It was the first Sunday in July. Under a sky of pure and cloudless
blue the village of St. Rest lay cradled in floral and foliage
loveliness, with all the glory of the morning sunshine and the full
summer bathing it in floods of living gold. It had reached the
perfect height of its annual beauty with the full flowering of its
orchards and fields, and with all the wealth of colour which was
flung like spray against the dark brown thatched roofs of its
clustering cottages by the masses of roses, red and white, that
clambered as high as the tops of the chimneys, and turning back from
thence, dropped downwards again in a tangle of blossoms, and twined
over latticed windows with a gay and gracious air like garlands hung
up for some great festival. The stillness of the Seventh Day's pause
was in the air,--even the swallows, darting in and out from their
prettily contrived nests under the bulging old-fashioned eaves,
seemed less busy, less active on their bright pinions, and skimmed
to and fro with a gliding ease, suggestive of happy indolence and
peace. The doors of the church were set wide open,--and Adam Frost,
sexton and verger, was busy inside the building, placing the chairs,
as was his usual Sunday custom, in orderly rows for the coming
congregation. It was about half-past ten, and the bell-ringers,
arriving and ascending into the belfry, were beginning to 'tone' the
bells before pealing the full chime for the eleven o'clock service,
when Bainton, arrayed in his Sunday best, strolled with a casual air
into the churchyard, looked round approvingly for a minute or two,
and then with some apparent hesitation, entered the church porch,
lifting his cap reverently as he did so. Once there, he coughed
softly to attract Frost's attention, but that individual was too
much engrossed with his work to heed any lesser sound than the
grating of the chairs he was arranging. Bainton waited patiently,
standing near the carved oaken portal, till by chance the verger
turned and saw him, whereupon he beckoned mysteriously with a
crook'd forefinger.
"Adam! Hi! A word wi' ye!"
Adam came down the nave somewhat reluctantly, his countenance
showing signs of evident preoccupation and harassment.
"What now?" he demanded, in a hoarse whisper-'"Can't ye see I'm
busy?"
"O' coorse you're busy--I knows you're busy,"--returned Bainton,
soothingly--"I ain't goin' to keep ye back nohow. All I wants to
know is, ef it's true?"
"Ef what's true?"
"This 'ere, wot the folks are all a' clicketin' about,--that Miss
Vancourt 'as got a party o' Lunnon fash'nables stayin' at the Manor,
an' that they're comin' to church this marnin'?"
"True enough!" said Frost--"Don't ye see me a-settin' chairs for 'em
near the poopit? There'll be what's called a 'crush' I can tell ye!-
-for there ain't none too much room in the church at the best o'
times for our own poor folk, but when rich folks comes as well,
we'll be put to it to seat 'em. Mister Primmins, he comes down to me
nigh 'arf an hour ago, an' he sez, sez he: 'Miss Vancourt 'as
friends from Lunnon stayin' with 'er, an' they're comin' to church
this marnin'. 'Ope you'll find room?' An' I sez to 'im, 'I'll do my
best, but there ain't no reserve seats in the 'ouse o' God, an' them
as comes fust gits fust served.' Ay, it's true enough they're a-
comin', but 'ow it got round in the village, I don't know. I ain't
sed a wurrd."
"Ill news travels fast,"--said Bainton, sententiously, "Mister
Primmins no doubt called on his young 'ooman at the 'Mother Huff'
an' told 'er to put on 'er best 'at. She's a reg'ler telephone tube
for information--any bit o' news runs right through 'er as though
she was a wire. 'Ave ye told Passon Waldon as 'ow Miss Vancourt an'
visitors is a-comin' to 'ear 'im preach?"
"No,"--replied Adam, with some vigour--"I ain't told 'im nothin'.
An' I ain't goin' to neither!"
Bainton looked into the crown of his cap, and finding his
handkerchief there wiped the top of his head with it.
"It be powerful warm this marnin', Adam,"--he said--"Powerful warm
it be. So you ain't goin' to tell Passon nothin',--an' for why, may
I ask, if to be so bold."
"Look 'ere, Tummas,"--rejoined the verger, speaking slowly and
emphatically--"Passon, 'e be a rare good man, m'appen no better man
anywheres, an' what he's goin' to say to us this blessed Sunday is
all settled-like. He's been thinkin' it out all the week. He knows
what's what. 'Tain't for us,--'tain't for you nor me, to go puttin'
'im out an' tellin' 'im o' the world the flesh an' the devil all a-
comin' to church. Mebbe he'a been a-prayin' to the Lord A'mighty to
put the 'Oly Spirit into 'im, an' mebbe he's got it--just THERE."
