The Project Gutenberg eBook of The adopted son
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.
Title: The adopted son
or, illustrations of the Lord's prayer
Author: A. L. O. E.
Release date: October 18, 2023 [eBook #71906]
Language: English
Original publication: London: Gall & Inglis, 1877
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADOPTED SON ***
Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed.
[Illustration: Nelly suddenly exclaimed, "Who is that stranger-boy
coming this way with a bundle hanging by a stick over his shoulder?"]
THE
ADOPTED SON
OR,
ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE LORD'S PRAYER.
BY
A. L. O. E.
AUTHOR OF "NED FRANKS," "PICTURES OF ST PAUL,"
"THE WHITE BEAR'S DEN," ETC.
GALL & INGLIS.
London: Edinburgh:
25 PATERNOSTER SQUARE. 20 BERNARD TERRACE.
CONTENTS.
CHAP.
I. OUR FATHER, WHICH ART IN HEAVEN
II. HALLOWED BE THY NAME
III. THY KINGDOM COME
IV. THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN
V. GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD
VI. FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES, AS WE FORGIVE THEM
THAT TRESPASS AGAINST US
VII. LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION
VIII. DELIVER US FROM EVIL
IX. FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, THE POWER, AND
THE GLORY
X. FOR EVER AND EVER
THE ADOPTED SON.
CHAPTER I.
"Our Father, which art in heaven."
"Oh! As I said before, it's all a matter of opinion. I think it a man's
duty to attend to his business, and get his children well on in the
world," observed Goldie, the fruiterer, as the baker's wife handed to
him a bag of captain's biscuits from behind her counter. "We must look
to our advantage in this life, Mrs. Winter."
"Ay, and in the next also," replied the woman quietly. Then bending
over the counter to a little flaxen-haired girl who had just entered
the shop, "And what do you want, my dear?" she said.
"Please for twopenny-worth of sweet biscuits, three for a penny,"
answered the child.
Mrs. Winter slowly plunged her hand into one of the neat glass jars
which, carefully labelled with their various contents, adorned the
front of her window.
Mrs. Winter was a pattern of neatness, even to precision, her cap was
ever of faultless white, her panes were as clean as hands could make
them, not a crumb was ever suffered to rest on her counter, and her
name over the door shone in bright gilt letters that might have been
worthy of a shop in London. Precise and formal as some people deemed
her, Mrs. Winter was a kind-hearted woman, too; much warm feeling lay
under a stiff, cold manner; combined with a large share of good common
sense. She had never been blessed with children, and her husband,
though in some respects a worthy, honest man, kept his hands so tightly
over his purse strings, as to gain for the couple a character of
penuriousness, which was undeserved by his wife. Notwithstanding this,
many were the stale loaves which found their way to some poor man's
home, and many were the nights which Mrs. Winter had given to watching
the sick-bed of a neighbour.
While the baker's wife was drawing forth the biscuits, Goldie entered
into conversation with the little girl.
"So you're going to have a treat for once in a way, Nelly Viner. You
don't trouble Mrs. Winter often for sweet biscuits, I should say."
"My new brother is coming home to-day," replied the child with a
beaming look of pleasure.
"Your new brother! Who's he?"
"I do not exactly know, sir; but he is some one that we are to love,
and be kind to. I shall be so glad to have a brother!"
"I should have thought," said Goldie in a careless manner, "that Viner
had enough to do to look after his own without adopting the children of
other people. Do you know who this boy is, Mrs. Winter?"
"I know that his name is Walter Binning; the son, I suppose, of some
friend."
"A friend! Never were you more mistaken in your life. Why, that's the
name of the man who almost ruined Viner—a heartless, unprincipled—"
Mrs. Winter glanced at the little girl, and put her finger on her lips.
She placed the biscuits before Nelly, but Nelly lingered. "Are those
not what you wished?" said the baker's wife, noticing the child's look
of hesitation.
"Yes; but you have given me seven, and I have only paid for six,"
replied the little one, looking artlessly up in her face.
"Now, if that isn't like her father!" exclaimed Goldie, bursting into a
loud laugh. "I could have known her for his child all the world over!
Don't you know, little simpleton, that seven are better than six?"
"I thought that Mrs. Winter had made a mistake," replied the child, not
liking the laugh, though she could not have told why.
"I think that it's you who made the mistake," said Goldie, laughing
again. "Tell me, does not your father keep sugar plums as well as
cabbages?"
"Yes," replied Nelly, "and very nice ones."
"Very nice; oh! I dare say that you know that pretty well. How many do
you eat, my little maid?"
"Father gives me a brandy-ball every Sunday, or sometimes a piece of
pink rock," said Nelly, smiling.
"Oh! That's what he gives, but what do you take?" asked the fruiterer,
chucking her under the chin.
"I take what he gives. I don't know what you mean," said the little
girl, looking bewildered.
"Simpleton!" muttered Goldie, glancing with a knowing smile at Mrs.
Winter, but Mrs. Winter did not return the smile. "You never help
yourself?" he continued to Nelly. "Never manage to taste a sugar-plum
when father's back is turned?"
The child's face flushed crimson, she shrank back from his touch,
looked full into his face with her open blue eyes, and seemed to feel
it unnecessary to say "No!"
"Nelly is brought up in the fear of God," observed Mrs. Winter, "and
knows that it would be better to touch live coals than anything
dishonestly gained. Go home with your seven biscuits, my good little
girl, and make ready to welcome your new brother."
As soon as Nelly had left the shop, Goldie exclaimed, "Well, I always
thought that Viner was a little mad, but I never imagined that ever he
would do anything half so wild as this! Is he really going to adopt the
son of Walter Binning?"
"What do you know of the man?" inquired Mrs. Winter.
"Know! Why I know that he has been the worst enemy that ever Viner had.
He was some distant relation of his, I fancy, and was for ever getting
him into one trouble or another. Viner was once, I have heard, in very
good business here—that was before I set up my shop opposite—and what
first pulled him down, and half ruined the poor man, was becoming
security for this Binning. What might have been expected happened—the
rogue made off, and left his simple friend to pay, Ha! Ha! Ha! And now,
like an honest man, discharges his debt by making him a present of his
son!"
"I heard that the boy's father was absent beyond seas," said the
baker's wife.
"To be sure, that means 'sent out of his country for his country's
good.' I remember it now—Walter Binning was transported for seven years
for theft! I wish Viner joy of the hopeful youth that he is going to
adopt! He may not find him quite so apt a pupil as little Nelly. The
child of a thief is not likely to be a saint. If the father half ruined
poor honest Viner, perhaps the son may finish the business!" And so
saying, with a nod to the good woman of the shop, Goldie took up his
bag and went out.
The village in which our scene is laid was one situated by the
sea-side, which had not yet grown into a town, though already a
favourite resort of those who wished for sea breezes and quiet. It
had, like other watering-places, its boats and its bathing-machines;
fishermen spread out their nets on the shingles; donkeys, ready
saddled, stood in a row prepared to carry visitors along the white
chalky road, or the long line of smooth brown sand which was left wet
and shining when the tide went down.
E— boasted a small circulating library consisting of little but old
soiled novels, and a reading-room with benches in front, which were
often occupied in summer by lady visitors, who, protected from the
glare by parasols and broad-brimmed straw-hats, amused themselves with
their knitting or their book, while enjoying the fresh air from the sea.
E— at the time at which my story commences, was little more than
one narrow street, on each side of which small shops offered the
necessaries of life, and in spring, on the upper windows of most of
them the words, "Lodgings to let," announced their preparation to
receive visitors. Of these small shops, one of the smallest and poorest
in appearance was that on which was seen the name of Viner. It had a
little wooden gate instead of door, and it seemed that its owner could
not entirely depend upon his profits from the rows of onions, bunches
of carrots, or baskets of beans which covered his board, for little
bottles of sweetmeats as well as of nuts were ranged along a shelf in
his shop, with a string of balls of twine hanging from the top, and a
small supply of writing-paper in one corner, which was usually sold by
the sheet, not the quire.
So small and unpretending was the shop—such a contrast to Goldie's
large one opposite—that visitors seldom thought of entering to buy,
and it was chiefly frequented by the people of the village, who knew
the character of the man who kept it, and who never doubted, when they
purchased a basket of fruit from Viner, that the lower ones were as
good as those at the top.
In this shop now stood Nelly with her father, awaiting the arrival
of their expected guest. Viner was a man still in the prime of life,
though care and poverty had made him look older than he really was,
and had streaked his hair with many a bright silver line. But the
expression of his face was serene, even happy, especially when he
looked upon his darling only child, the image of a wife whom he had
tenderly loved, and for whom he had mourned—but not as one without hope.
"And now remember one thing, my darling," he said, laying his hand
gently upon her head, "you must never speak to Walter about his father."
"But you love to speak about mother, and to take me to her grave, and
to show me all the places that she marked in her Bible; if Walter's
father has died and gone to heaven, he will like to speak about him
too."
"You must not ask my reasons, Nelly, but obey my wishes. Ah!" thought
the bereaved husband, as he recalled his own heavy loss, "How much
sadder a thing is sin than death!"
Nelly stood thoughtfully for a moment, as if pondering over the words
of her parent, then looked up with a grave expression on her usually
merry little face as she said, "Oh! I remember now what I heard at Mrs.
Winter's."
"What did you hear, my child?"
"Something about Walter's father—something very bad; it was Mr. Goldie
who said it; you know when he spoke aloud, I could not help hearing;
but Mrs. Winter put her finger to her lips."
"I am very sorry that Mr. Goldie should say anything, or know anything
about the matter. You, at any rate, must take no notice of it. It is no
fault of poor Walter's that he has been unhappy in his parent."
"Father," said Nelly, her own joyous expression returning, as she laid
her little hand upon Viner's arm, and looked up full into his face,
"will not you be a father to Walter? He shall be your son, and my
brother too, and we shall all be so happy together!"
Viner only replied by a smile, and the child continued—"Mr. Goldie said
a word which I thought meant that, something about your ad—I cannot
just remember the word."
"Adopting, I suppose."
"Yes, that was it exactly! I think," added Nelly, with a graver air,
"that there is some word like that in the Bible."
"There is, my Nelly, and a blessed word it is! All Christians are the
adopted children of God; it is from His gracious adoption alone that we
dare to address Him as 'Our Father, which art in heaven.'"
"To adopt is to take some other person's child, and call it your own,
and love it as your own, end feed it, and care for it, as you will for
Walter. Am I not right?" said Nelly.
"Quite right," replied Viner, stroking her fair hair.
"And if God adopts us, He will love us, and watch over us, and take
care of us as long as we live, and take us home to Himself when we die!
But were we ever any one's children but God's?"
"We were by nature, my Nelly, the children of wrath. Adam, our first
father, had offended the Lord, and we are born into the world with a
nature like his, bearing his sinful likeness, even as Walter Binning
bears the name of his father. Man was not only a stranger to, but a
rebel against God—he had no right to expect anything but punishment and
pain from the hand of his offended Maker."
"And yet the Lord adopted him, and made him His son!"
"Yes, that mercy beyond all we could ask for or hope, was one of the
blessings purchased for us by the death of the Saviour. It was as
though the Lord Jesus had laid His pierced hand upon the sinner, and
had led him to the feet of His Father, and that the Almighty, for the
sake of his crucified Son, had deigned to receive the unworthy sinner,
and make him His own child for ever!"
"Then if we are God's children," exclaimed Nelly, "we must all be
brothers and sisters to one another."
"It is so," replied Viner earnestly, "though is our selfishness and
pride we too often forget it. Those who love their Father in heaven
will love His children on earth also, and form one blessed family of
love."
"I never thought before," said Nelly, thoughtfully, "when I repeated
the Lord's Prayer, why I should say 'Our Father,' instead of 'My
Father;' but now I will try to remember every time, that I am one of a
great family of love!"
Few more words passed between Viner and his daughter, until Nelly
suddenly exclaimed, "Who is that stranger-boy coming this way with a
bundle hanging by a stick over his shoulder, who looks up at the name
over every shop, and seems so tired and sad? Father, do you think that
this can be Walter?"
It was Walter indeed, the convict's son, who now received from Viner
such a kindly welcome as the true Christian gives to the unfortunate.
Walter appeared, from his height, to be a boy of about ten years of
age, but the expression of his sharpened careworn features made him
look much older; it was not the expression of a child. There was at
first a restlessness in his manner, as of one ready to take either
offence or alarm, which gave Nelly a curious impression that he was
like some wild creature that had been hunted. He usually fixed his
eyes on the ground, and when he raised them, it was not with the
straightforward look of a boy who has nothing to conceal or to fear.
Poor outcast! The remembrance of his father's shame hung like a heavy
cloud over him; the first fresh flow of youthful feelings had been
checked at the spring, he was inclined to suspect others, and to feel
himself suspected.
He could not, however, resist the influence of the unaffected
kindliness which he met with from Viner and his little daughter.
The best food at the simple meal was placed on his plate, there was
consideration for his feelings, and attention to his comfort in
everything that was said or done. His chilled heart began to warm under
the power of kindness, gradually his manner appeared less shy, he
became less silent and sad, and before the evening was over, was ready
to smile, and even laugh at the playful words of Nelly.
The hour arrived for evening prayer. Everything else was laid aside,
and the large Bible, the treasure of many generations, on whose blank
page many family names were written—some so pale with age that they
could scarcely be read—was reverently placed upon the table. To evening
meeting for prayer Walter had, till now, been entirely a stranger.
He was not altogether ignorant on the subject of religion; in the
strange unsettled life which he had led in London with his father, he
had met with a variety of characters, and gathered up knowledge upon
many different subjects, but there was nothing clear, nothing defined,
nothing holy. Yet it was with no irreverent manner that Walter listened
to the Word of God, or the prayer from the lips of his benefactor. The
conduct of Viner insensibly connected in his mind kindness and goodness
with piety; and gratitude towards man seemed likely to be the first
step to raise him towards gratitude to a higher Being.
