At length General Caulfield, having arranged the affairs of his brother
who had died, returned to Luton. He had been made very anxious and
unhappy by the letters he received from Harry, who expressed his
astonishment at not hearing from Clara. The general, supposing that she
was still at home, and fearing that she must be ill, immediately on his
arrival set off to pay her a visit.
"Miss Maynard is away; Miss Pemberton is at home, sir," said the servant
who opened the door.
Miss Pemberton received him in a stiff and freezing manner. He
immediately enquired for Clara.
"My niece has, for some time, left home, and has not communicated her
address to me, nor has she thought fit to write, so that I am in
ignorance of where she is," was the unsatisfactory answer.
"That is most extraordinary," cried the general; "can you not give me
any clue by which I may discover her?"
"I conclude, as she has not informed me of her abode, that she does not
wish it to be known," answered Miss Pemberton, evasively.
"Though you do not know where your niece is, is Mr Lerew, or is her
father's old friend, Mr Lennard, acquainted with her present address?"
asked the general.
"I should think that she would have informed me rather than any one
else," replied Miss Pemberton; and the general at length, finding that
he could get no information out of the lady, took his leave.
"I will try, at all events, to ascertain what either Lennard or Lerew
know," said the general to himself, as he drove off. Though he
suspected that the vicar knew something about the matter, he decided
first to call on Mr Lennard. He believed him to be an honest man, but
he had no great opinion of his sense. Mr Lennard was at home; he
received the general in a kindly way. The latter observed that his
manner was unusually subdued. Without loss of time, the general
mentioned Miss Maynard, and expressed his regret at not finding her at
home.
"Can you tell me where she has gone to?" he asked, "for her aunt
declares that she does not know, though it was evident from her manner
that she is not anxious about her."
"I regret to say that I know no more than you do," answered Mr Lennard.
"I had been for some time absent, and on my return I was greatly
surprised to find that she had left Luton; and when I enquired of the
Lerews, they told me that she had resolved to devote herself to works of
charity, and was about to enter a sisterhood, but in what neighbourhood
they did not inform me."
"In other words, that she is about to become a nun, to discard my poor
son, and to give up her property, as soon as she has the power of
disposing of it, to the safe keeping of one of those Romish
communities," exclaimed the general, with more vehemence than he was
accustomed to exhibit; "what do you say to that, Mr Lennard?"
"I don't suppose that Miss Maynard purposes entering a Romish convent;
her intention, I conclude, is to join a sisterhood of the Anglican
Church," said Mr Lennard.
"The Church of England, of which I suppose you speak, recognises no such
institutions," replied the general; "they are contrary to the spirit of
the Reformation. Unhappy will it be for our country if they ever gain
ground."
"I had been inclined to suppose that they would prove a great advantage,
by enabling ladies to unite together and work under a good system in
visiting the sick and poor, and in the instruction of the children, and
in other beneficent labours; and I have, when requested, subscribed
towards their support," remarked Mr Lennard.
"I do not insist that ladies should not thus employ themselves,"
observed the general; "but my objection is to the mode in which they
unite themselves in the so-called religious system under which they are
placed. They may, in most instances, serve God far better by staying at
home and doing their duty in their families, instead of assuming the
dress and imitating the customs of the nuns of the middle ages."
"I do not look at the subject in that light," observed Mr Lennard, "and
I know that it must be a hard matter for some young ladies to be
religious at home, where the rest of the family are worldly-minded."
"Much more reason for them to stay at home and endeavour to improve the
tone of the rest of the household," answered the general. "Those who
know what human nature is should see that with whatever good intentions
these sisterhoods are begun, they must in the end lead to much that is
objectionable. If Miss Maynard has joined one of them, I must endeavour
to find the means of getting her out, or of ascertaining if she was
induced to join it, and remains of her own free will. I fear that Lerew
will not afford me any assistance, as from his Romish tendencies he will
probably consider them admirable institutions, and would think that he
had done a laudable act in inducing Clara to enter one. I must now wish
you good-bye. I hope that you have good accounts of your young daughter
Mary, and your son at Oxford."
Mr Lennard shook his head. "I received a letter to-day from my little
girl, saying that she was very ill, and begging me to come and take her
home; but as the mistress did not write, I do not suppose that her
illness is serious. However, I intend to go to-morrow to Mary, and
ascertain how she is, and I trust that I shall not be obliged to take
her away from school."
The general considered whether he should call on Mr Lerew; but he first
bethought himself of paying a visit to a lawyer in the neighbouring
town, with whom he was well acquainted, and who had been a friend of
Captain Maynard's. He was also an earnest religious man, and strongly
opposed to ritualism. The general was not a person to let the grass
grow under his feet. He was driving rapidly along, when he met
Lieutenant Sims, who made a sign to him to stop. The general did so,
and invited the lieutenant to accompany him into the town.
"With all my heart, for I want to have a talk with you, general,"
answered the lieutenant, springing in. "I have long been wishing for
your return. We've had some extraordinary goings on in this place.