And Adam touched his breast significantly. "Now if I goes, or you
goes and sez to 'im: 'Passon, there's fash'nable folks from Lunnon
comin' 'ere to look at ye an' listen to ye, an' for all we kin tell
make mock o' ye as well as o' the Gospel itself in their 'arts'--
d'ye think he'd be any the better for it? No, Tummas, no! I say
leave Passon alone. Don't upset 'im. Let 'im come out of 'is 'ouse
wise an' peaceful like as he allus do, an' let 'im speak as the
fiery tongues from Heaven moves 'im, an' as if there worn't no
fashion nor silly nonsense in the world. He's best so, Tummas!--you
b'lieve me,--he's best so!"
"Mebbe--mebbe!" and Bainton twirled his cap round and round
dubiously--"But Miss Vancourt---"
"Miss Vancourt ain't been to church once till now,"--said Adam,--
"An' she's only comin' now to show it to her friends. I doesn't want
to think 'ard of her, for she's a sweet-looking little lady an' a
kind one--an' my Ipsie just worships 'er,--an' what my baby likes
I'm bound to like too--but I do 'ope she ain't a 'eathen, an' that
once comin' to church means comin' again, an' reg'lar ever
arterwards. Anyway, it's for you an' me, Tummas, to leave Passon to
the Lord an' the fiery tongues,--we ain't no call to interfere with
'im by tellin' 'im who's comin' to church an' who ain't. Anyone's
free to enter the 'ouse o' God, rich or poor, an 'tain't a world's
wonder if strangers worships at the Saint's Rest as well as our own
folk."
Here the bells began to ring in perfect unison, with regular rhythm
and sweet concord.
"I must go,"--continued Adam--"I ain't done fixin' the chairs yet,
an' it's a quarter to eleven. We'll be 'avin 'em all 'ere d'rectly."
He hurried into the church again just as Miss Eden and her boy-and-
girl 'choir' entered the churchyard, and Bainton seeing them, and
also perceiving in the near distance the slow halting figure of
Josey Letherbarrow, who made it a point never to be a minute late
for divine service, rightly concluded that there was no time now,
even if he were disposed to such a course, to 'warn Passon' that he
would have to preach to 'fashionable folks' that morning.
"Mebbe Adam's right," he reflected--"An' yet it do worry me a bit to
think of 'im comin' out of 'is garden innercent like an' not knowin'
what's a-waitin' for 'im. For he's been rare quiet lately--seems as
if he was studyin' an' prayin' from mornin' to night, an' he ain't
bin nowhere,--an' no one's bin to see 'im, 'cept that scarecrow-
lookin' chap, Adderley, which HE stayed a 'ole arternoon, jabberin'
an' readin' to 'im. An' what's mighty queer to me is that he ain't
bin fidgettin' over 'is garden like he used to. He don't seem to
care no more whether the flowers blooms or doesn't. Them phloxes up
against the west wall now--a finer show I never seen--an' as for the
lilum candidum, they're a perfect picter. But he don't notice 'em
much, an' he's not so keen on his water-lilies as I thought he would
be, for they're promisin' better this year than they've ever done
before, an' the buds all a-floatin' up on top o' the river just
lovely. An' as for vegetables--Lord!--he don't seem to know whether
'tis beans or peas he 'as--there's a kind o' sap gone out o' the
garden this summer, for all that it's so fine an' flourishin'.
There's a missin' o' somethin' somewheres!"
His meditations were put to an end by the continuous arrival of all
the villagers coming to church;--by twos and threes, and then by
half dozens and dozens, they filed in through the churchyard,
exchanging brief neighbourly greetings with one another as they
passed quietly into the sacred edifice, where the soft strains of
the organ now began to mingle with the outside chiming of the bells.
Bainton still lingered near the porch, moved by a pardonable
curiosity. He was anxious to see the first glimpse of the people who
were staying at the Manor, but as yet there was no sign of any one
of them, though the time wanted only five minutes to eleven.
The familiar click of the latch of the gate which divided the church
precincts from the rectory garden, made him turn his head in that
direction, to watch his master approaching the scene of his
morning's ministrations. The Reverend John walked slowly, with
uplifted head and tranquil demeanour, and, as he turned aside up the
narrow path which led to the vestry at the back of the church the
faithful 'Tummas' felt a sudden pang. 'Passon' looked too good for
this world, he thought,--his dignity of movement, his serene and
steadfast eyes, his fine, thoughtful, though somewhat pale
countenance, were all expressive of that repose and integrity of
soul which lifts a man above the common level, and unconsciously to
himself, wins for him the silent honour and respect of all his
fellows. And yet there was a touch of pathetic isolation about him,
too,--as of one who is with, yet not of, the ordinary joys, hopes,
and loves of humanity,--and it was this which instinctively moved
Bainton, though that simple rustic would have been at a loss to
express the sense of what he felt in words. However there was no
more leisure for thinking, if he wished to be in his place at the
commencement of service. The servants from Abbot's Manor were just
entering the churchyard-gates, marshalled, as usual, by the
housekeeper, Mrs. Spruce, and her deaf but ever dutiful husband,--
and though Bainton longed to ask one of them if Miss Vancourt and
her guests were really coming, he hesitated,--and in that moment of
hesitation, the whole domestic retinue passed into church before
him, and he judged it best and wisest to follow quickly in silence,
lest, when prayers began, his master should note his absence.
