of length and the letter _o_ of roundness.[2] Letters run in -families, and each family has its own characteristic significance of -sound. Some letters belong to the lips, others to the throat, others -employ the whole mouth. Vowels and final consonants are the letters -which demand most care and support in good reading. For the most -part, vowels should be rich and full, and the final consonant well -sustained. - -[2] _Cf._ Jowett's Plato, I. 311. - -If letters in themselves are expressive and significant, -collocations of letters in syllables and words are clearly more -significant still. "By various degrees of strength or weakness, -emphasis or pitch, length or shortness, they become the natural -expressions both of the stronger and the finer parts of human -feeling and thought." To read well, therefore, it is necessary to -give intelligent and ready heed to the relative weight of words, -to notice whether consonants are massed together to increase their -density, or vowels are freely interspersed to leaven and make -them light. True enunciation largely depends on a careful study -of the natural formation of words and a right appreciation of the -proportionate value of their several syllables. - -Reading, however, is frequently spoiled by pedantry and exaggerated -minuteness. In seeking to avoid slovenliness readers often fall into -foppery. Good reading goes at an easy pace, it is neither too fast -nor too slow; it neither counts the letters nor omits them, neither -jumbles syllables together nor anatomises words. The good reader -reads so that intelligent listeners can spell his words, but he does -not read as if spelling them himself. He avoids the extremes both -of negligence and nicety, and constantly remembers that whatever is -overdone is badly done. Avoid ostentation. No rule in reading is -more fundamental than this. - -Near akin to ostentation is the taint of false and histrionic -emphasis. Colourless reading, bad though it be, is better than -tawdry reading. Especially in all reading of a religious or sacred -character should affectation and dramatic artifices be reverently -avoided. - -To read the Bible in church as if playing a part on the stage is as -inappropriate and irreligious as to read like one in haste to catch -a train. - -Each kind of subject demands its own proper style in reading. Prose -should not be read like poetry; nor all kinds either of prose or -poetry alike. As in writing, each species should be dressed in -language from its own wardrobe; so in reading, each several kind -should receive its own appropriate tone, and travel at its own -appropriate speed. To read everything alike is to read nothing--or -at most only one thing--well. - -[Illustration: Charming away the monotony and the weariness.] - -Great authors are by no means invariably good readers, even of -their own productions. Lord Tennyson read some of his own glorious -poems beautifully; but others he read either droningly or with too -much singsong. Dickens read his own works with wonderful power and -realisation. Wordsworth read his own verse admirably; but we are -told that neither Coleridge nor Southey could read verse well: "They -read as if crying or wailing lugubriously." - -Reading, therefore, is an art which doubtless requires, for -the attainment of excellence, some degree of histrionic -gifts--imagination, imitation, fervour, and passion. - -Similarly with oratory and authorship. Both these arts are distinct -from that of reading; as each of these again is distinct from the -other. - -It is curious, indeed, how few among great authors are great -orators; or, among great orators, great authors. The gifts which -tell in writing--condensation, terseness, finish--are not the -gifts which tell most in speaking. In speaking, the essentials are -clearness of enunciation, sympathy with the audience, copiousness -of illustration, directness of statement, uninvolved reasoning. The -merits which impart value to a book--wealth of fact, niceness in -balancing opposing considerations, delicacy of assertion, depth and -sweep of argument--may easily become ineffective in the delivery of -a speech. Hence, therefore, whereas a good speaker is occasionally -a good writer, owing to his rare combination of different orders -of talent, it more frequently happens that the one set of talents -is given to one man to enrich them in seclusion, and the other to -another man to use them with publicity. - -In like manner with reading; it is an art by itself. It is natural -to suppose that no one could possibly read an author's works so -well as the author's self, because no one can understand them so -intimately as their own creator. Yet experience proves this to be -not the case; and for a reason which at first sight is not wholly -apparent. It is just because they are his own that, as a rule, he -cannot read them well. He may have a richly cultivated voice, clear -enunciation, a varied power of modulation; he may even be able to -read the works of others well, yet be a failure in reading what he -himself has written. Why is this? Partly, perhaps, it is due to -an unavoidable self-consciousness in reading his own works; and -self-consciousness is the ruin of good reading. "Forget thyself" -is a necessary condition of good reading. Partly, perhaps, it is -due to over-absorption in the memory of sensations and sentiments -which overpowered him when he wrote in the solitude of his chamber, -but which are somewhat unnatural and overstrained for exhibition -before a concourse of auditors. But probably the principal reason -is that one of the greatest charms of good reading arises from the -co-operation of two spirits toward one end--the spirit of the author -and the spirit of the reader. The reader of another's works seeks -actively to express the spirit of his author, yet unintentionally -he is expressing his own spirit also. The author enters into him -and he throws himself into the author; his reading, therefore, is -the union, the marriage, the interpenetration and expression of two -spirits--the author's and his own. However interesting, therefore, -and delightful it may be to hear an author read his own works, -yet is there always lacking the dash and force and suggestiveness -produced when a great author is interpreted by a great reader. The -author merely reproduces his original meaning in what he wrote; -the reader, through the agency of his own independent personality, -idealises and diversifies that meaning. - -Idealisation is one of the most beautiful effects of the fine art of -reading. The most ordinary poem or piece of prose, when idealised -by an accomplished artist in reading, grows lovely and sweet. And -one way of learning to read well ourselves is to sit at the feet of -some of these great masters of reading. Until we have heard a great -reader read it is next to impossible to conceive what a fine and -noble art true reading is. On the other hand, we can never become -good readers by merely listening to others, any more than we can -become good musicians by hearing others play. - -In the art of reading, others may be our models; none but ourselves -can be our makers. Listening to others may show us how the thing -can best be done, but without doing the thing ourselves the thing -can never be truly learned by us. Sometimes, indeed, listening to -others has an effect quite the opposite of a model for imitation. -"Pausanias tells us of an ancient player on the harp who was wont to -make his scholars go to hear one who played badly that they might -learn to hate his discords and false measures." In like manner, one -way of learning to read well is to hear others read badly. - -The art of reading aloud culminates in the expression of the -spiritual through the medium of the physical. As sculpture aspires -to express its ideals in stone, and painting in colour, and music -in sound, so reading embodies its ideals in uttered words. A -well-trained voice, clearness of enunciation, rhythm and flexibility -of articulation--these are the physical framework of the art of -reading aloud. Without first acquiring these the reader is as -impotent as the painter without colour or the sculptor without -stone. But the physics of reading are nothing more than its material -framework. Unless the reader is inspired with ideals, reading will -never rise to the dignity and glory of an art with him. He may be -as a house-painter with his brush, or a mason with his stone--an -industrious and useful artificer, but not an artist in his work. - - - - -MIDGET CHURCHES - -By J. A. Reid. - - -The subject of church architecture is ever a fascinating one. -Millions of money and an immense amount of time and labour have been -spent in erecting places of worship, some of which are magnificent -structures capable of seating several thousands. On the other hand, -small, humble edifices sometimes suffice to meet the requirements of -the worshippers; and it is with these that we here propose to deal. - -Which of the midget churches is the smallest it is somewhat -difficult to say; but it is believed that the smallest church in -England is the truly miniature church of Lullington, in Sussex. -It is a primitive and quaint building, constructed of flint with -stone quoins, with a roof of red tiles. It can boast of a little -weather-boarded turret at its west end; but its bell does not toll -now, and the birds of the air have long since found the turret a -convenient nesting-place. The church is but sixteen feet square. The -pulpit is a pew, with panelled sides and door, and the furniture is -of the plainest. Five, narrow, diamond-paned windows throw a scanty -light upon the interior, in which there is accommodation for thirty -persons--quite sufficient for the population of the village. - -[Illustration: (_Photo: H. J. Unwin, Hailsham._) - -LULLINGTON CHURCH. - -(_Sixteen feet square._)] - -A somewhat larger edifice is the very interesting church of -Wythburn, in Cumberland, the dimensions of which are--nave (length), -thirty-nine feet; height of walls, ten feet; and width, fifteen -feet. This was the original church, erected about one hundred and -sixty years ago, and is of the simplest description. The roof is -constructed of old ships' timber, and the windows are square holes -with wooden frames. The chancel is eighteen feet long by fifteen -feet by ten feet. The beautiful little east window is by Henry -Holiday, and was put in to the memory of the late vicar. What -a magnificent site for a church! The poets have thus expressed -themselves with regard to this humble but beautifully situated -church:-- - -Canon H. D. Rawnsley wrote: - - "We cannot stay--for life is but an Inn, - A halfway house--and, lo! the graves how near! - Yet mighty minds have hither come for cheer - Before the upward path they dared begin. - Here Gray the pilgrim rested pale and thin, - Here Wilson laughed, and Wordsworth murmured here. - Here Coleridge mused, and ere he crossed the mere - Hence Arnold viewed the Goal he hoped to win. - And we who would Helvellyn's height essay, - Or climb towards the gateway of the mound - Where Dunmail died because his realm was fair, - May join their gracious company who found - Earth's beauty made Life's Inn a House of Prayer, - And speed, refreshed of soul, upon our way." - -[Illustration: _Wythburn Church as compared with St. Paul's -Cathedral._ - -(_Photo: T. Dumble, Keswick._) - -WYTHBURN CHURCH. - -(_Thirteen yards long, five yards wide._)] - -Wordsworth, too, said: - - "If Wythburn's modest House of Prayer, - As lowly as the lowliest dwelling, - Had, with its belfry's humble stock, - A little pair that hang in air, - Been mistress also of a clock - (And one, too, not hung in crazy plight), - Twelve strokes that clock would have been telling - Under the brow of old Helvellyn." - -And H. Coleridge: - - "Humble it is, and meek, and very low, - And speaks its purpose by a single bell: - But God Himself, and He alone, can know - If spiry temples please Him half so well." - -We have given two instances of very small churches: let us now refer -to a midget chapel. At Crawshawbooth, a village near Burnley, there -is an extremely interesting diminutive place of worship known as -the Friends' Meeting-House, an old-fashioned building covered with -ivy, and environed by a well-cared-for burial ground. It contains -half a dozen oak benches, on which the worshippers sit. Though these -benches are sufficient to provide seating accommodation for about -sixty, the attendance is rarely more than six. John Bright once -worshipped here, walking from Rochdale, a distance of twelve miles. -This quaint little place is naturally regarded with much interest by -visitors. - -It is interesting to point out that there is another Quaker -meeting-house in the hamlet of Jordans, in Buckinghamshire, which -is, if anything, smaller than that already referred to. It has been -called the Shrine of Quakerism, for early in June every year a -gathering of Quakers takes place. Here lie the remains of William -Penn, one of the greatest of Quakers. At a cottage in the vicinity -Milton wrote his "Paradise Lost." - -[Illustration: (_Photo: R. W. Lord, Little Lever, near Bolton._) - -THE FRIENDS' MEETING-HOUSE, CRAWSHAWBOOTH. - -(_Containing six oak benches to accommodate sixty worshippers._)] - -To revert to churches, Kilpeck Church is well worth referring to as -being a lovely little place of worship. The nave is thirty-six feet -by twenty, and the chancel seventeen by sixteen feet ten inches, -the total length being sixty-eight feet and the average breadth -about sixteen feet. It is built upon a Saxon foundation, and Saxon -remains are still to be seen--notably, a "holy-water" stoup that -must be one thousand or eleven hundred years old. It is not possible -to do justice to this beautiful church in a few words, but the -accompanying photograph will give an idea of the quaintness and -beauty of the structure. The sculpture is remarkably interesting. - -[Illustration: (_Photo: Poulton and Sons, Lee._) - -KILPECK CHURCH. - -(_Nave thirty-six feet by twenty._)] - -An article on midget places of worship would be incomplete without a -reference to the little lath-and-plaster church of Essex, consisting -of nave, chancel, and a small turret. Hazeleigh Church, as it is -named, stands in the near vicinity of Hazeleigh Hall--once the -home of the Essex family of the Alleynes, one of whom founded the -College of God's Gift at Dulwich. This little church has thus been -described by the Rev. H. R. Wadmore, sometime curate:-- - - "... A little church beside a wood - Securely sheltered from the sweeping blast; - So quiet, so secure, it seems to be - A very type of rest and all that's still." - -[Illustration: (_Photo: R. D. Barrett._) - -CHILCOMBE CHURCH. - -(_Twelve yards long._)] - -This little church of Hazeleigh, owing to its simple character, -differs but slightly from the roadside cottages. It has been styled -"the meanest church in Essex," owing to its unpretentious character. - -[Illustration: (_Photo: Cassell and Co., Ltd._) - -THE CAVE CHURCH AT LEDAIG, NEAR OBAN. - -(_The most primitive church in the kingdom._)] - -A pleasing little church is that of Chilcombe, near Bridport, -Dorsetshire. Chilcombe is mentioned in the Doomsday Book, and at one -time was the property of the Knight Hospitallers of St. John. The -existing church dates from the thirteenth century. It is in the -Roman style, and possesses a good Norman font. The length of the -nave is twenty-two by fourteen feet, the chancel being thirteen by -eleven feet. The owner of the parish and the patron of the living is -Admiral the Hon. M. H. Nelson. - -[Illustration: GROVE CHURCH, NEAR LEIGHTON BUZZARD. - -(_Capable of seating fifty people._)] - -Another remarkably small church is that of St. Peter, on the Castle -Rise, at Cambridge, its dimensions being twenty-five by sixteen -feet. It is of Norman architecture. - -England by no means possesses all the diminutive churches and -chapels, and a very quaint and interesting church is that of Ledaig, -near Oban. It is unsectarian, and its congregation numbers, on the -average, twenty-five. It was founded by John Campbell, who was more -familiarly known as "The Bard of Benderlock." He converted a natural -cavern in the cliffs of Ledaig into a place of worship. A portion -of a trunk of a tree, on which Robert Bruce is said to have rested, -serves as a table and reading-desk. Trunks of trees around the sides -of the cavern serve as seats for the worshippers. Mr. Campbell -officiated as minister for many years to a band of faithful Highland -worshippers in this curious church. Mr. Campbell was a remarkable -personality. He was postmaster of Ledaig, and he also gained a -considerable reputation as a poet. He was a much respected man, and -his memory is dear to many. - -[Illustration: (_Photo: A. A. Inglis, Edinburgh._) - -ST. MARGARET'S CHAPEL, EDINBURGH CASTLE. - -(_For some time used as a powder magazine._)] - -I would like to refer to a very interesting midget church at -Grove, near Leighton Buzzard, which I had the pleasure of visiting -recently. It is the smallest in the county, and is a gable-roofed, -barn-like fabric, with a door on the north side. In 1883 the little -church was restored throughout, the fine old-fashioned square -pews being replaced by open wooden seats, and it is now capable -of seating about fifty people. Formerly the edifice contained a -"three-decker"--clerk's desk, reading-desk, and pulpit combined. The -churchyard contains many graves, but only one tombstone (eighteenth -century). The dimensions of the church are--length, twenty-nine and -a half feet; width, eighteen feet; height, about forty feet; in -all probability, the church was formerly larger than at present. -Grove is generally considered to be one of the smallest parishes in -England, and one could hardly conceive of a smaller. It consists -practically of a farmhouse and a lock-keeper's cottage. - -[Illustration: ST. ROBERT'S CHAPEL, KNARESBOROUGH. - -(_Showing figure of a Knight Templar cut in the rock._) - -(_Photo: G. E. Arnold, Knaresborough._)] - -We must not forget that at the top of Edinburgh Castle is the -historical diminutive chapel of St. Margaret's, which was the -private chapel of the pious Margaret, Queen of Malcolm III., during -her residence in the castle. Until very recently it had been quite -lost sight