What has concerned me most is the disappearance of my old friend's
daughter, in whom you, I know, take a deep interest. All I know is that
she went away with the vicar and his wife, and it is my belief that they
had an object in spiriting her off; but whether to shut her up in a
Romish or Ritualist convent is more than I can say. I don't think there
is much to choose between them; the vicar might select the Ritualist, or
the Anglican, as he would call it, as he, though a Papist at heart,
would prefer keeping his living, while his lady would recommend the
former; for it is said, and I believe it to be a fact, that she herself
has turned Romanist, with her dear friend Lady Bygrave. Haven't you
heard that both Sir Reginald and her ladyship were received last week
into the bosom of the Church of Rome, as the expression runs?"
"Is it possible!" exclaimed the general; "but I ought not to be
surprised when I saw the characters they admitted into their house. I
thought that French abbe and Father Lascelles had some other object in
view than the establishment of a colony; but perhaps you have been
misinformed."
"I tell you, general, I haven't a doubt about the matter," answered Mr
Sims. "They and Mrs Lerew attended the Romish church together, and I
am told had been baptised with all ceremony a few days before. I know
that two or three priests have been staying at the Hall ever since, and
Mrs Lerew goes there regularly. They are about to have a chapel built
in their grounds, and an architect came down from London about it; and
in the meantime they have got a room fitted up in the house. What
surprises me is that the vicar should allow his wife to turn; but that
she has done so seems probable, for she was not at church last Sunday.
Should Lerew object to his wife's perversion, he has only himself to
thank for it; he has led her up to the door as carefully as a man could
do, and cannot be surprised at her going inside. Of course she thinks
it safer to join what she has been taught to look upon as the true
church, and has therefore honestly gone over to it; while whatever he
may think, putting honesty and honour aside, he considers that it is
more to his advantage to retain his living, and lead others in the way
he has led his wife."
"I suspect that you are right," observed the general; "too many have set
him the example. He, like them, has been trained in the school of the
Jesuits, who are fully persuaded that evil may be done that good may
come of it, and banish from their minds the principles which guide
honest men, and which they themselves would advocate in the ordinary
affairs of life. I can only wish that, unless Mr Lerew's mind is
enlightened, he would go over himself; as I am afraid, while he remains
in the Church of England, he may lead others in the same direction."
"Not much fear of that," observed the lieutenant; "except a few silly
young people of the better classes, and the poor, who look out for the
loaves and fishes in the shape of coals and blankets and other creature
comforts, I don't think many are influenced by him. He is more likely
to empty his church, and to fill the Dissenting chapels."
"Still," said the general, "he sows broadcast the germs of Romanism
through the doctrines he preaches, while he accustoms people to the
sight of the ceremonies and paraphernalia of Rome, keeping them in
ignorance at the same time of the simple truths of the Gospel, at the
bidding of those whose commands he obeys; for he and his ritualistic
brethren are but instruments in the hands of more cunning men than
themselves. I have little doubt that he was carefully educated at the
university for the part he is now playing, though he then had no idea of
the designs of his tutor. People laugh at the notion that a Jesuit plot
has long existed in England for the subversion of Protestantism; but I
have evidence, which receives daily corroboration, that Jesuits in
disguise matriculated at the universities for the express purpose of
perverting the minds of all whom they could bring under their influence.
The pupils in numberless instances went over to Rome, while the tutors
remained nominally in the Church of England, for the sake of trapping
others. The scheme has succeeded, and has since been greatly enlarged;
the Jesuits have now agents in every shape--some as incumbents of
parishes, as lay supporters, men and women, guilds and sisterhoods; they
have encouraged works of charity, schools, hospitals, refuges for the
fallen and destitute, _creches_, mothers' meetings, and other
institutions, all excellent in themselves, knowing how much such would
forward their object. Of that object, those who take part in them are,
I am ready to believe, in many instances utterly ignorant; they are
influenced by the desire to obey the commands of Christ, and to make
themselves useful to their fellow-creatures, though the idea that they
are thereby meriting heaven, and what they call working out their own
salvation, underlies all they do, as they misinterpret the passage.
They ignore the glorious truth that through simple faith in the atoning
blood of Christ salvation is gained--that it is their own, and that the
right motive of action must be through love and obedience to Him who has
already saved them. All the forms and ceremonies in which they indulge
are but will-worship, tending to obscure their view of Him, and to
destroy their spiritual life."
"General," said the lieutenant, "I have seen a good deal of Roman
Catholic countries, where the priests have full sway, and I am very sure
that the system these Ritualists have introduced is tending in the same
direction. I know from experience that true religion makes a man all
that can be expected of him. We had a dozen or more such men on board
the last ship in which I served, and they were out and out the best men
we had; they could be trusted on all occasions; and if any dangerous
work had to be done, they were the first to volunteer. They were
Dissenters of some sort, I believe, and were not in favour with our
ritualistic chaplain, who had his followers both among officers and men.
