ROLEY-POLEY'S OPINIONS--THE BUS-WASHER--COMMUNISM--AN INFIDEL CLUB
ROOM--PHILOSOPHERS--CONFLICT WITH INFIDELITY--THE 'STROLOGY
WOMAN--BIBLE ANSWERS--IMP WOMAN--THE CONVERTED INFIDEL.
THE BOOK IN THE COURT:
ITS TRUTH.
"Thy word is true from the beginning." PS. cxix. 160.
All who knew "Roley-poley," as the children delighted to call him, were
convinced that something was wrong with him or his affairs. He was
regarded as one of the respectables of the Court; and as he left home,
with his huge narrow-edged basket, covered with a white cloth, upon
which were displayed slices of rolled currant-pudding and plum-cake, he
looked the pink of cleanliness. His rosy, contented face, white calico
cook's cap, of which he was very proud, and his clean apron, were as
charms to his supporters,--the roughs and gutter children. The partner
of his life was also a partner in the provision business, as she sold
sheep's-trotters outside the doors of the public-houses. Though both
were turned sixty they were healthy, and their room had an appearance of
comfort. It was plain that they prospered, as in the afternoon they left
with well-filled baskets, and at night returned with them empty.
Business difficulties were not therefore the cause, and yet the
good-natured little man became ill-tempered, sharp with his customers,
and "cranky" with every one; and then his meek little wife began to look
wretched and speak of her "troubles." Liquor was not the cause, as
"Roley-poley" was a sober man: so the conclusion arrived at was, that
his "opinions," which of late had become very peculiar, were at the root
of the evil. This was confirmed by his venturing an attack upon the
Missionary, with whom he had been generally on good terms: and this is
how the event occurred. The reader of the good Book was standing in a
door-way with a group of boys, whose tossing for pence he had stopped by
an offer to read them the story of a young man who was thrown into a den
of lions. As "Roley-poley" passed with his basket there was a diversion
of attention and a fingering of pence, with such a look at the tempting
spread that the retailer approached to do business. The youths paused in
their purchase to hear the end of the narrative, which may have
irritated the poor man, as he looked spitefully toward the Book, and
exclaimed, "That all contradicts itself, and it's made up of lies by the
parsons, what doesn't produce nuffin, to keep us down and to get our
money, and it says, it does, that God come from Teman, and nobody knows
about that and Him; and it's bad, cos it says we are to be like a man
what told people to steal a donkey. My opinion is, 'No religion and our
rights.'" He then toddled away, as one who had let off the long
condensed steam of "his opinions."
Next morning the Missionary entered his room to seek an explanation, and
was told that "such as him wasn't wanted."
"Yes you be, master," exclaimed that meek little woman, with positive
anger. "He's a-turning infidel, cos them shoemakers has lent him Tom
Paine's book, which he was reading all two Sundays; and now he's
miserable, and talks wicked, and goes to them infidel meetings, and
doesn't stop out with the basket, cos he ain't content-like, and wants
other people's things."
"She's a wixen," retorted the husband; "and a wixen what hasn't got
reason, which is the worser sort of wixens: and she is always a-reading
her mother's book, 'The Whole Duty of Man,' which is a parson's book,
and agin our rights."
The domestic jangle was stopped by the visitor observing, "It is quite
right in religion to use our reason; as the Bible tells us to 'prove all
things, and to hold fast that which is good.'" And he then, in a
soothing tone of voice, and with simple illustrations, proved to the
poor man that God is, and that He is the Rewarder of them who diligently
seek Him; and then assured him of his interest in the loving heart of
the Saviour.
The old man listened, and it was evident by the manner he pursued his
work of pudding-making that he was the subject of an inward conflict.
After washing his apron, he poured the flour into the dirty old tub with
such vengeance as to create a cloud of dust, and then he mixed with such
energy that his arms were soon covered with whitey-brown flakes. By the
time the dough was deposited upon the table he was calmer, and toward
the end of the operation the rolling-pin was gently used. Rising from
his seat the Missionary said kindly, "I am sorry for you, as you have
been injured. The men have done you more harm by lending you that book
than if they had broken your arm. You have struggled on together for a
great many years, and ought now to be trying to make your last days your
best days. That bad book will prevent this, and will rob you of the hope
of meeting together in heaven. Do, my good friend, read your Bible, and
ask God to take the wicked thoughts out of your mind."