The building was very full,--and it was difficult to see where, if
any strangers did arrive, they could be accommodated. Miss Eden, in
her capacity as organist, was still playing the opening voluntary,
but, despite the fact that there was no apparent disturbance of the
usual order of things, there was a certain air of hushed expectancy
among the people which was decidedly foreign to the normal
atmosphere of St. Rest. The village lasses looked at each other's
hats with keener interest,--the lads fidgeted with their ties and
collars more strenuously, and secreted their caps more
surreptitiously behind their legs,--and the most placid-looking
personage in the whole congregation was Josey Letherbarrow, who, in
a very clean smock, with a small red rose in his buttonhole, and his
silvery hair parted on either side and just touching his shoulders,
sat restfully in his own special corner not far from the pulpit,
leaning on his stick and listening with rapt attention to the fall
and flow of the organ music as it swept round him in soft and ever
decreasing eddies of sound. The bells ceased, and eleven o'clock
struck slowly from the church tower. At the last stroke, the
Reverend John entered the chancel in his plain white surplice,
spotless as new-fallen snow,-and as he knelt for a moment in silent
devotion, the voluntary ended with a grave, long, sustained chord. A
pause,--and then the 'Passon' rose, and faced his little flock, his
hand laid on the open 'Book of Common Prayer.'
"When the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath
committed and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save
his soul alive."
Walden's voice rang clear and sonorous,--the sunshine pouring
through the plain glass of the high rose-window behind and above
him, shed effulgence over the ancient sarcophagus in front of the
altar and struck from its alabaster whiteness a kind of double light
which, circling round his tall slight figure made it stand out in
singularly bold relief.
"If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is
not in us, but if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
A ripple of gay laughter here echoed in through the church doors,
which were left open for air on account of the great heat of the
day. There was an uneasy movement in the congregation,--some men and
women glanced at one another. That light, careless laughter was
distinctly discordant. The Reverend John drew himself up a little
more rigidly erect, and his face grew a shade paler. Steadily, he
read on:--
"Dearly beloved brethren, the Scripture moveth us in sundry places
to acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness; and
that we should not dissemble nor cloke them before the face of
Almighty God our Heavenly Father, but confess them with an humble,
lowly, penitent and obedient heart---"
He ceased abruptly. A glimmer of colour,--a soft gliding swish of
silken skirts, an affectation of tip-toe movement up the nave,--a
wave of indescribable artificial perfume,--and then, a general stir
and head-turning among the people showed that a new and unaccustomed
element had suddenly merged into the simple human material whereof
the village of St. Rest was composed,--an element altogether strange
to it, not to say troublous and confusing. Walden saw, and bit his
lips hard,--his hand instinctively clenched itself nervously on the
'Book of Common Prayer.' But his rigid attitude did not relax, and
he remained mute, his eyes fixed steadily on the fashionably dressed
new-comers, who, greatly embarrassed by the interruption their late
entrance had caused,--an interruption emphasised in so marked a
manner by the silence of the officiating minister, made haste to
take the chairs pointed out to them by the verger, with crimsoning
faces and lowered eyelids. It was a new and most unpleasant
experience for them. They did not know, of course, that it was
Walden's habit to pause in whatever part of the service he was
reading if anyone came in late,--to wait till the tardy arrivals
took their places,--and then to begin the interrupted sentence over
again,--a habit which had effectually succeeded in making all his
parishioners punctual.