I can't say much about those officers, and as to the men who pretended
to agree with him, they were the most sneaking rascals in the ship. He
tried to bring me over to his way of thinking, but my eyes were opened.
`No, no,' I answered; `if the ship was going down, and you had to take
your chance in one of the boats, which would you choose, the one manned
by those fellows you anathematise, or with the men you call obedient
sons of the Church?' He couldn't answer; but one day, he being left on
shore, the heretics, as he called them, brought him off through a heavy
surf, when no other men would venture. So you see, thanks to our
chaplain, when I found the new vicar working changes in the church, I
knew pretty well what he was about."
The general found Mr Franklin, his solicitor, at home.
"I am very glad you have come, general," said the latter. "Miss
Maynard, as you are probably aware, has been induced to leave home, or,
rather, has been entrapped by one of those conventual establishments, to
which she will in due course, when she has the power, be persuaded to
give up her property. Our business must be to get her out of their
hands before that time arrives; and yours, general, more especially to
point out to her the errors of the system which has thrown its glamour
over her; for, if I understand rightly, she has sacrificed an excellent
and satisfactory marriage, as well as the independence and comforts of
home. It was not for a considerable time that I discovered her absence
from Luton, when her aunt (who, no disrespect to the lady, I consider it
a misfortune was left one of her guardians) positively declared that she
did not know where she had gone. I, however, took steps to find out,
and lately ascertained that she is an inmate of Saint Barbara's, near
Staughton, to which place I discovered that she drove on leaving the
railway, in company with Mr and Mrs Lerew. Convinced that Miss
Pemberton was not likely to render any willing assistance, I awaited
your return to take legal measures to obtain her release. Our first
difficulty will be to communicate with her, for the nuns are allowed to
receive no letters till they are first seen by the Lady Superior. It
would be as well first to ascertain whether the young lady desires of
her own free will to leave the convent; she has had some experience of
it, and may by this time perhaps have repented of the step she has
taken. My belief is that she has been deceived and cajoled. I know
well of what those Ritualists are capable, influenced by what they
believe the best of motives, and I strongly suspect that there is some
misunderstanding between her and your son, brought about, I say without
hesitation, by their means. Either her letters have not been forwarded
to him, or his have not been received by her--perhaps the entire
correspondence has been intercepted--I will not go farther than that. I
say this as I wish to plead for your ward, at whose conduct you
naturally feel deeply grieved."
"Poor girl! notwithstanding all the pain and suffering she has caused my
son, I am not angry with her," said the general; "my indignation is
directed against the system and persons by whom she has been deceived.
I suspect as you do with regard to the correspondence between her and my
son, for I am very sure she would not have given him up without
assigning any reason, or answering his letters."
"Our first object must be to open a free communication with her; letters
sent in the ordinary way are sure to be read by the Lady Superior, and
the answers dictated by her, so that we shall not be wiser than at
first," remarked Mr Franklin.
"I must try that simple plan, however, and if it fails, resort to
stronger measures," observed the general. "I will go to Staughton
myself, and write to say that, as her guardian, I wish to have a private
interview with her on a matter of importance, and to beg that I may be
allowed to call on her at the convent, or that she will come and see me
at my hotel."
"I am afraid that means would be taken to prevent her from seeing you
alone," observed Mr Franklin.
"What course do you then advise?" asked the general.
"We must take legal proceedings, and they are very certain to have their
due effect, as the Lady Superior would be exceedingly loth to have the
internal arrangements of her convent made public, and she is well aware
that if she resists she will run the risk of that being the case. I
have already had something to do with her ladyship, as well as with two
or three other convents, and I know how jealous the managers are that
the secrets of their prison-houses should be revealed. Their aim is to
prove they have nothing to conceal, and that all is open as noon-day;
but the moment troublesome questions are asked, they exhibit a reticence
as to their rules and practices which shows how conscious they are that
outsiders will object to them."
Before the general took his leave, it was arranged between him and Mr
Franklin that they should go over together to Epsworth, and act
according to circumstances. As he drove home he expressed a hope to the
honest lieutenant that he might be the means of emancipating Miss
Maynard from her present thraldom.
"She has too much sense and right feeling not to be open to conviction,"
answered Mr Sims; "what she wants is to be freed from the evil
influences to which she has of late been exposed, and to have the simple
truth placed before her; only don't let her meet her aunt or Mr Lerew
till she has thoroughly got rid of all her erroneous notions, and
understands the simple gospel as you well know how to put it."
"You may depend on my following your advice," said the general.
On reaching home, the general found a note from Mr Lennard. He wrote
in great distress of mind. He had received a letter from a friend at
Oxford, telling him that his son had left the university in company with
a Romish priest, and had declared his intention of seeking admission
into the Church of Rome. Mr Lennard was anxious, if possible, to find
out his son, and prevent him from taking the fatal step, at the same
time that he wished to be with his poor little girl at Cheltenham.