When Nelly had received her father's evening kiss and blessing, and
had bidden a kind good-night to her new brother, Viner led his guest
from his parlour into his small shop, and kindly laying his hand
on his shoulder, explained to him what his duties would be. Viner
had not forgotten that boys are liable to temptation, that a youth
brought up as Walter had been, would above all, be likely to yield to
temptation—he would neither ask nor expect much.
"I know," said he, smiling, as he pointed to the sweetmeats, "that
things such as these are liked by most young people, so you have my
free permission to take some—Walter, I have no objection to that. You
will remember, at the same time, that you are living with a poor man,
with one who cannot afford to give his family all the enjoyments that
might be wished, so that I am sure that you will not take too much."
A little colour came to Walter's pale cheek—it was so new a thing to be
trusted. But a generous feeling was awakened in his breast, and as he
pressed the hand held out to him, he silently resolved that Viner never
should have cause to repent having confided in his honour.
"And now, my dear boy, I have but one thing more to add before we part
for the night. You will help me in my business, and make yourself
useful. No good boy would wish to eat the bread of idleness; but I
receive you into my house as one of my family, and as long as you do
nothing to forfeit the name, I shall regard you and treat you as my
son."
Oh! How many a wanderer would be reclaimed, how many a prodigal led
back to his home, if those who call themselves Christians, instead of
shrinking from the outcast, and stamping him at once with the character
of guilt, would seek to draw out the nobler feelings of a heart not yet
seared and hardened! God be praised! There are yet some who, like their
Saviour, go forth to seek and save that which was lost, and the child
of the thief, and the young thief himself, are taught the path which
leads to holiness and to Thee:
"OUR FATHER, WHICH ART IN HEAVEN!"
[Illustration]
CHAPTER II.
"Hallowed be Thy name."
THERE was a good deal of curiosity in the village to see the convict's
boy whom Viner had adopted, and to know the result of his dangerous
experiment—his romantic benevolence, as it was called. Nowhere was this
curiosity stronger than in the home of Goldie, whose large handsome
shop, as I before mentioned, stood opposite to the humble dwelling of
Viner.
As Goldie and his family will often appear in the course of my tale, I
may as well give here at once an introduction to them all.
A finer family than that of Goldie, the fruiterer, was not to be found
in the village of E—. His three sons, when young children, constantly
attracted the notice of visitors by their uncommon beauty—a painter
of eminence had introduced their likeness into one of his pictures as
cherubs, and the praises lavished upon them by strangers fostered the
pride of their fond mother, who believed that her boys, especially Ned
the youngest, were not to be equalled by any children in England.
As they grew older, Aleck, the first-born, displayed so much talent,
that Goldie, persuaded that he wanted nothing but a good education
to place him in the highway to fortune and fame, made every effort,
scraped together all his gains, denied himself and family many
comforts, to send him to a school where he might be with gentlemen's
sons, and acquire the knowledge necessary for getting on in the world.
Getting on in the world was a favourite expression of Goldie's, and to
judge both by his conduct and his advice to his children, it appeared
that to him it comprised the chief—I had almost said the only object
in life. Yet Goldie did not consider himself exactly an irreligious
man. He had no objection to piety as long as it did not interfere with
profit; spoke very decidedly about upholding the Church, sometimes
attended divine service himself when some one else would look after the
shop, which he kept open on Sunday as usual, and kept a large handsome
Bible in his parlour, which he never read or even opened.
His wife's character was of a different stamp. Mrs. Goldie was not
hardened in worldliness—with another husband she might have appeared
a religious woman. When God's day was profaned, and His commandments
disobeyed, she had a secret suspicion that all was not right. She
regularly went to church, and what she heard there often sent her home
with an uneasy conscience. She was a delicate woman, too, and in hours
of sickness was often visited by scruples and fears. But her husband
laughed at them, and she struggled against them, was contented to try
to think them foolish and weak; and while, like Agrippa, almost a
Christian in conviction, was never ready to step over the border-line
and take up the cross in earnest. She had just religion enough to make
her uneasy, and that, if constantly resisted or neglected, is not the
religion which can bring us to heaven.
Mrs. Goldie loved her sons, she idolised Ned, her whole heart seemed
wrapped up in the boy. No wish so unreasonable but it must be granted,
no fault so glaring but it must be overlooked; she found an excuse for
every error. It is true that Mrs. Goldie would rather that her sons had
chosen other companions than such as those whose society she feared did
them no good; she had rather that they had sometimes read the Bibles
with which she had provided them, instead of the cheap novels that
were constantly lying about their rooms; she had rather that Mat and
Ned had not sat up gambling till midnight; but she never made a hearty
effort to change anything that was amiss. "It was natural that boys
should like amusement," she said—and with her, it is natural almost
stood instead of it is right. Her sons knew nothing of a mother's
gentle training, earnest entreaties, affectionate reproofs. She had not
watched over them, prayed for them, sought to win them to God, and any
affection that they might bear their mother was unmixed either with
obedience or respect.
To such a family as this, it is no wonder that the adoption by Viner
of the son of a convict, the son of a man who had greatly wronged him,
appeared an act of extraordinary folly. While Walter and his little
companion Nelly were engaged in laying out vegetables, preparing the
shop, and disposing of beans and potatoes to fishermen's wives, or
sweetmeats to bareheaded children who had but one copper piece to lay
upon the counter, their neighbours on the opposite side of the street
were passing many a joke at his expense.
"That boy there don't know how to shell peas!" said Mat.
"Depend on't, he knows precious well how to eat them," laughed Ned.
"I'd not be a peach or a plum in his way," said the first speaker, "if
poor Viner adorned his board with such dainties, but the temptation of
raw carrots might be withstood—ha! ha! ha!"
"You forget the pink rock and the lolly-pop!" exclaimed Ned.
"Yes, the good man will find his stock going remarkably cheap—at an
alarming sacrifice, as they advertise in the London shops."
"I must just step over and have a fling at the chap before the old
Methodist comes back to the rescue; I see him turning the corner with a
basket of greens, and somehow or other, I can never crack a good joke
before him." Strange as it may appear, notwithstanding his poverty,
notwithstanding the ridicule lavished upon him during his absence,
there was something about Viner which commanded respect, and even these
wilful, unruly lads would have felt ashamed of being impertinent to him.
The shyness of Walter had entirely worn off towards Nelly; her kindness
pleased, her prattle amused him, he felt her society like a fresh
breeze of spring, it was a delight to him to look on her as a little
sister. It was only necessity, however, which had made Viner leave
them so long alone together, for he intended carefully to watch the
character of his adopted son, and let him have little intercourse with
his child, except in his own presence, until he knew that she could
learn no evil from her companion. As soon, therefore, as his necessary
business was finished, he hastened back to his home.
Full of mischievous fun, Ned, followed by Mat, ran across the road to
Viner's little shop.
"I say," cried he, "have you any string?" Walter glanced at Nelly, then
following the direction of her eye, jumped upon the counter to reach
the balls of twine which were amongst the articles sold in the shop.
"What's the price?" said Ned, with a laughing expression in his eye.
Prompted by the child, Walter answered, "A penny a ball."
"That's too much—hemp's cheap; I thought that you would know the way of
getting that without paying for it at all! I say, Nelly," continued the
merry boy, without appearing to notice the cloud gathering on Walter's
brow, "how long is it since your father has kept forbidden fruit here?"
"Forbidden fruit," replied the child, giving an inquiring glance around
her. "I did not know that father kept forbidden fruit. What is it?"
"Such as drops from the gallows tree," cried Ned; and with a loud
insulting laugh, the two boys ran off just as Viner entered the place.
"He meant to insult me," exclaimed Walter, with a loud oath.
Nelly was shocked and astonished, and looked at her father.
"Walter," said Viner calmly but firmly, "I never permit an oath under
my roof; we have this day uttered the prayer, 'Hallowed be Thy name,'
and heavy is our guilt if we profane that name."
"I only spoke thoughtlessly," said Walter, looking rather sullen; "one
cannot be always considering one's words."
"And yet the Lord Himself hath declared that by our words we should be
justified, and by our words condemned; and that for every idle word
that men should speak, 'they should give account in the awful day of
judgment!'"
"But some men never open their lips without an oath; not only the poor
and ignorant, but the rich and great. It seems to give such force to
what a man says, and it grows such a strong habit that one scarcely can
break it. Nelly would not have looked so much shocked as she did just
now if she had seen a little more of the world, as I have."
"We shall not be judged by what the world does, or by what the world
thinks," said Viner, "but by the Word of Him who hath said, 'Swear
not at all.' It has always appeared to me," continued Viner, "that
swearing is one of the most unaccountable of sins. We can well
imagine how the poor man is tempted to steal, the timid to lie, or
the self-indulgent to exceed; but for swearing there appears not the
shadow of a cause—heaven is risked, and nothing is gained, the Almighty
is offended, a crime is committed of which no result remains but its
terrible record on the Book which shall be opened and read one day
before the angels and archangels of heaven!"
Walter's sullen look had passed away, his better feelings struggled
with his pride. "I will try never to utter an oath again—at least
before you, whom I respect," said he.
"Whom you respect! A poor sinful creature of dust; and yet you would
utter it before the eternal God, who created the lips, who gave the
breath which you employ in mocking His command!"
"I will never take God's name in vain," said Walter.
"God bless you, my dear boy, for that good resolution, and give you His
Holy Spirit, that you may be enabled to keep it."
"I do not think that I shall find it very difficult," said Walter,
who was not accustomed to doubt the power of his own will—who, having
struggled but little with his sins, had yet to learn his own weakness.
"More difficult, maybe, than you think," replied Viner. "Perhaps you
are not aware how many times this day you may have taken that holy name
in vain."
"Never but once!" said Walter quickly.
"Oh!" exclaimed little Nelly involuntarily.
"When?" said Walter, turning towards her; but Nelly did not look
inclined to reply. "When?" repeated Walter impatiently, "When did I
take God's name in vain?"
The little girl hesitated, afraid of offending, yet accustomed to speak
out the truth; then timidly said, looking down on the floor, "You know,
Walter, that when you talk with me, you often begin with 'Lord! or
God bless my soul!' or you say 'The Lord knows,' when really I do not
think, I am afraid, that you are not considering at all what you are
saying."
Viner was not yet aware of this habit in Walter, for the boy had been
shy and reserved in his presence, and had not spoken out so freely
before him as when alone with his gentle little daughter.
Walter coloured, and tried to laugh. "You are very precise," said he.
"I hope that I have not made you vexed with me," whispered Nelly,
drawing nearer to him, and laying her small hand on his. "I hope that I
have not said anything unkind."
"No, no," replied Walter hastily. "I dare say that you are all right;
but these things are so new to me—I never thought at all of them
before. You can hardly imagine how different I am from you—you have
never taken God's name in vain in all your life."
"Oh! but I have—often," murmured Nelly, again looking down.
"When? I am certain that you never swear."
"When I pray," answered Nelly, speaking very low, so that Walter could
scarcely catch the words.
"Surely, if you are ever out of harm's way, it's when you are praying,"
exclaimed Walter.
"Not if I am thinking of something else all the time. Father has told
me that we may say prayers and yet never pray, and that this is taking
the Lord's name in vain."
Walter sighed; for the first time he felt how difficult it must be to
attain to that "holiness without which no man shall see the Lord."
After the wild life that he had led, the wicked scenes that he had
witnessed, Viner's dwelling seemed to him the home of purity itself;
and Nelly, a little cherub all spotless and holy, who never had known
anything of sin.
It was with a feeling to which he had been a stranger before, a sense
of weakness, a consciousness of guilt, that he knelt that evening by
the little child's side, and repeated after her father the words of the
Lord's Prayer:
"HALLOWED BE THY NAME."
[Illustration]
CHAPTER III.
"Thy kingdom come."
THE next day was Saturday, on the evening of which Viner, as usual,
cast up his accounts, and reckoned his gains during the week. It was
the amusement of Nelly, seated upon his knee, to arrange pence and
half pence into little shilling heaps, and separate the sum always
laid aside for the rent, and that required to purchase the next week's
stock. The little child felt herself useful in doing this, and aspired
to the time when she could manage the big book, and sum up all the
figures like father. But this evening there was a cloud over her sunny
face, and she looked sadly at the small amount of money that remained,
when she had put aside what was wanted for rent and stock.
"We used once to have roast beef for Sunday dinner," she said, with a
sigh, "and lately we have always had bacon and beans, but to-morrow we
shall have nothing but porridge and potatoes."
"And eat them with thankfulness, I trust, my darling. There are many
who have worse fare than that."
Walter was pained to the heart, although he said nothing; he felt
himself a burden on one already poor, the little help that he could
give was scarcely needed in the shop, food and lodging seemed to him
not earned but received from charity.
Viner observed the gloomy expression on the face of his adopted son;
and though his own heart was struggling beneath a weight of care, as he
put by his insufficient gains, and thought of the approaching winter,
when those gains might be expected to be less, he endeavoured to cheer
his young companions by diverting their minds from the subject.
"Walter," said he, "I have observed your eye often rest on that curious
little book which is kept on our mantelpiece."
"Yes; it looks so strange and ancient, in its old-fashioned covering,
of what was once, I suppose, gold and blue; it is not like the small
books we see now."
"Has Nelly yet told you the story of that book?"
In a moment the face of the little girl had all its sunniness again.
"Oh no!" she exclaimed, "I left that for you—the story of my dear good
grandfather! That is my favourite story about the illumination and the
barefooted little boy. O father! So tell it to us now! This is just the
time, when the shop is shut, and our work is over, and it is getting
dark; we shall save a candle, you know, for we don't need light to
listen!"