But Maryllia, whose guests they were,--Maryllia, who was responsible
as their hostess for bringing them to church at all, and who
herself, with Cicely, was the last to enter after service had begun,
felt a rebellious wave of colour rushing up to her brows. It was
very rude of Mr. Walden, she thought, to stop short in his reading
and cause the whole congregation to turn and stare curiously at
herself and her friends just because they were a little bit behind
time! It exposed them all to public rebuke! And when the stir caused
by their entrance had subsided, she stood up almost defiantly,
lifting her graceful head haughtily, her soft cheeks glowing and her
eyes flashing, looking twenty times prettier even than usual as she
opened her daintily bound prayer-book with a careless, not to eay
indifferent air, as though her thoughts were thousands of miles away
from St. Rest and all belonging to it. Glancing at the different
members of her party, she was glad that one of them at least, Lady
Eva Beaulyon, had secured a front seat, for her ladyship was never
content unless she was well to the foremost of everything. She was a
reigning beauty,--the darling of the society press, and the model of
all aspiring photographers,--and she could hardly be expected to put
up with any obscure corner, even in a church;--if she ever went to
the Heaven of monkish legend, one could well imagine St. Peter
standing aside for her to pass. Close beside her was another
wonderful looking woman, a Mrs. Bludlip Courtenay, a 'leader' in
society, who went everywhere, did everything, wore the newest coat,
skirt or hat from Paris directly it was put on the market, and wrote
accounts of herself and her 'smartness' to the American press under
a 'nom-de-plume.' She was not, like Lady Beaulyon, celebrated for
her beauty, but for her perennial youth. Her face, without being in
the least interesting or charming, was smooth and peach-coloured,
without a line of thought or a wrinkle of care upon it. Her eyes
were bright and quite baby-like in their meaningless expression, and
her hair was of the loveliest Titian red. She had a figure which was
the envy of all modellers of dress-stands,--and as she was wont to
say of herself, it would have been difficult to find fault with the
'chic' of her outward appearance. Painters and sculptors would have
found her an affront to nature--but then Mrs. Bludlip Courtenay had
no acquaintance with painters and sculptors. She thought them
'queer' people, with very improper ideas. She was exceedingly put
out by Walden's abrupt pause in his reading of the 'Dearly beloved,'
while she and the other members of the Manor house-party rustled
into their places,--and when he recommenced the exordium she
revenged herself by staring at him quizzically through a long-
handled tortoiseshell-mounted lorgnon. But she did not succeed in
confusing him at all, or in even attracting his attention,--so she
merely shrugged her shoulders, with what the French call an 'air
moqueuse.'
The momentary confusion caused by the pause in the service soon
passed, and the spirit of calm again settled on the scene after the
'General Confession.' But Maryllia was deeply conscious of hurt and
vexation. It was too bad of Mr. Walden, she kept on. saying to
herself over and over again,--too bad! Her friends and herself were
only five or six minutes late, and to have stopped in his reading of
the service like that to put them all to shame was unkind--'yes,
unkind,' she said in her vexed soul,--vexed all the more because she
was inwardly conscious that Walden was right and herself wrong. She
knew well enough that she could have reached the church at eleven
had she chosen, and have brought her friends punctual to time as
well. She knew it was neither reverent nor respectful to interrupt
divine worship. But she was too irritated to reason the matter out
calmly just then,--all she could think of was that she and her
London guests had received a reproof from the minister of the
parish--silent, but none the less severe--before all the villagers-
before her own servants--and on the first occasion of her coming to
church, too! She could not get over it.
"If he can see me," she thought, "he will know that I am angry!"
Chafed little spirit!--as if it mattered to Walden whether she was
angry or not! He saw her well enough,--he noted her face 'red as a
rose,' with its mobile play of expression, set in its frame of
golden-brown hair,--it flitted, sunbeam-like between his eyes and
the 'Book of Common Prayer'--and, when he ceased reading, while the
village choir, rendered slightly nervous by the presence of 'the
quality,' chanted the 'O come let us sing unto the Lord,' he was
conscious of a sudden lassitude, arising, as he knew, from the
strain he had put upon himself for the past few minutes. He was,
however, quite calm and self-possessed when he rose to read the
Lessons of the Day, and the service proceeded as usual in the
perfectly simple, unadorned style of 'that pure and reformed part of
Christ's Holy Catholic Church which is established in this Realm.'
Now and then his attention wandered--once or twice his eyes rested
on the well-dressed group directly opposite to him with a kind of
vague regret and doubt. There was an emotion working in his soul to
which he could scarcely give a name. Instinctively he was conscious
that a certain embarrassment and uneasiness affected the ordinary
members of his congregation,--he knew that their minds were
disquieted and distracted,--that the girls and women were open-eyed
and almost open-mouthed at the sight of the fashionable costumes and
wondrous millinery which the ladies of Miss Vancourt's house-party
wore, and were dissatisfied with their own clothing in consequence,-
-and that the lads and men felt themselves to be awkward, uncouth
and foolish in the near presence of personages belonging to quite
another sphere than their own. He knew that the showy ephemera of
this world had by a temporary fire-fly glitter, fascinated the
simple souls that had been erstwhile glad to dwell for a space on
the contemplation of spiritual and heavenly things. He saw that the
matchless lesson of Christ's love to humanity was scarcely heeded in
the contemplation of how very much humanity was able to do for
itself even without Christ's love, provided it had money and the
devil to 'push' it on! He sighed a little;--and certain words in the
letter of his friend Bishop Brent came back to his memory--"Many
things seem to me hopeless,-utterly irremediable ... I grow tired of
my own puny efforts to lift the burden which is laid upon me." Then
other, and stronger, thoughts came to him, and when the time arrived
to read the Commandments, a rush of passion and vigorous intensity
filled him with a force far greater than he knew. Cicely Bourne said
afterwards that she should never forget the thrill that ran through
her like a shock of electricity, when he proclaimed from the altar:-
-"GOD spake these words and said: Thou shalt have none other gods
but me!"