"I am afraid," he continued, "that the tutor under whom I placed my boy,
by Mr Lerew's advice, has had much to do with it. I now hear that
three or four of his previous pupils have become Romanists, and others,
by all accounts, are likely to go over. I object to my son's becoming a
Romanist, though I consider that the Church of Rome is the mother of all
Churches, and has the advantage of antiquity on her side."
"The mother of all abominations!" exclaimed the general to himself. "I
must endeavour to set my friend right on that subject, if he holds that
fundamental error."
The general was a man of action. After taking a hurried meal, he drove
on to the house of Mr Lennard. His journey to Cheltenham had been
delayed, and he was now hesitating whether first to go in search of his
son or to proceed there immediately. The thought at once struck the
general that should he succeed in getting Clara out of the convent, he
might go on to Cheltenham with her, and that if Mary was fit to be
removed from the school, it would give Clara occupation to nurse her
friend.
"I shall indeed be most grateful to you," said Mr Lennard, with the
tears in his eyes; "I was sorely perplexed what to do, and I specially
wish that Mary should not remain longer at the school than can be
helped, as from her letter it is evident that she is not only ill, but
very miserable there.
"You must give me your written authority, and I will act upon it," said
the general. This was done. "Now, my friend," he continued, "I wish to
speak to you on the remark made in your letter, in which you say that
you consider the Church of Rome the mother of all Churches, and that it
has the advantage of antiquity. You evidently go first on the
assumption that our Lord instituted a visible Church on earth, and that
that Church, though corrupted, is the Church of Rome. Now I wish to
draw your attention to the origin of that wonderful establishment which
has for so long exerted a baneful influence over a large portion of the
human race. For three centuries true Christians, though becoming less
and less pure in their doctrine and form of worship, existed in Rome as
a despised and subordinate class, the purity of their faith gradually
decreasing as their numbers, wealth, and influence increased. At length
the Emperor Constantine professed himself to be a Christian, which he
did for the sake of obtaining the assistance of the Christians against
his rival Licinius, who was supported by the idolaters. Constantine
being victorious, and Licinius slain, the idolaters saw that they could
no longer hope to be predominant. There existed in Rome from the days
of Numa a college, or curia, the members of which, called pontiffs, had
the entire management of all matters connected with religion. The post
of head pontiff, or Pontifex Maximus, had been assumed by Julius Caesar
and his successors. They had probably no real belief in the idolatrous
system they supported; such secret faith as they had was centred in
Astarte, the divinity of the ancient Babylonians, whose worship had been
introduced at an early period into Etruria, as it had been previously
into Egypt and Greece. They were, in reality, the priests of Astarte,
and from them we derive our festival of Christmas, our Lady Day, and
many other festivals with Christian names. It had been their principle
from the first to admit any gods who had become popular, and thus were
added in rapid succession the numberless gods and goddesses of the
heathen mythology. At length Jesus of Nazareth was added to their
pantheon. These pontiffs, on perceiving that Christianity, patronised
by the Emperor, was likely to gain the day, saw that to maintain their
power they must themselves pretend to belong to the new faith. This
they did, and one of their number soon managed to get himself chosen the
Bishop of Rome, while the other pontiffs by an easy transition formed
the College of Cardinals. The title of Pontifex Maximus, being held by
the Emperor, was not assumed by the bishop of Rome till the Emperor
Gratian in 376 refused any longer to be addressed by that title. Having
banished some of the grosser practices of idolatry, they introduced the
remainder under different names, so that the pagans might readily
conform to the new worship. The apostles took the place of the various
gods, and the martyrs those of the inferior divinities; above them all
was raised Astarte, who, now named Mary the Mother of God and Queen of
Heaven, became the chief object of adoration. In truth, the established
worship at Rome remained as truly idolatrous as it had ever been, while
the great aim of the pontiffs was to increase their power, amass wealth,
and strengthen their position. From that period they acted, as might
have been expected, in direct opposition to all the principles of
Christianity. Bloody struggles often took place between rivals aiming
at the pontificate, while they endeavoured to destroy all those who
refused to obey them. It was not till a somewhat later period, when the
head pontiff set up a claim of superiority above all other bishops,
that, to strengthen it, it was asserted that he was in direct apostolic
succession from the apostle Peter, the pontiff who first made it being
ignorant, probably, that the Christian Church at Rome was founded
exclusively by Paul, and that the apostle Peter never was at Rome, he
having been all his life employed in founding churches in the East. `By
their fruits ye shall know them;' and we have only to reflect on the
lives of the popes, many of them monsters of atrocity, and the fearful
acts of persecution which they encouraged and authorised, to be
convinced that paganism, the invention of Satan, had usurped the name of
Christianity, and that the Romish Church, as it is called, instead of
being the mother of all Churches, is truly the Babylon of the
Apocalypse; yet this is the system which ministers of the Church of
England are endeavouring to introduce into our country, with its
idolatrous rites and dogmas, and which you and many excellent men like
yourself look at with a lenient eye, instead of regarding it with the
abhorrence it deserves."
"My dear friend," said Mr Lennard, greatly astonished, "I certainly had
never regarded the Church of Rome in that light; I looked upon it as the
ancient Church, corrupted in the course of ages."