This favourite story was one which Nelly had heard more than once, and
had thought over very often, till there was nothing in the possession
of her father, his Bible and her mother's wedding-ring excepted, for
which she felt half the reverence as for that little old book. Now,
seated upon her father's knee, with her arm round his neck, and her
head on his shoulder, and Walter listening opposite, Nelly quite forgot
all care for the morrow, all fear of approaching want.
"I will tell you the story," said Viner, "partly as I heard it from my
good father, who used to mention some of the circumstances of it as
amongst the greatest mercies which he had ever experienced, but chiefly
as it was often related to me by my grandmother, who was as fond, dear
old lady, of telling the story about her son as Nelly is now of hearing
it."
"Well, it must now be some seventy years since the day when my
grandmother, a poor gardener's widow, who then lived in a cottage
not far from this very place—(it has been pulled down long ago, but
Nelly can show you where it stood)—bade farewell to her only son. The
character of my grandmother was so respectable that, poor as she was,
many looked up to her for counsel and example; she had been nurse in
the family of a gentleman, and had more knowledge, and knowledge of the
best kind, than usually falls to the lot of the poor."
"It was a great matter for her that a good situation had been procured
for her only son in London, but still it was a sore trial to the widow
to part with him; and when she thought of the temptations before him,
her heart trembled and would have sunk within her, but for prayer, her
unfailing resource."
"The morning before he left her, my grandmother sat packing the box of
her son, for she would do everything for him herself. She had darned
his stockings and mended his clothes so neatly, that they looked almost
as good as new. I believe that many a tear had dropped over her work,
but she tried to look cheerful to my father. Carefully, she placed his
Bible in the box, and beside it three very small books in gold and
blue, one of which you now see before you."
"'A single copy is enough for me,' said my father; 'they are, I see,
exactly alike, what should I do with three?'"
"In those days, Walter, small religious publications were not so easily
to be procured as they are at present. Now there is an abundance of
works of all sizes and prices in which the pure Gospel is explained and
taught, and even poor Christians may help, by the means of such, to
spread the knowledge of God; but there was not the same number of them
then. Where my grandmother had bought these books I do not know, they
were considered old even in her day; they contained a good deal from
Scripture, especially the Sermon on the Mount explained by a very holy
Divine. I have heard that my grandmother had twelve copies at first,
but now only these three remained, for, as she explained to my father,
they were intended to be lent or given to others."
"'Always remember, my dear son,' she said, laying her thin hand upon
his, 'that God's kingdom of glory may come any day, but God's kingdom
of grace is coming every day; and as it is our bounden duty to pray for
the first, so is it to work for the spread of the other. We must be
like the Jews while building their second temple, the sword in one hand
to fight against our sins, the working-tool in the other—and books like
these are such—to help to raise a holy building to God. They that be
wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn
many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.'"
"These words of the widow sank deep into the heart of my father, they
made him see his position as a Christian in a new light. It was not
enough, he found, to keep unspotted from the world, he should also,
as God might give him opportunity, visit the fatherless and widows in
their affliction—not only himself faithfully serve his heavenly King,
but seek to bring others to that blessed Saviour."
"But my father found all his good resolutions sorely tried when he
entered the situation which had been procured for him. His master was
a haberdasher in London, one whom the world termed respectable, but
his standard of right and wrong was very different from that which
the youth had learned from his Bible and his mother. Sharpness and
shrewdness were prized above honest dealing. 'All fair in the way of
business' was the shopkeeper's favourite motto, and he was not disposed
to question too closely the lawfulness of whatever increased his gains.
His other shop-boy, whose name was Tim Sands, was also one from whom my
father could learn little that was good. Not an ill-disposed lad; had
he been in proper hands and under the care of a conscientious master,
he might have gone on steadily enough. But Sands was weak-minded and
easily led, and though too busy during the week to have much time
for mischief, on Sunday, he mixed in all kinds of dissipation, with
companions far worse than himself. In society such as this, my poor
father felt little comfort or benefit, truly, he stood alone; and
but for the power of privately pouring out his heart before God, and
thinking of the coming of that happy time when the kingdom of the earth
shall become the kingdoms of the Lord, his courage would have failed
him entirely, and he might have become like those amongst whom he
lived."
"He had a constant fight against sin, I dare say," observed Walter,
"but as for the work of which his mother had spoken, I think that he
must have left that alone altogether: how could he look after the souls
of other people; he had enough to do to take care of his own."
"Oh! You will hear—you will hear," whispered Nelly.
"In the first place," said Viner, "he prayed for others, especially for
his master and companion; he asked that God's kingdom might come in
their hearts. Such prayers are never in vain, for even if the petition
be not granted, the Lord returns it in blessings into the bosom of
him who offers it in charity and faith. But my father did not content
himself with this. He found out in a street, not very far from his
shop, a woman who had once been known to his mother. She had married
and fallen into great poverty, and was now living in wretchedness in
a small garret, with three children who were dependent upon her. My
father had no money to bestow, but he did what he could: he found the
family in a state of ignorance, and dirt, almost degraded to the level
of the beasts that perish; he roused the mother to exertion by his
words; he offered a weekly visit to read the Bible to her, for she was
unable herself to read; he undertook on Sundays to teach her young
children, looking upon the poor ignorant little ones as lambs whom the
Lord had appointed him to feed."
"At first he met with little gratitude, and even some opposition, and
the task of teaching, which was new to him, seemed intolerably irksome;
much would he have preferred a walk on the bright Sabbath evenings to
passing them in that close garret with noisy children. But difficulties
gradually were smoothed away before him; even the woman herself became
his pupil, children of other lodgers joined his little flock, and
gladly shared his instructions; and as my father looked round upon this
infant ragged school, he felt how great was the honour, how deep the
joy of being permitted thus to labour for the spread of God's kingdom
of grace."
"But while he quietly pursued this Christian work, my father had
also to endure the Christian fight, and to try the strength of his
principles upon an occasion that sorely tested his faith. One day, when
he was serving behind the counter, his master overheard him, in reply
to a question from a customer, frankly own that he did not believe that
the colours of a print which he was showing would bear washing. The
presence of the lady prevented anything at the moment but an angry look
from the master, but when she had quitted the shop without purchasing
anything, the torrent of his anger burst forth. My father had to
submit to hear himself called a blockhead and a fool, and submitted in
silence; for he thought of his widowed mother, the difficulty which she
had in procuring for him this place, and the distress which she would
feel if she lost it. But when his master, having exhausted his rage,
began to give him a lesson in the ways of the world which went directly
against conscience and religion, when he was ordered to be ready to
utter a falsehood whenever that falsehood might serve his employer, my
father felt that the time had come for him to make a stand, and risk
anything rather than his soul."
"'I can only speak what is true,' he said modestly but firmly; how
difficult he found it to utter that short sentence, but how thankful
was he when he had done so!"
"'You must obey what I order, or march out of my shop!' exclaimed the
master, his face reddening with passion."
"It was a great relief to my father that customers entering at the
moment broke short the conversation; and he was truly glad that he was
able, before they left, without having swerved in the least from truth,
to make a considerable addition to the money in the till. It seemed as
though Providence were helping him through the difficulties which he
had boldly faced in obedience to duty."
"And did he always keep firm?" asked Walter.
"Always; he never even gave an equivocal answer."
"Then I suppose that his master turned him off."
"He threatened to do so more than once, but was too much a man of the
world not to know when he had a good servant; and my father was so
active and intelligent, so regular in his accounts, so ready on all
occasions to oblige, that even his master could not but be aware of his
value. As with Joseph, everything seemed to prosper in his hand, and
having nothing to find fault with except his religion, even the ungodly
man learned to respect his assistant."
"There is an influence, sometimes unknown to ourselves, which we exert
either for good or evil amongst those with whom we live. Had my father
been austere, proud, or self-righteous, he might, in attempts to
convert Tim Sands, have driven him farther from the path of salvation.
But my father's kindness and cheerfulness gradually won for him the
regard of his fellow-shopman. Sands began by laughing at, but ended
by looking up to him. It was not easy, indeed, to draw the youth's
attention to anything serious; in vain one of the little counsellors
in gold and blue had been purposely placed in his way—he had never got
beyond the title page of it, and it was soon thrown aside for a dirty
novel."
"One Sunday evening, after a wet, cold day, Sands, who, much against
his will, had been kept from his usual diversions by the weather, saw
my father preparing to leave the house."
"'I say, Viner,' cried he, 'are you going out for a walk? I see that
the sky is clearing up at last. I think that I'll take a turn with
you—that is, if you are not going to church again, you'll not draw me
in for that!'"
"'I am not going to church, but to pass the evening with some friends.'"
"'Old Methodists, I suppose, grave and solemn.'"
"'No, young and lively,' answered my father."
"'Well, I say, there's no knowing what you good people are after! So
you spend your Sunday evenings amid jovial companions! I've half a mind
to go with you and see your friends. Had it not rained cats and dogs, I
should have been at Greenwich with mine.'"
"'Come, and welcome,' said my father, with a smile."
"So they walked on till they entered a very narrow street, low and
dirty, where most of the wretched shops were open, and such of the
inhabitants as were loitering about looked as though they had been
occupants of the workhouse. My father entered a little shop, and merely
wishing good evening to the man who was in it, proceeded at once to the
back of it, and, followed by Sands, ascended the steep, dark, dirty
stair, where noisy sounds and disagreeable smells annoyed both senses
at once."
"'Your company may be choice, but I can't say much for their place of
meeting,' observed Sands."
"My father unclosed the door of an attic-room, and was received with a
burst of welcome from a dozen young voices within. The room was small,
close, and dimly lighted by a single candle; but it was impossible to
look without interest on the pale, hungry-looking, but intelligent
little beings with whom it was crowded; all poor, some barefoot, yet in
their poverty as much the children of God and heirs of eternal life as
the nobles and princes of the land. My father asked after the mother
of this one, and the sick sister of that, winning the hearts of his
scholars by his look of kindly interest; and, after a few minutes spent
in this manner, 'Now, let us begin with a hymn,' said he."
"'Jerusalem, my happy home!' How strangely sweet it must have sounded
to hear the voices of those ragged children sing of the 'pearly gates'
and 'streets of shining gold' of the heavenly dwelling-place above,
within the walls of that miserable attic! Sands remained an attentive,
perhaps an interested, listener for the two hours during which his
companion's labours lasted. When they found themselves again in the
street, he remarked:
"'Well, certainly there is some difference between your kind of society
and the jolly parties to which I am accustomed at the White Hart, or
Saracen's Head.'"
"'But are all the pleasures which you may have enjoyed there worth the
hope of meeting one of those little ones in heaven, when the kingdom of
God shall have come?'"
"Sands made no reply, and walked back in silence."
"A day of trouble was coming for my father, in which he would need all
the comfort which religion and a good conscience could give. He was
sent one evening to a customer with a parcel of valuable goods, for
which he was to receive payment. Thinking of lending one of his little
friends in gold and blue to a widow who kept a stall near the square
to which he was going, he opened his pocket-book which he carried with
him, and placed one of the copies in it. The woman had, however, left
her stand, so this opportunity of doing good was lost for the time.
The customer received the goods, and paid for them, and two five-pound
notes were carefully placed by my father in the pocket-book beside the
little publication."
"The streets were much crowded on his return, for there were
preparations for a grand illumination. My father did not loiter on his
way, but his attention was naturally attracted by the splendid stars
and wreaths, which were beginning to be lighted up as he passed. As
he entered his master's shop, he put his hand into his pocket, and
his surprise and distress may be readily imagined, when he found it
entirely empty. His first impulse was to retrace his steps, which
he did, though with scarcely the faintest hope of success; glancing
vainly down on every side, asking bystanders the question which
always received the same discouraging answer. All the glories of the
illumination were lost upon him; he could think of nothing but his lost
bank-notes."
"Weary and sad, he returned to his home, where he had to wait for an
hour—a most painful hour it was—till his master returned from seeing
the illumination. The confession of his loss was frankly made, with
every expression of heartfelt regret; but the anger of the haberdasher
was beyond all bounds, and he treated my unhappy father as though the
money had not been lost but stolen by him. Whether the master had
indulged too freely in drink that night, I know not, but I think it
more than probable; he abused my father in violent terms, dismissed him
from his service, refused to give him even a character, and, for his
own convenience alone, allowed him to remain beneath his roof until he
could procure some one to supply his place."
"My father retired to his little room with an almost breaking heart.
I have often heard him say that this was the bitterest moment of his
life. To lose his place was misfortune enough; but his character—that
which was dearer than life! He could scarcely restrain his burning
tears! But he laid his troubles before his God; he remembered that
the Almighty afflicts not in vain, that the Lord would yet make his
innocence clear before all, if not in this world, yet in the kingdom
which is to come."
"As he was rising from his knees, Sands entered the room, having heard
of the misfortune of his companion. Sands was a kind-hearted fellow,
and really liked my father, and tried in his rough way to comfort him.
"'I am heartily sorry that you are going,' he said, in conclusion; 'I
assure you, Viner, that I would do anything for you.'"
"'Then you will not refuse this little remembrance from a friend,' said
my father, placing in his hand one of the books in gold and blue, from
which he had just himself been drawing counsel and comfort. 'For my
sake, you will read this little work through, and God bless you, Sands,
and reward you for the kindness which you have shown to a friend in
disgrace!'"
"And did Sands read it?" inquired Walter.
"I believe that he did. I remember seeing him as a gray-headed old
man, and he then showed me his little copy in gold and blue, looking
very much the worse for wear; and he told me that he thought that if
there were any good in him, he owed it to the example and advice of my
father."
"And was your father obliged to leave his situation?"
"Some delay occurred in supplying his place; he was, therefore, allowed
to remain about ten days longer. He felt very sad and low on the Sunday
evening on which he was to pay his last visit to his little school, for
as he had as yet been unable to get another situation in London, he
intended to return to his mother."
