- 

 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS
 
 He sat, his head upon his nerveless hand, and mused 
 on failure. p. 15.
 
 fragments 
 
 in Baskets 
 
 BY 
 
 MRS. W. BOYD CARPENTER 
 
 "Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost " 
 
 JOHN vi. 12 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 J. SELWIN TAIT & SONS 
 
 31 EAST lyxH STREET 
 
 1894
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1893, BY 
 J. SELWIN TAIT & SONS 
 
 ROW DIRECTORY 
 
 ND BOOKBINDING COM
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 PAGB 
 THE ANCHOR OF THE SOUL ...... 9 
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS 
 
 BE STILL AND KNOW " 
 
 55 
 
 THE LIGHT OF LOVE ....... 75 
 
 ' IN WAYS THAT WE KNOW NOT " 87 
 
 ONLY A DROP OF WATER j 13 
 
 FOR THE MASTER'S USE. 121 
 
 THE SPARROW AND THE CUCKOO'S EGG .... 147 
 
 CHANCE OR DESIGN ? 165 
 
 THE MESSENGERS OF LOVE 177 
 
 NOW WE SEE THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY . . . 185 
 
 WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED . . . . 203 
 
 222912
 
 PREFACE 
 
 CONFUCIUS said: 
 
 " Fishermen use baskets to catch fish. 
 When they have caught the fish, they forget 
 the baskets. Teachers use words to convey 
 ideas. When they have caught the ideas, they 
 can forget the words." 
 
 In words of fancy I have tried to gather some 
 fragments of truth. I shall not care if the 
 baskets are thrown away, if only, through Hts 
 help who bade His disciples gather the fragments 
 into baskets, some truth remains to make strong 
 the heart of any. 
 
 A. M. CARPENTER 
 
 THE PALACE, RIFON, 
 
 August 31, 1893.
 
 THE ANCHOR OF THE SOUL
 
 " Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may 
 know to refuse the evil, and choose the good."
 
 THE ANCHOR OF THE SOUL 
 
 eaN Angel stood before God's 
 throne, waiting the commands 
 of the Eternal. He was young 
 and eager and fain would fly 
 down to earth and be busied in the ser- 
 vice of his Lord. 
 
 " Go," said God, " fly to and fro among 
 my children, mark well their doings, make 
 a note of all that is bright and happy, of 
 all deeds of kindness, and all efforts of 
 good, and bring me back a record of it all. 
 See only what is good." 
 
 And the Angel hesitated : his brow was 
 knit, his eyes cast down and his wings re- 
 mained folded before his face. 
 
 Then God said to him in condescension, 
 " Why doth my servant hesitate ? Thou art
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 not pleased ? Is not thy mission a happy 
 one ? " 
 
 To which the Angel made reply, " For- 
 give me, Lord, but I would fain be of some 
 use to poor struggling humanity, let me 
 help to restore the stained and fallen, to 
 strengthen the weak, to remove the 
 blemishes in heart and life, and to lift 
 them to a love of Thee." 
 
 " So would 1 have it," replied the Eter- 
 nal. " Thou shalt be to them a ministering 
 spirit. I give thee power to enter unseen 
 each home and to shed there the sunshine 
 of thy presence : but I charge thee look 
 ever on the sunny side, see only what is 
 good." 
 
 And still the Angel moved not. 
 
 Then once again in patience the Al- 
 mighty spoke to him. "What more 
 would my servant have ? There is a 
 doubt upon thy mind, speak that I may 
 remove it." 
 
 Then the Angel flung himself at the foot 
 of the throne and craving pardon for his 
 boldness, said : " How can I help the world 
 if I see only good in it ? The earth is full 
 
 12
 
 THE ANCHOR OF THE SOUL 
 
 of sin and evil, let me look on it that I may 
 cleanse it." 
 
 To whom the Almighty, " Ye know not 
 what ye ask ! Are ye able to drink of the 
 cup that I drink of, or to see with mine 
 eyes and live ? " 
 
 To whom the Angel made reply, " I am 
 able for the love I have to Thee and to the 
 world whom I would fain serve by bringing 
 it unto Thee. Deny me not this gift, touch 
 but mine eyes and give me the power I 
 crave. I shrink not, I am strong in my 
 love of Thee. Wherever evil fronts me I 
 will be valiant and will vanquish it. But 
 if I see it not, if I look only on the good, 
 how can I fight and overcome ? Therefore 
 let me see evil, I pray Thee ! " 
 
 Then spake the Eternal, " Ye know not 
 what ye ask but be it so. Go forth, thy 
 wish is granted and thou shalt see the 
 spots that are upon the human breast." 
 
 Whereat the Angel unfolded his wings 
 and floated joyfully to earth. 
 
 Down through the illimitable blue the 
 Angel floated, down to the murky world, 
 
 13
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 and passing unseen among the haunts of 
 men he sought to commence his mission. 
 The smoke hung thick and dense o'er the 
 town as a sombre pall, the air was chill 
 with winter frost, yet the hum and roar of 
 barter and of traffic stayed not. 
 
 The Angel lighted on a roof-top and 
 paused awhile to listen, and as he did so 
 his eye fell upon a sheet of glass let into 
 the roof for light, beneath which he dis- 
 cerned a sculptor at his work. He was 
 modelling in the plastic clay with eager 
 fingers, in haste to avail himself of the fast 
 waning light. The figure that he wrought 
 was of a woman stooping o'er a child whose 
 stiff and clumsy fingers she was guiding on 
 the harp chords with a smile of love and of 
 encouragement. He called her " Hope, 
 the Mother of Success," and eagerly he 
 worked as one who seeks to fix the thoughts 
 within his brain. 
 
 And as the Angel gazed upon the work, 
 he saw it was not good ; the artist in his 
 haste to teach his thought was careless of 
 the form. " Here must I speak," he mur- 
 mured, and placing himself behind the 
 14
 
 THE ANCHOR OF THE SOUL 
 
 worker breathed into his ear the suggestion 
 that the maiden's head was not truly 
 poised upon her shoulders. The artist 
 paused, drew back a step or two, gazed at 
 his work, sprinkled it afresh witji moisture 
 and sought to pose the head anew. Again 
 he drew aside, but still the Angel whispered, 
 "It is not perfect yet." And once again 
 he sought to mend his skill, but ever as he 
 wrought, the meaning faded from the group. 
 The head gained grace and finish, but the 
 eyes lost meaning, till at last, vexed and 
 discouraged that the forms which once 
 were instinct with life should now be but 
 dead, expressionless clay, he flung it from 
 him in a heap upon the studio floor. The 
 light had faded now, the hope that sped 
 his eager fingers was gone too, and in the 
 darkening twilight he sat, his head upon 
 his nerveless hands and mused on failure. 
 
 And as the Angel sped upon his way he 
 murmured to himself, " 'Tis well, I have 
 shown him the weakness of his work, he is 
 saddened, it is true, but he will recover, 
 and with such faults he never could have 
 become truly great." So the Angel moved 
 
 15
 
 onwards but somewhat more slowly, and 
 with a feeling of heaviness about his wings. 
 
 As he floated onwards over the town 
 his ear was caught by strains of music, 
 and pausing on his way, he sought to dis- 
 cover whence they came. A narrow little 
 street, filled with houses of the poorest 
 description, was beneath him, and in much 
 amazement he discerned a humble garret 
 as the source whence rose the sounds which 
 so much charmed his ear. Sinking lower, 
 he beheld the little street crowded with 
 listeners, spell-rapt by the music. The 
 children ceased their noisy play, the women 
 dropped their wrangling or their work, the 
 tired toilers with their grimy hands stayed 
 their gossip as they drew their little ones 
 around them, and sitting upon the doorstep 
 in the glow of evening twilight felt their 
 hearts lifted insensibly into peace and the 
 thought of something higher, by the sweet 
 pure sounds which fell from the musician's 
 fingers. 
 
 The musician at his instrument played 
 on, a glow of happy rapture on his face. 
 
 Forgetful of his poverty, his loneliness, his 
 16
 
 THE ANCHOR OF THE SOUL 
 
 weakness, his fingers wandered o'er the 
 instrument awakening melody divine and 
 lifting his own heart and his hearers' nearer 
 God. 
 
 And as the Angel paused, there came to 
 his remembrance the full-toned harmonies 
 of heaven, rich with myriad voices, and 
 the chords of many harps. " This melody 
 is sweet," he mused, " but wrongly set, the 
 air is pleasing, but the harmonies are poor. 
 Here will I work, I will take this un- 
 trained musician and pour into his ear the 
 richer, fuller chords of the celestial choirs, 
 so shall his praise be fitting and his 
 Maker glorified." 
 
 And to the listeners' ears a change came 
 
 O 
 
 o'er the music, the sound was fuller, the 
 notes fell in richer, newer combinations, 
 but with a hesitation in the touch, a halt- 
 ing in the air. Gradually the sweetness of 
 the melody faded and failed, the ear 
 strained vainly after it amid the clash of 
 chords, the spell was broken, the heart no 
 longer felt the music's thrall, and one by 
 one the listeners turned to earth again and 
 all the cares and toils of daily life. 
 
 B 1 7
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 And still the Angel flew upon his mission, 
 but with a strange, new weight upon his 
 wings. Doubtless this was due to the 
 murky air in which he moved ; how could 
 he expect it otherwise ? Surely it was 
 only reasonable that he should feel some 
 difference between the bright clear air of 
 heaven and the tainted breath of earth. 
 It could be nothing else, he would not 
 stay to think of it, but speed upon his 
 mission and seek new fields in which to 
 exercise the gift entrusted to him. 
 
 A door stood open and the Angel en- 
 tered. "Here," thought he, "will I 
 pause and rest." 
 
 It was a newly made home, a bride and 
 bridegroom recently united lived there; 
 they were all in all to one another. As 
 they sat and wove their happy dreams of 
 the future the Angel listened. He was 
 telling her of the great things he hoped to 
 achieve, whilst she, with all her love in her 
 eyes, was drinking in his aspirations, wrapt 
 in her belief of him and her joy in present 
 happiness. 
 
 But as the Angel listened, he caught 
 18
 
 THE ANCHOR OF THE SOUL 
 
 the rin or of selfishness in the husband's 
 
 o 
 
 tone, he marked that his thoughts were not 
 wholly loyal to his wife. He dwelt too 
 much upon himself, upon his future, upon 
 what he meant to do, and already her share 
 in his life was becoming secondary, her 
 happiness was swallowed up in his ambition. 
 Then in her ear the Angel whispered, 
 " Beware ! all is not love that bears its 
 semblance. Are you sure that you are the 
 true centre of his thoughts? Does he want 
 you for yourself or for the help it gives 
 him in his career to enlarge his social 
 horizon through a well-ordered home ? " 
 
 No more ; and yet the sweet face fell, 
 the eager eves relaxed, and the form that 
 
 o *> 
 
 had so recently breathed forth a loving 
 attention now sat listless by his side. The 
 husband marked the change and a shade of 
 disappointment crossed his face. 
 
 Whence did the suggestion come, the 
 unbidden thought arise in his mind ? " She 
 is not wholly with you, she loves you but 
 not your work, beware or your lives will 
 drift apart." 
 
 A hush fell on them both were conscious 
 
 19
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 of a cloud, so slight as to be but the 
 semblance of a cloud, as when on a summer's 
 day its fleecy down passing before the sun 
 thrown a faint and fleeting shadow on the 
 earth beneath. So faint, so fleeting, it had 
 come and gone, and yet both were con- 
 scious of a change, they knew not what. 
 The Angel felt a qualm, he could not be 
 quite sure that he had done well. He left 
 them sadder than he found them, but then 
 he reflected, it is for their good, there is 
 no other way, they can only avoid dangers 
 by being aware of them, and I was charged 
 to help the erring, can I not do so best by 
 showing them the pitfalls in their path ? 
 
 And so he winged his way onward bu 
 still less vigorously. His pinions drooped 
 earthward ; it needed an ever-increasing 
 effort to rise above the ground, and heavily 
 he laboured now, all spring and joy of 
 movement gone. "I must bestir myself," he 
 thought, "I must fight against this strange 
 lethargy and do my Master's bidding." 
 Slowly and heavily his wings flapped to and 
 fro scarcely raising him from the earth. 
 The weight grew intolerable, so he sought 
 20
 
 THE ANCHOR OF THE SOUL 
 
 to move along the by-ways, far from the 
 crowded town where spires and steeples 
 urged a higher flight than was needed o'er 
 the fields and hedgerows of the open 
 country. 
 
 As he sped along from out a lonely cot- 
 tage came the tired voice of an invalid 
 bewailing her sad lot. 
 
 " There's work for me here," he thought, 
 and gladly stayed his flight. Within, upon 
 a four-post bed, there lay a pale and emaci- 
 ated figure covered by a patch- work quilt. 
 Beside her a young woman, whose resem- 
 blance to the face upon the bed betrayed 
 the relationship of mother and daughter. 
 She was reading, and as the Angel entered 
 laid down her book and rose in answer to 
 the sick one's cry to smooth anew her pillow, 
 and wet the parched lips with some cooling 
 drink. Her touch was soft arid loving but 
 not deft and prompt as of one trained to 
 tendance on the sick ; she smoothed the 
 bed-clothes, but slowly and with a hesitating 
 touch, she feared to shake the pillows, yet 
 the sick one smiled her thanks ere she dozed 
 off to rest. 
 
 21
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 The Angel watching, saw how much 
 more comfort could be given to the invalid 
 were her nurse more skilled, and whispered 
 doubts into the daughter's mind whether 
 she were indeed right in yielding to her 
 mother's strongly expressed wish to have 
 only her own near her rather than a 
 more skilful stranger, till at last she mur- 
 mured to herself, " How I wish I could 
 be trained for nursing." At this the 
 Angel saw his opportunity and assuming, 
 as he could, the form *of a human being, 
 appeared at her side. " I heard your 
 wish," he said, " and it can be granted; you 
 think it is not possible because you cannot 
 leave your mother. I will stay and nurse 
 her in your stead. You shall leave me here, 
 and when you have learnt all you wish, you 
 may return and I will go." 
 
 So the Angel sat by the bed-side. The 
 room was trim and darkened for the night, 
 the medicine given, the food prepared, the 
 fevered brow bathed with soothing lotion, the 
 bed-clothes changed to cool and snowy fresh- 
 ness, and all was done with a touch whicli 
 hesitated not and made no fault and yet 
 
 22
 
 THE ANCHOR OF THE SOUL 
 
 the sick mother in the half unconsciousness 
 of her delirium felt there was a difference, 
 she could not tell wherein it lay, only she 
 missed a something in the touch. It was 
 not what she gained in skill and comfort 
 that troubled her, it was a loss, a loss of 
 something, she knew not what, which 
 seemed to pervade the whole. So she 
 grew more restless and in her delirium a 
 certain irritability increased upon her, and 
 the time seemed long, for she missed the 
 soothing touch of love. 
 
 Anon the daughter returned trained and 
 skilled in all the duties of a nurse and 
 confident of her powers, so the Angel 
 prepared to fly back to heaven. But now 
 a strange thing happened to him. He had 
 been sadly troubled to find that the weight 
 of his wings had seriously increased each 
 time he used them, but now they refused to 
 bear him altogether, they could not raise 
 him a foot above the earth ; in vain he 
 struggled and strove, he could not rise. In 
 his distress it occurred to him that he had 
 better try and climb the mountain hard by. 
 Of course it could not be his wings that were 
 
 2?
 
 at fault, it must be the heavy murky air of 
 these dull towns, doubtless when he reached 
 the free pure air of the mountain top all 
 would be well. 
 
 So he toiled heavily onward, and was 
 surprised that he did not find more relief 
 when he gained the summit, for it was still 
 the same, hid wings refused to bear him 
 upward. As he pondered there, two Angels 
 winging their flight homewards and heaven- 
 wards, stayed to ask if he would join them. 
 " Ah, I cannot," he cried. I fain would 
 come but I cannot move," and in com- 
 passion they soared downward, and lifting 
 him strongly, bore him back with them to 
 heaven. 
 
 And God sat upon His throne : around 
 Him stood His ministers, each waiting for 
 his call. But the Angel shrank backward 
 for he could not stand upright, and in the 
 shining company of heaven his wings seemed 
 foul and black. 
 
 Then said to him the Eternal; " How hast 
 thou sped ? What hast thou wrought for 
 me?" 
 24
 
 THE ANCHOR OF THE SOUL 
 
 To whom the Angel made reply, " I 
 showed a sculptor how far he fell short of 
 his ideal, I taught a musician how faulty 
 were his harmonies, I warned a bride and 
 bridegroom that their hearts were not true 
 to one another, I showed a daughter that 
 her mother suffered from her ignorance." 
 
 "And were they happier? did this 
 knowledge help them in their struggle ?" 
 
 " Nay! that I know not," said the Angel. 
 "My part was to show the evil that I 
 found." 
 
 " Come," said the Almighty, " thou shalt 
 see what thou hast wrought," and touching 
 the Angel's eyes He bade him look down- 
 ward to the earth. 
 
 And first he sees a tiny garret, poor and 
 squalid, in it sits a man in tattered gar- 
 ments working with soft clay which he 
 presses into a mould. From out of it he 
 draws piece after piece exactly alike. They 
 are busts of a great man of the day, to be 
 sold for a few pence to supply his daily food 
 and as he works he sighs and murmurs, 
 "I hoped once I might have been an 
 artist, I believe I had it in me but distrust 
 
 25
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 of my powers beset me, and I lost all hope. 
 Ah me I Ah me ! " And as the Angel wept 
 some tears fell upon his blackened feathers 
 and where they fell they washed away the 
 murky hue of earth. 
 
 And once again he looks. It is a cold 
 and windy night, the rain beats pitilessly 
 upon a man in rags who wanders along the 
 dark and lonely streets, playing on his 
 violin and eagerly watching for the welcome 
 coin. And as he plays the strings wail forth 
 an air which to the listening Angel says, 
 " There was a time when men listened to 
 my music, and I hoped that one day I could 
 charm them with my melodies, but it was 
 too hard for me, I lost heart and now have 
 sunk to playing in the streets, I cannot 
 reach perfection : nevermore, nevermore." 
 And the Angel's tears fell faster as he 
 turned his face away. 
 
 And yet once more he looks. It is a bril- 
 liant house, a crowd of guests are gathered 
 there and all is bright. The husband and 
 wife are there and smile upon the great 
 ones assembled under their roof, but as the 
 
 Angel looks he marks that the smile is but 
 26
 
 THE ANCHOR OF THE SOUL 
 
 upon the face and that the hearts beneath 
 are cold and dead to one another. " He does 
 not care, I hoped once that he did, but that 
 is passed and now I amuse myself," she is 
 saying, arid in his mind there runs the 
 thought, " It is as I feared, she never truly 
 cared for me, I was a fool to hope it." 
 
 And folding his wings the Angel turns 
 away as bitter tears pour from his eyes and 
 his head sinks upon his breast. He can 
 scarcely lift himself as he is bidden once 
 again to look. 
 
 It is a cottage home, he knows the scene, 
 he has looked on it before. A sick woman 
 lies upon the bed, the room is clean and 
 trim, a wholesome order prevails everywhere' 
 the invalid is tended and turned with the 
 utmost skill and yet her restlessness in- 
 creases. From side to side she turns, 
 throwing the bed-clothes from her. In vain 
 the daughter Reeks to cool her brow with 
 soothing lotion, in her delirium she ceases 
 not to cry, "My daughter, oh, my daughter, 
 where is my daughter?" And the 
 daughter's breast is rent with anguish, as 
 she feels how powerless is skill to soothe 
 
 27
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 the heart, and realises that in gaining 
 the knowledge which she coveted, she yet 
 has lost, for the tender solicitude of love 
 is swallowed up in the cold confidence of 
 power, and it cannot satisfy the heart. 
 
 Prone upon the ground now lies the 
 Angel, sobbing silently. A voice sounds in 
 his ear, he has heard the words before, "Are 
 ye indeed able to drink of the cup that I 
 drink of and live ? " 
 
 " Nay, Lord, it is too bitter, let me now 
 die," bursts from his lips. 
 
 "Not so," replied the Eternal, "the 
 burden that thou soughtest to bear is in- 
 deed too heavy for thee. Well may it smite 
 thee to the earth, but rise ! thy tears have 
 washed away the stains of earth. Thou hast 
 learnt thy lesson. Henceforth look ever on 
 the sunny side of life, see only what is good. 
 The evil is too hard for thee, none can bear 
 that burden save Him who hung upon the 
 tree. Henceforth cherish the good, foster 
 it, fan it, so shall it grow to full flame in 
 every human heart and consume the bud- 
 ding germs of ill. Only through good canst 
 thou overcome evil, therefore give unto my 
 28
 
 THE ANCHOR OF THE SOUL 
 
 children all that is good that they may 
 learn to love it ; ' butter and honey shall 
 they eat that they may refuse the evil and 
 choose the good.' Remember too, that evil 
 is fronted best by hope. Hope only makes 
 endeavour possible. It is as an anchor of the 
 soul both sure and stedfast, for hope maketh 
 not ashamed. With the light of Hope upon 
 them my children will learn not to despair 
 of their own poor and feeble efforts, but to 
 make of their dead selves a stepping-stone 
 to nobler things."
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS
 
 " Sorrow is knowledge ; they who know the most 
 Must mourn thf. deepest o'er the fatal truth : 
 The tree of knowledge is not that of life."
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS 
 
 sun was sinking to its rest 
 behind the trees, and as it fell 
 some lingering beams stole into 
 a well-filled library and lighted 
 up the books that stood upon the shelves. 
 They were of all kinds and of all sizes, 
 from the deepest science to the lightest 
 fiction, from the largest folio to the 
 smallest pocket edition. Of all ages and 
 of all qualities too, for some had been 
 written before the arb of printing was 
 discovered, and some were only issued 
 yesterday ; some were old and ragged, 
 while others were new and uncut. There 
 was only one point on which they were 
 alike; one peculiarity which they all 
 shared. Every one of them had on his 
 c 33
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 back a small round ticket bearing a myste- 
 rious number, which corresponded with 
 that on another little ticket on the edge 
 of the shelf below which they stood ; for it 
 was a lending library, and as each book 
 was occasionally sent away to be read, it 
 was necessary to have some mark to indi- 
 cate the spot where it should stand when 
 it was returned. 
 
 Throughout the day there was some 
 little excitement amongst the books. Each 
 one hoped that his turn was come for a 
 change, that some one would take him 
 from the shelf and read the secrets he was 
 longing to impart ; for generally the room 
 was fairly filled with readers, and the libra- 
 rian came round and dusted the volumes, 
 dipping now and again into one and 
 another as he did so. But at sunset all 
 was quiet ; for the present their fates were 
 sealed ; the readers had all departed, the 
 librarian had closed and locked the door, 
 and until the next morning they were 
 secure from any change. 
 