"It has no true claim to be a Christian Church at all," said the
general; "it is like the cuckoo, which, hatched in the nest of the
hedge-warbler, by degrees forces out the other fledglings, and usurps
their place. So did paganism treat Christianity; although, fostered by
God, the latter was enabled to exist, persecuted and oppressed as it
was, and still to exert a benign influence in the world. On examining
the tenets of many who are called heretics, we find that it was not the
creed they held, but the opposition they offered to the Romish system,
which was their crime, and brought down persecution on their heads.
When we read of the horrible cruelties practised on the Waldenses and
Albigenses, the followers of Huss in Bohemia, the true Protestants of
all ages down to the time of Luther, the detestable system of the
Inquisition, the treatment of the inhabitants of the Netherlands by Alva
and the Spaniards, when whole hecatombs of victims were put to death at
the instigation of the pope and his cardinals, the destruction of
thousands and tens of thousands of Huguenots in France, the martyrdoms
of the noble Protestants of Spain, the massacre of Saint Bartholomew,
and the fires of Smithfield--all these diabolical acts performed with
the concurrence and approval of the papal power--can we for a moment
hesitate to believe that that power owes its origin, not to the Divine
Head of the Church, but to that spirit of evil, Satan, the deadly foe of
the human race? Can any system founded on it, however much reformed it
may appear, fail to partake of the evil inherent in the original itself.
It is from not seeing this that so many are led to embrace the errors--
I would rather say the abominations--of Rome; while others are taught to
look at them with lenient eyes, and to believe that the system itself is
capable of reformation. Before true and simple faith can be established
throughout the world the whole must be overthrown and hurled into the
depths of the sea, as completely as have been the idols and idolatrous
practices of the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands, where
Christianity has been established."
Mr Lennard leant his head on his hand. "I must think deeply of what
you say; you put the whole matter in a new light to me. I have had no
affection for Rome; still, I have always regarded her as a Church
founded on the apostles and prophets."
"Yet which virtually forbids its followers to study those prophets and
apostles," remarked the general. "But what I want you to do is to look
into the subject for yourself. I have merely given you a hint for your
guidance; by referring carefully to the Scriptures, you will find more
and more light thrown on it, till you must be convinced that the view I
have taken is the correct one; and would that every clergyman and layman
in England might do the same! these ritualistic practices would then
soon be banished from the land."
Never in his life had poor Mr Lennard been so perplexed and troubled.
He was invited to reconsider opinions which he had held, in a somewhat
lax fashion it may be granted, all his life. He had to search for his
son, and prevent him if possible from becoming a slave to the system he
had just heard so strongly denounced, and he was painfully anxious about
the health of his dear little Mary. While he was still in this unhappy
state of mind, the general left him to return home. The next morning
they both set off to their respective destinations, the general to
Epsworth, having called for Mr Franklin on his way, and Mr Lennard to
London.
On reaching Epsworth, the general wrote a note to Clara, saying that as
her guardian it was necessary for him to see her at once, and that he
would either pay her a visit at the convent, or would request her to
come to his hotel. After waiting for some time, he received a note in a
strange handwriting; it was from a lady, who signed herself Sister
Agatha. She stated that she wrote by the command of the Lady Superior,
who was at present unwell, but would, on her recovery, reply to the
letter General Caulfield had addressed to Sister Clare, or, as she was
called in the world, Miss Clara Maynard.
"We must give her ladyship a taste of the law," said Mr Franklin; "she
fancies that she can play the same game with us which she has
successfully employed with others. You shall write a note, stating that
your legal adviser, Mr Franklin, is with you; address it to the Lady
Superior, and say that you insist on seeing Miss Maynard at once."
As soon as the letter was despatched, Mr Franklin, observing that he
had some business to transact, went out, leaving the general engaged in
writing. He had been for some time absent, when he hurriedly entered
the room.
"I thought it would be so," he observed. "The Lady Superior is about to
remove Miss Maynard to some other establishment, and she will then
coolly inform you that, Sister Clare not being an inmate of the convent,
she cannot be answerable for her. I learnt this from one of several
people I placed on the watch, and I find that one of the serving Sisters
has come in to say that a conveyance is wanted immediately at the
convent. I have ordered our carriage, and we will follow the other; and
you can either speak to Miss Maynard as she comes out of the convent, or
meet her at whatever railway station she goes to."
The general did not quite like this plan; he had hoped to see Clara
alone, and be able to speak to her for as long as might be necessary, so
as to convince her of the fearful mistake she had made, should she at
first show an unwillingness to leave the convent; still, he had no other
course but to follow Mr Franklin's advice. They accordingly entered
their carriage, and soon overtook another driving in the direction of
the convent. At a short distance from it, Mr Franklin ordered the
coachman to pull up, and got out. He and the general then walked
leisurely towards the gate, just as they got in sight of which, they
caught a glimpse of three muffled figures stepping into the carriage.