The wife, who was preparing her trotters in another tub, burst out
crying; and the tears started into the poor man's eyes as he said, "I'll
give 'em up, sir, and I'll take to your Bible; and the name of the book
I had is 'The Age of Reason,' and the 'bus-washer has it, and we was
told not to let you see it."
A bad book, among a people so ignorant as the dwellers in Paradise
Court, is worse than a beast of prey at large: so thought the visitor,
as he hastened to the room of the family who had received the book, in
hope of its capture. The man, an omnibus-washer, had just returned from
his work, at which he had been employed since three in the morning. He
was dirty and haggard, but this was his usual condition; but the dark
frown upon his brow and the surly way in which he received the visitor
were new to him. He was one of those to whom positive good had been
done, and who had evinced his gratitude. He had a sickly wife and six
children, and his hard earnings were only seventeen shillings weekly. As
in bad weather he worked a greater part of the night, he had, no doubt
from a feeling of exhaustion, contracted the habit of having a quartern
of rum as soon as the public-house opened, which habit greatly reduced
his wages and led to after-drinking. No wonder then that his family were
at times in a starving condition. His boy of seven was deaf and dumb,
and a great object of pity. One day a neighbour, to quiet his moaning as
he sat upon the stairs, gave him a penny. The child hastened to the
baker's and bought a loaf of bread with it. As he entered the room
gnawing it, the other children, in savage hunger, sprang upon him and
tore it out of his hands. This came to the knowledge of the Missionary,
who called upon the man to reason with him about the spending of his
wages. The Widow had already been there, and had convinced the wife that
more could be made of the money if both were agreed. As the results of
the conference the man was induced to sign the pledge; and to help him
in forming habits of sobriety, arrangements were made for him to receive
a breakfast of bread, butter, and coffee, at a house which opened at
five o'clock in the morning, and that free of cost. By the time a
fortnight was over the man had improved in health, and was firm in his
resolve to keep the pledge and to continue his early breakfast. Good
results followed, for the wife became cheerful, the children happy, and
the room assumed an appearance of comfort. A cloud had however now
gathered over the family, the man absented himself from home, and the
wife's Sunday shawl and wedding ring had again disappeared. Their
visitor was therefore concerned about them, and this accounts for his
hurrying to their room. At first the man was sullen; but in reply to the
remark, "I fear that you have neglected your promise to read a chapter
daily?" he replied, "I'm the best scholar down here or in the yard
either, and I've found out how we are kept down by the 'haristocrats;'
and now I understands what are our rights, I'll have my share of the
wealth which is the people's which produces it." And then, clenching his
fist, he exclaimed, "And if fighting for it is to be done I'll do my
share."
The visitor tried to secure his attention to the reason and religion of
the matter, but was stopped by the wife, who to his astonishment, chimed
in with the declaration, that "the people were becoming enlightened, and
were not to be kept down by religion, though some who believed in it
were good and some were bad." After listening to them for a sufficient
time to acquaint himself with the full extent of the damage they had
received, he said sharply, "You have not had time to think over the
opinions you have accepted: when you have done so you will discover your
mistake, and I trust find to your joy that the words of the Lord are
pure, making wise the simple." And then he left, with a sad heart at the
discouragement received.
Upon his next visit to the owner of "The Age of Reason," the Missionary
tried to convince him that he was doing positive harm by circulating his
book of "advanced opinions," and instanced the parties to whom we have
referred. "I admit," he replied, "that the immediate result of
unsettling the mind is productive of apparent evil; but we free
thinkers, like good surgeons, wound to heal and amputate to save. We do
not expect to annihilate the theological system of ages without damage
to individuals and to society. Our principles will revolutionize and
destroy until we are able to build up a new moral system." He then told
the visitor that a Branch Secular Society of thirty members had been
formed at a neighbouring coffee-house, and added, "After business on
Saturday evenings we intend to hold a discussion for the purpose of
making new members; and as I have the privilege of inviting a friend, I
shall be glad to see you there."