 "My neighbour is out again," began a 
 dull green book ; " in fact, my shelf is almost 
 34
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS 
 
 empty. I never knew such gad-abouts as 
 these novels are, they never are at home. 
 I am sometimes tempted to wish that I 
 were a novel, and then I should not be left 
 here so long." 
 
 " I think it quite contemptible," said 
 ponderous folio from the shelf below that 
 whereon the novels stood ; " they come and 
 stand here in front of me time after time, 
 and no one thinks of taking me down, while 
 those frivolous, nonsensical books that only 
 deal with imaginary persons and things 
 get all the attention. If they would only 
 study me they would learn some facts and 
 opinions worth having, for I am much 
 older and deal with much more important 
 subjects. I arn one of the Fathers," added 
 he, proudly. 
 
 " You need not be so very proud of 
 yourself," said a stout, short volume near, 
 " for I observe that the few people who do 
 read you, cannot get on without my assist- 
 ance, and often take me down to see what 
 you mean by your crabbed Latin words. 
 It is one advantage which we dictionaries 
 possess ; we are evidently looked up to, 
 
 35
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 and are often consulted ; though I could 
 wish some one would sometimes take us 
 home with him for a change," he sighed. 
 
 " It does not follow that those of us 
 who go out most frequently are the most 
 valuable," said another large folio, who 
 rejoiced in being printed on vellum, and 
 gorgeously bound in crimson and gold. 
 " You will notice how much attention I 
 attract ; nearly every one who comes in 
 takes me down and speaks of my beautiful 
 type, and then the librarian shows them 
 the inside of my covers and tells them that 
 I was bound by Herring." 
 
 " In all respect, I venture to differ from 
 you," said a sober little volume, " for I am 
 not beautiful outwardly, nor was I bound 
 by any one in particular, and yet I am very 
 valuable. I heard a gentleman say so. I 
 was one of the earliest books ever printed 
 some hundreds of years ago ; my type was 
 carefully prepared by an artist called 
 Francia, and modelled from the hand- 
 writing of Petrarch, and I was printed by 
 Aldus, who was quite an artist in his 
 work ; I incline to the opinion that we are 
 36
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS 
 
 valued for what is in us, and not for our 
 outside." 
 
 " It may be so, and yet that won't 
 account for my being of value," chimed in 
 another stout, dull volume. " 1 heard 
 some one say that I was worth between 
 two and three hundred pounds, more than 
 all the novels put together," said he con- 
 temptuously ; " yet I have nothing pecu- 
 liar in binding or type, and it cannot be 
 for what is inside me, for he also said that 
 it is all locked up in a language which no 
 one can read, for every one who used to 
 speak it is now dead. I think I must be 
 a relation of those large thick books in 
 Hebrew, Greek, and Latin which stand on 
 the shelves opposite, for he said that I, 
 too, was a Bible, and that a missionary 
 had written me in this language for the 
 use of the poor Indians." 
 
 "You can judge how they value me," 
 said an open missal lying under a glass 
 case, " by the care they take of me. I am 
 always kept locked up here, and never a 
 leaf turned over, unless some one wishes 
 to see another of these illuminated letters. 
 
 37
 
 FRAGMENTS IX BASKETS 
 
 No doubt it is for what is inside us that 
 we are valued, and not for the outside. It 
 cannot be for either binding or print, for 
 my binding is gone, and I never was 
 printed at all. I was written by hand 
 entirely, by some old monks, long, long 
 ago. Yes, it is for the inside they value 
 us, and I am the most valuable of all 
 because I am the only one with these 
 lovely colours on my pages." 
 
 " Well," said a novel, who had been 
 quietly listening whilst the others talked, 
 " I don't think any of you are right, and I 
 think your ideas very vulgar ; you judge 
 everything by money, you think yourselves 
 of value because some one would give a 
 number of pieces of gold for you. You may 
 despise us as you like, but we are not so 
 vulgar as that. We don't pride ourselves 
 on what we ai*e worth ; we like to go about 
 giving pleasure, and the more we go out 
 the more we feel we are valued ; just the 
 opposite of those who think they are 
 prized because they are under lock and 
 key," with a sneer at the missal. 
 
 " Well," responded the dictionary, " I 
 38
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS 
 
 am used the most frequently of you all, 
 and yet I know I am not valuable ; no one 
 would give any gold for me, I am only 
 useful, but I know I am that because there 
 are so many copies of me wanted. I have 
 been printed over and over again. I help 
 people to understand what they read in 
 other books." 
 
 " If you reckon by the number of times 
 you have been printed," said Bunyan's 
 Pilgrims Progress, "just look at me ; there 
 are very few that can come up to me." 
 
 " Except me," said a De Imitatione. 
 " I believe my record is even higher." 
 
 Lying on the table in the middle of the 
 room was a small shabby book, bound in 
 dull dark leather ; it was lying open, and 
 its leaves were discoloured with use, 
 plentifully scored with lines and covered 
 with notes. It did not belong to the 
 library, it was a Bible left by one of the 
 readers, a tall, strong young man, who had 
 brought it in his pocket, and it was with 
 some surprise that it listened to the 
 remarks of those upon the shelves. When 
 the dictionary raised its plea of usefulness, 
 
 39
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 it gathered its courage together and ven- 
 tured to make a remark. 
 
 " I trust you will forgive a stranger," it 
 began, " for joining in your discussion. I 
 have been much interested in what has 
 been said, and though I do not belong to 
 this library, I should like to say that I 
 think the dictionary is right, and that use 
 is the greatest value of a book." 
 
 At this the leaves of the novels fluttered 
 joyfully, for who went out so often as 
 they ? 
 
 " I don't know how you will prove that," 
 said a volume who had not spoken hitherto. 
 " I am full of quite as much information as 
 most of my fellows, and such helpful in- 
 formation too, all about the powers of 
 nature, dynamics, hydrostatics, chemistry, 
 optics, and all sorts of useful things, and 
 yet I am very little used." 
 
 " And I," said another, " am occupied 
 with human nature, anatomy, physiology, 
 health and disease. What can they want 
 more useful than that, I should like to 
 know ? And yet it is one in a hundred 
 
 who reads me." 
 40
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS 
 
 "And no wonder," broke in the encyclo- 
 paedia, "for all your information is too anti- 
 quated. They prefer to read me, for I give 
 them all the newest fa.cts ; you forget that 
 knowledge progresses, and what they would 
 learn from you is all wrong nowadays." 
 
 Again the novels rejoiced, they had felt 
 secretly a little uneasy at their youth, but 
 after this they saw that youth, not age, 
 was an advantage. But here the stranger 
 was able to join in once more. 
 
 "Yes, you are right ; newness of inform- 
 ation is one cause of usefulness, but there 
 are some truths which are ever old, though 
 ever new, so it is not that solely. Neither 
 does size add to usefulness, for by their 
 own confession the large books are very 
 little used. It clearly depends on the 
 contents ; but again I observe that it is not 
 the age of the inside that makes us of 
 service, or the missal would be consulted 
 more frequently ; neither does the beauty 
 of the folio's binding attract more than 
 a passing admiration. No, my friends, 
 it is not the age of our print, but the 
 eternal truths of which it tells ; not the 
 
 41
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 beauty of our binding, but of the thoughts 
 which it encloses ; not the freshness of our 
 information, but its everlasting truth ; not 
 its age, but its never-ending newness. 
 You must excuse my saying, that of all 
 books there is none so highly valued as those 
 of my family ; none so constantly used as a 
 Bible." 
 
 "Oh! oh!" sneered the disappointed 
 novels, " that's a fine idea ! Why, there is 
 not a single member of your family on the 
 shelves, except those in languages which no 
 one can read ; and you expect us to believe 
 that you are more prized than we are, who 
 are never allowed a moment's rest, but are 
 wanted here, there, and everywhere." 
 
 " It is because every reader has one of 
 his own that no one wants to borrow a 
 copy," replied the Bible. " More copies of 
 me are distributed every year than of the 
 De Imitations and the Pilgrim's Pro- 
 gress put together, and we are read daily, 
 whereas, when you have been once read, 
 you are flung on one side, or only kept to 
 be consulted at rare intervals." 
 
 " Please not to forget that you owe 
 42
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS 
 
 something to us," said a commentary in so 
 many volumes that it entirely filled one 
 shelf. 
 
 " I am not very sure that I do," said the 
 Bible. " I am so simply written that the 
 wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err 
 in understanding me ; those who search me 
 will find all things necessary for eternal 
 life without your help, for you often put 
 darkness for light in your attempts to 
 explain what is quite clear already." 
 
 " But nobody does search you nowadays," 
 said one of the novels. " I am what is 
 called a theological novel, and they much 
 prefer to read me ; there is great interest 
 in theology, I grant, but no religion. You 
 are much too direct to suit the modern 
 taste ; no one wants religion, only just a 
 delicate flavour of theology in their read- 
 ing, just sufficient to quiet the conscience, 
 and make them feel that they are religious, 
 without giving them the trouble of being 
 so." 
 
 "In saying that you remind me of 
 another argument which proves my value," 
 said the Bible. "It may be that I am 
 
 43
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 neglected by some, but anyway, I am 
 written about and wrangled over on all 
 sides, and but for me, many of you would 
 never have had any being. I have given 
 rise to half the literature of the world." 
 
 " Yes," laughed one of the latest comers 
 still uncut, " you are so full of blunders, it 
 needs us to set your errors straight. You 
 say such extraordinary things, and talk of 
 science, and you know nothing at all about 
 it, as my pages will soon show." 
 
 "And your facts are all wrong, too," 
 said a history. " Any one who reads me 
 will soon see you are lull of mistakes." 
 
 " They may think so," rejoined the Bible. 
 " As for me, I am content to wait ; many 
 things which now seem contradictory will 
 one day become clear ; every day is bring- 
 ing something to light which shows that 
 others, and not I, have made the mistakes. 
 For my part, I am not anxious about those 
 things, as it is not my purpose to teach 
 science or history, but only to help men to 
 lead better lives, to comfort them in trouble, 
 to strengthen them in weakness, to tell 
 them of God, and lead them to Him. You 
 
 44
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS 
 
 must judge me by my purpose, and how I 
 accomplish it." 
 
 "A queer sort of one you are to teach 
 men the truth, when you are so wrong your- 
 self," scoffed the number of a current maga- 
 zine which lay near by on the table. " I 
 know you claim a sort of divine authority 
 for all you say, but I contain an article 
 which disposes of all your vaunted inspira- 
 tion ; it won't do to boast of that no\v, 
 else how about Jephtha and his daughter, 
 and Jael and Si sera ? Fine sort of doings 
 these in a book which professes to teach 
 morality ! " 
 
 " And what about the Flood ? " said an- 
 other of the magazines. " And the Gadarene 
 miracle ? " 
 
 " If you cared more for the truth of 
 eternal principles than for the fleeting in- 
 terest of your monthly readers," said the 
 Bible, " you would remember that ' a tree 
 should be judged by its fruits.' My fruit 
 is seen in the lives of those who live by me, 
 and I should like to know what help or 
 comfort it is to any one to speculate, as 
 you do, on points which are quite secondary 
 
 45
 
 to my purpose of helping men to lead 
 higher, holier lives." 
 
 " But our point is that your purpose is 
 vitiated because of the untrustworthy na- 
 ture of your contents," replied a work just 
 issued from the press. " If there's a mis- 
 take here and an interpolation there, and 
 this can be smoothed over and that ex- 
 plained away, how about the credibility of 
 your witness 1 If one part is wrong, . why 
 not another ? And what is there left that 
 we can believe ? What right have you to 
 put yourself on a pedestal and pretend to 
 pre-eminence ? " 
 
 " I am quite content," said the Bible, 
 " to be judged as to my literary merits in 
 the same way as any other literary work, 
 and quite convinced that the more I am 
 examined the more my truth will be vindi- 
 cated. But I must repeat that my purpose 
 is an ethical one. I profess to teach all 
 things necessary to salvation, and it is not 
 necessary to salvation to know whether 
 the earth was made in one day or twenty 
 thousand years, whether the Flood covered 
 a single country or the whole world, 
 46
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS 
 
 whether our Lord caused the pigs to fly 
 violently down a steep place into the deep 
 or only took advantage of a coincidence to 
 quiet the mind and restore the confidence 
 of a lunatic. I claim to be judged by an 
 ethical standard ; compare me with the 
 highest of all other books, and you will be 
 obliged to admit that the gap in spiritual 
 elevation which separates us is tremen- 
 dous." 
 
 " It seems to me very queer," grumbled 
 a work on the exact sciences, "to teach 
 truth by means of untruth." 
 
 " The untruth has yet to be proved," 
 mildly suggested the Bible. "As time 
 goes on you will find that each new-comer 
 amongst you confirms some fresh point of 
 my story. Meanwhile I achieve my pur- 
 pose. Long before most of you came into 
 being, I was read, not for my history or my 
 science, but for my moral and spiritual 
 teaching, and it is so still ; my purpose 
 remains unaltered by anything you have 
 said or can say." 
 
 The novels, who had been feeling rather 
 left out in the cold during this last phase 
 
 47
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 of the discussion, now joined in, to advance 
 a new claim to superiority. 
 
 " That is what we have said all along ; 
 we must be judged by what we accomplish. 
 It seems to us that half of you are written 
 to contradict what the other half has said ; 
 now we don't profess to deal with real 
 people or real events, except so far as it 
 suits us ; we have a purpose : we are an 
 answer to the wish 
 
 " O, wad some pow'r the glftie gie us 
 To see oursels as others see us," 
 
 and so T think we may claim to be allies of 
 the Bible." 
 
 "In so far as you show men themselves, 
 and teach them their own weaknesses, we 
 gladly accept your aid," he replied ; " but 
 it is to be lamented that many among you 
 foro-et to show them that weakness is too 
 
 O 
 
 often wickedness." 
 
 " But that would not be pleasant, and 
 our object is to please. We should not go 
 out half so often if we delighted, as you 
 seem to do, in making men miserable. We 
 spend our lives in cheering men and help- 
 48
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS 
 
 ing them to forget the dark side of life. I 
 was up all last night," said a stout yellow- 
 back, " amusing a poor young fellow who 
 came home from a card party with empty 
 pockets. A cosy arm-chair, a bright fire, a 
 strong glass of brandy-and-water and I, 
 helped to drive it out of his mind, and 
 when he went to bed he had forgotten all 
 about it." 
 
 " Yes," said a second novel, " I know 
 that young man." 
 
 " And I, too," said another. " Many of 
 us have spent the night with him on such 
 occasions." With a flutter of conscious 
 pride he added, " I think we can fairly 
 claim to have a purpose, and to have 
 accomplished it, too, though we did not 
 make him miserable." 
 
 " Perhaps it would have been better if 
 you had," began the Bible ; but before 
 another word could be said the books were 
 all startled by the familiar sound of keys 
 rattling in the door; it was flung open, and 
 the librarian entered, accompanied by a 
 tall young man with a strong, firm face, 
 whom they recognised as having spent 
 D 49
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 some hours in the library that afternoon. 
 He stepped eagerly forward to the table 
 where lay the open Bible, exclaiming, 
 
 " I am glad to find rny Bible again ! I 
 would rather lose all I possess than this 
 one book. It is the joy arid rejoicing of my 
 heart, and worth more than all yours put 
 together," said he, turning to the librarian. 
 
 At this the library books straightened 
 themselves and drew their leaves together 
 in disgust, but were a little comforted when 
 the librarian replied : 
 
 " Well, it ain't much to look at, anyway, 
 and it wouldn't fetch half as much as many 
 a one on these shelves." 
 
 " Very likely," said the young man, " but 
 for all that I would not part with it. It is 
 endeared to me by many memories. This 
 copy belonged to my father ; his mother 
 gave it him long years ago, when he was 
 quite a little boy, and after his death it 
 came to me." 
 
 " Oh, if that's it, I can understand it, 
 though Bibles are cheap as dirt nowadays," 
 said the librarian. 
 
 " Say, rather, cheap as bread," suggested 
 So
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS 
 
 the young man, " for, like bread, they are 
 within reach of every one, the true bread 
 of life, the only words that can feed the 
 spirit of man. The books you have here 
 may inform the mind, may train the in- 
 tellect, and even quicken the moral sense, 
 but this one book is more powerful than 
 them all, for it alone can inspire men, and 
 give them a sufficient motive to rise above 
 themselves, to make of their dead selves a 
 stepping-stone to higher things." 
 
 " You may well say that," admitted the 
 librarian ; " we had one here, a mere wreck 
 for years through drink ; a clever man, 
 too ; used to write a good deal, one of our 
 most regular readers, knew half the books 
 by heart as you may say, and yet he 
 couldn't give up the drink. He got 
 gradually shabbier and shabbier, his walk 
 more shaky and his nose more red ; then I 
 missed him for some weeks, and when he 
 ca.me back he was a changed man. He was 
 still shaky, it is true, and not altogether 
 steady on his pins, but there was a different 
 air about him, a sense of self-respect which 
 he didn't wear before, and he's gone on im-
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 proving ever since. I once asked him if 
 he'd been ill that time when he was away. 
 * Yes, thank God,' he replied, and seeing 
 me look rather surprised, he went on to 
 explain, ' I shall always thank God for that 
 illness, for it taught me to know and love 
 my Bible above all things.' " 
 
 " He is not the only one to whom that 
 book has been precious," said the young 
 man ; " few men had a harder life than my 
 dear father, yet many a time would he say 
 that his Bible was better to him than thou- 
 sands of gold and silver, and that, when he 
 had very little of either. He did not al- 
 ways think so ; as a young man he used to 
 delight in picking holes in its history, and 
 scoffing at its teaching. He was a clever 
 man, conversant with most of the works 
 you have here, and he made a very profit- 
 able use of his knowledge and his pen, for 
 scepticism was fashionable, and it paid to 
 abuse the Bible. But the expression of 
 these opinions cost him his employment, 
 and he was reduced to living upon his 
 literary earnings. Upon these he might 
 have Hone very well but that unexpectedly 
 52
 
 THE BATTLE OF THE BOOKS 
 
 he found he could write no more in the 
 same strain as formerly. ' The entrance of 
 Thy word giveth light/ and by its light he 
 saw that he had been living in utter 
 neglect of one side of life, ' of the soul 
 which is bound up in the bundle of life 
 with the Lord his God.' From that hour 
 the book became a lamp unto his feet and 
 a light unto his path, and though my 
 mother's health was failing and poverty 
 pressed us sorely, he never swerved from 
 his love of his Bible. His last moments 
 were spent over its pages, his last words 
 were a witness to its quickening power, 
 and he died with the testimony on his lips, 
 ' This is my comfort in my affliction, for 
 Thy word hath quickened me.' But I must 
 go," he added, " now I have found what I 
 was looking for. I have promised to read 
 to-night to a friend who is passing through 
 the valley of the shadow of death ; no 
 words but these can give that true peace 
 which enables a man to meet death calmly, 
 and in the sure and certain hope of resurrec- 
 tion to a life hereafter." 
 
 So saying, they quitted the library. The 
 
 53
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 key turned again in the door, and the books 
 were left once more in undisturbed posses- 
 sion of the room until the morning. But 
 
 O 
 
 the discussion was not resumed. Even the 
 novels felt it wiser to be content with their 
 popularity, and not advance doubtful claims 
 to superiority over their fellows, since the 
 only point on which all were likely to agree 
 was in mutual congratulations that so im- 
 portant a rival as the Bible had proved to 
 be, was no longer in their midst.
 
 BE STILL AND KNOW"
 
 " The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit* 
 " In your patience possess ye your souls"
 
 "BE STILL AND KNOW" 
 
 was a brilliant day in summer 
 when the little spring first 
 welled up from the mountain 
 side ; and, bubbling in its joy, 
 greeted the free atmosphere, the glorious 
 sunshine, and the still pure blue of heaven. 
 It had been a dry summer, an unusually 
 dry summer. The grass was parched and 
 burnt, the bracken clothing the hill- side 
 was dried and withered, and had donned its 
 autumn dress of rich warm russet ere its 
 time, the soil was light and crumbling 
 with cracks and fissures gaping for refresh- 
 ment, so that the advent of the spring was 
 greeted on all sides with a chorus of rejoic- 
 ing. It stayed awhile, slowly welling up- 
 wards and contemplating the scene upon 
 
 57
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 which it had arrived, whilst all around it 
 heard the voices of grass and fern and 
 earth crying to it, " Oh, come to us and 
 kiss us with your freshness ; come and 
 slake our parched thirst with your wel- 
 come moisture." 
 
 And the little spring sparkled to itself 
 in joy, and reflected back the brilliancy 
 of the sunlight and the calm hopefulness of 
 the azure vault above, as it thought how 
 all combined to welcome it, and how happy 
 it would be in this new home, running to 
 
 7 c? 
 
 and fro helping one and another, whilst it 
 itself bore everywhere the glorious robe of 
 azure caught from the heaven above and 
 sparkled with sun-rays as they fell athwart 
 its surface. 
 
 It was in no hurry to do more. For the 
 moment it was content and happy ; but 
 life, it soon learnt, goes on and drives its 
 children with irresistible, if imperceptible, 
 force onward too. So, as it grew and 
 gathered strength it found itself rolling 
 slowly onward and downward. The 
 thirsty grass received it with open arms 
 and begged it to stay that it might drink 
 58
 
 "BE STILL AND KNOW" 
 
 its fill, but the spring heard other voices 
 calling, and impelled by a power it knew 
 not it pushed on, merrily babbling over 
 the stones as it went. When it met one 
 larger than another it just changed its 
 course, and running round the impeding 
 stone sped gaily onward, sparkling and 
 singing in the light of heaven. 
 
 The birds came and drank of its waters, 
 the wind caressed it as it blew, and still 
 the stream sped onward and ever down- 
 ward too. As it passed along the moun- 
 tain side it saw other streamlets, and 
 greeting them with merry ripple said, 
 " Come with me, let us join hands and go 
 together, for I am off to see more of this 
 glorious world. That beautiful golden 
 globe that lives in the vault above is going 
 down behind the world and I must go too ; 
 so you see that I must hurry or I shall be 
 left behind and I cannot live without him. 
 I shall have hard work to keep up with 
 him, no doubt, but come with me or you 
 will die too and sink back into the cold 
 dark earth again where we came from." 
 
 And the wind that swept softly by 
 
 59
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 sighed gently to the stream : " Not so, 
 dear stream, you are wrong ; haste not, for 
 you cannot catch the golden sun however 
 fast you go ; wait, be patient, obey the 
 order of your being, go slowly on shedding 
 refreshment as you go, and he will return 
 and you shall shine again in his light 
 and reflect once more the beauty of the 
 heavens." 
 