"Now is our time," exclaimed Mr Franklin; "I've bribed the coachman not
to move on till I have given him leave, so that should one of those
dames prove to be the Lady Superior--and I know her very well--we shall
have an opportunity of addressing her; and I think what I say will make
her hesitate to use force in preventing Miss Maynard from accompanying
you, should you desire her to do so."
The next instant they were alongside the carriage, just as the Lady
Superior--for she was one of those inside--had put her head out of the
window, peremptorily ordering the coachman to drive on as fast as he
could. Though he flourished his whip, he kept his reins tight; but Mr
Franklin, putting his hand on the door said, "Madam, my friend General
Caulfield, whom I have the honour to introduce to you, desires to have
some conversation on a matter of importance with Miss Maynard, and I am
glad to see that she is here to answer for herself."
As he spoke, Clara sprang up, and though the Lady Superior and the other
Sister attempted to hold her back, she threw herself forward into the
general's arms.
"Sister Clare, remember your vow of obedience; sit quiet, I order you,"
cried the Lady Superior, in a stern tone; but Clara paid no attention to
the command. With an imploring look for protection, she gazed into the
general's countenance.
"I wish to accompany you," she whispered; "take me, take me away! don't
scold me!"
The general recognised the features of the once bright and blooming
girl, though her dress looked strange.
"I have come on purpose to take you, my dear girl," he answered, holding
her tightly. "I am in your good father's place--trust to me." He then,
turning to the Lady Superior, said, "I have the right, as this young
lady's guardian, to take her away from you, as she has expressed her
wish to accompany me. Mr Franklin will explain all that is necessary.
I bid you good morning, Madam."
"Sister Clare, remember your vows," again repeated the Lady Superior, in
a solemn voice; "the anathema--"
"I cannot allow such language to be uttered to my client," said Mr
Franklin; and he went on to explain the legal rights of guardians in a
way which was calculated to keep the Lady Superior silent. The general,
meantime, half leading, half carrying poor Clara, reached his carriage,
which at a sign to the coachman approached to receive them. Mr
Franklin, observing that the general had handed in Clara, followed,
having directed the coachman to drive off, leaving the Lady Superior and
her companion in a state better imagined than described. Looking back,
the lawyer observed that they had re-entered the convent.
Clara was no sooner seated than she burst into tears. "I have been very
miserable, but I have myself alone to blame," she said. "I knew what
you would think, while I obstinately listened to Mr and Mrs Lerew, and
to what they had taught Aunt Sarah to say to me. Still, I wanted to
consult you, but as you were too angry with me to write, I could not
have my doubts solved; and even Harry cast me off, and refused to have
any further correspondence with me. I don't blame him, for I knew his
opinions, and he warned me--"
"My dear Clara, do you think it possible that I should not have written
to you, or that Harry should have neglected to do so?" interrupted the
general. "I wrote letter upon letter, and got no answer, and Harry told
me that he had written over and over again, and at last had enclosed a
letter to your aunt, but that she had returned it, saying that she did
so at the recommendation of your spiritual adviser, who considered that
it would be highly improper for you, who had become a bride of the
Church, to receive a letter from a mortal lover."
"Then I have been deceived and betrayed," exclaimed Clara, "entirely
through my own folly, and I have caused Harry terrible pain and
annoyance."
"There is no doubt that you have been deceived and betrayed," said the
general; "but we do not blame you, except that instead of seeking
guidance and direction from the loving Father who is ever ready to
afford it, you allowed yourself to be led by fallible human beings, who
in this instance had, I suspect, an object in inducing you to follow the
line they had pointed out. You did not distinguish between the works
which these Sisters of Charity propose undertaking and the system and
principles by which they are guided. The works themselves are such as
all Christians are bound to engage in or support, whereas the system is
idolatrous, and encourages will-worship; the works are made to support
the system, instead of, as it should be, love and obedience to our
heavenly Master producing the works. Our loving Father wishes His
children to be happy and to enjoy the good things with which He provides
them. No monastic rules, no peculiar dress, no vows of obedience to
fallible mortals like ourselves, no fasts or penances are required to
enable us to obey His laws; all we need is to seek for grace and
strength from Him to do His will; and knowing that the blood of Jesus
Christ cleanseth from all sin, we can go boldly to Him in prayer,
offered up through our sole High Priest and Mediator, who ever pleads
the efficacy of that blood."
"I know you speak the truth," said Clara; "but I felt myself so
unworthy, I fancied that God would not receive me unless I made some
sacrifices in His service."
"You dishonoured Him, my dear child, by thinking so," answered the
general; "He will in no wise cast out those who come to Him, and He
desires all to come just as they are, with humble and contrite spirits;
but not under the idea that they can first put away their sins, and
merit His love by any good deeds or penances they may perform. Such
acts as are pleasing in His sight must spring from loving obedience to
Him; all He does is of free grace; we can merit nothing, because we owe
Him everything. When you see this clearly, you will understand more
perfectly the wrong principles on which the whole Romish and ritualistic
systems, and, believe me, they are identical, are founded."