of, having been converted into a powder magazine and -fallen into disrepair. In 1853, however, it was "discovered" and -put into an efficient state of repair. It is considered to be -the oldest and smallest chapel in Scotland, its dimensions being -sixteen feet six inches by ten feet sixteen inches. The semicircular -chancel is separated from the nave by a well-carved double-round -arch, decorated with Norman zigzag mouldings. It is too small to be -made available for divine service for the troops quartered in the -castle, and the only use that it is now put to is for occasional -baptisms and morning Communion. - -[Illustration: (_Photo: Cassell and Co., Ltd._) - -SMALL CHURCH AT ST. ANDREW, GREENSTED, NEAR ONGAR. - -(_Believed to include the only remaining portion of a Saxon wooden -church._)] - -There are several very small places of worship which are now, alas! -in ruins. At Iona, for instance, on the west coast of Scotland, -are the remains of an extremely small chapel, known as St. Oran's -Chapel. It is very near Iona Cathedral. It is constructed of red -granite, and its external measurements are sixty feet by twenty-two -feet. It is now roofless, and is very old. This little chapel -is believed to have been built by Queen Margaret in 1080. Its -architecture is Romanesque, and it has one low entrance. This humble -edifice is interesting inasmuch as within its walls is the tomb of -Sir Walter Scott's "Lord of the Isles," the friend of Bruce. - -[Illustration: (_Photo: Cassell and Co., Ltd._) - -DIMINUTIVE CHAPEL AT POINT IN VIEW, NEAR EXMOUTH. - -(_Containing an organ made by the pastor._)] - -There is another tiny barn-like edifice at Greenloaning, near -Dunblane. The little church is situated adjacent to a farmhouse, and -seems to have been erected for the benefit of the farm-workers. It -is remarkably small. The scenery in the vicinity is magnificent, and -the church is regarded with much interest by tourists. - -St. Anthony's Chapel is another small building also in ruins. It is -interesting owing to its historic surroundings, being in the near -vicinity of Holyrood Palace. It comprises a hermitage, sixteen feet -long, twelve feet wide, and eight feet high, and a Gothic chapel -forty-three feet long, eighteen feet broad, and eighteen feet high. - -One of the most remarkable of these little churches is that at -Knaresborough, in Yorkshire, which is a very queer little chapel -elegantly hewn out of the solid rock, the roof being beautifully -ribbed and groined in the Gothic style. At the back of the altar is -a large niche, where an image used to stand, and on one side of it -is a place for the "holy-water" basin. There are also figures of -three heads--designed, it is believed, for an emblematical allusion -to the order of the monks at the once neighbouring priory. Possibly -they were cut by some of the monks. The order was known as Sanctæ -Trinitatis. A few yards away there is another head. It has been -surmised that this is a representation of St. John the Baptist, to -whom the chapel is supposed to be dedicated. There is a cavity in -the floor, in which some ancient relic was rested. The chapel is -ten feet six inches long, nine feet wide, and seven and a half feet -high. Near the entrance is the following inscription:-- - - "Beneath yon ivy's spreading shade, - For lonely contemplation made, - An ancient chapel stands complete, - Once the hermit's calm retreat - From worldly pomp and sordid care, - To humble penitence and prayer; - The sight is pleasing, all agree-- - Do, gentle stranger, turn and see." - -The chapel is known as St. Robert's Chapel. St. Robert, the hermit -who used it for devotions, was born about 1160, and was the son -of Sir Toke Flouris, who was mayor of the city of York. In his -youth he was noted for his piety, and he entered the Cistercian -Abbey of Newminster in Northumberland. He was only there eighteen -weeks, however, removing to York, and then to Knaresborough, where -he retired from the world to live a life of contemplation in this -restful spot. He died in the September of 1218. On one side of the -entrance to the chapel, under the ivy, is the figure of a Knight -Templar, cut in the rock, in the act of drawing his sword to defend -the place from the violence of intruders. This is a queer and -remarkable building, and, though not now used as a place of worship, -the reference here made to it may prove interesting. - -[Illustration: (_Photo: Cassell and Co., Ltd._) - -INTERIOR VIEW OF PERIVALE CHURCH.] - -The cathedral of St. Asaph, in Flintshire, might be mentioned in -this category as being the smallest cathedral in the country. It -is in the shape of a simple cross in plan, consisting of a choir -transept, nave, with five bays with aisles, and a central tower -forty feet square and one hundred feet high. The choir was built in -1867-68 from the designs of the late Sir Gilbert Scott, R.A., and is -of Early English architecture. - -Passing references might also be made to the diminutive church of -Warlingham, in Surrey, which runs the midget church of Wotton in -that county very close; and to Grosmont Church, Monmouth, erected -by Eleanor of Provence, a quaint little structure with an octagonal -tower. There used to be a church known as St. Mildred in the -Poultry, which was removed to Lincolnshire. It formerly occupied a -position in the eastern end of Cheapside, and in 1872 it was taken -to pieces and re-erected at Louth. It is generally considered to be -the smallest church designed by Wren. - -At St. Andrew, Greensted, near Ongar, there is a very small church, -and it is a curiosity, inasmuch as it is believed to be a relic of -the only church of Saxon origin built of wood remaining. - -There is a small chapel at Point in View, near Exmouth. It is -Congregational, and it provides seating accommodation for eighty -persons, and forms one side of a block, the other three sides being -taken up by four little almshouses, each consisting of two rooms -occupied by four elderly maiden ladies. Over the chapel door is this -motto:-- - - "One Point in View - We all pursue." - -The chapel contains a diminutive organ made by the pastor. In the -vicinity there is a peculiar round house, the property of the -Reichel family. It was a member of this family who founded the -chapel and almshouses. - -The little church of St. Nicholas at Hulcote should be mentioned. -It is near Woburn, the seat of the Duke of Bedford. It is rather -difficult to find, at any rate when the foliage is on the trees, -so surrounded is it by them. It was built about the year 1610 by -Richard Chernocke. Its measurements are: length, from the tower to -the chancel step, thirty-nine and a half feet; chancel, eight and a -half feet from step to east; width, sixteen feet three inches. There -are carved oaken panels to many of the seats, and on the north wall, -inside the chancel rails, are some valuable old monuments in memory -of the Chernocke family. It is now between fifteen and twenty years -since the church was used for divine service, but it is still used -for funerals. - -There is a little church, near London, known as Perivale. Although -so near to the great metropolis, it is situated in a peculiarly -lonely district. It lies in the valley of the Brent amid expansive -meadows and hay farms. In 1871 there were only seven houses and -thirty-three inhabitants in the parish. The midget church is -situated at the end of a field near a low, semi-Gothic half-timber -parsonage and a farmhouse. Although somewhat desolate, the spot is -a restful one, and the hill and spire of Harrow in the distance -make the scene pleasing to the eye. The little church is in the -Early Perpendicular style, and consists of a nave, a narrow chancel, -a rough wooden tower with short, pyramidal spire at the west, -and porch on the south-west. The interior presents a well-kept -appearance. The church was restored in 1875. In the windows is some -late fifteenth-century glass containing figures of St. John the -Baptist and St. Matthew, in fairly good condition, and of Mary and -Joseph, which are not so well preserved. - -The prettily situated ivy-clad church of St. Lawrence, Ventnor, -Isle of Wight, is another edifice which might well be described as -a midget church, although some years ago it was found necessary to -enlarge it. The church originally was thirty feet eight and a half -inches long, it is now forty feet eight and a half inches; and its -breadth was formerly eleven feet, whereas it is now twenty feet. -The height to the eaves is about six feet. The architecture is Old -English, but not at all striking. The church dates back to about the -year 1190. - -[Illustration: (_Photo: F. N. Broderick Hyde._) - -THE OLD CHURCH AT ST. LAWRENCE.] - -We have now exhausted our space, but not our subject. There are -other examples of diminutive churches throughout the country, but we -have made a selection of the more interesting ones. However small -the church, the worshippers have this assurance from the Founder of -the Christian religion: "Where two or three are gathered together in -My name, there am I in the midst of them"; and with that quotation -this little article may fittingly be concluded. - - - - -[Illustration: Canon's Daughter] - -THE MINOR CANON'S DAUGHTER - -_THE STORY OF A CATHEDRAL TOWN._ - -By E. S. Curry, Author of "One of the Greatest," "Closely Veiled," -Etc. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -A PREMATURE PROPOSAL. - - -In the Canons' Court, between Mr. Bethune's and the Deanery, lived -Mr. Warde. He was a pleasant man, well off, artistic, musical--and -happy in a life of little work, which left him leisure for his -artistic pursuits. He had a rosy, kind face and plump figure; the -Bethune children, Marjorie included, went to him before anyone else -in times of need. He had often shielded them from offended law. - -It was he who set on foot the literary and drawing guilds, -arranged concerts, and was the universal handy man for games and -social festivities to all the county round Norham. He was about -thirty-five, and had a chivalric devotion to Mrs. Bethune and her -children, since, as a young man, he had first come to Norham. - -Marjorie was so accustomed to this that she did not see what was -manifest to other eyes, on her return from school in Munich. She -took all his kindness as a matter of course, having no more relation -to herself individually than the Bishop's or the Dean's. Since her -return, he had been sedulously pursuing his courtship in every way -that occurred to him. - -This gentleman was standing beside her under the lime-tree at the -top of the garden, where Marjorie could superintend the pursuits of -her two youngest brothers. They were now busily engaged underground. -For a whole week every minute of David's and Sandy's leisure had -been spent in digging a deep hole in the corner of the garden -devoted to their use. Thence, with infinite patience, passages had -been scooped, and the mound of earth thrown up against the wall had -come in useful as a toboggan ground. - -The little boys had received strict orders that morning that all -the earth in the passages of the "cave," which, in a frenzy of -labour, the two schoolboys had burrowed out before breakfast, was -to be removed before their return in the afternoon. As it got -deeper, steps had been conveyed from the house for the descent of -the hole. The utility of division of labour had been impressed upon -the children. Orme was to fill the baskets; Ross, being surer of -his equilibrium, was to carry them up and empty them. If the work -was not done, and done properly, the babies would have to play -elsewhere; no longer would their presence be tolerated by their -elders. - -Marjorie was enjoying a new book, whose alluring cover was fit index -to its contents. Now and then, between the pages, dark eyes looked -at her in a strange and wonderful fashion. When this occurred, she -would lift her own, and gaze dreamily over the currant bushes, her -breath coming quickly, the colour fluctuating in her cheeks. Upon -one such moment Mr. Warde had intruded. - -"I thought I would come in and talk to you about your sonnet, -Marjorie," he said, looking about for a seat. There was nothing -handy except a cleft log--used by the boys as a block for chopping -sticks. On this uncomfortable seat Mr. Warde poised himself. - -[Illustration: The man, looking at her, thought he might take hope.] - -"But that wouldn't be fair, would it?" asked Marjorie. - -"Oh! we judged the poems yesterday. I didn't propose to alter -anything. Mrs. Adeane's is the best, and Lady Esther's next. -But--your usual imagination was wanting this time," he said gently. - -"I thought it was bad--it seemed so prosaic," Marjorie said humbly. -"You see, father's advice always is, not to let imagination go -further than it knows." - -"Have you never imagined, never thought about love?" he asked softly. - -"Often, lately," frankly. "I thought it was a very silly subject to -choose." - -"Not silly, Marjorie. The loveliest poetry has been written about -it, as it is the loveliest subject. Why 'lately'?" he asked. - -"To get ideas. They don't come, if you don't think--not to me, at -least." - -"That way of putting it is new," he said, considering. "Well, -Marjorie, I want you to think of it, to imagine all you can of what -it means--the new brightness, the new beauty it gives to life; -how it transforms all things, even the commonest, so that----" He -paused. Marjorie was looking at him in wonder. - -Was it something in his glance that brought irresistibly back to her -remembrance that look in Mr. Pelham's dark eyes, of which more than -once that afternoon she had been thinking? She coloured brightly, -and her beautiful eyes grew soft. - -"Ah! I see you know what I mean," Mr. Warde said gently. - -"Oh! I don't," said Marjorie confusedly. But the man, looking at -her, thought he might take hope. He went on: - -"It is expressed in all beautiful music, as well as in the best -literature and art. It appeals to everyone, because it is natural to -all, and answers to something in the heart of every one of us. So -you see, Marjorie, knowing you and your gift of imagination, I am -disappointed at this bald little verse." - -"Father says it is dangerous imagining on nothing," Marjorie -replied, plucking up her spirit. "First get facts, absolutely -accurate. Then build on them." - -"Well, Marjorie, don't you realise that the facts are all about -you, that I----Whatever's the matter?" - -A yell broke across the summer air, and Marjorie, springing up, bent -over the edge of the crater-like hole. At the bottom lay Orme, his -basket beside him, its contents upon him. In a second Marjorie had -descended underground, and Mr. Warde was left gazing into space. - -When she emerged, Orme was in her arms, muddy tears bedewing his -cherubic cheeks. "Fall'd," he announced, in a self-pitying tone, to -the visitor. - -Marjorie reseated herself, her little brother's head upon her -breast. As she comforted him, the man observing her grew more in -love than ever. Marjorie, soft and gentle, unconsciously rehearsing -Madonna attitudes, gave him a thrill of delight. Presently the boy, -his conscience uneasy over neglected work, slipped from her knee, -and, with muttered remarks on "er, nasty ground," descended again -into its bosom. - -He had learnt the imprudence of engaging in another man's labour. -Resenting the meaner part of filling the baskets for the more stolid -and surefooted Ross to ascend and empty, he had been promptly -punished for his ambition. His little soul was now sore with the -injustice of things. - -"Er, nasty steps slipped poor Orme," he said to Ross, watching his -careful ascent. - -"You not big anuff," Ross answered importantly. "Go and fill er -basket. Do what David bidded you." - -Meanwhile Mr. Warde had glanced at his watch. Soon, all too soon, -this semi-solitude in which he had been fortunate enough to find -Marjorie would be invaded by the schoolboys. He was no nearer the -end for which he had come, and he could not again drag in Marjorie's -little verse for criticism. She glanced at him, as she drew the -alluring book towards her, and said, not too politely: - -"If you are going to stay, I'll just fetch my work," rising as she -spoke. - -"No, Marjorie, don't go. There's something I specially wished to -say, to talk to you about," he said, becoming a little confused -under her unconscious gaze. Could he, after all, disturb this -serenity by the suggestion of love and marriage? He felt somehow -that the time was not ripe--that they would seem incongruous to her -in connection with himself. And yet, if he did not speak, and be -quick about it, another man might step in. - -"I have had a letter to-day," he said, "offering me a college -living." - -"Have you?" said Marjorie in a not altogether flattering manner, and -looking at him rather as though she were much surprised. She stood -poised, ready to fetch the threatened work; her attitude altogether -an unflattering one to a lover who has just made an important -communication. - -"You won't go, shall you?" she went on, her glance going past him -to the wall which divided the gardens. Over the top big clusters -of the roses in which Mr. Warde delighted nodded gaily, whilst -further on the square face of his house was gay with bloom, amid -which the two lines of windows stared a little baldly. The blind in -each was arranged symmetrically, and in spite of its prim tidiness, -even its outside showed that no loved woman ruled within. From her -neighbour's house Marjorie's eyes jumped to her own home. - -Here there was no symmetry, but its character as a home stood out -plain. The nursery windows, distinguished by their guarding bars, -were wide open, and the blinds drawn to the top, whilst in the three -open windows of her mother's room adjoining the curtains flopped -lazily, and the blinds had been adjusted to the sun. Somehow the -sight and the difference brought a feeling into Marjorie's heart -which had not yet stirred it in connection with Mr. Warde. Hitherto -he had not seemed to her to need pity. But now, when he went -back into his house--away from her and the homely garden, where -vegetables, and currant bushes, and the untidy quarter of the boys, -were of more account than flowers, where little feet pattered, and -boys' voices were never silent--what would he go back to? The blank -windows lit up empty rooms, where no foot but his own stirred. He -would find no companionship but that of his music and his books. -Marjorie never guessed of the visions that peopled his fireside. - -"Shall you go?" she asked, looking at him--then speaking out -suddenly the pity her thoughts had called up: "Won't it be very -lonely?" - -"Very. Sit down please, Marjorie, and listen to me." - -Then, as she complied: "When first I came here, ten years ago, your -father and mother were very kind to me, and I grew so attached to -them and theirs, that I wanted nothing more. I felt no need of the -ties other men have or make, because I had--you." Then his tone -grew tender. "Do you remember how you used to come round and climb -into my study window for your lessons, when the boys began to go to -school? You were a bit forsaken then, Marjorie. And then, when you -were good--as you weren't always--how a little pony accompanied me -on my rides, and then when the pony and the child who rode it had -each grown bigger, one day they both disappeared. The child went -to school, to come back, nearly grown up, with music oozing out of -her fingers' ends. Well, Marjorie" (he had risen, and his face was -paling, his self-control vanishing, as he stood looking down on -her), "I have waited a long time for that little girl--who has yet -seemed always mine--I want her for my wife. Will you go with me, -dear, if I go?" - -Marjorie gazed blankly into his face. "I? Of course, it is -me," she said slowly. "I don't know--I didn't think--how can I -leave--everybody?" her voice faltered. - -She rose suddenly, putting aside the hand that would have stayed -her. There is nothing so cruel as a young thing who has no notion of -her power and of the devotion she has stirred. - -"I didn't think," she said, cuttingly, "that you wanted payment. I -thought--I thought----" And then, not trusting her voice further, -she sprang away from his detaining hand, and fled. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -MARJORIE'S TROUBLE. - - -"Dear Marjorie,--You gave me no answer yesterday, and I am afraid I -took you by surprise, and perhaps shocked you. A girl is a tender -thing, I know. Will you send me just a little line of hope and -forgiveness? I love you--how dearly you cannot guess--and I want you -to be my wife. But I will press nothing against your will, and I -have written 'No' to the offer of that living. I think you will like -to stay near home. Whatever you decide, whether you say 'Yes' or -'No,' believe always that my love is too great to change, and that I -am ever your attached friend,--W. ST. J. WARDE." - - * * * * * - -Marjorie was reading this letter with an expression which certainly -did not augur well for its writer. She had been seeing to household -matters for her mother, and had sat down with an armful of boys' -clothes to mend, when the note had been handed to her. - -"I do not know what to say to him, mother. I wish--oh, I do so wish -he hadn't done it." - -"He is a good man, Margie," her mother said simply. "A man, I think, -to make you happy." - -[Illustration: "He is a good man, Margie."] - -"Happy, mother? I am happy now. What should I do next door? I should -always be running in to see you. And how could you get on without -me?" - -"We shall manage. And next door with Mr. Warde would be so much -nicer than a long way off with someone else. It would scarcely be -losing you." - -"Do you want me to go, mother?" asked Marjorie, struck by her -mother's tone. - -"Not in one sense, dear; but you will go. It is natural for girls to -marry. You will marry, I hope; it is the happiest life, with a good -man you can look up to." - -[Illustration: "You have been very good to my boys," Mrs. Bethune -said.] - -"But do I look up to him? I think we--Charity and I--often laugh at -him." - -"But you can laugh, and yet look up, or life would be very dull. Who -do you go to when you want to know anything that father can't teach -you?" - -"To Mr. Warde," acknowledged Marjorie. - -"And when you want to go anywhere?" - -"Yes; but only because he has a carriage--and we haven't." - -"And when you want to see the picture galleries?" - -"He can go; he always has time. But all that doesn't mean that I -want to marry him," she added. - -"But it is just that. You already look to him for most of your -pleasures. That is a long way towards loving him. You would find him -a very kind husband and friend." - -"Oh! mother, what must I do?" entreated Marjorie, the tears -coming into her eyes. "He has spoilt everything. It is Charity's -garden-party this afternoon, and I shall be so uncomfortable. -Couldn't you go, mother, in your chair?" - -Mrs. Bethune's face changed. - -"I could, dear. Yes, I will go; perhaps it will be difficult for -you." She sighed softly; she was hardly as yet reconciled to her -helplessness in public, in spite of the cheery spirit which enabled -her to bear suffering with such courage. - -Mrs. Bethune's spirit made her the idol and confidante of her boys. -Her fun was unquenched, even when the fire of life would seem to -have gone out for ever; after the terrible fall, when, to save the -infant in her arms, she had laid herself upon her back for life. The -baby--Orme--was found unhurt, folded round, so it seemed, by the -broken body of his mother. Ross, the most thoughtful, she averred, -of her six sons, once said to her: - -"Mummie, you do laugh mor'n anybody. Is it 'cos you can't walk?" - -"Yes, little son, perhaps it is; to make up, you know." - -And Sandy, butting his bright head into her knees one day, -inconsolable about something, was won to laughter by, "Sandy, laugh! -Look at me!"--and he had looked. And the irresistible witchery -of the beautiful dark eyes had cured his woe. She was always the -sunshiny centre of the house, and only her husband, or Marjorie in -rare moments, guessed how sometimes the bright spirit quailed. - - * * * * * - -The Dean was popular in the county. When Mr. Pelham came into the -Deanery garden somewhat late, he found Mrs. Bethune's chair under -the chestnut trees, a centre of laughter and conversation. Marjorie -was standing by her mother, with a wistful look on her face, he -thought at first sight, wondering at its expression. Love, when -presented first to a girl brought up as Marjorie had been, comes -as a great shock. That it should be Mr. Warde of all men who -should cause her this disquiet filled Marjorie with a sense of the -unsatisfactoriness of the world. It disturbed things that had seemed -to her as settled as the hills round Norham that this old friend -should want to be her lover. - -Before going to the Deanery she had sent a little note in answer to -his letter, in which she had said-- - -"There is nothing to forgive. But you must not think of me like this -any more. You have always been so kind to all of us that it grieves -me to say 'No' to anything you want. Still, it must be 'No.'" - -She hoped he would not be present at the Deanery. It was his turn of -duty at the cathedral. She would bring her mother away early, before -he arrived. The afternoon was quite spoilt for her. - -And then Mr. Pelham had come up, and she had introduced him to her -mother with a tremulousness and agitation quite unlike her usual -serenity. - -"You have been very good to my boys," Mrs. Bethune said gratefully. - -"Your boys have been very good to my little girl," he answered, -admiring the delicate beauty of the face, scarcely looking older -than the unquiet one of the tall daughter beside her. - -"They're very enterprising," their mother said. "I hope she will not -come to any harm with them. They're apt to give us surprises." - -"I wonder if you will give me some advice about her," he went on, -drawn by some magic in the dark eyes to appeal to their owner for -sympathy, "if I may consult you. It is about clothes," he said, -smiling. "My nurse is kind and careful, but surely a baby in the -country does not really need expensive dresses from a Regent Street -outfitter. I should be so grateful if you would tell me where you -get those pretty things your little boys always look so nice in." - -"Even when they are grubby?" laughed the mother. "I do not know -where they could be bought. My nurse, and Marjorie, and I make them." - -"Then, if you do, surely my nurse ought to have time. I do not like -my baby's over-dressed look; at least, white satin seems to be out -of keeping with mud-pies and digging. She is great on digging just -now." - -"Quite so," said Mrs. Bethune. "If you will send your nurse down to -see me, I will have a talk with her." - -The Duchess of Norham, a very great person indeed now came up to -greet Mrs. Bethune. She was not one who troubled about dress. -To-day, in her grey silk, and round hat, she was the most plainly -dressed woman on the Deanery lawn. Charity, by her side, was an -effective contrast, in soft, shimmering pink. - -"Glad to see you out again, my dear," she said to Mrs. Bethune. "And -this is your girl come back to you--grown past all knowledge. I hear -wonders about her music," kindly. "Charity, may I take her away for -a few minutes, presently? I want to hear this music Mr. Warde extols -so. Where is he?" looking round. - -Marjorie's cheeks, in spite of her usual self-control, turned -scarlet. But the Duchess's gaze was arrested by the look on Mr. -Pelham's face. He, still standing with a hand on Mrs. Bethune's -chair, was looking at Marjorie with a surprised appeal in his -expression, as if he, too, was wondering at her sudden flush. - -"Oh!" thought the Duchess, "I imagined it was Charity. Was I -mistaken then? Not about the girl, if those rosy cheeks are to be -trusted." - -"Why isn't Mr. Warde here?" she asked of Marjorie, who, in obedience -to her gesture, turned with her towards the house. - -"He is at the cathedral. It is his week." - -And the Duchess thought she guessed rightly the reason of the -agitation she detected in Marjorie's voice. - -"The Blackton man will be unsuccessful," she settled. "But Charity -is pretty enough to console him, and it will be a good marriage for -them both." - -This great lady was never more happy than when arranging marriages -amongst her friends. - -Marjorie did not dream how her sudden flush had betrayed her, and -forgot lovers and the difficulties they caused when she sat down -to the piano. But perhaps it was the perplexity in her mind that -conveyed itself to the listener, through the plaintive melody ending -in a staccato phrase which fell from her fingers. - -The Duchess sat at a little distance, viewing with approval the -delicate face, framed in its bright hair. - -[Illustration: "Hush! Barbe, don't call!" entreated Sandy.--_p. -168_.] - -"Good, pure, true, and strong," she settled; "and," as a sudden -conviction struck her, "she is beautiful, like her mother was ten -years ago. Dressed"--her thoughts following along the same way as -Charity's--"well, she would be a success. She is wasted on Mr. -Warde. Shall I interfere?" - -She was so deep in thought, working out a sudden plan, that she did -not notice when Marjorie ceased playing. - -Marjorie, glancing at her, asked softly-- - -"Was that too sad? Shall I try something else?" - -But in a moment the Duchess rose briskly, and put her hand kindly on -Marjorie's shoulder. - -"No, my dear. I shouldn't like that spoiled by anything else. Mr. -Warde is right. You have a gift. But a girl like you should not be -sad or--or perplexed. Forgive an old woman. Is something troubling -you?" - -Marjorie looked up into the keen eyes above her. - -"Not troubling," she hesitated, "only things are sometimes -perplexing." - -As she spoke her eyes travelled to the window, through which came -the sound of low-voiced chatter and delicate laughter. The older -woman, looking at the girl, saw a sudden arrested look come into her -eyes and, following their direction, was again puzzled. Charity, -standing by Mrs. Bethune's chair, was smiling up into Mr. Pelham's -face. She had the manner of one who is pleased, and who wishes -to please, and her pretty daintiness of pose and dress was very -attractive. Mr. Pelham's whole attention, as he conversed, was given -to her. In his courteous attitude were expressed, in the eyes of the -two lookers-on, both deference and admiration. - -"That girl has grown very pretty," the Duchess said, "and Mr. Pelham -seems to think so. He is quite an acquisition here, though I am -amused to hear you sniffed at him at first." - -"Yes," agreed Marjorie, a little pang at her heart. - -The keen eyes travelled back again to Marjorie's face. - -"But your mother was prettier than any of you. The sweetest, -merriest creature ever seen, with you babies at her feet. I am glad -to see her so much better, able to do even this little, poor soul, -poor soul!" - -The sudden tears welled up into Marjorie's eyes at the appreciation -and tenderness of the tone. - -"And, my dear--forgive an old woman again--but I think I have -guessed Mr. Warde's hopes for a long time, and he is a good man. -There, there"--as Marjorie's face grew agitated--"nothing could have -happened better. Your mother will have you at hand, and though she -is so unselfish and brave, she has missed you sadly; and there is -plenty of money." - -Marjorie listened in silence, with a feeling as though chains were -being bound round her. As she walked back by the Duchess's side to -her mother's chair she strove in vain to recall her courage. In the -eyes of the man who watched her, as she came towards him, the shadow -on her face had deepened with that little excursion into the house. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -A MIDNIGHT VISIT. - - -The boys had seized the opportunity of the attention of their elders -being engaged elsewhere to get into mischief. Although they had -made so much fuss about their right of way to school, it was not -the only way they used. They had, in fact, several ways. One was -by train to Baskerton, a village on the river five miles away, and -thence, by lanes and the parks, home. This, however, required time -and the absence of authorities. Another way was through Easton and -the parks, up the course of the little stream, which at one point -nearly touched the Court gardens. In this stream, its shallow waters -splashing up against their ankles, the boys were walking, and the -baby was prancing between them. - -"Should we take Barbe with us?" David had asked, pausing on the -Green. - -"If we can get her," Sandy had replied. - -The boys reconnoitred, and the piercing whistle, which set the baby -all a-quiver with expectation, sounded through the garden. - -"There then, go!" said nurse somewhat crossly, as Barbe began to -stamp; and she went. Her education was proceeding apace. Her father -sometimes listened aghast at the things which, in her baby prattle, -she reported herself to have done. - -"See, Barbe, there's a rat!" Sandy said eagerly, as a flop and a -splash made them jump. "See, it's swimmin' away." - -"'Wimmin' away," said the baby, stooping to look, her two hands -on her two knees, and the front of her frock sailing on the water -before her. - -"Oh, Barbe, you're all wet!" David said, as they landed, and -strolled up the field. - -"Wet!" she echoed delightedly. "Foots--f'ock!" - -"You'll have to be dried." - -"I know," said Sandy cheerfully; "we'll dry you by the Bishop's -fire--almost sure to be a fire." - -But the study window, to which they crept warily by sheltered ways, -was shut. The Bishop was absent. - -"Now what's to be done?" said David. - -"I know where there's a fire," Sandy said. "Was this morning, 'cos -of that lead. Let's take her to the little room." - -Again they slipped by leafy ways out of the Palace garden into the -cathedral yard. The baby's wet skirts flopped round her, and David -lifted her into his arms. - -The approach of Mrs. Lytchett, returning from the Deanery in -unwonted bravery of attire, prompted them to seek refuge behind a -tomb. Here it took the boys' whole attention to prevent Barbe's -chatter drawing unwished-for notice upon them. - -"Hush! Barbe, don't call!" entreated Sandy. - -"Barbedie good girl," announced the baby in a loud voice, lifting -herself on tip-toe to see the passer-by. - -Mrs. Lytchett's ears were good, and, besides, she felt certain at -this point that her eyes had seen something fluttering. She stepped -off the pathway, and examined a tomb near. - -"Hush!