Looking up at this moment, she saw Julian Adderley in the aisle on
her left-hand side,--he too was staring at Walden as though he saw
the figure of a saint in a vision. But Maryllia kept her face
hidden, listening in a kind of awe, as each 'Commandment' was, as it
seemed, grandly and strenuously insisted upon by the clear voice
that had no tone of hypocrisy in its whole scale.
"Thou shalt NOT bear false witness against thy neighbour!"
Lady Beaulyon forgot to droop her head in the usual studied way
which she knew was so becoming to her,--the NOT was so emphatic. An
unpleasant shiver ran through her daintily-clothed person,--dear
me!--how often and often she had 'borne false witness,' not only
against her neighbour, but against everyone she could think of or
talk about! Where could be the fun of living if you must NOT swear
to as many lies about your neighbour as possible? No spice or savour
would be left in the delicate ragout of 'swagger' society! The
minister of St. Rest was really quite objectionable,--a ranter,--a
noisy, 'stagey' creature!--and both she and Mrs. Bludlip Courtenay
murmured to each other that they 'did not like him.'
"So loud!" said Lady Beaulyon, breathing the words delicately
against her friend's Titian-red hair.
"So provincial!" rejoined Mrs. Bludlip Courtenay, in the same dulcet
undertone, adding to her remark the fervent--"Lord have mercy upon
us and incline our hearts to keep this law!"
One very gratifying circumstance to these ladies, however, and one
that considerably astonished all the members of Miss Vancourt's
house-party, as well as Miss Vancourt herself, was that no
'collection' was made. Neither the church, the poor, nor some
distant mission to the heathen served as any excuse for begging, in
the shrine of the 'Saint's Rest.' No vestige of a money-box or
'plate' was to be seen anywhere. And this fact pre-disposed them to
survey Walden's face and figure with critical attention as he left
the chancel and ascended the pulpit during the singing of 'The Lord
is my Shepherd.' At the opening chords of that quaint and simple
hymn, Cicely Bourne glanced at Miss Eden and Susie Prescott with a
little suggestive smile, and caught their appealing glances,--then,
as the quavering chorus of boys and girls began, she raised her
voice as the 'leading soprano,' and like a thread of gold it twined
round all the notes and tied them together in clear and lovely
unison:
"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want,
He maketh me down to lie,
In pleasant fields where the lilies grow,
And the river runneth by."
Everyone in the congregation stared and seemed stricken with sudden
wonderment. Such singing they had never heard before. Mrs. Bludlip
Courtenay put up her lorgnon.
"It's Maryllia Vancourt's creature,"--she whispered--"The ugly child
she picked up in Paris. I suppose it really IS a voice?"
"It really is, I think!" responded Lady Beaulyon, languidly, turning
her fair head to look at the plain sallow girl with the untidy black
hair whom she had only seen for a few minutes on her arrival at
Abbot's Manor the previous day, and whom she had scarcely noticed.
But Cicely saw her not--her whole soul was in her singing,--and she
had no glance even for Julian Adderley, who, gazing at her as if she
were already the prima donna in an opera, listened enrapt.
"The Lord is my Shepherd; He feedeth me,
In the depth of a desert land;
And, lest I should in the darkness slip,
He holdeth me by the hand."
Maryllia felt a contraction in her throat, and her eyes
unconsciously filled with tears. How sweet that hymn was!--how very
sweet! Tender memories of her father crowded upon her,--her mother's
face, grown familiar to her sight from her daily visits to the now
no longer veiled picture in the Manor gallery, shone out upon her
from the altar like a glorified angel above the white sarcophagus
where the word 'Resurget' sparkled jewel-like in the sunshine,--and
she began to feel that after all there was something in the
Christian faith that was divinely helpful and uplifting to the soul.
"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want,
My mind on Him is stayed,
And though through the Valley of Death I walk,
I shall not be afraid!"
Pure and true rang Cicely's young, fresh and glorious voice,
carrying all the voices of the children with it on the pulsating
waves of the organ chords,--and an impression of high exaltation,
serenity and peace, rested on the whole congregation with the
singing of the last verse--
"The Lord is my Shepherd: O Shepherd sweet,
Leave me not here to stray;
But guide me safe to Thy heavenly fold,
And keep me there, I pray!