"He found his young pupils ready for him as usual; but a cloud of
sorrow was over them, for they know that they were to welcome their
kind teacher no more. My father tried to improve to them even the
occasion of their mutual distress; he spoke to them of the place where
there is no more parting, of the unending joys prepared for God's
servants when His kingdom of glory shall come. He concluded by placing
before the children his last remaining copy of the book in gold and
blue, and offering it as a prize to the most industrious pupil, on
condition of his reading it aloud to his companions."
"'Oh! That is just like the book which makes my mother sad!' cried a
little barefooted boy from a corner of the room."
"My father started at the words, for he thought of that which he well
remembered having placed in his lost pocket-book!"
"'Where did your mother get one like this? How long has she had it?' he
cried eagerly."
"'I don't know where she got it,' replied the child, looking down. 'I
think that she has had it about a week; she laughed when she began to
read it, but, before she had done, she was crying as I never saw her
cry before.'"
"After the lesson was over, and my father had received the oft-repeated
farewells and good wishes of his pupils, not unmixed with tears, which
went warmer to his heart than all the praises of man could have done,
he laid his hand on the arm of the barefooted boy, and gently drew him
along with him down the steep staircase, until they stood together in
the street."
"'I should like to see your mother,' he said to the boy."
"'She lives quite near, just round the corner; I will take you to her
if you wish it,' replied the child."
"'Am I foolish to indulge this strange hope?' thought my father, as
he followed his little guide. 'But nowhere else have I seen any books
like my three, and it may be that the Almighty has granted me a clue
by which to find out the lost property of my master, and clear my own
character from suspicion.'"
"With a heart beating faster than usual, my father was led by the boy
to a neighbouring house, as low and dirty as the one which they had
just quitted. They ascended to a room upon the second floor, where a
woman sat alone, engaged in reading. At the first glance my father
recognised the book which she held in her hand. It is that, Walter,
which you now see in the possession of his son."
"The exclamation which he uttered startled the woman; she turned round
hastily with an expression of fear on her face—the book dropped from
her hand as, gazing wildly on my father, she exclaimed, 'It is he! Oh
what strange fortune has brought him here!'"
"'Not fortune,' said my father with emotion, as he raised the little
book, 'but, as I believe, a gracious Providence, who will surely bring
both guilt and innocence to light.'"
"'I knew it—I knew it!' cried the woman, clasping her hands. 'Since the
night when I robbed you I have had no peace; that book has been like a
sword in my conscience—I would have restored what I had taken, had I
known where to find its owner, and see—see my own child has led him to
my door!' Hastening to a corner of her room, with trembling hands she
opened a deal box, and frees the very bottom of it, under heaps of rags
and rubbish, she drew forth my father's lost pocket-book!"
"Think, only think, how much delighted he must have been to see it!"
cried Nelly.
"He could scarcely believe that he was not in a dream when the wretched
woman placed it in his hand; and when on opening it he saw the two
bank-notes, a feeling of overpowering, thankfulness filled his soul,
and made him unable to speak."
"'Take it—it is just as when you lost it—I dared not change the notes,'
said the woman; 'and oh I have mercy on a wretched creature; do not
give me up to the police! It was my first theft; indeed, indeed it was,
and I will never be guilty of one again!'"
"Did your father give her up to punishment?" inquired Walter, with
interest.
"No; he was full of compassion for the unhappy woman, and never, as
long as she lived, lost sight either of her or her son. He was able to
procure for her a little employment from his master—set her thus in the
way of honestly earning her living, and had reason to hope that that
Sabbath evening was the turning-point of her life."
"And your father, I suppose, kept his situation after all?"
"He kept it for many years, and lived respected even by those who were
strangers to the principles by which he was guided during life. He
was, indeed, as the faithful servant, ready girded, and watchful for
the coming of his Lord. Happy those who thus watch and wait for His
appearing, who expect it not with fear, but with hope and joy; God's
kingdom has already begun in their hearts, they count no effort great
to win souls to His service, and the acts of their lives, as well as
the words of their lips, seem to say:
"THY KINGDOM COME!"
[Illustration]
CHAPTER IV.
"Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
THE Sabbath dawned upon the village of E—, the day which the Lord has
appointed for His own, that day which, when kept holy to religion and
rest, leaves an especial blessing behind it. About two hours before the
time for attending morning service, Viner took his little Bible in his
hand, and walked with his daughter to the sea-beach, where, seated on
a shelving shingle, with the wide ocean heaving and sparkling before
them, they enjoyed together a quiet time for reading and speaking of
the things of God.
On their return, to their utmost surprise, they found the shop open,
the shutters down, and Walter placing some vegetables on the board.
"O father!" exclaimed Nelly, "Has Walter forgotten what day it is?"
"What are you doing?" said Viner, as he entered. "My shop always is
closed upon Sundays; I thought that I had mentioned this to you before."
"Yes," replied the boy, "you did so, but look there!" And he pointed to
the tempting display in Goldie's window. "Is he to have all the custom
and the cash, he who is ten times richer than you are!"
"What he has—what he does is no excuse for me; it is not for him that I
must answer before God. Put up those shutters again, Walter."
Walter obeyed sullenly, with a look which told that he was not at all
convinced of the wisdom of the order. Viner then drew him into the
shop, and said, "Is not one of the Ten Commandments, given from the
mouth of the Lord God Himself amid the flames and thunder of Mount
Sinai, 'Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day; in it thou shalt
do no manner of work'?"
Walter nodded assent.
"Is there not a blessing for those who obey this command? Look here,"
said Viner, opening his Bible, and pointing to these words from the
fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah: "If thou turn away thy foot from the
Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath
a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour Him, not
doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking
thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I
will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed
thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord
hath spoken it."
"That may have been so once, but I don't believe that it is so now,"
said Walter.
"God knows no variableness, neither shadow of turning, He is 'the same
yesterday, to-day, and forever!'"
"I only know," muttered Walter, "that the way in which you go on is the
way to starve."
"Do you believe that our Heavenly Father ever suffers any one to starve
for obeying His commandment?"
"I can't tell," replied Walter, still rather surlily.
"Do you believe that He, to whom all the treasures of earth and heaven
belong, who created the world and every living thing upon it, is able
to provide for our wants?"
"I believe that the Almighty is able."
"But you doubt that He is willing?"
Walter was silent.
"I must speak to you again from His Word, that Word which can never
be broken." Viner turned to the thirty-third Psalm and read—"'Behold,
the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in
His mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in
famine.' Again, in the thirty-seventh Psalm it is written—'Trust in
the Lord and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou
shalt be fed. A little that the righteous man hath is better than the
riches of many wicked. I have been young, and now am old, yet have I
not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.'"
"Oh! Remember the word of the Lord Jesus Christ—'Take no thought,
saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall
we be clothed? for your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need
of all these things; but seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His
righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.' Walter,
God will more than make up to us for all that we may lose for His sake!"
"You'll never convince him! You'll never convince him!" cried Goldie,
who, passing the shop, had overheard the last words, and now stood
leaning his stout person upon Viner's little gate. "You can't persuade
him but that I am growing rich, and that you are growing poor; that
I am getting on, you going back in the world. All your preaching
won't shut his eyes to that. Why, here am I able to send my son to a
first-rate school, able (I grant that it's a hard pull on my purse,
but yet somehow I can manage it) to place him with an engineer, where,
with talents like his, he is pretty sure at last to make his fortune! I
shall see him one of these days riding in his own carriage, for I have
let no idle fancies, no silly superstition, prevent me from doing the
best for my family, and that is the way to grow rich."
"'The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and He addeth no sorrow
thereto,'" murmured Nelly.
Viner turned and smiled on his daughter.
"I wonder that you don't think of your child," said Goldie, "if you
don't care about starving yourself."
"I do think of her," said the father earnestly, "and in obeying and
trusting my God, I feel that I am doing the best thing for her both in
this world and the next."
"We shall see," said Goldie as he walked away.
"Yes, we shall see," repeated Viner quietly.
"Do you really think," asked Walter, as soon as the fruiterer was
beyond hearing, "that God would be angry with you just for selling upon
Sunday when He knows that you are so poor?"
"When a parent gives a command, is he content that it should be
disobeyed? When a friend makes a promise, is he content that it should
not be believed? When a king passes a law, is he content that it should
be broken?"
"Ah! But this law may be easy for the rich, but it is so very, very
hard for the poor!"
"Is it hard," replied Viner gently, "that we should give up something
for Him who has given us all? Let us remember the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who, though He was rich, yet for our sakes, He became
poor! He was rich, indeed, for the Son of God sat on the throne of
heaven; He became poor indeed, for the Son of Man had not where to lay
His head! 'He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without
sin; and inasmuch as He suffered being tempted, He is able to succour
them that are tempted.' He knows—He feels for our trials!"
"The faith of His early followers was far more severely tried than
ours. They had to endure not only want, but tortures, mockings, cruel
deaths, for the sake of the Master whom they loved. And do you think
that any martyr at the stake then, or any saint on his death-bed now,
thought or thinks that he has done or given up too much for the Saviour
who gave His life for him?"
"Oh no!" exclaimed Nelly, "Never! Only think of the glory and the
crown! It is better to walk barefoot on a thorny way, and know that we
will come to a kingdom at the end of our journey, and be happy for ever
and ever, than to roll along in a golden carriage, and to feel that
every minute brings us nearer and nearer to misery that never will end!
We never can be really happy but when we do God's will like the angels!"
"How do the angels do God's will?" said Viner.
The child paused a moment to think, then replied, "Faithfully, readily,
joyfully."
"But the angels have not to suffer God's will as well as to do it,"
observed Walter.
"No," replied Viner, "in this, man alone has the honour of following
the steps of his Lord! We only are able, in this our short life, to
imitate Him who in agony prayed, 'Not my will but Thine be done!'"
Walter had nothing to answer; he remained silent, though scarcely
convinced. The convict's son could not feel the full force of the
Scripture:
"What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and
lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"
Nor knew he yet how much is comprised in the prayer:
"THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN!"
[Illustration]
CHAPTER V.
"Give us this day our daily bread."
I WILL now pass over a space of ten years, with all its joys and
sorrows, its hopes and fears, and take my reader once more to E—.
The village has grown into a town: tall rows of houses stretch along
the coast, on one side a square is commenced, and though "the season"
is now nearly over, enough of life and bustle remain to denote a
flourishing watering-place. There is, however, little change to be seen
in the small humble dwelling of Viner, and almost as little alteration
in the appearance of its master, who, save a few more gray hairs, a
few more furrows on his cheek, looks much the same as when he appeared
before us last. We shall, however, scarcely recognise Nelly in the
tall, delicate girl, who has almost grown into the young woman; or the
convict's son in the powerful youth, who still serves in the shop of
his benefactor.
How has time passed with them during these long years? They seem to
have made little progress in the road to fortune—has the promise of the
Lord been to them in vain? No; though life has been a struggle with
poverty and care, it has been a struggle cheered by love and hope; the
bread earned by virtuous industry has been so sweet, the sleep after
labour so calm; unkind words, peevish complaints have in that dwelling
been unheard, the peace of God rests like sunshine upon it!
I cannot, however, say that Walter's spirit never fretted against
poverty, that he never longed to place those whom he loved above all
danger of want. He had learned much of religion beneath Viner's roof;
he had seen its power to comfort the soul under trials, but he was yet
young and impetuous in all his feelings, his faith was weak, his will
unsubdued; in life's school he had yet much to learn.
And never had his faith been more tried than now, for Nelly, without
any apparent complaint, seemed gradually losing all strength and
colour, and looked like a flower fading away. She had for some years
taken in needlework, to eke out her father's scanty living; she had
worked early and late with cheerful industry, and perhaps overtasked
her powers. With deep anxiety, Viner and his adopted son watched her
pale cheek and drooping form, and the gentle smile which seemed to
belong rather to heaven than to earth.
Viner consulted a doctor for his daughter, who shook his head, said
that she had been overworked and under-fed, and prescribed as necessary
for her recovery nourishing food and rest. Oh! How Walter longed for
riches then—how Viner felt the cross of poverty lies heaviest when
those whom we love are in want!
The father laid his trial before his Lord; he earnestly prayed, with a
child-like faith, for a sufficiency of daily bread! He rose from his
knees submissive and calm; he had placed his sick child at the feet of
his Saviour, and while he determined that no lawful means should be
left untried to increase her comforts, he rested his hopes upon Him who
once said, "According to thy faith be it unto thee."
But to Walter it was more difficult thus to pray and wait, to let
patience have its perfect work. Nor was it want of faith in God's
promises alone that gave bitterness to the spirit of the young man.
One passion that struggled in his breast robbed him entirely of that
inward peace which lightened the burden of Viner. It was with feelings
of mingled resentment and envy that Walter regarded Ned Goldie, the
fruiterer's son. From him, he had received, when he first came to
the village, that insult which still rankled in his mind, an insult
followed by many others; for Ned was reputed a wit in E—, and the
cheapest way of making people merry is by laughing at and ridiculing
others. There was no end of Ned's jests upon the convict's son, which
amused for a moment, and were then forgotten by all but him at whose
expense they were made.
And Ned was in a position to raise some envy amongst those of his own
class in life. Singularly favoured by nature—handsome, intelligent,
full of health and spirits—Ned was a favourite with all. Often would
he drop in to spend a half-hour at Viner's quiet home. Nelly could not
but own that he was a very pleasant companion; his playful words (in
her presence they were never ill-natured) often brought a smile to her
pale face. Viner liked and felt interested in the merry-hearted lad; to
Walter alone his society was as wormwood and gall.