As several residents in the Court had joined the Society, the Missionary
felt that it was his duty for their sakes to accept the invitation, and
he therefore entered the room at the appointed time. Its arrangements
were certainly comfortable and attractive, the walls were neatly
papered, and round the room were twenty ornamental brackets, and upon
each of these the bust of an infidel writer, such as Byron, Chubb,
Paine, Shelley, Shaftesbury, Voltaire, and others. Under each bracket
was a small shelf, upon which were the works of the man represented by
the bust, and the effect was very pretty. There was also a shelf with
such books as "A Short and Easy Method with the Saints." Upon the table
were the various infidel publications, and three Bibles--the Authorized
Version, the Douay, and Priestley. There was also a Dictionary, and an
auctioneer's hammer for the use of the Chairman. This personage, an
ironmonger's foreman, was voted to the chair, and congratulated the
members upon the success of the new movement. He then announced the
subject for discussion: "Does man require a revelation?" and called upon
the Secretary, a secular bookseller, to open upon the negative side. He
did so in a really clever speech, clearing his way by stating truisms
about the force of the human intellect, man's capacity for knowledge,
and his power over the material world. He then made an onslaught upon
Christianity, charging it with all the evil done in its name, and much
more, and proceeded to establish the proposition: "Science the
providence of life; spiritual dependency leading to material
destruction." He then took pains to show "that morality is independent
of Scriptural religion," and besought his hearers to reject the Book,
which reason and modern discovery proved to be false, and to rely upon
philosophy and science for the attainment of social and political
equality with their upraising and happy influences.
Upon taking his seat he was applauded, and then the Missionary rose,
with his pocket Bible in his hand, and said, "I trust that you, Mr.
Chairman, and the members of this Society, will extend to me the
courtesy usually shown to strangers, by allowing me to speak to the
affirmative of this question; and as this is my first attempt to take
part in a debate, I am sure that you will grant me your forbearance
should I inadvertently trespass upon your rules of discussion. Now, as
your Secretary has placed philosophy and science in antagonism to this
Book, and stated that these are the weapons of your warfare with which
Christianity and our social state are to be destroyed and supplanted,
let me reply by taking the position, 'That philosophy is only groping in
the dark for the Bible, and that science is only hobbling after it.'
(Laughter.) This is a great subject, and we ought to approach it with
modesty, because many of the best, the noblest, and the most learned of
our race have believed in the Bible. Sir Isaac Newton from his
observatory scanned the starry canopy, and then confirmed the statement
of the Hebrew poet, that 'the heavens declare the glory of God, and the
firmament showeth forth His handy work.' And let me here remind you that
true philosophy--skill in the science of nature--is after all a
spiritual product from the exercise of man's intellect upon the works of
creation: as, for instance, the atomic theory is the fruit of reason in
chemistry. You have therefore to accept the arguments of philosophers
whose reasoning contradicts your senses, as when they tell us that the
earth goes round the sun. If then in natural phenomena we have to use
our reason in accepting or rejecting the theories of men, does it not
lead to the conviction that reason itself requires to be enlightened and
directed in matters beyond its power of action? It is in necessary
truths which man by searching cannot discover, that communications from
the Creator becomes needful; and this Book contains such revelations:
true philosophy therefore leads up to it. And now let me, on the
authority of the historian Neander, remind you that before Christianity
gave the idea no one thought of forming a system of enlightenment which
could extend to the people. The Stoic, Epicurean, and Platonic forms of
philosophy recognize two classes of mankind--the noble-minded who formed
their disciples, and the gross multitudes whom they avoided as sunk
hopelessly in degradation. The Founder of the Christian religion,
however, rose above the human philosophers, by proclaiming His mission
to the common people, and in this way raising humanity to the standard
of an universal brotherhood." The speaker was here stopped by shouts of
contradiction; but he produced silence by holding out the Bible, and
exclaiming in an impassioned manner, "Philosophy and science can lead
man to the intellectual enjoyment of nature and to maxims of wisdom:
they can also trouble him with grave perplexities. They teach him that
matter is indestructible, and that there is a constant restoring of the
face of nature; and in this way they raise in his mind the important
questions, 'Are my intellectual powers to be destroyed while matter only
undergoes a change?' and 'If a man die shall he live again?' You who
reject this Book look down into the grave and discover a darkness which
can be felt but not penetrated. We, however, who accept this revelation,
look into its darkness and discover flashes of celestial glory which
make a passage-way to an immortality of blessedness. The song of victory
over death belongs to the Christian philosopher, who, looking into the
grave, exclaims with joy, 'The _Lord_ has risen indeed, and because He
lives I shall live also.'"