 But the stream believed not the wind. 
 " Come back ? No ! I am not going to 
 trust to that ; how do I know that he will 
 return ? I prefer to make sure, I am not 
 one of those that like to sit down idle, I 
 shall be up and doing. I mean to work 
 for my robe of blue and not be left in the 
 lurch. If I only go fast enough I shall 
 succeed, so come along, dear streamlets, 
 join me and we'll run along together. It's 
 only down the hill and across that field 
 and we shall be there ; don't stay listening 
 to the wind, but let's be off." 
 
 But the wind knew better. Sweeping 
 
 ceaselessly across the land the wind knew 
 
 well that the field, as it seemed to the 
 
 streamlet, was a wide stretch of country 
 
 60
 
 "BE STILL AND KNOW" 
 
 widening beyond all expectation away to 
 the ocean, beyond which again the sun 
 still held on his way, and that it was hope- 
 less for the stream to attempt to follow. 
 
 " Silly little stream," he wailed, as he 
 floated sadly on, " were you as old as I 
 you would be wiser and know you cannot 
 earn for yourself, hurry and work as you 
 will, the azure dress you admire so much ; 
 for only by patient continuance in well 
 doing your life's work can you be clothed 
 upon with the robe of heaven. Only as 
 you do your Maker's work and patiently 
 spread yourself in blessing to His world can 
 you reflect the likeness of heaven." 
 
 But the stream heard not the wind, for 
 he was half-way down the mountain by 
 this time, the glad welcoming of grass and 
 bracken all forgotten, as swollen and 
 strengthened by the other streams which 
 had joined him he sped onwards in the 
 direction of the sun which was fast dis- 
 appearing from his view. As he neared 
 the level ground he saw to his dismay the 
 colours go from fern and flower, from grass 
 and leaf. A dull grey hue pervaded all that 
 
 61
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 was so bright awhile ago, and he shivered 
 in his fear lest after all he could not speed 
 fast enough to keep up with the sun, 
 and was just bracing himself to renewed 
 effort when a strange thing happened. He 
 found to his horror that now the mountain 
 was passed it was not so easy as he had 
 expected to cross the field, seemingly so 
 free from impeding stones and rocks. It 
 was true there was no impediment, but all 
 his strength was gone, and he crept slowly 
 onward, obliged now to choose the channel 
 that was least difficult to follow, instead of 
 dashing impetuously on in a straight line 
 for the desired goal. And so he learnt the 
 lesson that he could not quite guide his 
 own life and select his own path, but that 
 he must accept its conditions as he found 
 them, and sadly he flowed onward, all his 
 fun and sparkle gone. 
 
 But the morning light revealed further 
 causes for dismay. All the clear bright 
 water, which had welled from out the 
 earth with such brilliant freshness, was 
 muddy and turbid. During the night he 
 had passed a little cluster of cottages, and 
 62
 
 "BE STILL AND KNOW" 
 
 from them had flowed occasional streams 
 which had not contributed to his purity. 
 The banks, too, through which he ran were 
 soft and muddy, and to his disgust he 
 found himself in his passage through the 
 world carrying along much that he had not 
 expected, and much for which he had not 
 wished, and yet from which it seemed some- 
 how impossible to escape. But worse than 
 all, he was still farther from the sun and 
 heavens than when on the distant moun- 
 tain, and the direction in which he was 
 travelling, though carrying him on, seemed 
 to bring him no nearer. Indeed, he could 
 not think where the sun was, for he was 
 not to be seen anywhere nor any blue sky 
 either ; all was grey and misty. 
 
 With a saddened heart he rolled slowly 
 onwards, growing wider and fuller, it is 
 true, but growing blacker and thicker also. 
 The way now led through more buildings, 
 and every here and there a very large high 
 house, with a number of windows in a row, 
 would be close beside him and a great 
 black wheel would be turning round and 
 round just in his very path, so that he 
 
 63
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 could not avoid it, but must perforce 
 submit to be broken and divided, half of 
 him being carried up on the wheel and 
 thrown down on the other side, whilst 
 half crept under. And from every house 
 or cottage which he passed he received 
 some further additions, all of which robbed 
 him of some of his purity. 
 
 His friend, too, the wind, was absent, so 
 that he could not ask him what it all 
 meant, and it was with a very discontented 
 heart he flowed along. 
 
 " I don't call this life," he grumbled. " I 
 seem to have lost all my strength and 
 energy, as well as my beauty. I meant to 
 choose my own path, and one that led 
 upwards, and here I am condemned to 
 crawl along in this uninteresting way." 
 
 Just then a swallow paused upon his 
 banks to refresh his thirst, and hearing the 
 murmur of the stream, replied, " I don't 
 think you ought to be dissatisfied with 
 your life, dear stream, if I may say so, for 
 you have the satisfaction of knowing how 
 useful you are to others ; you have only to 
 notice how the cottages and houses cluster 
 64
 
 "BE STILL AND KNOW" 
 
 along your banks wherever you go to know 
 that they cannot do without you. I wish 
 I could be of as much use ! " 
 
 " It is all very fine for you to talk," said 
 the stream, " when you have only to lift 
 your wings and fly away upwards whither 
 you please ; you'd tell another tale if you 
 were tied here as I am, and had lost all 
 your beauty, and fun, and sparkle." 
 
 " I don't know," said the swallow ; " I 
 think it is nobler to be of service than to 
 be beautiful," and so saying he flew off", 
 leaving the stream as discontented as ever. 
 
 " I want to be doing ; I cannot bear 
 being idle ; I don't believe in things coming 
 to you by waiting. It's all very well of the 
 wind to try and persuade me that I cannot 
 recover my azure robe by going after the 
 sun ; it seems to me it's the only way, and 
 so I mean to try it if I can." But his medi- 
 tations were interrupted by a change in 
 the country through which he was passing. 
 To his great joy, the plain which had 
 seemed illimitable now appeared to open 
 downwards, in the direction whither the 
 sun had gone, and with a rush and a 
 E 65
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 plunge he flung himself over the slope and 
 hit against a huge piece of rock ; from this 
 he bounded to another, and yet another. 
 They rose at every point in his downward 
 path, so that he was forced to split and 
 divide, going round some and leaping over 
 others. But he did not now grumble, for 
 " This is life ! " he cried ; " now I live again* 
 now I feel I am making some true pro- 
 gress." And ever onward he rushed in 
 tumultuous haste. 
 
 As he dashed from side to side of the 
 narrow channel and plunged amongst the 
 rocks, he foamed and fretted until he grew 
 a sparkling white with a brilliancy equal to 
 the clouds. 
 
 " Ah ! " thought he, " I was right ; I can 
 achieve something. It's all very well to 
 say, 'Be patient and go quietly on your 
 way, and the likeness to the glorious 
 heavens will be yours' it never would. 
 Why, see, in half the time I have re- 
 covered my dazzling purity. I wish 
 the wind would but come along and 
 see me now." And as he spoke he felt 
 him creeping up the gulley down which 
 66
 
 "BE STILL AND KNOW" 
 
 lie was rushing, and greeted him exult- 
 ingly. 
 
 " See how wrong you were you told 
 me I could do nothing. You advocated a 
 policy of patience, and all the while I 
 should have crept along as dull as ditch- 
 water, had I followed your advice. Look 
 at me now ; see how I sparkle and 
 splash ! " 
 
 " True," said the wind, " but it is not 
 with likeness to heaven. You cannot 
 make for yourself the grace and beauty 
 that heaven alone can give. You fret and 
 fume against the obstacles in your path, or 
 you leap exultingly over them, and you 
 gain a portion of the heavenly likeness, I 
 admit, for your motive is pure ; but these 
 are but broken rays of light, only of your 
 own making by fussing and faming against 
 the order of your being. The heavenly blue 
 is lacking. True beauty only comes when 
 you will lie outspread, submissive before 
 heaven. In quietness and patience shall 
 be your true strength ; cease from self and 
 look upwards ; be content to give up your 
 own way, and then, and then only, hope 
 
 67
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 will enter into your life, and you will be 
 clothed upon with azure tints of deepest 
 richness. Be still ; then only can you 
 know your God. Heaven is above you 
 wait. Days of darkness may come, but 
 the glorious sun will return in due course. 
 Cease from self; think not to make your 
 own life, leave that in higher hands. As 
 
 O 
 
 you rush, and fret, and fume you are but 
 widening the distance from the thing you 
 seek. Quietness and repose, the contem- 
 plation of what is above you, and the 
 spreading of your life in willing service 
 will alone give you true likeness to heaven. 
 But," added the wind, y/ith a sigh, " you 
 have not yet learnt that the way to this 
 heavenly likeness is by living unto others. 
 Did you but know it, you had more chance 
 of the azure robe when peacefully wander- 
 ing past the despised cottages tha/i now, 
 whilst leaping from rock to rock." 
 
 " That cannot be," replied the stream, 
 " for I gathered so much evil by my 
 contact with them that all my purity was 
 gone, and it is only by my own efforts that 
 I have recovered even a semblance of it. 
 68
 
 "BE STILL AND KNOW" 
 
 Why, if I were to do as you wish, I should 
 be more than useless ugly and black." 
 
 " No,'' said the wind, " not so ; you 
 would be more serviceable. If, instead of 
 tumbling over these rocks, you had been 
 content to flow through the meadows and 
 villages, you would have spread plenty as 
 you went. You might have lost in one 
 way by giving them of your strength and 
 brightness ; but you would have gained 
 really in width and volume as you flowed 
 onwards. The path chosen for you, believe 
 me, is best/' 
 
 " And what would the end of it have 
 been ? " inquired the stream. 
 
 " It would have led onward through 
 villages and towns to the mighty ocean." 
 
 " There to be lost for ever ! " scoffed the 
 stream. " No, thank you ; such a life is 
 not to my taste, and the goal you paint is 
 not one which attracts me." 
 
 "It is one to which you must come," 
 replied the wind, " whether you will or 
 no." 
 
 But the stream did not wait to listen, 
 and bounded onward as before. Life was 
 
 69
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 bright, life was merry and free ; it knew 
 no constraint and no compulsion, and gaily 
 did it leap along, unconscious that while 
 seeking its way to recover the heavenly 
 likeness it was really being led thither- 
 ward, though by a way that it knew 
 not. 
 
 Through fields all alike, through long 
 stretches of country, with many twists and 
 turns, and past buildings here and there, 
 the stream dashed onwards, till it began to 
 lose heart, and feared that, after all, the 
 wind was right, and it could do nothing 
 towards acquiring the likeness it desired 
 so strongly. 
 
 " Dear friend," he called, as he felt the 
 wind breathe o'er his surface, "you are 
 right ; I have been trying all this long 
 while, I have been running on unceasingly, 
 and yet heaven is no nearer, and I am no 
 liker unto heaven. What shall I do ? " 
 
 "Come," said the wind, " if you really 
 long for heaven, come with me; I will 
 take you. But I warn you, you will not 
 like it ; you must be content to become 
 
 foul in your own eyes ; you must spend 
 70
 
 "BE STILL AND KNOW" 
 
 and be spent for others ; you must flow 
 past houses, cottages, wharves ; you must 
 be used by all who need you ; you must 
 bear the burdens of others ; the stately 
 ships must ride upon your bosom ; and 
 then shall you reflect the heavenly like- 
 ness." 
 
 " But how, dear wind ? Do tell me how 
 I can do this." 
 
 " Take this as your motto ' Be still, 
 and know that I am God.' In quietness 
 and confidence shall be your strength. 
 Be passive in your Maker's hands ; let 
 Him use you how He will. Heaven's light 
 is only reflected in human stillness. It is 
 in the restfulness of love that God's light 
 may be seen in us. Your mistake has 
 been in trying to make your own life. Be 
 still, look up to Him ; He will do all. As 
 you look upward more and more, laying 
 yourself open to the gracious influences of 
 heaven, you will reflect back more and 
 more of its likeness, until at last, losing 
 yourself in ocean, you are received upward, 
 and find yourself indeed taken into the 
 azure you so long for. Thus, and thus 
 
 71
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 only, can the longing of vour heart be 
 satisfied, when you awake thus truly after 
 His likeness." 
 
 " But I shall get so much foulness and 
 dirt from contact with houses and ships 
 and the work-a-day world ; can it be that 
 the way to heaven lies there ? " 
 
 "Yes, indeed; be not afraid, look ever 
 upward, and the reflection of heaven's 
 likeness shall cover the deformities of 
 earth, till the day comes when you your- 
 self shall be called upwards. Then all the 
 foulness and blackness, which you so 
 rightly deplore, shall be left behind, and 
 you shall shine as the clouds in the 
 dazzling purity of your new life. Come ; 
 I will take you." 
 
 And the wind blew and drove the stream 
 onwards, on and on, ever growing in 
 strength and volume, as he spread over the 
 land and flowed through villages and 
 towns. Thirsty travellers drank of his 
 waters, factories borrowed his strength to 
 turn their wheels, children bathed in his 
 shallows, heavily-laden barges floated on his 
 bosom, and the emerald fields sucked up 
 72
 
 "BE STILL AND KNOW 
 
 his refreshment and smiled their thanks to 
 Heaven. 
 
 He began to think of life now in a 
 different way ; it was so full, there was so 
 much to do, there were so many to help, he 
 had no time to spend in working out his own 
 life. But ever and anon, while helping 
 others, he would remember to look upward, 
 and as he looked a calmness stole upon him, 
 an unruffled serenity contrasting strangely 
 with the impetuous haste of youth. And 
 ever, as he looked upward, the likeness 
 grew. Others saw in him what he could 
 not see himself, as, day by day, he reflected 
 more and more vividly the likeness of 
 heaven, till, reaching ocean at length, he 
 ceased to be as a stream, and ascended 
 through the atmosphere to become, in very 
 truth, part of the clouds he so much loved. 
 
 73
 
 THE LIGHT OF LOVE
 
 " / drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: 1 
 " The love of Christ constraineth us*
 
 THE LIGHT OF LOVE 
 
 [WAY in illimitable space a 
 morsel floated. What was it ? 
 Whence came it ? Whither 
 went it ? These thoughts rushed 
 
 upon it as it came to consciousness 
 such consciousness as conveys only a 
 knowledge that it is, beyond which know- 
 ledge all was unknown. The region where 
 it found itself was dark and impalpable, 
 it knew neither what it was, nor whence 
 it came, nor whither it went. 
 
 After a time spent in wonder, it began 
 to experience a sense of motion of move- 
 ment rapid and regular in the course of 
 which it discerned by degrees spots of 
 brightness in what looked the far, far dis- 
 tance, but having nothing by which to 
 
 77
 
 measure, this was by no means certain. 
 Anon, they drew nearer and then flashed 
 by, leaving the darkness greater than 
 before. " What are you ? " he cried, as 
 one crossed his path rather more slowly. 
 "A star," was the answer. " Then am I a 
 star, too ? " he asked ; but his informant 
 was gone, and he could only wait and 
 watch. 
 
 The first thing he noted was that those 
 who crossed his path shed around them a 
 beautiful light as they moved, whilst he 
 went on in darkness. No rays fell from 
 him upon the surrounding blackness. If 
 he were a star, he must be a useless star, 
 different in some way from the others ; for 
 besides lacking their brightness, he noticed 
 that they all appeared to belong to one 
 another, whereas he seemed to be wander- 
 ing alone as though no one wanted him 
 and there were no place for him in space. 
 A third thing struck him ; that they 
 were all hasting by, evidently bound on 
 some mission which demanded fulfilment, 
 whereas he seemed to have nothing by 
 which to guide his movements, but to 
 78
 
 THE LIGHT OF LOVE 
 
 gyrate onward aimlessly in blackness and 
 loneliness. 
 
 He was very lonely and very sad life 
 and being seemed to him a doubtful 
 blessing. Whence came he ? Why had 
 he come ? These questions echoed and 
 re-echoed around him as he admitted that 
 he would rather not have been called 
 into being and sent forth thus, since 
 there was no place for him, no work 
 for him, and no one wanted him ; he was 
 but a waif, floating astray, purposeless 
 through space. 
 
 As he thought thus, there neared him a 
 body of stars, some larger, some smaller, 
 some even as small as himself, whilst 
 upon the outskirts of the circle they 
 seemed to be held together by an unseen 
 bond, for all moved regularly as though one 
 body, and yet, all were quite distinct. 
 
 "Now," thought he, "if I could bub 
 attach myself to them, I should feel that I 
 too had part in life, that I too was wanted 
 somewhere, and perchance in time I might 
 come to shine as they do. As they draw 
 nearer I will try." But the stars drew 
 
 79
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 near and never noticed the poor little 
 black and lonely star that tried to join 
 them. They were moving at a great pace, 
 bent on their own affairs and in a different 
 plane from his, so that they only crossed 
 his path for less than a single second, and 
 heeded not the plaintive petition that they 
 would make room for him. And once again 
 he was alone in darkness. 
 
 Again and again bodies of stars rushed 
 by. Some larger, some smaller, but none 
 would have anything to say to him ; indeed 
 they went so fast, they had come and gone 
 before even he could make his voice heard, 
 or let them know that he was there. 
 Some, indeed, for a while seemed to sweep 
 him onward with them, but it was only 
 the impetus of their own movement which 
 unintentionally drew him forward in the 
 rash of their train, and which died down as 
 they out-distanced him, leaving him more 
 lonely and unhappy than ever. 
 
 " They are cruel," thought he, " and life 
 
 is cruel ; I am not wanted, and I did not 
 
 ask to be. Why should I wander thus 
 
 alone ? I could be of some use ; I feel as 
 
 80
 
 THE LIGHT OF LOVE 
 
 though I could shine a little if I got the 
 chance, but I am all alone and how can I ? 
 No one will have me, every one is in such 
 haste about his own affairs ; no one has 
 any time to think of such as me. Ah, 
 well ! it seems hard ; I should like to be as 
 others, but I don't know how to ; I am 
 not attractive, and I don't know what 
 makes them shine, nor what it is that 
 binds them all together so that they go 
 about so happily and brightly w T ith one 
 another. It must be something which I 
 have not got, for I am but a solitary 
 waif, whilst they are whole families of 
 stars." 
 
 But help was coming, though he knew 
 it not. His pilgrimage through space had 
 brought him nearer to a solution of his 
 puzzles and sorrows, for there were still 
 some who had thought and kindliness for 
 others, and who would listen to his plea, 
 nay, who would even seek out such as he. 
 
 Though many bodies of stars seemed to 
 be going so fast that they had no thought 
 for any but themselves, and, indeed, some 
 actually repelled him, yet presently one
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 cluster drew near, different from the rest, 
 for even whilst they were yet far distant, 
 he felt the faint drawings of attraction 
 towards them. Perhaps he gained confi- 
 dence from observing that they did not go 
 so fast, perhaps from the fact that the stars 
 forming the cluster were of various and 
 smaller sizes, some nearer to his own size ; 
 still more perhaps from the fact that all 
 were not of equal brilliancy. Some indeed 
 only shone in parts, some only on one side, 
 some scarcely at all. They were led, it 
 was true, by several stars brighter than 
 any he had seen, and of these no doubt he 
 would have been afraid, but that they 
 seemed to shed around them the power of 
 such a sweet attractiveness, that he could 
 no longer be silent, but once again raised 
 his voice and pleaded to be allowed to join 
 them. 
 
 Almost before he had spoken, he felt 
 a thrill which he could not understand 
 pass through him, and was drawn into 
 their train, and had become one of them, 
 held by the mysterious power which united 
 them all together, and which seemed 
 82
 
 THE LIGHT OF LOVE 
 
 strongest in the largest and most brilliant 
 of the stars. Near him were some smaller 
 than the others, and of them he ventured 
 to seek an explanation. 
 
 "How is it," said he, "that you are all 
 held thus together ? What is this sweet 
 power which binds me to you, so that I 
 feel no longer a wandering star reserved 
 for blackness and darkness, but have a 
 hope that there is yet a corner for me 
 in which I may find some purpose and 
 some use for my existence. What is it I 
 
 "It is love," replied one of them; "we 
 are drawn together with the bands of 
 love. This love constraineth us to serve 
 one another, and whilst you were yet in 
 darkness and solitude, it was seeking 
 and drawing you to itself. Nothing can 
 separate us from this love." 
 
 " But why are we not all alike, then ? " 
 asked the little star. " Why are some so 
 dark and some so bright ? " 
 
 " Because one star differeth from another 
 star in glory, just in proportion to the 
 strength of its love. As this power deepens 
 in us we shall draw nearer to the central 
 
 83
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 sun of our being, and grow more like him, 
 reflecting back more and more of his efful- 
 gence, for we have no glory of our own." 
 
 "And these brightest of all, what are 
 they?" 
 
 "These are they that turn many to 
 righteousness ; in them love glows with 
 wondrous brightness, and they shall shine 
 for ever and ever ; but beautiful as they 
 are, there is another, the bright Morning 
 Star, whom you have yet to see, more 
 beautiful than any you can imagine, so 
 exquisite in His glory that none of 
 the stars are pure in His sight. At His 
 birth we all sang together and shouted for 
 joy, for He is the brightness of His 
 Father's glory, and the express image of 
 His person. It is His love," he added 
 after a pause, " which binds us all to- 
 gether ; He is the centre, and in Him we 
 live and move and have our being." 
 
 " And has He work for me, I wonder ? " 
 
 " No doubt He has," was the answer, 
 
 "for even the most feeble are necessary; 
 
 you need no longer feel astray, a waif in 
 
 the world's wilderness, for He it is who 
 
 84
 
 THE LIGHT OF LOVE 
 
 seeks the lost, and setteth the solitary in 
 families. His love can never fail, you are 
 His, and He who has begun this good 
 work in you will accomplish it to the end." 
 
 And the little star paused, struck dumb 
 with wonder and with joy. With wonder 
 at the graciousness of the love which 
 sought him out whilst yet a wanderer, and 
 which, working in his companions, held 
 them all together with so firm yet so loving 
 a bond that they were willing to make 
 room even for him also ; and with joy, too, 
 for was it not true that a faint scintillation 
 of light fell from him ? Surely the darkness 
 in which he moved was not so sombre as 
 before ; could he be mistaken ? 
 
 No, it was true ; a faint glow spread 
 o'er him as he realised the depth of 
 the love that held him, whilst the hope 
 grew and strengthened within him that 
 he might yet live to throw back upon the 
 darkness of the world some of that light 
 which had turned for him its darkness 
 into day.
 
 IN WAYS THAT WE KNOW NOT
 
 " Therefore, behold, I will allure her, 
 And bring her into the wilderness, 
 And speak comfortably to her ; 
 
 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, 
 And the Valley of Trouble for a door of Hope.
 