Then it was known that Ned was to succeed to his father's prosperous
business, as his elder brothers were already provided for. Aleck
had risen in the world even beyond his father's hopes. Possessed of
uncommon talents, he now shared his master's business; a bridge that
he had planned had made his name well-known, and he had just formed
a marriage, which had raised him at once to fortune, with the only
daughter of a retired coal merchant. The words of Goldie, spoken ten
years before, had been verified, he had lived to see his son have a
carriage of his own!
Mat had been apprenticed to some business in London. It was noticed in
the town that his parents spoke less frequently of him, that inquiries
after his prospects were answered shortly by his father, and made his
pale, sickly mother look sad. People could not forget his unchecked
habit of gambling, his profane language, his love of bad company: it
was even rumoured that he had got into some scrape in London, but
nothing certain was known upon the subject. This, and Mrs. Goldie's
feeble state of health, seemed, however, the only drawbacks upon the
prosperity of the fruiterer; his increasing stoutness and the ruddiness
of his face told of comfort, good living, and an easy life.
It was at this period, when to win money for Nelly was almost the first
desire of Walter's heart, haunted his dreams by night, was his first
thought on waking, that a thin old gentleman, in a snuff-coloured coat,
that looked a good deal the worse for wear, flourishing in his hand a
little carved stick, passed along the street of E—. He stopped opposite
Goldie's shop, and looked in, as if studying the prices on the fruit,
then turned round and glanced at Viner's humble window, hesitated,
twisted his stick round and round, and then chose the poorest and
cheapest-looking shop.
He was the first visitor who had come that day, and unpromising a
customer as he looked, his entrance was a welcome sight to Walter,
who was serving alone in the shop. The youth's patience, however, was
not a little tried, as, after a half-hour spent in questioning and
bargaining, and trying to beat down the price of what already scarcely
yielded any profit, the old gentleman departed with a bag of nuts,
leaving one fourpenny piece on the counter.
"He must be either terribly poor or terribly stingy," thought Walter.
"His face looked as sharp as the monkey's head carved upon his stick;
that's a man, I'll answer for it, who will never let himself be cheated
out of a farthing!"
Walter busied himself in rearranging the fruit, which he had displaced
to show to his troublesome customer. His mind was full of painful
reflections, and it was not for a little time that he perceived
that the old gentleman had left his pocket-book behind. It was an
old worn-looking article, that might be of the same date as the
snuff-coloured coat; Walter went to the gate to look out for its owner,
but the gentleman was nowhere to be seen.
"Perhaps his name and address may be written inside," thought Walter;
"I had better open it and look."
He unclosed the book, and in the pocket found, indeed, a note directed
to Mr. Sharp, Marine Row; but there was something else that Walter
found in that pocket, something on which he fixed his gaze with a
strange emotion, till his hand trembled and his heart beat fast! It was
a bank-note for £50 wrapped round some money! The pocket-book almost
fell from the grasp of the youth, a thought of Nelly and her poverty
flashed across his mind; here were riches before him, dare he touch
them!
When the convict's son first came beneath Viner's roof, he would not
have hesitated to grasp the fortune placed within his reach, the strong
temptation would at once have mastered conscience! Walter would have
rushed on the fatal career of the thief! But the Spirit of God had
touched his heart; weak, imperfect as his religion might be, at least
it was sincere and true. Walter dared not be guilty of the fatal error
of presuming on God's mercy by committing wilful sin; he dared not
hazard his immortal soul for gold! Hastily, he thrust the book into his
bosom, colouring with shame, all alone as he was, at having harboured
for one moment the thought of theft. He unclosed the little door which
led to the parlour, asked Nelly to supply his place at the counter,
then, without venturing one look at her thin, pale face, lest the sight
of it should shake his resolution, he took down his hat from a peg in
the wall, and hastened towards the lodging of the owner of the note.
"And is it possible that one who for the last ten years has lived,
as it were, under the wing of piety, could have felt—almost acted as
a thief!" thought Walter, as he walked on with rapid strides, more
pained at having meditated a crime, than he once would have been to
have committed it. "And I have blushed for my unhappy father, have
been ashamed at bearing his name, have presumed to think that in his
place my conduct would have been better, have almost dared to condemn
him in my secret soul! Had he had the advantages with which I have
been blessed, who can say that I might not have looked up to him now
as my guide and example through life! Oh! May God forgive me, forgive
my pride and hardness of heart, my foolish reliance on my own feeble
strength, my cold forgetfulness of my unhappy parent! And have mercy
upon him, O gracious Lord! Watch over him, save him, lead him back to
Thyself, and grant that I may meet him, if not here below, yet in the
kingdom of our Father in heaven!"
The lodging of the old gentleman was at no great distance; it looked
small, uncomfortable, and mean. A slip-shop, untidy girl answered
Walter's ring, and was desired by him to tell her master that some one
wished to speak with him upon business. While she shuffled up the steep
staircase, Walter's eye rested, at first unconsciously, upon the little
curved stick which Mr. Sharp had carried, and which was now placed upon
nails in the hall.
"I think that I might cut out something like that," he said to himself,
"I shall have plenty of time in the long winter evenings; I wonder if
an assortment of things carved in wood would be likely to sell well in
the season." The idea pleased him; there seemed to be an opening for
hope; he might yet, by the work of his hands, be enabled to gain some
comforts for Nelly!
From the top of the narrow staircase, the servant-girl called to him to
step up. Walter obeyed; and in a small, ill-lighted room, where dust
lay thick on the table, and darkened the panes, and the window-curtain
looked as though it had never been white, Walter found the
sharp-featured old man. His look was restless and uneasy, an expression
of mingled hope, fear, and suspicion was in his eye, as he recognised
the face of Walter Binning. That expression changed to one of childish
delight as the youth drew from his breast the well-known pocket-book;
the old man snatched it with feverish impatience from his hand, opened
it with fingers that trembled from eagerness, and not till he had
examined and re-examined its contents, looked at the note on this side
and that, and counted the money again and again, did he appear to have
a thought to give to him whose honesty had restored it.
"It's all right—quite right," he muttered at last, "two sovereigns, a
half-crown—four and six. You have behaved very well, young man, very
well; will you accept—" the miser hesitated, fumbled with money, seemed
to find difficulty in making up his mind, and then, as if quite with an
effort, held out a sixpence to Walter!
The convict's son stepped back, a half-smile on his face, and, bowing
to the miserable old man, left the room with this reflection, "It is
better to want money than the heart to spend it."
And had Walter known more of Mr. Sharp, he would have been but
strengthened in this opinion.
The miser had begun life without a shilling, but possessed with one
strong desire to grow rich. He hoarded his small earnings till they
became great, not from an honest wish to be independent in old age,
but from that love of money for its own sake which the Bible tells us
is the root of all evil. And now he had his desire—he was rich, he had
money, he possessed, but he did not enjoy it! Life was to him like the
feast given by a queen of ancient time, where not only the dishes,
but all their contents, were of gold, and the wondering guests rose
unsatisfied and hungry from their magnificent repast!
Mr. Sharp almost grudged himself his necessary food; he could never
ask a blessing on his daily bread; his very soul seemed buried in his
heaps of treasure. And now he was drawing near to his grave, and that
treasure must be left behind! No one loved him, no one would mourn for
his loss; he knew but too well that his money would be far more prized
than ever he himself had been. God had dealt with him as with the
Israelites of old—He gave them their desire, but sent leanness withal
into their soul; and the man who possessed wealth without a blessing
was poor and miserable indeed!
So Walter gave back the pocket-book and its rich contents, and gained
nothing at all by his honesty?
Do you call it nothing to tread earth with a free, fearless step, to
dread looking no man in the face? Do you call it nothing to have a
character unstained, to hear the voice of an approving conscience, and
to be able to ask in prayer for those blessings which we have taken no
guilty means to obtain?
The thoughts of Walter were full of new plans of industry, while he
more slowly returned to his home. As he approached the little gate
of Viner's shop, some one came out of it into the street, bidding a
cheerful good-bye to those within. It was with a feeling of annoyance
that Walter saw the only being on earth whom he really disliked—Ned
Goldie, the fruiterer's son.
The youth nodded to him as they met, with a sort of free-and-easy,
patronising air, which was intolerable to Walter Binning.
"I am glad to find Nelly so much better to-day," said Ned.
"She does not look better to my eyes," replied Walter gloomily. "She
seems daily weaker, and it is my conviction—"
"Your conviction!" exclaimed Ned, with a loud burst of mirth. "Oh!
I did not know that things had come to that pass! I was aware that
Viner had kept you ten years on your trial, but never heard of your
conviction till now!"
"Insolent boy!" cried Walter, clenching his hand, his blood mounting to
his temples, his eye flashing fire! Ned might have had reason to repent
his idle jest, had not Viner, who had overheard the words that passed,
laid his hand firmly upon the arm of Walter, and drawn him away within
the gate.
"Would you be the slave to your passions?" he said in a low voice, "And
show the world that a Christian can neither bear nor forbear."
"I could forgive neglect," muttered Walter, "could forgive wrongs; but
this contempt, this scorn, this ridicule! I wonder," he exclaimed,
almost indignantly, "that you, who value only wisdom and virtue, can
endure this trifling, silly, conceited—"
"Yet generous-hearted boy," said Viner, pointing to a fine hare that
lay upon the counter. "He has kind thought for others with all his
faults, he know that nourishment was ordered for my Nelly."
Walter started, and felt angry with himself that the sight of food so
much needed should give him an emotion of pain rather than of pleasure.
But to Viner, who, even in the smaller events of life, recognised the
hand of an overruling Providence, the timely gift from the kindness of
an earthly friend seemed an answer sent to his earnest prayer:
"GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD!"
[Illustration]
CHAPTER VI.
"Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass against
us."
"NELLY, what are you thinking of—you look sad?" inquired Walter on the
following morning, which happened to be Sunday.
"I was thinking of you," she replied gravely.
"And was that a thought to give you pain?" said Walter, sitting down at
her side, "Tell me, Nelly, what were you thinking of me?"
"I am afraid—perhaps you would be vexed or angry—"
"Vexed I may be, but angry with you, never! Have I done anything to
displease you?"
"It is not so much what you do, Walter, as what I fear that you feel.
It seems to me—I trust that I am wrong—but it seems to me that you
almost hate Ned Goldie."
"It is natural that I should—he is always insulting me!"
"It is natural, Walter; but is it right? Father has so often told us
that the adopted children of God must struggle against and overcome
their evil nature, must try, with God's help, to gain a likeness to
their Father—to be merciful as He is merciful, forgive as He forgives;
if we do not try this, with faith and with prayer, we have no right to
think ourselves God's children at all."
"Can you prove that from the Bible?" said Walter.
"I think that I can," replied Nelly, after a moment's thought. "It is
written, 'If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.
Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth
not his brother.'"
"That last verse has brought another into my mind, Nelly, which has
often given me a feeling of uneasiness. It is from the same chapter, I
believe. 'Whoso hateth his brother is a murderer; and ye know that no
murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.'"
"O Walter! You who know so well what is right, can you, in the face of
such words, still nourish hatred!"
"Nelly, I have no more power to love that boy than I have to move the
cliffs into the sea!" exclaimed Walter.
"Ask for power—ask in faith; remember the Lord's promise, 'By faith
ye shall remove mountains,'—'All things are possible to him that
believeth.' O Walter!" continued Nelly, speaking rapidly and earnestly,
till the blood rose to her pallid cheek, "this is not a work to be
set aside or delayed; remember that until you forgive you cannot be
forgiven, that as long as you live in hate, you are living in danger,
that your very prayer is turned against yourself when you say, 'Forgive
us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us!'"
Walter leaned his brow upon his hand, and remained for some moments
buried in thought; then raising his head he said, "I believe that I
might like Ned Goldie better if you and your father liked him less; but
to see you welcome and speak kindly to one who does not even pretend to
be religious, who is thoughtless, worldly, vain—"
"O Walter! Only think how he has been brought up! How could you expect
him to be otherwise!"
"He is certainly likely to learn little good at home."
"And would you have us drive him away when he comes in a spirit of
kindliness to the house of a man like my father, whose words and
example may, by little and little, draw him to better things."
"Perhaps you are right, Nelly," said Walter, with a sigh, "and I have
not acted the part of a Christian in either feeling or speaking as I
have done. When I recall what I myself was—what I am still—I take shame
for my own harsh, uncharitable spirit. I will ask for help from above,
to struggle against this besetting sin."
"And pray for him too!" said Nelly earnestly. "We never are sure that
we have forgiven our enemies till we are able heartily to pray for
them."
"I will," answered Walter with an effort.
"And you will forgive me for speaking so plainly to you, brother?" said
the girl, holding out her thin, wasted hand.
His reply was a silent press.
It was now time to attend church, and accompanied by Viner, they
proceeded on their way towards the house of God. On the road they met
Ned, who was going down to the beach, his back turned towards the place
of worship. He stopped to wish Viner and his daughter good morning, but
took no notice whatever of the convict's son.
"Where are you going, Ned?" said Viner.
"Down to the boat," replied the youth. "I shall take a sail while the
sunshine lasts, I have not had one for the last three days."
"I wish that you would come with us to church," said Nelly, in her
gentle persuasive tones.
"No, no! The morning service is so long—maybe I shall in the afternoon.
Mind, I make no rash promises," laughed the boy; "I am no great
churchgoer, you know!"
"I wish that I could persuade you, Ned," said Viner gravely but kindly,
"that the only way to real happiness is to fear God and keep His
commandments."
"Let me be happy in my own way for a while," cried Ned. "I dare say
that I shall think like you one of these days, when I am a sober,
gray-headed old man."
"Life is uncertain," interrupted Viner.
"Therefore I'll enjoy it while I can!"
"And death—"
"Oh! I've time enough to think about that!" cried the youth, waving
his hand as he sprang down the shingle, so light and agile, so full of
health, and strength and spirit, that it seemed as though many years
were indeed before him.