[Illustration: "Philosophy is only groping in the dark for the Bible,
and science is only hobbling after it."]
As the speaker resumed his seat there was a great sensation among the
infidels. All had listened with breathless attention to his closing
remarks, but the old free-thinkers regarded him with angry looks, while
the young men cheered heartily. It was some minutes before a member rose
to reply, and he did not grapple with the question; he rather railed at
the man with the Book, and gave an opinion that "he was an enthusiast,
and ought not to be allowed to enter their houses, as his influence in
their families and among their neighbours would ruin the secular cause,
and promote priestcraft." As this was personal, the Christian visitor
rose, and with a pleasant remark to the Chairman left the room.
For a time the infidel society flourished, as its members put forth much
inducement and effort, and effected a large circulation of their books,
publications, and tracts. The Missionary however fought a foot-to-foot
conflict with them, by visiting each member at his house, by changing
their books for those containing an antidote, and by a large circulation
of well-chosen tracts. As they removed their discussion class to a
neighbouring hall, and secured an attendance of from 140 to 180 men,
amongst whom were many foreigners, he for fifty-two Saturday evenings
attended and took part in the debates. These efforts were made to result
in good; the Missionary however had the sorrow of seeing several of his
people confirmed in unbelief. One of these was a labourer, who read the
"Age of Reason," attended a discussion, and was ever after an enemy to
the truth. There were others who used the infidel objections they heard
as a means to harden conscience, that they might pursue their evil ways.
Among these were two women, called by the people the "'strology woman,"
and the "imp woman."
The former of these belonged to a gang of fortune-telling impostors, who
lived in the poor neighbourhoods of West London. One of these was a
scissors-grinder, whose wife was a mulatto. When travelling with his
machine he used to circulate cards among female servants, with his
address, and the announcement that his wife "repaired parasols and cut
cards." Another of the party was a vulgar over-dressed man, who styled
himself "professor," and kept a magic mirror, to which silly girls were
attracted by the promise of a peep at their future partners. The
"'strology woman" assisted those persons when so pressed with business
as to require aid, and she did a little lying on her own account among a
lower class of dupes. The room at the corner of the Court was suited for
her black-art purposes, as persons could slip in unnoticed, and there
was no passage for other lodgers. She was about forty years of age, and
unmarried. She only received her inquirers after six in the evening, and
then she dressed in a gaudy kind of Eastern costume, with fantastic
head-dress, and large coral necklace, from which was suspended a bunch
of heavy charms. The front was the waiting room, and the back was the
audience chamber. This latter was well furnished and strangely
decorated. Over the mantle-shelf was a badly painted chart of the twelve
signs of the zodiac, and at the side a picture of Daniel's vision of the
four beasts. Upon the table was a Prayer-Book, several well-worn packs
of cards, a celestial globe, and a number of "nativity" papers,
with space for filling in. At the side was a small deal table
covered with bottles and powder papers, containing marvellous
novelties for her foolish "inquirers." "Fate powders (made of brick
dust), with directions for use, so as to produce dreams of the
future,"--threepence. "Compression of the damask rose, to give to the face
a not-to-be-resisted charm" (rouge and lard in small pill box),--sixpence.
"The spirit of love: a fascination" (common scent in small bottle),
tenpence; and other articles of equal attraction. The woman boasted that
among the girls who thronged to consult her were many respectable young
women, to whom she had spoken and given cards in the parks and streets.
At first she avoided the Missionary, and when he succeeded in speaking
to her she listened with marked respect; his faithfulness however very
soon produced a rupture, and it happened in this way. One evening a
group of poor girls assembled, before the woman, who was from home,
returned to open the door. The Missionary, who was passing, gave tracts,
and explained to them the sin and folly of consulting a wicked woman
about the future, which was only known to the Almighty. While he was
speaking the "'strology woman" came up, and the girls in their confusion
scampered away. To his surprise she asked him into her consulting room,
and in a bland, deceptive tone remonstrated with him for interfering
with her affairs. "I will," said the Visitor, "answer you out of this
Holy Bible, that you may know that it is the great _God_, and not
myself, speaking to you." And then he opened it and read, "When I say
unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not
speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his
iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand."