 "IN WAYS THAT WE KNOW NOT" 
 
 T was a long low room, lighted 
 from the top as well as by 
 windows in the side walls. In 
 the summer this made it very 
 hot, as it exposed us so constantly to the 
 heat of the sun's rays which beat fiercely 
 down upon us all the long hours when we 
 were left to ourselves with nothing to 
 do ; idleness making the heat all the more 
 trying to bear. 
 
 For you must know that our idle time 
 was the day-time, and all the change and 
 variety we ever knew was at night, when 
 the long, low room became peopled with 
 men in white aprons and shirt-sleeves, and 
 the whirr and click of the machinery began. 
 
 One end of the room contained a huge iron 
 
 89
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 erection, with a wheel attached to it, round 
 which passed a broad band of leather 
 stretching up to the ceiling and there going 
 round another smaller wheel affixed to a 
 long steel bar ; this went the whole length 
 of the room, and bore at intervals other 
 little wheels, round which leather bands 
 also passed. All these rotated together, 
 set in motion by the one big wheel at the 
 end. 
 
 A little distance from it was a much 
 smaller erection, which had now displaced 
 the older and larger one in the work of 
 setting all the w r heels in motion. The old 
 one maintained a dignified silence, for the 
 newer one was preferred before it, being 
 worked by electricity, whatever that is, 
 and doing twice the work at half the cost, 
 so I've heard them say. 
 
 Personally, I am grateful to both of 
 them, for I always thought that what 
 little change and variety I enjoyed was 
 due to them ; and now I know that who- 
 ever made them, made them both for 
 the same purpose to convey strength to 
 
 us and powers of life ; for movement is life, 
 90
 
 "IN WAYS THAT WE KNOW NOT" 
 
 is it not ? and without them we could not 
 move at all. I quite admit that without the 
 help of a power greater than myself I could 
 never hope to be of any real use at all, 
 so I don't mind now whether the power 
 comes through the big engine or the little 
 engine. I know that the power is the 
 same through whatever channel it comes, 
 because when I am called upon to do my 
 life's work, I feel the strength which 
 enables me to rise up. 
 
 But I must tell you what is the work 
 of my life, only I should just like to say 
 that perhaps this is what they mean 
 when I hear the men around us talking 
 of liking this Church or that Church best. 
 Are these like our big engine and our 
 little engine, and are they only different 
 channels for receiving strength from the 
 same power ? 
 
 But I must stop talking about the 
 engines, and tell you what I am, and you 
 will wonder why such an insignificant thing 
 as I am wants to tell you his story at all. 
 Well, it is just because I am so very 
 insignificant that I think it may be a help 
 
 91
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 to others, for there are plenty more like me, 
 whose lives must be very much the same 
 day after day, and who find it very difficult, 
 as I did, to see any meaning or use in their 
 existence. 
 
 For a long, long time I was very discon- 
 tented. Part of my life was cheerful enough, 
 part of it terribly painful, and in none of it 
 could I see any meaning ; until at last I was 
 shown what it was all for, and this is what 
 I am so anxious to tell. I was looking for 
 something I could do myself; and never 
 thought that I was in the hands of the great 
 power that was working us all, and that, 
 instead of my doing anything, I had only 
 to be quiet, and allow him to make use of 
 me. Yet so it was ; and this is the truth 
 I want to tell you. You will see then how 
 exquisitely beautiful is the way everything 
 is fitted in together to do his bidding, so 
 that even the feeblest are necessary. 
 
 I was going to say that I am the letter 
 A, but I am not even that. I have a friend 
 who is a real letter, and I hope some day 
 he will tell you his story, too ; but I am 
 only a mould a matrix, I think they 
 92
 
 "IN WAYS THAT WE KNOW NOT" 
 
 call me out of which the letter A is 
 made. 
 
 I live in a big machine made of iron and 
 brass, with a lot of other moulds, some like 
 me, but most of them quite different. We 
 each have our own dwelling-place, with a 
 door at the top and a door at the bottom, 
 and all the A's live together, and all the B's 
 live in another house, and all the C's in 
 another. That sounds dull, perhaps, but it 
 is not so really, because we very often meet 
 one another, as you shall hear. No ! the 
 dullest thing, perhaps, is the daily round, 
 day after day alike, and then the long time 
 of silence and repose, and no meaning in any 
 of it ! But that is all changed now. 
 
 Our busy time was at night. All the 
 day through we stood idle in our homes, the 
 wheels all still, and the whirr of the 
 machines silent. We used to watch eagerly 
 as through the side windows we saw the 
 glow of rosy light when the sun set, and 
 soon after that the stars appeared through 
 the glass windows in the roof, and then we 
 knew it would not be long before the gas 
 would be lit, the men would come, and 
 
 93
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 then the wheel at the end of the room 
 would begin to turn, and twist the leather 
 baud round so that it would turn the 
 smaller wheel on the steel bar, and as that 
 revolved all the wheels along it would 
 
 o 
 
 turn round too. And these smaller wheels 
 each communicating by a leather band with 
 one of the machines, would set them all 
 in motion, and the work of the night 
 would begin ; for we never left off until 
 long after midnight. 
 
 At this point we all trembled with 
 excitement, and got ourselves ready ; but 
 without a special call none of us could 
 come out. You see the power was 
 there, for the wheels were turning, and 
 presently we should feel it thrill through 
 us, but until it did we could do nothing. 
 You might almost say it made no 
 difference at all to us until we actually 
 felt its touch ; and this it is which makes 
 me think the men must mean something of 
 this sort when 1 have heard them talking 
 about religion and different places and 
 methods of worship, because I can quite 
 see that it is not the same motive power to 
 
 94
 
 "IN WAYS THAT WE KNOW NOT" 
 
 each of them, only a few of them seem to 
 make it their very own but I am wander- 
 ing again ! 
 
 The first time my turn came to leave my 
 home I was thrilled with joy and excite- 
 ment, and sallied forth in anticipation of a 
 brilliant time. The whirr and clang and 
 noise around me only added to my excite- 
 ment as I dropped out of the bottom door 
 of my home, and felt myself rapidly driven 
 along to the left, and there held in place 
 between some railings by two little iron 
 fingers, who pinched me rather tightly, until 
 a friend and neighbour, the letter N, came 
 down beside me, and was pressed into place 
 in his turn. Next came a D, and then a 
 curious piece of steel which I have heard 
 them call "justification" came and 
 separated us from the comrades who 
 followed. I wonder if it gets that curious 
 name because it adjusts the distances be- 
 tween us ? 
 
 Wliilst we were waiting in position for 
 the next change that was to come upon us, 
 I took a look around ; for you must know 
 that we cannot see much until we leave 
 
 95
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 our homes, except the rosy glow of sunset 
 and the stars overhead. In front of our 
 homes I saw a man seated on a. stool ; before 
 him, on a small square board, was a piece 
 of paper with curious black marks over it 
 as though a fly had walked on it with dirty 
 feet. The man gazed fixedly at this, and 
 with his hands he pressed down one by one 
 some round pieces of white stuff, with a 
 black mark on each, which I think were 
 letters, but I could not see very well from 
 where I was, and I was so agitated that I 
 could not notice everything. I did notice, 
 however, that every time he touched one of 
 these a neighbour of mine came out of his 
 house and joined us, so there must be a 
 connection somehow. 
 
 When a certain number of us were, 
 arranged side by side, a terribly be- 
 wildering experience befell us. We heard 
 a loud click, and before we had time to 
 wonder what it was, we and the lines sup- 
 porting us fell suddenly down and were 
 drawn still farther to the left, where we felt 
 it growing hotter and hotter. Then came 
 another unexpected turn of the machinery, 
 96
 
 "IN IV AYS THAT WE KNOW NOT" 
 
 and an intolerable heat, as we were pressed 
 close against an iron box with a rao-ino; fire 
 
 O O 
 
 beneath, and full of molten boiling lead. 
 
 To our horror we were held close to this 
 terrible place, and some of the lead was 
 actually squeezed out upon us. We shrank 
 back, you may be sure, but it was DO use, 
 we were in the grasp of a stronger power. 
 In spite of all our efforts the cruelly 
 hot lead was pressed well home, so that, 
 when at last we were released and 
 with what joy we tore ourselves away ! 
 I could see myself and all my comrades 
 imprinted on the metal. We had left 
 our impress there, and had just time to 
 see it as the bar of lead was carried 
 off down below, and we felt ourselves 
 moving into a cooler atmosphere and 
 upwards once again. 
 
 By some means which I cannot explain 
 (for every bit of the machinery seemed mov- 
 ing at once, and all the wheels turning, and 
 there was such a noise I could hardly think), 
 we found ourselves running along a bar 
 above our homes, and each one as he came 
 to his own particular door dropped gladly 
 G 97
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 off and returned to rest. All this time 
 the man went on pressing down the knobs, 
 and calling out one and' another to go 
 through the same experience from which I 
 had just returned. I meant to have warned 
 them what was in store for them, but the 
 very same movement which dropped me 
 and my companions home again liberated 
 others, and put them in line down below, 
 so that they were off before ever I could 
 get a word out. 
 
 I now had a little leisure, for having been 
 the first of my family to go out, and having 
 returned by the upper door, I found my- 
 self on the top of a pile of moulds of the 
 letter A, and, since we all went out by the 
 lower door, I knew my turn would not 
 come again until all those below me had 
 been called out first. But we were in 
 greater demand than I thought, and before 
 very long I trembled, partly with joy and 
 partly with fear, to find myself again nearest 
 to the door through which we all made our 
 exits into the outer world. I confess I was 
 somewhat disappointed to find that the 
 journey I performed was exactly similar to 
 98
 
 the previous one, except that my com- 
 panions were a little different. This time 
 I had an M on one side of me, and D E on 
 the other. Several times that evening the 
 process Avas repeated, until, thoroughly 
 wearied out, we were left at last in peace as 
 the gaslight paled before the dawn. 
 
 I have forgotten to tell you what became 
 of the bars of lead bearing our impress. As 
 I dropped homewards, I saw a long, narrow, 
 shining mass removed from the lower part 
 of the machine, near the floor, and carried 
 away down the room. I had just time to 
 see that it was composed of numbers of 
 bars of lead, all bearing the likeness of 
 letters in a confused sort of way, for they 
 all appeared topsy-turvy, as though they 
 were standing on their heads with their 
 backs to one another. What use was made 
 of it I did not then know, and I shall not 
 tell you now, because it belongs to my dis- 
 covery of the meaning of my life ; but I 
 may just tell you that I heard the man on 
 the stool say that each of these bars of lead 
 was a "line of type," whatever "type" 
 may be ; and that the whole machine was 
 
 99
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 called a " line o' type " machine because it 
 made them. 
 
 " Well," thought I, " I am disappointed ! 
 What is life ? What does it all end in "? 
 Why nothing ! Here I am, doing the 
 same thing day after day, living with the 
 same people in the same house, with the 
 same things happening over and over again, 
 until I am sick of it, and no change of any 
 sort. It is true I sometimes see a friend or 
 neighbour for a few minutes, but their lives 
 are just the same as mine. And added to 
 this there's not a day that passes without 
 some suffering, every day brings us to that 
 raging furnace, and we can't avoid it. It's 
 all very well for people to say that our lives 
 are of use, I don't believe it ! " said I to 
 myself; " I shouldn't mind half so much if 
 I thought there was any purpose in this 
 endless, weaiy round, day after day the 
 same. Indeed, I should be quite content 
 to suffer pain even, or at least I think I 
 should, if it was of any use, but it's all so 
 objectless and purposeless, that I lose all 
 heart, and really wish I had never been, 
 made."
 
 "IN WAYS THAT WE KNOW NOT" 
 
 Thus did I grumble on, for at that time I 
 was very discontented. I was by no means 
 conscious of my own insignificance at that 
 period. To myself I was at that time the 
 most important element in the whole world. 
 Now I know differently, now I realise how 
 small and insignificant I am. For the 
 greatness of life, and the greatness of the 
 work that is ceaselessly going on in the 
 world, when it is rightly understood, can- 
 not fail to make one feel very small. And 
 strange as it may seem, just as we realise 
 our own insignificance, which you might 
 expect would make us unhappy, there 
 comes with it a great content; at least, it 
 did to me. I saw then that a power be- 
 yond me and far greater was making use of 
 me, and I was content, without knowing 
 how, "to will and to do of his good 
 pleasure." 
 
 But enlightenment came to me also. 
 Why we took this weary round day after 
 day was at last explained to me. 
 
 One night as the men struck work a 
 large sheet of paper was thrown down by 
 one of them on our machine, and when I 
 
 101
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 was sufficiently rested to look at it, for we 
 had been worked very hard that night, I 
 observed that it was covered all over in 
 regular lines with small black marks, neater, 
 smaller, and straighter than those on the 
 paper at which the men stare every night ; 
 and on looking more closely I recognised 
 every here and there my own likeness, just 
 as I had seen it stamped upon the molten 
 lead. This so excited my curiosity that I 
 actually said out aloud, " Why I wonder 
 how I came there, and what it all is ? " 
 
 The paper rustled slightly and replied, 
 " I am a newspaper, I carry news to every 
 one, and you enable me to do it. If it were 
 not for you, I should have no message for 
 any one ; you and your neighbours are the 
 letters which make me of value, without 
 you I should be a plain sheet of paper and 
 have nothing to say to any one. As it is, 
 I carry news and information to all sorts of 
 people and all sorts of homes. You cannot 
 think how eagerly I am looked for and 
 read every morning, now by a man in busi- 
 ness, to whom I tell whether he is richer or 
 poorer than he was yesterday now by a 
 
 102
 
 U IN WAYS THAT WE KNOW NOT" 
 
 poor young girl seeking employment for 
 her daily bread now by a mother search- 
 ing for tidings of her sailor boy and the 
 safety of his ship now by the sufferer who 
 hears through me of medical skill and the 
 chance of renewed strength through the 
 kindly charity which supports our hospi- 
 tals." 
 
 " But how can you do all this ? " I asked. 
 " Can you go to so many homes ? " 
 
 " Oh dear, no ! " the paper exclaimed, 
 " I am only one, but there are thousands 
 more exactly like me, and each one goes to 
 a different place. Why, miles of paper are 
 used every night, and every piece of it is 
 covered with the same news, so that it 
 goes to many, many places." 
 
 "And do you really mean that I make it 
 possible for you to carry all these messages 
 to the different readers ? And am I really 
 touching so many lives, all unknown to my- 
 self?" I gasped. 
 
 "Yes, indeed," he replied, "you have 
 no idea of your influence ; I can only 
 influence the one who happens to read me, 
 but you are influencing every reader, for 
 
 103
 
 your likeness is printed over and over 
 again on each of us." 
 
 " This is indeed marvellous ! " I ex- 
 claimed, "but I don't see how it is 
 done." 
 
 " No, of course not," replied the paper, 
 " because you live all your life here in one 
 constant round, and never get beyond it, 
 but none the less you are doing a great 
 work we don't always know all we arc 
 doing ; I don't myself, though I have more 
 opportunities of knowing than you. Well, 
 I will explain to you. Every time you are 
 pressed against the hot lead, which is a 
 disagreeable thing, I grant, your character 
 is being moulded. It is then carried down 
 below in common with the moulds of other 
 characters who are your companions. These 
 are taken away and placed in different 
 machines, and over them there passes first 
 a black mass and then the white paper, 
 upon which each letter stands out clear and 
 sharp to deliver its message to the world. 
 Your character thus stamped day by day is 
 made use of in ways of which you never 
 
 dream, and is always teaching its message 
 104
 
 to others. Even when you thought your 
 work was done, the impression you made 
 was carrying lessons more widely and 
 continuously than you could imagine. The 
 daily round is not the whole of life, greater 
 issues hang upon your share in it than you 
 have any conception of." 
 
 " I am, indeed, astonished ! I thought 
 life was one unceasing round, day after day 
 alike, with no further result, and now you 
 show me that there has been a purpose in 
 it, and that even so insignificant a thing 
 as myself has something to do, and can 
 carry an influence and a message in ways 
 I never dreamt of! But then," I reflected, 
 " it is not I that do it after all, I am quite 
 unconscious of anything beyond my daily 
 round, and I am only one of many, so that 
 after all my share is but a small one." 
 
 " That may be," said the paper, " and it 
 is not your business to know all the good 
 you do. I don't suppose many of your 
 companions are aware of their own in- 
 fluence. Yet I can quite understand it is 
 difficult to be contented with a dull jog- 
 trot life like yours, until you know the 
 
 105
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 meaning of it," he added, sympathetically, 
 for he doubtless noticed that I was not 
 altogether consoled by his explanation, 
 since it seemed a little hard that we 
 should never actually see of the fruit of 
 our labours. 
 
 Oddly enough that very evening brought 
 me the comfort I sought. It was early, 
 the men had all returned ready for the 
 night's work, but they had not begun. 
 They were sauntering about waiting, I 
 think, for the slips of paper, which each 
 mm sets up in front of him, because, 
 presently, some one came and gave them 
 each a packet of such papers and they set 
 to work at once. Meanwhile, they amused 
 themselves by talking, and I overheard 
 the two near me, and this is what they 
 said. 
 
 " I say, Bill, do you remember setting 
 up that bit about the fishing-smack that 
 was lost ? Such a curious thing happened ! 
 One of the letters got wrong someway, 
 an A was left out, but it made all the 
 difference to a poor old woman in our 
 
 street whose boy is a sailor, for she read in 
 1 06
 
 "And I overheard the two near me." p.
 
 "IN WAYS THAT WE KNOW NOT" 
 
 the paper that the Ann was wrecked 
 and all hands lost ! Poor old lady, I 
 thought it would have been her death- 
 blow, she took on so ! But it was all 
 right in the morning, when I took her in 
 the next day's paper and showed her that 
 it should have been printed Anna, and so 
 her son on board the Ann was all safe. 
 It's amazing the difference that one little 
 letter made in her life, poor old soul ! " 
 
 "Yes," rejoined Bill, "but I think I 
 know something more remarkable still 
 which came of the letter A. Do you 
 remember Tom Jones, who used to work 
 here ? Well, he's gone to London now, on 
 a paper there; all the spare time he's 
 got he spends in preaching. I asked him 
 once what made him take to it ? And I 
 opened my eyes, you may be sure, when he 
 answered, ' The letter A.' >J 
 
 " ' It's a queer story/ said Tom, ' but it's 
 true ; the letter A was the letter that led 
 me to my Saviour. I was in a peck o' 
 trouble at the time, the missus and the 
 babes were ill and I was worried, and I 
 
 had less than no hope to look to anywhere, 
 
 107
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 for I didn't believe in religion and that 
 sort of thing. Well, one night the paper 
 given me to set up for printing was about 
 a prize which was offered to any one who 
 could correctly tell the number of A's in 
 the Book of Hosea. It struck me I might 
 try. I'd had extra expenses at home 
 through illness and the doctor to pay, and 
 so on, and my work being amongst letters 
 all night I thought I stood as good a chance 
 of the prize as any one, and so I determined 
 I'd go in for it. I hoped to get the money, 
 but I found what was better than silver 
 or gold. I found the key to life. I used 
 to fancy that life ended with what you see, 
 and that we made our own lives, but that 
 little letter showed me that we are being 
 led by a way that we know not, and are in 
 the hands of One who orders all things for 
 our good. 
 
 "'It was Friday night I set it up. As 
 soon as we were free I got to work, and 
 by Saturday night my task was done. 
 But as I was counting the A's, one struck 
 me more than the others ; perhaps, because 
 
 it was a capital, and so I missed it at first, 
 1 08
 
 "IN WAYS THAT WE KNOW NOT" 
 
 having been counting the small ones, and 
 had to go back for it ; perhaps, because 
 it was an uncommon word "Achor." 
 " Achor," I thought, " what a queer word ; 
 I wonder what it means ? " and so 1 turned 
 to the reference and saw in Joshua in the 
 margin, " trouble." Well, that's odd, I 
 said to myself, " the valley of trouble for a 
 door of hope." I'm sure I'm in trouble 
 enough, and yet I don't see where the 
 hope's coming from. All day long that word 
 Achor stuck in my mind. Saturday night 
 I spent nursing my wife, and wondering 
 what sort of " hope " there could be for me, 
 with the prospect of losing her, for she 
 was mortal bad that night. In the morning 
 I got a turn out of doors, and as I passed 
 an open church-door with service going 
 on, I thought I'd look in and see if I 
 could get any light on my difficulty how 
 trouble could bring hope. I was late, and 
 the clergyman was in the pulpit, so I don't 
 know what his text was. He was talking 
 about Atheism, and saying that " a " meant 
 " without," and that without God there was 
 no hope for any man. He then showed 
 
 109
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 that Christ was the hope of every man, the 
 Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the 
 end of all things. I'd heard lots of similar 
 sermons, but you see I'd got the letter A 
 in my head, having counted so many the 
 day before, and so it struck me as curious 
 that I should hear a sermon which was 
 so much about it, and it made me listen, 
 and there I found hope, for I found my 
 Saviour. He led me through trouble by a 
 way that I knew not/ said Tom Jones, 
 as he ended his story, ' and now I feel 
 I cannot be silent, but must spend myself 
 for Him.'" 
 
 "And so He does," added Bill, as 
 he turned away to receive his night's 
 work. 
 
 As for me, only an ordinary letter though 
 I am, I felt, like Tom Jones, that life had 
 more in it than I knew ; that even trouble 
 brought hope. No longer did I think it 
 strange concerning the fiery trial which so 
 often tried us, but gladly thenceforth did I 
 go upon my daily work, longing only for 
 the opportunity which is now mine of 
 telling others how strangely mistaken we 
 no
 
 "IN WAYS THAT WE KNOW NOT" 
 
 are when we think the influence of our life 
 goes no farther than we can see, forgetting 
 that we are all in the hands of One, in 
 whom and for whom all things live and 
 move and have their being. 
 
 in
 
 ONLY A DROP OF WATER
 
 "For that one ripple on the boundless deep 
 Feels that the deep is boundless and itself 
 For ever-changing form, but evermore 
 One with the motion of the boundless deep*
 
 ONLY A DROP OF WATER 
 
 OU ask me of my life ? Well, 
 I am only a drop of water, but 
 my life is one of change, and 
 that without any will of my 
 own, for at one time I am passing through 
 the earth, at another through the air ; at one 
 time I am helping to swell the noble river, 
 at another I form part of a cloud. This 
 used to trouble me ; I felt I was but the 
 sport of circumstances, and resented having 
 no will of my own. I did not then realise 
 that I was only part of one great whole, and 
 that the mighty ocean which had sent me 
 forth would one day receive me again when 
 I had accomplished the work to which he 
 sent me. I will tell you how this came to 
 me. 
 