Walter fulfilled his promised to Nelly; he prayed fervently and humbly
for the Spirit of grace, that Spirit which God has promised to all who
ask in faith—that Spirit whose fruits are long-suffering and love. A
peace seemed to come into his heart as he prayed, a peace to which
his soul had long been a stranger—he could think of his enemy without
bitter feeling, and even ask for a blessing upon him.
While the congregation were yet in the church, the violent rattling of
the windows told of the sudden coming on of a storm; and as soon as
the door was opened at the close of the service, the blast of cold air
which swept in was so strong, that but for the help of her father's
arm, Nelly could scarcely have stood against it. The whole sky was
covered with dark leaden clouds, sweeping on rapidly one after another;
the wind had swelled into a gale, while the broad dashes of foam over
the whole extent of waters, and the waves that rolled on and broke
upon the beach, flinging high in the air their showers of white spray,
showed the fury of the raging storm!
"I hope and trust that Ned Goldie is not on the sea!" exclaimed Nelly.
A crowd was collected on the shore, which was now increased by the
greater part of the late congregation. Every eye was strained in one
direction, where a little boat was seen, tossed like a nut-shell on the
foaming waves, and many an exclamation of pity or of fear burst from
the anxious lookers-on.
"I'd not for a hundred guineas be in that boat!" said one. "He'll never
get her into shore."
"I thought she'd have capsized then!" exclaimed another. "Why on earth
does he not take in the sail?"
"Isn't it Ned Goldie?" said Mrs. Winter, who, prayer-book in hand,
stood one of the foremost in the crowd. "He'd better have been
listening in his place in church than taking his Sunday pleasure, poor
fellow!"
"Heaven have mercy upon him!" faltered Nelly, clasping her hands, and
looking with terror upon the little boat, which seemed half swallowed
up amidst the swelling billows.
"It is he! It is my boy! Oh! Can no one save him?" shrieked the voice
of his wretched mother, as she stood with arms extended wildly towards
him, the wind blowing back the hair from her pale horror-stricken
face—watching the boat that held the idol of her heart.
Another awful gust. The boy was seen in the boat, vainly trying to furl
the fluttering, struggling sail; then there was a cry heard even above
the roaring storm.
"She's over! She's down! He's lost!" The mother lay senseless on the
beach—her son was struggling in the midst of the waves! "God have pity
on him! He cannot swim!" cried Mrs. Winter.
Nelly had closed her eyes in horror, a word from her father made her
look round in new fear.
"Is it not madness to attempt it?" said Viner.
Walter had stripped off his coat and waistcoat, and was preparing to
plunge into the surf.
"O Walter!" exclaimed Nelly, stretching out her hand; but she dared not
utter the entreaty that rose to her lips—she dared not stop him in the
course of duty.
"Pray for me!" whispered Walter. There was no time to say more—the next
moment she saw him battling with the waves.
Motionless as a statue the young girl stood, able to utter no word, but
pouring out her whole soul in fervent agonised prayer! Now a head and
outspread arms were seen on the waters, then were lost again, as a huge
swelling billow rolled on, as though to sweep away the swimmer, or bury
him beneath its weight!
Nelly was like one in a terrible dream; she heard nothing of anything
that passed around her but the rush of the wind and the roar of the
waves; she saw nothing but the wild tossing waters, save when she
caught a moment's glimpse of Walter. Happy was it for Ned's wretched
mother that she was beyond reach of either hearing or seeing!
When Mrs. Goldie recovered from her swoon, she found herself in the
nearest house, which happened to be that of the baker. Her wild
passionate inquiries received no reply but looks of sorrow and pity;
and unable to endure the terrible suspense, the poor woman sprang from
the bed on which she had been laid, and in the strength of her despair,
notwithstanding every effort to detain her, rushed back to the spot
where the sight of an assembled crowd directed her impetuous steps.
Alas! For the sight that awaited her. Viner was kneeling upon the
shingle, supporting on his bosom the head of a youth, into whose
colourless lips he was pouring some spirits, and Nelly, at his
side, with trembling eagerness, was watching the signs of returning
animation. Mrs. Goldie gave one wild, searching look, and passed
on—the face was not that of her son. A little farther on lay a corpse,
in which life had for some time been extinct. Stiff and cold he was
stretched in death, the young, the beautiful, the strong—oh! How
changed! In vain every method to restore him had been tried—the heart
and the pulse had ceased to beat, the sparkling eye was glazed, the
laughing lip silent; in the midst of his pleasures, his follies, his
sins, Ned Goldie's spirit had been summoned to appear before his Maker!
We will dwell no longer upon a scene so sad—no words can paint the
anguish of the desolate mother! We will rather reflect upon the comfort
which it was to Walter, when following the poor youth's remains to the
grave, to feel that Heaven had enabled him to triumph over his better
feelings, and even to hazard his life for the sake of one whom he had
once regarded with hate. His efforts to save Ned had been in vain, he
had only succeeded in dragging the body to the shore; but he had done
all that it was in his power to do; he had treated an enemy as he would
have treated a brother; and he no longer felt self-condemned by his own
words when he prayed:
"FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES AS WE FORGIVE THEM
THAT TRESPASS AGAINST US."
[Illustration]
CHAPTER VII.
"Lead us not into temptation."
E— was now becoming completely emptied of visitors. Every lodging put
up its hopeless label—"To let"—in the reading-room no one thought
it worth while to attend; the shore was left to the fishermen, and
scarcely a bonnet was seen in the streets!
Walter worked busily and well at his new occupation. He had really a
taste for carving, and every article that he made was an improvement
upon the last. It was a great pleasure to him to hear Nelly admire his
elegant sticks and beautiful boxes, and suggest little alterations and
amendments.
But still there could be no sale for anything that he made until the
season when visitors should return, and with the long dreary winter and
bleak spring before him, Walter began seriously to consider whether
he should not leave E—, and seek for employment elsewhere. In vain
he tried to persuade himself that he was wanted in the shop; Viner's
business was so small that he could well manage it himself. The scanty
gains were hardly sufficient for the bare support of three; were Walter
in another situation, he might increase the little store.
Very dear had his quiet home become to Villa's adopted son, he could
hardly bear to leave it; and as he found by inquiry that there was
little hope of obtaining employment near E—, he knew that to seek it,
he must go to some distance, and be separated, perhaps for many years,
from those whom he most loved upon earth.
The thought of this lay like a weight upon his heart, and often made
him sigh heavily as he sat at his work. As yet he had not spoken on the
subject either to Viner or Nelly, but he knew that the time was come
when it would be necessary for him to do so.
Three days after the funeral of poor Ned, Mrs. Winter entered the
little gate; Viner was alone in the shop at the time, but the sound
of her voice drew Nelly and Walter from the parlour, where they had
both been engaged in their work. "You have just come from our poor
neighbour's," said Viner. "How is Mrs. Goldie this morning?"
"Oh! Poor soul, I have scarcely left her since that terrible day! She's
breaking, she's breaking fast—she will never hold up her head again!"
"Oh! Hers has been indeed a heavy trial!" murmured Nelly.
"Most heavy," said her neighbour, "and she's quite sinking under it.
I've known mothers in sorrow for their children before now, but never
in sorrow like hers! There are many who receive deep wounds in the
heart, but its sin that puts poison on the edge! This poor creature is
always reproaching herself, always weeping over the wrong that she did
to her child, though I am sure that she was but too fond a mother."
"'Oh! Had I known that his days were to be so few,' she cries; and then
bursts into an agony of grief, and refuses to receive any comfort."
"Oh! Do you not speak to her of the Saviour?" cried Nelly.
"I have spoken, and our worthy clergyman has spoken; for, strange
enough, Goldie sent for him. But it seems as if religion rather added
to her pain; for when she hears of the mercy and goodness of God, she
sobs out, 'Why did my poor boy never know Him!'"
"And Goldie," said Viner, "how does he bear up?"
"He looks much as usual, perhaps a little thinner; but he does not give
way like his wife. I think that his heart is hardened by selfishness;
and yet it has its warm corner too. He certainly has done a great deal
for his children, has given them all that he could, except the best
thing of all!"
"I am sure that he must feel this blow," said Nelly.
"He neither speaks about Ned, nor will hear others speak; he cannot
bear his wife's grief, so keeps out of her way; he scarcely sees her
from morning till night—she'll not trouble him long, poor thing!"
"I had trusted that affliction would have drawn him near to God," said
Viner.
Mrs. Winter shook her head. "People may talk about great changes,"
she said, "but depend upon it, when a man has gone on for sixty years
thinking of nothing but getting on in the world, it's as easy to raise
the dead as to make him turn to religion! We know that there have been
miracles, but we do not dare to expect them; and it would have been a
miracle indeed had that man's heart been raised from the world! I fancy
that Goldie has more trouble in his family before him, at least if it
is true what is said about Mat. After the way in which he has brought
up his sons, he must expect to reap as he has sowed."
Viner never encouraged gossip, therefore asked his neighbour no
question that might lead her to continue the subject. She turned
suddenly towards Walter and said, "I'm forgetting the thing that I
came for—I bring you a message from Goldie. I think that he feels
grateful—at least as grateful as such a man can feel—for your attempt
to save his poor boy. He wishes you to stop over and see him; I hope
that he is going to do something good for you, Walter."
The shutters of Goldie's shop, which had been put up before the
funeral, had been again taken down, and except that one bright young
face was seen there no more, the place looked much as usual. Walter
found Goldie in the back parlour—his poor wife had never left her
bed. Of how much comfort and ease that parlour told, with its nice
furniture, carpet, little mirror above the mantelpiece, and framed
portraits of the three sons hung on the wall! Yet to Walter's eye there
was something deeply sad in the place, where comfort might be, but
happiness was not.
Goldie received the youth kindly. Whatever remembrances the sight of
Walter must have brought to the mind of the bereaved father, he showed
little emotion on meeting, his voice might be somewhat tremulous, that
was all—there were no tears nor signs of deep sorrow.
"I owe you something, Binning," he said, holding out his hand, "and
I am not the man to forget it. You must be making a poor thing of it
at Viner's, I should say—perhaps you are beginning to look at for
something better?"
He stopped, as if for an answer; Walter made no reply, but listened
eagerly to what was to follow.
"Mine is a large business," said Goldie, a little proudly, "and besides
that, I have a house and lodgings to let, as you know, at the other end
of the town. I shall want assistance in the shop, especially now that
Mrs. Goldie is ill, and—" he paused, for he would not allude to the son
whom he had lost—"and I should be happy, Binning, to take you in, with
a handsome salary now, and a prospect of future partnership if we find
that we suit one another."
The heart of Walter leaped with delight! The prospect of comfort,
independence, without separation from his friends, seemed so much
more than he had ever dared to hope, that his first feeling was one
of unmixed joy! The second, however, was of difficulty and doubt, and
Goldie read it in the changing expression of his face.
"Well, what do you say to it?" cried the fruiterer rather impatiently.
"Is not my offer a fair one?"
"Most kind, most generous, and I shall accept it with gratitude, if I
may only be assured that in serving the shop I shall never be required
to do anything against my conscience."
"Your conscience! Oh! That is some of Viner's cant—that won't do with
me," cried Goldie. "If you live with me, you must do as I do, and have
none of your nonsense about Sunday. You had better understand that
clearly from the first, and put your conscience in your pocket, like a
sensible man."
"Then I'm afraid—"
"Don't make a foolish decision in a hurry, that you will be sorry for
all your life. There's a customer just come in, I see, I must go to the
shop to attend to him. Remain here, and think over the offer that I
have made; you'll never have such another chance of getting on well in
the world."
Walter sat alone in Goldie's back parlour, buried in deep anxious
thought, drawn in opposite directions by two strong powers—duty on
one side, inclination on the other. There were so many reasons for
accepting Goldie's kindness: he would be independent, he could help
his friends, he would see them every day—perhaps he might even do some
spiritual good in the house of this irreligious man. But to all this
conscience had but one answer. If he who asks the Almighty to lead him
not into temptation, wilfully, with his eyes open, throws himself into
it, how dare he hope for the protection of Heaven?
Should he deliberately agree to disregard God's commandment, how could
he ask or expect that a blessing should attend him? Nelly's favourite
text seemed to ring in his ears—"The blessing of the Lord, it maketh
rich, and He addeth no sorrow thereto."
When Goldie returned from his customer, he found Walter with his mind
quite made up. Gratefully, but firmly, the youth declined his offer,
and Viner's adopted son returned to his humble home, not, perhaps,
without some feeling of regret, but with a comfortable consciousness
in his mind that, however foolish man might think his decision, he had
acted wisely in the sight of Heaven.
And let me pause one moment to entreat my reader, before he takes any
important step in life, thus to make conscience his first counsellor
and friend. Providence may place us in situations of temptation, and
then we have every encouragement to struggle on bravely, putting our
trust in the promised aid of Him who is able to make us more than
conquerors. But let us beware how we place ourselves in such, confiding
in our own power to resist evil.
"Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall;" let him
avoid the place and the society that may draw him into sin; and never
forget that the prayer put into the mouths of all by One who knew our
weakness and our proneness to err, was:
"LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION."
[Illustration]
CHAPTER VIII.
"Deliver us from evil."
"THE very sight of his handwriting makes me feel uneasy," thought
Goldie, as the postman placed in his hand a letter, bearing the London
post-mark. He walked into his parlour, and broke open the seal, and
with many an expression of annoyance, and even anger, read the contents
of the letter.
"Why, this is worse than I even feared! Evil tidings indeed! That boy
seems to have been born to be the torment of my life! What a world this
is—full of vexations and troubles! Here am I, who have been labouring
all my life for my children, doing all, sparing nothing, making every
effort; and just when I hoped that I should have some comfort at last,
one of them is taken away, and the other—worse! Well," continued he,
violently ringing the bell, "something must be done, and at once. Aleck
is prosperous and rich, that is one good thing, he will do something;
I must see him directly. There is no use in showing this letter to my
wife, she is fretting herself to death already."