--sh--sh!" cautioned David, holding up his finger to his -mouth--a movement which so pleased Barbe that she proceeded to copy -it. - -Mrs. Lytchett passed on; the danger was over. David lifted up the -baby and carried her into a little octagon room near by, built in -the wall of the cathedral, and used frequently as a workroom or -office. - -Here the boys were at home. It was the head-quarters of their -greatest friends--the masons engaged on the renovations always in -progress at the cathedral. - -In the grate were the slowly dying embers of a fire, and the room -was empty. - -"Mr. Galton ain't locked up yet, knowed he wouldn't," said Sandy. -"He likes his tea punctual--'spects it's time. Now, Barbe, come an' -get done." - -Whilst David was holding the baby to the fire, Sandy disappeared, -presently returning with an excited face. - -"They've nearly done," he said. "It's prime up there. Seems to me, -we'd best settle as soon as possible." - -"This baby won't get dry," said David, gloomily. "Just look at her!" - -"I know," said Sandy, regarding the bedraggled Barbe. "We'll take -it off an' leave it here. An' I'll fetch her somefink. Sure to be -somefink stored in Margie's basket--know Orme made holes in himself -last week." - -So it happened that it was a little blue girl--clad in one of Orme's -shabbiest overalls--who met Mrs. Bethune's returning chair, and was -lifted to her knee for a "yide." - -"But what has happened? where are her own clothes?" Mrs. Bethune -asked, recognising the substitute. - -"We thought they were just a little damp," said Sandy in -explanation, climbing up the back of the chair to kiss his mother. - -"Good boy, Sandy!" said his mother, "to take care of her." - -"But how did they get damp?" asked Marjorie suspiciously. - -"Just a little water p'raps got on them," he replied, feeling the -tone unkind after his mother's praise. - -"Then you have been in mischief?" asked Marjorie. - -"Barbedie walked in er water," the baby replied, as if she had been -doing a good work. - -"You shouldn't have let her," Mrs. Bethune said caressingly. - -"Barbe don't want lettin'," answered Sandy philosophically. "She -does wivout." - - * * * * * - -The sweets of mischief whetted the boys' appetites for more. They -applied themselves with zeal to a work they had in hand, and for the -next few days little was seen of them. - -One evening they were standing in a disused corner of the Palace -grounds, under the ruined window of the old banqueting hall, which -formed part of the wall enclosing the gardens of the modern wing of -the house. The corner where they stood was immediately adjoining the -wall of their own garden, and was part of an overgrown shrubbery -between the ruins and the parks. - -Both boys were exceedingly dirty. Faces, capless heads, fingers, -clothes, all bore traces of the underground work from which they had -just emerged. They had burrowed from their cave, and were mightily -pleased at their point of exit. No place could be more secluded, -nor less likely to be discovered. And from the ruined wall close -by, under the shelter of a spreading elder, they were able to drop -easily either into the cathedral yard or the Bishop's garden. - -"Now the game begins. We've got a base of operations," said David -grandly. - -"How much?" asked Sandy. - -"What you work from, and what you fall back upon, if you get -besieged. And it's a good base too," he added, looking round. "We've -got to make this passage hard and firm, and then hide it from that -prying gardener." - -"An' we can pay back Mrs. Lytchett," said Sandy with joy. - -"How?" - -"Oh, I know! She just hates us going to the Bishop's window. He told -me he'd just got a new tin of gingerbread, an' now we can get in -wivout goin' through the gate. She's made that gate so it clicks." - -"But you mustn't let her see." - -"Not me! If she comes, we'll just run round the house, and she'll -fink we've come back way. And then she'll run round to catch us, an' -we shan't be there." - -Sandy spoke with the certainty of much experience, as, indeed, he -had a right to do. - -"Our character is all gone," David said thoughtfully, "so it don't -much matter how bad we are." - -"No, s'long as it ain't wicked bad. We'll be highwaymen, but we -won't be thieves and robbers." - -"We can get into the cathedral, too," suggested David. - -And then, with minds full of revolution and anarchy, the boys bent -earnestly to the preliminary work of making their passage secure. - -"Ross and Orme, you're never to go along there without us," David -said to his young brothers, when he had wriggled back to the cave -whence his passage started. Now their services were no longer -needed, they were felt to be rather nuisances. - -"If you do, you'll get smacked right hard," said Sandy. - -Both children fixed round eyes on their elders, unable to understand -this sudden change. They were dismayed at its injustice. For some -days they had been treated with indulgent kindness, all their faults -overlooked, so long as they did diligent work. They were cleaned -when possible, and consoled when their dirty appearance awoke wrath -in the powers responsible for them. Now, it seemed, all was changed. -There was no mistaking Sandy's attitude, as he stood ready to -administer the smacks alluded to. Nor were David's frowning brows -more encouraging. - -Ross tried argument. "We'se scooped, too," he said. "We'se got -dirty, ever so," he added. - -"Ever so," echoed Orme. - -"No matter! You kids must do as you're bid, and if ever you go a -step along there you'll catch it. See?" said David. And the infants, -with moody brows, averred that they saw. - -By this time the hole which formed the entrance to the cave was much -improved. The wooden steps had been replaced by a flight of mud -steps, the making of which had been a joy, not only to the boys, -but to the baby. They had required water as well as mud in their -making--endless paddlings and pattings and treadings down of little -feet before the staircase was complete. David had engineered the -proceedings, and Mr. Warde, now and then hovering about the top, had -conferred advice. He was not encouraged to descend. The boys wanted -no prying grown-ups to mar their schemes. Marjorie, now and then, -had suspicions that some extra mischief was afloat. Never before had -she known them to stick to anything for so long. But she recollected -the fascination of caves and holes, and was, besides, much engaged -with her own concerns. - -[Illustration: =The Bishop and the boy.=--_p. 170._] - -One evening the Bishop, on leaving the drawing-room, had gone to -his study. It had been a wet day, and the rain had finished in -a thunderstorm an hour or so before, leaving the sky washed and -pellucid under the summer moon. - -The shutters had been closed and a little fire lighted; but -presently, finding the room warm, the Bishop opened the window, and -stood gazing over the wide lawn which occupied the space between the -house and the ruins. - -The delicate tracery of the ruined window of the banqueting hall, -and the many unevennesses of the walls, stood out black against the -sky. Every object on the lawn--every bush and tree and flower--was -sharply distinct. - -As he looked, his eye caught a movement among the distant shrubs. -Some small object was advancing along the gravelled walk surrounding -the lawn. Presently, as if attracted by the light, it turned off the -pathway on to the lawn, in a bee-line for the window. - -The Bishop stood watching, wondering a little, when the object -resolved itself first into a small boy, and then into Sandy Bethune. - -"Why, Sandy!" he exclaimed, "how did you get here?" - -"Is it the middle of the night?" asked Sandy in his usual cheerful -way. - -"Nearly. It's half-past eleven. Good gracious! What have you been -doing?" - -For, on approaching the light, Sandy was seen to be covered with mud -and otherwise much disarrayed. - -Sandy considered. He was in a deep fix--so deep a one as to threaten -the upheaval and overthrow of some well-laid plans, just on the -point of being carried out. The Bishop was an understanding man. -Sandy had confided in him before, and knew his worth. If only -Mrs. Lytchett did not live at the Palace, and spoil everything, -Sandy would have been quite willing to share that residence with -the Bishop. He had once told the Bishop so, artlessly asking when -Mrs. Lytchett was going away to live elsewhere. The Bishop, on his -side, found the children of his friend very charming, specially -so irrepressible Sandy; and was ready to be lenient when their -peccadilloes were in question. He now invited Sandy in, despite the -muddy covering which encased him from head to foot. Sitting down, he -began to question him gravely. - -"What is it, Sandy? Why are you in such a mess?" - -Sandy sat down on a little stool, as if glad to present his small -person to the fire, and said, "It's the bovering funderstorm. We'd -never thought of that. An' we got caught, an' had to take shelter, -an' when we got back our way was bunged up--all squashy with mud. -An' we hadn't got no spades nor fings out with us. So at last I said -I would go and scout--you know--an' then I saw you." - -"Who's 'we'?" asked the Bishop. - -"Me an' David." - -"And how did you get into my garden?" - -"Oh, over the wall. We're highwaymen, and we've got a way of our -own." - -"Indeed. And where's David now?" - -"Oh, he's over there, all muddy, tryin' to clean himself. He's a -deal worse than me," said Sandy cheerfully. - -"He must indeed be bad, then. What do you propose to do?" - -"That's it. We can't get back to the pantry window now our way's -gone," said artless Sandy. "Not in at all, not wivout knockin' at -the door. I did think p'raps"--persuasively--"you cud come and -knock." - -"I see. And then?" - -"Then, when you was talkin' to father, we cud slip in. Don't fink -father would see--not to notice." - -"How long have you been highwaymen?" the Bishop asked. - -"On'y about a week--and this is a sickener," said Sandy disgustedly. -"We was ghosts for a bit at first--till a woman screeched so we -nearly got caught, stupid fing!" - -And the Bishop, remembering certain reports that had been made to -him, was pleased with his acumen in refusing to call in the police. - -"If I were you, I should try a better line of business," he -said. "Ghosts frighten silly women, and highwaymen are not very -creditable, on the whole." - -"Yes," agreed Sandy. "We're goin' to. Next we're goin' to be -pioneers and settlers." - -"Ah, I see. And where are you going to settle?" - -Sandy's bright eyes were turned suspiciously to the kind ones -looking down upon him. He fidgeted uneasily, and a smile came across -the Bishop's face. - -"I see," he said. "Perhaps you have not yet made up your minds." - -Sandy looked uncomfortable. "Not 'zactly," he confessed. "Truth is, -it depends--I don't fink Dave would like me to tell. It's such a -grand plan," he went on enthusiastically, "it 'ud be such a pity----" - -"To have it spoilt. Well, don't get into more mischief than you can -help," the Bishop cautioned, "and don't do anything to make your -mother uneasy." - -"Mother? Oh, mother'll laugh--she always does. You see, the bother -is," confided Sandy, "there ain't no places to pioneer--every bit's -taken. An' we've on'y just thought on it; an' it's splendid. We -want a girl badly, though. Margie? No, Margie's no good. Settlers -has wives an' squaws," went on Sandy pensively, "and we've on'y got -Barbe lately, an' she's aw'fly little. 'Sides, you have to take such -care on her--she's the on'y one Mr. Pelham's got. There's a lot of -us, but mother says she cudn't spare not the littlest bit of one. So -much less him his one, an' such a little one. It's a 'sponsibility," -sighed Sandy, "when you want to do fings." - -Through the open window came the musical sound of the chimes from -the cathedral. The Bishop, with a quick sigh, rose. - -"There is a quarter to twelve. Your father will be going to bed. -Fetch David quickly." - -"Should fink he's cleaned by now," said Sandy hopefully. "He was -rubbin' himself wiv the leaves off the trees--drippin' wet." - -Mr. Bethune opened his front door in response to a low knocking, -which at first he did not hear. His eyes had the unseeing, far-away -look in them of a man disturbed in a possessing line of thought. The -red light in the hall shone on the face of the Bishop, who entered -and stood on the doormat for a minute, in such a position as to -shield the entrance of the two muddy boys. - -"Here is the _Guardian_ for you," he said, "with a very appreciative -notice of your paper." Then he went on, "And tell Marjorie to-morrow -morning not to be too cross with the state of the boys' clothes. -They've been in mischief, but it won't happen again--not the same -sort." - -[Illustration: The father pretended not to hear the scuffling of -small feet.] - -The two men looked at one another and laughed, and the father -pretended not to hear the scuffling of small feet upon the stairs. -The Bishop went home with no weight on his conscience--only a little -pathetic envy of the man he had just left. Somehow those stifled -scufflings up the stairs had gone straight to the depths of his very -tender and lonely heart. - - * * * * * - -"The Bishop knows all 'bout it," excused Sandy sturdily, when -confronted by Marjorie the next morning. - -"The Bishop knows that all your clothes are in the bath, with both -taps running!" - -"Well, he does," Sandy repeated, "proberly. He said we were the -out-an'-outest dirtiest little grubs he'd ever seen." - -"That you are--no one will contradict him. But he couldn't know that -your clothes were in the bath." - -"Yes, he would. If they were so dirty, where else could they be? -It's all that 'gustin' funderstorm." - -"Thunderstorm!" echoed Marjorie suspiciously. "That was at ten -o'clock. What has that got to do with your clothes and the Bishop?" - -"Tell you it has. You'd best ask him, if you don't b'lieve me," said -Sandy, hurt at her unbelief. "Anyhow, he does know that they was -dirty. An' just cos we want to save trouble an' wash 'em ourselves, -you're cross an' spiteful. Girls are no good--'cept little uns. -What's there to put on? Best be somefink old, cos there's a deal of -diggin' to be done." - -"I shall stop that digging if you make such a mess of yourselves." - -"You'd best not," said David meaningly, from his bed in the further -corner. "If you do, you'll be sorry," he said darkly. - - END OF CHAPTER SIX. - - - - -[Illustration: Three Songs of Birth] - -Three - -Songs of Birth - -A - -_Christmas_ - -_Sermon_ - -By the Rev. Hugh Miller, M.A. - - "Suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host - praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth - peace, good will toward men."--ST. LUKE ii. 13, 14. - - -Three times are we told in Scripture that the angels sang. At the -birth of the world, when the foundations of the earth were laid, the -morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. -When Jesus was born into the world a multitude of the heavenly host -praised God and said, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth -peace, good will toward men." And when anyone is born again there is -joy among the angels in heaven over the sinner that repenteth. The -subject of the song in each case is the same: the leading _motif_ of -them all is man. - -Man, to begin with, was God's chief end in creation, and the angels -sang not so much because a new world had been made, but rather -because a new being akin to themselves was put into it, to whom -they might minister and with whom they might co-operate in the -doing of God's most holy will; and this season comes to remind us -of our inherent dignity in God's sight, of the noble ideal He has -formed for us, of the value He sets on those whom He sent His Son -to seek and to save. As God made us and as He intends us to be, we -are not a little higher only than the animals, we are rather only -"a little lower than the angels." He has crowned us with glory and -honour and set us over the work of His hands. He has put all things -under our feet. The material universe was made for man, to be his -home, to develop his powers, to be a test and discipline of his -moral character. I refuse to be reduced to the same rank, or to be -placed in the same order, as the beasts that perish. Remembering the -angels' first song, I assert my supremacy. - -And man is most of all supreme because God has given him the freedom -to choose the objects of his life, and the means by which he can -secure them. Sun, moon and stars are bound by laws which they cannot -transgress. The movements of the animals are guided by impulses -and instincts over which they have no moral control. To man alone -belongs the power of refusing to bow before God's greatness and of -disobeying God's commands. Man only has this sovereignty; but his -sovereignty led to his servitude, and the chains that bound him were -forged by an angel who fell before man's fall. - -If, then, all the angels worshipped and adored when man was made -with the great gift of free choice, how must the holy ones that -remained after the first and great apostasy have grieved when the -fallen angels took man along with them in their fall! For because of -man's disobedience God's idea in making man seemed to be thwarted -and the peace and good will to which he was called appeared no -longer possible. Instead of being the master of creation, he was now -to a large extent its unhappy victim. - -We know from hints thrown out here and there in Scripture with what -absorbing interest the angels followed the plans of God to bring -order once more out of the chaos caused by sin, and the effort He -put forth to create a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth -righteousness. No wonder, then, that when the fulness of the time -was come, and God sent His Son, made of a woman, made under the -law to redeem man, the angels should have sung a second time, and -anticipated for man at last a happy time of peace and good will. - -The angels had a clear perception of the purpose of Christ's coming. -One of the chief of them said to Joseph, "Thou shalt call His name -JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins." And they all -sang when He came, because they knew that God was now dealing in a -special and most effective way with that dark thing which cast its -shadow on heaven as well as on earth. And it becomes us to remember -that it is the sin of man which in the mind of God and His holy -angels is associated with the coming of Jesus Christ. To this end -was He born, and for this cause came He into the world. - -The sin of our first parents had passed on from generation to -generation, and each one of the millions of mankind had to say, -"Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive -me"; and each fulfilled in his own life all too truly the sad -promise of his birth. How was the tradition to be broken, and yet -broken by one who really belonged to the race? The instincts of man -himself foreshadowed the truth. Stories of a virgin birth here and -there discernible in paganism show the deep intuition which was -realised in Jesus Christ. He came into the world to fight with sin, -to redeem a race steeped in a terrible heritage of evil, and that He -might redeem it He Himself was born, and yet was free from evil. - -He fought sin and He conquered it. Why, then, has the angels' song -not been fulfilled? Why does sin still cast its shadow on earth and -heaven alike? Why does God's loving purpose in sending His Son seem -still to suffer so wide defeat? Because in his recovery as in his -fall, man's will must play its part. I can only be saved from sin -when I _will_ to be saved; I only become a partaker of the benefits -which Christ brought from heaven to earth when, yielding to the -inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I turn with full accord to Jesus -Christ as my Saviour. Marvel not, therefore, that we say to you with -peculiar emphasis on the day in which Christ was born, "Ye must be -born again." Otherwise, His birth is of no avail to you and me. We -are not honouring Him, we are putting Him rather to an open shame, -if we keep out of our thoughts at this time the supreme purpose of -His coming, if we are not personally dealing with Him even