 "5
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 "When first I awoke to self- conscious- 
 ness, I was in a garden on the petal of a 
 rose, a glorious damask flower of deepest 
 hue. 
 
 " ' How lovely is that rose ! ' fell from the 
 lips of a girl in the prime of her maiden 
 beauty, as she passed along the garden walk 
 with her companion, a young man, tall and 
 handsome. 
 
 " ' It is yours,' he replied, presenting it 
 to her. ' How I wish that I could as easily 
 give you all the flowers of life ! ' 
 
 "'And with them tears too ; for see/ said 
 she, ' the dewdrop sparkling here.' 
 
 " ' Nay, give me but the right,' he 
 pleaded, ' and I will sweep all sorrow from 
 your path, as now I sweep this dewdrop.' 
 
 " I was gone, his rough hand dislodged 
 me from my resting-place, and I fell upon 
 the ground, thinking as I did so, ' Then all 
 life is beauty, and for tears there is no 
 place/" 
 
 A quiet room with darkened window and 
 dimmed light. On the bed tossed the 
 strong man in the cruel grasp of fever; 
 116
 
 OXLY A DROP OF WATER 
 
 by his side sat the young wife, watching 
 through the long night hours. Ere morning 
 broke that form was still, its tossing 
 ceased, and outwardly there was pea^e. 
 
 They led her from the room, no sound 
 came from her lips, no tear fell from her 
 eyes, they trembled for her reason. 
 
 "God send her tears," they cried, " or she 
 will die." 
 
 Ere yet another dawn their prayer was 
 answered. As they laid in her arms the 
 little one whose advent had been shadowed 
 by so great a sorrow, the flood-gates opened 
 and I fell upon his brow, baptising him into 
 this world of weeping with the benediction 
 of those tears which it had been his father's 
 fondest wish to banish from his mother's 
 path for ever. And I felt that hearts have 
 need of weeping, as flowers have need of 
 rain. 
 
 Yet once again I crossed their lives. It 
 was to mark the triumph of my foster-son. 
 I was in a room of science, round which 
 were ranged learned doctors to whom the 
 new invention was to be explained. With 
 
 117
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 others I was imprisoned in the boiler of an 
 engine, and we jostled one another in our 
 eagerness to set it in motion and be free. 
 
 In the place of honour sat the proud 
 mother, and escaping from my imprison- 
 ment I noted her triumphant look as she 
 glanced at her son, whose face also was 
 irradiated with happiness. And I thought, 
 " How fleeting is beauty, and how passing 
 are tears ; in work, and work only, is the 
 satisfaction of the heart." 
 
 " I was wrong. I had not fully learnt my 
 lesson yet. Work only cannot satisfy the 
 heart nor irradiate the face. Work paints 
 strong and dusky lines of toil there, but 
 rounds them not to curves of happiness. 
 Mere toil, however arduous or honourable, 
 cannot fill the life. Work only brings satis- 
 faction when we can lose ourselves in it 
 when in it we can bury our whole heart 
 wide and warm, so that it throbs in unison 
 with all creation. I learned this later." 
 
 Once more there is a form upon the bed, 
 from which the life is passing. The day 
 
 118
 
 ONLY A DROP OF WATER 
 
 has come when she too must quit her 
 earthly tabernacle. By her side sits the 
 son, his hand in hers, and from her lips 
 there fall the words : " My Father worketh 
 hitherto, and shall not we ? Work on, my 
 son ; my time is almost o'er, there is little 
 more that I can do for Him. He has 
 taught me many lessons, but foremost of 
 them all is this, that true happiness is 
 independent of the change of circumstances 
 and can only be found in union with Him. 
 He may send joy, He may send sorrow, or 
 His most blessed gift of healthy toil, but 
 these are fleeting in a life of change. They 
 only can bring joy as we realise that we are 
 one with Him, that round us, through it all, 
 are the Everlasting Arms, and that when 
 the stream of our life shall run low, it is but 
 to lose itself in the ocean of His love. 'All 
 creation travaileth together till that day, 
 the day of the coming of the Lord, when the 
 earth shall be full of the glory of the Lord 
 as the waters cover the sea.' ' 
 
 "Yes ! I know it now, though work, work 
 
 evermore, is my unceasing portion. First, 
 
 119
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 as the gentle dewdrop adding depth and 
 brightness to the petal of the flower ; then 
 sinking to the earth again to be absorbed 
 and find new birth as dew from human 
 eyes, giving grace and tenderness to life ; 
 returning yet once more to earth, there 
 side by side with others working in 
 increasing stream to refresh the thirsty 
 toilers on her breast. Work ! yes for all 
 creation worketh together until now. 
 Work ! yes, it is the heaven-bestowed 
 dowry of all the sons of men. Yes work, 
 but work with a purpose, and that pur- 
 pose God's. Work in one unceasing round 
 as from dew to rivulet, and rivulet to 
 stream, and stream to ocean, I fulfil my 
 Maker's bidding, till at His word I return 
 to Him who made me." 
 
 120
 
 FOR THE MASTER'S USE
 
 " Esteeming sorrow, whose employ 
 In to develops, not destroy, 
 Far better than a barren joy*
 
 FOR THE MASTER'S USB 
 
 OW delightful it is to be at 
 rest at last! and how soft 
 is this delicious cotton wool ! 
 just the place I should have 
 chosen to rest in after all that I have 
 suffered. I feel as though I could gladly 
 remain here for ever," soliloquised a 
 beautiful Diamond as it lay in the 
 jeweller's drawer. " It is rather dark 
 though, and very lonely," it added after 
 some time. " I wish I had some one 
 to talk to," but just at that moment it 
 felt itself rudely jerked about and bathed 
 in a flood of light, for some one had opened 
 the drawer. A large hand hung over 
 it and dropped other objects into the 
 drawer and then pushed it to, yet not so 
 
 123
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 vlosely as to exclude all light. Being a 
 very brilliant gem and able to concentrate 
 and reflect the light, the diamond soon 
 discovered that it was no longer alone. 
 
 Two others now shared his solitude, 
 both were to him unknown, and it was 
 with some curiosity and wonder that he 
 observed them. One was about his own 
 size, but quite different in shape, being 
 smooth and round, whilst he was all 
 angles and edges ; it was like him in 
 being white, but the white was so different, 
 not clear and bright, but soft and milky. 
 The other was far larger than either of 
 them, and of a lovely yellow colour, but 
 of no special form ; he heard a voice say 
 "Gold" as it was dropped into the drawer, 
 so that he guessed that was its name. 
 
 By way of beginning conversation, he 
 remarked, " I hope you find this soft bed 
 pleasant to rest upon ; I was just rejoicing 
 in it when you joined me." 
 
 " I do, indeed," they ejaculated together, 
 "we are glad to get apart and rest 
 awhile." 
 
 " As for me," said the Diamond, " I 
 124
 
 FOR THE MASTER'S USE 
 
 should be content, I think, to remain here 
 for ever. I don't believe any one ever 
 suffered as I did." 
 
 " I am, indeed, sorry to hear you speak 
 so," politely sympathised the Gold. " I 
 have been a severe sufferer myself, so I 
 can judge what you must have felt, but I 
 hardly think this can be the end. It is 
 pleasant to be here for a time, but surely 
 there must be something else in store for 
 us after all the preparation we have been 
 through." 
 
 " And I, too," chimed in the smooth 
 white ball, " have suffered loss and been 
 torn from home and kindred ; my home is 
 far, i'ar away below the restless, roaring 
 sea." 
 
 "Indeed," replied the Diamond, "I should 
 like to hear about your home, for I was 
 never in the sea. I saw it once, for I was 
 brought here in a large boat, but that was 
 I before my trials began, when I took life 
 pretty much as it came, and did not trouble 
 my head about what it meant, and why 
 things happened. Do tell me all about it ; 
 
 but, first, what is your name ? " 
 
 125
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 " They call me Pearl," she replied, " and 
 if you wish it, I shall be very happy to tell 
 you of my life. But you must both tell 
 me yours afterwards, it will help to while 
 away the time, for, as the Gold has said, I 
 do not believe this is the end, we are only 
 waiting here for a little rest before the 
 jeweller makes use of us." 
 
 As both the Diamond and the Gold 
 agreed to this proposal, the Pearl began : 
 " You must know that I was not always 
 as you see me now. I am all that is 
 left of what is called an oyster, and 
 though the jeweller now values me highly, 
 it is only for what he has done for me. 
 There was a time in my young days when 
 it was just the reverse, and every one 
 looked down upon me, and despised me, 
 and thought that I should never be of any 
 good." 
 
 " We all lived far down below the sea. 
 There were many of us, and a merry 
 time we had ; numbers of fish came and 
 went, and though we remained where we 
 were, they brought us news of all that 
 passed : so we had plenty to chat about. 
 126
 
 FOR THE MASTER'S USE 
 
 Some of my family were very vain. 1 
 don't rnind confessing that I was too. I 
 was young, and plump, and took great 
 pride in my shell. You must know that 
 our shell was supposed to be our chief 
 beauty. I know better now. But at 
 that time we thought less about beauty in 
 ourselves than in our surroundings, and 
 our great care was to cover our houses 
 with brightness and smooth away all the 
 fretting roughnesses that would worry us 
 arid make life painful. We have a 
 peculiar gift by which we are able to do 
 this : a fluid which we spread over our 
 shells, and at that time I thought this was 
 the best use to which it could be put. 
 Experience taught me another purpose 
 for it, and life gave it new meaning ; but 
 you will see that as I go on. One special 
 day marks a change. From that day I 
 began to think more about what I was and 
 less of what others thought of me. It all 
 arose out of a very simple affair ; some- 
 thing strange came into my shell, and 
 with a sharp pang of pain I suddenly 
 
 closed it. 
 
 127
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 " After a little while I cautiously opened 
 it again, and endeavoured to get rid of 
 this horrid thing which troubled me. But 
 no ! it would not go ; the more I tried the 
 more it pained me, until at last I could 
 not open my shell at all. Of what use 
 then was all its beauty ? I could display 
 it now no more. My friends and com- 
 panions thought at first that I was sulky 
 and gave me no sympathy. Afterwards 
 they said it was a disease. I was 
 ' smitten ' and ' afflicted,' and they gave 
 me what was worse than no sympathy, 
 they gave me contempt. I was looked 
 down on and despised. I fretted con- 
 tinually at first, and lost all my plumpness 
 and colour. I struggled constantly against 
 my fate, and the more I struggled, the 
 more I suffered until at last in despair I 
 gave it up. It was then, just at the depth 
 of my despair, that I found escape. The 
 moment I ceased to rebel and accepted my 
 lot it became less hard, and the gift, of 
 which I spoke just now, helped me. I 
 used to think that soft and beautiful liquid 
 was given for our enjoyment solely, and as 
 128
 
 FOR THE MASTER'S USE 
 
 long as everything was bright and comfort- 
 able it almost looked like it. There 
 seemed no great wrong in being happy and 
 delighting in my own beauty. I thought 
 it was the end of life and I was quite 
 content. But when this trouble fell upon 
 me my content was gone. For a long 
 time it seemed as though I should never 
 again be happy, and it was only after I had 
 determined to give up struggling and 
 to make the best of it, accepting the loss 
 of my beauty, that contentment returned. 
 The fluid which I had used to cover my 
 shell now began to cling round the 
 intruder which had caused me so much 
 suffering, until at last I grew quite used to 
 it and felt hardly any pain. Then it was 
 that I became conscious of the contempt 
 of my former friends, for the lump had 
 grown so large that whenever I opened my 
 shell they saw it, and not having one 
 themselves they looked down upon me and 
 said many very unkind things which hurt 
 me terribly. But my day of triumph was 
 coming ! 
 
 " It had long been a story with us, how 
 i 129
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 ages before, from the world above us, there 
 had come down One who had gone about 
 amongst our ancestors, selecting some and 
 leaving others. He had taken away with 
 him those whom he had chosen. We all 
 thought it more or less of a fable, yet we 
 had always talked as though it were true, 
 and had all confessed an eager desire to see 
 more of the wonders above, and had often 
 speculated as to which of us would be chosen 
 when he came again. Many had assured 
 me that I should be one, as my shell was 
 so smooth and so brilliant, and my keenest 
 pang was now caused by the knowledge 
 that all agreed in considering my chance 
 quite gone since this lump had grown. 
 When therefore we were all thrown into 
 excited commotion by the appearance of a 
 large dark object in the water, and knew 
 that the day of which we had long dreamed 
 was come at last, I closed my shell tightly to 
 hide what I looked upon as my deformity. 
 But it was of no use, I was picked up, my 
 shell forced open, I just heard the words, 
 ' This will do, it is a beauty ; truly perfect,' 
 and I was flung into a basket and felt my- 
 130
 
 FOR THE MASTER'S USE 
 
 self going upward, upward, and knew then 
 that I had been chosen. 
 
 " In our journey I had time to look 
 about me, and found the basket filled with 
 numbers of other oysters, and all like me, 
 were afflicted, as I thought. Every one ol 
 them had lumps, some quite small ones, 
 others larger, but none so large as mine. 
 No one knew where we were going or what 
 was to be our fate. This damped our 
 triumph somewhat, and our hopes were 
 further quenched when we left the water 
 and found ourselves piled together in a mass 
 upon a sloping bed of sand. I thought I had 
 suffered enough already, but it was nothing 
 to what now befell me. Day after day we 
 were left on the hot and blistering sand, 
 without one drop of water ; our shells 
 gaped with the heat, and the wider we 
 opened them the more we suffered. Truly 
 I envied my fellows whom I had left in 
 the cool delicious sea, and could have 
 wished myself back again, but that I 
 still hoped there was something better in 
 store for me. My contentment was all 
 gone, and in about a week there was
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 nothing left of me but the poor despised 
 lump. Then, to my intense surprise, I 
 saw that it must have been for this that I 
 was valued, since my shell and all else was 
 thrown away. I next found myself in my 
 captor's hands being placed in a round hole 
 in a piece of wood, and, oh joy! I- was 
 plunged into the water again. It was 
 delicious ! How I revelled in it ! 
 
 " But a strange thing happened : the 
 wood came closer and closer, and at last 
 pinched me so tightly that I could have 
 screamed. When I thought I could 
 endure it no longer the wood and I were 
 lifted out of the water, and then began a 
 horrid process. I was rubbed violently 
 with a white powder, which I found to be 
 made of the smallest pearls ground to a 
 very fine dust, and though it increased my 
 smoothness and brilliancy it was most un- 
 pleasant to bear. That is the whole of my 
 story. I have lost everything, first beauty, 
 then health, then friends, last of all my 
 home was taken from me, and only that 
 left which I had thought my greatest dis- 
 figurement. * Even then I suffered agonies
 
 FOR THE MASTER'S USE 
 
 in being polished and rubbed by my 
 fellows, and only now do I begin to taste 
 of peace." 
 
 " You are indeed very beautiful," put in 
 the Diamond, whereat the Pearl blushed a 
 rosy red. 
 
 " Such beauty as I have was given me 
 by the Jeweller who brought upon me all 
 these changes. I was not ever thus ; but 
 now it is your turn, tell me of yourself," 
 she said, turning to the Diamond. 
 
 " In many things my experience re- 
 sembles yours," said the Diamond, " it is 
 true it was shorter, but I think it was 
 sharper also. Until a few months ago 
 my life was very quiet and uneventful. 
 You must know I was not as you see me 
 now, but rough and dull-looking and of no 
 particular attractiveness. Indeed it sur- 
 prises me, now I come to think of it, why 
 the Jeweller should have picked me out 
 from amongst hundreds of others all more 
 or less alike. He must be wonderfully 
 clever to know what is in us as he does ! 
 Well, he brought me home with others 
 
 133
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 across the sea, and I was pleased enough 
 to see more of the world. At times he 
 would take us out of the soft green bag in 
 which we lived and show us to his friends. 
 I could not help noticing that though 
 there were stones of other colours with us, 
 they gave me the most attention, and 
 when they discussed about a ' rose- 
 diamond ' and a ' brilliant ' I thought they 
 spoke of our colour, but I know better 
 now. I quickly gathered that a ' brilliant ' 
 was the most valued, and I determined 
 that I was a ' brilliant ' for I could see I 
 was quite colourless and unlike the rosy 
 rubies ; but I little knew all that was 
 meant by becoming a ' brilliant.' I was 
 quite satisfied with myself as I was I 
 knew no better and when they knocked 
 me against hard corners and tried to 
 scratch me, I resisted with all my might. 
 I rebelled against the rough treatment, 
 and rejoiced when they spoke of my hard- 
 ness. I thought it was a virtue and I 
 gloried in it. But I learnt differently, it 
 cost me pain enough by-and-by. 
 
 "When we reached land and I was 
 134
 
 FOR THE MASTER'S USE 
 
 next taken out of the bag it was in a dull 
 little room, where I noticed they talked 
 more distinctly of my being a ' brilliant ' 
 presently, and spoke of ' cutting ' me, and 
 then of ' polishing,' after which they said 
 I should be ready for the Jeweller's use. 
 I had no idea what they meant, but I was 
 not left long in ignorance. I felt myself 
 firmly fixed, and then piece by piece was 
 taken from me till I was left little more 
 than half the size I was originally. I 
 cannot tell the agonies I suffered ! 
 
 " I thought it would never end, first one 
 side was cut, then another and another, 
 until I felt as if there would be nothing 
 left and life was over for me at last ! 
 Bitterly did I regret my wish to be a 
 ' brilliant ' for I found that ' brilliant ' and 
 ' rose ' are only two different names which 
 they give to diamonds according to the way 
 they cut them, and the rose does not suffer 
 so much, as it is not so much cut about. 
 At the same time I must admit that they 
 said only the very best quality of stone 
 would stand the amount of cutting necessary 
 to make it a ' brilliant.' But it was too late 
 
 US
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 now ; I could only submit, and I know I 
 ought to have been proud and happy to 
 think that I was allowed to undergo all this, 
 for some of the smaller stones that came 
 over with me were simply pounded up in 
 a steel mortar and used to polish others 
 with, just as your small relations were," 
 added the Diamond, turning to the Pearl. 
 " Doubtless their lives were equally useful, 
 though not so honoured, and as we did not 
 make our own but were chosen by the 
 Jeweller himself, we may rejoice and be 
 thankful that he has so honoured us. I 
 could not help seeing now that they had 
 cut away my earthy outside, that I was 
 more admired than ever, and strange 
 to say, I gathered that the more I was 
 cut the more the Jeweller would value me, 
 even though my size were less. 
 
 " This puzzled me very much at first, 
 but I know why it is now, every cut 
 means a new side from which to reflect 
 light and brilliance ; the more sides I have, 
 the more I shine. 
 
 " But you must not think this was all 
 that I suffered or that I shone all at once ; 
 136
 
 FOR THE MASTER'S USE 
 
 oh no ! I had more to undergo. The 
 powdered diamonds were rubbed against 
 me again and again till I flashed out in 
 agony, and as they rubbed they searched 
 me eagerly to see how I stood it, and 
 whether any flaw or imperfection would 
 be revealed. The more they rubbed, the 
 more I flashed back, till at last they 
 pronounced me ' brilliant ' indeed, and 
 flung me into this delightful softness, 
 where I was thankfully reposing when 
 you joined me. You seem to think that 
 this is not the end, for myself I hope it is, 
 I am so tired." 
 
 " Oh, no ! " rejoined the Pearl, " you are 
 far too lovely to be shut up here in the 
 dark ; you must show others how beautiful 
 you have become ; you must shine as the 
 stars for ever." 
 
 "That will be as the Jeweller orders," 
 said the Diamond ; and turning to the 
 Gold, he added, "it is your turn now." 
 
 " My life, like both of yours, has been 
 
 f 11 of changes," sighed the Gold, "but 
 
 nlike you I have not gained by it. 
 
 '37
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 I observe that each of you is conscious 
 of improvement, whereas I am only an 
 unformed useless mass without light or 
 
 O 
 
 brilliancy." 
 
 " Do not say that," softly interposed the 
 Pearl, "your colour is lovely, so rich, so 
 mellow, so much more glorious than any I 
 can show." 
 
 " Or I either," said the Diamond. 
 
 " Well, it is kind of you to say so, but, 
 like yourselves, I must acknowledge that 
 an} 7 beauty you find in me is not really 
 mine, but is the work of the Jeweller. I 
 can claim nothing of my own, indeed the 
 only virtue I possess is that I am the most 
 docile of all metals and the least volatile. 
 I heard the Jeweller say that it was on 
 this account that he selected me, because 
 he could make of me the most readily 
 what he wished, and that I should lose 
 nothing, no matter in how fierce a heat he 
 tried me. 
 
 " When I first came into his possession, 
 
 I was embedded in a part of the earth, 
 
 which I believe is called rock. It had 
 
 always been my home and always would 
 
 138
 
 FOR THE MASTER'S USE 
 
 be, so I thought, and I was very well 
 content. I had no wish for higher things 
 like the Pearl, and would gladly have 
 escaped suffering if I could. The first 
 thing required of me was to come out ot 
 my earthy surroundings and be separated. 
 To achieve this I was cruelly crushed by 
 huge piles of wood shod with iron which 
 were driven down upon me by machinery, 
 and which there was no means of avoid- 
 ing. I noticed how the rocky matter split 
 and cracked, and how readily it parted 
 from me, and was washed away, whilst 
 I remained caught in the hairy surface of a 
 blanket. Not a scrap of me was lost ; and 
 though I was sadly beaten and battered 
 about T was not yet freed from all im- 
 purity. 
 
 " I was a little consoled after this, 
 for my closest friend, another mineral 
 called mercury, for whom I have the 
 greatest possible liking, joined me, and I 
 eagerly rushed to greet him, leaving all 
 else behind and throwing myself upon him 
 in a close embrace. But we were not to 
 enjoy it long ; they soon parted us, draw- 
 
 139
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 ing off my only friend by a mysterious 
 process which I think they call distilling. 
 I cannot explain it, I only know I lost 
 him ; he grew fainter and fainter in spite 
 of my clinging, and at last floated quite 
 away, leaving me worse off than ever, for I 
 was now nothing but a fine powder of a 
 dull brown colour, no better than the 
 earth from which I was taken. Ah, how I 
 sighed for my quiet home ! How I pitted 
 myself thus uprooted, crushed, robbed of 
 friends and acquaintance, reduced to less 
 than nothing, useless ! So I thought, for 
 I did not know that the object of all this 
 painful discipline was just the reverse, and 
 that only through suffering could I be 
 perfected. 
 