"Them girls," she continued, "them silly girls like to be befooled, and
none of 'em 'ardly believes the cards when I cuts 'em, and what I says
about their stars and nativities; but it amuses 'em, and does 'em no
harm."
The pages of the Book were turned over, and the words read, "Ye shall
not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another." But she
added in a softer tone of voice, "Astrology is true, as it says in the
Bible of the stars, that 'they are given for signs,' and that 'He gives
wisdom to understand secrets;' and that is why the Professor has a
Prayer-Book, and I has one here, that they may feel that it comes of
religion; and it does lots of good, and makes 'em steady and religious
like, and it's no sort of harm."
The leaves of the Book were again turned over, and the Scripture read:
"O full of all subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou
enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right way
of the Lord?" As the Book was closed a frown gathered upon her face, and
springing from her chair she, with awful imprecations, ordered the
reader out, telling him "that he was a deceiver, as lots of people in
the Court knew that the Bible was a lying Book."
The "imp woman" was quite a different style of person. She was of middle
age, and had three miserable little children dependent upon her, as her
husband had absconded. These, with several others whom she borrowed as
business required, provided a good living, as she supplied several of
the low theatres with imp children, used in pantomimes and plays to
represent huge frogs, cats, and other animals, also angels and goblins.
She was a large consumer of gin; and it was well known that she gave
abundance to her children, to stop their growth, as they decreased in
value as they increased in size. Employers at the theatres used to come
to fit the skins and to instruct the children in their duties. These
were of the most ludicrous kind, and her boy of six did the monkey so
well that for two Christmas seasons he earned a pound a week. This
training in the skins was painful until the children got "into shape" as
it was called. One afternoon the Missionary approached the door, which
was partly open, and was startled by the stifled sobbing of the
youngest,--a tiny girl of not quite five years. Upon entering the room
he saw that the sobs proceeded from a blue fiend, which was wagging its
forked tail and shaking its bat-wings upon the table, the woman standing
over the creature with a cane. "This is shameful," he exclaimed, taking
the fiend into his arms; and then he burst the cord, and set the child
free. He then turned toward the mother and said severely, "This case was
made for the child last year, and if your cruelty in forcing her to move
in it was known, you would have six months' hard labour. As this Book
says, you must be without natural affection, and it would be better for
you all to go into the workhouse, or to beg your bread, than to live in
this way."
"You ain't got no business to come here!" exclaimed the woman in a rage.
"And she's a hobstinate hussey, she is; and as for natural affection,
there's men better than you as knows as the Bible keeps us down and
ain't true. And I does love my children, and I must get a living for
'em, sitewated as I am."
The child trembled, and threw her arms round the neck of her deliverer.
To calm them both he said quietly: "You know very well that I am
everybody's friend, and I can't help caring for your little children.
When the Saviour was on earth He blessed little dears like this, and we
who know the Bible to be true must love and care for them."
As he paused she burst out crying, and the child, seeing that the storm
was over, sprang into her arms, hugging and kissing her in a most
affectionate manner. It was a touching sight, and cleared the way for an
important conversation. The mother admitted that the health of the
children was suffering from their training and exposure to the night air
when returning from the theatres, and upon the visitor promising to
place her eldest boy, aged seven years, into a Refuge, she with evident
gratitude promised "to give up the imp business, and to be a Christian,
and to work her fingers to the bone for her poor forsaken children." The
little people evidently understood and believed her, as they clapped
their hands with delight, and danced round the room after their
departing friend.