Amen!"
During the silence that immediately followed, Walden stood erect in
the pulpit, looking down upon the people. He saw Maryllia's face,--
he saw all the eyes of her London friends fixed on him with a more
or less critical and supercilious stare,--he saw his own flock'
waiting for his first word with their usual air of respectful
attention,--every small point and detail in his surroundings became
suddenly magnified to his sight,--even the little rose in old Josey
Letherbarrow's smock caught his eye with an almost obtrusive flare.
The blithe soft carol of the birds outside sounded close and loud,--
the buzzing of a bumble-bee that had found its way into the church
and was now bouncing fussily against a sunlit window, in its efforts
to pass through what seemed to itself clear space, made quite an
abnormal noise. His heart beat heavily,--he fancied he could hear it
thudding in his breast,--then, all at once, an inflow of energy
rushed upon him as though the 'fiery tongues' of which Adam Frost
had spoken, were in very truth descending upon him. Maryllia's face!
There it was--so winsome, so bright, and proud and provocative in
its every feature,--and the old French damask roses growing in her
garden borders could not show a prettier colour than her cheeks! He
lifted his hands. "Let us pray!"
The villagers all obediently dropped on their knees. The Manor
'house-party' politely bent their heads.
"Supreme Creator of the Universe, without Whose power and permission
no thought is ever generated in the brain of Thy creature, man; Be
pleased to teach me, Thy unworthy servant, Thy will and law this
day, that I may speak to this congregation even as Thou shalt
command, without any care for myself or my words, but in entire
submission to Thee and Thy Holy Spirit! Amen."
He rose. The congregation rose with him. Some of the village folks
exchanged uneasy glances with one another. Was their beloved
'Passon' quite himself? He looked so very pale,--his eyes were so
unusually bright,--and his whole aspect so more than commonly
commanding. Almost nervously they fumbled with their Bibles as he
gave out the text:--"The twenty-sixth verse of the sixteenth chapter
of the Gospel according to St. Matthew."
He paused, and then, as was his usual custom, patiently repeated--
"The sixteenth chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew,
twenty-sixth verse." Again he waited, while the subdued rustling of
pages and turning over of books continued,--and finally pronounced
the words--"What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world
and lose his own soul?" Here he closed the Testament, leaning one
hand upon it. He had resolved to speak 'extempore,' just as the mood
moved him, and to make his discourse as brief as possible,--a mere
twelve minutes' sermon. For he knew that his ordinary congregation
were more affected by a sense of restlessness and impatience than
they themselves realised, and that such strangers as were present
were of a temperament more likely to be bored, than interested.
"What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose
his own soul?"--he began, slowly, and with emphasis, his eyes
resting steadfastly on the fashionably-attired group of persons
immediately under his observation--"This was one of the questions
put by the Divine Man Christ, to men,--and was no doubt considered
then, as it surely is considered now, a very foolish enquiry. For to
'gain the whole world' is judged as so exceedingly profitable to
most people that they are quite willing to lose everything else they
have in exchange for it. They will gladly barter conscience,
principle, honour and truth to gain 'the whole world'--and as for
the 'soul,' that fine and immortal essence is treated by the
majority as a mere poetic phrase--a figure of speech, without any
real meaning behind it. I know well how some of you here to-day will
regret wasting your time in listening, even for a few minutes, to
anything about so obsolete a subject as the Soul! The Soul! What is
it? A fiction or a fact? How many of us possess a Soul, or THINK we
possess one? Of what is it composed, that it should be judged as so
much more precious than the Body?--the dear Body, which we pamper
and feed and clothe and cosset and cocker, till it struts on the
face of the planet, a mere magnified Ape of conceit and trickery,
sloth and sensuality, the one unforgivable anachronism in an
otherwise perfect Creation! For Body without Soul is a blot on the
Universe,--a distortion and abomination of nature, with which nature
by and by will have nothing to do. Yet I freely grant that while
Soul animates and inspires all creation, man cannot or will not
comprehend it; he may, therefore, in part, be condoned for not
endeavouring to 'save' what he is not taught to truly recognise. To
explain the 'Soul' more clearly, I will refer you all to the Book of
Genesis, where it is written--'And God made man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man
became A LIVING SOUL.' Thus we see that 'Soul' is the breath of God,
which is also the Eternal breath of Eternal Life. Each human being
is endowed with this essence of immortality, which cannot die with
death, being, as it is, the embryo of endless lives to come. This is
why it is pre-eminently valuable--this is why we should take heed
that it be not 'lost.' It may be argued--'How can anything be lost
which is eternally alive?' That proposition is easily answered. A
jewel may be 'lost' in the sea, but it is still existent as a jewel.