 " But all was not yet over. ' I will 
 purely purge away thy dross and take 
 away all thy tin,' ' I will sit as a purifier 
 and refiner and purge thee,' said the 
 Jeweller, and my pain began anew. I was 
 flung into a biting cruel acid ; I seemed to 
 lose my very identity. I changed colour, 
 and just as I felt I could bear it no longer 
 and gave myself up for lost, all was 
 140
 
 FOR THE MASTER'S USE 
 
 changed in a moment, and once again I was 
 a dull brown powder. It is not pleasant 
 to feel oneself reduced to nothing in this 
 way ; it is most humbling ; and a trial 
 through which neither of you have passed, 
 I think, so you can hardly know what it is 
 like. I thought that now at last I might 
 rest but no. I was carefully gathered 
 up and placed in an iron vessel upon a 
 terrible furnace, which raged with such 
 cruel heat that I dissolved into fluid and 
 turned a greenish blue. I had no more 
 strength left in me. But like you," he 
 added, turning to the Pearl, " at the 
 moment when I felt all was lost I was 
 nearest to relief. I was removed from the 
 furnace, poured out and left to cool, and 
 on coming to my senses found myself as 
 you now see me." 
 
 " Your experience has indeed been 
 varied," said the Diamond. " It all seems 
 very puzzling to me. You were chosen 
 because you would lose nothing ; I gained 
 by loss : you were soft and docile ; in me 
 
 hardness was a virtue. I should like to 
 
 141
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 know what is your opinion about it all, 
 and how you understand life." 
 
 "One thing," replied the Gold, " is 
 quite clear; we have all been brought 
 through great suffering of various kinds to 
 a new state of being, and it is a very 
 different state from our previous one. It 
 is also clear that the discipline used to 
 perfect us was just the one best suited 
 to attain its end and calculated most surely 
 to turn our defects into virtues. Had I 
 been treated as the Diamond, my softness 
 and docility would have caused much loss 
 in value ; yet the hardness of the Diamond 
 was the very thing that made his treat- 
 ment effectual to his perfecting. Truly 
 the Jeweller is all wise, ' he knoweth 
 whereof we are made,' and gives to each of 
 us the experience most efficacious to change 
 the ugliness which was ours by nature 
 into beauty. You, dear Pearl, have been 
 afflicted- with disease and the contempt of 
 friends ; the Diamond has suffered loss to 
 the half of all he possessed ; whilst I have 
 been through every conceivable change, so 
 bewildering in character that only now can 
 142
 
 FOR THE MASTER'S USE 
 
 I begin to think of it calmly. One thing 
 I see quite clearly, we all had blemishes in 
 ourselves by nature which we could not 
 have got rid of without the Jeweller's 
 help. In our original state we were each 
 devoid of beauty, and but for the Jeweller 
 who brought all these influences upon 
 us, painful though they were, we should 
 have remained unfruitful and should have 
 merited no praise but rather blame." 
 
 "Well," said the Diamond, "that is 
 true, but is there any purpose in it ? " 
 
 " Surely," replied the Gold. " We all 
 agree, do we not ? that what we have gone 
 through is preparation, and preparation of 
 our very selves. It must be for some 
 purpose that he sought each of us out in 
 such different ways, and from such dif- 
 ferent circumstances, and prepared us for 
 himself; he must have some work or place 
 for us by-and-by for which he has so care- 
 fully fitted us." 
 
 " I hope so,'"' said the Pearl. " I should 
 like to have the opportunity of showing to 
 others all that he has done for me. It 
 would help them to see what his wisdom
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 can make of the most unpromising ma- 
 terials, and our only way of thanking him 
 is to let others see the beauty he has 
 given us." 
 
 As the Pearl uttered these words the 
 drawer was again opened, and they heard 
 the voice of the Jeweller speaking : 
 " These are my most beautiful gems, they 
 are nearly perfect. This Diamond and 
 Pearl are almost faultless, they will shine 
 with a light above the brightness of the 
 sun in the day when I make up my jewels. 
 The Gold, too, is pure gold, tried in the 
 fire ; it is the best and most useful servant 
 that I have, indeed I could do little with- 
 out it, even my brightest, purest gems 
 would lack half their beauty had I no gold 
 in which to set them, so true is it that ' the 
 greatest is he who doth serve.' ' 
 
 Soon after this their repose was again 
 broken, and their lives were separated. 
 The Diamond and Pearl once more re- 
 cognised each other in the same piece 
 
 of jewelry as it was clasped round the 
 144
 
 FOR THE MASTER'S USE 
 
 arm of a beautiful girl by her fond lover. 
 For the Gold a nobler service was re- 
 served. A plain and unpretentious ring 
 was made of it, and when next the three 
 met together the ring was on the girl's 
 finger binding two hearts in one by a life- 
 long troth.
 
 THE SPARROW AND THE 
 CUCKOO'S EGG
 
 Out present holds our future."
 
 THE SPARROW AND THE 
 CUCKOO'S EGG 
 
 PRING-TIME at last! How 
 delightful it is to feel the sun 
 after the long cold winter, 
 when it was so hard to find 
 anything to eat, and even the worms would 
 not come out of the hard ground ! How 
 delightful to feel the sun shining warmly 
 on your back whilst you smooth out your 
 feathers and sharpen your bill against a 
 twig and make ready to enjoy the day ! " 
 
 So thought a fine young sparrow as she 
 sat on the branch of an oak-tree one morn- 
 ing in February. 
 
 " I cannot think what the winter is for," 
 she murmured to herself discontentedly ; 
 " it is so cold and gloomy, and all the land 
 
 149
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 looks so white it makes your eyes ache to 
 look at the snow, and it is such hard work 
 to find any food. Mother says the winter 
 is necessary, I know, and that the snow 
 keeps things warm, and that we should 
 never have any delightful spring if we did 
 not go through the winter first ; and of 
 course mother has been through several 
 winters, and this is only my first, but all 
 the same I don't believe she knows. Old 
 people always think they know everything, 
 but I must say I don't see why we need 
 have any winter at all. If I had arranged 
 things it should only be spring-time and 
 summer oh yes, and autumn too, because 
 there are so many nice berries to eat then, 
 but never winter." So saying, she flew 
 down to the smooth lawn where she had 
 caught sight of a nice tender young worm, 
 which made a tempting breakfast. 
 
 Brighteyes, as our friend was called, had 
 been born a year ago, and this was her first 
 spring. She had not had much experience 
 of life yet, and, as we have heard, she was 
 not very willing to take lessons from the 
 wisdom and experience of others. Her 
 150
 
 THE SPARROW AND THE CUCKOO'S EGG 
 
 mother, who was a wise old sparrow, was 
 often very anxious about her daughter. 
 She was so pretty, her shape was so comely, 
 her feathers so soft and so smooth, her feet 
 so trim, her beak so polished, and, above 
 all, her eyes so bright, that she had many 
 admirers; and as St. Valentine's Day was 
 so near, when the little sparrows seek 
 to begin life for themselves and make 
 a home together in a cosy little nest 
 of their own, it is no wonder that her 
 mother should be doubly anxious that 
 she should choose a steady young bird for 
 her husband. 
 
 Strong Bill was known to be very much 
 in love with Brighteyes, and so was Brown 
 Wing, and either of them would have made 
 her happy, but they had a powerful rival in 
 young Tightclaw, with whom Brighteyes 
 was very fond of spending a day flying over 
 the meadows and hills. This made her 
 mother very unhappy, as she feared that 
 he was too fond of his own way and of 
 his own comfort to take real care of her 
 daughter or to make her married life a 
 happy one. Many a time did she warn
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 Brighteyes, but she did not seem to pay 
 much attention. 
 
 " Don't you be afraid, mother dear, I 
 know what I'm about. Tightclaw is a 
 little fond of his own way, I admit, but 
 then I like that in a husband. I am sur- 
 prised to hear you take the other view. As 
 for me, I'm not one of the new-fashioned 
 sort that hold the wife may do as she likes 
 and the husband have no control over her. 
 I believe that the husband should be the lord 
 and' master. So never you fear, mother ; 
 you know a great many things, I daresay, 
 but not quite everything, and you don't 
 know Tightclaw as I do." 
 
 It was with an anxious heart that her 
 mother awaited St. Valentine's Day, on 
 which morning all the suitors would come 
 to accost Brighteyes, and she would make 
 her choice by flying off with one of them. 
 
 The morning opened brightly, the sun 
 rose early, and the air was merry with the 
 joyous songs of many happy hearts eager 
 to greet St. Valentine. Strong Bill was 
 the first to approach Brighteyes. As he 
 drew near she put her head on one side 
 152
 
 Don't you be afraid, mother dear, I know what I'm 
 about." p. 152.
 
 THE SPARROW AND THE CUCKOO'S EGG 
 
 eoquetishly, then smoothed a feather in 
 her wing, and stood by her mother looking 
 very demure. This made it rather hard 
 for him, for he did not feel sure how he 
 would be received. 
 
 After paying his respects as a dutiful 
 sparrow should to the mother, he turned 
 to Brighteyes and told her how he had 
 found a sheltered and secure corner in 
 a neighbouring hedge near some moist 
 ground where worms were plentiful, and 
 which he thought was the very spot for 
 a home ; and how he had marked some 
 twigs and some rnoss in the wood hard by 
 and some hair in the farmyard ; and how 
 he knew these would make a cosy little nest 
 to live in, and it only wanted one thing 
 to make it perfect ; and would Brighteyes 
 come and see it ? Brighteyes twittered 
 and chirped, and flew round about and 
 made as though she would, and then she 
 wouldn't, and at last poor Strong Bill saw 
 that it was of no use, and he flew oft' alone. 
 
 Brown Wing and the others fared alike, 
 and it was with a sad heart that her 
 mother saw her worst fears realised as
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 Brighteyes left her side to fly away with 
 Tight claw. 
 
 " Oh, mother, come and see iny little 
 home and share with me the joys that are 
 coming. Look at these dear little eggs in 
 my nest," said Brighteyes some time later, 
 as her mother flew past. 
 
 It was the first visit from her parent 
 since she had left her old home. The 
 mother settled on a twig close by, and 
 looked at the nest with a critical eye. Yes, 
 it was well placed and well made. Tight- 
 claw was a good husband so far ; the boughs 
 clustered well over it to protect it from rain, 
 and the spot was a secure one. But when 
 Brighteyes hopped off the nest and invited 
 her mother to look in and inspect her 
 treasures, her heart sank within her. One, 
 two, three and what is this ? four yes, 
 she counted over again. Four eggs ; there 
 could be no mistake, for the fourth was 
 quite different from the rest, it was larger 
 and smoother and of a different colour. 
 
 Now the mother, as I have said, was a 
 wise old bird, but alas ! no amount of wisdom 
 will save those from trouble who are deter-
 
 THE SPARROW AND THE CUCKOO'S EGG 
 
 mined to have their own way and not to 
 accept lessons from those who are older than 
 themselves. Her heart sank because she 
 knew that there was trouble in store for 
 her daughter ; she knew that the only way 
 to secure happiness is to get rid of evil at 
 once, to turn it out resolutely, to give it no 
 quarter, not to let it stay with us an hour, 
 and she recognised in the stranger egg the 
 seed of an enemy of her race. So when 
 Brighteyes asked her if she did not think 
 her very happy in expecting four pairs of 
 little bright eyes in her nest some morning 
 when most of her friends had only three, 
 the mother slowly shook her head. 
 
 " No, my child, I do not ; for look," 
 said she, "this one is different from the 
 others ; it is not your own at all, it will 
 not bring you happiness but misery ; turn 
 it out at once." 
 
 Now Brighteyes did not quite know how 
 this egg had come into her nest. She 
 knew that she had found it there one 
 morning when she had jumped off to 
 enjoy an early breakfast with Tightclaw, 
 and she did not think it had been there
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 the night before when she came home 
 but then it was late and rather dark (she 
 had been spending the afternoon with 
 Mr. and Mrs. Strong Bill), and it was 
 quite true that when she returned it was 
 too dark to see. But still how could it 
 have got there ? Who could have put it 
 in the nest ? 
 
 No ! it was just one of her mother's fads, 
 there was nothing in it ; she was always 
 croaking and thinking she knew better than 
 any one else. Why, she had said Brighteyes 
 would not be happy if she married Tight- 
 claw, and every one knew what an excel- 
 lent husband he made ! It was just nonsense 
 and absurd to worry herself about it, so she 
 determined to pay no attention. Besides, 
 she was particularly fond of this fine egg ; 
 all her friends and neighbours came to look 
 at it, and all declared that they had none 
 like it ! It might be a peculiarity of her 
 own, but there was no harm in it. She 
 would not deny the difference between 
 herself and the other young mothers 
 whom she visited, but to say anything 
 
 BO harmless was " evil " was surely too 
 156
 
 THE SPARROW AND THE CUCKOO'S EGG 
 
 much, and far too serious a view of the 
 matter. 
 
 "Turn it out, mother! Oh no, I could 
 not do that; why should I?" she indig- 
 nantly replied. 
 
 " My child, believe me, the time will 
 come when you will bitterly rue the day 
 that you refused to do as I told you. 
 That egg is harmless now but wait, 
 harbour it in your bosom, nurse it to your 
 heart, and you are nursing a power which 
 will by-and-by become so strong that it 
 will be your master. All your happiness 
 will be gone, your life ruined, your little 
 ones will find themselves robbed of what 
 should be theirs, and eventually they will 
 be turned out of their home, and this selfish 
 evil one will take it for his own. Your 
 husband will leave you, and your whole life 
 will be wretched, because you will not put 
 from you now an evil which will grow too 
 strong for you after a while." 
 
 At thisBrighteyes grew very angry. (We 
 always are angry, you know, when we mean 
 to do wrong and any one tells us the truth 
 about it.) She knew there was something 
 
 '57
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 strange about this egg which charmed her 
 so, she felt as though it did not really 
 belong to her, she did not quite understand 
 it; and yet it was so difficult to believe 
 that anything that looked so harmless 
 could be a source of evil, and it was so nice 
 to be different from the other birds who 
 had only three. Surely some other time 
 would do to turn it out if need be, there 
 was no such absurd hurry; she would wait 
 and see. 
 
 And so time went on ; and by-and-by 
 her long patient brooding over the nest 
 was rewarded by the sight of some bright 
 little eyes and some widely gaping yellow 
 bills. Tightclaw, who had been a most 
 attentive and devoted husband, was de- 
 lighted, and flew round and round the nest 
 and chirped gaily to let all the neighbours 
 know. Great, was the excitement to see 
 what should come from the strange egg, 
 but there was nothing yet, and Brighteyes 
 could not help thinking of her mother's 
 words as she noted this more distinct sign 
 of difference. Why was this little one 
 longer in coming ? She confided her doubt 
 158
 
 THE SPARROW AND THE CUCKOO'S EGG 
 
 to her husband, who only laughed at her for 
 listening to "old women's fables." 
 
 " Why, my dear, don't you know your 
 mother better than that ? She is always pro- 
 phesying evil and it never comes ; don't 
 you believe her, my dear. I am sure I am 
 quite capable of taking care of you, and 
 she can just mind her own business," said 
 Tightclaw, decisively. And Brighteyes re- 
 membered that her mother had been wrong 
 about her husband ; he had never been 
 unkind, and had they not been married 
 a long time already ? And so she would be 
 wrong again ; and she put it all out of her 
 mind. 
 
 She had plenty to think of now. There 
 were three little ones to be nursed ; there 
 were the remains of the broken shells 
 to turn out of the nest ; there were some 
 wee fluffy feathers to smooth ; and, most 
 important of all, there were three little 
 mouths to feed. So for a few days all went 
 well and all alarm was forgotten. But before 
 tjuC week was ended a fourth mouth gaped 
 widely for some breakfast, and another pair 
 of eyes twinkled brightly in the morning. 
 
 159
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 It was hard work now for Tio-htclaw 
 
 o 
 
 to bring home enough to feed them all, 
 for Brighteyes could not go far as she 
 was wanted to keep them warm until 
 their feathers should have grown longer. 
 And the last comer had such a big mouth 
 and seemed so hungry, it took several 
 worms to satisfy him. Besides this, the 
 novelty of the family was beginning to 
 wear off, and Tightclaw was getting tired 
 of having so much to do. Added to this, 
 Brighteyes could not help noticing that 
 the stranger always managed to get the 
 best worms and the most food, and that 
 her three little ones came off rather badly. 
 Then he was so big and so awkward in 
 the nest, he pushed them about so, and 
 always seemed to get the most comfortable 
 place for himself. 
 
 She had told her mother that it did 
 not matter to any one but herself if 
 she chose to let him stay in the nest, 
 but now that he was there she began to 
 feel that her mother was right and that he 
 did make a great difference to every one. 
 More difference perhaps to others than to 
 160
 
 THE SPARROW AND THE CUCKOO'S EGG 
 
 herself, for Tightclaw was grumbling and 
 beginning to be quite bad-tempered, and 
 her little ones were not getting on nearly 
 so well as they did. The nest seemed much 
 too small for four ; perhaps, after all, three 
 would have been better ; " but never mind, 
 they will be able to fly soon, and the 
 warmer weather is coming when they need 
 not sleep in the nest, so it will all come 
 right." 
 
 But she had forgotten that little ones 
 may grow faster than we expect, and that 
 selfish natures are not changed all in a 
 day. The needs of his family increased so 
 fast that at last Tightclaw refused to feed 
 them, and upbraided her for not taking 
 her mother's advice and turning out the 
 stranger. He called her selfish and vain, 
 and told her it was now too late ; she had 
 chosen her own way, and he should go his. 
 The sun seemed suddenly to disappear as 
 he said this ; her heart sank within her as 
 her mother's words came back to her mind, 
 and in terror and grief she assured him she 
 would at once fly home and do as he wished 
 the stranger should go, even though it 
 
 L Id
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 was tearing out her own heart ; she would 
 do anything if he would but forgive her. 
 
 " Turn him out I It is too late ; your 
 mother was right. Try," scoffed he, with a 
 mocking laugh, as she flew homewards. 
 
 Alas ! it was too true ! The nest held 
 but one where there had been four. On the 
 ground below lay her fondly cherished ones, 
 all lifeless, whilst the stranger filled the nest. 
 
 " Oh ! mother, mother," she wailed, 
 " why did I not believe you ? Who would 
 have thought that anything so innocent 
 and apparently so strengthless could have 
 wrought such harm ? My husband gone, 
 my children dead, my home filled with 
 misery, and all because I would do as I 
 pleased, and hug to my heart this evil 
 thing, and refused to crush it before it 
 had grown too strong for me. My life in 
 wasted ! Others have happy homes and 
 are good wives and mothers, but I can never 
 be either ! " 
 
 " Not so, my child," said a voice at her 
 side, and turning round she found her 
 mother near. " Not so ; whilst life lasts 
 
 there is hooe for all of us. You have learnt 
 162
 
 THE SPARROW AND THE CUCKOO'S EGG 
 
 your lesson ; you will not now refuse to 
 believe that the growth of evil is sure and 
 swift, and that the only hope of overcoming 
 it is to crush it at the first. You will 
 begin again, and in a new home you will 
 be able to avoid the mistakes you now 
 so bitterly regret." 
 
 " Indeed, indeed I will ; but where is my 
 husband ? I have lost him." 
 
 "He will come back to you," said her 
 mother. " He too has learnt a lesson, I 
 doubt not. Another and a brighter spring- 
 time will yet be yours, but remember it 
 must be winter first." 
 
 But Brighteyes did not now grumble at 
 the winter. She began to realise that there 
 was a use in the winter when Tightclaw 
 came and helped her to pull up the re- 
 luctant worms and to find the hidden 
 berries, and it was with a humbled and yet 
 happy heart that she welcomed the return- 
 ing spring, and determined with herself 
 that henceforth she would seek only the 
 happiness of others, and pluck out even 
 her right eye rather than let it cause her 
 to offend. 
 
 163
 
 CHANCE OR DESIGN?
 
 "All nature is but art, unknown to thee ; 
 All chance direction which thou canst not see'
 
 CHANCE OR DESIGN? 
 
 TELL you you're mistaken ; as 
 it was in the beginning, so now 
 and for ever after. There is 
 nothing outside what you see, 
 everything works by itself at least by a 
 law, if you choose to describe it so, by a 
 power, if you prefer to think of it in that 
 way which goes oh from day to day the 
 same." 
 
 " Well, I can't help feeling my doubts 
 about it. What is it all for ? I can't be 
 satisfied until I see the end ; there must 
 be a purpose. What is it ? " 
 
 The speakers were two straight flat 
 pieces of lead about an inch wide, and a 
 sixteenth of an inch in depth, very bright 
 and shining, and bearing some slightly 
 
 167
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 raised irregularities along one edge. 
 These were letters forming words. Each 
 piece of lead represented a line of type 
 cast on the molten metal by the move- 
 ments of a machine called " the linotype 
 machine." But this they did not know, 
 and, like many others, they found it 
 difficult nay, almost impossible, to believe 
 what they could not see. Let us listen 
 while they talk. 
 
 " A purpose ? Yes, of course, the 
 purpose is just what you see, no more. 
 You go through your day's work, the 
 machine begins to move, the wheels turn, 
 the bars clang as they rise or fall, the 
 great leather band whirrs as it twists end- 
 lessly round the wheels, the door opens, 
 and first you appear, then I, followed by 
 others exactly like us. We go through 
 the same round day by day, always being 
 placed side by side, and having the same 
 black mass passed over us, and then the 
 great white sheet, after which we are 
 taken up and returned to the quietude 
 of the box out of which we started, 
 there to repose through the long hours 
 1 68
 
 CHANCE OR DESIGN? 
 
 until, with the return of warmth and light, 
 all is set in motion again, and once more 
 we repeat the events of the previous day. 
 That's the purpose, and the end of all 
 things too." 
 
 " Don't think me obstinate that I 
 venture to doubt it. I cannot be satisfied 
 to think that we are such mere puppets, 
 the sport of this power which gives us 
 life." 
 
 " I don't see why you need speak of a 
 'power that gives us life,' as though it 
 were personal, it is nothing more than the 
 order of things. Look how regular it is, 
 always the same ; we know exactly what 
 will happen day after day, and if anything 
 were damaged, it would be a miracle, and 
 all clever people know that miracles do not 
 happen." 
 