now as to -the burden and guilt of our sin. - -But we can set the angels a-singing in the sky, and the melody of -their music can be felt in our own hearts, if we turn in lowly -penitence to Him who came to save His people from their sins, and to -quicken them to a new life of righteousness and peace and joy. Only -when a man comes to himself in lowly penitence, and then goes to his -Father with a lofty faith, does he enter into the full purpose of -his manhood; and only then, also, is there not only joy among the -angels in heaven over the sinner that thus repenteth, but there is -music and dancing on the earth as well, and the old life ends in -which sin reigned, and the new begins in which Christ reigns; and -His reign means "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, -good will to men." - -"There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." - - - - -O Wondrous Night! - -A NEW CHRISTMAS CAROL. - - - _Words by_ ARTHUR BRYANT. _Music by_ CHARLES BASSETT. - - 1. O wondrous night! O wondrous night! we fain would tell - The news the Angel told; - The holy vision which befel - The Shepherds by their fold. - With fear they saw, with gladness heard - The heav'nly minstrelsy, - With hope each trembling heart was stirred - At that sweet harmony: ... - "We bring good news Which ne'er shall cease; - To God be praise, to God be praise, - On earth be peace." - - 2. O wondrous sight! O wondrous sight for simple swains, - With hasty steps who sped; - The music of those joyous strains - To that poor manger led. - With awe they gazed on Christ the Lord - Amid that happy throng, - And Israel at His feet adored, - Taught by the Angels' song: ... - "We bring good news, - Which ne'er shall cease; - To God be praise, to God be praise, - On earth be peace." - - 3. O wondrous night! they homeward turned - To where their flocks did lay, - And sang the song they late had learned - To cheer them on their way. - The timid dawn began to peer - Across the dewy wold; - Their lips in accents loud and clear - The gladsome tidings told: - "We bring good news," &c. - - 4. O wondrous sight, that God should live - In robe of flesh for man! - O wondrous Love, Himself to give - When closed His mortal span! - Sing, O ye skies! be joyful, earth! - Ye winds, bear o'er the seas - The news of blessèd Jesu's birth, - And those sweet harmonies: - "We bring good news," &c. - - - - -THE HOUSE COMFORTABLE. - -By Lina Orman Cooper, Author of "The House Beautiful," Etc. - - -The House Beautiful must needs be also the House Comfortable, if -we take true loveliness to consist of perfect fitness for service. -Thoroughness is the keynote of each. In order to strike it we -must have entered heart and soul into Ruskin's translation of St. -Ursula's Room. Carpaccio himself painted the useful in the beautiful -in this famous picture. From the princess's book, set up at a slope -fittest for reading, to the shelf which runs under the window, -providing a place to put things on--from a silver lamp on the white -wall to the little blue slippers beside her bed, each detail ensures -comfort of the first quality. - -Comfort is a thing quite apart from fashion. So it is easier to -indicate the road which leads to the House Comfortable than it -was to point out details in the House Beautiful. We most of us -agree about the essentials required for real comfort: chairs upon -which you can sit fearlessly; beds which rest and do not bruise; -arms that support without cramping; pokers that bend not; strong -tables and sharp knives, these are a sample of the things I mean. -But true comfort depends on more than surface surroundings. It is -indissolubly linked with attention to detail. The houses to which -guests return time after time is the one in which soap is never -absent from its tray, and where pillows are not only covered with -frilled slips, but also stuffed with down and interlined with soft -covering in place of waxed ticking. - -I would say, first of all, that the House Comfortable must stand -in a sunny situation. This ensures warmth and light, without which -our bodies are ill-nourished and miserable. "Where the sun never -comes the doctor does" is a much-to-be-quoted proverb. We cannot all -live exactly where we like. Circumstances of business, and means, -generally determine locality. But common-sense must guide us in the -selection of our houses. If we would be really comfortable, we must -live in light, dry, airy, and clean homes. Never take a house on -the sole recommendation of its pretty appearance. To have a really -beautiful house we must first see that it is essentially built for -comfort. The really useful and good is generally ornamental, for -it possesses the realistic beauty of _fitness_. A north and south -aspect for the chief sitting rooms, with east and west windows, -secures both sunshine and shade. We want afternoon coolness as well -as morning light. If our apartment looks towards the sun rising, -heavy curtains should be ready to draw when east wind rages. A stick -to effect this noiselessly is a small boon much appreciated. If our -casement faces the golden gates of the west, no such protection -is called for. But all windows should have double blinds--white -outside, to absorb heat, and dark inside, to veil the sun when -necessary. The comfort of lying in bed, facing a dark green blind -can only be estimated by those who have reluctantly been disturbed -by the too early shafts of the god Phoebus. - -There should be a triple water supply in the House Comfortable; -ewers always filled from the soft-water pump. Every well and tank -should be tested ere we take up residence. Pure water, and plenty -of it, is essential to the health (and therefore comfort) of every -household. It should be perfectly clear and bright, and free from -taste or smell. Yet impurity may lurk even in the most sparkling -water. Therefore science must decide as to its desirability. If -only iron or lime water is procurable, jars of lump ammonia, or a -bottle of cloudy liquid ammonia, a bag of oatmeal or a bundle of -bran should lie on every washstand. The hot-water boiler not only -supplies unlimited baths, but may be devised to heat the house. In -every Canadian home a stove in the cellar warms the rooms above -by means of drums and fans. We might do much the same in England -with our hot-water pipes. These should certainly run through the -linen-press and clothes cupboards, and terminate in bathroom -spirals. On these, towels and rough sheets could be dried and -aired. A face cloth always warm is one of the luxuries in our House -Comfortable. - -After sanitation, ventilation takes its place in the home. -How to secure a constant supply of fresh air is a question -which demands most serious consideration. In ages past, houses -were unintentionally ventilated by the ill-fitting doors and -window-frames, wide chimneys, and open fire-places. But in our -modern buildings comfort is secured by almost air-tight doors and -windows. Ventilators at the top of such are delightful and necessary -for real comfort, or a Queen Anne casement may have a swing in its -upper frame. It is not always easy, however, to secure exemption -from draught in our modern mansions. When the brick-and-mortar fiend -has placed door, window, and fireplace exactly opposite each other, -screens must be judiciously used. A brass rod from which hangs a -curtain, screwed into the door jamb and suspended by a tiny chain -from the ceiling, is a good thing, or an ordinary _portière_ may be -allowed. The former plan, however, enables us to keep the door open -without feeling a wind. - -Padded stair-carpets secure noiseless ascent in the House -Comfortable. Cork mats by the big bath are welcome to bare feet. -Many cupboards are a necessity. A place for everything and -everything in its place is one of the initial rules for everyone's -comfort. It is also Divine law. Hanging presses, medicine cupboards, -butler's pantry, housemaid's closets, keep dresses from dust, -poisons from the unwary, silver and glass intact, and brushes unworn. - -The House Comfortable must not be over-servanted. Neither must it -be undermanned. Of the two evils, the latter is preferable, as the -mistress herself then looks after the minutiæ of her house. With all -deference to Matthew Prior, comfort does not flow on a line with -ignorance. It requires a cultivated intelligence to provide such in -our homes. - -Education has done much for us on this point. How not to do it -in the House Comfortable is exemplified by the abodes of our -forefathers. Going over Beaumaris Castle the other day, I noted -the small apertures for exit; the high caverns of chimneys; the -windows of horn; the crooked stairs. Nowadays we find stoves and -slow combustion grates quite a necessity for comfort--whilst lofty -ceilings, broad staircases, and wide windows can be quite as -picturesque, and are far more to be desired. - -The dictionary definition of the word "comfort" implies enlivenment -and capability for dispensing bodily ease. For this, moral qualities -are as necessary as well-planned, well-equipped houses. - -Punctuality, for instance, is an ingredient required to secure a -comfortable home. - -When breakfast and dinner are movable feasts, served up at the whim -of a lie-a-bed or a gad-about, they can only be make-believes, -after all. Cold coffee is unpalatable even when partaken of in a -sunny room. Whitey-brown sausages are unappetising unless piping -from the pot. Yet this--like all other virtues--may be strained -too far. Nothing is more uncomfortable than to feel no latitude is -allowed to a weary guest, or to find one's host at marmalade three -minutes after the time appointed for the disappearance of a savoury. -Courtesy in this must be our rule. Neatness is another necessity. -No house can be really comfortable that is littered with papers, -or in which boots lie in the drawing-room--yet finickiness in -arrangement makes the home unbearable. The most uncomfortable visit -I ever paid was to the most scientifically correct house. Chairs -were not allowed to touch the wall-paper; footstools never shifted. -A towel for wiping down the varnish of the bath was provided, and--I -was made miserable! By all means keep paint and paper in as much -primitive purity as possible, but let unobtrusive service guard -these points. - -Much more could I discourse of the House Comfortable, but space -forbids. Let me only remind you that the veriest cottage--plenished -with wisdom and lovingly provided--may fulfil all its conditions -just as well as the most luxurious castle. - -Told in Sunshine Room.] - - - - -[Illustration: DONKEY BOY] - -DONKEY BOY TO THE QUEEN - -_A TRUE INCIDENT._ - -By Alfred T. Story - -Part II. - - -A week passed before anything further was heard. Then a summons came -for Tam to appear before her Majesty on the following afternoon. He -was duly in attendance, and had not long to wait before a man in -Highland costume came into the room where he was seated and said-- - -"Noo, my braw laddie, her Most Gracious Majesty and his Royal -Highness the Prince Consort will come in through that door in twa -seconds. When they enter all you hae to dy is ta stan' up an' mak' -yer obeisance. An' when they ax ye a question jist ye say yes or -nae, your Majesty, or your Royal Highness, as the case may be. An' -if they ax ye naething--weel, jist ye say naething in return." - -With these words the wise servitor withdrew. Barely had he gone out -of one door ere the other opened, and the same lady he had seen -before, leaning on the arm of the gentleman he likewise remembered, -appeared before friend Tam. They were both dressed much more richly -than when he had previously seen them, the lady having a brilliant -star on her breast, and the gentleman wearing a silken sash over his -shoulder. - -For a moment the boy was confused, but he recovered himself -sufficiently to recollect that he had to make an "obeisance." He had -omitted to ask the Highland gentleman what that was, but he thought -it must be something like the soldier's salute, and so he stood -perfectly upright and saluted. - -"So you have come, my lad, to see her Majesty about the position of -donkey-boy?" said the gentleman. - -"Yes, sir--your Royal Highness," replied Tam. Only when he had got -out the word "sir" did it flash upon him that he was standing before -the Queen and her Royal Consort. - -"Well, her Majesty has caused inquiries to be made about you, and -she finds that, although you are a little wayward and sometimes -disobedient to your grandparents, you are not on the whole a bad -boy." - -"No, your Royal Highness," said Tam. - -"Does that mean that you are not a bad boy, or that you do not -sometimes disobey your grandparents?" - -This question, though backed by a genial smile, somewhat -disconcerted the would-be donkey-boy. He was silent for a moment, -then he answered, looking first at one and then at the other, with -that straight glance of his, "I hae sometimes been disobedient to -my grandparents, but I think I have learned better now." - -"I am glad to hear that," said the Prince. - -Then, speaking for the first time, the Queen said, "Well, Tam, if I -make you my donkey-boy, will you promise to be obedient to all my -slightest wishes and commands? Do not answer lightly. I am a severe -mistress in that I expect the strictest obedience and attention -to duty. But I, in return, am strict in doing my duty to those I -employ." - -"And if you prove a worthy and trustworthy servant," added the -Prince, "your position is secure for life." - -"Not, however, as a mere donkey-boy all your days," put in the Queen -with a smile. - -Said Tam with a faltering tongue: "If ye'll try me, your Majesty, -I'll do my best, and," he added, as though struck with a sudden -thought, "I'll no need to lick the donkeys, 'cos I ken hoo ta mek -'em run 'thout the stick." - -[Illustration: Yetta threw up her hands in amaze.] - -"And how do you do that?" asked the Prince with a smile. - -"I meks 'em carry a bunch o' thistles afore 'em." - -"Well, we will see," replied her Majesty, smiling. "Now you may run -home and tell your grandparents you are to be ready to begin duty -this day week. But before you go you will see the gentleman who -spoke to you a minute or two ago." - -With these words and a kindly smile the Sovereign and her Royal -Consort withdrew. - -The one door closed, the other immediately opened, and again entered -the Highland gentleman. "Sae ye hae been engagit ta look after ta -cuddies, eh?" he questioned. - -Tam said he had. - -"Aweel, it's a verra guid step in life for a young callant to -begin wi', an' if ye tek heed there's nae telling whereto it may -lead--ablins even to the primiership, if ye ken what that is. For ye -mun know, the gift o' the heaven-made Prime Minister is just to ken -hoo ta manage a' th' human cuddies that are sent to Parliament to -bother 'em. But mebbe a' that's a wee bit abune yer understanding as -yet, and sae we'll just leave it an' speer aboot yer claes." - -Needless to say how surprised Donal and Yetta were to hear Tam's -story, how thankful to reflect that their boy was to have such a -start in life. He reported to them what had been said, and the -promise he had given, and they believed that, like the Jamison he -was, he would be true to his word. All the same, they did not omit -to pray for that guidance and support for him without which his own -efforts would be vain. - -The evening before Tam's week was up a parcel was delivered at -Jamison's door, addressed to his grandson. It contained a complete -new suit, as the Highland gentleman had said, "from the skin -outwards." Never was seen such a brave outfit, to Tam's thinking. He -turned it over and admired it, article by article, for at least a -couple of hours, but would not try it on, or any part of it, until -he had had a good wash. The tub was never a thing he was shy of, but -on this occasion it was used as though he intended to wash out his -every fault, as well as all the merely superficial smuts and stains -that had accumulated, so as to appear before his Queen a spotlessly -clean cuddy-tender. - -When the operation was completed, Tam indued himself in his new -garments and went on parade, so to speak, before his grandmother. -Yetta was busy stirring the matutinal porridge when he walked into -the ben and said: - -"How do I look, granny?" - -Yetta, turning round, threw up her hands in amaze. She hardly knew -him, so great was the transformation effected by the new clothes and -the scrubbing he had given himself. Donal was no less surprised when -he came in from his morning milking. Tam looked two inches taller -and a lot sprucer. - -"Ye mind me of yer puir father," said the old man as he sat down to -breakfast. - -That was a note of sad recollection which brought tears to Yetta's -eyes; but a smile was soon gleaming through them when Tam, getting -sight of Meg, who was eyeing him as it were askance, said drily, -"Meg looks as if she hardly kenned what ta mek of her handiwark; for -the beginning o't was a' her doing." - -Just then the noise of wheels was heard on the road, and as the -messenger who brought the clothes left word that one of the Queen's -carriages would pick him up on the morrow, Tam thought surely this -was the one. But it was not. Indeed, he ran to the door at least -twenty times ere, towards eleven o'clock, his vehicle arrived. It -was a quaint affair, half carriage, half wash-basket, drawn by two -asses, creatures as beautiful of their kind as could be found. It -was driven by her whom he knew, and by her side were several bright -little faces, while the Highland gentleman, riding behind on one -pony, as sturdy and Hielan' as himself, led another by the bridle. - -Donal and Yetta came out and with bowed heads thanked the august -though simple-hearted lady for the great kindness she had shown to -their boy. She replied with a kindly smile: - -"There appears to be the making of a good man in him, and, with -God's help, we will do our best to make him one." - -Little more was said, and, mounting the led pony, Tam rode off by -the side of the faithful retainer, who never got further away from -the carriage than the dust raised by its wheels. - - * * * * * - -Thus commenced Tam's career in life. Though he served the noblest -lady in the land, he did not find his way one altogether of buttered -parsnips and cream. The one thing abhorrent to his royal mistress -was idleness and indifference. The motto of her establishment--of -all her establishments--was "The diligent eye." In this principle -she found not only the best interests of her own house, but the best -interests also of those who served her. - -Tam could not be called idle, nor could he be called exactly -indifferent; but during the years of his tending of cattle and -sheep on the brae-side he had got into the habit of liking to loll -about, to saunter and dream, and then to make up, or try to make -up, the leeway of work or duty by a spurt of energy. Another fault -he had was to leave things about--for others to "side" or put in -order. This arose, no doubt, from the narrow dimensions of his home, -where there was hardly room for everything to have its particular -place. It was, however, neither a very grievous nor a deeply rooted -fault; and a little sharp drilling, not unfrequently at the hands -of the Highland gentleman--a sort of major of the household, who -possessed "the diligent eye" _par excellence_--soon corrected Tam's -delinquency in this regard. - -But the other fault was more deeply rooted and cost the young -donkey-boy many a bad quarter of an hour. Indeed, on one occasion it -nearly cost him his place. He had been given a task to do, and in -place of doing it with all diligence he had been found with his feet -growing to the ground, as it were. The consequence was an interview -with the Highland gentleman, who told him, "Tam, ye have either ta -pe punisht or to leave her Majesty's service: which shall it pe?" - -"I'll tek the punishment, sir, if you please," he answered. - -"Tam, ye are a wise poy, an' we'll mebby mek a man o' ye yet," said -the major-domo. - -Tam took his punishment, and was the better for it; but he still -failed to come up to his royal mistress's ideal of a servant. Like -his fellow-servitors, he had plenty of time for rest and recreation: -hours of labour were by no means long. So much time had he, indeed, -for himself, that the Highland gentleman put suitable books before -him, and counselled him to improve his mind by reading and study. -He failed, however, to profit by the advice, and was presently made -aware of his error by a violent thunder-clap. - -He was in attendance on his royal mistress one day, when she and -the children were out for a drive. A poor body was met, in apparent -distress, by the wayside. Inquiry was made as to her condition, -present help was extended, and a promise of future beneficence given -if further investigation should warrant its bestowal. Hence the -necessity arose for an address to be written down, and Tam, who was -that day the only person in attendance, was requested to do it. - -When Tam entered the royal service he could read a bit and write -very imperfectly; but there had been time, had he followed the -counsel given him, to have greatly improved himself in both those -accomplishments. Not having done so, he fumbled egregiously over the -task set him, and, in short, made such a hash of it that an eye of -wrath was turned upon him. - -Tam had seen that eye in all its moods--of laughter and smiles, of -grief, of earnestness, of affection, even of solemnity and awe, but -he had never as yet beheld it flash in indignant wrath. He felt as -though the muscles of his knees had been cut away and the ground -was sinking from under his feet. What would he not have given to be -miles away! But he had to face the storm, and it came in this way: - -"Were not books and paper and ink put before you? And were you not -advised to improve your reading and writing?" - -Tam falteringly admitted that such was the case. - -"Why did you not attend to the advice?" - -"I--I----" stammered the ease-loving Tam. - -"Had you not the time?" - -"Yes." - -"Then why did you not do as you were wished?" - -Tam hung his head in shame. - -"Tam Jamison, listen to me. I will have those in my employ attend -to my wishes, and attend to them with all their might. Do you wish -to be ignorant all your life, when the time and the means for -improvement are placed at your command? In three months' time I -shall expect you to read and write in such a way that you will be -able to fulfil in a creditable manner a simple duty like that you -have to-day so grievously failed in. Now we'll go on." - -Tam Jamison wanted no more speaking to. He was now thoroughly awake: -and he went to work with all his might to do the behest of his -mistress and Sovereign, and, in truth, he made prodigious progress; -so that when it happened one day--he being then in attendance on her -Majesty in another part of the country--that she required the names -of several rare plants to be written down for her future use, he did -it so cleverly that he was rewarded with a pleased smile. - -Tam felt that he had acquired wings that afternoon, and the -strangest part of the affair was, that when he came to reckon up -precisely, he discovered that it was three months to a day since his -"royal earwigging," as the Highland gentleman called it. - -To that worthy man Jamison communicated his delight. "Ah," said he, -"ye thocht, like many anither, that ye were doing a great service to -her gracious Majesty by your few hours of daily labour; but, guid -faith, she does a mighty deal mair for ye than ye, or ony the likes -o' ye, can do for her. Serve 'maist onybody else in the kintra, an' -they'll take yer service an' gie ye yer wage, an' there's an end. -But when her Majesty teks ye intil her household she teks ye to mek -a man o' ye--if it's in ye, ye ken. An' weel she knows hoo ta do -it--nane better. Sae ye just go on as ye've begun, Tam Jamison, an' -ye'll mebbe no bide a feckless cuddy-callant till ye're auld an' -blind." - -Jamison did not need to be taught his lesson a second time. He made -diligent use of his opportunities, and improved so much and so -visibly that when he was fifteen he was raised to the position of -page. A greater mark of appreciation could hardly be given to one -in the royal employ; for her Majesty's pages are amongst the most -trusted of her servants. - -At first the humbler duties of a page fell to his lot; but as he -improved in thoughtfulness and intelligence, and in his knowledge -of the manifold and delicate duties which fell to his care--in which -he had the aid and instruction of one of her Majesty's oldest and -most experienced pages, a man who had been in her service ever since -she ascended the throne--he rose higher and higher in the royal -service and the royal consideration, until at last his services were -rarely required except on State and exceptional occasions only. - -[Illustration: Tam hung his head in shame.] - -Scarcely a week passed that he did not recall the words of him we -have called the Highland gentleman, when he said that the Queen -did more for those in her service than they could ever do for her, -in that she not only made men and women of them, but treated them -more as gentlemen and ladies than as mere domestics. There were no -servants in her employ, no matter how humble their sphere, but she -knew them by name and had their welfare at heart; and if they served -her well, she never lost sight of them, or forgot them--no, not even -when the grave took them into its transitional embrace. - -Jamison had had abundant opportunities to note and set these -things down in his heart, but he was never so much impressed by -her Majesty's deep regard for those who served her faithfully and -well as when, one dripping autumn day, he was required to accompany -her to the churchyard of a rural village, halfway betwixt London -and Windsor--in which, a day or two before, the aged servant above -referred to had been buried--in order that she might lay a wreath -upon his grave. It bore the words, "In grateful remembrance of a -devoted and faithful servant, V.R.," and as she bent down to place -it with her own hand upon the grave a tear fell upon the flowers -that outshone the brightest jewel of her crown. - - - - -TEMPERANCE NOTES AND NEWS. - -By a Leading Temperance Advocate. - - -THE TEMPERANCE HOSPITAL. - -[Illustration: DR. J. J. RIDGE. - -(_Photo: J. Bacon, Newcastle-on-Tyne._)] - -The story of the Temperance Hospital in Hampstead Road forms one -of the most interesting chapters in temperance history. When -the experiment of treating accidents and disease without the -administration of alcohol was first mooted, the idea was assailed -with a storm of criticism in which the medical profession found a -most active ally in the public Press. A quarter of a century has -now elapsed since the first patient was received in the temporary -premises in Gower Street, and although the medical staff have full -permission, under certain regulations, to administer alcohol if -deemed expedient, the last Report states that out of a total of -13,984 in-patients, alcohol has only been resorted to in twenty-five -cases. The percentage of recoveries compares most favourably with -the ordinary hospitals, and the cases include every variety of -disease and accident. The present head of the medical staff is Dr. -J. J. Ridge, who has been connected with the institution from the -first. For many years it has been the custom of the United Kingdom -Band of Hope Union to organise a Christmas collection in aid of -the Temperance Hospital. The amount thus realised has reached many -thousand pounds, and it is hoped that this year's collection will -prove the best of the series. The body of evidence in favour of -total abstinence which the Temperance Hospital has accumulated -certainly entitles the institution to the cordial support of the -temperance public. - -[Illustration: THE TEMPERANCE HOSPITAL, HAMPSTEAD ROAD, LONDON. - -(_Photo supplied by the Press Studio._)] - - -COMING EVENTS. - -Among the fixtures worth noting may be named the New Year's Meeting -of the United Kingdom Band of Hope Union on Saturday, January 7th; -the Annual Meeting of the London United Temperance Council, to be -addressed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, on February 13th, in the -Queen's Hall; a great Industrial Exhibition, promoted by the Hackney -and East Middlesex Band of Hope Union, on April 10-13; Temperance -Sunday for London Diocese April 23rd (St. George's Day, a grand -opportunity for the clergy to strike a national note); and, as it is -well to look ahead, a World's Temperance Convention to be held under -the auspices of the National Temperance League in 1900. - - -THE NEW ENGLISH DICTIONARY. - -It may be news to some of our readers that Dr. James A. H. Murray, -the editor-in-chief of the monumental literary work which has been -in progress for so many years, is an earnest total abstainer and a -Vice-President of the National Temperance League. Dictionary-making -and total abstinence seem to run together. In William Ball's "Slight -Memorials of Hannah More" is this remark: "I dined last week at -the Bishop of Chester's. Dr. Johnson was there. In the middle of -dinner I urged Dr. Johnson to take a _little_ wine. He replied: -'I can't drink a _little_, child, therefore I never touch it. -Abstinence is as easy to me as temperance would be difficult.'" It -is rather curious to note that it is only within recent years that -our dictionaries have taken any cognisance of the meaning which -temperance people give to the word "pledge." More than this, in -the early dictionaries the word was almost exclusively given up to -the other side of the drink question. For instance, in Bailey's -Dictionary (1736) we have the following definition of the word -"pledged":--"Having drank by the recommendation of another."... -"The custom of pledging in drinking was occasioned by the Danes, -who, while they had the superiority in England, used to stab the -English or cut their throats while they were drinking; and thereupon -they requested of some sitter-by to be their pledge and security -while they drank; so that 'I will pledge you' signifies 'I will be -your security that you shall drink in safety.'" - -[Illustration: "DICTIONARY" MURRAY.] - -Contrast this with the definition given in the last edition of -Webster's Dictionary:-- - -"A promise or agreement by which one binds one's self to do, or to -refrain from doing something; especially a solemn promise in writing -to refrain from using intoxicating liquors or other liquor; as to -sign the pledge." - -No doubt, when Dr. Murray reaches the letter "P," we shall have a -definition even still more illuminating. The New English Dictionary -viewed from a temperance standpoint would make a delightful study. -Take, for instance, volume one, in which "Alcohol" has more than -a column to itself, while "Ale" has two columns, "Beer" two and -a half columns, and "Abstain," "Abstainer," and "Abstaining" are -treated with a wealth of illustration and meaning derived from such -authorities as Wyclif in 1382 down to J. W. Bardsley (the present -Bishop of Carlisle) in 1867, who is pressed into the service in this -form:-- - -"ABSTAINING.--Practising abstinence (from alcoholic beverages) 1867. -J. W. BARDSLEY in 'Clerical Testimony to Total Abstinence' 30: 'The -bride was the daughter of an abstaining clergyman.'" - -[Illustration: MADAME ANTOINETTE STERLING. - -(_Photo: Walery, Ltd., Regent Street, W._)] - -Now we will leave it to our fair readers to puzzle over until next -month as to who the blushing bride was who is thus assured of -immortality in the greatest Dictionary the world has ever seen. - - -"TWO QUEENS OF SONG." - -"Example is better than precept," says the old adage, and there -can be no doubt that the example of Madame Antoinette Sterling and -Mrs. Mary Davies in the matter of total abstinence has been of the -utmost value. It was at a reception given by Mr. and Mrs. Frederick -Sherlock at Hackney, in 1892, to the Archbishop of Canterbury -(then Bishop of London), that Madame Sterling, to the surprise of -a delighted audience, volunteered "a few words." The gifted singer -remarked that "she had been nearly all her life a total abstainer. -When on long tours with members of her profession, it had been -rather an aggravation to them to see, when they were pretty well -prostrated, that she was almost or quite as fresh at the end of the -journey as at the beginning. They also complained of the quality of -the wine furnished to them, as well as of water. She took milk and -cocoa, and also water, of which she did not complain, and scarcely -missed one engagement in the seventeen years during which she had -been before the public. She had never had a day's bad health, and -had not suffered from those aches and pains of which she had heard -other people complaining continually." Like Madame Sterling, Mrs. -Mary Davies has upon many occasions shown a deep and practical -interest in philanthropic work. - -[Illustration: MRS. MARY DAVIES. - -(_Photo: H. S. Mendelssohn, Pembridge Crescent, W._)] - -[Illustration: (_Photo supplied by the Press Studio._) - -MUSCULAR TRAINING AT THE NAVAL SCHOOL, GREENWICH.] - -[Illustration: (_Photo supplied by the Press Studio._) - -BUCKET-OF-WATER RACE AT THE NAVAL SCHOOL.] - - -A FAMOUS BAND OF HOPE. - -Possibly the most unique Band of Hope in the world is that which is -held in the Royal Naval School, Greenwich. It was founded so far -back as 1871, by Samuel Sims, an honoured agent of the National -Temperance League, and upon his death, in 1892, was taken over by -Mr. W. S. Campbell, as the League's representative. No pressure at -all is put upon the lads to induce them to join the Band of Hope, -but, as a matter of fact, most of the lads in the school readily do -so, and the present membership is fully a thousand strong. Regular -weekly meetings are held, and the annual gathering, which is held -in the great gymnasium, is a most inspiriting spectacle. A visit -to the Royal Naval School, if it should happen to be in recreation -time, cannot fail to afford considerable satisfaction to those who -like to see Young England at play. Every type of healthy pastime is -encouraged in its turn, and these young abstainers have frequently -shown that they are well able to hold their own. It is encouraging -to know that the principles of total abstinence are not discarded -when the lads pass out into the Royal Navy or Mercantile Marine, -for every year large numbers of them are drafted into Miss Weston's -well-known temperance society. - - -TEMPERANCE SUNDAY. - -The appointment of a special Sunday for the preaching of sermons on -temperance originated with the Church of England Temperance Society -many years ago. Owing to various circumstances, it is not possible -for the Church of England clergy to take one Sunday simultaneously -for the whole country, but each diocesan Bishop makes choice of -a day and issues a pastoral letter to his clergy, so that at one -period of the year or another the whole country is covered, so far -as the Church of England is concerned. The Nonconformist bodies -have, however, for some years past, fixed upon the last Sunday in -November for Temperance Sunday, and as we go to press we learn that -this year special reference will be made to the importance of Sunday -Closing. - - - - -SCRIPTURE LESSONS FOR SCHOOL & HOME INTERNATIONAL SERIES - -With Illustrative Anecdotes and References. - - -DECEMBER 18TH.--=The Captivity of Judah.= - -_To read--Jer. lii. 1-11. Golden Text--Jer. xxix. 13._ - -This chapter describes the fate of Judah. Later kings were all -wicked. Warnings of Jeremiah and other prophets all been in vain. -Time has come for judgment. Captivity in Babylon, long foretold, -now about to commence. Came about in reign of Zedekiah. The eleven -verses of this lesson almost identical with Jer. xxxix. 1-10. - -I. =The King= (1-3). _His name._ Originally Mattaniah, was son of -good King Josiah and uncle of late King Jehoiachin. Jeremiah had -prophesied of a future king (Jer. xxiii. 5-7) as the "Lord our -righteousness." The king assumed that name, and was called Zedekiah. - -_His acts._ "Did evil," but had not always been altogether evil. -Had made covenant with nobles and priests to abolish slavery -(xxxiv. 8-10). But his great wrong was breaking his solemn oath of -allegiance to king of Babylon (2 Chron. xxxvi. 13). This looked upon -as his crowning vice (Ezek. xvii. 8), for which God's anger was upon -him (ver. 3). - -=Lesson.