Through the general's remarks Clara's eyes were quickly opened; it
appeared as if a thick veil had been thrown over them, which had
suddenly been removed, and she wondered how she could have been so
lamentably deceived. She looked upon her convent life, with its rigid
rules, its senseless silence, its hours of solitude, its meagre fare,
the cold and suffering uselessly endured, its unnatural vigils, its
mockeries of religious observances, the cruelties she had seen
practised, all tending to depress the spirits and lower the physical
powers, with just abhorrence; and then a choking sensation came into her
throat, and the colour rose to her cheeks as she thought of the
abominable confessional, the questions asked her, and the answers she
had had to give. She tried to shut them out from her thoughts. Could
she ever be worthy of the pure, honest-minded, open-hearted, noble
Harry?
On reaching their sitting-room at the inn, the general looked at Clara's
costume.
"I suppose, my dear child, that you would like to assume the ordinary
dress of a young lady of the nineteenth century," he said with a smile,
"in lieu of those garments of the dark ages."
A smile almost rose to Clara's lips, though her cheeks were blushing and
her eyes suffused with tears as she answered, "Yes, I should very much,
and I must ask if you will be good enough to send them back to the
convent, as they belong to the community, and I have no right to keep
them."
"With all imaginable pleasure," exclaimed Mr Franklin; "and I am happy
to say that I can assist you in procuring a desirable costume. I have a
relative residing here who is much about your height and figure, and as
she has some interest with the mantua-makers, I have no doubt that by
to-morrow morning she will induce them to supply you with a
travelling-dress and such other articles of apparel as you may require."
Clara expressed her thankfulness, and added, "Pray let it be as simple
as possible."
"Oh yes, it shall be such as will become a quakeress if you wish it; I
will lose no time about it," said Mr Franklin, hurrying out of the
room.
"Why, he has gone without taking anything to eat; he must be almost
starving," observed the general. "I know that I am; and, my dear, I am
afraid that you must be hungry, unless you took a late luncheon."
"We had dinner at ten, though I took but little," answered Clara; "but
we are accustomed to go a long time without food."
"Your looks tell me that, my dear," exclaimed the general, ringing the
bell. "We must take more care of you in future than you have received
lately. I never knew starving enable a person the better to go through
the duties of life."
The waiter entered, and the general ordered luncheon to be brought up at
once, in a tone which showed that he intended to be obeyed, adding, "Let
there be as many delicacies as your cook can provide off-hand."
The lawyer had not returned when luncheon was placed on the table.
"Come, my dear, I want to see you do justice to some of these nice
things," said the general.
Poor Clara hesitated; it was a fast-day in the convent--could she at
once transgress the rule? She was going to take simply some bread and
preserve, but the general placed a cutlet on her plate. "I must insist
on your eating that, and taking a glass or two of good wine to give you
strength for your journey to-morrow," he said. Clara had to explain her
difficulty. "I know of no command of the Lord to fast," he observed,
"though He stigmatised vain fasts and oblations. The apostles nowhere
command it, and the early Christians, until error crept in among them,
did not consider fasting a religious duty. In your case let me assure
you that it would be a sin to fast when you require your strength
restored. You have had much mental trial, and will have more to go
through. The mind suffers with the body, and it is your duty to
strengthen both. Come, come, eat up the cutlet, and take this glass of
sherry."
Clara obeyed, and in a wonderfully short time began to see matters in a
brighter light. The general did not fail to explain that one of the
great objects of the system from which he wished to emancipate her was
that of weakening the minds of those it got into its toils to keep them
in subjection. "Such was their aim in insisting on confession, on
fasting, and on vigils. What is even a strong man fit for, who is
deprived of his sleep and half-starved? How completely does a man
become the slave of the fellow mortal to whom he confides every secret
of his heart! and how much more thoroughly must a weak woman become a
slave, who is subjected to the same system! Add to that the rule of
obedience which you tell me is so much insisted on. Obedience to whom?
to a woman as full of faults and weaknesses as other human beings. How
sad must be the result! It is terrible to see the name of religion
prostituted in such a cause."
Clara ate up the cutlet without any further objection, and meekly
submitted to take some of the other delicacies the general placed before
her.
"You'll do, my dear," he said, smiling; "we shall have the roses in your
cheeks again, I hope, in a few weeks. What I want you to do is to
distinguish between God's and man's religions. You have erred from
confounding the two. Our loving Father wants a joyous, willing
obedience; He allows no one to come between Him and us poor sinners, but
our one Mediator and great High Priest, to whom we must confess our
sins. He invites us to come direct to Him in prayer. Those dishonour
Him who fancy that either ministering angels or departed saints can
interfere with our glorious privilege. He who said, `Rend your heart,
and not your garments,' desires no debasing penances, no fasts, nothing
which could weaken the powers of the mind. When you come to look into
the subject, you will see that all such practices were invented by the
great enemy of souls to draw men off from their reliance on their loving
Father, who is ever ready to give grace and help in time of need."