 " I grant that, yet I don't think I need 
 a miracle to happen, to prove that I am 
 right in believing that the power which 
 enables us to move and act is something 
 rather greater than 'the order of things.' 
 I have a conviction, unreasonable though 
 you may think it, that our life means more 
 
 169
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 than appears, and if I could only know 
 this, it would be a greater proof of power 
 to me, a greater miracle than any irregu- 
 larity of movement on the part of the 
 machine. Purpose is surely greater than 
 power, because it implies mind, intelligence, 
 will. That the laws under which we work 
 should be changed, that the wheels should 
 go backward, and the bars move upward 
 instead of downward would be a miracle, 
 because it is contrary to the laws of our 
 being as we know them. Such an exhibi- 
 tion of power, I agree with you, would be 
 a wonder, a miracle : but even if it were 
 possible, it would not be so wonderful 
 to my mind as our daily life, if, as I 
 believe, it has a constant meaning and a 
 purpose." 
 
 " This is too absurd ! Mind, intelligence, 
 will ! you will be claiming moral qualities 
 next for your mysterious Power ! No, 
 believe me, there is nothing beyond what 
 you are already acquainted with. The 
 power is resident in the material around 
 you, and it works according to certain 
 fixed laws, and your life is fixed and you 
 170
 
 CHANCE OR DESIGN? 
 
 cannot alter it. You may as well do as I 
 do, make yourself as comfortable as you 
 can, and enjoy yourself, and leave off 
 worrying and speculating about mere 
 theories." 
 
 But the bar of lead was troubled, and 
 could not accept the easy philosophy of 
 his companion, but pondered in silence for 
 a while over the problem of existence. 
 
 At last it began again. 
 
 " Then how do you explain what we go 
 through every day ? What is the use of 
 the characters impressed upon us day by 
 day ? I feel, and I am sure you must 
 feel, too, that I am not always the same 
 as I was before. Is this, too, chance or 
 law?" 
 
 "Well, it certainly isn't anybody's 
 doing but your own ; you can't be so 
 absurd as to imagine that everything is 
 arranged and ordered to account for each 
 little variety in every one of us. What 
 can so insignificant a thing matter, and 
 
 o ^j 
 
 how could it possibly be done without dis- 
 arranging the whole 1 " 
 
 " That I don't know, but I do know 
 
 171
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 that I come forth different day by day, 
 and perhaps if we knew more about it, 
 instead of thinking that our affairs created 
 a disarrangement of the whole, we should 
 see that the entire machine is in the hands 
 of one who so thoroughly understands it, 
 and who has it in such complete control 
 that he is able to guide each one of us to 
 the carrying out of his will." 
 
 " Oh ! then you prefer to believe that 
 you have no will of your own, that you 
 can't help doing what you do day by day ? 
 In fact, you prefer to believe in the 
 existence of a will of which you have 
 no evidence, to believing in your own will 
 which you do know." 
 
 "Not so. I believe in both because I 
 think it is quite possible that if I went any 
 other way than the right way, or if I 
 received a wrong impression, the Power 
 presiding over the whole machine could put 
 it right again." 
 
 " And supposing I grant your idea for 
 the sake of argument, of what good would 
 it be to this Power ? What can it matter 
 to him how we spend our lives ? " 
 172
 
 CHANCE OR DESIGN? 
 
 "A very great deal if, as I imagine, 
 there is a purpose behind our lives." 
 
 But here the dialogue was arrested by 
 the removal of the last speaker from the 
 machine. A hand was stretched down to 
 where he lay, and he found himself lifted 
 out of his surroundings, and listening to 
 the following words : 
 
 "These little marks along the edge are 
 letters which are moulded or cast upon the 
 lead. Each bar of lead is one line of the 
 type ; these are placed side by side, and 
 from them we print off thousands and 
 thousands of copies." 
 
 " But do show us how this is done." 
 
 " I touch these keys, which are each 
 marked with a letter, and as I press them 
 down the mould for the letter drops into 
 position. When in this way I have called 
 out all the moulds I want to make the words, 
 I set the other part of the machine going, 
 and they are held in front of this box of 
 molten lead, some of which is then squeezed 
 into them and receives from them the 
 impress of the letters, so enabling us to 
 print from it We can work four times as. 
 
 173
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 quickly with this machine as we could when 
 setting up the letters by hand. Then, if 
 you watch, you will see that the same 
 movements which bring out the fresh 
 moulds for the next line return the others 
 to their places ready for future use." 
 
 " How wonderful it is ! It seems as 
 though it worked by itself, everything is so 
 very complete and well organised ; it is 
 difficult to believe it cannot do all the work 
 alone." 
 
 " Yet it needs continual attention, or it 
 will not work rightly." 
 
 " But do you ever have mistakes ? Do 
 the letters ever get wrong or make bad 
 impressions ? " 
 
 " Yes, sometimes. Then I have to 
 check the machine, and set the line over 
 again." 
 
 " Is not that a great trouble ? " 
 
 "No! it is worth the slight upset, because 
 one wrong letter would spoil the line, and 
 might even convey a different message from 
 the one I wish to set up. Before all things, 
 it is important that the printing be correct. 
 The whole object of the machine is to make 
 174
 
 CHANCE OR DESIGN? 
 
 t so, and no amount of trouble do I grudge 
 to bring it about." 
 
 "Well, I call it little short of miraculous, 
 to think that you can sit here by a machine, 
 which seems to go on with such perfect 
 regularity and order that it almost works 
 by itself, and yet you are influencing it 
 every moment, making it set up all these 
 different letters in due order, so that 
 hundreds of words can be printed from 
 them, and sent all over the world." 
 
 " How little these letters think," said 
 one of the speakers, taking up the bar 
 of lead and looking attentively at it, 
 "how great a part they are playing, 
 and how endless is the message they 
 tell by the impressions received in the 
 machine ! " 
 
 But the bar of lead knew now that its 
 conjectures were correct. It knew that the 
 daily round which seemed to go on always 
 the same was yet presided over by a mind > 
 intelligence, and will ; that all things worked 
 together for a good purpose; that no amount 
 of trouble, even to the disarranging of the 
 machine, would be grudged to replace a 
 
 175
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 letter that had gone wrong ; that the very 
 perfection of the machine and the ease with 
 which it worked was a more constant 
 miracle than its occasional disarrangement, 
 even though it lacked, by reason of its very 
 constancy, the more startling elements of 
 the unexpected.
 
 THE MESSENGERS OF LOVE
 
 " Some feel the rod 
 And own, like MS, the Father's chastening hand." 
 
 " Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth."
 
 THE MESSENGERS OF LOVE 
 
 sat upon His throne, and 
 round Him stood His messen- 
 gers, the angel minist rants of His 
 sovereign will. 
 " The Earth has wandered far," He said ; 
 " far from her allegiance to my throne. She 
 has forgotten that she is mine, bought 
 with a price. I would fain draw her to my 
 side again ; whom shall I send ?" 
 
 And the Angel of Prosperity said, " Send 
 me." And God said, " Go." " 
 
 And the Angel flew to Earth, and 
 circling her round with brightness, sought 
 to win her buck by gentleness to God. 
 
 But she said " See, how all things smile 
 on me, arid how happy is life ; what more 
 do I need ? Life is full of plenty and of 
 
 179
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 joy ; talk not to me of God, I have every- 
 thing I want." 
 
 And the Angel left her, and returned 
 depressed to the Throne of God, and told 
 his tale. " She is content ; I cannot reach 
 her heart." 
 
 Then said the Angel of War, " Send me ; 
 I will shake her from her peace, she shall 
 remember she is not her own." 
 
 And the second Angel flew to Earth, 
 and sowed the seeds of disruption amongst 
 her nations till she was red with blood 
 and war. But still she turned not, nor 
 faltered on her course. " For see." said 
 she, " these things must be. 'Tis but the 
 passions of men ; nations will strive, and 
 grow but stronger for the fight." 
 
 And the Angel of War knew that he 
 had sped no better than the Angel of 
 Prosperity. 
 
 Then God spake again : " I am loth to 
 cause grief to her whom I cherish, and yet 
 I fain would win her love again. She is 
 drifting from me, and I must reach her 
 heart." 
 
 And turning to the Angel of Famine, 
 1 80
 
 THE MESSENGERS OF LOVE 
 
 He said, " Go, yet use not all your power. 
 Walk through the Earth, yet smite her 
 gently. In wrath remember mercy." 
 
 Then Famine stalked ahroad and spread 
 his black wings o'er the Earth, and where 
 their shadow fell the vegetation withered 
 and the fruit hung dead. And from the 
 Earth there rose a wail of anguish ; for the 
 people failed, their strength diminished, 
 and the weak ones sank, and upon all was 
 set the seal of pinching want. 
 
 Then mindful of his Lord's commands 
 the Angel stayed his progress, and stood 
 awhile at rest. And as he rested, he 
 listened, hoping to detect amid the wail of 
 stricken souls the cry to God for help and 
 love and shelter. 
 
 But the Earth was recovering. The 
 mountains and fields were green again with 
 grass, and men's hearts grew light with 
 returning plenty. "Nature never fails," 
 said Earth, and still she turned not from 
 her course. 
 
 So yet another Angel returned in sad- 
 ness and failure to his Master's feet. 
 
 And God said, " I would fain draw her 
 
 181
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 unto me with the cords of love, and she 
 will not. The pleasures and ambitions of 
 life hold my people in bondage, and will 
 not let them go : their heart is hardened. 
 But I have yet one messenger who will 
 wake them from their sloth, and whom I 
 must now send. She will not listen to the 
 gentler voices ; she will hear you. Go, 
 Angel of Death, and draw her to my side." 
 
 And the Angel left the presence of the 
 Eternal, and circling the Earth in his 
 embrace, sought to draw her back to God. 
 
 Wherever he stepped he left the mark of 
 his sad presence in lowly cottage, in 
 stately mansion alike. All knew him by 
 the destruction which marked his track. A 
 wail of anguish rose ; but still no note of 
 supplication, no thought of God. Men's 
 hearts shrank with fear, but as yet they 
 turned not to their God. 
 
 And the Angel stayed awhile and 
 waited, and men began to lose their fears. 
 " He is gone/' said they, " we need not 
 fear." 
 
 And the Angel knew his work was not 
 yet done, and once again he brooded o'er 
 182
 
 THE MESSENGERS OF LOVE 
 
 the Earth. With mighty finger he touched 
 the great ones of the land and laid them 
 low; the old and the young alike fell down 
 before him as he cried, " Turn ye, turn ye ; 
 why will ye die ? " And yet again he 
 paused ; but still the Earth turned not, nor 
 sought her Lord. 
 
 And once more, with unwilling feet, the 
 Angel sped upon his mission of destruc- 
 tion ; for he dared not return until he had 
 fulfilled his Lord's behest. 
 
 A third time he stretched out his hand 
 to gather of Earth's fairest and greatest, 
 and both he found combined in one young 
 life. The greatest, for was he not heir to 
 the throne of Earth's greatest nation ? The 
 fairest, for did not the fairest hopes encircle 
 him ? In the full strength of his manhood, 
 and in the joy of blossoming love, he stood 
 upon the threshold of his life, and all hearts 
 beat in eager sympathy with its brightness. 
 
 " This flower will I pluck," said Death ; 
 " it will win them to the thought of God," 
 and stretching out his hand he gathered 
 him with one swift stroke from the hearts 
 that loved him.
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 And the Earth paused, stunned by the 
 sudden blow. 
 
 " What hand is this ? " they said. " We 
 thought Prosperity was of our own making, 
 that Famine was only nature's work, 
 and War but the fruit of men's passions ; 
 but this dread Hand that robs us of our 
 love, whence comes it ? It is something 
 greater than nature or man; it is God. 
 We have forgotten God," they cried ; " our 
 hearts hunger for love, and God is love ; 
 let us turn to Him ! " 
 
 And God said, "It is well; I have 
 smitten and I can heal ; I also will hear 
 their cry and will help them ; I will satisfy 
 the hunger of their heart, for I alone can, 
 and I love them with an everlasting love." 
 
 And the Angel knew that his mission 
 was accomplished. 
 
 184
 
 " NOW WE SEE THROUGH A GLASS, 
 DARKLY."
 
 " Where'er thou art, He is; the eternal Mind 
 Acts through all places ; is to none confined; 
 Fills ocean, earth, and air, and all above, 
 And through the universal mass doth move."
 
 NOW WE SEE THROUGH A GLASS, 
 DARKLY." 
 
 HE beach was a pleasant one, 
 with long stretches of bright 
 smooth sand, broken here and 
 there by rocks and pools. These 
 lent an agreeable variety of form and a 
 bright contrast of colour to the scene, for 
 the rocks abounded in rich marine vegeta- 
 tion ; feathery weeds of brightest scarlet and 
 deepest purple lay side by side with floating 
 ribbons of emerald hue. The placid pools 
 that nestled in the hollows held many a 
 gem of purest ray hidden within their 
 depths, and from their mirror-like surface 
 flashed back the reflection of the sunlight. 
 Nor were they devoid of life. When the 
 tide was high, and the sea covered them, 
 
 187
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 they became the favourite haunt of certain 
 sea-mice, crabs, shrimps, and other creatures, 
 which now and then found themselves im- 
 prisoned in these shallow depths until they 
 should be released by the return of the 
 tide, and so enabled to seek their homes in 
 the greater depth beyond. 
 
 The crabs, of course, were independent 
 of the tide. They could breathe in the air 
 or under the water equally well, and would 
 often go to and fro across the hard smooth 
 sand back to their ocean home. Owing to 
 this peculiarity they held their heads rather 
 high, and were inclined to think themselves 
 very superior in knowledge and power ; 
 they certainly had better opportunities of 
 knowing things, and as knowledge is said 
 to be power, perhaps they were not so very 
 far wrong. 
 
 Anyway, this was. the spirit which 
 animated a certain crab who frequented 
 the largest of the pools ; and appa- 
 rently not without reason, for he was 
 constantly appealed to in any matter of 
 doubt or difficulty, and this surely was 
 some excuse for him if he seemed at times 
 188
 
 "NOW WE SEE THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY" 
 
 to think that he knew everything. He 
 was of an inquiring and reflective turn of 
 mind, a bit of a philosopher too. He made 
 friends with every creature in his own ele- 
 ment, the sea, and learnt from them what he 
 could; but he made friends also in his ex- 
 cursions to the pools with others who lived 
 in the air, from whom he learnt new facts. 
 Upon these he was wont to enlarge when 
 he returned to the sea, and so he gradually 
 acquired a position of teacher, and was con- 
 stantly referred to in matters of dispute. 
 
 His most attentive pupil and most con- 
 stant disputant was a young sole whose home 
 was far below the surface, and who rarely 
 quitted its unruffled depths. Half buried 
 in the sand, she would lie and listen to the 
 wondrous stories of her friend and teacher, 
 the crab. Around them would gather one 
 and another of their acquaintances and 
 neighbours, occasionally throwing in a word 
 of comment or approval, or propounding a 
 difficulty, or, more rarely, contributing a 
 piece of information. 
 
 " But what is the sun ? You keep talk- 
 ing of the sun, and I don't know what you 
 
 189
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 mean ; what is the sun ? " she sharply 
 inquired, in the midst of an interesting ac- 
 count of the crab's morning on the rocks. 
 
 " The sun is the source of life," said the 
 crab, sententiously, not best pleased at 
 having his story spoilt. 
 
 " Well," said the sole, " we seem to get 
 on very well without him ; none of us have 
 seen the sun, and yet we live very comfort- 
 ably, and have got all we want, plenty of 
 food and comfortable snug homes." 
 
 " Ah ! " rejoined the crab, "you don't 
 really live without the sun ; you think you 
 do because you don't know him ; but it 
 would be a very different world, I can tell 
 you, if there were no sun." 
 
 " Well, tell me what he is like. Have 
 you seen him ? " 
 
 " No, I cannot say I have," admitted the 
 crab ; " no one has seen him at any time." 
 
 " Then I don't believe there is any such 
 thing ; it is only your absurd imagination, 
 and you think to impose upon us because 
 you know some things which we don't. I 
 sha'n't believe it unless you can prove it," 
 said the sole, wriggling the sand triumph- 
 190
 
 "NOW WE SEE THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY" 
 
 antly off her back as she glanced round for 
 approval at the plaice and whiting who had 
 gathered near, and settling herself again 
 with the air of having completely posed her 
 teacher. 
 
 " Well, I believe in him because I have 
 felt his heat and have seen his light," said 
 the crab. 
 
 " Then, did the sun make light and 
 heat ? " asked a whiting, who had been 
 listening very attentively. 
 
 " They are part of him," replied the crab ; 
 " he would not be a sun without light and 
 heat, and none of them can be separated. 
 There can be no life without heat and light ; 
 everything would die if they were gone. As 
 long as the world has been, so have they." 
 
 " You speak in riddles," petulantly put 
 in the sole. " What do we know of sun, 
 or heat, or light, living down here ? Per- 
 haps, if you could tell us what these things 
 are, we could follow you." 
 
 " Well, it will be difficult," admitted the 
 crab, " because you have had no experience 
 of these things. And yet I think I can do 
 
 it, because if I can show that I speak the 
 
 191
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 truth about the things you do know, you 
 will believe me when I tell you about what 
 is above you, won't you ? To begin with, you 
 cannot see the sun ; I have never actually 
 seen him myself ; neither can you feel his 
 heat, for you are a fish. But here I may 
 remark that you must be willing to believe 
 the testimony of those who can, if you see 
 that it is not contradicted by anything you 
 know. It is as much beyond your power 
 to feel heat as it is to see the sun ; bub this 
 is no proof that they do not exist ; you 
 must ' take these on faith,' as they say. 
 And yet not altogether, now I come to 
 think of it, for you can examine carefully 
 the evidence there is of such a thing as 
 heat. Though you cannot yourself experi- 
 ence it, you can test the assertions of those 
 who have ; and you can observe its effects, 
 and see if they can be accounted for in any 
 other way. If they cannot, it clearly shows 
 that tlis, which is called heat, is a very real 
 thing. And when you see that it fits in 
 and explains a whole number of things you 
 could not understand before, you will be 
 ready to believe you have found what is 
 192
 
 "NOW WE SEE THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY " 
 
 true, will you not? But I won't ask you 
 to agree to this yet. I will first show you 
 that you have some knowledge of light. 
 There is not one of you that is entirely 
 destitute of light. Let us put it to the 
 test, come along." 
 
 So saying, the crab crawled upward, ac- 
 companied by his friend the sole, and by 
 several others who had been attracted by 
 the conversation, and were interested in its 
 continuance. After going some distance, 
 he approached a rock which reared itself to 
 within a short distance of the sea's surface. 
 Upon this he mounted, and,' turning to the 
 sole, inquired : 
 
 " Do you see no difference in the sea here 
 from what it was below ? " 
 
 " Yes," she replied, " it is bright and blue; 
 down below it is dull and dreary. I often 
 come up here to enjoy a good swim, and I 
 love the change." 
 
 " This is light," said the crab, " and down 
 below is darkness. You love light, you 
 say ; and you evidently know the difference 
 between light and darkness, since you come 
 up here to enjoy it." 
 
 N 193
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 " But it is all very well for you to 
 argue like that. Of course, I know the 
 difference between blue sea and gloomy 
 sea, but it does not prove to me that 
 light has got anything to do with it, nor 
 that light coines from the sun," objected 
 the sole. 
 
 " We must go a little further then," said 
 the crab, crawling onwards towards the 
 shore. By-and-by he gained a rock which 
 rose above the waves, and, calling to the 
 sole, urged her to swim upward as he 
 climbed until they touched the surface. 
 A.s they did so, he bade her notice how 
 much paler the ocean grew, so pale that 
 she could hardly bear it, yet for one 
 moment, before she sank relieved to the 
 ocean bed, she caught a glow of golden 
 glorious light. 
 
 " Now," said he, " I have proved to you 
 that there is such a thing as light ; you have 
 felt it in your own experience. It must 
 come from somewhere. You did not make 
 it, did you ? Neither did I. You have 
 seen that the higher you go the more light 
 
 you get, and it would go on increasing if 
 194
 
 "NOW WE SEE THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY" 
 
 you could bear it, until at length you 
 would reach the sun." 
 
 " But where is the sun ? " timidly asked 
 a plaice that was floating near. 
 
 " The sun is everywhere, throughout all 
 nature, and yet we think of him most often 
 as in heaven," replied the crub. " I admit 
 that we are wrong to do this, because, as I 
 said to you, the whole world would be 
 different if there were no sun everything 
 would lack life. And yet it is difficult to 
 avoid speaking of him in this way to you, 
 who live down here and cannot see all the 
 wondrous things he does." 
 
 " Well, I admit the light," sighed the 
 sole, as she sank somewhat exhausted on 
 the sand ; " but I did not see any sign of a 
 sun, nor do I see that it is necessary to 
 believe in one ; there was only a great 
 flood of light, and surely this is part of 
 that same nature you keep talking about 
 so much. We could get on very well if we 
 had light only. What gain would a sun 
 be, and why need you assert that the light 
 has any connection with the sun ? " 
 
 "The sun makes us sure that we shall 
 
 195
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 always have light. There are times when we 
 seem to lose it, and have to try and find our 
 way in the dark with no light to guide us. 
 I have often been caught on the rocks by 
 darkness coming on," said the crab, "and 
 all the world has seemed topsy-turvy, and 
 everything in confusion, but I could always 
 console myself by saying, ' By-and-by it 
 will be light,' as I shuffled back to the sea, 
 for I knew the sun was somewhere. There 
 are times when we don't see the sun for 
 several days ; we have light all the same, 
 but not for so long together, nor so bright 
 everything is cold and chill. I have 
 learnt from a swallow who often comes and 
 sits on the rocks and chats to me, that 
 they call this winter. Then, again, there 
 are times when the sun shines constantly, 
 and it is hardly dark at all ; they call that 
 summer. It is lovely and warm then ; 
 everything bursts into life." 
 
 "But," objected the sole, "this does not 
 prove that there is a sun ; it only proves 
 that you feel the light and the heat ; and you 
 don't expect rne to believe in an argument 
 which is only drawn from your feelings, 
 
 iy6
 
 "NOW WE SEE THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY " 
 
 feelings which I don't share. It is all very 
 well for you to persuade yourself that 
 there is a sun because you feel what you 
 call its light and heat, but it is no proof." 
 
 " True," rejoined the crab, " I don't ask 
 you to go by what I feel, nor yet by what 
 you feel yourself, because, as I said before, 
 being a fish, you cannot feel heat, even if 
 you would. But you can judge of the 
 truth by the difference which its absence 
 makes. When there is no heat all is barren 
 and bare ; there is no life in anything. My 
 friend, the swallow, tells me that after he 
 flies away, in the winter, everything dies ; 
 the trees are bare, the leaves all withered, 
 the flowers dead. But when summer comes 
 and the sun shines, the warmth calls out 
 new life, and everything seems to smile ; 
 the grass begins to grow, the trees to deck 
 themselves with leaves, and the flowers to 
 bloom. The swallow tells me, too, that 
 there are lands where they always enjoy 
 the sun, because they are nearer to him 
 than we are, and flowers blossom and fruit 
 ripens every day. Surely you will believe 
 
 that there is a sun somewhere when you 
 
 197
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 see what a tremendous difference his absence 
 makes." 
 