In the same way a man may 'lose' his Soul, though he can never
destroy it. It is the 'breath of God'--the germ of immortal Life,--
and if one 'loses' it, another may find it. This is not only
religion,--it is also science. In the present age, when all
imagination, all poetry, all instinctive sense of the divine, is
being subordinated to what we consider as Fact, there is one supreme
mystery which eludes the research of the most acute and pitiless
materialist--and that is life itself,--its origin, its evolution and
its intention. We can do many wonderful things,--but we cannot re-
animate the corpse of a friend! Christ could do this, being Divinity
incarnate,--but we can only wring our hands helplessly, and wonder
where the spirit has fled,--that spirit which made our beloved one
speak to us, smile, and exchange the looks which express the
emotions of the heart more truly than words. We want the 'Soul' we
loved! The inanimate clay, stretched cold in its coffined rest, is a
strange sight to us. We do not know it. It is not our friend! Our
friend was the 'Soul' that lived in the clay,--the 'breath of God'
that moved our own 'Soul' to respond to it in affection and
tenderness. And we instinctively know and feel that though this
breath of God' is gone from us, it cannot be dead. And 'lost' is not
an expression that we would ever apply to it, because we hope and
believe it is 'found'--found by its Creator, and taught to realise
and rejoice in its own immortality. All religion means this,--the
'finding' of the Soul. The passion of our Saviour teaches this,--His
resurrection, His ascension into Heaven, symbolises and expresses
the same thing. Yet, in the words of Christ Himself, it would
nevertheless seem, that the 'Soul' divinely generated and immortal
as it is, can be 'lost' by our own act and will. 'What is a man
profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?' I
venture to think the text implies, that in the very attempt to 'gain
the whole world,' the loss of the soul is involved. I am not going
to detain you here this morning with a long exordium concerning how
some of you can and may, if you choose, play havoc with the
priceless gift God baa bestowed upon each one of you. I only desire
to impress upon you all, with the utmost earnestness, that it is
idle to say among yourselves 'We have no souls,' or 'The soul is an
unknown quantity and cannot be proved.' The soul is as and actual a
part of you as the main artery is of the body,--and that you cannot
see it, touch it, or put it under the surgeon's dissecting knife is
no proof that it is not there. You might as well say life itself
does not exist, because you cannot see its primaeval causes or
beginnings. The Soul is the centre of your being,--the compass of
your life-journey,--the pivot round which, whether you will or not,
you shape your actions in this world for the next. If you lose that
mainspring of motive, you lose all. Your conduct, your speech, your
expression in every movement and feature all show the ungoverned and
ungovernable condition in which you are. God is not mocked,--and in
many cases,--taking the grand majority of the human race,--neither
is man!"
He paused. The congregation was very quiet. He felt, rather than
saw, that Maryllia's eyes were fixed upon him,--and he was perfectly
aware that Lady Beaulyon,--whom he recognised, as he would have
recognised an actress, on account of the innumerable photographs of
her which were on sale in the windows of every stationer in every
moderate-sized town,--was gazing straight up at him with a bright,
mocking glance in which lurked a suspicion of disdain and laughter.
Moved by a sudden impulse, he bent his own regard straight down upon
her with an inflexible cool serenity. An ugly frown puckered her
ladyship's brow at once,--and she lowered her eyelids angrily.
"I say God is not mocked,"--he continued slowly; "Neither is man!
The miserable human being that has 'lost' his or her Soul, may be
assured that the 'gain' of the whole world in exchange, will prove
but Dead Sea fruit, bitter and tasteless, and in the end wholly
poisonous. Loss of the Soul is marked by moral degradation and
deterioration,--and this inward crumbling and rotting of all noble
and fine feeling into baseness, shows itself on the fairest face,--
the proudest form. The man who lies against his neighbour for the
sake of worldly convenience or personal revenge, writes the lie in
his own countenance as he utters it. It engraves its mark,--it can
be seen by all who read physiognomy--it says plainly--'Let not this
man be trusted!' The woman who is false and treacherous carries the
stigma on her features, be they never so perfect. The creature of
clay who has lost Soul, likewise lacks Heart,--and the starved,
hopeless poverty of such an one is disclosed in him, even if he be a
world's millionaire. Moreover, 'Soul'--that delicate, divine,
eternal essence, is easily lost. Any earthly passion carried to
excess, will overwhelm it, and sink it in an unfathomable sea. It
can slip away in the pursuit of ambition,--in schemes for self-
aggrandisement,--in the building up of huge fortunes,--in the pomp,
and show, and vanity of mundane things. It flies from selfishness
and sensuality. It can be lost in hate,--it can equally be lost in
love!"