Before luncheon was quite over Mr Franklin returned. "You will excuse
us for not waiting for you," said the general. "Miss Maynard was nearly
starving."
"I am glad you did not wait, indeed," answered Mr Franklin, "for I may
compliment Miss Maynard on looking much better than she did an hour ago.
I have been entirely successful in my mission; my cousin and her
milliner will be here in a few minutes. I have a message from my aunt,
Mrs Lawson, who begs that you and Miss Maynard will stay the night at
her house, as she can there make the arrangements about her dress with
far more convenience than here."
The general, without stopping to consult Clara, at once accepted the
offer. Clara herself was thankful to move to a quiet house. Miss
Lawson, who was a sensible girl, understanding Clara's position and
feelings, with much thoughtfulness made every arrangement she could
require. Having supplied her from her own wardrobe, she took away the
conventual garments, which Mr Franklin with infinite satisfaction
carefully packed up and sent with a note, couched in legal phraseology,
to the Lady Superior, requesting that Miss Maynard's property might be
sent back by return. "I don't suppose we shall get it," he remarked to
his cousin; "but it is as well to see what her ladyship has to say about
the matter."
Late in the evening a note arrived from the Lady Superior, who had to
assure Mr Franklin that she possessed nothing belonging to Miss
Maynard, who was well aware that any articles brought into the convent
became the property of the community, and that all secular dresses were
immediately disposed of as useless to those devoted to the service of
the Church.
"I call it a perfect swindle," observed Mrs Lawson, who was not an
admirer of convents. "Miss Maynard tells me she took two trunks full of
summer and winter clothing. She had not a notion before she went to the
convent how she was to dress or what she was to do."
"I am afraid, notwithstanding, that we cannot indict the Lady Superior
as a swindler, whatever opinion we may secretly form of her," answered
Mr Franklin, laughing. "I daresay that Miss Maynard will soon be able
to replace her loss. We would rather not have her adventure made
public, except for the sake of a warning to others."
Miss Lawson, whose garments fortunately fitted Clara, begged that she
would take such as she might require until the dressmaker could forward
those which had been ordered. The next morning, heartily thanking Mr
Franklin and his relations, Clara and the general set off for
Cheltenham. It was not to be expected that Clara would at once recover
her spirits and serenity of mind; but fortunately they had the carriage
to themselves, and thus the general had an opportunity of further
explaining the subjects he had touched on on the previous day. As he
never was without his Bible, he was able to refer to that, and to point
to many texts which of late Clara had heard sadly perverted, or which
had been carefully avoided. He explained to her the origin of the whole
Romish system, and showed her how identical that of the Ritualists was
with it; the great object being to exalt and give power to a priestly
caste, who, pretending to stand between God and the sinner, thus obtain
power over the minds and property of their fellow-creatures. "Such has
been the object of certain men imbued with a desire to rule their more
ignorant and more superstitious fellows, from the earliest ages; it was
this spirit which influenced the priests of Egypt, Greece, and Rome; it
exists throughout India, among the savages of America in their
medicine--men, in the islands of the Pacific, and indeed in every region
of the world. It is the object of the Romish system, and is now
exhibiting itself in a more subtle form among the ministers of the
Church of England. We properly apply the term sacerdotalism to any
system the spirit of which seeks to place a human being in any
intermediate character between God and man. Sacerdotalism is in direct
opposition and antagonistic to the genius of the Gospel, which
enunciates the great truth that there is but one Mediator between God
and man, the Man Jesus Christ; that through the atoning blood of Christ,
man, if truly turning to Him, and heartily believing, receives directly,
and without any other agency whatever, pardon and absolution. He, and
He alone, pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent, that is,
look to Him and unfeignedly believe His holy Gospel. Christ, and Christ
alone, is the Way, the Truth, and the Life to seeking, travailing,
heavy-laden man; whereas the Romanists, as do the Ritualists, assert
that without the priestly function there is no complete remission, no
claim to all the benefit of the Passion, no assurance of God's
sanctifying grace. There must be, say these people, contrition,
confession, and satisfaction united with the sacerdotal function, a
succession of acts, the priest being the organ of God's sanctifying
grace."
"Oh, then, of what mockery, of what sin, have I been guilty?" exclaimed
Clara.
"Turn from it, and look to Jesus, and He grants immediate forgiveness,"
answered the general.
"Would that all who are misled as I have been might receive that
glorious truth!" cried Clara. "Oh, general, tell it everywhere, and
show me how I may help to open the eyes of others as mine have been
opened."
"God alone can open the eyes of the blind; but we can become active
instruments in His hands by conveying to them the remedy for their
blindness," said the general, taking Clara's hand. "Your words afford
me infinite satisfaction, and remove an anxious weight from my heart on
your own account, and on that of one naturally still dearer to me.
Depend on it that, with God's grace, I will not relax in my efforts to
make known the simple Gospel, and to exhibit the sacerdotal system of
Rome, and of the so-called ritualism of England, in its true light."