 " What did you mean when you said you 
 had never actually seen the sun ? " asked the 
 sole. 
 
 " I meant that I had only seen the light 
 and felt the heat and knew the life-giving 
 power of the sun, and I said I had never 
 actually seen it, because I believe that 
 there are some of those beings they call 
 men who think that they have, and who 
 maintain that it is only the same as the 
 earth after all. Two of them were down 
 on the beach some time ago with a long 
 round thing which they looked through. 
 They were looking at the ships, I know, 
 for I heard them say so, and then they 
 sat down, and one told the other that 
 they could make things like the one which 
 he held, through which they could look 
 at the sun itself, and that they could 
 find out of what it was made, and that 
 after all it was not so wonderful as some 
 people imagined. That a long time ago 
 people used to worship the sun, but that 
 nobody thought of doing so nowadays. 
 108
 
 "NOW WE SEE THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY ' 
 
 They call themselves 'scientific' I be- 
 lieve." 
 
 "Well," said the sole, "you have better 
 opportunities than we of knowing these 
 things, and I am glad to hear all about the 
 sun. It must be very nice to be able to 
 get near him, I know this from the greater 
 joy I feel when I can sport and splash in 
 the clear blue waters above. How happy 
 you must be when you can crawl across the 
 golden sand, and lie basking in his rays ! 
 I wonder what those other creatures feel 
 whom you call ' men.' ' 
 
 " Oddly enough, I heard two of them talk- 
 ing about him not long ago," said the crab. 
 " I was lying in a pool half hidden beneath 
 a bunch of cool sea-weed, when they came 
 along the beach and sat down on the rock 
 above me. This is what I heard, and 
 though they never mentioned the sun by 
 name, but always talked of ' him,' it is 
 quite clear whom they meant." 
 
 "What I crave is more certain know- 
 ledge. 'No man hath seen him at any 
 time,' " said the younger of the two, " and 
 so we have nothing definite to go upon." 
 
 199
 
 FRAGMENTS IN BASKETS 
 
 "Nothing but his revelation of himself, 
 his works, and the proofs of his ever-con- 
 stant presence," assented the elder. " ' In 
 the beginning he created,' we are told ; ' all 
 things were made by him, and without him 
 was not anything made that was made.* 
 That was one revelation of himself. ' In 
 him was light, and the light was the life of 
 men ' ; thus he continues to show us of 
 himself, because that 'true light' is still 
 'the life of men, and lighteth every man 
 that cometh into the world.' Again, not 
 only was he ' in the world, and the world 
 was made by him,' but 'he came unto his 
 own "' 
 
 "Here I lost the end of the sentence," 
 explained the crab, " for at that moment a 
 large wave washed towards us, causing 
 them to rise to their feet and almost sweep- 
 ing me from my' niche. I managed to cling 
 to the rock pretty firmly, and when it sub- 
 sided the younger of the two was speak- 
 ing." 
 
 " ' A consuming fire,' you say ? " 
 
 "Yes," was the reply, "as a fierce heat. 
 It was foretold that he should be ' like a 
 
 200
 
 "NOW WE SEE THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY" 
 
 refiner's fire, and should sit as a refiner and 
 purifier,' for not only is it true that ' the 
 fire shall try every man's work,' 'in the day 
 when he shall judge the secrets of men,' 
 but it is equally true that he is doing so 
 now. You know it yourself, you feel it in 
 your soul, and though you may be troubled 
 with these doubts so that darkness hath 
 blinded your eyes for a time, all would be 
 clear to you if you would but keep close to 
 him who hath said, ' I am the light of the 
 world, he that followeth me shall not walk 
 in darkness, but shall have the light of 
 life/" 
 
 "Again the wave washed towards us, 
 and this time my two friends turned home- 
 wards, doubtless continuing the conversa- 
 tion as they went, for they moved slowly, 
 with their faces toward the ground. As 
 for me, I crawled homewards too, to be 
 met, oddly enough, by your question, 
 'What is the sun?'" 
 
 201
 
 WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED
 
 " There is no Death ! what seems so is transition; 
 
 This life of mortal breath 
 Is but a suburb of the life elysian, 
 Whose portal we call Death"
 
 WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED 
 
 T was hot, very hot, as was only 
 natural in the middle of August, 
 and in the ordinary way I 
 should have enjoyed it. Just 
 the very day for cricket or a lazy row 
 down stream, but to-day it irritated me. I 
 was hot too ; that was the secret. My father 
 and I had fallen out. I had spoken hotly, 
 and the blood still surged turbulently 
 through my veins as I flung the window 
 open and leaped upon the lawn. Every- 
 thing had gone wrong lately everything 
 was unsatisfactory. They were disap- 
 pointed at home because I had only taken 
 a .good place in my form ; they had 
 pictured to themselves a scholarship ; they 
 
 found fault with my manners, blamed me 
 
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 for want of affection, and called me in- 
 different to religion because I liked to 
 argue out everything, and, in a discussion 
 with those whose opinions were already 
 most firmly fixed on the orthodox side 
 of the question, I was obliged, for the 
 purpose of sustaining the argument, to 
 represent and defend the contrary view. 
 
 I felt I was not understood. I felt 
 there was no sympathy between us, and 
 after enduring it as patiently as I could, 
 it culminated thus in a rupture with my 
 father. I was vexed vexed that it 
 should have happened, for I greatly loved 
 him, vexed too with myself, and vexed with 
 the world. Vexed, also, with the glorious 
 summer day, with the scorching heat, with 
 the song of the birds, the murmur of the 
 bees, and the perfume of the flowers that 
 floated across my path. In short, every- 
 thing vexed me, even life itself, and I 
 wished that I were dead. I said so over 
 and over again, as I fled across the fields, 
 away down to the lazy river that slowly 
 floated out its life at the foot of the hill. 
 
 Dead? Yes, I did wish I were dead, 
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 WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED 
 
 whatever that might mean, and who could 
 tell ? Even this very thought vexed me, 
 for it recalled a discussion we had had the 
 other day as to what grounds there were 
 for believing in a " hereafter " at all. My 
 parents, of course, took the old-fashioned 
 view that it was quite certain, that the 
 Bible told us so, that it was impious to 
 doubt it ; and as to what that " hereafter " 
 was like, was it not an " eternal Sabbath " 
 of singing and joy ? We should be like the 
 angels, and so on language I deemed wholly 
 figurative, yet which they evidently under- 
 stood most literally. I had been reading. I 
 knew some fellows at school whose libraries 
 were supplied with more recent literature 
 than Hooker, Toplady, Paley, or M'Cheyne, 
 the best our shelves could boast, and eagerly 
 I devoured all the articles in the current 
 periodicals which bore upon such topics as 
 those that troubled me. No doubt it was 
 the natural reaction ; the more placidly 
 content my people seemed with their own 
 views and beliefs, the more I learnt to 
 doubt, the more I longed to sift them for 
 
 myself. I saw it would not do to quote 
 
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 "authority " in this democratic age, which 
 only bows before the strength of stern 
 reason. What "authority" was a book, 
 around whose origin hung so much dark- 
 ness, in the face of clearly demonstrated 
 facts of science which it seemed to contra- 
 dict? Science or their interpretation of 
 the book must be wrong, and they 
 preferred to throw science overboard rather 
 than change their time-honoured view. 
 This vexed me. 
 
 Hastily I strode on, and as I did so my 
 eye fell on the path before me, but just 
 too late to prevent my foot crushing a 
 worm which was slowly wriggling on its 
 way. 
 
 " Death again ! and death at my com- 
 mand," I thought. " Surely the world is 
 made up of injustice and wrong ! And 
 yet I envy the worm. I would thank 
 any one who came and so robbed me of my 
 life, and all these myriad problems which 
 press upon me so heavily, and for which 
 there seems no possible and sure solution." 
 
 Brooding thus, I reached the bank of 
 the stream and flung myself down am ongst 
 208
 
 I reached the bank of the stream and Hung myself 
 down. p. 208.
 
 WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED 
 
 the long grass beneath a branching elm. 
 The quiet of the spot was strangely out of 
 harmony with my turbulent bosom, and I 
 felt inclined to scorn the calm inaction of 
 the stream and all things round me, but 
 by-and-by their influence began to be felt. 
 I drew my cap half over my eyes, and 
 lazily noted the scene about me ; for even 
 here, when I came to look more closely, I 
 saw it to be teeming with life and the 
 problems of life. I watched the delicately 
 made yet gorgeous dragon-fly as it 
 skimmed swiftly by, flashing in the sun- 
 light. I watched the fish scarce moving 
 in the stream. My eye was caught by the 
 bright butterfly as it flitted along, and 
 then my glance fell upon the insect life 
 barely visible in the long tangled grass. 
 
 " And all these will die," I thought, " do 
 die, every minute, and so end their exist- 
 ence, and why not we ? I confess I could 
 see more in favour of the theoiy of annihila- 
 tion than of resurrection. Death seemed 
 such a dreadful change. My mind 
 reverted to the worm I had trodden on. 
 There it lay, a mass of crushed and inert 
 
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 matter. Might it not be a fit emblem of 
 ourselves ? What right had we, in the 
 face of such evident contradictions in the 
 life of nature around us, to conclude that 
 we alone were the noble exceptions to 
 a general law ? Was it not absolutely 
 incongruous to tell me that when this life 
 is ended I should enter upon another, one 
 made up of elements wholly unattractive, 
 wholly different from those surrounding 
 me now, and for which I should feel my- 
 self entirely unfitted ? " 
 
 As I reached this point in my meditations 
 my attention was attracted by the motion 
 of a caterpillar crawling up the stem of an 
 adjacent plant. Then I saw another of a 
 different hue, and as I marvelled at the 
 richness of their colours in the hot and 
 lazy air, I began to lose consciousness of 
 all that had just passed, of the thoughts 
 that were troubling me, and to sink into a 
 kind of dreamland with my eyes still fixed 
 upon my friend the caterpillar. I watched 
 him till he met his fellow, whom I 
 perceived from the smoothness of his skin, 
 the tenderness of his sinews, and his 
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 general plumpness, to be very much his 
 junior, and without any surprise found 
 myself a listener to their conversation. 
 
 As I listened, I caught the words 
 " change," " death." They were so in 
 harmony with my mood and thought that 
 I lay quite still, and tried more intently 
 to hear what was passing. I don't think 
 the wonder of it struck me at all ; it never 
 seemed strange that I should be able to 
 share the thoughts of beings so infini- 
 tesimally smaller than I. I had worked 
 myself into such an excitement that every 
 faculty was strained beyond its natural 
 power, and the wonder would have been 
 if I had found myself insensible to the 
 movements of nature around me. I was 
 like a highly strung instrument, ready to 
 vibrate at the minutest touch. 
 
 " Good morning, Brother Smoothskin ; 
 you seem in a hurry to-day whither 
 away ? " said my first friend the Elder. 
 
 " Well, yes, brother, I am rather ; I am 
 going down to see Sister Blanche. I am 
 somewhat out of sorts. I have just had 
 all my notions upset. I was thoroughly 
 
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 enjoying this lovely hot day and the cool 
 luscious leaves of this plant, and rejoicing 
 in my own growth, and feeling the fulness 
 of strength and life, and an entire satis- 
 faction with the arrangement of all things, 
 when by flutters one of those gay creatures 
 they call butterflies. I made some remark 
 about its idle life, so different from ours, 
 when grandfather who, you may have 
 noticed, is growing very stiff and shrivelled 
 rpiped out that that was what I would 
 come to some day, and that it was indeed 
 worth living for. Now, I don't want it ; 
 I don't like it. I cannot imagine what 
 attraction any one can find in such a life ; 
 it looks so different from all I have been 
 accustomed to here. I am sure it cannot 
 be happy, and I said so, and yet I have a 
 sort of uncomfortable feeling in myself as 
 though there were some truth in it. I 
 don't want to believe it, and so I ' am j ust 
 going down to see Sister Blanche. She is 
 always so kind and good, I shall get the 
 truth from her." 
 
 So saying, he crept steadily on till he 
 reached the bottom, then across an open 
 
 212
 
 space, round a large smooth stone, and up 
 the stalk of a plant with long, rough, 
 green leaves, which curled under at the 
 edges. Near the top he turned aside and 
 crept beneath the leaf, and soon I heard 
 his greeting, and the repetition of his 
 trouble. 
 
 " Come with me," was the only answer 
 he received, and I saw my friend and his 
 conductor coming quickly downwards. 
 On reaching the level ground they turned 
 towards a shrub I had scarcely noticed, but 
 which I now saw to be bristling with 
 caterpillar life. Sister Blanche seemed an 
 old friend, and exchanged many a kindly 
 greeting, but Smoothskin was more shy 
 and self-conscious. Turning to him, she 
 said, " Now look around you. You live 
 too much alone on your cabbage plant. 
 You have not mixed with the world yet, 
 or studied your fellows. You are too 
 young and too new in the possession of 
 your life to know much about it. Walk 
 around and ask one and another what 
 they think and feel." 
 
 As he did so, I noticed that each one 
 
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 spoke of change, constant change. One 
 told him he had just been through a great 
 trouble ; he had been ill and unable to 
 move about. After a time he felt himself 
 grow old and wizened, and crept away 
 alone into a corner, thinking that the end 
 of all things had come, when, to his amaze- 
 ment, he found one day that new vigour 
 was his, and that by the exercise of some 
 little effort he could free himself from the 
 covering of the past. The dead and 
 shrivelled skin which had confined and 
 cramped him was now cast aside, and he 
 emerged a new and stronger creature. 
 
 " That," said he, " was my first experience 
 of change. It seemed to me very terrible 
 before I had been through it ; but, looking 
 back upon it now, nothing appears more 
 natural." 
 
 Sister Blanche next took Smoothskin to 
 a deep crevice in the leaf, where he beheld 
 one of his brethren undergoing such a 
 change. He saw him lying inert and help- 
 less, withered and yellow, and taking no 
 notice of his visitors. At first, Smoothskin 
 
 shrank from the sight, but Sister Blanche 
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 WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED 
 
 told him he would have to pass through a 
 similar experience, and had better become 
 familiar with it, so that, when his time 
 came, he would not be frightened. 
 
 " But must we all go through this 
 change ? " 
 
 " Yes, all ; it is our gain. We are thus 
 renewed from day to day, though out- 
 wardly we perish. I can quite understand," 
 she said, " that you do not like the thought 
 of it. You are young yet, and full of life 
 and its enjoyments, and it must seem to you 
 that you have everything you require to 
 make life perfect. But that is only be- 
 cause you do not know, because you have 
 not yet experienced the increase of power 
 which comes after such a change. It is 
 thus we go from strength to strength." 
 
 And as I listened the words crossed my 
 mind : " That ye put off . . . the old man 
 which is corrupt . . . and be renewed in 
 the spirit of your mind, and that ye put on 
 the new man, which after God is created in 
 righteousness and true holiness." 
 
 I lay musing on this thought, and so lost 
 
 what passed next, but I was recalled to my 
 
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 friend the caterpillar by the voice of Sister 
 Blanche. 
 
 " Now," said she, " I must show you a 
 further stage of our development. We are 
 not always thus, doomed to only a partial 
 exercise of our powers. Though, as I have 
 told you, every change as it comes brings 
 us renewed strength, yet we are sorely 
 cramped and hindered by these dull grovel- 
 ling bodies which tie us to the earth, and 
 we all look forward to the time when we 
 shall shuffle off this tedious frame, and 
 shall be able to expand and soar to regions 
 of life which we cannot now reach. Then 
 we shall truly live, when every movement 
 is delight ; when, no longer tied to earth, 
 we shall be free indeed." 
 
 " But are you not frightened at the 
 thought of that new life ? " 
 
 " No, indeed," was the reply ; " we long 
 for it. It is our one desire to reach that 
 happy state of being ; iny turn will soon 
 come now," she said, " and I cannot tell you 
 how I yearn for the time when I shall put 
 on such glorious apparel, and shall be freed 
 from the trammels of this body. Why, all 
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 my senses will be released from their 
 imprisonment, and reach fullest perfection. 
 Surely you can feel that that alone is an 
 element of happiness. But you speak of it 
 as a new life. I would have you understand 
 that it is no new life at all ; it is the same 
 life continued under different conditions. 
 All the present is a preparation for it ; 
 every change is helping to form that body 
 that shall be. We appear to die, it is true 
 but it is only outwardly ; inwardly the 
 body of the new life is growing from day 
 to day. But come and see, and then you 
 will understand more of what I have been 
 saying to you." 
 
 By this time they had reached their 
 destination, and I confess my curiosity was 
 aroused as to what new " change " was to 
 be seen. I watched my two friends climb- 
 ing up the rough stalk and along the leaf 
 until they came upon quite a colony of cater- 
 pillars, all of whom, I observed, had very 
 white smooth skins, and whom I judged, 
 therefore, to be quite young. They seemed 
 to be in deep grief, and I gathered that these 
 
 were children grieving for the death of 
 
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 their mother. They took Sister Blanche 
 and Smoothskin along the leaf until they 
 came to some fine silky substance woven in 
 and out and round about and thickening 
 towards the centre, where I recognised 
 what I knew well to be a cocoon. Sister 
 Blanche spoke to them kindly, telling them 
 not to grieve for their mother. " You call 
 her dead," said she ; " she is not dead, she is 
 only resting. If you understood rightly, 
 you would know that she is near very 
 great happiness. You will see her again, 
 and by-and-by you will join her in the 
 regions above. She will come forth from 
 the darkness, leaving behind her the old 
 body, which has only been a covering all 
 this time, whilst the new one was growing." 
 Turning to Smoothskin, she added : 
 " Like you, poor things, they are young 
 yet, and all this sounds very dreadful. 
 When you have lived as long as I have, 
 and have passed from change to change 
 through all the stages of life's journey, and 
 have cried out in the bitterness of each : 
 ' Oh ! this is death, this must be death,' 
 
 and then have awoke to find that out of 
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 pain was born new power, you will learn 
 to see that even this change, which seems 
 so different and so much greater, is yet the 
 same only another step, greater perhaps 
 because a final one, but still only another 
 step on the way to life, fullest, perfect 
 life." 
 
 " But how do I know," persisted Smooth 
 skin, "that this change will end for me in 
 this new life ? " 
 
 " If you have gone through all these 
 changes of which I have been speaking, in 
 the fulness of time you will put on this 
 glorious covering of golden thread, and go 
 fearlessly into the darkness and silence 
 from out of which the joyful awakening 
 will be yours. It follows as surely as the 
 dawn succeeds the darkness. It is only 
 those," said Sister Blanche, " who will not 
 learn the lesson of these changes, and who 
 are too careless and faithless to weave the 
 protecting robe, who find the life within is 
 chill and starved for want of nourishment, 
 and to their dismay, when the time comes 
 to fling off the old, discover that the new is 
 
 yet unformed." 
 
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 As I listened, there ran through my 
 mind the echo of familiar words : " For in 
 this we groan, earnestly desiring to be 
 clothed upon with our house which is from 
 heaven ; " " Until Christ be formed in you;" 
 " Who shall change our vile body, that it 
 may be fashioned like unto His glorious 
 body." 
 
 But I was recalled from these reflections 
 by the voice of. my caterpillar-friend : 
 " Then you mean to say, Sister, that all my 
 present life is a preparation leading up to 
 this new life, and that I need not dread the 
 strangeness, because there will be formed 
 within me, through all these changes, that 
 new body which will be fitted to enjoy it ? 
 Well, it may be so, and I am prepared to 
 believe it, because I felt something within 
 me when grandfather spoke which told me 
 he was right. I don't know how it is. I 
 have tried not to believe, and to persuade 
 myself that the change was too great to be 
 true ; that there was nothing in me of 
 aninity with the glory and the freedom of 
 the butterfly ; and yet all the while I feel 
 that I possess powers within for which 
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 as yet I have no scope, powers which can- 
 not end with this creeping earthly exist- 
 ence ; and now you have shown me that 
 from day to day these are growing and 
 developing, and gradually forming a new 
 body for the new life, so that the change 
 itself ceases to seem wonderful it is only 
 the dropping off of the old and the re- 
 leasing of the new and I could almost 
 begin to long for that happy time to 
 come." 
 
 The sun was touching the horizon, and its 
 bright beams smote my eyes and roused me 
 from my reverie. I still lay prone upon the 
 grass. The fever of my mind had left me. 
 Quietly I mused on what I had heard. A 
 better spirit hnd come over me, and, like 
 the caterpillar, I felt within me that death 
 was not the end of life. It might not be 
 demonstrable, but there was much that 
 made it probable. The change from the 
 grovelling life of a worm to the glad free- 
 dom of a butterfly was surely stupendous 
 and incredible, and yet I had seen that it 
 was most natural, that the new life was 
 being formed within the old, that the death 
 
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 of the seed meant the blossoming of fresh 
 beauty. 
 
 Added to this, I remembered that 
 nothing in nature is ever lost or annihilated ; 
 that force, when it appears to cease, is 
 merely passing in disguise ; that no particle 
 of matter ever perishes, and, though it may 
 disappear beyond reach of our senses, it is 
 but to reappear in some other form, and so 
 from age to age to do its Maker's bidding. 
 Then why not I ? It did not now seem 
 strange to me to contemplate the possibility 
 of a life beyond the present, even though 
 made up, as I had said, of elements wholly 
 different from those surrounding me now, 
 and for which I felt myself wholly unfitted. 
 1 was content to trust. 
 
 " For nothing worthy proving can be proven, 
 Nor yet disproven; wherefore thou be wise, 
 Cleave ever to the sunnier side of doubt, 
 And cling to Faith beyond the forms of Faith," 
 
 I murmured to myself as I -slowly wended 
 my way homewards. I had found almost 
 more than the " sunnier side of doubt." I 
 had reached a measure of conviction. I 
 perceived that the Bible and science were 
 
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 not so irreconcilably antagonistic as I had 
 thought, and I confessed that a future, 
 which meant the dropping away of the 
 limitations against which I was now in- 
 clined to fret, might not be without its 
 charm. 
 
 I returned with a prayer in my heart 
 that I might " put on the new man, which 
 after God is created in righteousness and 
 true holiness," content in the humility 
 which is born of truer, deeper faith, to wait 
 through all the puzzling, unknown dis- 
 ciplines of life until I could say with ful- 
 ness of conviction : " I will greatly rejoice 
 in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my 
 God ; for He hath clothed me with the 
 garments of salvation, He hath covered mo 
 with the robe of righteousness."
 
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