= When thou vowest a vow defer not to pay it. - -II. =The Siege= (4-7). City besieged for last time. Jews never -forgot day it began. Was January--tenth day of their tenth month. -Great mounds or (earth-works) outside walls to shoot burning arrows, -etc.; houses outside thrown down (Jer. xxxiii. 4). Famine and -pestilence soon ravaged crowded population inside. - -_The assault._ City, after eighteen months, taken by assault at -northern gate (B.C. 587). King and his family and royal guard -escaped by passage between two walls (Jer. xxxix. 4), by royal -gardens, down steep descent towards Jericho. There he was overtaken -and made prisoner. His broken oath caused his destruction (Ezek. -xvii. 20). - -=Lesson.= Evil shall hunt the wicked to overtake him. - -III. =Babylon.= He was taken to Babylon. His sons killed in his -sight, then his eyes put out, bound with chains, kept in prison till -death. Feeble in will, faithless in promise, judgment came upon him. - -=Lesson.= 1. The word of the Lord standeth sure. - - -Bargains. - -He who buys the truth makes a good bargain. Zedekiah dealt in -falsehood and lost his throne. Esau sold his birthright for a basin -of soup. Judas made a bad bargain when he sold his Lord for the -price of a slave. Take heed to the thing that is right, for that -alone shall bring peace at the last. - - -DECEMBER 25TH.--=A Christmas Lesson.= - -_To read--Hebrews i. 1-9. Golden Text--St. Luke ii. 11._ - -This letter written to the Hebrews, i.e. Christians of Jewish birth -who clung to the priesthood and services of the Temple as well as -to Christianity. St. Paul shows how far the Christian system was -superior to and superseded the Jewish. The types and ceremonies of -the Law fulfilled in Christ, whose birthday is kept at Christmas. - -I. =God's Revelation= (1-2). _Past._ God revealed or unveiled -Himself of old. This revelation inferior in three ways, viz. (1) It -was given gradually, in portions, a part at a time. (2) Given in -divers manners, under many figures and types. (3) Given by prophets, -only human. - -_Present._ Final revelation of God's truth--once for all given to -the saints (Jude 3). Given by His Son--the Word of God (St. John i. -1, 2); heir of all things--God's agent in creation of the universe. - -II. =God's Son= (3-9). _Great in Himself._ Has Divine glory--the -outshining of the Father's glory. He is God's image, the counterpart -of the Father. To see Christ is to see God (St. John xiv. 9). - -_Great in His work._ (1) _Upholder_ of the universe as well as its -Creator. (2) _Saviour._ Came not only as prophet to reveal God's -will, but to purge man's sin. This He did by Himself with His own -blood (ix. 12, 14). - -_Greater than angels._ In His person, His work. His exaltation to -glory; testified by Scripture, _e.g._ Psalm ii. 3 tells of Christ's -eternal Sonship--also referred to by St. Paul as fulfilled in His -resurrection (Acts xiii. 33). - -_King over all._ Christ also a King. Rules in righteousness (Psalm -xlv. 6, 7); received throne as victor over His enemies--sin, death, -and the devil (xii. 2). Raised high above all. - -=Lesson.= Christ is King--honour Him; He is Saviour--love Him; He -is God--fear Him. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and so ye perish. -Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him. - - -Christ in the Old and New Testaments. - -A weaver, who had made an elaborate piece of tapestry, hung it -upon the tenterhooks in his yard. That night it was stolen. A -piece of tapestry was found by the police, which seemed to answer -the description; but, as the pattern was not unlike that of other -pieces, they wanted more definite proof. It was brought to the -weaver's yard, and there the perforations in the fabric were found -to correspond exactly to the tenterhooks. This was proof positive. -In like manner, if we place the life and character of Christ against -all the prophecies of Him in Scripture, they will be found to -correspond exactly. - - -1899. - -_New Series. The Gospel according to St. John._ - - -JANUARY 1ST.--=Christ the True Light.= - -_To read--St. John i. 1-14. Golden Text--Ver. 4._ - -New Year--new course of lessons. This Gospel records the deeper -spiritual truths of Christ's teaching, especially about His own -Nature and Person. It sets Christ forth as God. St. John tells his -object in writing a fourth Gospel in chap. xx. 31, which the class -should read. - -I. =The Nature of Christ= (1-3). _Eternal._ In the beginning, not of -the world, but before all creation, from everlasting. _Divine Word._ -Christ is the expression of the mind of God. Came to reveal God to -man (xv. 15). _Living Person._ The Word not a mere attribute or -power of God but a distinct Person. "With God" from everlasting. Not -inferior to the Father, but very God Himself. _Creator._ As well as -Saviour and Governor of the world (read Col. i. 16, 17; Heb. i. 2). - -II. =The Office of Christ= (4-13). _Source of Life._ As very God He -had life in Himself, which He poured forth on His creation (vv. 25, -26; xvii. 2). _Source of light._ The life from Son of God is cause -of man's inward spiritual light by which he is saved. _Himself the -light._ World was in spiritual darkness at Christ's coming. _Giver -of light._ No man has light in himself, however great his natural -powers. All true light is from Christ. - -_Rejected._ By His own. The world He made knew not its Creator (1 -Cor. i. 21). The nation He chose to be His own special people (Deut. -vii. 6) received Him not. - -_Received._ By a few--both Jews and Gentiles; such as Nicodemus the -ruler (iii. 1, 2), the disciples from Galilee (ii. 11), and others. -How did they receive Him? By believing in Him. This faith, itself -the gift of God, rewarded by further privilege of becoming God's -sons--born into God's family by a new and spiritual birth (iii. 3). - -III. =The Glory of Christ= (14). Word was made flesh by taking to -Himself man's human nature. He dwelt (_literally_ "pitched His -tent") with men, full of mercy to heal bodies and souls, full of -God's truth to teach. - -=Lessons.= 1. _Hold fast the Christian faith._ Jesus Christ one for -ever with the Father. _God_--eternal, glorious, Creator, Giver of -light and life to the soul--yet _Man_, like one of us. - -2. _Live the Christian life._ Jesus is our example, that we should -follow His steps. - - -Christians walking in the Light. - -A little girl in a London slum won a prize at a flower-show. Her -flower was grown in a broken teapot in a back attic. When asked how -she managed to grow the beautiful flower, she said her success came -from always keeping the plant in the only corner of the room ever -favoured by a sunbeam. Only by walking in the light and sight of God -can Christians truly grow and bear fruit. - - -JANUARY 8TH.--=Christ's first Disciples.= - -_To read--St. John i. 35-46. Golden Text--Ver. 36._ - -Christ now thirty years old; has been baptised and received special -outpouring of Holy Ghost (ver. 33), and also been tempted in the -wilderness (St. Matt. iv. 1). Is now ready for His public work and -ministry. Now begins to win disciples. - -I. =The first two Disciples= (35-40). _Heard of Him._ Picture Christ -walking near the Jordan. St. John, who had baptised Him, points Him -out to his followers. Describes Him: this the Lamb of God to Whom -all the sacrifices pointed; the innocent lamb slain told of the -death of the spotless Son of God for man's sin. His words went home. - -_Followed Him._ Who were they? Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, and -probably St. John, writer of the Gospel, brother of James. Why did -they follow? To learn more of Him. Had been baptised with baptism of -repentance. Sense of sin led them to seek the Saviour. Christ knew -their thoughts, encouraged them to learn more of Him (St. Matt. xi. -28, 29). - -II. =The third Disciple= (41, 42). The two friends separate the next -day, each in search of his brother. Andrew soon finds his--eagerly -tells the news. They have found the long-expected Messiah, the -Anointed of God. Brings Simon to Christ. No greater proof possible -of having really found Christ than bringing another to Him. Christ -looks with eager and searching eye at Simon--reads his very heart, -sees his longing after truth; gives him a new name, Cephas (Hebrew) -or Peter (Greek), meaning "a rock" or "stone." What did this -signify? His bold and determined character, strong in the faith (St. -Matt. xvi. 16), eager in defence of Christ (xviii. 10), and, after -his fall and forgiveness, strong in love (xxi. 15). - -III. =The fourth Disciple= (43, 44). Philip of Bethsaida. Must have -heard his friends talking of Christ. Probably stirred in his heart. -Christ found him, as He afterwards found Zacchæus St. (Luke xix. 5). -His mission to seek as well as to save. Happy they who obey Christ's -call and follow Him. - -IV. =The fifth Disciple= (45, 46). Philip soon shows marks of -discipleship. He finds Nathanael. Tells him how Christ fulfilled -prophecies, such as of a "prophet" like unto Moses, a "king" whose -name should be "the Lord our righteousness" (Jer. xxiii. 5, 6). -Nathanael asks in honest doubt if it can be possible for the Messiah -to come from despised Nazareth. Philip did not argue, but bade him -"Come and see"--the best cure for all doubts. - -=Lessons.= From the Baptist: The dying Saviour the greatest magnet -for drawing souls. - -From Andrew: Show religion first at home. - -From Simon: Taste and see how gracious the Lord is. - -From Philip: Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. - -From Nathanael: Hearken unto me, and I will teach you the fear of -the Lord. - - -"There's Another." - -A traveller lost in the snow on the Alps was rescued by one of the -famous dogs of St. Bernard. When restored to consciousness his first -words were, "There's another." The monks to whom the dogs belonged -continued their search, and "the other" was found and saved. "Are -you saved?" Is there not another whom you can rescue from sin and -bring to the life of God? - - - - -[Illustration: Short Arrows] - -Short Arrows - -NOTES OF CHRISTIAN LIFE AND WORK. - - -The Quiver Santa Claus. - -Last month we published full particulars of our scheme to provide -Christmas Stockings for the many poor and friendless little ones who -are not on Santa Claus's visiting list, and we appeal to our readers -for their hearty practical co-operation in this work. Each stocking -will contain wholesome goodies, in the shape of cake and sweets, in -addition to an unbreakable toy and a Christmas card. The Proprietors -of THE QUIVER have headed the subscription list with a donation of -£25, which is sufficient to provide the contents of - - FIVE HUNDRED CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS FOR - POOR AND FRIENDLESS CHILDREN, - -a sum of =one shilling= being sufficient to furnish a stocking and -pay the postage. But, as we can profitably distribute _thousands_ of -such presents, we confidently look to all lovers of the children to -lend their generous aid, in order that as many as possible of the -destitute little mites may have their Christmas brightened by such a -welcome gift. We shall also be glad to receive recommendations from -our readers of suitable cases for the receipt of the stockings, and -for this purpose the special application form to be found in our -Extra Christmas Number ("Christmas Arrows") should be used. As the -time is short, contributions for the Christmas Stocking Fund should -be sent =at once= to the Editor of THE QUIVER, La Belle Sauvage, -London, E.C., and all amounts of one shilling and upwards will be -thankfully acknowledged in our pages. - -[Illustration: CURIOUS ALMS-BOX IN PINHOE CHURCH.] - - -A Curious Alms-box. - -In the interesting parish church of Pinhoe, near Exeter, appears a -very curious alms-box surmounted by the figure of a man who seems, -from his costume and general character, to date from the period of -James I. He holds two books in his hand--representing most probably -Bible and Prayer Book--one of which bears the inscription, "Y^e Poor -Man of Pinhoo, 1700," but from information with which the vicar of -the parish, the Rev. Frederick W. Pulling, has kindly supplied us, -it appears that the books were added in 1879-80, when the church was -restored. Previously the figure held a small flimsy box in front of -him. He was, however, placed on the present handsome oak box bearing -the inscription, "Remember y^e Poor," and the old flimsy box was -removed. The present box was constructed from some very ancient -timber from the roof of Salisbury Cathedral, when under repair. -What the figure was originally intended to represent--whether a -beadle, the dispenser of charities, or a relieving officer--is not -known. Curiously enough, the parish records are quite silent as to -the figure, and when, some time since, it was repaired it was sent -to the eminent antiquary and ecclesiologist, the Rev. Mackenzie -Walcott, who said he had seen only two such figures before. The -wooden backing is of Jacobean style, and was designed by the -architect in 1879 to strengthen the whole structure. - - -"God Bless the Kernel." - -After the marvellous achievements in his two Chinese campaigns, -which were sufficient to have made the reputations of a dozen -ordinary colonels, Gordon came back to England in 1865 as poor as -when he left home. During the next six years, which he spent in -Gravesend as an engineer, the future keeper of Khartoum devoted a -large portion of his leisure to visiting the sick and to teaching -and training many of the ragged and neglected boys of the rough -neighbourhood. So truly did these poor lads love their colonel that -it was not uncommon to see chalked up on the walls the singular -inscription, "God bless the Kernel." Their gratitude was apparently -stronger than their orthography. When Englishmen reflect how Gordon -placed his Divine Master first in every enterprise of his life, they -must feel that no institution intended to honour the dead hero at -Khartoum can be a worthy memorial which is not grounded on the rock -of Christianity. - - -Christmas Cards and Gift-Books. - -Christmas is pre-eminently the season of universal good-will, -and the custom of conveying seasonable greetings by means of the -attractive Christmas card is every year becoming more general. -Amongst the publishers of these mementoes Messrs. Raphael Tuck and -Sons take front rank, and the specimen box of cards, calendars, -story-books, and illustrated texts, recently received from them, -affords ample proof that the variety and artistic excellence which -have always characterised their productions are well maintained this -year. Some of the cards are veritable works of art, and deserve more -than the temporary appreciation usually accorded to such; but the -palm for novelty, both in design and treatment, must be accorded -to the calendars, many of which are most original in conception, -and all are daintily and tastefully produced.--For years past we -have been accustomed to look for a Christmas book from Mr. Andrew -Lang, and this season he has edited an edition of "The Arabian -Nights Entertainments," which Messrs. Longmans have published in a -charming cover, and with a number of clever illustrations by Mr. -H. J. Ford.--Another suitable gift-book for children is "His Big -Opportunity" (Hodder and Stoughton), a brightly written story by -Amy Le Feuvre; whilst for young people what more inspiriting and -interesting work could be presented to them than the life-story of -the pioneer missionary, "Mackay of Uganda," of whose biography a new -illustrated edition has just been issued by the same publishers.--We -have also received the current yearly volumes of our contemporaries, -_Good Words_ and _The Sunday Magazine_ (Isbister & Co.). These would -both form valuable additions to any Sunday-school library, and are -also admirably adapted for use as prizes or presents. - -[Illustration: (_From a Photograph._) - -THE LAUGHING GOD OF CHINA.] - - -Compensation. - -An Irishman being bound over to keep the peace against all the -Queen's subjects, said, "Then Heaven help the first foreigner I -meet!" We are reminded of this when we see people civility itself to -a good servant they are afraid of losing, or to the strongest-willed -person in their home, and then relieving their pent-up feelings by -being rude to the rest of the family. - - -Laughter and War. - -"Have you any gods around here?" inquired an English traveller in -rural China. "Oh, yes," replied a venerable Celestial; "the three -Pure Ones, the God of the Fields, and the Goddess of Mercy." "My old -friend, I am afraid your gods are not a few." "Foreign teacher," -said the old man, "verily, verily, our gods are ten thousand and -thousands of thousands." Some are of stone, others of wood, clay, -or bronze. One may be purchased for a farthing, another will cost -£200. The Laughing God in our illustration is a representation in -coarse pottery of Quantecong, supposed to be the first emperor. -There are laughing Buddhas for sale, and some few images of -beneficent mien; but the great horde are intended to inspire awe -or terror. The second illustration is a well-executed terra-cotta -figure of a deified warrior. The drawn sword and beard are similar -to those of Kwante, the God of War, regarded as the head of the -military department in China. In 1,600 state temples dedicated -to him the mandarins worship once a month, and in thousands of -smaller temples he is honoured with sacrifices of sheep and oxen. -His worshippers believe that he was a general, who just about the -time that the Prince of Peace came to this world in great humility -made the enemies of China to tremble. The elevation or manufacture -of gods is a simple affair. The keeper of an idol shop collects -the heads, limbs, and trunk that he has moulded out of mud, unites -them in one ill-proportioned figure, slips a frog, snake, lizard, -or centipede into the hole in the back, and the idol is ready for -dedication and worship! The calm, colossal Buddha at Peking is -seventy feet high, but it can only witness to a blind feeling after -God. - - -An Ancient Manuscript of St Matthew. - -The romance of New Testament manuscripts is again enlarged; this -time by the discovery of a papyrus fragment containing a part of -the Gospel according to St. Matthew. The precious sheet was found -in the Libyan desert, about one