Again he paused--then went on--"Yes--for even in love, that purest
and most elevating of human emotions, the Soul must have its way
rather than the Body. Loss of the 'Soul' in love, means that love
then becomes the mere corpse of itself, and must needs decay with
all other such dust-like things. In every sentiment, in every
thought, in every hope, in every action, let us find the 'Soul,' and
never let it go! For without it, no great deed can be done, no
worthy task accomplished, no life lived honourably and straightly in
the sight of God. It shall profit us nothing to be famous, witty,
wealthy, or admired, if we are mere stuffed figures of clay without
the 'breath of God' as our animating life principle. The simple
peasant, who has enough 'soul' in him to reverently watch the sunset
across the hills, and think of God as the author of all that
splendour, is higher in the spiritual scale than the learned scholar
who is too occupied with himself and his own small matters to notice
whether it is a sunset or a house on fire. The 'soul' in a man
should be his sense, his sight, his touch, his very inmost and
dearest centre,--the germ of all good,--the generator of all peace
and hope and happiness. It is the one and only thing to foster,--the
one and only thing to save,--the only part of man which, belonging
as it does to God, God will require again. Some of you here present
to-day will perhaps think for a little while on what I have said
when you leave this church,--and others will at once forget it,--but
think, forget, or remember as you choose, the truth remains, that
all of you, young and old, rich and poor, are endowed in your own
selves with the 'making of an angel.' The 'Soul' within you, which
you may elect to keep or to lose, is the infant of Heaven. It
depends on you for care,--for sustenance;--it needs all your work
and will to aid it in growing up to its full stature and perfection.
It shall profit you nothing if you gain the whole world, and at
death have naught to give to your Maker but crumbling clay. Let the
Angel be ready,--the 'Soul' in you prepared, and full-winged for
flight! According to the power and purity with which you have
invested and surrounded it, will be its fate. If you have
voluntarily checked and stunted its aspirations, even so checked and
stunted must be its next probation,--but if you have faithfully done
your best to nourish it with loving thoughts and noble aims,--if you
have given it room to expand and shine forth with all its own
original God-born radiance, then will its ascension to a higher
sphere of action and attainment be attended with unimaginable joy
and glory. Let the world go, rather than lose the Divine Light
within you! For that Light will, and must, attract all that is worth
knowing, worth loving and worth keeping in our actual environment.
The rest can be well spared,--whether it be money, position,
notoriety or social influence,--for none of these things last,--none
of them are in any way precious, save to such ignorant and misguided
persons as are deceived by external shows. The Soul is all! Keep but
that 'breath of God' within you, and the world becomes merely one
step of the ladder on which you may easily mount through everlasting
love upon love, joy upon joy, to the utmost height of Heaven!"
He ceased. For a moment there was a profound stillness. And then,
with the usual formula--"Now to God the Father, God the Son, and God
the Holy Ghost be praise, honour and glory for ever and ever"--the
congregation stood up. Lady Beaulyon shook her silken skirts
delicately. Mrs. Bludlip Oourtenay put her hand to her back hair
coil and made sure that it was safe. And there was a general stir
and movement, which instantly subsided again, as the people knelt to
receive the parting benediction. Maryllia's eyes were riveted on
Walden as he stretched out his hands;--she was conscious of a
certain vague awe and reverence for this man with whom she had so
casually walked and talked, only as it seemed the other day;--he
appeared, as it were, removed from her by an immeasurable distance,-
-his spirit and hers had gone wide apart,--his was throned upon a
height of noble ideals,--hers was low, low down in a little valley
of worldly nothings,--and oh, how small and insignificant she felt!
Cicely's hand caught hers and gave it an affectionate little
pressure, as they bowed their heads together under the solemnly
pronounced blessing.
"The peace of God which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts
and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of His Son Jesus
Christ our Lord,"--here Walden turned ever so slightly towards the
place where Maryllia knelt; "and the blessing of God Almighty, the
Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, be amongst you and remain with
you always!"
"A---men!"
With this last response from the choir, the congregation began to
disperse, and Walden, glancing over the little moving crowd, saw the
eager bustle and pressure of all its units to look at 'the ladies
from the Manor' and take stock of their wonderful costumes. The grip
of 'the world' was on them, and the only worshipper remaining
quietly in his place, with hands clasped across his stick, and eyes
closed, was Josey Letherbarrow. The old man seemed to be praying
inwardly--his face was rapt and serene. Walden looked down upon him
very tenderly. A verse of Browning's ran through his mind:--
"Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life for which the first was made.
Our times are in His hand,
Who saith: 'A whole I planned,'
Youth shows but half; trust God; see all, nor be afraid!"
And musing on this, he descended slowly from the pulpit and retired.