Among the group of broken-down men who made the tramp's lodging-house
their home, was a decrepit person who had evidently turned sixty years
of age. His companions always addressed him as "Strong Bill," a name so
opposite to his appearance as to require an explanation. This was given
one winter's day as the Reader of the Book sat with several of them
before the kitchen fire. A stranger entered who, after depositing
several pockets full of broken victuals upon the table, approached the
fire and stopped a serious conversation with the exclamation, "Well, if
it ain't Strong Bill--haven't seen you, old fellow, for years. How are
you getting on?" The man of powerful name shook his head, struck his
breast, and in a sorrowful tone replied, "Very queer, very, not the
same man as I was. Tell this 'ere gent, Bobby, 'cause as how he wouldn't
take it in if I said it myself, what I did when I was a young chap--how
I was known all over London as 'the strong man,' how I dressed tight and
carried two weights, each a real hundred, about with me, and as how I
used to get rings of people round me by throwing up the weights and
catching 'em like baby balls. Didn't I get lots of money, that's all;
but it's all up now, it's all up." The stranger readily confirmed this
statement, and enlarged upon the feats of strength once performed by his
old acquaintance. "It's a great thing to have a well-built frame, and a
man ought to rejoice and thank God when he feels as strong as a lion,"
observed the Reader; "but the inside strength is best of all; we are
weak creatures--the strongest of us, without it," and then he with
feeling read and commented upon the words: "Blessed is the man whose
strength is in Thee." "I knows nothing about that 'ere," said 'Strong
Bill;' "but I em a weak sinner, I em a bad lot." "Then come to my
meeting to-morrow evening, and I will read and talk about 'strength and
weakness.'" "We will, master," several exclaimed. They came, and in his
weakness the once strong man was made glad to hear of Him who in mercy
strengthens weak sinners with the mightiness of God.
In this way ignorance and infidelity, in their varied forms, were met
and grappled with; and though disappointments and annoyances were of
daily occurrence, there were at times gracious and unexpected proofs of
blessing. The most pleasing of these occurred one morning as the
Missionary was passing down the Court. The young infidel, who had for
several weeks treated him with reserve, opened his window, and handing
him a parcel of books and publications, said with a tremulous voice, "I
believe, sir, upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and have laid down my weapons
of rebellion; and in proof of it I give you these books, which have
damaged my own soul, and by which I have injured others." This
confession of faith so surprised the man who had been set for the
defence of the truth, that he was unable for the moment to reply; he
however took the parcel, and passing into the room seized the hand of
the convert and exclaimed, "The Lord Jehovah hath dealt mercifully by
you, and blessed be His name."
The door was then closed, and the young man, in reply to inquiries, made
the following statement: "Upon the first night of our discussion I was
made miserable by your speech, as I saw that ours was a system of
negations, and that our pretensions to philosophy and science were but
groping and hobbling after revealed truth. Since then I have read many
books against the Bible, and at times have been made comfortable in
unbelief. Your speech, however, on Saturday week carried conviction to
my mind, and the next day I offered up my first prayer for light and
salvation. The past week has been one of bitterness, and I yesterday
decided to cast myself in simple faith upon the mercy of the Saviour,
and to acknowledge Him before men."
Need we add that he was strengthened in the faith of the Gospel, and
that his spiritual father knelt with him in prayer. The Missionary
hastened over to the Widow's with the parcel, to examine its contents,
which were very curious. There were twenty numbers of the _Reasoner_,
many numbers of the _Free Thinker_ and the _Red Republican_, eighteen
copies of "Why should the Atheist fear to die?" several volumes, and
among them the long sought for "Age of Reason," the book which had
wrought so much evil among the people. The writer has now this book
before him, and he never saw a volume more worn. The covers and edges
are nearly destroyed with handling, and every page is soiled. The
frontispiece, which has been carefully preserved, shows contempt for the
ordained servants of God, as the text does of His holy Word. It
represents a fat Bishop, running away from a rock upon which the word
"reason" is inscribed, with a lamb under one arm and a sheaf of corn
under the other. At the meeting that evening the reclaimed infidel sat
beside the Widow, and to the astonishment of the people knelt reverently
in prayer. At the next discussion he spoke on the Christian side, and
boldly acknowledged his change of opinion and his faith in Christ. For
several months he gave evidence of a change of heart; and as he
expressed a desire further to confess Christ by partaking of the
Sacrament, he was introduced to the Rector; and after he had undergone a
suitable preparation, the Missionary had the great joy of kneeling with
him at the table of the Lord, there to commemorate that blood-shedding
whereby alone we obtain remission of our sins, and to receive the richer
blessings of His grace.
The Book in the Court:
ITS CERTAIN GOOD.
"As winter streams that long have lain
In icy fetters darkly bound,
When spring returns leap forth again
And fill the vale with song and sound;
So did their spring-time now return,
And love dissolved the icy chain,
And smothered hopes began to burn,
And Jenny was herself again."
_Mrs. Sewell._