The servant-girl hurriedly answered the bell.
"Bring my boots and great-coat," said Goldie, "and tell your mistress
that I'm called away on business, and may not be back till to-night
or to-morrow morning. I think I'll sleep at Aleck's," he continued,
speaking to himself. "The nights are so bitterly cold at this season,
and I've no mind to get an attack of rheumatism."
With a heavy heart the fruiterer took his place in the railway train
that was about to start for Brighton. It was a bleak November day,
and the dull prospect and the chill biting wind seemed quite in
harmony with his feelings. When the Christian suffers, he can look to
Heaven, and comfort himself with the thought that his portion is not
here; but when the worldly man loses earthly joy, he is losing his
all, his only treasure, he has nothing to hope for beyond! The only
comfort to Goldie's mind in his distress was the prosperity of Aleck,
his favourite son; and even in the midst of his sorrow for the two
others, it was a proud feeling to the father that he was going for the
first time to see him settled in a home of his own, a wealthy man, a
distinguished man, one who could help to raise the whole family.
Goldie took a conveyance from the station, he had never yet been to
his son's house in Brighton, and, indeed, was a stranger to the whole
place, as he had rarely quitted his shop in E—. As he stopped at the
door of a comfortable-looking dwelling, a carriage containing a lady
drove off; he had but a glimpse of her face in a fine bonnet, whose
crape flowers and shining bugles seemed expressly designed to make
mourning look as lively as possible; he knew her to be the wife of his
son, and not a little proud the fruiterer felt to be able to call such
a fine lady his daughter.
Goldie's loud knock at the door was answered by a servant in livery.
Even the painful errand upon which the father had come could not
prevent his exulting in the idea of grandeur so new to him! He would
have passed in at once, as into his own shop, but the footman stood in
the doorway, eyeing him saucily from head to foot.
"Is your master at home?" said Goldie, trying to push forwards into the
hall.
"Not at home," replied the man, half-closing the door.
"Then I'll wait till he comes in. I must see him. Where has he gone?"
"You can't see him; he sees no one, he's expecting his hairdresser."
"His hairdresser!" exclaimed Goldie. "But I am his father!" And pushing
the astonished footman aside, he entered the house, and was at once
guided by the sound of a well-known whistled air to the room in which
Aleck was seated.
"Is that you, de la Rue? Why—how—can it be!" exclaimed the young man,
rising in surprise on the sudden entrance of his father. He had not
been him since the death of poor Ned, and scarcely knew in what manner
to meet him.
"You did not think to see me here," said Goldie, grasping his hand;
"but I have come upon business, urgent business, Aleck. Sit down,
my dear boy, I will let you know all. I could not rest till I had
consulted with you."
Aleck throw himself down again on his luxurious arm-chair, with an
uncomfortable persuasion that something disagreeable was coming, us his
father drew from the pocket of his coat a letter, which he knew to be
in the handwriting of his brother.
"That will tell its own tale," said Goldie, handing it with a sigh to
his son.
Frowning and biting his lip, Aleck read the letter to himself "This
is bad indeed—very bad," he said, as he handed it back to his
father. "What an unreasonable sum he requires—he shows very little
consideration for you."
"And I have not the money!" cried Goldie, earnestly. "I really have not
the money, were it to save him from the gallows. My house did not let
well this year—the season is over—I have had heavy expenses—poor Ned's
funeral—your mother's constant illness—everything seems to go wrong
with me now! Your brother's ruined—positively ruined, if he cannot
command this large sum, and I've no one to look to—but you."
"Me!" exclaimed Aleck, raising his eyebrows, and pushing back his chair
a little. "It is impossible that I can help you, quite impossible; you
had better understand that clearly at once; I have a wife to think of,
you know."
"He is your only brother now—"
"An extravagant, unprincipled fellow! Are those who have gone on
steadily through life to pay for the follies of such!"
"If you would but assist me—"
"I tell you, it's impossible!" cried Aleck, raising his voice.
"You will live in luxury," said Goldie, glancing reproachfully round at
the elegant, luxurious apartment of his son, "and leave your brother to
be ruined, disgraced—"
"That is his own fault, not mine," replied Aleck.
"If not for his sake," cried Goldie more earnestly, "for mine—for your
mother's—your poor afflicted mother's! She is almost broken-hearted
already with her loss; a blow like this would bring her to her grave."
"All this is very unpleasant," said Aleck, rising impatiently. "I tell
you it's not to be done."
"You forget," said his father, his face flushing with anger, "you
forget all the sacrifices made for yourself. How I scraped every pound,
every sixpence together to place you at an expensive school, to give
you an education without which you could never have risen as you have
done; how I was in debt for years to raise the sum required to set you
out in life to such advantage; how I—"
"There's the hairdresser!" cried Aleck, with a look of relief. "I'm
sorry that I shall be engaged this evening. Won't you take a glass of
wine before you go? Shall I order my servant to call a fly? I really am
afraid of your delaying your return, for at this time of year, it is
dangerous for persons of your age to be out in the cold night-air."
Goldie could not for a minute speak—he was actually choking with
mingled passion and grief. Then recovering himself, he went up close
to his son, and said in a low, thrilling tone, "If no other motive
will touch you, think of yourself. The disgrace of your family must be
shared by you; remember that you bear the same name!"
"That decides me upon doing what I have thought of before—changing it
for that of my wife."
Goldie rushed from the house, as from the den of a serpent, with a
determination never to enter it again. The reed on which he had leaned
had pierced him to the heart, all that he had hoped for once had been
attained only to make him more wretched. Vanity of vanities was written
upon what he had most loved! And yet what right had the worldly man to
complain! He had taught his children to break the Fourth Commandment,
could he wonder that they disregarded the Fifth: he had lived all his
life in rebellion and disobedience to his Heavenly Father and dare he
hope to find affection in his own children!
Evils were thickening upon him—troubles unsanctified, and therefore
intolerable. The ruin of Mat gave the finishing stroke to the misery
of his unhappy mother. She lay on her death-bed, broken-hearted,
desponding! Goldie had seen one son cut off in the flower of his days,
another was dragging him down to poverty and shame, the third, his
darling, the pride of his soul, had inflicted on the heart of his
parent perhaps the deepest wound of all.
Sickness, bereavement, and far sharper poverty had visited the home of
Viner; but to him every evil had brought forth good, every evil was
certain to end in joy. In the words of the suffering apostle, he could
say, "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a
far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory!" But oh! The bitterness
of spirit of him who has lived for the world, and sought nothing
beyond, when he finds at last that his idol is but dust and ashes? With
regret for the past, disappointment in the present, and no hope to
brighten the future—only age, and the grave, and the judgment before
him—he, indeed, is tasting of the dregs of life—is reaping a harvest of
woe! Poverty may rouse industry, sickness show forth patience, sorrow
increase submission—death lead to glory—Sin is the one great evil to be
feared. O Lord!—
"DELIVER US FROM EVIL."
[Illustration]
CHAPTER IX.
"For Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory."
THE hail was falling fast, drifted by the piercing wind which howled in
the chimneys, and seemed to shake the dwelling.
"I wish that my father had come back," said Nelly, as she returned
again from the little gate whence she had been anxiously watching for
her parent.
"Our good clergyman will keep him under shelter," said Walter, "he will
not be back till this hailstorm is over!"
"I almost dread his return," sighed Nelly. "I know that I ought to wish
him success in his endeavours to procure that situation for you in
London—and yet—"
"You feel, surely, that it is right that I should go?"
"It is right, Walter," replied the girl. "To remain here in E— would
be only to suffer with us, not to help us. If it should please Heaven
that you should return—if you should over come back—." She could not go
on, but turned her head aside to hide the tears that would have their
course.
"I will return, Nelly—if I live, I will! It is only to relieve you of a
burden that I quit you. I will work hard—save hard for your sake."
At this moment a poor, gray-headed man slowly made his way up the
street. He seemed almost beaten back by the pelting hail, and stopping
as he reached Viner's little shop, leaned on the gate as if for support.
"Let us ask him to come in to shelter," whispered Nelly—and Walter
immediately invited him to step in.
The gray-haired man obeyed in silence—with a step so faltering, a look
of such emotion, as though the voice of kindness were strange to him,
that the hearts of the young people were touched with compassion. They
had not read in vain the injunction in the Bible—"Use hospitality
without grudging: be not forgetful to entertain strangers;" but without
waiting for any request from the weary man, they brought him dry
clothes, asked him into the parlour, and offered him a chair by the
fire.
The guest was not yet past the strength of manhood, but all its life
and spirit appeared gone. His face was wrinkled, its expression sad,
his hand trembled as if with age, and when he at last spoke his voice
was faltering and low.
"Here is one who has drunk deep of the cup of sorrow," thought Nelly,
and her manner, ever gentle, became more kindly than before.
"Shall I set food before him?" she whispered to Walter.
"By all means—he looks ready to faint."
"But, Walter—we have but a half-loaf left in the house, and our till is
to-day quite empty!"
There was a look of meek submission on her pale face, that went to the
heart of Walter.
"Yet give to him, Nelly, let him share that loaf—'He that giveth to the
poor lendeth to the Lord.'"
Nelly smiled, and set the bread upon the table.
"God bless you, and reward you a thousandfold!" said the guest—not
touching, however, the proffered food, but looking around the
comfortless abode with an expression of interest and sadness.
"Is this house yours?" he at last said to Walter, fixing his dark eyes
earnestly upon him.
"Oh no! It belongs to my adopted father, whose name you see over the
gate."
"And your name?" said the stranger.
"Is Walter Binning."
The guest remained silent, and the silence lasted so long, that at
length it became painful, and Nelly, in order to break it said:
"I fear that you have known much sorrow?"
"Such sorrow as I trust that you may never know!"
"But the Lord can bring light out of darkness," said Walter.
"He can indeed—bless you for the word!" cried the stranger suddenly,
clasping his hands, and turning towards the young man with a look of
mingled sorrow and joy. "God can bring light out of darkness—good
out of evil! He can bring the sinner to His feet, and the rebel to a
throne—all things are possible to Him! Were you to know my story," he
continued more rapidly, "you would indeed wonder at the power of God,
to whom belongs the kingdom over the hearts of men! If ever there was a
sinner—I was one; if ever there was a soul stained by guilt—that soul
was mine? I had struggled against conscience, I had turned from my God,
I was rushing on in the broad way that leadeth to destruction, and yet
the hand of mercy could find me even there!"
Walter and Nelly listened with interest and surprise to a confession so
frank and so unexpected. The stranger went on, in his rapid, earnest
manner, as though he found it a relief to his heart to pour out its
fulness.
"It is well, my children, it is well that you should know something
of the man whom you have welcomed to your hearth. I once was young,
unsuspicious as yourselves; mine was a kind heart, and a free open
hand; I neither thought of want nor feared temptation. From how slight
a cause men's ruin may spring! At a place of amusement, I once met with
a youth. I found him pleasant; we conversed—met again and again; he
became my companion—most dangerous companion! He was one who despised
religion, and laughed at the word conscience; he gained an influence
over my young mind, and made use of it to ruin his so-called friend!"
"As you love your peace—as you love your own soul," continued the
stranger, addressing himself earnestly to Walter, "oh! Avoid the
society of such! Let my fate be to you like a beacon on a quicksand, to
warn you from that which brings destruction!"
"He took me to scenes from which I once would have shrunk; he led me
into habits which I should once have blushed to form; I acquired a
thirst for amusement and excitement, and where was I to find means
to gratify that thirst? I was then a poor apprentice in London; a
generous friend had paid the sum required by my master, for I myself
was a penniless orphan. I was not only without money, but in debt, and
following a career which plunged me deeper and deeper into it. I had
but little credit—no means of gaining money. Oh! When conscience is
stifled, and religion set aside, how easy is the transition from the
debtor to the thief! My companion first taught me to embezzle from my
master. My guilt was suspected; I was seized, sent to prison; a day was
appointed for my trial. As my character until now had been considered
respectable, I was admitted to bail, and the same generous friend, who
had helped me before on my setting out in life, became my security now."
"It is better, indeed, to relate what followed; but I wish you to know
all—I would have nothing concealed. I felt that my case would not stand
a trial. I was visited again by my evil companion, the tempter who had
led me to disgrace. Urged by him, or rather by my own guilty fears, I
broke faith with my friend, escaped into France, and led there a life
the remembrance of which would bow me to the dust had I not learned to
hope that even the chief of sinners might find mercy."
"I married, lost my wife in the first year of our union, then returned
to my own country under a false name; and in company with men as guilty
as myself, supported myself by the gains of dishonesty."
"Why should I tell all this," exclaimed the stranger, "but that you
may shun the paths in which I fell—that you may learn from one who
speaks from terrible experience, that there is no wretchedness on earth
like that of guilt—and flee betimes from the approach of the tempter!
There may be the loud laugh, the burst of wild mirth, the feast, the
revel, the intoxicating draught; but oh! The bitterness, the sickening
joylessness within, where the soul dare not turn its gaze on itself,
when it seeks excitement to stifle thought, when solitude is terrible,
reflection intolerable."
Walter thought of the miser's fifty-pound bank-note, and lifted his
heart in gratitude to Him who had saved him in the hour of temptation.
"At last," resumed the stranger, "what I dreaded happened; the strong
hand of the law arrested me in my wretched career of guilt. I was sent
to Newgate, tried, condemned. I deserved my sentence—I knew that I
deserved it; but my soul rebelled against its just punishment. I was
becoming hardened and reckless in misery, hardened in despair."
"And thus might I have sunk lower and lower, till I had perished at
last in my sin; but the day before I was sent from my country, leaving,
as I believed, not one friend behind, I received a letter from the same
benevolent man who had twice before been ready to aid me. At a time
when I was brought down, crushed to the dust, when all the rest of the
world shunned and despised me, that man came forwards, unwearied in
well-doing, and offered to do me an important service, which I dared
not have asked of a brother."