hundred and twenty miles south of -Cairo, by Messrs. Grenfell and Hunt, the discoverers of the _Logia_. -It is thought that this fragment may be older by a hundred years -than any other manuscript of the New Testament hitherto available. -Its value, had it been a whole book instead of two leaves, would -have been priceless. Even so, it is of singular interest. Its -actual history, of course, is beyond discovery, but its appearance -amongst the world of scholars reminds us of the strangely varied -channels through which Greek manuscripts of the New Testament have -come down to us. There is the romantic story of the discovery, -in a monastery on Mount Sinai, of the priceless manuscript known -as the _Codex Sinaiticus_. There is the scarcely less valuable -_Codex Alexandrinus_ which the British Museum now guards; that -came to England as a gift to King Charles I. from a Patriarch of -Constantinople. There is the great manuscript which is one of the -glories of the Vatican Library at Rome, where it is believed to -have been ever since that library was founded. There is the _Codex -Ephraemi_ at Paris, its ancient writing partly legible beneath a -much later work written over it--a manuscript which once belonged -to Catherine de Medicis. There is another palimpsest brought to -England from a convent in the Nubian desert. There is the manuscript -presented by Laud to the Bodleian, and supposed to have been used -by the Venerable Bede. In truth, the history of these treasures is -full of romance, and it is but fitting that new discoveries should -furnish other examples of the strange ways in which the text of the -Holy Scriptures in various parts and forms has been preserved for us. - -[Illustration: (_From a Photograph._) - -A GOD OF WAR.] - - -Humours of Hymen. - -While nothing can be so distressing to a clergyman, whose duty it -is to solemnise marriages, as irreverence or flippancy, he can -hardly fail to be amused, if many of his people are poor and his -area is wide, at the occasional results of a genuine ignorance, or -a legitimate nervousness. A well-known church in Central London -can furnish several singular and recent experiences. It is not -often that either of the contracting parties comes furnished with -a prayer-book, but on a certain occasion the bride, a rather -strong-minded-looking lady, did so, and insisted on holding it -sternly and steadily under the nose of her future spouse. In -repeating the passage in which "cherish" occurs, a bridegroom, -in a faltering voice, expressed his willingness "to love and to -'_perish_.'" "Oh, sir, I do feel _that_ nervous!" once pleaded -another embarrassed swain in the middle of the service. A widower, -who was extremely awkward and stupid in making the responses -after the minister, apologised by saying, "Really, sir, it is so -long since I was married last that I forget"! Another bridegroom, -though middle-aged, seemed somewhat diffident with regard to his -responsibilities, and answered to the inquiry, "Wilt thou love, -comfort, honour, etc.?" "To the best of my abilities I will." A -year or two ago, the roof of the particular church of which we -are thinking was being renovated, and the interior was a maze of -ladders. Under these a superstitious bride earnestly begged not -to be compelled to go, so she was considerately conducted to the -chancel by a circuitous route. There was a wedding last year at -which a tiny bridesmaid made her appearance. As he had married her -parents about six summers previously, the clergyman thought he -might venture to take her by the arm and to place her in her proper -position behind the bride. Considerably to his surprise, the small -damsel hit out at him in a most workmanlike manner straight from -the shoulder, and the edifice resounded with a terrific yell of -defiance, "Me _won't_! Me WON'T!" - -[Illustration: (_Photo supplied by the Church Missionary Society._) - -INDIAN ORPHANS AT A BREAKFAST SUPPLIED BY MISSIONARIES. - -(_A scene during the recent famine._)] - - -Some New Books. - -One of the most interesting biographies of the season is that of -Bishop Walsham How, which has just been issued by Messrs. Isbister, -prefaced by an excellent portrait of the late prelate. The Bishop -was principally known by his work in the East of London, where -he was greatly loved by clergy and parishioners alike, and many -excellent stories are related _apropos_ of his cheeriness and -tolerant good nature in dealing with the mixed elements of his -crowded diocese. The memoir seems full and complete, as, indeed, -it should be, the biographer being Mr. Frederick How (a son of -the late Bishop), who had access to all the private memoranda of -his father, and was naturally acquainted with every incident of -interest concerning him. From the same publishers comes an excellent -work by our contributor, Dean Farrar, on "Great Books," in which -he critically reviews the life and works of Bunyan, Shakespeare, -Dante, Milton, and other "master-spirits." Though admittedly written -for young people, the volume contains much that is valuable and -interesting to older readers. Messrs. Isbister have also recently -issued a volume of sermons by the Rev. Stopford A. Brooke, under -the title "The Gospel of Joy." Whilst we do not endorse all the -views expressed by the author, yet at the same time we are bound to -confess that Mr. Brooke's eloquent addresses teem with happy and -suggestive thoughts.--A daintily produced volume reaches us from -the Scientific Press in the form of Mr. J. T. Woolrych Perowne's -account of his recent journey in Russian Central Asia, published -under the comprehensive title "Russian Hosts and English Guests in -Central Asia." In many respects the journey described was quite -unique, and the interest is considerably increased by the number -and variety of the excellent illustrations which are scattered -throughout the book.--"Table-talk with Young Men" (Hodder and -Stoughton) is the title which the Rev. W. J. Dawson gives to his -recently published series of "pen-conversations" with young men. -Mr. Dawson's practical, straightforward and cultured "talk" on -such diverse subjects as "The Art of Living," "Christianity and -Progress," "Civic Responsibility," etc., is not only brilliant but -highly instructive, and the book is one which should find a place -on every young man's bookshelf, for it will richly repay careful -and constant perusal.--We have also to acknowledge the receipt of -"Comfort and Counsel" (Hodder and Stoughton), containing quotations -from the writings of Elizabeth Rundle Charles for every day in the -year; "The Children's Year-Book of Prayer and Praise" (Longmans), -compiled by C. M. Whishaw; a useful and informing little volume on -"Diet and Food" (J. and A. Churchill), by Dr. Alexander Haig; "A -Cluster of Camphire" (Passmore and Alabaster), containing short, -sympathetic addresses by Mrs. C. H. Spurgeon to those who are sick -and sorrowful; and "The Daily Homily" (Morgan and Scott), a series -of brief, pregnant discourses on the books of the Bible from 1 -Samuel to Job, by the Rev. F. B. Meyer. - - -"Out of the Eater came forth Meat." - -Samson's riddle is an everlasting proverb. Out of the devouring -famine that last year devastated India blessings have already come -to many provinces. A conquered race find it hard to love and trust -their rulers, but in their trouble dwellers in the famine districts -saw the practical side of Christianity. In the midst of universal -rejoicing England was moved with compassion, and provided food for -the starving. Government, in many instances, entrusted missionaries -with the distribution of grain. The Indian people are slow to act -and strong to endure. Thousands perished because they could not or -would not realise that relief was within reach. Parents gave their -last morsels to their children, and then lay down to die. Orphanages -overflowed, and new ones had to be erected. Where an open shed and -light meals of milk, rice, and curry meet the ideas of home and -housekeeping, this is easier than it sounds. After a famine the -number of Christian adherents to missions is always multiplied, and -the supply of pupils creates new demand for teachers. It must be -acknowledged that the taunt of being "rice-Christians" is sometimes -justified, though there is little doubt that genuine gratitude to -God, who moved His servants to help them, has caused numbers to turn -to Him. - - -Abraham's Vineyard. - -This piece of land is close to the Holy City, and now belongs to -the Society for the Relief of Persecuted Jews. When the necessary -excavation for building was begun, Abraham's Vineyard revealed -signs of former glory and prosperity. Tesselated pavement, vats, -baths, and a columbarium hewn out of the rock, showed that it had -once belonged to a householder with taste for luxury as well as an -eye for exquisite scenery. The baths and vats have been converted -into cisterns for rain-water, and the place has become the scene -of industry. The earth, in past years again and again reddened by -battles, now yields peaceful harvests of grain. All the Jewish -refugees are not, however, cultivators. Soap-making from olive oil -and alkali grown on the Jordan Plain, glue-making, stone-dressing, -quarrying, are industries which offer many of them an honest living. -The idea of the founders of this society was "to give relief and -employment to the Jews, especially in Jerusalem, until they are able -to found colonies on their own account." The experiment of Abraham's -Vineyard has succeeded, and the Jews have carried the work farther, -as the trade in Jaffa oranges and olive-wood ware testify. - - -OUR CHRISTMAS NUMBER. - -"CHRISTMAS ARROWS" (the Extra Christmas Number of THE QUIVER) is -published simultaneously with this part, and contains a complete -one-volume story by M. H. Cornwall Legh, entitled "=The Steep -Ascent=," copiously illustrated by Frank Craig. In addition -will be found a seasonable article by the Rev. Dr. Preston, on -"=Christmas Chimes from Jerusalem=" (illustrated by Mark Zangwill); -a contribution by the Rev. Canon McCormick entitled "=Christian -Hospitality="; and a long fairy-parable by E. H. Strain which bears -the title "=The Star Ruby=," and is illustrated by H. R. Millar. -"Christmas Arrows" also contains full particulars and conditions -of our scheme for providing =Christmas Stockings= for poor and -friendless children, as well as the =Voting Form= which any reader -is at liberty to use to recommend suitable cases for the receipt of -our Christmas gift. - - -ROLL OF HONOUR FOR SUNDAY-SCHOOL WORKERS. - -The =Special Silver Medal= and =Presentation Bible= offered for the -longest known Sunday-school service in the county of =Leicester= -(for which applications were invited up to October 31st) have been -gained by - - MISS ANNE HARRISON, - 42, Humberstone Gate, - Leicester. - -who has distinguished herself by =fifty-eight= years' service in -Harvey Lane Baptist Chapel, Leicester. - -As already announced, the next territorial county for which claims -are invited for the =Silver Medal= is - - SUSSEX, - -and applications, on the special form, must be received on or before -November 30th, 1898. We may add that =Wiltshire= is the following -county selected, the date-limit for claims in that case being -December 31st, 1898. This county, in its turn, will be followed by -=Durham=, for which the date will be one month later--viz. January -31st, 1899. - -The names of members recently enrolled will be found in our -advertisement pages. - - - - -NEW QUIVER WAIFS. - -To be Selected by our Readers. - - -For many years past our readers have generously taken the -responsibility of maintaining a waif at Dr. Barnardo's Homes, and -another at Miss Sharman's Orphanage in Southwark; but, as the -present waifs are now growing up, and will soon be out in the world, -the time has come for another selection. For this purpose, we have -obtained particulars of eligible cases, which we submit to our -readers, and, as we look to them for a continuance of their kindly -help in supporting THE QUIVER Waifs, we feel that they would prefer -to choose the new little ones who are to be so known. We would, -therefore, request our readers to send a post-card (addressed to -The Editor of THE QUIVER, La Belle Sauvage, London, E.C.), stating -for which waif in each of the two sets they desire to vote, and -the children with the highest number of votes will be elected. The -post-cards should reach the Editor not later than December 31st, -1898. It should be particularly understood that this course will -imply no pecuniary obligation whatever on the part of the voters, as -we shall rely solely upon the voluntary contributions of our readers -to furnish the total requisite sum for the maintenance of the waifs, -which amounts to £31 per year. All donations will be acknowledged in -THE QUIVER month by month. - - -Particulars of Cases. - -I. _For Dr. Barnardo's Homes_ (one vote):-- - -ALBERT LE VASSEUR.--Eight years of age--mother left a widow with ten -children--totally unable to support them all--when discovered there -was no food or money in the house. - -CHARLES SALT.--Seven years of age--mother a "drunken and -disreputable tramp"--father little better--parents without a home -and constantly ill-treating the child. - -JOHN HARRISON.--Seven years of age--found in streets begging in -ragged condition--father dead--mother disreputable--John somewhat -lame in walk, owing to injury to the right knee in infancy. - -II. _For Miss Sharman's Orphanage_ (one vote):-- - -ROSE HEELIS.--Aged two years--was born shortly after her father's -death--mother has died of consumption--promises to grow into a very -nice child, and is full of life and spirits. - -ETHEL ROBINSON.--Aged six years--father killed by an -accident--mother in lunatic asylum--relatives too poor to help. - -LILY PAVITT.--Aged ten years--mother dead--father deserted -children--an aunt took the child, but was unable to support her. - - -THE QUIVER FUNDS. - -The following is a list of contributions received from October 1st -up to and including October 31st, 1898. Subscriptions received after -this date will be acknowledged next month:-- - -For "_The Quiver_" _Waifs' Fund_: A Glasgow Mother (101st donation), -1s.; J. J. E. (131st donation), 5s.; R. S., Crouch End (7th -donation), 5s.; E. M. B., Jedburgh, 3s.; R. Dendy, Eastbourne, 3s.; -Anon., Alford, 1s. - -For "_The Quiver_" _Christmas Stocking Fund_: Jessie, Agnes, and -Cyril, 2s. 6d.; M. T., 5s. - -For _The Ragged School Union_: R. H. B., 2s. 6d. - -For _The Indian Leper Mission Fund_: A Thank-Offering, 1s. - -For _Dr. Barnardo's Homes_: An Irish Girl, 13s. Also 7s. 6d. from -Diomedes sent direct. - -For _St. Giles Christian Mission_: Thank-Offering, 1s. - - - - -THE QUIVER BIBLE CLASS. - -(BASED ON THE INTERNATIONAL SCRIPTURE LESSONS.) - - -QUESTIONS. - -13. What was the great sin of which Zedekiah, king of Judah, was -guilty and for which he was punished? - -14. In what way was Zedekiah punished? - -15. What prophecy was thereby fulfilled? - -16. In what way does the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews -contrast the revelation of God to mankind under the old dispensation -with that of the new? - -17. Quote a text which shows the relationship of the angels to the -human race. - -18. What is the special characteristic of the Gospel of St. John? - -19. Quote text in which St. John asserts the truth of the -Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. - -20. What reference to St. John the Baptist was made by the last of -the Old Testament prophets? - -21. It is said of our Lord, "He came unto His own, and His own -received Him not." Quote passage from the Old Testament which shows -that this passage refers to the Jewish people. - -22. From what circumstance should we gather that Nathanael was a -diligent student of the Old Testament? - -23. In what words did our Lord show forth His divinity in speaking -to Nathanael? - -24. In what way did St. John the Baptist point out to his disciples -that Jesus was the Messiah? - - -ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ON PAGE 96. - -1. Manasseh defiled the Temple at Jerusalem by setting up an idol -therein (2 Chron. xxxiii. 7). - -2. 2 Chron. xxxiii. 14. - -3. Manasseh, having been reinstated in his kingdom by the Assyrians, -gave up his idolatry and did all he could to restore the worship of -God in the land (2 Chron. xxxiii. 14-17). - -4. Prov. iv. 14, 17. - -5. Prov. iv. 18. - -6. In the reign of Josiah the king sent to Huldah the prophetess to -inquire as to God's will concerning the people (2 Kings xxii. 14-20). - -7. The copy of the Law which Moses had written was found (2 Kings -xxii. 8; 2 Chron. xxxiv. 14). - -8. In the reign of Amon, king of Judah, we are told the people -worshipped the "sun, moon, and stars, and all the host of heaven" (2 -Kings xxiii. 5). - -9. In the reign of Josiah, who burnt men's bones on the altar at -Bethel (2 Kings xxiii. 15, 16; 1 Kings xiii. 2). - -10. Jehoiakim threw on the fire the roll on which Jeremiah had -written at God's command a warning to the king and his people (Jer. -xxxvi. 23). - -11. Jer. xxii. 13, 14; 2 Kings xxiv. 4. - -12. Jehoiakim was bound in fetters to carry him to Babylon, but was -slain at Jerusalem and his dead body cast outside the city (2 Chron. -xxxvi. 6; Jer. xxii. 19). - - * * * * * - -Transcriber's note: - -Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. -Irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as -printed. - -Missing page numbers are page numbers that were not shown in the -original text. - -The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up -paragraphs. - -Mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where -the missing quote should be placed. - -The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the -transcriber and is placed in the public domain. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Quiver, 11/1899, by Anonymous - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE QUIVER, 11/1899 *** - -***** This file should be named 43738-8.txt or 43738-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/3/7/3/43738/ - -Produced by Delphine Lettau, Julia Neufeld and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -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. 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