"The letter enclosed a little book, 'Baxter's Call to the Unconverted,'
with an earnest request from the writer that I would read it once
carefully over. At another time, I would have flung it aside with
contempt, if not with anger; but my heart was softened by unmerited
kindness—I could not refuse the only request made by one to whom I was
indebted for so much. Doubtless that book was sent with prayer, and
carried a blessing with it."
"I read it. It showed me my own fearful state, even more fearful than I
had believed it to be; but it did not leave me to despair. It told of
mercy and pardon even for the worst of sinners; it told of the blood
that washes away guilt, of the Spirit that can give a new, clean heart;
it told of the power of religion over the human soul; and I believed
it; for the character of the man who had given it showed forth the
reality of that power."
"Oh! That I could see and know that man!" exclaimed Nelly.
"You know him. That man is—your father!" cried the stranger, springing
forwards to meet Viner, who entered at that moment, and throwing
himself into his arms.
Viner had returned disheartened and sad, for he had been unsuccessful
in his efforts to obtain a situation for his adopted son. There are
times when even the true Christian feels his faith weak. Viner had
found it difficult to strengthen his heart in the Lord; he seemed like
Peter when sinking in the waves.
"Lord, help me!" was his silent prayer. He came back in sorrow, he was
met by joy. The little seed which, ten years before, he had sown in
faith, had sprung up to bear a thousandfold; the voice of thanksgiving
was in the dwelling of the righteous; the Almighty had not been trusted
in vain.
Oh! What a blessed answer to Walter's prayers! With what joy he looked
upon his restored parent, and received the blessing of his long-lost
father. It was some time before anything like composure was restored to
the circle, or the older Binning could continue his account.
"Let no one presume on the goodness of God, because He has sometimes
worked wonders of mercy, and saved him whom man would condemn. Terrible
is its awakening to a soul that has long gone on in a course of sin;
they who never have wandered so far from the right way know not the
difficulty, the anguish of retracing their steps! If any would learn
what it is to repent, let him study the fifty-first Psalm of King
David; there the sorrows of a broken and contrite heart are expressed
by one who himself had felt all the bitterness of deep remorse; how
often, my son, have I wept over that Psalm, and applied every verse to
myself; praised be God that I could also repeat words from the same
inspired writer, and trust that might be written for me—'Blessed is the
man whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! Blessed is
the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity.'"
"After I had had reason humbly to hope that I had received pardon for
my sins through the merits of my Saviour, my mind naturally turned to
the thought how I could make some amends to man for all the wrongs
that I had done him. My debt to Viner, above all, lay heavy on my
conscience; and as soon as the term of my punishment was over, I
determined never to return to my country till I had earned sufficient
to pay it. I worked like a slave in a land where toil brings a far
higher reward than it does here. I grudged myself even my necessary
comforts; I broke on the hours of my needful rest, till the great
object of my efforts was attained. God blessed my labours beyond my
hopes; I gathered sufficient to cover my debt, and worked my way home
as a common sailor, that I might not encroach on my earnings."
"And now, with what pleasure do I return what I owe," continued
Binning, laying bank-note after bank-note on the table—"return what
I owe! I can never return it! You helped me in trouble,—you saved me
from despair, you have brought up my son to virtue, industry, and
religion—were I to pour out my life's blood for you now I could never
repay you what I owe!"
"O my God!" exclaimed Viner, looking upwards, while tears of gratitude
forced their way down his cheeks. "To Thee be the honour, to Thee be
the praise—"
"FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, THE POWER, AND THE GLORY!"
[Illustration]
CHAPTER X.
"For ever and ever."
AGAIN nearly ten years have passed, and for the last time we revisit
E—, now a thriving, populous town. Where is the little shop with its
wooden gate, where Viner so long passed his humble but useful life, and
bore the yoke of poverty so meekly? We now look in vain for the spot
where it stood—like other earthly things, it has passed away, another
building now occupies what was once its site, its place remembers it no
more.
But the large shop on the opposite side of the street is standing
yet, and looks more flourishing than ever, with its baskets of ripe
plums and tempting peaches, decked out with branches of cut flowers in
the windows. A young woman is within, engaged in tying up nosegays,
herself fresh and blooming as the flowers. Her own little blossom, her
first-born child, is perched upon the counter beside her; and often the
mother stops in her pleasant employment to imprint a fond kiss on his
dimpled cheek, or bid her little one try to call "Father!"
"Ah! Darling, you must not spoil the pretty flowers," she said
playfully, as the child seized upon a rose. "Do you not know that
this is mother's wedding-day, and when father comes in, he must find
everything looking bright and beautiful for him! I must give you over
to grandfather's care—if he will look after my troublesome pet! There,
is he not a darling—are you not proud of him!" cried Nelly, as she
placed her blooming boy in the arms of Viner.
Mrs. Winter at this moment entered the shop. She had grown old, and
now wore widow's weeds, but her face was still placid and cheerful as
before.
"I have brought you the cake, Nelly," said she, laying an elegant
sugared pyramid before her. "Is it not fit for a wedding-day feast? Do
you remember just this day twenty years ago, when you were no higher
than this counter, your coming to my shop to buy half-a-dozen biscuits
as a treat for your expected new brother? Ah! He is more to you now
than he was then!"
"How can I remember so far back!" laughed Nelly.
"It seems to me as though it were scarce a day since! There stood
Goldie—poor man! Who once owned this shop—a prosperous man he was then!
He laughed, I remember, at your childish honesty, laughed at your
father's kind adoption of Walter—he thought only of getting on in the
world! And what has it all come to at last! There is now another name
above his door, there is another face behind his counter—he lies in the
churchyard beside his poor wife, and his very name is almost forgotten!
And this is the end of his labours and his cares, his rising up early
and late taking rest—his flattering, and toiling, and unscrupulous
ways! All that is left to him now of his gains is a coffin, and a
shroud, and a few feet of earth!"
"Alas! Poor Goldie," said Nelly sadly, "He was unfortunate!"
"Unhappy, if you will, but not unfortunate; fortune had nothing to do
with either his lot or your father's. Worldliness, Sabbath-breaking,
neglect of religion only brought forth their natural fruits to
Goldie—while all Viner's present happiness and prosperity arose from—"
The old man turned towards her with glistening eyes, pressing his
little grandchild closer to his heart, while he closed her sentence
with Nelly's favourite text—"'The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich,
and He addeth no sorrow thereto.'"
Walter now entered with a springing step and bright eye. His child
stretched out his little arms to go to him, and Nelly greeted her
husband with a smile.
"You see that I have not forgotten what day it is," he said, laying
down on the counter a beautifully carved box, with his wife's name
cut on the lid. "That is my wedding present for you, dear Nelly; as
it has pleased God to prosper us so well in business, and between my
carving and your fruit selling, we now have enough and to spare, I have
resolved to keep a poor box from this time, and on the first day of the
week, as St. Paul recommends, lay aside of our earnings for the needy."
"Well, Viner," observed Mrs. Winter, as she was leaving the place, and
turned to bid farewell to the aged Christian, on whose silvery hair
and venerable brow the rich glow of the setting sun was falling, "if
I were asked to name a truly happy man, I should not have far to look
for one—I should point to you in your arm-chair there, with your loving
family around you."
Yes, the bright calm sunset was a beautiful type of the old age of
the pious Christian! He looked back on an honest, well-spent life,
he looked forwards to a better life to come; the present was full of
richest blessings, but the richest of all was the hope of heaven that
brightened the thoughts of the future! His adopted son was now his son
indeed; his daughter was happy in the love of one whom he himself had
trained to industry and piety; and now, honoured and beloved, he was
drawing towards his home, at peace with his God, and at peace with
mankind—his hoary head a crown of righteousness!
But think not that upon his faith or his good works Viner rested his
hope of glory! He would have shrunk from the thought as much as the
poor convict who now slumbered beneath the shadow of the church, with a
single text inscribed on his tomb—"The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
from all sin!"
And now, young reader, before you close these pages, pause and consider
what was the difference between Viner and Goldie, between the man of
the world and the servant of God. As Mrs. Winter had observed, it was
no strange chance, no wonderful turn of fortune, that gave happiness to
the one or misery to the other. Review their story, and you will see
that exactly as they sowed, they reaped—that the portion which each
chose, he received—that blessings naturally sprang from the conduct of
the one, disappointment from the acts of the other.
And oh! If even in this world, God's children are the happiest, what
will it be in the world which is to come! On this earth our harvest
is only begun, whether of holy joy or the sorrows of sin. But when
ages upon ages have rolled on, when the heavens and the earth have
passed away, then still the unrepenting will be suffering, the faithful
enjoying in eternity!
From this hour resolve which path you will choose—life or death are now
set before you. If you choose the world and its pleasures of a season,
oh! Remember that the wages of sin is death. Youth must pass, strength
must pass, life itself must pass away, with all that it could give here
below; but the Christian shall dwell in the mansions of light—shall
rejoice in unchangeable bliss with his God—
"FOR EVER AND EVER. AMEN!"
[Illustration]
[Illustration: THE LORD'S PRAYER.]
Our Father in heaven,
We hallow Thy name,
May Thy kingdom holy
On earth be the same;
Oh! Give to us daily
Our portion of bread;
It is from Thy bounty
That all must be fed.
Forgive our transgression,
And teach us to know
That humble compassion
Which pardons each foe.
Keep us from temptation,
From weakness, and sin;
And Thine be the glory,
For ever, Amen.
*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ADOPTED SON ***
Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will
be renamed.
Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright
law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works,
so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United
States without permission and without paying copyright
royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part
of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™
concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark,
and may not be used if you charge for an eBook, except by following
the terms of the trademark license, including paying royalties for use
of the Project Gutenberg trademark. If you do not charge anything for
copies of this eBook, complying with the trademark license is very
easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose such as creation
of derivative works, reports, performances and research. Project
Gutenberg eBooks may be modified and printed and given away—you may
do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks not protected
by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
license, especially commercial redistribution.
START: FULL LICENSE
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg”), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full
Project Gutenberg™ License available with this file or online at
www.gutenberg.org/license.
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg™
electronic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg™
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or
destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in your
possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a
Project Gutenberg™ electronic work and you do not agree to be bound
by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person
or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
1.B. “Project Gutenberg” is a registered trademark. It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See
paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg™ electronic works if you follow the terms of this
agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg™
electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation (“the
Foundation” or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection
of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works. Nearly all the individual
works in the collection are in the public domain in the United
States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the
United States and you are located in the United States, we do not
claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing,
displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as
all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope
that you will support the Project Gutenberg™ mission of promoting
free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg™
works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the
Project Gutenberg™ name associated with the work. You can easily
comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the
same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg™ License when
you share it without charge with others.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are
in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States,
check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this
agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing,
distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any
other Project Gutenberg™ work. The Foundation makes no
representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any
country other than the United States.
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other
immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg™ License must appear
prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg™ work (any work
on which the phrase “Project Gutenberg” appears, or with which the
phrase “Project Gutenberg” is associated) is accessed, displayed,
performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws
of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is
derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not
contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the
copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in
the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are
redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase “Project
Gutenberg” associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply
either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or
obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg™
trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg™ electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any
additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms
will be linked to the Project Gutenberg™ License for all works
posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the
beginning of this work.
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg™
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg™.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg™ License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including
any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access
to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg™ work in a format
other than “Plain Vanilla ASCII” or other format used in the official
version posted on the official Project Gutenberg™ website
(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense
to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means
of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original “Plain
Vanilla ASCII” or other form. Any alternate format must include the
full Project Gutenberg™ License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg™ works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
provided that:
• You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
the use of Project Gutenberg™ works calculated using the method
you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed
to the owner of the Project Gutenberg™ trademark, but he has
agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid
within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are
legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty
payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in
Section 4, “Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation.”
• You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg™
License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all
copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue
all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg™
works.
• You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of
any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of
receipt of the work.
• You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
distribution of Project Gutenberg™ works.
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work or group of works on different terms than
are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing
from the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the manager of
the Project Gutenberg™ trademark. Contact the Foundation as set
forth in Section 3 below.
1.F.
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project
Gutenberg™ collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
contain “Defects,” such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate
or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other
intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or
other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or
cannot be read by your equipment.
1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the “Right
of Replacement or Refund” described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg™ trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg™ electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium
with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you
with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in
lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person
or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second
opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If
the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing
without further opportunities to fix the problem.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you ‘AS-IS’, WITH NO
OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of
damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement
violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the
agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or
limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or
unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the
remaining provisions.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg™ electronic works in
accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the
production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg™
electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses,
including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of
the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this
or any Project Gutenberg™ work, (b) alteration, modification, or
additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg™ work, and (c) any
Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg™
Project Gutenberg™ is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of
computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It
exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations
from people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg™’s
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg™ collection will
remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg™ and future
generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see
Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at www.gutenberg.org.
Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non-profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service. The Foundation’s EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by
U.S. federal laws and your state’s laws.
The Foundation’s business office is located at 809 North 1500 West,
Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up
to date contact information can be found at the Foundation’s website
and official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation
Project Gutenberg™ depends upon and cannot survive without widespread
public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine-readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND
DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state
visit www.gutenberg.org/donate.
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg web pages for current donation
methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To
donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate.
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg™ electronic works
Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project
Gutenberg™ concept of a library of electronic works that could be
freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and
distributed Project Gutenberg™ eBooks with only a loose network of
volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg™ eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in
the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not
necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper
edition.
Most people start at our website which has the main PG search
facility: www.gutenberg.org.
This website includes information about Project Gutenberg™,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
